#and with society i mean jim hopper

[stevieschrodinger]

I really want to write this as like a fully fledged, 100k word fic, but I just do not have the time. I need to get the idea down so here it is.

So modern AU. Steve is an Alpha, always known he wanted to help people, little boy who wants to be a police officer or a firefighter, that sort of thing. Mother humors him, Dad is disinterested, both parents are hands off to the point of being borderline neglectful without actually crossing the line - the second Steve can legally get out, he goes to college. Ends up taking an interest in Omega studies, of all things - which leads neatly into the career choice that Steve didn't even know he needed.

By the time Steve is 23 he's leading his own little team under the watchful eye of his superior - Jim Hopper. They're a special branch of the FBI, geared specifically to finding and breaking up illegal Omega abduction and trade rings. Steve's good at what he does - really good - top of his class for firearms, has an affinity for the Omega he comes into contact with, and his control over his Alpha is pretty second to none. Steve can radiate comfort in the middle of a firefight if he has to - if it means keeping these people safe.

Steve sees some pretty horrible shit - he's miraculously well adjusted, goes to his mandated therapy sessions like a good boy, and gets on with Hopper surprisingly well for how surly the guy can be.

Steve's worst attribute is that he's a workaholic - he has a history of failed relationships, so he gives up entirely and has no social life to speak of.

And then Steve's out with his team - it's taken months to track this down. Steve's been supervising undercover agents, starting with a tip off about illegal drug trades that pinged Steve's radar as Omega hormones. So rather than heading in and arresting at base level, Steve, with Hopper's nod, pulls the thread.

They assumed the hormones were heat inducing - they were wrong, and what they find is horrifying. The drugs have been used on un-presented kids. Stolen kids, as young as 11, to try and force them into presenting as Omega. These kids have been abducted from everywhere, no sense to it that anyone can see - except that these kids all come from poor families. Marginalized by society - in a lot of cases, kids that haven't even been reported as missing.

To top it off - the kids are being abused. Neglected, starved, left in filthy conditions and being regularly sexually assaulted. It is by far the worst thing Steve, or even Hopper, in his long carer, has ever seen.

They go in, break up the ring, the perpetrators are either killed in the ensuing firefight or captured and brought in.

Steve sustaining only minor injuries in the altercation, continues on with his job to clear out the kids and get them to safety- in his haste to get to where the final group of kids are being held, sets off a booby trap of some sort.

Steve is badly injured- his lower left leg taking the vast majority of the damage- for the first time in his career, Steve panics. But then he has a kid with him, big brown eyes and a mop of curly hair, skin too pale and drawn, dirty fingers and bare feet. And this kid is trying to comfort Steve, obviously understanding that this is a rescue. By the time the rest of his team get to him, Steve is finding comfort in the scent of un-presented pup - the little guy curled up right against Steve.

The pup is, evidently, also finding comfort in Steve, both of them locked together, faces buried in each others scent glands.

They wont let go of each other, even in the ambulance, and it's decided pretty quickly that if they're keeping each other calm, to let them stay that way. On arrival to the hospital, they're both sedated for their own good - Steve wakes up to find he's missing his left leg from the knee down, and Hopper asleep slouched in the chair next to him.

The first thing he does is ask about the pup - Hopper tells him what he can, the kid is called Eddie, was small because he was starved and actually was thirteen years old - and he's safe and well, already reunited with his uncle.

Steve can relax. But not really. Because once his leg heals, he's in physio, and then learning to regain his mobility with a prosthetic, also dealing with the deafness the explosion left him with in his left ear, and the scarring that stretches all the way up to his left hip.

Hopper is determined not to loose Steve off his team - he basically invents a roll for him, if he wants it - Steve is too good to be wasted, so he goes back to work for Hopper in an investigative roll. He'll never work in the field again, but he becomes the brains behind a lot of successful operations.

But still, he's listless, missing the hands on aspects on his roll. He treads water for nearly two years, before he happens to have a conversation in the office break room, with one Robin Buckley.

Steve's known Robin for years, she's an Omega behaviorist, and works a lot with traumatized Omega, rehabilitating, therapy, that kind of thing. She's always been there, on the periphery of Steve's team, taking the Omega off their hands. After Steve's rescues, it's with Robin that the real work often begins. From the conversations they've had previously - Steve handing over information about conditions he'd found Omega in, likely what they've been put through, and anything else that will help Robin do her job, he's always found her sympathetic but no nonsense. He's always respected Robin.

And maybe that's why their conversation easily slips into Steve confessing his listlessness - and what prompts Robin to suggest he retrain. She's heard herself how bombproof Steve's Alpha is in the field - would he be interested in a day or two a week with her team? Positive Alpha exposure is often a vital step in the reintegration process.

Steve thinks about it. He talks about it with Hopper. Between them both, Steve figures he has nothing to loose, and Hopper agrees to release Steve a day a week to Buckley's department on a trial. Steve takes on extra training - bolstering up his Omega Studies qualifications from College. Steve loves it. it's fulfilling. It gives him the hands on aspect of his job he'd been missing.

And then Hopper lands a file on his desk - it's come to them via unorthodox means, through a local doctor, then a hospital specialist, then flagged by Buckley's team as it's an old rescue case. A closed case. And Steve opens the file to find a picture of himself, grainy, black and white, but unmistakably Steve. He's sitting on a gurney, someone desperately doing something to the mess of his leg, but in his lap, the curly haired pup he hadn't let go of that day.

The pup who, apparently had presented an Omega. Steve reads, doing the math, reading the hospital records from that day. The kid had presented basically the second he'd woken up. He'd presented, most likely, while Steve was in surgery still.

That stirs something in Steve. Something a little unfamiliar; the feeling that he hadn't been there and he should have been.

There's another picture, Edward Munson, the kids put on weight, he's grown some. Still has big brown eyes looking out of a very pretty face; and that stirs something in Steve too.

Munson basically hasn't been okay since the rescue. At first they put it down to the usual stuff, the kid had survived being abducted, drugged, sexually assaulted, physical harm, that kind of trauma can take years to work though, decades, a lifetime. But everyone is maintaining there's something a little off with this kid, something else wrong, something hindering his recovery that really shouldn't be; it's like he's mate sick.

But he doesn't have a mate.

The one time they tried to expose this kid to an Alpha, it ended so badly he became aggressive. And then someone dug deep enough to find this photo, to read this file.

Steve's standing up before Hopper gets to the end of the question, yes, he wants to see the Omega, yes, he's going to work with the Omega.

There's a frustratingly long song and dance around it - Buckley wants to follow protocol to the letter, so their first meeting is in one of the Omega work rooms, just Eddie and Steve, very calm, very controlled, with Robin and Hopper observing from the other side of a one way glass mirror.

Eddie backs away at first, is dubious of Steve, but Steve has a worn shirt with him and leaves it on a chair within reach, and once Eddie, finally scents it, he bursts into tears, "is it really you?" he sobs, and Steve confirms that it is, and Eddie is climbing into Steve's lap, still sobbing, "I thought I'd never see you again."

And they stay like that, until Robin finally breaks them up, but Eddie will not let go of Steve, not completely, and Steve doesn't want to let go of Eddie either, but he has to.

He has to make his case. He has to explain that that sixteen year old Omega, a decade Steve's junior, is without doubt Steve's mate. There's a lot of back and forth, they need the uncles blessing, which after a thirty second conversation with Eddie, Wayne doesn't hesitate.

Steve takes Eddie home, with instructions from Hopper to take all the time he needs.

This is where the real work starts, Eddie is traumatized, has been mate sick since the day he presented, and needs a hell of a lot of work. Their bond is solid, but formed in trauma, so the attachment issues become almost immediately apparent.

They put in the work - Eddie has a therapist who is not Steve, and Steve still goes to his own therapy sessions like a good boy. They deal with a lot of things, Eddie's night terrors, his awful relationship with food, his inability to settle, the panic attacks. Eddie's first heat, where nothing happens because Eddie is still terrified of sex. They work through Eddie's confused feelings; Steve falls utterly and completely in love.

Eddie slowly picks up his reading - the education he's missed - starts gently with a distance learning course. Steve goes back to work, a gentle three half days a week to start with.

They get through it all, and make a life together.

[greenandsorrow]

Not a request, but can you make a list of the fandoms and characters you write for? Not to be rude! <333

Disclaimer-> There are fandoms I've already written stuff for or will in the future, but they're not in the following list bc I simply don't take requests for them (the wizarding world, star wars, the matrix, prometheus, DC, etc.)

x reader for the most part unless I say otherwise

FANDOMS & CHARACTERS I WRITE FOR 🍂☕

FNAF:

William Afton (either from the game or the book trilogy, not movie Willy still love him tho)

Springtrap

The Puppet

Comfortingly scary stuff with the animatronics of the first six games.

OMORI:

I'M NOT AGING ANYONE UP FOR SMUT/ I WON'T PUT ANYONE IN SEXUAL SITUATIONS (aging up for character development is acceptable ig)

Omori (can be shipped with Aubrey)

Stranger

Basil

Sunny (can be shipped with Aubrey/Basil)

The group x reader

The reader just experiencing or being part of Headspace, Black Space, White Space and the characters there.

RYAN GOSLING

Ken

Officer K

Sierra Six/ Court Gentry

maybe Colt Seavers

PEDRO PASCAL

Joel Miller

Din Djarin

HAZBIN HOTEL

Alastor, in all shapes and forms (human, giant demon, cursed cat, something from your imagination)

Angel Dust

Vox

Lucifer Morningstar

maybe Sir Pentious (can be shipped with Cherri)

The Hazbins x reader

LOTR/ THE HOBBIT

Bilbo Baggins

Thorin Oakenshield

Fili Durin

Kili Durin

Thranduil

Gandalf x reader (platonic!!)

Thorin & company x reader

The fellowship x reader

Sauron in any form

The Witch King of Angmar (🤭)

GAME OF THRONES

Petyr Baelish

Varys (don't ask me why)

Jorah Mormont

Sandor Clegane

Arya Stark

Brienne of Tarth

maybe Eddard Stark

maybe Tormund Giantsbane

maybe Theon Greyjoy

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Daemon Targaryen

Aemond Targaryen

Aegon Targaryen

maybe Larys Strong (I'm sorry)

Scenarios that include multiple characters

?Dragon bonding¿

SHERLOCK BBC

Sherlock Holmes (platonic mostly)

John Watson

maybe James Moriarty

maybe Molly Hooper

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

Neil Perry

Todd Anderson

Charlie Dalton

The poets x reader

Mr. Keating (platonic!!!)

THE SECRET HISTORY

Anything.

Absolutely anything and anyone.

I mean it.

(no incest, no orgies)

STRANGER THINGS

Billy Hargrove

Eddie Munson

Jim Hopper (don't ask why)

Vecna/ Henry Creel

IT

Pennywise (not smut)

Not sure about any other ships but shoot your shot ig.

Reader just living in Derry???

masterlist of all work

requesting rules/ info

*my paypal link can be found on my masterlist & fics

[crimsonwing62]

Bruh, okay I just had this idea so bear with me...

I'm re-watching heartstopper. now i hyper fixated on this show last year and I'm currently hyper fixated on Stranger Things especially the Fanon of Steddie and The Fruity Four (Six?).

I had a thought - the parallels. The similarities...

Nick Nelson and Steve Harrington - Golden retriever sports king, chaotic bisexual, Heart of Gold, and expected by social structure to be a certain way, date a certain type of person. Meets someone and *learns some things*. Fixated on his hair. A smooth mf whose also a dork.

Charlie Spring and Eddie Munson - The outcast at school but comes out of his shell with his friends. uncertain when it comes to love because of previous experiences. Nerdy, Curly Hair, Smart, Musically inclined. ? Potential MH issues - depending who you ask

Darcy Olsen and Robin Buckley - Awkward, Chaotic Lesbian, Confident in herself, Rejects society by dressing however they want, also musically inclined, Possibly knows Charlie/Eddie via band. The scene on the rugby field where Darcy asks Charlie if him and nick are friends or *friends*, I think Robin would do the same.

Tara Jones and Nancy Wheeler - Confident badass, Observing everything. Less confident in her sexuality than Robin as she hasn't consciously known for long.

Also, The kiss when we were 13 and Stancy dating parallel.

Tao Xu and Jonathan Byers - Film/photography obsessed, not academically inclined but copes well at school and smart in other ways. protective of friends/family

Elle Argent and Argyle - okay there's hardly any parallels between these but I also don't know much about Jargyle.

Isaac Henderson and Will Byers - Quiet, out the way, creative, when they speak they mean what they say and when they relax they come out of their shells. doesn't quiet work with the Byler ship and AroAce Isaac but they're parallels not 100% match up.

Harry Greene and Tommy H - homophobic prick who may or may not be in love with their best friend. (not that Harry and Nick are friends but some friend group)

Ben Hope and Billy Hargrove? - abusive arseholes that hide behind macho bravado. Tries to date women to hide their fruity tendencies (The girl at the gate and Karen Wheeler)

Imogen Heaney and Carol Perkins? - only girl in an all male friend group. Or Tammy Thompson - Tries to woo Steve but fails bc he is in love with someone else (I know in canon timeline

Tori Spring and Max Mayfield - ignoring the age difference, Sarcastic, Observant, teasing, sibling like relationship

Oliver Spring and Dustin Henderson - okay personalities don't quiet match up buuut hyperactive, annoying younger sibling energy, that absolutely adores both Charlie/Eddie and Nick/Steve.

Mr Ajayi and Mr Hagan - kind, amazing teacher who actually cares about their students well being. offers a safe space in their classrooms.

Julio Spring and Wayne Munson - protective quiet presence in their children's lives. not seen much but we know they'll be ready to bat for their kid in a heartbeat if they asked.

Yan Xu and Jim Hopper - no reason other than they "leave the bedroom door open a tad" comment...

Idk that's all I got there's sooo many more characters I've missed but those are the ones my brains found so far.

[ghostlynimbus]

I have been thinking about my wings au again

Here's what I have currently for characters I have ideas for (but this may change, im very indecisive about this sort of thing):

^ Steve Harrington - Crowned Eagle ^

^ Billy Hargrove - Andean Condor ^

^ Lucas Sinclair - Cooper's Hawk ^

^ Jonathan Byers - American Barn Owl ^

^ Joyce Byers - Society Finch ^

^ Jim Hopper - Martial Eagle ^

^ Eddie Munson - Common Raven ^

^ Argyle - California Condor ^

I know Jason's going to be some kind of eagle, and I'm thinking maybe? some sort of kite or sparrowhawk for Will. And that's all I got rn. Totally open to suggestions on any characters not mentioned here (or generally any thoughts/questions anyone has)

**CW: Abuse**

Wing clipping is a thing in this AU. It's not permanent, but it is painful/uncomfortable/humiliating. There's a common perception that wing clipping is a serious punishment for seriously bad actions, so if people notice someone's wings are clipped they are probably going to have some assumptions about that person.

Neil makes sure that Billy's wings are clipped regularly, never letting the feathers properly grow back in. Billy doesn't gesture/posture properly because of this, and it means he comes off as more unpredictable/dangerous.

**End CW**

Wings in this AU are used for a lot of social stuff, especially a lot of communication & gestures, and they can be considered somewhat status symbols (similarly to having certain body types, nice hair, etc.) What is considered 'good' in wings varies depending on a lot of factors (and is typically pretty gendered) but generally in american culture for men/boys bigger wings are considered better, and birds of prey are favored over other kinds with eagles generally being considered the best. For women/girls, wing size isn't as much of a factor as wing shape is, and birds of prey species are sometimes considered two aggressive, nice coloration is a plus.

Regardless of gender, well maintained feathers are considered an important feature.

Overall, people that care about such things will have a lot of species based preconceptions about people (crows & ravens are bad omens, eagles are noble, sparrows and finches are timid, that sort of thing).

Billy's wings are the largest in this AU, followed by Argyle (I think, unless I add in another large winged species). Argyle likes to wrap Jonathan up with his wings.

aaand thats all ive got atm. i would be happy to talk about this more if anyone wants to!

[tenderforgs]

mike entering the room after will comes out to hopper:

[writingjoycebyers]

What do you think Joyce and Hopper's relationships as teenagers was like? And how Hopper saw Lonnie and Joyce?

So actually if you check out my master list I’ve got loads and loads young jopper posts!

When I first started watching ST I quickly pictured young Joyce in a certain way cause I knew all those roles played by Winona Ryder in her earlier career. Nevertheless I quickly sailed away from the canon picture of jopper a bit because I used to like thinking about the fictional character Joyce more and that - for me - included thinking about her young adult phase with Lonnie way more. I mean I am a young adult so obviously I’m more interested in those life phases than school but although (and I’ve said that multiple times on here) I watch Stranger things and I like it, it’s not the series that catches me most but it’s using Joyce as an interesting fictional character that I can write about and that I can continue my trains of thought 💭 about. I hope you know what I mean. I’ve always been very into stories, books, films etc that have different timelines so that is what I’m doing here to. Basically Joyce here is just my example for what my head does with books, series, films, etc. It goes on and on and on. Culture is living in more than one world, right? Would you be interested in Lonnie x Joyce writing (-> ask me!) ?

Well anyways, that was my little speech.

I’ve got different headcanons.

Joyce and Jim being best friends at school, him big and deep in the friendzone

Joyce and Jim dancing around each other until he has to go to Vietnam which separates them (kinda au), Lonnie always trying to get a date with Joyce.

Joyce falling for a bad guy (aka Lonnie) because of different things happening in her life. Includes her becoming pregnant with Jonathan and other big challenges. A situation with a lot of angst.

Joyce and Jim being besties, but Joyce is an outsider just like Lonnie, which attracts them to each other

I even had a phase for Lonnie and Hopper were friends first and things became a triangle

I’ve got a big au headcanon of Joyce breaking up with Lonnie and her and hop interacting in the 70s. I basically always cross out Sarah. I’m sorry.

Maybe Joyce and Hop were from different sides of town or even different parts of society, maybe kind of like trailer park vs nice house outside town.

I have tons more. Please feel free to ask more precise questions in my asks!! Or please please reblog and post your headcanons!

[kissmejusttokissme]

Jim Hopper in the Steddie Twilight AU:

(Quick intro to say that Hopper is one of the characters that needs the least tweaking to fit into the AU because he is actually just a grumpier Charlie Swan. I literally would just have to replace some of the names in this extract from the Twilight Characters Wikipedia pages and voila, Jim Hopper.

Charlie Swan is Bella Swan's father and works as police chief in Forks. His hobbies include fishing with Harry Clearwater and Billy Black, as well as watching various sports on TV. Charlie married Bella's mother, Renée, just after they both graduated from high school, and they soon had Bella. Renée divorced Charlie not long after and moved to Phoenix, Arizona with Bella. Bella later mentions that Charlie still has not quite gotten over her mother. He became accustomed to living alone. [...] At the end of Breaking Dawn, he and Sue Clearwater have developed a romantic relationship.

Which is pretty much what I've done with a few Lil tweaks and headcanons thrown in.)

Hopper used to be chief of police for Hawkins before the death of his daughter Sara. The bereavement caused Hopper and his wife to divorce and sent Hopper into a deep depression. After that, he quit the force and took up a job as a park ranger for the nearby national park and pretty much retreated from society except for when he'd visit the few friends he still had in Hawkins.

These friends include Joyce Byers, who he sees a lot because of the shelter she runs and the veterinary services she offers; Joyce's boyfriend, Bob Newby, an old classmate who Hopper often goes hunting with; Benny Hammond, a childhood friend who Hopper leant on the most after his daughter died; and Murray Bauman, who Hopper met while on the force and kind of just got stuck with.

Hopper is introduced to the supernatural side of Hawkins when his friend Benny finds Eleven wandering the woods around his diner. He gives Eleven to Hopper to take care of and is subsequently killed by Dr Brenner's men, who stage the death like an animal attack.

Hopper manages to keep El safe for years without the people of Hawkin's even knowing that she exists and develops a father-like relationship with her despite being terrified of losing another kid. This leads him to be overly protective and ends with her running away.

Which is where Eleven meets Will Byers while he's being hunted by Henry and keeps him alive. After seeing Henry, who used Eleven to commit a massacre at the lab they were being held, drives Eleven to return back home to Hopper where she stays for another year.

Around this time the murders in Hawkins start to get worse. Bob Newby is killed while out hunting and three high-schoolers are also found dead in various locations around town. The police are scrambling for answers, blame is being placed on innocent people (like Eddie), and the residents of Hawkins are out for blood.

Long story short, Hopper needs to let Eleven help fight with the gang. She's the key to saving Hawkins and preventing more death and destruction but she's also Hopper's daughter and he's already lost one daughter, he'll be damned if he loses another. So he agrees on the one condition that he gets to fight too.

(Which means spending a lot more time with Joyce Byers and her boys...)

[kaypeace21]

What's in a name? (Analysing all the names in stranger things)

*I'll be repeating some names more than once as I break down categories .

Show , book, and tv easterggs

Alot of character names may have deeper meaning but some are also refs to stories they liked. The stranger writers twitter posted a list of movies said to inspire s4 (which I’ll be referencing).

Dart- dustin names him this after d'artagenean (a 3 musketeers book character) and one of Dustin's fav candies (3 muskateers). Similarly his pet turtle yurtle is implied to be named after the dr Seuss’ story 'yertle the turtle'.

Brenner- main character from 'the birds', which was on the st s4 list.

Byers- john byers from x files. The duffers mentioned x files was an inspo for the show. Although John byers (from x files) resembles Murray as an unhinged conspiracy theorist. The documentary paradise lost was also cited as inspo for st- john byers and his son, terry, Michael, and Steve were names in said film

Jim Hopper- in Predator (another st inspo) he was a soldier who was flayed to death in the woods. Another character in the film with a similar fate was “Hawkins”.

Detective Wheeler and elle Holloway- from silent Hill franchise. Another ref mentioned by the Duffers. Holloway was the surname of st's Heather. Elle (is el) and Wheeler is Mike's surname. Wheeler was also on the ep of twiglight zone (another cited ref by the duffers) . In the ep 'mute' sheriff wheeler takes in a mute psychic girl as his foster daughter. So some hints at hopper too . Hopper even mentions el-anor (gilipse) in s1. The surname of a main character in the silent hill series.Lt. Colonel Sullivan (s4) could be a eastergg of silent hill 4 which had a Sullivan character.

Henderson- st twitter mentioned how all the bond films were on the s4 inspiration list . So Dustin's surname being the same as one of the bond characters is a nod. Duffers also mentioned ‘freaks & geeks’ as inspo- and 1 character’s surname was also Henderson (another nod).

Mrs Driscoll (from s3) - a nod to invasion of the body snatchers which was mentioned as inspo by the Duffers. And clear inspo for s3.

Powell (cop and partner of hopper ) - diehard films also on s4 list. He's named after the cop powell.

Callahan (cop and partner of Hopper) - father Callahan ref. He shows up in many of Stephen King novels. The Duffers have cited over 10 novels and books from him as inspo for st

Nancy- she's called ‘Nancy drew’ (from the novels). And the duffers have mentioned they are fans of elmstreet - who's main character was Nancy. Nancy also references 'Oliver twist" ,and that book has a character named Nancy in it. Nancy was also a first Lady in the 80s similar to her friend Barbara- who was also a first Lady in the 80s.Nancy's name might also be inspired by "Nancy Wheeler", a secondary character in the 1970 book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret written by Judy Blume.

Fred (s4)- apparently a high-school journalist who may be friend or foe. This one is a stretch but given nancy maybe being an elmstreet ref- and her enemy being fred-die kreuger. Fred may have animosity to Nancy and that's why his name is Fred. I mean ... they even cast a new s4 character with Freddie kreuger's original actor.so...

Jason (s4) - is in the 1986 Nancy drew novel (when s4 takes place). He is similar to the duffers description. In the novel he's a rich, popular, arrogant jock and blackmailing students at the high-school . S3 even named one of its episodes after a nancy drew novel- so wouldn't surprise me.

Christie carpenter (s4/reffed in s1 by hopper)- christie is the main character in the hellraiser series (which is on the s4 st list). Carpenter is the surname of the director of 'the thing' name dropped in s3. (The flesh monster in s3 also resembles the thing) , and in s1 mr clarke watches it ,and mike has the thing movie poster in his basement.

Argyle (s4) - die hard 1-2 were on the s4 st list. And is a name of a diehard character.

Max- her name is 'mad max' like the 80s film. But since the Duffers like videogames. Her name may be a ref to max caufield from the ‘life is strange’ game as well. She has a 'never Maxine rule' similar to max in st. But the game character is similar to jonathan as she is a teen photographer and says similar words to jonathan in s1 saying she would rather watch people through a camera than interact with them.

Eddie munson (s4)- not going to lie. I have no proof of this but I immediately thought of the TV character Eddie Munster (the friendly monster ).

Possible comic book easteggs

The duffers are no stranger to comic book references. The duffers have already directly reffed xmen, wonderwoman, and green lantern. Kali's place also has a comic book ref to 'the invisibles' on the wall. While the s4 movie list mentions thor ragnock , age of ultron, and 2 batman films. Some of these refs will go over your head if you haven't read my DID theory. But a lot of this analysis will still be enjoyable. :)

Jane st ives (jane ives aka el). marvel. (jane st ives sees her dad k*ll her mom and vows revenge against him.Sort of similar to what brenner did to terry).

Stephanie harrington (Steve harrington)- 80s marvel comic. DP.7. Will DID ref. Antibody, is a medical resident who can project from his body a dark figure of himself (also called an "antibody", a word play on the medical term) that flies, can become intangible, and transfer its memories to another person by physical contact (mindflayer).  He later merges with the antibody. like how susie refs ‘wizard of earthsea’ -the novel where the young wizard Ged releases a shadow monster (said to be an ancient evil) but it turns out to be the dark aspects of his personality and the only way for the chaos to stop is to accept his darkness and merge as 1.

Barry bauman (Murray bauman) . marvel comics - Will did easteregg.Bauman lived in never ending darkness. He felt, that there was a realm outside the darkness and started to explore the entire content of his brain thus using now more than the usual 10 % .Also had telekinesis.He turned his attention to the stars in order to exact revenge on the human race which spends billions of dollars to kill each other, but wouldn't spend the mere million or so it would have cost to cure him. For his vengeance he transported the suns near our galaxy into his omnipotent brain. As the people of Earth would learn of the disappearing of the suns they would panic and feel Bauman's loneliness before he would destroy Earth.Despite the death of his physical body, Bauman's consciousness somehow survived and began hopping from body to body throughout the galaxy, his powers growing until the Star Thief was recognized as a major threat to galactic society.

Sinclair- last name of xmen rhaine.  Will Did ref. storyline Rahne Sinclair is mentally bonded to Havok against her will(Will/mf).She is subsequently manipulated by the Shadow King. Her bond with Havok causes her to act irrationally, sometimes threatening teammates, sometimes by flirting with them.  She undergoes more than one attempt to undo the bonding, with varying results. Her instability also manifests in many odd dreams, in which her identity is merged into pop culture figures. What’s funny is charlie heaton (jonathan byers) was just in an xmen movie with this Rhaine character.

Victor creel (s4)-sounds like mutant victor creed of the xmen comic. x men Mutant with ab*sive dad and poor socioeconomic background. He had a "birthday tradition" of ab*sing his young relatives on their birthdays. Which reminds me of Lonnie making jonathan cry for a week (because he forced him to k*ll a rabbit on his b-day). Not to mention Lonnie is prob coming back for Will’s b day in s4... so... the name is prob a ref to that ‘birthday tradition’. Could also be a stephen king reference -since Duffers love him. The Creel family was in sk’s book “pet cemetary’-which fun fact (the actress who plays El’s aunt is in the recent remake)!

Yuri (s4)-Yuri Topolov (Russian: Юрий Тополов) was a Soviet scientist and the first foe of the Hulk. 

Dimitri (s4)-Dmitri Bukharin was born in Kuibyshev, Russia (some sources say Moscow).  First appeared in Iron man.

Peter ballard ( s4 character) may just be a hellfire ref . since I guy with last name ballard was a double agent for the hellfire club (name of st s4 ep 1). And ballard means bald which the actor is certainly not lol. I don't think he's literally associated with hellfire but its just a ref. And because its implied in his st character summary despite working for the mental hospital-where brenner is most likely at- he's horrified by the treatment of the psych patients. So that may be where the double agent aspect would come into play.

Ian Hargrove (billy hargrove)- batman comics. had a history of mental health problems dating back to childhood, which his parents were unable to afford treatment for. His brother John hargrove tried to keep him out of trouble but Ian developed an uncanny talent for explosives (will the wise fire powers). He ends up at Archam asylum. Cough billy is Will's alter. Why he has the name billy (a nickname for William) . Jonathan in s2 mentions how he likes the writer vonnegut- who wrote slaughter house 5- the main character was Billy. Already mentioned how it connects to my did theory .

Jason carver (s4)- carver is the last name of the comic hero thunderbolt (in the flash)-the first name of thunderbolt is Will and his brother is named Lonnie. There was also a John carver in the comic.

Holland (barb's last name) last name of Swamp thing. I think its plot has quite a few s4/5 spoilers but Im not diving into it right now.

Names associated with religions or mythology 

(if you’ve read my DID theory- some themes will appear relevant in relation  WIll’s alters or to WIll’s past/tr*uma).

-‘Kali prasad".Kali  is the name of a Hindu goddess . Kali’s iconography and mythology commonly associate her with death,  violence, s*xuality, but also paradoxically -motherly love. In myths ‘she only k*lls demons’ and is described as  ‘overflowing with incomprehensible love for her children’ - (aka ST’s Kali k*lling people from hawkins lab for hurting kids). Her third eye stands for wisdom (like Will the wise).Kali is called at times ‘ the bright fire of truth’ (will the wise/fire powers).The devotee makes her image in his heart and under her influence burns away all limitations and ignorance in the cremation fires. This inner cremation fire in the heart is the gyanagni (fire of knowledge), which kali bestows (cough Will the wise-fire powers). The goddess also could create a darkcloud of lightning (similar to the mf). The phrase “brilliant as a dark cloud” is a snippet of one such prayer dedicated to Kali.The name Kali is derived from the Hindu word that means “time”. Kali receives her name because she devours ‘kala’ (Time)- like clocks ticking when El sees demogorgan/clock being wonky when Will see mf/clocks in s4 promos.’ After devouring time she resumes her own dark formlessness. “This transformative effect can be metaphorically illustrated in the West as a black hole in space” (cough mf cough hopper blackhole/time refs). Kali’s s2 butterfly-“Kali is the Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy. ... The cocoon, butterfly and the karmic golden wheel reflect Her deep connection with life.”And Prasād (her last name) is a material substance that is a religious offering to gods in  Hinduism .

-While, EL is the name of a Cannanite (male) god associated with “salt water “ (pool filled with salt in s1) who “dwelled in a tent” (in s1 Mike’s blanket fort) .And his gray-beard was described as " "full of wisdom.” él’  in Spanish means ‘he’- which could be a nod at her ( androgynous) presentation in s1. El can also be translated to "God" or 'god'. The el character has various mythologies depending on which culture/ religion is using the term 'el'. In the post-biblical period, "el" became a regular element in the names of angels such as "Gabri·el," "Micha·el," and "Azri·el," to denote their status as divine beings.And Jane translates to " Yahweh (god) is gracious/merciful". The cannanite god El was also dubbed “Compassionate God of Mercy.”  Earlier, a ninth century B.C.E. inscription  identifies Ēl- the name of the Babylonian water god Ea, lord of the watery subterranean abyss (cough watery  dark void in st). Terry (el’s mom-aka Teressa) was originally used in the Middle Ages for a “child baptized in holy water” (El in the sensory water tank/Terry used it too,according to Becky in s1). Eleanor (called this in s1)- can mean "sun ray" (possible the opposite of the ‘shadow monster’ or Kali who can represent a “black hole”). 

-Will-the s4 st movie lists (‘red dragon’, gods of monsters, & ‘blade runner’ ) mention the artist and writer William Blake  (specifically his painting of the angel michael fighting a dragon in revelations - reffed in st s1). He was one of many painters part of the exhibition of “ The World Turned Upside Down: Apocalyptic Imagery.”The World Turned Upside Down explores the myriad ways that artists in England visualized the apocalypse in a period fraught with political, religious, economic, and cultural change. 

During this period Blake was commissioned to create over a hundred paintings intended to illustrate books of the Bible along with revelations .  He also drew illustrations for the novel Dante’s inferno. Blake’s brutally satirizes oppressive authority in church and state.He said those who proclaim restrictive moral rules and oppressive laws as “goodness” are in themselves evil. Hence to counteract this repression, Blake announces that he is of the “Devil’s Party” (cough hellfire club ref-and dissing the satanic panic of the hellfire club and other marginilised groups) . He also says “men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast.” So Instead of looking for God on remote altars, Blake warns, man should look within.He produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the “imagination as “the body of God.” He wrote his own stories based on biblical writings- one includes the fire wielding character of Los (will the wise) who represented jesus. Los (like jesus does in revelations) causes the destruction of the world and the second judgment unfolds. The poem ends with Los’s unfallen state rising up and shepherding in science and removing the dark religions. I also talked about  how this story ‘book of los’ hints at the DID theory-but this is getting long-so you can just read the explanation here if interested. Also, hellooo Both names are William B(yers/lake). Billy (a alter of Will-sharing the name William) in s3 he even wore “lady of pillar” medallion- i.e about jesus/mary.

JOHN (supposedly Jesus’ blood relative- who wrote ‘revelations’.) In scripture John was called “the disciple whom Jesus loved as a brother” .Fire is the most typical element associated with the Saint John's Eve celebration (Jonathan did light the demogorgan on fire). Many scholars consider John & Jesus ("apocalyptic prophets"). Jonathan itself translates to " yahweh (god ) has given" in Hebrew.

Michael- Similar to kali, he’s a religious figure known for killing demons. He’s the arch-angel from the book of revelations (Apocalypse). A evil Beast (with seven heads usually translated to ‘satan’ or ‘dragon’) appears .“it was a 7″ causes Will to be attacked by the demogorgan ( which in d&d is a demon with multiple heads). The Archangel MICHAEL fought and defeated this 7 headed beast/satan. Corresponding with Mike at the end of s1 writing a fictional d&d story for Will (based off defeating the demogorgan) which was about helping kill a 7 HEADED MONSTER! Michael is also the archangel who oversees on Earth the natural element of fire (Mike telling Will the wise to use ‘fireball’ to defeat this same 7 headed monster in the game, at the end of s1)! Ironically though Jesus /Christian god is also associated with 7s a lot (he has 7 angels and during the apocalypse causes 7 plagues , he has 7 candles etc .)cause the number seven, represented ‘perfection’ according to ancient numerology . Will’s b day is March 22- (3) +2+2 =7 (“it was a 7”). Will’s bday even falls in what christians call “the holy week”( the week immediately preceding Easter.)  At the end of s1 they even defeat this 7 headed monster because Will rolls a 14 (which can be broken down into two 7s). Michael & William also have 7 letters in each of their names respectively- equating to this 14. This dragon biblical story (of Michael) is also William blake’s most popular painting. Also, random fact in revelations god has a rainbow throne (with thunder /lightning -will the wise powers- coming from the throne, and seven lit torches next to it ) . He also wears a rainbow halo. Lol. Michael also roughly translates to  ( 'Who like el?' The answer being roughly translated to ' no one like el' ... which i mean literally is saying there is no one similar to her. But I still think its a linguistic pun/ burn that Mike is not actually into El romantically).

Jim (James) hopper- According to the s3 script Hopper’s real name is James. JAMES (JIM) was an apostle to jesus- brother of john. And in the bible was called a ’son of thunder ’. Will’s powers/ hopper being an alter of Will's so technically brother of jonathan and thunder powers. Not to mention David on Instagram saying hopper has " he has risen. like bread" is a Jesus ref to 'he has risen"... even the bread ref could be a catholic ref to the last supper.

  Martin Brenner/marsha holland-  have their first name reference the roman god Mars who was originally a ‘thunder or storm deity’ (will the wise/mf powers). EL (in cannanite mythology) also allowed Baal the storm god to rule the entire earth.

ROBIN- was the God of Thunder’s- Thor’s- favorite bird. And Dustin also means ‘Thor’s stone.’The red belly robin is also an important bird in Christianity. Legend has it that the robin got its red belly from a fire in which it was trying to protect Jesus. Robin also name drops the greek god prometheus- the god of fire (will the wise) who brought human beings life and knowledge. And Steve looks at Robin and says "let there be light" a biblical passage. The robin represents selflessness for a higher truth. 

Barb- Saint BARBara- dad kept her locked away from the outside world (like el/brenner) . He tried to k*ll her when he learned she didn’t believe in his religion- so the dad was punished by “god” who electrocuted him with lightning/lit him on fire. (Will the wise powers).

Nancy- is derived from a medieval diminutive of Annis, an English form of Agnes.  There’s the christian saint Agnes- who was beautiful and from a wealthy family. She was the Christian saint of girls and v*rginity . And the duffers subverted this along with the problematic horror movie trope of the ' v*rgin female heroine surviving while her more se*ually liberated female friends are punished by the villain' ( by having her survive specifically because she decided to have s*x).Agnes was also led out and bound to a stake, but (allegedly) the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her (will the wise fire powers). Also people claimed that any man who tried to r*pe her was struck blind.

Hopper's wife’s name -Dianne- is also the roman goddess of ,nature, hunting and wild animals( and greek equivalent to Artemis) .Becky  means ‘snare’ -for hunting animals .Teressa (Terry) means ' huntress'.  The name was originally used in the Middle Ages for a child baptized in holy water . Name of 2 saints-Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux. Lonnie’s gf (Cynthia) was originally an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, as well.

Power couple Angela & jake (s4) - Angela means 'messenger of God". And Jake (also means ”supplanter”) is derived from jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca in genesis. El’s aunt,Becky (Rebecca) is wife of isaac.Other theories claim that Jacob is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Ya'aqov'el) meaning "may God protect".The name jacob is also where the names James/jim is derived from.

couple Steve spies on in s3- Anna Jacobi & Mark Lewinsky. Anna ( name of the mother of the Virgin Mary) Jacobi ("he who supplants"-aka same meaning as jim since both names are derived from jacob). Mark (”the god mars”-same meaning as martin brenner) .Lewinsky (lion-same name meaning as Lonnie). Also derived from the Hebrew root לוי‎ (leví, “priest”)

Joyce means "lord". Could also be a ref to the ('unofficial') saint Joyce who gave up wealth to live in poverty.

Ted-is the short form of the names Theodore and Edward. Theodore is a Greek name meaning "gift of God", Edward has an English origin and means "wealthy guard." Eddie (from s4) also means ‘wealthy guard”

Holly (nancy and Mike's sis)- Holly meanings are 'One who is pious' or 'sacred'

Karen- can be short for Katherine-one of the first christian saints.”Saint Katherine of the Wheel “(er). A 4th century martyr who suffered t*rture on a spiked wheel.  Wheeler does mean ‘occupational name for a maker of wheels’ after all. 

Gospel of LUKE (lucas?) , or simply Luke, tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Sinclair- Catholic saint of computers and TV screens (i mean... he is in the av club).

MAXimilian was deemed a saint in the 1980s- saint of journalists and radios. (Both aspects of s3)

Saint stephen/steven ( STEVE)-an early disciple and deacon . Considered one of the first m*rtyrs of the church.Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food (lol icecream) .According to Orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called “archdeacon”.

Sara- Her name is a feminine form of sar (Hebrew: שַׂר‎), meaning “chieftain” or “prince."  She was the wife and sister of Abraham (ew -given her being an alter of Will though, such a name doesn’t surprise me). Similar to st Barabara’s dad - Abraham tried to k*ll his son isaac in the name of god. Becky (El's aunt) - is derived from Rebecca - wife of Isaac.

Claudia (Dustin's mom)- Christian woman of Rome greeted by Paul in his second letter to Timothy (in the bible).

Sam mayfield (max's dad) -  Short for Samuel or Samantha, from the Biblical name Shemu'el, which means "God has heard", from the Hebrew shama, meaning "heard" and el, meaning "God". Samuel is rumored to be argyle first name.

Marsha Kelly (s4)- Kelly means "frequents churches" or " bright headed". Given she's a counselor the bright headed pun makes sense. But maybe she's not to be trusted if she frequents churches during a satanic panic arc which was fueled by Christian religious extremism . Or she's someone who contrasts the rest of the religious people in town since she's not originally from hawkins...who knows. x files’ main character was catholic but in one ep she criticized a small town for the satanic panic occurring-and says how accusing these kids who listen to rock as satanic or being k*llers is ludicrous.

Peter ballard (s4) - Peter was also the name of an apostle. 

Tina (side character s2)- like christy (s4) it’s short for Christina which translates to "follower of christ" or 'stream'. Tina was the gal who hosted the t halloween party and also the name of one of Erica’s friends in s3.

Samantha (goth girl jonathan talks to in s2 party) translates to "told by god".

Tommy (s1-2) "God's gift" or "twin".Thomas is the Greek variation of the Aramaic name Ta’oma’. It came about because there were too many apostles named Judas; Jesus renamed one Thomas—meaning "twin"—to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and the Judas also known as Thaddeus.

carol (tommy’s gf)- Carol is the short form of Caroline and the meaning is derived from the English vocabulary word for “song” or “hymn". A hymn being a religious song or poem.

Benny ( who helped El at his dinner) - originally derived from latin bennedictus which means "blessed"

Stacey (s2-3 ) rejected dustin at dance. Stacey- "resurrection "

Grigori (the guy following and tracking hopper, Joyce, and alexi)- The name was adopted by early Christians heedful of the Biblical passage located in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful."grigory now means 'watchful and vigalent'

Alexi- prob based on the russian folklore story of alexy. A clever priest's son who tricks a dragon.

Harrington- similar to Robin's religious animal iconography. Harrington means 'he goat'.The most popular image of the Satanic goat dates back to the ever-mysterious Knights of Templar, who were accused of worshipping an idol known as Baphomet (a 1/2 human 1/2 goat man). Roman Catholic society decried it as a demon that demanded human sacrifice — but it would take a few more centuries before the goat became a truly occult symbol.Anton Lavey adopted Baphomet as the sigil of the Church of Satan in 1966, and it has appeared on countless metal album covers. But, Baphomet isn't the lone source of inspiration for our goat-like depictions of Satan.it's also believed that early Christians, seeking to demonize preexisting Pagan traditions, drew comparisons between the Devil and the Greek god Pan (god of nature), who happened to resemble a goat.Some cited how in revelations- during the apocalypse- Jesus separates the 'lambs from the goats'. ( supposedly Good vs bad)

Given the fact s3 alluded to the satanic panic. A Christian movement in the 80s that demonized and said d&d ,rock music, homosexuality, other religions, stephen King,horror films, wearing black,and non conservative ideology were 'satanic.' I wouldn't be surprised by this possible ref. Heck even William Blake criticized similar religious movements in his own time period. Several movies from the s4 list allude to this. The most obvious being the documentary paradise lost (named after the fictional retelling of satan/adam and eve story) - the documentary directly focuses on a witch hunt of rock loving teens (wrongfully accused of m*rders) in a small town during the satanic panic. Not to mention ironically s4 is hinted to be around easter. So Using such symbolism to address religious fundamentalism and the bigotry/hysteria it can cause isn't surprising. No i’m not lumping all religious people into this negative category- obviously.

Other Names with similar definitions

*Hunting /forests woods, nature, animals

Hunters and people in forrests

name meaning : becky - snare (a trap for catching birds or animals). Teressa-huntress. Dianne/Cynthia (Hopper’s ex wife/Lonnie’s gf) - is a roman/greek goddess of hunting and wild animals.  Rhadaghast- Will's password for cb is a lothr wizard who protects forests/wildlife.martin/marsha- previously god of agriculture/plants.As an agricultural guardian, he was believed to directed his energies toward creating conditions that allow crops to grow, which may include warding off hostile forces of nature (pumpkins rotting in s2). El in phoenician culture was called Elus and its Greek equivalent Cronus (god of agriculture) steve- he goat- associated with pan- god of fields, groves, wooded glens . brenner- ‘someone who cleared forests by burning’. the blond women, Brenner worked with,  Fraizer-  “of the forrest men”

* FUN FACT: Kali’s name originally was going to be ‘Roman’ (which is derived from Romulus-the son of Mars... aka Martin Brenner) .

Trees

Ives and owens- ives means 'yew wood' while Owen means 'yew tree. ' bauman- nickname for someone who lived near a tree.comes from the German word "baum," or "boum" in Middle High and Old German, meaning "tree’. Jennifer hayes- Jennifer  derived from Old English words "jenefer", "genefer" and "jinifer", all of which were variants of Juniper used to describe the juniper tree.Lonnie means "oak tree; or lion". Lion plushie in cb and the lion el has along with the tree establishes a connection between all 3 maybe? Oak groves were especially sacred to  the goddess dianna too. Buckley (it has many different translations) - Old English "boch ley" (with boch meaning beech tree and ley meaning wood, glade or clearing).

Nature

buckley if translated from "bok lee," means meadow, or field. mayfield- open country (field) where madder (mæddre) grows. Holland- wood land, Bruce (who was also possessed) - means WILLow lands . Keith (s2-3) : woods or forrest.Hargrove- meadow filled with rabbits (Jonathan’s hunting story).Holloway is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, or type of tree. Tina means 'river' . Burness (guy who claimed he jumped into quarry)-stream. Neil- cloud. Lowe (Bruce's last name)-This surname is derived from a geographical locality 'at the low,' i.e. the hill. Hayes means "hedged area'.

Flowers

Flo (hopper's secretary)- means flower. Suzie-  lily flower. Susan (Max’s mom)- means lily, lotus flower or rose. Karen (in Japanese can mean)- flower, lotus, or water lily. Heather is also a variety of small shrubs with pink or white flowers which commonly grow in rocky areas.  Erica is a type of "heather" plant. martin/marsha: in the legend of Mars,his mother become pregnant with him using a magic flower- which was given to her by the goddess flora.

Bright (aka intelligent)

Bob- nickname of Robert . Both Bob and Robert mean 'bright, shinning or fame'. Aka smart -he's called ' Bob the brain ' for a reason.

Robin- is also diminutive of Robert . And we all know robin is smart too. Being multilingual/ cracking the code.Robin (like Robert) also means 'bright, shining , or fame.'

Lucas- means "bright" or "shinning" aka he's also a smart cookie. His firework plan saving the day.

Lonnie and Larry (the mayor) can both be nicknames for Lawrence which also means ' bright one' or 'shinning one'. Well... both are cunning I'll give them that. Lonnie is unfortunately ...smart. I think this detail had other foreshadowing. Joyce to Will about Will the wise ' if he's so wise why does he need the fireballs? can't he just outsmart the bad guys? " Will: " yeah. Usually. BUT sometimes the bad guys are smart too." I never understood why on earth Joyce would be with someone as awful as Lonnie in the first place- than be with his literal opposite Bob- but maybe she just found intelligence attractive?

Names associated with thunder/lightning/fire (Like Will/mf/Will the wise)

Byers-reprsents Greek Zeus (god of thunder/lightning). Martin - references the roman god Mars who was originally a ‘thunder or storm deity’ .ROBIN- was the German God of Thunder’s- Thor’s- favorite bird. And Dustin also means ‘Thor’s stone.’Jim- “son of thunder”. Christian god- has throne (surrounded by thunder /lightning). Kali- could summon thunder storms.Nancy/Barb-both saints associated with fire. Kali-is called at times ‘ the bright fire of truth’ /and bestows the fire of knowledge. Robin also name drops the greek god prometheus- the god of fire. Mars -the keeper of Rome's perpetual flame . The Robin bird in a Christian story myth protects Jesus from hell's fire. William Blake- wrote about a fire wielding character of Los who represented jesus. Jesus during end times wields fire. Michael is the archangel who oversees on Earth the natural element of fire. Fire is the most typical element associated with the Saint John's Eve celebration (Saint John- called Jesus’s brother).

Animals (and their symbolism)

Byers- means ‘ cattle shed’.The Greeks considered the bull animal totem to be a symbol of Zeus (god of thunder and lighting - will the wise powers). He is the head of the gods and the almighty ruler of Olympus.  I”n hinduism, Shiva is known as Gorakhnath, means the lord of the cows.  And is also known as, Pasupathinath, the lord of all animals (similar to Rhadaghast). According to some scholars, Shiva’s association with cows and bulls might date back to the Indus Valley period. Cows have a special significance in Hinduism, as aspects of Mother Goddess and as symbols of selfless service. Mahatma Gandhi declared the protection of cows a central feature of Hinduism.Hindus worship cows as the Mother Goddess and symbol of motherhood, kindness and forbearance.”

Tigers: (Sarah’s plushie/ Hawkin’s macott/ Will & Mike have tiger posters in their rooms): The goddess Kali & God Shiva wore a tiger skin (this fact was actually mentioned by Kali in the prequel novel ‘suspicious minds’ ).”In many tribal traditions of India, the tiger (or lion) is worshipped as a god. In some Hindu hymns the domestic fires are compared to the tigers that guard the house.Tigers also figure prominently in many Indian folk-tales, Jataka-stories, and the Panchatantra.”

Lions:(Lonnie means ‘lion’ and el and Will have matching lion plushies)- In the Bible, the lion has two opposite meanings: it is compared to the Devil (1 Pet 5:8) and to Christ (Rev 5:5). Aka: Lonnie is the devil. The kids are the opposite. Nancy also compares the demogorgan to a lion. “In many tribal traditions of India, the lion is worshipped as a god.One of the ten incarnations of Vishnu is Narasimha, who has the head and shoulders of a lion, but the torso of a human.Goddess Durga, a fierce form of Parvathi or Shakti, has a golden lion as her vehicle, while Rahu, a planetary guard, rides upon a black lion as his vehicle.Lions form an important part of Hindu religious art. The face of the lion (simha-mukha) is used in images and sculpture in many Hindu temples to decorate the doors, walls, arches, and windows.The memorial pillar at Saranath  contains four beautifully carved standing lions at the top on a round abacus representing the imperial power. They now constitute the official emblem of the government of India.”

El almost k*lling a cat- “Some superstitious beliefs are also associated with cats in Hinduism. For example, killing a cat is considered a grave sin, for which one may have to offer prayers and give in charity at least seven golden images of the killed cat. “

Harrington- he goat. Buckley- has various translations. Anglo-Saxon: ‘bucc and leah’ meaning goat and wood respectively. And obviously there’s the robin-bird. And I've already discussed their symbolism. Goat= baphomet/pan. 

Robin- thor's fav bird/ helped Jesus from hell's fire.

Buckley- can also translate to " field filled with deer" (like the deer attacked by the demogrogan or the bambi film jon reffed in relation to the hunting story about lonnie).And Karen ( when from it’s Hebrew origins) can mean- antler or horn. Also the caananite God el was usually depicted with animal horns on his head.Diana in Roman art usually is accompanied by a hound (demo dog) or deer.  Because of the story of her turning an attempted r*pist-hunter into a deer/ and then causing dogs to attack him.  Deer is also one of the symbolic animals accepted since early Christianity as an allegory of Jesus Christ and the Christian Disciple. And when associated with Shiva (kali's husband) in Hindu iconography, the deer omen denotes sovereignty over nature and symbolizes the lord of all animals, humans, and the King of the Forest. In many visual and written illustrations, human beings and deer appear as close companions and in some cases, humans adopt the face or antlers of a deer, in images more common in stories of human strife. Deer also have a supernatural significance and appear as apparitions of divinity and in legends of spiritual awakening.

Hargrove- meadow filled with rabbits (like the rabbit lonnie made jonathan k*ll.) Hopper sounds like thumper the rabbit- which jonathan mentions in relation to bunnies . And ... idk... Hopper did make that pun in s3 about bunnies to Larry (lawerence) ? We also have rabbit refs elsewhere like with- el in Benny's. They play the song 'white rabbit' a song referencing Alice in wonderland and in el's room at Terry's house is the white rabbit from that story. Also paralleling to jonathan- el was almost made to k*ll a cat by her father (Cheshire cat aka Alice in wonderland ref + cats are associated with magic powers/witch craft).In Celtic folklore, the rabbit is seen as a supernatural being from the Otherworld.The rabbit symbolism in Christianity has found its way through the Germanic deity Eostre from which the name Easter came to be (s4 will most likely have the Easter holliday).One tale describes the rabbit as the pet of Jesus Christ. And rabbits were often inserted into art of jesus' mother .

Creel- basket or container of fish.fish is taken as symbolizing Christ’s faith, charity, and abundance. A biblical story goes how Christ fed his disciples with 2 fishes and called them “fishers of men.”  The Christians made an acrostic from the Greek word for fish, “ichthys” as early as the first century and it is, “Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter”, meaning Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.

Names hinting at character traits (which are very literal)

Mr clarke (science teacher)- clarke means 'scholar'

Dottie (in kali's gang)- she was in an insane asylum . And ‘Dotty’ is a very old British slang term  for 'crazy'

War (usually relates to ‘villains’)

Troy- means ' foot soldier'. Martin brenner: Martin means 'war like'. Lonnie is diminutive of Alonzo or Lawrence. Alonzo means 'ready for battle'.

In contrast to Lonnie, Will can mean "desiring peace. " Axel  who is part of Kali’s crew (who i think Will created along with others ) even means "father is peace."

Twin

Tom (Heather's dad) and Tommy mean ‘twin’. Robin's crush Tammy ('twin') Thompson ( 'son of tom’).

* Besides similar/identical name meanings.There’s also a lot of other repeated names that go into this whole twin/mirror imagery which i find strange... makes me wonder about @strangertheory ‘s version of the did theory. If not...maybe it’s just a allusion to the whole Will vs Will the wise arc (possibly) coming up?

Jennifer hayes (popular girl) & Jen (Mr clarke’s gf). Tina (highschool gal) & Tina- erica’s friend- Tina & christy are also nicknames of christina (s4 character). Susie (dustin’s gf) & susan (max’s mom). Sam (max’s dad) and Samantha (girl at party)/ samuel (possibly argyle). Billy Hargrove, Bill (dianne’s new huband),  and Will-all being nicknames for William. Robin & Bob-nicknames for Robert. Lonnie & Larry-nicknames for Lawerence. Ted  & Eddie being nicknames for Edward.James (Will’s bully), Jim Hopper (real name James), jacobi, and jason- all 4 are derived from jacob . Marsha Holland (barb’s mom) and marsha kelly (therapist s4)/martin relate to mars. Tom (reporter), tommy (highschooler), thompson (other highschooler).

it’s definitely peculiar to repeat names like this in a story. Unless it means ...something... I talked about how David was mentioning alot of doppelganger/twin imagery recently-here. So the name mirroring could just be an allusion to the Will/WW arc coming up ...possibly?

[okaybutlikeimagine]

El has a nightmare and Hop has a night shift, so she can't talk to him about it and goes to Billy instead. Imagine Jim coming home in the morning and finding El sleeping in her brother's bed taking almost all the space and the covers, while Billy is about to fall off with one leg and one arm touching the floor. And Hop can feel his heart melt because this is the cutest thing he's ever seen.

HI I’M the one melting bc this is so adorable!! ♥ i’ve been bundled into a ball of fluff over the idea of this.

One of my absolute FAVORITE things that really cemented me into the “I live and breathe for Billy’s found family and you can pry it from my cold dead hands” club was fics where Billy looks out for El. like, something about this big rough and tough and emotionally vulnerable boy noticing and helping out this small but also feisty and emotionally vulnerable girl just drives me CRAZy ♥

their dynamic is TOO GOOD. they’re so similar and both deal with the same kinds of traumas and call me crazy, but I don’t think Billy likes the idea of other people going through what he went through. I think he likes to THINK he does, I think he likes to both silently and very loudly wish ill of people- usually bullies or assholes who think they’re clever. Think they’re better than him bc they have whatever constitutes as a “happy home life”. He hates those people. Those are the people he (almost) wishes could feel the pain he’s felt his whole life… the pain of trying to be as small as possible, to take up as little space as possible, and still get slapped for it.

The thing is… he never actually means it. He likes to think that if he was given the choice, he could throw his life and all of the pain that’s come with it onto some poor, unsuspecting soul… but somehow he knows he would never. Could never. It’s an upsetting thought for him.

And he most definitely wouldn’t want anything plaguing a little kid… especially this little girl that Billy shares a home with now.

Bc Billy’s no stranger to nightmares, and within about 3 days of moving into the Hopper household, he knows El isn’t either. Bc he wakes up to shrieks. It startles him awake, gets his heart racing like crazy, and sets his entire body on fire because…

Because he hears heavy footsteps, rushing somewhere on the wooden floors. 

He’s awake but his mind is still processing it so his vision is blurry and all he sees is a large figure barreling towards the only room- El’s room, and the door slams open and the shrieks get louder and Billy’s livid.

And he jumps into action, gracelessly because he’s still drunk with sleep and exhaustion (because those first few weeks in the cabin are rough on him.) and he rushes to El’s room, running himself into the doorway, leaning heavily on it, eyes scanning wildly to stop this because holy shit he didn’t think this man was like this but then again how could he be so stupid as to think this man wasn’t a poison to society like every man Billy’s ever met and-

And….

And El is crying and Billy’s vision is getting less blurry and she’s… she’s hugging Hop. Hop is on the bed, arms wrapped tight around the little bundle of curls and tears that are shivering against his chest, and Hop shoots a look up to Billy in the doorway. He must look like a fire being doused.

You okay? Hop mouths, patting El’s head.

Billy’s blinking hard, trying to make sure he knows exactly what he’s looking at- make sure he knows that there’s no danger here.

El starts mumbling something… something about monsters and labs and Papa and…

Billy leaves. Stumbles his way back to the couch and flops back down and falls into a restless sleep of his own monster.

And it takes a bit for him to realize he may never get used to it. Every time he sees something other than reality. Every time his mind is somewhere that isn’t the present. Every time Billy rushes, heart beating violently, over to the room, leaning heavily on the door, ready to fight, mind just racing with thoughts of: oh no, it finally happened. He finally did it. He’s finally bored of me. He finally moved on to her...

Every time Billy snaps back to the present, taking note of the girl having brown hair rather than red…

But Billy just never gets used to it. He never gets comfortable. It’s happened a countless number of times and every time he’s nervous and today, when El screams, Billy is up in a second, stumbling on wobbly legs that’re heavy with sleep over to her room to see her standing and crying and wobbling around herself. She’s wandering around her room, bumping into her bedframe and her dresser and her wall because she has her hands covering her eyes in fear.

Billy grabs hold of her, embracing her in his arms, keeping her still. He feels her shake as his sleep hazy mind slowly clears.

“Monsters.” is all she can say but it’s all Billy needs to hear.

So he guides her out of her bedroom and into the living room to sit on his bed in the corner. He lets her talk for a minute about what she saw and how it makes her feel and Billy just lets her before he tells her it’s “not real” and that she doesn’t have to be scared. He doesn’t quite know what else to say. Even though he has nightmares too, he’s not sure what he’d want to hear. It works, nonetheless. She breathes a little more even and nods and curls herself up in the corner of his bed while he goes to grab her a glass of milk and an extra blanket.

When Billy notices she’s not shaking anymore, he figures this is the perfect time to guide her back to her bed and try to get back to sleep himself, but the second he opens his mouth she beats him to it.

“Can you sing?”

His brows furrow deeply. “Huh?”

“Sing? Can you sing a song?”

“Uhhh… I don’t really sing, kiddo.”

“Yes you do. Sometimes you sing.”

“Yeah but-”

“Please?”

And it’s the puppy dog eyes and the pouting lip and the fact that her face is still puffy from crying that really seals the deal.

So he gives her the extra blanket and lets her get cozy and tries for the life of him to think of something to sing- some slow song he’s heard her listen to or that he’s heard and knows the lyrics to or that, maybe possibly, his mom used to sing for him when he was a kid… but even those are far and distant and muffled and it’s stupid but there’s only one song and it’s only the chorus that he can think of.

So…. well…

He makes sure she’s comfy and he lays back in the bed a bit and he twists his face up a bit and sings rather awkwardly-

“Take me down to the paradise city… where the grass is green… and the girls are pretty… oh won’t you please take me home?”

She snuggles in more, burying her face into his arm and grabbing hold of it. He sighs a little, trying his damnedest to sing the chorus slowly and in some kind of tune that resembles a lullaby.

Somehow, for some reason, it does work- with only a couple repetitions of the chorus, El is fully calm and asleep against Billy’s arm, her own arms wrapped around it like it’s a teddy bear. The smile Billy gives to her is small and soft and involuntary, and he keeps singing the chorus, softer and softer and even softer, until he too is asleep.

And just imagine Hop’s heartwarming surprise when he comes into the cabin after a grueling and tiring shift to find El spread like a semi-broken starfish across the bed, the blankets mostly wrapped around her and yet with a hand still gripping onto the arm of Billy, who is half off the bed and yet still fully passed out.

He chuckles to himself as he pulls off his boots, makes some coffee for Billy to wake up to, and gets ready for some shut eye of his own.

And imagine Hop’s even more… perhaps confusing surprise when Guns and Roses’ Paradise City comes on the radio one night when they’re all driving back from the Byers’ home and El shouts out “lullaby!”

He shoots Billy a very confused look, to which the boy just shrugs and makes his best “I have no idea what she’s talking about and don’t ask me” face.

[letterboxd]

In Focus: The Truman Show.

Inspired by Letterboxd data that revealed it to be a lockdown favorite, editor-at-large Dominic Corry looks at the ever-evolving importance of contemporary masterpiece The Truman Show.

It has long been apparent that The Truman Show is an unnervingly prescient film. The story of a man who becomes aware that his superficially idyllic life is, in fact, a live-streamed television show has gone from being high-concept to every-day.

Thanks to the three Ps—the prevalence of mass urban surveillance, the proliferation of reality television and the pervasiveness of video in social media—the notion of cameras filming our every move is no longer a paranoid fantasy, but real life. The twist being that, for the most part, we all willingly signed up for it, and did all the filming ourselves. As Yi Jian saliently observes in his review: “Not to get all ‘we live in a society’ on Letterboxd but I know a person or two in real life that would actually give anything to trade lives with Truman, it do be like that sometimes”. It indeed do, Yi Jian.

So it’s something of a cliché at this stage to point out how we are all living in some version of the The Truman Show, and you don’t have to be a member of the royal family to feel that way. Yet, somehow, the film has become even more pertinent over the last eighteen months. And it’s a pertinence reflected in the massive uptick in viewership for the film as seen in Letterboxd activity.

During the month of February 2020, the last moment of the Before Times, The Truman Show had a modest 1,235 diary entries. That number tripled in April of that year, by which time the seriousness of the pandemic had become clear. And by July, deep in the worst of the pandemic, Truman fervor peaked, with a further 178 percent leap over April’s numbers, firmly placing it in the top 200 films watched by our members in a year of lockdown. (By the way, ‘diary entries’ mean activity where the member has added a watched date; many thousands more also marked Truman as ‘watched’ in those dark months, but didn’t specify a date.)

It’s not difficult to imagine why we might become more interested in revisiting this eminently re-visitable film. During lockdown, social media—including Letterboxd—took on a greater presence in terms of how we communicated with each other. We got used to seeing footage of faces more than actual faces. We were all the stars of our own ‘Truman Show’, and simultaneously the audience of everyone else’s ‘Truman Show’.

Christian Torres boiled it down effectively when he wrote: “Now every movie I see seems to be related to my life in quarantine. I am Truman and I want to escape.” And Sonya Sandra eloquently captured the film’s increased contemporary significance in her review: “This is a real-life daylight horror film. The best kind. Even more relevant in 2021 than ever. We are all Truman, we all want to find what is real in our fake lives filled with media, capitalism and ideology. And it’s our job to fight the storm and get to the truth of it all. Nothing is real, everything is for profit, and everyone is selfish. Go out and find what is real, because it’s definitely not here.”

With its deft, dazzling blending of the profound and the humorous, the optimistic and the cynical, it’s difficult to think of anything released since The Truman Show that comes as close as it does to being a modern-day Frank Capra movie. It’s hopeful, but has its eyes wide open. There’s a darkness in the themes of the film that is never replicated in the colors on display.

While everyone involved delivers career-best work, we must principally credit the triumvirate of talent at the center of the film: director Peter Weir, screenwriter Andrew Niccol and star Jim Carrey.

Star Jim Carrey and director Peter Weir on the set of ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).

Weir is a director who inspires much online love whenever his name is mentioned, but he isn’t really mentioned all that often. Or at least as often as he should be. The Australian filmmaker has delivered masterpieces across multiple genres, and it’s extremely sad that he hasn’t directed a movie since 2010’s not-quite-true World War II drama The Way Back, arguably one of his lesser works. That’s also, insanely, one of only two movies he’s made since Truman, the other being Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the wide and rabid affection for which regularly kicks up on Twitter (not to mention demand for a sequel).

Weir doesn’t do many interviews, and while this 2018 Vanity Fair article marking Truman’s twentieth anniversary has many quotes about the film’s modern relevance, Weir doesn’t offer any commentary to that effect, presumably preferring to let the work speak for itself—though in this 1998 interview he did talk about the relationship between the media, the general public and the people we become fascinated with, as a “complex situation”.

The Vanity Fair article does, however, reveal a fascinating ‘what if’ scenario relating to Christof, the god-like director of the in-movie TV show played by Ed Harris, who offers up a pile of pretentious auteur clichés: mononymous, beret, etc. (beyond the whole god thing, that is). When Dennis Hopper, originally cast in the role, wasn’t working out, Weir considered playing the role himself, which would’ve added yet another meta layer. It brings to mind how George Miller styled Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) after himself in Mad Max: Fury Road, or how Christopher Nolan’s haircut shows up in most of his films.

Ed Harris as Christof in ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).

And, at one point, it could have gone mega-meta. Weir, in the 1998 interview, talked about a “crazy idea” he had, a technical impossibility back then but easily achievable with live-streaming now. “I would have loved to have had a video camera installed in every theater the film was to be seen [in]. At one point, the projectionist would … cut to the viewers in the cinema and then back to the movie. But I thought it was best to leave that idea untested.” Imagine.

Weir also played a role in helping to shape the originally much more overtly dark screenplay into the cheerier (on the surface at least) shooting script, which is solely credited to fellow antipodean, New Zealand-born Niccol, also a producer on the film. Both men have done the majority of their work in America, but it’s tempting to credit the film’s tone-perfect sense of heightened Americana to the degree of separation offered by their foreign provenance. In any case, it’s clear that open-air mall designers were paying attention.

Niccol’s original screenplay made his name in Hollywood, and revealed a storyteller excited by big ideas. He moved into directing with the smaller-scale Gattaca, released a year prior to Truman (itself delayed to meet Carrey’s availability). Niccol’s subsequent filmography includes several legit bangers (Lord of War hive step up!), and his endearing dedication to lofty allegories in a genre setting makes him an increasingly rare breed in Hollywood.

Like Weir, he is not the greatest fan of giving interviews, but the Vanity Fair piece quotes him making an interesting point: “When you know there is a camera, there is no reality,” thereby making Truman “the only genuine reality star.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by MusicMoviesMe, who writes that “‘Truman Show’ beats all other reality shows out there like Bachelors, Survivors and Kardashians. Come on, when you know there’s a camera at your tail, there’s no reality. So yes, Truman beats all reality shows out there bar none!”

The role was perfectly suited to Jim Carrey’s affected mannerisms, and his status as one of the world’s biggest stars meant he could relate to Truman more than most people. Then, at least. Nowadays, of course, we are all Truman.

“It is always incredible to see how far The Truman Show was ahead of [its] time,” observes The Closer79. “In a world where celebs are monitored 24/7 and we are showered with unnecessary private information on the web, where talent-free wannabes become famous and where you sometimes [wonder] what kind of surreal show society you are in—Truman and his fake show life cleverly have anticipated all of this. Only Truman knew nothing of his luck and he was granted an escape from his glass prison. We don’t really have this possibility… Aren’t we all Truman? Sometimes even voluntarily…”

Austin Burke concurs: “I have always known that I really enjoyed this film, but I had no clue that it would hold up so well years later… Could this be because the strange world that he finds himself in is far more similar to our world today? Possibly, but the idea and themes are so much more relevant now compared to when this originally released.” And while DallasFrance is conscious of piling on about the film’s prescience, his review highlights how there really is no limit to the film’s meta qualities:

“Instead of writing a review about how this film predicted social media, or how we’re all Truman, or yadda yadda yadda, I’ll instead fixate on the miraculous fact that two absolute legends were cast as primary viewers of the Truman Show:

1. The old lady from The Running Man who starts betting on Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). ‘He’s one bad motherf*cker!’

2. The villain from The Karate Kid Part II:

‘Live or die, man?!’ ‘Die!’ ‘Wrong!’ *hooooonnnkkk*

I’ve never seen either of these actors in any other roles. With the second one, I felt like I was watching a character from my childhood watch a character from his childhood come to realizations about the characters in his childhood. So actually… the movie’s really about me.”

Never change, LB membership.

We are all generally pretty aware of how ahead of its time The Truman Show was, but that doesn’t lessen its impact. Maddie’s review shows that there’s always some new angle to consider: “Imagine being an extra in this movie… You would be an extra, playing an actor, playing an extra. Think about that long enough and tell me that doesn’t make you want to walk into the ocean.”

Kev goes even further: “Watching other people watch somebody else while also watching that person while also watching the person watching over that person is a great reminder that watching is weird, and to be watched is to not own yourself. Don’t watch, don’t try to be watched. Just live.”

Or perhaps Will encapsulates the film’s ability to present an ever-evolving message best, writing that, “clearly, this is video proof that we live in a simulation.” Beyond mere prescience, The Truman Show is a telling mirror to whatever era it is viewed in. Its message will continue to evolve.

Now that we’re finally (touch wood) emerging from the pandemic, it will be fascinating to see what The Truman Show has to say about its audience and the world they live in, in years to come. Rest assured, it will be well-documented by you, the Letterboxd audience.

Also: can Peter Weir please make another movie? Like, seriously.

Related content

A Meta-Reality: Robert’s list of layers of film in life and life in film

Follow Dom on Letterboxd

[ganzeer-reviews]

POPISM: THE WARHOL 60′s by Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett o-o-o-o-o

In most of his interviews, Andy Warhol wasn't very talkative and came off as hella awkward while simultaneously being kinda snarky, often dicking interviewers around. So it's quite refreshing to be getting his take on things in his own voice. 300 pages of it, no less. Sure, you can bet the actual writing was done by Pat Hacket, but you can be equally sure that the voice behind the writing belongs to no one but Andy Warhol.

"Very few people on the [West] Coast knew or cared about contemporary art, and the press for my show wasn't too good. I always have a laugh, though, when I think of how Hollywood called Pop Art a put-on! Hollywood?? I mean, when you look at the kind of movies they were making then--those were supposed to be real??"

It's also nice to see him recount his transition from his commercial art practice to his early beginning within the gallery circuit-- when he was still not quite sure of himself-- before he became a superstar and way before his studio became the go-to place for every major counter-cultural figure in America.

"By the time Ivan [Karp] (who worked at Leo Castelli Gallery) introduced me to Henry [Geldzahler] (who at the time was a new young 'curatorial-assistant-with-no-specific-duties' at the Met) I was keeping my commercial drawings absolutely buried in another part of the house because one of the people Ivan had brought by before had remembered me from my commercial art days and asked to see some drawings. As soon as I showed them to him, his whole attitude toward me changed. I could actually see him changing his mind about my paintings, so from then on I decided to have a firm no-show policy about the drawings. Even with Henry, it was a couple of months before I was secure enough about his mentality to show them to him."

But if it's the explosive Factory years you're interested in, rest assured there's plenty of that as well. One of the best things about this book though is Warhol's observations about the times.  Because that is very much what the book is: a window onto the 1960's through they eyes and words of Andy Warhol. It starts off in 1960 and ends in 1969. By all accounts the 60's was a very special decade in America, and Warhol's retelling definitely drives the point home

"Everything went young in '64. The kids were throwing out all the preppy outfits and the dress-up clothes that made them look like their mothers and fathers, and suddenly everything was reversed--the mothers and fathers were trying to look like their kids."

It gets better:

"Generally speaking, girls were still pretty chubby, but with the new slim clothes coming in, they all went on diets. This was the first year I can remember seeing loads of people drink low-calorie sodas."

And then later:

"Since diet pills are made out of amphetamine, that was one reason speed was as popular with Society as it was with street people. And these Society women would pass out the pills to the whole family, too--to their sons and daughters to help them lose weight, and to their husbands to help them work harder and stay out later. There were so many people from every level on amphetamine, and although it sounds strange, I think a lot of it was because of the new fashions."

So you get interesting anecdotes like that, with associations and theories only someone like Warhol would come up with; Fashion made Speed popular.

He does go on tangents throughout the book, recounting other people's stories instead of his own--which I s'pose you can say is a very Warholian thing to do, isn't it? I can imagine some people getting tired of these long tangents, but I find them to be wonderful additions to Warhol's montage of the decade.

"'I gave Bob Dylan a book of my poems a couple of years ago,' Taylor [Mead] said, 'right after the first time I saw him perform. I thought he was a great poet and I told him so... And now', Taylor started to laugh, 'now when he's a big sensation and everything, he asked me for a free copy of my second book. I said 'but you're rich now--you can afford to buy it!' And he said, 'But I only get paid quarterly.'"

These asides cover a huge roster of characters, from Dylan to Jackson Pollock to Robert Rauschenberg to Jonas Mekas to Dennis Hopper to Edie Sedgwick to Jim Morrison to Lou Reed to Nico to Mick Jagger and on and on. The tone is very conversational and often gosspiy, but it isn't all mere gossip. You learn, for example, how Warhol introduced Henry Geldzahler to a young British painter by the name of David Hockney. This was before Geldzahler became curator of American Art at the Met and way before he became Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City. And it was really before Andy Warhol himself became anything close to a cult figure, which he would start to become only 1-2 years later.

Hard to imagine the transition when you take into account the initial reception towards his work:

"When Ivan brought Leo Castelli up to my studio, the place was a mass, with the big canvases strewn around the living room--painting was a lot messier than drawing. Leo looked my stuff over, the Dick Tracys and the Nose Jobs in particular, and then said, 'Well, it's unfortunate, the timing, because I just took on Roy Lichtenstein, and the two of you in the same gallery would collide."

And then later:

"Henry Geldzahler was also pounding the pavements for me. He offered me to Sidney Janis, who refused. He begged Robert Elkon. He approached Eleanor Ward, who seemed interested but said she didn't have room. Nobody, but nobody, would take me."

Amidst the stories, the gossip, and observations, there's also the occasional tip.

"To be successful as an artist, you have to have your work shown in a good gallery for the same reason that, say, Dior never sold his originals from a counter in Woolworth's. It's a matter of marketing, among other things. If a guy has, say, a few thousand dollars to spend on a painting, he doesn't wander along the street till he sees something lying around that 'amuses' him. He wants to buy something that's going to go up and up in value, and the only way that can happen is with a good gallery, one that looks out for the artist, promotes him, and sees to it that his work is shown in the right way to the right people."

He finally got his first New York show in the fall of '62 at Eleanor Ward's Stable Gallery (only 3 years before announcing his retirement from painting). By early '63 he'd moved his work studio from his home to an old firehouse on East 87th st, and soon thereafter he hired Gerard Malanga as his assistant, who was also instrumental in keeping Andy plugged into all the cultural happenings.

"Gerard kept up with every arty event and movement in the city--all the things that sent out fliers or advertised in the Voice. He took me to a lot of dank, musty basements where plays were put on, movies screened, poetry read--he was an influence on me in that way."

The more things Warhol was exposed to, the more he soaked up stuff like a sponge, not just for his art, but for his very persona.

"In those days I didn't have a real fashion look yet... Eventually I picked up some style from Wynn [Chamberlain] , who was one of the first to go in for the S & M leather look."

Perhaps some of the most interesting parts in the book is when Warhol recounts some of his efforts in film, which indeed took up the majority of the 60's despite not "bringing home the bacon" in the same way the paintings did. Even today Andy's films have yet to occupy the same place his paintings have, but in reading his retelling it's hard to think that even the most skeptical of skeptics wouldn't be able to see that there's at least a bit of genius in them. In one bit, Warhol even talks about "slow cinema" something that seems to be regaining popularity in recent years.

"That had always fascinated me, the way people could sit by a window or on a porch all day and look out and never be bored, but then if they went to a movie or a play, they suddenly objected to being bored. I always felt that a very slow film could be just as interesting as a porch-sit if you thought about it the same way."

But all in all the greatest thing about the book is that it's such a perceptive account of some of the most interesting aspects of 60's New York. There's lots on Jonas Mekas' Cinematheque, plenty on the changing neighborhoods, how the East Village was becoming all Bohemian, when the Beatles became all the rage and the Stones were having publicity issues, how fashions were quickly evolving year after year ("The masses wanted to look non-conformist, so that meant the non-conformity had to be mass-manufactured").

I find it quite odd that in the wide array of art-related books recommended to me over the years, Andy Warhol's Popism was never mentioned once. In fact, I never even knew of the book's existence, and just happened upon it by sheer coincidence. It strikes me as essential reading to anyone interested in not just Andy Warhol, but New York's art scene in the 60's more generally, arguably the most important decade in American art and culture at large. And actually, art aside, it's an incredible telling account of the decade more generally, with Warhol's keen observations on things like fashion, music, and media. Even with Warhol's shortcomings--his obsessions with things like glamour, fame, and money, all things that come across in this here book--he still manages to do what he's always done best: hold up a mirror right in America's face.

Highly recommended.

[Available on Amazon]

[getyourvitamin-bri]

Okay so I did one of these last season and I once again felt the urge to rant about how much I love each and every character on this show. 

*SPOILERS BELOW*

Eleven // El // Jane who continues to be my personal favorite character on this show. God this season she reached new levels of being a badass. Can we take a moment to just appreciate how strong and brave she is, she just keeps going even when she is scared. And those fight scenes were just phenomenal, they didn’t make her seem invincible which I love cause its her tenacity that really makes her so strong and interesting. I loved the story line where she basically is becoming a normal kid discovering new “rules”, her own style, her personality, we get to see the type of person she’s becoming on screen and its done so well. 

Mike Wheeler Okay I’ll be honest I always liked mike but it was always more aww he and El are so cute together not mike individually. But I felt this season fleshed out his character a little more. We get to see him just being a normal dumb teenager. That opening scene where he starts singing and being a dork really made me love his character, also him and Lucas ranting about girls was hilarious. Most of all though you could see how much he cares about El is taken into account in all his actions even when they were wrong. Overall I though he was really adorable and compared to my younger cousins a realistic teenage boy. 

Lucas Sinclair Lucas always gives some of the best dialogue in my opinion (must run in his family) and I think it kinda gets overlooked sometimes. This season his whole thing about teaching mike about girls was hilarious and something I totally picture a young teenage boy thinking. He’s really quick witted and stubborn and I love him, his and max’s dynamic I think just fits well somehow. 

Dustin Henderson God he is such an adorable marshmallow I want to protect. He just always makes me smile, he’s honestly the perfect mix of smart and adorable. This season once again shows how committed he is to science and finding the truth of things, he’s so determined once he starts a mission and I’m so happy he found a girl to appreciate him. That song they sang together melted me in to a puddle. 

Will Byers I honestly felt we didn’t get enough of will this season I mean I get it, theirs a lot of characters not enough time but we’ve steadily been getting to know him more and I fine myself with more questions about him. He’s so sweet and different than a lot of teenage boys portrayed on television and its this uniqueness that makes me want to get to know him more. I just really feel for him and how he wanted to go back to how things were before. 

Max Hargrove Max is quickly rising in the ranks for me in becoming another favorite character. She is just so stubborn and witty and blunt I love it. Most of all this season I love her and El’s friendship. I though they were gonna hate each other from what happened last season but thank god the writers took it in this direction cause I need more shopping trips and sleepovers. I myself am more of a tom boy and seeing a girl who skates and says whats on her mind just makes me really happy. 

Jonathon Byers I don’t have much new to say about Jonathan this season, I still love him and how much he cares about will, that scene where he and Nancy fight in the car, wow by the end I’ll be honest I felt for both of them cause I could understand both their points.

Nancy Wheeler She continues to be super tenacious and definitely a fighter. Her tenacity can lead to good and bad things but its a constant and I love that about her. She dealt with such sexism and never let it stop her from thinking of big dreams. She's an icon honestly and I love how brave she is, she has the traits of a great reporter.

Steve Harrington I admit I didn’t dig Steve in season 1 but he is now my second favorite character because how can he not be. His whole parent dynamic with the kids, its fucking adorable. His hair is gorgeous. He may not know everything in the world but he’s just unabashedly himself. Adorable, confident and above all caring. You could see how much he just cares about all the other characters, he respects dustin and the other kids and he’s friends with them because he doesn’t just see them as kids he see them as friends. I’m excited to see more of his character as he learns to prioritize things that are actually important not things society tells you are important.

Jim Hopper *SOBS* I always loved hopper but I loved dad hopper the most. Him and El had this unique dynamic that I just wanted more of. He’s wasn’t perfect by any means (anger issues lol) but he cared so fucking much about everyone and he just didn’t know how to express it. I sobbed when El read his speech but it felt like such a good ending though, you finally get to hear what was behind all that frustration about El and mike, he just missed her. I miss him. 

Joyce Byers She fucking mom of the year. I love her so much. You just know she would do anything for those kids. This season continued to showcase how much of a badass she is, she took no shits from people and she did what she had to do to make sure nothing happened to her son. Also this who Joyce and Jim dynamic was beautiful cause they just pushed each other up and if they had the chance I feel like they would have been a awesome team keeping those kids out of trouble.

Billy Hargrove I think seeing into his mind, seeing what makes billy do the things he does, what makes him into who he was, was just done so well. It shows how people and their actions always have reasons. We are made up of our experiences in life and no character shows this more than billy, he was handed an unlucky hard life and under all that attitude he was just a boy who loved his mom. I’m sad we did get to see him grow and learn and I loved how well the actor did this season it was phenomenal.

Murray Bauman He was a more important player this season and I loved his and Alexei’s dynamic. He’s brings some humor into any scenes he is in, seeing him pretend to be a communist was hilarious just all around no complaints, he’s a great character and he like all the characters has compassion for people, he wants to help save people and has flaws that make him well rounded.

new*

Erica Sinclair just give this child a round of applause. Every single word from her mouth made me laugh my ass off and appreciate her. She is the queen of sass on this show. She is confident. She is hella brave. She is so smart. She is a fucking icon and I look forward to seeing everything she said made in to gifs cause I love her with all my soul and look forward to her having an even bigger roll in the next season.

Robin Another newbie, she like max is not the like most teenage girls portrayed on tv, she's the real thing, she’s unique and really funny and true to herself. With every scene I just find myself wanting to know more about her and her past. Her whole “you suck” board was hilarious, she's just incredibly likable you can’t help but root for her.

Dr. Alexei By far the most surprising character for me to like, you first see him and you do not expect to get attached to him, just like barb and bob. Stranger things just gives us these character we never expect to come to love so much and leave us heart broken cause we don’t get enough of them. He just wanted a cherry slushie and its these small things that just bring him down to our level. Like yes Alexei there is a difference between cherry and other flavors, yes it is funny that hopper and Joyce haven’t banged, yes. He’s just adorable and I didn’t expect to be so sad when he died. 

Sorry for the grammar & if I forgot someone I wrote this hella late. Heres link to my thoughts on last season. You might not agree with everything I say and thats totally cool just please don’t be rude. 

stanger things 2

[rachelthompsonauthor]

As a survivor, writer, and sexual abuse survivor activist, I participate in and observe real life and online daily conversations on the topic of sexual violence. Hmmm, the topic of sexual violence — like it’s just a topic, not crimes that affect people for the rest of our lives. That change the very structure of our cells, of our brains. Simply a topic of conversation.

Not a polite dinner conversation topic, of course. Yet, still a topic people bring up regularly, because you see, everyone is an expert (I call them the ‘Should Have Dones) on what a victim of a horrific sexual crime Should Have Done after she was brutally raped, sexually molested, abused, or harassed (unless you’re in the political arena and then it’s referred to as ‘sexual misconduct,’ that vague, gray area that cannot be defined, making it easy for politicians to talk in their circles and loopholes, as they are wont to do).

I refer to victims of sexual crimes (including myself) as survivors. Personal choice. We are, and have every right to refer to ourselves as, victims. Society loves to call us victims, in the negative sense of the word. That’s mistake number one so let’s start there.

Mistake #1: Victim Blaming Sexual Violence Survivors

‘Don’t be a victim,’ people spew at us. ‘Just get over it.’ ‘You just want the attention.’ Or my favorite (from a guy): ‘Why didn’t you just call 911? Seems easy enough.” (Well, I was only eleven at the time, and gosh well, 911 didn’t exist in 1975. Plus you know, the whole thing about how my abuser, the military dad next door, had a gun and had threatened to kill me and my baby sister if I told. So there’s that.)

Soooo easy.

One person on Twitter the other day said, ‘I’m not sure if I want to read your books. Are they an endless loop of hopeless reality, victim-mentality, woe-is-me? I prefer stories of go-getters!’

Funny thing is, I am a go-getter. I am ambitious. I’m pretty chill most days. I am also a victim of a serial child molester when I was eleven. Whether I ‘get over it,’ or talk about what happened and how I’ve dealt with it doesn’t change that he sexually abused me. I deal with that reality every day. It doesn’t define me — I don’t wear a label across my forehead, however, I don’t hide it anymore either. Shame no longer owns me.

If you look at the language people use, the focus is on the victim (I’m purposely using the word victim here so stay with me). Don’t be a victim. Get over it. Move on. As if we, the victims of crimes, have Done Something Wrong. As if discussing it means I’m still in victim-mode — which I’m not (because people do want to know); yet people assume that any victim of a sexual crime who discusses their harrowing real-life experience must be looking for attention because why else would we discuss something so private?

Here’s the bigger question: Why do you suppose people focus so much on the victim instead of the perpetrator? I’ve had years to observe this and here’s my completely non-scientific, non-random, non-controlled, non-trial, half-opinion, half-experience-based conclusion:

There’s more than one conclusion, depending on the person’s most treasured belief system. It’s uncomfortable. People don’t know what to say. They don’t want to get into the mind of an abuser, so to avoid that, they pick on the victim. They bully us. We’re accessible, easy targets. Defensive attacks are easier than compassion.

Victims are easy to blame because it’s harder and scarier to connect in any way with the mind of a criminal rapist or child molester — there might be something lurking there they don’t want to see — themselves.

There’s another school of thought (much more scientific):

“Our tendency to blame the victim is ultimately self-protective. It allows us to maintain our rosy worldview and reassure ourselves that nothing bad will happen to us. The problem is that it sacrifices another person’s well-being for our own. It overlooks the reality that perpetrators are to blame for acts of crime and violence, not victims.” (Source: Psychology Today)

I’d really love to see that paradigm shift. Instead of asking victims of sexual crime anything — because we the public are entitled to know nothing about the victim — let’s ask perpetrators why they perpetrate crimes against others. Is it anger? Is it hormonal? Is it societal? Is it mental? How can we fix this?

We know it’s not about sex. We know it’s about power and control. Examining power and patriarchal structures and how we break these down is a start. According to the latest studies, here’s what we do know about men who rape and sexually assault women:

Heavy drinking, perceived pressure to have sex,

a belief in “rape myths” — such as the idea that no means yes

A peer group that uses hostile language to describe women.

Men who are highly aroused by rape porn.

Narcissism magnifies odds that men will commit sexual assault and rape.

What about the idea that rape is about power over women? Some experts feel that research into hostile attitudes toward women supports this idea.

Rejection in high school and of looking on as “jocks and the football players got all the attractive women.”As these once-unpopular, often narcissistic men become more successful, [he] suspects that “getting back at these women, having power over them, seems to have become a source of arousal.” (Source: New York Times)

In the wake of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings and the sexual assault revelation by Dr. Blasey Ford:

“This is what we will expect from the congressional committee:

She will likely be asked to detail every moment of the alleged attack. How much she had to drink. Why she went upstairs. What she was wearing.” (Source: Washington Post)

And she was. That’s exactly what happened.

People feel righteous and justified, as if her drinking or clothing gives Kavanaugh a pass for his (alleged) ‘misconduct.’

**Postscript: we all know the result of that entire situation.

How does what any woman/person wears or drinks justify someone else’s criminal behavior? It doesn’t. In any situation. It simply doesn’t.

Mistake #2: The Language We Use

As I mentioned above, in Western society we focus on the victim:

Mary is a battered woman.

Rachel is a CSA (childhood sexual abuse) survivor.

Joe was raped.

Where are the perpetrators (usually men) who did the abusing in these sentences?

(For the purpose of this discussion, I’ll use men as the perpetrator, though I acknowledge #NotAllMen are abusers so please, let’s not go down that road. It is a well-known and researched fact that men do the majority of abusing (please read the full linked report for more data*) — of women, children, and other men. My point here is not to bash men; simply provide an example. I’m not in any way condemning men exclusively and I acknowledge that women can be abusers too, so everyone breathe.)

*Sex of Perpetrator in Lifetime Reports of Sexual Violence:

Most perpetrators of all forms of sexual violence against women were male. For female rape victims, 98.1% reported only male perpetrators. Additionally, 92.5% of female victims of sexual violence other than rape reported only male perpetrators. For male victims, the sex of the perpetrator varied by the type of sexual violence experienced. The majority of male rape victims (93.3%) reported only male perpetrators. For three of the other forms of sexual violence, a majority of male victims reported only female perpetrators: being made to penetrate (79.2%), sexual coercion (83.6%), and unwanted sexual contact (53.1%). For non-contact unwanted sexual experiences, approximately half of male victims (49.0%) reported only male perpetrators and more than one-third (37.7%) reported only female perpetrators (data not shown).

**For an in-depth discussion on gender symmetry, look at the work of Sherry Hamby, Ph.D.

(“Violence against women, men, and children is a men’s issue, not a women’s issue” — it’s not even a gender issue, according to Jackson Katz. Watch his TEDTalk — an excellent summary of how gendered language is endemic in our society and how we view violence against women and others, perpetuated primarily by men.)

There’s also an assumption (never a good thing) that survivors, especially female survivors, are liars. We must somehow want attention. Women must have ulterior motives for reporting sexual crimes (which violate our civil rights).

Look at the language people use when describing the multitudes of women who accused Bill Cosby in a criminal trial — they must want money or fame — misunderstanding there’s no money or fame to be had, as many of them remained anonymous, he was only convicted for the crimes against one woman, and a criminal trial does not award money.

This is especially true if the victim was drinking or drugged (more on that below). As Jim Hopper mentions in his work, our brains are flooded with chemicals during any kind of intense, traumatic situation, in particular during a sexual assault:

This part of our brain is responsible for executive functions, including focusing attention where we choose, rational thought process and inhibiting impulses. You are using your prefrontal cortex to read this article and absorb what we’ve written, rather than getting distracted by other thoughts in your head or things going on around you. But in states of high stress, fear or terror like combat and sexual assault, the prefrontal cortex is impaired–sometimes even effectively shut down–by a surge of stress chemicals. (Source: Lisak & Hopper, TIME Ideas, 2014)

Mistake #3: Expecting/Demanding a Hero Story

Like the reader above who expected my book to be about a woman who pulls herself up by the bootstraps and conquers the world, we are conditioned, particularly here in the West, to expect and might I even say demand, a mythic hero’s journey. From sitcoms to TV movies to series to Marvel and DC Universe to epics to The Olympics every two years — we are spoonfed heroes journeys at every turn.

Look at Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter — classic if clichéd examples of The Hero’s Journey (with male protagonists and male best friend side-kicks…plus the the oh-so-important scrappy, brilliant yet with not enough screen time female secondary character, who was never completely fleshed out as well as the guys and oh, always became prettier as the series wore on. Think Hermione — whom I love, yet still.). We do love a flawed underdog who grows to a champion!, finds the strength within themselves despite difficult circumstances, defeats the bad guy (ta-da!), and ultimately gets the girl…and, of course, yes, and they lived happily ever after.

Survivors of sexual violence are my heroes. We get up and live each and every day despite living with some combo of anxiety, depression, flashbacks, dissociation, nightmares, insomnia, triggers, hypersensitivity, hypervigilance, migraines, any number of immune disorders, addiction, and all kinds of other shit we are at higher risk for solely because we were a victim of sexual violence at some point in our lives.

PTSD is common in anywhere from one-third to one-half of sexual abuse survivors six months after the attack(s). 94% experience symptoms within the first 24 hours.

If and when we choose to share our survivor experience, we don’t owe anyone a hero story.

Life is hard enough as it is. Navigating it as a survivor adds other layers ‘normals’ cannot possibly imagine. Your expectation that we must live our lives according to your heroic expectations is not our issue.

And if I (or other victims) are still in victim mode — so what? Some victims are so traumatized by the crimes against them, the effects are devastating:

some repeatedly attempt to kill themselves — and often succeed,

become addicted to drugs/alcohol (did you know 75% of addicts and 90% of alcoholics were sexually abused as children? Source: The Right Step),

develop mental health issues (personality disorders, OCD, anxiety, depression, body dysphoria,

have lifelong weight issues

are at higher risk of immune disorders

can retreat to another mental universe completely (e.g., DID or other personality disorders).

If struggling to get through each day is the best we can do — so what?? Who is anyone to judge us?

Mistake #4: The Perfect Victim Myth

People blame victims for not being perfect. If she wore that red dress, if she was drinking, if she didn’t fight back, if she met the guy and they had sex (how dare a woman want sex #gasp), if she was out late walking, if she was asleep in her own bed in a nightie or even naked in her own home! If, if, if.

When you first hear about a crime, it’s our natural curiosity to want to find out more. “What happened? Who was involved, what were the circumstances, is everyone okay?”

However, in a sexual violence situation, many people immediately ask, “What was she wearing? Was she drunk? Was she alone?” This is our go-to. Because it’s somehow her fault for being imperfect. She’s to blame for putting herself in the position to be victimized (and yes, I’m using this passive language on purpose).

Again, with the victim-blaming. Yet the perfect victim expectation goes far beyond that. We’ve all watched enough Hollywood tropes to have been brainwashed into thinking that victims should be thin, virginal, pretty, helpless creatures who are perfect in every way (good), OR they are vampy vixens dressed in leather whom we know have it coming because they ooze sex (bad).

In reality, women are not caricatures (surprise!) and are sexually violated at all stages of life and in all stages of clothing.

Cases have been dismissed entirely because the victim didn’t cry sufficiently or wasn’t hysterical enough (if you recall, PTSD used to be referred to as ‘shellshock’ for a reason). Our brains can react in a multitude of ways during and after sexual assault — see Jim Hopper’s comprehensive work to get the neuroscientific background in understandable terms. As Jim points out, investigators have to learn how to talk to victims differently based on the latest scientific studies on how the brain reacts to intense trauma.

Memory gaps are common — why? Because of the pre-frontal cortex impairment mentioned above. Details can be hazy and remain hazy. The best scientists in the world don’t know exactly why, yet lawyers, judges, and juries demand definitive proof a victim isn’t lying (and even with proof, rape kits are collecting dust. Again, whole other post).

No. Let’s discuss it. If there’s DNA present, the victim can undergo the process of having a rape kit done (commonly referred to as a SAK: Sexual Assault Kit). After being raped or sexually assaulted, a victim must again open themselves up to strangers to be intimately examined.

Then there’s this fact: Most kits are never tested unless there’s a criminal investigation. Go ahead, read that again.

Are all SAKs tested?

No. While there are a few cities and states that automatically test all sexual assault kits, in general, SAKs are not tested unless specifically requested by a law enforcement agency for a criminal investigation. There are a variety of reasons that a kit might not be tested including:

A decision by law enforcement due to a variety of reasons — such as not prioritizing sexual assault cases or a perceived lack of victim credibility or cooperation — not to further investigate the case.

A decision by law enforcement that the results of the kit would not be significant to the investigation. This occurs most often when the suspect does not deny physical contact but instead claims the contact was consensual.

Backlogged crime labs. Due to resource issues, some crime labs may take up to a year or longer to test a SAK.

Lack of funding for DNA analysis. Some law enforcement jurisdictions, including crime laboratories, are underfunded and may be unable to test every SAK. (Source: National Center for Victims of Crime)

Dissociation (aka, spacing out or acting differently) is common after an assault, sometimes for years — even decades (something I still experience now, forty-plus years after my abuse as a child).

I experienced dissociation each time my abuser molested me (not realizing that watching myself as he abused me was not abnormal). I dissociated frequently throughout high school and college — it was normal for me to watch myself from above. Now that I know what that feeling is (something I can do on command), I’m much more aware. Sometimes, though, it happens and I don’t realize it at all. My family knows, though. My guy says he can see me ‘going under.’

You may also find this PTSD visual helpful (Souce: Daily Cardinal) and read more on PTSD here.

As for whether a woman decides to drink, do drugs, wear whatever she wants, meet a guy for sex — she is allowed to do all those things and still does not deserve to be raped. No man deserves to be raped. No child deserves it. No LGBTQ-identifying person. No human.

A person is raped because someone raped them.

By accusing a survivor who is brave enough to come forward for not fitting into the perfect victim myth you’ve come to expect, or accusing them of lying, it’s as if we are all having the wrong argument. What we have here is a faulty car engine (the brain, which in truth isn’t faulty at all), yet you’re accusing, discrediting, and blaming the driver.

When in actuality, the one causing the entire mess is the guy who ran the car off the road.

Allegedly.

Mistake #5: Sexual Violence is Political

Social media is rife with conspiracy theories about the Ford/Kavanaugh situation — which I won’t dignify by going into here on this post. The #MeToo movement, which has brought forward incredible, heartbreaking, brave voices sharing horrific stories of sexual violence, is now being attacked as men vs. women, as right-wing vs those ‘heathen, liberal left’ (never mind the number of priests, GOP’ers identified as child molesters and rapists, Fox News?). Some of the people involved in spreading and believing these stories are tin-foil hat ridiculous.

Geez. See how easy even I lowered myself into the mud? It’s an ugly look, isn’t it? Mud-slinging makes dirty people. Dirty people spread more dirt.

Add to that the conspiracy theorists, fake news, fake accounts, Russian whatevers, bots, and fundamentalists on all sides…we might as well be rolling with the pigs…or is it dogs or fleas? Besides, shouldn’t you be writing instead of arguing politics on social media?)

Which is why I refuse to discuss politics and sexual violence together in the same tweet or post.* I won’t argue with anyone about sexual violence and politics. They are completely separate because my focus is and always will be on the survivor. And if you work with The Joyful Heart Foundation as I do or RAINN (also wonderful), you’ll see they are not political, either (except to help get funding for rape kit testing or more services for survivors).

Advocating is about helping others. Politicizing sexual violence negatively, to further some politician’s career, doesn’t help anyone.

(*If there’s a bill, contributions needed, or volunteering to help or fund services for survivors — then I’m all in to help out survivors).

Making what a survivor goes through, after any kind of assault, fit into some political party ideology is ludicrous to me.

Compassion and kindness are my ideology.

Mistake #6: Assuming All Victims of Sexual Violence Are Liars

One more, on the house.

As I already mentioned above, the other part of politicizing sexual violence is the assumption that all sexual violence survivors are liars (ONLY if the survivor is hurting your candidate). Why do you suppose this is? Because diehard party-line believers and supporters cannot afford to question their own familiar belief system (this topic brings in fallacies, which you can read more about here). Whole other post.

“Why didn’t she report? She had plenty of time!” Such an easy question to ask. So simple. As easy as asking a domestic violence survivor why she didn’t just leave, right? Surely, violent, criminal situations can be explained away with a tweet. I hope this sounds as ridiculous to you as it does to me, yet that’s what people demand from survivors, particularly women.

I’ve shared above how parts of the brain shut off during trauma. If the victim chooses to come forward immediately, investigators must be trained to question survivors appropriately, keeping this in mind. The victim may not answer in a way politicians or the public would ‘expect’ a perfect victim to answer — yet the knowledge of how the brain responds to trauma is not widely known or understood.

The general public is a different story altogether. Zero comprehension of the brain on trauma. Therefore, we see these brutal social media attacks ensue due to unsatisfactory answers to questions the public has no right to ask.

Shame is another reason. It can take decades for a survivor to speak publicly about their sexual trauma (if they ever do at all). It took me three and a half decades to write Broken Pieces and then Broken Places (Broken People will be available soon-ish).

Fear of retaliation (and considering 90% of sexual violence is perpetrated by someone we know, this is an incredibly valid fear). More specifics from RAINN:

Of the sexual violence crimes not reported to police from 2005–2010, the victim gave the following reasons for not reporting:

20% feared retaliation

13% believed the police would not do anything to help

13% believed it was a personal matter

8% reported to a different official

8% believed it was not important enough to report

7% did not want to get the perpetrator in trouble

2% believed the police could not do anything to help

30% gave another reason or did not cite one reason

Read more statistics about perpetrators of sexual violence.

I won’t go into the details of my own sexual abuse here, but I will share this: as someone who did report (eventually) and testified in two trials at the age of twelve (civil and military), I can tell you it was one of the most terrifying, humiliating, and shameful experiences I’ve ever had, facing the man who abused me, having to explain what he did to me while others scrutinized every excruciating, embarrassing detail for further questioning and cross-examination.

Sure, I was young. Younger than both my kids are now. Too young to know the words I was about to speak.

For the record, he got eighteen months.

  Do you need help right now? Contact RAINN 800.656.HOPE (4673). Here are 67 resources for sexual assault survivors via Greatist.

  This post originally appeared on Medium.

  Read more about Rachel’s experiences in the award-winning book, Broken Pieces.

She goes into more detail about living with PTSD and realizing the effects of how being a survivor affected her life in

Broken Places, available now on Amazon.

  The post 5 Mistakes People Make When Discussing Sexual Violence appeared first on Rachel Thompson.

via Rachel Thompson

[pilot-launchpad-mcquack]

What Is Love

Pairing: Jim Hopper x reader

Tags: female reader, some swears, reader and Eleven bonding, mentions of Sara, some fluff too

Words: 1969

Summary: The reader and Eleven surprise Hopper with dinner. Eleven has some questions about love for the reader.

A/N: This is my first fic posted to tumblr! my girl @poodle-haired-poe convinced me to post it....so Enjoy!!!

Two knocks. Pause. One knock. Pause. Three knocks. The sound of the locks coming off their track could be heard before the door opened. Quickly closing the door behind you and locking it, you gazed around the cabin to see if Eleven was around anywhere. After you set the bags down on the table and you walked up to her bedroom door.

“Hey, El, it’s Y/N, I went to the store after work and got a few things. You wanna help me make dinner?” You asked hopefully, trying to hold a relationship with your boyfriends secret pretty much daughter. He was hiding her to protect her from the men at the lab and you were never more proud of the man you loved. Him and Eleven were as thick as thieves, you and Hop were obviously close, it only made sense to try and get close to Eleven.

“Help make dinner?” The young teenager repeated, the door now open and she was staring up at you with her classic deer in the headlights look.

“Yeah, I was thinking of making some lasagna for us tonight. But, I could really use your help.” She looked back unsurely of what you meant by help. “It’s fun, come on.” You turned and walked back into the kitchen with her following behind a moment later. You started going through the bags, putting away what needed to go away and keeping out the ingredients for the lasagna.

El stared intently at the now open box of noodles that were in front of her. She grabbed a noodle and examined it for a moment before bringing it up to her mouth.

“No, sweetie,” You pulled the noodle away from her mouth. “We have to cook those first. Here,” You grabbed a pan, setting it on the stove you adjusted the knob to the correct temperature. “I’ll put the ground meat in this pan and you can brown it. That means all you have to do is make sure that the red meat turns brown. You can use this spoon to break it up so it’s not all clumped together.” You dumped the container of ground meat on the pan.

“Noodle, sauce, cheese, meat.” El slowly repeated the instructions that you had given her, pointing at each ingredient to double check that it was correct once the meat and noodles were ready.

“Yep, you got it.” You smiled warmly at her. She apprehensively grabbed the noodles and laid them on the sauce that was at the bottom of the pan. Once placing it on the sauce her eyes darted back to me unsure if she was doing it properly. “Good job,” A smile formed on her lips.

“Y/N…” El started a few minutes after you two had put the dish in the oven.

“Yeah?”

“What is...love?” She looked up to you and waited for your answer. How the fuck were you supposed to explain love to a fourteen year old kid who didn’t really know any social aspects of society.

“Love is…” You thought for a second how to word it. “A feeling that you get about someone else or something else. Someone that you care about and would do anything for. There are different kinds of love though. There’s love when you love your friends and family, where you’ve been through the best of times and the worst of times with. They’re the people you would want to be with when things go bad for you. You’re there for them and they’re there for you. Then there is romantic love. That’s where you have a friend, your best friend, but you like them more than a friend. Your heart races when you’re with them, they can make you smile when you don’t want to smile. All you want to do is hug, kiss, and be with them. You accept them for the things that you may not really like about them or that they don’t like. When you’re old enough and in love with someone, you can start a family with them It’s what everyone lives for. It’s one of the best feelings in the world”

“Do you love Jim?” She questioned, trying to get a fuller understanding of it.

“Of course I do. I’ve never been happier with anyone else. He’s the most caring and brave man that I’ve ever met. He’s been through so much heartache in his life that I’m so grateful that he hasn’t given up on anything. A lot of people would have given up if they were in his shoes. I’m so proud of everything he does, not only for me, but for you. It may not seem like it now, but he does care a lot about you. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you, ever, so he’s doing the best he can to protect you from all that. You’re like a daughter to him.” You confessed to her, praying that it all clicked in her head. You knew that she was having some trouble being confined to the cabin.

“I’m a daughter to him?” She paused, her thoughts catching up with her. “Is he...my dad?”

“You don’t have to share blood to be family.” You told her. Her face stared back quizzically, still not understanding. “The thing that makes family family is their blood, it’s all the same. But, you don’t have to have the same blood to be family.”

“Like Jim and I.” El connected the pieces. “Does that make you my mom?”

“Oh, I, uh--” You were interrupted by the secret knock indicating that Hopper was home. You got up to go unlock the door and open it for him. A smile was instantly put on his face while he walked in and gave you a welcoming kiss. It’d been a few days since you were over there and he missed having you around.

“Hello, darling,” He cockily greeted you. “Hey there, kiddo! What’s that smell?” He went into the kitchen to investigate the smell.

“Lasagna.” El informed him. Jim’s eyes went from Eleven to you.

“You made dinner for us?” He asked you looking slightly taken aback.

“I only made the noodles and worked the appliances. El did everything else.” He gazed at Eleven with a proud grin.

“I can’t wait to taste it. She makes killer Eggos, so the lasagna is gonna be the same way.” He went over and gave her a hug and held her tight making your heart melt at the sight.

“It should be ready in about five minutes.” You noted after opening the oven to check on it.

“Kid, why don’t you go get cleaned up for dinner. Y/N and I will get everything ready.” El nodded and made her way into the bathroom leaving you and Hopper alone for a few minutes.

Once the door shut, his arms went around you, bringing you close until your hips were pressed up against each others. You smiled up him and stood on your tiptoes to kiss him. He brought his hand up to push stray hair behind your ear. His thumb was trailing along your jawline to keep brushing against your bottom lip.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” He pondered aloud.

“I love you,” You told him, giving him another kiss. This one was longer and more affectionate. His hands were roaming your back and yours went to get lost in his hair. The timer on the oven went off making you pull apart from him much to his dismay.

“You’re gonna kiss me like that, then leave me?” He feigned being upset while you pulled the oven mitts on your hands to get the food from the oven.

“We can finish later, I promise.” You smirked at him. “Until then, just sit and relax, dinner is coming right up.” He rolled his eyes and began to set the table for the meal. Eleven soon came out of the bathroom and we were all ready to taste her food.

“Okay,” Jim’s eyes were going to El and you. “On the count of three. One...two...three!” The three of you shoveled a scoop of lasagna into your mouths.

“This is better than when I make it!” You confessed after swallowing the food.

“Eleven, this might just be the tastiest damn thing I’ve ever had. I love it!” Hopper exclaimed making her grin.

“It’s good. Very good!” El concurred.

After your shower you headed to Jim’s room with the towel wrapped around your body. He was reading El a bedtime story while you got ready for bed. You grabbed a pair of panties from your drawer of his dresser and slid them up your legs. Throwing the towel aside, you put on a long sleeved shirt of his and and pair of shorts. Sighing, you absentmindedly ran your hands over your smooth legs waiting for him to come back. As if on que he opened the bedroom door and closed it behind him. You smiled at him while he flopped down on the bed with you. His smile failed to match his eyes when he looked at you.

“What’s wrong, Jim?” You asked him, scooting closer to him.

“It’s nothing.” He shrugged it off before running his hand up your leg like you had been doing previously. He was trying to avoid the question. But, if there was one thing you knew about Jim Hopper is that when something is bothering him, it really bothers the crap out of him.

“Hop?” You pressed again looking directly in his eyes.

“It’s El,” He muttered.

“What happened?”

“Did you, uh, did you talk to her earlier?”

“Yeah I did. She asked about love and I explained it to her.” You told him.

“Anything else?”

“I told her how much I loved you.” You added.

“Y/N, she called me ‘dad’.” He whispered and swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked like he was happy, going to cry, and going to be sick all at the same time. His eyes held so much hurt in them.

“I told her that you loved her like a daughter.” He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “Look, Jim, I don’t care what you think, you do love that girl.”

“I know I do.” He stopped you from continuing. “I just...I don’t know. It feels like I’m trying to replace Sara with her and I feel so damn guilty about it. I mean, I love my little girl to the moon and back…” He trailed off, trying his hardest to not cry. You sat up and rubbed his arm empathetically.

“You’re not replacing Sara, I promise you that. She would be so proud of you for what you’re doing with El. It’s okay to have people you love other than her. Eleven is so lucky to have someone as caring as you. You hardly knew the girl when you brought her in, but you didn’t care. You could have left her out in the cold for Brenner to find her. You didn’t. You are a good man, Hop, and you know that.” You assured him with honesty dripping off each word. He stared back up at you and gave you a loving kiss.

“You always know the right things to say.”

“That’s because I know you.” You chuckled. “And I know right now, you want to be having some adult fun with me right now.”

“I love you so much!” He laughed and went in for a passionate kiss, pushing you back to lay down on the bed with him above you. “Now, let me show you how much I love you.” His lips went to your jawline and began making their way down your body showing how much he did love you.

[jumpydolly]

Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen... (2)

Summary: Your favorite past times are bar hopping in search of different ways to get you drunk, nights with the lone wolf sheriff of Hawkins, Indiana, and becoming greatly awestruck over the powers of one mysterious little girl. 

Jane has no idea what any of that means.

Or, in other words, a series of drabbles regarding you, the lovely Jane, and the less than lovely Jim Hopper.

Chapter One: Honey, I’m Home!

Chapter Two: Relationship Advice 101

Karen Wheeler was a woman who strived for success. Well past her prime, she had struck gold within the idea of white picket fences and middle-class wealth. Of course the best place to look was a man with a well-paying job, his behind sitting on a pile of cash—compiled up in hundreds, you imagined—due to his hard work, dedication, and the fortune of being a part of a supposedly superior race. Now Ted Wheeler, arguably an airhead, fell in love with Karen’s youthful appearance and reckless demeanor and snatched her from the life of trivialities to fulfill a family society desired... and that was where her three children Nancy, Michael, and Holly came in.

That was Karen Wheeler in a nutshell.

You did not like Karen Wheeler.

However, she opened her home to you on the worst of nights, coddling you like a lost, lovesick teenager because your love life was a sham. She would reach up and shuffle around for the coffee grounds in her cabinet along with the container of sugar that would surely be gone by the time you left, providing you that warmth the cruel man couldn’t give you. A shitload of cream was the curt remind out of you, the blur of your unconsciousness fogging up any filter you thought you had, and your nose scrunched up as if about ready to follow the tears prepared to streak down your face. Those were your worst of nights, because the scent of those coffee grounds would reach your nostrils and your heart would ache because somehow the bitter fuel tasted like heaven only when Jim Hopper himself opened those pearly gates… and you would shut down all over again.

Somehow Karen saw fit to chime in with advice here and there, chiding your broken form with quotes from a fantasy novel—a romance plot you doubted she would ever live, yet no one was to know of your own thoughts but you—and the attempts made to comfort a friend who didn’t know the path their life was leading them was futile. Perhaps a fraction of you longed for those words of warning, a tone pitiful of a friend in unrequited love, pulling a body overwhelmed with exhaustion into Karen’s long and spacious driveway in hopes of saving. There were few times where she had ignored your cry for help, her lips tugging into a frown but eventually willing her hands to invite you to her suburban household. It was either that or losing a valuable bill in her wallet after a night out drinking, one she never remembered but still suffered with the effects nonetheless.

This time, you figured, would be no different, except no words could escape you regarding your morning. Your morning, you wished it was, but the addition of another threatened to ruin the balance you deceived yourself into existing. It was quite a predicament you found yourself in the middle of, attempting to comprehend the notion of Jim Hopper, a man who found the answer to sweet release in the nearest fool of a woman, opening his cabin to not just you but a child slowly blossoming into adulthood. She also happened to refuse to speak more than a few words at a time when conversing with you, which is why you refused to call her a preteen until she acted like one. It wouldn’t surprise you in the slightest if your irritation was reason for her mere existence, and every fiber of your being would believe that to be true until the day you left this Earth you assured.

All you could do was throw your head up high at the toddler babbling nonsense at you in her high chair, eyes wide like nothing in the world was as interesting as your issues, and pray she wouldn’t end up like this girl. “’Sup, Holly,” you said, and it was quite fitting to reach for her attention considering her own mother couldn’t will her interest in you out of her. In such a mundane household where life hadn’t begun for her yet, where worries of love and strife were of distant thoughts, watching the tears and snot she would have already picked from her nose run down your face was amusing. Something about your suffering was entertainment to kids you supposed.

The blonde halted in pulling at her twin ponytails, opening her palm to wave at you. At least she gave you that.

“A shitshow—” A shitshow, that’s what my life is. You can buy bootlegs for it in some dark back alley, was what you wanted to say, but a sudden gasp left your fellow adult as she narrowed her eyes at your impudence. Scoffing at your cheeky behavior, she reminded you of your faults and complemented your mischievous grin with a frown. Upon your vulgar vocabulary, the mother of three wasted no time in shoving the carrot puree against her youngest daughters’ taste buds, banishing the thought of such words from the little girl’s head with acquired taste. Never again would you corrupt the naivety of this child with adulthood, which was a shame because Holly was quite the listener.

Showing up uninvited at the Wheeler household was always a common occurrence from you, yet snow boots you recognized as Mike and Nancy’s sat beside the door untouched. Streaks of coalescing colors among the spectrum spread along the floor, the sun providing that existential warmth in case the winter proved too cold. Never have you needed relationship advice before the children left for school, instead of when the moon rose to its highest and the day was mere minutes away from ending. Your appearance would have proven bothersome, except earlier events left you in a cluster of emotions you could not describe, and you threw away the possibility of interrupting what upper middle-class life must have been like for some clarification of where your life was leading you.

“So, um… remember when I told you about the guy I was sort of… kind of with?” Karen found you at the corner of her eye, waiting for your riveting continuation. “Well… he brought a kid.”

Judging by her reaction, you concluded that it would have been better to seek solace in a beer bottle.

[allonsysilvertongue]

just wanted to say adore your writing, prompt: brenner/hopper ultimate confrontation, brenner tries to manipulate eleven into going back to him, calling her his daughter etc. She's scared out of her mind, paralyzed from fear, hopper knocks brenner out, assures El he really loves her not brenner

I hope you’ll like this and thanks for the prompt!

Hawkins: The Upside - Figure from The Past

Post Mind-Flayer, his life was… good. It was not easy, butit was good.

Hawkins Lab had closed down, at least in Indiana, which wasone thing off his mind. Although he was sure the Department of Energy haveplenty of other labs in other parts of the country but… that was not hisproblem. He tried not to care too much other than what was in front of him.

Andthat was El.

Hopper had taken time to sit El down just to explain to herof the adoption papers he had signed and what it meant for them. She hadrepeated the name ‘Jane Hopper’ almost in reverence and it had stirredsomething in his heart he thought had died with Sarah.

He could do this. For once, he had hope. El could never replaceSarah but… she was a balm. It wasn’t what he thought when he first took herin but she was a soothing balm to his wound, and something for him to focus hisenergy on.

“You and I…. We’re gonna be in this together for thelong haul,” he patted her hand, smiling at her. “You know what thatmeans? It means forever.”

“Forever,” El repeated with a nod, letting herfinger scratch against his beard with a grin. “This is … home.”

Home… The word sounded safe in her mouth and he held on toit. They were not so different after all. None of them had really felt at homeanywhere. This was something they could build on now.

As the weeks melted together, and having talked about it withDr. Owens, they had both agreed to ease El slowly back into society. But insteadof enrolling her in a school for the upcoming semester, El was home schooledfirst. The books came from the boys from their previous grades as Hopper triedto help her catch up on years of missed academia. The gang visited her aftertheir school to do homework, answer her questions and play board games.

Naturally, his cabin became the meeting point. At somepoint, Karen Wheeler and Joyce Byers had invaded his house. He at least saw itas an invasion, when they took it upon themselves to stock up his kitchen.Joyce had rearranged his beer cans so they were out of sight from the kids andKaren had made sure there were enough snacks to last for two weeks.

He found himself dropping by during his rounds around town tocheck on the kids, and sometimes wondered how his house became an after school'day care’.

About four months after the papers were signed, Hopper begantaking the kid out in public once or twice a day in the week. Sometimes theywould go for breakfast or dinner at the diner or sometimes he would bring heralong to the store where Joyce work.

El didn’t talk much, only when she was addressed directly andeven then, she would sometimes look his way just to make sure it was okay.Whenever he was out with her, he noticed the whispers and smiles he got behindhis back. He supposed it must be a sight – him and the kid.

“One of your women you fuck around finally left a kid atyour door, huh, Chief?”

“Your math must be really awful,” he retorted atthe guy. “Kid’s much older.”

He didn’t owe anyone any explanation of who El is and how shecame to be. Those who knew, people like Joyce, could be trusted to keep that tothemselves.

“So,” he started just as they were served pancakesat the diner, “heard you won at dominoes yesterday.”

El barely batted an eyelash, as she focused on pouring anunhealthy amount of maple syrup all over her breakfast. “Yes.”

“Boys let you win?”

She stopped squeezing the bottle.

“Did not,” she sat glaring at him.

The chuckles coming from him made her shake her head but herexpression softened considerably.

“Did your English homework?”

“Yes. Don’t like homework.”

This time, Hopper tried to hide the smirk just so shewouldn’t take it to mean that it was okay or encourage her to skip herlearning. But he was glad to hear that. She sounded almost like a normalteenager whose biggest problem was homework and not alternate dimensions.

“Presumptuous.”

He paused with the fork halfway to his mouth, “What?”

“Dustin said,” she lifted her eyes. “New word. What does itmean?”

“It means… When someone’s behaving boldly… more confidentthan they should,” he settled for that.

“Oh,”she nodded seriously, filing that information for later use. “Can I go tothe arcade later?”

May,he corrected silently, but let it slide. Instead of giving an immediate answer,Hopper stuffed a piece of bacon in his mouth and chewed. He knew the boys andMax liked to hit the arcade in the afternoon. He could drop her off before hisafternoon shift today and pick her up an hour or so later.

“Sure. Yeah,“ he shrugged.

Shecould probably use the fun. It wouldn’t do to have her all brooding, gloomy andserious later in life. She was a kid and she needed to be a kid. He wanted thatfor her, as best as he could provide it, given the situation.

Thelook on the gang’s faces alone was worth the drive to the arcade. They lightedup when they saw his truck coming in. Mike stepped forward, opening El’s doorwith a wide grin.

"Let’ssee if you can beat my high score,” Max smirked.

“Beback in an hour, kid. Wait out here,” Hopper shouted through the rolleddown window.

Swingingby the Byers’ house, he saw Joyce’s car was out front. He parked his truck andknocked on her door.

Hopperheard hurried footsteps and a shout of his name before the door was pulled opento reveal a slightly breathless woman.

“What’s the matter? Is it Will?”

“MaybeI should come by often so you wouldn’t panic each time you see it’s me on yourdoor,” he joked. “Relax. Last I checked, Will was at the arcade whereyou dropped him off.”

Theway the tension in her shoulders visibly eased let him know that as long as Willwas out of her sight, she would always worry. Alternate dimensions andmonsters was not something any parent could bounce from easily.

“Don’t mean to be rude, Hop, but why are you here? You hereto sample my meatball spaghetti? Jonathan thinks it’s the best out there.”

“Thatan invitation to dinner or what?”

Shesnorted but left the door open as she stepped back so he took his cue andfollowed. In her kitchen, he leaned against the counter, watching her poursauce into the pan.

“Flame’stoo big,” he commented.

Sheshot him an incredulous look but turned it down before the sauce burnt. Hetapped the pack in his breast pocket, a silent question to which she shook herhead to decline the invitation.

“Where’sJane?”

“Atthe arcade.”

Herbrows shot up in surprised.

“Youlet her?”

Hegave a one shoulder shrug, trying hard not to think too much about her beingoff on her own without him around.

“Babysteps, figured the arcade wouldn’t be so bad,” he answered. “Sure,you don’t want a smoke?

“They will be okay,” she smiled at him and he wasn’tsure if she was trying to assure him or convince herself. “How is your…daughter? Tell me – I haven’t seen her at all this week.”

Her eyes twinkled and he was reminded of the Joyce Byers heknew in school, the one who was a tease, a little carefree and one he had gotto know better over a few sessions of detention. He never knew that petite girlsitting three seats in front of him in English was a spitfire until he was atthe receiving end of it during detention.

“Fine. She’s fine. We’re good. Turns out she doesn’t likehomework,” he gave a mock gasp.

Shelaughed, and he really liked the way it seemed to make her look younger, lessworried.

"So,uh, I’ve got to work overnight tonight so, youmind looking after El? You know since you haven’t seen her this week, now’syour chance.”

“Aha,” she waved the ladle in his face. “Sothat is the real reason you’re here.”

His bark of laughter seemed to delight her the way it did forhim. He wondered if this was considered flirting because it was so differentthan the ones he was used to when he was younger which of course, made himwonder if Joyce flirts. He had been dropping hints but she seemed to brush offhis efforts so far. Probably still too soon after Bob’s death. Give it time, hetold himself.

She dropped her head, focused on the sauce once more but shewas smiling.

“You don’t have to try so hard to convince me, Hop. I’lldo it,” she said. “It’ll be good to have some female company hereonce in a while.”

This wasn’t the first time she had taken El in when he had towork night. Sure he had left the kid alone numerous times pre - Mind Flayer buthe didn’t have to keep her hidden and here with the Byers…. She couldsocialise. The fact that Joyce adored her was a nice bonus.

“Thanks, Joyce.  I’ll send her over a little before dinner so shecan sample your meatball spaghetti.”

Shehummed.

“Tell you what,” Hopper flicked off the ashes of hiscigarette in the ashtray by the windowsill. “To show you how I very muchappreciate you helping me out, I’ll pick Will up from the arcade when I get Elso you won’t have to drive all way out there.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’d say you’re chivalrous, Jim Hopper,but as it happen, you have to drive to the arcade to get Jane here anyway.”

“Yougot me,” he chuckled, leaving her shaking her head as he headed back outto the truck.

Thelast thing he expected when he arrived at the arcade was to see a teenager witha bad mullet haircut fuming near the entrance. Max’s brother, herecalled, the guy who beat up that other kid, Steve.

Max,Dustin and Lucas were nowhere to be seen and a quick count of the bicyclesparked outside confirmed that two was missing. Mike, he noticed, was on the payphone, clearly frantic and trying to call -

“Chief Hopper!” Mike startled when he saw him, dropping thereceiver to hang by its cord. “I called but – He’s got her! He got El.”

“Who’s got her?”

“The lab guy. The – “

“Dr. Owens?”

He knew deep down that it wasn’t him because Mike wouldn’thave panicked. But if it was Dr. Owens, Hopper would know where to find him andgive the doctor a piece of his mind for pulling shit like this. He would knowwhere to find Dr. Owens.

“The guy who … I – I can’t remember his name. From the lab.El calls him Papa. He – He just came and took her away in his car and El didn’twant to go but he pulled her hand, and we couldn’t -”

Hefelt the icy cold dread, could hear his blood rushing in his vein. It waspresumed that Martine Brenner was dead but El had actually told him what came fromher little road trip to find her mother – that Brenner might still be alive outthere – if the former agent was to be believed.

Brennerwas here. He had taken El.

Hopper’sfingers curled into a fist, his breathing heavy. He forced himself to remain calm,to think.

Hecouldn’t lose her. He couldn’t lose another kid, not again. This was his worstnightmare coming to life.

“Howlong ago was this?” He demanded.

Will burst out the front door and came to a staggering stopwhen he spotted Hopper. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that with the Chiefaround things would be handled

“Just left,” he said, slightly breathless. “Ilost sight of them from the window. Max, Dustin and Lucas chased his car ontheir bikes. I don’t know how far they can go on but - ”

That was all Hopper needed to know before he took off runningto his truck.

“The hell are you doing?” He hollered at theteenager leaning against his car, watching them with open disinterest.“Didn’t think to go after your sister?”

“She knows she’s walking if she’s late,” he retorted.

Menace, Hopper thought violently.

Hewould have asked Billy to send Will back to Joyce since he still wasn’t allowedto go anywhere on his bike but Hopper wasn’t in the trusting mood right now, sohe told Mike to get Karen to get them both home.

Hedidn’t wait to see if Mike called his mother. Hopperjumped into his truck and gave chase, tyres peeling against the asphalt. Fiveminutes out, he drove passed the three kids, panting by the road side.

“Get back to home all of you and stay home,”he shouted out the window. “I got it.”

The blue sedan was within sight and he stepped on the gas,muttering under his breath for the truck to go faster. If he could just cut thecar off….

It was then that he caught sight of the wobbling tree infront of him and jammed brake. The tree fell in front of the car, crushing itshood and pinning it in place. Eleven must have seen his truck coming for her.

“Good kid,” he smacked the dashboard in pride.

Jumping out the truck, he pulled the door of the blue caropen, gun pointing in front of him. Inside, El was screaming, tugging hard atsomething they had only halfway managed to fix on her head. He didn’t know whatit was but if he was out here trying to kidnap a kid with psychic abilities, hewould try to shut that power down temporarily and he supposed that thing aroundher head was it.

Brenner emerged from the car with blood trickling from a headwound. At the sight of him, Hoppers stomach churned and as the scientist sawHopper standing there, his lips curled into a malicious smirk.

“We meet again.”

He was dressed as he did before, in pressed suit, matchingtie and polished shoes but his face was that of a tired old man, not thatHopper had any sympathies for him in his heart.

“Can’t say I’m pleased.”

“You have my daughter,” Benner stated calmly which onlyenraged Hopper. “Come here, Eleven.”

It must have been years of having that command ingrained inher because El jerked forward, involuntarily. Instinctively, Hopper put a handon her shoulder to stay her but she seemed completely unaware of it. Her eyeswere fixed on that man.

“You disappointed me, Eleven,” Benner spoke softly, almostsoothingly and Hopper didn’t trust that sickly silky voice. “You left when wecould have done so much more.”

Her lips quivered and Hopper blinked. This was the same girlwho had easily killed demadogs and monster without any fear and yet now, shestood rooted to the spot, clearly paralysed by terror.

He wished he could take away the years of trauma. He wishedhe could fix her, make El whole and unafraid.

"It’s okay, darling,” Brenner knelt in front ofher. The affectionate tone the man was trying so hard to adopt soundedmisplaced. “I forgive you. I’m your Papa and I want to tell you now thateverything is okay. We’ll forget the past and we can work it all out from here.All you need to do is get the tree off the car and come with me.”

“Don’t listen to him, kid.” Hopper said, his voice gruff fromthe fear he was trying to mask. He had faced unspeakable things from anotherdimension and yet the thought of El being taken away from him was morehorrifying than anything. “He wants something from you. He ain’t here'cause he’s suddenly had a change of heart and cares about you.”

Brenner stood where he was, unwavering. He held his hand outto Eleven.

“Don’t you dare. I’ll shoot you dead,” Hopperwarned.

“Really? In front of her?” he taunted. “Now, what willshe think?”

“Come on, El, let’s go,” Hopper tugged lightly on hershoulder, hoping that it would snap her back.

Hewould get Powell or someone in the station to get Brenner but the importantthing right now, was to get El away from this toxic junk as quickly as hecould.

“Eleven,” Benner spoke her name firmly and withauthority that he used to control her with. “Your place is with me. Nextto me, always. We’ll go to your Mama. A … family,” he forced the wordout, as if it cost him a lot just to say it. “I know you want that.”

Amuscle in Hopper’s jaw ticked. He feared if El would fall for that, hook lineand sinker. Family was him. It was them in his cabin. Family was not with thisabusive scientist whose only goal in seeking her out right now when it wouldjeopardise his freedom was likely driven by desperation to save his skin, toclaw at some bullshit scientific breakthrough. It was for selfish reasons andnothing else.

Hewould not allow El or anyone to go through that.

Hegripped the gun tighter in his hand, his index finger ready to squeeze thetrigger.

“Iknow what you want, Eleven. I’ve always known.”

“That’s enough,” Hopper snapped, and without anywarning, landed a solid punch straight for the man’s nose.

He heard the sickening crunch. Hopper had never felt sosatisfied. Brenner fell backward from the force of it and as if the spell wasbroken, El blinked.

She looked around. Her gaze caught his and he knelt in frontof her so they were eye to eye.

“You okay?”

“Yes. I was…“ She touched her chest and Hopper coveredher hand with his, feeling the erratic beating of her heart. “… scared.”

“It’s over. He’s down,” Hopper said. “I got you, kid. I’malways gonna have your back so you don’t have to be scared, yeah?”

Her eyes were bright and the tears were pooling. He sighed.If only he had waited outside the arcade… He could have stopped it. None ofthis would have happened. El wouldn’t have been terrified. The whole thingcould have been avoided.

Brenner would still come forher. If it wasn’t today, it’ll be tomorrow, a voice whispered.

When he pulled her close, she melted into him, pressing herface on his shoulder. He held her tighter.

“Listen, kid, I can’t change what happened to you in thepast but… I’ll do my damnest best to make sure nothing bad happens to you now.You know why?“

“Because you’re not Papa…”

“Yeah, I’m not him. But that’s not it,” he said.“Remember what I said when I told you about those papers I signed? I’m notgonna let anything happen to you. Youand I, we’re in this together.”

“Forever,” she said, remembering their conversation

“Yeah, so I don’t want you scared. You should never be, withme. Sometimes…. Sometimes we’re gonna get angry, like we did before, you’regonna shout at me when you’re angry and I’m gonna shout right back at you butwhen it’s all done, it’s still going to be you and me. I – “ he swallowed. Hecouldn’t remember the last time he said those words. To Sarah, maybe. “I loveyou and when you love someone, you take care of them.”

She nodded, stepping back from him a little to look at him.She kissed his stubble cheek.

“Me too,” she said and he understood. He ruffledher hair. “We leave him here.“

Shegestured at Brenner’s unconscious body.

“As much as I’d like to let some other truck roll him over,best if we bring him in to the station. Help me out.”

She pulled on a leg when she saw Hopper doing the same, andhe dumped Benner at the back of his truck, not caring if his head hit anything.He tossed her a smile in the passenger seat. In the middle of the drive back,she reached out for his hand and held it all way to the Byers’ house.

"I’ll be back soon. Gotta take care of that,” hepointed over his shoulder to the truck where Brenner’s body was.

El nodded and went in without a word.

Joyce stood staring at him but he shook his head.

“Tell you later,” he mouthed, driving away.

The one-shot grew unexpectedly. Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!