#lucas won't leave max's side...

[paladinsbrainrot]

let's take a look at how the st4 epilogue foreshadows character arcs & pairings in st5 ☆

so if all these scenes in s4 (+ many more) managed to reveal something about the direction certain characters were heading in s5.....

why haven't we seen anything about this?

maybe this is my bias talking but this is just pure interesting to me because I think the byler scene in the st4 finale is arguably the most emphasized and the most blatant case of foreshadowing out of all of these scenes, not just relating to will's connection to vecna but also mike's insistence on killing him together.

we don't have any byler scenes from the teaser (disregarding the crumb of them biking holly to school). but we know that they have been filming together for majority of the season based on leaks, pap photos, and just piecing things together.

it only makes sense that byler has a storyline together this season based on the s4 epilogue foreshadowing alone, and mike's whole speech to will that they should start working together as a team. but it's a little odd that we haven't seen any confirmation of this through the promotional material, unlike the rest of the shots from the teaser. byler is having a plot together, whether people like it or not, and it's only a question as to why the teasers are trying to keep this a secret to us. (spoiler alert: it's for shock value and being treated as a plot twist)

also — isn't it weird how mileven doesn't have a solo scene together in the s4 epilogue??? 🤔

food for thought

[chillinwithbyler]

Something that I truly believe the GA just won't understand is how much Stranger Things can actually teach you.

Like, we have a plethora of diverse characters and no two people are the same.

Will is a sensitive person, more so than ANY other character in the show. He cries, he likes to paint, and he loves EVERYONE even when they've hurt him. He's one of the characters who bears a lot of trauma, but he doesn't let it shape who he is. Will is DIAGNOSED with PTSD. God forbid he lets himself cry. He never gets angry at people because of what happened to him, and he always dismisses it if he's going through something. And his biggest problem is Mike 'We're friends. We're friends!' Wheeler.

Joyce is a baddie. She doesn't need no man on her shoulder to be a good mother. When Will went missing, she fought tooth and nail to bring him home even when EVERYONE, even her eldest son, was calling her crazy. She's a leader and she's a character who has so much willpower and doesn't let anything stand in her way.

At first glance, Jim is a fucking asshole. I didn't like him when the series was just starting out. But that's what makes it so good, because he wasn't an asshole for no reason. He lost his KID. And he was given a second chance with El. He can do it better this time and he's going to be there for her as long as he can help it. In season five, I'll expect them to be a separate team from the others. Which is what she deserves. She doesn't need to be with Mike to be an amazing character.

Nancy, Joyce, Robin, and Max are all GREAT examples of women who can lead without some MAN telling them what to do. El can be the same. What she needs is the chance to be independent and learn about herself. Mike can't give her that. She needs to figure that out for herself.

Billy was an asshole. Through and through. There was no excuse for him to be racist towards Lucas, even if he had a bad childhood. Just look at what Will went through, and he's still a fucking angel, so Billy literally has no excuse.

The amount of feminism that Nancy projects is INSANE. She doesn't listen to anybody and when she has an idea she GOES FOR IT. When something bad happens? SHE GRABS A GUN. When someone says she should do something this specific way, it's BULLSHIT and she does it her own way. When the kids are in danger, she puts herself directly in the path of danger.

Mike is one of the most complex characters in the show. He's a natural born leader and goes out of his way to save people. When he first met El, he didn't save her out of LOVE. He did it because he's a protector. Originally, he was going to send her back to the asylum and only let her stick around because she knew where WILL was. And that's what was important. Will. He was hellbent on finding him. In season five, I can GUARANTEE he won't be leaving Will's side. And the only time they'll be separated will probably be because Will is off his rocker this season and too busy fighting internal demons and disappearing all the time.

Because he's been reminded of what's important. And it's not El. She can protect herself. But we know Will can be vulnerable. He doesn't believe he's loved, and that's a good opportunity for Vecna to go after him. Only when he truly starts believing that he is loved will he find the courage to come into his own.

We have so many characters all with different backgrounds. We have mental health, domestic abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, bullying, homophobia, anger issues, neglect, internalized homophobia, racism, and literal DEMONS FROM HELL.

But you're telling me the GA can't grasp something as simple as two boys falling in love? How emotionally dense do you have to be to be so ignorant?

If you're going to DNF the show just because of Byler, then I'm sorry but you smell like hotdog water and you've missed the entire point of the show. This is about not fitting in. Instead of the protagonists being some..chiseled jocks who are heroric and attractive, we instead have four weirdo nerds obsessed with a game. Four people who are smart as fuck and have been cast out from society and bullied for being different. Especially Will.

And the whole show centers around him. BECAUSE he's different. Growing up and feeling like you don't belong is one of the most difficult things I've ever had to go through. And as a fan of the show since the EARLY days of season one, I can't even begin to describe the happiness I feel when I see Will Byers.

He was not made for you. Will Byers belongs to the people who grew up as a misfit. He belongs to us who feel like mistakes in our own bodies and struggle keeping up with social norms.

Will Byers belongs to US. Not you.

If you have a problem with him because of Noah then I assume you're either a 12 year old who has spent too much time on a screen and not enough time touching grass or you're a 47 year old bald man who doesn't know what common courtesy is.

If you hate on Will just because he's gay then I'm sorry but Stranger Things is not the show for you. Try Riverdale instead. We do not want you here.

Stranger Things is not afraid to put homophobes and racists in their place. Troy pissed himself and suffered a broken arm. Steve got his face ruined and got a redemption arc. Billy literally fucking died. And they aren't afraid to put queers on a pedestal either. To make THEM the important characters. Instead of being sidelined, it's often the queers and the nerds and the people who don't fit in who are given the important roles.

And that's what Stranger Things is all about.

Like it or not, Will is an important character. He deserves this time in the spotlight. When Byler is canon in season five, don't say we didn't warn you. We've been trying to open your eyes since season two.

Byler is the perfect representation of what a HEALTHY and ROMANTIC relationship looks like. Two people are so alike and are quite literally color coded through the whole series and are just so painfully gay for each other it HURTS.

Mil*ven is the perfect representation of what an UNHEALTHY and TOXIC relationship looks like. It's full of arguments, no heart to hearts, NO mutual respect, gaslighting, lying, and literally just zero chemistry.

Over and out.

[dreamsteddie]

Who Will Catch Me When You're Gone?

Content Tags: Platonic Sobin, major character death, grief, depression, major character undeath

Inspired by this beautiful art by @tarraing

------

When they found Steve, broken and bloody and scraped raw from the bats, all Robin could think about was that Steve's favorite sweatpants were ruined. She'd never understood those things or how someone so obsessed with fashion could wear them, but he'd always loved how comfortable they were. She razzes him about it every time he wears them.

Now they're ruined. Dirty and ripped.

She can hear Nancy ordering them to help her and Eddie freaking out but it's all just white noise to her right up until the moment everything comes flooding back in and the world has never been louder. Her breathing is deafening like she's trying to breathe for both of them.

Steve isn't breathing.

Steve isn't breathing but somehow she still is.

One moment she's stuck watching Nancy Wheeler try to patch her soulmate back together the next she's doing it for her so Nancy can start CPR. Eddie has stopped freaking out, she is dimly aware of him standing behind her, hovering because he doesn't know how to help. Doesn't know if there's any way to help.

Robin knows she's talking but it doesn't matter what she's saying. She doesn't think Steve can hear her. How could anything she says matter when her best friend isn't there to hear it? But she can't make herself stop, just in case.

But Steve never hears her. Nancy pushes on his chest and forces air into his lungs until her arms are shaking and she doesn't have enough strength to move his chest anymore. Then Robin takes over even though she has no idea what she's doing. Even though Nancy and Eddie are trying to tell her it's no use, that they need to go.

Like she could leave him here.

Then she's kicking and screaming because they're trying to pull her away. She's biting down on Eddie's ringed hand and kicking out into Nancy's ribs. She's not leaving, she's not. She can't do that to Steve, would rather lie down next to him, take his hand, and let the bats find her than leave him behind.

The last thing she sees before someone knocks her in the head is Steve's eyes, open and empty and staring right at her.

------

When Robin wakes up she's surrounded by people, but no one says a thing. She sees Dustin, red-eyed and empty standing in a corner across from the couch she's been placed on. Max won't look at her, Erica is glued to her side, Eddie looks lost, Lucas is trying to keep a siff upper lip for his sister, and Nancy looks like a block of steel. Steve isn't anywhere to be found.

But then again, Robin knew that. She'd know if Steve was her because their hearts beat as one, but now her chest feels empty. It's Max, brave, scared Max, who breaks the silence. Robin doesn't hear it. Doesn't listen as people start explaining plans around them. Can't channel the righteous fury she sees in Nancy and Max, or the barely concealed fear in Eddie and Erica, or the building weight of responsibility growing in Lucas and Dustin's too old eyes. All she feels is empty.

She's going to do whatever they want her to do because she knows it's what Steve would do. Knows without a shadow of a doubt that if she was the one lying dead in the Upside Down he would be on a war path in her name, so she needs to do the same.

When she launches that last fire bomb into Vecna's ugly head, it's a hollow victory.

Everyone else survives. The Byers move back to Hawkins. The town starts to rebuild. The big bad is gone for good.

But it doesn't mean anything to her. She lies in bed most days without saying a word. She lets her parents dote on her, listens passively as they try to remind her of the college acceptance letters waiting for her on the kitchen counter. Manages to sit up and smile just a little when Eddie brings Dustin and Erica by to see her. Cries with the two of them tucked under her arms, all three of them aware of how vulnerable they feel without a strong pair of arms wrapped around their other side.

Robin asks Eddie to hang back one day and makes a request. The next day he comes by with a clean needle and a pot of ink and Robin sits motionless as he engraves a sunflower inner her wrist, somewhere she'll always be able to see it.

She always swore to Steve that she would never get a tattoo, too freaked out by the possibility of an infection, but those fears feel so distant now that the worst thing that could happen has come to pass.

She catches Eddie with one of his own to match the next week.

------

A month goes by. She doesn't leave the house, even when Dustin comes by to beg her.

Then two. She can tell her parents are starting to really worry. They've given up trying to get her to think about college and started trying to get her to think about therapy.

Then Five. She started going to work again. She puts on her Family Video vest and thinks about Steve. She walks through the door and imagines Steve leaning over the counter. Keith turns on Back to the Future and she goes home with a panic attack. She doesn't speak unless it's necessary, but she's trying to move forward. She knows it's what Steve would want for her, even on the days when it's not what she wants for herself.

And then Six months pass.

There's a tap at her window.

She ignores it, at first. She refuses to go to a shrink, there are too many things she can't say to the ones her parents recommend, and she won't accept anything from those government goons who turned her best friend into a soldier. Into cannon fodder. Instead, she writes letters.

She sits down at her desk once a day and pours her heart out to Steve. She lets herself pretend for a few moments every day that he's just been dragged away by his parents for a few months. He's out there somewhere in the world, relying on her to keep her updated on the kids and the drama at work and herself until she can go out and join him, wherever he is. Some days she writes about nothing at all, some days she rages at him for leaving her behind, sometimes she speculates about their future, where she goes to college wherever he is, and they get an apartment and two dogs. She seals every one in an envelope, tucks them in a drawer, and lets herself breathe in that perfect fantasy for just a moment. It's the best part of her day, and nothing can tear her away from it.

Except the tapping doesn't stop.

And Robin lives on the second floor.

And everyone she knows would just come through the front door.

She turns, so slowly, toward the window. The glare from her bedside lamp makes it impossible to see anything through it, but she doesn't need to.

There are fingers, claws, forcing their way under the sill. She sucks in a sharp breath as they curl upward, crashes to the ground as they start to pull.

She's scrambling back, getting ready to scream and make a run for the walkie she leaves on silent on her desk to call for help. To warn the others that their monsters are back before it mows her down.

But then the window gives way and she stops. Stops everything.

Because the thing in her window is wearing her best friend's face. It's wearing his hair and his moles and his stupid fucking sweatpants.

And at the end of the day it doesn't actually matter what he looks like. It doesn't matter if there are new hinges in his jaw to show off new, shark-like teeth. It doesn't matter mater if he can't say anything besides a hissed, garbled rendition of her name. It doesn't even matter when he latches onto her wrist, right above that little sunflower, and sucks, taking just enough blood to make her light-headed.

Because she can feel his heartbeat pounding along with her own, perfectly in sync.

Because she's not alone, anymore.

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 24

part 1 | part 23 | ao3

cw: alcohol, throwing up, brief reference to canonical character death

"Oh, my god!" Robin barks, nearly throwing herself off-balance again with the force of her laugh. "This is too good, man. You truly cannot escape your babysitting duties."

"Can I help you?" Max seethes.

Help him? Help him? "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She gestures to the guy she's holding onto, some fluffy-haired kid with a cut-off vest covered in safety pins that Steve sort of vaguely recognizes as one of Eddie's friends. Oh, shit. Is Eddie here finally? Has he seen him?

"Wait, where's Lucas?" Steve asks.

"Who cares?" she bites back.

The guy gives a nervous chuckle and loosens his grip on her waist. "Uh-h. Did you say babysitter?"

"He's not actually, Jesus. I'm fourteen; I don't need a babysitter. And he was just leaving, anyway, right?"

Her glare feels like a slap. Girl's got daggers in her eyes, holy shit. It's like she's hoping some of El's powers magically transferred to her; like she's picturing him flying ten feet into the air and landing with a splat on the far side of the concrete, and he doesn't need this. He did not come out tonight to be bullied by a teenager. "Okay, that's it, I'm taking—"

"—me to the punch bowl!" Robin interrupts, putting her hands on Steve's chest to stop him from grabbing Max and hauling her back to the car.

"Robin, what—?"

"Yep!" She shoves him hard, pushing him to the edge of the dance floor. "Silly me, just dying of thirst, ha ha. Okay, cool, see you both later!"

—

"What the hell was that?" Steve demands when they're safely on the far side of the pavilion.

"An intervention."

Oh, my god. May he never hear the word 'intervention' again in his life.

"Un-ruffle your Mother Hen feathers for two seconds and think, would you? One: it would look really, really, seriously weird for you to be seen dragging a dead jock's kid sister kicking and screaming to your car."

A dead jock’s kid sister. Jesus, tipsy Robin has no tact.

"Two: you said we were going to go out and have fun and get, and I quote, 'very drunk.' Take your babysitter hat off for one night. She's a high schooler, and this is a high school party."

"Yeah, I know," he sulks. Doesn't need the reminder that he's technically past the age limit.

"Okay, so then let her have fun! It's not like you weren't out drinking and smoking by her age."

'I'm always so right about everything. I'm, like, cosmically correct.' Goddammit. Steve needs another drink. "I just don't want her to do anything dumb and get hurt."

"She won't. We can just, like, keep an eye on her from a distance, right? Let her come to us if she needs anything."

"So we should just act like your parents?" Steve snorts.

"My parents are amazing, thank you!"

"Your mom offered me mushroom tea once."

"Like I said: amazing."

Steve huffs a laugh, flips his hair out of his eyes and snags a handful of tortilla chips. "Okay," he says around a crunchy bite, "so what's the third thing?"

"Third thing?" Robin asks. She’s not even looking at him anymore, her eyes eager and distracted as she scans the crowd.

"You're biting your lip weird, there's clearly a third thing."

She turns to him, and the smile springs free from its containment, spreading all over her flushed, ecstatic face. "Vickie just showed up."

—

Steve’s hammered.

Whoops.

Didn’t mean to do it; feels a little bad about it as he tips his head up to the sky and all the stars go raining in bright streaks across his vision. Reminds him of the ceiling at Starcourt, nauseous and spinning under a swirl of bright fluorescence. He hopes Rob’s flirting is going well.

He meant to get politely drunk.

A socially appropriate amount.

But then Robin ran off to flirt with Vickie, and Steve was doing his best to just lay low, steer clear of Max and maybe find a way to casually run into Eddie if he could find him, when he spotted the girl he went on that disaster of a date with instead and realized his options were either: stay there by the beer coolers while she came over with her new date and subjected him to the most painful small talk of his life, or retreat to the dark edges of the party with as much booze as he could carry, so.

He's slumped on top of a picnic bench downwind of the bonfire, bad ear ringing, belly full to bursting, trying to remember when one beer became… more than one beer.

Five?

Six, maybe?

Fuck.

“‘M gonna puke,” he confesses to the splintered wood beneath his feet; to the pine bough overhead, the smoky fire at his back.

“Wow,” someone says, an amused lilt to their tone, and Steve knows that voice, he—

Oh, no.

Ohhhh, no.

Now? Really?

Steve whips his head around, opens his mouth to ask ‘Eddie?’ and barfs all over his shoes.

—

part 25

tag list part 1 below the cut, let me know if you want me to add you tomorrow (21+ only, please confirm your age if you're asking to be tagged)

@a-little-unsteddie @ahsokatanoss @aliea82 @alyelf @anne-bennett-cosplayer @aol19 @awolfstudio @bambibiest @bananahoneycomb @bookbinderbitch @bronwenmarie @cheonsazu @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @courtjestermunson @cuips-not-cute @dauntlessdiva @dawners @dontwasteyourchances @eddie-munsons-missing-nipple @eriquin @estrellami-1 @fandomfix8 @gregre369 @griefabyss69 @grtwdsmwhr @hallucinatedjosten @hellion-child @hiimlevi @honoragreyskull @hotluncheddie @jackiemonroe5512 @kas-eddie-munson @kingelyx @lifeisacrisis @littlebluejane @marvel-ous-m @melonmochi @messrs-weasley @milklechee @mrsjellymunson @mugloversonly @munsonslure @nburkhardt @nerdyglassescheeseychick @notsopersonalcharlie @novelnovella @nuggies4life @phoenixtheone @questionablequeeries @runninriot

[deertaz]

Stranger Things Theories

This is a little checklist I'm making before Season 5. I like to come back and see what I was right about and what I was wrong about.

Things I'm fairly sure of (80-100%):

Will is the main character of the season; he is crucial to the plot.

Eleven gets a lot of time on her own this season.

When she's not on her own, she's mainly with Hopper.

Eleven gets time with Lucas because they are both trying to get Max to wake up. (Yay, a team-up we have literally barely ever seen)

Eleven really figures herself out. She comes out of this season knowing what she wants. She might leave Hawkins at the end to discover herself more.

Mike gets a character revamp and is made likeable again.

Will and Joyce have a heartfelt conversation, and Will comes out to her (she is very very supportive)

We get a flashback to young Will, Mike and Johnathan (confirmed)

Johnathan is worried about Will. Like, really worried.

Johnathan's entire arc this season is him being a supportive brother, and him trying to figure out his shit with Nancy

The rainbow shirt kid is a comedic relief character, like a baby Dustin.

Mike is saving people. He's gonna be such a hero this season.

Lovers Lake gate (maybe not in a romantic way, but Will and Mike will end up in Lovers Lake for some reason or another)

Max doesn't wake up until Part 2 (or three if they push it)

Lucas is the one who fully pulls Max back into the world. It is very romantic and emotional.

Eleven helps, but Lucas is the main reason.

Max is fully blind.

Vecna is speaking directly to Will

Vecna can relate to Will and attempts to get Will on his side

Will is special; there is a reason why Vecna abducted him first, and a reason he survived so much longer than anyone else.

Mike figures out that the painting was never commissioned by Eleven (obviously)

Will wasn't intended to just be Vecna's victim. He was captured for a different reason than Barbara.

Holly is getting kidnapped (near certain on this one)

Will bad guy arc, but not really, there's something inside of him that he's fighting.

Going back to Castle Byers.

Robin and Vickie time! Maybe a kiss (perchance)

When Will is saying 'Run!' at the end of the trailer. I think he's telling a person/the group to run away from him.

I don't think Eddie will come back, and if he does guest star, he won't really be alive. Undead? Controlled? Maybe.

Dustin is getting bullied for his association with Eddie. Getting the good old S2 Will Byers treatment.

Dustin trying to clear Eddie's name, it doesn't bode well.

Things I think are perhaps going to happen (55-75%):

Mike and Eleven break up. This happens pretty early in the Season, episode 1 or 2.

EITHER BECAUSE:

Eleven has a talk with Lucas or another character who is in love, and they say something like, 'love doesn't have to be declared all the time, you should just feel it. ' Or by talking about how they love another character, it becomes clear to Eleven that she doesn't have that with Mike. They don't love each other in that way. (This implies that Byler could happen.)

OR

She says she needs to focus on becoming stronger. They break up because of miscommunication, not because they don't love each other. (This implies that they will get back together in the end)

Mike and Eleven really come into their own when they aren't together any more.

Will sacrifices himself, doesn't die.

Dustin is kind of closed off this coming season. He isn't his usual happy-go-lucky self. He gets better towards the end.

Will's birthday being completely forgotten about in season 4 is acknowledged. El and Mike feel shitty about it.

The rainbow shirt kid or the little girl with glasses is going to mirror little Mike when he lost Will in Season One.

Will isn't just an unintentional spy for Vecna, or the Mind Flayer; he can double as a vessel.

Johnathan gets quite a lot of screen time.

I think that the young Will, young Mike and Johnathan scene could be a memory from one of them, brought forward by Vecna. We know that only Mike has a speaking role in this, so it could be a Will memory. Maybe it's his happiest memory, and he uses it the same way Max used the school dance, to hide from Vecna (or defeat him?)

Will comes out to Mike. He's more anxious telling Mike than he is Joyce. It could go well, or it could be awkward (inevitably ends up resolved/going well).

Robin and Will have a conversation, hinting at their queerness to each other, but neither outright says it. They both understand.

Holly in Wonderland (Mike's sister)

Holly reminds Vecna of his sister Alice.

Mike and Will end up in the upside-down together.

If Vecna's blood in Eleven is the reason she has powers, it makes sense that she would lose her powers if Vecna dies.

Possibilities (50-50)

Mike and Eleven get back together in the finale (if they break up), stronger than before.

OR

Mike is gay or bisexual and realises, over time, that he is in love with Will.

Johnathan catches on to it before most of the other cast.

If Murray interacts with them in Season 5. He could catch on to it first. If he does, it would be treated as comedic.

If Will is possessed or has something in him that he needs to fight, then Mike is going to be the one to pull him out of it.

'Pull him out' as in the same way Mike cheered on Eleven in Season 4.

Steve or Johnathan dies. If one lives, the other dies.

Eleven leaves Hawkins in the epilogue. She's still in contact with her friends, ofc.

Murray dies

One of Mike's family members will die (not Nancy). Maybe his mum or dad?

Will comes out to Mike in a Vecna vision, and is rejected. Maybe a little like this scene in it: https://youtu.be/fMnOgpUbVwQ

Things I for some reason think will happen but can't explain why (less than 30%-5% sure):

Will has similar powers to Eleven because of his connection to Vecna, Dimension X or the Upside Down.

We found out (in the Stranger Things play) that Vecna gained his powers as a child. Henry Creel was transported to an alternate dimension (Dimension X, not the Upside Down) for half a day. This then caused him to attain powers. It also caused his demeanour to change. But he was constantly fighting it. Fighting the influence of the Mind Flayer. But he loses. I think something like this happened to Will when he was too young to remember it.

Even before his kidnapping. Will was known to be a 'sensitive child who had a lot of nightmares'. Maybe that's connected to it?

There are a lot of similarities between Will and young Henry Creel. This may be done for a different reason, but it could also hint at the fact that they have been influenced by Dimension X.

Imagine if there's a flashback to a young Will in Dimension X, or a drawing from what he saw. Something he doesn't remember? But something that marked him.

There's a moment in the first episode of season one, while Will is cycling (pre-kidnapping). Where the light on his bike goes out. He then looks at it, and bam! It switches back on. This is literally the moment, just before he sees a demogorgon.

This could be just Vecna or something Upside-Downy fucking his lights up. But if Will does have powers, this would be crazy foreshadowing.

I'm not joking. He doesn't look worried at all in that scene. The camera zooms in on him slightly. He looks down, and the light turns back on.

He could also have Vecna's blood in him. That's entirely possible.

Some sort of time travel.

Welp. Now to wait a few months to see if anything I said here was right.

Characters I think have a chance of dying.

I personally think two important characters (from previous seasons) will die in ST5. This is accompanied by a few deaths from minor characters from previous seasons (made important in ST5) or major characters only introduced in ST5.

Murray

Yeah, that's definitely on the cards. He's an expendable side-character, despite how much I like him. I don't think his death will carry enough weight to set a 'grieving' tone. So if Murray dies, don't assume that means the rest of the cast is safe.

Steve:

Well, he was meant to die from the beginning. He's been really pulled up to a fan favourite over the years. But at the end of the day, we don't need Steve to save the day (though if he dies, I'm sure people will see it that way). I am still very under the belief that the Steve, Johnathan, Nancy Love triangle will be resolved by killing off one of the guys. We don't know who Steve's family are, he isn't related to any other main character, and he's pretty much known for his bravery. His death would really affect the kids, but not as much the adults. Seems like a decent pairing with a Murray death. While Hopper + Joyce grieve Murray, the rest of the cast grieve Steve.

Johnathan:

He's kind of got no arc at the moment, and that's why I think his death may complete it. Again, this gives Nancy a chance to choose Steve. Johnathan would probably die protecting Will. He's a loving older brother who has lost closeness with him. He misses the relationship they had, and well, if he died, it would be a final sacrifice, cementing the idea that he loves his little brother. Yet, for some reason, I think he will be kept alive, mainly because Will and Joyce don't deserve any more loss.

Karen Wheeler:

While I do not think Karen Wheeler is the one who 'disappears.' I do think that she may die. This, to protect her daughter or son. Nancy and Mike are main cast, and this would really really fucking affect them. Karen seems to have a closer relationship with her kids than Ted does, and if she gets a lot of spotlight in this season, expect that she'll not make it to the epilogue.

Ted Wheeler:

I don't think his death would be as impactful unless they seriously started getting into his character this final season. If we get a shit ton of Ted scenes, then there's a chance that he'll not make it to the end. Since Ted Wheeler is a conservative man, it would make sense for him to die if Byler becomes canon. I do not think he would accept a gay son. Tolerating one, maybe. But accept? Doubt it. His death would be him saving Mike from something, and apologising for reacting badly. Also, Ted being exposed to the horrors early in the season would be really funny. Imagine this stiff upper lip man finding out that superpowered girls and strange transdimensional monsters exist? I'd dig that. Also, I just have a feeling that Mike is going to lose somebody close to him this season, lose as in they pass on.

Dustin:

I don't think they'll kill off a main kid, but if they kill off one of them, Dustin would be pretty upsetting. I still really don't think a main kid will die. But Dustin makes the most sense. Killing off Will would be cruel, killing off Mike would be cruel to El and Will, killing off Max would make S4 seem pointless, killing off Eleven is too predictable, and killing off Lucas would come off really badly. So if any kid dies this season, it's gonna be Dustin.

Songs I think might be in ST5:

Something by the Smiths. Just feel like it would fit Johnathan.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO REPRISE!

Main Characters This Season

Will (duh)

Eleven

Mike

Johnathan (I just have a feeling)

Joyce (since we're returning to s1, it would make sense to see more Joyce)

Nancy

I think the Byers family and the Wheeler family are gonna be really important this season.

[dimplesbunnycleradin]

ELEVEN'S INDEPENDENCE

Why Eleven should have an independent ending or how I think Mileven won't be endgame. (With 'proofs' from the show)

SEASON 1

In season 1, we meet a kid that had been a scientific experiment at a laboratory. She has superpowers, the only character trait that defines her for most of the season.

She doesn't know what 'friend' means, she practically starts removing her t-shirt right in front of 3 pre-teens, she has trouble speaking coherently and we know this is because of Dr. Brenner and the other scientists at the lab. They couldn't care less to teach her aout social cues and factors. All they did was force her into being a weapon.

I hate to say this but even Mike and the rest of the party initially agree to let her stay is because they find out she knows something about Will. By initially I mean, in the first few episodes. I'm glad she found great friends.

Mike asks El to the 'snow ball' but it really isn't him asking her romantically. He says that after all of this is over she can come live with them and how his parents would adopt her and how Nancy would be like her sister, to which El asks if Mike will be like her brother. Even Mike is conforming because to him he can’t go to the ‘snow ball’ with a sister or friend, hence the kiss. Not to forget the teasing Lucas did earlier in the season.

El has always longed for a familial connection not a romantic one. She doesn't understand that first kiss.

SEASON 2

In season 2, we find out that she has been living with Hopper in remote cabin the woods. She is alone all day with only a TV for company as she's not allowed to go out of the house. Hopper has even added a security system around the house.

While she's watching TV, she remembers about her time at the lab (the coke ad,etc) and we know it wasn't a good experience.

She has fights with Hopper about him not allowing her to go out and meet her friends. She says he's like Brenner, "You are like Papa". We know Hopper is nothing like that psychopath but to El in this instant he maybe acting like Brenner because he was not allowing El to go and meet her friends.

All throughout season 2, El is alone and goes to adventures on her own.

She finds out about her mother and sister and decides to go to Chicago to meet her lost sister. El's main arc in season 2 is going to find her mother and sister, further proving that she longs for a family.

SEASON 3

Season 3 starts off good for El. She is allowed to see her boyfriend and friends and is not under 'house arrest'. But what strikes out to me about this season is her friendship with Max. Max is the one who shows her the inticracies of teenage life. Something El was following from watching movies and shows. Max takes her out to shopping, they talk about boys, movies, music and such. When Max tells her to pick an outfit she likes, SHE/EL- not Mike or Hopper. El says she doesn't know how meaning all her life she has been wearing clothes that were given to her none of them are her choice. And this is super evident with how her style changes throughout the show. Max tells her it's okay to be upset with Mike, that it's okay to have opinions and that she doesn't need to be someone's pet. I have seen certain side of the fandom hate Max for this when all Max did was show El how beautiful of a girl she is. Max doesn't care about her powers, she is her friend despite.

At the end of season 3, El decides to leave Hawkins with the Byers. She could've stayed in Hawkins, I think the Wheelers would be okay with her staying with them. But she goes to California with the Byers, with Joyce who has treated her like her daughter and with Jonathan and Will who have been her big brothers.

SEASON 4

We go back to the theme of El being seperated from the others in Season 4. She's back at a lab with her old abuser getting her powers back.

One of the major things that happens to El this season is her fight with Mike. Mike tells her that she is a superhero and that she can move mountains if she wants to. El's response- "not anymore". She looks heartbroken to hear Mike say that, cause she thaught Mike would love her despite her being powerless but whe confronted all he does is bring up her powers.

Her note to Mike saying that she has gone to become a superhero again is another indicatin of why she feels she'll only be relevant to people when she has her powers.

When she fails in rescuing Max, its another blow to her as Max was one of the only people who saw her outside of her powers.

This season is the best for El when it comes to her being with a family. She has great brothers and a mother. And I know that she would be the happiest when she finds out that Hopper and Joyce are dating.

MIKE/MILEVEN

The reason between Mike and El's big arguement was that Mike couldn't see her separate from her powers. El wanting Mike to say I love you but Mike low-key gaslighting her and bringing up her powers. Mike doesn't logve El, he admires her for her powers. "I just got lucky that superman landed on his doorstep". Mike is referring to the time when he first met El because to a 12 year old comic books loving Mike, El was just that a superhero. That's what he's seen her as and that's what he'll continue to see her as. Also Mike wants to be with someone who will need him and he knows El won't not in the way he wants her to anyways. (We know a certain guy who does need him tho)

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

It's time and time again proven that's better for El to be away from Mike for growth. Season 3 starts if with El and Mike being attacked to their hips, they even ditch their friends because of that. But once El starts hanging out with Max, we see a change in her. For the first time, she meets someone who makes her feel like a normal girl. Something I feel El desperately needs.

To El, friendship triumphs everything, even Mike's. Her friendship with Max helps her break free from the vines, her friendship with the boys gives her strength. That's what she desires and should get, pure and genuine FRIENDSHIP.

SEASON 4 CONFESSION

In my opinion it wasn't Mike's "I Love You" but Max being hurt that helped El break free from the vines. El knew Mike was lying, we could see it on her face. Later we even find out that they haven't been talking much. From El's perpective, if the 'confession' was genuine, she should've been over the moon. That's what she wanted right! They should have been attached to the hips like they were in the start of season 3. But instead we get a shot of El giving Mike the side-eye.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I love El and that's why I feel she should have an independent ending. She needs few years to herself where she can just be a normal kid that goes to school/college, goes shopping, watches movies, plays with friends, etc. Deep down El is still a kid, she needs to be able to live life like one. In the lab, she was treated like an experiment for that she has always felt that she has no value apart from her powers.

I know for a certain side of the fandom, a Mileven ending would justify El's happiness but to me that would force her and Mike into a conformity again and that's something that the show so beautifully breaks everytime.

That being said, I don't want El and Mike to fight and not talk to each other. I feel they would be amazing as friends. Platonic Mileven for the win!!!

DISCLAIMER

These are just my observations and opinions. I don't hate El and only want her to be happy but I don't think she is truly happy when she's in a relationship. These rants come from the mind of a English major and a filmmaking student.

I apologise for the mess. I have ADHD and this is how my brain processes things. I tried to make it as structred as I can.

[sofixt0k]

OPINION ABOUT THE NEW MILEVEN DEFENCE VIDEO ( 3 )

Part Three Her comments / My comments

"Shall we have a sip? If you know, this is just getting started, right? Let's go to Millie, who I don't think we even need to put much emphasis on Millie because I think, I mean, you can super tell that she loves, Mileven always said it early on, she's like the biggest Mileven Shipper in the universe, she said it in premieres when she was asked about Mileven, she also said it a lot in direct on Instagram when she was still in charge of her account and contacting fans more, she also talked a bunch of times about Mileven and how she called him Mileven in comic cons, et cetera. No matter what she looked like, no matter what she said, no matter what she did, he still loved her and that's just the perfect guy.

And how Millie wrote the scripts…gosh, I won't answer all of this. You guys already know what I think, what we think, about Millie's comments about mileven. Likewise this opinion on the video is directed at Bylers, not Milevens. I'm not looking for them to read this and become Bylers shippers, it's irrelevant to me.

Let's go now to Caleb, who plays Lucas. At a comic-con also recently he was asked who he would rather save, Mike or Max, and he said, let's see, I would save Max because I know Mike would choose Eleven over me.

???????, I didn't get the point, anyway, Caleb also said he prefers Elmax because they have a real love, not like mileven, so….

He said it too, that is, Mike would care about mileven, not another character,

“Not for another character”?????????¿?, sorry, I dreamt the last four seasons where he cares about Will, Dustin, Will, Will, Will, Max, Will, Nancy, Will… did I say Will?

-which I actually take the opportunity to bring this up because I was really amused because I saw it in a tweet recently, which is that when season 3 the mineflyer arrives at the mall, Mike immediately grabs Mileven's hand and takes her away to hide with her, and in season 4 when the shootings start at the byers' house, the military, as soon as they hear them, Mike storms off and leaves Will and Jonathan behind.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. We saw the same scene…, talking very seriously. You're talking about the scene where Mike blocks the door with his arm so Will doesn't go out to where the shooting is, you're talking about the scene where he puts his arm over his chest to protect him, like, you know, there wasn't a behind the scenes rehearsal where Finn has his hand on Noah's chest again, like… Intentional, you know?

I don't know why he was forcefully holding hands with him. But well, that's a separate thing, I just found it funny and it's very real. And finally we go to David Harbour's opinion, that in a comic con, if I'm not mistaken, in 2023, he was asked about Byler and he said, let's see, I think it's very clear that Mike loves Mileven, and basically again he kind of fell all the people who said that Byler could be possible.

Second subchapter, analyzing scenes. All the scenes that the Byler shippers see as romantic, or that say, no, this means that Mike really likes Will, that they're going to be a couple, I'm going to tell you, no, better grab it and analyze it on this side. Obviously there are a lot of scenes between Mike and Will, I'm not going to talk about all of them, I'm going to talk about the main ones, I'm going to talk about the ones where they kind of do say like they like each other.

The first one is when Will wakes up in season 1, after he was rescued from the Upside Down, which they basically say that Mike likes Will because when he sees him on the gurney he goes running to hug him.

I don't know. What a shipper Byler said. That we see that as romantic or as a sign that Byler is endgame. Why I haven't seen the first one say that. I've always seen that scene as one of the cutest miwi scenes in the world because after being all season looking for Will even though the “evidence” said he was dead, he never believed it, and it's so cute to see him not sleeping in the waiting room so he could see Will.

Did you see the whole scene? Because literally Dustin and Lucas also hug him, but they don't say that Will likes them, no, no, they just say it about Mike.

Afterwards, in that scene, you can check it out, keep in mind that he didn't see Will, I think a week, I think he was more or less a week lost in the Upside Down, and look he had known Will longer than he knew Eleven at the time.

Yet when he sees him, after not knowing where he was, after he's rescued, he talks more about Eleven than Will.

Yeah, as if, I mean, as if she wasn't literally a girl who showed up out of nowhere with superpowers and helped them rescue Will????, I REPEAT, RESCUE WILL. LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE REASON WHY MIKE DIDN'T CALL AN INSANE ASYLUM TO TAKE HER AWAY.

I mean, Mike gets worried, he's like, are you okay, what do I know, but right away, as soon as he cuts, he starts, we made a new friend, and she can fly cars, and she can do this, and blah, blah, blah, blah, like he's talking super mesmerized about Eleven. When, I mean, his friend just reappeared after almost dying, but yet Mike finds it more important to talk about Eleven than Will."

Yes, yes. The girl says this for sure because she's basically Mike's close friend and she asked him what he thought about the best friend who has been “his best thing” he's ever done and he basically told her that he didn't care that he showed up alive.

[nobylerdoubt]

Ended up on the milkvan side of pinterest and i might be having byler doubt most of it is just season 3 because let's face it season 4 is obviously not a win for milkvan but then there were also cast responses and i am having mixed feelings

First things first - I've said this before and I'll say it again. The casts feelings are not an indicator how how the plot will go. It's not up to them to decide. I won't deny that they get input on their characters, but in the end it's up to the Duffer brothers and the producers. Also, what the cast can say in interviews is such a watered down give-them-what-they-want version of what's actually being said and what the actors actually feel/think/believe. Byler is under lock in key, because when it happens it's gonna be huge. It's the last thing they want people to insinuate or find out from interviews.

Moving on, Season 3, to me, is a huge indicator that Mileven is not endgame. I'll just list a few main points out, since you didn't leave any specific moments you wanted me to combat - but feel free to let me know if there's any specific moment that has you feeling anxious.

Mileven, even before El dumps Mike's ass, is very unhealthy. We see almost everyone mention this in season 3, but especially Hopper and Will. Mike spends all his time with El - so much so that Mike's friends comment on how he never has time to spend with them. Hopper comments that it's not normal, not healthy. Lucas jokes "Oh El, I wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends." The only one who doesn't seem to have a problem with it pre hopper's "talk" with the two, is Max, who's not that close to either of them at this point. "It's romantic." "It's gross." "It's bullshit."

When the two do break up, I admittedly think that it has less to do with how unhealthy their relationship is, and more to do with Hopper's meddling and Mike's and Hopper's combined inability to just set boundaries and respect one another. The only thing is that Mike lies, which very much sets up his behavior towards El in season 4 as well. He can't seem be genuine with her. However what follows the breakup is what I think is more important.

The juxtaposition of Mike and El's breakup and Mike and Will's fallout is very telling. In the same episode that Max assures El that Mike will come crawling back begging for forgiveness - Mike mopes and whines but does nothing. But when Will storms off after their argument Mike comes rushing to him with apologies.

When Mike talks to El as they set up the "sauna test" he confesses Hopper "made him lie". El comments "what if he's right?" What if they do spend too much time together. What if the need to spend more time with their own species.

I think a moment that causes a lot of byler doubt is in Hopper's cabin when Mike says: "because I love her and can't lose her again". It's interesting to me that both at this moment and in season 4, mike can only say "I love you" during intense moments where he fears for her life. In the past couple responses I've posted I've noticed a bit of a theme. We have to realize that Mike really, deeply cares for El. Just not in the way he feels he should. Not in the way she wants him to.

After this first outburst of "I love her" Mike doesn't say it again until season 4. Even as he's trying to talk to El in the store he can't say it. "You know (blank) makes you crazy". Even as El coaxes him because she doesn't understand what he's trying to say, he can't say it. And here, he's not even trying to say "I love you" he's trying to explain himself. To brush it off.

Then again, at the end of the season El brings this up again, and Mike continues to try and brush it off, to downplay it. He says it was just heat of the moment stuff. When El says "I love you" he doesn't say it back. When El kisses him, his eyes are open. When she walks away, he's in a mix of shock and confusion.

Then the season ends with the Peter Gabriel cover of heroes - and the last time we've heard that song was in season 1 as Mike goes home to hug his mom because he thinks Will is dead. And again we see him hug his mom, eyes open in that same shocked confused look. He's lost people he cares about again. I think he feels that his love is leaving him - but does he know who it is?

Theres some other topics of note in season 3, but that's for another day. Again - let me know if theirs any particular scenes that give you byler doubt and I can do more of a deep dive on them.

(Sorry if the tone's shifted halfway through, I switched from typing on my computer to typing on my phone, and I feel like I write differently on different devices.)

[brionysea]

i wonder why anytime someone argues mike can't be connected supernaturally, it's always about what they feel or think mike's character is meant to be (ordinary boy), but never actually addressing or countering the evidence lol. how do you argue against the void thing when the show literally brings it up again? max thought billy sensing el had to mean nothing just like it probably did for mike, but she was wrong. there was a reason. so that leaves to question, how did mike sense el then? and it was certainly a choice to even callback to someone sensing el, and that someone being mike of all people.

I think the show is just exceptionally well written in this area. they've done such a good job of separating the idea of mike wheeler's character out from everything else - specifically in season 3 by putting him squarely in the 'teen drama' box, separate from the 'supernatural mystery' box - and that continues into season 4 by giving mike more romantic drama and sending him to the opposite side of the country from where the supernatural plot is happening. there's LITERAL distance there, and they basically dedicated a whole subplot to talking about mike's feelings as if it matters (the interesting plot is about max's feelings and how they matter and have the power to kill her, by the way), but the audience is so conditioned to roll their eyes at him at this point that it's flying over everyone's heads

el initially thought something was wrong with mike when his characterisation started to change, and honestly if you pay attention to millie bobby brown's performance in season 4, she STILL thinks he 'seems wrong'. but max very quickly said that boyfriends are just like that (dismissing mike's individuality and everything we know about him as a character) and that it's nothing to worry about (by framing it as feminism vs. sexism, only assholes will want to side against max), and max is, like, the best character on the show, so people are inclined to believe her. cue everyone ignoring that max has an express history of Not Believing that supernatural stuff could be going on and coming up with rational, genre-resistant explanations like 'demogorgons aren't real, are you sure it wasn't just a bear?', even when it very evidently is supernatural in nature. like, lucas was a cynic in season 1 too, but once he knows it's real he KNOWS. he doesn't keep fighting reality like max does. max is so smart that she basically runs circles around herself to keep herself from the truth. that's, like, her whole thing at this point. she was so reluctant to admit that anything was wrong with billy, so desperate to avoid the fact that she WANTED him gone, and then she DIED once the truth became too much. it KILLED her. there are DEADLY NARRATIVE CONSEQUENCES to max's avoidant attitude, which has so clearly infected the perception of mike's character at this point. he is in danger. and that's not even touching on how similar max and mike are as people

everyone knows that the best twists are the ones that make you go 'OH MY GOD! HOW DIDN'T I SEE THAT COMING?!' but no one wants to consider that there might be a twist they won't see coming. because this one is set up in such a way that no one wants to investigate further, and while the pay off looks like it will be fantastic, if you pick up on it ahead of time no one will believe you. which is a very joyce byers experience to have. an element of it might be that people just don't like feeling stupid, or like they didn't see something coming, but I think that's more relevant to mike's queercoding and the dynamic between mike and will than to the weirdness surrounding mike's character. that's just next-level hidden as far as I'm concerned

[little-annie]

Just another @strangerthingswritersguild prompt

T (mentions of death/dying) | WC 532 | Steddie

No one said it'd be easy, learning to live again.

Especially with knowing all that he does now.

But certain things make it easier. Certain people.

Like Robin. Like Nancy. Like Dustin and Lucas and Mike and Will. El, Max. Joyce Byers and by some strange turn of events Jim Hopper.

Everyone. 

Those mentioned and more.

But most of all, Steve.

If it wasn't for the dashing young Paladin Eddie would probably be dead, or at the very least homeless. Steve had carried Eddie's limp, bleeding body from the bellies of hell and stayed by his side. Or so the kids say, and Wayne and Robin tease. According to them, the only time Steve left was to prepare his home for Eddie. And Wayne. Because that's who he is apparently, to Eddie's utter bafflement.

As the fissures in the earth sealed themselves and the wounds within their skin closed all the same, Steve and Eddie found themselves as roommates and fast friends. 

Turns out on those rare days he left the hospital, Steve prepared a room for Eddie and a separate one for Wayne. Ensuring that they'd be their most comfortable. 

Though it's not like Eddie stayed in his room for long.

The night terrors made their very unwelcome arrival the first night Eddie spent in the Harrington's home. He tried to power through them for about a week. Waking to his own screams in a cold sweat and clinging to what vestiges of reality he could grasp.

Soon enough though his screams woke Steve and every night that followed Eddie found himself settling into the navy blue cloud that was Steve Harrington's bed. 

The recovery of his mental health seemed to rapidly stitch itself back together from that moment on. Like just laying beside Steve Harrington eases the nerves that scratch and itch at Eddie's bones. 

It might have to do with the way when Eddie starts to fuss in his sleep, Steve simply wraps around him and pulls him into his chest. But Eddie refuses to think too hard on that.

With his days and nights by Steve's side, everything gets easier.

Waking up in the mornings, cleaning his dressings and settling into his newest version of reality.

For that first week Eddie struggled with changing his own bandages and brushing his own hair, but now with Steve persistently involved he doesn't have to do those tasks alone.

Now instead of gasping, wincing and shedding a few tears, Eddie simply raises his arms and allows Steve to unwarp the soiled bandages from around his torso. Cleaning the moulted skin with alcohol and gently applying the prescribed antibiotic cream.

Afterwards, he brushes Eddie's hair. Wetting it, putting in something he calls *leave in conditioner* and running his large fingers through it until it's silky and manageable.

Then if Steve's not going into work or volunteering where he's needed in the community, they eat breakfast and settle in on the couch for a round of Golden Girls reruns. 

It's there in Steve Harrington's arms, that gathering up all the pieces of himself feels easier. That with this newfound care being forced upon him, Eddie thinks, maybe recovery won't be so hard. 

[zayne-s]

a lil non-smutty snippet from the "eddie helps chrissy with her sex life" (now titled: helping hand) sfw: sex is mentioned but not described in explicit detail

before she leaves, eddie tilts her head up with two fingers under her chin and softly pecks her lips.

"don't be shy about asking if you want to do this again, alright?"

"i promise i won't." chrissy leans up and kisses his cheek before turning to leave, a bashful smile on her face and her cheeks tinged pink. she waves at eddie as she backs out of the driveway.

eddie shoves his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants as he watches her drive off. her moans and cries from the night before and this morning are still echoing in his head, threatening to make him hard again.

he's going to have to call steve over and tell him all the dirty little details while fucking his boyfriend’s brains out.

he turns to walk back up the steps of the trailer but jumps as he's suddenly met with the glaring eyes of max mayfield.

"i'm not keeping this a secret from steve," she says firmly, arms crossed over her chest. "friends don't lie. especially not about something like this."

eddie has to hand it to her, she can be downright scary when she wants to be. fierce and protective of her people. but he has to chuckle a little at the situation.

the frown on max's face turns into a scowl. "you think this is funny, munson?"

oh, she sounds pissed off now.

"i literally catch you cheating on your boyfriend and you're laughing?"

okay, maybe now's the time to take control of the situation before it escalates. "sorry, red," eddie says, waving a hand in front of him. "not funny in the slightest." there's still a hint of amusement in his tone. "just, you might have the wrong idea of what's going on here."

max doesn't look relieved. "i don't think i do, actually."

eddie sighs. she gets her stubbornness from steve.

"you do, and i can promise you, there is no cheating happening."

"i just saw you kiss her!" max exclaims, eyes wide and eyebrows raised to her hairline. "did you forget that my trailer is right across from yours? the walls aren't that thick, eddie! you had your gross sex mixtape playing and i could hear every noise you two made last night!"

her hands shake at her sides but she stands her ground. "i like chrissy. she's a good person and she makes things fun. but i won't let you string steve along like he’s just some plaything."

she looks genuinely distraught and eddie feels bad for laughing at her.

he sighs. "c'mere, kid." he pulls her to his chest with a hand on the back of her head. she still has her arms crossed, but she relaxes after a minute, wrapping them around eddie's back while he sways them comfortingly.

"i appreciate you looking out for him, but i'm not cheating on steve," he says firmly. "he's well aware of what we were doing last night. this was just me helping out a friend."

he can feel max crinkle her nose against his collarbone. "you're helping her out by having loud kinky sex? i didn't even think you liked women."

eddie barks out a laugh as they pull away. max still looks a little upset. eddie just ruffles her hair. "i don't, but there's a lot of things you'll understand when you're older, red. you might be a bit too young to have this conversation right now."

max rolls her eyes. "please, i'm plenty old enough." a light blush dusts her cheeks as she looks at the ground and mutters, "me and lucas have done some stuff."

ah.

"some stuff that i hope you're both being safe about." eddie rests his hands on her shoulders and gives her a soft smile. "tell you what, how about i go get dressed and i take you out for breakfast, huh? then maybe we can come back here and i'll lay it all out for you and answer any question you have. deal?"

max pretends to think about it before nodding with a smile. "deal."

[givehimthemedicine]

It's not a competition // elmax (ish) ficlet

coma angst. Lucas and El both love Max. both are sure it's the other Max loves. (heads up this is very open ended. it's not supposed to be elumax)

--

At first, the party visited Max constantly and in groups, in pairs. After all she'd been through, no one wanted her to be alone. 

When the initial shock wore down, the visits split into shifts. Max would be just as not-alone with one person at a time as she would with two or three.

As days turned into weeks, the visits spread out even more, and settled into a pattern: 

Lucas is the one most often spending the whole of visiting hours with Max, trading off occasionally with shorter visits from the others. 

El doesn't visit very often - not in person. As the only one able, she spends all night, every night, at Max's side in the blackness of the void.

Over time, it's a serious drain on her energy and blood. Hop and Joyce try to get her to stop for the sake of her health, but there's quite literally nothing they can do about it. They buy her some supplements and try to keep the house quiet while she sleeps during the day. 

Eventually, it happens: a day when everyone's schedules clash and nobody can be with Max in the daytime. 

So El says she will go. And something in Lucas boils over. 

He tells El to stay home. To leave her be.

He says it's not the end of the world if Max spends an afternoon alone. He says she isn't even aware anyone visits her in the first place, and if she is, she might be desperate for time alone - she'd be snapping at them demanding space if she was awake, wouldn't she? 

And he isn’t wrong. Even if by some miracle Max IS aware of their presence in the daytime, there’s no way she’s aware of El’s company by night. El knows that.

She says it's okay for him to need a break, but that if he doesn't go, she will.

Lucas looks furious, like she meant that as an accusation, although she's pretty sure he isn't really.

He loves Max, but he does need a break. They both do. They are both exhausted, traumatized kids. But for El to refuse to take a break puts him in a hard position.

He has already said out loud that he thinks it's okay for Max to sleep alone for an afternoon, and now he's trying not to feel like that is an act of desertion, or a milestone in beginning to let go.

Defiant against absolutely no opposition, Lucas digs in. Says he will come as often as he can, but it won't be all day every day, and that he's not in the wrong for that.

El wholeheartedly agrees.

He digs in deeper.

He says El should take time off and rest, too. Says what if something happens, what if Vecna comes back and El is too weak to fight, then they're all screwed. He looks a little sorry as he says it; he's pressing a sore spot on purpose. It's not fair for that responsibility to be on El's shoulders, but it just kind of is.

She says he is right, and maybe he mistakes that as agreement.

Maybe he had done this thinking that El would follow his lead. But she doesn't.

This is not a competition. El isn't trying to win. She just can't handle the idea of Max being left alone. 

What if Max wakes up terrified and no one is there? What if she thinks none of her friends care? What if there's the tiniest sliver of a chance Max is trapped somewhere? Still hiding like Will once was, captive and suffering, and El is her only hope - how can she take a day off?

And if there's any fighting to be done while she's exhausted, well, she'll just have to do what she always does: fight anyway.

So when no one else goes, El goes. 

She sits and holds Max's hand, and the next thing she knows, a nurse is nudging her to say visiting hours are over, and she's furious with herself for having dozed off with her cheek smushed against the edge of the hospital bed.

Instead of "goodnight," she tells Max "be right back," and goes home and puts on her blindfold, and sits with Max that way for as long as she can stay conscious.

Before long, Lucas gives up and starts coming every day again.

It's not jealousy, it's guilt. He feels bad that El is picking up his slack when she's a wreck already. Using her powers for hours every night leaves her with that pale, blood-vesselly look, and a day isn’t enough time to recover fully, so she just looks like that all the time now. People think she's another patient, and if she keeps this up, she may need to be.

Lucas says it's for El's benefit sometimes that he sits with Max, so that she will please get some rest.

That isn't a lie, but she thinks it's also that he feels he has to match the standard El is setting.

Maybe someday Max will ask who spent the most time at her side, and he wants to be able to say it was him.

El understands because she wants it to be her, although she'll never say it was.

It’s not a competition, but neither wants to lose.

-

Lucas's steps ripple into the blackness around Max's hospital bed, signaling 8 AM. Beginning of visiting hours.

"Morning, Max." He settles into his chair and murmurs his usual, "Night, El."

El leans over to administer her little ritual outlet of affection.

"Goodnight, angel," she whispers, leaving a kiss on Max's temple. Same as every time she leaves.

Max would bristle at the name, but it reminds El of one of few truly happy moments in her life. She had liked the way Max's lips treated the word angel when she sang it.

It's the one indulgence she allows herself in here. She doesn't see any harm. Max will never know.

El lets go and slides straight into sleep without opening her eyes. Too tired to wipe the warmth from her nose even though the tissue is already in her hand. Her pillowcases are all stained anyway.

Not thirty minutes later, Hopper is waking her to relay the call he’s just gotten: Max is awake.

She tries to focus harder on being overjoyed than on being disappointed to have missed it. Or grieved that it must look like she doesn't care because she wasn't there.

What she wanted most was for Max not to be alone. And she wasn't. So that's a win.

But maybe it was a little bit of a competition, because she also kind of feels like she's lost.

She wishes there were rockets on Hop’s car to make it go faster. 

El bounds into the hospital room, still with pillow marks on her cheek and blood flakes on her lip - and her spirits fall.

Max looks exactly the same. Small and still and sleeping.

El looks questioningly to Lucas, who's in his usual chair at her bedside.

"She’s asleep," he whispers, which he doesn't usually. "Regular sleep." He stares at Max a few seconds and then smiles, almost laughs to himself. It's been weeks since she's seen his teeth. "Slept 34 days and she needs a nap."

El smiles softly, coming closer and sitting in the chair opposite him.

She looks at Max's pale fingers interlaced with Lucas's, and then at Max’s closer hand, free. She touches the edge of the cast just before where it reveals her fingers. She wants to do the same thing they're doing, but she can think of a couple reasons why she shouldn’t.

She stares hard at Max's face for any smidge of a difference from the way she's looked all these weeks. Nothing.

She thinks about ways she could wake Max accidentally on purpose. She's desperate.

"How was she?"

"She can see," Lucas answers. They share a grin, both happy for her, although after how long the mystery has plagued them, she wonders why the grin fades as quickly as it does.

There's kind of a weird feeling in the room. 

"Did she say anything?"

He looks across at her, but before he answers, Susan arrives.

Susan hugs Lucas and smiles hello to her. El didn't know they were on hugging terms, and doesn't know why she feels funny about that. (Yes she does.) She doesn't want to hug Susan, but - it's not important.

They leave the woman alone with her daughter and go out to the waiting room. 

Lucas goes to stretch his legs and brings back two paper cones of water. He drinks his in one gulp, then sits next to El and starts flattening and fidgeting with the cup.

"Your name was the first thing she said."

Her eyes dart to his, but she isn't sure what reaction to give, so she doesn't give one.

It's not a competition. She might be winning.

"Maybe she thought -"

"Her eyes work." His tone is of correcting her, but when he repeats it again, he is correcting himself. "Her eyes work. She's awake. It's great. It's amazing." He leans back in the chair so the plastic back squeaks, and rubs his face.

"It's great," El echoes. “I’m glad you were here.”

It was better for Max to wake up to Lucas. Had she awakened on El’s shift instead, she would have thought she was alone.

“Yeah,” he answers rather tonelessly. 

He isn’t sulking. It’s just that he’s won what he thought they were competing for and still feels like he’s lost.

El observes him half-secretly for a moment. "She loves you.”

He exhales, same tone. "Yeah."

He starts tearing his cup with absentminded precision.

"I can't compete with you," he says quietly.

"What?"

"I wish I could do all that for her. The stuff you do. I would if I could."

His cup is getting to be just one long ragged strip of paper.

By either biting or staying quiet, El gets to decide whether they are actually doing this. She kind of surprises herself by biting.

"That is the same thing I think about you," she says, and this is what gets him to look over at her.

"Don't worry, Lucas,” she adds softly. “She would not choose me."

She hadn't meant that to sound so sad. It's just that she realized how true it was while she was saying it.

Lucas is her friend, and she wants him to be happy. She smiles at him - sincerely, but kind of mechanically - and looks away again.

She can feel him studying her the way people do, sometimes, when they are trying to figure out whether she understands what she has just said. 

"I think she already has."

El’s mouth twists. “She needs friends, right now, I think.”

Lucas nods quickly. They are not going to burden Max with any of this. 

Max has not been in the mood to be in a relationship for a long while, and she probably feels even less ready now. She does not need romance right now, she just needs love. 

And for as long as Max is looking for that kind of love, she might choose El.

But in the long run, she will choose Lucas.

She chose Lucas in the beginning and she will choose him again in the end, as soon as she is well enough. Because no matter how important El's friendship is to her, Max is still a normal girl and Lucas is a normal boy, and... normal people go together.

It's terribly selfish of her to be thinking about how her own happiness factors into this, anyway. It's Max's that is important. Whatever makes Max happy, that's what El wants for her.

"I don't want us to be.." she isn't sure how to say.

"Me neither,"  Lucas adds.

She rests her head against his shoulder to make sure they aren't fighting, and is glad when he leans his head on hers.

.

She's never been so happy to see two crystal blue eyes land on her. 

El grins huge, her own eyes wet as she walks into the hospital room ahead of Lucas.

Max can't move her head because of the neck brace, but she manages a weak smile, watching El come closer. That smile fades a bit as she gets a good look at her.

El realizes how different she must look since the last time Max saw her.

It feels like Max is not just seeing her, but seeing into and through her. She knows what El's overexertion looks like. What bone-deep exhaustion and weeks without sleep and pretending to be okay looks like.

Right before her eyes, Max is putting together all the things El was not going to tell her. She isn't sure she hopes Max puts everything together.

"Hi," El says, whispering without having planned to, like a full-strength greeting might jar her bones loose again.

Max's "Hi" is so small and weak, but it’s the best thing El has ever heard.

After how desperate she's been to talk with her for weeks, she finds that she has no idea what to say. 

She carefully takes Max's fingers and is overjoyed at the sensation of them squeezing back. They just look at each other for a minute.

The corner of Max's mouth turns up just a little, and El grins because she knows something witty is coming, and that alone is priceless.

Max manages a very raspy, "You look like shit."

El chuckles her way gradually into a laugh that gets bigger and bigger until she's keeled over against Max's arm, laughing so hard she's crying. And then there isn't really any laughing involved at all anymore, she's just plain crying, really hard.

The reaction confuses her. She's been so acclimated to crushing pressure that she doesn't know how to handle the release.

She looks up and finds Max watching her. Her eyes are glazed and tired, but they're clear and blue and beautiful and aware and leaking tears. It’s so good to see her cry pure, clear, harmless tears. 

El knows that she herself is bloodshot and snotty and probably the worst she's ever looked in her life, and she isn't bothered in the slightest that Max is seeing her, because Max is seeing her. And smiling.

She dries Max's tears before her own. Max's lids look slow to reopen, like she’s fighting sleep. 

"You're tired."

Her brows dip for an instant, with a faint noise of protest. 

El gets it. The idea of her going back to sleep is kind of scary. 

“We’re here,” El assures her. “You can rest as long as you need. We will still be here.”

Max's eyes check the room in a way that makes El turn and look, too. Lucas isn't there. She guesses she appreciates him leaving them to their moment. 

She wonders whether it was as good a moment as his and hers. He probably said something sweet to her that he spent all that time preparing. Something better than hi.

It’s not a competition. 

"Get some sleep.”

Max's fingers twitch in hers. "You."

El smiles softly, nodding. She curls her fingers around Max's.

"Wake me. Okay?"

"Hmh." It might mean yes, or no, or it might just be a noise.

El lodges her head against Max's shoulder.

"Mmnighngel," Max murmurs under her breath.

El's head snaps up, as if staring at Max's lips for a full minute will help clarify what she already said.

Her breathing and the beeps of the monitors are slowing. It might have just been a noise.

El puts her head back down, and for the first time in weeks, surrenders to a guiltless sleep.

[isthatmyjacket-covenofchaossq]

"Max asked me to give you this." Lucas says, handing Mike an envelope.

"What is this?"

"It looks like a letter." Lucas looks at him as if Mike had asked the dumbest question in the world, which he did.

"I know it’s a letter, but why for me? She hates me." Mike says, exasperated.

"Max doesn’t hate you." Lucas frowns. "She just-" He gestures vaguely, not sure what to say. "Just read it, okay?"

Mike nods and puts the letter in his pocket. Hours later, when he is finally alone in his room, he takes the letter and opens it, confused and curious.

He and Max aren't exactly friends, and he's pretty sure Max hates him, and she wouldn't be wrong on doing so, because Mike was a complete asshole when they first met. It is not a very long letter, for after all, as he suspected, there was not much to say.

However, the end took him by surprise. Well, not really, because he knows Max cares about El as much as he does, but Mike never thought he would read those words.

Please take care of El, and for everything most sacred, make her happy or I swear to god I'll come back and haunt your ass forever.

Mike sits on the bed, staring at the letter for a while as his and Max's interactions play in his head. This feels like a goodbye.

Mike stands up quickly, slipping on his sneakers haphazardly and stuffs the letter in his pocket as he takes the steps two at a time.

He needs to talk to Max, even if she doesn't hear him. She can't die and leave Eleven. That will destroy her.

"Mike, where are you going?" Nancy calls out as she sees him pass by like a hurricane.

"Hospital." He shouts over his shoulder as he opens the front door.

"Mike, wait." Nancy is behind him now, panting. "Is everything ok? Did something happen to Max?"

"No." He shakes his head. "I just need to talk to her."

"Mike-"

"I know she's in a coma and probably won't listen, but I need to."

"What happened, Mike?" Nancy holds his arm gently. "Talk to me. We promised not to have any more secrets, remember?"

Mike stares at her, considering whether to tell her about the letter, but Nancy is right. They promised to be honest with each other when this all started.

"Max wrote a letter." He sighs and takes the letter from his pocket, handing it to Nancy.

He watches her as she reads the letter, and breathes a sigh of relief when Nancy just takes the car keys and indicates for him to get in on the passenger side.

Mike is relieved to arrive at the hospital and see that by some miracle, there is no one in Max's room. He closes the door behind him and goes to the bed.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but don't you dare die, do you hear me? El's been through too much to have to go through this. She didn’t bring you back just to see you die again." Mike is gripping the iron bar at the side of the bed so hard his knuckles are white. "I know I was a jerk to you when we first met, and I'm sorry, Max. I know I was shit later too, and there's no excuse for the way I treated you, but El loves you and she can't lose you, okay? She needs you here as much as I need Will. I don’t know what will happen to her if you never wake up again, so just- find your way back, okay?"

[henrysglock]

Who in TFS would like Kdramas and who in the regular show would like Kdramas

OOOOH okay maybe i'm biased but I think both Henry, Patty, and Brenner would like kdramas but for entirely different reasons.

Henry, every version of him, is in a puddle in agony over the characters. Patty is giving each show an absolutely scathing critique, either on plot or on characters, and Henry sits there listening to her like yes queen. Go off. Get their asses, you're so right. We stan tumblr user ms-mystery.

Brenner is coming up with Thee fucking insane weirdo theories of all time. He and Henry are mutuals online, and he somehow manages to get Henry wrapped up in all the theories. None of Brenner's coworkers know he has a tumblr, and when asked, none of them would ever imagine he would. He only got one because he heard Henry mention it in passing. I cannot emphasize this enough: Brenner's fuckass posts make him a tumblr legend.

I think Bob would watch them with Patty, but he's not particularly invested. Victor would pop his head in to see what Henry's watching, and then leave him to his own devices to go read in the study.

TFS ALAN MUNSON IS A DIEHARD KDRAMA FAN. BUT HE'S THE OBNOXIOUS KIND.

TFS Ted Wheeler is asked if he likes kdramas, and he says "oh that taylor swift song goes hard" (he's referring to Karma).

On screen? Erica. She won't admit it, but she has "[her] shows" that she watches. Dustin knows the lore, and he is entirely unafraid to get into online arguments about it. He and Erica both Know they other watches kdramas. They talked about it once, and then never again...but they Know. They both have side-twitters dedicated to it.

Max is a begrudging watcher; El fell in love with kdramas, and now they watch together. It's a love language. Robin has convinced Steve to watch at least one show with her.

Karen loves the romance-heavy kdramas. Joyce doesn't have time or interest. Hopper sometimes indulges El and watches with her.

Lucas and Will aren't into it. Not haters, just not into it.

Mike, however. Mike has Opinions. He's watched some with El when they're dating, and while he won't dare step foot on kdramatwt...he HAS been known to rant about it while El watches in "let me put him under a microscope"-type fascination. Important: Karen does not know about this, or she'd be asking him to watch with her weekly.

Scott Clarke doesn't watch, but he's well-versed in the lore just from listening to students and looking up shows/phrases to figure out what the fuck they're talking about. He would whip out the most obscure lore readily.

[castlebyersafterdark]

i'd like to think that byler would exchange blowjobs and/or handjobs the first time they kiss in the show. Like it won't be shown onscreen (they literally can't show it because of the shows rating being TV-14, feel like people forget this) but I'd like it to be implied - think Murray's pullout joke. It'd be a nice jancy parallel and, most importantly, it'd be funny as hell lmao 😆

I can't really imagine them going further than blowing each other (full on anal sex with probably no prep beforehand and also in the middle of the end of the world? Not happening lol!) But I can imagine them being horny as hellll. Like, okay, they kissed. Cool. They know the feelings are reciprocated now and they've gotta do something about it. They make out. Okayyy. Well, they're alone. No one around. And whoops someone's got a hard on (don't think they would show this part obv) and Mike is maybe a little bit too eager to do something about it and will's hesitant because he doesn't want to gross mike out but in the end I'd think it'd just be a "fuck it" mindset where it's like ok it's heat of the moment we're horny and we might die. Let's get down to business 🥳 and of course they both come within like 45 seconds but you know damn well it was the best 45 seconds of their entire lives besides when they kissed.

I don't think the actual sex part would be shown, but maybe they'll do one of those make out, push towards the bed, fade to black type deals and just leave it up to audience interpretation. Tbh, I'd prefer that - leaves more room for jokes and more importantly, missing scene fics. Also, it's absolutely something the duffers would do regarding stupid sex jokes (ie. Hey Mike, how was the blowing? And it's ted asking if the new fan he bought is holding up against the power outages...mike proceeds to almost choke on his breakfast that morning)

Anyway, that's my two cents. Have a great day!

Every time someone poses ideas to me I change my entire vision. Because there's so many ways it can go!!

Now, listen. The realist in me does side with saying, there's no way they're going all the way first attempt, even if it's the end of the world - but I'll admit you spin me the right scenario and it's a fun idea. I feel like there's a part of the reality of the show that isn't completely realistic and I'm not sure who's leading the writing charge here, but there's a lot that's ingrained into storytelling and romance and sex in media that paints full penetration sex, to but it bluntly, as "real" sex so. The implications could be there, that could be the way an implied spicy scene went. I personally wouldn't go that route (I'd happily read it in fic, I'd think about it in my imagination heehee but in the actual show? Ehhh. I like to imagine creativity in not going the expected route?) I really think it's all going to be implied. Clearly sex happened, but we're not getting an explicit sex scene knowing what they did together. But an implication that more than kissing occurred. Like you said, maybe a joke after the fact. Hopefully further from the act so the emotional weight of it gets to settle with us.

I do think - ok. Here me out. Why am I saying that? We know what blog we're on. Anyway. They've brought the party up to age sixteen, to junior year. This is classically the age in teenage coming of age media where a lot of characters have sex for the first time. As is common in real life, where cliche is cliche for a reason. SO, since we have this group of the younger kids - I think part of the "watching them grow up" that some may turn their noses at, is that we should and we will see the coming of age that happens in these stories with romance and relationships and sex. Will and Mike are the only couple who makes sense right now.

Lucas and Max? Rocky. Max in a coma. Their story is going to be something different. Dustin and Suzie don't live in proximity and their story is not about taking it to the next level. What? Not them. Not this season. Mike and El? Listen, Mlvns. Even if they were going to be an endgame thing, those two are emotionally not ready for that together. And they're not staying together, anyway. Mike and Will? This is a lifetime realization. It's tension, it's powerful, it's a lot. And the aspect of love in physicality? It fits their story and who they are and what they represent. This is yet another reason why I don't think it's far fetched to get something a little more with Mike and Will than only a kiss and yay, Byler yay we did it.

[beastmodeyao]

Star Wars X: The Power Of The Force

Breaking Announcement in The Secret Reverse Flashpoint Paradox 2.0 timeline I created last year on June 14, 2023 ⚡⌛📆‼️Christopher Nolan, Grandmaster Yoda, and I are teaming up together independently to create a brand new movie titled Star Wars X: The Power Of The Force. This movie will NOT be a part of the Star Wars Universe and won't include Disney, Lucasflim, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Apple TV, Netflix, Paramount, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Showtime, Starz, or any of these big corrupt companies that only care about money. We will be doing everything independent of all other forces and also no credit shall be given to George Lucas. I won't rest until Grandmaster Yoda is officially replaced as the true founder of Star Wars. This film will also not be a part of the lame Marvel or DC universes and instead will be a part of The KingYao Universe. The vision of my plans shall be laid out as following -The plot will be a completely new character named Lord Vader is ultimately betrayed by the galactic empire and Emperor Palpatine tries to kill him so Vader is left alone facing off against hundreds and thousands of the Empire's Stormtroopers. Meanwhile the Empire also destroys all of the Jedi Order and everyone on the Jedi counsel is dead except for Grandmaster Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. But this new Lord Vader has no connection to Darth Vader and he has successfully mastered both the Dark Side Of The Force and The Light Side Of The Force and is able to bring back people from the afterlife. Therefore Lord Vader approaches Grandmaster Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi and asks for their help and in return he brings Qui-Gon Jinn back from the dead. Then all four of them face off against an entire Empire of hundreds of thousands of Stormtroopers and Siths in the most epic intergalactic battle of all-time. In the end Lord Vader gets his revenge on the Empire, the other three Jedi are also able to get vengeance against the Sith. In the aftermath of the war, the Force is finally restored back to balance because now the Dark Side and the Light Side of the Force can coexist in harmony with each other. May The Force Guide and Unite Us All!The role of Lord Vader shall be played by me and I will crush my enemies totally and erase them all from existence. I will show no mercy and no forgiveness will be given. The time for Lord Vader to rise is coming soon. I will create a GoFundMe Campaign fundraiser later today to reveal my plans to create The KingYao Universe and leave Marvel, DC, and Star Wars behind to wallow in their own misery. The New World Order I've been planning for 17 long years shall finally be given birth to and the entire Multiverse will be a witness to my plans & the arrival of The KingYao Avengers 🪬📜✔️#KingYao 👑#ReverseFlashpointParadox ⌛#ReverseFlashpointParadox2 ⏳#KingYaoAvengers 🥇#KingYaoDynasty 🏆#TheKingYaoUniverse 🌐#WeWereAllWitnesses 👀🔙 #KingYaoNation ♾️🐐🥇✔️