#but if i wrote it itd be almost entirely steve pov with interludes from others i think

[whomst-the-hell]

i might write this out one day but like. probably not so in the meantime: a somewhat steve centric stranger things pirate au that gets less and less canon as it goes, because its me:

steve is the son of someone wealthy (merchant? governor? king? doesn’t matter!) and courting the lady nancy wheeler

nancy’s handmaiden barbara goes missing from a party at steve’s estate, where she was taken from the dock

nancy and jonathan team up to find her and will, who’s missing too

theyve been taken by a cursed ship (a la potc flying dutchman) captained by the legendary no-longer-human henry creel, who’s supposed to ferry the dead but abused his position as immortal psychopomp to rule the seas with an iron fist

(logically the ship would be called the upside down but that sounds fucking dumb so. im leaning towards The Black Widow but idk im taking suggestions ig)

meanwhile el has escaped from this ship, and meets up with a gang of kids

in this au, instead of the canon interest in fantasy, i think the kids are super into like. romanticised pirate legends

instead of “the party” they call themselves “The Crew”

steve follows nancy and jonathan, fearing for nancy’s safety with “that byers creep” and comes in just in time to help nancy and jonathan as they battle aboard The Black Widow

nancy and jon manage to negotiate steve and will’s release (rip barb) in return for their souls, and are trapped on the ship ~forever oOoOO~

except that steve and the kids are not satisfied with this at all, and with the help of merchant’s step-daughter Maxine Mayfield they steal a boat (but not before some weirdly homoerotic (in a rancid way) conflict between steve and billy) and set sail in pursuit of The Black Widow

along the way they pick up navigator Robin Buckley, who initially clashes with steve but bonds with him when they are captured and tortured by The Soviet, another ship chasing The Black Widow for their power

also at this time el is sailing with her sister kali upon The Children’s Revenge, who are hunting Creel bc their family/friends/crewmates have been taken by him in the past

they eventually all reunite upon the deck of the black widow

along with eddie and chrissy, who were captured after eddie helped chrissy flee an arranged marriage to (barf) jason carver, and have been working w nancy and jon to try to mutiny. the issue: the new captain would be forced to Actually stay on the widow ~forever oOoOOo~

with the combined forces of platonic stobin&The Crew, el&kali, and jancy&platonic hellcheer, they are able to carry out the mutiny plan, and steve (coughMartyrcough) makes himself captain so that the others can leave

they refuse to leave

they dismiss all creel’s crewmen/prisoners (the demo-creatures, i think. also, the mind flayer is the kraken, it never came up but its true)

The Crew lives their dream of romantic piracy, ferrying souls instead of pillaging innocents (though they also bust slave ships, and occasionally sink other, crueler ships, be they pirates or navy officers), nancy and jonathan can serve justice (see above) and also be together, which wasnt an option bc jon was poor, and steve&robin and eddie&chrissy are living their platonic soulmate lives, + steddie and buckingham