#i love mungrove

[racketti]

June 10th: Animated Movie Day for @now-showing-at-the-hawk-events

Corpse Bride AU! Billy as Emily, Steve as Victor, and Eddie as Victoria

I love this movie and I love this ship so it makes sense to me

[kazhan-draws]

Happy 57th Birthday, old man. 🥰

[animangalover-writes]

Billy Hargrove fandom I love you. You are the only safe space in this cursed fandom❤️

[boffeeceans]

Was having some thoughts about Billy, Eddie, and Argyle childhood besties, and season 2 and 4 are pretty much-

[biillys]

yo the idea of billy throwing basketball games simply becos fuck jason carver uhh this got long oops

like. okay. so billy and eddie are outside at a party one night, it's cold as fuck, it's winter, the party's raging inside, but billy's like yeah fuck that. lets go smoke up outside. and drags eddie out there, pulling up some pool lounge chairs to lay on while they talk about nothing and everything.

then like. the back door swinging open and chrissy and jason stumbling out, chrissy looking on the verge of tears and jason looking like jason always does. so fucking cool calm and collected, talking so placating down on chrissy like she's the one being unreasonable.

chrissy not even trying to talk back because what's the point. it's never got her anywhere.

and jason gets so frustrated by her lack of answers, the way she won't even look at him, the way she keeps fucking crying, like he's the bad guy, that he grabs her by the arm, maybe shakes her a little. tries to get her to realise she's being dramatic, the she's the problem here.

eddie and billy watching on from their front row seats, both of them having seen this story played out before so many times, from when they were so so young. and chrissy's so fucking good, okay. eddie, who doesn't even fuck with this crowd, knows this. has had the fattest fucking heart eyes for her since middle school. and billy's just like. chrissy cunningham is like. fucking sunshine. who the fuck would ever want to hurt the thing that lights up the room, lights up the entire fucking world.

chrissy asks jason to let go. jason grips her tighter. eddie edges slowly off his seat, and billy throws his joint to the ground and sits up.

"yo, carver. she asked you to let go."

jason and chrissy turning to them instantly, finally realising that they're there.

jason lets go like he's been burned. chrissy hugs herself close.

"come on, chrissy. let's go back inside," he says, eyeing the town fucking freak and their high schools ex basketball captain–forcefully demoted after too many fuck ups and detentions–before reaching over to grab her hand, trying to pull her in.

chrissy twists her hand out of his grip and takes a step back, and billy finally pushes out of his chair, him and eddie coming up to stand behind her.

"or," billy starts, "you go inside, and us three will stay right here."

jason looks at them all, chrissy looking so small between them, and watches as she slowly takes another step back, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with the boys.

he laughs, feeling fucking insane. jesus christ, he's given chrissy the world, the last few years of his life, his entire fucking future, and she's out here crying and running into billy hargrove and eddie munson's arms, like they could do anything for her.

"you made the wrong choice tonight, chrissy, and you know it. i'll pick you up for school on monday, and we'll talk about it," he parts with, eyeing the guys one last time before walking back inside.

chrissy letting out the breath she was holding the second the door closes before turning around to face the two people behind her.

"thank you," she croaks out, and before she can even try and leave, eddie's offering her a seat.

"it's okay. there's only two chairs, and i should start walking home anyway."

"two chairs, three of us–the math adds up," billy counts on fingers, pushing eddie down onto one of the lounges before jamming himself beside him, eddies arm wrapping around his waist automatically and billy squirming around to get comfortable. eddie looks up to her then, face apologetic, then rolls a hand out to wave at the now free seat beside them.

chrissy looks at them, the house, the side gate, the chair, then back at them. cautiously, she basically tip toes to the chair before slowly sitting down then curling up, dragging the towel that billy was using as a blanket over her.

"by the way, there is not a chance you are walking home. have you seen this fuck up town? people like your boyfriend exist, okay. fuck that. if you don't want me or munson here to drive you, then i'm calling in heather, okay?"

"heather will eat her alive," eddie cuts in, sounding alarmed.

billy elbows him, "heather waters plants. she knows how to be delicate when the situation calls for it."

eddie looks at chrissy then, at the way her hands are still shaking and her eyes are still glassy, and thinks, yeah. this is a delicate situation.

okay then the idea of chrissy and jason not breaking up because nothings ever that simple, but sometimes when eddie passes her in the halls, she smiles at him, even says hi to him occasionally. sits next to him in class once when their teacher said to hell with the seating arrangement, and eddie has a slight breakdown and bails halfway through class to go smoke up behind the school. and sometimes at cheer practice, when the guys also have basketball practice, billy gets benched (on purpose) and comes over to hang out. maybe even tries to learn a few cheers before reallsing his legs can not and will not ever bend that way, no matter how many times chrissy and carol try to show him.

and maybe one day, things really fucking spiral, and chrissy doesn't know what to do. doesn't have a single person to turn to or call for help or cry to. looks down at the positive pregnancy test in her hands and has flashbacks to the night she's tried so hard to forget, to block out, the night she never fucking wanted, and thinks. her entire life's over.

her mom will kill her, jason will lose his fucking mind, her family will probably disown her, she'll be kicked off the cheer squad, will probably have to drop out of school, and she can't even get rid of it because she doesn't know how.

doesn't have her own car to get there, doesn't have money saved up to pay for it, doesn't have private access to internet that her mom or the school doesn't monitor. and going anywhere local to even try find those answers is out of the question, with this town being so small and her mother knowing everyone, and everyone knowing her.

so. she goes through the motions and she gets ready for school, sits at the table as the rest of her family eats breakfast, and waits for jason to come pick her up. she sits passenger seat while he lets his christian playlist float out through the speakers, barely listening to a word he says as her tells her his plans for the day.

she makes it through first period then second then third, makes it all the way to lunch before she can't keep her stomach in control anymore and runs to the bathroom to throw up. she sits on the ground for a while before pushing herself up, and then in a moment of reckless bravery, she doesn't go to her second last class, but instead, she walks out the back of school, to where she's heard the rumours of eddie munson doing business, and thinks. she's really got nothing left to lose.

except when she turns up, it's not just eddie. it's eddie, and it's billy, and it's tommy hagen and carol perkins, and all four of them are smoking and laughing and looking like they don't have a worry in the world.

she looks at them and feels every bit of composure she had slipping, her eyes instantly wet.

billy spots her first, but eddies by her side in a second flat.

"are you okay? are you hurt? what happened?" eddie word vomits, his hands coming up to her face like he wants to touch her but holds back at last minute.

"did jason do something? 'cause i will fucking kill him. just say the word," billy looks around behind her, like jason's about to pop out, but when nothing happens, he focuses back on her.

she stands there a moment longer before shaking her head, then nodding, then cries harder.

"okay, well, this seems personal,"'carol states, dragging tommy by his hand and walking past them, "so i'm gonna let you guys sort out the damsel in distress, and me and tommy are gonna go fuck around under the bleachers. unless," she stops, pushing her way in front of billy slightly, "you want me to stay, and all the guys to go. 'cause if i say the word, they'll all leave. promise."

chrissy looks at her and thinks maybe, out of everyone, carol could be the best choice. surely the most sensible and most obvious. but for as much as she likes her and knows her, for some reason, she trusts eddie and billy more.

"i'm okay. you can go with tommy," she says softly, trying to smile lightly.

carol nods at her, then glares at the guys. "i find out you made her cry more, i'll kill you both."

"yes, ma'am."

"yes, boss."

okay then the idea of chrissy finally getting herself together enough to finally stumble her way into asking for a ride to planned parenthood, or even just to borrow one of their phones so she can research the information herself.

billy and eddie joining every dot together straight away and both being like. oh. we're gonna kill that mothefucker.

eddie being like you can have my phone, you can have my wallet, my car keys, my entire fucking heart. i'll give you the world, just ask.

and billy being like. jesus fucking christ. can you pretend to be like. smooth and casual for five seconds, she's literally having one of the worst days of her life.

billy and eddie spending the rest of school hours researching everything for her and eddie literally handing her all the cash she needs plus more, and billy calling to book the appointment for her, making sure it's a few towns over because he's not stupid, and them all figuring out a game plan to skip school that day. eddie has it the easiest, billy's got some wiggle room 'cause he's already a fuck up in his dad's eyes, so what's one more thing, but chrissy's like. terrified. but then she thinks about being pregnant and having an actual baby at the age of seventeen, who's father would be jason carver, and thinks. she can be brave for one day.

okay and then that happens, and it's emotional as fuck, and they all get super close etc

and then finally. the basketball aspect of this.

the idea of jason like. counting on basketball to get into college, like he's got his future mapped out, and basketball is apart of it. and billy's like. well obviously i'm gonna ruin this guy's whole fucking life.

like billy was captain, back when he first rolled into town, when harrington fell from grace, and he hated every second of it. fuck this town, fuck these people, fuck his dad, billy didn't want to play. so he fucked around, he read the school rules, he figured out what the lines were to get kicked off, and he toed them every day. but he was good enough that when he decided to put effort in, the team won. so coach never completely got rid of him. just stripped him of his captaincy and benched him a lot. and that was the way billy liked it.

but then billy's like. well jason's captain now, and all eyes are on him, scouts included. fuck yeah.

then the idea of like. billy putting effort into games again, bringing the team together seamlessly in a way jason never could, only to purposely throw games, occasionally getting all up in some other team members space and literally muttering to them their strategy, before taking the ball then passing it to patrick, completely ignoring jason who was open, then letting tommy take over.

the idea of billy literally sinking a basket for the other team when they were tied at the last minute, before turning around to high five the opposite team then flip the bird at his captain.

the idea of their coach like tearing his fucking hair out and dragging billy into a private meeting like what the fuck are you doing out there, hargrove? and billy being like. make me captain again and i'll stop riding the other teams dicks. and the coach being like. not a chance. and billy being like. it's either that or bench me, and you know i'm too good to bench. and coach being like. co-captain. i can make you co-captain. and that's it. and you need to start being a team player for this team. and billy's like. i'm on it, coach! [salute]

the idea of billy being the smuggest motherfucker alive, jason having to stand beside him as his equal, looking like it physically pains him.

the idea of like. a super important game happening, maybe they made it to the grand finales? idk basketball. either way, everyones like. surely billy won't throw this game. this game's important. it's crucial. there are college scouts. and billys like. i'm gonna let everyone shine that i deem worthy of shining, i'm gonna make sure tommy gets the ball, i'm gonna let patrick fucking blitz this shit, and then. right at the last moment possible. i'm gonna ruin it.

and the idea of jason like. losing his shit, like barging his way over to billy who's in the middle of literally hugging a guy from the other team, and billy turning to him with the smuggest look on his face like. so proud. and before jason can even throw a punch, billy's got him knocked down to the ground, jaw fucking cracked, and then billy's offering him a hand up, whispers 'have fun at college', before shoving him straight back down to the ground and stepping over him, walking away.

and like. ofcourse chrissy and eddie get together, and billy eddie and tommy form a band becos i said so, and chrissy has a bisexual awakening when she finally does meet heather, and they all stay the best of friends for ever and ever, and they never rly have to deal with jason ever again.

[cicadasketch]

Here’s a bunch of silly messy little sketches for the mungrove peeps

[steddilly]

If you’re about to tell me Steve isn’t a shoe guy, you’re lying. That boy has enough pairs of Nikes to coordinate them with his outfit of the day. He would definitely buy shoes for someone he loves, but not Nike because he’s considerate, he’d buy them whatever they like.

Steve loves his Nikes, Eddie has his beloved pair of ratty Reeboks, and Billy is a Converse boy through and through.

[pinkkinoko]

Try not to think about Billy remembering bringing pretty seashells to his mom and watching her tell him thank you; that they’re pretty and that he’s special. Don’t think about how he couldn’t give her much other than seashell and seaglass necklaces on her birthday and Mother’s Day, gifts which would fall apart within a few days, yet she would wear them until the strings frayed because they were from her little starfish. Don’t think about how Neil smashed Billy’s little gifts on the floor and threw them in the trash, all while telling him not to track sand in the house. Don’t think about how Billy Hargrove decided things of importance weren’t objects you picked up off the floor, and certainly not things that had been discarded—rocks, shells, empty people like him—especially don’t think about how Eddie was the one to pick him up after Billy decided he liked this one lanky weirdo sitting on the floor outside of math class drawing silly doodles in a ratty notebook: if you think of these things, you might see the shine in those blue eyes every time Eddie hands him a smooth pebble he swears looks like a heart.

[symbioticsimplicity]

I'm going to combine all of my favorite thoughts together and no one can stop me

Billy doesn't die at the end of S3, and Eddie doesn't die either. Steve grows into a pretty little punk and the three of them have the most confusing dynamic in the entire group. The kids mostly find it entertaining, but Nancy and Robin are slightly worried.

Billy has gotten better, he really has. With him having been dragged into the kid's lives more, he caught Hop's attention more and the man had immediately realized what was actually going on in the Hargrove household. Hop won't suffer an abuser, especially one server enough to producer Billy and has his father arrested shortly before the start of season 3. Billy is still a bit of a dick, but there isn't nearly as much bite behind his bark.

Billy and Steve have an antagonistic relationship that keeps both of them on their toes. Its not exactly playful, they've got too much baggage for that, but they're not really enemies either?

Steve and Eddie get along like long lost soulmates. There's no real reason that they should, bur they see each other in a way no one else really sees them.

Billy and Eddie cannot and should not be left alone together under any circumstances. Too much chaos and not enough braincells. They're smoking buddies, they've got similar taste in music and Eddie intimately understands the rage that lives in Billy, knows he probably would have been just like him if not for Wayne.

When the three of them are all together, its madness. Billy and Eddie act mostly on impulse with Steve being the only thing keeping them from killing themselves on a dare from one another. If Billy gets too hyphy, Eddie can and will tackle and wrestle the violence out of him. Eddie loves listening to Steve and Billy banter back and forth, its one of the few times he just listens rather than rambling on himself. Steve appreciates not being the only person in the group who didn't spend their high-school years being a goddamn nerd even if Eddie looks crestfallen when he and Billy give him twin blank stares when he launches into a DND rant.

The others are happy these three don't seem so isolated and miserable anymore, which is the only reason they're willing to put up with The Tension. They all capitalize it in their heads because its That Bad.

Billy is an incredibly pretty man, everyone knows that. Steve Harrington is also incredibly pretty (more so when he grows into himself) which everyone knows. Eddie Munson is incredibly gay, although not everyone knows that.

Eddie gets distracted by Billy all the time. His eyes are gorgeous and his lips are hypnotizing and hes never wearing enough clothes. Hes also got this fucking thing he does with his tongue when hes ready to fight that Steve is sure has nearly gotten him killed because he was staring at it. Then there's the way Eddie looks when he's shredding on his guitar that makes Billy feel some kind of way he tries real goddamn hard to ignore. Or fuck forbid Steve is wet for any reason.

They're all a mess, and they're all clueless that the others feel the same and it really is painful to watch.

It boils over though when Steve goes punk. Thats the last fucking straw for Billy, who has the impulse control of a newborn. He takes one look at this man in his revamped letterman and his torn jeans, lips glossed and hair artfully tussled, and just loses it. He pins him to the wall of Eddie's trailer and kisses him half stupid.

Eddie stands there awkwardly, feeling a little lie he's dying inside, unable to decide who hes more jealous of and about to to go to the woods for somewhere private to have a smoke and a cry, when Billy pulls off Steve and turns right around to haul Eddie in next. Both Eddie and Steve are baffled, pinned to the wall between Billy's arms.

When he finishes with Eddie, he glances between the two of them with a "Go on, we all know you want to" and waits patiently as they have a silent conversation before falling into each other.

Its odd, definitely, and it takes a lot of talking about (and maybe a bitching match that turns into a kissing match) but they find a way forward, the three of them, thanking God for Billy's shit impulse control every step of the way.

[bigdumbbambieyes]

if ST was set in the 90s and we had a mungrove friendship, i know Hopper would be pulling Billy over for driving almost at a crawl late in the evening. Eddie would be sat in the passenger seat, still playing his stupid air guitar as Billy stares up at Hopper from over the top of his aviators, chewing a piece of gum, as if they both aren’t high as fuck and driving stupidly.

Hopper is tempted to take them both in just to teach them a lesson but they’re so insufferable together, they’d just annoy the piss out of everyone at the station, plus it’s late and no one’s around and he can’t be bothered to give a shit when he has a date with Joyce in an hour.

so, he smacks the top of the Camaro and gives them a glare, says, “Alright, I’m feeling generous tonight so move it along, Beavis and Butthead — I don’t wanna see either of you for the rest of the night.”

And Eddie cackles from the passenger seat as Billy grins at the nicknames, laughing as he pulls away and continues down the street, Hopper shaking his head with a disgruntled face the entire time.

[suspiciouslackofclowns]

Eddie has a serious problem when it comes to interrupting other people during conversations. It would vary between rude, with little quips like you seemed like you were done talking anyway, to doing it completely on accident without realizing.

It’s always been an impulse thing. He’s an asshole, but he’s not that much of an asshole — he just can’t keep his mouth shut sometimes.

But, hey, that’s just Eddie being Eddie.

His outbursts start to become less frequent, astonishingly. Sometimes he’ll count on his fingers when there’s a pause in conversation before he takes his turn to talk. Sometimes he’ll even stop talking when he realizes that he’s stolen someone else’s spotlight.

He’s trying really hard suddenly and while it’s appreciated, it’s confusing — Dustin still has a hard time picking up where he left off on his story when Eddie tells him sorry, go ahead. Like he’s being baited or something just so Eddie can swoop in and interrupt again.

Again, he’s an asshole, but he’s not malicious.

It starts making more sense when Billy is around during a campaign one night. Eddie interrupts Will in the middle of his sentence without realizing, and Billy lightly brushes his knuckles against his arm. Gives him a gentle look, eyebrows slightly raised, but not overall disapproving. Eddie snaps his mouth shut.

Apologizes while a flustered red blossoms on his skin and lets Will pick up where he left off.

And, oh, the kids don’t stop talking about it for weeks. Don’t stop teasing Eddie because he literally has a handler.

In all reality, Billy struggles with social cues himself, and he’s been supplying Eddie with his own little tips and tricks to not seem like an asshole in everyone else’s eyes.

[kazhan-draws]

The pining continues.

[animangalover-writes]

I love harringrove as much as the next guy, and I love Eddie being one of Billy's friends/Billy's only friend outside of that relationship. However, I am a mungrove shipper and I think it's adorable to think of Steve and Billy becoming frenemies. They finally get to hang out with another boy their own age without the expectation of a relationship and who had very similar experiences in their growth. They would understand each other's situations and pov's and be able to enjoy being jocks together. Meanwhile mungrove kiss under the stars listening to hardcore rock music.

[billyhargrovesupsidedownshadow]

In vampire!Eddie and werewolf!Billy AU, once, Steve made the mistake of leaving Eddie and Billy alone for the full moon, when he knows Billy would be at his dumbest puppy behaviour, and Eddie would only make fun of it

So he comes home to every leg of every wooden chair or table artistically chewed into hearts, and Billy soundly asleep right in front of the door in a nest of all Steve's clothes under the words "w mis u stv" carved into the ceiling by tiny bat claws

Eddie's only response to Steve's fury was "but we did missed you 🥺", Billy didn't even wake up

[boffeeceans]

Actually think Billy deserves some smooches. From Eddie specifically. Just all over his face out of no where. And then Billy goes "the fuck was that for?" And then Eddie shrugs and goes "cause I love you." And then Billy goes all 404 not found. Stops working. Have you tried turning him on and off. Maybe give him a good ol shake

[lostlimerence]

It’s happening again.

Eddie Munson is in love.

And Billy doesn’t think he has the strength to weather it this time.

Because it goes like this, Eddie will wallow and wail and wax poetry about a love not returned. He’ll twist himself up inside, gnaw at chipped polish, pace Billy’s tiny trailer, throw his hands in wild uncoordinated movements, voice catching, eyes sparkling as he describes a stranger.

And Billy will sit, Billy will nod, Billy will smile, Billy will comfort and then Billy will break.

Again.

And the thing is this, the thing is Billy likes this stage, god help him, because at least here Eddie is still his, still his wild-eyed romantic, his flailing fantastical artist, his world-weaving word master.

It’s the next stage that hurts the worst. Eddie will muster up the courage and speak to them and they’ll be captivated and Billy will watch, he’ll watch them fall with blurred vision and a clogged throat.

He can’t do it again.

But he has to, because Billy can’t leave him, can’t leave this crazy metalhead who makes his world seem so so much more just for being in it.

So he’ll take it, he’ll take it and take it and take it until he can’t anymore.

So Eddie Munson is in love again.

And Billy knows it. He knows it because Eddie’s been rasping out a beautiful song about sunshine and saltwater recently and Billy can’t bring himself to ask. He’ll know the answer soon enough.

So instead he lies back, presses his foot against Eddie’s thigh as the man plucks at his guitar working over another lyric about ocean-eyes, his rich tone stroking up through Billy’s body as he lets himself sink into it, eyes drifting closed.

He’ll never be Eddie’s muse, but god at least he’s got this.

…

The thing about Eddie is this, he falls in and out of love with a little bit of somebody everyday. He loves life, loves love, loves laugh lines, loves scars, loves the sparkle of an eye, loves the passion of a voice, loves people.

But there’s one boy, one sunshine salt-soaked boy whose eyes hold entire oceans that he’s been in love with since the dawn of time.

A boy who holds storms inside, who sometimes rails and rages against the world so hard that he almost dashes himself on the rocks of it.

A boy who can be so sweet in the sunset, whose cheeks dimple and flush when Eddie says something stupid just so he can see the spectacle of it.

That boy lies on his bed as he sings of sunshine and saltwater.

And he hopes Billy doesn’t notice the hitch in his voice as that foot presses against his thigh. Hopes he doesn’t notice the quiver in his voice as he sings of a love he knows won’t ever be returned.

He stares down at golden sunlight-dappled skin, red lips and shuttered eyes. He takes a breath, plucks another string.

Billy will never be his, but god at least he’s got this.

Thank you to @giurochedadomani for the prompt - Billy thinks Eddie is writing a love song about someone else - this leant itself to super angst which is my favourite brand so apologies if it’s a bit to piney 😅