This blog has been getting a few followers so here's a lil pinned post/about me type thing:
This is a sideblog specifically for Stranger Things content. My main is @thealldeadrockshow so you might see me follow you back from there. (I do post some Stranger Things on there too but it's much more varied)
I'm a multishipper at heart however currently somewhat hyperfixated on dusteve. I don't care much for most of the main popular ships though
I also just like talking about and analysing the characters in general, removed from a shipping context
I didn't think season 5 was that bad. Though it was also not that good. It was fine
I am attempting to write fic for the first time in years and I might talk about it at times. It may or may not ever see the light of day
I am notoriously bad at replying but trying to do better so please feel free to send me asks ❤
Post-canon, Lucas and Steve regularly shoot hoops together and play one-on-one basketball outside at the park. When they do, Max and Dustin post up on the bleachers with a cooler of fun drinks, wearing sunglasses and sitting on cushions. Early on, Dustin tries to make polite conversation for a bit before Max shuts him up.
"You and I both know what we're here for," she says, eyes glued to where Steve is boxing out Lucas, ass shoved firmly against Lucas's crotch.
^^This is the intensity she's giving. Dustin promptly shuts up to enjoy the show.
Adding to this-- Dusteve and Lumax go on double dates to the arcade all the time. Dustin and Max both get very competitive about their high scores in Dig Dug and Steve and Lucas both get turned on by how focused and competent their partners are.
They probably also do other comeptitive dates and pit couple vs couple-- like bowling and minigolf and shit. Steve CARRIES Dustin to bowling and mini golf victories every time, while Lucas makes it his personal goal to beat Steve and Max makes it her personal goal to sabotage him.
Occasionally against my better judgement I browse the stranger things subreddit and one of the biggest complaints on there is that season 5 should have committed to more character death in general and specifically that Karen and Ted shouldn't have survived the attack in 5x2
And like I kind of get where they're coming from, but at the same time I... do not think they've fully thought through the implications this has. Like, are you telling me you want to make the Wheeler kids orphans? You want 19 year old Nancy - who has only ever wanted to escape the expectations placed on her as a woman in that time period - to have to give up her dreams in order to parent her grieving brother and traumatised sister? Yes, Mike is almost a legal adult himself, but Holly is nine. That would be such an unsatisfying ending for Nancy's character, not to mention a dark way to end the show in general.
Sometimes they take it a step further to say that Nancy and Jonathan should have died in the goo room, Robin in the hospital attack and Steve on the tower, and I'm just like oh so you want these kids to suffer suffer.
Do you ever think about how even after the final battle Nancy must have been so overworked and stressed even after it was all over. Like yes they “won” but both parents are in the hospital and even once they come back home they still won’t be able to do regular household chores like that and will still be in a lot of pain. So she has to take care of making sure their destroyed house is liveable while also explaining to her parents all of the traumatic experiences she and Mike have had in the past four years. She probably has to pick up a job considering her both parents aren’t able to work and they have a lot of medical bills. She also has to take care of her extremely traumatized brother and sister and make sure that they’re okay all while dealing with her own trauma. And she’s like 18 or 19 at most.
I love her so much and her trauma isn’t talked about enough
Steve and Robin murmur quietly together, still looking out into the dark of the evening. They don't seem to have noticed that they've been joined by anyone else.
"Steve," Dustin says, trying to get his attention. His voice is caught in the back of his throat and it comes out more quietly than he means to. He clears his throat and tries again. "Steve."
Robin and Steve stop talking and turn, and the suave confidence that Dustin has tried to project falters when he sees Steve's face. He looks nervous, head tipped down like he's almost reluctant to look Dustin directly in the eyes.
Dustin clears his throat again and extends his hand. "Shall we?"
That's when Steve looks up properly, surprise and hesitation and what Dustin thinks might be hope warring on his face. He looks at Robin, who deftly plucks the drink Steve's clutching out of his hands. She slips back into the reception with a wink to Dustin.
The music pulses faintly through the glass doors, though the late-night choir of insect song fills the air more fully. Dustin reaches out and takes Steve's empty hand, tugging him forward gently, and Steve follows.
"Here," Dustin says, taking Steve's other hand and placing it on the slope of his shoulder. When Steve doesn't pull away, Dustin slides his own hand around Steve's waist to the small of his back, and without any other words, they start to move together. Their dress shoes click on the slate stones of the patio as they step and turn slowly, not following precise dance movements, but just the rhythm of their own bodies.
They know each other, how to accommodate the different lengths of their strides, when to follow and when to lead. It's somehow more natural than Dustin expects, and exactly what he knew it would be like.
"So you finally got your head out of your ass," Steve says, breaking the silence.
"Wow, you're such a romantic," Dustin responds sarcastically, though without any real heat. "You steal all the ladies' hearts with lines like that?"
Steve smiles wryly. "It's working, isn't it? Not like you were responding to all my other attempts," Steve spins them so he's walking Dustin backward, starting to take the lead.
"Oh, is that what that was? I think you're going to need to try harder than that, Steve," Dustin says, the rhythm of their banter picking up.
"It's not my fault you have no observational skills," Steve retorts. "What's a guy gotta do these days anyway?"
"You called me a mopey bastard and then stormed off. Am I supposed to be impressed by that?" Dustin says, grinning up at Steve, taking the lead back and dancing them toward a more remote part of the patio.
"You're not?" Steve asks, bringing his face closer to Dustin's. He can see the glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Dustin knows Steve loves their bickering just as much as Dustin does. "You're right here, aren't you? I think I'm plenty romantic."
"Well, now that you've got my full attention, why don't you give me your best line?"
They've all but stopped moving at this point, swaying back and forth at the edge of the patio, the dark lawn sweeping out before them while stars glitter overhead.
"Can I do something that will make sure you don't feel like you're in middle school anymore?" Steve says suggestively, voice a low, deep rumble. His eyes drop to Dustin's lips.
"Dude," Dustin says. "That's your best line? That sucks!"
Steve pulls back, affronted. "Oh, like you could do any better? Show me your moves, then, Romeo!"
Dustin rolls his eyes, wraps his fingers around Steve's tie and pulls him down for a kiss, feeling Steve melt against him.
"You drive me nuts, Henderson," Steve huffs a laugh against his lips, before running his fingers through Dustin's curls to kiss him again.
"Oh, I know," Dustin says, smiling so widely he can barely kiss back.
The end.
@pingou7 @u40tapedeck @vvasilisssk @beekeeper85 for your happy ending reading pleasure
"Isn't it kind of weird?" Mike asks, wrinkling his nose as he stuffs his long arms into his suit jacket. "Steve knew you when you were like, thirteen."
"And so did you, dude," Dustin retorts, looking at him in confusion in the mirror as he adjusts his bow tie. "What are you saying?"
"I don't know, it's just kind of... icky, I guess." Mike throws his shoulders up in an exaggerated shrug. "I guess I'll just always see you as a little kid. Maybe Steve feels the same way. Which makes him weird, right?"
Dustin can't help himself. He turns and gives Mike a smack in the back of the head, sending the other man squawking. "I'm forty-five years old, asshole!" He straightens his suit in annoyance. He and Steve haven't waited years for marriage equality to pass for Mike Wheeler to give them shit. "Keep talking like that and I am finding another groomsman!"
