#I would love to see Robin interacting more with other characters next season

[thai-09]

I drew Mike crying because why not

She's helping him :)

[paladinsbrainrot]

hello just wanted to say I think you’re really cool and I love your art!! I also LOVE romike too, super excited for their dynamic in s5

I’d love to hear your thoughts on them and if you have any predictions/theories/things you’d like to see with them next season :]

OHHHHH MY GOD thank you this is such an amazing question !!!! so sorry it took me so long to answer however i have very many Thoughts™

the idea of robin and mike being friends is soooo dear to me you don't even understand. romike has been on my mind since before s4 even came out #Tbh I just think that they are so similar and tethered and it's just so shocking that they haven't properly interacted yet!!!

obviously I think romike first came to fruition through the idea that robin would act like a gay mentor to mike and kind of guide him to realize his feelings for will, but they're so much more than this mentor/mentee relationship. not only would it be an interesting dynamic to explore as they have barely interacted, but they are literally both Anxiety As A Person and their personalities would compliment each other so well. mike's reluctance to open up to people & robin's willingness to ramble to anyone she meets? sign me up. both are bottling up their emotions in totally different ways. i would live for them awkwardly bumping into each other and mike finding her annoying at first but then realizing she is literally his carbon copy and that they are so much more alike than he first thought. (I would argue that they are literally madwheeler 2.0 sans the bitchiness.) them both bonding over the fact that they have trouble expressing their emotions and that they feel like outsiders????? them both realizing they are stuck in the same boat and using each other as an outlet to open up (+ it would be way easier for them to talk about these things because they aren't super close)????? hEllooooo duffers Are u seeing this?????? their dynamic would be so interesting if they don't write it I'm going to have to do it myself.

as for general predictions/theories..... oh boy I have Lots!!!!

I think that the writers are leaning more towards a rowill focus than a romike one this season so I don't think we will see as much as them as I would hope for. BUT this post gives me the idea that we will get a bunch of romikewill scenes on the farm with maybe a dash of one-on-one romike content sprinkled in there for the wellbeing of the people (the people being me and the other two romike fans on this app). as much as I love romike I think will and robin are the characters who Need to talk to each other the most because they're both still closeted. though as I said before I pray that the duffers will realize the potential that romike has as well 🙏

so I've basically done a whole lot of rambling and haven't even answered your question so I'm just gonna get straight to what I want for them this szn if this were my perfect world 🎉

I have this one recurring dream that mainly only exists because of a fic I wrote an extremely long time ago but basicalllyyy the essence of it was that mike and el were in this weird phase in their relationship where they were distant, awkward, and were almost uncomfortable around each other? so mike, incredibly frustrated and fed up with this, starts acting moody and withdrawn from everyone else. also bc this is s5 lets just add the fact that his sister is missing, he just got beat up by the school bullies, and maybe he and will got into the painting fight or something. so just imagine mike being almost reclusive and reserved on the farm set. maybe robin notices his lack of exuberance (that's probably not the right word but whatever) and decides to take matters into her own hands. she asks what his deal is and if he's doing all right with everything going on. mike pretends he's super annoyed by her because of all the questions she asks him but maybe she makes some offhand remark about how they're stuck on this stupid farm and it'll only get worse if he keeps acting like this. (and also, they have bigger issues to worry about!) so mike, quickly realizing that robin is literally the only person on this farm that is there for him to talk to, opens up to her a little reluctantly about everything going on with him. it's important that this is a slow process and that he doesn't dump everything on her at once. maybe he says that he doesn't know what he's doing with his and el's relationship and how will's not talking to him and that he feels he keeps screwing things up with the people he cares about the most. insert moment of robin being robin and clearing up the air, relieving the tension off mike's shoulders, and also giving him some very valuable advice!! obviously there's much more here to explore upon but the general gist of it is that they become much closer after this. robin learns that she can open up to mike too, about how some "person" that she's interested in is giving her mixed signals and how she is actually very scared about the end of the world but feels like she has to deflect everything with humour. they learn they are able to confide in each other and boom romike world domination!!!

I kind of want them to be like a mix of steve & robin and mike & nancy and mike & max, if that makes sense. like steve and robin's closeness, mike and nancy's worry about each other, and mike and max's bickering and (loving) malice. Idk mike is very irritable and snarky and robin is very direct and straightforward and also very tentative so I think their dynamic would just feel natural and compliment each of their personalities!!

I also think their dynamic could be veryyy beneficial to discovering the key to destroying vecna once and for all !!! these two are arguably the smartest characters on the show and work in very like minded ways. robin figured out when blue meets yellow in the west (cough) and that music is the key to getting out of vecna's mindscapes. mike has had wayyy too many clutch moments during the show that I can't mention here otherwise this post would get too long, but you get the point. putting both of their brains together might help our characters figure out how to end this battle. this script that maya hawke posted a while back that features both of mike and robin's names makes me very hopeful that this will be a possibility in s5. (potential st5 spoilers incoming ->) my current running Theory is that mike and robin discover that the military or hnl (is it still running in s5? idk) are running experiments on kids again and use the mccorkle farm and subsequent tunnels underneath to help the kids escape. (mayhaps this is how derek ends up on the farm after being spotted with the military??? idk.)

I am trying not to get my hopes up about robin and mike being spotted at hawkins lab together (potentially with el and will too 👀) but I have a feeling that this is related to whatever was going on in the tunnels. I have No Clue about what is going down at hawkins lab but one can only hope that they are there because the gang realized they needed two of the smartest people as well as the two strongest/most powerful to figure out the situation with the gates. great minds think alike or something like that!!!

this is more leaning towards romikewill territory but Idk I would just liveeeee for a scene of robin picking up on the labyrinthine circumstance that is will & mike's relationship and teasing mike about it !!! and in return I would like a Lot of mike teasing robin about vickie. I think (key word Think) vickie is on the farm with them so I need lots of scenes of robin not so subtly flirting with vickie and vickie flirting back and giggling like a maniac and mike noticing out of the corner of his eye and smiling. i want him to go up to robin later and just whisper shout that vickie is soooo into her. something similar happening with byler and robin noticing would also be very plausible. i just think it would be so sweet for mike and robin to see themselves in their friends and the people around them to help guide them towards their self-acceptance arcs, and learn that there is some hope for them after all ☹️ the only thing I don't want to see is only one of them being used just to further the romantic advances in the other's story. like I don't want the only reason robin interacts with will and mike in s5 to be to help guide byler towards e/o or for mike to do the same thing with rovickie!! it's important that they both realize that having queer friends is just as significant, and that they both are able to confide in each other about their struggles and worries, whether it's about their relationship or not.

there was also this one leak from early 2024 (another leak warning if you haven't clicked off this post already) that stated that mike and robin had a few scenes together because mike was worried about will, and robin was worried about vickie, and bonded because of this. I think this is a much more plausible way for them to start talking to each other than that scenario I mentioned earlier lol. I really hope that vickie is related to derek or the turnbows in some capacity; it would make her such less of a random character and also give robin a reason to be worried about her (and would also tie into them helping derek escape and the fact that he's on the farm with the rest of them). romike confiding in each other about the fact that they feel like they are useless/can't save the people they love AUGHHHH give it to me now . (edit: the leak is mentioned somewhere in this post you just may have to dig for it)

this post is very long and a total incoherent ramble so I am Very sorry but unfortunately I will never be normal about romike a day in my life. @willelworld (my lovely fellow romike enthusiast!) made a very great point in this post that I would like to end off with because it just sums up what is so perfect about them:

I really hope that my favourite adhd losers will be able to bond over their social incompetencies and sexualities and suppressed emotions and so much more in st5!!!! they just have such best friend material so I hope the duffers do not waste this absolute perfect opportunity to write a queerplatonic friendship ^_^

[starry-eyed-steve]

Sandra's Fic Wrapped 2023

Hello <3, it's the last day of 2023, and I wanted to give some love to all the amazing fanfics I read this year. Each one of the people mentioned here is so talented, and everyone should check out their entire work.

(Disclaimer: all fics mentioned are Steve Harrington x reader)

Here are my top reads from this year (in no particular order)

Wildfire by @curiositydooropened (completed series, enemies to lovers) This fic has one of the best world building, I need this to happen in s5, actually. Doesn't shy away from discussions of ptsd and overall, it was so well done. I still have to finish it, but I know Amanda did an amazing job with it. <3

Glitch by @munsonsreputation (series, friends to lovers) This fic is just so cozy and cute. Reader insert felt like a very well-rounded character. You will love all the interactions with the other characters. It's just so well done. <3

whip it! by @schoopsahoy (one shot) This fic was cuteness overload. Loved the confident reader insert, and overall, the character dynamics were so well done, esp Steve and the kids <3

don't think twice, it's alright by @hawkinsquarry (part of a series, hurt/comfort post s4) I think this is one of my fav hurt/comfort pieces I've read this year. The interactions between reader and Steve are so tender. Overall, this was perfect <3

Into Open Flames by @kurokoros (completed series, established relationship, horror, set after s2 canon divergence) This fic has amazing world building. The original monster is so terrifying and well done that I was on the edge of my seat all the time. I adored Steve's character so much, kinda wish the show would have handled his character that way instead of what they did in s3/4. Overall amazing writing <3

confetti by @slashersteve (series, single!dad Steve) My favorite single dad Steve fic out there. I still haven't read the latest part, but I had to mention this series. It's amazing. The characters feel so real, and you'll fall in love with Steve's daughter <3

become the sun by @headkiss (one shot, strangers to friends to lovers) This was probably my favorite summer fic. I adored the small beach town vibe. Overall, that was such a cute read. I still need to read this year's Christmas fic, which I know will be great because last year's was amazing. <3

the view between villages, part one: good bones by @sattlersquarry (completed series, choose your own adventure, s3) Listen this is one of the most creative works I've read. The amount of work that was put in it is insane. You play an active part and get to choose how your story ends. This was such a fun experience <3

the swindling of steve harrington’s heart by @stevebabey (one shot, strangers to lovers) This was such a cute fic, like Steve asking for dating advice in the Hawkins Post was just sweet. I loved all the interactions between him and the reader. If you need a pick-me-up, this is your fic <3

and they were roomates by @sunshinesteviee (one shot, friends to lovers) This fic was just so cute. I loved Robin being kinda in the middle of this and sick of their bullshit. Overall, amazing writing and a quick read if you are feeling down and need cheering up <3

almost paradise by @hawkinsindiana (completed series for now, ST rewrite covering all seasons) I said it so many times, but this is one of my overall favorite stories. Kinda wish we had the reader character in the actual show because it makes so much sense. The writing is amazing, I even shed a few tears towards the end. I can't wait to see what's in store for s5. Also, check out the various blurbs that go with it. There is so much work being put into this, and it deserves a bit more love. I'm gonna re-read the whole thing next year. <3

steve zombie!au by @luveline (compilation of blurbs and one shots) This is one of my fav AU, I can't just choose one thing, so I linked the entire masterlist Their relationship is just so special. I love the world building and the other characters. It's amazing <3

no good at waiting by @familyvideostevie (completed series, sorta enemies to lover farmer market au) This is one of my fav series, and we got such cute blurbs this year from this universe. It has such a cozy vibe to it, great world building and characters. <3

Any Way Out by @hairrington (one shot, angst, ex boyfriend Steve) This fic was a mix of heartache and comfort. Nadia is one of my fav Steve writers out there so everyone check out her entire masterlist. <3

some kind of muted blue by @thecreelhouse (one shot, dark themes, deals with things like ptsd) This was so devastatingly beautiful, I loved that this fic explored Steve's felings so much, something we don't get to see in the show. This was just amazingly written <3

[videwly]

HIIIII KIARA !!!!!

1. if your ocs were a song what would they be ??

2. what are some niche facts about cassie ??

3. (matching question) what are some niche facts about evelina ??

4. what are your favorite dynamics in each of your fics ?? (not necessarily the healthiest or most living but your favorites to think about)

okay byeeeee love you

hellooo pretty girl!! I haven’t been on my ff acc but happy lateee birthday I hope it serves you well I LOVE U SM!! okay so…!!!

cassie would be funeral by phoebe bridgers orrrr incomprehensible by big thief!!  ava would defo be man of the year by lorde <33 alsooo im so happy your seeing her for your birthday!! im trying to get tickets so bad dude :3 or because im indecisive she would be you oughta know by alanis morissette evelina no doubt is sun bleached flies by ethel cain ! !  robin is the beer by kimya dawson (if you want like a specific occ just message me or ask ! ! 

uhhh firstly I don’t know if some of these are niche but I’ll try she misrembers her dreams as like a real event which has caused awkward interactions, some people she can’t remember their face so she only remembers them by emotion or sound, she CANNOT stand the feel of velvet it makes her gag, she loves grape flavored cough medicine, when growing up her and avas childhood home smelled like old books and lemons all the time and she talks about it in s2 which need to write sooonnn, she writes letters to people she’s cut out of her lives but never sends them, and lastly she can’t throw away birthday cards even from people she hates now, and finallyy she keeps a small altoid wallet full of broken jewelry and buttons, 

I believe no ones asked me about her besides nat so ilysm for this :)) when she finds out angels are in fact real because the first few unpublished chapter of what heaven forgets she doesn’t believe in discord any of that stuff because of how much jimmy believed in it before he disappeared she braids her hair before bed because she firmly believes the angels will tangle it in her sleep, she hates lullabies because it reminds her too much of when jimmy left, this is when she slightly warms up to cas I guess? she won’t sleep unless there’s a light on but she swears it for castiel not her, she folds her drawings into paper stars and hides them under this broken floorboard in her closet, she eats dry cereal sitting on the floor with  one foot tucked under the other bracing for impact, she remembers the smell of jimmy she described it to claire like pennies and pieces and like something burnt? she made a promise to the sky but she will never tell anyone, not even castiel. 

oooo okay so, in what heaven forgets claire and evelina for sure! evelina acts like she’s above it? she just can’t trust anyone and she hates how claire acts like jimmys coming back especially because claires over and claire being like 12 in season 4 she doesn’t get why her sisters so cruel, twyla and jo!! twyla is jo’s  sister and they are like the same exact person and i love them so much and how doomed they are if u wanna know more about twyla just ask me and I will tell u!! next, robin & azazel and they are really unhealthy because of the special children storyline and when robins younger she thinks shes that she’s just drinking azazels blood to make her dad happy and she’s not in reality. now in never again ava and cassie (half of the ones i ’ve said have been sister dynamics but i hope that’s fine with u) they’re all sweet and such as of n.a’s published chapters but  i can’t explain it so their relationship over time is puppet by tyler the creator. and then finn and cassie bc i have never ever posted about them they were a dynamic couple and the two characters they are to me are powder and ekko bc yeah! fun fact: before the events of na cassie and finn were in a band!

HM!!! Please please please tell me everything about Abby’s full story or like things about her if you want IM DYING TO KNOW! alsoo ur so cool to talk to so please text me or I’ll text you like tell me any ideas you have for like fics or anything, I love talking to my moots i simply adore <33  and im thinking of making an edit of evelina and abby so if u wanna talk abt how they interact i am SO UP TO IT! if this didn’t answer your questions messageee meeeBUT PLEASE I WANNA TALK TO U DIVA!! <3 happy late birthday!! 🤍🤍

[findafight]

(Okay, gonna try and send this again)

I had a whole spiel about how R0nance has the potential to be very interesting and stimulate character growth on both sides in a similar way to Steve and Eddie. Not to say that Nance needed “ego death”, but she has built too much of her identity around being the smartest person there/the only person who can find the answers, and having Robin challenge her in that way (at times without even needing to) would provide some much needed growth. Because at the moment she’s giving “gifted student who didn’t struggle in school and is going to be eaten alive at college”.

Or, if you wanted to lean into the “Bad R0nance” side of things, they have the potential for a lot of interesting dynamics, scenes and conversations that they couldn’t have with other characters. Like, Barb is already such a charged subject with Nancy - add to that the fact that Barb ditched Robin to become Nancy’s best friend. To say nothing of Steve, who is such a big part of Robin’s life, he’s going to be part of Nancy’s what her she likes it or not.

Hell, assuming that that argument prompt wasn’t meant to be cute or funny, that’s a dynamic that could be interesting to explore. Honestly, I find Nancy’s difficulty with admitting that she’s in the wrong/having to have things done her way interesting, especially in contrast with a lot of the guilt she carries being over things that weren’t really her fault (if a bit too close to how certain loved ones of mine act sometimes). And I already see enough of her sticking to her guns despite common sense going unexplored in the show (quite literally; I love surprise gun-toting badass Nancy as much as the next person, and her and Max sawing down the shotgun was a cool visual. That being said; WHEN have guns ever worked against the Upside Down?).

Anyway - my point is that it’s not that I dislike R0nance, I just find a lot of the stuff written to be OOC, that it ignores many of the elements that I think would make them interesting together, or that it downplays Steve’s importance in Robin’s life/ignores it in favour of treating him more as Nancy’s ex-turned-kinda-friend.

haha yeah I got the first one and was like hm. that's not finished...hope they continue!

yeah Nancy doesn't need the same kind of ego death as Eddie did, but she's in desperate need of the realization she doesn't need to form her identity around her academics and journalism and her ability to Solve the Mystery etc, she can be something other than that. The tidbit from rebel Robin that if Robin tried a bit more, she could be valedictorian or something is so juicy for this! I don't think this is exclusive to romo rnce tbh i think them getting a kind of friendship could be really interesting and change them.

The Barb of it all would be so good and neat to explore. God. the hurt and guilt on both sides? I want them to have a conversation about Barb!! How robin mourned her even before she died, and maybe felt like a fraud for crying herslef to sleep when Barb went missing, because they weren't really friends anymore. How Nancy feels guilt for letting Barb leave, how she wishes she could take it back. How Robin resented Nancy for "stealing" barb away, about her insecurities in her friendships because of that. I want to see it! They could have such a rich friendship!

I want to see them argue! yell! scream and cry! There's so much potential here! their personalities would clash in glorious ways even in a friendship, let alone a romo relationship! hoo hoo!

Poor Steve is just. He's there too. He can't not be, because he might be an ex Nancy didn't talk to unless the world was ending, but Robin would see him everyday? and that's awkward. idk I think people also miss that for Nancy, dating the best friend of an ex she broke up with in....not the best circumstances and tried to avoid since then would be majorly awkward! idk like Nancy has warmed again to Steve in s4, but clearly didn't interact with him a lot between seasons, but she was also flirting with him and then went back to Jonathan, so it's probably not a situation she wants to be in! Besides the whole mess it would be for Robin considering if she actually wanted to date a friend's (best friend's) ex, the ex, Nancy would probably have to consider spending time with an ex like that. (because you're correct! for robin Steve is non negotiable)

(the prompt was absolutely supposed to be cute it blew my mind) But it's such an interesting dynamic, and absolutely something that I can see Nancy doing. It's been haunting me for weeks! Her feeling guilty over things she had no control over, but then not taking accounatbility for things she did and could change, that's so neat! With her relying on body language, and not adequately communicating to partners what she actually wants/needs/is thinking, Combined with Robin not being good at reading people and generally nervous about that inability to read more subtleties, it would be brutal. They would both dig their heels in, but robin wouldn't know why. FASCINATING.

Common sense doesn't exist in Stranger Things <3 Also I know next to nothing about guns but for some reason I know (am pretty sure of?) that sawed off shotguns have worse accuracy. I was like "nooo nancy you don't need to do that! It will also not help at all!" please let Nancy get a meelee weapon please let her beat the shit out of a demogorgon please let her actually inflict damage!

Uhg yes agree. I think it's one of the few ships I dislike more because of the shippers and how they interact with the characters, and that I see it as sort of a relationship that wouldn't last, and the shippers wouldn't like that and also want it canon. So much stuff I find ooc, and also for some reason a number of steve haters (super uncharitable ones that really, idk why they like robin, a character who loves steve so much she wants to combine with him, if they hate everything about Steve). Big turn offs. Not a lot of nuance happening! (which is NOT rnce exclusive!! I exit out of fics with ships I like because I find them ooc etc.) It could be a really interesting ship that would be messy and possibly implode but oof it'd be neat to explore. I've said before that I can see them liking each other and just not working out in an au where Steve and Nancy never had that history, because honestly another part of it is that I just don't see them as compatible (and included it in one of my not at all canon adjacent aus!).

I am with you on a lot of the content fumbles how Steve fits into it. The complexities his relationships both past and present to both Nancy and Robin would bring up between them could be explored more. Like yeah maybe steve's fine with his bff dating his ex whatever. but how would they feel about it? how would Nancy feel about steve being Robin's ride or die? how does Robin's friendship with steve effect that relationship? there's interesting bones here but alas. He's often shoved to the side as Robins friend and nancy's ex-turned friend. WHERES THE JUICE THERE? c'mon! i get some folks want non-conflict romance but maybe the ship that has potential to be so so SO messy that isn't going to be the most incharacter interactions.

[zonaenthusiast]

Last night I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep and, as I've started watching the live action again, I was thinking.

OH LORD, AGAIN, A-FUCKING-GAIN

I was thinking about the characters that have to be introduced in the new season and, of all of them, my mind focused on Robin. Initially, in the next season we shouldn't see her interacting much with any mugiwara other than Luffy but we know that changes can happen. And it has made me wonder if her dynamic with Zoro pre Enies Lobby is going to start happening in Arabasta and if this ship is going to be resurrected as happened to Zoro and Nami in the first season.

The peak of popularity that Zoro and Nami have reached again as a ship thanks to live action has less to do with the script (it was of help tho) and more to do with the chemistry between Mackenyu and Emily, so the actress playing Robin is going to be crucial, but I know people are going to love the dynamic that made Zoro and Robin's ship so popular in the late 2000s and bleeded into the early 2010s.

I personally wouldn't put that dynamic into Arabasta yet, I would focus on Zoro with Sanji and Chopper and on Robin with Luffy before introducing the kind of relationship these two are going to have for an entire saga and part of another. I'd maybe even go so far as to show Nami suspecting almost as early as Luffy that Robin isn't half as bad as she wants to pretend, just like she did.

I never got to mention it around here, I don't think, but the Zoro/Nami/Robin trio during Skypiea is one of my favorite things about that arc because you can see the very clear difference in Zoro and Nami's treatment of Robin (he was such an ass with her when she was being nice, I want to slap him).

If this doesn't happen in the second season, in the third (if made) it's already something they can't leave out because his behavior with Robin is the consequence of three things: his distrust by nature, that letting his guard down didn't let him foresee Nami's betrayal and, on top of that, Robin has been his enemy before being his friend.

Or maybe not, maybe people won't give a fuck. We'll see.

[strange-anni]

Yep, I agree with pretty much everything you said here. ST will always prioritize more genuine connections over shallow ones like the one Robin has with Vickie. The only scene the both of them share which could count as the starting point for a deeper bond is the one right at the end and even then we get reminded how Steve is still very close to them. He still plays a role and has been this entire time.

He was the one pushing Robin to get closer to Vickie from the start and then continued to play an important role in every scene Robin and Vickie shared. If rovckie was supposed to be endgame this would not be a good thing.

It's just that the audience is really used to characters like Vickie. A love interest for a queer character who gets shoved in at the last minute and with whom the more important queer character barely interacts with. We see this all the time and I believe Vickie in ST is supposed to subvert it.

The reveal of her being straight will shift all the dynamics between the characters. Yes, it will break Robins heart but it'll also remind her to be true to herself and probably also cause a fight between Robin and Steve. This would not be as bad as it seems though as I fully believe they'll make up at the end and become friends again as their platonic relationship is also a genuine bond and deeply cherished by both Robin and Steve. (There is also another purpose Vickie has for Steve specifically which I'll go into a bit later)

This then this also leaves us with the other genuine connection Robin has made throughout S4: Nancy. I won't add much to this as you've already pointed out why it's such a meaningful and important connection. To Nancy Robin is actually able to make a difference just by being herself and that is a wonderful thing. (see what happened at Pennhurst)

"They go from awkward coworkers to a genuine team. Nancy starts listening to Robin. Defending her. Valuing her input. You can actually watch the shift happen. It’s subtle but it’s there."

This is very much true. Also notice how this doesn't apply to Jonathan at all? Nancy at the beginning in S3 doesn't value his input, his opinions or him trying to help her. In fact I say she can barely even tolerate him were it not for the car he provides and the assistance he gives. This is exactly why I fear for them if they ever were to go to college together. She can accept him but only under her own conditions and for a relationship that is supposed to last this doesn't bode well.

It's also not really anyone's fault either. It's a matter of fundamental incompatibility. Jonathan and Nancy tried to make it work but ultimately failed. I also have the sneaking suspicion that the Duffers are dismantling every possible future jncy could have right in front of our eyes.

Working together on a task doesn't work if it's not directly related to someone they care for (like Will or Barb) as we have seen in early S3. A long distance relationship doesn't work either as we have seen in early S4 although it needs to be said that this works better for Nancy than for Jonathan. Then I don't think I need to explain how family life won't work for them either, do I?

I fully expect jncy to break up next season and it will be the college acceptance letter Jonathan is lying about that will do it. I think he kinda knows it too which is why he keeps lying to Nancy about it.

So yeah, with Robin Nancy can be a genuine team as you've pointed out but with Jonathan she'll only get assistance which works best if he keeps his mouth shut as much as possible. That is not a good prerequisite for a relationship and it's also not fair to either of them.

If Jonathan and Nancy don't want to start hating each other at one point in the future they better break up as soon as possible so they can continue loving each other in a platonic way and stay friends.

But back to Steve for a bit as I believe Vickie also has an important purpose for him. If she were to offer him a family it'll force him to make a decision between what he is seemingly looking for in Nancy or his true feelings and his friendship with Robin.

This decision will be a lot easier for him to make as it may seem as he's already on a trajectory towards the latter.

Steve: You implying I still have a thing for Nance? Dustin: No. I'm not implying. I'm stating. And, as it relates to your steadfast refusal to date Robin, it's pretty much the only logical explanation. Steve: That's not the only one.

Steve: Maybe after we find Vecna, kill him, save the world and stuff, maybe we can all go out. You know? Me, you, Robin, Jonathan, when he's back. It's not like we're dating. Me and Robin. Not like we're dating.

The horndog Steve is mentioning here also refers to Jonathan I believe. Look here.

I think right from the start Steve never intended to get closer to Nancy for the sake of getting closer to Nancy. He had a different goal in mind and Nancy was the only person out of everyone he knows who could help him accomplish it.

His actions throughout the entirety up until the very the very end make total sense if you think of him wanting a chance to reconnect with Jonathan. Nancy being his girlfriend is the only one who could make it happen.

Steve does want a family and he does want kids but that stands in stark contrast to his other desires as Steve is also very much queer-coded. We also can't forget that it's the 80s and the middle of the AIDs crises and society as a whole believes that gay or queer men are nothing but a danger to children.

Now here is Steve who is also queer and wants to be a parent. He is not as stupid to think that he can have all of this easily. So he thinks he needs to make a decision between his queerness and his want to be a parent. (It's really heartbreaking if you think about it.)

This is also where Vickie comes into play for him.

If Vickie offers him a family, he will be forced to make this decision for real but ...

... while this is directed at Nancy it also tells us something important about Steves priorities. His dream of having a family is meaningless if the most important part is not there. A partner he shares a deep connection with.

This is not Vickie.

Therefore I'm pretty sure he will reject Vickie in S5 as well.

He won't end up alone though as I am pretty sure Jonathan actually feels the same about him and he also wants a family. He just isn't honest with himself about this and projects it onto Nancy.

Also yes to Nancys and Barbs relationship being queer-coded and one problem with it was that Steve always played too much of a role in it. It was never about him directly but about the time Nancy and Barb did spend together. He was a bit like the glue between them they didn't really need but without him they would have also been forced to face their true feelings for each other.

Barb overcomes this earlier when she tells Nancy how going up to Steve's room isn't her and she was right but she also pushed for Nancy and Steve getting together way earlier.

Then tragedy strikes and Barb is killed leaving Nancy with grief while she blames herself for Barbs death.

It's a good thing then that Steve is of little importance to ronance just like Steve and Jonathan will find out that they don't really need Nancy either.

Vickie in the end will tie everything together for everyone involved. Robin, Nancy, Steve and Jonathan as well. They will all find their way towards happiness through her.

Vickie is straight

... and she has a crush on Steve

I know how controversial it is to state such an opinion given how Vickie seems to be one of the few characters in the show who actually seem queer. Yet if we are being honest she has never expressed any direct or indirect signs of actually being in love with Robin. It's Robin who is incredibly biased as she has a crush on Vickie and Steve who is trying to be supportive of Robin who gave us this assumption.

This whole thing is not as bad as it seems though. I can promise you this. So if you still care let me explain to you why I think Vickie is straight and has a crush on Steve.

Part 1: The Muppet joke

While still in the car with Steve in early S4 Robin gets reminded of her own advise: Just be true to yourself and stop pretending to be someone you're not. We need to keep this in mind as she is soon shown to not follow said advise.

When Steve reminds Robin at the basketball game that Tammy Thompson does sound like a Muppet she agrees with him. Vickie overhears this and in turn agrees with Robin.

The joke however doesn't originate from Robin. She just repeated what Steve told her before. Therefore the joke that made Vickie laugh comes from Steve. Or in other words: It was Steve who made Vickie laugh and not Robin.

We even get conformation of this a bit later in episode 2 when Steve admits and agrees out loud that it was his joke that made Vickie laugh.

Robin wasn't entirely herself.

While everyone is looking straight ahead it's Vickie who makes a point not to look in Robins direction after Robin is embarrassed of herself. There is distance between them.

Part 2: Vickie and Robin (and Steve) meet at the Weapon Store

It's Robin who notices Vickie first in the weapon store which is followed by Steve looking at her as he knows she has a crush on Vickie which is then followed by both of them looking sad as Vickies boyfriend enters the scene.

Robin is obviously sad because her crush has a boyfriend while Steve is just sad for his friend.

This shot is often brought up to proof that Robin is standing between Vickie and Dan as it's believed that her crush on Vickie is reciprocated but I don't think this is what it means exactly. It's Robins POV and she believes her feelings to Vickie are reciprocated so she sees herself as standing in between them.

But is it true? Let's look at what Vickie sees next.

Vickie notices the both of them and while Robin is just staring at her Steve is licking his lips. Then Robin turns around and leaves while Steve is still looking at Vickie and Dan and then smiles awkwardly at them.

So Steve is licking his lips and then smiles at Vickie and Dan. What message would Vickie receive here? My guess would be 1) Steve and Robin are close and 2) Steve might like Vickie as well.

This however is the last look we get of Steve in this scene. It's his back while he is still looking after Robin. So whatever made him lick his lips and smile is no longer of interest to him the moment Robin leaves. I think this means that he is Robins friend first and foremost. He is not romantically interested in Vickie and doesn't reciprocate her feelings at all.

Robin is gone and Steve has turned his back on Vickie but her gaze still lingers. Maybe her feelings towards her own boyfriend aren't as sincere as it seems and everything considered I think it's fair to ask who this is truly about? Robin or Steve? Is she saying the truth when she makes it about Robin who she did meet in band or is she using Robin as a shield as she doesn't want to admit to her boyfriend that she has a crush on another man aka Steve?

In the end she looks back towards her boyfriend and then again to the place where Robin and Steve just were. Is he perhaps still standing there?

Then we get a scene transition to Nancy holding a very long gun. It's not subtle at all.

Part 3: Providing Food for the Suffering

There is light behind Robin which can indicate that she is the one who is most sincere in this scene. This makes sense as it is true that Robin has a crush on Vickie.

It's Vickie who gives her the information that Dan is no longer her boyfriend but from the scene in the weapon store she also knows that Robin and Steve are close. So everything she says to Robin is likely to reach Steve as well which means that Robin could be the one to tell Steve that Vickie is single again and therefore available to him.

First notice how Vickie wears spiral earrings. This is very interesting to me as it's triangle imagery that is used to indicate queerness in the show. So here we have the supposed love interest of one of the only confirmed queer characters in the show not wearing triangle imagery when it really matters. Why? Because she is straight.

Vickie also mentions how she rambles about her boyfriend when there are people out there suffering at which point in time she looks up and slightly to her right. Later when the scene transitions from Robin and Vickie to Steve we also get him at a alight angle which to me indicates that Vickie was looking at him as she was lifting her head.

It's Steve who Vickie perceives as the one suffering and who she wants to provide with food. Or to put it a bit differently: It's Steve she has a crush on and who she wants to be with and support.

Steve on the other hand is also smiling and looking at Robin and Vickie. He is happy for the both of them as everything seems to be working out for Robin and Vickie which could not be further from the truth. He's also shaking his head just slightly. Most likely because he thinks a certain assumption he's made just an episode earlier turned out to be wrong.

That assumption about Vickie pausing Fast Times at 53:05 however might be true after all. Steve is just misreading the signs Robin and Vickie are giving off at the gym.

Tbc in a reblog because I almost hit image limit. Look here.

[loveronlineee]

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 spoilers.

At first it was denial.

I saw the signs. I saw how he said Never change Dustin Henderson. I saw him say again and again that he’s no hero. I saw him go back to give the others more time. I watched as he lay so close to gone with Dustin holding him and I still didn’t believe it.

Then it was shock.

How the time skip happened and everyone was safely back, out of the upside down. No mention of Eddie from anyone, until Dustin.

Then it changed again, going back and forth between heart wrenching mourning and white hot anger.

I am upset. The kind of upset where your feelings overcome your body and you can’t even stand, your knees giving in beneath you. Crying on the floor. Watching the tears fall onto the ground, inches from your face.

I am upset. The kind of upset where you can’t even hold back the fury. Where nothing will calm you down and you’re shaking and tense, and you just have to feel that feeling with every fibre of your being until it turns back into tears.

I convinced myself that Eddie wasn’t going to die. I read posts saying that Eddie and Jonathan were gonna have scenes next season, they put forward the point that Why would there be so much promotion for a character that wouldn’t even be in the next season?

I couldn’t even enjoy the rest of the episode after that. I couldn’t be excited about Robin and Vickie. I didn’t feel anything when Hopper and Joyce reunited with their kids. I didn’t care that Hawkins was in trouble. Nothing else mattered after that. I felt numb.

Thank you Joe Quinn. For bringing alive a character that I love more than any other I ever have. No other is even close. And fuck you Duffer brothers for absolutely ruining him.

I’m only half serious, because I understand that when you make something and people love it, you’re terrified that one day you’ll fuck it up and all those supporters will turn on you. I know that the Duffers originally didn’t want Eddie to be that likeable, since they planned on killing him. But they didn’t change what they planned even after casting Joe.

And I think what makes me the most angry is that his death wasn’t even a good death.

No one mourned for him. There was no funeral. We don’t even know that much about what happened after. We can assume that they just left his body there, to rot in the upside down. Alone. Forever.

He never got to meet Will. He would have loved him. He would have taken him under his wing and protected him and become a second older brother. He never got to meet El and see her awesome powers in action. He never got to meet Hopper, or Joyce, or Murray or Argyle or Holly or any of the parents or anyone else.

I wanted to see him become part of the group. I wanted to see him interact with the others. What would Hopper have said after taking one look at him? It would’ve made me laugh whatever it would’ve been. I wonder what Eddie would’ve thought of Dustin’s girlfriend Suzie. Did he even know that this girl with superpowers was Mike’s girlfriend???

His name was never redeemed. Everyone still hates him. He never graduated. And no, he didn’t die a hero. His death wasn’t an epic sacrifice like Billy’s was. He died even though the exact same thing happened to Steve and he survived.

His death didn’t feel like it meant anything.

And it should’ve

It could’ve.

If Eddie died it could’ve been him protecting Steve, Nancy and Robin. He reaches the house, saves them but ultimately doesn’t make it. Maybe he makes such a ruckus that Vecna has to find him and kill him himself, giving El and Max more time to save themselves.

If they were planning on it, it could’ve been so. Much. Better.

Duffer brothers you made me fall in love with a show and continue to love it for 6 years. And you ruined it in just under 4 hours.

But even after everything, I still love this show. And I will not stop writing. Eddie Munson you stole my heart and I have no regrets about that.

And I will share this love with every person who reads my work and interacts with my blog who loves him too.

I’ll write Eddie the story he deserves.

Eddie I love you. You freak.

- Willow.

[jaegerisim]

I am going to go controversial here. Stancy is a horrible ship even worse than mlvn.

Steve and Nancy have nothing in common. Nancy is an independent woman who wants a career, not a family. Meanwhile, Steve wants a nuclear middle-class family which she has explicitly said she'd hate to have. I am not saying it's not ok for Steve to want that, but it def isn't what would make Nance happy.

Second of all, the only thing that's real abt Stancy is their physical attraction. That is objective. It is in the script. It explicitly says that when Steve does a perfect landing, Nancy finds it hot and it's ok to find ppl hot while you are dating someone but not to lead them on, which is to one extent what Nancy does with Steve. (I'm not slandering her, I love her just as much as the next Nancy stan but it is not ok to do that)

Meaning, the Duffers mishandled Nance's character this season regarding relationships. Badly but not unrealistic. I hate how they made Nancy lead on Steve or at least flirt with him when his feelings are not shared. We know Jancy is the endgame, we know bc the ending of the season foreshadowed it. Yet, her character is extremely realistic for me and that's why I love her sm. She was a teenager when her BFF disappeared while she was having sex with Steve (another reason why they can't work, Nance associates Steve with Barb's disappearance. Then she learns about her gruesome death in another dimension, she feels guilty and tries to avenge her. All of this happens and Jonathan is always there with her. Always. He doesn't leave her side. Jonathan and Nance have shared trauma, while Steve and Nancy don't even have that. While Nancy was with Jonathan, Steve was with The Party. They each find their own people. In this situation, it is normal for Nancy to be confused over her feelings as her character arc focuses on her growth and maturity as a woman handling romance and trauma.

Furthermore in S3 Steve says she likes Robin bc she isn't like Nancy. He got over her and thinks that he needs someone different from her. In the pitch, Robin would be Steve's girlfriend, yet in the end, she was his platonic soulmate. This was something I particularly loved bc this shows that Steve's character arc is not about romantic love but for platonic and brotherly love he finds in Dustin and Robin.

Now, about Jonathan's character arc. This character is unjustly hated, IMO. He is super underrated and deserves more appreciation. I love Steve but Jonathan is personally a better character. Jonathan comes from years of abuse and neglect having to take care of his younger brother who gets atrociously bullied and abused at school and home. He is forced to drop out and work full time taking extra shifts at work in order for them to scrape by. This means he has the same or more trauma than Steve. Jonathan had to go alone to buy a coffin for his presumed dead brother and grieve for him alone while having to deal with his supposedly delirious mother and abusive father. All of this at the age of 14-15.

Due to the lack of social interaction, we know Jonathan has, he has trouble comprehending Nancy as he sees her as this rich, pampered priss. She isn't and he learns this. He and she let go of their prejudice towards each other to reach a common goal, find their loved one.

Stancys claim Jonathan neglected Nancy when she was being mistreated at work during S3. In this situation, both were in the wrong. Nancy was being a bit selfish bc she wasn't taking into consideration the fact that if Jonathan lost the job, his family would have severe economical problems since they need money desperately. Jonathan showed very little empathy towards Nancy's struggle with misogyny but Steve wasn't even present here so what support did he show? Plus it is canon Steve allowed and even encouraged his friends to slut shame Nancy. Even when Jonathan lies to Nancy about going to college, this isn't such a big issue as having a bf who allows you to be publicly humiliated. Yes, Jonathan did take photos of Nancy without her consent but she forgives him.

So in conclusion, Nancy and Steve will never be endgame because of their lack of romantic chemistry and dare I say, they don't have chemistry at all except this last season which seems pretty forced by the narrative to me!

[iiruwu]

hi can i. can you please map out your bulletin board list on how you think ronance will become endgame. because i also have a bulletin board map in my head and i want to compare notes :)

this is so cute i'd love to! @wrought-tweaks also requested this so :D

im going to first go through all the info i've collected as well as inferred (even though my inferences aren't fact, by any means).

so first, lets consider the undeniable truths. in terms of canonical possibility, i genuinely think ronance's chances are pretty high. not only has robin's sexuality been confirmed - something that rarely ever happens in most shows - but there's also the interviews over the last few weeks that lead me to believe that vickie is probably not going to survive the next volume:

call me pessimistic but i really don't think this is going to end up well. if i were to predict vickie's outcome, i'd say we're going to get confirmation that she is also queer (perhaps through vecna) and then she'll die.

there's also this interview about robin's love life in season 4, whichhhh call me crazy but is kinda???

its obviously not confirming anything but 'a story that gets built' reeks of ronance to me, because i really do NOT see any story happening between her and vickie. vickie's barely even been in the entire season, and robin's screentime has largely revolved around her interactions with nancy. its a little fishy.

so if we're assuming that vickie is dying, and there's going to be a shift of some sort in robin's story, then we also need to consider nancy's whole love triangle going on, which - this is a major source of concern for me tbh. but! let me sprinkle some more interview crumbs that are telling of the possible outcome of that whole mess:

i think it's like 50-60% safe to say stancy won't happen in the end if i were to go off of this, but i'm not the type to put all my eggs in one basket, so - i'm not entirely optimistic about it. what sucks, though, is that i've pretty much scoured the internet over the past month (the autism hit HARD after s4 dropped) and there has been absolutely nothing about jancy's future aside from charlie talking about how jonathon was probably having thoughts about breaking up with nancy. jancy might actually stay strong. still, im trying to look on the bright side :')

there's also this tid-bit from natalia which i might be reading too much into (or i might be overestimating the duffer brothers' attentiveness to her character) but:

like come on. this shit reeks of the whole murray scene where he's like "you like steve. but you don't love steve." tell me not?? i feel like it'd be a little redundant to have her going for steve or jonathon when they've both done very questionable things over the last few seasons. realistically though, her answer leans more towards stancy not happening rather then jancy not happening. jancy has been holding up pretty strong overall, which - good for jancy nation tbh but i don’t exactly think jonathon is the best partner to her either considering the incident with him taking photos. call me crazy but if i were screenwriting nancy’s love story i would be taking this into consideration. who knows, though.

now, all the interviews and articles aside, i'm just gonna be real with you and say i really find it hard to believe nancy would go back to steve. she has been wronged by him and she has wronged him, too. not only that but i think she might connect him to her guilt over barb's death, which i posted abt before. if i were to predict the outcome of that whole weird tension between them during volume 1, i'm betting my money that it's not going to go anywhere.

jancy, on the other hand? iiiii don't know. i think jancy is really one of the only things holding ronance back from actually sprouting and becoming something canon. what i WILL say though is that if nancy were to see jonathon now, and who he has become as a character, i rlly doubt she’s going to look at him and be like “yeah i want to continue dating him” lol

that aside, if we're talking my predictions for ronance if they were to actually, really happen, i don't think it's going to happen this season. in a perfect world where things went like how they do in my insane little head, i think there'd be a few embers of something more in the second volume, but nothing would be acted upon just because it'd be too poorly timed for both of their characters. robin is best friends with steve, who's clearly not over nancy/has some sort of residual connection to her that he might be confusing as romantic, so her feelings might be stifled by that. nancy is still with jonathon, and even though the two of them are struggling relationship-wise, its all just too vague to make out what will happen with them. still, if some mutual interest were to be hinted at in vol2, it'd probably be a while until they come together. it might even be right up to the end of the show until we see anything come to fruition in my opinion.

i'd probably be able to tell you my sure-fire prediction for their potential future after volume 2, just because we'll definitely get a solid answer for nancy's whole love triangle fiasco by the end. either way, robin's whole love progression that has been alluded to is verryyyy suspicious and nancy's love life is just entirely too shaky for jancy or stancy to hold up.

pls feel free to dm me/submit your own bulletin board to my inbox if you'd like! i love hearing other people's opinions/predictions/theories for robin and nancy, both individually and as a pairing. ty for giving me an excuse to basically info dump sjkskjgjk <33333333

[belokhvostikova]

Right. Well. I hope you're ready for this because I have a lot to talk about for yearbook 🤣

Firstly, I loved the structure of this chapter. A day in the life of Eddie, centered around his session. How Ms Kelly has had to draw him out over a few days. Because yea, he's made it there in the first place, but it doesn't automatically mean he's gonna be a model of open conversation and spilling his guts straight away. Felt very real that, like 'well I've shown up, what more do you want from me?'

Him just having a minute and sitting observing everyone from his van. Like his little moment of calm. It actually was like a scene from a movie, it reminded me of the first episode of season 4, as Robin is getting out of Steve's car and we're dipping in and out of everyone's conversations and goings on. Loved this.

Then his view of R coming into school, how he held back but still gave her that sign of solidarity with the thumbs up. He's so precious, I can't cope. And she needed that so much, her thinking about it later on to get her through the shitty parts of her day was perfect.

R's dad telling her that she basically deserves anything awful that happens to her, just for being a good person. Urgh that guy has some serious issues. Of all the people that need some therapy...

Then Chrissy! She made so many smart choices in this chapter. You've characterised her really well in this. Like she's presented as this really sweet and kind person in the show, but would she have stayed true to that when it mattered in a difficult situation with an audience? I love that you have her do that. Their lunch scene with Dustin was hilarious. Eddie's 'WHAT?!' After the marriage talk 🤣 pal, you would have her in a hot minute.

Really enjoyed the coaches comedy relief after the Jason/Eddie confrontation, and that R and Eddie had more conversation. Especially when it's flirting, could read them like this all day 😍

Honourable mention to Wayne again, for basically being a solid parent and showing Eddie what 'stable' looks like. I hope R meets him at some point and thinks 'oh shit, this is what a dad's supposed to look like'

Strange note for me to end on but I love how you full name everyone when they're not in direct conversation with each other, I've noticed it the past few chapters and it feels very 'Morgan Freeman doing a narrator voice over' and I'm here for it. Can't wait to see what happens next! 🖤🖤

Yes! I've been waiting for you. *in ominous voice*

Let me tell you, when I first began writing this chapter, I just completely free-balled it, I had no clue what was going to happen. I began writing the first couple of paragraphs, when it hit me. This story should totally revolve around Eddie's session AH- I felt like a fucking genius!

I honestly loved that added detail of him just observing. When I write I feel the need to just insert the most meaningless details, but I think it does a good job with just setting the mood around the story. If anyone is every struggling with writing, truthfully, adding specific details can really help!

And the little thumbs up 😭 everyone needs a little thumbs up from Eddie Munson! Especially after that sick interaction with her father, ugh 🤮

Our Chrissy Cunningham redemption arc has been completed! 🩷 I loved how sweet her character was in the show, and I definitely wanted to stick by that, but of course, I wanted to emulate a changing relationship between her and Jason, one where the other person is just someone who's not who they used to be. And given that it's implied that her mother is taking quite some control over her life, I really wanted to be able give her the opportunity to do what she wanted.

And we loved their little "girl talk" with a clueless Dustin.

And I love the idea of Reader meeting Wayne. Especially since we already got extremely intimate moments in her bedroom, I can definitely add some raw moments in his house.

And I think I've said this before, but I FUCKING RAGE OVER USING CHARACTER'S FULL NAME!!!!! Makes me feel like an actual fucking author with merit, lol. And I'm falling onto my knees knowing you get that feeling, too, and you noticed it in the first place! 😩

Thank you so much for your support! 🥹❤️

[that-thing-that-feeling]

At this point it is just ridiculous how they keep pairing Steve up with people who have Jonathan like qualities. Eddie "The Freak" Munson? (Jonathan also refers to himself as a freak) and Robin who is an outsider who also thought Steve was a jerk and has sassy comments and pretentious views on movies (like Jonathan is pretentious about music)

Yet they refuse to have Steve and Jonathan even say hi to each other.

And on the flip side they had Steve admit he smokes pot and this season they made Jonathan a pot smoker.

As Fred would say: Curious!!

The writers are so annoying about this tbh; I still don’t get why they won’t just let Charlie and Joe have a scene together?? S1 literally set up Jonathan and Steve to interact and then added in so many new characters, that I’m not even sure they’ll talk to each other or acknowledge each other’s existence by the end of the show? I love Robin and like Eddie but it’s so weird it’s like they couldn’t figure how to write ways for the original characters to develop with one another? They just go back to love triangles or to adding new characters. I love Ronance this season and it would be interesting to see more of that friendship and also some scenes with Jonathan and Steve. I really want the core 4 (Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin) to have scenes next season, but I wonder if they’ll let us have that.

[fangirlandtheories]

3 6 8 9 16 22

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

I'll be honest, I don't involve myself in the drama of the fandom so if it's a take I wouldn't agree with, odds are that I didn't see it as I don't actively seek out things that don't interest me. I will say this, and I'll say it carefully: If you want to look at Billy as a tragic character because of his traumatic life, that's fine, but that doesn't excuse everything he did. He's an inherently complex character and it's possible to hate that someone is racist and also hate that that person was abused. I don't know if that really answered the question or not, but it's a take of my own.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

Honestly all of us 😂 We all annoy each other for different reasons. I will say that nothing has made me more angry than the Steve/Eddie vs the Chrissy/ Eddie thing. It's not even how the fans of either interact with each other, it's the fact that Joseph and Grace have been dragged into it. They're actors playing a role and shouldn't have to play mediators for fans. They definitely shouldn't receive hate or backlash either.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Specific to Steddie shippers: That Eddie is perfect or Steve is perfect. They're both loveable doofuses that absolutely don't know conflict resolution. It's definitely not all pet names and snuggles but massive arguments and silent treatments.

9. worst part of canon

God I could go on for so long that you would almost believe that I don't like the show.

I think ultimately it's that up until this season there hasn't really felt like high stakes or consequences. Steve and Robin were tortured and left with just bruises and a shock blanket. The injuries the characters have sustained would leave someone sidetracked and bedbound in the real world but they constantly shake it off. It's like the only consequences occur when necessary to the plot. Steve gets bitten by bats and strangled twice: Let's tie a shirt around his waist and have him get dizzy once. Eddie gets bitten by bats: Kill him for sad value.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Mike

No haha... Unless...

I'm really not into Kas!Eddie or vampire Eddie. I'm all for bringing him back and if that's the way that the Duffers want to do it: Great! It's a sound theory and it makes sense to the plot, it's just not something I am really into when I'm reading things like fanfiction.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Here's a plot twist: I'm not going to talk about Steve or Eddie for this one.

Here's a comprehensive list of little things that I love that don't get enough conversation:

1. Ted Wheeler's little comments

2. Murray Mother Fucking Bauman

3. Joyce's (Winona's) eyebrows

4. The dedication to the fact that it's 10 pm and none of the parents know where their children are and don't ask

5. Erica and Dustin's friendship/ the passing of the DnD torch onto the next gen

6. The inclusion of Holly

7. Steve's plaid walls and car picture

8. Nancy "New Hair Every Season" Wheeler

9. Eddie having pretzels and weed in his lunch box

10. The sibling dynamics

11. Steve's butt in those jeans

12. Dustin's quirky style never changing and his mother who loves him so dearly.

Quite literally I could go all day but this would be the longest post.

[emisirrelevant]

The Archer Archetype in Media

Random shitpost of the moment for me- okay so I just recently watched the DC tv show crossovers, and really got fixed on how there seems to be like an archer-type (I will see myself out) character in a lot of fandoms.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I would love to see a giant crossover of just those characters. If you want, please tell in the comments if there's any other of these archer kind of characters in fandoms. Obviously I don't know every single one, but like can you just imagine the content between all of them. If they all did interact.

I'll list the characters I know from the fandoms I'm in. Like I said, feel free to inform me of more though in the comments!

Katniss Everdeen- Hunger Games movies

Robin/Margot- Once Upon a Time TV series

Alec Lightwood- Shadowhunters TV series (yes I am counting Alec, he counts to ME)

Allison Argent- Teen Wolf TV series

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and Mia Smoak- Arrow TV series (I'm aware there's more archers for Arrow bc it's Arrow, but like I'm thinking along the lines of mainstream characters/more recognized ones- I included Mia tho bc maybe I'm biased oop lol)

Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and Kate Bishop- MCU, Hawkeye TV series

Bow- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power TV series

Kit Tanthalos- Willow TV series (YES I'm going to count Kit, I know we SAW she had a quiver with arrows in it but she didn't really ever utilize them- BUT in case future me looks back on this and we get another season and Kit DOES decide to put those arrows to use-)

Alright, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks everyone for dealing with my brainrot once again, congrats if you've made it this far. This is just something I've thought about a lot, being the fandom nerd I am. See you until my next silly goofy random thought.

[findafight]

This is kinda jumping off the Nancy needing to acknowledge when she's fucked up

I think Steve is the only one of the main older teens that have hurt another character and gone on to feel genuine remorse for his actions.

After the fight with Jonathan in season 1, he drops Carol and Tommy, goes back and cleans the theater sign, and goes to apologise. You can tell by his actions, his words, and his tone of voice that he knows he did wrong and wants to try to make it right.

This doesn't happen with any of the others, I'm thinking the other main older teens that have caused hurt are Jonathan, Nancy, Billy, and Eddie.

Jonathan caused hurt with the photos he took. I feel that, especially after the photo with Barb and the Demogorgon was realised, he didn't feel bad because he took the photos, he felt bad because he got caught. And with the photo of Barb, it's almost like the Dufferes were trying to justify him taking the photos, as if it made it ok. He never seems to show any remorse or any intention of apologising for invading Steve's (and Tommy and Carol's) privacy by taking the photos of a private gathering at Steve's house.

Nancy causes a lot of hurt. In season 1, it's her jumping between Steve and Jonathan. This is implied heavier when she's talking to Jonathan in season 2, "I waited" "Yeah, a month." She wanted Jonathan but defaulted to Steve because he wasn't ready, which wasn't fair to either of them. Actually in season 2, it's mostly her hurting Steve. The bathroom scene, and then in the alley the next day. She doesn't apologise for her words, she doesn't feel bad for hurting Steve, she just goes on the defensive when he tells her what had happened. And then sleeping with Jonathan before her and Seve had really broken up, one minute she's insisting to Murray that she loves Steve, and the next she's got Jonathan coming into the room and hooking up with him. She never seems to care about her relationship with Steve, or how her actions might hurt him, especially because he's already shown to be insecure about infidelity (I really think it would have been more interesting for them to show the fallout of Steve finding out about Nancy cheating in s2, and have him deal with his insecurities when Nancy had previously insisted there was nothing between her and Jonathan, alongside his issues stemming from his father's infidelity. And this could have been used into s3 and 4 for why he struggled to get dates, or can't keep a relationship, because he has trust issues and wants to try to prevent it from happening again). In season 3, she hurts Jonathan with her calling his financial worries "the Oliver Twist routine", she never apologises, never shows remorse and acts smug about it when Jonathan says that he was wrong. In season 4, she hurts Robin and Steve and Jonathan. She is bitchy to Robin in the library for no apparent reason other than jealousy over Steve, and never apologises. And again, she's stringing both Steve and Jonathan along. She's showing interest in Steve again because he's the one that is there. Then runs straight back into Jonathan's arms as if nothing had happened.

Billy is pretty self-explanatory. He scares and threatens Max. He attempts to run over Mike, Dustin and Lucas. He threatens Lucas. In season 3, he bullies a kid by calling him lard-ass in front of a crowded public pool. Even with the scene where he fights back and defends El from the Mindflayer, he's not showing remorse, he's not taking ownership of his actions and how they have impacted other people. He never shows any intent to make up for the harm he's done.

Eddie hurts Lucas. He has his biases and is so ingrained in the nerd vs jock high school clique mentality that its just fine to push out a kid that has another important event conflicting with the club. And he never apologises to Lucas for not postponing and for his attitude, I don't think we ever really see Eddie and Lucas directly interact with each other. If anything, his attitude and opinions are justified by Jason's actions, which further pushes the nerd vs jock thing.

So yeah, Steve is the only older teen to take responsibility for his actions that have caused hurt and then go on to try to make amends for the harm he caused.

(Sorry, I wasn't expecting this to be as long as it was, I just started typing it and the thoughts wouldn't stop coming)

You with this ask 🤝 Steve Harrington 🤝 me always: Robin has never done anything wrong in her life, ever. I know this and I love her.

Yaaaaa. These are the reasons that it's frustrating when someone tries to compare what Steve's done to another character when!!! Steve's apologized for that! He's changed! He was an asshole, and he realized he was an asshole and actively engaged in not being an asshole. Few else even acknowledged they were wrong. Sometimes the show doesn't even treat it as wrong! That's why I have issues with them, not that they did bad thing but that they never apologized or changed their actions to be better. And the show and narrative won't let them or address it.

I looked it up for another ask I haven't answered yet but Indiana's anti peeping law was put on the books in 1983. It basically states you can't take pictures of someone's private property or of them if they have reasonable assumption of privacy (like locker rooms) and some other stuff. Jonathan took those pictures, and then chose to develop them all at school. Where anyone could (and did!) See them! What the heck. Tommy, Carol, and Steve were all also in those pics, and even though Jon says to Nancy he never should have taken them, he never bothers apologizing to the others. (Probably because he thinks they're assholes but man if you want moral high ground actually take it?) I think it'd be one thing if he took the pictures and then never developed them, it wouldn't be right but it's be better than what he did. It's a bummer his camera got broken but uh. Tbh if I found out some weird guy took my and my friends pictures while we were goofing off in my back yard, some of which contained a topless photo of an intimate moment, and then developed them at school and I was sixteen I ALSO might break the guy's camera. (Which Steve then replaced!!) I'd at least want to watch him destroy the negatives and developed photos. Comments have been made about Steve closing the blinds but his house literally back onto the woods? Why would he when he didn't think anyone would be taking pictures of his bedroom window? Idk I don't think they should have had this inconsequential but deeply weird plot point. Have Jon taking pictures of the woods, accidentally get Barb and the demogorgon in Steve's backyard, and then another of the forest. Like. There ya go.

Nancy is sooooo messy. Let her be messy!!!!! But the show tries so hard for her to be out together badass always when he relationships are just. The messiest. She's waiting for Jonathan. She's getting with Steve. She's cheating on Steve. She's with Jonathan but she doesnt understand his financial stress. She's with Jonathan and they aren't tslking. She's flirting with Steve. That's interesting. That's messy. Show us how she deals with that. How she apologizes and grows from them! Nancy often just. Gets annoyed by people not listening to her lmao. She thinks she knows best and it bugs her when people disagree with her. She snaps at them. Doesn't apologize. Could be interesting to see the fallout of that but we won't ever! For her and Jonathan fighting in S3, from what I recall it was more of a break up than stancy in S2 fnrjkjfnd also!! They were both wrong there and both needed to apologize. Nancy was right to be angry at the misogynistic journalists. Jonathan was right to be worried about losing his job! How Jonathan apologized bugs me and how Nancy reacted to it also bugs me. Not great.

Also also. I don't think I've seen anyone actually mention this. But Nancy's shown consistently ignoring how opening up the darkroom door bugs/is actually really bad for Jonathan. He asks her to stop at least twice in S3 but she does it all the time! If he was developing film negatives, then all those photos would be blown out! They'd be ruined forever! It's not a haha quirky thing, it's something that's an active detriment to his job, and his passion! There's a reason darkrooms have their little 'in use' light, and it's so you don't barge in and wreck an entire roll of film!! It's super disrespectful of her to just. Not even care that she could be completely ruining something of his/his employer's by always shoving her way in. (I think the darkroom at the school had a little idk airlock which is a tiny darkroom before the real dark room to avoid contamination like that which is why the girl that told Steve about the pics was able to go in) And nobody ever talks about it? Idk if I had a hobby/passion/work that was very light sensitive and my partner didn't respect that and barged in when she knew I was working I'd be pissed and consider having a long talk about it.

Yeah. Billy is an unrepentant racist. Like. He didn't say sorry and he didn't learn to not be racist. Sorry for the traumatic childhood but. Maybe dont try to kill a thriteen year old when you're seventeen next time. but he did sacrifice himself. That wasn't redemption that was not letting some kids die. The absolute bare minimum when he knew he was already dead anyways. Also Billy should have been fired for calling that kid lardass actually. Literally what the hell. I'm a lifeguard and legitimately sometimes almost yell at kids on the sidewalk for running, but that instinct is to loudly and clearly call out WAAALK IINGG and giving them disappointed looks. Because everyone knows not to run on the pool deck but kids forget. You don't verbally berate a patron? Who is a child?? Why wasn't billy fired.

I've already talked about the Eddie thing but yes! Exactly! Lucas deserves an apology for getting dumped by his friends and hellfire. So much for freak solidarity I guess ┐⁠(⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠)⁠┌

When Steve said something mean to Dustin that went too far when he was frustrated he immediately owned up to it and apologized. He's not perfect but he does apologize. King shit.

[time-lord-medical-malpractice]

1-stranger things

2- uhhhhh idk you can pick

3- davey

for ‘please’ asks

I was mostly done answering the first part and tumblr deleted the draft so here we go again!

Favorite character: El!

Least favorite character: Lonnie

5 favorite ships

Elmax

Byler

Ronance

Boyce

Literally all of the characters x therapy

Skip

Skip

Character I would be best friends with: Dustin

A random thought: We need scenes of Dustin being a theater kid since he’s canonically in Drama Club

Unpopular opinion: Billy is a piece of shit and him dying doesn’t redeem his actions and I have no idea why people ship him with Steve (probably not unpopular on the side of the fandom I’m on, but unpopular in the fandom at large I think)

Canon OTP: I don’t ship any of the canon ships, but I’ll go with Lumax since it’s the healthiest canonical romance and I see the appeal

Non-canon OTP: Elmax

Most badass character: El

Most epic villain: Heteronormativity (well, not very epic, but still)

Pairing I am not a fan of: H*rringrove. Billy is a piece of shit whereas Steve showed actual character development and they never had a single positive on-screen interaction. I have no idea why it has the most fics for Stranger Things on ao3

Character I feel the writers screwed up: Lucas, since he’s not the most fleshed out. Hopefully he gets more depth and screen time next season

Favorite friendship: Steve and Robin (Bi dumbass and swaggy lesbian is just the dynamic of me and @melencholypolywog)

Character I most indentify with: Maybe El?

Character I wish I could be: Robin ig?

Boyf riends

When I started shipping them: Even before I was into Be More Chill because I heard of the ship and I was like “huh that makes sense” then I actually got into it and I was like THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN CANON IT’S SO OBVIOUS!

My thoughts: Autistic Boyf riends supremacy

What makes me happy about them: Just how cute they are and how supportive they are of each other when Jeremy isn’t SQUPed

What makes me sad about them: How Jeremy let his internalized ableism get in the way of his relationship with Michael, his so-called “favorite person” (yes autistic Jeremy isn’t bank canon but I don’t care)

Things done in fanfic that annoy me: I haven’t read a ton of Boyf riends fics so I can’t really say

Things I look for in fanfic: I haven’t read enough fics to tell, but I love it when they’re autistic!

My wishlist: Cuddles and infodumping to each other

Who I’d be comfortable with them ending up with, if not each other: I can’t think of any character for Michael, but I guess Christine for Jeremy. Out of all of the canon ships that I don’t ship, stagedorks is pretty good.

My happily ever after from them: For them to never break apart because they’re so cute

Davey Jacobs

How I feel about this character: He is amazing, he is everything, and he needs a break (and a hug)

Characters I ship him with: JACK KELLY! JAVEY SUPREMACY!

Favorite non-romantic relationship with this character: Him and Les. I like the dynamic of siblings that are polar opposites of each other

I don’t think I have any unpopular opinions about him (unless headcanoning him as autistic is considered unpopular)

One thing I think should have happened with him in canon: Him kissing Jack

Favorite friendship for this character: He doesn’t interact too often with most characters, but probably him and Katherine (mlm and wlw solidarity)

My crossover ship: This is hard! Uhhh him and Jeremy Heere ig?