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The Stranger Things soundtrack and basically the entire show is genuinely one of the best media of this century so far and I mean that. It feels like a part of my soul has been pulled from my body and shoved into a cassette tape. It feels like a hug from your best friends. It feels like the world is so much smaller and the universe so much bigger than I could physically imagine. It feels like growing up. It feels like helping others to grow up better than you did. It feels like change.

Stranger Things, season 3, episode 7 (2019)

Rewatching and need to vent

Robin Buckley gave me and so many other people, I'm sure, a scene that was so completely unexpected and amazing to watch.

As a fan of the show since it first released, I grew up with these characters, since age 10/11. I always loved their dynamics, the show itself, and god do I love a found family trope.

But Season 3, through Robin, I thought she was a lot like me in certain aspects. Different, alternative, a nerd, sarcastic and queer coded as soon as she was placed on screen. Of course I thought so, I'm queer, I grasp at what I can get. And, as an "advocate" for the lgbtqia+ community (I did not know and accept my bisexuality until months later, a good while after turning 13), I was rooting for it to be true.

As soon as her and Steve's bathroom scene happened, as soon as she came out to him, I was amazed. The Duffers put it together so wonderfully and carefully, it's a relatable story of hers - being envious of a popular guy, liking a girl she can't have and... Hiding.

Even today we have to admit, we often hide, at least for a short while. Many of us aren't accepted by families, colleagues, acquaintances or society all together. In her society, in the 1980's where the f slur is frequently thrown around and the derogatory terms many of us have reclaimed is used wildly, that must be absolutely terrifying. She is visibly struggling to tell Steve and is clearly, and understandably, afraid but he accepts her without thought and mocks her taste.

I'm so glad they have their platonic opposite sex friendship and that, despite his crush, he instantaneously accepted her not only as his colleague still but a true and genuine friend.

This representation was amazing to me, unexpected and brought a tear to my eye. Still does sometimes. I think it was handled delicately and with understanding from the directors and Maya Hawke. She is a lesbian in the 1980's USA, she has walls built up, she's a person first and foremost. Her sexuality was never her main attribute, it wasn't a case of needing the diversity. She was already a character, strong and intelligent. She is also gay. There are no poor, distasteful jokes that she is at the end of and, while this is admittedly the bare minimum, I think we can all say it was slightly unexpected, comforting and touching to see someone queer portrayed well in such a popular piece of media in a time when so many are being bashed for similar things. The Duffers did not cower in fear and I sincerely hope they continue not to even in the midst of what is currently happening in the States.

my extra ass™ would literally calculate the steps on where the stranger things cast would walk and i would clean the floor so wouldn’t have to step on dirty floor

Oh for sure. I don’t even have Netflix and I’m going to see Season 5 through another website. It’s really easy to boycott.

That’s also why I don’t have an emotional attachment to the actors themselves, because you never know what they support and who they support.

I need everyone to remember that it's not just Noah Schnapp and Brett Gelman who are supporters of the genocide in Palestine, it's also it's also Shawn Levy a producer/director, and Ross Duffer who signed a thank you letter to Biden thanking him for military supply.

But it's also ALL OF THE CAST THAT HAVE BEEN SILENT. And if you think it's because they can't with Schnapp's recent behavior Amybeth Mcnulty has spoken about it, and Joseph Quinn participated in an auction for charity. Granted one has a smaller role and one has been released from his contract but there's no rule in this stuff it's about action and I think that's loser behavior.

I get that it's going to be popular either way of a boycott but Netflix is expensive and pirating is pretty easy. Be a fan of the show but remember who made it.

I'm going to get the duffer brothers to write Eddie back in, who's with me ...He deserves better!!

Duffer Brothers = Papa

POV: Scrolling through Steve Harrington’s camera roll

Falling For You

prompt: “You’re just so stupid!”

warnings: sexist comments, underage drinking, swearing (when do i not?)

Steve Harrington x oc; alludes to Billy Hargove x oc

a/n: this was written in response to a larger plot, so there are some references to outside events. it should still be easy enough to follow! requests are open

The last people on earth Beth thought she might publicly agree with were Carol and Tommy. Tonight, as she struggled to keep Steve upright and conscious, she couldn’t help but to concede when Carol suggested they find a way to drag him up the dock and inside before he blacked out or fell in the lake again and turned her rager into a crime scene. His wounds only worsened as he wriggled about in all three of the teenagers’ grips, as if he could somehow overpower them. Steve royally, monumentally, epically screwed up that night. 

While Beth commonly slapped a band-aid on his bruised knuckles and kept Tylenol in her purse solely for his use, she was in way over her head this time. Her babysitting training course never covered drunk, injured teenage almost-boyfriends. 

She knew things had gone from bad to worse when Carol called the party off, shooing everyone else from her lake house, for Steve’s benefit. By some miracle, the three of them managed to get him inside and relatively conscious. Carol and Tommy were quick to scatter and leave Beth to tend his wounds.

Steve groaned excessively from his makeshift bed on Carol’s pull-out couch. He protruded his bleeding lip in a haughty pout. His wet hair gave him a chill and without a dry shirt to keep him warm, he was left with only a blanket to huddle in. The worried pull in her brow looked an awful lot like anger to him, and Steve only wanted to see her smile.

“You’re mad at me!”

Beth stroked the side of his cheek, sighing:

“I’m not. Some things are just best left alone, Steve.”

“But I just wanted to protect you!”

Steve was a protector. He put himself in harm's way only as a barrier between his loved ones and danger, like he had done with the demogorgon and with the very human monster that is Billy Hargrove.

“I know,” she said.

He pulled at her hands, grasping to keep her close, milking this as much as possible. Beth let him, happy with the surge of energy his touch left her with.

When Beth suggested they go to a party thrown by his former best friends, Steve fully intended to coax her into a night at the drive-in movie theater, instead. After all, he hardly imagined a lake house was much fun in winter. However, when she showed up on his doorstep wearing white sunglasses much too large for her face and using one of his t-shirts as a bikini cover-up, Steve was putty in her hands. She had him wrapped around her finger for everyone to see- everyone, apparently, aside from Beth herself.

Not long after they arrived, Steve lost Beth in the crowd. He merely smiled and insisted she go have some fun when her two best friends cornered them. For a while, he watched contentedly with a solo cup in one hand and Beth on his mind. She danced along to every song as if it were her last. The smile she wore with every lyric she shouted alongside Amy, pulling playfully at Tiffany’s hands as the three of them danced drunkenly by the bonfire, tightened his chest.

He no longer cared much for parties. Nancy Wheeler spoiled the whole scene for Steve in a similar fashion to the way he forever stained her white blouse. House parties now equated heartbreak for Steve. Though he tried to avoid the thought, he couldn’t help but to wonder how Beth could break his heart tonight, if he wasn’t even hers. As if on cue, Steve’s train of thought received a rude interruption.

“Harrington,” the voice boomed.

Steve exhaled sharply, trying to remember the promise he made to Beth. Nothing stupid tonight. So, he kept his voice detached and prayed the message might be received:

“Hargrove.”

The Californian clasped a hand over Steve’s shoulder with more force than necessary.

He wetted his lips in an animalistic aggression. It seemed he had yet to leave well enough alone; Billy wanted revenge for the chance with the cute head cheerleader that was stolen from him. Stolen, he assumed, from Steve Harrington.

He knew Hawkins was a far cry from the golden coast before he ever set foot in the town. Still, he hardly expected to ever find himself fighting for women’s attention against a boy who couldn’t throw a punch to save his life. It was pathetic; Hawkins was pathetic. It had a saving grace, though. A glimmer of hope for Hawkins came from the smile of the girl whose hair reminded Billy of the beaches he missed so much and in her laugh, that never failed to melt the bars around Steve’s heart. If Billy had a heart, he might think about giving it to her. Instead, he took out the unchecked rage that filled that void on the boy who unmistakably captured her attention.

“I believe you have somethin’ of mine,” he paused. “I want it back.”

“What? Are you drunk? Get lost, Bill-”

The taller boy erupted into a humorless rumble of a laugh. Steve was playing with fire, though he was made of ice.

“Cut the bullshit, Harrington.”

Subconsciously, Steve flinched at that all-too-familiar word. He wished new curse words existed so he never needed to hear the words that triggered his first heartbreak again. He much preferred a sarcastic King or a straightforward asshole than any form of that word. Billy didn’t need to know this, of course, so Steve tightened his jaw and decided to play along.

“What do you want? ‘M not in the mood”

He watched with wide eyes as his foe’s lips rolled inward like an engine revving up for a drag race. Steve said the wrong thing. His eyes merely followed as the blonde curls forming his mullet nodded in the direction of the short, oblivious girl who captured Steve’s- and apparently Billy’s, as well- full attention.

“No, no way.”

“Wrong answer”

Steve sucked his gums inwards, wishing Billy would fall off the dock and into the lake. Tonight was an escape for him and Beth. Billy fit nowhere in that equation. As much as Steve’s rational mind told him otherwise, his insecurities whispered to him that Beth agreed to go on a date with Billy for more reasons than a petulant promise to Dustin. Could she possibly fall for his looks? Steve hardly considered himself insecure in that right, but he found himself wondering if he could hold a candle to boys like that in Beth’s mind.

“She’s not an object! No one owns her”

Steve gaped incredulously up at him. Eyes wide, innocent, and begging to be destroyed, Steve was Bambi and Billy was the forest fire ready to devour everything he loved.

“Well, shit,” he said. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Man, what are you even talking about?”

Billy’s fingers traced over the healing scars he put on Steve’s otherwise smooth skin, a devilish smirk on his lips. He pulled it away just as smoothly, now booming with laughter. A cigarette breath coated Steve’s face as he exhaled like a snarky dragon. Steve took an involuntary step away from him, closer to the the edge of the dock. His insecurities manifested themselves in the form of a harsh reality check from his least favorite person.

“If it weren’t for you and my bitch of a step-sister-”

“Watch it!”

“I would have been elbow-deep in that pretty little skirt of hers. Maybe we might have actually watched some of the movie we were supposed to see,” he sighed.

“You’re delusional!”

“Don’t believe me? Why don’t you ask her yourself, then.”

He chanced a glance back over at Beth, who danced freely and blissfully unaware of the unfolding conflict between the two boys. Licking his cold, nicotine lips, he flickered his gaze between the two of them.

“It’s a shame, Harrington”

Steve disdained the sinful glint in his eyes. If he didn’t know any better, he might have half a mind to punch that smirk right off his lips. Against his better judgement, he decided to humor him:

“What is?”

“Plenty of bitches in the sea certainly did not mean I was giving you free reign of the hottest piece of ass in this cow shit town-“

Like the last bit of a heavy rain season on an overflowing lake, it was the burst that snapped the dam holding back Steve’s rage. He reached his arm back with every intention of clocking Billy in the nose, even remembered to plant his feet, too, only to realize that he miscalculated his balance and stepped a little too close to the edge of the dock. All it took was the seizure and twist of his cocked wrist by Billy, and Steve’s New Balances gave way to the slippery wood and he fell down into the water below, knocking his head against the wood pretty hard in the process.

“Steve,” she called out to him.

Beth glanced warily at the weak, tired boy with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She exhaled slowly like a deflating balloon before gingerly placing herself on the edge of the coffee table.

“You said something, uh, when we got you out of the water-“

He hummed in acknowledgement. Steve’s heart skipped a beat. His mind was still hazy, either from the alcohol or the concussion that was most likely forming. He hoped she would let him play dumb a little longer.

“Did you mean it?”

“What? What did I say?”

He wasn’t a very good liar.

“C’mon Steve, don’t play dumb with me! I want to hear you say it.”

He caved, locking eyes with her. If this turned out badly, at least he had a plethora of excuses to back him up.

“I just thought, y’know, maybe you liked him. It’s just that he’s the first boy you were willing to go out with in years and, well, I want you to be happy, even if it is with… him.”

Much to his horror, she burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. Steve rubbed nervously at the back of his neck.

“What- what, uh, what’s wrong?”

“You’re just so… stupid, Steve!”

She had him there. On a scale of confused to competent, Steve was well past clueless.

“Well, yes, but-“

“Billy Hargrove is a racist, self-serving, narcissistic douchebag and I would rather die than be his girlfriend. As far as I’m concerned, he and his right hand should get very well acquainted at the rate he’s going, because that's the only thing that will even get close to him when I’m done with him. And that’s exactly what I told him”

Steve sat up a little, shocked and admittedly excited, only to shrink back from the pain in his head. Beth, who was honestly one of the most angelic girls he ever laid eyes on, had declared war on the new popular kid, which could jeopardize her own reputation in the process, and he couldn’t help but to hope it was loosely tied back to him. Either way, Steve was twitterpated with her.

“I think I love you.”

His brash comment flushed Steve’s cheek a scarlet as deep as Carol’s fingertips. As if falling in the lake weren’t mortifying enough, he’d gone and said one of the dumbest possible things to Beth. His stomach only began to plummet to the ground when she spoke back, its descent turning from a freefall into somersaults of butterflies.

“I like you, too, Steve. A whole lot. But there’s plenty of time to talk about this later- when you’re sober and a little less concussed. Right now, let’s just get some sleep, okay?”

Beth tucked him in on the couch and set aside some pain killers for when he woke up with a hangover and healing wounds. Steve refused to stay put until she cuddled up against him on the pull-out. He sighed out in a happy relief.

Steve may have gotten his ego bruised beyond recognition that night, but all he cared about was the girl who stayed to nurse his wounds. He didn’t think he deserved Beth. Beth could have gone home with Billy and let his faint-hearted attempt to let her go work, but there was one thing far more important than any of that:

She loved her stupid boy.

Tidal Waves

Part 01: Low Tide

Steve Harrington x reader

summary: Steve wants to use the summer as an escape from his problems back home. Y/N doesn’t want to be on that beach. Anything can happen when teenage angst, summer heat, and a lot of free time combine for a month stuck with your worst enemy or, alternatively, the one where Y/N finds herself weirdly attracted to her Dad’s best friend’s asshole son. It’s the recipe for a summer they should probably forget.

Summer, 1985 : Hawkins, IN

Steve putzed around his bedroom, carrying handfuls of t-shirts and swim trunks. Hastily, he shoved the clothing between hair care products and extra pairs of sandals. Cursing himself for procrastinating, he squished the top of his suitcase down to close it, groaning. That would have to do.

He should have left by now. Getting out of Hawkins sounded like heaven; an entire month by the ocean to drown out his screaming nightmares, surrounded by nothing and no one that could possibly bring him back to this horrific place, resembled Elysian Fields. Steve said his goodbyes to friends last night, but something kept him grounded to his parents’ house, some gravitational force keeping him in Hawkins.

Squinting out his bedroom window in an attempt to squash whatever had him so hesitant, Steve’s eye caught a glimpse of the ghostly, drained swimming pool in his backyard and his stomach dropped. He frowned. Steve yanked his suitcase from the bed and made a beeline for the safety of his BMW.

A long car ride would do him good. Steve craved time to think about something other than what he had seen. He had 700 miles between him and that sweet escape. Only 700 miles until he could distract himself with sun, sand, and ocean. As far as he remembered, the resort swimming pools were easily avoidable. Steve liked avoidable, easy, relaxing. It made up for the thinly veiled last-minute invite from his father.

He had half a mind to turn him down and sulk around Hawkins. Steve gave up on ever winning his father’s approval the day neither of his parents attended his high school graduation. Pretending to be the model family for his parents and their college friends sounded like Hell to Steve, even if it would get him out of that godforsaken town. He changed his mind only after being tempted with the knowledge that the L/Ns had a child his age- a fact he knew his father threw in just to jab at Steve for spending too much time around a group of middle schoolers.

Steve caved in to his father’s wishes with the firm declaration that he deserved a summer to have fun, to make stupid, normal teenager mistakes. No. Normal teenage things don’t end well for Steve, apparently. The knuckles of his left hand bled white against the steering wheel under the force of his grip, his free hand turning the radio up so that HTS 92.5 drowned out his train of thought.

Get it together, Steve! Summer of your life, remember?

He could almost feel the sun on his skin, sand beneath his feet, and hear the giggles of the pretty strangers he planned on kissing that summer. This seemed to satisfy Steve for the moment. He even visualized the L/N kid as his partner in crime for the month.

What was their name again?

Steve couldn’t remember, but it didn’t dull his mood. He was confident that this would be the summer he would never forget. After all, his life lacked male companions his own age after he dropped Tommy as a friend.

However, down in Atlanta, Y/N pouted in the backseat of her mother’s SUV as they drove away from the safety of her pastel pink bedroom and her friends. She had little to look forward to that summer. Even her sister ditched her for her new boyfriend. Her only companions would be her Mom, Dad, and Steve Harrington, who she clearly remembered as the self-righteous eleven-year-old boy who ruined her favorite sweater, just to see her squirm.

7 hours later : Destin, FL

Beaches never could hold Y/N’s attention for long. Sticky swimsuits and sand granules, glued with a saltwater adhesive to her skin, never relaxed Y/N the way it did her father, who always returned to Georgia marked by the sun yet insisting that he was not, in fact, sunburned. Even as a toddler, she writhed at the unfamiliar sensation of sand and began to cry when her sister sprinkled her chubby toes with an icky mixture of soppy sand from the moated castle she and their eldest sister built nearby.

When she agreed to this trip, Y/N cushioned her trepidations with the comfort of the middle L/N child by her side. Now, sitting alone and pumping Journey through her Walkman, her mood was at a new low. She treasured her Dad’s youthful glee at the thought of time with his old friends; still, Y/N nearly wished she were sandwiched between her sisters and their boyfriends on their couples’ road trip instead.

Beach wind blowing through her hair, Y/N squinted up at the Harrington’s beach cottage. Nervousness bubbled up in her stomach. Mrs. Harrington was a sweet woman, if not a bit detached, but the boys in her life were little like that. Her husband rarely spoke to Y/N, instead ushering the children outside and likely bragging to Y/N’s parents about his financial success. Their beaten up, aging minivan stuck out like a sore thumb parked aside Mr. Harrington’s shiny red Cadillac. Her stomach soured. Dad lost his money and that was seemingly all Bradley Harrington cared for- frat brothers or not.

Y/N heaved her luggage out of the hatch, puffing at the stray hairs that fell in her line of vision. Her sunglasses did little to hide the obvious disinterest she displayed in being there. Atlanta never looked so interesting to her as it did when she couldn’t have it.

An hour later, Y/N lay stretched out on the porch swing with her left arm propped lazily under her chin and her right hand holding Dracula open. She had escaped the nightmare that was a stroll down the boardwalk and dinner at an overpriced, mediocre restaurant. All she needed to stay happy were her books and a bit of sunshine. Luckily, she had plenty of time for just that.

She thumbed at the pages, her tongue poking past her lips, as Y/N lost herself in fiction. Briefly, she wondered what it might be like to love another person as deeply as Jonathan Harker loved Mina and vice versa, or to experience the giddiness Lord Godalming’s promise of a future brought Lucy- bloodsucking monsters aside. As a little girl, Y/N picked up bridal magazines while waiting in hair salons for her mother. She daydreamed secretly about a boy with big eyes and a bigger heart that made her feel the way Johnny Cash did about June Carter; a big love was the one thing Y/N had always wanted but never allowed herself to have. Denying herself a true connection was something Y/N insisted she did for her own protection, and while that might have been true, it didn’t mask the fact that the idea of giving herself to someone else terrified her. She had a big heart and wanted to give it to a boy who really deserved it. The problem, she thought, had to be genetic.

Her parents met in college, fell in love, settled down not too far from her Mom’s hometown, and had three kids together. They were 22. On paper, it sounded like a fairy tale sort of love, and Y/N supposed maybe it had been, but no marriage was easy. She spent many nights pretending not to hear her parents arguing even though the walls were a tad too thin not to have. They were still married, though, and that said it all loud and clear. Complain as they might, neither could imagine a life without the other in it.

It wasn’t her parents that turned Y/N off from her hopeless romantic streak, but rather her grandparents. Grandma was Y/N’s favorite person. She loved her more than life itself, and it had ripped her hopeful little heart to shreds when she learned that Papa had been less than the ideal husband- or father. A woman as phenomenal as that deserved the world, but instead she got a narcissist who paid his mistresses more attention than his own children. The day he died, Y/N swore to herself that she would never, ever love a man enough to let him rule her life and dull her spirits as much as it had to her beloved Grandma. She was eight years old when she learned that sometimes love and marriage aren’t the same thing. Sometimes the latter lasted longer.

Steve loitered in his car after pulling up to the parking lot. He was nervous; this time not for interdimensional monsters or government conspiracy, but for the sheer possibility the summer brought him. With not all that much going for him back in Hawkins, Steve put all his faith into this trip. He craved love, attention. Steve had a big heart and so much love to give. After Nancy, he had a hole in his heart and affection flowing freely from the wound, with no one to give it away to.

Alone as usual, Steve dragged his things up to the house. With his duffel bag hanging loosely off his shoulder, Steve stalled as he caught sight of the kind of pretty stranger he’d prayed for sitting on the swing porch. His heart constricted. She was focused on the book in her hands, and Steve swore the furrow in her brow and peek of her tongue through her lips was the prettiest thing he had seen in a long time. He found himself wanting to know as much as he could about the mystery girl.

Y/N lifted her gaze away from Bram Stoker’s thriller at the screech of Steve’s tires. She exhaled sharply at the sight of him. While he was certainly not the same scrawny boy he had been when they last saw each other, his striking looks couldn’t make up for the sour impression he left on her. She wasn’t about to make a fool of herself over some pretty boy.

Steve was ready to fall in love with his pretty stranger. Y/N wanted little more than to spend as little time with Steve Harrington as she could.

New Year, New Beginnings

Summary: Eddie has been hiding from you all night and you try to find out why. Or, alternatively, the one where you and Eddie ring in 1987 in the best way.

eddie munson x afab!reader

warnings and content: pure fluff, not proofread closely. Just a quick new years blurb for y'all :)

Word count: 1.2k

The New Year’s Eve party was in full swing. It was a far cry from the ragers of his King Steve days, for sure, but Robin and Steve’s new apartment was full of friends and that was much more your speed anyways. Your extended friend group, even Hellfire and the kids, was scattered throughout.

From your spot in the living room, you had a good view of everyone. Ever the gracious host, Steve was in the kitchen helping dole out drinks and snacks while he chatted with Robin, who was leaning against the countertop and laughing between handfuls of popcorn. He handed a fresh cup of soda to Dustin which was received with a grin and the younger boy took his drink over to rejoin his conversation with Will, Lucas, and Mike. Max and Eleven stood in the circle with them, but the girls giggled amongst themselves about something. Nancy cuddled into Jonathan’s side on the couch, cheeks flushed with alcohol, and engaged in debate with Argyle, who seemed much too high to be making much sense. Gareth and Jeff joined them on the opposite loveseat, slotting into place like they’d been friends with you all for years. The joy that permeated through the flat warmed your belly along with the rum and Coke you sipped.

As you came up one person short, you couldn’t help but to frown. Eddie’s absence from the fun stuck out like a sore thumb. The night was wearing thin, and you hadn’t seen Eddie in almost an hour now. Instead of his rightful place in the middle of it all, you finally found him hiding away. Eddie stood slumped against the wall in the hallway. 

Your voice broke him from his thoughts as you approached. 

“You’re sulking,” you observed.

Eddie’s forced smile was anything but convincing. He struggled to meet your eye.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Eddie grunted, “It’s stupid.”

You shrugged. Gesturing to the cheap plastic headband which Steve insisted you put on as you helped him set up earlier that evening, you assured, “Can’t be any more stupid than this.”

That cracked a smile from him. Eddie’s eyes flickered from yours to the big Happy New Year! headband you wore.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“So, are you gonna tell me what’s bothering you, or should I just assume you’re sad that you aren’t getting to see Smokey Robinson perform on Rockin’ Eve tonight?”

“Could be worse,” Eddie laughed, head shaking slightly. “Last year, they had the Judds.”

You hummed and drowned a giggle in another sip of your drink. Eyes narrowing, you sized Eddie up over the plastic rim. He shifted his weight, shuffling his sneakers against the ground, and tapped aggressively against the Solo cup in his hand. Nervous energy exuded from his pores—more than usual. You struggled to figure out why.

After a few more thick moments of silence, Eddie sucks a deep breath in. His eyes caught yours as he fiddled with the skull ring on his finger.

“I’m sorry I’ve been MIA all night,” he said. “I’m just super nervous.”

“Nervous?”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, see, there’s this really cool girl, who I really like, and I’ve been working up the nerve to ask her to kiss me at midnight.”

The world stilled. In your best attempt at remaining casual, you asked, “Oh? Lucky girl.”

He nodded. His lips curved into a small, playful smile and he reached behind himself to set down his nearly-empty cup. Your stomach flipped as he took a step towards you.

“Mhmm,” he hummed. “You might know her, actually. She’s, uh, about yay high–“

You could feel his warmth as he lifted his palm in line with the top of your head. It complimented the bite of butterflies at your stomach lining quite well. That warmth only spread as his grin widened and dimples popped:

“Kinda hard to miss. Prettiest girl in the room.”

“Better hurry,” you quip, checking your watch. “There’s only about five minutes left in ‘86.”

Eddie dropped his cheek to his shoulder. “Guess there’s no time to waste then…”

With a deep breath, he locked onto your gaze. “So, what do ya say? Can I kiss you?”

Your cheeks flushed with heat. “I thought you’d never ask.”

The remaining four minutes of the year passed in a blur of anticipation. Somewhere along the way, you set aside your drink and Eddie mustered up the courage to pull you to him by the hips. 

The chanting of your friends from the other room served as your cue.

Two!

Eddie’s fingers spread to cradle your cheeks. He kept your gaze locked on him. Your tongue pushed out to wet your lips as you smiled up at him.

One! 

The chorus of happy new year!s barely reached your ears over the thwump of your own heart as Eddie crashed his lips to yours. His hands gripped the back of your head, fingers tangled up in your hair. You swore the fireworks going off outside were just in your head as he moved his lips languidly against your mouth.

From his spot near the kitchen, Dustin spotted you and Eddie. He smirked and tipped his cup of Coke in toast. Eddie’s giant crush on you, as Dustin had lovingly called it, was anything but subtle. The amount of patience he had for you at your first meeting of Hellfire had been unexpected from their usually very strict Dungeon Master, to say the least. As time went on, and you became an integral part of the club—as much more than just the sole female member, he might add— you and Eddie became attached at the hip, but his soft spot for you never waned. It was obvious to Eddie’s friends that he had it bad for you; shit, Gareth put it best when he teased that you could see the cartoon hearts blooming in Eddie’s blown pupils. 

The feeling of your friends’ eyes burned into your skull, but, for once, you didn’t have it in you to care. Eddie cradled your face like the most precious of treasures and it was damn near impossible to think past the burn of his touch.

Dustin nudged Mike, tipping his head towards the couple. “Ha! Told you.”

The taller boy grumbled. He grimaced at the sight of his friends’ public display of affection and reached a hand into his pocket for his wallet. Mike slapped the $5 bill into Dustin’s waiting hand.

“Well, damn,” he said. “I really thought he’d never do it.”

As Steve turned his head towards the boys, his eyebrow quirked. “What was the bet?”

“Mike thought Eddie would never have the balls to actually make a move, but I knew better.”

Robin stepped up behind Steve, chin resting against his shoulder as she peeked out to see what they were all looking at. The wolf whistle she let out was loud and abrupt enough for Steve to take the glass of champagne from her hand, muttering about cutting her off.

To your surprise, you didn’t have it in yourself to feel embarrassed. You pulled away from Eddie’s kiss, dazed. “Holy shit.”

“Hell of a way to end the year, huh?” He whispered, pulling you in for another embrace.

Stranger things 3 spoilers

I don't see anyone talk about this; Billy had a thing for mom's because he only felt happy when he was with his mom, and she left,, , so he seeks validation and affection in other older woman. Just something I noticed about his character

just realized Joe Quinn and Keery were the ones playing it gay. Duffers fr just threw in a "hehe Steve and Nancy" speech and THE ACTORS were the one to make that shit gay....the duffer bitches I shall call them

It's been 17 fucking days since the Duffer Brothers made me suffer through an unreasonable amount of pain and I still have never hated any producers/creators more. I think I've cried at least a little bit every day. It was so fucking stupid to kill off such a good character with amazing depth.

now i’m lowkey imagining the duffers reading byler fics like ooh that’s good put that in there

Matt Duffer saved this fanart to his pins and Mike and Will are holding hands

Also this

ALL WE DO IS WIN 😭🙏

Do y’all think we could sue the duffer brothers for emotional distress?

gm byler nation!

just dropping in with a reminder for if you're ever having byler doubt!

just think about this for a second:

the duffer brothers would have had no reason to acknowledge/confirm or even establish will's love for mike (and therefore byler, by extension) if not to have a confession/confrontation included in the next season of the show.

if they had pretended the romantic tension between mike and will hadn't existed in the first place then yes, it would be queerbating, but they might have been able to slip away with it (legally, maybe not emotionally) whilst still maintaining a shred of plausible deniability.

but now seeing as they have acknowledged will's sexuality and the object of his affections (😏) and managed to boost byler to be equally, if not more popular than the "true" canon ship, they now are obligated to acknowledge it in the show, especially as they talk about season 5 focusing on will coming into himself more.

now if we put two and two together, we will remember milkvan's . umm. ?issues, and the amount of season 5 bts we've got of each pair respectively up to this point, with mike and will seeming to almost always be together, as well as their promises of being a "team" this season, and realise that if a confrontation has/is going to happen, wouldn't the bts we're getting look a little bit. idk. different??

i, for one, highly doubt that the duffer brothers would have will confess and then be turned down by mike (because come on.

a) what type of representation is that even &

b) why would they even include that? it would just be useless and take away from the mainplot of the story &

c) not acknowledging byler at this point would be blatant queer-bating. as was touched on before.

d) mike is also in love with will, they just can't come out and say it as not to spoil the ?surprise? and spark any controversy before the release of the new season.)

and seriously.

the history that would be made with such an iconic romantic subplot?? hello??????. they can't let all of their plotting and parallels and hints and hard work go to waste. they wouldnt.

therefore, the confrontation must have gone.. *shocked, stunned gasping* .. well???? for byler????

i am SHOCKED.

anyways.

byler doubt? don't know her 💗🌈

byler endgame!!