#(we love lumax too <3)

[haluton]

No you don't understand how important the gay people in my phone are to me

[0daylighthours0]

A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan Was Endgame All Along, Why Was it Written Like This???

SO. I've been rewatching st with my mother, who's never seen it before. And she was a fan of milkvan throughout seasons 1 and 2. Viewing those seasons again I could see why, they're cute. However, come season 3 and INSTANT distaste. And, listen, my mother is not the consciously shipping gal. She simply routes for main character pairings as writers intend, doesn't read between the lines, doesn't nothing. And she does NOT know my own opinions on the pairing. In other words, completely unbiased, uninternet drama influenced eyes. We've now reached season 3 and, after getting through a chunk of it, I asked her,

"so what do you think of Mike and El?"

and she expressed to me that they seem to be, quote:

"not very good together."

She said El's character doesn't suit the way she's acting now (in the first few episodes, concerning Mike), that Mike is more likeable and interesting when he's away from her. She doesn't like the way they ditched the party, and when it comes to their 'making out' the scenes are seen by her from Hopper's perspective (in other words, distasteful). She claimed that they'd be much better characters as friends.

And ya know what, she's right. And I mean like - duh, that's what we've been saying all this time, I'm not stating anything new here. But guys, wouldn't it be strange if the central couple of the show, pivotal that it is liked by audiences and is rooted for by them as they are THE pair, would be so dislikable like this? So uninteresting, so cliche.

I mean, okay, let's do a little mental experiment I like to do to test if I'm not just acting delulu. Let's play a game. In this game, milkvan ARE meant to be endgame. They are in love, they were all along, and they're here to draw in viewers and appease all El stans. Now, seasons 1 and 2 their relationship is honestly fine. Surface level, yeah, people will watch and appreciate them. They perfectly blend in with all the other neat pairings of the seasons, and have their own unique character traits to stand out as a main couple.

Just pretending our mate Will doesn't exist, we now get into season 3. Now, writers have nothing to lose here. If you've finished season 2, you probably like milkvan already. The issue is that they're already together now, so what's the conflict going to be? The arc? And every central couple needs that conflict to stay juicy.

Just take a look:

Jancy: quarrels, struggle to understand one another

Jopper: not yet together, one sided? will they won't they

Lumax: ...

Lumax? Lumax. Huh, guess they were simply together. Some loveable bickering, maintained a friendly dynamic while clearly in closer proximity. Well then, writers can do the same for milkvan right? Well, yes easily. But one might argue that since they are supposed to be THE pairing they need more going on between them than that. So what'll it be? Well, it seems that writers thought,

"hey, why not break them up?"

ok so.. that's a bit risky. I mean you want people to like this ship, if you break them up then that threats: 1. there being a disliking to one or both characters, 2. coming off generic if done incorrectly, 3. the break up might make no sense considering how in love they came off as just a season ago. But hey.. it could work, if done right. Some kind of misunderstanding, similar to Jancy. Maybe an argument leading to a sudden parting. I mean, yeah, Yeah! I can see that. Perhaps Mike is being too overprotective whilst El's trying to sacrifice herself for something, so she NEEDS to separate herself from him attempting to hurt him less. Or, I dunno, something akin. What's crucial is that us, AS THE AUDIENCE, still know them to be deeply in love. I mean, we have to still want them to be together. And we've seen couple trouble before. Just take a look at Lumax season 4 - did you or did you not want the best for both of them as a pair? You most likely did. See, it's doable. So did people like milkvan season 3 the same way, even after a separation plot? No.

Okay well, there are obviously those who'll always love milkvan no matter but, see, season 3 tainted it. "We need to write them like this cause it's more realistic to teenager behavior" my ars. You can make it messy without making it icky. Not only did it sour their unique dynamic, it flabbergastingly stomped on Mike as a character.

Honestly, I feel Mike has always been a mild struggle to write. Season 1 his motivations were 'find Will' (who still doesn't exist in our mind game yet shh) and 'protect El'. This worked well for him. Afterwards though, El and Will became more separate plots to him. But as a main character it remained integral that he be closely linked to them somehow. This sets him apart from Lucas and Dustin, who can easily be given any arc any season as their plots have the flexibility of a side quest nature. Since what Mike does is meant to matter more - with there probably being a better way of phrasing that but you know what I mean - it's harder knowing what he'll do when El and Will (who we'll GET to sh.) are their own separate people. And Mike is just a boy, he doesn't have super powers and he isn't a cop, which leaves there even less for him to do which is of significance. Season 2 writers decided upon having him support Will's arc, making himself of enough relevance by being able to take credit for some Will development in the story, and the plots that surrounded that, and then Mike was thrown a little bone by being the one to come up with the idea of burning those vines in the finale.

Truthfully, you don't really remember Mike's deeds much when reminiscing the series. It isn't like Dustin who's bond with Dart sticks to everyone, or Nancy and Jonathan responsible for kicking out Hawkins Lab. This is due to them, again, being able to traverse all sorts of adventures without limits. But my guy Mike can't do dat. Sadly, this kind of leads to him coming of as a little.. well... insignificant. And I know I know, the Mike truthers are gonna come at my throat. And hey! I love him too. I only want the best for my boy.

This makes season 3 a unique case cause it seems that, for the plot they decided they wanted, writers actually had to almost entirely change his character. I mean mate s2 Mike and s3 Mike are two different peoples, don't even. And I don't believe that the Duffers had their story and character turnouts completely drawn out from the very start at all. If I was to guess, I'd assume they have vague ideas of little plots they plan to include in future, but there is definitely a lot that has come unpredicted or changed throughout st's runtime. And one of those phenomenons are Michael Wheeler. So they decided to make this guy a di-

So they decided to make him more douchy, more movie typical teenage guy. It's not as if he wholly sucked, he didn't, but he didn't really do much. Whined about his girlfriend, separated the party. I mean what even was his arc? (UnLESS–)

You see, if milkvan is written to be loved, then season 3 was strike one. All of its charm was stripped away. It seems they had some cute scenes after their reconciliation, but it's not enough. It's just sort of

"oh, ok, so they're happy with eachother now. yayy."

and Stranger Things should want to be anything but boring. Sure they often enjoy indulging in tropes, but they always do something different with them. Something standoutish. And from this point on milkvan just got dull. Either writers ran out of ideas or lost interest, honestly (still with our mind game of telling ourselves they're meant to be).

But it's okay. Look, so season 3 was a bit rocky, maybe lost a couple of fans for the guys, but it is salvageable. Easily, easily. Looks like we want a plot of Mike struggling to tell El he loves her. Great! Much to work with.

So let's get into it. Season 4! Choices were... made. And, okay, now we can't go any further without bringing in our boy Will.

Mike is intrinsically tied to Will and El and has been from the start. Maybe Will was more of an accident. Maybe s1 Will was just a plot device for Mike, then s2 Will was a plot device again and Mike needed to be there as the main boy character. Come season 3 and it seems their relationship still matters. Will was sidelined - hard - so most of Mike's moments revolved around El. But as his bond with Mike is the only that's been properly built up, that's the only friend we'll get him interacting with in a way that matters. So the Mike and Will tie continues!

But that does not have to be the case for season 4. Now the writers have a chance.

They made Will gay.

Ok so.. ok so yeah that's fine. Yeah! I mean they didn't have to do that, might put them in hot water with the bylers since milkvan is their golden beauty but.. you know what no no that's okay. He's been hinted at being queer since episode 1, why not make it canon! Cool that works. Explore that, especially since we now have Vecna who can easily target Will for this. Give him a boyfriend! Or a guy crush. He's at a new school now? That's cool. Maybe we can explore some new male character Will's taken interest in. Hey maybe he meets someone who interests him which rises to surface his whole sexuality plot and-

he's in love with Mike.

Ok. No. No. What are you doing? What do you mean?? You didn't have to do that. Strike- strike EFING TWO mates! Strike. 👏 efing. 👏 2!

This was part 1. I am tired and gots to get my ars in bed. But ohohoh, do not worry. I am just getting started.

[kiirotoao]

Byler and Confrontation 1.5: The Importance of Season 4

Byler being immediately comfortable with each other in season 4 would have been too easy. Too obvious. No other pair is as close as Byler, and if they kept in contact, their relationship’s progression would have been so clear that it wouldn’t even be interesting, and that’s why I think that Byler is plainly intentional to end up together in slow burn fashion.

Imagine the airport scene but they hug with all the emotion of true best friends (which, they are, and that’s a canon fact that Mike asserts and Will agrees with in s4e4, but I digress-) meeting again, crashing into each other, joking right off the bat, being comfortable like they easily could have been. Will comments on Mike’s ridiculous outfit and Mike defends himself and Will laughs and Mike’s forgotten how much he missed hearing that laugh. Then Will would give him the painting and Mike would be blushing, and the story’s over! Even if they dance around their feelings for the rest of the show long, they could have instantly recognized that something’s changed and yet stayed the same, and they’d be a unit again. Or should I say, a team?

I feel like there’s no other way to treat Byler other than subtly vying for each other’s attention (Will looking at Mike longingly, Mike turning to Will for wisdom) or blatantly vying for each other’s attention (Will the Wise, Mike Wheeler in general), and to go full blown best friends attached at the hip from day one in California would have been way too romantically charged. Not necessarily openly, but just in the way it’s easy to doubt, to have brows raised.

And what good storytelling would that be? To just seal the deal the second they meet? We know that they miss each other. Will was ready to give him that painting. And yeah, it takes Mike a whole business day to realize how much he misses Will, too, but that type of love that reaches out doesn’t originate from only that business day. So do they just flat out hug and say, “God, I missed you so much” ?? Of course not! Because that’s immediate intimacy. That’s honesty with no side effects, and that’s something that doesn’t happen in any well-created nor real life love story.

Once upon a time, the end? There’s no way! No one would be as invested.

And I’m not saying that I don’t want Byler to be so strained, or I don’t want them to be happy. I want them to be so happy. And seeing their mistakes and growing through them only makes that happiness more and more apparent whenever they come around. Because they find each other, in the end. They forgive and work through things and their chemistry abounds through tough moments, and that’s what makes them amazing to me. Literally look at every other ship in the show. Jopper fought all season long during season 3 because Hopper was jealous and Joyce was a stressed-out boss ass bitch. Jancy fought in seasons 1 and 3 before and after they learned more about each other and worked through their biases. Lumax had that fight at the arcade where Max didn’t believe what Lucas was telling her.

Anger often breeds hate, but sometimes, it creates something beautiful in people who, deep down, want to figure something out about each other: steadfastness.

Simply put, their story grows.

Which is why they couldn’t hug. Which is why they barely spoke. Which is why they lashed out at each other. Which is why it took a whole business day to rejoin as a team. Which is why their forgiveness is all the more sweet. Which is why their relationship is all the more sweet. Which is why they prove to know each other. Which is why they’re so good together.

Look at them!! Look at Mike, chuckling at five damn words. And this was BEFORE they truly amended fences!!!

I love how hardships bring Byler together. I don’t know about you, but I’d want a partner who doesn’t avoid the rough patches but strives to love me through them - because they will happen! No one is perfect! And no, I don’t mean fight and you will find love. But when you love, you will fight. And that’s what I think is what happens when Byler fight.

So I can’t wait for it to happen one more time, probably about the lie of the painting being commissioned, for everything to fall apart only to come back together because they realize it’s all one giant story of misunderstanding and internalized homophobia and repressed feelings - a final and urgent fight that demands them to let everything out in the open and truly realize that they are the love that each other seeks.

And, I mean, I don’t know, I think that it would be pretty cool to write a slow burn romance amidst all the love triangles and love-at-first-sights and tragic losses. With bonus unique notes of being childhood best friends with deeply-explored queer coding. Just saying.

[erikiara80]

Will, the Forever Clock and Cerebro

The writers used Dustin’s inventions to tell us A LOT about Will and his powers. 

The Forever Clock, very useful in the apocalypse is probably about time powers, timelines and time loop... Maybe only Vecna has time powers, we don’t know, but it’s not a coincidence that in S3 Dustin gives the Forever Clock to Will, and that the name Williams is engraved on the grandfather clock.

But let’s talk about Cerebro! 

Cerebro, an unassembled, one-of-a-kind battery powered radio tower

Will: So it’s like a HAM radio.

Dustin: The Cadillac of HAM radios. This baby carries a crystal clear connection over vast distances. I’m talking North Pole to South.

Note: Dustin uses Cerebro to communicate with Suzie, who lives in Salt Lake City. Water and salt. Two things that are constantly mentioned on the show. @will80sbyers made a masterpost about it )

Why is Cerebro connected to Will?

1.  One-of-a-kind It’s also the title of the book behind Will in Lenora. That could mean that his powers or his very existence are important.

2.  Battery.  Will has always been associated with lights, and in S4 Nancy even says that ‘When Will was in the Upside Down lights came to life’.

So it is possible that his powers give the UD and the hive-mind energy, and Vecna needs them to build a new world. 

3.  Battery powered radio tower 

The number twelve represents Will since S1. When Hopper talks with Joyce after looking for Will, she says: Six hours. It’s been six hours! And when she’s at the lab with Brenner, he says:Six. Six people (have disappeared) And there are many other examples

And what does Twelve do in the Rainbow Room? He builds a red tower.

So it really seems that Will can build. Creation powers? The shed scene is the first time they mention that, when Jonathan tells him that they built Castle Byers just the way Will drew it (and Vecna/Mind Flayer is also there, listening)

Or maybe, like a battery, Will can give the UD the energy to grow and spread.

In S3 the Flayed had to eat fertilizers for the Mind Flayer to build its body. Maybe Will’s powers/energy are like “fertilizers” too, but for the whole Upside Down. 

He’s like the water that plants need to grow.

I’m still analyzing the many Billy-Will parallels but it’s in this season that the writers started to show AND tell what Vecna wants from Will. 

Vecna/Mind Flayer tells someone named William, in a scene that has many parallels with Will’s vanishing, that he wants him to build.

In the Rainbow Roow Twelve builds a red tower, and there’s a red buiding on the poster in Will’s room. 

It’s also note worthing that some of Michael Maher JR’s concept arts for Vecna’s Mind Lair looked like a tower.

So maybe the red tower and the rose glass of Creel House are a reference to Stephen King’s Rose Red and The Dark Tower series (always love to mention SK! @lilitblaukatz​  )

It’s also interesting that Will has the poster of The Cure. Owens said that he thinks El is the cure, but she lost. It’s like the game in 4x01. They were losing with an 11, but won with a 20. 

I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that the dnd game and the game at school were won by the Sinclairs. Brother and sister. Only together Will and El can win. Only together they can fix it.

Ok, they focus on Will’s skates, but let’s not forget Mike

More about Cerebro, X-Men and The Lord of the Rings

Dustin’s radio tower is called after the device Professor X uses to locate other mutants and humans in The X-Men. Reminds me of the hive-mind.

And the kids assemble it on Weathertop, a reference to The Lord of the Rings. The ancient watch-tower where Frodo gets stabbed by a Nazgul with a Morgul-knife. That weapon remains in the wound of the victim and turns them into a wraith under the rule of Sauron. Hmm, sounds familiar.

Weathertop = Will’s possession and connection to the UD and Vecna.

Will and Max

Before S4 we couldn’t know that Vecna would target Max, but the two Venkmans in S2, was foreshadowing of this Lumax and Byler parallel. Venkman’s love interest, Dana, is possessed by a creature similar to a demodog. Will gets possessed in S2 and is still haunted by Vecna/UD, and Max was targeted in S4.

In 3x01, more foreshadowing of Will and Max being connected to Vecna while they’re assembling Cerebro. And if “Will is Cerebro”, it is possible that he will try to communicate with Max.

But this could be very dangerous for him. I read a very interesting theory, by @freetobeeyouandme​ about the episode of My Little Pony Dustin and Erica talk about in S3 and that could be foreshadowing of Max and Will’s storyline in S5.

Here the post  

There is so much in that scene that is foreshadowing of S4 and I think S5 too. Brilliant!

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

Lumax vs Milevn

One thing that I absolutely love about contrasting Lumax and Milevn is that they followed such similar paths up to a point at which they diverge. And that point of divergence is EVERYTHING.

For starters, Lucas and Mike start off as each others' love interests biggest haters. They try to shut El and Max out of the party respectively.

Next, Lucas and Mike are the only ones who treat Max and El with full respect and acceptance right off the bat. They develop a closer bond than the others, Max and El confiding in Lucas in Mike more than they do the others.

This one's obvious...

And then we get into the absolute ridiculousness of season 3. The girls break up with their boyfriends, laugh about it, the boys bemoan. It's all humor. It's the epitome of youth. Teenage drama.

Sidebar: I hated both of these ships when I first watched this show. I could not get over the ick factor I felt watching children kissing. I kept being like EVERYONE STOP! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG FOR THIS! Am I really meant to LIKE this??? IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE ROMANTIC???

*cough* Anyway, that was my first impression. So the fact that I am a hardcore Lumax shipper now really demonstrates just how phenomenally that story was told in season four. Bringing us to the divergence.

Breaking up versus staying together. I'm not even going to talk about El lying to Mike for six months in this post. This is just about the breakup.

Breaking up Max and Lucas for real (as opposed to how she used to break up with him every so often for the fun of it) while simultaneously entering these characters into high school allowed them to evolve separately from one another and confront more adult struggles. Max distances from her friends as a consequence of trauma and Lucas distances in an attempt to fit in. The conversation between Lucas and Mike

shows how much Mike is taking for granted. Lucas's desire to belong is due to his experiences with bullying and we have canonically seen that for Lucas, this was rooted in racism. Maybe he joined the basketball team because he's just good at basketball, but I think it's worth mentioning that he joined a team with at least three other black boys on it. I'm not going to write a whole article about Lucas's struggles with racism here, but my point is that what Lucas went through with Billy probably had some lasting effects on him just like it did on Max.

So both characters struggled with finding out what they wanted and who really mattered in season 4 and ultimately, this led them back to one another.

On the other end, we have Milkdud doing the exact opposite. Lumax is physically near one another but broken up. Mildew is physically apart but still together. They struggled alone and pretended things were the same between them, not allowing themselves the opportunity to reassess.

THIS STEP WAS NECESSARY. Maybe that's just opinion, but they are not the same people in season 4 as they were in season 2, especially since a lot of the trauma of season 3 has forced them to mature quicker than they otherwise would have.

These relationships parallel one another in seasons 1/2 to demonstrate how boy-meets-girl might play out. How a crush can evolve into a friend and into a relationship. Then in season 3, they parallel to show how shallow the relationships BOTH are at this stage. How inconsequential young romance is in the grand scheme of things. And they diverge in season 4 to show us that trying to continue on as though you are still the same people in the same relationship as you were when you were kids is not going to grow your relationship into a healthy and mature one.

Personally I think Mike is gay, but IF HE'S NOT, Mike and El could have strengthened their relationship had they allowed themselves distance from one another. I didn't ship Byler yet when season 4 came out. Had Milelevator been executed differently, I fully believe I could have shipped them. Lumax is proof of that. The fact that I don't is a consequence of the INTENTIONAL differences between the ways these two relationships were written.

[byernation]

OKAY THIS ONE IS CERTAINLY INTERESTING!

So in season 4, we get Multiple Jopper/Lumax/Byler/Jancy parallels (which is funny considering 3 of the 4 are couples... hmm) But idk if anyone has pointed this one out. If not, this is pretty info big for us Bylers.

Everyone lost in season 4, not only against Vecna, but they lost personally too, and for Jopper, Lumax, and Byler, they lost someone they loved, and they even say it directly. Look at these:

Jopper

Lumax

And finally....

Byler

Okay Suffers 👀

[i-am-autistic]

I feel like if you have any media literacy at all you should know Jancy is very likely endgame.

You can read my posts and see I'm not even a hardcore Jancy or anything I lean more Jargyle. It's just like........

1. The writers like their original pairings from s1 a lot. Mike-El/Will(Im pro Byler, yes Will isn't present in s1 but Mike spends like 90% of the season moaning and talking about him- for the sake of this post El/Will are interchangeable), Jonathan-Nancy, Joyce-Hopper and then they also like Max-Lucas. All 4 of these couples have been presented as romantic since the pitch bible and from their first interactions.

2. S4 was all about division and how the characters lose when divided. They really focused on the absence of Jancy in s4. Hence they are building to an s5 with a lot of Jancy. We also got s4 featuring the other 2 main couples: Jopper and Lumax so it's probably going to switch to the other 2 couples to finish it off and wrap up the relationship and character arcs. The duffers really really love the whole story beat of "break the characters up and then show them coming back together". You can tell because this is exactly what they did with Jopper and Lumax in s4. Jopper obviously had a physical distance that broke them up but Lumax had an emotional distance. The same things Jancy and Mileven/Byler are bringing into s5. Arguably you could even say Byler went through this in s4.

3. Cmon bro the final scene where Nancy RUNS to Jonathan and Robin pats Steve's back is the most obvious thing of all time. People bring up the script and that it wasn't a big moment in the script but those scripts are redacted as hell to avoid giving out more information.

4. Jonathan and Steve had a pretty clear parallel this season when talking about having kids in the future. Jonathan and Steve essentially come to the same vision for their futures but both decide differently. Jonathan hates it and Steve loves it. We also know from s1 and every piece of info we've got about Nancy since s1 that Nancy also hates it and doesn't want to raise a bunch of kids. Yes I know it's possible to pursue a career and have kids. But kids in this situation and the vision Steve have don't only represent kids but also represent her parents and their relationship. Which is what the show has always told us Steve represents to her and in everything we saw in s4 he hasn't developed into this new person, he still represents that. Even if the character himself has still improved he still represents that.

5. As soon as Stancy is introduced in s4 we also get introduced to the fact that Nancy isn't over Barb and Barb will still be a part of her arc. Which she pretty inextricably links to Steve.

6. This is the one people don't realize often but s4 is literally maybe 5(?) months after the end of s3. Taking place in March 86 with S3 ending Oct 85 and about 8 months after the end of s3. Steve has seemingly had literally 0 contact with Nancy in that time and doesn't fall for her again in s4. He's already fantasizing about her as he says so it's presented as a continuation of the feelings he's always had for her and he seemingly isn't as over her in s3 as was implied. If the writers are going to write that relationship, they are essentially saying they were wrong, the characters were wrong and the audience was wrong about the relationship.

7. This is kind of a half point expansion of the above but like.....seriously it's important that none of the feelings in s4 are new feelings, it's all old feelings for a relationship the writers have told us 1 million times doesn't work. I keep seeing people say "they are different people" but they aren't that different from when they broke up. Steve's actual in show character arc has always been a lot more revolving around Nancy than it is about his relationship with Robin or the kids. Like as much as the fandom is about Steve and the kids and it's cute(And I like this too! I don't dislike this) in the show when he becomes friends with Dustin it's all tied back to Nancy with that final Dustin-Nancy scene and the relationship literally being developed with Steve ranting about his relationship. S3 his relationship with Robin in the original version is written as a romantic one as he gets over Nancy. Even in the show for 90% of s3 it seems Steve looks at Robin as a romantic partner and then switches to friends when she's not available. I think people forget he's not actually babysitting the kids in his off time in the show-the fandom is cute and such- but I don't think he spends significant time with anyone except Dustin and Robin in the show. This is moreso a point about how the writers of the show are kinda poor at evolving the characters. But seemingly the way it was presented in s4 Nancy and Steve are essentially in an incredibly similar position to when they broke up in s2.

8. Joyce in the recent play. Ok I need this to be said but like Emmerson vs NYU is a thing people make out as a bigger deal than it is. Emmerson is like an excellent university too??? Like IK people want Jonathan to be validated but he is getting validated by going to a big university. The university you pick when you're a kid doesn't really matter that much and seemingly even Jonathan hasn't brought it up. Like as a kid I wanted to go to my local uni a lot but I didn't go in the end. Emerson isn't like bumming it out it's a pretty great uni. But morseo I mean Joyce's whole arc in the First Shadow is about not going to university as an art student. They are surely not going to make her son do the exact same thing. This one is really simple I don't need to explain it.

9. I think Jopper literally solves like all of Jonathan's family issues because he won't feel as burdened and that he HAS to stay.

10. Oh as a final point I'm fairly certain Argyle with Eden in Suzie's house in s4 was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a spinoff. And I think Jonathan's only other ending they've given so far is California. I think maybe they could include Jonathan in a spinoff but I don't think they'd want to. Like they've said they don't want to continue any mains story after s5 and Argyle is periphery enough he could leave and have a spinoff and it could work with an occasional Dustin cameo or whatver but with Jonathan I feel like he is a bit too tied to the Byers for him to be in a spinoff. Like you'd have to include the Byers too and I don't think they would want one that features central characters too much.

11. This is just my opinion.

[sweeter-innocence-fics]

My Sweetest Downfall - Chapter Seven

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Work Summary:

Eddie’s back from the Upside Down, but things aren’t exactly how he left them. Hawkins is in pieces, his friends are scattered and the love of his life is… pregnant?

Eddie Munson x Harrington!Reader

Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Epilogue

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 3839

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Taglist: @mrs-kai-anderson @ang3l1te @missryerye @eddiesgirlforever @harrys-tittie @munsonmoonshine86

Taglist info

Previous Chapter

Notes:

this chapter brought to you by my love for erica sinclair (she's just a baby)

warnings for general violence, violence against children specifically, mind control, upside down stuff, being pregnant and in danger, weed smoking, alcohol, eddie is a bit of an unwashed boy, mentions of jerking off, reader is protective of both eddie and steve, children in danger, a touch of lumax

1 more chapter + an epilogue to go.

---

~ FIVE MONTHS EARLIER ~

It was starting to rain as you biked towards Reefer Rick’s. You peddled faster, which was hard, because your backpack was very heavy. As your fingers curled around the handlebars, stiff with cold and wet with rain, you knew that you wouldn’t do this for anyone else.

But this was for Eddie.

When the house came into view, you breathed a sigh of relief. You stashed your bike in the boathouse – you didn’t want there to be any sign that anyone was living here – and knocked on the door of the house.

It opened immediately. Eddie was standing there, dressed in the same outfit he’d been wearing for three days. You wrinkled your nose.

“Oh, thank god it’s you,” he said, grabbing you by the arms and pulling you inside.

“I brought you some supplies,” you said, dumping your backpack on the table. You unzipped it and pulled out a denim jacket. “You left this at my house like a year ago.” You tossed it at him.

“Oh my god. Have you been keeping this from me the whole time?”

“I didn’t know it was there! Steve found it, actually. I think it got mixed in with his stuff. Speaking of.” You pulled out a few more items of clothing. “He said you could borrow these, so that you’re not stuck wearing the same stuff forever. Oh, and here’s a t-shirt you left at my house.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” he said.

“I’m not done.” You gave him a mischievous smile he couldn’t help but return. “I picked these up for you from the store. I figured you wouldn’t wanna borrow Steve’s.” You threw a packet of five sets of underwear at him.

He held them to his chest. “My hero.”

“That’s just the clothes. I brought other stuff, too.” Eddie watched as you pulled out various toiletries, a couple of frozen pizzas, cereal, chips, as well as some tinned foods. As you held out a 6-pack of his favourite beer, his face morphed into a grin. You noticed. “You think that’s exciting, just wait for the main event.”

From a side pocket in your bag, you removed a small tin. You pressed it into his hands. He flicked it open, and saw three pre-rolled joints.

“Are these the ones I gave you for your birthday?” he asked, incredulous that they’d lasted so long.

“Don’t look so surprised. I almost never smoke without you, and if I’m with you, you’re rolling fresh ones.”

“These were a present though!”

“Well, you can pay me back after we’ve cleared your name, can’t we?”

“Fuck yes.” He reached for one of the joints but you slapped his hand away.

“Shower first,” you said, taking the tin back. He groaned. “I’m gonna heat up these pizzas.”

Despite his protestations, he took his time in the shower. He emerged twenty minutes later, with wet hair and smelling like moisturiser.

“Your pizza is in the oven,” you said, taking another bite of your own. It was almost half-finished.

Eddie grabbed his own food, put it on a tray and took up his seat beside you on the couch.

“Alright, I’ve waited long enough. Give me the stuff,” he said, making grabby hands at you. You tossed him the tin. He deftly pulled out a joint, put it between his lips, and lit it.

“Will Rick mind us smoking in here?” He gave you an incredulous look. “Right, stupid question.”

He took a few tokes on the spliff, and then passed it over to you. You took a deep drag, letting the smoke fill your lungs.

“I don’t know about this lotion stuff you brought me. I feel all slimy.”

You giggled. “You’ll thank me for it later when your skin is really soft.”

“I’ve never really used lotion for that. Just for, you know, other stuff.”

“Other stuff?” The weed had left you feeling tingly and warm.

“You know, like…” He made a jerking off motion.

Your cheeks heated up, and you burst out laughing. “Stop, stop, you’re making me picture it!”

“Oh come on, the mental image can’t be that bad! I’m a performer! I can put on a good show!”

“You’re so gross!”

“You love it.”

He was right about that. As the two of you ate your pizza and talked, you tried to ignore the buzzing in your stomach.

Eddie was your best friend. Sure, he was hot. But he’d never led you to believe that he wanted you too. There was no way you could make the first move.

As the two of you finished your food, you lapsed into a companionable silence. Eddie was normally so restless, desperate to fill any space with meaningless talk, but not with you. With you, he could sit and not have to talk. You couldn’t help but feel honoured.  

“How did you cope with it?” he asked, breaking you out of your thoughts.

“Cope with what?”

“All this.” He made a grand, all-encompassing gesture. “Monsters. Superpowers. The Upside-Down. How did you come to terms with the fact that the world wasn’t what you thought it was?”

You took a contemplative sip of your beer. “I got roped into it by Dustin Henderson. Steve had tried to keep me out of it, but I ended up helping the two of them track down Dustin’s pet demodog, Dart. Steve was furious that Dustin had told me all about it, and I was furious that Steve had kept it from me. Of course, he was just trying to protect me, but who protects him, you know? My brother has always had a self-sacrificing streak. It scares me, honestly.”

Eddie took your hand between both of his own and squeezed it. His skin was very warm where it was pressed against yours. “That’s why you’ve gotta stick around, right? To make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid?”

“Well, not just that. I gotta help keep the kids safe, too. I don’t wanna lose anyone else to this.” Eddie’s expression was grave. Although your head felt light, your heart felt heavy. “But yeah, the others don’t watch out for Steve the way they should. They think that because he says he’s fine, he’s fine, you know? And I know it’s because they’ve all got their own shit going on. But still. I have to make sure he’s okay.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m looking out for him now too. I’m gonna make sure your big dumb hero brother doesn’t do anything stupid, alright?”

You smiled at him. “That’s how I got through it. That’s how I coped.”

“What?”

“By realising that I didn’t have to do this alone.”

You met Eddie’s eyes, and found his gaze on you so intense you had to look away. You took another drag on the joint, and when you set it down in the ashtray, he was still looking at you.

“What?”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he said.

“What makes you say that?”

He shifted closer to you. With a surprisingly gentle hand, he brushed your hair out of your face. “You care about people, so much. I always thought that caring was dangerous, that it made me vulnerable. But you’re out here, dealing with a world of monsters that have killed people you care about, and you still love like the world isn’t ending.” His hand was on your cheek now, his skin hot against yours. “That’s pretty fucking amazing, if you ask me.”

“Eddie…” You looked up at him. His eyes were big and bright, boring a hole into your soul.

“If I knew how to love even half as good as you do…” He sighed.

“… Yeah?”

He couldn’t seem to meet your eyes. “…Maybe I’d come close to deserving you.”

The rubber band keeping your heart in place snapped. You launched yourself at him, landing in his lap with your hands tangled in his hair. He caught you with his hands and with his lips. You kissed each other feverishly, like your lives depended on it.

~ PRESENT DAY ~

Erica was trembling. Your heart ached. She always tried so hard to seem strong and unbothered, but right now she was fighting back tears. You pulled her into a hug.

Normally, you were sure she would’ve pushed you away, but right now, she just hugged you back, taking a shuddering breath.

“It’s okay,” you murmured, rubbing her back. “It’s okay.”

“What are we going to do?” she asked, her voice trembling.

You tried to think. You were the only adult here now. Your numbers were severely depleted, and there were demodogs outside. It pained you, but you couldn’t go looking for Will and Mike. You just couldn’t risk it.

You turned to Dustin, who was lying in the shattered remains of the switchboard. Dark bruises were starting to form on his arms.

“You okay, kiddo?” you asked, extending a hand to him. With great effort, you helped him to his feet.

He wrapped his arms around himself. “I think he cracked some of my ribs.”

Your stomach dropped, the image of Eddie throwing Dustin into the switchboard flashing across your mind. It was jarring.

“I’m sorry,” you said. It was a little ridiculous, but it felt like you were the one who owed him an apology.

He winced. “I’ll be okay.”

“Did you manage to tell the others that Will and Mike were gone before the switchboard broke?”

He shook his head. “No. But I do have a back-up.” His backpack was lying beside the couch. He rummaged through it, pulling out his walkie-talkie.

“Can you call the others on that thing?”

He grinned at you. “Sure can.”

“Alright. Tell them to watch out for Eddie, and that Will and Mike are out there too. Hopefully they can look for them even if we can’t.”

“We can’t?” Dustin’s face fell. “But we’ve got to! We can’t leave them out there alone!”

“I’m pregnant and you’ve got cracked ribs. I hate to say it, but the only able-bodied person left here is Lucas. I can’t risk all our lives like that.”

“What about me?” asked Erica. She seemed to have regained some of her composure.

“You’re eleven.” Both of them started speaking at once, but you quieted them by holding up a hand. “Don’t argue with me, there’s no time. Dustin, make the call. Erica, come with me.”

You led Erica into the bedroom. Max was laying back against the pillows, her eyes now closed. Lucas was sitting on the edge of the bed, stroking her hair.

“Hey,” you murmured.

He didn’t look at you, but said, “hey,” back.

“How is she doing?”

“She isn’t in a trance anymore. I think she’s sleeping.” His voice was tight. He sounded like he was holding back tears.

“Lucas, I hate to do this, but I need you to help me with something.”

He finally looked at you. “What?”

“There are demodogs outside. We don’t have much time before they start trying to break in. I need your help holding them off.”

“But… Max?”

“She’ll be safe in here,” you said. “As long as we can hold them off out there. Erica can stay with her.”

Lucas looked at Erica. She nodded at him. He exhaled. “Fine. Stay with her,” he said to his little sister, getting to his feet. Wordlessly, she put her arms around him.

As they hugged, you walked over to the table where the weapons were laid out. You picked up a shotgun, stuffed your pockets full of shells and then walked back out into the living room.

Dustin was fiddling with his walkie-talkie. You walked over to the front door. The windows were boarded up, but there were a few cracks between the boards that you could see through. Your stomach plummeted.

Three demodogs were prowling up and down the porch. As you stood there watching them, they turned their ugly, unseeing faces towards you. 

“Dustin?” you called over your shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Grab a weapon. Make sure Lucas gets one too.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Something hit the outside of the door. Peeking through the gap, you saw a demodog throw itself bodily into the wood, which made a concerning cracking sound.

There were a few jackets hanging up by the door. You grabbed one, figuring that the leather would be better protection than nothing, and then transferred the shotgun shells into your new pockets. You hung the baseball bat from your belt and slung your shotgun over your shoulder.

Dustin and Lucas returned, both carrying guns. Lucas had another baseball bat, while Dustin had knives, and they were both carrying Molotov cocktails.

Max and Erica were now barricaded in the bedroom. You felt the weight of the shotgun in your hand while you loaded it.

“We can’t let them knock down the door,” you said, “we’ll be completely defenceless if something worse comes along. We’ve got to take the fight to them.”

“We could open the door and throw a Molotov at them?” Dustin suggested, but you shook your head. There was another thud as a demodog hit the door.

“The whole cabin is made of wood.” THUD. “Fire might keep us safe for a little while but we’ll have nowhere to go if this place burns down. We only use molotovs for the demodogs that aren’t on the porch, understood?” THUD. They both nodded. “They’ll be easier if we divide and conquer. Lucas, on my signal, I want you to open the door. If we can lure one of them in – just one of them –” THUD.   “Dustin and I can kill it while you close the door.”

Lucas swallowed nervously. “What if I’m not fast enough?”

You put your hand on his shoulder and squeezed. THUD. “You will be. I know you will. You’re an athlete. Ready?”

“…Ready.” THUD. CRACK.

You turned to Dustin. He gulped, and lifted up his knives. “Ready.”

You positioned yourself around the door, ready to fight. You prayed that this would work. If it didn’t, you had killed everyone.

“Watch their movements,” you said. “Get them when one is ready to pounce.”

Lucas exhaled through his nose. “Three, two…” He pulled the door open and the demodog, which had been mid-leap, sailed through the air towards you. You swung your bat at it, knocking it to the ground.

To your relief, Lucas slammed the front door shut before any others made it through. There were thuds and hisses from the outside as the other two tried to break in. You brought your bat down hard on the demodog again, and Dustin got in far closer to it than you were comfortable with, sinking the knife into its chest.

It was no longer moving. Its blood was seeping into the floorboards. To be sure, you took one of Dustin’s knives and decapitated it.

“Same again?” asked Lucas.

You grimaced. “They’ll be expecting it this time. We took care of this one pretty handily, but two is completely different matter.”

“Uh… Guys…” Lucas was staring through the gap in the barricade. You realised that it had been far too long since you’d last heard a thud. You found your own gap and gasped.

The two demodogs had retreated from the porch, but you could still see them, prowling up and down in front of the cabin.

They had brought friends. Fifteen. Maybe twenty. And those were just the ones you could see. The shadows seemed to be swirling with them. Bile rose in your throat. You swallowed hard.

The boys were both staring out through the barricade, mouths agape.

“What do we do?” asked Dustin.

“I… I don’t know.” Fear was building in your chest, but you tried to push it down. Will and Mike were out there. So was Eddie. If you couldn’t pull it together, you might lose everyone. You took a deep breath. “Molotovs. Lucas, you’ve got a good arm. Dustin, you take the door. We do one at a time, shutting the door between each throw. If any get through, we’ll deal with them.” You cocked your shotgun. “Understood?”

The boys both nodded and got into position. You stood by Lucas’ side, pointing your shotgun at the door while he readied a Molotov.

On Lucas’ signal, Dustin pulled the door back, and you raised the gun. A demodog pounced, leaping towards you in what felt like slow motion, until it collided with a Molotov in mid-air. You didn’t have time to see what happened next, because Dustin slammed the door.

You scrambled for your gap in the barricade, watching as the creature burst into flames, landing on top of several others, which scattered.

“Good. That was good,” you said. “Again, before they have a chance to regroup.”

The second Molotov wasn’t quite so successful. It smashed into the ground, setting some grass on fire, but missing any demodogs. Lucas looked crestfallen.

“It’s okay,” you assured him. “You’ll get the next one.” He grimaced, but nodded.

The third time that Dustin opened the door, Lucas didn’t have a chance to throw the Molotov, because a demodog took the opportunity to leap through the gap, going straight for him.

You shot it out of the air, and it crumpled immediately. “Shut the door,” you shouted to Dustin, and he did. “Fuck.”

“They’re getting closer,” said Dustin, staring through a gap. “Even if we manage to hit them, they might still make it inside.”

There was a thud of one of them hitting the door again. “Okay, we need a new plan.”

Distantly, from far out in the woods, you heard a scream. You pushed your face right up against the barricade. The demodogs were dispersing. They were turning to run back into the woods. There was half a breath of relief, and then a deep sense of dread. Something was wrong.  

Wordlessly, you wrenched the door open. You recognised the voice screaming in the woods. Mike Wheeler. Your stomach roiled with the knowledge that you were supposed to be protecting him.

“Grab molotovs,” you yelled at the two boys. “We have to draw them off.”

You could see that Dustin’s hands were shaking, but he didn’t complain. The three of you stood on the porch, tossing Molotovs into the writhing mass of demodog bodies. Some of them turned to face you, but most carried on running.

You took potshots at the ones who got too close, adrenaline running high. So focused were you on the edge of the woods, on the two young boys out there that you hadn’t been able to protect, you didn’t notice you were being flanked.

The full force of a demodog hit you in the side, bowling you over. The shotgun slipped from your hands, skidding across the porch. You reached for your baseball bat, but you were at an awkward angle, and claws sank into your arm, the pain stopping you in your tracks.

You looked to Dustin and Lucas for help, but they were both occupied, fighting off their own demodogs.

So this was it.

This was how you were going to die. Failing to save a group of children from monsters. You hoped, at the very least, that the barricade protecting Max and Erica would hold.

You waited for a final blow that never came. Instead, the creature was wrenched away from you bodily, tearing a deep cut into your arm as it did so.

You looked up at your saviour. Eddie had pulled the thing off you with his bare hands, tossing it to the side like it was nothing.

“Get back inside,” he said, pulling you to your feet with one hand. Your eyes widened at his strength.

“But- Will and Mike-”

“Leave it to me. Don’t let me back in, okay?” He pressed a kiss to your temple, and then pushed you through the door. Dustin and Lucas were waiting on the other side, catching you as you stumbled backwards. The door slammed shut by itself. 

“Let me go,” you said weakly, disentangling yourself from the boys and stumbling back to the barricade. You stood on tiptoes to watch Eddie through the gap.

You’d never seen anything like this before. Belatedly, you realised he’d taken the baseball bat from your belt when he’d pushed you inside.

He was fast, and stronger than you could’ve believed. He killed demodogs with a single blow, splattering viscera and gore across the porch.

Whatever Vecna had done to Eddie in the Upside Down, he wasn’t the man he’d been before. You had no idea whether that was good or bad, but as he slayed Vecna’s minions, it was hard to see the downside.

“There are too many of them,” said Dustin, desperately, and you realised that he was right.

For every one that Eddie killed, two seemed to take its place. He was being swarmed. He was being overpowered. Your mind flashed back to the demobats, and the way they’d taken him from you in the first place. You hadn’t witnessed it, but Dustin’s description had been awfully vivid. You took a deep, shuddering breath.

“What do we do?” asked Lucas. “What can we do?”

Don’t let me back in, okay?

Eddie’s words played back in your head. You knew that he was only trying to protect you, that stupid, self-sacrificing bastard. You needed him. Couldn’t he see that?

“‘We’ aren’t doing anything. You two, fall back to the bedroom with Max and Erica. Take the walkie-talkie. Try to get call for back-up. Or an evacuation.”

“What about you?” asked Lucas.

“I’m going to save Eddie.” You could see them about to protest, but you were saved from the argument by the sound of the barricade by the back door cracking. “Go. Hurry.”

The two boys gave you one last look before they retreated. You breathed deep. If you died tonight, then you died with Eddie.

And maybe little Melody wouldn’t get to live, but Dustin and Lucas and Max and Erica would. Maybe that was enough. Maybe it had to be.

Unable to stall any longer, you opened the door.

Eddie turned to you, four demodogs hanging off him, terror in his eyes. “No!” he shouted, but you didn’t listen. You scooped up your shotgun from where it was laying on the ground and took a shot at one of the creatures. Its body exploded, freeing Eddie to yank another one off himself.

You shot another, and while you reloaded, he tossed the other two back over the fence.

“I told you to go inside!” he said.

“Well, I decided not to listen.” You aimed at the nearest demodog and blow its head clean off. “If you die, I die.”

He let out a growl of frustration but didn’t protest further. The two of you stood back-to-back, ready to take on the world.

The world wasn’t ready to take on you. A demodog leapt at you up the stairs of the porch, but before it had a chance to reach you, it disintegrated into dust.

Next Chapter

[moonflowerdamie]

i’m super bored so i’m gonna rate stranger things ships! buckle in folks, let’s get into it😎

•mileven—4/10•

it’s ok ig. i’m not like a hater of it? but it’s definitely not a great ship. no hate to mileven stans, it’s just not for me. i liked them in season 1 and 2, but it got toxic and weird in season 3 and season 4 solidified my disdain for it. i think mike needs to do some self-reflection (maybe discover a few things about himself—michael wheeler i know what you are) and i think el needs to become her own person outside of her relationship with him. i wholeheartedly support the el/mike exes-to-besties agenda though!

•jopper—8/10•

they’re so cute oml, i shipped them since season 1 and their build-up and eventual payoff was immaculate! i loved their early season tension and their kiss in season 4 was so so good. they fit so well together. they don’t get 10/10 only because a) i LOVED bob and joyce in season 2 more than life and will forever mourn that joyous man and b) i kinda loved the whole single grumpy father figure/lonely teenage daughter dynamic el and hop had.

•lumax—10/10•

this ship. this goddamn ship. the hurt/comfort. the angst. the teasing. the SOULMATISM of it all. seriously, these two are meant for each other. lucas is max’s safe place, her happiest memory and her favourite escape. max is lucas’ sunshine, his wake-up call, his reason to try. i didn’t use to love them, in fact it was only since season 4 that i’ve been such an avid shipper of them but god. they really are the softest. ‘i like talking with you, mad max’ and ‘i’m still here’ and ‘lucas!’ and the notes and the snowball and holy shit i love them sm.

•byler—7/10•

this is with the exception of season 2 byler, which gets 10/10 (‘crazy together’ oh my god). apart from that, i get the hype for it, but i also want the best for my lil ball of fruity sunshine will byers. he is my baby boy and i will protect him. and i just think that mike needs to do some growing up before he’s ready to be with will. also, i’ve never loved mike as a character (again, with the exception of s1 and 2 mike, he was a sweetie) and i think he’d end up hurting will if they got together at this point. in the future, if mike can prove that he’s matured and grown into himself, i will wholeheartedly support this relationship.

•jancy—6/10•

again, it’s ok. i did love them in season 2, but season 1 jonathan was a creep, and season 3 jancy just didn’t do it for me. jonny boy has grown on me over the seasons, but i think everybody moved on from him taking nakey nakey pictures of nancy without her knowledge wayyyyy too quickly. also, they just want different things in life and that’s ok! i do prefer them over stancy, but if i’m honest, i am absolutely a lesbian nancy supporter. the comphet on that woman is insane. so again, like mileven, i am a nancy/jonathan exes-to-besties advocate!

•stancy—4/10•

they were not it in season 4. like, it made me angry that the duffers tried to push it on us again. i did sort of like them in the early seasons, but steve was a jerk and nancy needed to grow into herself and they went their separate ways for the better. steve became a good person and nancy became the strong, independent badass woman we all know and love. i love them as friends and co-babysitters of the kids, but not as lovers. their arcs wouldn’t have happened without their break-up, and they’re both so different as people that getting back together would’ve been like going backwards. steve’s speech about kids in the van made me physically ill with how a) out of character it was and b) how the duffer brothers tried to make it seem like pushing out 6 kids and living the suburban american dream (read: nightmare) was something nancy would want, when she’s spent 3 seasons displaying an obvious disgust for that kind of life. if they get back together in s5 i’ll be throwing something at the tv.

•elmax—9/10•

they. are. so. cute. i love this ship sm, it’s so wholesome and soft. it just works as well—el allows max to explore her own kindness, her own vulnerability, her own ability to care, and max allows el to explore her own identity, what makes her happy, how to be independent. season 3 elmax was superior, but that scene in s4 where they reunite is utterly breathtaking—‘if you touch her again, i will kill you again’ protective gfs!! honestly, if i wasn’t such a lumax shipper i’d be all in for them. as it is, my motto is currently this: max has two hands! one for el and one for lucas :)

•madwheeler—1/10•

no. just no. these two actively dislike each other lmao. max is perpetually annoyed by mike’s existence and mike thinks max is like, the worst. they couldn’t even do enemies to lovers because max would steal mike’s gf in a heartbeat and would probably rather eat glass than kiss michael wheeler. they only get 1 point because finn and sadie have a sweet friendship.

•eddsy—6/10•

they would’ve been cute tbh. and since it’s been discovered that chrissy is actually 18 instead of 16, it’s not a weird one either. when i thought she was 16 i was put off, but now i’m sort of neutral on it. that scene in the woods was very sweet and her and eddie totally could have had the whole popular cheerleader gf/metalhead nerdy bf thing going on. however, it was only one episode they were in together and the ship was never one i was like ‘oh my god i love this’ so. i will say that grace van dien does not deserve the hate she gets for shipping them, especially when joseph quinn gets none of it for the same thing. other than that, it’s not massively awesome but it’s pretty cute.

•willel—0/10•

if you ship this, seek help. they are siblings.

•henclair—4/10•

they could be cute ig, but i just see them as besties. add in the fact that lumax is one of my fav ships and dustin and suzie are super cute and this ship is just sort of meh to me.

•duzie—7/10•

very sweet. nerd gf/geek bf. ‘never-ending story’ was a cultural reset and they’re both icons for it. honestly, not a ship that rocked my world but they are super cute so. 7 points.

•rockie—7/10•

at this point i just want robin to have a gf. just let maya hawke kiss a woman on this show. at first, i was super excited for these 2, but then i saw the way miss buckley looked at nancy wheeler and i was like ‘vickie who?’ (i see you duffer brothers). also, vickie’s whole character felt like a diversity box tick. like she had no originality whatsoever, they just made her a carbon copy of robin which pissed me off. however, i see the potential. i would not be unhappy if they had a fleshed out, well-developed relationship in s5. especially since vickie, a bi girl, is being played by amybeth mcnulty, a bi queen.

•steddie—5/10•

ok. so. i don’t hate this ship. i really don’t. in fact, i’ve written them in some of my ronance fics. i think they could’ve been cute. however. they hype for these two was so overdone and the way people treated them in comparison to more fleshed out, developed dynamics like ronance was really annoying. especially because the majority of steddie shippers are straight women who then deny that ronance could ever happen. the ship itself was ok, but if i’m being realistic, they didn’t have that many scenes together and the fandom of this ship ruined it for me. the fact that the majority of fics in the ronance tag on ao3 are steddie with background ronance really grinds my fucking gears, and the amount of people who are fetishising steddie because they’re both attractive men is just so fucking irritating. overall, not a bad ship but a fairly toxic fandom (not all of you, of course—chill steddie shippers are cool, but some of y’all, jesus christ)

•harringrove—1/10•

awful, awful ship. no. don’t ship steve with the racist abuser just because they’re both semi-attractive white men. only gets a point because of joe keery’s fruity (not assuming his sexuality, just joking about his actions) behaviour towards dacre montgomery.

•stobin—0/10•

robin buckley. is. a LESBIAN. she’s GAY. SHE LIKES WOMEN AND WOMEN ONLY. if you ship these two romantically, i can only assume you’re a homophobic asshole who deserves sand thrown in their eyes. unapologetically, if you ship steve and robin as a couple, i hope you slip in the shower, motherfucker.

•stonathan—2/10•

i mean, it’s not the worst??? but again, i think it’s people shipping them just because they’re two white men who talked to each other. like, did y’all forget that steve literally called jonathan a slur? and that they tried to beat the shit out of each other? i don’t hate it the way i hate harringrove, but it’s so so unlikely and i’d be so puzzled if it ever was even hinted at.

•murray/alexei—6/10•

these two would’ve been cute. and i do think murray is gay, and probably did have a little thing for alexei. i don’t know about alexei but they were definitely cute friends. and i was so betrayed and upset by his death. a fairly good ship, no complaints from me.

and finally…

•ronance—1284028/10😌🥹😍•

the best ship. for nancy, for robin, for the show, for ever. they mean the world to me. they are the world to me. if i had one wish, it would be for ronance to be canon. they make me so fucking emotional because i want what they have. as someone who so heavily relates to robin (chaotic lonely lesbian who is desperate for love but feels she may never be loved as much as she loves, possibly autistic and feels destined to be an annoyance to those around her) i want a nancy. i want to be loved in my entirety. and those two, they get each other. sure, robin irritated nancy at first and they didn’t get on, but they grew. nancy, who’s never had anyone listen to her and believe in her with such intent, finds robin, who is more than willing to, who thinks ‘nancy’s a genius’ and would follow her anywhere. robin, who thinks all she can ever be is helpless and annoying, finds nancy, who trusts her with her life, who picks her and picks her and keeps picking her, who thinks she’s just as smart as she actually is, who understands her needs and her vulnerabilities and validates her, tells her ‘it’s ok’ and ‘you got this’. these two work in a way no other ship does and they are so undeniably soulmates. they need each other. they want each other. they deserve each other. there’s a reason i write about them so much—holy shit honestly i love them so fucking much.

anyways, that got a lot longer than i thought it would! i hope you guys enjoyed my ramblings haha :)

[strangeswift]

madwheeler hug pretty please 🙏🙏🙏🤲🤲🤲

Congratulations Maddy eightieslesbian you have been selected to receive ✨️a ficlet✨️

This is set in New York, Mike and Max are college roommates. The rest of the party is scattered across the country, with Will in California. Mike isn't happy about that.(Established Byler and Lumax)

Tw for alcohol use and I guess alcohol as a coping mechanism, it could definitely read as alcoholism though that wasn't my intention so uh.. tw for alcoholism just in case <3

-

Mike wasn’t sulking. And he wasn’t drunk.

This is what he told himself as he sat on the floor of his apartment, pouring himself another glass of shitty wine.

He sighed and leaned against the couch as he heard the front door open. He listened to the jingling of keys as Max set her stuff down. He heard her go into the kitchen, then she came into the living room, still taking her jacket off. When she saw Mike she stopped in her tracks and fixed her gaze on him, putting her hands on her hips.

“You’re drunk,” she accused.

“N’m’not,” Mike responded, quite affronted that she would even suggest such a thing.

“And you’re sulking,” she added.

“Nope,” Mike slurred.

“We talked about this,” Max said, sounding a little sad.

And Mike knew they’d talked about it. They’d talked about the drinking and the sulking. He didn’t really understand the issue now though, seeing as he was not sulking or drunk.

Max sighed and strode over to him, tossing her jacket on the couch and sitting on the floor next to him, leaning against the couch so they were shoulder to shoulder. She grabbed his wine glass from the coffee table and took a sip as he lazily protested, “Hey!”

She waved him off as she gulped down half the glass and set it back down.

“You gotta put your jacket away,” he reminded her. Ever since Max lectured him about leaving his stuff laying around, he made sure to never let her get away with leaving any of her stuff out.

She scoffed and nodded, “Sure, Mike.”

He huffed. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“I miss them too, you know,” Max finally said.

“Yeah I know, but-” Mike started.

“Yeah, I know. He promised,” Max said.

He nodded. “He promised we would go to college together and that we would never be apart cuz he said he loved me.”

Max chuckled. “Will loves you, idiot. You guys made that promise when you were seventeen. You know going to California was a big opportunity for him. You told him to go, Mike.”

“Yeah but I didn't think he’d actually go,” Mike said.

“Yes you did,” she reminded him, grabbing the wine glass and downing the rest, “This is terrible. Have you ever heard of beer? Or tequila?”

Mike rolled his eyes, “Yeah I heard’ve it. Have you heard’ve leavin’ me alone because you’re just bein’ mean and stealin’ my wine?”

“You really wanna be alone right now?” Max asked quietly.

Mike paused. Then sighed and opened the bottle of wine, taking a swig straight from the bottle and passing it to Max.

“How’s work?” he slurred.

“Same old. Asshole customers. Shitty tips,” she said.

“Did you bring me pie?” he asked pitifully.

“‘Course I brought you pie,” she said with a small smile, “you want me to get it?”

He nodded, and she got up for a second, then came back with a to go container and two forks.

“Did you eat dinner?” she asked.

He held up the bottle of wine to indicate that that was dinner.

She laughed and opened the container, “Okay good. Cuz it’s important to have dinner before dessert.”

“You sound like my mom,” he said, grabbing a fork and taking a bite.

She scoffed, “I’ll try not to be offended by that. Your mom’s pretty hot, I guess.”

“Ew!” he yelled, his mouth full of key lime pie.

Max shushed him, “We have neighbors.”

“Sorry neighbors!” he yelled, laughing as she slapped his arm.

“You’re gonna get us kicked out,” she said, fighting back a grin.

“Good, then I’ll just go live with Will in California,” Mike said.

“Yeah? You’ll drop out of school?” she asked.

Mike shoved more pie into his mouth and nodded.

“And you’ll leave me all alone?” Max asked, feigning sadness.

“No, you can come. But no room you gotta sleep in the closet,” Mike said.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to stay in the closet, since you spent so many years in there?” Max asked with a smirk.

“That’s so mean, Max. I’m telling Lucas,” Mike said.

She laughed, “Okay, sorry. I’ll sleep in Will’s closet in California.”

Mike nodded in approval and they finished the pie in silence. Then Max set the container on the coffee table.

Mike sighed. “I wanna call him but he’s probably out with his art friends.”

“Yeah, probably,” she agreed.

Suddenly Mike felt his chest tightening, he let his head hit the back of the couch and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Mike. He’s coming to visit in six weeks. It’s gonna be okay,” Max said.

He nodded, but he couldn’t stop the tear that escaped. He wiped it away quickly.

God. He was drunk. And he was sulking. And he was crying, and in front of Max.

“Hey, Mike?” she asked quietly.

He didn’t respond, he didn’t trust his voice.

Then he felt small arms wrap around him and hair tickling his skin.

Max was hugging him. She must be drunk. He opened his eyes and almost asked what the hell she was doing, but she squeezed him a little tighter, and it felt… nice. Safe. So, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed back. He didn’t have the cognizance to be embarrassed.

“Mike?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he hummed into her hair.

“We don’t have to tell the party about this,” she said with a laugh.

“Definitely not,” he agreed, but he didn’t let go. Not for a long time.

[booksandpaperss]

Quick list of analysis posts I’m currently working on:

-similarities between s4 and IT chapter one, and how we can use IT chapter two to theorize for s5

-the importance of raising the stakes in writing and why that makes byler the only satisfying ending for Mike and Will (aka writing 101 with byler)

-s5 byler will parallel s2 byler but will also be a role reversal of s1 byler (ft discussion of byler and lumax parallels in s4 and what it means for the plot of s5)

-S4 jopper was actually some massive foreshadowing for the plot of s5 byler (ft the Mike hostage theory)

-inspired by @gayofthefae analysis posts on vecna “mercy killing” the suicidal: similarities in Mike and Max’s mental health, their parallels, and how this ties into who vecna targets and why he kills them (ft why Will’s love completely on its own won’t be enough to save Mike and more lumax parallels)

-comparing Mike and Will’s arcs in season 3 and 4 (and what that says about season 5)

- parallels (visual and textual) between Will’s van scene confession and Mike’s she’d scene monologue and what that can help us conclude about season 4 Mike and season 5 byler

-parallels between the shed scene and the van scene monologue

-a third perspective to the two different common interpretations of what the heck was going on with Mike in season 3

-Henry’s episode 7 monologue and Hamlet parallels (ikr I was shocked at first too but it’s very much a thing)

-Will Byers and his fear of Abandonment

Some of these are gonna get lengthy but if you wanna be tagged in any reblog this to lmk 👀

[occasionaloneshots]

Stranger Things Ships As Taylor Swift Songs

Warning: I obviously don't ship all of these and this is just for fun <3 please don't yell at me for missing your favorite, there's so many ships in this show so I went with some of the biggest ones as of season 4

Party Ships

Lumax: Out of the Woods

"Remember when we couldn't take the heat /I walked out, I said, 'I'm setting you free'/But the monsters turned out to be just trees/When the sun came up, you were looking at me/You were looking at me"

"Are we out of the woods yet?/Are we out of the woods?/Are we in the clear yet?/Are we in the clear yet?"

Mileven: It's Nice to Have a Friend

"Lost my gloves, you give me one/'Wanna hang out?' Yeah sounds like fun/ Video games, you pass me a note/Sleeping in tents/It's nice to have a friend"

"Call my bluff, call you 'Babe'/Have my back, yeah, everyday"

Byler: Holy Ground (Taylor's Version)

"We had this big, wide city all to ourselves/Wе block the noise with the sound of 'I need you'/And for thе first time, I had something to lose"

"Tonight I'm gonna dance/For all that we've been through/But I don't wanna dance/If I'm not dancing with you"

Elmax: Message in a Bottle (From the Vault)

"And I became hypnotized by freckles and bright eyes, tongue-tied/But now you're so far away and I'm down/Feeling like a face in your crowd/I'm reachin' for you, terrified"

"'Cause you could be the one that I love/I could be the one that you dream of/A message in a bottle is all I can do/Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you (It gets to you)"

Duzie: Our Song

"I've heard every album, listened to the radio/Waited for somethin' to come along/That was as good as our song"

"When we're on the phone and you talk real slow/'Cause it's late and your mama don't know/Our song is the way you laugh/The first date: 'Man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have'/And when I got home 'gore I said amen/Askin' God if he could play it again"

Older Sibling/Teen Characters

Stancy: The Story of Us

"I used to think one day, we'd tell the story of us/How we met and the sparks flew instantly/And people would say, 'They're the lucky ones'"

"Oh, a simple complication/miscommunications lead to fall outs/So many things that I wish you knew/So many walls up I can't break through"

Jancy: Mine

"Flash forward, and we're taking on the world together/And there's a drawer of my things at your place/You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded/You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes"

"You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter/You are the best thing that's ever been mine"

Ronanace: Enchanted

"The playful conversation starts/Counter all your quick remarks/Like passing notes in secrecy/And it was enchanting to meet you"

"This is me praying that/Tis was the very first page/Not where the storyline ends/My thoughts will echo your name/Until I see you again/These are the words I held back/As I was leaving too soon/I was enchanted to meet you"

Steddie: Delicate

"This ain't for the best/My reputation's never been worse, so/You must like me for me.../We can't make/Any promises, now can we, babe?/But you can make me a drink."

"Sometimes I wonder when you sleep/Are you ever dreaming of me?/Sometimes when I look into your eyes/I pretend you're mine, all the damn time"

The Parents/Adults (Joyce, just Joyce ships)

Boyce: Right Where You Left Me

"Matches burn after the other/Pages turn and stick to each other/Wages earned and lessons learned/But I, I'm right where you left me"

"I, I swear you could hear a hair pin drop/Right when I felt the moment stop/Glass shattered on the white cloth/ Everybody moved on, I, I stayed there/Dust collected on my pinned-up hair/They expected me to find somewhere/Some perspective, but I sat and stared"

Jopper: Invisible String

"Time, mystical time/Cutting me open, then healing me fine/Were there clues I didn't see?/And isn't it just so pretty to think/ All along there was some/Invisible string/Tying you to me?"

"Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire/Chains around me demons/Wool to brave the seasons/One single thread of gold/Tied me to you"

[strangertheories]

what do you want to happen versus what do you think will happen versus what's your worst case scenario?

This post will be pro-byler, pro-ronance, pro-lumax, pro-steddie and pro-jopper, but also anti-m*leven and anti-st*ncy so fans of those ships might want to skip this one. I talk about death, homophobia and racism. Also the "worst case scenario" is not actually the worst option, it's the worst thing I think I could see actually happening in the show. By the way, this is nearly five thousand words long so I appreciate it if you even read just a part of it as it took ages (: doubt the anon wanted this much but oh well! I'll put the headings in red and the subheadings in purple so if you want to skip to a specific part then that is easier to do. So without further ado, here's way too many words about my opinions.

What I want to happen

California:

Will - in Volume 2, I want Will to fall into a Vecna trance. Not because I want him to suffer, but his character has not been explored anything close to what I'd have liked this season. I hope that within this trance, Will's past in the Upside Down is explored and obviously his sexuality and feelings for Mike (which have been planted for a while) because it would serve as good analysis and also confirm that this stuff didn't appear from nowhere. I want him to discover he has powers or is special within this trance like in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, one of the top inspirations of S4, which would make sense with his parallels to Vecna, his true sight and the fact that he survived in the Upside Down for a week. I also think maybe Eleven could infiltrate his trance and supportively fight alongside him with a newfound understanding of his life and also get some more willel sibling content.

Mike - I think Mike should see the painting Will made for him and realize that Will truly loves him. But seeing this display of love makes Mike realize that he doesn't love Eleven like he thought he did, something which was already dawning on him. Eleven has also realized she wants to discover things for herself instead of just finding out things through other people like Hopper, Mike, Max, Brenner and 001 and they have a mature mutual break up. Mike gets Vecna'd and then through this trance confronts his inner feelings for Will. I don't know if I want them to get together fully as it would be rushed, but a mutual confirmation of their feelings and huntings of a relationship would be good enough for me followed by a lot of pining before S5. Maybe they could kiss or confirm feelings to each other in the time skip as well.

Johnathan - I don't have too many hopes plot wise for Johnathan. I hope he gets some good moments with Will and that he gets to have moments beyond funny weed guy.

Argyle - I hope Argyle just continues doing his thing and survives. I also hope we get to see more of emotional side to him. We saw him making a gravestone for the military guy so he's clearly very caring and if there is death I feel like we could see a different side to him.

Lab:

Eleven - I've mentioned a lot of what I want with Eleven this season. I want her to have a moment where she realizes she's been told what to do her whole life but she's never been able to find her own personality and I think this could lead to a breakup with Mike. I want her to realize she's more than her powers as well. Then I want her to use her newfound freedom and powers to fight Vecna within minds that she's infiltrated and see more of their interesting parallels and dynamic together.

Dr Owens - I don't hugely care about him. He's going to protect Eleven from the military and maybe he then dies via sacrifice in order to spur her on. I think that could be nice.

Dr Brenner - I'm rooting for an inconclusive ending with him. Like he runs off when the government come unlike Dr Owens and then doesn't return. I'm not sure if I want him to die because his relationship with Eleven is interesting but I don't want him to be a hero either.

Russia:

Joyce - I want to see her being brave. I want to see her being in love with Hopper. I want to see her trying to phone her kids and once they've escaped the prison, trying to hunt them down like the great mother she is. Also, not necessarily in Volume 2, we don't really get much of her backstory which I'd like to learn more about.

Hopper - I need a Hopper/Eleven reunion. I want him to come back and when he sees Mike instead of hating him like we thought for a funny moment, he just hugs him. Because all these kids matter to him. I do want a funny moment later on though when he finds out they broke up.

Murray - We've seen him become a team player and find trust but I would like to see his dynamic with Dmitri. He's warmed up to Russians because of Alexei but I'm not sure if they'll like each other. Idk it just seems like it could be cool.

Dmitri (AKA Enzo) - I already mentioned seeing him interact with the others, but he clearly cares a lot about his son so it would be nice to see a more emotional side to him. You aren't gonna like me for this, but I wouldn't mind if he died just because I don't know how he'd be outside of this environment, although maybe it could be actually good.

Hawkins:

Dustin - Dustin is great comic relief, but he's also super smart and brave. I want to see him helping with the planning like usual, but I also think Dustin fighting would be good. We saw the scene earlier of him standing his ground with Vecna so I'd love if they parallel that scene to show his bravery when he defends Eddie's trailer (with Eddie). Does that parallel mean one of them could die? Maybe, but that's for the what I think will happen section (sorry folks). Maybe it could be used to show how far he's come and how he can now succeed through the encouragement of Eddie and Steve. Also more of Dustin and Steve, I know we've seen it before, but it's good for a reason!

Lucas - I hope we get more character exploration of Lucas. I wouldn't mind him being Vecna'd so long as he survives just to see more of his inner workings. He's got more screen time this season but not nearly enough! They should also wrap up his plotline with popularity and stuff by having him realizing he should just do what he likes instead of trying to conform to what anyone wants him to do, including the Hellfire Club, and calling his friends out for them not accepting his new hobbies. I want them to address that bullying also impacts him differently to them because of the racism he faces that they will never understand. And whilst I love him and Max, I also hope they explore more of his character outside of that relationship.

Max - I don't want Max's struggles to be over. Not in a bad way! Depression and grief isn't something you just quickly get over so I think seeing her re-Vecna'd would be nice, albeit with more strength this time. But then Eleven would show up in the trance to rescue her and she realizes again that she's not alone. I want to see her caring about things again. I want to see her skateboarding, reading comic books, hanging out with Lucas and also letting go of some of the guilt she's been holding on to.

Erica - Again, another character who I want more exploration of. I love Erica, but I would like to see her personality and feelings beyond just being sassy and a nationalist which feels really weird considering she's a black girl in the 80s and would've faced a lot of hardship because of that in America (I would recommend this article talking more about the flatness of her character and the representation of black people of Stranger Things to learn more). Her character has become more this season through her D&D playing and last season's stuff about her being good at maths, but I want to see her being actually genuine when stuff gets worse instead of just the sassy comedic relief. Maybe a heart to heart with Lucas so we can see that beyond her teasing she really cares about him.

Steve - I think it would be cool for Steve to get Vecna'd. Maybe not a full trance, but little visions as he walks through the Upside Down. Steve has an implied past with parental negligence (which I believe helped lead to his babysitter tendencies) and maybe more sprinklings of that to add some more emotional complexity would be interesting. Also, and I know this probably isn't going to happen, but I want Eddie to flirt with him and him to be totally oblivious but later on he tries to flirt really badly but Eddie finds it funny.

Nancy - So we already know Nancy's getting Vecna'd. I want Robin to rescue her and Nancy to start developing a bit of a crush on her. I want her to be impacted by the trance thought which we'd see in a potential flashforward. By looks of it, she's going to have a hostile interaction with Jason which I cannot wait for! Badass Nancy is the best and it looks like we're going to get a lot more of that in Volume 2.

Robin - As I've mentioned, I want Robin to remember Nancy's tapes on her bedside table and send off Steve and Eddie to retrieve it whilst she stays watch (meaning Nancy wakes up in her arms). I want to later see her get Vecna'd and have Vickie in the trance as well as Tammy Thompson (explaining her appearance) and Nancy. Robin liking women is a big deal to her and she seems to have some interalised homophobia in season 3 so I hope they fully explore the implications of her being a lesbian in the 80s. She must not die under any circumstances though!!!

Eddie - I want to see a full circle moment where instead running he stands his ground with Dustin. I don't want him to die though! I want him to work with him and be less independent and together I want them to bring down the demobats. I wouldn't mind him getting guilt visions about Chrissy but instead of getting sad, he uses it as fuel to fight back against Vecna.

Jason - I want him to get his ass handed to him by Lucas and then have Lucas say he needs to save Max and that Chrissy is gone but Max can still be saved, which causes him to realize Lucas isn't involved and by extension the rest of Hellfire. This causes him to have a mini crisis and just leave and break down. In a flashforward, we see him sad and grieving but he's polite towards the members of Hellfire.

What I think will happen

California:

Will - I think Will is going to have a big emotional coming out scene to Johnathan. My personal theory is that Will is going to overhear Mike saying he loves Eleven to encourage her to infiltrate someone's mind with her newfound albeit weakened powers (this could be platonic from when they break up) so Will is going to run off to Johnathan and cry and show him the painting. I think he then will be Vecna'd and have visions in which Mike rejects him and his fresh coming out is warped. I think Eleven will go into his mind and see his feelings and fight off Vecna in sibling solidarity and support.

Mike - I'm honestly not too sure about Mike. It really depends on if Byler is requited or not. Despite being a huge pessimist, I'll share my optimistic thoughts in this section. Mike will find out somehow that Will likes him (probably the painting) and then I think Mike will realize he doesn't like Eleven and have a mature break up with her where he explains he loves her but not in the way that he thought he did. She'll understand and feel encouraged by this. They could heavily hint to his feelings towards Will after this without canonically confirming it yet (except maybe in a flashforward). He could also maybe die to spur on Will and Eleven but that's coming up in the next section.

Johnathan - Unfortunately, I think he's going to just be more of funny weed guy. As I mentioned, he'll have emotional moments with Will and Joyce which I think will be very nice but ultimately aid their characters more than his. Later on, I think he'll meet up with Nancy and break up which makes me sad. Whilst I ship Ronance over Jancy, if Jancy break up it will be for St*ncy which I really dislike. Overall not hopeful in the Johnathan department. At least I don't think he'll die as he's too irrelevant this season lol.

Argyle - more funny weed guy shenanigans. Possibly a surprise death, which I spoke more about in the past. Basically he is surprisingly caring and brave and he's also new and likeable which is a deadly combo in Stranger Things. Out of the California group, I think he's most likely to die.

Lab:

Eleven - Eleven will gain back her powers but knowing what Vecna is capable of, she'll immediately want to leave. She'll get dressed and get ready to go until suddenly the base is stormed. She practices her powers by blowing them up but is completely drained by this and has to be rescued by the Cali crew. Knowing Max is a target, she infiltrates her mind using a sensory deprivation tank at the pizza place in Hawkins and fights off Vecna within there, protecting Max for the moment. She has a big showdown with him within their mindscapes which makes him dormant for the moment (but he'll be back). On an emotional level, she'll be dealing with the blowout from her relationship with Mike failing and also her guilt around her past. Vecna will have an easy time hurting her, let's just say.

Dr Owens - I kind of believe in my 'what I hope will happen' scenario being that he will die for Eleven, protecting her from the soldiers, unlike Brenner who will run off. He'll also be the one to let Eleven leave and not Brenner.

Dr Brenner - Brenner will want to keep Eleven around for experimentation, saying she's too weak, but by now Eleven is not falling for his manipulation. Owens will let her leave and they will argue whilst Eleven is about to go only for the government to come storming in. Owens could jump in front of Eleven and get shot meanwhile Brenner runs away like the coward he is.

Russia:

Joyce - I think we'll get what I hoped from her minus the backstory stuff. We'll see her loving Hopper but also her anxiety over her children and her need to get back to California and see them only to find out what's going on, giving a whole new layer to the need to escape.

Hopper - Similar to what I wanted. We'll see Hopper have emotional reunions with Eleven and have so many more romantic Jopper moments. The one thing I don't think will happen is an emotional moment with Mike, but it's nice to dream. Maybe will even see more of the Jopper parenting duo.

Murray - I think Murray is going to die this season. There's shots of him in the trailer burning something which I believe are things from the Upside Down that Russia stole. In terms of character arc it makes sense too. Going from being a disillusioned lone wolf to a guy who cares about his friends so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for them is super emotional.

Dmitri - Also at risk from death. As I said, I just don't know how he'd fit in in America. It would also probably be quite emotional if he said something about Mikhail (not sure how it's spelt) before he died and Hopper promised to tell him he's a hero or something along those lines. I'm less sure of him than other characters but this is my leading theory at the moment.

Hawkins:

Dustin - I think that Dustin is going to decide to be brave and go into the Upside Down to defend Eddie's trailer. Eddie is going to use echolocation to lure the demobats away from Vecna leaving him and Dustin alone to face them. I think Dustin will be successful at fighting but get stuck leading to Eddie sacrificing himself for him, which makes Dustin very sad and could be used in a future Vecna trance (possibly in S5 when Vecna comes back).

Eddie - As I said, I think Eddie is going to sacrifice himself for Dustin. This would be a full circle moment from him encouraging them to run in 01x04 only for him to stand his ground and die so Dustin could land a critical hit on the demobats. Maybe Dustin would try to stop him and that he's probably going to die but he'd say something like "a wise guy once said never tell me the odds" and I'd cry.

Lucas - Lucas is going to beat up Jason but only to try and get back to Max who's re-tranced. They kiss once she's saved for the second time. We get to see him caring for and defending Max. Unfortunately, I feel like they've dropped his plot from at the start of the season and we won't get much complex exploration of popularity and the impact of his racist bullying on him compared to his white counterparts.

Max - Max will get re-Vecna'd but this time Vecna is more prepared for her to try and escape. My theory is that he's going to make a fake portal that she's going to run through so she thinks she's safe only for Vecna to strike again based on a monopoly card. I think Eleven will try and fight back Vecna in the trance, potentially saving Max although she is definitely at risk for death. The horrified shot of Lucas doesn't make me the most optimistic.

Erica - I don't think she'll do much beyond just being sassy unfortunately. Maybe she'll fight in the Upside Down but I doubt she'll be developed beyond comic relief.

Steve - Steve is going to infiltrate the Creel House in the Upside Down alongside Nancy and Robin. I doubt he'll get Vecna'd but he might get more visions potentially of his parents but I also think more spider-y stuff like we saw too. I think he's at a huge risk for death because it like Murray and Eddie would narratively make sense for him. Seeing him go from selfish jerk to sacrificing himself would be heartbreaking. I hope they don't kill him thought as S5 will really feel his absence and Joe Keery has some of the best line delivery on the show.

Nancy - After escaping her trance, Nancy will be very shaken up but ready to fight. I don't believe she will die. She is going to attempt to hunt down and shoot Vecna in the Upside Down along with Robin and Steve although I imagine this is not going to go well, resulting in injury but probably not death. Whilst there, Vecna will scatter in visions of Barb to try and throw her off. Afterwards, if Steve is alive they might throw her with him and have her break it off with Johnathan. If he dies, we'll probably get a posthumous confession of love. I'm not a fan of this ship.

Robin - Robin could be in a Vecna trance or at least get visions. These would be about her lesbianism and feelings for Vickie. Vecna would use this to torment her. I still think she will survive. If Steve does die then she'll be hit very hard by that and may fight off Vecna in his memory.

Jason - Kinda feel like my hope for him is going to come true. He's gonna fight Lucas, see Max, realize his error and then have a mini crisis. Or he'll double down, Vecna will say she was cheating and then he'll eventually die.

Worst case scenarios (superhell)

California:

Will - Will has a rushed coming out scene and then gets killed whether through Vecna or not. Then Mike posthumously finds his painting and it's enough for Mike to realize what love is in order to tell Eleven.

Mike - Mike realizes his undying love for Eleven and confesses it to her which is enough encouragement to temporarily harm Vecna and make him dormant. Worse if he dies just after which makes Eleven angry and she defeats him off of that.

Johnathan - He's too irrelevant to realistically die in my opinion. Worst version is that he gets no screen time and then breaks up with Nancy. This seems pretty likely to me sadly but as aforementioned, I'm a pessimist.

Argyle - More funny weed guy antics who dies out of nowhere and it's really poorly handled.

Lab:

Eleven - Eleven is reduced to nothing more than Mike's girlfriend. Her powers whilst they returned were motivated by protecting Mike and not her brothers. When she goes to attack Vecna she can't do it until Mike encourages her and then at the end she immediately goes to him. We don't see any further exploration of her complex relationship with good and evil, she's now just accepted she's a superhero (proven by Mike of course).

Dr Owens - He betrays Eleven for the government and ends up getting killed by her when she presumably kills them all.

Dr Brenner - Eleven and him now have a really good relationship and he rescues her but it is treated as though that redeemed his prior actions. Whilst he cares about them deep down, they make it feel as though that's enough to redeem him instead of exploring his weird dynamic with the kids.

Russia:

Joyce - Joyce gets killed by the Russians when they're trying to escape. She possibly does this to protect Hopper as some tragic element as they were only just back together. It would also mean Eleven lost her mother again. Whilst this would be sad it feels unnecessarily cruel and also it's not been foreshadowed at all.

Hopper - Similar to Joyce. They re-kill of Hopper so everyone re-loses him and we sob our hearts out over again. I don't think this is likely as there's no way we'd trust he's actually gone after the last time plus they've already grieved so it would just be re-grieving. More likely bad possibility is that the Russia stuff is just really boring until they get to Hawkins.

Murray - He stills dies but it's not heroic, it's just a surprise. We think he's safe but then boom maybe as a parallel to Joyce. This could be handled well but this is super hell season 4 so it's not. It's rushed and it's not as emotionally impactful.

Dmitri - He's just kind of there, not really helping, and if he does survive he's barely included in later stuff because they didn't know what to do with his character post-Russia.

Hawkins:

Dustin - Dustin gets panicked and briefly stops defending the demobats leading to Eddie being killed and a shit ton of guilt that Vecna uses against him. He is so upset he's unable to keep on fighting and he fades into the background earlier.

Eddie - Eddie's worst case scenario is a reverse Dustin. Dustin and Eddie fight together but Eddie panics and backs off leading to Dustin fending for himself and dying. Eddie, feeling guilty about Chrissy and Dustin, gives up and ends up dying or handing himself in for murder.

Lucas - Lucas is sidelined and shoved to the background. Whilst fighting Jason, he's unable to defend Max so when she dies he blames himself. We don't really get to see much of his reaction as it's shoved over for more fighting. If she doesn't die then he barely appears at all until they all reunite at the end.

Max - Max dies within her second Vecna trance. Except instead of being in a way that's engaging and sad, it's a boring physical fight that she loses causing Eleven to swoop in and exile Vecna but it's too late. The show is now left without her presence. Lumax was never reunited.

Erica - Yet again, the worst case scenario is what I think will happen. Erica will be irrelevant only to make sassy comments. If it was really bad they'd kill her leading to that shot of horrified Lucas but then they'd have to actually explore her character through a trance which I doubt the show would do.

Steve, Nancy - Either of them dies in a hastily done manner in which the other one then posthumously confesses their love for the other. It's not developed enough and also if they die I want them to go out in a good way, especially Steve. Robin is then left to mourn on her own which is a shame as we'd lose one of two amazing character dynamics and one great ship (Ronance).

Robin - Robin dies. Full stop. I don't care how well its written, how tastefully its handled, it's impact on the plot. I know all too well how much it sucks for them to kill of lesbian characters and it happens way too often. There's no way they can kill her off in a good way in my opinion. I love this show so much but I don't know how I'd react to her dying.

Jason - They just drop his plotline after Lucas beats him in a fight. Like he just runs off and it's never resolved. We're left to assume he stopped his revenge for his girlfriend's brutal murder because he got punched and he was so ashamed that he just gave up.

So that's the post… woah it's long. Thanks so much for reading this far, I don't understand how you have the patience to do it! And thanks for the ask as well, anon.

[elekinetic]

hey team. buckle up. this is gonna be a long one.

aka let's break down my byler playlist cause i put way too much fucking thought into it

here's the complete playlist. i highly highly recommend listening while you read, but it'll make sense regardless <3

let's dive in.

1. i can't be with you by the cranberries.

we open with the line "lying in my bed again, and i cry cause you're not here." you're in the upside down, you're possessed, you're spending all your time with el, you're in california. they're ALWAYS separated, there's always something pulling them apart. they can't be with each other. "put your hands inside my face and see that it's just you," cause their existence is so informed by each other. constantly on each other's minds. "thinking back on how things were and on how we loved so well." i mean. C'MON. "i wanted to be the mother of your child" ok that's not byler EXACTLY but listen listen listen, dreaming of a future together? playing nintendo and dnd in their basement for the rest of their lives? "put your hands in my hands and come with me, we'll find another end…my head on anyones shoulder cause i cant be with you": basically they are dreaming of a world where everything is easy, where they can be together, but they know that's not the real world. they'll seek other comforts (el, losing yourself in your art, etc) to try to fill the hole in their hearts (y'all know there's more nuance to the el situation but i don't feel like typing all that out lol) dolores o'riordan's wailing is a great expression of the despair of seemingly unrequited love, while the upbeat fast paced drums invoke that teenage-first-love genre feeling through the song, we have dolores assuring herself that she cannot be with this person. its almost like shes trying to convince herself that there's no point to feeling this way bc they're NEVER gonna be together. but she ends with "but i'm still in love with you." there's nothing she can do about it. she can try to deny it all she wants, but its a simple truth. she loves them. they love each other.

2. wicked game by chris isaak.

this is the most stranger things ship coded song ever imo. doomsday love? soulmatism? reluctance? disbelief? wanting something different? HELLO? byler?? lumax?? jopper?? jancy?? "i've never felt this way... i don't wanna fall in love...the world was on fire and no one could save me but you, its strange what desire will make foolish people do, id never dreamed id love somebody like you..." is this song about being upset that a relationship is over? yes. which works for byler! but i think its also about loving intensely. its about looking at the tragedy of existence and saying, your love saved me. i feel so much, and i feel so sad because you mean so much to me. it says, without an ounce of real resentment, how dare you make me care so much? thus we establish from the jump JUST how much they care about each other. how important they are to each other. the song end's with "this world is only gonna break your heart" over and over again, which sets up the tragedy we're abt to be feelin through the rest of this playlist. all aboard the angst train!

3. fade into you by mazzy star.

we're back on that hand holding imagery shit we say in i can't be with you. "i wanna hold the hand inside you." i miss how close we used to be. "i look to you when i see nothing, i look to you to see the truth." -> you have always been the grounding presence in my life. there's a double meaning here of looking to the other person to see the "truth", being that they're never gonna love you like you love them. "fade into you, strange you never knew." its strange you never knew i was in love with you. how much i cared for you. (and if we're talking mike pov, strange you never knew before i fucked it up so bad.) "a stranger's light comes on slowly, a strangers heart without a home" we're strangers now OWWW. i am a stranger to you now, and my heart doesn't have a home.

4. does anybody know by jade bird. do i even have to explain?

pre s4 separation. very sad. california sunshine + s4 heart to hearts in the sun + the colors in you can hurt someone? something something will's painting and the rain fight and their ability to hurt each other.

5. graduation day by chris isaak.

a reflection on what used to be, and an attempt to move on. an attempt that will fail (see: further sad pining songs later in the playlist) "driving slowly, watching the headlights in the rain" - rain fight, will biking away. "think of the good times, wishing you were still with me, the way it used to be.... a million dreams have all gone bad, think of all we had...thinking of a time with everything was right...with only you and i..." HELLO??? once again, the theme of "i miss the way we used to be" makes a reappearance. "i knew it all then, thought you loved me, i was wrong.... learned my lesson now there's nothing left to say." what if i committed mass murder. i knew it all? hello michael. we've also got the theme of growing up. graduation day. they're getting older. on one hand, this could mean them graduating to the big leagues, the final fight. the end of everything is coming. they're almost at the finish line. on the other hand, they could be reflecting on "graduating" out of their childhood feelings and comfort, making peace with the fact that they're older and they don't get to go back to when everything was right.

6. please, please, please, let me get what i want by the smiths.

this song is so simple, and so direct, and so. so. so. sad. its a reflection of how much they love each other. this....this is all i want. he is all i want. my life has been so hard. i could've become a bad person, and i didn't. and that doesn't mean im owed anything. i know that. but can i please get what i want. this is the only thing that i want.

7. there's no need to argue anymore by the cranberries. just....just read it.

highly recommend listening to this song because all it is is vocals and an organ. it is so reflective and soft and introspective. its simple. a simple truth. (i mean you should listen to the whole playlist but yk)

8. boys dont cry by the cure, but covered by I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME.

yall already know the drill lyric wise cause. you know. it's boys don't cry. so, im just gonna talk abt why i picked this particular cover. it feels younger, a little less professional, a little more intimate. i love the cure version, but this one just feels...i don't know. it feels like the emotions of a teenage boy.

9. i know its over by the smiths.

this one... oh god. the first verse is "oh mother i can feel the soil falling over my head // and as i climb into an empty bed // oh well, enough said // i know its over, still i cling // i dont know where else i can go." something abt will's relationship with joyce and mike's relationship with karen. something about knowing their relationship with each other is over, knowing that and still not being able to stop thinking about each other. we get a sweet little nod to mileven in verse 2 "sad veiled bride, please be happy, handsome groom, give her room." yeah. if we're talking will's pov and substitute "she" for "he", this line is fucking killer: "loud, loutish lover, treat her kindly. [talking to el now] though [he] needs you, more than [he] loves you" OW and then this whole part.... mike's self hatred is just so chefs kiss.

anyway. this song is mostly just there for vibes. its sad. most of the playlist is sad. yk. it doesnt fit perfectly but pls tell me yall understand the vision.

10. electric indigo by the paper kites.

[this section was previously posted on its own here. there are a few details i left off of that version bc they referenced the playlist, this is slightly different.]

this song is the most mike pov to ever pov ITS INSANE. i'm sorry i didn't see you before. i love you and i'm sorry i hurt you. how do i fix this? how do i get you to come back to me? you're getting line by line annotations, fuck you. "never meant to cause you trouble with my coloured lies" hey. hey remember back during does anybody know when we talked abt "the colors in you, they can hurt someone"? "but you holding me with something locked behind your eyes [real love], you're setting me right // cause you got something that i need [real love], something i can't find" "distance never made me stronger, it tore us apart [hello california], i'm calling, im calling to you [BYERS BUSY PHONE LINE THEORY RISE] // and i know i left you questions and a lonely heart [do you even care what i have to say mike? you called twice! etc etc.]" "but you've been waiting long enough to let it go [i've put you through so much for so long, i get that you are probably done with me at this point, i know i would be] // i'll do you right [im gonna make it up to you, i swear], cause time is just a remedy covered in disguise [i grew up, okay? im better, i know more know. im not like that anymore.]" "and all i know is that i want you so heavy on my mind [i think about you all the time. i want to think about you all the time]" "and the feeling grows, when youre dancing slow. i see your fire go electric indigo [i watch you in your element, i watch you paint and be around our friends and argue with your brother....i see you be unapologetically you, and i just... i love you. i love you.] "what's it gonna, what's it gonna take? what's it gonna, what's it gonna take? what's it gonna, what's it gonna take? (x4) [how do i fix this? how do i show you how much i love you? how do i show you how much i love you?]

11. iris by the goo goo dolls, but covered by chris lanzon.

it's iris. do i even need to explain? i chose this cover the same reason i chose IDKHOW's boys dont cry cover. "it feels younger, a little less professional, a little more intimate. i love the cure version, but this one just feels...i don't know. it feels like the emotions of a teenage boy."

12. lover, you should've come over by jeff buckley.

our penultimate track. its about letting go of expectations, thoughts of who you should be and what you should do, and realizing how much you love someone who you let yourself lose. realizing that you're young and you've really messed up, but realizing what you want and seeking forgiveness. it's mike's realization. its a healthy reflection on how he's hurt the people he loves, and what he really wants. who he wants to be. it's mike growing up. he's willing to give up the trivial shit, the judgement of others and himself, to be with will. not even to be with will, just to let himself love will. there's this line, "maybe i'm just too young to keep good love from going wrong //...you should've come over ... well i'll wait for you." he wants will to come back. he knows he's lost will, and he knows its his fault. but he's telling will, "listen. i know you don't owe me anything. but im here. im here, okay? if any part of you still wants me, or even if you don't, im here."

13. time after time by cyndi lauper, but covered by iron & wine.

like boys don't cry and iris, i chose this cover because it feels softer, subtler, and more masculine. its acoustic, youthful, lighter. stronger. do you guys remember the opening line of the playlist? the first time of i can't be with you? "lying in my bed again, and i cry cause you're not here?" our final track, time after time, opens with "lying in my bed, i hear the clock tick and think of you." full circle moment, but time after time is different. those final thoughts are resolute, sure. i know how i feel, and i am here for you. wherever you are, whatever you need, whoever you were and whoever you become. i'm here. i love you. i love you. i love you.

[nowmemoriees]

SEPARATE WAYS SONG - ANALYSIS

I just can't believe how well chosen this song was for season 4. And it really fits with Byler's arc this season (also with Lumax and Jopper's arcs)

This first strophe fits with the situation in which the characters are in at the end of s4

Hearts broken, sleepless nights. Pay special attention to who are their reaching for, now that they're losing ground. (The UD is consuming the -normal- dimension)

Lucas reaches for Max and, Mike reaches for Will, now knowing that he's still connected to 001.

Feeling that it's gone could change your mind.

At first, they all thought that 001 was finally dead, except for Will (and probably El). Mike was the first person that had been told about this, and he's willing to kill 001 more than ever.

The chorus in this remix is just a piece of art.

Someday love will find you, break those chains that bind you.

Oh, that hits hard. By one side, we have Hopper, who is literally chained in another continent. Max is bounded by her traumas and Mike/Will are bounded by their own fears and homophobia.

One night will remind you how we touched and went our separate ways.

In season 3, when everything seemed to be already figured out between Mike and Will, it was too late, because now they were going to be separated.

- same situation with Jopper, when they finally arranged a date, hopper "died".

Time passed and nothing got better. They were in troubled times.

Mike and Will's reunion was, at first, not positive at all, they were jealous, hurt and confused.

They even seemed to be distant when all they really wanted was to be closer to each other.

- Max was also distant, her eyes were literally distant.

You'll never walk alone, that phrase is enough to understand the context of the whole strophe and the ending of season 4. They're united.

Then, we have the chorus again, but this time, -you know I still love you.- Many things happened between them and between the chaos, but they never stopped loving each other. Even when they've been separated for a long time.

I'd like to add that the only part of Journey's original song that was not included in this remix are these two verses, because I find it pretty interesting.

If he ever hurts you, in the original song, it talks about the man that the person who the song is dedicated to is dating. But, in the series, he has a deeper meaning.

True love wont desert you. Curious... because a certain true love act didn't work.

Music selection IS important and IS meaningful. It's not just a nice sounding song.

[wisdomssdaughterr]

LUMAX … ALL TOO WELL

Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide-eyed gaze / We're singin' in the car, getting lost upstate / Autumn leaves fallin' down like pieces into place / And I can picture it after all these days

And there we are again when nobody had to know / You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath / Sacred prayer and we'd swear / To remember it all too well, yeah

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it / I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still tryin' to find it / After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own / Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone

And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue? / Just between us, did the love affair maim you too? / 'Cause in this city's barren cold / I still remember the first fall of snow / And how it glistened as it fell / I remember it all too well

-> requested by @enolaholmess <3