vic-timism

however, due to a miscalculation, young steve never ends up staying with the Hagans—because of the group's own actions—so now the four of them are trying to find a way back. the problem is that two of the four hate steve and nancy is, at best, indifferent, so, they don't care about altering the timeline—especially if it affects steve—and at one point before they leave, steve suddenly disappears. when they finally return, the timeline is completely altered: eddie is alive and knows about the upside down, max was never a victim of vecna, and robin and erica know nothing about the UD (among other even stranger, crazier changes). steve is nowhere to be found, and dustin—the only one who remembers altering anything—celebrates at first, only to realize that the has somehow ruined steve's life.

Hm, yeah, Steve had a rough summer in the new timeline. He spent most of it hanging out in the woods behind his house with a kid who was only in town to stay with a relative for the summer. They actually ended up kissing.

Unfortunately, that part happened in Steve’s house the day his parents got home. Since the kid was not only a boy but a Munson to boot, Steve was sent off to corrective boarding school. He is… alive, but deeply closeted, friendless, and miserable.

Eddie hasn’t had a chance to speak with Steve since he was shipped out of Hawkins, but still feels guilty for letting them get caught. It’s that guilt that drove him to help investigate little Will Byers’ disappearance and first get involved in the Upside Down in ‘83. It’s that guilt that drives him to once again sign himself up for a suicide run in the fight against Vecna, and dies again even worse than the first time.

And it’s kinda all Dustin’s fault. 🙂 Oops. 🙃

(Note: I love Dustin but if shit gets changed suddenly Steve, someone who has been beaten and literally tortured trying to keep all those kids safe, disappears and Dustin celebrates at first? Uh uh. No. That’s bad karma and it’ll bite his ass right off.)

… Maybe a while later, after Vecna is defeated in ‘89 (it takes longer), Steve turns up after all. He’s married with a kid on the way and the most boring-ass career imaginable. He’s got a buzz cut and a low-key coke habit.

And he’s absolutely devastated because on top of this shitty, repressed as hell life:

He’s also been having screaming night terrors for over half a decade because he remembers the way it used to be too.

He also remembers how none of his three companions cared about altering the timeline.

like, this dustin is a total asshole here. but killing eddie TWICE and in a worst (and def more horrendous) way definitely would destroy him. and when steve suddenly comes back to town after defeting vecna, having an apparently happy life (dustin never knew how to tell when steve was having a hard time—maybe because he couldn't, or maybe because he didn't want to face the fact that someone as strong as steve could be anything less than amazing)

dustin lunges at steve, blinded by rage; he spots him in the supermarket buying diapers and simply throws a punch—an act that escalates into a full-blown assault as dustin climbs on top of him, ranting about how steve escaped the entire ordeal of staying in hawkins. "are you happy, steve?!!? playing happy family?!?! playing house while the rest of us were spilling blood?? were you happy knocking up your beautiful wife while people were here dying?"

but steve doesn't react the way dustin wants him to, dustin wants steve to fire back with equal ferocity and violence. instead, steve just stares into his eyes with a tormented look—not the kind you’d give some random lunatic approaching you (or punching you in the middle of the street in this case), but a look of recognition. it makes no sense, because neither nancy nor jonathan had ever looked at him that way, they had lived in the blissful ignorance of believing this was the first time playing that stupid game.

when dustin finally snaps out of it, he remains frozen over steve. they share a moment neither ever thought they’d experience with anyone else—an atmosphere of shared knowledge and shared experiences. and—dustin will never tire of stressing this—it is impossible. steve simply cannot remember. he shouldn't. because if steve remembers—if he’s remembered all this time—it means...

Adrian: Friend Grace, is submerging oneself in bodies of water a regular human enrichment activity, question? Well, I suppose I can make an exception, statement.

and all that science shit. Adrian's not very talkative at all, but very elegant. Rocky on the other hand, talks like any well-meaning engineer or mechanic should.

THE AWNING OF A NEW AGE - PT 1 of 3

Some of these rumours are just rumours but Steve is spinning nothingness into verbal gold and the people are eating it up. They love to hear what the King has to say and spread news like wildfire.

Sometimes though, sometimes Steve knows actual secrets. Things he doesn't spread, things he knows are delicate and dangerous and best kept close to his chest until he really needs them. Like that Tommy cheated on Carol with Sally from the cheer squad and she made him try on her panties. He only uses that one to keep Tommy in check, when Tommy smells blood in the halls of Hawkins High and his fingers itch to be closed into a fist and smashed into someone's face. No, the secrets Steve keeps are his real power.

How perfect that one Eddie Munson doesn't just deal drugs but dabbles in secrets as well. He might be loud and ever-present on the cafeteria tables but he knows how to make himself invisible too, knows hiding spaces and little nooks where you can catch all kinds of shenanigans. So he delivers the secrets to Steve and in turn, Steve keeps his jocks in check and away from Eddie's little sheep. It's a good deal, a perfect one even.

But just for insurance Eddie also has dirt on Steve that could put him on the high school guillotine quicker than he can say Marie Antoinette and Steve knows one of Eddie's secrets that could end up in everyone getting out their torches and pitchforks. It happens to be same secret: that they kiss every time they do their little exchange, that they fuck when Steve's parents aren't home or Wayne is at work, that if they were anyone else this might be considered dating.

ehc from @edenisquiet

@zorgons okay my first thought was that he blurts out “what no I’m not homophobic I’m gay it’s just that it was YOU” and makes it so much worse for himself.

Imagine Steve doing the “first look” trend at his wedding where they prank the groom by replacing the bride with the best man, and he turns around to see Eddie when he was expecting his soon-to-be wife, and immediately starts sobbing.

Just. Going from giddy and happy to the absolute gut punch despair of seeing what he wants but can’t have.

Eddie just shrugs, loops his fingers through Steve’s belt loops. “I can handle it. I want to meet the people who made my boyfriend.”

Steve melts. God, he’s sweet. But he still spends the whole drive prepping Eddie and tells him don’t mention the trailer, don’t talk about D&D, if my dad brings up business just nod, if my mom asks about your ‘plans’ say you’re in community college. He’s basically telling Eddie what to say to survive dinner. And he doesn’t want to but he doesn’t want to see Eddie hurt. They get to the Harrington house and Steve’s braced for impact. Then his parents surprise him.

His mom takes one look at Eddie’s rings and compliments them and she ends up showing off her jewelry collection and during dinner she tells Steve “Oh my god, where have you been hiding this guy, Stephen?” And she’s delighted to learn Eddie’s a musician and tells him about all the concerts she’s been to. She spends the whole night telling Eddie about seeing Sabbath in ’74, and how she met a lot of bands. She asks about his guitar, compliments his eyeliner, and calls him “charming.” His dad’s awkward but actually tries, asking Eddie about his music “career” without the usual sneer. Steve’s sitting there shocked, watching his parents like Eddie. Like, genuinely. And it’s kind of freaking him out.

When they leave, Steve’s mom loads Eddie up with a Tupperware of her famous lemon bars “for the road.” In the car, Eddie’s grinning in the passenger seat with a container of desserts on his lap.

He glances at Steve. “Babe, your parents are really cool.”