#Dustin: not us

[sp0o0kylights]

Steddie but it's from Robin’s perspective and she treats Eddie like a feral dog her and Steve adopted. 

“Steve he got into the chocolates again.”

“Steve your boyfriend has the zoomies and it's your turn to walk him!”

“You know how you told him that if he licked the candy cane sharp enough he’d end up stabbing himself? Yeah so we’re at the ER can you bring--”

“STEVEN I TOLD YOU not to leave him alone with the GLITTER!"

[plistommy]

steddie in a nutshell

[solarmorrigan]

Eddie gets Steve’s pickles when they go out to eat. Steve gets Eddie’s tomatoes. The transaction is seamless; it requires no words

Most of Eddie’s t-shirts have done time as sleep shirts for Steve. Eddie steals Steve’s hoodies without remorse. Neither of them remember which pair of sweatpants originally belonged to who at this point

No one bothers saving them more than one seat at any kind of movie night or other get-together; Eddie spends more time sitting on Steve than on the couch

They become an interchangeable taxi service at some point. The kids will say they’re getting a ride from eddiensteve, but it’s anyone’s guess if it’s going to be Steve’s beamer or Eddie’s van that rolls up (the only real difference is if they have to listen to Steve complaining about providing rides and then asking how their activities are going, or if they have to listen to Eddie’s music at deafening volume)

It feels so easy, the way their lives mesh, when they finally get together, and maybe it isn’t strictly healthy, but anyone who wants to throw around the word “codependent” must first survive at least one Upside Down Event. In any case, no one else really seems to mind–

“Y’know, when you two got together, I thought it would be weird. Like seeing your two older brothers make out,” Dustin mentions one day.

Steve’s face screws up in disgust. “Ew. Henderson–”

“But,” Dustin cuts in, “I’m actually kind of relieved.”

“I’ll bite,” Eddie drawls. “Pray tell: why?”

“Because you’re not going to make me pick a favorite anymore. You’ve basically melded into the same person.”

There is a beat of surprised silence before Steve and Eddie, almost simultaneously, burst out with “Oh my god, no we haven’t.” – “We have not.”

There is another beat of silence in which the two of them blink at each other as a grin spreads across Dustin’s face.

“See?” Steve finally says, recovering and looking at Dustin but pointing towards Eddie. “The way we said that was completely different.”

“Totally different,” Eddie agrees with a nod of his head.

“And we were never going to make you pick a favorite. What the hell, man?”

“What do you take us for, recently divorced parents?”

“That would’ve been petty.”

“Juvenile, even.”

“Exactly!”

Eddie shakes his head, clucking his tongue. “Where do you get these ideas, Henderson?”

Dustin, who has been watching their exchange like a tennis match, shakes his head right back. “It’s like you have two mouths but only one brain.”

[morganbritton132]

Eddie posts a Tiktok of Steve and Robin setting up a chess board to play. They’re both really good chess players but Steve is strategic as hell so he wins more often.

They’re trash talking each other the entire time they’re setting the board and Steve says, “Look at the leader board, Robbie. Who is number one? Me! No one can top me.”

Eddie, waiting for this exact moment, looks into the camera and says with a self-satisfying smirk, “I can.”

[dreamofbecoming]

listen i know we all love steve “completely ignorant of queer culture to the point that bisexuality is a surprise” harrington being roasted and educated in turns by robin and eddie, yadda yadda, good stuff. i read “they made a horror version of rocky?” in a fic recently and cackled. also a big fan of “he knew he was bi from the start and just never talked about it” as a trope, love it excellent well done

but what about steve who realizes after starcourt that the most important person in his life now has this thing that’s a major part of her life that he knows nothing about, and what if he fucks it up? what if he says something ignorant or rude by accident, and hurts her? what if he loses her because he didn’t know the right thing to say? what if he can’t keep her safe because he doesn’t know what to look out for? absolutely fucking not, this steve says

and listen she’d never say anything, because she can tell that he can tell how much she likes teasing him and teaching him things, so he plays dumb, and she thinks it’s very sweet. but she notices when the zines she keeps under her bed that she buys at that one secret bookshop in indy when she can sneak away on family trips start going missing, always one at a time, and replaced in a few days with another disappearing. and she finds the new ones he must have gone to buy the weekend she was at her aunt’s house hidden in the back of his closet when she goes to steal one of his sweaters. and she notices when he slips more of her queerer movie recommendations into his personal take home pile rather than the movie night stack when he thinks she’s not looking.

she doesn’t notice when he drives to indianapolis after she tries to explain to him why she can’t just ask out a cute girl, tries to impress on him the fear attached to every moment of attraction that he simply has never had to feel, but later she finds a crumpled receipt from a diner in one of his jacket pockets when she’s looking for his keys, and the address is across the street from the bar the gorgeous woman at the bookstore told her about, the one she memorized the address of but hasn’t worked up the guts to think about visiting, and she knows he must have gone looking for a place like that, must have been trying to understand, must have been scoping it out to make sure it was somewhere she could feel safe, after she told him she never had.

so when eddie nearly pops a blood vessel when they clock each other and she mentions that steve is the only person she’s ever come out to before, her hackles come up. because she gets it, she does, he’s only known king steve until recently, so it makes sense that he would be afraid, be concerned for her safety.

but steve is her person, and no one- no one- has ever made her feel as protected or as cared for as he does. no one has ever tried as hard to understand her, no one has ever put so much work into making her feel safe and seen and loved. and she thinks maybe even if no one else ever does, that’s ok. because she has steve, and more importantly steve has her, and that means no one gets to question his ally credentials in her presence without a dressing down to remember, no matter how well they mean or how recently they helped save the world.

(and maybe she’s not as surprised as she could be when he figures out bisexuality all on his own, because she’s been reading all the same pamphlets he has, after all. and she’s seen the way he looks at eddie, i mean come on. maybe no one else has noticed, but then, nobody knows steve harrington like she does.)

[upsidedog]

i was gonna do this meme with the original format then a much better came to mind

[casscainmainly]

I know they're probably not related, but I like to connect this scene (from Gates of Gotham #2) to Dustin Nguyen's story "What's In The Box?" in DC Festival of Heroes:

(Nguyen also uses the Black Bat costume, placing it around Gates of Gotham time).

I like to think that, while Cass more or less brushes off Damian's insult in Gates of Gotham, she can't help that it does get to her. That being shipped off to Hong Kong was genuinely something she had to process. And I like that, because this is in DC Festival of Heroes, her feelings about Bruce shipping her to Hong Kong are tangled up in her understanding of her race.

Idk I just like reading these as connected, because it indicates that Cass had a lot more feelings about leaving Gotham than she let on.

[psychotic-nonsense]

Eddie Munson died.

He was eaten by the bats, injured beyond help. He gave his last words and died in the arms of one of the few people he ever truly felt loved by.

And then there was Steve.

Steve and Nancy and Robin, showing up and bringing him back after just a few minutes. They wrap him up and keep him awake and get him out and save him.

Eddie survived. He's patched up and comatose for a while. His friends- scratch that, his new family fights for his freedom and innocence. He's welcomed back into the world a little raw around the edges - physically, mentally, emotionally, socially - but otherwise okay. Max is safe, Vecna is dead, and the Upside Down is no more.

The government cleared up everything. Reunites nephew and uncle in a fancy new house. Eddie finishes high school with flying colors, and he has an eternity of support to make it through life. A second chance, his own way.

Eddie gets to see his friends - Gareth and Jeff and The Freak Sworn to Secrecy (Harold) - and meets the Byers-Hopper family. Finds kindred in a similarly revived former Chief. Joins the Party like he was there from the beginning.

Eddie falls in love, like the sap he is. And apparently, Steve is a similar sap. It's young love and it's beautiful and the Party is supportive - though the kids are their usual selves, it's all in good taste. They watch the kids graduate, help Robin move on to college, and soon after, Eddie heals the taut rope between the universally bound siblings by moving he and Steve into the same town. It's rough but it's right, and the kids and their parents and Wayne visit often.

Life is perfect, for once in his miserable life, and Eddie has found himself weeping on more than one occasion for how happy he is. He's older than he ever believed he would get, healed beyond the aches and scars, and he's all the healthier for all the distance, the war, and the loss, however brief. Of course, he isn't without his nightmares, but they fade with time.

The one that refuses to is his only worry nowadays. A reoccurring but randomly timed nightmare, where he's shackled to a concrete floor, trapped in darkness. His body is bony and inhuman, elongated teeth and gangly hands with claws, large wings ripping from his back, and though he can't see it, he can feel the black sickness visibly coursing through his veins. He cries out in these nightmares, straining and pulling against the shackles, the darkness, his own body - the vision may be fake but the fear never is - and though he screams words they sound almost like the screeches of the very monsters that killed him, as though he is now one of them.

Eddie wakes every time to Steve holding him, their room bathed in comforting light, Steve's arms covering the very place on his back that would behold his wings. He talks him down softly, responds to everything Eddie says, makes him feel seen and heard and safe and alive and human. The only hiccup in paradise.

And though Eddie knows it's just his brain playing tricks on him, the history never leaving him, something about the nightmares feels too real. Too wrong to be imagination. Too intricate to be coincidence. The nightmares continue, the darkness shifts, more time passes between them but they always come back.

Then, one of them abruptly ends when a door opens, and a shape looking suspiciously like the Dustin of the Upside Down bursts in.

The Dustin from 7 years ago.

An abrupt and sharp ending.

Like Eddie wasn't supposed to see that.

- - - - - - - - - -

Eddie Munson died.

He was eaten by the bats, injured beyond help. He gave his last words and died in the arms of one of the few people he ever truly felt loved by.

And then there was no one.

The worlds merged together. The teens were too late. They had to leave, or they'd lose more and more and more than just one.

Dustin kicked and screamed and begged. Steve pulled him away, pleading and aching and guilty. Nancy and Robin watched, silent and somber and pained.

Eddie was abandoned. Left in the clutches of the Upside Down.

The Party went on to avenge him, trapped in a new apocalyptic Hawkins. Smoke burst from the rip in reality, clouding the world in storms of lightning and monsters. The town became a free for all, the only "saving grace" being the minimal aid from an increasingly unhelpful government. Food is scarce, war is infinite, and the only thing anyone has is each other. But when the people are in shambles and their only savior are children, there isn't much hope left.

The Byers and Hoppers are back, but Max is stuck in limbo, where not even El could find her. Dustin tells Eddie's uncle what's happened, and he demands to join to finish what his nephew started, so he may rest in peace. The kids are determined, the adults barely know what's happening, and the teens are worn down. No one knows what to do, but all they want to do is survive. Of course, they also want their friends back, but those they've lost are now the safest of the entire Party. At least death is peaceful once you're there.

Then, Hopper, El, and Jonathan are out on patrol when they're attacked. A singular being, humanoid but bent to the Upside Downs whims and ways. It's body is bony and inhuman, elongated teeth and gangly hands with claws, large wings ripping from it's back, with that black sickness visibly coursing through it's veins. They think it's a new tool from Vecna's twisted mind, a poor victim twisted to become a soldier for the cause that killed them.

But when they incapacitate it, wrap it up, and bring it back to the Party, the others see the clothes, the rings, the face, and they know who it is.

Eddie. Munson.

Since he's the only one of this kind - and because it's Eddie - they chain him to the basement of their new hideout. They watch him lash out and snarl and be monstrous, and the guilt rises in the witnesses with each growl.

They left him there. They made him like this. They made him die, sacrificed himself for them, and this is what he gets for it.

They take care of him. Dustin, Wayne, Steve, El, they take turns talking to him, trying to find something left in there. Eddie, humanity, Vecna, something other than this creature wearing Eddie's skin. There are some sleepless nights, where the Party thinks they can hear Eddie screaming from the basement, begging for freedom and help and comfort. But the mind plays tricks, and they know better than to fall for it.

Until one night, when Dustin's on patrol for the creature. He bursts into everyone's rooms, demanding they wake up.

Because Dustin had heard the human words that night. Was so tired he confused it for reality, and burst into the basement.

And he saw something in the creature's reaction. Fear, terror, recognition, hope.

Humanity.

Eddie.

Before the creature slumped over, then snapped up and was back to snarling and growling. An immediate reaction, but Dustin saw it still.

But it wasn't played like a trick. Dustin barely saw anything before the creature was back to its ways.

Less like Vecna wanted him to see it.

More like Dustin shouldn't have.

[hopelessromanfic]

okay but the best part of s4 hands down was max drawing a literally fine picture and dustin being the gordan ramsey of art basically calling it shit saying they need will instead

[raeofgayshine]

Thinking again about the fact that when Eddie and Dustin finally convince Steve to play DnD with the party, all of them, but especially Eddie, quickly become exasperated with Steve who has extremely high charisma, and decides that he can fix almost any situation by flirting with whoever they were in conflict with. Especially the fucking monsters, this man is bound and determined to himself a monster boyfriend and until it happens, he will make every single person they come across fall in love with him. So naturally, this happens a lot:

Steve: I’m going to flirt with them

Eddie, exasperated: Steve, you can’t date this monster, he’s trying to kill you-

Steve: Hot.

Steve: I’ll flirt with them harder then

[sp0o0kylights]

I'm rewatching S3 and there's a part at the very end of the 7th episode where Mike tells Dustin he couldn't understand half of what he said over the walkie.

Dustin responds by going: "Goddamn low battery"

AND STEVE, our BOY responds by going "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery!?"

WHICH MEANS: this is a situation that's happened before, specifically, happened enough between the two of them that Steve's bitched multiple times about how Dustin needs to replace his batteries more often bc he lets them go low.

So either somewhat vigilant Steve is canon OR (the more likely scenario canon wise) Dustin bothers the living shit out of Steve with the walkie and Steve just casually accepts this as part of their friendship, and gets annoyed when Dustin's battery dies on the reg lol.

[emperorofthedark]

[estrellami-1]

Steve felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest. The TV at Family Video was turned on to the news station (the tiebreaker when he and Robin couldn’t agree), and a reporter was saying something about a gruesome murder, limbs snapped, teenage boy suspect, and it all swirled and came together until Steve saw the trailer in the background.

Oxygen evaded him. He gasped, trying to remember how to breathe, how to stay grounded, because freaking out wasn’t going to help anything right now-

“Steve!” The front door banged open and Dustin ran in. “How many phones do you have?”

Steve blinked at Dustin. Managed a breath, another one. His brain still felt like it was swimming through molasses. “Why?”

Dustin rolled his eyes like it should’ve been obvious and gestured to the TV. “I’m gonna call Eddie. And, like, everyone. You know what situation this is, right? And that’s Eddie’s trailer. And he doesn’t know anything about this.”

“I know,” Steve murmured, thinking. “Okay, let’s go.” He spared a glance Robin’s direction. She nodded.

Dustin frowned. “Go where?”

“To go find Eddie. I know where he’ll be.”

“How? Steve? Steve, you don’t even know him. Steve?”

Steve ignored the questions. “Get buckled. You got your radio?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good, keep it on you.” Still ignoring all of Dustin’s questions, he peeled out of the parking lot, making his way to the place he and Eddie had promised each other they’d go if shit hit the fan.

He pulled up to the shed and gestured for Dustin to follow as he cautiously walked inside.

“Eddie?” Dustin asked. “Eddie, it’s Dustin, are you here?”

Steve should’ve said something, should’ve let Eddie hear his voice, but it’s too late because he touched the tarp Eddie’s under and suddenly his back was against the wall, a broken beer bottle against his neck. “Eddie,” he murmured calmly, even as his pulse skyrocketed. He vaguely heard Dustin saying something about his mother. “Eddie, put down the bottle, please. It’s okay. It’s just me and Dustin. No one followed us here. I know what you saw, I know what happened. I know you didn’t kill Chrissy, Eddie. I know you’re scared and don’t know what’s going on, but we’re gonna help you, okay? You’re not alone.”

Eddie dropped the bottle with a slight gasp, eyes widening as he realized who he’s looking at. “Shit,” he whispered, gently placing his hands on Steve’s shoulders. They were shaking. “Steve. Did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” he promised, his own hands finding Eddie’s waist. “And you? Are you okay?”

“Christ, Steve, I dunno.” He let out a weak laugh and dropped his head to Steve’s shoulder. “She just… she was sayin’ she thought she was crazy, paranoid, and then she’s in the air, and the sound, Steve, Jesus fuck, I’m never gonna forget it as long as I live, and then she- she’s dead, and-”

“I know,” Steve promised quietly, pulling him into a hug. “I know. It’ll be okay. C’mon, my house is safe. We can go there, lay low. Want me to get Wayne too? The trailer’s a crime scene right now, he’s gotta go somewhere else anyways.”

“Yeah. Please. Just… gimme a minute.”

“I’ll give you all the minutes,” Steve promised nonsensically. “We’ll get everyone together, figure out how to beat it. We’ve done it before.”

“Um,” Dustin said, “what the fuck?”

“Watch it,” Steve warned, tracing Eddie’s spine with his palm. “Did you really think the former king of Hawkins High didn’t buy from the best dealer in town?”

Dustin stared at him, disbelieving. “You’ve never gotten high in your life. I don’t think you’ve ever relaxed in your life.”

Eddie murmured something in Steve’s ear that caused him to roll his eyes and pinch Eddie’s side, smiling when he twitched. “You shush,” he admonished before turning back to Dustin. “I have gotten high. I stopped when I started watching you and the rest of the ankle-biters.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Okay, so explain this. Explain how cuddling your drug dealer is normal behavior.”

Steve tapped Eddie’s back, who tilted his head up again to whisper into Steve’s ear. “You sure?” Steve asked, and Eddie nodded.

“‘S fine.”

“M’kay. If you say so.” He stroked a hand down Eddie’s back again before returning his attention to Dustin. “Eddie’s not just my drug dealer. He’s my boyfriend.”

Dustin blinked. “You’re not gay.”

“Nope. It’s called bisexual. ‘S when you like both guys and girls.”

Dustin narrowed his eyes. “But… Robin?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Platonic, like I’ve told you a million times before, you twerp.”

Dustin shook his head. “Wait. You and Eddie?”

“Christ, I’d have better luck talking to a brick at this point. Yes, me and Eddie. Is that gonna be a problem for you?”

“Well, yeah,” Dustin said, like it was obvious, unaware of the way Steve and Eddie and both stiffened at his words. “You’re, like, my brothers or some shit. I don’t want my brothers dating each other. Besides, you both could do so much better.”

Eddie snorted and looked up at Dustin. “Not sure that’s how that works, bud.”

“Sure it is,” Dustin shrugged.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Not the point,” he reminded them both. “Eds, c’mon, let’s get you to my house. Dustin, can you walkie everyone? Tell them to meet us there?”

Dustin shook his head, but brought the walkie up to his mouth anyways. “Uh… guys? We’re meeting at Steve’s house ASAP. Over.”

“That’s not proper form, dipshit. Over.”

“Shut the fuck up, how about that? Over.”

“Fucking hell,” Steve murmured, grabbing the walkie from Dustin. “Listen up, twerps, my house, twenty minutes, move it. Over and out.”

Eddie began to grin at Steve. “‘S kinda hot, Stevie.”

“Oh, god,” Dustin said, screwing up his face. “No. Nope. We’re not going there. Just… let’s go. Before I try to bleach my brain.”

Steve chuckled, smacking a kiss to Eddie’s cheek and ruffling Dustin’s hair through his hat. “Glad you’re safe, Eds. Let’s go.”

[cringengl]

[harringroveera]

Steve’s gonna force this universe to get Billy back with him no matter what it takes

[stevemania]

steve harrington gifs ⋆˚࿔