in a library far, far away . . .

Starrie I she/her I 26 ao3: captain_starryeyed slowly making my way through writing steddie and sapphic st fics

[soapijabroni]

My beloved baby garbage twins

[waldos-art]

Get you a petty bitch who makes you laugh

[cherrysolitary]

It's 1993, LA. Eddie grew his bangs out and Steve got tanned and buff. (from the au I'm working on)

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

it is very interesting to see the language of contemporary book criticism co-opted by Christian Nationalists to remove books from classrooms and libraries.

One recent example: My novel Turtles All the Way Down was banned from being taught in English classes because one school board member claimed it "romanticizes mental illness."

(It does no such thing, of course. TAtWD makes mental illness seem really unpleasant and not at all either lowercase-r or capital-r romantic. To acknowledge something's existence is not to romanticize that thing. But part of co-opting this language is misusing it for the end of removing books thematically centered on mental illness, or physical illness, or sex, or anything else that might be deemed insufficiently inocuous for Educational Literature.)

But the question of when writing about something veers into romanticizing it IS actually a very important question for contemporary literary criticism, and one that's been explored a lot (sometimes with generosity and care, sometimes not) in book discourse online. So the Christian Nationalist Right is using the language of analysis that we are using in ways that are at best misguided and at worst disingenuous.

It's really discouraging--I mean, on a personal level obviously but also just as an American who believes teachers should be allowed to teach--to see such widespread book bans in American high schools and libraries. But it's not surprising, really. Books retain a lot of power--to deepen our empathy with those who are suffering, to connect us to ourselves and to others, and to see the full humanity of those who might be dehumanized or marginalized by the social order.

On that front, the Christian Nationalists are right to worry. Books can be a path into loving one's neighbor as one's self, and seeing the full light of the sacred in the experiences of the marginalized. God forbid.

[depsidase]

[ahallister]

I can actually think of an alternative explanation: small print press. He’d put out orders for various rare books with the traveling merchants who’d come through town, and every so often they’d turn up with one and he’d set about printing a hundred copies or so, then sell the fresh new copies to merchants heading towards various university towns like Avignon, Grenoble, Toulouse, etc. He’d likely keep a couple copies of each book for himself, generating a library, and might wind up with all sorts of books he couldn’t profitably make copies of to sell to the universities, like fairy tales.

If that’s his business model, then Belle might be the closest thing he’d have to an apprentice, since we can see he’s getting on in age and might have nobody else to even consider passing the business along to when he slips the mortal coil. As one final thought, her dad is an inventor, and might be the bookseller’s only actual local customer, which might also explain the relationship. Her dad would occasionally want certain types of books on natural philosophy, and the bookseller would be the one with contacts who could procure them. Just look how dangerous it was for him to go traveling all alone! Far better to leave that sort of business to professional traveling merchants.

[galwednesday]

If you combine these ideas, then you wind up with a bookseller who was training Belle as an apprentice for both small press publishing and money laundering, only to watch his very promising student be swept away by some rich guy the whole town was trying to kill twenty minutes ago. He admires her hustle, but it leaves a gaping hole in his succession plan.

Fortunately there are two newcomers in town, one with an eye for mechanics and meticulous attention to detail and one with a love of risks and charm to spare, and that's how the neurotic clock and slutty candlestick take over the legitimate and criminal wings of his enterprise respectively.

[sugar-petals]

this just in. our whole ass pope has politely announced the crusade against slop

[allsteddie]

Steddie where they meet somewhere around their mid/late 20s and Eddie is convinced he's started dating a single father.

Steve is always talking about the kids. About driving them to school and taking them to doctor appointments or trips. It's sweet, actually, how devoted he obviously is to his kids.

There's Dustin, who Steve is always driving everywhere and bragging about how smart he is. And there's also Max and Erica, his girls who have Steve around their fingers.

And, well, maybe Steve is young to have three kids already, but who's Eddie to judge?

But then Steve is mentioning a Lucas too when he talks about his kids, and a Jane, and okay now Eddie is kinda freaking out. He's been trying to give Steve space and time, to let Steve set the pace and decide when he wants to have the 'do you wanna meet my kids?' conversation, but Eddie can't help but blurt out, "Babe, how many kids do you have?"

Steve looks at him funny, as if Eddie is not making any sense. "What do you mean?"

"You've already mentioned at least five different kids. Is there any more?"

"Oh, they are seven in total."

Seven. Seven fucking kids. How the hell is that even possible? Steve is twenty-six!

"Jesus, how old were you when the first of them was born?"

Understanding glints in Steve's eyes and he laughs so hard that Eddie is a little offended. Who wouldn't be a little frantic after finding out their new boyfriend had seven kids?

"Do you wanna meet them?" Steve asks suddenly, unable to hold back a grin.

An hour later, Eddie finds himself meeting not a bunch of kids but a bunch of grown adults, well in their 20s too, who are very nice and cool but also extremely protective of Steve.

He gets seven shovel talks that day.

[itssjanedoe]

[s-h-a-s-e]

[goodfriendo]

i wonder what they're gossiping about

[jmawork]

had to draw them

[bedupolker]

Opposable thumbs are handy

[theconcealedweapon]

[maarvarq]

Always bear in mind that there is absolutely no legitimate evidence that Luigi was actually the one who killed the insurance company guy.

[theconcealedweapon]

Of course he wasn't. He was at a party with me that day.

[tiny-space-whale]

No but like literally, actually. All bits aside.

He didn't do it.

The cops very clearly planted evidence on him because they had to make an arrest because all eyes were on them and whoever actually did the deed was making them look stupid.

Why would the real killer hero have kept the weapon on his person and traveled two states over while carrying it and a manifesto in his bag, conveniently turning the crime into a federal matter? The same guy whose bag they found in a park, filled with monopoly money? Why did the police turn off their bodycams, take Luigi's stuff, drive a block away, turn their bodycams back on, go back into the restaurant, and then arrest him?

From the moment of his arrest, even left-of-center media has been presuming his guilt without examining anything (e.g. calling him "the killer" instead of "alleged" or "accused") and then when I say he didn't do it, the nearest person chimes in with some quip that tells me they think he did do it but should go free anyway. Don't get me wrong, I would have the same attitude if he had done it. But he didn't. It makes me feel like the only sane person in the world, even among my staunchly leftist friends.

[unspeakablearchives]

[fagcrisis]

i hate the word spicy can we bring back calling things erotic

[maryoliveoil]

rolling up to Wendy's to get an erotic chicken sandwich

[peachfromcmbyn]

The thing about Miss Piggy is that she kind of has a Roger Rabbit comedy superpower where she wins nearly any conceivable fight she's in. But unlike other characters of which that's true, like say, Bugs Bunny, who tend to win because they make the opponent play the game with their rules, Miss Piggy wins because the joke is that she can beat the shit out of literally anybody.

[i-ate-a-man-once]

hey so I forgot I was doing these

[animentality]

[infimace-blog]

dead wife montage but it's a henchman reminiscing about da boss after he got put six feet under. picking flowers before hiding the bodies, wiping cocaine from your nose after a big night, that long drive down the beach to find the bookie who squealed. where did the days go

[littleyellowtangerine]

No one knows but Steve is an honorary member of the Hellfire club.

It all came to be because Eddie received a memo stating that every club had to have a minimum number of members and his club was lacking one, meaning that if he want the club to be kept by the school board he had to find another member or close the club.

Eddie knew that if they were closed, they would never be able to open it up again even if they had many more members. It was not lost to him that even more students and parents thought they were some satanic cult or something, so he set himself the mission to find someone who could, at least, lend their name for the cause.

It kind of fell on his lap when golden boy Steve Harrington came looking for some pills to deal with his headaches. Eddie told Steve that he would discount some if he could do them the favor to sign in. Steve obviously rejected the idea, but if Eddie was known for something was his charisma (and power to insist on a matter) which finally made Steve caved and agree to do it, with the condition that it would only be his name and no one could ever find out he was in the club. Eddie accepted and even joked about the club also not wanting to have anything to do with Steve's name.

The next day, Steve went to the secretaries office to sign in to the club with Eddie coming with. The only acknowledgement of the deed was a casual nod that the hellfire members gave Steve when he came out of the office and nothing more.

And well, Eddie really intended to keep his promise, if it wasn't for another mandated rule he find out later. Every member of the club had to appear and be listed on the yearbook's page and photo. Which, sucks, but it had to be done. Eddie pleads again to Steve to come to the photo session (and wear the hellfire t-shirt) but Steve is adamant that it would never happen. This goes on for a whole week, Eddie following Steve asking him to make an appearance and Steve reminding him of his promise to only use his name and nothing more.

Once Eddie realizes Steve is serious about it, he is defeated and is ready for the club to be closed.

The day of the photoshoot everyone's mood is on the floor, this is the end of it, some are angry at Steve and the others are just down that they will be closed for a technicality like this. The photographer comes in and install the camera and just when he is directing them to the frame, to the surprise of everyone, Steve appears and without futher ado hurries Eddie to give him the "stupid t-shirt". Steve makes Eddie and everyone in the club to promise to keep his face out of everyone's yearbook one way or another and they comply.

When the yearbook comes out, everyone at school is shocked to see a page blatantly ripped out of every copy. One would think this was going to be reported or took to the principal but when people realized the missing page was about the Hellfire club, everyone took it as a blessing more than an attack. Aside from that, the only other proof of Steve is his list of extracurriculars but, has such a long list that the Hellfire club name is buried between the names. Leaving any trace of his involvement completely erased.

At least everyone thinks so, because there is a copy of the yearbook with that page intact and it's tucked securely in Eddie Munson's trailer.

That is until Dustin finds it out the day he comes to help Eddie and Steve move in together. He starts skimming through the thing when he spots the page and his eyes bulge when he sees the main photo. He has to read the footnote to really get that Steve Harrington was indeed a member of the Hellfire club and it's not a figment of his imagination.

Needless to say, Dustin spends the whole dinner asking questions about it while Steve is sending daggers at Eddie for keeping a copy without telling him.