#Robin gets called in to play trumpet from time to time and she gets to be whatever cryptid she desires

[corrodedcoughin]

90s au where stobin and Gareth and Eddie meet at a bar. How do they meet? Arguing over the bar’s sonic the hedgehog game. For months the two pairs have been playing it separate nights. Eddie and Gareth on Fridays (usually they have gigs on Saturdays) Steve and Robin on Saturdays (the Official start of their Saturdays nights). Both pairs unknowingly having vendettas against each other for the leader board (never the top spot, they accept they aren’t that good and it’s always headed by some guy called jargyle<3)

Anyway one weekend corroded coffin have a gig on a Friday so gareth and Eddie decide to keep their tradition alive but move it along to Saturday. They arrive at their usual time and set up shop at the game, quickly devolving into their routine of each others nicknames, Eddie being Sonic and Gareth being Tails. They are getting In The Zone when Steve and Robin arrive, absolutely OUTRAGED that somebody is at THEIR game and not only that! They’ve stolen THEIR names, Steve is Sonic, Robin is Tails. They plant themselves in a booth and order drinks, ready to pounce on the machine as soon as those two imposters move.

Only they end up maybe drinking more than expected, possibly riling each other up to the point of storming over to the two guys because how dare they steal Steve and Robins Saturday night ritual?! Their names! Maybe even their high score!

Gareth and Eddie are heading towards drunk themselves, losing more money to the machine than they can justify and over the top celebrating when they clear a level. Which is when Robin taps Eddie on the shoulder, spinning him round to explain Just How Rude he’s being with Gareth standing just behind Eddie’s shoulder, sipping his beer and squinting at Steve who is giving Scary Dog behind Robin. Gareth is maybe further gone than he realises because in the middle of Robin’s speech (which is very eloquent and impressive he must admit) he’s whisper shouting in Eddie’s ear ‘hey dude major hottie behind the cool lesbian. Want me to wing man you?’

And Eddie? Eddie slides his eyes over to ‘major hottie’ who happens to have the fluffiest hair and sharpest jawline he’s ever seen and whisper shouts back to Gareth because he too, is more drunk than he possibly wants to admit, ‘oh my god he’s so hot man, I think he might be a meringue. Menagerie? Mirage!’ And goes to extend a hand towards Steve.

Robin, now slightly endeared from being noted as a cool lesbian, turns to look at Steve who has his Loverboy Game Face on and figures she can swing this display of bad flirting into an opportunity to get her Saturday Night Ritual back on track. Nothing is getting in the way of her playing Sonic with Steve, it might just be a little detoured along the way.

[momotonescreaming]

I went digging through my fics, and found this. Absolutely no idea when I wrote this, or if I shared it already, but I can't stop thinking about it. Enjoy.

It’s the 1800’s, and Steve is the first born and only son of Richard Harrington, heir to the Harrington fortune. Expectations have been placed upon him since he was born, and it only got worse as he got older. He was too kind, liked flowers, and playing in the mud, and learning about horses and carriages and trains, and sitting with his mother while she put on make up and had her ladies maid do her hair. Then came the lessons from the private tutor (since the Harrington’s were too good for the local school) and Steve wasn’t as book smart as his father wanted him to be.

His father was mean and his mother was scared and so Steve spent a lot of time out in the fields as a young boy, wandering the land his father owned, picking up sticks and pretending to be a sheriff or an adventurer riding a fast horse into the sunset.

So he played until it got dark and Steve still didn’t go back home. Dad would yell and Mom would give him That Look and he didn’t want to change into his fancy dinner clothes. So Steve stays out late and wanders.

There are things living in the woods.

Things with teeth that hunt and kill and make people disappear. But no one tells poor little Steve this. He gets attacked by a wolf that isn’t quite a wolf, and screams so so loud.

Nobody hears him.

One of his father’s farmhands find him in the woods in the early morning. His clothes are ripped and he’s dirty and covered in blood but he doesn’t have any wounds, save for one single wolf bite. The man rushes him back to the Harrington Manor House, and someone calls the doctor. Steve is bathed, and fed, and checked over and the doctor tells his parents that he’s lucky it wasn’t worse. He gets better and goes back to his lessons.

Next month he gets a fever. Steve is sweaty and delirious, and hungry and itchy and restless and nothing quite helps. He blacks out one night and when he wakes up he’s curled up on the hardwood floor and all his furniture has been ripped apart. The servants whisper the word “werewolf” in the halls.

His parents fire half the servants, pay them off to keep their mouth shut, and hire someone who can help. A friendly woman named Mrs Henderson, whose dead ex-husband was a werewolf like Steve. She teaches him what she can while Richard Harrington hires men to build a stone basement underneath a small cottage at the very back of the Harrington Land. Where no one can see.

So Steve grows up, he falls in love, he finds out his sweetheart Nancy doesn’t love him, he befriends Dustin Henderson, and then Robin Buckley - a  dorky local girl who plays the trumpet and works at a store in town. And once a month, he takes himself down to the basement of the cottage, and turns into a werewolf. Mrs Henderson could only help so much, not being a Werewolf herself. His control is better than it was, but he still doesn’t trust himself. So chained in the basement it is.

Then there’s Eddie Munson, the poor son of an outlaw living with his uncle in a tiny house in the town of Hawkins. Grew up learning how to break the law with his father, how to live off the land, how to shoot and hunt and survive. He hated it, little Eddie wanted to learn to play the guitar and read and tell stories. But Pa didn’t give him much of a choice. Until Ma died and Pa spiralled and ended up getting caught and shipped off to prison. So he went to live with his uncle Wayne. And he made friends, and told stories, and started writing.

And then he watched a girl die and got blamed for her murder. So he’s on the run, and he knows how to survive but not when he doesn’t have any supplies. And not in a town where everyone knows his name and his face. So he runs. And he hides. First in his friend Rick's, who’s away in jail or on a job or something. Eddie's not sure and he really doesn't care right now. But he gets close to getting caught again. So he runs again until he finds a barn, semi abandoned in the middle of nowhere.

He’s close to the Harrington’s land, this he knows. But everyone knows they travel for business all the time, so it’s fine.

Except it’s not.

He’s tired and hungry and scared and it’s dark. There’s a light in the distance - lantern. He ducks down, waiting. Except it’s not the Sheriff, or Jason Carver (who took it upon himself to become a bounty hunter, to avenge the death of his sweetheart). It’s Steve Harrington. The semi-estranged, semi-reclusive Harrington heir, who looks grim and angry as he storms across the field. And he doesn���t see Eddie, doesn’t look at the barn, doesn’t even have a horse.

Steve goes into the cottage and Eddie doesn’t know whether to stay put until he leaves in the morning or make a run for it. Eddie is still paralysed with fear and indecision when he notices the full moon in the sky.

He hears a guttural scream, the snap of bone, a howling; and Eddie remembers the stories his Uncle Wayne would tell him of the things that live in the woods.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

The Right Place in Time

Summary: What if Steve was in the woods with Chrissy and Eddie buying weed for his headache?

Chapter one

Chapter two

Once Steve went home and smoked a little weed, he felt a lot better, especially when the headache started to fade away, but he was still upset with Eddie. He started driving back to the school once the weed wore off, and when he pulled up, he waited until all of the members of Hellfire started entering the drama room. They arrived early before a whole lot of people even started showing up for the game. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Mike, Erica, and Dustin enter the drama room last. Steve climbed out of the car and started striding towards the drama room when he got assaulted by Robin.

"Oh, thank God, you're here early," Robin said. "Wait, why are you here early?"

"Eddie! He talked Mike and Dustin into replacing Lucas instead of supporting him. From what I just saw, they replaced him with Erica! His sister!" Steve said.

"Well, that's fucked up. Can't they just post pone?" Robin asked.

"They called what Lucas did joining the dark side! It's fucking basketball," Steve said.

"It sounds like they're acting exactly like how bullies treated them. That's not cool," Robin frowned. "Are you going to kick Eddie's ass?"

"I hope not," a voice said from behind Steve.

They turned to find Chrissy standing there. Steve smiled at her and then frowned. He hated having to tell her that he was going to have to cancel the date. She had been so excited.

"Chrissy - ,"

"It sounds like Eddie's being a total dick. We should fix that - shouldn't we?" Chrissy asked.

"I mean, yeah, but why? You barely know him," Steve said.

"I have a feeling about him," Chrissy said softly and took his hand. "I want this to happen."

"Yeah, okay, me too," Steve blushed. "It's just Lucas, Mike, and Dustin have always been friends. They're kids who I babysit, and I just feel protective over them. So, they come first."

"That's sweet, and I totally understand," Chrissy said smiling and dropped his hand. "Let's go!"

Steve smiled, watching her run ahead of them.

"You're going to tell me what that was about, buddy?" Robin asked.

"It's nothing," he blushed. "What did you need me for?"

"Oh! My lip gloss. I left it in your car. I'll be next to Vickie, remember?" Robin asked.

"You play the trumpet," Steve said with narrowed eyes.

"And?" Robin asked.

"Here," Steve said, putting his keys into her hand. "I'm going to go after Chrissy."

Steve hurried to catch up with Chrissy and found her waiting by the drama room door.

"I figured you'd want to do the storming in. They're your kids. I'm only the girl trying to date their mom," Chrissy grinned and slapped him on the back. "Go get them, champ."

Steve smiled briefly before glaring at the door seriously. He rolled his shoulders and stormed through the doors, slamming them open. He was relieved to hear a few startled screams. Steve walked into the room to find Eddie sitting on the throne. He snorted. Right. And he was the arrogant one? Eddie grinned at first until he noticed Steve’s pissed off look. Steve placed his hands on his hips.

"What the hell are you shitheads doing here? Why the hell are you not at the game supporting your best friend?" Steve asked.

"Because Eddie's been planning this for a while," Mike said. "Besides, it's not like Lucas is going to be playing."

"You don't know that. Tonight could be the night that they put him in," Steve said. "And I'm sorry, but I think I missed the part where Eddie's been your best friend since you were babies. Oh, wait, no, that's Lucas."

"Lucas knows how important D&D is to us," Mike scoffed.

"Really? Because it wasn't so important when it was Will wanting to play, and you spent all summer ignoring him. After everything Will went through, he gets snubbed by his friends?" Steve said. "Yeah, that's right. Jonathan told me."

"How is this any of your business?" A guy with really good hair said.

"Maybe because these shitheads mean a lot to me. Wait, I don't need to justify myself to you. Who even are you?" Steve asked.

"Big surprise, King Steve doesn't know someone below him," Good Hair scoffed.

"I'm sorry, but do you know everyone's name in the entire school?" Steve asked.

"Well, no," he frowned.

"So, why is it up to the preppy people to know them all?" He asked, and the man opened his mouth before closing it again.

"The man's got a point," a man with pretty eyes said. "Name's Jeff. That's Gareth. The other one over there is Frank."

"Under different circumstances, I would say it's nice to meet you, but . . .I'm kind of in the middle of yelling," Steve replied and Jeff nodded.

"Steve, it's just a basketball game," Dustin said.

"That's right. It's just a basketball game. It's neither good nor evil. A few jocks pissed on your game, and you decided to make the assumptions that all jocks are bad," Steve said and cast his eyes at Eddie. "Kind of like how people made assumptions about you. Well, right now, you have the ability to show them that nerds and jocks don't have to be enemies. You have the ability to post pone it. Lucas doesn't. Right now, he's scared out of his mind that he's going to lose his friends over the fact that he wanted to branch out and try something new. He wanted to be different, and you judged him for that the way that everyone judged you. He's a scared kid, Eddie, and he's trying to find his place in this world. You're in the position where you can make him feel like he can have both, and you're pushing him away. It's one night. One fucking night."

The entire room was silent, and Eddie, as well as the others, had the decency to look ashamed. He cleared his throat, his voice thick with emotion.

"Does this mean we're not going to be hanging out?" Eddie asked softly.

"Man, that's up to you," Steve said, looking at him sadly. "Do you hate me for being a jock?"

Eddie looked down at his lap. He looked so vulnerable in that moment that Steve wanted to comfort him, but he figured that might take away from what he just did. Dustin pushed his seat back, looking properly shamed.

"You're right, Steve. We should go to the game," Dustin said. "It's one night."

"Yeah," Mike said and stood up.

Erica sighed and rolled her eyes before following the other two out the door. She did look guilty, though. Steve followed them, smiling when he saw Chrissy waiting for them. She clearly heard the whole thing. He went to say something when he heard Eddie's voice.

"Well, gentlemen, it looks like we're going to the game after all," Eddie said.

Steve grinned and started walking off towards the gym, the kids walking ahead of them.

"I just want you to know that I thought that was the hottest thing I ever seen," Chrissy said as she put her arm through his.

"Yeah?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," she giggled.

"Chrissy, right?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Are you guys dating?" Dustin asked.

"I'm trying to date him," she said.

"Ooh, he's making you work for it, huh?" Dustin asked.

"Hey, shithead, until you properly make it up to Lucas, you don't get to tease us," Steve said and Chrissy giggled.

"You're such a good mom," she said.

"Stop calling me that," Steve blushed. Smiling.

"Why? When you have such good childbearing hips," Chrissy teased.

Erica snorted, and Steve gave her a look.

"What? She's funny. Just the facts," Erica said.

It was still pretty early when they walked into the gym. There were a few people sitting in the sands. The band has yet to even come in. Chrissy hugged Steve and parted ways with him. Steve guided the kids up the bleachers and made them sit near them, leaving a space open for Eddie. It was quiet for a while until he heard the sound of Dustin sniffling.

"I didn't mean to hurt Lucas, I just - " Dustin said.

"I know," Steve said softly.

"It's just that we think Eddie is so cool like you are that we got excited over the fact that he likes D&D, and it was just nice to have somewhere safe to go to," Dustin said.

"You think I'm on the same level of coolness as Eddie?" Steve asked.

"Well, yeah," Mike scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Well, okay, but you know, if you think someone is being asshole to your friend, you can tell them off even if they are also your friend," Steve said.

"Yeah, okay," Dustin said, wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry for disappointing you, Steve."

"Aww, buddy, come here," Steve said.

Steve and Dustin hugged tightly and quickly. Dustin was soon sitting next to Mike again. Steve looked at Mike questioningly.

"I'm not going to cry," Mike scoffed.

"You're being an asshole, Mike," Dustin quipped. "Cry, damn it."

He smiled when he saw Eddie walk into the gym. He looked sheepish, his hands in his pocket. It was very cute. Eddie nodded at Mike and Dustin, indicating that he wanted them to go down. They looked at Steve.

"Go," he said softly.

Mike, Dustin, and Erica walked down towards Eddie, who led them out of the gym. A moment later, Eddie came back with the kids and the rest of Hellfire in tow. The kids sat back down, leaving an open space for Eddie. He stood nervously by Steve, hands in his pockets while the rest of Hellfire sat in bleacher above them.

"Is this seat taken?" Eddie asked, pointing to the spot beside him.

"Yes," Steve replied.

"Oh," Eddie said softly.

"By you, idiot," he said and pulled him down into the seat.

"I had them apologize to Lucas, and then I apologized to Lucas. I mean, you were right. About everything. I was a goddamn bully. I would totally get it if you thought less of me and didn't want to go out with me," Eddie said.

"If anything, I think more of you. You owned up to your mistakes, you apologized. . . ," Steve said and leaned close to whisper to him. "That is so incredibly sexy of you."

"Sexy?! Me!" Eddie whispered and Steve nodded.

Steve moved closer until his lips were nearly touching Eddie's ear.

"If you hurt one of our kids ever again, I will take out my bat and beat you with it," he whispered.

"Hot," Eddie choked on his saliva and shook his head. "But yeah, I got the message."

Steve laughed and pulled back. He looked down at the court below, and his eyes landed on Chrissy, who was looking at him curiously. Steve grinned and gave her a thumbs up. Her smile was so wide that she was showing nearly all of her teeth. She blew him a kiss. Eddie's hand flew out in front of Steve’s face like he was catching the kiss and made a show of placing it on his own cheek. Chrissy giggled.

"Hey, that was my kiss, jackass," Steve scowled.

"Was it? Too bad," Eddie said.

Steve and Eddie talked until the gym started to fill up with people. The band members filled their seats, and then Tammy Thompson came out to sing. Steve whispered to Eddie about Tammy sounding like a Muppet and he giggled in agreement. Soon, the game began. Eddie struggled to catch up at first, but once Steve started using D&D terms to help him out, he quickly understood. Eddie watched eagerly when they put Lucas in, and when Lucas made the winning shot, he cheered louder than anyone. Eddie pulled Steve into a tight hug.

"Thank you for making sure that I didn't miss this," Eddie whispered in Steve's ear.

Chapter three

[teacupballerina]

PPG headcanons/plotbunnies townie and villain edition (non-crossover)

Mr. Green and Ms. Keane live in the same apartment complex. They meet after Keane's breakup in "Keen on Keane" when Green notices that Keane seems upset at the mail center. They start talking and--what a coincidence they both love kids!! A few episodes later Ms. Keane catches a nasty illness from amoeba-tainted oranges after "Divide and Conquer" and the only person she trusts to watch over her beloved class in "Substitute Creature" is Mr. Green. A few years later they get married and have halflings who help the new generation in Townsville stomach monster integration.

Robin's parents divorce not long after Super Friends and she blames herself because they are verbally abusive. They have split custody so Robin is only the Utoniums' neighbor every other week. She has an emo phase in middle school and cuts her hair short. Inspiration: the couple her parents were based on divorced IRL and she knows she's "an accident".

Following from previous, in high school Bubbles and Robin become girlfriends, Bubbles is the one who confesses first.

Buttercup taught Ace how to play bass during some never-made episode where the girls teach them to play instruments as part of a rehabilitation effort after Aspirations. ("If you want to meet girls, why don't you guys start a band?") The gang goes on to form a ska band with Snake on guitar, Ace on bass, Billy on drums, Arturo on trumpet (which he already knew how to play somehow) and Grubber on mic. They eventually split when Ace gets the call from Gorillaz.

Sedusa is Ms. Keane's elder sister. This is the reason Ms. Keane is more sympathetic to monsters and mutants. She doesn't have a lot of time between grading homework to keep up with supervillain activity, so she doesn't know half of what Sedusa has done. At some point they meet again and catch up, Sedusa goes low profile after "Aspirations" and leans more into civilian life. The girls don't find out the relation until after leaving Pokey Oaks Kindergarten, at Ms. Keane's wedding to Mr. Green.

Bubbles stays in touch with Wuzzy after "Roughin' It Up" and learns more about the forest and the Lumpkins clan from him. She even dates Wuzzy for a while and has a farmgirl phase, buying vegan leather cowboy boots that she wears into adulthood. This all helps her connect with and befriend Fuzzy himself, who learns to be more accepting through her. LOOK HOW CUTE THO:

Mojo Jojo ages very slowly due to his Chemical X mutation. His specific fixation on Blossom culminates in his focus shifting to either converting or dating her rather than destroying her (something he comes to understand as impossible). Even he doesn't know what he wants and has a lot of anguish over how he feels about her. Blossom's willing to be friends if he stops busting the city up, but she's never telling him that.

The Rowdyruff boys grow into manchildren and start "The Ruffcast", a manosphere podcast/youtube where they do nothing but play videogames, pump iron and complain about the Powerpuff Girls being too smart, too fat, and not feminine enough. Mitch Mitchelson gets roped in as the camera guy and occasional participant, which makes Buttercup dump him.

Princess Morbucks goes from wanting to be a Powerpuff Girl to just wanting to be a team leader. She recruits/buys her own team of girls to suit up and boss around, and this becomes a high-turnover job position for desperate people. Every other time the girls meet Princess, her lackeys are different. Daddy eventually disowns her not for being a villain but for being a tabloid magnet in college, forcing her to start over with nothing. One last ditch effort leads her to public records, and searching for any extended family to appeal to, she discovers her birth mother is Sara Bellum [A lesbian who used to be Morbucks' secretary--she loves Mayor because he's a harmless decent man who helped her escape that situation by hiring her]. Bellum takes her in, reluctantly, but she is totally immune to manipulation and sets her straight.

Ms. Bellum eventually runs for Mayor of Townsville and wins. Mayor Mayor retires to Pokey Oaks senior center. The girls visit him often and occasionally consult him for info about Townsville's history if needed--it's much easier for him to remember things from a long time ago, he's not so good with the day-to-day stuff. Bubbles volunteers there with Bullet, who opens Mayor's pickle jars when the nurses can't.

Harry Pitt running gag: Getting referenced as being in juvie and then prison, but it's never stated what he did. We know what he's in for, but the other characters never say.

[patheticgirlsteve]

Steve is fucking tired. Exhausted, even. He doesn’t get much sleep, as a rule, but last night had been even worse than usual. The nightmares were ceaseless, each one waking up him up in a cold sweat or with tears on his face, and every time he managed to fall back asleep it didn’t take long before another one came along. Eventually he just threw the towel in, giving up on sleep for the night.

He had thought about calling Robin, but had quickly dismissed the idea. She was definitely sleeping and he didn’t want to wake her up and drag her into sleeplessness with him. Plus, there was the fact that she had parents who actually lived with her and he didn’t want to risk waking them up either and having to explain why he was calling their daughter at four in the morning.

So he had gone downstairs and pulled the glass doors to the backyard open, had sat down next to the pool and stared at the sickeningly blue water. Each ripple felt like it was mocking him, taunting him for his inability to save Barb, his inability to get back into the water, his inability to truly move on.

He had ended up spending the next two and half hours staring at the pool with unfocused eyes before realizing the time and snapping out of his trance and rushing to get ready to pick up Robin and Dustin to take them to school. He had driven them both before on even less sleep than he had gotten tonight, they would be fine. He would never let either of them get hurt if he could help it.

Picking up Dustin had gone as it always did, Dustin having way too much energy for the early hour and talking Steve’s ear off about his new favorite topic: Eddie Munson.

Eddie fucking Munson. Dustin could barely stop singing the guy’s praises for long enough to take a breath and Steve was getting tired of pretending it didn’t bug him. He was getting replaced in Dustin’s life by a two time super senior. Like, what the fuck? Just because this guy plays Danger and Demons or whatever the fuck it’s called, he’s somehow better than Steve? Yeah fucking right.

Steve remembers Eddie from school. Obviously he remembers Eddie, the guy makes himself impossible to forget. Steve remembers him being loud and obnoxious at every possible opportunity. He remembers Eddie’s wild hair, his mischievous eyes, his long ring-covered fingers. He remembers that whenever he glanced at Eddie across the lunch room (his eyes seeking him out for no particular reason) Eddie was always already watching Steve. He remembers their eyes always meeting with a startling and, quite frankly, terrifying spark of something that Steve was unwilling to look too closely at. He remembers being the first to pull his eyes away every single time, jerking back from the eye contact like it had somehow burned him.

So, yeah. Steve remembers Eddie Munson.

And as if that wasn’t enough to remember him by, Steve still sees the guy every single week when he picks the kids up from their game. Every single time, Eddie throws him a smirk that makes Steve’s stomach feel funny and a wave and waits to see all the kids get into Steve’s car before getting in his own and driving away.

Eddie’s hair has grown longer in the time that Steve has known him, and the way it always catches the light in the setting sun outside the high school is, well, it’s not something Steve dwells on.

Dustin is still talking when they pull up to Robin’s house. It’s close enough to the school that she could technically walk, but with all of her band stuff it was easier for Steve to pick her up on his way there. Plus, he liked it. He loved Robin, she was the platonic love of his life and if he could spend a few extra minutes with her every morning then he absolutely would.

Steve is yawning painfully wide when Robin yanks the passenger seat door open and throws herself inside of the car haphazardly. Dustin makes an indignant exclamation as she tosses her backpack and trumpet case into the backseat.

“Hey!” His voice cracks a little bit and normally Steve would give him so much shit for it, but he’s too fucking tired to tease him right now. Luckily, Robin picks up his slack. He doesn’t make out what she says exactly, but it sounds scathing, and Dustin’s response sounds equally biting.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Steve takes his eyes off the road to look at Dustin in the mirror and shoot a glare at Robin. “It’s too early for this shit, either be nice or be quiet.”

“Someone’s grumpy this morning,” Robin says. She turns around to bare her teeth at Dustin threateningly when he kicks her seat. Dustin is still a little intimidated by Robin, which Steve usually finds hilarious but he’s not laughing about it right now. “You look exhausted, dude. Did you even sleep last night?”

Steve sighs and wipes a hand down his face, letting it drag. “Barely,” He says and he sees Robin’s sympathetic grimace from the corner of his eye. “A couple hours.”

“Steve,” Robin pokes at the side of his head, messing with his hastily and messily styled hair. He tries to swat her hand away while still keeping an eye on the road.

“Jesus Christ, Rob,” He manages to smack her hand away from his head. “Do you want me to crash the car? Cut it out!”

She reaches her hand back up to gently run her fingers through his hair, an affectionate gesture that she knows Steve loves. “I’m worried about you, Steve, this is getting ridiculous.”

“Yeah,” Dustin chimes in from the backseat, giving Steve a pointed look at flicking his eyes to Robin’s hand in his hair. Steve just rolls his eyes because he’s used to Dustin’s well-meaning but entirely futile attempts at setting him up with Robin by now. “This is, like, the third time this week, man. Is it even safe for you to be driving?”

He leans forward and Steve frowns as he pulls into the school parking lot, slowing down as they approach the drop-off spot in front of the building. “Dude, why aren’t you wearing your seatbelt?”

“Because I needed to be able to lean up here, this conversation is important for me to be a part of, considering it’s my life that’s at stake.” He imitates Robin with a sharp tug to Steve’s hair.

“Ow! Hands off the hair! God, you’re dramatic,” Steve huffs in exasperation and a swat at Dustin like he’s a particularly pesky fly, fighting down another yawn. He directs his gaze towards Dustin’s in the rear view mirror. “You’re not gonna die, I’m perfectly fine to drive. Nobody’s gonna get hurt with me behind the wheel, I promise.”

THUD.

Steve slams the breaks as he hears his car collide with something. Oh god, someone.

Everyone in the car screams, excluding Steve, who shouts, “Oh, fuck!” before putting the car in park, turning it off, and leaping out to check on the person who he just hit with his goddamn car.

“I am so sorry, man,” He scrambles to the front of his car, eyes landing on a sprawled out student with dark curly hair and a leather jacket. Fuck. Of course he just accidentally hit Eddie Munson with his car. He’s never gonna hear the end of this. “Shit, Munson, are you okay?”

Steve crouches down in front of Eddie, who has pulled himself into a sitting position and is rubbing at his temple. Eddie’s eyes dart up to Steve’s and even in this fucked up situation, there’s still that confusing feeling somewhere deep inside him when their eyes meet.

“I know you’re not my biggest fan, but I never thought you would try to kill me, Harrington,” Eddie’s voice is breathless but not biting. He’s teasing Steve. “With all of these witnesses, no less.”

Steve looks up and, yeah, there’s a crowd that has gathered to see what’s happening and he catches snatches of whispers, “King Steve,” and “The Freak,” coming through in between gossip.

“I really didn’t mean to hit you, I’m so sorry,” Steve continues to apologize. “Dustin was talking shit so I was telling him off and I wasn’t looking where I was going and I’m really really sorry,” He tries to explain, wants Eddie to understand that Steve really didn’t mean to do that.

Eddie is looking at him with an odd expression, and it’s certainly not the kind of expression that one directs at a man who just hit you with a car. The look in his eyes is amused and… soft? It makes Steve’s cheeks heat and he finds that he can’t pull his gaze away until he spots a trickle of blood streaming down from where Eddie’s hand is still pressed against his forehead.

Steve reaches his hand up without thinking, pulling Eddie’s hand away by the wrist and leaning in closer to inspect the source of the blood.

There’s a small cut on Eddie’s forehead, nothing too serious but Steve still feels like shit for being the one to cause it. “Let me patch this up for you before you go in.”

Eddie squints at him for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

Dustin takes this moment to speak up, coming up behind Steve and aiming a sharp kick at the center of his back.

“Fucking ow, Dustin!” Steve turns his head to glare up at the fuming teenager.

“You deserved it!” He shrieks in that way that only Dustin can shriek. Steve notices the crowd around them has started to dissipate, now that it’s clear that nobody is dead or seriously injured. “I mean, I know you’re jealous of Eddie because I’ve been spending more time with him lately, but I didn’t think you would try to kill him over it!”

“I didn’t try to kill him, Jesus Christ, Dustin,” Steve rolls his eyes. “It was an accident because you,” he points a finger sharply at Dustin. “Were distracting me from the road.”

“You can’t just blame me for you hitting a pedestrian, Steve,” He says his name with such disrespect that Steve feels something hot and angry flare up in his gut. He takes a deep breath to calm himself before speaking again.

“Rob,” He turns to Robin who has also gotten out of the car and is watching this whole exchange with sharp eyes. “You and Dustin go inside, you’re gonna be late. I’ll take care of Eddie.”

“You expect me to just leave him in your care?” Dustin cuts back in with his arms crossed over his chest. “After you just ran him over? Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“He didn’t run me over,” Eddie speaks up and Steve’s head whips back to look at him. Eddie catches his eye with a small grin before looking back up at Dustin. “It sounds to me like you were distracting the driver and this is more your fault than Harrington’s.”

Dustin gapes at him and Steve has to fight back a laugh at the totally shocked look on his face. “But—“

“No buts, go inside with Buckley,” Eddie doesn’t let Dustin get any argument in. “Nurse Harrington will take good care of me, won’t you, big boy?”

Steve freezes, his entire body going confusingly warm and he knows his face is red, if Eddie’s growing smirk is any indication. “Uh, yeah, I— uh—“

Eddie takes pity on him, despite being the one to put him in the situation to begin with, and claps him on the shoulder. Steve has to fight a sudden and inexplicable urge to lean into the touch, but Eddie removes his hand before Steve can even begin to question that instinct. “See, Dusty? I’m in expert hands. Practically an EMT, good old Stevie.”

Robin snorts and doesn’t bother trying to hide it, shooting Steve a Look that Steve knows is supposed to mean something but he doesn’t know what. “Come on, Henderson, let’s leave these two to play doctor alone.”

She tugs on Dustin’s backpack and drags him over, turning him around to face the school and pushes him forward. Dustin grumbles and shoots another look back at Eddie and Dustin, but he doesn’t fight it when Robin nudges him forward again.

As they leave, Robin gives Steve one more extremely pointed look. He’s never told her about the weird way that Eddie makes him feel, but he has a feeling that she knows already and that she knows exactly what those feelings mean. He senses an inescapable conversation with her on the horizon and looks away from her.

Unfortunately, that leaves him looking at Eddie. Eddie who is looking up at Steve with curiosity and that same strange mix of amusement and bizarre affection that Steve just cannot fathom. He realizes that he’s been holding Eddie’s wrist this entire time and quickly lets go of it, the brisk fall air hitting his skin in startling contrast to the warmth of Eddie’s skin under his. The blood on Eddie’s face drips off of his chin and spurs Steve into action.

“Okay,” He pulls himself up into standing and reaches both hands down to pull Eddie up after him. They end up standing chest-to-chest, not nearly enough since between them. Steve takes a step back and releases his grips on the other man, who looks almost bereft when Steve lets go of him. The expression doesn’t last, Eddie covers it quickly and Steve doesn’t think about it. “Take a seat on the hood, I’ll grab the first aid kit and we’ll take care of that cut, sound good?”

Eddie nods and takes a step back towards the car. Steve turns around and pops the trunk to retrieve the massive first aid kit that he stores in his trunk next to his nailbat. He slams the trunk shut and returns to the front of the car, where Eddie is now perched, his legs swinging in front of him.

Steve sits down next to him, paying close attention to the distance between them, making sure to keep it wide, and snaps open the sides of the kit to begin pulling out the things he needs to clean and bandage Eddie’s face.

“Holy shit,” Eddie remarks, watching Steve pull out some sterile wipes, a disinfectant, and some bandages. “Didn’t take you for a doomsday prepper. You keep all this shit in your car?”

“Yeah,” Steve opens one of the wipes and starts working on cleaning the blood and (thankfully) minimal debris off of Eddie’s face. He doesn’t think about how intimate it feels to be this close to the other man and to be touching his face so gently. I’d he tells himself enough times that he’s not thinking. about it then maybe eventually it will be true. “I babysit a bunch of teenagers, you can never be too prepared.”

Eddie hums like he understands, and maybe he does, but he also doesn’t seem to fully buy into Steve’s explanation. He lets it go, though, opting instead to tease Steve some more.

“You spend a lot of time with teenagers, huh, Harrington?” He asks and Steve doesn’t look at his face as he picks up the disinfectant.

“So do you, Munson,” He does look up now to quirk an eyebrow at him and is pleased when Eddie’s grin widens. “From what I’ve heard, the kids just can’t get enough of you.”

“I was about to say the same thing about you,” Eddie doesn’t miss a beat, his gaze burns against Steve’s face as he’s directing his attention to carefully applying the ointment to the cut. “I believe Dustin mentioned something about you being jealous? You know that kid adores you, right? He basically worships the ground you walk on.”

Steve squints at him, pulling away to take in all of Eddie’s face. Eddie’s expression is open, his eyes wide as always, and Steve feels unmoored by it.

“Yeah?” Steve asks and Eddie nods. “Well, he’s got a real funny way of showing it.”

Eddie huffs a small laugh and Steve thinks that if they were just a bit closer he would have felt the puff of air against his face. Tries not to feel disappointed that he didn’t. “Yeah, that kid has a serious attitude problem.”

“You’re telling me,” Steve commiserates as he reaches for a bandage. “He’s a brat.”

“It’s his tone, right?” Eddie agrees and Steve laughs lightly. He peels open the wrapper and leans in to line the center of the bandage up to Eddie’s cut. He’s taking more time than he should, Eddie is already late for class and Steve knows that he probably can’t afford to miss much more, but he finds himself not wanting this conversation to end. He wants to continue sitting this close to Eddie and to touch Eddie’s face. He feels a little crazy just for thinking it.

“Yeah, it’s the tone,” Steve agrees as he smooths the bandage down flat against Eddie’s skin. He lets his hand linger for a second too long before he pulls back. He thinks he sees a flash of disappointment on Eddie’s face as he removes his hand, but it’s gone so soon that he thinks maybe he was just imagining it. Again. “He looks up to you a lot too, you know?”

Eddie watches him for a moment before responding. “Yeah, I think you might be right.”

Steve nods, unsure of what he’s supposed to say next. He’s never exchanged more than three words at a time with Eddie before and he wonders now why he had waited so long to do so. He gives Eddie an awkward pat on the shoulder and slides off of the hood, packing up the first aid kit and snapping the clasps shut. He feels Eddie’s eyes on him the entire time and wills himself not to blush under the attention. He feels his ears get warm and knows that he’s failed.

When he turns his face back to Eddie, he’s startled to see that Eddie had silently scooted closer to him, still seated on the hood of the car. His face is right next to Steve’s and Steve feels frozen where he stands. He doesn’t breathe as Eddie’s eyes dart back and forth between his own because he’s afraid of shattering the strange tension of the moment. Eddie’s searching for something in his eyes and Steve doesn’t know what.

Apparently, he finds it, because he leans back with a delighted smile and releases a loud laugh that makes Steve’s stomach do something funny. Steve thinks that Eddie has a nice laugh, he thinks he wouldn’t mind hearing it more.

Eddie slides off the hood and scoops up his book bag, which was still on the ground in front of Steve’s car. He slings one strap over his shoulder and begins moving away from the car, walking backwards and grinning at Steve as he goes.

“Thanks for patching me up, Nurse Harrington,” Eddie salutes him and Steve fights the urge to reach out a steadying hand when Eddie stumbles a little bit on the curb.

“Sorry for hitting you with my car,” Steve apologizes again and Eddie’s answering laugh is bright and just a little too loud. Steve is starting to get used to the sound of it even though he’s only heard it twice.

Eddie’s laughter tapers off and he stops making his way toward the school to tilt his head at Steve for moment, obviously pondering something. Steve waits patiently if a little nervously for Eddie to figure out what he wants to say to him.

“Next time you want to talk to me, you can just ask me instead of trying to run me over,” He says and his tone is teasing enough that Steve doesn’t feel too terribly guilty about the words. “If it was a desperate bid for my attention then it was a waste, since you already had it anyway.”

And with that he smirks and turns on his heels. Steve watches him stroll towards the doors of the high school at a leisurely pace and knows that his face must be making a truly embarrassing expression that he is very glad no one is around to see.

Eddie reaches the doors and turns to give Steve little wave before slipping into the building.

Steve turns back to his car, still holding the first aid kit in his hands. He looks at the hood where Eddie had been sitting and wonders for a brief insane moment if the metal is still warm.

He shakes his head to clear it of whatever weirdness has taken over his mind. He yawns, sudden and wide and uses his free hand to rub at his eyes, his momentarily forgotten exhaustion returning even stronger after that whole ordeal. He thinks he’s due for a nap.

[red-bat-arse]

steddie musician AU where Eddie makes it big after s4 and invites Robin and Steve to live with him in Chicago so he can tour and always have a home base -and now he has the resources to buy a bit more for himself so he makes sure a good studio space gets installed in the house

and ofc Robin's already musically inclined so she likes to help Eddie fuck around with weird trumpet solos for experimental songs, and Steve learnt piano as a kid but never had the opportunity to get creative with it -so when Eddie's gone and Robin's in class, he putters around the studio, learning guitar from Eddie's books and adapting to a keyboard and having fun with synths and singing. that lack of expectations and freedom to have fun is what trips him into making his own music

he puts together a few songs and asks Nancy to listen to them -he knows she'll be honest about whether he's wasting his time with this, since he at least wants to make music Robin or Eddie could give a pass to. but to his surprise she tells him he's good, and if he wanted to he could make a little extra money playing alternative nights at clubs. needing a second, more objective from a personal connection standpoint, opinion, he asks Argyle, who actually worked at a record store for a bit

Argyle, without asking bc he thought it went without saying, passes the cassette on to a few buddies of his in the local live music scene and later introduces them to Steve when they want to have him at one of their regular places. Steve goes with Robin who he asks not to tell anyone -he doesn't want to distract Eddie while the guy's making a big name of himself, and maybe Steve feels embarrassed or inadequate about being late to the game and doing it as a hobby, so he also uses a pseudonym. 'Zdev' maybe, if we want to parallel 'Djo'

he finds out he really likes it, so he starts doing small gigs for bars or parties Jonathan connects him with. puts a short album on cassette that he recorded at home, has fun with it even as the songs become more personal. but by then 'Zdev' has a little local fame and one of his cassettes is picked up by some label and they reach out -Steve definitely doesn't expect it, because psychedelic rock kind of faded from radio play after the 70s, but now he's being faced with a record deal he isn't sure he wants and no idea how to handle it

so he calls Eddie, who comes racing back from recording with the band out in LA, thankfully not ditching at too inconvenient a point

and Eddie nearly doesn't believe it at first but once he gets his hands on a tape so he can get an idea of the sound, he's obsessed. while he's a metalhead to the core, he's never heard Steve sing before (let's use twenty twenty as the album here) and there's something about the way Steve ties the groove to a sense of melancholy that digs into his skull. it also doesn't help that some of the songs set off alarm bells bc they talk about loving a girl or packing up and leaving or feeling adrift and they make him want to stick as close as possible lest they turn out to be true

he helps Steve through it, pretty well versed in the industry by now (i'm thinking its about 5 years post Vecna) but he's quietly worrying over the album's content the whole time. they go through the re-recording process, which ofc Eddie really wants to hear, but with Steve still being embarrassed he doesn't end up sitting in on any; but they talk over each song before and after and its so easy to drift back into hinting at the mutual attraction they'd each independently resigned to pass them by, back when Eddie first moved away after 86. and eventually it comes out that the album was Steve's way of, yeah, having fun, but also exorcising feelings from his past in Hawkins. that there's only one song that's really about his life now, and he didn't put it on the cassette but he's planning on including it on the LP

by now its pretty obvious to Steve that Eddie is flirting back, not to mention the guy put a hold on recording his own work to help Steve out, which is easy to read into. so he finally invites Eddie to sit in for the recording of the last song, which he's hoping will be subtle enough that he can bluff if it doesn't go well, but if Eddie is on the same page, it'll be clear. the song he plays is Mutual Future (Repeat)

it's got a long winding intro of just guitar that Eddie sits through, unaware, and Steve starts singing low, almost just his speaking voice the croon is so subtle, and when he meets Eddie's eyes through the glass to ask will you be mine?

well, Eddie gets it. and while there's not a lot of privacy in a recording studio, he eventually finds a small filing room he can kiss Steve stupid in until quitting time for the day comes and goes

[dragon-giggles]

Muppet Headcanons

I have so many random, silly Muppet headcanons I need to get out of my system, sooo here we go, bare with me

~Kermit still keeps in touch with the Sesame Street gang ever since he left them. He usually calls Elmo, Grover, or Ernie the most to check up on them and say hi!

~Apart from fish being his favorite animal, Lew Zealand is a big animal lover in general! He has an especially soft spot for all aquatic wildlife, including animals such as turtles and seabirds.

~I don't care what y'all say, Bobo and Uncle Deadly had something with each other in The Muppets (2011).

~Miss Piggy really does have a soft heart, her temper just makes it hard to show. Actually, this better be canon.

~Robin and Rowlf's nephew (from the Jimmy Dean Show) are good friends and love having play dates.

~Big Mean Carl is really emotional, he's just really good at hiding it.

~Fozzie has accidentally set things on fire more than once. Most times have been in the kitchen, he's not exactly the best cook. But it's happened so much somehow, it pretty much seems like he's prone to it.

~Sweetums gets along well with a lot of the tinier Muppets ironically. He's surprisingly really gentle when he needs to be, and is always careful with his smaller friends. Him and Yolanda are besties!

~Walter has more than once weirded out the others by just how much he knows about each of them. (Well that's what happens when your a super fan guys)

~Gonzo has a whole wardrobe that's just dresses.

~This is pretty much canon, but it's agreed Zoot has magical abilities. The guy has probably traveled to other dimensions and not even realized it.

~Also pretty much canon, but Rowlf has a much sassier side to him than he usually let's on. Most people just haven't seen it that often... except for Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean saw it plenty of times lol.

~Fozzie is like the resident tickle monster lol. Usually if someone doesn't laugh at his joke, he'll just be a little twerp and tickle them to make them laugh. He'll also just do it to be silly (Kermit has been a victim to his silliness the most lol).

~Kermit knows every first and middle name of all of his siblings. (which keep in mind he canonically has like over a thousand siblings)

~Beauregard knows a lot of cool random facts actually that he'll just randomly throw out there sometimes.

~Another one about Beau, him and Beaker are good friends. (They canonically usually set up stage props together on The Muppet Show)

~Scooter has so many father figures. Kermit, Dr. Teeth, Fozzie, and Rowlf are all his dads lol... and Janice is his one mom figure.

~Pepe and Rizzo have been together at some point.

~Nigel, more well-known as the band conductor from The Muppet Show, and Kermit are actually good old friends. (He was actually meant to be the host for The Muppet Show before the role was switched to Kermit)

~Lips and Dolores (trumpet girl) are really good friends despite him taking up her role as trumpet player. She'll still sometimes pick up her old trumpet and the two will play together for fun.

~I don't know why this isn't canon but. Walter. Autism. Real.

~Skeeter likes to visit the Muppet theatre every so often to visit Scooter. In the few times she's been there, she's developed pretty good relationships with all the others as well.

~Bunsen and Beaker have pretty much been together since they were literally babies (go watch Muppet Babies for proof)

~This isn't really a headcanon but something I've noticed about Miss Piggy. She seems to have a softer spot for a few of the others, and I don't just mean Kermit.

I've noticed that she genuinely baby talks Rowlf a lot, and calls him Rowlfy. She's never actually tried to karate chop him like she has others either. There's been like once she tried to swing at him, from The Muppet Show, and ended up hitting the piano instead. Personally to me, it seemed like she didn't really try with her hit like she has all other times; it was more like she was annoyingly swatting at him because he was aggravating her (which he was btw, he was teasing her). I just think her and Rowlf are good old pals, and I just think that she knows that he's genuinely sweet and doesn't wanna be mean to someone like that.

Same with Beauregard, she's been really nice to him too. She's even given him a motivational speech before from The Muppet Show (in that same episode, he hugged her and said she was his only friend and I sobbed so mentally hard over that). I think Miss Piggy just knows who generally good folks are and in turn shows her soft side to them.

Okay I've poured out all I can, for now! Here's some silly doodles of some of the headcanons!

[oh-stars]

Break

Music

a Stobin Month 2024 prompt | 580 words | CW: N/A | Rating: G

--

Robin takes a deep breath, trumpet poised in the air, and lets her fingers rest on the keys in a practiced motion. She’s sight reading a new piece, something she hopes to eventually play for the director that’ll earn her first chair in orchestra band. The auditions are still two weeks away, so she’s not worried about it yet. Yet.

She plays a single note, holding it for two counts, her fingers easing up to press the next one–

“Beautiful!” Steve says from her bed, clapping as he sits up. “Magnificent. No notes.”

Robin giggles and brings her trumpet down. “You’re an asshole,” she says like ‘I love you.’

He grins at her, then picks up the magazine he was reading and lays back against her pillows. Steve waves her on, a ‘carry on’ gesture as he looks back to the article he’s paused on.

She shakes out her shoulders, tamping down on the giggles he’s brought out in her, and tries again with another steadying breath. Robin gets three notes out, tapping her foot to the beat and counting as she waits out her rest, when she sees him get up out of the corner of her eye.

Steve sits on the edge of the bed and watches her, eyes narrowed and lips pursed.

Robin is used to distractions. She’s been in marching band and jazz band all throughout high school, she’s used to rowdy teenagers being around her as she’s performing, so she can handle one guy during practice.

Or she should be able to.

The rest ends and Robin plays a few more notes, finally getting into the heart of the piece when Steve stands and waves his hands. “No, no,” he says.

She pulls the trumpet away. “What?”

He stands with his hands on his hips and shakes his head. “Wasn’t good enough, Buckley. You have to do it again.”

“It’s the first time–”

“Excuses, excuses,” Steve says with a waved hand. He’s got this bitchy little smile on that Robin knows means he’s seconds away from breaking whatever this character is.

She rolls her eyes. “And what exactly was wrong?”

“It wasn’t trumpety enough,” Steve says, so seriously she can’t help but laugh.

“Oh my god, go sit down dingus!” She gets up and pushes him toward the bed as they both laugh louder than her playing. So loud her dad calls up to them to quiet it down.

She giggles as she sits back down. “No more interruptions. No notes. Nothing until I at least get through this piece once, okay?”

Steve nods. “No promises.”

“Steve.”

“Robin.”

“I will kick you out.”

“You will do no such thing.”

“I could.”

“Your parents love me too much.”

“Asshole.”

“You love me.”

She rolls her eyes again and turns back toward her sheet music. “I’m serious, Steve.”

“So am I.”

Robin breathes in and starts from the top with the first long note. She plays as well as she can, using her years of practice to guide her through the unfamiliar piece, and while she definitely has notes about some of it, she’s doing okay, if you ask her.

That is until Steve stops her toward the end of the piece with a buzzer noise. “Again,” he says once she looks at him.

She can’t be held responsible for the damage she inflicted upon him that night. She does owe her mom a new pillow though since she had to steal one off their bed. Whoops?

--

Thank you @lady-lostmind for beta reading!

Ao3 Link

[boggie-things]

Robin Buckley has a list of fears.

It's long, most lists she makes are.

It's topped by rabies, sparked by a documentary her father had accidentally left on when she was six. (Foaming mouths of coyotes and raccoons sure did leave a mark)

Earthquakes are a definite number two. A reasonable fear, she supposes. She saw it on the news once, something about one in California, half a nation away. She was unsteady as is, she didn't need the ground to shake under her too.

Three is a tie between snakes and spiders, for wildly different reasons but still valid enough in her mind to keep them that high after all these years.

And somewhere between public speaking and sharks is Nancy Wheeler.

But Nancy wasn't there because of crawling up your throat fear like rabies was. No, she was there because of messy feelings made up of warm cheeks and twisted tongues.

It was a repeated offense, appearing in every encounter they had shared with each other since their first meeting in third grade at lunch.

Sweaty palms in fifth grade at a field trip to the museum in Indianapolis.

An itching feeling in her gut over the summer between seventh and eighth grade at the local pool.

Nervous rambling in the summer of 85' at Starcourt.

Always around her, no matter how brief of a interaction. Brief eye contact across the school hall could leave Robin spiraling.

Nancy Wheeler had that effect on her. A racing heart and overwhelming urge to please and connect with.

And that's exactly why she's number twelve on her fear list, sometimes thirteen whenever she has to present an assignment for the class.

Robin's heart felt like it would burst every time they were in the same room, but another feeling kept her stable, lifting her head above water to get air.

It ran alongside her so-called fear. She thinks it's admiration. But deep down she knows it's love.

She couldn't afford to love, love was on her fear list too. Below snakes but above Nancy herself. Number ten, maybe.

Rejection shared the space with a slash between them, one in the same.

A common fear, but also so unique. A guy could fear rejection out of embarrassment. Robin did for pariah status and cruel words being flung. Fear for her life. Number seven on her list, being outed.

Nancy is number twelve when Chrissy Cunningham dies. She replaces large crowds at number eight while in the Hawkins Library, shining a light on her shot in the dark, showing a bullseye.

She makes it past needles at number four while running from Pennhurst, a mad smile of glee on her face as she hits the gas, smiling at Robin as she smiles back.

Her heart keeps its normal beat. Robin thinks she is losing her fear.

Number twelve sits blank while standing in the Creel house, burned away by the sparks of a cracking gun as Nancy steps up and relentlessly pulls the trigger.

She's not afraid. She's in love.

Robin has a likes list.

It's short, but every spot is there for a reason.

She likes lemonade and snow. Dogs more than cats. Learning languages and playing her trumpet.

But at the very top is Nancy Wheeler.

Nancy Wheeler’s name is marked with love beside it in quotation marks, deserving of its own list tattooed on her heart.

But she's there on Robin's like list as she looks at her with dopey eyes and flashes bashful smiles.

Sometimes Nancy returns them.

But maybe she's reading it wrong, just because she's off her fear list doesn't mean she's clean of worry.

Number ten stays the same, after all.

But Nancy keeps her stable, listening with the attention of a whole room whenever Robin rambles, number eleven isn't as daunting anymore.

She retakes her spot at number twelve briefly, just for a night as Robin fights for the courage to admit her feelings.

But she's erased fiercely from it when she kisses her back.

Robin's heart bursts not with fear but joy. Nancy makes her feel lots of things. Happy, loved and nervous. But not fear.

It's always love. It always was.

[prodigal-upsiders]

more fruity four band au

I cannot stop rotating band au in my head, so here’s specifically some random bits about the instruments and covers they play:

Nancy plays the drums, and I have a lot of thoughts about how that comes about. might post a snippet or two about it later.

Robin picks up the bass, because I think that is very sexy of her. (one or two of their original songs do feature some cool brass from her as well, but I don’t think she really like, loves the trumpet itself so much as she just loves making music)

Steve is the lead singer, but he also surprises them with the info that his parents used to pay for piano lessons. they stopped when he got to high school, wanted him to focus on sports and other things, but he gets a secondhand keyboard and goes to town reviving those skills. their original tracks don’t feature a lot of keyboard but it’s very fun flavor to bring out sometimes 

More Steve - he picks up the rhythm guitar parts. Steve is a highly kinesthetic learner, okay; give him something to do with his hands and he picks it up quick. also, "hey man will you teach me how to play guitar” was initially a ploy he cooked up to get Eddie to sit fucking still while he was still healing after spring break, but hey actually he really enjoys it

we all know Eddie is lead guitar. I just didn’t want to not give him a bullet point of his own okay

as far as genre goes I think their band ends up with an experimental rock n roll vibe, not all heavy metal but with influences for sure - they just don’t let Eddie write that many songs about dragons and witches, lol. but he does get to show off with fantastic guitar solos, because honestly is it even any flavor of 80s rock if there’s not a cool guitar solo in it. there’s enough shared roots between their tastes to make something really cool. I know the “steve only listens to pop” is popular, but tbh the fic “Cut and Changed and Rearranged” put Boston fan Steve in my head and he will never leave now, so. I have more specific ideas about which albums Eddie plays to coax them to the edge of the metal genre, though, because of course he does

I don’t envision they ever like, hit it really big - I think a certain level of commercial success would freak them out, honestly. it’s not a lifelong career for any of them but Eddie, who stays in the industry but transitions to mainly songwriting and/or producing in the later years. but they put out several albums, do a couple of tours, and are kind of a cult classic of the scene before they retire. they do record a reunion/celebration album when gay marriage is made legal and it’s all the songs they had to shelve back in the day because there was definitely no way to make them sounds straight lol. they drop the announcement of the album and also the fact that they’re marrying each other in the same tweet.

a couple of the songs I put on their playlist with the hcs about them:

Immigrant Song - Led Zepplin. Steve may be lead vocals but it’s Nancy and Robin who like to do the war cry part

Baba O’Riley - The Who. aka Teenage Wasteland, and Steve absolutely practices that intro for weeks in secret so that he’s got it down enough that he can wink at Eddie the first time he plays it for the band 

Bad Reputation / Call Me Lightning - a couple of the few that Robin takes lead vocals instead of Steve. listen if Nancy and Robin don’t get to cover some Joan Jett then what’s the POINT

[aglimmeroflightrefusingtofade]

Robin and Steve headcanons? :D

They end up living together once Hawkins is destroyed and they have to move. Robin's parents love her, but they don't understand why she screams sometimes in the middle of the night or why she starts shaking whenever a bat flies by, and Steve does, better than anybody. His own parents are not only never around but don't care about him. So, they move into a studio apartment (they don't see a point in having separate rooms, as they prefer to share a bed), and the only time they aren't there is if they're at work (together) or Robin has Vickie over, at which point Steve is nice enough to go and bother the ducklings (AKA Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Will, El, Max, Erica, and their families) by being an imposition and parenting at them as much as a teenage boy can.

Robin is ADHD and autism, and Steve is ADHD and dyslexia, and the neurodivergence vibes in a way that scares everybody. They speak at light speed when they're not actively trying to slow it down for everyone else, and they will randomly stim together (bopping their heads together, smacking each other with empty plastic waterbottles in rhythm to the song they're playing, etc.)

They listen to Joy Division, New Order, and Pet Shop Boys together.

Robin makes a point to stalk all of Steve's dates to make sure they're acceptable. (When Steve gets home, he'll be like 'her name is Emma, and-' and then Robin will tell him a full background check of information.)

They completely understand each other in a way that stings but works. Robin and Steve don't do any drugs, whether weed or liquor or ecstasy, because it reminds them too much of being tortured and drugged. They wake each other up from nightmares and don't ask, just let the other one cry/breathe it out. Robin doesn't call Steve stupid and Steve doesn't call Robin annoying. Robin doesn't comment when Steve avoids pools like the plague, and Steve doesn't say a word when Robin trades in her French horn and trumpet for a violin after she learns her best friend, Heather (different one than what you're thinking, it's a minor character in Glimmer - spoilers!!!), who she got into music with, died from Vecna and learns the real reason they grew apart was because Heather went to conversion therapy and that she didn't just stop answering Robin's calls. Robin helps Steve find the kids when, say, Dustin doesn't answer a safety check on his Walkie-Talkie and Steve goes into a frenzy, and Steve helps Robin through her anxiety attacks. They complete each other, platonic soulmates, bonded stray cats, and just each other's lives.

God, I love them.

[miidnightpoet]

WIP from Fuck You Munson

Steve pov

———

The loud, trumpet sounding ring of his phone interrupted Steve’s quiet car ride, it only meant one thing Robin was trying to call him. He put the phone on speaker and kept driving. “ hey Robbie what’s up”

Robins voice rang though the small car, “hey Steve, I know it’s your down time before the show but theres been an slight issue with your gig tonight…” she trailed off.

“Where are you right now I’ll drive over?” He asked her.

“Im at the venue, but we can deal with it over the phone it’s fine” Robin tried reassuring him.

Steve rolled his eyes, “Robbie im close to the venue anyway, if there’s an issue I’ll deal with it okay?, I’ll see you in a bit” He didn’t wait for conflation from her before hanging up, Steve was only a few blocks away from the venue of the forth night of his tour. He turned down a couple streets before pulling up to a abandoned looking building from the outside but the inside had been refurbished and turned into a stage for performing.

He parked his car, grabbed his guitar and messenger bag from the passenger seat and headed into the building. He spotted Robin right away, she was wearing one of his old Hawkins Swim Team shirts and her thrift store jeans.

He waved at her as he walked over, “so what’s our small issue?” He asked placing his bag down and handing his guitar off to his trusted assistant, Linda.

“Well not so funny story the venue is double booked tonight, and normally that wouldn’t be a problem because we’d be able to figure out a different date to perform but it would be the second time we’d’be re scheduled on your fans. The other band has also refused to talk to any of my staff.” Robin filled him in.

Steve nodded, Robin was right they couldn’t reschedule again. He hated doing it the first time when he was sick but to do it again would be a nightmare. “Can’t we just like pay them to leave?” He asked

The brunette shook her head, “tried that, they didn’t want “daddy’s money for the venue to be clear” at least that what I’ve been told, Dave is still trying to negotiate with them, we still don’t know their bands name.” The Walkie-Talkie on Robin’s shoulder crackled.

“Mam they finally gave us a name, Corroded Coffin.” a voice, Dave’s voice spoke through the Walkie-Talkie. “They said there willing to share the stage, we’d have to figure out the details but it seems the most logical, Over”

“Thanks Dave, I’ll get back to you Steve here so we’re going to talk it over, Over” Robin spoke into the Walkie-Talkie.

“Robin it’s not happening” he shook his head “there’s no way in hell I’m sharing a stage with him!!” Steve was so pissed, this was not supposed to happen on his tour. Not after everything it took to get here.

“Steve, I understand that your angry but it’s gout last show in Cali” Robin tried to reason with him, glancing down at her clipboard.

“Then they shouldn’t’ve fucking double booked us with him of all people” He spat, he was going to go on anyway but not this angry, his fans payed to be here and he was going to give them a show.

Steve stood up from his chair, “I’ll do the show but I’m playing the new song tonight” he stalked off to his green room to get ready for the show.

[xenon-demon]

i had some more thoughts about this concept, SO:

Steve and Robin very much have a 10 and Donna Noble type dynamic going on. It's a fifty-fifty gamble on whether they're mistaken for siblings or a couple, which makes them feel either absolutely thrilled or disgusted, respectively. Also, they tried one (1) singular time to weaponise this by saying they're couple as a cover story (they were trying to infiltrate a 13th century royal banquet at the time, a married couple was much less suspicious than a pair of bachelors), only for everyone around them to go "oh you're a couple? You don't seem to like each other very much... I don't know if this is going to work out..."

Robin refers to herself as a Time Lord and not a Time Lady, even though technically the latter is the proper term for a female Time Lord. Soft Butch Robin my beloved <3

She also has a sonic trumpet (Steve is the only one who calls it her sonic trumpet, and Robin gets mad every time because "all trumpets are technically sonic, Steve, they all involve production of sound"). It's a regular trumpet she tinkered with and added technology to until she could use the buttons to alter the sound waves it produces to give it that classic sonic device functionality - while still being able to play it like a regular trumpet when she wants to. It's wildly impractical in a lot of situations but she likes it, damn it Steve, so she's not giving it up! Plus, it's kinda funny watching her run around in a life-or-death situation with a trumpet holstered to her back like it's a rifle or something.

Steve is Just Some Dude from the early 21st century. He's been traveling with Robin for a few years now and is roughly in his early-to-mid twenties, but at this point he doesn't go home very often. With the way he and Robin are attached at the hip, they lose track of time, and while they intended for Steve to maintain at least some of his regular life, the time between his appearances back home are getting longer and longer. He doesn't speak to his parents anymore, at least, so they won't miss him, and he quit his job not long after he started traveling with Robin. The only people he thinks could possibly be missing him are like... the kids from his apartment complex he used to babysit, maybe? Their names were Dustin and Lucas, and then Lucas' little sister Erica, too. But their parents stopped needing him for babysitting at least a good six months before he started traveling with Robin, and then he was working night shift all the time, and then he met Robin and he's barely been home since. Sure, he stops and chats with them when he sees them around the complex, but that's just being polite, it's not like these exceptionally bright young teenagers want to spend time with him. At some point they'll grow up and forget about him, right?

...needless to say, on one of Steve's rare trips back home (he wanted to show Eddie was his home time period is like), Steve and Robin and Eddie come back to find three stowaway teenagers in their TARDIS. These kids are tenacious as hell, good at pattern recognition, and as soon as Dustin realised Steve's once-in-a-blue-moon reappearances coincide with that weird blue box showing up down the street, in the same spot every time, he started researching the shit out of it. Turns out, Robin and Steve aren't too crash hot at hiding the evidence of their time travel from historical documentation.

The rest of the party also gets involved eventually too. Max is from an alien planet in the future with a very trade-based economy (the whole planet is essentially various marketplaces run by different organizational factions, and it's an interplanetary hub for trading). She desperately needs to get away from her step dad and abusive older brother, who have both gotten Significantly Worse since her mother passed away, so when the gang bump into her during a trip it doesn't take much for Steve and Robin to agree to take her with them.

As for El/Mike/Will: Hopper is a former Time Agent from the 51st century who quit when he discovered a spacetime anomaly - Eleven - and decided instead of reporting her (which would turn her into a lab rat for the rest of her life, assuming they let her live) he was going to keep her and raise her himself. El has endogenous time/space travel powers (essentially teleportation, but through time AND space) that she can't control very well, so she ends up in Hawkins in the 1950s by accident one day. This is where she meets Mike and Will, who end up coming with her - also by accident - on her future time travel adventures. It's incredibly dangerous though, even if Hopper is tracking El's hops through time so he can keep an eye out for her and rescue her if needed with his illegally-retained Time Agent technology. Eventually they cross paths with Team TARDIS and the party immediately becomes a box set. Do Not Separate Them.

In a steddie doctor who AU neither of them are the doctor. ROBIN is the doctor and Steve is her long term companion who basically just lives in the TARDIS with her because he didn’t have a whole lot keeping him where he was originally from. They meet Eddie when they’re in Hawkins in the 80s investigating some strange events that scream of spacetime fuckery and Steve goes “can we keep him 🥺” and Robin says yes absolutely - after hitting Steve with the I Know What You Are eyes of course. Once it’s established he can come back without anyone missing him (cause yknow, time travel) Eddie is thrilled to come with them because oh my god??? Aliens are real??? TIME TRAVEL is real???? Eddie’s got enough self-authored Star Trek fanfiction hidden under his bed to not need to think twice about this decision, okay.

Cue adventures and shenanigans and Eddie having the classic companion dilemma of “I love travelling with you and also am kinda falling in love with Steve but I also have friends (the CC boys) and family (Wayne) I really care about waiting for me back in Hawkins that I can’t just abandon”. I’m thinking the solution to that is something along the lines of Steve settling down with Eddie and staying with him on Earth, either in his original time in Hawkins or somewhere/sometime else with Robin generously helping Wayne out so he can go with them.

Also Eddie demands they use time travel for the greatest possible good: allowing him to see all his favourite metal bands live in concert in their prime.

[spotforme]

my thoughts from my re-watch of seasons 1-2 (that might be useless)

Who Do You Think You Are:

Hunting Alison was Pat's idea

Happy Death Day:

Robin playing chess with himself in Happy Death Day

Both Cap and Fanny like to go on rants about their lives (and things related)

Free Pass:

Kitty singing is precious

As is Mike telling facts to an empty room

Robins little rhyme in Free Pass: Never bored with chess board

Moonah Ston:

Cap and Thomas are essentially the duo no-one wants to listen to

It's fun to imagine Robin teaching everyone the moonah ston dance, even Humphrey's body knows it

You know that episode about Cap and Fanny not laufing? Yeah, they both laufgh while watching friends

Mike's urge to shake hands when offered

Getting Out:

Cap conforts Kitty the first time (on screen), even if it's for a plot

Cap new there were bones in the basement, but others didn't, so he could only know if he went down to the basement and chatted with the plague ghosts (I like to imagine he does this regulary)

The Grey Lady:

I feel dumb only detting this now, but when Thomas says "If music be the food of love..." and alison puts on the record.

Like that's so good

Humphrey being the only one who thanks Alison for turning the page of his book

Mike's monocle

The whole Thomas's Luice's Chees commerchall

And about that. They left the recorder there to pick up any voices that might be heard while they were away. So with all logic they should've listened to the whole recording, like they didn't know there was a ghosts right then and there who would start speaking ammediedly.

That's why I think the box would've started playing Button FM in a second, if they hadn't cut it off

Also, I can't believe Pat left Robin hanging

About Last Night:

Just how fast Pat goes from thinking the party will be fun, to not liking it the second Captain says something negative about it

How easily Cap can be persuaded into silence about dante at the threat of Alison not putting on documents anymore

And Pat's sly smile at the fact

Mary's song about nice names include: Daniel, Bruno, Clive, Annie.

Julian is so annoying that the plague ghosts rather live in the basement (with the guy who killed them (and their kids, who I'm glad moved on)) than with Julian

Redding Weddy:

Captain doesn't have his medals in the flashback

Captain doesn't seem at all compitent under pressure

Thomas and Robin are both just as disbelieving of the man on moon thing, at first at least

Kitty turns serious the moment anything related to Mary's trail comes up, so she can confort her

Captain definedly used to smoke. Like, why else would he have that cigar when burrying the bomb, that to have a melancholic smoke after it's done.

The Thomas Thorne Affair:

Mary want's to wear a dress made of sea-shells and a simple lobster hat, she doesn't want the hat if it's too complicated

Thomas was close to dying with his jaket on, but he took it off for the duel

Fanny married into Button house, so she was something else before

Bump In The Night:

Captain uses Humphreys hands to keep count of boxes while chatting to his head

Music club!

Kitty and Julian sing

Cap does that instumental march, and Humphrey "sings" along to the trumpet section. Witch makes me think Cap has performed it to Humphrey already.

It's really funny that humphrey is the guy who always listens. But maybe that's just 'cos he can't get away, even if he wanted to

Sadly Robin and Pat seem to be the only ones jamming to the Cap's song

Pat's morals are auestionable, he thinks the (younger) robber can still be redeemed, but the moment he puts gum on a table, it's instant borstal.

Robin was really smart and helpful to call Barclay's dogs

Fanny's shadows can be seen

Perfect Day:

Mary canonically had a husband who died in a farming accident few years after their merrage

Robin and Fanny's development to accept merrage is nice to see

The Ghost Of Cristmas:

Robin falls asleep on the floor by the fire, with is adorable

Them playing twister

The plaque ghosts singing along to carils too

And of cource Julians break down (now with family and crying babies!)

That's half of everything so far. Just one thing to add

Call Me by Blondie fits to be anyone's theme (I must clarify that I do mean the 8-minute version)

[punchyhorse]

More Smuggler crew! To pass the long nights, the crew enjoy reenacting different plays, hodgepodging together some semblance of a coherent script from what they collectively remember. Eddie, somehow, has the best recollection and therefore often ends up acting out the entire play himself. Their favourites are The Tempest and A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Some other favourites of Story Time are anything involving Arthurian legend or magic, including any folklore they pick up from people at different ports.

Max is absolutely, 100% Scottish and ready to throw hands at all times

Nancy Wheeler is judgemental until either disproven or distracted. Robin is proving to be a highly effective distraction. (Also, Robin deserves tickets to the Gun Show. Sailing is hard work. Steve won’t admit it, but he wants to be like her, ever since she destroyed him in an arm wrestling match. That was the beginning of their beautiful platonic best friendship. On an unrelated note, Nancy highly appreciates a set of nicely sculpted arms)

Something about Violinist Eddie calls to me. Given that they were still using cat gut strings, there’s not much in the way of dynamics, but he still goes as hard as possible in his solos. He plays guitar too, more often, but the violin is👌🏻 Robin goes equally hard on her natural trumpet. The trumpet we’re familiar with won’t be invented for some time yet. (I wanted his favourite piece to be The Devil’s Trill by Tartini, but it doesn’t debut until 1799 apparently and this is nebulously set in the early 1700s so. Get fucked I guess)

Dialogue;

Nancy: What in the World is everyone so excited about?

Robin, vibrating and about to info dump hard, squeezing Nancy’s cheeks: It’s STORY time!

Nancy, startled: MMmff?

Robin, oblivious: we’re doing the Tempest! Eddie plays Ariel -perfectly- and Max’s Miranda is hilarious even though it’s not supposed to be and

Nancy, no longer listening: *bi panic*

[haventacluewhatimdoing]

Ghosts Band AU

Robin - tuba player. Absolutely chaotic and never listens to the conductor, but he always gets his part right so nobody minds too much.

Humphrey - trombone. He says it was a natural calling, due to his surname. Likes playing glissandos straight into people's ears, which scares the shit out of them, and then he just walks away cackling.

Mary - French horn. Most people think she just sits at the back and plays long notes, but occasionally she gets a solo and blows everyone's socks off.

Kitty - flute. She squeals in real life so of course she chose the high instrument. She doesn't think she's any good because her sister also plays and is in a professional orchestra, but everyone keeps on telling her how talented she is and so she has slowly started to believe it.

Thomas - oboe. Although he misses most of his cues due to fawning over Alison instead of following the conductor.

Fanny - clarinet. Bit snobby, hates the saxophone section, but once you get to know her she's actually quite nice.

Captain- bassoon. He wanted an instrument that most people don't play, so it was a natural choice. Although he gets deafened by Robin's tuba from time to time, which is not fun.

Pat - saxophone. Isn't bothered by Fanny's sarky comments, just laughs them off. Genuinely honoured every time he gets a solo. He gets on with everyone in the band, which is impressive.

Julian - trumpet. Bolshy, brash, thinks he is the best at everything. He can pull off the solos though, and occasionally he shows a smidge of humanity, which makes everyone smile.

Alison - solo clarinet. Fanny hated her at first when she wasn't moved up from second clarinet, but they get on now, and Fanny helps fend off Thomas when it gets too bad.

Mike - percussion. Prefers the rock stuff as opposed to the classical, but enjoys all of it immensely. Trying to play four parts at once is hard, though. Thank god for deps at concerts.