So This Post Pointed Out That Steve Is Actually The One Who Has The Resources, Time, And Lack Of Anyone

So this post pointed out that Steve is actually the one who has the resources, time, and lack of anyone keeping tabs on his whereabouts to be able to go explore the gay scene in the nearby city, and that kind of combined with some ideas i've been having into this subplot idea.

I talk about it more in this tik tok, but the basic premise also draws from the fact that Steve is a super strict compartmentalizer and also from the fact that he seems to channel a lot of what he's feeling into physical things, from basketball and dancing at parties to taking practice swings with the bat and even cleaning up the Byers' house at the end of season 2.

So what I picture is Steve, frustrated and lonely at the end of season 2 because there's nothing from the Upside Down to fight and hes been cut off from his social and physical outlets at school by Billy, just grabbing his keys one injury-and-anxiety-induced insomnia night and stumbling into a club with amazing music that he just loses himself in dancing to. And he just. compartmentalizes the fact that its clearly a gay club.

And over time, i see him getting more and more involved in all aspects of the scene, to the extent of becoming a full-on, painted-up glam performer with a stage persona at this club, getting an incredible amount of catharsis and expression from the way this alternate self gives him a physical and emotional outlet to explore these thoughts and feelings and ways of being that he can't or won't let himself engage with in Hawkins.

But also, because it's Steve, I just picture this split between what he can and can't do and be in these two different lives just torturing him, and him struggling with which one is the performance and which one is his authentic self, until he finally realizes he doesn't need to be so compartmentalized and split asunder but can instead embody these seemingly diametrical truths of who he is and what he wants in an integrated way.

And yeah, his stage name is SHINER, cuz he gets the shit kicked out of him for love, and he's got his heart on his sleeve and bleeding out on his cheek.

(And here's a Steve/SHINER playlist to go along with this!)