#and steve is just enamored in general

[vecnuthy]

obnoxious

@steddiemicrofic October prompt: suck | wc: 480 | G | no warnings |

Eddie and his friends poured over notes in the booth across from Steve and Robin, but had devolved into silence.

Well.

Almost silence.

Gareth tapped a straw against the table top, Jeff scrunched audibly on very crunchy house-made chips, and Freak wrapped his knuckles on the tabletop.

And then there was Eddie.

Bane of Steve's existence.

The light of Steve's life.

Steve leaned against his and Robin's table with a sickeningly fond gaze that he hurled in Eddie's direction as the guy made the most god-awful noise with his straw. It sounded like a vacuum cleaner trying to pull up a mound of kibble. Eddie struggled absentmindedly to pull every single last drop of his Dr. Pepper from the bottom of that glass, to catch every bit of the essence of those 23 flavors as they melted off of the ice and dripped down into the vortex of insanity, as Robin just called it.

"I'm about to smack that out of his hand," she said through clenched teeth.

"I know," Steve practically sighed out, eyes still glazed over as a little smile played at his mouth.

"Really? You look li-"

Eddie shook his glass around obnoxiously, then continued to suck.

Steve could practically feel Robin clench her fists and grit her teeth. "You look like he just saved a kitten from a tree," she spat out, clearly annoyed.

"Oh. No, I have literally never been more annoyed in my entire life," he said, still gazing adoringly at the personification of gravel in a blender.

But that was his personification of gravel in a blender.

"You're ridiculous. And hopeless." And she was at her limit, so she balled up their receipt and chucked it at Eddie's face, but it landed short and on top of his notebook, making him give one last startled suck as the whole table jumped from the intrusion.

Eddie snapped his head over and gave Robin a scowl that matched her own, as he hissed, "What?!" But his face softened into something gooey when he saw Steve's. "Hey," he grinned out.

Steve gave a little wave.

"Would you stop?" she hissed.

"Stop what?"

"Your drink-based chainsaw impersonation!"

Eddie narrowed his eyes at her, then whisper-shouted, "I'm thirsty."

"Get a refill," she whispered forcefully at the same time Steve held out his glass and said, "Have mine."

Eddie smiled brightly at Steve, got up, and took the glass from him with the most ridiculous levels of eye contact between the two of them, then sucked the drink through Steve's straw.

Eddie's face fell.

"Is this diet?"

Steve chortled softly as Eddie looked a little betrayed but still accepted it and sat back down.

"So. As I was saying, there's a bakery with a couple positions listed, and they're willing to see us on Thursd- are you kidding me?!" she quietly shrieked as Eddie's second glass rattled ridiculously again.

[transvampireboyfriend]

ok concept: Steve is intrigued by Eddie in the Upside Down deal, and after he saves him he sticks around for his recovery, Eddie becomes part of the group, you know the drill.

But from the start, from that very first terrifying weeks where Wayne does not leave his nephew's bed side, Eddie is NEVER alone. Which is a good thing, mostly. People flock to him, he's a natural born leader and he fits right in with that role.

It's partly why Steve is now enamored with him, after seeing him wrangle the kids without them even knowing what's happening. After seeing him charm all their parents in a town where everyone who doesn't know him, hates him. After seeing him comfort Max, cheer up Lucas, relate to Mike, encourage Dustin, endear himself to Will and El.

And if that wasn't enough he bolsters Robin just by being so unapologetically himself around all of them. Steve is more than just impressed, and he tries to make it known. He frequently thanks Eddie, he makes sure to always hear his opinion, he asks him about his interests, he's there if Eddie will be.

But they're NEVER alone. Not after movie nights, not at their workplaces, not at Hellfire, not at hospital appointments, not even at Eddie's place, there's always someone else around, it's never just the two of them. No matter how hard Steve tries.

No matter how many soft smiles, or meaningful looks, or even shoulder touches, hip checks, loud laughs, hair mussing, you name it, they're always interrupted. Or maybe it's just never enough for Steve.

And he's so frustrated that he doesn't even realize that Eddie notices, notices how Steve huffs or blushes or just generally switches tracks when someone interrupts their little moments. And he interprets this as Steve struggling with liking Eddie, so he doesn't push.

And of course it all goes on for longer than it should UNTIL! Steve tries calling Eddie, just on a random weeknight, since the night prior he had tried his best to ask Eddie out after he loaded the kids in his van to drive them home after movie night, but, you guessed it, they got interrupted again. So he's determined to fix it, he wants Eddie to know he's interested.

And Steve feels so silly, this shouldn't be this hard, he shouldn't be pouting because Eddie doesn't pick up his phone. But he just stares at his ceiling until it gets dark, until he can't stare anymore. And finally he grabs his keys and heads out.

It's late, early, whatever. He just wants to drive somewhere, nowhere. Until he sees a familiar van parked under the stars outside of town. He pulls over and sees Eddie inside.

"Steve? it's three am!" Eddie says, a little scandalized,

"Yeah!" Steve answers in the same tone, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Eddie huffs, "Just an insomniac now"

"Sorry, man"

"Yeah, me too. Looks like we're on the same boat"

Steve half nods.

"Want a cig?" Eddie offers,

So, Steve parks his car a bit ahead, walks back, gets in. He tells Eddie he wishes he could tell him it'll get better, but he's awake at three am too isn't he? They share a few cigarettes.

And they talk, finally, no one interrupts them. Finally, Steve can ask about all that intrigues him, finally, he can be sure he's the one making Eddie laugh, finally, he can hold Eddie's gaze long enough that it's crystal clear that Steve wants more, and finally, Steve asks Eddie out as the sun rises.

[steddiealltheway]

Has this been done yet? (Oh, this is so much longer than intended)

Everyone knows Eddie is in love with Steve. It's not like he really tries to hide it. He's always flirting with him, taking up all his personal space, and finding excuses to constantly hang out with him.

The only person who refuses to believe this is Steve. He insists that Eddie is just dramatic, so all his feelings are larger than life, and flirting is just second nature to him. Really, it means nothing. Although Steve wants it to mean something.

He's come to terms with being bisexual after a quick discussion with Robin about what his feelings for Eddie meant. And really, after discovering a universe that is the parallel Hell to his own, being bi is the least of his concerns.

On the other hand, Eddie Munson is one of his greatest concerns. Every time Eddie flirts with him, his brain goes perfectly blank. And it doesn't help that Steve gets so distracted by the man's damn lips. But Steve can tell it's all just a part of who Eddie is. He draws people in until they're utterly enamored with him, and his means of flirting is his way of drawing Steve in.

Honestly, hearing everyone trying to convince him that Eddie has feelings for him just makes Steve uncomfortable because none of them have confirmation from Eddie about it. And it just fills the room with a weird tension whenever Eddie and Steve are with anyone else. Eddie has brought it up a few times with a quick whispered, "Why is everyone staring at us?" And Steve just brushes it off until Eddie moves onto some random topic that has Steve dropping everything he's doing to listen.

But one day when Eddie's at Family Video, he's grabbing a tape and suggesting him and Steve should watch it at nine that night. Steve instantly agrees which has Eddie fanning himself and flirting, "Watching a movie with the Steve Harrington. How will I ever be able to recover?"

Steve leans in and finally flirts back, "It's a date." Which has Eddie freezing in a place a moment before he clears his throat and slow-mo punches the counter.

"It's a date," Eddie confirms without his usual bravado that has Steve finally noticing it. The dilated pupils, the way his eyes flicker to his lips, the way he licks his lips when he leans in, and just the general soft look he gets when he looks at him.

Eddie likes him. And Steve is about to pull out all the moves at his trailer tonight.

Eddie leaves a bit after that, not sticking around like he usually does, but he tells Robin he has a date to prepare for when she comes out of the breakroom. As soon as he's out the door, Steve is spilling everything to Robin who agrees to help him before his date.

A few hours later, and a lot of arguments over outfits later, Steve is showing up on Eddie's doorstep with flowers in his hands. Eddie opens the door and accepts them with a laugh. "What a kind date you are," Eddie says and welcomes Steve inside.

Steve looks around and takes note of how the trailer doesn't really look any different, and Eddie hasn't changed since he left, so Steve's unsure of what he was preparing for unless... He shakes his head. Too soon.

Eddie flops down on the couch and offers Steve a beer which he gladly accepts to calm his nerves a bit. He sits right in Eddie's space and puts his arm around the back of the couch. Eddie looks at him and jokes, "And I thought you hated when I got in your personal space." Nonetheless, he leans into Steve as the movie starts.

And Steve has no idea what's happening on the screen. He goes through his beer fast and sets it on the table in front of them. He turns to Eddie and asks, "Where's your uncle?"

Eddie glances up at him and replies, "At work."

Steve gets distracted by how close his lips are to Eddie's but decides this is the perfect time to finally make a move. "Good," he says as he leans down.

Only, Eddie is shooting back and asking, "What are you doing?"

Steve freezes. Eddie doesn't look pleasantly surprised at all, instead he looks scared and confused. Fuck. "Uh, forget about it. Sorry," Steve says as he scoots away from him and slowly stands up.

"It's okay," Eddie says still looking a bit panicked. A few awkward moments pass by before he's talking again, "I...I should apologize for leading you on... with the flirting in stuff... I didn't know you were..." he trails off.

"Bisexual," Steve fills in for him. Eddie gives him a confused look. "It means I like men and women."

"Oh," Eddie says, eyes still wide but looking a bit lost in thought.

Steve just echoes, "Yeah, oh." He fidgets the edge of the stupid blue shirt Robin had said would make Eddie lose his mind. He feels a pressure behind his eyes that's wildly embarrassing. "I'm gonna go," Steve says and rushes out the trailer and into the pouring rain. He has no idea when it started raining, but it doesn't matter because Eddie doesn't even try to stop him.

Steve parks his car outside of Robin's and goes to the side of the one-story house and knocks on her window. Robin is unlatching it immediately and asking, "What the hell are you doing? It's raining out."

"You were wrong about Eddie. He doesn't like me. Why would you convince me he did?" Steve says loudly over the rain.

Robin's eyebrows furrow. "There's no way he doesn't. What makes you think that? And get inside, you're already soaked!"

"He apologized for leading me on, Robin!" Steve says, not caring about the rain or how loud he's getting. "He didn't even stop me when I left! So, don't try this whole setting people up with me thing again. I'm done with that." He stalks off as Robin calls out to him.

He knows he's being dramatic, but he doesn't care. He really liked Eddie, and he hadn't been prepared to be rejected by him. Worst of all, this is going to ruin their entire friendship. Who are they without the flirtatious banter and constant teasing? They weren't dating but Steve has never felt so heartbroken before.

When he gets home, he doesn't really think, just goes to his pool and dives in. He's already soaked, so it's not like it matters too much. He floats on the surface and closes his eyes, feeling the raindrops falling on his face which are noticeably colder than his tears, but at least he can pretend it hides them.

The sound of thunder in the distance is what drags him out of the pool. He's not going to let lightning be the thing that kills him after everything. Although his heartache feels a bit intent on killing him. But that just makes him angry at himself.

He isn't allowed to be this hurt over things. He really isn't. He should've known better. That's all. His thoughts wear him out until he's falling into a fitful sleep.

Work the next day sucks. Robin's acting all anxious around him, and Nancy comes in acting all sympathetic until Steve finally snaps, "If you're not here to get a movie, then you have no reason to be here."

After that, Robin lectures him about taking his anger out on other people. At least she isn't giving him that damn sad look anymore.

For the first time in weeks, Eddie doesn't show up during his shift, and Steve realizes he needs to get used to that.

A week later, the kids are giving him the same treatment Nancy did after they finally get Steve to spill the reason why Eddie doesn't come to the Family Video anymore. Steve slips away into the back after Robin tells him it's his break time - which is absolute bullshit, but Robin doesn't let the kids know that.

Steve has his head in his hands when he hears the door to the breakroom open. He doesn't look up, expecting Robin to tell him that the kids have left or something. Instead, he hears, "Just give him a while. If you're lucky, it won't take him years to figure things out."

Steve's head slowly comes up to reply, "Not all of us can be lucky like you and Mike."

Will shrugs. "If not, you know Eddie will still be friends with you. I give it a week before things are back to normal." Steve smiles at the kid. He's optimistic and determined in a way that makes Steve feel a glimmer of hope.

Two days later, Steve is wiping off the counter towards the end of his shift when he hears the bell to the front door ring. He glances up to find Eddie walking in looking slightly cautious as he looks around the empty store.

"Hey," Steve says as he approaches the counter.

Eddie smiles slightly and says, "Hey." Then, he's handing over a tape to return, and Steve tries not to flinch when he recognizes it as the one they were supposed to watch that night.

"A bit late," Steve jokes but automatically clears the fees before he sets it in the returns pile for the next day.

Eddie puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs. "I forgot." His eyes lock with Steve's for a moment before they begin to look at anywhere but him. "Where's Robin?"

"I let her go early," Steve explains. Another awkward silence settles between them.

"Well," Eddie says and removes a hand from his pocket to drum his fingers on the counter. "I'm gonna head out."

"Wait," Steve calls out as he turns around. Eddie freezes. "I'm about to lock up. Could you just wait around a few minutes?" Steve asks, trying not to cringe at the desperation in his tone.

Eddie turns around and gives him a small smile. "Of course."

Steve nods and rushes to clean up. It won't kill anyone to close the store a few minutes early. He grabs his stuff from the back and is slightly surprised when he finds Eddie still waiting for him when he returns. But he glances up and gives him a smile that makes Steve believe that maybe Will was right. Maybe things will return back to normal in a week.

And they do. Eddie starts showing up during Steve's shifts again, talking about something random which Steve listens to full heartedly although sometimes he doesn't get half of what he's saying. Then, Eddie is returning a tape that has been late for so long that Steve actually gasps when he sees the late fee. But Steve automatically clears it which has Eddie flirting, "Is this because you think I'm cute?"

It has both of them freezing for a second, but then Steve is firing back, "I'm just making sure you know that you owe me in the future." Eddie pouts ridiculously dramatically which has Steve laughing and saying, "And maybe because you're cute."

The compliment has Eddie's cheeks turning slightly red before they move on to a random topic. Steve is happy to find their dynamic shifts a little after this which allows Steve to flirt back easily. It confuses everyone else, but Steve is perfectly content with it, especially when he finds Eddie's smiles growing with every compliment he gets.

One afternoon, Eddie is looking through tapes and gives him the oddest deja vu when he holds one up and says, "We should watch this together."

It's said all casual, but Steve hasn't hung out with Eddie alone since... yeah. And he's kind of freaking out. "After my shift?" Steve asks.

"It's a date," Eddie says with a bright smile that has Steve excusing himself to go to the bathroom.

He splashes his face with cold water and takes a few deep breaths. It isn't actually a date this time - he knows that. But the memory of the last time might be a little too much for Steve to handle. He dries off his face with a thin paper towel, and exits the bathroom only to find Eddie anxiously fiddling with his rings at the counter.

"You okay?" Steve asks, and Eddie turns and nods with an unconvincing smile. Steve lets it go as Eddie talks about his most recent DnD session with the kids and how Will is a genius. Steve definitely agrees with him on that topic.

A few hours later, Steve finds himself in the Munson trailer on the same couch, drinking the same beer, but this time keeping a respectable distance from Eddie. Minutes later, Eddie is heading to the fridge to grab two more beers, and when he comes back, he sits right next to Steve.

Steve glances towards him in slight confusion, but Eddie remains staring at his TV as he practically chugs down his second beer. Before Steve can reach out for the other one, Eddie is opening it and starting on a third one.

Steve's hand comes up to settle on Eddie's hand on the bottle. Eddie slowly puts the bottle down and blurts out, "My uncle is working again."

Steve just slowly nods, not sure where he's going with this. Eddie looks at Steve and his eyes quickly flicker to his lips where they linger. Steve can't help but ask, "You okay?"

Eddie's eyes snap back up to Steve's eyes, and then he's taking his beer and taking a large gulp of it that has Steve on edge. He's definitely preparing for something, but Steve has no clue what it is.

Eddie turns to him and asks, "Remember when you told me you were..."

Steve racks his brain. Into you? Gutted when you didn't like me back? "Bisexual?" he asks.

Eddie nods quickly. "I... hadn't heard of that before, and it had me wondering if... I was bisexual."

"Oh," Steve says as his heart rate increases.

"Yeah, and then I thought about Chrissy and how I thought I might like her, but I think I just liked her the way Robin likes you. Completely platonically." Steve nods as Eddie builds up the courage for what he's going to say next. "And I kind of realized that maybe I didn't like girls at all. But then that freaked me out, and I realized that maybe I need to think less in labels and more about how I feel."

Steve tries not to smile as Eddie's face scrunches up as he mumbles out, "That's so fucking cheesy. Christ." In a normal volume, Eddie continues, "And I think that I have... feelings for you. Especially after you tried to kiss me. I just couldn't stop thinking about how I wanted you to, but I didn't know what that meant either. But then when you were flirting with me, I just... wanted that forever. And then fucking Mike had to talk to me about how it made me feel to imagine you with anyone else - which turns out to be really fucking not good."

Steve laughs, and Eddie finally looks at him with a big smile and says, "Don't laugh at me while I'm trying to admit I have feelings for you! That's rude!"

Steve laughs even harder and explains, "I'm laughing because you got the Mike lecture while I got the Will pep talk."

"Huh?"

"Will told me you would come to your senses eventually, and if not, you'd still be there - as a friend."

Eddie looks off for a second and shakes his head. "We can never tell them those worked. Dustin will be so pissed."

"You're right," Steve says with a laugh, but then he finally realizes what Eddie is saying. "So, you might like me?" Steve asks feeling every bit like a high school boy.

"Yeah," Eddie admits and turns to look towards his beer longingly.

Steve cups his jaw and turns his head to face him. "Want to find out?" Steve asks.

Eddie's eyes flicker to his lips again and his hand comes up to mimic Steve's as he rests his hand on his cheek. "Yes," Eddie breathes out.

Steve slowly leans into his space and lets Eddie meet him halfway for a slow kiss. Eddie pulls back after a moment and smiles wide, "Yeah, I'm definitely not straight. And I really like you."

Steve smiles and brings Eddie in again. "I really like you, too," Steve says before he kisses him again.

Posted on AO3 for @starkdusk

[lavendermunson]

Little secret, big secret - steve harrington

chapter 2 of miss americana and the heartbreak prince

summary The little secret it's not so little anymore since you tell your best friend. She gets to the questioning part but you can't focus on anything else but Steve.

tags famous!singer!reader and famous!baseball-player!steve. Robin, Nancy, and rockstar!Eddie make their appearance! the only warning is consumption of alcohol again, they are adults 'kay.

w.c 2.7k

series masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

When Sunday comes, you sit in the living room of your house in LA. A generous bowl of ice cream, complete with crushed cookies and whipped cream, sat before you while the tv showed the sports channel. You couldn’t quite call yourself a sports fan, but there’s a reason you are tuned in – you wanted to see his face again.

Pictures as nice as they were, simply didn’t do him any justice. You needed to see that genuine smile, and maybe, just maybe, when the camera focused on him, you could see that smile you liked so much. 

Friday night was one of the best nights in your life, for sure. But between all the giggles and your racing heartbeat, you’d forgotten to ask for his number. It’s the only thing you regret from that night. Because when you let your mind wander back to that backyard, your entire body quivered with excitement.

His lips are soft against yours. The whiskey lingered on his lips but he had a sweet natural taste. His hands are squeezing your face with just the right amount of pressure, sending you to the moon. You wished that night would have lasted forever.

As cheers erupted from the TV, you got out of your pool of thoughts as the game started. The stadium’s music fills the place as the teams line up to greet the crowd. The camera pans from the fans to the players, capturing their energy.

The announcer’s voice presents with enthusiasm to the MVP – “Most Valuable Player,” which you quickly deciphered. Perhaps you needed to get your hands on a baseball magazine to stop feeling so lost.

When the camera zooms in on his face, you see his big pretty smile. He waves to the crowd, everyone chants his name clapping and jumping. They love him, he is a big deal. 

His eyes make contact with the camera lens, and you blush, feeling he is watching directly at you. He waved at the camera, slightly winking. He winks at you, he knows you are watching.

“Good luck, Steve” you mumble, grabbing your bowl of ice cream and getting comfortable to watch the game. 

—

Your cat jumps at you, falling on your tummy and waking you up. You weren’t sure when you fell asleep, but you glanced at the TV, and the game was over. Steve’s smile is bright as he celebrates with his teammates - they have won.

You felt guilty for falling asleep, but thankfully the sports channel has a segment that analyzed the game's best moments afterward. So that’s what you focus on for now, watching Steve being a natural talent, swinging the bat like he is the king of the stadium while everyone is enamored by his smile.

Your phone dings for the first time in the night. You sigh, the bright screen a bit harsh on your sleepy eyes as you check the text from an unknown number.

unknown: “hey :)”

You try to guess who it is but nothing comes to mind. Your friends are all saved in your contact list, you haven’t made any friends recently. Then it hits you like a wave, it was him. You try to match his chill tone, hiding your excitement like a little kid on christmas.

you: hi, who are you?

unknown: did you see how I winked at you on tv?

you: oh, Steve. yes, I saw it!

You think about a clever way to save his contact before he responds.

you: if you couldn’t already tell… I blushed right away

little secret: Really?? I wish i’d see that, i like it when you blush

you: next time I will send you a pic, hope is not a big of a distraction :’)

little secret: Are you kidding? I was thinking about you all the time and i did good

you: I saw, congratulations! You are amazing!

little secret: Thank you, gorgeous. Hey, my team wants to go out for drinks but, can I see you over the week? 

His charm even shows over texts.

you: Sure, uh is this a date?

little secret: Absolutely, I have something in mind. I hope you are free on thursday

you: I am, see you then

little secret: Can’t wait, good night beautiful 

you: Goodnight, handsome ♡

You lock your phone after the text and lay back on the couch, holding your phone to your chest with the biggest smile on your face. You are going on a date, you haven’t been to one in a long time, it’s something exciting but also makes you nervous. You know you can't tell anyone about this, it has to remain a secret. But if anyone could keep a secret, it was your best friend, Robin.

You quickly send her a text, inviting her to your place tomorrow. She says yes, assuring you that she’d catch the next flight to LA as soon as possible. You’d mentioned you had good news and bad news about a boy, and she couldn’t wait to talk to you.

__

Robin was about to have a heart attack over the news. Her jaw nearly hit the floor and you remained frozen in your seat. She leaned in, placing her hands on your shoulders, giving you a swift shake. 

“This is fucking insane!”

“So?” you ask.

“I mean, everything sounds like something out of a movie and I didn't think you were into athletes? You only date actors mostly…”

“Robs” you interrupt her before she says something even more embarrassing than your dating life.

“Yeah, it’s great but you… are you sure of this? Can you keep it a secret when both of you are being constantly harassed by paparazzi? And are you sure it’s worth all the trouble? Are you sure that he is good for you and not just looking for his fifteen minutes of fame?”

All of these questions make your head spin. You didn't think about it like this. Like a serious thing. You were having fun texting Steve in the morning before you had to pick Robin at the airport. But she is right, all of this feels like it belongs to a movie. Deep down, you believe it could really work.

“No, that’s why we are keeping it a secret and I believe we can make it. He is a good guy, Robin”

“You have known him for what? Three days? How can you be sure? I don’t want to see you crying over a douchebag again”

And she is right again. Her lawyer-like ability comes in handy when she is giving you advice. You grew up together, both of you have a great career but she has never left your side and always supports you. As your best friend, she just wants to protect you too.

“I’ll take it slow. I will be so careful, I promise” You smile at her, and she hugs you tight.

“You have to think about it with the seriousness it requires”

“Can you stop talking like you are in a courtroom?”

She laughs. “Tell me you haven’t written a song about him”

You pulled away from the hug, gently. Your gaze falls over to your lap to hide your cheeks, which are tinted pink.

“Oh, you did… in two days?”

“I wrote it all at midnight and finished around two. I still need the melody”

“Your fans are going to go crazy when they find out” She bumps your arm slightly with her fist.

“Now, what are we doing? There is a concert at night of that metal band you like”

“Corroded Coffin?” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“Yeah, them. Do you want to go? I can get special tickets” 

“Of course. I can get special tickets too”

“How?” you ask.

“I’m friends with the lead singer, I helped them with some legal issues. You know, rock stars and their passion for destroying hotel rooms”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” you take her hand and lead her to your room, where you can get changed while dancing. You pop out a bottle of champagne to celebrate her company. You two are usually busy with work,  but it’s always good to see her.

—

The concert is great. It’s one of those private concerts, with no cameras, no obsessive fans taking thousands of pictures, and no one from the media. You enjoy the music as you sit next to Robin, who chats with Corroded Coffin’s manager, Nancy.

You want to ask for a fancy drink, not just a beer as usual. You watch the bottles of whiskey and just as magic, you hear a voice.

“Soft spot for whiskey?” He sits on a stool beside you and asks the bartender for two cups of whiskey.

“Steve!” your first instinct is to hug him, you throw your arms around his body and he wraps his on your waist.

“Hey, gorgeous. What are you doing in a metal concert?”

The bartender hands you both your drink, uninterested in your interaction and you keep your hands on Steve’s arms. 

“My friend-” you turn around but Robin is nowhere to be found. She’s probably somewhere with the band’s manager you met before. “She worked for this band when they had a problem with their hotel rooms”

“Yeah, typical rockstar shit” he laughs, drinking his whiskey and never taking his eyes off you. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were resting,  you had a great game yesterday” 

He smiles as bright as ever hearing your praise.  “Thank you” he nods. “I’m friends with the lead singer, we used to go to high school together”

“Oh, you guys have been friends for a while?” 

“No, not at first, but now we’re pretty good friends. I’m glad he moved out of town and now he is a big star. He’s had this band since before we met, and  I’m proud of them” 

“You sound like a great friend. You are a big star too!” you tell him, taking a sip of whiskey to encourage you. 

“Look who's talking, the biggest star ever,” he chuckles, his hand finds the edge of your stool and pulls it closer to him. Your body loses its balance and Steve places a hand on your back to catch you. His arms are strong, and his touch on your body feels just right. He is looking at you like a masterpiece in a museum. 

You blush immediately, your heart thumps against your chest.

The music gets inevitably louder, you turn to watch the stage. Steve keeps his arm around your waist for the rest of the night. Everyone jumps and head bangs with the rhythm of the music, this is nothing compared to your shows. It’s a different energy, it’s good and it’s fun and it makes you laugh. Steve turns to see you smile, he grins and leaves a kiss on your cheek. 

Noticing no one is paying attention to you, you get brave and turn to kiss him. Your hand is pressed against his cheek while his lips move softly against yours, he squeezes your body with his arm pressing you against his chest. This is a different kiss, it’s quicker and it feels hotter.

Robin’s question lingered in your mind. Are you moving too fast? Is this going to work? But you know she had a point, you promised to be careful.

You break the kiss, leaning your forehead to touch his. His breath mixing with yours, he feels something is wrong but decides not to ask.

The place goes louder as Corroded Coffin finishes his shows, the lights go off and that’s when you get back to your seat. Steve decides it’s not really the place or time to talk about what’s going on. He’d figure it out soon, even if it meant losing some sleep over it.

“I have to go get my friend, it was lovely to see you again” You reach for his hand and he takes yours, giving a gentle squeeze. You get closer to his face as before, only to press a sweet peck on his cheek  “I’ll see you on Thursday, Steve”

The lights are now bright so people can find their way out. It makes both of you nervous that people can see you now. Steve doesn’t care much, getting close to you and leaving a peck on your cheek, just like you did. He hugs you wrapping his arms around your neck and getting close to your ear to whisper “Have a sweet night, beautiful” 

His soft but deep tone makes the butterflies in your stomach flutter. It was as if honey dripped from his mouth.

You smile as Robin gets to you, perfect timing. Steve walks off to join Eddie backstage, and you head home with Robin to have a perfect sleepover for old time's sake.

__

“Are you sure about this?” Nancy asks, as Eddie gets lost in his six pack of beer that some groupie left in his dressing room.

“I am! She is amazing and beautiful” Steve insisted. He knew he’d only officially met you for three days now, but he had had a crush on you for a long time. “I made a move, and things are moving swiftly”

“What’s wrong with that, Nance? Big boy is finding the love of his life!” Eddie helps Steve, trying to make him feel better. However Nancy keeps her arms crossed in front of her chest. He knows Steve has a big heart, but sometimes he can be so out of touch with his emotions, it tends to hurt people.

“Nothing is wrong if he’s sure he can take care of her,” she says, both of the boys in the room glance at their friend like little kids being yelled at by their mom. “And what is Hopper going to say about it? You know he doesn’t want you distracted from your games” 

Hopper had taken Steve under his wing, training him after he recognized Steve had talent. The four of them left behind so much in Hawkins to follow their dreams, they just can’t risk it. 

“He doesn’t mind. I’ll be okay, really” Steve tried to reassure them.

But Steve knows it is going to cost. Because his ego can get to him, he needs to be the best to show everyone he is capable of it. He likes the winning, the praise, the trophies. He couldn’t handle losing. He can’t afford getting distracted.

“And she is not just another girl in town for a one night stand” Eddie adds. “She is the prettiest, most loved, and most talented girl in… the whole world actually” 

Then there was you, the girl Steve had fallen for in just one night. The girl who had him waking up earlier than usual to send you a ‘Good morning, gorgeous’ text as soon as the sun peeks from his window. He loved it when your sleepy ‘Good morning, handsome ♡’ showed up in his notifications and he would reply as soon as he finished off with training at his home gym. 

God. It has happened one time and Steve wants it to be forever. But it would be so much better if instead of you waking up with a text, you wake up next to him. He can already imagine you sleepy face, your disheveled hair falling on your naked shoulders after a night of– Earth to Steve!

“Exactly, but only if the secret plan works. If this goes public and you hurt her, everyone is going to make your life miserable, starting with her best friend”

“Ooohhh, and that’s when we leave Big boy alone and focus on little Nance, getting a date with that fancy lawyer I see?” Eddie teases, Steve sighs in relief that the conversation shifted away from him.

“I do have a date with her. But Eds, please stop destroying hotel rooms” Nancy says, and Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle at their playful banter.

Steve laughs at his friends and how they start bickering, but an uncomfortable feeling of anxiety sits right in his stomach. This has to work, he better not fuck it up. He likes you, he wants you.

tags @eddiesguitarskills (comment to join the tag list!!)

I hope you like this series, feedback is appreciated! don't forget to REBLOG TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR! . ♡

if you want to collaborate and make a story about rockstar!Eddie in this universe you are more than welcome. I saw this idea a few weeks ago and I loved it

[abibliophobiaa]

My sweet babes I'm so sorry allergies are kicking your butt rn ! My dear Luna , Can I pls get a small little look into what our gourgous buttercup and Eddie are up to ??

from the daylight universe

dad!eddie munson x mom!reader

requests are open (general requests for any eddie/steve and scenario, not just daylight ones)!

——

You tried everything.

A choo-choo train. A helicopter. An airplane. And none, absolutely none of the aforementioned options, intrigued your six-month-old. In fact, most of his mushy peas ended up everywhere but his mouth. Coated his high hair tray, his bib, his cheek — even his curly head of hair.

Because every time you went to offer a spoon to your son, his head turned at the last second, whiny cries spilling from pouty lips framed by chubby cheeks. Instead he was too interested in everything happening over his shoulder to even attempt trying a new food for the week, where mere feet away his older sister was playing air guitar with your husband.

“Eddie,” you grumbled, stirring him from his little concert, drawing his attention your way, “help?”

“What? Benny Boy doesn’t like his peas?” Eddie mused, slipping into the adjoined kitchen to press a loud kiss to Benny’s cheek, earning a gummy smile and the cutest giggle. Baby boy was enamored with his dad. “Someone is a little messy.”

He gestured to all the encrusted peas on every surface area of baby Benny’s feeding area. You huffed out a grunt as Elena barreled into your lap, never wanting to miss out on the extra attention of her parent’s.

“He’s your son,” you laughed, pinching at the bridge of your nose as Eddie dragged over a chair in front of Ben, “he doesn’t like anything green.”

“Mommy is being silly, isn’t that right?”

“Mommy always siwwy,” Elena giggled, earning a little tickle from her father before he turned back to his baby and waved the spoon near Ben’s pursed lips.

Ben, knowing what his father intended, pushed his head as far back as he could into the cushion of his high chair. Pushed his face into the furthest corner, eliciting an elongated whine.

“Daddy, sing song,” Elena said brightly, leaning forward in the circle of your arms to grasp at her baby brother’s hand currently waving angrily in the air. “Benny, vegebles make you grow big!” And then she turned to you as Benny broke into a louder cry of anger, “Mommy, why is he yelling?!”

Your hand glided down her head, brushing away some messy curls, “He’s just a baby; he doesn’t know any better. You used to cry when I tried to feed you foods you didn’t like.”

“I did?”

“All the time, sweet girl,” Eddie said, holding up the spoon to his son one more time. “Aww, Ben, come on, buddy.” Eddie cleared his throat, muscle in his bicep shifting as he tried one more time to spoon feed the baby, singing quietly, “Come crawling faster.”

Ben’s eyes sparkled at the sound of his father’s voice, head turning to face him. You grunted out a laugh, because both of your children danced away while they were still on the inside whenever Eddie sang to them. Figured now he recognized it and stood at attention.

“Obey your master.”

“I can’t look at you right now,” you laughed, bouncing Elena on your knee.

“Your life burns faster,” Eddie sang, and Ben giggled, bright and joyful, mouth opening wide enough for Eddie to shovel a bite in.

The moment of truth came in the form of Ben staring at you both, brows furrowed, a little bit of extra peas spilling out from his closed lips. Baby boy’s mouth moved, worked over the contents of his palate, and both of you waited on bated breath to see if peas would be on the menu for the foreseeable future.

Your answer? Food splattering from puckered lips, the sound of his normal bubbles he’d make, paired with the force of his breath sending green sputtering into his father’s face. Eddie closed his eyes, your own laughter unable to be stifled as Benny bursted out into loud, rising giggles.

“Da-ddy,” Elena trilled, her own laughter like little bells in your ears.

Eddie jerked his head over his shoulder, a little glum, sticky with baby food, grimace on his lips. “Not a word from you, Buttercup.”

“Got a little something…” you teased, thumbing at his stubbly jawline, “right here.”

——

“I feel like I still have peas in my hair,” Eddie grumbled later that evening, when both children settled down for a nap.

“Baby food is like glitter.”

You laughed, walking across the bedroom as he rubbed a towel over his wet hair, chest bare, gray sweats hanging low on his hips. Fingers slipped up and over his torso, forging a path over his shoulders, before your arms draped around the back of his neck to hold him close.

“Hi,” you whispered, leaning up just the slightest to press a kiss to his lips, “I’m happy you’re home.”

It had been a long couple of months. He’d barely made it in time for the birth of Ben, your contractions starting while they were just getting on stage for a concert, ramping up much quicker than they did with Elena. By the time you were allowed to push, Chrissy was there to hold your hand, moving out of the way only when your husband rushed in, still sweaty from his show, hair a mess, cheeks reddened like he’d ran from the venue.

You’d tried to come along to as many local shows as possible, but doing so with a newborn at the time proved difficult. Eddie had missed a lot of those first six months, a fact he grieved every day because neither of you planned for your second child to come a few weeks earlier than anticipated. But now he was home, and you couldn’t be happier.

“Missed me?” he teased, voice a low rumble against the curve of your neck, lips seeking out the places he knew had you preening for him in seconds. “Thought about you all the time while I was gone. My best friend, my wife, the mother of my children.”

His fingers dragged up the edge of your silky shorts, toying with the hem of your panties, along the wet spot already forming there, dragging a slow circle along your clothed clit. “Thought about you like this too,” he practically purred, forehead dropping against yours as you gasped against his lips, “when did Steve and Chrissy say they’re taking the kids?”

“Five,” you huffed out an exasperated sigh, craving nearness to him too. He’d only gotten back the night before, had walked over to your bed and face planted into it after holding both your babies tight until they’d gone off to bed. “And then it’s just us. And…a teeny tiny gift I might have gotten you.”

“Are you pregnant again?” His eyes twinkled at the thought, and you shoved him jokingly at the mere notion, though you’d love one or two more in the future.

“I’m going to need at least another year before we think about that — but no, it’s…” You paused, grabbing his hand to lead him toward the garage. “Remember how we’d both said we always wanted a dog?”

“Baby…” He couldn’t help the excitement in his tone, the way his eyes softened and then widened when he saw the golden poof of hair hidden in a box, a giant red bow around his furry neck. “You got me a puppy?”

“Shhh,” you giggled brightly, insides melting as your husband reached down to pluck the puppy from its box, “I haven’t told the kids yet. I wanted to show you first.”

Said puppy wiggled in his new dad’s arms, pink tongue rolling across his chin, his cheeks, his nose, making your husband burst out in laughter at the influx of pure love.

“Welcome home, Eddie,” you said, folding against his chest and patting at the puppy’s head. “I love you.”

He kissed the top of your head as the puppy leaned over to lick your nose. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

——

[novacorpsrecruit]

Theme: social media / modern media AU

Don’t Hate the Player by daynight (Ao3) @daynightinc (tumblr)

M | wc 6,373 | minor cw cut scene cyber sex (I read it at work 🫡)

Steve Harrington doesn't really play video games. Not his thing.

Somehow, however, he's ended up in an utterly delusional, one-sided relationship with an NPC.

This is so fucking unique I’m literally hanging it up Video Game Hall of Fame. Rochester, here I come. Steve is bullied into playing ‘Upside Down’ an 18+ MMORG, as Dustin tells him the most efficient way to get a hold of him is through [reads notes] the in-game messaging system. Sounds right. Steve gets enamored with the game, playing hours on end even without Dustin. And Steve finds Keswardia the Banished, an NPC merchant, that he can’t stop visiting.

I’ll be honest I fucking love video game lore. It’s one thing that sucks me into games so hard. The world building in this fic just for the video game is so good!! I want to eat it up. And the fact that Steve stumbles into Keswardia destroys me. Read it, you’ll get it.

Gareth the Matchmaker by Steviesbicrisis (Ao3) @steviesbicrisis (tumblr)

G | 15/16 chapters | no cw

Gareth is in charge of the Corroded Coffin official TikTok account, he's playing Fuck Marry Kill with the three random celebrities filters and trying to make the other guys join as well.

When it's Eddie's turn, he's having none of it until he sees the three celebrities on top of his head.

He has no clue who these people are, but the one in the middle? Eddie is sure he's going to marry him someday.

Eddie has yet to find out that the guy is none other than baseball player Steve Harrington, 1/3 of the "Ladykiller Trio", currently playing for the Yomiuri Giants. In Japan.

And when things get too complicated for Eddie's liking, thankfully he has Gareth on his side.

I honestly think this is the first time I’ve ever read a social media AU that’s only through images and with a complete story. There’s screenshots of the text messages, Instagram, news articles, TikTok’s. This is such a unique storytelling method and everyone is so in character, you forget that it’s not real screenshots. (I hardly ever read anything that’s incomplete but I made sure to hit subscribe when I first saw it was on Ao3.) It’s a WIP, but chapter 16 is supposed to be an epilogue, so even if you don’t like reading WIPs, I highly encourage this one!!

WHO IS EDDIE MUNSON FUCKING by beetlesandstars, witchjeons (ao3)

M | wc 2,445 | no cw

Summary: eddie: oh god

oh no god please no

FUCK

FUCK FCUK FUCK FCK FUCK

NOBODY LOOK NOBODY SCROLL UP

PLEASE

nancy: did you actually just sext the fucking group chat

eddie: so. like

Or, Eddie accidentally sends a sext to the group chat. Chaos ensues.

I fucking die reading this. This is an entire fic made of chat rooms and it’s so fUCKING funny I’m not even joking.

Eddie accidentally opens a can of worms when he sends the wrong message to the wrong chat and chaos ensues. All of their personalities fit so well in a modern setting and it feels like you’re snooping in someone’s phone. I really recommend anything that Jo writes that has chats (and in general)!

Eddie Munson/Hotdude Official Megatherad! By MixAddams (ao3) @mixsethaddams (tumblr)

T | wc 1,906 | cw Reddit simulation

Summary: The general public spent 30 years thinking nothing of Steve’s presence in pictures beyond him being ‘that one hot dude in the background’ because whatever, he was just another part of Corroded Coffin’s entourage.

Imagine the scramble on the band’s subreddit to reexamine every picture he’s ever been in when, the day gay marriage gets legalised in Indiana, Eddie posts a picture on Instagram of the two of them with the caption “Finally. We’ve been engaged since 1989.”

(Because of the formatting is infinitely clearer on desktop or tablets than on mobile)

I absolutely love this. This is literally peering into the Stranger Things universe in 2Kwhatever and peering into the mess that is Reddit and the Corroded Coffin fan base. This is so fucking brilliant I just !!!! Please read.

Seth tbh I don’t think I realized this was your fic I love your brain, I’m kissing your brain.

Consensual Catfishing by foresthearts (ao3)

M | wc 32,108 | cw miscommunication

Summary: When Eddie gets a message on instagram from an account claiming to be the famous pop-star Steve Harrington, he knows immediately it's a catfish. He's not dumb. The account has no pictures and people like Steve Harrington don't just randomly DM guys like Eddie.

Still. What would be the harm in letting it play out? It's not dangerous if he knows he's being catfished. No, if he knows about it, then it's basically like a fun little roleplay. No harm, no foul.

(Eddie is not, in fact, being catfished)

*slaps the screen of Ao3* This baby can fit so much into it! Mistaken identities, identity porn, mixed media, famous Steve, slightly less famous Eddie, podcasts, text messages, tumblr posts, and dungeons and dragons.

Eddie, a DM for a Dungeons and Dragons online podcast (vodcast? wtf do you call it when it’s a video series), gets a message from someone pretending to be his (slightly former) celebrity crush, Steve Harrington. Eddie goes along with it, joking about it on his show, and maybe he kind of falls in love with the catfisher…

While Steve Harrington finds out an internet celebrity is into him. He reaches out to the famous DM Eddie Munson in hopes he can get over his former relationship with his bandmate.

This Untitled modern AU by @steddiealltheway

G | ficlet sized | no cw

Summary: A wrong number leads to Steve making an unlikely friendship.

This fic rattled my brain so much, when I was searching for it I thought it was on Ao3/10K fic. I absolutely love this piece! Robin goes out on a date and Steve (lovingly) jokes that Robin is going out with a serial killer. Steve texts Robin’s new number, just to ensure she’s safe and not actually with a serial killer… only to find out that he has the wrong number. He creates a friendship with Not Robin (of course, after finding out Robin was indeed safe), and maybe he falls along the way, too.

Found God in a Tomato by beetlesandstars (ao3)

M | wc 5,725 | no cw

Summary: Eddie: just met the cutest guy on god’s green earth and i didn’t get his number

basically it’s over for me

Steve: Oh? Where?

Eddie: at this little coffee shop i like

i’ve never seen Tall Pretty Gorgeous here before though so. i will probably never see him again.

shoot me

Steve: Tall Pretty Gorgeous huh?

He must’ve been something

Eddie: YES Steve. he WAS

operative word being WAS!

i can’t believe i didn’t ask for his number

Steve: What’d he look like?

Eddie: oh, you know

his beauty was beyond compare

with flaming locks of chestnut hair

with suntanned skin and eyes of roasted beans…

his smile soft like summer rain

his voice was like a breath of spring

and i cannot be normal now, joleeeeene

I actually found this fic while searching for the above untitled tumblr fic (when I thought it was on Ao3) and stumbled upon another great Jo creation!

A text to the wrong number creates a friendship through sending songs back and forth (the best kind of friendship). And ugh!!!!! I just love this so much.

i couldn’t see (you were always right beside me) by oriscribes (Ao3)

T | wc 13,609 | cw they’re fucking idiots

Summary: Three hours later Steve logged off to get ready for his shift at the hospital. He was several levels higher and had finished the quests in Darkshore with the help of Greyhawk. He also had a friend listed in his friends list.

Greyhawk had said that being friends would let them be able to tell when the other was online so they could quest again. Steve really liked the sound of that. He didn’t have many friends his own age. He and Robin basically lived in each other’s pockets at work, but with Robin’s new girlfriend and their sleep schedules, they didn’t end up getting to hang out more than once a week.

A new friend sounded really nice, especially given that it was unlikely he would ever get along with his neighbors. The only resident Steve’s age on this floor was the neighbor he hated and that was very unlikely to change anytime soon.

OR

Steve hated his neighbor. And then Dustin and the other kiddos left for college and Steve signed up for some online game called World of Warcraft. Which was how Steve met a Night Elf druid named Greyhawk.

Oh my god did we ask for more mistake identities because THIS FIC IS LOADED WITH THEM!!! I cannot stress how much I loved this fic. I just discovered it two weeks ago and it is embedded so deeply into my brain I just !!!!

Steve decides to join Dustin and the rest of the party on WoW, to bridge the distance college has created, but somehow never joins their party as he makes a new friend online. Steve uses WoW to relax from the real world of his stressful job at the hospital, the ongoing feud he has with his neighbor and his cat (Cowboy!!!!!!), and the constant nagging he gets from Dustin to meet his other older friend Eddie.

Eddie, on the other hand, found a newb on WoW and somehow adopted him as a new friend, helping him level up and teach him the game. If only friendships work out this well in real life, then maybe he could help his grumpy neighbor not be so … well… grumpy.

Please remember to leave kudos and comments on the fics you read/enjoyed! Support your writers 🖤

Prev fic rec: fics that fucked me up (so you should read them too)

[kaytheday]

Steve Randle and Evie Head Canon's

I just have a lot of thoughts about Steve and Evie. Particularly Steve as a boyfriend and what kind of girl Evie is. I might do a future post on what I think Evie would be like, but for now it's just them together.

Story HC's: 

They met in kindergarten. When they were playing kiss tag, Steve kissed her on the cheek and she punched him in the face. 

They kept fighting each other. He would pull her pig tails and she would kick him in the shins. 

From all this bickering, they learned that they lived near each other in the same block. 

They first kissed in 6th grade. Behind the dumpster of the Jr. High school, they kissed. Not really knowing how, but a quick few pecks and some red cheeks and they ran away. 

They hung out a lot because they lived near each other, but they dated other people for a while. 

In their sophomore year they began to fall in love for real. 

The summer before sophomore year. At a greaser party, Evie was wearing something a little more showy while chatting with her friends. Steve showed up with Soda and was absolutely enamored by her. Like jaw down to the floor, this boy could not play it cool.

But apparently, he played it cool enough because by the end of that party they were making out on a park bench near Steve’s house. They ended up staying the night at Evie's house. 

Her mom was at a boyfriend's house and Steve’s dad had always been a jerk. 

They’ve been dating since sophomore year. 

General HC's:

Think of the most disgustingly touchy couple you know. Multiply it by twenty and you have Steve and Evie. 

They literally cannot keep their hands off of each other. 

Steve and Evie will ditch Soda on double dates to go make out or do naughty things in the bathroom. 

Evie likes to hang out at the DX. She’ll sit on the counter sucking on a lollipop while Steve makes inappropriate jokes about her sucking something else. 

Steve tries to impress Evie with his skills with cars. She likes watching him flip a hood and ramble on about car nonsense. 

She is also his biggest fan at the drag races. Cheering like a mad woman while Steve beats everyone. 

 They both like to drive with Steve’s hand on her thigh while she sits in the passenger seat smoking.

There have been times where Steve is a hazard to others on the road because he can’t keep his eyes off of Evie. 

Don’t even get me started on Soda as the third wheel! 

“Oh look it’s ’ol Evie and Stevie!” All the time while they were in school together.

“Good night kids, use protection!” 

Two-Bits not much better. 

“Yeah, lace up! Don’t you two be making me an uncle now!”

Kathy and Evie are pretty good friends too. They would double date with both of them but Steve can’t stand Two-Bits antics most of the time. 

Oftentimes they hang out at her house. Mostly because her mom is never there or drunk out of her mind and Steve’s dad kicks him out once a week.

Sometimes they sit on the floor of her room while a soft record is playing. Steve plays with her soft hair while she reads a magazine. 

Steve likes hair. Though he’ll never admit it to any of the guys. He especially likes Evie’s silky black waves. 

I’ll probably think of some future head canons too.  I’ll link them here when I do! 

[supernovafics]

strangers to lovers to enemies with steve harrington

(very much inspired by “in the kitchen” by reneé rapp)

wc: 1.6k

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

strangers

for the first time in a long time, you didn’t hate your job. 

when you found out robin would be working at the family video next door to the pharmacy you had been working at for the past year, you were glad that you would finally have a friend close by. 

it would make your boring job a bit more bearable. 

you went into family video during your lunch break on one of her first few days. she stood behind the counter with someone you didn’t recognize.  

“welcome to this side of town,” you said with a smile, grabbing her attention. 

she smiled back at you before then sighing. “do you know how many old people call here just to rant about how “disgusting” and “sacrilegious” the movie selection we have here is? answer: too, too many. they even hate the cartoons meant for little kids. i’m pretty sure i lose a year off my life every time a call like that goes past five minutes.” 

the only reason you found her words to be the slightest bit funny was because dealing with annoying old people was a staple to your job as well. “please don’t quit yet. the fact that you’re next door is the only thing that makes me slightly like my job now.”

“i’ll be here for at least a month.”

you laughed at that. “how generous of you.”

“this is steve, by the way,” she told you, gesturing to the guy next to her. 

you nodded at him and introduced yourself with a small smile before heading back next door. 

steve was smiling the entire time as you walked away, something that robin did not fail to notice. 

she lightly nudged him. “don’t even think about trying to get with her, harrington.”

to lovers

naturally, steve did not listen. 

because there was something about you and your personality that he was completely enamored by from that first very minor conversation he had with you at family video. 

therefore, one night when it was just him and keith in the store and no robin to stop him, he went next door to see you. 

you were stocking shelves and were surprised to see him walk into the store. 

“hi?”

“hi.”

there was something about his presence that made you feel slightly nervous, mainly because you didn’t know him well yet, and you always felt awkward around people you didn’t really know. 

“um, how’s it going?” you asked because that was the only thing you could think to say at the moment. 

“i just finished helping a lady find a movie that would ‘spice up her marriage.’ those were her exact words. we spent half an hour looking through pretty much every porn we have in the store, which for a place named family video was weirdly a lot,” steve responded and after your initial shock subsided, you fought the urge to laugh at his story. “and i’ll sadly never get those thirty minutes back. how’s it going here?”

“can’t say i have had experiences like that one today, which i’m very sorry for by the way,” you said. “but, earlier i did have to help an elderly woman pick out the best diapers for her husband, and she went into too much detail about why he needs the biggest size we have. i won’t tell you what she said because you don’t deserve to be subjected to that, but i’m scarred forever.” 

he then made a joke about how insane the people in this town are, which made you laugh, and the minor awkwardness fell away from there. 

“how long is your break?” you asked when it neared an hour of him being there with you. he started helping you stock shelves when after ten minutes of doing nothing other than talking, you told him that your boss would hate you if you didn’t finish stocking by the end of your shift.

steve glanced at the watch he was wearing. “yeah, i should probably be heading back. what time are you done here tonight?”

“i’m off at 10.”

he smiled at your response. “same here. do you wanna do something after?”

“okay,” you nodded and then turned away so that he didn’t see how happy you were at his question. 

that night you drive around aimlessly in his car, listening to music and talking, before stumbling upon a drive-in movie theater and deciding to watch the black and white movie they were playing. 

steve’s affectionate and sweet, and you get hit with the unfamiliar feeling of deeply liking someone that swells your heart. so, when he kisses you when he drops you off at your home, it just makes sense to you. 

to enemies

when robin entered the pharmacy on a random tuesday, a month after your first kiss with steve, she groaned. 

she didn’t know about you and steve yet, but there had been so many instances where you almost accidentally slipped and mentioned it. 

steve hadn’t wanted to tell her about you guys just yet because of how adamant she’d been about him not trying anything with you. you personally thought that after her initial surprise wore off she wouldn’t really care that the two of you were together, but you still understood steve’s hesitance. 

it was quiet in the store when robin walked in, and you were at the front counter, mindlessly flipping through a magazine. 

“what’s happening today?” you asked, knowing that she would have some sort of story to share about family video. for a job that seemed fairly simple, there was always something happening there. 

she sighed as she walked over to you and pushed herself up to sit down on the counter. “steve’s flirting it up with some girl right now. and laying it on very heavy, might i add.”

it would be an understatement to say that her words only surprised you. they confused you, made you do an inward double take to make sure that you truly heard her right. and when you realized that you did hear her correctly, her words immediately saddened you. and the worst part was you couldn’t tell her any of that. 

“oh?” you tried to hide the shock in your voice. you pulled your eyes away from hers and flipped a page in your magazine. 

“yup, and this is surprisingly the third girl this week that’s actually flirting back with him. i had to get out of there this time before it turned into a low-budget john hughes movie,” robin told you and then groaned again. 

you heard yourself responding with, “ew, that sounds horrible,” but your mind was in a completely different place right then, and all you could think about was steve and this girl, and apparently two other girls as well. 

before robin could question your sudden detached demeanor, you shoved everything you were feeling right then  to the side and plastered on a smile. “you can seek refuge here as long as you need.”

robin smiled back at you as she picked up a random magazine, which was actually the same as yours, and began flipping through it. “god bless you.”

she headed back next door twenty minutes later since she was off in an hour anyway, and that was when you finally let yourself sit in the sadness you were feeling. 

sadness that oh so quickly turned to anger. 

and when you saw steve hours later, moments after your shift ended, which was also the same time that his did too, you could feel your blood nearly boiling. 

“hi,” he greeted you with a smile on his face. 

you glared harshly at him before turning away and heading to your car.

“what’s wrong?”

“fuck you.”

you could tell that steve was taken aback by your words and you almost didn’t explain to him why you were acting the way you were, but ultimately you did. 

“robin told me that you were flirting with some girl at the video store today. ‘laying it on very heavy’ were her exact words. and she also said that this was the third girl this week that was actually reciprocating your flirting. third.”

he looked away from you and a part of you expected some sort of an explanation from him, to explain that maybe all of it was somehow some big misunderstanding. however, when no response came, you continued speaking. 

“i know that we didn’t have a full label on this ‘thing’ we have going on, but still, it’s pretty fucked up, and i can’t believe that i thought you actually liked me.”

“i do like you,” steve told you, full conviction in his tone. “but, this was never supposed to be something serious. i thought we were both on the same page with that.”

those words hurt you because in your mind the two of you were working toward something serious. it was still fairly early, but you liked him a lot and you thought he felt the same way. at least when you were making out in his car he made it seem that way. 

“well, i guess we weren’t,” you finally said, trying your hardest to keep your voice steady because you didn’t want him to see how much he hurt you. 

“i’m sorry,” he said, and you hated how you could hear the sincerity in his tone, and you also simply hated him in that moment. you didn’t want him to feel bad for you and you especially didn’t want to see him ever again. 

“just don’t talk to me anymore,” you told him. your voice was cold and harsh, and you didn’t wait to hear any type of response from him before getting in your car and finally driving away. 

on your way home, you realized through blurry eyes that your hope of never seeing him again was probably fruitless because he would be next door to you most days. 

suddenly, you were right back to hating your job. 

[eriquin]

Steddie Superhero AU Part 4

Last part of my quick fic. Why are my outline-only fics hitting 8k? Because my brain will not shut up about them.

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (you are here)

Warning tags: neglectful parenting, child superheroes, more injuries.

...

Robin wants to know if he wants to talk to Eddie about this, because maybe he’s okay with it and he’s got his own thing planned. Steve agrees to meet with him, if they can get them somewhere safe. He doesn’t want to deal with an ambush. When they get them together, Steve wants to talk to Eddie alone. The first thing Eddie does is apologize for how he acted before, and they talk through what Eddie thought was going on and what was actually happening. Eddie says that his parents treated him like shit and once he figured that out, the way he treats the Party makes a lot of sense. Steve hasn’t really had a chance to tell anyone what happened to get him trapped yet, and once he starts talking about it with Eddie, he can’t stop talking about the finer details of his messed-up upbringing.

If there’s a place to tell the backstory of baby-superhero Steve, it’s here. He was a child superhero, the kind of thing that just isn’t done anymore. This was part of the arguments that Eddie (as Hellfire) and Steve had about the Party. The kids are generally considered too young for real superheroing, and Steve was even younger than they are. He had super strength and fast healing but not the top-tier kind of thing that his parents had. They kept trying to push him further and further in the hopes of him developing better powers, but it never got better. The only thing that’s rare about him is the sympathetic healing ability, which isn’t really a flashy combat power. Except that his parents started relying on it for cleaning up their messier fights. If their son heals everyone afterwards, it means they don’t have to hold back as much. Steve eventually realized that they didn’t care that he was hurt by it, either. Robin helped him escape and build a new life, and they’ve been each other’s besties ever since. 

He’s messed up about everything, but he’s finally physically healing and he’s afraid of how much effort it’s going to take to feel safe again. Eddie has to hold his own hands back to keep from touching him, because he wants to comfort him but doesn't know if he’s allowed. Eddie says that he’s not going to let them hurt Steve again and then Steve’s practically crawling into his lap. He just wants to be held for a little bit, and he says he’s still a little mad at Eddie but flying to his rescue with a cool dragon helped a lot. He mumbles something about feeling like a princess in a tower. 

Eddie winces: I feel bad about calling you prince charming before. You remember that? Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that Steve: That was on purpose? Eddie: Yeah. Christ, I’m sorry. Steve: It was nice. Finally made the title feel good, hearing it from you. Like you meant it. Did you... not mean it? Eddie: I meant it so much. You were sweet and charming and so fucking earnest and I liked you so much but you hated Hellfire Steve: ‘cause Hellfire was a dick who didn’t listen to me Eddie: I know! And I didn’t know how to tell you that I was both without you hating me for it. I’m so sorry. 

They’re curled up with each other now and Steve remembers why he was so enamored with Eddie. It doesn’t take much to start kissing him again, and it’s close to getting to be more than that when there’s a knock on the door, startling them. They shift apart and then Eddie gets up to let people in again. Robin and Hopper are there, as is Murray who is a friend of Hopper’s and a clever PR person. They ask if the boys came up with any good story to tell or plan of how to handle the issue with the Regal Heroes and how to clear Eddie’s name. Eddie’s like “Oh, is that what we were supposed to be talking about?” Robin, Hopper, and Murray collectively roll their eyes but Steve giggles a little which makes Robin happy to see. 

They go over what their options are and how they’re going to explain why the Regals were keeping Steve prisoner without revealing more about his power set than he wants people to know. People know he has fast healing and super strength, but they don’t know that he can take people’s injuries or that he’s any kind of healer. Murray has gone through the data that Jonathan and Robin pulled from about what they were doing to Steve and he thinks that the Regals wanted to try to duplicate his power, or to figure out how to activate it involuntarily on him. That’s some dark shit and he’s worried that if that comes out, not only will it involve a larger scale government cover-up but Steve might be targeted by people who want to recreate the experiment. So it would be better if they could figure out some other reason that’s more in line with your everyday, petty superhero bullshit. Steve has an epiphany.

Steve: I’m a princess Robin snorts: Yeah, the prettiest princess. Steve: No, shut up. I mean. The princess in the tower. They locked me up there. There was a dragon and everything.  Eddie: I mean, usually the dragon is guarding the princess instead of rescuing... Steve: Yeah, yeah, I mean. That’s why they locked me up, why you rescued me. That’s what we say? Murray: I’m not sure I follow, kid. Steve: Just... Make them garden variety homophobes. Not approving of their son’s boyfriend, they lock him away in the tower. No freaky medical experiments, no power reveal. Just your average kidnapping and involuntary confinement.  Murray, suddenly gleeful: Oooo... so the vendetta against Hellfire really is personal. That’s good. That’s going to make them look just awful. Steve: Right? Exposing my boyfriend like that, but not me? It’s coming at me without exposing themselves, right? ‘Cause if I stay with him then people will find out who I am.  Hopper: Wait, how much of this is true? Were you dating before this?  Robin: Like, three months ago. Steve: Two. Robin: Three. It’s April. Steve: Woah. Fuck. I’m so fired.  Eddie: Aww, babe. You’ll have to be a househusband.  Hopper: Do we have to wipe more records about you, Munson?  Eddie: Eh? Maybe? I’ve dated a bunch of people.  Robin: Boo, you whore. 

They figure out their stories and then Murray arranges something for a remote interview with Eddie about what happened, and then once they get someone to agree to it they let it drop that Junior Prince is also going to talk to them. He doesn’t like his previous superhero name but he’s not sure what else to call himself. They’re like “so the superhero formerly known as Le Petit Prince?” and he’s like “Not that. I’m not nearly as cool as the rock star.” What other name would they use for him? Eddie thinks they should call him Prince Charming. Steve hates it and wonders if there’s a good prince of hell he could be named instead. Eddie’s like “I think Asmodeius is the one for Lust” and Robin has a live Robin reaction and declares that Steve is Prince Charming now because they’re trying to go for a squeaky clean image. Steve resents this but he doesn’t really want to be in the mask again so he just rolls with it. 

So they get ready for their interview. They’re just wearing domino masks, which Hellfire usually wears under his face shield, and they’re mic'd up. Steve’s like “I forgot how much I hate talking on camera” before they’re on the air with the interviewer. No one has heard from Le Petit Prince in ages, but they roll with him being called “Charming” now and he explains that he’s basically retired. They go with the whole story about the fight with his parents being about them not approving of his boyfriend and keeping him captive for a month to try to break them up. It was interpersonal drama and his parents have taken it way too far by starting this vendetta against his boyfriend. Hellfire gives a little wave and says hi but mostly lets Charming talk. The interviewer asks if Hellfire didn’t start it by letting a dragon bite off King Whatever’s arm and Hellfire’s like “She is a strong, independent dragon and she does what she wants. She likes kids and doesn’t like bad parents.” 

The interviewer seizes the opportunity to talk mostly to Charming, asking him questions about why he retired and what he’s been doing. He talks about how his childhood sucked a lot but he didn’t know any better so now he helps take care of younger heroes and makes sure someone’s looking out for their best interest and keeping them out of trouble, as best as they can. He drags his parents at every opportunity. They finish off the interview with the interviewer asking what he thinks about his parents revealing Hellfire’s identity. Charming says that he wonders if they’ll get more than a slap on the wrist for doing that, and then goes 

Charming: It’s funny because as an independent adult, I could reveal my identity at any time. I know people do it, and it’s not like they’d have any right to sanction me for doing it just because my parents’ identities would be super easy to determine based on it.  Interviewer: What an interesting point.  Charming: Yeah, that’s the choice they made when they decided they’d rather have a sidekick than a son, huh? I think they thought I’d break up with this guy :jerks thumb at Hellfire: if everyone knew who he was, but the jokes on them, huh? Hellfire: Guess we’re not getting their blessing any time soon, huh? 

So they finish up the interview and it goes viral and gets sampled on stuff. There’s the court of public opinion that’s decently split about their relationship but not about Steve dragging his parents for child abuse and imprisonment. Steve’s parents are now pariahs among heroes and basically have to retire, but they’re still rich assholes in their regular life. But Steve’s estranged from them and is back to dealing with his own shit. Eddie gets recognized far too much to do the anti-establishment vigilante work that he used to do, but on the other hand a bunch of people like him and agree with him. Some people even like his music, and that’s cool. He’s internet famous, which he hates, but Jonathan helps him manage. He even tweets occasionally, in the style of terrible Bruce Wayne tweets that make no sense. When he does do the superhero stuff it’s usually for natural disasters or big villains now, because his upgraded shadow monster stuff has catapulted him into A league. Which he hates. 

There is one reporter who he’ll talk to, and it’s usually cute banter. Chrissy Cunningham starts as a music and arts reporter, but since Hellfire will talk to her about stuff she gets put into heroes stuff. He accuses her of flirting with him and says that she knows he’s taken. 

Steve gets his EMT job back, with his boss knowing that there’s something cape-related going on in his life. His boss probably already knew this, but realizes that it must have gotten very bad for him to be missing for a month. But Steve has a great success rate and he suspects it’s related, like maybe he has good luck powers or something. 

They get sent to a disaster that turns out to be unnatural. There’s a supers battle that’s collapsed a building and Steve’s helping deal with injuries. He ends up running in to drag someone to safety and one of the bad guys hits him. He gets stabbed by a javelin while there are lots of civilians around. There are certain rules of engagement for supers, because targeting injured people and medical personnel tends to get the attention of people like Nancy who just kill you for it. So he waffles between fight and flight mode because he thinks this is deliberately attacking him, but then the guy looks like he’s going to go after the injured people near him so fight mode it is. He tackles the guy despite his own gut wound, but ends up being thrown into the debris. Then other uninjured civilians start joining in on the fight, which they normally wouldn’t do but this injured EMT just tried to take down some clown in spandex and they’re mad about it. Then the Party arrives, including Hellfire and his summons, and the villains are routed quickly. 

The Party is good at disaster cleanup. Eddie’s directing his summons to find people who are trapped. He gives Steve a long look from across the ruined building, but he’s got his faceplate on so people can’t tell. But Steve is now a patient and being loaded into his own ambulance on a gurney and he can’t even protest too much because he really, really should be injured by this and it’d be suspicious if he wasn’t. He does whine a little bit about not getting to meet any of the heroes. Later on he’s in the hospital room he doesn’t need with a doctor who has to pretend that he’s still injured and Eddie sneaks in with the help of someone who can make illusions. 

Eddie, being cheeky: I just had to meet this heroic EMT who took on a villain all by himself.  Steve: Ha-ha asshole. Tell Robin that we need to check if that guy has a connection to my parents. They might have sent him to silence me Eddie, crawling onto the hospital bed with him and in a singsong voice: If they did, I’m letting my dragon eat them Steve: Oh, sweetheart. You say the nicest things.

They kiss for a little bit and Steve complains about being stuck in the hospital until a reasonable amount of time has passed for them to release him, and the door opens with a nurse saying she has Mr. Henderson’s meds. Eddie jumps away from Steve and fails to hide his face because he recognizes that the nurse is actually Chrissy. He’s suddenly pissed that she’s there, impersonating a nurse, and wonders if she’s actually stalking him. 

But she’s actually there to try to find out more about Steve, who was very heroic but was whisked away and she’s on the lookout for superhero-related stories that affect. She wanted him to get to him before the super teams tried to hush up him for any reason, as it’s happened before. She gets all in Eddie’s face about him trying to coerce a civilian and she thought he was better than that. 

Eddie: That is not why I’m here! Chrissy, poking him in the chest with her pen: Then why? I know it’s not to flirt. You have a boyfriend, remember?  Steve coughs: Yeah, Eddie. Remember?  Eddie: You shut up. Chrissy, catching up a little: Wait. Why aren’t you more injured? You were impaled. Steve, pretending very badly to be hurt: I’m very injured! I’m covered in bandages here. I’m ... absolutely not sitting up right now. Ouch?  Chrissy: ... Oh my god. You... Charming has fast healing.  Steve: Jesus, you were right. She is smart.  Eddie: This is your fault for getting stabbed. Steve: This is your fault for visiting me after I was publicly stabbed!

...

And that’s about all I have. I like Chrissy as the Lois Lane character. If there are any follow-ups, it’s exploring the Party’s powers and Steve finding his feet as a real hero. Or just having a happily ever after. He and Eddie would have excellent banter. Good enough for now.

Taglist: @kedreeva, @fiore-della-valle, @whydamnitwhy, @captainhaterade

[estrellami-1]

Soft Touch Baby

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3 | Pt 4 | Pt 5 | Pt 6 | Pt 7 | Pt 8 | Pt 9 | Pt 10 | Pt 11 | Pt 12 | Pt 13 | Pt 14 | Pt 15 | Pt 16 | Eddie’s POV | Song | ao3

Eddie is a sight to behold when he’s in the zone. Truly.

He picks up his guitar just to put it back down again. He walks around the room, notebook in one hand and pencil in the other. He sketches random figures in the air, looking off to the distance, mouthing whatever he’s thinking. When he gets an idea, he yelps and scrambles for the nearest hard surface to write on, sometimes just collapsing to the floor because it’s fastest.

Steve is ridiculously enamored by him. “Hey, uh, Eds?” He gets a distracted hum. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom real quick.”

“Yeah. Yeah, help yourself.” He waves a distracted hand behind him, in the general direction of the door.

Steve smiles and slips out to the kitchen. He freezes in his tracks when he sees Wayne sitting at the table. “Oh. Hello.”

“Hello,” Wayne responds. “You’re the, uh, Harrington boy?”

“Steve,” he nods, moving forward to offer a handshake. “And you’re Wayne?”

Wayne hums, accepts his hand. Studies him. “You anything like your father, boy?”

Steve winces, looks away. “I try not to be,” he says honestly.

“Good,” Wayne answers, leaning back in his seat. “And you and my boy?”

“We’re friends, sir.”

“Because of everything he can’t tell me?”

Steve offers a half smile. “Yeah. He, uh. He’s a really good guy. I’m proud to be his friend.”

Wayne raises a brow, amused. “You aiming for brownie points or some shit, son?”

Steve smiles. “Just saying what I know. He’s writing a song right now, so I figured I’d try to find us breakfast.” He points over his shoulder to the kitchen. “If that’s alright?”

Wayne waves a hand. “Have at it.” He flips his paper back up, clearly signaling the end of the conversation.

Steve smiles as he turns around and heads to the fridge.

He decides on eggs and toast, rooting around in the cabinets to look for a pan before getting the eggs and bread out.

About half of the eggs he makes, he breaks the yolks on. He takes those for himself, leaving Eddie with the better-looking, better-cooked eggs. He butters the toast and loads everything up onto two plates, bringing them back to Eddie’s room.

He watches as Eddie smells the food and whips around, eyes widening comically. “You’re an angel,” he says reverently. Steve very carefully ignores the way his heart flips in his chest.

“It’s eggs and toast,” he says, choking down whatever else wants to come out. “Coffee?”

Eddie waves a hand. “After. Thank you, seriously.”

Steve smiles. “You were busy. It really isn’t a big deal.”

Suddenly Eddie begins to laugh. “So I guess I cook at yours, you cook at mine?”

Steve chuckles. “Guess so.”

They sit on the bed, eating in silence, stealing glances here and there. Looking away whenever their eyes meet. Eddie shifts, stretches out his legs, pressing his shin into Steve’s.

Steve presses back. Looks at their legs. Doesn’t dare look up at Eddie’s face.

Eddie breaks the silence. Steve smiles to himself, because of course he would. “Sorry for…” he waves a hand, indicating the guitar back in the corner, the notebook and pencil tossed haphazardly onto the desk. “Y’know. Spacing.”

Steve doesn’t answer yet. Takes another bite of eggs. Thinks. “I don’t know how to show you that I think you’re a genius.”

Eddie blinks. “A genius?”

Steve shrugs a shoulder. “You’re a great storyteller, Eds. As someone who isn’t? Yeah. Your songs tell stories. And I’ve sat in on a few sessions now, right?”

Eddie snorts. “Only cause it’s in your house.”

Steve waves him off. “Point is. When you’re telling the kids what happens next? You’re… you’re fucking captivating, man.”

Eddie’s breath catches as he grabs for a section of hair to pull across his face.

Steve reaches over, fingertips on his forearm. "Don't hide?"

Eddie drops his hand. Catches Steve's wrist. Looks intently at it as his fingers brush over a beauty mark, just on the inside of his wrist.

Steve watches. Lightly grasps Eddie's wrist in return. Eddie's hand stills, squeezing once, before they sit in silence, both their gazes trained on their hands before drifting up, locking eyes.

They jump apart, both flushing, when Wayne knocks on the door. "Boys? I'm heading out to work, one of you lock the door behind me sometime today."

Eddie laughs. It only sounds slightly forced. "What do we have that someone would steal, old man?" He calls back.

"My dignity," Wayne immediately responds. "Just lock the damn door, boy."

Eddie grins. "Will do, Wayne."

Pt 14

Taglist:

@thegingervulcan @snapshotmaestro @the-redthread @tiny-enthusiast @thatonepotatochild @maya-custodios-dionach @imsociallyanxiousgetoverit @vhelt @newtstabber @huskysarelife @singmeyoursimpsong @gaysonthefloor @darkwitchoferie @vi-an-te @kato-hoeven @biatcgh @vampireinthesun @goodolefashionedloverboi

[justhere4thevibez]

Happy ficiversary, babe! To launch more of your gorgeous fic into the Hellcheer fandom, have a prompt:

Eddie and Chrissy's first date! Maybe even the drive there, like Eddie is super nervous and he doesn't realise Chrissy is too, so they have a quick kiss to calm themselves 😉 Or the date itself!

Aww thank you!!! This is such a cute prompt!!! Here you go:

Honestly? Eddie fucking hated first dates.

Like, intellectually, he knew they were necessary. Without a first date you couldn’t get a second date, let alone a third. But the first date was always a goddamn nightmare. You didn’t know them, and they didn’t know you, and the more you liked the other person the dumber you acted.

Or maybe that was just him.

And fuck, he really liked this girl. At least, he liked the way she texted, and that was saying something. They’d been texting for approximately four days, and for the last three days and twenty-three hours he’d been dying to meet her. And yet he was also goddamn terrified.

By the time he went to pick up his date, his hands were sweaty and he was somehow cold and hot, which should be physically impossible. Yet here he was, Eddie Munson, eighth wonder of the world about to die from both hypothermia and heatstroke. Truly, he was a marvel.

He pulled up to their designated pickup spot (a coffee shop, which was very sensible of his mystery girl) and immediately regretted not taking Steve up on his offer to borrow the car. What chick in her right mind would get in his van? None, probably. And he was over dating crazies. Mostly.

But before long, the cutest little redhead walked hesitantly over to his lurker-esque van and tapped timidly on his window.

“Eddie?” she asked, tilting her head to the side like she didn’t quite know what to make of him.

“Uh, yeah,” he said, doing his best to give her a not-creepy smile. What even made a smile creepy? Fuck if he knew. “Chrissy?”

“That’s me,” she said, gripping the strap of her purse tightly.

Goddamn, she was beautiful. He’d hoped she was—and he was already so enamored that it didn’t particularly matter to him what she looked like—but fuck. Big blue eyes, pink cheeks that he wanted to fucking bite (he wouldn’t, but oh how they tempted him), and she was wearing this cute little pink dress that tickled her thighs, showing her legs off in a goddamn delectable way.

She was so fucking far out of his league.

And yet she was already hopping into his van and buckling her seatbelt. Honestly, the fact that she hadn’t run screaming from his shitty van and weird-ass style (he liked it, but nobody else ever did) was a bit of a shock.

Think of something to say, his brain screamed at him as he drove to the restaurant he hoped to god would impress her—or at least be good enough that she’d want a second date.

“You’re pretty,” he finally blurted out.

Immediately, he wanted to slam his head into the steering wheel. Goddamn understatement of the year. Chrissy was a goddess in human form, fucking Tinúviel of the modern age, and he’d called her pretty? His head should be on a damn chopping block.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, sounding surprised. “You, too.”

She clapped her hand to her mouth as he let out a startled laugh. He’d been called many things over the years—most of them highly unflattering—but pretty? That was a new one.

“I’m sorry,” she said, covering her flaming cheeks with her hands. “I didn’t mean that, I—I’m just nervous. It’s, uh, been a while.”

“No, no, no take-backs,” he said, shaking his head firmly. “I’m officially pretty.” He pulled into the restaurant parking lot, and once he put the van in park he turned to her. “Just so you know, I’m nervous, too.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “But you’re so—”

She waved a hand in his general direction as though to encompass his entire aesthetic.

“Yeah, no,” he said, getting out and running around to open her door. “I’m fucking terrified of you.”

“Me?” she asked, offering him a confused smile.

“Yeah, you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and she leaned into his touch. “I really like you, and I really don’t want to mess this up.”

“Oh.” She reached up to catch his hand before he could pull away. “I’m not really that scary. Is—is there anything that would help?”

“A kiss might make it all better,” he said, then slapped a hand to his forehead. Fucking idiot. “Shit, I didn’t—”

She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him more effectively than any insult ever had.

“I think I can help with that,” she whispered, biting her lip.

“You—you do?” he asked, his voice a little hoarse.

“Uh huh.” She tilted his face toward her. “Want me to make it all better?”

“God, please,” he whispered.

She lifted up on her tiptoes, her dress billowing in the evening air, and pressed her soft lips to his. Their kiss was brief and chaste, and fuck he’d never loved anything more. He fucking whined when she pulled away, and she giggled, the sound as sweet as her lips had been.

“Don’t worry,” she said, interlacing her fingers in his and pulling him toward the restaurant. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”

[givepie]

So. Im from the north west of england, i dont keep that a secret. And its fucking scary. After the riots last night it looks like things have changed. Like it seems the EDL + other far right fuckers think its right to settle down and voice their opinions in a place that used to be rather well known as being kind.

One thing about atheism, is it makes it fuxking difficult to feel useful. Even when I was Christian, I never felt like I was doing anything by praying. But there's nothing else to do in a situation like this I think.

Even if you live in the area. The kind people of Southport worked to clean up the street the day after. It's important to remember that; reports say most of the rioters had left 20 minutes before the last train. The true locals went to clean it up.

And the rioters, they pretend to care. While hauling abuse at an actual local who was grieving a communal loss who was preaching peace.

It's also important to note, they pretend they care. They protest Islam and Immigrants, while the killer had no attachments to Islam and one of the children that they "want to save" was a first gen immigrant.

The initial attack may not have been terrorism, but this wave of violence spewed by people trying to force the government to hurt tens of thousands of people surely fucking counts. The terrorists are not coming from whatever fucking Islam-Generator they think exists, it's Steve next door who won't shut the fuck up about the "woke mob".

Anyway idfk How to end this I just hate seeing our country is brought to this. I'm tired, my mum is tired. My family is tired.

Watch We Are Lady Parts is a sitcom created by a Muslim brit with Pakistani heritage where 4 Muslim women start a punk band and are looking for a guitarist just to find Amina, someone who pukes up her own guts whenever she performs in front of people. Each character is bloody brilliant and I'm personally enamored. It has such hits as Voldemort Under My Headscarf, Bashir With The Good Beard, and Villain Era. Good bloody songs.

[still-single]

Records I Am Glad to Have Found in 2023: Part 1

Instead of rufflin' whatever (feather) maybe it's better that there's just a place where I can tell you that my life is better for having found these records and having them within reach. Maybe you might wanna reach for them as well. Up to you! Maybe feel fortunate that I want to engage with Tumblr at all, but the 16 or so accounts who said (anonymously) that they miss my review content may get a kick out of all this, and see where my head's at now.

New records, not-new records, things I bought, things that were sent to me, things I bartered for. Fair play.

First up, this Beau Wanzer record that I wrote up a while back. I feel exactly the same about it. It's new as of January and there aren't many releases out there like it at the moment. Undead, shufflin' Beau hours. One of my favorite DJs and electronic musicians in Chicago, he really does not seem to walk any path other than his own.

Al B. Sure! - In Effect Mode LP (Uptown/Warner Bros., 1988)

Growing up in my early teens, two songs from Al B. Sure!'s debut album were more or less inescapable: the masterful slow jam "Nite and Day," and the more uptempo quasi-diss track "Off On Your Own (Girl)." I never owned the record (why would I, this always seemed like a "why buy the cow" situation), and it never seemed to turn up used, something I better understand now.

This thing is great! It's short, mindful of our time and Al's. Side 1 contains four slow jams (the Nite! side), kicking off with the classic "Nite and Day" (so much rooftop glare and World Trade Center fixation in the vid) and cascading down into the whisper/falsetto/snap percussion ballad "Oooh This Love Is So" (kinda like an older brother NKOTB slow jam, really well arranged, FM synths cresting over top with some tasteful guitar buried underneath). His take on Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" is doctor's office soft, but works where the Fugees' take doesn't, as Al seems to know there's no improving on the original, and he's lucky just to put it in his framework. "Naturally Mine" is like the shadowy flipside to the majesty of the opener, and doesn't come close, but also doesn't need to; the Teddy Riley guitar work does a lot on its own.

Side 2 (the Day! side) turns on the lights for some more uptempo New Jack Swing template jams. Opener "Rescue Me" sounds like two songs that were somehow merged into one, but that may just be the tonal difference between the intro and verse structure.

"Off On Your Own (Girl)" is neatly, nearly perfect, with quiet, pressurized syncopation, Al's bellyache storytellin' (sits by the phone a lot, it seems), and a delivery, particularly in the chorus, which says so much more than the title states. I'm particularly enamored of his switching between judgmental sing-speak/orchestra hit stress and his bracing falsetto. On the stremf! He even throws us a Slick Rick impression in a bridge. Last two tracks seem interchangeable but that's fine; you don't serve surf after the turf, even if you're coming in hot with bass pounds.

Uptown is generally a welcome sign of quality for this time and place; from Al to Heavy D., Guy to Jodeci. Andre knew what was up. Cool cat logo too.

Honestly there are probably other Al jams worth seeking out, and of course his performance in New Jack City when he fingers Ice-T as a narc with those Bert eyebrows of his. Most people don't hit this sort of success right out of the gate, and that's the needle he threads so effortlessly here.

Ron Morelli – Heart Stopper 2xLP (L.I.E.S., 2023)

Ron was one of the first people I met when I moved to NYC in 2000, and for a while I was regularly having lunch with him, Steve Roche, Adam Paterson, and Matt Smith at the Uptown Juice Bar in lower Manhattan, when we were all working in some sort of office and/or dot-com capacity, going to ABC No Rio and the like. I'd fall in and out of that orbit for a while over the next 6-7 years, as bands formed and broke up, people worked up their DJ chops, etc. At some point Ron moved down to Philly and was grinding in a more formal club DJ capacity before coming back to NYC and starting L.I.E.S., living in the trap, and working at A-1 in the East Village. It wasn't easy, even in that orbit, to find the L.I.E.S. releases, but the quality was always there.

I fell off a bit due to life and the like, missed a lot of Ron's Hospital output (as well as a lot of later L.I.E.S., again due to life stuff; the last one I gripped from the initial run was Florian Kupfer's Lifetrax), and last I knew he had relocated to Paris. Living in Chicago has given me more of an opportunity to interface with house music as it happened, with proximity to the records and DJs in clubs, to where it started to click with me. Heart Stopper retains this same sort of focus, drilling down on the repetition and stress/release of the foundational cuts of the initial era. My fave here is "Tangled Trap of Love," a big nod to Master C & J's "Face It," but I've found myself putting this record on and letting it roll to the close more often than most I've favored this year. Didn't make it to the Podlasie Club back in May, but I did appreciate this (paywalled) interview in the First Floor Substack, the guy I remember so well playing stoically to the bozos up front, dialing down style to the horizon where it meets substance and accepting nothing less.

(Doug Mosurock)

[seastarlily]

Some random SpongeBob headcanons for y'all, since I don't know where else to put them, LOL.

Patrick has a collection of various valuable rocks hidden away somewhere in his house. Geodes, crystals, tumbled stones, etc. He loves them all. He has only ever showed his valuable collection to one other person, and that is his best friend SpongeBob.

Patrick and his parents technically all fall under the transgender umbrella (specifically genderfluid), according to science. It is well documented that adult starfish can change their gender in a multitude of ways for a multitude of reasons. One of the main reasons they do this is when environmental factors change, like water temperature and food availability. So, for all we know, Patrick may not have always been a man, and he may not always be a man. Same applies to Herb/Cecil and Margie/Bunny.

The first movie Squidward ever remembered watching was the SpongeBob equivalent of a Busby Berkely film - he was just so enamored with the graceful dancers and their radiant smiles and their gorgeous moves. I'd like to think that it was there he first felt the seed of wanting to be an amazing dancer be planted in all three of his hearts.

Mr. Krabs likes to go stargazing as a hobby. Considering he's a former pirate and navy man, Mr. Krabs more than likely had to use the stars to help his fellow sailors navigate at night. He gained an immense knowledge of the night sky and how it changed throughout the seasons as a result, as well as a lifelong interest and appreciation for it. Nowadays, anytime there's a special astronomical event (like a supermoon or a planetary alignment) or he's simply feeling nostalgic, he'll look out his bedroom window at the top of his anchor home with his telescope and take a look at whatever stars/planets are present. It's an activity that's always made him feel at ease.

Larry is bi-curious. He knows for a fact that he simply loves women in general (no matter the phylum), but men are a far more complicated matter. He does rather like the sight of a well-toned, muscular body on another man, but he can't tell if it's because he's impressed/proud of that man's accomplishment, or if it's something more. He is currently conflicted on whether he's fully straight or is in fact bisexual with an overwhelming preference for women. Whichever one is the case, he'll figure it out when he figures it out.

After the incident with Drizzle, Gale Doppler absolutely cannot eat any food with a cloud-like consistency, namely cotton candy. If he does, his stomach will cramp horribly, and he will violently puke it back out.

Rube Goldfish may not be the best source of information regarding the surface world, but he is astoundingly knowledgeable about life underwater and its history. It would only make sense given that he’s a sea creature himself and he’s amazed by everything, big AND small. He is especially keen on underwater paleontology.

Rube 100% decided to become a tour guide because of all the fun he had with Patrick when he was still a tourist. He felt that if he became one himself, he could bring the same kind of joy and wonder he felt when he was on tour himself.

Sticky Fins Whiting and Dorsal Dan are both LGBT. The former is gay, while the latter is bisexual. They dated for a while, but all that led to was an amicable break-up after realizing that they just weren’t compatible as romantic partners. They still work together amicably as partners in crime though (and as besties).

Sticky Fins’s new partner is Sockeye Sammy. Dan is very much aware of this, and wishes his best friend and his new partner all the happiness in the world.

This is sort of canon anyway if you believe the events that take place in “Krusty Cook-Off”, but I’d like to think that Sticky Fins and Dorsal Dan are of Italian heritage. Both of them are voiced by beloved Italian-American actors (Joe Pantoliano and Steve Buscemi respectively), and they are the main antagonists of the storyline that takes place in the “Pasta La Vista” restaurant in “Krusty Cook-Off”. They even take over the restaurant and start making the pasta themselves after SpongeBob and co. leave for the next place.

[wh0lemilk0vich]

gasp i loved your addition omg! that’s so morbid i’m obsessed🪱like yesss some guys were really starting to piss steve and eddie off steve beats them up not thinking much but that sets eddie off into a feeding frenzy, ends up killing them. just full of blood his belly shaking. tag team duo!

anyway thought of switching around the roles sort of. still vampire eddie but chubby steve instead.. CAN YOU IMAGINE.. eddie has the pleasure of biting steve harrington’s plump fuckinf thighs, gets to sink his teeth in a draw blood?? suck his thigh??? FUCK. hrrrnfj… like steve being a brat so eddie pins him down maybe ties him up, pushes his shirt up and starts nipping. OH FUCK WAIT he has to knead the flesh first to get the blood pumping, poor little sub steve begging for more. eddie squeezing hefting just generally playing his steve’s belly and then biting down furiously into his fat. oh even better eddie teases steve beforehand to up his adrenaline so his heart pumps faster. so we got edging steve and then kneading his belly and thighs and then finally sucking and his blood just goes so easily due to all the “prep”. steve just losing his shit as soon as his dick touched he’s cumming. once eddie’s had his fill or steve is getting lightheaded they cuddle and eddie gives steve a massage ❤️🪱

I'm a slut for morbid wormie! I love the dark shit 😈 like i have this au I like for gallavich where Mickey Milkovich is a big tubby werebear who is vamp Ian Gallagher's lover and pet and he gets his exercise and feedings when Ian hunts down unsuspecting mortals and lets them loose for Mickey to hunt down in a massive hedge maze on full moons.

But holy shit do I like your idea even better. Now I want wiry beanpole chubby chaser vamp Eddie to be obsessed with fattening up his beautiful human lover/plaything Steve. He's in love with the soft, creamy, plush, buttery warmth that's all his, and more boy means more blood. He feeds him forcefully but doesn't force feed him if that makes sense, just really committed to getting him big and soft and warm like a radiator, keeping his mouth full, keeping him docile and overfed.

And like he was a pervy nympho in life and that hasn't changed in undeath. He absolutely teases him and edges him and everywhere he'd leave love bites before he does even more so now. The insides of the thighs, big hefty biteable things to plant his head between, are one of his favorite places, but now I'm also thinking when Steve has pretty pert titties that Eddie motorboats and lavishes with licks and kisses, he gives Steve tiny little pinprick bites near his puffy pink nipples and sucks them until Steve is crying. Absolutely he loves to sink his teeth into a big soft blubbery roll of belly too. He edges Steve for so long and so continuously and he has to keep a really good balance of how much of his delicious blood he's drinking and when he finally lets him spill over so he doesn't pass out, but just has an amazing drowsy head rush.

But he just loves sitting Steve's fat ass down on him and wondering at the contrast in there size and shape, he loves being dwarfed and eclipsed, and he's so enamored by how beautiful Steve looks. His face looks so boyish and it almost belies just how big he is.

Ugh so insanely into this

[two-sides-samecoin]

This is going to be a long ask I'm sorry in advance.

I guess my major problem with shipping in general is I always ship people that have chemistry in canon and I always make sure ships make sense for the characters in that relationship. Like I know fandom is all about headcanon and alternative universes and it's definitely a me problem that I probably don't have the imagination when it comes to fanon ships like Steddie or Ronance.

Ronance for example just doesn't make sense to me because of what you mentioned, people entirely dismiss Robins feelings and when they talk about Ronance it's about how this ship mostly benefits Nancy. Nancy isn't even queer, I know people headcanon her as bi and if lesbians or queer people identify with her that's amazing but Nancy always gave me homophobic vibes. In the show Nancy is a very judgy person, who sometimes says and does hurtful things but the show never truly adresses her faults so she gives me this weird vibe. The way she talked to Robin also makes me believe she would have problems with her autistic traits, again the way she looked (eye rolling, visibly annoyed) and talked to Robin was just not it. And once again she doesn't apologize for it later, like how she never apologized for cheating on Steve. However, all the characters seem to like her sm she can't do wrong, but as an audience member Nancy kinda frustrats me and I personally want someone better for my girl Robin. Robin is clearly enamored with Vickie, in fact Vickie made her feel normal about her own rambling, which she describes to Nancy as flaws because she felt so judged by her. But this gets largely ignored by the fandom as unfortunately Vickie has not enough screentime, however if she were a dude and we would talk about a gay relationship you bet the fandom would come up with thousands of headcanons for her.

The timing is also off because Nancy hasn't been single since she was like 15, she literally dumped Steve (not clearly) and moved on to Jonathan in two days, and now she seems to be unsure again and makes eyes at Steve. Nancy doesn't know what she wants, she needs to be single and figure out who she is before she keeps hurting people. Being thrown into another relationship, this time a queer one, which she didn't show any signs before would put additional struggle on her self discovery. Like she obviously can explore her sexuality, but she has to deal with her own shit before she can be a good girlfriend to anyone. Like someone made this brilliant analysis how Robin is the first girl friend she was open with after Barb, how probably lonely she is and longs for a friend but then bam they make this post into a shipping one and I'm like please listen to yourself.

I think a lot of Ronance manifesting also comes from the actress pushing for it and idk it got to a point where it's kinda queerbaity with how she phrased Robin is an option for Nancy even though in the canon show Nancy never showed romantic feelings for girls. (On the same note it's kinda queerbaity of the actor of Tommy to come out after years yeah Tommy was gay for Steve even though in the show we never saw that play out. Kinda think he said that to be relevant and bc again every white dude that breathes at Steve is gay)

As for Steddie, well that's like so personal to me because Steve is my favorite. I always watch shows, where I have a comfort character, imagining myself as a character so in reality I basically ship nobody with Steve because I gotta put me first lmao. However my point still stands the fandom wouldn't go this crazy if Eddie wasn't played by Joe Q. If he was played by Eduardo there would be way less discourse about it. Also again in canon Steve was uncomfortable by Eddie invading his personal space and he's so hung up on Nancy (also extremely anti Stancy on my part it honestly ruined s4 for me) he didn't even care that much about Eddie's death.

And again most of the headcanons suck because people mischaracterizes both Eddie and Steve. Like first of all people make out that Steve is in a toxic relationship with Billy before Eddie scoops in or they make him or Eddie the toxic one. Like it's all over the top, especially because people are so obsessed with the whole sub/dom dynamic in that ship. Making Steve some inexperienced loser who never smoked weed for example even tho he was the first character in canon who admitted to smoking in s3, plus he was literally underage drinking in s1. Idk in general people just don't really give a fuck about getting the characters right.

I can see Steve as bi like there are little moments in the show (more than for Nancy) but Steddie still doesn't make sense to simply because Steve looked so disgusted when Eddie was near him. I too wish they would have explored Steve's feelings about how Dustin seemed to replace him with someone better but unfortunately the writers decided to put their focus on a dead relationship and make Steve soley into Nancy's love interest again. (Can you tell I'm still bitter about it?)

It's just frustrating being in the fandom because everyone shoves those ships down your throat, you can't go on tiktok because every tiktok about Steve slowly turns into a Steddie theory and I can't listen to it anymore. I already blocked the respective tags on twitter or tumblr but still. I wish I could be on board with it because it wouldn't annoy me every day and I would love some peace.

Before I joined the fandom for me Stranger Things was always about friendship but now there is a shipping war for every character in that show.

It’s all good I love asks! And I love discussing things. Honestly I love the way you view shipping and seeing if it makes sense for the characters. Honestly it’s all good with not having imagination with fanon ships. I honestly only came up with one at one point and then others I just see floating around and I’m either like ‘cool or nah I don’t vibe with that’ lol.

Honestly yeah I get what you’re saying about Nancy and those vibes that she gives off. Ngl I don’t think a lot about character’s sexualities if it isn’t clearly stated in canon so whenever I saw headcanons about Nancy I was like ‘okay cool’ and then kind of moved on lol. And also everything you said about Nancy. Like I never used to see her interactions with Robin as being bad but then I saw other people stating that they didn’t like the way Nancy reacted Robin. And I can totally see why people believe that way. And why it came off as weird interactions cuz now it comes off to me that way too. Also I agree about Nancy sometimes frustrating you cuz sometimes I can get that way too. But I also think all the main characters in st have moments where you get frustrated at them so I don’t like to be too nit picky about them ya know?

Okay everything you said about Vickie making Robin feel comfortable about her rambling. Like they’re both able to ease each other about their rambling and it just goes to show how complimentary they are. Like Robin also validated Vickie’s feelings about rambling. And Robin listened to vickie too when vickie was rambling. So Robin can ramble but she can also listen when other people ramble and give them that comfort too. I agree about that last comment in that paragraph. Cuz you’re sooo right if it was two dudes talking and it was clear that they liked each other in a romantic way people would go nuts.

Yes yes yes I agree about the whole Nancy thing not being single. And about her wanting to be single. Cuz I’m honestly a firm believer that she should end up single. Cuz she’s very goal oriented in her own goals but when it comes to romance she just doesn’t know entirely what she wants. Yeah like I think Nancy going into a queer relationship especially in that period could also drag Robin down too if ronance happened. Like Robin is so sure of who she is now and what she wants in her romance life. And yet Nancy doesn’t. So it would just end up not being a good mentality for Robin. I think I saw that analysis too and I thought the same thing. Like I was soo annoyed about it cuz the friend thing was amazing and then suddenly romance was in there. And it just tainted the whole thing for me.

Honestly yeah I can totally see why your frustrated about the actress and actor. (Honestly the whole thing with Tommy’s actor was weird. Cuz not only did he state that Tommy had some romantic feelings for Steve, he also stated that Tommy would do anything for Steve. Despite canon not showing that in the slightest and instead in the show Tommy drops Steve like a hot potato). Also ngl I think some of the fandom just doesn’t understand that actors have their own headcanons for their characters too. Especially when the main actors have been on for years at this point. Like it’s obvious that they’re going to have headcanons about their characters just like we have headcanons. And they’re going to have wishes just like we do. But ultimately it’s up to the duffer bros and people need to understand that.

Lmao about the Steve part and wanting to put you first about the shipping cuz like that’s valid. Honestly I totally agree with you about if it wouldn’t have been joe Q they probs wouldn’t have gone crazy about it. Yes like Steve was soo uncomfortable with Eddie but he was just being who he was and helping out eddie. And everyone turned that into shipping. Ngl I would have been fine if Steve finally had another guy friend his own age. Anyway yeah I’m also bitter about the whole stancy thing. I legit hate the toxic aspects of Steve and anyone together. Like idk why they even need to put billy and Steve together as exes when Steve legit would have never even got together with billy in the first place. Like it feels sooo unnecessary.

I also don’t understand why they make Steve or Eddie be the toxic one especially when they like the ship soo yeah making one of them be incredibly toxic is weird. Yeah the whole sub/dom thing is sooo weird also. Yep you hit it right about the Steve characterization part and how people don’t care about his characterization at all. Ngl I think Steve is one of the most mischaracterized in fandom out of all the mains. Mainly cuz of shipping but that’s just my opinion so you don’t have to agree lol.

Yeah I totally see Steve as bi too. Like I think there are some good moments in there to have evidence of it. Yep honestly you’re right. Like steddie makes no sense especially cuz they didn’t even like each other. Sure they came together and stuff but also their foundation only seems to me like ‘we could have been friends if the story ended differently and if Eddie didn’t die.’ Ya know? And even if they were friends it would have been a very basic thing to me. Like I don’t see them being besties besties and close like that.

I’m also bitter about the whole stancy thing ngl. Like I get the intentions of trying to bring them back and why they would try to since this is like the first time in a while that they’re in the same place together on screen. And their relationship ended with a lot of baggage. But I wish it could have been less screen time. Especially because a lot of Steve’s emotional scenes were with Nancy and it just bothers me how he couldn’t get one with Dustin or Max or Lucas. Especially because this little group looked soo promising in the promos.

You’re right like the shoving down the the throats of it all is majorly annoying. Especially because sometimes they use it as weapons too. Like if you don’t like the ship then sometimes you can get called homophobic despite that not being the reason you don’t like that ship at all. Yeah I legit blocked the tags too cuz it’s just been sooo annoying. I also filter out these tags whenever looking for fics so I don’t have to see it. That last sentence is everything!!!! Like st has always been about friendship and yet now all you see is discourse about shipping and etc about shipping. And it’s just the worst.