There’s this guy in all black walking in front of him, he’s too busy looking down at his phone to notice, but Steve doesn’t trust that lamppost. He’s been going for daily runs, he likes to keep it simple during the off-season, and that post has been getting more rickety every day. Now it’s swaying dangerously in the wind and he knows it’s about to tumble.
There’s no time to call out to the guy, so Steve just plows forward and tackles him out of the way.
They fall in a messy heap and Steve unfortunately lands heavily on top.
“Holy shit! What the— ugh!” The guy heaves in pain and Steve hurries to scramble off of him.
“Sorry, that post was about to fall on you, man. You alright?”
Pieces of grass stick to the guy’s long hair as he takes stock of Steve and what happened. With a labored breath, he surprisingly jokes, “Guess I’m lucky the best football tackler alive happened to be right behind me.”
It’s sarcastic as shit but Steve smiles with a tug of amusement as he offers his hand. “Baseball, actually.”
“You’re in the wrong league, man,” he lets Steve pull him to his feet and groans on the way up. “Well, nice to meet you, Baseball, you pack a hell of a first impression. I’m Eddie.”
Steve would appreciate his ability to joke so soon after taking a hit, but people are starting to gather around. There’s already phones pointed at them that probably caught the whole thing on camera. Steve’s used to public attention by now, knows the press is going to have a field day with this and he hates causing a scene, but he wants to make sure Eddie is okay.
“Just Steve is good. You wanna…? This way,” he gestures toward the sidewalk and thankfully, Eddie seems just as eager to get out of there too, shuffling next to Steve as they round the corner.
He’s wearing so much metal jewelry, it’s like a costume, the jingle jangle of his every step accentuating how shaken up he seems. They get far enough behind a building and Steve stops to have a real look at him and… well he’s interesting to look at.
It’s like he hopped off the album cover of an 80s rock band, or one of Steve’s Bon Jovi posters that he hid under his bed in high school. Way too much leather and way too much hair for the California sun, all disheveled with grass and dirt.
“You sure you’re okay? Here, you got a little…” Steve’s hand hovers until Eddie nods that it’s okay from him to pluck the grass from his hair and lightly brush the dust from his shoulders. Eddie watches him the whole time, his eyes big and dark, an intensity in them that Steve can’t quite read but he can feel. “Didn’t hit your head or anything, did you?”
Steve lowers his hands, stepping back a little when he realizes how close they are. Eddie’s eyes follow him, a slight quirk to his lips that makes Steve feel the heat of the sun a little warmer on his face.
“I’m touched by your concern, sweetheart, but my brain has been through worse damage than a little bump.”
Steve frowns at the ladder, but the first bit definitely makes him feel the heat. He’s admittedly a bit out of practice but he can still recognize a come on. One that he definitely invited with all the touching and indulgent looks.
Then Eddie starts profusely thanking him for the whole ordeal, asking to treat him somewhere nearby for lunch. It’s not that Steve doesn’t want to, he’s very interested actually, and thankful that out of all the jewelry Eddie’s sporting, there’s no wedding ring. That’s why he’s reluctant because he’s all sweaty at the moment. Not to mention, he didn’t finish his run yet.
“Surely saving my life was enough cardio,” Eddie jokes lightly and Steve snorts.
“I saved you from a minor concussion, maybe,” and okay he’s gotta accept now.
The place is small and unassuming, burgers and sodas type joint. Steve’s likely to be recognized there, which he doesn’t mind meeting fans in public just preferably not now, it might be jarring for Eddie.
He heads for the booth tucked in the back corner, the most private looking spot that Steve had his eyes on too. They get a round of sodas from the waitress and right away, Eddie starts thanking him again.
“I noticed that lamppost wobbling days ago,” Steve sparks a conversation instead of accepting any more thanks, “I was planning to let it fall on me so I could sue the shit out of the city.”
He’s pleasantly startled by the big cackle that gets out of Eddie, “Any chance to stick it to the man. I admire that.”
“‘Course I would’ve really stuck it to ‘em and donated it back to the community,” Steve adds.
“Giving the people’s money back to the people, imagine Big Brother’s horror. Noble guy.”
Eddie seems to bubble with contagious delight that doesn’t match his whole leather and chains thing at all, but it fits into the somewhat magic of him. It's a wonder to Steve.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Eddie ventures, a glint of recognition in his eyes that Steve’s seen a thousand times. He doesn’t ping Eddie as much of a sports guy and he’s not vain enough to assume everyone knows who he is. Eddie’s probably seen him while flipping the channel past ESPN or something. Or maybe an ad for that Netflix thing he did documenting last year’s season.
“I think I’d definitely remember you.”
Steve didn’t mean it as a come-on, just that Eddie’s appearance really isn’t forgettable, but he can tell by the wicked little grin Eddie sports that it was taken as one. Steve likes that even better.
“Have you ever modeled, or anything? You’ve got the looks for it.”
Biting back a smile of his own, Steve shakes his head. “I bet you say that to everyone who saves your life.”
“None of them were half as good looking." That sounds concerning but Steve’s distracted by Eddie swirling his straw in his drink, regarding him with a long look. “Really though, I just feel like I’ve seen you before.”
Steve’s done a few covers of Sports Illustrated, but he doubts Eddie has ever picked up a copy of that, so he shrugs. “Must’ve been in your dreams.”
Eddie laughs softer this time. “You trying to sweep me off my feet or something?”
“Already did.” Steve leans back, enjoying the way Eddie’s eyes follow him.
Conversation sparks and it never really dies out. Eddie just grabs topics out of thin air, talking about the city and what they like to do and movies and his amazement that Steve knows all about D&D because he’s a nerd magnet. Eddie’s personality spills through everything he says like it can’t be contained. He’s talkative in a good way, not to a point where Steve can’t get a word in. He listens intently, has a way of putting all his attention onto Steve like he’s the most interesting person he’s ever spoken to.
It’s surprisingly easy to relax. Not because Eddie has a super calming presence or anything, his energy is just all-encompassing, it’s hard for Steve not to get sucked in and hang on to every word he says. It’s one of the rare times in public that he’s not hyper-aware of everyone around him and too paranoid of having a photo snapped and taken out of context to even enjoy himself.
That happens a lot, being one of the only professional athletes who’s open about his sexuality. The media is extremely invasive with his private life. If he’s seen with any guy friend, there’s a whole press storm about Steve Harrington’s “secret beau” within the hour. It’s ridiculous and he tries so hard to keep his lovelife under wraps that maybe he’s been neglecting it entirely, at least that’s what Robin says.
Of course, that’s when his phone lights up with a message from her. His heart sinks a little when he sees the title of the article she sent to him. He quickly shoots her a text and locks his phone without reading it.
“Everything alright?” Eddie notices the shift in Steve’s mood right away.
“Yeah just,” he sighs, bracing for the inevitable part when Eddie realizes Steve isn’t worth the hassle of all this, “Someone filmed us earlier and now it’s all over the press. I’m really sorry, I totally get it if—”
“Nah, don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I figured that would happen,” Eddie brushes it off, but Steve shakes his head.
“I don’t think you understand, it’s—”
“Wanna bet?” Eddie smirks for some reason, “I’m fine with it, I promise.”
He tosses a chip into his mouth and picks right back up with the story he was telling.
Steve is stunned for a moment, wary that maybe Eddie doesn’t fully grasp how deep this goes. But he stays there with Steve, seemingly thrilled to keep talking with him even when a family comes in and keeps staring their way, obviously building up the courage to come over and ask for a picture. Eddie’s acting like Steve’s the only person in the room and that’s enough to assure Steve that he’s really fine with it.
He’s so locked into Eddie, he barely registers when the older son from the family’s table finally wanders over and asks for a picture.
Steve is in the middle of wiping his face with a napkin, about to greet him when suddenly, Eddie pops up and asks Steve to excuse him for a minute.
“C’mon little man, let’s do it,” he says and much to Steve’s confusion, the teen excitedly goes with Eddie to his family’s table.
Steve watches, utterly baffled, as they start snapping photos and expressing what big fans they are and Eddie takes it with such bravado, laughing and chatting like he’s with a group of friends.
What the— Steve grabs his phone, opening the article Robin sent him at lightning speed.
At first, he wonders how the press was able to find out Eddie’s full name so quickly, then he sees the words "troubled rockstar" and "recovering star" so many times, it becomes abundantly clear.
Oh.
He’s not so worried about the troubled part, everyone has their shit and he doesn’t read into any of it. Those are Eddie’s stories to tell Steve if he chooses, not some tabloid. But the rockstar part connects a lot of dots that have come up in the last couple of hours since meeting Eddie and—
Teamwork makes the dream work (NSFW) [part one] Sylus + surprise guest x reader
*spoiler, “surprise guest” is in tags, may add another, wanted to be all mysterious and shit*
(Will include P in V, pussy eating, “good girl,” plan fic soon w/out any gendered terms or specific anatomy mentions)
Synopsis: An unexpected confrontation turns into a steamy, collab. You’ve been extra naughty you finally face your consequences, at the SAME time. Your sins warrant a punishment, judgement day is upon you. You’ve gotten away with too much, too long, and foolishly you expected to get away with it. You must now repent and beg for forgiveness.
Content: Big dick Sylus, kitten pet name, little cliffhanger moment, another partially unserious one but still horny and smutty. (Rest of fic will contain them being a little obsessive and somewhat possessive, overstimulation, them dominating you, pussy eating, giving them oral, hints at potential surveillance, biting, nipple play, p in v, breeding kink, manhandling, angry sex, size kink, using their evil, squirting, ordering you around, praise, a little condescending to you, ass smacking, potentially others bc I haven’t finished writing )
WC: 300 (May include typos)
Sylus hastily whips it out.
Oh fuck.
Your eyes widen and your breath hitches in your throat. You’re trying to mask the mixture of nervousness, concern, and unbearable desire that is coursing through your body.
It’s futile, your thin veil of composure begins to crack. You open your mouth to speak but it’s as if your voice had been stripped from you.
It’s massive, monstrous actually, and the recoil on that thing is unbelievable. it nearly smacked you in the face when it was unleashed. You can tell it’s heavy, how does he carry that around all day? His dick may even constitute a weapon.
How could you possibly take all of that?
“What’s the matter, sweetie?” he smirks.
You tilt your head up hesitantly and lock eyes with him.
His eyes are like a wildfire, fervent and ravenous. It feels as if he’s piercing through the surface and accessing the deepest parts of you. It’s intimidating but captivating, you can’t look away.
He knows that.
He loves that.
It excites him.
Your mouth begins to water. You’re starving. Although, you’re undeniably intimated by the thick gigantic throbbing juicy rock hard cock that’s inches away from your face, it looks delectable.
He bends over to graze your ear with his soft lips.
“It’s all yours kitten,” Sylus whispers, eliminating nearly all of your leg strength with his voice alone.
His fingertips lightly trace your cheek and travel down to your neck, collarbone, then chest. Every cell in your body is screaming for him to keep going but he removes his hand. You whimper involuntarily out of frustration, you want nothing more than his touch.
The Wizard of Oz, Homestuck, and the Meat timeline: An analysis of Power over the narrative
Okay, let's do this.
A common imagery in Homestuck, one very obvious, is The Wizard of Oz.
We see it in the start of the story, with Jade Harley as the girl with her dog (Dorothy and Toto), a robot (Tinman), a stuffed corpse, (Scarecrow), an animalistic version of herself (Lion), and eventually, she comes to her own as the Witch in red shoes (The Witch of the East). This imagery is used to convey multiple things - at first, it is a reference, and then when characters like Calliope and Terezi ape it, it becomes a sort of instrument of escapism from upsetting events, like almost everything else in Homestuck. But, when we look at how it is used in these scenes, we can also see another thematic usage, that continues off into the Meat timeline of the Epilogues, and Beyond Canon.
When Terezi uses the reference, it is right after everyone dies, and John is to be sent off to the Retcon Journey. We see that Terezi stole Jade's shoes right off of her corpse, right as she's about to make John create a new alpha timeline, or "home", casting her as the new Dorothy. This is an act of 'Power', so to speak, as she does it mainly to prove she can, in the face of the disaster that was Game Over. It was "R3D, SP4RKLY, 4ND D3L1C1OUS", and to be able to take time to steal them and wear them is proof of the fact that Terezi still had Power, which she used in the Retcon Journey.
Calliope references it by casting herself as the Wizard, exerting all the Power she has to try to keep people away, proverbially showing her fangs by referencing the story.
Importantly though, one other person uses it in tandem with Power: Caliborn.
During his most Powerful time in the comic, where he can change the ui, the story, even the art, what does he do to exert his Power over the story, and over john?
He plays him as the Wizard, and references the curtain.
Even with Jade, the one who started the trend and reference, we see her use being the Witch as being Powerful. She is strong when she god tiers, Bec is strong as a first guardian, and she is, by and large, the Threat, both physically and emotionally, during a lot of Game Over.
So, we've established that characters using Oz in the story is them exerting Power over situations and people that they do not like.
That brings us to Dirk.
The whole of the Epilogues, and later Beyond Canon, is related to Dirk Strider, Alliope, and the Power that each controls over and opposing the other. We start with a simple choice: Candy, or Meat? We will choose Meat for this specific essay, but do not worry, Candy will come soon.
Meat is all about Power, it is about the Power of Lord English, the Power of Jane's political campaign, and, most importantly, the Power Dirk has pressed onto the narrative.
He doesn't want to continue living in an Epilogue; Dirk Strider wants another Homestuck.
Him taking the role of the narrative - him usurping the old narrator, is him taking the Power if being the Wizard character - Meat is his masterpeice, Meat is his Oz.
We can also see this in the people gunning to kill him - Jake, the brainless man, Davebot, the Tinman with no heart, Alliope, the Witch opposing the Wizard, Jade, playing double duty as both the Lion and the Witch of the East, and Aradia, our new Dorothy.
And when we see the Seers, we get Rose, the metallic mask that aids the Wizard strike fear, and Terezi, a Dorothy with no way home.
He has taken the proverbial power of Oz, and made it literal, exerting his will over the entire narrative, exacerbating Oz as an actual present force with Power.
But then, in the universe he discared, the world that represents everything he doesn't want Homestuck to be, we find Vriska, and we find her whisking away the Omega kids to the Oz of Meat, so that they can play Sburb.
And then, John decides he needs to kill Dirk.
Now, a bit of a tangent on the books, but the Wizard isn't the rightful ruler of Oz. He came in, and userped the ones in charge, and after his defeat, the Heir returns.
Ozma, the rightful Heir to Oz, is a transgender woman who forms a very close relationship with Dorothy, a girl from another universe, and she helps with the creation of a man named Jack Pumpkinhead, who is owned by a Witch, who has knowlege, but doesn't know how much. She also only transitions when she comes into herself as the Heir, and Queen of Oz.
John Egbert, if we follow throught with the Ozma parralells, will go to Meat, help defeat Dirk, and will also transition, either during or after Hellteir.
But - but what about Candy? What is the negative space left behind by a writer? When all of the narrative Power is taken away, what are you left with?
You are left with Wonderland. But that's for the next one.
there's something horrifically intimate about (un)buckling your belt, fixing your collar, (un)buttoning your blouse, fixing your (bow)tie, patting down your pants or flapping out your jacket to straighten it out. it's like... scary. it's a simple action of changing your appearance, your clothing, and yet seeing someone's hands hover over their belt to undo it and readjust it again, or someone stretching their fingers before they reach to their collar to fix their tie... nauseating. how dare you pretty yourself up or dishevel yourself purposefully in front of someone else. Stop. I'm Scared and aroused
I can certainly show you how! Just know that it's very basic and doesn't have a traditional menu/a little finicky. There are software to make your dvd more pretty, but I couldn't get them to work for me.
I mostly just bumbled my way through the process until I discovered a method that worked.
But, without further ado...
A TECHNOLOGICALLY-ILLITERATE TEENAGER'S GUIDE TO BURNING A DVD
First, you are going to want to get yourself a computer with processing capabilities (I used a Windows laptop), an external dvd player, and blank dvds, specifically DVD+Rs
This may work with other types of DVDs. Just make sure they are not CDs.
Second, you are going to need to download whatever you are trying to burn to your disc. I found MBAV season 2 on YouTube on this Chanel:
MAKE SURE that there isn't bumpers/commentary over the video before you download it.
Speaking of, I don't have YouTube Premium so I used Cobalt.tool to download the video easily to my laptop.
It should look like this when downloaded.
BE SURE to change the name of the file to the name of the episode/movie, or else it will be a garble of letters and numbers on the disc menu.
(I'm burning a slugterra movie in this case.)
Here's what the MBAV files looked like:
IF YOU WANT THE EPISODES IN ORDER, make sure to add numbering at the beginning of the file name, or else it will burn in alphabetical order.
Now that you've got everything downloaded, it's time to burn!! This is what your setup should resemble.
I've also hit the photo limit on a post, so I will post this with a part 2 on how to actually burn the disc in a few minutes.
𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄'𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 / ❛ boy crazy ❜ part 1 (@armoricaroyalty)
❝ The Lover's Gala was the Armorican Queer Front's biggest annual event and 2044 was the 25th Anniversary. The organization's communications team had spent months putting out stories about the gala and the celebrities and members of the royals family expected to attend, trying without much success to turn the event into a major cultural major. Overnight, Princess Zofia (and her new boyfriend) blew them all out of the water. It was only his second time in Armorica, and the first time they'd appeared in public together since the funeral. It was only natural that they landed on the front page of every newspaper in the country, the gala (and the work done by the AQF) a vague footnote after paragraphs upon paragraphs breathlessly speculating about the intimate details of the lovebirds' long-distance relationship. "
♥ shoutout to gabe for pitching this very fun idea, as well as for the title card, the contextual prose, and, of course, my beloved daughter miss zofia augusta st. fleur !!!!!!! she's my favorite barbie doll & has been for a long time :^) i guess i love and adore my son as well, but nonetheless. this is special in part because it's the first time i've written them speaking outside of a parody piece that will never see the light of day. anyway, enjoy this super premature dialogue-inclusive, full-color sneak peak of Them™
PART 2
TRANSCRIPT:
{Light music, overlapping conversations}
[Z] It’s gotten so long since December!
[R] Anything for you.
[Z] Anything at all? Promise?
[R] On my life.
[Z] So ... Can we leave then?
[R] Well, that’s actually your call—
[Z] Okay, let’s leave right now!
[R] We’ve been here for only a short while, Fia.
[R] Even less if you count the “restroom break.”
[Z] That was worth it, and no one even noticed.
{Knocking}
[Z] Occupied!
[Z] Anyway, Hannah’s still here. Even Pidge. Et cetera. We can go.
[R] They walked out ten minutes ago—Hannah with Hugo, Margaret following Arthur. All through a servant’s door. Very conspicuous.
[Z] Did they? Huh. So they did.
{Rui laughs}
[Z] Look, if we leave now, it’ll be perfect. It’s barely nine o’clock. We can go back to the city, change clothes, go dancing—!
{Imaginary club music thudding}
[Z&R V.O.] Party all night—bet you don’t believe me, but we actually do have good clubs [Rui snickers] or, like, one I like a lot—then I get a cheeseburger—[no pickles]—right! Oh, remember that poor cashier in Nakawe? You sure told him. [“Plain” means plain.] My hero! Anyway, then you carry me and my sore feet to bed. Ideal night.
[Z] You can keep this on, actually. Maybe ditch the jacket.
[R] Undo another button or two?
[Z] Of course. [Soft sigh] You get me.
[Z] The rose is also a must.
[R] It’s for you—a keepsake.
[Z] Aw. Our first appearance and our first Valentine’s Day ...
[R] A sign, probably. Meant to be.
[Z] Romance novel worthy. I’d read it.
[R] The boxes are checked: excitement, fate, many graphic—
[Z] No! Erotic. {Repeats in Armorican} Memorize that one.
{Murmuring}
[R] Do you think I should’ve worn a tie this evening?
[Z] What?
[R] If we were home, obviously not. But, Armorica is ... People here seem to care a lot about unnecessary things. So, was that a misstep?
[Z] {Laughs}
[Z] Pfft. Hugo didn’t even have his jacket on.
[R] {Scoff} I am not Hugo.
[R] I want to make a good impression—on your family, really. This visit is different. They’re all, for better or worse, paying attention to me.
[Z] Are you kidding? Mission accomplished.
[Z] Trust me, they love you! Now, come on, let’s go already—!
