#whtp

Wikipedia page for electrical fuses: "It is a sacrificial device; once a fuse has operated, it is an open circuit, and must be replaced or rewired, depending on its type."

Me, thinking of my '20s version of Eddie, who runs on fuses: oh my god he's a sacrificial device 😭😭😭

Thanks for the tags @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @westwardly, and @distracteddream!

I've started working on the next chapter of Who Holds the Power, but unfortunately not been able to finish anything of substance. So today, it's gonna be just one more little snippet of the later part I'd been working at recently...

His fingers barely brushed the metal for the first time, and then… A spark jumped from his fingertip to the box. In the exact same moment, a bright flash of light appeared from nowhere, filling Eddie's vision. The energy that had been keeping him upright until that point vanished from his body, and the sudden shift left him lightheaded. Suddenly right on the edge of blacking out, his eyes rolled back into his head, his eyelids fluttering shut. No longer able to stand under his own power, he distantly felt his body falling backwards. He never hit the floor.

Thanks for the tag as usual @elodiah! 🥰

Writing the last scene of the next chapter of Who Holds the Power! Unfortunately, this is all I got so far. Not because I don't feel like writing in general, but because I've been hyped about this scene for so long that it feels like I'll never be able to do it the justice it deserves 🙃 How do you longfic writers combat that kind of feeling??

Eddie had been having a pretty good night. Business had been slow so far; unusually so, meaning he wasn't feeling quite as strained and rushed as he normally did those days. He was able to actually take five minutes to himself every now and then, to just stand across from a patron at the bar and make conversation without having to be cleaning something at the same time. It felt like forever since he'd been able to give anyone his full attention. It felt like forever since he'd been able to give himself any attention at all. He was able to take breaks, and it felt good. He should have known there'd be a catch.

The sense of foreboding should be setting in at this point 😊

Thank you for tagging me @loki-is-my-kink-awakening! 🥰

Finally starting to feel like I'm making progress on the next chapter of Who Holds the Power. (It should NOT have taken this long just to make some progress; I cannot BELIEVE it's already been a whole damn month since updating 🙃) I am once again having fun coming up with OC background characters to drain Eddie of his power hehe (I'm sorry, Eddie 🥲)

The addition of even more damned new appliances around the house took its toll on him in a way that was to be expected even if he had been working at his best. But apparently the homeowners didn't care to consider such things before plugging in new things to use his power. Mr. Coffee was a no-nonsense kind of guy. Whenever he came in, he tended to get what he wanted and then left again. He almost never overstayed his welcome. The clothes dryer and microwave were different stories. Adryana Spinetti was a passionate woman, and when she got heated up about something important to her, she tended to lose track of time and needed a reminder when it was time to go. Same for Mike ("don't call me Michael, dude") Rads, but somehow even worse. It wasn't that he was willfully trying to drain Eddie's diminished reserves of patience for socializing. He was just a little oblivious, always wrapped up in bragging about his latest surfing escapades. Even with the more eccentric personalities among them, the newcomers individually would have been just fine. But all together, combined with the power needs of the entire rest of the house? Eddie was getting to the point that every single evening felt like he was on the verge of shorting out. Just a tiny surge more to push him past the point of what he was physically able to handle. Constantly teetering on the edge of blowing a fuse. The endless ache and strain was drowning him, to the point he had no choice but to try something to ease the pain.

A little more of Eddie's slow descent into the grouch we all know and love 🥰

After a week of struggling to start the new chapter of Who Holds the Power, I feel like I finally got it going in a direction that I feel good about! Thank you all so much for putting up with my moaning, lol. (Really hoping the improvement comes across, even though y'all didn't see the trash fire the first version was 😅)

After endless minutes of torment, the lights finally came back up to their full brightness, illuminating Eddie slumped on the floor by the stage, clutching the edge of the structure for support. Although, with his eyes squeezed shut, he couldn't tell the difference whether the lights were back on or not. His shoulders trembled with the effort of keeping himself held upright. His chest heaved with every breath he fought to drag in through the slowly, slowly fading pain that had burned through him from the inside out. Breathless as he was, Eddie mustered up enough air to hiss between his slowly steadying gasps, "Fucking…hell…" Cursing his current circumstances felt only too right, small though the satisfaction was.

Thanks for the tag @themontess! This is an interesting alternative for the usual WIP post, and quite perfect, because I'm working on a part that I don't want to give away too much about... 👀

It wasn't quite…him. Yet at the same time, there was something comforting about it. Warm, sending a steady hum of current through his worn-out, beaten-down, aching body.

because one more sentence either before or after this snippet will give away more than I want to 🙃

Thanks for the tag, @elodiah, as always! 😊

I'm sharing a bit of Who Holds the Power that I've been working on, but it's not from the next chapter. I won't say exactly when this is or what's going on. Makes it more fun! (For me.)

Tears continued to roll down his face, unbidden, dripping to the floor beneath him. His vision was blurred, but that didn't stop him from seeing the darkness encroaching further upon him. Eddie gasped for breath that just kept being stolen from him in tortured cries, helpless whimpers. He begged for the pain to stop, to return to that hated numbness, even knowing it would never happen. This was a battle he was losing. Fast.

Nobody tagged me yet, and it's still early for me, but I'm posting now because why the heck not?

As I promised on Sunday, here's a bit of the next chapter of Who Holds the Power that I said that I'd share! This contains some dialogue that I've wanted to incorporate ever since getting my outline down months ago, so I'm really pleased with how the scene came out 🥰

As Eddie started swaying gently with her in place, he looked down to meet her eyes and found her giving him a bemused side-eye. He raised a brow. "What's that look for?" he wondered, though he kept moving with her all the while. "Slow, huh?" Rainey probed, her eyes searching him inquisitively, "You know I like the quick steps better." For a moment, Eddie considered continuing to try to keep the truth of his worsened state to himself, but…surprisingly, he found he didn't want to hide it anymore. Not just then, at least. Maybe it was because this was Rainey he was talking to, and he knew she'd suss him out eventually. Maybe it was because he'd already been convinced to lower his guard that evening, so what was another layer of the mask peeled back? Maybe he was just in a generally good mood from only having to deal with a few dull aches in his body that day. Whatever it was that caused it, he let himself be a little more forthright than usual in his response. The corner of his lips ticked up into a wry grin. "Slow's all I can handle anymore, Rain," he admitted. Giving him a mock sympathetic pout in return, Rainey teased, "What'sa matter? You gettin' old already?" Eddie chuckled. "I am," he replied. Fondly eyeing the ever-so-delicate crow's feet wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, he leaned in closer to add lowly, "And so are you." Rainey's mouth dropped open in an affronted gasp. "Eddison Watts!" she protested with a light swat against his chest, "That is no way to speak to a lady!" Able to tell by the playful spark in her eyes that she wasn't truly offended, Eddie's laughter came even easier. All the same, he gave her an apologetic squeeze with the arm he had around her back, drawing an affectionate giggle out of her as well.

Eddie's gettin' himself in trouble 😂