#ProtectSteveHarrington

excerpts from the tonight show

JF: (in typical fashion, fallon starts speaking as the audience's applause fades) thank you for being here! really, it's so cool to have you here and, by the way, nice outfit! (a few screams and whoops can be heard from the audience)

RS: you think so? (roy gets comfortable in his chair, crosses his legs) i've been calling it stranger things red.

JF: (fallon laughs at this, despite it not being a joke or even remotely funny) yeah, man, we were all talking about it backstage like, oh, this guy's so cool, he's like a disco cowboy. the jacket's pretty cool!

RS: (polite as ever, roy smiles and nods, even laughs at "disco cowboy" as he runs his fingers through his hair, and gives a verbal thank you before continuing) oh, thanks! yeah, my girlfriend helped me pick it out, she insisted on the crop-

JF: (roy is mid-sentence when fallon interjects) oh, yeah, i gotta say this! (he gestures to the audience) she's backstage right now and it's so cool to see you two together, man. i've known her for awhile now and her music is just, like, so amazing, and you're a musician too, right?

RS: (roy nods and changes the topic immediately) yes! yes, i'm in a band with my brothers - and my school friend - sommersöhne. we've been playing together since we were... (he shrugs, holds out his hands) i mean, we're brothers, so... awhile now.

JF: you weren't really acting before stranger things, right? what drew you to the show?

RS: i was between albums at the time and i was still riding that high of blank space, (a few screams from the audience, roy acknowledges bestie nation with a hand on his heart and a wink) i'd read the script, i thought it was really fun and at the time i thought steve was, you know, this one season character.

JF: yeah, right? wasn't he originally going to be written off?

RS: he was! but the duffers decided to keep him around. it was really an episode by episode process where i wasn't ever entirely sure if steve was gonna stick around, but - of course - he did.

JF: they just liked you that much? (he says this in signature fallon fashion, with a very large smile and annoyingly uncontainable excitement) i mean, you're so great. steve's so great, i can't imagine the show without you. (the audience applauds in agreement as fallon continues) you make the whole show, we love you!

RS: (he smiles, leans his head the side) that's very kind of you to say, thank you. i'm just fortunate that the duffers are so dedicated to this character and this show, and to every character. it's truly the best place to work!

JF: your accent-

RS: yes.

JF: (fallon smirks and the audience chuckles) i had no idea you weren't american. the first time we met at the emmy's in 2017 you introduced yourself and i was like, steve's not american?

RS: (makes the international gesture for "it is what it is") i'm sorry to disappoint. (this earns another chuckle from fallon and the audience alike)

JF: no, no, no, not at all, man. you're from germany, right?

RS: yes! i'm from köln. a bit outside of it, anyway, that's where our family farm is.

JF: you've got a pretty big family, right? a few of your brothers are backstage with henri. (roy seems unfazed by fallon casually mentioning his girlfriend by name, despite the twitter frenzy that's about to occur)

RS: yes, i've got a... an abundance of brothers. and one sister.

JF: an abundance. your sister, flora, she's a musician too, and your mom - i mean, we all know lina sofia. and your dad- he really blew me away in mamma mia. is music the family trade?

RS: i'd say we've all got a very strong aptitude for it, yes. all of us have this inherent desire to do a lot of things but they're all music adjacent- like, my brother léon, he writes childrens books and songs. my youngest brother, carl, will do these tiktok remixes.

JF: that's so cool, man. (roy nods and smiles) we actually- well, carl reached out to us when he heard you were gonna be on the show and he sent us a family photo. (roy interjects with: "that's slightly worrying." it's met with laughter) oh, can we show it? (roy nods)

a photo appears on screen - it's a film photo from 2002, and it's pure farm chaos: carl is still a baby, noah barely older, joseph is 17, roy and flora are smack dab in the middle, embracing each other as the rest of the siblings appear to be climbing on top of each other. jonas stands politely in a corner, bastian is sitting at the top of a haybale with his feet on joseph's shoulders. malte is laying on the ground with his head propped up in his palm and one knee bent, léon has launched himself from a haybale and appears to be seconds away from landing on top of flora and roy

JF: so was it always like this?

RS: usually it was worse. (he smirks, the audience laughs, fallon is cracking up with his hand covering his mouth) truly, though, i love them all very much. i can't fathom what it'd be like to live without such an abundance of siblings.

Steve Harrington's Potential Demise @stacey0996 · June 30

if steve dies it's bc roy sommer convinced the duffer bros to kill off his character so he'd be free to follow his alleged gf on tour and not be beholden to filming schedules

anna ♥️ @annahearts · June 30

can't sleep bc i'm worried abt steve harrington please will someone #ProtectSteveHarrington he's always putting himself in danger and frankly i'm distressed

Paloma 💕 @summersuns · June 30

taking a break from #ProtectSteveHarrington to remind you guys that this is what roy sommer looked like while his band was on tour

Steve & Eddie Can Talk To Me @peachykeen · July 1

ok guys it's midnight and netflix just crashed how am i supposed to #ProtectSteveHarrington is this a sign that i shouldn't watch

lily 💕 steve @safesteve · July 1

remember how netflix themselves was the entity that began #ProtectSteveHarrington by taking out a literal billboard for it

jake wants to see steve's parents @jake2455234 · July 1

hope we get to see steve's parents....

june 21, 2022 Pulled this way and that between promo and tours, Leroy has learned how to make a home away from home. Sometimes it's as simple as remembering to pack the right blanket or pillow, and sometimes it's working with Nicola and Yael to make sure that every greenroom is transformed into an exact replica of Apfelbienen's library. It's an extravagant gesture that - from the outside - a tour-and-performance focused Henri seems oblivious to. The couch, however, sees Roy and Henri settled right in the middle of it before nearly every show, her head on his shoulder as he pulls a quilt over both their legs.

may 12, 2022 Tour is a return to form that Leroy didn't know he needed until he, his brothers, and Hannelore take the stage in Köln for the first time in years. His heart threatens to beat out of his chest when the crowd starts singing as soon as he approaches the mic, knowing every cue, every lyric, every dance move, as if the last two years haven't happened at all. He smiles, he waves, he puts both hands on his heart as he takes a bow with the band. When they leave the stage he can't stop crying for an hour, tears sliding down his cheeks as he grins through typical conversation. Henri is there to wipe his face with her thumbs, and he kisses her palm when she does.

it's a supercut of roy (on promo)

RS: (roy holds a puppy close to his face as buzzfeed asks him a question he barely registers) did you know i used to have two dogs? now it's just joni, my brother absconded with the other. i like to think that animals find you when you need them most, and when they need you. it's symbiotic, you know? (he looks to the camera) sorry, what was the question?

RS: (sitting next to joe quinn in an interview, the wear of promo season starting to show in their long, blank stares - roy reads from a card) reddit user thequietwriter01 says we've never met steve's parents before, what's the likelihood that henry sommer will show up as steve's dad in the final season. (roy puts the card down and barrels the camera. he smirks) very unlikely.

JQ: no chance at all?

RS: (roy stares at the camera and shakes his head again, prolonged and extremely exaggerated)

RS: (after being asked about his hair) you know, i have no control over that for the show. it's just, like, magic - but i like to ... (the video enters 5x speed for 20 seconds while roy explains his actual hair care routine) ... and that's about it. (he grins like a gremlin that's just wasted everyone's time)

RS: (clipped from a livestream with penny, rebel, joe, and roy playing the "haunted farm" on stardew valley) this is essentially exactly a one for one what it was like growing up on a farm. like, not to get too graphic or anything, but one time we were playing schwerter on the rafters in the barn and-

JQ: wait, what's... what's schwerter?

RS: "swords".

JQ: you had a game called swords that you played in the rafters of your barn?

RS: yes. like, you find two long sticks outside and then duel. anyway, this one time my brother malte and i were fighting and he fell and- (he looks at the chat and laughs) no, the fall wasn't that bad. like ten feet? we'd play on the rafters above the loft. but malte fell and he used his hands to brace his fall. i heard his bone snap. anyway, that's essentially the same thing as playing the haunted farm map.

RS: (he stares at the camera and then at gaten) you're turning 20?

GM: (laughs) yeah!

RS: (joe and roy exchange a look, roy seems verklempt - a producer off camera asks him if he's shocked) i remember the first time you drove me to work. i was, um, penny, rebel, my sister, and i were staying in the same house and henri was visiting and we were all so excited you were driving that we all packed in to your car.

GM: (he nods) that's when i knew.

RS/JQ: knew what? (something dawns on roy and the clip ends)

lisa • steve stans DNI @itslisa93 · July 1

i feel like everyone on earth made a pact to collectively forget what an asshole steve was in s1 bc like how do u all love him and talentless rich boy r*y s*mmer SO MUCH

cher @jqvin039 · July 1

@itslisa93 not a steve stan but i'm glad i woke up to this extravagantly stupid take bc i needed fury to fuel me this morning

Robin Content Only @robinsbabe2022 · July 1

@itslisa93 nobody forgot it's called character growth get a life

applejack @horsesgalore · July 1

@itslisa93 lmao did i write this tweet bc same

charlie brown's alternate self @charliegray · July 1

@itslisa93 good grief

Still Running on Solar Power @thepaths · July 1

@itslisa93 #RECASTSTEVEWITHBLU

🌱 Willow 🌱 @inthetreez · July 1

@thepaths pr couple check out parkiettaevidence.com for the truth

Still Feeling Melodrama-tic @supercutofwhat · July 1

@itslisa93 @thepaths if i only could... run up that hill... that you're choosing to die on... and ask you what the fuck ur all doing...

WANT WANT @streamflora · July 1

@itslisa93 STREAM WANT WANT FOR THE BEST SOMMER CONTENT

an ongoing list Holding her hand and squeezing it tightly before she shares herself with an entire venue full of screaming fans waiting for the spotlight to focus on her. Waiting for that blank yet pointed stare after he says something that merits no response. Laughing every time she finagles his name into a pun that barely makes sense. The way she throws her arms around Apfel and Bienen's necks when she sees them for the first time in over a month. The gentle way she rests her palm against Horse's nose. Shooting down almost all of his name suggestions for the foals. Watching her dig her feet into the Apfelbienen dirt as she bends down to look at the newly sprouted apple saplings.

july 18, 2022 He's in the Tonight Show dressing room, in a simple ribbed white tank and high waisted red trousers, his jacket already hanging on the rack. He and Henri debrief, a slew of snarky banter seasoned with the occasional kiss on the cheek or fingers brushing. He says she made the right call about the jacket, and both of them are careful to keep their soft complaints about the host reserved to knowing looks, which will take on some sort've verbal form later (if they remember). Nicola pops his head in to remind Roy that they're on a schedule and don't have all day, and by the time the door closes Roy is unzipping his trousers. Henri's back is turned when something small hits the floor- Roy turning to see something's fallen out of his pocket. It can only be one thing, and he quickly (though nonchalantly) reaches down to curl his fingers around the ring. He replaces his trousers with a pair of corduroy shorts and, like it has for the past few months, the ring finds a new home at the bottom of a different right front pocket.