#also the fact that nancy did the whole bullshit thing after this like

[ickypuppi3]

[artaxlivs]

Were they kidding with this bullshit? Like, seriously? So many gates opening up to different dimensions now that there were too many for Supergirl to close and this? This is what they got? Fuck this. Seriously.

"Are you a virgin?" Mike asked like the total little dickhead he is.

"So what if I am? Aren't you? And the rest of your little friends?" Eddie sniped back at the rude little bastard but then, he blanched, "actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

Why did this have to be happening when Eddie was on a perimeter check?

Mike rolled his eyes like he couldn't believe how ridiculous Eddie was being, "Dumbass, we're children. Unicorns never go to innocent children in fairy tales. Because we're all innocent. They go to innocent adults. Virgins." He put far too much emphasis on the word because he is, as mentioned, a little dickhead.

"Listen, fuck you and the unicorn you rode in on. I'm not fucking innocent. I've done...things. Things I'm not gonna tell you about!" Eddie sputtered, crossing his arms and almost losing his precarious balance on the tree branch.

He needed to be careful because there was a unicorn circling underneath him. And not the beautiful, ethereal kind. It was beautiful, sure, but it had blood all over his muzzle and splattered across it's chest and on it's front hooves. Probably from the last virgin it had tracked down in god knows what dimension and trampled slash eaten to death. It's eyes were blazing red fire and it had fangs. Fangs. Fuck. That.

Eddie heard Steve sighing and then he flailed an arm from Eddie's tree branch to Robin and said, "It can't be trying to get you because you're a virgin, it's not going anywhere near Robin!"

The girl in question squeaked. Her ears and cheeks went bright red. All three of them turned to look at her.

"Wait, what? Was it you know who? From the...? You didn't tell me? When did you...?" Steve asked cryptically, shedding absolutely no light on who Buckley was knocking boots with.

"Yes after we met at the...place." Robin supplied lamely and then bared her teeth and said through them, "After. But before we went back in to fight Henry slash Vecna slash One." She shrugged and let out a hysterical sounding giggle. "It was...End of the World Sex. Just in case, you know?"

"Ohhhh I'm so proud of you!" And oddly, Steve really did sound proud. Which was weird. Eddie was pretty sure Robin was gay which meant the caginess was in reference to a girl but the fact that Steve was so supportive was a little suprising.

Without actively thinking about the repercussions, Eddie's mouth decided to test that theory, "Well damn, wish I'd have thought of that. Steve - want to deflower me so this unicorn leaves me alone?" The hysterical giggle Eddie let out rivaled Robin's.

Slowly Steve turned back to him but before he could reply, Mike scoffed, "You are his type. Skinny, big bushy hair, big eyes, you and Nancy both talk like everyone is just waiting to listen to you to speak." He rolled his eyes, "Annoying."

"Rude!" Eddie tilted his head thoughtfully, "You know what though? I'm fine with it. Nancy Wheeler is a badass and I want to be her when I grow up. Or when I get down from this tree." Eddie cringed, staring down as the unicorn stopped and looked up, one of it's flaming eyes bore into him. It neighed, shaking it's gorgeous mane but also splattering little droplets of blood everywhere.

Gross. So gross.

"Huh. Now that you mention it..." Robin stared up at Eddie thoughtfully, "I totally see it."

Steve just dragged his hand down his face and glared at the angry unicorn, "Okay, we need a real plan because Eddie isn't coordinated enough to have sex in a tree." He put his hands on his hips like a baseball mom wondering if she brought enough orange slices and Shastas for the whole team. "Do we know any other adult virgins to lure this one away?"

Mike snorted, "Those are probably more rare than the unicorn.'

Eddie flipped him off, "You're rolling at disadvantage on all charisma and persuasion checks for the rest of time."

"We'll have to find a new DM when the unicorn gores you anyway," Mike shrugged. "Whatever."

Then he wandered off. Just walked away, like Eddie wasn't two feet away from being mauled by a feral beast who's name was probably Glitter Sparkle or some shit. What a dickhead.

Looking away from the unicorn, Eddie watched Robin wave Steve over and whisper to him. They had a hushed conversation for several minutes while Eddie yelled things like, "Wanna share with the class?" and "Good friends don't make shitty plans in secret!" But they ignored him. Bastards.

Until Steve turned to the tree and asked, "By 'things' what do you mean?"

What?

"Harrington, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You said you've done 'things' but not had sex. What things?" Steve brushed a hand through his miraculously still perfect hair, and sighed, obviously frustrated, "We're trying to figure out what the unicorn considers virginity. Robin's never..." He petered off and glanced back at her and then over at Mike who was half way down the block with his radio out, sitting on a bench with his back to them, probably telling everyone that Eddie still had his V card. Traitor.

He was too far away for them to hear his conversation so he was probably too far for theirs.

Robin cleared her throat. "I've never had, you know, penetrative sex. Just...um...uh...third base!" She squeaked again and then covered her face with her hands.

"You're being extremely weird about sex talk while a blood covered unicorn is stalking me like a jungle cat!" Eddie informed her. "Oral. Just say oral sex, you weirdo!"

"Ok fine!" She shouted, "I've given and reciprocated oral sex! Jesus." Then she crossed her arms and grumbled under her breath, tapping one foot on the grass.

Eddie couldn't help it. He laughed with glee. "Was she cute?"

Robin sputtered, mouth dropping in shock.

What? Did she think she was a subtle lesbian? Because she wasn't. Not at all. Her high tops had boobs drawn on them like some twelve year old boy just hitting puberty. He rolled his eyes.

Steve looked up at Eddie then. His eyebrows were arched in that way they get when he's thinking up a plan. They're not always good plans but he carries them out and everyone usually lives so, Eddie could do worse. "Well - Big Boy?" Steve's lips twitched in a smile at using Eddie's nickname for him. "I'm guessing when you said you've done 'things,' you were lying?"

"Yeah, duh." Eddie retorted, snapping in his irritation and mounting fear. Mounting, ha. Like a horse and like sex. Mounting. He bit his lip to contain the very poorly timed giggle.

Robin rolled her eyes, grabbed Steve's arm and gave him a severe 'be careful' look and then hustled over to where Mike was sitting. When Steve tucked his bat into his backpack and started to creep around the tree, he realized she was giving them privacy. Holy shit.

The unicorn didn't even acknowledge Steve's presence as he skirted around it and climbed the tree, grunting and complaining under his breath how nobody better call him the Virginsitter because he swears to God. Then the rest of his grumbling got lost, buried under the sound of Eddie's heart pounding in his ears.

Holy shit.

And that's how Eddie lost his mythically constructed virginity in a tree to Steve Harrington who was apparently bisexual and very, very good at blowjobs.

Neither of them even noticed which way the unicorn went.

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

is it over now? (was it over then?)

part seven

part eight: i think about jumping off of very tall somethings

Eddie was fully convinced he had lost whatever remaining dignity he might have had when his friends had found him sunken into his beanbag chair with random detritus strewn around the room. He really thought he could not feel any lower than when Ronnie made it more obvious than necessary that she was picking her way through Eddie's junk to stick a hand into his nest and pull him out by his collar. He thought that was rock bottom, but being early for coffee with Robin and Nancy and having to wait with a cooling americano he spent way too much money on really gave that whole experience a run for its money.

Ronnie had suggested dming Robin and Nancy and testing the waters to see if they would be willing to broker some sort of reunion with Steve. Eddie stared at her like she had suggested he deliver the one ring to mordor alone; however, she obviously had a point since the newly announced couple suggested meeting up.

"Hey! Eddie! Sorry we're late!" Robin caught Eddie's attention as Nancy went to order.

"Oh, uh, no worries," Eddie fumbled, "I'm just happy you're here at all honest."

"I mean, Nance said it's only fair to hear you out but you were fucking brutal to my best friend, dude, so like the window to give you some grace is pretty fucking small," Robin answered.

"No, yeah totally understood. How do you want to do this?" Eddie asked.

"Why don't you just explain what happened from your side of things. From our angle, you look like kind of a douche but also I feel like maybe Steve didn't handle things great either? I dunno. I mean, you made him really happy, if we have a chance to fix that, I think I owe it to Steve, right?" Robin answered.

"Sure, yeah, no that makes sense," Eddie started as Nancy sat down with her and Robin's drinks.

"Keep going, Eddie, this is mostly Robin's thing anyway," Nancy prompted. She did not look quite as open to fixing things as Robin did and Eddie felt a little more nervous after he let himself relax in Robin's easy presence.

"For sure, so like obviously you know all of the like tabloid bullshit about Steve and whatever and like I kind of got it and understood but then without any warning I show up and Steve's like gorgeous and super successful ex was just on his couch and Steve isn't willing to explain? I mean that was pretty fucking hard to swallow," Eddie finished a little less certain of where he stood with Robin as she narrowed her eyes over her tea.

"So instead of trusting Steve and listening to him when he told you how much the tabloids have lied about him throughout his career you let the fact that I was present in his home be enough to trump years of what you all had built?" Nancy questioned. Eddie could see her journalism chops coming out.

"That's fair. I mean, I definitely acted without a lot of thought but like, why wouldn't you have looped me in? Did you guys not trust me?" Eddie asked still trying to figure out why he was left flat footed all those weeks ago.

"I think that might be on me," Robin piped up, "I was pretty nervous about coming out and I think Steve was being super protective and didn't want to ask me to come out to more people than I was wanting to. It's not that he didn't trust you, Eddie, it's that we had some pretty shitty years with different agents trying to push me in different directions and I think he just was sick of feeling like outside forces were making me move quicker than I was ready to. And it's not like you made it easy on him to reach out to you after. How was he supposed to respond when you blocked him on literally every platform?"

"I guess I didn't think he would want to explain or he'd try to like explain everything away even though it had seemed obvious at the time he was cheating on me," Eddie paused when both Robin and Nancy threw death glares across the table, "Jeez, I know now that was stupid but at the time it was the only rational I could see."

"I guess we should stop interrogating you, you do seem pretty serious, otherwise I don't think you would have agreed to meet both of us," Nancy jumped in.

"I really regret cutting him off like I did. I know I got way too in my head about everything immediately and just didn't give it time or let him respond," Eddie tried to sound as apologetic as he felt.

"We believe you, you two are both dinguses," Robin cut in, "more importantly, what are we going to do about that fucking song and how the hell do you propose apologizing for all the shit you stirred?"

"I thought we were done with the interrogation," Eddie held his hands up.

"Only about whether or not you're genuine, you still have to figure out how you are putting my bestie back together," Robin answered.

"So about that. I have a couple ideas. One, I feel like a song got us into this mess and my label wants more music anyways so I am kind of thinking of an apology song. The rest of my band has actually started workshopping some stuff with me to try to put it together as soon as we can. I'm kind of hoping to release it before Steve gets back so we are a bit under the clock," Eddie began, "And second, that's where I was kind of hoping you guys could help. I don't want to like ambush the guy but I also don't know if Steve will be interested in meeting with me or like ready to start dating again. I was kind of hoping I could crash one of your movie nights? Maybe once Steve gets settled a bit more?"

"Steve is not the best with surprises," Robin thought aloud, "but that's not a no, it's a convince me."

"I just figure he'll be in his space and relaxed and he also fully has an out to have you kick me out if he isn't interested. If he is, I was kind of hoping you too would be willing to make yourselves scarce?" Eddie hoped that was enough.

Surprisingly, Nancy was the one to answer.

"I think we have a deal, Munson," Nancy stuck her hand out for Eddie to shake.

Eddie left the cafe feeling more hopeful than he had in some time.

part nine

@lololol-1234 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @zombiethingy @grtwdsmwhr @dreamercec @anne-bennett-cosplayer @strawberryyyenthusiast

@mensch-anthropos-human @kal-ology @ttyrussss @kristmkris @starman-jpg @wonderland-girl143-blog @child-of-cthulhu @legalmenace87 @adealwithher @practicallybegging @lunaraquaenby @stripey82

@lexyvey @goodolefashionedloverboi @mothmamhasyourlocation @mugloversonly @sherrylyn0628 @steddieinthesun @wonderland-girl143-blog @counting-dollars-counting-stars @bookworm0690

(if you wanna be tagged in future parts feel free to comment! happy to add people)

[nburkhardt]

Somebody Loves You, You Got A Friend.

Hello! This is my abo teenage parents steddie fic I talked about a few times. Wrote it a while ago for myself, never felt quite confident for sharing. But after sharing the few snippets, here’s the start! There’s real no end to it, it’s mostly slice of life with nearly no real plot. (Title is from Spaceship by Andy Grammer)

Some info you should know: it takes place in season 2. Originally wasn’t going to include the upside down but switched it to have it. ANYWAY, enjoy the start! It’s mostly Steve angst and only a hint of Eddie lol.

So, here’s the thing… Steve never keep his secondary gender a secret. In fact, he was quite proud of it. Mostly because it pisses his dad off to no end, and well, pissing off his dad is one of his and his mom’s favorite past time.

With that said he was definitely proud to take after his mom and for being a male omega. He knows it probably pisses more people off than they let on and really, that makes his fucking day.

Sometime around the time he entered high school, his status went sky high. He didn’t mind, though finding true friends was rough. Especially when Tommy and Carol glued themselves to him within a few hours of knowing him. Since he didn’t keep his omega status a secret, they thought he was weaker and needed to be protected. With Tommy being an alpha and Carol a beta, they decided to be best friends. It pissed him off, but at the time he didn’t have many friends. But of course, he’s not weak. He knows how to protect himself and even others.

His life gets flipped upside down, shortly after Nancy Wheeler calls him ‘bullshit’ in a bathroom at a dumb Halloween party.

It’s been months since Will Byers disappeared, thought dead and found alive. Also months since Nancy’s best friend fucking died while sitting at his pool. All while he and Nancy were in bed, they only found out in the next morning at school.

Nancy’s words send him spiraling down immediately, because unlike her, he does or did love her. So in a blind panic, he leaves the room and then the house and straight into the forest behind. Freaking out and sobbing as he went.

He didn’t know how long he was there, all he remembers of the night is panicking and then someone that smells of smoke, rain and freshly cut grass, helps him to his car and on his way. With only a matchbook with a number on it sitting on his passenger seat as who helped him.

In the morning, he gets ready for school, kisses his mom on the cheek and goes on his way. Only pocketing the matchbook as he parks in the school parking lot.

The day is simple only because he avoids Nancy as much as he can and then nearly get his ass handed to him by the new big alpha in town, Billy Hargrove.

“Should plant your feet, pretty boy”

He rolls his eyes, “shove the fuck off, Hargrove”

Billy is about to do another shove, he can’t figure out why to be honest. His scent is currently covered by scent blockers, the one thing his mom told him to take. When he notices Nancy waving him down, so he goes willingly to that danger instead.

It’s nothing but anger from her, it’s rolling off her in her scent even with a blocker, “Why didn’t you pick me up?”

He scruffs, “because I’m apparently bullshit?”

She at least flinches at that. But doesn’t apologize, at least, not the way he’d like. She does try to excuse it all by saying she was drunk and if there is one thing he took to heart from his asshole dad; drunk words are sober thoughts.

The final kicker of the whole conversation: her not saying “I love you” after he pleads her to.

He decides after that, Nancy Wheeler is someone he refuses to be with.

—

If you made it this far great!! Because after this the real fun begins 🥳 meaning Eddie is actually there and you get to meet my favorite person, Janet Harrington… Steve’s mom! This was just getting things mostly set up. I hope it doesn’t seem too weird with jumping around or weird phrasing lol.

(Btw, I don’t necessarily keep to everything everyone does in abo fics. I go with whatever I like and easy to work with. So there’s scents, mates, pack easy things. Nothing too explicit either, I’m definitely not confident enough to post smut hahaha.) OH AND IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS AU MY MESSAGES AND ASK BOX IS ALWAYS OPEN!!!!!

Permanent Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @itsfreakingbats @mysticcrownshipper @artiststarme @thereindeerlady @justforthedead89 @ronniescontinuum @freyaforestafay

Also those who liked my snippet: @zerokrox-blog @callme-keys @maya-custodios-dionach @rajumat @yellowdevilkitten @munsonfamilyband @steddierthings

[sadhours]

Billy and Steve kinda drunk at Tina’s stupid party, decide to smoke a j together and end up jerking each other off because you know, they’re not gay and anything more would just be too gay 😉

I really fucking love these two, thank you for this request.

cw: 18+ minors dni, smut, they uh jerk each other off, it’s not gay I swear, drug and alcohol use

💟💟💟💟💟

“She said I’m bullshit,” Steve mumbles, “That we’re bullshit.”

Why the fuck he’s saying this to the new guy who stalked up to him with his chest puffed as their first interaction, he isn’t sure. But it’s been a few hours since Nancy basically broke up with him and left with Byers. And Steve was just gonna go home. He hadn’t drank before then, planned on staying relatively sober for the night but that went out the window when he passed a bottle of vodka on his way out. Drank about half of it before he stumbled downstairs in the basement and found who other than Billy Hargrove, Hawkins new Keg King as the fucks he used to call his friends gloated about seconds after Hargrove took the record out from under Steve.

Hargrove was by himself. Sat on the couch Tina’s mother decided was out of fashion and retired to the finished basement. Looks like it’s mostly meant for storage. Loads of boxes. Steve was coming down here to be alone. Get a second to breathe. Asked Billy what the hell he was down here for and turns out, for the same thing. Then he held up a rather fat joint and asked King Steve to join him.

Half a joint and the rest of the vodka bottle later, Steve’s venting to the new King Asshole.

“Girls’ are bullshit,” Billy says with a strained voice, holding the skunky weed smoke in his lungs. Exhales. Looks cool and it annoys Steve, cause he used to care about looking cool and he wishes that didn’t change. At least he didn’t hurt inside this much then. Billy passes the joint back, “They’re only good for one thing and honestly, they ain’t that fucking super at that either.”

Steve’s inclined to agree, mostly out of hurt. Maybe shit would’ve been easier for him if he did to Nancy what he’s done to all the other girls he’s been with. Unfortunately, he liked her.

“She wasn’t,” he huffs, “I mean— Nancy’s great.”

Billy snorts, leans back and wraps an arm around Steve’s shoulders. He smells like some musky cologne, beer and cigarettes. But Steve kind of likes looking at him and he’s not sure why.

“Bitch dumped you,” Billy whispers, leaning close to Steve like this is some big secret, “You’re allowed to be mad at her. Granted, I don’t know what the fuck you did but King Steve, you’re a senior in high school. Bitches come and go.”

Steve huffs again and sits back, ‘cause he can’t argue without explaining a whole bunch of weird, confusing shit he doesn’t even completely understand himself to a complete stranger. He rubs his palms against his eyes, wants them to stop stinging. Billy’s being nice now but again, he’s a stranger. And if Tommy’s clinging to him like a stubborn barnacle, he’s probably not all that kind. There was something in his eyes when he stared Steve down earlier that was scary. Because Steve didn’t understand it. If he wanted to kick Steve’s ass, he could’ve but he didn’t. Just stared at him like he wanted something out Steve but Steve still can’t figure out what.

“Sorry— I shouldn’t be whining about this shit to you,” Steve laughs, awkwardly, “I don’t even know you.”

“But I know you,” Billy replies with a smirk.

“Y-you do?” Steve looks back to Billy with hesitation, perhaps even a little fearful.

Billy nods slowly, lips pursed with the joint hanging from them. Plucks the paper from his lips and passes it back to Steve as he says, “You’re all these boring fucks care about. King Steve is the only thing they can talk about. Barely been here but I know all about you.”

Steve likes this fact but he also feels guilty that he likes that, because he isn’t supposed to care about the whole popularity thing anymore. He even blushes hearing it, shakes his head and takes the joint. Takes a small pull and passes it back because he’s already too stoned and school’s gonna be hell tomorrow.

“Yikes,” he says and Billy laughs, cruel and deep in his belly and it makes Steve feel uneasy. But he likes sitting on this couch down here, hidden behind stacks of boxes. Labeled things like XMAS DECORATIONS and TINA’S SUMMER CLOTHES.

“They like you still,” Billy whispers, smoothes his fingers down the back of Steve’s neck. Gives him chills but he doesn’t move.

“Wanna forget about her?” Billy asks then, “Just for right now?”

“Yes,” Steve chokes out in spite of how his brain’s firing off about how this is weird and he should be getting home. But mom and dad are out of town again. And he does wanna forget about Nancy. Wants to get this hurt out of his chest.

Billy’s hand drops to Steve’s lap, he pulls another drag from the joint and exhales the smoke in Steve’s face. His hands barely moving but Steve can feel it. And maybe it’s the smoke making his head feel all fuzzy and his body feel all warm. His dick’s getting hard. Because Billy Hargrove is feeling him up over his Levi’s.

His palm pushes a little harder on Steve’s crotch, his eyes look straight ahead as he finishes off the joint. Pinches the cherry between his fingers before he tosses it to the floor. Steve watches it and then looks straight ahead like Billy does. Next, Billy grabs Steve’s wrist and pulls his hand to Billy’s tight jeans. Drops it in his lap. And Steve’s filled with a curiosity he’s never felt before. He starts rubbing Billy’s crotch. He kind of wants to look at Billy’s face but he’s scared to. Keeps his eyes trained on a rolled up rug in the corner of the room.

The pressure of Billy’s palm on his cock feels nice. It’s easy to focus on it. Weed’s always made Steve a little frisky. Everything just feels hotter. Kissing feels better, eating pussy is funner and it makes his cock like, a million times more sensitive. So he’s fully torqued in his jeans. Feels like Billy is too. Which weirdly enough, turns Steve on even more and his hips kind of roll up into Billy’s touch. And it has to be the weed that makes Steve whine. He’s trying to ignore that it’s Billy’s hand on him but he can’t, really. Gives himself a moment to glance down at his hand on Billy’s lap and finds that Billy has some pretty seriously defined abs. And it’s real weird that he likes them. Definitely the weed.

Soon enough, Billy’s unbuttoning Steve’s jeans and Steve moves to help get them down his thighs, along with his underwear. His cock pops out, bounces and hangs. Billy’s also pulling his pants and underwear down and then he’s spitting on his hand and wrapping his fingers around Steve’s cock.

Steve whimpers from the wet touch, eyes rolling back in his head as his hips stutter up. Billy’s voice is quiet and strained when he asks, “Thinking about her?”

“No,” Steve confesses, looks down at where Billy’s languidly stroking him and it’s odd seeing another man’s hand wrapped around his cock. Not odd enough to stop this, though. He returns the favor, spits a glob of saliva into his palm and smears it over Billy’s thick cock. Squeezes at the base, curls his hand on the upstroke. Billy lets out a sweet, breathy noise that Steve likes a lot. Different than a girls’ moan but just as pretty, he thinks.

Steve gasps when Billy squeezes his cock a little tighter and speeds up his strokes. Quick and firm. Steve mirrors it with his own hand on Billy. Steve stares down at his own crotch, Billy does the same. The pair of ‘em gasping and moaning softly. Steve comes first, a mess on his thighs and Billy’s fist. And the blonde strokes him through it. Steve’s whimpering and it’s pretty damn pathetic the way his hips cant up in the air. Billy’s following suit soon after, jerking his hips up as he fucks Steve’s fist.

The boys sit back, hands loose around softening dicks as they pant. Steve looks down at the mess in his lap, not sure how to clean it. He glances around the room but there’s not much in here. Just the couch and boxes. So Steve leans forward, shucks off his blazer and uses that to soak up the cooling cum on his thighs and hand. Hands to Billy before pulling up his briefs and pants. And this whole interaction has sobered him up. The realization that he and the new guy have just jerked each other off in Tina’s fucking basement hits him hard and Steve needs to leave. So he does. Without a word to the guy.

Worst part, at basketball practice the next day. Both of them wildly hungover. Billy crowds behind Steve and says, “Harrington, right? Heard you used to run this school, that true?” like he didn’t just jerk him off the night before.

[inairbinad]

Lover's Lick

Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson, 2.4k words, also on ao3

Just a silly little first kiss idea that fell into my head because I accidentally typed Lover’s Lick instead of Lover’s Lake.

It was a blistering day in Hawkins. As a twisted way to enjoy it, the whole party decided to spend the day at Lover's Lake to continue celebrating what they’d dubbed “Dead Vecna Summer.”

Eddie wasn’t sure he was enjoying himself, yet, but Robin was determined to make sure everyone did.

“It’s called exposure therapy,” Robin explained as she lazily dragged her toes through the water from her seat on the dock. “If we all come here and have a good time, the positive association will start to make the bad shit less scary.”

“That doesn’t sound like a thing,” Mike countered, and Nancy leaned down and flicked a handful of water at him. She and Robin were near inseparable now, physically sitting shoulder to shoulder as they soaked up the sun, but also to the point where Nancy steadfastly defended everything Robin said. 

“It’s a thing, Wheeler,” Eddie drawled from his own beach towel. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was a thing or not, but Robin tended to know her shit, so he was going along with her plan for now. Eddie had no interest in actually getting in the water, but the shady little patch of grass he’d managed to lounge in was pleasant enough. “I just don’t know if it’s working.”

Admittedly, the whole experience was made more pleasant by the fact that no one else but their little group was around, staring them down or making accusations with their eyes. No one really wanted to spend much time at Lover's Lakep anymore, considering it had so recently been a crime scene. The quarry and the copious other lakes around Hawkins seemed delightful by comparison; but maybe that was just because no one else had Robin.

So far, only Dustin, El, and Will had been brave enough to venture into the water. They were off the shore a ways, splashing each other and giggling ferociously. The glee on their faces was helping to tamp down the lingering sense of dread that Eddie couldn’t quite shake, despite his best efforts.

Steve was also eyeing them warily, either watching like a hawk to make sure nothing weird went tickling at their ankles, or because he was fighting himself on whether he wanted to venture in after them.

Eddie suspected it was a little bit of both. 

“Fuck it,” Steve muttered to himself, before stripping his shirt off and wading into the lake. Eddie watched him go from behind the safety of his sunglasses, doing his best not to let his jaw go slack in the presence of a half dressed, sun kissed, and about to be wet Steve Harrington. 

Once Eddie finally tore his eyes away, he noticed Robin also looking after Steve—but her expression was a worried one. 

“Maybe we should play a game,” Eddie suggested with a slow grin. “For positivity, and whatnot.”

“Oooh, how about truth or dare?” Max recommended in a heartbeat, like she’d been waiting for an opportunity to present itself for her to suggest it. It instantly made Eddie wary of her intentions, but he shrugged and went along. If it made Max happy to wrangle some embarrassment out of her friends, she deserved as much. Plus, truth or dare never scared Eddie much, since he could always come up with something freakier to challenge people with than anyone ever dared him to do. And truths weren’t tricky at all, because he had a knack for making bullshit sound like the truth on the spot. 

They didn’t come around on his turn for a while, yet, so he let his gaze drift back across the strikingly serene water until it landed back on Steve. He started off indulging the kids in letting them dunk his head under water, but now he seemed to have found some semblance of peace, floating on his back with his eyes on the sky.

“Earth to Munson,” Lucas called out, cupping his hands around his mouth and deepening his voice for the intended bullhorn effect. “It’s your turn, so you can stop ogling Steve, now.”

“I don’t ogle, Sinclair,” Eddie said, pulling his best unaffected act. All the same, he dragged his eyes back to his immediate surroundings. “That’s much more your speed.” 

Lucas nervously glanced at Max, knowing exactly what Eddie was implying. Max seemed to know as well, because she came to Lucas’s defense in a snap. Eddie would’ve thought it was sweet, if he hadn’t just aimed the Max Cannon of Shit-Talking squarely in his direction. 

“You’re the one who looks like you want to lick Steve’s face half the time,” she said with a knowing smirk. Everyone else burst into laughter, and Eddie had no choice but to eat the shame of being completely obvious, to the point where even all the gremlins knew he had an enormous crush on Steve. 

“Only half the time?” Jonathan asked, and Argyle snorted. When even the two of them were helping to gang up on Eddie, he lost any hope of someone backing him up instead of roasting him further. He sighed in resignation.

Not long after all the Upside Down drama had concluded, Eddie and Robin had both teamed up and decided to come out to the whole group together. It was partly because Robin was sick of having to deny the allegations that she was in love with Steve, and partly because they both agreed it would let the group adjust so that there would be as little friction as possible when Will decided to follow suit. It turned out none of them really needed the extra education in love and acceptance and all that, though. The kids barely blinked an eye, and instead just shifted the allegations about being in love with Steve off of Robin and right onto Eddie. 

“Oh my god,” Lucas squealed, completely overcome with excitement for some reason. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Eddie as he said, “That’s your dare!”

“I didn’t even pick—” Eddie tried, but everyone was already turning to look at him with matching evil smiles. 

“Lick his face,” Max sat back, folding her arms against her chest in satisfaction. 

“That’s not my dare,” Eddie muttered, already knowing his fate was sealed. He had to lick Steve’s face, or suffer some unknowable torture for time eternal for being a chickenshit. 

“Lick his face,” everyone chorused, mercifully at a whisper so Steve wouldn’t hear. That didn’t make it any less mortifying.

“I swear to Christ—” Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, doing his best to ignore them. He thought maybe he could withstand the torture option, instead.

“Lick his face,” they all repeated, chanting like they only worshiped at the alter of humiliating Eddie in the most creative ways possible. 

“You’re a bunch of heathens,” Eddie whined. 

“Lick his face!” They repeated, insistent and already getting louder. 

Eddie stared at Max in a silent plea, knowing she was the one who could most easily get everyone to lay off of him. This was her rodeo, and they both knew it. Max only stared back at him, unwavering. Eddie wondered if this was why she wanted to play truth or dare in the first place. 

“Fucking,” Eddie grumbled, pulling himself up off his towel and whipping his own shirt and sunglasses off. Then he stood there, clad in nothing but his Garfield swim trunks, and took a deep breath to steady himself. He’d done worse than this, surely. It would be mortifying, but he’d get over it. Steve had a good enough sense of humor that Eddie didn’t think he’d be pissed, at least. “Fine.”

Then he stomped off into the lake and started swimming out to Steve to a round of raucous cheers at his back.

The calamitous thing he was about to go do was enough to distract Eddie from the fact that he was swimming in this lake for the first time since the spring, and he wasn’t being dragged down to its depths, or watching something mind-bendingly terrifying, or being chased for his life as he did. An entirely different kind of doom was spelled out for him, sure, but at least Eddie was swimming towards someone as his fate unfurled before him.

Steve really did look beautiful, sprawled out on his back, droplets of water glistening on his skin in the sun. Eddie intentionally caused a lot of fuss as he swam, making waves and noise as he went, so as not to startle Steve out of his peaceful reverie too severely. 

Steve was already treading water, swimming upright again, by the time Eddie reached him. 

“Hey,” he said, soft and trusting even though he probably shouldn’t have been. 

“Hey,” Eddie echoed him, feeling the weight of fourteen sadistic eyes on his back. Once more, he was incredibly glad that no one else but their little group of friends was around to witness this. Eddie laughed, a desperate and delirious little sound that perfectly encapsulated how little he believed he was about to give in to peer pressure like all the preppy conformists he always made fun of.

“I’m sorry in advance,” Eddie said, and Steve tilted his head in confusion. 

“Huh—”

Eddie reached up and grabbed Steve’s chin, watching as the lake water pebbled across the planes of Steve’s face, and gently tipped it towards the side. Then he licked a stripe up Steve’s cheek, quick but thorough, just enough to savor the feel of Steve’s skin on his tongue for even a moment. 

Just as quickly as it’d begun, it was over, and Eddie turned around to face his jury, still idly judging from the dock. They broke out into another round of cheers and applause, so Eddie couldn’t help but thrust his arms up in triumph and give them a little show. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, then, and had to kick his feet quicker so he didn’t start sinking at the sensation of being spun around. Eddie braced himself, for a split second thinking he was gonna get punched. 

The next thing he felt was, in fact, a hand on his face, but it was as gentle of a touch as he could ever remember feeling. Eddie peeked one eye open, only to find Steve looking back at him, a small smile playing at his lips. Steve rubbed his thumb across Eddie’s cheek bone, then very deliberately dropped his eyes to Eddie’s lips.

“What are you doing, Stevie?” Eddie asked, wondering if he was dreaming all of a sudden.

“What was Robin rambling about earlier?” Steve murmured, the low rumble of humor in his chest. “Positive associations?” 

Eddie just nodded dumbly at him, entirely unsure if that was what Robin had said at all. 

“Well, here’s mine,” Steve said simply, then leaned in and kissed him. 

Even though the world had seemingly thudded to a stop, Eddie felt the way Steve’s lips moved against his own, firm and soft all at once, leaving him all tingly in an instant. Eddie didn’t know how, or why, but Steve was kissing him like he meant it—like he’d been ruminating on his desire to slot his lips between Eddie’s it for as long Eddie had been fantasizing about the same. 

The realization was a heady one, and Eddie heard a surprised little whimper escape his throat. Steve hummed happily in response, then slid the hand on Eddie’s cheek into his hair, getting a better grip so he could maneuver the angle of Eddie’s face to his liking.

Eddie thought he’d let Steve position him however the fuck he wanted as long as he kept kissing him. He grabbed on to Steve’s shoulders on instinct, dragging him in closer, with the water allowing Steve to flow into Eddie's arms with ease until their chests were pressed together. Steve gently nipped at Eddie’s bottom lip with his teeth, and Eddie rode that wave to bold new heights, daring to drag his tongue along the curve of Steve’s, perfect, delectable mouth. Steve's grip on Eddie's hair tightened, then he opened up and rolled his tongue against Eddie's own.

Eddie thought Lover’s Lake might actually be the best place on Earth.

It occurred to Eddie that he might sink and drown and die in that moment, since he completely forgot how to tread water when the only thing he could focus on was Steve’s mouth on his own, Steve’s hand in his hair, Steve kissing him so thoroughly that it was worth it if this was where he died after all. But Steve secured an arm around Eddie’s waist, holding them both aloft in the water, letting the sunshine dance across their shoulders and set their kisses surging with even more heat than their hold on each other could generate on its own. 

When they finally pulled apart, Eddie heard the distant roar of hooting and hollering coming at them from the dock and their friends nearby in the water, but he couldn’t do anything but stare at Steve, dumbstruck and with the taste of Steve's cherry lip balm still on his tongue.

“Was that okay?” Steve asked, looking worried now. 

Eddie thought the best way to chase that concern right off Steve’s pretty face was to kiss him again, and again, and again.

“Oh my god, get a room,” Dustin hollered at them after a moment, and Eddie relished the feel of Steve’s smile against his own. Eddie pulled back just enough to tilt his head in silent communication, doing his best not to get too distracted by how Steve’s lips were still swollen thanks to him.

“Definitely,” Steve nodded in agreement, and two of them took off after Dustin in perfect sync. By the time Dustin realized what he was in for, it was too late. He paddled away like a mad man, screeching and giggling all the way, but Steve was too fast. He gained on Dustin quickly, getting his arms around him just as Eddie caught up.

Together, they each smacked a sloppy kiss to one of Dustin’s cheeks, then dunked him underwater together. Dustin did his best to look affronted when he resurfaced, but his grin was unmistakable.

“It’s about time,” he muttered, then splashed Steve and Eddie both and quickly paddled away again. El and Will joined in the chase this time, and Eddie heard several splashes from the dock behind him as reinforcements came to unite in a game of ganging up on Henderson.

None of them ever really panicked about taking a dip in Lover's Lake after that.

[talkingpointsusa]

Trump Ally Laura Loomer spins baseless conspiracy theories about Tim Walz having ties to ISIS

Laura Loomer is a person who sucks. She's essentially a self-described "proud Islamophobe" and white nationalist whose whole schtick is calling everybody she doesn't like ISIS. She believes that the Democrats can control the weather and has a bizarre obsession with Kamala Harris’ race.

Despite the fact that this person is clearly extremely fringe and has a belief system not that far out of step with the Neo-Nazi movement, she also has a scary amount of influence on the right having scored interviews with prominent GOP politicians and celebrities like Kari Lake, J,D. Vance, and Nancy Mace. As a result I think it is worth talking about who Loomer is, what she’s all about, and how pretty much everything she says is bullshit. Unfortunately for my sanity, that process involves me watching Laura Loomer. Oh well, lets see what deranged thing she's lying about this time.

TW: Loomer's whole "thing" is basically being an Islamophobe and that carries on in this episode. If you're not comfortable with that, I don't blame you, I'm not either which is why I'm debunking and countering this bullshit while also showing how close it truly is to the modern Republican Party.

21:25, Laura Loomer: "Good evening and welcome to episode 65 of Loomer Unleashed, I'm your host Laura Loomer. If you had any doubts that a Kamala Harris presidency would be anything but a total disaster for the United States of America than the past few days ought to set you free. Yesterday, stock markets all around the world posted one of their worst days ever as investors fear that America is headed for a recession."

On Monday the stock market plummeted after the release of a weaker than expected jobs report coupled with the Federal Reserves decision last week not to lower interest rates, a decision that has been panned by multiple economists who are now suggesting that the Fed make an emergency rate-cut. The current chair of the Federal Reserve is a man by the name of Jerome Powell who was appointed by the Trump Administration. So, while Trump and his sycophants want you to believe that the chaos on Monday was a Kamala crash it was more of a Donald drop.

This crash had nothing to do with Kamala Harris but that didn't stop key figures on the right like Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, and now Laura Loomer from blaming the crash on the vice-president. In Loomer's case this is particularly embarrassing since she posted this episode on August 6th...the day that the stock market rebounded and investors started to regain some of their losses. Oops, bad timing there.

22:12, Laura Loomer: "Lets make one thing perfectly clear, even though Joe Biden is currently 'the president' (her quotes not mine) we all know that he has not really been in control of the government and the decision making if that couldn't be more obvious to all of you."

No proof, just vibes. Isn't it interesting how far-right media never offers up any concrete evidence outside of "Well, I saw this thing through my distorted worldview and here's the vibe I got!"

But she did put forward that absolutely ridiculous statement with a purpose. Here's where she's going with that line of thinking - this is really dumb and gets contradicted by her multiple times over the course of this episode.

22:30, Laura Loomer: "That means that for the past few years Kamala Harris has already been, in a large part, running our nation. That means that all of the problems over the past four years can be hung around her neck."

I love how they basically have to make fan-fiction up because they don't really have anything on Harris and Walz and got blindsided by Harris deciding to run in the first place. It's been absolutely hilarious to watch.

"Wait guys! Ignore everything that I've been saying for the past four years, Kamala Harris was actually the president this whole time which means all that stuff we made up about Biden actually applies to her! Yeah...that's it."

23:38, Laura Loomer: "Even though the market had been doing quite well prior and has now recovered slightly, just a little, well Monday's disaster is a sign of volatility. And what exactly does this volatility indicate? It indicates uncertainty, massive uncertainty, a lack of confidence, and underlying problems."

Interesting way to try and reconcile that. "Oh yeah, the stock market was doing really well before Monday and has recovered now but uh....the Democrats are still responsible for this." It's almost like there's something that caused such a sudden reaction on the market that Laura isn't telling her audience.

In case you're wondering, she never brings up the Fed or the jobs report in this episode because why would she? It goes against her bizarre narrative that Kamala Harris, who isn't even the president yet, was somehow responsible for a global stock market downturn.

25:12, Laura Loomer: "If this is how Harris's economy has been while she's VP imagine how much worse its going to be when she has full control of the reigns as president, god forbid."

Wait, isn't Harris already the president? You know, back during that long since passed wistful period of three minutes ago when Biden had dementia and Kamala was secretly running the country.

There's a certain level of turning your brain off required to uncritically consume shows like Charlie Kirk and Laura Loomer. If you pay attention to them you'll start to notice that these guys contradict themselves constantly. They have a spread of talking points and they just say shit for two hours without actually thinking about what they're saying beyond "This thing can piss off my audience at this exact moment". If you don't notice these direct contradiction when watching this kind of media, you aren't paying attention.

25:50, Laura Loomer: "The same is true of the immigration crisis which has been at all time lows when President Trump left office partly as a result of COVID."

During the pandemic, undocumented immigrants crossing the border dropped significantly because, well there was a pandemic. However, in the last four months of the Trump presidency encounters at the Southern Border were 14.7% higher than the first month he was in office. This pandemic number was also not an all time low, that would be in April 2017 shortly after Trump took office and before another large spike.

The notion that the Biden-Administration has some sort of "shadowy open border policy" is a total myth that's deeply rooted in white nationalism, as we'll see later on in this post when Loomer starts peddling white nationalism. As a matter of fact, the Biden Administration has increased spending on the border from Donald Trump's $20.9 billion to $23.5 billion. Unfortunately, this also means that many of the human rights abuses at the border that were carried out in the Trump years also carried on during the Biden years which is policy that I obviously don't support.

When people like Laura Loomer talk about "the open boarder" they are essentially admitting that they don't want anybody coming in whether illegally or legally. That is because these people want a white nation, something which Loomer has literally admitted out loud in the past. It's a very thinly disguised dog whistle that you see on every spectrum of the right-wing media ecosystem, from more fringe outlets like Laura Loomer and Infowars all the way to more "mainstream" ones like Daily Wire and FOX News.

26:19, Laura Loomer: "Once here, the Biden/Harris Administration has resorting to simply letting these invaders go free or worse, they have been shipping them to small towns across the country."

Fear-mongering against "the other" is a hallmark of fascist propaganda and it's no exception here. This is all just great replacement theory shit that has nothing backing it up. Notice how nobody ever shows a picture or video of these Biden Harris vehicles shipping migrants to small towns.

This isn't just about migrants at the Southern Border, it's about legal immigration too. The Laura Loomers of the world don't want any immigration unless the people immigrating are white and even then only white heterosexual Christians. Don't believe me? Here's Loomer going on a bigoted tirade against Somali immigrants in Minnesota.

26:30, Laura Loomer: "In fact, Minnesota the state where Kamala's VP pick Tim Walz is governor is a perfect example of how this invader resettlement has gone terribly wrong. A lot of people refer to Minnesota as Little Mogadishu, a little spin-off off of Somalia because of the massive population of Somali Muslims who refuse to assimilate in Minnesota."

What she's essentially saying is that Islamic communities that consist of Somali-American's who are here legally, some even second generation immigrants as the Somali immigration into Minnesota began during the beginning of the Somali Civil War in the 1990's that led to thousands of refugees leaving Somalia and immigrating to the United States, are still invaders. This is because in Loomer's eyes anybody who isn't white is inherently an "invader". It's naked racism in its purest form.

You would think that this kind of rhetoric is fringe on the right but one of the reasons that I'm covering Loomer here is that it really isn't. Touch this up a little, put a bit of a mask on it, and it could easily be the opening monologue on something like The Matt Walsh Show or The Charlie Kirk Show.

And you know what? Mainstream Republicans have embraced Loomer despite this clear white-nationalist rhetoric. Before he was vice-president, J.D. Vance appeared on Loomers show to raise campaign funds. Loomer was a white nationalist and extremist back then too, nothings changed. Donald Trump himself has also embraced Loomer, referring to her as "great Laura Loomer" in a speech and Loomer has rode with Trump aboard his private jet in the past. Donald Trump Jr has also floated Loomer for a spot in the Trump administration if Trump gets elected for a second term. So, when I show you this next quote about Somali Muslims let it be known that this is what the Trump Administration explicitly endorses through their continued association and praise of Loomer.

26:55, Laura Loomer: "There, these people leech off the system, they breed like rabbits, they disrupt the natural communities and they commit violent crimes without contributing anything of value to our society."

I hope J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are proud of what they're endorsing when they associate with this woman. Don't get it twisted, this talk of breeding wouldn't be out of place in a Neo-Nazi pamphlet and it's being peddled by a key ally of the current person that the GOP is running for president. This is not fringe anymore, it's what the GOP explicitly endorses and that should be scary as fuck to you!

If you are a more moderate Trump supporter, you know someone who maybe catches FOX News from time to time and is concerned about the economy and whatnot, first of all welcome to the blog! I actively welcome you to read my back catalogue and see how the stuff you've been consuming is total bunk consisting of half-baked lies. But second of all, your candidate endorses this! Take a look at this stuff, compare it to what Nazi's say on a regular basis, look at your candidate embracing this person, and ask yourself; is this the kind of thing that I support?

27:47, Laura Loomer: "Governor Walz has been in office since 2019. While BLM ran rampant in his state burning entire sections of Minneapolis to the ground following the overdose death of career criminal thug George Floyd, Walz didn't just sit idly by, he actively encouraged it."

As we saw when mainstream right-wing commentators like Matt Walsh and Tucker Carlson, more proof that these guys are all peddling the same rhetoric by the way, pushed this exact same lie about George Floyd, it's complete bullshit.

The autopsy report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, while it did show that Floyd hand fentanyl in his system, ruled that Floyd died from “cardiopulmonary arrest from law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."

We literally saw Floyd get murdered on camera and there are mountains of testimonies from the Chauvin trial showing that it was absolutely Chauvin's fault that Floyd was killed. Not that it matters when you're a racist who's overly concerned with breeding that's also actively using racist dog-whistles like calling a black man a "thug".

29:04, Laura Loomer: "This guy is clearly a loony left-wing radical dressed up as an old white grandpa. He wants you to think that he's your typical old-white grandpa and he's very dangerous. He's basically a less senile and more radical Joe Biden."

While it is definitely important to point out how extreme Loomer is, it's also important to point out that she's also a complete dumbass.

Ah yes, famous left-wing radical *checks notes* Joe Biden. We've lived through four years of the Democrats and none of the stuff that Loomer said would happen happened. She's just somebody who's good at drumming up fear and rage in racists without providing actual evidence.

29:47, Laura Loomer: "He certainly isn't going to be driving anybody to go vote. Really, lets just think about this for a second. What young voter or minority is looking at Tim Walz, an old white man, and is saying 'yes, that's our guy. I'm in. He's going to represent me.'"

The polls say that voters like Tim Walz more the J.D. Vance but I guess if you want to live in fantasyland go right ahead.

30:16, Laura Loomer: "And so, as the election approaches President Trump needs to be asking himself 'How would a Kamala Harris presidency be any different from the past four years?' She's been running the White House already."

Kamala Harris: She's more extreme than Biden and will turn America into a communist hellhole....also she's been running the White House already and if she wins it'll just be more of the same. None of this makes any sense, even internally.

Laura does an ad that's basically her playing clips of Alex Jones praising her and some clips of her dumb attention starved PR stunt bullshit like running around in a stereotypical "Mexican" outfit to protest immigration. You know, for someone who is pretending to be a journalist that has this breaking proof that the Democrats have ties to ISIS, Laura is really just stretching to waste time here. She comes back, talks more about the stock market, and contradicts herself again.

33:52, Laura Loomer: "We can look at some of these posts, him calling this crash yesterday the Kamala crash and that's what exactly everybody needs to be referring to it as because this is exactly what we're going to see if Kamala Harris gets into the White House for another four years and she is just as much involved with our policies in this country as he is."

Is Kamala the president right now or isn't she? Make up your mind Laura!

The thing with Laura Loomer's show is that half of it is just the "Riffing About Trump's Truth Social Posts and Twitter Show". She continues down this route of riffing on Trump's Truth Social posts and I decided to open up the stopwatch app on my phone and time it.

Laura's Truth Social commentary clocks in at around a minute and fifty five seconds give or take the few seconds it took me to open up her Rumble page after I hit go on the stopwatch. It's just two whole minutes of reading tweets and "The Kamala crash, Trump called it the Kamala crash!" with absolutely no substance to it.

So, she goes on to talk about the guy from Pakistan who got arrested for plotting to assassinate key government officials and honestly covering this wasn't a smart move on her part at all. I'll explain why in a minute but lets hear her out.

40:46, Laura Loomer: "And just today actually, we saw how grave the national security issue is when the DOJ announced that a Pakistani national has been arrested and charged for plotting to assassinate president Trump."

This story is about a Pakistani man named Asif Merchant with alleged ties to Iran who was arrested last month for plotting to carry out the assassinations of key government figures including potentially Donald Trump. Court documents actually did not specify who this guy was planning to assassinate however a threat on Trump's life from Iran due to the killing of Qassem Soleimani in 2020 led to many people speculating that the person that this guy had in mind was Trump.

First of all, we just don't know a lot about this story. While it is likely that Merchant might have had Trump on his list and many sources have backed that claim up, those same sources are saying that this guy had targets from both sides of the political aisle in mind. There's a lot of unknown here and its all very messy meaning that it's Loomers responsibility as somebody calling herself a journalist to be really careful about what she says while covering this. In that respect she absolutely failed.

Second of all, the fact that Merchant was arrested and charged blows everything that Loomer was saying earlier out of the water. I thought that the Biden Administration was just letting criminals run rampant and not charging anybody. Guess that's no longer something that's happening. I also thought that the Democrats wanted to kill Trump. Dumbasses like Laura Loomer have been speculating that the Democrats intentionally let the Trump shooting in Butler PA happen for weeks. But I guess the evil Biden DOJ that I've been hearing about for months now just arrested and convicted this guy that may have been planning to assassinate Trump, thus foiling their evil plot, for....reasons I guess.

Laura Loomer absolutely should not have covered this story. I get that it's low-hanging fruit in MAGA-world right now but its very existence messes up this narrative that MAGA media has been pushing for what feels like centuries now about Biden just letting people run rampant and the Democrats allowing the Trump assassination attempt to happen.

So, Loomer finds out that Merchant contacted a confidential informant for the FBI and of course gets the story completely wrong. What actually happened was that Merchant landed in the states and contacted a person who he felt would help him carry out his plans. After Merchant contacted this guy, his contact immediately called law enforcement and became a confidential informant for the FBI that helped the authorities eventually bring Merchant in.

The way that Loomer seems to interpret this part of the story is "Oh, the FBI contacted Merchant and was giving him his marching orders" which doesn't even make any sense with the facts that Loomer presented! If the FBI wanted this guy to kill Trump and was giving him his marching orders, why would they then arrest and charge this guy for doing what they wanted him to do in the first place? It makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever.

42:15, Laura Loomer: "Ok, so the FBI was in touch with Iranian hitmen to kill President Trump. Don't tell me for one second to that this attack that we saw in Butler Pennsylvania, probably, what are they going to say? 'Oh, this was just a mentally disturbed kid'. When's it gonna come out that he was also talking to confidential informants in the FBI."

This is just complete nonsense that is completely devoid from reality. This is somebody who calls themself an "investigative journalist" messing up basic details about this big news story to push a political agenda. It's embarrassing behavior and anybody calling themself a "journalist" who acts like this should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

42:38, Laura Loomer: "So, you see how dangerous our intelligence agencies are because they intentionally lead people to these positions. They allow this guy to travel to New York where he was planning on killing president Trump and we just saw that somebody got very close. We know that this Thomas Matthew Crooks individual, they're not saying that there's ties between this guy and Thomas Matthew Crooks but Thomas Matthew Crooks had overseas encrypted bank accounts."

They also arrested him after getting the appropriate evidence needed to convict. This conspiracy theory makes zero sense in the real world.

Thomas Matthew Crooks didn't have overseas bank accounts. That claim was spread by an Instagram post made after the assassination attempt and nobody provided evidence to back this claim up. The FBI has came out and stated that Crooks didn't have overseas bank accounts and until somebody provides actual evidence proving them wrong I'm inclined to believe them.

As any regular listener of Knowledge Fight (hello, fellow wonks) will tell you, guys like Laura Loomer and Alex Jones mainly get their "news" from shitheads on Twitter and Instagram without actually looking into it and this is an excellent example of that.

I figured this out in five seconds and I'm just some university student with a blog. I don't run a massive produced show and hobnob with key government figures, I'm just a guy with a laptop sitting at a desk in my home debunking bullshit. Yeah, I'm majoring in journalism but you don't just magically gain the ability to verify stuff the day you step into a journalism lecture, Google is a thing that exists and it's a really easy tool for journalists to use! The minute that people like Laura Loomer start calling themselves "journalists" becomes the minute that they become responsible to vet the stuff they're saying and whether or not it's accurate. Loomer has failed her audience and on a broader level her basic duties as a journalist.

So, Laura decides that Tim Walz has ties to ISIS because at this point we're openly playing make em' ups. What's her proof of this absolutely damning claim?

45:16, Laura Loomer: "So, Tim Walz of course is the governor of Minnesota and that's who Kamala Harris decided to pick today as her vice-presidential pick. He is openly tied to Ilhan Omar, Keith Ellison, a lot of these very dangerous radical Muslim politicians."

Surprise surprise, it's just more disgusting bigotry. Naturally, Loomer sees two Islamic progressive politicians and thinks "They must be tied to ISIS" without having any evidence tying them to ISIS. There used to be a word for that, I remember that it started with an R and ended with ACISM. Not that this critique matters much when it comes to Laura who doesn't try to deny her racism but it's still absolutely worth pointing out just so that it's on the record.

45:32, Laura Loomer: "But probably the most radical situation of all is the fact that Tim Walz advocated for an ISIS affiliated Islamic centre called the Dar-Al Farooq Islamic Centre which I have personally visited by the way in Minnesota."

There is absolutely no proof that the Dar-Al Farooq Centre is tied to ISIS and what Loomer is doing here is disgusting for a bunch of reasons.

The thing that got the ball rolling about this mosque being "ISIS affiliated" is an incident in 2016 where three youths who attended this mosque tried to flee the country and join ISIS. While this was obviously an extremely bad thing and it's a good thing that these kids got caught, there's no proof that mosque leadership knew about this nor is there proof that anybody else at the mosque knew about what these kids were planning. However, that didn't stop far-right media from starting a targeted smear campaign against this mosque. Congregants reported far-right social media figures showing up to the mosque and filming their children.

This eventually reached its apex when in 2017 three white males traveled eight hours from their home state in Illinois in order to plant a pipe bomb inside the Dar-Al Farooq Centre, thankfully nobody was hurt in the attack. According to the bomber his motive was to scare Muslim's into leaving the US and that he heard that Dar-Al Farooq was "training ISIS members". Now, look at the fact that Laura Loomer is pushing the exact same kind of rhetoric that nearly got innocent people killed....yeah. I cannot stress this enough, fuck! this! shit!

There's absolutely zero reason for Loomer to not know that far-right disinformation like her show played a huge part in children being harassed and actual terrorism and yet here she is spreading this crap about this mosque anyway despite everything that it's caused. It's easy to laugh at how dumb these people are and how they have no idea what they're talking about but I cannot stress this enough, this shit has the potential to get people killed.

On that happy note, Laura starts interviewing a man named John Guandolo and I really don't care. For those who don't know, John Guandolo is a former FBI Agent who runs the SPLC registered extremist group "Understanding The Threat". Guandolo left the FBI in 2008 while he was being investigated by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility over having an affair with a confidential source and soliciting $75,000 dollars for an "anti-terrorism group" that he was working on creating at the time. Real cool and trustworthy guy. John's "coolness" only continued after he left the FBI and formed Understanding the Threat which basically runs bizarre "counterterrorism training" sessions for law enforcement officials and civilians alike that are basically just seminars devoted to islamophobic conspiracy theories. Guandolo also has a long track record of assaulting people and then promptly getting has ass sued. In 2023, Understanding the Threat shut down in part because John kept doing dumb shit that got his ass sued (although the exact details of why they shut down are kind of murky at best).

Essentially, he's one of these ex-military/FBI "counterterrorism" grifters that were a dime a dozen after 9/11, he's cut from the same cloth as guys like Jack Idema. I don't have enough time to go into all the specific nuances of how much of a loser John Guandolo is but suffice it to say this guy really fucking sucks. We're not going to look at too much of his interview because it's just boring and dumb islamophobic conspiracy theories but there is some stuff in there that we should talk about.

50:03, Laura Loomer: "I was just explaining prior to you coming on that we spent a lot of time together in Minnesota doing counter-terrorism and also investigating on the ground with other counter-Jihad experts. People like Ilhan Omar, Keith Ellison and their radical networks which includes Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and also ISIS."

"And by on the ground doing counterterrorism I mean us running around doing dumb stuff on the internet."

Neither of these guys have presented evidence to back up what they're saying outside of "we don't like Muslims". I couldn't find what kind of "counter-terrorism" these guys were up to in 2018 but given Loomers past track record I'm sure it was just running around being a public nuisance and acting like an absolute drain on society in front of mosques.

50:43, Laura Loomer: "Obviously it's all factual and you can confirm it."

This show is just Islamophobic LARPing at this point.

51:32, John Guandolo: "Number one, Dar-Al Farooq is an -- and it's not a secret. That's a jihadi mosque. The leadership of the mosque, those are jihadi's running it. And you mentioned something a moment ago that I think is important to put a real fine point on for your audience, Shayk Idris at Dar Al-Farooq is the chairman of the Islamic University of Minnesota, the first of its kind in America, and its built to teach sharia to a wide variety of folks but its really to train people that are looking to be scholars and the way it fits into the broader Jihadi movement in the United States is the Brotherhood is very interested in raising up Jihadi's here that are American's so they needed to build the Islamic university here and they chose Minnesota."

The Islamic University of Minnesota is basically the Muslim equivalent of a bible college. They aren't "training Jihadi's" and if they were the FBI would be all over them in eleven seconds. This is just conspiracy theory nonsense from two people who have built their careers around pushing islamophobia and like I said before, this shits dangerous and could very easily lead to violence in the real world.

53:14, John Guandolo: "That entire culture there is in bed with and I mean protecting and defending the Jihadi's in the Twin Cities and it's why when my team came through prior to the 2016 election and I wrote that article, it was entitled 'In This War: The Twin Cities and Minnesota' and I still believe today more than I did then it will take literal military intervention to liberate Minneapolis/St Paul."

Not much to say other than this guys calling for the military to come in and kill civilians because they're immigrants. I hate these two so much. By the way, as stated previously in my last post on the Walz nomination, crime has been down in Minneapolis recently.

The entire interview is like this so we don't have to spend a lot of time on it. Just two bigots lying to each other and potentially inciting violence. We have one last quote, here's Loomer saying that the Democrats want to form an "Islamic Caliphate". Never heard that one before except for when Obama was elected, or during Hillary's campaign, or....

01:39:36, Laura Loomer: "We are literally in the middle of an Islamo-fascist communist takeover of the Western world and the United States of America. Make no mistake, you see these videos right now in the United Kingdom where people are setting fire to cars, they're raping women, they're stabbing people, they're attacking white people in the streets. We're gonna have Muslim gains like that here in the United States of America. We already do, in cities like Dearborn, Michigan and Minneapolis, Minnesota and New York City. We've seen these pro-Hamas riots where we have these people waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags. So I'll tell you right now, if Kamala Harris gets elected as president of the United States, we are, we are going to have an Islamic caliphate in this country."

She said about the UK during a period where the UK is dealing with extremist anti-immigrant rioters setting fire to buildings but that's honestly a topic for its own post. This is just a bizarre slew of Islamophobic talking points that make zero sense, a fitting way to end a post full of Islamophobic talking points that make zero sense.

Conclusion:

That was a particularly gross thing to watch. The thing that freaks me out about Laura Loomer is the fact that this woman has influence. In a reasonable society folks like Laura Loomer and John Guandolo would be guys yelling on street corners with little to no influence but instead here they are spreading hate to a massive audience full of people that unquestionably believe it. The only thing you can really do is call it what it is: hateful bullshit.

Quite frankly, there's very little separating stuff like this and some of the more "mainstream" organizations on the right like The Daily Wire. Just ask Matt Walsh who's very concerned about the white birth-rate or Michael Knowles who believes in the Great Replacement Theory. The difference between them and Laura Loomer is that Loomer doesn't really try to hide her naked bigotry whereas FOX and the Daily Wire try to couch it in double speak and dog-whistles.

On the bright side, it says a lot about Tim Walz' record that they have so little to go with that they have to just up and make shit up about him. While there's very little you can do to win over extremists, Walz' record can do a lot to win over moderates and watching people like Laura Loomer flail around trying to find new ways to smear him gives me some hope for the election.

Original Video:

“EP65: SUMMER of JIHAD: Kamala’s vp Pick EXPOSED for ISIS Ties!” Rumble, 6 Aug. 2024

Sources Cited:

Dorn, Sara. ““Kamala Crash”: Trump Tries to Pin Stock Market Downturn on Harris.” Forbes, 6 Aug. 2024.

Picciotto, Rebecca. “Trump Quiet on Markets after Stock Rebound Robs Him of “Kamala Crash” Attack Line.” CNBC, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2024.

Farley, Robert. “Trump’s Misleading Chart on Illegal Immigration.” FactCheck.org, 4 Apr. 2024

Miller, Todd. “Biden’s Supposed “Open-Border Policy” Does Not Exist.” Www.thenation.com, 22 Nov. 2023

Smith, Allan, et al. “Trump’s Embrace of Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer Worries His Allies.” Nbcnews.com, NBC News, 14 Jan. 2024.

Hananoki, Eric. “Laura Loomer Helped JD Vance Raise Funds While He Appeared on Her Show.” Media Matters for America, 29 July 2024.

TUCKER, ERIC. “Pakistani Man with Ties to Iran Charged in Plot to Carry out Political Assassinations.” AP News, AP News, 6 Aug. 2024.

Thrush, Glenn. “Justice Dept. Charges Pakistani Man in Alleged Plot to Kill U.S. Leaders.” The New York Times, 6 Aug. 2024.

“Understanding the Threat.” Southern Poverty Law Center

Montemayor, Stephen, and Stephen Montemayor. “3 Illinois Men Charged in Bloomington Mosque Bombing.” Startribune.com, 14 Mar. 2018.

Riham Feshir. “Twin Cities Mosque on Edge after Opponents Start Pointing the Cameras at Children.” MPR News, MPR News, 4 Oct. 2019.

[thebabysittertm]

@godstrayed just can't help being an asshole...

ㅤㅤㅤㅤwhy don’t you invite me in for a few minutes so we can start over?

ㅤBilly Hargrove was a jackass.

ㅤThis was essentially an undisputed fact within the first week he'd been in Hawkins, and then a month later, it was just accepted by everyone in his orbit or forced to deal with him on a regular basis, Steve included. He had enough shit on his plate, considering like two days after their fight and then facing down a pack of werewolves with the Chief of Police, a psychic powerhouse of a little girl and a pile of kids, he'd realized the very awful truth: he'd been infected. Three days surrounding the full moon found him utterly wrecked with nobody to turn to for help with it, so he did the only thing he thought he could do.

ㅤHe pushed through and pretended everything was fine.

ㅤHis face healed up too quickly, but since he'd taken off basically the whole week between his actual injuries and the panic of that first full moon, it was hard for anyone to tell - except maybe Billy Hargrove himself, who knew what the damage had looked like. Steve had come back to school like nothing had happened, put on the act like he actually gave a shit about the social hierarchy that he'd been loosening his grip on before Nancy dumped him, and buckled down. Everything was fine, it would all be normal and nobody would ever have to suspect.

ㅤThe month passed with his façade firmly in place and he could almost forget that it was real until the week before the next moon, when he was restless and anxious, quick to temper and if that meant he leaned into Billy's competitiveness, what the hell was wrong with that? A lot, actually, because he didn't know how hard Hargrove had been watching him, or why. He also had no way of knowing how the longer nights of winter were probably the absolute worst to start this bullshit on and a hell of a lot of other shit that was honestly pretty vital to his survival, but he was learning quickly. Too bad it was messy.

ㅤIt was messy and he didn't know how, but he was pretty sure that Billy Hargrove knew he was one of the monsters now. The guy had seemed curious, a little amused, when he'd gotten back, but then came the week before the moon and he'd doubled down on his antagonism as Steve snapped back, and Steve was pretty sure it was the three days of the moon that really convinced him. Steve didn't stay home those days because he couldn't risk the school calling his dad, so he ended up in class on essentially no sleep outside of the naps he could score in short bursts - he spent all night running through the woods, chasing rabbits and bounding through the fresh snow that had fallen and frankly? It was nice in the moment. Everything else surrounding it sucked, but he didn't feel like a monster. He was just tired those days, and Hargrove was up his ass, which he just didn't have energy for. The week after, he was in too good of a mood and feeling too relaxed and easy to really take it too personally, though he was pretty sure the bastard was being a dick on purpose.

ㅤThen came the silver, and that was just that. He hid the sudden shock of bright hot pain quickly so that other people wouldn't notice, but Billy had the saint's medallion and he'd been watching. It had been intentional, which meant that they both knew that he was a monster, and they both knew each other knew. The jackassery only increased from there, and frankly? Steve had seen what werewolves were like, had fought for his life against them, so he got it. He didn't know how Billy Hargrove knew about them, but he assumed it wasn't good, so he tried to just give him space. He wasn't relinquishing his hold on the social scene or his act because it was protecting him, but he also wasn't interested in anything to do with Hargrove. That was just dangerous.

ㅤIt made his sudden appearance on the Harrington doorstep even more surprising, and Steve wasn't even sure why he'd opened the door, but he stood there for a moment, staring at him and trying to decide if this was going to end with one or both of them bleeding or dying. His eyes flicked down to the very visible silver medallion hanging against the other's chest with a little internal cringe, but he made eye contact again right after. If he didn't go for this, shit would keep going as it had been, and nothing about it was good, so 'starting over' sounded like a good plan. Could he trust Billy?

ㅤNo, obviously not, nothing suggested he could trust him, but he licked his lips a little nervously, fingers twisting on the doorknob before he released a long breath, nodding and glancing away to move out of the way of the other entering. "Yeah, yeah, okay, let's start over then. Come in."

[weirdo09]

s5 byler

hawkins will never be the same after the supposed earthquake of ‘86. many families moved after that and the remains of what the town used to be were forever planted in the minds of the people who still lived there. few knew the truth about this ‘earthquake’ that it was in fact a breach between the two planes, one known to those as the upside down and the other plane known as regular old hawkins. it seemed that these few were destined to defeat the one they call vecna.

but before i get ahead of myself, let me tell who these heroes are. first, we have the party leader/paladin mike wheeler then the cleric will byers, the mage el hopper, the ranger lucas sinclair, the zoomer max mayfield and finally, the bard dustin henderson. now that i’ve explained this, i shall start with a little summary of what has happened shortly after the ‘earthquake’.

the byers have decided to stay in hawkins along with the rest of the gang. they were all determined to win this upcoming war for their antagonist was not yet finished with them. he went by many names, one/henry/peter/vecna but the one name that described him best was in fact vecna. he feeds off the fear, guilty and overall anxiety of others then killing them in cold blood. he has claimed four victims and he longs for another, one of our heroes? maybe, maybe not. but one thing’s for sure, he’s hunger for revenge and it’s best served cold. other than vecna, the gang were also waiting for dearest max to wake from her coma placed by the one and only vecna. the most desperate were lucas and el, for they both had the closest bond towards her. they’d visit every day, reading and singing to her. anything to see that the max they once knew was in there somewhere.

fast forward to a few weeks before the battle. the rainfall of ashes has stopped and not a shade of green lay on any grass nor field. it looked depressing to most still holding on to the illusion of what was but, some had bigger problems at hand like trying to think of how to defeat a monster.

“so, this is what i have planned we do what we did before but bigger and better.” nancy declared “this has to work so no one can deviate from the plan, ok?” everyone begrudgingly agreed except for mike. “anyone questions or concerns?” nancy remarked. mike lifted his gaze off the floor, “actually i do.” he said. “and what exactly may that be, mike?” nancy replied. “your plan’s bullshit.” mike said bluntly, everybody stared at him with astonishment. “what did you say?” nancy said, confused. “what you did last time didn’t work, right?” mike said then continued “vecna’s still alive and max’s still in a coma so, your plan’s bullshit.” nancy looked at him in irritation. “i suppose you have a better plan, plan guy?” nancy said snappily, crossing her arms and hesitantly allowing mike authority. “first, put your guns away, they didn’t work last time and they’re probably not gonna work.” mike said, nancy scoffed but let him continue. “what hurt vecna the most when you fought him?” mike asked.

robin and steve looked at each other then suggested “fire?” “fire, it is. if fire hurt him the most then we lit his ass in flames.” mike declared. “anything else?” mike said, no one answered. “so you all are just going with his plan?” nancy said with hurt in her voice. everyone agreed and she just decided to push down her hurt and focus on what’s at hand. “ok so when are we going to initiate this plan?” nancy asked and mike looked up at her like the answer was obvious. “when he strikes again and i’ll make sure of it.” “but how will you know that he will?” nancy interjected. “we’ll give him bait….” mike said with a long pause. “me.” the whole room would go into a burst of outrage.

“michael, you can’t be serious!” will shouted. “i am.” mike said before leaving the room, many thinking ‘what will he do?’ will tried to go after him but jonathan held him back. “it’s not worth it.” jonathan whispered to him.

now we shall fast forward to the day of vecna’s attack, mike has be caught with no chance of survival or does he?

part two will be coming soon :)

@atbyler @runninguplenorahills(the second part will have your idea, this is something i was working on previously) @pimplepogue @foodiewithdahoodie @xhavibee @delusional-dingus @verashalurks @thebylerfiles @she-won’t-miss @bylerislovebylerislife

[placebythering]

Okay, so.

Steve and Robin's song is obviously First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes. The Stobin Glasses Fic aside that ruined so many people (apparently), this song really is theirs.

Let me get into this. Steve and Robin are quite... lonely. Steve very obviously is because of his absent parents and the fact that his first genuine friends were children, who he only really became friends with after he broke up with Nancy. And then let's also add the fact that his friendship with those kids is more brotherly/sisterly (or, protector type) than anything.

So yeah, Steve doesn't have a (real) friend his age. He's lonely, we know it. But Robin was also very lonely too. In 'Rebel Robin' she does have friends and people she talks to but she also very often mentions that she feels things differently and doesn't really think her emotions are being understood. And then she also mentions that she hopes she finds her people. Specifically friends who would stick with her through anything and a girl she'd have a hopeless crush on. This is if you think of RR as at least semi-canon.

BUT, even if you don't, there's the added element of Robin being a lesbian in the 80s. The 80s!! We all already know what was happening in the 80s. Who was president in the 80s. Robin had to walk around Hawkins and probably see Reagan posters in the house of her closest friends. It was brutal for her. She was lonely.

So you got a kid who was popular but then admitted that it was all bullshit anyway. Whose parents have clearly abandoned him in every way. Whose friends were children he only had ties to because of the upside down. Who very clearly regrets what he's said and done when he was younger. And then you got this other kid who likes girls and is very afraid of the consequences of that. Who feels too much and nothing at the same time. Who just wants someone to finally understand her.

Put them together then. Genius idea. Absolutely.

yours is the first face that i saw, i think i was blind before i met you // these things take forever, i especially am slow. but i realized that i need you, and i wondered if i could come home // this is the first day of my life, i'm glad i didn't die before i met you. but now i don't care i could go anywhere with you and i'd probably be happy // maybe this time is different i mean, i really think you like me

The entire song is them, obviously, but those specific lyrics are just so how their friendship works. If you choose to read more into it the way I do then good, but you gotta stop reading now if not.

Steve obviously tried to impress Robin. Even if he never admitted to doing it. At the very least, he wanted her approval. Or her tolerance. Again, if you take RR as semi-canon then you know Robin told him there was no universe that they were ever going to be friends. But we all know Steve's type. He doesn't go after people who are exactly like him (popular, jock, etc.). There's probably a lot of reasons for that or whatever. I think the bulk of it was that he understood exactly how those types of people act, and he didn't really find any of those shit appealing. ANYWAY, he wanted to be closer to Robin.

And then the whole Upside Down thing happened and Steve probably realized, oh, shit, I should probably take the chance to confess now and so he did but Robin. Well.

It was probably the scariest moment of her life. She faced down her torturer and potential murderer. She thought she was going to die alone in that Russian secret base and no one would ever know what happened to her or have a body to bury. She saw the gate to the Upside Down being opened underneath the very same mall she went to everyday for the whole summer. And, still, looking at Steve and explaining to him that the reason she was obsessed with him was not because she liked him but because she liked the girl who was looking at him was the greatest fear she had to battle against. It was simultaneously the bravest and stupidest thing she could possibly do.

And then Steve just accepted her. And then he mocked her taste in women.

And, okay, you might say "oh way to make her coming out about Steve again". Disclaimer: I Am A Lesbian. Disclaimer 2: a huge part of her sadness stems from the fact that no one is going to understand her. She wants to find someone who WILL. Who would know who she is inside and out and then love her anyway. And in that era she probably knew how difficult that would have been. But she did it anyway because maybe, maybe this guy--who she spent 8 hours talking to while trapped in an elevator, who she thought was dead and tied up to her for God knows how long, who bared his heart open to her twice within the span of hours, who she learned was a completely different person from who she thought he was--could finally be that person she was looking for.

And he was. He really was.

We get to season 4 and see more glimpses into their friendship. We already know they got jobs together, but then we find out that Steve wakes up early (if not everyday then at least he was willing to wake up early for her) to drive her to school which is hours before his shift at FamVid starts. He knows about her crush on Vickie and has been checking Vickie to see if Robin could confess to her. They talk about combining because then all their problems would be solved. She tells him about her fears and he tells her to have hope. She jokes about spiders nesting in his hair and he lets he ramble without interruption. She worries that he has rabies and he tries not to be disappointed that he was wrong about Vickie.

But, mostly, there's an implication that for months after Starcourt, all they had was each other. They explicitly state in the show that Robin and Nancy didn't become friends until the events of S4, and because they're broken up and Steve is no longer in Hawkins High then he and Nancy probably haven't talked much (if not at all). Jonathan moved away, so it only left Steve and Robin talking to each other and having to cope with what they went through and what's going to happen to them after.

They're so very I'm glad I didn't die before I met you. They get each other in a way no one else ever would. The way Robin's voice started breaking when she called out to Nancy after Steve got dragged down. The way she called out to Steve first when she got pulled by the vines at the Creel house and how Steve froze up just the slightest bit when he saw her in danger. Steve is important to Robin in the same way that Robin is important to Steve. They stick together and are happy about that because, really, they don't much need anyone else. I mean, they do, of course cause they can't fill every role in each other's lives. But whoever they get with, friendship-wise or relationship-wise, will have to accept that Steve and Robin are kind of like twins you can't separate. Nothing quite bonds like torture chambers and dirty bathroom confessions while you're both covered in blood and sweat and spit and puke.

Maybe this time is different I mean, I really think you like me. They looked each other in the eye at some point and accepted the fact that it's different from them. It wasn't like Carol and Tommy. It wasn't like Milton. It wasn't like her band friends or Steve's kids. They like each other. They're going to always want each other to be happy. Their friendship may have started off rocky, but that's probably what they think is beautiful about it. That they've seen the worst and choose to stay anyway. And will continue to do so. Sometimes, the best relationship you can have is with your friend. There doesn't need to be anything more to it.

And, finally. I'm sorry for the glasses fic. My bad.

[lemonade-juley]

Honestly I've been so into my oc x canon bullshit I haven't actually really talked about Anya's relationships/vibes with the rest of the cast much, so Yay another long post of me rambling

-Melia and Anya hit it off quickly, honestly not at all different from canon in that regard. After chapter 1 though they definitely become basically besties. Anya enjoys spending time with Melia as little time as they get to do so casually, and she does relate to Melia's own issues regarding her capabilities (Anya has also several times felt like she's put people into danger needlessly, and while she never does something like Melia does in going to Valor alone, she does sometimes have thoughts that things would be better if she just did it by herself). All in all, just a very close friendship.

-Anya is also besties with Aelita, probably the person she's closest to besides Melia and later Erin. Grew very close throughout the adventure, and Anya enjoys being around her despite how much more energetic Aelita is compared to herself. They train together a lot, both in Pokemon battles, and also Anya wanting to try and get physically stronger because she's weaker then a pool noodle.

-with Venam, I believe I mentioned this before but Anya took a while to really warm up to Venam due to her more dramatic and energetic disposition (and vulgarity). But once she did become comfortable with her, they are partners in crime >:3. Rather good friends and Venam likes to drag her out to do dumb shit. Unfortunately as of chapter 15 they are a little bit distant due to Venam's whole deal during that time, and the fact Anya wasn't able to interact with her for 3-ish months didn't help.

-Ren didn't take as long as Venam but Anya's shyness still takes effect here and they don't really get super close for a while. Seeing Ren with Xen however kind of ruins that friendship real fast, and she's not at all comfortable with Ren throughout early Chapter 13 before Ren gives her Nancy's Sylveon. It's still a bit shaky but as of chapter 15 they're rebuilding that friendship.

-Erin as is probably obvious in my unstopping posting, ends up together with Anya. They hit it off very quickly thanks to having shared interests and unlike Venam Erin's kind of aloof personality doesn't put her off at first. They end up spending a lot of time together doing things such as reading or talking fashion design and other stuff and grow very close.

-Anya really likes Alexandra, since she's very nice to her. Don't actually hang out much but Anya wouldn't mind spending more time around her at all.

-Anya is unfortunately very much intimidated by Damien. She'd like to be friends with him though, but is unable to really approach him well.

-Anya likes Kanon's company but him treating himself as lesser due to being a servant puts her off (a bit hypocritical of her, tbh because she also regards herself as less important, but still.). Regardless she still tries to be friendly with him during the training month in Ch. 15.

-has no real opinion on either Alice or Allen, would like to be friends with them too though.

[themarcspector--moved]

Give me a character and I’ll give you 10+ headcannons

Also ask “OC?” And I’ll tell you a bunch of stuff about one if my OCs requestor: @gothhoneys

I chose: Samson Castilla

tw: cancer.

occupation: funeral home director

incredibly loyal and affectionate, once he gets to know you / a big ole liar though sometimes with people he doesn’t know / wants to be a good person but is an in between person, honestly / his ex-wife passed a few years ago and he’s only now just getting over it / a bit stubborn / doesn’t do the con-man thing anymore, but he is known to sweep people off their feet and comfort them easily without thinking about or trying too hard / a rather funny guy when he wants to be

1 - though, some would think his occupation would make him a bit of a negative nancy, samson is incredibly positive and upbeat, and he tends to make puns about life, death, and philosophy frequently. he can’t help it, it just comes naturally to him, and like, he believes that people live and die, but it shouldn’t be a sad thing. If anything, it should be celebrated that we got the opportunity to live at all.

2 -  he’s the type of guy who will give you the shirt off the back if you need it. he’s always been that way, too. even though he was essentially raised to be a con-man from an early age, and decided to go against that life. 

3 -  he did do a few love cons to get through college though, and it’s something he doesn’t regret. especially, since he ended up falling for one of the women he was conning and their relationship ended up being real, instead of a lie. he was broken-hearted when she got cancer and passed though. however, he ended up dating her maid a year after she died and the two of them were together until the maid dumped him for not being as emotionally available as she liked. 

4 -speaking of not being emotionally available, samson really has a hard time opening up with people. he was essentially raised to believe that most people have bad intentions, so even though he might come off as a friendly and upbeat guy, he honestly is like…scared of saying too much out of fear of people using his vulnerabilities against him. 

5 - his favorite color is sky blue, since he’s a huge fan of the sky and can look at it for hours. and, if it didn’t make you lose your eye-sight, you bet your ass he’d constantly be looking at the sun. but since he can’t, he’ll just look at the clouds. 

6 - your best friend, if you need one. because, while he’s kind of a natural liar, he is loyal to his friends and is willing to keep their secrets. the issue is, if you hurt him, he might turn around and use those secrets against you. so his fear of betrayal mostly has to do with him betraying those he loved in the past. 

7-  he's a romantic at heart. would love to settle down, but it hasn't happened yet. would be the j/oel h/ammond type of husband. like he'd worship his spouses rights and wrongs.

8-  has loved science since he was a little boy. will talk your ear off about things if you let him, and he’ll wear a smile on his face the whole damn time. 

9- also he knows a lot of useless and sometimes useful facts about random things. like if it’s not mortuary science or religious studies, he probably doesn’t know a huge amount on the topic, but he does know enough to bullshit or get his point across about something. 

10- loves to listen to people and gets a kick out of the stories people have to tell. gets really excited when you tell him something fascinating. 

[moonflowerdamie]

ok so i just watched volume 2. gonna tell you guys my thoughts because WHAT THE FUCK.

⚠️STRANGER THINGS V2 SPOILERS!!!!!⚠️

seriously. what. the fuck. did i just watch.

i have so many thoughts about ep 8 and 9 so i’m gonna try and condense them into lil sections for y’all so. here goes.

•brenner’s death•

-we were supposed to find it…sad? the death of the man who kidnapped and abused children for his own gain? yeah, nice fucking try duffers, with the ‘sad emotional music’. honestly i’m glad the fucker’s dead. one of the only good things to come out of vol 2.

•will and mike•

-i now understand why the duffers waited until after pride month to release the new eps because wtf??? they’ve built it up that will’s in love with mike the whole season (the whole damn show) and then he just…doesn’t say anything? sure he had that monologue where we all know he was talking about himself and not el but. he didn’t even come out to mike? or anybody for that matter. sure, the scene with jonathan is undeniable that jonny boy knows and accepts him and it was a really sweet scene, but it felt like a cop out. will didn’t ever actually confirm anything. fucking bullshit. william byers get behind me, i’ll protect you from the duffers this time.

•stancy•

-fuck ME i hated this storyline. i fucking HATED it. i’ve already spoken on here about why steve and nancy should never be romantic again, and the fact that the duffers tried to push that arc was bad enough but. also. did you guys clock how ooc steve was because of it??? like, he just starts spouting shit about wanting six kids and a perfect life to nancy, who just NEARLY DIED, and then does it again in the woods when robin runs off alone—completely ignoring her well-being and safety in favour of trying it on with nancy again. that’s so not the steve we know. the steve we know and love would never let robin run off alone, and he certainly wouldn’t be basically ambushing a girl with his fucking life plans that make no fucking sense. and if that all wasn’t bad enough, THE WHOLE PLOTLINE WAS IRRELEVANT ANYWAY. they don’t get together because nancy’s still with jonathan and it never gets addressed again. fucking idiotic storyline.

•jancy•

-ok so can we all agree that this ship has run its course? like, don’t get me wrong, they’ve been cute the past few seasons, and i wouldn’t hate it if they were endgame, but. come on. jonathan is STILL LYING TO HER about college, their plans clearly don’t align anymore and they just want different things in life. and i get it, it’s cute that the actors are dating in real life, but that shouldn’t be the only thing holding the ship together. i just think the duffers have made it clear throughout the season, then with that ending scene in vol 2 when jon and nancy are repairing hop’s cabin, that these two are going to inevitably part ways.

•jopper•

-one of the saving graces of these eps. they FINALLY kissed and it was sweet and cute and perfectly built up, in my opinion. joyce and hopper stay one of the best ships in the show.

•max•

-is she alive? is she dead? WHO KNOWS???!!? honestly the HORROR the duffers have put me through with her this season. it was fucking brutal having to watch her bones snap like that. i was honestly shaking, like holy shit. and then she died, and then she didn’t? hmm? what did el do that saved her? what consequences will that have??? so many unanswered questions. but, i will say this: sadie sink deserves a fucking emmy.

•ronance/vickie x robin•

-i am so beyond pissed at the duffers brothers for the shit they pulled with robin in these 2 eps. like, vickie’s not in the season except for one two minute scene in ep 1 and then they bring her back for the last ep? and yeah, her and robin could be cute i guess, but it felt so shoehorned in. like they clearly just shoved that scene in at the last minute to fill a diversity quota and makes me fucking ANGRY. the opportunity was there for robin to have a fully fleshed-out, meaningful, poignant romance with nancy. they’ve been together all season, they’ve grown closer, understood each other, looked out for each other. hell, i even thought the duffers might go there with that scene where robin grabs nancy’s hand outside the creel house. but no. because why give us an actually good wlw relationship when you can shove it to the side and give us absolutely crumbs of representation? bullshit.

•eddie’s death•

-tbh i was expecting him to die, and so i wasn’t shocked but. it felt very anticlimactic. like, the whole focus was on him dying a hero—but then he didn’t technically save anyone? he just…died? for seemingly no reason? and yeah, dustin’s reaction BROKE me, but like then nobody else ever mentions it? not even steve, robin or nancy, who have been with him the whole season. it just all felt so rushed. joe quinn, you did a great job man, and you deserved better writing.

•elmax•

-is it just me or did every one of max and el’s scenes together feel very…romantic? like, yeah they’re best friends who haven’t seen each other in a while, but all of their interactions were framed and built up to seem almost like lover’s reuniting? like they’re touching each other’s faces constantly when they first see each other again, max is looking at el’s lips, max’s ‘death’ involved el crying over her just as much as lucas. and when el visited her in the hospital everyone like made way for her as if she’s the most important person to max. am i going crazy here??? someone tell me they get what i’m trying to say. anyway, another saving grace of the season, elmax remains superior.

•the ending•

-i actually think the ending was pretty cool. like it sets up a vastly different, darker and more epic final season. we actually saw the battle with the upside down and vecna having disastrous effects on hawkins. and i thought the return of the mind flayer actually was kinda cool, and the way everything was explained was pretty good. but, after these 2 eps, i’m not sure i trust the duffer brothers with another season. well. we’ll see what happens i guess.

overall, volume 2 was a let-down. ooc characters, messily wrapped up plot lines, shoved in, shitty representation. it all felt rushed and like the duffers kinda gave up halfway through. highlights of the eps include: the jopper kiss, elmax, robin grabbing nancy’s hand when she was scared, hopper beheading a demogorgan, eddie playing guitar, erica kicking that one guy in the balls and natalia dyer, noah schnapp, caleb mclaughlin, millie bobby brown and sadie sink’s acting.

what did you guys think?

[nburkhardt]

Here is an angsty thing with a happy ending! (Please note: this takes place BEFORE seasons 3 & 4 but after demodogs.)

Pray for the Ground to Swallow Me Whole

He’ll eventually thank her for the domino effect she caused. It’ll be the best thing to happen to him, even if it meant leaving town very premature.

But for now, his heart hurts and his eyes are burning from holding the tears back. For now he’ll stand here and listen to words that’ll haunt him, to faintly be reminded of times when he was an ignorant asshole that only cared about himself and didn’t bother thinking of his actions.

Truthfully, he sorta thought this would happen.

The only ones who actually actively engaged with him was the kids, especially Dustin and Lucas. But if he was being truly honest with himself, a nasty voice in the back of his head always told him they just liked him because he saved them. He tried not letting that get to him.

Currently though? That nasty voice is whispering and it’s not just a voice in his head anymore.

The voice just sounds a lot like Joyce Byers.

“- you did help him and I’ll always be grateful for that. Honestly. But I also remember him coming home from school and telling me about this kid, this jerk who laughed and poked fun at him,” Joyce stops to take a breather, crossing her arms and looking disappointed as if he wasn’t already used to that kind of look, “It actually makes me very uncomfortable to have you around, you have to understand that?”

He choked down a defense and sob, blinked hard before looking away with a nod. Listening to this for the last twenty minutes has broken him down faster than Nancy calling him “bullshit”.

“Yes, Mrs. Byers, I’ll-I’ll leave your family alone”

She nodded, “I’d appreciate that, Steve. But I’m not just talking about my family”

He’s hit with ice and dread. Freezes up and looks back at her, “wha-what do you mean? I’m sorry, I’m confused”

“I don’t think it’s really appropriate for you to be around Will and his friends. With my knowledge of what Jon told me about you and the fact you are five years older than them. It would make a lot of their parents uncomfortable too. Don’t you know that?” She’s speaking softly now, like she’s talking to a scared animal.

And maybe she is, he feels like it.

He shakes his head, not to her though. To himself, shaking the memories of hang outs with the Henderson family. Memories of Claudia Henderson making extra food- “just in case, dear! You can even have leftovers for tomorrow!” And Dustin biking over just to tell him about the newest movie he wants to see- “we absolutely have to go, Steve! It’s gonna be a classic, trust me!”

The memory of Claudia hugging him close, telling him “such a blessing, sweetie! You’ll always be welcomed here” that still makes him cry late at night in his empty quiet home.

He avoids looking at Joyce, trying to figure out a way to get away.

“I- uh, I gotta, if you’ll excuse me” he mumbles and doesn’t smile or even look directly at her. Just moves around her to leave, as he walks out and overhears the excited voices calling for him, he ignores them and keeps his head down to avoid showing them how red his cheeks are in embarrassment and how much he’s holding back tears.

Without saying goodbye, he gets into his car and drives.

He doesn’t know how long he drives, doesn’t know where he’s going. Just driving to get away, to avoid listening to Joyce’s words that are already taunting him in his head. Slowly mixing in with “you’re bullshit” and “run away, Steve, always running away!” and all the disappointed sighs and taunts from his father.

The car picks the location for him, gas running low and he’s forced to stop at Lovers Lake. Pulling to a stop and turning his car off, he sits in silence. Staring ahead at the lake, eyes still burning.

It’s a long time as he just sits there. In silence.

Rubbing his eyes to get the tears to go away, there’s no reason to cry. She is right, he was an asshole and it is inappropriate for a eighteen year old to hang around thirteen year olds.

Even more inappropriate to hang around a house where he isn’t welcomed.

He rests his head against the steering wheel, arms around it and his knuckles turning white from how hard his gripping the wheel. His eyes burn and he laughs a bitter sound, lightly hitting his head against the wheel. “Fucking, knock it off, get yourself together” he mumbles and it’s weak, he chokes back another sob as he squeezes his eyes shut.

There’s a knock on his window that makes him flinch hard, eyes are wide and he’s immediately aware of how fucking stupid he was to let his guard down like that. Looking next to him he flinches again, not because he’s scared but because of who’s standing there.

Of all the people to find him right now, during probably his lowest point ever, is the local drug dealer. The twice senior and King of the Freaks, Eddie Munson.

“Hey man, uh, you okay?”

Shaking his head, he rests it back on his headrest taking a breath before rolling the window down. Munson takes a step back, he only knows because of the chains hanging from the guy’s pants.

“All good, Munson” he lies straight through his teeth, he doesn’t need to see how red his face is with how warm it feels. And his hands actually hurt now from how hard he was gripping the wheel, “i didn’t- uh, see anything.”

Since he’s leaning his head back on the headrest with eyes closed, he doesn’t see how Munson reacts. The only noise is just nature, birds chirping and the wind hitting leaves. He doesn’t even hear Munson moving, so opening his eyes he looks over and finds the guy standing there with an odd look on his face.

“Look, I’ll just- fuck,” he knocks his head back before rolling the window up and turning his car off, climbing out and avoiding looking directly at the guy. “I’m gonna just go”

Doesn’t bother waiting for something back, it’s been long enough in his own pity party. Now, he just needs to walk home and figure out how he’ll go about life without seeing the Henderson family and the rest of the kids.

“Are you walking? What the fuck, just leaving your car here?” Munson shouts out at him.

He glances back at his car then at Munson, slowing to a stop. “Why do you care?”

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, why would this guy care whether he leaves his car here? It’s only Hawkins, no one is going to steal his car. You’re more likely gonna come across a monster around than a stolen car.

Especially not at Lover’s Lake. Also why care about him? He’s an asshole and everything Munson hates and loudly announces at lunch.

He shakes his head and starts walking again, taking the silence that Munson doesn’t actually care about him. It doesn’t hurt to admit another person doesn’t like him, he honestly would be shocked if someone did like him.

What really hurts is the fake worry, the questioning, the fake concern and the curiosity.

He’s going to continue to walk home that’ll take him a few hours and will only make it back by dark. Without a weapon, without the bat to hold, because he left that in his car and Munson is still here. Can’t let him ask anymore questions.

“-sus Christ! Jesus, slow the fuck down Harrington!” Munson sounds out of breath, a lot closer too.

He flinches when a hand lands on his arm, “What? What do you want?” He turns and shakes the hand off, “if someone steals it, whatever. It- it doesn’t matter.”

Munson squints at him, looking confused, “Dude, wait, why are you crying?”

Touching his face, he laughs and it sounds so wrong. He is crying, didn’t even realize it was happening. Shaking his head, he turns around and doesn’t bother answering.

“Come on, Harrington!” Munson grabs hold of his shoulder and his grip is rough, “look, I’m sorry if you want to be alone but fuck, dude, you look like shit and crying alone is the worst. So, why don’t I give you a ride to whoe-“

Shaking his head, “like I have anyone to run to right now”

There’s a flash of Claudia and Dustin Henderson in his head and he wants, thinks that they’d shake him and hug him tight if they knew what was said and how it’s haunting him already. Won’t go away, it just brings more tears.

Munson’s silent and his hand drops, leaving behind a faint pressure and that hurts too.

“God, I’m so pathetic right now.”

“Nah, just lonely it seems”

His eyes snap to Munson and his hands are shoved into his jacket, kicking his foot before looking back at him, “I won’t judge, seriously. Let me help, even if it’s just to give you a ride”

“Just a ride?”

Munson nods, “just a ride, unless you change your mind”

He nods, taking a deep breath before stepping towards Munson, “okay, you can, um. Take me home?”

A smile spreads across Munson’s face and he takes his hands out to swing them towards where his van most likely is, “your chariot awaits, good sir!”

Despite his mood and how this might possibly be one of the worst days of his life, he cracks a tiny smile. Just enough to squeeze at his heart, actually.

Walking along side Munson is quiet, it’s a little peaceful. If he remembers correctly, Munson was never this quiet before. Always talking or laughing or yelling, he’s loud and sometimes overly obnoxious.

This is nice. Actually really nice, this quiet with him.

They make it to the van and the ride isn’t the same quiet but it’s still there. He can feel it deep in his bones now.

That this, right here, is peaceful.

Hello! This whole thing originally started back in May and I lost a little interest in this particular WIP, so I stopped and it’s been in my drafts since. Then I kept getting writers block, still have it tbh. But I read it back today and decided I can technically turn this into a two part fic instead of a one shot soo, it’s finally being shared!

I want to be clear that it’s an AU from after the demodogs and everything after that won’t be the same. And that I have nothing against Joyce but I thought “what if it was someone else than made Steve leave/didn’t like Steve?” guess who I picked 😇 plus we have enough Hopper & Joyce adopt Steve fics, we need a little more of them not doing that. Also!! There should be more fics of them being wrong, that they’re being judgmental and need consequences for their words & actions.

Anyway! I’m automatically assuming only a few people will read this far into my rambling. And if you did I love you, you get a platonic forehead kiss ☺️

Permanent Taglist: @spectrum-spectre @itsfreakingbats @mysticcrownshipper @artiststarme @thereindeerlady @justforthedead89 @ronniescontinuum @freyaforestafay @littlewildflowerkitten @gregre369 @zerokrox-blog @flustratedcas @carlprocastinator1000 @marvelmwah @solliesolesito @navnae @i-less-than-three-you @grimmfitzz @estrellami-1 @cartercaptainofthemoon @strangersteddierthings

[violetevents]

i might like having you about

pairing: steve/eddie word count: 1,5k  july writing challenge: day 2. an unexpected reunion (other entries) a/n: i fell into the steddie rabbit hole roughly two days before volume 2 so you can imagine how that went for me. anyway, here’s a little thing about how eddie is absolutely still alive and also absolutely in love with steve. enjoy :)

(now also on ao3!)

Dustin doesn’t want to leave Eddie behind, kicks and screams and punches as Steve physically drags him off.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Steve whispers, and Dustin’s too upset to notice that he is crying, too. “We have to get out of here. We’ll come back for him, if we can.”

They won’t. Steve knows this, Dustin knows this, they both know this. But Dustin stops struggling, sagging in Steve’s arms. Steve is at least partly right, they have to get out of there. The demobats have recuperated, and now the whole hoard is hurtling towards the four of them, screeching loudly.

The gate is less of a gate and more of a gaping hole, and the four of them climb out to find Hawkins in shambles. The demobats don’t follow, not yet. Dustin’s too tired to think about why. He just collapses into Steve, tears streaming down his face.

They have won, maybe. But it feels like they fucking lost.

--

Eddie gasps, his breathing coming back to him raspy and panicked, and when his eyes fly open, he’s still dreaming. He’s still in his nightmare. The demobats have gone, hopefully moved on, but he’s still in the upside down, still stuck in fucking hell.

But he’s alive. Somehow, he’s breathing, his heart is beating, and he’s alive. He’s pretty sure he died for a few moments there, but apparently life wasn’t done with him, yet. He can’t think about it too much, because he keeps getting distracted by the pain in his side, and on his chest, and in his arm, and everything. Eddie’s pretty sure he’s never been in so much pain in his life.

He finds it in himself to move, eventually. Slowly, carefully, he works himself up into a sitting position, and looks around. He doesn’t know how long he’s been out, but Dustin’s gone. Steve, Nancy and Robin too, probably. He hopes they made it out okay.

He thinks of Steve, and the determined look in his eyes when Eddie told him to make Vecna pay. That asshole definitely tried to be the hero, Eddie thinks. He just hopes it didn’t cost him his life, like it nearly did with Eddie.

Steve warned him not to try to be the hero. He’s going to be absolutely pissed when he learns Eddie didn’t listen to him. It’s that thought, and the fact that he really doesn’t want to stay in the upside down for a second longer, that eventually get him to drag his ass towards the trailer, where he hopes the gate is still open.

(It is. It’s also much bigger than the last time they went through it. Eddie decides worrying about that can wait until after he’s had a nap. Or twenty.)

--

A day after the whole Vecna ordeal, Steve finds himself on the couch in the basement of the Byers residence. After the confusion, and the hospital, and the horrifying shock of finding out what happened to Max, they all have seemed to unanimously decided that no one should be alone right now.

So there they are, scattered across the basement, all lost in their own little worlds.

Steve so badly wanted everyone to be okay. He knows it’s naïve, after all these years, to think they are invincible or some shit. But if you live through these things often enough, you start thinking you might be. And now Max is in the hospital, and Eddie’s dead body is still lying in the upside down.

He doesn’t know how to mourn Eddie, is the problem. Him and Eddie, they only just met and they barely had any time to properly get to know each other during all the Vecna bullshit. But still. There was something there. Steve noticed the way Eddie looked at him, sometimes. Remembers the way ‘Dontcha, big boy’, sounded. Can picture that smile he only seemed to direct at Steve. Head tilted, smile wide, eyes sparkling.

He has known for a while now that he’s attracted to boys, too. And this boy.

This boy might’ve been the one.

But now he’s not there anymore, so it doesn’t matter. Steve wasn’t in love with him, perse. Not even really in like. In fascination, perhaps. So why does everything still feel so wrong?

--

Eddie finds himself in front of the Byers’ house. He’s been there, once, during the summer vacation, when the boys wanted to finish their campaign for Hellfire and the school was closed. He figures that if the rest of the gang is somewhere, it’s probably here.

He knocks on the door, and belatedly realizes that one of the Byers parents could open the door, and they might be the kind of people that believe the whole cult leader spiel. Eddie’s been lucky enough that he hasn’t run into anyone on his way here.

But his side is bleeding out, and he’s seconds away from collapsing, so he figures he’ll take the risk.

He needn’t have worried, because the door swings open, and there is Nancy.

God, he’s never, ever, been so happy to see someone familiar. “Hi,” he says, voice raspy, and a little bit of blood gurgles out of his mouth. He sways on his feet, and catches himself on the doorway.

“Eddie,” Nancy says, eyes wide and panicked, and she reaches forward as to catch him when he falls. “Oh my god, Eddie.” She turns around then, and bellows, “STEVE. HERE. NOW.” It’s so loud, Eddie’s pretty sure he would’ve heard it in the upside down.

There’s the distant sound of footsteps thundering up the stairs, and a door swinging open, and the last thing Eddie sees before he collapses is Steve’s face, shocked, panicked, relieved.

“You’re alive. Oh my god you’re alive,” someone says, hands tenderly holding his face, and then everything goes black once again.

--

Eddie wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, and it’s dark, and for a second he thinks he’s back in the upside down. His breathing picks up, and he’s starting to sit up, but then there’s a hand on his shoulder, and a voice telling him it’s okay, you’re okay, you’re safe, and he sags back against the pillows.

“Steve?” Eddie asks, his voice croaky and weird from sleep, and the hand on his shoulder squeezes him gently before letting go.

“Yeah,” Steve says, and Eddie can only just make him out in the darkness of the room. “I’m right here.”

“How are the others?” Eddie asks, and Steve huffs a laugh that sounds like a sob.

“Of course that’s your first question. Dustin is fine. Mike too, last I heard. They’re on their way home right as we speak. You saw Nancy, her and Robin are fine, just like Erica. Lucas got pretty badly beaten up, but he’s okay now.” Steve sighs, runs his hand through his hair. “Max was… Not as lucky. She’s in a coma right now. We’re not sure if she’s going to recover.”

“Fuck,” Eddie says, slamming his head down on his pillow.

“Yeah,” Steve says. “As for you, we stitched you up as best we could, but we were too scared to take you to the hospital. Your name hasn’t exactly been… cleared. Especially not now there’s a literal portal to hell running through the town.”

Eddie looks alarmed, but Steve waves it away. “Don’t worry about it right now, I’ll explain later. Right now you need to rest.” Steve makes a move to walk away, but then decides against it. “Listen, Eddie,” he looks pained. “We’re really sorry, for leaving you behind. We were convinced you were… Well. And then the demobats were back, and I had to get Dustin and the girls to safety. But it’s no excuse. We never should’ve fucking left you there, I should’ve brought you with us, I should’ve gone back for you, I should’ve-“

“Hey,” Eddie says, interrupting Steve by grabbing his hand. “Listen. I get it. You had to get the others to safety. I never would’ve forgiven you if you’d risked your life for my sake.”

“Don’t you get it?” Steve asks, looking at their linked hands before dragging his gaze up to meet Eddie’s eyes. “You are a part of the team now, Munson. And you’re worth risking my life for.”

“Are you flirting with me, Steve Harrington?” Eddie asks, half-jokingly, but then Steve’s not meeting his eyes, and the hand that’s still holding Eddie’s twitches.

“Maybe,” he says, and oh my god, is Steve Harrington blushing?

Eddie, despite still being in terrible, terrible pain, suddenly feels a hundred pounds lighter. “I would risk my life for you, too,” he says, and smiles softly at Steve, hoping Steve picks up what he’s putting down.

It seems like he does, because his blush deepens, and he squeezes Eddie’s hand. “That’s. Uhm. Yeah. Nice.”

Eddie can’t help but laugh. “Smooth, Harrington.” Steve pulls a face, making Eddie laugh again, but he winces when his ribs start throbbing.

“You need to rest,” Steve tells him sternly, finally letting go of his hand. Instead, he leans forward and tucks Eddie in. Eddie lets it happen, frozen in the pure shock of being tucked in by the King of Hawkins High. Two years ago, he would’ve laughed at the idea alone, but now he just lets it happen. If anything, it makes him feel safe, warm, loved.

“Night, Eddie,” Steve says, and Eddie already finds himself drifting back to sleep again.

“Will you stay?” He asks, words slurring with sleep. He’s suddenly terrified of having to deal with the inevitable nightmares alone.

“Of course,” Steve says, and Eddie’s almost asleep already, but he’s pretty sure he feels Steve pressing a kiss to his forehead before he drifts off completely.

[beepboop358]

How I think the characters will react to Byler when it is officially officially confirmed in the show:

El: once El realizes she doesn't romantically love Mike, she will become an avid byler protector.

El is a badass independent woman with a pure heart of gold. She cares deeply for Mike because he was the first person to show her any sort of compassion, so she will want him to be happy, and after she grows closer to Will, she will want Will to be happy too. El won't understand the societal stigmas around Mike and Will liking each other, since she was raised in a lab away from society and then lived isolated in Hopper's cabin, she has no knowledge of what society deems right from wrong surrounding sexuality and love. She will think other people thinking Mike and Will's relationship is 'wrong' or 'unnatural' is utter bullshit and completely stupid, as she should!

Jonathan: he will be 100% supportive. He knows how Lonnie tormented Will and made homophobic remarks about Will being gay when he was younger. He has always encouraged Will to be himself and ignore what others say, especially what Lonnie says. Jonathan will also be a byler protector.

Jonathan knows Will isn't "normal", he even said Will was "good at hiding" in s1 which has several meanings, and he probably already knows Will likes Mike because of how he immediately turns to look at Will after Mike blurts out he loves El in s3 in Hopper's cabin.

s1 ep. 2: "He's trying to force you to like normal things, and you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed too."

s2 ep. 1: "No I'm serious. You're a freak. But what? Do you want to be normal? Do you wanna be just like everybody else? Being a freak is the best. I'm a freak. Who would you rather be friends with? Bowie or Kenny Rogers? Exactly. It's no contest. The thing is, nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world. You got it?"

------(Some subtle queer coding there with the Bowie reference; David Bowie was a bisexual musician, and he also sings the original version of the song "Heroes" that plays after Will's fake body is found in s1, and the lines that play while Mike cries and hugs his Mom are extremely queer coded: "And we kiss as though nothing could fall. And the shame.")

Nancy: It's implied Nancy and Mike are pretty close, and honestly I think she has always suspected that Mike has a little thing for Will. From the look on Nancy’s face when he blurts out he loves El, it kind of reads as like she doesn’t believe him, because she knows something.

s1 ep.7: "I knew you were acting weird, I just, I thought it was beause of Will"

Joyce: will be 100% supportive, and a protective mama bear of Will as always, but also for Mike. Joyce will join the club of avid byler protectors along with Jonathan and El.

Dustin: avid byler supporter. I think he's picked up on how much Mike cares for Will, how Will cares for Mike, and has probably suspected at least something this whole time. Dustin doesn't care about being considered cool he cares about doing what he likes and being true to himself, and that belief for sure translates into how he views his friends as well. He will absolutely support Mike and Will and treat them normally.

s3 ep.3: "Instead of dating somebody because you think it's gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoy being around?" s1 ep.6: "Sometimes your total obliviousness just blows my mind"

Max: She seems pretty perceptive, so she's probably picked up on Mike and Will's 'special dynamics' by now, and we know she's definitely sick of how Mike treated El. She will be supportive of Will and Mike, but mostly she will just be glad Mike isn't with El anymore LOL.

Lucas: I think he definitely notices Mike seems to reallllyyyy care for Will, and that Mike doesn't act the same about El, although he claims too. I think Lucas sees through Mike's bullshit. Look at his smirking face and crossed arms when Mike frantically asks where Will is in s2:

and how he reacts the same way to Mike blurting out he loves El and "can't lose her again" in s3:

Hopper: he will probably want to kill Mike again.

"wait what?! so.. let me get this straight...all that time you were making out with my daughter, you were just...pretending to love her? You lied to her the whole time you two 'dated' yeah? And now you're dating your best friend. Oh god wait, I watched you tell him that asking him to be your friend was the best thing you ever did that night in the shed... Oh you little asshole!"

I can't imagine Hopper being homophobic towards Will and Mike, but I don't see him jumping up and down for them either. He will mainly be upset that Mike dated El when he was actually in love with Will, and not care so much that Mike is in love with another boy, just another person. But once he processes that El is actually okay, he will be fine with it.

Lonnie: is the literal scum of the earth! Obviously Lonnie will hate that Will is gay and dating another man. He will probably make some comments about how he "always knew it" and call Will and Mike homophobic slurs, probably at Will's birthday.

s1 ep.1: "He used to say he was queer, called him a f*g"

Steve: "Oh you two little shits are dating now? But I thought he was into the psionic chick? No? Okay, alright cool. Uh hey have you guys met Robin yet? I think you would get along, you know what I'll introduce you." Steve was so accepting of Robin coming out to him, there's no way he won't have the same kind of reaction for Mike and Will.

Robin: once she gets to actually know them and spend time with them, she will adopt Mike and Will as her gay sons and inspire them to be themselves and help them out whenever they need it. She will also pick up on the fact that they like each other immediately. If we don't get this pairing in s4 because of location logistics, I really hope we get it in s5!!!

Erica: she won't be homophobic, but she just won't care too much.

Karen: will encourage Mike to follow his heart, and like whoever he likes, because a relationship needs real love to survive, and she knows all too well what it is like to be stuck in a relationship with no love, and she doesn't want that for her kids, she wants better for them. She wants Mike to be truly happy no matter what, and she doesn't want to see him repeat her mistakes. Karen will be very supportive of Mike, and probably defend him to Ted.

s1 ep.2: "All this that’s been going on with Will, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. I just…I want you to feel like you can talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me. I’m here for you okay?”

Ted: he won't be as much of an asshole as Lonnie will be about it, but he will probably make some snarky comments.

s1 ep.7: “our son with a girl? *scoffing*”