#dustin already has steve hes being selfish

[pleasantlycrazyworld]

Hi I just finished reading the steve harrington x reader imagine where its their one year anniversary and reader finds out about the bet, I was wondering if you could maybe do a 2nd part where Steve somehow finds a way to win reader back and decide to still be bf and girlfriend rather than start all over again and steve asks reader out officially (since he asked her out bc of a bet originally) and they have their date where he reasks her to be his gf, then time skip to where its their 2 year anniversary and he proposes🤍

I got so carried away....oops? Over 4k words

I didn't get into the propose but I totally can if anyone wants me to! I hope you enjoy and it was worth the wait, I am thinking of making an alternative version of this where the reader doesn't take him back, if you want tagged lmk!

Steve was not the same without you. Anyone and everyone could tell. He showed up late to work, never talked to the customers, and he hasn't spoken to Robin, Nancy, or anyone from the group for that matter. He just wanted to disappear into his bed and never be discovered.

However, just because he was in his bed didn't mean he slept. No, he hasn't slept since you left, and if he did, it was for minutes at a time. Instead of sleeping, he just stared. Stared at your side of the bed, stared at pictures of you two together, stared at the ring that haunted him. All he could do was stare.

You weren't doing any better. You didn't just lose Steve but you lost your best friends too, being betrayed by your boyfriend hurt but being betrayed by who you considered the closest friends in your life hurt you the most. You couldn't bring yourself to reach out, anytime the phone rang you just let it ring, anytime there was a knock on the door you just waited under mounds of blankets for the person to leave. Everyone was concerned for the two of you but no one knew how to help, that is until Dustin went and forced Steve to get out of bed. For a 15 year old Dustin was surprisingly strong, Steve found this out when he was dragged out of his bed and into the shower. "You are showering. You are going to make yourself presentable and you are going to go talk to her. At least make sure she's still breathing." Dustin rolls his eyes but he misses how Steve's breathing got caught in his throat hearing that you weren't doing well, even if Dustin just briefly mentioned it.

Steve didn't care about himself, he lost you and that ended with him losing himself, but he never stopped caring about you. He rushed through the shower and hurried to get presentable once again before dragging his ass to the car and headed to your house after making a quick stop to the flower shop. The entire ride to your house he gave himself multiple pep-talks. "I'm a douche....this is noticeable, everyone can see that but" he sighs softly and shakes his head as he feels tears starting to form, "But with you...god y/n with you I wanted to be better. I will be better for you, I want to be the man you deserve even if I can never achieve that. Fuck maybe I'm just selfish...I definitely don't deserve you, no one...no one deserves an angel like you." When Steve pulls into your driveway tears are falling freely down his cheeks, he gets out of the car and grabs the flowers he bought you while choking back sobs. He doesn't bother knocking, if what Dustin told him he knows you won't bother answering the door. Even though you've been apart for weeks now he still has keys to your place so technically....not breaking and entering???

He softly walks through your home trying not to disturb anything, not wanting to taint anything more than he already has. He is in front of your bedroom door much quicker than he was prepared, the door was already opened and the sight before him destroyed his already broken heart. In front of him was the love of his life, under mounds of blankets with the only evidence of life being the slow rise and fall of the blankets.

"Oh princess..." he softly speaks breaking the silence. You jump slightly, blankets falling off your figure, at the sound of a familiar voice, a haunting voice. "Steve...." Your voice creaks and your sight blurs, sitting up straight you feel your breathing stop at the sight of the man before you. Even though he tried his hardest to look presentable for your presence he was still a clear mess. His hair was disheveled, his cheeks were blotchy and eyes bright red. He walks to your side slowly as if he was approaching an injured animal, "Princess I..." His voice cracks and lip quivers as a sob wins the fight he was trying to win. "I am so sorry! I-I never...never meant for this to happen, never fuck i never wanted to hurt you. I was going to tell you but everything was going so well I just didn't want to lose you" Your throat gets tight and begins to burn as you fight the tears that were determined to fall. "Steve I...I loved you."

Loved....Loved....past tense....loved

"No....baby no not loved... I love you. I love you. How can I fix this? There has to be a way to fix this I...fuck I can't lose you forever. This might have started as a bet but my love for you was never apart of it. I've never loved someone as much as I love you"

A scoff and an eye roll is what he's met with, causing him to panic even more at the thought of never having you in his life again. But then you move closer to him and you take the flowers from his hands. "We can try to start over..." You whispered softly

----Time skip-----

It's been two years since the break up, it's been two years since starting over. And things had never been better, Steve never wanted to lose you and tonight he's hoping that he can assure that you'll be his forever with a ring on your left hand.

Tagging: @emmyshortcake @succubusmunson @bloodthirstybreedingbunny @ghosttownwherenoonegoes @keerysfolklore @eddiesguitarskills @mystargirl-interlude @lofaewrites @sweet-villain

[luveline]

for shy fri!! what about jonathan x shy!reader who are constantly in their own little world? similar to this remus one you did!!

thank you my love! i hope this is close to what you wanted <3 shy!fem!reader x lovesick!jonathan

Jonathan isn't sure if you know how much he wants you. Talking as your boyfriend, you're together, and he still wants you. To hold your hand, or your wrist, your forearm in his hand, your forearm pulled close to his chest. To slide the first two fingers on his left hand behind your ear and tilt your head so he can see all your eyelashes. To pull your thigh over his and feel the weight of it through the whole movie. He wants every tiny piece of you there is up for offer, and he'd feel selfish if he weren't so sick in love. 

"Do you want some?" you whisper, offering your box of Milk Duds to him expectantly. 

He takes a handful just to watch your face as you shake them out. 

"More?" you ask. 

"That's fine," he whispers back, "thanks." 

He wants, desperately, to add 'honey'. Honey, baby, angel, all those too sweet pet names that'll make you hide your mouth, hand pressed delicately over your lips, smile evident in your eyes if nothing else. 

"Welcome." 

There should be a word for it, the want to press his chest to yours, to overlap. If he had his way, his friends would fade into the background, they already have, and he'd snake his arm behind your head, hook your neck in the crook of his arm and encourage your face to his neck. He'd dot more kisses than anyone ever has into your crown. 

"Are you okay?" you whisper, quiet than before. You've shifted on the couch to get right next to his ear, each word tickling his inner ear with the accompanying breath. 

He turns his face slowly so as not to startle you. TV light catches your cheek and brow, illuminating you in a bright, translucent blue. If you weren't the shyest girl he'd ever met he'd kiss you right here, friends forgotten, but you'd genuinely be uncomfortable and he doesn't ever want that. 

How to lure you away? 

He leans in like he might kiss you, lips a hair's width from your cheek. "Drink?" 

"Yeah, please." 

You misunderstand. Jonathan stands with your confirmation and catches hold of your wrist at the same time, tugging at you gently. You rise up and follow him out to the kitchen, and really there's nothing subtle to it, nothing at all.

"They're fucking disgusting," Mike says. 

Will reaches into his lap for some popcorn and hums, not disagreeing. "It could be worse." 

"Could it?" Lucas' face appears between them, leaning down from his seat on the armchair. "Will, your brother needs help, psychologically."

"He's fine." 

"He's watching the movie via lights on her face," Max adds, backing Lucas up with a scrunched up nose. She doesn't care if you and Jonathan are being sweet on each other, she cares about being right, and Lucas is correct. "It's obsessive." 

"You guys'll understand when you're older," Steve pipes up, flopping into the gap you've left behind. Robin rolls her eyes at him. "Nah, you won't. They're weird." 

"They're in love," Will says, laughing like this is the stupidest conversation anyone has ever had. 

Dustin isn't one to stay quiet any longer. He wishes he could back Will up. He can't. "Listen, I have a girlfriend, and that's not right." 

"You have a girlfriend?" Max asks, voice layered in a cheerfulness she absolutely is not feeling. She's too good at pretending — her tone is nothing less than convincing. 

In the kitchen, your skin burns with heat. The door is nowhere near thick enough to cover the sounds of their bickering. It grows louder and louder, the kids debating your love life with a voracious passion.  

"Let's not beat around the bush," you hear Steve say, "they're definitely canoodling in there." 

"Why are we friends with him?" Jonathan asks, similarly embarrassed but trying not to show it. 

"Because he's nice. And he has Robin as an add-on. It's like a two for one." 

"Two for one on idiots," he mumbles, offering you a freshly filled glass. Robin's laughter sounds from the living room, high-pitched and breathless. 

You smile despite yourself.

"I'm sorry," Jonathan says after a small pause. "This isn't what I was trying to do." 

You put your glass on the counter and smile at him. It's not the brilliant smile you usually give when you're alone. Jonathan's amazed to find that, even as a couple, you have a little warm up period every time you see him, adorable, a tinsy bit disconcerting. You can be very cautious.

"What were you trying to do, Jon?" you ask earnestly. 

He puts down his glass too. He smiles, breath caught, hands tentative and then not. "This," he says, hands vying for your cheeks. He cups your warm face in his for a stolen moment, thumbs rubbing at the skin shy of your nose, and then one hand slides to the nape of your neck, and the other goes over your shoulders. He pulls you in for a hug, as he has tens of times, but finds himself worrying when your arms don't come up automatically to meet him. 

He hugs you a little bit harder. 

"Oh," you say, arms circling his waist, half as tight and twice as affectionate, hand rubbing at the bumps of his spine. 

Shy, yes, but skimpy with affection? Never. You hold him like he's made of something infinitely precious, soft and sweet and silent, your breath warming a crescent moon against his shoulder. 

"You sure you're okay?" you ask quietly, face turning so you can kiss the slip of chest peeking out from under his shirt's neckline. 

"I'm fine. I'm good, really. I know you don't like this stuff in front of everyone, so…" 

Your face slips down to his chest. "You could hug me a little in front of them. Better that then have them," — you pause, and the quiet is filled by the sounds of your friends' continued arguing — "doing whatever it is they're doing." 

"Right now, I think they're debating when you're gonna break up with me." 

"Never," you say. It's so fast, your answer. Instant. You cough to cover up your embarrassment and Jonathan has to hide his smile in the skin above your ear. 

"Hey, you should be glad," Steve says, too smug, something awful in the way the room quietens to broadcast him. "Better they're too weird to cuddle in front of us than teen pregnancy." 

Jonathan sighs, knowing you won't want to hug him any longer after that. Sure enough, you break apart from his hold and take a too fast swig of water, frantic. "Let's go back in," you say. 

You leave and he hasn't even picked up his cup. Jonathan presses the heels of his hands to his eyes and takes a 'Don't pick a fight with Steve' breath, frustration and agitation and an inkling of adoration for you all mixed up in his head. 

"Where's Jonathan?" he hears Will ask you.

"Practising on his hand?" Steve asks. 

Jonathan takes another deep breath. 

[acowardinmordor]

I'm never going to write it, so here, enjoy some suffering as I combine multiple fics and tropes into a bouillabaisse of angst.

----

Eddie isn't quite dead when Steve, Robin and Nancy get back to them. Since the gates are starting to weaken, it's a mad rush to get everyone through. Steve gets Nancy and Dustin through so they can at least sort of help catch Eddie -- who is entirely unconscious and lacking a lot of blood. The gate is narrowing, the Upside Down is trembling, and Steve doesn't ask, just hefts Robin up and gets her through.

She makes it, but by the time she lands and looks up to yell for him to haul ass, everyone can tell that Steve won't make it through. The gate is too narrow and they don't know, they won't risk finding out what happens if the gate closes on him.

It's closing with exponential decay, so the slow creep it started with becomes a rush, and he yells for them to get to the damn hospital.

Then he's gone.

And look, they're furious and horrified and yes, they want to go after him right this second, but Eddie is dying and Dustin's leg is broken, and they don't even know if Max is okay. Besides, its not like they know how to open a gate.

It's a few days before Team Cali gets to Hawkins, and everyone, including Max in three casts begs El to open a gate.

And she can't. Something about how Henry died, something about the hivemind and the interconnection to the whole world. She knows it's still there, but she can't reach it. She can't find Steve either.

So a few days becomes a week, and Will won't answer questions, because he knows what its like to be alone there, and telling the others when there's no hope of rescue is cruel.

Then Eddie wakes up, coherent for the first time after the infection and the fever and the pain meds. They tell him, and they try to prevent the survivor's guilt - which was already awful - from destroying him. Robin gets it. She was the last through. Steve could have gone first and left her there, but they both know he never would.

They bond over it in the next few weeks as he recovers and leaves the hospital with a few hundred stitches.

After a month, they hold a small memorial, even though they haven't reported it. Without a body, it would take more paperwork than any of them can bear to complete.

The G-men took the Munson trailer, so he, Robin and Wayne are at Harrington's place for now. And if Eddie snoops a little when the others are at work, learning more about this idiot that died instead of him, its understandable.

The way he has all the scraps of his relationship with Nancy, dwarfed by the notes and dumb gifts and mementos of the gremlins. The enormous first aid kit, right next to the enormous supply of hair spray. The box of things from before '83, shoved in a corner, but not forgotten. Post its with important dates. A bank statement showing that his parents left him the house, but no money to cover upkeep or taxes. A scratchy budget where Steve so obviously prioritized his friends over himself.

Eddie learns about Steve Harrington and wishes he could trade places. Eddie is selfish and an asshole and a failure, and he isn't worth what it cost to save his life.

No matter what Robin says about being last through, Eddie knows it must have taken longer to move him, so if it wasn't for Eddie, Steve would have made it. If Eddie had died instead of clinging to life --

When Eddie develops a cough, everyone winces in sympathy as his still achy wounds protest the movement. When his cough gets worse, they consider contacting Owens about Upside Down pathogens.

When he has a coughing fit while the others are out, and ends up with a few blood stained petals in his hand, it takes a few seconds for him to understand.

It takes a few more for it to really land.

He spends the next hour over the toilet, first vomiting, then dry heaving as he sobs.

Because see, Hanahaki might be rare and a remnant of ancient magics, but it's well studied. The sufferer has to be in love and pining. They have to have no hope of the person they love ever reciprocating.

It isn't always fatal. If they confess, and they're rejected, they'll die within a day. If they confess, and it's reciprocated, the flowers fade within a day. If they fall out of love, the flowers fade within a week. If they stay silent they'll live another month from the first petals.

There is a surgery that can remove the affliction and the affection. It's safe, it's a priority treatment in every hospital, and the only side effect is emotional disconnection from the person who caused it.

But none of that is what has Eddie sobbing.

Cause see there's another thing that science knows for sure. Hanahaki will not, does not, absolutely cannot bloom if the person they love is dead.

[nancywheeeler]

‘Eddie Munson should have died at the hands of the government instead of the Upside Down’ please expound on this your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

okay, i am finally gonna release from the vault a text post i had drafted months ago about how reductive and bland i find eddie munson's "heroism" arc.

from a characterization standpoint, i totally understand why eddie declares himself a coward for running after witnessing chrissy (and later, patrick) die. his image of himself as a proud outcast willing to brandish a middle finger at societal norms, bolstered by playing a "satanic" game about misfits coming together to bravely face great evils, is completely shattered. however, from our viewpoint as an audience, eddie does what just about any of us would have done after watching someone die in a horrific, unexplainable manner and not knowing if what happened to them is about to happen to us.

...except the show then does this weird thing where it agrees with eddie's warped, guilty view of his actions. eddie is a coward for running. he should have...what? stayed, again not knowing if he would be killed next, tried to explain everything to hawkins pd, and gotten arrested? (which would have derailed the rest of the hawkins plot because, unless dustin & company staged a jailbreak, eddie then would have been in custody during fred and patrick's murders.) the plot demands he run, but to wring any sort of emotional catharsis out of his death, the writers want us to think "look! he's redeemed himself! this time he ran into the danger!" it equates self-preservation with selfishness and cowardice, which certainly isn't a new thing in media but it's boring and doesn't reflect reality.

and when you parallel eddie's death with billy's (and what i imagine steve's death would have been had they gone through with killing him in season one), it paints this uncomfortable picture that redemption can only be found through extreme self-sacrifice and ultimately death. boring! very boring! and again, why are we redeeming a character who doesn't need redemption?

i appreciate (and really like actually!) that the narrative dooms eddie from the beginning. there wouldn't have been a satisfying way to write him out of a triple homicide rap had he lived. that being said, i would have loved to see eddie survive the upside down, get arrested for the murders, and, while our intrepid heroes are expecting owens and his shadowy government contacts to swoop in, be killed by those same shadowy government contacts as a cover-up.

because that is all owens has been doing for the past three seasons: covering things up to save a fringe organization's ass. it's just been convenient for our gang that the cover-ups align with their interests, too, to the point they are over-reliant on owens stepping in with forged birth certificates and mall fires. only, in season four's case, eddie is the most convenient cover story. with owens left for dead in a bunker in the middle of the desert, what loyalty does the rest of this strange government operation have to the gang and to eddie that they would exert any additional effort concocting a more outlandish story than the easy one the town of hawkins has already bought into?

it would have been a great way to add additional stakes going into season five because the gang would have had absolutely no one to rely on or trust but themselves. no more clean-up crew to plant fake stories and file the paperwork. the government has never actually been on their side. it's hawkins against the upside down and the world, baby.

wow, this is so long and i am so sorry. i still have a lot of feelings about this apparently, even after all this time.

[tboybuck]

broken

cw: canon compliant, brief mention of suicidal ideation, discussions of death and grief, and steve's weird relationship with both

something in steve might be broken.

in the years since this whole thing started, he's watched people die. he watched a boy his age be impaled by a monster, heard eddie munson's death rattle with his own two ears. he can easily picture will byers' body being dragged out of the quarry, and he wasn't even there for it. it's easy to imagine barb's final moments too, being dragged into the upside down through the pool in his backyard.

but when he thinks of these things, there's no feeling behind them.

for months, nancy grieved barb, and just when steve thought she was starting to get better, get over that grief, halloween happened and she was back to square one.

max, for months, grieved billy. she grieved to the point of self sacrifice, to the point of writing everybody a letter in the event of her own death.

and now, dustin. he's a shell of the kid he used to be.

and something in steve must be broken. because he doesn't get it.

it's not that he's never lost anybody before. steve's earliest memory is his grandfather's funeral. he was maybe four or five. his mother had an arm around him as they sat side by side in the church pew, and something wet landed on his head. when he looked up, his mother was crying.

and steve couldn't figure out why.

when steve was thirteen, his favorite aunt died. he went to the funeral that time too. everyone was crying. everyone but steve. they'd all asked him 'are you okay?' and steve didn't know what to say. he was fine.

people die. it's a fact of life. people are born, they live, and then they die. it happens to everybody. sure, sometimes it's tragic, but it happens to everybody eventually.

what's the point of carrying something as debilitating as grief when death is inevitable?

maybe it makes him a selfish, uncaring asshole. maybe he's exactly what everybody's always said he is.

steve's always figured that when it's someone really important to him, he'll finally get it. but the goalpost of important enough keeps on getting pushed back. because eddie's dead, and max isn't out of the woods yet, and steve himself is still being monitored for the bat bites because, like owens said, no one knows the long term effects of the demobat venom.

steve could die, this time around.

and still. nothin'.

well, not nothing.

there's just discomfort where grief should be. all around him, people are crying. because they couldn't save eddie, they might not be able to save max, something may still happen to steve himself.

he's swimming in this sea of mourning, and steve is so uncomfortable. he doesn't know how to comfort anyone. he doesn't have the words for dustin, who's already lost one older brother figure just to find out he could lose another. he doesn't have the right words for robin, who fell into this whole thing at steve's side, who's had to watch him throw himself into deadly situations over and over again.

she's in a kind of pre-grieving state, because she knows that even if steve does make it through this and the upside down comes calling again, he's going to continue to throw himself in harm's way. and steve has no idea how to comfort her.

it's not that he's suicidal or anything. it's just... death comes for everybody eventually. and he knows that not dying matters more to the others than it does to him.

he's all kinds of doped up on good pain meds, and maybe that's what's numbing this whole situation, but... steve doesn't think so.

he thinks something in him must be broken.

[shares-a-vest]

@steddie-week Day Five: Together/Established Relationship/Hold the Line by Toto

Steve and Eddie being in a relationship might be the worst thing that has ever happened to Dustin.

Demagorgons, evil Russians, Vecna, undead bats and dogs, government conspiracies and his cat being eaten have all been bliss compared to the sickly sweet, ooey-gooey, puppy-love, lovesick, utter grossness bullshit of Steve and Eddie actually being together.

Of course, he is okay with it in terms of them being two dudes. His mother taught him never to judge people like that.

Nope, that isn't the problem.

It's awful and just plain annoying because they are inseparable.

Attached at the hip. Practically living together in Steve's parentless house. Going everywhere together... Making everything about the other all the damn time... Talking on the phone when they can't be in the same vicinity... Eddie being granted a lifetime riding shotgun pass in the Beemer... Steve declaring that Eddie is his best friend...

And it is all impacting Dustin's life a little too much at this point.

He barges into Steve's house, not bothering to wait at the door after his knocking remains unanswered. As were his phone calls hours ago It's 11am on a goddamn Saturday morning and neither of the guys has work.

They were supposed to meet him at the arcade two hours ago.

Inseparable. But also selfish and forgetful.

He walks into the living room to find Steve and Eddie cuddled up on the couch (barf) and tucked under a blanket. Both are still dressed in pyjamas, a disgusting matching set Eddie had bought at the beginning of last Winter as a joke that they now wear unironically all the goddamn time.

Eddie (as usual) has his hands in Steve's hair, petting him like he's an overly furry house cat. And Steve (as usual) is on the precipice of sleep.

"You were supposed to meet me at the arcade!" he blurts out.

He probably should have thought of something better to announce his presence - something that would make them feel oh so very bad for abandoning him. But he is too distracted by the realisation that this relationship has also turned his best friends into senior citizen-homebody-couch potatoes. If only Steve was wearing the dorky old man spectacles he needs for the computer at work...

The pair startle a little but barely move. If anything, they look annoyed that he is even in their presence. They don't even look guilty or caught out! Have some sort of reaction - assholes!

"We're watching TV," Steve mumbles through a yawn, completely blowing over the plans they had made and now missed.

"Yeah," Eddie drawls, eyes glued to the screen, "MTV time, go away."

He punctuates his lame explanation with a hiss that makes Steve (now the chief of egging him on) snicker into his chest.

Yuck.

Dustin groans at the sounds of Toto crooning from the TV, whining when he catches Eddie of all people, mouthing along to the words.

Maybe he should just get it over and done with and call Hellfire for an emergency talk about their (decidedly no longer 'metal') Dungeon Master. They were already talking about it. Even Gareth, Jeff and George were willing to overthrow Eddie and replace him with Will if it meant some consistent campaigns without a fawning Steve lingering around asking silly questions - all an excuse to lamely flirt and grab Eddie's already-waning attention.

Although, it might be more effective at this point to simply disable Steve's cable access...

"What!" he screeches at the sight of Robin shuffling in from the kitchen, slurping away at some cereal.

She stops mid-spoonful, gawking. A Cheerio slops onto her chin before dripping down onto her sweater without her noticing.

"Hey," she mumbles through a mouthful nonchalantly.

She squishes past the lovebirds to sit in the empty spot next to Steve - which is basically three-quarters of the couch considering his proximity to Eddie.

"Why are you here?"

Robin shrugs, "Kid, this is the only way I can spend time with Steve that doesn't involve being at work."

"Are you fucking kidding me!"

Steve grumbles, "I'm not going with you, dude."

"But we made these plans a week ago."

"No, I don't wanna."

"Henderson," Eddie pipes up, overly stern alongside Steve's baby-whining ass, "We just want some peace and quiet."

"Can't we just chill out, Dustin?" Steve begs as if they aren't like this all the time these days.

Before Dustin can express his utter disappointment, Steve retreats into Eddie's chest and pulls their blanket up to cover himself completely. Eddie just continues petting the mass glued to his side as Dustin scrubs a hand over his own face, resigning himself to an arcade session alone.

Robin whines, likely annoyed that their communal blanket is now being hogged by a total traitor of a friend. She reaches forward to deposit her cereal bowl on the coffee table with a pointed thud. Clearly 'spending time with Steve' just means being a rickety third wheel that eventually topples off the proverbial clown car entirely.

"I'll come with you to the arcade," she says, jumping up and rushing towards him.

She rolls her eyes in the direction of the cocooned duo on the couch.

"Really?" he can't help but beam and as Robin nods, a toothy, even guilty smile creeps across her face.

"But I don't have any money," she admits, chewing her bottom lip.

Fuck it, he'll take it.

Dustin grabs her arm and begins leading them to the door, grumbling as Robin's socks slip on Mrs Harrington's shiny floorboards.

He calls over his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll just find a new older friend. I hate you two."

"Fine," Eddie chimes, matching his mocking singsong tone.

Steve just grunts something Dustin doesn't catch, he's too busy listening to Robin launching into a series of complaints about the prospect of walking back to the town centre from Loch Nora.

Robin stops mid-rant as she tries to spin at the same time she hops into one of her boots, almost falling straight into the coat rack.

She frowns, "Did you just imply we weren't friends, Little Dude?"

Dustin pinches his nose, "Are you coming, or not?"

Eddie watches, craning his neck to peek over to the front door. When he hears it click shut, he flicks the blanket away and begins pulling on Steve's pyjama sleeve.

"Now that Rob is gone, you wanna get back in bed, Stevie-Bear?"

He is practically on his feet before he finishes talking, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Steve leaps up and wraps his arms around his middle, already setting about waddling them as one cozy blob towards the stairs.

"Duh."

[the-lark-ascending69]

Any headcanons for the "Vickie instead of Eddie" AU?

Thank you sm for asking im so excited abt this au

In one hand I feel like I'm just genderswapping Eddie, or replacing him with an OC, because we know so little about Vickie that I'd be mostly making things up, so in order to avoid that I want to take a moment to properly analyze what we have on Vickie so far:

She's in band.

She volunteers to make food for the homeless

She feels selfish for complaining about her boyfriend with everything going on

She rambles when nervous, apparently, just like Robin.

She likes Fast Times and left her boyfriend over it, because he said it had no plot (possibly indicates a deeper understanding of movies)

It's little but I think it'll do. What I want to focus on is her kindness and selflessness, which already sets her apart from Eddie. Not that I think Eddie is particularly selfish, but "kind" isn't the first word to come to mind when you want to describe him.

However, in order for the AU to work, we need to translate some Eddie Traits, or Eddie Situations, onto Vickie, those being:

A reason for her to be accused of Chrissy's murder.

A reason for her not to go to the police.

A reason for the town to fear her.

Living in the trailing park, near Max's trailer.

Some loose connection to the Hawkins Crew to explain why they even care to dig deeper into the case.

The obvious connection to draw there would be Robin's crush - she notices when Vickie doesn't show up at school the next day, she talks to Steve about it, Steve dismisses it as her skipping school, etc. One interesting thing to work with is Robin's tendency to both project on other people and idealize them, which is very present in her book and podcast. She thinks she can just "observe" people and make a perfect image of them in her head, often based on her own biases, despite reality being different. She did this when she was 15, so idk of she'd still do it at 18, but I do think she idealizes Vickie a little, even in the show - she calls her the girl of her dreams without knowing her, for fuck's sake.

So now she's making up explanations as to why Vickie couldn't possibly have killed Chrissy when Max shows up and tells them she saw her running away from the crime scene. Everyone is confused as to why Robin keeps defending her despite not knowing a thing about her. She later asks Steve if she was too obvious ("Maybe a little obvious," he says "but they probably still think we're secretly dating or whatever, so you're good for now").

Now, a reason for Vickie to be accused of Chrissy's murder... I have a few ideas:

A) They were friends, and she was with her when she died (only explanation as to why she wouldn't tell the police is that she killed her).

B) She was a drug dealer, much like Eddie, and Chrissy went to her (most interesting scenario in my opinion. The juxtaposition of "cute petite girl" and "drug dealer" is very sweet to me, and it would really defy Robin's expectations).

C) She was a rumored queer, and the persecution has a strong homophobic edge to it. They only think she killed her because she's a lesbian (which is pretty much the same as a man in their eyes), and she didn't go to the police because she knew they'd think she did it.

I like B and C, I'm going with those.

So, Robin insists this couldn't possibly be, and Dustin is like "dude, she ran from the police. From the police, man" ("to be fair, I think Nancy did that like a fifty times", Steve says), and Max will say something like "actually, there is something", [insert peculiar observation + plausible alternate expalantion as to what that might mean and how it could make Vickie innocent]. More focused on figuring out whether or not this is Upside Down related or not, the Hawkins crew begin looking for Vickie, find her at Reefer Rick's etc. She doesn't react violently like Eddie did - she's small and meek and curled into a corner, crying softly. Robin finds her, and talks to her. Things unravel from there.

Idk how different the story would be. Vickie wouldn't die, for starters, because part of the point in doing this is creating a complex love interest for Robin. Another thing to take into account would be Vickie not being confirmed queer until the very end. Keep Robin on her toes. She has no idea whether or not they're just ugly rumors, and honestly she just feels worse throwing herself at her with the entire town calling her a murderous dyke, stalking poor teenage girls.

Her personality is entirely different from Eddie's too. While Eddie is loud, selfish, cowardly and likes to be an asshole to kids, Vickie is kind and sweet and treats kids very well. She becomes friends with Max and Lucas and always checks on them. Being in band, she's been to all of Lucas' games, so she's seen his progress, she knows he's great. And being neighbors with Max means she's knocked on her door with a cacerole in her hands whenever Max's mom wasn't there for the night - she figured Max might be hungry. They don't know how to feel about the drugs thing, but they like her.

I think it would be nice to make her... not as similar to Robin in personality. I wouldn't make her as talkative or rambly, rather, I'd make her introspective and introverted. Soft-spoken. Also, with a lot of trauma. Something something mom also sold drugs, got arrested, now she keeps doing this to survive because she has no other way to make money + she probably has debts, etc. Give her a more melancholic edge. I think that would be quite fitting.

She and Robin develop a friendship through the season, getting together somewhere in S5.

[darkimpala1897]

Eddie's spirit being trapped in the Creel house with Barb, Billy, Jason, Patrick, Chrissy and pretty much everyone else that got killed by the upside down, Eddie's on going theory was that if you die in alternative dimension you don't exactly get to cross over instead you're trapped in the overlords house. Eddie tried escaping for the millionth time. Chrissy laughs finding him cute, she was sitting on the stairs.

Chrissy: "Jason tried that already, I'm pretty sure Billy threw Fred out a window that didn't work either."

Eddie groaning under his breath, because he wanted out, he wanted to see Steve again he wanted to see his uncle.

Eddie: "Great, what about Barb she's been here the longest does she have any theory's."

Chrissy shook her head, she hasn't actually seen Barb but she knows she's here their all connected somehow.

Chrissy: "I haven't actually seen her, she's here though I think she gave up a long time ago. I think slowly but surely you lose who you use to be the longer you're dead."

Eddie ran a hand through his hair, he didn't want ghost dementia he looked around seeing people he doesn't even recognize but they all looked like Billy with those black veins.

Eddie: "How long till we get ghost dementia?"

Chrissy shrugs she wasn't exactly sure. But at the same time she watched as her 86 necklace faded away, it was happening to her.

Chrissy: "I don't know think it has to do with you're will power, I have seen some spirits like Patrick lose who they were in matter of days, hours, minutes, I think Barb was the longest three years and now she's just gone."

Eddie wanted to pull out his own hair, when he imagined his afterlife he didn't imagine this.

Eddie: "I need to talk to Steve, where's Jason and Billy?"

Chrissy: "Upstairs why?"

Eddie having a bright idea, he pointed towards the old phone.

Eddie: "If we can't get out, maybe I can channel Billy's and Jason's anger into some power and I can call Steve."

Chrissy: "Eddie, if you really love him you can't do that don't you think Barb tried calling Nancy."

Eddie: "Why can't I do that?"

Chrissy: "Because it's selfish to him because there's nothing he can do to help you."

Eddie just wanted to talk to Steve that was it, he just wanted to hear his voice.

Eddie: "I just want to hear him talk one more time."

Eddie looked towards Chrissy seeing her eyes were white, she was giving up.

Chrissy: "I know Ed believe me I know."

Eddie: "You're leaving me to aren't you?"

Chrissy just smiles sadly, she couldn't fight it anymore.

Chrissy: "I'm sorry."

Eddie: "No don't be."

Eddie went back to staring at the phone thinking about Steve, Dustin, Gareth, Kevin and Jeff how much he missed them. He looked at his hands watching as he rings started to fade, at least he survived this hell for almost year. Maybe he will finally be at peace.

[cosmorom]

who i think can/can't die in st5 and why (long post):

eleven: it's pretty plausible she could die like a hero with a sacrifice, when she'll fight against henry again, but i simply don't believe it because it dosen't make sense? for all her narrative we see how she dosen't want being compared to a hero, she doesn't want to be a hero. el wants to be loved for who she is, not because she's cool with powers and she saved the world like 3(?) times. she wants to be loved like el, not 011. if in s5 they don't finish her story arc and put her at peace with herself, duh her death will just be heartbreaking and unfair. i would like to see that in some way, at the end of everything, she'll lose her powers (like in s3) and she just be in peace with her family and friends. however, this doesn't mean that the probability of her death is low.

will: well he just can't die because 1) the previous seasons will be like useless? the whole story starts because will is alive and has to survive (talking abt s1). 2) will is literally the only one who never had his happy ending at every end of the seasons. and he suffered enough. just give his happy ending with the boy he is in love with and with the love of his family. obviously, knowing him, if his intervention (even risky) is needed to kill vecna, he would not think twice and would immediately offer to die for the others, as he has already demonstrated. i just can't think about the fact that he will suffer more in the next season until the end (bc he will). give him a BREAK.

max: well the situation is actually complicated. she can die as she can't. i think if they wanted to kill max they killed her in s4. so i'm not totally sure about her. i mean clinically she was (or is she?) dead...her mind is lost (in vecna's?). i don't know. i have doubts. i hope she won't leave us for good.

lucas: i don't think he'll die duh, he won't

dustin: recently, after, some declarations by the actors... i have a lot of doubts about dustin. pratically there's a lot question and theories that he could die with steve ("if you die, i die"), and this totally makes sense. yet dustin is devasted about eddie's (and max's) deaths, and we will see this much more clearly in the next season. i don't know if he will tolerate even steve's (we'll talk about him later). i don't know, i'm scared about him. i'll explain better later.

mike: so, i think they'll do something with mike like vecna'd but he won't die. just sayin': what would be the happy ending for will if mike died? yeah, this is a pretty selfish example, but it's the truth. and mike just can't die, he deserves some happines in this somewhat dark period for him. i swear i will punch someone (a lot of dudes) if he dies.

erica: nah she's a girlboss she just can't die

suzie: no

nancy: she's a girlboss too but i'm not sure she's totally safe rn, it's not sure that she won't die, that's it.

robin: there's not any reason for killing her, facts.

argyle: duh???

jonathan: doubts. many doubts. too many doubts. he could. duh i don't want this.

steve: 99,9% he's fucked. listen. it's too obvious. in the next season he will (finally) understands and accepts that he dosen't need romantic love in his life to be happy (reminds me of someone or am i wrong? right, el?) and he will probably die like a hero or something. he's the only one with (almost) full character development, when jonathan still has many things to solve. and the fans love steve. he'll die. and if dustin will die with him i'd- anyway...talking again about dustin. i'm scared about the fact that when (not if) steve dies, he will die in dustin arms (like someone else, his name starts with e and finish with ddie munson.) my boy dustin will be so fucking tired.

eddie: "he seems pretty fucking dead to me" lmfao i'm sorry

vickie: nah

joyce: she can't right????

hopper: he already cosplayed Jesus, that's enough

murray: probably.

enzo: also probably.

lonnie: yes because he deserves it.

vecna-001-henry: yes.

[kurokoros]

Based on how Nancy acts in the other seasons, she would 100% hold it against Steve when he wouldn't come along to the weekly dinner with the Hollands. Just the little side comment she gave Jonathan after their fight in s3 ("I hope you never doubt me again") implies she can hold grudges. And it would be especially true for this instance, as she already blames Steve to some degree for Barb's death. So it's literally the least Steve can do in her mind. I totally agree with you that he probably felt awkward as those people and Barb are strangers, he didn't have a connection. Combine this with his guilt, or knowledge that Barb died in his pool and her parents still thinking she's alive, I wouldn't want to go either. Also during that time he was visibly stressed out with school, the college admission essay was due and he already felt like not really knowing what to do after HS. (Literally the way they set him up in s3 by being too dumb makes me angry bc he already considered not going in s2, idk why we couldn't explore this route staying for Dustin for example instead of dumbing him down and making fun of his intelligence.) So him wanting to focus on his future isn't selfish or makes him a bad boyfriend. I mean Barb's parents also were not 100% comfortable, it's awkward for everyone.

I also wish we could have gotten some flashbacks, but realistically the Duffers would paint Steve as the villain in totally reasonable situations because they can't write characters really well but they need him to be horrible for J/ncy to be happening. Nancy isn't someone who has great empathy if it doesn't concern her, the Duffers would just spin it in a way they usually did with St/ncy or Nancy, in that she's in the right and he's just the dumb horrible boyfriend.

We could have gotten some great development out of Steve in S2 outside of just st/ncy, but instead here we are.

[intergalacticaquarium]

Eddie Munsons guide to being Max Mayfields new brother

Are you an outcast that likes to find other outcasts and make them feel less alone? Has an extremely depressed and self isolating teenager moved in 50 feet away from you who has some preexisting brother issues that could be solved with a helpful and kind new brother? This guide is for you!

-fix things that break. Doesn't matter if it looks bad after u tried and she appreciates that

-if ur just throwin some firecrackers, offer a few

-it's not safe for teens to get into vans with people they only just became friends with! Circumvent any bad precidents by saying she can hold onto the bumper while he drives her to the arcade!

-get ur ass kicked at the arcade. Provide tokens and play to your actual skill ability or she'll know. She will still win.

-first time actually giving her a ride? Prevent any nerves and/or future encounters in other cars by offering Max a knife. She can keep it too.

-if you find a microwave that's broken and wanna put stuff in it- invite max! She may even bring some things to try

-make sure to get a matching set of helmets, goggles, gloves, knee pads, and elbow pads. Child endangerment is no longer a concern

-these things will come in handy when you ask her to teach you to skateboard.

-offer to teach her guitar instead when she bans you from future skateboarding encounters due to inevitable death

-teach her Kate Bush songs. Learn Kate Bush songs. Resent how much you enjoy the Kate Bush songs. Sing along poorly to the Kate Bush songs (remember these, it may come in handy)

Benefits to Max choosing to adopt you as her new big brother: throws hands with any bully even if you're not that bothered, will help find you after seeing somebody's bones explode and will accompany you on an adventure

Cons: severe psychological harm will come from knowing that your new sisters bones could explode too at any moment and you're kinda stuck here in a boat house thinking about it

WARNINGS: no matter what kind of self sacrificial redemption you think you need to prove you're bravery, DO NOT die for Max. This is the source of her trauma and she doesn't need another one. Survive and sing Kate Bush loudly and poorly while Jason beats the crap out of you, the pre-established connection to your terrible singing is important. This will get Max out of her trance before any real damage is done.

Congratulations! You're excellent and wholesome real brother and sister by choice relationship has saved both of you and created a fix it universe! Max and Eddie's adopting each other increases their rate of survival by 80%!

[persage]

My Responsibility -S.Harrington

Part 3- Poison

Whump! Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: After the events of Season 4, Steve must deal with the consequences of his injuries. When his condition worsens, only the reader realizes it and the truth is much scarier than you expected.

Part 2 Masterlist Part 4

Tags: Whump! Angst! Romance! Found Family trope. Steve HarringtonxBest Friend Reader. Also in this chapter a lot of Dustin, Steve and Robin and even a little bit of Steve and El

Taglist @redheadedfangirl1 @hcloangcls @thestarsandtheircoffee @johnricharddeacy @gloryofroses19 @xsammijoanneex @carpediem1219 @lexiecamposv I really hope you enjoy this part, thank you all for your support ❤️

If you want to be added on the tag list just ask

"It's like poison" Hopper says, arms folded, a thoughtful expression. In more than a day this is all you have: a vague theory you can't be one hundred percent sure about. Nothing is certain when it comes to the Upside Down.  Meanwhile those damn black veins are starting to cover Steve Harrington's neck too, leaving little room for hope. This isn't a possession, not at all a Will situation, and you find yourself wishing it was, 'cause it's something you've already gone through, something Steve can be saved from. Sadly, luckiness has stopped being on your side lately and are stuck with only a supposition and no solution, while real venom circulates in your friend's body slowly killing him. Dustin hasn't left Steve's side for a second, despite his silence and his protests. The image of Eddie Munson's lifeless body chases the boy like a ghost and he knows that if something  happens to Steve too - something bad, something definitive - he wouldn't survive. Harrington is the most important person in his life at the moment. He's his brother even if he tries to push him away. With Dustin, Steve is less harsh than he's been with you. When he looks at those hopeful, innocent eyes, forced to live horror from an early age, he can't be as cruel as he would like. Also Henderson has probably understood what he's doing, the kid's always been too smart.

"You won't protect us this way. You won't protect me, neither Robin. Or Y/N. You are making it worse" Ha snaps, looking down at him. Dustin has been standing beside the bed for hours, his back against the door like a guardian angel.

"I don't know what are you talking about shithead"

"I'm serious. She deserves to know the truth." He insists, Harrington shakes his head and denies. "There is nothing to say."

"You love her. She loves you." The kid is direct, too much. Steve's heart turns upside down on hearing certain words. He knows, maybe he has always known, and probably it's because he kicked out you yesterday or the fact that he's about to die and you haven't spoken since then, but every letter that comes out of Dustin's mouth hits him with the force of a bullet.

"You've spent years making things complicated between you for no reason. It's stupid." Henderson is right, you have always found a way to make things between you two difficult. Steve with Nancy, you with Mark Dallas and then someone else whose name he doesn't even remember 'cause none of them mattered. In the end, what's left after each failed relationship is you and him. He has wasted time and now time it's running out, you're not with him and if there is anyone in the world who deserves his love and his last words, that is you. You have defended and endured him, you have slept together through the worst nights and woke up stronger. You've been beaten by Russians and worse you have faced his father - his damn scary father - for him. You have collected his secrets and saw the good in King Steve when no one else could. Steve has never known loneliness from the day he met you and as the prospect of leaving this world grows more concrete, he realizes he doesn't want to die without you.

Selfish. He wants to touch you again. Not like before, not like this. He wants to touch you softly, let his hands slide down your neck and breasts and feel the skin against yours. He would kiss you. He would make love to you for the first and last time and he would be happy. He would be fine.

"Steve you should ..."

"I won't."

"You won't what?" Dustin asks.

"Drag her down with me. I can't and I won't."

"Stupid idiot" Henderson mutters, discouraged.

"You shouldn't be here." Harrington warns, lifting his head slightly to look at the kid in the eye. He fuckin' loves that boy, he would give everything to erase all the shit he has seen.

"Steve." His voice is full of pain. He has never really had any male authority figure to look up to in his life and one day Steve Harrington began to fill the role for him in his own weird way. "Please, don't die. I can't lose you too."

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

The second day passes faster than the first one. Unfortunately, time does not wait. Steve doesn't talk to you or even look at you. He is suffering like a caged animal. You know exactly what his stupid plan is. It's nothing different from what he has been doing for all his life: it' s like putting an arm in front of you in an attempt to protect you during a car crash, like diving in front of a danger. There's only a tiny difference: now he feels like he is the danger. You really want to shake him and yell at him until he regains some clarity but there's no time to talk, to convince him to let you come near and finally show him that you're not afraid and it's not his job to take care of your feelings, not while he's the one in danger. No, you don't have a single minute to discuss this kind of things, because you are desperately thinking of a solution. You're doing researches on the few books Nancy has managed to bring you, which have survived the destruction of the library and you're analyzing the situation, observing the evolution of his symtomps but that's not enough. You're going out of your mind. If only you could find a way, an antidote, then you shouldn't worry about his life anymore and you could scream at him angrily "You are acting like a child Harrington" and he'd wink at you or something, pretend nothing serious happened, then you would make peace. You always do. You feel your eyes close from fatigue, you haven't slept in days.

"You need to rest child, otherwise we'll have to take care of you too." Jim Hopper gently caress your face. Nights in Howkins, Indiana, are cold. The world is still split in half but you have forgotten it. You're smoking a cigarette and you don't say a word, your head resting on the man's shoulder. There is a strange peace. Then a cry. Now is your world which seems to really fall apart

Dustin wakes up in the dim lighting of the refuge taking a moment to gather his bearings. He keeps his eyes close, listening to the sounds around him. It sounds like... someone is suffocating? Oh no. Sitting up he looks around. He struggles to his feet, rushing closer to the bed. "Help!" He shouts. Hopper, Eleven and you are right next to him. Steve is lying on his back, mouth slightly parted as blood trickls down his lips and cheeks, dripping from his nose as well, eyes wide as he finds himself incapable to breathe. Eleven rolls him onto his side.

"Easy, kid, we've got you," Hop whispers.

"Help," Steve murmurs. "Please, please help me!" He is afraid. He is so afraid and he no longer cares to keep everyone away, to protect you. He doesn't want to die. Not now. Not ever. He's too young for this shit and he hasn't made his parents proud of him yet, he needs more. Just more. He doesn't want to lose you and doesn't want you to forget about him. Dustin cries, helpless.

"Y/N" Steve's eyes gain a little more clarity, "Y/N, please, I can't- I need -... I can't think. Robin, help me." Robin isn't even there. You feel bad because you have forced her to go home and now he needs her, he can't breathe and you just want to give him your lungs. You want him to live. Steve's head starts to fall and you place your trembling hands on either side of his face.

"Wake up!" You scream loudly. "Stay with me love, just stay awake for me please!"  His eyes roll back into his head and he is unconscious once more, feeling the pain slowly fade away, your face imprinted in his mind. Steve thinks that if he dies now at least it will be by your side. I'm so sorry Y/N.

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

Steve Harrington is not dead yet, contrary to what everyone thought. He rests under your watchful eyes, his breathing light and labored. You are more determined than ever. The way he has called your name, searching for you in his worst time like you were his only hope was like a punch in the stomach. No matter what this stubborn young man says: he needs you. He needs help and you won't let him go. You will  cope with your pain and your feelings later, now all you can do is walk back and forth.

"We need to find a solution quickly" Joyce says. She has run here with Nancy, Jonathan and Robin as soon as she found out what happened.

"Heat? Like with Will." Nancy proposes hopefully. You shake your head. "No this time it's different."

"Steve never complained about the heat, quite the contrary." Intervenes El, worried, occasionally glancing towards the room where the oldest boy rests. She has never had a strong bond with Steve, not like Dustin or Lucas, but he is part of the team and he has kept an eye on her during last years. He has bought her Eggos 'cause he knows how much she likes them, cooked his famous pancakes for her, secretly offered her free ice cream. Sometime he has even covered his escapades  from Hopper. Eleven doesn't want him to die, he doesn't deserve to. He deserves to be happy, to see his beloved hair turn white and he deserves to do it with you. You both need time. Eleven doesn't want to see you suffer.

"The boy wants the heat, he doesn't avoid it. He asked me for more blankets before." Hopper confirms, hugging Joyce. "He's got a fever it's normal" She replies, tired and worried. Once again you wish Steve could see them: they are all worried and they care for him. His parents may be out of town for work even during the apocalypse with their only son stuck in the middle of the disaster, without even the certainty that he is okay, but there are people who are fond of him. His parents never deserved him, but Steve has another family, gathered in a small room ready to do anything to protect him.

"Let's think again, it's a poison in his body and we have to take it out and slow the spread so ..." Nancy moves around the room, nervous as you are, a hand under her chin and a thoughtful gaze. "I have an idea." You state, looking at El. "You once pulled that monster out of your body." She nods.

"You can do it again." Dustin continues, understanding your plan.

"No, no. Stop, this time it's different. That stuff is in his blood, we can't let him bleed to death." This time it is Robin who is protesting. "There might be a solution." Admits El.

The plan is simple, or so it seems, the truth is it's scary and you don't know if you'll ever be ready to face it.  A tub full of ice is ready in the bathroom:"It will slow down the blood flow". With a small knife Hop will cut  Steve's skin superficially, from there Eleven will try to pull out that poison in the hope that it is not fused with his blood and it is somehow like a kind of parasite. You have no certainties but it is the only solution. Joyce is sitting in a small chair, she holds the first aid kit in her hands right now to take action.

Robin is sitting on the edge of his bed holding his hands while Steve continues to rest. He has never regained consciousness after the last attack. "It still seems crazy to me. We could kill him and if he dies, I will have to work alone in that shitty place and I don't want to, I can't. He...he is my best friend, platonic soulmate with a capital P. I can't bear to lose him... I can't let you do this to him, you can rather take my blood and do whatever you like with it but not this.He...will be so scared when he'll wake up. What if he freeze to death? What if..."

"Robin." You cut her off, stroking her hair. "He could die anyway. In fact, he certainly will if we don't try now." You take a deep breath. " I have always thought that being by his side is my mission for life, the purpose for which I was born for, especially in the last years of chaos and monsters. I ... he is the most important thing to me, I wouldn't do any of this if it wasn't the only chance we have."

You look at Steve and you feel so foolish. All those years together and you haven't been able to tell a stupid little boy that you love him with every muscle of your stupid little heart, more passionately and deeply than you've ever loved anyone in your life and now this thing, these words, they seem like the most natural thing in the world. They don't scare you anymore. You approach him, you talk in his ear hoping that some remote part of his mind can hear you.

"Don't die Harrington. You die, I die." He doesn't answer, he doesn't do anything, still unconscious. You feel that you are losing the pieces along the way, as if something has broken and you cannot fix it. He is slipping out of your hands and you can't hold him back.

[wheatdude]

Let Go

Pairing: One-Sided Will Byers/Mike Wheeler. Minor Mike Wheeler/Jane Hopper

Summary: Will thought that things would change now that he's back in Hawkins to help destroy Vecna, how foolish of him. | set after s4vol2.

Warnings: angst oops, unrequited love, mention of suicidal thoughts but blink and you'll miss.

Word Count: 1k

A03 link | Wattpad link

--

Will felt ashamed.

For how could he, a boy, have a stupid crush on another boy? 

It’s sinful and inhumane and God would throw him straight to hell the second he dies, whether it would be by his own selfish hands or someone else’s.

But god he could not resist, Mike Wheeler would be the death of him. 

The worst part of finding out he’s a queer was not knowing that he won’t be accepted, that he could be thrown away like some garbage, looked down upon, and harassed by the people of this town. But it’s knowing that his father was right, that he is a fairy and a fag, a disgusting freak. It angers Will and makes him feel even more disgusted with himself because how can a person like Lonnie be right about this?

“Will?”

“Earth to Will, you in there?”

“Sorry?” Will blinked, Jonathan was crouched in front of him, waving his hands back and forth at his face. 

“You okay, Will?” Jonathan asked, Will nodded and looked around the room. They were in Mike’s basement, Mike, El, and Dustin sat on the sofa together with El in the middle squished together by the two teenage boys. Lucas was on the floor beside Dustin’s legs, Will was surprised they managed to convince Lucas to come, he’d been stuck at Max’s side in the hospital not wanting to leave her alone in case she woke up. 

“Where are the others?” Will asked, Robin, Steve and Nancy were here just a minute ago. How did he miss them leaving?

“Robin and Steve went to the School to help out again and Nancy wanted a walk alone.” Will cringed at the mention of Nancy wanting to be alone, she and Jonathan have been walking on eggshells ever since they came back to Hawkins, “We have to leave, Hopper’s worried about Jane.”

Jonathan stood up and called to El that they have to leave. 

“Awe, so soon already? She barely just got here!” Mike called out, putting his hands around El’s shoulder.

Jonathan shook his head, “Sorry man, you know that she’s still wanted, we’re sacrificing a lot just by having her here.”

El patted Mike’s hand and stood up, “Goodbye, Mike.” She smiled at him before waving at all the others, “I will see you guys soon!”

Jonathan led Will and El up the stairs, not before Will and him said their goodbyes. 

Vecna or Henry hasn’t shown himself ever since the big ‘earthquake’ happened, people have been evacuating, and the small town's population grows even smaller every day. The party has convinced their parents to stay just a little longer, they’re lucky they’ve managed to stay this long. Shops have closed, the gas prices get more expensive every day and the weather has only gotten worse the more time passes. 

Will feels Vecna, feels him lurking around, growing stronger every day and watching him. Will grabs the back of his neck, ignoring Jonathan’s worried glance from the driver's seat. They lost, and Will is afraid they’ll lose again. 

He lived in constant terror just waiting until Vecna will take him, make him join his ‘army’, and have him as his soldier. Will shuddered, the mere memory of the pain he felt, the burning, and the ‘visions’ that weren’t his. 

Will glanced out the car's window, watching the spore-covered trees pass by. Jonathan was driving just below the speed limit, the cold making the road more slippery.  

They arrived at Hopper's cabin, staying there temporarily until they defeated Vecna. It was a bit cramped, Will and El stayed in her room together, and Will slept on a bunch of blankets for at least a bit of comfort. Jonathan was in the living room as well as Hopper and Joyce, Jonathan on the small couch, and Hopper and Joyce on the bed. 

It was a bit awkward being in El’s room, sure they got along fine, great even. But when Mike came to visit it was embarrassingly awkward, Will felt like he was in the way and got looks from Mike indicating that he should piss off and leave them alone. He knows Mike wouldn’t say it out loud but he sends the message across with the looks he gives him and his body language. 

Will doesn’t show it but it hurts, he was away just as long as his sister was so why does she get more attention than he does? If only they could switch places, Will would do anything to be with Mike the way she is and he feels horrible for thinking like that because El deserves the world. After everything, she’s been through and going through she deserves happiness. 

“Hey, did you guys have fun?” Joyce called out from the kitchen when they ran inside the cabin, avoiding the cold air outside, immediately getting out of the damp winter clothes. 

“Yes!” El answered. 

“What’s for dinner?” Jonathan asked, walking over to Joyce and looking over her shoulder to see what was in the pot she was stirring.

“I’m heating tomato soup, there weren't a lot of options in the grocery store.” Joyce answered as she took the pot from the stove, “You guys hungry?”

Will shook his head, “Sorry I’m not, I’ll be in El’s room.” He hugged his mom before walking to his sister’s room and going straight to his makeshift bed after closing the door. He didn’t see his brother and mom share a look after he closed it. 

Mike had smiled at him today, he rarely gets any attention from him when El’s around so he holds moments close when he does get something from him.

He’s not jealous. He’s not. 

Will hid under the covers, wanting to disappear right then and there. Screw the town, he’s done with all the bullcrap happening and just wanted things to go his way for once. It’s selfish, but after everything he’s been through he at least deserves something good happening, maybe it’s God’s horrible way of punishing him.  He’s ready to let Mike go. Fuck.

[metalheadcowboy]

Steve should be over it now, or at least that's what everyone said. Dustin, Nancy, everyone.

It was mid-November, almost six months since Billy died and still he couldn't find a reason to get out of bed in the morning. A reason not to just lay in bed all day and blankly stare at the wall in thought, or mindlessly at the small TV Robin moved up to his room in hopes of cheering him up.

He only left his room if totally necessary and never left the house. Couldn't remember the last time he'd felt the sunshine on his skin, or the cool autumn breeze in his hair. Felt like it'd be selfish to enjoy it now that Billy wasn't here to, now that his lover was gone and he couldn't do anything about it.

That was until one fateful day, while he was making a PB & J sandwich because, "C'mon dingus, you need to eat, basic human necessity.", he heard a soft scratching at his back sliding doors. He tried to ignore it, but it only seemed to get louder, and louder, and louder until-

"Mow~"

He perked up at this, finished spreading his peanut butter onto his bread before walking quicker than usual to the glass doors. Robin gave him a strange look from the couch, "Hey, hey, hey, not so fast-" she called but Steve was already gone.

When she found him again the brunette was staring down at a sandy colored cat on his back patio. The little things arms were stretched up to Steve, paw-pads pressed firmly against the glass as it gave him another insistent "Mowww" clearly wanting to be let in.

Steve pressed his hand to the glass, nose too trying to get a better look at the creature, only for a moment before he was opening up the back door for it.

"Are you crazy, Harrington? What if that thing has fleas, or scratches you and you get a disease? What then?" Robin ranted, never being too fond of animals. But next thing she knew the cat was rubbing itself all over Steve's legs, clawing at his calf for extra attention and Robin was going to protest some more but then she saw her best friends smile. The small upturn of the corners of his mouth, more than she'd seen from him in months as he reached down to scratch the cat behind its...

His pointy ears and- "Jesus, Steve." She sighed, knowing there was no way to get out of this now as the mangy cat rolled over onto Steve's socked foot for belly rubs.

"Kinda look like Billy," Steve spoke quietly as he plopped himself down on the tile floor, voice gruff and tired, "Don't you think?"

"Listen, you gotta quit with that stuff man-"

"I'm serious Rob!" Steve insisted, frowning up at her before looking back at the cat, running his fingers through it's almost blonde colored coat, "You know how people say animals can be signs from past loved ones?"

"Steve, stop it-"

"Well what if-"

"Steve, stop!" Steve looked up at her with wide eyes and an almost scared expression. The room went quiet and she could barely make out the tears pricking the corners of the boys eyes, "Shit, I didn't-"

Quickly Steve stood up, cat in his arms and stormed off, sound of a door slamming ringing through the house.

"Dammit!" Robin cursed herself, huffing angrily. She thought what she was doing was right, that she should advert Steve from these sort of things. That's what the therapist she consulted said, but maybe she was wrong. Hell if she knew.

She gave Steve a while, about an hour before she finished the sandwich and tried to bring it up to him.

"'M sorry, Steve," she apologized, giving a weak knock on the door to his bedroom, "Can I come in." No response.

She knocked again, "Please, I really am sorry." Once again, no answer. At this point she was worried, so she let herself in, peaking in before actually walking in.

She could only make out what was illuminated by the TV and the sun seeping in through the window blinds. But if there was one thing for sure Steve was out like a light, dead asleep assuming his regular curled up position. But he wasn't hugging a pillow like usual. Instead he had the cat in his arms, holding the animal, who also looked to be asleep close as he took an afternoon catnap.

And Robin really didn't need another little shit to take care of, but if it made Steve happy she'd live with it.

[red-doll-face]

I just found your blog and I LOVE IT.

If I might ask: What’s your saddest dbd headcanons (killers or survivors)

Call me crazy, but I must know! ❤️

Ohh this one was a good one but it hurt me so badddd, ahhh. I’m glad to share , I have some bad dbd brain rot lmaooo I didn’t do every character so I hope these are ok 🥺 these are a bit long too

Sad Dead by Daylight Hcs

Claudette Morel:

Claudette is one of the criers. Probably cries while getting mori’d and can't help the tears during the really bad matches. Her pain tolerance isn’t very high, hence the willingness to waste time healing herself if it means she can stop being in so much pain.

Meg Thomas:

Spends time alone thinking about her past life. Her mother is a subject that makes her really frustrated. People mentioning their moms makes her a little standoffish. Wishes she had a chance to say goodbye in some way.

Ace Visconti:

Ace doesn't have much family to even miss him. He wonders if they noticed he’s gone or hasn’t come back. Maybe they think he hit big bucks and left them behind. Ace is stuck really. Even if he were to go back, he’d be dead or working off his debt.

Feng Min:

Gets super mad when she loses, it makes her so angry that she doesn’t control the trials. She blames other people for her losses but actually is very critical of herself. Casts the blame on others so she doesn't have to face her own mistakes.

David King:

All of his perks are about putting his ass on the line for his teammates yet everyone seems to think he’s selfish and a dumb brute. David doesn't know what to do to be more approachable; genuinely wants to be seen as a friend.

Laurie Strode:

Laurie never got the chance to mourn her friends. She thought she won. Finding out she’ll never truly escape Michael or be able to forget him makes her so mad. When she gets Michael in trials she makes sure the glass in her pocket is extra jagged and serrated.

Jane Romero:

Jane only wanted recognition and acknowledgement. Everything she's worked so hard for feels like a waste for her now. She should have spent more time on herself or with her father. Jane feels like she has no purpose anymore besides running and screaming for the enjoyment of the entity.

Yui Kimura:

Yui can’t stand the Clown or the Stealth Killers. Reminds her of bad memories. When she loses against killers like ghostface, she is especially angry.Her fighting spirit can’t help her actually get back at them.

Zarina Kassir:

Spent so much time fighting inequality only to spend the rest of her life where the odds are never in favor of the survivors. Where the oppressed are destined to lose. Each one of the people is subjugated, both killer and survivor and there's nothing she can do to free them.

Cheryl Mason:

She's been through literal hell and back just to end up in a weird recurring nightmare. At least Silent Hill had an escape. She's killed a god and somehow someone her size with a boxcutter can kill her? Huh.

Élodie Rakoto:

Feels guilty over the loss of her parents and feels extremely disillusioned by this realm. It's so much more boring than she thought it would be. All of her searching and traveling was not worth this shithole.

Steve Harrington:

Steve, though 18, is very much still a kid. Steve is naive about certain things and his optimism gets chipped away at a lot. Wasn’t too enthusiastic at having to care or look after Dustin and his friends but misses having people to protect.

Jeff Johannson:

Someone who definitely ends up taking hooks for people and ends up dying. Has a reputation among the killers as a survivor who is easy to leverage during the endgame because he will try for that save.

Kate Denson:

Feels very lucky to even have her guitar. The other survivors didn't get to bring many things with them. Makes her feel a little bad when she Often feels too worn out and exhausted by the trials to play it.

Quentin Smith:

Unfortunately stuck in pseudo-hell with his abuser. Gets really anxious against Freddy. Leans on his fellow survivors. Will sometimes accidentally bring Freddy to others in an attempt to get Freddy the hell away for him.

Evan ‘The Trapper’ Macmillan:

Actually has tried on numerous occasions to remove the metal rods and shrapnel embedded in his skin. It hurts like hell and just when he thinks he’s got it, he loses grip. These attempts never work.

Philip ‘The Wraith’ Ojomo:

When he’s alone, Philip will try and talk to himself. His vocal cords are warped, his voice a scratchy growl and garbled gurgle. He remembers what he used to sound like but he tries talking less and less.

Max ‘The Hillbilly’ Thompson Jr.:

Besides being named after someone who locked him away for most of his life? Max has to rest a lot between trials. The constant movement puts strain on him and causes him dull pain. His back causes him a lot of grief. The Entity is barely merciful.

Michael ‘The Shape’ Myers:

Meant to be forgotten by everyone who ever knew of him and he knows it. Loomis, after deciding that Michael couldn't be ‘fixed’ just hoped that the system would swallow him. If it weren't for the entity, Michael knows he'd either be dead or caught and back with Loomis.

Bubba ‘The Cannibal’ Sawyer:

Used to be one of the nicer killers to go against and might have been sweet to certain survivors who deserved kindness. But the Entity punished him for it. Bubba isn't very nice anymore. Probably a little meaner to avoid being in trouble again.

Amanda ‘The Pig’ Young:

Another one down to give second chances, much like the second chance she saw in John Kramer. Doesn’t do this a lot however, therefore escaping the ire of the Entity. She’s spent a lifetime hurting others emotionally and physically. Now, she’ll spend an eternity.

Rin ‘The Spirit’ Yamaoka:

The pain and anguish is so heavy but time is no cure in a place where time is nonexistent. No happiness to replace her rage. Especially in a place where her anger is a weapon for a greater power. Also has tried to pull the glass out of her skin and press her limbs back together. Can’t stand to see herself in the mirror.

Adiris ‘The Plague’:

Her body is always on the precipice of falling apart. Her skin rots; her flesh aches and feels like it will tear away at any moment. She is immortalized yet so close to death. Her body hurts so much but she has a purpose to serve. (makes me even sadder bc jannneeeee my mainnnnn😔)

Kazan ‘The Oni’ Yamaoka:

Misses his son. Never got to see him grow up, considering he;s already met his descendant. Proud from a distance because that's all he can be. The beginning of something so angry that it passes down his family line.

Caleb ‘The Deathslinger’ Quinn

During his life, was under the control of people who made him work for their gain who used him. The Entity emphasizes the killers as a position of power but Caleb does much of the same here. Works and works. Never for himself.

Pyramid Head ‘The Executioner’:

His existence has always included pain. He’s not quite sure what it’s like without it. He’s made several efforts to take the pyramid off. It pulls painfully at his neck. Makes awful groaning noises and roars.

Ji-Woon ‘The Trickster’ Hak:

Has never been much more than entertainment for other people since he was a child. Never expected to be much more. To the point that now, if he doesn't feel impressive in some way, he feels incomplete. The entity is his way to really indulge his ‘true artistry’.

Yun-Jin Lee:

A bit selfish when it comes to surviving. A few people around the campfire dont like her for that reason. Some of the meaner people will even leave her behind because they remember all of the times Yun-Jin might have done something similar.

Thanks for reading!!! I’m sorry I don’t post often but I have Shit ton of hw and I recently started a new project sooo ya know 💖💖💖

[share-the-damn-bed]

On the one part of the love triangle dying ask.

Tbh, I've long thought Steve was going to die in the final season. Not for any ship reasons though, honestly that makes me hope he doesn't, I just thought it made sense with his character and as an emotional blow to fans.

I know that sounds harsh, but genuinely, we will lose at least one person from season 1, and from a writing perspective, I think Steve makes the most sense. Admittedly some of my reasoning takes meta into account too.

Starting with the kids:

Eleven: could die, but something about her storyline feels more like it should be about finally finding freedom rather than dying to save people

Mike: Honestly, I'm cool with it, but his role in the story, he feels like the least likely character out of everyone to die. Like you know? He's not quite the protagonist, but he was kinda set up as that somewhat in season 1, and even though he's drifted from the role by a lot, he still just feels safe

Lucas: I mean, Idk about the Duffers, but something about killing the only POC character from the original cast leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Will: Too much suffering and pain and story is centered around him. I could see him dying, but I could also see them using his story to end at least somewhat happily to give him a break. He's gonna go through Hell, but considering he never seemed to get the happy time, it feels like they would want to give him that for the ending (imo)

Dustin: Of the kids, he's kinda the most likely in my head. Just both his story and for meta reasons, he has the least keeping him from dying imo. Plus like, him dying would actually hurt so much, because he is truly the kind one who would leave a scar on every character if he died

Teens:

Jonathan: Him dying actually feels so counterproductive to what his story should be. Like him being so selfless and putting everyone he cares about ahead of himself, stepping into a parental role, working to help his mother with money, even feeling like he should break up with Nancy to ensure she gets a happy life, he is always one to give for others since the beginning, and it feels he should learn to value himself more, which doesn't fit with him being killed.

Nancy: Ok, she has more a chance of dying than Jonathan, but idk. She kinda fills the role of main character for the teens of the show, and honestly has heavy final girl energy, which I mean, does put her at risk if the Duffers want to subvert those tropes, but I guess we'll see.

Steve: Was meant to die in season 1. He has the biggest death flags because he started out a little more selfish and stuff than others. Him dying to save people almost feels like that's what his story has been leading up to. And I know he's been more than redeemed, and he has risked his life to save people already, so he doesn't actually need to die for them, but it just also feels right from a story telling perspective too if they want to kill someone off. He has long been my number one theory for dying because of this. Also the fact that fans love him means that it adds that gut punch even more, which you couldn't achieve as well with say Jonathan (who I love, don't get me wrong, but he isn't as loved as Steve). Doesn't help that his main mode of fighting is to fully engage in combat with creatures that are stronger than him.

Adults:

Joyce: She's been through a lot, her kids have been through a lot, she's had a shit life, and it feels like they want to give her the happy ending with Hopper.

Hopper: fake out death at the end of season 3 all but confirmed he survives the whole show to me.

Sorry this is so long, it's just a summary of my thoughts. I didn't want to go into too much detail because it's already long enough, but yeah. Idk, I'm probably way off base, and tbh most people will likely disagree.

These are some really great insights and a great counter point to my Eleven perspective. I'm going to think about this a bit, Anon. Thanks for sharing!!!