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lilimonarch · 3 months

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Overthinking the Injury - Haikyu!! Oneshot

WC: ~4452

Yaku has been overthinking a little too much lately. His fencing performance has not been to par and he needs to redeem himself if they have any hope of qualifying for nationals. He has his strategies planned out and everything is going to according to plan! Well... until he hears a cracking sound on the strip and realizes it's from his ankle.

Yaku sprains his ankle at a fencing meet but decides to keep going anyways.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56901724

Yaku has been overthinking everything as of lately.

School was being more annoying than it should be, his fencing was not as good as it should be, and the Nekoma Men’s Fencing team was on a very annoying losing streak as of lately. If there is something Yaku hated more than his perfectly functional techniques not doing their job, it was losing, as a team. Of course, in preparations to hopefully break their losing streak, Nekoma was up against Nohebi Academy this weekend… with Coach Nekomata unavailable, and Kuroo was stressed.

This left the big three; Yaku, Kai, and Kuroo, in the locker room on Friday night with their captain pacing back and forth, overthinking everything almost as bad as Yaku was, at this point of the evening. “Guys what if I like… die,” Kuroo looks at his fellow third years, his squad, with a look of idiotic worry. “Who’s going to coach the second years and do all this work if I die?”

“Your vice-captain, me.” Kai sighs.

“You’re not going to die,” Yaku rolled his eyes, but deep down, anxiety was eating at him. He knew he was off his game, and if they continued this losing streak (half of which was Yaku’s fault, he swears it), he could kiss their shot at nationals goodbye. “Just don’t get injured between now and tomorrow, we beat Nohebi, and then all is right in the world.”

Kai shakes his head, locking up the room as the three of them exit and start to finally call it a night. “Yeah, we’ve just got to hold the fort down. We can last one competition without Coach. You got this, substitute coach Kuroo,” Kai gives a gentle punch at Kuroo, only feeding into Kuroo’s shenanigans.

“Damn… it sounds like I got demoted. Captain sounded way cooler!”

The three of them start to walk home, and Yaku notices his mind starting to wander. It wanders to their last meet the weekend prior against Fukurodani, losing an embarrassing 2-7, and much to everyone’s surprise, Yaku couldn’t snag a single bout. Sure, all his bouts were close, two 5-4 losses and a 5-3 loss against Bokuto, but that was terrible! He was considered one of Nekoma’s best, how did he manage to fumble all his bouts the week prior… that badly?

Practice this past week was not much better. He kept consistently losing to Kuroo, the only person who was much of a challenge on their team, and he even let Lev score two whole points on him. Lev! If Lev is even managing to score points on him, it must be a terrible practice.

It's just a slump, Yaku figures. He just needed to get his groove back and all would be right in the world. All he had to do was get it together, try a little harder, and not be the reason Nekoma did not qualify for nationals because of their regular season record.

“Yaku?”

Yaku shakes his head, and he realizes he is standing at the intersection where he is supposed to turn while the others continue forward. He was totally overthinking it all again. "Gosh, sorry guys. I must have zoned out. I’ll see y’all tomorrow,” he flashes a grin and starts to turn away but is stopped by a gentle tap on his shoulder. “What is it?”

“We got this,” Kuroo reminds him, giving a dorky thumbs up. “Nohebi? It’s lightwork. We got tomorrow in the bag.”

“Oh… right. Of course we do!”

This meet was far from being considered lightwork.

With Kuroo running from one end of the gym to the other to make sure all the sheets were filled out to each squad’s liking, and Kai being off making sure the blades passed weights, it left Yaku alone in his thoughts to overthink his strategies until it was time to face the Men’s Nohebi Academy Fencing team: Kuguri, Numai, and that bitch called Daishou.

Yaku stammers at the thoughts. No, be polite. It’s Kuguri, Numai, and Daishou. Just their captain.

Of course, Yaku was the first one on the strip, against the bitch.

He knew Nohebi Academy and Nekoma had their… rivalries, to put it lightly. Especially Daishou and Kuroo specifically, which extended to the rest of the main lineup. With Daishou being their captain and likely their best player, the feeling could be described as annoyed when Yaku figured he had to go first.

No matter, he’s fenced Daishou before, and beaten him. He’s got this.

The referee is about to start the clock. “On guard. Fencers ready? Fence!”

The first of many exchanges had begun and Yaku, finally, seemed to be getting his groove back. The first point was his! The second point was his! He was winning 2-0 in the first match of the day with no issues!

Maybe we do have this in the bag.

“On guard. Fencers ready? Fence!”

Out of the gate of this exchange, Daishou is practically charging at him. Yaku’s eyes widen in surprise as the sudden attack completely catches him off-guard, and Daishou scores his first point. Even beneath the mask, Yaku can vividly see the evil smirk from his opponent. Almost as if… he’s being mocked!

That bitch!

Okay… in and out. It’s just one point. We just have to go back to what we were doing before. It was working, no problem!

Yaku takes another deep breath, gets into position, and the next exchange begins. Strategic movements turn into attacks of desperation, as Daishou scores again and again. Here, the overthinking began again, because in theory, Yaku should be winning the match! He’s doing everything right and correct but Daishou can just run in and take points which should be rightfully his? Yaku was winning 2-0 before, how is he trailing 2-3 now?

“Yaku! Shake it off!” Kuroo shouted from the sidelines, Yaku nodding from underneath his helmet and banging the sides of his legs. He’s better than this, and with the way the match is going, he can’t afford to lose, especially not to Daishou.

It was eternally frustrating, watching his opponent rush in recklessly and still score those points. The worst part of it all, Yaku knew that was Daishou’s game, to bring his spirits low enough to where the bout would be lost, and he would be off his game for the rest of the match!

Daishou was taller, and would have point priority from the start, but Yaku was quicker. Sure, Daishou was good at offense, but Yaku was great at defense. All he had to do was retreat faster than Daishou could advance. All he had to do was use the open distance to hit that stupid blade and go in for the attack.

All he had to do was work a little harder.

“On guard.”

Yaku took a deep breath in, feeling the flow of his blood throughout his body, his presence anchored to the ground.

“Fencers ready?”

He extended his blade, bringing it back to position with the tip of the foil aimed for his opponent’s eye-level. He was not going to lose.

“Fence!”

As predicted, Daishou practically ran at him right out of the gate, but Yaku was prepared this time. His back foot retreated, followed by his front, repeated until he felt the space open up for him-

Crack!

It all happened too fast for Yaku to even understand what happened. One second, he was retreating on the strip, attempting to open the distance to prepare his parry-repost. The next, he had heard a crack-like noise from his left ankle before he came crumbling to the ground, his entire side hitting the gym floor with a bang.

He didn’t hear the halt! From the referee. He didn’t hear how the rest of the gym went silent. All Yaku felt was the instant throbbing in his ankle, the odd sensation not perfectly described as pain, but a numbness.

Yaku immediately went to sit up from where he was pathetically laying on the ground, going to clutch his ankle while he watched Kuroo jump up from his spot on the sidelines. “Yaku!” He shouted, rushing to his side with a spare hoodie in hand. “Don’t get up too quickly, okay? Does it hurt?”

Yaku looked up, still trying to formulate his words and compose himself after the adrenaline spike while Kuroo used the hoodie like a sling, lifting up Yaku’s ankle and elevating it as the referee neared the duo, Daishou standing at the other end of the trip with a look of almost concerned. “Do you need five minutes? We can call a medical timeout and…”

A medical timeout?

“We’ll take the five minutes,” Kuroo answered, the referee setting a clock for five minutes. While they waited for the athletic trainer to arrive, Yaku just sat there, acknowledging the growing awkward feeling in his ankle.

No, this can’t be happening! It’s just a little twist, I moved it wrong. It’s not actually sprained. Not now! Not like this!

“Yaku.”

He blinked a few times, looking up to see Kuroo lowering the makeshift sling, the medical trainer now standing between the two of them. “Hi, Yaku, let’s see what’s going on with you, okay? What happened?” She asked, and Yaku tightened his fists as he tried to form the words.

“I fell on it.”

On the inside, his brain was running a million miles an hour. He’s never needed a trainer before, he’s never missed a competition before, he’s never had to forfeit! What if he has to forfeit this match, what if he’s benched? There is nobody at his level who can replace him, they would be absolutely screwed! He could kiss their chance at nationals goodbye and it would be entirely his fault!

Oh my God, Kuroo was left in charge! The one meet where Kuroo was left in charge of the team, Yaku goes and gets injured! He’s screwed!

The trainer brought her hands to Yaku’s ankle, pressing down on an area he already felt swollen up, Yaku doing his best to suppress a wince at the awkwardness. That’s what worried him the most. It was not exactly pain; it was something else. He was not sure if not being able to feel the pain was a good thing or a bad thing. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad does it hurt?”

Seven.

“…Three?”

Again, it didn’t necessarily hurt. It was more an awkward feeling of his muscles being ripped apart on the inside, but maybe the pain was starting to set in. Yaku figured that it would be fine, he could still fence… right?

“I think you’re fine.”

Oh, thank God.

Slowly, Yaku got up on his feet, slightly staggering as he tried to stabilize his left foot again. His eyes move to the score on the strip, down 3-2. He hasn’t scored a point in over a minute. “You ready to go?” The referee asks him, ushering Kuroo back to the sides.

Yaku holds the helmet in his hands, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest and the continuing throbbing in his ankle. He looks at where Kuroo is sitting on the edge of his seat, a face of worry. Shifting his stance so his weight is balanced better, Yaku flashes a smile at his squad before turning to the director and giving them a thumbs up.

“Alright. On guard, fencers ready?”

It’s only the first bout, and Yaku hates how unsteady he feels on his feet. That being said, it was not as if he had better options. He would not be caught dead losing his only bout just to get injured.

Not yet at least.

“Fence!”

Once again, Daishou is practically charging at him with his blade far out leaving his body open. Yaku attempts to retreat once but feels this numbness start to grow, crouching down on instinct and stabbing up as Daishou does not have time to stop himself.

Two seconds and a sigh of relief later, the point is awarded to Yaku. He has to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from outwardly wincing as he returns to the starting line of the strip, gripping his blade extra tight.

“Nice! Good job!”

“Way to go, Yaku! That’s how we do it!”

That’s the reason he did this. This sport was practically his everything… and he was plenty good at it too. The added bonus was watching that smirk wipe itself off of Daishou’s face. Yaku was back in this.

Back in it enough to win.

He wins. He watches as Daishou walks away in defeat, and the bouts continue on and Kunimi is easy enough to beat.

He wins again.

His ankle is getting worse.

Yaku keeps overthinking.

“Damn, you can’t be serious, why is it always on me?” Yaku rolls his eyes and groans at the realization that both Nekoma and Nohebi were completely tied 4-4, and the winner would be determined by this final bout; Yaku’s final bout. “Kuroo, how do you sell to Daishou? You said you were going to beat him 5-0!”

Kuroo huffs as he sits down on the bench with a huff as Kai helps Yaku hook into the machinery, sneaking worried glances while Kuroo rants about his damaged ego. “I don’t see you criticizing Kai for selling too!”

Yaku rolled his eyes, shifting his weight onto his good foot as he clipped the wires on. “Well at least he got points, Kuroo.”

“Okay… so it was bad. Just focus on your game, little guy.”

“Oh- you little…”

Kai gives Yaku a pat on the shoulder, Yaku wincing at the sudden increase of weight on him. “Are you okay?”

No.

Stop overthinking it. You’re fine.

“Yes,” Yaku forces a smile, even though his ankle is starting to kill him. “I’ll be okay.”

Yaku heads up to the strip, Nohebi’s anchor on the other end. He was taller and stronger, and a much more offensive player (as Nohebi does, Yaku can’t help he will always be a defender first). While the bout proves incredibly difficult at first, Yaku manages to get his footing with a healthy lead of 4-1.

It’s as if his past matches have come to hunt him when his ankle starts to throb.

It’s the desperation as his injury worsens to get that final point and get the hell off the strip.

Yaku will admit it later, it was a reckless first lunge forward which is the start of the change in pace. He stumbles a bit on the lunge, leaving his torso wide open for a counterattack from Numai.

Current score: 4-2.

“Shake it off! Focus!”

The next exchange begins, and Yaku is advancing further into the other side of the strip, holding his blade out in hopes of that final point. When Numai advances towards him, Yaku rushes in for an attack which is quickly parried as another hit lands in the center of his chest.

Current score: 4-3.

“Come on! Watch your distance!”

Yaku can feel the pressure building up, and the ache in his foot as he is practically limping back to the starting line of the strip. He can feel eyes looking down on him, as if he is weak.

He’s not weak. It’s just a slump.

His breath is shaky as he gets into position again, giving a nod to the referee to show that he is okay, he has to be. Once again, Yaku is rushing it, but so is Numai. The distance is closing in and the shouts of his teammates begging Yaku to get out of that battle, to reassess his options before going in again, go unheard.

The infighting continues, and Yaku is pushed down in hopes of getting a clean shot in the flurry of remises when he is aiming from a lower level. His back knee is touching the ground as Yaku desperately tries to hit something, anything to end the exchange.

Crack!

Yaku’s ankle twists the wrong way, feeling the bang as the side of his foot hits the floor.

The machine blares white, an off target from Yaku’s side.

Current score: 4-3.

Yaku shouts in agony before he falls to his knees, clenching his fists as he tries to catch his breath, the pain traveling from his foot up to his lower leg. His vision blurs from the pain as tears threaten to pour right in the middle of the strip. Yaku’s used up his only medical time out, he can’t back out now.

In the corner of his vision, he sees Kuroo jump up and call a timeout, the referee nodding before she can card him for the outburst. “Yaku, just breathe. Alright, I’m going to help you up and then we’re going to talk strategy,” Kuroo brings his hands to Yaku’s, slowly getting him back on his feet.

For the first time in ages, Yaku is genuinely doubting himself. His breath is heavy, beads of sweat are pouring down his forehead, and his hands are visibly shaking. “I’m so sorry, Kuroo,” he mutters, looking at his opponent across the strip. “I don’t think I got it.”

“Oh, shut up, you got this in the bag. Lightwork, remember?” Kuroo leans down a bit and forcibly lays his hands on each of Yaku’s shoulders, pushing weight down to stabilize him properly. “You got this. You’re the one who’s up, remember? Why the hell are you trying to force that last point when you’re winning and there’s only 15 seconds left? Especially on an injury, just play defense. Wait for him to mess up, he’s the one rushing for a point, not you.”

“Timeouts over, on guard?”

“You got this.”

Once again, Yaku is left alone on the strip.

His breath is shaking as Numai stands across the strip, getting back to where they stood before that unexpected pause. Behind the mask, Yaku watches as Numai flashes him a smile, genuine even.

Right, I’m up. I got this.

“Fencers ready?”

Play defense, Yaku. You’re good at defense, just do that.

“Fence!”

Immediately, Yaku holds his blade out, threatening a touch as he slowly retreats backwards, biting the inside of his cheek as his ankle throbs with ever step. 15… 14… 13… 12… There are only 11 seconds on the clock now as Numai cautiously tries to find the opening to tie the game.

Defense. Just play defense.

10 seconds left and Numai charges in with his blade too low. There! That’s the opportunity Yaku was waiting for! A quick tap on his blade and the tip is flying straight to the middle of Numai’s chest. The opening has never been clearer as the buzzer in the background goes off, glowing with a satisfying green.

“Touch left. Score is five to three, bout,” the referee finally lowers their hands signifying the end, and Yaku breathes a much-needed sigh of relief. Taking off his helmet, he brings it under his arm and goes to shake Numai’s hand.

They won! Losing streak? Eradicated. They won and nothing went wrong! Yaku is practically beaming as he makes it back to his teammates, but collapsing right into Kuroo’s waiting arms, his ankle absolutely doing him no favors.

Shit. Almost forgot about that part.

“Yeah, sit the hell down. We’re getting the trainer back, and you’re not getting on strip again for a while,” Kuroo sits Yaku down, Kai propping Yaku’s left leg on the rest of the bench.

“What? Kuroo, I swear I’m-” a shock of pain soars in his leg, and Yaku is immediately shut up. “But what about shaking hands? Signing scores?”

Kai shook his head, ruffling Yaku’s hair much to his dismay. “I got that. You don’t move a muscle,” the vice-captain nods before heading to the referee to do all the sportsmanlike activities while Kuroo runs to get the athletic trainer. It leaves Yaku alone to gather his thoughts, trying to take his mind off the never-ending pain in his ankle.

What if he’s out for longer because he pushed himself too hard?

What if he hadn’t, and they had lost? What if this was the deciding match before their win-loss record became too low and they were out of the running for nationals?

What if when he returns, he won’t be able to fence the same way he did before?

“Um… Yaku?”

Yaku blinks a few times before adjusting the ice on his ankle, looking around him to see the three players from Nohebi Academy surrounding him, Numai being the first to hold his hand out for a handshake which Yaku accepts. “Good game, hope the ankle is not too bad. I just came back from an injury; I know how much it sucks.”

“Yeah, thanks. Good game,” Yaku is typically the much more talkative one, but now, he can hardly muster the energy to do anything but briefly compliment his opponents and shake their hands before laying down across the bench, waiting for Kuroo to return, with Kai to keep him company.

He even shook Daishou’s hand. That really took a lot out of him.

“You really pushed yourself there, didn’t you?” Kai comments, sitting on the bench beside Yaku, taking an absentminded swig from his water bottle. Post-match fatigue was no joke, but that’s just Yaku overthinking it again. “We would’ve found someone to sub you in. I’m sure Yamamoto would’ve jumped at the idea of being on the main lineup and delivered…” he pauses. “Or were you overthinking everything again?”

Yaku’s face lifts up at the thought, glancing at Kai who had this all-knowing soft smile only someone like Kai could wear. “How did you…”

“It’s obvious. Both you and Kuroo were stressed out of your minds about this. Him more outwardly than you, but it’s pretty easy to see,” he chuckles, handing Yaku his water bottle.

“This means everything to him… and to me. I haven’t been doing the greatest at practice, I wanted to redeem myself!” Yaku sighs, bringing his hand to try and ease the pain in his ankle. “I’m usually so reliable, last week really shook me up. And now?”

“You like fencing, right?”

“Yeah! Of course!”

“Then remember that part first. It’s a sport, stop overthinking it. Sure, there are all the strategies, but you’re just a good fencer. It’ll get you out of your head,” Kai smiles, Yaku absentmindedly nodding at the advice before seeing Kuroo start to make his way back.

“Yaku! How are you doing, buddy? Hanging in there?” Kuroo jumps up from the side, the same athletic trainer from earlier arriving.

“Hanging in there is one way to put it.”

The trainer shoos the two other members of the varsity lineup to the side, repeating the same process as earlier in the day. “I want you to be honest this time when I ask if it hurts, okay?” She sighs, rather exasperated. If Yaku was not going to before, the glares from Kuroo and Kai are enough to keep him honest. The trainer moves her hands to the middle of the ankle, before Yaku immediately winces at the touch. “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s pretty swollen, definitely a sprain. I’m going to wrap it up for you, and I’m sure your lovely teammates can help with your stuff and making sure you don’t put any weight on that for a while.”

Yaku feels his heart sink. No weight on it, how is he supposed to train? “Any? But…”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll make sure he stays off of it. Right, Kai?” Kuroo smiles and Kai nods, the trainer finishing the wrap and taking the ice away, giving a quick smile to the three of them before leaving them be.

“Guys, I swear I’m okay,” Yaku gives a nervous laughter, moving his foot down to the ground and attempting to get up, immediately being stopped by Kuroo.

Kuroo shakes his head, looking at how the rest of their team is doing at the meet. “No, Yaku. You’re deflecting. It’s fine, stop overthinking it. You’ll be back before you know it. If that’s not before next competition, that’s okay too. We’ll manage.”

Yaku looks at the sincere look from Kai, many nods of agreement from Kuroo, and lifts his leg back up to be elevated and lays against the bench. He brings his hand to cover his face as silent tears start to pour. “Yaku? Are you okay?” Kai asks.

“Of course I am! It’s just, the gym lights are bright. Pollen making my eyes water,” he chuckles, though the words come out in between sobs. Yaku can’t even tell why he is crying: if it’s the pain in his ankle, the constant overthinking, or everything finally settling in, and he did not actually fail his team.

He’ll be okay.

A few minutes go by and Yaku finally composes himself, sitting up and seeing the younger squad across the gym. He’s trying to get a good look at the strip, but there are too many people in the way and it’s hard to see from his current spot. “Guys, can we go watch the second year’s match?” Yaku asks, gesturing to his wrapped ankle.

Kuroo immediately grins, but instead of sling Yaku’s arms over his shoulder like expected, he goes down and swoops and Yaku up into his arms, carrying him easily. “Oh my gosh, Kuroo! What are you doing?” Yaku shouts, giving annoyed glances to both him and Kai, who is bursting with laughter on the sides.

“The trainer said no weight on it, I’m just doing my job and making sure of it,” Kuroo shrugs, carrying Yaku across the gym with Kai close behind, giggling relentlessly. “Just stop and relax. Who’s going to judge?”

Yaku huffed, but his shoulders sank, and he finally relaxed. Kuroo sat him down on the bleachers closer to where Kenma, Fukunaga, and Yamamoto were fencing. For the first time in a while, he wasn’t overthinking anything.

Maybe a break doesn’t sound too bad-

“Fuck. Guys, I think you actually have to prepare my funeral,” Kuroo exclaims slightly dramatically, curling up and covering his face. “I think I’m going to die.”

“Kuroo?” Kai turns at the captain’s antics. “What are you even talking about?”

“The one meet where Coach Nekomata leaves me in charge, our best player gets injured… and continues on an injury! On my watch! He’s going to kill me!” Kuroo shouts, groaning at the prospect.

“Yeah… shit. My bad, you’re actually screwed,” Yaku jokes, much to the annoyance of Kuroo.

“Not helping!” Kuroo huffs, leaving the other two laughing in the middle of the bout, Yaku’s smile going from ear to ear.

For real this time, maybe a break doesn’t sound too bad.

#Lili's fanfictions #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #fanfiction #yaku morisuke #haikyuu yaku #haikyuu kuroo #kuroo tetsuro #fluff #sprainedankle #fencing #different sport #haikyuu kai #nekoma

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blindrapture · 3 months

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it's time for jordan's little media review corner

I finally got around to watching season 3 of True Detective. it was surprisingly rough to get through. like, *emotionally*. something about watching a man, lost in his own head, detaching from his loved ones as he continues to obsess over a non-profitable project. real hard to stomach, and this show asked me to stomach that for about six or seven hours.

I note that this season made a conscious choice to feel more like season 1-- rural America, country accents, moody well-spoken men with conflicting views on the proper procedure for detective work. I get it, certainly. True Detective is, in every season, every episode, every scene, *drunk* off of a certain slow-paced self-reflexive vibe that lends itself well to this kind of plot. and, after having rewatched the black sheep season 2 recently, I.. yeah, I was glad to be back to a two-man protagonist group questioning the darkness at the heart of a community. but season 3 lost something of a.. uniqueness of place. seasons 1 and 3 are kinda going for similar vibes, with their differences of plot and theme (which, trust me, are delicious differences). season 2 *benefitted* from being a completely different thing, a dark city modern film noir, seedy and corrupt with a complex intertwining cast. where season 2 got weird was.. well, for me at least, it was only the very last episode. it lasted forever while giving too much plot too quick. (and it killed characters I didn't want to see killed. :c when I finished watching season 2, I just felt legitimately depressed.) season 2 needed more episodes. I would have liked to see how the plot would have felt if the showrunner was given more time.

season 3 might have overcorrected. and it might have been, in some ways, an inversion of season 2 for me. I would finish watching each damn episode feeling legitimately depressed, I mean fucking *bummed out*, genuinely questioning if I wanted to watch another, genuinely wondering if I ought to just give up, sell these DVDs, do I even like this show? I like a lot about this season, I think the plot is legitimately clever, but it felt like it was made by someone who just... likes this plot for the opposite reasons I do, or something. season 2.. *did not* make me feel that way. but I say 3 is an inversion of 2 because, pushing through it, treating this like it's just a literary challenge, a Hard Book to get through, I did get to the final episode, and it paid off. it was worth it. it felt *right*. I still think it, uh, lasted a long time (pretty sure these DVDs have extended finales), could have ended about 20 or 30 minutes early, but these were *sweet* scenes, this was *uplifting*, this ending made me cry. so season 2 was my kind of thing but then had a depressing last episode that was strangely slow-paced. season 3 was all depressing and slow-paced but then had a last episode that was my kind of thing.

just, man, True Detective is a weird show. I can recommend it to people who want a good detective story, a good murder mystery, but it's like. it's anthology, each season is completely separate, and. season 1 has always been the only season that I can *absolutely* recommend. they caught lightning there. maybe it was the cast. matthew freaking mcconaughey as a modern american redneck sherlock holmes. woody harrelson as the straight-man watson (and surprisingly good at it, the chemistry between the two makes me laugh out loud). a murder mystery across two decades that gets tied up with The King in Yellow and a profound ending. and it tells the whole story in only 8 episodes. like, holy fuck, okay, that's intoxicating, that is a *good* season. I can recommend that to *anyone* who likes the sound of that.

but then, can I recommend the rest of the show? I don't know. I don't even know if I really *like* the rest of the show. the actors are always good. the plots are always clever. the music is always good too! and the opening sequence for each season is.. always a vibe, has not failed me. and if you are just, like, primed to always like a slow-burn no matter what, if you are just addicted to slow-paced TV for its own sake, you will *never* go wrong with this show. but there's just. something to it, man. sometimes the cinematography gets all the budget and the beat-to-beat writing takes a backseat, y'know? this is a show that loves to gild the lily. and that's much more appropriate in season 1 (where this show is a novelty), or season 2 (where there's so much plot and so many characters that gilding the lily is just *polite form* to help you keep track of what's going on). season 3 only has a few damn characters at any one time, it has to go out of its way to make the plot confusing, so the fact it still goes slow and gilds the lily means I'm.. *so* impatient.

all that being said.

loved the characters. loved wayne hays. mahershala ali, I had never heard of you, but, well, I have now. what an actor.

all that being said.

there's still a season 4. and it stars jodie. freaking. foster. and it's only six episodes. and it sounds *creepy*. and, yeah, I want to watch that.

#true detective

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chidoroki · 1 year

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182 Days of TPN - Day 130

Chapter 130: "Something to Report"

I love how easily Emma can now admit her feelings regarding the annihilation towards her family. From initially hiding her concerns, to opening up to Ray about them and finally admitting them to Norman himself and making her stance against the plan firm.. it's quite the improvement that she can talk freely about her choices without too much worry about how everyone else will react.

Probably the main reason why I believe that the hatred the GP resistance harbored towards the demons is more justified than the malice the Lambda crew feels. The poachers were all psycho and far from innocent, unlike those demons simply living in actual towns.

Definitely the best point to bring up in order to get the other thirteen escapees concerned, and I like how it's only them shown to react to the possibility.

I know it hasn't even been a full ten chapters yet, but it feels as if I haven't seen everyone else in ages. I suppose that's solely a me problem by going through the chapters on a day by day pace. (is Rossi raising his hand?? aww, precious boy has a question!)

She says it so proudly! And hearing her repeat Ray's advice to her makes me feel so soft. My boy has such intense glare though, as if he's just waiting to see if anyone is gonna really shut down her idea. Dude is giving y'all a warning to not challenge them after Emma's worked so hard to reach this decision.

Season two saw that comment of Ray's and said "alright, bet."

It's great that Sandy & Sonya recall that one brief moment with Nous mourning over Nouma, reminding us that even the real terrible demons do have actual feelings.

Getting the chance to see other people's reactions to this whole mess is definitely something. Gillian doesn't seem too thrilled to admit that last bit though. If I was in their place, I wouldn't know which side I'd be on at the start.

Oh Don, you wonderful supportive brother you. YES! These kinds of decisions is what Emma is best know for and no matter how risky they might be, the kids were able to come so far by following their highly determined and optimistic leader.

The advantage of being the main protagonist. Or disadvantage in this case. Take your pick.

Ahha.. wait til they find out Norman's life is actually in danger due to the Lambda experiments.

Mhhmm, can't say you're gonna escape with everyone when you let one of your besties go. Granted, they left the children four and younger behind but at least she made the promise to go back for them.

He said the thing again + double head pats.

Luckily for Gilda and everyone else, our girl keeps her promises. And remains quite honest throughout the series as well. (she may not tell the whole truth during the most crucial moment of the series but what can ya do.)

I laser focus on the GP trio every damn time I come across this panel without fail. Idc if they're just standing there, I love them.

You know Norman is so deep into the WM persona when he doesn't even bother to see RE off before they venture to the Seven Walls, like he knows how risky it would be to go there, if it even exists in the first place, and he just.. straight up lets 'em go without a proper goodbye.

Favorite panel/moment:

Big sis Paula is back with more hugs.

But more importantly, there's THIS. Ray calling her crazy and no one disagrees. Also, his comment about him not being able to see her pov is sorta foreshadowing to the Seven Walls and how Emma is able to meet the demon god and not him. Sure Ray might come to understand Emma's reasoning and how her mind works eventually, but not at first, hence why he was booted out of the Seven Walls.

Plus, I adore that face of hers. I'm very happy such a tiny detail made it into the anime as well.

I also.. forgot to cross check the anime with this chapter until now. Um, yeah, some stuff remains the same of course. Tons of people missing obviously. How RE invite Don & Gilda to help with their search of Sonju & Mujika is kinda reminiscent of their conversation from ch99 actually with them being thankful to finally help with something. The addition of Emma & Gilda's headbutt is cute.

I know this is already hella long and parts of this conversation don't even happen within the chapter (or at all in the manga) but screw it, my boy looks so handsome here.

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

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furfrag · 2 months

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I'ma just complain to myself here about Dawntrail. If anyone sees it then dw no spoilers.

The whole thing just kinda stinks of budget cuts. The messed up thing is that I can't tell if it's because of the awful state of the gaming industry or if Square has decided to take FFXIV's recent boom and abuse its fan's trust, much alike Blizz has been doing for 15+ years.

The whole point of the expac was "adventure" but I don't feel like I experienced that at all, at least no more than you do in any other previous expac. It was such a huge selling point though so......????? Where is it? Where is the adventure? Mundane and slow paced MSQ doesn't equal adventure. I mean, sure, we got a lot of exposition and lore about the zones fed to us very directly, but that doesn't read as adventure to me? And tbh I'm not very creative so I can't really think what they could've done to make things feel more adventurous, but generally Square HAS been very innovative in the past; hell, I would say they've completely redesigned the genre of MMO, yet here we are with a VERY early season Naruto-esque result that just felt extremely unfulfilling. It wouldn't nearly be as much of an issue to me if they hadn't marketed adventure so much. Even our Island Sanctuary felt more alike adventure than what we got; or even the funky little expedition dungeons with the small choices in Endwalker. I forget what they're called. But yeah, I was kind of expecting exploring caves and lost civilizations, not picking up 5 bear arses for our apparent new protag.

A smaller thing I noticed is how few new soundtracks there were. I felt there was a lot of reused pieces from previous expacs. On its own it wouldn't have bothered me at all, but in conjuction with the rest of the expac it makes me anxious.

Then there's the story. Like I said, just kind of 2000s mainstream anime stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that can be pulled off really well but it didn't personally feel satisfying to me. Also, do we really need 9198282918 close ups of Wuk Lamat's face? I don't need to see close ups of her face and change of expression a thousand times to discern the current atmosphere.

The story does harken back to Endwalker vibes right at the end, but the previous chunk is just agonising. I wouldn't have minded something much slower paced if it didn't feel so damn mundane. I was almost bored to tears.

All that said, there were things I did like. The inn in Tuli is gorgeous, and the new zones are beautiful. I loved that not only are the environments very much taken from and inspired by South America, but that the creatures and mobs are too. Some of the trials were pretty fun too; the first one did give the adventure vibe to a degree as well, so that was a huge plus.

But yeah. Idk. I'm just really worried. The moment FFXIV blew up I got paranoid that the fat cats at the top would begin pulling strings. I don't know if Dawntrail is a result of that or if the expac missed the mark due to other reasons. I just really hope it's a learning experience rather than a set standard now. Don't get me wrong - I would have loved a slow burn and adventurous/relaxing expac, I just did not feel like it was done the right way. Give me more Island Sanctuary. Give me more exploring ancient caves and cities. Give me brand new adventure log stuff to add species of animals and plants to. Don't give me talk to 5 people/collect 5 bear arses.

#ffxiv #dawntrail #wol #square enix #bleh #the whole msq i was gripping my knees and yelling at myself to be patient #the end was good and hard hitting but 95% of the story up til then just totally missed me #i really hope that we get more adventure with each patch

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dude1818 · 4 months

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Back to my Call of the Night liveblog. When I left off, the Mahiru/Kiku arc had finished with the two of them committing suicide together, which seemed pretty out of place in this story. That arc was about 50% longer than each of the first two, so either we finish with a mini arc or a really long dénouement. In either case, the pacing has been a little wack

Oh right, this d-bag. Particularly bad timing after all that

Appropriate response

Why is "dinner at a fancy restaurant" the most gremlin he's ever been?

Yeah, okay, closure arc

A blood bag will not stay good for ten years. Red Cross says whole blood has a shelf life of 42 days. Even though the point isn't for it to remain viable, you're still looking at months until it breaks down and isn't blood anymore, just dirty water

Oh dang, gremlin mode is diegetic?

Keeping this one XD

Incredible. No better way to ruin the mood than to realize the reason the date is going surprisingly well is because you're technically related

God damn it, Nazuna, I thought you learned this lesson at the end of season 1. Seeing you is how to make Ko feel better

"No way he's actually going to be at the vending machine this time, right? Rule of threes, gotta subvert it on the third time"

Double baited, amazing!

She's so cute 🥺

Ko, you're a menace

Oh no, poor baby 🥺

Huh. I thought her thralls were still human. I guess that wouldn't work since they're glamoured to love her. Actually, are they not glamoured in the first place? They're just freaks?

I remember seeing this panel in the tag when the chapter came out. I thought they were being domestic and having a board game night, not house hunting

Oxymoron of the century. I bet the issue is that as someone who was never human, she's actually more human than all the normal vampires

Nazuna doesn't drink ... wine. (I think she only drinks beer. Maybe she had sake once? I'm not sure if you put sake in a wine cellar)

All vampire live in the non-Euclidean Seinfeld apartment, apparently

QPR! QPR!

Yeah, I caught her catching Nazuna blushing last chapter. This is another point in favor of the double-human ending. I know that was in my predictions for the finale post, but I'll have to check what I said about it

Jeez, Nazuna, that's harsh. I can't think of a worse thing for a vampire to say when you offer them your blood

Oh, well then. I wasn't expecting her to just come out and say it already. ("Already," it's chapter 171)

At least I'm not the only one surprised XD Although I've been saying she's fallen in love with him since the end of season 1, she just didn't realize it yet

#call of the night #cotn #yofukashi no uta

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star-ocean-peahen · 2 years

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Fucking lady Din i hated the Crystalized finale

Not just the finale even the entire second half of the season. I just binge watched it and it SUUUUUUCKED

HORRIBLE pacing. What even was that. None of the plotlines felt aligned or in sync and everything felt like it was moving incredibly slowly. We spent a good quarter of the season in the invasion.

Idk what was up with the cinematography but it looked worse than usual?? Like there were so many shots of up close faces that......weren't doing anything that needed to be zoomed in on?

Garmadon's a hilarious smartass and I genuinely enjoyed his segments but holy moly I did not like his relationship with Lloyd. Garmadon seems to be regaining his humanity but he never remembers himself?? Like he acts WAY more like the Garmadon from the Lego Ninjago Movie than the show Garmadon, who was, may I remind you, literally defined by how he loved his son more than anything else. And then in his "redemption arc" they're all like "he's trying to learn compassion and care so that Lloyd will forgive him" WELL HE'S DOING A DAMN HORRIBLE JOB OF 1. SHOWING IT AND 2. ACTING AT ALL LIKE GARMADON TRYING TO LOVE HIS SON. Seriously the way he treated Lloyd was SO out of character. It makes total sense if he's a broken echo of the real Garmadon and so he treats Lloyd with indifference, but they're presenting Garmadon trying to learn compassion as becoming the same guy he was before he was resurrected, and BOY HOWDY THOSE ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE.

Speaking of which: Lloyd why are you being so fucking nice to everybody. He doesn't WANT to forgive his dad. So much of the resurrected Garmadon's character hinges on him being the exact OPPOSITE of the real Garmadon! THAT'S NOT HIS DAD AND HE ACTS LIKE HE KNOWS IT!!! But then he goes and acts like he's kinda getting his dad back even though Garmadon's been a tremendous asshole to him the whole time!! All Garmadon did was not kill a guy (like anyone is allowed to be killed anymore in this show lmao) and Lloyd is suddenly acting like he's made up for what he did?? To be clear I don't think redemption is obtained by doing penance to the people you've hurt, but Lloyd, character-wise, has no reason to treat Garmadon like he's worthy of his trust and love besides his desire to change.

Coming off of that, the show has been so bastardized by misguided "protect the children" principles that it's actively harming the story. Lloyd's the good guy, so he has to forgive and befriend everyone who realizes they're wrong, no matter what they've done to him. Remember, Garmadon disowned him. Harumi made it very clear that she wanted to psychologically torture him and would do ANYTHING to make him hurt. Any love that Lloyd had for these people HAS to be tainted by how much hurt there is in the relationship. But no, he's the protagonist, and protagonists of children's shows have to destroy themselves loving people who hate them and aren't even allowed to feel bad about it.

Also (I think I'll make a separate post about this) the fight scenes have gotten so boring now that they're not allowed to punch. When they're engaged in combat they only ever shoot, dodge, run, and hide. It makes the show feel incredibly pretend and shallow, because they're shying away from actual emotional investment and consequences.

Nya. My love. My darling. Why do you want your powers back. I thought you losing your powers and becoming Samurai X again meant you were rejecting the broken standards and refusing to push yourself to become something that was contrary to your actual character so you could reclaim your symbol of self-determination and independence??? Wtf that arc was literally show long why why why does she have to get her powers back???

UGGHGHGGHGHGHGHGHG HARUMI WHY. We already knew her motivations made no sense but if she's so motivated by vengeance and self-preservation why is she throwing her character aside for a guy that she, oh yeah, hates so much that she revived his dead father to kick his ass?? And if that specific motivation is lessened now because she wants darkness to win the balance or whatever crap that was then why is she so driven to serve the Overlord. Again, if it's self preservation, why the fuck is she so obsessed with Lloyd?? She makes literally no sense.

holy FUCK is the sexism in this show getting obvious. The more I watch the more I see it's literally everywhere. Nya tells the boys to stop using their special thingy so their engines don't overheat. They snark at her and don't listen. Lloyd tells them the same thing. THEY TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY. I am genuinely happy Nya's back in the Samurai X role because that really is where she shines, but NO ONE FUCKING LISTENS TO HER OR RECOGNIZES HER WORK UNLESS THEY THINK THEY NEED HER. Believe me, I love Jaya, but their relationship as it functions is still backwards. No one listens to the girls unless they're doing work for them. UGHGUGHGUGUGHGHGHG

I'm sorry to say it but the Pixane moments felt soulless. I love Pix she's best girl and it was genuinely amazing the way she was carting around Angwy Zane. Her expressions and voice convey so much and it's incredible. But the moment when she woke him up from the coma felt so lackluster compared to the moments they've shared in the past. It's like the writers don't know how to write interesting and healthy romantic relationships after they've gotten together OH WAIT

How dare you show me a four-headed dragon and pretend it's Ultra after you killed them. How fucking dare you show me the ninja reaching up to pet the individual elemental dragon heads and pretend that Ultra never existed.

Lloyd's Oni form FUCKING FSM that was underwhelming. He just looked like a shiny gold Garmadon. He should REALLY have had a dragon/oni hybrid form because that MAKES MORE FUCKING SENSE-

BECAUSE. I hate the angle they went with where the Oni are just pure evil. Yep. They hate everybody and want to destroy everything. Not even human, how gross is that?? Taking things apart, wow, that's so evil for a toy line that depends on that concept. Totally evil, for no reason. I think my idea is SO much better and would have made at least more sense than "you must embrace the inherently evil part of you to defeat evil and darkness personified".

You know what they should have done?? Introduced the idea that Oni aren't inherently evil. That breaking things down is essential to making things better. They keep spouting about the balance and stick yin and yang symbols everywhere but then turn around with the pointedly Western concept of light vs. darkness. Only by accepting the parts of him he's ashamed of and confronting his fears would Lloyd be able to access his dragon and Oni powers. Seriously, cowards, give us dragon/oni hybrid Lloyd. Let him confront his mixed heritage in the way the First Spinjitzu Master and his sons were never able to. HAVE HIM FIND THE FALSITIES OF THE PAST'S LEGACY AND DISMANTLE THEM.

Also the Oni should have bird wings instead of scaly ones because the Dragon Form has dragon wings and the Oni form has.......dragon wings. Fluffy jet-black bird wings. Come on.

THEY DIDN'T EVEN PLAY THE WEEKEND WHIP??? IN ITS FULL VERSION??? INSTEAD WE ENDED ON SALLY'S SONG WHICH IS ADORABLE BUT FELT LIKE THE CREDITS OF A DISNEY PRINCESS MOVIE AND NOT THE GOOD KIND???? i HEARD they had the Weekend Whip in there SOMEWHERE but I certainly didn't see it and I watched all the credits!!

WE HAD A BIG OLE SPEECH ABOUT HOW THE CORE FOUR CARED ABOUT EACH OTHER AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN CALL EACH OTHER BROTHERS??? Like I know they've eased up on that in the newer seasons but COME ON IS FOUND FAMILY TOO DEVIANT FOR KIDS NOW??????

when the dragon ninja are hugging they don't even wrap their wings around each other. lmao.

Okay here are some things I found cool:

THE FUCKING CHICKEN!!!!!! ITS CHICKEN!!!!! ITS THERE!!!!!

why why WHY does clutch powers still have the teapot of tyrahn. why were a bunch of boys planning to jump him for it. why

genuinely the elements of this season are great. i LIKE seeing Harumi and Garmadon and Misako and random crystal generals and corrupted weapons of spinjitzu and dragon transformed ninjas and Nya as Samurai X and the paperkids. I think this season has so many great plotline concepts, but I don't like the way they executed them.

#ninjago #ninjago crystalized #ninjago crystalized spoilers #crystalized spoilers #ninjago spoilers #crystalized salt #ninjago s16 spoilers

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hahahahahangst · 1 year

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Anyone who knows what love is (Be The Young 39)

TW: [suicidal thoughts, self h*rm, violence, s*xual assault]

Other tags: [sister fic, canon-level violence, dean is an asshole, angst]

All chapter titles are song titles, some of them translated from Italian songs. We start from the first season and make out way through the series. I will occasionally break canon✨ .

Summary: Emily Reed, born and raised in Portland, is preparing her admission papers for Stanford, medical school. Little does she know, her life is about to change forever.

"After reading this whole letter, call John Winchester. [...] He’s your real father."

A/N: We're getting to the end of the season!

MASTERLIST

Anyone who knows what love is

You can run around Even put me down Still I'll be there for you The world May think I'm foolish They can't see you Like I can

“Has any of you two been listening to anything I’ve said?” Asked Bobby. Dean was staring out of the window, Emily at the ceiling. Bobby had been talking for about ten minutes: she had not listened much, but enough to know what he’d been talking about.

“Yeah, we heard you.” She muttered.

“And?”

Emily and Dean looked at each other. Emily spoke first. “We’re not calling him.” She went back to staring at the ceiling. She ignored Bobby’s following phrase. However, she heard Dean’s.

“We are damn near kickoff for Armageddon, don't you think we got bigger fish at the moment?”

“I know you’re pissed-”

Emily cut him off. “That’s reductive.”

“Look-I’m not making apologies, but he’s your-”

“Don’t even try bringing blood into this mess.” Scoffed Emily.

“He’s your brother. And he’s drowning.”

“Bobby, we tried. We told him again and again- He wouldn’t listen.” Emily sat straighter to look at the old man.

“It’s too late.” Added Dean.

“Are you two out of your mind?” Asked Bobby, nervous. Dean paced on the other side of the room.

“No, damnit!” He turned around. “No. We gotta face the facts.” He sighed. “Sam never wanted part of this family. He hated this life growing up. Ran away to Stanford first chance he got. Now it's like déjà vu all over again.” Dean sat on a chair that was lying next to him, sad. “Well, I am sick and tired of chasing him. Screw him, he can do what he wants.”

“You don't mean that.” Said Bobby.

“Bobby, you weren’t there, you didn’t see- He’s gone. He’s not Sam.” Explained Emily.

“If he ever was.” Exhaled Dean.

All of a sudden, Bobby kicked a table, making all its content fall on the floor. Emily, startled, stood up. Dean did the same.

“You stupid, stupid son of a bitch! Well, boo hoo, I am so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess!” Mocked the man. “Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make you feel good?! Bake you an apple pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!”

“That’s not how family works!” Answered Emily, upset. “And we told him- he walked out, he was choosing Ruby. He walked out, Bobby! He chose!”

“You know who you two sound like?” Asked Bobby. “John Winchester! Let me tell you something about your dad: he was a coward!”

“My dad was a lot of things, Bobby, but a coward?” Asked Dean. Emily groaned, exasperated.

“He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him.” Explained Bobby. “Well, that don't strike me as brave.”

“Bobby, I don’t give a fuck about what my dad did or didn’t do!” Yelled Emily. “What matters is that Sam is not himself anymore and he- HE CHOSE A FUCKING DEMON OVER US!” She repeated, accusatively pointing at Bobby.

“HE NEEDS HIS SIBLINGS!”

“HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN THEM IF HE WANTED TO!” With one final yell, Emily fell back on the couch. “But he didn’t.” She dried her face. “So now-” She cut herself off.

Dean glared at her. “Now we have to find a way to prevent the apocalypse.” He concluded. In a blink, Dean had disappeared. A couple of seconds later, as she was still processing, Ramiel appeared in the room, apparently in a hurry.

“Cazzo!” He yelled, looking around. “I’m too late, am I?”

”...were you looking for Dean?”

“Yes.” He recollected himself. Emily’s stomach contorted. Damn, he was hot. It seemed unfair to be that attractive in such an emergency.

“Well, he just disappeared.” Emily shook away her thoughts. “Let me guess- It was your people.”

“Oh, Emily, they’re not my people anymore. I’m on the run.” He explained, closing his jacket.

“Meaning?” The girl stood up and reached for her laptop.

“I rebelled, tesoro. I refused to follow their orders.” Said Ramiel.

“Well- Where are they keeping Dean?” Emily opened her laptop and placed it on her knees, looking at the angel. Ramiel didn’t answer. “Miele, I know you know. Just tell me.” Ramiel seemed to break a little when Emily used the nickname on him.

“Sì, sì, you’re right. I do know. But I don’t think it’s wise to go there.”

“Why?”

“Once we get in, they won’t let us out.” He exhaled.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Emily browsed to the phone company website on her laptop. “I’m not gonna sit here and watch the world burn. Ramiel, if we can’t get to Dean, then we need to get to Sam.”

“I don't know where he is. He's protected against my sight.”

Emily looked up at the angel. “If I tell you where he is, can you help me get there?” She asked. The angel seemed set back by her words, but was quick to answer.

“Anything.”

Emily spent the next several hours fighting with the phone company to get Sam’s phone and GPS turned on, to no avail.

“Damn it!” She threw her phone across the room. “I’ve literally run out of numbers to call. We’re not gonna find Sam like this!” She paced back and forth in the room.

Bobby entered the room holding a book. “What if we didn’t go to Sam, but we went directly to Lilith? He said he was close, right?”

“Yeah-” Emily stood straighter, realizing what book he was holding. “You’re right! We found her once with a tracking spell, right?”

“Exactly.” Bobby looked at Emily. “But kid, if you get there and Sam still has to arrive…“

“We’re all dead.” She exhaled and put her hands on her waist. She looked at Ramiel. He was leaning against a wall, distractingly looking at his cufflings. “It’s a risk we’ll have to take.” She touched the angel on his shoulder. He raised his gaze. “Are you in?” Asked Emily. Ramiel nodded and pushed himself away from the wall.

It was almost night again before the spell was ready. Emily was standing next to a window, looking out as if Dean was to pull into the backyard of Bobby’s at any moment. She tried calling him for what was probably the fortieth time. She left another voicemail.

“Dean, I don’t know if you are getting these, but- Wherever you are, me and Ramiel are going after Lilith. I’m gonna put an end to this, okay? Please call me- call me if you’re still alive, okay?” She flipped her phone close and leaned on the cold window glass. She felt someone’s presence behind her. “What, you eavesdropping on my phone calls now, Miele?”

“I’m an angel, I can hear through walls.” Emily, still looking out the window, felt Ramiel get closer and put his hands on her shoulder. They were weirdly warm to belong to a body which had probably died years prior. Ramiel ran his thumbs up and down on Emily’s shoulder.

“The spell is ready. Did you pack everything you need?” He asked. Emily looked over at her backpack, which laid on the floor, still packed with dirty clothes.

“No, but- it’s no use. You know we’ll probably die, right?” She turned towards him and sat on the ledge of the window. “Miele, why are you coming on this suicide mission with me?”

“I like you.” Shrugged Ramiel. “And I don’t want the apocalypse.”

Emily shook her head. “Like me, like me, or… just like me?” She joked. Ramiel looked at her, extremely confused. “Nevermind- you said the spell was ready, right?” The angel nodded and left the room. As he turned away, Emily checked his figure and shrugged, thinking that maybe, if they survived, some angel sex could have been fun.

Emily caught herself thinking about it a little too explicitly.

“I can’t believe I’m about to die and I’m thinking about sex.” She whispered to herself as she entered Bobby’s living room. The man looked at her.

“Pardon me?” He asked, trying to hide a smile.

“Nothing- the spell?” She said, awkwardly gesturing in front of her.

Bobby placed a map under a pendulum, then performed the spell. The pendulum started swinging and eventually stopped on a very precise location. Emily leaned over the table to see better.

“That’s…“ She squinted. “A random empty road in Kansas?” She tried looking closer.

“Well, I doubt Lilith is hiding in a roadhouse.” Said Bobby. “The spell should be precise to the street. Let’s take a closer look at that road.” Bobby turned around and fished another map from a box. He opened it in front of his and Emily and Ramiel walked behind the man to see. “Here.” Bobby pointed to the street. “There’s not much, a convent and a high school.”

“Well, it has to be either one of the other.” Emily walked to her laptop in the other room and brought it back to where the man and Ramiel were waiting. She typed in the name of the convent and started looking for news.

“Got it.” She smiled, proud of herself, after snooping around for a bit, hunched over the now dismantled spell. “In ‘72 the convent was abandoned after a priest killed eight nuns.” She glared at Bobby. “And get this-” She continued. “The priest said a demon named Azazel made him do it.”

“Well, that seems too much of a coincidence to not be the right place.”

Emily didn’t waste another second and stood up, hurriedly grabbing her backpack. Ramiel followed her. He was about to teleport her, but she stopped him. She walked back to Bobby and hugged him. “Thank you.” She said. “I’ll see you- at one point.” He patted her on the back. Emily gestured at Ramiel and in a blink, she was in another room.

Immediately, her mind was overwhelmed by Sam’s thoughts and feelings. She felt a mix of anger and fear. In front of her was Dean, trying to break down a large door, unsuccessfully. When she saw her, he stopped.

“What-” He started to say. She interrupted him immediately, hurrying towards the door.

“Yeah, what are you doing here, this is not safe- whatever, move!” With a hand gesture, she forced the door open.

”...even you have to admit…I'm- I'm awesome!” Ruby's voice said. Emily charged in the room, ready to fight Lilith, but she was too late.

Lilith’s body was already lifeless, slumped on the altar, blood dripping copiously out of it. When she looked back, Ramiel was standing in the middle of the door and Dean was a couple of steps further.

In front of her, instead, were Lilith’s body, Sam, who looked shocked and upset, and Ruby, who instead, was proudly looking around. It took Emily a moment to sort all the things in her brain.

Lilith, dead.

Sam, alive.

Dean, alive.

Ruby, alive.

Everything was alright, but one.

Emily used her powers to slam Ruby into a column.

“Wrong.” Said Emily, walking towards her. “You’re not awesome, you’re fucking dead.”

Emily, s- Sam’s voice echoed in Emily’s head, but she interrupted him by also slamming his body on a wall.

“NOT NOW, SAM! I’LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!” She let go of Sam’s body, who fell on the ground, struggling, before Emily turned towards Ruby again. The demon was giggling. “You think this is funny?”

“Hilarious.” She smirked. “You made my life so difficult, never keeping that trap shut, but in the end, I won.” She laughed. “I won, demon barbie.”

Emily heard the sound of Dean helping Sam up behind her. Trying not to roll her eyes at it, she kept talking. “Yeah?”

“Sure.” Ruby smiled, proud. “I knew I could not get through to you or Dean, but you know who can? Sam. Oh, he talked you right into trusting me!”

“You poisoned him.” Emily tightened her force, making Ruby wimper. “You turned him into a junkie.” She extracted the demon-killing knife from her jacket. “Last time, we let you walk, Ruby, but this time-”

“It doesn’t matter.” Ruby kept her smile. “It’s too late. He’s coming.” She nodded towards Lilith’s blood. It was slowly, but weirdly deliberately, moving into a circle.

“Oh Ruby.” Exhaled Emily. “I’ve been waiting for the moment I get to waste you since you first showed up.” She stabbed Ruby in her chest. The demon tried to scream, but no voice came out. “I don’t care if I’m too late.” Concluded Emily, extracting the knife. She let the body fall on the floor, lifeless, and took a step back. “Now.” She put the knife away and turned towards Sam, who was standing not too far away. He tried to speak, but Emily didn’t let him. “WHAT DID I TELL YOU, UH?!” She walked towards him. “YOU ARE A F-” Dean got a hold of her arms and stopped her. As she was about to cuss him as well, he pointed to Lilith’s blood.

“There’s no time. Let’s get out of here.” Emily turned to where Dean was pointing. Then, she looked for Ramiel, but he was nowhere to be found. The blood had completed the circle and was converging towards the middle, making another smaller circle. The moment the second circle was complete, light started to emanate from the middle of it, flooding the room.

That was it. Lucifer was rising.

“Come on!” Pleaded Dean, grabbing her by one side of her jacket and shoving her towards the door. Emily looked at him, then she looked at Sam. As light almost blinded her, she started running towards the door alongside Dean, but the light soon became too bright and she was overwhelmed by white.

#be the young

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atlasisnothere · 2 years

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I'm gonna say it: I think they should never have had to put in all of that set-up and rehashing of what happened in Boba Fett ep 5 .

Like, they really just said "cool we're gonna get Mando and Grogu to the *throne room* and in there is a disillusioned *Bo Katan* and then that's when we stop" as if that's meant to be a really satisfying start to the season. I know that recently there was that weird Jon Favrou lore drop about how the first 2 seasons took place over a couple of years, and they might be wanting to try and convey *time passing* in going to nevaro and going to the armorer and what have you, but this feels really off-kilter in a strange way.

From where I'm standing, they should have started the episode with Din already heading to Mandalore and Bo-Katan and gone from there. There's plenty of time to establish time skips, maybe even sprinkle it in to off-handed dialogue, maybe Din is in a call with Karga as he's approaching the planet and karga expresses how much he wants Din to see the refurbished town or whatever.

It annoys me as well that as much as streaming services have ruined the modern media consumption, larger properties have the space to utilize streaming culture. They treated this episode like we needed to be coddled and we needed to be retold all of the things that Din is aiming for this season, when they just completely ignored the incredible marketing opportunity to tell everyone to start their re-watch of the previous seasons, maybe even restructure some of the things on disney+ to put those Boba Fett episodes under the Mandalorian banner proper, and ignored how they could really lean into that aspect of how streaming as a whole works at its fundamentals. We didn't need to be re-told everything.

They could have generated so much more hype, but most importantly, could have given the writers and the rest of the creative team so much more time to really explore and have fun with the show if they just let them start from a point that actually matters to the story. Think about how it's going to be in future re-watches of the series as well, we as the audience right now know why this sort of thing makes a little bit of sense, there was a pandemic and nothing could be worked on for 2~ years, but going back later will make this episode look even worse.

Look, I know that there's probably a lot of intricate things do with contracts and episode orders and the like, especially with the disney overlords being as restrictive as they are, but they really did not need to have that entire episode be low-energy set-up, especially with how the previous seasons have ended. If anything, they should be ramping up the tension for the start of every season.

Something, something, artistic intent and the flow of a story, you get the gist of what I wanted to say.

(Let's try and ignore how those Boba Fett episodes should have been put-up as a mid-season-break bonus episode for The Mandalorian. We all know why this episode was messed up, and idk who was in charge of Boba Fett but they really put Mando's team through the ringer and it shows.)

((still love the show though, those moments with Grogu and Dad I mean Din are goddamn Delightful))

oh I 100% agree! the pacing of this ep was just weird and it felt very much like half of it was a recap of what we already knew. like if you're gonna sideline boba fett in his own damn show to set up this season, then why are we needing the same information fed to us again? like yeah, the armorer wants din to atone in the waters of mandalore. we knew that. mandalore is considered by most to be an uninhabitable wasteland. we knew that too. and yeah, the trip to nevarro felt unnecessary and pretty much like the writers were like 'hey, here's something to show that time has passed!' which is even further confusing the timeline. plus the stuff with IG-11? also felt unnecessary, and kind of led me to believe that the episode was going to centre around din attempting to fix him until we showed up on that planet with bo-katan. and then it just. ended there? it felt like everything and yet also nothing happened in that episode.

but no, I agree that the moments with din and grogu were adorable, especially with din teaching grogu about the ship and really cementing grogu's choice to be a mandalorian like his dad. I like that they kept that consistency around that choice and didn't backtrack it with din contemplating sending him back to a jedi again or anything like that to create another point of conflict (although I do find it funny that of all the things they needlessly recapped from those bobf eps, they didn't explain why grogu is back with din - like yeah, if you didn't watch bobf, we'll explain everything else to you again BUT why din went from tearfully bidding his son goodbye to once again carting him around the galaxy).

I'm hoping that things will pick up and get into the groove again with the next couple episodes, and I don't think that this episode was all bad, but I think it was definitely a drop in quality from the opening episodes of the first two seasons.

#thank u for your thoughts #i hand you back more like we are exchanging cool rocks on the playground #but yeah fingers crossed things get better from here #the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian s3

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lovecolibri · 2 years

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SaL anon here friend and wow, that episode was A LOT. I'm glad we got to see TayKay in her true form, though also glad we didn't see the final break-up this episode since the focus deserved to be on the incredible Hen & Chim friendship. They are the foundation of the 118 and while they've had bits (read: not enough) of their individual stories told this season, I'm really happy to see an episode so focused on their bond (though not gonna lie, that scene with them and Jonah at the end left me

feeling nauseous). Speaking of Jonah, love that the actor had a truly stand out performance while AK continues to "meh" audiences. Anyway also in focus us what feels like nearly the end of Eddie's healing arc, which again was beautiful to see. All the little tidbits we got from his childhood made me 😭😭😭, but the joy of seeing him say he was going to be better for himself was such a fantastic moment. Eddie really has come so far (also Ryan's performance has been amazing) and in a good position to support his future husband next season when Buck has his breakdown era. Other notable things this episode include the welcome lack of L and Bobby punching Jonah. I'm going to predict during his spiral next episode we see Eddie returning the advice Frank gave him when they talked about Afghanistan, particularly about blaming themselves on not seeing the danger when they were focused on healing others. Anyway if there are any complaints i want to mention it is not with the episode itself but with the fact that the entire TayKay and triangle storyline has been such a waste of time. TayKay never changed, we didn't need to know anything else about her for the breakup to work. Why have her crappy "truth is everything" plot, the vague attempt to give her a sympathetic backstory, the dumb cheating plot with her inconsistent characterisation when original recipe TayKay was enough to end BT? At least the event itself looks to be glorious!

Bestie, I am thriving today, though I have to admit to being a little surprised that a lot of people were less than pleased with the episode. I was just too caught up in the euphoria of Hen/Chim bestieism, tay kay’s true self being shown, almost NO L, and Eddie facing generational trauma and walking out of it with him and his dad wanting to do better, to be too concerned about anything else. I’ve got some issues today but nothing that makes this not still one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I’ve had in 5b. 🤷🏻‍♀️ So lets talk about it!!

Hen and Chim were literally at their BEST all episode! Aisha and Kenny are criminally underused and it’s been particularly glaring in this season with them choosing to write Kenny out while JLH was out, and the pacing this season being a mess so the mains did fuck all most of the time. But this episode had some BANGER moments for them! We got serious talk besties, we got joking besties, we got investigation besties (Chim being nervous about getting caught, PLEASE I want to kiss Kenny on the mouth for every single choice he made this episode), we got absolutely panicked Hen and Chim to the rescue even half dead (twice dead? twice revived?), and my favorite moment (aside from the juice pouch because GOD Kenny is adorable and perfect) was Chim calling himself the comic relief (which people often think he is and forget what an amazing and layered character Chim is) and Hen shutting that down and reminding him (and the audience) that he’s so much more than that. It was SO GOOD to have them back on my screen for most of the episode. Also, not for nothing, but the contrast to their best friend moments and the way they look at each other vs Buddie was...very loud.

As for the Jonah of it all, I was not expecting it to go as far as it did, but by that point I was just *vibrating* with Hen/Chim love and we knew they would be okay, so I made it through okay, but it being SO dark, SO quickly was unusual for the show in general but knowing KR had a hand it in and she was the one pushing the Jeffrey stuff I can’t say I’m too surprised 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I’ll take this storyline ANY DAY over that other one. I have also seen lots of people pointing out the pacing of the episode was weird which I can agree with, it just didn’t take me out of the joy of watching nearly like every second L is on my screen pulls me out and makes scenes nearly unwatchable 🤷🏻‍♀️ I do think if they were going to go that hard at the end, that we maybe should have had more scenes of him leading up to this episode. Not a lot, but maybe just a little bit more than what we got. I’m going to talk about pacing a little more later but I’m with you and also cackling about Bryce being basically ignored (though likely part of the “misdirect” but still. It was way more shady saying nothing about him and then just having him still around for some reason) while the hyped character and storyline has been SO BAD it was almost entirely cut 🤭

Bryce came out and delivered an incredible performance in this episode but also throughout 5b, being in the background and mostly likable before really letting Jonah’s true self shine, but I continue to be baffled at what both AK and MW are doing with their faces 90% of the time. I’ve never seen either of them in anything else so IDK if it’s just this show, but AK’s line delivery is SO WEIRD and she only had like 2 brief scenes this episode and both times I messaged someone specifically to ask what she was doing with her face in those brief moments because it was just so noticeably off. The blessed lack of L was nice, though both moments of hers still weren’t even needed because some rando who has never worked A shift asking Ravi what’s going on with Hen and Chim (who have to be a bit notorious even within the 118 if even other houses know about them) and Ravi saying it’s better not to ask would have made more sense than someone who has been working with them constantly for months 🙄 But it was far less than what I was bracing for. I’m still pissed about her presence taking me out of the joy and feeling of May Day, so I was happy to be spared here, and I refuse to think about the finale just yet.

And then we have MW and her delivery which is...glaringly bad when you see it in gifsets with other characters from this episode. Her “serial killer” and “I can do something” lines were just so bad, but BOY is it nice to get back to the show acknowledging through other characters, especially Buck, how deeply awful she is! I have only half-watched most of her scenes since 4x14 because I was so sick of what they were trying (and failing) to do with her, but this felt so much like 2x06 that I was just eating it up with a spoon. Go girl! Be the Huge Wrench in your own relationship! But I’m with you, this makes the whole L thing look even MORE pointless which I thought wasn’t possible! We knew it always needed to come down to this, that she’s a terrible person and Buck should never have been with her, but did we need to drag it out this long only to be told that she hasn’t really changed and this has all just been a waste of time? Several people have pointed out that this feels like a storyline that was supposed to be in 5a but got pushed and I could buy that. They had to change her personality every 5 minutes and drag Buck down with her just to keep this relationship on life support long enough to make it to the end of the season, only to end with zero outside influence or interference either from L or Buck “spiraling” because his family is missing. At least it looks like we’ll be getting the breakup Buck deserves to have, so fingers crossed they follow through on that! (also “ original recipe TayKay “ please I am crying! 🤣🤣🤣)

Okay this is already entirely too long BUT as much as the pacing was weird and Eddie’s storyline didn’t really fit in this particular episode tone-wise (this would have been a good 2-parter) it was SO GOOD and pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. I love how 911 addresses generational trauma, and Eddie may have stirred stuff up, but he didn’t shut down! He not only let those angry feelings out, but he let himself be vulnerable and at least start talking it out with his dad. And surprise! He found out his dad felt a lot of the same things he himself felt about missing out on time with their kids and they both want to do better! I LOVE this for him. Adult parent/child relationships are almost always complicated because you still feel those childhood wounds and hurt, but you’ve lived enough to know that they’re just people! No two situations are exactly alike and not every parent/child relationship can or should be salvaged, but I like the direction they took with Eddie’s story. It’s not all fixed or all better, but Eddie is really taking what he learned in therapy to heart and it’s helping him so much. Look at him! He looks SO MUCH better and freer already!

This really is too long but quick miscellaneous things

It was weird not seeing Chris but it was likely episode contract related, and we at least knew where he was at all times

Very weird there was no Madney scene at the hospital but JLH just had a baby and the show working around her schedule as a new mom is a good thing!

SHIRTLESS CHIM!,

Bobby decking Jonah, and Athena having to act like she wasn’t about to do the same thing, and sweetly icing his hand for him

Karen being the smartest person in the room as always

Uncle!Buck, ADHD!Buck (the dinosaur! 😭😭😭 I want to smoosh his little cheeks), Hoodie!Buck, Husband!Buck just hanging around watching Eddie pack so Eddie has a sounding board for his worries, Angry!Buck (I am having impure thoughts) just...BUCK.

“I need a hero” being THE music choice of the episode

#my sweet nonnie friends #sleeping at last anon #911 #911 spoilers #hen x chim bestieism era DELIVERED #the usual suspects #anti taylor kelly #anti lucy donato #anti bucktaylor #anti bucklucy #IDC what anyone says this was the most fun i've had watching an episode in a WHILE #5b has had some standout moments #but for me the tay kay/L drama and buck spending most of his time dealing with that #really drug everything down and made it not so fun to watch #especially because we weren't getting a lot for anyone else either aside from eddie #chim has barely been in this season and him getting to shine AND have fun was delightful #kenny and aisha had BLAST and you could tell #yeah the pacing was off but the pacing for the whole damn season has been off #so naturally it's still affecting everything because the season as a whole was poorly planned and structured #and outside the arcs set up season 4 with eddie and maddie everyone has just kinda been...there all season #but we got to see them DOING things this episode and that was a win for me!

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loove-persevering · 2 years

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Grand Gesture (Steve Harrington x reader!) S4 SPOILERS!

Description: REQUEST! Steve Harrington x Reader where the reader is seeing how close Nancy and Steve are and the looks they give. When the Reader goes to Eddie Steve gets confused and a little jealous because he actually has feelings for her. It is a fem reader x Steve as that's how I normally write and it wasn't in the request!

NOTE*** This DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS for season 4 the ENTIRE season! If you do not want to see a spoiler DO NOT read. I also tried to be as neutral as I could in the writing with trying not to use descriptions of appearance. If I slipped up at any point I sincerely apologize!

_____

‘’I mean it’s like he doesn’t even care that I am around,’’ You say, flinging your hands in the air. ‘’I may as well be nothing compared to her, I try so hard to get him to notice me and all he does is play this game with Nancy.’’ You tell Eddie. ‘’Like am I not good enough?’’ You ask him completely laying out your feelings.

Eddie and you had history but not the romantic kind. You used to live right next to each other and would hangout from time to time when you were still in highschool. He would try to explain D&D to you but you would never fully comprehend that game. When Max told you about Eddie being with Chrissy the night she died you knew he was innocent, you knew enough about Eddie to know he could never do such a thing.

‘’You’re great Y/N,’’ Eddie assures you.

‘’He’s been giving me such mixed signals, when Nancy isn’t around I truly think he likes me and has feelings for me but with all this happening it’s like whenever she is around I am like-It’s like he doesn’t even see me.’’ You tell him. ‘’I make it pretty damn obvious that I like him too,’’ You tell him. ‘’Am I talking too much do you want to talk about, well uh your situation?’’ You ask gesturing to the boat house you were in.

‘’Yeah I know you do,’’ Eddie says teasingly. ‘’And not really, kinda nice to get it off my mind for a bit.’’

You glare at him, ‘’Hey you said I could talk to you, you’re not suppose to judge me while I do it.’’ You tell him and begin to pace around again. ‘’I mean what else can I do?’’ You ask him. ‘’Like how can I compete with Nancy Wheeler?’’

‘’You don’t compete with her,’’ Eddie says to you. You were confused an opened your mouth to yell at him that he was being absurd but he beat you to it holding a finger up to you, ‘’Here me out, you and Nancy Wheeler…’’He pauses, ‘’Two different ballparks.’’ He says bringing his hands up crossing them over one another. ‘’Think about you and Nancy what do you have in common besides this,’’ He says waving his hands all over the place, ‘’Whole thing.’’

You cross your arms over your chest trying to think about what he was asking. You and Nancy were completely different. ‘’I don’t know,’’ You admitted to him.

‘’Steve has already dated Nancy right?’’ Eddie asks and you nod. ‘’And she left him for the Byers kid right?’’ He asks.

‘’Jonathan yes,’’ You answer by clarifying the name.

‘’So there are unresolved feelings, he doesn’t know what could’ve happened had they stayed together.’’ He tells you. ‘’So you just need to show him that you are the better option.’’

You groan your head falling back in response, ‘’But I do Eddie!’’ You say walking over to him, ‘’I literally do everything I can to get that boy's attention, I take extra shifts for him, I clean the bathrooms at work,’’ You pause. ‘’Both bathrooms,’’ You emphasized to him. ‘’Both.’’

‘’Have you ever done anything with him outside of work?’’ He asks you.

‘’Well no,’’ You tell him and he gives you a look, ‘’But we did last night.’’ You tell him. ‘’When we came here and found you.’’ You tell him.

‘’So the first time you hangout outside of work is when you go to hunt the accused town killer?’’ He asks, ‘’Not exactly an environment for a budding romance’’ He gestures around to the dirty boathouse. ‘’Let me tell you exactly what you need,’’ Eddie says, pointing his finger at you, ‘’A grand gesture.’’

You sit down in the nearby stool and rest your elbows back against the counter watching Eddie, ‘’A grand gesture? How do I even do that?’’ You ask him.

Eddie gestures for you to come closer to him, you groan getting up walking over to him. When you finally step in front of him he grabs both sides of your arms and stares at you straight in the eye as he says it, ‘’You look that son of a bitch straight in the face,’’ He begins to say and you begin to laugh breaking eye contact with him, ‘’Straight in the face Y/N!’’ He tells you to shake your arms only to make you laugh more. ‘’And then you-’’ He begins to say but he’s cut off by the door slamming open, startling you both.

Dustin walked in first bags in his hands as he looked to where you and Eddie stood, everyone else followed in just after him and you noticed the look of shock on Steve’s face as he saw Eddie with his hands gripping the sides of your arms, both of you standing pretty close to one another. Eddie immediately drops his hands against his denim jeans. ‘’Delivery Service!’’ Dustin says cheerfully.

‘’Are we uh-interrupting?’’ Steve asks his eyes specifically focused on you, he glances at Eddie a moment after.

‘’No!’’ You and Eddie both yell simultaneously. ‘’No we were just talking,’’ You explain walking over to Steve.

‘’About what?’’ Robin asks, giving you an amused look.

‘’Ya know, stuff.’’ You say realizing how much of an idiot you sounded like. As Dustin walked over to Eddie opening the grocery bag you found yourself standing next to Steve. ‘’Hey,’’ You say simply, your fingers intertwining behind your back.

He nods his head, ‘’Hey,’’ He says simply. You purse your lips unsure of what to say next watching Eddie and Dustin exchange words over one of the things Dustin got him to eat. ‘’I went to your house this morning to pick you up, your mom said you left already?’’ He asks you.

You turn your head to him shocked by what he had said, ‘’You went to my house?’’ You ask him and he nods, ‘’And talked to my mom?’’ He nods again. ‘’I have a car, you know?’’ You tell him.

He shakes his head acknowledging the fact, ‘’I know, I know.’’ He pauses. ‘’I just thought we could ride together.’’ He tells you. You nod your head accepting that he had wanted to actually pick you up first and talk with you. ‘’Your mom was really nice.’’ He mentions it to you.

You roll your eyes at him, ‘’Yeah she probably said something embarrassing about me didn’t she?’’ You ask resting your hand on your hip staring up at him.

‘’No,’’ He says a sort of mischievous smile on his face, ‘’She didn’t say a thing,’’ He says but you could tell he was lying out of his ass with the smile on his face. He takes off walking over toward everyone else who was sitting around Eddie who was completely submerged in the food he was eating.

‘’Steve!’’ You yell at him jokingly wanting to know exactly what your mother had said.

Before you could say anything else to Steve, Dustin interrupted. ‘’Alright Eddie do you wanna hear good news or bad news first?’’

‘’Bad news, always bad news first.’’ He says taking his hand and scooping up another handful of honey comb cereal.

‘’Well we tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you. Also they’re pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.’’ Dustin tells him.

Max speaks up next, ‘’Like a 100% kind of convinced.’’ She tells him.

‘’And the good news?’’ Eddie asks.

‘’Your name hasn’t gone public yet,’’ Robin tells him. ‘’But if we found out about you, it’s only a matter of time before others do.’’ It was true, it wasn’t going to be that hard and all your calls all over town to find him probably didn’t help. ‘’And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow minded mother is gonna be gunning for you.’’ She admits to him.

‘’Hunt the freak, right?’’ Eddie points out.

‘’So before that happens we need to find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence,’’ Dustin says as if it was no big deal.

It was only a few seconds later after Steve had explained to Eddie that El was a girl who normally helped us when things came up in Hawkins that the police sirens got closer. ‘’Get under the tarp!’’ You yell to Eddie pointing at it, ‘’Tarp!’’ You tell him. Eddie quickly pulls it over him sinking into the bottom of the boat pulling the tarp over him.

With everyone else you ran over to the windows looking outside, they completely ignored the gravel driveway you had anticipated them coming down zooming down the street to wherever else. It was only a few second later two more cars came down the same road, ‘’Why would there be so many cop cars now?’’ You ask.

‘’Another murder.’’ Robin says.

___________

‘’Woah, woah Nance. Nance!’’ You hear Steve call out pausing as you open the car door. ‘’Where you going?’’ He asks her.

She turns around to face the rest of you, ‘’There’s just something I wanna check out first.’’ She says vaguely.

‘’Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?’’ Dustin asks. You all look at Nancy expectantly waiting for her to tell you exactly what she was heading off to do especially with whatever this thing was going around killing people.

‘’I don’t wanna waste your time. It’s a real shot in the dark.’’ She says.

‘’Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind?’’ Steve asked, sounding bewildered she would even try and leave the group alone. ‘’Flying solo with this Vecna on the loose? No it’s too dangerous. You need- You need someone to-’’ He begins to say and you watch him expectantly becoming more hopeless the more he talked with Nancy.

Turning around to you Steve takes his keys throwing them to you, you fumble as they hit your hand confused as to what was happening. ‘’I’ll stick with Nance.’’ He says and it felt like a punch in the gut. ‘’Take the car, check out that shrink.’’ He says staring straight at you.

‘’You want me-’’ You pause. ‘’To drive? Steve I don’t-’’ You start to say but Max cuts you off.

‘’I can drive!’’ She says casually.

Steve had an immediate reaction, ‘’No, never again. Please anybody but you, no.’’ He says pointing at her.

Robin looks back at you and so does Dustin. Both of them noticed how flustered you were by the situation. Why would Steve want to stick with Nancy so willingly? ‘’This is ridiculous.’’ Robin says, grabbing the keys from your hands and walking over to Steve putting them back in his. ‘’We will stick together and you four stick together, Unless you think we can’t handle that?’’ Robin asks Steve.

You watch as Steve and Nancy glance at one another as if they were both slightly disappointed that they couldn’t do whatever it is she needed to do together. ‘’You just gonna stand there and gawk?’’ Dustin says to Steve as he watches them both walk away.

Steve groans turning back to Dustin, ‘’Shut up.’’ He says and you just wait at the passenger side door unsure of what to do next. ‘’Shut up and get in the car.’’ Steve says simply.

‘’What was that?’’ You ask him as he sits down in the driver's seat. He looks over at you confused.

‘’Nothing?’’ He says defensively. ‘’It was nothing-’’ He explains.

You don’t bother acknowledging him, you just turn your head to the road putting on your seatbelt. You knew you weren’t the only one thinking Steve was being weird around Nancy but you weren’t sure how much more you could stand to watch.

____________

Abandoned houses weren’t creepy. Abandoned houses weren’t creepy. That was what you kept repeating to yourself walking around the old Creel house. It was something about this house that just made you on edge, the story behind it was just eerie.

Everyone for the majority split up but you stuck with Robin not wanting to be alone in the house, ‘’This place is cobwebs galore.’’ You tell her ducking under another one, ‘’This house probably used to be so beautiful.’’ You say running your hand along a wooden piece of furniture, the dirt sticking to your hand, you quickly wipe it off on your jacket.

‘’Yeah,’’ She says, turning her flashlight up toward the ceiling, taking in all the cobwebs above. For a moment you and Robin stay in one of the rooms upstairs, both of you inspecting different items trying to find anything that could help you. ‘’You okay?’’ Robin asks you shining her light at you.

You shrug your shoulders, ‘’Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?’’ You ask her. She gives you a knowing look, ‘’I’m fine really he can be with who ever-’’ You begin to tell her but the sound of breaking glass and a cry aloud made you both stop your conversation. You look to one another and then both head to the door walking in the hallway.

Steve and Nancy stood in the hallway upstairs, she had her hands pulling out cobwebs from Steve’s hair. ‘’Don’t go in there.’’ He tells you and Robin both. You nod still staring at Nancy picking the webs out.

‘’If there's a spider in there you’re never gonna find it. Not till it lays eggs and the babies spill out.’’ Robin says so casually as she walks past them just a few feet behind her.

‘’What’s wrong with you? Steve says not missing a beat. You walk next to Steve making eye contact with him before quickly breaking it. ‘’Robin, seriously.’’ Steve says. ‘’She’s got problems,’’ He says, referring to her.

Their voices get quieter but you can still hear them in the next room. You hear the conversation between him and Nancy as he assures her that he and Robin are just friends, and then she asks him about you and he says the same thing. ‘’We just hangout at work and I’ve known her for a while.’’ He says.

You could see how close they were from in the room you and Robin had just walked into. ‘’Y/N.’’ Robin says, calling out to you. You look at her humming in response, ‘’You’re staring,’’ She says her voice hushed. You glance back up at them and then back to her muttering an apology.

‘’I think I am gonna head out-’’ You tell her. She looks up at you immediately. ‘’My mom- she’s gonna be worried if I’m not home.’’ You admit. It wasn’t completely a lie but it also wasn’t completely the truth. ‘’Plus I might swing by to give Eddie some food.’’ You admit to her and she nods.

‘’What’s going on?’’ Steve says walking in the room.

You glance up at him, he had a worried expression on his face looking from you to Robin. ‘’I’m gonna go home.’’ You tell him. ‘’My mom, she'll be worried.’’ You tell him. ‘’And I was gonna bring Eddie dinner.’’

‘’Oh,’’ Steve says. ‘’Well- you shouldn’t- How are you gonna get home?’’ He asks.

‘’Well my cars outside- I met you here remember?’’ You ask him. You had gone home last night to get your car then went and stayed at the Wheeler house all night helping keep watch of Max. ‘’It’s not that far of a drive.’’ You tell him walking toward the doorway, ‘’I’ll just see you guys tomorrow?’’ You ask and Robin and Nancy both nod.

When you turn to leave an arm catches your wrist gently. ‘’Be careful going home,’’ Steve tells you. ‘’Just go straight there, don’t make any stops.’’ He sounds serious.

‘’Aye aye Captain,’’ You say to him. He gives you a half hearted smile but he still looked as if he was worried.

You did exactly what Steve said you went home and didn’t stop. You ate dinner with your mom and after she fell asleep tired from her shift at work you slid up the window in your room with a plate in hand as you speed walked to your car. You put the plate in the passenger seat, throwing your backpack which had a big blanket for Eddie in the back of the car. You were careful to not turn on your light when you pulled out of the driveway to your house scared the lights would wake your mom up.

It wasn’t a long drive to the boat house, when you pulled onto the gravel road you noticed an unfamiliar car parked outside. You parked off to the side near the trees not exactly next to the car but still close enough in case you needed to get out quickly. Noticing there was nobody around, you warily got out of the car making your way to the boathouse whose door was wide open. ‘’Eddie?’’ You whisper out into the open. ‘’Eddie it’s Y/N.’’

As you were about to step in you felt a hand clasp around your mouth preventing you from yelling, you thrashed against the body realizing they were soaking wet. ‘’Shh,’’ the voice says, trying to calm you down. ‘’Shhh.’’ You finally push yourself away from the body with all your strength turning around to see a bewildered Eddie, his eyes wide with panic. You were about to say something but he again put his hand over your mouth stepping closer to you, he shook his head at you taking his other hand and raising it telling you to be quiet. ‘’Not here,’’ He says just barely a whisper and you nod. He takes your hand and pulls you with him through the dark woods.

_____________

Out of all the things that had happened in the past few years there was a lot of scary shit. But seeing Y/N’s car parked at the boathouse with cops surrounding it was one of the scariest feelings for Steve. Steve listened closely, holding his breath practically the entire time that the cops made their statement, they had found a body. A body that could be Y/N’s. Steve got as close as he could to hear the statement, ‘’Patrick Mckinney.’’ The officer said. A wave of relief flooded knowing it wasn’t you. ‘’We found a vehicle belonging to Y/N Y/L/N. Right now the reason is unknown as to why she was here but we have not found her and police are actively searching for her as we speak.’’ He says. ‘’We are doing everything we can to find her and bring her home safely.’’

‘’We have also identified a person of interest. Eddie Munson.’’ He announces. ‘’Anyone with any information should please come forward.’’

Steve couldn’t handle what they were saying anymore he walked away putting a hand over his eyes as he could feel the tears coming on. He should’ve checked on her last night, he should’ve drove by and seen if she was home when they left the creel house. He walked away crouching on the gravel road before him holding his hand in his head unsure of how he should feel.

‘’Dustin?’’ A voice calls out through the walkie. ‘’Can you hear me? Wheeler?’’ Steve recognized the voice as Eddie.

Dustin fumbles with the walkie pulling it off his back pack. Steve stands up walking over to where Dustin was. ‘’Eddie holy shit!’’ Dustin says into the walkie. ‘’Are you okay?’’ Dustin asks him.

‘’Nah, man. Pretty..pretty goddamn far from okay.’’ Eddie says, answering truthfully.

‘’Where is he?’’ Robin asks.

‘’Did he see Y/N last night?’’ Steve asks, looking down at Dustin.

‘’Where are you?’’ Dustin asks him.

‘’Skull rock, you know it?’’ Eddie asks him.

Steve takes the walkie out of Dustin's hands, ‘’Eddie is- is Y/N with you?’’ He asks. There's a moments pause from when Steve asks, ‘’Eddie is Y/N with you?’’ He asks again, speaking as clearly as he could.

‘’Steve?’’ You say into the walkie. ‘’I’m here, I’m with Eddie, I'm fine.’’ You tell him. The words were like a relief to Steve he let out a deep breath the second he heard your voice through the walkie. ‘’Just hurry.’’ You say to him.

‘’We’re coming just-just stay there.’’ Steve says his hands are already fumbling in his pocket for his keys.

It was just a little while later that Steve navigated the way to skull rock. ‘’In your face man. In your stupid cocky little face.’’ Steve says to Dustin slightly out of breath, he had practically jogged here wanting to see for himself that you were okay. ‘’Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it.’’

The thud of the ground made Dustin and Steve turn around, ‘’I concur. You Dustin Henderson are a total butthead.’’ Eddie says.

‘’Geez man, we thought you were a goner.’ Dustin says walking over to Eddie giving him a hug which Eddie reluctantly but eventually gives him back muttering he also thought he was a goner.

‘’Steve?’’ You call out. The blanket was wrapped around your shoulders, Eddie had insisted you take it after he heard your chattering teeth throughout the night. Steve turned around immediately, the relief of seeing you was proof enough but he walked over to you embracing you in a hug. It took you a moment to register what he was doing, but when you did you gave in hugging him back with an equal if not greater force.

‘’We got the the boathouse and your car-’’ He began to say pulling away from you hug his hands still touching the sides of your arms, ‘’Your car was there and they found a body.’’

‘’I found Eddie after-’’ You pause glancing at Eddie ‘’I’ll just let him tell you.’’ You sigh completely exhausted, Eddie had explained it to you when you made it far enough away from the boathouse but you didn’t want to have them miss out on any details that weren’t important.

With Eddie's explanation and Dustin's connection with the compass and something about mordor you found yourself once again fleeing through the woods. Steve had stayed behind with you the entire time, ‘’So you and Eddie?’’ He asks you.

‘’Me and Eddie what?’’ You ask him confused as to what he was insinuating.

He gestures up to Eddie with a nod, ‘’Are you two a thing now?’’ He asks. ‘’You just seem to spend a lot of time with him.’’ He points out his eyes looking anywhere but you.

You let out a sarcastic laugh, ‘’Me and Eddie?’’ You ask him. ‘’Never.’’ You point out. ‘’He just needs someone right now,’’ You point out to Steve. There was a log in front of you and Steve steps over first pausing as you take your step over. ‘’Nothing going on.’’ You tell him. ‘’What about you and Nancy?’’ You ask him the same question.

He shrugs his shoulders in response, ‘’Jonathans not here I am, I’m not really sure what’s going on.’’ You could tell he was being truthful with his response.

You wait a moment before asking the next question, ‘’Do you still have feelings for her?’’ You ask him.

‘’It’s complicated.’’ He tells you. ‘’I don’t think I do.’’ You glance up at him muddled by his response. ‘’I’ve had this thing for another girl for a while and I don’t wanna mess that up anymore than I already have.’’ He tells you.

You didn’t know what was worse, him liking Nancy or him liking whoever the other girl was. ‘’Do I know her?’’ You ask him.

‘’I think so,’’ He says, readjusting his backpack. ‘’She’s really cool, has a good sense of style, a decent sense of humor.’’ He begins lifting off attributes.

‘’Sounds like a winner,’’ You say your voice comes out more harsh than intended.

The daylight had surpassed and it was already dark again, the woods becoming more and more eerie as it got later in the night. ‘’Holy shit,’’ You say, stopping behind everyone else your flashlight illuminating off the water of lovers' lake.

‘’You’ve gotta be shitting me,’’ Steve says aloud,

‘’Lover’s Lake,’’ Robin points out. ‘’There’s a gate in Lover’s lake?’’ She asks.

‘’The demogorgon always left an opening,’’ Nancy points out. ‘’Maybe Vecna is the same way.’’ She says.

‘’Only one way to find out,’’ Steve says.

Five minutes later you, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie were paddling out along Lover’s lake to Dustin's displeasure. It was about halfway out when Robin noticed the compass going absolutely crazy. ‘’Dustin, your compass is going berserk out here.’’ You say talking into the walkie.

You were too busy looking at the compass to notice that Steve had begun to remove his clothes, ‘’What the hell do you think you’re doing?’’ You ask him as his eyes meet yours.

He says like it was the most obvious thing in the world, Someones gotta go down and check this out.’’ He says. ‘’Unless one of you three can stop being a Hawkins High Swim co-captain, and a certified lifeguard for three years.’’ He pauses taking off another sock. ‘’It’s gotta be me. No complaints, all right?’’ He says not really asking.

‘’Like hell you are, we don’t know what’s down there!’’ You say to him.

‘’Exactly why we need to find out.’’ He says standing up. He lifts his shirt over his head exposing his back and you couldn’t help but Gawk at him, and not only you but Nancy as you caught her looking as well.

‘’No complaints here,’’ Eddie says, pulling out a bag. He stuffs a light in it handing it off to Steve, ‘’Goodluck.’’

Just as Steve turns around bracing himself for the water, ‘’Steve?’’ You call out to him.

‘’Be careful.’’ You say staring straight at him, the tone of your voice as serious as it could be. He just nods in response, turning back to the water. A moment later he had dived in, it was pitch dark across the lake you couldn’t see a thing.

‘’Robin let me see your flashlight,’’ You tell her and she hands it to you, trading you for the compass. You move around the boat making it rock small complaints from everyone else.

‘’What are you doing?’’ Nancy asks you.

You sigh completely unsure, there was no way the light would help you see down that far in the murky water but you wanted to make sure if Steve came up quickly you could help. It felt like forever waiting for him to come back up, you waited and waited until finally you saw the bubbles coming up from below. ‘’He’s coming!’’ You tell them trying to prepare yourself for him to break the surface.

You jumped when his hands grabbed the edge of the boat, almost pulling you forward into the water, Steve hung on the edge of the boat. ‘’It’s more of a snack sized gate than a mamma gate. But still, it’s pretty damn big.’’ He explains.

It was that moment that Steve’s head dunked underwater, everyone being rocked by the boat. ‘Steve get up here,’’ You tell him cautiously, scared to bring your voice even barely above a whisper. A split second later he was completely pulled under his body not coming back up. Everyone began screaming as the boat was rocking back and forth and you pushed yourself back closing your eyes. You squeezed them tightly unsure of what to do, you had to go get him, and you had to do it now.

‘’Y/N,’’ Eddie says seeing you stand up, ‘’Y/N what do you think you're doing?’’ He asks, watching you unbutton your flannel exposing the worn down t-shirt below it. You wrap the flannel tightly around one arm before securing it tightly.

‘’A grand gesture,’’ You say and before Eddie or anyone could protest you jump in. The cold water meets your skin and you can still hear them yelling from the surface. You can see Steve being pulled down just as he makes it to the red entrance way, his arms wailing around terrified. You push with your arms down further and further into the lake until you reach the bottom of it, the red glow illuminating your face. You had no idea where the hell this thing was going but you knew for certain Steve was on the other side of it alone and that terrified you more.

You take your hand pushing it through the red opening and like a vacuum you felt the rest of your body being jerked through, it wasn’t as gentle as you hoped and you shot up out of it landing on your shoulder groaning.

You heard the screeching from the air which made you pull yourself together realizing where you were as you glanced up at the clouded sky. You could see Steve a few yards away his body flailing as he was trapped by his neck with one of the tentacle-like structures. ‘’Steve!’’ You yell out pushing yourself off the ground, you run toward him but stop just before as the bat-like creature slams its face into his side. You look around trying to find anything to use as a weapon, on the ground next to you lay a broken Oar but it was just long enough that you think you could use it. You run over to Steve careful trying not to slip on all of the vine-like things on the ground.

You swing the bat once and it hits a bat knocking it away from Steve, just for the other one to bite down on the other side. Steve screamed out in pain as the bats just kept swarming his body. You took the oar once again hitting the bat with it and just when you went to hit the other one another bat knocked it already. You turn to see Nancy next to you with a bat in her hand, more and more bats are coming surrounding the area. You kept hitting the bats so they detach from Steve and eventually they do. You didn’t even recognize Robin and Eddie had shown up as well, both of them with weapons of their own in hand.

‘’Steve,’’ You whisper running over to him, throwing the oar down to the ground. You lean down on your knees noticing the fleshy wound along his abdomen. It wasn’t much longer that you heard more of the creatures screeching in the sky, they swooped down quicker than you had anticipated. Steve gorans pushes himself up and you reach back grabbing the only weapon you had, and you just start swinging, hitting a bat that had swooped down dangerously close. Everyone was fighting off the bats; they just kept coming out of nowhere. You knocked a bat to the ground slamming the oar into its face, blood splattering around the ground. The moment you stop you look over to see Steve pulling apart the creature, blood spilling out of his mouth as he spits out the taste. ‘’We need to get out of here, we need to find a place to hide!’’ You tell them and they all agree.

Steve was limping slightly clutching his side, you couldn’t imagine which hurt worse since both sides were gushing blood. You all ran as quickly as you could. You stayed behind Steve in case another attack was on it’s way. You found solace in the tree lines heading into the wooded area where you could probably find better coverage.

‘’Under there!’’ Robin yells pointing to the large rock, it was an open area but from above the bats wouldn’t be able to see you. You glance behind you, noticing there were hundreds swarming the sky now, ‘’Come on! Come on!’’ She yells running. You move forward quickly sliding your body under Steve’s shoulder, he glances down at you doing so a small smile at the gesture was all he gave. You doing so helped quicken his pace just enough to make it under the rock.

Steve hissed from the pain in his side as he rested his back against the rock, ‘’Gosh Steve,’’ You say your hand touching his abdomen just above the wound. You unwrap your flannel from earlier around your arm, ‘’Sit up a bit please.’’ You tell him. You rewrap the flannel around your hand using it as a glove of some sort, ‘’We need to stop the bleeding.’’ You tell him your voice laced with concern, your hands pushing against his abdomen and Steve jumps his hand resting on your arm squeezing it tightly.

‘’Nancy,’’ You call out to her needing more than just the thin flannel you had. ‘’Do you have anything we can use?’’ You ask, turning your head, everyone's attention was now on you and Steve.

Robin looked terrified and her mouth formed an O shape as she saw the wound on Steve’s abdomen. She walks over crouching down as she sees Steve’s open wound. ‘’So the good news is I’m pretty sure dizziness is not a symptom of rabies?’’ Robin points out the odd fact. ‘’Do you feel Woozie?’’ She asks and Steve squirms as you put more pressure on the wound. You notice Nancy pulling at her pants getting more fabric to secure the wound.

‘’Yeahh,’’ Steve says letting out a rigid breath, ‘’I do.’’ He says. Nancy hands you the fabric and you tell Steve to stand if he can, he pushes himself up and Robin and Nancy come to his side helping to hold him up. You ask him if he’s ready and he agrees reluctantly, ‘’Just do it,’’ He says, holding his breath, he flinches when the fabric touches him.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ You tell him. Trying to secure it. You finally get it tied and he breathes a sigh of relief, ‘’You okay?’’ You ask him. ‘’He needs to rest for a minute,’’ You tell them both and they agree.

‘’Yeah, yeah.’’ He says his breath is still rigid. You glance over to everyone else who had moved away from you and Steve looking out into the forest of the Upside down. ‘’Are you okay?’’ He asks and you look at him confused. ‘’You were here right after me, right after.’’ He says. The conversation behind you was going on but neither of you were engaged in it.

‘’Yeah, yeah.’’ You repeat his word verbatim, making you both laugh slightly. He clutches his side as he laughs, ‘’Sorry,’’ you say to him. He stops laughing and looks at you just for a moment, both of you not saying anything, you smile softly feeling his eyes on you. ‘’We have to get you home, get you back to that girl.’’ You say trying to avert his mind something more positive.

‘’That girl?’’ He asks you confused.

‘’The girl you told me about,’’ You tell him looking down at his torso adjusting the wrap once again. ‘’The one you have a crush on?’’ You say it as more of a question.

For a moment he doesn’t say anything and you just fixate on the wrap, the sounds of bats screeching from overhead, ‘’The girl,’’ He says, making you look up. ‘’Is you, it’s you Y/N.’’ He says.

You stare at him completely shocked, it was you? How was it you? ‘’Me?’’ You ask him. ‘’I don’t understand.’’ You say puzzled.

He takes a deep breath, ‘’The girl I have a crush on is you,’’ He tells you. ‘’It’s been you for a while..’’

‘’But you and Nancy?’’ You ask him confused, your tone much lower, scared she would hear you. ‘’You guys have been- you seem like.’’ He tells you.

‘’You and Eddie seemed so close, I was jealous and Nancy was giving attention. I thought it would get yours if I played into it a little,’’ He says and you nod understandingly. ‘’It was dumb. Immature I should've just told you.

‘’Steve this entire time I’ve been talking to Eddie about you.’’ You emphasize ‘’I’ve been trying to get your attention for months.’’ You tell him. ‘’Eddie has had to hear all about it the past two days,’’ You admit, making him laugh once again.

‘’Then when we make it out of here,’’ He pauses, ‘’We’ll go on a nice date? Whatever you want.’’ He tells you and you nod smiling at him. You push yourself forward planting a quick kiss on his cheek, if you were going to kiss Steve Harrington for the first time it was not going to be in the upside down while he was bleeding out it was going to be a real kiss on a date. ‘’Deal?’’ He asks as you pull away.

‘’Deal,’’ You say to him.

You hear feet thump on the ground and it finally grabs both of your attention looking back, everyone smiling at the two of you, even Nancy. ‘’What did I tell you?’’ Eddie asks. ‘’Grand gesture.’’

_____

Thanks for reading! I am sorry if it felt like I skipped around a lot I started writing and got so far in and when I Read it back I was like omg I skipped around too much but I have a bad problem with doing request and never posting because I re-read and hate them too much. SOOO here we are I hope you liked it and didn't hate it haha! Again sorry for any mess ups!

Please send more S4 request! Also if you request and want it outside of the plot of season 4 PLEASE let me know I have such a hard time making scenarios in my head that don't follow the plot.

#steve harrington imagine #king steve #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x reader angst #steve harrington x reader fluff #robin buckley #eddie munson #stranger things spoilers #nancy wheeler #dustin henderson #max mayfield #lucas sinclair

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fathertaurus · 2 years

Text

A Fezco Blurb

A/N: If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that this shit has been sitting in my drafts since the season 2 premiere and this bitch is STILL not done but it has some good scenes in it that I really want to share and this is one of them...so....enjoy :)

I feel like I should also mention that this about halfway through the fic so a bit of info for more context: the reader is Rue’s older sister (by a year). Because I can never tell when my writer’s block is going to strike just know im going to be posting the whole fic but just in blurbs!

Anyways

Warnings: drug use, alcohol use, crude language

POV

“I—damn, I’m so…” She hiccuped, “Embarrassed.”

Fez immediately interjected, hands waving her off and everything, “Nah nah nah, none of that.”

Through the blur of her vision she watched as he moved from her flank to the sink across the floor, his hand grabbing at the drying towel on the hook before he turned the faucet on.

“Did you drink?”

In her mind the answer came to her instantly: hell yeah she drank, she had to have been up 4 shots by the time Fezco even showed up, and then the extra 5 that followed to build confidence. But when she tried to say it, to will the simple fucking word off her tongue it just wouldn’t come out. Instead what did follow was a deep gulp because now she was sitting thinking about what an idiot she was to mix brown and clear liquor and it wasn’t the best reminder to her stomach.

“Imma take that as a yeah.” He called back but it seemed to be more of a mumble to himself, still busying about with the sink.

Y/N nodded slowly, so as to not make her even more dizzy, before resting her head against the wall beside the toilet. She was fucked, she was so fucking fucked up.

The sound of the same pair of feet coming back towards her brought a sliver of comfort, even with her eyes closed, she was happy to know (or at least the part of her that was sober) that despite her current predicament it wasn’t scaring Fez off.

Bending down slowly the red head raised the now cold and damp towel to her forehead, pressing it against her clammy skin as gently as possible. She smiled

“Feels.. nice.”

“I know B.” He whispered, lowering the cloth down the side of her face to the crook of her neck, creating rhythmic movements of patting and rubbing. “Aye, but you gotta tell me all the shit you did tonight.”

Y/N groaned, pressing her head even further into the cold tile. Sober Y/N knew this information was important and that she needed to communicate it because she had never been in this scenario before but Fez clearly had and he wanted to help. On the other hand, fucked up Y/N was this close to vomiting again and it was definitely preventing her from wanting to open her mouth.

But Fezco was insistent.

“C’mon Ma, you not gon get no better if I can’t help you.” He mumbled back, pulling the towel off her neck and setting it at his side which only earned another whine from Y/N.

With a shaky hand placed over her eyes so as to think (and block out the bright ass light), the other one pushed her from the wall to sit up straight against the tub behind her. Doing her best to ignore the way her body rocked back and forth she sucked in a deep breath and contemplated.

“I…yeah, I smoked. C-Couple blunts with, friends.” It was a slow paced pack of words but Fez seemed to follow fine, his whole attention still wrapped up in her and only her.

“What else?”

“……Coke, did lines with…, Chrissy and M-Maria.” She breathed, the folds in her forehead rooted up high in her state of deep thinking.

Fezco nodded, “How many lines y’all do?”

It was at this point that she could feel all the energy in her body hitting the 5%-0% range, all of the talking and the thinking running her down almost instantaneously. So with what little strength she had left she slowly raised her hand to reveal two digits, praying that that would be enough.

“Okay okay, well you gon be fine but yo ass is definitely crossed right now.” Raising his hand he nonchalantly moved the loose strand of hair in front of her face and tucked it behind her ear, the heat of his fingertips lingering around the edge of her jawline as he seemed to..hover in that place for just a moment. Until he pulled back.

Sober Y/N made a note to remember that to the very best of her ability.

“You got the spins too and that shits not gon go away until you either finish yo business here in the bathroom and knock or if we sober you up.” He explained, finally sitting down on the floor across from her. “But imma be real with you, you not gon like either option. ‘Specially if this yo first time.”

“Wanna go home.” She whispered, head lulling over to rest on the cold porcelain of the bathtub, the only thing keeping her from slipping straight on her back to the floor. Though at this point that sounded a bit better, probably would feel even better against her damn clammy skin.

Though eyes nearly shut Y/N could see the way the amber hair angel watched her. There was pity in his eyes-- but not the kind that could tie a person’s guts into a knot from embarrassment, no, this was the kind of pity that showed concern, worry, care.

Fezco seemed to be contemplating as well, eyes going slightly blank as thoughts quite obviously ran behind them, even taking a moment to rub at the stubble of his beard.

“You want me to take you?”

“Yes.”

Probably the most coherent statement she had made in the past hour or so but there was nothing in her that needed any time to ponder over any other sort of options. She didn’t give a fuck about this party anymore, her insides felt like they were burning, the room was beginning to vibrate, and now she had the only person she wanted to show up to this shitshow tending to her.

Silence seemed to evade the bathroom in its entirety, and it was warm--comfy, a golden hue tinging the sound in a way that wasn’t describable but so familiar, as if they had sat and stared at each other a million times before..whether in this lifetime or maybe a previous one.

And as Y/N peered at him, holding the eye contact for just one moment more--like she wasn’t fucked up, like she wasn’t clutching every physical thing in her reach to stabilize her, like she wasn’t sweating not because of the alcohol but because the man before her might just be the most goddamn gorgeous person she’s ever seen, she swore, he smiled.

“Alright I gotchu.” Fez nodded slowly before tossing the wet rag into the sink above them and tucking his phone into his back pocket.

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

A/N: hope you enjoyed!

#fezco x reader #fez x you #fezco blurb #fezco euphoria #euphoria blurb #euphoria imagine #fezco x black!reader

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wearywinchester · 3 years

Text

Been Loving You

Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: After never having the nerve to tell each other how you feel, an opportunity presents itself even if it takes a little work.

Requested by Anonymous: Hi! Since your requests are on. Can you write a fluff/angst dean and reader fic, they both have feelings for each other and they're too insecure to admit it. And dean flirts with another girl and introduces her to the reader, reader acts like she's fine but then cries??

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: angst, flirting, mild heartbreak, jealousy, arguing, little bit of swearing, fluff, kissing

July, 2005

The day was breezy and warm, the clouds having lessened the heat that came with being in the midst of the summer season. Even if the clouds did nothing to stave off the effect of the sun you’d like to believe it actually had been, and you refused to think otherwise or else you just might break another sweat. You were tucked away in the middle of Bobby’s property amongst a lot full of cars ranging from totaled to rusty to salvageable should he feel like getting his hands dirty that day. He didn’t.

But one person that did was Dean Winchester.

You stood with your arms crossed over your chest, staring out over the dozens of car roofs, each one holding their own story as to just how it was they got there in the first place.

“Wrench,” Dean called out at some point, an instruction you only half heard. It was growing increasingly obvious that your mind was elsewhere, that your attention was directed at the puffy gray clouds in the distance. He’d noticed, peeking his head around the Impala from where’d he’d been working under the hood for an amount of time you lost track of. “Sweetheart, wrench.”

You turned your head at the nickname, a brief look of confusion crossing your face before you realized what it was he’d said. You rolled your eyes at the look on his face, one that softened to a smile as you handed over the wrench grasped in your hand. He took it with a shake of his head and a laugh not quiet enough for you to miss, and you breathed out a sigh.

“You’re a terrible helper, you know,” he jests, voice muffled from where he stood.

“Pretty sure I didn’t ask to help you, De,” you say, leaning back against an old truck.

“Too bad,” he says, flashing you a smile all while you furrowed your brows and pursed your lips at his words.

“Why not have Sam help you? I’m sure he knows more about cars than me.”

You heard him laugh again, head shaking at your assumption that Sam had any form of a clue on how to fix a car, let alone Dean’s car. The thought of Sam under a hood had him chuckling, the idea all too humorous. He pulled back to look at you. “First of all, he definitely wouldn’t. Second of all…”

He trails off, looking at you with a half smirk on his lips.

“What?” You inquire, amused curiosity in your tone.

“Sammy’s just not you,” he shrugs, a glimmer in his eyes as he leans back over the engine.

Your smile falls for just a moment as your heart skips a beat, that very smile returning once you realize just what it was that he had said. He’s just not you. You turned away and looked over your shoulder, a pitiful attempt to hide the way you couldn’t stifle your smile, your cheeks burning at what it was that could mean. Maybe it meant something and maybe it didn’t. But either way it’d surely be stuck on your mind for a ridiculous amount of time.

But soon your attention turns back to the very person that it’s always been on, and you were bound to be teased if he’d caught you staring but the thought didn’t sound quite so bad at that moment. In your defense, it was hard not to think about much else other than the way his brows furrow when he’s stumped on just what he wants to fix next, or the way his cheeks flushed ever so lightly under the sun, his freckles all the more prominent across the bridge of his nose. Smudges of grease had stained his t-shirt, painted across his knuckles and smeared on his forehead each and every time he’d wiped the sweat off with the back of his hand.

Maybe it was that, or maybe it was the way his necklace had dangled down and swung there until he finally got irritated enough to tuck it in his shirt with a mumble of a swear and a clench of his jaw. That was something, though—no matter how frustrated repairing this beloved car of his made him, no matter how much he huffed and puffed and tossed his tools down with a bit more force than necessary. It was the way his anger seemed to melt each time he’d looked at you, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smile before he turned to try again with a better attitude.

Yeah, that was it.

You hadn’t realized just how distracted you’d been until you felt a hand on your cheek, calloused and warm, and when you looked up your eyes met the taunting green gaze of the older Winchester staring down at you. Your breath caught in your throat as the pad of his thumb brushed along your cheek, cheeks that burned under his palm and the way he’d been gazing had your heart pounding in your chest. Racing until you saw the familiar quirk pulling at his lips.

“Got a little somethin’ on your face,” he says, smiling an all too knowing smile.

You roll your eyes, turning away from him with a huff as you begin to walk away. “I’m eating the last slice of pie for that.”

You heard the metallic clink of a tool leave his hand and hit the ground, “no—no you’re not! That has my name on it and you know it.”

You shake your head as you quicken your pace, a smile on your lips as the butterflies in your stomach remain.

October, 2005

You stood in the small, one person bathroom, back to the mirror as you leaned against the small porcelain sink. The tears were already rimming your eyes as you stood there, having been at that same restaurant for forty-five minutes waiting for your date to show up even though you knew it’d been a bust after you’d waited the first fifteen minutes. You were miserable and embarrassed, and this was the exact reason you didn’t like going on dates in the first place.

Your hand was shaky as you pressed Dean’s name, holding your phone up to your ear as it rang all but two times.

He’d make a joke when he answered the phone, something you more than expected by that point each and every time you called him, especially when he knew you were on a date with a guy he’d been poking fun at the whole ride to the restaurant until he’d dropped you off. You couldn’t blame him, maybe you could, but that was just in his nature and there was no changing that.

“Was brown eyes that boring?”

His laugh sounded on the other end, lighthearted and upbeat in a way that had a soft huff leaving your lips as you rolled your eyes at his words.

“Dean,” you grumble, letting your eyes fall closed for a moment.

“Oh, come on. You know I’m not wrong. I just—”

“Dean.”

The simple use of his name that time had effectively cut him and his teasing short, leaving a beat of silence as you swallowed thickly now that you had his full attention. You didn’t even need to see him to be able to picture just what kind of expression he’d been wearing at the moment.

“Can you come pick me up?”

You hated how fragile your voice sounded, something you immediately cover up as you clear your throat in a pitiful attempt to distract him from it. You knew it wouldn’t but it was worth the effort anyway, anything to ease the fact that it must have been obvious that you were hurting.

It’d been all of ten minutes before the rumble of an engine came into earshot as you sat on the curb that bordered the restaurant, gathering more than a few stares of people showing up with their dates in tow. You knew it must have been obvious what you were moping about. The headlights were near blinding as he pulled up next to you, and you were on your feet in an instant as you sulked to the car and slumped in your rightful seat. Your misery was more than evident to him as he sat in the parking lot for a minute much to your dismay.

“Are you okay?” He asks, louder than he meant to be as he gave you a once over.

“Peachy.”

He rolls his eyes. “Are you hurt?”

“Just my ego,” you mumble with a huff, though you soften at the concern sounding in his voice. “‘M fine, Dean.”

His jaw tensed as he looked at you, lingering on the glimmer on your cheeks from the fresh tears you’d tried to wipe away. At the way your bottom lip quivered in a way that was all too telling that you weren’t peachy, you couldn’t be farther from it.

He hadn’t even wanted you to go on that date in the first place, jealousy having simmered in the pit of his stomach since the moment you told him about it. He didn’t even need to see the guy to know he wasn’t good enough for you, that he was up to no good. He hated the tone of your voice when you called him, he hated that he was right. Not that he thought he was good enough for you, not even remotely did he think that, but when you told him about brown eyes, he wanted to be selfish and have you to himself for the night. He wanted to be the one to take you out on that date.

“He’s a dick,” he said quietly, anger woven around his words as he looked at you. “And he damn sure doesn’t deserve you.”

You looked down at your lap, picking at the loose string of your dress. “Can we please go?”

He looked at you as you went and looked out of the window, jaw clenching even tighter as he gave you one more glance. He put the car in drive without another word, tires squealing as he sped out of the parking lot, headed back towards the motel.

March, 2006

The sticks cracked beneath two pairs of muddied boots, the sound near deafening in contrast to the silence amongst the woods you and Dean had found yourself in. It wouldn’t have been quite so bad if you knew where you’d been going even just a little bit, and it wouldn’t have been quite so bad if the sun wasn’t dipping lower and lower into the sky. Not to mention the fact that Dean was simmering in his own anger, and you were fairly certain that you were the cause. In fact, you knew you were.

The light rain that sprinkled over you ever so slightly through the trees hadn’t done very much to work in your favor, though you don’t think anything could at this point. Especially not the scrape grazing your cheek.

“Would you quit huffing? We’ll find a way out of here,” you finally say, nearly smacking into his back when he stops in front of you.

“Right, because we’re totally not stuck in the middle of freakin’ nowhere. If it weren’t for you we’d be out of here by now,” he snaps, brows furrowed deeply as he looks down at you.

“Oh, so this is my fault now?”

He laughed then, humorless as he looked away and shook his head, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek. You knew he was dangerously close to snapping, more than he already did, but even then you couldn’t find it in yourself to tread lightly.

“If I recall correctly, it was your brilliant plan to go and run off and chase a werewolf all by yourself in the woods. You went and got yourself hurt and you nearly got yourself killed. That seems a lot to me like how we got into this mess, doesn’t it, Y/n?”

“Dean—”

“You’re lucky you only came out of there with a scrape on your cheek and a busted lip.”

Your brows knit together and your fists clench, nearly on the verge of tears with how frustrated you’d been at the green eyed Winchester fuming in front of you. “Why are you so mad? I’m here aren’t I?”

He looked as if you’d asked the most ridiculous question he’s ever heard in his life. “Mad? Why am I so mad? You went out there today like you’re invincible. I’m angry because I—”

He cut himself short then, shaking his head as he looked away from you. Those three words were so close on the tip of his tongue he nearly made a fool of himself, his heart pounding and a huff puffing through flared nostrils as you nearly watched him unravel in front of you. The crease between your brows deepens as you watch his inner turmoil, fists relaxing at your sides.

“Forget it,” he says, just as frustrated as he plays it off and looks down at you just briefly. His jaw clenches once more before he hikes his bags up further in his shoulder, grabbing your hand and turning his back to you. “Can’t have you getting lost on me again.”

You roll your eyes but not once did you pull your hand from his.

July, 2006

Your eyes rolled for what had to be the millionth time that night as you slumped further down in your seat, your eyes lingering on the older Winchester and the girl he’d been flirting with at the bar counter for the last half an hour. Sam had caught on to the source of your misery not long after it began, but between the pout you tried so desperately to hide and the way it started right around the time his brother started talking to the pretty girl serving drinks just a few feet away, it wasn’t hard to figure out.

“Am I boring you?” Sam jests, closing the book of notes and newspaper clippings he’d been working from for the next hunt. Your gaze lifts from the table to meet his gaze, unamused by his teasing. “You know, instead of sulking, you could tell him how you feel.”

You snort as you sit up in your seat, dragging your hand down your face. “Sam, that might be the stupidest idea you’ve ever had.”

“Oh, come on. Would it be so bad?”

One glance over your shoulder had your stomach churning and twisting in knots, your gaze moving back to the brunette with the bad ideas. “Yes Sam, it would be terrible.”

The more you sat at that table the less you wanted to be there, the music having grown far too loud for your liking as a headache began to form. This wasn’t the first or the second time you’d been to this bar, it was the third because Dean had eyes for the beautiful bartender. Your food was nearly completely untouched and your drink the same, though you were starting to think it might be a good idea to go ahead and down it but there wasn’t nearly enough time to do that and get another argument in with Sam before that ever familiar voice got your attention.

“Everyone,” he starts, smiling ear to ear as his arm wrapped around her. “I’d like you to meet Julie.”

His grin was beaming as she laughed into his neck, whispering something in his ear that you surely didn’t want to know. Sam’s smile in your direction was as empathetic as ever, your heart sinking down to your stomach as you swirl your straw in your drink. The room was rapidly becoming more suffocating and stuffy, the commotion near nauseating as the pressure behind your eyes deepened. You couldn’t be there another moment.

“I’m feeling a little tired, I—I think I’m gonna go,” you say as you swallow down the lump in your throat, sudden as you rise from your seat and grab your bag.

The smile on Dean’s face fell slightly, brows furrowing. “You okay?”

“‘M fine,” you say, offering a smile as you brush past the pair in favor of making your way to the door.

The outside air, though not very much cooler than the bar, felt better on your skin as you clutched the strap of your bag. The tears that welled in your eyes wasted no time in spilling over your cheeks now that you were alone, lip quivering pitifully as the hurt in your heart seeped out in waves and made your tears fall faster. They rolled down your heated cheeks and raced along the length of your neck, gathering on the collar of your shirt one after another.

Falling in love with your best friend doesn’t seem so bad until it breaks your heart.

September, 2006

Of all the people to be trapped in a storm with, Dean Winchester isn’t one you’d wanted it to be. The rain had been coming down so hard you could barely see the Impala parked outside the motel room. The wind whipping around had cut the power, effectively stealing your chances of busying yourself with some tv to take your mind off of anything other than the man you shared a room with.

Locking yourself in the bathroom would certainly be an option you’d weighed over more than once in your mind, but the thought of sitting alone in a small room with absolutely no source of light hadn’t been something that enticing to you. The only light in the motel room was the frequent flash of lightning and Dean’s flashlight before the batteries died.

“When’s this storm supposed to die down?” He asked from his bed, getting up to peek out through the blinds.

“Why? You late for a date with Julie?”

It’s quiet for a few moments, the blinds snapping back once he lets go of them and you could feel his stare on you as you looked up at the ceiling from your spot on your bed. Your jaw clenched as another flash of lightning illuminated the room, a booming crack of thunder soon to follow it. You were just waiting for what he had to say.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” There it was.

“I think it’s pretty clear,” you say, tone as witty as it’d been for the last who-knows-how-long.

“We broke up a month ago, Y/n. ‘M surprised you don’t already know that. You know, since you’re the know it all of the friendship.”

You roll your eyes even though he can’t see you, a huff falling past your lips. “Quit it, Dean.”

“What is your problem, Y/n? You’ve been actin’ funny for weeks and it’s driving me crazy. You’re taking every chance you get to get away from me,” he says, anger woven around his every word as his voice raises over the thunder.

“I can’t exactly do that right now,” you say, rolling over on your side as you avoid his question and turn your back to him instead.

You heard him laugh to himself, one void of humor as the springs of his mattress squeak under his weight as he sat down. Your jaw tenses once more as you huff through your nose, loud enough for him to hear as you tried your best to make yourself comfortable for the night.

The emotions clouding your mind were bound to boil over at some point before the night is over now that you’d been stuck with the source of your heartache and you weren’t sure if you’d rather stay or walk through the downpour coming down outside. The more you thought on it, the more you thought better of it despite how tempting it may have been.

The simple sight of him had tugged at your heart, making you think of just how foolish it was to fall for your best friend, or perhaps even more so that you hadn’t told him before. You couldn’t get Sam’s words out of your head no matter how hard you tried. If Sam of all people thinks you should have then maybe it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to put your heart on the line. Maybe you should’ve said it, you certainly had plenty of opportunities to do it. But it didn’t matter anymore, not really, your heart was heavy and your mind was heavier as you sulked and moped in your own misery.

You pushed away your own best friend and it was time you’d never get back, all because you had feelings you couldn’t swallow down. But they were always there, and now they’d gone and boiled over.

“You wanna know why it didn’t work out between us?” He asks, sudden as his question cuts through the quiet in the room save for the ongoing storm. You don’t say a word, laying still as your gaze is fixed on the wall and your back remains to him. You don’t know what he could possibly say or what it was supposed to make you feel but you couldn’t find it in yourself to press for an answer. If he told you, fine, but if he didn’t—

“It didn’t work because she wasn’t you.”

You stilled even more if that was possible, your heart skipping more than a few beats as your brows furrow. You were utterly baffled, unsure if you’d even heard him correctly or if it was some dream you’d been having that you were bound to wake up from. Your movement was sudden as you sat up and turned around, the faint bit of light illuminating the expression you held.

“What?”

He sat across from you on the edge of his bed, brows knit together in the dim lighting. He laughed softly as he looked at his hands, shaking his head. He stood to his feet and ran his hands through his hair, pacing a bit before he stood still.

“You’re my best friend, Y/n. You’re a pain in the ass, sure, but you’re my best friend,” he starts, your lips pursing as he cracked a smile. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it lately, I really don’t. But I’ve been lovin’ you since I was sixteen and it took me ten years and a month full of you ignoring me to see it. She’s not you, Y/n.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He laughed softly, rubbing his face and releasing a sigh.

“Because, my life isn’t exactly a chick flick where the guy gets the girl of his dreams, is it, sweetheart? It’s more of a tragic Lifetime movie where the guy’s best friend falls for someone else,” he says, the corner of his mouth quirking up as he looked at his feet.

You swallowed thickly as you looked at him, cheeks burning and stomach filled with butterflies that raged in your stomach. You were at a loss for words as you sat there, starting to wonder for the second time that night if what you were hearing was a dream. Dean Winchester, your best friend, the one you’d spend the better part of ten years pining after, was in love with you. You couldn’t grasp that thought. Not that you had much time to before he spoke up.

“Sweetheart, please say something. I know you’re mad at me but right now I’m starting to feel a little bit like a complete idiot and I—”

Before he could finish you’d already stood to your feet and grabbed the collar to his leather jacket, your lips on his without second thought. It took him by surprise for just a moment before his hands settled on your face, his smile pressing into your lips. You pulled away for just a second, his lips lingering over yours in hopes you wouldn’t stray too far. You wouldn’t, just enough for you to say one more thing.

“You are an idiot.”

He huffed out a soft laugh as his breath brushed warmly against your lips, hands dropping from your face in favor of pulling you closer before he dipped down and kissed you again.

—

Tags: @flamencodiva @stixnstripesworld @dean-is-sams-apple-pie @elegantbutedgy @humanmistakes

#dean winchester #dean winchester oneshot #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester fic #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester fluff #dean winchester angst

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mr-and-mr-diaz · 3 years

Note

I just. I just thought about Eddie holding baby Jee-Yun? And singing to her while she clutches at his finger with her tiny meaty baby hand??

Maybe Buck freaked out a little because she was being fussy and wouldn't settle, and its probably nothing but hey, who better to call than Eddie, who conveniently has the day off and cuts off Buck's panicked rambling with a soothing;

"Its okay, Buck. Give me ten minutes, okay? You're doing great. She's probably just restless."

Eddie gets there and sends Buck off to cook dinner or shower or take a nap, scooping Jee-Yun out of her travel crib and making sure she's changed, warm, fed and content. And its been so long since Christopher was this tiny, but holding Jee-Yun makes him think back to that tiny, wriggly little bundle in his arms for the first time, back before it all went to shit.

Eddie pacing slowly around the lower loft, singing quietly, tickling her little chin, grinning when she giggles and gurgles at him. And he can see so much of Maddie and Chimney in her already. She's got Maddie's eyes and Chimney's lopsided grin.

(And for a little crack, maybe Buck catches this scene and is so overwhelmed he just blurts out; "put a baby in me!" And Eddie is like; "... What?" 👁👄👁 Which cues a hilariously awkward but heartfelt confession of feelings on both sides.)

Hey hey! So I like I told you I started this a while ago and then got SEVERE AND DEBILITATING writers block, and it sat waiting for new life. And then 5x03 happened, so Hello, new life! I hope you love it!

With You, My Life, I Will Get Married

Warning: mild spoilers for 9-1-1 season 5 episode 3.

Chimney was out searching for Maddie.

After shifts, on weekends, whenever he had a second, he was either spending time with Jee or out searching for her mom.

In times when he was on the search everyone at the 118 was making time to watch Jee Yun. Mrs. Lee was doing what she could, but couldn't always be available, and when that happened, Jee would spend some time at Bobby and Athena's or by Hen and Karen. And when they had too much going on, or when either of the uncles felt like they weren't getting enough time with their beautiful niece, she would spend time at her Uncle Buck's or Uncle Albert's.

Uncle Buck got lucky this time.

Eight hours in and everything had gone wrong. Buck shoulders were damp with spit-up, baby drool, and snot and all Jee seemed capable of doing was crying, crying, crying.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know what I did wrong, and, and now--just, Jee, please, it's okay, I'm here--!"

She continued to yell and Buck got more and more panicked. "Your Uncle Albert's gonna be here in like 5 minutes, Jee, okay? And then, maybe, maybe he's better with you? And will make you happy, and then--Oh God, what have I done wrong--"

A knocking at the door sent him back on his feet, swaying toward the loft entrance. It opened before he could get there, however, and he stopped where he was, a furious Jee Yun screaming in his ears as Eddie Diaz, not Albert Han, walked in.

"You look like you're having fun." Eddie's eyebrow was raised and his mouth quirked in a teasing smile.

"Eddie...?" Buck's momentary shock was interrupted as Jee let out another wail. "Um, sorry, this isn't the best time at the moment, but Albert--"

"--has a date tonight and sent me as his relief." Eddie reached out and plucked Jee Yun from Buck's arms. "And you have a date with your shower and a few hours' sleep."

"I--no, it's okay, I know you just got off shift--"

"Buck." Eddie shifted Jee to one arm, and the other rested on Buck's chest, over his pattering heartbeat. He met Buck's eyes, his own calm despite the bundle of adorable chaos still screaming bloody murder into his shoulder. "Go shower."

"...Yeah, okay."

***

She truly was one of the cutest babies, even when she was liable to wake up the neighborhood with her noise, Eddie thought with a smile as he re-seated her over one shoulder and began to firmly but gently tap her back.

"Your Tio Eddie is going to assume this is a gas issue, okay, chiquita? Christopher used to have this all the time, and he would scream and cry." Eddie huffed ruefully. "I was useless at it then, but Shannon showed me what to do." He kept tapping at her back. "Good set of lungs means a healthy baby, good job, Jee. Now, let's see if we can't get this gas out of you so you can calm down and you and your Tio Buck can get some sleep, okay?"

Eddie started circling the room, the sun beginning to set as he heard he shower turn on.

"There you go, see? Your Buck is going to get all showered since you drooled all over him, and then you both can get some sleep, how's that sound?"

He was answered with a burp far louder than Jee's small body should be capable of making. Then a sweet gurgling sound as she nestled her chin into his shoulder.

"There, feel better, mi princesa?" Eddie whispered against her soft, downy hair. "When I was small and got upset, and my parents got annoyed with my sulking, they'd send me to Abuela. And she would sit me down on her lap, just like this," he sat down on Buck's couch, and settled Jee Yun against his broad chest, rubbing her small back with a large warm hand. "And she would hug me until I forgot what I was so upset about. All I could think about was the smell of her perfume and how much I wanted to be like her one day.

"Then Pepa would come out and yell at both of us that it's about damn time we came into the house, dinner doesn't make itself." Eddie laughed at the memory. Jee made a small discontented noise and Eddie stood up again, walking toward the kitchen, where he saw the half-formed works of bottle making on the counter. "Shhh, princesa, Tio Eddie's gonna make you a bottle." With Jee over his shoulder, sounding more and more on the edge of hunger-panic, Eddie quickly assembled a bottle then leaned back against the kitchen island and cradled Jee Yun in his arms, pressing the nipple to her mouth, which she accepted gratefully.

"Better, yeah? Where was I...? Oh." Eddie smiled. "Once we were inside, Pepa, Abuela and I would make arroz con leche. Abuella would wash the rice, Pepa would be tutting the whole time about too much sugar, but she would always wink at me and add just a bit more before the cinnamon." Eddie couldn't help the smile that stole over his face as he remembered Abuela's warm kitchen in her El Paso ranch house before she and Pepa relocated to LA. In winter, the windows would fog over from the heat of whatever was on the stove. When she left, a lot of Eddie's heart left with her.

"They used to sing me the song too, you know?" Jee gurgled around her dinner and Eddie smiled again. "Well, I wasn't planning to sing it, but you drive a hard bargain." Eddie's poked Jee's soft cheek with a finger and began to sing.

Arroz con leche se quiere casar con una viudita de la capital, que sepa tejer, que sepa bordar, que ponga la aguja en su campanal.

(English translation: Rice with milk (rice pudding) Wishes to get married With a little widow from the capital. Who knows how to weave (or knit), Who knows how to embroider, Who puts the church steeple in the bell tower.)

***

Eddie was no American Idol contestant, but his voice was soothing and good. Strong. Listening to him sing from his seat on the stairs, Buck almost felt like he was where Jee currently snuggled, right against Eddie's chest, as his bass voice sung the gentle Spanish lyrics, harmonized by the occasional happy noise from Jee Yun.

Yo soy la viudita la hija del rey. Me quiero casar y no sé con quien. Contigo sí, contigo no, Contigo mi vida me casaré yo.

(English translation: I am the widow The daughter of the king, I want to get married and I don’t know with whom. With you, yes. With you, no. With you, my life, I will get married.)

Buck's head knocked lightly against the banister, body relaxing. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just the softest sweatpants he owned with a towel draped over his shoulders to catch water from the mess of wet curls on his head.

Eddie's so hard on himself all the time. I don't get it. He's such a good dad.

Dazedly, Buck's eyes fixed on Eddie's mouth as he repeated the verses again. Then Eddie sighed.

"Afterward Pepa would ask me who I want to marry and Abuela would laugh at me, and I'd always complain--" Jee gurgled again. "Like that, yes. But honestly, it was nice... Even though between you and me, Pepa can't sing very well at all." Eddie's lips quirked again in a smile. "Kind of like your Uncle Buck."

Buck startled at his name and looked up at Eddie's eyes. They twinkled back at him in the dying last light of the day, Eddie's golden skin lit by the last rays of the sun. Buck felt his face heat with a blush, knew there was nothing to do about it.

"Sorry, I should've--"

"Feel better after your shower?"

Buck sighed and smiled. "Yeah. World's better." He stood, stretching out his long legs as he descended the stairs. It was full dark now, but Buck didn't feel like turning on a light. "I can take her now."

"Nope." Eddie met him midway, hand on Buck's shoulder turning him around. "You're both getting some sleep now." One hand on Buck's shoulder, the other holding a drowsy Jee Yun, Eddie guided him back up the stairs, and pressed Buck down until he was sitting on his bed.

"Eddie, are you sure--"

"Shhh." Eddie deposited Jee into Buck's arms, then sat down behind him. "You can hold her for now." Eddie's hands skimmed up Buck's warm back then pulled the towel off Buck's shoulders, laying it on top of Buck's head, where a corner flopped over his eyes.

"Eddie?"

"Hold still, Buck."

Eddie's strong hands curled into the towel and Buck's hair, rubbing vigorously to get it dry. "Seriously, anyone who has ever seen your hair at work would marvel at how different it looks before you comb and gel all the life out of it." He rubbed vigorously, and Buck felt himself relaxing back against Eddie's chest. Tomorrow, he might look back at this and feel embarrassed. He might have to apologize. Tomorrow, he would go back to hiding how much he felt for the man who was drying his hair, still absent-mindedly humming the Arroz con leche tune under his breath. But for now, Eddie was too near and too warm and too... Eddie. And Buck found that he couldn't deny himself Eddie right now.

Buck cleared his throat and made himself focus on their conversation. "I used to wear my hair naturally, but people said it looked floppy. Made me look like a puppy."

"People are stupid sometimes, Buck. You know this." Eddie's thumb traced the shell of Buck's ear. "And if you think slicking back your hair makes you look less like a puppy, you really shouldn't be bothering." He snickered as Buck tried to shoulder his chest and Jee made a noise of complaint.

"So I just look like a puppy all the time, huh?"

The towel dropped. Eddie's arms came around, holding onto Buck and Jee Yun both. "I think you're a beautiful man, Buck."

The air in Buck's chest hiccupped out of his mouth. His heart picked up speed as the places where Eddie's hands rested on his stomach seemed to heat from within. "Y... Eddie?"

"Shhh. Sleep now. Jee's asleep, but who knows for how long." Eddie's voice was gruff, embarrassed. "I'll just--"

"Stay?" It came out too high, too soft. Buck cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, if it isn't any trouble, and--"

"I can stay." Eddie's arms tightened around Buck again and he pulled him backwards until Buck could lay out flat on his back, before pressing Buck's head down on his pillow. Then Eddie pulled Jee from Buck's arms and sat back against the headrest, legs folded together, Buck's niece cuddled again against his chest. "Sleep now."

"Okay." There was so much Buck wanted to know. To say. It all got stopped in his throat as fear tamped it all down to squirm in his chest.

"Eddie?" The word found its way out.

"Hm?"

"...Nothing."

A sigh. Then, "Come here."

Buck didn't hesitate, moving his head off the pillow and onto Eddie's lap. Eddie's spare hand found its way back into his curls and tugged lightly before stroking through them, gently, so gently.

"Sleep now."

"Okay. But," Buck's jaw cracked around a large yawn. "Before... you have to know..."

"Hm?"

"You are... so beautiful... Eddie Diaz."

Buck felt Eddie's hand tighten in his hair again, before releasing, fingers wandering down to trace his eyebrows, his nose, his lips.

"Sleep, querido."

As Buck's eyes slipped closed, and awareness almost dropped away, he swore he could feel lips press lightly right above his eye, on his birth mark.

"Contigo mi vida me casaré yo."

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formulawonu · 3 years

Text

flutters / mick schumacher

(not my gif! creds to owner <3)

warning: kissing, getting a little touchy,, and just being flustered idk

summary: *requested by @gpiggy98 <3* mick has just finished an intense race and you’re the only person he really wants to be around at the moment since you’re his best friend. you’ve secretly liked him for a while now and offer/give him a massage to cool down after the race and you can’t help but get flustered at the intimacy of the moment.

a/n: honestly. what would i give to have mick as my best friend. what would i give to basically have mick in my life. FOR REAL. ugh mick schumacher supremacy. anw i didnt know how to end this one properly so idk if im 100% satisfied but it was fun writing hsjakdhasd but enjoy anyway x (i’m always open to requests btw!!!!)

It’s the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix and you feel like you can finally breathe properly after a couple of hours. You’d think you’d have gotten used to going through race weekends by now but you always seem to find your breath caught in your throat and worrying over the safety of your best friend. Mick had finished in p12 - his current best finish throughout the season - and you were extremely proud of him. Despite how well he did defending from other cars on the field in the car he has, you can tell from the way his brows furrow together after removing his helmet that he’s far from satisfied. Watching him go through the procedure after each race required by the FIA from the garage, you decide to make your way back to the hospitality in order to not get into anyone’s way. You figured that you would just talk to Mick when he was free and tell him proud you are of him. What you were not expecting was Mick to show up at the hospitality earlier than you had expected, his body language clearly still tense, and motioning you with just his head to follow him up to his assigned driver’s room. He doesn’t really stop to wait for you or anything because he knows you understand that he doesn’t want to be around a lot of people right now. It leaves you feeling pleased that you’re still the one he wants to talk to. Perks of being his best friend.

“Hey, you.” You say as you enter Mick’s room, shutting the door behind you. You stand there for a while, leaning against the door as you take in Mick sitting down on the couch, his eyes shut with his head thrown back. His hair is all messy from wearing his helmet but it looks good anyway. You knew this wasn’t the right time to be thinking it, but you’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t acknowledge how Mick made looking stressed extremely attractive. Sexy, even. Mick pops open one eye as he lazily looks at you. “I’m so frustrated.” He mumbles. He then pats the space beside him, telling you to come sit beside him. You make your way to the couch and plop down beside him, trying not to mind the way your heart beats faster as the distance between you both has marginally decreased. Immediately after and without warning, Mick drops his head on your lap. You want to blame the lack of AC for the sudden rise of temperature in the room you’re both in, but you know that the heat is really just rising in your cheeks as you imagine how close Mick is to your body. “I’m so tired.” He continues, shutting his eyes again. You can’t stop the way your heart is rapidly beating inside of your chest and you wouldn’t be surprised if Mick could actually hear it. The vibrations that come from Mick’s voice run through your whole body, leaving you to slightly shift your thighs closer together. You bring your hands to run through his hair, hoping to distract yourself from your own thoughts by giving him a small massage. Mick hums in response. You rub small circles into his temples, picturing him doing the same thing to you in another area of your body. You have to stop yourself there. You seriously cannot be thinking about this while you’re trying to distract yourself from the fact that Mick, your best friend, is all hot and sweaty. Well, there’s always points for trying.

You don’t realize you’ve stopped the small massage you were giving him until you feel Mick’s hand grip your knee. “Why’d you stop? That felt so good.” The heat rushes to your cheeks and you can feel Mick’s eyes on your face. You can’t bring yourself to meet his eyes because you’re flustered at how dirty your thoughts had gotten because of a few words Mick had muttered in passing. The fact that his hand was still on your knee also did not help your case. It was something you had come to terms with a while ago: you deeply liked your best friend - that was why you were acting like this around him. You had tried your best to ignore the fuzzy feelings that came up every time you thought of him or the way your stomach would drop whenever he was around. You tried to deny and cover it up by saying you just really appreciated him as a person, but you eventually gave in and realized it was pointless to fight your feelings. It didn’t matter anyway. Mick was still your best friend, regardless of whatever feelings you had for him.

“Oh. Sorry.” You mutter, still refusing to look at him as you try to will the heat in your cheeks to disappear. You knew not to make eye contact with Mick because those damn eyes knew you almost better than you knew yourself so meeting them would just spell out disaster for you. He would figure out something was off immediately. You begin moving your hands again through Mick’s hair, kneading in a new pattern. Your eyes land on the hand still resting on your knee. You focus on it as you continue to massage Mick when suddenly it begins to draw circles of its own nearer your inner thigh. Your breath hitches in your throat and you accidentally tug at Mick’s hair because of your unguarded reaction to his hand. You quickly look at his face to see if he’s felt that (though surely he has) and you find yourself looking into a pair of amused eyes. There’s a hint of playfulness in them as he’s probably made the connection that you are... well... currently going through it. “You okay, there?” He whispers, raising an eyebrow at you. You try to play it off, as you usually do. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I-” His hand moves higher up and you involuntarily pause. “-be.” You swallow and desperately try to focus on anything else but the hand that is now closer to you than you had ever imagined it to be. How white the wall is, how cool Mick’s helmet is, how comfortable the couch is. Mick suddenly shifts his position and the hand on your thigh disappears. You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in. The place where Mick’s hand once was now feels incredibly bare. Mick is still moving around until he’s positioned himself to be facing you, still lying down, with his head propped up by his hand. The arm propping his head up is over your legs - suddenly, you feel like you’ve fallen into a dangerous trap.

“Hey there.” He whispers, smiling at you with those damn eyes filled with amusement. Like he knows. “Hi?” His free hand moves to trace lines up and down your arm. Goosebumps immediately come and you shiver. He smiles even wider, noting the way your body has unintentionally reacted to his touch. “Are you cold?” He continues to run a finger up and down your arm, mindlessly drawing his own patterns. His eyes never leaving yours. You know you should be answering him now, replying with anything really, but his hand has made its way back down and is now drawing circles on the part of your thigh he’s resting on. “Am- Am I what?” You ask, not remembering what he’s just said a few seconds ago. Your eyes move to glance at Mick’s hand then back to his face. Mick then fully sits up, this time lifting your legs to rest over his lap. “Something’s bothering you.” He says, gently turning your chin to have you face him. Your eyes land on his lips before you meet his eyes. “Not at all. I am just peachy.” He chuckles as you inwardly cringe, knowing full well that you didn’t sound convincing at all. What were you supposed to do when his other hand was now drawing those same distracting circles this time on your side. You had never been this close with Mick. You weren’t supposed to be this close to Mick. His eyes drop to your lips. “Can I try something to get whatever it is off your mind?” He whispers. You nod before you can think about what he’s just offered, too taken by how Mick’s face seems to be inching ever so closely to yours by the second. Your eyes flutter shut when you feel the touch of another pair of lips on yours. It starts out slow, almost shy, as if he’s checking to make sure you’re okay with what’s happening. But then you pull him closer to you, slightly parting your lips to invite him in. Your hands make their way around his neck and tugging at the ends of his hair. The pace has suddenly shifted and Mick has lifted you on top of him, letting you straddle him as he now moves his hands up and down the sides of your body.

There was no way this was actually happening. All you wanted to do a couple of moments ago was tell Mick how proud you were of him. You push your body closer to his, trying to eliminate the almost nonexistent space between the two of you. Mick moans in your mouth, his hands gripping your waist tighter. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for so long.” He says in between kisses. He’s trailing kisses down your jaw then your neck. “Me too. You have no idea.” You breathe into his ear. You’re about to kiss him again when suddenly you hear a knock at the door. You both pause, looking at each other wide-eyed.

“Mick, it’s Guenther. We need to debrief quickly. Won’t take long, I swear.” You slowly move off of Mick, trying not to make noise. You were sure no one thought you guys were doing anything weird anyway but you didn’t want to be caught looking like it. Mick is still sitting next to you, both of you trying not to laugh. It’s almost like he doesn’t want Guenther to think he’s in the room. “Mick,” You hear knocks coming from the other side of the door. “The earlier we start, the quicker you can get back. Hi to Y/N, who is in there too.” You both burst out laughing, the jig obviously up. Mick finally gets up, chuckling and accepting he has to go and start debriefing.

“I’ll see you when I get back. Still need to get that thing off of your mind.” He says, winking at you as he steps out of the room.

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