#dustin winters

[loveinhawkins]

There’s a table in the school library that’s nestled in the corner, right by a radiator; Steve has claimed it ever since his double block of ‘private study periods’ began.

Not that he’s planning on doing any studying: it’s the last day of school before the winter break, and while his face has healed up from the whole Billy Hargrove Incident, he still finds himself feeling wiped at random—like his body’s having a delayed adrenaline crash ever since he pulled Dustin out of that freaky vine-infested tunnel.

So really, this spot should be ideal for a couple hours of not having to think.

And it would be perfect, if his eyes weren’t instinctively drawn to movement at the front desk.

Because for the past god-knows-how-long, Eddie Munson has been in a back-and-forth with the librarian.

It had started when he ambled up to the desk with a healthy pile of books in his hands, placed them down neatly, all ready to be stamped. Flashed a charming smile.

Steve was too far away to hear the words, but he got the gist that whatever the librarian had said amounted to no, absolutely not, because Eddie scooped the books back up, dumped them on a table a little distance away from Steve’s, then hemmed and hawed before returning to the desk with a more modest pile than before.

He was sent away again with presumably the same refusal, and so the pattern repeated until this very minute: he’s returning with just one book in his hands, his smile less charming now, more desperate.

But… no luck.

Eddie slouches back to the table in defeat. Just stands there, staring down at the books.

And goddamn it, Steve thinks, now he’s invested.

“Hey. Munson,” he says in an undertone. “What’s up?”

He doesn’t miss the weird kind of double take Eddie gives him, but at least Steve knows it’s not because of his face being a mess this time—seriously, drawing looks from students when all he wanted was to get in line for crappy cafeteria pizza had not been fun.

“Nothing,” Eddie says with a shrug, and he flashes another wide smile that makes Steve think bullshit. “Apparently I racked up a mountain of late fees. Who knew?” He sighs, glancing at his wristwatch. “Guess I’ve got enough time to just read the—oh. Um. Hey?”

“These books?” Steve confirms, having already stood up to look at them.

Eddie blinks a few times. “Yeah, these—uh, Harrington, what the fuck do you think you’re—?”

Steve heads over to the front desk with the books. It’s not all that difficult of a decision to make; he remembers Tommy H had his own library late fees in freshman year, but got nothing more than a simpering, “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again, sweetie,” just because his mom knew someone on the school board.

“For checking out, please,” Steve says, not bothering with a smile as he hands over his library card.

The only resistance he gets is a raised eyebrow from the librarian before all the books are stamped.

“What the fuck,” Eddie says, voice flat; he doesn’t take the books when Steve tries to give them to him, so Steve just shrugs and goes back to his seat, sets the books pointedly on the edge of the table.

“Look, man, it’s up to you, but I’m not gonna take them. They’ll just be sitting here.”

Eddie huffs. He goes over to the books, his hand twitching towards them before drawing back, like he’s at war with himself.

“You—you didn’t have to do that,” he gets out as if it physically pains him to do so.

Prickly, Steve thinks.

“It’s no big deal,” he says. “My account’s gathering dust, so someone might as well get the good of it.”

At hearing that, Eddie looks a little less defensive. He chews on his lips for a few seconds, then says, his tone serious, “Harrington, I’ll—I’ll forget. Like, with the holidays… like, I guarantee you, even if I write a million fucking reminders, I’m gonna take these books and forget to bring ‘em back for months.”

“Oh, no,” Steve says dryly, “lemme go alert the press, I just heard a blatant confession to a crime. Dude, just take them, what do I care if your homework takes you months to—”

“It’s not even for school,” Eddie interrupts through gritted teeth, “it’s dumb, it’s just—”

“Jesus Christ. Lemme call the press again, sounds like you’re reading a book for fun.”

Eddie stares at him. Steve raises an eyebrow in challenge—he could do this all day; just the other week, he’d beaten Mike in a brutal staring contest that felt like it went on for hours.

Eddie breaks first. “Fine,” he says with another huff, but he’s less agitated when handling the books—lingers thoughtfully on their titles, puts a couple in his backpack. The rest he opens at seemingly random parts, but it looks like he knows what he’s searching for.

And then it seems as if he’s just going to pick up the remaining books and walk away—Steve expects him to, honestly—but he ends up staying where he is, gives Steve a look of consideration, almost like he’s a book worth reading, too.

“You stole my table, you know?” Eddie says.

“Uh, no,” Steve says automatically, then adds with more confidence, “I was definitely here first.”

Eddie snorts. “Nope. My senior year, uh,” he shrugs self-deprecatingly, “the first time around. That was my spot. Was pretty possessive over it too, think I signed the table, like, underneath.”

Steve’s eyebrows rise in interest; he runs a finger along the underside of the table and soon feels it: an E.M scratched into the wood.

“Huh,” he says. “Guess you’re right.”

A pause.

And then Steve surprises himself.

“There’s, um, room here, if you want? I’m not gonna use the whole table.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up. There’s a long enough silence in which Steve considers just telling him to forget about it, but then—

Eddie sits down opposite him.

It’s not as awkward as Steve was expecting: Eddie seems focused enough on his books, on bringing out a battered looking journal with sheets of paper that look like they’re hanging on by a thread. He roots around his backpack some more, retrieves a ballpoint pen with a quiet, triumphant, “Aha!”

He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care that Steve isn’t even making an attempt to look busy; his own side of the table is bare.

“Didn’t know you were left-handed,” Steve says after a moment.

Eddie looks up from his note-taking. He smirks, waggles his eyebrows briefly. “Fitting, huh? Spooky.”

“Oh, I’m terrified.”

And Eddie actually laughs—hushed, but it still counts as one.

He soon returns to being absorbed in whatever it is he’s writing, which means Steve has less of a distraction when the familiar wave of tiredness washes over him.

He tries to sit up as well as he can, conscious of the fact that he’s not alone, but the radiator is the perfect temperature, and the steady scratch of Eddie’s pen has a soporific effect. He’s distantly aware of the fact that his head is nodding down with dwindling energy to try and stop it—hears Eddie’s voice, as if from very far away, rising in question.

Steve sniffs sharply, jerks his head back up and blinks hard. “What?”

“Oh, sorry,” Eddie says quickly, and he sounds genuine. “Didn’t know you were sleeping.”

“I wasn’t,” Steve says.

“Uh, okay,” Eddie says. His lips twitch. “That was an awfully long blink then, Harrington.”

“Shut up,” Steve retorts mildly. He stretches slightly, hides a yawn behind his hand. “Did you actually want something or—”

“Nah, wasn’t important.”

Steve frowns, unconvinced. The side of Eddie’s left hand is covered in ink, and Steve can see where his pen has started to die on him as his writing gets more faded across the page.

Steve puts a hand in his pocket, brings out another ballpoint and throws it at Eddie.

The pen bounces along the table, and Eddie manages to catch it one-handed.

“Good catch,” Steve says.

“Thanks,” Eddie says. He sounds almost uncertain.

Silence falls. It only takes another minute or two of hearing Eddie writing away for Steve’s determination to stay awake to waver again. He slumps forward with a mumbled, “M’just gonna…” and lays his head down.

Eddie stops writing.

“Hey, man, are you… okay? Like, if you feel… if you wanna go home I could take you to the nurse? Or—”

“I’m fine,” Steve says into his folded arms. “S’just… the aftermath of… stuff. No big deal.”

“Oh?” Eddie says tentatively.

Steve lifts his head up a bit, squints dubiously. “C’mon, Munson. You must’ve heard the rumour mill.”

Billy Hargrove had spread it all over the school, how he had ‘taught King Steve a lesson.’ In all honesty, Steve hadn’t cared all that much about how he himself came across in whatever story Billy created, was just relieved that at least Max and Lucas’s names had been kept out of it.

“I don’t put much stock in rumours,” Eddie says carefully. “Folks can say… all kindsa things.”

Steve nods faintly. Fair point.

“Okay, but you can take a little bit of stock in this one. Like, a smidge.”

Steve demonstrates with his thumb and forefinger.

It’s only when Eddie doesn’t smile in response that Steve realises he’d been hoping to make him laugh again. Maybe.

“Huh. Well. For what it’s worth… I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Steve says tiredly.

“Harrington. I’m not stupid, y’know? That was more than a… a stupid fight after school or something. Like, I can remember what your face looked like.”

“Gee, thanks.” Steve sets his head back down, closing his eyes.

“I didn’t—I just meant whatever it was, it… it went too far. Way too fucking far.”

Steve yawns again, doesn’t bother hiding it. “Yeah. Something like that.”

He’s resigning himself to the thought of waking up with a stiff neck before Eddie sighs and says, “If you’re gonna sleep, Harrington, don’t be an amateur about it.”

Steve looks up in time to see Eddie reaching underneath the table with one leg, hooking his ankle round the empty chair next to Steve and shoving it closer to him.

“Three or four’s probably the best amount for stretching out on,” Eddie says. “Uh, speaking from experience.”

Steve smiles. “Noted.”

He manoeuvres himself until he’s lying much more comfortably across the seats, using his backpack and coat as a pillow.

Frustratingly but predictably, despite his fatigue, sleep doesn’t come easily, so Steve looks underneath the table and asks, “What’re you writing about, Munson?”

He can see Eddie’s boots, how one foot is tapping away, as if in time to a song no-one else can hear.

“Um, I was just… getting inspiration for… it’s kinda like. Like a story, but—”

“Don’t hurt yourself, dude,” Steve says, “I know what a campaign is.”

The foot tapping stops.

“Aren’t you just full of surprises?” Eddie says.

He sounds a bit far away again, though Steve knows that’s just in his head; he can feel his eyelids drooping.

“You’ve got…” He sighs, voice trailing off as he finishes, “No idea…”

Eddie launches into a speech; Steve can follow it well enough for a little while, Eddie rambling about the kind of decisions he thinks his players will make in the game, but eventually the words become a blur, and he drifts off just like that, into an unexpectedly peaceful sleep.

He wakes with the lightest of touches to his shoulder, a soft, “Steve?” that nevertheless makes him jolt to full alertness in a blink, reaching for a bat he doesn’t currently have.

“Jesus Christ!” Eddie yelps, almost falling back against the table. “What the hell kinda military training d’you have, Harrington?”

“Just have good reflexes,” Steve says, hopes it sounds casual enough as he breathes through his suddenly racing heart.

“Yeah, that’s one way to fucking put it. Anyway, uh. Sorry, didn’t mean to, like, startle you, but you slept right through the bell, man.”

Steve sits up; the library is empty apart from them, the librarian shooting them a not so subtle glare. And he realises that while everyone else was rushing out of school, eager for the holidays to start, Eddie must’ve stayed. Waited for him.

Steve runs a hand through his hair, quickly puts on his coat.

“God, sorry, you didn’t have to—if I’ve made you late, I’m—”

“Nah, don’t sweat it.” Eddie puts his backpack strap across one shoulder. “I wasn’t in a hurry. Um, are you… like, good to drive? I can give you a ride, if—”

“I’m okay,” Steve says, struck by the consideration behind the offer. He means what he says though; he feels pleasantly refreshed. He smiles self-effacingly. “Think I need one class where I can just sleep, and then I’ll get through the day.”

Eddie gives a playful scoff. “That’s already a thing, Harrington, it’s called first period.”

They walk out of the library together, and Steve finds that it’s kind of… nice, honestly. He keeps waiting for some awkwardness to creep in again, but it never does.

“Big holiday plans?” Eddie asks, smalltalk that should be stilted, but it just sounds like he’s sincerely interested in the answer.

Steve shrugs. “Not really. Oh, I’ve got—you know the Snow Ball thing tomorrow, at the middle school? There’s this kid I know, I’m gonna give him a ride there, but—”

Steve breaks off with a fond shake of the head, knowing that there’s this kid I know doesn’t really give it justice, doesn’t say the full truth: that Dustin Henderson has somehow wormed his way into Steve’s goddamn heart forever.

“His mom’s invited me over for dinner tonight,” he continues. “Think he wants, like, a dress-rehearsal of his outfit or something, which is probably the closest he’ll ever come to admitting he’s nervous. I kinda feel for him, honestly. God, do you remember being thirteen? Everything seemed to matter so much, and most of it was just… stupid shit.”

They’ve reached the parking lot, and Eddie gives Steve a sideways look with a bemused smile.

“Woah, Harrington, we’re still in school, remember? Don’t think we’re meant to sound so world-weary yet.”

Steve chuckles. “Yeah.” He gestures at Eddie’s get-up. “Bet you’ve never once cared about the stupid shit, though.”

What people think.

Eddie’s smile turns more knowing. “Shockingly, Harrington,” he says, “I didn’t come out the womb like this.”

They both hesitate; they’re at Steve’s car now, Eddie’s van parked in a space that’s further away. There’s no reason, really, for the conversation to continue any longer.

But Eddie still lingers.

“Uh, enjoy your dinner, I guess. If the… dress-rehearsal goes shit, just tell the kid it’s good luck for the real night.”

Steve laughs. “He’s in the Drama Club, so that might work, actually. Thanks, Munson.” He opens the car door as Eddie nods, starts to head off to his van. Seized by a sudden impulse, Steve calls, “Happy holidays!”

“Yeah, you too.” Eddie turns, tapping at his temple exaggeratedly. “Won’t forget about the books, I promise.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “You better not,” he says, tongue-in-cheek.

He starts the car and heads for Dustin’s house, honks the horn when he drives past Eddie’s van, catches Eddie waving.

Steve thinks he quite likes the idea (regardless of whether it’ll put his library account in jeopardy), of the books finding a permanent home at Eddie’s place. Briefly imagines Eddie writing with an ink-stained hand, curled up safely in a world of his own—where the only monsters are the ones that live in between the pages.

[privt-eye]

Stranger Things: The Tomb of Ybwen (2022) - writ. Greg Pak Illustrators: Diego Galindo, Francesco Segala | Lettering: Nate Piekos

[ultradude13]

What if The Avengers movie was released in the 1980s ?

[lgbtqreads]

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: July-December 2024

A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman (July 2nd) When Cal Ware wins a scholarship to an elite New England boarding school, he’s thrilled to leave his past behind. Back home in Mississippi, he was the poor, queer kid who never fit in. But at Essex Academy, he’ll be able to reinvent himself. Or so he hopes… But at Essex, Cal’s classmates only see his cheap clothes and old iPhone. They mock his accent,…

[windriverdelta]

On the Grand Northern Conspiracy

Somehow I have been thinking a lot about the Grand Northern Conspiracy, an ASOIAF fan theory that posits that in AFFC/ADWD the lords of the North and Riverlands are plotting to install Jon Snow as King in the North. Well, no time like present to write a comment.

TL;DR I find it extremely implausible and would very surprised if TWOW featured anything even resembling that. It's a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

First of all, as other people like @turtle-paced have pointed out, there are lots of barriers to communication between the supposed conspirators and no evidence that they could coordinate their actions. Now, there is evidence in Arya's ASOS chapters that the Brotherhood Without Banners has contacts to the Riverlords and one wonders if Jaime Lannister in AFFC is being deliberately steered to Brienne, but that doesn't mean the Northerners can do the same.

Second, where is the set-up for the Northern lords using Stannis like that? Late Walder Frey is amply established as a traitor, opportunist and oathbreaker two books before the Red Wedding, there is no foreshadowing at all for Mormont, mountain clans etc. This isn't Game of Thrones, spectacular betrayals do not come out of thin air in ASOIAF. In this context, it's worth noting that foreshadowing in ASOIAF usually takes the form of a few unambiguous meaningful events, not a lot of very ambiguous little things that can interpreted in multiple ways like the infamous "Corn Code"

Three, Jon Snow does not work very well as a fulcrum for such a conspiracy. Ignoring for a moment that nobody has bothered getting his buy-in for such a plot (what if he deems it dishonourable and sleazy and ices out all the participants?), there is no indication that any physical copy of Robb's will survived the Red Wedding. Remember, the various lords and ladies are referred to as its "witnesses", and most of them are now prisoners of the Freys. Look at it from a character's perspective: Two lords who somehow survived the Red Wedding, claiming that Robb wanted to make Jon king. Why would anyone believe them? Especially Jon Snow, who knows in ADWD that Robb was killed by his own men, he has no reason at all to trust Maege or Galbart. And without the will, Jon Snow would just be an usurper and deserter from the Night's Watch.

Narrative-wise, I don't see much foreshadowing of Jon being king in the north in the main series - all so-called "foreshadowing" I've seen are ambiguous allusions or far-fetched interpretations. I see no thematic or character purpose, either - I tend to think that R+L=J, the three dragons and his assassination lead into him being a dragonrider and fighter against the Others. In my opinion, the political side of the Northern storyline is Sansa and Stannis' job. And there is plenty of potential conflict around them without the need for a king in the north scheme.

But the big sticking point is that the actions of many of the supposed conspirators don't fit with theory. Just to cite a few examples:

Lady Stoneheart is not crowning Jon with anything but a noose, not in a million years, there is no evidence whatsoever that she's anything but a revenge zombie.

Wyman Manderly is entrusting Rickon Stark to consummate Stannis loyalist Davos Seaworth, which makes no sense at all if he planned to betray Stannis later - why would he risk Rickon becoming Stannis' hostage?

We have no reason to believe that Barbrey Dustin is lying about not liking the Starks - for one thing, Dustin troops are noticeable by their absence for the War of Five Kings, true to her word. She'll probably jump ship if Roose falls, but that's not the same thing as becoming a Stark restorationist. In fact, I could see her supporting Stannis to take the Starks down a peg.

People keep citing Lyanna Mormont's defiant letter to Stannis as proof of Bear Island not being truly on his side, but not only is she (as Jon points out) not in charge of House Mormont, we later see Alysane marching with Stannis. She almost certainly is in contact with Maege given her comments to Asha about her family; I doubt that this is a right hand vs left hand situation. I am not even sure that she has much of a retinue, either - the problem with Rickon above may exist here too. Finally, recall that in AGOT Maege challenged Robb, telling him that he was so young as to have no business giving her commands. The Mormonts don't let anyone boss them around, that doesn't mean that they are Frey Lite.

In short, this theory requires lots of poorly foreshadowed OOC behaviour to enable a rather pointless political ploy that doesn't fit the narrative very well.

[annab-nana]

“Can I have some cocoa?” With the stranger things gang🥺 all hanging out at Steve’s house watching Christmas movies🥺

omg of course this sounds adorable!!

warnings: not proofread, kinda long for a blurb i think but i wanted to include as many people as i could

❀ masterlist ❀

"i thought we were watching gremlins," eddie commented when he brushed past you to grab drinks for robin and himself.

"it freaks will out. lucas too, but he'd never admit to that," you told him while finishing up the mixture for the sweet popcorn. "can you get a head count of how many want popcorn? tell them their options are regular butter popcorn, cinnamon sugar popcorn, or chips which they can get themselves."

"you got it," eddie told you before walking off with two mugs of hot chocolate. as he left, dustin passed him with his eyes on the cups eddie held.

"can i have some cocoa?" the curly-haired boy asked you.

"um, one sec." you paused and turned to the table where the hot chocolate was supposed to be, but it seemed eddie grabbed the last two that were ready. "come back in a little bit. jonathan is making more right now."

dustin left and yelled, "eddie, you took the last of the hot cocoa! i hope you're happy!"

robin's laughter sounded throughout the house as did eddie's voice when he said, "and it's sooooo good."

you rolled your eyes at the pair while getting a start on pouring popcorn into separate bowls for everyone. eddie should be back with a count soon anyway. but, he didn't walk in next.

max and eleven did.

"eddie said you needed to know how many people wanted popcorn," the redhead stated in an almost questioning tone before you nodded.

"six want cinnamon sugar and...." eleven shared with you and trailed off to count in her head, "four want butter."

"jonathan?" you called over to the boy who was mixing hot chocolate on the stove. he turned to face you. "do you want popcorn?"

"um, yeah. i'll try the cinnamon sugar."

"alright, so that's eleven total and i want some too which makes twelve. max, can you grab four more bowls and el, can you help me fill these bowls with popcorn?"

you knew the girls loved to help, so they wasted no time in following your requests. more hands at work made things go by faster anyway.

just as max placed down the bowls you'd asked for, steve appeared in the doorway, his expression not being one of happiness.

"i can't get the vcr to work and i am this close to snapping henderson's neck," he spoke breathily, his eyes bouncing between you and jonathan.

you met jonathan's eye before nodding your head in the direction of the living room. "you know more about that stuff than i do, so i'll take over the hot chocolate. steve, why don't you help me?"

he nodded and the pair of boys swapped places.

"you two got this, right?" you asked the girls to which they nodded. "i want cinnamon sugar too so that's ten of those. the mixture is right here. sprinkle it on and toss it a bit to get it evenly coated. the melted butter is in the microwave. put a little bit on all of it, but more on the ones that are just butter."

once they seemed like they got it, you split to go over to the stove where steve stood. you knew the hot chocolate was almost done when jonathan was working on it, so it's had to be done now.

"you okay?" you inquired of steve when you picked up the pot and started pouring hot cocoa into the mugs that jonathan had set out.

"yeah, yeah. it's just..." he sighed and ran a hand down his face. "keith was on my ass earlier and we were really busy the whole time like there wasn't a break at all. then after work, i had to get stuff for this and ever since i got home, it's been insane. then, the stupid vcr. henderson was trying to help, but he was just telling me what i was already doing and then was saying i was doing it wrong. i let him take over before i came in here."

"have you had any hot chocolate yet? that always makes me feel better," you shared with him while handing him a mug. he accepted it gladly.

"thanks for this," he paused to gesture toward the mug, "and for listening."

"no problem."

"i got it working," jonathan announced when he came back into the kitchen. "they're ready to start if we're ready in here."

you glanced over at the girls who were finishing up the popcorn.

"tell them to come get their popcorn and then we're set to start."

remember to support writers & reblog :)

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tag list: @fiction-is-life @marjorie189 @jellyfishbeansontoast

[tillystealeaves]

I was so excited to participate in the Steddie Winter One Shot gift exchange!! Here’s my piece; my first “Stranger Things” post that I put on AO3. Teaser below; click the link for the whole story!

❄️❄️❄️

Steve wasn’t nervous. He was feeling confident and self-assured as he pulled his car in next to Eddie’s van and approached the new, government-supplied, double wide trailer where the Munsons now lived. His hand wasn’t shaking as he put the car in park- and if it was, it was just in that vague way he sometimes had mild tremors now because of his repeated brain injuries. He wore the jeans he knew made his ass look the best and the burgundy sweater that Nancy said was a good color on him. His hair was perfect, thanks to the amazing help of Farah Fawcett, and there was no dumb sailor’s hat to ruin its effect.

He had changed in the past few years, and all for the better if he did say so himself. But there was still a part of him that was King Steve. Charming. Suave. Knew how to make a girl- a person, he corrected himself quickly- feel special.

And besides all of that, he’d talked this all through with Robin (again) on the phone the night before. He could almost physically feel her loving exasperation radiating all the way from her college dorm in Chicago. “Dingus, yes. You should go for it. It’ll be fine. And even if he doesn’t say yes- which I’m like almost completely positive he will but just if he doesn’t- nothing bad will happen. He’s still Eddie. Our friendly neighborhood metalhead dork, expert kid-wrangling assistant, and your best friend except for me.”

“You don’t count,” Steve had protested, smiling weakly. “Platonic Soulmates are their own category.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Robin had agreed.

So now here he was, standing outside of Eddie’s trailer after they’d both finished work, invited to come and hang out as had become their routine since the Spring Break From Hell. Except today, Steve was going to ask Eddie out.

[arconinternet]

Purple People Eater (Video, 1988)

You can watch this movie of the 1958 song , featuring geust appearances from Chubby Checker and Little RIchard, here.

Note: this movie is part of a collection of 373 movies - the content warning you'll have to click through is because of movies that aren't this one.

@skinslip

[f1rewr1t3r]

fandoms i write for pt 1

I'm a writer but have major writers block and i have no idea where to start so if you see this and want to send a fic rec just lmk (i will be updating these consistantly) and once i get a few fics uploaded i will make a masterlist

smut -🖤 fluff-🤍 angst-❤️

here's part two and three

Formula one

Max Verstappen

Lando norris

Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz

Oscar Piastri

Sergio Perez

George Russell

Lewis hamilton

Fernando Alonso

Nico Hulkenburg

Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Riccardo

Oliver Bearman

Pierre Gasly

Kevin Magnussen

Alex albon

Esteban Ocon

Zhou Guanyu

Logan Sargent

Valtteri Bottas

Stranger things

Billy hargrove

eddie munson

steve harrington

dustin henderson

max mayfield

will byers (mainly platonic (except for male!reader cause i am a firm believer that will is a bit zesty))

robin buckley

nancy wheeler

jim hopper

jonathan byers

karen wheeler

joyce byers

001/henry creel

marvel

(all names correspond with their superhero egos captain america/steve rogers etc.

steve rogers

bucky barnes

natasha romanoff

scott lang

thor

loki

yelena belova

wanda maximoff

pietro maximoff

kate bishop

tony stark

peter parker (tom holland + andrew garfield)

bruce banner

T'challa

shuri

Hatfields and McCoys

Cap hatfield

Johnse Hatfield

jim mcCoy

Tolbert McCoy

Calvin McCoy

HOTD/GOT

Viserys Targaryen (1st and 3rd)

Daenarys targaryen

Daario Naharis

Missandei

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Daemon Targaryen

Aegon II Targaryen

Aemond Targaryen

Helaena Targaryen

Maegor Targaryen

Jacaerys Velaryon

Lucerys Velaryon

Alicent Hightower

Gwayne Hightower

Ser Criston Cole

Alys Rivers

Cregan Stark

Robb Stark

Sansa Stark

Bran Stark

Jojen Reed

Jon Snow

Jorah Mormont

Tyrion Lannister

Podrick Payne

Jamie Lannister

Lancel Lannister

Gendry (Baratheon)

Margaery Tyrell

Loras Tyrell

Oberyn martell

Sturniolo triplets + nate doe

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

rosa diaz

jake peralta

(all other characters but platonic)

[nerianasims]

Thanks, Don.

At least he cleaned up.

"Chess is really big at the private school, but I still walloped them at it. So don't get your hopes up, Don."

"Actions speak louder than words, kid."

"Look Mom! They said I was ahead of the other kids in class and want me to take advanced stuff!"

"Garth, that's great!"

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Winter Special Review

Warning: The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!

Synopsis: It’s the Winter of 1984, and El is celebrating Christmas with the Byers family and her friends for the first time....

Observations:

As far as one-shot, stand-alone comics go, this was enjoyable. The synopsis I gave speaks for itself: It’s about El celebrating Christmas over at Joyce’s house with her friends and family as they give her a cool present (the cover pretty much spoils what said present is), tell her about their favorite Christmas Specials, and help her get into the Christmas mood. The entire comic is basically a Christmas Special of Stranger Things, and I like that.

Something I found clever about the way the Christmas Specials are drawn in this comic when El’s friends are describing them to her is the way El imagines the stories in her head. Because El’s been isolated for almost all of her life (12 years at Hawkins Lab, and an entire year being cooped up in Hopper’s Cabin), she’s been limited in how many people she’s met. So when she’s imagining the Christmas Specials in her head, she substitutes the people (and creatures) she’s encountered in her life in place of the actual characters from those stories.

For example, when Mike is telling her about the origins of Santa Clause, she imagines Hopper as Santa, Joyce as Mrs. Clause, and her friends as elves:

Likewise, when Lucas tells her the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, she imagines the Demogorgon in the role of the Grinch:

Same thing with A Christmas Carol, except it's Dr. Brenner as Mr. Scrooge, and Scott Clarke as Bob Cratchit:

And then, of course, there's A Charlie Brown Christmas, where El imagines Dustin and Dart the demodog in the role of Charlie Brown and Snoopy:

The way this was handled by the writers and artists was brilliant.

I also appreciate how they subtly reference El’s time the previous year as a fugitive in the woods. There’s a scene when the Party finds an injured rabbit outside, and El, remembering how she had to eat a rabbit to survive at the time, decides to take the rabbit back to Joyce’s house to fix its leg:

It’s a little sappy, but it works in the context on the comic.

Other references I appreciated:

The call-back to the dog the Byers family had in season 1. They never clarified what happened to him on the show, but the implication was he passed away. This comic confirms that:

There’s also Hopper’s gift of Hungry Hungry Hippos, which I believe was referenced at one point during the show:

There’s another reference I’m glad they included: Remember in the season 2 finale when Steve and Dustin shove a dead demodog into Joyce’s fridge to preserve it “for scientific purposes?” The show doesn’t ever revisit that moment again, but this comic does:

Basically, it turned into sludge, and Joyce was not happy with Steve and Dustin when she found it in her fridge.

I don’t know if that’s officially canon on the show, but I consider it such because it fills in the plot-hole of having a bunch of dead demodogs all over Hawkins after the gate closed with no residents discovering them by accident. It also explains what happened to the Meat Flayer’s flesh-body after the Russian gate was destroyed in season 3:

That must have been a fun mess for Dr. Owens and his crew to clean up! 🤣 

One last thing: This moment from Steve when he’s driving Dustin, Mike, and Lucas to the Byers house:

Sure, Steve. 😂 

On the whole, this is a fun comic with plenty of neat call-backs, nice character moments, and a cheerful Christmas mood. Check it out if you get the chance! :)

[theomenmedia]

Hot Frosty Tailer Out Now

Dive into the magic this holiday season with Hot Frosty! Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan bring a snowman to life in a way you've never seen before. Get ready for laughter, love, and a lot of festive fun!

Check out the trailer here: https://www.theomenmedia.com/post/hot-frosty-brings-the-heat-this-holiday-season-a-sizzling-trailer-breakdown

[snowangeldotmp3]

who the hell is robin? pt. 2

Steve’s beaten body aches, Robin’s metal fist delivering punch after punch.

Steve takes every single one of them. His eye swells and he can taste the blood.

And then–

Robin pauses. Bloodied metal arm suspended mid-air, still forming a fist. Her jaw clenching and unclenching. Fighting against something. Something flashes in her eyes. Steve knows she won’t kill him. It’s the same thing he saw on her face when he saw her in the street in front of Melvald’s. Recognition. There are tears in her eyes. She drops her fist lamely at her sides, and Steve’s eyes are nearly swollen shut. “It’s okay, Rob,” he chokes out. “It’s okay.”

He pushes himself up. Bullet wound and gritted teeth and broken robs. He wheezes out a breath. Then another. And another. His body burns, begging him to stay down.

But he can’t. He can’t lose her again.

So he pushes and fights and pushes and fights until–

“Robin!” he shouts, voice wet with emotion (and from the blood draining down his throat.)

She stops. She does not move another muscle, but she stopped. That’s enough for Steve. He stands there, waiting. Nancy’s voice crackles through the comms, “Steve, you need a doctor. She’s too dangerous. Stand. Down.”

Robin hears the voice too, but she says nothing. Her eyes burn with tears and her memories begin flooding back one by one by one.

Scoops. The Russians. Dustin. Erica. Tammy Thompson. Being separated. Mrs. Clicks class. The annoying upper class-men with the stupid hair and oh–!

Steve stands there. She can hear him wheezing. I did that, she thinks, oh god.

She turns. “Steve?”

“Steve?” she says again, her voice cracking, breaking in two. “Oh god, oh god, oh god Steve,” the tears flow freely down her face now, but she must not stop. He will die if she doesn’t keep going. She cannot lose him again.

The damned metal appendage, much as she loathes it, is incredibly powerful. Enough to hoist him up long enough and drag him as far as she can. She grabs his comms device. “This is Robin, I–”

The same voice from earlier cuts through, “Robin?!?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah.” She sniffs, wiping the snot off her nose, “yeah, it’s me. I’m gonna do what i can, but call an ambulance, now.”

She can’t remember the feminine voice, but she thinks she knows it. Or at least, she did, at one point. It feels familiar.

She rips the god awful leash they kept on her off, tearing the black leathery fabric to shreds, using her knife to slice it into pieces of terrible makeshift gauze. The tears blur her vision, but she can’t let that stop her. Steve coughs.

“Rob…” he breathes, ragged. Robin stops, the tears still streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Rob,” he coughs. He grabs the metal hand, not the fleshy one. The metal one. Gives it a squeeze.

Forgiveness.

Steve’s eyes roll back into his head.

“Steve?!?” she shouts, shaking him lightly, “Steve?!? You–you can’t leave me again!”

When Nancy and the paramedics arrive, they find Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley passed out side by side, his wounds haphazardly taken care of by her. While her wounds fester and bleed out. Nancy notices, Robin put him first. 

[catharusustulatus]

Steve and Dustin’s mom Claudia are close.

It starts with Steve practically adopting Dustin overnight, going from barely registering his presence to almost dying for him within a couple of days. After getting the shit kicked out of him by Billy and the close calls in the tunnels, everyone regroups, sweaty, tired, and hungry at the Byers’, and the kids start getting picked up. For some reason he finds himself being dragged into Mrs. Henderson’s car. And then her house, and then her guest bathroom, where she tenderly washes his face and cleans his wounds. She coos at him as he groans, sitting on her carpet covered toilet seat. Her bathroom is warm and cat themed. She holds his chin with so much care as she rubs a warm washcloth along his bruised cheeks. She holds his shoulders as he dry heaves. Steve is concussed, full of adrenaline, shaking, but most of all shy. No one has ever done this for him before.

After a couple days quietly sleeping in her guest bedroom, eating her food, and helping wash her dishes, she asks him about his parents. If they’re worried about him. He says no, she looks sad. She sends him home with a casserole, says see you soon.

Dustin starts following him everywhere. He gives him a walkie talkie for his birthday, tells Steve he’s “part of the gang now.” Steve acts annoyed but cries later, alone in his giant house, with relief, to not feel so alone anymore, even if Dustin and his friends are kids, and even if one of those kids is Nancy’s little brother.

He starts spending more time at the Henderson’s. The three of them watch Cheers and bake cookies. Mews 2 loves Steve, purrs in his lap. He starts bringing t-shirts over; Mr. Henderson's clothes were way too big for him. Soon he has a toothbrush there. Then he has a house key.

Claudia doesn’t bring his parents up anymore. Whenever he's there for dinner, or for more than dinner, it's with her full approval.

[windriverdelta]

Minimal theory on a Stannis victory in early TWOW

This is really a spin on some theories others have made (namely the "Night Lamp"), but to summarize all in one place:

In the Theon TWOW preview chapter, he's preparing for battle with the Bolton army. We already know from ADWD that the crofter's village has a lighthouse for some reason, that the ice in the surrounding lakes is fragile, everything's snowed in, and the Frey and Manderly armies are heading there for battle. In the TWOW chapter we see he's caught the Karstarks - which were supposed to be Roose Bolton's double agents - but conspicuously spared their troops, he has guessed that the two remaining ravens of Karstark's maester will go to Winterfell, he's inexplicably confident and upon Theon claiming that they don't have natural defences he says that they don't have them "yet", and he notes that Hosteen Frey and Ramsay Snow are stupid/not a threat*. So what gives?

I tend to think that per the Night Lamp theory, Stannis plans to use the fragile ice of the lakes as defence. Hosteen Frey is never set up as a particularly bright person and between his rashness, the low visibility and Stannis possibly turning the lighthouse off and setting a tree ablaze/waving his glowing sword around, he (Hosteen) will almost certainly lose his way, ride over the fragile ice and drown himself and his army. Then all that Stannis and his army have to do is mopping up the survivors, and prepare for the Manderly attack...

...except that the Manderlys will not attack him. If Davos has succeeded in his recover-Rickon endeavour - quite a lot of time have passed since Davos IV and Theon I TWOW - then they'll join him at this point, or fall into the Freys' back. If not, they probably do a Late Walder Frey and desert instead, but I can't imagine them wasting their lives against Stannis. And I think that Ramsay will be busy in Winterfell (see below and **), so he won't attack.

At some point before or after the battle, Stannis will bring Theon to a weirwood tree to cut his head off. I tend to think that Asha succeeded at persuading Stannis to execute Theon by sword. That and the birds (almost certainly Bran and Bloodraven) are all enthusiastic about Theon being brought to a tree. So Stannis gets there, and when he's about to lop Theon's head off the tree/Bran talks to him and pleads for Theon - thus buying him a bit of time. The Northerners will be more easily persuaded if it's their gods/tree pleading for Theon rather than Ironborn reaver Asha, and Stannis is no stranger to magic.

Meanwhile, in Winterfell Theon's and fArya's escape has been noticed - and crucially, the complicity of Abel's/Mance's washerwomen. As noted by @turtle-paced here, there are strong indications that Ramsay is about to lose patience with his father; I think upon this discovery he flips out, kills his dad and Fat Walda and blames it on Wyman Manderly who everyone suspects is planning treachery. Hother Umber (h/t @poorquentyn), Wyman Manderly and their troops fight back; they fail and their heads get mounted on Winterfell's walls, but not without taking down a lot of Bolton soldiers. Afterwards, Ramsay tortures and flays Mance and his spearwives, thus getting the information on Jon Snow's plan that will appear in the Pink Letter. Then the Karstark troops show up with Stannis' sword and news that Stannis is dead, reinforced by raven messages. Ramsay lets them in, and writes the Pink Letter...

...but it's a trap! As soon Ramsay's back is turned, the Karstark troops (sidenote: oh the irony, Stannis using Roose's favourite tactic of betraying an army from the inside against him, with the same people no less) open Winterfell's gates to Stannis' army - or Bran/Theon lets it in via secret tunnels. At this point, Team Dustin turns cloak - they have no loyalty to Ramsay and he's a threat to them -, the remaining Bolton troops are caught by surprise and are defeated, Stannis seizes Winterfell. I think Ramsay tries to hide, but is betrayed by Theon and/or Big Walder Frey to Stannis and/or Ramsay's dogs (which "love Theon"). Ramsay dies screaming, either on a pyre or torn apart by his dogs.

I am not sure that Theon survives long afterwards, but either way the stage is set for the actual Starks to make a comeback.

*Some people have assumed that Stannis dismissing Hosteen Frey as "Ser Stupid" and Ramsay as "which battles has he ever won?" foreshadow his defeat. Problem is, as we've seen with the battle in the Whispering Wood in AGoT, predicating a battle plan on your opponent's stupidity is no guarantee of defeat if the enemy is, in fact, stupid - and sometimes even when he isn't as we saw at the Green Fork; Tywin won, but Robb wasn't there. We've seen Hosteen Frey in Arya's and Theon's chapters, he's rash, rushes to judgment, and while he sees Manderly's potential treachery everyone else saw that before him. There is simply no indication that he'd be able to recognize the ice lakes trap. Now Ramsay did win a battle ... but see above re Green Fork; the only price that Tywin had to pay for underestimating Robb was that Robb himself didn't appear at the battle. As Tywin, so Stannis with Ramsay not appearing in the crofter's village.

**I am inclined to think that Theon's wrong about Ramsay showing up. One, while he/we see the Freys and Manderlys preparing to ride out of Winterfell, there is no evidence for Ramsay. Secondly, Ramsay has effectively conditioned Theon to see Ramsay everywhere. It's an effective abuse tactic ... but a total bluff. Three, Ramsay has other things to worry about besides Stannis.