Trying something new. It may or may not work, but experiments are cool so we're experimenting.
I want to create a collective list of favorite Steddie fics all in one place.
This list would be updated in perpetuity. People can use this list to browse and find older recommended fics, discover hidden gems, or just snag something good to read. (It might also be helpful if anyone ever wanted to start something similar to @/stuckylibrary but for Steddie.)
Submissions are anonymous and unlimited. You can submit as many things as you like. Submit well-known fics, submit fics you think aren't loved enough. Submit fics that deserve literary awards. Submit weird little crackfics that brought you joy. Crawl your bookmarks and rec lists and DMs with friends.
If you love a fic, someone else might too.
The only rule is that fics should have enough Steddie focus (pre-Steddie pining is totally cool!) to be, you know, Steddie. Also don't worry if you submit something already on the list. That just tells people it's double/triple/quadruple recommended. (If it gets out of hand, I'll manually edit in a rec count or something.)
Submit your faves here.
View the collaborative list here. (Please remember that this might be mostly empty until people have had a chance to submit some stuff.)
It's okay if it takes a little longer than you thought.
After many years, my „first“ Day on tumblr again.
If the internet wasn’t anonymous anymore i would stop writing/posting fic and a part of my soul would die. I don’t want to post fic under my real name i don’t wish to be perceived i wish to be known on an incredibly deep level without something superficial like my name attached. Writing fic is like stripping naked but leaving your face out of the shot
Part V
a vacant look
slack facial expressions
shaky hands
trembling lips
swallowing
struggling to breathe
tears rolling down their cheeks
smiling with their mouth and their eyes
softening their features
cannot keep their eyes off of the object of their fondness
sometimes pouting the lips a bit
reaching out, wanting to touch them
narrowing their eyes
rolling their eyes
raising their eyebrows
grinding their teeth
tightening jaw
chin poking out
pouting their lips
forced smiling
crossing arms
shifting their gaze
clenching their fists
tensing their muscles
then becoming restless/fidgeting
swallowing hard
stiffening
holding their breath
blinking rapidly
exhaling sharply
scrubbing a hand over the face
sighing heavily
downturned mouth
slightly bending over
shoulders hanging low
hands falling to the sides
a pained expression
heavy eyes
staring down at their feet
Part I + Part II + Part III + Part IV
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My theory of adhd management is that in order to focus there are 4 things that need to be sufficiently occupied:
Eyes
Ears
Hands (or body)
Brain
And if you aren’t occupying them enough or there’s too many things demanding the use of one, it’ll start to wreck havoc on your ability to do things.
So for example, listening to a podcast. This occupies your ears and brain as you focus on both listening and processing what you hear, but it leaves your hands and eyes completely without anything to do. If you tried to sit down and just listen to a podcast by itself you’d probably get unbearably bored and stop doing it.
But if you pair that activity with something that uses your hands and eyes, like a craft, household chore, or commute, suddenly you’re fully plugged in and can in fact focus better on both tasks than you could if you tried doing them separately.
It’s also why you can’t listen to a podcast while doing homework; you’re trying to use your brain for two different tasks. To occupy your ears while doing homework (which is already using eyes, brain, and hands) you need something for your ears that doesn’t require your brain: music. Specifically music that doesn’t use too much brain power, which is why some people prefer instrumentals or songs in other languages.
Hyperfixation and sensory overload change this by moving the threshold for how much sensory input you need to be able to function. If I’m extremely focused on a craft project (eyes, hands, brain) I might not even need something for my ears; my interest in the project makes up for it. If i’ve had a very overwhelming day, trying to listen to an audiobook while I do some stretches could be too much to process. My brain needs a break.
Video games, which pretty much universally occupy all 4 areas, are basically instant, easy focus wrapped up in a neat little bow. No wonder adhd-havers tend to love them.
If you’re struggling with a task, try looking at which areas it occupies and which are left unattended. Then try to find something enjoyable to fill those gaps, and see if that helps.
Holy shit this got angsty fast.
AIDS crisis, it’s ambiguous if Steve has it or not but no main characters are dead. Mention of funerals.
Steve doesn’t forget to tell Robin he’s queer. He just can’t find the right time to interject that he’s been driving down to Indianapolis to go to gay bars and get laid since 1984.
Steve means well, as even drugged up on the bathroom floor, he was unwilling to expose Robin to his type of raunchy queer indulgences.
When Eddie shows up, Steve stares at the Hanky and wonders if he was just copying other metalheads or flagging in Hawkins. He settles on Eddie doing it on accident as a fashion choice and moves on.
Robin, on the other hand, asks if the rumors of Eddie’s queerness are true and Eddie confirms it after Robin makes it incredibly clear that she is completely safe and a lesbian.
Robin and Eddie become best friends, moaning about their crushes on straight people. Eventually they decide to go to Indianapolis and find a gay bar. Steve is out of town for the week so it’s perfect timing.
Little do they know, they roll up to Steve’s cruising spot, and Steve has his little navy hanky tucked into his back right pocket. He’s grinding up on some guy when they arrive and neither of them notice each other. Steve’s too busy having a guy lick up the side of his neck and Robin and Eddie are busy looking timid as fuck near the entrance.
Robin and Eddie don’t notice Steve until the bartender is yelling “put y’a tits away ‘evie, if you wanna fuck, do it somewhere I don’t have to see!”
Their eyes jolt to the direction the bartender is yelling and there’s Steve, the guy behind him had pushed Steve’s shirt up to his collarbones and was currently brushing over his nipples. Steve rolls his eyes at the bartender, straightening up and letting his shirt fall back over his body. It was still obvious that his hook-up’s hands hadn’t moved.
Eddie chokes and Steve’s eyes whip over to them. He pushes the guy’s hands off his chest, whispering something quietly to him before sauntering towards Eddie and Robin.
“Hey.” Steve says sheepishly.
“Steve, what the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me?” Robin inquires in a whiny tone.
Steve rolls his eyes again, tangling his thumbs in his belt loops.
“There wasn’t exactly a good time where I could tell you I come down here to get the daylights fucked out of me.” Steve replies nonchalantly as if telling Robin the weather.
Robin just makes a series of unintelligible and unholy noises of frustration at this.
“Oh and unless you plan on hitting someone while having sex with them, I’d remove the hanky as you’re probably not actually a sadist.” Steve states plainly, gesturing at Eddie’s pants where the hanky swings from his back pocket.
Eddie hurriedly unfastens the hanky and tucks it fully into his pocket to hide it.
“So what are you two here for? Fun or a hook-up? If you’re looking for a hookup I could pair you guys off with some of my acquaintances.” Robin looks mildly horrified by Steve’s offer, while Eddie looks repulsed. 
“So, not a hookup?” Steve inquires.
“Oh my god, Steve shut up!” Robin squeals.
“Tiffany over there has a mouth like heaven, as I’ve been told by her numerous trysts, Still not interested Robin?” Steve asks, gesturing vaguely to a perfectly coiffed woman with red tinted hair and sun-kissed skin.
Robin got distracted for a second when Tiffany looked at her and winked.
“We just wanted to check the place out, maybe make some conversation.” Robin justified.
“Fuck! I should probably stay with you then. Jack will be disappointed.” Steve says with a pout. “Can’t exactly ditch my friends to get laid.” He grumbles.
Steve waves at the bartender, “Paul, can you send Jack a Long Island, as an apology from me?”
“ ‘Course”
“Steve you don’t-“ Eddie is quickly interrupted.
“Unless you’re planning on fucking me, it’s probably not happening tonight.” Steve said in a blasé tone.“Anyway, maybe go to Paul if you want the whole papa gay spiel. Condoms, gay plauge, and how not to get murdered. Specifically important for you Eddie because men are a lot more likely to try to kill you.” Steve laughs self deprecatingly with an odd tilt to his barking laughter.
“Steve why are you acting like this?” Robin questions sharply.
“The plague is killing the gays, might as well party up while we’re still alive.” Steve pauses, remembering something, his smile slips slightly just for a moment. “There’s a funeral I’m attending tomorrow. So party tonight, party tomorrow to remind us all we’re still alive, visit the ward before going back to Hawkins.” Steve says it with a smile, his eyes shining like he’s high on something and not all quite there.
Robin could suddenly see why Steve was acting like this, it slotted perfectly into her picture of Steve. Steve the monster killer, Steve the human shield, the Steve who tempts death on a yearly basis.
No matter where he went, Steve was on the front lines, getting shot. But now it was like he was dancing in no man’s land, pirouetting around the death and destruction like it was his damn home.
Robin felt a little mad that Steve would seemingly never be able to escape it, by nature of who he was.
Eddie on the other hand, was shocked. His time in a small town had protected him from this. Getting whiskey drunk in the trenches before disease inevitably claims you. Being gay seemed suddenly too large for him, made him want to scurry back into his closet and hide.
But, God, Steve could die without ever knowing how Eddie felt.
“Steve, I think we should leave.” Eddie said firmly, Steve gave him a bewildered look.
“Why?” Eddie responded by tugging the hankey out of Steve’s pocket and hiding it in his jacket, before beginning to drag Steve out of the bar.
“I have to pay my tab, asshole!” Steve tugs back, quickly grabbing his wallet and throwing 30 dollars in the counter before Eddie resumed tugging him out of the bar.
They were hit with cool spring air when they emerged, Eddie taking little time to drag Steve into the alley and push him up against the wall.
Eddie was shaking with rage, but his eyes were full of tears.
“You can’t act like this!” He yells.
“Chill Eddie.”
“You’re not allowed to kill yourself.” Eddie whimpers out.
“I know how the plague spreads, I’m safe, always make the guy wear a condom. Why, you wanna fucking watch to check?”
“But what if one pops, what if you die before..-” Eddie starts shaking harder.
“Before what Eddie?” Steve interrupts, anger lacing his voice.
“BEFORE I CAN TELL YOU IM IN LOVE WITH YOU!” Eddie shouts, tears winding paths down his cheeks.
Steve pauses, anger and tension melting off his frame. He blinks a few times, stunned. Eddie on the other hand is curling into Steve and sobbing, body shaking like a leaf.
Steve curls around Eddie, taking him securely into his arms.
“Oh I’m so sorry.” Steve says in a hushed tone.
“I d’nt wan’ you to d’e!” Eddie struggles out.
Steve looks up and finds Robin and Paul staring at them. Paul nods at him before going back inside.
“Eddie, I’ll get tested and stop coming here to hook up, I still want to see my friends though.”
Eddie nods tearfully at the compromise.
Steve pulls Eddie’s head up and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips.
“It’ll all be okay.”
Your writing will always feel awkward to you, because you wrote it.
Your plot twists will always feel predictable, because you created them.
Your stories will always feel a bit boring to you, because you read them a million times.
They won't feel like that for your reader.
Want to make a minor adjustment to my Steve With Much Older Siblings post from yesterday. I think it’d be a much more interesting dynamic if he’s actually their half sibling from an affair.
Their father had an affair with his secretary and then married her when she got pregnant. It broke up their family and they blamed Steve for it for years.
When they stayed over for their weekend with Dad, they were either outright cruel to him or pretended he didn’t exist. When they were old enough to stop coming over, they did. It’s only after growing up and maturing that (most of) his siblings were able to acknowledge that Steve was never at fault for their family breaking up.
They tried to mend their relationship with him, especially after realizing how absent his parents are, but by then Steve was old enough to build up his own resentment. It’s an uphill battle.
It’s a lot of actually coming around for holidays and a lot of teasing when they do. It’s actually picking the phone when the hospital calls, something that’s happening with increasing frequency.
Steve has never asked any of them for anything until one day, he shows up on Richie’s front porch smelling like death and gasoline. He’s got blood drying all over him and is visibly shaking, and Richie thinks that he’s been hurt in the earthquake but Steve barely acknowledges the concern, “I need you to represent my friend.”
“What?”
“You’re the only lawyer I know, and -“ Steve takes a big shuttering breath. “They’ll kill him, Rich. He never hurt anybody but no one will listen. They’ll lock him up and it won’t be fair, and Dustin can’t… I never ask you for anything but. But I need…”
“Eddie Munson?” He asks incredulous. “You’re friends with Eddie Munson?”
There’s a tumblr post floating around somewhere that says “We think that if we get better at writing, it will someday stop sounding like we wrote it” or something along those lines.
Does anyone happen to have a link handy? I want to reference it in an advice post.