#shape shifter Steve Harrington

[italiansteebie]

secret shape shifter Steve who everyone thinks dies in the upside down, only he doesn't but he's having a fantastically peaceful time shifting into a small brown cat and bugging each of them at their houses.

he keeps it his own little secret until robin and eddie come close to a fist fight over who he belongs to, and the peace he felt once is gone. "he's my cat. buck! his name is oz, and I found him first." Eddie sneers, waving his hands theatrically. "uh, no. he crawled out from under the rubble at my house, his name is rubble, obviously, and he is mine."

their heads turn to the cat that had been resting lazily on the worn couch, as he screamed at them, seeming to want them to stop arguing. "shush, cat. we're trying to argue," Eddie says, swiping a hand over his face, to which he hisses at, rolling his eyes before stalking back to eddies room. he can still hear them arguing, he shakes his head, "dummies," he thinks as he flicks his tail. he flops down, rolling on his back and stretching until his bones pop and snap back into his human form. (he shifted every night after he went home, he had some practice by now). Steve groaned as he stood, ruffling his hair, picking up some clean-ish clothes off of eddies floor, before slipping them on.

"can you guys shut up?" he said, walking into the living room where his two friends were still arguing. "no- steve? are you real?" Eddie whispered, poking his face, "hey!"

"what the fuck Steve, we thought you were dead!" robin cried, tears streaming down her face as she launched herself into his arms. "I've been around, robs."

"what are you talking about?" Eddie whispered, still staring at him as though he's an apparition, and well, he kind of is... "im the cat," Steve said simply, tacking on a 'meow,' for emphasis.

"what cat? my cat? rubble?" robin asked, jaw dropping when Steve nodding. "I changed in front of you! oh my god, Steve."

"prove it," Eddie said, eyeing him carefully.

Steve rolled his eyes, rolling his shoulders before beginning the shift once more. he stared up at his friends for a moment before shifting back into his human form carefully, as to not flash either of them.

"Oh my god. I told you about my crush on- that was private" Eddie cried, scrubbing a hand over his face.

and Steve remembers that night, how he softly curled around Eddie after uttering those words. "and I hate him," he'd sobbed, "because I never- never got to tell him how I felt," and Steve had never wanted to shift more in a moment, than right then and there.

[coinkydnks]

@ the person whose post I liked about shape shifter Steve Harrington turning into a dog because he doesn’t know how to ask for affection… I’ve got something for you

[livingfast04]

Monster Au? (kind of)

**spoilers for Frankenstein??? I guess??** Part Two --- They read Frankenstein in the 9th grade, Freshman English, with their teacher who had read the book far too many times. She’d waxed poetically about injustice, and how Victor was a Victim. She spoke every sentence as if each and everyone of them had never read a book in their life.

Steve read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 7th grade for a book report. His teacher had all but begged him to choose a different option- they read it Freshman year. See it with new eyes then Steve. 

His mind was made up. Already 50 pages in. 

There was no poor Victor. Steve hated him, hated the idea of his character, hated the very words spilled on the page. The creature did not ask to be created, it did not ask to live. Steve hated that he identified with the creature, someone seeking kindness in a world that hated the idea of him. 

Devil, demon, fiend, monster. 

Skin Eater, Skin Thief, Skin Stealer, Shapeless.

If Steve was capable of that kind of violence, he’d kill everything his parents loved too. If his parents were even capable of love. 

So Steve sat bored out of his mind, and angry. In Freshman English, over a book he’d already read, over a woman, a human woman. Who spun sentences about the Human in the story, and cursed out the creature. As if the creature asked for anything. 

Kick the dog, hurt the dog, starve the dog. The kind dog will bite. 

Sink teeth into skin, tear flesh, feel the way their jaws lock around the white of bone.

He kept his mouth shut. In ways that the other monsters in the class didn’t, they huffed, and argued. The wolf at the front of the class snapped out about the logistics, the message Mary Shelley was trying to tell- how Victor Frankenstein was not the victim, but the Villain. It was about all the humans who had children with Supernatural, who abandoned them, who cast them aside, who turned the villages against them. 

When the Witch at the back of the class snapped out about Shelley was a Witch herself. 

Steve kept his mouth shut, when the Vampire boy from the front of the class shouted about how the creature just wished to be loved. 

Not a single word for how much he hated Victor passed his lips. Because Steve was supposed to be just as human as the teacher, was supposed to agree with the teacher. A woman he couldn’t even be bothered to remember her name in the Spring Semester.

Steve was to keep his head down on all things monsters, keep his abnormalness to himself- and act like a human. 

Freak, Freak, Freak

The Harrington’s were the only Shape-shifters in Hawkins, and that was a well kept secret. Only the Harrington’s were to know this fact. The world had come around to Supernatural in the late 1800s, just maybe. 

Werewolves, Vampires, Witches, Gremlins, Fairies, Dragons, Ghosts, Animal Shifters, Sirens, Banshee, you know- 

The human shaped kind.

They did not take kindly to Shapeshifters. 

So they hid, they curbed their instincts and became human-like. Raised their young in private, they did not fight the oppression, they stayed quiet, and said little to how shape-shifters worked to themselves. 

They don’t marry outside of the branch of Shifters, they don’t even think about it. 

Steve’s parents married out of necessity. Keep the line of Harrington’s alive. They had Steve out of necessity too. They shouldn’t have, but it’s what it was. His father too scared to break the cycle made sure that Steve was aware he was an abomination.

A devil, demon, a creature. 

Be human, don’t be anything else. Steve grew up knowing what his body should need, but never getting it. His “natural” body is already supposed to be thin, small, built for movement, and change.

Steve grew up, not really honestly. He tried to grow up. It took years of monsters, and years of exhaustion, and a skin that was wrong to even begin to grow up. There was no real transition, there was too human, and then too monster-ish. 

Too much, too much- 

And then there were real monsters. Not the human shaped kind. 

Not the Humans. The regulars, the ones with the slurs, and shouting, the human shaped monsters who didn’t like wrong. The ones who were the same as him, who didn’t like themselves either- 

Kick the dog, hurt the dog, starve the dog. 

The dog bites. --- I, got the writing bug, for something other than my two WIP. So, weird way too much world building Monster Au that I had to get out of my head an on to paper before I lost it completely. Both my sanity, and the idea. (The Au is Steddie, there’s just a, well Lack of Steddie in this. For some reason- probably because I word vomited for 25 minutes- and this was all I could come up with, without writing 10k-)  This was born because I’m reading Frankenstein  praise be Mary Shelley. And I’ve got far too many thoughts to be allowed to consume media.  So Stevie gets to suffer now- It’s okay tho, His Vampire Bf will make it better later down the line- :)

[lipglossanon]

Characters I’m Writing For

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This is just to keep up with who all I’m working on! So if you’re redirected here, hi there! 👋 😊

Leon S. Kennedy

Corrupt Cop

Corrupt Cop Remix

Office Exec - finished ☑️

Las Plagas - hiatus

Stepdad - finished ☑️

Stepbro

Alcoholic/Sweet Stepdad

Dark Stepdad - finished ☑️

Subby Stepbro

Vampire Leon - finished ☑️

Roommate - finished ☑️

Sugar Daddy - finished ☑️

Dogman - hiatus

Professor - finished ☑️

Masseuse - finished ☑️

Puppy - hiatus

Werewolf - finished ☑️

Shape Shifter/Wendigo - hiatus

Priest - hiatus

Doctor - finished ☑️

Real Dad - hiatus

Uncle - finished ☑️

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

•The Merchant - hiatus

╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗

Currently retired:

•Steve Harrington

•Kurt Kunkle

╚⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤╝

[youmakemyhearthowl]

WIP Wednesday

A little late haha but I was tagged by @zerokrox-blog

Clockwork King- In 1978 Steve Harrington went missing for 5 days, no one noticed. Little Steve Harrington missed an entire week of school and no one said anything; Eddie felt his absence in the empty seat he usually takes up in front of him, and Eddie worries. or; Steve Harrington learns what it really means to be loved while also learning that some of the demons in his head, aren't just in his head (This one is already posted partially on AO3)

2. Punk Princess- Steve discovers the world of punk and queer love, this ones easy going and cute and our boys are gay panicking always with each other. Eddie Wears a cheer outfit. (Also partially available on AO3)

3. Super soldier AU- I've got 2 parts and a little over 20,000 words for this done already, BUT basically, what happens if the Russians grab Steve out front of the burning down Starcourt and he is taken with Hopper to Russia. Thicc, severly truamatized Steve. Robin/Eddie friendship, but of course Stobin platonic soulmates always. Dart may or may not be in it and also just a little guy. I have no idea how to explain this one lmao.

4. My own novel that's enemies to lovers, shape shifters and a throne that was stolen lol

I wanna tag @heart-of-a-rose, @stuftzombie, @whatthemeepever , @manda-panda-monium , @lofaewrites and @tashabeth

[dreamlandcreations]

Misc. masterlist

❌ dark(ish) ||🔥 smut || 🧸 fluff/soft ||⚡ angst || 💔 soulmate!au || 🌎 au || 🎱 mention of reader’s sexual orientation || 🤍 gender neutral reader (otherwise it's probably fem reader) || ✨ reader description (mostly just implied) ||🎗miscarriage / infertility / reader not wanting kids || ❤️‍🩹 not quite angsty but it’s definitely in the “it hurts” category

•

see the

• Main Masterlist •

for Boba Fett, Santiago Garcia, Andromache, The Darkling, Billy Russo, Outcome 3, Poe Dameron, Nathan Bateman, Duke Leto Atreides, Alfie Solomons, Bishop Losa, Eddie Munson, Stranger Things (Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Billy Hargrove, Max Mayfield, 11), Eames, Tommy Conlon, James Delaney, Jake “Hangman” Seresin, William “Ironhead” Miller, Xenk Yendar, Aemond Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen, Shanks (OPLA)

•

Star Wars

Jango Fett

Just a simple man - Jango Fett x half alien!Reader

Summary: You save him and he shows you there is more to life than fighting…

Meeting • Trust • Stay 🔥🧸 • Life 🔥🧸 • Death⚡

Speak Freely (epilogue of Just a simple man) ⚡🧸 - Boba Fett x half alien!Reader

Summary: Boba hasn’t spoken Mando'a since the death of his father…

Darth Maul

Beauty and the Beast - Darth Maul x Queen of Naboo!Reader ⚡

Summary: Maul is tasked to keep you in line while his master’s plan comes together on Coruscant…

Marvel

Bucky Barnes

Imagine: Birthday Party, Avenger style

True Love’s Kiss - Steve x Bucky, (Steve x Natasha) 🔥⚡🧸🌎

Summary: The King of Northern America is engaged to the beautiful Princess Natasha of the Russian Empire, too bad he is falling for someone else…

Happily Ever After (part 2 of TLK) - Steve x Bucky, (Steve x Natasha) ❌🔥⚡🧸🌎

Summary: Wanda returns to have her revenge…

Steve Rogers

True Love’s Kiss - Steve x Bucky, (Steve x Natasha) 🔥⚡🧸🌎

Summary: The King of Northern America is engaged to the beautiful Princess Natasha of the Russian Empire, too bad he is falling for someone else…

Happily Ever After (part 2 of TLK) - Steve x Bucky, (Steve x Natasha) ❌🔥⚡🧸🌎

Summary: Wanda returns to have her revenge…

Tony Stark

Doctor Strange

Pietro Maximoff

Erik Killmonger

Loki

Grinch green - Loki x Maximoff!Reader

Summary: Being paired up on a mission with Loki ends up changing your relationship with the moody god…

Elektra

Casual fun - Elektra x Reader 🔥(🎱)

Summary: Riding high on adrenaline, you find something else to ride too…

Matt Murdock

Thor

Imagine: Birthday Party, Avenger style

X-Men

Erik Lehnsherr

Charles Xavier

Remy LeBeau

Apocalypse

Lord of the Rings

Thranduil

Legolas

Haldir

Éomer

Foundation

Brother Day

Day & Night - Brother Day x Reader ❌🔥⚡🧸

Summary: You can’t resist a challenge and what could be more daring than changing the fate of an Empire but you didn’t calculate with the obstinate nature of Day…

Triple Frontier

Benny Miller

Little Miller - Benny Miller x Will’s BFF!Reader 🔥

Summary: You are Will’s new bestie and everyone (except the two of you) thinks you’re gonna end up together but your love-hate relationship with his lil’ bro takes an interesting turn when you find out his call sing, that they never actually use…

Dog Soldiers series (Love, Death & Robots - Shape-Shifters AU)

Part 3 - Benny Miller

Gentlemen

Raymond Smith

A deal is a deal - Ray Smith x half Asian!Reader 🌎

Bribing • The Offer • Deal • Business🔥⚡ • Pleasure 🔥🧸 •  All’s fair… 🧸

Summary: You make an offer and you get yourself a Ray of Sunshine with the deal…

This is a terrible idea - Ray Smith x aristocrat!Reader

King Arthur - Legend of the Sword

King Arthur

All Hallows Eve - King Arthur x mage!Reader ⚡🧸

Summary: Staying at the castle, you train Arthur so he can wield the sword properly. When All Hallows Eve arrives, the dead wants to be heard…

The Legend of his Queen (part 2 of AHE) - King Arthur x mage!Reader ⚡🔥🧸

Summary: You fell in love with the King, even though you knew his destiny was to fall for someone else…

Good Omens

Crowley

Aziraphale

Vikings

Ragnar

Ubbe

Ivar

Teen Wolf

Derek Hale

We are even - Derek Hale x hunter!Reader

Summary: You work with the Argents but you play by your own rules…

Chris Argent

Enola Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Bride (to lover) - Sherlock Holmes x Reader 🔥⚡🧸

Summary: A marriage of convenience. You never expected it to be anything else…

Narnia

Caspian

*Dating the Darkling / Billy Russo / Logan Delos / Caspian / +Sirius Black headcanon 🔥⚡🧸

made up fic title: The Summer Prince

Witcher

Geralt

Vilgefortz

Darkness Within series - Vilgefortz x Calanthe’s daughter!Reader ❌🔥⚡

Summary: He found you when your mother sentenced you to death, he took you in and taught you everything you know, then he found out just how special you are…

Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon

Robb Stark

The Wolf and the Lion - Robb Stark x Lannister!Reader

Summary: Stranger, betrothed, enemy, prisoner, wife, lover, traitor, saviour, captor…

Tyrion Lannister

Alicent Hightower

Imagine Alicent seducing you...

Star Trek

Khan

Spock

Bones

James Bond (No Time to Die)

Paloma

The Enemy of My Enemy - Paloma x Villain!Reader 🔥⚡

Summary: Your relationship with her is complicated but you have to take aside your differences because Bond needs you both to save the world this time…

Harry Potter (Marauders/Fantastic Beasts )

Sirius Black

*Dating the Darkling / Billy Russo / Logan Delos / Caspian / +Sirius Black headcanon 🔥⚡🧸🤍

made up fic title: Serpent's Heart

Percival Graves

Westworld

Logan Delos

*Dating the Darkling / Billy Russo / Logan Delos / Caspian / +Sirius Black headcanon 🔥⚡🧸

Venom

Eddie/Venom

*Misery loves company - Venom x Reader x Eddie

Summary: You harbour Eddie’s fugitive ass and put up living with the dysfunctional couple because you became friends with Venom after he saved your life.

Peaky Blinders

Tommy Shelby

Zablife Story Share - Chapter 6 Tommy Shelby x Solomons!Reader, written for @zablife's Story Share collab

Summary: A few months ago Tommy woke up to find his wife gone, along with half his fortune. Now he is prepared to make a deal with the devil himself if he can get her back...

Imagine Tommy coming to you all bloody after meeting with Alfie

John Shelby

Polly Gray

made up fic title: The Devil's Gift

Mad Max

Max

Hero - Max x Reader 🤍

Inuyasha

Sesshōmaru

Imagine being some kind of cat yōkai

Imagine that you are the daughter of Ryūkotsusei

Imagine dying from poison

Kraven the Hunter

Sergei Kravinoff

Temptation

Silver Silence

changeling!Sergei Kravinoff x Carter!Reader (Psy-Changeling AU)

Summary: Control. Precision. Family. These are the principles that drive the youngest Carter, who is the director of the new agency that is meant to protect the three races and the fragile peace between them. If only the new leader of a powerful predatory changeling pack wasn’t so distracting and destructing…

TRESE

Maliksi

Sandman

The Corinthian

Imagine the Corinthian hunting you…

Imagine Dream taking you to his realm...

Imagine being an immortal and the Corinthian falling for you...

Gen V

Jordan Li

Imagine that your power is that you are able to mimic other powers…

Imagine Jordan being too insecure to ask you out but not for the usual reason…

Imagine thinking that Jordan is trying to intimidate you…

Once Upon a Time

Cyrus

OUATIW Cyrus Scenes GIF: part 1, ...

One Piece (OPLA)

Dracule Mihawk

Imagine Mihawk finding you, a weapon maker, extremely fascinating…

Imagine that Mihawk is sent to capture you…

Imagine that Mihawk is sent to capture you… (2)

Imagine getting a reputation among the Marines because you survived a duel with Mihawk…

Imagine that you are the reason Mihawk gave up his Marine hunting ways…

made up fic title: The Girl with the Laurel Tattoo

Roronoa Zoro 

Vinsmoke Sanji

6 Underground

Billy/Four

Sons of Anarchy / Mayans M.C.

Jax Teller

made up fic title: We are what lies beyond

Angel Reyes

made up fic title: Where the squirrels burrow

[neonponders]

I'm sorry your brain is feeling squished!

Question: what the most outlandish harringrove au/idea/ concept that crossed your mind, but you immediately dismissed because you were worried it was too 'extra/big/over the top'

🥺 😭 Thank you, Graaaaaves 💗

You know, for some reason, I tend to avoid super fantasy au's??? (so says the person in the middle of a werewolf/vampire/witch/merman fics 🙄) Like every time I see griffin/centaur/faun art of the boys I lose my mind, I love it so much. And I recently saw this pic of a pair of lions (it's not weird, it's just a picture of lions lol) and thought.........that's Harringrove. Shape shifters? Steve's hair is literally Kovu from Lion King 2...but I never go anywhere with these haha I think it's the notion of writing horse sex that scares me off LOL

BUT I got brave once and made a tiny drabble on zayacv's post here ~

Apart from these, I am ~ s l o w l y ~ but surely writing a soulmate fic where they can't see colors until they see their mate, AND they can see each other in dreams.

(more under the cut because I'm about to overshare lol)

Cue a LOT of angst because Steve forgets his dreams (like a normal person does lol) and forgets Billy's abuse, so Billy's pissed when they finally talk and he's like????????????? HELLO? You don't care???

They slowly work it out over the next several months, and finally arrange a proper date BUT Billy experiences the crash at the start of season 3, and actually knows about the Upside-Down so he runs fast and far away from Hawkins, standing Steve up, and leaving the team behind to deal with it. Steve knows he's alive because of the dreams but it's still terrifying to wonder if Billy disappeared because he's in that meat spider.

Then he and Jonathan move to NYC and for a while, it's good. Just the daily grind to pay rent and the rush of being outside of their small town. But Steve's growing more and more haunted by the dreams he shares with Billy, because Billy's off living his life and dating - like a normal person, sure, but it still feels like cheating and Steve DID get stood up. They know they're soul mates because they can see colors and Billy left.

He left Steve.

Steve falls into heavy depression, unable to hold a job, Jonathan and Nancy get engaged - rubbing salt into his wounds - he develops an eating disorder because he feels bad about eating the food Jonathan pays for, etc etc etc.

Eventually he reaches a breaking point and uses the credit card his mom pays for to land his ass in therapy. After a few sessions, the woman is like, "Okay. I'm giving you antidepressants and sleeping meds, but you need to really think about the latter because you won't have dreams of your other half anymore."

Steve just wants to stop hurting, so he takes them. And, god, he finally sleeps. The meds make him super groggy throughout the day, and he sleeps like the dead - alerting Jonathan and Nancy that something's wrong, but that's a tangent - but he's finally recovering.

This coincides with Robin getting him a job (because she's in the city too, duh) bartending at a Drag Queen club. Steve's super lost in this place lol he know's he's not straight because - again, Billy - but this whole big, vibrant world of queer culture is new and intimidating and Steve's just so so tired.

But the owner clocks his ability to see colors immediately, because he's visibly bothered by somebody's makeup job. "They're wearing green, unblended foundation but can't tell because it's all grey tones to them."

And when I say this is a club, it's a CLUB. Projected stage, the owner's partner works at a record label, like, the drag scene may be a bit underground, but they're not messing around. These Queens become Steve's fairy godmothers and get him back on his feet, demanding he take dance lessons to be a backup dancer on occasion "Because the people love you, Stevie baby, get your ass on stage."

My favorite point is when the owner tells Steve to go in the makeup room to get a particularly ornery Queen out of their mental crisis and get into costume. Steve discovers their breast plate and it's just NASTY. Covered in caked on makeup and he has his own mental snap of his own. He cleans the weird, silicone thing, and is shouting louder than the whiney Queen,

"THIS IS DISGUSTING! IF YOU CAN'T RESPECT BREASTS THAN YOU DON'T DESERVE THEM AT ALL!"

The owners just love him. "Okay, Bisexual King, you better work."

Meanwhile....

Steve taking the meds to stop his dreams has also made Billy stop having his. And Billy freaks. He thinks Steve is dead, and begins a desperate scavenger hunt to find him.

There's a lot more to this lol like Steve's psychiatrist recommends journaling, and Steve writes a poem that wins a poetry contest, which lands him a big scholarship to an NYC college. So he's colleging by day, Drag Kinging by night. His mom shows up to ask what the hell is so expensive every month on the credit card, and Steve confronts her about her ability to see colors because, "You've worn that specific coral peach shade ever since I was a kid."

So then Momma Harrington is in the mix and the two of them get a place together in the city (probably with Robin too, so that they can have a nice, swanky place and the three of them split the rent). Momma H. also reveals that Steve had night terrors as a kid because he DID see Billy’s abuse. She had to take measures so that he would sleep well and whatever hypnosis they did helped Steve sleep back then.

Steve's writing ability enables him to meet a band, so he writes for the band, and it's an added siphon to get his feelings about Billy out.

It's a very intricate story, obviously lol and it involves a lot of poetry, which isn't my strong suit. But it's very mental health-heavy, so I have to be in a certain place to write for it.

*sigh* thanks for reading lol

[gefdreamsofthesea]

The Witch often receives the shadow projections of those cultures that they are part of. They are the hags and shape-shifters whose messy bodies both arouse and unsettle us. They are the scapegoats onto whose heads the repressed longings of society are spoken. Within the collective psyche of Europe, the Witch has often acted as an icon of disturbance and freedom. The projected fantasies of clerics and folkloric imaginings often allude to something dark, disturbing, and subversive. In bearing the weight of such dangerous passions, the Witch often holds a position on the outer edge of social and ethical evolution.

Steve Dee “The Queer Gods of Alchemy” in Queer Magic: Power Beyond Boundaries edited by Lee Harrington and Tai Fenix Kulystin

I really like this quote.

[italiansteebie]

steve harrington has a bad habit.

he takes in the dogs and cats no one wants anymore.

he's had elderly dogs, disabled cats, puppies that have grown and lost their sparkle, kittens that had been left in the dumpster. he's taken dogs that families can't handle anymore, and he does it with love. he uses his parents huge house to home animals that deserve it, animals that fill the emptiness.

so what happens after vecna is all said and done, and eddie's dead and gone, and a mangy dog crawls out from under eddie's old trailer while steve's there helping max do some minor repairs? and what happens when steve takes the dog home, names him ozzy, curtsy of eddie taking up every inch of his brain, and nurses the skinny thing back to health, along with the other strays he's taken in.

but ozzy never really liked to be around the other animals, always choosing to curl up next to steve, and maybe it was because he knew how much bigger he was than all of them because, damn. ozzy was a big ass dog.

until one night, steve shoots out of bed, drenched in sweat, chest heaving as he's recovering from a nightmare, and he catches a glimpse of none other than eddie. eddie, who's supposed to be dead. eddie who's supposed to be dead in the upside down, nonetheless, peering at him through his doorway. "what the fuck," he breaths, watching as eddie flinches nervously, "surprise," the metal head cheers flatly.

"what the fuck."

[livingfast04]

Alright, so when Steve is with his parents and finally allowed to shift, is he actually horrifying? Because Steve, while Steve is definitely experiencing some body horror while looking in the mirror, what does it look like from your author perspective?

Because in my mind it could go one of three ways:

1) It's genuinely a bit horrifying and gruesome. Steve looks like someone who's been partially flayed, parts of skin skin look like they've been rubbed raw, and there are chunks of him that's just raw muscle or bone. He is literally exposed and vulnerable.

Or maybe his body has extras bits? Maybe his finger got so long he needed to add an extra joint in his fingers? His skin leeches all the pigment out, and you can see every blue vein in exquisite detail. At random point during the day, he'll grow extra teeth and have to grow his jaw longer and longer to accommodate them all until its no longer a human jaw.

2) He's incredibly beautiful to look at, and it's terrifying. Maybe his brain is pulling from his mental database of features and selecting the "best ones" in order to make his body "better." So while he's recognizable as Steve, everything about him is so polished and perfected it's not Steve at all.

3) He's not ugly or beautiful; he's massively unsettling instead. His face has become a kaleidoscope shifting from one shape to another and another and another in an endless cycle as a sort of mental exercise to make sure his Steve face is the one he wants to keep.

Or he looks like a department store mannequin with no recognizable features at all. No pores, no freckles, no moles, his eyes are the lightest shade of grey possible, he has no eyelashes to speak of, and his mouth is basically a slash where lips should be. He looks like a lot of scar tissue surrounded by flawless skin.

Just, what do shifters look like when they aren't actively keeping a hold on their appearance?

Hi! Okay, Steve's a little different than the rest because he's still recovering from almost dying. but for the most part they do look pretty skeletal! At least the Harrington branch of the family- (Shapeshifters "Shapeless" form depend on genes!)

They are kind of horrifying to look at, mostly because to the untrained eye- the sort of look like corpses. But they are also just generally not human like. Very pale, can see most of their veins- Steve has a shit ton of freckles and moles the pigment in his skin condenses- He's short, but his arms are long, and his fingers are spidery?? long thin and boney.

Some shapeshifter families try and "breed out the anomalies" they are perfect. Uncanny Valley perfect, no blemishes, no freckles, perfect heights, perfect teeth- too human. Some are more monster-ish, some are tall, in human tall, some just don't have regular features for the most part, a nose that's basically not there, skin pressed down to their skull no cartilage to make defining features. They wanted to become the monsters under the bed when they weren't playing "house humans"

Because Steve is hurt, he looks worse, he views himself looking worse. Eddie's going to see it as face value- Steve's unsettling to look at yes, because he's not human. And it's very noticeable now.

It is traditional for shapeshifters to cover "imperfections" while holding a new shape, so all of Steve's freckles go away, and he keeps a few moles because a family member hundreds of years ago hated the way the freckles looked- so they can't carry them in the gene pool; but they liked the moles. Any scars are hidden because they are "abnormal" and they draw attention. The bigger and more traumatizing ones can be down played and hidden under less vivid scarring. The ones other people saw them get. But they don't heal while shifted. so they visibly scar the real skin ten times worse because they fester. So many have pieces of exposed bones, muscles, or large gaping holes in their skin. Where their real bodies can't function outside of holding a different shape and put energy into healing.

His teeth don't fit in his jaw perfectly either, he's basically got 6 canines, three on the bottom and three on the top.

Shapeshifters bodies don't usually shift without conscious thought. But they can be scared- or startling- so they "Jump out of their skin" which is normally a terrifying amount of body shifting and bones moving- in a very short period of time.

When shapeshifters change bone shape- it's very loud, they are breaking and reshaping their skeletal system. it's not "poof" change height. They get pretty bad stretch marks sometimes too! It's not all magic. Sheading a fake skin is easier than getting a new one. A fake skin comes off like water (besides bone shape, that one is still creepy and hurts like a bitch) but the action of basically becoming something else, takes a huge toll on the body!

At this point I'm not even sure I answered your question properly.

[livingfast04]

For the Steve Harrington shape shifter au I was wondering what does he shapeshift into, or from? Has he ever shapeshifted to please the people around him? I want all the details about his shapeshifting. Did he shapeshift into Steve or was he just born steve?

Steve can basically shapeshift into anything within like reason. Body size, Skin tone, face shape, eye color, shape, ear shape, height- They can't give themselves, extra huge appendages tho, No Wings. I wouldn't be above a tail... But I'd guess in general it depends.

It costs a lot of energy to change so much especially to hold it over time.

I wouldn't say that he's shapeshifted to every please the people around him, at least not in front of them. He hides scars, the demo-bat ones, the ones he got when he was a kid from simply playing too rough. The only people he'd actively shift to please someone is his parents?

So he was born Steve, just a sickly? Version of Steve. Thinner, very skeleton like, a bit more animal-ish, monster like.

Shifting is actually like, incredibly dangerous in the long run. Their bodies are meant to do it yes, but not to hold it for days upon days, it can make them sick, or even slowly kill them. They have to go what I've referred to as "shapeless" pretty often. But due to the general like prejudice it's hard for them to do so. Or in Stevie's case here, people who aren't supposed to know he's a monster, and basically living in his house.