Enjoy some sapphic starb on this, the release day of season 5, vol 2
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Enjoy some sapphic starb on this, the release day of season 5, vol 2
Prompts are here!
As my life is still worse than a mess, Stevie Week this year will take place at the end of August, 24-30th, Monday to Sunday.
Prompt list:
PIN UP, TIGER STRIPES
BEACH&BIKINIS, T4T
OMEGAVERSE, BAMF!STEVIE
SUMMER (DATE), PRIDE
BEST FRIENDS, CHEERLEADER
HORSE GIRL, CROSSOVER
POLYAMORY, FIRST
Rules:
No AI/LLM
No wordcount limits
Any ships, genres and themes as long as you tag them
Tag explicit content and put it under 'read more'
Any form of writing and art
You can mix the prompts between days
You don't have to use the prompts, only Stevie is mandatory
Stevie can be trans, cis, drag, nonbinary and so on
No ship hate
Send me an ask if you have any questions.
Mother of Pearl
Mother of Pearl by Pizzabones aka @glitterfang the incredible artist who also drew all the beautiful art featured in the bind 💖
She's always been Barb.
Ever since she was a kid, shes been Barb. A serious child whose frown came faster than her smile, who never shook the habit of squinting even after she got fitted for the right glasses.
Sure, as a squishy faced baby she'd been Bee. And her dad was the only person in the world who called her Honey. But that was as far as it went.
And shes been fine with that, she's never been the kind of girl people look at and think of cutesy things. She's practical.
She wasn't the kind of girl you looked at and called Barbie.
Until Stevie.
Stevie who hadn't changed anything about herself except her curves and her pronouns. Who was unfortunately just as charming as she was in high school.
It's all smouldering good looks, floppy brown hair and droopy brown eyes. Leaning up against any flat surface that she can and lingering on the name likes it's a taste Stevie can't help but savor: Barbie.
Hi Barbie! Barbie, can I get you- Oh, that reminds me Barbie…
"Heya Barbie, Robs was just telling me about this book festival thing-"
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" She's smiling even as she cocks her head to the side like Barb is a puzzle she wants to solve.
And she hates how much that flusters her, a blush rising up to her cheeks. She feels like she's on fire and her face has to match that feeling, fire engine red and completely unattractive. Something she cares about, when it's Stevie looking at her.
Or maybe it's just the topic that's got her tongue-tied. How is she supposed to tell someone that they're using the wrong nickname.
"I'm not exactly a Barbie." Is what she settles on.
"No? You're the girliest girl I know." Stevie comes closer and Barb can feel the taunt of the warmth of her body against hers, the way her hands reach up to snag the hem of Barb's sweater without actually touching. "You're always in pink and your makeup's done nice."
"That's reductive," she stumbles on the comeback.
Leaning closer, they're almost nose to nose as Stevie hums, heat of her breath fogging the bottom of Barb's glasses.
"Maybe," she agrees, "doesn't mean it can't be true too."
Her hands drift lower, finding waistband of Barb's slacks. "Tell me the truth though. Is there something a little lacy under here, Barbie?"
There's no world in which Stevie doesn't feel the way her breath stutters from her mouth. Not when it lands against her mouth.
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Stevie's laugh is as hot as the rest of her, smokey and dangerous and close enough that Barb wishes she could taste it.
"I would actually. I never got to play with Barbies, I was hoping you could be my first."
Ghost!Starb with a side of Steddie/Starbson poly tho, where Steve doesn't even know his house is haunted til after Season 3, he and Barb get to know each other and eventually start their little spooky romance.
Steve doesn't do all the failed dating, but he talks like he does, keeping up appearances with these random names when really he's spending the night cuddled up with his ghost girlfriend, being affectionately called a loser, making her laugh, wishing he could share this joy he feels, wishing he could talk about it without ruining what little closure people had.
The Steddie chemistry of season 4 happens, Steve has a minor bi awakening, but he also has a ghost girlfriend so he has no intention of doing anything particularly bi except accepting it.
At the end of it Eddie survives (just), makes a pass at Steve before he's out of hospital, gets an awkward "I have a girlfriend, sorry." But it's definitely odd, since nobody else thinks he does, Eddie even asked Buckley (who after a moment of queer solidarity and "he kissed me back when I kissed him" confirmed him bi and perpetually single) he even asked Henderson (who was confused as to why Eddie cared but also how Steve remained single when Nancy and Robin make so much sense—they do not). So he decides, fuck it, he'll go ask Steve at his house, where there is no answer so he goes to the sliding doors to see if anyone is actually home.
Someone is, but it's not Steve.
It's Barb freaking Holland, the girl who was declared dead in a huge conspiracy about the lab, the girl who looks mortified when Eddie lifts a hand and gives her a very confused wave.
i do not think that steve and nancy would have stayed together for so long if barb had not died that night in season 1:
i think she and steve's relationship would have naturally fizzled out. nancy would have realized that steve was not really her type and that she was more into the idea of the popular boy liking her than actually being with steve.
i also think that things would almost stay the same except barb survives in the upside down and gets rescued with will. so now, she is undoubtedly a member of the party and this puts her and steve in each other's orbit much more than before.
nancy and jon would still get together. i mean, it's basically inevitable. barb and steve go from strangers to frenemies to actual friends to something that lingers on the side of more. the friendship is a lot of banter and light teasing until it transforms into something deeper.
steve calls her barbie. she pretends to hate it. she calls him a litany of different nicknames, but he likes it most when she calls him steven. they study together often. he carries her books, walks her to his car. she always makes a little show of acting annoyed but she waits by her locker for him after basketball practice every day of senior year.
he graduates with decent grades because of barb. hell, he gets into state with her help. she's going to state too. she insists it is fully a coincidence. with nancy and jon so wrapped up in each other, she has the alarming realization that steve harrington might be is her best friend.
when she has nightmares, she knows she can call him even at 3 o'clock in the morning and he'll sneak over and climb through her window. letting steve hold her hand in her childhood bed doesn't seem so scary when she dreams about monsters with petal faces and rows of teeth.
she defends him to her other friends, even her old best friend robin who insists that steve is a terrible guy. she tells robin she can name a 100 ways that steve is an amazing guy.
steve defends her viciously. anyone who so much as looks at her wrong will get an earful or worse. he'd already dropped tommy and carol, but he loses his last few buddies on the team after he hears them making fun of barb after practice.
steve looks at barb and he just thinks she's beautiful, that she's perfect exactly as she is. he loves her red hair, her soft skin, pretty kissable lips. what others call big or fat, he thinks of as curvy, as soft, as lovely. her laugh, her intelligence, her fierce commitment to being true to herself. steve loves everything about her.
so when he hears the team talking shit about what he sees in her, he gets into another fight. he's got a busted lip and a black eye and a startling realization that maybe his feelings for barb aren't as platonic as he thought.
he doesn't just love her as his best friend. he's in love with her.
when robin enters during season 3, i think steve and barb would become steve barb and robin. the terrific trio. robin wants to shake them both because it's so obvious they like each other. they'd finally get together around the events of season 4.
and yeah, robin gets it to an extent. steve is a great guy even if he is a total dingus. not that she gets the appeal personally.
steve makes the first move after he gets jealous watching her interact with eddie. i think eddie's a shit and would totally flirt with barb because 1)she's a pretty girl and 2) he immediately picks up on steve's interest and jealousy. he's a little shit who likes to stir things up and watch the chaos unfold.
steve knows he has a shot when barb also gets jealous over nancy's flirty glances.
barb stays with lucas, max and erica because she thinks an adult should be with them. before parting ways, barb would make some sarcastic comment about steve making sure he doesn't get another concussion. tells him that he better come back.
and he takes the chance. kisses the hell out of her right in front of everyone. says some cheesy line like 'how could i not come back when i know you're here waiting for me barbie'
and then no one dies and they live happily ever after.
Fic Rec List for @strangerthings-sendoff
This is part of the community challenge but I'm posting to my main for the sake of being a hype man to these fics. 🖤 Most of these are smutty so be mindful of that.
A fic you enjoyed recently: Restless and Wild (Steddie | E | 9.8k) by my lovely friend and Kinktober co-mod @thesecynicaldoeeyes in which transmasc Eddie Munson is experiencing a certain time of the month and just wants to get laid.
A fic you read longer ago that's stayed with you: Sugar Hiccup (Steddie | E | 9.1k) is one I think about allllll the time.
A fic that made you laugh: The Stroke (girl!Steddie | E | 6.1k) by @itcanbepalped but this was very hard to pick because many of Mads' fics have made me laugh.
A fic that made you cry: The Tape (Eddie Munson & his mother character study, Steddie | G | 2.6k) again by the lovely Mads. This was difficult because I don't think there's a lot of fics in this fandom that have quite moved me to tears, I don't usually read the super, super sad ones (yet) and I can't remember if I cried at this one but if I didn't then I definitely got close.
A fic about a pairing you wouldn't usually read: Steve's Cunnilingus Delivery Service (Starb | E | 8k) by Mads again... this is just turning into a Mads appreciation list but I can't help it that they have range ok. Anyway I wouldn't normally consider myself a Starb shipper but this fic is just so great (but that goes for a ton of pairings Mads posts, I'm a multi-shipper anyway but I'll read whatever they see fit to bless us with).
I can't think of one I love for the 6th one... and I swear I read other pairings lmao.
MY RAREPAIRS...I CAN'T SEE WITHOUT MY RAREPAIRS...