In case you missed them, here are the next ten works posted from the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang!
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Itâs not a one night stand (if it turns into two) by @annanevermore | Art by @lady-lostmind
Rating: Explicit
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Henry Creel | One | Vecna, Dustin Henderson, Heather Holloway, Jeff, Gareth, Unnamed Freak, Steve Harringtonâs Father, Samantha Stone, Tommy Hagan
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson/Henry Creel, Steve Harrington/ Samantha Stone, Steve Harrington/Tommy Hagan
Summary: âWe should stop,â Eddie continued even as he kept kissing Steve. âWhy?â âAh, youâre not into guys?â His words sounded pretty stupid even to him, Steveâs lips just on his and his tongue in Eddieâs mouth, and his body still pressed to his thigh. âMaybe you are?â Eddie said, feeling increasingly stupider. Steve glanced over, gaze trailing down to Eddieâs lips. âWhat do you think?â âI think youâre pretty drunk and I should let you sober up.â Steve seemed to be assessing him but didnât respond. After a couple of seconds, he straightened his clothes and stood up, leaning down to hold Eddieâs jaw for a moment and placing a last, gentle kiss on his lips. âSee you around, Munson.â Or: Eddie signed up for the âTatConâ tour very much despite the sales pitch of convention reps Steve and Robin - and absolutely NOT because of Harringtonâs flirting. Itâs the biggest tattoo convention in the U.S. so itâs good for business, thatâs all. When Steve continues to hit on Eddie, heâs still not interested. At all. The guy has an exceedingly straight reputation, and Eddie is not going there. But Steve is a persistent man when he knows what he wants.
Stop Insisting That Iâm Not A Lost Cause by @slippy-slip | Art by logiedraws
Rating: Teens and Up
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dusin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Summary: Steve finds something has changed since their last run in with the Upside Down, heâs not the only one. Heâs not handling it so well but that doesnât mean heâll accept help easily.
Good Puppy by @marsetta | Art by @feralsteddie
Rating: Explicit
Warning(s): Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Character(s): Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson
Summary: Weird Russian drugs turned Steve and Robin into werewolves. Crazy Upside Down bats messed with Eddie. Steve goes into the Upside Down by himself to find Eddieâs body and gets more than he bargained for. Warnings: Eddie thinks itâs non/dub con but Steve is into it almost immediately. Kinda rough themes.
End of Beginning by @artaxlivs | Art by @alduade-art
Rating: Mature
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Will Byers, Eddie Munson, Steve Harrinton, Eleven, Nancy wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Barbara Holland, Joyce Byers, Jim Hopper, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair
Relationship(s): Will & Eddie, Steve/Eddie
Summary: Eddieâs not an idiot. He knows how this goes, heâs been playing Dungeons and Dragons since its creation. He knows exactly what happens when a disembodied voice promises you things while youâre in the fugue state of death.
Stardust by @entanglednow | Art by @imfinereallyy
Rating: Explicit
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Argyle
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Summary: Steve is starting to feel like his life is just one disaster after another. He didnât mean to make friends with Eddie Munson along the way, but for some reason heâs always there, and if anyone knows how to get up again after being knocked down then itâs him.
Pas de Deux by @malikat24601 | Art by @glitterfang
Rating: Explicit
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Argyle, Maxine Mayfield, Background Nancy Wheeler, Background Jonathan Byers, Background Corroded Coffin, Background The Party, Background Dmitri Antinov, Background Alexei, Background Eddie Munsonâs Parents, Original Characters, Jonathan Reeves (Center Stage), Juliette Simone (Center Stage)
Relationship(s): Eddie Munson / Steve Harrington
Summary: Pas de deux, /Ëpä dÉ ËdÉ/ noun: In ballet, a pas de deux is a dance duet in which two dancers perform ballet steps together. *** Eddie âthe Freakâ Munson and âKingâ Steve Harrington were irrevocably bound by dance, shared family and a genuine, unexpected, happy accident of a friendship for which Eddie was grateful every single day. Even if Eddie was also desperately, laughably, head over heels in love with him. *** A Steddie Ballet AU
Come and Get Me by @lorifloragolina | Art by WaldosAkimbo
Rating: Explicit
Warning(s): Graphic Depictions of Violence
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove, Eddie Munson
Relationship(s): Steve/Billy/Eddie
Summary: âForgive me father, for I have sinnedâ. Steve is new in town and is troubled by a stranger provoking him from the window. Billy works hard in the garden on his knees and is delighted to express his love for the Father. Eddie celebrates the biggest love everyday and helps people reach their âtargetsâ.
Youâre the One Who Disappears by @house-of-chant | Art by @marsetta
Rating: Mature
Warning(s): Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Character(s): The Party, Billy, Robin, Eddie, Hopper, Joyce, Benny, Neil Hargrove, Susan Hargrove
Relationship(s): Max/Lucas, Jonathan/Nancy, Jim Hopper/Benny Hammond; (background) Mike/Eleven, Robin/Barb, Steve/Eddie
Summary: This isnât the first time Max Hargrove has gone missing. Itâs not even the first time this year. But this time, sheâs not the only one. Bob Newby is found dead in his diner. Chrissy Cunningham disappears, leaving behind only a bloodstained jacket. Newspaper employees stop coming home. Joyce Maldonado (formerly Byers, although sheâd appreciate you not bringing that up) is the busiest sheâs been since her ex-husband took the kids to California; Chrissyâs best friend Robin Buckley is on a quest to find out who murdered her friend; Maxâs best friend Jane Hopper enlists a psychic boy to help her look; and Susan Hargrove breaks out the Ouija board in search of her daughter. Roleswap AU.
Hell Hound by @madaboutmunson | Art by Droolovacoco
Rating: General Audiences
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Eddie Munson, Barbara âBarbâ Holland, Wayne Munson, Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, Corroded Coffin (Stranger Things), Gareth (Stranger Things), Jeff (Stranger Things), Doug (Stranger Things), Eddie Munsonâs Battle Vest - Character
Relationship(s): Eddie Munson & Wayne Munson, Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson & Eddie Munson, Gareth & Eddie Munson, Corroded Coffin & Eddie Munson, Barbara âBarbâ Holland & Eddie Munson
Summary:
When Eddie Munson died, he didnât expect to wake up.
And when he did wake up he definitely didnât expect to be strapped to some sci-fi hospital bed.
And when the door opened he didnât expect to see Barbara Holland version 2.0.
And he definitely didnât expect her to tell him, he was now a dog, and worse still that it was all his own fault.
Eddieâs dying wish got him in this mess, and now he has to make Hawkins love him in order to return to his human form, or so he thinks.
The Major Lift by @ghostdeb | Art by @sunflowerharrington
Rating: Explicit
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Dustin Henderson (background), Max Mayfield (background), Wayne Munson (background), Jim Hopper (background)
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson; Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham; Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley, Eddie Munson & Chrissy Cunningham
Summary: Steve is home to visit Robin after the regular MLB season and Robin drags him along to be her wingman at the new coffee shop where the object of her affection works. Eddie and Chrissy own the coffee shop. Cue smitten kittens.
â
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In case you missed them, here are the first ten works posted from the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang!
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Cover Worthy by @stevesno1simp | Art by @raven-cl
Rating: E
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Original Male Character(s)
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Summary: Steve has been crushing on rock star Eddie Munson, front man for the popular metal band Corroded Coffin since they made it big. But he never dreamed that landing a job as a photographer at the most popular metal magazine in the world would lead him to a photoshoot with himâŚ
Survival of the Sister by @skepsiss | Art by @ent-is-indecisive
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Characters: Max Mayfield
Relationships: Maxine âMaxâ Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Summary: Max is a young knight who has lost everything to the darkness of the Upside Down. The last thing she can lose is her life. She puts it all on the line to save her family, friends, and Hawkins. Fate has another idea for her as she struggles to recall her happiest memories that will bring her back to life and toward Lucas, who is desperately searching for her. Overall, it is a short, emotional piece about Max fighting back death with sheer willpower and then getting to relish in being reunited with Lucas
Homesteddie Farms by @artaxlivs | Art by @doomcheese
Rating: Teens and Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Max Mayfield, Dustin Henderson
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Summary :
âI thought you were helping me with the morning feeding?â
âStevie! I am helping!â With his free hand, Eddie motions to the gaggle of animals clamoring for their attention.
âYouâre making another Tiktok video. Thatâs not helping.â Steve sighs but his lips pull up in a hint of a smile.
Jabbing a finger into Steveâs side to make him yelp and skitter away, Eddie taps the record button and grins at the camera on his phone, âHey-howdy-hey folks! Welcome to another beauuu-ti-ful morning here at Homesteddie Farms! Say hi to the farm fans, Steve.â
Steve huffs a breath, before shaking his head and saying in a fond tone, âHey farm fans!â Then he grunts out an âoofâ as one of the goats stands up on itâs hind legs, head butts Steve in the thigh and begins to nibble on the raggedy bottom of his cut off overall shorts. âMadmartigan! Get down.â
Echoes of You by @writer-in-theory | Art by @yellowsweater-bluevest
Rating: Teens and Up Audience
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Background Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham
Summary: Five years after leaving Hawkins, Eddie Munson comes home to take care of his Uncle Wayne. He never imagined having to face the ghosts of what heâd left behind.
When you look into the mirror, tell me what you see by @slippy-slip | Art by @cxwzkeys
Rating: Mature
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Max Mayfield, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Nancy Wheeler, Jonthan Byers
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Summary: Steve moves away but when he comes back to visist, heâs not quite the same. Some cope with changes better than others.
Work it On Out by @lemonlimelights | Art by @chuchayucca
Rating: Teen and Up
Archive Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence -specifcally the aftermath- blood and injury
Characters: Alexei, Joyce Byers, Will Byers, Jonathan Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Nancy Wheeler
Parings: Alexei/Joyce Byers, Minor Nancy Wheeler/Jonathan Byers, Minor Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler`
Summary: Alexei lives and Joyce canât stop thinking about him. Her kids catch on quick.
Love Sick by @lady-lostmind | Art by @ahhrenata
Rating: Teens and Up
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Summary:
Eddie rolls over with a groan. He feels awful. He canât breath out of his nose, thereâs so much pressure in his head he feels like it might explode and his throat feels like he swallowed a cup of razors. He lets out a truly pathetic whimper, the sound catching in his throat as it turns into a cough. He stretches his arm out, feeling around for Steve and is met with cold, empty sheets. He whines again and finally pries his eyes open.
âStevie?â
I Think of Thee by @house-of-chant | Art by @sunflowerharrington
Rating: Teens and Up
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Eddie, Chrissy, Gareth, Jeff, Unnamed Freak, Max, Ms O'Donnell
Pairing(s): Eddie Muson/Chrissy Cunningham
Summary: Retaking senior year was not on Eddieâs life plan. Neither was retaking Shakespearean Literature. At least Chrissyâs in the class this year, though. AU - Eddie and Chrissy were childhood friends.
Do You Think I Have Forgotten (about you?) by StupidWithSteddie | Art by @artbean
Rating: Teens and Up
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Gareth (Stranger Things), Unnamed Freak (Stranger Things), Jeff (Stranger Things), Chrissy Cunningham
Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington
Summary:
Steve Harrington didnât know much but he knew one thing â he hated Eddie Munson and he always would.
â
or the battle of the bands au where steve and eddie have a complicated past and theyâre forced to confront it through the only way they know how - music
The Very First Night by @sourw0lfs | Art by @sunflowerharrington
Rating: Mature
Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply
Character(s):Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham, Gareth (Stranger Things), Jeff (Stranger Things), Unnamed Freak (Stranger Things), Chrissy Cunninghamâs Father (mentioned), Unnamed Band Manager
Relationship(s): Chrissy Cunningham/Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham & Corroded Coffin
Summary:
âThe rest of their set passes in a blur, some performative instinct Chrissy didnât even know she had kicking in somewhere between the first and second songs. It leaves her feeling exhilarated, like she could fly if she tried.
Leaving the stage with the rest of the band feels right.
Laughing as they walk through backstage to pack away their things again feels right.
Chrissy decides right then and there that sheâs made the right choice, even if they never make it further than this.
OR: Five times something almost happens after Chrissy joins Corroded Coffin and one time it doesâ
â
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Twenty years ago, February 15th, 2004, I got married for the first time.
It was twenty years earlier than I ever expected to.
To celebrate/comemorate the date, I'm sitting down to write out everything I remember as I remember it. No checking all the pictures I took or all the times I've written about this before. I'm not going to turn to my husband (of twenty years, how the f'ing hell) to remember a detail for me.
This is not a 100% accurate recounting of that first wild weekend in San Francisco. But it -is- a 100% accurate recounting of how I remember it today, twenty years after the fact.
Join me below, if you would.
2004 was an election year, and much like conservatives are whipping up anti-trans hysteria and anti-trans bills and propositions to drive out the vote today, in 2004 it was all anti-gay stuff. Specifically, preventing the evil scourge of same-sex marriage from destroying everything good and decent in the world.
Enter Gavin Newstrom. At the time, he was the newly elected mayor of San Francisco. Despite living next door to the city all my life, I hadnât even heard of the man until Valentines Day 2004 when he announced that gay marriage was legal in San Francisco and started marrying people at city hall.
It was a political stunt. It was very obviously a political stunt. That shit was illegal, after all. But it was a very sweet political stunt. I still remember the front page photo of two ancient women hugging each other forehead to forehead and crying happy tears.
But it was only going to last for as long as it took for the California legal system to come in and make them knock it off.
The next day, weâre on the phone with an acquaintance, and she casually mentions that sheâs surprised the two of us arenât up at San Francisco getting married with everyone else.
âEveryone else?â Goes I, âI thought they wouldâve shut that down already?â
âOh no!â goes she, âThe courts arenât open until Tuesday. Presidents Day on Monday and all. Theyâre doing them all weekend long!â
We didnât know because social media wasnât a thing yet. I only knew as much about it as Iâd read on CNN, and most of the blogs I was following were more focused on what bullshit President George W Bush was up to that day.
"Well shit", me and my man go, "do you wanna?" I mean, itâs a political stunt, it wont really mean anything, but weâre not going to get another chance like this for at least 20 years. Why not?
The next day, Sunday, we get up early. We drive north to the southern-most BART station. We load onto Bay Area Rapid Transit, and rattle back and forth all the way to the San Francisco City Hall stop.
We had slightly miscalculated.
Apparently, demand for marriages was far outstripping the staff they had on hand to process them. Who knew. Everyone whoâd gotten turned away Saturday had been given tickets with times to show up Sunday to get their marriages done. My babe and I, we could either wait to see if there was a space that opened up, or come back the next day, Monday.
âIsnât City Hall closed on Monday?â I asked. âItâs a holidayâ
âOh sure,â they reply, âbut people are allowed to volunteer their time to come in and work on stuff anyways. And we have a lot of people who want to volunteer their time to have the marriage licensing offices open tomorrow.â
âOh cool,â we go, âBackup.â
âMake sure youâre here if you do,â they say, âbecause the California Supreme Court is back in session Tuesday, and will be reviewing the motion that got filed to shut us down.â
And all this shit is super not-legal, so theyâll totally be shutting us down goes unsaid.
00000
We donât get in Saturday. We wind up hanging out most of the day, though.
Itâs⌠incredible. I can say, without hyperbole, that I have never experienced so much concentrated joy and happiness and celebration of othersâ joy and happiness in all my life before or since. My face literally ached from grinning. Every other minute, a new couple was coming out of City Hall, waving their paperwork to the crowd and cheering and leaping and skipping. Two glorious Latina women in full Mariachi band outfits came out, one in the arms of another. A pair of Jewish boys with their families and Rabbi. One couple managed to get a Just Married convertible arranged complete with tin-cans tied to the bumper to drive off in. More than once I was giving some rice to throw at whoever was coming out next.
At some point in the mid-afternoon, there was a sudden wave of extra cheering from the several hundred of us gathered at the steps, even though no one was coming out. There was a group going up the steps to head inside, with some generic black-haired shiny guy at the front. My not-yet-husband nudged me, âThatâs Newsom.â He said, because he knew I was hopeless about matching names and people.
Ooooooh, I go. That explains it. Then I joined in the cheers. He waved and ducked inside.
So dusk is starting to fall. Itâs February, so itâs only six or so, but itâs getting dark.
âShould we just try getting in line for tomorrow -now-?â we ask.
âYeah, Iâm afraid thatâs not going to be possible.â One of the volunteers tells us. âWeâre not allowed to have people hang out overnight like this unless there are facilities for them and security. Weâd need Porta-Poties for a thousand people and police patrols and the whole lot, and no one had time to get all that organized. Your best bet is to get home, sleep, and then catch the first BART train up at 5am and keep your fingers crossed.
Monday is the last day to do this, after all.
00000
So we go home. We crash out early. We wake up at 4:00. We drive an hour to hit the BART station. We get the first train up. We arrive at City Hall at 6:30AM.
The line stretches around the entirety of San Francisco City Hall. You could toss a can of Coke from the end of the line to the people whoâre up to be first through the doors and not have to worry about cracking it open after.
âUh.â We go. âWhat the fuck is -this-?â
So.
Remember why they werenât going to be able to have people hang out overnight?
Turns out, enough SF cops were willing to volunteer unpaid time to do patrols to cover security. And some anonymous person delivered over a dozen Porta-Poties thatâd gotten dropped off around 8 the night before.
Itâs 6:30 am, there are almost a thousand people in front of us in line to get this literal once in a lifetime marriage, the last chance we expect to have for at least 15 more years (it was 2004, gay rights were getting shoved back on every front. It was not looking good. We were just happy we lived in California were we at least werenât likely to loose job protections any time soon.).
Then it starts to rain.
We had not dressed for rain.
00000
Here is how the next six hours go.
Weâre in line. Once the doors open at 7am, it will creep forward at a slow crawl. Itâs around 7 when someone shows up with garbage bags for everyone. Cut holes for the head and arms and youâve got a makeshift raincoat! So youâve got hundreds of gays and lesbians decked out in the nicest shit they could get on short notice wearing trashbags over it.
Everyone is so happy.
Everyone is so nervous/scared/frantic that we wont be able to get through the doors before they close for the day.
People online start making delivery orders.
Coffee and bagels are ordered in bulk and delivered to City Hall for whoever needs it. We get pizza. We get roses. Random people come by who just want to give hugs to people in line because theyâre just so happy for us. The tour busses make detours to go past the lines. Chinese tourists lean out with their cameras and shout GOOD LUCK while car horns honk.
A single sad man holding a Bible tries to talk people out of doing this, tells us all weâre sinning and to please donât. He gives up after an hour. A nun replaces him with a small sign about how this is against Godâs will. She leaves after it disintegrates in the rain.
The day before, when it was sunny, there had been a lot of protestors. Including a large Muslim group with their signs about how âNot even DOGS do such things!â Which⌠Yes they do.
A lot of snide words are said (by me) about how the fact that weâre willing to come out in the rain to do this while theyâre not willing to come out in the rain to protest it proves who actually gives an actual shit about the topic.
Time passes. I measure it based on which side of City Hall weâre on. The doors face East. We start on Northside. Coffee and trashbags are delivered when weâre on the North Side. Pizza first starts showing up when weâre on Westside, which is also where I see Bible Man and Nun. Roses are delivered on Southside. And so forth.
00000
We have Line Neighbors.
Ahead of us are a gay couple a decade or two older than us. Theyâve been together for eight years. The older one is a school teacher. He has his coat collar up and turns away from any news cameras that come near while we reposition ourselves between the lenses and him. Heâs worried about the parents of one of his students seeing him on the news and getting him fired. The younger one will step away to get interviewed on his own later on. They drove down for the weekend once they heard what was going on. Theyâd started around the same time we did, coming from the Northeast, and are parked in a nearby garage.
The most perky energetic joyful woman Iâve ever met shows up right after we turned the corner to Southside to tackle the younger of the two into a hug. Sheâs their local friend whoâd just gotten their message about what theyâre doing and she will NOT be missing this. She is -so- happy for them. Her friends cry on her shoulders at her unconditional joy.
Behind us are a lesbian couple whoâd been up in San Francisco to celebrate their 12th anniversary together. âWe met here Valentines Day weekend! We live down in San Diego, now, but we like to come up for the weekend because itâs our first love city.â
âThen they announced -this-,â the other one says, âand we canât leave until we get married. I called work Sunday and told them I calling in sick until Wednesday.â
âI told them why,â her partner says, âI donât care if they want to give me trouble for it. This is worth it. Fuck them.â
My husband-to-be and I look at each other. Weâve been together for not even two years at this point. Less than two years. Is it right for us to be here? Weâre potentially taking a spot from another couple thatâd been together longer, who needed it more, who deserved it more.â
âDonât you fucking dare.â Says the 40-something gay couple in front of us.
âThis is as much for you as it is for us!â says the lesbian couple whoâve been together for over a decade behind us.
âYou kids are too cute together,â says the gay coupleâs friend. âyou -have- to. Someday -youâre- going to be the old gay couple thatâs been together for years and years, and you deserve to have been married by then.â
We stay in line.
Itâs while weâre on the Southside of City Hall, just about to turn the corner to Eastside at long last that we pick up our own companions. A white woman who reminds me an awful lot of my aunt with a four year old black boy riding on her shoulders. âCan we say weâre with you? His uncles are already inside and theyâre not letting anyone in who isnât with a couple right there.â âOf course!â we say.
The kid is so very confused about what all the big deal is, but thereâs free pizza and the busses keep driving by and honking, so heâs having a great time.
We pass by a statue of Lincoln with âMarriage for All!â and "Gay Rights are Human Rights!" flags tucked in the crooks of his arms and hanging off his hat.
Itâs about noon, noon-thirty when we finally make it through the doors and out of the rain.
Theyâve promised that anyone whoâs inside when the doors shut will get married. We made it. Weâre safe.
We still have a -long- way to go.
00000
Theyâre trying to fit as many people into City Hall as possible. Partially to get people out of the rain, mostly to get as many people indoors as possible. The line now stretches down into the basement and up side stairs and through hallways Iâm not entirely sure the public should ever be given access to. We crawl along slowly but surely.
Itâs after weâve gone through the low-ceiling basement hallways past offices and storage and back up another set of staircases and are going through a back hallway of low-ranked functionary offices that someone comes along handing out the paperwork. âItâs an hour or so until you hit the office, but take the time to fill these out so you donât have to do it there!â
We spend our time filling out the paperwork against walls, against backs, on stone floors, on books.
We enter one of the public areas, filled with displays and photos of City Hall Demonstrations of years past.
I take pictures of the big black and white photo of the Abraham Lincoln statue holding banners and signs against segregation and for civil rights.
The four year old boy we helped get inside runs past us around this time, chased by a blond haired girl about his own age, both perused by an exhausted looking teenager helplessly begging them to stop running.
Everyone is wet and exhausted and vibrating with anticipation and the building-wide aura of happiness that infuses everything.
The line goes into the marriage office. A dozen people are at the desk, shoulder to shoulder, far more than it was built to have working it at once.
A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence is directing people to city officials the moment they open up. Sheâs done up in her nun getup with all her makeup on and her beard is fluffed and be-glittered and on point. âOh, I was here yesterday getting married myself, but today Iâm acting as your guide. Number 4 sweeties, and -Congradulatiooooons!-â
The guy behind the counter has been there since six. Itâs now 1:30. Heâs still giddy with joy. He counts our money. He takes our paperwork, reviews it, stamps it, sends off the parts he needs to, and hands the rest back to us. âAlright, go to the Rotunda, theyâll direct you to someone whoâll do the ceremony. Then, if you want the certificate, theyâll direct you to -that- line.â âCanât you just mail it to us?â âNormally, yeah, but the moment the courts shut us down, weâre not going to be allowed to.â
We take our paperwork and join the line to the Rotunda.
If youâve seen James Bond: A View to a Kill, youâve seen the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda. There are literally a dozen spots set up along the balconies that overlook the open area where marriage officials and witnesses are gathered and are just processing people through as fast as they can.
Thatâs for the people who didnât bring their own wedding officials.
Thereâs a Catholic-adjacent couple there who seem to have brought their entire families -and- the priest on the main steps. Theyâre doing the whole damn thing. Thereâs at least one more Rabbi at work, I canât remember what else. Just that there was a -lot-.
We get directed to the second story, northside. The San Francisco City Treasurer is one of our two witnesses. Our marriage officient is some other elected official I cannot remember for the life of me (and I'm only writing down what I can actively remember, so I can't turn to my husband next to me and ask, but he'll have remembered because that's what he does.)
I have a wilting lily flower tucked into my shirt pocket. My pants have water stains up to the knees. My hair is still wet from the rain, I am blubbering, and I canât get the ring on my husbandâs finger. The picture is a treat, I tell you.
There really isnât a word for the mix of emotions I had at that time. Complete disbelief that this was reality and was happening. Relief that weâd made it. Awe at how many dozens of people had personally cheered for us along the way and the hundreds to thousands whoâd cheered for us generally.
Then we're married.
Then we get in line to get our license.
Itâs another hour. This time, the line goes through the higher stories. Then snakes around and goes past the doorway to the mayorâs office.
Mayor Newsom is not in today. And will be having trouble getting into his office on Tuesday because of the absolute barricade of letters and flowers and folded up notes and stuffed animals and City Hall maps with black marked âTHANK YOU!âs that have been piled up against it.
We make it to the marriage records office.
I take a picture of my now husband standing in front of a case of the marriage records for 1902-1912. Numerous kids are curled up in corners sleeping. My own memory is spotty. I just know we got the papers, and then weâre done with lines. We get out, we head to the front entrance, and we walk out onto the City Hall steps.
It's almost 3PM.
00000
There are cheers, thereâs rice thrown at us, there are hundreds of people celebrating us with unconditional love and joy and I had never before felt the goodness that exists in humanity to such an extent. Itâs no longer raining, just a light sprinkle, but there are still no protestors. Thereâs barely even any news vans.
We make our way through the gauntlet, we get hands shaked, people with signs reading âCongratulations!â jump up and down for us. We hit the sidewalks, and we begin to limp our way back to the BART station.
Iâm at the BART station, weâre waiting for our train back south, and Iâm sitting on the ground leaning against a pillar and in danger of falling asleep when a nondescript young man stops in front of me and shuffles his feet nervously. âHey. I just- I saw you guys, down at City Hall, and I just⌠Iâm so happy for you. Iâm so proud of what you could do. Iâm- Iâm just really glad, glad you could get to do this.â
He shakes my hand, clasps it with both of his and shakes it. I thank him and he smiles and then hurries away as fast as he can without running.
Our train arrives and the trip south passes in a semilucid blur.
We get back to our car and climb in.
Itâs 4:30 and we are starving.
Thereâs a Carls Jr near the station that we stop off at and have our first official meal as a married couple. We sit by the window and watch people walking past and pick out others who are returning from San Francisco. We're all easy to pick out, what with the combination of giddiness and water damage.
We get home about 6-7. We take the dog out for a good long walk after being left alone for two days in a row. We shower. We bundle ourselves up. We bury ourselves in blankets and curl up and just sort of sit adrift in the surrealness of what weâd just done.
We wake up the next day, Tuesday, to read that the California State Supreme Court has rejected the petition to shut down the San Francisco weddings because the paperwork had a misplaced comma that made the meaning of one phrase unclear.
The State Supreme Court would proceed to play similar bureaucratic tricks to drag the process out for nearly a full month before they have nothing left and finally shut down Mayor Newsomâs marriages.
My parents had been out of state at the time at a convention. They were flying into SFO about the same moment we were walking out of City Hall. I apologized to them later for not waiting and my mom all but shook me by the shoulders. âNo! No one knew that theyâd go on for so long! You did what you needed to do! Iâll just be there for the next one!â
00000
It was just a piece of paper. Legally, it didnât even hold any weight thirty days later. My philosophy at the time was âmarriage really isnât that important, aside from the legal benefits. Itâs just confirming what you already have.â
But maybe itâs just societal weight, or ingrained culture, or something, but it was different after. The way I described it at the time, and Iâve never really come up with a better metaphor is, âItâs like we were both holding onto each other in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm. We were keeping each other above water, we were each otherâs support. But then we got this piece of paper. And it was like the ground rose up to meet our feet. We were still in an ocean, still in the middle of a storm, but there was a solid foundation beneath our feet. We still supported each other, but there was this other thing that was also keeping our heads above the water.
It was different. It was better. It made things more solid and real.
I am forever grateful for all the forces and all the people who came together to make it possible. Itâs been twenty years and weâre still together and still married.
We did a domestic partnership a year later to get the legal paperwork. Weâd done a private ceremony with proper rings (not just ones grabbed out of the husbandâs collection hours before) before then. And in 2008, we did a legal marriage again.
Rushed. In a hurry. Because there was Proposition 13 to be voted on which would make them all illegal again if it passed.
It did, but we were already married at that point, and they couldnât negate it that time.
Another few years after that, the Supreme Court finally threw up their hands and said "Fine! It's been legal in places and nothing's caught on fire or been devoured by locusts. It's legal everywhere. Shut up about it!"
And that was that.
00000
When I was in highschool, in the late 90s, I didnât expect to see legal gay marriage until I was in my 50s. I just couldnât see how the American public as it was would ever be okay with it.
I never expected to be getting married within five years. I never expected it to be legal nationwide before Iâd barely started by 30s. I never thought Iâd be in my 40s and itâd be such a non-issue that the conservative rabble rousers wouldâve had to move onto other wedge issues altogether.
I never thought that I could introduce another man as my husband and absolutely no one involved would so much as blink.
I never thought Iâd live in this world.
And itâs twenty years later today. I wonder how our line buddies are doing. Those babies who were running around the wide open rooms playing tag will have graduated college by now. The kids whose parents the one line-buddy was worried would see him are probably married too now. Some of them to others of the same gender.
I donât have some greater message to make with all this. Other then, culture can shift suddenly in ways you canât predict. For good or ill. Mainly this is just me remembering the craziest fucking 36 hours of my life twenty years after the fact and sharing them with all of you.
The future weâre resigned to doesnât have to be the one we live in. Society can shift faster than you think. The unimaginable of twenty years ago is the baseline reality of today.
And always remember that the people who want to get married will show up by the thousands in rain that none of those whoâre against it will brave.
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Central California weather is WACK as fuck. I don't know how you fair in the rest of the world but here, sometimes we use the heater in the morning, the AC in the afternoon and the heater again in the evening. What the fuck even is this place?
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The old school lack of transparency on tumblr is amazing because you assume the people you follow must all be equivalent to you and then you see someone write âI brought my youngest to college todayâ and someone else write âmy mom wouldnât let me listen to Ariana Grande when I was a kidâ and then your head explodes
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A Teen Wolf phase turns to a Steddie phase turns to an asdflkjhwerewolfsteve phase.. and here we are. My second pic for the @strangerthingsreversebigbang â¨
The absolutely lovely @staymagical joined forces with me to make the wonderful Latent - please come along for a witchy and magical ride đĽ°
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20 Questions for Writers
Tagged by @eriquin. Thank you!
1. How many works do you have on AO3? Forty-Five
2. What's your total AO3 word count? 419,731
3. What fandoms do you write for? Stranger Things, Marvel (specifically Hawkeye based), & recently, Teen Wolf
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? (all Stranger Things)
Destroy the Silence (Drummer Steve)
An Accidental Flogging
The Second Worst Trip to Mordor Ever Taken
Even Flowers Have Their Dangers
Screw Todd, Steve's Her (His) Daddy Now
5. Do you respond to comments? Always
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? It's not angsty but this one will ruin your day and it's only 442 words: i was afraid to follow
7. Whatâs the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Almost all of my fics have happy endings but I am told that Something to Tweet About is a sticky sweet happy ending.
8. Do you get hate on fics? No but I don't write anything polarizing.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Ohhhh I write smut. đ
10. Do you write crossovers? Not really. I write "Fandom A in Fandom B's world" types sometimes but the characters don't crossover. I wrote a Dirty Dancing Stranger Things called Nobody's Baby.
11. Are any of your fics converted into podfics? Yes! I have two by amazing podders that I'm incredibly grateful to - check them out!
Destroy the Silence read by @rufusbear
Let Me Be Your Man (I Want to Hold Your Hand) by @thirdeye1234 (RattleandHum on Ao3)
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? My Destroy the Silence is currently being translated into Russian (It's not up yet or I'd link it!)
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope.
14. Whatâs your all time favorite ship? Winterhawk (Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier)
15. Whatâs a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Listen - don't come at me. I'm gonna finish all my WIPs, okay?
16. What are your writing strengths? Mmmm, story pacing, dialogue, good banter, humor, fluff, consent communication, character development and somehow working music into most of my fics.
17. What are your writing weaknesses? visual world building. I have aphantasia so sometimes I'll just forget to describe the world around them because I can't see it anyway.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I think a few common words here and there are fine but not full sentences of a language you don't speak. Advice from Brandon Sanderson that I write by: be vague or you create plot holes and inconsistencies.
19. First fandom you wrote for? Winterhawk
20. Favorite fic youâve written? Loaded question here. I'm gonna say two. My first is actually a Steve Rogers/Clint Barton series where Clint is a soldier and meets Steve Rogers during the war - he falls from the train, not Bucky. It's called A Bird By Any Other Name and I love it. My second is Even Flowers Have Their Dangers which is Stranger Things rewrite of the end of S4 and what I think S5 would look like if Steve and the kids had turned into werewolves in the tunnels in S2.
No pressure tags: @betrayedbycinnamon @carcrash429 @noxnthea @there-must-be-a-lock @river9noble
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come to the dark (necromantic) side. We've got ghosts and sassy one-liners 'n shit.
watercolor on paper
cemetery sterek series pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3
inspo fics under the cut!
Murder, Magic, and a Masterclass in Denial by noxnthea
âNo, seriously, I need to talk to you really quick,â Stiles interrupts. âBefore Peter gets out here.â
Derek braces himself. âOkay.â
âI need you to make sure I can be alone with the body for a few minutes.â
Derek stares at him. âYou get that thatâs likeâŚa really weird request, right?â
and You Only Live Once...Or Twice by WonderWolf
âAnything,â Derekâs eyes are determined, boring into Stilesâ.
Stiles huffs a laugh, âCareful there, big guy. Donât want to be promising anything to every necromancer you meet. Some might ask for your soul or somethââ
and Burial Rituals by @aurevell
The necromancer freezes halfway over the fence, stuttering to a halt the second Derek flashes his red eyes. Itâs an awkward pose to hold: leg hiked up over the waist-high bars, hands gripping the rail for balance. The fenceâs wrought-iron spears dig into his calf a bit as he settles, clearly caught off guard.
âUh,â he says lamely, his face pale in the scant moonlight. âShit.â
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Okay, itâs officially time for bedâŚ
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âSteve,â Eddie mutters, âStop it, youâre staring.â
Steve is staring, eyes fixed on a family sitting in a cluster of seats two rows ahead of them on the commuter rail â a mom and dad with three kids, the oldest no older than ten, the youngest four or five. Theyâre not too much older than Steve and Eddieâs own kids (who are seven, five, and two), and by the looks of the princess dresses and mouse ears and branded souvenir bags theyâre also on their way home from the afternoon Disney on Ice show at the TD Garden.
âThat mom,â Steve says, addressing Eddie even though his gaze doesnât shift away from the unsuspecting targets of his relentless judginess, âis upset because her kids are whining and misbehaving, but they asked for food and she said no, and they said they were bored and she ignored them.â
In Steveâs defense (not that Eddie would actually say any of this to him; he doesnât need the egging on), his assessment isnât exactly incorrect. All three of those kids are either colossally melting down or just on the verge of doing so, and both of their parents are mostly ignoring them.
âGod, and theyâre gonna grow up learning they canât rely on their parents for help,â Steve continues, âI just...I just donât get why we had to go through all those evals and interviews and home visits and shit before we were deemed suitable parents when any idiot straight couple can just have a kid with no regulation whatsoever.â
âSteve,â Eddie says through gritted teeth as he glances at their own daughters to make sure they arenât eavesdropping (theyâre not â Moe and Robbie are sitting by the window and playing with the toys theyâd gotten to pick out during intermission, and Hazel is halfway to asleep in Steveâs lap), âMy love â little pitchers.â
Steve only shrugs, but he does drop the subject for the rest of the train ride.
The universe must hate Eddie (or love Steve) because that family gets off at the same station as them. Hazel is completely sacked out by then, and Steve had taken her while Eddie manned the older two and theyâre busy running ahead of him to the car so thereâs literally nothing he can do when Steve detours away from them to follow a few yards behind the other family.
When he finally makes his way back over to them, itâs with a gleeful grin on his face.
âI knew it.â Steve says with a gleeful grin, âI knew they had to be shitty parents.â
Eddie eyebrows flew up, because â seriously, the fucking audacity on this guy.
âYou know what I always say â you can either be a good parent or have a clean car, and that car was fucking spotless.â
âSteve Harrington.â
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Last line/WIP game. I havenât been writing much for the last few weeks and then suddenly I wrote 17k in 24 hours. Super stoked about it and actually hyped to have something to share! Thanks for the tag @noxnthea and @eriquin !
Stiles claps his hands a few times and announces to the entire kitchen, âI just need to say that if any more unicorns wander over here, donât send them to me, I canât help them anymore.â His self satisfied grin is blinding and Derek ducks his head before turning his back on everyone to make his coffee.
Itâs more than one sentence and Iâm not even gonna tag anyone else but Iâm super excited about this fic (there are no unicorns in it) because I was just writing to be writing and it turned into something amazing and Iâm so happy with it!
I hope everyone else feels the same way about their writing on this beautiful WIP Wednesday!
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The DC/Marvel Crossover server is proud to present our summer Pool Noodle Party! Celebrating the rarest crossover pairs, both platonic and romantic.
Please come paddle around the shallow end of the pool with us and commiserate!
Courtesy of this post about ships that are too small to count as ships:
For our purposes, a âpool noodleâ is a relationship tag that comes up with less than 30 hits on Ao3. Platonic (&) relationships count!
We have six themes. Each theme will have a week for posting creations (prompt lists coming soon) and a week for celebrating â giving feedback and leaving comments. Weâll share everything that was created the previous week and try to spread the love, but also post rec lists of our favorite older fics that fit the theme.
May 25 - June 7: âthe big three,â aliens, androids archers, & (tech) wizards
June 8 - June 21: Who run the world? (Girls!)
June 22 - July 5: To hell (or Hellâs Kitchen) and back
July 6 - July 19: Supers (-heroes, -villains, -boys, -girls, and/or soldiers)
July 20 - August 2: Mercs & murder husbands
August 3 - August 16: Weâre all in this together (poly ships and/or found families)
Any and all DC/Marvel crossover relationships with less than 30 fics on Ao3 are welcome.
Participants are strongly encouraged to get involved in feedback week and not only creation week! The unfortunate truth of the pool noodle is that it can feel like a very lonely way to float; crossovers are more likely to slip through the cracks of Ao3 searches, and they frequently donât get the love they deserve. The best way to encourage more of them is to comment and let writers know that thereâs an audience out there.
Prompt lists will also include a list of fics within the theme whose writers are open to podfic, art, etc, in case youâd like to do an âinspired byâ work.
Themes are relatively loose, so your ship might fit multiple themes â thatâs fine! Entirely up to you when you post.
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I feel like I had to wait all day to boop you. BOOP
I didn't know it was a thing but I ran to book you right away! I also didn't know you could boop people more than once so I gotta go back and reboop boop boop people đ¤Ł
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Really just wanted to draw a Camp Counsellor, Steddie. But being a bit of a horror fan I turned toward the awesome 80s videos of the day for inspiration. Where both of them think a warm summer and babysitting kids is going to be a breeze. Little do they know that they become the Final boys as something stalks the camp đ˘ Is it really killing the kids? Or are the boys just stuck in their own nightmare the Camp created for them? DunDunDun!!!! đ¨đ
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This fic has 129 kudos and itâs been out since August. Which - what? Crazy! Itâs just a little one shot but I dare you not to cry:
One Ring To Rule Them All by @thew1ldblueyonder
One Ring To Rule Them All by TheWildBlueYonder
@thew1ldblueyonder
Rating: General
2,872 words, 1/1 chapters
Archive Warning: No Warnings
Tags: Fluff, The Lord of the Rings References, Established Relationship, Fellowship of the Ring, Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Aged-Up Character(s), They're like 35 here, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is Whipped, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, Established Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson in Love, POV Steve Harrington, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Marriage Proposal, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Vecna (Stranger Things), Eddie Munson Lives, Scars, Nerdiness
Summary:
It's December 2001 and Steve feels younger than heâs felt in a long time. He stands there clutching the tickets in his hands like a lifeline, palms sweating like a teenager, awkward and nervous like he hasnât been for a long time. And yet, when he looks at Eddie across the hall he feels young in an entirely different way, heart fluttering like a caged songbird that cannot be contained, every breath filling his lungs to the brim, making his skin tingle. He moves his hand to his pocket, checks it compulsively again and again, his hands tracing the outline of the small box like itâs supposed to calm his foolish heart.
Or: Eddie and Steve go to watch The Fellowship of the Ring. Unbeknownst to Eddie there will be another ring with significant importance showing up that day.
Thanks for the rec!
Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box!
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Excerpt:
He died. He fucking died. Finally, Eddie Munson - lifelong coward, lifelong runner away from all things scary - did the brave thing, took the stand against evil and what the fuck is his reward? Death.
This is just fucking great.
âEeeeddie.â An eerie voice creeps from inside the darkness of oblivion that Eddie has found himself in. âEddie Munson. I want to make a deal with you. For your life.â
Eddieâs not an idiot. He knows how this goes, heâs been playing Dungeons and Dragons since its creation. He knows exactly what happens when a disembodied voice promises you things while youâre in the fugue state of death.
âThanks, but no thanks!â He tries to shout, but it doesnât come out any louder than his regular voice, and gets swallowed up by the darkness almost immediately.
âOh, Eddie. Are you sure?â He can almost feel the voice curling around him, cloying but empty like cigarette smoke. âI can promise you vengeance against those whoâve wronged you. I can make you powerful. Unstoppable- unkillable, even. I can give you a second chance at life. All you have to do is pledge your allegiance to me.â
Usually Eddie sleeps through his history classes, but even he knows that pledging allegiance blindly is how genocide happens, who the fuck does Vecna think heâs fooling?
âFuck that, man!â He attempts to yell into the void again. âEddie Munson is no champion for the evil bad guy. No, thank you!â
An echoing voice breaks through the mist in answer. It sounds like two voices layered on top of each other, one hopeful, the other weary, but both resolute. âWe can offer another choice. We can put you back. You can save everyone, but youâll have to start at the beginning. It will not be easy, but you can stop him. Do you accept?â
Well. Fuck.
* * * * *
Read the whole fic on Ao3: End of The Beginning
Relationships: Will Byers & Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler, Barbara "Barb" Holland, Jonathan Byers, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Joyce Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant(kind of), Everybody Lives, Alternate Universe (but also the same), Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang 2023-2024, Inspired by Art, Time Loop (but not really)
Word count: 12,440
Rated M but just for language and themes (no smut, sorry my dudes)
No archive warnings
Artist: @alduade-art
Betas: Ash (whoâs not on tumblr) and @alduade-art
Thanks to the mods @strangerthingsreversebigbang for being totally easy to work with and on top of everything all the time! This event was great!
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