1/5. Forgiveness (mutual). >next

All I have to say is this: if Steve isn't wearing eyeshadow in this ^ picture, I am going to riot. Steve with lipgloss? Chef's kiss. Steve with lipgloss /and/ eyeshadow? Too sexy to be real.

Headcannon that Eddie sleeps naked. It was one of those days where Eddie stayed up late and decided to sleep until noon. He was woken up by the knocking on his door. They lived in a house now, and Wayne had his own room, so he didn't have to see it when Eddie stumbled sleepily into the living room butt ass naked. Eddie opened the door grumbling.

Eddie: Who could possibly be trying to come over at this ungodly hour?

Steve: *standing on the porch and holding Eddie's vest, shocked* Uh, it's almost noon??

Eddie: Yeah, it's almost noon. So, what are you doing here, Harrington? Hey, is that my vest?

Steve: *unable to find his voice as he he stares at Eddie.*

Eddie: Hello? Earth to Harrington?

Steve: *throws the vest at Eddie* For your modesty, dude.

Eddie grins and slips on the vest, winking at Steve. The other man stuttered, blushing, then ran off to his car and drove away.

Eddie: *scoffs* Dude acts like he's never seen a naked man before. *A door opens from inside.*

Wayne: Goddamnit, Eddie! What have I told you about answering the door in your birthday suit?

Eddie: I am wearing my vest!

Wayne: Put on some more clothes, boy!

Bonus

Steve’s face when he saw Eddie:

Steve Harrington was a child actor. 

During the mid to late aughts when the Capitalistic Mouse was pumping out teen stars like it was nothing,  the Harrington family hopped on that train and rode it until Harrington was written across the t-shirts of every pre-teen girl across america. His face was EVERYWHERE. And yeah, he was the teenage heartthrob pretty boy that was lead singer of his band. 

Eddie Munson couldn't escape this mother fucker. Not at school, on the radio in his uncle's car, at every social setting he was forced into.

On the TV in his room with the volume turned so low only he could hear him. 

Eddie Munson was a very secret super-fan of Steve Harrington. He owned all his plastic albums and a handful of powder pink t-shirts. He had a poster he kept rolled up, stuffed in the back of his closet right next to his sexuality. Because no one could know that Eddie Munson, the trailer park kid with Metallica always blaring from his smashed phone, liked a fucking boy band.

But trends changed, and Harrington faded off, cutting his contract with The Mouse to live his own life- He’d disappeared for a while- He’d stopped craving the spotlight a long time ago, and Eddie had admitted he was a little more than heartbroken. So Eddie Munson, shoebox full of Steve Harrington paraphernalia shoved under his bed, moved on.

That was, until he heard a very familiar voice on his radio on his way home from work. His aux cord had busted so he was stuck on the greatest hits of the current time, rather than Metallica or Judas Priest.

"Back from his long hiatus, with his new hit single that's topping charts across the globe, here's Steve Harrington!" 

Eddie almost swerved off the road. 

Of course, when he got home, he was googling shit for hours before finding out that Steve had decided to step back into the spotlight on his own terms, and the public had received him because they loved him. That debut song was the kickoff point. He didn't make a full album or announce his tour until after the tell-all Netflix docu-series that was number one trending every Thursday night for a month. Eddie took off work to watch them the second they released. 

He wasn't shocked that the company that made him treated him like a puppet- it'd been seen before with other child stars. It was his family that had Eddie floored. They’d forced him to work, took all the money he'd made up until he was eighteen, and he never saw a dime of it. He didn't even talk to his parents anymore, and they hadn’t contacted him. So, between diner jobs and writing his own music on the side, he reconnected with his old bandmates and decided it was worth trying again, because it had never been about the money for Steve. 

So there he was, center stage of a sold out arena, glittering with fresh confidence and a new sound- but the same voice that had snatched Eddie's heart when he was twelve years old. The voice that forced him to have the terrifying realization that he liked boys. It was even more terrifying now that Eddie was just feet away from him in the pit, singing along with every other twenty-something that had snagged floor seats for Steve's return tour. 

And in a rush of glittery adrenaline and sweaty bodies, the show was over and Eddie was wandering by himself down busy city streets. He wandered into a shitty hole-in-the-wall gay bar that he was certain only he knew about, because it was always dead when he came around. He slid into his usual seat at the bar and ordered his favorite drink, over the moon that he'd been so close to Steve. It was like all his childhood dreams had all come true. He was lost in his own thoughts when a fresh drink he hadn't ordered was slid in front of him. 

"Can I buy you a drink?" 

Eddie hadn't been facing him, so he could hide his expression when he recognized the voice. It was a voice he knew like the back of his hand, one that had been blasting his eardrums out not an hour ago. He collected himself as quickly as he could, trying to convince himself he was hearing things. He took the cup in his ring-adorned hand and brought it to his lips. 

"I dunno, can you?"

Eddie somehow played it cool for the first time in his life. He pretended he didn't know him, when he saw his face. He did let himself get lost in his eyes, though, and Steve probably noticed. He treated him just like he would have treated any other guy that hit on him, except he actually liked this one. And Steve seemed pleased, to not be recognized. 

So he took Eddie back to his hotel room, took his number, showed him a good time, and called him the next day. And the day after that, and the day after that. 

Steve kept calling him, and Eddie kept answering, twirling his hair and kicking his feet like a schoolgirl because Steve was actually really nice. Down to earth and kind, and he never talked about his work, even when he admitted to Eddie what it was, and Eddie acted shocked. ‘Oh, you have like, a little band? Cool, cool.’ After weeks of back and forth and eventual ‘I wanna see you again’s, Steve asked Eddie to travel with him while he toured, and what was Eddie going to say? No, I'd rather sit alone in my tiny apartment and work my life away in a dull record store? Like hell. 

And at the end of the tour, once Steve formally asked him to be his boyfriend and Eddie almost passed out, they bought a cute little house and settled down. Well, as much as a pop star could. He still made music, still played shows, did the usual TV appearances and played in Times Square on new years eve. 

Steve Harrington kissed his boyfriend Eddie Munson on national live television, in front of millions of people and the undying internet, and they made headlines. 

But, after all that. All the glamor, and the tabloids, Steve went on a break again. Eddie learned that Steve was genuine, and Steve learned that Eddie was hopelessly devoted, and he married him. Eddie took Steve’s last name, of course. It did take some convincing for his uncle, though. To accept the name change- Not that his nephew was gay and in love with a world class pop star.

So, with matching gold bands and wide smiles, they visited Wayne Munson for their first holiday season where Steve wasn't busy working. Eddie showed Steve his childhood bedroom, which had long been turned into Wayne's TV room. They'd spent their holiday bundled up on his tiny old couch, watching age-old holiday specials and napping through the afternoon.

Eddie woke up to Steve on the floor beside him, sifting through an old, weathered shoe box, its contents strewn about the floor, and he wondered if he was in a nightmare. 

He dove for the box but the jig was up, he was found out, his goose was cooked, he was a goner, he was fucked. Steve was going to hate him for life. He apologized over and over as he scrambled to tear his Steve Harrington collection away from Steve fucking Harrington himself, but Steve just laughed and held up a sticky note, faded and crumpled, and Eddie wanted to fall through the floor, through all nine circles of hell, and die. 

"Eddie Harrington, huh?" 

Eddie snatched the dumb note from his school days and apologized again, but Steve was grinning from ear to ear. 

"I thought you'd admit it one day, but I'm impressed, babe."

"You knew? How- How long have you known-"

"How many men do you think I see jamming out at my shows? That know every word off my first album from when I was a kid? That aren’t there because their girlfriends dragged them? I had Robin follow you to that shitty bar I found you in because- I had to meet you. I wanted to know who you were. And then you just… Treated me like a human. You pretended you had no fucking clue who I was, man. That was the hottest shit ever."

Eddie didn't know how to react to that. The whole time he pretended not to know who Steve was, Steve was waiting for him to crack. And now, it's five years later and they're married. He supposed they both had a bit of a secret, then. What, with Steve sending his best friend to seek out a fan so he could hit on him? Oh, for shame, Stevie.

"This has gotta be my favorite, though. I'm keeping it." 

Steve held a photo up, discolored and worn. It was of Eddie, head shaven, young and free of any of the tattoos and piercings he had now. His arm was slung around a very young Steve, who was about a head taller than Eddie at the time- But they were laughing, because Eddie had just said something that made Steve's eyes light up. Wayne had paid for Eddie to go to one of Steve’s meet and greets before a concert- He was up in the nosebleeds but the meet and greet was all that mattered to him. It had been his christmas and birthday present all wrapped into one, and he’d been so happy. 

“You can’t just steal that, it’s my favorite photo of us.” 

“Even more than our wedding photo, huh?”

“Oh, it’s not even close, babe.”

Likes and reblogs appreciated ❣️

Ok @chocoarts , I'm ready to go on a ramble! Thanks so much for answering my request! I hope my ramble does your art justice!

So! Steve and Robin are destined to work together, no matter how they meet or what they do. I know that most folks on the internet think that Robin wouldn't be great with little kids, while Steve would be the master. However! I personally like the idea that they're /both/ great with kids! I'm not usually one for no-Upside-down aus, but I can't really think of another way that this would work, so.

I'll bet that Steve and Robin met while volunteering at the Hawkins Daycare center. They bond over a love of kids and hatred for the people in charge. Y'see, Hawkins kinda reminds me of the area I grew up in a little bit, and something that's happened, both in my community and the town where my mom works, is that daycares and pre-schools start out as genuine nonprofits, existing for the sake of the community. But over time, they become super exclusive, expensive, and mildly corrupt. I imagine that if Hawkins had a daycare center, that's what would happen.

*oh, by the way, I have nothing against day care centers or all you folks who run them in a general sense. I know how difficult it is to take care of little kids to an extent, and I respect you all for what you do. It's just the ones in my community that I know of that are like that.*

Anyway...

So Steve and Robin see this and decide, hey, Steve's parents may be assholes, but they haven't cut him off yet, so why don't they use that money to open their own daycare center? They would call it Bat-man and Robin's Junior Bat-cave, because Steve plays baseball in this au. Also because of this meme:

By the way, they decided to add hyphens to the DC related parts of the name to escape a potential lawsuit. That's my logic, and I'm sticking to it. Cool? Cool.

So Steve and Robin open their daycare, and they keep their fees as inexpensive as they possibly can without it being detrimental to the business. One of their first customers is a single mom by the name of Claudia Henderson.

It takes a minute for Dustin to warm up to Steve and Robin, because even as a 3-year-old, people give him a hard time about his disease, cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD), which he worked really hard to learn how to pronounce.

Steve and Robin don't treat him any differently. The only acknowledgement they make of his CCD is when they have to follow his daily medical needs, which I assume exist, but I have no idea what they'd be. When this sinks in, he warms right up to them. His favorite thing to do is play spies with the toy walkie-talkie set that Steve got especially for him. He gets bad dreams sometimes about his dad leaving, but Steve is always right there when he wakes up with a sci-fi picture book or Star Wars stuffies to help him feel better.

The next kid to show up is Max Mayfield. She's a sassy little thing. And in this au, N*il dies in a car crash or something, and Billy's mom gets custody of Billy, because he deserves good things, dammit, but Susan doesn't have the money to move her and Max back to Cali. The Junior Batcave is affordable for her. It takes Max a hot second to warm up to Steve, because of N*il, but Robin helps her feel safe, and Steve never pushes her boundaries. That is what gets her to warm up to him. Max likes playing spies with Dustin, but her favorite thing to do is use cardboard as ramps and play with those tiny skateboard toys.

Jane Eleanor "El" Hopper shows up after Hopper adopts her and gets her out of the foster system. She's pretty quiet and timid, but she's got good judgement for a 3-year-old. She warms up to Steve and Robin pretty quick. She calls them Auntie Robin and Mom-Steve. She likes any kind of game, as long as she's with her best friend Max. But her favorite thing to do at daycare is play with Steve's hair. One day, she brings all sorts of clips and ribbons from home. El gets a little sad, because Robin gently tells her, "if it touches your hair, you don't share." Steve immediately goes out to the store to get some new hair supplies, and then El just goes ham on his hair. When she's done, she says that "Mom-Steve is the prettiest ever!" Hearts melt, and there are tears.

When Will shows up, his family is fresh out of a divorce, so he's really quiet and sensitive. He knows that he's welcome to play with Dustin, Max, and El, but he's just too shy. Luckily for him, Mike starts attending at around the same time. They bond over Star Wars with Dustin. And Will just has the best ideas for games if make-believe! When Will leads, Max and El get to be the knights, and Mike is the one who needs saving. Will gets attached to Steve and Robin when they agree to play the dragon and the queen respectively, and help him practice reading when he's not up to playing. Eventually, Will spends so much time reading with Steve that Mike gets jealous, which I think would explain the ankle-biter moment in chocoarts's picture.

Mike is a bit of a jealous kiddo, because baby Holly gets all of Mom and Nancy's attention, and Dad isn't home too often cause of work. That's why, if any of his friends start spending more time with Steve than him, his ankle-biting tendencies surface. Oh, Will would rather read a story with Steve than play knights and castles with Mike? CHOMP! Even so, Steve and Robin both give Mike plenty of attention, so he warms up to them. He copies El, calling Steve Mom-Steve. He also starts calling Robin Auntie Birdie.

Last, but certainly not least, the Sinclair siblings. In this au, I think Lucas and Erica would either be twins, or the age gap would just be a year instead of 4, as it seems to be in canon (Lucas seeming to be a 15-year-old freshman when Erica is 11). Lucas likes playing catch a little more than the other boys, and Steve is always happy to play with him. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Y'see, I just had the thought that when the Sinclairs tried sending Lucas and Erica to Hawkins Daycare, the two were surrounded by white children who didn't know anything other than the racist bullshit their parents said around them. The employees weren't much better. When the Sinclairs reached out to the Junior Bat-cave, on the other hand, Steve and Robin were perfectly respectful, and made sure the other kids knew to be respectful to Lucas and Erica, too. Anywho, as the two adjust, Steve loves to see how Lucas is just the best big brother. He knows that Erica is still a bit too small for catch, so he rolls his favorite ball around with her, instead. Also, Erica likes dogs in this au, so Steve helps Lucas draw and/or color in pictures of dogs and puppies. Robin is always happy to play with Erica, too. In fact, all the girls love finding all the dog stuffies in the daycare to play dog school, Erica's favorite game.

Alright! That's all I've got for this ramble. If anyone wants to take these ideas and just roll with them, feel free to do so. I hope my ramble did chocoarts's drawing justice!

GUYS GUYS GUYS WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN AROMANTIC VISIBILITY DAY!!! IT'S BEING CREATED NOW !! IM SO EXCITED AHHHHH

So I started writing something, but i don't trust myself to finish it, so i'll just ramble about it and hope people think it's decent!

My current hyperfixation is stranger things, and here's my thought: there is no way the upside down would have given the gang a whole year of peace when the gate was still open. In this au I've got floating around in my brain, I imagine that maybe it was a couple months before the tunnels started spreading, before the demodogs started spawning. I also imagine that my fave character, the main one in this au, ended things with Nancy early on, because he could see that she wasn't happy with him and he wanted to avoid an emotional trainwreck.

Because Steve wasn't spending as much time with Nancy, when he noticed that things with the upside down weren't over, he was able to take it on himself without her figuring it out. Cause Steve figures that the wheelers, the byers, heck, everyone involved from last time shouldn't have to deal with any more of this shit.

So what he did was, he started going to the old junkyard, baiting out the demodogs, and killing as many as he could with his nail bat and burning the corpses when he was done for the night.

As this was going on, he started looking out for Will, treating him normally and being there for him, because will deserves to have Steve as an extra older brother. It's not necessary to this au, but I will die on that hill.

Anyway, Steve's been doing this since around January of '84, so he's become pretty good at it. Then, that Halloween, instead of going to Tina's party, he was out there, killing monsters, but he got cut. Obviously, billy hargrove's rough-housing in basketball the next day didn't do him any favors. He ends up having to take a minute to go into the locker rooms to stitch himself up really quickly, because of course he's figured out how to do that by now. Then, billy walks in on him doing that, and promptly freaks out. Steve swears him to secrecy, because in his mind, it's fine, it's normal. He finished up basketball practice, and put the encounter out of his mind.

Later, Steve was back out there, and he had just killed the first demodog, when he heard this aborted, human-sounding, shriek. He goes to investigate, and who does he see, but billy Hargrove and eddie munson in the bus doing a deal.

Steve tried to give them an out, but of course the demodogs were swarming, so he had to deal with that threat and keep these guys safe, because Steve didn't think they should have to deal with this. They don't take the out. In fact, eddie and billy help Steve out through the events of s2.

Also, in terms of the thing with Lucas, I imagine that since Billy'd been fine with the black kids on the basketball team, Steve was able to pry out of him that he's trying to protect Lucas and max from ne*l.

Anyhow, that's the premise of this au that I've got. Like I said, I have started writing for it, but I don't trust myself to finish it or update it regularly. If anyone is interested in adopting this concept and writing their own take on it, feel free to dm me. Heck, you don't even have to do that, but I'd appreciate a dm, just so that I could read it!

Ugh, I feel like screaming, a steddie fic I was reading on AO3 got deleted, and I've no idea why. The fic was I'm permanent (now I won't go), and I was only 6 chapters in... I don't know what to do now! Ugh... Please tell me I'm not the only one who's suffered this before? Cause I'm legit pretty upset about it. It was such a good story, and now it's just... gone!

In the hours since I've posted this, my phone battery has lowered to 65%, so at the moment, Lucas is my bestie!

Who is your Stranger Things best friend? Drop your answer in the comments, and feel free to reblog! Just for kicks, my phone is at 86%, so my best friend is Billy.

stranger things text posts, prev and next

Original comic by Rasenth

Alright, managed to finish this in half an hour! Hope y'all like it!