#at the end though this is definitely focused on Steve and Robin's friendship

[apuckishwit]

With a Capital P

Saw this post about Stobin having no boundaries, by @grimmfitzz and oops, my hand slipped.

By all rights, there should be some awkwardness. A little lingering strangeness, an adjustment period, if you will. After all, only a few days ago, he fully thought he had feelings for Robin. Well, obviously he does have feelings for her...but he'd thought they were entirely different than the ones he has.

He's maybe a little more concussed than he'd convinced the paramedics he was. To be fair, they had a lot going on.

The point is, he feels like there should be more weirdness. A time period in which he awkwardly shuffles Robin from a box marked 'possible girlfriend?' to the one marked just 'friend'--the one Tommy and Carol used to occupy before things went so sideways (though he's still too afraid to really examine the spaces those two left, too afraid it'll just confirm that he wasted so much time with people who were never his friends at all). Maybe even slot her into the box he's slowly constructing for the kids...something not quite labeled 'friend' and not quite labeled 'family' and quickly coming to take up the biggest chunk of his battered, lonely heart (oh, wow, yeah...definitely more concussed than he let on).

Turns out, though, that being drugged and tortured together, and then launching an assault on a gigantic flesh beast from another dimension with nothing but fireworks and nerve lets you skip over a lot of the beginning phases of a relationship (romantic or otherwise). Also turns out there's a secret, fourth box he didn't even know about. One that's just marked 'Robin' that he has apparently been just waiting for her to come along and fill.

Robin ends up spending most of the rest of the summer at Steve's house, more often than not. He doesn't know what she tells her parents. Doesn't particularly care. He's always had a weird relationship with parental care and authority, so he's not sure he's really in a position to have an opinion about if Robin is lying to her parents about where she is, or if they don't care that she's hanging out at his place so much.

They spend days abusing the central air, or watching movies they swipe from Family Video, or eating snacks out by the pool (he tells her she's welcome to swim, she notes that he never gets in the water himself and doesn't ask questions...but also doesn't move from his side). At first, he makes up a guest room for her when she spends the night, but after the fourth or fifth time one (or both) of them wake up screaming (goddamn, goddamn, goddamn it, he'd just gotten a handle on the nightmares about impossible creatures bursting from the wall, now he gets new material to deal with?) Robin just groans and collapses onto Steve's bed, burrowing under his blankets with him.

"Your room is hideous," she grumbles, grabbing one of his hands and bringing their joined fingers to rest in the small space between their bodies.

"I know," he shrugs. He squeezes her hand. She squeezes back. He listens to her breaths in the dark, feels the warmth radiating off of her. It's comforting. Grounding. He's not alone. Whatever terrors the night brings for them, they'll face it together.

He wakes up hours later, sunlight streaming into his room and the beautiful girl he'd thought he was falling for snuggled right up against his side, the two of them having moved in the night. It should be the stuff of adolescent fantasies but all he feels is a distant sort of confusion that they actually slept so long. Robin's face is smashed into his shoulder and he realizes he's been drooling into her hair, and the first thing she does when she wakes up is shriek about it.

"Ewww, gross! Seriously?!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Spit, Steve! My hair is covered in your spit!"

"Well I'm pretty sure this giant booger on my shirt isn't mine, Buckley!"

"Are you accusing me of--oh, wow that is big." Robin starts rubbing at her nose as she stalks into the bathroom and the shower starts running a moment later. He opens the door long enough to toss a clean towel onto the sink and then wanders down to the kitchen to start coffee.

She makes fun of his bedhead when she comes down the stairs, he goggles at the amount of milk and sugar she puts in her coffee. And he never makes up the guest room for her again.

*

"I am telling you, Johnson is trying to kill us with his exams! It's barely October and we've already had three!" Robin stabs angrily at the chicken cutlets in the pan with her fork, holding one up so Steve can see how brown it is on one side. At his nod, she starts flipping them over. She ducks her head without looking when he reaches over her to snag the basil out of the spice cabinet, still stirring the tomato sauce with his free hand.

"Yeah, Johnson's a dick. Glad I'm done with his class for good." He dips the spoon out of the sauce and blows on it for a moment before tasting, then holds the spoon out for Robin to lick the rest of it off.

"Mmm, more red pepper. And I know! You're so lucky. How did you even pass? Cheryl Mackey was crying in the band room after she got her test back, and she's like, straight a student all the way." Robin finishes flipping the chicken and goes back to chopping carrots for their salad.

"Oh, Robert O'Connell--the guy that works down at the Snack n' Go?--he saved all his tests from when he had Johnson a few years ago. Johnson never writes new ones. You give Robert 20 bucks, you can get any of the answer keys."

Robin sets the knife down and reaches into Steve's back pocket, pulling his wallet out. "Couldn't have told me this earlier?" she grouses, yanking two tens out and shoving the wallet back in his pocket.

"Hey, that's my gas money for the week!" He grabs the pot with the noodles off the stove and takes it to the colander waiting in the sink, sticking his ass out expectantly.

"You look like a hooker trying to pick up johns."

"Well give me at least half my gas money back so I don't have to sell my body to drive you and Henderson to school this week."

"Ugh, fine." She grabs his wallet again and stuffs one of the tens back into it. Then winds up one of his dish towels and smacks his rear end hard enough that he jumps about a foot in the air.

He dumps the drained noodles back into the pot and turns around to bring it back to the stove only to find that Robin is right behind him with the pot of sauce, apparently having been bringing it over to the sink. They collide, hard, and Robin screams bloody murder as hot spaghetti sauce gets dumped all down her front.

"Hot, hot, hot, fuck, hot!"

"Shit, hold on!" He all but tosses the pot of noodles back into the sink and snatches the sauce pot out of her hands. As soon as he does she's whipping off her shirt and grabbing the dish towel she hit him with, wiping off the smears of sauce that got onto her arms. "Did it burn you?" he asks, searching her torso for blisters, even though he knows at the back of his mind that the sauce was only on a simmer.

"No...no, I think I'm good. Damn, I liked that shirt, though." She straightens, glaring down at the sauce pot he slammed onto the counter.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He holds his tongue for approximately zero point three seconds.

"Okay, then can we talk about this whole situation, cause I feel like I just got a major piece of the puzzle of why you don't have a girlfriend, yet. What the hell are you wearing?"

Robin's bra is so faded it's unclear what color it was originally, two large tears right above the elastic band.

Robin looks almost comically offended. "Excuse me? I'm sorry, are you commenting on my very comfortable and perfectly functional underwear?"

"Functional, yeah, if the function is 'never get laid ever'."

Robin crosses over to the doorway that leads to the laundry room. "We can't all exclusively wear Calvin Klein, Harrington!"

"How do you know what underwear I wear?"

"Am I wrong? Also, Jesus Christ do you own any normal shirts?"

"What's wrong with my shirts now? Hey, I'm not taking fashion advice from a girl in a, a grandma bra!"

"Hey!" She steps back out of the laundry room, wearing one of his old basketball team shirts.

They keep bickering back and forth as Steve tries to salvage dinner, eventually ending up just sitting on his kitchen counter dipping pieces of breaded chicken into the remains of the pasta sauce in the pot, having decided they really didn't want to eat spaghetti that had to be fished out of the sink.

"I'm not buying a bunch of frilly, sparkly lace just to wear under my clothes," Robin informs him. "That shit itches."

"Not saying you have to, but at least get something that doesn't look like it came out of the bottom of my gym bag."

"Eww, don't talk about your gym bag while I'm eating!"

*

It is a slow day in Family Video, and Robin has been casting him strangely intense looks since she came on shift. He restocks the shelves, picks through the candy to take home the almost expired shit to give to the kids, and is halfway through the rewinding before it finally gets to him.

"What?!" he demands. Robin blinks at him, immediately shrugging. A little too fast, actually.

"What, what?" she asks. He narrows his eyes at her and she ducks her head, pretending to find her biology textbook extremely interesting. He knows she's pretending because she hates biology. They're making her dissect a frog this quarter. After a few seconds, she slams the book shut and straightens up, determined look settling on her face.

Steve has just enough time to get a little nervous before she says, "How do you do the tongue thing?"

He blinks at her. "Uh...can you be more specific?"

She rolls her eyes. "You know...the thing! The thing with your tongue."

"I promise you, I do not know. What're you talking about?"

She looks around the store, as if some customers that they somehow haven't noticed in the last three hours might suddenly appear. Then she lowers her voice. "Like, sex things. With your tongue." She huffs a frustrated sigh. "They had to combine gym periods today 'cause Mrs. Hornby had to sub for Janson's history class, and Maryanne Greene was talking about how her boyfriend wouldn't go down on her and then Sue Rennet--you remember Sue? Apparently you dated her for, like, two weeks at the end of her Sophomore year--started talking about you and how you used to do that to her and it's the best sex she's ever had."

And oh...okay, he remembers Sue. Nice girl, a little ditzy, but she hadn't wanted to get more serious, and then Nancy had caught his eye. He can't help but puff up a little. Sure, Hawkins isn't exactly a big city overrun with choices, and judging by the talk he remembers from his own locker room days, he's a little bit of an outlier as far as being concerned with making sure his partners are having as good a time as he is...but to be called the best someone has ever had is nice.

"Don't let it go to your head," Robin says, because she can read his mind quite a lot of the time. "Just...tongue thing. You know, in case I ever do get a shot with, literally anyone."

He softens at that, reaches across the counter to ruffle her hair because it annoys her as much as it annoys him when someone does that. "You will," he says softly, and thinks that he would give almost anything, would probably happily trade any shot at happiness for himself if he could make sure Robin had someone to love her the way she deserves to be loved. He grabs one of her school notebooks and tears a sheet out, grabbing a pen out of the cup beside the computer.

"Okay, so, first things first, you can't just dive right in--gotta get the motor warmed up a little first--"

"Please don't talk in car analogies the whole time," Robin says, leaning in as he draws a crude (heh, see what he did there?) sketch of what he's going to be talking about.

"Noted. So what you're gonna do is start with a little massage around this area," he points with the end of the pen, "really take your time, get things nice and slick..."

He talks, Robin listening intently and occasionally asking questions.

"No you don't--flutter your tongue, flutter it. Here, like this..."

"Okay, vibration is good, but you're not, like, trying to blow a raspberry on her clit--"

"I said flutter!"

And that is how Lucas and Dustin find them about forty minutes later: Steve with his mouth held open wide, demonstrating what he means by fluttering his tongue while Robin stares at it like it holds the secrets of the universe, pen in hand as she takes furious notes.

In retrospect, he supposes he should be grateful that Lucas didn't immediately join Dustin on the 'Steve and Robin are totally dating' train.

*

"Shit! Steve! Wake up, it's Wednesday!"

Steve's eyes shoot open and he's vertical before he's fully awake, reaching for the nailbat propped up by his bedside table, but it's not there. It's...his bedside table isn't there either.

What the fuck, where's his bed?

"Steve!" Robin shouts, and he blinks rapidly, his surroundings resolving themselves into his...living room?

"What...Rob, what the hell? You're on winter break! You don't have school today?"

Ugh, why does his mouth taste like something died? He looks around the room, at the piles of dusty boxes that look like they came from...

Oh.

Oh yeah.

He and Robin had spent yesterday dragging the Harrington family Christmas decorations down from the attic because Robin said his house looked like a sad capitalism museum and she refused to spend the holidays in a place that didn't have a single Christmas light up. And then they'd found Steve's grandmother's recipe for homemade eggnog. And he'd maybe experimented a little bit with the liquor ratios...they must have fallen asleep on the couch.

"We don't have school but we both promised Keith we'd open all this week!" Robin shouts.

Oh.

Oh fuck.

They're still dressed in their clothes from yesterday. And they smell like a goddamn distillery. Without thinking about it, he grabs her hand and starts hauling her upstairs. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Fuck, shit, fuck!" she agrees as they rocket into the bathroom. Steve starts the water while Robin yanks clean towels out of the linen closet. "Do you have pants I can wear?" she asks, tossing the towels onto the sink and stripping out of her shirt.

"Yeah, I've got those jeans from, like, three years ago. Those fit you pretty well, right?" He tosses his own jeans and boxers towards the laundry hamper, followed by his shirt, and jumps into the shower, adjusting the temperature hotter than he likes it, because Robin's a weirdo who likes to boil herself in the mornings.

"Good enough!" Robin leaps in after him and they squeeze under the spray just long enough to get hair and body wet before separating somewhat so Robin can start scrubbing herself and he can get started on his hair. "Why didn't you set an alarm?"

"Me? Why didn't you set an alarm? You're the one who wanted to take the shifts!"

"Like you're gonna turn down holiday pay."

"It's Keith! Holiday pay probably means a buy one get one coupon to Pizza World up the highway!" He sticks his head under the water again to rinse his hair out and they switch places.

"Are you saying you wouldn't take a buy one get one coupon to Pizza World?"

"I mean...no?"

They switch places again so that Steve can rinse the soap off his body and then it's a race to get dried off, teeth brushed, dressed, and out to the car so they can get to the store in time. It's only as they are piling out of the BMW in front of Family Video that it seems to occur to them both at the same time what they just did. They both pause, mid-step and turn to each other wide-eyed.

"Huh," Steve says quietly.

"Yeah," Robin answers.

Then they shrug and continue towards the store entrance, making it in with exactly three and a half minutes to spare.

*

"Steve I really think if you're worried about this, you should be talking to a doctor, not me," Robin says, peering at a medical journal she checked out from the library spread out over her lap. "Has it changed color or shape recently?"

"I don't know, maybe? I've got so many moles, it's hard to keep track."

"Any pain or tenderness?" She reaches out and taps his hip so that he turns a little more towards the light cast by her desk lamp.

"No, definitely not. I was just having, you know, private time in the shower and it looked weird to me when I looked down."

Robin hums thoughtfully and pokes at the weird-looking mole on Steve's groin. "I mean, it doesn't look like any of these pictures of bad moles, but if you think it looks different to how it used to, you should probably get it check out regardless."

"Damn it, I was afraid you'd say that," he sighs. She shuts the medical journal and props her chin on one hand as he pulls his pants back up.

"Should I call and make the appointment?"

He huffs and flops back down onto her bed. "Yes please," he grumbles. He never remembers to write down all the appointment details.

"You want me to book something over spring break so I can go with you?"

"Nah, just whatever's available soonest. I'd rather not sit around and stress about it."

It turns out to be nothing to worry about. But three weeks later, Dustin and Max come bursting into Family Video while he and Robin are watching a new report about a brutal murder, and Steve is wishing all he had to stress about was a maybe-weird mole on his dick.

*

It's not like no one was aware that Steve and Robin were...perhaps unusually close friends. It was just never much of an issue (except to Dustin, who was obsessed with the idea of the two of them getting together) before the events of the spring of '86 and after...

Well.

Who cared how weirdly codependent Steve and Robin were when Max and Eddie had nearly died and the Upside Down was bursting up into the real Hawkins? Honestly, if that was the weirdest thing about them after all they've been through, he'd count that pretty lucky.

After everything, though--after they put Vecna/Henry Creel/One/Whatever in the fucking ground, after they do what Steve was beginning to think was impossible and seal the Upside Down away from them forever, after Max is as recovered as she's ever going to be (she's probably never going to be able to get a driver's license even with glasses, and her doctors tell them the leg braces and crutches might have to be permanent, but she's alive...she's alive, she's alive, she's alive), after Robin finally feels safe enough to come out to the group at large, after Steve spends an entire week holed up in his room screaming into his pillow while Robin patted his back consolingly before marching down to Eddie's new (government-funded) trailer and announcing that it turns out he likes both and would Eddie please go on a date with him...

He thinks maybe Eddie didn't quite understand what he was getting into when he agreed almost before Steve was done asking him out.

"Uh...hey guys," Eddie says slowly, taking in the picture he and Robin present in Steve's kitchen. There's a bag of cucumbers, a few eggplants, and several bananas spread out on the island in front of them. Robin has a tape measure and a homemade pamphlet acquired from a very exclusive shop they traveled to Indianapolis to visit last weekend. Steve is holding up two of the cucumbers for comparison. "What's, uh, what's going on here?"

Steve and Robin exchange a look. Then Steve jumps up and snatches the tape measure out of her hands. "Perfect! Here, Eds, lemme measure you." He reaches for Eddie's belt, only to freeze with a look of annoyance when his boyfriend jumps back with a yelp.

"Whoa! Whoa, hey, baby, I have no idea what you're talking about and also Robbie's right there!"

"What? Oh it's fine, Rob and I have seen each other naked plenty of times."

"Ask me about the time we accidentally showered together," Robin pipes up with a grin.

"Wait, no...wait, what? How do you accidentally shower together?" Eddie asks incredulously. Then he shakes his head. "Wait, no! No, not important. Robin has never seen me naked, and I am not whipping my dick out in front of your best friend so you can measure it! And why do you want to measure it?"

"Well I was trying to just guesstimate how big you are," Steve says, gesturing to the array of produce on the island, "but it'll be easier if I can just get the numbers from the source."

"Why do you need exact measurements of my dick?!" Eddie's eyes have gone wide as dinner plates, his voice reaching an octave usually reserved for his female NPC's in his nerd game. Steve huffs.

"Babe, you said you want to fuck me, but like, all these guides say we should work up to it." He jerks a thumb back over his shoulder at the pamphlet that Robin is now helpfully holding up. "So I'm gonna figure out exactly how big you are, and then Rob and I are gonna go up to this shop we found in Indy and get some of these toys. It's supposed to help me get used to things being, you know, up there."

Robin nods seriously.

Eddie looks at him. Looks at Robin. Looks back at him.

Steve has never seen someone look touched and horrified at the same time. Eddie rakes a hand back through his hair and sighs.

"What...what measurements do you need, exactly?"

[steddieas-shegoes]

i have a request!

maybe one where steve knows he's bisexual before eddie but ofc, eddie thinks he's straight and doesn't think he has a chance, so he just takes whatever he can get with steve's friendship even though he has the biggest crush on steve and vice versa. but when eddie does find out about both, eddie would be internally screaming bc he could have been in a relationship with him and kissing steve ages ago.

i just love gay disaster eddie and confident bisexual steve haha

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! This one could genuinely be a multi-chapter fic, so if someone has the time, I would love LOVE LOVE to read that. For now, here's a taste of something that kind of checks all the boxes mentioned but at superspeed. If I could write a 20k fic on it, it probably would have A LOT more pining first. I'm a sucker for pining. I hope you love this little thing! - Mickala ❤️

------------------------------------------------------------

Steve was giving off vibes, okay?

Like, major ones.

And Eddie was convinced he was imagining it or just trying to convince himself that something existed where it didn’t to make his chances higher.

When Robin came out, a small part of him believed that Steve had to be at least a little queer. Men didn’t just accept being turned down by someone they liked when they turned out to be a big old lesbian.

But when he casually asked Robin if Steve had ever been so inclined towards the same sex, she laughed hysterically and said Steve was as straight as they came, that she’d never met anyone as straight as him, and that she’d probably end up with a man before he did.

So he let it go.

But then he said stuff sometimes about actors or singers that just left Eddie’s brain a big pile of question marks.

Maybe Eddie just didn’t know how straight dudes talked about other dudes?

So he let that go too.

And then Steve was genuinely checking out a guy at the public pool. There was no other explanation for the way his eyes focused in on his ass and worked their way up his body, a nod of silent approval hidden to all but Eddie.

But he did the same exact thing to Robin when she came out of the changing room, and while he knew he had feelings for her a while ago, they were long gone.

“What was that all about?” Eddie gave in and asked when everyone else started walking to the steps to get in.

“What?”

“Checking Robin out.”

“What the hell? I wasn’t checking her out! I was making sure her bathing suit fit right. One of the things they taught in lifeguard classes was that a too big or too small bathing suit can kill you.”

“So you were just making sure it fit?”

“Yeah. I don’t want her to drown.”

Eddie sighed.

But he let it go.

He stopped hoping for the chance to be more than friends. He was fine with just being friends. More than fine. Great.

He got to enjoy having Steve as a friend.

He didn’t half ass anything.

If he said he was gonna hang out, he was ready to commit the entire day to making sure you had his attention.

If he had everyone over at his house for movie night, he had everyone’s favorite snacks ready to go.

If he was gonna join Eddie at the quarry and smoke and look at the stars, he was gonna do it while making Eddie fall in love with him.

It wasn’t fair.

But he tried to let it go.

It was one of those nights that he found out he didn’t have to let it go.

“You ever just wonder how you could have ever thought you were a different person?”

What? Okay, Steve was high. Past the silly kind and right into the too existential to make sense kind.

“I don’t have a clue what you’re sayin’, man.”

Steve giggled.

God, Eddie was fucking done for.

“It’s just that I thought I was straight for 17 years of my life. And then spent another two years trying to convince myself that I couldn’t be anything but straight. And then life smacked me with Robin and now you and it didn’t really leave me much room to argue.”

“What are you saying?”

“I mean, I’ve had a crush on you since. Well, definitely since you held a bottle to my throat, but probably before that. Like, way before that. Maybe your first senior year.”

Steve was high. He didn’t mean what he was saying, and even if somehow he did, it wasn’t fair to hold him to it. Being high was sometimes like being drunk: the words may be true, but the feelings may not stick around.

So Eddie took a deep breath, bit back the tears he could feel clinging to his eyes and the burn in his throat, and forced himself to change the subject.

It wasn’t fair, but when Steve let him change the subject easily, he let it go.

————-

It took three weeks for him to break.

He was with Steve at his house, waiting for the kids to show up for movie night. Steve was busy preparing homemade pizza because he thrived on being able to cook for everyone.

Eddie loved him so much.

He was staring. He knew he was.

But how could he not when Steve was in that stupid “Number One Dad” apron that Max got him last Christmas as a joke, but he’d sniffled and said thank you like it was the best gift he got in the world?

Steve was humming something, sliding the last pizza into the oven (pineapple and ham for El, Will, and Mike), when it all seemed to hit him.

Steve had come out to him, had admitted out loud that he wasn’t straight and that he’d had a crush on him for a long time.

Sure, he was high when he did, but he’d been high with Eddie lots of times and never given away any top secret personal information like that.

He’d wanted Eddie to make a move.

He was so stupid.

He stood abruptly, nearly banging his knee against the bar in the kitchen.

Steve looked over at him, brows furrowed in concern, lips pouting out unintentionally.

Eddie stalked over to him, not bothering to explain his theatrics. At this point, Steve should be used to them.

He stopped right in front of him, looking down at the suddenly nervous way Steve was holding himself.

He wasn’t letting it go this time.

He sure as shit wasn’t running. He didn’t do that anymore.

“You remember the quarry?”

“Like, in general…or…?”

“A few weeks ago you said something at the quarry.”

“Oh.” Steve looked down at the floor between them. “Yeah. It’s okay that you don’t feel the same. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.”

There was no fucking way Eddie was letting him think he didn’t want him back.

He gripped his cheeks in his hands, palms tilting his face up so he could look into his eyes.

Steve was biting his lip so hard, it looked like it could start bleeding any moment.

Eddie brought his thumb over, pulling his lip from his teeth.

“How can I kiss you if you’re too busy eating your lip?”

Steve’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“Stevie. Did you mean it then?”

“Yeah, ‘course I did. I wouldn’t lie about that.”

“Then I need to ask a favor.”

“Anything.”

Eddie wouldn’t let that go to his head. Not yet.

“Can I kiss you?”

Steve’s responding smile lit up the room, more than the overhead lights, more than the actual sunlight streaming through the window.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Eddie leaned in as Steve did, their lips meeting in a light peck that quickly deepened, moans escaping their mouths at the same moment.

He let his hands slide down to Steve’s neck, his thumbs rubbing small circles as his tongue begged for entrance into his mouth.

Steve was sinking further against him, his heartbeat steady against Eddie’s chest.

“It’s about damn time. Honestly, I was starting to think I’d have to make Steve come out to you again.”

Robin’s voice shocked them apart, but when they realized who it was, they managed to fall back into each other.

Eddie’s arm slipped around Steve’s waist as Steve rested his head on Eddie’s shoulder.

“The kids will be inside in about 20 seconds so if you would prefer they don’t know what’s going on, you should wipe those lovesick looks off your faces and find a bubble of personal space.”

Eddie kissed the top of Steve’s head before pulling away.

“Talk when the kids leave?”

“Yeah. But first,” Steve pulled Eddie in for one more quick kiss on the lips. When he pulled away, he was smirking. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“I don’t plan on letting you out of bed for the next 24 hours after the kids leave. We’ll at least get a good start on the catching up.”

Eddie threw a wink at Steve, ignoring Robin’s gagging noises, and sat back at the bar.

The kids came running in, circling Steve to hug him or ask him what dinner was and Eddie smiled to himself.

Robin nudged him after a few seconds.

“You’re both so hopeless.”

“Not anymore.”

[eddie-sweetheart]

Headcanons on Eddie having no physical boundaries nor any knowledge of personal space

So, I've read many theories and posts on here about Eddie being a touch-as-love-language kind of guy and I fully commit to this idea, which has been stuck in my head for a while. Sooo I wanted to write down a little something-something about all the touchy scenarios that you might experience with him, and here's what came to me. ✨

@munsons-maiden i know it's not a one shot (although the headcanons are quite long) but I said I'd tag you in it so here it is! 🤍

Warnings: lots of fluff, mentions of anxiety, a few sexual innuendos

🌹 Masterlist 🌹

Eddie’s love language is touch. 

Due to his troubled past and difficult relationships with the people he grew up with, he’s never been shown love in very concrete, physical ways. Of course, his uncle takes very good care of him - but mostly through acts of service and by making sure he always has food on his table and a roof over his head. Sure, sometimes there’s the occasional awkward pat on the shoulder and a few brief, manly hugs, but these are nowhere as close to the warm embraces and reassuring touches Eddie has always craved and longed for. 

You started noticing his desire to be physically close to the people he loves and trusts when you first became friends. Throughout your adventures in and out of the Upside Down, while he was on the run from the whole town, you observed how he leaned towards Steve when they talked and how he quite literally smirked and laughed in his face; how he was quick not only to grab and shield Robin with his body when the earthquake hit, but also how he held her close when they were on the ground - to stabilize her, sure, but to get some comfort himself, too. How he tackled Dustin in the field outside Hawkins and didn’t let go of him for a while, one hand firmly placed on the back of the kid’s neck while he talked to him and looked at him straight in the eyes. You’ve added all these little gestures to the collection of memories that you’ve been making about (and with) him, mixing them with all his little quirks and moves and the melodic tone that always accompanies his witty remarks and swear words.

Then, once the Vecna ordeal was over, your friendship bloomed into love and the boundaries between your bodies seemed to dissipate with every single touch of his. And he touched, and still touches you, a lot. It doesn’t really matter the time or place (or good manners towards other people, sometimes): whether it’s in public with the rest of the gang or in his trailer when it’s just Eddie and you, he always finds a physical way to keep you close. 

Let’s take the mornings, for instance. You might be in the bathroom brushing your teeth or getting ready for the day and he’s right there with you, probably sitting on the closed lid of the toilet looking up at you and hugging your leg. He does the same thing when he’s sitting and you’re standing next to him - he just can’t help it, he needs to snake one of his hands around your thigh and just hold you. It’s definitely a non-sexual gesture, but you’ve had to forbid him to do that when you’re in public and you’re wearing a skirt or a dress, though - because in that case there’s a high chance he might let his intrusive thoughts win and let his fingers travel under your clothes.

Bathroom-wise again, we can’t forget how he has to wait for you to take a shower together. He loves massaging the bath soap all over your body and shoulders (and thanks to his strong hands he’s also quite good at making your muscles relax) and he always makes you try different hairstyles on him with the help of some shampoo. Of course, you both end up laughing out loud when he catches his reflection and sees the results. 

“Shit, y/n, I look like Abraham Lincoln” “Do you prefer the mohawk? I can do that” “Go ahead, m'lady”

Oh and he loves your hair too. He likes to brush it every night before you go to sleep, tongue sticking out and eyes narrowed as he focuses on not hurting you and on combing all the knots away as delicately as possible. Also, he’s taught himself how to braid it so he can create what he calls “elvish hairdos” on you. 

Occasionally, when you're at home, he will make you step on his feet and he’ll walk you around his trailer, holding you tight against his chest so you don’t fall while you giggle like a little kid. It often ends up with him picking you up and (gently) throwing you on his bed, but you really don't mind.

Cooking breakfast, lunch or dinner? He makes sure to be there and hug you from behind as you try to put together a meal or set the table. You’ve come close to cutting or burning him or yourself a couple of times, but he swears he would never let that happen. 

“Eddie, please, I need to drain the pasta” “So drain it” “If you stand so close you might get boiling water on you, it’s not-“ “Sweetheart, I survived a swarm of supernatural bats, I can handle a few drops of hot water”

If, instead, you’re eating out with the others and you’re not sitting next to him, you’ll spend the whole meal with one or both of his feet touching yours under the table. He occasionally taps your shoes with the tip of his Reeboks to let you know that even if he’s talking to Dustin or bickering with Steve, he’s still very well aware of your presence. Of course, if you’re sitting one beside the other, he always juggles the cutlery, the glass, and everything else on the table with just one hand - because the other is glued to your leg, of course.

The same thing happens when he drives. Or, better, it used to happen: when he attempted to switch gears with the hand that was supposed to hold the steering wheel because he wanted to keep the other on your thigh, you got so mad that you traumatized him into becoming the most responsible driver in all of Indiana. 

“We could have gotten into a car accident, Eddie!” “But I wanted to hold you” “And I want us to stay alive!” “I’m sorry, sweetheart… are you still mad?” “I will be, if you don’t keep both of your hands on the wheel from now on. If you don’t, I’ll drive” “God, no"

Waiting in line somewhere? Yes, you’re going to be one of those annoying couples who are always hugging and leaning on each other and that everyone secretly envies a little. 

Out on grocery shopping? While you’re staring at the shelves trying to find his favorite brand of breakfast cereal (Honeycomb, of course), he’s just standing there next to you, his chin propped up on the top of your head as he gets distracted by colorful Coco-Pops and Kellog’s boxes. 

"Eddie" "Mh-mh?" "We need to go get the milk" "Yeah" "Can you please let me move?" "Oh yeah, sure" *proceeds to lift his head up away from yours just to place one hand to the back of your neck while you walk into the next aisle*

When you hang out at Steve’s or at the Bylers’ and you’re all sitting in a circle on the floor sipping beer, he has to have you sit between his legs, with your back resting on his chest. You secretly love it, because you can hear his voice echoing in his ribcage and sometimes it feels like you’re inside of him. 

Oh, you’re not hanging out at home but you’re at a pub, maybe at the Hideout? No worries: when he’s not holding your hand, he’ll have one glued to your lower back at all times. When he has to guide you through the crowd, he stays behind you and places both of his palms on your hips and slightly pushes you forward, causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach every time without failure. 

When he meets you at the bar counter after a performance on stage with Corroded Coffin, he wants to let everyone know you’re his girl by throwing one arm over your shoulders, keeping you close. He’s usually all hyperactive and sweaty, and extremely excited to have you there for him - so you love to occasionally grab his wrist and turn your head to kiss it softly. 

Oh, and of course he’s heavy on the PDA. He doesn’t care if everyone and their mother roll their eyes and complain about it, when he kisses you he has to do it “fucking properly” - even if this includes improvised make-out sessions in front of your friends.

“Jesus, Munson, let her breathe for God’s sake. Also, get a room.” “Do I have to kiss you too to make you shut up, Harrington?”

If he hasn’t seen you all day, as soon as he catches a glimpse of you coming towards him he’ll run to come and pick you up in his arms (holding you just a little too tight) and he’ll grab your face in his hands to pepper it with endless kisses and smooches and sometimes he will lick you as well

“Eddie, you’ve seen me last night” “I can’t bear to spend a fucking minute without you, princess” “Babe seriously it’s just been just a couple of hours-“ “I might have died”

Love bites? Ugh, he’s a sucker for those. With your consent, of course, he’ll nibble at your skin any chance he gets - he’s determined to “have a taste” of every inch of your body he can reach.

However, he needs your touch not only when he’s happy or relaxed - he needs you there for him the most when he’s sad or upset, too. When the flashbacks from the Upside Down or from the time when he was on the run come back to haunt him in his sleep, and he wakes up drenched in sweat, the only way for him to calm down is to curl up against you, holding on to the rim of your PJ (usually one of his old band T-shirts) with his fist and placing his head on your chest to hear your heartbeat. When that happens, you’d never dare move or pull away - you stay still, a stabilizing force available to him as long as he needs. 

While you usually get distracted (and often flustered) by his touch, this intimacy helps him focus, a lot. If he’s preparing a D&D campaign or working on a new song and you’re sitting next to him, he’ll probably take a strand of your hair and fiddle with it, or rhythmically tap his munched pen on your leg - occasionally drawing little hearts or doodles on your skin.

“Property of EM? Really?” *flashes his brightest grin” “Don’t want anyone to think otherwise, sweetheart”.

Bonus:

What if you’re not physically with him?

In this case, he needs to have something of yours to carry throughout the day. It can be a scrunchie or a hair tie that he keeps on his wrist, or a small piece of jewelry (like a ring) to add to his guitar pick necklace, so he can hold close to his heart under his shirt: he just needs a little token to absentmindedly touch or graze whenever he misses you. 

Yes, he once asked you for a strand of your hair to put into a locket. 

Yes, he sometimes steals your panties and keeps them in the back pocket of his jeans, next to his bandana. 

[stranger-nightmare]

Dating Nancy Wheeler Headcanons

Pairing: Nancy Wheeler x GN! / AFAB! Reader

Warnings: sfw and nsfw, minors DNI

A/N: here’s Nancy’s version of my dating headcanons! idk why but she was hardest one for me to come up with ideas for, but yeah I hope you guys like it! <3

next will definitely be Eddie!

This is for people 18+ only. Minors do not read on. By clicking ‘keep reading’ you are hereby agreeing that you are 18 or older.

SFW

so you and Nancy had been friends for ages but you’d always felt something a lil deeper for her and sometimes, the way she looked at you, the way her gaze would linger, sometimes it had you thinking that maybe she felt something more for you too

but you daren’t say anything out of fear of losing the friendship, even though both Steve and Robin where convinced they absolutely knew the two of you liked each other and that you guys should just get on with it

it finally happens one night at a party, the two of you are drinking a little, enough to get tipsy but not enough to actually get you drunk and out of control

the two of you somehow end up alone in an empty room at the house party (probably orchestrated by Robin and Steve) and ultimately end up in a tipsy make-out session

and that’s when the two of you finally admit that you did in fact have feelings for each other

it’s a lil awkward at first but eventually the two of you together just feels so great, even if you can only really show it properly when you’re alone

the two of you work together on the school newspaper, secretly sliding notes to each other when no one else is looking

Nancy always picks you as her partner to go on investigations for stories for the magazine, which sometimes is just an excuse to have some alone time with you

she is quite nervous about the two of you being found out so she usually keeps pda to a minimum when you’re out in public

but you do still go for lil dates together, shopping at the mall or to the movies etc., and sometimes Robin will tag along so it looks a lil less suspicious, just like a group of girls hanging out together, and honestly Robin doesn’t even mind being a ’third wheel’

for her birthday you buy her a dainty and subtle little bracelet that has your initial hidden on it amongst the other delicate charms, so again no one else would think anything of it but she would always think of you when she wore it

Nancy can get frustrated easily, she’s a bit impatient and quick to anger, not to mention she’s not always the best at admitting when something’s wrong so the two of you can sometimes end up in arguments

like it’s usually her snapping at you for some reason but over time you’ve learned that it’s usually not actually you she’s upset with, it’s usually something else bothering her so you’ve grown to be patient with her and coax out what’s actually going

Nancy is also very career and goal focused, always working twice as hard as everyone else, meaning she can sometimes neglect paying attention to you, so instead of not being able to see you at all what you guys do is sometimes have days / evenings together where you just quietly sit and do your respective work whilst just enjoying being in each other’s company

plus you usually have to convince Nance to takes regular breaks else she’ll exhaust herself

when she’s really stressed about something you give her lil foot rubs and she looks at you like you’re her whole world

she also loves letting you play with her hair and experiment different styles and techniques on her

you let her try out different makeup looks you

one of Nancy’s favourite ways to unwind is cooking, she likes to experiment with new recipes when she’s got the time, and of course you are her taste-tester

Nancy is quite a private person and I think that translates over into your relationship, she doesn’t like to be showy about it, she know how she feels about you and how you feel about her and that’s all that really matters to her

overall Nancy is a great girlfriend, just sometimes accidentally neglectful when she gets in her head about work and stuff, but she knows you’ll always be waiting for her regardless and she honestly couldn’t love you any more for it

pet-names: (for you) okay so honestly for whatever reason I can’t really see Nancy using pet names too much, I think she likes to mostly call you by your actual name, but sometimes she’ll use babe / baby or darling

pet-names: (for her) Nance, princess, babycakes

NSFW

um so Nancy is definitely a bit of a pillow princess in bed, she honestly just likes to let you pleasure her

as mentioned in the previous section Nancy is a hard worker, so sometimes the only way you can convince her to take a break is by sliding your hand under her skirt and rubbing her until she literally cannot focus on anything other than your hand, forgetting all about her work and her stresses

Nancy is usually a soft dom but she can definitely be a mean dom when she’s in the mood, especially if you’re being brat, she’ll definitely make you pleasure her until that attitude is out of you

her mean dom side can also come out when she’s really wound up and stressed as well, she’ll basically take out her frustrations on you by commanding you to eat her out until she’s grinded her stress away against your mouth

she definitely likes a bit of spanking, she loves seeing the handprint she can leave on your ass, something that no one else will get to see, it’s for her eyes only

she really loves to sit on your face, to have you basically under her control while she rides your face

she usually likes to cum at least twice herself before she tells you how good you’ve been and then get to giving you your reward

Nancy can also usually be a bit impatient in bed, she’s not into too much prolonged teasing or drawn out sessions, like if she’s in the mood then she wants to fuck and finish almost as quickly as the two of you can

Nancy is also someone I can see as wanting to keep things fairly simple in the bedroom in terms of sex toys, like actually she’s quite content to just be using her fingers and mouth on you, and receiving the same from you

but I think with a bit of persuasion she might be convinced to try out a dildo / strap-on and potentially a simple vibrator or wand

the two of you go lingerie shopping, discreetly helping each other pick out stuff that the other really likes

Nancy is almost kinda clinical with her aftercare, like it almost becomes more of a hygiene and health thing more than anything else, so like she’ll help wipe the two of you down, or make you both go shower, and if needed she’ll probably change the sheets and everything too

once she thinks everything is back in order then she’ll let you cuddle for a while after an intense session

Nancy takes ages to fall asleep so you usually fall asleep first with her absent-mindedly stroking her fingers over your hair or down your back

Nancy also hogs blanket at night, I just know it

Author’s Note / Disclaimer: please remember that these are headcanons, i.e. this is how I personally view the character. you may disagree and that is completely fine, I just ask that you don’t leave any disrespectful or rude comments about it. thank you in advance.

Masterlist

[treba-neco-napise]

Y'ALL STRANGER THINGS PEOPLE (aka a dump about the prequels i love and aren't getting enough attention)

i never noticed anyone talk about this and it's been online for almost two fucking years.

this. THIS. T H I S. 🙏

Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins is a 6-episode podcast accompanying the prequel book Rebel Robin but reading it isn't necessary (it's in 1st person anyway so I'm sceptical...), actually starring Maya Hawke (and her amazing neurodivergent rambling <3). Every episode is Robin meeting with Mr. Hauser, a literature teacher, for 20 minutes they just talk, discuss personal matters, other characters, mention a few books (I think a reference to Robin reciting something by "Emily" was almost definitely Emily Dickinson and just fucking imagine Robin reciting a poem she wrote for Sue Gilbert and staring at Tammy fucking Thompson, I am losing my mind-), there's so much exploration of the characters and background, you see that Robin, of course, wasn't entirely alone for the entirety of high school and even though she was struggling to make meaningful friendships, you see her trying and her sort of friendship with Hauser is so entertaining, my god, the banter is just fucking great, the writing slaps so hard, all the dialogues are giving my writer brain an intellectual orgasm. You also have a few characters appear, like Nancy or Steve (every second of him appearing in this is a delight even though he's not voiced by Joe Keery, I fucking love Robin getting annoyed at him). There's no supernatural stuff, it's entirely character-focused with a tiny subplot of figuring some things out about each other and I loved it so much, especially the ending.

[spoiler area?] (spoiler? from the beginning, I just knew that hauser wasn't straight. I don't know how, I guess 1. otherwise it would've been pretty awkward... 2. giving Robin a wise older gay friend just like she can/will become for Will? YES???) (spoiler: the dialogue at the end was kinda funny to me, "Why do you look like you're happy but kind of sad?" me: robin, it's okay, you'll figure it out. :))

anyways, wholeheartedly recommended it. and while i'm here, i can also throw darkness on the edge of town at you, the hopper prequel where he's telling el about a case he was working on in new york while he still had his old family. because i have nobody else to throw it at.

it's so well-written, i couldn't put it down, also features rosario delgado and lisa sargeson, two of my absolutely favourite characters probably in the whole franchise except for steve, i so hope they'll get at least mentioned in S5.

(suspicious mind? the first half is pretty boring, not as well-written but there's a shit ton of backstory)

aaaaanyways, that's all, have a nice day, everyone :)

[fanficsfromyesteryear]

DOUBLE TROUBLE

A STRANGER THINGS ONE SHOT

— PAIRING: Steve Harrington x Reader + Dustin Henderson — WORD COUNT: 1,027 — WARNINGS: Steve getting bullied again- None?? Like, one curse word- — REQUESTED BY: Anonymous

Hey if you dont mind I got a fallow up idea to movie buff? The reader and Dustin met for the first time and drive steve crazy cuz now theres two people making fun of his movie knowledge

— A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one!! It’s not the best thing I’ve ever written, but I think it turned out ok?? Something’s better than nothing, though, right? It was a fun concept, I just went through a period of writer’s block, but I finally pushed through. Anyway, I hope you guys like it!!

Steve knew he was in for trouble when you and Dustin Henderson walked into Family Video side-by-side. He had no idea how the two of you knew each other, but as far as he was concerned, it was a match made in Hell. Actually, you didn’t have a clue as to who the curly-haired boy was who had held the door open for you, but much to Steve’s dismay, you were about to.

You didn’t have a movie to return this time, so just to humor Steve, you went to peruse the shelves before making a beeline to the counter with the sole purpose of bugging him. Dustin, however, wasted no time making his way over to where Steve stood, carefully watching the two of you.

As you half-heartedly scanned the movie selection, it hadn’t been your intent to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two boys, but it was nearly impossible not to—they weren’t exactly trying to be quiet, so their voices easily carried through the otherwise empty store. You couldn’t tell what they were saying, though—Steve and Dustin were talking over each other to the point that their words mingled and overlapped to form a jargon indiscernible to anyone but them. Every once in a while, however, you picked up bits and pieces of sentence fragments.

“—not even that good!” the curly-headed kid was saying. “You just think Molly Ringwald’s hot!”

Steve scoffed. “Oh, come on,” he said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “What’s wrong with the Breakfast Club?”

“What’s wrong with the Breakfast Club?” Dustin repeated. “Are you shitting me? There’s no plot, and—”

“No plot? You’re joking, right?” Furrowing his eyebrows, Steve leaned forward to study the younger boy. “The Breakfast Club, like, defines our whole generation! We’re all caught in these social constructs, but with the power of friendship, we can overcome our differences!”

“Since when do you,” Dustin said, jabbing a finger towards Steve accusingly, “care about overthrowing the social hierarchy? Last time I checked, you wouldn’t date a girl because you thought she’d bring you down a rung.”

“I’m a changed man!” Steve placed a hand to his chest to punctuate his words with conviction.

“Oh, sure,” Dustin answered dubiously. “Either way, the Breakfast Club is so slow I’d rather watch paint dry.”

“He’s got a point.”

The two boys turned, clearly startled, as if they’d forgotten you were there, and stopped their bickering to look to where you were leaning against the end of the counter.

Steve groaned. “Oh, no,” he said. “Don’t you start up, too!”

You held your hands up defensively. “All I’m saying,” you said, “is that the Breakfast Club isn’t nearly as good as everyone makes it out to be.”

“There it is,” Steve muttered as he dragged a hand through his hair, his voice barely audible above the large sigh that followed his defeated statement. 

Dustin, ignoring Steve’s already fed-up attitude, extended an arm to you and raised his eyebrows at Steve as if to say, ‘See? I told you so.’

“After what happened with St. Elmo’s Fire,” you continued, focusing your gaze on Steve, “I’m a little surprised you’re not upset over the fact it’s not about a club for people who like eating breakfast.”

“What happened with St. Elmo’s Fire?” asked Dustin, a toothy grin spreading across his face in excited curiosity.

You opened your mouth to explain but were cut off by the sound of Steve’s hand as it loudly slapped against his forehead. “Jesus, Y/N. Are you ever gonna let that go?”

“Probably not,” you said, smiling smugly. “I mean, you thought Elmo was gonna pop over from Sesame Street to make a surprise appearance.”

“Seriously?” asked Dustin, his tone wavering as he held back a laugh.

“Oh, yeah. I couldn’t make something like that up.”

“Alright, are you guys done?” Steve said, nearly shouting to be heard over Dustin, who was doubled over in a fit of giggles. “Because believe it or not, I actually have stuff to do, so, if you guys are through being little dickheads, I’m gonna be on my way.” Instead of walking away from the conversation, however, Steve simply crossed his arms with a frown and puffed out his chest to give himself the appearance of a man who meant business.

Reaching across the counter, you grabbed one of Steve’s arms and gave it a tug. “Aw, Steve, don’t be like that,” you said. “We’re just messing with you. Right—” Turning to Dustin, you realized that you had no idea what his name was, despite your immediate connection. After an awkward moment’s hesitation, you finally settled on, “—kid?”

“Totally!” Dustin agreed, offering a reassuring smile to Steve. “Your redeeming qualities definitely outweigh the bad ones.”

This seemed to appease Steve, but before he could properly accept your apologies, Robin appeared from the back of the store, her arms laden with VHS tapes. She looked between you and Dustin with raised brows. “Did you losers even come here to get anything?”

Dustin snorted. “No,” he answered.

Robin shook her head in amusement. “Scram,” she told the two of you with a small smile. “We’ve got work to do. These videos aren’t gonna shelve themselves.”

When Steve’s shift ended a few minutes later, he found you and Dustin seated on the curb in front of the store. “What are you guys still doing here?” he asked as he approached.

“Hm?” Your conversation with Dustin came to a screeching halt as Steve joined in. Resting your chin on your shoulder, you peered up at the older boy. “Oh, we were just talking about going to catch a movie.”

“They’re showing Alien downtown,” Dustin chimed in.

Steve grinned. “Cool!” he said. “I’ll drive.” He dipped his hand down into the pocket of his jeans to fish around for his keys while you and Dustin exchanged a look.

“Don’t bother,” you said, getting to your feet. The hint of a playful smile flashed across your lips. “It’s a grown-up movie. You probably won’t understand it.”

With a roll of his eyes, Steve threw his head back and let out a groan like a temperamental child. “Oh, come on—”

[spine-buster]

Alone, Together | Chapter 10 | Morgan Rielly

A/N: As always, thank you for your lovely likes, reblogs, tags, and messages on the last chapter.  

“Can you sit still.”

“Don’t get it on my face!”

“That’s why my other hand is on your face!  So it gets on my hand instead of your face!”

“Do I at least make a hot Eugene Levy?”

Bee couldn’t help but snort at Morgan’s question.  She stopped spraying the black hairspray and took her hand off his forehead to see the full picture.  She had turned his hair salt and pepper – a little more emphasis on the pepper – for his Halloween costume.  He was going as Johnny Rose, and she as Moira Rose, from Schitt’s Creek.  It was completely at her request.  Morgan had wanted to first go as Batman and Robin, and she said that was too cliché.  Then he suggested Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri, but Bee had no idea who Jari Kurri was, so she shot down that idea too.  She first suggested Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, but Morgan refused once he saw what he would have to wear.  It was only then when she suggested Johnny and Moira from Schitt’s Creek, the show that they would watch together on Netflix.  Morgan finally agreed.  He’d practiced his facial expressions for weeks.  Bee practiced Catherine O’Hara’s accent for just as long.

“At least I know you’d still look hot with dark hair,” she wiggled her eyebrows.  

“Oh, well, Briony,” Morgan’s voice was bashful.  He brought his hands up to the back of her thighs and ended up squeezing her ass quickly.  “Maybe I should follow in Dermott’s footsteps and get some purple cornrows.”

“Please don’t,” she said curtly, causing him to laugh.  “Let go of my butt.  I need to get hairspray and work on your eyebrows.”

“Can you get it if I don’t let go of your butt?”

Bee snorted.  “No.  Now hands off, Mr. Rielly.”

Briony and Morgan had two parties to go to that night.  First, they were stopping by Angie and Mason’s apartment, where they were throwing a small party with a bunch of their friends – mostly Mason’s PhD program friends and their significant others.  After Angie and Mason’s, they would head to the Platinum Club at Scotiabank Arena, where the boys from the Leafs had organized the team Halloween party.  

They walked hand in hand through the streets of the Annex until they got to 100 Spadina Road, Angie and Mason’s apartment building.  After getting buzzed in and taking the elevator up to the 10th floor, Bee helped herself into the apartment, the party already in full swing.  When Angie noticed them in the doorway, she screamed in the face of whomever she was speaking with and made her way over.

“You’re heeeeeeere!” Angie squealed as she hugged Bee tightly.  When she pulled away, she looked down at Bee’s outfit.  “And you are…?”

“Angela, stop acting like a disgruntled pelican,” Bee said in her best impression of Moira Rose she could muster.

“Oh my God Bee!” she exclaimed.  “It’s brilliant!  Brilliant!”  She focused her attention to Morgan, giving his costume a quick nod.  “You must be Johnny, then.”

“I am,” he nodded his head.  “But for the purposes of tonight, you can call me Morgan.”

“Well it’s nice to finally meet you, Morgan.  Bee’s only mentioned you once or twice in the past few months,” she said sarcastically.  “Come on, come in.  Keep your shoes on.  Let me introduce you to Mason.”

Angie dragged both of them through the apartment, bringing them to Mason, who was standing near the sliding door of the balcony talking with one of his friends.  They were introduced briefly, as Mason seemed to be in deep in a serious conversation.  Angie then brought them around to others, introducing them briefly.  Alex and his partner Steve, who was getting his PhD in the history of the Toronto Purchase of 1787; Stacy, who was getting a PhD in the colonial history of Upper Canada, and her boyfriend Connor; Claire, who was in residency at Toronto General Hospital for neurosurgery; Gerry, doing post-doctoral research in…something?  Sarah, who was getting his degree in…thermonuclear astrophysics?  God, he couldn’t keep up.  Morgan had never felt so inadequate in his life.  He tried to understand their fields of study and he tried to understand their thesis work, but it was all going over his head.  All he could do was offer a comment or two, or a quick nod of his head, and pretend to understand.  

And then there was Briony.  So engaged in their research, so informative and informed about what they were doing.  She knew the right questions to ask.  She knew how to keep the conversation going about research.  She knew exactly how to handle herself and there he was, standing there like a lump beside her.  All he could do was sip on his beer.  He didn’t contribute anything.  He didn’t have anything to contribute.  

Hockey afforded him the luxury of travel; of lifelong friendships across Canada; of goals and hard work; of tenacity and determination to win; and much more.  It did not afford him the luxury of schooling.  It was just the way it was.  They went to school but nothing was serious.  He went to Notre Dame and excelled in math and science but he never thought once of pursuing it.  When he moved to Moose Jaw and was placed in the local Catholic school he prayed every morning before homeroom, still excelling at math and science, but his mind was always on hockey.  His homework was always done, and he always raised his hand in class to answer questions, but school wasn’t the priority.  Hockey always was.  Winning always was.  Getting drafted always was.  

Eventually Mason approached him and took him to get another beer.  From their spot standing near the fridge, Morgan could hear Briony laugh and giggle while she took pictures with Angie and did her Moira Rose accent.  He and Mason talked about a variety of random things, and despite Morgan knowing Mason was 150% smarter than him, he felt comfortable.  They talked mostly about sports – football, the coming of Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors, and the Jays.  The Leafs never came up.  Morgan was partly thankful.

“So I heard you guys made it official a few weeks back,” Mason mentioned as he cracked open his third beer.

“Y-Yeah…” Morgan nodded.  So they were going there.  “How do you know?”

“Listen, Bee tells Angie everything,” he said.  “Most things Angie then tells me, if they’re not too personal.  Bee would have probably told me eventually, though.”

“Of course,” Morgan nodded again.  He should have known.  Angie and Bee were like glue, and they spoke in some form everyday.  He should have figured Angie would be the first to know, and therefore Mason the second to know. 

“Do your teammates know?” Mason asked.

With that question, Morgan knew Mason knew who he was.  He appreciated that Mason wasn’t making a big deal out of it.  “Yeah, they’ve met her.  When she came to some of the games she met them, and then I had a few of them over for Thanksgiving,” he explained.  “I actually think Enzo’s already in love with her.”

“Yeah, that’s easy with Bee.  Especially if she cooked.”

“She did.”

“Well then,” Mason chuckled.  “There you go.”

Morgan took a deep breath in.  “So uh, what are you getting your PhD in?”

Mason gave him a look.  “The Easter Rising in Ireland,” Mason responded.  Morgan gave him a blank stare.  “I don’t expect you to know what that is.  Don’t worry.”

“Can you explain it to me?” Morgan asked.

“What?”

“Can you explain it?”

“It doesn’t exactly need to be common, everyday knowledge,” Mason countered.

Morgan sighed.  “I know.  But I feel like I’m the only one here who isn’t in grad school or getting a PhD,” he said, looking around awkwardly.  “And to be completely honest with you, I feel…” he paused again, looking to see Briony wasn’t anywhere near him, “I feel inadequate when I talk to Briony and she brings up all the things she’s learning.  I have no clue what she’s talking about but I just nod my head.  I’ve tried to do research but…”

“Well if you want the gist of it, Bee’s learning how to how to invest money in various economic conditions and how to tell people where to invest their money so--”

“No no, I know that,” Morgan said.  “I don’t get, like, the stuff she needs to learn before she gets there.  She had this massive assignment on behavioural economics and I saw her stress over it so much and it made me feel awful that I couldn’t help her.”

Mason couldn’t help but smile.  “Well, even if you could have helped her, Bee wouldn’t have asked for it…or wanted it,” he commented.  “You know her by now.  She’s all about independence.  She’s all about making it on her own.  If you had a book of all the answers, or a definitive path she could follow to get an A, she wouldn’t read it.  She’d just do it herself, her way.”

Morgan nodded his head.  Mason was right.  As someone who knew Bee for years, as opposed to Morgan’s few months, he knew the insight Mason had into Bee was much better than his.  “I know.  Still makes me feel like shit though.”

“Don’t let it get to you,” Mason soothed him.  “Bee doesn’t expect that from you.  If she did she would have left you by now.”

“That’s encouraging.”

“Morgan, I’m being serious.  She doesn’t care about how smart a person is or what level of education they have.  Believe me.  Because we’ve met some pretty awful and disgusting people with Master’s and PhDs,” he said.  “She’s old school.  She cares about character.  What you value in life.  Hard work.  All that stuff.  If you have a PhD but you’re a dick, she’s gonna tell you off faster than if you have a high school diploma but a heart of gold.”

Morgan considered what Mason had to say seriously.  He knew Mason was right.  If Briony didn’t like him, if she thought he was inferior or not smart enough, she would have dumped or ghosted him by now.  The fact that she was still there meant something.  But the anxiety was still there.

“I’m afraid she’s going to wake up one day and realize she’s too good for me,” Morgan couldn’t stop talking.  He had known Mason for all of an hour and was already revealing these insecurities to him.  At this point he couldn’t stop himself.  He couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“She won’t do that,” Mason shook his head.  “You guys seem to be in this weird sort of relationship where you think she’s too good for you, but she thinks you’re too good for her, and somehow you’re in perfect harmony.”

She thought he was too good for her?  What in the world was she thinking?!  Had she lost her damn mind?  “She thinks what?”

Mason smiled mischievously.  “You heard me.  Must mean something.”

As if on cue, Morgan could feel her hand scratch up his back lightly to get his attention.  He spun around to see her smiling, her cheeks flushed not by the ample amount of blush she had put on, but by the red wine she’d been drinking.  “You ready to go?  Ashley already texted me.”

“Yeah, of course.  Let me get an Uber,” he nodded, even though what he really wanted to do was sit down over more beers with Mason and get to the bottom of what exactly Briony had told him about their relationship, or what Briony had told Angie who had then told Mason, or what Mason could have possibly overheard from a conversation between Angie and Briony about – 

“Let me walk you to the door.  I can’t believe you have to leave,” Angie’s voice, slightly drunk, interrupted his thoughts as she wrapped her arm around Briony’s shoulders.  They walked to the apartment door together, coinciding with another couple that were just walking in.  

Mason and Morgan had stayed back briefly so they were a few steps behind the girls.  Mason nudged Morgan to get his attention.  “Hey, is there a reason why you call her Briony all the time?”

Morgan shrugged his shoulders as he began to walk.  “I just like the sound of Briony.  It’s a beautiful name.”

“You’re the only one, you know.  If we did that she’d smack us upside the head.  Must mean something.”

Morgan chuckled.  “I’ll see you soon, bud.”

When Morgan and Briony arrived at the Platinum Club, Tyler, dressed in a cowboy costume, greeted them enthusiastically.  He was so excited and already drunk, and he picked up Briony and swung her around.  His cheeks were flushed just as much as hers, and Morgan wondered how much alcohol everyone had already consumed.  He was getting there, but not quite there yet.  

“How’re you doing princess?” he asked.  

“Pretty good, cowboy,” she giggled as she was set down.  “What’s with the costume?”

“I’m from Edmonton, duh.”

“Aren’t all the cowboys in Calgary?  You should have been an oil rig.”

Tyler rolled his eyes.  “You’re too smart, you know that?  Everyone else just believed me.”

As they made their way further into the room, Morgan could see the rest of the team and their significant others.  The girls practically swarmed around Briony, and Briony – seemingly a little bit too tipsy to care about all the attention – greeted them with open arms.  Soon enough, she started posing in selfies and group photos with them, and kept doing Moira’s accent.  “I had just had my eyelashes dyed.  Everything was cloudy!”; “A heavy salad might as well be a casserole.”; “The last time I felt this emotionally encumbered, I was playing Lady Macbeth on a Crystal Skies cruise ship during Shakespeare at Sea Week!"  The girls were howling their heads off.  Steph kept commenting how Briony sounded exactly like Moira.  Christina Marleau had tears in her eyes.  Morgan couldn’t help but look on admiringly.  

“Hey!  How come nobody is asking me to do my Eugene Levy impression?” Morgan joked, approaching the group of women.  “I practiced for days!”

“I think we’re all a little freaked out by your eyebrows,” Steph laughed.  “You sure did a number on them, Bee.”

“Besides, we all know Moira is the real star of the show,” Christina winked at him.  

Morgan shrugged his shoulders.  “Eh, you’re right.  I’m gonna go get a beer,” he said, leaving the girls alone to find where Auston got his drink.

As Morgan hung out with Auston, Jake, and Fred, the alcohol kept flowing and the jokes kept coming.  After leaving Briony with the other girls, he heard her accent every now and then, and he knew it meant she was having fun.  She came back briefly so they could record a video on Steph’s phone to “commemorate” the night, but beyond that, she seemed to be having the time of her life with the girls.  Morgan appreciated how they were so warm and welcoming, especially Ashley and Lucy, and he knew Briony appreciated it too.  As an introvert, he knew the energy it must have been taking for Briony to socialize; but at the same time, he knew the alcohol was helping.  Briony could have made the executive decision to stay the entire night at Angie and Mason’s party, but the fact that she agreed to come to this one too, with his friends, meant a lot.  He’d have to thank her later.

The boys eventually moved on to some shots before going for what seemed like their tenth round of whisky.  Auston was giggly, as he always got when he was drunk, and kept fiddling around with his costume.  Jake, for his credit, seemed completely sober, but Morgan knew he was completely shit-faced.  The boy couldn’t hold his liquor.  Enzo had joined them, and he was just like Jake – completely shitfaced, but somehow able to keep it together.  It was team bonding experiences like this that truly brought the boys together – seeing them at their most creative, but also, if drunk, at their absolute worst.

Late into the night Lucy approached Jake.  “I’m just going to go to the washroom, but we should call a taxi soon,” she told her husband.

“Yeah, cool,” he said, maintaining composure.  He was swaying side to side in beat with the music that was playing out of Mitch’s phone at this point, and watched as his wife walked to the washrooms in the back of the Platinum Club.  He saw Bee across the room, talking with Aryne Tavares.  He tapped Morgan on the chest.  “It’s time.”

“Time for what?” Morgan was confused.

“Briony.  Time for Briony.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Morgan should have known better – he really should have.  Jake started to move to the music more than before.  Morgan knew he liked to dance, especially with Lucy, but this was a different kind of dancing, with a different kind of beat.  A song Morgan couldn’t recognize was playing in the background, and Jake couldn’t help but move his hips in tune to the music.  As he did so, he moved closer and closer to Briony, who ended up being backed onto one of the plush chairs scattered about the room.  She was laughing until she fell into the chair – then she knew what was coming next.  She was going to die mortified.  A drunken Jake Gardiner was going to give her a lap dance.  

Jake took a few steps back before waltzing back towards her, blowing her a quick kiss.  His hips continued to move with the beat of the music before turning around, placing his hands on the armrests, and practically sitting on her lap.  From where she was sitting, she could hear Auston cackling loudly as he watched.  Morgan was so red from laughing so hard she thought he was going to collapse right then and there.  She assumed Jake had done this to others, and that his actions weren’t what they were laughing about – what they were laughing about was the horrified look on her face.  

Jake continued his movements, turning to face her before he gyrated his hips once more.  He untucked his shirt from his dress pants to move better, and unbuttoned the first three buttons, leaning over to shove his chest in Bee’s face.  He reached out his hand and twisted some of her wig hair around his finger before giving her a kissy face.  From out of the corner of her eye, Bee saw Auston approach Jake from behind and slip a fifty-dollar bill into the waistband of his pants.  Tyler followed suit, slipping a twenty.

“I’m available for hire at parties,” Jake winked at her.  “You just call me.”

“I’ll be sure to do that Jake.”

“Jake?  Ja…GET AWAY FROM HER!” Lucy shrieked at her husband as she saw what he was doing.  She ran over to them and pulled him away from the chair, an equally as horrified look on her face as there had been on Bee’s.  Everybody was still losing their minds, even more so now at Lucy’s reaction.  “Ohmigodbeeiamsosorry,” she rushed to apologize before slapping her husband on the arm.  “How dare you!  That poor girl!”

“She was enjoying herself!  Who wouldn’t?” he motioned down to his body.  “It’s Magic Mike!  Everybody likes Magic Mike!”

“Jake William Gardiner you are drunk!” she screamed at him as she tugged him away.  “I’m sorry again, Bee!”

“It’s alright!” she giggled out, waving goodbye to Jake as he was dragged away to the washrooms.  

Bee watched as Morgan and Auston wiped the tears from their eyes.  She collected her thoughts and her breath, a smile appearing on her face eventually after fully realizing what had just transpired. 

Steph approached her first with tears in her eyes.  “Getting a lap dance from Jake is like a rite of passage,” she snickered.  “We’ve all gotten one at one point.  You’re one of us now.  This is like your welcoming party.”

Bee couldn’t help but laugh out loud.  If a drunken lap dance from her boyfriend’s best friend was what inaugurated her into a group, then so be it.

[timingmatters]

Opinions on ST S3 (I’m on mobile so I can’t do a cut below im sorry shdjdj)

I loved mileven and think this season explored very well Mike’s abandonment issues with El ( a product of s2) and how overprotective he was of her. He definitely had a point over people being careless with her powers and treating her like a machine. Max wasn’t right saying he treated her like a pet, because he really doesn’t, but she was right on him not trusting her knowing her limits. She knows how to take care of herself and Mike had to understand that. I loved that although their break up was over a dumb misunderstanding thanks to Hopper pressuring Mike and Max misunderstanding him, it ultimately helped them grow stronger as individuals and a couple. And Max also gave El the opportunity to explore herself as an individual outside just her powers or boyfriend. I def think Mike wanted to be sort of like an anchor to her, and El thought so too, but she had to learn to be her own anchor and Mike had to learn that although he wants to protect her, she also has to be on her own. Love when the issues relationships have are to make them stronger as a couple and not cheap love triangles. Which I felt the same with Jancy. He has always understood her, but for the first time he learned that he also has to speak up when OTHERS underestimate her. He has always just let her do her thing but theybare learning to work as a team not only during missions but throughout life in general. Overall i loved mileven and jancy and think their development was realistically done and they still had their cute moments (their moments at the last minutes of the season were incredibly cute and heartwarming). Lots of people didn’t like this season so much but i loved it. However I still got things that I disliked or would at least like to see on s4 because we didn’t get to see during this season.

Things I would have liked to see and hope s4 brings:

- Will was pushed to the side, and while I’ve seen people that hated it, I sort of enjoyed it?? I love Will but both previous seasons have focused soso much on him so it was nice for him not to be the main point suffering and just sitting bck and having a normal teen (gay) boy crisis and helping his friends.

- HOWEVER I did think friendships were pushed to the side. It wasn’t for no reason, it was a storyline that had a climax and even a resolution, but even so friendships had little time to shine and they are the heart of the show so I’m hoping for more next season. Especially Mike and Will, I’m not a byler shipper but they definitely have a very very strong bond and I wanted more. S4 has a lot of potential on that because clearly Mike knows Will is gay (if we are going down that path which it genuinely looks like it!!!) and I think him being a support for Will when coming to terms with it could be such an amazing storyline. Hell, they have (what for me is as friendship) AMAZING chemistry together, one of the ultimate best scenes on s2 was Mike recalling when they became friends to get Will back. Hope we see more of that in s4.

- some people said this season had too much Eleven. Sadly, I agree. I won’t complain bc like I said I get it and enjoy it. Also understand she’s sort of the main character, but truly a lot of characters didn’t get much of an arc and Eleven was given tons of screen time. Characters like Lucas barely had a storyline apart from just being there and I would have enjoyed for of them, especially considering his little sister almost died by the hands of the russian gov, like I can’t believe he didn’t at least have a big brother moment where he freaked out for her safety

- Max and Mike. I think they could be such friends. I understand, again with the abandonment issues Mike had where he came from being harsh to her, and obviously her not standing for that bs. But they could be such good friends and I thought they would at least have a talk towards the end to get a redemption arc on their friendship. If I was truly disappointed by something on this season it was probably that, I hope next season they become better friends and we get to see it

- On the same note, I wished we had seen El bonding with also thei other boys not just Max. On s1 she had developed strong friendships with Dustin and Lucas, and her friendship especially with Lucas had a rocky start so it would have been good to see them bond more. And Will who is lowkey her brother. Will had a rage moment and called her dumb and that’s just?? Only solved thro the friendship moment with the boys?? But he never attempted to actually bond with her and like shdhdj she saved his ass a lot and I hope s4 brings siblings moments with them (and Jonathan).

- Karen being a pedophile sucked ass and I’m disappointed I honestly wanted so much for her shdhhdhd. I CRAVED for her to be as involved as Joyce but they just made her a pedo with bad taste :/

- I understand how Max still sort of loves Billy even though he was her abuser. When the abuser comes from family is complicated like that. Still, I don’t think the redemption arc he had was enough to make me truly care for him. The moment with El and his mom’s memories at the end was a beautiful directing work and incredibly well acted, sadly, because as a viewer I don’t care much for him it wasn’t as impactful and emotional as I think they aimed for. Had he at least TRIED to touch on his past abusive and racist behavior, apologizing, blaming his dad, literally anything, I would have felt A LITTLE bad for him. But just because he lost his mom in a sad way doesn’t mean I will care for him lmao. And I can’t believe after making a point of his dad abusing him with homophobic slurs and showing those had an impact on him, the idea of him being gay was never explored. That honestly kinda shocked me.

- Hopper was an ass to Mike point blank lmao. I always find it creepy when dads in prom pics take pictures with their daughters’ dates and their guns as a “threatening” moment. I got the same vibe from Hopper during the first episodes which sort of ruined how I viewed him. ESPECIALLY after s2 when he holds Mike as he is having a breakdown over Hopper not telling him El was alive, he should be a lot more understanding towards Mike. Hopefully when he gets rescued from the russians in s4 Mike will be there to help him and they will bond

- again, MORE FRIENDSHIP PARTY MOMENTS. I truly loved the Dustin/Erica dynamic and Dustin/Steve, but the heart of the show will always be the party and I was sort of sad to see how little screen time Dustin had with the other kids.

- lastly, s2 went on a whole thing over other people like Eleven that were experimented on, and the promos for this s3 had a whole thing over Will having powers/being a key (which never happened all he did was feel a cold on his neck shdhdj). So I’m hoping s4 explores more on the power origins while El tries to get them back, and perhaps Will gains powers. And thus also introducing other people who were experimented on, not like in s2 where that storyline never merged, but also having the others involved.

Despite all the things I complained about, I understand the choices that were made with storylines and screen times for each character, and I did truly loved the season. I think Mileven’s issues were realistic regarding what they have been through and I loved them still seeking for each other and holding on to each other the moment things go badly. I did loved Mileven this season and hope they have learned and will be more stable on s4 and give us more cute moments. I feel the same with Jancy. I hope if there’s any relationship that gets more focus next season is lumax and jopper and hope they get drama and development while jancy and mileven just chill and have cute moments asjdjdjdj. Also hope Will gets a boy love interest!!!!! I loved Robin and her dynamic with Steve. They have an amazing friendship dynamic but i also understand not wanting to leave Steve forever single and alone unless s4 introduces him a new love interest and Robin remains as his bestie. On the same note, since s1 all I want is for Jonathan and Steve to be besties. Shhdhdjd still gonna hope for it for s4. I HOPE THE EVERYONE GOES TO RUSSIA TO SAVE HOPPER THAT WOULD BE COOL.

[onewaywardwitch]

Just A Typo (3/?)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Hacker!Reader

Summary:  It was a simple challenge between a very competitive group of friends. A challenge that ended very differently than anticipated.

Warnings: Small bit of language

Word Count: 2300

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this part. I would have posted yesterday but I spent half of last night in the hospital because my friend nearly broke my finger! Enjoy part 3!

The drive up was… strange. If I had known I'd be sharing such a small space with two Avengers, I would have used more deodorant. A silence quickly settled over us all. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. At least, it wasn’t until I asked Sergeant Barnes if he had a large magnet collection. He must have thought I was making fun of him as he huffed and stared out the window grouchily. The air was definitely tense after that incident.

The tower was different to how I had imagined it in my head. There was a lot less people around for me to gawk at. Sure, the ground floor was pretty busy with all sorts of people running around. Many of them stared at our party of three. I liked to think it was because of me, but the two super soldiers flanking me on either side made it difficult for me to keep up my pretence.

“Why does an interrogation room look more expensive than my apartment?” I whined as the Captain closed the door, leaving me inside alone. He must have sensed my nerves when we were in the lift on the way up and reassured me that they only needed to talk to me. It didn’t help.

I took a seat at the table and leaned back on the legs of the chair. Rocking slightly, I began to sing to myself, seeing if I could remember all of the words to Alphabet Aerobics. I gave up once I got to ‘H’, the boredom slowly seeping in. I resorted to pulling faces at whoever was watching me behind the glass, because surely someone was standing there.

Just as I was about to start using hand gestures to go with the facial expressions, Captain Rogers walked back in again, this time accompanied by none other than Tony Stark. Even behind his tinted glasses I could tell he was eyeing me with interest before standing in the corner of the room. It was Rogers who was left to sit in front of me.

“We didn’t get your name earlier, Ms?”

The soldier sitting in front of me seemed to be in charge of getting answers from me. I was easily more comfortable in his presence than in any of the others. I couldn’t help it. There was just something so welcoming about Captain America. “Y/N Y/L/N. But really, I was just messing around earlier. It was a stupid dare and I- “

“How long?”

I turned to Stark, who had decided to remove himself from the corner. He stood just beside Rogers, awaiting my answer. I was only starting to realise how much trouble I could be in, and I was mentally cursing Becca for putting me up to this in the first place.

“How long for what,” I asked, hoping to buy myself a few more minutes to work out a proper excuse. I hadn’t confessed to anything yet, except back at my apartment, and there's no proof of that exchange taking place. I just had to distract them for a little while.

“How long did it take for you to illegally hack into my private cameras?”

Shit. New plan.

“Is this the part where I say I want my lawyer?”

“Can you afford a lawyer?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Yes, of course. I just need to get rid of my health insurance first then I'll be good to go.”

He snorted at my comment before taking off his glasses. “It should be near impossible to break through my firewalls. Even if you were to do it, it would take hours. Days, even. And by that time, we would have your location and be able to stop you before you even finish. But we didn’t even know someone was in our system until you were already done. So tell me, how long did it take you?” Stark’s face held none of the amusement that the world was so used to seeing him with. He was all business now. And while his tone sounded threatening, there was hint of something else that I couldn’t put my finger on.

“Just over half an hour.” I gave my answer slowly, unsure of his reaction to it. I hadn’t realised just how complex the system I hacked into was until Stark’s little speech. I was always good at computers, I knew that. But I didn’t tend to show off too much. Becca, Angie and I hacked companies all the time for fun and to keep our skills up to scratch. I was the quickest out of the three of us. There was never anything malicious behind our actions. Hacking was our hobby, and the foundation of our friendship. We didn’t tend to aim for any big businesses, but we knew we were good enough for the big leagues. A lot of shady people would pay large sums of money for the skills we possessed.

Stark stared at me before leaving the room. I had nearly forgotten that the Captain was still here until he started speaking again.

“Did someone pay you to hack into the tower? Who put you up to it?”

“My dick of a friend did. But she claims to pay me in hugs. Apparently, our friendship is worth more than any amount of money. At least to her. I'm still broke, I could use some cash. I really only did it for bragging rights.”

He smiled softly at me and I instantly relaxed. Steve Rogers, all around good guy, believed me. He didn’t think I was some lunatic determined to sell all their secrets online. He asked me what I saw on the camera footage and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Let’s just say that your Robin Hood should not be allowed anywhere near the fridge.” I winked at him, but before he could question me further, Stark returned, this time with my laptop.

I immediately sat up straighter when he placed it on the table in front of me, my fingers itching to open it again.

“My best employees have all been taking turns trying to unlock this. I tried to unlock it. You’re good, I'll give you that. But I won’t believe it until I see it.”

I couldn’t hide the curiosity that was beginning to make its way onto my face. I had an idea of what he was going to say next, and I didn’t know whether I should be relieved or wary.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I hope I'm not going to regret this, but I want you to hack into my system. Again.”

I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, before biting my lip to hide my smile.

“There’s one thing I'm going to need first.”

~~~~~

“Why were we sent to do this?”

It was Bucky and Sam who were given the task of getting the pack of jellies for their current ‘guest’. After Y/N had announced that she couldn’t do anything without her Haribos, Tony had sent the pair to the nearest store without questioning any of it. She refused to even open the computer before they came back.

“I don’t get why Tony is so worked up about her,” Sam commented nonchalantly, walking down the aisles.” She doesn’t seem like anything special.”

But Bucky couldn’t disagree more.

He found her more interesting than he cared to admit. The energy she possessed had a youthful and carefree tone, and her smile was infectious. Since he had joined the Avengers not long ago, people had been treating him with caution. He tried to ignore it, but it was difficult when everyone around still acted as though he was the Winter Soldier instead of just Bucky Barnes. The Avengers themselves were fine, it was just the rest of the world. He had a feeling that people would take a long time to accept him, if they ever did.

But Y/N had looked at him with respect when they first met. Awe. Maybe even admiration, he hoped. All that hope quickly disappeared when her nerves settled in as she began to understand the reason for their visit. Her smile fell and for some reason, Bucky couldn’t help but find himself feeling guilty for being the cause of it.

“Hey! Earth to Barnes, you with me?”

Bucky was jolted back to reality by Sam’s loud voice and large hand waving right in front of his face. He mentally cursed himself for zoning out completely and followed Sam to the cashier to get the sweets this strange woman apparently couldn’t do anything without.

~~~~~

Stark had been patient, I'll give him that. It was just us in the room and I'd been wasting my time, opening the jellies far slower than necessary, spending too long chewing on one cola bottle, until he finally had enough. He opened my laptop and gave me an irritated look.

“Now.”

I could tell he was beginning to think I was just pulling his strings. That I hadn’t really done anything spectacular. That I was just the face of the operation, not the brains.

“Well, call your bomb squad Mr Stark, cause I'm about to blow your mind.” I smirked back at him in response and popped another jelly heart into my mouth.

Within a few minutes I found myself in the same position I was in earlier. Except this time, I was sitting with Tony Stark instead of my misfit friends. And I was much more prepared this time. I knew his system better now, which definitely worked in my favour as I tried showing off my skills. I was better prepared for the defences he had set up and after nearly forty minutes, I had accessed not only cameras, but Stark Industries’ private server and F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s server too.

I cleared my throat as I pressed a small speech button in the corner of the screen, hoping it was what I thought it was.

“Here’s Johnny,” I said in a low tone, hearing my voice echo throughout the room, and I assumed the whole tower as well. When I looked up at Stark he was focused completely on my laptop, a small yet noticeable smile playing on his lips.

“I don’t think I've ever had to say this before, but could you explain how you got through those last few firewalls? Slowly?”

After showing him what he failed to comprehend (!!!), I switched my attention to the footage coming from the cameras around the tower. I felt Stark leaning over my left shoulder, determined not to miss what I was doing. It was only mere seconds before I had the footage I was looking for. It didn’t him long to realise what he was looking at. There on my screen, were many of the Avengers, crowding around a glass window through which I could see myself and Stark.

I looked up and waved directly in front of me, where I now knew Dr Banner was standing. I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled by the audience I had attracted. All I had to do now was wait for Stark to realise I'm not some threat that needs to be eliminated, and I could go back to my life of cheap wine and pining over fictional characters.

“How would you like a job?”

That’s the exact moment I felt betrayed by my beloved Haribos as one got stuck in my throat and I began choking violently. Stark watched on in amusement and I gave him a thumbs up while my face got slightly redder.

I was not expecting that.

I didn’t get a chance to reply to the sudden offer, before Black Widow herself practically stormed into the room and dragged the billionaire out.

It took a few minutes for my brain to catch up with my eyes and my gaze finally snapped away from the door that was slammed closed only moments ago.

“What is happening?” I cried out, allowing my head to just drop onto the table in both confusion and exhaustion. I had momentarily forgotten that my laptop was still in the room with me.

I lifted my head up quickly and began typing to gain access to the sound in the room hidden in front of me, as well as the video footage.

“What were you thinking?” Romanoff was seething.

“I was thinking that no one has ever done that. Ever. Did you see how quickly she accessed everything? I was thinking that I'd rather have her on our side than not.”

My eyes flickered from the faces of each of the Avengers, trying to figure out where each of their thoughts lay. All their faces showed varying degrees of anger and apprehension except for one. Sergeant Barnes didn’t look concerned, just intrigued. The fact that there was one person who didn’t disagree with Stark gave me the confidence to press the speech button once again.

“Sorry to interrupt.” All of their faces snapped up to look at me almost instantly. “But my rent has gone up and I wouldn’t say no to a bit more cash. If it makes any difference, I promise I'm not part of some covert foreign intelligence group. Plus, you kind of owe me. I'm most likely fired from my actual job because I didn’t show up today.”

Stark gave his friends a pointed look before speaking out loud.

“Perfect. You’re hired, kid.”

Natasha turned and spoke to him quietly.

“I know I can’t stop you, Tony, but don’t be surprised if this bites you in the ass.”

While I watched him leave that room, only to enter my own a moment later, the rest of the Avengers filed out. All except Bucky, whose gaze remained fixated on me.

 Taglist:

(if there’s a strike through your name it means I couldn’t tag you)

@amybarter15 @imperialoath @throw-some-music-my-way @mamaraptor @marbleowl @lydklein1 @wantingtobekorra

[ramajmedia]

Stranger Things: 10 Things You Didn't Notice About The Scoop Troop

Stranger Things, created by Ross and Matt Duffer, premiered in 2016. It quickly became one of Netflix’s biggest hit shows. It follows the story of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) as she and her friends grapple with her supernatural abilities and the terror it unleashes. Season three of Stranger Things was one of their best seasons so far, and a lot of that can be attributed to the addition of the Scoop Troop.

RELATED: Stranger Things: 6 Best Additions To The Cast (& 4 We Could Have Done Without)

While it is comprised of main characters, the fact that it was a solid, separate group, allowed the show to bring the different storylines together. Featuring Steve (Joe Keery), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Erica (Priah Ferguson), and new character Robin (Maya Hawke), the group is important in uncovering the plot to reopen the interdimensional rift leading to the Upside Down. Given their centrality to this season, let's explore Stranger Things: 10 Things You Didn't Notice About The Scoop Troop.

10 THEIR OUTFIT IS A HOMAGE TO CRACKER JACK

Can you believe Crack Jack snacks are still around? In all of these (well over 100) years, the uniform also hasn’t changed much, aside from a few slight variants. But anyone who knows remembers that Cracker Jack was a staple for kids in the '80s.

It had a wave of popularity that didn't really settle down until some time in the '90s. So it makes sense that the uniform would pay homage to one of the quintessential kids’ snacks of that era. They do work in an '80s shopping mall at an ice cream shop, after all.

9 UNIFORM ALSO COULD BE HOMAGE TO FAST TIMES

According to an article that appeared in The Telegraph, the Scoop Troop also pays homage to Fast Times at Ridgemont High. While we can definitely see the correlation with the mall, the uniform is a bit harder to fathom. But that doesn't mean that's not also the case. Stranger Things utilized a number of '80s references, so it’s not inconceivable that there is more than one in reference action here (see what we did there... inconceivable... Cary Elwes... Yeah, you get it!).

Also, it makes sense because Fast Times was one of the major teen movies of that decade and is a classic. So taken in that context, there are probably some references that worked in there as well.

8 THEY WERE ALMOST CUT FROM THE SEASON

As important as their overall storyline became to the plot of season three, it's difficult to imagine that they were almost cut from it altogether. But the Duffer Brothers weren't sure that the combination of the crew would make sense to audiences.

Needless to say, it worked out perfectly, as the Scoop Troop was one of the best aspects of season three. Everything came together nicely, and if they had decided to cut the Troop, it probably wouldn't have had the same balance as it did.

RELATED: 10 Things From Stranger Things That Kids These Days Won't Understand

7 INCLUDES AN HOMAGE TO TRUE LIES

The scenes where Steve and Robin are drugged, appear to pay homage to the truth serum scene in True Lies. While True Lies is a '90s movie, Arnold first became prominent in the '80s as an action hero. In one of the movies, Red Heat, he portrayed a Russian character, so tying those themes together certainly makes sense.

In the '80s, stories about Russian espionage as well as friendly Russian/American pairings were all the rage, due to the Cold War. And as the other saying goes, everything old is new again. Russia is back at the forefront as a hot topic in the U.S. and on the world’s stage, so it’s a perfectly-timed storyline.

6 THEY’RE HELPING TRANSITION THE SHOW INTO THE LATE '80s/EARLY '90s

By the end of the season, you can tell that there is an early '90s vibe going on. With Scoop Troop, the joining of an iconic '90s reference with the '80s nostalgia helped bridge that gap. There are other references, as well as styles, but Scoop Troop was vital to that transition.

Naturally, as they all get older and years pass, they will move further and further away from the '80s nostalgia. '90s nostalgia is strong too, and the great thing, storywise, about the late and early parts of decades is that there are a lot of crossovers overall, particularly in style and entertainment. In this way, they will be able to keep many of the references people enjoy, while incorporating new ones.

5 THEY'RE DIVERSE

While it’s pretty obvious that they are diverse, it wasn’t something that was heavy-handed, so to speak. While the cast has always had some diversity, by switching up the traditional girl-meets-boy storyline, they threw the audience something of a curveball.

By revealing that Robin did not have a crush on Steve, but rather on another girl, they added to the open diversity of the cast. This was natural to the storyline and didn’t require a lot of explanation or kid gloves.

RELATED: Best Reaction Memes To Stranger Things Season Three

4 WITHOUT THEM, ALL WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST

While previous seasons focused more on the power of Eleven and how she could save everybody, this season leaned more heavily on the power of friendship and family. Though those themes were present in other seasons as well, by weakening Eleven's abilities at certain points, the abilities of others became more important.

While the Scoop Troop was away from a lot of the action dealing with the Mind Flayer, the secret facility was actually ground zero to defeating the monster, as in previous seasons. But this time, Eleven and the others would not have been able to access the exact location before it was too late.

3 ERICA WAS A POPULAR ADDITION

Erica was considered a masterful addition to the main cast. While there was no doubt she would be added, there was some question as to whether or not it would make sense to have Erica team up with Steve. The issue was whether or not the audience would buy it.

And it turned out that not only did fans buy it, but they also loved the expansion of the character. Though there was some mild controversy regarding her personality, the overall precociousness, likability, and deft acting by Priah made for a winning combination.

RELATED: Stranger Things: All The Monsters Hawkins Has Dealt With, Ranked

2 STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS

With Scoop Troop, while they were all important to the overall balance, it is the female characters who overcome many of the obstacles necessary to push the story forward. From figuring out the Russian's secret code to getting inside of the facility, they are shown as being capable.

This is also a pretty important aspect to many of the '80s horror shows and films paid homage to in Stranger Things. So it makes sense that this would be integral to the series, and has been since the beginning, particularly with Nancy (Natalia Dyer) as a representation for many of the heroines in those movies. How it’s handled in the Scoop Troop and in Stranger Things overall is also seamless.

1 FOLLOWED A SIMILAR PAIRING IN SEASON 2

As with adding Erica to the team, there was a similar team-up in season two which set the groundwork for the Scoop Troop in season three. According to an article published on Mental Floss, Steve and Dustin were considered an odd buddy pairing.

But it worked better than expected. Being that the two already had a foundation, it was natural enough to add to that to form another group within the overall Stranger Things crew. By following an existing framework, the team blended nicely and provided audiences with another exciting storyline.

NEXT: Will Stranger Things Season 4 Involve Time Travel?

source https://screenrant.com/stranger-things-scoop-troop-unnoticed-things/

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundups

Looks like it’s DC week~ Super Week even. But it’s also a week where we’re going to be saying goodbye to a title I’ve held out on for a while. But which one is it? And how was the week overall?

DC’s Batwoman, DC’s Super Sons, DC’s Superman, DC’s Trinity

DC’s Batwoman (2017-present) #3 Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV, Steve Epting, Jeromy Cox

There’s not a whole lot to add to this issue beyond just the fact that we continue on a good path her with the first arc of Kate’s new solo and I couldn’t be more relieved. I adore Kate so much and feel she deserves to be treated with the respect and standing in comics that is given to so many other heroes. An identity and personality outside of just being the Female Batman. 

And Marguerite Bennett seems to really understand that. Her voice for Kate is unique, and the decisions and tactics used by her are strictly militarized and focused in a way Batman rarely holds to for all his calls of “soldiers” and “mission statements”.

I’m enjoying the story though I could do without the weird incestuous undertones of the creepy twins, which albeit were played off by Julia playing Creepy Twin Bingo with the situation. 

She is the Alfred Kate deserves. 

DC’s Super Sons (2017-present) #4 Peter J. Tomasi, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez

So we end the first arc of what has quickly become one of my favorite new titles in the DC Rebirth lineup, and honestly I could not have had more of a blast. Honestly I want to cover what a blast it was to the point that I almost forgot to reflect and just be content with how we have the rare example of a comic storyline wrapping up in four issues -- my preferred length for an ongoing to do in long form. Like honestly tears could be coming to my eyes just considering it.

This comic is chalk full of great moments, reminding me of some of the best aspects of the Preboot Superman-Batman friendship, except removed of all nuance and tuned up to eleven on the irrationality scales because Damian and Jon are just such exemplified extremes of their respective parents. After all, they’re kids and they’re full of extremes already. 

I love it, I sincerely love it. And it’s so funny seeing them react to each other, their surroundings, and now the outcome of their sneaking out. 

I also hope this isn’t the last we see of Amazo Girl, Sara’s awesome. And since she’s a red headed white girl her longevity in the DCU goes up significantly. 

DC’s Superman (2016-present) #23 Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Wil Quintana

Wouldn’t be a comic week without some sort of controversy, now would it? 

Personally I’ve been waiting to see how this entire storyline was going to be resolved because you’ve got Batman and Robin taken down by evil tentacle cows and a huge conspiracy that spans over an entire county that Clark and Lois didn’t notice and Jon’s somewhere in a perfect prison with equipment that looks strangely Brainiacy, and I’ve... gotta be honest. I was not expecting to have to deal with the Elites and Manchester Black anytime in my comic reading career. I don’t know why I didn’t. 

After all “What’s so funny about truth, justice, and the American way?” is one of my favorite Superman stories. I can barely see Doug Mahnke’s art without thinking about Joe Kelly’s run and the Justice League Elite weirdness that I was never a huge fan of. 

I guess I’m just surprised with my surprise at this point. 

Things I could do without, though: the weird child grooming undertones you see with Jon going on right now. I’ll be honest, I genuinely thought that was going to be the most controversial thing in this issue. I don’t know why I did, but yeah. 

So let’s talk about the big ol’ one-legged elephant in the room.

I’m neutral. Basically I want to see how this is handled. Do I 100% trust Tomasi and Gleason to pull this off and it not be sketchy as hell? No. I don’t trust any writers that way anymore. Not even my favorites. But I do trust them like... 70%. Marginally more than I don’t. And I can only see this as set up to put Lois more up front and center for stories in the future and I’m more than okay with that. Especially since Lois was a complete badass about the whole thing so far. 

But again we’ll see. 

DC’s Trinity (2016-present) #9 Francis Manapul

I think I’ve decided to drop Trinity finally. I mean, it’s a beautiful book, and when it has a direction it’s great, and it’s definitely got that when Francis Manapul is at the reigns, but this issue just really helped cement for me that as good as it is at its best, Trinity has a eal problem with consistency, and it makes it that much more difficult for me personally to suspend disbelief and really just enjoy the ride while I’m on it. 

I’m still curious about where the book will eventually go, if anywhere at all, so I’ll revisit it in the future, but I think for now I’ll not have any regrets about taking it off my pull. 

So we’re dropping a run, but I think that’s okay! There are a lot of amazing comics right now and it’s very interesting to see how much I’ve tossed and turned over this one. 

But what’s my pick of the week? Well, I have to give it Super Sons which is just a delight and I could not be happier to have it as a title. 

But that’s just my take from this week. What do you guys think? Was there anything I didn’t pick up this week you all enjoyed? I’d love it if you let me know!

[itsjaybullme]

A Final Conversation With Shawn Perine

Dustin Snipes

Co-workers rarely interview each other, even in magazines. But in April of this year, I held an extended, on-the-record chat with my boss, Shawn Perine. At the time, Perine was the editorial director of Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, and Flex magazines. He was also my friend.

The interview was for a feature called “Fit Jobs,” in which we planned to do mini-profiles of six people with cool jobs in the fitness industry. There was a celebrity trainer, an NFL strength coach, a bodybuilder, a fitness model, and a fitness entrepreneur. For the final job—fitness editor—I talked to Perine for more than an hour one Friday night in his office, tape recorder rolling.

[RELATED1]

Then a couple of things happened, one ordinary and the other tragic. The ordinary: The feature never ran. Instead, we split up the parts. (You may remember seeing some of these.) The tragic: In September, Perine was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. He remained unbelievably positive during his fight with cancer, but a few days ago, on December 11, he passed away. He was 51.

Perine was a special dude. He was smart and funny, and, as one colleague put it, quirky. As a leader, he had a little Michael Scott from The Office in him. He was like Michael Scott with better biceps. What happened to him was and is incredibly sad, but as you’ll see in this interview, some of the things he experienced in his life—and the friendships he formed—went beyond anything he could imagine.

This is Perine's story.

M&F: Did you always want to be the editor of Muscle & Fitness?

SHAWN PERINE: What should I say? No? I started reading Muscle & Fitness when it was called Muscle Builder magazine in 1979. I was 13 years old.

You got a subscription?

My dad bought me my first copy, and it was magical. It really changed my life. I had seen the film Pumping Iron prior to that. I fell in love with the idea that I could build my body up through resistance training and nutrition, and so this magazine was a revelation, and I read it religiously from that point on, and later Flex magazine as well when it came out in 1983. I bought the first issue and began reading that. I could never have dreamed I’d be running these magazines ever, not in my wildest dreams; so no, I never thought I would, but I'm glad that I do.

Did you ever get a subscription?

Absolutely. What year? I'm not sure, but sometime probably in the mid-’80s when I was finally able to afford a subscription. Definitely the first magazine I ever subscribed to was Muscle & Fitness, and the second would've been Flex.

From the time you were 13, you were bodybuilding and lifting weights frequently?

That's right, yeah.

Did you want to be a bodybuilder?

I did. I wanted to be Mr. Olympia. I wanted to be the best bodybuilder. Like I said, I had watched Pumping Iron, I idolized Arnold and the top bodybuilders of the day, and that was my goal. When I joined my first gym as a member, it was in 1982. I was 16, it was Mr. America's Body Shop on Long Island, and it was owned by a former Mr. America, Steve Michalik. I'll never forget. It was late August, 1982. I walked in and I shook his hand, and he said, "What's your goal? How far do you want to go?" I said, "I want to be Mr. Olympia."

[RELATED2]

Wow. At 16?

At 16. I didn't play sports really. When I was younger I did, but by that point I was just like, "I've got to focus all my attention on bodybuilding, because it requires all my attention." Obviously, that didn't work out. What I didn't account for is that genetics play a huge role in your ability to be tall or have a certain hair color or eye color, and also to build muscle. I had very little ability to build the amount of muscle needed to compete, so I did other things.

At what age did you realize, "I'm not going to be Mr. Olympia"?

It probably started sinking in when I was, like, 18 or 19. I still had this dream that I would compete and that I would win and I'd be great, but something didn't seem right because I'd watch other guys who grew much more quickly than I did, and I rationalized, "Well, they're probably doing things I won't do—extra things—to get there." The truth of the matter was, the biggest limiting factor was my genetics. Once I was in college, those dreams were done, and I focused on my major, which was architecture.

You wanted to be an architect?

I did, yeah.

You were still lifting?

I never stopped lifting the whole time, but my priorities changed. I lifted for myself. I lifted to get as big and strong and defined and everything as I could, but competitions were off the table at that point. I promoted a competition, though, after college. In 1990, at Hofstra University, I promoted an NPC competition called the Diamond Cup Classic. That was interesting.

Did you compete in it too?

No, I ran it. I was like the Robin Chang [VP AMI Events] of the contest, so that was really interesting. I had my Mr. America's gym owner, Steve Michalik. He got a lifetime achievement award, and my friend whose gym I trained at, an NPC Nationals winner, Tom Terwilliger, who was also an IFBB pro, he guest-posed at it. Interestingly, I had an over-50 division guy, a guy named Elliot Gilchrist, competing in it. There were exactly two guys in the over-50 division, this one guy, Billy something, and this other guy, Elliot Gilchrist, who is in the book Pumping Iron. He was in his 70s when he competed in my show. So I thought, "How interesting. All these years later, this guy from the book is competing in the show I'm promoting." That was kind of nice.

But in college you wanted to be an architect?

I got a degree in architecture, yes.

From what college?

New York Institute of Technology. On Long Island.

[RELATED3]

Then what did you do?

I decided I didn't want to be an architect. I got my degree, it was a five-year degree; I completed it, but I had always been a bit of an artist, and I wanted to incorporate design into whatever I did moving forward, so I started designing furniture. Anything I could design and sell to make ends meet, I did. I designed jewelry, I designed lamps, and I built them myself. I learned how to do some soldering, some welding. I did woodworking because my dad did it. I did some gallery shows of my furniture. Then it wasn't really going anywhere, so I saved up all my money and I bought a Mac.

What year is this?

This is probably ’94. I bought an old-school Mac, and I think I got some black-market versions of Photoshop and Illustrator, the Adobe suite at the time, and I taught myself the programs and I became a graphic designer. Somehow I lucked into a graphic design job at a magazine, and I was a designer for a while. Then I worked my way up to being an art director over the years.

What magazine?

Videography. It was like, sound and engineering video magazines. I worked as a graphic designer/art director for almost 10 years, and I wound up working as an art director with companies like Brooks Brothers, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Hanes. I did some stuff.

Then what happened?

This was 2001, 2002. The Web was becoming a thing, but I didn't know how to design for it. I only designed for print. I had to learn, but I didn't want to take a course. I just figured I'd teach myself, so I gave myself a project to build my own website. I had no idea what it would be about, but I said, "If I put myself to this task, I'll finish it and I'll have learned something when I'm done." I said, "Well, you know, I loved bodybuilding when I was a kid."

So you designed a bodybuilding website?

Bodybuilding had changed by that point, between the late '70s when I was interested in it at first, and by this point, the early 2000s. Big shift. I think a lot of people were reminiscing. But there was no place on the Internet where you could read about that stuff. I said, "OK, I'm going to build a website, kind of an ode to these classic days of bodybuilding." I called it "Iron Age". It was a glossary of all the bodybuilders who competed between the '50s and the '80s.

You wrote articles for this site?

I wrote articles about different bodybuilders and contests and all sorts of stuff. Then I created a forum for it, and lo and behold, people started finding my site and they joined the forum and they started discussing this. As it turns out, a lot of people were interested in it. We built it up to 4,000 or 5,000 forum members, and Greg Merritt, who was the senior writer for Flex magazine, stumbled upon my site. Greg reached out to me, and he said, "Hey, you're a decent writer and you know this stuff. Would you mind if I refer you to Peter McGough, who's the Editor-in-Chief of Flex?"

Nice.

Peter reaches out and says, "I like what you're doing. Would you care to freelance for us? Try it out?" I said, "It's a dream come true. I bought the first issue of Flex on the newsstand in '83." I freelanced, and it went well. I got a few articles in and everything gelled. Then about a year and a half later, Peter said, "I want to bring you out to LA. I want you to work here.” In May of 2004 I finally moved out to L.A. and became the senior writer for Flex.

He offered you the job and you moved out there?

Yeah, and I was actually contending for a very good position at a New York fashion company—it might have been L'Oreal—for an art director position. I was in contention for that, and I told the recruiter, "No, take me out. I'm moving to LA, I'm becoming a writer."

Even though that job would’ve paid more?

It would've paid a lot more, but I was following my passion. I just thought there was a bit of a kismet here. I had been reading these magazines since I was a kid. I'd put the whole dream on the back burner; I'd never thought I'd achieve any kind of notoriety, fame, success in this field, and lo and behold, when I least expect it, this is offered to me. I said, "I can't pass it up."

[RELATED4]

You took a pay cut from what you were making?

Yes I did, but it was worth it.

So then you're writing articles for Flex and Muscle & Fitness?

I was out there in L.A. for seven-and-a-half years. I would get Muscle & Fitness assignments from Peter every now and then—some features. I did a couple of cover stories. That was always an honor.

Have you been with them ever since?

There was about a year between 2010 and 2011 that I wasn't with the company at all. The company was undergoing a transition, moving the base of its operations from L.A. to New York. During that transitional period, I wasn't with the company.

Then almost exactly a year later, I got a call: "Do you want to come to New York and interview to be Editor-in-Chief of Muscle & Fitness?" I said, "Yeah, I always enjoyed it." It felt about time to move back to New York. It was a little over seven years. Then the rest is history.

You interviewed and got it, and then you became editor of Flex as well?

Yeah, over time, I guess that I did a good enough job that my boss had faith in me, gave me more responsibility.

When did you become editor-in-chief of Muscle & Fitness?

That would've been in November 2011.

What’s the best part of your job?

The best part of the job is working with the team. It really is. I always say, you spend most of your waking hours with your co-workers—not necessarily with the people you love, with your children, with your spouse. It's with your co-workers, and you have to gel with them. You have to have a good relationship with them. Fortunately, I think we all have a really good relationship on this team. I look forward to that. Sometimes on the weekends—I don't know how many people think, "Oh, I can't wait for Monday so I can go back to work for the week"—I do look forward to seeing my co-workers during the week, so that's a big plus.

Anything else?

The other best part of the job is the finished product. When we get the boxes of the new issues here in the office and we open them up and there's that fresh cover looking back at you, and you flip through it and you see your month's worth of work in print, it's a really satisfying feeling. It's great.

from Bodybuilding Feed https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/interviews/final-conversation-shawn-perine via http://www.rssmix.com/