#EDIT COMING LATER

[aunmenosheteroenespanol]

2.12 Chimney Begins - 2.09 Hen Begins - 2.16 Bobby Begins Again - 7.04 Buck, Bothered and Bewildered

Tommy's family arc

[tinyshinysylveon]

katsuki catching exhausted deku in time and finally letting him rest ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و 

[lunarmoves]

you were used to slipping into the daycare unnoticed for your lunch breaks.

it was easy to crack open the giant castle doors and beeline straight for the security desk amongst all the running and laughing of children. they never paid you any attention unless they were either on their own or looking for trouble. you didn't mind, of course. you were just another face in an endless crowd of faces and it was what you preferred.

today, however... today was different.

the moment you stepped through the doors, lunch bag in hand, you heard a few kids exclaim loudly. now, that typically wasn't unusual, but what was unusual were their pointed stares in your direction and sly smiles. you raised an eyebrow at a small group of children who were closest to the doors, and they all shrieked with laughter at your look and scattered deeper into the daycare.

weird, but they were kids, so 'weird' was an understatement.

you shrugged it off easily and made your way over to the security desk to plop yourself down on the spinning chair. your lunch was deposited lazily atop the surface in front of you—in front of a dusty old computer that took a million years to even turn on—and you rummaged around for your sandwich. pulling it out, you unwrapped it and leaned back in your chair to do a bit of daycare observing.

you paused, sandwich halfway to your mouth.

you were... getting quite a bit of stares from the children today, it seemed.

they weren't even surreptitious about it. children never were. their wide eyes peeked at you from over shoulders and behind slides. you stuck your tongue out at a little girl holding a plush of roxy, and she giggled before turning on her heel and making a run for a playpen. you surveyed the daycare for a bit, then hummed. you couldn't see sun anywhere. you wondered what he was up to.

for all the stares you were getting, none of them really approached you. which was fine. it just made eating your food a little awkward. a majority lost interest in you eventually, but there were still a handful who looked like they were debating coming up to you or not.

where the hell is sun? you questioned again as you finished off your sandwich and started on a bag of chips. it was not like him to leave you hanging around on your own—especially with how short your break was. you squinted your eyes and peered about, moving in your chair as you tried to see if he was hiding out anywhere.

mmm, not by the ball pit nor the drawing tables. what about in the— there! behind one of the playpens. you caught a glimpse of two wide, white eyes from around an edge before they disappeared. immediately after, you could hear a chorus of giggles and a few kids peeked at you from the same spot. ah. they were scheming. typical.

you rolled your eyes in good nature, then leaned back in your chair. there were a few shhhs and hushed laughs from the same direction. sun was probably telling a story or something. maybe somehow roping you into a quick game—it wasn't like he hadn't ever done it before.

there was a tug on your shirt. glancing down, you were met with the tiny figure of a kid probably no older than five. they looked up at you in mischief, looking over their shoulder a bit like they were trying not to get caught.

you leaned over your chair's arm. "yes?"

"i have a secret to tell you!" they blurted out in a stage whisper. they wiggled slightly in place like they wanted to run around but was forcing themself to stay.

"oh really?" you grinned and spun around slightly so you could lean in closer. "can i ask you a question first?"

they hummed and looked over their shoulder again, then back at you with wide, imploring eyes. "okay, but really fast!"

"do you know why everyone's been staring at me, hm?"

they jumped slightly, waving their hands out by their sides. "oh! oh! that's my secret!"

you tilted your head in intrigue, then offered the kid your ear so they could whisper into it. "alright, what is it?"

they giggled quietly, then raised themself up on their tip toes with a hand cupped by their mouth to shield it. "mr. sun has a crush!" their breath tickled at your ear.

you leaned back and raised an eyebrow down at them. curiosity gripped at your insides firmly. you weren't sure how that was related to your question. "really now? who is it?"

they grinned slyly at you—missing front teeth and all. "it's—"

"riley! what did we say about going behind the security desk?!"

sun popped up from the front of the desk—limited by his protocols—and leaned over to look down at riley with a forced smile. they shrieked and spun on their heel to run away deeper into the daycare. sun's face plate spun as he followed them with squinted eyes, but before he could give chase, you spoke up in amusement.

"you've been busy, i see," you said, and sun turned back to look at you with his head tilted. you made a vague gesture around the daycare—where the kids were rather obviously staring at you and sun. "care to explain?"

he made a sound like he was torn. then a yellow finger pointed at you.

"later!" he rushed out, then moved his finger to tap at his wrist. "your break is up and i have a little rulebreaker to catch. come back later, okay friend?"

and then he left, shouting riley's name out as they laughed and tried their best to avoid him to no avail. you shook your head, then swept up all your garbage into your bag before heading back to work.

riley's words lingered in your mind and made something odd twinge in your gut.

later came quickly.

you made your way out of parts 'n services at the end of your shift and back up towards the daycare. by now, most of the kids would be checked out. you waved at a few other staff and eventually slipped into the daycare, where you spotted sun rushing about in his post-shift cleaning spree.

"oh! you're here!" he caught sight of you immediately, slowing down to a stop. you made your way closer. "hello, friend!"

"heyo." you stood at his side with your hands in your pockets. you had to crane your head back to meet his gaze. "everything go smoothly today?"

"yep yep!" he spun a red ball on his index finger, then threw it over his shoulder so it landed in the ball pit a distance away. he seemed to grimace. "for the most part."

"about that," you drawled, something sly making its way into your voice. that strange feeling in your gut had persisted and you did your best to ignore it. "a crush, huh?"

his rays retracted a bit, his smile pulling down in a glower. "so riley did tell you." it was more of a statement than a question, like he knew the answer anyways.

"yeah." you watched him carefully, his hands moving to wring themselves together as he hunched forward. he couldn't quite meet your eye.

he scowled off to the side. "i should ban them myself."

you let out a pfft and bent down to pick up a stray moon plush laying on the ground. you ran your thumbs over its soft cheeks. "aw, don't be like that. they're a kid. they all can't keep secrets for shit."

"language!" sun automatically chided you, but you waved him off and headed over to the toy bin to toss the plush into it.

"soooo," you started, partially glad you had your back turned to him at the moment. "who is it?"

tick. "what do you mean?"

"who's your crush?" you asked curiously and turned back around. loose-limbed. nonchalant. you tried not to ponder over the implications of a robot having such emotions. it made you feel strange in a way that wasn't entirely negative.

sun stared at you, rays tick-tick-ticking slowly around his head. his fingers twitched. and when he spoke, it was in a confused, quiet voice. "...they didn't say?"

you huffed. "you interrupted before they could." you walked closer to sun so you could poke him on the arm. "so? spill the beans!" you forced a cheeky grin onto your face. "who is it? come on, you can tell me. promise i won't tell anyone." it was like each word you spoke was a small stab into your gut and you couldn't tell why.

sun only looked at you—incredulous, almost, but not quite. his head cocked to the side. you waited patiently, willing yourself not to waver or back down.

eventually, he seemed to force himself back into action. he continued to pick up stray toys. "hmm! i don't know, friend! do you think you're at a high enough friendship level to find out?"

was he seriously teasing you right now?

you scoffed, but let yourself fall willingly into banter. "okay, fine, don't tell me. have you told them at least?"

sun made a thoughtful sound, halfway bent down to grab a toy train. his gaze lingered on your own. there was something to it that you couldn't quite place. "nope! don't plan to, either."

"well, why not?" you asked confusedly. you followed after him like a duckling trailing its mother. "don't you wanna know if they return your feelings?"

"something tells me they don't." sun sighed—a tint of something longing at the tailend of his artificial breath.

you frowned. "well, why do you think that?"

sun shot you a look, then gestured down at himself. the bells attached to his wrists jingled with the motion. "my dear, look at me! why would they?"

you only stared at him. "i... don't see the problem?"

sun stared back at you. it was quiet. very, very quiet.

"you are quite strange, friend," he replied after a moment, his rays spinning around slightly.

"thanks? i guess." you scratched at your head. this was... weird, wasn't it. "that still doesn't answer my question."

"nothing to answer!" he sing-songed out and turned on his heel to finish up around the daycare.

you groaned. there was something causing you to press—something that prevented you from letting go of the topic. "come on! you can tell me! friend to friend. why really won't you tell them?"

sun sighed, and you could tell the precise moment when he gave in to your insistence. "there is just no swaying you, is there? fine."

you watched on as he rolled back his shoulders and turned around. faintly, you could see white pupils over a backdrop of grey. locked unrelentingly onto your form in a half-lidded gaze.

"i just don't think," he said in a low, low voice that made your breath get caught up in your throat, "they'll quite like what i want to do to them."

and then he smiled, teeth jagged like the edge of a serrated knife.

[sleepsucks]

[aboutmercy]

driveway by richard siken.

[bigboysteveharrington]

Steve lowkey earning himself a reputation for liking guys and girls before he even realizes he does because he keeps interjecting and giving his own answer every time someone tries to ask Robin about guys

At first no one thinks anything of Steve’s interruption and answer when Nancy asks “what even is your type?” quite clearly to Robin and Steve immediately answers “I like girls that are way smarter than me” and everyone just assumes he’s interrupting to hit on Nancy and not to deflect

Then later someone insists some guy was flirting with Robin and she should go for it and Steve immediately goes “Are you kidding me? Robin’s way out of his league. Besides, I had a class with him and he mentioned his stamp collection in it like eight times. Do you really think she wants to sit around and pretend to be impressed by hundreds of stamps?” Still no one thinks much of it yet and if anything they think Steve might be jealous or might just have standards for who they should set her up with

It’s not until it becomes a habit of him answering questions meant for Robin that people start to think there’s a reason, but it’s not Robin they’re onto

Like when they’re having a movie night and Max is going on and on about a shirtless character while Lucas is totally unfazed but Dustin complains and El says which character she liked more and then Max turns to Nancy to break the tie and say which guy is dreamier and Nancy casts her vote, then turns to look over at Robin and ask which guy she’d go for and Steve knows who the question is for but hey he’s sitting right next to Robin so Nancy’s looking in his direction and too and she didn’t say Robin’s name, so Steve doesn’t even hesitate before dropping the name of a character and making sure he keeps the focus off of Robin and keeps everyone distracted from dragging her into that debate by immediately backing it up by saying that Max is right and giving even more reasons to choose him

But even after that, that’s mostly forgotten by the time the older group is drinking and Eddie suggests they play a drinking game and normally Steve would be all over any suggestions, but he turns down truth or dare because he knows how uncomfortable Robin would be and doesn’t want her having to choose between awkwardly lying and deflecting or doing dares she’s not comfortable with or potentially outing herself so he at least manages to change it to never have I ever because that’s a safer bet when he knows Robin hasn’t done anything with any girls

But then Steve ends up drinking significantly more than anyone else while Robin and Eddie are hardly drinking so they end up switching games and somehow they end up playing fuck, marry, kill except Nancy has no interest in getting married or discussing it and she says there’s been enough death in Hawkins and it would be more fun to play with the options as sleep with, kiss, slap. And the game is already started before anyone can ask why marry got changed to kiss and before drunk Steve can figure out how to discretely convince everyone not to. The game goes fine at first with Argyle asking Jonathan about three girls from California. It goes alright when Jonathan asks Eddie about three girls. Steve gets a little concerned when Eddie turns his attention on Nancy that he’ll put Jonathan and him in the list right in front of Jonathan, but Eddie is sober enough still that he at least has enough tact not stir the pot and blow things up on her first turn by throwing them both in in front of them

But then Nancy goes to give Robin a turn and she’s looking right at her and lists the three guys there other than Steve (possibly because she believes Robin on the platonic with a capital P thing and possibly because she doesn’t want to find out if that would waver) so of course Nancy thinks it’s clear that she must be talking to the only other girl there. And before Robin can even try to think of what lie would be the most convincing and least likely to start any awkwardness or drama, Steve’s already jumping in with “Well, I already hit Jonathan and that didn’t go well for me, so I’ll give him a break. And this situation” (gesturing between himself and Nancy and Jonathan) “is finally starting to feel normal so I don’t need to make that awkward all over again by sleeping with your boyfriend. So kiss Jonathan.” And Nancy and Jonathan are looking at him so confused and Robin is grateful for the interruption and relieved but also kind of amused by the level of thought he’s putting into it instead of just throwing out names however. Argyle’s not fazed at all and just waiting to see what he’ll get. Eddie goes from deer in the headlights startled to leaning forward with his elbow on his knee and his chin resting in his hand waiting to see where this will go to abruptly sitting up again and trying to look less interested while his leg nervous bounces and he tries to figure out if Steve is giving a detailed answer to this as a joke or because he’s putting genuine thought into the idea of being with a guy

Steve looks between Eddie and Argyle for a moment, then focuses on Argyle and is like “Sorry, I hardly know you and getting dragged into hitting Eddie or standing around and watching Tommy do it without making any move to stop him is exactly the kind of douchebag bullshit I would have pulled in high school. So I guess slap you and have sex with Eddie.” Eddie’s drink goes down the wrong way when Steve adds “Plus, guitar players are supposed to be good with their hands, right?” and he tries to play it off and not react to the fact that Steve Harrington just said he’d have sex with him and that he thinks Eddie would be good in bed even if it was just in the context of some stupid game. Meanwhile Argyle’s just like “Nah, that’s cool dude. I get it. I would have slapped you too if the roles were reversed.”

After that, a few people start wondering a little more seriously if Steve is into guys too and had his guard down while drinking. But Eddie isn’t going to press his luck without clear evidence and everyone else isn’t going to push it so they just silently wonder a little more every time Steve interjects in the girl talk with his own opinion once again

[jeonwon-wonwoo]

wonwoo ♡ huxley ads shoot (remade)

[spikes-got-anger-issues]

[starheirxero]

Hey what if Bloodmoon comes back wrong. What if Lunar knows the feeling all too well

[arttsuka]

They're holding a sign

[oplishin]

"hit me. if that's what's gonna make you feel better, hit me. hit me as many times as you need to to get this out of your system- do it right, and do it right now. hit me, dammit."

Monday Night Raw, July 17, 2017 | I Don’t Smoke, Mitski | Royal Rumble, 2022 | The Drowning Faith, RF Kuang | Wrestlemania 40 | Soft Sounds From Another Planet, Japanese Breakfast | Monday Night Raw, June 2, 2014

[ash-and-starlight]

Do you have any really specific and/or personal Zukka headcanons that you’d be okay with sharing? I eat up every hc you put into your drawings like they’re candy, I was wondering if you had any others :D :D

OH boii i sure have,,, nothing coherent is coming to mind atm so ill just expose my Extensive backstories of zukka bethrotal armbands that idk if i will find a way to sneak into art.

sokka’s armband for zuko is forged back at Piandao’s mansion, and it's one of the most fine stunning pieces of jewelry ever crafted. it’s not the usual southern ivory but metal, more similar to the armbands worn as an accessory in the fire nation. it’s made of intertwining bands of gold and black meteor metal, with patterns of waves and dragon scales that seem to ripple and move when the light catches on them just right. and the pendant is a traditional blue stone from the swt.

There are no particular engagement gifts traditions in the fn, so zuko goes on a deep dive into southern water tribe ones, asking sokka’s family and friends about jewelry making and learning to engrave over the course of several trips to the swt. He makes sokka’s armband with ivory from his own first (successful) solo hunt. i’m not sure abt the material of the pendant lmao maybe gold? but amber would also be cool methinks

as for the pendant engraving they display a unique single braincell moment (untrue i just want them to match). love the fact that both of them are sea savvy navigators, love to think that in their pining era they spent a lot of time watching the stars and showing each other the different constellations and navigation pointers of their nations, so in both of their armbands’ stones are depicted the constellation used to guide sailors back home, sokka engraving the swt’s one on zuko’s armband and vice versa.

if they were sun’s out guns out kinda guys before this only gets worse during the first weeks of their engagement. shirts are banned. everyone look at the bethrotal armbands NOW.

[canisalbus]

You said that you had a Vasco playlist (also probably one for Machete bcs duh) but i dont think i have ever seen you share them

If you feel comfortable, could you link them so I can rotate them in my head with a proper soundtrack

(Love ur work btw <3)

They have playlists, yes, but they're kind of messy and embarrassing and I'd like to keep the full ones private for now ´v`'

However, here's some songs that remind me of them at the moment:

Machete

Soap&Skin - Me and the Devil

Hozier - Take Me To Church

PVRIS - Holy

River Styx - Angel

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Florence + The Machine - Hunger

Florence + The Machine - Breath of Life

Florence + The Machine - No Light, No Light

Florence + The Machine - What The Water Gave Me

Florence + The Machine - Bedroom Hymns

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

Florence + The Machine - Seven Devils

Florence + The Machine - Which Witch

Nicole Dollanganger - Executioner

Des Rocs - Used to the Darkness

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

Gang of Youths - Achilles Come Down

Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah

AURORA - Heathens

AURORA - Blood In the Wine

Mitski - I'm Your Man

Muse - Take a Bow

Hurts - Exile

Hurts - Help

Richard Einhorn - Pater Noster

Guillaume David - Children of the Omnissiah

Keane - Sovereign Light Café

AJJ - Body Terror Song

carolesdaughter - please put me in a medically induced coma

Vasco

Hozier - Francesca

Lotte Kestner - Halo

Mitski - I Bet on Losing Dogs 

alt-J - Every Other Freckle

BØRNS - American Money

Lincoln - Saint Bernard

Rainbow Kitten Surprise - Fever Pitch

Barns Courtney - Glitter & Gold

Hurts - Illuminated

Hurts - Some Kind of Heaven

Woodkid - Conquest of Spaces

Woodkid - The Great Escape

Laura Veirs - July Flame

Sia - Fire Meet Gasoline

Mika - Origin of Love

La Bouquet - Sad People Dancing

Röyksopp - I Had This Thing

Lord Huron - The Night We Met

Johnny Klimek - Meeting Laura

Johnny Klimek - The Crowd Embrace

Florence + The Machine - Wish That You Were Here

Florence + The Machine - Drumming Song

Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love

Florence + The Machine - Patricia

Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth

ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

You Are My Sunshine

Bonus (these only make sense if you know Finnish)

Scandinavian Music Group - Liian laiha rakkaani

Happoradio - Ihmisenpyörä

Happoradio - Sinun vaikka hajoat

PMMP - Viimeinen valitusvirsi

Antti Tuisku - Pyhä kosketus

Antti Tuisku - Mistä minä tiedän

Johanna Kurkela - Valoihminen

Iisa - Kaunein syy

[mattodore]

theo’s bedroom is slowly coming together

[buckttommy]

raspberry.

Tommy Kinard/Evan Buckley | 4k

Summary:

“you want to dance with him?” tommy doesn’t know what prompts him to ask. they’ve been at the club for upwards of half an hour now and evan hasn’t given an indication that he wants to do anything other than what they’re doing—kissing, dancing, grinding dirtily off and on like two teenagers at prom.  but. there’s a man his gaze keeps flicking to. tommy looks between them—between evan, in his crisp, tight white t-shirt and dark wash blue jeans—and the other man. brown skin, brown eyes, salt and pepper locs that flow to the middle of his back, dressed in a pair of black, skin-tight jeans that look painted on.  evan raises an eyebrow. “i wanna dance with you.” and he’s sweet, this one. so willing to defend what they have, to say no, i’m not looking for anyone else. you don’t need to worry about that . as if tommy was worried about that. it’s been six months. he’s never been more certain of a relationship in his entire life.  he sways forward, nudging his thumb up underneath evan’s jaw so he can tilt his face up and to the side where the man is dancing against some young twenty-something that thinks they have a chance. and hell, maybe they do. but tommy’s not interested in the kid, not tonight, at least. he drops his voice, hand snaking down to evan’s ass so he can pull him close. “let me change that: do you want me to see you dancing with him?” evan shivers. bingo. 

read more on ao3

[chirpsythismorning]

The Vanishing of BLANK Wheeler

I wanted to make a list, from least likely to most likely, for which Wheeler I think is going to go missing.

But I also wanted to give a little disclaimer first, that even if these titles are real, they could still be fake, or could even possibly change given how much time we still have until s5 actually premieres.

For s2-3, the Duffers literally released official promo videos announcing episode titles for their upcoming season, with some of them changing when the season finally premiered.

Like in the case of s3 for example, they dropped a s3 episode promo video only a day after they completed filming. Meaning them titling 3x06 The Birthday, made absolutely no sense. They knew they didn't film anything birthday related for that episode. So they intentionally gave that one a fake name.

In the case of s4, that was the first time they promoted an upcoming season without giving fake titles, with the s4 promo announcing them following through with what we ended up with when s4 finally dropped.

I guess I sort of assumed s5 would follow in s4's footsteps, but from a leak standpoint, it might be smart to remember that fake titles are still a possiblity regardless. Especially in this case, where it's getting to the point in production where leaks are unavoidable. And so that might even explain why they play with this idea of fake episodes, which is because they can rest easy knowing leaks will mostly consist of half fake titles they planted there.

But for the sake of this post, lets humor the title for episode 2.

For starters, it's worth noting that the person who shared this leak originally said 'BLANK wheeler'. So as far as I know, they did not give any number of letters via underscores (_) to hint at who this Wheeler could possibly be. It's when ST news accounts caught wind of the leak and started rolling out posts, replacing BLANK with 5 underscores, that led a lot of fans to assume that the Wheeler had to have 5 letters in their name, which would have obviously ruled out Ted and Mike. But since all the Wheeler's are still on the table based on the original leak, they will all be included in this list.

5. Ted Wheeler

Believe it or not, there is something that I think actually warrants considering Ted as a possiblity.

There were some posts @stranger-chichka made a while back, comparing visual parallels between Stranger Things and Chernobyl, which could be hinting at this concept of Ted being in danger.

TBH though I think Ted being in danger or ending up dead is a possiblity regardless of him actually being the missing Wheeler.

Technically speaking, quite literally no one on the show is ruled out from being in danger at this point, so that's not saying much.

And considering the show is going to need to kill off some people next season and they are insistent on not killing any of their leads, supporting characters amongst the ranks have a high risk at being taken out. The emotional connection for Ted from the audience isn't as strong as other characters, but at least him being in close relation to a few main characters is something? I mean, he's funny I guess?

Quite frankly I don't think it's likely nor do I think it would actually make sense narratively for Ted to be the one to go missing out of all of them. I think it's a lot more likely they'd just kill him off, hence the Chernobyl parallels which imply he's gonna die. And so wasting time by having him go missing, only to kill him, just doesn't track. I think they'd just get that over with without dragging it out for very long, if anything.

Can you just imagine someone on the show shouting emotionally, It's Dad (Ted). He's gone.' Like, okay... And? I have a hard time imagining the characters being in serious turmoil over this, at least not enough for it to warrant like final season stakes amongst a bunch of other crazy shit happening. At best, the characters would be indifferently guilty for getting him roped into all this.

So yeah, I really don't see it happening.

4. Nancy Wheeler

I honestly feel like Nancy is even less likely to go missing than Ted, but the un-seriousness of an episode titled The Vanishing of Ted Wheeler is so astronomical, that I really had no choice but to put him last.

The reason I think Nancy is just very unlikely to go missing is because they technically already had her go missing as a cliffhanger between Vol 1 and 2 last season. It would just fall flat if they repeated something along those lines, with that same character, 3 episodes later. Vecna could have killed her and yet he didn't. His point was to send her a message, which was why he did what he did and then released her. The choice to target Nancy and taunt her about her family's safety in the first place, felt like their attempt at foreshadowing the danger that is to come for all of them, but one specifically. One of them that is not her. Which will make this moment back in s4 feel a lot more impactful upon rewatches.

So yeah, not feeling like Nancy is very likely.

3. Karen Wheeler

Karen is sort of a hard nut to crack all around. In the case that she is somehow connected to the Creels (Alice), anything is possible in terms of not only her being targeted, but again the entire family being at risk in some capacity. Without much to go off of outside of the obvious very haphazard timeline confusion, I feel like putting her somewhere in the middle. She was given a poster for s4. If she is Alice, then yeah it would make sense to target her. The stakes are also a lot stronger in comparison to Ted, because she was the parent in the family that actually came to Mike or Nancy and told them verbally that she wanted them to open up to her and is actually shown trying on several occasions. Whereas Ted is sort of just there when he's on screen. So the characters' distress would be a lot more dire and interesting to see unfold amongst everyone.

I also remember there being a leak in relation to Karen, Holly, Mike and Nancy all being at the hospital filming. And this was also like a day or so after ST dropped a video of Cara saying she was filming that day to hype up fans. So that leak did check out on the Karen front at least. Which puts her at the hospital at some point, potentially along with the rest of the Wheelers. Now that I'm thinking about it though, this could all fit with a Ted Wheeler death...

At this point, I'm sort of like indifferent to the possiblity, but it's still more likely than Ted and Nancy to me.

2. Holly Wheeler

It all goes back to s1, when Karen was visiting the Byers to console Joyce after Will went missing, when Holly sort of ventures off to Will's room, being guided by the lights, and sees the demogorgan in the wall.

I feel like people overlook this moment too, because it's kind of crazy that Holly has seen UD shit for herself. She was young enough that she could rule it out as just imagining things. And that could be partly the case even if she is skeptical.

There is something about Holly that makes her curious and sort of open to this world that most around her have no idea exists. And yet simultaneously some of the people closest to her do know about it and could easily clue her in when the time comes to do so, and because of that, I think she would probably be able to believe it all a lot faster than others.

Maybe this is a story where things need to happen and it just always ends up this way, but she has this tendency to be included in things that feel very important. Like in s4 with her playing with the lite-brite, and how that ended up being used to communicate with the others in the UD. There's this almost clairvoyance vibe about her. Her feeling the need to follow the Christmas lights to Will's room and her noticing and then fixating on the trees in s3.

Like I said, I don't know if it's something deeper, but it very well could be in the case she is connected to the Creels.

And while that is all somewhat compelling, at the same time it also feels very convoluted. Even if the Wheelers are Creels, I don't think that means the Wheelers would have powers, given that Henry got them when he was a child, meaning none of his family could have gotten them unless they too were taken in by the lab at some point, or were born with it.

Though I'm being full serious when I say the theories about Mike having time powers or maybe just manifestations from his emotions connected to the powers of others around him is one of my favorite theories of all time. I want it to happen. It would be cool. But that just opens the door to all of the Wheelers in my opinion, assuming his time powers came from being related to Henry. And if it was done that way, I feel like it would add way too much confusion to the story, where now all the Wheelers are gonna need to have powers, and then as a result would just takes away from the uniqueness that is already associated with Henry, El and potentially Will. One person potentially having powers without us knowing until the end aka Will, is enough honestly. Adding the Wheelers to the mix might be a bit much.

I'm also not totally convinced of the Wheeler's being Creels, and yet I also can't seem to want to rule it out entirely. But the prospects of Holly having powers or some sort of ability and just going through the same thing as Will when he was young and unaware of his powers, who is just now finding out the truth about his experiences... It just feels like serious whiplash honestly, when they haven't spent much of any time on Holly up to this point.

Like what are the stakes here exactly? What makes her disappearance and what that would look like compelling, on her front specifically? Because sure, I can see it being compelling watching the perspective of those around her reacting to this, what they would do to try to save her and all that, but what does that mean for her exactly? Are we going to see what she's doing? Are they going to hide it from us like they did with Will and then have to spend even more time uncovering it later on. And what does she even gain from being alone and taunted by Vecna presumably? What does the audience gain from witnessing that sort of event? There isn't a lot of story to explore there, outside of maybe making direct parallels to Will in s1? And then wouldn't that sort of take away from the importance of Will's role in it all just now being uncovered, if it all just repeats for Holly?

Which brings me to something that I see a lot of people using as strong evidence for why it has to be Holly, which is the fact that they recast her character.

What I think people are failing to consider is the fact that the twins who were cast to play Holly originally, were like 3-4 years old while filming s1. They weren't just kid actors, they were damn near baby actors. And while I know a big part of the reason why they gave Holly such few lines over the years was because the actors were aging way faster than the character they played, I think another factor could have been the fact that their acting experience is near nothing outside of Stranger Things, which is also pretty little on its own as well given that they have very few lines on the show.

It's not at all uncommon for child actors, let alone toddler actors to leave the industry once they start getting older. It could be for personal reasons, like wanting to explore other ventures, or it could be that they just don't perform as well with all the added expectations that come with acting as a character who is a kid with a lot of lines vs. a baby with 2 lines.

The girls got cast because at the time, they were able to perform as well as a 3 year old possibly could and would be expected to be in that role. But does that skill carry forth as they grew older? When now they have to deliver full sentences and carry conversations for scenes that are longer than 5 minutes? They've never really had to do that up to this point. Is it something that they feel comfortable with doing? Is their performance believable and is it something the writers feel confident about?

Honestly, I think they might have recast Holly, not because I think she is going to be targeted and focused on as this missing person they have to find, going through a near identical situation to 11 year old Will, but because they simply want her to be more apart of the story in general. And maybe because either the twins and/or the production didn't feel that they would be able to perform it in the way that they wanted it to be done.

And I mean, even if Holly isn't the one to go missing, one of the Wheelers is going to go missing based on this leak. If it was one of her parents, she would get a lot more scenes than she has in the past. If it was one of her siblings, again it would make sense for her to be more involved with the story. No matter what she is going to have a bigger role.

So no I don't think her being recast is as strong enough of proof as some might believe. If anything I think there is much stronger evidence that, like Karen, if they are related to the Creels, Holly is as fair game as any of them. The stakes could be high because she i such s a child. And her parents and Nancy and Mike worrying about her seems like something they would obviously do because she is so innocent and completely ill-equipped to endure something like that. But like I said, I just can't picture an focus like that on her, for her character, being very compelling given that Holly isn't really someone that needs like alone time with us witnessing it...

But there is one Wheeler left, and boy oh boy would he benefit from being alone.

1. Mike Wheeler

The most simple explanation for why it makes sense for it to be Mike, is that he genuinely benefits more than anyone when it comes to being alone with his thoughts, and with the audience watching. There's a lot of stuff dude has to work through in his own head, and since they haven't really let us have a moment alone with him that isn't under ten seconds since s3, an episode or two dedicated to making that a priority would make him coming back and things building up to the end, feel a lot more earned.

The audience needs to feel confident about how Mike feels about things. It can't be a guessing game for much longer when so many different factors are involved.

And while I think Mike may be the strongest possiblity in terms of the value it would add to the overall story is compelling enough to put him at number 1, the evidence supporting it happening is even stronger.

If we want to be crazy we can go back to the beginning. Plenty of fans have already speculated about how Mike is always late at the start of every season and how that might play into the beginning of season 5 again. I made a post about this recently and speculated it would happen one last time around the 15 minute mark. And maybe I was wrong... but maybe I was also right? Because if the second episode is called The Vanishing of Mike Wheeler, it's likely Mike's fate wouldn't be confirmed by the opening of 5x01, but in fact the closing scene of 5x01.

Throughout the show Mike plays a key role in leading the others, he's even referred to as 'the key' in s3 by Hopper. You know this show and their keys, they don't joke about that sort of thing. It's likely that Mike's story and what it is leading to is going to be central to how all of this ends.

Also in s3, there is one scene in particular that I think could be hinting at Mike being targeted, along with the s4 main poster with all of the characters. In the poster, we see El at the top, with Max and Mike as near equals on each side of her. Of course their roles are central and that's a fair layout on it's own arguably, but the equal-ness provided to Mike and Max feels very intentional. While she is slightly bigger than Mike in the frame, that could be a hint in regards to her being central now in s4, with Mike joining the mix alongside her in s5. Honestly, they could have made it so these two were beside other characters that also played a huge role in s4, and yet they chose those two to give a specific focus to. I think that is interesting (and probably intentional).

But if I'm being honest, there are so many moments in s4 specifically that hint at Mike being in danger, that I will not be able to include it all in detail in this post. So I'm going to link those below and then build off of some of it with some new details I've recovered that are worth re-contextualizing again with all of this in mind.

Hints regarding Mike and Will being targets of the town, but Mike specifically being focused on after the word 'missing' is said...

I'm gonna expand on this one because I think it's important to recognize the massive curtain in the background as this is all happening. And I vaguely reference this concept here as well which is worth checking out. But not is this whole concept of the curtain pretty blatant in this episode, this scene of the town all fleeing to hunt down hellfire club, is followed directly after, by this:

Notice how Mike is nearly always central in these moments? And how what follows feels eerily similar to what is about to go down at the end of s4 aka Suzie = Mike.

Now, this has already been talked about plenty so I won't go into detail, but... based on everything else happening surrounding this, this would apply to Mike in the sense that not only is he not in love with El, he's gay and in love with Will aka a boy. A BOY!

And then this mention of 'the terrible truth'. This word has been used like 3 times in the last few minutes. First intensely during Jason's speech about a terrible truth, with Ted and Karen being focused on with the Mike and Will extra in the background.

But what is even more crazy is that what follows sort of seals the deal for me that, this IS about Mike and it's foreshadowing what is about to come in s5.

5:02... 5x02!!!!

Also peep the watch and the letter from Dustin under it... I don't want to speculate but lettergate is looking extra relevant within all of this as well...

And to close off this point, lets show the shot that follows directly after this one.

Then later in the season, after Nancy is back from being taken by Vecna, here we have this long and emotional pause before she says Mike's name, last after her mom and Holly.

If they wrote and filmed this scene, knowing Mike would be the Wheeler missing early s5, it would make sense for them to list off the characters like this.

Mike peeking in the frame at this moment is not suspicious at all...

If it wasn't enough that Jason hyped up the whole town to see the Hellfire club as their enemy responsible for all of this, here we have a focus on Mike specifically being targeted by Jason.

The Duffer's statement about the show overall in the Piggyback script, and I gotta say it fits Mike a lot more than any of the other Wheelers.

Mike is a Paladin. And when they break an oath, they might spend an all-night vigil as a sign of penitence... aka everything is going to come to a head and Mike is going to be alone dealing with this shit for a bit, until he can come back ready to face it.

And I know it's controversial, but this post explains perfectly why Mike being central to this would make the show go full circle in a really compelling way.

Mike hasn't really unpacked...

Karen lookalike standing in front of the missing persons board. Could be any one of them but still, considering the costume of this extra looks closer to what Karen was wearing when she reunited and hugged Mike... I'm gonna put it more so with him.

Mike's guilt and shame regarding the past and what it has led them to could also play a big role and why him going missing would be worthwhile to explore. Part 1 / Part 2

Mike paralleling Yuri, who eventually reveals the truth (in his pocket) after stalling. If Mike parallels him all throughout the start of that moment, what does that mean for how it ends for Mike?

An antique funeral home fan behind Mike in the s4 character promo photos in the Creel attic, how Mike is seen sitting before Will sits beside him shortly after and it involving upside down imagery, Mike's first line in the show being used to later foreshadow his fate in early s5, and also bringing it back to Suzie's house which I already went into but it might be helpful to look at it again from this lens.

The Duffers would not pass up on the opportunity to parallel Mike with Finn's other character Richie in IT, which is literally based on a book that heavily inspired ST in the first place. And how all of that plays into the queer-coding for Mike going all the way back to s1.

The Duffers revealed after posting the funko-pop shotplanning pictures (2) that they were finished with planning for 5x01-5x02.... meaning this shot of Mike all by himself, is going to occur in one of those episodes...

We could still hypothesize Holly is the one to be taken, given that she doesn't have a funko and so they couldn't include her here regardless. But the fact that Nancy is with the other seems to imply to me that they are all likely working together to get Mike back, who is alone.

This one is a little more hard to pinpoint for sure, but it comes from a BTS Ross posted recently.

We are clearly in the Wheeler's house here. And if you zoom in, it looks like someone is standing (hiding?) behind a doorway/curtain. And the only person that seems to fit it imo is Mike... But why would he be hiding in his own house...?

It just makes me think about what is going on with Mike in early s5. What would be occurring that has him in this sort of situation? And it makes me wonder if him going missing has solely to do with him being taken and gone in one single moment, or if it could involve him avoiding his family and others potentially, with him being taken after that.

Lastly, I'm going to go into more choppy territory, stuff I know only a couple of people will actually consider. But it is pretty fucking fitting of what is about to go down so I can't not mention it.

In the Puzzle Tales' most recent Hellfire Campaign, this is the title...

Like the whole chapter is just a big joke on Mike about him being scared to be alone, which is painfully ironic if this is the direction the show is about to go for the next 2 upcoming episodes.

And then we have a song WSQK posted on Twitter back in January. I know people don't believe that this account is connected with anyone in the production, which is fair because I myself rarely believe leaks from anonymous accounts as it is. But I've been keeping up with it and it genuinely doesn't seem like a fan could come up with these songs.

The song I'm about to mention is the 7th song they posted, called Army Dreamers by Kate Bush. And you might fight it sounds a lot like the situation Mike might find himself in in early s5.

And though I'm sure I didn't cover everything, I feel like all the things I've mentioned and referenced from other posts are plenty to at least consider this as opposed to rejecting it all together.

At the end of the day I think there are some valid arguments for all of them to some extent. And quite frankly all of the Wheelers and most of the characters in the show will find themselves in danger in a way that is going to probably last longer than just one single moment the entire season. So even if it's just one of them, I don't think that rules out the others playing a bigger role in what is going down.

I just think narratively, there is one person that benefits from being on-screen and alone with their thoughts. And the other 4 being confronted with what that person discovers eventually will also make all of this a lot more worthwhile than any of the other options in my opinion.