#and so yeah mike wheeler is fucked basically

[chirpsythismorning]

Personally, I've never said that Will would be the only main character anyway. I just think that it makes more sense for him to be centered now because there is a lot of stuff that has to be addressed regarding his character. That does not mean I think Mike cannot get targeted whatsoever. But Will's plot points would get more focus because still do not know:

1- Why he was specifically targeted by Vecna in S1, and why was he specifically kept alive. Is it because he has powers or is there any other reason? 2- Why did he get possessed, and why wasn't he killed again. 3- The way he is still connected to Vecna, has to be addressed because it is ongoing since S1. 4- The obvious parallels between Vecna and Will have to be addressed, 5- Will's whole S1 and S2 have to be addressed. 6- Why is the UD stuck on the time Will went missing specifically. 7- If Will has powers, it it why he got targeted, and probably is that why the UD looks the way it looks, etc.

So it makes more sense for Will to get targeted narratively to address these narrative and plot points. That's not saying Mike cannot get targeted, but it is rather saying that he probably will not be the first person to get targeted rolling to S5's beginning.

Yeah honestly I'm in agreement with that, when it comes to Vecna, we can presume the only reason he would even target Mike is to get to Will.

Though, we've also seen that he's calculated.

Every action he does, he is thinking ten steps ahead.

Yes it's about getting to Will, but that doesn't mean that all it takes is targeting Will and that's that.

They didn't need to 'waste' their time having Vecna confronting random teenagers with trauma, specifically with Max and then Nancy?? But they did. Because Vecna has his own arcs with all these other characters that are merely pieces in his little game, with all the trauma he's caused them. And it all ties into what he wants in the end.

Vecna confronting Mike in the final season, after keeping the audience in the dark for so long about his inner feelings, is a writers dream, because it's a little too perfect.

This is a TV show, which means certain things have to happen to make the story interesting and engaging and exciting. And that's why a lot of fans predict Mike will be targeted. Because why if Will is what Vecna wanted this whole time and that's all there is to it, couldn't he just go for it and get it over with?

Because this is a story and those sorts of things take time to build up to, and it wouldn't be very interesting if it was all resolved right from the jump.

In the moment, Vecna's choices might feel random, but in the grand scheme of things, we're starting to see it's all for a greater reason?

S5 is going to have ups and downs, and I think Will being targeted by Vecna in some capacity is inevitable and it's bound to happen multiple times in s5. Though I also think some other confrontations are due. And if Max was worth targeting because of her guilt over Billy and Nancy because of her guilt over Barb (both involving Vecna himself), then yes I do think it makes sense for Mike, the og protagonist, who has guilt tied to the other two og mains, Will and El, also tied to Vecna, to have some sort of confrontation with him.

I don't think it will start and end with Mike interacting with Vecna though, by no means is this the biggest plot point to s5, because I do think it all goes back to Will regardless of the different things that happen along the way leading up to that confrontation.

However I do think it will be one of the major plot twists for the overall audience because it is super unexpected.

And I do think it makes more sense for them to save the biggest confrontation for Vecna and Will for the end of s5, because if they did it in the beginning it would feel sort of anticlimactic to repeat it in the end.

And so, what makes more sense is to yet again create the semplence of a confrontation between Vecna and Will, maybe even go there, but still not fully go there... And a confrontation with Vecna, potentially involving Mike, obviously affecting Will feels like a way to surprise an audience who is only expecting the Will part, and to also have that impact Will's character in a way that is going to make his confrontation in the end feel even more anticipating, despite it being entirely expected by the majority!

[paradiseismine]

Finnverse kinks - Headcanons

Pairing: Finnverse characters x f!reader

Warnings: pretty spicy (duh), but no actual smut scenes.

Summary: kinks I believe each Finn character would have hehehe

Love note from Nina: would you like me to turn each kink into a full fic? let me know, lovelies!

Boris Pavlikovsky

💋 SUI (sex under the influence)

We all know that he’s a stoner, but Boris lovesss to see you all sensitive from some MDMA, shivering and moaning at the softest graze of his fingers; or laughing while riding him with a joint in your hand (he thinks you look specially sexy while doing it). Boris is already insatiable sober, but when you get high with him is a whole different story - let’s just say you’ll be really satisfied (and well, a bit sore) the next morning.

💋 Pet kink

He’ll call you bunny, kitty and other pet animal names. He got you a choker that resembles a collar, and you wear it nearly every time you two have sex. He’ll pull your face closer to his by your collar, telling you to be a good pet and do as he says. It all started with him jokingly saying that you were an animal in bed, but as time went on, he got a bit more literal with that.

💋 Daddy kink

Expect that delicious Russian accent to tell you to “cum for daddy” or to “come suck dick for daddy” multiple times during your intimacy. And of course, you have to call him daddy as well, giving him the “yes sir”, and the big pleading eyes.

If you don’t oblige, he’ll flip you over his lap and spank you until you call him daddy. “What did you want from daddy, my little girl?” and you’ll babble, so horny you’ll sound drunk “Your cock, daddy, I need your cock in my pussy, need you to stretch out my little hole real good, please”

Mike Wheeler

💋 (Not so) secret hickeys/love bites

Mikey absolutely loves to mark you as his, leaving little purple bruises on your neck, on your breasts or on your shoulders. He won’t say it to your face, but if he left a hickey on your breasts and you decide to wear a low cut shirt later that day, showing off the bruise to all of your friends, he’ll fuck you extra hard when you two get alone. Something about other people seeing how you belong to him sends this boy over the edge, and it’s his pleasure to let you know how he feels.

💋 Risky sex

Oh, so you two are going to the movies? Make sure to wear a skirt, and make sure it’s shorter this time, so you won’t draw so much attention when he starts fingering your pussy and making you stifle your moans halfway through the movie. Going camping? Good, he always wanted to get his dick sucked under a tree beneath the stars.

Basically, Mikey wants to have you in places where you two could possibly get caught, that thrill gets him rock hard in a second - and let’s face it, you have a lot of fun with it too.

💋 Panties in his pocket

Now, if you really want to drive Mike wild, try going to the bathroom, taking off your panties and sneaking them in the back pocket of his pants. You did this once at a friend’s house party, and the way he fucked you afterwards still gives you chills just thinking about it.

You can do that at a restaurant, at a trip or something along those lines - knowing you’re so naughty just for him, and so eager for him to please you that you can’t even keep your underwear on is sure to make him lose his mind. He’ll grab you by the hips as soon as you’re alone and whisper to your ear, “Does my princess need her man to take care of her, yeah? I got you, sweet girl”

Miles Fairchild

💋 Shibari

It goes without saying that this one here is a dom - we all know it by now - but he absolutely loves to tie you up. Mostly he uses actual ropes, but he has bought a myriad of different materials to tie you up with, just to, you know, switch things up. He’ll tie you up to the ceiling, completely naked, and fuck you without moving a muscle himself, just from your swinging at the ropes. He’ll bounce you on his cock and say something like “ah, now you’re just the way I like it, all exposed and tied up for me to use, my little puppet sex doll”

💋 Free use

Speaking of “use”, Miles loves some free use. He loves to lower your pants or lift up your dress out of the blue and fuck you senseless. He’ll also lower your top’s spaghetti straps and suckle on your boobs like a starving baby whenever he wants, stroking himself in the mean time.

It goes both ways, though: you’re free to pump him hard and make him fuck your tight slit as much as you want and whenever you want, or force his face onto your pussy to get him to eat you out. He basically never says no, and is always eager to please his slutty princess however she wants.

💋 Knife play

He gets all hot and heavy when you declutter your closet: that means that some old/stained clothes, that would normally be discarded, now get to be cut through by his knife. Miles gets FERAL when you let him cut through your clothes to undress you. It’s all about how dominant he feels doing that.

On special occasions, you’d even let him do a small cut on a less visible/less prone to excessive bleeding part of your body. That boy is a sucker for your blood and will lick it all off in a split second.

Trevor Spengler

💋 Soft domination

Trev is a softer dom - he’s way more likely to praise you instead of degrading you and doesn’t leave as many bruises or marks on your body, preferring his dominance to be more mental. But you must remember: he’s in charge, and he’ll gladly remind you of that if you dare forget it for a mere second.

Prepare yourself for some hair pulling, sensual biting, spanking and harsh groping, lotsss of getting asked “whose pussy is this, baby girl?” and “all wet and needy, aren’t you? what should I do to you first?” as his delicious raspy voice makes your brain melt away with lust.

💋 Breeding

Huge breeding kink, this one. It all boils down to his “modern hero” nature - he wants to save you, to protect you, to be your lifeline. And knowing that you would potentially trust him to father your children drives this boy wild.

He’ll always say things like “You got such a tight little pussy, princess, can I cum inside you already?”, “I’m gonna fill you up to the brim tonight, love” or “I’m gonna pump you so full of my cum, you won’t even be able to hold it all inside you”. So, uh…Pulling out? Not his game. Your pussy leaking with his cum and it dripping down your legs the whole day sounds way more fun.

💋 Car sex

The Ectomobile and Trevor have a long history together by now, and he wants you to be part of it. Whether you are sitting on the hood of the car or bent over it, or lying on the backseat, or got one leg to each side of his waist behind the steering wheel, Trev will never deny any sexual advances in his car. Quickies? Long, elaborate sex? He’s down. Sucking his dick while he drives is a particular favorite, and it makes him cum a lot sooner than usual, he just can’t hold it in - you look so hot, so slutty, so submissive doing that, he loves it.

Ziggy Katz

💋 Sex tape kink

Besides also liking nudes and sexting, it’s when you’re home and his camera is fully charged that this boy gets the most throbbing erections. You don’t even have to actually press the record button if you don’t want to, but just the fantasy of recording or (even better) live-streaming your sex makes Ziggy feel like he might explode. He’ll tell you to “smile for the camera” as he cums in your face, get you on all fours and pound into your pussy from behind as you moan and watch your own face contort in pleasure by looking at the camera’s viewfinder.

💋 Exhibitionism

Filming your intimacy is merely a small part of Ziggy’s main kink: exhibitionism. He absolutely loves to discreetly grab your butt in public while you two walk together, to swiftly get his hand under your skirt while kissing at a corner of a party, all that silly stuff. He just wants everyone to know he bagged such a babe. You’re so pretty he still can’t believe you like him and wanted to be his girlfriend - so now he’s gotta show you off as much as he can (well, as much as you’ll let him, ‘cause this boy would fuck you in front of an audience if he could).

💋 Feet

Ziggy will kiss your feet whenever they’re reachable when you two are getting it on. He’ll always compliment your pedicure, call you his goddess, say how soft and beautiful your feet are. Occasionally, he’ll ask for a footjob, saying things like “You’re so gorgeous, love, I bet you could make me cum using only your feet” or “let’s put that red pedicure you just got for a better use, huh?” He just worships you all over, but there’s something about your feet that gets him specially hard.

[kiirotoao]

Season 3 rewatch notes

Wait a minute, I just realized that Mike and Will are the only ones in The Party who’ve canonically been dungeon masters. Idk what that means for them, but, yeah. Another exclusive detail of theirs

Oh, lord. Mike’s arm being torn off in the D&D game better not be a prophecy. If those s5 notes are accurate about Mike being seriously injured… I’m scared.

GOD I’ve never noticed how hard Will breathes in the rain scene. Poor baby he was so stunned 😭😭😭😭

The thing that I love most about Jonathan and Nancy is that they’ve been through the real shit. Arguments and hardship through the supernatural and the struggles of discrimination and privilege.

I love how Max is usually the one who speaks after Will. It’s like she’s the only one brave enough to answer after he says something profound or important. I need more of Max and Will’s friendship and them having well-thought out arguments I swear

Omg I love Erica’s little green star on her cheek. It’s so cute 😭🩷

After watching The Princess Bride, I am fangirling so much over Cary Elwes - it’s so crazy to me that he got him to play such a character! I wonder if they thought of him because of all the physical stunts lmao

As much as Karen isn’t in the know of much of anything in the supernatural story, I love how she’s a picture of raw strength in the Wheeler family, the true head of the household. She takes charge. Stops at nothing to help. Not even in the face of temptation. Go Karen.

DAMN I forgot that Billy dropped an f bomb! I thought that the closest that the show got was when Max got cut off in the hospital, but nope. There it was

Shit, I’m tearing up at that scene when El collapses into Mike’s arms because I know that that was real exhaustion. Poor Millie 🩷🩷🩷. She did such a phenomenal job there.

I LOVE whenever Joyce is angry this season. Now that’s how you demand. Straight to the point, justified in her worry, and cutting past any unnecessary bs while still including the cherry on top “please” or “good day” of politeness out of basic decency. I want to be her when I’m upset.

I’m always so blown away by Maya’s performance when she comes out to Steve. Straight (haha) through the heart, so good. And I always, always smile at Steve’s reaction. So in character, so accepting. No questioning if she’s being honest, just immediately questioning her type and believing that she’s into girls. So, so important.

Oh, no. Holly saw the trees moving in the woods. Thus far, she’s noticed the demogorgon coming out of the wall, and now this. She’s definitely a target next season.

When El tells Billy the memory of his mom, I teared up a little! Something about the way that El says, “you were happy” breaks me, dude. Millie and Dacre did so well.

Also, thinking in foresight of s4, Max’s letter is so heartbreaking. The Mind Flayer made a huge show of killing Billy slowly and painfully. I don’t blame her for being too horrified to move. It really wasn’t her fault. That was traumatic. Sadie did amazing there, too. Ouch.

I’m never getting over the helicopter lights being blue, yellow, and red. Were starboard and port always blue and red? And isn’t starboard supposed to be green? It’s all intentional, I’m telling you

I love how Max and Lucas are supposed to be “butchering” Never Ending Story but those two theater kids actually sound amazing. I just wish they harmonized 😆

Oh my gosh Jonathan did the Byers hold to Nancy 😭😭😭😭 I am not okay 😭😭 I never noticed that

Okay wait. This is kinda horrible. I feel bad for saying this. But y’know how Mike has a Will voice? Well I just noticed that Mike definitely does not have a soft voice for El. I swear, he’s always so loud around her like nothing’s different about her 😂😭 Any time he’s sweet with her he’s just like YEAH. COOL. and it’s kinda hilarious.

Jancy is WRECKING me this season wtf. Charlie and Natalia are so cute 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh my gosh David’s voice kinda breaks at “doze off.” Fuck.

Erica has blue, yellow, and pink balloons plus a rainbow drawing on her door. I now headcanon Erica as pansexual/panromantic, thank you.

AHHHGHH I can’t wait for the original version of Heroes to play next season over Byler kissing when everyone thinks that they might be dead but they’re just surviving in the Upside Down, clinging to each other and having the highest moment of their lives!!!!!!!

This has been my s3 thoughts for the 6-8th time watching? I forget? And I missed a number of moments because I got too absorbed so, oops. Anyway, I love Jancy, I love Jopper, I love the Scoops Troop, I love Suzie, I miss Alexi, Byler is endgame, and this season was way more fun than I remembered and it always makes me laugh. My list of favorite seasons has been shaken expertly.

[manic-pixie-aquarius]

Mike Wheeler, quick to defend Will but not El

No cause it's crazy that Mike didn't hesitate to stand up to bullies talking shit about Will in his absence, but when bullies started surrounding El with a camera, clearly about to humiliate her Mike just stood there. (As did Will, but to be fair we never see Will stand up to bullies. But he did aid El earlier when her diorama was broken).

Yeah, Mike was already upset that she lied, but she lied about having friends due to her insecurity. If my s/o lied about something like that to me, I wouldn't be that upset... I would be empathetic and try to help them feel comfortable by talking about my own experience with bullies and not fitting in at school... which leads me to ask once again WHY do people still ship Mileven??😭 They are not good together! I've been an advocate for El being single and learning how to be independent from Mike and men in general because there have been so many men with power over her her whole life who've dictated everything she does- INCLUDING Mike, and as much as I love him as a character, he is such a bad boyfriend to El!!!

(I saw a gif earlier of Mike saying this paralleling Brenner but can't find it anymore ughh)

Anyways, off of this tangent, Mike being upset and passive aggressive and overall unhelpful to El after she is humiliated is because he's actually upset with Will and therefore cannot be bothered by El's issues - which is entirely fucked up. Like bro that is your GIRLFRIEND. Just like you said to Will...

She's your girlfriend but you sure aren't taking your boyfriend duty that seriously... you didn't even want to talk to her after she got humiliated in front of her classmates. Everyone is focused on your quietly sulking ass at the dinner table, but you didn't even go through the brunt of the problems your girlfriend and best friend did (as far as we know, we don't see any major struggles Mike is going thru prior to season 4 --besides the hellfire club stuff--unlike El's bullying and Will's struggle with queerness. Those of us who aren't the GA know that Mike not writing "Love" is likely an internal issue with him falling out of love with El/struggling with his queerness). Like Will is initially upset at El because she keeps lying to Mike about her status and he's also mad about Mike not reaching out to him. El is mad at Will for telling the truth and also at Mike for not standing up for and helping her/probably for being scared of her and rubbing her mistake (hurting Angela) in her face "What did you do?!"/for him not saying he loves her. Basically, El has multiple reasons to be upset at Mike. And Mike's upset at Will for not reaching out/"being a douche" to El/for thinking that he should be a top priority along with El. He is also upset at El for lying, although he expresses anger at Will for not telling him about El's lying even though he didn't even know about the lying. In Mike's eyes, he isn't doing anything wrong even though he is a big subject of both Will and El's insecurities. So why is he sulking? If anything, El should be the one allowed to sulk and get the sympathy/empathy. But she doesn't, and Mike acting like the victim of this whole situation in this scene sends El over the edge.

I honestly love this scene because she had every right to be mad at Mike. And I'm not trying to let Will off the hook here, but he was trying to be noble by clearing any lies before they went too far, although they went too far anyway. He also has every right to be upset at Mike (as far as we know, because Will mentions that Mike didn't reach out which leads us to believe that the reaching out was one-sided)

Note: I haven't done a season 4 rewatch yet so correct me if I'm wrong about anything. I only rewatched the rink fight and Byers dinner scenes for this post!

[origamiplushie]

Dustin's really going through it

Read on AO3. Inspired by this tumblr post.

It is an ordinary Friday like any other. The party is once again gathered in the Wheeler’s basement. They’re just having a normal sleepover not playing DND so even Max has elected to join them. They have a pile of snacks and soft drinks, they’ve picked out some movies to watch later and right now they’ve given in to stereotype and are playing truth or dare.

So far Max has admitted to shoplifting (multiple times) (with very little shame), Will has demonstrated that he can do a handstand but only hold it for about 20 seconds, Lucas has been forced to chug a shaken bottle of coke and spent a tense fifteen minutes doing his best not to throw up and Dustin has confessed that he once destroyed a sweater his mom bought him and blamed it on Mews just so she couldn’t force him to ever wear him to wear it again. 

Dustin spins the bottle and watches it slow down to land on Mike. He dramatically pretends to contemplate his choices for a moment before turning towards Mike and asking with a sly grin: “What is the most embarrassing crush you’ve ever had?”

Mike sputters angrily. 

“None of your business!”

Dustin immediately shoots back with: “Actually we’re playing truth or dare so right now it is very much our business.”

“Shut up, I’m not telling you guys!”

“Come on dude, you forced me to show you pictures of the sweater! Fair’s fair!”

Will tries to goad Mike into telling them.

“Come on, Mike, it can’t be that bad?”

Max snorts and says: “Or at least not worse than Dustin in that puke coloured sweater.”

“Just rip off the bandaid and tell us already!”

“It’s Steve! It’s Steve, alright?” Mike finally exclaims. Immediately after that he slamms his face into his hands.

A moment of shocked silence follows.

And then Max starts laughing.

Seeing as Mike is clearly mortified, El leans over to pat him on his back.

“Steve is very handsome. And he is nice. I do not think he is an embarrassing boy to crush on,” she said.

Lucas decides to also try and reassure his friend.

“I mean, if I wasn’t dating Max and if I liked guys, I would probably also have a crush on Steve. He’s just like the whole package - he's athletic and charismatic and super supportive and a good listener, you know?”

Now Max, still laughing under her breath, adds: “Not just charismatic and nice, he’s hot! Have you seen him shirtless at the pool?”

Will, who so far had been struck speechless, turns entirely red in the face as he shyly nods and says: “I personally like watching when he plays basketball with Lucas.”

Mike looks like he feels a bit better and even dares to peek at the rest of the room through his fingers.

“For real?” 

Lucas nods enthusiastically.

“Yeah dude, Steve’s a nice guy. Half the school probably has a crush on him.” 

Mike isn’t hiding his face anymore but Dustin seems disturbed by the entire conversation.

“Nononono, fucking ew!Steve isn’t… hot. He’s a fucking doofus and a dork!”

They’re all laughing at Dustin��s distressed face now.

“You’re just mad your friends like your “older brother”,” Max chimes up.

Mike is confident enough by now to speak.

“Now you know how I felt when you were crushing on Nancy!”

After that all of Dustin’s protests are ignored as the group trades stories of Steve as well as their other crushes. Meanwhile Dustin tries to smother himself with a pillow and does his best to tune the whole conversation out.

—

Dustin doesn’t even give Eddie the chance to get out of the car and wave before he’s already throwing his bag in the back, sitting in and slamming the door closed.

“Soo… going out on a limb here, I’m guessing the sleepover didn’t go well?” Eddie says backing out of the Wheeler’s driveway.

“No! It didn’t! They all spent the whole evening basically gossiping and talking about some… dumb shit! We never even got to watching “Highlander”! It's new enough that it's still under the two day rental policy! And Steve said he’s not going to waive any more of my late fees! So I guess I’m going to have to drop this off today too. And when Steve asks ‘Oh Dustin, how was the movie? Were the swordfights as awesome as they looked on the box?’ I’m going to have to say ‘Well Steve, I never actually got to find out!’”

Dustin grosses his arms with a huff and glares out the window.

“That sucks dude. Did you tell them you wanted to watch the movie?”

“Yes! But apparently Mrs. Flemings is right when she complains that teens these days have no appreciation for art and culture!”

Eddie glances at Dustin sitting sullenly in the passenger seat and offers with a wink: “How about this? I’ll drive us to Family Video, rent the movie under my account after you’ve returned it and then we can hang out at my pace and watch it together. Then tomorrow you can tell the others how cool it was and what they were all missing out on by ignoring you.”

Dustin immediately brightens up.

“Really? Thanks, Eddie, you’re the best!”

“And hey, if we’re hanging out all day anyway, you might as well pick out another movie to watch as well. I don’t know about you but I don’t have any other plans for today.”

—

Dustin rushes to browse the shelves and pick a second movie while Eddie waits at the counter with the “Highlander” tape. 

He personally prefers sci-fi above all but he knows Eddie likes horror movies, so it might be nice to go with something Eddie liked as a gesture of appreciation. He considers his options for a while. Finally, “Star Trek” is put back on the shelf and Dustin turns towards the counter with the “Shining”. 

And then he stops.

Steve is leaning on his forearms against the counter.

Eddie is leaning forward as well, a strand of hair pulled in front of his face.

The two of them and Christopher Lambert staring up at them from the VHS case form a little triangle. They seem utterly oblivious to the rest of the world.

Eddie is definitely blushing.

Dustin takes a deep breath.

Steve and Eddie are reminded real quick that they are not alone in the universe when he starts yelling.

[hellfirenacht]

Reader ==> Meet The Party

Isekai Chronicles Masterlist

FIRST CHAPTER LINK >> START HERE <<FIRST CHAPTER LINK

Summery: Through no powers of your own, you end up in Hawkins 1985, in a tv show that you once saw on Netflix.

Tags: Slow burn, Eddie Munson x Reader will be canon, choose your own adventure to a degree, monkey’s paw author, meeting the party

Monday August 5th, 1985 

The next few hours were a blur of Mike and Dustin interrogating you and tearing into your D&D books. It was far too late to have anyone else over.

You tried to answer any questions they had; who were you? How did you get here? What were you doing in the Upside Down? Other than who you were and where you came from, none of your answers seemed to satisfy the two boys. 

"We need to tell the others," Dustin said, for the tenth time that night. 

You had been sitting on the couch of the Wheeler basement as they debated back and forth on what to do. Dustin was ready to wake up half of Hawkins to tell people that you had fallen into the Right Side Up out of nowhere. Mike was less into the idea. 

"No one's even going to be awake!" He snapped. 

"Max might be!" Dustin countered. 

"Hey, what day is it?" You asked suddenly. "Like day of the week."

"Uh, it's Sunday" Mike said, looking surprised that you actually spoke up. You hadn't been able to get much of a word in between the barrage of questions. 

"Monday now" corrected Dustin, looking at a clock. 3:45 am. God, had it really not even been 2 hours since you got here? Your shoulder still hurt and you kept stretching it to try and ease it. 

"Shouldn't you kids be in school?" You asked. "I know this is the opposite of priorities, but..."

You trailed off, not even knowing where you were going with your question. 

Your head was spinning, and nothing you did could convince you this was a dream. The boys had poked you, attempting their own experiments on you. Light didn't bother you, and neither did heat, except when they had you hold a match that had nearly burned your fingertips. 

They quickly ruled out that you were under any control of a mind flayer for now. 

"School doesn't start for a week," Mike said. 

That conversation line quickly died down. Dustin was still flipping through your Players Handbook. "Jesus there's so much here. How do you keep track of all of this? The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons manual is basically a flier compared to this thing. And there's three of these books?!"

"Uh... Short answer is- I don't." You said. "Honestly my group took those books as more suggestions than ironclad rules."

The two teens looked at you as if you'd grown a second head, which would only be marginally weirder than everything else that had happened tonight. 

"That or I look it up on my-" the word was out before you could think, "phone."

You seemed to have grown a third head. 

"Your phone?" Mike looked dubious. "You have some sort of D&D 800 number in the future?"

You couldn't stop yourself from laughing at the question- it was a good question. The best one they'd had tonight probably. But knowing what 800 numbers had a reputation for in the future was too much for your tired brain to handle. 

You couldn't stop yourself from imagining calling some shady 800 number, where some random man or woman would give you any d&d answer, but in an overly sexy voice. 

Roll for seduction.

The thought broke you, and you found yourself covering your hands with your face as tears threatened to spill. You must have looked like a fucking psycho now to the only people who would bother helping you.

"Yeah. Sure. D&D hotline." You manage to gasp out between laughter. There was no way you had the mental capacity to tell them that you basically walked around with a super computer in your hand at all times where you were from.

Your phone was back in 2023. Still on the charger. Maybe it'd be fully charged when you got home. 

If you got home. 

Your laughter died down, as that realization hit you. Home. You had no idea how you got here and had no idea if you even could get home. 

"We'll call El first thing in the morning." Said Mike, deciding it was safer to ignore your bout of temporary insanity. "Leave Max alone tonight, you know she's been having trouble sleeping since..."

The air was heavy now. You knew they were referring to the Star Court Mall fire. Billy died. That cop- El's not-father? Shit what was his name? That guy was presumed dead. 

How could these kids keep smiling after the horrors they faced? 

"Yeah, yeah good point." Dustin said. 

Mike turned back to you, "You can hide in here for now ‘til we figure out what to do next. Just try and stay out of site from everyone."

"Are we gonna tell Nancy?" Asked Dustin. "I mean she's seen everything-"

"I'm not bringing her into this yet." Mike said. "We can handle this"

“Who’s Nancy?” You already know who Nancy was, but it would be weird not to ask. Just as they had been trying to get information out of you all night, you had been trying to keep track of everything that they had told you too. With your approximate knowledge of many things, you didn’t want to slip up and give anything away without thinking about the consequences. 

“She’s my sister, but don’t worry about that.” Mike said. “Listen, you can stay down here tonight and tomorrow we’ll call the others and decide what to do and what this means.”

“What about Steve? He’s seen this stuff before too.” Dustin asked. 

“No, for now this has to stay in the Party.” Mike seemed very firm on this stance and you couldn’t figure out why. Then again, after a night of falling through portals, being attacked by vines, and appearing in a dimension that you had absolutely no business being in, your brain was quickly shutting down and running out of steam. 

If you were lucky, and you had a very strong feeling that you weren’t, you’d wake up in your own bed with the tv on Netflix askinging if you were still there and if you wanted to continue watching. 

You didn’t miss how Dustin went upstairs with Mike holding the Players Handbook still. That was fine, it’s not like you were exactly using it anyway. Now there you were, left alone in a strange basement hundreds of miles from home. Could you even measure the distance in miles? You doubted it. Nothing about this was right. 

Still, even with your mind racing and with how lumpy the couch was, sleep found you. The two boys opted to sleep in Mike’s room to give you some semblance of space. Taking a few deep breaths, darkness claimed you and your mind was quiet for the first time in over 24 hours. 

---

It felt like you had just closed your eyes when a herd of angry elephants trampled down the stairs to the basement making you jump and sit up in a daze of confusion. Your heart was pounding as a group of teenagers made their way down the stairs all staring at you expectantly. 

You tried to reorient yourself, blinking hard a few times as the new faces became more clear. The basement. You were in the Wheeler house basement and had been transported into this dimension. Your stomach churned slightly but you swallowed down the feeling, not wanting to hurl whatever was left of last night's dinner on the carpet. 

“Oh good, you’re awake!” said Dustin with a wide smile. Seeing him was even more startling in the daylight, more real. You could make out more details in his curls and his braces glinted slightly. 

“Yeah, you guys aren’t exactly stealthy are you?” you asked, rubbing your eyes. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost noon. It took a while to get everyone over here.” Mike explained, motioning to the gaggle of young teens. “That’s Max, El, Lucas, and Will” He pointed to each of his friends in turn. 

You were thankful for the introduction because you could not have remembered their name for the life of you otherwise. 

They all looked troubled, but different flavors of troubled. Max was doing her best to look disinterested, as if you being here was causing more harm than good, which, fair enough honestly. Poor girl was already going through it. Lucas also seemed less than thrilled about this situation. Actually, you’d be surprised if anyone was actually happy or interested in seeing you. Though Lucas seemed more concerned with looking at Dustin and Mike as though your appearance was somehow their fault. 

Will stared at you and then back to the others and shook his head slightly, which Mike seemed to take as a good sign. El looked the least upset with your presence in the group outside of Dustin. 

“Alright, tell them everything you told us last night.” instructed Dustin. 

“Hi, yes. Nice to meet you all, too. Good morning. I am mildly traumatized thanks for asking. Lovely weather we’re having. Of course I can tell you my name.” you grumbled, pushing on your nose. You were trying to push up your glasses. ....Did you wear glasses? You looked up at the group again, and could see everyone fine. That was weird. 

Your sarcasm didn’t lighten the mood, but you weren’t quite trying to. There was a pounding in your head but they all continued to look at you expectantly. 

There was no getting out of this, so you laid it all out on the table again. You told them every detail that you could remember of last night from coming home, to the cold of your apartment to the word seeming to flip around you when you entered the Upside Down. You spared the detail of how truly terrified you were, that had to go without saying. By the end of it, everyone was staring at you. 

“So, what?” you asked after no one spoke for a while. 

“2023? Really?” Lucas was the first to speak. “We’ve dealt with some weird stuff with the Upside Down but time travel-”

“I’m sorry that my appearance jumped the shark on what’s considered normal in this situation.” you said dryly. “No one’s filled me in on the rules for this yet.”

“How can you even prove you’re from the future?” Will said, looking troubled. That’s when Dustin handed over  your D&D books that he had been flipping through the whole night.  

“It’s not exactly from 2023.” you said. “I bought it a few years ago, but 5E is standard in my time.”

“I’ve looked over these and it’s real.” Dustin said. “There’s too much here to say that part’s fake.”

“None of it is fake.” you said. “I have no idea how I got here, or even really where I am. I mean, you’ve told me that I’m in Hawkins, Indiana in 1985 but that’s kind of hard to accept.” 

“El, what do you think?” Mike asked, looking over at her. 

“I... don’t know.” she admitted. “I do not have my powers anymore.” El’s face fell, looking at you as if she was trying to read a book in a different language. You were more than just someone who had touched the Upside Down, you were an anomaly. 

No one knew what to say for a while before Lucas spoke again. “So where is she staying?” he asked. “It’s not like we have a good place for her now.” 

Shit. 

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[runninguplenorahills]

Y’all think the duffer brothers created Mike Wheeler and thought: “hmm yeah but it doesn’t really matter wether he’s gay or bi” like bffr💀😭

I‘m not going to put this in the tag but bro… it’s making me so unbelievably mad that people say it doesn’t matter! WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT DOESN’T MATTER?!?!?

Do you tell people “but it doesn’t really matter wether I’m gay or bi” 😀? No you fucking don’t!

Sexuality is part of someone’s identity! Mike Wheeler’s sexuality still exists even if Will and El didn’t! This is not about byler, this is not about El, this is about Mike! And people are rightfully defending what they think is Mike’s sexuality because IT DOES MATTER! It matters because it’s part of who Mike is as a character!

When you guys say that it only matters that he’s not straight you’re basically just saying that it matters that he’s queer only ‘cause that means he can be in love with Will. Which then again just shows that y’all are not seeing Mike outside of byler!

I understand of course that the discourse is tiring but saying that Mike’s sexuality doesn’t matter and that we’re discussing it for nothing is unbelievably stupid!!

[willbyersenthusiast]

since i won’t shut up about Found Heaven, here’s a list of songs i think are very byler coded:

Found Heaven (the title track)

Alley Rose

The Final Fight

Miss You

Forever With Me

Eye Of The Night (kind of)

Winner (kind of)

and yk what while i’m here im gonna explain the reasons i think so;

Found Heaven:

i already explained this in a previous post (idk how to link them so have fun scrolling) but i will give a brief explanation; the song is about internalized homophobia and it’s basically conan telling his younger self it’s okay, or at least that’s how i perceive it, so i see this as a mike wheeler song. it can be will too but will is more out of the closet than mike tbf.

Alley Rose:

this one is kind of more about yearning and wanting but not before the relationship, it’s after it. they’re also kind of nervous around each other (especially mike) in season 4. the line “i waited all year at your feet like maybe you’d love me” is so them because they both waited for the other to reach out when Will moved to Lenora.

for the bridge, will is so worried about his best friend hating him because he’s gay and in love with him. “i thought if you’d ever leave me that i’d be the reason why.” and will again for the last little bit of the bridge saying “i swore hands were made for fighting, i swore eyes were made to cry, but you’re the first person that i’ve seen whose proven that might be a lie.” it’s kind of self explanatory in a way because will grew up in an abusive household. and for “don’t leave me hanging alone again.” i feel it fits both of them but also mike, because mike told will he felt like he was losing him and he wanted to be best friends again in s4

The Final Fight:

i feel like this one says how will wants to tell mike how much mike hurt him, and how he really upset him. he probably wants himself to get over mike and thinks this will help him (but it’ll just make mike confess😏 [hopefully].

Miss You:

this one makes me think of Mike telling Will how he misses him and how he felt like he “lost you or something.” and how “it’s not hawkins without you.” in season 4. and he knows he’s been a douche a little asshat (you can tell i’m a little upset with this mike lmao) but he wants “to be friends again. Best friends”

Forever With Me:

holy fucking shit this one. this song. i see this as Will yearning for Mike and wanting to be with him forever. “I ain’t sorry, though i should probably be. I think i’m gonna love you. You’re forever with me.” THIS SCREAMS WILL BYERS. “you are the reason i learned to love. Also the reason i cry” holy fucking SHIIIITTTT

Eye Of The Night:

i perceive this song as “this person haunts me. i see them everywhere and i can’t escape them” so it kind of reminds me of how they like always come back to each other? idk this one just kinda makes me think of them 💀

Winner:

this song (mainly just the pre-chorus and the chorus) makes me think of the rain fight. Will’s pov to be specific. i see it as Will saying “yeah you won you made me feel like shit, are you happy??” ykwim? OH AND THE SECOND VERSE “yet you have the nerve to miss me. how do i somehow feel guilty when you’re the one who let it get this bad” HOLY SHIT THATS LITERALLY THEIR FIGHT AT RINK-O-MANIA. like mike blaming will for not reaching out in the heat of the moment and therefore will blames himself too.

anyways that’s my little rant done GO STREAM FOUND HEAVEN ITS AMAZING AND IT HAS SUCH A DAZZLING 80S VIBE ITS MY FAVORITE THING RN GO LISTEN TO IT PLEASE ITS LIFE CHANGING

[strangerfigs]

maybe this is an unpopular opinion but you are just as valid of byler shipper if you have doubt or full on do not think they are gonna happen like i guess just shout out to all my bylers who are doubters because i truly as mike wheeler once said, don’t know what’s going to happen next, but i think it would be better if we were a team. anyway. like idk. i just am so unsure if they are gonna happen or not ?? like the subtext speaks volumes but i feel like they intentionally write it as it going either way. or many ways. ??? like even in the season 1, dustin saying that lucas is mike’s BEST friend makes me wonder if the duffers really didn’t see the potential of byler until later?? esp because they said they wrote mike as a very typical straight charqcter at first but then they met finn and changed his character. idk. ig i also just wonder about the party dynamics before will went missing because we really don’t actually know much about it. like did things change after will went missing because it’s evident and so clear that mike’s closest friend is will in every season after season 1 even when they are fighting and even when he is spending a lot of time with lucas. it’s just very very clear there is a bond there that is either outside of the party or closer than the party and it’s literally verbalized by mike himself in season 4 when he tells will that the others are great but it’s not the same without him. if it just wasn’t the same without him then he would just say that part but it’s clear since he mentions the others that he ranks will higher than them which is just funny because mike literally tells dystin that they are all his best friends and makes a point out of it so it’s just very funny but it really does make me wonder if it used to be like that but then mike sort of realized in s2 that will is his best friend whether that be from what happened or just like realization but just from mikes little monologue it’s also sort of implied that will is his BEST friend as that is the BEST decision he has ever made so. interesting. but yeah it just really makes me wonder the purpose of that scene with Dustin where he tells him that when the rest of the show past s1 clearly depicts will (and eleven) as the central points in mike’s plot lines and idk, maybe s3 was mike trying to return to his previous dynamic with will (pre- will being taken) but it’s no longer that dynamic anymore? and in doing so, mike kind of ruins their “new” dynamic a bit (not really but also kind of) but there is also no going back to their previous dynamic. so then in s4, mike is pretty sure that dynamic is ruined. I mean they never really made up in season 3. will brushes it off and they focus on the more important issues at hand. but it still happened, and while they have that scene at the end, where will tells him he isn’t going to join another party, I feel like that honestly just repairs the “party” dynamic esp because Will told Mike “you’re ruining the party” and Mike spent a majority of the first half of the season treating Will the same as Dustin and/or Lucas, categorizing them in the same “best friend” title, forcing that dynamic back into place even though, obviously, Will and Mike grew closer in s2, or at least their bond solidified, but Mike is just kind of pretending that didn’t happen? so s3 ends with will basically confirming that the party is still in tact and mike didn’t ruin it and will still wanted to be a part of it regardless of him moving, mike ruining it, him and Lucas being assholes, and mike being even a bigger asshole. but I think that the fight they had was more of a will/mike fight then it was actually about the party. it’s separate than the party dynamic and it’s more about their special bond which is why Mike runs up after him and Lucas stays in the basement, but it does result in Mike and Will having an entirely different fight of their own, which is both a stand alone fight because Mike says some fucked up shit, and Will insults his gf and says he is ruining the party. like Lucas isn’t even aware of all this!!!

(I ran out of text block). Lucas thinks that they were just a holes and they were but are apologizing for mocking him, so anyway, yeah: I just am getting at how this sort of refers again to the closer bond/additional dynamic that will and mike have which i’m not even fully convinced dustin and lucas are even aware exists? even though it so obviously does but a lot of mike and will’s most intimate moments, or moments that it’s clear they have a deeper connection, happen while they are alone. and I think Mike because he has this “you are all my best friend” mentality I think also feels guilty in s3 for having favored will or having a deeper bond with him than dustin or lucas. i think he is trying to balance it all and have it all and mike can only have one person outside of the party that he is especially close with at a time and he can barely keep that up but it’s why in s3 he feels so miserably because it’s the party, will, and el that he is trying to balance out. he therefore tries to just group will in with the party but their relationship/friendship has evolved past that so it sort of just collapses in on itself, and while the other party members are annoyed with Mike, it hits will even harder because yes, he loves him, but also because they did develop that strong bond that went deeper than the party, and now it just didn’t even exist

I think it’s safe to say that I’m totally just rambling at this point but I think it’s interesting to have s4 because it really does feel like in s3, they broke apart completely, and by the end of the season; Will was back in the party and that dynamic was healed but that wasn’t the only dynamic/bond they shared, and it really feels like in season 4, that bond is healed and restored, and mike admits to it, and WANTS it back, and admits to feeling like he lost will (due to worrying too much about el which honestly has so many meanings - worrying about her being happy, worrying about making her happy, worrying about being the perfect boyfriend so she doesn’t break up with him because he feels like he has has a mask on in the sense that he said one day she is just gonna realize he is a nerd like he has just been putting on this act and it’s so interesting and it’s so obvious too in all the season 3 scenes as well that he is just doing or saying whatever she wants to hear in so many of their scenes like that bike scene where they were just together and he is riding to the movie theater like she literally says ‘I wish you were still here right now’ and he says ‘yeah me too’ but he could have stayed like he is going to the movies and I know it’s just a small lie and like he would be a douche if he didn’t agree but it’s just such an interesting thing to include by the duffers because he isn’t going home, he could still be with her but he goes to his friends to see a movie. but I think it says a lot regarding the genuineness and sincerity of mikes words vs his actions like it is such a huge juxtaposition to create this scene idk).

anyways back to s4. s4 restores their special bond. mike is the most direct he has ever been regarding his closeness to will compared to the other members of the party. i think mike may have realized it when will left ? or at least realized he couldn’t shove will in with the rest of the party once he left, but i do feel like mike thinks he ruined it last summer with will because they barely make up as party best friends let alone best friend best friends outside of the group dynamic/bestie #1 so it sort of feels like mike just assumes he fucked that up, and he didn’t realize that Will would still want/wanted to be BEST friends with him until that roller rink scene (which is supposed to be what they are anyways because of what Mike told Dustin but I think it’s just another testament to the fact that Mike’s bond with Will is deeper and separate from the rest of the party.) I think especially too with Will not really speaking to him that whole day he didn’t really think that Will cared that much about their friendship (like to Mike, shouldn’t Will be happy that he is here? shouldn’t he be spending that time talking to him?) so I do think Mike is surprised when Will asks what about us because he didn’t realize this feeling was reciprocated because to him, really, in his little mike perspective, they had a huge fight where Will said he was ruining the party, and then when Mike tried to resolve things, Will didn’t seem interested in doing so… so (and I also think this is why Mike is so surprised that Will doesn’t plan to join another party but I do really think this was putting a bandaid on a very damaging rupture of their’s) and I think that is why he is also projecting in the sense that Mike knows that he is guilty of the rupture which caused them to drift to start with so him asking why he is always the bad guy is out of defense and guilt that this is how their friendship was now, but also a little bitterness as well because will wasn’t receptive to Mike trying to patch things up with him, and also the fact that Will was again blaming him for their friendship being the way it was when Will didn’t reach out either and how was Mike supposed to even know if Will wanted him to seeing as how things ended last summer? But also I think it’s clear that Mike tried calling more often than Will thought. Also - I think because Mike is into this idea of justice among the party and everyone being his bestie, and this is totally a hc, but he probably replicated Dustin and Lucas in regards to how often they reached out to Will and the means of how they did which wasn’t letters. Plus, Mike was pretty depressed so ! I’m sure it was hard to do anything.

All this to say, I think their friendship is lovely and beautiful and special, and while I do think that Mike has feelings for Will, I also hope (and have hope) for s5 that the st writers will honor their close bond and friendship because it is different and it is beautiful and I think that s4 really healed byler’s friendship 🙏like even when they are back with eleven, there is an obvious closeness between them that sort of proves that they are healed in that aspect which I just think is beautiful because I love their friendship so much and if the duffers aren’t going to give us Byler then I pray to god that they at least honor their beautiful and close friendship because god dammit it’s amazing. !!!!!

anyways, it is just fun to analyze their friendship because the ship is literally childhood friends to lovers which is my cup of tea, but I just feel like their friendship needs to be super strong in the 5th season and I feel at least very confident in that? which is good and nice. I will still be heart broken if byler doesn’t happen and i do have my doubts and i hope they do happen but if the duffers can at least honor their beautiful friendship then i think I’ll be okay in the end ??

but anyways. that’s some thoughts of mine

[byersfanclub]

ppl really be like “mike is in love with el cause he was the first person to treat her like a human” as if that somehow equates to romance instead of, idk, being a decent human being when ur 12 yrs old but also that same 12 yr old mike wheeler thought the best thing to do was “send her back” but yeah, truly the best ship of all time. definitely didn’t have everyone telling him he had a crush on this random girl he barely knew so he just went with it cause that’s normal, right? he definitely didn’t kiss her right after they talked about basically being brother and sister.

but then ppl watch mike and will have a fight that’s filmed and framed more emotional and more like a breakup scene like mike and el’s ACTUAL breakup scene (which is filmed to be comedic) and watch mike do everything in his power to being will back for both s1 and s2 and watch him make fucking googoo gaga eyes at will all of s4, his best friend since they were five years old, established history, established friendship but no…

no the random girl mike still knows practically nothing about to this day and both treat each other badly are definitely endgame. sure.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

alright time to write an essay detailing whatever yaoi has done to my girl nancy wheeler. so like, even when it comes to yaoi shippers nancy has had stonathan, harringrove, AND steddie over four seasons with steddie already having massive popularity + the other shippers, wheras thankfully eleven only has to deal with byler shippers when it comes to the victimization. but not to diminish eleven any more because she has def gone through it in fandom, im going to get into nancy's stuff: you will notice all three ships she supposedly gets in the way of (ignoring jargyle because the shippers are chill in my experience) involve steve harrington, AKA the most popular character if i had to guess and the white boy of the month. see, they were dating at one point in s1 and s2. the breakup was messy. like he kinda was complicit in her slutshaming at one point and didnt let her grieve her dead best friend properly and she ambiguously (as in nobody can fucking decide when the break up was) cheated on him so yeah. messy. mutually. if not more on steve's side given he was a bit of an asshole in s1-2 but gets better. yadda yadda fast forward to harringrove in particular, AKA steve x the guy who attacked a black child and abused his younger sibling (and im not attacking anyone thats just. what happened). basically 90% of them try to convince people nancy is abusive for the two arguments that occurred and is a slut and privileged (never mind steve being probably the most well off member of the main cast + hes a white guy in the 80s) blah blah blah. also ironic they call her abusive OFTEN when billy (one half of harringrove) kinda like threatens his sister max and breaks her things and otherwise abuses her Often. but yeah. they hate her for breaking his heart. they hate her for getting in the wya of their ship possibly. they hate her in general. add that to the general fandom misogyny and suddenly a large number of people are writing essays about how much they hate her and how she's a piece of shit, actually. fast forward to s4 and steddie and a new problem arises: steddie shippers keep flooding her character and ship tags with primarily steddie. so now your options regarding her are mlm ships and mlm shippers shitting on her. also keep in mind there is now more content for half of that ship, a guy who shows up for an hour and dies in the same season, than nancy, a mc. and if you like nancy ships like jancy or ronance, too bad those tags are flooded as well. as in someone did analytics in august for ronance i think and at one point the majority of main pairings in the ronance ao3 tags itself was steddie. either way both ships usually end up as side ships or bait into a steddie centric fic or tumblr post. or nancy ends up third wheeling and getting them together. as a nice bonus (not really) recently steddie shippers have decided that they too hate nancy and have entire posts and common plots (i have seen tumblr ficlets/hc's and people discussing this as a common trope for steddie fics on ao3) about how nancy was a horrible person who damaged steve's self esteem and ability to be in a relationship or something from a break up, as if the relationship wasnt mutually harmful and compounded by nancy's whole dead best and possibly only friend thing. and whoops for ships like ronance that isnt allowed either because steve's friend isn't allowed to interact with his ex despite the fact that said friend literally said he was an ass in the s1-2 timeline. all of this making it impossible to find any positive content without it being interrupted for a character who, if i remember correctly, has almost as much screentime as eleven (and eleven at least has popular fan content and other ships that dont somehow loop around to byler/mike). and whats worse is that while canon doesnt have yaoi victimization it does have heteronormative bullshit in which she is forced into a love triangle with the same guys TWO TIMES. she literally cant win so let her win a poll maybe also sorry this is super fucking long <3

Whoooo Nancy

[elekinetic]

Sending u asks for plane.

Okay, imagine the party take a trip together and they have to fly.

How does the plane ride go? Like does anyone have plane anxiety, do they eat way too many snacks, etc.

um. we don’t have to talk about how you sent this the LAST time i was on a plane.

OKAY so sticking w my personal headcanon that karen and hopper negotiate government payouts to all of the kids (full college rides, trusts, etc) as reparations for the utter bullshit they’ve been put through (and in exchange for their silence), i think the party takes a group vacation after they graduate high school. their parents are super hesitant to let them out of their sights, but they deserve some fun and dustin has an aunt in florida so it’s not even like they’re gonna be all alone, okay?

getting to indianapolis from hawkins just to get to the airport is a nightmare. the party had a sleepover in the wheelers’ basement so that they could just get up and go the next day, but one crazy movie marathon and two bottles of cheap sparkling wine nancy slipped them later, it is a struggle to pull their asses out of bed. the party has never been particularly punctual, so maybe it takes holly shouting down the stairs and dustin whacking his friends with pillows for them to get a move on. they have to be at the airport in two and a half hours, and it’s a three hour drive. well, usually. lucas climbs in the driver seat of the wheelers’ station wagon (mike: “shouldn’t i drive? it’s my car!” everyone: “NO.”) and races down the indiana highway, pushing 95 in a 70. it’s fine! he’s a great driver, really, and there’s no one out cause it’s five am (jesus christ) and listen as long as NO ONE tells their parents, it’s fine. el insists they blast the radio, and max — who basically pushed mike down the stairs so she could call shotgun (that’s not what happened, asshole! it totally was! guys, c’mon. what? he started it!) — indulges her ever madonna loving whim. will smiles and grooves along while dustin and mike white knuckle grip their seats.

they pull up to the airport and get their luggage checked with like, ten minutes to spare. they get settled into their seats with a sigh of relief, way in the back of the plane. they all sit on the same side of the plane, two sets of three seats right in front of each other. el, max, and lucas sit in the front, with will, mike, and dustin behind them. dustin immediately pulls out a blanket, pillow, sleep mask, and earplugs (“you’re laughing now, but i’m gonna sleep like a goddamn baby while you fuckers whine about neck pain all week.”) and promptly passes out. el and max quiz answers in a teen beat magazine she picked up from a newsstand (“is that really necessary? we’re already late!” el, gravely: “it is the most necessary.”) max idly curls her hand around lucas’ as he flips through an old comic.

will tries to doodle random passengers on the plane, but mike is freaking the fuck out and they haven’t even taken off yet. so, will shuts his sketchbook, props his chin up on his elbow, and asks mike what he thinks of this new campaign concept he heard about. mike starts rambling about how yeah sure, reintroducing mirakil is a cool concept but his motivation makes ZERO sense now that his family is dead and c’mon, lipiria is RIGHT THER—-hey! [max shoves her seat back at the same time dustin elbows him.] he gets so wrapped up in his spiel that he doesn’t even realize they’ve taken off til they’re a quarter into their flight. he’s still super anxious and gets up like three times to walk around the aisle before will makes them switch seats. mike can’t stop bouncing his leg, and his knee is pressed right up against the seat in front of him (because the leg room on this plane is abysmal, and he made sure to let everyone know that when they first sat down). el pops up and turns back to him:

“i understand why you are upset. we are in a very big metal box and are very high up. it does not make sense why we are not falling to our deaths.”

“um, el, i don’t know if that’s helping him—“

“i make things move with my mind, mike. that does not make sense. stop kicking my seat,” she huffs, and plops back down to her seat. mike goes red. will stifles a laugh. max giggles from where she was seemingly asleep on lucas’ shoulder, who’s eyes are twisted shut, asleep.

dustin wakes up just as they touch down in florida. he does not hesitate to share his frustration that they did not save ANY airline peanuts for him. (he refuses to hear them when they tell him that the peanuts weren’t even that good, or when they point out that he has a peanut allergy.)

[wheelercore]

Rosegate Masterpost

I talk way too much about this theory so I figured I might as well make a list of all the posts that I consider relevant and important so nobody has to slave through my blog for context. Turned out to be way too fucking LONG though. RIP to you I guess (please read about this theory please please please *gives you the biggest wettest saddest eyes*).

Really the only purpose of this post is to pin it.

Anyways. All the information is under cut:

Basic Summary: The basic premise is that the Wheelers are connected to the Creel home somehow. However since the similarities (as you will see in the post links that I am sharing below) seem to be with the objects that were in the Creel home before the Creels even moved into Hawkins in 1959 (eg. the grandfather clock, the wheelchair, the wedding dress, the rose wallpaper, etc etc) it seems that the Wheelers actually may be connected to the home in a way that may not be related to the Creels themselves at all. Now, every guy and their mother knows all the Karen theories out there so hey why not throw out a Ted theory ya know spice it up a bit.

This theory? The Creel home is Ted's childhood home- *gets boo-ed off the stage*.

This show is for Freaks and Weirdos so I'm 100% in the right for being a Freak and Weirdo who hyperfixates on this lol.

Now more seriously, not only are there the parallels to the Creel home, but also this theory surrounds an urn that has been sitting on the Wheeler mantle place since s1. This urn is decorated with pink flowers (could possibly be roses), which is not only a repeated design in the Creel home itself (the rose door being particularly important), but it also in the Wheeler home: the upstairs/ dining room wallpaper and the variety of other fake urns-vases around the Wheeler dining room that have rose designs on them. And yeah this could all be a coincidence, but the show all but confirms the urns significance when they intentionally switched it out with a different urn in the ST4 climax.

Other usage of rose symbolism can be found particularly surrounding female characters- and even more smaller in scope is the reoccurring motif of the Blonde Mother (tm) whom are also associated with roses *eyes The Urn again*. When looking at the similarities at how these female characters are dressed you start to notice that there are certain trends- pink/white/blue color scheme, certain hair styles, and jewelry. Which is why I believe that Rosemary's Baby may be a huge inspiration for this ("Rose" Robin aka her fake identity in Penthurst being my favorite because literally- Rose Wheeler Weaver). Given that Holly is a blonde to two brunette parents its not a stretch to believe that Ted had a blonde mother who's urn sits on that mantle place. There are multiple gags in s3 made about a "nana" who has cancer and I just think its veryyy interesting that one of the things that Victor pays particular close attention to in the attic is an old wheelchair. Anyways, think of this as a "haunting the narrative" sort of thing.

Also Rosemary's Baby is a classic horror movie literally about forced female conformity in the 20th century, so I find it really hard to believe that it would be left out of the show that is literally a period piece about conformity. So if you see me referring to "rosemary" or "rosemary wheeler" I'm talking about dead blonde nana in that urn.

Also The Shining is on the ST4 inspo board and I wrote a bit about how the Creel & Wheeler homes may have been inspired by the Overlook hotel. Not only that but The Shining possibly being a huge influence since S1 and all the stuff that comes with that including themes of abusive cycles in families and supernatural manipulation (detailed in the posts below).

This could also be related to by Mike seems to be able to sense El in the void despite not being supernatural as far as we know- especially since Nancy and Holly (I mean Holly is a bit weird too but imo not like Mike) are not shown to have a sense for the void like Mike. Mike and Ted are repeatedly paralleled throughout the show via clothing and scenes.

The crux of this theory is very metaphorical as a lot of it is about using visuals to portray generational cycles (hence Mike-Ted parallels which I don't really get into on here but its all over my blog just search up either character or mike-ted or whatever key word).

This summary is a bit of a mess and I'm pretty sure I've missed a lot but whatever. Please feel free to drop any questions in my inbox I'll be so happy to answer them.

It would not be fair if I don't give credit to @boysdontcryboycry as the co-founder of this theory because they do So Much and they're Great!!

Anyways here are the links:

Basically....

A humorous brief overview

Also Something Longer I Wrote

Rosegate General

The Urn Watch Post (TM) aka the Rosegate Bible (Post Credit Goes to User boysdontcryboycry)

More Wheeler Home-Creel Home Similarities 

Fake Urns with Roses on Them All Over the Wheeler Home

More Urn Shenanigans (aka T(urns) Outs the Mantle Urn Has Pink Flowers (Roses?)) on it! (Post Credit Goes to User boysdontcryboycry)

Mantle Urn Changing/Holly and Her lite brite/”Mothergate”

The Urn Intentionally Changed for the ST4 Climax 

Blonde Mothers Association With Roses

S4 thoughts surrounding female conformity (pink/white/blue color symbolism+roses etc): Part 1 

S4 thoughts surrounding female conformity (pink/white/blue color symbolism+roses etc): Part 2

Dustin Ringing The Wheeler Doorbell Scene in ST2 Possibly Referenced Three Times in ST4 (Steve + Jonathan + Victor- The Duffers confirmed they're returning to things left out of ST2 in ST5 so I just think this is very interesting plus Shaun Levy has said every scene has a purpose- read "PTSD" Pt.1 & 2 under Long Misc if interested)

Billy’s Mom/El Rose Symbolism

Possible Oedipus Reference

Virginia Reflections + Grandfather Clock in Creel Attic (Trailer)

Short Thoughts on Rose Symbolism in Creel Home Pt.1

Short Thoughts on Rose Symbolism in Creel Home Pt.2

El’s S1 Blonde Wig Confirmed to Have Belonged to Nana Wheeler? Lol Pt.1 (Post Credit Goes to User coldninjaruins-blog) Pt.1 

El’s S1 Blonde Wig Confirmed to Have Belonged to Nana Wheeler? Lol Pt.2

Shared Characteristics Amongst Some Female Characters (Clothing, Jewelry, Hairstyles) Pt.1

Shared Characteristics Amongst Some Female Characters (Clothing, Jewelry, Hairstyles) Pt.2 

Shared Characteristics Amongst Some Female Characters (Clothing, Jewelry, Hairstyles) Pt.3- Nancy/Karen Edition

Shared Characteristics Amongst Some Female Characters (Clothing, Jewelry, Hairstyles) Pt.4- Nancy/Karen Edition

Karen/Angela Clothing Parallels 

Victor = Spiders??

Rosemary’s Baby

Initial Rosemary’s Baby x ST Thoughts 

Karen/Nancy/Terry/Rosemary All in Blue Nightgowns

Possible Steve/Guy Woodhouse Parallel

Rosemary’s Baby Pink+White Outfits 

Grid Symbolism in Rosemary’s Baby

Long post on Rose Symbolism (plus others) in Rosemary’s Baby and ST

Thoughts on Nuclear Family Dynamics in ST and Parallels to Rosemary’s Baby 

Pendulum Clock and Other Time Symbolism in Rosemary’s Baby

Rosemary’s Baby and Stranger Things Clock Symbolism

“Aren’t You His Mother?”

Gingham/Roses imagery?

Mr Castevet’s Speech

The Shining

Holly- Henry “Explorers” Parallel Possibly Being a Reference to The Shining

The Shining Visual Parallels (Karen = The Woman in the Bathtub? Jack Torrance = Victor?)

Will Byers/Danny Torrance Parallel?

The Shining and KarenTed

More Karen/The Woman in the Bathtub 

If you are also interested I suggest you read Rob Agers analysis of The Shining because its very fascinating and goes into mirror symbolism, bathroom symbolism, and intentional production "errors" and how this all intersects with denial that is also utilized in ST. Warning for discussion of CSA, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. You will find that it is pretty enlightening, even if you don't subscribe to a lot of it.

Long Misc (rosegate related thoughts pre rosegate itself)

“Bad” Blonde Mothers Reoccuring in The Show

TODFTHR (Post Credit Goes to User stranger-chichka)

PTSD Parallels Pt.1

PTSD Parallels Pt. 2

Updates

*Some of this stuff may be repetitive, I'm just collecting posts*

The Curious Case of The Dead Wheeler Granny

Are the ages in TFS weird age fuckery or just canon inconsistencies/retcons? (link to @/aemiron-main's blog because for some reason this iteration of the post wont link to mine -.-)

Alice Creel Haunting Funerals

Oedipus the King in ST

Henry and Jason's Monologues: Are They Mirrors of One Another?

Some S4 Rosemary Coding Thoughts

The Talisman

Wheeler Family and "normalcy"

Rose Connie

Mike, Victor, Fred, and Ted: weird murder/killing & PTSD subtext

The Changeling/Rosemary's Baby/The Devils Advocate/The Omen: Anti-christ media

Short Misc (random small thoughts/shitposts etc etc, may not have context to them but I think they're neat)

x

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In short:

[creature-wizard]

The Strange Claims of Svali, the Fake Illuminati Defector

For anyone who happens to be new here, Svali is a fake ex-Illuminati programmer who claimed that she was part of a global conspiracy that was deliberately inducing dissociative identity disorder in all of its members. If you've ever heard of stuff like color/metal/gemstone programming, or fictive programming, that comes from Svali.

I have an update on Svali's own sources of inspiration, though - a lot of the stuff I initially thought that she'd come with herself appear to be sourced from How The Illuminati Create An Undetectable Total Mind Controlled Slave by Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler. This book proposes that the Illuminati is deliberately creating alters in people for the purpose of turning them into perfect slaves, and claims that modern media is used in the process.

My general statement that the conspiracy theorists in the DID community are sourcing their info from Svali is still accurate, because it's clearly quoting directly from her rather than from Cisco and Springmeier's much longer, more elaborate work. However, a lot of stuff that I initially believed came from Svali is definitely sourced from this book, which taking a glance at it, is even more ridiculous than the shit Svali claims. (And yes, she clearly got the idea that autism is caused by SRA from this book, which claims that autism is increasing because SRA is increasing. Fuck you, Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler.)

And once again, Svali's claims are also clearly influenced by discredited people such as Mike Warnke and Lauren Stratford. At the core, she's pushing the same Satanic Panic bullshit Evangelical Christians were cooking up and pushing in order to demonize anyone who wasn't a conservative (and particularly Evangelical) Christian, and scare people who already were conservative Christians into remaining such. Most of the claims were basically repackaged antisemitism and witch panic, just updated to be more plausible and relevant to audiences of the day.

In part six of the second part of her... interview, I guess? She claims that Bohemian Grove is an Illuminati thing. For those who don't know, conspiracy theorists basically believe that satanists perform human sacrifices to Molech there, whom they claim the giant owl represents. As far as I can tell, a lot of this goes back to a man named Paul Bonacci, who claimed to be a victim in the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations, which was purely a product of the Satanic Panic. Bonacci apparently claimed that he'd seen a snuff film made there. Worth noting, the Satanic Panic was big on the idea that all of these snuff films were being made, but there is literally zero evidence of such a thing.

Svali complains about people refusing to believe that SRA is real and dismissing the "evidence." For example:

You can show them a site with pentagrams, buried bones, and other evidence, and they would say, "Oh, that is just teenagers playing around".

Uh, yeah, Svali, it probably is just teenagers playing around. Teenagers do that kind of thing. Also, if the Illuminati was so good at covering its tracks, why would we find evidence like this? Seriously, why would a hypercompetent global cult leave such a mess?

Didn't think this one through, did ya?

In part seven, Svali talks about alleged Illuminati symbols. She claims that phoenixes and eagles (especially the German eagle) are symbols of the Illuminati, and claims that phoenixes symbolize the resurrection rituals where members' hearts are stopped and restarted with CPR, then told that Baal or another demon brought them back.

Next she claims that butterflies symbolize monarch programming. For those who don't know, a lot of conspiracy theorists believe in Project Monarch, which allegedly evolved out of MK-Ultra. Conspiracy theorists claim that any time you see a picture of a model or a celebrity wearing a butterfly, that means they're under monarch mind control, because they believe that the Illuminati has some weird spiritual obligation to tell the public what they're doing, even if it's not in a way the general public will understand. Or they supposedly do it to mock so they can giggle at them for not understanding the symbols they allegedly put "in plain sight."

Either way it's really ridiculous, and basically comes out of conspiracy theorists making something out of nothing. Since there's never any real evidence for these conspiracies, they have to fabricate it by claiming that things you can find anywhere are actually secret conspiratorial symbols.

She also claims that the Great Seal of Solomon is used at the "highest rituals" to invoke the demonic. Which, I mean, this is a symbol used in the context of demonolatry, but like, it has nothing to do with any kind of conspiracy, and much less originates from a global satanic conspiracy cult.

She claims that earth, wind, and fire (but somehow not air?) are Illuminati symbols?

Earth, water, and fire: these three are used in a lot of ceremonies. Check out how many Saturday a.m. cartoons use this concept. You'd be amazed. In fact, "The Fifth Element" movie was based on it.

Ma'am, you're gonna be shocked to learn that the classical elements were literally just what people used to reckon the natural world was made out of. It's been part of culture outside of occult contexts for thousands of years now.

She claims that the Illuminati is big on Greek and Roman symbols like... lightning bolts. Like uhhh yeah Zeus is associated with lightning bolts, but since when are lightning bolts, per se, a major Greco-Roman symbol? I dunno, this is very ridiculous and thank goodness we're getting closer and closer to the end.

Next she claims that the Illuminati runs the porn industry and produces CSEM, and claims that, "If a profit is being made off of human suffering, you can trace the chain back somewhere to these people."

She claims that they have money and lawyers for years and have infiltrated the governments and the media, and that they "run our financial institutions." Ma'am you're literally just spreading repackaged antisemitism here.

Oh and of course they're working on bringing in the Antichrist:

They are working towards bringing in a new leader, who will usher in a Luciferian reign of joy, prosperity, and rewards to the faithful. Almost an Elyssian type paradise. Of course, the brutality would continue, and those who oppose his reign are to be hunted down and converted or destroyed, but the followers will be so happy and content that they believe these holdouts will want to come over to their side. Sounds unbelievable, but true.

But she claims that they can be defeated because they are arrogant and believe they can overcome God. And also because a lot of them really don't like all of the abuse they're doing and can be persuaded to leave by telling them that they don't have to hurt people anymore.

In part eight, she claims that another name for the New World Order is "the Fourth Reich." So basically she's proposing that everyone who isn't a conservative Christian is secretly a Nazi, or might as well be.

Bluhhhhhhh.

Anyway we're finally getting to the more entertaining bits of this e-book - the demonic shapeshifting. Hang in there, it's coming next post.

[lighthouseas]

written in my phone notes app not betaed not edited etc etc lol based on this post

there is *1* dirty joke in here but i think we can put on our big kid shoes and handle it yeah? we can agree teenagers are horny? if not then scroll past :)) kisses xx

It's a Saturday in January.

Mike likes Saturdays, mainly because Holly has dance practice on Saturdays, and his dad has work, and Nancy has homework - so, more or less, he has the house to himself.

Logistically speaking, he could invite Lucas or Dustin or maybe even Max over so he could have some company, but he doesn't really feel like it. He never really feels like it, nowadays, which he knows is cause for concern - but it just doesn't feel right anymore, hanging out with the Party with two missing.

So. Saturdays are for Mike and Mike only.

He has homework to do. Homework which he really should be doing considering he's bordering on getting a C in his algebra class, which he knows is unlike him. Instead, though, he's slumped across the La-Z-Boy (which is now vacant due to his father being at work), spooning Cheerios into his face and only half paying attention to whatever was showing on the television. He's kind of tired, even though he woke up fairly late. His eyes droop lazily. He thinks that, maybe, he'll just drift off - no one's here to stop him - when a knock sounds at the door.

Mike shoots up, nearly spilling milk onto the carpet as he does so. This is odd: it's rare someone comes to the Wheeler house unannounced, which is mostly due to his mother's adamant demands to keep the house clean when guests are over.

It could be Max; she has a tendency to walk into his house, grab food from his fridge, and then ask if he wants to play video games without missing a beat (hence why his mother has grown to have such a distaste for her). Or maybe it's Lucas, who lives next door and comes over sometimes for homework answers. It couldn't be Dustin, though, since he lives across town and has never seen 11 AM on a Saturday (he like sleeping in).

Maybe it's the mailman. Which is equally weird, considering he could've just left whatever package he had on the doorstep. Mike ambles over to the door, Cheerios still in hand and flannel pajama pants hanging off of his hip. He's wearing a faded Queen t-shirt that has definitely seen better days, but he figures it doesn't really matter. The person - whoever it is - probably won't be here for long and won't care if Mike looks utterly disheveled.

He swings the door open, and is immediately proven wrong.

It is not Max. Or Lucas. Or Dustin. Or, hell, even the mailman.

Mike has never seen this boy in his life, and, in that moment, he's kind of glad he hasn't.

He's a jock, for sure. Probably on the football team. His biceps are fairly defined through the long sleeved white shirt he's wearing. Actually, scratch that, his entire fucking body is basically protruding through his shirt, almost like he isn't even wearing one. He definitely has - what - Mike's eyes dart down to his stomach - a six pack. Definitely. Mike's heart does a weird palpitation, and he suddenly realizes it's getting hard for him to breathe.

Oh, God.

He looks like shit.

"Hello?" The boy waves a hand in front of Mike's face. "Uh - is Nancy here?"

Mike's eyes drift upwards - because, somehow, this boy is taller than him even though Mike knows he's nearing on 6 feet - and he's met by obnoxiously shiny brown eyes and sandy brown hair that's swept to the side, like - like this boy got all dressed up to come over here, and that triggers many fantasies in Mike's head that he'd prefer not to dwell upon-

"Hey. Kid." The boy snaps his fingers. He sounds annoyed, now. Mike should probably pay attention.

"I-" Mike croaks, because his tounge suddenly feels like sandpaper, "sorry, what?"

"Nancy. Is she your sister?"

Oh.

Oh. Of fucking course.

Mike had conveniently forgotten that Nancy had taken on a tutoring gig at her school. This was mostly due to the fact that, whenever Nancy had her tutees come over to the house, it was during weekdays - never weekends.

So this boy - this - this boy, this unbelievably jacked boy had showed up, unannounced at the Wheeler doorstep, and was now looking for his sister.

Let him inside let him inside let him inside let him-

"I'm Mike," Mike blurts, and he kind of wants to smack himself. "Nancy is. Um. Nancy is my sister. Are you-" the boy moves to lean against the doorframe, his bicep flexing as he does so, and Mike is thanking the stars above that he's wearing the loosest pair of pajama pants that he owns. His question comes out in a squeak. "....looking for her?"

No SHIT he's looking for her. He ASKED for her, you absolute dumba-

The boy squints. "I'm Alex." the boy extends a hand. Mike shakes it - his hand is cold to the touch. Mike hopes it's impossible to detect the heart palpitations he is currently experiencing. "And...yes, I am looking for - oh, thank God, there you are."

Mike feels his sister's hand shove him out of the doorframe, but he's still staring. He probably looks bug eyed. His Cheerios have gone completely soggy, but he can't bring himself to care. He backwards walks back towards the La-Z-Boy. If Alex is a magnet, then Mike's eyes must be made of pure iron.

"...so sorry Alex, that's just my little brother-"

Mike hears snippets of their conversation from where he has resituated himself on the couch. Nancy is probably going to yell at him for being "impolite" later.

He tries to turn his focus back to the TV - really, he does - but - Alex's voice is so soft, like caramel, and okay, what the fuck, Mike. You were totally weird.

Mike shifts, curling his knees up to his chest. Alex and Nancy have gone to the dining room to study for - was it an English test? Maybe.

Whatever.

Mike is beginning to rethink his philosophy about Saturdays.

[devondespresso]

WIP WhhhMonday Nightish

Once upon a time Devon was tagged in a wip wednesday by @eriquin and meant to do it but missed both wednesday and the weekend before remembering again. totally unrelated, Devon is working on getting their official adhd diagnosis.

i also noticed that the past snippets shared in wip-whatever posts have been purposefully the least interesting parts because i was worried about spoilers, which is dumb because that's created the unintended consequence of my tag is full of everything i don't like as much and a very different impression of what my fic is (as seen by most of these snippets being my rewritten scenes despite the actual fic being mostly new in-between scenes)

TLDR: WIP Whatever-day-it-is: But Actually For Fun This Time

The Rules

Post the file names of up to 5 of your WIPs for people to send you asks

Post a snippet of one of those WIPs

When people send you an ask with the name of one of your WIPs, write 3 lines of that WIP.

(Optional) Post the lines you wrote.

You can send multiple requests especially since this is going on through the weekend!

The WIPs

we're doing bulleted chapter titles to share from since that was my favorite and genuinely most productive format I've used. Feel free to ask for as many as you want, I plan on working on this basically all week

Karen Wheeler POV Bonus Chapter (Prologue kinda? side story in the same universe?? Bonus chapter set after season 1 and way before ch 1)

Steve, are you okay? Are you okay, Steve? (ch 9)

What's this? The consequences of my actions? (Is that a motherfucking Lovejoy reference?) (ch 10)

Kidnapping? no. surprise adoption. (lol get taken care of BITCH) (ch 11)

NEXT CHAPTER BC IDK HOW TO TRANSITION (ch 12) (a very tentative title for the next chapter to be written)

The Snippet

here is my favorite and most recent scene I've written, which takes place before they junkyard where Steve and Dustin are at the grocery store to get that ungodly amount of raw meat they have to toss around (also i've split chapters up a bit in the name of structure so the third chapter is now called "Mommy Issues Central". Lemme know any goofy vine reference ideas you guys have or if it should stay like that) (fear not, Get Yo Fucking Dog Bitch lives on still as chapter 4)

___

They turned down the next aisle, lining the edges of the cart with some other pasta-related shit that he could still probably use. They heard someone coming over from the next aisle and before he could turn the cart around Mrs Wheeler pulled up.

"Oh, Steve ...and Dustin. What're you boys up to?"

He took a short breath to work their story into something without Mike, but Dustin beat him to it.

"He's teaching me stuff." 

He was imitating the tone Steve used but still way too vague. Mrs Wheeler held up a smile, her brows slightly lifted.

"Y'know, like cooking-" Steve said, throwing in a little gesture to the cart.

"And cars, changing oil and things. Y'know just.. dad stuff."

Dustin's part convinced her, Mrs Wheeler's expression softening into a real smile.

"Well I won't keep you long," 

She nodded off to the side to talk to Steve one-on-one.

Great.

“Are you and Nancy okay?”

“Wh- we’re- Why? Did she say something?”

“No, no, she’s just been… closed off, lately. And I drove her to school the other day, she didn’t say why.”

“Sh- yeah, that- that’s on me. Sorry.”

“Did you break up?”

“No no, definitely not. We’re kinda… we’re working on it. I’m going to try and make it better, after y’know..” he gestured to Dustin behind him.

“Right.” she smiled again, “Let Nancy know she can talk to me about any of this? Please? I tell her but- I don't know, maybe it’d be different coming from you.”

He held up a smile for her.

“Yeah, sure. Mind if we..” he jutted a thumb towards the end of the aisle.

“Yes, go ahead.”

He gave her a short wave and turned back to Dustin, who studied random shit in the aisle like Steve would believe his sudden fascination with olive oil outweighed childish curiosity.

“Steve-”

He turned back around, seeing Mrs Wheeler coming back up to him and whispering again.

“I know I’m not your mother, but you can talk to me, too. Both of you, okay?”

He kept the smile in place and nodded again, and she finally went back to her cart.

Dustin “Definitely-Not-Eavesdropping” Henderson followed him out of the aisle, thankfully waiting until they were out of earshot to ask.

“What's going on with you and Nancy?”

“Thought we had ‘much bigger problems than my love life’?”

He pulled up to the deli, stopping to pretend to look at the options.

“We’re not dropping everything for it but we can still talk.” he groaned.

“I’ll tell you later, kay? Not exactly the best place to talk.''

___

Tags

@stobinesque @spoookysix @marvel-ous-m @alexcharmsyou @museumgiftshoperaser @blushweddinggowns @sharpbutsoft @fag4dykestobin @findafight (no pressure ofc and feel free to switch it to actually wednesday fhuhjdklashj) (also just let me know if you don't wanna be tagged in these)