#and like. i even like jopper but now that we are past all the bickering and longing and they’re together now can they just work together

[pinkeoni]

I have a selfish request/proposal for a conflict in s5: what if they put a strain on Joyce and Will’s relationship.

Joyce is Will’s most solid support system on the simple basis that she is his mother, and we’ve seen how much the two love each other before. So it might be interesting if there was tension between them.

Maybe Will “everybody treats me like a baby” Byers starts pulling away from her, possibly out of teen angst/supernatural influences, and maybe it’s a little cliché but Joyce just wants her baby boy back and can’t understand why their dynamic is changing.

And THEN we throw in Will heading back to the Upside Down, something that is needed for him to come of age, and Joyce who is trying desperately to get her son back on mulitple levels. Except this time the thing seperating Joyce from Will is Will himself, and it may not end with the two of them having the exact same dynamic they had in season 2.

Not saying that this WILL happen or that it’s the CORRECT option but idk, I think after two seasons of seperating Joyce from her boys and centering her story around Hop, it might be refreshing to see her put focus back on her boys (including Jonathan!) again in a way we may not have seen before.

[hamletkin]

I want to talk about Jim Hopper and it’s my blog and I will talk about him!!!

Season one and Season two Hopper were peak Hopper! That is a GOOD, GOOD character. I am loathe to give the idiot brothers credit for him, he’s that good. I think a lot of this comes from David Harbour and how much love and detail and emotion he puts into Hopper but I guess there was some good writing too. I’m too salty to give them more than that and you can take that with a GRAIN OF MY SALT. 

Anyway, I miss the Hopper who wrote the letter in season 3. That was season 1 Hopper. That was the Hopper who loved his daughter more than the world, the Hopper who still wears her hair tie on his wrist, the Hopper who risked his career and his life to save a missing boy and protect him and his family! Hopper has never been the BIG JEALOUS SCREAMING MAN that he was written as in season 3!! He’s jut not. That’s stupid. 

Hopper raises his voice so few times in season 1!!! SO FEW. And season 3 he’s suddenly screaming left and right, he’s lying to the people he loves, he’s threatening a CHILD!!!!! so badly that he’s afraid for his life (and it’s played off as comedy), he berates Joyce for talking to other men, belittles Joyce, calls her crazy!!! And it’s all played for laughs and, disgustingly enough, romantic purposes!! It’s all some big joke and it’s not funny. This is a common 80s archetype! It’s a common trope to have two people bickering become lovers but that’s never been Hopper’s character and it’s certainly never been part of Hopper and Joyce’s relationship to that extent! 

Here’s where I say I do ship Jopper, or rather I ship my own...AU version of them where season 3 Hopper and Joyce don’t exist within whatever narrative that they were forced into and I’m full of joy. 

And here’s the part where I admit that it’s almost 5am, I’m half asleep, I’ve cried 5 times in the past 3 hours, and I’m full of feelings I can’t quite explain so if this is all a mess well...tbh I expect nothing else and you shouldn’t either at this point, dear reader. Here are the sparknotes: 

1. Jopper. Platonic or romantic! Jopper worked because of their relationship. How about a little trust? They trust one another and they’re there for each other now out of an earlier spawned friendship that has become something more. (Be that BFFS or lovers whatever you want I don’t care) They’ve always had disagreements but they’ve never stemmed from Joyce speaking to other men (Hopper may have ribbed her about Bob but he never screamed at her for talking to him. He never, ever showed signs of being this aggressive or possessive and it’s frankly disgusting!!! That in 2016-2020-whatever we’re still being fed this archetype as a character we’re supposed to root for!! I won’t do it, I just won’t. It’s not Hopper as he was. Do you expect me to believe his personality did this 360 because...what? He has a teenage daughter? No. Not gonna fall for that, chief. He’s been gentle with Joyce, patient and after all she’s been through she deserves that!! She deserves someone who will just be there for her and I wanted him to be that person! I wanted them to overcome together. Because they’ve been through hell. But then you have lines about her needing to get over it?? Bob died approximately 8 months ago, her husband was abusive towards her and her sons, Will was kidnapped and then possessed, Jonathan has suffered through all of it and Joyce has held it all together as best she can. She finally reached out and the Duffer Brothers decided that women aren’t allowed to be happy and Bob was killed in front of her and we have Hopper saying “God forbid we move on” or whatever I can’t be assed to look that up it’s 5am I’m not going to. Like, Hopper would never, you’re wrong. I miss the Hopper who argued stupid things with Joyce but who treated her with some fucking respect. I’m soft for him on the ground beside her at all times or just holding her like give me my man back. Give me him. 

2. Eleven. Hopper and Eleven have always had a weird relationship. She’s been through so much it’s too be expected and I loved how they interacted! Even when they’re fighting! But him doing something so gross and underhanded as threatening Mike like he did after freaking him out!!!! over his grandma!!! was wrong. Watching this with several audiences I’ve noticed that the people who found this funny were, in fact, Boomer dads with daughters who no doubt relate to this archetype. They’re also white republicans who hate when you talk about taking away their guns so go off, I guess. No but what I’m trying to say is that I think this Hopper was clearly written for another generation. This Hopper was written to appease Boomers who already loved him so I don’t really know why the change was necessary but it happened. And I’m so mad I’m full of vegan eggs because that’s what I had for dinner I hate eggs, fun fact I’m not vegan. I would have loved to see Hopper be a dad to Eleven, to see more of their relationship growing instead of...whatever we got. The season was really all over the place. A mess. 0/10 3. What. I’m so tired but I wanted to make my points before I pass out and forget them!! Hopper’s sudden rage is so confusing?? Like he’s just mad...all the time. Which, again, I think plays into that whole 80s dad-boy. Like a bad boy but a dad. I’m trademarking that. It was like he was changed to fit the narrative rather than him growing to fit it, rather than there being any reason for the change and it kills me because he was on such a good path. He was growing and they took him and shoved him into a pit that he may never crawl out of. It left me hoping that Hopper was really dead at the end and that killed me. Because I’ve spent all this time loving him and now I just...don’t. And it’s not like it was good writing to make me dislike a character so far as them being a villain or bad within the narrative. They just made me wish he would die so I wouldn’t have to deal with another aggressive angry man who tried to intimidate everyone into getting what he wanted as a protagonist. Maybe that’s because men like that are among my biggest fears and I’ve been treated how he treats people before by men like season 3 Hopper. I can’t laugh or enjoy him because I’ve seen people like him doing those things and I know it’s dangerous. And also because it’s not Hopper. I know Hopper has never been a “by the book” guy! He’s a rule breaker, he IS violent but it’s always been for a greater good. I’m not saying that’s a GOOD thing but it worked within the story. He one punched the bad guys and we were on his side. Now he’s just...screaming in the face of his allies, he’s hurting them and we see them react...positively for the most part. Sure we have Joyce shouting at him but the whole narrative is that she’s falling for him, that she’ll end up with him no matter how he treats her because that’s love. And it hurts to see him reduced to that. 

In conclusion, I love Hopper. Or rather, I love the Hopper in my head that exists in a place where Stranger Things was cancelled after season 2. I’m just sad and emotional and I don’t understand why this was ever a thing that needed to happen.