#jonathan still goes to school there tho

[unfinishedslurs]

gay bar (steddie)

“Well, well, well,” says a voice from behind. “Steeeeeeve Harrington. I must be dreaming.”

Steve turns around to see a guy, dressed in black and chains. Rings decorating his fingers, studs in his ears, curly hair pulled back in a ponytail. He’s hot, yeah, but something about him has Steve squinting, trying to figure out why he looks so familiar. 

“I know you from somewhere,” he says, pointing out the obvious. The guy knows his name.

The not-a-stranger snorts. “Of course you don’t remember me. Why would the likes of King Steve stoop to—“

As soon as the nickname leaves his mouth, Steve’s brain lights up. “Munson!” He exclaims, snapping his fingers. “You used to climb on the lunch tables to give speeches.”

It was so obnoxious, too. The kind of thing that had him and Robin reminiscing late at night, celebrating some of the weirder shit about Hawkins that didn’t come from monsters, or Russians, or government conspiracy. Remember that one asshole? Yeah, he stepped on my lunch one time!

Condolences to Robin’s pb&j. She never sat at that table again.

Munson’s whole face turns pink. “Seriously? That’s what you remember?”

“It was pretty fucking memorable, dude. Like, gross, doesn’t this guy know not to put his feet where people eat? Dustin thought you were so cool for it too. I had to nip that in the bud before he started imitating you or some shit.”

“Oh,” he says, voice gone flat. “Because God forbid some poor kid try to immolate the freak.”

Steve gives him his bitchiest, most deadpan stare. “Feet,” he says slowly. “Nasty, fifteen year old boy feet. On my kitchen table. He almost slipped and cracked his skull, and I would have sent you the hospital bill.”

He had to get creative to make him stop, too. Stood there, hands on his hips, and made Dustin tell him exactly how many germs he thought were on his shoes. Then when he tried to do it barefoot, decided the only course of action was to stuff Dustin’s abandoned sock in his mouth and ask if he wanted that shit with every meal. Erica still has the photos. 

Munson has the decency to look embarrassed, face flooding an even brighter red that wouldn’t be out of place in a tomato patch. “What are you even doing here, Harrington?”

What does he think Steve’s doing here? It’s a fucking gay bar, it’s pretty self explanatory. “My friend is here somewhere,” he says, waving out at the crowd of people. “She’s going through a dry spell, so…”

“Right,” Munson says. Steve squints at him. Does he look disappointed?

Eh. Doesn’t matter. 

“You gave my kids the best freshman year of their nerdy little lives,” he tells him, because he knows Dustin would want him to. Plus, the guy was Mike’s gay awakening. He should probably get some credit. “So thanks for that.”

He lights up. “Yeah! How was Hellfire in my absence?”

“I had to hear them bitch and moan for months about how it ‘wasn’t the same,’ but it’s doing pretty all right. Erica Sinclair is running it now.”

“Erica Sinclair…” Munson mutters, snapping his fingers. “Lucas Sinclair’s little sister? Lady Applejack?” He beams when Steve nods. “She kicked ass. Best finish to a campaign my entire high school career. How’s Lucas, anyway? And the rest of the runts.”

“He’s doing great,” Steve says. “College basketball at Yale. Pretty sure he’s dying under the workload, but that’s what you get for majoring in physics. Dustin’s at MIT, and Mike’s taking a gap year.”

He whistles lowly. “Yeesh, I don’t blame him. How about Byers?”

“Which one?”

“Zombie boy.” Steve’s hackles raise, but Munson just grins. “God, that nickname was badass.”

“How do you even know about that?”

Munson taps the side of his nose. “A magician never reveals his secrets. Besides, all it took for you to remember me was calling you by your high school nickname.”

“That wasn’t my nickname.” Steve rolls his eyes. “Literally three people ever actually called me that, and you were one of them.”

He has a feeling it was Tommy who started it, bitter and vicious. Told himself Steve was self possessed, high and mighty, above it all. That’s why he left his old friends behind. Not because he was in love, or because he wanted to be better. No, King Steve just sits alone in his castle, looking down on the peasants with contempt. 

Billy must have taken his angry ramblings and run with them. After all, what better way to get a start in a new town than declaring yourself royalty? Never mind that Steve hadn’t cared about anything like that for almost a year by then. 

Munson had just been a drama-loving asshole. 

“That can’t be right.”

“I stopped being popular in junior year. Why the hell would anyone call a sophomore King?” Steve points out. 

“You were Prom King.”

“Again, in junior year. Pickings were slim. Who else would it have been? Tommy?” He has to laugh. 

Luckily, Munson takes the hint and swerves the conversation into new territory. “You know, I always figured you’d be homophobic.”

Steve snorts. “What, and get kicked out for nothing?”

Munson stares at him, and Steve furrows his brow, looking into his glass like it will have the answer to why the hell he said that to this guy he barely knows. He just decided he wasn’t going to spill all his daddy issues to a near-stranger in a dingy bar, dammit. Is he already on his fifth drink?

Actually, this might be his sixth. That tracks. 

“What?”

“My dad caught me kissing a boy,” he says. If he’s going to give Munson his life story, he might as well commit. “Can you believe that boy ruined my life in three different ways? Two of them didn’t even have anything to do with the gay thing.” 

Maybe four ways, if you accounted for the way he broke his goddamn heart, but everyone and their mother saw that coming a mile away. Even Steve. Especially Steve. 

No offense to Jonathan. None of those things were really his fault. Or actually life ruining, but it sure fucking felt like it at the time. 

He should give him a call soon, actually, see how he and Argyle are doing. He misses the guy. Maybe he and Robin should save up for a visit to Cali. Get Nancy on it. They could see San Francisco while they were there, that’d be cool. Apparently it was the queer capital of the country. 

He’s thinking about asking the bartender for a napkin and a pen to write down the plans he’s forming when Munson speaks up again. Steve honestly forgot he was here. 

“I thought you said you were here for a friend.”

What?” Steve blinks, confused, and then catches on. “Yeah, to get her laid. I’m not in the mood right now.”

Munson cocks an eyebrow. “Wearing that? Could’ve fooled me.”

Steve looks down at his Springsteen T-Shirt that Robin cropped, and picks at the frayed hem of his shorts. Okay, yeah, they’re on the skimpy side, but in his defense it’s summer and even if he’s not cruising Steve likes being looked at. “Yeah, yeah. What about you? Here for anything in particular?”

“Just to talk to some pretty boys,” Munson says, leaning on the bar to flag down the bartender. Steve smirks, reaching out a hand to tug at the hanky in his back pocket. Pinned, damn. 

Munson whirls around, a flush starting to crawl onto his ears. 

“Wearing that?” Steve echos snarkily. “Could’ve fooled me.”

He swears that for a minute Munson’s eyes darken. 

He’s almost tempted to follow through, high school reputation be damned, when someone crashes into his side and nearly sends him careening. 

“Steeeeeve,” Robin yells happily into his ear. “This is Bernie, she’s gonna take me home, see you la—oh, hi!” She says, noticing Munson. “I know you from somewhere.”

“Eddie Munson,” Munson greets. “Steve and I went to high school together.”

“Munson! That’s it, you climbed on tables and had shit music. I’m Robin. Okay, I’ll call the apartment and leave a message when we get there. Bernie’s waiting on me, it’s-nice-to-meet-you-bye!” Just like that, she’s gone. 

Munson’s mouth has dropped open. “You told her I had shit music?” He demands. “Wait, you talked about me?”

“She went to school with us, dumbass,” he says, as if he can talk. He still barely remembers her as more than a vague, glowering figure in his peripheral. “It’s not my fault you blasted your screamy music for everyone in the parking lot. Such a fucking headache, God.”

Munson turns his nose up. “Sorry for having offended your jock sensibilities.”

“Oh, I don’t play anymore,” he says, and knocks on his head. “Concussions, yanno. Apparently brain damage will fuck you up. Who knew?”

“What, like the fight you had with Byers? He did you that bad?”

“He did me just fine,” Steve blurts out, before he can stop himself. Munson chokes. “Shit, sorry, I’m kind of a horny drunk.” Weird thing to say, Steve. “Also, I cannot stress enough how much I needed to be punched in the face. It was a monumental moment for me, you know. Started me on the path for changing my entire worldview. Plus, he was my first guy crush.” He swirls his empty glass, lost in thought, before brightening up. “I should call him!”

Munson is staring at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish. 

“What?”

“You’re drunk.”

“Well, yeah. Duh.”

“I should probably stop you from booty-calling the guy who punched you in the face.”

Steve wrinkles his nose. “It wouldn’t be a booty-call,” he says. “He and Argyle are happy together, man. I’m not gonna ruin that.”

“Oh, so you’d call him because…”

“I call him all the time,” Steve says, confused as to why this is such a big deal. “We’re friends.”

“Jonathan!” He yells happily into the pay phone. Munson is standing to the side, looking on in annoyance. Whatever, it’s not like Steve asked him to do this. “Jonathan, man, how are you?”

“…Steve?”

“Yeah!”

“It’s like…” he hears something clatter in the background, like Jonathan is looking for something, “two in the morning there. You okay?”

“I’m doing great!” He exclaims. “How about you? It’s been ages, man, I miss you.”

“This is so fucking weird,” Munson whispers behind him. Steve ignores him. 

“Are you drunk?”

“No,” he says. “Well, maybe a little. Do you not miss me too?” He pouts, and Jonathan sighs loud enough he hears it over the phone. 

“I just talked to you yesterday.”

Steve frowns. “Yesterday? That can’t be right, it’s been, like, forever. Oh, hey, have you heard from Nance lately? How’s your mom? I love your mom, she’s so fucking cool. Does she know I think she’s cool? How’s Will? It’s been so long, is he taller than me yet? How’s Argyle doing with his degree? I miss you guys.”

“We miss you too, Steve.”

“Awww, Byers, getting soppy on me? Gross, man.”

“You literally just—yeah, okay. Are you alone?”

“Nah, I’ve got this guy with me, he’s walking me home. Oh! Dude, do you remember Munson?”

“Munson?”

“Yeah, Eddie Munson! From high school! The one who used to climb on tables and shit, remember him?”

“Jesus Christ,” Munson groans. “Please let that die.”

“No one is dying,” Steve informs him seriously, and turns back to the phone. Munson sighs. 

“Wasn’t he a drug dealer?”

“Yes! Yeah, drug dealer Munson! Did you ever buy from him?” He turns to where Munson is looking around furtively. “Did Jonathan ever buy from you?”

“How about we not talk about this here,” Munson says through gritted teeth. Steve sighs and turns back to the phone. 

“Never mind, he says he doesn’t want to talk about that. Not like we can judge him, but whatever. Maybe the guy’s turned into a prude—“

“Okay, give me that.” Munson wrestles the phone out of his hand, and Steve whines at him. “Hey, Byers,” Munson says. “Yeah, it’s Eddie. Or Munson. Whatever. Listen, I’m getting kind of sick of standing here watching Harrington slobber all over the receiver, can he call you tomorrow? What? No, I don’t sell anymore—yeah, total bummer, whatever. Listen, I’ll get him home safe—no, I’m not going to serial murder him. He’s gonna be fine, he’ll call you tomorrow—Nancy Wheeler? Like that girl he dated? Didn’t you—shoot me? Jesus, okay! I’m not gonna kill the guy, Christ. He’s gonna be fine, oh my God. He’ll call you tomorrow. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, okay. Bye.” He slams the phone into its holder with more than a little contempt. 

“Hey!” Steve protests. “You didn’t let me say bye.”

“You can call him tomorrow and apologize,” Munson says. “Now c’mon, Harrington. I’ve been tasked with getting you home safe, and if I fail, apparently Nancy fucking Wheeler is going to shoot me in the balls.”

“Oh, yeah, she’s really hot when she does that,” Steve says fondly, and Munson splutters. 

“What, does Wheeler just go around shooting people? Does she even have a gun?”

“Of course Nancy has a gun.” Steve frowns. It was one of the sure things in the universe at this point. The sky is blue, Hawkins is fucked up, and Nancy Wheeler has a gun. “And she doesn’t shoot people, stupid. Well, she shot at Billy, but he deserved it.”

“Billy?” Munson mutters, starting to usher Steve in the direction of home. “Who the fuck is Billy?”

“He was trying to kill her first!” Steve defends. “I hit him with a car before he could, so she was okay.”

“Okay, yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t you hit some guy with a car? 

“It wasn’t some guy,” Steve says. “It was Billy. He was, like, possessed or some shit. Oh, and he beat me up. Total psycho.  And that was before the melted flesh monster.”

Munson stops and stares at him. “You know what, sure. Demonic possession. Yeah, okay. Some guy named Billy kicked your ass—wait, are you talking about Billy Hargrove?”

Steve lights up. “Yeah! You remember that? That’s one of the concussions I was talking about. I gotta wear glasses 'cuza that shit. Man, fuck that guy.”

“Didn’t he die?”

“Oh, yeah,” Steve frowns down at the ground. “Shit, I’m, like, speaking ill of the dead, aren’t I? Max wouldn't like that. Unfuck him, or whatever.”

“You wanna come up?” He asks. “For old times sake?”

Munson stares at him like it’s the craziest thing he’s said all evening. “‘Old times’ was your asshole friends calling me a satan worshiper and pushing me around in hallways, Harrington.”

“I know.” He grins. If he was sober he’d definitely feel worse about that, but as it is he’s pretty single minded. “Don't you kind of want to make me cry about it?”

Deer in headlights isn’t usually a good look, but Munson’s got the eyes to make it work. Or Steve is drunk. Either way, it’s kinda cute. 

“You’re drunk,” he finally says, stumbling over the words a little. If Steve pays close attention and ignores most of reality, it almost sounds like he’s trying to convince both of them. “You’re so incredibly drunk.”

“I’m not that drunk.” He totally is. 

“I just had to supervise you calling Jonathan Byers so you didn’t say something you’d regret in the morning.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve asks, offended. “I love Jonathan! I tell him all the time. Just because I said he ruined my life—“

“That was him?”

“Did I not say that? Huh. Whatever. Point is, I’m not that drunk.”

“You’re definitely drunk,” Munson says. “I’m not—yeah, no. I’m not coming up.”

“Damn.” Steve shrugs, not too put out about it. It’s a bummer, sure, but he handles rejection like a champ. Just ask Robin. “Worth a shot. See you ‘round, Munson.”

“Don’t kill me,” Steve says. 

“Oh, god, did you punch him?”

“No, I, uh.” Steve rubs the bridge of his nose. “I think I tried to fuck him.”

He has to hold the phone away from his face so Dustin’s screeching doesn’t break his eardrums. 

“Your exes are weirdly protective of you,” Munson says blandly. “Also, didn’t they date?”

“Yeah,” Steve shrugs, not exactly eager to start spilling his life story again now that he’s sober. Munson doesn’t need to know more about his dating history than he already does. “We’re all a little weird about each other, sorry.”

“Weird about your exes,” he hums. “No wonder you’re single.”

“Oh, fuck you. It’s not like that.”

He raises an eyebrow. “No?”

“Are you always this nosy?” Steve asks, a little waspish. 

“Absolutely,” Munson replies without hesitation. “I’d say sorry, but I’m not. When did you even date him?”

“Dude.”

Munson just cocks an expectant eyebrow, hip resting against the bar. He can’t imagine why someone would be so interested in the romantic lives of their old high school classmates. It’s not like Steve is about to ask what was going on between him and Chrissy Cunningham. 

“Well, Harrington?”

“First grade,” Steve answers, deadpan. He grins when Munson chokes. “Nah, it was actually after he and Nancy broke up. Fall of ‘86.”

Arms squeeze him from behind, and Robin slides into view, leaving one hand wrapped pointedly around Steve’s waist. She gets clingy when she thinks someone is bothering him, or when she’s just on the side of drunk that she gets possessive. She told him, embarrassed and hungover, that it’s because she registers someone he’s getting along with as infringing on “her Steve time.” Steve thinks it’s hilarious and kind of sweet, an obvious lesbian trying to pretend he’s her date. Especially because he gets the same way when he’s tipsy and feels like he doesn’t have enough of her attention, so she can't yell at him for being a cockblock. Cuntblock. Whatever the lesbians call it.

He wonders what category she thinks Eddie is. Of guy, that is. Not block-anything.

He'd actually be pretty damn happy if the guy miraculously changed his mind and decided to sit on his cock instead.

“What’s going on here?” She asks, almost cattily. He loves when Robin gets bitchy. It brings him back to their Scoops days, except he gets to see it turned on someone else. 

“I’m telling Eddie my life story,” Steve says blithely.

“Ugh. Who would want that?”

Eddie grins. “I’m curious about the adventures of a former king.” He dips his head in a bow, waving his hand in a flourish. “I don’t know if you remember me from last time, I’m Eddie—“

“Munson, I know. You stepped on my lunch in junior year.”

Eddie turns beet red in record time. 

“Aww, Robbie,” Steve almost coos. “Leave him alone. I wanted to be the one who made him blush like that.”

“It’s not my fault your boy’s easy.”

“Not my boy, clearly,” he mutters under his breath. “And if he were easy, I’d have gotten fucked by now.”

Eddie’s mouth drops open with a choked little sound. Whoops. Steve forgot volume control again. 

Robin takes one look at Eddie’s face and bursts into cackles. 

“He was asking about,” he waved a hand in the air, “the whole Nancy-Jonathan thing.”

Her eyebrows jut up. “You told him about the threesome?”

“The what?”

Steve sighs. “No, Robin. I did not tell him about the threesome.”

“…oops.”

“When?” Eddie demands. 

Robin gives him the evil eye. “Why are you being weird about this? It’s not gonna make him fuck you.”

Steve wisely keeps his mouth shut. 

Eddie does not. “Your boy here already asked,” he smirks, leaning closer. “I said no.”

Then, as an added punch to his ego, he twirls a strand of Steve’s hair around his finger and tugs slightly. Steve’s too stunned to protest. 

Robin watches the exchange. “Oh, no thank you,” she says. “Nope. I’m out. I don’t want to see whatever this is. Ugh, stop making me hear about your sex life.”

Hypocrite. “We have thin walls, Buckley,” Steve reminds her. He turns to Eddie and stage whispers, “She likes her girls loud.”

“Steve!”

“You do!”

“Oh, because you’re so quiet,” she snaps, smacking him. “How many times have I had to bang on the wall because you couldn’t keep it down? You wanna talk about loud? I know more about you than I ever wanted to.”

His mouth drops open in mortification. “You know it’s rude to be mean to the man who told you how to eat out,” he hisses. 

“I’m not dying without fucking Eddie Munson,” he declares. “I mean, his high school nickname was literally ‘The Freak.’ He’s got to be good in bed, right?”

“I think that was mostly because everyone thought he was communing with the Devil or something.”

“Maybe the Devil gave him sex magic.”

“Of course he thinks I’m cute.”

“I do?”

“Do you not?” Steve turns to him, widening his eyes in the same pout that always has Robin throwing something at his face, or the kids reluctantly agreeing to do what he wants. He’s found it’s useful for guys too, especially if he ducks his head to seem smaller and looks through his eyelashes. Makes them imagine him looking like that on his knees. 

Munson is no exception. He melts faster than Steve can say gotcha. “You’re very cute, Harrington,” he purrs, and Robin snorts into her drink. 

“You’re a weak, weak man, Eddie Munson,” she tells a blushing Eddie. Then she kicks Steve. “Stop bringing out the ‘fuck me’ eyes when I’m around, I’ll gag.”

“You could leave.”

She gasps, affronted, and kicks him harder.

“So you would fuck me if I wasn’t drunk?”

“Uh…” he looks everywhere but Steve’s face, which is just rude. He has a very nice face. He’s been called dreamy before. 

Which made Robin laugh so hard she fell off the couch when he told her, but he’ll take the lesbian’s opinion with a grain of salt. 

He makes his way onto the dance floor. He’s not a particularly good dancer, but he shakes his ass like he means it. Gets up close with a guy, stares at Eddie the whole time. Keeping eye contact as the guy puts his hands on his hips. 

Look, he means to say. This could be you. You could lose your chance if you’re not careful. 

From the burning in Eddie’s eyes, he gets the message. 

The message is a bunch of bullshit. It’s been over four months, he’s in too deep to go fuck off with someone else now. Still, he enjoys the way Eddie’s hands flex on his thighs, like he had to stop himself from reaching out. 

The thing is, Steve’s not an asshole. He can take a hint. No means no, and all that jazz. If Eddie really didn’t want him, he’d fuck right off and find someone who did. He even started to.

Except Eddie pouted up a storm when he flirted with someone else. Got even clingier when Steve tried to back off. At this point, he’s accepted that Eddie does want to fuck him, and maybe even be more (no one flirts with someone as long as they’ve been doing without wanting something like a relationship out of it. At least, he hopes there’s something more on the horizon), but has some weird hang up about Steve being even a little bit buzzed when it happens. Even though they only ever see each other at this fucking bar.

The problem is Steve has no idea when Eddie will be at the bar. He’ll stay sober one night, hoping to see him, and then go home alone only for next time to be when he sees telltale curls and a wide smile. It’s driving him up the wall. 

Robin has been similarly affected.

“It’s been six months,” she growls as Steve looks eagerly around. “Six fucking months of you two dancing around in the worlds most annoying mating ritual. I’m going to kill both of you.”

“We’re not that bad,” he says absently. 

“You don’t even have his phone number. It’s pathetic. I swear to God, if you see him again and don’t get laid I’m reviving the scoops board. I will go out and buy a whiteboard to keep track of all the times you strike out with a man who used to walk on tables. He stepped on my lunch, Steve. Do I need to keep bringing up the fact he stepped on my delicious, nutritious PB&J? I can’t believe that’s the guy you decide to be obsessed with, that’s so fucking embarrassing for you.”

“Embarrassing? You mean like your crush on my ex girlfriend?”

She screeches wordlessly, pulling her keychain off her belt loop and attacking him with it. 

Naturally, that’s how Eddie finds them. 

“I swear you guys get weirder every time I see you.”

Steve grins guilelessly at him, holding a flailing Robin in a headlock. 

“Eddie! Hey! It’s been a minute.” He hasn’t been able to come in a month, and it’s been longer since he’s seen him. It’s honestly one of the deciding factors on whether it’s a passing fancy or a full blown crush. He still went to sleep every night thinking about Eddie. It didn’t even have to be about sex. 

Although maybe not sleeping with anyone else for half a year should have tipped him off sooner. 

“Sure has, big boy. I was starting to think you were getting sick of me.” It’s a joke, but Steve catches an undercurrent of insecurity. 

“That’d make my life easier,” Robin snorts. She finally wiggles her way out of his hold. “I saw Arty somewhere around here, I’m gonna see if I can crash at her place tonight.” She levels Eddie with a look. “He hasn’t had anything to drink. If you don’t put him out of his misery, I will. And it won’t be the good kind. It will be the bad kind. With bad screams. Lots of screaming, and someone will call the pigs, and I’ll be arrested and jailed for life. Do you want me to go to jail, Munson?”

Eddie shakes his head dumbly. 

“Good! Then do something about it.” She slaps Steve’s back, a mocking echo of his jock days. “Go get ‘em, slugger!” 

With that, she’s gone, disappearing into the crowd. 

“She is,” Steve remarks with amusement, “the worst wingman on planet Earth. Mars too, probably.”

“I dunno, I think it might be working.”

“I’m not doing anything without a condom,” he says, eyes narrowed like he’s waiting for an argument. 

“Me neither,” Steve agrees. “Robin has, like, this big fear of diseases. Totally got me with it. She pulled out the library books, those pictures were fucking disgusting. Shit showed up in my dreams, man. Neither of us do anything without protection.”

“I’m going to be totally honest with you, because I haven’t been and it’s starting to eat at me,” Eddie says, hovering above Steve. 

Steve wrinkles his nose. “What is it? Are you a spy or something? Are you Russian? Do you have superpowers? Is your name not actually Eddie?” He pauses. “Oh, God, you’re not even Eddie Munson, are you? I’m just some asshole who’s been calling you by my old classmates name and you were too embarrassed to correct me. Shit, we made so much fun of you for walking on tables too—“

“What?” Eddie covers his mouth, expression hovering between amused and baffled. “What the fuck, why would I go along with that? No, Jesus, I’m Eddie Munson. Moved to Hawkins when I was eleven, took senior year three times, walked on the fucking tables, could you let that go?” He moves the hand covering Steve’s mouth to play with his hair, looking annoyed for a minute before it smoothes to trepidation. “No, I, uh, I just felt like I needed to tell you that I used to have a hate-boner for you in high school. Like, I used to jack it to the thought of kicking your ass and making a mess outta you. In more ways than one.”

Steve stares. 

“Also, that’s kind of why I approached you in the bar in the first place,” Eddie blabbers on. “And then you said you were just there for a friend, and I was disappointed but it’s whatever, yanno? And then then you told me about your dad, and threw my expectations to the fucking wolves, and then you asked me to come up to your apartment except you were drunk and you probably didn’t mean it. But then the next time I saw you, you kept flirting with me, which you were not supposed to do, and I kept pretending that wasn’t the reason I even talked to you in the first place, and, uh, yeah.” He smiles nervously. “Surprise?”

“I mean, not really.”

“You’re such an asshole, fuck off. At least pretend to be shocked.”

“It’s not my fault you stare at my legs all the time,” Steve says, affronted. “I know I didn’t do too good in school, but I’m not dumb enough to miss that. Like, hello, my eyes are up here.”

Eddie lets his arms give out, flopping on top of Steve heavily. Steve wheezes. “Am I really that obvious?” He whines into his shoulder. 

“You got sad and pouty when I even looked at another guy.”

“You could’ve fucked him,” he mumbles. “The guy you were dancing with. It wasn’t any of my business. I’m a big boy, I can deal.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to fuck him,” Steve says. “I wanted to fuck you. Can we go back to that please?”

“Thought I was fucking you.”

“Someone’s getting fucked or Robin will kill both of us. I’d like to live tomorrow morning. And not have to deal with any more of her teasing for having no game.”

“You have unfortunate amounts of game,” Eddie sighs, tracing the side of Steve’s neck. It tickles. “It’s kind of embarrassing for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, are we using those condoms or not, Moodkiller?”

“Oh, I’m the mood killer?”

“Yes,” Steve says matter of factly, and pulls him in for a kiss before he can protest.

[findafight]

The urge to write an S1 au where Steve is pursuing Barb instead of Nancy and Barb is like this fuckin guy but is, admittedly, charmed by his goofiness he only seems to show when they're alone or with just Nancy and/or Tommy/Carol. And she does like him, quite a bit. She plays it coy but Nancy is there giving her side eyes like girrrllll you just made out with school heartthrob, little bit of a slut, Steve Harrington? He's giving you dopey smiles in the hall?? Was that a flirty little finger wave I saw? And Barb is going shut up Nancy it's not like me to go around making out with boys or whatever he's just cute and kind okay he's bitchy too tho it's fun to flirt I guess and Nancy is like you are also bitchy? Seems like a good match to meeee? And Barb is like FINE okay we made out under the bleachers and I touched his butt. It was so much fun.

And the hangout happens etc but Nancy is like okayyy baaaarb I'm gonna ;) head out now ;) you okay here? And Barb is like Nancy for the love of fuck I am going to make out with him and he might even take his shirt off I will call you when I get home but Nancy goes it might be a bit late to call...maybe try in the morning;) and Barb kinda wants to die a little bit because her best friend is sorta living vicariously through her and it's embarrassing to have a crush but also. It's fun and exciting to have a sort of boyfriend who's clearly super into you but also backs off when you tell him to and lets your intense best friend come to what you are realizing may have been a casual double date, so she waves to Nancy and heads upstairs.

They sleep together and it's nice and she even got him to help her take her bra off while she felt him up under his shirt and she's pretty proud of how smooth she was. But she does have to go home, so she nudges him awake and he kisses her again and she tells him she's heading home but is also stealing his sweatshirt. He gives her a lazy smile and asks if he's picking her up for school tomorrow and she's like nu uh I'll see you AT school bucko. And he gives her a little pout but says goodnight and she starts walking the few blocks to her car.

She never makes it.

The next day at school Nancy is like Steve. Where is Barb. And he's like Nancy. Where is Barb. And both go ???? WHERE IS BARB!!

Cue them both kinda freaking out, and then finding out Jonathan took pictures of the backyard and had at some point looped around and taken a picture of Barb fiddling with her Keys with Something in the background. Steve still smashed his camera because what the fuck Jonathan, the picture he took was like. Ten seconds before her bra came off? But now they're all stuck together because they've gotta find Barb and Will.

Idk what else I just think Steve/Barb is an under used ship but it's cute.

[careful-wish]

I know that Eddie had to die bc plot reasons yada yada

But they could have done that in season 5. We had so many deaths deaths in 4 (tho Max did end up living). The stakes are higher in season 5 and having a beloved character die halfway through would have had such an emotional impact

But also Eddie and Argyle not being included in season 5 with the other older kids feel like a joke, especially Argyle.

Nancy is the only one of the older teens (now young adults) to have a real close friendship with someone (Barb). Could probably argue Eddie too bc of Gareth, Jeff, and that other guy in Hellfire but they're younger than him so Idk how long they've been friends or how close they actually are.

In s4, though it's through super unlikely circumstances, Eddie does develop friendships with Steve, Nancy, and Robin. Probably, he already has had some interaction with Robin and Jonathan in the past due to the fact all three were considered weirdos or freaks (Jonathan was The School Freak(tm)) but he had no interaction with Jonathan this season.

Jonathan after being apart from Nancy for a few months then meets Argyle and they become pretty close mates, weed aside. Jonathan finally has someone he can talk to and open up to, and you can tell Argyle genuinely does care for Jonathan and is a LITERAL ride-or-die for him.

Why, WHY did they take Eddie and Argyle away? Yeah, we get the monster-hunting trio back in s5 along with Robin and Vickie in the group, but why'd they take Argyle away? He is also wanted by the government and knows everything. We're just going back to Jonathan having no friends, Nancy really having to confront what happened to Barb, and only Steve having a best mate? Why does Steve get to keep his best friend and Jonathan doesn't?

Also, the group would have been a little bigger than the Party but the dynamics and just absolute chaos would have been amazing.

Steve realising he is absolutely outnumbered by nerds and that he is not the leader, that role goes to Nancy and her babygurl Jonathan.

Vickie being introduced in a group that has several very loud ppl (Steve, Argyle, Robin), joins them immediately and Jonathan goes insane bc the four chatter like kookaburras at three am.

Nancy insisting they need to be discreet and Argyle explaining that while yeah, having an all black van would be cool but bad guys have those too and they would blend in better with a pizza van bc "Who would question the pizza man, Wheeler?"

Eddie secretly having tons of respect for Jonathan and nearly falls over himself trying to make up for the fact he tried to push another guy at Jonathan's girlfriend. Also develops similar respect for Nancy and feels guilty after seeing how happy Nancy is with Jonathan, and also realising it was never his, Robin, Steve, or anyone else's decision what Nancy does or who she wants to be with, it's all her.

Vickie learning about everything but still not knowing the kids very well and fellow newcomer Argyle is like "Idk about the others but Little Byers and Wheelie-boy are good, and of course our amazing super-powered little friend"

Steve discreetly being a terrible wingman for Robin without accidentally outing her. She comes out to Nancy first, then Argyle on accident after they have a weed sesh ("You're good, Batman's sidekick, boobies are great"), and of course ends up with Vickie.

Mike being the one of the Party Vickie ends up bonding with the most, mainly so they can make fun of Steve together but also other reasons

Anyway, we were robbed of these seven chaos nerds being a group together.

And if Eddie were to die halfway through, the turmoil. Dies similar to s4, Dustin is there, but it not only affects Dustin and Hellfire, but the other six he'd started becoming close with.

[caitie-likes-talking]

Jonathan headcanons bc I’m so mentally ill abt him

appearance headcanons

freckle Jonathan is SO real to me. his face is covered with them and he only gets more every time he’s in the sun

he’s the guy who’s hair is crazy curly as a kid but once he goes through puberty it’s suddenly super straight

he looks way more like his mom than his dad

i hc that after the mansion fight w dio he has actually remaining burns (idc if that doesnt comply w canon!! i do what i want!!)

tan Jonathan REAL! my out in the sun king

relationship headcanons

While I do think he’s an “every single love language ever” kinda guy, I think his main one is words of affirmation. Definitely can’t go a day without gushing abt how much he loves Erina and Speedwagon (also jonerinawagon polycule real)

speaking of which, bisexual jonathan is extremely real 2 me.

he loves doing any boring task for someone he cares about. folding laundry for erina is basically heaven for him

he proposed to erina by the tree w their initials carved into it bc i said so

uses horrible archaeologist pick up lines on his baes (for ex: hey babe, are you an ancient artifact? bc i wanna date you!)

just overall horrible at flirting when he's actually trying to be flirtatious. endearingly cringe, if u will

stresses out every time erina is on her period. she's getting princess treatment and it slightly pisses her off bc she's capable of still doing things but jonathan insists on her staying in bed all week

modern au headcanons

he's the kind of person who's just naturally decent at most things, so even when he's never played a game, he'll end in 2nd or 1st place. for example: bowling, minigolf, darts, and pool. he's comically bad at twister tho

he LOVES movies and once he watches a new one he's quoting it every two seconds and is just a little too upset if they other person doesn't recognize it

I interpret him as autistic (I’ve made a whole video abt his autistic traits in canon lmfaoo)

a real sweater and bomber jacket kinda guy. he has fun funky sweaters w silly patterns on them for sure

collects shoes. idk he just seems like the guy who has so many pairs of shoes for absolutely no reason. he's got every color of the rainbow in his shoe bin

volunteers at a museum part time. great w the kids and loves infodumping to these like middle-schoolers about some artifact.

horrible at reading tone over text. has misinterpreted lots of passive aggressive texts from erina as positive. (she has since learned to either use tone tags or the angry emoji to make her point more clear. the emoji is more effective every time)

has smoked weed before and every time he does its obvious that hes high as balls but he always thinks hes being sneaky abt it

cheated off of erina in high school to pass some classes. its his darkest secret and if anyone ever finds out he will like explode on the spot

also was super popular in high school but didn't realize, as he was too used to being a loser (12yr jonathan is a friendless loser no matter the universe)

im so insane i love him

[qprstobin]

im actually in love with your age swap au so if you could spare any details about it i'd love to hear!!

omg I'm happy you like it! I wish I spent more time on it because I do love it but it comes and goes in phases for me, like most of my aus tbh fidgsidfjgsdf

idk there are sooo many little things i love about this au!!!

dustin accidentally keeps befriending children and the others will not stop making fun of him for it - first steve, then robin and barb, then eddie - its embarrassing at this point. never mind these guys are all in high school by s4, still embarrassing.

its very important that y'all know that Steve is Lucas's rookie freshman on the varsity team, and that Lucas was at least part of Steve's motivation for going out for the team in the first place

the au is endgame elumax because more fics need to be elumax imo

finding out elumax is a thing definitely rearranges Nancy's 14yo brain. very much a "gee Lucas, why does your mom let you have TWO girlfriends??" age swap nancy has.... too many feelings

I honestly felt weird killing off 12 year old Barb ngl so she gets her own fun plotline that starts in s2. this was also in part bc I needed someone to fill a specific role in s3 and was like oh wait this is a good solution

the party are all part of the high school DnD club, but it's literally just called the DnD club or something similarly generic, age swap Eddie is very put out that the club doesn't have a cooler name and keeps petitioning to change it

arguably, the fact that the party is older in s1 means they should probably have better weapon making abilities more akin to the canon teens and the age swap monster hunting trio should be working with stuff that is much less affective BUT much funnier if 15/16yo Lucas is like nah we're going to fight the government and the demogorgon with nothing but my fists and my wrist rocket, meanwhile baby nancy steve and jonathan still have the nail bat, lighter, and shot gun

just lucas with his wrist rocket even at 16-17-18 is very important to me

honestly its very important to this au that while some things are objectively funnier with the ages reversed (all of the stoncy love triangle drama, jancy being 13 and showing up at murrays door like hi we want to whistle blow, 13yo casanova steve giving 16/17yo never been kissed dustin dating advice) it's also just like, really depressing some of the stuff that happens to the age swapped teens as kids instead (barb getting taken by the demogorgon, the russians, the billy shit tho that goes a LOT differently in the age swap au)

anyway thanks for asking like i said i love talking about this fic even if i haven't been focusing on it much recently

[soullostintime]

just thought of something. a scenario where in s5, will is helping out at the high-school-gym-turned-community-centre place and he's just so tired of this on and off thing with mike and is (sort of, not entirely coz come on) avoiding him, like just talking a bit less than usual. and then robin catches him stealing glances at the one and only wheeler and without a single coherent thought comes upto will and says "you got a crush on him."

and will just goes "huh?! what, sorry?" and like he doesn't say yes or no and simply dodges the question, plus he hardly remembers robin except her being the girl at scoops ahoy with steve and like then she's like "okay no i mean, i came off rude, i think i did, sorry, i wasn't thinking str-straight, BUT like i can explain you were- you had that look ™ and i-" and will is so confused, but isn't uncomfortable, just sort of freaked out coz come on, this has been a secret since forever and somehow el ("there's someone he likes") and jonathan ("there's nothing in the world that will ever change that") have an idea, and they're his siblings who have known and seen him everyday. but now a random girl, or a girl he doesn't remember well - he should say - just comes up and can just SEE right THROUGH HIM.

and he's like "uh, um, it's okay just, i-i have some work to finish so-"

"will byers, right?! i remember you! t-that bowl-head who came at scoops with the gang!" she is loud, and then: "you wanna grab lunch with me?"

and will just goes "okay???" coz he has no idea what to do with this situation, so maybe he can just sit down and listen to what she has to say and all and if things go south, he can just say no to the question and go about his life again.

turns out, they talk™, robin wants to help him coz ofc he knows what he's been through and know she's witnessing it firsthand (a different trouble but still) and she's like "i might not be someone you can come upto for advice, but still, i know. i know what it's like being different." and will and robin have a fresh start in their relationship and introduce themselves again, and then they laugh and robin tries to as good of an advisor as she can, and will somewhat thinks that even if she's pitying him, it's okay, since it feels okay with her.

and then vickie just comes in and robin goes full POOF in the head and red on the face and will is like "ah, now i see it." and then robin's secret is out as well and now they become each other's secret holders and grab ice-cream and lunch often and sometimes lay on the grass and talk about the sky and stars and will spends a few night at robin's place sometimes and stuff and he's so happy to finally have someone like him.

meanwhile, mike sees them interact and is worried (*cough* jealous *cough*) that will has a puppy-crush on an older girl (robin, LMAO) and would eventually get hurt, but he can't do anything coz will just doesn't come to him anymore. and then he often finds them chatting, teasing each other, eating (SHARING) an icecream (*ahem* since they didn't have enough money, don't worry tho it was a sundae with two scoops in a cup) and in mike's head it's all danger danger danger will robin no they shouldn't no it's bad why is it had oh no will will will will.

so yeah anyway here's an au for yall.

[henrysglock]

i think this whole eddie thing is so funny honestly. like, i really just don't get it? i watched the season before coming back to the fandom for good and i Did like the guy. he was a funny, extra, and kinda quirky. i didn't grow to love him as quickly as i did Robin or Erica when they joined the main cast but he was there and he was kinda alright, had his moments, some better some worse, fun to see on screen, his death wasn't at all surprising or heartfelt to me since he'd just been introduced so it didn't really hit That hard (the scene with his uncle later goes hard tho) so overall a pretty good character to have around for one season!

so imagine my surprise when i see that This is the guy a majority of the new fans latch onto? like? him? i mean, objectively there's nothing wrong with him, again, solid side character imo. but why HIM?? an ensemble-cast show like ST is Filled with strongly written characters, the fact that people would go to bat for this One side character who Just got introduced and had death flags since s4e1 is just... odd. actually it isn't i'm afraid we all know why side characters like Barb (who also died in her own season), or Argyle (who was introduced alongside Eddie and is still Alive mind you) or even smaller supporting roles like Mr. Clark or something don't get the massive fanbase Eddie has sadly

it's surprising, but also not, if you think about it. it's likely because Eddie is a "conventionally attractive" white man with a fair bit of queercoding.

Even Jonathan, a main group member, doesn't have the level of hype that Eddie does, either because he isn't seen as "conventionally attractive", or because he's reserved and introverted (even though he's been fleshed out to be a very good and stong male character).

While Argyle has the charasmatic-weirdo vibes that Eddie has, he isn't white. While Barb was queer, she wasn't a man. Neither of them are "conventionally attractive" people either (it pains me to say that, because personally I think they're both fine looking people, actually). While Mr. Clarke is a great person and is very helpful to the plot across most of the show, he isn't a dilf-y cop like Hopper. He's a nerdy middle school teacher.

There's your reasons. (/nm at anon, but definitely pissy at the GA)

[sunsetsnz]

Omg, I want to ask so many! Let's go with 7, 10, and 11 :D

thank you for the ask, autumn!! ❤️

7) How do they trust people? Will they give themselves up for someone else?

jonathan has a harder time trusting people initially. he wholeheartedly trusts his closest ones (his dad, seph, his best friends theo and micah) but he was hardcore bullied in school and it wrecked his confidence and trust in others. he wants to believe people are good, but he’s still wary when someone’s nice to him. it took him a little while to rly open himself up to seph and embrace the free-fall

seph is better at forming initial connections, but ultimately i’d say he’s the one who struggles more being vulnerable with his emotions and showing the not so desirable parts of himself. he’s afraid that people will turn their back on him for not fitting into the ideal he feels he should live up to. he needs deep trust with someone to open up fully.

10) Are they easily flustered?

jonathan gets pretty easily flustered with strangers, not as much with people he’s comfortable around. he can trade insults/banter with theo and jokes with micah. same goes for seph, though it’s still easy for seph to fluster him with just a look tbh lmao. talking about/referring to sex is an easy way to fluster him hehe

seph is the smooth and collected type so he’s not easily flustered. the only one who can ever rly fluster him is jonathan, probably when he does something that seph finds very attractive/turns him on, whether jonathan’s aware of it or not lol. oh and…anything snz related flusters him a lot 👀

11) Do they have a favourite place to be? Is it rather in the city or in nature? Does that change when they are unwell?

ooh so glad to answer this one!! jonathan actually lives with his dad in a trailer right by the woods, he grew up in nature so that’s his happy place. he feels zen there (his hayfever disagrees tho). he does spend a fair amount of time in the city too but it’s mostly out of necessity for uni and work, or to stay with seph. he also has a fave campus library he likes to frequent! when he’s unwell it doesn’t exactly change, he just stays home more, though he will say that “fresh air won’t hurt”

seph’s favourite place is wherever jonathan is 😉 no but he does love the park at sunset, driving around the city at night, sitting on the fire escape in the summer heat with headphones on. and, yes, he loves the rural quiet of jonathan’s home 😌 when unwell, he forces himself to get on with his usual stuff, but he really just wants to hide in bed

[gunmetal-ring]

Do you have any other stranger things ships?

At the risk of starting Discourse... yes lol

Hellcheer obv - i like eddie and steves friendship dynamic but i find it very, very weird that theres such an insistence that theyre just as canon as hellcheer bc steve like... literally confessed to nancy that hes still desperately be-my-wife-and-mother-of-my-many-children in love with her but whatever. Like I'll concede that sure maybe actors and writers and showrunners all saying that hellcheer was romantic isnt technically canon, fine, but, uh. Idk. Hardcore pushing-for-canon to the point of harassing the joes abt steddie and shitting on grace/chrissy abt steddie is... extremely offputting to say the least, esp given the fact that it could not be more clear that they are not and have never been and will never be canon, even if eddie was still alive. I definitely think eddie is bi tho lol

Anyway

I like nancy with steve better than with jonathan - yeah steve was a typical high school popular boy asshole for a while, but jonathan 1) literally creepshotted her, 2) manic-pixie-dream-girl'd her, and now 3) is actively lying to her and avoiding her. I've never liked him and his only redeeming quality imo is the way he goes to fuckin bat for will at every chance he gets bc i love will

I like robin and nancys friendship, if i didnt love steve and want him to be happy as much as i do, id want robin and nancy to get together bc vickie is blah and robin and nancy have such a cute dynamic and complement each other so well, but if robin rly likes blah vickie then so be it, i want robin to have a gf that she likes

Jopper but thats a no brainer lol

As for the kids theyre kind of too young for me to really care enough to "ship". Max and lucas are cute together. I rly hope that they dont go the tragic-single-gay-kid route with will bc i love him so, so much and it seems like the writers are definitely angling to keep mike/eleven together, so i hope he finds someone and doesnt spend his life crying and pining for a straight boy who doesn't love him back. Idc abt dustin and susie. Actually i feel like the writers are setting up dustin and erica to get together (like 10 years from now, obv) but i like their friendship its so funny.

I love hopper/joyce/murray 3 musketeers dynamic

I like argyle and jonathans friendship but mostly bc it means i get to see argyle bc i love him lol hes so funny

Is that all the characters? Theres so many characters on this show i love most of them and dont want any of them to die off but i cant keep track of them all lol

Oh and btw i hate billy, glad hes dead, have never and will never ship him w anyone bc he was a racist abusive piece of shit who had one (1) redeeming moment of his entire fucking existence, its sad that he was abused but that doesnt excuse the fact that he was also abusive, sorry not sorry

[timesnewronance]

listen, i am a day one nancy wheeler stan. that is my girl, my all time fav. but she needs to die in season 5. here's why:

nancy dying is quite possibly the only way for the discourse about her to not center around some man.

the duffers have already explicitly said that s5 will tie up all relationship loose ends, but i don't think there's a satisfying way to conclude the love triangle w/ either jancy or stancy (even tho steve and jonathan are awesome!!). if she goes back to steve, both of their growth since then (all of nancy's ambitions beyond a suburban, nuclear family) will be lost. if she goes back to jonathan, it just feels empty. i loved s2+s3 jancy, but the writing in s4 hollowed out everything authentic about their relationship. therefore, the best option is…

ronance!!!!!! yes, i'm delusional, but i also know this won't be canon. vickie is clearly intended to be endgame w/ robin, and that's totally adorable and i'm so glad we'll get a wlw couple. BUT imagine nancy dying for robin (literally and figuratively). pining for robin but knowing she can never have her. nancy wheeler is nothing if not selfless, and she absolutely would sacrifice herself for unrequited love.

nancy dying for robin would not only be an insanely cinematic plot-twist from the tired love triangle trope, but it would also be the perfect full circle for her. nancy started the show thinking she was a killer, holding herself responsible for barb's death. it's only fitting that she ends with saving the first female friend she's had since then (even tho she wishes robin was more than just a friend). she's not going to allow another person she let into her heart die because of her.

nancy wheeler is a classic hero archetype, and if it takes her dying for everyone else to notice, then so be it.

when her elementary school teachers asked a young nancy wheeler what her future would look like, she might not have anticipated that it would include quite so much monster hunting. still, she knew she would never grow up to be the quiet housewife who abandoned her own dreams in favor of her husband's. and nancy wheeler is never wrong.

[enamouredless]

do you have any eddie munson headcanons?

no one asked me for headcanons before but these are some of the stuff that abt eddie that are 100% canon to me idc, thanks for the ask I had fun thinking abt these!!

I feel like he doesn't have that many friends outside of the hellfire club so I can see him going to bother Steve and robin over at the video store all the time, robin warms up to him faster but it takes steve a bit longer and they both become so used to him there they stop questioning it, they all end up closing late at night and leaving together

He he would 100% become a will byers protector and they'd put insane campaigns together, will draws stuff for the campaigns alll the time and he would always praise him by saying he barely knows how to draw stick figures

Still going on w will they'd bond over being seen as freaks and he would reassure him how there's nothing wrong with being different and to anyone that says that to him he should tell them promptly to fuck off (will does that and starts to stand up more for himself, word by word he starts to tell the ppl who bully him to fuck off)

I feel like jonathan would be a bit weirded out at first of why does this random grown ass guy keeps hanging out around my little brother but later on he just figured out that eddie Is Just Like That and he's thankful that he helped will be more confident with himself and his interests, later on they would become maybe more like acquaintances and there's a bit of a mutual agreement and they respect they have for each other, jonathan is to will what his uncle is to him

he got kicked out of his home somewhere around freshman year and he has been staying with his uncle ever since, he didnt have anyone for a while thats why he makes it his job to make sure other kids like him have a place at school

Whenever he actually manages to show up to school he would randomly ran into nancy in the halls and he would go out of his way to say hello to her just to bother her and everyone would be like wtf how do the both of you know each other?????

He definitely doesn't own a backpack he just goes around with a pencil and one folded notebook hes been using since freshman year to take notes

He inspired mike to try and get into playing guitar and sometimes he would bring his guitar to school and mike would bring his and he would teach him how to play some basic songs after classes, mike sucks at playing tho lmao but he's been trying to slowly turn him into a metalhead like him and he's not giving up yet

[quandaryqueen]

Your girl just graduated lmao 🎓✨

I was low-key logging entries of thoughts in my notes as the ceremony goes on and as a testament to my obsession with writing fics lmao.

Very lengthy ass speeches that feels so damn corporate. Don't help that they don't look at their audience, but rather at the prompter they have on their podiums. 'Inspiring and encouraging speeches' my ass. The bass is powerfully blaring, wtf and the aircons are blowing hard as fuck, my legs are low-key cold. I'll give them that, at least it's not hot as balls. They're still speeching. It all sounds the same, so fake. And low-key a humble-brag, especially from the guest speaker who is an alumni, but I guess it's a way of the school saying, "Look at this, we made this mf, councilor of WCC, graduated in 2016 😉 with a degree in idk"

They're still trying to get to us with the speeches.

Before that tho, they played The prayer by Celine Dion and the other guy, Andrea Bocceli I believe. I low-key daydreamed about Music Meister highjacking our graduation by mind-controlling us by singing the prayer. That'd be more entertaining, ngl Anyways, yeah. Story idea, because my mind is always wandering.

Story idea inspired by @like-rain-or-confetti, Uncle Jon accompanying his nephew/niece reader as a teacher of that school. Awkward dynamic at first, Jon was a guest speaker there too because he is an alumni. Creeps out the whole school and he thinks about how much he wants to bomb the whole school with fear toxin, but keeps their niece/nephew in mind.... Maybe next graduation if ever they ask him to speak as a guest.

Or alternatively, it's Reader's younger sister graduating and Jonathan happened to be one of her teacher and reader's long-term boyfriend. Third-wheel jokes, Reader's sister constantly referring to Jon as brother-in-law, flustering Jonathan, and making him feel welcomed in Reader's family already.

[captinsteveharrington]

1) Steddie Engagement/Wedding

(Lots of background before all the cute shit…sorry)

OKAY! First, most importantly, fuck the 1980s- EVERYONE makes it out of 1986, Max and Eddie are fine! By 1990, Steve and Eddie are ready to leave Hawkins, Indiana in general.

Steve wants to go to New York, he’s tired of the slowness of the ‘southern’ US, he wants to feel the drive of a big city, and he’s convinced it’s progressive. (He’s not wrong but he’s also not right)

Eddie wants The West Coast dream, to be as FAR away from Hawkins as he can get, he’s also heard about all these celebrities that live and die for California.

They end up not being sure what to choose because The Kids are divided:

Max, El, and Will want to go to California for college. Max wants to get back to the sand and the sun, it’s her home and she misses it. Will wants to go to school there half bc it’s where he started accepting himself and half bc that’s where Mike isn’t (they’re not in a good place bc Mike still hasn’t figured out his shit), Jane is SO in love with Max and Will is her brother so she’s gonna go with them (even if Cali was rough for her the first time) plus Jonathan has already made a home for himself out there with Argyle. Johnathan is working for CNN as a photographer (The Kids don’t know it but they’re dating, he and Nance broke up on good terms, she needed to find herself outside a relationship and she’s very happy for John and Argyle they talk all the time)

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin want the East Coast. Massachusetts, for Mike and Dustin, bc of MIT. Lucas gets a scholarship to some school up there, he could’ve went to California but he wants to give Max a chance to figure out what she wants out of life (he’s such a good kid and he just wants her to be happy).

In the end, they decide on NYC bc Johnathan is in California to make sure Max, Jane, and Will are okay. They’re close enough to Mike, Dustin, and Lucas that if something goes down they can get to them but far enough away that they can have their own lives.

Lucas ends up in Brooklyn, he’s doing great in school, Dustin and Mike are thriving at MIT. Will, is doing great in art school. Jane is having fun in community college she’s making friends and has even met a few lesbian/bi women, Max is balls to the wall living her best life.

In the summer of 1991, Robin moves to NYC, she’s offered a job at The Smithsonian bc of her history degree. Nancy also follows Steve and Eddie out to East Coast, she gets a job in Chicago for The Tribune. Steve has finished his degree in Social Work, and he’s working for New York States Child Protective Services (they don’t know he’s in a relationship with Eddie for obvious reasons). Eddie works at a dive bar that he headlines at on the weekends.

By spring of 91’ Steve and Eddie have been together for four years and EVERYONE is pushing for them to make it official. Joyce is hearing all this stuff about Domestic Partnerships and she’s hoping that soon her boys will be able to have the same rights she and Hopper have. She’s really leading the charge in getting them married, Robin of course is backing her 100%. Steve and Eddie kind of brush it off bc they’re happy as they are. It’s like their own sexy secret, something they share and love and don’t have to explain to anyone else.

When the kids start graduating and finally get into the real world they all meet up at Steve and Eddie’s home. They’ve moved out of the city into a nice suburban neighborhood, close enough that they get all the night life and shit but far enough away that they feel safe with their not so kid children coming to stay with them. It’s the summer of 1997 at this point.

Jane convinces Hop and Joyce to come up to see everyone for a few weeks at the beginning of June. Each of the boys take turns talking to Steve and Eddie abt the potential of an engagement. It’s a very stressful first three days. By the end of that first week tho, Steve is ready to pop the question. Once the whole family is back together (John and Argyle included) he asks Eddie to be his husband over some of Hop’s ‘world famous’ stakes. Eddie of course says yes. Lots of happy tears follow.

Part 1/2

[madame-fear]

Hiya Darling

I’ve also been feeling kinda down lately idk with like my looks and just feeling unlovable yknow when ugh life. So like i know i just recently asked for a comforting josh templeton work but can i get another serving of some either jonathan or josh comforting reader. One of thos “no one would pick me in a room of girls” type of situations you get me. So sorry if this is too deep and totes ruining the mood right now my apologies.

~the super cool and amazing 🦈

Hello babe!! ❤ Ohh my dear, I don't like to hear that 🥺 No one should feel that way! You're amazing and so cool!! Remember that there's always there who truly loves you for who you are, and cares for you.

I understand how you feel, because I've felt that way before (and still do quite often), and it's horrible. So, if you ever need to talk to someone about it, feel free to contact me whenever you want! My DM's are always open 🥰💕

I originally was going to write this one for Gotham! Jonathan, but finally decided to write it for Josh Templeton bc I know (and imagine) you like reading about him 🥰

Here it goes, my dearest!! Enjoy your reading, and hope it makes you better🥺❤

WARNING: Mentions of self-hate (and speech), reader feels awful and is kind of depressed, and some slight cussing. Starts with Angst, ends with some fluff.

______________________________________

Bad Liar | Josh Templeton x Fem!Reader

Dreadfulness consumed your entire body, making you feel lifeless, not wanting to do anything else but just lay on your bed and stare at the roof on your now dark bedroom. You were having one of those moments where you felt entirely like shit, awful, unlovable...ugly, even. You weren't even able to look ar yourself in the mirror, you currently despised yourself.

You skipped a few days of school, since you had called in sick. You didn't have the motivation nor energy to get out of your house and deal with all the usual chaos of the school. You just needed some time alone to process all your emotions, hoping for this awful sensation to go away soon. You had received a few calls, which you assumed it was from your friends, but you never picked up the phone. The last thing you needed was to talk to someone, not even with your friends.

Taking a deep sigh, you shifted to your side in bed, and mindlessly stared at the window, even if you couldn't see anything outside since they were covered by the curtains. You weren't even thinking about anything, your presence was just there as you tightly hugged yourself. The soft, cold breeze hitting against your window.

Suddenly, the sound of your front door being open made you quickly sit in bed, and guide your eyes from your window to your bedroom's door. Adrenaline rushed in your whole body, unsure of what was yet to come. You softly gripped yourself from the lamp that stood on your nightstand, ready to hit whoever came inside your home.

"(Y/N)?" A familiar voice called, making you sigh with relief. You had forgotten about the fact that your best friend, Josh, had a key to enter your home whenever he wanted.

The strong grip you previously had on your lamp slowly softened, knowing that there was no threat to be aware of, sighing once again. It didn't take long until your bedroom door was opened, quietly creaking. His tall figure appeared through your door, and saw you sitting on bed, holding the lamp near your chest. "Fuck off, man. You scared the shit out of me." You softly scolded him, your voice tone was low and unexpressive. He simply scoffed at your comment, walking towards you, and immediatly plopping down on the edge of your bed.

"So..." you said, raising an eyebrow towards him. "What are you here for?" You asked, your voice and face were still expressionless. You didn't feel like talking to someone, but deep down inside, you were glad that he was there with you. It was as if you so badly needed him to be there, without you even being aware of it. "Why do you think I'm here? Because I'm worried about you, (Y/N)." There was something about his comment that made you feel...oddly emotional, it was like it made you drown with sorrow. You couldn't believe someone as sweet and caring as him could be worried about someone like you.

"Please, (Y/N). I know you're not sick, you're a really bad liar. I know there's something else going on. What is it? Tell me." He carefully grabbed both your hands, softly squeezing them. He placed one of his hand on top of yours, and the other one at the bottom, leaving your hands in the middle. You couldn't bare holding your emotions, you needed to release everything. These last few days you felt as if you couldn't let your emotions out, you couldn't even cry...but somehow, he made you feel overwhelmed with all the feelings you've held for so long. "It's just that..." You began speaking, taking a deep breath before you could continue. "Life is going on, Joshua!" That's it. You completely lost it, you couldn't hold it anymore. Without even realising, several tears began escaping through your eyes, and running through your cheeks.

"No one would pick me in a room full of girls!" You were now practically drowning in your own tears and sobbing. "I hate myself so much, Josh..." Some gentle sobs escaped your lips as you spoke. "I can't even look at myself in the mirror, I just feel so ugly and so unlovable, I'm so, so worthless..." Instinctively, not being able to look at him in the eyes out of shame, you looked down at your lap, as some tears left both your sweater and your pants with small wet spots from the tears, and began violently sobbing. He had never seen you this way before, which provoked his heart to drop at the sight of you in such a bad state. Without a single thought, he released both your hands, and quickly wrapped you in the warmth of his arms, tightly pressing you against his chest as you sobbed.

He softly played with strands of your hair, and rubbed your back in a comforting way. "That's not true. None of what you just said is true." He softly spoke, trying to soothe you. Your arms were tightly wrapped around his body, and hearing his soft voice speak made you calm down a bit. "You're the most amazing person I could ever met, I never stop thinking about how lucky I am to know someone like you, you know that?" His sweet words made you force yourself to stop sobbing. Even if you didn't want him to see your reddish face so messy due to all the recent crying, he placed some fingers under your chin and forcing you to look at him. His icy blue eyes pierced through your soul in a different way...like no one had ever done before in your life. With his other hand, he gently wiped away your tears with his fingertips. The closeness between you two made your cheeks get reddish.

"You only say that because you must pity me." Your voice was too weak to speak, breaking in the middle of your talking, your voice tone lower than usual. The way he deeply stared into your eyes gave you goosebumps, it made you feel weak under his touch. "No, I don't. I mean it. I love you so so much, (Y/N)." He briefly paused before continuing, noticing that your eyes widened at his sudden confession. "In a room full of girls, I would pick you. You're so different...different than most girls I've seen in my life. Your personality is so witty and enchanting, you're so unique. I wouldn't replace you for anything in the world." He was certainly getting into your heart, now. A small smile began forming on your lips as he kept talking, the blush on your face didn't fail to increase. "You're not unlovable, you're not worthless, and certainly, you're not ugly."

The tight your arms previously had around his body softened, and it was like you didn't feel overwhelmed anymore; you felt like someone truly cared about you. "You shouldn't compare yourself to other girls, and you shouldn't try to be like them. I love you just the way you are, and will always do. I promise I'll always be by your side, and I'll help you deal with the usual shitty chaos of life if you ever need to. Just... don't call yourself worthless or ugly, you're the best fucking thing that ever happened to me in this stupid world." You certainly had a broad smile on your lips. Your heart fluttered with love at the sweet, dedicated words he just told you.

Too perplexed to talk, you nervously licked your lips and looked down to your lap out of shyness, trying to hide your obvious flustered face. "You..." You paused for a moment, and looked up back again at him. "You really mean it?" Your question made him scoff, and a smile immediatly formed on his lips. He carefully grabbed your soft hand, caressing it with his thumb, and placed the other hand on your cheek. Before you could open your mouth to say anything, he gently smashed his lips against yours, causing yourself to tense up at the sudden moment. Were you imagining things? Well, actually, no. This was truly happening, and it was more real than you could ever believe.

It took you a few seconds until your body relaxed at the new sensation of his plushy lips against yours. Slowly closing your eyes, you gave up, and practically melted into the kiss. You placed on hand on his chest, and the other one ran through his hair, leaving it a bit more messy than it usually is. He, somehow, always managed to brighten up your days with a single smile, or just one touch, and to make you feel as if you were the only girl in the world...he made you feel so incredibly special, like no one had ever done before. At the feeling of his lips suddenly breaking apart the kiss, you slowly opened your eyes again, blinking a few times. "Does that answer your question?" He said. A sly smile formed on his beautiful face, while you just goofily smiled and tried to hold in your nervous giggles. "I‐I think that does...yeah."

His hand was still placed on your cheek, and he stared at you, just absolutely lovestruck at the sight of you being so awkwardly adorable. That was a whole new moment for you, which caused you to rub one of your arms up and down, trying to comfort yourself and make the nervousness fade away. "T-Thank you...for everything." You looked at his beautiful blue eyes, whom not even for second stopped looking directly into yours. "You shouldn't thank me, you deserve all the best in the world, only for you." A few giggles escaped away from your lips, which caused his heart to flutter with pure love. Without saying anything else, he threw himself on you, and embraced you in a tight hug, rocking your bodies to your sides in a sweet way.

"I think, I should call in sick too, don't you think?" He softly asked, his voice tone was low. You nodded in agreement, as you rubbed his warm back. "You should. Stay with me, please." He softly giggled at your comment. Slowly breaking apart the hug, he gave you a kiss on your cheek, provoking anlther blush to creep in your face.

"I'll stay with you. I love you, and will always do." He said, grabbing both your hands once again, as he deeply stared into your eyes.

Certainly, you were going to spend a nice and good time with him. You didn't feel alone or unlovable anymore...you felt accompanied with someone who truly cared and worried for you. His loving and warm presence was just enough to make you feel happy and comfy, and for him, that was all he needed. Only you, and your beautiful big smile.

[wasteland-lover]

Naylo, loml, could you pretty please briefly summarize the first three seasons of Stranger things so I can just jump into the fourth?? Please and thank you

Here are some things I know already:

Steve is a man whore apparently but also basically the babysitter? Nancy has a gun? That dude with the bowl cut is gay for Mike but Mike likes Eleven? Aren't Lucas and Max together?

I'm really scratching my head here.. although I guess I could just google it...

I don't wanna binge watch the first 3 seasons cause I know Eddie's not in them. I am totally not a simp, and I enjoy things normally btw

Abby, moon to my stars, imma try my best to summarize everything (im sorry it’s hella long😭)

here is also a video that you can watch that will summarize everything much easier :)

season one:

- so this group of kids (mike, lucas, dustin, and will) love to play dungeons and dragons. one night after coming home from mike’s house, will missing without a trace

-like the next night, mike, lucas, and dustin find this mysterious bald-headed girl named eleven who escaped from dr.brenner, a man she called papa and the head scientist of the lab she escaped from. the boys feel like eleven’s appearance is somehow connected to will’s disappearance

-will’s mom and older brother, joyce and jonathan, are both very distraught by will’s death but joyce kinda goes crazy over it

- meanwhile sometime time later mike’s older sister nancy and her friend barbra go to a small party hosted by nancy’s boyfriend steve (who’s popular at their school and is basically a bully at this point). at that same party, while steve and nancy are off having sex (😒), barbra also goes missing w/out a trace

-it’s also important to mention that jonathan was in the woods taking pictures and happened to stumble upon steve’s house where he took pictures of steve and nancy from the window (hella weird). ones of his pictures depicts a strange figure near barbra right before she disappeared

- felling guilty over her friend’s disappearance, nancy goes to jonathan in hopes of trying to figure out the disappearances (this is where she get all badass and starts messing w/ guns and shit). together they figure out how that that strange figure in one of his photos has something to do with it

-it’s also important to mention that the kids figure out that eleven had telekinetic powers (i forgot how but this is important)

-back w/ joyce, she’s going frantic over her son and is convinced that he’s somehow still alive (even thought his dead body was “found”) and is trying to talk to her through the lights

-through will’s perspective, we see that he’s stuck in an alternate dimension called the upside down where everything’s the same but it’s basically a dark and hazy ghost town with demonic creatures all over the place. unlike barbra, he managed to survive and hide out in the alternate version of his home where is was able to send his mom a signal through the lights

-due to joyce’s persistence, the the leader of the disappearance cases and cheif of police, hopper, goes to the morgue and cuts open will’s dead body to find out that the “body” isn’t real and is just a dummy full of stuffing. this leads to him actually believe her and them teaming up to find out what the hell is going on

-it’s kinda not really improvement to mention that steve and nancy find out about the weird ass pictures jonathan took of them and Steve fought him about it. nancy was defending jonathan tho (bc they became friends over the course of that mystery solving) and steve is like🤨.

-back w/ the kids, i don’t really remember wtf is going on with them but just know the lab she escapes from is out to get her

-something something later jonathan and nancy are in joyce’s house fighting a demogorgan, one of the weird demonic things from the upsized down that came through a gate (like a portal that connects the two words). steve shown up all of a sudden to apologize to nancy and teams up w/ them to beat the shit out of the demogorgon. this leads to him kinda joining their little team

-yeah im ngl the earlier seasons are really fuzzy to me bc i watched them back in like 2017. just know that eleven is presumed to be dead and they end up getting will back. also joyce and hopper found out that this government research center called hawkins lab had something to do with the will’s disappearance and the creation of the upside down (i forgot how💀)

season two:

-i don’t really remember much from this season but just know that this season takes place like a year later. something called the mind flayer possessed will from his upside down days and started controlling him more and more

-it is revealed to the audience that eleven is actually alive and hopper basically unofficially adopted her. they have been secretly in a cabin in the woods bc the lab is still looking for her😪

-meanwhile this girl names max and her racist ass older step-brother billy are new to hawkins. billy basically has beef w/ steve bc he wants to take his place as the “king of hawkins high” and max becomes friends w/ lucas, dustin, and mike

-it’s important to mention that will is basically bedridden cuz he’s sick (even tho it’s really just the miss flayer eating away at home from the inside)

-joyce goes to one of the doctors of hawkins lab (i forgor his name but he’s important in season 4) and is like “what’s wrong with my boy🤨???” and he basically says it’s relay to the upside down

-back w/ hopper and eleven, they get into a fight and she runs away from home. she ends up in some city where she finds her sister who also grew up with her him the lab and has powers. on her little soul searching journey, eleven finds out that her real name is jane and she had a mom but the lab gave her shock therapy making (bc she tried to find her daughter) this making her go crazy

-back in hawkins, nancy and steve breakup. in an effort to get her back he shows up to her house to apologize where he meets dustin (this is where he get a character arc and people start calling him the babysitter) and gets dragged along to help him and his find his pet baby demogorgon (bc he had that for some reason???) before it terrorizes the town

-anyways i think it’s joyce and hopper who find out that the reason the mind flayer had such a hold on will is bc there’s a gate to the upside down that’s still open (and the only one who can close it is eleven)

-anyways eleven comes back from her lil trip and steve is left watching the kids (mike, dustin, lucas, and max) while joyce is off with will and hopper takes eleven to close the gate w/ her powers

-while steve is with the kids, billy shows up outta nowhere looking for his step-sister. he storms in the house and starts besting the shit outta steve (cuz remember they got beef) and once he’s done w/ steve he immediately starts attacking lucas for handing around max (he told her not to hand out with “his kind” some time earlier)

-anyway max ends up being the one to put billy down and the gang and up stealing his car to go set fire to this thing thats attracting the demogorgans (idk i forgot about allat)

-and then eleven closes the gate and will gets unpossessed and everything is good🙂

season three:

-okay so everything isn’t really all that good

-so there’s a really big mall that opens up in town and steve, having graduated high school, gets a summer job where we meet his coworker robin

-i forgot to mention that mike and eleven and lucas and max got together back in season two

- dustin finds some message in russian and he, steve and robin are able to decode it. this leads them to find out that the mall is actually a cover up for a russian operation going on underneath it. also note that lucas’s younger sister erica tags along w/ them and becomes a main character

-in this season, nancy and jonathan are relevant again and are dating. they have an summer job as interns for a newsletter and after some investigating, they find out that the mind flayer is still possessing people

- joyce and hopper also somehow figure out that russians are involved w/ the upside down stuff and basically abduct a russian scientist they found in a secret lab. they go to the town theory conspirator murray who is able to translate what the russian guy is saying

-billy is off somewhere and ens up being the first person fully possessed by the mind flayer. through him, the flayer is able to possess more and more people

-the kids figure out something’s up and end up teaming w/ nancy and jonathan to figure out what’s going on

- back with steve and dustin anc all of them, steve and robin end up getting kidnapped and the russian guys are like “who do you work for😡” and steve’s like “an ice cream shop😩” and then they just beat the shit outta him and drug them up so they can be tortured for information. dustin and erica save them before that happens tho and they all escape back to the mall

-the scientist guy w/ joyce and hopper and Murray lowkey ends up siding w/ them and confesses how to get to the russian lab where they’re experimenting with another open gate to the upside down

-the scientist guy ends up getting killed off and hopper, joyce, and murray go off undercover to the lab to close the gate

-back with nancy and them, all the possessed people (except billy) basically morph into the gross blob that personifies the mind flayer chases them down

-(not important but good to know) while robin and steve are all drugged up and he ends up confessing to her that he has a crush in her she she’s like “mm no🤭🏳️‍🌈” and basically admits that she’s lesbian. i also forgot to mention that will and mike got into a fight way earlier in the season bc all will wanted to do was hang out w/ his original friends and play d&d but mike wanted to hang out with his girlfriend eleven. all of a sudden mike was like “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls🤬” which basically tells us that will is gay

-ANYWAYS everyone finds themselves at the mall so they can close the gate. the big gross mind flayer thing is still hunting then down but billy sacrifices himself to save them. his lil sacrifice doesn’t really do shit and eleven ends up being the one killing it(💀). it’s makes her loose her powers

-back with joyce and her little group, her and hopper are left having to close the gate but hopper has to go down and fight some russian guy trying to killing them. joyce is left having to close the gate by herself while hopper is hella close to it. this leaves the audience to assume that he’s dead (in season 4 it’s revealed that he’s not dead and was actually just captured by russians)

-at the end of the season it shows all the kids helping joyce, will, and jonathan move out of their house bc they’re tired of dealing with everything. eleven is also going to live with them bc her surrogate dad (hopper) is “dead”

that pretty much all i can remember. it turned out hella long so i don’t expect you to read all of this🚶🏿‍♂️

[gonegrove]

Jodi Pierce: same year as nancy + jonathan. was friends with benefits with billy until he got his shit together and got with [preferred partner for billy here]. they’re still friends bc she’s literally is only one lol. very style forward. socially mobile and well liked without really belonging anywhere. new wave, funk and proto-indie. likes the muppets, puppets and animatronics and makes puppets of her own for comedy shit. dates robin. finds out she and eddie are half siblings bc her mom had an affair w/ his dad pre-3 bc her mom has a crisis about them being in the same grade now. it’s a mess but they’re working on it.

Shannon Harrington: roughly nancy’s age. steve’s younger sister. she’s also very popular and extremely funny. she’s on the volleyball and cheerleading teams. she’s a loud pain in the ass and deeply weird when you actually know her. she’s Peak annoying younger sister. still considers steve probably her best friend bc he’s the only one who actually knows her and still likes her. she is a tinkerbell who will die without attention and her entire outward personality is geared to ensuring attention. also has like no filter, no shame and says wild shit so often. pop music fiend.

Rhiannon Hargrove: nancy’s age. billy’s younger biological sister. named after the fleetwood mac song and hates it. is one of those memes of someone who looks sweet and nice that has the subtitle of something like “i’m about to fucking lose it”. she and billy pretty co-dependent and rhia’s life is heavily controlled by neil and billy tho for different reasons. trying to make this new family shit work but people are Testing Her. can be just as shitty as billy but is usually better at reigning her anger in for the most part (or really she just lets it stew until she Snaps lol rip). a little pop-y and little boho. she and chrissy would get on except that rhia would snap jason’s spine over her fucking knee in 0.0005 secs of meeting him so lol. takes after their mother a lot in looks and personality, not sure how she feels about that since she’s not a fan of her as much as billy still is. still tries to fight back against neil when he gets physical about 50% of the time, usually when he’s going after billy.

Richard Brandon Mayfield: goes by his middle name brandon bc he hates richard. is about 14-15 when they move to hawkins. he’s the epitome of the DW “this sign can’t stop me because  i can’t read!” meme. he’s a dipshit and he means business. literally all the other siblings are smarter than him but he doesn’t give a shit and it’s not a thing for him. he’s gay and he’s so aggressively average about it. like he just is what he is and like ???? that’s it???? doesn’t think their dad is as cool as max does. deadass tries to go toe to toe with neil every. single. time. you cannot TELL this child otherwise. he is a fratboy and an idiot and he could be 100000% shifaced and never get your pronouns wrong even tho he doesn’t get SHIT about what ur talking about. he’s gonna go to trade school after hs for carpentry. he and will get together at some point lol.