Murray, after watching Steve and Eddie for all of five seconds, confidently walks up to them and starts his whole spiel about pining blah blah etc etc, and like, Steve will absolutely not have that, there is no way.

So he snorts, looks at Murray down his nose, and with zero hesitation lies, tells him “We’ve been dating for a month, congrats on seeing the obvious... Or not since you couldn’t tell”

He just hopes Eddie will play along. Steve is sending him the strongest signals with his mind right now, and, just, he knows Eddie can be petty like this too (that’s why he likes him so much, and yeah Murray is a little right but fuck him so much more for it)

Eddie ‘lives for the bit and to fuck with people’ Munson does not disappoint. He slings an arm around Steve and is like “Yeaaahhh wow, real clever observation there buddy.” In the driest tone imaginable

And Murray, well he was sure he was right, still kind of is sure he’s right so he just squints at them for a bit and then breaks out in a wide grin, and only sounds a little sarcastic when he says “Congrats on figuring your shit out yourselves.” 

Except he absolutely does not mean it because he wanted to do that, he likes doing that. And now he's sulking and will watch them so closely because something seems off 

Eddie and Steve, so committed to the bit and to not let Murray win, start fake dating. All while Murray tries to catch them in their lie, and they’re all too stubborn to give up

Murray starts to slowly think he maybe was wrong though because they really seem like a couple. And even though there’s still something there he can’t ignore the proof.

When they straight up make out in front of him, and he can tell that they’re so lost in each other they probably don’t know he’s there he's about to concede

But then after that, they act so weird around each other again? It’s like before but worse and how did the pining get worse when they’re actually openly together? Regularly have their tongues down each other's throats and all?

Meanwhile, Steve and Eddie are going through it because they thought they’d be okay but that kiss was so much, and oh god they don’t think they can do this? But they can’t let Murray win?

A week and a half later at their monthly 'we survived the apocalypse, again' get-together at Hoppers and Joyce’s, Murray just gets enough of how twitchy they are. He grabs them both and locks them in a closet and is like “I don’t wanna know anymore, whatever fight you had or didn’t figure it out”

They sort of stand there shuffling from foot to foot not marking eye contact until Eddie is just like “Oh for fucks sake, I like you for real okay? The bastard was right so can we actually just date? Please?” And all Steve's can do is say "Thank god," while he smiles the most blinding smile and grabs Eddie by his collar pulling him in for a kiss

Fifteen minutes later they come out of the closet (the irony and symbolism is not lost on them) all disheveled and a little too satisfied looking and are met with very loud screaming from all the younger teens, ranging from a simple “Ew!” (Mike) to “Dude we are right here what if we'd heard? Or walked in there and seen?” (Dustin)

They’re lucky they’re too distracted by this to see Murray's self-satisfied smirk because if they did they would have pretend broken up and there would have been another month of sneaking around but this time actually dating and pretending they weren’t

David kinda hates that he has to interrupt the truly bizarre conversation Steve and Dustin are having about wiretapping and a ‘Cerebro’ but Career Day is about to officially start and-

Steve: David! Hey, have I intro- no, I introduced you guys already. How do you feel about older women?

Dustin: Oh my god, Steve, El and I are just friends! And anyways, she’s not going to want to date this literal child!

David, reluctantly: I’m twenty-four

Steve: I’m not asking for El. I’m asking for Susie since you won’t marry her either.

Dustin: What’s Susie going to do with a middle school teacher? She’d have a more intellectually stimulating conversation with a brick wall.

Steve: Dude, harsh. Apologize.

Dustin, unconvincing: Sorry

David: Uh, no problem? Steve, um. You wanted to know when… Well, your ex. He’s here.

Steve HE’S here???

it did make me chuckle that while they were desperately trying to push stancy they made Steve describe Nancys worst nightmare of a future to her

Nancy entering Steve's house for the first time after they broke up (post s4) and she takes one step in before she gapes.

"Steve?"

"Yes?" Steve says not noticing the gobsmacked expression on Nancy's face.

"Why is your house baby proofed?"

Steve frowns, takes a look around, sees all the silicone corners, makes an 'ah' sound and then very casually says, "that's for Robin."

NANCY DREW PARALLELS

the sign of the uninvited guest (1x14) ⇾ the witch tree symbol (3x12)

Argyle (being the real MVP) in Stranger Things s4

+ last we see him he’s gathering mushrooms, and the last scene of the season we see the flowers and nature are slowly dying, which could have connection next season.

#wow now i hate nancy even more like what an overly critical bitch#it's not even bad jfc#wtf was her point other than stomping down on steve and constantly saying how stupid he is#god i hate that cheating bitch who thinks she's so much better and smarter than everyone#stranger things (via @captaincoffeegirl515)

So I get you're mad, but also, this isn't cool. Hating on characters in tags of posts that you didn't make isn't cool. Hating on Nancy isn't cool, either. Fandom isn't and shouldn't be about hate. If fandom is making you angry enough to spew vitriol like this, you may need to step back and take a breather.

If you actually watch the scene this is about, she isn't calling Steve stupid. She doesn't make fun of him, she doesn't even tell him it's bad. He assumes, from her face as she reads, that she thinks it's bad, that she thinks he's bad at writing. Even if he was (which that essay argues he isn't, and I don't think he is), and even if she did (which I don't think she does), she does not say so. In fact she's only encouraging wrt to the paper itself.

Before Nancy even says anything at all, Steve says "It's crap, I know" and Nancy's immediate reaction is to say "No, it's not crap!" Steve then insists "It's not good," and Nancy's response is an affectionate smile and "It's going to be! It just needs some reorganizing." She's not even talking about editing the writing itself or the concepts! She gently asks if she can mark on his paper - respecting that he might not want her to help that directly even after he's clearly asked her to look at it, which is loads better than some commenters I've seen on AO3 these days - and he agrees.

And the thing is? She's being kind about the editing she does do! Literally the first thing she does is tell him she sees the metaphor he's using (acknowledging that she knows he understands metaphor enough to create his own from scratch) and tells him it's a great metaphor. When she does point out something that needs addressing, she doesn't tell him "you did this wrong" she tells him "I don't see how they're connected." Do you know what that is? That's straight up gentle help. That's "you have connected these, I am not saying they are not connected, I am just saying I don't see the connection." I don't do a lot of editing but I've had a lot of editing done at me, and this language is so kind. It does not invalidate the thing the writer is trying to do, it just tells them that if they want to make that point, they have to elaborate to make it clearer to people who aren't inside their head with them. That's a perfectly valid critique and she is giving it to him very softly.

He then explains the point and she turns back to the paper to start rereading when he interrupts to ask if he should start from scratch and she immediately tells him no. She asks about the deadline, he tells her it's tomorrow (for early acceptance, which means Steve is trying to get this in early but also that he's waited until the last second for that), and then he asks if she can come over and help him with it (which a) is him forgetting they already have plans and b) is asking her to give up her plans to do work with him on short notice when he probably had time before this he could have asked. I say this to make it clear that her reaction isn't out of the blue or unjustified).

Nancy, who is still torn up over her best friend being brutally murdered on her watch while she was right there after brushing Barb off, and who still feels horribly guilty about having to lie to Barb's parents about it all, says no, remember they have dinner with Barb's parents that they already bailed on last week- ie, Nancy doesn't want to brush off Barb's parents again when brushing off Barb is what got Barb killed. She even tells Steve "You don't have to go" and suggests he work on the paper instead, giving him an easy out. And he grabs the paper and crumples it and does the thing that raises my hackles saying what's the point and acting like trying won't matter and he may as well give up on it because it wasn't instantly perfect the first time.

The point of contention in this scene is NOT that Nancy is telling him he's stupid, it's NOT that she thinks his paper is crap. The point of contention is that Steve desperately wants life to move forward away from the terrible thing that happened to them, and Nancy cannot walk away from the past that left her so damaged. He wants to focus on a paper to get him into a college (I like to think it's the one she wants to go to, so they can stay together, but that's just a theory), and she wants to go wallow in a sad dinner with the grieving parents of her dead best friend. That is the argument. It has nothing to do with his paper except that the paper is a device to show he's trying to move forward and the dinner is showing that she's stuck in the past.

This also isn't Nancy thinking she's better or smarter than anyone. This is Steve being faced with having to care about schoolwork because for maybe the first time in his life the result of his written work matters to him and he's very easily frustrated by not being immediately successful, and Nancy being so wrecked by the trauma she went through that she's barely keeping her own head above water, such that she cannot help him the way he needs despite wanting to. This isn't anyone treating anyone badly out of malice or being a bad person; this is incompatibility rearing its head and getting ready to bare its teeth. This is their trauma responses butting heads. This is the first whisper of how much they don't and can't fit right now. It is the first sign that they aren't going to stay together.

I don't doubt that they love each other. It's not even a question to me. But despite the idea sold to so many people in story and song, love isn't enough. It can't be the only thing. You can love someone to the moon and back but if you don't fit, you don't fit- and trying to carve yourself into the right shape will do far more harm than good. And that's what we'll see them realize, later, and that's why they split apart. Not malice, not meanness, not even apathy. They care so much in opposite directions that they're liable to tear each other apart trying to stay together, and instead of forcing it to break them the way he did in season 1, Steve will end up letting go this time. And personally, I think that's an awesome display of character growth.

Will Byers (gay, 14, resigned that he's never falling in love) watching Jonathan and Nancy being cutesy at the dinner table and wanting to blow them up with his mind

If Billy had arrived in Season 1 …

Jonathan: I can make him better!

Steve: I can make him worse!

just finished playing resorting to danger w my boyfriend who has never played nancy drew before me and he was so stoked that he got the culprit right should I tell him how it works or just let him be happy lol

I can totally imagine season 5 being a speed run of seasons 1 and 2 Stancy-wise, where Jonathan and Steve bond and Jon is like “I need to work on myself and focus on family and I know you still love her” or whatever and then Nancy and Jon talk and lovingly break up with no fuss and then Steve and Nancy talk and Steve is like “look I am sorry about what I said in the upside down, I thought I was about to die and I know you’re with Jonathan and I don’t want to rush you and maybe we can just be friends” and she’s like “shut up and kiss me” and they have steamy pre-final battle sex, effectively bookending their arc in a symmetrical way. You just know it’s happening!

Jonathan in Fic: I hate Steve and think he’s exactly as evil as the moment in 1983 when he said he wasn’t surprised at Will’s supposed death. I am consumed with rage that everybody adores him, because that’s a real thing in canon and not just fandom. Nobody is truly capable of change; I believe this because of my daddy issues, which the author is weirdly callous about. I have never forgiven anyone or acknowledged my own flaws, ever. Hate is a bottomless cup; I will pour and pour.

Jonathan in My Head: Steve’s not a bad guy at all, but it’s hard to hang out with him because of our history and also he can’t name three movies that he likes—seriously, what’s up with that. What does he even do when he’s alone. Anyway, I’m too busy having five different existential crises to spend a lot of time figuring out what our deal is.

sorry but it will never not be funny to me that steve harrington walked into a store called war zone wearing a jean jacket vest with no shirt underneath and no shoes

Eddie: *Giggles to himself*

Steve: What's so funny?

Eddie: I put a bunch of rubber duckies in random places that Robin is going to go to

Robin: *from the other room* Why the fuck is there a rubber duck in my leftovers from yesterday?!

Eddie: And so it begins

every now and then i get hit with the idea of what might happen if Joyce found out about the sins of s1&2 jonathan

curious question:

what is your favourite club that came with get together? why is it your favorite club?

If you have created clubs yourself, what kind of club did you create?