thinking about a no upside down au steddie fic where steve and eddie run into each other years after moving away from hawkins, and eddie remembers steve and his fall from grace as king, and is kind of intrigued to see what kind of person he is now
and steve doesn’t remember him at all at first, because, look, eddie changed his hair again, and steve’s had a few head injuries (no upside down but i imagine he still went thru some shit with the party and with robin), and he didn’t really think about eddie in high school anyway, and he’s trying to forget about hawkins as much as possible (besides the kiddos, but they’re all moved out for college now, anyway) (obviously he lives with robin)
but steve is different now, happier, more open, flirts with guys, flirts with EDDIE, and eddie….. well, he wants to know more! and he tells steve he knows him from hawkins, and steve’s sunny little smile flickers a little, but he just apologizes for not remembering him and mentions he has some memory problems
and they get to know each other, and eventually as eddie tells him more (and maybe with the help of some yearbooks) steve remembers eddie. and. well. they like getting to know each other. and they like each other. and then they get together
eventually they’ve been together for a while, and eddie thinks he wants to maybe introduce steve to wayne, and he mentions he’s going to go back to hawkins for a long weekend (as he’s done a couple times) and this time he’d like steve to join him
and again steve’s sunny smile flickers a bit, but he says he’d love to meet eddie’s uncle, and… they go to hawkins. and it goes well— meeting wayne, at least, but steve seems a little on edge the whole time they’re there, tense when they drive in, fidgety when they go to the grocery store, et cetera. eddie thinks maybe steve is nervous about staying with the man who raised eddie, which is ridiculous, because wayne LOVES steve.
it’s not til they leave the town altogether that steve relaxes, and eddie realizes it wasn’t “meeting the parents” but rather going back to hawkins. and speaking of meeting the parents, steve didn’t ever bring his own up, even though eddie knew they still lived in hawkins. and the way steve glanced around whenever they went in public, like he was scared of getting recognized
and he asks about it, and steve doesn’t really want to talk about it, but he gives eddie snippets of it. people he wanted to leave behind in hawkins, memories that resurfaced, things he wants to forget
eddie goes back to see wayne sometimes, and the first time he doesn’t know whether to ask steve to come, so he just mentions he’s thinking about going to hawkins for some weekend and steve immediately starts making plans with him as if the invite is implicit. they go back to hawkins several more times, steve still tense and pent up the whole time they’re there
over time steve reveals more and more to eddie. everything that made hawkins hell for him, from the things he himself did in high school to the things people did to him. stuff tommy and carol and billy said to him. some of it is just typical high school bullshit (and oh, the nancy thing.) some of it is the tragedies steve went through, the horrors he had to protect his kids from. the injuries he sustained. more generally the homophobia that permeated the whole town, keeping steve from being himself. the lack of support in the indiana public school system for a high school senior who’s had two concussions and gone through incredible trauma.
his parents. the reason why steve’s mail is addressed to ‘steve buckley’ now, not ‘steve harrington’.
(that doesn’t come out until much, much later, and eddie is kicking himself for ever suggesting steve come back to hawkins.)
eddie, who hardly had an easy time of it in hawkins, is absolutely blown away by what steve had gone through in the same town, right under his nose. the entire persona that steve was trying to leave behind — the cool as a cucumber, unaffected, douchey mask he wore to hide all that he had endured. the head injuries. the emotional tragedies he had gone through. the way he had to be the rock for the kids even as he went through the same things as them.
he tries to tell steve they never have to go back to hawkins again, and steve is having none of it. he tells steve wayne can come visit them in their new city, and steve thinks that’s completely unfair to the man who had raised eddie, seriously, you’re going to make him come all the way up here?
and well i don’t know exactly what the ending is but steve is so stubborn about trying to love hawkins because it was eddie’s home and he wants to be able to go see wayne because wayne deserves to see his kid and eddie deserves to see his uncle and steve doesn’t want to be the problem :(
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I’m so curious, obviously for years Lincoln has had complicated feelings about Warriors as his son but what were Ganondorf’s thoughts on what he heard about Warriors?
May I introduce you to the biggest thorn in Lincoln and Ganondorf's marriage?
So the story starts long before they ever got married. In fact, Ganondorf was happily married to his first wife when Lincoln barged into his palace, pale-faced because he just found out that the woman he almost married was pregnant with what is probably his child. Delightful.
They both agreed that Lincoln had to do the right thing and step up, even if Ganondorf was a little sad about the idea of his best friend getting married.
Luckily, Lincoln still didn't marry Marigold. However, the conversation where he had to tell Ganondorf that he wasn't going to be in Link's life was... interesting. Ganondorf could not understand how Lincoln could walk away from his own child. Lincoln insisted that he was only walking away because Marigold insisted, but Ganondorf fully believed that Lincoln should ignore Marigold's wishes and do whatever it would take to be in Link's life.
This argument got bad. Really bad. They ended up agreeing to drop the subject and not bring it up again, but it was a real sore spot for many years.
Even when they married, Ganondorf never dared to broach the topic. Lincoln was still sensitive about the whole ordeal and Ganondorf... I wouldn't call Ganondorf insecure. He's a very confident man. But he is very aware that since he can't leave the palace, there are parts of Lincoln's life he can never reach. Sometimes, it's easier to pretend that those untouchable parts of Lincoln's life just simply don't exist.
It was easier to bury any concerns Ganondorf had about Lincoln's bastard child than to risk disrupting the seemingly delicate balance of their relationship. (He didn't realize that the balance wasn't delicate and that their marriage was rock-solid, but he would figure that out eventually).
Then the war started.
This hasn't come up in story yet, but canonically, Lincoln and Ganondorf had no contact during the two years Hyrule was in the War of Eras. Why? Because Lincoln knew he was being watched and monitored by the Sheikah. He didn't dare to even send a coded letter to Ganondorf in fear that it would reveal Ganondorf's existence to Impa.
Lincoln and Ganondorf mutually agreed to this (and had some great goodbye sex about it), but it was still hard going no-contact for two whole years.
Unable to leave his palace, Ganondorf had to content himself with whatever rumors he heard about Lincoln from his own messengers.
Lincoln and the Hero of Hyrule hate each other? That was going to be one hell of a conversation to have, but nothing that pegged Ganondorf as worrisome.
That Lincoln legitimized a second, previously unknown bastard out of nowhere? What the fuck?
Ganondorf trusts Lincoln to the ends of the earth. He always believed Lincoln to be a good, honor man who would never lie to him. But by the ancestors, this one tested him.
And he had to stew in that for two years. Two. Whole. Years.
When the war ended and Lincoln was certain that Impa was no longer interested in spying on him, he finally went to the Gerudo Fortress for a long awaited reunion.
And listen, Lincoln's not an idiot. He figured Ganondorf got wind of what happened. He just didn't expect this to trigger the biggest fight of their marriage.
Ganondorf finally unloaded years worth of disappointment he had for Lincoln not being a father to his own kid. And when Lincoln finally explained the story behind Linkle, Ganondorf then was furious that Lincoln would try to keep him a secret from her.
Lincoln still insisted that respecting Marigold's wishes was the right thing to do, though Link turning out to be a terrible person didn't hurt his case. As for Linkle, he kept reminding Ganondorf that his existence had to be kept a secret and it wouldn't be right to unload the weight of that secret onto a child.
Ganondorf ended up kicking Lincoln out of the palace. He wasn't allowed back in for two weeks.
Here's the thing: Ganondorf is a king. Not only that, but he's good at being the king. Logically speaking, he knew that Lincoln was right about not telling Linkle the truth. But it's the principle of the matter, and he didn't want Lincoln to think he could ever get away with this again.
When they finally talked again, they were both calmer and willing to talk it out. Basically, they came to a bit of a truce:
Lincoln admitted that he was wrong for not stepping up to be Link's dad, though his blame for what Link did since stops there
Ganondorf and Lincoln would agree to disagree about how much Link's long list of atrocities are Lincoln's fault
While Ganondorf can insist that Lincoln deserves some of the blame, he also agrees that it may be too late for Lincoln to repair his relationship with Link
Lincoln will tell Linkle about Ganondorf the moment she is ready to hold that secret, whether she's an adult or a still a kid
When it's time, Lincoln has to introduce Linkle to Ganondorf himself (Linkle spends so much time in Gerudo Town that Ganondorf could feasibly force their meeting, but he knows that this is something Lincoln has to do himself)
Lincoln has to at least consider trying to reach out to Link in a neutral manner (or, at the very least not try to ruin his life out of spite)
If Ganondorf ever learns that Lincoln has another bastard child running around from anyone who isn't Lincoln himself, then he's going to divorce his ass and throw him into the dungeon
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