borledtodeath



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  1. Public Bookmark 49

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    Ryland Grace never considered himself to be the best guy to ask about gender. Sure, he lived in San Francisco, and he was the cool teacher, always priding himself in being understanding and making his class safe space for all of his students, including the queer kids who needed it. He’s better versed on the topic than the average cisgender man, probably, but he’s not claiming to be an expert.

    Even so, he was hoping that’d translate into being more knowledgeable about it than an alien with no concept of gender sixteen light years away from Earth was, but there were a lot of things Adrian one-upped him on.

    Language:
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    3,988
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    1/1
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    393
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    19 Jun 2026

  2. Public Bookmark 31

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    “How long do you have?” he asks, staring intently into Eddie's big, dark eyes. Eddie looks at him for a long while.
    “Got nothin’ but time,” he eventually says, and Steve notes that his voice has a sort of gentle lilt when he speaks softly, something sweet and southern running through it. “Rich in that at least.”
    And so Steve sits down on the ground in the dirt. The air's hot and sticky, and by the time he stops talking, he isn't sure he's ever been that parched, not ever. He talks and talks. He doesn't stop for a long while.
    Eddie Munson listens quietly.

    ---

    The battle at Starcourt might have culminated in the end of the upside down back in '85, but Steve is still plagued by nightmares. Years later, he's the last one left in Hawkins - content to stay there, safe and alone and fading into nothing as the summer heat peaks again.
    A three am rendezvous at Sattler quarry changes that.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    18,991
    Chapters:
    4/4
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    161
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    31
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    16 Jun 2026

  3. Public Bookmark *

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    It wasn’t anything that Grace had never done before. Yet this time, Rocky felt all five of his hearts racing at its smile. Grace’s giggle was so similar to an Eridian’s. Rocky wanted to make it laugh again, to be the reason for its joy.

    Such thoughts had barely begun when there was suddenly a strange physical feeling inside Rocky. It felt like something was moving, a strange buzz reverberating throughout his body. It was deeply uncomfortable and continued to increase in intensity until Rocky suddenly felt like he had to open his ventral seal right now and get something out out out. It was all so quick that Rocky could barely think about how absolutely wrong it felt.

    In which Rocky gets the Eridian equivalent of Hanahaki

    Language:
    English
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    32,035
    Chapters:
    6/6
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    768
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    141
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    15 Jun 2026

  4. Public Bookmark *

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    Distantly, he hears the Wolf snarling and grappling with the demogorgan.

    And then his blurry eyes pick up a third figure joining the fray.

    A familiar figure, armed with a crude spear, jabbing furiously at the demogorgan’s head.

    Steve’s head swims and he loses sight of anything after that, the sound of his rapidly-slowing heartbeat thudding in his ears.

    “Steve, you with me, big boy?”

    *****

    In the aftermath of Eddie’s death, of the gates opening, Steve is struggling. His bat bites refuse to heal, he can’t let go of Eddie’s bloodied vest, and his dreams are plagued by visions of Eddie, by the Upside Down, by a creature that stalks him through the night.

    Until one night, at the end of his tether, Steve returns to the Upside Down to search for the man he’d left behind.

    Language:
    English
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    89,547
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    08 Jun 2026

  5. Public Bookmark *

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    “You can be my trusted adult,” Dustin cuts in.

    Steve blinks several times. “Huh?”

    “You’re an adult,” Dustin says, like he’s talking to a three-year-old.

    “…yes, Dustin.”

    “And my mom trusts you.”

    “Yeah, but…wait.” Steve sits back up, ramrod straight in his chair. “You’re not suggesting…”

    “Come with me to New Zealand,” Dustin finishes, then adds a quieter: “Please?”

    ***

    When Dustin Henderson parent-traps Steve and Eddie into taking him to New Zealand for a holiday and some Lord of the Rings sight-seeing, Steve's forced to confront the reality of what he really wants out of life. Is it working for his father in a job he despises to afford his sky-rise apartment in Chicago and the status that comes with it, or is it something else, something simpler, something truer to himself? On the windy back roads of New Zealand, amongst the most stunning scenery he's ever seen and with old flame Eddie Munson in his passenger seat, he figures it out.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    41,159
    Chapters:
    10/10
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    436
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    115
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    07 Jun 2026