#yes nancy was there too and i’m sure his main motivation

[skyebounded]

eenie meenie miney mo

gif credit: @madmaxmayfleld

© Skyebounded, do not use my work, but you may share it.

.main masterlist. .stranger things masterlist.

premise: He's your friend, nothing more, but that doesn't mean that you can’t have some fun…right?

Warnings: it’s just smut if I am being honest. fingering, oral (f&M receiving), vaginal sex, dirty talk (kinda), swearing, and lets be honest there is probably more.

WC: 10.2k of pure smut.

A/N: This bad boy took me way longer than it should have. special thanks to my favs @23victoria​ and @ccosmic-illusion​ for their help and motivation, and to @anothernightsky​ for absolutely loving the idea and nursing it with me (even if she demands a series out of it)

If you had to choose, you know exactly what you would do. Billy, well he was hot, like extremely hot, exuding the very energy that he knew what he was doing, and knew how to do it well. If given the chance, you would undoubtedly sleep with him. Yes, you would loathe yourself after the fact, but at least it would be worth it. Other than that, he wasn’t the one for you. He was an arrogant asshole with a nice ass, but a pretty one at that. 

Eddie, well Eddie was one of your closest friends, your best friend if you will. Not to say that you didn’t find him attractive, but that didn’t mean anything. You had never really thought about him that way, simply because you had never really seen him that way, not fully. Eddie was the kind of guy that you only ever really hung out with, watched movies, and that sorta thing, he was good fun, he just wasn’t the fun that you wanted. You wanted the one and only, Steve Harrington.

You’d had the biggest crush on King Steve since, well since forever. How could you not, he was by far the hottest guy at school, he had perfect hair, not to mention dreamy eyes, a great ass (not as good as Billy’s but still pretty good), a gorgeous smile, the list could go on and on forever. He was all-around perfect. The only problem was you were nowhere on his radar, far from actually.

 You were not the kind of girl that Steve went for. You were no Nancy Wheeler. Not popular, not a cheerleader, not some ditsy girl who threw herself at him any chance they got. Nope, you were the polar opposite. You were like Eddie. A nerd, or freak if you will, and perhaps that’s why you were such close friends. You had so much in common. 

None of it stopped you, however. Despite knowing that he would never actually choose you if it came to it, it didn’t deter you from dreaming about it every…waking… minute. In fact, it was all you thought about. Steve Harrington owned your mind, your thoughts, hell if he wanted he could own your entire being. He was all you had wanted for as long as you could remember.

    “Okay but did you see him in those jeans today, like oh my god is he trying to kill me?” you exclaim, as you prop yourself up onto the table, leaning back on your hands. “Oh and not to mention the fact that he actually laughed at my jokes today. Like really laughed,” you continue, eyes wide as you explain, “I couldn’t help it, I made a joke about Mrs. Higgins today, and he heard it, and laughed. He even turned around and said ‘that was a good one’! Like Eddie, do you know what this means?” 

    “Of course, he laughed, you’re funny,” he states. 

He was too busy cleaning up from the campaign from the evening to expand on his response any further. He was collecting all the miniatures, and character sheets that had been tossed to the floor in excitement when the battle had been won. You know that you could have been helping, but your mind was so far from the chore, that you couldn’t be bothered. 

“Well yeah, I’m funny..But see he’s never laughed at any of my jokes before, so like what’s changed?” You ask rhetorically, letting the question fade. Eddie just hums along in response. You're not sure if he had tuned you out or not, but you didn’t really care. 

“I’ve seen him talking to Anna Wilkinson lately, you know her right?” you ask, and he doesn’t respond. 

    “She’s in my chem class, total idiot, but hey she's got nice tits I guess,” you continue. You look down, grabbing your boobs and giving them a squeeze, missing the way that Eddie watches you with a raised brow. 

    “I mean if that's all he wants..I mean mine are pretty good..right?” You look up at Eddie, who now had both brows raised, and a slight smile on his face. 

    “Are you asking me if you have nice tits, y/n?” 

You pretend to think on it, your head bobbing around, humming whilst you do. 

    “Yeah, that's exactly what I’m doing, Eddie,” you respond, the sarcasm laced in your tone. He just stares at you for a moment, the smile growing on his face. 

    “Let me get a better look,” he jokes, but you hop off the table and make your way over to him, your hands still cupping your chest. 

“Well?” his eyes drift down from your face, slowly making it towards your chest, a breathy chuckle leaving him as he meets it. 

    “Oh definitely, best I’ve ever seen, by far. Annie, Abby, whatever the fuck her name is doesn't even stand a chance,” he says with a wink, and you can't help but blush at his comment. 

    “Thanks,” you giggle. 

Eddie purses his lips and gives a curt nod, before going back to cleaning up. You’re silent for a moment, watching the way he bends over to grab the discarded pieces from the floor. Standing up and using his shirt as a means to hold everything.

    “Do you think he’d fuck me?” you blurt, not entirely sure where the question came from. It wasn’t like you hadn’t thought about it, but something had triggered the topic.

“Why wouldn’t he?” he asks, turning to look at you.

“I don’t know, part of me feels like I’m not fuckable, you know?” you say with a shrug. 

He chuckles, making his way over to the table, releasing his shirt and all the contents in it clattering onto the linoleum surface.

“Trust me, you’re fuckable,” he remarks as if it was a stupid question, which it was to him. He steals a quick glance at you as you sit yourself back up on the table, his eyes roving over you before he stops himself, knowing that he shouldn’t be looking at you like this, especially not so obviously. “Extremely fuckable,” he mutters, more so for himself, but you still catch it, and a small wave of heat rushes through you, as you subconsciously squeeze your legs together. You don’t say anything, not sure what you would even say, instead you let the conversation die. 

“Do you plan on helping me at all or…?” He looks at you, brow raised. You look around only spotting a few other scattered items. 

“No, it looks like you’ve got it handled,” you joke, letting a grin take to your lips. Eddie just hums, his lips pressed together as he nods. You could see the smile he was trying to hide. Jumping down off the table, you collect the rest of the things from the ground, using your shirt the same way Eddie had. Bringing them over to him and dropping them onto the table. 

“Thanks.” 

“Yeah..” you couldn’t help but study him as he organized the loose papers, pushing them into his worn binder. 

“So…would you?” You ask, your voice holding a sense of anticipation to it. 

Eddie’s pointless organizational task halts, his famous brow shooting up in amusement. He cocks his head slightly, just enough for him to get a good look at you. 

    “Would I what?” 

He had an inkling of what you were referring to, given the topic of the evening, but he wanted to hear you say it. Looking at him, you were tempted to just come up with something random to say and avoid the topic as a whole, but your curiosity got the better of you.

    “You know…” you say, your tone sounding a little more whiny than intended. Eddie fully turns to you now, a smirk plastered to his oddly kissable lips. He was waiting for you to ask him, wondering if you would actually say it. You sigh, mentally preparing yourself for what the response would be. 

“Would you, you know…?” you ask sheepishly, gesturing to the length of your body. 

It doesn’t help when you spot his tongue brush across his lower lip, a sure sign that he was enjoying this. It always was. The sudden feeling of embarrassment creeping up on you, heating your cheeks. You were certain he could see it, because his smirk only got bigger. Eddie chuckles, knowing that you weren’t going to go into any more detail than that, so he figured he would just humor you. His teeth cheekily sinking into his lower lip as he shamelessly checks you out, his eyes drinking in all of you. 

    “Let me get this straight. You, Y/n want to know if I, Eddie, your best friend who just so happens to be a guy, emphasis on that part, would…if given the chance, fuck you?” he asks in a matter of fact tone. 

“Yes?” you lilt.

Eddie’s eyes narrowed, waiting to see if you would say anything more on the topic, while he debated on what answer he should give you. The slightest upturn to his lips on one side makes you feel nervous. 

“Absolutely, don’t even have to think about it.” he replies, flashing a quick smile. He stands there, staring at you for a moment longer before he's back to doing whatever he was doing earlier. It would have been an understatement to say that you were stunned. Suddenly feeling that familiar blush creep into your features once more. You had never thought about Eddie in such a circumstance, but hearing what he had to say made you all that much more curious. It wasn’t like you wouldn’t, if given the opportunity, but it wasn’t something you thought about, other than that one time.

           “I would fuck you, you know..just-“  you remark. You don’t know what came over you, why you felt the need to tell him that, but you couldn’t help it. He doesn’t look up at you, or even in your direction. He just chuckles. 

            “I know,” he says, stealing another glance at you, but this time you were looking at him with a deadpan look. “And I am very flattered.” he adds. The air is silent for a minute before you break it once more. 

            “Have you ever thought about..?” you start, watching as his brows shoot up as he fights back the amused look on his face. Of course he had, perhaps almost every other night, as much as he hated to admit it, it was a common re-occurrence for him. 

           “Thought about what?” he prods. 

Panic sets in, and you decide it's better to not ask what you were thinking. Quickly finding the hem of your shirt of greater interest.

     “Nothing, never mind, it-it was stupid.” You quickly pull your gaze from him, but he does nothing of the sort, eyes still glued to you as the fascination sets in, that he doesn’t even bother to stop himself.

“Eddie, do you ever things about what it would be like to fuck each other, no strings attached…No never…You?  He jokes, saying the last bit sarcastically, clearly lying. He had totally thought about it. He’s not sure if he meant to say that as loud as he did, but there was no taking it back now, so instead, he turned back to the table, now resting his hands against it, as he silently berated himself, rapidly tapping his index finger against the surface, hanging his head low. 

Shocked that he had said exactly what you had been thinking, you turned to him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

    “That..wha-what you said.” you say, pointing your finger at him for emphasis. “That’s what I was going to ask.” 

You watch as his tongue darts out just past his lips. Resting there as he processes it, slowly bringing himself to look at you. Nothing is said at first, nothing but the same awkward air settling between you. You’re not sure how long you’ve been staring at him, waiting for either one of you to say something, anything.    

Sitting in silence, you watch as Eddie’s beautifully dark orbs rove over your figure, taking note of the way your hellfire shirt sits perfectly on your frame, or the way your jeans hug your thighs. He knows he shouldn’t be looking at you like this, admiring you so sinfully, but since you’ve mentioned it, it's all he can think about.

His eyes meet yours and suddenly you become hyper aware of the very fact that you were so close to him and yet not close enough. It was your turn to shamelessly take in Eddie. Eddie was attractive, you had always thought so, but the thing that always seemed to stop you was the fact that you had only ever seen him as a friend. Someone you could hangout with, without the pressure to do anything more than just hangout, except now, now it was on your mind. Wondering what his lips tasted like, or what he would feel like underneath you or even on top of you. The way his lips would feel against your skin, the way his hands would feel gripping you tightly, or even no! Stop! 

         “I mean, not like I’ve fantasized about it or anything, but.um...” he says, pulling you out of your shameful series of thoughts. Your eyes snap to his, your face flushing as you wait for him to finish the topic, wondering what he was going to say next. Your brows shoot up expectantly, wondering why your clothes suddenly feel tighter and scratchier against your skin. 

          “What If,” he pauses, biting the inside of his cheek as he mulls over what to say. Eddie’s not quite sure if he should finish his train of thought, expose himself and the very thing he had been dreaming about since, well since forever. Growing wary of the silence, you take to speaking your mind. 

          “What if we hooked up? Like right now? I mean just to see what it’s like..could be fun,” you suggest, completely stunned at where it came from. The growing grin on Eddie’s face was indication enough that he was all for the idea, but that didn’t stop him from giving his two cents. 

          “Are you sure you’re okay with that? I mean our whole dynamic changes then..” 

you could have been mistaken, but it almost sounded like he was eager to do it despite the consequences. You couldn’t lie, the thought of the consequences hadn’t even crossed your mind, and even after he mentioned it, you couldn’t even bring yourself to consider them either. 

           “Nah it will be totally fine, nothing has to change right? I mean it’s just an experiment of sorts. It’s for fun.” You say, reassuring yourself more so than him, you think, giving an awkward shrug in the process. He gives you one last look of skepticism, before he moves over to you, practically gliding across the space, your eyes trained on his every movement. 

           “Exactly..” he mutters, and you find gaze glued to his lush lips. 

           “Should we go somewhere or?” You comment, looking around at the empty theatre department. It was late, inching closer to the ten o’clock frame, so the chances of someone coming in was slim, but there was still a possibility. 

            “Nah, we’ll be fine here, unless you want to,” he shrugs. Shaking your head, Eddie takes that as a sign to proceed. Moving closer to you once more, you instinctively move your legs apart, just enough for him to stand comfortably between. 

            “You’re sure right? Because if you’re not, just tell me.” 

Not even for a minute do you consider the possibility of calling it off, telling him that you made a mistake and that it’s a bad idea. No, you were far too eager to know just how fun this could actually be, and unbeknownst to you, so was Eddie. 

           “Yeah I’m sure, are you?” Brow raised, a challenged look in your eye. Eddie just chuckles like you had asked your second stupidest question of the night. 

           “Extremely.” 

A wave of heat rushes through you, mixed with the shivers that trail down your spine at his blunt comment. You had always known him to be as such, blunt, but for once it had some type of effect on you. 

Eddie’s calloused hands find you jean clad thighs, slow to inch their way up further, as he takes his final steps closer, face inches from yours. Its only then that you consider that maybe their should be some type of rules, some semblance of boundaries, as dumb as it sounded. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t kiss,” you speak softly, you can't help but feel the slightest bit of disappointment at your own suggestion, considering the fact that his lips looked absolutely delicious at this very moment. Pillow soft and begging to be kissed, but yet something about it felt too personal, too intimate. Eddie felt the slightest pang of hurt at the comment, but he shakes it. 

“Way to suck the fun out of it,” he sighs, hoping that you would change your mind. “You do know that friends kiss all the time, right?…besides, I can see how much you want to kiss me..” He suggests, his eyes trailing down to your lips as he licks his involuntarily. Even if he was joking, he was still correct, you did want to kiss him, desperately to feel his lips against yours.

“You wish, Munson. I’ll tell you what you can kiss me, just not on the lips.” 

A look of utter intrigue takes over his features, as he thinks of all the other places that he could kiss you. To him, you were ultimately giving him permission to kiss ever single fucking inch of your body without problem, and though he would love to kiss you like normal people do, he can’t help but feel some type of way knowing that he could kiss anywhere else. 

He holds his hands up in surrender with a frown, accepting that you aren’t going to change your mind, at least not without a little more persuasion. 

    “Fine you win, everywhere but your lips it is,” he says, “Any other fun things that you want to take from me?” 

Heat creeps to your face, as you suddenly find it hard to look at him. His hands find your thighs once more, this time slightly higher than they were. You couldn’t think of anything, or perhaps you just didn’t want to find anything else, so you just shake your head. 

    “Excellent.” 

    “So..what do we do?” you ask, your gaze straying from his. Eddie cocks his head, not sure what you fully meant by the question. 

    “Y/n, If I have to explain to you how to have sex, then maybe we shouldn’t be doing thing.” He shrugs, an amused frown on his lips. You scoff, rolling your eyes at his comment. 

    “You’re so funny, but that's not what I meant asshat, I meant how do we start this?” you huff. Eddie just chuckles.

    “Do you trust me?” 

It was your turn to find his question incredibly stupid, considering you were about to give yourself to him. 

    “That’s a stupid question, Eddie. Besides we both know that I only trust you as far as I can through you, and I can’t even pick you up.” 

He nods along, “Touche, okay then just relax and I will get us started, yeah?” His finger finds your chin, tilting it up ever so slightly so that he can meet your eyes, his brown orbs boring into you with a sense of anticipation. He gives you a quick wink, and lets go of your face, his hands coming down to the hem of your Hellfire shirt, the very one that was currently driving him mad. 

He was so thankful that you couldn’t see or even feel the semi-hard on that he was already sporting just beneath his jeans, because if you could... Slowly inching his hands underneath your shirt, you take over, pulling it from your form and tossing it to the floor. 

Eddie stares at you, clearly in some type of trance as his eyes rove over the curvature of your breasts held tightly by your little sheer red bra, the perfect contrast to your skin. His lack of words was starting to worry you as he just stood there, staring at you so plainly.

    “Damn, you're pretty,” he mumbles, looking like a child in a candy store, completely unable to pull his eyes away from you. He blinks a couple of times before he's somehow managed to pull himself together. Quick to resume his actions, his hand finding your jaw, guiding it so that more of your neck is exposed to him. His other hand falls to rest on the table, fingers hanging off the edge as they rhythmically tap against the side. Eddie presses a soft innocent kiss just below your ear, letting his lips and teeth glide over the curve of your neck ever so gently. His breath hot against your skin, mixed with the sharp pang of his teeth just over your pulse point was making your head foggy, and your legs weak. 

Eddie doesn't miss the way your nails do their best to sink into the wood of the table as he begins to lightly suck on your skin, assuredly leaving marks. If there was any part of you that was thinking logically, which there wasn’t, you might have told him to cut it out, but you couldn’t deny just how wonderful it felt to have his lips on your skin. 

His hand falls from your jaw, instantly finding your hip gripping it tightly as if it was his only anchor to reality, the slightest bit of sting from coldness from his rings against the burning contrast of your skin. Nipping at your neck, smoothing over the purple welts with his tongue. You let your mouth hang open as a moan leaves your lips. Goosebumps lining your skin with every touch, every little graze from his teeth, or from the way his breath fans across your heated skin. It felt strange to have your body reacting the way it was, considering the nature of everything, but it felt good.

Placing open mouth kisses along your collarbone, as he lowers himself just enough to kiss the soft skin on the tops of your breasts. Nipples hardening as a sense of avidity consumes you. You watch closely, hungrily, as his tongue darts out, tracing your nipple through the thin fabric of your bra, flicking his tongue over the hardening bud, as his eyes drift up to yours, catching your heated gaze, as he bites down on it, sending you into a fit. 

A groan from the back of your throat is ripped from you, as you gaze into his lustful brown eyes, the subtlest smirk on his lips, currently wrapped around your precious nipple. 

    “Fuck,” you breathe.

Eddie’s hand slides down to your ass, gripping it tightly as he suddenly pulls you forward on the table and into him. It's now that you can feel him pressing into your clothed core. You feel your walls clench at the slightest bit of pressure to your cunt. You needed him, needed some type of friction from him, and at this point, anything would do. Slowly rocking your hips against his, listening to the way he groans against your skin, and reveling in the way that it goes straight to your core. Eddie slowly begins to push you back against the table, leaving wet kisses down your sternum, his hand grazing the side of your body just right.

You let your eyes fall shut when your head hits the table, your back arches as something sharp digs into your spine. 

    “Oww!” 

Propping yourself up on your elbows, slightly peeved at that stop if Eddie’s actions, your lips already in a downturn. 

    “What? What's wrong?” Eddie asks, his brows knitted together and eyes narrowed as he scans over your face. 

    “This table is not it, Eddie, there is shit all over it,” you remark, pouting slightly, your bottom lip jutting out. 

He takes a quick glance behind you, picking up the culprit that had undoubtedly caused the problem. Humming as he examines the figurine. 

    “Hmm, I see…” he pauses, aimlessly scanning the room, “Okay give me a second, I have an idea.” 

Reluctantly he pulls away from you, giving you a once over with a smirk before he's disappeared behind one of the stage curtains. Faint sounds of him shuffling around are the only indication that he was still there. You had no idea what he was up to, but you hoped that whatever it was, he would do it quickly, because you were getting impatient. You didn’t want for whatever haze of ‘fucking your best friend for fun, and there is totally nothing weird about it at all,’ to wear off and for you to come to your senses. 

    “Eddie, what are you doing?” you call out. When he doesn't answer, you hop down off the table in search of him, disappearing behind the same curtain. Your eyes widen as you see what he was doing, making a makeshift pallet on the floor with blankets and pillows from different prop sets. 

    “And Voila.” 

You stare at him blankly, your brows slowly knitting together the longer you look at him. 

    “What the hell is this?” you chuckle. 

 “Listen, If you don't want this, I guarantee someone else will,” he remarks, gesturing to his body and the pallet with a cheesy grin. 

    “Oh I’m sure they would,” you joke,  looking back down to the makeshift pallet. If things were different, you might have considered his gesture a romantic one but as of right now, it was a simple solution to a problem. 

“Alright, milady, lay down!” 

“Oh my god, you're such a dork,”  You say, missing the little bow he gives you as you move past him. lowering yourself to lie down, using your elbows to prop yourself up as you look up at him.

The air holds a thickness to it as you both stare at each other expectantly, waiting for something to be said or done. Eddie moves forward, falling to his knees in front of you, his eyes trained on yours. Placing a few kisses on your sternum, moving down as he sucks, kisses and licks at your skin.

    “Eddie,” you moan, gathering all of his attention. 

    “Yes?” he asks coolly, despite actually freaking out on the inside.

Looking him up and down quickly, you sigh, “This is hardly fair, you’re still fully clothed.” 

You watch as the corner of his lips tug upwards, and a cheeky grin takes over, the slight alone making your core throb. 

    “If you wanted me to take my clothes off, you should have just asked, darling.”

You watch in awe as his tongue glides over his teeth, his hands finding the bottom of his hellfire shirt, and pulling it off in a fluid motion. You’d seen Eddie like this countless times, shirtless, hell you had even seen him in nothing but boxers before, and each time you took a moment to look him over, to just admire him, but this time felt different. This time you couldn’t peel your eyes from him, you wanted to see every inch, wanted to trace your finger over every tattoo, let your tongue glide across his skin even. You let yourself indulge, admiring his lean frame and the few tattoos that lined his skin for a few moments, curious if you would ever get to experience this again. 

He begins to crawl up the length of your body, using his arms to cage you, as he just barely hovers above you. The familiar chain and guitar pick dangling just before your eyes as a silent taunt, convincing you to grab it. Heartbeat hastening as you take in the scent of him, the musk with the subtle sweet elements, as he comes to a stop, face inches from yours. His sights set on your lips, wondering if he could get away with stealing a single

kiss, or if it would end up in you hitting him and being mad, risking all of this to come to an end. Wetting your lips, you nearly forget about the one rule set in place, thinking that maybe, just maybe it would be alright, that you could do it, and things wouldn’t end badly, but the thought is cut short when you feel the clasps on your bra break free. 

Eyes wide as you stare at him, wondering how you didn’t notice his hand now placed on your back.

    “Would you look at that..” he starts, brows raised in a sense of amusement, pulling the straps away from your arms as he pulls the thin fabric from your body. Looking down at you, shamelessly taking in the sight, he pulls his lips into a thin line. 

“Yep I was right, you have the best tits, Anna Wilkinson never stood a chance,” he says, pulling his gaze back to yours. Rolling your eyes, you give him a playful shove. 

“You are so goddamn cringy…just shut up and fuck me already,” you say with a smile, chuckling at the way his eyes widen. 

“Well, aren't you romantic?” 

Eddie’s index finger comes up to the top of your forehead, pushing your head back as a means to tell you to lay back down. Rolling your eyes you oblige, chuckling softly to yourself. 

    “One of us has to be, and from the looks of it, it has to be me.” 

Eddie rolls his eyes. Bringing himself to hover back over you. Moving down your body slightly, taking one of your breasts in the palm of his hand, palming it all while listening to that little gasp that leaves you at the contact. 

    “Eddie?” you whine. 

    “Y/n…?” he retorts, mockingly. 

    “Hurry up..” you demand. 

Eddie, brings your perky nipple between his index finger and his thumb, looking up at you, pushing his lip out to mock you. 

    “Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners? Usually when you want something, you say that pretty little word, you know the one…it starts with a ‘p’..” he says, grinning wildly.  

You scowl back, not wanting to give him that satisfaction, but when he squeezes your nipple, you cry out a please, one to which he chuckles at. 

    “See that wasn’t so hard, now was it, baby?” 

He leans down, running his tongue over the bud, before he sucks it into his mouth with a soft moan, using his other hand to palm at your other breast, kneading it, taking in every sound that leaves your lips. Your hips move involuntarily, grinding against his to gain some friction against your aching cunt. Eddie groans loudly, pulling his mouth from you as he looks up at you like you had just done something unspeakable to him. It was almost like a switch had flipped in him. 

His fingers move to your pants, quick to undo the button of your jeans. He grabs your ankle, pulling the lace from your shoes as he pulls them off and tosses it behind him, moving to the next one.

“Thanks”

Eddie jerks your pants down your body, and tosses them to the ground.

“Anytime.”

He lowers himself so that his lips hover just barely over your navel, eyes glued to yours as his tongue darts out across your skin, letting it turn to open mouth kisses down your body. 

    “I’m going to be honest, I want to eat you out.” he states plainly, his fingers toying with the thin cotton fabric of your panties, waiting for any objections to leave you at his request. 

    “Well, then do it, Eddie,” you say, pushing your legs further apart, indicating that you wanted him to proceed. “I'm not stopping you.” 

Eddie bites down on his lower lips, biting back the shit eating grin that was taking over his lips. 

    “Oh trust me, nothing is stopping me other than these obnoxiously cute panties you’ve got on here, I just wanted to tell you.” 

He says, giving a brow wiggle to emphasize his point. Looping his fingers around the band on your panties, pulling them down your legs to expose your cunt. A wide grin expands across Eddie’s lips, running his tongue over them as he looks down at you. 

    “I know I said it already, but you are so fucking pretty…Can I-”     “Have at it big boy.” you chuckle at the way his eyes sat open wide and his mouth slightly agape. If you didn’t know any better you might have thought that he had been wanting this, waiting for a lifetime just to see you like this. He doesn't hesitate to touch you, running his fingers through your folds ever so sweetly, circling your entrance. Your eyes screw shut when you feel one of his fingers sink into you, curling it to brush that spot that drove you wild. He watches in awe as he slowly works it in and out of you. Taking note of the way your breathing changes when he moves his finger a certain way, or the way that your walls clench around his finger when he curls it. 

He pulls his finger from you, positioning himself between your legs looking up at you with an eager smile.

Feeling your face flush, you turn your head slightly, pulling your gaze from him slightly embarrassed to be watching him do such an intimate thing to you.

Eddie slaps your thighs, demanding that you look at him as he rises slightly from his position. Eyes darting towards him in surprise, as he gives you a look of challenge. 

“If im doing this,” he starts, his voice now low and gruff. He holds up two of his fingers, gesturing back and forth for your eyes to stay on him. You didn’t even realize it until it was too late, but a whimper escaped you at his blatant demand, the way he so casually told you that he wanted you to watch him devour you. He gives you that look of ‘do you understand’ and you are relieved when the subtle nod of your head is enough for him. He holds those fingers up close to his mouth, spreading them slightly before he sticks his tongue out between them with a wink. A crude gesture. 

He’s back down between your legs, slinging them over his broad shoulders, kissing, licking, nipping at your thighs as he makes his way up to your cunt, licking a strip from hole to clit, with the flick of his tongue. Your legs tense as the sensation, but quickly relax as he continues.

His tongue darts inside of you, watching your brows crease with a grin on his face. He never thought he would get to see you this way, even though he’d been thinking about it for years, but here you were, actually laid out in front of him, completely at his mercy and he loved it. 

One hand flying to tangle in his precious dark locks, the very ones that no one was allowed to touch, except you on a few rare occasions, one of those being now, whilst your other finds the blanket that you were currently situated on, gripping at it tightly when he switches to sucking harshly on your clit. 

Low groans leave Eddie every time to tug on his hair, urging him closer to your needy cunt. His hips rut against the pallet hoping to relieve some of the ache to no avail. He needed you, but not before he finished devouring you. 

    “Shit you taste good.” he hums.

With each greedy swipe of his tongue your legs begin to tremble, slowly starting to close around his head, your hips starting to rise to meet him. His right hand snaking around your waist to pull you back down and keep you there. 

His left hand dragging up your inner thigh, his ring clad fingers teasing your entrance before he slips a digit in, noting the way your mouth falls open and a moan seeps out, drawing in his attention. God, he hated that you took away the one thing he had been wanting to do for ages, especially when that very mouth was making such sinful sounds, even more so because he was causing them. There were plenty of things he wanted to do to your pretty little mouth, but right now the only thing he could focus on was kissing them, and it drove him crazy. 

    “Does that feel good?” he smiles, watching as your eyes fall shut. 

With a few pumps of his finger, he quickly adds another, curling them perfectly inside you. You kick your head back while letting out a loud moan at the added sensation. 

“Fuck, Eddie!”

He chuckles lightly, watching you squirm. “Didn’t I say eyes on me?” he goads, “Because I will stop.” 

Your eyes shoot open, darting down at his smug face. “There’s a good girl.” he coos, clearly satisfied with the way things were going. 

The mixture of his precious mouth sucking, and licking at your clit in a perfect pattern and the movements of his fingers, soon has your vision blurring and legs clenching around his head, as your orgasm hits you. You clamp your eyes shut, as you call out his name into the open air, reeling as your body jolts with each wave of pleasure that he was giving you. 

Eddie doesn’t stop, he watches eagerly as you writhe and come completely undone, his tongue still slowly toying with your cunt.

    “Eds,” you whine out, hoping that he would get the hint. 

With one final flick of his tongue he pulls away from you, a wolfish grin on his glistening lips. He brings his fingers to his mouth, sticking them in his mouth as he cleans them off, before pulling them back out with a pop. Watching you carefully as you catch your breath. Your eyes widen as you watch him, completely speechless at his actions, opening your mouth to say something only to be cut off by him. 

           “Did you really think I was going to pass on that opportunity?” He asks brows raised. 

Clamping your mouth shut you look away, heat filling your cheeks. 

            “Fuck.” 

Your eyes dart back to him, concern filling your features, and Eddie has to bite back the smile. 

“What? What’s wrong?” 

“Well I am now missing a ring, and I’m 98.7% sure that it’s stuck inside your cunt.” He states, an amused look on his face. Panic starts to set in as your hand darts down to the apex of your thighs. 

“Are you fucking serious, Edward?!” You pause, your face contorted, as you stare at him, taking in the shit eating grin growing on his glossed lips.

“No im fucking kidding,” he chuckles, holding up his hand and the so called missing ring, as he slides it back into place. “Could you imagine,” he adds, wiping his brow as if to say ‘disaster averted.’ You’re up on your knees in front of him instantly, about ready to hit him for his foolery. 

“That was not fucking funny!” You exclaim, to which Eddie rolls his eyes plainly. 

“Eh, that’s debatable, but it’s neither here nor there so let’s just move on, shall we.” 

God you hated him, thinking that such an action would be considered funny. As the panic starts to die down, you can still feel the sense of desire still weighing heavy on you. Finding some of your confidence, you lean closer to him, your hands resting on his belt as you unfasten it and look up at him. 

“Woah, you can't look at me like that,” he remarks, feeling his pants grow slightly tighter at the sight of you. 

“Like what?” You feign innocence.

“Like that, you’ve got the ‘please let me suck you off look,’ and it’s doing things to me.” 

You feel your pussy clench, the thought of him in your mouth was one that you weren’t opposed to in the slightest. 

    “And what If I wanted too?” you ask sheepishly, batting your lashes at him as you tug his pants down, leaving him in just his boxers. 

“Come on sweetheart, you’re killing me here,” he sighs, feeling his heart banging against his chest like it wanted to break free. You were in fact, slowly by slowly, killing him. Making him unbelievably hard with each and everything that you did, and he hated it, well as much as he could. You loop your fingers around the band of his boxers, waiting for the go ahead, before you proceed, pulling down his boxers to let his cock free.  

It scared you the way your body instantly reacted to him, to the sight of him alone. It was a lie to say that you weren’t eager to know just how good he would feel inside you, stretching you out perfectly, and all for him nonetheless, your legs feeling sticky hot.

Swallowing hard to take a minute to admire him, hard, perfectly curved, and leaking drops of precum down the shaft, that you couldn’t stop yourself from tasting. Your eyes meet his quickly before you take him into your awaiting palm, leaning forward to lick up the mess, your tongue swirling around the tip before taking him onto your mouth with a moan. 

    “Fuck baby,” he moans. It was a soft and earthy moan, delicate and yet gruff at the same time, music to your ears, and you hated to admit, but you could listen to it forever. Your tongue glides over the prominent vein as you licked at the entirety of him. He stares down at you in awe, like he had never seen anything prettier in his entire life, and truth be told, he would argue that he hadn’t. As you take him further into your mouth, gagging slightly, as he slowly thrust his hips forward with a deep groan. 

    “mmm, s-shit… s-sweetheart… s’fucking, fuck.” 

He could feel himself nearing the edge, especially when you started to use your hand to work the rest of him, or the way spit began to dribble down the sides of your face. He wasn’t going to last, and he was going to be damned if he was going to spend it in your mouth before he got the chance to feel your precious little cunt wrapped around him. 

With nothing but sheer willpower he eases you off of him, looking down at you with a pout on his face. He runs his thumbs across the sides of your mouth, wiping away the spit. 

    “You keep doing that and I am not going to last at all, and I fucking hate that because that felt so damn good, but we agreed that we were going to fuck, so,” he explains, raising his brow. 

    “Shame, I was having fun.” 

Eddie gives a breathy chuckle, as he pushes you to lie on your back, lowering himself with you the entire way. Kicking off his shoes and the rest of his clothes, it’s finally dawned on you that you were both now fully exposed, and there was no going back now.

    “So..” 

    “So…” you respond, finding it hard to meet his gaze. 

Eddie clears his throat, biting at the inside of his cheek. “Is this how you want to do it, position wise I mean, because I am not opposed, I just want to kno-”

    “No I like this, it's a good solid position you know.” you shrug, blush creeping to your cheeks. “Or I mean, I could…I could ride you if you want that too?” 

You felt utterly stupid even suggesting it, but the way his eyes light up has heat pooling in your belly. 

             “Yeah? Yeah that sounds good too.” 

Eddie felt like a damn child at Christmas with the way you wanted to ride him. God he was in heaven. He does his best to keep his cool, acting like it didn’t really matter to him in the slightest, but he wasn’t as good at it as he originally thought. His dark eyes were wide, longing almost, and his lips pressed into a thin line. 

             “Well then, let’s try that.” 

    “Alright then, let's do this, sweetheart,” he says with a click of his tongue. He looks down momentarily, his smile fading and his brows knitting together. 

    “Fuck, um I don’t have a condom..” 

You roll your eyes, “I have some condoms in my backpack,” you say, pointing to your bag leaning against the table. It caught you by surprise, the fact that he didn’t at least have one on him. Not that you thought about it a lot but you would have Eddie pegged as someone who would never leave the house without one. You would like to say you knew all about his sexual exploits, but it dawned on you that there could have been plenty of encounters that he had failed to mention, so the thought of him without the necessary ‘tools’ to fuck someone seemed strange. 

             “Why don’t you have one? I thought you were fucking girls all the time?” You ask, watching as Eddie pulls himself up from the ground and hurries over to your bag, pulling it open to search through the pockets. 

He looks back at you, amusement written on his face. 

             “Yeah, um that’s why I’m out, dummy.” Flipping through the bag he sighs, “Where the fuck are they?” 

    “Back zipper, behind my textbooks.” you call back, “Well, it might just be me, but you should probably replenish your stash.” 

He opens the zipper, letting his mouth fall open at the sight. 

“Why would I need to do that when you’ve got enough for both of us right here. There’s no fucking reason I should need to have any of my own, but that’s besides the point. What.the.fuck. Are you doing, that you need this many condoms..in your backpack?” he asks, holding up a handful, dropping a few. 

“What?! A girl has to be prepared,” you argue, “never know when I’m going to need them, you know, and thank god I had some.” You say, brow raised as if to emphasize a point. 

He shakes his head in disbelief, brows knitted together, and eyes narrowed on you. 

“You do realize you don’t need condoms to mind-fuck someone, right y/n?”

He throws them back in your bag, keeping a hold of one of them as he makes his way back over to you, falling to his knees as he slowly shakes his head. 

            “I mean thank god, Steve can’t get you pregnant now, you know with all the fucking you guys do…in your head…” 

    “Ha ha, very funny, Munson.” 

Biting at your lower lip as you impatiently watch him roll the condom on. 

            “I’m just saying, better safe than sorry,” he shrugs, giving a little pout of his lips. Rolling your eyes, you prop yourself up on your knees, pushing him down on his back. Swinging your leg over his midsection, you line yourself up, his cock nudging your still sensitive clit, and you hiss at the contact. 

             “Yeah well.. anyway, ready?” You weren’t entirely sure if you were but there was only one way to find out. Eddie’s greedy hands find your waist as he pulls you down, his tip just barely inside you. 

             “Yeah, you?”

You nod your head, letting yourself sink down onto his length, grabbing onto his arm as you focus on the way he is stretching you out, filling you up deliciously.

    “Damn, you’re tight.” he says through gritted teeth.  Your head falls back and your lips fall open, soft whines leaving your lips as you work your hips to better take him. 

            “No, y-you're just s-so big.” 

Eddie’s head falls back with a soft thump and you’re not sure if it was because of what you said or something entirely different. “Y/n..” it’s like a reverent lullaby the way he says your name. “You are killing me.” 

As he bottoms out inside of you, you both still, almost too scared to move, too afraid for it all to come to an end. Looking down at him, your best friend, hair a tangled mess around his head and face, pupils blown, neck perfectly on display adorned by that damned necklace, and his lips. Lips that had just spoken your name ever so sweetly. You knew that everything was going to have to change, maybe not for the worst and maybe not for the better, but definitely change. There was no going back now and nothing could change it. 

It was involuntary, the way you clench around his cock, watching as his eyes fall shut for a brief moment. You don’t know what was happening to you, the way your pulse quickened at the sound of his soft, beautiful moan, or the way that a strange sensation, one that you could almost, almost, describe as butterflies filled you. It meant nothing, because why would it? Why should it mean anything?

You hadn't even realized that he was staring back at you, watching intently on the way your chest was heaving, the way your breast moved with each rise and fall of your chest. Letting his eyes drift the length of your body, stealing a glance at where you were so perfectly connected, as he lets out a shuttered sigh of relief. 

He notices the part of your lips, pink and still slightly swollen, as you breathe softly. He had never wanted anything more than to kiss you, feel your tongue collide with his, it was nothing shy of torture. 

His eyes drift up to yours, the glazed over looks piques his interest, and he’s forced to wonder just what that pretty little mind of yours was thinking. He squeezes your thighs, pulling you from the haze, and your eyes meet him, locking as you feel the embarrassment fill you. 

             “We gonna do this?” He says softly. 

             “Yeah of course, I was just adjusting.” You chuckle, giving him a wink.  Before you have any more time to think about anything else you start to move, finding a suitable rhythm to have both of you moaning. His fingers press harder into the flesh of your hips as your ass comes down against his lap, as you keenly bounce on his cock. 

              “Fuuuuck,” he groans, “you’re taking me so well.” 

Why? Why did he have to say that? You whine, feeling that familiar heat building inside you once more. Eddie meets your thrusts with ones of his own, each one bringing pleasure and pain as he begins to hit every deep spot inside you, ones you had never managed to do yourself. 

              “S-shit Munson,” you cry out, your head lulling back on your shoulders, as he drives into you. Part of you just wanted to let go, let him fuck you senseless. To just lie back and enjoy it all, and strangely enough he sensed it. “Eddie, give me more, p-please.” 

Eddie groans knowing he wasn’t going to last much longer. “Anything for you, sweetheart.” With one fluid motion he had your back pressed firmly against the pallet, your hands falling above your head, and he can’t help but admire the way you look. 

Eddie grabs your ankles, slinging them over his shoulders providing him a whole new angle to fuck you. Deeper and harder. The stretch of him, stings, burns even causing your vision to start to blur. Fuck it was perfect, well almost. 

               “Better?” He finds it hard to speak, his pace quickening as he drills into you, relishing in the delicious pull you were giving him, your walls clinging to him like a vice. 

               “Oh f-fuck Eddie, yes..yes..” it had never felt so right to say his name in such a manner, and it scared part of you to your core. He watches in awe at the way your tits bounce with each thrust, and the way your arms tangle lazily around each other, your teeth coming out to sink into your bottom lip and your eyes fall closed. 

The poor boy had almost thought that he had finally died and had gone to heaven, but he knew it wasn’t, because if it was, he would have his tongue shoved so far down your throat at this point. Truth be told, he was going to be damned if he didn’t get to kiss you at least once at some point. 

“Fuck you look so goddamn pretty, so perfect” he didn’t want you to catch the last part but you did, you heard all of it. Eddie, nearing his climax, snakes his hand down to your clit, thumb massaging tight circles into it, ones that make your body squirm, ones that match the pace of his thrusts. You can feel your sweet release burning deep in your stomach, while your head begins to spin. The drawl of his cock, moving in a sweet yet simple pace, and the tempo that he was keeping with the pad of his thumb, was rendering you completely drunk. 

    “Mmmm fuck…..baby…” Eddie groans, lowering himself down to you, the familiar chain dangling in your face. His lips were so close to yours, his labored breaths fanning across your face, his eyes meeting yours. You hadn’t noticed it until then, and perhaps it hadn’t always been there, but in this exact moment, his eyes held a deep sense of adoration in them, like he was looking at something that meant the world to him. His eyes flicker down to your lips, and before you can process, his lips are pressed against yours. Shocked, your eyes widen, and your breath hitches. Nothing was working, your body had gone numb as you felt your release take over. Every part of your body sets a flame, as your back bows off the pallet and your eyes fall shut. 

Your cunt spasms around him as his own release gives, his hips stuttering with each thrust. Your name tumbling from his lips against yours. Somewhere deep inside of you surfaced, taking control as you reach up and grab the guitar pick that was dangling in front of you, and use it to close the gap between you and Eddie. Crashing your lips against his in a heated and messy kiss. The one simple rule, now a distant memory.  

Eddie’s hips halt as he stills inside you, bringing his arm around to rest under your back as he deepens the kiss. He didn’t care if the kiss was a result of your shared highs, and would most likely last only a second more before you both pulled away and would pretend that it didn’t happen. You on the other hand, had no idea what possessed you to kiss him back, especially like you did. At some point in the night you had lost all sense of logic and reason. You would argue that some ulterior force hijacked you, making you think that whatever this was, was the right choice. 

You pull away from him, still too stunned to say anything, and from the looks of it, so was he. Pupils blown, and a look of surprise on his face. The room is silent except for the sounds of the pair of you fighting to catch your breaths. Both of you are far too afraid to make any sudden movements, as you fight to meet each other’s gaze. It felt like a lifetime had passed by the time Eddie pulled out of you, discarding the spent condom, and plopping down beside you. 

Staring up at all the stage lights wondering who was going to speak first and cut the tension, and you felt relieved and nervous all at the same time when you heard Eddie’s mouth open. 

    “Well that was..” he says, clearing his throat. He fights the urge to look over at your still figure, as you do the same. 

    “Yeah…yeah it was..” you croak, your voice broken. 

The silence settles again, and you can’t help but wonder what was going on in the beautiful head of his, not that you knew even what was going on in your. Neither of you had ever been at more of a loss for words than you were right now. This was a first. 

    “So how’s Rebecca?” You ask, unsure of why you thought that this was the topic that most definitely needed to be brought up at this moment. 

Eddie bursts out into laughter as his hand flies up to wipe over his face.

    “Really!? Now? This is the conversation you want to have now of all times?” He chuckles, finally looking over at you to see that you were already looking at him with wide eyes. You giggle, feeling slightly embarrassed but relieved that the tension had been cute. 

    “Well believe it or not Eddie, I have never been in this position before, so I’m not really sure whats good in the state of post best friend fucking conversations?” you huff a laugh, rolling your eyes as he gives you a suggestive look. 

    “Well we both know you're lying when you say you’ve never been in that position before..” 

Grabbing the pillow beside you, you swing it at his head, laughing when you hear the muffled sounds of a grunt. 

    “Ha ha ha.” you say sarcastically. 

    “Rebecca is great by the way, thanks for asking.” He says with a wolfish grin, “I don’t really think it's going anywhere though but who knows. I mean we’re not really out of the ‘hey can I buy some weed off of you?’ ‘Sure thing’ ‘you’re so cool Eddie’ phase just yet, but things seem to be turning around, maybe sooner or later I’ll find some courage to actually talk to her, but I seriously doubt it.” he jokes, to which you roll your eyes.

    “Well if it means anything, I don’t like her, so.” you smile back. 

    “Oh, well then in that case, I am just going to have to forget about her it seems, you know since you don’t like her.” he deadpans, the sarcasm heavy in his tone. 

    “Good, I’m glad you get it.” You let your gaze linger on him a moment more, letting it drift down the length of his body, biting at the inside of your cheek.

    “Getting a good look?” he asks, watching as the blush creeps to your cheeks. 

    “Oh shut up.” you retort. 

You locate your clothes quickly, and slip into them, aware that his eyes are trained on you every step of the way. 

    “Getting a good look?” you mock, turning to see him blatantly staring. 

    “Yeah well it's not everyday you get to see your best friend naked, so I figured that I would commit it to memory, you know, just in case.” 

Eddie looks at you, the familiar glint of mischief behind his eyes. Grabbing his clothes you toss them at him, your hands falling to your hips. 

    “Mhm, just in case of what, Eddie?” 

Eddie drags on his clothes, standing up to tower over you, fixing his belt while he looks down at you, eyes narrowed with that mischievous glint. 

    “Just in case, you die but your face gets horribly disfigured and they come to me needing to ID you, but all that's left is your body, and then I can tell them ‘yep officer, that's her alright, I’d know those tits anywhere, they’re better than Anne Wilkinson’s.’” 

You shake your head, biting at your lower lip to hide the laugh that was begging to escape. 

           “So you see, I’m just looking out for you, baby.” He winks. He begins to pick up the blankets that you were just using, unable to stop yourself from admiring the expanse of his back currently covered by his denim vest, or the curve of his ass, as he bends over. Stop!  

Your stomach flutters, and you swallow hard, clearing your throat as you make your way back to the table, picking up your backpack, and plopping it down on the table, grabbing out a few spare condoms. Eddie makes his way over to you with a smile, as you hold out your hand for him. 

    “Here.” 

Eddie holds out his own hand, skepticism on his face, as he waits for you to reveal yours. 

    “What are you giving me?” 

You drop a handful of condoms into his awaiting palm, with a smile of your own.

    “Wouldn’t want you to be unprepared for any other sexual voyages you encounter now would we. It’s like what you always say, better safe than sorry.” 

You sling your bag over your shoulder, beaming at him as you make your way to the door, leaning against the frame. 

    “Now will you please take me home? I need to shower.” you quip, folding your arms over your chest. 

Eddie flashes you the cheesiest smile, sliding the condoms into his pocket. 

    “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

 thikkiesixx here you go doll!

[jonathanbyersphd]

Hot Take:

If the goal was to show how much Jonathan is willing to sacrifice for other people’s happiness the Duffers have actually written him exceptionally well. 

This is going to be long I’m sorry

Now before you all get out the pitchforks hear me out. Nancy flat out says that Jonathan doesn’t back down even if it comes at a great personal cost In season 1 Jonathan is risking his life to find/save Will. I mean everyone is but we see that Jonathan would rather lie to his mother, confront his abusive father and die by demogorgon if it means Will is safe and Joyce is happy. (we won’t get into the implications that Jonathan thinks Joyce loves Will more but it’s good to keep in mind) Additionally, I would argue that the other reason that Jonathan is doing what he’s doing in s1 is because he thinks Will going missing is his fault. Therefore, it’s Jonathan’s responsibility to bring Will home safe and sound no matter what.  

Season 2 is where we start to see a less motivated Jonathan in terms of main story plot. For lack of a better word he spends the season as Nancy’s sidekick. Nancy wants justice and Jonathan is willing to be abducted by the government, drive all over Indiana-Illinois and deal with Murray if it means that she gets justice and is happy. And yes, we could argue that Jonathan says what the lab did makes him mad but again it’s Nancy’s plan and he’s supporting her. Even if he’s missing school/ knows something is going on with Will and missing that too. 

In terms of s3 I think this is really where the idea is driven home. Throughout the entire season we see Jonathan tell Nancy that her story is a bad idea, that he could get fired (we already know the Byers need the money and Jonathan has been working since s1 to help). BUT he goes along with Nancy anyway. It’s highlighted especially in the darkroom scene. Nancy offers him a way out in saying she’ll just take the keys and Jonathan who wants to make her happy (seen in the previous scene after her pitch meeting) goes with her anyway. Jonathan knows he could get fired but he sacrifices his needs for Nancy’s happiness. 

Season 4 is where it gets interesting, First of all it’s never mentioned that Jonathan applied to NYU (where we know he’s wanted to go since he was 6) this is probably a writing error but this could also be in the story to show us that Jonathan shifted what he wanted to accommodate what Nancy wanted (Emerson) Additionally, Jonathan says that if he tells Nancy he can’t/won’t go to college she would come out to CA to be with him/give up her dreams and he can’t live with that. This establishes that Jonathan in no way expects people to make the same level of sacrifices for him. He’s the one who has to stay behind to take care of his mom/Will (and presumably El) What’s more interesting is that Jonathan DOESN’T need to stay home to take care of them. We’re  shown that though it’s not explicitly told so it may go unnoticed here’s why 1. Joyce is working from home which means she’s always physically there 2. (more important imo) The Byers have moved upward financially (the Lenora house alone shows us that, but we also see brand name syrup when s3 had generic, Will has an easel/paints, El has all of her craft supplies) the Byers aren’t struggling to the point that Jonathan needs to also work (if he did Argyle would’ve been introduced as Jonathan’s coworker or Jonathan would have been more antsy about his car being broken). 3. Lastly, I think Jonathan’s insistence that he has to stay home just reinforces the idea that he thinks of Will as his responsibility (not that he doesn’t love Will) but the idea that 18 year old Jonathan should be solely responsible for 15 yo Will’s well-being is parentification plain and simple. But Jonathan would rather sacrifice his teenage/young adulthood if it means that Will is happy. 

If you have read this far congratulations, but I’m not done yet. 

Now if you’re thinking surely Jonathan must have wants outside of protecting his family/their happiness and you’re right he does: NANCY

From s2:  Jonathan could’ve gone home after dropping off Will but instead he went to Tina’s party because he wanted to be with Nancy. (That’s why you get the shot of him pining when Steve & Nancy are dancing) He takes Nancy home he tucks her in and takes off her shoes because he wanted to take care of her. But I think the most telling thing is at Murray’s Jonathan is already halfway in the living room when Nancy leaves her room because he wants to talk (kiss) her. Which moves us to the more important point JONATHAN KISSED NANCY FIRST.  And yes, this could have been done as a more romantic option or whatever but as someone who has edited the scene over & over it’s clear that Jonathan was choosing to want Nancy no matter how selfish it might have been. (the state of St*ncy is murky at this point in story and Nancy did just say she loves him even if Jonathan knew she was lying) That’s why you get that shot after he kisses her of him in the doorframe looking at her like “I want you don’t you want me too?” (kudos to Charlie for portraying this emotion) 

And if you don’t believe me, we see that again in s4. Jonathan contradicts himself, he says he needs to stay for Will but when it settles in that Nancy could be in danger he’s moving hell & earth to be by her side in Hawkins because that’s where he wants to be. (In-Universe El is taken, Cali Crew finds out about Vecna, Jonathan decides on jailbreak, and the boys leave in less than 24 hours) Jonathan could’ve looked at that picture and said no Will (Mike too) is safer here with agents guarding the house. They might go looking for El but Jonathan’s call to action is Nancy. That’s why we see him apologize for not being there because despite him giving up on college with her and him saying he needs to be there for his family where he wants to be is right by her side. 

To wrap up: Maybe I’m giving the Duffers too much credit, maybe it’s late and I’ve lost my mind, but I really do think that overall they’ve been trying to show us that Jonathan will sacrifice himself if it makes others happy. And that they haven’t been ignoring writing his character it’s just been subtle because it’s supposed to be. I know this is a hot-take but Jonathan is supposed to blend into the background, but he’s present and accounted for when he thinks that people need him. (again kudos to Charlie for his background Jonathan actions) When he can do something that will make others happy/help them in some way, even if it’s not what he wants to do. 

Obviously, the preferable resolution to this would be for Jonathan to do things he wants to do. Not what he thinks he has to do. But whether or not that will happen, or whether or not I’m wrong will be revealed next season. Either way, I don’t think Jonathan will be in the background of s5. 

TLDR: The Duffers have written Jonathan in a way that perfectly shows how little he wants for himself 

[stonathanshipping]

Genuinely think it’s so sweet that when Max was almost dying and thinking of her friends/loved ones, she thought of Mike too. One of my favorite parts of Stranger Things is how close the party is, but also how much all the main characters care for each other even if they’re not outwardly best friends

[inkykeiji]

hello, bby💞💞 i absolutely ADORE everything u write, ur insanely talented!! I wanted to ask, you’ve mentioned several pieces of art, precisely songs and films, that have inspired ur work; could u give us some music and movie recommendations that have similar vibe to some of ur fics??? Thank u in advance, I hope u have an incredible day/evening, lysm💓💞💖

THIS QUESTION OOOOOOOH YES ANON YES okay okay first of all, thank you so much!!!! i appreciate that a lot <333 YES i love film so much hehehe <3 my music recommendations are pretty much the same as they always are. the films i’m recommending here; i’m not exactly sure if they have a similar vibe to my fics as i’ve found it difficult to find many films that fit that criteria, but here’s a nice huge list of films that have influenced my main series’, and how!!

beware!! very long post under the cut hehehe AND POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR BMB IF YOU KNOW THE FILMS HEHEHEHEHE

𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬

the godfather, part 1 + part 2

AAAAAAAAH okay, literally one of my favourite films of all time, the godfather (+ the godfather pt 2) is a fucking masterpiece. tomura’s close relationship with his father was both inspired by bnha itself as well as michael corleone’s relationship with his father, vito. michael is the golden child even though he’s the youngest, and i love love love how cold and ruthless he can be!!! he’s also super smart.

goodfellas

listen. if henry hill from goodfellas and michael corleone from the godfather had a baby, it would be tomura. he’s slightly more henry than he is michael, but his characterization pulls from both of these characters!! henry is fun, he’s reckless, he’s young, he feels like a god and he loves cocaine. henry also becomes very paranoid, a path with tomura is currently speeding down (albeit much more intensely, with legitimate mental health issues, but you get it). i also love the subtle ‘mafia princess’ trope goodfellas has going on with henry’s wife, karen (that scene where she says she’s going shopping and asks him for money, and he takes out that massive wad of cash?????? brilliant, one of my faves hehehe). henry also has some difficulty dealing with his emotions!!

narcos season 1 + 2

k, i can’t say too much about how this incredible show inspired bmb; i kind of feel like listing it is already giving away too much hehehe BUT i love the pure POWER pablo exudes, and i love his relationship with his wife and how family oriented he is.

scarface (both the original 1932 version and the 1983 version)

WOOOOOOOOOO OKAY. for the 1983 film: cocaine my friends. cocaine and violence and toxic relationships!!!!!!!  i kind of love elvira hancock more than anything else; she’s so glamorous and fun and just aaaaah she’s definitely not as ‘baby’ or ‘good girl’ as bmb!reader is, but her sheer class and cute dresses and just how SPOILED she is reminds me a lot of bmb! for both 1932 + 1983: tony’s relationship with his sister, gina (which tbh borders on incest). gina’s another one of those ‘mafia princess’ types, and tony is extremely overprotective of her and spoils her like mad, too. she’s also fits that ‘good girl’ archetype a lot more!!

reservoir dogs

purely the violence. the violence the violence the violence, the crude and crass way the men talk to each other, and the fact that they’re like a lil organized crime group put together by a boss. i am IN LOVE (IN LOVEEEEEEEE) with mr blonde (aka vic vega <333). mr blonde’s extreme sadism reminds me quite a bit of both dabi and tomura, and he’s even referenced in the lil torture piece i wrote!! also, you literally cannot tell me that vic wouldn’t spoil the absolute HELL out of his good lil princess if he had one <3

(not a film, but!!!!!) hamlet

break my bones is very very very loosely based on hamlet (which is my favourite story of all time. literally. i love hamlet so much i can’t even put it into words); with tomura as hamlet, dabi as a mixture of horatio and laertes, and reader as ophelia. hamlet, my precious baby, is a spoiled fucking brat, who loved his father and was loved by his father. he’s also very intelligent, but falls prey to his indecisiveness and his inability to make decisions, in addition to the rapid decay of his mental health. that’s all i’ll say hehehe

baby driver

the relationship between baby + debora reminds me of the relationship between dabi and reader a lot <333 i also just love the aesthetic of this film, and the undercurrents of organized crime!!

the shining

just a teeny tiny bit; i cannot say anything about this or i think it’ll give something away!!!!!

burning

trios!!!!! trios!!!!!!!!!!!!and the relationship dynamic between jong-su, hae-mi and ben??????? absolutely incredible and reminds me quite a bit of the dynamic between tomura, dabi + reader!!

𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐔 (𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞) + 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐲𝐚-𝐧𝐢𝐢

i’m grouping these two together, because a lot of their influences overlap in terms of dabi + reader’s relationship!!! (i’m pretty sure we can all agree that touya-nii is so fucking Daddy, too <3)

true romance

i fucking love this movie, so so so much. i’d go as far to say that clarence and alabama’s relationship has without a doubt inspired or influenced every single romantic relationship i’ve written in at least some way, shape, or form. i LOVE them. i love their co-dependency on each other, i love their whole ‘it’s you and me against the world’ vibe, and i love how far they’re willing to go for each other. also, again, organized crime (no surprise), and alabama is just the cutest fucking thing i swear to god. that scene of her + virgil in the hotel room will forever be one of my absolute FAVOURITE scenes in cinematic history. i would die for this woman i love her more than anything. she’s so cute yet so strong, so brave, so IN LOVE, and aaaah that is just one of my favourite characteristics ever ever ever. i love women who are soft and strong at the same time, even if that strength isn’t physical.

sid and nancy

hello to one of the most famous toxic relationships ever!!! honestly, i don’t think i have to explain this one much LMAO. obviously my readers aren’t as hardcore as nancy and almost always fall into the ‘innocent good girl’ category, but their RELATIONSHIP itself reminds me quite a bit of the relationship between touya-nii and his princess <3

bonnie and clyde (1967)

ahahaha yet again, another very toxic, very co-dependent type of love. like clarence and alabama, i love how these two are literally willing to die for each other—they’d go straight to the ends of the earth for one another, no questions asked. this type of love is extremely unhealthy, obviously, but it’s something i am extremely fascinated with and love exploring in my work! also, that whole ‘fuck the world let’s commit crimes together’????? very tag you’re it dabi x reader!!!

pulp fiction

more specifically, the relationship between mia and vincent. the sexual tension there is fucking crazy, and i love how mia is yet again one of those ‘mafia princess’ types. really, this film applies to bmb as well, but i’m putting it here because the way vincent gets so so SO soft for mia reminds me of the way touya-nii and dabi in these two series in particular get soft for their readers. also, to a lesser extent, the relationship between butch and fabienne. i know a lot of people don’t like fabienne and get annoyed with her, but i think she’s just the cutest thing and i heavily relate to her and her babie/crybaby nature <3 and of course, the relationship between pumpkin and honeybunny (for tag you’re it especially!) <33

breathless (a bout de souffle)

there’s just something about michel that reminds me of touya-nii SO much. i think it’s a combination of his attitude as well as his petty life of crime, and the way patricia hides him in her apartment...i don’t know, it’s difficult for me to put into words, but i love him a lot <3

𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

the joker + harley quinn: i feel like this is so obvious LMAO but i’m obsessed with the idea of that all consuming voracious love that borders on serious obsession. extremely possessive socio/psychopath and his dumb lil baby????? yes <3 (**i also wanna make a note to say that harley isn’t dumb AT ALL, but J will often insult her in such a way, and sometimes the men who write her portray her as such as well >.> but harley is one of my favourite female characters ever. i LOVE how girly and fun she is while still being extremely strong and (sometimes, depending on the version) independent. she isn’t without flaws, and i love how her mr j is basically her kryptonite <3)

speaking of batman, bruce wayne: what can i say, i just love spoiled rich men who have serious issues dealing with their emotions and walk the line of good and evil <33333

anakin skywalker/darth vader: listen, anakin was seriously slighted by those prequel films. but underneath all of that bad writing, at his core, anakin is a fantastic character. he is SO strongly governed by his emotions and is extremely selfish, and his love for his wife and family is ultimately what leads him down the path to the dark side <3 his emotionally charged motivations remind me a lot of CANON dabi!!!

thelma and louise: i just love their relationship, like, a lot hehehe. their relationship and the ending of this film reminds me a lot of my snowman & me; just yet again that whole ‘it’s you and me or it’s death’ type thing.

the darjeeling limited: it should be obvious at this point that i love trios, and i love complex characters and the relationships that come along with them. the relationship between the whitman brothers, the dysfunctional family, the truama and sadness...i love it all. this film is absolutely beautiful and really doesn’t connect much to my work other than the character dynamics, but i love it so dearly.

mad men: again, those misogynistic toxic relationships and the dependency betty has on don for the first few seasons!! also my god, the aesthetic, i am obsessed.

twin peaks: this hasn’t shown up too much in the work i’ve posted on my blog just yet, but i’m head over heels in love with the dreamy unsettling feeling that saturates this entire series, as well as the drugs and crime. also dale is my baby, protect him with everything <3

blade runner (both films): for city aesthetic

suckerpunch: an absolutely awful film but also one of my guilty pleasures, purely because i love babydoll so so so so so much <33 again, more for aesthetic than story.

𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂

honestly, my music recommendations are exactly the same as they are in this post right here. lana del rey, lil peep, chase atlantic + the neighbourhood are the four that i’d say influence my work the most tho, and have the most similar vibe to my stuff!! also, nicole dollanganger is an incredible artist and lyricist, and i’ve been told more than once that my work and her work are quite similar (which i agree!!!). her stuff is hauntingly beautiful, but i have a lot of difficulty listening to it because it hits a little too close to home and makes me cry literally every single time. so please be wary of that, i’m giving a general trigger warning for her because she can get quite dark. but her work is absolutely fantastic, i highly recommend as long as you feel that you can handle it!!! <33

AAAAAH I KNOW I’M MISSING LIKE A MILLION THINGS I SWEAR but these are the films (and tv shows) + artists that readily come to mind!! thank you again for your question anon, i love stuff like this so much and i love discussing films and art hehehe <33

[angstyaches]

heyy so you know that I honestly love everything you write buuuuut if you have time and motivation to work on a request I'd really love to see some sick elliot again but maybe just something really mundane? like just a fever and neausea and Felix being the cutest boyfriend? loaaads of fluff would be amazing since it's been so much angst lately haha - but please write whatever you want honestly

-em

Whoa, what’s this? Flick getting back to posting requested fics?! 

Thank you once again for requesting my boys, @justmeandmysickies; I’m sorry it took so long for me to get around to!

C\W: nausea, fever, general discomfort, slight anxiety, emeto, vampire emeto so there's blood mention

 _

It truly was a myth that vampires – even full-blooded ones – couldn’t stand daylight. In fact, Elliott loved daylight, and even chided Shayne for keeping the curtains shut in his room all day, much to his cousin’s annoyance.

Today, however, Elliott had created a shadowy cave for himself, a haven where he could curl up and bask in a certain level of sensory deprivation. At least, he would have been basking if he had been conscious. The last time he’d moved had been when Felix had gotten up to leave, and he’d blacked out again shortly after feeling a goodbye kiss on his cheek. The fever must not have been too bad at that point, if Felix didn’t wake him to check if he was okay, but it was most definitely soaring now.

His head was fuzzy now, as he peered out from under the sweat-soaked sheet. He shuddered and recognised the vaguely unpleasant sensation as oversleep, and he pawed clumsily for his chunky analogue watch, which was sitting on his bedside locker. It took his eyes a lot of blinking and a rub with the side of his hand before he could make out the time. Almost two in the afternoon, which was mildly horrifying for someone who usually rose shortly after dawn. 

How the hell had he managed to sleep for so long?

Elliott tried to sit up in bed, and his answer hit him like a punch to the gut. A little too much like a punch to the gut, in fact. His body must have knocked him out so he wouldn’t have to deal with the nausea.

He pressed one hand to his mouth and the other to the side of his head, the gold strap of his watch cool against his cheek. His stomach felt like it had leapt six inches closer to his throat, pinching in on itself and its heavy contents, which didn’t seem to have moved at all since he’d laid down last night.

As he sat there, his upper body swayed slightly. He let his eyes fall shut again, letting the waves of nausea that were thrashing about in his belly to settle down. As they did, the fuzziness in his head began to clear, too. 

Elliott gulped in tentative relief and slipped out from under the blanket. He’d gone to sleep in only his boxers, and as soon as the air in the room hit his skin, his muscles clenched. He was almost bent double as he shuffled to the wardrobe and pulled out the fluffy grey dressing gown and slippers that Felix had bought for him the previous Christmas; they had been intended as a joke present, but Elliott had used them more times than he could remember now.

The body spasms eased a little as he sank into the soft fabric and tied the sash. His shoulders were tight and achy and he kept his hands in the deep pockets as he made his way downstairs, which probably wasn’t the safest or wisest thing to do, considering how shaky and woozy he felt. Luckily, he made it to the front hallway without falling and breaking anything.

The house seemed quiet and settled, besides the low whooshing of the kettle being boiled in the kitchen. The further along the foyer he got, the better he could make out the sound of someone singing softly to themselves. The door was halfway-closed, and he bumped it the rest of the way open with his hip.

Relief tugged at his gut when he found Felix alone in the kitchen. No Shayne, no Ryan, no Nancy. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t confused.

“Where is everyone?”

Felix casually glanced over his shoulder and smiled. He was still in his fur-hooded jacket as he got a cup ready to make tea, meaning he’d probably only gotten home a few minutes ago. Maybe the sound of him closing the front door had been what had woken Elliott from his foggy sleep.

“I think Nancy dragged Ryan and Shayne shopping. Noteworthy feat, or what?” Felix turned around and fully observed his boyfriend’s hunched shoulders and heavy eyes, as well as the dressing gown. His gentle smirk melted into a frown. “Have you only just gotten out of bed, darling?”

Elliott nodded. He could feel the contrast between his internal body temperature, and the floor tiles separated from the soles of his feet only by the slippers. He shuddered at a sudden wave of vertigo, feeling his stomach roll inside him.

“How come?” Felix asked softly. “Are you feeling well?”

“No?” Elliott muttered, looking up and across the kitchen at his boyfriend again.

“What’s the matter?” Felix’s gaze didn’t waver as he stepped around the counter and pulled Elliott into his arms.

However, Felix hugging Elliott with no cooperation was about equal to him pressing his body up against a slab of concrete he couldn’t quite get his arms around; Elliott had to fish his hands from his pockets and lift his own arms, giving Felix access to his waist, so that he could embrace him properly.

“Darling?” Felix urged, his voice muffled from having his face pressed into the front of the dressing gown.

“I don’t – I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I just – I woke up this morning feeling exhausted,” Elliott droned. “But now I’m even more exhausted, and I feel like shit, and I can’t stop bloody shivering.”

Felix hugged him tighter at that. Elliott let himself melt into the hug, his insides feeling a little less pinched as he inhaled the scent from the top of Felix’s head. He could never pin down why, but Felix’s natural scent always made him feel like he was in a meadow surrounded by wildflowers.

He knew that if the nausea got any worse, the slight pressure of Felix’s torso against his would make him prickly and irritable. For now though, he genuinely felt steadier and safer in Felix’s arms. Even if his minty head was only as high as Elliott’s sternum.

“Gosh, you’re so warm,” Felix mumbled against his chest. It was unclear whether he was concerned about the fever, or just enjoying the cosy temperature.

“Well, soak it up while you can,” Elliott sighed. “Soon the fevers are gonna go away, and you’ll be stuck cuddling a walking corpse.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” Felix tried to pull back and get free, but Elliott kept his arms looped around him. “No, stop; you don’t get hugs when you talk about yourself like that.”

“Oh, no-no-no, I’ll be quiet,” Elliott smiled, though his voice came out with only a little of the playfulness he intended to put into it. “I’ll be good. Please hug me, boo. Everything hurts.”

“Everything?” Felix chuckled; his voice was tinted with sarcasm, because surely everything couldn’t be painful all at once, right?

Elliott swallowed and lowered his nose to the top of Felix’s head again. His eyes fell shut, but it did nothing for the tension in his neck that was starting to creep deeper into his skull. His body was being held, but it did nothing for the chill that had set up camp in every one of his bones. And the inevitable was finally happening, probably brought on faster by the tightness of the hug; his stomach was starting to churn, making his skin break out in goosebumps and his teeth grind together.

“Yes.” He sighed as softly as he could when all he wanted to do was groan. “Everything.”

Felix pulled back, just enough for him to look up at Elliott’s face. The shorter boy’s yellow eyes flicked back and forth between Elliott’s, his face paling as he tried to assess how worried he should be.

“It’s not like I’m not in agony or anything,” Elliott admitted, longing for that frown to disappear, “but everything – everything feels wrong. Uncomfortable. And it’s – it’s like I can’t get it right anymore, you know? I don’t drink enough blood – sick. I drink too much blood – sick.”

“I know, darling,” Felix sighed. “It’s unfair, I know.”

Elliott wriggled in reaction to the rich taste of blood mixed with bile burning in the back of his throat. He put his hands against Felix’s arms and directed him back slightly, so he had a little more room to breathe.

“Oh, I’m... sorry,” Felix murmured. He seemed to tighten in on himself, shoulders tensed within Elliott’s grip.

“No, no, I’m –” Elliott closed his eyes and pressed a fist to his mouth as a hot, sticky burp slipped up his throat. “I’m sorry, Fee, I – I feel sick to my stomach.”

“Oh.” Felix inched back a little more, despite still being held by his shoulders. “I wouldn’t have squeezed you so tightly, if I’d known –”

“I know.” Elliott swallowed against another wave of nausea. “It’s not your fault, gorgeous. I wanted you to squeeze me, remember?”

As he tilted his head, one side of Felix’s mouth twisted up into a sympathetic smile. “Do we need to move you closer to the sink?”

Although he wasn’t too certain himself, Elliott shook his head. The motion made the inside of his skull swirl, but the feeling in his stomach felt more like a low burning than an immediate wave ready to break for his mouth.

“Let’s go to the sofa, then, darling,” Felix suggested. “I want you to be comfortable.”

Elliott nodded obediently and let Felix take his hand, even though his palm had gathered a thick sheen of lukewarm sweat, both from the fever and from being wrapped in the less-than-breathable dressing gown fabric.

They usually wouldn’t get to sprawl across the sofa in the main lounge without Nancy yelling at them, so just being able to lower himself onto his back and stretch his legs across it felt like luxury. Elliott’s muscles sighed, as though they’d been upset with him all along, for moving from the bed in the first place.

Felix put a hand on the back of the sofa and leaned slightly over to kiss Elliott on the forehead. 

Felix’s eyes practically changed colour when he smiled, like there were a hundred tiny golden fireworks going off in each one. Elliott knew this wasn’t strictly true, or even possible - eyes didn’t change colour based on simple emotions but rather primal instincts - but he liked to imagine it anyway. Felix was small, and his little mint-coloured pigtails made him look so sweet, but Lord, he was majestic.

Elliott felt smaller than him now, felt shielded by his closeness.

Unfortunately, he also felt yesterday’s blood feast stirring around in his belly again, so he had to jab Felix away from him. His brain felt like it was burning with anger that he couldn’t seem to voice, just from imagining the sensation of being touched. It made him squirm on the sofa until he could assure himself that Felix knew to give him space, and wouldn’t try anything unless he asked.

And Lord, was it hard not to ask for another hug. It was nearly impossible to simply watch Felix slink back, grabbing a cushion from the reading chair so that he could set himself up on the floor next to the sofa.

“You want me to get you some ice or something? Try to bring down your fever a tad?”

Elliott rested a hand over his ribs, feeling the acid and blood bubbling in his belly, and shook his head. “Ryan says it’s better to let it run its course, unless I’m on the verge of passing out.”

“I just wish I could do something to help.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Felix rested his chin in his hands. His eyes seemed to have dulled slightly. “What are you thinking of right now, darling?”

Elliott kept his lips closed as he groaned, preparing to say something.

“No sugar coating,” Felix added.

“I was thinking how – how my body is more in control than I am,” Elliott heard himself say. “Like I - I don’t even get a say anymore.”

Felix nodded a little mechanically; he’d heard all of this before – albeit paraphrased, and in a not-so-calm manner. Elliott’s ears pricked and picked up a slight hitch in his boyfriend’s breathing as he sucked in a sob.

“Sorry,” Elliott mumbled. “I just don’t – I don’t know how I’m still going to be me when this is all finished.”

“You –” Felix nodded with a little more purpose this time, smiling despite the glistening in his eyes. He was trying hard to keep himself together, for Elliott’s sake. “You know I’ll still wanna keep you, right? No matter what happens?”

“I know, boo.”

“And who knows?” Felix added. “When you’re finished transforming, maybe you’ll be reborn as someone with fashion sense from the century you’re actually living in.”

All Elliott could do was grin to himself as a weak roll of laughter took hold of his achy shoulders and back. 

Well… maybe the roll went a little deeper than his shoulders, and maybe the burning was actually –

Felix yelped in surprise as Elliott suddenly sat upright, curling his legs up towards his chest. He retched dark brown, sticky vomit down the front of his dressing gown, accompanied by a wet cough.

“Oh, gosh!” Felix squealed, leaping to his feet. “I didn’t know you were about to - the white sofa – gosh, are you okay? Are you – did you get any on the cushions? Never mind, are you okay? Oh, no, Elli, they’re going to kill us –”

Elliott gulped around another peal of laughter, clapping one hand to his mouth and flapping the other in Felix’s direction. The sudden onslaught of nausea gripped tightly at his stomach and throat, but Felix being Felix was enough to distract him from the pain.

“Bucket? Bucket, I should get you a bucket,” Felix gasped, trotting back towards the kitchen and almost tripping over the cushion he’d placed on the floor himself.

Elliott coughed as he sat forward, eyes watering from the nauseous burps that he couldn’t keep down anymore. The laughter had him trembling all over, had his abdominal muscles clenching around his already churning stomach. He extended a hand as soon as he saw Felix bounding back, grabbing the bucket from his hand and letting a string of thick liquid fall from his lips.

He belched deeply over the bucket before bringing up another wave of sick. When he felt his lips pull back, he was no longer sure if he was grinning or just grimacing at this point. His jaw felt as heavy as it did when he was unbearably bloodthirsty, which felt like an impossible similarity, seeing as his stomach was begging to empty itself rather than be filled.

He glanced up, sensing Felix hovering close-by, craning his neck and wringing his hands.

“S-sofa’s fine, Fee,” Elliott coughed out.

“That so? I see – alright.” Felix backed off a little, still fidgeting with his hands purely because he didn’t know what he should be doing. “Shall – shall I get you some clean pyjamas or something, darling? Why – Elli, why the heck are you laughing?”

“It’s n-nothing,” Elliott whispered weakly, the nausea attempting and failing to deflate him again. 

He glanced up at Felix’s soft, yellow eyes and swallowed hard despite the scratchy ache in his throat. There was an idea forming in his mind as he watched Felix fret about him, one that he realised might have been there for a while now. 

“I’d like...” Elliott’s voice was deep and scratchy from the vomiting he’d already done, and the vomiting that was still to come. “I’d like to keep you forever, if I can. Would that be okay?”

“Sure,” Felix replied. He smiled a little stiffly, clearly still bewildered at the level of giddiness that Elliott seemed to have reached. “That would – that would be nice, darling.”

[tsipasce]

Same Difference, Ch.11

A/N: Couple easter eggs in this one. Definitely one of my favorites since.. things are happening~ Also, TW: for some graphic violence per usual. Let me know what y'all think and thanks for reading as always <3

Chapters: 01  |  02 |  03 |  04 | 05  | 06 | 07 | 08 |  09 |  10

AO3 | Fanfic

With the first round of sampling completed, they were able to establish a few facts to be true, “One,” Nanami began as she stood at the whiteboard, “Though we’re aging, our health isn’t declining. It seems like our growth patterns are relatively normal, but overhaul seems to be preemptively fixing any of the normal degradation that comes with aging.”  

“Sounds too fantastical. It almost implies the quirk makes us immortal.”

“Well, considering the world we live in, nothing seems too fantastical anymore, really. I mean, I personally know a guy with a dog head.”

“Point taken. However, this type of ‘immortality’ is better described as ‘quasi-mortality’.”

“Is that even a thing?”

“You and I exist so I’d say it is now. Our aging may be drastically slowed if not halted, but it would be a stretch to say we’ll never die.”

She shrugged in acceptance as she wrote the new term on the board. “Two, our blood had some odd property to it that I haven’t seen before. Like there’s some extra protein-coated cells/structures just floating around—I have no idea what they do. We’ll have to compare more in the next round of control samples from people with high-level quirks, but I didn’t see it in the last batch of control samples, so I’m betting this is unique to us.”

“’Protein-coated structures’? Sounds like a vi…”

“Don’t…” She raised a hand, bringing it to rub the bridge of her nose, “Don’t say it.”

“You’re right, the data speaks for itself. Continue, doctor.” He replied smugly, Nanami letting out an exasperated sigh. If she heard the v-word one more time out of him today, she was sure she’d lose it.

“ANYWAY, onto three: there are no anomalies or strange reactions between us.”

“False. In fact, it’s time you held up your end of the bargain.” interjected Overhaul.

Feigning innocence, Nanami continued writing on the board, “What ever do you mean?”

“Don’t play games. Teach me how you negate overhaul.”

She still wasn’t very excited to teach someone who was already dangerous how to become even stronger, but a deal was a deal. “Fine, I’ll bequeath you some of my vast knowledge,” she said as he rolled his eyes at her, “and immediately after, you’re going to teach me a new move.”

“…Fine.”  He relented.

“Perfect. Roll up your sleeves and let’s head to the arena.” She strutted over to the coat rack, hanging up her garment, wearing a sleeveless blouse underneath.

Once in the room he raised his brows expectantly, “Well, start bequeathing.”

“So, I was equally confused when it first happened but after trying to replicate my reaction while monitoring my vitals, I noticed a blip but couldn’t explain it at first. Then I heard something interesting while they were rerunning one of those old hero documentaries: ‘Whole-Hog’.” He listened intently, beginning to piece together where she was going with the explanation. “It sounds a bit silly, but what it really means in this context is a full body application of your quirk. In essence, when you... attacked me,” at this she could see the slightest bit of regret in his features as he shifted his weight, glancing away when her voice became small, remembering the incident. “when you attacked me, my fight or flight response was triggered, and so was my quirk.”

“But nothing happe… Oh.” He said as he caught her drift.

“Exactly! They cancelled each other out. You can’t disassemble something that’s already disassembling and reassembling itself.”

“Hm. I see.” He said, nodding, his interest now very piqued. “…You know what my next question is.”

Taking a deep breath, Nanami composed herself, “Well I didn’t wear this shirt for nothing. Let’s do this.” She said, holding her arms out, palms facing upwards. The Nanami from a couple of months ago would have doubled over at the irony of willingly offering her arms up for his experimentation, but even she had to acknowledge things had changed. She could defend herself, and though his motives were still a up for debate, she was certain that they were equal allies in this. Though his word was reason enough, he was logical above all else and to be frank, hurting her had become… counterproductive. He took a step forward, closing the distance between them taking off his gloves. He paused, inspecting her arms, “and yes I sanitized them thoroughly before this.” She responded to the question he hadn’t voiced yet.

Waiting for a final nod from her to ensure she was ready, he grabbed both of her forearms, “On three, activate it. One… Two… Three.”

She felt him grip slightly tighter at three, yet nothing happened just like before. She looked up at him triumphantly, now confident it was a tried-and-true method. “Now, it’s your turn—If you don’t mind me touching, that is,” she quickly corrected. He had allowed her to touch him before, but it felt wrong to take it as precedence. What if he’s changed his mind and finds it unbearably repulsive? She would be the first to admit she didn’t understand the mysophobia, but knew if she had it she would want people to at least try and be respectful, Hardened criminal or not, trauma’s still trauma~.

A look of gratitude flashed across his features before he could suppress it, his face returning expressionless as he offered his forearms to her, mirroring her gesture. He was seldom surprised, but she managed, frequently. Very few people had willingly shown him consideration. To be given it without inciting fear or threats—it was foreign, but far from unappreciated. It was a respect borne from a place he’d never been to. Realizing she was still waiting for a response, he shook off the moment, responding simply, “Do what you must, I shower immediately after all of our sessions anyway.”

“Great, I’ll give you a countdown, ok?” She said, trying not to take his comment personally.  “One… Two… Three…” She said as he winced ever-so-slightly. If they weren’t so close, she might not have noticed. “Hey, nerve fibres, remember? It doesn’t have to hurt.” She encouraged. He studied her for a minute before giving a subtle nod. “Let’s try again. One… Two… Three.” This time, it worked, neither of them feeling a thing. She looked up and caught a glint in his eyes Is he smiling under there? She found herself wishing she could see it fully, committing the features she could see to memory. His messy brown hair, the squareness of his jaw, the subtle wrinkle between his brows from frowning so regularly, his piercing gaze as he was looking right back at he—omg how long have I been staring she realized, now a bit embarrassed. She quickly looked away, letting go of his forearms, resisting the urge to maintain contact.

He studied her for a beat longer before slowly lowering his arms and clearing his throat, neither aware that the urge had been mutual. “Now, for my part. Go stand in the corner.”

“NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORN—”

“I swear if you do another pop culture reference, I will lock you in here until Monday.” He said sternly, though the threat was meant to be playful.

She flinched ever-so-slightly at thought of being confined, a genuine look of terror in her eyes for a split second before she could remember to respond normally, It was just a joke. Calm down. No one is ever going to do that to us again… We’re safe now. She thought, shaking off the memory his joke had triggered, “Ok, Negative Nancy.” She said rolling her eyes as she walked to the other side of the room.

He silently took note of her reaction, now curious. Deciding it was best not to pry, he began, “This is useful for both evasion and combat. It’s relatively simple, but the scale is large so be mindful of your stamina when using it. Watch and study the structures carefully.” He walked back to the opposite side of the room, turning to face her as he neatly pulled up his pant legs to kneel. Inhaling deeply, he pressed his hands to the ground and dozens of very large spikes erupted from the floor and across the room, stopping a safe distance from her. She walked up the one of the structures, studying it with her hands to gauge its dimensions. They looked simple enough, but she could tell they were modeled after wave breakers; one intertwining to reinforce the other. She walked back to her spot, and he deconstructed his work and waited.

Focusing, she mimicked his movements, quickly realizing he hadn’t been exaggerating the stamina requirement. After creating the first 5 or 6 she began to feel the fatigue.

“Take your time. You can pick up speed once you’ve mastered the first dozen.” He coached.

Wait, was that… encouragement? She commented inwardly. The thought that he might be manipulating her crossed her mind as it always did, but this interaction felt different. Enjoying this side of him and not wanting to risk him clamming up again, she accepted the encouragement in stride. She nodded thoughtfully, practicing again and again and again. She figured he’d be too impatient to wait for her to get it right since it only took him two tries to learn her technique, but instead he regarded her quietly, giving hints and critique when needed.

After an hour of this, she was finally able to fully replicate his example. He gave the structures an appraising look before nodding in approval. Nanami deconstructed them, reverting the room to its original state. Breathing heavily, she knew she was exhausted enough to pass out then and there, but still wanted to press on and return to the lab to work.

Exhaling, she began to walk back to the lab as he followed behind. Once in the main room, she went to the large sink at one of the lab benches to scrub her hands, realizing she’d been rubbing her hands on the floor for the past hour. He came beside her, doing the same, but of course more vigorously. As he stood beside her, she wondered why he decided to be so close. He’d seemingly tolerated the proximity before, but never sought it out. As they continued to scrub in silence, she accidently brushed up against his hand with her own. “Oh, I’m so sorr—”

“It’s fine.” He said cutting her off, though it didn’t feel rude.

“Oh. Ok.”

Clearing her throat, she continued washing, biting her lip as she tried to think of something to say. Usually the silence wasn’t a big deal, but today, there was a tension in the air. She felt hyperaware of him and that they were alone as she could feel him stealing glances in her direction. She went to grab a paper towel to dry off, deciding to try and fill the air, “I know it was a trade, but thanks for being so patient with—” she stopped short realizing they’d turned towards each other at the same time, making them much too close, her nose almost brushing against his chest. Against her better judgment, she craned her neck to look up. His eyes boring into hers as he remained silent. She felt her heart racing as they stayed seemingly frozen in place, close enough to feel the other’s body heat. There was a shift in the air, his expression unreadable, but far from blank. Nothing was happening at present, but she felt whatever situation they were in was coming to a head and the thought of the outcome had her heartbeat creeping up her throat.

“I should go home and get some rest.” She blurted out.

“Yes, you should go.” He responded, but it wasn’t as convincing as it should have been.

What the hell is going on here… she thought incredulously though they were both equal participants in the tense exchange, whatever it was. Composing herself, she gathered the strength to look away, hurrying over to dry her hands and create distance between them. She hurriedly gathered her bag and notes, rambling as she went about various lab work and their schedule for next week. She began briskly walking towards the door, continuing to fill the air with words, his eyes never leaving her.

“… and then we can move to the next set of samples for testing and—”

“Watanabe.” She immediately got quiet upon hearing him say her name without the usual formality and in a tone she wasn’t used to.

“…Yes?” She cautioned a glance to see him struggling to respond, his usually calm expression now conflicted.

“… Never mind. It’s not important. I’ll see you on Monday.” He said, seemingly trying to convince himself. Of what, she wasn’t sure.

“Oh, alright. See you then.” She managed to get out. Why do I feel…disappointed? Whatever…This is just one of those awkward moments. I just need a nap. She reassured herself before promptly leaving intent on ignoring the warmth coming to her cheeks.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rushing to her car, Nanami tried her best to take her mind off of whatever the hell that was back there… she thought, shaking her head. Turning up the music in her car, she began making a weekend checklist of all her errands. She was planning on eating in more so she’d have more control over her diet, wanting to maintain the great shape she’d gotten in since training with Rappa. After their second life or death battle, he’d come to respect her and they became like workout buddies. Workout buddies who almost killed each other a couple times, but hey, at least he’s upfront and a great spotter.

Considering what she’d been through, Nanami thought she would have gone mad already, but found herself adapting instead. Maybe it was because her career exposed her to a lot of brutality on a regular basis. Being a doctor in a world with quirks meant the injuries and illnesses grew more inventive and vicious with each generation. Or maybe it was simply normal human adaptation, and consistency informed her new “normal”. Either way, she promised herself not to let it change her for the worst. She’d been through too much to give in now, or ever. She confirmed to herself.

Lost in thought, she had arrived home in a flash. Walking up to her door, she felt something was off and immediately went on guard, glancing around for any signs of disturbance before she opened the door. Thinking it was best not to be in the open if her feeling was correct, she hastily grabbed her keys. As soon as she turned the lock, someone large came up from behind, covering her mouth and forcing her inside, the door slamming closed after them. She was dragged in, thrashing about as the hand on her mouth continued to stifle her.

“This her?” asked the man restraining her.

Another man had followed them inside. He scanned her up and down before pulling out his phone, looking between her and a picture he had of her on his phone. “Yup, definitely her… Clip her wings. She’ll travel easier that way.” He said, a smile creeping across his face.

“I’d love to. Those Shie Hassakai bastards are gonna  regret underestimating us,” the man from behind her began before whispering in her ear, “I dunno what your quirk is, but the boss wants you something fierce. Be a good girl and cooperate and it won’t hurt…too much” he chuckled. “Now hold her arms out.” He asked the other man as he approached.

Nanami knew if she let panic set in, it would be over. So instead, she chose rage. It’s just like biting a tough carrot…In the next moment, she opened her mouth wide behind the assailant’s hand, clamping down like a vice. Blood gushed into her mouth and as the other man lunged forward, she did her best llama impression, spitting the thick, coppery substance into his eyes. She ducked as the men toppled over each other. She saw them both clearly now and was able to size them up. They both wore black jumpsuits and black knit caps. She didn’t recognize them, but they certainly had an idea of who she was.

“You bitch…”  one seethed as he was rubbing the blood from his eyes, the other still writhing on the floor. He went to grab her and she dodged, quickly grabbing and transforming her kettle, landing a blow under his ribs, hearing them crack under the pressure... Someone her size usually wouldn’t be able to cause so much damage, but she’d made metal gauntlets on the fly to mimic Rappa’s, adding another layer of force. They weren’t nearly as fast as her workout buddy and she landed another to his gut, causing him to double over. Just as she was about to strike again, the other man began to charge at her having given up the search for his fingers for the time being. He was twice her size and his quirk gave him the look of a rhino with a large horn and stocky built; she knew taking him head on was out of the question. As he charged, she redirected his momentum, moving aside as he landed harshly on the couch, breaking it in half under his weight. Both men arose, now very angry with her. She was trying to strategize as they stalked closer backing her into a corner by the entrance. Panic was beginning to set in until the door blew off the hinges and into the assailants, knocking them across the room and into the kicthen. Hyperventilating she didn’t know who would be at the door, but a sense of relief like she’d never felt before came over her as she saw her least favorite lab partner. Overhaul glanced over at her, and she tried to steady herself against the wall to rise and continue fighting. Giving her a grave look, he commanded” Stay right there.”

The men groaned, trying to shake off what had to be severe concussions from the impact. A look of recognition, then fear came across their features as he stalked towards them, removing his other glove. As he reached out to touch them, Nanami found her voice, “Wait! Don’t kill them. Please.”

“This is not the time for weakness.”

“Not wanting to kill people is not weak, j-just stop and think for a second.” She pleaded trying to figure out how to best reason with him,” you can’t interrogate dead guys!”

He paused. “Which one spoke the most to you?”

Trying to answer the question quickly she stammered,” I—I—The rhino-looking one?”

“Be certain.”

Clearing her throat, she was beginning to calm down,” I’m sure. It was that one.”

“Good. Now look away.”

“But I—“

He turned and gave her a look that said negotiations were over. She hesitantly turned away before hearing the other man “No, no, n—” then a splatter and silence.

She heard Overhaul exhale before discarding his gloves and pulling out a new pair. He speed-dialed someone, calmly explaining he needed some “garbage picked up”. In the next couple minutes, a van arrived driven by some familiar faces she’d seen around the hideout as they nodded to her, dragging out the other man who was now gagged and very traumatized. After they left, he turned to her, walking over calmly. From behind him she could see the corner completely covered in blood. She was grateful not to have seen it happen.

“What are you doi—why did you come here?” was the first thing that came to mind. She knew he knew where she lived, but never imagined he’d make a casual house call.

He went back by the door, bending down to pick up a mass of white fabric, “You practically ran out of the lab today leaving your jacket. I was going to ignore it, but then your phone started ringing. Your carelessness saved you.”  

“Pfft..haha.. hahaahahahahahah. Oh my gosh…bahahaa”

“… What’s so amusing?”

Catching her breath, Nanami tried to stop laughing. It was probably partly exhaustion, but the whole situation was just so bad she had to laugh. “It’s just… I almost got kidnapped by a couple dudes who wanted to ‘clip my wings’, my lab partner is a yakuza head, and my apartment is trashed. It’s not particularly ‘amusing’ per se, but I just had a brawl in my living room and I gotta clean some dude off my wall now. And it’s just… it’s just a lot and I—I don’t know how to react. I’m not like you, I’m not used to this” She ended, swallowing heavily.

He studied her for a beat, “Where is your bleach?”

“What?”

“Nothing can be done about the other things you mentioned, but your apartment is filthy. Let’s start by fixing that.” He replied plainly.

Sniffling, she agreed, “Under the sink, to the left.”

For the next hour Nanami fixed her furniture, the sound of scrubbing and the presence of another person the only things keeping her together. Looking around, the place was good—well better than new. Examining the wall, she couldn’t find a trace of evidence that a man had been splattered across it earlier.

“Wow you’re really good at this, how’d you know how to get out blood stai—Ah. Forget I asked"

He gave a quick huff, and she made a B-line to her bag, grabbing her planner and a pen. He narrowed his eyes at her in disapproval. “Is now really an appropriate time for that? I didn’t even laugh.”

“One, that may not count as a laugh for a normal person, but it certainly does for you. And two, I feel like just for tonight, we can set aside the pretense of ‘appropriateness’.” She hummed, marking down another tally mark. Suddenly realizing it could be taken another way she corrected, “I mean as far as joking and stuff, not like…”

“Like what?” He asked innocently enough but she remembered their weird moment earlier that evening and suddenly the room felt much smaller.

“N-Nothing. Nevermind. I dunno what I’m saying.”

“Hm.”

Suddenly a car honked from outside and Nanami flinched like she’d been hit. She was taking it well, but she’d be lying if she said tonight hadn’t been jarring. Regaining her composure, she took deep breaths, trying to hide how shaken she’d been from the attack. Being alone sounded terrifying at the moment, but she knew she couldn’t ask him to stay. Accepting reality, she decided to rip off the band-aid.

“Hey… Thank you. You know you don’t have to –“

He ignored her, surveying the place, “I’m going to check for bugs and any tracking equipment. They seemed to have been watching you for a while to have timed this so well.” He glanced, giving her a once over, “In the meantime, you should take a bath. You’re filthy.”

Looking at the bloodstains on her clothes and general dishevelment, she wasn’t in a position to disagree, “Sounds logical to me,” she responded quietly as she made her way to the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway “And when I get out…”

“I’ll be here.” He said simply though his gaze was softer than she was used to.

She nodded, giving him a small smile, grateful to have a partner.

[steveshair-robinshood]

a not-so brief analysis of possible deaths in s3

G’day mates! (I’ve been watching too many interviews with Dacre lmao). I’ve been wanting to make this post for awhile. I basically will go through each Stranger Things Season 3 main character’s chances of whether or not they will die - because we all know one of them will. Here it goes. 

The Party

Mike - Mike has always been one of the leading protagonists of the show. He has been well received by pretty much everyone, having little or no haters. I think it is unlikely Mike will be the one to die because he is so important to the plot and the other characters’ (and fans’) emotional value. However, Finn Wolfhard is an incredibly busy young actor and ST’s shoots last months so he might want to clear his schedule. Also, Mike’s death would have a serious impact on the others, especially Will and Eleven. It might prove to be a strong force of motivation for whatever finale the show has.

Eleven - I honestly don't see how killing El would do anything other than break the hearts of fans all around the world. ST is said to have another two seasons after s3 and quite frankly the show just wouldn't be the same without her. I won’t be too worried about Eleven until the last season (and then I'll be terrified).

Lucas - Lucas has gotten a lot of unnecessary hate from the fandom because he didn’t trusts Mike’s judgement when the latter hid a strange girl with super powers in his basement without telling his parents. It’s easy to see this as stand-offish behavior, but Lucas is actually the reasonable one. Yes, he’s cautious, much more so than Mike or Dustin, but people seem to forget he goes and spies on the lab by himself, figures out they’re being watched, alerts his friends, and forgives Mike, all while persevering in his search for Will. Still, Lucas is most people’s least favorite party member. He would seem like a poor character to kill, because not many fans would care very much, even though everyone on screen would be devastated. Hopefully, after s3 Lucas gets the love and appreciation he deserves. 

Max - Max is still pretty new to the show. She is well-loved by the fans and the characters on screen. Plus, her new friendship with El has everyone super pumped; their would be riots in the street if she was killed and that ended.

Dustin - Okay, but does anyone actually not like Dustin? He may not be everyone’s absolute favorite, but no one actively hates him. And why would they? He’s smart, quirky, adorably, nerdy, and provides the vast majority of the comedic relief. The show wouldn’t  be half as fun without him. The show writers know this too. I think Dustin’s pretty safe for now, at least from death (the end of the second trailer did NOT look good for him). 

Will - Sweet, darling, innocent Will. Precious Will who’s never been given any sort of break from that goddamn writing team. Although I think Will is in for more (largely undeserved) pain and strife, I don't think he will bite the dust just yet. 

The Teens

Nancy - Nancy is one of the primary female characters, as well as Mike’s older sister. She’s previously been through some real shit, lost her best friend, lost one boyfriend, gained another boyfriend, and will be struggling with misogyny in s3. Nancy has gained some haters, but they are often overlooked because her fans are fierce. I don’t think the Duffers or Netflix want an army of feminists showing up at their door because they killed off Nancy Wheeler. She is shown in mortal peril in the second trailer, and her death would greatly impact Jonathan, Mike, Steve, and the entire fandom. I personally think she will pull through, but it could really go either way.

Jonathan - Will’s only brother, Joyce’s support system, Nancy’s boyfriend, Jonathan has a lot on his shoulders. Not many people know him, but those who do love him dearly. His death would hugely impact many main characters, without damaging the plot. Yeah. This might not end well for Big Brother Byers . . .

Steve - Oh, Steve. We love Steve. Things were not looking good for everyone’s favorite babysitter/Single Mother Supreme after the first s3 trailer dropped. I would be seriously concerned, however one of the lead writers stated that the day Steve Harrington dies is the day he walks off the show. And, to the best of my knowledge, the writer is still signed on. 

Robin - Robin is a completely new character. We have been given very little info on her whereabouts in the show. This has not stopped fans from immediately falling in love with her though. It is highly unlikely they would kill off such a new and popular character.

 Billy - The new host of the mindflayer. Doesn’t sound too good, does it? But Will survived. Most people seem to think he’s doomed, but I personally believe he’ll make it out. Mentally fucked? Hell yeah. Dead? Not today. 

Heather - . . .  let’s all take a preliminary moment of silence for Heather. Seems like she’ll be taking a page out of Barb’s book and dying before we even get fully introduced to her character.

The Adults 

Hopper -  Hop appears to be in trouble. Fans are already speculating his death. It would be devastating, but . . . so many issues would be created. Where would El go? Probably the Byers. But who would deal with all the crazy Upside Down bullshit? That’s harder. David Harbour’s extreme commitment to the show acts like a shield protecting him from death. 

Joyce - I think she’ll be fine. Worried, frazzled, constantly smoking like always, but she wouldn't die, would she? Will and Jonathan still need her. Plus, what would Stranger Things be without Winona Ryder?

Bruce - Following the B Name trend (Benny, Barb, Bob) he will most likely kick the bucket before the season’s finale. Very little has been revealed about his character, but I already kinda want him dead.

Murray - He’s fucking hilarious and I hope he's okay. I don’t know though. He helped expose the lab. That can’t sit well with some folks.

Mayor Kline - Still not sure what his point is. I really don’t know. He lives?

And also 

Erica - She lives, or I’m suing. ’Nough said. 

Phew. Long post. I think the Party’s safe for now, and the adults are probably fine for the time being as well. The teenagers all seem to get themselves into sticky situations and they can’t all be getting out safe, amiright? 

Basically, in danger: 

Mike

Nancy 

Jonathan

Heather (RIP)

Hopper

Bruce

Murray

That’s all for now folks! 

[honeymoonjin]

A/N: a big shoutout to @itishebihime-samaforyou for supporting me on Ko-fi and choosing the next chapter of ZODIAC to be my next upload! Just as a reminder, if you support me on patron for $3USD, you get to choose what I upload next, whether that be a series, a WIP on my WIP page, or a request of your own! This chapter is 2.3k, and I would LOVE to hear if any of your suspicions and theories have changed after this one! 

Synposis: Your boyfriend, Kim Namjoon, has gone missing. After acting erratic for a few weeks, spending all his time locked away in his studio, he suddenly vanishes into thin air, leaving only an unreleased album behind. Zodiac.

Chapter Four – it’s a cruel, cruel world to face on your own

“What are you doing?”

You’re pretty sure that’s obvious, but you doubt sarcasm is helpful at a time like this. “I, uh…”

“Sit down.” Jeon glares at you until you begin to trudge your way around the desk to that wobbly metal chair. He pinches his eyebrows. “Put the file down first, Y/n.” You drop it onto the table with a light smack and sit stiffly down on the chair.

You watch with a scowl as Jeon sits down at Park’s desk across from you and dumps the file back into its place underneath the newspaper. His jaw is tense, but you bet yours is more so. “Why didn’t you tell me all that stuff? About Namjoon?”

He rolls his eyes then levels his unimpressed gaze at you, letting you glare angrily into those dark depths. “That was a confidential file, and you didn’t have the clearance.”

“I’m his girlfriend!”

“Congratulations.” He leans back in the chair tiredly as you scoff at him. “Honestly, Y/n, I really don’t think you understand that we’re doing everything we can to find Kim Namjoon. Or if you do, you have no respect for the process. Do you know what this is?” He gestures a hand in your general direction, and you shrug petulantly. “This is interfering with a police investigation. And it is against the law.”

You stiffen up. “You’re going to arrest me?” you ask incredulously.

“I could if I wanted to,” he responds drolly.

You shake your head in disbelief, eyes stinging. “Oh my god. This… Are you serious?”

Your attention is caught briefly by Park rushing back in with a cup of tea, spilling the hot liquid all over his hands in his haste. He pauses when he looks up, causing a great slosh of tea to tip over the front edge and splash on his shoes. “Oh, Y/n. You’re alright now?”

“Shut the door, Park.” Jeon’s eyes are cold, but never for a second do they leave yours when he addresses his partner, who promptly shakes off his wet hand and does as he’s told.

“Can I have my chair back, Jungkook.”

“Not now.”

“Okay, I’ll just…” Park perches his ass on the corner of the desk and faces you, crossing his arms in a cliché tough-guy pose. “What’s the problem?”

“Why don’t you tell him, Y/n?”

You scoff again, flicking your gaze over to the more sympathetic detective. “I just wanted to see if you guys knew anything more about Namjoon’s disappearance than you were telling me, and you did. Now bad cop over here is going to arrest me for it.”

“I never said that, now, did I?” His voice like velvet, Jeon draws your attention back to him as he leans over his desk conspiratorially, one eyebrow raised delicately. “I’m willing to ignore your transgressions if you actually behave for once. No more running about like an amateur Nancy Drew. If you want to avoid legal prosecution, you’re going to have to play by our rules.”

Your tongue darts out to wet your lips, mouth feeling drier than a desert. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Park runs a hand through his candy floss hair and shifts awkwardly on the edge of the desk. “It means that we want to make sure you don’t put yourself in danger,” he coos, “and something like this, fossicking around in a detective’s office, that’s not wise for you to be doing. What if someone else had come in this office instead of one of us? They might not have been so understanding.”

Jeon isn’t interested in sugarcoating. “I want you to check in with one of us once a day in person. If you miss a day without what I deem to be a valid reason, I will be pressing charges.”

“Whatever,” you mutter, “I just don’t see why you couldn’t have told me in the first place about that stuff. Surely I have a right to know.” A thought occurs to you. “Actually, I don’t think either one of you has given me sufficient evidence as to why Min Yoongi is your main suspect.”

“He clearly had a motive-”

“I get that,” you interrupt in frustration, “I get that he has motive. But so, does literally every other competing artist in the industry, so I don’t see why he’s the one facing down jail time right now.”

They share a look that you can’t decipher. Eventually, Jeon purses his lips in irritation. “We had a trusted source close to Namjoon tell us that Min was the last one to go into Namjoon’s studio, and that he could hear arguing coming from inside. In addition to physical forensic evidence,”

You interrupt him again. “Hoseok?”

He sighs. “What?”

“Was Jung Hoseok the one that told you that information?”

Park shakes his head slowly. “We can’t tell you that, Y/n.”

You narrow your eyes. “Hobi is the only one currently working on that wing of the Cypher block, so obviously if he heard arguing it must have been him.”

Park bites his lip, glances back at Jeon, shrugs and widens his eyes, then looks back at you, veins sticking out on his neck as he stiffens up. “Sure, it was Hoseok.”

The room starts to feel smaller and smaller around you. These men were lying to you, even after all of that. You had heard straight from Hoseok’s mouth that he was frustrated with how the investigation was going, annoyed that they had arrested a suspect without searching any other avenues. If he had heard Namjoon and Yoongi fighting, then surely he would feel comfortable with the fact that Yoongi had very likely done something, but…

“So, Hoseok would be willing to testify that in court?”

Jeon sits across from you, completely unimpressed. Park looks a little anxious but nods his head without a trace of hesitation. “Yes, that’s the plan.”

Something’s not right. The Hobi you had just chatted to in the hallway, the Hobi you knew, was angry about Yoongi being in prison. And yet the detectives were telling you he was ready to stand in front of a judge and condemn him to prison? But they didn’t know you had already spoken to him just before.

You swallow again to fight the dryness of your mouth. If they were lying, they wouldn’t want you to go ahead and ask Hoseok, because they would be caught in that lie. “Maybe I should go talk to Hobi about it,” you say, standing up from the chair warily, making your way to hover in front of the closed office door. “I’d like to ask him about what he heard.”

Jeon’s eyes flash in amusement, and he fiddles lazily with a pen on Park’s desk. “Please do.”

Your eyes sting. The police weren’t the ones lying to you. You open the door with a sick stomach and turn back to the two of them. “I’m sorry,” you say softly, barely loud enough for the two of them to hear, “I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

Park avoids your gaze, but Jeon gives you a tight smile. “I expect you to stop by my office tomorrow, Y/n. Until then.”

You nod in agreement and shut the door behind you.

When you reach the main lobby of the station, it comes as a strange shock to see Seokjin pacing back and forth on the worn tile. It feels like days ago that you had seen him, although you do recall you had planned to be in and out much quicker than you were.

He looks up when you approach him, and his shoulders go lax in relief. “Oh, Y/n, there you are! I was trying to decide whether or not I should just burst into the ladies’ room myself!”

A few of the patrons in the lobby overhear and wince, so you take his arm and start pedaling him outside into the bright sunlight. “I’m so sorry, Jin, I-”

“You’ve been crying?”

You pause and look up at him, having completely forgotten about the state your face must be in, streaked with mascara and probably a little bit of snot too. “Oh, yeah, that’s why I took a while. I haven’t really cried properly in a while, you know? I think all the stress just built up and the dam finally broke.” You sniff for good measure, and his face crumples in sympathy.

He leads you to his expensive, sleek sports car and opens the passenger door, only buckling himself into the driver’s side seat once yours is safely fastened. He drums his fingers on the leather steering wheel, not turning the car on just yet. “I was thinking,” he starts conversationally, “maybe instead of a loud restaurant or café, we could go back home and have something there. I’ve asked Taehyungie to stop by your apartment and pick you up some clothes, he’s heading out now.”

You nod vacantly. “Yeah. Sure.”

You’re not looking at him, but you can hear his soft sigh. “Y/n, I know all this is…difficult. And if you’re finding it hard to cope, nobody is going to blame you. Maybe-” he cuts himself off abruptly and turns the key in the ignition, waking up the purring vehicle and beginning to back out of the carpark, one hand on the back of your chair as he twists around. You wait patiently, albeit a little awkwardly, as he exits the station carpark, and resumes speaking only once you’re on the streets of Seoul. “Maybe you should consider seeing someone about this.”

You frown. “What? It’s been a day, Seokjin. I don’t need therapy, I need the detectives to do their fucking job and work out what really happened to my boyfriend.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he corrects hastily, clenching and unclenching his fingers on the wheel, “I was thinking more along the lines of a friend or a loved one.”

This does cause you to break your blank gaze out the window and stare at him as he focuses on the road, thick brows slightly furrowed. After a while of him not continuing, you ask softly, “why?”

“It’s okay to need some support at a time like this, Y/n. We’re all going through this together, and I think it would really help you to get everything you’re feeling off of your chest. Talk to me.” “Talk to you,” you repeat dumbly, and he must hear something unpleasant in your tone, for the muscles under his eyes twitch a little.

“Or talk to somebody else, it doesn’t matter who, I guess. Ask for help and I’m sure anyone will be happy to. But don’t let this overwhelm you and don’t act like you’re not feeling overwhelmed. Acceptance is the first step.”

“Acceptance is the first step to grieving someone,” you clarify, blinking harshly. “God, why is everyone talking about him like he’s already dead? It’s like…” you breathe out shakily, feeling your chest constrict. “It’s like nobody wants to actually find him anymore.”

“That Hoseok fella seemed just as worried as you, Y/n.”

Your heart twists painfully. “Yeah, well, Hoseok…” you trail off as something catches your eye. Ignoring Jin’s questioning glances, you dig your fingers into the little side cup holder on your door, pulling out what you recognize to be a piece of Namjoon’s jewelry. It was a basic gold band, one that you had engraved with your name on the inside and given to him the Christmas prior. Since that December morning, he had never taken it off, not to sleep nor shower. You had jokingly told him that he was married to his music, so you’d just have to settle for a promise ring instead, but he had sworn to you that one day he’d be able to replace it with a wedding band.

You bite down on your lip to stop it from trembling, and roll the ring around in your palm, letting it glint in the light.

“Fuck.” It’s almost so soft you can’t hear it, but you manage to nonetheless, and look up to see Jin studiously staring ahead.

“Where did you get this?” you ask curiously.

“Ah, he must’ve left it in the car when I took him out for dinner the other week.”

You frown, clutching the cold metal protectively. “He never takes it off, though. Even if he did, he would notice it missing and try and find it.”

“He did notice it missing,” Jin explains, “and he had messaged me several times asking if I had it, but I never thought to check out the car. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was there.”

You laugh breathily, weakly. “He’s always leaving his prized possessions behind.”

Jin chuckles sadly and hums in agreement. “You’re right about that. He left you behind. Shit, sorry! I’m so sorry, I didn’t…”

You wipe your hot tears away before they can drip onto your lap, shaking your head. “It’s fine, don’t apologize. Humor is a good coping mechanism, or so I’ve been told.”

His hand reaches tentatively across the center console and lands on your knee, squeezing it lightly before flipping around and resting, palm up. You stare at it for a moment, glancing up at him quickly, before reaching out and intertwining it with your own.

You relish the small comfort it brings. “I’ll try,” you promise.

“Hmm?”

“I’ll try to get help. Talk to someone, I mean. I’ll try.”

“Well, you know I’m always here for you, Y/n. Truly.” You watch the muscles in his wrist flex when he squeezes your hand gently, and for the first time since Namjoon was reported missing, you don’t feel completely alone.

TAGLIST Message me or send in an ask if you wish to be added to the taglist. You’ll receive a notification every time I update ZODIAC.

@itishebihime-samaforyou || @hoodiebangtan || @sunnysideupsmile|| @emilypkuzu

[blackjack-15]

Staying Tuned for a Soap Opera — Thoughts on: Stay Tuned for Danger (STFD)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: STFD, FIN, RAN.

The Intro:

Stay Tuned for Danger is another short game, though it owes its runtime more to the limitations of 1999 than anything else. Full of wacky, overwrought characters and hilariously over-the-top threats, puzzles, and ‘incidents’, STFD isn’t a smart game, but it’s a mildly fun one, and definitely improves as the second in a series.

STFD relies heavily on constantly rising action, meaning that things never calm down — the game escalates and escalates until it’s over, which encourages the player to finish the whole thing in as few parts as possible to get the full effect.

It does have its problems — way too many things to click on that are pointless, an obvious villain, frustrating and out-of-place puzzles, and the clunkiest interface known to man, but it saves itself from the scrap heap by embracing, rather than avoiding, its own campiness.

The Title:

Funnily enough, this title is actually straight-up ace. It’s a snappy take on soap opera clichés, and is the only game to have a four-letter abbreviation, lest we take Nancy into the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

Er…considering how Rick looks, make that further into the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

Plus, this game puts a heavy emphasis on the continually rising action of its events, so the “stay tuned” part works really, really well. A+ work here.

The Mystery:

Fresh off of the success of finding a killer in Miami, Aunt Eloise once again hears of trouble and sends Nancy Drew barking after it. This time, it’s off to New York to investigate some death threats that a soap opera star is being sent.

Hold the presses, I know.

With everyone working as hard as they can to be unhelpful, it’s up to Nancy to massively invade everyone’s privacy and discover who’s writing the threats (and making the bombs, and dropping the lights, and…) before Rick Arlen actually gets seriously hurt or killed.

Through a lot of snooping, after-hours sneaking, and clunky interrogations, Nancy manages to “figure out” the culprit when he presents himself at the end despite 90% of clues pointing to him, has to solve a puzzle in the nick of time, and treats the audience to a hilarious-looking “capture” of the culprit.

The Suspects:

Mattie Jensen is the one renting Aunt Eloise’s apartment, and the person Nancy first encounters. Not only is she the (co-) star of the show, but she’s also the only one who stuck with her original agent, Dwayne Powers. 

Her mother is too involved in her life, she moves like a plasticine doll, and is a Horrible judge of character, employing Dwayne Powers and having dated Rick Arlen, but Mattie seems genuinely concerned for Rick’s life, asking Nancy to help by snooping around, and offering her aid to the amateur detective.

Mattie’s not short on motive, having been dumped by Rick and having her career endangered by his anticipated contract-breaking in order to get into films and out of soaps, but she’s not really a “suspect” once you’re 1/3 of the way through the game.

This is one of Her Interactive’s favorite tropes — a suspect cleared early on so that Nancy can have a helper — and it shows up for the first time here. In this case, Mattie helps Nancy go undercover as a budding young actress in order to help her investigate more fully.

Rick Arlen is the other co-star of the soap opera (“Light of Our Love”), playing the male main lead. Tired of the small soap opera notoriety he has right now, Rick longs for the big screen, leading him to try to break his contract with Bill Pappas and leave the show.

Rick is a blowhard egomaniac who’s willing to flirt with any woman he sees — even the young amateur detective Nancy Drew — but that’s pretty much all the depth that he has. He dates a lot, but he’s too shallow to keep any relationship for long, either dumping them (Mattie) or being dumped (Lillian).

There might be a moment or two where you think he might be behind his threatening notes to give him an unimpeachable reason to leave…but then you remember that this is Rick Arlen, and he has No Shame, and doesn’t see anything wrong with breaking his contract.

He does send the first few notes, signing them with an anagram of his name (which somehow Her thought was brilliant enough to use twice in one game), but that’s it as far as his involvement goes — he’s not a man with a death wish; he’s an egomaniac. Pure and simple.

The only other thing about him in the game is that he ditched Dwayne for a better agent, which is treated as, like, the Height of Disloyalty. However, knowing that Dwayne is balls-to-the-wall nuts, not a great agent, and hates Rick for dating Mattie….I’d switch to a new agent as well. Sure, it’s not super kind, but it’s not at all an immoralmove to make, and it’s the best thing he could do if he wants an actual enduring career in showbiz.

Dwayne Powersis Mattie’s agent, Rick’s ex-agent, and all around bleeding psychopath with delusions of grandeur. He’s also one of the most obvious villains in the whole series (tying with…well, RAN), blames Rick for his failing business (when the truth is that he’s just not very good at it and has stopped trying at this point), and casts his Cool Alter-Ego Owen W. Spayder as his crimesona.

Dwayne isn’t diagnosably medically insane like the culprit in FIN, but he’s crazy all the same, from his Loud Speeches about hating Rick, to his skulking around the set in a hat and beard, to his ridiculous bombs and light-droppings, etc. etc.

He’s upset that he couldn’t make it as an actor himself, and resigned himself to helping others with their natural talents. Not only does he let this turn him into an attempted murderer, but he also gives this Huge Speech at the end…which lets us see, yeah, he wouldn’t have made it as an actor (and as if RAN needed to reinforce that point, it does anyway).

Dwayne is interesting in that he’s the only suspect to escape twice and the only villain to be the villain in two games, but…quite frankly, he’s not interesting enough to deserve those distinguishing characteristics. Dwayne isn’t enough to carry one game, let alone two, and it shows.

Lillian Weiss is the snappish, cold director of “Light of Our Love”, who is suspicious of everyone and has the clout of being one of the only characters who can fire Nancy without it resulting in a second chance.

She also happens to be the smartest and most likable character in the game (except for Bill Pappas, of course), willing to accept when she’s been wrong and call Nancy to come back in, who figures out who’s pulling these “pranks” around the set, and poured a pitcher of water on Rick’s head while dumping him. 

She also sent him poisoned chocolates which, knowing the guy, I fully condone. She gets to live out Rick’s dream by going to Hollywood, so that’s nice and karmic as well.

Lillian isn’t ever really nice to you, nor does she lose her snappiness, but she is a good guy, and she’s allowed to be smart and capable without being warm and fuzzy, and I personally think that makes her more multi-faceted than most early ND characters were allowed to be.

Millie Strathorn is the elderly owner and founder of WWB and prop master for “Light of Our Love”. She’s also not quite sane, mixing fantasy and reality at any given moment.

Her “motivation” is that she hates Rick and tries to keep submitting scripts to write him out of the show, and this show apparently doesn’t have a Writer (we’ve got a producer, director, and two stars + talent agent, but no writer?), but her scripts keep being rejected anyway. 

Probably because, once again, she mixes fantasy and reality, and definitely wrote a scene where Rick Arlen and “Rory Danner” face off and mud-wrestle, stabbing each other in the face.

Either that or a ménage àtrois between Rick, Rory, and Yuri (Rory’s “evil twin” in the show”. Which would be Very Tricky to shoot with 1999 technology.

Anyway, Millie makes you solve a few middling riddles and then pretty much effs off for the rest of the game, making her a crazy memorable (not to mention straight-up crazy) character despite her lack of screen time (and overall pointlessness).

William Pappas is the never-seen yet always entertaining producer of “Light of Our Love”, who is super pissed about Rick trying to break his contract is “Light of Our Love” and says that he’ll kill Rick before he let him walk out on him. This threat, of course, is just Bill venting, and after Nancy defuses the bomb in Rick’s dressing room, Bill is more than happy to help her out.

As a suspect, Bill sucks, wholly and completely — to the point where he’s just not a suspect. As a character, however, he is a Delight and a Treasure, bursting with pointless personality. I aspire to be Bill Pappas.

Ralph Guardino is the twice-seen security guard at WWB who gives you access to the building, then promptly effs off until he appears to arrest Dwayne at the end. And yes, his name is just “Guard” with “-ino” added at the end. I guess Her used up all their imagination on weird and wonderful pictures to photoshop their characters into.

Ralph, like Bill, isn’t really a suspect at all; he exists because the story needed a job done, so they created a character to do it. He’s also Bill’s cousin, so there’s some added “meaning” that’s actually pointless as well. There’s nothing offensive about Ralph, per se, but there’s nothing good about him either. He’s just kind of…there.

The Favorites:

The general soapy tone of this game makes it fun, and Dwayne’s villain reveal/speech is only matched in its dramatic campiness by…well, his speech in RAN.

Bill Pappas is my Hero and I wish he’d gotten more screen time (though I love that we never see him), and Nancy’s delivery of “Prop Master of DEATH” alone is worth the price of admission.

The Un-Favorites:

First off, the fact that they forgot to put in the desk key really bothers me. I know that the only stuff in there are fake fan letters to Rick from Mattie, encouraging him to stay (which doesn’t point to guilt at all, and so is pretty pointless), but like…it’s locked. It must be important.

I know Her Interactive wanted to advertise their 100+ “close up shots”, but it drags the game down to look at everything — especially since hidden in those 100+ are 5-10 that are Super Tiny and that you have to click on, even if they don’t tell you anything new, or you’ll get stuck and be unable to progress.

Nancy’s inability to see Dwayne as the villain even when it’s patently obvious is a pretty serious knock against this game. Neither Bill nor Ralph are considered actual suspects, Mattie is cleared early on, Lillian is too snappish with you (too obvious, to Her Interactive’s way of thinking) to be it, and Millie is too old to do the physical stuff (and, with her wanting Rick’s character killed off, is also too obvious) and so as early as 1/3 into the game you’re left with Dwayne and Rick. As Rick needs himself to live so he can go on to Star in Movies, you’re just left with Dwayne, who all the clues point to anyway.

The Fix:

Fixing STFD would require totally re-coding it to fix sound and playability issues on newer computers, updating the graphics, fixing characters so that they don’t look like blow-up dolls…all those Quality of Life improvements are super important and vital to a fix.

But fixing it would also require some re-writing. I realize that Millie is in the game as a nod to the original writer of Nancy Drew, and it’s…well, definitely an homage, if not a good homage, but taking her out would go a long way to streamlining the game.

There are simply too many culprits for Her Interactive’s general ability to write multiple fleshed-out characters who are all plausible suspects (especially with Nik being gone), and so the result is that the incidents, character traits, and character appearances are spread too thin for anything but blatant caricature. Millie is simply the easiest character to remove, along with Bill Pappas and Ralph (who only appears twice anyway).

You could fold Millie into Lillian without too much trouble, get rid of Bill (though it breaks my heart to say it), have Ralph’s name appear early but have him only appear at the end to arrest Dwayne, and it would lighten the load that the story breaks under considerably. I don’t think this would make it an A+ story, but it would at least be less cluttered, and STFD is cluttered enough without needing extra help.

[ronbegleyformayor]

So I'm on about my thousandth relisten of an old KFAM episode, and Ben was talking about his notebook, and I had a thought: there are a lot of notebooks in King Falls: Ben's, Jack's, the one belonging to Nancy Fletcher--and now Debbie? There’s a strong motif of the storage of information and knowledge in the series, be it the journals, the archived tapes of the show, or the fact that one of the main characters on the show works in a library and another is an investigative journalist.

It's something I had picked up on before, but this particular time it got me thinking about the concepts of knowledge and truth.

And if you think about it, the idea of knowledge is a central theme of the show--and not just in notebooks either. The idea that the person who has the knowledge has the power is a big theme in King Falls. We see it in obvious ways, like how Channel 13 is used as the major news outlet to control the narrative of the politics in the town. But it's also seen in smaller, more subtle ways, especially when it comes to the question: what is the truth?

King Falls is a town with a lot of crazy things happening and a lot of crazy claims being made (I'm looking at you, Archie), and as listeners of the show, like the people of King Falls, by necessity we have to accept a certain degree of uncertainty when it comes to the truth. Are the rainbow lights really aliens? Does the ghost of a dead Civil War general really switch the signs in Sweetzer Forest? We may never know the answer, but we all kind of have to accept and agree on a certain truth to be able to talk about the town at all.

The thing is, King Falls has a lot of secrets.

And knowing the truth behind some of these secrets is critical to having a correct perception of the world around us. Thus, this becomes a question of accessibility to the right knowledge.

Emily is a really great example of this. When she's brought back, her perception of the town around her gets really easily warped by someone who has selfish and malicious intent, and it’s able to happen because she doesn't know the truth behind a lot of things: her relationship with Ben, how she went missing, and why information was withheld from her at all. Frickard weaponized the fact that Ben omits information about her going missing to try and convince Emily that only he has and is willing to give her the full truth.

But what's really brilliant about her character arc is that only after she starts to seek out the truth instead of having it be told to her is she able to find power and agency within herself. She takes to her own profession and uses the library and trusts that she herself can find answers, and through this she is able to start to dig herself away from him (not that she doesn't have support from people like Ben, but ultimately she is the one that takes the first step).

And honestly, I see Emily as somewhat of a personification of the whole town. Not to get political, but lately the concept of truth, or what is fake and what is reality, has kind of come into question in the last few years, and KFAM has reflected this in the show. The people of King Falls don't have the whole truth--not just about the supernatural, but about things like the shadows, the Science Institute, the political powers within the town, and its own foundation.

But the show suggests time and time again that knowledge is vital to the fight against the powers that be, and we also see this when trust is eroded or breaks down--especially with Sammy. I'm not saying he hasn't had his reasons, but Sammy keeps secrets from people, and he does it a little too easily. I'm not accusing him of anything malicious, and sometimes he was right to omit truths, but some of the times that he has kept secrets from Ben have ultimately been harmful to him, to Ben, and to their relationship in general, and the two of them are only able to move forward as friends when that trust is repaired. It's indicative of the idea that the omission or distortion of truth causes breakdowns in key relationships, whether that be between best friends or between the powers in a town and its citizens.

So the question becomes: what is one to do when one cannot trust the people they have put their faith in (the government, the police, those with financial power, major media outlets)? How do we create truth when we are being fed lies or walled by silence?

Well, this is where, in my opinion, Sammy and Ben come back in, because two questions always rattle around in my brain when I'm listening to the show. 1--why is it so damn popular?? It's on in the dead of night, and a lot of these people have day jobs. And 2--if King Falls AM is such an inconsequential radio show, why do Sammy and Ben so easily spook the people in town that supposedly have all the power? Why are they targets if their opinions don't matter?

I grew up listening to the talk radio that my parents would always have on, and while it was more political in nature than Sammy and Ben's show is, the one thing that I learned from listening to hours of talk radio is it's most interesting when the person calling in is allowed to say what they called in to say without being interrupted or directly contradicted by the host(s). It elevates a radio show from one or two people talking about something to a place where those who would not otherwise have it have the ability to say what's on their mind, to speak their truth, can do so. So to answer my previously stated question, the show is so popular because it's a platform for the voiceless in the town, no matter their motivation for calling in. Do Sammy and Ben both hate it when Doyle calls in to drone about kitchen appliances? Yes. But do they also let him speak? Yeah, they do. And that's essentially what scares the powers that be. Sammy and Ben provide a way for ordinary citizens of the town to shine a light on things that the powerful men in the town don't want a light shined on. That coupled with the fact that Sammy is exceptionally good at calling bullshit and Ben has a relentless drive to find the truth, whatever the cost may be, makes them both incredibly formidable opponents to those who would seek to control the narrative of what is going on in the town. To control the knowledge is to control the truth, and Sammy and Ben are powerful because of the knowledge gained from the stories of the people who call in.

And the real kicker? Those in power know it. Gunderson knows, that's why he tried to use Sammy's sexuality to shame him into silence and then get Ben arrested on bogus charges. Or what about Greg, who burned Ben's archive of tapes to make sure Emily never knew the truth? Or Grisham, who's repeatedly tried to paint Sammy in a bad light, to make him look like an outsider who can't be trusted? They all try to claim that because Sammy and Ben are searching for a real truth, for an unobscured truth, that they're making King Falls a worse place, when in reality they're frightened because they realize that when the real truth gets out, they may lose hold on the power they have over the town.

[xbarrjallenx]

Blame

Pairing: Mike Wheeler x Reader

Summary: (Y/N) took the blame for something that she didn’t do and Mike thought that she was the best, just because of it.

Word count: 1.186

Posted: 3rd of November 2017

A/N: Another imagiiiine, yeeey! I am kind of being productive, but my halloween vacation is almost over and it sucks.

Anyways, I hope that you really like my work. My request is open, so don’t be afraid to send them in. I would also appreciate to read some feedbacks from you, guys, so don’t be shyyy, pretty please. Thank you so much and enjoy!

- G. x

“Michael, what have I told you when it came to the candies and chocolates?” You heard Mrs. Wheeler complaining from the kitchen as she cleaned up the mess she made while making dinner for the family. She surely noticed that the cookie jars were almost empty, even though she bought the goods just few days ago. Mike and his friends were the usual suspects when it came to sweets, but it wasn’t the kids’ fault, because she was really tempting them by buying those junk food and sweets.

You just arrived in the Wheeler’s residence, since you had to babysit Mike for a while and, probably, his friends too. His parents, together with his little sister, Holly, were going to visit some relatives in another town and Mike couldn’t go with them, because he would skip too many school days. Nancy would be staying at home too, but she surely didn’t want to spend her days taking care of the kids.

“These stuffs are full of calories and carbohydrates, they are also bad for your health. Have you even brushed your teeth right after?” She continued blabbering as she kept the jars out of the children’s sight. You stood right after the house’s main door and you tried to peek in the living room to find Mike.

“But Mum,” Mike energetically started. “why the hell do you even buy those stuffs if you wouldn’t let us eat them?” He rudely shouted from the living room, overlapping the television’s noise with his loud and rowdy voice.

“Mike!” You stringently shook your head as you stopped him from answering to his mother. He was right, but he still should respect her. She was his mother, nonetheless she was a strict one.  

“What?” He walked towards the hallway and rolled his eyes as soon as he saw you. You shot him a death glare and he realized that it was wrong to play with the fire. The age gap between you and Mike was just few years and you both got along together, but you were capable of teaching him some real-life lessons and you claimed to be respected when needed. In fact, that was one of the reasons why Mrs. Wheeler liked you.

“Oh, (Y/N)!” Mrs. Wheeler made her way to the hallway to greet you. “Mike has already eaten, make sure that he does his homework everyday, friends stay only until eight during the school days, okay?” She remembered you some essential things that you had to do while taking care of Mike.

“I remember them, Mrs. Wheeler. I will take care of this dorky kiddo.” You happily exclaimed and you pointed your finger towards Mike’s direction, which was across the hallway.

“That includes no excessive number of cookies, sweets and junk food!” She strictly advised as she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, still vexed for what his son has done.

“I copy,” You nodded your head, letting her to know that you understood her statement. “I am sorry for giving him too many sweets yesterday. He was hungry and there was no other food in the fridge.”

“(Y/N), what?” Mike shouted in a low tone, but you still managed to hear him. You didn’t do it, not at all, but if you could save Mike from being yelled at, you would take every blame for him. After all, you could always let him pay for everything, if he ever treated you in a nasty way.

“It was your fault?!” She angrily asked you and you just avoided her scary gaze by looking at the ground, pretending to admire your shoes.

“Yes, Mrs. Wheeler, but I am so sorry.” You lied through your teeth and you slowly looked at the desperate mother in front of you. She couldn’t punish you, neither fire you for something stupid so she calmed herself down. “It will never happen again.”

“All right, I forgive you,” Her voice softened and you considered her big eyes. “but Michael you should start learning your limits, okay?”

“Yes, mum!” He quietly nodded and looked at you with a very thankful smile. “I’m sorry.”

“Go on, enough with the television,” His mother proudly commanded. “start doing your homework with (Y/N).”

“Your wish is my command, Mum!” Mike sarcastically answered and he headed to the living room to turn the television off, leaving the whole house peaceful and quiet. You heard the lady unleashing a deep and heavy sigh for his son’s actions. She was hopeless, but you were always there to help her.

“(Y/N), the rules. Okay?” She reminded you and you just nodded in response. “Go and help him now, Ted and I will call you when we are about to leave.”

“All right, Mrs. Wheeler. Sorry once again.” You apologetically smiled at her and she smiled back at you, hoping that you learnt your lesson.

“C’mon, (Y/N)! See you later, Mum!” Mike irresponsibly grabbed your hand and he dragged you towards the basement stairway, thoughtlessly shutting the door as soon as you both entered the room.

“Mike, careful!” You loudly laughed for his actions and he just let out some soft giggles.

“Why did you do that?” He curiously asked as he set his books on the room’s centre table. You looked around the basement and everything was a big mess once again, his friends surely spent their afternoon in the basement.

“Do what?” You started to pick the trash up and you threw it properly in the bin. His blanket fort caved in, so you decided to fix it and build a new one.

“Take the blame for me.” He nonchalantly answered while he opened his books, sometimes looking at you and his incomplete fort. “Why?”

“I just wanted to.” You shortly answered, really not wanting to say the real motivation. You liked the kid, not in a romantic way, but because he was kind and smart. He was thoughtful and he cared for you, that sometimes you would just forgive him for being a vexatious brat. You grounded him once in a while though, mostly when he disobeyed you or his parents and sister.

“Well,” He got up from his sit. “you are the best babysitter ever!”

“Yeah, sweet talker!” You messed his apple-cut hair as soon as you felt his vulnerable and tiny arms around you. You hugged him back, letting the blanket fall on the floor.

“It’s the truth.” He sheepishly smiled and shook his head to fix his messy hair. You both laughed and those were the moments that you liked when you were babysitting Mike. You didn’t want to be a boring and strict babysitter, instead you wanted to spend time with him and be a friend to him, mostly when he needed you the most.

“Fine, but you can’t bribe me with that,” You devilishly fired back at him as you broke the hug between the two of you. He headed back to the table with a big smile on his face and you carefully threw a pillow at him, making him laugh as hard as he could. “so start doing your homework now, Gluttony!”

[brynprocrastinates]

Like... a bunch of questions.

I’m answering most of them super abruptly, because there’s so many. I apologize in advance x-x

From @morrigans-ink-0124:

What are your current writing goals?

Finalize Pearl, get it to an editor, and then publish it. 

When did you first discover your love of writing?

As a small child writing Nancy Drew fanfic.

What motivates you to keep writing?

I’m a writer. I would die if I didn’t write. (This sounds over-dramatic, but it’s pulled me through a lot of my depressive episodes, and I don’t know what I’d do without it.)

How important is world building for your writing? (For example, do you need to have your world completely established & mapped out before you can start writing? Or, do you not need a set world/environment in order to write your story?)

I usually have the world building first and form my plot and characters around it.

Pen on paper, or typing everything up in a word doc of some sort?

Always typed up. Dyslexia is not good for transferring paper to computer.

Favourite author?

Rick Riorden, Terry Pratchett, Leigh Bardugo, some others I can’t think of right now...

Something you do to get the creative juices flowing to start writing? (music, atmosphere, a particular article of clothing or lack there of…I mean what? I don’t do that. Ahem.)

I just write. Creativity is for armatures.

Do you write better at night, or first thing in the morning?

Any time I’m awake, honestly. So right in the middle of the day.

How do you take your coffee/tea? (And if you don’t drink coffee/tea, how do you even function? Weirdo.)

Black.

You have to spend the rest of your life with only one season, which one do you choose and why?

That moment right between summer and fall, when it’s still warm but the nights are nippy.

From @raiswanson, excluding questions I already answered:

2. What’s your favorite genre? (for writing or reading) Is there a particular aspect that draws you to it?

The punk aesthetic, but the fantasy feel.

3. How many projects do you have? Are they connected, or do they stand apart from one another?

Four projects, none connected in any way.

4. Do you have a favorite “type” of main character to write with?

Nope! Each of my main characters seem to be created by my subconscious trying not to write the same main character as last time...

5. What kind of scenes do you enjoy writing the most? Do you find them harder or easier to write?

Bittersweet emotional scenes 8D

6. What tends to come first when you start a story, characters, world, or plot? A combination of two? Or do they all come as a package deal?

The wold or the characters. (But if it’s the characters they always come with a world.)

7. How much do you know about the worlds you create? Do you plan put everything down to the finest detail, or make it up on the fly as it becomes relevant?

I know nothing, but the details all exists already. It’s a paradox. 

8. What kind of characters do you usually have front and center? Humans? Elves? Aliens? Dragons? Dogs? Sentient trees? (if you primarily write non-fic, what kind of job/station in life do your characters usually have?)

It’s pretty mixed between humans and non-human sentient humanoids.

9. If you could pick one OC to drag out into the real world with you, who would you pick and why?

Dejean.

10. What is your current project? Tell us about it!

Pearl! 

From @summerkiska, excluding questions I already answered:

1. What’s a line in your current WIP that you’re proud of (or just like a lot)?

How about this one I’m posting soon for Pearl: “Within his chest, his heart pounds a frantic rhythm. A heart so near, so vulnerable, I could rip it free between beats.”

2. What’s a question that you wish people would ask you about your writing? (And what’s the answer??)

Not particularly.

3. What’s your favorite part of the writing process?

The first draft! Anything goes and there’s no pressure =D

4. What song best fits the theme of your WIP main character? (And why?)

Vasha’s is King by Lauren Aquilina

5. What habits or rituals do you have for writing sessions?

Having a goal to get to and completing it before I move onto other things.

6. What’s one piece of advice you wish you were given when you first started your writing journey?

Don’t listen to any writing advice unless you can figure out for yourself why it works for your story.

7. Who was your first book character crush? (Or if you can’t remember, who’s your favorite book character crush?)

I don’t crush on fictional characters? I’m weird, I guess.

8. What’s one of your writing pet peeves?

EXCESSIVE ELLIPSIS (@byjillianmaria knows this)

9. Who’s your favorite character in fiction that you loved to hate?

Any version of Loki ever.

10. What are you currently trying to work on when it comes to growing as a writer? (And how’s it going??)

Outlining solid plots before I start writing. (I’m not sure yet, I’m still in the outlining phase...)

From @my-words-are-light:

What do you look for in picking out stories?

Something I enjoy reading?

What fads rub you the wrong way in contemporary novels?

Basically every YA trope ever.

Have you ever made a character who was your hero?

Nah, my characters are all idiots and most of them wouldn’t know what morals were if you hit them over the head with ‘em.

Why did you make your favourite character?

Their dad appeared in my head one day because he liked a song, and then Vasha swooned over their dad, so I made them... (I can explain in more detail but I promise this is as much sense as it makes.)

What’s the pettiest reason for a decision you’ve made in planning or writing?

I’m about to write a sci fi novella purely because I hated both Zenith and Valarian and the city of a thousand planets, so that probably.

Who are your fictional role models for your characters?

I don’t have any?

What makes a good romantic subplot, or romance?

Me actually shipping the damn characters for once.

Do you actually enjoy killing your characters like lemmings and, if so, should I wash my hands before shaking yours?

I refuse to kill any of my characters unless it’s the only direction the story could possibly go.

Have you ever had Tim Tams?

Nope.

What do you hope people take away from your writing? A grand message? Invigoration? Maybe even just a chuckle or two?

Laughter and tears. I want to make them feel things.

From @theguildedtypewriter, excluding questions I already answered:

What character pisses you off the most?

ILYA DAMMIT. (I love him, but he fucks everything up, the trash child.)

Which scene do you think will make people cry, or laugh?

I know for a fact that over half my readers cried during a certain scene in TWLC.

What’s your worst writing habit?

There are narrator no emotions in the first draft! And if there are, then every emotion is a feeling in the stomach or the chest! 

Do you follow your outline?

More or less. I write hit all the major points but mix things up on a scene level.

Which character makes you laugh the most?

I don’t laugh. I just cringe.

Do you like a good love story?

A good one yes. Good love stories are hard to find.

Do you like a good horror story?

Horror for the sake of horror isn’t my thing, but I like a good story with horror elements. 

What trope/stereotype is your least favorite?

Literally all the ones popular in YA fiction.

What fairy tale is your favorite?

Beauty and the beast.

From @inkspll, excluding questions I already answered:

Where is your favorite place to write?

I don’t really have one? Anywhere quiet honestly.

What is your least favorite part to write?

Those damn emotions.

Are you a “kill all the characters you love” Kind of writer or a “ Everyone deserves a redemption arc” Kind of writer?

Neither. I give my villains a chance to redeem themselves and they make the choice themselves. 

What’s a recurring trait in your stories and/or characters?

I don’t know if there is one? A lot of my characters are morally grey though, and diversity is a big deal.

From the characters you’ve created who is your least favorite?

Least favorite characters generally mean not-fleshed-out-enough characters. Suuki was my least favorite for a lot of drafts because her character was very bland originally.

What word do you use too much when writing?

Soft.

Do you write outlines and plan things out before you write?

Yup!

Favorite story idea you never got to write?

I write down all my favorites in case I ever want to write them someday, and I don’t cross any of them out ;)

From @rebeckaomalleywriter, excluding questions I already answered:

How do you feel about midnight epiphanies?

I don’t often get them, because I’m asleep xP

Did any of your characters ever materialize in your mind with no prompting?

The better question to ask is: have any of them not appeared that way?

What is the most surprising thing one of your characters has done that you weren’t planning?

I was pretty surprised when Perle caught the blood dripping form the ceiling in their mouth in the second page of Pearl. I hadn’t know who they were as a character when I started writing and that really set the ton of who they were.

Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

Always.

Do you snack while you’re writing?

Not generally.

Do you consider reading to be an important past time for a writer?

Yes, but I think consumption of all kinds of stories is incredibly useful, so you don’t need to be reading very many books as long as you’re analyzing stories of some kind on a regular basis.

How many completed works, and WIPs do you have under your belt currently?

Completed...? (I have the Marshmallow Aesthetic.)

Which of your characters has the most tragic backstory?

Kleos and Kian both have very tragic backstories which they didn’t deserve in the slightest.

Which has the happiest?

No one has an incredibly happy backstory... I suppose Simone’s was pretty normal, and considering how things could have gone, Vasha, Ilya, and Suuki all had a nice childhoods. 

[swcned]

Deckerstar in 2x18 (meta and/or rant, I’m not sure)

I want to start this off by saying that I am in no way some pro “meta-ist”, or whatever they’re called. My specialties in life are rambling and forgetting things. I’ve never done a proper meta before, so I apologize in advance if this is a complete mess. With that being said, I have a lot of thoughts after watching the episode. So let’s try this: 

First of all, not to be a negative nancy, but I think the episode as a whole was a bit of a mess. I’m not one to not like what the Lucifer writers do (I’ve never felt let down by them), but so much felt out of place, especially the Deckerstar. I really hate admitting this, but, to me, it felt like fanservice. Which I know is crazy, they’re the main characters, the main relationship, and the heart of the show. With that being said, it really did feel like it. There was so much going on, and it felt like the writers just had to cram some Deckerstar in there too. 

Now, why did it feel like fanservice? First of all, they were clearly a side storyline. The main plot of the episode was Mum, which is completely fine - but not for what was going on between our dear devil & detective duo. What was going on between them, was the development of probably their biggest plot - Chloe finding out the truth. It’s been a huge theme between them since the Pilot, which is why I feel like shoving it to the side, and only for a single episode, feels like fanservice. They haven’t had any really deep, personal moments since 2x14 (other than the pier moment in 2x18, but i’ll get to that later), and since then they’ve barely spoken to each other, aside from their usual banter. It felt sort of sudden, that Lucifer just decided that now was the time to come clean. If it had been the main plot, it would have been great as a one-episode thing. But they didn’t do that. It just felt like a “hey, we haven’t done any deckerstar in a while, let’s just throw this in here, it is the season finale after all.” kinda situation. 

Another thing that makes it feel a bit fanservice-y, is how ooc the whole thing seemed. I could be completely in the wrong, but hear me out: Any time Lucifer and Chloe have a major development in their relationship, it tends to be because of some pretty heavy dialogue, or some big gesture. A few examples:  2x07 - their first real hug. Lucifer comforts Chloe about her father. 

2x09 - Chloe saves Lux. Not only does Lucifer ask Chloe out on a real date, Chloe accepts. (Bonus: yes, Lucifer stands her up, but that was basically just because Linda called him out on Chloe (a silly human) being his home, not a place)

2x10 - The first (almost) successful date and their almost-kiss. They both develop sort of a new-found trust and respect for each other due to what they said in court, despite knowing a murderer could go free because of it. 

2x11 - Their first kiss. I mean. The dialogue oh my god. 

So why is it that Lucifer thinks that now is a good time to reveal the fact that he really is the devil, and probably also that whole thing about Chloe being a miracle child? I mean, yes the examples I gave were major milestones, but they weren’t nearly as heavy as the devil thing. When it comes to the first kiss, it was stretched out over two deckerstar centric episodes. I know first kisses are important but damn. What I’m trying to say is, “Why is it that all these major milestones were given entire episodes to be developed, but Lucifer (almost) telling Chloe everything wasn’t?”

In 2x18, Chloe says: “If you think that I wouldn’t forgive you for your mistakes, or your flaws, if you think that I don’t know who you really are by now, you’re wrong.” Now, yes, that is some pretty good dialogue, it measures up to the previous dialogue we’ve gotten, and it’s not ooc at all - this level of acceptance is probably the best thing Lucifer could ever hear. But again, this was not a deckerstar centric episode, and to be fair, from the way they’d interacted earlier, it felt a little out of place. Had it been a deckerstar centric episode, or had they just actually talked a bit more, either throughout the episode or since 2x14, I would probably have felt a lot better about this whole thing. Aside from that, it’s what follows next that really gets on my nerves:

The part that completely broke it for me - The final piece in the puzzle when it comes to Lucifer deciding whether or not to tell Chloe - the scene with Linda. This is specifically what feels ooc to me: When Lucifer enters the hospital room, he himself says something about how he never should’ve dragged Linda into this whole thing. She protests, saying: “I walked into this with my eyes wide open, chose to be your friend, and face all that comes with that - the good, the bad, and the crispy.”  Now, I could easily be misinterpreting something, but I’m pretty sure Linda didn’t walk into anything with her eyes wide open. If anything, they were not only closed, but she had a blindfold on, and she was in the darkest room imaginable. Anyway. With the way the scene was set up, I can only imagine that what Linda said was what pushed Lucifer over the edge. Now my question just is...

How? 

How did that make him think it was in any way a good idea to tell Chloe? Linda almost just died because she knows. The only (somewhat reasonable) explanation I can come up with myself is that Linda saying I chose to be your friend somehow makes him think that Chloe will get to choose... Something. I can’t even figure out what that something could be, but Lucifer does like his free will, so I guess.  It just still bothers me to no end, that even though this whole “choice” thing is correct, or even just about any other possible explanation, it just doesn’t make any sense. Lucifer’s main motivation for literally everything on this show is Chloe’s safety. He killed his own brother so that she wouldn’t die. If I remember correctly, he’s been willing to kill his Mum on more than one occasion to make sure Chloe will be okay.  He’s always, for some reason, been afraid to actually tell Chloe the truth. My guess is that he’s afraid of rejection. So, if we go by that, I guess both Chloe’s “I will always forgive you”, and Linda’s “I chose to be your friend”, could potentially give him a reason to tell her the truth. It makes sense. It’s not ooc. However, what I find so incredibly ooc is that he chooses to let Chloe in on all of this, that will no doubt affect her a lot more than it does Linda, right after Linda almost died. The one thing that Lucifer has been keeping Chloe from since day 1, just happened to Linda, because she knows the truth. This is cold, hard proof that knowing the truth is dangerous, so why would Lucifer, knowingly, put Chloe in danger? I seriously can’t come up with anything that makes sense. Let’s move on before I go insane.

To end this, here’s a reason as to why I didn’t like it that doesn’t have anything to do with being ooc or a having a fanservice feel to it: How oddly the ending scenes parallel the 2x13 ending scenes. Like idk, to me it’s just seriously weird: 2x13: Chloe’s life is saved. She and Lucifer talk about something emotional, and Lucifer is being angsty. He leaves with a motive to do something that will have a huge impact on their relationship. 2x18: Linda’s life is saved. She and Lucifer talk about something emotional, and Lucifer is being angsty. He leaves with a motive to do something that will have a huge impact on his and Chloe’s relationship.  2x13: Chloe leaves a voicemail to Lucifer about how they need to talk about something important [their relationship], and says she’s coming over “now”.  2x18 Lucifer leaves a voicemail to Chloe about how they need to talk about something important [him, but it will affect their relationship], and says he’s coming over “now”.  2x13: Chloe discovers that Lucifer is gone. 2x18: Lucifer gets kidnapped or something, and seems to not make it over to Chloe.  2x13: Chloe is alone in a deserted penthouse. 2x18: Lucifer is alone in a literal desert.  (Bonus: they’re both finales)

I mean, come on. They’re incredibly similar. Now for what makes them odd: First Chloe is dying, but for some reason, it’s suddenly Linda who’s in the middle of all this.  Both times, Lucifer’s motives could potentially destroy their relationship. The first time because he shuts himself down and leaves, the second because he opens up, and actively seeks her out. (this boy just can’t win can he?) Both times, they don’t end up meeting. The first time, it’s Lucifer who chooses to leave, the second time it’s by force. Both times, it’s Lucifer who’s missing, but the POV is changed. As for the last one, that’s just incredibly ironic. 

Other than Lucifer’s sudden decision to tell Chloe, this is what pisses me off the most. Like it really grinds my gears. I think it’s mainly because, unlike the other part, I can’t figure out why the hell these are so goddamn similar and so incredibly different at the same time. I literally have nothing. Not a single clue as to what any of this could mean. Will it mean that Chloe will feel betrayed, once again? Will it mean that we’ll have to go through a rehash of 2x14-18 again? 

Whatever is going on, I will say, I do have faith in the writers. I really do. They’ve pulled through with these odd and confusing plot twists before, and they’ve always managed to answer every question I’ve had. I don’t know why, but this one just bothers me a lot more. I think it’s mainly because the parallels are so painfully obvious and at the same time so different and I can’t figure out why. 

This was nice to get out, I guess. I’m not really sure if this even counts as a meta anymore tbh. I hope I didn’t ramble too much, and that this made some sort of sense. If anyone actually bothered to read this, maybe it sparked some ideas and theories? I’d love to know what everyone else is thinking, whether it’s good or bad. have a nice day lol

[piratesandexplorers]

I’m quite enjoying these self-indulgent rambles about my childhood faves, so here’s another. The other day I talked about Nancy and Peggy Blackett. Today I’m going to attempt some thoughts on John and Susan, since I don’t think I stand a chance of getting all the Walkers into one post. 

So here you are: The Captain and Mate of the Swallow.

 I’ve always loved John and Susan, even though I can understand the people who find them boring. I think it’s refreshing to see characters like them represented in kids’ fiction. You might say John’s too serious, or even that Susan’s plain unrealistic for a child (I’ll talk about that in a bit), but in what other children’s book do you see such a range of different children with different skills and qualities, all celebrated for what they can do and the important role they play? I was never a Susan - I didn’t have her skills or any motivation to learn them, and I was much too disorganised. But I could understand her worries, and John’s too. I was also naturally a rule-keeper, not a rule breaker. I cared about what my parents would say, what strangers might think, and I noticed risks and worried about them. I wanted to do the right thing, and John and Susan are all about that. So in those ways, I always identified with them a bit. And I also loved their relationship with each other, because it’s based on kindness and mutual respect, and that only increases throughout the books.

The truth is, yes, John is a bit too serious. He is, especially in the early books, a bit inward-looking; he takes himself very seriously and puts a lot of weight and importance on his own actions and how people see him. But that’s not very unusual in a kid his age, especially (I think) in a kid who’s the oldest in a large family, and who has a father who is someone important. And of course, the fact that Ted Walker is away most of the time plays into that too. In his absence, Ted’s built up into almost a hero figure for John. It helps that when he is around, he seems to be a great dad who takes an interest and a pride in his children, who loves them (and their mother) and shows it. So it’s natural enough that John would want to follow him, to become someone like that too.

One thing John never wants to do is let his parents down, and when he thinks he has done that, he beats himself up endlessly about it. Susan is the same, but their subtly different roles in the family mean that that’s one thing Susan worries less about than John does. Susan is responsible for providing regular meals and making sure everyone goes to bed on time and nobody hangs around in wet clothes and gets ill. She’s good at that, she knows she’s good at it, and generally she can still do it even under less-than-ideal circumstances, so she can rely on herself without worrying. John, though, is the one who ultimately makes decisions for the four of them. When Susan freaks out, it’s usually because someone’s actual safety is at risk, but John is at his most unhappy when he feels that he, personally, has failed at something. Partly it’s his need to succeed, and partly it’s his need not to let his parents down, but really you can’t separate those two things for John. Success is making his family proud, and being as much like his father as possible.

I don’t think we see that lessening at all in John, and I think it’s probably going to be a motivating factor for him all his life. What we do see is a growing confidence; the more he does to prove himself, the less he needs to prove himself. In the early books, we see him make mistakes, mostly due to stubbornness and pride. And yes, there’s an element of competitiveness with the Amazons, but really the only person John’s competing against is himself. The amount of growing up the kids do within the books is subtly drawn, without many references to their actual ages or outside milestones, but for John the main thing I see is that he goes from someone whose decisions are frequently misguided (although well-meaning), to being the one who usually makes the right call, and has the skills to follow through on that call.

But what I always come back to with John is that he’s just a thoroughly nice person, and again, that’s an often underrated characteristic in fiction. One of the things I’m most wary of about the recent film is how they seem to have butchered his personality. John Walker is polite and respectful. He may idolise his father, but he also loves, admires and trusts his mother. He’s kind to his younger siblings, enjoys their company and takes care of their wellbeing. On no occasion does he show any signs of seeing girls as anything but his absolute equals, or have any thought that they should be anything other than equal (a common trait in Arthur Ransome’s children, I have to add). He acknowledges when other people are more skilled or knowledgeable in a particular area than him, and is happy to defer to them, even if they’re younger than him. Sometimes he even does that when they’re not necessarily more qualified to take the lead than him, simply because it’s the respectful thing to do under the circumstances, for example in his attitude to Peggy in Winter Holiday. I have no doubt at all that John will get where he wants to go, and that he’ll be the kind of naval officer that all naval officers should be.

For all I love her, I’ve found Susan one of the hardest to pin down in words. There are all the obvious things to say – Susan is the rock of her family. She’s the mother hen of the group (the Mum Friend if we were talking about modern kids), she’s the rule-keeper, the sensible, responsible one, the one the adults trust. And (maybe more surprisingly), she likes that role. Those aren’t skills and characteristics she’s needed to develop – she has two loving, dependable parents and a comfortable, well-off life; there’s no necessity for her to look after anyone. It’s just who she is.

It’s easy to see why she might be labelled as boring or even unbelievable as a child character. There’s an argument to be made that Ransome created Susan as a plot device, as the only way such young children could actually be capable of living alone on an island. Supporting that, she’s also the character who shows the least obvious growth and development (because she’s the most grown up to start with). But even if that’s part of the reason he wrote her the way he did, I don’t think that’s all she is, and I don’t think that’s all Ransome saw her as.

Susan is in many ways also the emotional touchstone of the stories. She’s probably the one we see the most raw emotion from – examples include big moments like her complete terror in We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, and small ones, such as the expression Titty catches on Susan’s face when Mrs Tyson believes they started the fire in Pigeon Post. Susan behaves like an adult, and she also feels emotion in quite an adult way. She can’t live in the moment – she’s constantly thinking of all the risks and possible outcomes. And while most children have difficulty imagining a hypothetical situation with any real emotional depth and connection to it, Susan doesn’t – she feels a very adult horror associated with things that haven’t actually happened. The others, particularly Nancy and John (unsurprising, as they’re the oldest) show signs of that too now and again, but unlike them, Susan can’t brush it off or put it behind her easily.

Part of Susan’s realness lies in the contradictions in her character. She somehow manages to tread a line between being very decisive (and somewhat immovable in her decisions) and being an overthinker and a worrier. But Susan’s worries are less about herself and her own capabilities, and much more about outside circumstances and situations. She’s pretty confident in her own judgement, and because she’s capable of doing very quick thinking and seeing all possible outcomes in a short space of time, her judgements are usually good and sensible. The times when Susan comes apart are when there is no obvious right judgement – when she cannot take over and make everything right, because circumstances are outside her control. Those are Susan’s worst fears coming true.

As I say, she’s someone who’s hampered not by any lack of confidence in herself, but by her ability to see worst-case scenarios. It makes her over-cautious, scared of risk, and at times lacking in understanding of people who either can’t see the same thing, or are able to see it but continue anyway. Her preoccupation is with keeping everything safe, ordered and comfortable (with the emphasis on safe), and that blinkers her sometimes into seeing the world only from her own particular perspective. She struggles to see that there might be times that risk is justifiable, and she also struggles with the whole idea of imagination that’s so central to the series. Unlike the others, Susan doesn’t find much comfort in flights of fantasy, because if Susan lets her imagination go, it shows her all these unpleasant and nerve-wracking possibilities. She much prefers to stay within the safety of her own perimeters, the ones she’s carefully created and maintained herself, and she can get irritated when people try to drag her out of them.

Susan’s development as a character is less noticeable than some of the others, because a lot of it is about growing into herself. The ways she thinks and acts aren’t as unusual in someone in their mid-teens as they are in a ten-year-old. But she also gains a more developed sense of perspective, and a more nuanced view of the world. Her gifts (and they really are gifts) are the things that enable all their adventures, and I think Susan learns to see that, and therefore begins to find ways for them to enable her personally, instead of limiting her.

But I think that one of the most important things in Susan is that she learns to see the value in other people and their differing skills, priorities and views on the world. I can’t imagine the Susan of Secret Water being nearly as dismissive of Titty’s imagination (or dismissing things Titty claims to have seen and heard as only imagination) as the Susan of Swallows and Amazons is. Her relationship with Bridget is another lovely example of Susan growing kinder and more tolerant. And that’s going to be very important to Susan in developing adult relationships, because at some point (and I don’t think she’s quite got there even by the end of the series), she’s going to have to learn how to depend on other people, not just be the one everyone depends on.