#Steve is the one that loves Danny as a whole (and the one that loves him most)

[hannigramislife]

NEW DC PERSON!!!!!!

hello im going to give you some tidbits

DO NOT TRUST FRANK MILLER’S COMICS. His Batman: Year One is good, but everything after that is bad. Seriously, his batman got nicknamed Crazy Steve because of the belief that this could not be Bruce.

Young Justice did not actually kill Santa, they simply witnessed his death. Also Constantine snorting his bones was unrelated.

Tim Drake is canonically some flavor of queer (i think he’s bi) and has a boyfriend

Dick Grayson was killed by Lex Luthor once but he came back immediately and was turned into a spy

Jason Todd was 4’6 and 87 pounds when he died so it’s extremely common for fans to think that jaybin (jason-robin) was adorable.

Tim Drake attempted to clone his best friend (Superboy aka Kon-El) 99 times. If you want to see what that would have been like if it worked and they became a couple, go to Timkon Clone Baby AU.

If you like crossovers, get into Miraculous Ladybug, Danny Phantom, or White Collar. (I like Danny Phantom and White Collar). Though DCxDP might not be for you if you dislike vivisection.

Clones are common. They’re just around. Off the top of my head there’s Bizarro, Superboy, Terry McGinnis, Robin of Zur-En-Arrh, Heretic, Will Harper, Match, Inertia, etc.

Billy Batson is *baby*. We call him Captain Marvel still because it makes no sense for the word he can’t say to be his hero name. He was 8 years old and homeless when he became a superhero and happens to be the God of Gods. If you like secret identity reveals, it’s common in the Captain Marvel fandom.

Bruce Wayne’s legal kids are Dick Grayson (flippy Robin) Cassandra Cain (understands all body language), Jason Todd (dead Robin), Tim Drake (smart Robin), Duke Thomas (human lightbulb/gang Robin), and Damian Wayne (stabby Robin)

OMG HELLO! THANK YOU FOR THE WELCOME!

1. This is the second time I see Frank Miller mentioned and he scares me haha.

2. Constantine is fucking insane and I love him.

3. I know he's queer! Dating Bernard now! I'm so happy for him.

4. Omg is that the whole Spyral thing?? I need to know. How come ppl don't obsess over that death?? The fanfics for Dick are solely lacking.

5. JASON SMOL. I'M CRYING.

6. They were canon in a universe?? Really?? Fucking wild. I need it.

7. Somebody NEEDS to explain the Danny Phantom and White Collar thing to me. It's a NEED. How??

8. Love the clones!! Incredible idea. I'm so sorry Kon doesn't get the love he deserves from Superman :((

9. Captain Marvel is great! I saw him in Young Justice only. Does the movie Shazam do him justice?

10. Aksnalsnalsks the way you described them killed me. I'm glad Dick was adopted! I read he was adopted as a child. And can someone tell me what Duke's story is?? Cuz idk. Also, I love Damian so much, he's my baby.

[forcedhesitation]

why should it just be steve who has all the torturous purgatory realm fun?

[ptrckjcne]

his expression after the phonecall where he got to hear danny–

[bennyokelly]

Okay, that actually brought a lump to my throat... And I'm not the cryin' type. 😁

The exception…

[savanir]

I found your missing cat

It had taken a lot of work but about a month ago Danny finally got deep enough into A.R.G.U.S to be allowed into its Black Room. and my, what a treasure trove it is.

In the following weeks Danny has spent a lot of time finding all the lost Infinite Realms artifacts he was supposed to locate and return, as was part of his kingly duties. The Observants had been constantly on his ass about this but now that the results of his efforts are actually visible they have finally shut up.

Today though something new has gotten brought in and he’s eager to take a proper look, he could feel the Tyrant king’s influence from a distance emanating from it after all.

While on his way he noticed one of his colleagues, Miss Barbara Minerva if he remembers correctly, talking to who looks to be Wonder Woman. Danny hasn’t had the chance to do so himself yet, he’d love to introduce himself properly but he’s also a little worried about all the knowledge he has on Amazons from Lady Pandora (which he very much shouldn’t have) coming out the moment he tries to have a proper conversation.

Still he hopes nothing bad comes from those two ladies being on friendly terms. Miss Barbara's vibes are all over the place, and most often nowhere good, but who knows, maybe her being around Wonder Woman more will fix that.

He gets to his little section in the compound with the big examination table all decked out and ready for whatever. Today he gets to look at one of Pariah's lost blades, the godslayer sword.

Danny is working on getting all the murderous enhancements off of it and depowering it into something nowhere near so dangerous and deadly when something perks up within the weapon. 

Sensing a kindred protection spirit it leaps up from the blade and into Danny, happily nestling around Danny's core and starts purring up a storm. 

Danny however is violently startled out of his work. It's hard not to notice the sudden claws he feels both on his hands and feet. The spotted fur that covers seemingly his whole body now, his shifted ears, eyes and nose. And the fact he's now sporting a tail of all things. 

The Cheetah may be pleased with this new development but Danny is certainly not. 

Footsteps thunder his way, followed by a shout, "what is wrong!? I heard sounds of distress and- oh!"

"Uuuhhmmm..." What does he say!? How is he supposed to explain all this to Wonder Woman!?

She marches forward and firmly grabs his clawed hands in her own, not worried in the slightest about his now razor sharp nails, "worry not, we shall break this beastly curse that has befallen you, you have my word" 

She gives him what he thinks must be a reassuring smile, "I am Diana of Themyscira and-"

Danny isn't really listening after that, she's probably just giving him more reassurances. It's nice but she's also pretty intense. And Danny is still freaking out a little. 

"- so no need to fret"

Danny blinks,"Uh thanks, I- I'm Danny Fenton" 

"It is most pleasant to meet you Danny Fenton, even if the circumstances are quite unfortunate"

"Yeah uhm, just Danny is fine"

"Very well you may call me Diana" She nods and lets go of his hands.

Diana then wishes to see the artifact that cursed him so, aka the blade (which didn’t curse him), Danny thankfully already fully depowered the damn thing safe for some minor traces of whatever Pariah saw fit to stuff in it. 

By now Steve as well as Barbara have come to take a look themselves and though they appear startled at his new catlike appearance they are mostly just worried once Diana tells them he's cursed. 

Which he's not, this isn't a curse at all. The big cat spirit still tightly curled around his core is clearly a blessing of some sort, that'll make dealing with it all so much more complicated...

But at least Danny got to meet wonder woman right? That's cool.

[corroded-hellfire]

From one ginger to the other I absolutely adore the as you wish series! <3

I was wondering if you could do something where the reader goes out with Nancy for brunch for the first time after having Eliza. And her alcohol tolerance is obviously lower than pre-Eliza. And she gets quite tipsy, and Eddie has to pick her up, and she's all over him and just spewing nonsense about how much she loves him and their family.

And she admits how much she loved having his baby, and Eddie is just totally smitten as she just keeps going on and on.

Anything for a fellow ginger! This is silly and cute and I hope you like it 🥰

Words: 1.8k

Warnings: alcohol consumption, sexy talk

[As You Wish masterlist]

The sun brings warmth to the breezy spring day as you finish up your brunch with Nancy. It’s the first time the two of you have gotten to do this since you gave birth to Eliza. You had been aware that things would change drastically after giving birth, but you hadn’t even realized how long it had been since you and Nancy had a girl’s day until she invited you a few days ago. 

Mimosas seemed like a perfect way to celebrate when you arrived, but by the time you had finished your second glass along with your French toast, it was too late to remember that your tolerance was lower now. 

“Same thing happened after I had Danny,” Nancy tells you as you take a long sip from your water glass. “Steve and I went to a work party, and we had to leave after I had one vodka cranberry.”

“I don’t feel drunk,” you tell your friend, the lightness in your head giving you a pleasant buzz of happiness on top of the already enjoyable day. “Just tipsy. But I know I can’t drive like this. I’ll go call Eddie.”

“Are you sure?” Nancy offers. “I can just drive you home.”

You shake your head as you carefully push yourself up from the cushioned chair. 

“No, it’s okay. Wayne’s over so he can stay with the kids.” 

It is the truth, but the main reason you want Eddie to pick you up is because you really want to see your husband right now. Like a pregnancy craving for food turned into a yearning for a person, you feel as if your hands are not on Eddie within the next few minutes, you’re going to lose your mind. It’s all you can think about as you put one foot in front of the other as you walk inside the restaurant from your porch table.

The hostess shows you to a phone and your fingers eagerly skip over the familiar numbers for your home.

“Hello?”

Just the sound of his voice sends a chill throughout your body—one the warm spring day outside could never eradicate. 

“Hi, Eddie,” you say. Even you can hear the smile in your voice.

“What, baby? Are you okay?” The concern in Eddie’s voice does nothing to help the burning deep within you.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” you tell him. “I had a, uh, couple of mimosas with lunch and I did not realize my alcohol tolerance would be this low after having Eliza since I haven’t drank in a while.”

There’s an exhale of relief on the other end of the phone. Eliza babbling in the background and Luke’s raucous laughter has you grinning into the mouthpiece you’re clutching on to. 

“I’ll be right there, okay?” Eddie assures you. “We’ll get your car later.”

“Okay!”

Eddie chuckles at your carefree attitude and can only imagine how cute you look right now, all smiley and bubbly. 

“I’ll see you soon, princess.”

“Okay! Bye.”

When you get back to the table, amongst the empty plates and discarded silverware, you see that Nancy has already paid the whole bill and you give her a soft glare.

“What?” she asks innocently, large eyes making it even more convincing. “I’m pretty sure you paid last time.”

“Uh huh,” you mumble as she stands up and grabs her purse. “I’m sure you remember that from, like, a year ago.”

No response from Nancy on that, she just gives you a wink and loops her arm through yours. The two of you walk arm-in-arm out to the parking lot in front of the restaurant. 

Nancy’s car is parked in the shade so there’s a coolness on your backside as you rest against the trunk of the silver Lexus. Your friend tugs a little on the cream-colored sweater she’s wearing but you wish you had Eddie’s arms around you to keep you warm. Thoughts of Eddie’s arms lead to thoughts of his hands all over you and you’re unable to keep a dreamy little hum from slipping out.

“Thinking about Eddie?” Nancy asks, though the amusement on her face says she already knows the answer.

“I’m always thinking about Eddie,” you admit with a shrug. 

“God, you two are adorable,” Nancy says, mostly to herself. 

A squeal of excitement and you hopping off the car in excitement lets the brunette next to you know that Eddie’s truck has pulled into the parking lot. It’s her clue even before the metal music can be heard soaring out of the open windows. 

Eddie leaves one hand on the steering wheel and uses the other to turn the volume dial down as he slows the truck down right behind Nancy’s car. He lifts an eyebrow and looks you up and down appreciatively. 

“Need a ride, gorgeous?” he asks.

The giggle that tumbles out of your lips has both your best friend and your husband smiling as he puts the truck in park and steps out of the car. As soon as he walks back around the bed, you throw yourself at Eddie, who catches you and lets out a surprised huff of laughter.

“Hello to you, too,” he says. Protective as always, he wraps a sturdy arm around your waist to make sure you’re steady before he looks over at Nancy. “She wasn’t any trouble, was she?”

“Nope,” Nancy says. “Ate her vegetables and went to bed on time.”

“Hey!” You pout, looking back and forth between the two of them. “I’m the babysitter, not the baby. I mean…I was the babysitter. Now I’m the Mommy.”

Your two compatriots share an amused smile before Nancy gives you a wave and gets in her car. Eddie leads you over to the passenger’s side of the truck. You have no intention of letting him go though, so you wrap your arms around his neck so he’s leaning over you in the seat.

“Uh, babe?” he says with a chuckle before realizing it’s better to just humor you. 

Rapid fire kisses get smacked all over your face which has you squirming on the spot and gets you to loosen your grip on your husband’s neck. But the moment Eddie climbs in the driver’s seat and closes the door, you lean over the center console to grab at him again. 

“Sweetheart,” he says with a laugh, amused at your touchiness, “I have to drive us home.”

Silently, you decide that’s okay because that’s where your babies are, so you let go and slip back into your own seat. The older man puts the truck into gear as you buckle your seatbelt and then he pulls out of the parking lot, onto the main road.

It’s quiet only for a matter of seconds before you speak again.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“We have the cutest family ever.”

Eddie nods his head in agreement, trying to keep his laughter inside lest you think he’s laughing at you.

“Absolutely,” he agrees.

“And it’s because you’re so cute!” you gush, throwing your hands in the air with a dramatic flourish that Luke would be proud of. “What do Ryan, Luke, and Eliza all have in common? Your genes! That’s why they’re so stinkin’ adorable.” You sigh dreamily and rest your head against the headrest as you gaze at your husband. “You’re such a DILF.”

Eddie can’t help but let out a bark of laughter at that and looks your way as you pull up to a red light. Glee dances in his eyes as he tilts his head. 

“Isn’t that ‘Dad I’d like to fuck?’” he asks. “You have fucked me, baby. Many, many times.”

“Fine. You’re a DIHF.” The different pronunciation has a raspberry blowing out of your mouth at the end of the word. “‘Dad I have fucked.’”

This is the most entertained I have been in so long, Eddie thinks to himself as the light turns green. It only reinforces the insane amount of love he has for you, and he feels the need to reach over and hold your hand. Luckily, yours is resting on your thigh now so he does just that. Softly, his thumb begins to stroke the back of your hand. 

“M’so happy, Eddie.”

“Good,” he says, “I’m glad you had a good time with Nancy. It’s been a while since you’ve gotten to go out.”

“No,” you say, shaking your head. “I mean, yes, I am happy because I got to spend time with Nancy today but that’s not what I was talking about. I meant that I’m so happy cause I got you and the boys and little Liza. Best things that ever happened to me.”

“I feel the same way, princess.”

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“I really, really loved having your baby.”

Eddie can’t help the big grin that stretches across his face at your words. God, he could never hear that enough from you. 

“I had something that was half you and half me growing inside me,” you explain as if Eddie doesn’t know what being pregnant entails. “It felt crazy. But like, a good way. Like, I couldn’t believe it was happening. A little piece of you right here.” Your free hand pats your lower abdomen and when Eddie glances over he sees you looking down at that part of your body.

“I wanna do it again.”

Eddie almost swerves off the road at those words.

“Huh?” he asks, hand tightening on yours.

“I wanna have your baby again! I mean, not right now. Fucking hell, my vagina would fall out having babies so close together like that. Ow.”

“Jesus Christ, I love you,” Eddie raves. “But yeah, we don’t want your vagina falling out. Pretty sure we both really, really like that part of you.”

A sly smile grows on your lips as Eddie turns the truck into your neighborhood. You know it’s a little mean to turn your husband on when you’re about to go home to a house full of kids and his uncle, but you just can’t help it. You’re having fun and it’s alcohol-induced and Eddie’s done way worse things while under the influence. 

“Well,” you start innocently, “maybe if my vagina hurt you could kiss it better?”

“Fuck,” Eddie growls, glancing over at you. “Really gonna do this now?”

The maniacal giggle you let out already has Eddie forgiving you, his heart soaring with how much love he feels. He’d let you tease him and taunt him until the end of time. And God knows you’re the only one allowed to. But that makes it even better, Eddie thinks, because then he gets a pass to act as an over-protective asshole once in a while when the jealousy monster rears its ugly head. It’s a fair trade you can both live with. And if Eddie’s cross to bear is you getting him all worked up when there’s no time to do anything about it, he thinks he’s pretty damn lucky. 

[aceofwhump]

I had a very specific whump idea in my head and I was wondering if you ever saw it. Character A is carrying an unconscious Character B and is about to put them down. Character A (or others on hand) cradles Character B's head as they're lowered so it doesn't hit the surface they're being laid on too hard.

Oh my god nonny that trope is SO GOOD!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! It should be used more often!! It's so soft and caring and I die every single time. I definitely have some examples of it.

My immediate thought is this scene in Merlin 2x06 after Arthur takes the potion to slow his heartbeat and breathing so it seems like he's dead. Like, I read this description you wrote and my brain conjured this moment.

Other good moments:

Hawaii Five-0 10x22 Steve cradling Danny's head as he lowers him into his lap.

Graceland 3x08 The whole team has a hand on Mike but Paige puts her hands behind his head as they lower him into the ice bath and i love it.

The A-Team 5x14 Frankie and Murdock protecting his head as they carefully lower Face down to the ground after being shot.

Stargate SG-1 4x18

The Greatest Showman when PT lowers an unconscious Phillip to the ground after rescuing him from the fire and WD cradles his head

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Avengers Endgame Nebula cradling the back of Tony's head as she lays him on the chair

One Piece Live Action 1x06

Supernatural 14x14 When Sam rolls Dean over he cradles the back of his head.

Saving Hope 1x01

[riality-check]

for the mini fic thing! 17 with Steve & Eddie? i love your drabbles!!

This is exceptionally late, and I'm slightly adjusting the prompt, but here you go!

17. "Things I wish you hadn't said"

"You know you gave me the nickname, right?" Eddie says.

He does that a lot, Steve has learned. Starts conversations in ways that sound like the middle of them. It's one thing among many he's noticed about Eddie, since March '86.

"What?" he says, half to make sure he heard him right, half because he's a little slow from the joint they've been passing back and forth.

"The Freak," Eddie explains. He says it like he's talking about the weather and takes another drag of the joint before he passes it back to Steve. "You regretted it right after you said it. Well, right after Carol shouted it loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear. Could see it right on your face."

Steve remembers that day. His sophomore year, so Eddie's junior. Daniel McCain had gone up to Eddie, angry as anything about something Steve just had to know about.

He's glad he's not that guy anymore.

"Do you know why he came up to me? Danny?"

"No," Steve says. He interrupted that would-be conversation before he could hear any of it. He had to make himself the star of the show, all the time.

A sophomore, and already king.

He was such a prick.

He passes the joint back to Eddie without taking another drag.

"Do you remember my nose being broken?"

Steve has a flash of a memory, of a younger Eddie with hair curling just under his chin, bandages on his bruised face.

He nods.

"I kissed him the day before," Eddie says. He extinguishes the joint in favor of picking at his fingernails instead. "He didn't take too kindly to it."

Oh, shit.

"And you asked him what he had to talk to The Freak about."

For probably the hundredth time in his life, Steve hates the person he used to be. Because not only did he give Eddie the nickname that stuck with him all through the rest of his high school career, not only did he add insult to literal injury, but Steve couldn't even remember this particular cruelty in a sea of cruelties.

He wants to go back in time and shake that kid by the shoulders until his head's back on straight.

"I'm sorry. I wish I hadn't said that," he says, and it doesn't sound like nearly enough.

Eddie waves him off. "Can't go back. Besides, if you didn't say it, someone else would have. Probably me, to be honest."

Steve leans back, propping himself up on his elbows on Eddie's bed. He looks up at Eddie, sitting near his nightstand, cross-legged and still in a way that he never is when he's sober. The way he's backlit makes his hair seem like a gold halo, makes every stark detail of his silhouette stand out in a way that keeps Steve from looking away.

Not that he wants to.

He doesn't think that logic holds up. It's not worth thinking about "what-ifs," but he can't help it. He can't help the thought that if he had watched his mouth for once in his life, Eddie wouldn't have been tormented with that particular phrase.

Eddie doesn't seem to resent him for it, though. Robin always says that no one is as hard on Steve as he is, and this seems to line up with that.

Still.

"If you're not mad about it, then why-"

"I couldn't think of a better way to tell you I like boys," Eddie blurts.

Oh.

Steve has had plenty of people interested in him. He knows how to flirt back, even when they're as awkward as Eddie is, eyes burning a hole through his mattress.

It's not often that he's interested back. Really interested back.

Huh.

Guess I like men, he thinks to himself, and while thinking can wait for the morning, when he's sober, he knows that what he feels isn't going to fade along with the high.

And he knows exactly which moves to pull.

He sits up and moves a little closer to Eddie.

"Why do I need to know that?" he teases.

Eddie's head snaps up. He studies Steve's face with slightly reddened eyes, and when he finds, or doesn't find, what he's looking for, he relaxes. "Because I like you."

"You gonna do anything about it?"

"Yeah," Eddie says, leaning closer. "I'm gonna kiss you, and I hope you won't bre-"

Steve runs out of patience. He grabs Eddie's face with both hands and pulls him in.

It's a good kiss. Definitely not one worth punching over.

"You asshole!" Eddie laughs when they break apart. "You didn't let me finish my line!"

"Are you mad about it?"

"A little!"

"Too mad to kiss me again?"

Eddie pauses, grabs Steve's face, and kisses him fiercely.

Something tells Steve the answer to that last question is a resounding, "Not at all."

Prompts here.

[ladykailitha]

Grief ( A Friend Indeed) Part 11

Here we finally get the singing love songs at each other, a misunderstanding, and it's resolution. The next chapter is the last one. Thank you all who've come along with me on this journey.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

****

Steve woke up the next morning feeling like the world had been taken off his shoulders for the first time since he ran back into the Byers’ house and throw his lot in with would-be monster killers.

Yeah, the thing with Hopper still hadn’t been resolved and maybe never would be, but he had someone who understood. Eddie understood.

The next few days went without incident. Steve still talked to Robin whenever he could, but now he had someone else to talk to, too. He called Percy as well.

But that was reserved for when Eddie wasn’t around. He wanted to talk to someone about being in an gay relationship. And even without knowing Eddie’s romantic history, there was still no doubt that Percy had way more experience than his friend.

It felt good.

Soon it was their last night in Ashland and they were all at Hal’s Bar. Penny, Danny, Wayne, too. Oliver was watching Gale while everyone else went out.

Granted he had only agreed to babysit if Penny and Danny bought him a Nintendo system for his birthday, but it was still nice.

Danny got up and sang Donovan’s Sunshine Superman to Penny, who laughed.

“I’ll tell you right now,” Danny sang, “Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find!”

Steve laughed along with her but he couldn’t help but think of Eddie when he heard the lyrics “A you-you-you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne, Bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own, when you make your mind up forever to be mine!”

That silly little throne he insisted on having at every D&D game, that finally Steve got Dustin and Lucas to help him steal it from the drama department when Eddie graduated and install it in Steve’s basement so that he could continue to be King of the Freaks.

Eddie had nearly cried when he saw it. As far as graduation presents go, it really couldn’t be topped.

Steve shared a glance with Eddie who blushed. And maybe they were thinking of the same thing.

They even got Wayne up there to sing House of the Rising Sun.

Steve nudged Eddie with his elbow. “And you said he couldn’t carry a tune. I think he did a bang up job with that one,” he teased.

Eddie grumbled something about hiding talents under bushes or some such shit.

Steve got up and sang “Head Over Heels”.

Just belted his heart out.

*

Eddie and Lauren were sitting there sipping their drinks, Hal, having gave Eddie a bottle of beer since his birthday was so close and Lauren sipping on her Dr Pepper.

“So did you hear that Steve turned down Beth of all people?” Lauren said with derision.

Eddie smiled around his beer. “Oh yeah, but Steve was never gonna tap that, even under more ideal circumstances than attending a funeral.”

“Yeah, why’s that?” she asked.

“His type is leggy brunettes with soulful eyes and curly brown hair,” he said with a smirk.

Lauren turned to Eddie in shock. “So he really would have changed the pronouns that first night if he hadn’t thought that the crowd would shank him outside the bar after.”

“Yup!”

“Holy shit!” She downed the rest of her soda. “Which means the person he has chance with...”

“Is from home, but not at home at the moment?” he teased. “Oh yeah. No doubt he was talking about me.”

“Wait,” Lauren hissed. “How did you know that’s what he said?”

“I may have overheard the conversation on my way to the bathroom,” he admitted with a wince.

She smacked his arm. “You sly dog! You’ve known this whole time and didn’t tell me!”

“It wasn’t my place to tell,” Eddie defended. “He hasn’t even told me she was the reason he wanted to get out of town in the first place.”

She eyed him warily. “Fine.” Lauren crossed her arms over her chest.

“Fine?” he asked, unsure.

“Yeah, it sucks,” she said. “But I get it.”

She looked up at Steve who was finishing the song. “That song is also about you.”

“In my mind’s eye, one little boy, one little man. Funny how time flies,” Steve crooned.

Eddie grinned. “Yeah, I know that too.”

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” Lauren said.

Eddie got up and gave Steve a hug as they passed each other. Hal had already hooked up the amp so Eddie could play.

He grabbed the guitar and put the strap over his shoulder. “Hey, guys! I have one more song for you before I go back to Indiana.”

“Mh-hm-hmm, yeah, yeah,” Eddie began. “Holy Diver. You’ve been down too long in the midnight sea. Oh what’s be coming of me?”

Steve blushed.

Lauren tilted her head to look at him and then back at Eddie on stage. There was something about the song Eddie was singing that got Steve embarrassed.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the right word. Flustered? That might be closer to the mark.

“Holy diver!” Eddie continued to sing. “You’re the star of the masquerade. No need to look afraid!”

A few minutes later the song was over with and was absolutely star struck.

When Eddie loped back over to their table Steve said, “Dude, you really should be famous for your playing.”

Eddie grinned. “But not my singing, right?”

Steve pushed him playfully. “For that too, drama queen.”

Eddie cackled and sat back down.

Steve watched as other patrons got up and sang too. None were as good as Eddie. But then he was pretty sure he was bias.

Eddie walked out with Steve and Lauren at ten despite being told he was welcome to stay.

“So what’s the deal with Wayne and Hal?” Steve asked. “They spent the whole night huddled in that corner booth.”

Eddie laughed. “Hal and Wayne go way back. Since Uncle Danny and Aunt Penny got married. They’ve been inseparable.”

Steve just hummed.

Lauren looked at him. “What’s up?”

Steve scratched his cheek. “It’s just that if either of them had been a woman, it would have looked they were trying to change their last name.”

Lauren and Eddie frowned unsure of what he meant but Lauren caught on first.

“You thought they were flirting?” she gasped.

Steve shrugged. “One of my uncles is gay and if I hadn’t seen them act the same way as Wayne and Hal...”

Eddie stopped in his tracks and then burst out laughing.

“That sly dog!” Eddie crowed. “That’s what he meant when he said that he understood me better than I thought he did when I came out to him when I was sixteen.”

Lauren’s eyes went wide. “I have two gay uncles?”

Steve laughed too. “I didn’t mean to rock your world.”

Lauren looked back at the bar. “I think I know how to get Hal to bend the rules for me.”

Eddie smacked her hand. “No blackmailing Uncle Wayne’s boyfriend. That’s mean.”

Lauren pouted. “Fiiinnnne.” She grinned. “Does that mean I can blackmail Uncle Wayne?”

“No!” Steve protested. “Absolutely not!”

Eddie giggled. “Uh-huh, you got him to use his mom no. You’re in so much trouble now.”

“I do not have a mom no,” Steve protested. “Don’t listen to him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Eddie cackled. “It’s the same no you used with Red in her trailer.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “Well, shit.” He turned to Lauren. “Apparently I have a mom no.”

She laughed.

Steve was really going to miss her. Maybe he could convince her to come out later this summer, too.

*

Eddie was not having a good morning. He couldn’t find his Metallica shirt, tore up the whole room looking for it, only for Wayne to point out he was wearing it.

And then he spilled hot coffee on his pants and to change them.

Then the tarp they were going to use to cover the furniture they got was ripped in three places. So Danny had too take Wayne to buy a new one, because the one he had was too small.

So they were late getting out. The skies were darkening and a huge storm was rolling in.

Cue one very grumpy Eddie.

Steve wasn’t fairing much better but that was more that he wasn’t fully awake yet.

“I’ve got to go with Wayne,” Eddie grumbled. “I see you at the truck station we stopped on the way down, k?”

Steve nodded, his lips pursed. “Got it. See you then.”

Eddie nodded and trudged back to the truck.

Wayne wisely said nothing and they both slid into the cab of the truck.

“Your boy going to find the truck stop okay?” he asked to break the oppressive silence.

“He’s not my boy,” Eddie grumbled. “Not yet anyway.”

They started driving and Wayne looked in the review mirror to make sure Steve was following him.

He frowned. “Is he okay?”

Eddie looked back at the Bimmer and saw that Steve was hitting the steering wheel, waving his arms about and he couldn’t be sure. Not at this distance. But it looked like he was crying.

“Shit!” he cursed. “Stop the truck!”

Wayne slammed on his breaks and Eddie threw open the door and ran back.

About half way to Steve’s car the skies opened up and just pummeled the earth with rain.

Eddie picked up speed and yanked the passenger side door open. He hurried in and slammed the door.

“Eds?” Steve croaked confirming the crying as easily as the tears on his face. “What–how–I mean...”

Eddie grabbed his face and gently wiped away his tears. “You seem to be laboring under some misconceptions out here. So I’m going to clue you in.”

Steve blinked. “Huh?”

“One, I have go with Wayne to keep an on the tarp over the heavy furniture,” Eddie explained, hands never leaving Steve’s cheeks. “He needs a second person as a spotter to make sure nothing flies into traffic.”

Steve gulped. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Eddie said firmly. “Two, I would much rather be in this car with you. Getting to spend this week with you have been amazing because I got to know you better and I loved that. I love just being with you.”

“Oh,” Steve said, his breath stuttering in his chest.

“Yeah, oh,” Eddie said. “And you better listen up to this bit, Steve Harrington, because I’m going to make this a clear to you as I can. I am absolutely head over heels in love you.”

“Oh.”

“So what’s going to happen,” Eddie finished, “is this. I’m going to kiss you senseless, then I’m going to run back to Wayne’s truck in the fucking rain because the weather decided to be a bigger dramatic bitch then I am, and then I will meet you at the truck stop to repeat step one a lot.”

Steve face shivered into something like happiness. It wasn’t a smile, not yet, but Eddie could feel the change of mood.

“That okay with you?” Eddie confirmed.

Steve smiled at last banishing the last of the gloomy thoughts. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Eddie said and proceeded to kiss Steve senseless.

“Wow,” Steve murmured when they broke of the kiss.

Eddie cackled. “Back 'atcha, Stevie.”

“You better get back to Wayne, before you flood the cab of his truck because you left your door open.”

Eddie turned in front of him. “Oops! See you, sweetheart!” He kissed Steve’s cheek and was dashing back into the rain, jacket pulled over his head.

He got to the truck and slipped back in. The seat was wet, but so was his pants so it really didn’t fucking matter at that point.

“So you still wanna argue he’s not your boy?” Wayne asked with a smile.

“Nope.” Eddie just crossed his arms and hunkered down on the bench.

“You not going to tell me about what just happened?”

Eddie looked at him, grinning from ear to ear. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Wayne shook his head and started driving again. This time Steve immediately followed.

****

Pt 12

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[thislovintime]

Photos by Gene Trindl (?) and Ros O’Gorman.

“The Weavers and the Almanac Singers were [Peter’s] big musical influences, ‘but what really influenced me as a performer were things like Steve Allen’s and Danny Kaye’s comedy insanity.’” - Peter Tork, Oakland Tribune, July 11, 1989 Q: “Is there a comedy that left an indelible impression on you as a youngster?” Peter Tork: “The Court Jester [1956], a musical comedy starring Danny Kaye, was one I loved as a kid. It certainly stands up today. It’s just one of the greatest film comedies. My wife Pam saw that and said, ‘Ah, I see where you get all your stuff’ [laughs]. She thinks all my comedic, goofy characters are all contained in that movie.” - Medium, 2017 “[Peter] has had a great effect on the way I perform. The way he used to move, the way he used his accent, his whole attitude toward the theater, the entire theater, gave him a great basis from which to work. He never looks past the fact that he’s supposed to be up there: to entertain the people. And every time he got up there he would perform and do his whole number, exuding all the personality he could and he did some marvelous comedy routines. It was mostly by watching him that I picked up some of those things.” - Stephen Stills, Tiger Beat, June 1967

[that-birdy-chick]

Part 2 of me rambling about s8 of hawaii five 0

Live commentary

ep 6

- did-did Danny really just organize an intervention for Steve? To make him take better care of himself?? I don't know how to feel about this

- Lou really just said "Steve listen to your husband, he loves you" spoken like a true married man

- kinda gotta agree with Dog, not your finest move Danny

- so can we all agree that Danny losing his mind a little over Steve's radiation poisoning is kinda like the whole Steve losing his mind over Danny retiring thing but in reverse?

- I think Steve has never looked more stressed than with this stress counseler person asking him about his sexlife right in front of danny

- awwww now the end of this episode is in my top 3 favorite heart to hearts these two dorks have ever had

- Danny being honest about being scared that Steve isn't taking his radiation poisoning seriously to the point it keeps him awake at night and steve replying that he's scared too but that he doesn't want Danny to change because he loves him the way he is and that he does take things seriously URHGH

THE GROWTH! The genuinely healthy communication! I'm so proud of them 🥹

ep 7

- no no no what is going on between adam and kono? My breakup senses are tingling and I don't like it

- I swear the way Adam and Steve's conversation in the car went is so "let's talk about our respective marriages" coded

Like honestly it's so blatantly obvious - they are literally paralleling mcdanno to kono and adam ffs

- hey and come on adam you too? Why does everyone need to shit on the restaurant thing

- haha Steve is mad people he cares about just walk into a dangerous situation without backup - I love how this season confronts Steve with his own behavior

-hmm l don't know how to feel about Lou literally deleting evidence to protect tani, really most of their shady "police work" really didn't age well

- damn Steve killed a cop, that's definitely gonna fuck with him

- love how Lou is looking out for everyone, he just is the team grandpa

- sooo adam is gonna join five 0 right? This is what all this is about isn't it?

- I swear I am trying to care about junior and tani and what's going on with them but Idk so far I haven't really warmed up to them

ep 8

- eyyy Danny is back and calls Steve babe within 1 min into the episode? This can only be a good one

- nvm I swear to God Steve if you crash land yet another plane-

Seriously dude? Haven't you learned your lesson from the last time?

- naww Danny is so proud of Steves character development, sure hope he isn't gonna do something dumb and risky and ruin it again

- okay so tani and junior huh? They're definitely gonna be a thing soon aren't they

- the dude was killed because he was hiding from a drug cartel that he snitched on and fled with the drug lords daughter, I swear all these people always have the most dramatic backstories

- aaaand steve is doing the dumb reckless thing, Danny my guy I feel you're pain, he is so done with his shit he doesn't even yell at him anymore

- Danny is such a fucking saint, Steve almost went and got himself killed AGAIN and all he cares about is being last and danny husband of the fucking year just goes "yeah yeah you did well let's get a beer maverick"

- okay tani and her brother are kinda cute in their peek sibling behavior, I feel bad now for calling her a kono replacement, girl is much more than that

ep 9

- damn love Jerry's new haircut

- I will never get tiered of Danny and steve bickering about the restaurant, I know they are setting it up to fail but I genuinely think this could have been a good thing to eventually end the show on, like a retirement thing, but oh well

- aww I love Danny trying to comfort neolani with something Steve told him, only to have it backfire and make him anxious again

- pfffff and tani and junior sit in the far back like literal children

- oh great we're doing the biological warfare stuff again, this should be fun

- so they only have 8 hours to live? sounds like a prime love confession set up to me

- love our respective couples comforting each other, have to say tani and junior are doing a way better job tho like seriously Steve "try not to die while I take this call okay?" that's the best you can do, seriously?

- and of course Danny's all time stress response is to bitch about or at Steve, stellar coping skills all around

- omg danny did not just say-and steve didn't - OMG is it actually-

-nvm of course it's a fake out, damn it after 7 season why do I still keep falling for this shit

-the little restaurant talk Danny started to distract Steve and himself with was pretty sweet tho

- hey, wait why is Danny the only one definitely close to death? The others all seem relatively fine

- and of course Steve has to go and needlessly risk himself, so junior has to safe both their ass's instead of him just doing it on his own in the first place

- excuse me people why are there not more fanfics about the crew stuck in quarantine together?? this shit is hilarious and has so much potential for angst!

Please if anyone has some great fic recommendations send them my way please!

-no come on Danny, Steve didn't wanna upset you! That's honestly a pretty mature thing given the situation you were in, and now their arguing

- poor tani and junior they be stuck with these two idiots for a long time

- I could really see tani, just snapping at them after two days to either kill each other or fuck it out already, because their whole shebang is just exhausting for everyone

ep 10

-AHHHHH they finally opened the restaurant!? Progress!

- why does the screen look weird? Please don't let this be a dream type thing

- "Right now grandma Williams is smiling down at you" awww Steve, that is so sweet🥹

- nooo it's a dream thing 😭

- love how everyone makes fun of Steves near mental breakdown haircut, really dude it looks terrible, why does no one stop him?

- wow you really gonna give em kids the judgemental stares for flirting? Steve Danny as if you're any better

- and of course they're getting jumped in freaking quarantine

- really the dude went through all that trouble, just to kill Danny? And didn't even try aiming for the head? amateur

- aww Danny imagining grace wedding, my heart <3

- Danny is hurt, Steve is freaking loosing it, I'm so here for this

- Lou really said "sir, you better have a plan soon because if you don't Steve will come up with one, and only God can help us if that happens" I love you so much Lou

- huh so Danny thinks Charlie will be a cop? That's interesting

- awww and of course Steve is there, sitting next to him like a good husband, and the rest of the ohana

- nooo Danny being there for kono and adams first kid, that is so wholesome 😭

- Steve is straight up having a terrible time, while Danny has some idealistic feverdream about the future, this is so fun

- excuse me Steve you fingering your husband does absolutely not make you even for the liver thing, you nut

- so there gonna blow up a bomb right next to another bomb? Sure that seems reasonable

- yes Lou! Get the sledge hammer!

- poor Eric, don't worry hun we still have 2 seasons left to go Danny will be fine

- no NO you cannot- you did not just show me that while Danny's dying the last thing he hallucinates about is having grown old with Steve 🥺

- "and if I could do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing" I'm done, this is it, that line just killed me 😭❤️

- excuse me, Danny is dying and you people are choosing NOW to tease Steve about his stupid haircut? Seriously??!

- yes everyone copes differently I guess, but when Steve's life was on the line no one was joking around is all I'm saying

- yes Danny Steve saved your life by fingering you, deal with it XD poor Eric is scarred for life

- love Danny genuinely getting some love for once, this was a good episode

[hairmetal666]

Steddie Notes Part 4 (Welcome to Steve's POV)

CW//small instance that could be viewed as internalized homophobia

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

In the bottom of Steve’s closet is a Nike shoe box. It’s full of a year’s worth of torn notebook pages, paper menus, receipts, envelopes, sticky notes, notepad sheets, invoice carbon copies, discarded things from dnd, and whatever else they could find to write on.

It's this box that contains every bit of Steve’s heart. 

✏️✏️✏️✏️

Steve’s at the school to pick up Dustin, Mike and Lucas, but they don’t appear at 9pm on the dot like they promised. Grumbling and annoyed, Steve heads down to the drama club room.

He hears Eddie’s voice even before he walks into the room. The low baritone, all husky and threatening, sends shivers down Steve’s spine. 

Steve strides into the room, ready to berate his kids for their tardiness, but he stops literally in his tracks when he sees Eddie. Eddie looming over the table, all that long curly hair framing his face; his expression uncharacteristically dangerous, his eyes flat and promising violence.

He can’t do anything but stare, mouth shocked wide. Eddie lifts his gaze, locks it on Steve. Eddie’s looking at him with such intense command, such focus, that Steve knows he’d drop to his knees for that look, give Eddie anything he asked, everything.

He wants. So hard and so fast it makes him a little nauseous. 

Eddie’s gaze flicks away, while Steve reels from the striking clarity of feeling that rewrites the year of their friendship frame-by-frame.

Steve hardly listens, still trying to come to terms with his sudden realization, with how right it is, with how obvious it’s been this whole time. He remembers, after Starcourt, the way Eddie made him feel safe, cared for. The way Eddie calling him baby echoed for hours, days, weeks after. 

Of course Eddie doesn’t miss Steve's distraction. He leans into Steve's space, murmuring softly, “You okay, sweetheart? Sorry we ran late. Lost track of time.”

“Just tired, I guess.," he says. And he is distinctly not okay, because Eddie is calling him sweetheart and how did it take him this long to realize how much he loves the pet names? 

He tries to tell Eddie. Can’t. Too afraid of losing his friend.  He keeps going out with girls; nice girls, pretty girls, but wishes that Eddie was the one sitting beside him in the movie theater, in the passenger side of his car, across from him at the restaurant. 

Eddie…I think I really like you

You’re my favorite person in the entire world

Some days you’re the only thing I can think about

I want to wake up in bed with you everyday

I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss you

Do you like me? Yes or No

✏️✏️✏️✏️

Steve’s in the Wheeler’s basement, leaning against Eddie's shoulder, waiting for the kids to finish up.

“What are they talking about?” He scribbles at the edge of Eddie’s campaign notes.

Eddie scowls at the note placement, responds anyway. 

“Halloween costumes.” 

“Wanna dress up together, Munson?”

“No way, Harrington, I’m not dressing up as Danny Zuko for you.”

“…obviously you’re Sandy.”

Eddie makes an offended noise. 

“I could do end of the movie Sandy. But face it, baby, you’re the pretty, fresh-faced innocent and I’m the bad boy.” 

Steve strangles back the sound he wants to make when his brain supplies him with an image of Eddie in those black, skin-tight pants.

“I could be a bad boy.”

Before Eddie can reply, the kids start shouting, and Eddie climbs on the wobbling card table, clapping his hands for attention. 

“Jesus, Eds." He grabs Eddie’s ankle to keep him stable. 

“I think a trip to the pumpkin patch is in order, what say you?”

There’s a blip where the whole room stills, every single one of them, aside from Eddie, remembering rotted fields and fetid tunnels filled with Upside Down spores and demo dogs. 

“Oh, yeah, we don’t go to the pumpkin patch anymore. You know, since the tunnels—”

Steve shoots Dustin the most intense silencing looks he’s ever given anyone, which is really saying something. 

They’d agreed, back in July that they would never tell Eddie what really happened at the mall. Eddie is too good, too gentle, brimming with too much pure kindness for Steve to want him anywhere near the Upside Down.

Eddie cackles. “Tunnels, Henderson?” 

Lucas laughs, says, “He means the maze. Don’t you remember? They set it up one time a few years ago.”

“We got really lost. Took us hours to find the exit,” Dustin adds. 

“Mike cried,” Lucas says. 

“Hey! I did not!” 

Mike’s anger at fake crying about a made-up crisis is enough to have them all in stitches, even Eddie who doesn’t know it’s a lie.  

“What about that apple orchard?” Steve suggests.

Eddie pokes him in the cheek, excited. “Ooh, yes, apple orchard!?”

✏️✏️✏️✏️

The orchard is a mad dash of fighting over wheelbarrows, shrieking sprints into the trees, Steve stressing at the kids throwing themselves across branches with zero regard for personal safety. 

Eddie nearly sends him into a coronary at the ripe old age of 19 by walking down a branch like he’s doing a tightrope. 

“Munson! Get your ass down from there!”

“I’m fine, Stevie! I’ve got reflexes like a cat.”

“The hell you do!” Steve shouts as Eddie wobbles. 

“Don’t worry, baby, I know you’ll always catch me,” Eddie yells back. He winks and Steve blushes about all of it. 

“You’ll just get us both hurt,” he says right as Eddie shimmies easily back to the ground. 

“You worry too much,” he scolds. “All this beautiful hair is going to go grey,” Eddie shuffles his fingers through the strands.

“You’re a menace,” he growls. Pushes Eddie playfully away. 

They pick apples and drink cider and it’s the best time Steve’s had in a while. He kids are spread out around him, Eddie and Robin on the quest for an apple that’s perfectly red, like you could poison Snow White with it, and he’s content. Happy. 

He lets himself bask in the moment, but it’s cut short by a familiar whooping yell and the crash of Eddie Munson clinging to his back.

He groans, almost loses his footing, but quickly hoists Eddie’s legs higher against his sides.

He runs and Eddie screams, giggling, and clutches his fists into the fabric of Steve’s sweater. 

“Can’t believe you caught me, sweetheart,” Eddie says once Steve slows to a walk.

“I’ll always catch you, Eds,” he promises.

Eddie makes a little noise, almost like a whimper, pressing his cheek against Steve’s.

And for just a second, the barest hint of a moment in time, Steve swears he feels Eddie’s lips pressed against the sensitive skin right beneath his ear. 

It’s right then that Steve knows he doesn’t just like Eddie. No, he’s positively, totally, and completely in love with him.

(Part 5)

Thank you all so much for your comments and reblogs and likes! I appreciate it more than I can say and am still so honored that so many people like this little series. Please let me know if I missed you in the tag list, and I'll make sure to get you added for future updates (I think we're looking at 3 more)!

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[n33dlew0rk]

Crollo

rated T | 1113 words | cw: cheating, scarce emotional management, angst

for @steddieangstyaugust prompt “angst with happy ending” (day 4)

This is not even inspired by, I directly quoted/translated some parts of “Crollo” by Quercia.

Yeah yeah yeah, so Steve was not prepared for that, honestly. He was ready for a lot of things but most of them were way outside of the humans hurting other humans emotionally spectrum. Hell, if anything he probably deserved some kind of reward, because the speed at which he turned his more than well-earned freaking the fuck out moment into a demonstration of probably not as much well-earned devotion, was truly compelling. 

His heart was left inside dessicating while his trust left the building without a word.

And he couldn’t even relate to most of the typical rockstar wives enduring the obvious implications of the touring life drama, because it wasn’t a matter of fans and groupies and drugs and trashed hotel rooms, no. He was a producer, a friend, a more than three yearly bbqs with families and acquaintances and coworkers good buddy, a fishing directly into Steve’s worst paranoia of not having enough in common with Eddie nightmare, also a fucking steady gig, apparently.

So Steve did what seems to be the thing he does best: he babysat his relationship through the motions. (The motions being lots of tears and make-up sex and talking a lot about forgiveness and listening to a lot of good reasons why the love of his life was supposedly kind of right in looking out for his own emotional needs instead of talking with Steve even if he couldn’t think of a single time he denied Eddie anything and months of hush-hush couples therapy because tabloid-wise Steve did not exist and ironically nor did Danny).

Yeah, so time went by, slowly piecing together the crumbling foundations of their love with gold-infused hope-based and will-reinforced glue. 

And seeing as helping others was his true call since his long lost life-altering teenage years, Steve can’t really be blamed for forgetting about the festering consequences of those same fractures inside himself. Make them feel good and you’ll feel good too eventually, right?

Steve opened his eyes every day pretending to see the sun filtering just through the blinds of their bedroom instead of through all the cracks not even the purest 24k gold could fix in his attempt to rebuild a fragile vase-like life with Eddie.

One could say that forgiveness has many different fashions of coming into existence, that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to restore a relationship. And while this is all theoretically very true, it is also true that in bullshitting his way through nearly one year of Kintsugi style patching up his entire world, Steve was brought to the conclusion that repairing his love life even if with golden-plated good intentions would never bring it back as it was.

And as soon as Steve folded under the pressure of this realisation, so did everything else. Like the debris of a fire, hurt spread like an infection, a wedge in a rift long-simmering, not undetected but surely underestimated.

So Steve left.

He packed all the shards in a suitcase, heavy with grief and resentment, leaving a trail of wounds he didn’t even know he had growing inside himself like freshly baked bullets aimed at Eddie’s heart. 

Steve left and the ground behind him where once their beautiful house rose was so burnt he was sure he sentenced to death every slim chance Eddie and him could ever even hope to grasp.

Almost a whole year later, during his first solo therapy session in a new city with a new job and a new apartment and such newfound freedom he never asked for he spent nearly half an hour crying, stuck on a single phrase he kept on murmuring, condemnation on his shoulders more than a prayer for repentance: “I never fix myself in time to not make myself hated”.

It was after a few weeks of pouring waterfalls of regret and bile, after the first painful tries at cleaning the cut splitting him in two, that Janine -bless the woman- said to him: “Steve, how about we ditch this whole” she gestured vaguely at him with her wrinkly blood red lacquered fingers “rebuilding what once was concept”.

Steve looked at her confused as a pre-schooler who’s just been told that he cannot call the teacher ‘mom’. “What do you mean?” he half-sobbed.

She sighed, “I mean that it’s been years for you and weeks for us and still the only direction you seem to be able to look at everything that happened is the one where somehow you magically discover a way to turn back in time and resume your happy unaware life.” That was an unusually long sentence for Janine, whose primary and native language consisted of sceptical nods, expressive and judgemental eyebrows and the occasional grunt.

Predictably it was an exception and the precious sliver of patience was slipping quickly from Janine’s eyes. 

“I- I don’t know what else to do” Steve said, trying to fight tears with a very weak composure, straightening his back on the plush chair. “I tried to fix it, I fucked it up more instead.”

“And you think that the only thing on the other side of that is what? Perfection?” Janine slapped her thighs, getting up and around her desk. “Steve, our session is running short today, but listen to me carefully”, she paused, putting both her hands on Steve’s shoulders.

“The before you’re so stubbornly looking at through rose tinted glasses is the same place where everything you’re trying to untangle now was born.”

Steve lifted his glazed eyes to hers, mid-way between a(nother) breakdown and hopefulness.

“You’re scared. You already know you can’t have it back like it was, you already tried to puzzle your way into a life that wasn’t good enough for either of you.” She said.

Steve rose from the chair, slowly walking towards the door. “The sooner you let yourself break, break free from your already crushed castle of romanticised nostalgia, the sooner your fears will disappear.” Another pause, the bitch really was going in with the dramatics. “Then you can build anew.”

You reached Steve Harrington. I’m currently unavailable, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. “Hey Steve, I know this is kind of out of the blue and I’m calling despite... fear eating me out because honestly. I mean, fuck, I can’t say I would still wanna talk to me if I was in your shoes, but.. Sweetheart I need to at least try, because... I haven’t seen you in more than a year and you’re still the only thing missing from my world for it to be even tolerable. So… what do you say about lunch and I don’t know, start over?”

Divider by @steddiecameraroll-graphics

[alea-says]

H50 Meta - Why Het Explanations Don't Work in the Absence of Women

OR, is it any wonder the H50 fandom rallied around McDanno when canonically, the more important a female relationship was to a main character, the less screen-time the female received.

OR, H50's inverse relation between the supposed 'romantic importance' of female characters and their screen-time.

I feel like I could write a whole series of essays on this, and it's linked not just to why fandom persists in 'shipping' McDanno, but also to the way the show doesn't represent women properly. Which isn't just a fault of H50, by the way, but I'm focusing on H50 because it's what I'm currently watching and there are some really clear examples.

Full Disclaimer: I am a McDanno shipper, so may carry some bias into this, however, I am also female and critical of the way women are presented, or rather not-presented, in television. I'm also one of those people who will happily ship a couple while also enjoying whatever ship is presented on-screen. In other words, while I love McDanno, if H50 could present me with a believable het ship for either of them, I would enjoy it. Finally, I have not yet finished H50, having just started s9, so this is written from that perspective.

Screen-time equals importance, so where's the female screen-time?

We all know that, the more important a character or scene is, the more time it is given on screen. That's why the main characters are on our screens far more than the side characters or extras.

One of the narrative ways television tells us something is important is by dedicating screen time to it.

If the camera zooms in a piece of paper wedged behind a bookshelf - you know it's going to be an important clue later. Because screen-time = importance.

However, on H50, I have seen it repeatedly shown that, the more 'important' a female character becomes to a main male character, the *less* screen-time they get.

So it is any wonder the audience is left questioning their actual importance or relevance?

Steve and Catherine

As one of the first het relationships presented to the audience in a positive light, I'll start with Steve and Catherine.

S1 Catherine is always there to fill a plot-hole and give Steve the intel he needs. They're shown as a rather relaxed 'couple', or 'friends with benefits'/'friends with favours'.

We continue on, and Cath becomes more of a main character, even joining five-0 in s4. For a while, at least, it appears that they're increasing her importance to Steve, and increasing her screen-time.

But then, in s5, suddenly - no Catherine. She's off elsewhere. It's like, somehow, she became so important they had to remove her completely.

Of course, she returns at the end of s5, and beginning of s6, just long enough for them to tell us Steve loves her so much he wants to propose.

Only - what happens when Steve considers proposing? Catherine leaves. And lies to him.

It's kinda hard to believe this is the het relationship they're selling, when she's not even on screen as much as she was in s1.

And there are any number of reasons for why they did it this way, but it starts a pattern that is seen throughout H50, of the increasing importance placed on a het relationship equaling decreased screentime for the female half of that relationship.

Danny and Rachel

The other main het relationship presented from the beginning, of course, is Danny and Rachel. Now, they start out divorced, but by the end of s1 Danny is having an affair with his ex-wife.

And what happens directly after that? Rachel actually leaves Hawai'i for a bit. There's the whole question of Grace's custody and Danny fighting to keep Grace in Hawai'i.

Now yes, Rachel ends up back with Stan (for a bit, anyway). But I find it fascinating that ex-wife Rachel who Danny is angry at gets far, far more screen-time than Rachel when Danny is pursuing her once more. Basically, as soon as she becomes an 'important romantic interest' for Danny - not more screen-time.

Want some stats? She's in 5 episodes of s1, and then not seen again until s5 (thanks to the Hawaii five-0 wiki for making those easy to grab).

Danny and Amber/Melissa

In terms of length of a relationship, Danny's relationship with Amber/Melissa runs through quite a few seasons. However, when we look at her actual screen-time, it's interesting to note that the more time it's been since she and Danny started dating - the less we see of her.

And also, the less she's mentioned. So not only do we not see her on-screen, but she's also not referred to on-screen very much. It got to the point where I would honestly go 'oh, I forgot about her' when she was mentioned. At which point it felt like they were mentioning her just for the sake of 'confirming' Danny's heterosexuality.

Steve and Lynn

The same can be said of Steve and Lynn.

I actually felt that, after burning the Steve and Catherine relationship, the start of Steve and Lynn's relationship was the most promising het one he'd had so far.

I mean, their first date involves getting shot at, which we know is basically like a hobby for Steve.

But then - suddenly - as their relationship continues on, and supposedly, based on length, becomes more 'important', the less of her we see.

She starts out as this interesting, dynamic character, and the longer she and Steve are the together the more she is shown as nothing more than a prop for his heterosexuality.

She isn't there for the 'intervention' about Steve's health that Danny stages (neither is Melissa, although Dog is - what does it say when it's more important to have your random poker buddy at your intervention than your long-term girlfriend?)

Again, not only does Lynn lose screen-time as their relationship progresses, but also mentions of her drop off, until, like Melissa, she'd be mentioned suddenly after a long time of not being mentioned, and I'd go, huh, I forgot about her.

Girlfriends as opposed to Characters

It's like, once they become established girlfriends, the show can no longer treat them as proper characters.

Which makes the het relationships are really hard to believe - because relationships happen between characters.

We indicate who is important to us by how much we talk about and to them. So the fact that, the longer these relationships go on, the less they are even talked about by their supposed boyfriends, well - is it any wonder we find their relationship hard to believe?

And I could probably do a whole 'nother essay about the issues with how this perpetuates a narrative of women as only there for the men's desire, not standing as separate characters on their own, and simply a 'prop' to help show off their 'masculinity' and 'heterosexuality'.

It's incredibly two-dimensional, because to have a 3-dimensional relationship, you'd have to actually give them screen-time, either by putting them on the screen or at least by having other characters talk about them.

So why McDanno?

On the other hand, you've got Steve and Danny continually on screen, continually talking about and to each other, and showing through actions (and words) how much they care about each other.

Yes, they are main characters. But this is why fandoms like to ship main characters together. Because they *are* characters. Because the screen-time given to them tells us that they're important and we care about them.

It's a little hard to take their het relationships seriously when the people they're engaging in all the 'couple' behaviour on-screen with is each other (such as discussing their future plans, staging interventions, visiting each other in hospital, helping do up the house, etc). (and yes, also hugging, arms around shoulders, sitting next to each other while on 'dates' with their girlfriends, etc)

Now, I'm not saying you have to ship McDanno, or that I'd want a whole bunch of screen-time taken up by the next random woman chosen to prove the main's heterosexuality. But I am saying it's kinda hard to value those heterosexual relationships when both the characters, and show, aren't shown to value them.

[queenofthegayships]

Lil mcdanno headcannons not a whole lot of people seem to have.

Steve is the bottom. There is no switching. Steve is strictly a whimpery, needy bottom with a huge praise kink. He's pretty shy in bed, hesitant to ask for something (at least at first he builds confidence as he gets used to being with a man and not in control, but hes never quiet demanding) but he can beg like nobody else.

He's a cuddly guy. Not that he isn't in cannon, but he's a bit more in my brain. Little spoon, head on Danny's chest, buried in his neck, in Danny's lap cuddly. Obviously, only that far when he's in a snuggle mood his normal day to day extent would stick to head on Danny's shoulder pressed against him during the day curled in Danny's arms one way or another at night.

Private mcdanno moments being Steve can get giggly with his Danno, especially since Danny knows how to tease him just right. Or in bed they can have tickle fights that Steve regularly looses.

I like to picture a golden Steve regularly wearing flower crowns he makes himself. Eyes shining with laughter on days off, Ohana BBQ and stuff

When Steve and Danny get married, Steve is wearing white, and Mary walks him down the aisle Danny's the traditional groom.

Steve calls Danny "Danno" as much as Grace does. Steve gave himself to Danny. Danno is Steve's person. He belongs to Danno. His Danno.

Danny is one possessive MF and makes sure everyone knows who Steve belongs to and Steve loves every second of it. Love bites that can be covered with work clothes but shown off should they go out. Though the whole ass island knows about them so I dont think either of them would have a problem with showing them off at work. Arm around Steve's waist, guiding him around. Glares at everyone who checks Steve out.

Years and years ago right after I discovered fanfiction I read somewhere that men that are in positions of power tend to be submissive at home/in bed because they don't want or like to be in control 24/7 and my mind has taken that and run with it. That one thing influenced my entire way of shipping characters and how I look at dynamics. In my mind, the more serious guys are all sunshine smiles and sweet laughs with their family and partners. The Steves of Mcdanno and Stucky, for example. So used to being the protecter, they turn to pudding when they are protected, held, and cherished. Sunshine men and their grumpy humans.

[atimeofyourlife]

@steddie-week Day 6 misunderstanding

Steve was making the most of the evening with Eddie, as he would be away in Chicago for a week with family obligations.

"So, I'm driving up tomorrow, the day after is some big family dinner thing, the day after that is the wedding. And god, I am not looking forward to it. Weddings in my family are just about showing off, it's black tie, so I know I'm just going to be uncomfortable the whole time. Maybe I should be thankful that my aunt was able to talk her down from white tie, a different cousin on the other side had a white tie wedding two years ago and honestly, it was one of the worst things I had to wear in my entire life." Steve rambled as he leaned against Eddie's shoulder.

"What the fuck is white tie?" Eddie replied.

"Even fancier than black tie. Black tie I have to wear a tuxedo. White tie includes a fucking tailcoat, and my mom basically forced me into a top hat. It's ridiculous and over the top, which is why my family loves it. If we are ever able to get married, I want it to be nothing fancier than semi-formal."

"You would marry me?" Eddie asked quietly.

"In a heartbeat." Steve pressed a kiss to Eddie's cheek, before continuing. "I'll be wanting to ditch as soon as possible, so I will be driving myself no matter how much my parents protest, but I know they will kill me if I ditch too early. Then there's two days where I've got nothing, other than recovering from however much I drink at the wedding. Then it's my Nonna's birthday, so I've got to stick around for that. And then the day after that, I'm coming home. While I'm there, I'll probably spend most of my time with Danni."

"And who's Danni?"

"My favorite cousin. The only person in my family that isn't insufferable and stuck up."

-

The week away went mostly as Steve had predicted. He got constantly reminded by his parents how much of a disappointment he was. Constant questions from other family members about college, or what he wanted to do as a career, when he was going to join his father's company. If he had a girlfriend. When he was going to get married. It was draining.

But Danni was the shining light. He spent every spare minute with her. Ditching the wedding a little early, and ending up in a McDonalds in their formalwear, with her wearing his tuxedo jacket over her dress. Spending as much time as possible out in Chicago together on the days they had nothing to do. Talking and sharing stories, and gaining a deeper understanding of each other when talking about their partners, Steve mentioning Eddie, Danni bringing up her Laura.

Danni had more time to spare than Steve, so decided to join him in returning to Hawkins, to meet the friends he'd spoken so much about, especially Eddie.

-

After getting home, it all seemed to go downhill for Steve. As soon as he got in, he called Eddie, like he had promised to. But Eddie was unusually cold and dismissive on the phone, as if he didn't want to talk.

"Yeah, ok. I've got to go." Eddie hung up, and the call had barely lasted a minute. Steve felt worried, as Eddie was usually much more interested in talking to him, at any chance they got.

He called Robin next, and that didn't put his mind at ease. After a brief catch up, he brought up Eddie. She mentioned he'd been fine until a couple of days before, then had started to become a little distant, without telling anyone why.

"Maybe head over there after work tomorrow, if you've not heard from him. He's probably just throwing a hissy fit because you were away for a week without speaking to him and he thrives on attention." Robin said as the call came to an end.

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Rob."

Steve tried to make the most of the evening, hanging out with Danni. He felt a little bad that he would be leaving her alone for most of the next day.

"Dude, I'll just take advantage of your pool. I knew you have work, if I wasn't cool with hanging out by myself, I wouldn't have come with you." She assured him.

-

By the end of the next day, Steve felt more worried. He'd tried calling Eddie a number of times, but the calls were never answered. He drove over after he'd finished work, Eddie's van was missing from the spot next to Wayne's truck. He still went to the door, hoping Wayne could put his mind at ease.

"He's out with Gareth and Grant. He's fine, and whatever's bugging him, he'll get over it soon."

"Oh. Thanks, Wayne. Could you let him know I came over, and ask him to call me?"

-

Steve tried to put it out of his mind, taking Danni out to breakfast the next morning before hanging out with Robin.

As they walked into the diner, he noticed a very familiar back in the corner. He felt lost, conflicted. Unsure if he should ignore it, or confront him.

"I'm just going to the bathroom before we order." Danni said to him before they reached a table.

"I. I'm gonna be over-" Steve gestured vaguely to where Eddie was sat.

"Is that-" Steve nodded before she could finish the question. "If you need me to, I can kick his ass."

Steve nodded, before making his way over to Eddie, feeling a little nervous. The what if. He had never been good at seeing the end of a relationship, or knowing where he'd gone wrong.

"Eddie?" He said hesitantly.

Eddie looked up, and his face was unreadable. His friend's expressions varied from disgust to glee.

"Harrington, you here to confess? Tell us all about what you've been up to?" Grant asked, looking him upside down.

"What?" Steve was confused, unsure about what was going on.

"Oh, I said he would play dumb. How could he think he did anything wrong?" Gareth mocked. "We know what you've been doing."

"Seriously, what the hell are you talking about? Eddie, can we talk?" Steve asked, feeling desperate and wanting to get it over with.

"Go ahead, Harrington. We're waiting for your excuses." Jeff added.

"Can we talk outside, alone?" Steve pushed, not wanting to have to deal with Eddie's friends' comments. He knew they didn't like him, and would put the wrong ideas into Eddie's head.

There seemed to be a moment of silent conversation between them before Eddie got up. "I'll tell you guys how pathetic his excuses are."

Steve clenched his jaw, unsure of what Eddie thought he'd done wrong.

"Ok, what the hell, Eddie?" Steve demanded once they were outside.

"That's exactly what I want to know, Steve. Try telling the truth about what you were really doing this week." Eddie sneered.

"I told you what I was doing. Family wedding in Chicago and hanging out with family until my Nonna's birthday. That is exactly what happened. I mean I know I didn't call as much as I would have liked, but I was busy." Steve replied.

"But who were you busy with, huh? Because Gareth was in Chicago for a college tour and he told me everything. How he saw you out, repeatedly, and all over the same girl. Her wearing your tux jacket in a Mcdonald's late at night, looking all cosy over the table. Then seeing you out in Downtown Chicago. Holding hands, hugging, you lifting her up as you were laughing together. Then you show up here with the same slut." Eddie leant into Steve's face, spitting the final words out.

Steve was stunned for a second, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Don't fucking call her that." He burst out. He was aware of the door opening and closing nearby, but didn't pay attention to who it was that came out.

"What should I call her then? Homewrecker? Sidepiece? Whore?" Eddie drew out each word.

"She's my fucking cousin. You know, the favorite cousin I told you about that I was planning to spend all my time with. The one person in my family that isn't insufferable." Steve was fighting against his emotions.

"You said his name was Danny." Eddie accused.

"Yeah. Danni. As in short for Daniella. She's basically my best friend, and there is nothing I do with her that I don't do with Robin. Or are you going to start accusing me of cheating with Robin?"

"Well, I know Robin, and she's a lesbian anyway, so I know I don't have to worry about her." Eddie dismissed what he'd said.

"But you really think I would cheat on you?" Steve couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice, and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold back the tears.

"Steve?" Danni's voice cut through the tension as she moved to Steve's side.

"How much of that did you hear?" Steve asked softly.

"Everything after this asshole calling me a homewrecker," Danni replied, venom clear in her voice. "Let's do first things first. Even if we weren't related, Steve wouldn't be anywhere in the realm of someone I'd be interested in. Because he's a man. I've got a girlfriend in New York that I'm very happy with. So I'm not happy with that accusation of me being the other woman."

"I didn't-" Eddie started to backtrack on what he'd said.

"You know, Steve had really talked up his boyfriend. Telling me how amazing this guy was. But, it seems like his taste in men is as bad as his taste in women, at least with how they treat him. Because it's real interesting that you accuse him of cheating when he has told you about his parents, about how his mother has to follow his father around on business trips to curb his affairs. When his only other serious relationship involved him getting cheated on after they'd been together for a year."

"Steve, I'm sorry, I just-" Eddie trailed off, unsure on what he was going to say, how to dig himself out of this hole.

"I can't believe you didn't just ask me. You know your friends don't like me. That they could twist things to put me in a bad light. When I called you to say I was home, you could have said that Gareth had seen us out and asked me about it. I would have told you and invited you over to meet her. But you had to assume." Steve winced as his voice cracked.

"Stevie, I can make it up to you. Let me-" Eddie hurried over his words, and stepped forward to try to comfort him.

"I think you've done enough." Danni moved so she was between them.

"You can go back in there and tell them just how pathetic I was." Steve walked away, with Danni right behind him, heading for his car without letting Eddie respond.

-

They'd picked up Robin before heading back to Steve's house.

"I can't believe that he'd just accept from Gareth that you were cheating on him. Without even talking to you about it. He could have asked me or something." Robin rambled from where she was curled up against Steve's side. "I feel like going down there and tearing him a new asshole for that. He knows how much cheating fucks you up."

"I'm with you on the tearing him a new asshole thing. Maybe we should steal Steve's keys and head over to his, I'll drive, you can direct." Danni replied.

"Can you guys leave it? At least now I know what he thinks of me. That he doesn't trust me around girls that he doesn't know. That he trusts his friends words more than he trusts me." Steve sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I love him so much, but he obviously doesn't feel the same, or he doubts how I really feel about him."

It was a few hours later when there was a banging at the door. Steve moved to get up, but Robin beat him to the door.

"Munson." Robin's tone was cold, closed off.

"Robin, I. Is Steve here? I need to talk to him. I know I fucked up." Eddie pleaded.

"Damn right he fucked up." Danni shouted from the kitchen.

"I just need to apologize to him. I feel like shit for this. It was a total misunderstanding, and it's all on me."

"Apologize? You need to fucking grovel. You accused him of cheating on you, when you know that cheating is one of his biggest insecurities. Based on what? The word of a guy that has never liked Steve. A guy that has repeatedly tried to convince you to break up with Steve. Why the hell would you believe anything he said about Steve?" Robin's voice got louder, agitation evident.

"I know. I just got caught up because Steve wasn't here and I guess I just wanted someone to blame. I need to make this right?"

"Make it right for what? So next time you hear about him hanging out with someone you don't know you can accuse him of cheating on you again?"

"Rob, it's ok. Let me speak to him." Steve came to the door, knowing he looked a mess.

"Stevie. I am so fucking sorry. I know I fucked up by listening to Gareth, I shouldn't have let him get into my head like that. I'll do anything to make it up to you. I know you wouldn't cheat, I know you're not like that. And I love you. I've never loved anyone like this, and I don't want to lose you over this. Please, give me a chance to fix this?" Eddie begged.

"I know you're sorry, but I can't forgive you. Not yet. You hurt me so much by ignoring me and assuming I had cheated on you. I was open and honest about what I was doing and who I was going to be with. And you chose to listen to Gareth. I need time to know that you'll come to me when you hear something and not just blindly take your friends side. I can't be just waiting to see if you're going to hurt me again. And I'm not the only one you need to apologize to. What you said about Danni was unacceptable. What if someone said that about Robin or one of the kids?" Steve's voice was a little rough with the emotion of the day.

"It would have been fucked up. I was wrong, I know that. I assumed something about someone I didn't know. Please? Stevie, I can't be without you."

"You don't get to choose when someone forgives you, Munson. And you're not the only one who needs to apologize. Your friends need to own up to being wrong and accept that their view of Steve is wrong. That their treatment of him has been cruel." Robin replied.

"I need time alone, Eddie. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk." Steve walked away from the door, allowing Robin to shut it in Eddie's face.

I'm sorry I am considering making a second part to this, but I don't know if or when that will happen! Also on ao3 Now with a part 2!