#the context is Steve is like do you think Eddie might be gay and then says how he never talks about girls etc

[pizzaqueen]

No context dialogue snippet from a pre-Steddie Steve&Robin ficlet I’ve been meaning to write for months:

“Uh, Steve?”

“Yeah.”

“I think your uncle is gay.”

“Yeah, I figured that out.”

“Just now?”

“Yep, just now.”

[findafight]

i don't get why robin and eddie clocking each other is so popular. firstly i find it kind of cheap esp since it's usually a set-up for robin and/or eddie being all-knowing arbiters of lgbt knowledge while steve is clueless and dumb and not lgbt enough (despite usually being bi) to partake in this exchange as well. then it's otherwise used to establish an immediate connection between robin and eddie since they are both gay which automatically makes them besties. secondly it doesn't make much sense w what we see of either robin or eddie. like we know robin struggles w social cues and we see that that extends to sexual orientation through her interactions w vickie. also i think she is just not paying that much attention to eddie i must be honest. then w eddie he spends his time campaigning for the stancy revival while steve blatantly stares at his mouth so. i don't think he'd be good at that either. like the irony in this being so common is that steve is the person that does clock someone else on top of being consistently socially and emotionally intelligent and perceptive. idk sometimes i feel like ppl take him not clocking robin as proof he's incapable of it despite him then clocking someone later and being right, and that s3 scene fitting into the broader context of steve being lonely, insecure, and off his game for most of s3 as well as between s2 and s3. tbh missed comedy potential w steve being the one person in that trio that actually knows what's happening.

oooohg yeah i feel you anon. Not to say that all the fics that have these tropes in them are bad! it just. sometimes gets annoying? I don't want people to feel too bad about it but yes agree.

I think it really is used as a way to fast track their friendship. Truly unfortunate that it's often used to make them all knowing queer guides instead of the disaster teenage gays they are.

Robin is a small town lesbian who is only out to one singular person, she does not know anything, let alone vague little queer codes that might be happening. She wouldn't know Eddie was queer for a variety of reasons. She says herself she's not good at reading people! She's also busy worrying about if she's doing something that might out her or make people suspicious of her, so she's not analyzing other people's actions. She does not care about men that aren't Steve enough to pay enough attention to figure out if Eddie is queer or not lol. She can't even figure out if the girl she likes who likes her back is queer when her best friend is telling her. Oblivious icon! open your eyes, queen!!

Eddie had a man he deliberately broke a moment of romantic tension between his love interest by throwing a vest at his face staring at his lips and still pushed him towards said love interest. Sir. what are you doing. and once it's clear stncy isn't happening you know eddie would be like okay. why aren't you dating Robin? hmm? she's cool! and causes Steve to Suffer. (Steve was flirting with Eddie .5 seconds before he started on this please get with the program Eddie!!)

Also think it's silly that people would stereotype Eddie as Queer from how he dresses as though that's not just how a lot of people dressed? long hair was In in the 80s. Metal fashion was there. It also likely had some/a lot of ingrained homophobia in the subculture (as many things did). Sorry Eddie, but I'm pretty sure our boy Brucie did more for the gays than metallica. (Kissing Clarence Clemens Right On The Mouth Many Times On Stage thank you mr. springsteen and mr. clemens sirs.)

Steve's the only one of these three that 1) knows how to flirt 2) knows when someone is flirting with him 3) has consistently demonstrated being emotionally and socially intelligent to observe people (more than arguably anyone else in the series) and 4) has any kind of functioning gaydar. Totally agree that Steve not clocking Robin despite his gaydar is that he was way off his game, insecure, in a funk, pathetic sad meow meow era, and in a weird state of squish-or-crush on Robin, that was pushed towards crush by Dustin but slam dunked into squish by Robin coming out (does that make any sense?)

I truly, truly believe Vickie returned Fast Times paused on 53 minutes and five seconds specifically when she knew Robin and/or Steve would be the ones to rewind it. Why else would she not rewind it? when clearly they knew who had rented it and could potentially out her if they read into it? She was getting vibes from robin and knew that Steve would at least report Back to Robin (I refuse to believe the championship game was the only time stobin gossiped like they did. Vickie knows their shenanigans.) so she decided to be indirect but kinda obvious about it!! And while Robin is denying this Steve has seen the truth, he knows exactly what Vickie is doing. (would be very funny if Steve and Vickie clock each other, and then make eye contact like I know what you are. They deserve to become funky little friends while Steve is trying to get her and Robin together.)

[laundrybiscuits]

(grace coming out of the void tag)

He mixes Eddie a passable gin and tonic, adding a little squeeze of lime and a couple cucumber slices, while Jeff heads back out to the party. 

“So, you and Helen…?” Steve asks. He thinks he sounds totally normal. Casual, even.

Eddie laughs, then stops abruptly. “Oh, shit. You’re serious? I’m gay, dude.” 

“Oh.”

“I—huh. I really thought you knew.” Eddie looks thoughtful. He’s frowning a little. “Guess this puts a few things into context. Gonna be honest, I’m surprised you missed it. Hell, I’m surprised Robs didn’t spill the beans one way or another. Love her to death, but our girl’s not the greatest with keeping a lid on things.”

Steve feels a wash of heat in his face, and he’s not even really sure why. “I mean…it’s not like I didn’t guess you were, y’know, something. I thought—bisexual, maybe?” 

It’s not totally true, but it’s not totally false, either. Steve hadn’t gotten so far as putting any specific words around what he thought Eddie might be or what Eddie might like, he’d just wondered in a formless sort of way. 

“Nah,” says Eddie. “I mean, never say never, but. Historically, no.” 

Steve lets the word historically roll around in his jaw, in his back teeth. He feels okay about it, he decides. He knows it’s not—Steve had a serious long-term girlfriend less than a month ago. He’s just always been the jealous type, even when he knows it’s not right or fair. He’s working on it. 

Steve gets these stories in his head, is the problem. He gets to thinking like everything’s going to work out because it has to; like all the pain and bullshit will all make sense someday and be worth it. 

It’s kid stuff, thinking that way. Sometimes things just hurt, and there’s no point to it. Sometimes pain’s just pain, and Steve Harrington is single at Christmas again, dying slow in a one-horse town. 

“Hey, this G&T’s pretty good,” says Eddie. He grins all bright and boyish, looking nineteen again for a second. “Thanks, man.” He tips his glass towards Steve in a little salute, then saunters out of the kitchen.

———

Once, Steve had asked his mom: why didn’t you guys ever move out of Hawkins?

I don’t know, Steven, she’d said. Well, your dad’s job was here. We thought it was a nice safe town for you to grow up in. Don’t you like Hawkins? 

Steve had shrugged and said sure and that had been the end of it. He does like Hawkins. He likes seeing familiar faces around, though it seems like there’s fewer of those every year. He likes how safe it feels, because he’s made it that way. He’s bled for Hawkins. Feels like that’s some kind of bond he can’t break. Sometimes at night when he can’t sleep, he grabs his old nail bat and goes to stand out in the woods, breathing hard, waiting for something anything anything to come at him. 

Nothing ever has, not since 1986. It makes him feel a little crazy to remember that the time when he fought monsters and Russians was only about three years all told. It had felt like forever at the time. He really had thought that that was going to be his life, his real life. Everything else—school, work, girls—had felt like stuff he’d been doing in his downtime between the real stuff: hauling around ungrateful brats and beating the shit out of the forces of evil like something out of Saturday morning cartoons. 

But it’s been six years of downtime, and lately he’s been wondering if that’s just how life goes. Vivid and wild at the start, but then the colors fade. 

Last year, he’d gone to Christmas at Laura’s parents’ house. It had been a big house that looked almost exactly like the one he’d grown up in, with twinkling white lights outside; inside was a big tree by a crackling fireplace. There’d been an Irish Setter named Dooley who was pretty great. All the ornaments had matched. He’d had two glasses of white wine and went home by nine to have perfectly good sex with Laura and go to sleep at a reasonable hour. 

He’d woken up at two in the morning for no reason. He couldn’t grab his bat and go into the woods because Laura had been right there sleeping next to him, so he’d just stared up at the ceiling not thinking about anything as his heart beat faster and faster for a very long time. He’d known then that he had to break up with Laura, even though they’d only been going out for a couple months, but he kept putting it off because it just hadn’t seemed worth it to end things. There hadn’t seemed to be any point.

[griefabyss69]

@zombiethingy and @steddieas-shegoes both tagged me!!! Thanks for the tags <3 <3 <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25! All from this year <3 6 of them are microfics but everything else is around 1K - 21K! I've never in my life written this much lmao

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

129,098! That's a lot for me <3

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far just Stranger Things!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Still Motion (Paraphilia 01)

Last Man Standing (First fic in the LARP AU series)

Between Light and Darkness (First in the Vampire Eddie series)

Acceptance and Negation (Paraphilia 02)

Hell Patrol (First in the Apocalypse AU series)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes!!! There's only one or two I didn't and that's because they were rude

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think any of mine have an angsty ending tbh... Mostly because I write a lot of porn but also because even when I write for myself to vent there needs to be a way through all of the horrible shit. Otherwise I'm just adding stress to my life!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say they're all fairly happy with a similar type of end goal! HOWEVER....... there's one I have planned that might stand above the rest in terms of happy endings, but it's like... a long term project that I have no idea when I'm even going to properly start.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

So far I haven't! I usually moderate comments, and the rude ones I got were more of the 'you clearly missed the mark of what I wrote' or not finding a polite/nice way of asking me to continue writing the fic

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! The realistically unrealistic kind! Also, usually involves some kind of BDSM or kink related thing.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I won't say I'll never do it but I don't even have another fandom I'd be willing to write for at this time, let alone smash them together.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, unless I haven't come across it! I think it's cool if someone gets inspired by something I write though, especially anything that's not already common in ST fandom!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but it'd be cool if someone wants to!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't! I've like.... done a lot of yelling about potential things to write though. I have a lot of WIPs because of some of you LMAO I think the actual writing part of things is a very solitary activity for me usually, but I'm open to trying something short and sweet with someone (if things like time and energy line up as well)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Steddie, if we don't consider fandoms I'm no longer actively reading things for! However I'm pretty easy to please, I love Steve and Eddie as characters and so seeing them in other ships (like Stommy and Hellcheer or a threesome version etc) is always a good time!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have two fics I started writing before I wrote the first one I published. They're important to me and also my writing has changed so much that I'm scared to even try editing them, because I don't want them to lose that specific thing they have that I might not be able to conjure back up.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Tension, when I get it right, it becomes the best thing about what I've written, no matter what the context is! Also I keep finding I write gay sex between two friends who are in love but just haven't Gotten To That Part yet, so I'd also say an emotional slowburn but a sexual flashfire.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Outlining, keeping up with motivation if I at all try to organize or plan in on purpose. I have to trick myself, like hiding a little pill in a piece of cheese, in order to have planning and organization in a fic. That's part of the reason why I operate in series instead of really long multi-chapter fics, because that's one way I can hide the pill from myself.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I haven't ever and I don't know if I'd be confident enough in my resources to do that! But it's cool when other people do.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

...so I was like 11 years old writing Inuyasha and Kagome...

ST is the first fandom I've published for in over a decade AND it's the first fandom that I've published more than one fic for.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

That's really hard to answer. I really like a lot of aspects from all of them! Dive (microfic, july prompt "pool", body worship) was my favourite for ages, though. And it's still my fave microfic for sure!!

Acceptance and Negation might be my favourite longer fic, there's just something about the antagonism and complicated feelings about being so horny over everything that I find really fun to write!

No pressure tags!!!! @vecnuthy @wormdebut @hbyrde36 @penny00dreadful @stobinesque and anyone who wants to do it! <3

[empress-of-snark]

Hey I love your fic!! I know you were thinking about including TOW the Flashback where everyone almost hooks up with someone else; if you are writing that (and don’t mind spoiling) who do you think would try to hook up? It was easy in Friends because there were 3 straight men & 3 straight women, I’m curious how would it work with Robin and Eddie in the mix.

(Ignore me this is just me brainstorming) I can def see Steve and Nancy perfectly matching the Joey and Monica story bc that just really feels like a Steve move, but idk abt the rest of them. I guess if you avoid Eddie/Chrissy it would either be Chrissy/Jonathan & Eddie/Robin or Chrissy/Robin & Jonathan/Eddie. I feel like either Eddie/Robin or Chrissy/Robin could go with the Rachel/Chandler story. I could see Robin trying to make a move on Chrissy (maybe she overhears her talking to her friends about how she regrets not experimenting in college at all bc she kinda went straight from Patrick to Jason) and I could also see Eddie trying with Robin before he knows she’s gay. I could maybe see Jonathan/Chrissy having a moment similar to Ross/Phoebe one, like maybe back in college they bumped into each other while Chrissy was upset about Patrick and Jonathan was upset about Nancy and something almost happened. I agree w you abt Jonathan/Eddie having potential: maybe when they first met Eddie thought Jon liking Bowie was a signal that’s he’s gay/bi. Or I could see a younger Jonathan potentially being interested in experimenting w Eddie when they’re high esp if he’s sad abt Nancy. Anyway this is just me rambling, I’m sure whatever you write will be amazing and be the most true to the characters. Have a great day!!

Thank you so much!!

I actually have SO MANY thoughts about the potential of this episode—you’re so right that Robin’s sexuality definitely throws a wrench into the plans (I say with love). It’s what’s kept me from being able to come up with a concrete outline.

That being said…

Totally agree that Steve/Nancy is a given (although I’ve talked plenty about the potential of Eddie/Nancy). They already have a romantic history in canon, so it makes sense. I can definitely see them having a brief infatuation when Steve first moves across the hall before realizing very quickly that they don’t make sense together.

(For context, I don’t completely hate Stancy, but I don’t like the idea of them being endgame. He wants a big family and she doesn’t—neither of them should have to compromise on that)

I absolutely adore the idea of Jonathan and Chrissy maybe finding comfort in each other when dealing with their respective romance woes. I have a soft spot for them—I think they’d actually make a really cute couple, being so similar. Chrissy kind of needs someone to look after her and Jonathan’s very good at looking after people (it’s rotten work/not to me, not if it’s you vibes honestly)

The comedic potential of Eddie hitting on Robin or Jonathan before finding out they’re not interested… amazing 😂

However, I am also into the idea of both Jonathan and Chrissy experimenting with their sexuality a bit. I can just picture Robin overhearing Chrissy’s comment and immediately tripping over herself like “hi yes, I’m Robin, I’m very gay and I’m more than happy to volunteer my services”

I also had an idea that Robin might be feeling low after getting rejected by a straight girl and thinking hell, maybe she should give men a try, after all. But after one extremely awkward, stiff kiss with Steve (think Chandler and Phoebe in ‘the one where everyone finds out’) she’s like “nope, still gay”

Ugh, there’s so many good possibilities! I wish I could write them all!

Thank you so much for the ask! Hope you have a lovely day as well!

[ladycamdens]

I kind of think the writers might be intentionally misleading everyone about Nancy’s supposedly renewed feeling for Steve (to what end, I don’t know). If you think about, there’s no scene implying that she does. Sure, she clearly finds him physically attractive, but every scene that is about her apparent romantic feelings is from another person’s perspective, most of whom are established as not knowing her well.

The library scene, where Robin thinks she’s jealous, comes right after a scene where Robin says she doesn’t have a “strong grasp of social cue”, and is after Nancy just lost a friend to the Upside Down (again) and is working with someone new. The scene of Eddie telling Steve that she didn’t hesitate is him speaking from his own “cynical” point of view, is literally in the same scene as him stating that he runs from danger, and comes after he is shocked by Nancy’s guns, meanwhile Nancy has had numerous scene of her risking her life for others in similar fashion to her diving in after Steve. The RV scene is after she just saw visions of an apocalyptic future, her family dying and Steve mentions California (where Jonathan is). During the scene of Steve’s confession, she looks guilty for breaking his heart, supportive of him growing up and moving on, but is downright uncomfortable when he mentions her being in his dream (and relieved when Robin interrupts). The only scene that actually has Nancy’s feelings voiced is when she acknowledges that Steve has “grown up quite a bit” (which he has), but it’s Jonathan’s look of worry and slight jealousy that inform the scene’s context. Every other scene is just light flirting (which was established as their dynamic in S1) and sexual tension (whilst is a high stress environment), but there still written more like exes being forced to interact and get along again than a budding romantic reunion.

just wanna say thank you for sending this message! it’s really well put and has been a theory i’ve been lightly sitting on for a bit. i think *some* of my discomfort around steve’s actions is that it does feel very one sided most of the time.

as you mentioned, i think it’s clear nancy is attracted to steve physically. i think some of her sexual yearning comes from the fact she’s been separated from jonathan for a while and they haven’t even been speaking really. tensions were high and steve was there and half naked lmao

and to elaborate on your points further, whilst robin obviously isn’t romantically interested in steve at all, we’ve seen that she immediately had a complex about being compared to nancy wheeler. in her mind all the popular people are infathomable to her - like in her mind nancy is just some priss. during that library conversation robin admittedly doesn’t know nancy or her motivations very well. pair that w her clearly being autistic and obviously not heterosexual i do think it’s mostly conjecture on robin’s part. especially in contrast with her not being able to navigate her stuff with vickie very well - self admittedly unable to determine if she’s into girls or not.

now forgive me this is where my gay eddie tinhat comes into play but i swear i have points!!!! my interpretation of eddie throwing his vest at steve during the fond!stancy eye contact moment is that he was… dare i say jealous. actually i think the parallel between eddie and robin’s interpretations of nancy is super interesting. eddie also has his mind made up that nancy is a priss - which is why the guns take him so off guard. paired with the fact that as you said he feels inferior to nancy’s bravery after he learns she’s not. now pair that with what i think is a kind of obvious crush on steve but also serious self esteem issues (one can argue he feels inferior to both of them) you have his interpretation. he wishes he could dive after people he loves like that so therefore she loves steve. by that same token though robin jumped in right after nancy so either we’re meant to believe ronance is canon (which… please sir can i have some more) orrr it’s clearly a platonic act of love.

now all that makes me doubt the intent of the RV scene is the way the script details it. nancy is supposed to be reciprocally into it. but what’s interesting is that’s not the way natalia played it. like the scene had a visceral awkwardness to it. she was uncomfortable. as she should be. what i’m wondering is if she’s the one who retconned it or if the writers changed how they wanted the scene played. because every time natalia is asked about the love triangle she also looks uncomfortable. i don’t think she likes nancy being reduced to a love interest either. plus she’s a big ronance shipper. but it could ultimately be leading up to the long game of her letting steve down gently as decided for her by the writers idk.

apologies for the essay but i had things to say!!!!!!

edit: i’ve been kindly informed by an anon that the scripts were confirmed fake! so that probably means it was never meant to look reciprocated! so consider that point redacted xx

[huntingforsatisfaction]

My live reactions to season 4 episode 9 (part 1)

But they're slightly out of context and a complete unfiltered adhd mess

Also ofc spoilers

-will yuri ever give up on trying to trick them

-and I think he might legit be attracted to that helicopter

-are JOYCE AND HOPPER GONNA FUCK IN THAT CHURCH?!?!??

-AHUT UP

-shut up

-OMFG

-FINALLY

-not the us government cockblocking

-Robin making fun of Steve is my fav

-don’t like the foreshadowing of Steve telling Eddie and Dustin to abort the mission

-there’s so much foreshadowing for Eddie dying I can’t take it

-Eddie and his bandana is doing things to me

-also Dustin is so cute with his little outfit

-that boy is my son

-I really hope el’s plan works because it’s so cool

-so happy for Kate bush rn because she’s truly in her bag

-shit angry hick

-Joyce is the best mom, but I hate this plan

-not argyle making a pizza

-THIS US IT

-ITS HAPPENUNG

-Eddie’s hand…

-MY HEART IS RACING

-I think this scene will actually get me pregnant lol

-get this stancy off my screen, I want Eddie’s sexy ass playing Metallica to save the world!!!!!

-“you’re there” just let out the deepest sigh

-this is making it sound like I don’t like Steve or Nancy, I’d like to clarify that I absolutely love both of them, I just can’t stand stancy for so many reasons

-Enzo is either gonna die or double cross them calling it now

-jk on the double crossing, but homeboy is NOT surviving

-I’m so anxious I’m tempted to look on Twitter for spoilers so any deaths don’t hit as hard

-LUMAX LUMAX LUMAX

-max better survive to see that movie istfg if she doesn’t

-Jonathan best brother ever

-please make them explicitly say Will is gay by the end of the series

-yas the show setting it straight on how bad Billy was

-Catholic guilt max is so real

-fuck I have chills. I love max so much and I really just want her to actually be happy.

-shit vecna has her

-Caleb is acting his ass off in this scene

-starved for elmax content

-skater girl max truly has my heart

-IS THIS REALLY IT

-YES

-omfg Chrissy this is for you

-I just audibly screamed

-already knew it was gonna be master of puppets, but I’m still freaking out cuz I love this song

-DADDY DADDY DADDY

-stfu Dustin head banging is adorable

-this is already one of my top 10 fight scenes from any show/movie just because of the song choice

-I INWO THAT RAGEDY BITVH DIDNT JUST TACKLE ERICA

-Eddie nation how we doing?

-I will be rewatching that scene for the rest of the summer istg

-Max’s best memory being there snow ball<3

-Russian crew is so unbelievably fucked I’m horrified

-bro demaflayers?!?!?!?

-Steve’s hopping just gave me the ick

-ronance moment

-baby max<3<3<3

-lmao I forgot this was the song they used in the snow ball scene

-it’s 3:30 am and I’m so tired, but I’m only half way through and HAVE to watch on one sitting

-seriously the cinematography

-fuck Jason omfg

-IF HE HURTS LUCAS

-I hate this it’s so unnecessary

-I don’t wanna watch the Russian teams scenes because I’m so scared

-fuck hopper being the bait

-NO JOYCE GETTING FLASHBACKS

-still so scared for Eddie too

-ROBIN

-STEVE

-NANCY

-god Russia needs to come through rn with that hive mind theory

-if Eddie doesn’t get through

-BO NO NO NON NO NO

-pausing to accept that Eddie is about to die

-just caved and looked at spoilers and now I don’t wanna finish :(

-it’s honestly on me for falling in love with him

-just spoiled Max too so I can handle it

-I’m finishing this shit in the morning

-Eddie nation plz don’t stop posting fanfics because it’s all I have now

[yuwhala]

Here's me complaining about s4 on the internet because I have no friend

BEWARE, there will be a LOT of SPOILERS about STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4. Also I have a very annoying style of writing but I can't give two shit about fixing it for the moment.

The way I felt so NUMB watching this season.

I was SO hyped because I love stranger things and the first two seasons were awesome and I liked the fun and freshness that season 3 bring along

But GOSH was this season not good. I had HOPES for the last two eps, thinking the first sevens were kind of an introduction to the big finale but lol. They were the worst. So many things felt random.

I would have been fine about Eddie dying if this would have made sense. I felt like he died because it was easier than finding a way to redeem him for the Hawkins people. "I didn't run" ????? you were dumb huh ? The fact that you decided to stay in the upside down in the first place was already you NOT RUNNING. You didn't have to stay put in one place waiting for the bats to kill you. That makes no SENSE. "Not running" in that context was to be meant METAPHORICALLY you dumb SHIT. Like not running away from your problems not, not running physically. Gosh I'm so angry and I didn't even particularly liked this character.

Don't get me started about the way Mike and Will had no reason to be on this season at all. "oh but Mike helped El in the end" waouw AWESOME, clap clap, I DONT CARE. It's like on the last day on the set the writers wondered who that blue shirt guy was and suddenly remembered "OH YES !!!! Him!!!!" and gave one (1) useful line at the end ??????? As useful as his father, I see.

The way they used Will was a disgrace.

"And that people, is a gay little dude"

"Oh ! Ok ! So, hm, does he do something or ?"

"Yes. He's, listen to that awesome thing : sad gaying"

"No no, I meant, does he do something useful story-wise, like is the fact that he is in the story making any difference at all ?"

"He's gay. And sad. Isn't that enough already :D ?! Also he draws. "

URGH. I love Will and we didn't get to see him tortured for TWO seasons to just have him wandering in the back doing nothing but be gay and having a cold neck from time to time for two whole seasons.

When RandomWeedDude that I don't even recall the name of had more importance and good scenes than two of your main characters, maybe this is a sign that stuff are no that great.

Another thing I really didn't like (shocker, I know) was : THE PACING. You don't get to spend 5 billions hours with eleven in Nina just to tell us Papa was a bad man (would could have guessed. MAYBE EVERYONE WHO WATCHED THE FIRST SEASON ALONE), but like he wasn't just a bad man, no it’s way worse than that kiddo, he was a really really REALLY bad man :o !!!! And Ok the twist with 001 was nice but did we need to spent that much time uncovering the fucking memory of how papa was bad and that mystery blond dude might not be a good person after all. And yes, Eleven is not a bad person nor a monster, nice that she knows that, I admit. The pacing just sucks.

I'm not against having multiple teams doing multiples differents things at the same times but the way it was done in the last episode was not it. It became boring quickly because there were toooooo many teams to follow, toooooo many dangers and tooooo many characters and new rules and new powers and and and URGH. When it jumped from a scene to another I barely had time to adjust to the "Oh wait, what were those guys doing already ? Is this the frightening, sad or funny situation?" that it jumped to another scene. So the tension was kind of ruined for me. Especially when it make things like Steve, Robin and Nancy choke for 30 minutes of the episode. I don't get to be scared for them or their safety because it cuts back and forth to being choked "to death". For 30 long minutes. So I know there is no way they're dying. Wasn't scared a second for hopper because he just doesn't die, because he's a cowboy and his mean and determined face is enough to just not die. He's just in Russia for 9 episodes. Good times. Please never do that again. I would have rather watch him miraculously reappear randomly in the season like "hey guess who fought the commies" and never explain how he did it.

The different arcs were way too long. From episode 3 to 8, El is in the lab, from episode 3 to 8 the pizza guys are in a van, from episode 1 to 9 Hopper is in Russia. It just felt redundant and boring especially considering how long the ep are.

Let's talk about Vecna, because why not. He is goofy. It's the first season of stranger things where I'm not scared a single bit. The clocks and the things he does to his victims and how he uses their guilt against them : NICE. His body : Not Nice. Everytime I saw him in a scene it just killed the vibe. You're not scary in a humanly form. I'm not saying the make up or the costume aren't well made, I'm just saying, Billy being possessed and sweaty was way scarier. Shadow monster was scary. Demogorgons were scary. Vecna is just dumb looking.

There is many more things that I didn’t like about this season (Steve and Nancy fake romantic interest why ? To what end ?) but I’m hungry and most of my annoyance is gone just writing it all off.

Still, Kudos to people who worked on the sets and to all of the actors and actresses, you were the reason I stayed. Directing wise it was a nice experience to witness and the music and use of sounds were always a banger. I’m not even a single bit planning of ever watching season 5 (please Act as if I never wrote this if you see me complaining about the newest episode in two or three years) but I was still glad I got to watch the first three seasons.

To finish this wonderful essay, I’d like to say : I don’t care that my rambling doesn’t make sense or that I’m too harsh or that I’m wrong. I’m right to me and that’s all I care about. I finally get it most of it out of my chest thanks to this hellsite.

[hearmeoutno]

Stranger things season 4 re-write

I've never been so pissed at the ending of a series so imma rewrite it whether you like it or not. Imma add another character that's basically me in the 80s because I want to that's why. Euh so I hope y'all enjoy if I ever even publish this idk what imma do with this.

Please keep in mind that English isn't my first languages nor am I an American, so don't bully me aodkakdowod

A bit more explanation on how I'm gonna do this:

You'll be reading from my OC's p.o.v. in 3rd person, so imagine the narrator looking over the OC's shoulder and reading her thoughts (more info on her later)

I'm gonna rewrite certain scenes, so not the whole season

Because I stan this hc, Steve is bi, eddie is gay (I see that hanky Ed) but I'm not gonna write smut, a kiss at best, because I still think its cringe whenever I write it

I'm a gay fuck so guess what! Steddie and rovicky (idk the ship name but Robin and vicky)

I'm probably just gonna write about the Hawkins crew cause my OC will not be in Russia, Indiana and California at the same time for obvious reasons

Definitely putting in a lot of pop culture references

I'm gonna put in the timestamps of the scene I'm editing

My oc

Name: Mackenzie "Mack" Ryans (Ik the name sounds preppy but she is far from that, trust me)

Age: 19 (she had to double senior and just switched school, not rlly gonna write it down but theres context clues, or just think of your own reason, creative freedom)

Hobbies: playing guitar, D&D (she's not in Hellfire tho ik I'm sorry)

Interests:

Music: Queen, Kiss, other popular rock around that time

movies: sleepaway camp, slumberparty massacre, Texas chainsaw massacre, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, just all horror movies and obviously popular movies, especially grease

Other: she's a lesbian because we rlly need more queerness in ST

Here's a few pics of what Mack would look like, but I'm not going to expertly detail her look/outfit, so it's up to the imagination for most of the story:

Chapter 1: The Hellfire Club

(35:12)

"and even... Murder!"

As the geeks laugh at Eddie's expressive monologue, Mike and Dustin stand a few feet away from their usual table. For some reason they need to give eachother some sort of pep talk, but Mack doesn't give it any more thought than necessary.

"I don't understand why everything that doesn't fit in society's normal has to be bad or satanic! What about trolls and elves is so harmful that they might as well kill because of it?!" Rolling her eyes, she opens her lunchbox, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Society has to blame something. we're an easy target"

"Exactly. We're the freaks because we like to play a fantasy game. But," As Eddie slams a hand on the table, he gets up and on said table to dramatically exclaim his opinion "as long as you're into band or science... or parties" the nasty face he makes at the typical party-goers makes them snarl and throw him a nasty face back. But ofcourse, Eddie being Eddie can't help but raise his voice at that while looking over to the popular slash basketball slash asshole table.. "or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets!"

Jason isn't the biggest fan of hearing the truth, at least not as long as it's against him, causing him to stand up and scream back a "you want something freak?". Like all people do who don't understand a thing about differences.

But oh does Eddie love pissing off assholes! He makes a *lovely* demon face, along with some questionable sounds before walking back off the table like a catwalk.

"Its forced conforming. That's what... killing the kids!" A girl walking by gets scared of his sudden screaming, causing her to gasp and walk just a little faster, all while the table chuckles at Eddie's usual antics.

Being the gentlemen he is, he bows to let some cheerleaders by before sitting back down saying "that's the real monster."

Mack looks up from her lunchbox she was previously laughing into, leaning over to the head of the table where Eddie was. "We still on for tonight? I rented Friday the 13th again."

Cocking his head over to Mack he softly whispers "I might have a deal so just wait behind the trailer if you see someone inside." Then sitting straight up, looking at Dustin.

"So, uh, speaking of monsters"

...

(1:08:00)

Mack is standing behind the trailer, waiting for Eddie to come get her. People always seem to think her and Eddie are together, but they couldn't be far from the truth. Just two homosexuals who like rock, horror movies and weed.

As she's standing there, waiting, she puts a cassette in her Walkman. It's one she recorded herself, with a mix of her all time favourites. Theres some Kiss, a shit ton of Queen, some Bowie, and here and there The Beatles.

She can't help but see some lights flickering out of her peripherals. first it didn't seem so unusual, it's a trailer on a trailer park so not exactly a mansion. But they keep flickering. Pausing the tape and taking of the headphones, she hears screaming

"Chrissy, wake up! I don't like this, Chrissy! Wake up!"

Ignoring the rules she and Eddie set, she goes around the trailer and opens the door.

"What the fuck is going on he-" when she finally did see what was going on, she wished she just stayed home. Chrissy was slowly levitating into the air, Eddie standing in front of her.

"I don't know! We had deal and when I found what she wanted i came back and she was just- Jesus Christ!" Right when Eddie was telling his story, she slammed against the roof of the trailers, Eddie falling down by surprise and Mack with her back against the now closed door.

As Chrissy's bones begin to snap, they both stare in disbelieve for a few seconds. Then they began screaming as her eyes start bleeding and get sucked into her head. Mack runs to get Eddie, pulling him out the trailer and running. Not knowing where to go, they sprint into the woods.

"What the fuck! What the fuck was that Eddie!"

"I don't fucking know but we need to get out of here! The moment they find her I'm dead!"

They keep running and the road doesn't seem to stop. Eddie leads them to a boathouse on Coal Mill Road, rushing to find a hiding spot for when the cops eventually find them. They settle under a tarp in a boat, it's a bit cramped but they'll get by.

"Remember that one scene in Nightmare on Elmstreet where Tina gets levitated off the bed and up the wall to get killed by Freddy? What if he's real?" Mack always tries to be the comedic relief, but all she can see when she closes her eyes is Chrissy's lifeless body pressed against the ceiling.

Her and Chrissy were briefly friends, if that's what you can call it. They helped eachother in maths at the beginning of the year, and that was about it, yet they still smiled at eachother when passing in the hallways. Chrissy was sweet, she was kind, she didn't call her a queer or a freak unlike her pathetic-excuse of a boyfriend.

"I don't know what that was Mackie, but it definitely wasn't good. I'm really gonna need to sleep on that, if I can at least. Goodnight..."

"Goodnight Ed". And there they were. Cramped in a small boat, under a tarp and scared shitless for what will happen to them in the near future.

Right before she fell asleep, Mackenzie realised she dropped one of the cassettes in her back pocket. You know, the cassette that blatantly says "property of Mackenzie Ryans, don't fucking touch" on both sides. Fuck.

____________________________

Wanna read more? Here's the other chapters I finished! Thanks for reading :)

(And yes, that one is longer than this one lmao)

[callmechee]

Hi yes i have a great idea for the Duffer bros so if you aren’t them, keep scrolling

So we know Will is gay and that Mike, just like the actor who plays him, is a clueless baby who needs someone to spell it out for him.

And boys, do i have to scene for you.

Will and El don’t live in Hawkins anymore and it isn’t Christmas break quite yet, so they aren’t there yet.

The remaining Party are going to the video store where Robin and Steve work to try and con Steve out of some rated R movies for their movie night. They have their usual banter, and while Dustin and Lucas are talking Steve into letting them take home Pulp Fiction, Robin is chatting with Max and Mike over the counter.

They converse about Will and El and how both Max and Mike can’t wait to see them when they come home in a few days. Somehow the conversation gets geared toward Will and how him and Mike have been distant and Mike recalls the conversation they had where he said ‘it’s not my fault you don’t like girls’

Now obvioulsy Max and Robin have actual brain cells and immediately are like ‘dude that’s such a dick thing to say’ and Mikes like 100% confused and is like ‘???’

So Robin is like ‘have you ever thought that your comment hurt his feelings because he actually might not like girls at all?’ And Mike is like ‘I’m not following’

So Max, an angel really, is like ‘hey asshat, some people are gay’ and Mike looks at Robin bc yeah, he knows she’s gay and he loves Robin and- ohhhh fuck

And they’re all looking at him like he’s stupid and Robins like ‘you’re shit at picking up on context clues dude’ and then proceeds to mention that it might’ve hurt Will worse coming from Mike bc well, he might like him. And Mike is so confused bc he’s like ‘i think i can tell when someone likes someone else, and Will doesn’t like me. We’re best friends’

And Robin and Max just roll their eyes bc Mike is a dumbass, but they love him anyways.

And this, this is the good part.

As they’re leaving Max is like ‘Id thought you would’ve gotten the hint when I told you to read Stephen King’s new book’ and Mike is like ‘What do you mean it’s a horror book’

And i want Sadie to look Finn dead in the face and say, ‘so you didn’t notice anything about Richie and Eddie?’

And as their walking out Mike’s eyes widen and he rushes after her like ‘fuck’

[tinylilemrys]

Save the Last Dance - a Reddie fic

Read it on AO3

Rating: T

Word count: 3,980

Tags: fluff and angst, getting together, mentions of PTSD, internalised homophobia, first dance, prom

Summary:

Eddie invites a girl to prom and almost instantly regrets it – even more so when he realises that the reason Richie has been so mad since he asked her and the reason he’s been watching the two of them is probably because Richie has a crush on her.

He’s never been happier to be proven wrong.

Prom was such a fucking waste of time, Eddie decided, watching Chloe Parker dance her fourth dance with Steve Himble, the president of the AV club (who had cleaned up surprisingly well). It wasn’t that he was jealous – he really wasn’t. He’d only asked her to prom a few days ago because she was his lab partner and he’d overheard her complaining to her friend that no one had asked her yet. Before that, he’d been planning to go stag with what was left of the Loser’s club after Mike, Ben and Bev had moved away, a fact which Richie had been only too happy to point out.

“Well that’s just fucking great, isn’t it, Eds?” He’d said, throwing up his arms in frustration. “Stan’s already decided not to fucking go and now you’re flaking out on us too? To go with Chloe fucking Parker of all people? Do you know what happens when two out of four stags stop going stag, Eds? Everyone assumes the last two stags are each other’s little deer boyfriends. Is that what you want to happen to Bill and me?”

Eddie hadn’t had the energy for Richie’s bullshit that day.

“If you’re so worried about looking gay, Richie, I suggest you and Bill grow some balls and actually fucking ask some girls.”

And then he had stormed off, trying very hard not to think about why Richie being scared of going to prom with another guy made him so angry. They hadn’t spoken since then and all the while Eddie hoped and prayed Richie wouldn’t find a date. He didn’t think he would survive it. Thankfully, he was relieved when Richie did, in fact, only show up with Bill.

Best to ignore all those emotions too.

From his table, he watched Richie and Bill leaning against the opposite wall of the gym, talking and drinking cups of the punch that Eddie was sure, in addition to breaking about fifty health code violations, had also been spiked by now (maybe even by Richie himself – he wouldn’t put it past him). Though he hadn’t had a chance to see him up close yet, from this distance Eddie had to admit that Richie looked damn good in a suit. Not that he’d ever tell him. He’d rather down the entire bowl of punch than admit that out loud.

Eddie’s stomach jolted when he realised that Richie was looking back at him, probably wondering why he was staring. He quickly dropped his gaze to his shoes and tried in vain to stop his cheeks flooding with colour.

This was dumb. Why was he sitting here alone waiting for Chloe to come sit down when it was clear that she was having a much better time with Steve anyway? Sighing, he got up from the table and made his way over to his friends.

“Hey, Eddie,” said Bill, clapping a hand to his shoulder. “Sorry it didn’t work out with Chloe.”

Eddie was about to shrug and say it was no big deal when Richie interjected.

“Yeah what’s up with that? Did she feel how tiny your dick is while you were dancing and get scared? I thought she was looking kinda sick.”

“Actually, Trashmouth, she told me it’s because she kept seeing this gangly grotesque creature in bottle cap lenses staring at us. It put her off.” It wasn’t entirely untrue. While it certainly wasn’t true that Richie was grotesque (again, never admitting that out loud), Chloe had pointed out about midway through their first and only dance that Richie was watching them. The knowledge made Eddie so self-conscious that decided he couldn’t bring himself to dance again, hence Steve swooping in to the rescue.

To his surprise, Richie’s eyebrows shot up into the tangle of hair he seemed to only barely have styled and though it was difficult to tell in the colourful lights, Eddie thought Richie might be blushing. He suddenly felt more nauseous than he did when Chloe had offered him a glass of punch earlier. Vaguely he realised that Richie was snapping out of it and hurling some witty retort back at him, but Eddie couldn’t make it out over the blood pounding in his ears at the sudden realisation that the reason Richie had been so mad at him for asking Chloe to prom, the reason he’d been staring at them while they were dancing, was that he liked her.

Suddenly everything made sense and he couldn’t be there anymore, not with the lights and the colours and the people and the Richie of it all. Without thinking twice, he ran as fast as he could outside to the nearest patch of grass and once there, was violently sick.

Most of the time he could deal with his unfortunate crush on his best friend by pretending it didn’t exist. If it was anything, it was just his wild teenage hormones sending him confusing signals. But that didn’t explain why every time Richie got him a thoughtful gift, or their banter was particularly on point, or it was just the two of them in Richie’s car singing along to whatever god-awful song was playing non-stop on the radio at the time, Eddie knew that there was no one else in the world who could make him feel as happy. But as Richie made no secret of his issues with the whole gay thing, it was far safer to just try to convince himself that he wasn’t feeling anything but really strong platonic love for his best friend.

The blood rushing in his ears calmed down enough for Eddie to hear the sound of footsteps running towards him. Worried it might be the Bowers gang, he whipped around in time to be tackled by a pair of long arms and a faceful of curly hair a moment later.

“Eddie, what the fuck man?” says Richie, holding onto him. “Are you okay? You scared the shit out of us.”

“I’m fine, Rich, I was just… I was just a bit overwhelmed in there and panicked,” he replied. Richie didn’t seem to be letting go so he took the opportunity to wrap his arms around him in return. He could feel Richie’s heart racing against his chest and his own seemed to be trying its damndest to catch up with it.

“W-we thought it might be it again,” Bill explained, his voice small and scared, and Eddie realised what he’d accidentally done. It had been almost six years since they beat that fucking clown down in those sewers, but every single one of them still had nightmares about it. Suddenly running away with no explanation was the worst thing he could have done to them.

“God, guys, I’m so sorry,” he said, squeezing his arms tighter around Richie who was shaking. “I just needed air. I wasn’t even thinking that… just, Jesus fuck, I’m sorry.”

“You’d better fucking be,” said Richie, letting go of Eddie and straightening his suit. “I didn’t survive that whole fucking ordeal just to die from a dumbass-induced heart attack at eighteen.”

“If you’re that upset about Chloe, we don’t have to stay, you know,” said Bill, changing the subject. “I think I saw enough of prom to say that I went. How about you, Rich?”

“Yeah, we can go if you want.” Richie turned to Eddie as he replied. His voice was tight and his eyebrows pinched and though Eddie knew that Bill was just trying to steer the conversation away from talk of Pennywise, he wishes he’d chosen any other topic of conversation. He didn’t need the reminder that Richie was mad at him for taking his crush to the prom. “I’ll give you a lift home if you need one, Eds.”

“Please,” Eddie replied with a small smile which, much to his delight, Richie returned

Richie’s car, much like the rest of the man, was a mess. The floor was littered with junk food wrappers and there was a suspicious stain on the backseat that Eddie was convinced was because one of the previous owners had used it to transport a body. It was the reason Eddie always insisted on riding shotgun.

As the car choked hesitantly to a start, he stole a glance at Richie’s profile, silhouetted against the lights outside.

Well, one of the reasons anyway.

“You can just drop me at S-Stan’s,” said Bill from the backseat and Eddie stomach dropped. Bill had been doing so well with his stuttering lately. It still took him a little longer to get through a sentence sometimes, but Eddie hadn’t heard him properly stutter for months. He’d caught on two words tonight already and somehow Eddie knew it was because of him – because he’d scared Bill. “I p-promised I’d come over after.”

“Sure thing,” said Richie, turning right instead of left like he would have done if he was taking Bill home. Eddie’s stomach sank further. He lived a lot closer to Stan than he did to Bill which meant that in dropping Bill off first, the trip was going to be a lot shorter.

“You know they sell cars with turn signals that work, right?” said Eddie to mask his disappointment.

“Where’s the fun in that?” said Richie, smiling for the second time that night. “I like to think I provide my fellow road users with a sense of adventure.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing my mom won’t let me get my licence.”

“Still not?” asked Bill.

“Yeah, Eds, she should know by now that it’s way more dangerous for you to be driving with me.” Richie was frowning the way he always did when Eddie’s mom was brought up outside of the context of sex jokes.

“Yeah, like I’d be dumb enough to tell my mom I let you drive me around.” Eddie rolled his eyes. “She’d find a way to ban you from driving too.”

“She would never,” replied Richie in a mock-scandalised voice. “I’d stop doing that thing she likes in bed.”

Eddie rolled his eyes again and Richie laughed, gently bumping Eddie’s knee with his fist in that way that Eddie pretended to hate but treasured for ages afterwards each time.

What he loved about Richie was that things could be super weird between them one moment and in the next, he would still go back to making Eddie feel like the most important person in the world to him. It should have caused whiplash, but he was so used to it at this point that it was just further evidence that neither of them was very good at staying mad at each other.

All too soon, Bill was climbing out of the car at Stan’s place and Eddie felt his mood, which hadn’t been the greatest all evening, plummet to new depths. As they watched to make sure that Bill made it safely into the house (a habit that, post-Pennywise, they’d all adopted) he began trailing his thumb along the cut on his left hand like he always did when he was nervous.

“Hey are you okay?” asked Richie who was now watching him with concern,

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Richie raised an eyebrow above the frame of his glasses. “Okay, fine, I’m lying. I don’t want to go home right now. You know my mom.”

“Biblically,” Richie smirks and Eddie thumps him in the shoulder.

“Fuck off, Rich, I’m serious. She’s going to want to know why I’m home so early and I can’t tell her the truth. I wouldn’t put it past her to track Chloe down and demand to know why she stood me up and I can’t put Chloe through that. But I also just don’t have the energy to make up a bullshit story either. I’m just… can we just drive around for a while? Just until it would be a normal time for me to come home?”

“I mean sure, but it would probably be a fuck-ton easier for you to just crash at my place tonight,”

“Oh my god, please,” Eddie replied, so relieved he could cry. “That would be an actual lifesaver. Your parents won’t mind?”

“If this is the night they start giving a shit about who I invite over and when I’m going to be so fucking pissed.”

Eddie laughed. He couldn’t help it. The idea of not going home and on top of it spending the rest of the night with Richie had him lightheaded and giddy. In response, Richie gave Eddie what to him felt like a fond smile, before starting the car and racing towards his house as quickly as he could.

Upon arriving at Richie’s house, his parents gave them both a short and friendly ‘hello’, barely looking away from whatever they were watching on TV, and a moment later they were upstairs, sitting on Richie’s bed. For the first time that night, Eddie felt himself relax completely.

“I can’t believe your parents just said ‘hi’ and left it at that,” said Eddie. “If that was my mom, I’d be there for another hour.”

“It’s just because you’re here,” Richie replied. ��Trust me – if I came home alone they would have pounced.”

Eddie got the sense that Richie was just saying that to make him feel better, but he didn’t mind. They were alone for the first time in weeks and he felt like he could breathe again. He was always his most real around Richie.

“So that was senior prom,” said Richie, leaning back on his elbows. Eddie followed suit.

“That was senior prom. Did it live up to the hype?”

“Not even a little.” Richie shakes his head. “I spent ten minutes getting ready for tonight, you know that? Ten fucking minutes. That’s seven more minutes than usual. Think of all the shit I could have accomplished in that time.”

“It was worth it,” Eddie replied, hoping his blush wasn’t too obvious. He was still not completely over the sight of Richie in a suit. Richie shrugged.

“I guess.”

A silence fell between them then, full of things Eddie wanted to say but had no idea how to start. He wanted to tell Richie how much this meant to him, how sorry he was that he had accidentally brought back memories of Pennywise, how much he wanted to kiss him right now, how lonely he’d been these past few days without them talking, how sad he was that he liked Chloe, how much he wanted to kiss him right now…

“Sorry, I… I mean, sorry about not going stag with you and Bill. I know you were looking forward to it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Richie replied. “Chloe’s great. I totally get it.”

God, he was already regretting bringing Chloe up. But this was good, he told himself. If Richie did like Chloe, he was sure it would help him get over his stupid crush on him.

“Look, Rich, I’m sorry. If I had known how you felt, I never would have asked her.”

Richie scrambled to sit upright and stared at Eddie as if he had just worked out his deepest, darkest secret. Eddie slowly sat upright too, feeling the anxiety build in the pit of his stomach. He’d started this, wanting to know for sure whether or not his assumptions were right, but now that he was about to find out, he didn’t want to.

“If you had known how I felt?” asked Richie, looking embarrassed and terrified.

“Yeah, about Chloe,” said Eddie. “I know how you feel about her. It wasn’t hard to figure out with how much you were watching her while we danced.”

Richie’s shoulders relaxed at this and Eddie wondered how long he’d had these feelings if being able to confess them was this much of a relief. Eddie watched as he sat there for a moment or two, staring through the Nirvana poster on the opposite wall before scrubbing a hand down his face, shaking his head (his curls bouncing in that way that Eddie always found adorable) and making his way over to the CD player on his desk. A few seconds later the intro to a cheesy rock ballad that Eddie vaguely recognised from how often it had played on the radio a few years back started and Richie was walking towards him with his hand open.

“Dance with me?” he asked. “Your date kind of got stolen and I feel bad that you only got that one. And, I mean, we might as well while we’re still here in our suits looking pretty.”

Part of Eddie’s brain screamed at him not to. It was a bad idea, Richie would know exactly how he felt about him and then where would they be? He’d made it clear over and over again how much of an issue he had with anything gay. But there was another, far more insistent part of his brain reminding him that Richie had been the one to ask him to dance and that if he didn’t dance with Richie Tozier now, there was no guarantee that he would ever get the chance again.

Trying very hard not to think about the state that their friendship would be in after this, he took Richie’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled into his arms. He realised a second too late that it would have been far safer and less obvious to put his hands gently on Richie’s waist than to wind his arms around his neck as he did, but the damage was done and Richie, thankfully, didn’t seem to mind.

Dancing with Richie was so different from dancing with Chloe. For one, since Chloe was shorter than Eddie, he’d been the one with the arms wrapped around her waist and she’d had her arms around his neck. They’d been dancing just as close, but it had been nothing more than swaying to the music. This was different. This was Eddie reeling from the scent of the aftershave Richie had put on for the occasion, the jolt every time their feet brushed, staring up into Richie’s brown eyes, magnified by his glasses, and trying to fight off the overwhelming sadness at how in just a few minutes this was all just going to be a memory.

They swayed together through most of the first verse before Richie spoke.

“So I suppose this is where I tell you that I don’t have feelings for Chloe,” he said. “Like, where the fuck did you even get that idea?”

“You were mad at me when I told you I was taking her to prom,” Eddie explained. “And then at the dance, you were watching her while we danced. I just, y’know, put the pieces together.”

“Yeah, congratulations, dipshit, you put them together wrong.” Richie rolled his eyes. “I was watching you. And yeah, I may have yelled, but I wasn’t mad. I was hurt and disappointed because going stag with you and Bill would have been as close as I could safely get to taking you as my date to prom.”

“Wait. You wanted to be my prom date?” Eddie stopped swaying, his head spinning with this new information. Richie had wanted to take him to prom and probably would have if society wasn’t such a bitch. “Fuck, Rich, I thought you had issues with the whole gay thing?”

“Deflection.” Richie didn’t look proud of it, pulling his gaze away from Eddie to stare at a patch of floor. “Fuck, Eds, I’ve been in love with you since we were twelve. And there’ve been so many times where I’ve wanted to tell you, but I’ve just been scared shitless to. I had no idea how you would react, if you would flip out and stop talking to me and I just couldn’t lose you. I still can’t.”

He swallowed and took a deep breath.

“You looked so upset when you thought I might have a crush on Chloe and it just… I guess it felt like for the first time you might feel the same way.” He looked up at him then and there was a jolt in Eddie’s stomach as he fully realised what was happening. Richie pulled him closer ever so slightly, and Eddie didn’t resist it. His body had turned to jello.

“Am I wrong?”

He couldn’t speak, his heart was pounding in his throat, but he somehow managed to control the muscles in his head enough to shake it.

And then before he could say anything else, Richie’s lips were on his, soft and still vaguely fruity from the punch, though he desperately tried to push that horrifying thought from his mind. Instead, Eddie focused on the little surprised hum Richie made when he parted his lips and how Richie’s arms were tightening around him, pulling them so close together that there was no space between them. With daring he didn’t know he had, he slowly slid his hands up to tangle in Richie’s curls and was met with another hum (or perhaps moan) of approval. He’d never felt anything like it. He never thought he could feel anything like it. Yesterday he would have thought this moment completely impossible, but here he was in Richie Tozier’s messy bedroom being kissed by him.

They eventually pulled apart and as Eddie rested his forehead on Richie’s shoulder, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Fuck, was it that bad?”

“No, you dick, I’m laughing because I’ve been in love with you since I was twelve too. We’ve missed out on six years of this shit.”

“Jesus, Kaspbrak, are you fucking kidding me?” Richie pressed a kiss to the top of his head, and Eddie felt it spread through his whole body. “Why are we like this?”

“I wish I knew,” Eddie replied.

They danced the rest of the song, now so close that it was impossible to do much more than shuffle their feet, but Eddie wasn’t complaining. This was easily the best moment of his entire life.

As the song started drawing to a close, Eddie laughed again.

“Jesus, what now?” asked Richie, but there was no venom to it.

“Of all the songs in the world you could have chosen to be our first dance, you chose a Bryan Adams song.”

“Alright, al-fucking-right,” Richie replied. “Next time how about you plan out the sweeping romantic gesture and I’ll be the shithead giggling at everything?”

Eddie just laughed and kissed him again.

Later that night, after calling his mom to tell her that he would be sleeping over at Richie’s and assuring her that, no, it wasn’t because he’d been drinking, or that Richie had been drinking, that he just wanted to hang out with him, the two of them climbed into Richie’s tiny single bed. Richie was yawning already and Eddie had no idea how he could be tired at a time like this, not when a whole new world of possibilities had just opened to them.

“You want to know why I chose that song?” Richie asked, taking the hand that Eddie had not-so-subtly left on the pillow between them hoping he would do that.

“Yeah, please enlighten me.”

“I mean, it doesn’t make me sound like any less of a fucking dork, but it’s from that Robin Hood movie, Prince of Thieves. You remember? It was the first movie we saw together without the rest of the Loser’s Club and, I don’t know, now the song always reminds me of you.”

Eddie leaned over to kiss Richie again, wondering how any of this could possibly be real.

“Thank you, Rich,” he said. “For everything.”

“You’re welcome,” said Richie through a yawn, pulling Eddie closer to him and falling asleep within what felt like seconds. It took Eddie far longer, and when he eventually gave in and closed his eyes, the Robin Hood in his dream had curly dark hair and a rather anachronistic pair of glasses.