#to tell it like it is

[ladykailitha]

Telling It Like It Is Part 1

This one will be updated differently in smaller parts as we have now gotten to the point where my stories are much, MUCH longer. But I won’t be tagging. My ADHD would freak out. Masterlist or read it here on AO3

*

Jonathan slipped out back with a six pack of beers, thrilled that Steve was alone for the first time in weeks. He sat down next to Steve on the lounge chair and handed him a beer.

Steve popped lid off both their beers and took a sip. “Thanks, man.”

Jonathan nodded and they drank in silence for a bit.

“They aren’t tearing up my house, are they?” Steve asked, jerking his thumb behind them.

“Nah,” Jonathan said with a grin. “I made sure to put Eddie on guard duty. Those kids will behave for him.”

Steve nodded. Eddie and Jonathan being here was one of the reasons he went outside for a smoke. He could trust them to keep the chaos to a minimum.

He down the rest of the beer and popped open another one.

“Look, you know I don’t like you,” Jonathan began. Steve let out a chuckle. “But I respect the hell out you and that a good place to be.”

“Same,” Steve said. “I don’t think I could ever like you after...well everything I guess. But I trust you. And that’s important to me.”

“Nice to see us on the same page,” Jonathan agreed. “This will make what I have to say easier. On both of us, I think.”

Steve looked down the six pack. “That why you brought the beer?”

Jonathan laughed. “A bit.” He rubbed his hand on his jeans. “Listen close, because if you tell anyone about this conversation I will deny it and pull out all the pictures from middle school and turn them into fliers.”

Steve laughed. “Whatever say, man. No one is going to believe me anyway.”

Jonathan cocked his head. “Fair. But you need to hear this from me and not anyone else, because you won’t believe it from anyone else.”

Steve frowned. “What?”

“Now, I wasn’t there for any of these moments, but I’ve heard it from them,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Bullshit, douche, and douchebag. Sound familiar?”

Steve flinched with every word. He nodded and then pinched his nose and rubbed it.

“From what I gather only Eddie apologized?” Jonathan pressed.

Again he nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“So take it from me, Steve,” Jonathan said. “You weren’t ever any of those things.”

“But I–” Steve said.

Jonathan cut him off. “You were a scared kid with abandonment issues who followed the first people who said that they liked you.”

“But–”

“And just like with your fucking parents, their love was conditional, wasn’t it?” Jonathan pressed. “Because I sure the hell didn’t see them around after your so-called fall from grace.”

“I left them,” Steve said weakly.

“You want to know why?” he asked.

“I take it you’re going to tell me anyway,” Steve murmured.

“Because deep down, Steve, you were always a good person.” Jonathan finished his beer and wiped his mouth. “I think your very presence kept them in check because they got worse. You were always the first in line to apologize when you thought you’d done something wrong. And yeah, protecting those kids wasn’t an option, it was something you had to do as the oldest of the bunch, but you stuck around. You think Tommy or Billy would have?”

Steve shook his head. He knew that they wouldn’t have. “I made myself useful because I didn’t have anyone else.”

Jonathan stared at him. “Holy shit, dude. This is way worse than I thought.”

Steve reared back his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You think those kids, Eddie, Robin, Nancy, you think they are only still around because of the fancy house and nice car?”

Steve hung his head, but that was answer enough for him.

“Dude, I couldn’t say for sure about anyone else,” he said, shaking his head. “But my mom, Claudia Henderson, and Wayne Munson have been fighting for months who gets to adopt you when your parents finally disown you.”

Steve raised his head slowly. “Why?”

“Because they see you take care of their kids as if they are your own, and you deserve better than the Harrington name.”

Steve thought about it. “Oh. I’m wanted?”

It took everything Jonathan had not to cry. He barely held it together with Will, and now Steve Harrington. And no way in hell was he going to shed a tear for this dude.

“Yeah, you are,” he said. He stood up and gave Steve’s shoulder a squeeze. “Just think about what I said, okay?”

Steve looked up. “Yeah. Yeah, I will. Thanks.”

Jonathan nodded and went back inside.

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Epilogue

[koobiie]

shoutout to everyone who wants to infodump but cant string together coherent thoughts to form sentences and instead just look at you like this

[calcifershearts]

team usa shuffling away to try and let japan take a team photo with their gold medal and then shuffling back when japan is like NO COME BACK

[ursulaklegay]

its so scary to put yourself out there but a SINGLE message saying "hi i loved what you made it touched me in some way" makes it all worth it 10000%

[street-of-mercy]

[lylahammar]

My take on unicorns! I'd really love to make a mythical creature field guide someday, since the Spiderwick Field Guide is what inspired me to start drawing in the first place 🥰

[tariah23]

White people are miserable, racist losers period. They’ve even been getting mad at Japanese people for correcting them about Yasuke as well.

[astriiformes]

Really says something about the dire state of offerings for men interested in sewing their own clothes that even searching things like "interesting men's clothing patterns" brings up articles with links to four or five whole websites that primarily offer admittedly nice but practically identical patterns for making button-ups and work pants and maybe a varsity/bomber jacket if you're lucky.

(Branching out into historical costuming for everyday wear is like your one shot at variation, and even then, the ratio of men's to women's patterns on every website is frustrating to say the least.)

Patternmakers as a trans man I am begging you. Give me a little more to work with here.

[acorviart]

not to sound like a boomer, but I need some people to learn how to write emails in a semi-professional (at the very least) format so you're not cold emailing a business/potential employer/any other stranger about formal matters in the exact same way you'd DM a close friend on instagram

the formality/language can loosen up in the email chain once you've established a rapport and you match the other person if they're being less formal, but please don't have the very first email you send a stranger be written in all lowercase ultra-casual sms slang with no greeting or signature and a billion emojis

[ladykailitha]

Telling It Like It Is Epilogue

Last one guys! Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Masterlist

They were watching “Gremlins” again, because Nancy and Vickie hadn’t seen it yet. Steve slid next to Jonathan on the floor.

“Thanks, man,” he murmured as not to disturb Nancy. “If you hadn’t stayed, I might have chickened out.”

Jonathan smiled. “I know. Plus I wanted to see all me and Will’s hard work pay off.”

Steve smiled. “Just tell him if I can do it, there’s hope for him, too.”

Jonathan scoffed. “You’re going to tell him yourself when you bring Eddie over for dinner next week. My mom wants to meet him.”

Steve grinned. “Next Thursday it is.” He stood up and moved back to sit next to Eddie.

Eddie pulled him close. “Everything all right, baby?”

Steve kissed him gently. “Better than all right, it’s perfect.”

“You’ll stay tonight?” Eddie asked shyly.

“I’d stay forever if you’d have me,” Steve whispered.

“Forever sounds perfect to me.”

[a-drama-addict]

not caring too much about a fandom’s favourite guy is the worst. you’ll think “oh i’ll look into the tag see if anything new and cool’s there” and it’s just that fucking guy again

[morganbritton132]

No one tells you when you get a Big Serious Job™ how many fucking abbreviations you’ll be forced to learn.

[official-lucifers-child]

still thinking about the brainrot that fast fashion has caused in people, like i made this pair of pants that are black and white with a cool flowery design, and an acquaintance saw them and said "wow i'd pay like 20 dollars for you to make me a pair" and i could barely think with how utterly horrified i was at that; i told them that 20 dollars wouldn't even cover the materials, let alone the hours of work that went into cutting, sewing, ironing, hemming, altering, etc. they just had this look on their face when i told them that, when i said i wouldn't make them a pair for even 100 dollars because that was still way too low of an amount, a look that said "you're crazy for thinking that those cost 100 dollars" and maybe i am crazy but holy shit, 20 dollars for a pair of handmade, durable, lined pants fitted specifically to your measurements? 20 dollars for upwards of 60 hours of work? 20 dollars for several yards of high-quality fabric, thread, and buttons? 20 dollars???

[ashoss]

some things dont change

[bereft-of-frogs]

There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

[marypsue]

Keep seeing that post where OP starts like 'Thinking about...grieving the undead' and then adds on about like. Real life situations where people have not died but have left your life and you would have reason to grieve them.

All respect, that's an important concept, but that is not what I am thinking about when I read 'grieving the undead'.