#and they said some things that say jancy are still together in the time jump so lol

[thestobingirlie]

i don't ship stancy, im mostly indifferent to it, but i really don't get the lengths some anti-stancies, nancy stans (especially the ones that are massively anti steve), or r*nance shippers go to to discredit the stuff that happened in s4

"theyve been broken up for years" theyve been broken up for less than 18 months. Early November 84- late march 86 is about 17 months. Less than a year and a half. That's not long enough to qualify for the plural of "years". Saying that they've been broken up for years makes it seem like steve's in his 20s or 30s and is still pining over 'the one that got away' from high school. not a teenager that still has feelings for someone he's been broken up with for less than two years. its implied that nancy was his first 'serious' relationship. and based on what we know of his dating history post s2, his only serious relationship. its not unusual for there to still be some feelings there.

"steve wants to force nancy to have six kids even though she doesn't want kids/ a family." first nancy never said she didn't want kids/ a family, shes said she doesn't want to turn into her parents. steve never said he wanted nancy to birth six kids for him. he said he had a dream of having five or six kids and that nancy was there beside him. the number of kids doesn't matter. its him saying that he wants kids and to be a present dad. he wants a family and also doesn't want to turn into his parents, as its heavily implied that he's an only child with not great parents. Nancy said his dream sounded nice other than the six kids part. a more manageable number like maybe three kids could be the balance that would work for them.

"steve tried to get nancy to cheat on Jonathan despite knowing she was happy in their relationship." steve confessed his feelings to her in a life or death situation, after shed been showing some signs of being interested. he never said he wanted her to leave jonathan or that he expected her to just jump into his arms. he said he still had feelings for her in a high stress situation. and much of jancy's relationship in s4 doesn't read as happy. they've been together for 16-17 months, and almost half of that they've been in an ldr and they've had communication issues since before jonathan moved away.

sorry for they longs ask this is just something that's bugging me because i keep seeing this in the steve tag

i truly think so many anti stancies just hate steve, and that’s why all of their “explanations” just try to make steve look bad.

like saying it’s been years since they broke up. it’s been about a year and a half! and like you said, it’s pretty much his only serious relationship. according to joe keery, she’s the first girl to really listen to him. and he hasn’t had someone (romantically) like that since. steve was nancy’s first love (again, according to natalia). it wasn’t just some short thing. it was a serious relationship at a very emotional time.

also, i personally doubt that steve’s spent that year just pining for nancy, but they’re in a life and death situation, and i think all those feelings they left behind just came rushing back. they never truly got closure. it’s natural that being together, and fighting side by side and depending on each other would make everything between them come to the surface.

ugh the six kid thing is the bane of my existence (again, people use it to try to make steve seem weird, and pushy, and demanding). it’s so clearly a reference to the party lmao. like you said, nancy never said she doesn’t want kids, she said she doesn’t want to be stuck in a miserable relationship because that’s what everyone expects (which sounds more like s4 jancy tbh). and the crucial part of steve’s confession is that nancy is the most important part. not the kids. not the travelling. but nancy by his side. what matters to steve is that there’s love. which is what’s important to nancy too.

(and yeah. they ain’t having six kids LMAO)

yes!!! can people not confess feelings anymore without being accused of homewrecking two teenagers lol? he never said he wants them broken up. he thinks he may die!!! he wants it off his chest!!! nancy was, imo, the first to start the flirting, and steve figured… why not!

honestly couldn’t have said this all better myself.

[truessences]

My Opinions on the Stranger Things Ships

No one asked me of course but we all share opinions that no one asked for lol. So I'll be sharing my quick thoughts on ships that I see people mention. Everyone's opinions are valid I just may not agree and you don't have to agree with me. I said what I said and I will not be arguing about it.

I'm not going to be rude to anyone and if you are rude while sharing your opinions, I will block you. Simple.

This isn't in any particular order except going from adults-teens-main party.

Adults

Jopper (Joyce and Hopper) - They're fine lol. I like them. In the first season, I don't think I thought much about it. It wasn't really until maybe season 3 but I thought Hopper was being really yelly and mean. But her thinking he died and then their reunion in S4 was really sweet. Them kissing and all that, I was like yeah, I think this is a natural progression.

Older Teens

Stancy (Steve and Nancy)- I thought they were okay early on except for when he got mad without talking to her and letting his friends slut shame her publicly. But I think them breaking up was a natural progression because Nancy and Jonathan had chemistry and it seemed like they were gonna lead into that anyway. In S4, they're really trying to push on us that they might be thinking of each other, Steve particularly, especially since Eddie was like blatantly telling him that that's true love lol. I don't think they need to get back together.

Jancy (Jonathan and Nancy)- I like them fine. What he did in S1 was creepy and personally I can't say I'd even talk to him after that. But they did kind of trauma bond so sure I guess. I don't mind them. But at this point, if they break up, Nancy needs to just go off to college and be bad ass. I know Hawkins is basically split open but whose to say that stuff will happen now or that Vecna will wait while he heals (maybe Eddie can return?? *Cries*). I think there should be a time jump anyway, so if that's the case, Nancy should be single. Maybe she met some other young man while in college.

Vobin? Ribickie? (Robin and Vickie)- I wish we got to see more of them interacting but I want Robin to get her girl lol. Their scene at the end of S4 was cute and I hope that if Vicky/Vickie shows up again that they're together. Maybe not publicly but for each other, together. Or I want Robin to be with someone she loves and loves her.

Ronance/Steddie (Robin and Nancy/Steve and Eddie)- These are fan ships. I personally didn't read them as couples and it's fine if you did. For Robin and Nancy, I liked that they seemed to become friends after that bit of major awkwardness in the beginning. Nancy hasn't had a close girl friend since Barb was murdered (that she still feels guilty about and I even thought that Nancy might be feeling super protective of Robin and Max) and Robin may not have many friends in general. So that's what I was thinking. As for Steve and Eddie, meh lol, I'm not the biggest Steve fan so... I'm indifferent but idk if I think that Eddie would be with Steve if he chose to date a guy. Some of the fan comics are really cute though. The one where Eddie works at the renaissance fair is cute lol.

Hellcheer/Edissy (Eddie and Chrissy)- They were cute and I'm mad we didn't get more of them. Joe and Grace had natural chemistry and that scene in the forest was a masterclass at introducing new characters to fall in love with in 3 minutes. I was unsure about both of them, Eddie more than Chrissy but that scene made me like them both. I was distraught with her death and then with his later (also for other reasons). I feel like if they got to live, they would have became easy friends. Even if it wasn't romantic, which I'm fine with that too, I just wanted them to have more scenes together.

The Main Party.

Byler (Will and Mike)- So I’m not gonna touch on this too much for the sake of arguments. At this point, it's clear that Will has feelings for Mike but there hasn’t been anything to me that shows that Mike knows or feels the same. I think a lot of posts for this ship have been extremely dishonest and manipulative of scenes and situations. I think it’s weird. You don’t need to do that for your ship. You see something that others don’t and that’s fine but I find that the people become the problem with this ship than the ship itself. You don't have to make it seem like Will reacted to Mike telling Eleven that his life started the day he found her in the woods when that screenshot wasn't from that part AND Will disappeared the day before. That's dishonest. Also seems to me that y'all want Mike to say and do the things he does for El for Will but are mad when he does it for El and say that he's lying to her? Wouldn't that be fucked up that he's lying to El, with his acts of service, with his clear emotions because he suddenly decides that he loved Will all this time? That's fucked up to me. That's all.

ElMax (Eleven and Max)- I've only seen this a few times and I think it's cute when people talk about it lol, but I also view this as a friendship. They became friends in S3 and while we don't really know if they contacted each other much during the time between S3 and S4, I think they love for each other is there and I love that in their party of boys, they have each other to lean on. Even if I found Max to be annoying and overbearing in S3.

Dusuzie? (Dustin and Suzie)- We haven't seen them interact in person but I think they're so sweet. The Neverending Story sequence is easily Top 10. I like that Dustin found someone who is just as smart and nerdy as he is but they're both cool in their own right. I hope in S5 that we get to see them actually be together more.

Lumax (Lucas and Max)- I've liked them enough as they grew closer in S2. I thought it was clear pretty early that Max was gonna choose Lucas. While we didn't get to see them be boyfriend and girlfriend that much in S3, what we did see was cute and funny. The first episode was great stuff with them. In S4, we get a more serious and emotional Lumax and while they're not together, you can tell that Lucas still cares for her and that's she's trying not to show she cares. This is shown in Dear Billy and how he doesn't leave her side from then on (sounds familiar hmm *glances at Mileven*). He saved her knowing her favorite song and then to tell her that he also loves Kate Bush now for saving her... top tier boyfriend material. Then in the finale episode, just the way he's trying to protect her but also allow her to try and go through with her plan. Ugh, it's just so good. Caleb and Sadie also have so much chemistry. I watch interviews with them and they just work really well together. I really hope that if Max wakes up in S5 (since they didn't kill her the way I think they just should have), that she and Lucas get to talk and grow together and if it's a time jump like I want, that they'll either be together or still be close. If they officially break up again, I think it'll still be a very good and amicable break up. But otherwise, top tier couple.

Mileven (Mike and Eleven)- I really could go on and on but I'll try not to. They have been our main couple and our main characters since S1. I know Mike has been sidelined a lot and I don't like it but that doesn't negate that he's technically the lead boy on the show. Anyway, they met each other the first time and Mike immediately was taken with her, this is clear when the camera panned from Eleven to the boys and then zoomed in on Mike's face. It was clear to me at least. Love at first sight even if it had to develop over time. Mike goes into caregiver mode and literally does everything he can to keep her safe and make her comfortable. He shows her his toys and everything lol. In S2, this boy called her every day because he was sure she didn't die and it was his plan to lure the demodogs so that Eleven and Hopper could get in to close the gate. Now in S3, he's afraid of losing her, afraid of being apart from her and yeah they totally get too attached at the hip which was something they had to learn (though let's not forget that Hopper threatened him leading to the decisions he makes in the beginning). But he's attentive to her regardless and he's trying to be so protective because while everyone is okay and pushing her to find the Flayed, he's the only one worried about her pushing herself too hard, "I love her and I can't lose her again!" Like come on. He was always the first into action, when Billy attacks Eleven, he goes in with a pipe (while everyone else just stood there), and then later when the Mind Flayer attacked them in the cabin, he was the first one to try and save El when it grabbed her leg. He even ran at Billy when he attacked, Max, Mike and Eleven in the mall. Then one of my fave scenes is the one in the store when he's trying to tell her that he loves her but he's babbling and can't get out (this is a character trait as he did the same thing in S1 and then later in S4 in the pizza place). He reassured Eleven that her powers will come back at some point. Then this boy spends the entire S4 dealing with his own insecurities which we FINALLY get to see him talk about with someone (but ya know he's actually lying and talking about Will)... then we get his confession and regardless if you found it cheesy or not, I felt that shit and so did he and Eleven. At this point, whether or not they last as adults, they are endgame for the show.

But these are just my thoughts on the ships I see people talk about. I'm not gonna argue about them either. I'm too old for that shit lol.

[that-thing-that-feeling]

Notice how the Duffer Bros immediately shut down discussions of a triangle that the host was trying to egg on and then said that S5 will focus on El/Boys, Jopper, and Jancy which tells me if Steve is playing anything it's a supporting role with Jancy in the leads like he was in the final season. Also I suspect Jancy will be broken up post time jump and it will be will they/won't they for the remainder of the season and they will catch big feelings while working together again. They're soulmates

Steve is not going to play a supporting role lol; they didn’t mean it was going to be exactly like s1. He’s Steve and his character is v different than s1. Re: the love triangle they didn’t talk about it in the aftershow, but did in the more recent collider interview. I’m still confused on the time jump thing bc they keep giving such mixed messages on it, but since they said it’s shorter, idk I’m confused why so many asks are assuming jancy will break up and then their arc will be them getting back together? I mean maybe that could happen—like everyone starts off single, works together, and then jancy decide to be together again, but the opposite could be true too. I feel like we don’t have enough hints yet to tell—the Duffers saying they’re unresolved though sounds more to me that they saw them as unresolved in s4, that they begin unresolved in s5, and then at some point in s5, there’s a resolution.

[jancys-blue-bayou]

Being okay (Jancy fic)

Okay, my first s3 fic is a missing scenes one filling in blanks in 3x06 from the end of the hospital fight scene to when we next see Jancy and the kids at Hopper’s cabin the next day.

Read on Ao3 or FFNet or below.

”Nancy! Are you okay?! Are you okay?!”

She fervently nods her head in answer. Her gaze is locked with Jonathan’s and his eyes are wide with worry and fear. His large hands are holding her shoulders, steadying her. Anchoring her to this world, reminding her she’s still in it. Her hands reaches to touch his arms, to make absolutely sure that Jonathan is indeed still here too, right with her. He pulls her in closer, as close as he can and wraps her up in his big embrace. She flings her arms around his neck and lets the feeling of safety wash over her for a second. She’s in Jonathan’s arms so she is safe, Jonathan’s arms is the safest place to be. He whispers that he loves her. She knows, and she loves him too and reminds him of the fact.

But they can’t stay here. As much as she’d like to stay in his arms forever they have to get up, quick now to go see where that…thing went, whatever they’re going to call the thing that was created when the disgustingly… gooey insides of Bruce and Tom morphed together into one giant terrifying monster blob.

They get up together, him helping her up to her slightly shaky legs. She gives another ”I’m okay” nod and they dash out of the hospital. Down the drain. It’s going down the drain. To where?

”Where’s it going?” Max is the one to pose the question.

”I don’t know,” El quietly answers. None of them has the answer of course.

She puts a supportive hand on Jonathan’s back. He hisses in pain and winces. She immediately removes her hand, his reaction hitting her with a pang in the heart. She feels careless, for a minute she’s been so focused on… still being alive and Jonathan still being alive and that monster still being alive that she temporarily forgot what a savage beating he took. In front of her. Seeing Jonathan be hurt like that felt worse than being hurt herself. And god, what more did he have to endure when they were separated? How bad is it?

”Are you okay?” She whispers instead.

”I’m okay,” he’s quick to answer and reaches out for her hand instead. ”You?”

”Okay,” she simply answers. She’ll have to pry out a more accurate answer of him later because she knows that was a big fat lie. Just like he probably knows she’s not totally honest either when she says she’s okay.

”Okay what the hell was that?!” Lucas finally is the one to say it.

”Yeah, what the fuck happened in there?!” Her brother swears as he and the rest of the gang turn to look at her and Jonathan for an explanation.

”Where’s Mrs. Driscoll?” Will asks.

”She was gone, she wasn’t there. But Tom was. And Bruce,” she starts to explain.

”Who’s Bruce?” Max asks.

”He… was, a reporter at the paper. And an asshole.”

”Was? What happened?”

”Tom came in when we were in Mrs. Driscoll’s room. He wasn’t himself, even more than before, when we saw him last… now he was… he was something else. He came at us so Jonathan knocked him over the head with a vase and we ran. But in the hallway we saw Bruce and he was just like Tom… it’s spreading. There were people, doctors… lying bloodied everywhere.”

”It’s turning more…” El says. They nod.

”We ran. We locked ourselves in a room and tried calling for help but couldn’t get through. Then Bruce came… he got in… he said he was there for me…”

”I tried to stop him, but he was so strong…” Jonathan mumbles.

”Too strong. Inhumanely strong,” she asserts. ”He’s a big guy and all but he could lift you off the floor Jonathan, he could throw you across the room it was insane… and when he pushed me it felt like a freight train hit me.”

”Are you guys okay?” Will asks, worried.

”Yeah… I stabbed him with a pair of scissors, in the back, he was going to… Jonathan… I just had to stop him. It slowed him down but it didn’t stop him. Then he came after me so I ran.”

”I tried to get up but before I could Tom was there and…” Jonathan just gestures to his facial wounds instead of finishing the sentence. It makes her heart ache.

”Bruce found me… I got a fire extinguisher and hid behind some curtains. I caught him by surprise and just bashed him over the head with it… again… and again… until he was…”

”I got hold of the scissors and stabbed Tom in the neck…”

”You killed them?” Mike and Will responds at once.

”It was them or us…” she mumbles.

”They weren’t really human… anymore… but…” Jonathan adds. That is true. But still she doesn’t know how to feel it’s a lot… she… they, just killed their bosses. Horrible and… inhuman as they were still…

”They went still for a second then… the lights went out…”

”We noticed,” Will says.

”Then the body started… shaking,” Jonathan continues.

”Face turning… red… bloody… like the insides came out…” she adds.

”Then they just… melted…”

”Melted?” Lucas questions.

”Yeah,” she confirms. ”Their whole body just… melted into… goo… that formed into a blob that just… started moving, crawling down the floor.”

”They met in the middle and merged into one and turned into… that… what you saw.”

Everyone stands quiet, processing. Unsure of what to say about what just happened.

”El, thank you. Thank you so much I thought I was…” She says. Jonathan’s grip of her hand tightens. She squeezes his hand back.

”You’re welcome,” El quietly says.

”What do we do now?” Lucas asks.

”We go home,” she decides. ”Everyone in the car.”

”Are you okay to drive?” Jonathan whispers as they walk towards her mother’s station wagon, the kids behind them.

”Yeah,” she quietly confirms.

In the car soon as she’s turned out of the parking lot Jonathan puts his hand on her arm. She adjusts, slinking her small hand into his large hand and they stay like that the rest of the journey. In the back the kids are talking.

”We have to find out where it went,” Mike says.

”How many flayed are there?” Max asks.

”Could be dozens,” Lucas estimates.

”Or more,” Will adds.

”We have to stop it,” Lucas says.

”To do that we need to know where it is,” Mike mutters.

”I can look… in the void,” El says.

”For the Mind Flayer?” Will asks.

”No, for them… Tom, Bruce… Heather…”

”When? Tonight?”

”Tired…”

”Okay,” she cuts in. ”We need to know where it’s hiding. We have to kill it. El can look in the void. And I have some leads we can try. But we’re not doing it tonight. El’s tired. We’re tired. We do it tomorrow.”

All the kids nod.

”Sleepover in the basement?” Mike suggests.

They all nod again, she sees in the rearview mirror.

”Nancy is that you?” Her mom’s voice calls from the living room as soon as they’ve stepped through the door into the hall. She looks at Jonathan, bloodied and bruised and drenched in sweat and he looks back at her and she knows she looks about the same.

”Yeah… thanks for letting me use the car all day um, I just picked up Mike and his friends…” she turns to Mike and the others and mouths ”Cover for me!” And they all nod. ”Uh, but I have a headache I think I’m just gonna go to bed. Night!”

She drags Jonathan up the stairs with her while Mike and the others go into the living room and ask their mom if it’s okay that they have a sleepover. She and Jonathan goes straight for the shower.

”Wait,” Jonathan stops her when she goes to take her dress off. ”Careful, there’s glass…” he explains and gently starts picking shards of broken glass from her hair.

Her mind casts her back to the moment just before the window shattered above her as El threw the monster through it, to when the monster was over her and she was sure she was going to die.

”It’s okay, I got you, I got you,” Jonathan calms her as she reflexively clasps onto him as her pulse races. he holds her steady with one arm while he continues to pick out glass shards with one hand. ”I got you. It’s okay,” he tells her when he’s finished and holding her shoulders with both hands.

She nods and starts to undress. He does the same, pulling his t-shirt over his head. She looks up and sees the reflection of his back in the mirror. The sight makes her gasp.

”Jonathan, your back…”

”Your back,” he repeats, turning her around to inspect hers which she knows undoubtedly is heavily bruised from being thrown into a wall. Twice. But it’s nothing compared to Jonathan  whose entire back is covered in severe bruising in different shades from blue to purple to straight up black. One big mark in particular stands out, it must’ve been where the chair hit him.

”No your… you…” she starts but can’t get any more words out. Seeing his bruises, thinking about Jonathan being choked, being thrown across the room, being hit with a chair, and whatever else happened to him when they were separated… it hurts her much more than her own bruises and brings tears to her eyes.

”Hey, hey it’s okay… I’m okay, really…” he softly says and pulls her into a hug.

”No you’re not…” she insists, mumbling against his chest.

”Okay fine but… hey it’s over now… it’s over and we’re both still standing… in that way it’s okay. Come on.”

He leads her into the shower and pulls the curtain. Holds her hands as he turns the faucet and water sprays down on them. He lets her wash first and gently helps her clean her back, feather light touch so careful not to hurt her in the slightest. She closes her eyes and turns her face close to the spray to wash all the gunk off her face. The image in her mind of that thing on top of her, baring its teeth and slobbering over her, is one she’d love to erase from her memory but it’s there every time she closes her eyes. In a flash her mind jumps back two years ago and another image of another monster who wouldn’t leave her alone. Then she had a panic attack in the shower, almost hyperventilating as she felt like she was back there, in the Upside Down all alone with the monster.

She’s not alone now though. She turns into Jonathan and he wraps her in a hug. She rests her forehead on his shoulder. He whispers words of comfort and sweetnothings in her ear. She’s able to gather herself. She moves him under the spray and helps him clean up, careful of his wounds and back.

Just like she has taken to leaving a few items of clothing of her own at his house for all the times she stays the night there, some of his has ended up in her closet for the same reason. She goes digging there when they’re out of the shower. Hands him a pair of boxers and snags one of his t-shirts for herself. It’s her favorite kind of nightie now. Something else catches her eye. His yellow pajama pants. They ended up here because the first time she invited him over to stay the night sweet Jonathan brought them with him because he ”didn’t want to be presumptuous”. She had told him then that he looks very cute in them but that she also very much likes him in less, and since then he’s always just sleeping in his underwear around her like he’d normally do. Another tiny little privacy barrier of Jonathan Byers that she was pleased to get through. But the yellow pajama pants themselves holds a special place in her heart, forever associated with that night, their first night together. Well, their first together like that. She puts them on now for added comfort.

Jonathan’s sitting down on the edge of her bed when she turns around. She looks him over, again wincing at his injuries.

”Hey,” she softly says as she steps over to him.

”Hey,” he answers, looking up at her as she cups his cheeks and inspects his facial wounds.

”How are you, really? Don’t say okay. Let me take care of you.”

”Okay. I… could use an aspirin.”

His gallows humor makes her grin.

”Okay. Hold on I got some in my purse.”

She retrieves it and watches him swallow the pill.

”Are you dizzy?”

”No.”

”Really?”

”Yeah.”

”What… happened when we were apart? Please tell me.”

Jonathan hesitates for a moment, then shares.

”Okay… I tried to get up but Tom slammed me down again… and into a cabinet… and a cart… and I went out for a second when he slammed my head against the floor but…”

”Jonathan…”

”I’m fine really…”

”No you’re not… jesus… seriously Jonathan how are you feeling?”

”My head is pounding and my back is killing me. But it’s okay. You’re okay right?” ”Compared to you I’m great.”

”Bruce didn’t get to you again right?”

”No, I ran and ran and found the fire extinguisher to defend myself with. Went into a room and hid behind the curtains. He went after me but looked in the wrong place first. Then I just bashed him over the head.”

”Good… I was so worried about you… can we just lay down?”

”Okay. Let me just clean your cuts first.”

He winces a little as he adjusts in bed, finally finding a way to lay on his side facing her. She lies on her side, face right next to his. She’d press her forehead against his if it wasn’t for the nasty cut on his.

”Are you comfy? With your back…”

”Yeah, it’s good. You?”

”Yeah.”

His left hand is laid between them, palm up. She lays her own on top of it, lining up their scars and interlacing their fingers.

”As if we needed any more,” she jokes. He chuckles and squeezes her hand. Shared trauma. She could do without the trauma for both him and herself. But at least they have each other. She has no idea what she’d done if she’d gone through all she has on her own, without Jonathan. Or well, she knows she wouldn’t be here now. That’s for sure.

”I really thought it was over, that I was done for…”

”I thought I’d lose you,” he admits and she can see tears threatening to spill over for him. ”I couldn’t get the door down, if El hadn’t.. I don’t know…” he croaks out before the tears do come.

”It’s okay, it’s okay. You didn’t. I’m right here. We’re both still here,” she soothes him and presses a soft kiss to his lips.

”I love you,” he whispers.

”I love you too.”

They share a comfortable silence as his tears subsides. She blinks her own away. He then quietly pipes up.

”I feel different.”

”Because of what you had to do? To Tom?”

”Yeah…”

”I feel the same… but we had to do it. I feel weird but we had to. It was them or us.”

”I know. Still…”

”I know.”

In the morning Jonathan dresses in a pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt he left in her room at an earlier occasion and climbs out her bedroom window and comes around to the front while she goes down and tells her mother that Jonathan is ”coming over early for breakfast” which her mother doesn’t mind of course since she adores Jonathan. Soon after they have sat down at the table Mike and the rest come up from the basement. They all try to act normal. Mike pointedly looks at her before ”begging” for a ride and she is quick to volunteer herself and Jonathan ”if we can take the station wagon again mom”. Their mom readily agrees, undoubtedly happy that she and Mike aren’t at each others throats.

”Where do you want to do this El?” She turns around and asks once they’re all in the car.

”Cabin,” the girl answers. ”But, we need stuff first.”

”What stuff?”

”Pictures. It helps me connect.”

”Right. So we need pictures of Tom and Bruce…”

”And Heather,” Mike butts in.

”And Billy,” Max adds.

”Right,” she nods and thinks for a second. ”Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

She gets out of the car and hurries back inside the house.

”Forgot my purse!” She tells her mother and dashes up the stairs to her room.

Rummaging around she finds the high school yearbook. Flips through the pages quickly until she gets to the seniors. There he is, Billy Hargrove. He really manages to look just as much as a douche as he is. She gets out a pair of scissors and cuts out his photo. Back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her dad fittingly is finished with the paper by now. Tom as the editor doesn’t have his photo in it but a story she knows Bruce wrote a few days ago is on page 5. She cuts out his byline photo and hurries back out to the car.

”Okay, that’s halfway there already,” she says and shows them what she got. Jonathan smiles at her. ”We’ll have to go back to Heather’s house for the rest,” she continues and hands over the cutouts to El.

She puts the car in drive and rolls out of the driveway. It feels good to be on their feet again, to have a plan of action, something to do. She’s past Dearborn when Mike pipes up from the back.

”Wait, couldn’t you have gotten Heather’s yearbook photo too?”

”Shit,” she didn’t even think of that. ”Well we would’ve had to go their house anyway for Tom’s picture so there,” she looks into the rearview mirror sticks her tongue out at Mike.

They don’t bother knocking this time around at the Holloways house. Jonathan opens the door and they all step in somewhat apprehensive at first. They can’t be totally sure the house is still empty. She and Jonathan walk in the front as they go from room to room making sure.

”There we go,” her brother suddenly calls out when they get to the living room. He strides over to the mantle piece and picks up a picture frame, turns it in his hand and smashes the glass against the mantle piece.

”Mike!” She admonishes.

”What?” He counters and holds up the family photo he’s fished out of the broken frame.

”Alright well, lets get out of here then,” Jonathan says and they start to leave.

While the kids walk in front of them back down the driveway Jonathan takes her hand in his again.

”I want to call all the people I talked to about the story again. Maybe we can get something there, if El’s thing doesn’t work.”

”Sounds good,” he nods.

”I really hope this works. We need to know where it went… and what it wants. And how to stop it.”

”It’ll work. And when we know where it is… we’ll stop it. Somehow.”

”Yeah but how?”

”I don’t know, but I’m sure my girlfriend will think of something. She’s the smartest human being on the planet and the bravest and is good with a gun and I’m never doubting her again,” he smiles at her.

”Thanks,” she grins and looks down. ”I really needed that Jonathan Byers pep talk.”

”Anytime.”

[the-excursion]

Fictober #27

Prompt: “Remember, you have to remember.”

Original Fiction

Story: Vibes/Faded

Lucine and Jude had just gotten back to the Musicorum ship after going out for a short date.

“Hey you’re back, had fun?” Lexis came in brightly.

“Yeah, what’s it matter to you?” Jude said with a role of his eyes.

“You can’t expect me to mind my own business when we live under the same roof. Stop being all shy about it already you’ve been dating for a while,” Lexis said as he smiled at Lucine. She smiled back and gave a short wave. Just then, the other girls came in laughing from Chrysa’s room. Chrysa wore an orange jacket with white jeans while Zinni wore a blue jacket with black jeans. Olea wore a light blue tank top with honey-colored jeans.

“Oh they’re back!” Zinni said kindly.

“What’re the odds, the whole family’s here,” Chrysa added sarcastically.

“He did show you a good time, didn’t he?”

“He better have,” Chrysa added to Olea’s question to Lucine. Jude only groaned in slight embarrassment.

“Jude can't do anything besides show me a good time,” she answered with a wink.

“Hear that? Take some notes,” Chrysa said as she nudged Lexis with her elbow.

“Ow, what are you talkin’ about? I’m nothing but a good time,” Lexis joked.

“Yeah and that’s why you haven’t gotten a partner yet,” Chrysa snickered.

“Oh yeah? Speak for yourself!” Lexis remarked. Zinni and Olea glanced at each other for a moment. Lexis rose a brow. “Wait what?”

“Looks like that’s where I beat you, yet again,” Chrysa teased.

“What? You never told us,” Lexis said as he gestured to Jude as well.

“Yeah cause it's no big deal, for now. All you gotta know is she’s cool and that’s all. Lexis you really are nosy,” Chrysa explained as she crossed her arms.

“Ugh I can’t catch a break with you guys,” Lexis responded with an exasperated slump of his shoulders, his head hanging a bit.

“Hey let's not tease Lexis too much, I'm sure he's got game,” Lucine said.

“Heh thanks, Lucine,” Lexis said with a hint of relief. Lucine looked around the room and smiled as she took in the moment.

“I'm really glad you all let me into your family. I want to return the favor and show you the people I call family,” Lucine said out loud to everyone. The room was silent as they could only blink her way, being enheartened by her offer.

“Aaand I think this is where I’m out,” Olea said unsurely as she began to turn to her room before Zinni stopped her.

“Hey come on, we already told you you’re an official part of our family too, what are you talking about,” she assured her with a shake of her head. Olea smiled, feeling more and more accommodated to the group.

“Lucine, you’re serious?” Jude asked, looking into her eyes. Lucine gave a short nod.

“Yeah, I am serious. I got a weird family, but you guys should meet them,” Lucine replied.

“And mine isn’t?” Jude joked as he rose a brow at Lexis, Lexis shortly sticking his tongue out to him in response.

“Ooo this is exciting. This means we’re meeting the Red Claw,” Chrysa said eagerly. “To think they’re potential targets on The Records for these two.”

“You know we weren’t planning on going for them. To be honest no one is,” Lexis said. “Lucine, come set up the coordinates for their ship. Let’s get going then.” Jude then took Lucine’s hand and lead her to the controls. Lucine sat down at the controls and put in the coordinates. In no time the ship was headed to the Red Claw’s location through a few hyper jumps until they finally arrived. Through the main view port they could see the ship just ahead of them. It was decently larger than theirs.

“Damn.. and I thought the upgrades I got to my ship were good…” Lexis said as he tilted his cap up.

“Hey they were. For what it’s worth, you got us all to fit in here,” Zinni said. Lexis smirked.

“Where we landing?” He asked Lucine. “Move it into the main landing bay,” Lucine said pointing in the direction of it.

Lucine put in the security code at the controls allowing them to board. They promptly landed the ship. They all got off their ship and looked around, curious of their new surroundings. Jude found his way to stand beside Lucine as she lead them through. Standing by the landing bay exit were all the present members of Lucine's family, the Red Claw. Vogue the Red Claw's leader stood in the middle with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Vogue was a battle scarred half Wreathe with a notable metallic arm. Bryant was standing to the left of her. He was a large muscular Indarian. To the right of Vogue was Wayne. Wayne was wearing a special airtight suit, if his Buenei skin were to come into contact with most atmospheres he would die. The suit he wore was black and orange. Janci the Red Claw's technician was a cleanly put together Gakunan. His blue hair was cut short and slicked back. He stood to the far right of the group.

“Hey I'm Vogue Vibe, these guys and Lucine make up the Red Claw. We are missing one member right now but this is us,” Vogue said with a scratch of her head.

Chrysa, Zinni, and Olea all grew confused looks as they glanced at each other.

“Wait, did you say Vibe?” Chrysa asked. “Does Dax Vibe live here?”

“Yeah, she is the missing member. Dax is my daughter,” Vogue said with a head nod.

“How would you know Dax?” Jude asked with a raised brow.

“Uh, wait, how would you know?” She asked more perplexed.

“Lucine told me about her beforehand,” Jude said as he subconsciously took Lucine’s hand, interlocking their fingers. “On top of that I happened to run into her on my way from picking up HYT from Vincent. Which I admit was a story I haven’t told you. Now, how would you know her?” Lexis stood glancing back and forth between them, being confused yet highly interested.

“I’m interested in hearing this too. You couldn’t have forgotten. Remember, you have to remember,” Lexis poke-and-prodded.

“I- well- firstly, it’s nice to meet you, Vogue. I don’t know if Dax has mentioned anything about me, but I’m Chrysa. I’ve kind of been hanging out with her,” she explained.

“God… should’ve guessed,” Jude said with a shake of his head a he remembered Dax’s rambunctiousness.

“Yo that’s crazy,” Lexis said with an amused smirk.

“Hanging out? No one got my approval to 'hang out,’ hmm,” Vogue joked.

“I think that’s something you’d have to talk to her about then. In any case, she’s really cool and ambitious. I wouldn’t do anything against her, really the opposite. She’s helped me and my sisters so much actually,” Chrysa explained as she gestured to Zinni and Olea who modestly waved. Vogue waved back.

“Wow, not one but two of you have smitten members of the Red Claw. And I hope Dax doesn't drive you crazy, Chrysa,” Vogue said as she grabbed one of Chrysa's hand in a show of fondness.

“Ah heh what can I say? The members of Musicorum just have a way with people,” Chrysa said lightheartedly. “But don’t worry, she’s just my speed. It’s a bit of a contest on who can keep up with who,” she smiled. “But she’s really your daughter? I.. didn’t know.. well, a few things about her..”

“Yeah she is. She grew up a little faster than I would have liked, but she's still my little girl don't let her tell you otherwise. Also don't sweat not knowing a few things about her means you two have a lot to talk about still,” Vogue replied. Chrysa contemplated for a second before giving a short breath then a sure nod.

Vogue walked over to Jude and Lucine. She took out her hand to greet Jude. Jude glanced at Lucine for a second before briefly shaking Vogue’s hand.

“So you're the Dark Queen's knight? All the years I've known Lucine and she's never been serious with anyone, and it came out of nowhere. Your girlfriend here is one of the strongest beings to ever exist. You are braver than all of us,” Vogue teased Jude as she patted his shoulder. Lucine rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Um thanks. It means a lot to hear that actually,” he began as he looked back at Lucine for a second. “But nah, I couldn’t be braver than you. You did meet her first. I don’t think I’m any knight, I was just lucky. I’m Jude by the way,” he smirked. Vogue gave a short chuckle.

“I can only imagine how you two met. First time I met Lucine was a doozy, we were trying to kill each other. I was on an assignment to kill her. Obviously things didn't go down that way but I'm glad they didn't. One because having Lucine as a friend is irreplaceable, and two because I'm sure that Lucine would have ended up killing me instead,” she said. Jude let himself smile a bit more as he began to loosen up.

“I can agree with you on that. But the way we met seemed like something out of pure chance. We were on the same mission to catch the same guy, but obviously for different reasons. She told me and Lexis to leave him to her, but of course Lexis didn’t listen and we ended up on her tail. The only way we got to help her was because she got injured. After, she let us stick around until the job was done. Can’t really explain what we were feeling from there that got us here,” Jude explained modestly.

“You could say~ I was the extra push they needed,” Lexis chimed as he playfully winked at Jude.

“Sometimes the right people just find each other,” Vogue said with a smile on her face.

“That does happen from time to time,” Lucine winked. Jude blushed slightly as he smirked to Lucine.

[thequeenofshebasays]

I'm sorry about the bad day :( How about a fluffy jancy prompt of Nancy surprising Jonathan while he has a boring shift at work :)

thank you dear!!! and here you go!

His arms were crossed and resting on the counter, his chin ontop of them, his brown eyes were watching a popped kernel of corn jump acrossthe smooth surface as he gently blew it until it popped off the counter. He letout a loud sigh and stood up from the counter, glanced at the clock and had tonot let out a curse word when he saw that only 2 minutes had passed since helast checked.

He’d already swept the lobby, dusted, wiped down the glass andcounters, cleaned the tray on the soda machine and even did clean sweeps of thefour empty theaters… twice.

it was just past 11pm… New Years Eve. NO ONE was coming intothe theater, he wasn’t even sure why they were open. But the manager had said “justin case.” what made it worst was that Jonathan wasn’t even supposed to be workingtonight, Drew had asked him to switch shifts, he had a date, Jonathan had agreedbefore he realized what night the shift fell on… and here he was.

Jonathan had dragged the manager’s office chair from the officeand was currently spinning in it behind the counter, he was supposed to stayuntil after the last movie showed, and it didn’t end until 1:45pm.

Jonathan had a crumpled piece of paper in his hand, he spunin the chair and then used his foot to stop short and then he tried to three pointsinto the small trash can across from him. When it went in, Jonathan gave a littlefist pump, “three points for Byers,” he said in his best announcer voice. “butwill he be able to make the winning shot that will win the game for state?”Jonathan crumbled another piece of paper, spun in the chair, made the shot. “yes!”he jumped up from the chair, “and the crowd goes wild!” he did a little victorydance which consisted of some sort of version of the ‘running man’ which he hadto admit was bad.

The sound of clapping made him freeze, he spun around, andhis heart nearly stopped.

The clapping stopped, Nancy gave a small smile and wave, “thinkingabout joining the team?” she asked lightly.

Jonathan felt embarrassment wash over him, but thenconfusion, and then he was feeling warm and embarrassed. He looked down and hishand went to the back of his head where he nervously scratched, “um… no… I was…”he didn’t know what to say. She’d just caught him acting like an idiot.

He took a deep breath and tried to fight past the feeling, “um,meeting someone here? The last showing of Romancing the Stone starts in 15minutes.” Jonathan said as he shuffled to the cash register. He wasintentionally not looking at her, afraid he’d see a mocking look on her face.

“I’m not here to see a movie.” Nancy said it in her gentleway.

Jonathan looked up and she was closer, and he finally had alook at her, a real look. She was wearing her dark brown over coat, her hairwas down, met her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, but her lips had apretty shade of gloss on them. She was wearing on of her plaid skirts and a cream-coloredsweater.

Jonathan had to look back at the cash register because she lookedso nice, so beautiful, and it wrecked him inside.

“right, um… last, I heard, the big New Years party was at StephanieMiller’s house.” Jonathan said, he knew this because everyone at school wouldn’tshut up about it… including Steve, who had mentioned that he was going to getback together with Nancy at it.

He figured that she would be at the party, be with Steve, soher standing before him, not only startled him but confused him.

“yeah, I heard about it, then I found out you weren’t going.”Nancy said.

Jonathan nodded, motioned around slightly, “kinda stuck.” Helooked at her again and she took his breath away.

“that’s why I’m here.” Nancy said suddenly.

Jonathan looked up at her, brow furrowed, “I’m not following?”he was even more confused now.

“since you were stuck here, I thought I’d help you make yournew years eve nice.” Nancy said, and she raised her arm and she was holding abag.

Jonathan hadn’t seen that was holding anything, “what’sthat?” he asked as he leaned over the counter. He met her eyes again and noticedhow kind they were.

“if you’re not busy, I thought we could have our own littleNew Year Eve party.” Nancy said as she set the bag on the counter.

Jonathan arched a brow, he looked around the empty lobby, “Isuppose I could step away for a minute,” he was starting to relax, and his tonewas flirtatious. He debated and decided, he dashed from around the counter andthrew the locks on the front doors. He turned around and motioned to one of thetheaters.

Nancy followed him, “won’t you get in trouble?” she asked.

No one has been in all night, and the last movie has alreadystarted,” Jonathan said.

He let her pick out their seats, and they settled in as Romancingthe Stone was under way. They weren’t paying attention to the movie, Jonathanwas focused as Nancy opened her bag and pulled out two glass bottles of coke,and some other snacks.

“I pilfered some of the appetizers from my mom’s party,”Nancy handed him the Tupperware. She finished getting things out and soon theysettled into eating.

They talked lightly, and Jonathan only got up three times tocheck on the lobby.

He was getting back from throwing away their trash, and Nancyhad pulled something else from the bag, Jonathan looked at her with a smallsmile, “did you pilfer that as well?” he asked as he sat next to her.

Nancy only shrugged before she carefully popped the cork offthe top of the bottle of champagne.  “shewon’t miss it.” Nancy said she pulled two clear plastic cups from the bag.

Jonathan held the cups as she poured champagne, she set thebottle in the cup holder before he handed her the cup.

Jonathan checked his watch, “15 minutes until 1985.”Jonathan said, they clinked cups and took a sip. He winced, the flavor was slightlybitter, but he took a second sip and it was better.

“what a year,” Nancy said, she watched him as she spoke.

Jonathan looked at her, “yes, finally rid of Hawkins Lab,Will is better, things are normal.” Jonathan said.

Nancy nodded, “we got closer,” she smiled at him. They boththought about when they were at Bauman’s place and she regretted not going tohim the second time.

He regretted staying in bed as well…

“I broke up with Steve,” Nancy said suddenly, “and it was agood decision.”

Jonathan froze mid-sip, he looked at her, “that’s great Nancy,you’ve seemed happier.” And she had.

Nancy nodded, “partly because of you.” She set her cup down,and gently took his from his hand, set it aside, “you make me happy.”

Jonathan looked at her, “I’m happier when I’m with you.”Jonathan said honestly. It was true, she was his best friend… after Will, hewas allowed to have two after all.

Nancy smiled, she gently took his wrist in her hand andlooked at the time, “almost time,” she whispered.

Jonathan was still watching her, “it is.” He thought about howhe didn’t make his move in October, he took a deep breath and leaned towards Nancy,she looked at him startled and then his lips were on hers.

Nancy was slightly startled, but she kissed him back, herhand going to his hair.

A distant firework startled them both, Jonathan and Nancy couldn’thelp but giggle when they jumped apart.

He ducked his head and she leaned and kissed his cheek, “HappyNew Year, Jonathan,” Nancy whispered.

Jonathan looked over and kissed her gently, “Happy New Year,Nancy.”

Nancy picked up their cups, so they could have one more sip,just as the movie finished.

 fin

[jancys-blue-bayou]

Yeah so Stranger Things 3 was painfully bad

Yeah yeah big negative post about ST3 coming up. Just... holy shit, my expectations weren’t exactly high but jesus I didn’t think it’d be this bad. Wow. Mindboggling to think it was made by the same dudes who made season 1, it feels like a different show. Some of the worst writing I’ve seen in a long while, parts of season 3. This got very long because it was very bad so it’s under the cut. Starting with the few positives and then away we go...

Of course there were bright spots, I thought what we got of Jancy was generally good (just wish there had been more of it. Just like... more lines between them, a few moments could’ve gone on longer...like after the awesome hospital fight scene jesus just let them fucking desperately embrace and profess their love for each other, it was awesome how they relentlessly kept going at the monster to save the other but can we please just have a few more seconds for a comfort moment after?) I liked how they handled the fight btw, apart from the Oliver Twist comment yeah yeah heat of the moment but still felt OOC with that loa a blow. Nancy and Karen scene was nice and um... well Max and El bonding was nice. And um... Mr Clarke! And I kind of dig Murray.

My main issues with it:

- The product placement. Jesus Christ. Okay, ST has always been a show with noticeable product placement. But it’s gone from things like a Coke can prominently on display on a table in s1 (El crushing it with her mind) to literally having a straight up ad for Coca Cola in the middle of a tense scene. That’s the big offender that made me go wow you’re really doing this to yourselves huh, there are many others ofc (everything at the mall ofc, Slurpees being in hyperfocus for a bit, and a lengthy talk about Burger King. These smaller things one by one wasn’t the worst but all combined jesus it was too much, all added together and then bam the Coke commercial was wow... Congrats on the like 80 sponsorship deals and esp the new ST themed arcade hall by Coca Cola hope it was worth completely selling out for.

- Relatedly, the original fucking song. Holy christ talk about jumping the shark. That was the oddest, cringiest, weirdest shit I’ve seen in a long time. Gaten’s a great singer don’t get me wrong, but there’s a time and place for it and an original song stuffed into the middle of the tense climax of the season is not it Duffers. Just a blatant cash cow, hoping to bring in more money via the song.

- Robin. Sorry but holy cow what a Mary Sue. Hey here’s this super cool girl who’s cool™ and funny™ and super smart™ and NOT Nancy (like they seriously for real said in a scene, they actually for real had to pit Robin and Nancy against each other for no reason). And she conveniently has these specific skills needed for the plot (which she gets involved with for no real motivation other than having nothing better to do, lazy writing). Said skills were so over the top unrealistic it completely sucked me out of it. To start with, this random girl in small town Indiana in 1985 speaking French, Spanish and Italian um... does Hawkins High have the most amazing language department or what? Very un-american in that case... and okay then, her knowing those languages wouldn’t help jackshit with understanding Russian. Russian is a notoriously difficult language to learn and it is not related to the Romance languages at all, Robin knowing those languages and oh, having “a good ear” bc she’s in band (?!??! what?!) wouldn’t help her at all. Having the alphabets on the wall and listening to strange words in a foreign language she has no understanding of would never work. No way for her to understand what is she’s hearing, what letters are in the words just, nothing. It’s completely ridiculous. The good thing is she’s a lesbian, crushing Stobin that made me LOL. Btw, I don’t get what age they were writing her as? She’s still in school but later says she and Steve was in the same class, and she knows who Nancy is but Nancy, who is still in school, doesn’t know her even though presumably they’d be in the same year at little Hawkins High? Was it just sloppy writing or what?

- Too. Much. Plotting. What happened to “this season is about the characters” um there was just so much plot stuff and action sequences and barely any character driven moments at all. Those intimate moments that made s1 amazing. Generally regarding plots felt the Russian plot was messy and not well-written also what happened to the US government as the big bad? Unless they’re setting up a big Cold War thing for s4. And felt the zombie thing was wasted, could’ve been used differently like I’d have thought it’d be used like the MF spreading it’s influence over vaster areas and being harder to keep track of etc.

- Too little Will. Will’s whole thing with feeling left out etc was just dropped halfway through it felt very undercooked. His arc was just dropped wtf.

- NO BYERS FAMILY INTERACTIONS WTF. The sequence in the first episode when Jancy has overslept and Joyce wipes the lipstick off Jonathan was cute (but could’ve been even cuter I’d have preferred a short fluffy Jancy moment here just as they wake up before they realize they overslept, bc we didn’t get much pure fluff, and then it’d been awesome if Joyce would’ve just called Nancy into the house to mess with them). But like... that’s kind of it. For the Byers family. Talking to each other in the whole season. When they partnered Jancy with the kids many thought awesome we’ll get Byers bros talking and teaming up (and Nancy and Mike) but there was just nothing. Not even a family hug after the battle at the mall, just Joyce hugging Will, with all this tightknit little family has been through you telling me Jonathan wouldn’t join in?

- No Will and El bonding wtf? SUCH a wasted opportunity. They’ve built this unique awesome connection over s1 and s2 and now in s3 would finally be able to bond normally for real and... nothing.

- Turning Hopper back into an even bigger jerk than he was at the start of the show, neglecting all his character development. What was the point of the whole El and Hopper thing they devoted so much time to in s2 if Hopper’s back at it with the yelling and all now? And jeez his constant whining to Joyce about every man she interacts with holy christ that got annoying. Generally Hopper was such an annoying asshole this season I was so tired of him by the time he “died”.

- TOO MANY CHARACTERS. Jeez, I know I’m on about it all the time but jesus christ there is way way too many characters in this for 8 episodes which hurts the narrative and screentime for interesting characters is just... yeah.

- Speaking of screentime, did we really need that many identical generic fight scenes between Hopper and the Russian guy? Jesus Christ it’s so boring watching fight scenes like that, so repetitive (compare to the hospital fight scene which was dynamic and awesome). Also regarding screentime did we really need to devote so incredibly much of it to Steve and Robin being comedic relief while drugged? Yeah yeah mix light and dark and all that but jesus christ at that point in the narrative shit has hit the fan lean into the dark.

- Totally expected of course but still, the furthering of Steve Memeington. My god they actually had him literally call himself daddy... christ.

- The Billy and Karen/all the other middle age women remains gross and bad in a billion ways. Also completely pointless for the plot, they could’ve come up with any other way to get Billy to the factory. And what did it give Karen in development? Just the realization that yeah I’m tired of my husband but I’m not leaving my family and I’ll stick with him just ‘cause? Okay but did we need her almost sleeping with a kid a year older than her daughter for that? Icky. Also the editing of the scene where Billy hits her was so weird. Also that was weird as fuck.

- The ending. Okay christ my main gripe with this is because of a point above: No Byers family interaction at all! Joyce and Hopper talk briefly about her thinking about moving once or twice but she never talks about it with her kids... obviously she did in the timegap but we need to see that to build to the thing. Having no Byers interactions the whole season and then just oop we’re moving is so weird. I’m also not sure if Joyce’s motivation for moving (her bad memories of Hawkins) would be enough. For sure an argument for it, but an argument against is the one Hopper presents to her (and though he’s not around still there’s still a support system around them there, especially for her kids which she loves above all). Speaking of her loving her kids above all, she knows they love their friends/girlfriend/boyfriend to bits, have walked through fire with them and are each others support system as mentioned, would Joyce really just uproot them from that? There’s also some purely practical things that stuck out to me immediately: the timeskip for the epilogue makes it so they move when the schoolyear is already well under way and Jonathan has started senior year, feel bad for Jonathan there in a number of ways. Also, how the hell did Joyce manage to sell her house and what did it fetch? Her rundown house on the outskirts of a now infamous town with an incredibly bad rep? Even if the buyer bought it for the land the land doesn’t look special, just find it hard to believe she could get much for it. And where did they move? Where did she find a place? And work? Did she have something lined up or? I guess we’ll see.

- Oh and speaking of work, that was another thing that was just dropped, the mall killing downtown and the protests just fell out of the story. But, with what happened to the mall wouldn’t business come back to downtown (possibly reason for Joyce to want to stay if Melvald’s going out of business was another reason to move).

- Sorry but Mileven took way too much space.

- Again, no Jonathan and Will actual brothers bonding. But a whole lot of Steve and Dustin meme fanservice wank.

- Erica is just the sassy black girl trope non stop the whole season and nothing else and it’s so grating and... I was gonna say disappointing but I had no faith in the Duffers regarding this. Just because a bit character becomes a meme doesn’t mean they need to become a main. *cough* Steve *cough cough* Sorry.

- Last but not least, the woobiefication of Billy. Uggggghhhh. Disgusting. And having Max cry over him WTF?!?!?!?!?! staaaaaaahp.