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perexcri · 9 months

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fic recs!!

i woke up to being on a couple of fic rec lists and really appreciated it, so i wanted to capitalize on the nice energy and make a list of some of my own favs that i've read recently that i didn't necessarily see on the other lists :D check these out because they have some of the best prose/plots/characterization that i've read in the fandom :] 💜

one soft infested summer (M, 18k+, 3/7 ongoing) by @wheelersboy - this one is perfect for all the highler fans out there! it's got stoner byler of course, a music festival, lots out camping, and some really amazing writing! i started it just for the fun stoner vibes because Why Not, but i'm staying for the beautiful writing and the really complex and delicate relationship mike and will have in this one

Light Sleepers (T, 15k+, 2/6 ongoing) by @helioleti - WillEl-centric fic set during the time gap between the end of s3 and the beginning of s4 that explores their dynamic and their respective problems with mike, all while trying to cope with moving across the country from everything they know. each chapter is meant to reflect a certain stage of grief, which fits so well with all the complicated emotions everyone is going through!

drank my poison all alone (T, 4k, one-shot) by silverluminoqity - mike gets vecna'd and has to face his past self who's ashamed of who he's grown up to be, and my dudes the writing goes SO HARD. by far one of the best mike gets vecna'd fics i've read with such a good take on his character

star eater (T, >1k, one-shot) by @lowlightt - another fic where the writing does not play. honestly if you have a few minutes, READ THIS FIC. it's mostly just a confrontation between will and vecna, but it's so so powerful and impactful. and again, i cannot state it enough: the writing is AMAZING

tell me again (you said yes) (M, 32k, 3/3 complete) by @willow-lark - hey remember when cleradin was like a Thing for a brief second a few months ago? well if you miss those vibes, or if you just like great writing and some of the best weaving of canon into a fantasy au i've ever read, please look no further than this fic (and it's first part, fireball him! (cast protection)). i love this one dearly and enjoyed the wonderful ways Lark wove canon (specifically s1) into such a different setting, plus it was nice to see many of the other characters play a role in the events. beautiful, astounding, heart-wrenching - and did i mention there's an elopement 👀

In Undertow (M, 17k+, 3/6 on-going) by @souverian-are-we - this and one soft infested summer have become my summer byler reads~ when i say i love this fic, i mean you will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands 🥰 we've got estranged byler, jancy engagement with some stoncy going on in the background, and most of the characters still reeling from the consequences of their final battle with the upside down. it's all set at a lake house, which provides some breathtaking/atmospheric writing that this author uses to their advantage. it has some of my favorite scenes i've ever read in fic too, ones that have literally taken my breath away

california show your teeth (T, 77k+, 10/19 on-going) by @fireflywitch - what if the Byers and Hopper families were from Lenora and moved to Hawkins? this fic takes this one simple premise and turns it into one of my favorite fics i've ever had the pleasure of following along with. it essentially functions as a retelling of s1 and s2, gives almost every main character that's been featured in the show thus far a lot of time and space for their own plots, all while culminating into one larger story underneath. i don't think i've read a fic quite like this one in terms of its scope, plotting, and characterization, because there are a lot of moving parts, but this author goes above and beyond. i cannot recommend it enough

all i know is pouring rain (and everything has changed) (T, 3k, one-shot) by @willelfanpage - i think i read this one at the beginning of my workday while i was running some report on my computer and had to go about the rest of my day as if everything was fine ahah :'D seriously though, it's 3k words that pack an emotional punch all while examining will's relationship to rain. the writing is just gorgeous, and it's a character study that i haven't really seen done before, which was quite enjoyable~

Chasing Heartlines by (T, 7k+, 1/2 on-going) @cherryisgone - if you liked Tip-Toeing on Lilypads then may i direct you to its sequel, which features so much pining mike that he might as well be a tree? again, if you like cleradin/fantasy aus, then Cherry my beloved has you covered 💜 it fits so neatly with Lilypads and provides some fun contrast between will and mike~

Touch Me Like You Know Me (M, 15k, 4/4 complete) by @starsarefire824 - this exists in the rare pantheon of fics that actually made me cry. imagine an estranged byler reunion with all the emotions turned up to an eleven, and lots of lingering on lost time and how life sometimes takes us places we never thought we'd go. it's absolutely beautiful and is a classic to me :]

come back to me and forgive everything (T, 78k, 18/18 complete) by @howtobecomeadragon - i saw a lot about this one when it was on-going but am only just now getting around to reading it, and all i can say is why did it take me so long to get to it :') this author does such a good job of writing will and mike's relationship with a lot of nuance and complexity while still managing to make them feel like the teenagers they are. basically, will has to spend every july at lonnie's house in indianapolis, and for this summer in particular, the event is a lot more emotionally impactful for both mike and will. there's lots of emotional depth, the complexities of coming out and/or realizing you're queer, and, at the heart of it, how two friends try to mend things between each other. it's so soft and sweet

that's all i've got for now!! i'm quickly running out of time on my lunch break :'D also haven't been writing as much, but it's been fun to read more and relax a bit. hope you guys enjoy these because they're genuinely some of the best stuff i've had the pleasure to read in a while 💜💜💜

#fic recs #actually that last paragraph is a threat everyone had better read these now or i'll. blow up tumblr #byler #(< intended audience)#stranger things fic

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atmilliways · 8 months

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Wrong On The Money (35)

part 35 of ?? | 738 words | Teen+

Blackmail fic on Ao3 | on tumblr

Summary:

It’s the first Hellfire session with the Byers family officially back from California, and the older club members are still in town long enough for a big one-shot.

35.

“Alright, I’m checking,” Steve announces, turning the Beemer’s engine off and frowning at the front door of the new Hopper-Byers residence. It should have opened at least five minutes ago. He tries not to let his nerves show as he hops out of the car. . . . Luckily, Dustin and Lucas are too caught up in a debate about their upcoming game to notice how late they’re running.

It’s the first Hellfire session with the Byers family officially back from California, and the older club members are still in town long enough for a big one-shot. Nancy got roped into driving Mike and Max—which is a terrifying combination, Steve might bake her something as a consolation later. They're probably all at the house by now, but for some reason Will and El are running late.

Steve reaches the front door and rings the bell, tapping his foot against the brick walkway. He doesn’t have to wait long before El opens the door with her bag already slung over one shoulder.

“Will has decided that he’s not coming,” she says solemnly.

Jonathan comes up behind her, looking harried. “Sorry, I've been trying to talk to him. He was looking forward to it the other day, I thought, but. . . .”

“Want me to try?” Steve offers. He doesn’t actually expect Jonathan to take him up on it, but can’t help but jump at both the chance to be useful and to . . . well, stall. The sooner he gets back to the house, the sooner he has to contend with the fact that only the younger members of the club want him around.

To his surprise, Jonathan nods and even looks a little relieved. “Couldn’t hurt. I’ll keep an eye on the rest.”

A minute later, Steve knocks on Will’s door and says, “Hey man, it’s Steve. You in there?”

There’s a few beats of silence, and then a small, tired “Yeah” from inside.

He waits another few seconds, then figures that’s as much of an invitation as he’s going to get and opens the door.

After another ten minutes, Steve hustles Will out of the house towards the car. El is already in, Jonathan standing by her open door saying something across her to Lucas.

“Will gets shotgun,” Steve calls as they approach. He catches Dustin’s indignant reaction in the front passenger seat, rolls his eyes, and makes a you’re outta there gesture accompanied by blowing a raspberry. “Move it or walk there, Roast Beef, we don’t have all day!”

Jonathan gives his brother a clap on the shoulder as he zips around the Beemer, then shoots Steve an impressed look. “How’d you get him out of his room?”

Sighing, Steve runs a hand through his hair. “He was worried about fitting in with the other players, so I told him he could make me a character and get me as up to speed as possible on how to dungeon some dragons or whatever during the drive over.”

Both of Jonathan’s eyebrows disappear behind his fringe. “Wow. Uh. . . . Godspeed, I guess.”

Steve gives him a tight smile back. “Yeah, I’m about to lose ten hours of my life to some weird and complicated nerd math. But hey, El and Max are new to this too, so it can’t be that bad, right?”

It’s going to be that bad. It’s going to be extremely bad, because the older kids hate his guts and Steve has no illusions about getting any special beginner’s treatment from Eddie. But he’s already agreed to throw himself on that sword so Will can have some fun getting back into this nerdy-ass game that he loves so much.

He thinks back to the look on Will’s face when he offered—and maybe he should stop offering things, but it was worth it to see Will light up at the show of solidarity. After the kid’s mumbled, “The last time I played with Mike and Lucas it wasn’t even. . . . They didn’t even want to play, but then they joined Hellfire as soon as I moved away,” Steve would have done anything to lift that lonely devastation off his shoulders. He knows it all too well himself, and Will’s never done anything to deserve that shit.

Well, mission accomplished.

(He’s not even touching Will’s tentative questions about him living with Eddie, and if it means anything, right now. Let alone his stumbling, painfully honest answers.)

It’s going to be a very, very long day.

#steddie blackmail fic #steve harrington #eleven hopper #jonathan byers #will byers #bisexual steve harrington #gay will byers #steddie #steddie fic #my fanfic #steve 'it's totally not weird that i'm living with a guy i have a huge painful crush on it's NOT' harrington

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starlightshadowsworld · 7 months

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The new Hopper

I have yet to talk about Finney which is wild because despite the name, this is more than a Vance Hopper fic.

So here we go.

So in this fic Finney Blake and Steve Harrington are the same person.

Finney still kills the Grabber in this.

He was healing with the other basement boys, yes all lived in this fic, and Gwenny.

And was starting to truly feel like things would be okay.

... When his dad lost custody over him and Gwen.

Suzie's parents were able to take Gwen but try as they might they were unable to take Finney too.

His aunt and uncle, John and Diane Harrington got custody over him.

They didn't want Gwen because two children was too much work.

And after hearing the stuff about her dreams deemed her a freak.

Finney was taken from Denver, from his sister and his best friends kicking and screaming.

His aunt and uncle made it clear that Finney Elias Blake would need to cease to exist.

Renaming him Steve John Harrington.

And having little contact with his real family and still dealing with everything alone.... Finney, now Steve did change.

Steve Harrington was everything Finney Blake wasn't.

He was strong.

He was brave.

He could talk to and get the girl.

He was perfect.

Finney was a victim.

Finney was a broken kid from an even more broken home.

Finney flinched when the phone rang and hid letters under his bed he'd send out and receive in secret.

He talked about his friends, the little he saw of his aunt and uncle... He never talked about himself.

Because who was he even anymore.

But Finney's life got a lot more complicated when a demogorgon burst through the Byers living room.

And than he met Dustin and the kids.

Steve Harrington stopped being perfection.

He realised just how much of a bully he'd become.

How lost he'd become in this new life.

Of all the hurt and pain he'd taken in and taken out on others who didn't deserve it.

And he knew he had to change.

Because whether Finney had wanted it or not, Finney was Steve.

And at the end of the day Steve Harrington was just as broken as Finney Blake.

So who cared how he acted.

He grew to care for these kids, these dumbass, nerdy, always trying to get themselves killed kids.

Who reminded him so much of the others... Of himself that it hurt.

He killed monsters.

He became the babysitter of the apocalypse.

He used himself as a sheild to save others.

And thought with a bittersweet smile maybe Finney and Steve weren't that different at all.

Not that he would tell anyone.... Not until Robin.

Who heard him cry out during Russian torture his other name, heard him cry out the names of boys and a girl she'd never heard of.

And simply hugged him in her arms on the floor of that bathroom.

And asked him which name he preferred she used.

To his suprise it was Steve.

He was her Stevie Bee, her friend and fellow munchkin. Her platonic with a capital P soul mate.

And not just for her.

He was Dustin's big brother, he was Jonathan's fellow gossiper.

He was the resident loveable asshole with a nail bat.

Finney had been Steve Harrington a lot longer than he'd been Finney Blake.

And it didn't scare him as much as he thought it would.

Part of him was scared Finney was gone forever.

And than Robin told him that was ridiculous.

And be believed her.

So one day he did something he never did.

He called Denver, he called back home.

The phone rang in Robin Arellano's living room where the rest of the boys were hanging out.

And as easy as that, Finney Blake returned.

Like he never left, and maybe he never did.

He cried hearing their voices again.

Sobbed when they got Gwen over and he heard her voice again.

He sobbed and apologised for leaving.

Like he had any choice in the matter, and while he always sent letters they had lost their life.

Until now.

He also handed Robin the phone to get to know his old friends and sister.

He wasn't suprised when Robin fit in with their group like she'd always been a part of it.

She was as much of his soul mate as they were.

He started messing with bottle rockets.

He watched the sequel to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and listened to both Robin's argue over it.

He kept the hair routine but let his hair stay fluffy and soft.

He never intended to tell the others, because... How do you even go about doing that.

He was afraid they'd hate him.

Question how he'd become the same person as the bullies that used to haunt him.

That would spit on Robin and call him a freak.

Think of him as a liar.

A fake.

Maybe they'd look past all the monster he'd slayed and see the original blood stains on his hands.

And look in disgust.

Robin was here to sooth his fears, she disagreed but supported him either way.

Things might've stayed that way.

Until Gale Hopper sent him a letter.

She was leaving for a family emergency, and didn't want to leave Vance alone.

The fact they had a restraining order against Vance shouldn't have been as funny as it was.

And much as Gale knew the others boys family would take him in, she knew they didn't have the room.

And had asked her brother to let him stay.

Her brother being Cheif Hopper didn't even phase Finney as much as knowing Vance was coming over.

Somehow any fear he had about his two identities coming to life vanished.

Because Vance was coming.

He had run into Family Video, picked Robin up and spun her in the air.

"Vance is coming!"

And she smiled just as bright.

Vance was coming, and nothing else mattered. One of his boys was coming to see him.

It was bizarre how the only true fear Finney had was that Vance wouldn't recognise him.

He seriously considered stealing Jonathan's camera to snap a photo and send it over.

All of that melted away when Vance looked at him.

Same curly blonde hair, a different denim jacket but one that fit him all the same.

And after a second of confusion recognised him.

And smiled.

And sure he would have to explain himself but he was safe.

Because Vance was here. Because Robin was here.

Because even if he was terrified he knew deep down his friends.

All of them would accept him.

Saw Robin and Vance call him his respective names and both fit.

Dustin muddling it together and El calling them secret name buddies.

Saw the smile on Vance's face didn't waver hearing his other name.

And so much would need to be said but for now he was safe.

Finney was safe.

Steve was safe.

And that's all that mattered.

#The new hopper #finney blake #Finney Blake is Steve Harrington #vance hopper #robin buckley #robin arellano #dustin henderson #Stranger things #the black phone

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shipskicksandgiggles · 1 year

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32 with uh. yhose little gay bitches from stranger things. steddie.

the second I saw this I knew exactly what I was going to write. this is so them, thank you

32. “I don’t like the way you just implied you couldn’t legally drive in the state of Illinois.” (from this list)

also on ao3

The fact that they had a protocol for the world ending probably should have been more of a concern to Eddie than it was.

Well, it wasn’t so much of a protocol as it was a process. It started with everyone landing at a home base.

Chief Hopper’s absolutely destroyed cabin seemed to be that home base. They spent their days there, clearing away debris and coming up with a plan.

The kids always seemed to get their first, followed by him, Robin, Steve, and Nancy.

Eddie was a more recent addition, the hospital having released him sooner than they probably should have, but not soon enough for Eddie’s liking.

Then more people showed up.

Johnathan Byers, his younger brother, Little Wheeler, a long haired guy Eddie assumed was from California, and a small girl whose head looked like it had been shaved recently appeared the day after he did.

Joyce Byers, a not-dead Hopper, and some guy named Murray showed up about a week after them.

Given the month he’d had, Eddie gave up on asking questions.

Without any adults present, they seemed to get on fine. Nancy was a powerhouse when it came to planning, and the kids were always ready to workshop ideas.

Things only seemed to get easier after the girl with the shaved head arrived.

He learned her name was Eleven. El for short.

Johnathan gave him the footnotes of her story one night, under a haze of weed. She really was a superhero.

Steve was also a powerhouse, but in a different way. Work horse might have been a more apt description. He was the one who made sure everyone was eating and sleeping. He drove everyone everywhere they needed to go. His house became the unofficial crash pad for party members whose houses were destroyed or families had left.

He kept watch constantly, making sure no Upside Down creatures could hurt them.

Eddie didn’t think he slept, or if he did, he slept sitting up, never not on guard. He saw him one night when he couldn’t sleep himself, watching out the back window with a baseball bat with nails driven into it propped up against the chair, perfectly in reach.

These people had seen things more horrific than probably anyone else on earth, and yet they endured.

It made sense that there was a process.

By the time the adults made it to Hawkins, they were running themselves ragged. Eddie was exhausted, physically and mentally. He’d almost popped one of his stitches that morning, but Steve had come to his rescue, somehow still alert despite probably being the worst off of all of them. It was a relief to finally have more people who knew what to do.

After the joyous reunions of mothers and fathers with sons and daughters, everyone sat down, introductions were made, and a plan was developed.

The Upside Down coming to them was an unforeseen complication. El, Will, Joyce, Nancy, and Murrary would be the ones to problem solve and maybe find a solution.

The rest of the kids plus Robin, Johnathan, Argyle, and Hopper would take whatever they found and help make it actionable in whatever capacity they could.

As for Steve and Eddie?

“There’s some equipment and paperwork we’ll need to avoid unnecessary government involvement,” Murray told them. “I’ve got everything stored in a bunker in Illinois. I need you two to go get it.”

“You might need to take my truck,” Hopper told them. “There’s a map in the glove box for all the traps he set out.”

“Of course you made a map,” Murray muttered. “Before you leave, I’m going to proofread that map to make sure he didn’t miss anything.”

His tone was dead serious. Who the fuck were these people?

“You want us to go?” Steve asked. “Are you sure you don’t still need my help here?”

Murray gave Steve the same look he gave him when they were introduced.

(“Steve,” he’d said, sticking out his hand for Murray to shake. “Steve Harrington.”

“Harrington,” Murray had said, shooting a look at Nancy. “Really?” He looked him up and down incredulously before conceding. “If you say so.”)

“We can hold down the fort here, Steve,” Joyce reminded gently.

“What about me?” Eddie asked. “Are you sure you want me and Harrington to go on a road trip together?”

“I could go with Steve,” Robin piped up. “Eddie can switch roles with me.”

Murray ignored her. “It’ll be good for you two to take a step back from all of this,” he told them. “My guest room should still be made up, you can stay the night there.”

“But if it’s just in Illinois-”

Murray gave him a different look, one that probably had more meaning than just a glare. “Look, I’m not usually one to beat around the bush, so I won’t. Steve, you need a break. For the love of god, get out of Hawkins and sleep for a night, please. Munson, you also need to get out of here. This town makes you jittery, and you both deserve a night where nothing is trying to kill you. We also just happen to need paperwork and equipment. I’ll give you a list and check over Hop’s map. I expect you to have your bags packed and be on your way to Illinois by sunset.”

Neither of them wanted to argue with him, so they agreed quietly and the group disbanded.

“I’m going to head back to my place to pack my bag if you need anything,” Steve said. “You can come if you want.”

Eddie dropped into the passenger seat of his car. “I need to pack a few things too, and I think most of my stuff is at your place anyways.”

“Very convenient. Certainly saves us some time,” he said, starting the car and immediately turning down the stereo that started blaring Springsteen. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“And you’re not going to either.” He pulled out onto the road. “I will let you pick some of the music for this trip. I’m not listening to you bitch a fit about my music for six hours, so you can bring some tapes of your own.”

“Did I pop a stitch and bleed out? Harrington, doth mine ears deceive me?”

“Cut it out,” Steve chastised. “Don’t make me regret it before we even start.”

“Alright, geez, I’ll be quiet. I need to start planning which tapes to bring anyway.”

Steve sighed again, but he didn’t say anything, so Eddie took that as a win. This road trip might not be so bad after all.

~~~

It didn’t take either of them long to pack for the night, so they were back at Hopper’s cabin a couple hours later.

They had barely stepped out of the car when Murray was handing them three maps; one for the drive, one of the traps Hop had mentioned, and one of Murray’s bunker (seriously, who was this guy?) complete with a list of everything they needed and where the items would be located. Short of getting on the highway, they were all set.

Then Hopper handed Eddie his keys.

“Why-”

“No offense kids, but Harrington’s car probably isn’t the most equipped for my property,” Murray said. “It’s best if you take Hop’s truck.”

“Don’t worry, Munson, there’s a tape deck, it doesn’t have to be a quiet drive,” Hopper told him.

“Why did you hand me the keys though?”

“You think I’m about to let Harrington drive when he hasn’t slept in over a week? Absolutely not, I would hardly trust him to navigate.”

“I’m fine, Hop,” Steve insisted.

Eddie knew he was lying. “I promise I’ll take care of your truck, Chief.”

“I know. Drive safe, follow the rules of the road, don’t get caught by anyone who wants you dead, got it?”

“Got it,” the boys chorused.

They said their goodbyes to everyone, loaded everything into Hop’s truck, and got on the road. It wasn’t long before they crossed over the Illinois border, and Eddie let out a soft snort.

“Something funny?” Steve asked.

“It’s nothing. Just that I’m glad it’s been enough time that I can drive in Illinois again.”

Despite the music, Eddie could still hear the gears turning in Steve’s head.

“I don’t like the way you just implied you couldn’t legally drive in the state of Illinois.”

“Don’t worry about it, it was when my dad was still in my life. The state couldn’t do much other than tell me to not drive until I was an adult with a license and kicked me off to Indiana to live with Wayne. Anyways, I turned out fine and I can legally drive here now, so no harm done.”

“Hopper will have your skin if he finds out.”

“Oh, I know. There’s a reason I was confused when he handed me the keys.”

He glanced over to see Steve smiling. It wasn’t a laugh quite yet, but he seemed to relax the longer they drove, so he counted it as a win.

After that, it was a pretty quiet drive, the silence only being broken by changes in the music or Steve telling him where to turn. A few hours later, Eddie pulled the car off the road onto what seemed to be a hidden driveway, and stopped.

“Switch to map number two,” he instructed.

Steve folded the first map up and grabbed the next one in the pile. “You can drive for another hundred feet or so before you need to make a left. There should be an old tree, that’s your marker.”

“Great,” Eddie muttered. “Of course the man who has everything we need is paranoid as shit.”

“Murray means well, he’s just been through a lot,” Steve said lightly. “I don’t really blame him sometimes. That’s the tree, make a left.”

Eddie did, and saw a rock that would have dropped onto the truck in the rear view mirror. “Right.”

Another 15 minutes went by in much the same fashion. The only indication they were getting close was the gradual increase in traps to the point where Steve was constantly listing turns when they could see the building.

Finally, Steve said “Park,” and Eddie did just that.

Both of them sat in silence for a moment, breathing heavily, and then Eddie started laughing.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop, and eventually Steve joined in. This entire situation was too ridiculous to not laugh about it.

It took a while to calm down, mostly before once one got themself under control, the other would start up again, but they got there eventually.

Steve grabbed both of their bags out of the back while Eddie went to figure out the door. Once they got in, Eddie was surprised to see that Murray’s bunker looked a lot like a normal apartment on the inside.

“Is it weird that I expected more, I don’t know, blank metal walls and plastic chairs?”

“Or at least some sort of indication of doomsday preparation?” Steve joked, dropping their bags next to the couch.

“Check the bookshelf, I think I saw at least one survivalist manual.”

He did. “What do you know?”

“See? Even Murray can live like a normal guy while still having this side of him. Did you grab the list of things we needed?”

Steve pulled it out of his pocket. “I’d say let’s split up so we can tackle more ground, but it might be better if we stick together this time.”

“For sure.” Eddie looked over his shoulder. “Pull that copy of Julius Caesar out of the shelf.”

“How did you even see that?”

“Better question is, why does Murray have Shakespeare on his doomsday shelf-”

The shelf swung open as Steve pulled it out.

“-if not to hide something?”

“Holy shit.”

“I’m starting to love this guy.”

“You would.”

Eddie grinned and winked, ducking back into the space. “Let’s see what we’re working with, shall we?”

Murray’s list and accompanying map were organized well enough that they were able to locate what they needed easily.

“Looks like we’ve got two things in this room. One form is in a box labeled ‘1985’ with a star and a down arrow next to it, and the other is in ‘1985 Battery Protocol’.”

“I don’t want to know how his brain works.” Eddie started searching the room for either of the boxes.

“Is it bad that I think I get it?”

“Maybe it’s just because you’ve been around this longer. You start to all think alike.”

Steve snorted. “Right, sure.”

He finally found one of the boxes and started rifling through it while Steve kept looking for the other one.

“Did Murray ever, like, talk to you about anything?”

Eddie paused. “Not really. We had a weird conversation the other day where he told me it was cool that I was still unapologetically myself even after everything, but I got the feeling we weren’t having the same conversation. Why?”

“I had something similar happen, where he said something and I didn’t think we were on the same page. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure him out.”

“Hopper and Joyce can.”

“Yeah, that’s not a can of worms I’m willing to open.” Steve dropped down to the floor next to him with his own box. “Find the ‘Guide to Reporting Russian Activity’ yet?”

“Just start looking for the battery sheet. Should have the equations to figure out how many batteries we need to appropriately stock however many walkies for the apocalypse.”

Steve made a face. “Switch boxes?”

Eddie slid his over. “Hand it over, big boy.”

~~~

They found a spare box to store their materials in, which they set on the kitchen counter once they emerged from the storage part of the bunker.

“Is it weird I forgot it was normal out here?”

“After the 20 minute mark, I convinced myself I imagined it,” Eddie admitted. “Shall we see what he keeps in his kitchen? Make some dinner and then we can sleep?”

“Do you honestly think he has anything worth cooking in this kitchen?”

“He might keep a drawer of take out menus?” Eddie opened a random drawer, and sure enough, he found them on the first try. “Jackpot. How do you feel about pizza?”

“That sounds amazing. I’m going to see if Murray has cable. Or at least a VHS player with some halfway decent movies.”

“Good luck!”

Ten minutes into negotiating with the pizza place, it turned out Eddie needed luck too. The pizza place was familiar with the address and refused to deliver to them. Thankfully, he was able to talk them into meeting him at the road so he didn’t have to drive all the way into town, but the delivery driver didn’t have to deal with the traps.

By the time he made it back to the bunker, pizza in hand, Steve was loading a tape into the TV.

“What’d you find?”

Steve held up the case.

“Star Wars? Really?”

“I was shocked too. He’s got all three too, so we’re set.”

“Wow.”

“I know! I’m beginning to think there’s no end to how weird this guy is.”

“Keeps you guessing, that’s for sure.” Eddie propped the box up on the coffee table and sank into the couch. “Well what are you waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road!”

Halfway through the first movie, Steve started nodding off next to him. Eddie went to turn it off, but Steve stopped him.

“It’s fine,” he insisted. “Keep it on.”

Eddie gave in, but he wasn’t at all surprised when Steve was lightly snoring by the end of the movie. He smiled, and quietly went about cleaning up. The leftover pizza went in the fridge, and he rewound the VHS and put it back in the case, leaving it next to the TV because he wasn’t sure where Steve had found it.

Finally, he shook Steve awake. “Steve.”

“Hmm?”

“C’mon big boy, I need you to wake up enough to walk to an actual bed.”

Steve opened his eyes slowly. “Is the movie over?”

“Yeah,” Eddie smiled. “Which means it’s time for bed. I’ll grab your bag so you can change into pajamas, okay?”

“Okay.”

He waited until he was sure Steve was up and moving before he made his way into the entryway where they dropped their bags. He grabbed his bag and Steve’s before heading for the guestroom where Steve was standing in the doorway.

“Uh, Steve?”

“There’s only one bed.”

Eddie looked over Steve’s shoulder, and sure enough, there was only one bed. “I can see that.”

“I can take the couch, I fell asleep fine there before.”

“Absolutely not,” Eddie shut him down as soon as the sentence was out of his mouth. “If you think I’m letting you sleep on the couch, the concussions must be getting to you because you’ve lost it, buddy.”

“I’m not letting you sleep on the couch either, Eds,” Steve argued.

He knew arguing with Steve would get him nowhere, but he sure as hell wasn’t letting him sleep on the couch, so a compromise it was. “You know, I think both of us could fit on that bed.”

Steve blinked. “What?”

“That’s got to be a queen sized mattress, so unless you sleep like a starfish or kick a lot in your sleep, I think we could make it work.”

“Eddie-”

“Steve, the whole point of us coming out here was so you could get a decent night’s sleep. In an actual bed, because I know you keep sleeping in the living room, and I’m sick and tired of you not taking care of yourself. Emphasis on the tired because this whole situation is exhausting, and I don’t know about you, but I want to go to bed.”

He pushed past Steve into the room and dropped their bags by the foot of the bed. “Which side do you want?”

“Either is fine.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. He took the right side, knowing despite Steve’s insistence that he didn’t care, he’d want to be closer to the door.

“I’m going to shower and change into pajamas unless you want first dibs at the bathroom.”

“If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all, your highness. I can wait.”

Actually, given that Steve looked like he was still on the verge of passing out, he was happy to wait. He didn’t take that long, and Eddie ducked into the bathroom right after him, making sure to squeeze as much water out of his hair as possible before swapping into softer clothes, leaving his rings and chains on the counter.

When he emerged, Steve was lying on top of the covers.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“Sleeping,” he muttered. “Shhh.”

“Get under the covers, Steve.”

“‘M fine.”

“Steven Michael Harrington.”

He propped himself up on his elbows and squinted at Eddie. “How do you know my middle name?”

“Unimportant. Get under the covers, or so help me god.”

“Fine, Jesus.” He stood up and pulled the comforter back before crawling back in. “Happy?”

“Yes.” Eddie finished putting his clothes away before climbing into bed next to him. “See, I don’t bite.”

“Sure, that’s what I was afraid of.”

Eddie ignored him. “Are you okay with me turning the light off?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure? Don’t need me to make a pillow barrier or anything between us?”

“It’s fine, Munson, just turn off the damn light.”

“Alrighty then.” He hit the light switch before making his way to his side of the bed. “Goodnight, Harrington.”

“Night, Eddie.”

Despite what Eddie said about being fine sleeping next to Steve, it was hard to not be aware of him. He laid down on his back, as still as could be. It was kind of freaky, which coming from Eddie was kind of impressive.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Please tell me you don’t actually sleep like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re made of wood, dude. You know you can relax, right?”

“Sorry, it’s hard. I’m not used to it, I guess.”

Eddie sighed. “Alright, sit up.” He felt for a switch on the lamp sitting in the bedside table, and the room was bathed in a soft, yellow light.

“I thought you wanted me to sleep.”

“Steve, I swear to god.”

Steve pushed himself up, and Eddie shifted closer to him. “Turn around.”

“What?”

“Put your back towards me.”

“Why?”

“Do you trust me?”

He stared at him for a second, and Eddie couldn’t help but feel bad. His pillow rumpled hair and tired eyes made it so much more obvious how exhausted he was.

“Of course I trust you,” Steve said finally.

“Then turn around. Let me help you.”

Once his back was to Eddie, he sat up on his knees. “Do you mind if I touch your hair? I know it’s like your thing, but I’ve got an idea, and I think it’ll help you relax.”

“You’re gonna play with my hair?”

“Not quite, but if you think that would work, I’ll give it a shot.”

“I don’t care if you touch it, I’ll fix it in the morning. Just get it over with.”

“Bossy. Now hush, and do your best to relax.”

He pressed his fingertips to Steve’s scalp and started rubbing small circles just behind his temple. The effect was almost immediate as Steve slumped in on himself.

“Feel good, sugar?”

“Mm.”

“Good.”

“Magic,” Steve murmured.

“What’s that?”

“Your fingers. They’re magic.”

“Oh darling, you think this is magic, I have excellent news for you.”

Steve tipped his head back to look Eddie in the eye. “I believe you. Just don’t stop doing that.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Might fall asleep sitting up though,” Steve hummed.

“I’ll lay you down if you do.”

He smiled softly. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“Not just for this.” Steve caught his hand and turned to face him. “For everything. For driving, for watching the kids when I can’t, for saving my life. I’m glad you’re here, Eddie Munson.”

Eddie hadn’t noticed before how Steve had faint laugh lines by his eyes. It struck him how deep his eyes were, tired, sure, filled with fear and resignation, but also how alive they were. How they seemed to spark when he smiled.

“I’m glad you’re here too, Steve Harrington.”

His hands had shifted with Steve’s movement, so he was holding the sides of his face. It felt so natural to pull him into a kiss, that he didn’t realize he had until Steve was dragging him in by his waist, causing him to practically fall into Steve’s lap.

“Woah.”

“You okay?”

“I don’t think ‘okay’ even begins to cover it,” Eddie laughed.

Steve’s smile only grew. “So?”

“So what?”

“You like me?”

“Do I have to say it? Can’t I just-” he leaned into Steve again, but he was stopped by a hand pressed against his mouth.

“Eddie…” Steve sighed. “I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

He moved the hand away from his face. “Yes, I like you Steve. Had a stupid crush when I thought you were just hot, then I had to go and find out you’re the sweetest man alive who cares too damn much and would probably fight the armies of heaven and hell combined if one of the kids asked you too and that did me in. So ‘like’ might actually be underselling it.”

“Oh,” Steve said. “Well then, I guess that settles it.”

“What?”

“That I’d fight the combined armies of heaven and hell for you too, darling.”

Eddie covered his own face this time. “Fuck off, dude.”

“Don’t call me dude after you just kissed me.”

“I will call you whatever I damn well please, Steve. And don’t think this is getting you out of sleeping, by the way. You’re not going to distract me.”

“Call it delaying the inevitable,” Steve said, leaning back in. “I’ve been told cuddling can help people sleep.”

“Is that so?”

“I’d be willing to give it a shot. You know, in the name of science.”

“Science, of course.”

“One thing though.”

Eddie frowned and leaned back. “What?”

“I actually do sleep on my back, so I’m sorry if that bothers you.”

“You little shit.” Eddie smacked him with a pillow. “Just lay back down so we can turn off the lights and actually go to sleep. I’m sure we can figure our placements out without much trouble.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later found Eddie tucked into Steve’s side. “How should we tell everyone?”

“They’ll probably just figure it out on their own,” Steve said. “The kids are nosy like that, and they’ll just tell everyone else.”

“Why do I get the feeling Murray is going to be happy about this?”

Steve didn’t answer him, and for a second Eddie thought he dropped off. Then- “I was thinking the same thing. There’s no way he could have planned this, right?”

“I don’t think so. Unless he knew something we didn’t.” Then Eddie’s eyes widened. “Just out of curiosity, what was the conversation where you didn’t think you were on the same page?”

“It was about how I’d moved on from Nancy, and how we’d never really fit, and that I’d done a good job growing up into the person I was meant to be surrounded by the people meant to be my family.”

He tapped on Steve’s chest. “He knew. He totally knew. That’s what he was getting at, but he couldn’t just outright say it.”

“This was planned,” Steve said slowly. “Son of a bitch.”

“What do you buy a survivalist as a thank you gift?”

“We’ll figure it out in the car tomorrow.”

Eddie hummed in agreement. “Goodnight, Steve.”

“‘Night Eds.”

And for the first time in almost a month, Steve slept, and Eddie did too.

#steddie #steve harrington #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson #fluff #fluff and hurt/comfort #murray bauman gets them together #what else do you need #steve needs sleep #that's all #nate tag #ellis writes

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r0b1ns · 2 years

Note

The ST adults (Jim, Joyce, Antonio, Murray and Karen) having an s/o that’s a bush/rural/wildfire firefighter [idk what you call em in the states. Specifically someone that deals with natural fires not structural/house fires]????

Hii it's ok! I'm gonna do your other request tomorrow as I'm done for today

STRANGER THINGS ADULTS X FIRE RANGER! TRANSMASC! READER

CHARACTERS: Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, Dmitri 'Enzo' Antonov, Murray Bauman, Karen Wheeler

GENDER: masc (trans)

CW: mention of fire, slight mention of sexual content, I'll change the color of it so you can just skip it, it's not detailed

WORD COUNT: 720+

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

JIM HOPPER

-he absolutely admires you

-he knows it's a dangerous job

-he always tells you to be careful

-how hypocritical of him

-considering you both have unstable schedules it's very rare that you have time for yourselves

-but when you do, you cherish every moment of it

-wether it's just cuddles, cooking something together, or bedroom stuff ;)

-he was surprised that you have such a physical job being so young and female bodied

-males usually have more muscles and body mass

-but you told him how hard you work

-he admires you even more after that

-you both have scars

-so you like telling each other how you got them

-he's very proud of you

-tells everyone his partner is a fire ranger

-if he burns something in the kitchen he always calls you for help

-El makes fun of him for that

JOYCE BYERS

-she's so excited and worried at the same time

-she worries you'll get hurt or something worse

-but with all that's been happening those past few years she still worries, but not so much

-she thinks you're so brave

-putting out large fires

-in such a dangerous environment

-the fact that you're trans doesn't change anything for her

-most people would be scared to do this job, no matter their gander

-on that note

-she sometimes gets turned on by your bravery

-but in the middle of you making out she starts thinking about the dangerous scenarios and gets anxious

-so this doesn't lead to anything

-Will likes to listen to your stories

-about how you were almost trapped in the forest

-or how you saved a family who lived at the end of town near a forest

-Joyce thinks it's cool in theory

-but she can't listen to it when she knows you're involved

DMITRI 'ENZO' ANTONOV

-he secretly thinks you're a badass

-he'll never tell you this tho

-he just shrugs and says "I've delt with worse"

-you roll your eyes to this

-doesn't care that you're trans

-this type of things don't matter to him

-he likes to call you 'firefighter' instead of referring to you by your name

-"nu firefighter, what heroic stuff did you do today?"

-when you tell him stories, especially the cooler (dangerous) ones he loses focus halfway he starts kissing you

-he says he doesn't care about your work, but it really turns him on

-secretly jerks off to imagining you in your uniform

-if you reunite with his kid he tells him to go ask you about your 'adventures' when he's tired or annoyed

-when asked what his partner does, he says it so casually

-but he's really proud

MURRAY BAUMAN

- oh he's REALLY interested in your work

-when you tell him you're a fire ranger he asks you all about it

-but like complicated questions

-cause he knows a lot about this

-occasionally likes to discuss conspiracy theories about the fire department and just fires

-everytime there's something related to fire he says "you should know, you're a fire ranger" or something along this line

-when you tell him you're trans he just just looks at you confused and says "okay?"

-like it's not relevant

-cause it's really not

-after his Karate lessons he likes to demonstrate new moves he learned

-asks you "can you do that ranger? I bet you can't"

-you like to sit in the bath together and discuss your days

-also to gossip

-he think you're the perfect partner for him

-cause he's so cool and you're so cool and that's how it should be

KAREN WHEELER

-as soon as you told her you're a fire ranger she was sold

-she thinks you're the coolest and hottest person alive

-tells all her friends about you

-and retells all the stories you tell her

-always asks if you a new one to tell

-tells Holly you're a hero

-asks if you work with women

-and if they're hotter than her

-likes to use fire terminology in bed

-"you're so hot" "I'm burning you better come help me firefighter"

-she literally thinks it's so hot

-tells you you're 100% hotter than all the guys she's been with

-and so far you're the best in bed she had

-she hopes you're the last

-she really fell for you

-nancy is happy for her

-she finally found someone she loves who also loves her

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

!gifs are not mine!

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steddie-fanfic-recs · 3 months

Text

In Love With Your Ghost

by ElizabethWilde

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Major Character Death Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley/Vickie, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Vickie (Stranger Things), Nancy Wheeler, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers, Will Byers, Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Jonathan Byers, Vecna (Stranger Things), Maxine "Max" Mayfield Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Canonical Character Death, Resurrection, Grief/Mourning, Eddie Munson as Kas the Betrayer (Dungeons & Dragons), Kas Theory, Eddie Munson Lives, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, No beta we die like Barb, Canon-Typical Violence, Vampire Eddie Munson, The Upside Down, Dungeons & Dragons References, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Steve Harrington Has a Bisexual Awakening, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Found Family, Blood, Blood and Injury, Vampire Bites, Frottage, Coming In Pants, Coming Out, Blood Kink, Redemption, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Anal Sex, Top Steve Harrington, Bottom Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington's First Time With a Man, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Good Uncle Wayne Munson, Love Confessions, Falling In Love Words: 37,101 Chapters: 7/7

Summary

Dark and dangerous like a secret (don't tell a soul) That gets whispered in a hush When I wake the things I dreamed about you (don't tell a soul) Last night make me blush Steve can’t get Eddie out of his head. It’s getting out of hand. The more he finds out about his fallen friend, the more he realizes what they missed out on. It only gets more complicated from there.

#steddie #steddie fic rec #multi-chaptered #25-50k #slow burn #vampire eddie #au no upside down #hurt/comfort

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ihni · 2 years

Text

“Vampire dogs? Really?”

For Harringrove Harvest, day 5 prompt: “ Mythical Creatures/Gods”

(Read on AO3)

~~~

It was supposed to be a celebration.

They had thwarted Vecna just in time – saved Max, saved the town, possibly saved the world – and after spending a couple of days dealing with that mess and tying up loose ends, they were now gathered around a bonfire at the rocky beach of the quarry, with blankets, beers and good food, to enjoy each other’s company and the fact that they were all still alive.

Everyone important were there; Steve himself sat next to Robin, who sat next to Nancy and Jonathan, who sat next to the Party, who were all surrounding El and Max. Mrs Byers and Hopper were there, watching the kids with smiles on their faces and then smiling even wider when they looked at each other and thought no one noticed them. Eddie Munson and Chrissy Cunningham – survivors of their latest stint with the Upside Down – were sharing a blanket on the other side of Steve and Robin.

And then, on the other side of the fire, sat the newest addition to their little group, all the way from California; Argyle. And he was sitting next to Billy Hargrove, who was laughing.

He wasn’t the only one, either. When Steve looked around the fire, there were smiles on everyone’s faces. It was supposed to be a celebration, after all. They survived. They won. And yet, Steve had never felt less like celebrating. There was just something about the way Billy smiled at Argyle that made Steve want to get up, drive home, and go to bed.

Which was insane. What did he care, anyway, that Billy was enjoying himself with his amigo. Because yeah, apparently Argyle and Billy had been friends, back in California. Hadn’t thought they’d ever see each other again, or something. Their reunion had been loud and tearful and – according to Max, who had witnessed it – “moving”. Had included hugs. Steve wasn’t sure who had hugged who, but he assumed that it had been Argyle doing the hugging, because Billy didn’t strike him as the hugging sort of person.

Of course, he hadn’t really thought of Billy as a smiling sort of person, either. Not until a couple of days ago.

He’d seen Billy smile before, of course. Billy had been in Hawkins for a couple of years at this point, and Steve had spent a lot of that time watching Billy. Because Billy had been his bully back then, so it made sense for Steve to keep an eye on him. Point was, that he had seen the patented Billy grin more times than he could count. He’d seen him sneer, smirk and leer. He thought he’d seen him smile, too – when leaning over the counter at Scoops Ahoy in preparation for a complicated ice cream order, or demanding personal movie recommendations at Family Video with a twinkle in his eye. Those were definitely smiles … or so Steve had thought.

Until he saw how Billy smiled at Argyle.

At no point during the time Steve had known Billy, had he looked so soft. When he looked at Argyle, he smiled with his whole face. It softened his features, and made tiny crow’s feet appear at the corner of his eyes.

Steve hadn’t even known Billy had those.

So yeah. Steve was perhaps a little puzzled. Because he hadn’t known that Billy could look that way.

And okay, maybe he was a little hesitant about this Argyle guy. What kind of name was Argyle anyway? Steve had never heard of him until a couple of days ago when Jonathan and Will and Mike and El showed up with him in a pizza van, of all things. Jonathan swore he was a good person, and everyone seemed to like him. Easy-going, friendly dude, everyone kept saying. Steve didn’t know, he hadn’t really talked to the guy. He didn’t know him. Plus, every time Steve saw him, he was hanging out with Billy.

Steve didn’t want to intrude. They probably had a lot to catch up on, after all. What with them being such good friends.

Steve glared at them over the fire, and took a sip of his beer. Mustered up a smile at something Robin said, and then glanced over at them again. Argyle’s arm was around Billy’s shoulders, and as Steve watched, Billy took the can of beer Argyle was holding and took a drink from it, before giving it back.

That was just … unhygienic, in Steve’s opinion.

He stared into the fire for a while, to distract himself.

The thing was, that Billy had never mentioned an Argyle. When Billy apologized for what happened at the Byers’, and he and Steve stopped trying to avoid each other, he didn’t mention an Argyle. When Steve and Billy started cautiously smoking together while they waited for the kids outside the arcade, and Steve asked about California, Billy never mentioned an Argyle. Hell, after the whole Mindflayer business when Steve came to visit Billy in the hospital from time to time, he never mentioned an Argyle. Billy had never once mentioned an Argyle, so it didn’t seem likely that the two of them had been that close.

When Steve brought this up with Robin, a day or two ago, she only looked at him funny.

“I didn’t realize you and Hargrove were such good pals that he’d tell you everything about his life,” she’d said.

And. They weren’t, not really. Billy was an asshole, and Steve hadn’t forgotten how violent and volatile he could be. So, maybe Steve had made sure to keep Billy at arm’s length, even when they started hanging out. Maybe he made a point out of sighing loudly when Billy came into Family Video, or rolling his eyes when Billy said something particularly sleazy. But that was their thing. That was how they hung out. Robin didn’t get it, she was a girl, but. This was how guys’ friendships worked.

Besides, Billy hadn’t seemed to mind. Had seemed delighted when he could coax a reaction like that out of Steve, and his eyes had lit up when he and Steve bantered about anything under the sun. They had fun. They … laughed together. Didn’t they?

On the other side of the fire, Billy’s laugh – crystal-clear and untainted – rang out over the quarry, mixed with Argyle’s deeper chuckle. Someone must have said something particularly funny. Billy was almost leaning on Argyle, face scrunched up in mirth, seemingly not caring that people could see them. And Argyle sure wasn’t pushing him away. Only got more comfortable on the blanket and made sure that Billy was comfortable, too.

Steve’s eyes narrowed. Billy had never leaned on Steve. Not that they’d ever sat that close together on a blanket, and not that Steve had given him an opportunity to, but. He hadn’t ever even tried. Steve highly doubted that the Billy he knew would have let anyone be that close to him. He’d always been quick to push people away if they got in his personal space, especially back in school.

He hadn’t done it to Steve, but. Okay, in their case, Steve might have been the one to push Billy away sometimes. When he leaned too close. Or walked up behind him in the store. But that was just because, because guys weren’t supposed to be that close to each other. Not … not where people could see, at least.

No one seemed to mind Billy and Argyle sitting that close, though. A few people were glancing at them, sure, but only briefly – and Max even looked fond when she looked at them.

Steve glared across the fire again, and could feel himself scowling. When Argyle looked up and met his eye, Steve tried to smooth his expression into something more neutral, but by the puzzled look on Argyle’s face, he was too late. Steve turned to Robin and pretended to be immersed in the conversation she was having with Nancy, and took another drink from his beer.

When he looked over at the other side of the fire again, he saw that Argyle was leaning in to say something in Billy’s ear. His arm was still around Billy’s shoulders. They were so close. Whatever he said, Billy’s eyes snapped up to Steve’s – making Steve choke on his beer and try to turn his attention back at whatever Nancy was saying – and when he glanced over next, Billy was red in the face.

No. He was blushing, and Argyle was laughing softly as he leaned into him and bumped the side of his head into Billy’s. Billy bit his lip, blush intensifying, and Steve had to look away.

“Hey,” Robin said and elbowed him in the stomach. “Who pissed in your beer?”

“What?”

“You look ready to kill someone. What’s wrong?”

Steve schooled his face into the one he used to wear when his parents asked him about his grades back in high school. “Nothing’s –“ Billy’s laugh came again, this time ending in an honest-to-God giggle, and Steve ground his teeth together and swallowed, hard. “– wrong,” he finished lamely, knowing by Robin’s raised eyebrow that she wasn’t buying it.

“Uh-huh, sure, and I’m attracted to boys. Come on, dingus. Take a walk with me.” Louder, she said, “I need some air.”

She dragged him up, despite his protests – “We’re literally outside in the air, Robs” – and he ignored Billy’s and Argyle’s eyes on him as he followed Robin away from the circle of light around the fire, and over towards the parked cars. When they got there, she leaned her hip against Mrs Byers’s Ford Pinto and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Okay, spill. Tell aunty Robin what’s wrong.”

“I told you,” Steve said, defensive and not sure why. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay, so why are you staring at Hargrove as if you want to bash his head in? Did he do something to you? Say something?”

“What? No! I’m not– He didn’t. What, why would you– What are you– I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The look she gave him made his face heat up. “Sure. Okay. Ignoring whatever that was –“ She made a vague gesture to all of Steve. “If he hasn’t done anything, then why are you so mad at him?”

“I’m not mad at him!”

“You look like you’re trying to make him spontaneously combust.”

“I do not!”

“Dingus.” And her voice grew more serious now, which wasn’t fair. She knew Steve couldn’t resist opening up when she got all earnest on him. “You have been grinding your teeth and glaring at him the whole night. Seriously – what’s wrong?”

Steve ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “He hasn’t done anything. I’m not mad at him.” This time, Robin didn’t say anything, although she raised a doubtful eyebrow. “I’m not! It’s just … Wh– What do we know about this Argyle guy, really?” It wasn’t what he had planned on saying, and Robin’s other eyebrow joined the first high up on her forehead. Steve grimaced and tried again. “I mean, he shows up out of the blue and knows about El and the Upside Down, and apparently he knew Billy back in California? Isn’t that a little too … I don’t know, convenient?”

When Robin spoke, her words were slow, as if she was trying to explain something very simple to a toddler. Steve hated her a little for it. “Jonathan and the others told him about everything, after they all got shot at together. You know that. You were there when they told us this.”

“I know, but–“

“And … do you really doubt that Hargrove and Argyle were friends? Look at them! I haven’t seen Hargrove that relaxed around anyone, ever!”

“I know, that’s the problem!”

She shut her mouth at his outburst, and then her eyes widened. Steve winced, wishing the earth would just open up and swallow him, and tried to backtrack. “I don’t mean it’s a problem, I’m just saying that –“

“Steve,” Robin said, slowly. “Are you jealous?”

Opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, Steve spluttered for a couple of seconds before he found his voice. “No! Of course not! What? What, wh– what would I have to be jealous about?”

Robin ignored him, a glint of something knowing in her eyes. “No, this makes perfect sense. Hargrove is usually all over you, and now someone else is getting his attention. You’re jealous!”

“I am not jealous.”

“Oh?” Robin said and cocked her head to the side. “So it doesn’t bother you that Hargrove is cuddling up to Argyle just now, looking cozy as all hell?”

“No!” Steve said, reflexively, and then couldn’t help the way he looked over his shoulder to see if Billy and Argyle were, in fact, cuddling. They weren’t, but it wasn’t far off.

“Oh, Steve.” Something in Robin’s voice made Steve swallow, and he turned back around to face her. She looked … concerned. “Do you like him?”

Ridiculous. This was ridiculous. “I don’t know him yet,” Steve said. “I’ve barely had a conversation with the guy.”

“Not Argyle, you doofus. Hargrove. Billy. Do you like Billy?”

His first reaction was to deny it – “No!” – but then again, they were kind of friends nowadays – “I mean yes!” – but not like that – “I mean– What?”

Robin ignored him completely, in favor of adopting a pitying expression and shaking her head at him. “Oh, dingus. Have you told him?”

“Told who? What?”

“Never mind, of course you haven’t. Okay, then that should be the first thing you should do. Because I’m pretty sure he’s been flirting with you for the better part of his time in Hawkins.”

This couldn’t be happening. Steve’s face was burning. “I– I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know what?” Robin said, “The sad thing is that that’s probably true.”

“I don’t have to listen to this,” Steve said. “I don’t know what you’re on about. I want a beer.”

At least one of those things were true, he reasoned as he turned his back on her and made his way back to the fire. He bent down at the cooler and fished up another beer, and then sat down on the edge of the blanket that the Party had commandeered, plastering a smile onto his face and purposely did not look in the direction of Billy and Argyle. Because he didn’t care.

“What are you guys talking about?” Steve asked when there was a lull in conversation, hoping to be drawn into a discussion that would take his mind off Robin’s cryptic comments. Robin, he saw, had sat down next to Nancy and was looking between Steve and Billy as if she was trying to work out a puzzle.

“Local cryptids and legends!” Dustin exclaimed, looking overjoyed at the current topic.

Steve had apparently jumped in just as things were getting heated, because he spent the next ten minutes looking between the kids as they seemed to compete in spewing as many so-called ‘facts’ about mermaids, vampires and bigfoots as they could without taking a breath.

“Technically, wouldn’t the term for more than one Bigfoot be ‘bigfeet’?” Billy interjected when things started calming down, which spawned another discussion.

Steve was getting a headache trying to follow all the arguments, and in the end he threw his head back and groaned out loud, “What does it matter, it’s not like they’re real!”

Will and Dustin drew in sharp breaths next to him, looking offended, and Steve prepared himself for another rant, when a new voice joined in:

“They may not be real, my dudes, but the chupacabra is.”

Steve wasn’t jealous. The fact that he got annoyed at the mere sound of Argyle’s voice was because he was getting a headache, that’s all. He closed his eyes and tried to count to ten, while next to him, Lucas asked, “What’s a chupacabra?”

Surprisingly, the answer came from three directions at once.

“Spanish for ‘goat-sucker’,” said Max.

“An alien-like creature that feeds on blood like a vampire,” said Munson, overly-dramatic.

And, “It’s like a dog, but it sucks the blood out of other animals and leaves them dry,” said Argyle.

Steve, messing up his count and failing to control his annoyance, huffed and ignored the two first statements. “Vampire dogs? Really?”

“Yeah,” Argyle said, and for the first time his attention was fully on Steve as he continued, “They’re said to be like big, hairless dogs, but like, lizard-like, almost? And they suck the blood out of animals on farms, and stuff.” He made his two first fingers and his thumb into something claw-like and held up his hand. “You know it’s the chupacabra, because it leaves three teeth marks in the shape of a triangle on their victims, and there’s no blood left in the remains.”

Ridiculous. Steve couldn’t help another irritated huff. “Sounds absurd. You’re talking about blood-sucking dogs. It doesn’t make any sense.” No one else said anything for a second, and when Steve looked around the fire he saw everyone look at him in various stages of disbelief. “What?”

“Steve, my man,” Dustin said and patted him on the shoulder. “We’ve just stopped a monster from another dimension from ripping Hawkins in half and opening a gate in the middle of the town square.”

“I was possessed by a shadow,” Billy added, off-handedly.

“We fought a monster made out of melted people.”

“You were chewed on by demobats.”

“El literally ripped a hole between dimensions.”

“We lit a Demogorgon on fire.”

“Dustin tried to raise a demodog.”

“You saved us, Steve, when you fought a literal pack of lizard-looking dog creatures,” said Max, “with faces that open up like a flower and are full of teeth. How is that less believable than some lizard-looking dog creature in California that sucks the blood out of goats?”

Steve didn’t have an answer to that, and started to feel mighty uncomfortable with everyone looking at him. Luckily, Argyle chose this moment to speak up. “Hey, it’s okay to be sceptic until you’ve gotten proof – I found the whole Upside Down business hard to swallow at first, too – but the chupacabra, bros? That’s legit. My cousin’s wife had a neighbor growing up, and they had a farm, right? And one morning, bam. Fourteen chickens and four sheep, dead. Drained of blood.” He leaned back and nodded. “The chupacabra.”

Billy shrugged next to him as Argyle put his arm back around his shoulders – making Steve grind his teeth together, but without commenting – and said, “I actually believe in it, too. I’ve heard too many stories for it not to have some truth in it.”

“Really?” said Munson and sounded interested. “You’ll have to tell me more about those, I can use this in a campaign.”

Next to Steve, Max caught his eye and nodded. “I mean, everyone has heard about them in California,” she said. “Maybe they’re the Cali-version of demodogs?”

More than one person shuddered at that thought. “Let’s hope not,” Hopper said and clapped his hands together. “Now, I’m getting hungry. Who’s in the mood for hot dogs?”

~~~

Some time later found them all broken up in smaller groups. Some were sitting by the fire still, some had gathered in the back of Eddie’s van for an impromptu game of something nerdy, some were down at the water’s edge, playing around even though it was dark. Steve heard Billy’s laughter coming from there, mixed with Max’s, and promptly refused to even turn his head in that direction.

Steve had stayed by the fire, along with Hopper and Mrs Byers, who were sitting on the other side of the fire, talking amongst themselves. Steve sat alone, nursing his beer, using a headache as an excuse to not get up and join the others.

Another laugh came from the water’s edge, and he picked up a sharp pebble and pressed the edge of it into his thumb. A couple of days ago, he would have struggled to imagine Billy playing in the water – because Billy Hargrove and playing around didn’t go that well together – but now, it was painfully easy to picture. He was probably smiling at Argyle, the way he seemed to be smiling at Argyle only. Argyle was a big dude, maybe big enough to pick Billy up and throw him in the water. Billy would never have accepted that from literally anyone else, but from Argyle? He’d probably just laugh. Because Argyle was special.

As if on cue, Billy laughed again. Steve hung his head down low and pressed the pebble harder against his thumb.

He jumped when someone suddenly sat down next to him. Looking up, he opened his mouth to tell Robin that he was ‘fine’, but he closed it again when he saw who had actually sat down beside him.

“Hey bro,” Argyle said with a nod and a smile. “You doing okay?”

He seemed genuine, which only made Steve feel like an even bigger asshole, because even now he kind of wanted to punch the guy in the face.

“Yeah, I’m …” He held up his beer, and awkwardly placed it on his forehead. “Headache, you know?”

“Dude, I have something for that,” Argyle said, smile growing on his face as he started digging in his pocket, and then seemed to hesitate. He nodded to the couple opposite to them and said with a conspiratorial wink, “But maybe not in front of the cop, you know?”

Steve couldn’t help smiling a little at that. Argyle looked pleased. “There you go, my man. Life is easier when you look on the bright side.” He kept grinning, and gently bumped shoulders with Steve.

Damn it, but it was damn near impossible to dislike him. Steve let out a shaky laugh. “Is that what you do?”

Argyle leaned back on his arms and looked up at the sky. “Yeah. I mean, the world is so big, and we are so small. If you don’t look at the little things, and appreciate them for what they are, you’ll go insane.”

Steve, who felt like he was indeed going insane, nodded. “Amen to that.”

They sat in silence for a while, and despite himself, Steve could feel himself relaxing. Perhaps it was that, and perhaps it was the couple of beers he’d had, but eventually he opened his mouth and asked, “How do you do it?”

“Do what, bro?”

“How do you …” He trailed off, didn’t know how to continue. In the end, he decided on honesty. “How do you make him smile like that?”

Argyle seemed to understand who he was talking about. He didn’t ask Steve to clarify, and he didn’t seem to think it was a strange question. Instead he just shrugged. “I don’t know, man. I’ve known him since we were kids.”

Curse Argyle – why was it so easy to talk to him? “I’ve never once gotten him to smile at me, the way he smiles at you. I’ve never gotten him to laugh like you do.”

Argyle made a non-committing sound next to him, so Steve had to turn and look at him. “Have you tried, though?”

“What?”

“I mean. My man Bills likes to keep people at a distance, for sure, but … It doesn’t take a lot to get on his good side. All you gotta do is …” He shrugged again. “Be nice to him, I guess. Don’t tell him I told you, but he’s a sucker for affection.”

And wasn’t that like a punch to the gut. Suddenly, Steve remembered every time he’d brushed Billy off, or rolled his eyes, or sighed at his antics. Why did he do that, when deep down he liked having Billy around? Could things have been different now, if Steve had simply been less of an asshole?

For some reason his eyes welled up, and he had to swallow and look away. Too late, though; Argyle had already seen. And suddenly Argyle had his arm around Steve’s shoulders, too, and was hugging him close to him. “Hey, bro, what’s with the sad face?”

“I think I’ve messed up,” Steve said, sounding small even to his own ears. “I haven’t … been as nice to him as I could have been.”

Argyle was silent for a while, and Steve was almost afraid that he would take his arm off of him and leave. It felt kind of nice, having him there. But then, to his relief, Argyle spoke up instead, “Do you wanna make him smile?”

Steve didn’t even have to think before answering. “Yes.”

“Laugh?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like, like-like him, my dude?”

Face burning, Steve glanced up to see if anyone was close. They were alone on this side of the fire. No one was listening. “I don’t … I don’t know.”

Strangely, that made Argyle’s face split in a grin. “That’s good!”

Steve shook his head. “How … how is that good?”

“It’s not a no.” Argyle looked very pleased at that. He tightened his hold on Steve’s shoulder and pulled him around, and scooted back and out of the way so that Steve could look down to the water’s edge. It was too dark now to see anything properly, but Steve could see a couple of figures running around at the water’s edge. Heard Billy’s laughter; Max, and El, and Robin, too. Splashes of water.

“See that?” Argyle pointed a finger at one of the figures that, judging by his build, must have been Billy. He was currently busy carrying another squirming figure – obviously Max – further out into the water, and soon a big splash could be heard, followed by angry shrieking and even louder laughter.

“He’s laughing because he feels comfortable. With all of you guys. If he didn’t, he’d sulk in his car or something. But he’s comfortable around you, and that’s a good start.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, man. Listen.” And at that, Argyle grabbed a hold of Steve’s shoulder again and slapped it twice. “My man over there, he likes you. Not just you guys, but you, in particular.”

“He, uh … He told you that?”

That made Argyle laugh. “No, dude, no way. He doesn’t talk about that. But he’s in your face, right? Won’t leave you alone? Probably being a little shit?” He was looking towards the water’s edge now, too, and he sounded fond.

“Oh yeah.”

“Then you’re good. My man likes you. The question is, bro – what are you gonna do about it?”

#billy hargrove #steve harrington #argyle #harringrove #harringroveweek #harringrove harvest #vampire dogs? really?#ihni writes #harringrove fic

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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What makes me not be on board with Will and El being twins and Hopper and Joyce's biological kids theory is that it'd ruin the aspect I love the most about the Hopper-Byers family: found family.

Hop, a divorced man, adopted a girl and found love again with a divorced woman who escaped a toxic relationship and her two sons. It shows that a straight romantic relationship doesn't need to generate descendents to be valid. I also like the idea of an "alpha-male" like Hopper ending up not passing his genes forward and being ok with the idea of not having biological children.

So, I still think it's more probable Will and El being Lonnie's kids. Anyway, I'm looking forward to find out what the writers prepared for us.

I totally get that! And that's how I felt about it too! So no hard feelings at all.

I think for me it sort of got to a point where I had to put aside my feelings and what I had grown comfortable with for so long, based on my interpretation as the series was happening, and how there is evidence going against our assumptions we've had up to this point, going back to the beginning (same applies to byler as well).

I would also argue that found family is equally as epic as estranged family finding their way back to each other in every universe, despite all of the obstacles in their way. Though, not many things are equally as beautiful as found family, so the standards are very high.

I do want to make it clear that I agree completely about the found family side of why the instinct is to sort of not want to consider this.

Found family is beautiful, and I think it's wonderful that more stories these days are working to de-stigmatize our societies idea of what a family even is, because it's not this cookie cutter concept we've all grown to believe it is. Family comes in many forms and it doesn't have to be blood-related.

It just so happens that in this case, there are too many unanswered questions, going back to the very first episode, all tying these characters to each other.

Hopper more than anyone has so much crypticness revolving around his character (he gives off dad deja vu constantly in s1, like it's actually terrifying), and not only that, but David has alluded to unknowns surrounding his character for years. He's talked about how the truth behind Sarah is more complicated than it seems and that she could have connections to the lab. He even went as far as to say that there were easter eggs in s1 that fans wont get until the end, and that it will make the end of the story beautiful. Assuming he was talking about revelations related to his character, it fits very well with a lot of the evidence hiding in the details connecting all of these characters.

This is also a supernatural show dealing with time-fuckery implications and repressed memories going back to s1. Like just rewatch 1x01 by itself and you'll see what I mean. There is a lot of stuff fitting a little too conveniently to not all be connected.

If this was a regular show then of course I would chalk it up as found family bc there obviously couldn't be anything else to it. But it's not and we're dealing with revelations in s5 that have apparently been hiding in the details all along and are beautiful...

I just don't see anything beautiful about revealing Lonnie is their bio dad, when Hopper is right there with heavy hints surrounding him connecting him to Will/El...

You could say that found family is this thing they've been hinting at this whole time and that's all there is to it, but I would argue that we've already got that vibe by the end of s1, and so, where is the beautiful surprise in that revelation happening in s5? Technically found family isn't even a revelation seeing as it's something we subconsciously recognize as being obvious as time goes on. With s5 said to hold answers to questions unanswered since the beginning, while I do think found family is beautiful, I don't think it's the surprise at this point that connects all of these characters.

The good news is, if this theory does play out, they would explain things. It wouldn't just come out out of nowhere, in the sense that there is evidence pointing to it from the beginning (just like byler).

The main thing that makes this theory beautiful to me, is the light that is constantly being associated with Hopper/Will. Like it happens A LOT. One of the most mysterious scenes to this day is the scene in 1x01, of Hopper in the shed with the lights flickering. That has never been explained (nor has Will being able to contact Joyce through the UD been explained) and we all kind of just went along with it back then, but I think it ties into a lot of repetition we're seeing with these characters in reference to light.

Here are just some of my favorites from s1:

This next one is one of my favorites, where we're given Lonnie's priorities after Will's body is found:

And this is Hopper's, in the scene (literal first shot) directly after that scene with Lonnie:

And this:

Is followed by, this:

Same episode. Deer portraits in both Joyce and Hopper's houses as they're freaking out over lights and their kid(s) going missing, while being watched by the lab...

One of the most incriminating though has to be Hoppers' memories of Sarah kicking in at points in moments directly connected to Will:

I'm just going to jump to s4 because this is hilarious to me that this trend carrys out throughout the entire series:

We all joke about Will being Jesus, but idk if it's a joke anymore...

Not saying he is Jesus like literally, we're talking about a show that pulls inspiration from a bajillion different things, but, like... there is definitely some lighting emphasis being applied to Will along with the word Jesus... And the events of s4 happening around easter and this whole resurrection storyline going on with Hopper in s4.

El also has a role in this. The whole time in s1 we're seeing them look for Will, leading to Hopper saying 'What if all this time I've been after the wrong kid?'. How he starts s1 saying that when a kid goes missing 99 times out of 100 they're with a parent or a relative: El and Hopper in s2 just chillin'...

Again, I would agree with you fully if there weren't the supernatural implications at play. If this was just a regular story, I would be eating up the found family storyline like I always do.

However, we're dealing with a show that enjoys hiding the truth in plain sight, and has the capacity to pull this off tremendously, with a lot of the evidence to back it up. If it can do that, why not?

I won't pressure people to believe it if they don't want to! TBH I'm at a point where I'm confident enough in it, like byler, where it's just a matter of waiting for s5 atp to find out for sure. Seeing people's surprise after the fact is going to be more rewarding than convincing them beforehand. So it's like, it is what it is!

It's something that people aren't going to be able to say came out of nowhere, bc pretty much the entire show hints at it along the way. And so same with byler, post s5 anyone can try argue they don't like it for xyz, but it isn't going to take away from the fact that there was in fact evidence pointing to it.

Just going back and looking for stuff to reference in this ask, I found a shit ton more, like... This revelation does seriously make the show rewatch value skyrocket bc you're seeing these characters all be SO close to the truth, yet so far away. Like it is legit beautiful.

#byler #stranger things #twelvegate #willel twins #willel wondertwins #willel literal twins #joyce + hopper = willel twins + jon

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steddiebang · 5 months

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The Rainbow Connection | E | 200k

Author: @hellfireloserclub Artist: sweatypeaches Beta Reader: @passthesteddie

When Rainbow Graveyard made it big, performing as their alter egos Knocks and Munster, it should have been everything Eddie had ever wanted - sold out gigs, number one platinum selling albums, and a band made up of people he had fought through hell with at his side. The upside down might not have killed him, but Eddie never imagined that being on stage with Steve every night would be the thing that finally finished him. Eddie is not a person that was built to be loved, he has no idea what to do with the feelings that threaten to tear him apart. Since they dragged each other from the brink of death, he and Steve have been doing a dance to which neither knows the steps, building a life out of the trauma that follows them like a shadow, seeping into each and every crack it can find. Being a rockstar hadn't been in Steve's future plans, but it was impossible for him to deny Eddie anything, full stop. He’d helped Steve put himself back together when the upside down literally pulled him apart, and now he was pretty sure that Eddie had kept a piece of his heart and held it hostage. Steve was too much, loved too fast and too hard and destroyed everyone and everything he touched. But when he got on stage, Knocks took the wheel, and what Knocks wanted was Munster. They say that sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, and sometimes you don't know what you've got till it's gone. But how much of you is left when you're living as the personified version of your worst self?

Fic | Art

Pairings: Steve/Eddie , Eddie/Chrissy , Nancy/Robin Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Chrissy Cunningham,Argyle ,Wayne Munson,Claudia Henderson,Max Mayfield,Dustin Henderson,Lucas Sinclair,Will Byers,Mike Wheeler,Suzie Bingham, ElevenHopper, Jim Hopper,Joyce Byers Tags: Band Fic, Post canon, Future fic beginning in 2002, Angst, Romance, Friends to Bandmates to It’s Complicated. Steve Harrington needs a hug, found family, steddie tropes bingo. Trigger Warnings: Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drugs, Sex, Alcohol, Alcohol Withdrawal, Mental Breakdown ,Medical Procedures, Medical Inaccuracies

#steddiebang23 #steddiebang23 masterposts #submission

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ronanceisintheair · 6 months

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No offense they should've let hopper die in s3 and could've tackled some Lonnie/Byers family complications that have been collecting dust since s1. Instead of getting the whole s4 Russian plot line.

#jonathan byers #will byers #jancy #thinking about Jonathan and Lonnie vs Will and Lonnie #not in a putting the dynamics against each other but more in a venn diagram under a microscope type of way #Jonathan's car very much resembled or is akin to Lonnies. Jonathan probably knows about cars from Lonnie #thinking on s3 Jonathan trying to fix Nancy's station wagon #s1 is so good and then they fumbled the bag on continuing exploring and making character dynamics the focal point

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byler-makemewanttobelieveitsokay · 9 months

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2.4 - Comic

Chapter Two Fic

Chapter One Fic

Chapter one comic

sorry this one and the next few are gonna be like this, I didn't know how else to summarise the fic. Also I think i skipped a week??? idk what happened there, sorry. Also i forgot the highlights on will's hair idk how. Don't have the time to fix it, sorry.

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brightside-of-the-upsidedown · 10 months

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Title: Baby, I Got Sick This Morning (Heal Me, My Darling)

My second fill for @harringroveson-bingo and second story for the Stranger Things fandom!

Square: B1 (Magical Healing Cock)

Rating: Explicit

Ships: Harringrove (Future Steddie & Future Harringroveson)

Word Count: 6000k- on going

Notes: not all of Steve's chronic issues will be healed. He will always have some disabilities because I ain't about about that 'cure all' shit. They're just saving his life here.

For the magical pregnancy bit later: it is a ways off and I'll likely break this into this and a sequel, so you'll be able to read this as a stand alone if it's a squick for you. I gotchu buddies

Summary: Steve is dying, but what hurts the most is watching how it's affecting his family, his friends, everyone around him.

Nothing seems to be helping - not his community rallying around him, not magic itself, and not the devoted attention of Eddie Munson. Eddie is a rock and a hurricane in Steve's life. Steve might also be a little bit in love with him.

Then, one day when all other options run out, Eddie introduces him to one Billy Hargrove, and Steve's already-screwed-up life might be taking a turn. But is it for the better or for the more dangerous?

Additional Tags:

Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Billy Hargrove, Steve Harrington's Parents, Joyce Byers, Jonathan Byers, The Party (Stranger Things), Jim "Chief" Hopper

Terminal Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Fantasy, What If Stranger Things Was More Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Magic Shit, Mentioned Malpractice, Magic Practice, Magical Healing Cock, Future Magical Pregnancy? It's all complicated and Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin bullshit, Magical Creatures, Demodogs are Hellhounds, Steve is bad sick from an injury, head injuries, Head Injury, Past Torture, Past Relationship(s), past Stancy, Tinnitus, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chrissy lived and is living her best life somewhere, mention of cults, Steve's having a bad time but it improves, Steve Needs a Hug, he's gonna get one and more, Billy Hargrove is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve with long hair, I'm running out of ideas for tags so I'll add more later, please suggest tags if you like, slow updates but please comment it helps so much

#harringroveson #steddily #harle hums #MetalSandwich #harringroveson bingo

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willel · 11 months

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I think the relationship between Joyce and El is a bit different from Hopper and El’s, because both El and Joyce met Terri and respect her as El’s mom. So I understand why the show didn’t instantly make Joyce El’s new mom when they lived together in Cali. But I think they’re almost there and we might see them strengthen their bond in S5.

I don't consider Joyce a "new" mom as in a replacement. As you said, they're both know of and are aware of Terry.

But El still missed the parental affection she's deserved all those years being locked away in the lab and Joyce is keenly aware of this. You can see it allllll the way back in season 1.

From the moment Joyce discovered Terry's story, I feel as though she felt a certain kind of kinship with them.

Before and after the bathtub scene, Joyce was holding El, reassuring her, thanking her, holding her hands, encouraging her. It was 100% motherly, El didn't even know how to react. It was so sweet and caring and I think Joyce is fully aware of the fact that El never got to have that kind of love.

I feel especially after the loss of Hopper, Joyce doted a lot on El through their grief. Not only did El miss out on having a mother, but her adoptive father is gone now too.

A complicated situation to be sure, but I don't think Joyce would want to replace Terry or Hopper, but a secret third option.

The problem I have with the show is not that El isn't immediately calling Joyce mom or something, it's that we didn't see ANYTHING at all until the end of the season. There were no Joyce and El scenes at all to fully understand what their relationship is right now (though we can assume it is very mother and daughterly like based on the end of season 4)

Even if things were still awkward or tense between them, I would've liked to see it. For example, Joyce asking El directly what happened at the skate rink. Maybe El would've reacted negatively to Joyce's questioning? A prelude to her argument with Mike about how she doesn't fit in and nothing is going right for her.

In which case, it'd would've I dunno... extra sweet when Will and El reunited. "I don't fit in anywhere!" You fit in with the Byers dear. And then when Joyce and El finally reunite at the very end. Not only does Joyce magically bring her father back, but her whole family is present now. It's like everything would just click. I dunno.

Thinking thoughts.

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frenchgremlim1808 · 1 year

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Before i start this Michigan realization post finished in a jopper, jancy, lumax analysis, like i wrote very long paragraphs.

Why is make america great again so popular ? Simple, it’s an obvious het ships who the GA ,who just watch the show casually, doesn't take time to realize the flaws of the relationship. But like, Hardcore minecraft shipper, how do you not see the problem in the relationship of mike and eleven. As a byler i watch multiple times scenes when they are together, do you not do the same? And if you do it are you, not to be insulting, sleeping. A lot of My Little pony call us media illiterate for analyzing the show. But do you even do it; The only proof you peeps need is “Well mike is dating El,so Mileven endgame”. It doesn’t work that way. When a ship is as great as you claim it is you can explain why they are made for one another and why their relationship works. Sometimes, even with ships i dislike/or neutral about the reasoning that two characters are made for one another make me understand the ship better, even if i don’t really like it. I can explain many ships in stranger things and why they can work.

Jancy: Nancy and Jonathan met trough the disappearance of a loved one. The y worked together to find them back. Then they realizing that they have more in common than they thought. They have similar traumas:,parents who aren't in love difficult family life; societal pressure. They start to bond about it together. In a way Jonathan gave Nancy what Nancy didn’t have with Steve, an actual bond outside of society standards. Stancy was mostly a teenage romance who was mostly physical, true Steve loved Nancy but their relationship wasn’t based on an strong bond with one another. Nancy and Steve at the time at least was completely incompatible, Nancy was in a way creating another empty marriage like her parents did. While stancy is an average teenage romance from the 80′s made from conventionally attractive people with little in common with one another, Jancy was everything that stancy wasn’t. Jonathan is poor, a nerd, and from a pretty polarizing family in town while Steve is a jock , popular with girls; from a wealthy family. But it’s also inverse in term of actual love, Jonathan love Nancy and Nancy love Jonathan, they may not be the perfect couple, they have issues but that’s realistic.Also little point, Jancy has complimentary dream jobs( journalist/photograph), really care for each other passions and hobbies, and love each other pleasemattandroosdufferpleasedontbreakthemupibegofyou. Jancy is all about the society choice for your life and your choice for controlling your own. The logical choice for Nancy is to go with Steve, just like her mother did. To not choose her heart but her head. Steve is the better choice for Nancy to have a “normal”, conventional life just like her mom chose. But Nancy isn’t her mom, Nancy is herself. She won’t do the same mistakes as her parents not after she endured because of their loveless marriage. She gonna choose the choice that make her truly free and happy. And that is the unconditional love and freedom that loving Jonathan can give her. Or like she dumps Jonathan but like be a girlboss but don’t leave this malewife alone, well he still has argyle soo.

Jopper: Ah jopper, one of the longest slow burn in the show only second to byler. What make jopper works? Simple! Just like jancy they have a lot in common, but i will say that they have way more than jancy. Joyce and hopper are both divorced parents(rip Sarah), who have a multitude of unresolved trauma from their past life. Joyce is single mother of two boys, she love them dearly more than anythings in this worlds. But life isn’t easy for her, she’s forced to work late for gaining money for her children to have a good life. The Byers are poor i must remind you.She is still in a complicated relationship with her ex husband who abused her and her children. But i think one of Joyce biggest issues is solitude. Every time Joyce ask for help, fight for a cause nobody trust, everyone thinks she crazy. “oh it’s just Joyce being insane like always, she really a disgrace to this town, no wonder her children are just like her”. She never helped by anyone, and every time someone she care about someone, somethings bad happen to them.Joyce is alone, alone fighting for her children well being. Hopper is a cop, a alcoholic drug addicted cop, since the death of his daughter and the divorce with his wife it’s like is whole life lost it’s purpose.Even thought he the sheriff off hawking you can see he’s kind of not that liked( not that he tries to be). Hopper is clearly depressed. But in end there no chance of him healing in this condition. Hopper is alone, incapable of healing and depressed. They are both broken people from a world which isn’t kind to them. They knew each other from high school i suppose. We can see that they was always attraction between each other. Guys their literally old friend to lovers. Together jopper gets what the other needed. Love. They can finally live and love after all this years of stress and pain and grow together while seeing their kids grow too. They both lost people they care about. That’s why jopper is beautiful, it’s all about second chance and continuing loving after the loss of people we love, its about the continuing growth that someone can have in they life. It’s all about moving on mainly living on after the death of someone we cherished, because they might be gone but they would want you to carry on and live, live for them.

Lumax: Now we are coming into best ship territories. As you may know Lumax is in my eyes the current best cannon ship in stranger things. I lovee byler but god damm lumax really is the most developed, realistic, healthy and fantastic ship in the series. But why is that? Just like any ships that works, lumax as a lot in common. their the sassy, don’t talk no shit to me, leader type of a group. Max is more of a loner, tomboyish , sassy, brutally honest type of person. She has a rough exterior who covers her true feelings, it can be hard to see the true max. Lucas is a geek , sassy, always saying his opinion, dork. Like a mega dork. He’s like a sunshine. But i would say, while most ships have a trope that make them works, lumax trope is true love. They don’t need long love confessions or long make out sequence. The way we know they love each other isn't words, it’s actions. It’s the look in the other eyes,the shine in the eyes, the care, the immediate bright shining smile, it’s just the electricity. When they are together they still act like themselves, it is still Lucas and Max they act just like they normally are. They have their own interest and can totally live without each other, their not codependent. For teenagers i would say that they are way more mature than other kids their age. Just like Caleb said lumax love is mature, they slowly grew together learned to care for each other, love each other. Their love wasn’t instant. Against all odd, and difficulties, lumax sails up right now. Lumax is a tale of true love, i would say a tragic one, understanding, fights and sadly pain in the end. The reason Lumax works so well compared to other ships is the realism of it all. Their relationship feels authentic. I would say that the scene of lucas with max in his arms is the scene that made me wanna kill Vecna the most, seeing his scream and tears give me the urge to punch my wall so bad. Compared to other ship it’s much more difficult to explain by words but you just know when you look at them. You feel it. They both bring best in one another and are at their brightest in each other company. So that’s why MAX BETTER LIVE OR I WILL SUE THE SUFFER BROTHER.

conclusion:

Why is Melvin so bad you would say, many reasons. The lack of communication the misunderstanding of each other personality, the lies, the very weird family parallel and more. But i think one of the main reason Machinegun doesn’t works is simple. It literally doesn't fit the core theme of stranger things Stranger things is all about the oddities and weirdness that make us unique and beautiful. The show is always following outcast of society. Every and i mean every relationship in stranger things is in a way weird or uncommon. Jopper? Two divorced middle aged parents. Jancy? Independent journalist from a good family and local weirdo boy from a badly renowned family. Lumax? Interracial couple. Rockie? no explanation needed i think. Duzie? Unusual genius girl with bright boy with facial differences( still a handsome boy but you know society sucks). Even the non cannon ships follow the theme. But Magnet is just..... stereotypical self insert bullshit for teenager shows. “Oh boy meet girl, girl weird and as super PoWers, people dislike girl because girl WEird, but boy only one who think girl cooL. Time passes and Girl develops crush on boy and become JEalous of another girl because boy hang out with her. But in the end girl is sooooo cool and fantastic and amazing and the part left of boy initial characterization is is love for girl. He is crazy obsessed with girl and it’s starting to get so toxic. Girl is just a local girlboss blank slates to be the deus ex machina of the show and is nothing other than that. When girl do something real bad she never get punished because girl is so perfect. And IN THE END boy and girl and boy love save the world or something and they still stay together even so their probably the worst option of the show.” I saw so many ships like this and it screams not only self insert to young girls who are in love with the male actor but also a very easy routes for a show named stranger things. Stranger broke the norms of how to do a “horror” show and it gave us amazing rep (even if the didn’t handle all of it that well). It’s extremely rare in current media to see a show centered around a gay man who is not stereotyped in any way. And it’s amazing! Will is my favorite character and not just because of his sexuality, he has so many layers and complexities that make me love him even more. Of course my second place go to Lucas and Eleven cause their my children but so you know.

Back to the main topic. Making mike and el finish together is probably the easiest and stupidest choice, not only would it go against the entire logic of the to make the most plain relationship in the show and probably one the more toxic relationship we currently have as cannon but what message would this give. “Look at them they have nothing in common but you gotta ship it cause it contains the protagonist of the show, to be happy eleven gotta be with a man that so feminist of us. Oh and mike? Who give a shit about him, not like he destroyed most of his relationships to be with a girl he doesn’t even comprehend. Oh your angry because the traumatized abused gay kid never got a happy ending and that’s a “very bad message”. No one give a shit about your opinion, we hate will so much that we created an entire plot line of him falling in love with his best friend for him to be miserable. Buy our byler merch!”

Well i mean this is still my opinion so it doesn’t mean much, i’m just a random person passionate about a show, but really Melvin cannon would destroy my liking in the show. I prefer byler not endgame but melvin is separated than a melvin ending.

But anyway it wouldn't be worse than stancy endgame.

#byler #byler analysis #anti mileven #lumax #jopper #jancy #i actually talked a lot more about them than i thought but don't worry it's still a byler analysis #but it's also kind of a jancy/jopper/lumlax analysis too #my god this post is absolute trash

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rosettastarlight · 1 year

Text

More headcanons I made up for the crossover au where Vance Hopper moves to Hawkins because I’m having aniety attacks and writing out stuff aout my comfort characters calms me.

This is more about, I guess the dynamics in the Hopper family.

If this took place during season 1, I don’t imagine Vance really having that big a part in it other than being a part of Hopper’s past and storyline as he tries connecting again with his estranged son and remembering how he wasn’t there for him before while searching for Will.

This is both because he doesn’t have much connections to the Party yet and because I think Hopper would do his absolute best to keep Vance out of it, especially near the end when he starts to realize this is bigger than he thought involving the upside down and the government.

He knows Vance is still just recovering from a very traumatic event and doesn’t want to put him through anything else, he doesn’t want to risk losing him again, and he most certainly does not want the government’s eyes on him, too.

Whether or not this actually worked and Vance actually stayed out of it has yet to be decided in my brain.

Although I do like to think, to some degree, that if he did have a part, it would be mostly with the Byers with intersections in with Hopper since that is his dad in this au and he’s going to come home or get picked up by him.

It was not a good time and even a bit of a setback in Vance’s and Jim’s relationship when he came home to the aftermath of that scene where Hopper had been drinking again and even tore apart some of the house, the drinking part he found out from his mom who called back frantic after Vance plugged back in the phone.

Jim and Diane talk more in this au, but she makes it clear it's mostly just business and for Vance, calls only to ask about their son and how he's adjusting or doing since she knows Vance will just tell her what he thinks she wants to hear. If Jim starts talking about their own relationship and she thinks it might go down the road it usually does, she makes an excuse and hangs up.

Vance searched through the house after that and afterwards would randomly do searches for, and throw out any if he found it, any alcohol in the place. Jim drinking stresses his mom out, low-key stresses Vance out, which comes out in more anger, and is a place he is determined not to go back to since he still remembers when Jim would call drunk trying to get back with his mom.

Overall, Vance and Hopper's relationship became more strained for a while after that incident, although they're both trying their best to make it work since it does comes from a place of love. It's just that neither of them know how to express that properly.

It also very much takes a bit of a nosedive when El comes into the picture.

Depending on how much Vance knows about the events in season 1, he did think it was weird in the winter how Jim would leave in the early mornings with a box before coming back like nothing happened.

If he stayed out of the majority of the chaos, when Hopper came back one day with a strange girl, Jim lied through his teeth that she was the kid of an old friend who would be staying with them for a bit.

If Vance knew enough to know who El was, he'd be surprised at the very least to see she's still alive.

Either way, I can't see Vance's relationship with El, at first at least, being anything but complicated.

I mean, you're putting two stubborn, traumatized kids with anger issues that come out in ways you don't really want to be on the other end of (and El had anger issues as well, as a response to her trauma in the show) in the same small cabin who have no real ties to each other but their caretaker who's basically demanding they coexist and get along.

Vance also might probably feel like Hopper's trying to replace Sarah as time goes on with how he treats her. Especially since in his mind, his dad could apparently pull himself together for a girl he barely knew, but it took three years and Vance nearly dying to get Hopper to try.

Depending, once again, on just how much Vance would know post season 1, add in all this to being constantly left in the dark and lied to with vague, sketchy explanations he knows means something is up but can't prove it.

Overall I think he'd kinda resent her for the above reasons, but at the same time, he definitely sees the similar signs she was also hurt, her limited vocab, hair, and wonder at the simplest things set off a few alarms, and he kinda feels bad she has to stay in all day and knows how easy it is to go crazy with just your thoughts.

So it's like he won't openly antagonize her, but he's pretty cold at first and closed off, ignores her when he can, is more passive aggressive towards her when he can't, but he still somewhat cares about her being okay.

While Vance can't tell anyone about El apparently, he still complains about her to his friends in Denver over the phone, just keeping out the main details.

El also has accidentally crossed his boundaries once or twice since she doesn't know any better and she really does want a friend.

They've absolutely had the "get out of my room" argument.

El isn't too happy a camper either with the situation, Vance overall isn't the easiest person to live with and sometimes the arguments he has with Jim can scare her since they can get pretty loud even though that's just how they are.

She very much still does want to be friends with Vance, but sometimes her efforts can actually make things worse than better, and Jim will insist to give him space and let him come to her like he waited for her.

El can get jealous, too, that Vance is free to go whenever he wants but she can't, and it's been a topic of one of her own arguments with Hopper why she can't go or talk to her friends, but Vance can.

Vance is actually on her side for those since he thinks it's pretty unfair, too, if her going out alone is a problem, he could literally just go with her, she's not going to spontaneously combust the minute she steps into town.

The moments where Vance and El team up against Hopper are his nightmare, like, yes, he wants them to get along, but not when he's the common enemy.

They start to warm up to each other over time, but their relationship at first is pretty complicated, and by s2, they'd be a little better after almost a year, but there's still more downs than ups until they realize how much they have in common

Small off track note, Vance is that older sibling that'd probably lay down on you after winning a fight.

That's all I've got for right now.

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