#also I love the idea of Steve actually being the mean and scary one of the three of them

[suspiciouslackofclowns]

I’m having a lot of thoughts about super protective Steve right now, but I’m also having a lot of writer’s block so I don’t have the energy to actually set the whole scene.

I need Billy and Steve delivering pizzas and snacks to The Party (including the Corroded Coffin guys) to wherever they’re holding their campaign. Maybe somewhere in the woods because it’s aesthetic and the weather is nice, like out by Castle Byers.

The kids are fine with Harringroveson for the most part by now, though a couple of them (namely Dustin) don’t always get along the best with Billy. He tries really hard so it’s getting better, but progress is slow. He’s still detested by the Corroded Coffin guys (namely Gareth).

I love the misunderstood character trope for some reason. I love the idea of other characters hating Billy’s image, the idea of him, but when they get to know him as more than the asshole jock they peg him as, they realize he isn’t all that bad.

Maybe Gareth makes one too many comments about not wanting Billy there. Calls him an asshole and provokes him with the intention of validating his own perception of the blond. Maybe even goes as far as to insinuate that the only reason Eddie or Steve are with him is because of his looks. Something mean that’s said in a teasing tone, but hits just as hard despite it.

Billy doesn’t react with white hot rage like everyone’s expecting. He turns away and walks through the woods back to the car with a look of shame on his face, and Steve immediately jogs to catch up with him, lacing their fingers together as they weave through the trees.

Eddie stands there anxiously, wondering if he should follow them or if it’ll overwhelm his already upset boyfriend. He turns back to the group and looks pointedly at Gareth. Not angry. Just disappointed.

Which some could argue is worse.

“C’mon, man,” he sighs, gesturing vaguely. “You couldn’t be cordial until they left? He didn’t even do anything.”

“Made ‘em leave faster, didn’t it?”

Gareth’s tone is less sure than before, because after all, he isn’t a malicious person at his core. He’s clearly at odds with himself about hurting Billy’s feelings — he didn’t even think it was something that could happen.

Eddie just shakes his head and sighs.

“Well, you’ve poked the bear, so now shit’s gonna get testy.”

“What, like—“ Gareth gulps and his eyes blow wide. “Like Hargrove’s gonna kick my ass or something?”

At the words, Eddie laughs. Crosses his arms and sobers when he hears twigs crunch in the distance, a set of footsteps approaching once again.

“Not Billy,” Eddie whispers.

As if on queue, Steve emerges from between the trees. His jaw is clenched and his shoulders are squared. He gets eyes on Gareth before anything else, which has him scurrying up out of his seat on the floor. Ready to bolt.

Steve stops beside Eddie. Shrugs his hand off of his shoulder when Eddie sets it there and points an accusatory finger at Gareth. The movement makes him flinch even though he’s still a handful of feet away.

“I dunno what your fucking problem is, but you don’t say shit like that about my boyfriend when I’m around, you hear me?” Steve seethes. He eyes Gareth up and down like he’s sizing him up before he simply tsks and shakes his head. “You can find your way home in the dark for all I care, so don’t bother asking for a ride when the game’s over.”

He stares until Gareth nods, at which point some of the rage relaxes out of him. Only slightly.

Then he turns to Eddie.

“Get on the radio when you’re done?” he says much more softly. “I’m gonna go ahead and take him home.”

“Is he alright?”

“Yeah, but you know how he is.”

Eddie nods and cracks a smile.

“Big ol’ softie.”

“Mhmm.”

Steve mirrors his expression. Leans in for a quick kiss, then casts Gareth a final glare before he takes his leave.

Once he’s gone, Eddie huffs a laugh and intertwines his fingers over the back of his head.

“Jesus. Give him a while, he’ll get over it,” he dismisses. Glances over at Gareth, who looks about as startled as a mouse that’s been dropped into a snake pit. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“I dunno, you could probably speed up the process by making Billy a cake or something.” When Gareth furrows his eyebrows, Eddie shrugs and laughs again. “I’ve never pissed Steve off that bad, but I have hurt Billy’s feelings before. My boy loves him some chocolate cake.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then two.

They wind up having to wrap the game up faster than they anticipated, because the nice weather becomes a drizzle which becomes a pour.

Steve goes against his word and gives Gareth a ride home.

The next day, he’s standing on their porch with a Tupperware container full of chocolate cupcakes that say srry 4 b-ing an a-hole in blue icing on top.

Billy immediately shoves one into his mouth and Steve reluctantly forgives Gareth, meanwhile Eddie is laughing his ass off because he didn’t really expect him to take his suggestion seriously.

[stevieharringtonwifeguy]

yknow we do a lot of like stevie realising she's transfem bc of a dare or like robin telling her about queer stuff and having a 'you can do that?' moment, but now im thinking of stevie who figures it out entirely on her own and doesn't know how to tell anyone. like she doesn't fully have the words and even with robin it's like. one thing to be gay but gender stuff is a whole other level and she has no idea where she stands on that

but like, stevie who used to play with his mothers makeup as a child, whose parents would laugh at his antics until he got too old to be so childish, time to act like a Real Boy. and every time he's supposed to act like One Of The Boys he thinks of how it felt when his mom would do his hair for him and comment on how alike they looked, and how much better that felt, and he knows that isn't normal, and he has to be normal

but after the upside down that really seems to matter less. nothings fucking normal anymore, why should steve be? so she starts branching out a little. breaks into her mothers closet again, tries on all the clothes she left behind when she went on her latest trip. slowly amasses a decent collection of makeup by going to several different stores over the course of months with the excuse of 'oh my mom/girlfriend sent me to pick up x'. she doesn't do the Whole Deal often, in case nancy comes over or later in case the kids suddenly ask her to drive them somewhere. doesn't do anything that can't be removed in like three seconds. and she's definitely never telling anyone about this. she doesn't know anyone who would understand.

after starcourt, she wonders about telling robin sometimes. like sure, stevie doesn't like men but she's still like. some kind of queer. robins the only other queer person she knows (and yeah, robin turning her down bc she was only into girls did sort of hurt, but it wasn't robins fault bc she didn't know, and also it turned out stevie just didn't understand what actual friendship felt like so it was for the best anyway), so if she can't tell robin who can she tell?

but something always stops her. robins technically never done anything that makes stevie think she'd be mean about it, but there's something like imposter syndrome keeping her mouth closed. like she's not the right kind of queer. like robins being queer the good and honest way and stevies just being some kind of freak. and yeah, she knows it's dumb to think like that and robin would call her a dingus if she said it out loud, but it sits pretty heavy in her heart

so it's not until after vecna, when stevies on the eddie shift in the hospital and eddie says, while high on possibly every drug in the world, 'man i spent all that time trying to grow my tits and bats ate an entire boob in under five minutes' and stevie goes ??? what???? and eddie, still too high to self-censor, makes some comment like yeah they weren't huge but that black market estrogen i got was finally working its magic, definitely had like an a-cup. rest in peace. and stevies like why were you growing boobs?? 'bc girls are supposed to have boobs, man, keep up'

and eddie passes out again like five seconds later, but stevie just sits there watching her snore with her heart about to beat out of her chest because. holy shit. she's not the only one. eddie might understand, might be able to help her, if she was able to grow her own boobs. stevie would love to grow her own boobs. she'd stuffed some socks down a bra once and they looked lumpy as hell but even just the suggestion of a bust had almost brought her to tears.

and suddenly, looking at the sleeping form of the first person stevie has ever met that she's ever had this so intrinsic thing in common with, everything doesn't seem so scary

[lesbianrobin]

rating stobin halloween costume options that u guys submitted!

doc brown (robin) and marty mcfly (steve): 7/10 using back to the future for them is very fun but it's a bit expected... a bit normie.... also steve would just look like himself i think like it would just look like robin was an old guy and steve didn't wear a costume.

kurt russell (steve) and the thing (robin): 9/10 the thought of robin constructing some horrific sfx costume to be the thing is fucking incredible and i think steve would enjoy being sexy kurt russell. also he would definitely tell people he was kurt russell and if they said you mean rj macready? he'd be like who?

snoopy (steve) and woodstock (robin): 5/10 ok i know i KNOW it's cute in theory but think about it in practice. how would they actually do these costumes. we know they're diy'ing this. i fear this would just be like t-shirts with some marker on them and perhaps scary-looking face paint. maybe it could be cute but idk i don't have faith in them </3

bert and ernie: 10/10 this would be absolutely iconic and i think they would slay. no notes.

cagney and lacey: 6/10 i must admit this one was my idea. i think it's not recognizable enough and they'd be explaining it all night but i just love the thought of them having such a dykey couple costume.

bonnie and clyde: 7/10 once again i fear this might not be super recognizable but it is a fun idea and they'd look so hot.

ripley and the alien: 9/10 i worry about how they're gonna pull off the alien but i like to imagine that steve is wearing the panties + tank top combo and that is worth enough for me to set aside practicality.

the blues brothers: 9/10 they would look so sexy and have so much fun in their little matching suits <3

batman (robin) and robin (steve): 10/10 this would be so fucking cute and i Know they would spend the entire night waiting for somebody to say robin's name so they could both go "yes?" at the same time and then giggle like little children.

hammer and sickle: 7/10 idk how they would do this one but i thought of it weeks ago and haven't stopped laughing at my own idea since.

merry and pippin: 9/10 because when i got the ask suggesting this costume i almost cried bc it is just so precious to imagine HOWEVER if they went to a halloween party barefoot i'd have to kill myself.

shaggy and fred: 8/10 very cute but i feel like they need a scooby...

twins from the parent trap (1961): 9/10 this one is so funny to me like it's such a funny reference to make and it also implies that either they get wigs or they get the same haircut which is just an incredible visual.

princess leia (steve) and han solo (robin): 7/10 ok listen. listen hear me out. i love the gender fuckery we know this BUT i truly believe that steve would refuse to do a star wars costume if he couldn't be han solo. like i just don't think he would do it. however if she could convince him then robin would absolutely eat! it would be so sexy she would be absolutely crushing it with the ladies.

miracle max and valerie: 7/10 ok listen i support this one but it's just not my favorite. like it's funny it's unique it's original but i think steve wants to be sexy on halloween and i also suspect they would have to explain this one a lot.

salt and pepper shakers: 8/10 it's giving blues clues and i love it. very much classic couples costume but the classics are classics for a reason!

wesley (steve) and inigo montoya (robin): 10/10 hot. imagine robin doing the little monologue. steve wearing the mask. them fencing with like toy lightsabers or something. this one fucking rules.

ok that's it thank you for attending my presentation <3 love u all xoxo bye

[bari-the-witch]

Mating dance

I got the idea to write that this morning while watching that video.

Written for @steddie-week day 2: Fluff

“And then the male starts his beautiful and quite fun to watch mating dance, trying to mesmerize the female into giving him her full attention. Look at how he moves around her, throwing his head back and showing off his impressive chest…”

Eddie watches the screen with rapt attention, one of his hands stopping halfway to his mouth, the popcorn on his lap long forgotten.

There is something hypnotic about what the bird is doing, dancing, and whistling, to impress the female in front of him.

Wow, and all that just to get laid. What an idiot.

Ever since he was a child, Eddie loved nature documentaries, something only a few of his friends know. It isn’t because he's ashamed of it. There is nothing shameful about learning more of the world around you, but it’s also nothing he parades around.

Wayne knows of course, he’s the one who got Eddie into it one rainy Saturday evening a few years ago. And it’s still their thing at least once a month, when Wayne works the day shift for a change, watching TV all night after they changed into their most comfortable pajamas. Some would call it childish, and Eddie is too old for this. Eddie calls it the happiest time of the month.

The second person to know about this is Steve.

Yeah, you heard right, Steve Harrington, former douchebag King Steve who actually turned out to be a decent guy, knows about mean and scary looking Eddie Munson that he likes to watch nature documentaries in his free time. Steve Harrington, who's also his friend now, a pretty good friend Eddie likes to point out.

It happened four weeks ago on a Saturday, when he and Wayne had their monthly Munson movie marathon. The knock on the door came as a surprise and Eddie threw a confused look in Wayne's direction, who simply shrugged his shoulders and said he didn’t expect anyone tonight. Eddie's pretty sure he didn't make any plans either.

The knock came again, firmer this time, so Eddie got up begrudgingly, wondering who's knocking on their door this time of the night uninvited. For a split second, all kinds of bad scenarios ran through his mind, ranging from Vecna being back to one of the townspeople having enough and trying to beat him up in his own home.

Turns out as he opened the door, he made plans with someone, Steve to be exact. And totally forgot about it.

In the end, Steve ended up wedged between them, a bowl of popcorn in his lap and the cutest, most confused expression on his face. Wayne, the old gossip girl, immediately told Steve everything about their monthly ritual, including Eddie’s fondness for animal documentaries.

Eddie expected at least some kind of teasing comment because it really was something to tease about, but Steve only nodded in understanding while chewing on a piece of popcorn, fueling Eddie’s pathetic crush further like a can of gasoline thrown into a fiery pit.

And now Eddie's sitting here on Steve’s couch, watching TV while Steve prepares something to eat. Eddie’s mouth waters at the delicious smell of a home-cooked meal wafting over from the kitchen.

He offered his help, only earning a stern look in return, so he walked back to the living room and popped in a tape to pass the time until dinner. Geez, he only nearly burned down the kitchen once because he got distracted by something outside. Steve really shouldn’t be so resentful about this.

"What are you watching?”

At the sound of Steve's voice, Eddie nearly throws over the popcorn bowl on his lap.

“Jesus Christ, Stevie. Wear a bell next time!” he says, gripping the bowl tighter, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat.

“I told you I’m like a ninja,” Steve replies amusedly at Eddie’s reaction. 

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Tell yourself that. It only worked because I was distracted.” He motions his head to the TV where another bird is trying to woo the totally unimpressed female in front of him.

“Sure, if you say so,” Steve says as he puts the two steaming bowls of pasta he’s carrying on the table. He then takes a seat on the couch beside him, a lot closer than Eddie’s poor heart can handle. With how close they’re sitting, Eddie is hyperaware of the warmth of Steve’s skin even through several layers of fabric and it makes him want to do all kinds of very stupid things right now.

To distract himself, he takes the bowl of food into his hands and takes a careful bite. It’s fucking delicious as always.

“Wow, I can’t believe it’s actually working,” Steve snorts at something happening on the screen. “I mean, one moment she looks like she doesn’t care and in the next she’s like - BOOM - totally impressed. Only because he’s puffing out his chest a bit and making all these weird noises.”

“You mean like you?” Eddie teases, bumping their shoulders together. “Looks a bit familiar actually.”

“H- Hey!” Steve sputters wide-eyed. “I do not - I don’t like that, man. Take that back!”

“Yes, you do.”

“No!”

“Come on Steve, even you have to admit that it’s almost the same.”

“Eddie, come on,” Steve laughs embarrassed. “Don’t be an ass. I don't look like that when I’m flirting.”

“You mean,” Eddie puts the bowl back on the table before jumping up and moving around until he’s in front of Steve, “You don’t walk around like that when you want to impress someone?” He puffs out his chest just like the bird did, throwing his head back and moving his arms in a bad impression of wings, flailing them around. “Because I’ve clearly seen those moves on you before, Stevie. Don’t deny it.”

“Oh my God Eddie, stop it. You look absolutely ridiculous!” Steve laughs, holding his stomach and nearly toppling over from laughing so hard. There are tears gathered in the corners of his eyes and the rush of making Steve lose it like this only spurs Eddie on further to make an idiot out of himself.

“Sorry Stevie, I can’t hear you over my awesome imitation of your flirting,” Eddie cackles, jumping and flailing around like a maniac.

“Shit,” Steve says between wheezing breaths. “Shit, I can’t believe this is so working on me right now.”

Eddie nearly lands face first on the floor, stumbling over his own two feet at Steve’s unexpected words. As he gets back his footing his head immediately snaps over to him. Steve's mouth is pressed into a firm line, a bright blush high on his cheeks while he tries to avoid Eddie’s eyes.

“Uh, just - just forget what I said.”

The carefree atmosphere from before felt tense now, replacing laughter with awkward silence. Eddie needs a moment to fully comprehend what Steve said, and after he did, the first slivers of hope lodge themselves inside his chest.

Holy shit, did that mean…?

“Steve…?” Eddie asks hopefully, walking a few steps closer. “Does that mean you…?”

Steve snorts, but it sounds bitter this time. “That I have had a huge fucking crush on you for months now and it’s slowly driving me crazy? Yes, absolutely. Do what you want with that, but please,” he gulps, looking at Eddie pleadingly. "Let's just… talk about something else?”

Eddie dreamed for months of hearing those words coming out of Steve’s mouth and he never thought he’d hear them for real, not in a million years. But here they are now, in the middle of the Harrington living room after Steve dropped the bomb of crushing on him for months. Not weeks, not days. Months. So, it isn’t a spur of the moment thing but actual, serious feelings. The whole situation is so surreal, that's the only explanation for what Eddie is doing next.

He laughs, right into Steve’s face.

 It starts with a small huff, before spiraling into something loud and boisterous. Eddie grips his stomach like Steve did before, trying to catch his breath in between.

“Glad this is amusing you so much,” Steve hisses, crossing his arms in front of his chest as a sign of defense. “God, I’m such an idiot…”

No. Nope. Oh no, shit. He didn’t mean it like that. At all.

Just as Steve shoots up from the couch and is about to squeeze himself through the gap between Eddie and the table, Eddie wakes up from his stupor, quickly grabbing Steve’s wrist.

“Hey, no. Sorry I- I didn’t mean it like that.”

Steve doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn't try to leave again, so Eddie continues.

"Sorry for laughing at you. I shouldn’t have done that,” he says ruefully, pulling a strand of hair in front of his face. "But you totally caught me off guard with your confession. Not that it’s your fault or anything. I just never thought I’d hear those words like ever, so… God, it’s so weird that you finally said them and all it took was moving in front of you like an idiot. With a stupid bird mating dance.”

Tentative laughter bubbles out of his chest, filling the space between them and only now Eddie realizes how close they’re standing. His lips suddenly feel dry, and he licks them, noticing Steve's eyes follow the movement. 

Eddie never kissed someone or was kissed before, but even he knows the meaning of this.

So, with one last look, to make sure he doesn't read this wrong, Eddie slowly leans in, giving Steve enough time to draw back or shove him away.

He doesn’t.

Eddie has no clue what he’s doing when he presses their lips together, when he grabs Steve’s face in his hands by instinct, angling it to the side, so he can slot their open mouths together to deepen the kiss. But it must be the right thing to do because Steve enthusiastically returns it, burrowing his hands into Eddie’s hair, tugging lightly at the strands.

Eddie gasps, so Steve does it again.

The kiss is hot and messy and even better than he imagined it in the solitude of his room. It sends tingles from his lips all the way down his spine before it pools hotly in his stomach like a pond of molten lava. 

When they part again after seconds, minutes, hours, Eddie can’t really tell, he needs a moment to gather his thoughts, and when he opens his eyes, he sees Steve isn’t far behind him on that. Steve's panting lightly, hair disheveled from Eddie’s hands, his lips swollen and shining wetly in the bright light of the still turned-on TV.

“Just for the record, I really like you,” Steve whispers, leaning his forehead against Eddie’s with still closed eyes. “If you haven’t noticed already.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Eddie answers playfully, pretending to take a moment to think about it. “I guess I need more convincing.”

“Idiot…," Steve huffs amusedly and kisses him again.

Later, when both of them feel like their lips are about to fall off, they cuddle on the couch and watch the rest of the movie. Steve is on his back, head propped up on the armrest, legs stretched out and his arm around Eddie’s back. Eddie's draped halfway on top of him, playing with a loose thread from Steve’s shirt.

“I still can’t believe this shit worked on me,” Steve says as he watches another bird try its luck at a female. He tenses. “Oh God, please don’t tell anyone this is how we got together. Please, Eddie. You can’t do that to me.”

“What? Afraid you’ll lose some cool points to the kids?”

This earns him a pinch to the side.

“Come on, say it.”

“Hmm, no.”

“Eddie!”

Steve pinches him again, which makes Eddie laugh and pinch him back, and soon they’re tangled up in a full-blown pinching war, missing the rest of the movie.

[findafight]

I’m a sucker for Steve learning about the party’s interests, do you have any thoughts about the kinds of things he’d do for each party member? (E.g. he has the ability to recognize tony hawk, despite his inconspicuousness, because of max’s skateboarding)

Actually now I'm obsessed with the idea that Steve is one of the few people who are not personal friends with him who is able to identify Tony Hawk without a skateboard. Like. Steve is an athlete and respects athleticism, and gives credit where it is due. (He does NOT allow making fun of Olympic athletes, even the weird sports, just because some people don't appreciate how hard you work for it.) So he's like "wow that Tony guy sure is talented. He is so high in the air. Good for him." And never forgets his face. At some point someone shares one of those "didn't recognize actual skate legend Tony Hawk " stories except it ends with "and then the guy in pastels standing beside Eddie Munson slapped his (Eddie's) chest and went "hey!! That's Tony Hawk!! Let's see if we can get an autograph for Max!" And I realized I had been making awkward small talk about cocktail weenies with sports legend Tony Hawk while working up the courage to ask Eddie Munson for an autograph."

He also tries to learn how to Ollie but he's actually really nervous and wears all the protective gear possible and is only able to go forward. (This is from my personal experience being post concussive and not a good skater. It's scary! My brain meat is delicate!) But Max tells him it's okay and talks about the skatepark in California and some of her old friends from there, and he tries to teach her how to make fried rice.(one of the only actual meals that isn't breakfast food he can cook really well completely from scratch) She gets him to do her hair with El because Steve is the only other person who understands that for El hair is a means of control, and that taking care of it is something important to that feeling.

He and El do jigsaw puzzles together and listen to folk music I think. El would appreciate having the option to talk or not, and likes listening to Steve talk too. Also I like jock El so he gets her overly invested in the Cubs like tells her all the lore and she's obsessed with the goat and she joins a softball team. When she first yells at an umpire for a bad call Steve almost cries of pride. Like. Finally. He's not the only one who Gets It.

Lucas and him bond over basketball yes. But Lucas doesn't yell at refs, and Steve gets why but thinks it's very fun when people yell at officials. Also I think they watch clouds together after practicing. Just nice peaceful, laying on warm blacktop and staring at the sky. Maybe El joins them and Lucas and El can bond this way too. Steve and his little jock siblings. (Why does no one consider max a jock for skateboarding? I guess it wasn't really seen as a sport for a long time...hm..)

Steve also bought a flat of new coke before they stopped selling it and keeps it for Lucas on movie nights or whatever and everybody always yells and groans because where is getting that!! It was discontinued!! Also they watch anime together. Erica and Robin join.

I can see him getting into some video games with Dustin and Mike and Lucas. Only the two or more player ones though he doesn't like playing alone. Like. Okay this whole post has anachronisms but please imagine him playing Lego Star Wars (complete saga) with Dustin. The chaos. The yelling.

He's absolutely a pinball guy. They go to the arcade and everyone does their thing but then end up cheering Steve on as he goes for idk star trek pinball glory. Without even tilting it! Idk what to tell you but Steve def loves pinball.

Also before his dad cut him off or after he gets some kind of inheritance he does a very financially secure impulse buy: he purchases an arcade game. Full size. I am partial to Asteroids because that's what my dad impulse bought in the 80's and had it in our basement growing up but let's keep this going he has a themed pinball machine. Icon.

He 100% reaches Dustin to drive. Mrs. Henderson asked him because Steve just looked sad when she mentioned teaching him and she was like well...we could BOTH teach him :) (because she has mentally adopted him. She told him to call her Ma and he does and Robin is like Steve. That's your mum now. And Steve's like no... Everybody calls her that. And she saysnSteve. Only Dustin. Her actual literal son. Calls her that. Guess what that makes YOU.)

Steve and whole party Lego Building Buddies? Mayhaps?

I wish tamagotchis were out in the 80's because Steve would be so diligent a Tama babysitter Erica would sell his services to her friends if they needed it lmao. He'd get all squinty and concentrated you know he'd highscore jump rope but not get the shapes game (me too buddy). Alas. Not to be.

Instead he listens to her talk about her elementary and middle school drama while looking for four leaf clovers. He also has watched MLP with her and may have teared up a little. Also, of course, she is his one true Game Master. Sorry Eddie

Mike is harder...maybe they bond over making snarky comments about people in movies, and then talk about how actually is car racing a sport? And it'd be sort of awkward because Mike has Nancy as an older sibling (even if they don't get along) and he's holding on to animosity that's pointless now. Plus Dustin and Lucas both seem to see Steve as a big brother and friend figure, but like. It's a bit weird for Mike. But still, Mike knows if he bikes to Steve's at two am he'll be hauled in and forced to sit down and asked if he wants a hug and hot chocolate.

Same with will, except Will has Jonathan (El does to but it's different) so at first they're sorta🧍🧍 staring at each other. Steve has to be like sooooo wanna. Tell me about Wizards? Or something? Cool...rocks? And Will would realize that this guy's just, y'know. A guy. Probably similar to Mike except he's not begrudging about it.

I guess a lot of Steve and the party is him listening to them and letting them actually be silly and kids, making snarky comments about the highschool dramas happening, and encouraging them to try different things (he did!) And figure out what they like outside of what they think the rest of the party likes.

[alaskan-wallflower]

Hiya!! In your fantasy au (I’m sorry I forgot how to spell what the actual name of your au is 🥲) do the gang including the curtis’ have any weaknesses? And if they do how do they affect them? would they need help if they came into contact with their weakness?

(Literally obsessed with your au man 🤭)

Ooooh thank you!! I love hearing that people enjoy my au 😭🫶🏻

But yes!! The gang does have weaknesses! To even things out I decided that if a human cuts a piece of a Wretched off (for example taking one of Darry’s feathers) would give that human the ability of that Wretched. So if you cut off one of Darry’s tail feathers you would be able to control fire. So that could count as a weakness say if someone with a fire bound’s body part went up against Dallas—

There are small things though too! Like Pony is light bound, and if he’s in the dark for too long (like pitch dark-he gets energy from sun and moonlight-artificial lights somewhat but not really) he’ll get seriously sick and will end up dying or becoming Unspoken (which basically means his powers took control of his mind)-maybe i’ll do some angst w that lol

similar with Soda, like he can use his electricity for all sorts of things-he can act as a generator and can jumpstart cars like no other, but if he expels too much he ends up getting really sick and needs a bit of a “recharge” which can take a few days, or another electric bound could transfer some energy. Soda can also “overvolt” to which he becomes impossible to touch because he has so much electricity stored in him and it hurts a lot

Darry can’t really go into the water for too long-he also can’t really be in the cold for too long either. This part’s kinda based off Pokémon but Darry has a flame at the top of his tail that if he lets it go out he’ll end up getting so incredibly sick and could even die. Same with his chest fire-the reason they made him the shed he sleeps in now aaa because when he outgrew the house it had rained real bad that night and Mrs and Mr Curtis walked outside and saw that he was hardly breathing and the flame on his tail was so weak—it took days to get it to regenerate but he was practically in a coma. Real scary.

With Johnny since he isn’t necessarily your run of the mill element bound tends to be a little bit stronger, but it’s easy for him to slip into hallucinations, especially if he’s scared. He was actually given Alora and Almos (his little squirrel companions) because The Celestials thought he would need it and need the help regulating things, especially since it’s that much easier to slip into insanity when you’re bound to something that isn’t an element (dreams, time, sound, etc.) but with him pretty much any element can be used against him just the same and it would hurt just as much. I’m still working on a design concept so i’ll have to get back to you on him and two bit haha

But Dallas is much like Darry. He can’t be in the hot for too long and is absolutely hurt by fire and heat. Him and Darry have to be careful when hanging out sometimes—it’s how his brother Rusty was killed, Dallas has this ice chip embedded in his chest and if he gets that thawed somehow he’d die or get sick. Rusty was killed because they shattered his to the point he couldn’t regenerate it. I’m still kinda formulating him lol

Once I get an idea of Two’s design I’ll get back on him-

Steve and Ace are very much similar to Darry and Soda—Steve can’t be in the cold and Ace runs the risk of over or undervolting. Despite them both being metal bound it’s still a possibility. They’re also magnetic to an extent so do with that what you will.

It’s still a work in progress!! I didn’t have much time to do the rest :( but seriously i LOVE hearing that people enjoy my aus 🥺 This made me so happy to answer—if anyone else has any questions feel free to ask!! I’d love to answer!!

[kilibaggins]

Bucky Barnes with a Smaller S/O

bucky barnes x reader headcanons

Summary: I got a request from @mrs-jbuckybarnes to write headcanons on a small/short reader with bucky!

A/N: I am personally plus sized so if any of this comes across as not correct or anything like that, thats why! i tried my best! feel free to request something else if you'd like and reminder to anyone reading this my requests are open just read my pinned posts!

Word Count: 848

okay so FIRST lets get this out of the way he adores you. so much. he's never really loved anything as much as you loves you and that scares him sometimes.

he loves you for your personality so no matter how you looked he wouldn't mind so your size never gets in the way of that

really the only time your size becomes an issue with him is when he's scared he'll hurt you. his metal arm weighs heavy on his thoughts and the idea of hurting you literally gives him nightmares.

when you first started dating he literally avoided ever using that arm because of how scared he was.

after a while, and after you made it clear to him that you weren't afraid of his arm, or him for that matter, it got a little easier.

usually, though you'd have to initiate anything to do with that arm like holding his hand and stuff

he's always scared of hurting people with his arm but with people like steve, or sam, or literally anyone it isn't as scary as with you not only because of your height and size but because he cares so much about you.

now away from the SERIOUS STUFF and more into the OTHER STUFF

he calls you teasing names about your height unless you ask him to stop and you'll do it right back about his height

he'll rest his arms around your shoulders every time you walk

"what? it's comfortable." "you're using me like an arm rest" "okay and? its COMFORTABLE."

once he starts getting comfortable with his metal arm that's the one he usually wraps around you because 1.) it makes him feel better 2.) it means he can outwardly protect you and 3.) it shows everyone who they're really dealing with if they mess with you.

he likes to give you big bear hugs to show how much he loves you even though at first it worried him.

lifts you up a lot.

and I mean a lot.

he wants a hug? UP YOU GO. he wants a kiss? your feet are OFF THE GROUND

he will pick you up and put you on counters while he does stuff

like in the morning when he makes a pot of coffee he'll lift you up and put you on the counter next to him. The others tease him relentlessly for it because it shows how clingy he actually is deep down, the fact he wants you so close to him all the time.

he's always worried about you if you fight

like realistically he knows you can take care of yourself because he's seen you do it but he also knows its possible for you to be overpowered because of your size and that scares him

a lot of people say he gets his "winter soldier" stare back if anyone is at all threatening towards you to the point it scares them. steve told you this once and admitted it worried him in the moment but then bucky had hugged you and he knew everything was fine

his clothes. drown you. and he thinks you're the best thing he has ever seen.

he'll give you his t-shirts to wear and stare at you the entire time you wear it he loves it so much.

HIS HANDS. his hands are. you know how his hands are. they are just. hm. and because of this it's even BETTER that his hands are bigger than yours. he likes to compare the size of his hands to yours all the time. other people ask about it and he gets grumpy.

speaking of that… he gets. protective. and very grumpy if other people mention your size because he knows that when people talk about HIS physical appearance it makes him feel weird. especially with his arm and everything. when people make comments about it he clams up so of course he'd be the same with yours.

"you're so small-" "back off."

he does not stand for any comments being made on you even if they're compliments he just does not like it

even if your friends do it it makes him upset even if you're fine with it

"okay shortie-" "what did you just call them-" "bucky its FINE-"

he just loves you so much and its so hard for him to express it so he does it in the ways he knows how like defending you and lifting you up and calling you little nicknames and holding your HANDS and getting things from high places for you and just everything else he calls you doll but really HES such a doll

i don't know what to end this with but overall he's just super sweet and understands you and your boundaries. he wont go overboard on anything and will listen to you I you don't like something. he'll probably never NOT be defensive and protective of you so if you asked him to stop that'd be a harder thing for him but he'd try at least.

but yeah he just. loves you a lot.

[fastcardotmp3]

okay omg that makes so much sense actually about Steve and i think in general he's been such a constant for the party that going into season 5 without him would be really destabilizing and would really open up some space for some really interesting dynamics especially with Dustin and Eddie and Dustin and robin and just robin in general who's tether to the party is gone now, even Nancy who imo always saw him as her safe choice almost? like someone who would always be there in case it didn't work out?? soo all of that said how would you do it?? like how would you kill him??

it WOULD be so destabilizing! and you're right about the dynamics-- the reason I don't like the idea of them saving their Big Loss for the final season is that it doesn't give us any time to see the aftermath of what losing someone that vital to the group looks like, you know?

like the absence of a character you love is, in its own way, a continued presence and I think it's so important to a story like this one that (even if it forgets about it on a frequent basis) is so linked to the varied effects of grief on people

it's also the difference between killing off a character because you as a writer are done with them/ don't need them anymore since the show is ending and letting them die in an impactful way because that's the story being told, which is I think where a lot of people who don't like the idea of steve dying misunderstand where I'm coming from with it, because death is not inherently the end of a story nor the end of a character's importance to it!

but none of that answers your actual question I'm so sorry fjsdklf

I talked a bit about how I would kill steve in a pure replacement of Eddie's death scene here, but if you're giving me the chance to write it from scratch 👀 oh you know I am not going to deny you OR myself that fjasldkfj

Because if we're really leaning into the fact that Steve is the "gets back up" guy, I think his death would sneak up on us slowly until it ultimately just happens.

let me explain

Steve gets torn apart by those bats when he's dragged through the gate at Lover's Lake.

I mean he is well and truly fucked up in ways that aren't fully acknowledged by the show in canon, but what if we made that make sense? What if Steve gets up and keeps going and doesn't complain because he doesn't know how else to go about it?

Even after his arc in season 2 and losing Nancy over his instinct to push forward through pain, we never really see him have to grapple with that again, it's not a character trait he loses and it's a big part of who he is even post-New Stevification.

He's the damn tank, he's got no point of reference for what it looks like to deal with his shit in a healthy or productive manner, he just keeps moving.

So Steve gets messed up. He's bleeding, he's got torn muscles, he's definitely in the process of developing an infection or hypothermia or something walking around the UD with no shoes or shirt, open wounds just in the air like that.

And he doesn't make it a priority. He keeps moving. He gets back up. He gets his friends through that gate and listens to the plans being made and drives the getaway car and he has still not received medical attention.

We don't see Steve hurting save a few winces and grimaces here and there, even though all evidence would point towards the reality that he definitely is, because he doesn't want us to, because he's used to getting hurt close enough to the end of the thing that he can always make it out of the fray before he needs to deal with his own injuries.

He's the guy who keeps going.

He goes all the way through their trek back into the UD, manages to shut off the trailer well enough to keep the bats out even without either him or Dustin getting hurt (a close call, a scary one, but they're both breathing at the end of it, both on their feet).

Steve keeps going. He's wearing a lot of layers, but he can feel the blood soaking through them in heavier spurts now that he's aggravated all the torn flesh on his body with the running and fighting and such.

We see him wince a bit more now, bigger. But he hugs Dustin tight while they wait for their friends.

He makes sure the others get back safe, helps them climb over the mountain of bat's corpses leading up to the trailer and gets everyone back through the gate.

Gets himself back through the gate.

Stands amidst the complicated relief that they're all there but they aren't sure what all has happened yet, aren't sure they've won.

But he keeps standing.

Stays on his feet.

"Hey, Stevie, you OD back there?" Robin speaks up, something suddenly urgent to her shaky teasing as she notices Steve isn't following her as closely anymore on their trek away from the open rift in the ground and back towards where they'd hidden the Winnebago.

He sways slightly, but it's when he tries to smile at her that she sees the crimson shine of blood in his mouth.

"Nah, I'm-- right here with you."

And he collapses.

Unceremonious and on the other side of battle, in this moment when they're so close to finding shelter and safety, Steve's strings get cut and he falls to the floor at their feet and it's chaos.

It's Robin hyperventilating over what she finds when she unzips his jacket-- so much blood, why didn't you say-- this is so much blood-- and it's Dustin reminding him of a promise made in an elevator-- you die, I die, asshole!

It's Eddie trying desperately to call upon any of the first aid Wayne taught him and Nancy sitting quiet and still and barely present with two fingers pressed to Steve's neck, just under his jawline, waiting to feel...

Waiting.

She hardly even needs to check though, Nancy Wheeler, who knows better than most what it feels like in your chest when someone you love is--

"He's gone."

She knows he is. She can feel it. The world is different now and Steve Harrington is dead.

The world is different now because Steve Harrington is dead.

And all there's left for any of them to do is keep going.

[thenightlymirror]

Some interesting things about that documentary. I love that whoever shot it clearly asked PR how he managed to live on this beautiful estate. (They are half paid-up on $160,000 since the 70’s and then went to court and are essentially squatting.) There is this weird vibe in the movie where Steve was a young working class kid pulled in by PR, his life was changed by punk and anarchism, but because he wasn’t able to make any money, essentially just became a regular bloke again. The photo of him and Gee was the most cryptic part. So, Crass was poly? Even though that’s just a photo of two people sitting on a couch, I feel like we are supposed to speculate about their romance. What if Steve couldn’t handle the polyamory? Hahaha. Young guy gets pulled into the old hippie anarchism and then they both part ways. The doc does a very good job of showing but not over-explaining, without being conspicuously well-directed. It’s like a minority report within the edit.

Ah. The Michael Caine character in Children of Men. That must be Penny. I like him and Gee a lot. I feel like of course I would, they’re the bourgeois ones. There’s all kinds of critiques you could make of anarchism based on the little that is brushed on in the story. Like, Penny is always making a thing about how he works with people across the political spectrum. Lol. Crass sort of has a Throbbjng Gristle or Death in June vibe in that way. It’s like those groups saw their logo and military surplus gear and were like, what if we just recuperated the fascist vibe of this anarchist punk band? That’s crazy. There is something a little industrial and scary about Crass records. That’s the most interesting part for me. MDC is a punk band that writes good protest songs. Crass is an old school industrial act with good politics. (Sounds like I’m describing Negativland.) Honestly, Crass’ music is as good as you’d hope imagining a band like that.

I wonder how much being groomed by the KGB fucked them up? As anarchists, I think the idea is, we don’t serve any government or want to be agents in some spycraft game. An episode of The Americans about Crass. But it’s about power. What’s the most wide-reaching effective thing you could do with what you have? Not just interrupting the city for a few weeks, but fucking with the actual world system. I think the thing is: who can fuck with the world system? It seems like spies are just at the mercy of game theory. I mean, in a way, when it really comes down to it, politics is warfare. And your Napoleon has to win. The deconstruction of that, is to hope that powerlessness is in everyone’s ultimate favor. It means good won. But it also sounds like, you can’t make political decisions anymore, guess the market will decide. I think the situationist critique is that you have to make open spontaneous decisions that are openly defiant, collective, and bold, which prevents any kind of spycraft vanguard taking control. Sounds like the same problem.

[frazzledsoul]

I finished Shameless S3 last night and here are my unsolicited thoughts

I needed eye bleach after those scenes where Veronica and Kevin had a threesome with her mother.

Speaking of that, I really don't think Veronica should be calling Mandy a skank given that kind of nonsense that is going on in her house.

I used to be one of those people that hoped that Fiona and Steve found each other after she left the show, but I'm not so sure about that anymore. He was miserable being fully domesticated with the Gallaghers, she didn't respect him, and was often quite mean to him and made it seem like she didn't want him there. I do think they loved each other, but when it came time to take the relationship super seriously neither one of them were happy. They both cheated. Fiona at this point in her life is not going to prioritize anyone else above her family and while he liked the kids he did not want to continue living in that house and wanted Fiona to himself. Could it work later on, when she doesn't have to parent them anymore and he doesn't feel like he's slumming? IDK. Maybe. I don't really root for it like I did during the first two seasons, though.

I did feel bad for him because he was really looking forward to going back to medical school and returning to his old life, and then he's seemingly unceremoniously murdered. I know he isn't actually murdered and shows up and is a jerk later. I don't know if I prefer that or not.

It seems to me that there's a parallel to be made between Lip and Fiona being unappreciative if not outright cruel to Mandy and Steve for being willing to get down and deal with their family shit with them and also with Lip and Steve paying dearly for being callous with Mandy and Estafania's family out of sheer naivete and selfishness and paying for it dearly.

Mandy was pretty much living with the Gallaghers and was constantly available for Lip. She did his laundry, baby sat the daycare kids solo and fished baby shit out of the pool, arranged to threaten their scary landlord cousins, and seemed to be fairly happy as long as she got to spend time with Ian and Lip showed her a modicum of affection. Unlike Jimmy, she WANTED to be there because she loved Lip and would do anything for him, including single-handedly giving him a lifeline out of the South Side, even if it meant she would leave her behind. Lip repaid very little of that devotion and the only one who seemed to appreciate her was Ian. Lip ran running to Karen as soon as she came back into town because he couldn't get enough of her crazy and Karen used that to taunt her and claim she'd baby trap Lip to keep him with her when Mandy put in all that hard work to give him a future. I'm not surprised the girl went ballistic and decided to commit vehicular manslaughter.

That said, I do think the scene where Lip is trying to get brain damaged Karen to relive old memories and she's so utterly disconnected from it is kind of devastating. She can remember what happened, but it's nothing more than a story to her now.

Hymie was (as far as we know) being well cared for by his father's family and it doesn't make any sense to rip him away from that and send him off with Karen and Jody. I think all three of them are doomed: Jody will dissolve further into his addiction, Karen will basically be an unwitting sex slave, and Hymie will be badly neglected. I don't know why Sheila agreed to this, unless she really bought into the idea that Jody was Karen's "prince" and wanted to give her the life that Karen claimed she wanted at the beginning of season 2. Karen's actual desires were a lot harder for her to grasp, and now they've been obliterated.

I hear people say they don't think Mickey loved Ian this early in the story, but I have to disagree. He was legit crying when Ian was leaving.

Once again, I continue to believe that Frank is superfluous. I really think he's only connected to the family dynamic when Monica is around and the rest of the time he's off doing his own thing, which isn't that interesting most of the time. Even calling CPS on Fiona didn't do much. The family hates him (except for Carl, even Debbie has given up) and he's not connected to their lives in any meaningful way.

Now, the guardianship. It's my perception that the fandom despises Fiona for "abandoning" Liam to the care of his four other adult siblings and taking off, but she couldn't really take him with her unless Frank agreed to it because he never officially lost his parental rights. Could they have written it in? Sure. But this is a John Wells show, and when a character leaves they leave, and I think that just wasn't possible if Liam and Fiona had been written off. Maybe Fiona could have done more to check up on him but again...see, this is how John Wells operates. It's implausible to me how many big events she misses the last two years of the series anyway.

[evco-productions]

Messy Movies Are Fun, But Not in the Way You Think

It seems to me that most film appreciators believe, and want you to believe, that movies cannot be bad and fun at the same time. That movies must meet certain objective artistic criteria in order to be valid. What objective criteria and who decides that criteria have never been clear to me. But it’s obvious this idea exists, because whenever a bad movie does end up being fun—and even the most pretentious film appreciator will begrudgingly admit that this happens once in a while—we have to stamp the term “guilty pleasure” on it to prevent anyone from accusing us of having lowbrow tastes. Perish the thought!

I guess part of my goal when writing about cinema is to try to convince you that you don’t have to be embarrassed if you enjoy a bad movie. But I also want to explain how I enjoy bad movies versus how it appears other people enjoy them.

Most of the time, if a film appreciator enjoys a bad movie, they seem to do so by laughing at it. Think back to Episode 12, when I talked about Troll 2 and Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. People who enjoy those movies are laughing at them, not with them. In that episode, I mentioned how uncomfortable this makes me. I don’t find it funny when a bad movie is made on accident. The Room was made by a guy who loves movies, and he turned out to have no talent. That’s not funny, it’s sad. And as someone who may try to make a movie one day, it’s also scary…what if that becomes me?

That doesn’t mean a bad movie can’t be fun for a different reason. This time, I’m going to use a more recent example to illustrate my point: Wonder Woman 1984. I saw this movie in the theater, and I disagreed with almost all the creative decisions made on it, yet I still had a good time.

I’ve spent a long time trying to figure out why, and I’ve finally realized that it’s because there’s a good movie buried beneath a lot of distracting junk. And just in case you’ve never thought of it like that, think about this: that statement is true of most bad movies. That’s why we’re so disappointed by them. If you know what a good movie looks like, then you can pick out moments in a bad movie where you say to yourself, “If only they had done more of that, or just changed that to this, the whole movie might have worked.”

This process is, in its own weird way, fun. Once the initial disappointment has passed, it’s fun to spot and celebrate the few moments in a bad movie that did work. It’s fun to pick a bad movie apart and use your imagination to put it back together into something that might have been a success. And if you’re an aspiring filmmaker, it’s good way to teach yourself what not to do when making a movie.

In Wonder Woman 1984, Chris Pine’s character Steve Trevor “returns” inside the body of some random guy off the street. Diana Prince rekindles her love affair with Steve, but the thing is, she’s actually hooking up with some guy who has lost conscience and control of his own body! It’s really weird, but the moral implications of this might have made for a very interesting, unique superhero movie…if the storytellers had chosen to focus on this at all, but instead they just ignored it. Also, Pedro Pascal gives a really fun performance that was, at the time, very different from the rest of his resumé, but the story has so much going on that his screentime is less than it ought to be and his motivations are paper thin. You see? Here are two strong elements that might have elevated Wonder Woman 1984 to remarkable heights had they not been mishandled. It’s easy to point out bad CGI, but the truth is, there’s never been a case where that couldn’t have been excused if only more crucial elements of storytelling had been paid better attention to.

So yes, messy movies are often fun for me, but they’re only fun in a really specific way. Again, I don’t like to laugh cruelly at bad movies, and I don’t like to laugh spitefully at them, either. There’s no reason to act dismissive toward someone’s creative failure, nor become overly frustrated by it. But there is a good reason to politely and seriously critique a bad movie, and if you love movies, I think that will be fun in its own way. It won’t make a bad movie any easier to rewatch—again, I’ve only seen Wonder Woman 1984 once and that will probably always be true—but even though it’s not good, the experience certainly could have been less enjoyable than it was.

How about you? Do you enjoy bad movies? Name one in the comments below, if you dare!

[reefer-reelz-n-reviews]

Spice World (1997)

Smoking: Jaaayyyssss

 

Spice Girls is something that I grew up with. I may have only been 5 when the movie came out, but If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. What more can I say? And what girl doesn’t like a girl power movie sing-a-long.

Growing up Baby Spice, Emma Bunton, was my favorite, now I’m much more partial to Scary Spice, Mel B. Probably my favorite part about this movie is that it is a movie, about a documentary, and also another movie. And probably the most unrealistic thing about this movie is how much space they have on their personal double decker bus.

They really are all different not just like their names but their personalities. But they are all so close even with their friends outside of their group.

Seeing Baby Spice with those huge platform shoes on takes me back lol! And makes me wonder how short she really is.

Ummm. There was literally a thunderstorm in the evil newspaper guys office. Like wtf? Lolol. Not something I’ve noticed before, and watching it stoned I was like, “Wait what?” hahaha.

Posh Spice, Victoria Beckham, has a mini runway on her side of the bus…and its not like it runs into the other side of the bus.. Mel B while looking at the fish tank on the bus, “There’s the ugly one that reminds me of my ex-boyfriend Stephen,” I’m crying hahaha!

I love getting to watch the part where they perform, I’m the Leader of the Gang and the guys first come out in those white short shorts, and the compromise ends up being this purple jump suit with their butts hanging out. I mean, it was either that or basically looking at their peeps hanging full on in your face basically.

Next, we have aliens. They literally get to meet fans from outterspace. What? Interstellar perverts. Who want tickets to their show. And get an autograph. And Ginger Spice, Geri Horner, gives one of them a kiss. I mean cute but kind of gross lol.

Wonder if you ever recognized that Meat Loaf was in the movie too. He was the bus driver. Even says his family “I won’t do that,” phrase in the movie.

I like getting to watch the movie guys pitching ideas to their manager. The Spice Force 5 I think is the closest one. Freaking Mel B was the explosives expert and she does the lever for the bomb and you see these buildings collapse and she stands up and goes, “Oh no!” This is why she is my favorite now haha! She cracks me up!

You know this whole time, up until doing this review. I thought that the manager in this movie was played by Steve Valentine, but really its Richard E. Grant… in my defense it’s the side burns okay.. my bad 😝

I never really understood why they took their pregnant friend who is literally over due to have her baby to a club. Like I feel that wasn’t smart at all. But gotta make the movie more dramatic, right? And then the movie runs into the movie pitchers ideas. Like is it what’s supposed to happen, or is it just the pitch? Hmmm. Then it gets ridiculous... Why would they be on top of the bus?

The chief has the cutest little pig in the movie. It’s like he’s a villain with a cat, but it’s a pig. He ends up feeding it milk at one point. It was really cute.

I love the ending where it’s like we are behind the scenes to them filling the movie, and then they break the 4th wall talking to the people in the theater and at home. Last line, “what happened to the bomb on the bus?!”

I will always love watching this movie. I still listen to their songs on my spotify actually. And probably always will. 80 years old sitting in the house jamming Spice Up Your Life.

That’s all for now! Till next time.

-RRR

[cecyzinhaaa]

nightskyblueeyes:

(Transcribed by me) THE SMASH HITS INTERVIEW CHRISTMAS 1982: IT’S JUST GONE MIDNIGHT IN THE SMASH HITS OFFICE WHEN A YOUNG MARK ELLEN PICKS UP THE PHONE. AT THE OTHER END, LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES, IS AN EVEN YOUNGER MICHAEL JACKSON, WHOSE NEW LP “THRILLER” HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED. THEIR 35-MINUTE CONVERSATION HAS GONE DOWN IN HISTORY AS MICHAEL’S LAST-EVER BRITISH INTERVIEW. NOW, 25[ YEARS LATER, WE REPRINT THEIR CLASSIC EXCHANGE IN FULL. 06/01/83 (6TH JANUARY, 1983 FOR YOU AMERICANS - TOM) Your new LP “Thriller”, is out in Britain. Are you pleased with it? It’s out already? I’ve got a copy. In the stores? Well, it’s about to be. Are you pleased with it? Oh, yeah, I’m pleased with it. I’m hap… I’m the kind of person that is never satisfied. Which are your favourite tracks? My favourite tracks are “Thriller”, um, “Billie Jean”, “Beat It”, “Starting Something”, “The Lady In My Life”. Stuff like that. There’s all sorts of people on it, Vincent Price, for instance. How come you worked with him? I’ve known Vincent ever since I was 11 years old. And when you think of “Thriller”… I mean who’s the king of horror who’s still alive? I mean Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre are dead now and the only giant who goes back to those days is Vincent Price so I thought he was the perfect voice. Actually it was Rod Temperton and Quincy (Jones) who actually thought of him ‘cause he is a friend and everything. He came in right away, it was no problem. How about Eddie Van Halen? I wrote a song called “Beat It” and we wanted a great solo, a guitar solo, so that night Quincy said, I have a great idea, um, um, you know, someone like Van Halen would be a good idea or Peter Townshend but Townshend and The Who are touring at the moment so we thought it would be a problem. So the next day, the very next day, Eddie was in the studio. He’s the kind of guy that kept worrying that his part was OK and he wanted to be just right. He’s a perfectionist. How do you choose the songs? Whatever’s the best. Whatever’s the best for today’s sound and today’s market. If it touches us personally we go ahead with it. And if I personally like it and Quincy personally likes it. What qualities do you look for in the songs? I just look for the music to be outstanding and especially, more than anything, the melody. Who offered you songs that you didn’t accept? I heard there was one by Stevie Wonder? Well, Stevie had a one which was good. It was a good song, more a danceable-type thing. There was also… ah, what’s his name? David Grant? I forget (laughs). There’s so much going on I forget. Steve is incredible. We went with more a danceable one but the song was great. Why did you choose the title “Thriller”? You like movies a lot? I love movies. All movies. But I don’t like scary movies. Why not? I can’t sleep after watching one, it just scares me. What are your favourite movies? Any Steven Spielberg movie. Do you like E.T.? I love E.T. Why do you love it so much? ‘Cause it reminds me of me. The whole story, you know, someone from another world coming down and you becoming friends with them and this person’s like 800 years old and he’s filling you with all kinds of wisdom and he’s magic and he can teach you how to fly. It’s that whole fantast thing that I think is great. I mean who don’t want to fly? What other films do you like? I like the old MGM musical. I like thing with great acting, like Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracey. I love Oliver! One of my friends lives there (England) - Mark Lester. He’s a friend of mine. Oliver! is one of my favourite films of all time. When he’s here, I visit him and we talk on the phone. Why do you like that film in particular so much? Ooooooh! It’s terrific! It’s Dickens’ story. I mean… it’s… it’s incredible. Lionel Bart’s music is unreal… it’s magic. I’m going to record that song in the future, one if the songs… Which one? “Where is love?” Do you know other movie stars? Yeah, being in the same field. Katharine Hepburn came to our concert on the last tout. That was the first concert she’d ever seen. The press were surprised. You know an actress of her stature and the whole Hollywood thing. They were surprised that she would even show up. That was the first concert that she’d ever been to. What did she say about it? She loved it. He told me she loved it and she asked me to come to dinner the next day but we had to move in to the next city, you know. Do you have a hero or a heroine in movies that you would really like to meet? Well, I wanted to meet Walt Disney but he died. And I wanted to meet Charlie Chaplin but he died. There’s nobody that I would really want to meet. I’m gonna work with Steven Spielberg. Really. Doing what? A film. We’re going to do a film together. He’s just putting the story and ideas together gradually working on ideas. You know I did the “E.T. Storybook” album and we just finished that. He and Quincy directed the whole thing, you know. You haven’t done any acting since The Wiz, have you? Right. You’re looking forward to doing some more? Oh, yeah. Obviously most of your time, you’re involved in making music. What else are you interested in? I don’t know really. It’s hard to take a break… ‘cause I’m always creating stuff… songwriting… and that’s mainly what I do (laughs) and I’m interested in films and acting and that sort of thing… I don’t really involve in sports or any of that stuff… Whereabouts do you live? We live in the valley of California. What’s it like there? It’s, ah, lots of orange trees and lots of lemon trees. The whole valley used to be an orange grove so everywhere you see is orange trees. And, ah, right now (laughs) there’s some mud ‘cause it’ been raining this morning but it’s nice and clear now, there’s blue skies out… and wind. What kind of music do you listen to? I like all music, all music. From classical to country to pop. I love Paul McCartney’s early solo stuff a lot. You worked with him? Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun. He’s wonderful. Linda’s very nice too. The whole family. Could you say “Hi” to them from me from America? You’ve been so fantastically successful, do you feel you have a lot to live up to? Would you be upset if this LP wasn’t as successful as the last? Um, Yeah. ‘Cause I always like to improve. I don’t like to take a step backwards. But it’s a whole ‘nother economy now… You mean people aren’t buying as many records? Yeah. That’s no excuse though. In the ‘70s, why do you think you became so successful? Probably that we were doing good songs, that we were fresh and new and different and we were real young and I don’t think that there was anything else like that out there. The Osmonds, they came along but they were like a copy of what we did. I like watching them - I’m not saying they weren’t good - I enjoyed what they did. Do you still see your brothers? Yeah. And you still get along? Very well. In the late ‘70s, you were very representative of the “disco boom”. Is that something you’d like to get away from now? I don’t think I do represent “disco”. We were doing ballads and all kinds of stuff. I wouldn’t call “One Day In Your Life” disco or “Never Can Say Goodbye” or “Rock With You”… um… um… I just like good dance music. They can label it whatever they want but as long as it’s dance music and people like it… What English groups do you like? I like Adam Ant’s drums. He’s a friend of mine also. Didn’t you swap jackets or something? Yes (laughs). I was bugging him a long time about his jackets, yeah. (Gives a little shriek of pleasure at the memory.) Yeah, we talk over the phone a lot. I love his drums on his songs. Will you say “Hi” to him from me, too? How did you come to meet him? I’ve never met him. We’re phone friends. Whenever he’s here he calls me. Like he calls me from the Greek theatre. When I’m in England I call him and we talk like we’ve known each other for years but we’ve never met or seen each other eye to eye. Wouldn’t you like to meet him? Yeah, I would, if our schedules meet (laughs). What do you talk about? We talk about different musical stuff and how to record drums and the sound he got on “Ant Music”. He likes my stuff and I like his and he talks about my dancing and I talk about his dressing. Do you have a very technical approach to your music then? No. An emotional one then? Yeah, it comes straight from the heart. What’s the track that you’ve been most pleased with? Probably on “Thriller”, “Baby Be Mine”. Actually, I can’t answer that ‘cause I’m never really pleased, never totally satisfied. I’m a real perfectionist. Who would you like to work with that you haven’t yet? Streisand is an example. We’re going to be doing a duet together. We’ll be writing it together. I love her singing. What about Paul McCartney and Rupert Bear? We talked about it a lot but I didn’t come to a decision on working on it. Sweet character… Who? Rupert? Yeah. He seems so innocent and charming, like no matter what he’s OK. And, you know, I got a couple of books here for Paul on Rupert. He’s real charming, He always reminds me of Winnie the Pooh. Do you read a lot of books? Yeah. You’re obviously very interested in magical things and stories? I love fairy tales. I like fantasy a lot, science fiction, I like magic. I like to create magic. I love magic. It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s got to be magic. Something that the person hears it or sees it, they’re just totally blown away. The unexpected is what I like. Any particular writers? I like J.M. Barrie. Mostly the older guys who aren’t here any more. Their imagination was just out of this world. Frank Baum who did the Oz books. I love Steven Spielberg, he’s the modern day Walt Disney. I gave Steven a great book which you can’t buy in the stores. It’s like this old company that used to make these set of books called Wisdom and it’s very hard to find them, but it’s the cover story, the hard-book story of Walt Disney and I gave it to Steven. And I wrote an inscription in it and he liked it so much, he said it was the best present he’d ever gotten. He told me he reads it every night before he goes to bed. At the back of it there’s all these quotations, like things Disney has said in interviews, like words of wisdom, like three whole pages, and we were just reading them together on the aeroplane. I mean he loves it. It’s a great book. What did you inscribe in it? I told Steven how Disney was one of the people who inspired me the most in my music and in so many things and that I felt that nobody has ever come along since Disney has died with his imagination and to fill his shoes and he, Steven Spielberg, was the only person who had inspired me like Walt Disney had inspired me. He gave me a big hug and everything. I mean he was great, he loves it, he says it’s the best present he ever got. So you’re good friends? Oh yeah, I mean every word of it. When are you going to start filming? Probably after The Jacksons’ album which we’ll start working on in January. Sometime after that we’ll just finalise the story and start moving. He’s making an animated movie, Steven; he wants me to come up with the story for it (giggles). He told me to start thinking of ideas ‘cause he wants me to work on it and I said, great. So I’ve been thinking like crazy. What sort of part will you play in the film he’s making with you? Gosh, I don’t know. It’s a futuristic fantasy-type of thing but they’re still not sure of the story so I don’t know the role or anything. Do you go out much in public? No, I don’t. I don’t go out. So you watch films at home? Yeah, we have a movie room. I saw a movie last night in our theatre. We have a theatre in the house where we have film shows. It seats like 32 people and if I want to see E.T. or something I just have it ordered, whatever I like to see. Is your house big? Ah, yeah, I guess. (giggles with embarrassment) What other rooms are there? We have a library. We have an exercise room… and Disney’s going to do a whole thing for me, The Pirates Of The Caribbean, in a display room. They’re going to have different parts of the Caribbean thing put in my game room. They never do stuff so I felt honoured that they’re going to do it for me. They’re going to put it in. What, all the props? “Animatronics” - where the faces move, the figures move, the eyebrows move, and their eyes and their bodies, and they shoot… When you step in this room there’ll be a whole war going on… Cannons shooting off and smoke puffing at one another and fighting… a whole war going on. And that’s all going to be set up in your room? Yup. As an exhibition or just for you? For me and for company. For whoever comes and wants to see it. They’re going to do the sound and the lighting and everything. Then there’s this games room… What sort of games have you got in there? Space Invaders and Star Fire and basketball games. Are you good at them? I’m good until some little kid comes along and beats me (laughs). And there’s an exercise room? Yeah. I don’t do exercise but it’s there for other people. A sauna and stuff like that. It’s just a place where, after you work hard, you can come and relax and have a good time and entertain your friends. Who do you live with? Just my mother and my two sisters and my father. I still live with my folks. I’d die of loneliness if I moved out. Plus I couldn’t control the fans and stuff. I’d be surrounded. I’d never leave the house but here there’s guards. Security… a whole set-up. So you rarely go out? Very rarely. Do you ever get mobbed? Oh, yes. Is it frightening? No, it’s more fun ‘cause you get to turn and beck and hide. But once they get you trapped it’s not fun. What happens then? They start kissing you and pulling you and tearing your clothes and tearing your hair out of your head… I’ve gone to certain countries and I’ll walk along and there’s a fan and she’ll go, “Oh my God!” and she’ll show me a piece of hair and say, “I took this out of your head two years ago”, this piece of hair in her wallet. How do you feel about things like that? I don’t know… it’s strange. So how do you travel? Do you fly and drive everywhere? Yeah and we have security with us. We have a private jet. And you have bodyguards, presumably? Yeah, I have to. Would you say you lived a normal life? Ah, no, I can’t say that. Do you ever long to lead a normal life? No, I’m happy the way I am. I’m happy the way I am. Do you like groups like The Human League and Soft Cell? Yeah, I like those groups. I like ‘em. My favourite English group will always be The Beatles ‘cause they had real good songs. A lot of the bands today have more musical sounds and different sounds and things you’ve never heard, but melody and great lyrics is not there. They always had great melody and lyrics - even if it was just a harmonica playing in the background, the melody was the feature of the whole song. What’s your favourite Beatles song? My favourite Beatles song is Paul’s favourite Beatles song. Which is that? “Yesterday”. It always touched me the most. It was always special to me. I think it’s wonderful, the melody and the music and the whole feeling. Do you think anyone’s come near The Beatles’ songwriting quality? Yeah. Holland, Dozier; Holland. Do you have any particular favourites of theirs? All of them. That whole ‘60s period to me - with Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles and Motown - was the best musical time in history. Why? ‘Cause they were real songs. Real good songs. Today a writer will have success and then just celebrate the rest of his life and just forget about writing ever again - no self-control, he’s partying the rest of his life. Back then people just kept trying, kept coming up with great stuff. What about the ‘70s? I like Elton John’s stuff - terrific. Bernie Taupin. “Yellow Brick Road” and “Bennie And The Jets”. All that stuff. That’s great stuff. What did you like about him? His image with the feathers and the glasses I thought was good but they were good songs. We’re good friends. Who else do you know in England? These are the people I visit there: Mark Lester, the McCartneys, I talk to Adam Ant a lot too on the phone. I know Elton. I know a great songwriter called Don Black… Where will you be for Christmas? I’ll be at home. And what would you like? Actually, I don’t celebrate Christmas. We just sit round the fire, watch the parade or whatever. We don’t really do anything special. We just enjoy the weather. I mean it’s 70 or 80 degrees, Christmas out here. We just don’t do anything. It’s hot. It’s burning up. END OF INTERVIEW

[headkiss]

Hey! I’m not sure if this is too specific of a request or not but i saw you were taking requests so decided to shoot my shot? So it's a steve x reader imagine where they have defeated vecna and all. And reader was the one in place of max who got in the coma but now she's awake. But she can feel steve pulling away from her after everything. And one day she just gets fed up and asks him why is he doing this to them and my brain keeps imagining that scene in greys anatomy where Alex is yelling at Izzy that “you freakin died in my arms…I’m scared to move, I’m scared to breath, I’m scared to touch you”

you of course don't have to do it if you don't want toooo! and you can also take as much creative liberty as you want to if you do decide to do it 😀

anyway i love your writing sm, it brings me a lot of joy! thank youuuu ♥️

hiii as a greys fan myself i sort of had to write this and i hope i did it well!! thank you so much for requesting and being so nice | 0.9k words angst to fluff (?) i think!

Things have been different ever since you woke up. Ever since Vecna cursed you and put you in a coma, since your friends defeated him and El somehow saved your life.

It was terrifying, and the amount of time that passed while you were unconscious was disorienting. For you and everyone else.

It was difficult for all of you, the trauma and the fear that remained. The idea that you could’ve died. You could barely grasp it.

You can’t imagine what it was like for Steve, for the boy who loved you and you loved right back. You have no idea what you would’ve done had the roles been reversed, how you would have coped not knowing if he’d wake up or not.

You knew that he came to visit you at least once a day, and would even sleep in a cot next to you sometimes. It makes your heart ache.

It made sense for him to be extra careful with you for the first couple of weeks. He would help you stand, help you move around. He wouldn’t leave your side.

Now, however, a couple of months of healing and physical therapy down, you wished he would treat you normally again. Everyone was still so wary around you and you knew why, you just wanted someone to make you feel like yourself. You wanted Steve to do that.

You were still the same person, just with thick glasses and less flexible limbs, but still you.

You don’t remember the last time he kissed you somewhere that wasn’t your forehead or hand or cheek. The last time he actually kissed you.

It’s like he’s pulling away without meaning to, drifting further from what you were.

You’re on his couch watching a movie, cuddled close and holding hands. Even pressed together, there’s a distance between you and you can feel it.

You shift to kiss his neck, just soft pecks up to his jaw. He turns his face when you get close, kissing you. Finally. It’s nothing extreme, no tongue or anything, but it’s something.

When you try to deepen it, he pulls away. “Baby.”

“What’s wrong, Steve?”

“Nothing,” he runs a hand through his hair, like he’s stressed. “Can we just watch the movie?”

“No.” You sit up fully to face him, “we need to talk about this.”

“About what?”

“Steve, come on. Ever since I woke up you won’t kiss me, you’ll barely even touch me.”

His heart is pounding because he knows you’re right but he’s scared. He’s terrified that you’ll be ripped away from him again and he can’t get it out of his head. It haunts him every day.

“I kiss you.”

“You know what I mean. I know it was scary, Steve. I know. But I’m right here, and I need you to be, too.”

He has to be honest, he knows that, but he feels guilty feeling this way when you’re the one who died.

“You died. You died in my arms and I watched it happen. I couldn’t save you… I couldn't do anything. I was so scared, and I know that you were too, but you don’t know what it was like for me.”

You understand where he’s coming from, and it brings tears to your eyes to think about what kind of state he was in. Only, you’re okay now, and he needs to understand that.

“Listen to me. I know you were afraid and alone but I’m here now,” you take his hand and place it on your cheek, yours holding it there. “I’m alive and with you.”

“You’re not, though!” He doesn’t mean to be so loud, or to get frustrated but he can’t help it. “You can barely see without those glasses and I see you wince all the time. You’re not the same, neither of us are. I’m scared to move, I’m scared to breathe. I’m terrified that I’ll do something that hurts you.”

You’re crying now, you both are.

“Steve. What hurts me is how you’re treating me like something breakable. I’m safe. We’re safe.”

He swipes his thumb over your cheek, you reach out and do the same to his. Things won’t be solved so quickly, both of you know that, but it’s a start.

“I know. I know that, I do, I’m just so scared.”

You move his hand to press over your heart, letting him feel it beat. He takes in a shaky breath, like it’s really helping him. You’re alive and that’s what’s important, he’s aware of it. He thinks he’ll make a new habit of listening to your heartbeat.

He leans his forehead against yours. “I’ll try to be better. I’m sorry for being distant.”

“You’re already amazing, Steve. You take care of me and I love you so much for it. I just want you to see that everything’s gonna be fine.”

He kisses you, one, two, three quick pecks that might not be much, but the contact grounds you both. It’s what you’ve been needing for so long.

“I love you too, baby. Can't imagine my life without you.”

“You don’t have to anymore. I’m here, and I’m staying.”

He’s impossibly grateful that you’re his, that you survived despite the odds. He’s grateful that you spoke up because he didn’t realize how much he needed to let it out until you did.

He’s eternally grateful that you love him.

[willbyerssupremacist]

“the wheelers can’t love”

i feel like most people view ted and karen’s relationship affecting mike in the sense that it made them unable to express their love, however, i think otherwise.

don’t get me wrong, they were definately affected by ted and karen, just in a different way. the way i see it, they can and have expressed their love for others multiple times in the show.

nancy not only said that she loved jonathan in season 4, but we can tell that she meant it because she pointed out every single thing about him that made her fall in love with him in the first place.

mike has also expressed his emotions on the show. though he didn’t say the words “i love you”, mike’s season TWO monologue is a clear example of mike genuinely expressing his feelings, and we can see that he does it without hesitation.

the way i see it, it isn’t that the wheelers can’t show love, it’s that they are trying to express their love to the wrong people. they are putting on a facade, they are settling for people who they know deep down that they truly do not want to be with, just like karen and ted’s relationship.

in fact, murray even explains this to jonathan and nancy, so i’m not sure why so many people are hooked on the idea that the wheelers cannot express their love at all.

“nancy couldn’t tell steve she loved him” because she didn’t! which is the same reason i believe mike can’t tell eI that he loves her, because he doesn’t, not in the way she wants him to.

the wheelers were affected by their parents because they have this distorted idea of what “love” is meant to be, they conform to what is expected of them in a relationship and suffer in silence, just like karen.

there is such a drastic difference between jancy / stockholm syndrom and byler / malignant tumor.

with steve, nancy was trying to be someone she wasn’t. even barb said it, she was acting different. with jonathan, nancy was able to actually be herself. they didn’t have a superficial relationship. their relationship actually had a build up, they fell for eachother naturally. they can be their true selves around eachother, there’s no pressure. they can talk to eachother and comfort eachother. that is why nancy can so easily express her love for jonathan, because it is real and she isn’t forcing herself to be someone that she isn’t.

the same exact thing can be said for mike and eI vs him and will. it’s genuinely scary how similar these two situations are. we’ve seen that eI (bless her soul, this isn’t her fault either) has shown no interest in the things that mike likes. she ignored his toys in season 1. she didn’t like it when he burst into song in season 3, which was him showing his true personality. at the end of season 3, we even see that he holds back from getting excited over presents and dnd. and don’t even get me started on how mike tried to be a completely different person in lenora. not to mention the fact that these two never seem to be able to tell eachother the truth or sit down and have a rational conversation about their feelings.

with will, it’s different. will already knows mike. will and mike have been best friends their entire life. will loves mike for who he is, which is why mike is so comfortable being himself around will. the amount of heart-to-hearts these two have had this past season, let alone all the other seasons, shows that mike is able to truly open up to will. in fact, mike pretty much only opens up to will. mike is always the first to apologize to will and he has stated how much he truly cares for him multiple times without hesitation.

“i’m the only one who cares about will!”

“if we’re both going crazy, we’ll go crazy together. right?”

“it was the best thing i’ve ever done.”

“he’s quiet today.”

“i feel like i lost you.”

“it’s hawkins, it’s not the same without you.”

i mean, why do you guys think everybody says they miss season 2 mike? mike didn’t randomly start being an asshole in season 3, he just started to hide his feelings and conform to what he thinks he needs to be in a relationship. 

“It's forced conforming. that's what's killing the kids. thats the real monster.”

honestly, he needs to get murray’d next season. someone tell this poor boy that he does not need to suffer in an unhappy relationship and pretend to be someone he isnt for the rest of his life...

[forever-rogue]

cute Steve idea got to me and it won't leave. 😫 husband! Steve and reader are talking about kids and they both get super excited about the idea. and when they talk about it more Steve notices the reader slowly drifting,staring into space. then she says she worries about not being the mom that a child needs, being good enough for them, because they deserve love. then Steve cheers her up saying " you will be the best mom!" "but I cant take that title away from you, mama steve" fluffy fluff 💜

AN | If you’re going to have babies with someone, I think Stevie’s a good choice 🥺🥰

Warnings | Discussions of children/pregnancy

Pairing | Steve x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 1.1k

Masterlist | Steve, Main

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Negative.

Despite what you would have thought, you felt a wave of relief wash over you. You heard a knock on the bathroom door that pulled you back to reality and reminded you that your husband was on the other side, also eagerly awaiting an answer. Unfortunately, you knew that his reaction wouldn't be the same as yours.

You opened the door slowly and shook your head as you held out the test to him. He took it gently, his fingers brushing against yours as he looked over the test before turning his attention back to you. He tried to read your expression, and leaned in to press a few soft kisses to your lips. 

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" he brushed his thumb over your cheek as you nodded. Suddenly you weren't so sure if you were relieved after all. You did want to have a baby, Steve's baby, but you were terrified of the idea of actually having a baby. It was a complex web of emotions and you couldn't stop the swell of emotions that caused tears to well up in your eyes, "honey."

"I-I don't know, Stevie," you admitted and looked away, not wanting to have a complete breakdown. You knew if you met his eyes, his soft, sweet eyes, you'd cry that much harder, "I-I think I'm alright."

"Hey," he put his finger under your chin and tilted your face up towards him. Your lip trembled as you looked at him and he tutted lightly. He took your hand in his larger, warmer one and started to lightly pull you towards the bedroom, "c'mere."

You sat down at the edge of the bed, hanging your head. Steve got down on his knees in front of you, hands resting on your thighs, "talk to me, sweetheart. What's wrong?"

“Steve,” you put your hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze. You knew what you wanted to say - what you had to say, you just weren’t sure how he would respond. That was the worst part of all, “my first thought was that I was happy it was negative. Relieved.”

“What?” his expression faltered as you looked at him with big, worried doe eyes, “what do you mean? I-I thought…we wanted this? Do you not want to have a baby anymore?”

“N-no, I do,” you promised and he seemed to relax a little, “really. I’m just…getting to this point, where I’m actually testing to see if I’m pregnant makes it seem more real. It is real. But I’m…scared, Stevie.”

“It is scary,” he agreed softly, reaching up to cup your cheek in his hand, “and honestly, I can’t even imagine being in your position, because you’re the one that has to go through a whole pregnancy. I’d probably be more worried if you weren’t nervous, angel.”

“You always know what to say, huh?” you put your hand on top of his and brought it to your lips to press a gentle kiss to his knuckles, “I love you, Steve.”

“I’m your husband,” he grinned; he loved getting to say that and loved telling anyone that would listen that you were his wife, “I’m always here to support you. I love you so, so much.”

“I know,” you slid off the bed and onto the floor, plopping down in front of him. Steve wasted no time in pulling you into his lap and settling his hands on your hips in a firm but gentle grasp, “you are going to be a wonderful father, Steve. Any kid - our kids - are going to be so lucky to call their father. But I…I can’t…I’m worried I won’t be a good mother. I feel like you’re so good with kids and babies - I mean Eddie’s baby adores you and the kids look up to you so much, especially Dustin. And then…there I am. I don’t know if I’ll be a good mom.”

“Baby,” he took your face in his hands and gently peppered soft kisses all over your face, “you are going to be the best mother ever. I have no doubt about that. We are going to be the best parents ever. Or the most metal as Eds would say. You’re going to be the best mom.”

“Steve,” your heart felt like it was full to bursting with his soft words of reassurance. You couldn’t stop yourself from leaning in and kissing him, “I love you. But no one can replace you, Mama Steve.”

“I love you,” a pretty flush of pastel pink welled up in his cheeks as you looked at him with nothing short of pure adoration, “but I mean it, angel. It’s not going to be easy, I mean we’re going to be bringing a whole new human into the world. A human that we’re going to be responsible for…I think we should be nervous. But I also know that together we’ll be able to figure it out. Look at all the shit we’ve gotten through…we can survive a baby.”

“Yeah,” you worried your bottom lip between teeth before nodding, “I think you’re right.”

“Of course I am,” he teased softly before brushing a few rogue strands of hair out of your face, “hey, we’ve got this. I mean it, baby. And if you ever need a boost or a bit of reassurance, you know I’m here for you. Always, my queen.”

“Such a dork. The kids and Eddie have really gotten to you,” you laughed lightly as a few tears rolled down your cheek. He reached up and gently wiped them away, “thank you, Stevie. I…I really can’t wait to have your baby.”

“I can’t wait to get you pregnant,” he leaned in and nudged your nose with his before kissing you softly, “but, if you want to wait a little bit longer, we can do that too. There’s no rush, no need to do this right away. When you’re ready, we’ll do it.”

“I…I think I am ready,” you promised, “I just…as long as you’re with me, I think - I know we’ll be okay. I might just need a little bit of reassurance every now and then.”

“And I’ll be here to give it to you,” you sighed wistfully as you melted into his arms and let him hold you tightly, “I’ve got you, angel, I’ve always got you. I love you.”

“I love you, Stevie.”