#I think there was a few for st steddie

[losersclublol]

If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that time is a fucking circle

[steddieas-shegoes]

liquor talks

for @steddie-week prompt 'drunken confessions'

rated m | 875 words | cw: implied sexual content, alcohol | tags: love confessions, mutual pining, getting together, first kiss

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

Two shots didn’t usually do him in, but the room was spinning and his mouth was running like he’d had a whole bottle of vodka. At least everyone else seemed to be on his level.

Except Nancy. She didn’t drink much anymore, so she was usually the babysitter when they all got together.

He could feel her eyes on him now as he danced with Robin, spinning her in circles while they both giggled and nearly tripped over their own feet.

What had he even drank?

“Robbie!” Steve stopped her spin and held her face in his hands. “I didn’t eat lunch!”

“Me either!” She yelled before spinning again.

Steve giggled as he stepped back and watched her for a moment.

The back door opened and closed and Eddie slipped inside, the cool night air wafting off of him as he sat down in the chair behind Steve.

Steve was hot. He should cool off.

He sat down in Eddie’s lap and sighed with relief, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Eddie’s hands were resting on the arms of the chair, his legs tense under Steve’s.

“You feel nice,” Steve said, relaxing completely against him, curling into a ball in Eddie’s lap. “Good.”

“I was only outside for 15 minutes. How’d you drink so much already, Stevie?” One of Eddie’s hands rested on Steve’s calf, thumb rubbing along the seam of his jeans.

“Only had two!” Steve held up two fingers, then tapped them against Eddie’s cheek. “You were gone forever. Missed you.”

“You were dancing with birdie. You barely even noticed I was gone,” Eddie laughed. “Think you need some water.”

“I didn’t eat lunch,” Steve groaned. “Should eat lunch.”

“A little late for lunch, but I can get you a snack if you’re hungry.”

Steve shook his head, but felt dizzy and had no choice but to let it fall to Eddie’s shoulder.

He turned his face into Eddie’s shirt, breathing in the smell of his cologne mixed with the weed he’d just smoked outside. He was warming up now that he was inside and had Steve sitting on him, but Steve didn’t want to get up.

“Could sit here forever.” Steve closed his eyes as he mumbled against Eddie’s skin.

“Might have to get up eventually,” Eddie said quietly back.

“Don’t wanna. Perfect right here,” Steve slurred.

“C’mon, Steve. You’re drunk. You should get some water and lay down.”

But Steve didn’t want to do that. Well, maybe he wanted to lay down a little bit. But only if Eddie came with him.

“Wanna lay with you.”

“Alright! Time for sleep!” Nancy said next to him, tugging on his arm to try to make him stand up.

“No.” Steve burrowed further into Eddie, pulling his arm towards his chest. “Sleepin’ here.”

Eddie must have brushed her off because they were alone again a few moments later and most of the noise of the room seemed far away. Steve snuggled against Eddie, smiling to himself when Eddie’s arms wrapped around him and held him tighter.

“You can sleep for a bit. I got you.” Eddie’s voice was quiet, only for Steve to hear.

“Mkay. Love you,” Steve muttered, just loud enough for Eddie to hear.

But before Eddie could respond, he was asleep.

****

When Steve woke up, he was tucked into his own bed, drooling on his pillow.

He didn’t see any sunlight through his window, so he must’ve only been asleep a few hours.

He was alone and he was thirsty.

His bedroom door opened and he turned his head to see if Robin was finally joining him.

“Shit, didn’t know you were awake. Just wanted to bring you some water before I head out,” Eddie said quietly, walking over to Steve’s side and holding out a glass of water. “Feeling okay?”

“Mhm. Still tired.”

“Yeah, I think you overdid it.” Eddie gave him a small smile to let him know he wasn’t judging him. “Go back to sleep, Stevie.”

“Like that,” Steve mumbled as he let his eyes close. Eddie’s hand brushed through his hair softly.

“What?” Eddie whispered.

“When you call me that. Feel special.”

“You are, Stevie.”

Steve opened his eyes to see Eddie looking down at him with furrowed brows, like he was trying to figure something out.

“I am?”

“You don’t remember, do you?” Now, Eddie sounded sad, and Steve never wanted Eddie to be sad.

“Remember what?”

“You told me you loved me earlier.”

“I do.”

“You do remember or you do love me?” Eddie asked.

“Yes.”

Eddie groaned. “Steve, which is it?”

“Both. I do love you and I do remember telling you.”

“Oh.”

“But I’m gonna say it again in the morning.”

“Okay.”

“Cuz you don’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“I just know you. Cuz I love you.”

When Eddie smiled, Steve couldn’t help letting out a relieved laugh. He’d been holding that back for so long, having it out in the open so easily was almost impossible to believe. Maybe he was having a vodka induced dream.

“I love you too. But you should get some more sleep.”

“Stay?”

“I’ll stay.”

“Love you in the mornin’ too.” Steve’s eyes slipped closed as Eddie’s weight made the bed dip beside him.

“Me too.”

[inklessletter]

Congratulations, first of all, for reaching the milestone 💐💐💐 you deserve every single follower, and then some. Your art is always so pretty and I love how you bring us along during your process.

Secondly, would you like to make art based on this fic of mine? I'm thinking right at the beginning, when Eddie falls to his knees on stage and he and Steve have their "moment".

Thank you for hosting this fanart party ❤️

Steve tilts his head, and Eddie prepares for a kiss. He gets no lips, only tongue; Steve licks his mouth, from one corner to the other.

🎸🎸🎸

@2btheanswertothequestion

This one was SO MUCH FUN TO DO. I had trouble finding good references for the ambiance, but I love the result. Please, go read the fic, it's so good.

I know that I don't know many of the users that sent me requests a few weeks ago, but I've got a tiny story to tell about this one (I'm getting to know you little by little and I'm falling for every single one of you, you talented fuckers). They are the reason I am in Tumblr. It happens that I created an account many months ago, and didn't know how to use this, I just clicked "follow" to the tags and the blogs ST/Steddie related that posted fics and arts, and on my way to work, in the bus, I read the first chapter of a fanfic that made lose my stop (literally, I got late to the office that day).

Sad thing is the next time I opened the app, the fic was gone. I just remembered a few things and god knows that the search bar in this site works... well, works. Sometimes. I couldn't find it. I made it my personal goal to actually find this fic again, and this user, whose name I didn't catch because, again, I didn't know how to use Tumblr. This user pulled a full Cinderella on me, reading with intent every fic until the shoe fit. And I found it by mere coincidence, because they posted the third part, and I was like "WAIT IS THIS IT?". And it was it.

In the meanwhile, I actually completed my account, like you know, trying not to make it look like a bot (that I learned that it was a bad thing that could get me blocked), I put a profile picture, I made it decent, I learned how to use Tumblr (a bit). So, you see. This user, my beloved @2btheanswertothequestion is the one to blame that I actually stuck in this place. If you're wondering which one was the fic that got me so hooked up it was November Paramedic. (Here the AO3 link). Go read it, you're gonna love it.

(I'm kinda mad that they didn't asked me to draw the actual picture of the calendar, though. I have some ideas, I might draw it the future, because when I say that I hold this fic very close to my heart, I mean it.)

I really, really hope you like it, I worked hard on it and I did this with every bit of love stored in my heart ❤️❤️❤️

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

@steddiemas Day 25 -  Opening gifts

pairing: steddie | word count: 2,674 | rated: T

hello again friends! this one is late (again, i'm sorry 😭) but here's the next part for day 25!! I had a great holiday and i hope you all did too!!

The whirlwind of the next couple days surprises him; after dinner on the 21st, there was a whole two days where he didn’t see Steve at all.

He was out of town on the 22nd alltogether for what Robin called “The Harrington Fake As Fuck Holiday Tour”, off seeing his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and the 23rd is when Wayne’s plant had their Christmas potluck. 

He may not have liked the holiday season all that much in the years before this, but who is he to turn down a full day of food?

It was on the way home from said potluck that Eddie realized. 

“Oh fuck..”

“Hm?” Wayne hums from the driver’s seat.

“Oh fuck. Fuckfuckfuck! I don’t have a present for him!” Eddie whips his head around to gape at the side of his uncle’s face, “Wayne, I don’t have a present for Steve!”

Wayne huffs out a breath, a low “Goddammit, boy.” coming out with it.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Sounds like you’re goin’ shoppin’ tomorrow, Ed.” he’s still shaking his head.

“I don’t have the cash for that, what am I supposed to do? What do you get your brand new boyfriend for Christmas?” Eddie pauses. “Wait, are we boyfriends?”

“Y’do know you two were friends before you were maybe boyfriends, right?” Wayne says, “What were ya gonna give him?”

“I was going to make him a battle jacket–but that’s not nearly good enough, Wayne! He only wore mine that one time! What was I thinking, he doesn’t wear vests, he needs something better, I need more cash, he needs something-–”

“Calm down Eds, take a breath.” Wayne takes a hand off the wheel to clasp a hand over Eddie’s shoulder. “Steve will appreciate literally anything you give him, he even liked it when you kissed him,”

“Shut up,”

“And you may be right,” Wayne shrugs, taking his hand off Eddie’s shoulder to do so, “He might not be a vest kinda guy, but what if ya, now hear me out on this, leave the sleeves on the damn thing?”

Eddie turns to blink stupidly at his uncle, now gazing at him as if over a pair of invisible glasses.

They both burst out laughing, “Okay, okay, I’ll still make him the jacket…though I don’t know if I have enough patches.”

Wayne only scoffs at him, turning his attention back to the road when the light turns green, “That’s a damn lie and you know it.”

“I don’t!” “You have a whole fuckin’ shoebox of ‘em in that closet of yours! You dump it out every time you add something to your own vest.”

“Let me rephrase: I don’t have enough Steve patches.”

“The hell is a Steve Patch?”

A Steve Patch, as Wayne soon finds out, is one of any number of patches Eddie may get his grubby paws on that isn’t something to do with one of the bands he listens to, or something to do with that game he likes.

“It’s gotta be things he likes, right?”

“Sure,” Wayne nods from his recliner, not bothering to look up from his paper at the pile of patches and miscellaneous bobbins of thread that his nephew has dumped all over their coffee table. “Or you can add a few that’ll remind him of you and take him to get more’a his own later. Make a day of it.”

His silence makes Wayne look up. Eddie’s gaping at him.

“What?”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a genius?”

“Hmph,” he says, and goes back to reading.

Eddie’s hushed ‘Ow!’s and ‘Fuck!’s mingle with the low radio playing through the rest of their evening.

Steve’s old-new jacket was thrifted a couple months ago now, the denim only a couple shades darker than the denim of his own vest, and Eddie’d immediately brought it home and told Wayne of his plan.

His uncle had called him on his intentions almost as quick, saying “He must be pretty special, huh?” 

So Eddie worked through the night, moving into his own room come about three on the morning of the 24th to let Wayne sleep in peace. In the end, he only had four patches to add to the jacket: an Ozzy patch for Steve’s similar bat chomping prowess, one of the KISS logo since Steve had really taken to a few of their songs, a D20 for him and the rest of the party, and a scruffy-looking BMW patch he’d found at the same time he’d found the jacket; but the longer part of his work was the painstakingly embroidering a scattering of bats up the left arm of the jacket, and the best copy of Steve’s spiked nailbat he could manage along the backside of the right forearm, putting the spiked end close to the end of the sleeve.

He packed it up carefully, in a box that previously held kindling (old notes leftover from school), wrapping it up with a couple sheets of the last months’ Funnies, and laid down to catch at least a couple hours.

-x-

A few hours later, Eddie finds himself on the Harringtons’ front steps.

Steve should be back by now, of course, and the rest of the party he knows will be at home with the rest of their families. It is Christmas Eve, of course.

He hoped to just drop by to give Steve his gift, but he secretly hoped Mr. and Mrs. Harrington would continue to be America’s Greatest Parents and make themselves scarce for the fifth year in a row.

Aw fuck, that’s a shitty thing to think, hoping that his boyfrien—best frien—frien— Steve’s parents would be gone so Steve would have time for him?

How did Steve find it in him to like Christmas so damn much if his parents were always gone? Was Robin even telling the truth? Have they really been gone each of the past four?

Eddie’s almost-panicked contemplation is interrupted when Steve opens the door.

“Eds, hi! What are yo—”

“How do you like Christmas so much?”

“Uh..what?”

Damn it Eddie, this is not the time for this. “Nevermind, nevermind, hey Stevie; can I come in?”

“Yeah, o’course.” He steps out of the way of the door and closes the door behind Eddie when he enters. “What brings you by? Not doing anything with Wayne?”

“He’s working tonight, so our only plans are cinnamon rolls for breakfast in the morning.” he shrugs.

Steve nods, “So what’ve you got there, sweetheart?”

Eddie’s heart swoops at the name, “I uh, got you something.”

“You did?” His face looks incredibly fond.

“Yeah, so you better have gotten me something too, big boy.” Eddie huffs, wrestling with the laces on his boots “I’ll tell you all about it as soon as I get these off.”

Suddenly, Steve’s down on one knee in front of him and reaching for his leg. “Give it here before you fall over.”

Steve hooks one hand around the back of his heel, and the other makes quick work of the fraying laces. Eddie quite likes to think he was holding it together just fine, thank you, until Steve’s hand moves from his laces to the back of his knee.

Eddie’s face flushes fast, and his boot is off in the next second.

Who the fuck has a knee-pit thing?

Steve sets down that leg and carefully lifts the other for the same treatment.

Okay, maybe it’s just a ‘Steve is touching a part of me that literally no one else ever has before’ thing, but still.

All in all, it was maybe a whole 30 seconds that Steve was knelt down in front of him, but it felt like it was an instant and like it was hours at the same time.

“There ya go” Steve grins, standing again, “Can I open my present now?”

“Be my guest, sunshine.” he passes Steve the box very cool-like and not at all still flustered with his voice still pitched high, thank you very much.

Steve starts in on Garfield, stolling into the living room and leaving a trail of shredded paper in his wake.

“Ooh, a box, thanks Eds.” Steve smirks, sinking onto the end of the couch closest to the tree.

“Ha ha ha.” Eddie deadpans in return, shoving his hands into his pockets and wanting desperately to look away from Steve’s possible reaction; but he can’t. He’s nearly vibrating in anticipation.

He finally tears through the flimsy scotch tape holding the top flaps together and opens it. 

Steve’s eyes jump to Eddie’s immediately, his jaw dropping.

“Is this–” he looks back down at it, pulls the jacket out and free of the box as he stands back up to hold it out in front of him.

Eddie’s face feels like it’s on fire, like his innards are stretched and twisted like the world’s most complicated pretzel.

Steve’s eyes are on him again, “You made me a battle jacket?”

All Eddie could do was nod, his throat clenched tight.

His heart was thrust somewhere into the aforementioned gut-pretzel when Steve slipped the jacket over his shoulders. 

Why he thought he could see it better while it was on him is knowledge lost to Eddie, but he tries his damndest to twist around to see the BMW and KISS patches on his right side. He seemed to notice the threads covering his arms when trying to pull the left hem of the jacket around to admire the Ozzy and D20 patches there.

“Eddie, did you—” Steve looks up at him in wonder

“Mm hmm,” he nods, then has to yank his hands out of his pockets as quickly as he can, wrapping his palms over careful stitches in denim when Steve takes two long strides to pull Eddie to him.

Now, up until the exact moment Steve’s lips were on his, Eddie could be convinced that what happened on Steve’s back patio a couple days ago was just a fluke; a daydream maybe, possibly a nightmare meant to torture him and he really had died back in March.

But he didn’t.

He was here. Being kissed by his boyfriend. For a present he’d given him for Christmas.

Holy shit..

“Eddie..” Steve breathes his name like a prayer and Eddie’s stomach swoops in response. “You are amazing, d’y’know that?”

Eddie hums into another kiss, his head is swimming, “Hmmm..no. Tell me again.” he teases.

Steve huffs a laugh, “You are amazing, Eddie Munson, you stitched this with your own two hands just for me?”

“It’s only four patches.” he noses forward to connect their lips again, but is held at bay. He opens his eyes to Steve’s own boring into him.

“It’s only nothing, Eds. Do you see this?!” Steve lifts his arm between them, the right one with the nail bat, “And this?” he says, re-placing his hand on Eddie’s cheek to lift his left into view instead, the arm with the bats. “You did that yourself, by hand. You are so fucking talented, Eddie. I love y--it. I love it. Thank you.”

Eddie’s finally rewarded with another kiss for having to suffer through that praise.

“You’re welcome, sunshine.”

Steve pulls back again, searching his face with those striking hazel eyes of his. His expression steels. “Damn you, Munson.” he practically hisses, letting Eddie go completely.

“Aw what?” he jokes over the stabbing pain in his gut, “First I’m amazing and now—”

“Oh shush,” Steve chides him, crouching down to search the lowest branches of his tree. 

“We really need to find you a back patch for that thing.” he mumbles while Steve continues his search. 

“Ah ha! Got it!” Steve stands and rushes back to him, “Here, open it.”

A simple white envelope is pressed into his hand.

“Look, Steve I really appreciate the thought,” Eddie starts, flipping open the top flap open, “But I’ve got a job you kno—”

His joking is cut off when he feels the thick cardstock finally drop into his palm from the upturned envelope.

Eddie looks down at it.

There’s two of them. General admission, for just a couple months from now.

Eddie’s not new to this, he’s been following the bits of news he could of his favorite bands’ tours and Iron Maiden is in what, Italy right now? He knew they were coming closer again soon but must not have been watching close enough.. He didn’t even realize these had gone on sale yet.

“Steve, these are–”

“Not as cool as Metallica or Ozzy, I know, but neither are coming by anywhere close anytime soon, and I knew you liked these guys too, the skull guy? Whatever, point is, I picked them up a couple weeks ago when me and Rob went up to Indy last and I thought maybe you and Wayne could go, or you and Jeff maybe—”

Eddie had stared, transfixed, while Steve went on his little tirade, pacing back and forth, but hold on..

“Hold on, Steve, stop.”

He does, looking nervous.

“Steve, sweetheart, first of all: thank you. This is amazing, perfect even! Second,” he drops the envelope onto the coffee table and runs his hands up and down Steve’s arms soothingly, “What in the world makes you think Wayne would want to come with me?”

It works, and Steve huffs out a laugh, rolling his eyes at him.

“You know what I meant, dickhead.”

“I know, sweetheart, but there’s only one person I’d want to come with me.”

Steve’s lips twitch, “I dunno Eds, I’m pretty cool with Claudia, but I don’t think even I could convince her to let her precious Dusty Buns go with you.”

Eddie smirks at him, letting his arms go “Now who’s being a dickhead.”

Steve smiles back, then his face falters, “You sure you like them? I can always get them exchanged or give them to someo—”

“You better fuckin’ not,” Eddie says, snatching the envelope back up and clutching it close to his chest, “My boyfriend got me these tickets, you cur.”

He expected Steve to latch on to that one, say something like “What–What’d you just call me?”, or “Cur? Who are you, Shakespeare?”, hell, even something as simple as “..Gross.”, but nothing comes.

He’s just…staring at him.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

“...Boyfriend?”

Oh shit.

“Um..” Eddie gulps loudly, “Y-yeah, that okay?”

Steve’s hands are cupped around his face not a second later, and his lips on Eddie’s another moment later.

He’s lost to the feeling instantly, there’s nothing but SteveSteveSteve running through his head, wading through his soupy brains to reach all corners.

Steve licks into his mouth and Eddie melts to his front, arms wrapping around his boyfriend.

Eventually, Steve pulls back enough to murmur, “I’d love to be your boyfriend, Eddie.”

Eddie kisses him again, nothing pushy, no expectations, only the weird sense of gratefulness he has for Steve accepting his new title.

Steve hums in satisfaction when Eddie finally does let him go and gives him a last quick peck on the nose, which Steve pushes him off for with a smile.

“So whattya wanna do tonight, sweetheart? You got any good movies around here?” Eddie says, turning to squat down in front of Steve and Robin’s pile of favorite tapes next to the TV.

“Well, you know…”

“..I know?” Eddie encourages, picking up a copy of Rocky Horror in one hand and Rocky in the other.

“There are some things I haven’t done with a boyfriend before..”

“Uh, yeah, I’d hope not Stevie.” Eddie scoffs as Steve starts to move, heading out the room, “You’ve never had one before.”

“Exactly.” He rounds the corner out the door.

Eddie assumes he’s heading to the kitchen for snacks, but drops both tapes when he hears the bottom step creak.

Oh.

You’re just a whole-ass idiot, aren’t you Munson?

“You comin’ Eds?”

Eddie’s on his feet in an instant and on the steps behind Steve before he’s even done talking. “Holy shit, uh..yes, yep, yeah the fuck I am, Jesus H. Christ.”

oooohh i think the fic rating is about to go up 👀

some notes:

i based the ticket text off this image from a Bon Jovi show a week before iron Maiden's scheduled show (i couldn't find a pic of the IM show ticket, and i'm not sure if it also started at 7:30)

$14.50 in November 1986 dollars would $40.33 in November 2023 dollars!

the show date is an actual date i got from Iron Maiden's website! and eddie was right, last he may have heard, they would've likely played their last shows in Italy before the holiday in '86.

i am not the first or last person to give steve a jacket with patches and i just know he's gonna have fun finding more pins and patches for it with both robin and eddie <3

other parts! Pt. 1 (Day 1) | Pt. 2 (Day 2) | Pt. 3 (Day 5) | Pt. 4 (Day 6) | Pt. 5 (Day 7) | Pt. 6 (Day 11) | Pt. 7 (Day 13) | Pt. 8 (Day 18) | Pt. 9 (Day 21) | Pt. 10 (Day 25) [YOU ARE HERE] also on AO3! this year

[livwritesstuff]

heyo! loving the steddie dads. was wondering if either of them suffer from nightmares or ptsd after everything they've been through? and how they might deal with that on a day-to-day/anniversary basis.

Hi friend -- took some time on this one because this is a Topic for me.

Short answer – yes, 100%. I don’t think any person on the planet could experience that kind of thing and not come out of it with some serious issues to work through. 

Longer answer, and not to abuse my psych degree, but it’s really tough to say how they would be affected 10, 20, 30, etc. years down the line because PTSD and trauma are both so unbelievably complex – for many reasons, but in part because PTSD can do two things (sort of) simultaneously.

Wane over time

Completely and permanently alter the “wires” (neural pathways) in your brain

I think that there’s sometimes this perception in the ST fandom that every character in the show who experienced a trauma would have PTSD by default, but that might not necessarily be true. Stats actually show that the majority of people who experience trauma in some capacity will in fact not display PTSD symptoms. I think Mike and Dustin at the onset of season 2 are a fantastic example of how two people can go through the same events together and come out of it affected very differently.

(Sidebar: I think Stranger Things has a fantastic opportunity to show how varied the effects of trauma can be. Granted, I don’t think that’s the story they’re telling, but they totally could.)

Experiencing a traumatic event is not necessarily a one-way ticket to PTSD symptoms and/or a PTSD diagnosis – to be clear, this doesn’t mean that there are not lasting negative effects from that traumatic event, but it is still distinctly different from PTSD (in its official definition) – and right now it’s not clear why this is the case. 

I have individual thoughts about each character as it relates to what they specifically experience and how I think they would be affected by it long and short-term, HOWEVER I also recognize that I haven’t answered your actual question, so I digress.

Rather than dive into whether or not I think Steve and/or Eddie have PTSD, we’re just gonna call it capital-T Trauma and move along. You’re welcome.

Anyways, by the time Steve and Eddie (as they exist in this ‘verse) are in their fifties, I doubt that any residual effects of their Trauma would still be anywhere near debilitating. Generally speaking, they can go about their day-to-day lives without thinking about what they went through all that much.

I do think that those effects may temporarily worsen around anniversaries, but even that really isn’t all that noticeable by the time they hit the 2020s.

They’ll still occasionally have nightmares and I don’t think Steve ever fully lets himself believe that it’s truly done in a way that Eddie doesn’t relate to because he never had to experience what it’s like for it all to come back.

(Small potatoes, but I also don’t think Steve could ever own a dog no matter how much his daughters campaigned for a puppy when they were in elementary school).

I think the Trauma that Steve experienced shows itself in his adulthood when it comes down to raising kids. 

I’ve talked before about how Steve has a moment when Moe turns ten where it kind of clicks for the first time just how young Erica had been when he allowed her to get caught up in everything. He hadn’t been able to see it until he was a fully-fledged adult raising a ten-year-old, but he gets really hung up on it, and then he spends the next few years being like – Moe’s eleven, that’s how old Eleven was when she broke out of the lab; she’s twelve, that’s how old Will was when he got stuck in the Upside Down; she’s thirteen, that’s how old Dustin was when he almost got eaten by demobats in those tunnels. 

Then the girls start hitting their high school years and Steve starts realizing – oh, it wasn’t just the younger ones. I was also a kid still and put in a really fucked up position. It’s the thing that makes him truly see how few adults he had in his corner.

Eddie has a similar moment when Moe graduates high school and he realizes that his oldest daughter is as old as Chrissy ever got to be.

That being said I also don’t think Eddie gets as torn up over Chrissy as the popular opinion suggests but i’m a little afraid to voice that one lol

I definitely think Eddie and Steve never let themselves forget how Max, Chrissy, Patrick, etc. were vulnerable to Vecna’s curse because of a very specific circumstance – they were grappling with something internally that they didn’t feel they had the resources or people they trusted enough to address outwardly. Sure, they know that their kids aren’t at risk of being possessed and murdered by an evil monster, but the notion of bad things happening when people don’t have the support that they need is a very real phenomenon with very real consequences. By no means was that exclusive to Hawkins and it certainly didn’t go away with the Upside Down. 

I think that this becomes the crux of Steve and Eddie’s mentality behind parenthood – to make sure that their kids never feel like they can’t go to their dads for support, to never allow their children to be in a position where they have to suffer in silence. That, to me, is absolutely rooted in the parts of their Trauma that re-wired their brains irreparably.

Anyhooooo this is really just the tip of the iceberg imo but this is long enough already lol (but if anyone wants to hear more about the Stranger Things-Trauma paradigm, let me know because I could probably talk about it for hours).

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

Nancy Wheeler

A lot of fics will make her the “bad guy” to help push their ship of Steve/whichever guy they’re pairing him with. Nancy deserves better than that she is a great character with a lot of depth. While she and Steve don’t have to be besties I hate it when they turn her into some homophobic or bitchy ex just there to propel the story 

Poor girl can't get a break ever

I got back into ST right after S4 came out, and I almost stepped out bc of how rude people were being to Nancy. She was called a bitch for dumping Steve (which was 2 years ago in canon and 6 years irl???) and she was blamed for Steddie (and in at least 1 post, harringgroove, which ugh) not getting together. Basically she got a lot of uncalled for hate for existing, because how dare she be so stubborn and get in Steve and the other characters way!

[cchapsticck]

The words "mundane bad end" have caught my attention. Tell me about Rapture Chaser, please.

The parts of this AU (otherwise known as Dick & Jane AU - which I have posted a little of already) I've kind of fixated on were pretty small potatoes when @saintmarywinchester and I started spitballing the whole thing.

The Steddie part is, admittedly, a very small part of a much wider epistolic work that's kind of like, a collection of urban legend hunter accounts/conspiratorially minded think pieces/accounts of the vague pop culture impact of the various tellings of what really happened in Hawkins 20-30 years later. There's parts of it that are declassified internal government documents and commentary on forums on the redacted nature of them. Blog posts of urban explorers digging through the sewers under the old Department of Energy building. Tabloid articles and interviews with people who say their children were kidnapped and changed by government programs. Reviews of better and worse movies that claim to be "based on a true story" that are more and less accurate to missing persons and murder cases in the area and their intersection with satanic panic of the time. Stuff like that.

But an element of it that we were digging into was how and how-not present the main cast of ST might be involved in this ongoing narrative surrounding their hometown. In those discussions we ultimately made some choices about Steve; who, for the epistolic iteration of the AU was mostly a resource that some of these posters could seek out to ask questions about The Truth of Hawkins - he is available for confirmation of beliefs held by the interviewers but he never really provides new information. He is uninterested in any consequences of his transparency, perhaps because his health is in decline due to the multiple TBIs suffered at a young age.

In our discussions of Steve it did circle back around to Steddie, because it is a flavor we enjoy, which introduced the witness protection program and further layers of deception to the whole story that kind of shot off into its own deeper narrative that actually doesn't play at all into the original AU in a serious way beyond being interested in exploring Eddie being forced to endure whatever legacy he's retained in the whole Hawkins narrative by proximity to Steve. So it is a bad end in that there's really no closure to the main ST narrative, and Steve's life is largely divorced from those events beyond what he actively invites in with these Truth seekers. His life is in a downward spiral partially of his own making that Eddie does not soothe or dissuade him from. I posted a loose kind of overview of that relationship in the context of this AU because I just wanted to write it and get out of my head, as that kind of elaboration wasn't actually necessary to the main collection of texts we were putting together - but then it turned out I was having fun in that mundanely crappy space.

So this is all to say Rapture Chaser is a more direct examination of character details and interpersonal drama implied by that original sort-of primer in a more specific context while also not referencing the original AU this all spun off from. So, here's a little blurb I suppose!

It’d be an easier pill to swallow if like, Steve’s been rough the last few days or something, she needs the assist or something, just an extra set of eyes or something, but he’s been fine. Great, even. Better than he’s been. Had a couple weird weeks last month where he wasn’t sleeping, kept getting these visual disruptions that they haven’t been able to see the neurologist about, but he’s evened out. So he’s just here just because Steve’s wife likes him enough and he’s enough of a fixture in her and Steve’s life to ask him.  It makes his skin crawl a little. He’s met Jess’ family before, couple times; mom, dad, brother, sister, other sister, couple of the cousins they’ve been around for thanksgivings or christmases at the Jeffries-Harrington homestead. Those instances, at least, he’s got a reason to be there that’s plausibly deniable - even, if the truth is Steve asked him to stick around because Steve just wants him around and Jess wasn’t going to be mad if he did. But if he’s gotta dip he can use the shift’s over excuse and go be an alone for the holidays sack of shit in his basement apartment like 30 minutes out from their place, but this is the first time he’s gone to them. Like the first time he’ll be in their space and it’s not like.  Circumstantial. 

ask me 'bout my wips i'll probably work on them

[sevenmerrymagpies]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @mustlovesteve for the tag!

How many works do you have on AO3? 106

What's your total AO3 word count? 603,511

What fandoms do you write for? I’m a one-fandom-at-a-time writer. Currently, I write for Stranger Things. Previously, some in the Captain America and Thor MCU fandoms, Merlin, due South, BtVS, and Angel. I have a smattering of other fandoms in there as well.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Steve’s No Good, Terrible, Kinda Perfect Senior Year (ST) He Sets the Tone (ST) A Paladin’s Work is Never Done (ST) She Sets The Agenda (ST) As I Hesitated, Time Rushed Onwards Without Me (Merlin)

Do you respond to comments? I try to. I figure I’ve let a few drop over the years by accident and I’ve never had a story get crazy popular with too many comments to respond to either.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Generally I write happy endings but Chosen, Rare Minds is a short, one shot downer. (It’s a canon compliant missing scene fic for the Captain America fandom is angsty in that it’s about Peggy and Howard deciding to move forward with bring Armin Zola into SHIELD using operation paperclip)

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I feel like so many of my stories have happy endings, but many of them are series that aren’t done, so the real ending (which will be happy) isn’t published yet. Of the published ones, I think maybe Translucent Hearts. Steve basically dies in the beginning of the story but by the end Steve, Eddie, Robin, and everyone Steve cares about is in a better place and happy with their lives. Lust, Love, and Other Side Effects also has a really happy ending for Steddie specifically.

Do you get hate on fics? I have a dirty, sweet short Darcy/Steve fic that has a shit ton of hits, but no love/kudos and two shitty comments (basically saying that it wasn’t what they expected, but I don’t know what to say, it was tagged and described accurately). Still, it’s tentacle dildo pegging and people don’t seem to want to own up to liking it. Only weird/mean comments I’ve gotten.

Do you write smut? Yes, but the least amount for Stranger Things. For some fandoms all I ever wrote for them was for kink bingo on LJ. I had to learn how to plot before I could do anything but write porn.

Do you write crossovers? Yup! Love a good crossover or fusion. I still love that I am the only Stranger Things/Highlander crossover fic in the fandom.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don’t think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Again, I don’t think so. No one has told me if they did.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope

What's your all time favorite ship? I am a true mulitshipper and trying to figure out a favorite ship in a single fandom is nearly impossible. I don’t think I could ever do it for all my fandoms ever.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? To: Birdbrian c/o the Wakandan Royal Residence - I’ve marked it complete, but it was supposed to be a series of short postcards between Natasha and Clint after Civil War. It was an experiment with writing a WIP that obviously didn’t work.

What are your writing strengths? For someone who writes fluffy stuff: angst, miscommunication (done right, meaning from actual character flaws not contrivance), and horror. Also, dialogue, character arcs, tight plotting, world building (fannish expansion style), and characterization.

What are your writing weaknesses? For all that I write sex, I still feel like it’s more mechanical than I want it to be. Action scenes, rising action and real stakes (I don’t want my babies hurt), emotions, subtle interactions between people - I always have to spell things out.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Super short phrases maybe. But for most MCU stuff I either avoided it or used italics to get across the fact that the dialog was not in English.

First fandom you wrote for? Buffy!

Favorite fics you've written? Steve’s No Good, Terrible, Kinda Perfect Senior Year series, Translucent Hearts, and my Eddie-centric story about Eddie being from the Lab: Future Hazy Try Again (and the rest of the series but I’m really proud of the first story). My older stuff is not my proudest stuff at this point. Some of it is over 20 years old and it shows.

(OMG I'm gonna try and get over my tagging fear, hold my hand and be nice to me)

Tagged: @devondespresso, @formosusiniquis, @ladykailitha, @libraryofgage, @dodger-chan, @1lostsoul0fishbowl

[stervrucht]

Hi! Kind of have this ST plot bunny, that eating away my brain today, for you or anyone who has the ability and desire to do it! )) Like have you ever entertained the idea (have a headcanon) of something like, if everybody lives, and everything’s ok, and Eddie gets to know and interact with all of the members of the extended party, you know? And so if you think about it he and Jonathan may have a few things in common, like shitty dads, being kinda an outcasts, fending for themselves, etc. and they just talking or hanging out but obviously just platonically as friends and all good. But of course Steve doesn’t know what it is, and he’s having “war flashbacks”, and he might be getting jealous or insecure about the whole situation, but of course nothing toxic, he’s just has a lot of repressed and swept under the rug feelings and emotions. Like one of my favorite #everyone needs a hug and #hurt/comfort. And then they finally talk it out and the comfort part begins…. Steddie could be dating or not at this point, I imagine either way could be good. Sorry for the lengthy ask, I just started rewatching 1 season and my Jonathan feelings are showing 😌

P.S I like your works (drawn and written!!!) so much, you’re absolute fandom treasure!

💙💙💙

Oh I really love Jonathan too!

And I really like this HC! I can totally see Eddie and Jonathan crossing paths in earlier seasons, maybe even hang out casually after school or something, and then reconnecting post-season 4?

Steve getting kinda jealous would be so good! Maybe insecure too because Jonathan and Eddie have much more in common. This would be a really cute fic idea, I agree!

Filing this away for later😌

[shares-a-vest]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by the wonderful @hbyrde36 and @sidekick-hero. Thank you both so much for the tags 💖 I always love seeing authors talking about their work!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Six. I really need to cross-post some stuff, including what I wrote for Steddie Love Month and the Flufftober Spring Event.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

16,565 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things and let me tell you, the brainrot is not subsiding (it is settling in to fester now).

4. What are your top 5 3 fics by kudos?

you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry

Just a Shirt

Eds, I'm Hungry

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! And I'm sure my answers are always too long-winded 😂 It makes me so happy to get comments on the silly things I write. Actually, brb, I'm sure in the initial excitement, I have forgotten to respond to some here and there.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This ficlet (WARNING: BREAK UP FIC). Life got hectic during Eddie Month so I only wrote a couple of things and this one hurrrrt baaad.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm, tough to pick seeing as I usually write happy endings. Lol, the number of times I ended something with Steddie kissing or saying, "I love you". I think I'll go with the entirety of my Joanie Munson AU because it's where I aim to be as fluffy/sappy as possible.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I am extremely thankful that so far I haven't. And I am sending all my love and hugs to people who deal with/have dealt with hateful comments.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson vs. A Box of Condoms is the closest I have come (hehe, pun). Idk, I struggle to write smut. I'm much better with suggestive language and innuendo, but somehow this fic got the balance right and honestly, gave me a lot of confidence!

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. But I need everyone to know that I have a Riverdale x ST crossover sloshing around in my brain juice on the regular.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. But now I'm paranoid *also proceeds to have an existential crisis about ai scraping my very internet-based soul.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'm more than welcome for someone to reach out.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I am absolutely open to it though! The closest to a collab I have done is Just a Shirt in which I wrote a whole fic from some incredible tags that were left on a ficlet.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean, it's gotta be Steddie right? I've never had a hyperfixation give me brainrot like this. Though, if we go back to lame teenage me, the ship that really got me into the fic/tumblr sphere was Sterek.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I have been returning to a few wips I thought I had abandoned lately, so never say never. I firmly believe in taking a break if something isn't working out and circling back with fresh eyes.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Despite how I am probably answering most of these questions (lmao), I think I am pretty good at keeping my writing concise and moving it right along. It's not that I rush writing, but I am good at recognising when something I have written begins to meander. I like writing dialogue where people are cutting each other off, and crafting stuff that is a quick little ficlet etc. Having said this...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptive language. I always get so caught up in action and dialogue that I easily forget descriptions of surroundings, objects, clothes etc. Funnily enough, right now I am working on a few quick visual aids (flash-sheet style sketches) for my Steddie BB fic of things that I need to keep in mind/remember to describe as a strategy that will hopefully help.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I could never do it (I only speak English), but honestly, kudos to you if you do/can!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stranger Things is the first fandom I have written for.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I swear to god this isn't a plug, but I thiiiiink it might be the wip I am oh-so-close to finishing. It's basically a character study of Steve's Mom and is her POV of the end of season 3. I have shared some snippets in the STWG server (and complained during writing sprints). I just need to do a solid edit and get a vibe-check read-through from someone else then it's good to go!!!

Tagging: @momotonescreaming @eyesofshinigami @devondespresso @missberrycake @steventhusiast

(I know this tag game has been making the rounds, so if you see this and haven't been tagged yet, count this as a tag)

[steddieunderdogfics]

Today is all about @spicysix! In today's Mod Spotlight, we're highlighting Lui and all they bring to this space!!

Lui handles our Challenge Monday and Theme Weekend Days! They queue up and handle any initial recs for those days, as well as keeping track of how many recs we need for each day!

lui (she/they) has discovered fandom life over 13 years ago and went through multiple fandoms since then. currently focusing on Stranger Things, they're an occasional writer and avid reader, and a multishipper at heart - but Steddie is her favorite ship to read in the ST fandom. she took a role as a mod on Steddie Underdog Fics trying to embrace a side of fandom that they haven't before, and it's been a great to be a part of it!

Having Lui on the team has been a blessing! Not only is she easy to work with and so kind, she's really helped level up this space in so many ways. I'm so glad I get to work with her! - ohstars

As a part of our mod spotlight, Lui answered some questions from you all and our team! You can read them below.

Be sure to stay tuned for more recs and future mod spotlights in the future!

What drew you to Steddie?

The opposites-yet-so-similar situation they have going on. Rich guy versus poor guy? Popular versus the loser? Jock versus nerd? But both with hearts of gold… Self sacrificing idiots…. Older brother figures… Smart in some ways but stupid in others… Stuck to high school ideas and dynamics… All of it is tasty.

What is your favorite thing about modding this page?

Getting to know many new fics! My TBR list has grown over what I can manage since I’ve started modding. My companions, Stars and Shane are also amazing and it’s great working with them.

What are your favorite tropes to read?

Probably strangers or friends to lovers. Or like, a one sided rivalry (usually comes from Eddie, who haaaates King Steve while Just-A-Guy-Steve never thought about Eddie before the UD shit lmao). I’m also a sucker for Soulmates AU; and anyone who knows me knows this: my favorite EVER is the timeloop. Ugh. My beloved.

What is your preferred way to read and find fics?

I usually read (or put on my TBR list) whatever shows up on my timeline. From friends, mutuals, or reblogs. When I go straight to the Ao3 ship tag it’s usually to find a specific type of story to read before I sleep,, so I usually set the filters to completed, under 10k words, and no Explicit and go through whatever shows up.

What’s your guilty pleasure trope?

I no longer feel this feeling, but I have once been found feeling guilty for reading monsterfuckeries of omegaverse stuff. Omegaverse is not exactly my cup of tea, but sometimes it can be fun. Anyway, embrace the cringe.

What makes a fic an instant yes for you to read?

Well, timeloops as I’ve said, mutual pining, a good ol’ roadtrip fun. And happy endings. Sorry, but sad endings are a no-go to me.

Anonymous - Is there any older or lesser-known Steddie event from the past few years that you particularly love (if ongoing or recurring) or loved? Did you participate in any?

Hmm no, not that I can think of! Our fandom is very creative so we have amazing events all year round, thankfully! I also haven’t participated in any Steddie specific events because, funny enough, Steddie is the ship that I write the least for (even though it’s the one I read the most! lol)

@sidekick-hero - What makes a fanfic stand out for you?

I think characterization and lots and lots of emotion. With big ships like Steddie, it’s easy for us to fall into different characterizations and sometimes we write them almost as OCs - and that’s not a problem at all, I’m in the team “write whatever you love”, I wouldn’t even call it “mischaracterization”. But when a fic is able to stay within the character’s traits, it tastes better lmao Especially if the side characters are well written – it’s often hard for people who focus on a specific ship to be able to write well the side characters or even care about them and in a fandom like ST specially I think the other relationships are just as important as the main romantic one. I also really love when a fic makes me cry until I have a headache.

@worldswcollide - What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a mod in the future?

Only do it if you know you have the time to dedicate to it. It’s very upsetting to rely on someone only for them to never dedicate themselves fully to a commitment they made on their own choice. You also have to like what you’re doing. If you’re on a project like ours, you have to like this reccing interaction. If you’re on a bigbang project, you have to like being that leader and organizing dates and putting people in contact with each other. And it goes on, but you have to enjoy what you’re doing or you’re gonna resent it and other people involved will know. We always do.

Anonymous - Do you participate in any other fannish activities, like making playlists, gif edits, fanart, podcasts, Pinterest boards, etc?

Not anything that I share, no. I sometimes do moodboards or playlists specifically for my own fics, but besides that, writing and modding, I don’t do any other type of art (bc I lack talent and/or will to learn lol).

@sidekick-hero - What motivates you to mod for steddieunderdogfics?

The idea of shedding a spotlight on fics that can pass by unnoticed, I think. In a big ship like Steddie, that’s easy to happen because we’re two years past Eddie’s first appearance and we still get dozens of fics posted per day!! Being more in touch with the community in this way is fun!

@worldswcollide -  Are there skills you’ve learned as a mod that have helped you in your everyday life?

I think every time you have to work in a group you learn something new, because it’s always new people and new ways to work with them. But I can’t think of anything specific, you know?

Anonymous - Have you had a particular favorite Challenge Monday or weekend theme so far (maybe because of the theme, the recs, or the engagement, or for some other reason)?

Well. Timeloops Theme Weekend for starters of course lmao. I also loved all the engagement and recs we’ve had for fics with podfics challenge, even though I don’t listen to podfics (or podcasts at all lmao) I was happy to see people showing our podfic people the due praise! Fics with colors in the title was also a challenge that we’ve had so many recs we’re still queueing them till this day basically lol. It’s always amazing when we receive a lot of recs and responses.

@sidekick-hero - What do you like best about fandom?

That’s a hard one. But I think the general sense of so many people of different ages and places in the world come together to show love to an art or artist. There’s something so simple and beautiful about that. Dedicating our free time to talk, praise, watch, listen, create fanart for something! It gives me the good chills.

@worldswcollide - If you absolutely HAD to choose—enemies to lovers or friends to lovers? (At least when it comes to Steddie)

Ohhhhmygod why would you do this to me!!!!!!! I’m gonna go with friends to lovers because that is also what I love the most in real life I think – the mutual pining, the obliviousness, the potential angst while they don’t confess, all the little moments they have together, the always presents “you are so dense and blind and stupid and dinguses” from Robin… Love that, yeah.

Anonymous - Has your experience as a fic rec mod changed your perception of fandom (positive or negative, though I do hope positively!), either as a whole or specifically for the Steddie fandom?

Oh, I definitely have a lot more respect for modders now lmao Not that I didn’t before, but it’s always different when you see it/do it yourself. It takes a lot of dedication and organization.

@sidekick-hero - What makes modding fun to you?

Honestly in this specific case, I absolutely love the routine process of formatting the recs lmao I genuinely have fun with it. But also, to see the interactions, how people talk about the fics they’re reccing on their asks, and also I love going through the tags on reblogs and seeing people praising the fics or seeing the author so happy with the recs. It all warms my heart.

@worldswcollide - What has surprised you the most since becoming a mod?

How this fandom is still so alive!!! It’s insane to think Eddie was first shown to us two years ago already and people are still in love with him and the idea of making him and Steve kiss. The creativeness of this fandom, the many fics we get with so many different tropes, AUs, all the different situations we keep putting those blorbos in. How, even within the same trope, different authors can always put their own little things onto their fics and even when they’re similar, no two fics are ever written the same way.

Anonymous - Do you find yourself engaging in reading and writing differently now (for any fandom) because of your work as a mod, or have you changed how you interact with others in fandom spaces?

I feel like I comment more, especially on fics that have less comments or interactions overall.

@sidekick-hero - What makes you fall in love with a fanfic?

I think I said in a previous answer, the characterization but also the way a fic is written. Like, if it’s through Eddie’s POV I love when authors use a kind of fast paced writing with no pauses and many thoughts happening at the same time while he has a hard time thinking about something specific or focusing on only one thing and and and– cause I feel like Eddie’s head is a mess like that. When it’s a fix-it, how the author manages to save everything, how they pass on the grieving and bad feelings of being part of an apocalypse. When they remember the characters are all just kids. When they give them a break. If it’s an AU, how they put our boys out of the apocalyptic situation, how they make Steve still be Steve when he’s just a baker or a teacher or a nurse and not a high school jock with a savior complex anymore. Those little big details.

Anonymous - Do you try to read through every rec or have you found yourself wanting to read more recs than you can keep up with?

Absolutely the second option lmao Also there are a few themes/tropes that are not my cup of tea, so they don’t go to my TBR list, but the list is still huge anyway lmao But I love learning about new works and writers even if I don’t have the time to read them!

Today, all of our recs are from @spicysix specifically! You can always see their recs on our Fic Fridays by checking our #mod lui rec tag.

[antisociallilbrat]

What Polyamory Does For The It Fandom VS In The St Fandom.

These are some brain worms I've had for a while and I've decided to share, regardless if it makes some people mad. Although that is truly not the intent of this post. Anyways. If you haven't been in the It fandom and only have stayed in the St fandom this post may not make sense but I do encourage you to read it.

I joined the It fandom in 2017. I'm one of those few people who were in the It fandom first before moving over to also join the St fandom in late late 2017/early 2018. I had a blog for consuming content but I didn't start making content until 2020 for the It fandom and more recently and regularly for the St fandom. Anywho what I'm trying to say is that I've seen a lot.

I loved many ships in the It fandom and one of the main ships is Poly Losers Club. This is the first fandom I've seen where a poly ship was one of the more popular ones. Even if someone didn't ship all the Losers, throuple and quatrouples (is that how you say it?) have always been popular in this fandom.

Because it is almost unanimously agreed across the fandom, that whether platonically or romantically, all the Losers love each other. Even the most die hard of reddie shippers, the fandom's most popular ship, can often agree on certain fanon headcannons, Stan and Richie practiced their first kiss on each other, Eddie's first crush was on poor oblivious Bill. And that comes back to the agreement that all the Losers love each other. Ships in this fandom have never had an issue coexisting. If someone shipped something different from someone it was always more like "oh that's not my favorite but I definitely see where you're coming from'" OR they're like "yeah no they're in love too," Hardly ever any belittling or any superiority complexes.

That's what makes being in this fandom fun and easy.

Poly Losers even often features a gay man and a women and I've read many beautiful fics where this is explained as they're more best friends than lovers but Eddie doesn't love Bev any less because she's a woman. This fandom allows Eddie and Bev to have an amazing and emotionally intimate relationship because I feel like this fandom does understand, for the most part, that platonic love is just as important as romantic love.

Now on to the St fandom. There are some poly party shippers out there but they are far and few. And there is SO MUCH shipping discourse. Yes I could talk about Mileven and Byler but come on, it goes beyond that. It's with Jany and Stancy, Ronance and Rockie. Elmax and Lumax, and Steddie and Stonathan. Just about every ship you think of there is an alternate ship that people will fight for. They will belittle you for shipping something they don't, and insist that your ship is nothing but platonic. That,,,that just doesn't happen in the It fandom. You know the joke, "All the Losers had a crush on Bill at one point," I think that in itself says a lot. Bill, the arguably least liked character, (my poor bb), has the joke that all the losers had a crush on him at one point.

I'm getting off track. Anyways I'm not saying that shipping everyone together in a poly sense would fix everything with these shipping wars but i do believe why there was never any shipping wars in the It fandom was because of Poly Losers. Also when I talk about poly in St I mean it like Poly Party and Poly teenage crew. Not together, I hate that I have to clarify that.

In the St fandom, it's just not as universally agreed that everyone loves each other, even in the basic platonic sense. All anyone seems to care about in the St fandom is romantic love. A lot of shippers want to be right, they want to prove that their ship will be cannon which just,,,sucks the fun right out fandom spaces.

Canon, fanon, why can't people just make cute fan art and talk in babbles about thoughts they have on a ship. Why do you have to be right about what's going to be the canon ship? Why do certain people feel the need to put down and even to the extent as far as bullying people who ship something different? I've never seen a fandom so focused on 'canon pairings' like the st fandom. (Side note I was never in the sherlock and supernatural fandoms, I knew to mention this)

The party, like the losers, are friends who have been through turmoil that have bound them together for a lifetime. I don't care what pairing you give me from st, whether it be a platonic or a romantic one, I will tell you that those characters deeply care for each other.

Side note: it's worth a mention that the Duffer brothers originally wanted to film the It remake and when they didn't get it, we got Stranger Things. It can be argued that the Party is based off the Losers club so you know what that means? THEY ALL LOVE EACH OTHER. Take it as platonic or romantic idc.

Again, I don't think that poly party is the answer to ending the shipping wars. I do think however that if people could remember how much the party members mean to each other, that that could make less tiring fandom spaces.

Okay I'm done. I just thought this was an interesting point on how it's been like in the It fandom vs the St fandom.

Wait I was doing tags and I forgot to mention that there are few people who ship Elumax and Stoncy, two throuples and kudos to them. They're just worth a mention, I didn't forget about ya'll

[patchworkgargoyle]

oc fic: your smile is my antidote

For @ockissweek Day 2: Rain. It's a little late, but hey, I don't mind if you don't!

Featuring Dominik: transmasc OMC, mine Keziah: nonbinary/GNC OC, @stobinesque Technically set in a Stranger Things modern!au created by @steves-strapcollection, and also mentions his OCs Vinny and Sam! (If you like ST, Steddie, and excellent writing, go read his stuff!!) Rating: T for language || Words: 1,485 || CW: none Title from Antidote - Orion Sun

“I cannot make speeches, by fact if I loved you less then I might be able to talk about it more.”

Dom snorted as he finished twisting the root of one of Kez’s locs, the musky sweetness of beeswax heavy in the air around them. “Why are the love confessions in these movies so fucking dramatic?”

Their hair slipped out of his hands as Kez turned to look at him flatly. “You are complaining about drama?” ze said, equally as flat, and Dom narrowed his eyes a smidge before putting his nose in the air.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kez scoffed, said, “Yeah. Okay,” and ran zir hands through zir finished locs, the few golden charms they’d woven in clicking together. It’d taken them both the whole rainy day and multiple movies to get zir hair done, and Dom wouldn’t complain about it one bit. He loved the excuse to spend the whole day with his best friend. They didn’t get to do it as often as they used to, when it was just the two of them against the world, practically living in each other’s pockets.

“I don’t know why I agreed to watch this with you anyway, I knew you’d complain throughout the whole thing even if you suggested it.”

“The guy looks like Vinny if you squint! And the costumes are gorgeous, I wanted inspiration.”

“You could do a moderately convincing Mr. Darcy act. Broody, anxious…” Dom shoved him half-heartedly, glaring, but Kez just smirked and shoved him back. “You know I know you’re lying, right?”

Dom huffed and reached for the black nail polish, looking for an excuse to avoid looking at them. “Yeah, well, you could keep that to yourself,” he mumbled.

“Nah, I don’t think I will. Because you complain every time something romantic happens in every period drama and romcom we ever watch.” Zir smirk widened when Dom’s cheeks went red, and he frowned at the bottle in his hand as he unscrewed the top and started painting his toenails.

“And what are you implying, Keziah?” he asked lightly.

“That you hate that you love this romantic shit. I’ve known forever, but all anyone has to do is look at how you are with Sam to know I’m right.”

“You love it too, just look at you and Vinny,” Dom shot back, failing to keep from sounding sulky. There was no way he could get away with denying it like he wanted to, Kez would throw it right back in his face.

Kez just raised an eyebrow at him. “At least I can admit that I love it. Meanwhile, Sam will do something nice and vaguely romantic for you and you act all grumpy until you think no one’s looking and you start making heart-eyes at him.”

He bristled. “Oh, fuck off.”

Laughing, Kez sank further into the couch, entirely too smug as they cozied up under the throw blanket they’d claimed for the night. Dom shot zir a venomous side-eye that they pointedly ignored, so Dom pouted down at his toes as he finished painting them.

The movie played on and they lapsed into comfortable, easy silence. Kez had the blanket drawn up so high that their face was only visible from the nose up. Dom had long finished with his nails by the time the final scene began, and had pulled his knees to his chest, letting his chin rest there, arms wrapped around them as he blandly watched the wedding play out. He wouldn’t say it out loud—there was no way he was going to give Kez that satisfaction—but it was cute, he supposed, especially when Knightly furtively wiped away a tear, and they shyly reached for each other’s hands. 

“Not a peep from you?” Kez teased, their voice muffled by the blanket. “Not even your patented ‘I Hate Marriage’ tirade?”

“M’not gonna give you another fucking excuse to roast me,” Dom said, earning a snort from them.

“I’m so happy to tell you that I will roast you until the day you die.”

Dom paused as he reached for the remote, giving her a sarcastic look. “Sounds like a wedding vow, Ziah, are you practising? Are we to be married on the morrow?”

“Can you imagine?” Kez cackled.

“I vow to be a massive pain in your ass for the rest of your days,” he declared, starting to grin.

Kez barked a laugh as they said, “I vow to affectionately call you out on your shit and also eat all of your snacks before you can, forever.”

“I vow to let you fuck me–”

“Excuse you, let me? You’re blessed every time I deign to fuck you.”

“Are you fucking complaining about my sincere, heart-felt vows? Rude—hey!” Dom toppled over, flopping onto the couch cushions, when Kez shoved him over with their foot. It took him so much by surprise he started laughing even as he immediately tried to retaliate and kick back. But Kez grabbed his legs and pinned them to the couch. He didn’t bother fighting back, he didn’t want to risk ruining his shitty pedicure.

Leaning on his trapped calves, Kez fixed him with a fond, exasperated expression. “You’re not a pain in the ass by the way. I mean,” ze corrected at Dom’s dubious look, “you are, but not all the time. Only eighty-nine percent of the time, and you’re worth it anyway because I love you, Nikki.”

Dom rolled his eyes out of habit, but a smile still pulled at his lips. “Love you too, Ziah,” he mumbled.

“You gotta say it louder than that at our wedding or else no one will believe you,” they said, poking him in the ribs hard enough to make him flinch.

“It’d be really funny if we did actually get fucking married,” he said, batting Kez’s hand away.

“It really would be.”

After a few seconds of silence, they glanced at each other. Dom could tell ze was thinking the same thing by the glint in zir eye. He almost couldn’t believe he was considering it, but.

Kez raised an eyebrow and tilted their head. “The party would be fun,” they said, and Dom hummed, agreeing.

“We’d throw a rager of a reception.”

“Just friends, so we don’t have to fuck with the guest list.”

Shifting so he could face Kez properly, he said, “And there’s no one else I’d ever consider getting married to, since you’re stuck with me for life.” He said it with a wry smirk, but he meant it anyway. Kez was the only person he knew, without a doubt, wasn’t going to leave. And fuck it, it’d be fun, and hilarious; a middle-finger to the idea of marriage that he, personally, enjoyed, and an excuse to get all their friends together for a big, crazy party.

They propped their chin on their hands and grinned triumphantly. “Awww, you do love me, you romantic,” they mocked, and Dom groaned, throwing his head back against the arm of the couch with a thud.

“Asshole.”

“You’re the one marrying me, moron.”

Dom opened his mouth, closed it, and then let out an almost disbelieving laugh. “We’re really fucking doing this?”

Kez laughed too, shrugging. “Why the hell not?”

“Well, alright,” Dom grunted as he sat up, “but we gotta do this shit properly.”

Scoffing, Kez slid off the couch and got down on one knee. Ne took Dom’s hand in nirs, gazing at him with an over-earnestness that almost made him laugh, and asked, “Mister Dominik Wood, would you marry me?”

Dom gasped loudly and splayed his hand over his chest. “Oh, Sir Keziah De Leon,” he said in a high-pitched and terrible British accent, “I would love nothing more!”

Kez bit back a laugh as they took one of the charms they decided to leave out this time, left in the trinket bowl on Dom’s coffee table, and squeezed it onto the tip of Dom’s left ring finger. He spread his fingers, assessing the new “ring” for a moment, before saying, “Hm. It doesn’t fit. Never mind, the engagement’s off.”

“Should’ve known you’d be a picky groom,” Kez snarked.

“Picky? I deserve–” He flung his hand out and the charm went flying, pinging off a wall and disappearing somewhere. “Ah, fuck, my ring.”

They both burst out into giggles, and even as Kez was bent over her knees, shoulders shaking, she wheezed out, “You—you owe me a n-new charm!”

“You owe me a new ring!”

“You’re the one who lost it, you dick!”

Kez’s bright laughter and genuine, delighted smile made Dom’s heart swell in his chest, bursting with love for his oldest friend, as cheesy as that sounded. He reached out, cupped their jaw, and kissed their forehead firmly. “I’ll find your fucking charm and cherish it forever,” he vowed.

“Good,” Kez said, pulling him down to press a kiss to his lips. “You better.”

[lesbianrobin]

Would you be willing to share any tropes or pet peeves you have with the fandoms intepretation of HOH! Steve? No pressure at all but I know it’s gaining popularity and that fandoms historically have a shit record with disability and you’ve spoken about your frustrations with that tag. Also thank you for sharing the link to the movie!! I’ve been wanting to watch more historical films especially ones that push back against assumptions of what the past was capable of!

omg YES thank you for asking!!! so to preface for anybody who doesn't know: i myself am hard of hearing and i used to post about steve being hard of hearing sometimes prior to s4, but i haven't posted about it much since it became a Thing in the fandom because i don't trust other people on my posts lmao.

so honestly this is gonna be less about specific tropes and more of a broad ideological discussion bc i don't usually read the hoh steve fics i scroll past and i don't want to act like i Know exactly what all of them are like based off just the few i have read. however, i Have seen the tags and summaries and read the first few paragraphs of a lot of them, and i feel like that's enough for me to have like. an opinion. so ANYWAY.

my first issue is just that pretty much everyone i've seen writing hoh steve is hearing themselves. there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but the thing is that hoh steve is like. entirely a creation of fandom, yknow? there's not rly anything in canon that indicates steve has poor hearing--honestly, if anything, he seems to have rather keen ears (picking up on the background music in the russian code in s3, being the first one to hear dustin in the upside down in s4). you can certainly reverse-engineer it and argue that poor school performance can be an indicator of poor hearing, that his head injuries could potentially cause hearing loss, but neither of those are things where hearing loss naturally comes to mind without somebody looking for it, so this begs the question of why. what exactly is motivating these hearing people to write this character as hoh?

i've noticed some things that tend to go along with hoh steve. one is steddie, which is kind of a given in the st fandom at this point, but it's the things that go along with that which concern me. the "babygirl steve" thing where steve is woobified and feminized to the point of being nigh-unrecognizable seems quite common among these fics. steve often has other medical problems as well--he needs glasses, he gets migraines, he has memory loss, he's depressed, he's got chronic pain, etc, etc, and my disability is just another thing on a laundry list of issues that is seemingly employed for the sole purpose of making steve sad and hurt and pitiable so that (usually) eddie can come along and save him/baby him. i'm not gonna act like i've never tossed some shit at steve to make him suffer in a fic, but it's always for like. a Reason. and that reason has never once been just so i could ship him with somebody and make them into his savior.

i think a lot of people writing hoh steve just don't necessarily have great intentions with it, yknow? they see it as a way for steve to suffer nobly in silence and be self-sacrificial, or they think it's cute to make steve deaf since eddie plays loud music (???).

there are a lot of things i love about being hard of hearing. i love that i get to have a unique appreciation of sound that not everybody has. i love that i can take out my hearing aids when the world is too much. i love that i still discover new sounds at the age of twenty-two. did you guys know that dishwashers make noise? i didn't until today! my house was quiet and i kept hearing something strange until i tracked it down and realized! i love that i have a sense of wonder about every noise i hear! and while i don't begrudge anybody their enjoyment of hoh steve content, i have yet to see any that comes remotely close to capturing these feelings, so it's just not for me.

also this is a silly pet peeve but why is it that in these fics steve almost always learns asl and like rarely has hearing aids? like sorry but unless he's completely deaf that's out of character. steve harrington is not learning a whole new language unless he absolutely has to and has literally no other options. they had hearing aids in the eighties. c'mon people.

anyway. sorry that was so long lmao and thank you for asking!! also thank you for actually reading and caring about my within our gates post!! i highly recommend looking up some 1920s music to listen along with the film, though you can honestly listen to whatever you want--at the time, films didn't typically have dedicated scores, and individual theaters would provide their own musical accompaniment however they saw fit. oftentimes this meant a live musician would play piano during the film, and improvise to suit the mood/plot! happy viewing 💕

[hawkyon-days]

Some fic recs from my bookmarks

(Max is my favourite character and blind!max is one of my favourite tropes, which is why it's mentioned fairly often here)

Part 2

light will prevail by mreads22: max-centric, blind!max (the first st fic I read, even before watching the show itself)

Pull Myself Together, You Could Watch It Happen by UniversallyEcho: complete, max-centric, not vol2 compliant (very little plot, but great characterization and one of my all time favourites)

the kids aren't alright by MaryPSue: complete, gen (season 1 au where all the Hawkins born kids realise they have powers, one of the best st fics out there)

We Will Be (Invincible) by HaneleHaralue: SIOC, chrissy&oc, eddie&oc (WAIT before you go away bc this is self-insert, I promise it's really good. There's no romance so far, and the mc isn't obnoxious)

Scientifically Proven by Unproductive_Fangirl: complete, post s4, elumax, blind!max (YES. a complete, elumax-centric fic. It exists!)

if being afraid is a crime, we hang side by side by Claire10: complete, post s4, max&mike, blind!max (watch these two wrecks have four emotional breakdowns in like an hour)

the few things he thinks he knows by endlesslytea: complete, post s4, byler, blind!max (lighthearted, not focused on the supernatural stuff)

let our walls cave in by andiwriteordie, kidovna: complete, post s4, byler, blind!max (party go to college together)

(anything by andiwriteordie if you like byler)

falling like the stars (falling in love) by bookinit: complete, post s4, elmax, blind!max

do not cry by givehimthemedicine: complete, s4 au, pre elmax (despite what the title says, prepare to cry)

Be My Eyes by givehimthemedicine: complete, post s4, elmax, blind!max (bit of angst and then pure fluff at the end)

And Who Are We At The End Of It All? by Caseys_Crying: post s4, steddie, ronance (lots of stuff ongoing, only about 1/3 done, parents find out)

more recs under the cut:

(it's you and me) won't be unhappy by nnegan13: complete, post s4, not vol2 compliant, lumax

you can't lose me by providing_leverage: complete, s4 au, gen (there should be more 'the parents find out' fics)

we can see the flipside by maxmayfield: complete, post s3, written pre s4, max&mike, lumax

The Party (+ Others) Watches Stranger Things by BewitchingNotes: complete, mileven (an actual complete and well written 'characters watching the show fic')

All We Do Is Drive by ShadeNeverMadeAnyoneLessGay: complete, steve&robin&max, blind!max

Goodbye Rocketship by OrangeChickenPillow: complete, not vol2 compliant, max&eddie friendship

she glows for everyone but herself by BackyardOwl: complete, jonathan&max, blind!max

deserving and not deserving by vissers: complete, post s4, will&max, blind!max (part of a 'will comes out to the party' series)

years and years by inblue: complete, lucas&erica

find a new place to be from by burnthatbridgewhenwegetthere: complete, post s4, will&el&max

hellfire (save my soul) by pholilomendron: pre s4, steddie

windowsill by MissAntlers: complete, post s4, steddie, max-centric

did I drive you away? by blvewcters: complete, pre s4, during s4, max&everyone (pain and suffering and tears)

Max Watch by geckohead: complete, during s4, max&everyone

i can give you a heartbeat by soupbitchin: complete, post s4, steddie (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics)

there’s blood in my ears (and a fool in the mirror) by fastcardotmp3: complete, pre s4 and post s4, steddie, eddie&max, blind!max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics)

The Upside by harpiaharpyja: complete, post s4, hellcheer, eddie&max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics)

(Not All) Those Who Wander Are Lost by Kedreeva: complete, post s4, eddie&max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics, except it's more about the upside down as its own world)

standing up the dead by heartofwinterfell: complete, post s4, eddie&max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics, but mostly max-centric)

The Fruity Four Beat 1983 To Death With A Nail Bat by TheKidReadingInTheCorner: complete, steddie, ronance (unserious time travel shenanigans)

took you for a working boy by pukner: complete, post s4, pre steddie (kinda humourly written)

[mayalaen]

what i'm working on

Somebody asked me to post titles and summaries of what I'm working on. I don't think they expected THIS much but I always have tons of stuff in my working folder.

In His Image - (ST) the Steddie genderswap fic I'm currently posting.

CONventional Psychopathy Part 4 - (SPN) Dean takes Cas to Gadreel's loft to recover. Also working on Part 5, 6, and 7.

How I Spent My Summer Probation - (ST) Eddie fic with disciplinarian Uncle Wayne and Papa Hopper

OCF - (ST) omegas in a correctional facility for a certain Fishie

Eyeless (named after the Slipknot song) (Fargo/ST) Gator from Fargo in prison with Billy and Eddie fic

Bullseye Studios - (ST) a pr0n studio just outside Hawkins

The Billionaires' Club - (SPN AU) Billionaires are outlawed and once they hit $1b in assets, they're assigned a caretaker who disciplines them and keeps them from being evil.

?Vampires? - (SPN/AtS/BtVS) Dean gets turned by Spike and has his entire life changed in the blink of an eye.

?Interrogation Room? - (ST) shortfic? where Hopper decides Eddie, Billy, and Steve have gotten into too much trouble and need a firm hand so he spanks them in the interrogation room but oops Billy likes it!

?Eddie Has Siblings? - (ST) Eddie has an abusive older brother and sister. Wayne got him away from them, but they've come to Hawkins to visit baby brother.

Caging the Mongoose Timestamp - (SPN) Dean fucks up. Bad. And on purpose for attention. So he gets spanked right in an interrogation room in The Post Office by Dembe and Cooper.

A Faceless Demon - (SPN) KinkDotCom fusion with Van helping Dean let go of some shit.

You Live Here Now - (Fargo/ST) Munch doesn't blind Gator. He drops him off at a ranch in Hawkins, Indiana instead where Hopper, Billy, and a few others help rehabilitate him against his will.

?Eddie & The Basketball Team? - (ST) Eddie gets into a bad situation at a party. Billy's there to pick up the pieces.

??? - (ST/HDM) Future fic with daemons where Billy is a firefighter living with an abusive partner but his daemon thinks that paramedic guy is a much better partner, and she also thinks his daemon is hot.

Billy Has to Ask - (ST) Max is sick of Billy's shit. El scares the shit out of him and from then on he mostly does what Max says. If he fucks up, she makes him go to an adult and ask for a spanking.

??? - (X-Files/SPN) Sam and Dean are undercover but so are Skinner and Mulder. Skinner doesn't like Dean's attitude or Sam's arguments, so he puts them under FBI care. Namely himself.

?Threesome Soulmate AU? - I don't even know what fandom I want this in but it's an idea that's been stuck in my head for years and wants to come out. An aro, an ace, and a demi are all very reluctant soulmates.

Long Distance Call - (SPN) Dean's an omega without an alpha until their newest roommate, Pamela Barnes, moves in.

I'm probably missing a few, but there ya go!