mona-tiktak

[mona-tiktak]

adorable, i love it!!!!! i would love to hear your take on cursed steve as well!

Hopper who's been acting as Steve's dad since at least 83 if not earlier meaning he's el's big brother

After starcourt some way some how he gets custody of el so she can stay in Hawkins with friends

There are so many possibilities for how this changes things

Maybe proximity to the upside down starts to bring her powers back naturally so she can at least start to sense something up by spring break

Even if she doesn't max would have a friend that maybe she'd be willing to rely on more potentially saving her from vecna

Maybe the stress of trying to raise a teen and manage money and the rest of the party on top of trauma causes Steve to get vecna'd

El wouldn't stand for Eddie's anti-jock bullshit and would probably call him on it repeatedly

El and Eddie interaction in general

Steve would get even more protective because that's his baby sister and he's responsible for her so one bad word from El and Steve is cornering Eddie out at his selling spot to tell him off (Eddie finds it hot)

Without El out in California the byers boys might not be involved at all and Mike might be able to avoid this round as well if he heads out to visit will

[mona-tiktak]

Hopper who's been acting as Steve's dad since at least 83 if not earlier meaning he's el's big brother

After starcourt some way some how he gets custody of el so she can stay in Hawkins with friends

There are so many possibilities for how this changes things

Maybe proximity to the upside down starts to bring her powers back naturally so she can at least start to sense something up by spring break

Even if she doesn't max would have a friend that maybe she'd be willing to rely on more potentially saving her from vecna

Maybe the stress of trying to raise a teen and manage money and the rest of the party on top of trauma causes Steve to get vecna'd

El wouldn't stand for Eddie's anti-jock bullshit and would probably call him on it repeatedly

El and Eddie interaction in general

Steve would get even more protective because that's his baby sister and he's responsible for her so one bad word from El and Steve is cornering Eddie out at his selling spot to tell him off (Eddie finds it hot)

Without El out in California the byers boys might not be involved at all and Mike might be able to avoid this round as well if he heads out to visit will

[mona-tiktak]

meta thoughts on the misinterpretation of steve harrington's self-sacrifice

what frustrates me about steve's fandom characterization, specifically in steddie, is not that he's self-sacrificial, because he is. its that so many people root steve's self-sacrifice in self-loathing. there's this overarching idea that steve feels so worthless that he throws himself in front of others because he believes they deserve to live more than him.

and that characterization does a severe disservice to him and blatantly ignores the best part about him - how deeply he loves his friends.

yes, he throws himself into danger, but it's not because he hates himself.

steve is an incredibly confident character. the reason he lets the others' snarky comments roll off his back isn't because he believes he deserves them, it's because he doesn't give a shit. because he knows who he is. honestly, out of every character in that show, he's the only one who really knows what he's about.

when steve throws himself between his friends and danger, it's simply because he loves them so much that he'll do anything to protect them. it's nothing more than that.

his humbleness when eddie waxes on about his heroics in season four stems from steve's protectiveness being so intrinsic to who he is that he just sees it as a fact of life, not as a big sparkly thing deserving of special recognition.

also as a side note, a lot of people make this self-hatred come from how he acted when he was younger. either he acted that way as a mask for his low confidence, or he can't forgive himself now for who he used to be. and i'll be honest, i don't think he ruminates on his past self at all by season 4. one of steve's core traits is that he's incredibly pragmatic. by the end of season 1, he realized he didn't like the person he was becoming, he spent season 2 changing that, and then he moved on. i don't think he spared much thought to it since.

that pragmatism also extends towards his protectiveness. he sees a threat coming for him and his friends, and he steps in front to protect them, typically because he's the oldest and/or physically strongest in the group (season 2 in the tunnels, the fight with billy, the strongest swimmer in the lake, etc). he's the best for the job so he'll step up and do it, no second thoughts or second guessing. that's what makes him so interesting and i hate to see it diminished.

no more self-loathing steve, please. i promise he's a much more fun character if you go deeper into the well.

[mona-tiktak]

Vecna improves his powers after the events of 1986.

So when Steve's out on patrol with the kids and teens one afternoon, and he trips on a root straight into a Curse, his body doesn't stay put.

No, it moves with him. His mouth emits the reaction, his body loud and alerting the others. They turn back and see him on the ground, rubbing a scrape on his arm, none noticing the change. So Dustin runs back to help him up, the others waiting ahead, joking lightly about clumsiness.

Only, to Steve, Dustin's hands feel like claws and tails. The words of the Party sound like screeches and growls and condescending whispers. The air of warmth from the forest is gone in place of that cold atmosphere. He jolts up, hands already scrambling for the bat still at his side.

To the Party, Steve's body is poised to strike, staring at them in terror, that protective nature turned defensive in his supposed solitude. His eyes are a glossy white; not upturned to see inside his mind, but clouded in falsehood to stare straight forward.

In Steve's eyes, standing before him is an army. Exactly where the others stand, monsters stare him down, begging to be set loose. The only exceptions are a few, all of them appearing as dead or mangled as they truly are. Where Nancy stands is Barb. Where Robin stands is Eddie. Where Lucas stands is Billy. Where El stands is Vecna.

Every word the Party says is unheard. Every time they speak, all Steve hears is their respective vision tormenting him. Robin tries talking the most, so it's False Eddie's voice that degrades and taunts Steve's fears and insecurities to his face, throws false accusations that hit so close they're true. When the Party moves, the visions move, and Steve is quick to tighten his grip and swing a warning strike that gets them backing up. Every word he speaks the Party hears, left in a one-sided war they can't fight in. They don't want to make the vision worse, they don't want to be hurt... but Steve...

When El finally attempts to get through to Steve, he reacts like it's Vecna reaching out for him. Finally, he's offensive, screaming through the intrusion and running to attack head on. The Party tries to hold him back, but they're still those visions in his mind, so he thrashes and fights back. The bat swings get too close to them, the punches and kicks land hard on hands and legs. Steve would never hurt them, but they're not them to him in that moment.

El, then, forces Steve away, throwing him into the dirt. The others try to take the chance to hold Steve down properly, to get him still while El forces her way in to get Steve out. Robin gets desperate, grabbing Steve's face and begging him to break free.

But still, Steve can't see them. So when False Eddie jumps on him, he rips an arm free from False Billy and punches the vision before him.

This isn't the real Eddie. This isn't a real place. He's not hurting anyone here, not truly. And he's going to do what it takes to survive until the others can pull him out of the Curse.

He fights off the demo-creatures and walking corpses. Pushes through Vecna's power and the buzzing in his bones. Stands over the false Eddie still laying on the ground, who's laughing at Steve's rage. The entire world is a cloud of taunts, but he will not succumb to it.

Steve brings his bat forward, points it at the face of the man who's death haunts him through guilt. The False Eddie calls out one. More. Taunt.

The buzzing gets louder. Lighting strikes. False Eddie cackles with pure black eyes. Steve reels the bat back to swing down on that face.

And finally, El's voice breaks through.

Steve blinks. The buzzing is gone. The ground is green and alive, the air clear and healthy. The growls and taunts and laughter are replaced with pleas and fear and true voices.

The cackling is replaced with sobs.

Laying below him, in the same place False Eddie's face was set to be smashed... is Robin.

Hands cover her face, but that can't hide all the blood.

Steve doesn't need much else to figure it out.

He can't breathe. He stumbles away from Robin, tears not doing enough to blur her shaking. The Party's hands on his shoulders are light, human, real. Their words are quiet, relieved, worried.

But none of it can stop him.

Steve drops the bat and runs.

Away from The Party, away from Robin. Away from all the pain he could've caused in the name of self preservation. All the pain he did cause.

You couldn't have known, you couldn't have known...

But it doesn't stop the burn in his knuckles, nor the dual cackling/sobs in his ears, from echoing through his body.

[mona-tiktak]

i love the idea that steve has three(?) different mums that all care for him.

i would love to know how valerie feels about hopper. bc i feel that can be a mixed bag.

Valerie Harrington

one version of her mostly from this but can be used in many other situations by anyone who wants to

shout out to the three people that asked for this ( @the-effect-of-chaos @mona-tiktak @p0lybl4nkk)

darker brown hair slight natural wave that she does sadly dye the greys out of, golden toned skin, oval face shape rounded darker brown eyes about 5'4" (wears heels when going out often appears more 5'6ish) thin but gains happy weight after leaving/ killing her husband

athletic, specifically a runner but as she gains weight and gets older she switches to swimming

math wiz, does not understand sciences

reads smutty romance novels for fun but only after becoming a widow

cat like in her affection, crawling into claudias lap, likes to be in the same room as her people, will often reach out to just gently touch, will often essentially groom steve (non-maliciously, its basically checking for injuries half the time)

absolutely sobs her eyes out the second shes alone after steve asks for help/ goes to her for comfort the first time its even worse if its dustin that just accepts her as an trusted adult figure in his life and asks for help because she should have been there to help steve like this

will never forgive herself for leaving steve alone for so long

was trapped in her marriage, maybe through an air tight pre-nup she was young dumb and in love that she never thought she'd need that left her with nothing or maybe immigration maybe something else

DOES NOT get along with joyce ( joyce judges her for not leaving her husband to give both her and steve a better life like she did with her kids, Valerie the mild disaster of a woman asks how intermediational monster trauma is a better life and there's just no coming back from that) they do manage to keep it civil for the kids

likes in a sort of masochistic way that robin hates her because shes glad someone has steves back

can cook a set of specific meals but if you ask her to try a new recipe its going to be a shit show the first couple times

absolute batshit driver

Has never had a pet so can occasionally be found just kind of staring at tews, she does like having a pet but sometimes she just doesn't understand why they have this tiny predator around

Super affectionate partner ( the only reason they don't get run out of Hawkins due to homophobia is the power of gal pals)

Has never thrown a punch, has slapped someone was taught to shoot a gun as a kid but hasn't since then

Tries to parent Steve like he's still a young kid occasionally because that was the last time she felt like a mom

If you have further questions feel free to ask

[mona-tiktak]

Steve will drop lore on Eddie in this ‘everybody knows this, catch up’ kinda way when it painfully clear that everybody absolutely did not know this.

Like, Eddie asks Steve to move his chair so he can slide passed him like three time in the middle of a party at the Byers and is being ignored. Finally, he’s like, “Ground control to Major Asshole. Can you hear me?”

Steve’s only notices him because he kicks his chair in the process and is like, “Oh, sorry, man. Gotta talk on my other side. I lost my hearing on this side.”

Which, great.

Eddie feels like an asshole but he can actually put that to the side because the whole table is just like, “…what? Since when?”

“Um…” Steve says, like. Yeah. This is common knowledge. “Two years ago?”

One time in the middle of the summer, Eddie is ogling the freckles across Steve’s shoulders at a pool party when Steve yawns. Eddie jokingly asks if teaching Robin to drive tired him out that much and Steve’s like, “Nah, I had a seizure this morning. Those tire me out for days. It’s so annoying.”

“Woah,” because Eddie didn’t even know that was something on their radar. Neither did Nancy judging by the whole plate of hotdogs she just dropped on the ground.

Steve causally mentioned that he didn’t have his appendix anymore a couple weeks after they closed the gate officially. Eddie asked when he had the surgery expecting an answer to be when he was a kid, but Steve gives him a weird look like, “Uh, couple weeks ago.”

“A couple - what?” Jonathan sputtered from across the room. “A couple weeks ago, we killed Vecna.”

“Yeahh???” Steve rolled his eyes. “And then I had my appendix taken out. That’s what happens when you’re stabbed.”

“You were stabbed?!?”

“C’mon, man. You were there. Keep up.”

Eddie is shut up mid-sentence by lips against his and, wow. Whoa. Steve Harrington kissing him right now and Eddie should definitely kiss back but, “You like guys? I’ve had a chance this whole time?”

“I’m literally bisexual.”

[mona-tiktak]

kind of sort of a continuation of this kinda not

Steve inherited his predilection for being a good old fashion lover boy from his mom so when she gets together with Claudia its affection central

finally having a parent around and having it be an affectionate one steve gets even more open and free with his affection

this does lead into him getting together with eddie which adds a whole other layer of oopy goopeyness

and poor dustin a 15 year old stuck smack dab in the middle of what might be the most affection group of people in Indiana

[mona-tiktak]

I dont want to see Robin as Steve and Eddie's emergency contact, I want to see Eddie as Steve and Robin's emergency contact.

He gets called when they got drunk and locked themselves in the bathroom, when theyre being too catty to the older Hellfire members, when they've managed to fan the fires of the parties many relationship problems and its not even noon yet.

Disaster Duo Stobin just crashing around in life being utter bitches and its Eddie whose striding through the doors of Home Depot apologizing to the traumatized employee who dared to try and mix them paint.

DMing for a new group of friends and middle of his first session, his phone starts ringing off the hook.

It's Max.

Ominously, she says; "They're at the animal shelter."

Eddie abandons the game.

Like give me a man who everyone thinks is so dangerous and deadly until they realize Stobin is walking him like a dog.

[mona-tiktak]

something, something vecna. something, something bully tactics. something, something reformed bully steve. something, something cursed steve.

maybe some steddie

[mona-tiktak]

[mona-tiktak]

[mona-tiktak]

hello fellow non-Black tumblr users. welcome to my saw trap. if you'd like to leave, please name one (1) Black woman author who is not Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Octavia Butler, or N.K. Jemisin. bonus points if she's published a book in the last five years.

[mona-tiktak]

Your fifth most recent emoji is what your soulmate thinks about you

[mona-tiktak]

the most annoying stage of burnout is when i want to write, and i have the urge to write, and somewhere in my skull are the words that want to be written, but they have to get through the cursed minotaur maze first and nobody remembered to bring string

[mona-tiktak]

ive definitely seen a few headcanons where steve is secretly a huge dork who pretends to not know anything about anything to annoy the party and i love that so much

bc imagine a scenario where eddie, dustin or mike find out about it

i feel like itd be similar to that scene from b99 when holt tells jake about how he actually broke his wrist

obvs robin knows bc that her other half and she would absolutely fuck with them as well. shes a ride and die.

"you've known what we were talking about the entire time?"

"yeah."

"why are you telling me this?"

"because no one will ever believe you."

tho eddie would keep it a secret after finding out bc he would find the chaos of the reveal hilarious. like he finds out when he and steve finally get their shit together and is like "oh, okay. this is gonna be funny as hell." and promptly keeps his trap shut until the big reveal.

and he sets up little moments for steve to be both clueless and correct in front of the party that causes them to squint at steve bc either he's learning from listening or he just straight up guessed.

[mona-tiktak]

i just rewatched the secret of moonacre and i am of the opinion that it wasnt maria who broke the curse.

my reason happens to be from the final scene in the movie.

so maria has the pearls and attempts to break the curse by throwing them in the water, returning them to nature and at first it doesnt work.

they return to her hands and she breaks the strand holding them and throws them again, but again they return to her this time sticking to her dress.

so then she jumps. and we can see in that moment everyone is shocked. bc it wasnt maria jumping that broke the curse. it was the two families witnessing her jump.

it was them all rushing to the edge of the cliff after she jumps. it was the uniting of the two families in fear that broke the curse.

and it isnt until after that, that maria is reunited with everyone.

[mona-tiktak]

ok so we know robin has the "you rule, you suck" board in v3 where she keeps track of steve absolutely failing to get dates.

what if, and hear me out, steve purposely bombed. not bc he was still hung up on nancy or bc he lost all his charisma.

but bc he was scared of getting close to anyone again. scared that he would start a relationship to drag them into the shit with the upside down. scared thay it would only blow up in his face. scared to be called fake or bullshit.

in v2 where nancy calls him bullshit, and says they werent in love, that it wasnt real and then she goes to cheat on him.

that had to have had a lasting impact on him. he purposely acts like "king steve" to get the disgusted looks, the let downs, the what have yous. he acted put out by not getting a date but in reality he was happy they turned him down, relieved even.

i also have this thought that eddie, max and eleven are really the only ones who notice that the sigh he lets out is not actually a sigh of defeat but rather relief. not dustin bc hes away at camp. this leads to another hc. still in same universe as this.

it would change the confession scene in the bathroom after the russian truth serum. making it go differently.

the scene would go a lil something like this:

There's a shuffling in the stall next to Steve followed by a huff, "Fuck it," is muttered softly.

"Have you ever been in love before?" Robin asked, demanded even.

Steve lets out a scornful snort before replying "Once, with Nancy Wheeler."

"That priss?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Though priss is not the word I'd use to describe her."

"Are you still in love with her?" Robin's voice was curious, soft.

"No. Definitely not," he said, staring at the ceiling. The room may have stopped spinning but the lights still looked like stars to him with left eye swollen shut and the pounding in his head. "Haven't been since that Halloween night, I think, honestly."

"Oh?"

"Let's just say Nancy is a bit of a mean drunk and the feelings that I thought were returned, weren't."

He pulled his eyes away from the lights above and stared down at his hands. His left pointer finger was crooked and felt as it were on fire every time he so much as grazed it. The knuckles on his right hand hurt in a way they hadn't after his fight with Billy. Flexing his right hand sent a flare of blistering pain across the back of his hand, up his forearm and now the knuckles moved in a strange way.

There was another shuffle from behind him and suddenly a hand encompassed his wrist. He looked over and saw Robin's face, her expression was pinched.

"I'm sorry," she croaked out.

"It's okay."

"It's really not."

He barked out a laugh and shrugged. "It's not, but it will be."

She nodded sagely. He looked back at his left hand again, this time looking closer at the middle finger. The interrogater had ripped it off in an effort to get the answers he wanted but Steve hadn't cracked. His only goal during all the pain was to keep the others safe.

"Dustin said something to be about needing to find my Suzie."

"Suzie?" she questioned, one eyebrow arched.

"Some girl he met during his trip away, I'm not entirely sure she exists but that's besides the point," he said. "Pretty sure the little shit was trying to say was I need to find my own Suzie. At first I didn't really want to. I mean I thought that Nancy Wheeler had been my Suzie and she broke my heart and that's not an experience I want to relive in all honesty."

He stopped and looked down at her, "I think I understand what he meant now."

"Steve," she whispered stricken, her face pale. The palest it had been in the last two days, really. "What are you saying?"

"I mean I meet the most awesome girl this summer. One who isn't afraid to speak her mind as well as four languages and who helped me keep two dumb, smartass kids safe, what about that doesn't seem like someone I wan-"

"I'm a lesbian," she interrupted loudly. Her hand still gently clutching his wrist. "That thing about Mrs. Click's class and the staring wasn't because I was obsessed with you but because she was and I couldn't stand it." Tears had begun to well in her wide eyes but she made no move to wipe them away. "You always got crumbs everywhere and always asked the most ridiculous questions and I wanted her to look at me like she looked at you."

"Mrs. Click?" he asked, with equal measure shock and concern and Robin let out a wet snort of laughter.

"Oh my god no!" she exclaimed. "Tammy, Tammy Thompson."

"Ah, ok. That makes more sense," he chortled softly. Robin's hand disappeared from his wrist and he took the opportunity to slip his hand into hers. "If you had let me finished before you so rudely interrupted me. You would've known that I want you in my life but I didn't mean it romantically Robin. I want you in it as a friend."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"It doesn't bother you?" she asked, after a moment.

"Does what bother me?"

"That I'm a lesbian?"

"No, it doesn't," he replied. "However you could do so much better than Tammy Thompson, she's a total dud."

it continues to follow canon from there. sorry if its a bit sloppy i havent written in a while but i hope you enjoyed.