#lucas sinclair having els back no matter what!!!!

[tboygareth]

got the idea in my head of the party clocking the steddie tension and bullying eddie about it so this happened | 1.7k | rating: g or t, depending on how you feel about swearing

“I’m gonna need you two to either quit that or get your shit together and make out already.”

Eddie drags his eyes away from the door at the top of the basement stairs that Steve’s just closed on his way out to pick up Max and El, back to the task at hand, the table in front of him, his lost little sheep taking their places around the table in the Wheelers’ basement. It's Erica that spoke up, her eyebrow raised in a condescending kind of way that Eddie’s not sure if she learned from her mother or from Steve.

“Hey, watch your fuckin’ mouth,” he chastises, a little belatedly, a lot unnecessarily, and very obviously a deflection from the meat and potatoes of what she said.

It’s not just little Sinclair watching Eddie anymore; they’re all peering expectantly at him like they’re waiting for an explanation. Well, they’re not gonna get it. This little dance that he and Steve are doing - if it’s even a dance at all - is nobody’s business but their own. 

It’s been months now and it’s driving Eddie out of his goddamned mind but it’s not like he’s going to talk to the fucking kids about it. Jeff and Grant have been pretty receptive about the whole thing and Eddie’s talked both their ears off to the point of annoyance. Gareth won’t even give him the time of day anymore when Eddie starts in on talking about Steve.

It’s just that he and Steve have had this little back and forth going for a few months now, where they’ll flirt and Eddie will just start to think that maybe’s he’s got a shot and then Steve will back away. And then they’ll go a few days without talking and they’ll be back at it with a vengeance, picking on each other and making suggestive comments and very intentionally checking one another out.

But then Eddie’ll see Steve laying that same charm onto every girl that walks into the video store and snap back to himself. The mixed signals make him want to scream a little bit. One minute he’s psyching himself up to ask Steve to come back to his after work, maybe watch a stupid movie and make out on the couch, but then he reminds himself that he’s fucking delusional and Steve is just like that. He’s a flirt, and the way he flirts with Eddie doesn’t mean anything.

But the kids are still watching him, still waiting for an explanation about the way he and Steve were just gazing at each other as Steve climbed the stairs to leave, and so Eddie sighs.

“It’s nothing, okay?”

“Right,” says Henderson with a roll of his eyes and a shrug of his shoulders. “Which is why you two can’t stop making those lovesick faces at each other and flirting with each other, and why neither of you can ever shut up about each other.”

“Steve talks about me?”

“Jesus Christ,” Mike mutters. He’s tipping his chair back, balancing it on two legs. It’d be so easy for Eddie to just… tap it with his foot, send little Wheeler to the floor.

“Anyway!” Eddie says again, clapping his hands together. “It doesn’t matter! It’s nothing! Stevie’s just… like that. Y’know? With everybody. Let’s get to work, we’ve got a campaign to get through, no reason for us to be wasting time talking about Steve Harrington. Right?”

“Wait,” Will cuts in. His smile is a little mischievous, a little mean, and suddenly Eddie doesn’t remember why he likes the littlest Byers as much as he does. “You think Steve acts the way he does with you, with everybody?”

“Yeah. We’re friends. He’s… flirtatious. It’s not a thing, y’know? It’s just. A thing.”

“So you really think he willingly stuffs four teenagers in his car every Friday night to drop us off here, and then goes back out to pick up two more teenagers to bring them out here because…? Friends?” Lucas is looking at Eddie like he thinks he might be ready to grow another head.

Okay. Fuck. So they’re actually talking about this. Eddie and a bunch of snotty little kids are about to talk about his fucking crush on their babysitter. Jesus Christ.

“Listen. We are not discussing this.”

Will ignores him. “If you like him, ask him out.”

“And ruin a perfectly good friendship, baby Byers? I think I’ll pass. Besides, him and Nance…”

“Are long over,” Will insists, leaning forward and putting his arms on the table. “She’s still going out with my brother.”

“Like I said,” Erica cuts in again, “I need you two to suck face already or cut it out. We might be kids but we aren’t blind.”

“Please, he doesn’t even like me like that.”

“Are you kidding?” Dustin again. It’s like a game of round robin, each kid around the table lobbing questions and insistences at him in turn. “How can you say that, Eddie? The way he looks at you, the way he talks to you. He spends his Fridays here, in his ex-girlfriend's basement, to spend time with you. Don’t you see the way he watches you?”

“He just… I tell a good story.”

Mike lets loose a scoff and a sigh that could very well shake the foundations of the house around them. “I don’t even like Steve, but yeah. He treats you different. Special.”

“I already told you - he flirts with everybody. He’s a flirt! That doesn’t mean that it means something.”

“Who else does he call baby?” Lucas asks him, deadpan.

“He has pet names for everybody.”

“No he doesn’t. Who else is he going around touching all the time?”

“Robin, who he does have a pet name for. He calls her Bird.”

“Because you started calling her Bird. He picked that up from you,” Dustin argues. “And yes, he talks about you. He asks about you when he hasn’t seen you in a few days. He mentions stuff you said. He had an Ozzy tape playing in his car today and when I asked about it, y’know what he said?”

“‘Eddie gave it to me,’” Will supplies with a smile. “And he was smiling when he said it. That weird smile he gets sometimes. You know the one.”

“The Eddie smile.”

Eddie’s mouth is dry. His head is swimming a little bit. His heart races. There’s blood pounding in his ears as he thinks about Steve listening to The Ultimate Sin in his car even when Eddie’s not around to tell him about the production of the album or explain the intricacies of the instrumentals. He listens to it because he enjoys the music Eddie’s shown him. He talks about Eddie to the kids, asks about him.

Eddie exists to Steve outside of the weekly campaigns at the Wheelers’.

Doesn’t mean Steve likes Eddie the way Eddie likes him, though. Eddie can’t let himself dwell too much on the possibilities of what that could mean. He’s been crushing for months now. It’s almost winter in Hawkins, and Steve’s started coming around to campaigns more and more often the closer to the holidays it gets; Eddie figured it’s because Nancy will be coming home for Christmas soon - she was just here for Thanksgiving and Steve spent most of that Friday upstairs with her instead of in the basement with Eddie and the kids. So Eddie just kind of figured they were reconciling… 

He’d moped about it after he went home, certain that he’d never have a chance with Steve in spite of his very big, very obvious crush on him.

The thing is, Eddie’s never been all that subtle in his affections. He’s a tactile guy as it is, but with Steve it’s like he can’t keep his hands to himself at all. He finds himself reaching out whenever they’re together, a moon orbiting a planet, and Steve is all too willing to be the gravitational pull that draws Eddie close.

But that doesn’t mean he likes Eddie.

Which is what he says to the kids. They’re still looking at him, waiting for his response.

“You are so blind, God,” Mike groans, covering his face. “We can all see the way he feels about you, and you’re so gaga for him it’s a fucking miracle he hasn’t asked you out himself. Jesus, we are all so sick of this shit.”

“Language, Wheeler.”

“Stop deflecting, Munson. If you don’t say something when he gets back here, I’m gonna tell him for you. We’re all fucking tired of this!”

“I don’t wanna hear it from you, of all people!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you don’t know then I’m not gonna tell you. Dumbass teenagers.”

There’s a flurry of footfalls above them, and then the basement door opens to reveal El and Max coming slowly down the stairs with Steve following close behind.

“Tense down here,” Steve smiles. “What’d we just walk in on?”

Panic rises in Eddie as Mike pins him with an evil smile and starts to open his mouth to spill the beans.

“Good news first or bad news first?” Eddie blurts out, holding out a hand towards Mike to shut him up.

“Uh oh,” Steve says. He pauses on the bottom step as the girls hover near the table. Steve’s eyebrows draw together, a little confused and a little concerned, and Eddie’s overcome with the urge to reach out and touch him. “Bad news first, always.”

“We were arguing about you.”

“And the good news?”

“Good news for you, either way. You have the option to prove them all wrong or severely gross them out.”

That crease between Steve’s eyebrows deepens. “What are you talking about?”

Well. Here goes nothing.

“The kids are all convinced you’re into me the same way I’m into you but I told ‘em that’s ridiculous. So you can tell ‘em they’re all idiots or you can come over here and kiss me, make ‘em all wanna wash their eyes out with bleach.”

Steve’s smile is slow to spread, but spread it does. It starts as a twitch in the corner of his mouth and his face softens. That twitch goes a little lopsided, one side of his mouth tipping up into an uncertain smile before it bleeds over onto the rest of his mouth, and he’s grinning. 

The Eddie smile.

It takes him no time at all to cross from the stairs to where Eddie sits at the head of the table and he drags Eddie up out of his seat.

“Guess we better get some bleach ready, then, baby,” Steve says.

And then he kisses him.

because you both asked to be tagged literally anytime i write something: @steves-strapcollection and @patchworkgargoyle - here, i wrote something

#bee's blurbs #steddie #anyway this was thrown together in like. an hour or so? #yeah i'm still working on wip weekend requests i just had to get this down before i forgot

[peraltiagos-paper-rings]

Some thoughts/headcanons about the Stranger Things siblings

From the moment Joyce was pregnant with Will, Jonathan was super excited and would use every opportunity to tell everyone about his baby brother. Kids at school, teachers, neighbours, shop assistants, random people in the street - literally anyone and everyone he came across got to hear about how he was a big brother now

Nancy would overhear him talking about his awesome new baby brother at school and would stare at him like he'd grown two heads, because how can he think this baby is so cool? All her baby brother does is poop and cry and sleep and scream and fart and pee and make a mess everywhere.

As Will grew up, whenever he entered a new class, more often than not his new teachers knew him before he'd even introduced himself. They would often say, "Oh, you must be Will! I've heard so much about you from your brother!" (Mike is lowkey offended at the implication that Nancy never talks about him to her teachers).

Will's first word was "Jonathan." Just imagine Jonathan's little face lighting up when he first heard him say it :((

Baby Holly being born meant that the Party were still allowed to play DnD in the basement, but they had to play very quietly if she was sleeping, which annoyed Mike

Lucas adored Erica when she was a baby, but then she learned to walk and talk and became an absolute menace to him.

Lucas and Erica have the sort of sibling relationship where they will just casually toss insults at each other, but if anyone ELSE tried insulting their sibling?? INSTANT DEATH.

They also are the sort of siblings who bicker and annoy each other but when they get older they’re going to become like best friends (who still bicker and annoy each other occasionally)

When she was younger, the Party would sometimes play DND at the Sinclairs’ and Erica would pester Lucas to let her join in, which would usually result in Lucas groaning “ERICAAAA go AWAYYYY” and pushing her out of the room. By the end of s3 though, he starts playing DND with her to teach her how to play it, sometimes DMing for her when she holds sessions with her friends.

Erica really likes Max, looks up to her, thinks she's cool and badass and approves of her and Lucas together (no matter how much she'll insist that they are gross). Every time they broke up, she'd go to Max like "please take him back so he stops moping around the house like an idiot."

During the time that Max was in a coma, Erica stayed by Lucas's side, going with him to the hospital every day to visit Max, helping him bring books and movies and music, sometimes having to coax or nag him into leaving just so he'd eat something or get some sleep.

Erica and Max growing to have a sisterly relationship and just being sarcastic bffs and teasing Lucas together :’)

Steve and Jonathan have both been roped into playing with Holly in the times that they've dated Nancy. Nancy expected Jonathan to be good with little kids since he has a younger brother, so Steve surprised her the most with how patient and kind he was with Holly (not that she thought he'd be unkind, just that she wasn't expecting cool jock Steve Harrington to want to goof around playing Barbie princess tea parties with a little kid). Steve and Jonathan have also both babysat Holly, sometimes alone, sometimes with Nancy.

El loves playing with Holly because she never got to have a proper childhood, so she sort of gets to experience being a normal little kid through playing with Holly or just hanging out with her.

Dustin became friends with the other boys around the time Holly was born, and he thought it was so cool and exciting that Mike had a baby sister, while Mike didn't really see what was so exciting about it.

Max obviously had a shitty relationship with Billy, and often wished she had a sibling who wasn't such a complete douchebag. She found that sibling in Steve, who put himself in danger time and time again, even protecting her when he barely knew her. Steve, who would complain about having to drive "you little shits" around, but never with any real anger or malice in his voice. He would bicker with her and Dustin and Robin and the others, but never got violent or aggressive. He never made her feel scared, never got mad at her the way Billy would get mad. Steve soon became the older brother she'd always wanted.

Dustin obviously collects older brother figures like Steve and Eddie, probably because he doesn't have his dad around so he doesn't have an older male role model/support system in his life. I also like to imagine that he and Max develop a sibling relationship because it’s what they deserve :)

Holly is the only person allowed to call Mike “Mikey,” because she’s little and it’s cute when she says it. Maybe Nancy used to say it when she was little too, but stopped as she grew older. Anyone else who calls him “Mikey” is getting death-glared into oblivion.

#might add more later #feel free to add ur own hcs & ideas :) #stranger things #steve harrington #stancy #max mayfield #dustin henderson #jancy #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #byler #mileven #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #lumax #holly wheeler

[grandwretch]

star trek au.

steve is sent to tarsus iv after barb holland dies in his backyard. his parents send him off to live with aunt, light-years away, hoping the colony life will calm his rebellious streak.

everything changes.

its awful, at first. steve is used to being surrounded by people, to freshers and replicators and holos. eventually, he gets used to the chores and the old fashioned tech, but he's still lonely.

robin helps. she works in his aunt's lab, too clumsy to work in the fields like steve does. after his shift is over, watering and weeding and hauling done, they'll sit under the fan in his aunt's office and recount every movie they can remember to each other.

when the fungus creeps into his aunt's field, they think its her experiments. they burn all the crops, and steve is out of a job until his aunt can run the numbers and find out what went wrong. until they can start over.

so steve starts babysitting. its way more fun than field work, even if he complains the whole time. the kids are funnier and smarter than his friends back home, and their parents are kind, the way he wished the harringtons could be. max teaches him to ride a vehicle with wheels. mike and nancy teach him to cook. dustin explains starfleet comms systems to him so many times that steve thinks he might actually be beginning to understand. he, el, and lucas go fishing every sunday. will and jonathan try to teach him how to paint the view from his house, even though it always ends in a mess and a playful, colorful fight.

but the fungus spreads. and steve has never been hungry before, but he knows its fucked that his rations are bigger than the wheelers' and the hendersons' and the sinclairs', and that theirs are bigger than the hoppers' and the byers' and the mayfields'. he doesn't know a lot about whats happening, but he knows its wrong. so he eats as little as possible, gives what can't be saved to the kid, and stores the rest. he ignores the constant pit in his stomach.

the pit grows when his aunt pulls him into her office one night, her face haggard with hunger and horror. because she just helped write a list of people who get to live through this famine, and his name is on it. so are mike and nancy, and lucas and erica, and that's it. claudia henderson made the cut, but not her son. he looks too different, costs too much. not susan mayfield, the hardest worker he's ever met, or her daughter. not joyce byers and her sons, not el hopper. not robin, who saved him.

everything changes.

his aunt must see the disgust on steve's face, because she tells him that it doesn't matter if he's on the list or not, if he fights this, he'll be dead. they all will.

steve nods, forgives her. smiles. goes to his room, pulls the bag out from under his bed. climbs out the window.

he goes to robin first, holds her while she cries. steve can't cry yet, his mind too busy spinning plans. they'll go to the wheelers' first, because they won't be watched, but steve knows there's no way that mike and nancy will go quietly if jonathan and will aren't there. then lucas and erica, if they want. then the byers, then the mayfields, then... the plan continues to spin.

joyce is already gone by the time they get there, but the boys are huddled together in their fort. he and robin don't let them look. susan isn't gone, just missing, but steve knows they're running out of time. it takes too long to convince max to leave, so by the time they make it to the hoppers', the soldiers have beat them to it.

el is covered in blood. max screams, and its only the phaser shots from the front yard, paired with jim's shotgun, that keeps them from getting caught. steve picke up el, and they run

they hide next to the fishing hole, even though all the fish are dead. its familiar, its isolated, its quiet.

they get through all of steves food in a week.

two days later, steve leaves in search of more. five hours later later, he helps eddie munson kill a man.

everything changes.

#steddie #Steve harrington #star trek au #death cw #eugenics cw

[andiwriteordie]

aaaa congrats on 1.5k!!!

for the writing prompt things idk uh cuddly/touchy byler (prerelationship) and one of the other party members just calling them out on their lack of heterosexuality??

overdue hi helloooo!!!

oh my god i love this. this is one of my favorite party tropes, so here, have some lucas sinclair being So Done with mike and will. a fun little modern au, set around the party's sophomore or junior year of college!

—

now that i see you 

Here’s a little known fact that very few people know about Lucas Sinclair.

He’s bi.

Yeah! Lucas is bisexual, and it’s fucking great, actually. He’s known he was bi since he was about seventeen years old, though looking back on it, Lucas really should’ve known sooner. Honestly, there’s a reason why he loved watching the Spider-Man movies when he was younger, and it’s not just because Zendaya stars in them.

Oh no. It’s because Zendaya and Tom Holland star in them.

Talk about the Gen Z bisexual’s dream.

Anyways, yeah, Lucas Sinclair is bisexual, and he’s out to everyone he knows and loves. He never had a big coming out or anything, but if people ask about it, he doesn’t hide it or anything. But personally, in Lucas’s opinion, no one should assume other people’s sexualities, so if people assume he’s straight, that’s on them.

It’s fun being bi, and it’s fun having a girlfriend who’s bi too. He and Max have been dating since they were just fourteen years old, so they’re more than comfortable walking down the streets together and commenting on different people they pass by. (Not in a creepy way, of course. God no. Lucas isn’t like that, and neither is Max.) 

It’s also fun having so many friends who are part of the queer community as well. Everybody in the Party is actually part of the queer community—Will is gay, El identifies as bisexual with a strong preference for women, Dustin is on the ace spectrum, and Mike currently identifies as queer, as he’s still trying to figure out what label (if any) fits him best. 

All of that to say, as a bi man, Lucas thinks he’s gotten pretty good at reading what is and what isn’t flirty behavior. For example, El and Max used to hold hands all the time when all of them were in high school. For some girls, that’s not flirty behavior. For those two though? It was definitely flirty behavior, and that’s exactly why the three of them are in a poly relationship now and have been for well over a year. 

Another example? Sometimes, Will likes to lean his head on Lucas’s shoulder. Sometimes, Lucas gives Will piggybacks, like he does with Max. Maybe in another life, they would’ve been flirting with each other, but Lucas is fairly certain their behavior is platonic.

Mostly.

Not that it even matters because here’s the thing: Will is head over fucking heels in love with Mike.

Here’s the other thing: Mike is head over fucking heels in love with Will.

And now for the final thing: the two of them are so fucking stupid that neither one of them even realizes it, even though they both flirt with each other worse than anyone Lucas has ever met.

Like… seriously, what the hell? What the actual hell? Mike and Will are practically dating, except that they’re not, and both of them have come to Lucas on separate occasions and rambled for literal hours about how much they like each other. But of course, both Will and Mike had made him promise not to say anything to the other person, and of course, Lucas can’t just break that promise, even if it would save them a lot of heartache and save himself a massive headache.

Tonight, though… Lucas is questioning his entire life. 

Everyone in the Party is over at Mike’s house tonight for a movie night, and like usual, they’re all squished together on the tiny couch in the basement and on the floor in front of the couch. They’re watching Tangled tonight, per El’s request since her birthday is in a little less than a week. It’s a sweet movie, and because it’s one of Max and El’s favorites, Lucas loves it a lot.

But he’s not really watching Tangled tonight.

Oh no, instead, Lucas keeps getting distracted by the fact that Mike and Will are literally cuddling on the floor in front of him. And yeah, okay, that’s nothing new. They both tend to be physically affectionate people, and other than the weird period of time when Mike and El were dating and he and Will weren’t really talking, they’ve always been physically affectionate with each other.

But tonight is just a new level of “affectionate,” and Jesus Christ, Lucas is going to rip his hair out.

First of all. 

First. Of. Fucking. All. 

Mike is sitting against the couch, and Will is literally sitting between his legs and leaning up against Mike’s chest. Mike has his arms wrapped around Will, and throughout the movie, Mike keeps leaning down and whispering things into Will’s ear that make Will laugh and smile like a complete idiot.

Second of all.

Second of all, Mike keeps absently playing with Will’s hair. Mike’s always been a fidgety person, so when he’s not holding Will’s hands, he’s playing with Will’s hair, all soft and gentle the way that Lucas is literally playing with Max’s hair. 

Third of all.

It’s the lantern scene.

It’s the fucking lantern scene now, and Rapunzel and Eugene are singing to each other and looking lovingly into one another’s eyes. Ordinarily, the scene is enough to make Lucas emotional, and sometimes, when he’s feeling extra sappy, he might even tear up, because he gets to thinking about Max and about how happy she makes him. Nowadays, he thinks about El too and how their relationship, however unusual it may be, also makes him incredibly happy.

But nope. Lucas can’t even enjoy his favorite scene in the whole damn movie, because he’s too distracted by the fact that Mike is staring at Will in the same way that Eugene keeps staring at Rapunzel but also by the fact that every single damn time Will turns to look at Mike in the same way Rapunzel stares back at Eugene, Mike just so happens to turn away.

They keep missing each other’s stupid, pining looks, and Lucas wants to cry. He’s going to lose his mind here. He really, really is.

The song continues to play, and Lucas glances down at Will and Mike again. Somehow, Will has shifted even closer to Mike, and Mike is whispering something in Will’s ear again that makes him smile.

…

Alright.

Enough is enough.

Lucas just wants to enjoy his damn movie, and he’s tired of his best friends being idiots. 

So, as slyly as he can, Lucas sits up, and he leans down, closer to Mike and Will now. “Hey,” he whispers, loud enough so only the two of them can hear.

Both Will and Mike turn to look at him, confused expressions on their faces. “Hey?” Mike asks, his brow furrowed. 

“You both want to kiss each other,” Lucas deadpans, and he watches as both his best friends stare at him in horror. “And don’t try to deny it, because you both have talked to me about it. Just… do us all a favor, and go make out or something. I can’t watch the damn movie because I’m too distracted by the fact that you’re literally flirting in front of all of us and are somehow too dumb to realize it.”

Both Will and Mike turn a bright shade of red, and they look at each other, their eyes wide. For a few moments, they do that silent little Mike and Will communication, and Lucas fights the urge to roll his eyes.

All at once, everything is different, Rapunzel and Eugene sing together, now that I see you. Now that I see you. 

Then, all at once, Will moves away from Mike, and he crawls towards the stairs, still holding Mike’s hand. Neither one of them stands up until they’re away from the TV, and without another word, they run up the stairs—presumably to go follow Lucas’s suggestion.

Fucking finally.

Lucas sighs, and he leans back onto the couch, wrapping his arm around Max’s shoulder again. She shifts closer to him, offering a wry smile, and she mutters, “About damn time. I told you that you should’ve just told them earlier.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Lucas rolls his eyes, leaning over and kissing his girlfriend’s temple. “I wanted to give them a chance to not be idiots and figure it out for themselves.”

“It’s Mike and Will,” Dustin points out, from his place on the beanbag. “When it comes to each other, they’re always going to be idiots.”

“Okay, that’s fair—”

“Shhhhh,” El hisses, glaring at both Lucas and Dustin. “Mike and Will are stupid. We knew this already. Now, be quiet. I’m trying to watch the movie.”

“Sorry,” Dustin says, and Lucas smiles sheepishly.

“Sorry, El,” he whispers, reaching over and rubbing her back lightly. “I’ll be quiet.”

El narrows her eyes playfully, but she smiles back at Lucas, leaning closer to both Max and Lucas. “I’ll forgive you,” she whispers. “But only because now I won’t have to listen to Will whine about Mike as much.”

A quiet laugh escapes Lucas’s lips, and he just smiles, leaning his head on Max’s shoulder. Likewise, El leans her head on Max’s other shoulder, and silence settles over the four of them as they continue to watch the rest of the movie.

Lucas will check in on Mike and Will… later.

Right now, he gets the feeling they want to be left alone.

#andi's asks #byler #byler ficlet #elumax

[vegetable-man]

Eddie, By the Book

A/N: You guys are so sexy for 100+ notes on my first ever fic. Come kiss me on the lips fr. I love a blue collar man. Eddie is a Mechanic because that’s so sexy why not. The kids are in their senior year of high school, if that helps with timeline. Eddie has been a mechanic for about 3 years and he’s pretty good at it. Wayne taught my boy. Enjoy :) ***inspired by buck meeks’ joe by the book*** 

Eddie, By the Book

For his eighteenth birthday, Lucas Sinclair bought a new car.

Well, it wasn’t new persay, but it was enough to make him puff up his chest when he would drive Max to and from school or pick her up for a dinner date. It didn’t matter that the engine shook when the temperature was below 45 degrees… right? God forbid he would have to send it to Hawkins’ only mechanic and get charged more than it was worth to fix it.

That’s what went through Lucas’ mind as he drove slowly through the streets of Hawkins.

Now, you might ask where he was going, and he would tell you that he was going to the mechanic anyway. But, with three passengers Dustin, Will, and Mike, it wouldn’t be such a plausible story. The truth was that he and his best friends were going to meet up with Max and Eleven to watch the new space invaders. It was embarrassing that he was now stranded with a stalled car.

“What the fuck are we going to do now?” Mike muttered and kicked the back wheel.

“I don’t know man, maybe we can ask El to ask Hopper to pick us up?” Lucas was trying to solve the problem before Mike blew up at him.

“No, that’s embarrassing Lucas! You know what, maybe, we should call your mom and ask her to drop us off”

“We can’t do that”

“Yes we can Lucas, and I’m going to call her right now” Mike opened the backseat door to grab his cinderblock telephone, courtesy of El who wanted to make sure he could always answer her calls even when he was out.

Lucas beat him to it and slammed the door shut before Mike could reach for the phone next to Will who seemed entirely unbothered.

“If we call my mom I’ll never hear the end of it. We can’t call her, she told me not to buy the car Mike! Just because you’re going to miss making out with-“

“Yeah Lucas! I’m going to miss making out with my GIRLFRIEND who actually likes me. You’re not missing anything with Max. You should get paid to waste my time because you’re pretty fucking good at it-“

“Guys, guys, GUYS!” Dustin interrupted. “I have an idea.” Looking at both Mike and Lucas in the eyes as they calmed down to pay attention to him, Dustin spoke “we can push it down to the Auto shop and have Eddie take a look”

Lucas interrupted “listen man, I don’t have the money to be spending on getting this shit fixed, honestly, let’s call El and she can move it with her-“

“Yeah you would use my girlfriend to fix your problems. When do you ever-“

And they went at it again.

Five minutes later, Lucas realized he had no choice but to push it four miles down the road to the Auto shop where Eddie worked. It was embarrassing directing a four-man crew to push his car through Hawkins.

“Yank the wheel Will, make sure it’s in Neutral!” Dustin yelled.

Will responded with a silent thumbs up extended out the driver’s side window.

As the three boys pushed the car, and Will drove it, Dustin reassured Lucas that Eddie could fix his car for less than he paid for it.

“No seriously Lucas, he’s by the book, he fixed Y/N’s Cadillac a while back and he didn’t even charge her for it. Lent her a car in the meantime and everything”

“Dustin, we’re missing something here” Lucas stopped pushing to look at Dustin “He’s not in love with me”

Dustin laughed “yeah well obviously, he’s not gonna do your shit for free, I’m just saying”

Lucas sighed.

….

Two years ago

While you recently enrolled in a local college, slowly getting a degree part-time, Eddie had been working at Riley’s Auto Shop for a year and a half. It was an easy hire when he finally graduated high school. Wayne knew a guy, who knew a guy sorta thing. Truth was, Eddie was a master at working with his hands. Back when he got his first car, the van he oh so loved, he almost took the entire thing apart just to put it back together again.

When you asked what he was doing, he said, “I need to see behind the curtain sweetheart, what am I gonna do when this thing blows up?”

And he was right. Not so much as two months later, the transmission blew. Luckily, Eddie (with a little help from Wayne) quickly figured out how to fix it and got his baby back on the road in less than a day. It was an ego booster in the way that Eddie hadn’t known, apart from you of course, and he then became the trailer park’s own mechanic.

That’s why, when your car was making a humming noise before almost-not starting, you went crying to Eddie.

Of course, this was an overstatement, even if you did have tears in your eyes when you pulled up to the shop.

The crunch of your tires on the cracked asphalt alerted Eddie that a new customer was pulling in. He thought that it was probably some teenager coming in to get their oil changed or a new inspection, rolling his eyes and coming out from underneath a BMW which needed an electrical fix.

Wiping his hands on a nearby rag, Eddie walked a bit out of the garage to see that it was, in fact, you in the parking lot. Eddie immediately smiled and waved, happy to see his best friend, a girl he had been in love with since the fourth grade, visiting him at work. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. You had brought him lunch so many times before that Eddie thought he had swooned more than any man had ever on the history of earth.

His smile faltered as he saw you, red-rimmed eyes, step out of the car and towards him.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” He opened his arms to hug you and despite the black oil stains on his white tank top, you fell into his embrace.

With your head against the upper right side of his chest, tucked between his chin and shoulder, you sniffed “something’s wrong with my car teddy.”

He looked down at you on his chest and squeezed your waist “well, that’s not a problem you know I can fix it for you.” He tried to send you a soft smile to reassure you, tilting his head down but he couldn’t reach your eyes.

After a bit of silence, and you soaking up the small caresses that Eddie was dragging across your back and up and down your arms, Eddie tried to crack you again “what’s wrong bub, why are you so upset?”

Eddie always knew how to slip through the walls, and he knew he hit a nerve when he could feel your shoulders shake and head bury further into the tendrils of hair fallen out of his bun.

“I have a test tomorrow,” you choked “and I’m trying to study but I’m stressed about my car and I’m not even going to be able to drive to school tomorrow. Teddy, I’m just frustrated and embarrassed.”

“Why are you embarrassed?” He asked, confused.

“I don’t know, I just am.”

Without missing a beat, Eddie said “Take my car”

“Huh?”

“Honey, take my car, and I’ll figure out what’s wrong with your little monster” Eddie was soothing and his big hands were keeping your shoulders and waist close to his torso. You could smell the sweat and feel the vibrations of his low tone as he tried to save you some grief.

“No Eddie, I can’t” you breathed “If I can make-“

“What am I if I can’t fix your problems Y/N?” Eddie had always felt his responsibility to take on a portion of the burdens that you faced, even when he knew you were more than equipped to handle them. It made him feel useful, it made him feel like a man. Something that his father tried so hard to take away from him when he was a kid. Eddie wanted to care for you, he wanted to show you he could be there and provide for you. That if you were in a pinch, you wouldn’t panic because you knew ‘Eddie’s coming to fix it’.

With a kiss to your temple, Eddie dug his car keys out of his work pants pocket and handed them to you.

“Go home, eat something, study, and come back tomorrow. I’ll have this all figured out okay?” Eddie looked at you in the eyes as you sniffled and then kissed his cheek.

“Okay, but if you can’t fix it tonight it’s okay I promise, and tell me how much-“

“Go home sweetheart” he chided.

“Okay, love you”

“I love you too”

Eddies heart always raced when you said that. As much as he was in love with you, and he knew you were in love with him, he felt it necessary to prove to you he could be good for you before he officially asked you out.

As if he hadn’t been proving that since the fourth grade.

…

“Apparently it was a really hard job but he got it done for her in less than a day. I swear Lucas if there’s anyone who can fix this for you its Eddie.”

The four boys, and beat up car, were less than a mile away from the auto shop and, conveniently, outside of a gas station. Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Will stopped in to get some drinks and snacks and cool off before going back outside and finishing the hike.

Sitting under the air conditioning unit, the boys couldn’t be bothered to look up when the doorbell rang to signal an incoming customer.

If they didn’t see him, they sure as hell heard him “Thirty on four please.”

As if they were stranded in a desert hearing the drip of water, all the boys head’s snapped up to see Eddie’s form retreating out of the gas station to the pump to fill a dark green Cadillac.

“EDDIE! EDDIE!” They yelled.

Eddie almost dropped the large Smartfood bag and blue slushy as he tried to place it in the car and looked up to see four teenagers, no, young men, barreling toward him.

“Eddie!” Lucas breathed heavily. “I need-“

Dustin interrupted him “Lucas’ deadbeat car stalled and we’re late for a movie and listen, morale is low”

Eddie chuckled and looked around to find Lucas’ tan, minus the rust, car sitting on the side of the road. “Did you…. Push it all the way here?” Eddie inspected the young men’s sweaty shirts and damp hair.

Yeah, they pushed it all the way here.

Before they could answer, Eddie winced and shook his head. “Just get in the car.” They sighed in relief and went to open the doors “WAIT” Eddie yelled “this is the missus’ car, I don’t want to see a spec of dust or sweat or anything. Don’t eat in the car and don’t spill anything either.” He looked around at the four boys who vehemently nodded. “Okay, get in”

Eddie filled up the green Cadillac and then took off to the auto shop. It was not even a five minute drive, but nevertheless a thirty minute push from where Lucas’ car stood.

Pulling up to the auto shop, Dustin saw that Eddie was the only mechanic on shift. Metal was lowly playing on the radio. Weekends were pretty slow anyway, and Eddie liked to take it slow when he could. Getting out of the car with their snacks and drinks in tow, Eddie included, the five of them entered the air-conditioned office of the auto shop.

From a small window, Dustin could see you, head in one hand and pencil in the other. You looked to be concentrating on something, almost frustrated as you massaged your forehead and dropped your pencil to close your eyes and sigh. Eddie gently opened the door with his elbow, and walked into the lit room. You turned your head to look at Eddie and caught the eyes of the four boys. With an enthusiastic wave you smiled and then turned to Eddie, smile growing brighter at the sight of the popcorn and slushy in his hands.

He gently pecked you on the lips and placed the food and drink on the table with your papers. In lieu of holding the goods, his hands massaged your shoulders and he spoke to you softly.

Dustin could not catch the words he was saying to you. Probably something about how he now had another car to fix or that he wanted some slushy, Dustin had no idea.

Giving Eddie another kiss and a squeeze of his hand you turned back to the paper and Eddie left the room. He quietly closed the door and cleared his throat at the boys gawking at him.

“I’m gonna get the truck to tow your car,” he spoke directly to Lucas and then turned to the group entire “do not bother Y/N, she’s busy with homework, you can eat in the main office.”

Although the boys would have liked to talk to you for a bit, not having much time since you recently enrolled full time in your university, they respected the man who was going to fix Lucas’ car and, ultimately, get them to the movies. If Eddie said you were busy, you might as well have been drafting letters to the Pope.

If Lucas wanted to leave with his wallet intact, he would respect your space and Eddie’s commands.

Within five minutes, Eddie’s work truck was bounding down the road with Lucas’ car in tow. In another twenty minutes Eddie had diagnosed the car with a faulty fuel line and then immediately went to the car yard to get the part and patch the sucker up.

It took Eddie about forty minutes to fix the problem.

Lucas felt like he was floating, but then again, maybe it was his wallet from the bill Eddie was going to give him.

Lucas winced as Eddie wiped his hands on his work pants and timidly asked “How much Eddie?”

Eddie pretended to think, counting on his fingers and then suddenly looking at Lucas.

“Free”

“What?”

“Free, go to dinner or something.” Eddie turned towards the office.

“But-“

Eddie quickly interrupted, “Say hi to the girls for me!” and slammed the door of the office where you were still focused on the work in front of you.

Lucas looked around to the other three boys and quickly got into the car as if Eddie could change his mind at any moment. The boys were still outside the car, slowly moving towards the door when Lucas shouted a “LETS GO” and almost peeled out of the garage and towards the movie theaters to pick up the girls and, hopefully, make it up to them with some dinner.

Inside the office where you found yourself consumed by your homework, Eddie pulled up a chair next to you and leaned on your shoulder.

“That was so sexy” you poked at his thigh.

Eddie cheesed “who am I to get in the way of young love” leaning toward you and looking up into your eyes with the most love you’ve ever seen.

You gave a genuine belly laugh “you’re so stupid” you examined his face.

Eddie gave you a toothy smile and headbutted your shoulder as you picked up the pencil again and got back to work.

#mechanic!eddie #eddie munson x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie my beloved #eddie munson fic #eddie munson #i love a blue collar man oh my god please fix my car and send me heart eyes after #eddie munson fluff #eddie fluff

[lighthouseas]

idk if this has been done before but. the party + rollercoaster tolerance

el -- everyone thought that she'd hate them but then max suggests that they go on one -- el stares up at the huge loop and the big drop, shrugs, and is like, "sure." everyone keeps telling her that it's pretty scary and new, that maybe she should start with the smaller ones (even max is a little hesitant) but el keeps insisting it's fine. and it is fine, actually, because she has the TIME OF HER LIFE. she's screaming and throwing her hands up and the second they get off she asks if they can go on again. her and max ride the rollercoaster many times after that.

mike -- he thinks he'll be fine, because the rollercoaster really isn't that big, and everyone else is riding it. so it's whatever. and he makes a valiant effort of looking okay throughout the ride. that is until they step off and he's white as a ghost and makes a beeline for the first trashcan he sees. poor will has to rub his back and buy him expensive amusement park water to calm his stomach. mike is very embarrassed after that.

lucas -- goes on the rollercoaster to impress max even if she says that it's fine, he doesn't need to do something that he clearly isn't comfortable with (he's shaking like a leaf while they're in line) but he puffs his chest out and is like nope. i'm fine. gonna do this for My Girl. and then uh. yeah he gets on the ride and screams bloody murder and max has to hold his hand to keep him calm. he also passes out for a second. once they get off and max says she wants to go again lucas forces himself to say "me too !!!" to which max replies by handing him her and el's bags and saying that maybe he should just sit on the bench for a while. mike joins him. in conclusion: lucas sinclair is afraid of rollercoasters

max -- NO FEAR. LOVES rollercoasters. she would go to amusement parks with her dad and ride them all the time when she was little. oh, there's a new rollercoaster with 15 loops that drops at a 90 degree angle? sign her tf up. they're her favorite ride at every amusement park and she loves the thrill of them. she still insists on going on them even after she loses her vision (idk if they allow that but she definitely tries)

will -- he likes them. like, he doesn't LOVE them like max does, but if el wants to ride one with him he certainly isn't going to say no. if there's a new rollercoaster, he'll try it and he'll have fun. he might even throw his hands up once or twice. willel riding rollercoasters together is canon to me btw.

dustin -- he'd probably do some scientific calculations on the safety of the rollercoaster before even thinking of riding it. when he finally does get on, though, no matter what calculations he's done there is a 100% chance that he will scream bloody murder and then get off and adamantly refuse to get on again. so the scientific calculations end up being pointless, but it's whatever. he had a little bit of a better time than lucas and mike, so he'll take it.

#stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #dustin henderson #byler #lumax #st.txt

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

The One in Which a Time Loop is Fucking Exhausting.

by badpancake

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & The Party, Will Byers & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Steve Harrington Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Jonathan Byers, Will Byers, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers Additional Tags: Time Loop, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Steve Harrington-centric, Hurt Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, im so sorry, steve deserves a little sexuality crisis, as a treat, Eventual Happy Ending, steve is sick of this shit, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, it takes a time loop for these fuckers to get together, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Suicide Attempt, Whump, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Groundhog Day (1993) Fusion, Dyslexic Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson Has ADHD, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Slow Burn, Kinda, BAMF Steve Harrington, Suicidal Thoughts, Steve Harrington Whump, can be read standalone!!, Touch-Starved Steve Harrington, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Protective Steve Harrington, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, in the end.... eventually, Families of Choice, Vecna Possessing Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Powers, kinda??, i guess we can call it that Words: 41,496 Chapters: 12/12

Summary

It’s the first time in a while that he doesn’t know what comes next. He’s dove into the water hundreds of times. Screamed as his flesh was torn apart, heard Master of Puppets in the distance and held back tears. Felt Max’s cold, small hand in his as she laid in the hospital bed. There are things that always happen, no matter how hard he tries: El doesn’t arrive in time. Eddie dies. Max is put in a coma. Steve fails. They lose. “Steve, how many loops have you been through?” His head is nodding, and his eyes are watery, and Eddie has approached him like a spooked animal. “I lost count.” AKA: The one where Steve Harrington is stuck in a time loop, and Eddie Munson is really fucking hard to save, or: fuck Volume 2, these bitches are in love.

#steddie #steddie fic rec #multi-chaptered #part of a series #25-50k #time travel #fix it #angst with a happy ending #angst #hurt/comfort #slow burn #steve has powers

[sexybabystevie]

harrington steve likes braiding hair when he's stressed, hes the one who styles his childrens' hair

aimi coming to save my ask box as always <3

okay but you're so right. he literally already gives dustin hair advice so he would know what he's doing!!

i imagine that, at some point during vecna coming for max, he would end up braiding her hair. she would probably resist or think it's weird if he asked, but if she seems really stressed and they're sitting next to each other then i think he would do it almost subconsciously, as a way to calm himself and her. she definitely doesn't think it's as weird after that, although she probably wouldn't admit it publicly.

now thinking of him braiding el's hair??? sobbing. thinking that el doesn't know how to braid her own hair but she's seen steve braid max's before so she shyly asks him to do it one day. steve is shocked because el doesn't talk to him much, but he does it anyway, making sure to be really gentle with her hair and to make it look really good since it's her first braid ever. he finishes and she looks at it in the mirror and she's beaming and steve is just completely happy and proud of himself. needless to say, she always comes to him if she wants another one.

i can definitely see him giving dustin a tiny one in a teasing or joking matter. steve reaches over to touch his hair and he backs up and asks what he's doing. "checking to see how braidable your hair is." – "dude, no! don't touch the hair, you of all people should know that!" – "cmon, you took my advice to get this perfect hair. you don't trust me?" and thus dustin shuts up and lets him braid a tiny section. (he would definitely complain about it forever, teasing steve in front of others about it too, but if he ever wants to try a new kind of style that might need it, he would ask him to do it again. something that steve would endlessly tease him about as well.)

i feel like mike would die of humiliation if he ever had his hair braided – and especially by steve – which is exactly why he does it one night while he's half asleep, sprawled across the extra mattresses in steve's living room floor. it's not too tight, loose enough so it's easy to remove, and when he wakes up everyone knows who did it; who other than momma steve? mike would be humiliated, probably teased by some of the other guys – not like they hadn't been in the same position before – but maybe el or will would say that he actually looks good with it, and he would immediately tone down his complaints.

will very shyly asks for steve to braid a few strands of his hair one night when no one else is around. he knows that the other guys would be mortified to have braids – at least they act like it – so he asks him in private if he will, and of course he obliges. he's careful as he places a small braid into the hair near his temple, and it's easy to see how will's face lights up. but he tries to cover it, knowing boys his age don't usually like things like that, but steve isn't having it. "you know, it doesn't really matter what everyone else will say. i've braided all their hairs – even mike's – and they all liked it." and when he sees that will is still hesitant he throws in a little, "okay, fine. you get a secret; robin braids my hair when she stays over and i like it. i mean i like how it looks and how it feels." and that's enough to cheer will up enough so that he's ready to go back to his friends, but not before steve yells out, "and if anyone says shit, tell me. i'll beat anyone's ass for you, kid."

lucas doesn't have hair long enough to be braided, so steve compromises. he knows how much the boy wants to take care of max, so he shows lucas how to braid one day when he's braiding el's. lucas thinks he gets it but needs more practice, so steve begrudgingly lets him use his own hair as practice. "i swear, sinclair, if you knot up so much as a single strand–" lucas smiles to himself at the venomless threat. "i'm dead, i know."

okay so... this was just the kids. i literally have more thoughts about this for reader/me/you/whatever that i could go on and on about but. i've already gotten carried away :")

#aimi YOUR MIND #im in awe #literally giving me the best inspo ever rn ily #aimi🌷 #em speaks #steve harrington #stranger things #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington headcanons #momma steve #steve harrington and his kids #<3 #asks #steve thoughts TM

[schrijverr]

Life Is Ours, We Live It Our Way 10

Chapter 10 out of 18

Genderqueer Stevie with platonic soulmates Robin and Eddie living their best queer life.

In this chapter, Stevie has a talk with Mike. Then he goes off to the city and has an insightful talk with Madame Tucker, before deciding to try and forget about life and try something new. Drag.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none really

~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Dingus

Stevie feels giddy about hosting DnD at his house. It has never been a possibility before since he didn’t want to risk exposing her friends to her parents, no matter how unlikely, but now their looming shadow has receded and he is hosting alongside Eddie.

Eddie is picking up Robin, Will and Dustin, while Stevie makes the rounds past the Sinclairs and Mike.

He and Lucas talk about how his training for cross country is going, while Erica rolls her eyes. When they get to the Wheeler house, Mike is already waiting outside, which isn’t that unusual, but he looks more annoyed than is standard.

After he’s slammed the car door shut, Stevie turns back and asks: “Are you okay there, Wheeler?”

“I’m fine,” Mike spits, obviously not fine. However, Stevie knows that sometimes ‘I’m fine’ is closer to ‘don’t push me’ or ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ so she lets it go for the moment and decides to ask again later.

As the drives goes on and the Wheeler house disappears in the distance, Mike relaxes and gets pulled into the conversation, laughing with Lucas by the time they get home.

Stevie is the first one back and unlocks the door, letting the kids get settles around the couch like they did at Eddie’s place and giving them something to drink. Before long Eddie gets there too and it’s a bit of a commotion before they’re seated.

“Why is Robin here?” Mike asks. “She doesn’t even play.”

“Because it’s at my boyfriend’s house, dingus junior,” Robin sticks out her tongue. “I get to hang out here whenever I want.”

Robin always hangs around during DnD nights, because she likes being out of her own house. Her parents are judgmental and it’s stifling sometimes. Before now that’s never been an issue with any of the kids, but now Mike scowls: “I didn’t have El hanging around when we hosted at mine and Lucas didn’t bring Max every time.”

“That’s because you ignored Will and didn’t play DnD for that whole summer and after that it became a moot point, Wheeler,” Stevie tells him, not letting Mike push his foul mood on everyone else.

Mike looks chastised, but not giving up just yet. “I just think that it’s stupid that you have to hang around all the time.”

“Okay, something’s up with you, kid,” Eddie steps in, backing Stevie as he always does with the kids. “Now you get your shit together or I won’t start the game. If something’s bothering you, talk about it with someone, don’t take it out on others.”

“There’s nothing wrong,” Mike snaps, even if it comes across as a lie.

Stevie wonders what could be bothering the kid. He was already annoyed at his own house, so it must be something there, but he seemed okay when they got there only to snap at Robin’s presence, so what-

Oh. Of course. Nancy’s back in town as well as Jonathan, they’re set to come by and visit on new years, so he hasn’t spoken them yet, but he can imagine they’re wrapped up together now that they’re here. Based off Mike’s comments after thanksgiving, he’s not happy with that.

“Hey, Mike,” Stevie speaks up and Mike’s head whips around to him, confused by the switch to the soft tone and the use of his first name. “Walk with me for a sec.”

Reluctantly, Mike gets up and follows Stevie to the back porch. This one looks out over a little grass clearing, before it turns into forest. The view is truly stunning and Stevie feels lucky for managing to sign the house.

Mike crosses his arms and pouts, as he asks: “What?”

“I know you’re not my number one fan,” Stevie starts, which is an understatement – though he likes to think they’ve gotten closer and they’re at least somewhat friends. “But you can talk to me. If anyone knows what it’s like be ignored by Nancy for Jonathan, it’s me.”

The deer in headlight eyes she gets only confirm his suspicions, before Mike scowls: “I’m not upset because I’m getting ignored by Nancy. You’re projecting. I can’t believe you still have a thing for my sister when you have a girlfriend.”

“Ugh what is it with you shitheads? I don’t have a thing for Nance,” Stevie rolls her eyes. “All I’m saying is that you’re in the same scowl-y mood as you were after thanksgiving. You called it the Nancy-show, remember?”

Mike blushes and ducks his head. He frowns to his own shoes, looking much like the twelve year old Stevie first met in ‘83. Mike mutters: “It’s just stupid.”

“If it makes you upset, it’s not stupid. I won’t judge, promise,” Stevie tells him, which earns him a disbelieving look. “I’ll trade you something that made me upset for what’s making you upset. I think mine’s more idiotic.”

“Don’t doubt that,” Mike snarks, but he looks grateful about Stevie’s offer.

“Last week I nearly cried because we were out of milk,” Stevie says. She’d been home alone and with all the stress, she just wanted some milk in her coffee, but the universe couldn't grant her that and the little thing was enough of a push on top of everything else.

“That is pretty stupid,” Mike agrees.

“I know,” Stevie nods, because it was pretty stupid in hindsight. It hadn’t come out of nowhere, but it was small in the grand scheme and he wasn’t that torn up about it. “So what about you? What’s bothering you?”

“It’s stupid,” Mike begins, “because it’s not like me and Nancy have ever been the best of friends or something. We’re siblings, but not the closest. Of course I get that she would rather spend time with Jonathan than with me. And she’s in college doing all these new things and of course mom wants to know about that and talk about it. I don’t know, it would just be nice if she asked how I was doing and at least talked to me for a bit. I- I missed her.”

“That’s not stupid at all, Mike. You and Nancy have been through a lot and going from seeing her daily to once every few months is a lot,” Stevie says. “She probably hasn’t realized you felt that way, but I’m sure she’ll make time for you if you tell her.”

“I don’t wanna tell her,” Mike pouts, face stuck between petulant child and moody teenager.

“You don’t have to,” Stevie assures him. He knows this age is hard, especially for someone who’s as emotionally constipated as Mike. “I heard Will mention that he and El are going to skating with Jonathan on Sunday. Nancy will be free then. I’m sure if you suggest doing something together then, she’d love to.”

“Maybe,” Mike says, but Stevie can tell he’s considering it.

“Just think about it,” Stevie smiles, giving him a moment, before asking: “Are you good to go back in again?”

“Yeah,” Mike nods, still a bit in thought, but more settled than earlier.

“Good, because it’s cold out here,” Stevie jokes, shivering. She should have put on a jacket before going out.

Mike laughs at her pain and they go inside, where Mike actually apologizes for snapping. God, these kids are all growing as people and if Stevie doesn’t look out, he’ll get emotional. After that, they start the game, having fun as they always do.

When they’re done, Robin is draped over Stevie. Apparently she got lonely sitting at the small table with her book and bothering Stevie is her favorite pastime anyways.

Stevie doesn’t know when she fell asleep, but know she can use it. Robin doesn’t get nightmares that often, but her overactive brain keeps her awake from time to time. So, he shushes the kids and carefully twists so that he can cradle her in his arms. Then she carries her to their room and puts her in bed, kissing her forehead and leaving a note that they’re taking the kids home.

While she was away, Eddie herded the kids outside and Erica is waiting next to the passenger door, glaring at Lucas and Mike. She has won the shotgun, it seems, Stevie grins, unlocking the doors.

The drive back is peaceful. They say goodbye to the Sinclairs and Mike clambers to the front seat, growing silent as his house appears. So, Stevie slows down and asks: “You going to be okay, Wheeler?”

“Yeah, I think so. Jonathan will likely be there, but I don’t feel like hitting him anymore,” Mike says, surprising Stevie with the honesty.

“That’s good,” Stevie laughs. Then sobers up: “Anything else?”

“I’ve just been thinking about what you said about ignoring Will that summer,” Mike admits. “I hadn’t considered it, but now I feel like a bad friend.”

Stevie is again surprised by Mike’s words. He knows how torn up Will was that summer and with how he looks at Mike, it’s not exactly difficult to figure out why Mike’s indifference had especially hurt.

He never thought the two would talk about it, but his own mouth might become the push. If only she handles this well right now.

“Well, I’m not going to sit here and say it’s fine,” Stevie starts. “However, it’s not like I don’t get it either. Getting a girlfriend or boyfriend is always exciting, especially when it’s all new and you didn’t do it alone, Lucas also got distracted by Max, he was just lucky that Max was allowed out of the house. But it did hurt Will. Did he ever mention it to you?”

“No,” Mike shakes his head. “Spring break was a little weird, seeing him again, you know. I was a bit of a dick too, but I feel like we sort of made up again. He’s my best friend and I don’t want to loose him.”

“Did you ever tell that?” Stevie asks. “Because it might be good to tell him that you care about him and that you’re sorry about how that went.”

“Maybe, but then it’s also weird between us sometimes,” Mike shrugs, semi-hugging himself.

Stevie realizes this might be a conversation that needs more of her attention, so she pulls over at the end of the Wheeler’s street and asks: “Weird how?”

“I don’t know, it’s like he sometimes expects me to pick him over El,” Mike says. “And I know he’s my best friend and that we’ve known each other for years, but El is my girlfriend, you know. I love her. And she doesn’t have many people, I can’t just leave her on her own.”

“I thought El was settling in at school okay,” Stevie frowns, wondering if he missed something in the girl, if she is okay.

“She is,” Mike assures her, “but all the social aspects are still new and it doesn’t help that she’s associated with us. We’re the nerds, you know.”

By god does Stevie know. She hates it so much, but he knows. He’s been the guy that pushes people like Mike and Will around and at the end, he had to keep his head down not to be one of the people that got pushed around. He softly says: “I know.”

“And Will is also my friend and part of that group, but he can’t be my focus,” Mike says.

Something in the way he says it pings for Stevie, who frowns. The ‘can’t’ especially stands out to her. He might not be the brightest, but social clues are his strong suit. Cautiously, he asks: “Why can’t he be your focus?”

Mike looks at him like he’s insane and says: “Because I have a girlfriend?” like Stevie is the idiot between them.

“I know,” Stevie placates. “But that doesn’t mean, you can’t focus on your friends from time to time. It’s healthy to invest in other relations than your partner. You need friends. They make life better. You can’t make your partner your entire social circle. So, why can’t Will be your focus every once in a while?”

Next to him Mike falls quiet. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, before slouching in his seat. However, Stevie isn’t giving him the comfort of breaking the silence and waits patiently for Mike to say something.

Finally he does. It’s quiet, like he wishes Stevie won’t hear him. “It will make me sound like a horrible person.”

With what Stevie has gathered he knows exactly what kind of horrible person Mike is afraid of being and he mentally steels himself as she answers: “For tonight this car is judgment free. Just tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I think Will has a crush on me and it makes me feel weird,” Mike blurts out, before immediately defending himself. “I’m not homophobic or something, but I just can’t.”

Stevie notes he used ‘weird’ instead of ‘uncomfortable’ as he nods and thinks, not giving Mike an indication that he’s hurt by the words. Slowly he asks: “Why do you feel weird about it?”

“I don’t know,” Mike tells her, sounding anguished.

“Would you feel the same kind of weird if you thought Max had a crush on you?” Stevie asks.

“I’m not homophobic!” Mike exclaims.

“And I’m not saying that you are, I just want you to think about it,” Stevie soothes the boy. “Do you feel weird about it because Will is your friend? Because he’s a boy? Would you feel the same if you thought Lucas or Dustin had a crush on you? Just work through it for a moment. It’s okay. Take your time.”

Thankfully, Mike doesn’t argue with her for once. He frowns, still ducked into himself in the passenger seat of Stevie’s car.

The silence drags on, but Stevie doesn’t mind. Mike needs to work through this.

After what seems like an eternity Mike finally mutters: “I- I think it’s because I like him too, but I- I can’t. I have a girlfriend, I love her. I’m not- I’m not gay.”

“You know, I thought something very similar when I realized I was bisexual,” Stevie tells him kindly, looking intently to check if Mike is listening. “I can’t make decisions about your sexuality, but you can like Will and El, there’s nothing wrong with that Mike. You can do whatever you want and be whoever you want with whomever you want.”

He hasn’t thought of Brook’s words in the bar for a while, but they helped him in the stage Mike is in now, so he repeats them for the kid.

“I can?” Mike asks. “It’s not weird?”

“It’s not weird,” Stevie assures him. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You can’t help who you like.”

“But it feels wrong to like Will while I’m dating El,” Mike says, nearly tearing up. “It feels like I’m cheating on her or something, like I don’t love her.”

“Oh, Mike,” Stevie sighs at the boy’s turmoil, awkwardly hugging him over the console, though Mike doesn’t seem to mind the awkward angle, burying his face in Stevie’s neck as he started to cry.

Once Mike’s crying slows down, Stevie says: “It’s up to you how to deal with this and it’s not going to be easy. Feelings never are.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Mike admits.

Stevie thinks for a second then says: “You have to contemplate if you want to grow over these feelings and move on or if you want to do something with them. And you have to let Will know you will always care about him. Even if you don’t try to pursue anything romantic with him, you can still make space for him in your life. Me and Robin haven’t dropped Eddie, right? You don’t have to leave either of them behind.”

The situation with him, Eddie and Robin is a bit different than this, but Mike doesn’t know. Besides, they have always left open space for romantic partners in their future. They won’t leave each other behind for romance. They’ll just mold around it.

“I guess,” Mike says, pulling back from Stevie’s arms and resolutely not meeting her eyes in that embarrassed teen way. Classic.

“You don’t have to decide right now, Mike,” Stevie assures him. “Just take your time and think about it. Or it’ll keep eating at you. I’ll be here for you if you need to talk again.”

“Thanks,” Mike replies.

“No problem,” Stevie smiles, driving the last bit to the Wheeler house and pulling into the driveway.

Nancy is at the door with a frown. “You guys are late.”

“Sorry, Nance,” Stevie says, not sounding all that sorry. “You know how Eddie can get lost in his theatrics. No need to worry. Hope you had a good Christmas.”

She looks between him and Mike, who is hiding that he was crying, while Stevie tries to convey not to ask with his eyes. She picks up on it, because she nods: “Alright. Uhm, I had a good Christmas. You too?”

“Yeah,” Stevie says, before calling out: “Bye, Wheeler. Bye, Nance,” and driving away.

When she gets back to house, Eddie is smoking on the front porch, calling out: “There you are! I was about to send out a search party. I thought you had the short route, what happened?”

“Child in crisis,” Stevie responds, Eddie is only partially joking about the search party. They all get uneasy when some runs late. Still, she can’t help but joke: “You look like a worried mother.”

“Oi, you’re the mother,” Eddie responds, but he’s laughing.

Eddie finishes his smoke and they do the dishes together, before waking Robin, so she can brush her teeth. Then they all climb into bed and fall asleep.

The next morning, Stevie tells Robin he’s going to the city today and she pouts about not being invited. He’s unsure what to tell her, but she must see something in his eyes, because she drops it and blows a raspberry at him and proclaims that she and Eddie will be having loads of fun without him.

Stevie rolls her eyes and pretends to withhold pancakes from her until she caves and promises that they’ll miss her loads.

Their goodbye is maybe a bit dramatic for one of them being gone for one day and night, but they don’t care. They haven’t been separated really since the summer and Stevie wonders how he’s going to sleep with everyone so far away.

The drive to the city seems much longer without Eddie and Robin there and he pathetically plays their music to make herself feel better.

She’s going Saturday, because the shops will still be open and indeed hunts for gifts for the better part of the afternoon, loading up his trunk with all sort of shit, careful with the nail bat that she meant to leave behind. So, it’s nearing 5:00 PM when he finally finds the address Madame Tucker gave him.

He worries a little as he knocks. They’ve called a lot since meeting her, but he’s only hung out with Madame Tucker once – twice if you want to count the show – can he invade her home like this, she wonders.

However, all her worries were for naught, when Madame Tucker throws open the door, it’s with a big smile and a hug as she exclaims: “Stevie, honey, it’s been so long! God, your hair had gotten so long. How pretty!”

“Hey,” she can feel the grin pulling over her face as she hugs back. “How are you?”

“I’m perfect, doll,” Madame Tucker tells him. “Here, come in and make yourself comfortable. I have a show tonight if you want to join me. It’ll be a bit chaotic tonight, but I have the time before dinner. I’m not a hero in the kitchen, I have to warn you.”

“That’s okay, I can cook if you don’t mind? I like it,” Stevie offers. It’s true and she want to be a good guests.

“If you’re sure?” Madame Tucker asks and he nods. “Alright then, I have the stuff for pasta in the fridge, make yourself at home.”

And Stevie does. He looks around the small apartment. It has a kitchen/living room mix like his own house, but two doors. One bedroom and one bathroom. However, the small space is homey with a rainbow flag hanging over the couch and picture everywhere.

They end up on the couch talking about all sorts of things. They regularly kept up on the phone of course, but there’s something different about talking in person.

Madame Tucker is telling Stevie all about her Christmas with Brian when he moves to the kitchen preparing them food as he listens. It’s really cute how much Brian cares for her, he thinks. She looks absolutely smitten.

It’s not until they’re seated at the bar that functions as a dining table in the small apartment that Madame Tucker turns serious and asks: “So, honey, what did you want to talk about?”

God, these past few days have been nothing but serious talks, first Eddie, then Mike and now Madame Tucker. Though, Stevie knows this is good for her and she should do this. So, he sighs and says: “You have to promise not to judge.”

“I won’t, honey, you know I won’t,” Madame Tucker assures him. “I promise.”

“Do you know anything about BDSM?” Stevie rips the band aid off, hoping the answer is yes, because he’ll be horrible at explaining it.

“Yes, I do,” Madame Tucker luckily answers, her curiosity obviously piqued.

“Okay, so, uhm, this is a bit embarrassing, but after I came home Thursday, I- I fell into- uhm, Eddie called it subspace,” Stevie softly confesses. “I didn’t even know that was a thing for me, but it was nice, soothing. Eddie talked me out of it, said he didn’t want to risk doing anything to help when I was under – iffy consent and all that – but we talked after. He- He offered to help, that it could be a thing, but I haven’t given an answer yet.”

“I’m glad he didn’t do anything to you,” Madame Tucker tells him. “Murder isn’t a good look on me, you know. I’d look horrible in orange.”

Stevie laughs, feeling warmth at the protectiveness. Still, he assures her: “Don’t worry, Eddie is very much on the talking about everything train.”

“Good,” Madame Tucker nods, seemingly satisfied with that. “So, why don’t you know? Is it because of Eddie helping or you not wanting to be helped?”

And while it’s the exact reason he wanted to talk with Madame Tucker, Stevie hates this. Hates having to reflect on her own feelings and talk about the with another person. Especially vulnerable, mushy feelings.

Because Stevie can’t ignore that she fell into subspace that night. That is just a thing that happened as a natural de-stress response. After white-knuckling it through the stress, his body did that, which means it can happen again. And the possibility of it happening again means that Stevie has to acknowledge it and plan for it.

If she just collapsed into sleep for twenty hours or something, then this would be a lot easier. That way he could just fall asleep again next time and that was that. But this subspace made him vulnerable. Made her need someone.

Needing someone scares her.

This whole thing has been terrifying, if not also a little exhilarating. He should at least consider talking with Eddie and making up boundaries that if this happened again accidentally, he could help her like he wanted to last time. She thinks it would be less scary to follow Eddie’s lead if she’s already under.

Because that’s truly the thing, isn’t it? He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to do this as a more regular thing, like Eddie was implying.

She remembers how comforting the fuzzy headspace was when she was in it. How peaceful she felt during it. Even how she felt more settled afterwards. But he also remembers he couldn’t just snap out of it. How if Eddie had been a different person, the whole thing could have ended up so, so much worse.

But it is Eddie, who’ll be with her. And he trusts Eddie with his life, with his soul, with his entire being. Plus, the man has more than proven himself not to toy with that trust, should she place it in him. They’re soulmates.

Still, he can’t help but think of what will happen if he’s under and the Upside Down comes back or one of the kids is in trouble. Of what will happen if the others find out. Would they revoke their trust in her? Would they think he’s weak? Would they hate her?

He can’t imagine what it would do to her if she got shunned by the party after everything they’ve gone through together.

And it’s worse that he doesn’t know. It scares him. He doesn’t want to loose these people. It’s the same reason she hasn’t told anyone beyond Eddie and Robin about the gender thing. She cares about their opinions too much. It would hurt too much. He can’t recover from their reactions, should they be bad.

Yet she also knows she carries stress like a second skin. The nightmares may have lessened by not being alone at night, but that doesn’t stop him from always watching over his shoulder, always worrying when she can’t see the kids and always being on the edge, waiting for it all to come crashing down again.

Just because she’d gotten at hiding it, doesn’t mean she isn’t always a bit tense. Except for when he’s with Eddie and Robin or with the kids. They make him feel safe, like he can let go for a moment.

But whenever she is with the kids, she still has to watch them and make sure they’re alright and when he is with Eddie and Robin, he keeps thinking, keeps watching over them.

If he wants to carry on, he needs a way where he can let go and not think for a moment. Eddie is offering that to her on a silver platter, so why is she refusing? DnD is a nice escape, it helps the kids and Eddie, she knows, like books help Robin, Eddie too. Jonathan has/had drugs and Nancy has her school and work. Stevie doesn’t have that. DnD is more fun, hanging out, not unwinding in the sense the others do it.

“So which one is it?” Madame Tucker prompts when he has been silent for too long. “Eddie helping or you not wanting to be helped?”

“Me not wanting to be helped,” Stevie sighs as she admits that.

Madame Tucker makes a sympathetic face, then says: “I know I don’t know every detail of your life, honey, but I can listen. You do so much for everyone around you and I rarely hear you talking about yourself. Why don’t you let people in, Stevie?”

“It’s just who I am,” Stevie shrugs. “I like helping people. I’m good at helping people. And I don’t like feeling helpless.”

“Letting yourself be helped isn’t the same as being helpless, doll,” Madame Tucker reminds him. “I know, it’s hard, but you can’t keep walls around you for the rest of your life. If this is something you want, you shouldn’t stop yourself from accepting the offer.”

“Maybe,” Stevie sighs again. “I just- I don’t know. What if I’m bad at it?”

“Oh honey,” Madame Tucker smiles, “you can’t be bad at this, unless you’re not doing it safely, but from what I hear Eddie is taking safety seriously.” Stevie nods. “If you don’t like it, then you tried and it isn’t for you and you can’t stop. You don’t have to agree for a lifetime, you know.”

She’s not wrong. Eddie has promised her that no matter the answer, it won’t be awkward and he knows Eddie can keep it. It’s just…

“It feels like something that can ruin things, you know,” Stevie sighs.

“Elaborate?” Madame Tucker requests.

Stevie scratches the back of his head, before ordering his thoughts out loud. “We’re, like, soulmates, me, Eddie and Robin. We’ve made all these plans for the future, you know. I don’t want to risk all that just for something that might not work out.”

“And in this future you planned, I know you’re not dating Robin, but do you- do you picture yourself dating Eddie?” Madame Tucker asks tentatively.

“No,” Stevie shakes her head. “I love him, sure, but like I love Robin. But I know that I could love him romantically, but I try not to. Just like I got over Robs, you know. They both mean more to me than any of my romances ever meant and I don’t think it’s worth it. Eddie hasn’t shown any signs of liking me like that. So, why put myself through it, you know?”

Madame Tucker hums thoughtfully, then says: “That is something to consider if you decide to put so much faith in him. People in these sort of dynamic become attached to each other. You’re going to have to talk about boundaries surrounding this, if you don’t think he likes you and if you don’t want to like him. For both your sakes.”

“See, that’s why I don’t want to,” Stevie says. “It’s just too damn risky. I actually don’t like taking risks like that. I just want everyone to be safe. Playing with the order isn’t safe.”

“You’re going to deny yourself a lot of happiness if you think like that, doll,” Madame Tucker points out.

“But also a lot of hurt,” Stevie retorts.

“I don’t know about that, honey,” Madame Tucker raises an eyebrow at him. “It sounds to me like you’re setting yourself up for a life full of hiding. I’m not saying you have to shout who you are from the rooftops. God knows I know how dangerous it is. But you have to find the risks that are worth taking or you’ll be dealing with hurtful comments from people who don’t want to hurt you for the rest of your life.”

The words silence Stevie for a second. He knows that Madame Tucker is talking about more than saying yes to Eddie. Stevie has told her about coming out to the kids as bi and with permission from Eddie also about his coming out, as well as alluding to the fact that kids themselves might not all be straight.

She is adamant that he found the right people and that he should come out so that she can have some spaces to be herself, since the world isn’t going to be that for him.

And it’s not like Stevie hasn’t thought about it. He loves these kids, he trusts them. But she doesn’t know if it’s worth the risk.

For all Eddie says about Stevie being a hero while he is a coward, Stevie doesn’t like taking many risks, while Eddie takes them all the time. But she has her excuses. Like him coming out will put eyes on Robin and it’s a bit more odd than being gay or bi. It’s not like she’s a girl, so he would have to explain it all to them and hope they will listen and get it. Hope they can keep their mouths shut.

Besides, what about Joyce and Hopper. He hasn’t told them about being bi, despite them being cool with Will. And he needs them. They’re more her parents than her own. He values them too much to risk it all. Same goes for Wayne.

She can never bring herself to risk it.

But- But sometimes, he wants to. Whenever he watches Erica play Lady Applejack, he wishes he can join her as Lady Stevie. When Dustin calls her ‘dude’ she wants to ask the kid to stop. He wants to let Max and El do his nail polish, not because they need bigger nails, but because Stevie wants them painted, wants to be included in their giggling gossip. She wants Hopper to call her kid like Wayne does, instead of son. God, he wants…

Eddie and Robin know. He took the risk and it paid off. They’re both so nice about it. Robin hasn’t gotten the chance to do his makeup yet, but she’s very excited about it and Eddie was almost more invested than her in taking the vanity.

Risks have paid off before. Not just the big Upside Down risks, but the small ones. Like when he said yes to Madame Tucker that first time in that backroom or when he flirted with the barman in DnD or when she told the kids that she was bi or when he encouraged Will to come out to Joyce and Hopper.

He’s shocked out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder and when she looks up, Madame Tucker is giving her sympathetic eyes. “You don’t have to make any decisions right now, honey, but just think about it. You can take your time,” she tells him.

It’s the same advice he gave Mike yesterday, so he can’t really argue with her, even if she doesn’t know that.

“You think I should say yes to Eddie,” Stevie replies.

“I can’t tell you that, that’s up to you,” Madame Tucker says. “I just know that you have a habit of denying yourself things, because they scare you and you told me it was nice and you trusted Eddie with this. And I feel like you don’t consider that in favor of being scared.”

“Fuck, I hate it when you get wise on me,” Stevie groans, burying her head in her arms. “I do want to try,” he admits. He hasn’t admitted it like that yet, but now it’s there in the open. “I want to feel that again. I want to try and take more risks. I just wanted someone to talk me out of it, so I wouldn't have to face that.”

“Sorry, honey, but I’m the wrong person for that,” Madame Tucker says.

“I know,” she tells her. “That’s why I came to you with it. That and the fact that the list of people I could tell is very limited.”

She grins: “I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.”

“You should,” she assures her.

“Good,” she winks, before she turns genuine. “Seriously, I’m glad you talked to me Stevie. I’m always here for you. You have your own support system back home and I’m happy you do, but I’m glad that I can take you under my wing, like someone did for me.”

“I’m glad you did too,” Stevie says softly. He doesn’t know where he’d be without meeting Madame Tucker back in June. “And I get it, with the kids, you know. They look up to me, I can help them. It’s nice.”

“Yeah,” Madame Tucker smiles. The she claps her hands: “Now, I have to get ready. Do you want to come with me tonight?”

“Hell yeah,” Stevie immediately answers. “I never get to go out and last time was amazing! I didn’t see you after the show, but you were stunning.”

“Thank you, doll,” Madame Tucker blushes. Then she quirks a brow and says: “Do you want to try drag? It’s a bit more risky getting to the club, but you could be a girl for a night, find out how the other side lives.”

Stevie’s eyes grow wide. She isn’t the best at makeup and she hasn’t tried much, but the idea of getting all dolled up is tantalizing. To be seen as a woman for a night instead of a man.

He bites his lip for a second, then smiles: “I mean, I’m going to try and start taking risks, aren’t I?”

“That’s the spirit!” Madame Tucker cheers, dragging her to the bedroom.

Madame Tucker explains that getting in drag is less glamorous than the end result and that she should trust the process. She teaches her how to tuck (warning her that it can be dangerous), hoist Stevie into a spare corset (luckily saying nothing about the scars, because they all have their stories, don’t worry, honey) and pads her hips and chest. And that’s all before they can even get into makeup and outfits.

She has to sit and wait, while Madame Tucker gets into her own undergarments, but she doesn’t really mind. It still feels intoxicating, like they’re doing something that isn’t allowed. It feels a bit like snooping during a sleepover. Like Max and El whispering and giggling together while the others play DnD.

When Madame Tucker is done getting dressed, she puts Stevie onto a chair in front of the mirror, a table of makeup in front of it. Stevie is staring at it with big eyes as Madame Tucker stands behind him and asks: “So what’s the vision?”

“I- I don’t know,” Stevie says, a bit overwhelmed.

“Can I do something?” Madame Tucker asks, like she’d done at their first meeting. Stevie smiles and nods. “Okay, so were are not the same body type, but I have a few clothes here from one of my sisters, so I’m matching it with the outfit, alright?”

Stevie nods again and lets Madame Tucker go to town. At first, he wonders what the hell, he’s gotten himself into and it’s not until she’s done that he can only gasp at his own reflection.

She looks good.

Madame Tucker has carved out a new face shape on his own. Her cheeks are fuller and sharper as is her nose and her eyebrows sit higher. There’s a blush dusting her cheeks and the false lashes do their work perfectly. The eyeshadow is bright pink as are his lips. It’s magical.

“As much as I love your hair, we’re putting a wig on you. That okay, doll?” Madame Tucker asks, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Stevie says, trying not to lean into the contact too much.

He is thrilled to find that she can braid it before putting something called a wig cap on her, before sliding on a magnificent blonde wig. It’s big and swoop-y and Stevie feels like a princess, even if the undergarments look a bit dumb.

She can’t stop looking in the mirror – much to Madame Tucker’s amusement and delight – while the drag queen does her own makeup, going for a more grungy, dramatic style. When Stevie asks about it, she shrugs: “You have more a sweet vibe to you, honey.”

The dress she hands Stevie to put on is pink, like the makeup suggested. It has a polo like top, though more feminine and a cute heart-shaped breast pocket, while the bottom is pleated. The dress is a bubblegum pink, however, she’s also been given a hot pink petticoat for underneath, which gives the dress volume, giving him more of a shape.

They discover that they’re the same shoe size and Madame Tucker tells him that’s good, because that way she won’t have to subject him to heels just yet. Then promptly hands her a pair of pink cowboy boots that make Stevie wonder why she owns them.

When Stevie is fully dressed, Madame Tucker can’t help but clap her hands excitedly, saying: “Oh, I knew you could pull off a southern bell!”

The she takes out a polaroid and asks if she can take a picture, to which Stevie agrees, striking a silly pose. She tips an imaginary hat, cocking her hip with the other hand on it.

Once it’s fully developed she explains: “When you put someone in drag for the first time, you become their drag mother. I like having the first look for every one of my girls.” She points to a few more pictures on the mirror, names scrawled under it. “What do you want your drag name to be? It can be whatever you want.”

Stevie thinks about it for a second, then decides: “Princess Dingus.” It’s a combination of nicknames given to him by his two soulmates and she thinks it’s perfect.

“I love that,” Madame Tucker grins, writing the name under the picture with a flourish, before hanging it on the mirror.

There’s a knock at the door and Madame Tucker tells her it’s Brain, who will be their ride and if Stevie wants to her to tell him that it’s Stevie under there or not. Stevie knows Brian is cool and decides it’s good if one other person knows that he’s not from the city, new to this and can be trusted in Madame Tucker’s home. So, he nods.

Brian, as it turns out, is as much of a sweetheart as Madame Tucker gushed and it’s absolutely adorable how he lights up when he sees her, complimenting her until she’s giggling and hiding her face.

It’s a bit funny to see Madame Tucker in her full fishnets, black corset, small cheetah print dress, with a black beehive wig, standing next to Brian, who is an unassuming man. Both are in their early thirties, but Brian is already balding a bit and looks like he could be a manager at any grocery store in town.

When Madame Tucker explains who Stevie is, Brian grins and holds out his hand, saying: “Well, you look lovely, Stevie. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you, the same,” Stevie says. “I’ve heard only good things.”

“I’m glad,” Brian grins. “And the same. You’re a good friend.”

“Okay, before either of you can embarrass me, lets get this show on the road,” Madame Tucker interrupts their meeting.

Stevie is fine with following, but Brian stops them before they can leave, asking if they have a picture together yet. When the answer is no, he insists on taking one for them.

He ends up taking a few pictures, but he gifts Stevie her favorite. In it, she and Madame Tucker have their faces pressed close together, both sending the camera a kiss, though they barely manage through the laughter. On it he writes: ‘Indy 27-12-‘86 Madame Tucker and Princess Dingus’

The club is thriving with life and while Stevie has been terrified on their way there, once within the safety of the walls, she feels alive. She might not be preforming, but Madame Tucker introduces her to all the girls as her drag daughter and he gets cooed over by all sorts of drag performers.

This time, he’s in the crowd with Brian, which is a bit awkward, but Brian is nice and Stevie is good at small talk, so they make it work until the show starts.

It’s as awe inspiring and intoxicating as the first time and Stevie feels bad about blowing through most of his cash today on presents, but he tips what he can miss.

She feels alive watching these people. Feels less worried about life back in Hawkins. Just exists as part of the crowd.

After the show, she stays and talks at the bar with Madame Tucker and a few of the others. He gushes the entire time about them, which buys him more favor with them. She listens to their advice with rapt attention. He doesn’t mind being inexperienced for once, it’s nice to not be expected to have answers and, who knows, with her kids, she can use all the advice to pass on.

They pile back into Brian’s car at about 4:00 AM, Stevie the sober one behind the wheel. When they get back to the apartment, Stevie barely makes her way out of drag, before crashing on the couch.

When he wakes up, it’s 9:00 AM, which is better than expected. And while he wakes up with a start, it isn’t with a scream.

She makes coffee and starts on breakfast with what she can find in the fridge, guessing that if she woke up tired without a hangover, Brian and Madame Tucker will suffer more with theirs. And a good meal is something that you crave when you’re done vomiting.

Sure enough, Madame Tucker comes padding into the room soon after and groans: “How are you up and running?”

Stevie laughs. “I was the king of high school parties and showing up the next day like it hadn’t touched me,” he says, not telling her that he has become so used to functioning on a little after all the nightmares and didn’t drink anyway.

“Should have guessed you were a popular kid,” Madame Tucker snorts.

“I’m trying to do better,” Stevie jokes in a way that’s not a joke. Though Madame Tucker gets that with how she nods sagely.

Then she says: “Brian isn’t a morning person – neither am I, honestly – but I figured you wanted to head back home early and I didn’t want you to do without saying goodbye.”

“Thanks,” Stevie smiles. She had indeed half thought to leave a thank you note and sneak out if the two wanted to sleep in, but he has to admit it’s nicer to be able to say goodbye in person. “Last night was fun. So also thanks for that.”

“Of course,” Madame Tucker replies, sounding pleased. “You deserve to let loose a bit and you could use a distraction after this month.”

“Tell me about,” Stevie snorts, plating the food and sliding onto the bar with Madame Tucker as they started to eat.

“You know, you don’t have to wear drag outside of the house,” Madame Tucker breaks the silence after a second. “God knows I started out far away from others doing the most horrible makeup looks that I am glad never saw the light of day.”

“I have roommates,” Stevie points out, picking up on what she is putting down.

“Nice, supporting, soulmates for life roommates,” Madame Tucker argues. “Look, doll, all I’m saying is that you had a blast and if it made you feel good, you shouldn’t deny yourself the little pleasures in your own home.”

Stevie hums, not agreeing but not really disagreeing either.

“Hell, you don’t have to go the whole nine yards with it, but there’s nothing wrong with buying a few more feminine items to wear around the house to make yourself feel nice,” Madam Tucker says. “Stop with that Christian mindset of self denying.”

“Hm, never thought about it like that,” Stevie says after a second. “And I- I do have some items, I just don’t get around to it very often.”

“My advice is to try and make a day out of it every so often,” Madame Tucker tells her. “In this day and age there’s enough to bring you down, finding moments of joy should be treasured, honey. Take a moment for yourself. The world is better for it.”

“You are truly a beacon of wisdom, but it’s also early morning,” Stevie groans, though they both know she’s considering the advice and tucking it away for later.

So, Madame Tucker gives in with an: “Alright, alright, an old lady’s crazy must stop somewhere,” which makes Stevie laugh, though she later offers to send him some zines from the big city with news and updates from the community as well as new terms that are popping up.

They finish the rest of their breakfast, before saying their goodbyes. Stevie hugs Madame Tucker tightly and thanks her again for everything, while Madame Tucker tells her it was her pleasure and to not be a stranger.

When Stevie drives home, he feels lighter than when he drove there. He has a plan now, a resolution, something to do. It’s nice.

At home, it’s not just Eddie who is there, but Robin too. Together they bounce off the couch to come hug her and ask how she’s doing.

Stevie smiles widely and says: “It was good. I- I needed the trip. Madame Tucker is comforting and she gives good advice. It was nice to leave the past month of stress behind me.”

“And you couldn't do that with us?” Robin pouts, still not entirely happy by being left behind while Stevie went of to the city without an explanation.

“I’m sorry, Robs,” he kisses her forehead. “I just had to talk with someone about me and you know I’m bad at talking about that. I needed to talk with someone who isn’t caught up in the whole Upside Down thing.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Robin says, backing off. “I know you need and deserve a break sometime and if we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together I have to accept that sometimes that includes taking a break from me. I’m sorry for being pushy.”

“Thank you,” Stevie tells her, because it’s always nice to hear that he can have privacy for some things as well as get the reassurance that life with Eddie and Robin is still there. “But I rarely need a break from you,” she adds, because she can’t have Robin thinking she’s annoying or unwanted.

“So, anything scandalous happen while you were away?” Eddie asks to break the tension.

By the tone he asks it in, he isn’t expecting a positive answer, so Stevie takes great delight in taking out the picture Brian took and holding it up as he says: “I did drag.”

“What?” Eddie yelps, as Robin plucks the picture out of her hand with a: “No way!”

They both study the picture closely and Eddie wolf whistles and Robin grins cheekily while somehow managing to look touched as she reads: “Princess Dingus?”

“It felt like it fit,” Stevie shrugs, blushing and not meeting their eyes.

He is tackled in another hug by the two of them, before they go to place the picture on the vanity together. Their room is already more personal than Stevie’s old one ever was. It’s thrilling and exciting to have that now.

She is very aware of the fact that Eddie knows why she went to the city and what she talked about with Madame Tucker. However, he never sends him a questioning glance or gives a look to indicate he’s trying to read what his reply will be.

Sure, it could be that it is because they’re keeping it from Robin (for now at least, though Stevie isn’t sure how or if they want to keep this from her). But he knows it’s not that. Eddie is giving him all the space, letting her set the pace.

It’s nice to be considered like that. She’s getting more and more used to it with Eddie and Robin around.

Stevie vows to make talking to Eddie about it all a new years resolution.

~~

A/N:

Stevie deserves to try drag, I don’t make the rules <3 (seriously though, I made myself emotional writing about it, idk man, it just got to me)

((also if there are fan artist out there, who are bored **eye emoji**))

Also, again, I love Madame Tucker so so much and I have deep lore about her and Brian, okay, I would sell my soul for them. Home made blorbo’s baby xp

#rr writing #stranger things fic #stranger things #genderqueer steve harrington #steve harrington #eddie lives au #eddie munson #eddie munson & steve harrington & robin buckley #robin buckley #platonic stobin #platonic steddie #steddie #mike wheeler #will byers #the party stranger things #the party #madame tucker #OCs #Life Is Ours We Live It Our Way #Life Is Ours We Live It Our Way Chapter 10

[hyperfixationgoddess]

The Music Challenge

Recently, my sibling and I had a conversation where we said what Imagine Dragons songs applied to which Stranger Things character. I'll give my take on it here, and then I challenge you to do the same. It doesn't have to be Imagine Dragons, of course, just an artist that you love. Reblog this if you think it'd be fun! Can't wait to see your response!

Steve Harrington: In a non-romantic context, West Coast. He is absolutely the kids' rock. He drops everything for them, even for the little things. (I'm convinced that he went to the game to support Lucas, and had the date to keep up appearances.)

Nancy Wheeler: Rise Up. She is always reaching, trying to move up in the world.

Eddie Munson: Machine. I love how he's so unique, and he doesn't try to hide it. He takes pride in it, and doesn't let anyone tell him who to be.

Murray Bauman: Sharks. That man is absolutely ruthless.

Will Byers: Trouble. I say that because, as the song says, he wants no trouble. That kid needs a break.

Billy Hargrove: Shots. I feel like this one just fits him really well.

Mike Wheeler: Whatever It Takes. I know we all like to hate on Mike, cause he can be a real dick, but I can't deny that he will do whatever it takes for those he cares about.

Dustin Henderson: Zero. Especially during s3, but I think that it really applies to Dustin, always feeling different because of his interests and intelligence.

Chief Hopper: I'll Make It Up To You. He wants to be better for the people he loves.

Jonathan Byers: Walking The Wire. He stays with everyone, no matter how hard things get, even if it feels like they're going to get thrown off the wire.

Joyce Byers: Follow You. She supports everyone, no matter what. Will, Jonathan, everyone.

Lucas Sinclair: Boomerang. How many times, over the course of the show, has some kind of chasm formed between Lucas and the others? But it doesn't matter if it's a disagreement about a girl, or new interest in basketball. He always comes back to his friends, just like a boomerang.

Max Mayfield: Hear Me. Max Mayfield doesn't take anybody's shit. She doesn't let anybody drown her out. She makes sure that she is heard by the people that matter.

Eleven: Enemy. With the exception of Max, everyone thinks the worst of El from the beginning. Even the og party thought she'd been an escapee from penhurst. But she proved them all wrong.

Robin Buckley: Amsterdam. It hasn't happened yet, but Robin is getting out of Hawkins. And when she does, she will thrive, and she'll make sure that Steve thrives, too, because she will definitely drag her platonic soulmate out with her.

Erica Sinclair: On Top Of The World. Maybe this song seems a little cheerful for Erica, but after seeing her roll a 20 at Hellfire, I think that she was on top of the world in that moment.

Argyle: No Time For Toxic People. For Argyle, it's good vibes only.

The Party: Warriors. They might not have built this town, but they protect it better than anyone.

Ok, I think I covered everybody important. If you think I missed anyone, go ahead and let me know. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

#music #stranger things #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #murray bauman #chief jim hopper #joyce byers #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #dustin henderson #max mayfield #eleven #mike wheeler #jonathan byers #robin buckley #will byers #billy hargrove #argyle #eddie munson #imagine dragons

[azaleadynasty]

why is that most m*leven shippers are trying to push the “m*leven is the most popular ship the duffers won’t get rid of it” and “mike is straight, he’s with el” and bla bla bla.

like i don’t know whether byler is fr gna happen, but you can’t ignore the blatant queercoding of both characters! also the idea that because mike is with el he’s straight(i personally think he’s gay) when it was very common for, in this context, gay men to have a so-called “beard” in an attempt to potray heterosexual.

another thing that rlly annoys me with most m*leven is that they don’t actually analysis the show and then go around claiming their ship is endgame without any other evidence besides “they’re popular” or “they’re relationship has been built up throught s1-3,” the latter even being wrong!

s1 - will goes missing, mike proposes that him & the party go out looking for them, they come across some random girl in the woods, who throughout s1 is mention as appearing “boy-ish” and similar to will. mike calls her a “weapon” to the party, and sees as a chance of finding will, so he is nice to her. when the idea of will being dead occurs, once his “body” was found, he immediately lashed out at her, however, as soon as el gave him back the hope that will was alive, he goes back to being nice to her! of course we have the m*leven kiss, but again we have the connotations of el being similar to a “boy” and “will”, she’s also not considered attractive to the rest of the party bar mike, and we know both karen & nancy wheeler thought mike was acting strange because will, also to point where we had karen basically tell mike that she supports no matter what (because she thinks he likes will!!) when will is saved and is in the hospital, mike is the only one in the party to stay awake to wait for will to wake, and when he does he is immediately up and running to give him a great hug! ( i may have missed something but oh well) basically it was always about will, not el!!

s2 - do i really need to explain? the whole season showed byler, probably my fav season so far (maybe s4 will change that 😏) and in comparison to s1 where mike was obsessed with finding will even after his body was found! when he had the suspicion that el was still alive, he ignored it and didn’t look for her. you can probably find more in depth (is that the right way of saying it) explanations and what not but like im not writing all of the stuff that you can find anywhere on the byler tag or even yt. also the “crazy together” scene comparing to the “only love makes you that crazy” with canon ship j*ncy, and then further in s3 we have the m*leven scene in the mall where mike cannot even say it and even says that it is what old people do (in movies & with his parents who aren’t shown to be in love?!?)

s3 - the only season where m*leven are actually in a relationship, which is basically in crumbles throughout the season, the only thing they do together is kiss basically. i do love them together, platonically that is. mike not being able to apologise to eleven the girl he’s with, but being able to easily apologise to will. mikes “because i love her” scene sounding very rehearsed, with a certain lucas sinclair being quite cheerful over it. the mall scene i mentioned before. the m*leven kiss being awkward at the end (all of them really) mike being confused/ shocked because he thought it was over and not being able to reciprocate els feelings of romantic love, whilst he’s stood in wills room, with the closet open and el i believe with wills teddy-thing. the scene with byler abt d&d, where mike is very happy.

more could probably be said, but you’d have to look into others posts(?) abt that. also i didn’t mention a lot of mikes (&wills) queercoding in this besides in s1 where i mentioned elevens appearance. but er oh well, just sorta did this as a slight rant out of annoyance for m*leven stans being annoying on byler posts

#byler #byler s4 #stranger things

[emo-floof-child-writes]

Day 029: Awake.

Featuring Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair and El Hopper.

Dustin Henderson and Will Byers mentioned.

487 words. So! Addressing the elephant in the room; this one is very short and kind of unfinished. That is because I wrote this one on the 28th, and have lost all ambition to make them good. Also, my knowledge of coma stuff is limited. But I like the blind hc, so that's what this is, even if it's very messy. (Sorry).

Max feels something grab her hand. Only it feels as if it wasn't actually touching her. Like a piece of glass was sandwiched between the two. She tries to open her eyes, but all she feels is a tightness around her lashes. She gasps erratically, feeling like she has a chain wrapped around her throat. Not to mention something pressed down on her nose and mouth, which makes her hyperventilate more.  She hears some type of mumbling, but in her foggy state, cannot discern what is being said. Am I dead? She wonders, before an odd warmth runs up the back of her neck. And a tension inside her releases. “Come on!” A voice says, much clearer than the mumbles she had heard previously. I know that voice. She thinks, before letting out a wheeze. “Lu–Lucas?” She rasps out, still unable to open her eyes. A chorus of gasps run throughout the room. She hears a beeping that she assumes is her heart beat monitor. 

“Max?” Lucas says, sounding close to tears. She swallows, but her mouth is dry. She grunts, trying to force her eyes open. She goes to move her hand, in hopes of giving a thumbs up, only to have a single finger twitch with no other movement. Sh!t, I'm really in a bad way, aren't I? She thinks, before her eyelids flutter open. She whimpers. “Wha– why... Why can't I s-see?” She babbles, tears spilling down her cheeks. She hears the heart rate monitor beep more rapidly as her heart plays pinball inside her chest. She flails out an arm, reaching for something, anything. She can hear Dustin muttering swears under his breath in a panic, and the sound of running footsteps. “I'll go get a d–doctor!” Will says, as the door squeaks in his wake. 

Max feels two hands grab her arms on either side. “Max, I'm  here, okay? Try to stay calm.” Lucas says, and she feels another squeeze on her left arm. “You're okay.” Max chokes down a sob. “El?” She asks, and she hears her best friend chuckle between sniffles. “I'm back.” El responds in that gentle and uncomplicated way she always did. Max sniffs, as she takes a breath, more controlled this time. “Is everyone here?” She asks, sliding an arm back in a sorry attempt to sit up. She feels a hand behind her back, probably Lucas or El's, push her to a sitting position. The bed squeaks, and there is a small dip in the mattress, as if someone sat on the bed. “I'm scared.” Max admits, with a shiver down her spine. “We'll work this out together. It'll be okay.” He squeezes her hand, and she smiles. “Did you seeing losers at least win?” She asks, and they laugh. “Yes, we won.” Lucas says, with a chuckle. Max sighs. We won. That's all that matters right now. We'll work out the blindness another day.

#writember2022 #day 029 #September 029 #fanfic #fanfiction #THE FINAL COUNTDOWN #BE DO DO BE BOOP DO DO BE DO DO BE BOOP DO DO DO DOO

[fyrbol]

She remembered being there, in the eerie Snow Ball hall with El and Vecna... She remembered being back in Vecna's lair, grotesque hand hovering mere inches from her face. She remembered the emptiness, the blackness of not being able to see or feel anything, only hearing Lucas' voice. Everything after that was a blur, but the one constant for Max had been the sound of Lucas' voice. Still there. Still talking, still encouraging, like he had all the hope in the world for her to somehow pull through. Right now, he was reading. Honestly, it was hard to recall the entire story, or how far through it he was, but all that mattered to her was the comfort of hearing him, knowing he was there, knowing that she wasn't alone.

Eyes were still closed, and at first even she didn't realise that she'd done it... She'd been replying to him in her mind all this time. But with a hoarse voice, dry mouth, she spoke for the first time since her heart had stopped beating. " Presumptuous. " He'd stumbled a bit on his pronunciation, and she was just trying to give him a little nudge in the right direction. -- here take this from max xD

HE HAD EXHAUSTED EVERY OPTION. horror books to appeal to her interests had been the obvious choice. he had read her the talisman in its entirety, even when he stumbled, even when it got gruesome, even when the words hurt too much to read back over.

❝ He began to cry, not hysterically or screaming as people cry when concealed rage with tears, but with continuous sobs who has just discovered that he's alone and will be for long. He cried because safety and reason seemed to have left the world. Loneliness was a reality, but in this situation madness was also remotely a possibility. ❞

everything goes away, lucas sinclair, like the moon. everything comes back, like the moon.

he had tried children's books, describing each vivid image to her in tandem, making funny voices for each of the characters sans judgment on her behalf. he'd heard that any sort of stimulation was good for the brain : sound, touch, smell, taste, and endeavoured to describe these things to her as accurately as he could possibly convey. he read her poetry, hoped the metronome - like quality of its prose would encourage her body back into the delicate rhythm of vivacity.

❛ yes, thank you, i was getting to it. ❜

it's an afterthought of a response, grip taut on the book, focus narrowed. each sentence was a lifeline, any interruption holding the potential to prolong the spell he was so valiantly trying to break. the familiarity of the voice is lost on him at first ( perhaps because it has been so long it has become unfamiliar, hoarse with lack of use ) but when it hits, it spares no mercies.

❛ you're . . . you're here. ❜

he is speechless : sandpaper - throat stripped of air, scared to suppose the sight before him is substantial. the thoughts flood in all at once, pervading a brain initially devoid of them.

❛ holy shit, are you— are you okay ? do you need anything ? ❜

and, hesitantly:

❛ do you remember what happened ? ❜

#unheald #WHEW #( * i. ▸ code red ! / ╰ ✧ ◦ * ◃ ask msg. ) #( * v. ▸ knowing we are eternal ! / ╰ ✧ ◦ * ◃ a : 04. )

[icarusinstatic]

Stranger Things V2 Thoughts

I'm not even close to emotionally recovered from V2, but whatever...

Steve continues to be the best semi adult

And his vibes with Robin are and have been immaculate

Eddie was wonderful and ignoring what happened in the finale, i adored everything about his character and how Joe Quinn chose to play him.

Came of of this season really shipping Steddie and Ronance, not even sorry about Jonathan because he definitely has something going with Argyle.

Dustin and Erica continue to have a great friendship

like obv Lucas and Dustin are besties, but Dustin also has grown to respect Erica and the skills that she brings to the table.

hell it was his idea in the first place to have her join the DND party at the beginning of S4 against Eddie. And it was wonderful.

Actually, everything about Erica Sinclair is amazing. I went back and rewatched S2 earlier today, because I had to stay home from work and she was a delight. Her having He-man and barbie making out was both adorable and hilarious.

El and her acceptance that what Brenner put her through in the lab wasn't her fault was terrific and TBH every scene with Dr. Brenner was great, because that ending in the desert between the two of them, with El not forgiving Brenner when he was basically demanding it of her, *Chefs kiss*

El's fight with Vecna was traumatic as hell, and I'll admit I was crying during all of what happened with Max, but damn everyone, every single person brought their a-game to those scenes.

Petition for Max to have been able to be with her bestie El - for longer than 30 seconds before everything went to shit.

Lucas - especially Vecna!Lucas was top tier this season and I can only imagine that after ST series ends, that this dude will go places.

What I didn't care for was the forced Steve/Nancy shit the duffer bros were trying to throw at us. I don't even care if either of them is with someone else, those two should not be together, they have both grown so much as characters since they split apart, that the ship doesn't even make any sense to me anymore.

As for what happened to Eddie? I am simply not accepting it. I'm okay if they retcon his death, or make my man into a sexy sexy vampire (With his husband Steve of course), but dude is not dead.

Uncle Wayne is now part of the family and nothing the Duffer bros can do will take that from me. Hopper sits the man down and explains everything to him, and once he realizes that no matter where Eddie runs Vecna already has him marked, Wayne will simply say fuck that go to the upside down himself and flambe the bastard.

I'm sure there's more, but this is more than enough word vomit for one post. Thankyouverymuch.

#stranger things

[11byers]

#lucas sinclair stepping up to protect el

#stedit #strangerthingsedit #lucas sinclair #el hopper #elclair #stranger things #stranger things 3 #yall put some respect on their friendship #lucas sinclair deciding this is a TEAM effort were not depending on el today we throwin fireworks #lucas sinclair having els back no matter what!!!! #my user is real #ik a popular criticism of s3 is that they depended too much on el #and i agree 100% #but lets just appreciate lucas STEPPING UPPP LETS GOOO #myedit #horror tw #blood tw #gore tw #flashing gif