#only finding out because of max and heather and eddie

[animangalover-writes]

Just listened to "A Part of me" in the Dear Evan Hansen bonus tracks, and OOF, imagining the song being about everyone finding what Billy hargrove went through but only AFTER he died. Everyone wondering if they could have helped him in some way. Max being Zoe with their similar parallels. Hopper thinking about seeing Billy with bruises and just thinking he was just a troublemaker only to realize afterwards that Neil was doing that to him. Joyce wondering how she didn't see the signs whenever he'd come in to by cigarettes with a busted lip or black eye. The two of them both wondering what they could have done differently to help him, because he was just a kid. Even Eddie Munson, who could have been Billy's only real friend, or Heather Holloway(if she lived), who genuinely mourn him and wish they could have done something. Steve being Evan, when he makes a speech about Billy, a kid he was just starting to be friends with, that gains he a lot of praise and popularity. Except unlike Evan, he doesn't want it, hates it even. Someone, a guy(Eddie or Steve or anyone else) who was secretly dating him. Who goes to Max because she is the only person in his family that really cared about him, and aims to tell her that Billy was gay, just so she holds that secret part of him close to her heart. And before they say it, she tells them, "You make me feel closer to him." And they realize it's not their secret to tell, and that that secret will follow him to the grave. That he will never be allowed to truly own that part of himself, even in death. And Billy's ghost, watching the interaction at the end, with a solemn look on his face, knowing that some people are using his death for pity points, and knowing that most people never really knew him, and now they never will.

[madelynraemunson]

CALL ME WHAT YOU WANT 𓆩♡𓆪

(Book #1 of the Hellfire Gentlemen's Club series)

(strip club owner!eddie x fem!exotic dancer!hargrove!x reader)

𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐔 18+ minors skiddaddle pls

Chapter 009: Nina

There’s a new girl at Hellfire and Eddie is seemingly wrapped around her finger. Meanwhile, Max makes a shocking new discovery…

* = somewhat smut

** = smut

↳ chapters: 001, 002*, 003** , 004**, 005 , 006 , 007* , 008**, 009, 010, 011, 012* , 013**, 014**, 015, 016**, 017, 018, 019, 020*

word count: 3.8k words

disclaimers & warnings — ⚠️ this is a verrrryy emotionally intense chapter. pls read at your discretion ; generational curses, physical altercations, profanities, throwing objects, heated arguments, implications of suspected grooming, shy girl being delulu, lmk if anything else

“Shouldn't have to listen to the shit you say.”

♡

"C’mon... COME ON!" Dustin roars in frustration. "What starts with a T and ends with a C?"

Slow Monday afternoons call for Wordle with the Party.

With little else to do in Hawkins on your day off, you find yourself situated at DRAGON’S BREATH with Steve, Dustin, and Jonathan’s younger brother Will.

Figuring out the last Wordle is a daunting task. Thankfully Argyle has been periodically swinging by, his emotional support nachos being the only thing keeping you from ripping out your hair.

"Tunic," Will suggests.

"Tonic," Steve contributes. "Like tonic water."

"Topic?" you pitch in. “Like Hot Topic.”

This is taking all of your last brain cells combined.

"Topic was one of them, Shy Girl,” Dustin sighs irritably. “I said that already.”

You raise your arms, surrendering. It seems you’ve poked the beast.

It’s been hard for you to focus anyway. The hot and heavy night you spent with Eddie a couple nights ago is taking up all the space of your dirty little mind.

You think of Eddie. His moans. The O-shape his mouth made as he chased his own pleasure on you. How full your pussy felt with just his three fingers pulsing in and out, and how full your mouth felt with Eddie's cock ramming the back of your throat with no mercy. The taste of him. How shocked he looked when you swallowed. How rough he was with you, but oh so thoughtful at the same time.

Truly an experience from another dimension. And you’re already fantasizing about the next time.

But you still want to keep it on the down low. Considering Eddie might still be seeing his Lady Friend, and you're still getting shagged by his roommate whenever he’s not home, you can't exactly get mad at him for texting someone who isn't you.

“Pssst,” you nudge Steve while the others brainstorm. “I think Eddie is talking to Nina again.”

Confusion sets in on Steve's face. He raises his eyebrows. “What?”

“Yeah,” you smirk, trying to pretend that it doesn’t hurt. “Saw a message exchange between them a couple days ago.”

“Who’s Nina?”

“Isn’t that the Lady Friend’s name?”

“No…” Steve shakes his head. “Lady Friend’s name was Heather.”

It really has you wondering now... who is Nina?

"Yeah, the kukris are cool huh?" you hear Eddie's soothing voice come into earshot.

Odd. He stopped coming in on Mondays, you thought.

"That's the cool thing about owning a business,” you hear Eddie explain. “You get to choose where the money goes, when it goes, how it goes — at least most of the time."

Where have you heard that before?

Then Eddie comes into view, with a girl walking very closely behind him.

She’s stunning, standing to be about five-foot-two with a youthful face, petite body, and straight, long jet-black hair. Both conventionally, and legitimately beautiful, the girl looks to be at least 20 years old, dressed in cream-colored Chuck Taylor's, tattered booty shorts, and a playful white off-the-shoulder blouse. Scattered fine-line tattoos ornament her body. Her makeup has been flawlessly painted on, her lash extensions a hybrid between voluminous and wispy. And because you’re from Southern California, you can spot lip injections from a mile away.

A new dancer.

"This is where you clock in," Eddie explains to her. "I'll be sure to get you your punch in code by the end of the week. Over at the lounge we have Will, Shy Girl, Steve, and Dustin. Hey guys!”

Now you know why it sounds familiar. You received a very identical run down when you first started.

You're too shocked to wave so you feign a smile at your new colleague. Also, Eddie is too quick for you to react.

"We call the hookah lounge Dragon's Breath," Eddie continues. "And main-stage-slash-tip-rail is called Vecna's Lair."

They walk over to VECNA'S LAIR and you crane your neck to watch.

You observe Eddie give the girl a very familiar run down of Hellfire, using his arms to talk and eyes to listen.

She laughs at Eddie's charm, as anyone would. They talk for a bit more before he walks, what looks like to you, a predatory circle around her — a lion and a gazelle — and then spins her. Then Eddie does something that just about snaps your heart in half.

“MWAH!” he exclaims. “You are gonna do great. I just know it.”

The verbal kiss. The spin. The drowning her in compliments. Everything he did with you.

If Eddie’s gonna do his job, could he at least make every interaction with his employees unique? It all makes you feel betrayed. As if you were just another number in the factory.

"Traitor." you hiss sharply under your breath.

You abruptly stand up to start towards Eddie, hands balled into fists at the blatant disrespect displayed in front of you. You feel sick to your stomach, skin seemingly dragon-green with envy.

"That’s seven letters not five!" Dustin calls after you.

Eddie sees you in his periphery and waves. For the sake of keeping the peace, the smile you exude is fake to him, but friendly to the girl next to him.

"Hey, Hargrove!" Eddie smiles. "We've got a new person on board."

"I see that!" you exclaim. "Hi, I'm Shy Girl."

"I'm Nina," she introduces herself with a bright smile. "It's nice to meet you."

You two shake hands. Nina is just darling. Her eyes are so kind and bright, full of wonder. Her energy is warm. For a second there she was making you nervous.

“Y-you gonna be starting with us soon?” you investigate.

“Yeah, I start on Friday!”

“First dancing gig?”

Eddie shoots you a look, almost as if what you said was disrespectful. It wasn’t your intention. You were just wondering, after all. Nina looks really, really young.

“Uh, no actually,” Nina smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been dancing since I was 18. So two-ish years now.”

Your soul hurts.

Eighteen is just a baby. Twenty is a fresh adult. Nina is only a year older than the kiddos and can't even be near POTIONS without redirection from Henry.

Now you’re disgusted with Eddie. Why would he ever get so close to someone so young? You thought teenagers at Hellfire made him queasy. Nina is 20 now, but still. What would she have in common with a 28 year old? What about her was so appealing to Eddie?

“Oh! That’s cool… I think?”

Eddie’s harsh lines deepen across his face.

“Nina, why won’t you put your bag down by the cubbies, sweetheart?” Eddie suggests. “Then I’ll have Argyle make you something to eat. My treat.”

“Okay!” Nina chimes. "I was eyeing the chicken wings."

"Done deal. Wings or flats?"

"Flats!" Nina says as she skips away. "Please."

Eddie's admiring eyes trail after her as Nina acqauints herself with Hellfire.

So many questions arise in your head. Is Nina who Eddie’s been texting all this time? Did she come in and audition like you did? Did he ask her out on an 'orientation' lunch/dinner that he apparently does with all of his dancers? It wouldn't surprise you. None of this behavior is new.

This jealousy feels icky. And most of all, it hurts.

"Ugh!" Eddie clutches his chest. He turns to you. "I love her already."

You remain stiff as a board as Eddie slowly leans into you. A part of you is aching to lean in as well, but you can’t give him the satisfaction.

Eddie hovers his hand over the small of your back because he knows Steve is watching. His eyes are out on a prowl per usual the way they burn into you.

"Looking beautiful as always," Eddie compliments you. "How are you? I haven't stopped thinking about you since Saturday."

He looks over your shoulder at the Wordle group.

"What was the last word?"

“Don’t know,” you huff. “You seem to have gotten it.”

“What?” Eddie questions cluelessly.

“With Nina,” you cross your arms. "And all your words that you've been wooing her with."

“Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Eddie scowls. His hand drops back to his side. “You're mad because I... hired a stripper? Cause that’s kinda what I do.”

“I'm not mad that you hired a stripper, you literally own a strip club,” you shrug. “It’s just that…I didn’t know you use the same script with every new hire.”

"I'm sorry? Script?”

"You used almost the exact same words with me, Eddie," you explain. "Like you do with everybody I'm guessing.”

Disbelief sets in on Eddie's face, accompanied by an ounce of fear. Eddie is scared of something.

"Well, I don't know what you expected me to do when you first started," Eddie shrugs. "I'm not gonna come off strong and hit on you like some creep. Of course I'm gonna give you the same treatment I give everybody."

Eddie's got a solid rationale, but it didn't take away from the fact that you simply felt ordinary. When you compare the interactions side by side, nothing about Shy Girl stuck out from Nina.

"Why are we even having this conversation right now?" Eddie asks you. "We're not even together."

“I’m not trying to pick a fight, believe me,” you cross your arms. “I’m just disappointed is all. You made me really think you were falling for me.”

“Oh so all it takes is me walking with a girl to have all of my words not ring true anymore?”

Your tongue and stomach are in knots. All you can do is stand there and blubber like a baby. You’re making no sense, you’re aware. But why does it hurt you so bad?

Eddie paces back and forth. "I don't even know why I feel the need to explain myself, Hargrove,” he continues. “I’m not the one fucking the other’s best friend."

It's a reasonable standpoint. Still. You felt disgusting.

“Yeah but..." you argue softly. "How can you feel so comfortable touching…kissing…interacting with someone like that after being so intimate with me?”

Your boss can only release a chuckle, a baffled one at that. He shakes his head rapidly.

“Just because we hooked up over the weekend, you think you have a say in who I associate with or what goes on around here?" Eddie spews. “What, are you trying to take over Hellfire or something?”

Your lip quivers. “I never said that! Where did that even come from? Why are you so fucking defensive right now?”

Eddie’s nose flares angrily as he tries to keep himself collected. Suddenly, Nina calls out for his attention and he softens up again.

“Eddie!” the new girl cheers. “Argyle gave me some of his flats and it's so good! I think I’m gonna shoot for Creeping Death next!”

“Hey, nice!” Eddie smiles. “You like spicy, huh?”

“Mhm!”

It would be a lot easier to hate her if she did something to you. But Nina didn't do anything.

Eddie turns back around to face you, kicking at the ground before he thinks of something to say.

“Let’s not do this right now,” Eddie resigns, placing his hands over his hips. “You uh…clocking in?”

“No, I’m going home actually,” you respond. “It’s my day off.”

Eddie makes a face. You project it back onto him. For a moment, you two are staring at each other, appalled at one another's behavior. Being infatuated with the literal mirror version of yourself is hell.

“Hey Eddie!” Will calls. “Do you know a five-lettered word that starts with T and ends with C?”

Eddie’s eyes don’t leave you.

“Sure do,” he answers. “TOXIC.”

There’s a pause.

“BADA-BOOM!” Dustin hollers. “That’s the one.”

Eddie doesn't bother to chase you after your mini altercation. Just then, another pair of heels that don't belong to you click across the hard club floor. Chrissy comes into sight, holding a tray of slushees and her car keys in her hands.

“Hey guys!” Chrissy sings. “I got us some slushees from 7-Eleven. They're Cherry flavored...”

“I’ll pass,” you huff. “You can give one to Nina.”

“Ooh we have someone new?!” she chirps. “Where?”

Chrissy notices your shift in attitude when you walk away and Eddie’s stand-offish posture.

“What the fuck did you say to her?” you hear her snap at Eddie as you walk away.

“Nothing,”

“Bullshit. You look guilty as fuck.”

You stomp your way back over to your section and ask Steve to hand you your purse. It's obvious by the look on his face that Steve caught onto what you were feeling. He doesn't question it. He hands you your things.

"I'm not feeling too well, guys," you announce. "I'm going home."

You collect your trash and organize it neatly for Argyle when he comes back over with some waffle fries. Showing your appreciation for him, you thank him and give him a soft pat on the shoulder.

"Argyle, you should've seen the new girl," Dustin fawns. "She's so pretty."

"Yeah?" Argyle quirks up. "What's her name?"

"Nina."

"Was she hot?" he turns to the guys. "Byers, what do you think? Was she a 10 or what?"

Will, who never seems to pay the Hellfire girls any mind, eyes glued to his sketchbook instead of their sultry outfits, squirms around in his seat. He shrugs. "I-I don't know."

"Steve?"

"She was pretty cute."

Your blood boils. Not her stealing Steve's heart too!

"Nina…” Argyle repeats. "How exotic. She sounds like a small feisty Latina woman."

“Bet Shy Girl can vouch,” Dustin comments. “Right, Shy Girl?”

Intrigued, the line cook turns to you.

"Well, Shy Girl? Is she giving chunti, chingona, or what?”

Steve encourages Argyle to stop as you walk away, hair covering the sides of your face on the way out.

“What?” Argyle sounds bewildered. “What’d I say?”

"Was I made from a broken home?"

A girls day with Max would surely take your mind off of the Nina situation. She always knew how to make you feel better. Lucky for you, she is home today, evident by her skateboard that is situated neatly in the garage.

You hear some commotion coming from your shared bedroom and go in to greet her.

"Hey girl hey!" you call out to your sister. "It's my day off so I was wondering if you wanted to go t-"

You pause in your tracks, horrified.

"Hmm," Max ponders aloud. "Last time I recall, stilettos and G-strings aren't really part of nursing home etiquette."

Propped open on Max’s bed is one of your unpacked suitcases, the one that you hid all your lingerie, heels, and the Hellfire shirt Eddie gave you when you first started in. Typically you lock it but you left it open this morning. Out of all days Max had to look through your room, it had to be today.

Max has a tennis racket in her hand, the handle acting as a hook the way it swept up a thong of yours so effortlessly. You feel your knees buckle.

"What are you doing looking through my stuff, you little shit?" you bark.

"Looking for my sports bras," Max replies nonchalantly. "Still can't find 'em."

She dangles the thong in the air like it's something she caught at the lake.

"Found some other goodies though."

"You couldn't have just waited to ask me?"

"I would've had to wait a day or two since you work nights," Max snaps. "Now I know why. And do I even need to ask where?"

Just what you needed. This is JUST what you needed.

You feel exposed. Violated. Disrespected. In every aspect and every situation. There was no safe place to turn. It makes you angry.

Fine. If people are going to disrespect you, you'll be disrespectful too.

"When is it EVER okay to snoop?" you hiss. "Have you any respect for others and their belongings? How would you feel if I started picking apart at your shit?"

"I wouldn’t care because I don't have anything to hide."

"That's not the fucking point, Maxine."

"Oh, not the government name!" Max exclaims, sassily putting a hand over her chest.

That really tips you over the edge.

"I should've known," Max proceeds, shaking her head. She chucks the racket back onto her bed. “You haven't renewed your CPR cert since you graduated high school. And you need that to even work as a caregiver. Didn't catch that loophole when you were LYING, did you?"

"I was lying to protect you."

"You still lied, Sis," Maxine argues. "You're missing the point..."

Oh, now she wants to mimmick you.

You're blind-sided. Tunnel-visioned. You are feeling all five stages of grief all at once. It’s all too much to bear. You feel the bomb ticking...

As much as you love your sister, it sure was a bitch to raise her. You spent most of the time explaining to Max what social cues are, what is acceptable and what is not. It often made you short-fused because what was common sense to you took ages for Max to understand. Like how you shouldn't look through other people's things.

Max learns best when she puts herself in others' shoes. You've learned that the hard way, over the years.

“How would you feel if I was looking through your drawers and shit?” you walk over to Max’s corner of the room, prying open her drawers and tossing whatever is in there out. “And just tossing your shit out onto the floor?"

“What the fuck?!” Max exclaims. "What are you doing?!"

“Or what if I just went to your side of the mirror and…” you knock her perfume bottles off from the dresser mirror in numbers and watch them fall onto the floor. "Knocked all your shit down because I was looking for my own things?"

"I get it now, stop."

“Or," you brainstorm. "What if I just started unpacking your vinyls and shit and just not care about the packaging?”

Max stops you right there. "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?! I said STOP."

“How would YOU FEEL?” you yell. “HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF I DID THAT TO YOU?! IF I PULLED A 'YOU' ON YOU? NOT GREAT, HUH?”

How would everybody feel if you acted the way they did? Would they be mortified? Would they be disgusted?

Would Dad not hit anybody?

Would Mom have chosen to stay?

Would your first love never want to see you again?

Would Eddie be angry at your behavior?

Would Max think you're the worst sibling ever?

You would hope so for all the above.

Your heart couldn’t take any more pain.

"SHUT," Max screeches. "THE FUCK UP!"

She tosses an acrylic storage box at you. It hits you and you yelp in pain. When she realizes what she has done, Max punches the pillow on her bed. Physically aching for the last word, you take it upon yourself to chuck your empty Hydroflask at her. Thankfully, it misses and the ear-piercing CLINK sound is enough to startle her. Max shrinks herself down in fear, trying to process what you just did.

You regret it immediately. You didn't want to hit her. You mainly did it for intimidation.

It puts you to shame. You are toxic.

Suddenly, Max inflates again, her entire face extending to her ears redder than her fiery amber hair.

"YOU," Maxine growls. "ARE JUST LIKE BILLY!"

Silence.

You take a look around the trashed room. Never did you think you had it in you to be someone like your brother. But of course, the Wolf who is fed the most prevails.

The amount of hurt and anger you actually harbored was way more than you thought. You can’t take back the fact that you’ve exploded on everyone you love now. But at least you can hold yourself accountable.

"I didn't mean that," Max mumbles. “I’m really sorry.”

"No, Max," you sigh. "You're right. And I'm sure you've been wanting to say that for a while..."

But Max refuses. “NO! I just wanted the last word again. Like I always fucking do even when I know it’s never worth it.”

You and your sister join each other by sitting criss-crossed on the floor, pushing the debris off to the side to be handled later. Max leans her head on you and you let her, combing through her knotted hair with your trembling fingers.

"We have a lot to unlearn, don't we?" she sighs.

You nod. "Oh yeah..."

She grabs your hand.

"Are you safe at least?" Max questions. "At work? Any creeps I gotta beat up for you?"

A laugh escapes you. "Nah, someone's already got that covered. Bones snapping and all."

Max flinches.

"That's how you got all that money real fast, huh? Stripping?”

You nod to confirm. "I did it for you. Well, us."

You watch as Max takes out her phone and shuffles through her camera roll. Her most recent in the gallery are videos of her shooting free throws at the Y and playing tennis. She cancels out some apps for more storage, one of them being Messenger. The tab reveals that Billy was spamming her again.

You both shudder. Max puts her phone away.

"Because of you I have a membership," she beams. "And I have a safe place to rest my head and I have money to do what I want and I have food on the table."

She hugs you.

“I hope you know how grateful I am for you. For putting my needs before yours. For throwing yourself into something so terrifying just so I can have a better life than you did growing up.”

“I never thought for a second you were being ungrateful,” you hug her back. “And no matter what I say or do, I’m sticking by you no matter what.”

“Even when I’m being an asshole?”

“Even when you’re being an asshole.”

Max giggles. “Thanks for the reassurance.”

Suddenly your door swings open, causing you and Max to jolt in place. Thankfully, it’s just Robin and Vicky, both worried and confused about the state of your room.

"ToTo," Robin says. "We're not in Hawkins anymore."

"What tornado rummaged through here?!" Vicky exclaimed. "Guys. Are you okay?"

You and Max burst into laughter.

"Yeah, we’re good," you nod. "Just Hurricane Hargrove passing through."

As long as you have Max and your sisterhood with Robin and Vicky, you know you're going to be okay.

You refuse to mope around for the rest of the day, so in the evening you go bowling with Max and your roommates, loading yourselves up with carbs and soda. You ignore Eddie’s “can we talk?” messages, along with Billy’s routine “where the fuck are you” texts followed by rage-calls without a care in the world . Towards the end of the night, however, when the “Sad Boy Hours” hit, there’s a text from a man you simply can’t ignore.

Maybe: Henry

Hey 🧍🏻 it's Henry from work. Can I ask you something? Pls be honest.

tag list: @battymunson , @the-fairy-anon , @ali-r3n , @corrodedcoffincumslut , @bebe07011 , @mmunson86 , @eddiesguitarskills , @chelebelletx , @imonhereforareasonsadly , @eddies-trailer-babe @hideoutside , @motherfckerrr , @jxpsi i , @munson-magic , @lindseyj23, @sidthedollface2 , @manda-panda-monium , @elvendria , @micheledawn1975 , @hereforshmut , @siriuslysmoking , @nymphetkoo , @m-chmcl-rmnc , @justinelittlewoodsworld , @ahoyyharrington , @keepittoyourselftellnobodyelse @kellyxo1 @emsgoodthinkin @winchester-angel @chloe-6123

[bowiebond]

Byergrove shippers usually have Joyce become Billy’s mother figure.

Mungrove shippers usually have Wayne become his father figure.

Steve bringing a him a bunch of children to adore.

Argyle would give him a bunch of auntie/uncles and grandparents who try and stuff him with food every time he comes by.

So I would like to propose Stoner Polycule where Billy has a whole family unit plus siblings (Will, Max, El) and four amazing boyfriends who have to share him with

1. Wayne because “no the boy’s going fishing with me, Eddie, since you refuse to”

2. Joyce because “Billy is going shopping with me, Johnathan, he can’t go on a date right now, go with one of the others”

3. The kids because “Billy said he’d help us paint our D&D figures, you can’t take him!”

“Yeah, he’s helping me with homework too, I’m gonna fail English and not like you can help, Steve”

4. Aunties/Uncle and grandparents because “oh he’s much too thin, Argyle, don’t you feed him??? Poor thing, come with abuelita, I have something tasty for you, chico sol.”

And Bonus they also have to deal with Billy’s and their own friends stealing him too:

5. Gareth: “What? No, Billy can’t come to the phone, he’s tearing up my drum set…No, Eddie, you skipped out on practice to go suck face with Jonathan Byers, we’re keeping him.”

Jeff: “Dude he knows guitar too, where did you find this guy?!”

Frank: “If he can sing too, you’re getting replaced, face sucker.”

6. Chrissy: “wait what??? Noooo, Steveeee, you can’t take Billy out Saturday, he promised to do my hair for my date with Heather!”

7. Heather: “Yeah, no, Fridays is girls night…I don’t care if he’s a guy, he’s one of the girls, Jonathan! Why are you ever speaking to me? Ew.”

8. Patrick: “Ooooh…Yeah no. That won’t work. Billy and I do our fortnightly junkyard smashing Tuesday…Yeah, no, you can’t come. You have to wait till we’re done if you wanna take him to the movies. Wait, who even are you…? Argyle? Uh, okay.”

9. Robin: “You always hang out with Billy! I wanna hang out with Billy too! He taught me how to make my girlfriend happy scream, Steve, he’s a magician.”

10. Nancy: “No. We’re busy. Take it up with department, Jonathan.”

Max: “Yeah, Jonathan.”

Jonathan: “Why do you hate me??”

Max: “You know what you did, brother snatcher.”

Jonathan: “There are fOUR OF US???? Why do you dislike me specifically????”

Max: “Well, Steve’s not here, so I can only really bully you.”

Nancy: “She’s right, you’re a Steve replacement.”

Jonathan: “Well Steve and I are gonna kiss your brother with tongue.”

Max: “Gross!”

Jonathan: “Then I’m going to kiss your ex with that same tongue!”

Nancy: “Jonathan, oh my god, don’t be gross.”

The boys love each other but they would like to have ONE DAY WITH THEIR BLOND BOYFRIEND THANKS

[bewarethegrim]

Punk Steve but it's my random thoughts and it goes real off topic real fast:

After Nancy breaks up with him, Steve feels lost and untethered. He ends up in a shitty dive bar where a band called "Bad Brains" is playing. In that moment Steve falls in love with the punk scene.

No one there looked like they were trying to fit in, even with each other. The music was fast, loud and angry. He fucking loved it.

It started with a leather jacket. He found it at a thrift store, tired of the polos and khakis. On impulse, he grabs some paint and spikes from a craft store nearby.

He paints two spiked baseball bats on the back, crossing in an X.

One night, bored, he grabs a pair of scissors and cuts his hair. His hair was such a symbol of who he was, who he didn't want to me anymore. He cut the sides down and then shaved them with his razor. He kept the rest long, but he used his Farah Fawcett spray to make it messy instead of perfect.

A lip ring, a nose ring, and eyebrow piercing and rows of ear piercings follow. The only thing he doesn't get are any tattoos.

Billy Hargrove watches these changes from the side with a critical eye, convinced Steve is a poser. It's not until Billy runs into Steve at the Dive bar where Steve first heard Punk that Billy realises that maybe he was wrong. Steve seems to know everyone there, and they all seem to welcome him happily.

Billy tries to awkwardly apologise for beating the shit outta him a few months back, but Steve shrugs him off. He says "I get how it looked, and I can take a beating. But what you did and said to Lucas? That was fucked up."

And Billy wants to curl up in shame. Under all the spikes Steve has the most disappointed mom look.

And Billy knows that Steves right. His anger at Lucas was misplaced with his anger with his dad and his situation.

So Billy stalks up the Lucas at the arcade one day, and stares him down, noting with admiration when the younger boy doesn't back down.

"I'm sorry about that night." He says, stilted. "There are enough racist assholes in Hawkins, my old man included. Shouldn't have to deal with general assholes, too. Just don't let him catch wind of you and Maxine, got it?"

And Lucas looks shocked. But he nods and walks back to his anxious looking group of nerds.

After that, Steve actually approaches Billy. He asks for music recommendations at first, mostly. But that turns into asking if he wanted to come to shows, and just hanging out.

Eventually, Steve meets Robin at Scoops. His piercings are all out now, and his hair is growing out (at his parents insistence.) But he still wears his spiked jacket over his stupid scoops uniform with his black doc martens.

And Billy isn't jealous. He tells Heather that every time she claims he's "sulking" when Steve shows up with his pack of nerds at the pool, Robin often in tow now, too.

And when Billy hits something in the road, his gut instinct is to call Steve. And Steve doesn't laugh like he thought he would, he tells Billy to get back in the car and drive . And Billy listens. He gets his ass back in the slightly busted Camaro and speeds to the Harrington house where he promptly breaks the fuck down because what the fuck did he just see?

And Steve explains it all to him (Billy understands the nail bat now). And just like that Billy is apart of the Hawkins defense squad.

After the mindflayer (his dad is killed in the process, Billy counts that as a major win) he moves into the trailer park, Susan and Max living next door. That Munson kid lives across the road, and so Steve comes to his place more because he has better access to weed and other drugs.

Steve finds it hilarious when Munson introduces himself to Steve. Steve who's piercings are back in, hair recut and dyed bright red in some spots, and eyes lined with black eyeliner from his mom's vanity.

One night, when happily stoned, laying half naked on top of each other, Steve tracing Billy's skull tattoo, he asks Billy to tattoo him.

With the help of Eddie's machine, Steve's first tattoo says pretty boy in a banner underneath a spiked crown. Billy chose it, obviously.

Steve loves it.

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter Five: Unrequited Lover's Lake (Part One)

The Pariahs That Saved The World [Masterlist]

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: mentions of death, vecna's curse, horror flashback (violence)

[A/N: So I've decided to split this chapter in half mostly because I've disappeared lately. I am so sorry I haven't been updating as usual, I have had two rounds of completely different illness (both being types of flu lmao) and I am still recovering but in a much better place than I was! I'll keep everyone updated but as for now, here's the first half of a chapter I promised you guys agessss ago]

Unrequited Lover's Lake (Part One)

“Oh, boom!” Steve suddenly shouts out and Robin watches him push through some bushes, rolling her eyes. “Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Dustin mutters as she and Nancy push through the leaves, looking up at the famous Skull Rock in all of its glory. Robin never really saw the appeal of this place.

“It’s just a dumb rock.” She murmurs out loud and Nancy hums in agreement, looking around.

The leaves rustle again and Robin watches as you and Max step through, sharing a look as she gestures to your face. You quickly turn, raising your hand, and when you turn back, you’re sending a grateful smile and walking away. Robin frowns at the interaction. Were you crying?

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it.” Steve boasts, placing his hands on his hips. “You just can’t admit that you’re wrong, you little butthead.”

“I concur.”

You all spin around to where someone had jumped down, a smirk on his face.

“You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead.” Eddie announces and the boy goes running to him.

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.”

“Yeah, me too, man. Me too.” Eddie sighs, patting him on the back. He catches someone else’s eye, pulling away and grinning. “As I live and breathe, Y/n is that you?”

“Couldn’t stay out of trouble just this once?” You chuckle as you share a hug, laughing when he tries to pick you up. “We went to the boathouse, what the hell happened?”

Nothing could really prepare you for what he had to say.

From Jason and his gang finding him, to watching poor Patrick suddenly float out of the water, you all stood around him in silence. You felt the sickening feeling creep up throughout your body until it was stuck in your throat, lurking as a reminder of what you’ve let yourself walk back into.

“Excuse me.” You say to Nancy, brushing against her arm so you could walk away from the group, breathing heavily.

You heard their continued conversations as you leant against a tree, a few steps into the thick expanse of trees, just in their view. Your skin was crawling with goosebumps, your spine shivering under the stress of the situation. You thought you were ready for this, that you could help them and save the people you loved in the process. But you didn’t manage it last time. How was this any different?

July 3rd, 1985

“Nancy…” You shake your head at her as you slowly start walking backwards down the hallway.

“Just stay in position, Y/n.” She hisses at you from behind and you trust her, you really do. But she was foolish to think you were the right person for this.

“I can’t.” You whisper back, tears falling down your face. The lights overhead start to flicker and you grip the metal pole in your hand tighter, praying he doesn’t walk around the corner, that it was all a misunderstanding.

“Just a little longer.” She promises, her soothing voice holding more worth to you than she knows. If only you had seen her face.

Two loud footsteps echo out from around the corner and you hold your breath, waiting for the man to show himself and force every fibre of your body not to run. But it wasn’t him. It was Tom Holloway, Heather’s father, and he was smiling at you.

“Ah, Y/n.” He clicks his neck, smirking, “I knew I’d find you here.”

You shake your head. It wasn’t meant to be him. He was supposed to be dead.

“It’s such a shame no one checked to see if they finished the job.” He laughs, pulling a scalpel you hadn’t even seen protruding from his neck, shrugging when no blood comes rushing out. “Someone should really go check on that poor boy, though. Such a wuss.”

“Nancy.” You try and whisper, but you hear nothing back, only the echo of her retreating footsteps as she rushes to find her boyfriend. You understood, you really did, but you’ve never felt so scared.

“Just the two of us, now.” He clears his throat, walking forward with intent and you hold out the pole. “That won’t do anything.”

“Stay back.” You cry out, noticing how dark the black veins were appearing now. Was Heather like this too? “I’m warning you.”

“Or what? You’ll trick me?” He laughs maniacally, stopping just short of you reaching the end of the hall, the corner just behind you. “Or should I say… us?”

Your eyes widen, but it’s too late. A sharp and searing pain digs into your shoulder and you scream, dropping your only weapon out of shock and jolting forward. You stumble, cradling your shoulder as you spin around on the floor, another pair of soulless eyes staring down at you. A sob leaves your lips.

“Dad?”

“Join us.”

Everything about that day still feels like a nightmare, to the point where you nearly convince yourself none of it was real. Not Tom tricking you, or your father becoming one of those monsters. Especially not Nancy leaving you behind. But that scar etched into your skin reminds you it was all very real. Your dad was dead, Nancy had left you to die, and you were lucky you ever escaped.

You take a deep breath, smoothing your hair away from your face. There wasn’t time for your breakdown right now. Max needed you. The sooner you figured it all out, the sooner this would be over.

Something snaps in the woods behind you and you assume someone has walked over, making you turn with a ready-made lie on your tongue. Except, no one was there.

You weren’t even in the woods anymore.

Robin rubbed her eyes as Steve and Dustin disputed over yet another absurd argument she didn’t fully wrap her head around, watching in amusement as it bounced back and forth between them. This time, Dustin was convinced his compass wasn’t wrong and for once, she was on Steve’s side. It made literally no sense.

“So you’re using faulty equipment.” Steve exasperated. “You’re still wrong!”

“Except it isn’t faulty.” Dustin says and Steve groans, throwing his hands up. “Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?”

Lucas ponders for a moment before his eyes widen. “An electromagnetic field.”

“Yep.” Dustin looks at everyone else expectedly and Robin furrows her brows.

“I’m sorry, I must’ve skipped that class.”

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power.” Dustin explains, motioning to the woods with his hand. “So either there’s some super big magnet around here, or…”

“There’s a gate.” Lucas concludes and Robin’s eyes widen.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy says and Dustin nods at her.

“But what if, somehow, there’s another gate? A gate that we don’t know about. It’d have to be smaller. Way less powerful.”

“Snack-size gate.” Robin offers and he clicks his finger at her.

“All I know if that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is, because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse.”

And with that Dustin turns around and starts walking, making Robin bat at Steve’s arm until he took notice too.

“Wha- Oh, where are you going? Hey, hey, hey-” He calls out for attention and Dustin unwillingly stops, looking back at him. “Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asks and Robin smirks, looking to you to share in her amusement. She blinks. You weren’t there.

She looks around again as Eddie responds, frowning like she might just be going blind.

“Uh, guys?” She tries, but her voice seems distant as she peers around the rock, through the trees, anywhere.

“So Mordor it is.” Eddie finally decides, shrugging when Steve looks at him weird.

“Guys!” She finally raises her voice and they all look at her inquisitively, noting her worried face. “Where’s Y/n?”

“She was just…” Nancy motions over to where you were just stood by the tree. The look on her face made Robin’s stomach plummet. “Y/n?”

Everyone starts looking around, shouting out for you, but they don’t hear any kind of response. Robin and Nancy venture further in, calling your name like you might just walk towards them completely fine. But Robin knew from the pit in her stomach that wasn’t the case. She just can’t believe she didn’t notice you had disappeared.

“Robin!” Nancy suddenly calls and Robin runs over as quickly as she can, careful not to trip up on protruding tree roots as she joins her.

The girl is knelt on the ground, holding a body and for a second her heart stops. It’s you.

And then you blink, looking a little dazed.

“I just saw her collapse.” Nancy says, her voice shaking. “Robin, look.”

She looks to where her friend is pointing and her breath hitches, slowly letting herself sink to the ground as you finally mutter a few words from lips beneath a crimson nosebleed.

“The gate.” You whisper out, trying to sit up and grabbing Robin’s arm when you felt weak. “I know… I know where the gate is.”

Robin meets Nancy’s fearful eye, her blood running cold. She hated to admit it, but all the signs were pointing to one thing and one thing only.

Vecna had cursed you, too.

taglist: @kryztalglear . @dejerw . @officerrrfriendly . @a-simpfortessa-lesbriean . @spacedoutdaydreamer . @endurexxsurvive . @em16cor . @gray-cheese . @chaosofmanyfandoms . @kitdjarin1 . @some-day--some-how @cultish-corner

[biillyhargroves]

Billy and Eddie being open about their relationship. It starts with Max, because she’s always around. Billy is basically her third parent, often scowls that he’s her only parent. And with Max comes Eleven; two peas in a pod, those two, and there’s no use sneaking around them. They’re not the types to gossip, anyway — not with anyone but each other. So, fine, they know.

Heather, too, is impossible to hide from. Billy would sneak around the back of the pool, in an alcove outside the locker rooms, and Eddie would meet him there. They’d smoke, shoot the shit, sometimes kiss a little. Heather was unfazed the first time she caught them, just rolled her eyes and told Billy he had ten minutes left. After that, she always made sure the coast was clear for them, snapping at anyone who tried to go back there when she knew they were there.

Then it’s Eddie’s band, because Billy starts hanging around, killing time before he’s due at work. He kicks back, smokes, commentates. The guys are nervous at first. This is Billy Hargrove, after all. Keg King Hargrove, jock superstar, machismo wrapped in leather and bolstered by muscle cars and Marlboros. Gareth always has his haunches up, protective of Eddie, worried that Billy might have some ulterior motive. But he doesn’t. He’s chill. He just hangs, and he seems comfortable — with Eddie, at least. Even teases him, calls him pretty, calls him babe. It all sounds ironic, silly, until Jeff mentions that he saw Eddie blushing, that the way Eddie looks at Billy is a little more than friendly. He saw them together, close together, behind the Hideout after a show, had wanted to say something but didn’t want to out them in public. Gareth tests the waters, jokingly, safely. The next time the two play-flirt at rehearsal, he quips that they should get a room and Eddie looks at Billy, “What do you say?” And Billy brushes him off, makes a joke of it all, but he kisses Eddie before he leaves and that’s it. They know now, and it’s okay.

This leads to Billy crashing Hellfire meetings. There’s a few more people, sure, but most of them are younger, freshman and sophomores, the freaks of the future that Eddie pulls under his wing. Billy knows his reputation, knows that the kids fear him too much and respect Eddie too deeply to mess with them. He sits by Eddie, holds his hand, lets Eddie rest a hand on his leg or sling an arm over his shoulders. It feels easy, natural, and no one seems to care. Lucas never even seems to notice, already knows from being around Max and, by extension, Billy. Mike and Dustin? They take longer to come around, always wary, at least until they realize that knowledge is spreading through the school, that the rumor on the street is that Hargrove has taken a liking to the school freak and that his scary dog privilege extends to everyone around Munson.

They have fun with the rumors, let them run wild, refuse to confirm or deny anything to anyone who isn’t already in their circle. Their friends get in on the joke, drop buckwild lore about them just to see what might spread, report back with their findings. Billy and Eddie are amused by it all. They’re secure in their relationship. They’re just in love, and openly so, and they’ve got a band of people around them who will absolutely fight for their right to stay that way.

[harringrove-cafe]

Really curious about the state of the kitchen after all these baking and cooking

A ficlet to answer your question!

The kitchen was literally turned upside down.

Billy and Steve had no idea what they were getting into when they invited all these people to bake and make beverages at the café. 

Joyce and Hopper kept their station tidy. They didn’t have to make too many drinks, but they were really there to be chaperones. Joyce was nice enough to clean the coffee maker and wipe down some of the countertops. She also made sure everyone stayed hydrated and ate enough.

But she could only do so much in a kitchen full of chaos!

Now, Eddie, he was all over the place! He was making treats with Billy and Steve, another with Chrissy, one with Jason and another with Chrissy Billy and Steve! There were a lot of metal sandwiches being made, and that meant a lot of fires when toasting the marshmallows. A few aprons needed to be discarded because they caught fire. Billy’s hair also caught fire. Steve’s devastated that his boyfriend has split ends now. 

Chrissy was the princess of the kitchen. She cleaned up after herself, helped however she could, and had a wonderful time baking and making drinks with everyone. She did get sleepy quite early, though, so Eddie set her down in the lounge and let her use his jacket as a blanket.

Jason, as it turns out, loves baking. He's quite the perfectionist and kept stressing himself out, but Eddie did everything he could to keep the momentum up and tell him how great their cookies looked. They goofed off a lot. Jason was shooting candy basketballs into Eddie's mouth. He didn't miss often, but when he did, the candies rolled around the floor and into spaces Eddie couldn't reach without his hand getting stuck.

Jason and Eddie tried to clean as they went along, because Billy kept side-eyeing them and they have no idea why, but they got tired and fell asleep. Billy will probably pick a fight with them before the night is over.

Jonathan and Argyle baked some brownies, ate a few and fell asleep as well. Billy is still waiting for them to wake up and clean up the mess they made. He tried to wake Argyle, but Argyle promised him some free purple palm tree delight if he let them sleep for "a little while longer" (a little while longer was 5 hours ago).

Lucas, El and Max, we know they made a huge mess. Mostly on purpose. Max started food fights with Billy, El flung ice cream and chocolate onto the ceiling and Lucas knocked over a couple of glass plates. He swore it was an accident, but Steve said he better pay it off from his allowance. Those plates were expensive, and fancy. Billy said he shouldn’t have bought them. They’ve been finding shards of glass on the floor for a day and a half now! Unfortunately, they have curfews, so they won't be there to help clean up. Billy's thinking about banning them for life, but Steve won't allow it.

Let’s not talk about Tommy being afraid of the deep fryer and getting oil all over the place...he almost started a grease fire!

He did, however keep his and Carol’s station clean. Carol cleaned the blender. She did a lovely job. She did punch the blender a few times, though, so it might not even work anymore...

Heather told Billy from the very beginning she wasn’t touching anything outside of her station because she didn’t want to get too dirty. Robin had other plans, though. She thought Heather would look cute with a chocolate button nose, and smeared some chocolate on her face. Heather tried to get her back by throwing some chocolate at Robin, but missed, so the kitchen wall got a nice chocolate snack.

Jason cleaned Chrissy and Heather’s station for them, because Heather is blackmailing Jason with something incredibly embarrassing (no idea what it is. maybe someone else knows?) and Heather is taking a nap with Chrissy in the lounge.

TL;DR the kitchen looks like it was hit by a tornado. Not to mention the portal in the wall that won’t close! There have been strange sounds coming from it for the past 24 hours, but I don’t have an answer for that at this time.

[girlblogger666]

Billy and Chrissy being besties

An: i can see it happening tbh!! Hope u guys enjoy these headcanons! ✨🫶🏻

Okay so the second Billy started his semester at Hawkins High, he’d fit right in with the populars

Chrissy being one of them cuz she’s been a cheerleader since freshman year

She’d also be extremely intrigued by Billy but that’s also bc she finds him just a teeny bit attractive

That’s a lie tho, hes literally her type

Curly hair, leather jacket, bad boy personality, but she’s with Jason…..and hes different

So it’s no surprise that Billy could sense her nervousness around him whenever he’d hang around her squad and that leads to him saying

“Let me drive you home, you live near me, no?”

So she lets him and on their little drive home she learns he actually has a great taste in music and hes funny

They’d start to hangout more and learn more about each other, especially their trauma and stuff :(((

“We’re just two messed up souls, aren’t we?” Billy would say to lighten the sad mood

I think Jason would start to suspect something bc he’s such a jealous dude and Chrissys like “nope, just friends”

Which is true because Billy has his eye on someone ;) and Chrissy can’t rlly picture him with her and she has Jason

That quickly changes though during one lunch period when Billy and Chrissy are sitting outside together

Sometimes Billy can only handle so much of all the jocks, so he always invites Chrissy to sit out with him

So when Chrissy picks at her barely eaten food because she’s so distracted by the group of “freaks” sitting across them more specifically the long haired one, Billy senses what’s up

“I knew it,” he’d bring her back to their little reality

“Knew what??” Her face would grow as red as a tomato, trying her hardest to remain stern

“Munson,” his face grows wide along with his devilish grin, “you have the hots for Eddie fuckin’ Munson”

Chrissy would deny deny deny as best as she can but if Billy knows then it’s super obvious

Billy finds it hilarious that the head cheerleader would be crushing on someone like Eddie

Chrissys his pal tho and if that’s who she chooses to like, then why should he care

He’d tease her by saying “instead of buying drugs from him, I’m just gonna tell him that you’ve been hopelessly in love with him since middle school”

“Do that and I’ll slash the tires on your precious Camaro”

Chrissy didn’t have the best grades (her student file!!) and I can imagine Billy didn’t either, so the two of them would start studying together bc they rlly wanna graduate

Billy would sometimes bring her over to study at his place and there Max would see the two of them

Chrissy waving at Max who shyly waves back bc she doesn’t know if that’s Billy’s friend or girlfriend

Chrissy giving Billy relationship advice

In return, Billy gives Chrissy his mixtape bc he listens to the same stuff as Eddie

Billy and Chrissy secretly heading to the hideout to watch Eddie’s band and running out as soon as he notices them

During the summer, Billy would get her a job as a lifeguard and she’d befriend Heather as well

The three of them staying out late after the pool is closed and when Heather leaves, Billy and Chrissy just talk

She asks him about what to do with Jason and he gives her the most honest advice he can

I think he’d be tender with her and that would start motivating him to be kinder to his sister because he treats Chrissy more like a sister than he’d like to admit

I’m all for Billy and Chrissy bettering themselves

Tysm for reading babies <3333

[atimeofyourlife]

@steddie-week Day 3 first kiss

Steve knew first kisses. He'd had so many of them in his life, didn't always get a second kiss or anything further, but first kisses were a speciality of his.

His first kiss had been with Tommy H when they were nine. It had been awkward, as neither of them knew what they were doing. But over time, they had perfected their technique together. Innocent kisses while they were still in elementary school turning into hours-long make-out sessions whenever they were both single as teenagers.

His first kiss with a girl had been with Nicole at the Snow Ball in sixth grade, when he was eleven. Tommy was taking Carol, so it only made sense that he asked Nicole, the only other girl they hung out with. It was much less uncomfortable than his first kiss with Tommy, as he actually knew what he was doing. It was still weird, because neither of them were that into it. They decided the next day that they were better off as friends.

He had so many other first kisses, some more memorable than others. Becky, Laurie, Anna, Tommy S (who was nowhere near as good as Tommy H), Gemma, Jodie, Carol (to make Tommy H jealous), Rob, Amy, Tina, Heather, Dean. In middle school, girls almost treated it like a game to get him as their first kiss. In high school, it was an open secret in the locker room that Steve would be happy to kiss any guys that were trying to figure out how straight they were, and would never name names. And that he was damn good at it, too.

The next first kiss to actually mean anything was Nancy. Right from the first one, he was devoted to her. He could feel himself falling deeper and deeper in love with every kiss. He thought that it could be forever, but drunken words leaving his heart shattered on the bathroom floor at a Halloween party destroyed that illusion.

After Nancy, there were more first kisses. He took some time without seeing anyone, trying to get over the heartbreak, then he hit his dry spell while working at Scoops. But he got back out there. Emily, Brandon, Alexander, Louise, George, Joseph, Rachel, Ian, Brittany, Linda, Ross, Stan, Heidi, Josh, Brenda. More first kisses with guys than before, as his confidence grew and he started spending every other weekend frequenting the gay bars of Indianapolis. Nothing serious ever came of it, a few dates with the women, and maybe a string of hookups if any of the men were interested enough to see him more than once.

He completely stopped after the Upside Down raised its head again, feeling on edge about what could happen next, but also realizing his feelings for Eddie. He'd known for a while what he was looking for. Something serious, in it for the long term, someone to plan a future with, where the relationship wasn't just about the sex. But he'd struggled with figuring out who he was looking for. Eddie was that someone he was looking for. But he was scared to admit it. He didn't want to fuck up their friendship, or to make it awkward for everyone if they couldn't last. He couldn't find the confidence to make a move, even after Eddie told everyone he was bi. That had caused a chain reaction of coming out in the party. Steve had quickly followed up by admitting his own bisexuality. Robin gained the confidence to be open about being a lesbian and introduce Vickie as her girlfriend. Argyle explained that he didn't like to label himself, but he was open to anyone. Will came out as gay, his voice shook as he said it, but the relief was clear in his eyes when everyone responded with love. Max came out as bi, saying she'd known since before she left California. Lucas admitted he liked both, but had felt so alone because he never knew there was a word for it or other people like him.

Steve hadn't accounted for how Dustin would react to him coming out. It wasn't a bad reaction, he accepted that there had been a reason why Robin and Steve wouldn't date and it wasn't something that was Steve's fault. But Steve choked on air and had to slam on the breaks when Dustin finally got to his point. "So why don't you date Eddie? I mean, you both like guys and you spend almost all your time together anyway."

Eddie beat him to it when bringing it up. "Henderson keeps insisting that we should date."

"Yeah, he keeps bugging me about it, he's just using your name where he used to put Robin's. All the points are basically the same." Steve leaned back on the couch, watching Eddie carefully.

"And it doesn't bother you?" Eddie looked nervous in a way that Steve hadn't seen before.

"Ed's why would it bother me?" Steve asked softly, taking Eddie's hand in his.

"Because I like you, man."

"Then why don't you do something about it?"

Eddie dove across the couch to Steve, tangling his fingers into the hair at the back of Steve's neck as he kissed him intensely.

Steve kissed back enthusiastically, pulling Eddie closer to deepen the kiss.

Yeah, he could live with this being his last first kiss.

I had to delete and repost this because it didn't post properly. if you saw it first time, no you didn't. also on AO3

[faithfulcat111]

The Color Series

So @throttlegainwell asked for some BTS on my color series and I am, of course, more than happy to provide :D

I think I want to talk about my color choices because I've talked briefly about one character and no one else's.

So, like six months ago now, I posted my Across the Vale series, which was character sheets for a DnD AU I had made of Stranger Things. Which was loads of fun to construct. And that is where I got many of my colors for the color series from. But, not all of them. Because I had, at the time, all the hex codes for the colors written down on a few different post-it notes and they were randomly picked based on vibes.

When I started the color series itself, I needed proper color names. So I started with those hex codes and looked up each one to get the color name. I have like three different sources I used to get color names from and I kept most of the colors. But, not all of them. Because some of them just... were not great. For example, only two of Jonathan's colors were roll-overs as two of them were just way too close together (as it turned out) and the fourth was University of California Gold. And as much as I laughed when that came up, I was not using that.

Now the DnD series had only four colors each, so everyone who had a DnD sheet got a bonus fifth color and from that I picked one where I liked the color name. If I didn't like the color name, I would pick something that was a similar shade to one that was dropped.

That worked overall. Many characters got colors similar to their color vibe in the show. Purple for Nancy, blue for Steve and Mike, yellow for Will, brown for Jonathan. The other kids don't have "colors" but I picked green for Lucas, red for Max, and orange for Dustin because the vibes. Joyce (which I've talked about somewhere before) got a blend of Jonathan and Will, also being very earth-toned. For El, I wanted to make her more faded cause she is still learning who she is. So she has purple and pink (mainly pink) tones, but they are very grey-leaning. I did something similar for Hopper to tie them together, green but very grey-leaning.

Robin, Argyle, and Erica got way more fun vibes. Robin's is quite literally the lesbian flag. I pulled the hex codes initially directly from it. I wanted Argyle to similarly be very fun colored, some of his are from the pansexual flag, but they are overall very bright and fun. For Erica, I experimented a bit and many of her colors are pulled from her outfits leading to fun array of colors as well. Dmitri, well, I intended him to be the Russian flag. It was an accident he ended up so bisexual themed XD

Everyone else got one color assigned to them. They didn't have color sheets, so I was starting everyone else from scratch. I would think of what color generally fit them and then go through my color name sheets and find a color name that fit them. Lots of scrolling and searching. With some, I did follow the Erica route and pull the color from something they wore, like Chrissy and Heather. Some were pure vibes like Eddie or Karen. I still have the huge list saved of everyone's color assignments.

One thing I did try to do when making the sets is make sure no one had the same middle blend color. Sometimes, with the larger sets, the second or fourth would be the same somewhere. But the middle one was always unique. This was quite a challenge sometimes. With the characters with multiple colors, I would just change out the color they were for another when I noticed the blended color was the same. Photocheer was actually very difficult because of this. I think using the color Rabbit for the Jonathan side was my second-to-last choice. I really struggled with it. But I have a second list of all my blended sets and their colors. And as I made more and more, I started having to ctrl+find to make sure the color wasn't used elsewhere already. Cause many of the sets I posted in January were already made before I started making the sets I posted in December. So it became a problem really early on in the posting process. I think I managed to pull off never using the same photo twice as well, but I could be wrong.

One type of set for this series that I'm actually kind of sad that I haven't made is any friendship sets between the main teens and the kids outside of siblings and group sets. But it is a kind of set I would want to make equal and there just isn't good interaction between some characters that I would be able to justify to myself.

I hope that works as those are some of my thoughts on making this series! I am happy to go into more of any specific part if anyone has any further questions. This series really was a labor of love and it introduced me to so many ships. Like holy cow... But also, I hope I got to introduce some to you guys too.

[hargrove-mayfields]

tag game, stranger things edition!

i was tagged by @thatgirlwithasquid and @intothedysphoria, thanks y’all, I really appreciate it! 💕

1. ride or die ship/otp : Hellcheergroveton! every combination in this ship is adorable and it has all my favs too ☺️

2. most annoying ship : m*leven. I am beyond tired of watching a young disabled girl be taken advantage of and have it be treated as romantic. El deserves to live partner free, and M*ke deserves to go in the whole garbage can.

3. second favorite ship : Hollogrove. Since it’s not part of the core hellcheergroveton relationship, I’ll branch out a little and bring in my girl Heather. I love her and Billy I’m a relationship and can totally see them spending the rest of their lives together ♥️

4. favorite platonic dynamic : Billy and Max, or Dustin and Steve. Or Steve and Gareth. Cause I headcanon Gareth as becoming Steve’s caregiver after the events of the show leave him with cognitive and physical disabilities

5. underrated ship : Hollogrove, Cunningway, Pompompineapple, Stonathan, Cheerscoops, Calicheer, Rockie, Stargyle, Cammy, Kegboys, Steather, Argilly, and so many more but I’ll stop there.

6. overrated ship : Any of the fruity four (it makes me wanna gag just typing it) ships. I haven’t looked in the fandom tags for a year because it’s oversaturated with passionless, factory produced, carbon-copy fanworks that look like Harringrove fics put through ai to be rewritten as St*ddie, or Buckleway into r*nance. I’m sick of it. It’s boring. I’ll come up with my own steddie content, thanks.

7. one thing to change in canon : Everything. Not even joking. I’m going blorbo shopping and bringing all my favs back to my dollie house to play fix-it.

8. something canon did right : Um. I guess letting actors put in feedback and details of their own. Like Millie choosing for El to touch Billy’s cheek, Dacre giving us backstory on Billy’s mom and also on Billy’s disability (BPD), both he and Joe Keery refusing the original scripts, Joe Quinn improvising Eddie’s crush on Chrissy, and so on. All of the actor choices are the only good things about the show at this point.

9. a thing I’m proud of creating for the fandom : @disabledbillyandsteveweek! There's more information about the event over on the blog, but basically it’s an event starting in about two weeks meant to highlight Billy and Steve as disabled characters, through all kinds of fan works and different ships!

10. a character who is perfect to me : Christine Renée-Beth Cunningham. Nobody compares to my cheer girl.

11. the most relatable character and why : Also Chrissy. She reminds me a lot of myself, especially how I was when I was still in highschool, being timid and struggling a lot with my mental health. I wish she could have grown and gotten help and felt better since I’m on my journey to doing so right now, but I’m forever grateful to have seen a character with an eating disorder and an abusive family on screen, portrayed in a heartfelt and generous way- all thanks to miss Grace Van Dien

12. character I hate most and why : Neil, Karen (actually just the Wheelers in general except little Holly), Brenner, Owens, the lady that shot Benny, literally so many of them. Anyone who intentionally and unabashedly hurts other characters without remorse.

13. something I’ve learned from the fandom : To be patient, because even when things seem tough or impossible, we can make it. Together, with friends who understand us, and who share our pain, we can fight and keep going! Especially because this community will always have folks who understand and have our backs, we just have to find them ❤️❤️

14. three tags I seek out on ao3 : I actually don’t read fic on ao3. The extreme amounts of severely triggering content hosted on that site is just too much for me and I can never seem to avoid it. I only post to ao3 because I know people find it easily accessible, but I had one too many mix-ups that led to me being in a terrible state of mind, so I discontinued using the site.

15. a song I strongly associate with otp and/or favorite character : I’ll never shut up about “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce. Conveniently off the same record as Hop has on Vinyl and Cassette, it’s my favorite song ever because it’s so tender and loving and even though it’s old people music yall should give it a listen. It applies to any ship, but especially packs a punch with Harringrove. Also “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John.

I’ll tag: @eddie-munsons-guitar86 @honey-tongued-devil @martianclown @hephaestn @jaylikesrainbowtigers @denkiddo1 @enchanted-day-dreams @stranger-themes-blog @ratbastardbilly @thinger-strang But there’s no pressure to do it! You absolutely don’t have to if you already have or if you just don’t feel like it! <3

[theladycarpathia]

What waits in the woods part 2

Running with a busted ankle sucks.

Being chased by a psychopath wielding an ax sucks even more.

Unfortunately, these are two very true facts of Eddie’s current situation.

“Go to summer camp,” Eddie mutters under his breath, dodging a low hanging tree branch at the last second. The woods surrounding Camp Starcourt aren’t meant for a desperate chase. They’d been warned their first day about the dangers of the woods from poison ivy to animal holes. It is a dark and creepy place befitting a horror movie and Eddie should have taken the warning and gotten on the first bus back to Hawkins. “Be a counselor, earn some money, it’ll be fun. Sure.” If he survives this, he’s going to give Uncle Wayne hell for those well-meaning words. His uncle had only wanted Eddie to spend a summer outside, instead of in darkened basements for once. How was he to know that the camp would be plagued by a narcissistic crazed killer with no problems about sticking a machete into a teen counselor?

He doesn’t know where anyone is. Last he saw Nancy, she was holding the line armed with the groundskeeper’s shotgun, so that Robin and Vicky could get the rest of the kids onto the bus and out. And he hasn’t seen Billy and Steve since the first murder. They could be anywhere across acres of land, out in the woods, by the lake or back at camp. They’d taken it upon themselves to go out and find anyone they could to tell them to get back to safety. Everyone else just had to bar the doors and wait in the mess hall. He’s not sure where it all went wrong.

The moon is steadily rising overhead, offering him just the faintest light shining down between the thick canopy of branches. It can only be a few hours since this started, but it’s hard to tell when it’s all been a blur of blood and metal and panic. He doesn’t know how many Mr Creel has butchered already. The kids who snuck off to swim in the lake, the nice Russian guy who worked in the mess hall, the counselors smoking weed in the woods. Ten? Twenty? How long can Eddie’s friends survive?

How long can he? 

Because let’s face it, Eddie Munson is no hero. And he fucked up his ankle on a tree root after he’d already offered to draw Henry away, so the chances are good that he’ll end up like Alexei, or Heather, or Troy. He’d only seen poor Alexei, a gushing red crater in his chest, slumped against the side of the arts and crafts cabin. But that was enough, even without Billy’s recollection of the foaming red water out by the lake, or Argyle’s hysteric return with Jonathan when they’d tripped over someone’s leg out in the woods. Just a leg. And then someone’s torso further over. A hand still clutching a joint. All that had been left of some of their fellow counselors was just a gruesome scattering of body parts around a makeshift campfire in a clearing.

He wonders if the bus has gone yet. He hopes his kids are all on it: he saw Dustin, Will and Lucas back at the mess hall. Erica had arrived not long after. But part of the reason Steve and Billy ventured out again was because Mike, El and Max were still missing. By the time they all realized that no one had seen them since dinner, it was too late.

He hopes they’re found. He also deeply pities anyone who might hurt those kids. He thinks of Billy setting up a tripwire, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, and Steve hammering nails into one of the bats from the sports shed. He thinks of Nancy loading rounds into the shotgun, face still tear-streaked from finding Barb’s body. Of Jonathan and Argyle out in the open, just so they can fuel up the bus, risking being cut down so that everyone can make an escape. 

He thinks that Henry Creel really picked the wrong fucking counselors to screw with. 

All except him. All he could do was run, and draw Henry’s attention. But if it gives Chrissy time to get away, it’ll be enough.

Jesus Christ, Chrissy. He hopes that she’s okay. If he does anything worthwhile with his life, let it be this. Let her get away. 

He hears the whistle behind him just in time and throws himself forward. The ax buries itself into the nearest tree, just mere inches from where his head had been. Gasping, Eddie tries to catch his breath, to pull himself up from the dirt and keep going. But a heavy boot comes down on his leg, pressing too close to his fucked ankle. He hisses in pain but twists his head around anyway.

“Honestly, Eddie,” Henry Creel says, shaking his head as though he’s caught Eddie with his hand in the cookie jar. He’s still dressed like he’s going to a business meeting, smart black slacks and a crisp white shirt. The only things out of place are the heavy workman boots he has on his feet - can’t wear anything too impractical when you’re hunting kids down in the woods, after all - and the streaks of blood smeared across his chest, his hands, his face. Eddie feels sick looking at it. It’s Barb’s blood. Angela’s blood. Carol’s blood. 

“Escaping? Not very brave of you,” Henry says, pursing his lips in disappointment. His eyes are ice cold, any of that affable personality wiped clean. It had all only ever been a mask, Eddie realizes. The nice man across the lake, who waved to the campers in their kayaks and read the newspaper on his front porch had been hiding this monster all along. 

“Had to try,” Eddie brazens, just in case. He doesn’t know who else is still out there, still fighting. If Henry is here, then maybe there’s time for the bus to leave. “Got separated from the others.”

“Oh yes,” Henry says, tilting his head. “I’ve encountered some of your fellows. Rather uncouth little bunch.” Eddie catches the pained wince, the fury passing over his eyes. Only then does he look down and notice the red seeping out of the stark black fabric. Eddie grins.

“Someone got you,” he says, and Henry’s face darkens.

“That nasty little girl took a shot at me,” and Eddie feels a flicker of pride. Nancy had shot him.

“You killed her friend,” Eddie says grimly, remembering the firm set of Nancy’s jaw. “You’re lucky you’re not dead.”

“I think it would take more than a petulant child with an old shotgun to kill me,” Henry spits. But it doesn’t matter - Nancy has rattled him, and the blood seeping out of his leg will have weakened him. It’s not enough to save Eddie but maybe Billy and the others will have a chance to. “And I’ve seen those two boys in the woods. All of you are fools and children.”

“That’s a serious fucking complex you have there,” Eddie quips and sucks in a breath as Henry presses down on his hurt ankle. “Seriously though, how the fuck are you going to explain all these dead kids? You’re covered in blood and the weirdo over the lake is going to be their first suspect.” Henry shrugs easily. He seems so unbothered by the lives he’s taken and the consequences of it all. Eddie feels bile in the back of his throat. This is someone truly, terrifyingly dangerous. 

“I’ll blame someone else,” Henry says, calmly. “I’ve done it before.”

Eddie looks up at him in horror. They all knew that the land had been sold to the camp owners by Henry, the last surviving Creel. He’d kept a good few acres over the other side of the lake, but had auctioned off the rest, a chunk to some farmers and the bulk of it for a summer camp. A few of the older counselors had heard a few stories about creepy Mr Creel, claiming that his his house was haunted and other dumb fireside theories. But one thing did ring true: the murder of his sister, Alice, twenty odd years ago.

“You killed your own sister?” Eddie croaks weakly, and Henry smiles. There’s no teeth but it’s the smile of a predator anyway.

“I did,” he says, with a long drawn out, almost pleasured sigh. “And I blamed one of the neighbor boys. Dug a knife into my shoulder and claimed he’d attacked me too. Not that it mattered. My parents knew full well I was the one who’d done it. They removed me from school and ensured that I was locked up at all times.”

“They knew?” Eddie says in disbelief. “But why didn’t they turn you in?”

“It was easier for them not to, I expect,” Henry says, inspecting the blood underneath his fingernails. He’s clearly not worried about Eddie escaping. Even with a shotgun wound, he could probably catch Eddie again in a matter of seconds. “Besides, the shame would have been too much. Your own son butchering his little sister in cold blood? They’d have been pariahs, even more so than for having a murdered child. So instead, I spent my formative years locked in the basement, being fed through a hatch, with only books and my spiders for company.”

“But your parents died,” Eddie says tentatively, and the second smile is more horrifying than the first.

“Oh yes,” Henry says, slowly. “They forgot to properly bolt my door one night. It was easy enough to pick the lock. And I inherited everything, obviously. No one ever knew it was me and I got the freedom I deserved.”

“And then you stopped?” Eddie asks, although even he can’t be foolish enough to not see the bloodlust in those pale eyes. He wouldn’t have stopped. Henry Creel is a monster that needs to feed on other people’s pain.

“Of course not,” says Henry, disdain dripping from every word. “But there’s many people that society won’t notice if they just…suddenly disappeared. Vagrants, drifters, loners. For years after my parents’ deaths, I made do. It was easier to not draw attention to myself.”

“What happened?” Eddie hears himself ask, no matter how badly he doesn’t want the answer. It won’t take back any of the death, knowing the truth won’t make any of it worth it. He doesn’t want to know any more reasoning behind Henry Creel’s sick mind. 

Henry looks at Eddie down his long, aristocratic nose. 

“You all couldn’t keep out,” he says coldly and pulls a long, serrated knife out of his belt. The jagged teeth are already mottled with rust-colored blood and the sight of it makes Eddie’s mouth dry with fear. “All you had to do was keep to your side of the lake. It was in the rules, and yet those children came over to my property. They found the bones buried by the well. They know what I’ve done, so I came over here to make them be quiet. But I couldn’t find them, so I’ll just keep cutting until I do.”

He angles the blade just enough for Eddie to catch sight of his terrified eyes in the reflection of it. 

“What children?” Eddie asks, already half sure of the answer. And sure enough, Henry had seen a long red ponytail vanishing away into the woods with her friends. Max, El and Mike. They’d found Henry’s macabre graveyard and because of it, he’s slaughtered his way across the campsite in search of them. He’ll make sure he kills them and then find someone to blame it on. Murray, the odd man who brings the supplies every Monday. Maybe he’ll blame one of the teens in the woods and hide the body so no one will ever know that they didn’t run away. Maybe he’ll murder Billy and claim the shotgun wound in his leg as evidence that Henry only just escaped from a madman. Billy with his jeans and cigarette smoke and matchbox temper would be an easy enough target to pin it all on. And anyone who knows Billy well enough to fight it would be dead.

And Eddie now knows the truth. There’s no way he can get out now.

He tries anyway, pulling against Henry’s hold but it only makes his ankle scream in pain. Eddie scrabbles against the grass, clawing against the mud with his fingernails, searching for anything to fight with. But it’s too late and Henry is leaning down over him, angling the blade to slice open his throat…

When the blade comes down, Eddie screams, the sound echoing across the dark woods. 

He and Henry stare at each other, frozen in a single, heavy second. Henry’s pale eyes are shocked and disbelieving. He opens his mouth to say something and a wet glob of blood comes out instead, dripping down his chin and onto Eddie’s camp shirt. Eddie looks at the knife clutched in Henry’s limp fingers and then up, past Henry, past the ax buried deep into his back and to the figure gripping the wooden handle with all her might.

Chrissy wrenches the ax free, and if Eddie hadn’t been in love before, he definitely is now. There’s a wild look in her eyes, mud and blood smeared across her cheek in equal measure. She’s still wearing his denim jacket that he’d slung across her shoulders to keep her warm. She raises the ax again, just as Henry twists around and with a primal scream, she buries the metal deep into the meat of his torso. She’s not the same girl that Eddie has spent all summer with, the one that made daisy chains and wore cute little scrunchies and dripped chocolate down her chin. She’s something wild and fierce, clenching her jaw in fury as she digs in the ax in further. Henry makes a choking sound, more blood dripping down his neck and the knife slips from his fingers to the ground. He drops to his knees and, finally free, Eddie wriggles back as fast as he can, kicking the knife away with his working foot for good measure.

But it’s not needed. Chrissy pulls the ax free once more, a terrible wet sound as it comes away from Henry’s body. Without it, Henry falls down to the ground. His eyes stare balefully at Chrissy as he takes a weak, gasping breath - once, twice, thrice…and then nothing. The murderer of Camp Starcourt is dead.

“Chrissy?” Eddie says and suddenly, the terrifying creature that had stood there wielding an ax is gone and she’s just Chrissy again. Only Chrissy.

“Are you okay?” she gasps, dropping the ax to the ground with a thud and hurrying over. He stares up at her, the moonlight softening her; every red curl, every eyelash, the brilliant blue of her eyes.

“Wow,” Eddie says, dumbfounded. 

“Eddie?” she prods, brow furrowed in concern, and Eddie curls his hand around her neck to pull her down to him. It’s not how he imagined their first kiss, lying on the forest floor, caked in pine needles and blood, with a busted ankle and a corpse cooling nearby, but it’s perfectly sweet no less. 

“Sorry,” Eddie babbles the minute they’ve pulled away. He’s not entirely sure what possessed him to kiss Chrissy Cunningham out of the blue - aside from the all consuming crush that’s choked him all summer, but that’s still no reason to not ask. “Shit, I’m really sorry.”

“What for?” she asks, tilting her head in confusion. Her eyes are bright, one hand curled into the loops of his jeans. This fact alone is enough to stall his brain.

“You’re taken,” Eddie explains slowly. Just in case she’s forgotten, but the last five hours have been pretty traumatic. “You’re dating Jason.” She gives a loud snort.

“Jason literally used me as a human shield, I think he’ll understand that we’ve broken up,” she says dryly. 

There’s heavy footfall in the woods behind them and they both flinch, as though they expect another murderer to appear out of the dark. But then a torchlight falls down on them and when Eddie blinks away the spots, it’s just Steve and Billy standing there. Billy’s got blood smeared across his mouth, one hand gripping a pistol and a knife strapped to his thigh. Steve’s bright yellow sweater is ripped at one shoulder but he wields the nailed bat like it’s Excalibur. Aside from some cuts and exhaustion, they’re both alive and well.

“Everyone okay?” Steve asks, anxiously, but Billy’s eyes fall on Henry at once.

“Holy shit,” he exhales, stalking around Eddie and Chrissy to take a better look. “Munson, you do this?”

“No way,” Eddie holds up his hands. “It was all her, dude.” Billy raises an eyebrow, taking in Chrissy, drowning in Eddie’s denim jacket.

“Damn,” he says and prods the body with a toe. “Guess that’s us out of the game, Harrington.” Steve rolls his eyes and slings the bat over his shoulder.

“There is no game, Hargrove,” he says wearily before he looks down at Henry. “Is he definitely dead?” Billy snorts and kicks Henry’s ribs with more than a little vitriol. Eddie suspects that if Billy knew the killer had been hunting down Max, there’d be a Henry-shaped scarecrow in the middle of a large bonfire in the centre of camp.

“Course he’s dead,” Billy spits back. Chrissy tugs Eddie’s arm around her shoulder, just to give him enough of a boost to get to his feet. She doesn’t move, even once he’s upright, and he thinks he could get used to her being there.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t he be dead?” Billy continues and Steve squirms. Whatever tentative friendship that had begun this summer is apparently back to its normal footing, with their usual jibes back and forth. For a little while at camp, when Eddie had seen them working side by side he thought he’d seen…never mind. Maybe it’s gone. Maybe they just don’t want anyone else to see.

“They never stay dead in movies,” Steve mutters sheepishly. Billy’s face does an interesting contortion somewhere between exasperated and fond.

“No shit, Harrington, that’s movies,” he starts to say when Henry shifts at his feet, a rattling exhale drifting from between his pale, bloodied lips.

It might be nerves or quick thinking on Steve’s part but the bat comes down squarely in Henry’s back before the rest of them can even react. They stare silently as the corpse goes quiet once more.

“Harrington,” Billy says, impressed. Steve wrenches the bloodied bat free and grins.

“Told you,” he says and swans off into the trees, unaware of Billy’s admiring look. 

“Do we just leave him here?” Chrissy whispers as they slowly follow Billy and Steve. Out of the woods, back to camp and the dawn inching its way over the hills. They’ll need to see who survived, comfort the wounded, gather the dead. Official people will descend on the camp, putting a swift end to the summer. 

Eddie looks over his shoulder at the still figure of Henry Creel and thinks that maybe the woods would be best to take him. Let him join the rest of the bones he buried, the end of the Creels.

“Yeah,” Eddie says decisively. “Let him rot.” @hellcheerweek

[decadentworld]

tag game: stranger things addition 👻

Thank you @harringrove-heroes for tagging me.

1.ride or die ship (your otp): To be honest Harringrove and Steddie are a tie here but… see text below

2.most annoying ship: I don’t know if I find it annoying per se, but I’ve started to become annoyed by Steddie if it’s written in a specific way.

3.second favourite ship: Stonathan😁

4.favourite platonic relationship: Um… idk if this will sound controversial but I love to think of Hellcheer as a more platonic friendship😁 And also Billy & Heather!

5.underrated ship: Stonathan😁

6.overrated ship: … Steddie again (CEO of hating on my own faves)

7.one thing i would change in canon: K*ren gets treated like the groomer she is and not a cougar MILF uwu feminist icon💁‍♀️

8.something canon did right: Um. None lol

9.a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: This Kas Eddie artwork and this Lucas artwork ft. Patrick😁

10.a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): Actually🤓☝️ no character in Stranger Things is perfect and that’s what makes all of them interesting. I can admit that even the ones I hate the most can have interesting plots as much as I might hate to say it, because a lot of the things that don’t make sense about a character are a direct fault of the writers and maybe even the higher-ups in N*tflix, given that they’re usually extremely out of touch with reality and can oversee or think that something that’s fucked up in real life (like thinking grooming a teenager is fine and/or sexy) is normal/logical or that people are going to think it’s normal as well; hell, if they hadn’t gone down that path with Karen she would’ve been one of my favorite characters but as it stands I can only say that I like my faves because they can have complex, imperfect stories, and as for other characters, I can handpick little things here and there that interest me even if I hate those characters.

Just kidding it’s Patrick Lucas and Chrissy

11.the character i relate to the most and why: No one really lmao. Maybe Jonathan because socially awkward besties🤝

12.character i hate the most and why: Karen and Neil, no explanation needed.

13.something i've learned from the fandom: Many of the people in the fandom have really selective ‘critical’ thinking or none at all. As in, will say an abused 18-year-old who sacrifices himself for others in the end is somehow worse than a pedophile or a child abuser/womanbeater or someone who tortures kids. I wasn’t on Tumblr for this but apparently people were hating on Will when he was possessed? So… yeah.

14.three tags i seek out on ao3: Umm… Billy Hargrove & Maxine “Max” Mayfield, Billy Hargrove Needs A Hug😔 I don’t remember any more (<-liar)

15.a song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: Soldier’s prayer – Timo Tolkki for Billy. Emerald Sword – Rhapsody of Fire for Eddie. On niin helppoo olla onnellinen – Olavi Uusivirta for Jonathan. Also Glory Days – Stratovarius for Lucas but it must be because I put it as background music for a process reel of an artwork of him I made😁

Tagging: (no pressure tags) @hellfirefucker , @orchidmunson , @boldlyshadowytrash , @c-nstellati-ns , @raincloudxyx , @killthepurplemusic , @lilacdesired and anyone else who wants to do this…!

[deliahscrush2003]

How do the stories of your Stranger Things OCs vary from canon?

Thank you for this lovely ask @lilac-lemonade ! I'm sure we are all reeling from Stranger Things 4 and looking forward to theorizing what we will expect from the final season! You'll have to let me know what you thought of ST4 when you get the chance!

Stephanie Harrington & Michelle Hargrove in The Babysitter's Club

I've introduced the basic premise of my OCs in another post and I will attempt to expand from here! Forgive me if it sounds repetitive!

Stephanie Harrington, the younger sister of Steve Harrington, is the first OC to make an appearance in the series The Babysitter's Club. She finds herself heavily involved in the events of Season 1 when she is pulled into the Upside Down alongside Barb Holland during the little get-together at her house. So, not only does Barb go missing but so does Steve's sister, so of course, he's going to be freaking out, knowing that if their parents find out that their precious baby girl is missing, he's going to get a whole lot worse than his car taken from him. So, he's on edge, he's trying to keep Nancy protected because as far as he knows, there's some sicko stealing little kids (Will Byers) and possibly having kidnapped his sister and Barb. So, in the first instalment, instead of Steve being the blase King Steve, he's going to take more of a stance similar to Jason Carver in Season 4, leading the basketball team on search parties in the woods where he more often than not runs into Nancy and Johnathan.

Spoiler alert for the first instalment: will expand upon the Upside Down and Steph, Will and Barb's time in the alternate dimension, Barbara Holland LIVES and Steve will be basically the original Jason Carver (rest assured he still gets his redemption arc).

Michelle Hargrove, the twin sister of Billy Hargrove, is the second OC introduced in the series The Babysitter's Club. After her family makes the hasty move from California to buttfuck Indianna, Shell, Billy and Max make their debut in the small town of Hawkins and quickly establish themselves as quite the tempermental rebels, all in their own little way. Billy and Shell certainly make an impression on the Harrington siblings, who have recently fallen from Hawkin's High social heirarchy after their vague involvement with Will Byer's return from the dead. The Hargrove twins seem to make it their mission to antagonize their counterparts in a desperate attempt to find out what happened to make the royals lose their crowns. While Billy is careful not to draw the suspicions of their father, Shelly doesn't have the same inclination and finds herself dragged into making Molotov cocktails with Stephanie during lunch breaks and following her into the woods with Barbara Holland of all people.

Spoiler alert for the second installment: Billy Hargrove will find out about the Upside Down, sideplot with Steph, Shelly and Barb doing some sleuthing, Barb's aftermath after escaping the Upside Down, Steve Harrington's redemption arc!

In the third installment, the Babysitter's Club diverges heavily from canon between the fall of 1984 and the summer of 1985. It is in the third installment that we see where the series gets its name ( a nod to my all-time favorite film the Breakfast Club) when a weekend detention forces Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove, Johnathan Byers, Robin Buckley, Eddie Munson, Barbara Holland, Chrissy Cunningham, Heather Holloway, Patrick McKinney, Stephanie Harrington and Michelle Hargrove all in one room for eight hours where crack shenangins, angst, Upside Down secrets, and romance occurs.

Spoiler alert for the third installment: Robin Buckley, Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham, Heather Holloway and Patrick McKinney kind of find out about the Upside Down before canon, they all some how become part of the Party, fic ships get together, Hawkins lab sideplot is explored more.

The fourth installment takes place in the summer of 1985 and follows the events of Season 3. A lot of the canon events still happen but because more characters know about what's going on, there's a lot more people involved. There is even some expansion in the Upside Down lore such as the mirror people or the Flayed are not actually the people they look like. Rather they are shadow copies will tethers to the real people who are trapped in the Upside Down while their Flayed! versions are out in the real world. The real people are aware of everything their Flayed! versions are doing, but they are trapped. If their Flayed! version dies in the real world, the real people awaken in the Upside Down.

TAGLIST: @summer-time, @lokitrasho, @foxesandmagic, @lilac-lemonade, @apollothe-sungod, @chickensarentcheap and @starknstarwars

[munsons-maiden]

Hey, I just wanted to say I definitely believe Eddie is coming back next season, but I was wondering if you think there’s a good chance they’ll bring Chrissy back also? I feel like it’s be a good decision on Netflix’s part, since Chrissy/her dynamic with Eddie have been super popular as well. Considering she was only in one episode, she left a huge impact on the show. I don’t know if there’s any instances of Grace hinting that she might be back similar to Joe, but I’d love to see them together again. Their chemistry was amazing and Chrissy is a character with a lot of untapped potential as well.

It depends on exactly how they'd do it.

I love Chrissy, and I'd love to see more of her and the dynamic she had with Eddie and the Duffers already said they shared that sentiment, but since Chrissy is definitely dead - else, the gate wouldn't have opened and we saw her consciousness in Vecna's mindscape, tied to her pillar and just as dead as her body - I don't think they can bring her back back as long as they don't pull an Avengers Endgame style time travelling move.

They could either bring her back in a Hellfire spinoff series that's set as a prequel (though in that case, for Eddie and Chrissy to interact, they'd have to ret-con the scene in the woods) or - and that's what I believe will happen -Chrissy is in the Void with Fred, Patrick, Billy and Max in season 5. If the latter will be the case, Chrissy and the others could help Max achieve what they didn’t didn’t: escape Vecna and live. I think that’s the likeliest option to bring Chrissy back and give her an imactful arc, to help Max escape the Void and I feel like it’s been foreshadowed already since Vecna explained that all of his victims “aren’t gone, but with him“. On a sidenote, such a storyline would bring Max the closure with Billy she needs to move on and have a happy ending. I can’t see why they should put Max in a coma if it wasn’t important for the plot of the next season, because else, they could have simply killed her. Plus, Max is the only one of the party with a connection to Chrissy (apart from Eddie).

Max was the first one to notice something was wrong with Chrissy, the first one of out heroes apart from Eddie to find Chrissy’s body (I mean, Eddie didn’t find her so he doesn’t count here). Max is connected to Chrissy the way she was connected to Heather (and I talked about it a few days ago; Max still feels guilty for not having been able to save Billy AND Heather, becuase if she’d looked closer and listened to El...she might have. And that’s mirrored in the newfound alertness Max displays especially when it comes to Chrissy).

So I believe Chrissy will be back for one final heroic act of helping Max escape the Void, but I don’t think she’ll be back alive as long as they don’t go down the multiverse or timetravel route, which I don’t think.

[camaro-hargrove]

What Happened To Me?

word count: 1.3k

-

Billy wants to know everything. He wants to know what happened from the very start until right this second because he’s still not sure what happened to him and everyone is fucking ignoring him.

The nurses don’t say shit, just tend to his wounds and help him move around when he’s too weak to do so himself. After, you know, sacrificing himself after apparently being possessed but some interdimensional creature and still not even being told the full story.

He’s pissed off that no one tells him what’s going on. It’s all no disclosure agreements and government people and apparently being possessed doesn’t warrant an explanation.

So he tries to figure it out himself.

He, Max and Susan live in the trailer park now and apparently her little friends have joined Hellfire Club. Eddie has been begging Billy to join Hellfire as soon as Billy arrived in Hawkins and Billy always replied with a strong no. Sometimes he helped out on campaigns whilst getting high with Eddie in his room but that’s as far as it really got.

He’s been out most of the day, trying to find a job that will agree with his limited abilities right now when he comes home and finds all the lights in the caravan park flickering. He’s got an uneasy feeling as he walks up to his new home and turns when he hears something from the Munson trailer across the way.

Eddie flies out of the trailer like a bat out of hell and sees Billy staring in shock. He rushes over and drags Billy with him and suddenly Billy is holding on for dear life as Eddie speeds away from the trailer park.

“Chrissy” Eddie rubs a hand down his face “Fuck, man, her eyes, her arms fuck”

“What?”

“She died man” Eddie looks over, fear evident on his face “Her arms and legs fucking snapped and she was on my ceiling, it was like she was -”

“Possessed” Billy finished

“Yeah” Eddie shakes his head “Fuck, man, I was the last person to be seen with her and you know my reputation round here”

Billy’s not really sure how to respond but they end up at Reefer Rick’s place. Billy’s been here a couple of times before and Rick is…a character to say the least. He follows Eddie into the boat shed and then they just sit for a bit.

Eddie breaks the silence by telling Billy the story of what happened in the trailer. About Chrissy going to buy drugs from him - the biggest surprise to Billy if he’s being honest - and how all the lights were fucked and then she was in a trance he couldn’t snap her out of. It sounds insane and Billy would think this is some prank if he hadn’t gone through his own bout of terror only months earlier.

“There wasn’t a mall fire” Billy says after Eddie had finished his story “I mean, there was but that’s not the full story”

Eddie looks up at him with curious eyes and seems to understand that maybe Billy understood what happened more than he realised.

“Do you know what happened to Chrissy?” he asks

“I don’t know” Billy shakes his head “I don’t even really know what happened to me because no one will tell me”

“What happened to you?”

“I was possessed. I crashed my car outside the steel mill and this monster dragged me down and it went inside my mouth” Billy sniffs, turning away so Eddie wouldn’t see him cry. “I couldn’t get away and when I did I was in Hawkins but it wasn’t Hawkins”

Eddie is listening so intently that it momentarily stuns Billy. No one has ever paid this much attention while listening to him before. It gives him the confidence to keep on going because he’s never had anyone to talk about this until now.

“Sometimes I was myself but I have huge gaps of memory loss. I think I killed people” Billy whispers that last part “Like Heather, except I have no memory of it”

“Like Chrissy?” Eddie asks, leaning in closer.

Billy shakes his head, “I don’t know, I-I-I it made me try and bring him one of Max’s friends, El”

“Mike’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah”

“Thought she was fake” Eddie muses and the sincereness makes Billy burst into unexpected laughter. “But fuck, are you like, okay?”

“No” Billy wipes at his eyes “She saved me with her mind, she was in my head”

“What like…a psychic?”

“I don’t know” Billy replies, he lays down in the canoe and Eddie lies next to him, head next to his “She showed me my mum, before she left me”

“Oh”

“Yeah” Billy sighs “I was impaled by this creature and nearly died and still no one is telling the full story”

They lay there for what could be hours. Sometimes they chat but mostly they lie in silence, pulling the tarp over when they hear unfamiliar and sudden sounds. Billy’s never had a sleepover before but he imagines this is what they’re like, maybe not hiding in a shed in a canoe but he’ll take what he can get.

They awake to the sounds of birds and the sun shining through the trees and making the dust spiral in front of their eyes. Billy had managed to turn onto his side and now his body is aching. He didn’t bring his medication and his body is telling him so.

“Morning, sunshine” he jokes “Comfy?”

“No” Billy mumbles “I don’t have my meds and I’m in fucking agony”

“Right” Eddie nods “The whole monster impaling you. Was kinda hoping that was a dream, Chrissy too”

“I wish it was”

Billy slowly climbs out of the canoe, groaning as his scars pull and he does some soft stretches that he’s been assigned.

Eddie sits up and watches Billy stretch. He makes no comment when Billy’s shirt rides up and reveals the tail end of scars on his lower stomach. Neither made no move to find breakfast, still too worked up from the night before.

They chat idly, making a point to avoid all topics of last night and instead discuss the new Metallica single in depth. Billy already knows Eddie has pretty much mastered it on his guitar whether he wanted to listen to it or not, luckily he did want to hear it.

The sudden sound of car doors slamming have both of them diving back under the covers and holding their breaths. It’s gotten darker outside and the two of them crouch even further down as the boat shed doors open and multiple footsteps walk in. Someone picks up something next to them and Billy frowns when he hears Max’s voice. Of course it has something to do with her.

Before he can tell Eddie who it is, he’s grabbing a broken beer bottle and leaping out. Billy in a hurry follows and manages to grab him around the waist, sending both of them to the dirty ground in a pile. Eddie yells as he falls and Billy lets out an ‘oof’ as he lands on top of him awkwardly.

Billy looks up to see not just Max but Steve, Robin and who he thinks is Dustin staring at the two of them in shock.

“Uh” Steve starts to say something but is cut off by Max.

“Billy, what the fuck are you doing here?” Max asks “I thought you were at home!”

“Long story” Billy mutters, using the canoe as a leverage to stand up.

“Really long,” Eddie adds.

“Yeah” Steve drags the word out “About that”

“We can explain everything” Dustin says to Eddie

“Great” Eddie nods “Why don’t you start explaining everything from the start to Billy here, after he, you know, saved your little magical friends life”

Max, Dustin, Steve and Robin all look at one another as Billy stands there with his arms crossed and Eddie’s hand on his shoulder, a fierce look on his face.

“We’re waiting” Eddie sings sarcastically “Don’t be shy now, Billy deserves to know what he almost died for”