3 Components Of Worldbuilding:

If the garden it all ends with isn’t the garden of Crowley's and Aziraphale's cottage, I'll combust into flames.

it’s funny when my friends who aren’t on tumblr send me tumblr posts from other sites cause their either an extremely popular post that i’ve seen 20 times on my dash in the last day or like. the children’s hospital post. don’t get me wrong i still appreciate their gifts but it’s like. thank you for foraging these berries for me unfortunately i live in the bush

Farewell online privacy

billy meets andy in fourth grade.

andy’s a year older than the rest of the class and doesn’t ever talk.

billy gets paired with him for a project and andy doesn’t move. billy stands up and calls his name but he still doesn’t turn around.

“andy’s deaf, billy.” ms. mackenzie tells him.

“oh.” billy’s eyes widen. he’s stumped, for a moment. “um. how do i…”

billy trails off. not sure what he wants to ask, exactly.

“just make sure he can read your lips.”

billy nods. he walks over to stand in front of andy and holds out a hand. like he sees adults do. andy raises his eyebrows but takes billy’s hand. shakes it. billy tells him his name and andy smiles.

andy’s taller than billy. most people are but billy still whales on anyone who makes fun of andy. billy’s small, sure. but he’s scrappy.

he’s sitting outside the principals office with mark p’s blood on his knuckles when andy walks past. billy pulls a face and andy laughs.

billy likes it when andy laughs.

andy uses sign language to talk to his sister and his aunt.

teaches billy, when he asks.

billy shows some of it to his mom. teaches her how to tuck her two middle fingers down, index and little finger pointed skyward and thumb sticking out.

“like this?” she asks, forehead creased in concentration.

“uh-huh.” billy smiles. puffs out his chest. proud. “it means ‘i love you.’”

billy’s walking andy home when andy points up at the stars dotting a purple sky. signs pretty. billy walks right into him when he suddenly stops walking.

andy catches billy when he stumbles.

sand shifts beneath billy’s feet as he leans up on his toes to kiss andy. it’s childish. a quick peck, awkward and clumsy. billy doesn’t really know why he did it but andy doesn’t frown or push billy away.

he smiles, instead.

signs pretty again and hugs billy tight.

billy’s mom leaves and neil loses his job. they move away and billy doesn’t see andy again. neil calls him words that didn’t exist in andy’s world.

when billy’s seventeen, neil packs up again. takes him, max and susan to hawkins. neil’s family. and billy.

billy locks eyes with steve harrington across the parking lot in september. gets on his knees and blows him in tina’s parents guest bathroom in october.

steve corners him in the showers after practice the next day. reopens the split on billy’s lip and gets blood all over his own.

they communicate with hands, mostly. grabbing, pushing, pulling. jerking each other off in the backseat of steve’s car. fists come in to play when billy finds steve in a house alone with a bunch of kids, max included.

billy’s bruises are somehow worse a week later and steve tells him to come over that evening. doesn’t ask. just tells.

billy sneers. spits and swears at steve.

rocks on his heels as he waits on the harrington’s doorstep at 9:15.

“you’re late.” steve says.

billy doesn’t say anything. doesn’t need to.

something changes after that. steve fucks billy in his plaid nightmare of a room and drags him to the bathroom to dab at his cuts and scrapes right after.

brushes the backs of his knuckles across bruised ribs and frowns.

billy tugs at his hair and brings their lips together. almost gentle.

it’s too fragile for a name, whatever they have.

it’s summer when billy first mentions andy. billy’s sitting on steve’s bed and steve’s looking at him in the way that he does whenever billy reveals a part of himself. eager to soak it up and bask in it.

billy shows steve how to sign his name. how to say please and thank you, bitch and motherfucker.

“what’s-” steve’s hair has fallen over his forehead and billy reaches out to brush it back. unthinking. “what’s ‘i love you’?”

billy freezes.

his heart pounds. they haven’t- they don’t-

“you sweet on someone, harrington?” teasing is easy and billy’s a coward.

“oh, you know.” steve shrugs and it would be casual if he wasn’t looking at billy like that. “kinda.”

“yeah?” billy looks away. focuses on steve’s boxers which billy knows have been in that exact spot on the floor for the last three days. “anyone i know?”

“you might.”

billy shakes his head, grins. “hot?” he asks.

steve just nods, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he edges his fingers towards billy’s on the comforter until they’re intertwined.

billy opens his mouth but steve leans forward and kisses the next smart ass response right off of his lips. winds long fingers into his hair and steals billy’s breath away.

makes his stomach do flips in that way that only steve can.

billy leaves with a smile on his face.

something crashes into his car on the drive back and everything goes dark.

five months, a ‘mall fire’, a shadow monster and seemingly endless hours stuck in a hospital bed later, billy finds himself in a house straight out of texas chainsaw, standing next to max as everyone debates on what to do next.

billy keeps quiet. doesn’t have much to say these days. he bites at his lower lip before looking across the room at steve.

steve smiles at him. something small and private.

everyone’s talking, no one’s paying attention to them.

steve raises his right hand. tucks his two middle fingers down and points the other two toward the ceiling, thumb sticking out.

billy’s cheeks flush and his heart pounds.

thinks it might jump right out of his chest if he isn’t careful.

his stomach does somersaults and he vows that if they get out of this, he’ll tell steve.

he’ll tell him.

for now he raises his left hand. two fingers down, two up, thumb out.

Greg Sage was born on October 21, 1951 in Portland, Oregon. He is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter who is best known for being the primary songwriter of the Portland-based seminal punk rock group, Wipers.

Greg Sage’s fascination with recording began at a young age. In the 7th grade, Sage acquired a professional disc-cutting lathe with which he would cut records for himself and his schoolmates. This early experience not only sparked his interest in music but also laid the foundation for his innovative approach to recording and producing music.

Sage founded Wipers in Portland in 1977. Sage’s dark, reflective lyrics and his unorthodox arrangements quickly gained Wipers a cult following; likewise, their music has since had a profound influence over many forthcoming artists over the the almost five decades since their inception. Some have defined Sage’s musical approach as “substance-over-style” as well as “intricate”, “honest”, and so it goes.

Beyond his work with the Wipers, Sage has also pursued a solo career, releasing records such as Straight Ahead (1985), and Sacrifice (For Love) (1991). He operates his own label, Zeno Records, out of Phoenix, Arizona where he currently resides. Sage continues to influence new generations of musicians with his innovative approach to production and songwriting.

instagram: smacmccreanor

Books and Fingers: Paintings by Jen Mazza

Christmas sucks, because the Camaro is cold.

Billy watches his breath form little clouds. That's the only reason. He's got everything he needs right here. A blanket, a book and a bottle of his best friend Jack. Maybe he'd like a cookie, it's the holidays after all, but he's got to stay in shape anyway and can't give Neil a reason to push him around some more.

There's a knock on his window. It's a tall man with a beard and glasses, wearing an ushanka.

"I know what you're doing, boy."

"What the fuck, dude?" Billy frowns. Christmas sucks, because the wrong people won't leave him alone. There's a little kid inside him that's scared. Scared of strangers, scared of men that are even taller than his dad.

"You're plotting something. I know, I know, they build that fancy ass Starcourt mall, the peak of capitalism and you'd just like to take it down, right?"

Billy blinks. Wonders if he's half asleep already, caught in some weird fever dream. "What?"

The guy laughs. "Sorry, that was just a test."

"A test," Billy echoes. Are there any normal people living in Indiana? "For what?"

"To see if you're safe to talk to," the man says if Billy is the biggest idiot missing the most obvious thing in the world.

It doesn't make any sense to him. Billy hasn't ever been safe, how would he know what that means? And why would a stranger care? He's probably crazy, the kid inside him whispers. He's bigger than Neil and crazy.

"You know, your car is really nice and all. But it's Christmas and you've been here for four days and..."

"Have you been watching me?" Billy sits up, clinging onto the little bit of rage lighting up inside him. It's warming him a little.

"The usual observation of unusual occurrences in the area my friends live in." The man shrugs. "I've got a warehouse in Sesser. It's warm."

"A what?" His rages gets overwritten by more confusion.

"There will be pirozhki." The man seems to think a moment. "You can invite Steve! You like Steve, right?"

The man has been watching him. Steve met him here two days ago. Did he seem them? God, Billy is such an idiot. Meeting at the quarry, thinking no one would see. Billy is so dead.

"It's fine," the man says. "You like Steve, I like Alexei."

"Who's that?" Billy asks. His head is dizzy, like he already drank that bottle of whiskey.

"My..." The guy pauses. "My Steve, I guess."

Oh. He never met anyone who was... like that. Like him. It's a comforting thought. Like a blanket. Billy probably shouldn't go to stranger's warehouses, but Christmas sucks - because the Camaro is cold and he'd really like not to be alone.

"I'll talk to Steve first," Billy says. He doesn't want to end up murdered in some place called Sesser.

The man nods. "It's good not to trust easy."

Billy snorts. Yeah, tell him about that. He wonders if he's about to spend Christmas with a crazy guy and his partner. And whatever pirozhki are.

"I don't even know your name."

"Murray."

Murray stretches out his hand.

"Billy."

Billy takes it.

I know we all love the idea of Eddie keep flirting with Steve and calling him pet names, because he thinks he can get away with it.

But I've been thinking about Steve casually calling Eddie baby without even registering what he's doing.

Like they are standing outside the van with the hood open and Steve just tutting at him like "Eddie, baby, you really gotta get your transmission checked, this is like the third time this month" and Eddie's losing his shit, mouth hanging open in shock, but Steve has no idea and it just keeps on happening after that.

Next time it happens, they are all over at Steve's, having a movie night and Steve has El and Max passed out on him, making him unable to get up from the couch without waking them and he just whisper-yells to Eddie "Hey babe, could you pass me a beer? Kinda tied up here" and Eddie just blanks and says nothing, but gets a bottle from the sixpack on the floor and Steve says "thanks" like it's just how things have always been between them.

And Eddie's working himself into a frenzy. Has Steve got no idea about what he's doing to him? Because Eddie's been lowkey crushing on Steve since he got mixed up in the whole Upside Down business and it just got worse when he woke up at the hospital to Steve holding his hand and giving him the brightests of smiles that there was, rubbing his thumb over Eddie's knuckles, whispering a soft "Hey there sleeping beauty, how're ya feeling?" while being completely oblivious to the suspicious look Wayne was giving them. And sure, hanging out with him nearly every day didn't help the situation one bit.

But this. This is going to be the death of him.

And it just keeps on happening. Steve murmurs "goodnight baby" into the phone before hanging up, he shouts "babe, come here, you gotta see this" when Lucas ends up stuffing fifteen oreos into his mouth (which is a new personal record) and whispers "hey baby, I'm sorry, I know you'd rather do something else, but I promised Mrs Wheeler" when they're watching Holly's ballet recital, waving at her from their seats when her eyes land on them.

It all comes to a head when Eddie's stupid van breaks down in the middle of fucking nowhere, on their way back from Indianapolis, after going there to buy a special boardgame for Dustin's birthday.

There's not a single car or house to be seen anywhere in a ten mile radius.

"Oh this is just great," Steve hisses as he jumps out of the car to walk around and Eddie does the same. He pops the hood and watches as a small cloud of smoke slithers out of it.

"Shit" Eddie swears under his breath. It looks bad.

"See baby, that's exactly why I told you to get it checked! Because I didn't wanna get stuck in fucking no man's land!"

"Look, I'm sure if we just leave it to rest a little..."

"Rest? Eds, come on, you know that's not how it works. We gotta walk up to the next gas stop and phone someone to tow it."

"Fuck, fine!" Eddie grunted. "But it gets dark in like twenty minutes."

They both know that they can't handle walking out in the wild after dark. Not after everything and not with all the nightmares that still tormented them most nights.

"Then I guess we're sleeping out here tonight." Steve says, dropping his hands on his hips. "You have pillows or some shit in the back?"

"Got a couple of blankets, yeah."

In the end they lay down two blankets on the bottom of the van and bundle up some old jumpers Eddie keeps in there for pillows. They lie there, facing each other in the dark.

"Hey... I'm sorry about all this" Eddie whispers, like his voice could disturb anyone out here in the middle of nowhere.

"It's okay, I just wish you'd pay more attention to stuff like this. I mean shit, babe, what if it's just you out here, huh? What then?"

"Steve-"

"I mean, I just hate to think about how shitty it would be, to be out here alone, in the dark... plus I'd worry myself sick not knowing where you are, you know?"

"Steve."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not alone."

"No, no you're not alone" Steve agrees with a private little smile.

They settle into a companionable silence and Eddie's almost certain that Steve is just about to drift off, but he can't contain it in himself any longer; he has to ask.

"Hey Steve?"

"Mmh?"

"Why uh... why are you keep calling me...?" He can't bring himself to say it out loud without his face heating up.

"What?"

"Names." He settles, hoping that Steve would get it.

"Names?"

He's gonna make him say it, isn't he?

"Yeah like uh... baby."

"Oh"

Even in the darkness of the van Eddie can see how the colour darkens in Steve's cheeks.

"Does it bother you?" Steve asks after a beat and Eddie just sighs out a soft "no".

"Okay."

For a long moment it seems that this is all Eddie's gonna get, but then Steve shuffles a little closer and runs a finger along Eddie's palm before taking his hand into his own.

"It just felt right, you know? Calling you that. I dunno, it was like how it was meant to be."

"That sounds kinda romantic, isn't it?" Eddie's shooting for a joke, but Steve just sighs timidly.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?"

"Steve-"

"Eddie... can I?" He doesn't finish it, but Eddie knows he'd say yes to pretty much anything Steve could ever ask from him.

"Yeah" He breathes with a little nod and Steve scoots even closer, placing his other hand onto Eddie's cheek. He leans in and looks him in the eyes for an impossibly long moment, making sure he's got permission one last time.

Steve whispers a soft "baby" onto his lips before finally closing the gap between them.