#once the idea of steve dming sinks in eddie desperately wants to see him in action with his own eyes

[steveharringtonsstrugglemeals]

Ok that last post I reblogged got me thinking... DM Steve. Somehow he gets roped into DMing a few campaigns for the Party and he's 100% the type of DM who acts tough but is setting up his players to succeed. Not like Eddie — he's genuinely a really tough DM, even if he does want his players to do well. Steve is all about fostering his kids' confidence and making sure they have the chance for some fun escapism after all the shit they've been put through. He's still gotta be a dick about it though — just like how he gripes about giving the kids free rides, he acts cocky and then complains when they break through traps which he carefully designed to have hidden weaknesses that match they Party's strengths. He's great at picking up on pieces of the kids' personalities in their characters, and using that to make sure their adventures are meaningful. Most of his NPCs are basically just versions of him, because he's not the most creative he claims — but really because he just can't resist using the characters to tell his kids he's proud of them.

And this feeds into his "rivalry" with Eddie: Steve already knew that his campaigns weren't the most complex or immersive, he just doesn't have that level of detail-oriented planning skill. It doesn't matter, he was just doing it as a favor to his friends, right? But then the kids start school and all of a sudden they won't stop gushing about Eddie Munson and how grueling his campaigns are, how he gives each of his NPCs unique voices, how he's the coolest and smartest person they know. And yeah, it kinda chafes against all of Steve's insecurities. Even playing DnD, he still manages to be the dumb jock, right?

It takes a while, but inevitably Eddie finds out that Steve has DMed in the past. Steve immediately gets defensive about it: yeah maybe he wasn't the Party's first choice for a DM and maybe his campaigns weren't exactly masterpieces, but the kids enjoyed them! Eddie, on the other hand, is close to fainting over the idea of Steve Harrington, of all people, as a Dungeon Master.