#the Lance mcclainification of Steve harrington
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fullyinconsequential Ā· 2 years ago
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Hereā€™s a 3am Steddie rant I think every Steddie lover (and possibly hater) should hear. I have no goal to convert anyoneā€”just to say that the ship did not actually ā€œcome from nothing.ā€ Hereā€™s why:
I donā€™t understand how there wasnā€™t Steddie foresight in the writerā€™s room.
So they play it up in season 3 like Steve just canā€™t get the girl and when he does sheā€™s not the right girl and yada yada yadaā€”cool beans. I love his character arc with Robin, their friendship, her queerness. I love their entire bathroom interaction.
Specifically: ā€œItā€™s somebody that I didnā€™t even talk to in school. Maybe cuz Tommy H. wouldā€™ve made fun of me, or I wouldnā€™t be prom kingā€¦. First of all, sheā€™s hilarious. So funny. I feel like this summer I have laughed harder than I have laughed in a really long time. And sheā€™s smartā€”way smarter than meā€¦. Sheā€™s honestly unlike anyone Iā€™ve ever met before.ā€
Traits Robin Also Has that Eddie Shares:
Outcast
Band Kid
The Witty Banter
Eddieā€™s personality is VERY Robin. Not perfectly so, but maddeningly close.
Another point:
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This is just the same person in different gender specific fonts, A.K.A. Steveā€™s ā€œlove interestā€ versus a guy who called him ā€œbig boyā€ completely unprompted and interrupted a tender moment between him and his ā€œlove interestā€ and complimented him for an entire scene while Steve wore his clothes.
So, really, one of themā€™s Steveā€™s love interest and the other is Nancy Wheeler /hj.
I write a lot, and as someone who both writes and consumes an abhorrent amount of media, whoever wrote this down, casted and costumed this way, and allowed for the interactions between Steve and Eddie to be as nuanced as they were (EX: the scene in which Eddie steps forward like he has more to say to Steve before he goes off and kills himself) had to have known what was going to happen. There is simply no way of not seeing it.
And if they didnā€™t want people shipping Steddie at the scale which they do, hereā€™s what went wrong:
First: defaulting to Steve wanting his ex back is just plain shitty writing. It means you donā€™t know where to go with the character anymore, and since youā€™re certain heā€™s done all the growing he can do, heā€™s just gonna double back to the conflict he was in in the FIRST SEASON.
Are you serious right now, bro?
Steveā€™s arc as a character has been absolutely heartwarming to watch. If anything, heā€™d have been better off given the ā€œI need to figure out how to be happy on my ownā€ narrative. Throwing him back at Nancy is a cop out, a big one.
Second: Eddie. Throwing Eddie in the mix was absolutely a WILD decision, because he looks like Nancy, he banters like Robin, and GENDER IS NO LONGER A PLAUSIBLE REASON FOR AN AUDIENCE TO DENY CHEMISTRY, OR EXPLAIN IT AWAY. Not in the year of our lord 2023, no sir. Not unless youā€™re going to explicitly state in some way to an audience that these characters are DEFINITIVELY STRAIGHT. And with Eddie, they went as far off that course as possible.
The outcast stuff. The D&D stuff. The hatred of the system. The mysteriously living with his uncle and not his parents. THE HANKERCHIEF IN HIS BACK POCKET.
So essentially, this is what they did:
They took a beloved character, flubbed over his character arc because they werenā€™t sure what to do with it.
Then, they created a SECOND beloved character, made him likable, lovable, even, and relatable. Then they gave him half and half personality and looks of Steveā€™s last two love interests. Then they gave us scenes of them together where they showed chemistry, genuineness, and playfulness.
Then they EXPECTED that we as an audience had enough heteronormativity left as a society to sayā€”oh, those two guys arenā€™t flirting with each other even a little bit because theyā€™re two guys and obviously that doesnā€™t happen.
WHEN IN THE SAME SEASON WE WATCHED WILL AND ROBIN GO GAY PANIC AND DESPAIR LIKE?????
Pick a side pick a side, are your characters fucking gay or is your audience fucking blind?
Point being, I have some friends IRL who donā€™t really get this. They think Steve and Eddie hardly interacted enough for there to be romance at all, but I think itā€™s less about how much they interacted and more about the (unintentional) set up they were given by the writers.
Steveā€™s a truly beloved character and I donā€™t know on ST fan that wants to see him just end up back with Nancy Wheeler like his entire character arc was just to ā€œget the girlā€ and ā€œhave six kids.ā€ Which he already has by the way.
Anyway, thatā€™s just my two cents. Iā€™m not advocating for anyone to ship them, Iā€™m just saying itā€™s honestly a perfectly logical conclusion to make, especially if you CARE about Steve as a character, you know? We want him to be with someone genuine, someone who challenges him to be better, to be different than he was. Nancy couldnā€™t handle doing that. Robin could, but theyā€™re platonic af.
So why wouldnā€™t it be Eddie?
Rest in peace, by the way. You wouldā€™ve loved this text post.
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