#Eddie was wishing he had super powers

[navnae]

That scene of Steve telling Eddie that El has super powers and him getting annoyed will always make me laugh. He’s just like “damn I get it.” 😭

[kaspurrcat]

I'm super excited to share the art for my final bang of the @steddiebang2024 season "your eyes can be so cruel (just as i can be) a Labyrinth AU by @formosusiniquis. I am obsessed with this fic and I have so many ideas to that I want to draw for it that doubt it will be contained to this bang season. Anyways enough of my chit chat, check out the summary below as well as some fun detail shots!

Fic

When Eddie was sixteen, he wished away his baby brother. He survived dangers untold and hardships unnumbered and rescued Dustin from the castle at the heart of the Goblin City and the Prince who had answered Eddie's wish to steal him. Now it's sixteen years later and Eddie still feels like he's fighting hardships.

When he goes back to his childhood home, he discovers things might be more dire than he realized. The Goblin Prince hasn't forgotten him and now that war is on the horizon for the Labyrinth, he's being called to return to make good on the promises he made all those years ago.

If his power really is as strong as Prince Steven's, Eddie is going to have to learn how to tap into it to keep the Underground from crumbling under the weight of the attacking army. If his will is as great, he'll be able to do it without falling for the charms of the man who kidnaps children at the whims of bratty teenagers, regardless of their claims of betrothal. But as the fight gets nearer Eddie isn't sure how many of those old oaths he'll be able to swear this time. His power feels faltering, his kingdom weak, and he's sure that Steve holds a great deal of power over him. He's not sure he wants the last one to change.

[steddieas-shegoes]

Request: smooth as butter Steve flirting with Eddie while the CC boys watch in shock as their ruthless Eddie turns red(?) and gets all blushy bc he doesn't know how to deal with this STEVE???? making it better:it happens during DND the one time Eddie gets Steve to play & the entire time Steve's human bard character flirting hardcore with Eddie via his NPC's (the kids aren't involved in this one just Steddie & Corroded Coffin boys)

MY LOVEEEEEEE!!!! Okay I have never played. I know. Hush, I know. My best friend wants me to so bad she bought me dice. And like, I probably will, but like Steve, my brain is trying to not only deal with math, but also just how involved it all is. I like games that take about half a brain cell. I'm also super bad at the flirting thing, in real life and when writing. I just cannot do it my friends. But I did my best here and I hope it isn't the worst😂 - Mickala ❤️

--------------------------------------------------

He was doing this for Dustin.

He made a character sheet with Lucas, went over the basics, learned that maybe the math part wouldn’t be so bad.

And then he convinced Eddie to let him do a one shot with the Corroded Coffin guys so he could get a feel for it all without Dustin knowing.

He didn’t get that creative with his character according to Lucas, but he was also supportive and understanding that Steve wasn’t doing this as a regular thing.

Eddie explained to the guys that they needed to be patient, that Steve was genuinely trying to learn.

“Everyone was new once, so I don’t wanna hear anything from any of you about how annoying it is to have to take it so slow and explain everything. He’s trying to do a nice thing for Henderson and we’re going to be nice.”

Everyone groaned, but nodded in agreement.

“Are we talking about your crush on him yet, or is that still off the table?” Gareth had the gall to ask.

“There’s no crush to even have on the table,” Eddie said.

“Sure, dude.”

—--------------

Things were not going well.

Well, okay, they weren’t going bad.

It’s just that Lucas apparently explained to Steve that being in character was very important and Steve failed to mention that his character’s charisma was the highest possible option.

He shouldn’t be surprised by that.

Maybe he’s just surprised with all the blatant flirting.

The guys keep shooting him looks like they know that he’s struggling, that they can see that he is barely able to hold onto the power the DM usually has.

“The guard stops you, but he recognizes you. ‘You’re the one who stole the sword!’ he yells, catching the attention of the other guards. You panic because your party is still hiding in the bush with strict instructions not to be seen unless they draw their weapons on you. How will you respond?”

Steve smirked.

Not good. Run away. Get out, Munson, you’re fucked.

But he couldn’t leave.

He was the DM, and they were barely halfway done with what he had planned.

He had to see this through and he had to give Steve the best possible introduction to this game.

It was for Dustin.

“I’d probably have to insist that it wasn’t me he saw, but that I sure wish I’d seen him before. Maybe wink at him,” Steve said. “Actually, definitely wink at him.”

Steve looked at everyone else, smile silently asking for approval.

Everyone smirked at Eddie before giving him a thumbs up.

Traitors.

He’d be saying something later for sure.

“The guard is still suspicious, but waves the other guards off. He looks you over, circles you, decides to take your only weapon.”

“Not my only weapon. I still have plenty of time to distract him.”

Eddie squints at him, just as suspicious as the guard in their game.

“Roll for-”

“Persuasion, right?” Steve interrupted.

“Sure. Roll for persuasion, Stevie,” Eddie pretended not to be flustered at Steve remembering aspects of the game.

“18!” Steve yelled. “Plus the 13. So that’s…” he held his hand up while he thought about it. “31!”

Everyone at the table cheered except for Eddie.

He knew what was coming.

“I offer to let the guard check me for weapons in private if he’s still suspicious. I tell him it’s better to take all my clothes off where he can do something about it.”

Eddie hated what was happening.

He hated that he could feel how red his face was, and how much Steve was thriving off of putting Eddie off of his own game.

He hated the way the guys were all watching, literally holding their breath for Eddie’s reaction.

“The guard decides to lead you past the gate, but instead of taking you to the entrance to the castle, he leads you down a side road. It leads to a small cottage, and you start to worry that your party won’t find you.”

Steve doesn’t even hesitate.

“I let him lead me where he wants. I can take it.”

Eddie is going to die. Right here.

Steve knows what he’s doing, what he’s saying.

He knows what he is doing to Eddie.

And, okay, maybe they haven’t talked about it, maybe they’ve both been avoiding the very obvious tension between them for months. Maybe Eddie could have taken a chance any of the times they’ve been alone lately to finally talk about it.

Or maybe Steve would just keep flirting with him through this stupid game until Eddie couldn’t even do what he needed to do.

And everyone around them would just get to watch it unfold.

Jeff, his only friend at the moment, cleared his throat and decided to speak up.

“I think the rest of the party should follow. Just in case he needs backup. Guys?”

Thank God for Jeff.

It continues, the rest of the party finds a way to get past the guards, and Eddie admits to himself that he’s making it easier on purpose.

He wants, no, needs this game to end.

And he gets his wish ten minutes later when the phone rings and it’s Dustin, begging for a ride.

Eddie ignores the fact that he called his trailer knowing Steve would be here already, but the rest of the group doesn’t.

While Steve is on the phone, they all quietly tease Eddie.

“If I knew Steve would fluster you this much, I think we would have invited him a long time ago,” Grant said.

“Yeah, we probably would’ve had much easier campaigns if he joined in high school,” Gareth added.

“Yeah? Next time you all get to die, how about that? Terrible, bloody deaths. Gareth gets tortured.”

Before any of them could answer, Steve came into the room, looking a bit sad.

“Sorry about this guys. I couldn’t really come up with a reason that I couldn’t go without giving it away what I was doing. We could pause and come back to it later?”

Eddie knew the guys would be fine with just calling it here; They’d managed to get far enough along that they knew it would have been a good win for them.

“Nah, you did good. Maybe you can join us for real after Dustin’s birthday campaign,” Jeff said.

Steve beamed back at him.

“Maybe, yeah. If you guys are cool with it.”

Was he…shy?

He was just flirting up a storm! Absolutely taking the lead in a game he’d never played before! And now he was being shy?

“Hell yeah!” They all agreed.

Great, Steve was making friends with his friends.

“Alright!” Steve clapped his hands together. “I’m off to get the kid. Thanks guys!”

He started to leave, but stopped by Eddie.

Then his lips were on the top of Eddie’s head.

“Bye guys!” He said as he continued to walk out.

Eddie’s eyes were wide, unblinking. The guys were all staring at him with the same wide, unblinking eyes.

The front door to the trailer closed.

“Uh,” Eddie said.

“Did he-”

“He just-”

“On your head.”

“Uh.”

The front door opened.

Steve was standing in the doorway to the kitchen area, eyes wide, unblinking.

“Did I-”

“Uh huh,” Eddie answered.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Is that…okay?”

He was looking nervously between the guys and Eddie, like he expected someone to punch him.

“Oh! Yeah. No, they’re good. Um. Did you want to kiss me?”

“Yeah. I kinda…always do?”

“Always?”

“Yes. It’s kind of all I think about.”

Eddie took it all back; This was the best and he had never been happier that Steve wanted to play D&D.

He didn’t even care about the guys watching as he stood from his chair and walked to Steve in the doorway.

“Me too.”

He pulled Steve against him, ignoring the whistles and cheers from the table, and kissed him.

The kiss left them both breathless, despite being barely more than a peck.

“Um, I should go get Dustin,” Steve whispered.

“Yeah. Come back after?”

“Will everyone still be here?” Steve asked nervously.

“Nope, just you and me, sweetheart,” Eddie replied.

“Good. I’ll be back soon, then.”

When Steve left, Eddie turned back to the group, lovestruck grin on his face.

“So it’s off the table now, right?” Gareth asked, smirking.

“Shut up.”

[neeeeeoposts]

“god bless america i guess what else can you say” -charlie dompler

expanding more on this, i think it’d be super funny if at first ed thought his friends were simply just that. his friends. until idk maybe he thought out loud something like ‘i wish i had askjdwansdk a physical copy of my favorite horror movie’ and then bam his friends are now fairies

but then again they could also be leaving like accidental hints every now and then like being able to teleport items, albeit quietly and stealthfully or like their unnaturally stretchy skin that somehow doesnt break when theyre fighting with the other neighbor hood kids (ed would probably think its bc they use proper skincare but he would be terrified of it so he wouldnt know)

and when he does find out theyre fairies that can grant wishes he is probably somewhere in the middle between abusing the power given to him and knowing when to stop or restrict himself from making stupid wishes (in hindsight, he probably wouldnt but it would most likely be Edd who tells him to rethink a wish before Eddy grants it)

and i can totally see Rolf being that weird teacher from the FOP og show that break his bones everytime he thinks he sees fairies like that one valentines day episode from eene

[klausinamarink]

One Kid Gone, Another Up and Vanished (part 7)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 next: Part 8

spoilers but a phone call gets through!

“You’re a thousand percent sure?”

Mike groans as he checks down the school halls, “Yes, Lucas. How many times do I gotta tell you that?”

“Well, maybe until I’m positive that we’re not having a collective auditory hallucination or the weirdo isn’t tricking us.” Lucas crosses his arms. Beside Dustin, El mutters “auditory hallucination” to herself with furrowed eyebrows.

“You guys hear that?!” Dustin exclaims too loudly, earning equally loud shushes. “Sorry, but El just said a scientific word without mispronouncing it! She really does have superpowers…”

“Not now, Dustin.” Mike hushes as they finally get to the AV club. He unlocks the door and lets everyone inside after peeking in. He guides El to sit in front of the radio while Lucas and Dustin turn it on.

Dustin won’t lie - he’s super excited to see El use her powers for the radio. He couldn’t believe it when she made Will’s voice come out. Will! Alive and singing!

But he’s still confused over Mike’s news of Will being with someone named Eddie. Eddie who? is their biggest question but El can’t say because she doesn’t know his last name or how to describe him.

“He’s a friend.” She keeps telling them.

Dustin prays it’s not Eddie Tremblay from fifth grade. The little sucker doesn’t deserve to be Will’s new friend after his football landed on their rocket project last month.

“Aaaand we’re in!” He announces, hopping behind El. Mike and Lucas squish against him even though they clearly have much more space.

El closes her eyes and listens to the whining static. Then the static changes through channels, voices quickly overlapping until they get more comprehensive. Then the voices get compressed into six, four, two-

“-Control to Major Tom..”

Dustin shoots his hand forward and grabs one of the speakers. But so does Lucas and Mike and now they’re slapping each other’s hands until Lucas finally takes it and yells, “Will, can you read us? Over!”

“‘Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong..’”

At the sound of the second person, Dustin’s first thought is oh thank God, it’s not Tremblay. Then his second thought is hm, this Eddie guy sounds kinda cool. Then his third thought is oh my god, we gotta talk to Will!

“Will! Do you copy? Over!”

“Will, where are you?”

“You feeling a bit better so far?”

“Tell Eddie we’re saying hi! Who is he? Over!”

“I’m getting cold again..”

“Me too. C’mon here.”

“Will! We’re right here!”

“How the hell are they not hearing us?”

“I wish I could go home…”

“So do I…”

El gives out a painful gasp and the radio explodes into flames. Dustin manages to extinguish it before the rest of the room catches, but the fire alarm goes off.

They all stare at the now-ruined transmitter, their only chance of connecting with Will and his mysterious new friend.

—

Eddie’s definitely missing.

It’s a fact that Jeff grows more sure of every day since Wayne Munson had asked him for Eddie’s secretive hideouts.

He keeps trying to ignore the seed of dread in his stomach, but it’s impossible now with the slightly somber atmosphere in the school after the morning announcement of Will Byers’ death. The fact that Eddie hasn’t shown up for classes or in the cafeteria again today isn’t helping either.

“If Munson’s still gonna be on his bender, he should’ve at least cancelled this week’s session.”

Jeff takes a half-open Skittles bag from Maya’s tray and throws it at Evan, making the two members jump. Maya because those are her Skittles and Evan because the bag hits his chest making more pieces fly out on the table.

“Eddie’s not on a bender.” Jeff hisses at Evan. Across him, Frankie is giving him one of his Don’t-Make-This-Any-Worse looks.

Evan huffs and crosses his arms, “Oh, yeah? Then where the hell is he?”

“Definitely not on a bender of any kind!”

“Gee thanks, that clears things up.”

Jeff’s about to snap back, but Frankie discreetly kicks his leg with a warning glare. It might be a good call because Jeff doesn’t know what to say next. Another defence of Eddie, for sure, but nothing to quench the rest of the club’s antsy-ness.

“Maybe he’s gone to a concert. Like hitchhiked to Indy or Chicago?” Maya asks after picking up her spilled candy.

“But he has a van?” Daniel, the senior member of Hellfire and their current drummer, frowns pointedly.

“What concert could’ve he gone to? Is there even any band playing in this bum state?” Evan raises his eyebrows.

“I dunno, Dio?”

“They’re touring in the UK right now.” Frankie says. Jeff shoots him a bewildered look that’s the equivalent to screaming are you kidding me? Frankie gives him a Play-Along-With-It look.

“Well, that settles it.” Evan raps his knuckles on the table. “Munson’s saved a fucking ticket to the goddamned Iron Lady’s territory and is breeding chicks in Dio’s mosh pit as we speak.”

Jeff stands up, no longer feeling hungry. He throws his half-eaten sandwich at Evan. The other boy gives out a disgusted shriek as the mayonnaise hits and stains his shirt. “Dude! What-”

“Shame on you.” Jeff keeps his voice even, just quiet enough for only Hellfire to hear him. Maybe it would somehow reach Eddie wherever the hell he is right now. “The only good thing about Eddie being absent is that he isn’t ripping the skins off of you and your characters right now. Especially you, Evan.”

He stares Evan down, who visibly gulps. “Eddie took you in the club’s open arms because he saw you were a loner who needed the right people to hang out with or you would’ve been one of the bullies. And this is how you thank him?”

He looks at the rest of the members and points at them accusingly. “When Eddie comes back from whatever he’s doing, I hope that rest of y’all feel guilty for thinking he doesn’t care. Because he absolutely does.” Then he grabs his bag and leaves the cafeteria without a second thought.

Outside is chilly as usual and the breeze helps relax Jeff’s nerves. For a while at least.

He stands at the parking lot, trying to think what he should do when he hears someone running over. He looks up and groans.

“Frankie, leave me alone, man.”

“So you haven’t heard anything from Eddie?” Frankie’s voice isn’t accusing but his look might’ve been.

“No. Not since the band practice days ago.” Jeff walks away but Frankie still follows him. “Then his uncle came and asked if I knew any places Eddie frequents. I told you guys that already.”

“Doesn’t stop Evan’s stupid theories.” Frankie mutters.

“You should’ve shut him up!”

“Are you kidding? You did better than what I could’ve done.”

“Words are stronger than death looks.”

Frankie snorts. He goes quiet as they reach the end of the school parking lot. Then he says, “Are you going to search for Eddie?”

Jeff stops. Turns and stares at him. “Uh, yeah? I mean, from what he said, Wayne’s probably already doing that. So, I dunno, I’m probably gonna do the bare minimum. Like where am I going to look, dude?”

Frankie doesn’t answer. His face is strangely pale and looking at something behind Jeff. He follows his friend’s phase and feels the dread well up in his mouth when he sees a poster on a nearby telephone pole.

He doesn’t need a closer look to recognize the black and white photo of Eddie from two months ago grinning at him or the large word MISSING written in Sharpie above it.

He tries very hard not to notice that it’s stapled right below Will Byers’ already wrinkled poster.

It’s a very strong feeling to see your best friend’s missing poster a few days after you last saw him alive.

Jeff forces to tear his eyes away from Eddie’s captured monochrome cheeriness. “Know what? Fuck it. Let’s find him. Wanna start at the woods?”

—

There’s something about singing quietly in the nightscape hell mirror version of your bedroom that makes Eddie’s fingers twitch to jolt it down somewhere.

After the meltdown at the house, Will had grew more quiet. Eddie had rocked him until Will complained of motion sickness and then Eddie had held him even when they slept.

After piggybacking the kid and singing “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” (at least until Eddie admitted death by earworms and convinced a change to “Space Oddity”) on the way back to Forest Hills, Will seemed to be back in his original spirits. Still quiet but no longer on the verge of tears next to Eddie. Although his coughs started to sound more wet and shook his small frame like a leaf.

Eddie prays to god that he can speak to Wayne this time. He hopes his uncle to come up with a cooler code system than Mrs. Byers and maybe get them out somehow.

But the trailer is quiet, save for Will’s whistled breathing as he sleeps in Eddie’s arms, the old itchy quilt cocooning them both. He has to stay up. Keep a lookout for the demogorgon in this hell land and for Wayne in the real world. But he feels so tired. If he can rest his eyes for just a moment…

The sound of muffled crying wakes him up.

—

The longer Wayne stares at the posters, the bigger the impulse to rip them up grows.

After Hopper left, he had went back inside and started on making the Missing posters for Eddie. The hardest part of it had been trying to find the right photo of his nephew and he had held back tears at how much Eddie had grown. How happier he looks.

He had printed copies at the library, keeping his head down from curious and pitying eyes. Christi Waldon was nice enough not to charge him for the fees.

Then he started putting the posters up and Wayne had felt like he was making a mistake.

Nobody never said anything how difficult it is to go around town again, putting a poster with your child’s face silently begging strangers who may disliked them to find them, and to do all of this without the police helping.

Wayne had printed 100 copies. He only managed to put up 18 of them before it became too much and hurried home.

Now there’s a pile of 82 posters with Eddie’s face staring up at him on the table. Wayne can’t bring himself to rip them up no matter what his mind demands it. He has a new superstition that if he does, Eddie will never be found alive.

He checks the time. Seeing it’s only after six, he sighs heavily and takes out his cigarette. He’s briefly overcome with the memory of catching a fourteen year old Eddie trying to smoke and how his smart cookie of a nephew swallowed the lit cigarette, immediately threw up, and sobbed while Wayne had to sit down so he wouldn’t break his own ass from laughing so far. After they’d both calmed down, Wayne showed him how to smoke properly and said-

He said…

What did he say?

Something erupts from his mouth. He clamps a hand over, suddenly worrying that he just got sick. But there’s no taste of bile. Only wet salt. He takes his hand off and, ah. He’s crying.

Wayne gives a wet laugh. Then it gasps into another sob. He covers his mouth again, unable to hold the tears back.

Above him, the lights flicker.

It feels almost comforting.

Wayne sniffs, watching as the bulbs hang on to its dear life of electricity. Then one of the lamps next to the couch start flickering as well. Slow and rhythmic.

The sadness does go away, but it makes Wayne feel the back of his neck hairs stand up.

—

Eddie drops his hand from the lights, stomping over to the phone. “Fuck this, now’s the chance.”

Will glances at him from where he’s crouching by the lights, still tired from being jostled awake so soon, “Eddie?”

He turns to him and says, “Little Byers the Vanished, how does one make a landline in the Vale of Shadows?”

“You, uh, just pick it up-”

Eddie does exactly that.

“Wait! It won’t even last-!”

—

The phone rings with a shrill.

Wayne snaps his head over to it. He’s breathing slowly, watching the landline like it’s his childhood spider.

The atmosphere in his trailer feels suddenly colder. As if there are ghosts present. Waiting.

The phone rings and rings until it gets to voicemail, his gruff message for the last decade. “You’ve reached the Munsons. Leave a message after the beep.”

There’s nothing after the beep.

Wayne looks at the lights again. The ceiling light has stopped but ones over the kitchen and door are flickering this time.

The phone rings again.

He stands up slowly, walking over to the phone. It rings louder to his ears now. He tries to ignore the sudden sense of a presence behind and beside him as he picks the phone up and holds it to his ear.

He hears static as if the caller has a bad connection.

He clears his throat and speaks, “Wayne Munson speakin’.”

The static crackles with some kind of harsh breathing. It’s loud to make Wayne cringe away and hang up-

“..Wayne..”

He freezes. The anxiety vanishes in an instant. “..Eddie?” He chokes out.

“..Wayne!”

“Oh my lord…” Wayne clutches the phone closer. “You’re alive, right? Eddie! Tell me where are you!”

“..I’m-”

The phone bursts into literal shock. He drops it with a yell and it clatters to the ground, dead.

That was him. That was Eddie’s voice.

Breathing raggedly, Wayne’s gaze snaps up to the lamps flashing maniacally. The air around him feels desperate and sinks down upon him. Anxiety comes back as quick as it comes, squashing on the brief spot of hope he felt.

“Nah, fuck this.” He mutters as he swipes his keys and runs out of the door. He can’t deal with more ghosts at this hour.

—

“Nonono—NO!”

Eddie slams his hands against the lights too hard. The pulsing glass bulbs nearly crack under the pressure.

None of it stops the sound of the truck engine starting.

“Wayne, it’s me! Can’t you hear me?!” Eddie’s throat is already dry from screaming, but he doesn’t care about it. “UNCLE WAYNE! JUST STOP AND LISTEN TO ME!”

He runs outside to the ever barren yard. He tries not to think about Wayne leaving just like how his dad did in his very last visit. How he had tried to chase after his dad’s car until Wayne stopped him. How he had been a crying mess while Wayne told him that both of them will stay together from now on.

“WAYNE, PLEASE! YOU PROMISED TO STAY!”

The truck drives away, farther and farther. If Eddie can catch him-

His lungs constrict themselves again. He stumbles, scraping his knees and palms on the ground. He coughs, gulping in too many shaky breaths that almost tastes like glass shards. He calls out-

“Come back! Come back!”

It comes out as a hoarse whisper.

His throat hurts.

The truck disappears. The sounds of the trailers’ muted everyday life and his own painful wheezing replace it.

Eddie is vaguely aware of Will shuffling up next to him and wrapping his arms around his shaking shoulders.

-

Taglist: @unclewaynemunson @steves-strapcollection @hellion-child @sidekick-hero @mmmmwaffles94 @demolitionjetstar @hbyrde36 @princessstevemunson @sirsnacksalot @tartarusknight @lyriclight @kodaik97 @plsdontdrinkmylavalamp @bookbinderbitch @gutterflower77 @soaringornithopter @angeldreamsoffanfic @panicatthediaz @renaissan-vvitch @manda-panda-monium @newtstabber @little-trash-ghost

[stevethehairington]

okay so. overall review:

actually not as bad as i expected it to be! and not as bad as i thought it was going to turn out while i was in the trenches there lol. i still wished it focused a little more on eddie's home life/relationship with his dad and uncle AND his friends, and had way less of the romance stuff (read: none), BUT i will admit that there ended up being a lot less of the romance stuff than i initially expected and a lot less than it seemed like there would be while still in the middle of the book.

the paige stuff still made me uncomfy bc i didn't like the power dynamics there (paige had something eddie wanted desperately, and i don't like the idea that that could have had something to do with his "feelings" for her/why he engaged with them ((esp bc let's be real — he didn't seem super torn up over not getting to be with her in the end)) or that she used that to her advantage bc there was ALSO something in it for her) BUT i will say they did make it slightly less skeezy than i expected bc she was only a couple years older than him instead of like. significantly older like i expected.

i do wish there was more about eddie's friends and their fallout and reconciliation. his friends were super important to him and he just. dropped them. like that. and there was BARELY any blowback. like yeah there was a fight with ronnie, but we never actually got to see the reactions of any of the other hellfire/corroded coffin guys, and i would've liked to see that. same with the reconciliation, it felt very minimal — i would've liked to see more of how that played out too.

I LOVED EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN SECOND OF WAYNE MUNSON CONTENT, THAT MAN IS A GIFT HE IS AN ANGEL I ADORE HIM WITH EVERYTHING IN ME. IF THERE IS ONE THING THIS BOOK HAS DONE IT HAS SOLIDIFIED MY STANCE THAT WAYNE MUNSON IS THE BEST GOD DAMN CHARACTER AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM.

as for eddie — i think the author did an alright job finding his voice. there were times where i thought she really nailed it, but there were also A LOT of times where i thought "he would never say that!!" "he would never do that!!". it wasn't very consistent, but overall it wasn't awful and there were some good parts!

the other characters we know and love that made cameos — VERY fun to see them (gareth, chrissy, jason, hopper, will, jonathan!!!) gareth was ESPECIALLY fun to see because they really embraced that feral chihuahua boy energy we love to assign to him. BUT. i am SO incredibly upset with how badly they massacred my boy tommy h (whOSE LAST NAME THEY COULDNT EVEN GET RIGHT I MEAN W H A T!?) they fucking. got his characterization SO BAD. it was awful. i am. personally offended by it (joking, mostly rhsjsi). (as a tommy lover i am. devastated tho. HE WOULD NOT DO THAT!!!)

OH ALSO — reefer rick. WHAT a fun dude. hes out here in his robe and bunny slippers drinking darjeeling tea, living it up. what a guy.

id like to give a huge FUCK YOU to principal higgins too! they made that dude a straight up MONSTER. he was unnecessarily CRUEL and some of the things he said straight up to eddies face,,,,,,, sir what the FUCK. i know the 80s was a different time but jesus fucking cHRIST was casual cruelty and bullying from grown ass ADULTS commonplace? i sure hope not.

ALSO FUCK AL MUNSON LIVES ALL MY HOMIES HATE AL MUNSON LIVES. that man was AWFUL, TRULY HONESTLY GENUINELY THE WORST. neglectful and cruel and downright AWFUL. NOT ONLY DID HE CONSISTENTLY ABANDON EDDIE THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE BUT THEN HE DREW EDDIE INTO HIS SCHEMES, CONNED HIM, FUCKED UP REAL BIG, AND THEN LEFT EDDIE IN THE ASHES OF THEIR — OF HIS — HOME AS THE ONLY PERSON LEFT WITH THE COP WHO GOT SHOT AND IS LIKE SLOWLY BLEEDING OUT. TALK ABOUT FUCKING TRAUMA WHAT THE FUCK. i hope he got flayed ALIVE by charlie greene lmao it would serve him right that absolute twat waffle.

also, im gonna be real. the end of that book was actually INSANELY depressing. like, it tried to be positive because you gotta end on a positive note right? but it just fell. COMPLETELY flat. bc we all know what happens to eddie in canon. he's sitting there reenrolling in school, peacoking around about how he's GOING to finish high school and he's GOING to graduate and he's GOING to show principal higgins that he CAN do it and that he ISNT the fuckup deliquent he's convinced he is. BUT WE ALL KNOW HE DOESNT FUCKING GET THAT IN CANON. he's taking waynes advice and fully embracing who he is and he's learning to be comfortable in his own skin and to rise above all the noise of people who don't like him and think he's a freak. ONLY WE KNOW HE NEVER TRULY GETS TO DO THAT EITHER BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW HOW IT ENDS IN CANON. so yeah it just ends up being a REALLY fucking BLEAK ending because all of that "positivity" is absolutely tainted. it's fucking soured. and i am once again INSANELY INFURIATED about eddies death. so fuck the duffers, again.

also, eddie munson literally never caught a fucking break. not one fucking break. his ENTIRE life was just one series of tragedies after the other and it truly just continued on that way until he fucking died. honestly, its a goddamn MIRACLE that he has ANY ounce of positivity and optimism and hope left in his life when we get to him in s4. thatd how utter dogshit a hand he has been dealt in life. and it only.got worse from there. and i will NEVER forgive ANYONE involved in his creation for that.

so yeah! that concludes my journey reading flight of icarus. it was a wild ride lol.

[griefabyss69]

Steddie prompt: former Experiment!Eddie messing with Steve using his gifts because he’s bored. What that entails is entirely up to you! :) NSFW or SFW, dealers choice.

This is such an interesting concept! One that I've somehow never thought to write about before. I could've written like double this, but it was already like four drabbles long. I might come back to the concept one day!

[Drabble request series on ao3]

---

4.1K words - Steddie - Rated: E

Contains: Tiny bit of dub-con (basically nothing is negotiated but they're both into it all), metaphysical anal, face slapping, ass slapping, Eddie taking control of Steve's body

Once the poisonous, bloody, dust has settled, and the fluorescent sterile aftermath endured, Eddie comes out to everyone.

Not in a Robin kind of way, but in an Eleven kind of way.

Or rather, reading the tattoo he's kept hidden under his watch this whole time, Twelve.

Steve had been kind of shocked, like way more surprised than he thinks he should've been, but he absorbs the information and adjusts, just like always. Eddie's still the same guy after all, they all just know him a little better, and he gets to take some of the super-powered pressure off of El whenever being that kind of weird gets rough.

And call him naive, but Steve didn't really think he had anything to worry about, it's not like the guy's actually a murderer or evil or whatever, even though the town hit too close to home with the whole Has-Powers-Like-The-Devil thing. It burns Steve's guts a little, makes him feel sick with how close Eddie could've come to getting snatched up by the wrong people again.

So when he gets a weird glint in his eye one evening, Steve doesn't think "Oh shit, he's going to Devil-Power me to Hell". He thinks, "He's about to go find a pen and a notepad and spend the next hour ignoring me.", which sucks way more than having any kind of evil attention.

Well, his wish for it certainly gets granted.

Eddie stretches out on the couch, eyes slotting into place right where they should be – holding Steve's gaze – his shirt loose enough at the bottom to ride all the way up to his ribs when he wriggles around restlessly. His mouth quirks up into a little smirk, Steve can't tell if there's meant to be humor in it or not, but he's sure if he's about to open up with something dry and sarcastic he'll find out soon enough.

For a minute though, it's just a staring contest, one that has Steve enthralled. He doesn't even think about looking away, even when he feels his own hand raising up into the air, knuckled into a loose fist.

He does frown though, confusion tugging at his mouth when his fist punches down into his own leg, not hard enough to hurt but definitely not something he did on purpose.

"Eddie?" He asks, trying not to sound too worried.

"Yes, Steve?" Eddie replies, raising his eyebrows.

Another punch, this time with his fingers clenched tighter, harder into his jeans, and Steve finally breaks eye contact, looking down at his hand.

The spell over the internal mechanism that urges him to gravitate towards Eddie is broken, but the one over his hand isn't. A couple quick punches and Steve glares over at him, finally trying to actually fight against whatever's moving him.

"What're you doing?" He asks, and Eddie laughs, rolling over onto his stomach.

He puts his chin in his hands and gives him a doe-eyed look, blatantly false innocence pooling under his eyelashes.

"What do you mean?" He shoots back, lips quirking into an enigmatic little smile.

Steve wants to stick his tongue into the corner of it.

"Well. I'm not punching myself on purpose. So if that's not you, then maybe we should do something about it," he says, watching his fist turn into an open hand, slapping down against his thigh.

Eddie sighs, shaking his head at him with a fake kind of pity.

"Oh Steve, I'm all the way over here, how could that be from me?"

Well, he knew it before, but now he really knows that Eddie's doing this.

"Then I guess I'll go call a code red and get the super nerds on the case," he says, getting to his feet.

He doesn't get very far, Eddie halting him mid-step, keeping him off balance with one leg in the air.

"No need to do that, I'm sure I can protect you against the ghost that's possessing you," he says, kicking his feet up behind him.

He looks like he should be twirling some of his hair around his finger as he sighs dreamily about a boy at a sleepover. The look kind of suits him even with the new tattoo that's peeking out from under his shirt.

Steve wants both of his feet on the ground, so he tries, and finds that he can push through Eddie's power like it's molasses and not a brick wall.

It bodes well for not falling over when he lets him go, but it doesn't bode well for the mischievous way he's looking at him. The thing about Eddie is, if he wants to toy with someone, he'll give them a way out of it, if they work hard enough for it. No brick walls there, but you have to want the escape.

Of course, that's always been during things like stupid arguments about movies or the casual flirting he does with everyone, not physically controlling someone like a puppet. At least not in Steve's experience anyway.

"Right. Can you see the ghost? Are my eyes glowing red?" Steve asks, voice bland.

Eddie laughs, wiggles his fingers at him with a wink. It looks fruity and has Steve's gut tugging his heart around on a leash. He can't believe that actually does something for him.

"Yeah, I can see it right now, looks pretty strong," he says, eyes sweeping over Steve's body like he's checking him out, not pretending to assess a threat. "It might take me a bit to fight- oh!"

He's a good actor, but Steve knows he's fucking around, so his pretend surprise when Steve's open palm slaps into his own face doesn't work on him. It's not very hard, doesn't even sting, but it does make him jump, heart racing at the unexpected hit.

"He got you good!" Eddie says, eyes so wide and so absolved of his actions.

Steve gives him his nastiest glare, regaining control enough to rub at his cheek, a small trickle of humiliation building between his shoulder blades.

Eddie laughs and makes him slap himself again, and this time it stings, the pain spearing him in whatever part of the brain that lust resides. That's a fucking problem, has him hoping Eddie gets bored of him soon, because he's known him long enough to know that he'd hold that kind of information over his head forever.

"Man, I'm sorry, this ghost is really beefy," he says, his legs still kicking.

"Call in some reinforcements, then?" Steve replies, rolling his eyes at him.

He fights to get both of his hands down by his sides, trying to brace himself against what comes next, waiting as he watches the gears turn in Eddie's head.

"You're not going to want anyone else around," Eddie says, and Steve feels a weird, nebulous pressure under his chin, forcing it up.

That almost gets a sound out of him, but it's not until the pressure is sliding down his chest, lighting up the nerves in his nipples on it's journey, that his throat opens up and lays a moan out into the air.

"What's the ghost doing now?" Eddie asks, eyebrows raised.

"Being some kind of pervert," Steve says, eyes flying wide when he feels a tugging at his belt.

"Oh, that's a shame, I guess."

Eddie's got his belt all the way undone before Steve can get his hands up to it, and he tries to think over the pounding of his heart.

This is totally on purpose, and seems like a whole different kind of thing than all of Eddie's harmless flirting. Does that mean Eddie's noticed things about him? How he lingers around him too much, how he finds it hard to tear his attention away from him a lot of the time?

Or is this Eddie just fucking with him in a new way?

"Looks like I might get a show, though," Eddie says, bypassing where Steve holds the two ends of his belt in place to get his jeans undone, button fly popping open quickly enough that Steve doesn't register it happening at first.

"Eddie," he starts, not sure what he's going to say.

Should he ask him to stop?

His the leather in his hands slips out of his fingers and his pants fall down his hips a few inches. He should ask him to stop, but that would mean… well. Stopping.

"Uh-oh," Eddie smirks, playing with a piece of his hair. "Interesting tactic this ghost has."

Steve pushes his hands against the power to clutch at his jeans, grunting with the effort, holding them up just before they can fall further and reveal the swell of his cock in his underwear.

"Honestly Eddie, cut the bullshit," he says, aiming for stern and getting lusty leading actress instead. "We both know I know you're doing this."

Eddie laughs, hiding his grin behind where he's twisting his hair in his fingers, looking up at him through his eyelashes. It's cute, though all of the mocking innocence has melted away.

"What, don't want to blame this on a third party?" He asks, all pretend-sympathy. "That way you won't have to admit that you're getting bested by a nerd."

Steve rolls his eyes, because the whole nerd thing is not what this is about and Eddie knows it. It's about facing the fact that Eddie's toying with him in a way that's homosexual, and the fact that Steve's protests have been so weak he can't even call it acting.

"You haven't bested me yet," he says instead, managing to get the top button of his jeans done back up.

"Don't egg me on like that, I might end up thinking you want it," Eddie says, dark eyes giving him another once over. "I'm also not trying very hard, my nose isn't even bleeding."

Steve knew he was pulling his punches, a fact driven home by the way his arms fly out from his sides, trapped in midair like he's stuck under something heavy. Struggling against it does nothing, no molasses to wade through, and Eddie's finally stopped kicking his feet, doesn't look casual anymore.

A real show of his power, even though Steve knows this is still pretty surface level.

"Try to move your arms," Eddie says, nodding at him with his chin as if he's not already putting in the effort.

Steve glares. Eddie grins.

"Alright, if you don't want to, I guess I could find a way to motivate you."

The button on his jeans pops back open and his pants are yanked, pooling around his ankles before he can even open his mouth to tell him off.

He doesn't think that's what he would've done, though. He wonders if Eddie's aware of that, or if he thinks he's doing something that Steve hasn't fantasized about before. Like sure, in his fantasies, Eddie's using his hands – sometimes his mouth – to undress and touch him, but what is this if not an extension of his body?

It comes from him, after all.

Steve doesn't say anything, just watches him, pokes at the little feeling of humiliation and lets it grow, letting the shame for wanting Eddie to defeat him have it's cruel stab in his chest, as he finds his eyes held in place by Eddie's gaze again.

"Nothing, huh?" Eddie says, less playful for a moment, almost like he's frustrated.

Does he want Steve to protest? To beg and fight against something he knows he's not capable of physically overpowering? To ask him to stop?

He sighs.

"You know I'm trying, I know you can feel it," he says, frowning. "I'm not going to beg you to let me go."

Eddie stares at him, the gears once again kicking into motion as he visibly understands what Steve's not saying.

"I'll make you," he replies, pulling Steve's shirt up over his head to brace it against the back of his neck.

Steve's used to being shirtless around people, but the unexpected rush of cool air against his skin has him shivering, has his cock thickening up even more, definitely obvious by now. There's no giving up now, no way he can walk this backwards and laugh it off as freaky ass roughhousing.

"Yeah? You want me to get all sad and desperate to move? To get my clothes back on?" Steve asks, drawing his bitchy smirk up easily. "I bet you think about doing this when you jerk off, getting me on my knees or something. Do you? Think about forcing my mouth open so you can fuck it?"

He watches Eddie's face burn and something hot and satisfied curls up in his gut. He's not often on the offensive with him, prefers to take things as they come and secretly enjoy them, but when he can make him blush hard out of nowhere like that it makes him want to pin him down and kiss him.

"I-I… don't do that," Eddie says, piecing his composure back together. "I don't think about you at all."

Steve hopes that's a lie.

"I'm just bored," he continues, still a little subdued. "And clearly you're a bigger slut than I thought."

That'd hurt, if Steve didn't take it as a compliment, coming from a guy who once went on a half hour tangent about how people should just be able to have sex without judgment, no matter how many partners they had.

"What does that make you?" Steve asks, relieved when Eddie's smirk finds it's way back.

He loves how it looks on Eddie's face, sue him.

"King slut, I guess," Eddie laughs, and with a faint pressure at his waist, Steve's underwear pulls down his thighs, his cock springing up with the force of it.

"God," Steve moans, attempting to pulls his arms out of position, instinctively trying to cover himself.

"Yeah, that too," Eddie says, not bothering to pretend he's not staring at his erection.

Steve has to take a few moments, basking in the attention and also to just catch up with exactly what's going on, how fucking weird it is, how turned on he's getting. There's a lot that Eddie could do to him that anyone would expect him to say no to, but he finds himself hoping that he doesn't have to ask for any of it.

He told Eddie he wasn't going to beg and he meant it.

"Can't believe you're so into being this weak," Eddie says, slowly dragging his eyes up to his face, the nebulous pressure following the path they take.

He's not going to beg, but he moans freely, wants Eddie to know how good it feels, wants him to try to get more sounds out of him.

"I could hold you in place and strip you anywhere, and what? You'd get hard just like this?" Eddie asks, his hips giving a hard grind into the couch. "I can do whatever I want to you, and you're not even scared, are you? You’re like the world's bravest, horniest, action hero."

Steve laughs, finds he can't even move his head, his whole body held in place except for the places he wants to be touched. His cock and his balls are free to move, no invisible pressure holding them in place – which is a little embarrassing, he wonders if it looks stupid – but mostly he just wishes he was being touched everywhere.

"Should I be?" He asks, voice a little strangled. "Scared?"

The pressure around his throat gets softer and he tries not to feel disappointed.

"Depends on what you fear," Eddie says, his hips starting to slowly roll and press into the couch like he's doing it subconsciously. "I'm not gonna injure you or anything like that."

Steve goes to shrug, but he can't, so he just makes a vague sound. He has to think for a minute to figure out how to bring up the slapping without outright asking for it.

"What was the slapping about, then? You could've hurt me."

Eddie rolls his eyes, arranging one of Steve's hands into an open palm.

"Injuring you is different than hurting you," he says, and even though it's expected this time, Steve still gasps when his own hand comes down hard on his cheek.

His head doesn't even snap to the side, stuck in place.

His cock jerks as he struggles, the pain drawing another moan out of him.

"Jesus Christ," Eddie whispers, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth for a second as he looks at him. "You loved that."

Steve knows how he must look, with his eyes watering and he's assuming a red mark on his face, and he leans into it, letting his mouth drop open just a little bit as he licks his lips.

"If you weren't so committed to making love to my couch I'd tell you to come over here and use your own damned hand for it," he says, unable to keep himself from pushing at him.

Eddie hides a laugh behind his hands, his head ducking momentarily before he looks back up, beaming at him.

"You're so fucking cute," he says, getting all of his limbs in order as he gets to his feet. "Also, really fucking hot. And gorgeous? Yes."

He's walking towards him now, and Steve didn't think that was going to work so well, but all he can do is watch him, unable to move.

"Sexy? Beautiful? A Pretty boy? That's three check marks, baby," Eddie's saying, little zings of pleasure building in Steve's chest with the compliments. "And I don't think you could handle it if I slapped you."

Steve raises his eyebrows, still trying to move, still utterly trapped.

"Well, not your face, anyway," Eddie says, and then like a strike of lightning, his palm collides with Steve's ass.

"Oh fuck!" Steve yells, his body trying to jerk away from the impact.

He didn't ease him into that one, the pain hot and sharp and already throbbing as Eddie steps back from him.

"I've always wanted to do that," Eddie leans in to whisper, his teeth glancing off of Steve's ear, his hand back on Steve's ass to grab where he smacked him. "I hope you think of me whenever you sit down for the next few days."

Steve groans, breathing through it as the wall of pain steals the thoughts out of his head.

"You want me to hurt you?" Eddie asks, and he tries to nod. "You get off on it? Being defeated and slapped around?"

Not historically, but he thinks Eddie could punch him in the face and all he’d do is drop to his knees. Let him think he’s forcing him to open his mouth, like he teased him about earlier.

"What about something else? I'm sure losing a fight with someone is familiar to you, but what about something new?"

Steve manages to get his mouth to work, his eyelids fluttering shut as he asks -

"Is this the first fight you've won?"

Eddie steps back, an offended scoff preceding a slap to the face, not even Steve's own hand this time, drawing a high and reedy moan out of him.

He thinks he might be able to cum like this. Even with just the pressure that builds in the base of his spine as he struggles against the nothing, the invisible force – this whole situation is starting to get him there.

"S-something new is good," he gasps out, unable to open his eyes as Eddie's fingertips tease over his face.

"Good," Eddie says, satisfied like he approves, his fingers moving to trail down Steve's neck. "Should I assume some things about you, or should I ask first?"

Steve scrunches up his eyebrows, knowing that the right answer and the answer that he wants are two different things. He's not about to make a good decision like this though – his balls are starting to ache and he's getting desperate, craving all of the slivers of Eddie's attention that he’s being given.

"Do whatever you want, I can take it," he says, prying his eyelids open against the force of nothing but his own fogginess.

Eddie looks momentarily shocked, like for whatever reason this is where he'd draw the line and stop doing things they know are kind of stupid, but he schools it quickly, getting his hands on Steve's chest.

"You know, my plan wasn't to touch you at all," he says, squeezing Steve's tits. "But I'll be honest, you've been driving me fucking crazy."

Steve makes a weird sound, a mix between a laugh and a moan, trying and failing to push up into his hands. He has to hope he gets to do this again, without Eddie's powers holding his whole body in place, but right now being forced to go at whatever pace Eddie wants to set is kind of intoxicating.

"Show me, then," he says, challenging him.

Eddie ducks his head, and it seems bashful, until his teeth sink into Steve's neck and both of them are groaning, Steve's a lot louder and ruined than Eddie's.

"Fuck, that's so go- Oh shit!"

There's a sudden pressure inside of his ass now, not even stretching him open, just the presence of nothing, all of his nerves singing through his spine as he tries to breath around the solid tension in all of his muscles. It spreads, more pressure adding to press into his taint, to grip his balls just lightly enough that it doesn't hurt, and then there's –

Eddie's hand, real and warm and calloused around his cock, stroking over the head to catch the pre-cum there, getting the rest of him wet as he slides down to the base, squeezing it hard. That does hurt, and Steve almost tips over the edge, feeling his eyes start to water again.

He's never felt anything like this, having a hard time wrapping his head around how he's getting fucked in the ass without actually being entered by anything, but it feels so good that he wants to live like this forever, trapped under Eddie's power.

"Next time, I want to get inside of you," Eddie's whispering, like he doesn't want him to hear. "I want to hold you in place and fuck you until I'm done with you, make you feel so good you forget who we are."

It's the thought of Eddie's cock slamming into him that does it, the fantasy of being helpless to do anything about it, forced to take whatever pleasure he gives him whether he asks for it or not. He cums hard, shooting hot where Eddie aims his cock, getting cum up in his chest hair and down his stomach.

The invisible pressure starts to ease up from his ass and his balls, reluctant even as Eddie keeps working him with his hand, making him try to squirm away from it when the orgasm ends and the raw nerve feeling of over-stimulation hits.

"Fuck, please," he whines through his clenched teeth.

"Please what?" Eddie asks, the mischievous glint in his eye coming back as he continues to work him over.

"Your hand," Steve manages to grit out, unable to move away from it at all.

"What about my hand?" Eddie asks, laughing.

He does let go though, watching him closely as he tries to catch his breath, casually licking Steve's cum off his fingers like there's nothing loaded about that.

"Gonna drop you now," Eddie says, moving to stand behind him.

He gets his arms around Steve's waist, bracing him as the pressure holding him up slowly eases off, and soon he's slumped and sinking to the floor, Eddie guiding him as he goes.

He doesn't even care that his bare ass is on the cold floor, finding it kind of soothing against what must surely be a hand print so well engraved that he could get Eddie's fingerprints from it.

"God, you're a mess," Eddie murmurs, pressing his thumb into Steve's lips. "I'll clean us up though, hang tight."

Steve's body feels like jello, so he just lays there, frowning as he thinks about what he said.

Us?

Eddie comes back with a towel, a wet washcloth, and a wet spot at the front of his jeans.

"You didn't have to cum in your pants over me," he says, the words a bit murky as he tries to articulate them. "Could've just used my hand or something."

Eddie groans as he kneels down beside him, cheeks blazing as he glares at him.

"I know that, but I…" he cuts himself off, frowning as he shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

Steve's silent as Eddie cleans him up, taking his time to get the cum out of his chest hair, basking in the sweetness of it after all the half-manufactured posturing they just did. This feels more honest than Eddie holding him in place and stripping him, as hot as that was, and he doesn't want to ruin it by making fun of Eddie for cumming in his pants. Maybe he would've too, if their positions were reversed.

"Next time we do this you have to get your cock out sooner," he says, mumbling around a sleepy smile.

[bug-fics]

California cool ☆ pt. 1

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Part 2

Summary: Eddie isn't cool, especially not in Hawkins. But maybe a pretty girl from California can help change that. 

Warnings: reader is like billy but not? drugs, cussing, alludes to reader sleeping around in cali. Basically hot girl behavior. Reader is definity set up to be a mess of a character 

Word Count: 3.7K (barely edited)

Eddie Munson wasn’t cool in any sense of the word. He was clumsy, loud, hell he looked like he walked right out of the cover of a rolling stones magazine, not to mention he was a super SUPER senior. He had a maximum of 10 friends on a good day, four of which were younger than fifteen which made it even more embarrassing. He lived in a trailer, made his money by selling weed at shitty parties, and drove a rusty van that shouldn't even run at this point.

So no, Eddie Munson was not cool, not in Hawkins at least, but he made due and did what every person would do in his situation. He embraced being a freak. He stood on tables, gave dumb speeches about conformity, picked fights with Jason Carver and his cronies, hosted dnd sessions every Friday, and tried to keep his head up. The word freak held no power anymore, not to him and certainly not to the people he called his friends. He was content with his life as a loser, he didn't feel the need to be cool, and he didn't want to waste his time on wishful dreaming. He was just Eddie, a Hawkins loser.

Well, that was the case, until a new face showed up at Hawkins high on a not-so-normal Friday. A bright cherry red 85’ convertible blasting Ozzy with a California license plate slammed into the parking space that was supposed to be reserved for the principal. A head of wild hair, messy from the drive over, swung open the door, nearly hitting a passing student who wasn't walking fast enough in your opinion. Barely 5 minutes in this hellhole and you could already feel hundreds of eyes trying to analyze your every move.

Ever since Billy Hargrove ran off, there hasn't been anything interesting to talk about in the small high school of Hawkins, so a new person appearing out of nowhere spread like wildfire. The fact that you had a pretty face made the gossip even more exciting. So when you wandered through the doors of the high school like you owned the place, big sunglasses resting on your nose, the latest and hottest California trends adorned your body, it was clear Hawkins had a new ruler.

Eddie thought you looked like a movie star as silly as that may seem, Farrah Fawcett had nothing on your beauty. You were the opposite of Eddie, cool in every sense of the word. You had confidence, a cool car, cool clothes, cool cool cool. It was the only word that could be used to describe the type of person you were, and no one could deny it.

Eddie couldn't help but stare when you strut past, Tommy and Carol hot on your trail trying to get your attention, he was intrigued to say the least, but that was a crowd he wouldn't find himself even dreaming of joining. The brainless popular kids can’t exist without someone bossing them around, telling them how to act, what to wear, what to do, and a fresh face from sunny California was the perfect person to take over. You walked with power and a purpose, heeled boots not seeming to slow you down as you disappeared down the hall and out of Eddie’s sight.

He was lucky enough to be able to catch another glimpse of you in English, Ms. O'Donnell droning on about Shakespeare as you made snide comments to the jock in the seat next to you. Your personality was like fire, hot and dangerous, you drew people in, and even the teachers didn't seem to mind your attitude, being cool had its perks, and Eddie knew this. He didn't know, however, how much he yearned to be in your circle.

The next time Eddie was able to lay his eyes on you was at lunch, you sat on top of the popular table, feet resting on the bench below, as a swarm of jocks and cheerleaders sat around you. A cigarette sat in between your slender fingers, Eddie made a mental note of how pretty your hands were.

The best part of this picture though was the bored expression that cascaded across your face. You didn't look like you belonged there, none of the people at that table were able to match your energy, the clothes weren't cool enough, the hair wasn't stylish enough, you were like a star in a town full of rocks and dirt.

“I'm having a party this weekend, I'm sure you'd get the full Hawkins experience if you showed up. There’s gonna be free booze... and I mean if you wanted to be my date then that would be fucking fantastic,” one of the many bodies around you droned on about how everyone who is anyone would be there in hopes to catch your attention.

Every word spoken by the hive went in one ear and out the other, these people if you could even call them that, weren't cool. Sure, living in the small town of Hawkins (that's behind on the trends by 50 years) might give them some superiority, but they definitely weren't California cool.

You don't know why you expected to find at least one person to match your energy, it's not like the two cities were similar at all, but you continued to scan the loud canteen in hopes to find someone, anyone who was actually worth your time. 

You needed someone interesting, someone loud, someone funny. Someone to make this shit show of a town even slightly entertaining. California was busy, it was fun, always something to do. Hawkins was stupid, boring, and made everyone living in it feel like they were rotting away.

“What’s his deal?” you question, holding a hand up to silence the group before pointing at a dude with unruly curls and a sick denim vest who was currently spewing some sort of theatrics to the little group of people who gave him their undivided attention. He was loud, obnoxious even. His movement was quick, his hands telling a story alone, and the way he spoke was hypnotizing. Now he, he was California cool.

“Who, the freak? Don’t bother with Munson, I heard he sacrifices virgins in the woods behind the school with his little cult. He’s an absolute loser, you're way too hot to even let him breathe the same air as you, let alone have a conversation with-” Before Carol can continue with her rant about Eddie “The Freak” Munson, you grip the front of her shirt loosely and pull her in before exhaling the smoke from the cigarette you've been nursing. “okay, You idiots want some real Cali advice? Here’s the deal, in California you’d be a bunch of fucking losers,” you stop to take another drag, flicking the ash in Eddie’s direction, “He, however, is like the definition of a California sex god. I think Hawkins needs to get out of the 60s or something because all I hear leaving your mouth is a bunch of boring bullshit. Maybe if you were more like him I’d give some of you the time of day.”

Dropping the cigarette onto the floor before hopping off the table, you strolled over to the now, very noisy, Hellfire table. Still unnoticed, you shove onto the end of the bench, pushing the kid who was currently sitting there harshly to their right before turning to the dungeon master, who's words had just abruptly stopped at your presence.

Now being able to analyze him up close, his big brown eyes are what caught your attention first. His pupils looked blown out, clearly shocked that your sitting at the hellfire table, let alone looking at him of all people. The magazine he was previously reading out of, clearly made to derogate some fantasy game, was tightly gripped between his hands. If he held it any tighter between his ring-clad fingers the paper would tear under his strength. He was the definition of pretty, and definitely worth your time.

“So, I heard from a little birdy, an annoying one might I add, that you sacrifice virgins in the woods. I'm dying to know what you can do to someone with… experience.” The words that left your plump lips sent Eddie into a sputtering frenzy. How could he even respond to something like that, he was as inexperienced as they came, this had to be some sort of sick prank that carver had put you up to.

He quickly glanced over to the table you were previously sat at, and noticed the glares that many of the students were sending his way. Eddie’s mind was moving at 100 miles per hour before he was interrupted by a fit of laughter. “I'm kidding, well kind of. I came over to ask if you wanted to hang out after school. I need someone cool to show me the ropes of this dogshit town, and who better than someone who, as I told Perkins, could be considered a California sex god.”

Eddie could barely squeak out a simple yes before you were reciting your number to him and then walking away. Without a pen in hand, he tried his hardest to keep the seven digits in his brain while screaming at his friends to find him something to write with, the whole table scrambling into action. This was the first time a girl has ever positively acknowledged someone from hellfire, let alone asked them to hang out after school, alone.

Eddie could help but call you as soon as he got home that night, partially to test to see if he was able to jot down the right number, but mostly just to hear your voice again. And when you picked up, a sultry hello sounded out of the receiver, Eddie felt his soul leave his body. “Hi, hi, hello yeah uh... It's um Eddie- uh Munson. Eddie Munson… f-from school. The kid with the hair,” shit, smooth Munson, fucking smooth.

Waiting for a response, Eddie chewed on a strand of curls, the need to keep his mouth occupied before he continued to fuck up his one chance of being near you. When you didn't give an immediate reply, he thought of bringing up the fact that you called him cool, but held his tongue when you began to laugh. He thought your laugh sounded better than any music he's ever listened to before, and though (regardless of the current embarrassment he was feeling) it wasn’t a harsh laugh, he could tell you weren't laughing at him; more so laughing to help calm his nerves. 

“How could I forget the California cool, Eddie Munson.” you paused, and ever so slightly he could hear the unmistakable bubbling sound of a bong rip. When you exhaled Eddie felt as though he could breathe the smoke in through the receiver. He imagined what your lips looked like with smoke pouring out of them, if you were smoking a California delicacy or shitty Hawkins weed. “Wanna grab milkshakes at that one diner? The one on, I think main street. You’re more familiar with the area than I am.” 

“Oh god, that place is awful. Ever since the owner died it's gone to shit, send me your address and I can take you to my favorite place.” Eddie wasn’t stupid, he knew this wasn’t a date, hell you weren't even friends really, but that didn't stop him from wanting to look nice. Granted, there was only so much he could do with what little he had. Opting to ditch his vest and change out of his hellfire shirt into his favorite band tee and throwing his hair up. The girls at the hideout rarely approached the band, but his chances were higher when his hair was out of the way. He guessed there was some sort of appeal to the very messy bun, and if hot Hawkins girls liked it, he hoped a hot Cali girl would too. Anything to get you to compliment him. He wanted to make sure you didn’t regret approaching him, you thought he was cool, and he wanted to prove you right.

However, all thoughts of appealing to your praise went out the window when he approached your house. Yeah, he noticed you resided in Loch Nora, which was already terrifying enough given that he lived in the direct opposite type of environment. Granted, Cali poor would probably be considered Hawkins rich no matter the circumstance, but this was something else. Eddie didn't belong here, and yet you wanted him here.

He wasn't sure if he should blow his horn in a neighborhood like this, afraid of getting the cops called on him for his already out-of-place vehicle, so he opted to knock on the door. Though, now the fear of your parents answering instead of you was present in his mind and he didn't know what would be worse. 

Before he had the chance to knock a second time the door was swung open. You toss something in his direction before speaking, hardy giving Eddie a second glance. “Let’s go, leave your van here we can take my car. Ever driven a convertible before? Probably not, there don't seem to be many nice cars around here.” 

You were right, he's never seen a car this nice, let alone driven one. Even Steve’s BMW couldn't compare. Sitting in the driver's side of your car felt otherworldly, he felt confident, and when the engine roared to life, the radio blasting whatever cassette you had in there from this afternoon, he felt pure bliss.

Speeding down the street Eddie hardly noticed you fiddling with the glove box before a joint was shoved in his face, your fingers grazed his lips as he allowed you to place it between his teeth. He did notice however, you crouching on the passenger seat trying to feel the harsh wind lapping against your skin. It was exhilarating watching you feel for the first time since leaving your hometown. Hawkins was a place that killed peoples happiness and held them hostage in their misery. And yet here you were, wind whipping though your hair, smoke leaving your smile as you sing along to the radio.

The drive to the diner wasn’t long, shorter than Eddie had wished, and he was reluctant to get out of the front seat, his van would never compare to the short joy he just felt from driving a car of all things. The diner was one of the more popular places in town, your typical 50’s style décor, you wouldn't be surprised if this is what Hawkins considered trendy. As any hot spot would be on a Friday night, the diner was packed, but the two were able to grab a table near the back, unexpectedly next to Carol Perkins who looked like she was on a double date with Carver and his preppy cheerleader girlfriend.  

You sent the table a stark smile and a quick wink before turning your attention back to Eddie who was waiting for the joke to be revealed. He was still partially in denial that you thought he was cool of all people. But a mean laugh never came, there were no harsh words thrown his way, and you were giving him your undivided attention, even with Tommy trying to talk to you across the walkway. 

“What's your favorite here? You know what, just order for me, Hawkins. I’m at a loss when it comes to new foods, so get whatever, it’s on me” and that's exactly what he did when the waitress came over. Instead of mauling over what a girl like you would want he ordered two “Eddie specials” as he liked to joke. Two simple chocolate milkshakes with a large plate of fries for the table. 

The conversation flowed easily between you two, he even made you laugh with one of his jokes. Eddie was exactly what you needed in this town, he reminded you a lot of your friends in Cali, and that alone made him your new favorite person. He made it easy. Eddie didn’t argue when you reached over and plucked the red cherry from his milkshake, he kept his mouth shut when you squirted more than enough ketchup all over the plate of fries, not giving him the option to opt-out of the sauce even if he wanted to.

He was able to keep up and engage with your wild stories from your life before moving, unlike the people who wanted to use your new girl status as a trophy, not to mention it was fun to make him blush. He was a breath of fresh air after the horrible day you had at school, and you definitely weren't letting that out of your grasp, so when the cups were drained and the bill was paid you offered your house for him to crash at. 

“Come on Hawkins, have some fun for once in your life yeah? You can crash at my house for the whole weekend, we can go to that dumb party tomorrow, and I can take you to school on Monday. There’s no way my moms gonna be home anyways if that's what you’re worried about,” Without even thinking about the fact that he had no clothes, or that there was no way he was wanted at the party on Saturday, or even the fact that he just met you today and it's kind of odd to spend more time than he had already spent with a stranger, Eddie agreed. He couldn't get enough of you. He didn't even think to call his uncle when he got to your place, still reveling in the fact that you wanted him here, in your room, with you. 

Your room was everything and nothing like he expected. The room was double the size of his small bedroom, if not triple. A round canopy bed sat in the middle, large enough for at least three people to sleep comfortably. Not only did you have your own bathroom, but you had your own walk-in closet that was filled to the brim with trendy clothes.

Eddie was right, you were a star, no denying it now. You didn't belong in Hawkins, and yet the universe practically shoved you into his arms, like an apology for how shitty he's had it so far. He felt stuck in the doorway, as if stepping into the room would somehow taint it of its glory. The thing that broke him out of his trance was the image of you stripping off your clothes right in front of him, standing there in nothing but your lace underwear. 

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut before covering them with his arm, trying to force out some sort of apology as if you weren't the one to strip in front of him. The only thing that stopped his rambling was your laugh. You seemed to love his misery, every awkward encounter he's had with you was always brushed off with a giggle. It made him feel slightly better surprisingly.

“Dude chill, it's not like you've never seen a chick's body. No need to freak, I knew you were here feel free to perv all you want, you can open your eyes.” It takes him a while to get the nerve to move his arms away from his face, but when he does you are no longer just in your underwear, an oversized Led Zepplin t-shirt sat on your frame, still leaving little to the imagination. You stood at your vanity, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a huge ziplock bag of bud. You weren't risking smoking anything from a shitty small town, so bringing a lifetime's worth of weed to hold you over until you could go back to Cali where you belonged seemed to be your best option. “There should be some spare clothes in the closet, just dig around I'm sure you'll find something that fits.”

Searching for something suitable for his frame was easier than he thought. In fact, you had a whole collection of men’s clothing in your closet. Eddie couldn't help but wonder if they were like trophies, notches in your belt from all of the men at your beck and call, but he also didn't want to assume something so vulgar even if it was true.

You were a lot to handle, Eddie could tell now. You were different than the small-town girls, you were the type of person who needs to be doing something fun at all times but he couldn’t think about the small chance that he couldn't keep up. He had to keep up, or there's no doubt in his mind you'd drop him for someone who could.

Maybe Steve Harrington would be able to handle your brash behavior, King Steve seemed to be the type, so why wouldn’t new Steve? If Billy Hargrove was still around there's no question that you'd give him a run for his money, but you weren't Billy and you weren't King Steve. You were nicer somehow, even if you were equally if not more wreckless, so for now, Eddie wanted to enjoy the attention you spared him in hopes to stick around. 

The rest of the night, Eddie clung to your every word. He listened when you talked about your mom’s job at Hawkins lab, He let you ramble about how annoying the residents of Hawkins were, and he gave input when you asked about all the secret spots the town had to offer. He paced you when smoking, he didn't think twice when you reached over to shotgun him for fun, he tried to avoid staring at your thighs for too long.

You even asked his opinion on your ass while you stood in front of the big mirror leaning against your wall, and Eddie is proud to say he didn't stutter when he gave a response (you had a remarkably nice ass). He liked hanging out around you, you made him actually feel cool, which is something he hasn't felt from anyone other than the freshman who treat him like a god.

This friendship was new and exciting, yeah he had his everyday friends, but this was eddies chance to change the narrative; to give them all something to look forward to rather than fear at school. And if it took everything in him to keep up with a wild girl from California then he was going to do it because you thought he was cool, you thought he was worth your time.

PART TWO

[trensu]

wonder boy <3

AU TIME! Steve attains super strength. How? DOESN'T MATTER. So he gets super strength and Dustin takes it upon himself to train him up because he thinks Steve should use his shiny new power for Good. There's an evil entity coming to Hawkins by the name of Vecna and they need a defender.

Steve used to be a bully and he really wishes someone better had gotten this power because he doesn't think he deserves it. He supposes, though, that defending the town from Evil is a way to redeem himself. He reluctantly agrees to Dustin's proposal to train him even as he protests he's not superhero material. Despite his hesitation, Steve is actually pretty good at beating up the monsters this Vecna baddie sent ahead. With his super strength and years of athleticism, taking down the demogorgon, the demodogs, and the Mindflayer was a piece of cake.

--

Vecna's getting irritated, to say the least. He needs to find a way to get rid of this Steve character if he hopes to take over Hawkins. Obviously the blunt force approach isn't working. Vecna decides to switch tactics. He needs to be more subtle. Steve, apparently, is known for chasing after a pretty face. Vecna sends in his favorite servant, Eddie, who is a quick thinker and quite charming when he wants to be.

Eddie hates Vecna. Hates all the terror and pain he sows; hates his senseless cruelty. But he hasn't a choice, so off to Hawkins he goes to find this hero guy. He figures the best way to track him down is to lure him. He's always wanted to play damsel-in-distress and Vecna's recently created humanoid monster Billy is chomping at the bit to see some action.

Of course Billy is too new and too stupid to know what "acting" was, so he does not hold back when he grabs Eddie by the hair and snarls in his face. Eddie yelps and cusses a storm.

"Get your fucking hands off me, you stupid asshole."

Billy, stupid empty-headed Billy, stares at Eddie. His other hand curls around the side of Eddie's neck and yanks him close.

"Pretty," Billy growls. Eddie feels the bottom drop out of his stomach and begins to struggle in earnest. He had not planned for this turn of events. The hand Billy has in Eddie's hair tightens as his other trails down his neck to paw clumsily at whatever other part of Eddie he can reach.

"Hey! Dickhead!"

Billy turns around to see who shouted at him and gets hit with a well aimed stone right in the forehead. He drops Eddie as he staggers back with a grunt. Eddie lands roughly but scrambles away quickly enough as whoever threw the rock charges past him to tackle a dazed Billy to the ground.

Eddie gingerly picks himself off the ground, grimacing at the scrapes on his palms. The sound of fighting continues behind him so Eddie takes the time to tie back his hair. Assuming the guy fighting Billy is the hero Vecna sent him after, he wants to look presentable. For a given value of presentable, anyway. He aggravates his scrapes on accident when he scrubs his palms against his jeans out of nervous habit. He hisses.

"Are you okay?"

Eddie whirls around to see what must be the most beautiful man in the entire world. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern but it does nothing to diminish the warmth in his brown eyes. Damn Vecna and his schemes. He could've warned Eddie how gorgeous his target was.

"Fine. All fine," Eddie blurts out like an idiot.

"You're bleeding," Handsome Hero Guy says, reaching out to grab Eddie's hands. Eddie lets him hold his hands for just a moment before yanking them away and taking a skip back.

"Woah-ho, watch it there, wonder boy! Hands off the goods," Eddie smiles teasingly. "What, you see one guy get handsy and think I let all the boys have at me?"

Handsome Hero Guy's eyes widen, mouth (such a pretty mouth, too, fuck) dropping open in shock.

"N-no!" (Aww, he's blushing. Eddie's heart skips a beat.) "I wouldn't--It didn't look like you wanted that guy on you. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"My hero," Eddie flutters his lashes. The guy's answering smile is bashful. Eddie wants to eat him up.

"Wouldn't go that far," Handsome Hero Guy mumbles.

"I'll be the judge of that, wonder boy. Muscles like that? Showing up out of nowhere to protect my admittedly ragged virtue? That's definitely hero work."

"It really isn't that big a deal," he insists. "Anyone would've done the same."

"You'd be surprised," Eddie feels his smile turn slightly bitter at the edges before cranking up the charm again. "So do I get to know my hero's name or do I have to guess? Wonder boy seems to fit."

"Oh, uh, no. I'm Steve."

"Mmm, hi Stevie. I'm Kas."

--

Steve's in love. Kas is perfect. He's loud and wild and passionate. He can talk for hours about anything that interests him and yet still listen so intently whenever Steve speaks. His smile is always full of mischief and his big brown doe eyes make Steve weak in the knees when they focus on him alone.

"I think maybe you're rushing in to this, Steve," Robin tells him, a couple weeks after his fateful meeting with Kas. "I mean, what do you really know about the guy?"

"I know enough," Steve protests. "He loves metal music and, like, nerdy role playing games with dice. He can play guitar and he loves strawberry ice cream. And he has the best laugh." Steve can't quite smother a smitten sigh.

"Yeah, but where's he from? He's not local. Who are his friends? Nobody seems to know him!" Robin starts to pace the way she does whenever she's worrying over something. It makes Steve pause.

"Being new in town isn't a bad thing, Rob."

"No, but it's pretty sketchy timing, don't you think? We get all these monsters, half the town moves away because of it, and suddenly there's a new face in town? Someone who looks like he was tailor made for you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Now Steve's getting defensive. Robin's always been better at looking at the big picture but usually she trusts Steve's judgement when it comes to people.

"C'mon, Steve! The eyes? The hair? And he's, like, witty or smart or whatever. He couldn't be more your type if he tried!" Robin throws her hands up in frustration and Steve's had enough.

"I thought you'd be happy for me," Steve says flatly. "I finally found someone. After the whole thing with Nancy, I didn't think I ever would."

"I am! I am happy for you, Steve," Robin sighs. "I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"Kas wouldn't hurt me. He's a good guy, Robin. Trust me. He's the best."

Steve is grateful, later, that Robin loves him enough to not tell him 'I told you so.'

--

Eddie had been worried at first. Steve is amazing. 'Wonder boy' really does fit him because Steve is wonderful, and not just because of his super strong muscles and distractingly hairy chest. Steve loves his friends without reservation; he wears his feelings like a coat of many colors, out in the open and inviting everyone to admire them.

Eddie hasn't had friends a very long time. He had to leave them behind after he went to Vecna. He didn't want to risk them getting hurt because of him. And afterwards, it was easier to keep people at a distance. So he was worried about getting so close to Steve, wonderful Stevie.

But Steve was invulnerable! He was strong enough to take down monsters, sure, but he couldn't be wounded at all! Eddie is going to be able to report to Vecna, fully confident, because Vecna would never be able to hurt Steve anyway.

Eddie tosses up the misshapen d20 Steve had carved just for him and catches it. He continues to do this as he smirks at Vecna, just to rub it in Vecna's ugly slimy face. "So, you see? You're not gonna win this time, V-man. Steve has no weaknesses for you to exploit."

Vecna snags the d20 out of midair. It cracks and splinters in his grip, to Eddie's dismay.

"I think you'll find, Eddie," Vecna leans into his space, and in a mockingly sweet gesture trails his gross slick fingers along Eddie's cheek bone and tucks a loose curl behind Eddie's ear, "that he does. He very much does. And I'm going to use it to bring him to his knees."

With that, he yanks Eddie by the hair and binds him.

--

Steve's eyes linger on Kas--no, Eddie, who was a spy, who worked with Vecna all this time--where he lay prone and struggling against Vecna's disgusting vines holding him down. Eddie is trying to say something, but it's too muffled by the vines for Steve to understand. He can tell Eddie is scared, though. Scared and desperate.

Steve never considered himself a smart guy. He knew was always too willing to give his heart away. This guaranteed two things. One, he was not gonna be able to out-think a way out of Vecna's plan. Two, there was no way he'd let the man he loved suffer. Regardless of what Eddie did or did not do, he didn't deserve whatever Vecna would do to him.

Steve takes a deep breath and turns to Vecna.

"If I do this, you promise to let him go?"

"Of course."

"Like, for real. He'll be free from you?"

"As I said."

"And he'll be safe? You promise he won't get hurt while I'm not able to protect him?"

"Eddie betrayed you, Steve. He used you and gave me everything I asked for. Why do you care if he gets hurt, after all that?"

Steve scowls. "You don't get it. Guys like you never do. And why do you care what I use my side of the bargain for? You're getting what you want."

"I am," Vecna says smugly.

"So we got a deal or what? I give up my powers and leave you alone for 24 hours; you free Eddie and promise he won't get hurt?"

"We have an accord." Vecna reaches out to shake his hand.

Steve screams in agony the minute their hands touch. It feels like every nerve ending in his body was set on fire. He falls to his knees, weakly tugging his hand but he isn't able to take it back until Vecna himself decides to let go.

Vecna disappears and Steve hears Eddie cry out his name before he passes out.

--

Steve is taking great satisfaction from beating Vecna's face in. Or he was until Vecna starts laughing.

"What's so funny, asshole?" Steve snarls. "You lost."

"Yes," Vecna coughs. "Aren't you curious as to why?"

"Because I fucking beat the shit out of you," Steve snaps as Vecna continues to laugh at him.

"It hasn't been 24 hours, Steve," Vecna grins, bloody. At Steve's perplexed expression, he adds, "I thought Eddie would've picked someone smarter."

Steve's blood turns to ice.

"Where's Eddie? What did you do to him?" Steve shakes Vecna.

"I didn't do anything to him. He was protecting your dear Robin. He's in my domain now. No human survives the Upside Down for long."

Steve hits him twice more for good measure, knocking the bastard out. Then, the moment Hop's got him locked down, Steve books it to the nearest portal before anyone could stop him.

--

Eddie wakes slowly in an unfamiliar bed with no idea how he got there. There's a hand gently running through his hair. Eddie blinks blearily at its owner.

"...Steve?" he rasps.

"Kas!" Steve responds. Eddie flinches as the lies he told come back to him. Steve must have seen it, because in a softer tone he says, "Eddie."

And god damn Steve made his name sound beautiful. He thought he'd never hear him say it, not when he was Kas, the spy, the fucking betrayer. He hurt Steve, and everyone Steve loved. Dustin, Nancy, Robin...wait.

Eddie immediately starts to struggle into a sitting position, but Steve keeps a firm hand pressed down on his chest. "Eddie, wait, what are you--"

"Robin," Eddie gasps out, desperate. He'd broken Steve's heart once already, and betrayed his trust. He couldn't bear it if Steve lost Robin, too, and Robin deserved so much better than whatever Vecna's monsters would do to her. "Robin...needs..."

"Shh, it's okay, Eddie. Robin is fine. You saved her, she's okay."

That didn't make sense. If he managed to save Robin then Eddie wouldn't be here at all. He'd be drained to a husk in the Upside Down. So what...? His confusion must have shown on his face because Steve's face went soft.

"I wouldn't leave you down there, Eddie," Steve says gently. Eddie felt a lump in his throat because he should have. Steve had every right to have left him there to rot.

"But I...why would you do that? After I...?" There's a burning in his eyes, and Eddie desperately blinks back tears.

"I know now, why you did it. I don't blame you. I mean, god, your uncle's all you got. You told me yourself."

"You know?" Eddie interrupts. "About the bargain with Vecna?"

"To save your uncle's life? Yeah. El pulled it out of Vecna after sealing his powers away. He tried to use it as a reason to keep his powers, but it turns out taking his powers away doesn't negate what he did to save your uncle."

"Oh," Eddie says in wonder. "If Vecna's defeated, then...I'm free?"

Steve smiles his lovely sunshine smile that makes Eddie melt every time. "Yeah, you're free. You don't have to do anything he says ever again."

Steve stops and fidgets awkwardly for a moment.

"What?" Eddie prods. Steve grimaces.

"I'm just sorry. Sorry that he made you...seduce me, or whatever. I'd never have--I touched you all the time! And kissed you! And you had to just...take it. Fuck, I'm still doing it now," Steve pulls his hands away and goes so far as to scoot farther away from the bed where Eddie lays. "Sorry. Sorry, I know you don't--I know it was fake."

Steve's voice gets wobbly at the end, and his eyes were kept firmly down in embarrassment. He sniffs and forces an awkward chuckle.

"I must've been such an easy mark for you, huh? Fell for you so fast. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with...with everything."

Eddie rubs his palms on his thighs nervously. Steve doesn't reach out. He doesn't look at Eddie. Eddie's heart is full of messy feelings. He doesn't know what to do or what to say, but he knows he wants to wipe that heartbreak from Steve's face. And he wants to love Steve the way Steve deserves to be loved.

With a wince, Eddie pushes himself up to a sitting position despite Steve's protest and hovering hands. Then he leans forward to grab Steve's hand in a firm handhold.

"Hi," he says, looking into Steve's widened eyes. "My name's Eddie."

There's a beat where Steve stares at him in confusion. Then realization seems to hit, and a cautious smile hooks the corner of his mouth.

"Hey, Eddie," Steve says shyly. "I'm Steve."

"I'm kind of caught up in something at the moment, Steve," Eddie says, gesturing at the healing room with his free hand. "But I'd love to take you out to dinner sometime. Hopefully soon?"

Steve lets out a disbelieving chuckle. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, Eddie, I'd like that a lot."

Steve and Eddie get the chance to fall in love all over again, without any monsters or evil masterminds to get in the way. Turns out they fall even harder when the stress of imminent doom isn't around.

[kitkatt0430]

Iris West-Allen for the character ask game 👀

How I feel about this character

I think she's awesome. We really get to watch her grow over the course of the series and watching her truly discover herself as a leader and hero in her own right is really wonderful to see. While she occasionally has powers here and there, she's a great example of a badass normal and proves that a powered character (Barry) doesn't need a powered love interest in order to be in love with someone who is every bit their equal. Iris is no damsel in distress; she's going to try to find a way to save herself every time.

That said, I wish her agency was more consistently her own. Her plots often get co-opted to serve other character's plots (most often Barry, but it's also been done for Allegra which was just weird...) which puts a lot of her achievements in the background or sub-plot area instead of centering them the way she deserves.

(The fact that she goes from student to journalist with no graduation in between is really frustrating. She's Barry's best friend and yet he's never shown as being super excited to attend her graduation and celebrate her achievement of a Masters degree??? S1, asleep at the wheel right there...)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Barry, Eddie, Cisco, Caitlin, Lisa, Leonard (more for ColdWestAllen than for ColdWest on it's own though), Ralph (but again more for ElongatedWestAllen than DibnyWest itself), Linda, Laurel, Sara...

Probably more tbh, she's very shippable

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Barry again, I kind of prefer the platonic ship for them because of how their dynamic in S1/S2 is (though obviously the romantic ship grew on me...)

Cisco, Caitlin, Frost, Allegra, Kamilla, Linda, Ralph...

Everyone wants to be besties with her, okay? :D

My unpopular opinion about this character

The show does a terrible job of establishing Iris' feelings for Barry as romantic in the first several seasons.

In season one especially there is so much of other characters telling her how they think she feels, but every time she establishes what her feelings are for him are... those feelings are platonic. Aside from the cheating kiss that was the worst decision ever made by the show runners (and made kinda creepy given how it's been romanticized by later seasons) and was a heat of the moment thing that happened after yet another character (Linda) was telling Iris 'I think you're in love with him based on your stated as platonic, sibling-like behavior with him'.

Basically every 'shippy' moment I've seen pointed out for the first two seasons fits entirely with Iris' stated platonic feelings and can really only be interpreted as romantic interest if her stated feelings are ignored. (Especially Joe trying to get Iris to say she wouldn't have dated Eddie if she knew Barry liked her; way to take what she was just saying out of context despite the context having literally just been established. >_<) Iris is the one living in her own head, I wish other characters would respect that she knows what her emotions are better than they do.

This essentially leads to the problem where when Iris and Barry get together it feels less like it's happening because Iris is in love with Barry and more because everyone and their time-line reading AI has told her she marries Barry. And since trying to deviate from that got Eddie killed, what choice does she really have? She loves Barry, but is she in love with him? It's painfully unclear for quite some time and the show itself doesn't even acknowledge this problem until (briefly) in S9.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish she'd been looped in on Barry being the Flash from the start. Locking her out of the loop 'for her protection' only ever put her in more danger than she'd have been in if she'd been kept aware of what was actually going on.

[orangeaurora]

Scarlet | Chapter 6

masterlist

pairing: Steve Harrington x reader!

Summary: after a falling out with her childhood best friend Nancy Wheeler due to her hatred for Steve Harrington, Y/N goes on a journey of discovering she has powers and that the goosebumps she gets around Steve Harrington aren’t actually from hatred. Though these new found powers are difficult to deal with, nothing is harder than dealing with the creatures of the upside down.

SLOW BURN AF

TW: cussing, mentions of using powers, I think that’s it for this one :)

word count: 2536

A/N: THIS CHAPTER TOOK FOREVER BUT ITS MY FAVORITE ONE 💞💞 if you would like to be a part of the tag list, lemme know! happy reading! <3

————————————————————————

Steve was nice enough to walk me back to my car once I was calmed down to drive. He was so… gentle with me. The walk was silent, but not uncomfortable. It was similar to the silence I have with Eddie at times. It’s just peaceful. When we got back to my car, Steve grabbed my arm. I flinched a little bit, I wasn’t used to his touch. “You’re gonna be alright, yeah? The kids are hanging out at the school. Dustin says they have AV club every day, so I’m counting on them being there,” I nodded, “I’ll be fine, Steve. The school is not too far. I’ll honk at you if there is a problem.” He gave me a soft nod before letting go of my arm. “Okay, I’ll see you soon. Follow close behind!” He said while walking away towards his car. “You act like I don’t know where the school is!” I yell out to him, but all he did was wave his hand at me signaling a “yeah yeah” without even turning around. I sighed as I entered my car. I sat there for a minute, allowing myself to zone out and just think for the first time since I ran out of the locker room. I felt as if life wasn’t real. I remember feeling this way the night that I got my dreadful scar, and somehow the feeling was stronger. I wanted more time to gather my thoughts but Steve started honking his horn, indicating he was getting impatient with me. I blinked rapidly to come back to reality, let out a heavy sigh, and put my car into drive.

As I drove to school, following the tail of Steve’s lover (his car), I thought about what these kids that Steve was bringing me to had to do with any of this. I knew that Will Byers went missing last year, he was the talk of the town, you had to be living under a rock to not know that he was gone. But somehow, he has even more people talking about him now that he was found alive and well. I remember the headlines in the newspaper: “The body of missing child Will Byers found in the local quarry” were plastered everywhere. And then, last year on the night that we battled the demogorgan, he was found. The town didn’t know how to explain it and let’s just say Hawkins isn’t the nicest to outcasts. I hear the words “zombie boy” being thrown around every day to describe the young boy, and it breaks my heart. I’ve talked to him a few times. There were many days that I would be hanging out with Nancy and hear her younger brother Mike and his friends down in the basement of their house. It was a comforting sound. The laughter of a group of friends who were like brothers. It was nice.

I missed the days that Mike would hug me goodbye when I would leave the Wheeler’s home. He would pull my arm down so my ear was at his level and whisper “I wish you were my sister too,” and it always tugged at my heart. I grew up without siblings, so seeing those boys meant everything to me. I hadn’t seen them for over a year and couldn’t stop thinking about how awkward this conversation at the school might become. Like, “Hey Mike, how are you? Hope all is well, oh this scar? Super cool, huh? Oh, also I have powers now!” Yep, sounds like it's going to be a great conversation.

All of these thoughts allowed my drive back to the school to go quickly, and I was parking next to Steve’s car in no time. As I turned off my car and got out, Steve followed and did the same.

“See Stevie, I made it here with no scratches,” I said in a sarcastic tone, mocking how worried he was about me driving only a few moments ago.

“Hm, no new scars either?” Steve said as he looked over my face and body. My face dropped as I rolled my eyes, “Don’t push it, Harrington,” I said as I closed my car door and began walking towards the school and Steve followed my lead. “Hey you know I’m only joking Y/N,” he looked at me with sympathy behind his eyes, “Mmhmm,” was all I could mutter out before Steve interrupted me.

“By the way, I do remember you taking me home last night,” my head shot up to look at him as I stopped in my tracks thinking that earlier he was lying just to get a reaction out of me, Steve could tell I looked offended, “bu-but only in pieces. I started remembering when I was driving into the woods. It’s all…really blurry but I remember you giving me a blanket? Did you do that?” I nodded. “Okay, yeah, so I do remember. Just��not a lot,” he seemed almost ashamed for not knowing what happened last night but I couldn’t blame him. I knew this would happen, and yet I still got upset. Part of me wanted him to know every detail of what happened last night to see if what he was saying was true, and so, like word vomit I said “You called me beautiful,” his eyes widened, “oh” he whispered under his breath. Ew. I hated this. I wasn’t trying to have a sentimental moment with him, I had enough of those with Steve Harrington for one day, but I needed him to know. I needed to lighten up the mood. I started walking again, letting him know everything was fine, “Yeah you started crying like a lil’ baby, said sorry multiple times about calling me scar face at the party, and uh told me I was beautiful,” Steve started laughing, “yeah that uh, sounds like intoxicated me for sure,” I started laughing with him, “let’s just say even though it wasn’t for you, it was quite the memorable night for me,”

“Oh yeah I bet! Not every girl gets the luxury of a night alone with the one and only. AND I called you a term of endearment? Phew, Nance better not find out,” he said in his cheeky little voice that he did as he put his hands up in surrender. I was about to come back with something snarky when I saw a young girl with beautiful auburn hair sitting outside the AV club room. She stood up super fast when she saw us approaching the door, “Do you know them? Those stupid boys?!” She asked us frantically. Steve and I looked at each other, eyebrows furrowed, then back at the girl, “If you mean Dustin and the other dummies then yeah, we are here to talk to them,” Steve said to the girl. She looked irritated and sighed, “Well good luck, they won’t let me in and if they let you in I swear,” Steve scoffed and knocked on the door and the boys voices behind the door fell silent until a “WHAT MAX?” Came out of one of their mouths. Mike. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

“What? No. Look, it’s Steve. I have Y/N with me, we need to talk to you guys,” Steve was yelling through the door to ensure the boys could hear him. “Y/N? As in Y/F/N Y/L/N?” I heard Mike question through the door before all three of us outside could hear the boy’s panicked fidgeting, and within a few seconds the door flew open and revealed an anxious looking Dustin as he fanned us all into the room and was muttering lots of “quick”s and “hurry”s. After we all scurried into the room, Dustin slammed the door behind us, and locked it as quickly as he could. Steve walked in first and went around the table that was in the middle of the room. He was standing across from me, along with Mike and Will. We all stood in a circle around the table, but Dustin was standing behind me in order to guard the door.

“Amazing timing, douchebag. Just so you know, we only opened that door for Y/N, not you, Harrington.” Mike spit out at Steve. Steve made a face to indicate that he was offended as he took a step back, “Ouch Wheeler, so much pent up anger in such a little body.” Mike squinted his eyes and put a fake smile on his face to mock Steve as I stepped in “We aren’t here to fight,” I looked at Steve and then back at Mike who now looked like a dog with its tail between their legs, “Look, something is happening and Steve thinks that you guys are the only ones that can help me.” They all looked at me, Dustin and Will looked concerned as Mike looked at all of his friends before saying “W-well what is it?” I looked at Steve, he could feel how nervous I was from across the table that was between us, he nodded his head at me, indicating an ‘it’s okay’. I took a long beat before looking back at Mike and saying “We think I have powers…” Steve scoffed at my lousy confession “THINK? No, no. This girl almost just killed me with that shit. We know she has powers.” He said as he looked at me and pointed at my hands. Lucas was the first one to speak up as he rolled his eyes, “Oh, come on. Y/N you have nothing to do with any of this. And, if you did have powers, where were you last year when we all needed help?” Mike looked upset that Lucas would question me and he hit Lucas on the arm and said, “She wouldn’t just lie, Lucas. Give her a chance to explain herself. Maybe she could show us?” Mike’s sentence ended as if he was asking me to show them at this very moment.

“NO,” Steve and I both yelled at the same time, “I-I mean… no I can’t. I quickly tried to calm my voice, “I can’t risk hurting you kids, plus I don’t even know how to use them. The feeling only comes at certain times. I-I don’t know how to control it.” I admitted while looking back and forth at all the eyes on me in the room. Will looked at me with soft eyes filled with sympathy and said, “Well, there’s gotta be something that triggers them, right? What does it feel like when you feel them coming?” This made me think for a minute until my eyes shot up to look at Steve, and then back at the kids. Steve looked confused at my sudden eye contact with him. “It’s always when I’m around um, Steve.” I didn’t want to say it, but it was the truth. My powers were only triggered when I was around, or thinking about Steve Harrington. “That’s disgusting.” I heard Dustin say from behind me. “No, no not in that way, gross. It’s when he pisses me off. Look, the first time I ever felt like that was last night. I’ve felt tingles in my fingertips before but nothing more. I took Steve home last night because he was drunk, so drunk in fact that he called me Nancy and that’s when I felt the tingles for the first time. But, they went away quick enough for me to not think anything of it,” I went on to tell them all the other times that Steve riled me up enough to trigger a reaction like that, and then told them about what happened in the woods. “Red? Just like, exploded out of you?” The auburn haired girl questioned, “Like-Like the Scarlet Witch in X-Men?” Dustin said with so much amusement in his voice that I couldn’t tell if he was excited or mocking me. Lucas scoffed. “No way, the Scarlet Witch isn’t real, and she is way too powerful to exist.”

I looked over at Mike to see if he had anything else to say. “El was powerful too, ya know? We didn’t believe her at first, we can’t make the same mistake with Y/N.” All of his friends looked at him, at Steve, and then at me. Everyone was staring at me until the weird box that the boys had on the table started moving. “Oh, shit” Dustin said as he went to grab it but Lucas smacked his hand and shook his head aggressively at him. Steve stepped forward, “Whatcha boys hiding in there, huh?”

“No-nothing!” They all said in unison as the girl holding her skateboard rolled her eyes. Mike picked up the microphone on the table and held it up like a weapon as the box fell on its side. “Don’t hurt him!” Dustin said. Him? “Only if he attacks.” Mike responded. “Guys, what is in that box?” I questioned as Steve came from around the table to stand by my side. “Just open it already!” Lucas yelled. “You idiots, what is in there?!” Steve asked affirmatively, demanding an answer. Dustin rolled his eyes, grabbed a little remote from the table, and opened the box to reveal a slimy, tiny looking creature. “Holy…shit.” Lucas, Steve, and I all said in unison. The creature started to crawl towards Dustin and in front of the 7 pairs of eyes in the room, sprouted an extra set of legs. “Oh, shit!” Lucas screamed as Mike went to hit the tiny monster with the microphone. But, he missed and the creature started running towards the closed door. I don’t know what came over me, it wasn’t Steve this time but suddenly all the kids' attention left the creature, as they all looked at me. Steve grabbed my shoulders and stepped in front of me to hide me from the kids.

“Y/N, your eyes, stop.” I started to blink rapidly to try and get it to go away but that thing was still in the room with us and I was terrified. It was like my arm had a mind of its own as it flew upwards towards the door, and the same red glowing ball of energy that hit the tree in the woods earlier, came out of my palms and caused the door to the AV club to fling open, allowing the creature to escape. “Y/N, snap out of it, look at me.” Steve shook me a little bit as I blinked one last time, looked at him, then at the kids in the room with me and just whispered “I’m so sorry…” but the boys had already started running towards the creature before I finished getting my words out. “What was that?” Steve asked, still holding onto my shoulders. “Dart!” Mike yelled, annoyed. “And because you brought her here, he escaped.” Mike was never hostile towards me, it was a terrible feeling to see him upset with me. “Well, why did you attack him?!” Dusting argued with Mike. Mike ignored his question as he yelled a quick, “Come on!” to his friends and we watched them all split up to look for…Dart.

tags; (thank you for supporting) @mochminnie @smellanieeee @pinkangelskies @alexa4040 @tattooedkiss13

[eddiemunsonappreciationsociety]

MY WORD IS MY BOND

Part Eleven: You can bet I don't regret it for a second, it's a pleasure, it's a reckoning

TW language, sexual content

"I miss you," Eddie sighs on the phone.

It's four days after the full moon and we haven't had a chance to see each other since. Despite being ridiculously busy the last few days had dragged with the lack of his presence.

"I miss you too," I say and feel myself blush and I seem to gasp a little.

"I can hear your heart race over the phone," he breathes softly.

"That's embarrassing," I try to laugh but it catches in my throat and my heart hammers against my chest harder.

"I like it," I hear him inhale sharply. "I wish I could kiss you."

I'm caught off guard by this and the blood rushes to my face. The thought of his mouth on mine is an image I haven't been able to get out of my head for what feels like a very long time.

"Did you do that just to hear my heart go mad?"

"Not the only reason," he chuckles but it's breathy and deep.

I hear him swallow.

"I'm looking forward to it, I won't lie," I admit, the flush from my skin is not going as my mind runs with the thought of his mouth.

"I like hearing what the thought of kissing me does to you," he purrs into my ear. "I bet you taste fantastic,"

"Eddie," I almost whimper, I cringe at how pathetic I sound.

"I'm sorry," he clears his throat and I hear him change position. "I got a bit carried away there." he tries to laugh but it sounds strangled.

"Don't be sorry," my voice is a little too urgent and it's time for a laugh to get stuck in my throat.

I realise I am clamping my thighs shut and trying to relax.

"It's just, you drive me crazy."

"I don't think having phone sex will fix our attraction."

"That's actually an incredibly valid point, I don't think I can hear you cum and then just kiss your forehead the next time I see you."

"You shut your beautiful mouth, I can't take you saying things like that to me!" I shout at him.

It's briefly silent, we laugh at the same time, then it's silent again.

"I should let you sleep," he finally says.

"Wait, Stella said she wants to meet you properly."

"Oh no,"

"Oh no?"

"I've seen you two together, if she doesn't like me you'll never see me again."

"She is my family," I pause "her opinion is everything... 'Oh no' might be right."

"Scary, but yes, when can we all go out?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"I get to see you tomorrow?" his voice is so excited I can't help but grin like a damn clown.

"If you say yes"

"Yes! Let me know the details, food and cocktails on me."

"She'll be happy with that."

"I will let you get to sleep now though,"

"I'll see you tomorrow, good night"

"I like the sound of that, I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well, love."

He hangs up and I immediately call Stella.

"He says yes for tomorrow," I tell her before she even says anything.

"Yes! Such a green flag. Love that." I hear her inhale.

"Are you at work?"

"I've got ten minutes left of my shift so I'm hiding out back chain-smoking."

"I thought you were vaping?"

Stella goes through phases where she swears she's giving up smoking and weaning off a vape but that usually lasts longer than this time.

"I was, but then some arsehole decided to grab my tit and verbally abuse me because I'm a server and that's what we're here for obviously."

"What a cunt, are they still there? Bring me something of theirs and I'll hex them."

"I love you, you crazy witch." She laughs but I can hear she's tired.

"Come over to mine after work, let's have a sleepover."

"You have the shop in the morning."

"Fuck it, I'm out of all my full moon stuff and that's what they want."

"You're out already?"

"Yeah, word got around about my super-powered crystals and moon water,"

"Isn't it usually top-notch anyway?"

"Yeah, but it's extra potent this month."

"What did you do differently?"

"Eddie went with me." I find myself whispering.

"Holy shit, right, I'm going back in to close up but I'll be at yours in half an hour. Have you eaten?"

"Not dinner."

"I'll grab us some pizza, I love you, and can't wait to squeeze you."

She hangs up on me before I can say it back but I know I don't need to. I busy myself rolling joints and making cocktails and setting up a Seth Rogen film. I light my candles, dim the lights and throw all my blankets on my comfy sofa. It's a zen haven.

Stella lets herself in, greets Chance and flops onto her side of the sofa.

"Fucking hate men to be honest, if this metal guy doesn't work out, can we get married?"

"We've already got that pact made babe," I say, handing her a long island iced tea and a joint simultaneously.

"I'm just sick of getting groped at my night job and not being taken seriously during the day."

She sighs deeply and drapes herself over me dramatically. I stroke her dark curls, up in their usual topknot and she settles on to me.

"You know if you want to come work with me, I wouldn't mind."

"Thank you for the offer, again, but I need to stick this out until I finish my two years at the dumb desk job."

"Well, the offer is always there."

She sits up suddenly, eyes bright.

"So being with Dreamy has made your witch vibes go mad?"

"Our connection has given my magick a huge kick in the bum."

"That's fucking cool,"

"I think we nearly just had phone sex." I blurt, covering my face with my glass as I feel myself blush.

"No fucking way, you little phone slut." Stella cackles.

"It didn't happen, but he said things that got me excited for... anything." I sigh.

"So what have youse two actually, y'know, done?"

"We held hands, hugged, and he kissed my head." I shrug.

"He's kissed your head but you two haven't fucked? Are you two in Pride and Prejudice?"

"It's complicated."

"Well, I'll let you know whether to worry tomorrow.

She leans back and finishes her drink, shaking the empty glass, ice cubes clinking.

"Can you make them with the..." She motions her fingers in a way that actually perfectly mimics how I do it.

I flick my wrist and fingers and the glasses whizz off to the kitchen on their own. Stella squeals and claps her hands at me.

"Even after all these years that still thrills me."

"But it used to be sneaking snacks from the kitchen, not making cocktails."

The glasses come back, full to the brim. I take them both from the air and pass one to Stella. She takes a deep drink of it and moans appreciatively.

"Mmm, that's incredible, maybe the supercharge has amped up the cocktail skills too. If it's his treat, do we have to be thrifty or can we try that new bougie-themed place in town?"

"Oh, we definitely don't need to be thrifty." The drink and a half have loosened me up a little.

"What was that inflexion?"

"Oh darling, he's loaded."

"What kinda loaded?"

"Like pulled up to pick me up in a half-a-million-pound car." I find myself saying, my tongue is always looser with a drink and especially around Stella.

She proceeds to do a spit take with a mouthful of drink, a natural spit take is rare and I appreciate it for a moment.

"Fuck, girl, I see you." 

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

PART THREE:

PART FOUR:

PART FIVE:

PART SIX:

PART SEVEN:

PART EIGHT:

PART NINE:

PART TEN:

[newgrangespirals]

Six Nuggets and a Winnebago

One thing that kinda bothers me about the six kids talk in season 4 is how so many people misinterpret it. They read it as Steve literally wants six kids and a Winnebago. Either people interpret that as him telling Nancy he wants those kids with her or in Steddie fic eventually want them with him.

I think people are misunderstanding him, Sure, he could mean it literally, however, I always saw that scene as a lonely kind wanting family and envisioning his future family in the only format he thinks possible. Steve grew up wealthy in a small town in Indiana in the 80's. The only blueprint of a happy successful family he has seem is of the nuclear family (husband, wife, kids, and a dog). So, here is this kid whose parents are neglectful and absent at best, wanting connection and family, so he dreams up a scenario that gives him that in the socially accepted format.

He is telling Nancy he used to want six kids, when he was a kid, and didn't know that sometimes family could be: your platonic soul-mate, ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, a super-powered escaped lab experiment, your little brother, five kids that bully you, an ex-police chief, a mother who is always right, and a nerdy metalhead that your little brother adopted, and instead of a Winnebago and road trips, you fight monsters together.

His understanding of what family entails has changed. The six nuggets and a Winnebago was the fantasy of a lonely child desperate for a family that wants and does spend time together. He no longer needs that child's family, he has one. Steve goes on to say to Nancy that it is a good thing he has had practice, gesturing to the back of the RV at the kids, Robin, and Eddie. He is telling Nancy all this, because they are on their way to potentially die. He knows that if it comes down to his family or him it is going to be him. He is telling Nancy because she is part of that family, whether or not you want it to be romantic or not, Steve loves Nancy. He wants someone to know how much he loves this little makeshift family he found because in case he dies.

I just think people view that scene as literal, when I think it goes deeper, and Steve is giving, not just Nancy, but the audience one of our only pieces of his internal thoughts that we get from the show. We don't get a lot from Steve about his wants and dreams, but we get this. Steve's greatest wish for his life is a family that wants to and does spend time together, and he has that, it just looks differently than what he imagined as a lonely child.

[local-redhead-bookworm]

Honestly?? I'm not even sure what to think after s4 ended. I've been racking my brain to come up with something worth mentioning. I see what you mean, though, about the possibility of Billy still being alive 🤞🏼 Vecna left that statement open-ended. And now I know that the tattoos and merch were much more of a tribute to Eddie 😅 also, I love that Max wrote a letter to Steve. I know he complains all the time about being a babysitter, but he truly means so much to them. It was so sweet. And it pisses me off that Neil's bitch ass got off scot free. I hate that they added "he couldn't stick around after you were gone". Sickening. And like you said, it doesn't sit right with me they didn't add Billy to Max's memories. I am loving the girls showing up and showing out. Nancy and Robin at Pennhurst. Suzie being a genius and getting those coordinates. Everything Erica does. Max stepping forward as a decoy (that may have backfired 🥲 I am upset that we went through Dear Billy just to have ep9 happen). I know that the Nina plot was drawn out, but I think it showed development for El. Being able to separate herself from others, to choose her own path. I also loved that she stood up to Angela. As for the last 2 episodes, they were very distressing. I hated that Vecna used the sauna test to torment her, but as someone pointed out earlier, it was a moment the mindflayer had taken over. Both times Billy appeared to her, it was flayed Billy. She was never actually scared of him. I am distraught over Max's plot after this. I am curious about the Vecna and Will connection. But other than that, I'm left kind of stumped. I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything, though

🌸 anon

You and I have a lot of similar thoughts on s4, anon. I haven’t been able to bring myself to rewatch it because of how emotionally distraught it made me, and I don’t have time for another breakdown.

I genuinely despise that the only solution the writers could come up with is “oh Neil couldn’t bear to be around here any longer without you.” In my opinion, it would have made far more sense if his anger had turned on Susan and Max, then Susan had put her foot down and left him.

I wish that more had been done with the girls, honestly. I liked what bits we did get, and Robin’s improv speech at Pennhurst made my theater kid heart so proud. I have some personal nitpicks with Nancy’s treatment of Robin though, don’t love that from her. And as much as I loved Susie, I feel like she’s always just kind of…there? She only shows up twice to deliver information so she feels a lot like a plot device to me. Erica is an absolute sass-master, and episode 9 had me super worried for both her and Lucas.

The Nina Project…had its good elements and bad elements. You’re right, it did develop El and it showed her standing up to Brenner, but it was also clearly insanely triggering for her. Her expression when she wakes up and realizes they’ve buzzed her head again absolutely gutted me. I would have preferred it if Owens had been the only one in charge and if El had had more of a choice. The fact that she was essentially forced to relive a traumatic part of her life didn’t sit right with me, it would have felt more powerful if she’d chosen to confront those memories herself. And I’m glad that she never forgave Brenner, he doesn’t deserve her forgiveness.

I’m so glad she stood up to Angela too. I know violence isn’t the answer and all that, and it was a bit severe, but it certainly felt satisfying seeing Angela get whacked in the face for repeatedly humiliating and picking on El.

I do wonder what the show plans to do with Will’s connection to Vecna, especially since he’s now the only one of his victims to survive. I know they’re going to bring Max back next season, you can tell, but the fact that episode 9 is left as her final opinion on Billy and that she never brings up that she cared and that she realizes now why he was the way he was, it feels like a complete 180 on her character.

Eddie’s pointless death and the absolute butchering of Max’s character made me lose hope in the writing of the show. And don’t even get me started on the wasted potential of the Russia arc! I spent so much of the time before s4 thinking up theories, and I’ve read other folks’ theories and fics that are 100 times better than what actually happened. S4 had some good bits, but I was just so frustrated with it. Obviously if you enjoyed it I’m completely fine with that, I’m just annoyed by the wasted potential.

[aringofsalt]

ooo would love to hear about “be careful making wishes in the dark” please and ty

ok ok this one is very dear to my heart because it's kind of a story idea i've been trying to write as original fiction off and on for a while, but it never quite worked, and i think steddie might just make it click? the goal is a supernatural thriller type thing. I don't have anything super substantial written, just bits and pieces, so here's an overview of the intro:

Steve and Eddie are childhood friends. BEST friends. But as he gets older Eddie starts seeing things: he's convinced one of their teachers is a werewolf, there are faeries in the woods, that kind of thing. Nobody believes him, his parents are trying to get him in to doctors, kids at school think he's a freak, and all he has is Steve. When they're 14 they have a big fight where Steve accidentally reveals that he thinks Eddie was just making up stories all along and that they're getting a bit old for it. Eddie runs away from Hawkins, ends up with his estranged Uncle Wayne in the city, and never looks back.

15 years later, Eddie's still with Wayne. Turns out the reason his parents hated Wayne is he had the same powers Eddie started showing. He took Eddie in and helped raise him and train him and now they both work for this supernatural government agency, helping track down rogue supes or people who don't know they have powers to help them, etc. He's happily never thought of Hawkins or Steve at all (lies) until one day he gets an assignment to investigate some magical murders back in his hometown.

He goes undercover and just hopes everybody's moved on but: Steve Harrington is the deputy of the police department. They're going to have to work together. CHAOS ENSUES. Kisses and angst ensue.

[castlebyersafterdark]

I'm never gonna be in a situation where the person I'm sleeping with has that as a factor, if that's what you’re getting at. I did actually try to date a few girls when I was a teenager but, yikes. Never got very far hahaha. But it's not like women (and those who otherwise experience this) are so super mysterious. It's not secret knowledge. Moral of the story: I just know for a fact that many men are purposefully obtuse or immature. Sexism. All that. Simplifying the issue but for the purpose of this ask! 💁‍♂️

ok wow i'm gonna need some vintage vinny elaboration! this is sooo interesting

firstly - getting as personal as you wish or dont wish, can you elaborate on your teen experiences dating girls to give some context to mike?? any similarities aside from the superhero thing haha? or not, if we're speaking metaphorically. i mean, when s4 opened with mike boasting to dustin about how el 'literally saved the world twice', i was like... dude. that's literally guys just showing off their trophy girlfriend cos she's got big tits yet he doesnt know anything about who she is.

and secondly, men being purposefully obtuse and putting women on pedestals because of sexism? oh, if you have time pleaseeee elaborate on that too! sounds like you were amongst that perhaps before guys knew you were gay so they tried to get you to laugh along and you were just like... hahaha... ermmmm...

Oh gosh, not the vintage Vinny lore 🤣 High school me is so... I mean. We have to give our teenage selves some grace. We were all so young and stupid and naive and confused and it's not our fault! That's just life. And if you are still a teenager - stay strong, power through.

If you want context to explain Mike, my path wasn't quite similar, but I understand where he's coming from. Since this is the space I'm spending my time, just some anecdotes for comparison sake later. I think something to consider with Mike is that I really don't think he recognized his sexuality for what it is until we see him in season 4. This is the beginning stage of, hmm not acceptance because he's not accepting it, but recognition? Eddie. Not being able to tell El he loves her. His weird reaction to seeing Will again. Not being able to reach out to Will. Isolating himself through his off screen depression in between the seasons. He's going through it. Gay thoughts are one thing, behaviors we read as super gay as watchers of the show but for the character it's not apparent yet - the subconscious. Internalizing it. His journey is latent. But he's in it now. I think a part of him did want to have a girlfriend, he's supposed to want a girlfriend, and El - what a perfect girl to have by his side! He doesn't recognize Will for what he could be to him, even if his behavior can be read as a crush, esp in season 2. But he's young. He doesn't really know yet. Conformity and internalization are a hell of a beast. He's getting there. Tooth and nail.

Personal takes under the cut like always!!

Me? I wish I could explain how sexuality develops and how people know young while others don't. I cannot give that insight. When kids talked about crushes and stuff about girls, I knew I had to keep my damn mouth shut because I thought about boys. And I knew it was weird. I told myself, fine. Keep that secret. But you gotta think about girls, too. So I forced it. I never pursued a girl, but if some brave girl made it clear she liked me - yeah, I'd try it. Go on little dates. Kiss, make-out, but I just never really wanted more and I fucking knew why!! And kissing and making out were just really fun to do. But - I liked the company of girls. Girls are awesome!! But that was all.

It's brings it back to why I relate the most to Robin, which I've mentioned. I made a close friend in my junior year. She was so cool. If I was straight - I'd have wanted her to be my high school sweetheart. We were outsiders in our extended friend group because we hung out with the skater kids and stoners - but neither of us could skate! We were both such shit at it. So we stuck together. And she confessed a crush on me at one point. I couldn't break this girl's heart or pretend. So I came out to her. The only one who knew besides my sister. And she was sad but told me it made a lot of sense, which rocked me to hear, but we remained friends. Took her to prom actually. Senior year I ended up in a complicated fwb situation and I was in no way taking him to prom and I still feel like an asshole about it.

So. There's some lore!!! Being a teenager is so hard. Sexuality is a behemoth of confusion and the journey is winding. Give grace to your teenage self. What did any of us know? How do you navigate all that?

As for the "men being purposefully obtuse" comment - I remember now what I meant for it. It was less about the average man putting women on a pedestal and more about men being so purposefully backwards that the misogyny and sexism override any sense or logic. I meant like, how you read about some conservative senator making an inane comment about women's bodies, for example "if she didn't want to get pregnant she should have just controlled her body and not gotten pregnant" or that some guy said "why can't she just hold it and wait until later" about a woman having a period like a grown man saying that?! All the comments you see screenshot from idiot twitter threads. Come onnnn, men! I know how these things biologically work and I'm a cis gay man, why can't you straight men learn some basic facts about the people you want to date or just simply have sex with? I feel like a lot know, but they on purpose, refuse to portray themselves as anything but these ignorant brutes, hating women while desiring them. Do they really not know or is not knowing part of the image. "Can't let them know we understand women or else we can't keep on being dicks and saying it's impossible to understand women." Irritating!! Sorry for the rant hahaha