#by revealing the extent of mikes feelings

[chirpsythismorning]

Bylers when New Moon ends up being on the ST5 inspiration board

[campbyler]

is will actively moving towards making a move on mike? or inciting mike to make a move of his own? is will a move-maker or a move-inducer??? ooooooooh he moves soooo fast

i think it’s so funny that you say he moves so fast bc it took him ten updates to admit to himself that he had feelings for the guy who literally took him out on a date for that whole day LOL but to answer your question (without revealing too much bc it is supposed to be from mike’s limited pov for a Reason) i’d definitely say a little bit of both!! the extent of will’s knowledge towards mike’s feelings for him rn are still how we left it at the end of 9.2 as he is not aware of the 30k word long crisis mike just underwent, so there is still soooooooo so so much uncertainty there for him, and definitely too much right now for him to truly make a move and push past that current boundary they have in place. but (also as seen in ch09 overall) he definitely has felt a sense of familiarity within their dynamic for a little while now so while he can’t go past that boundary necessarily, it’s not hard at all for him to stretch the limits of it a little and to kind of see how mike responds to it. (ch10 spoiler: mike responds by immediately deciding he has to be will’s boyfriend or he might wither away and die lol.) but in all honesty, and probably most importantly — it’s just that will really likes him so bad and can’t help but be a little stupid about it 🩵

[cecekeating]

My 608 Jordayla thoughts/breakdowns pt.2

We are back at the therapist with Layla. She is about to start the treatment. She is again very nervous. The therapist wants them to talk about her mother. Just as an aside, if you are wondering how the therapist was able to pick topics off the bat to talk to Layla about, it was mentioned in the first scene with them that she has notes on previous sessions. So the therapist has enough info about Layla and her previous history and is making decisions about the sessions about them. Again, Layla is reluctant and at this point, the therapist makes it clear that she can’t help if Layla is not willing to co operate. Layla agrees. 

This is where we get to to the meat of the issue. When I was watching, I had concluded that the session was going to be about Layla just missing her mother or Layla just  confronting her abandonment issues as it related to her impending marriage to Jordan. I was not ready for the angle the writers took with this arc at all. 

We get the first flashback with baby Layla ( absolutely adorable actress playing Layla and perfectly casted). She is at the old house. Remember the house that Layla trashes in season 1? I want to pause here and have us reflect on the end of season 1. Maybe Layla trashing the house can be indicative of trying to destroy the traumatic memories she had in that house as a child. Just a food for thought for you. 

So we see baby Layla hearing her mother and father in a room. Remember this is an actual memory from Layla’s childhood. She is recalling the memory to the therapist. Because she is going deep into a buried memory, Layla becomes overwhelmed in the present and session is paused. 

We start the session again and Layla is able to continue relaying the memory to the therapist. We now see baby Layla open the door to reveal her parents. This was when my mind was blown away. I was GAGGED when I saw that the writers had Mike and Greta play JP and Monica Keating. I did not expect this at all and I need to give the writers their props for this brilliant writing. I also feel I need to pause to explain what was going on in this scene because I feel it was lost on some of the audience.

What we are seeing is an actual memory of Layla from when she was 6 years old. We see that at that time, her mother is deep in depression and her father is struggling to help her mother. Monica Keating is lost as to her identity, JP needs her and he tries to let her know that Layla needs her too. Monica also feels that JP lost his spark from having to deal with her. Do you see where the second question Layla asks Jordan at the beach house comes in? 

 Again, this is an actual memory from Layla’s childhood. Having Mike and Greta play JP and Monica is to show that specific memory from Layla’s childhood has now manifested as a fear in Layla’s head about her relationship/ impending marriage to Jordan Baker. 

We go back to the present and it all makes sense now for Layla. She is afraid her marriage will be like her parents’ marriage. 

We are now at the final part of this brilliant story. Jordan and Layla talking about the session. This was my favourite part of the entire episode. And so much was said in this scene without it being said explicitly. First of all, I want to call back to the light moment about breaking up with coach Mac. Jordan having his own podcast episode to say FU to coach Mac and “end things” with him is the right level of pettiness and dramatics that I expect from him and I love him so much for it!

Back to the conversation! So Layla explains to Jordan that she was able to figure out why the meds stopped working. The engagement. The next thing Jordan says is “The thought of marrying me made you unhappy?” In his head, his worst fear is about to come to pass. Call back to earlier in the episode. Layla asking those questions triggered him too and threw him off balance. This scene showed us the extent to which those questions threw him off. Layla says no but she continues to explain honestly. Again, she feels safe enough to tell Jordan everything - including the uncomfortable aspects of her parents’ marriage. As she speaks, you can see the hurt form on Jordan’s face. It now makes sense to him. Why she was dragging her feet and questioning his love for her. But also he understands. In this moment, Jordan shows so much compassion for the situation Layla is in. He understands that the engagement was sprung on her without notice and he takes responsibility for that. Before going further, I want to once again applaud the writers for their attention to detail. I did not think they would ever bring up how quick their engagement went but here we are. Because when you look at things panaromically, Jordayla got engaged really young and quickly and it is super realistic that there are implications of doing that. In this case, it triggered an unresolved trauma in Layla’s life. 

Jordan with all the love and compassion in his heart, offers Layla an out to end the engagement. Lets go back to episode 607 shall we? In this episode, we saw how Jordan was so worried about Layla and her well being. He was so worried that he nearly lost a very important game as a footballer. We saw him fight to make sure Layla was okay. Layla was his top priority in that episode. In that same episode he said “none of it matters until my fiancee is whole”. This episode showed us that Jordan meant every word he said in episode 607. He meant it so much so that he was willing to lose this same fiancee if it meant she would be whole again. Jordan chose Layla above the engagement, his feelings and his hurt. You could see him hurting but like he said in episode 607 “Your best is my best” If the best thing for Layla was to end the engagement so she could be whole, then it was the best thing for him too. He gave her an out because he will give anything to make her happy because he loves her.

On Layla’s end, she explains her fear of marrying him but she also comes to the realise that she and Jordan are not her parents. She also realises that in spite of all she has been through, Jordan has stuck with her and he has always looked at her with love. She realises in this moment, on her own, how unwavering and unconditional Jordan’s love is for her. If you recall in earlier episodes, she has had people talk and convince her to realise how much Jordan loves her - Ryan in ep 2 with the moving in, Patience in ep 6 and Olivia in ep 7. This time around she realised by herself that Jordan loves her by remembering that he has stayed with her in her lowest and through it all, he never gave up on her or stopped loving her. 

This realisation gives Layla the courage to choose Jordan, just like he chose her. Remember, love is a choice. She chose Jordan over her current circumstances and was willing to face her fears with him by her side. If she has to face her fears so she doesn’t lose Jordan, she would. If you notice the breakthrough happens when she assures him that she meant it when she said Yes to his proposal and when she confesses her love for him. You can see her struggle to get the words out but she fights to say it out. This was the moment, she chose Jordan regardless of what was going on in her life. In the difficult moment, Jordan and Layla chose each other and decided to remain committed till the end. She asks for more time and Jordan tells her to take all the time she needs. Of course he will say that. He has always been patient with her. From their first kiss to waiting for her before having sex with her to becoming a couple and agreeing to the secret dating, Jordan has consistently let Layla take her time to figure things out. I think its one of the reasons why she loves him. Again she is safe enough with Jordan to ask for some more time to heal so she doesn’t bring any baggage into their marriage because she knows he will accept her request. And he did!

I have enjoyed the writing for Jordayla this season so much and this episode really brought it all together. The writers have been A* with this mental health arc and how it relates to Jordayla as a couple. I am excited to see what is in store for them as the season progresses and I am confident that they will continue to grow stronger. I loved writing this piece and I really hope you enjoyed it. Apologies if it is too long or if I rambled. This is my first ever Jordayla breakdown. I have loved being part of the Jordayla fandom so I thought I’d make my own small contribution.

For everyone struggling with any kind of mental health issues, know that you are loved. Keep talking, find your tribe and get all the love and support available. I promise it gets easier.

For anyone helping or supporting a friend or loved one through mental health issues, thank you for showing up and being there. Know that you are loved and appreciated. 

If you want to yap about Jordayla, my DMs are open! Feel free to reach out. 

[faramirsonofgondor]

Y’all now that I really think about it I’m pretty sure that Mike in S3 was actually trying to mirror Nancy’s behavior from S1. They both obviously don’t look at their parent’s relationship as the model for their romantic pursuits despite exhibiting some of the same qualities. So, Mike’s ideas about how to behave in a relationship probably come from Nancy’s relationship with Steve, especially considering all his friends’ parents (besides Lucas) aren’t really able to demonstrate what a romantic relationship should or would look like. If you look at the way they both act, it’s clear that to some extent Mike is copying her.

In episode 1 of S1 Dustin says that there’s something wrong with Nancy’s and that she has “a stick up her butt” to which Lucas responds that it’s because she’s dating Steve who he calls a “douchebag”.

In episode 1 of S3 when El and Mike leave because of “curfew” Dustin immediately questions it and Lucas replies that they’re lying, with Will adding that it was like this all summer. Dustin claims that “it’s bullshit” and Lucas nods along.

Steve sneaks into Nancy’s room to “study” and have some alone time.

Mike and El shut the door to her room/secretly make out behind Hopper’s back.

In Season 1, Barb expressed her fears that Nancy is going to leave her to fit in with the popular crowd and that she’s not acting the way she normally does. Nancy eventually does end up separating herself from Barb to be with Steve.

In Season 3, Will and the others feel like both El and Mike are abandoning them somewhat, and express their annoyance about. A heavy theme amongst the teens seems to be “acting like society expects boyfriends/girlfriends/teenagers to do” and Mike and El going off on their own (pre-break up)

Nancy and Steve eventually break up because Nancy’s secrecy about the demogorgon leads him into believing that she’s cheating on him/not being faithful and they end up fighting about it in public, with Steve trying to apologize amidst the chaos and eventually fighting the demogorgon to help save Nancy & Jonathan.

El and Mike break up because of Mike’s lying/secrecy about his grandmother/his conversation with Hopper which leads El to feel like Mike doesn’t trust her or treat her right. They eventually fight about it in public and break up, and end up trying to reconcile amongst the chaos, with Mike stepping in to try and save El & Max from Billy on different occasions.

In S1, Jonathan and Nancy get into an argument because Jonathan thinks Nancy acts like someone else to which Nancy immediately gets defensive about and says that he’s only upset because he’s doesn’t like Steve/her relationship with Steve. As their argument comes to an end, Jonathan divulges that he thought Nancy was different than everyone else and that he’s disappointed by the fact that she’s trying to conform to society’s standards.

In S3, Will and Mike argue because Will feels like Mike is changing and not acting like how he had before because of his relationship with El, to which Mike gets defensive about and says that it’s not his fault that Will doesn’t like girls (equating Will’s frustration and hurt towards Mikes behavior to simply being jealous? about Mike and El’s relationship). As their argument ends, Will reveals that he had expected Mike to continue playing D&D with him and keep acting like a kid (things that don’t conform to what Mike thinks society expects of him).

Nancy states that she waited a month for Jonathan to make a move before getting back together with Steve.

El makes a move on Mike two months after they break up, which is presumably when they get back together.

I think Mike saw the way Nancy was acting in S1 (when his friends thought she was mean/uptight) and thought that’s how people act in relationships.

There are also a lot of parallels between S2 Stancy and S4 Mileven.

[carcrashscike]

how i wish scott and mike’s dynamic in tdas would’ve been written:

* note: this is given that the plot stays relatively the same, i would change a lot about this otherwise

mike is pissed at scott for what he did to him last season, and with this newfound control of himself and his headspace he isn’t as afraid to say it. he isn’t around scott much early on (being on different teams and generally avoiding each other like the plague) but in challenges mike, often alongside zoey who shares this vendetta to a lesser extent, gets super competitive when scott is around. scott plays this off in his scott fashion (“wow he’s really obsessed, must be in love with me or something”), and while he derives some surface level pleasure from getting mike’s niceness to crack deep deep deep down he feels guilty. he knows what he did last season was shitty, how could he not? it doesn’t help that it seems mike will never let him live it down, eyes burning into the back of scotts head at any and every given opportunity (a gesture reserved only for him). the early episodes show mike and scott generally staying away from each other, with only sparse moments of hatred from mike’s end.

their dynamic takes a turn once mal gets added to the mix. scott doesn’t realize that mike isn’t the one fronting anymore, but he quickly pieces together that “mike” has begun to sabotage others (including his friends), a revelation that fills him with pure glee. he’s been validated, mike wasn’t only mean to scott because he wronged him, rather mike was just as cruel and vindictive as he was all along and he was a hypocrite for pretending to be otherwise. scott misconstrues “mike’s” actions as him revealing his true self after playing the long con, rather then it not being mike at all. mal on the other hand is keeping an eye on scott, as while he isn’t his biggest threat at the moment he knows that he was able to make it far the previous season (that and he holds a tiny vendetta against scott for his previous actions… something something “no one will mess with us with me in charge”). scotts going down like the rest of them without a doubt, but he isn’t mal’s primary focus mid season.

scott sees through all of “mikes” subsequent actions of manipulation. oftentimes he chooses to say nothing as those actions rarely target him (he quietly prides himself on that, it’s their little secret even if “mike” doesn’t know he knows) and also often harm his competition. he begins to interpret “mikes” non focus on him as a sign of possible respect, putting the past animosity behind them like he knows scott is above such obvious manipulation tactics. while he’s still hurt by courtney’s chart when it’s revealed, he’s more curious as to how mike acquired it in the first place. he also doesn’t fall for mikes bid to get him angry at gwen, spinning the line of reasoning back on him again coyly (“you said it’s her fault, but weren’t you the one who exposed her chart?”).

with his newfound perspective on “mike” scott doesn’t expect himself to be a target until it’s too late and he’s dangling by his foot in front of a very hungry shark. maybe he taunts mike, comparing himself to him and finding similarities between their actions or maybe he proposes an alliance with the knowledge he believes he has. either way mal pushes him in front of his worst nightmare, paralleling scotts actions towards mike. its in this moment scott realizes what’s happening, the truth that the man in above him wasn’t mike at all. scott finds plenty of time to ruminate on this as he slips unconscious.

as he awakes he’s swept up into elimination. part of him holds out hope that zoey will do what should be the obviously smart choice, but the rest of him knows she would never betray mike, even if it isn’t really him. scott try’s to expose mal to zoey at this point, faking once it’s clear that zoey has already realized what’s up. scott’s final words curse out mal for wearing the skin of the man he wronged and for making him believe, for just a split second, that they would somehow get better.

[whiskeybeforesunset]

A kiss, perhaps? | Eddie Munson

Pairing: Eddie Munson x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1048

Synopsis: As of late, Reader has been “forgetting” things after Hellfire meetings to have some extra time with Eddie. 

Warnings: Fluff but a little steamy, unnecessarily detailed description of D&D, Eddie’s a bit out of character, kissings, janitor cock block, no smut, reader is shorter than Eddie, very very small reference to Eddie being a sadist (blink and you’ll miss it)

Author’s Notes: This is actually my first fic so please feel free to message me with any critics or suggestions  you may have <3

—

“YEEESS!” Dustin screeches into your ear as the final battle of the final battle of the campaign closes with a victory. You silently wonder whether or not you will suffer permanent hearing loss. The freshmen members of Hellfire are easy to love, but their level of enthusiasm can be… challenging at some times. 

Once Eddie finishes the epilogue, The Party begins packing up. Dice are returned to their bags and character sheets are slipped into binders for a final time. As the Dungeon Master, Eddie always takes the longest which means he’s usually left alone for a few minutes in the dimly lit room Hellfire plays in. Recently however, this has not been the case. 

“Oh, damn.” You say, stopping abruptly past the set of doors leading out of Hawkins High.

“Let me guess,” Mike says in an annoyed tone. “You forgot something again?” Whether said tone was due to his character dying in the final battle or that this was your fifth week in a row ‘forgetting something,’ who’s to say?

“You guys go on without me, I’ll see you tomorrow.” You respond as you walk back into the school. The motion sensor lights flicker back on revealing dingy linoleum tile and beat up yellow lockers. You’ve always found being in the school this late at night to be eerie. Something about the normally packed halls being empty is so… off putting. 

When you re-enter the classroom, Eddie is leaning over the table organizing some papers. You nearly laugh at the way his hair cloaks his face and possessions on the table. He wouldn’t even need a DM screen if he kept this posture throughout the session.

“I think I forgot my bag in here,” you announce with a confused look on your face that was almost convincing. You fake search for your bag in a cabinet near the door.

“Mmhm, the one over your shoulder?” With his remark, you stop your pretend search to gasp and act shocked by the location of your bag. Walking around the table, you dramatically throw it onto one of the chairs. 

Eddie looks up from his papers. “Y’know, they're gonna catch onto that eventually. There’s only so many times you can forget something before it becomes unconvincing.” He says, as he also walks along the border of the table, meeting you halfway.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” you say coyly, briefly staring at his lips before looking back up at his deep brown eyes. “I am simply an incredibly forgetful person.” Taking the hint, Eddie circles his arm around your waist and pulls you in. He hovers his lips above yours, but right as you lean in to join them…

“Hell of a way to end a campaign, right?” He says leaning back with a poorly concealed grin on his face. You contemplate leaving the room entirely, you came in here to make out and all the man wants is for you to praise his campaigns. 

“Ehh, it was alright.” You watch his grin fall slightly, before he rebuild his cocky facade as he rebuttals:

“You're just mad I didn’t let you use Harm to its full extent against the undead.” 

“I could have saved Mike’s PC!” You exclaim. “The poor boy is heartbroken. Besides, I thought you might be a little more generous to your significant other but clearly I was wrong.” You cross your arms and turn away as though you are genuinely upset. However, you're the best Roleplayer in Hellfire club, so Eddie knows better than to take you seriously.

He steps forward and hugs you from behind. Turning his head toward your ear, he says “I’m sorry baby, how can I make it up to you?” in a soft voice. You turn in his arms and pretend to contemplate what he could possibly do. 

“A kiss, perhaps?” You say, looking up at him.

“Well,” he pauses to consider your offer. “For the horrendous crime of being a good DM, I suppose a kiss is a simple punishment to carry out.” Eddie finishes dramatically. Your face scrunches up as you go to scold him for implying that a kiss with you would be an unpleasant thing to undergo, but before you can get anything out he captures your lips. 

This isn’t the first time you kissed, far from it. Regardless, the man before you has a way of making everything seem magical, maybe it’s all that Tolkien he reads. One of his hands slowly moves from your lower back to cup the side of your face. His thumb keeps a consistent motion against your cheek as your lips shift against his. Your hands intertwine behind his head, lightly playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. 

He discreetly turns the both of you around before taking two steps forward. Resulting in you somewhat awkwardly running into the table and knocking over some miniatures Eddie used for the final battle. However, the battle map and any chance of damaging it had been long forgotten. 

You slide onto the table and Eddie settles between your legs. He leans over you as his hand on your back snakes under your shirt, pressing into your bare skin to bring your bodies impossibly closer. He lightly swipes his tongue against your lips, silently asking for permission he already knows he has. At the same time, his hand curls to bring his nails to your back. You moan at this new sensation, allowing him to explore past your flushed lips. 

Suddenly there’s a loud smack outside the door. Worried you’ve been caught, you separate from each other. When it becomes apparent the noise was a janitor dropping his mop, you both sigh and wait silently for the sound of the bucket and the man's footsteps to become more distant. 

“Well,” you say, clearing your throat. Eddie and you laugh for a moment before you start helping him to get the rest of his stuff packed away. 

“Can I, uh, drive you back home.” Eddie offers when you both finally gather your bags and begin the walk out to the parking lot. 

“Sure, but only if I get to play my music.” You respond.

“Oh GOD, NO!” Eddie says as the doors to Hawkins High close behind you.

[thetargaryenbride]

Nail To The Coffin - S3 - Chapter 7

Warnings: fighting, canon-violence, blood

Pairing: Steve Harrington x f!Byers!Reader

Word Count: 7038

𝐀𝐍: 𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴! 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘛𝘖𝘎𝘌𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦

𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐎𝐂 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵! 🖤 🥀

Masterlist || Chapter 6 || Chapter 8

Things had gotten very rotten very fast.

Eleven had managed to make the connection with Billy and she had managed to reach the core of his memory that held the information they needed, finding out the source – Brimborn Steel Works factory.

But she got stuck and the Mind Flayer was able to take control, sending her a horrid message that shook her up.

“He said he was building something,” muttered Eleven tiredly and you sent her a pitying look. “That it was all for me.”

The girl had overworked herself to the bone today. She’s been at it for the whole day almost without a break and you were beginning to understand where Mike was coming from. True, she was her own person and the decision-making was up to her. But her powers were still an unknown, unstable variable that you were pretty sure even she didn’t know the full extent of or the weaknesses of. So Mike had the full right to worry about her getting some kind of mind damage. You worried too.

“Building something…is he talking about the flayed?” asked Max, looking at you, and you shook your head. Everyone had gathered in the room you were residing in so you could properly hear what was going on and participate if you had any kind of information.

“He…just wanted to use us as his foot soldiers. To do his bidding,” you whispered.

“So he’s building an army?”

“Yeah, but he’s not building this army to spread.”

“He’s building it to stop Eleven,” concluded Will and everyone looked at the girl.

“Last year, El closed the gate on him. That really pissed him off,” you added. “And the Mind Flayer now knows that she’s the only thing that can stop him. But if she’s out of the way-“

“Game over.”

“He also said he was gonna kill all of you,” she revealed and everyone’s blood ran cold as they shared uneasy looks, “Starting with you,” she gave you a sad look, making Jonathan and Will stand on edge, and you let out a dry chuckle.

“I suppose I managed to piss him off as much as you did with how I slipped through his fingers a couple of times. What a sore loser.”

“Yeah, well, that’s nice,” quipped Max. “Just peachy. We’re all targets.”

Everyone fell into silence after that, minds racing with the multiple possibilities, or lack thereof, to handle this situation when suddenly you felt a shudder rack your body.

“What is it?” asked Jonathan concerned.

“I…I-I don’t know. I just feel very out of it,” you stammered as you hugged yourself and rubbed your arms to fight off the chill you had gotten. “I’m not sure if it’s the withdrawal symptoms kicking in or…” you choked on your words, gulping nervously when you heard the faint sound of distant screeching.

And you weren’t the only one.

“Did you guys hear that?” asked Nancy as she marched to the windows and everyone shifted their attention from you to her.

“It’s just the fireworks.”

“Billy,” you whispered. “When he told you this…was it here, in this place?” you asked El with a shaky voice and the girl nodded. “Fuck,” your face blanched. “Guys…we need to get out of here.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the same situation as before when Will was possessed. The Mind Flayer spied through him and found out that we were hiding back home. Remember? Now he spied through El. He knows we’re here!” you explained out of breath and as if on cue, Will’s hand shot to the back of his neck and he sent everyone a look they knew painfully well.

Everyone, except you, rushed outside after that and panic overtook them when they saw the huge monstrosity at the end of the pathway.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! What do we do!?” yelled Eddie as his hands grabbed his hair. “Get in the cars!? Drive away!? Sounds like a plan!?”

“No way! Where are we supposed to go? That thing’s gonna chase us and eventually, it will catch up! It always does!” exclaimed Mike.

“At least it saved us the trouble of going to the factory and possibly falling into a trap in our attempt to attack it. We’ll fight it on our turf,” blurted out Nancy before she rushed to the shed, the others hot on her tail.

They hurriedly took whatever their hands could grab and sprinted back inside the cabin, quickly barricading the windows and other weak spots the monster could barge in from. Nancy took a shotgun, Jonathan grabbed an ax, and Eddie loaded his uncle’s gun.

“C’mon,” grunted Jonathan as he picked you up and carried you over to the small broom closet that Hopper used to store all kinds of things – now emptied thanks to your brother. It was the best hiding place because it was small and had no openings. “In you go,” he whispered as he lowered you down and you felt your feet touch the wooden floor.

“I don’t want to hide like a coward,” you looked at him with pleading eyes.

“You’re not a coward. You’re just in no condition to fight,” he reminded you softly, hand stroking your cheek. “If you were, I don’t doubt you would’ve kicked his ass. My sister is a badass like that,” he sent you a reassuring smile and you let out a breathy chuckle.

“Get away from the windows!” shouted Nancy at the kids and the two of you threw her a look before Jonathan focused back on you.

“Keep quiet and don’t move,” were his last words before he closed the door, shrouding you in darkness which didn’t help soothe your racing heart.

It also didn’t help that your senses were heightened and you could hear every little sound. Even the creaking of the lamp startled you. Being jumpy was an understatement.

The others weren’t feeling much different either.

Every sound of snarling made the hairs on their neck bristle.

Then there was the feeling of rumbling as the whole cabin shook under the creature’s foray. It made the plates clank against each other and some cups fall on the ground and shatter. A moment of silence passed, making everyone wonder where it had disappeared off to when one of its tentacle-vines broke through the wooden wall and went straight for the group that had gathered at the center of the house, causing them to scatter.

Jonathan let out a yell as he charged at it and delivered a strike with his ax, drawing blood and making it shriek. He did not stop trying to strike it again and again until the vine shot towards him and hit him, sending him flying against the wall.  

It went after him again but this time it was Nancy who intervened by shooting at it until she ran out of ammo.

Then it was Eleven who used her powers to stop the tentacle from harming Nancy or anyone else. She managed to sever its head and it slumped on the ground, shrieking in pain, before it retreated out of the house.

But nothing was over yet and the tentacles just kept on coming and coming and Eleven struggled to keep them all at bay as she continuously cut them.

You had opened the door ever so slightly and watched everything unfold with a rapidly beating heart. Eventually, you reached a boiling point where the thought of standing and hiding while the others fought was physically painful.

You rushed out of the closet, rapid footsteps thumping against the wooden floor, as you made your way to Hopper’s room.

“Y/N, what are you doing?” yelled Jonathan over the chaos but you ignored him and threw open the curtain, storming into the bedroom. You let out shaky breaths as you opened one of the drawers where you knew Hopper was keeping a spare gun and quickly made sure that it was loaded and ready to shoot before limping back to the living area.

Just then, the monster itself broke through the roof and shot one of its vines, grabbing Eleven and pulling her up. She didn’t fall victim to the creature only because Max, Mike, Jonathan, and Will’s quick reactions saved her when they grabbed her by the arms on time.

You went by the kitchen counter and planted yourself on the spot, steadying your body so you weren’t shaking, and prepared to aim. Eddie, who had been watching the whole thing play out, glued to the wall and terrified, finally snapped out of his stupor and his trembling hands fumbled with the gun as he cursed under his breath.

“Shoot it!” yelled Jonathan while Nancy struggled to load the shotgun and point it at the monster. “Shoot it!”

The three of you shared a quick look before pulling the triggers and unleashing a series of bullets, going straight for the open mouth of the monster. It did little to harm it but at least it made it recoil. In the meantime, Lucas rushed to grab the fallen ax and with a battle cry he began landing blow after blow to the vine holding Eleven by the leg.

By then, your gun had run out of bullets and you stormed over to the group, hoping to help them out, when Lucas delivered the final blow and cut off the tentacle, causing everyone to fall to the ground. Your eyes darted between each person, inspecting if they were okay when you noticed the head of the tentacle still attached to El’s calf. You knelt on the ground and grabbed the head and with Mike’s help, you managed to pry it out of her, which made her scream in pain.

Before you had the chance to think of your next move against the alien, Eleven stood up and used her powers. With a scream full of rage she managed to split open the head of the monster and all you could do was watch in astonishment.

“Go, go, go!” yelled Nancy.

“Come on, come on, go! Hurry up!” mirrored her Jonathan as he ran to you and picked you in his arms while Max and Mike helped Eleven and the others opened the barricaded door.

Everyone sprinted outside and towards the vehicles – some getting into Eddie’s van while the others into Nancy’s car.

“Drive! Drive!” yelled Mike while Nancy started the car and shortly after, the vehicles were speeding away from the place, the roaring of the monster getting fainter and fainter.

“Ok, let’s stop here,” Jonathan pointed at the supermarket on their left and Nancy nodded, turning the wheel.

You, who were curled on Jonathan’s lap with your legs resting on Nancy’s lap, let out a groan at the yet another turn and jerk of the vehicle that shook up your body and made your bruises ache and your head get dizzier.

Everyone bolted out of the cars the moment they got parked and headed inside the building, carefully putting you and Eleven down on the tiled floor before gathering around you.

“Okay. Lemme see,” said Nancy as she knelt by the girl and slid the pant up, revealing a wound that was gushing blood, making everyone scrunch up their faces in sympathy and worry.

“What-What are you doing?” blurted out Max when Nancy was about to tend to the wound.

“I’m cleaning the wound.”

“No, first, we need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage,” listed off Max and the older girl looked at her with surprise. “I skateboard, trust me.”

“It’s true. You can’t just pour disinfectant on an open, dirty wound. Take it from a person who suffered…quite a lot of such wounds,” you quipped as you shifted in your spot and straightened up some more so you could try and be of help to Max.

The girl silently handed you a cloth and you immediately put it over the wound, putting pressure on it.

“We’ll need warm water but I’m not sure how we’re gonna get that from here. Maybe we can settle for room temperature,” you told Max and she nodded.

“I agree. Also, we’ll need soap, washcloth, and a bowl,” she added and Nancy, Eddie, and Jonathan quickly marched away to search for the items while Lucas unzipped his bag and poured its contents on the floor.

“Does any of this help?” he asked and you could see Max restraining herself from snapping at him.

“No. As I said, soap, washcloth, and a bowl!”

Will cleared his throat and ushered the boy away from you, disappearing behind the aisles. Mike was the only one who stayed and held El’s hand to bring her some comfort.  

“It’s gonna be ok, sweetie. Just hang in there a bit more,” you said a bit out of breath as your free hand went to caress El’s cheek and she gulped, nodding.

“You don’t seem very well either,” pointed out Max as she threw you a concerned look. “Did the withdrawal symptoms begin?”

“I-I…uh…I don’t know. ‘M not sure,” you shook your head as you removed your hand from El’s face and placed it on top of your other one, applying more pressure to the wound.

Sometime later, Max excused herself, saying that the boys were taking too long and she wanted to take matters into her own hands, which left you with the two young teens. You could see that Mike wanted to talk to Eleven so you beckoned him to get closer and switch with you.

“A-are you sure you can walk around properly? You can barely stand,” he asked in concern but you waved him off, using his shoulder and the shelf as support to help you get up.

You let out a grunt and squeezed your eyes as you took a deep, shaky breath before you began hobbling away, hand not leaving the support of the shelves.

As you went on your quest looking for a bowl, you came across the huge refrigerated display case where multiple drinks and other products that needed low temperature were held.

That was the first time since the incident at the hospital that you came in contact with a mirror or a glass surface that gave you the opportunity to take a glimpse of your reflection. You gulped as your hand slowly climbed up and rested on your throat which was now heavily coated in bruises. They had been angry red last night but now their colors have changed to a mixture of deep purple and blue.

You let out a choked sob as you bit your lip, eyes traveling from your throat to your face, taking notice of each and every bruise you had attained in the past couple of days.

“They’ll fade,” Eddie’s voice startled you and you turned to face him, watching as he walked towards you. He had been hurrying down the aisle after finding one of the items when he saw you. The look on your face alone was enough to send a pang to his heart.

“They’re ugly,” you rasped out as he came to a stop right in front of you and gently grasped your hand, prying it off your neck.

“They’ll fade,” he repeated again, more firmly. “Besides, you look totally cool! I mean you look like some kinda badass warrior princess who just finished battling an orc!” he exclaimed with a grin and you blinked away the tears, allowing a breathy snort to escape you.  

“Bitchin’,” your lips twitched as he snapped his fingers and jumped.

“Hell yeah, bitchin’!”

Then you fell into silence and Eddie cleared his throat before lifting the object, pointing proudly at it.

“So, uh, I found the bowl!”

“That’s great. It’s actually what I came to look for-“

“Hey! Less talking, more resting. C’mon, you shouldn’t be up and about. Let’s get back to the others,” he said as he wrapped an arm around you and ushered you forward. “And you gotta mind your voice too, ya know? Let it heal or you’ll sound like a, like Darth Vader or somethin’,” he exclaimed and you furrowed you chuckled, shaking your head.

Shortly after, you were back at the original location and when everyone else returned, Mike and El revealed that Dustin had called and his voice had seemed quite urgent before the connection cut off. El wanted to try and find him immediately but you and Max had pretty much forced her back down, telling her to rest and focus on herself for now as the two of you worked on cleaning, disinfecting, and bandaging the wound.

“Alright. I think we’re officially done,” you drawled tiredly as you secured the bandage and wiped the blood on your hospital gown and the others let out breaths of relief.

“Ok, can I look for Dustin now?” asked El and you and Mike shared a look before nodding. You were worried that El was using her powers way too much and you had no idea how she hadn’t completely overwhelmed herself at this point but at the same time, you needed her to find Dustin because it was of vital importance.

“Here, take this. You haven’t eaten in hours,” Jonathan peeled a banana and handed it to you which you took with a small ‘Thanks’.

Your throat and vocal cords hurt so much and they were still healing, not to mention the other problems your body had gone through, so right now the only food you could consume was soup or soft fruits.  

You munched on the fruit as you zoned out, eyes locked on the floor. For some reason, you just couldn’t focus properly and your attention span kept getting off track. The humming of the freezer contributed, even more, to putting you in a state of spacing out. You could vaguely hear the kids talking as if from underwater. They were debating about coke flavors which you found hilarious.

“Hey!” Eleven’s voice snapped you out of your stare-down with the tiles and you lifted your head to look at her.

“Sorry,” echoed Mike and Lucas awkwardly.

“Did you find him?” you asked and she nodded.

“He’s in Starcourt Mall. At the movies,” she grunted when Mike helped her up while Jonathan and Will pulled you to your feet and everyone began to slowly head for the cars outside.

“The movies? Dustin’s so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie?” questioned Lucas with scrunched-up forehead. “Yeah, makes total sense.”

“You’re positive he said “gate” and not “great”?”

“Yeah, like, ‘This movie I’m watching is great’.”

“It sounded like gate,” said Eleven.

“Which would explain why the Mind Flayer is still alive,” Mike backed her up.

“Yeah, and maybe he’s at the mall because the gate is somewhere in there,” you added.

“Yeah, we just have to shut it again.”

“And the monster dies.”

You frowned at that because if they closed the gate and killed the monster that would mean that all the flayed would die with it. Your heart was tearing at the seams at the thought of Billy, Heather, and all the others who had fallen victim to the Mind Flayer. And your brain, even though it was foggy and hard to focus, was running over ideas as to how to save the people before killing the monster. Unfortunately, you couldn’t think of anything. Because the Flayed were surely merged with the creature and there was no coming out of that. The only person who wasn’t merged with it was Billy. So at least you hoped and prayed that you’d be able to save him.

“But if not, we always have Lucas’ fireworks,” sassed Max as she helped her boyfriend pull the cart filled to the brim with numerous boxes of fireworks.

“Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it.”

After the whole fiasco at the supermarket, everyone got in the cars and drove to the mall. The building was still lit but the light didn’t chase away the dark thoughts that had nestled inside all of you.

You entered the place and wondered whether to check the movies first or spread out and look for Dustin separately because he might have switched locations by now.

“Hey, psst!” whisper-shouted Eddie and everyone turned around, seeing him stand by the railing, back turned on you as he waved with his hand, beckoning you to get closer.

When you did, you were surprised to see a couple of men on the floor underneath who appeared to be soldiers and seemed to be looking for someone. You supposed it was Dustin because he might have discovered the location of the gate and it most probably hadn’t sat well with them.

Eleven glared at the soldiers as she outstretched her arm and willed her powers to make the alarm of the car wail. The sound startled the men and they sharply whirled to look at it.

“What the hell?” were the last words of one of them before Eleven threw the car in their direction and instantly crushed their bodies.

And that’s when you saw Dustin peek from behind a counter and look at the fallen, bloodied men, only he also had Steve, Robin, and Erica by his side which surprised all of you. Then the group of four turned their heads and their eyes landed on El and everyone else. Dustin and Steve shared a look as bright grins spread on their faces and they rushed out of the fast food parlor while you and the others hurried to the escalators and seconds later, your group was facing the other group.

“You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!” exclaimed Dustin as he and Steve ran towards you but their smiles vanished quickly when they saw her limping and you heavily leaning against your brothers as they held you steadily by the arms as if you were going to keel over at any moment.

Steve felt like someone dropped a sack of bricks on him and continuously delivered punches to his gut. His heart sank to his stomach as chills racked his spine at the sight of your bruised face and throat.

“What happened?” he blurted out. “What happened?” he repeated panicked as his eyes frantically shifted between Jonathan and you.

You squirmed in your brothers’ arms and they hesitantly released you. Your knees almost buckled but you willed yourself to take a couple of steps and meet Steve who almost rammed into you in his hurry to come by your side.  

He grasped each side of your face and inspected every bruise, eyes mad with worry, much similar to your own when you saw that he wore his own set of bruises and had a horrible black eye.

“What happened to you?” he asked again and your eyes watered.

“What happened to you?” you copied him and your hand flew to his cheek, fingers gently tracing his gorgeous face that was now black and blue.

“Russians,” was his response which left you and the others with more questions than answers.

“Mind Flayer,” you whispered and his eyes widened.

“Fuck,” he breathed out shakily as he pulled you into a tight hug, one hand rubbing your back while the other nestled in your locks as he held and caressed your head, planting kisses on the side of it as you clung to him.

Eddie looked away from the scene, heart clenching painfully at the sight, and awkwardly cleared his throat. “So, uhm, what did you mean by Russians?” he asked and you shifted in Steve’s arms in order to get a better look at Dustin and the others without letting go of your boyfriend who also had no intention of pulling away and kept his arms around you protectively.

“Oh, man, I don’t even know where to start!” exclaimed Dustin.

“What do you guys meant by Mind Flayer?” questioned Erica as she looked at her brother, more shocked to see that Lucas was a part of this than anything else.

“Hold on, I-I don’t understand what happened to that car,” joined Robin.

“El has superpowers.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. Come on, catch up,” quipped Steve, his voice reverberating through his chest and soothing you.

“That’s El?”

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“I’m Robin. I work with Steve.”

“She cracked the top secret code!”

“Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place.”

There was a short-lived chaos as everyone tried to explain everything and kept interrupting one another but you tuned it all out when you saw that Eleven had strayed away from the group.

You decided to call out for her which ceased the others’ communication.“El!?”

Just when you did, she slumped on the ground and her whole body got overtaken by tremors. You gasped and let go of Steve as you rushed to her and dropped down by her side, Mike doing the same, before the others reached you and gathered around you.

“What’s wrong?” asked Mike panicked and you looked down at her calf, deciding to check the bandage.

“My leg,” she whined. “My leg.”

“Her leg,” echoed Jonathan as he and Nancy rushed to help you unwrap some of the bandages in order to check the wound and when you pulled them away, everyone gasped as their faces scrunched up at the sight. The wound had gotten worse and there seemed to be something inside of it that was visibly moving under the skin.

“What is that!?” voiced out Erica in disbelief.

“There’s something in there!”

“Jesus Christ!”

“We have to take it out,” you sniffed, breathing and heartbeat increasing due to stress and worry as you looked at your brother. “Jonathan.”

His gaze locked with yours and you held it for a couple of seconds before he bolted up and towards one of the fast food parlors.

“Baby, listen to me,” you told her as you shifted a bit so you could grab her shoulders and pull her up a bit, her body slumping against your side. “We’ll remove that thing. It will be over soon. All you need to do is clench your teeth and bear with it for a while,” you said as you wrapped your right arm around her shoulders and brushed away sweaty strands of hair with your free hand. Mike sat by her other side and also wrapped an arm around her and began whispering sweet nothings.

It felt like you waited for hours but it was only a minute when Jonathan finally ran back to you, holding a couple of items that he passed to Nancy.

“Okay. All right, El?” Jonathan grabbed her attention. “This is gonna hurt like hell, ok?”

“Okay,” she whimpered.

“I need you to stay real still,” he instructed while putting on gloves before handing you a wooden spoon. “Here, you’re gonna want to bite down on this, ok?”

You took the spoon and put it in her mouth, her teeth clamping down on it.

There was a moment of stillness as Jonathan lowered the knife to her calf and everyone shared a look before Mike finally stated, “Do it.”

And your brother slid the utensil over the wound, slicing it down to create a larger opening which caused blood and a bit of puss to spurt out and Eleven to scream out in pain. Mike’s and your hold on her tightened, your eyes watering at the sight of the girl you considered little sister being in such horrible pain as if she hadn’t gone through enough already. She did not deserve more suffering.

“Oh, shit,” blurted out Dustin while Eddie hissed and scrunched up his nose, leg bouncing and shaking nervously. Nancy covered her mouth with her hand while Jonathan’s face twitched but he willed himself to continue and plunged his fingers into the gash he created.

The girl screeched in pain and everyone exclaimed in a mixture of disgust, sympathy, and worry as they watched him try to fish out the thing that was wriggling inside her calf.

“Jonathan!”

“Goddamn it!”

“No! Stop it!” wailed El, spoon dropping out of her mouth and the boy ceased his movements and pulled away. “Stop! Stop! I can do it,” she whimpered and you and Mike helped her sit up.

Then you watched as she struggled to use her powers and the thing inside her flesh began moving more rapidly and slowly near the open gash on her calf. And with a final guttural screech that shattered the window of the store behind you, she was finally able to pull out the creature and throw it far away.

Everyone looked as it began slithering away and their eyes widened when they saw no other than Hopper, Joyce, and Murray round the corner. They halted and looked at your group with just as much shock and confusion before Hopper noticed the creature and squished it with his boot.  

“Care to tell us just what in the world is going on here?” asked the man as the trio approached the group, and all of you rose to your feet slowly, Mike helping an out-of-breath Eleven and Steve helping you. “What happened to you two?” his voice softened and filled with worry when he finally got the chance to observe El’s and your condition up close and he put a hand on each of your shoulders.

“Honey!? What happened?” exclaimed Joyce as she ran to you and her hands just hovered everywhere, hesitating whether she should pull you in for a hug or not, afraid it would hurt you.

“C’mon…let’s get you seated,” muttered Hopper as he took Mike’s place and helped El hobble to the benches.

He helped her lay down before sitting and taking her into his arms so she had a cushion to lean on. Meanwhile, Steve helped you sit down by Eleven’s feet, spreading his legs so you could sit between them and lean your back against his chest, his arms encircling your body.

“Ok, first thing first, we need to know what in the world happened to these two,” stated Hopper as Joyce knelt in front of you. “Who do I need to kill?”

“Can someone, please, explain why my daughter’s face and throat are black and blue and why is she in a hospital gown!” your mother’s voice raised with each word as she gesticulated anxiously and tried to compose herself before carefully placing a shaky hand on your knee, her lip trembling as she let out a shaky ‘Oh’ while observing your wounded flesh.

“I’d like to know too. Was it all the Mind Flayer?” asked Steve and Hopper and Joyce snapped to look at him.

“The Mind Flayer!?” they exclaimed simultaneously.

“Do you remember when someone called me on the phone?” you reminded your mom and she nodded. “It was Billy.”

“Billy? That’s the friend who needed help?” asked Steve and you hummed.

“He sounded urgent. I had some spare time so I agreed to meet him and see what’s going on. And then,” you choked on your words. “He was…so beaten up. He…he broke down. A-and then it’s like…something took over and,” your voice shook and you gulped the lump that had stuck in your throat.

“That’s when he kidnapped you, didn’t he?” whispered Max, and you nodded. “And he took you to the Mind Flayer.”

“It got me, mom. I’m so sorry,” you let out a sob and she grasped your hands, face melting into one of pure horror, Steve mirroring her.

“W-what do you mean it got you? Did she get flayed?” asked your boyfriend.

“Apparently, Billy was the first who got flayed. He’s the original host. And then…it was Y/N,” revealed Max, fidgeting a bit in her place, eyes shifting from the floor to Steve.

“And then the two of them took more people to get flayed and those people took other people until it became a sick cycle of flaying. The Mind Flayer was trying to build an army,” explained Lucas. “And…well, he’s succeeded. He built this monster in Hawkins. To stop El, to kill her, and pave a way into our world.”  

“Made by the flayed? What do you mean by that?” asked Hopper with furrowed eyebrows and the group shared a look.

“The Mind Flayer forced all hosts to drink chemicals,” blurted out Nancy and Hopper and Joyce’s hearts plummeted. “We suppose he was trying to create a specific substance within every person. We were attacked at the hospital the other night and…we saw two flayed burst. They turned into this…gooey blob that just merged with the monster and made it huge. The same monster attacked us again and it was even bigger so we think all flayed merged with it. It’s…very powerful,” finished the girl dejectedly and Joyce gulped.

“D-did it force Y/N to drink chemicals?”

“Not really, no. He made her…he made her take drugs and she…OD-ed,” disclosed Jonathan and Dustin’s, and Hopper’s eyes widened.  

“What!?” cried out Joyce and Steve’s blood ran cold. “Oh, God,” her eyes watered as her hand flew to her mouth in shock while you quietly tried to reassure her that it was all over now.

“The Mind Flayer was keeping all the flayed up and running even with all the chemicals in their bodies. But once we burned it out of Y/N, the effects hit her instantly. If it weren’t for Eddie’s quick thinking…she’d be dead,” said Mike and Hopper, Joyce, and Steve turned to look at the boy who had one arm wrapped around his chest while the other was propped on top of it, hand rubbing the side of his neck and tugging at some strands of hair.

“Thank you, so much,” choked out Joyce, her face morphing into a pained grimace, and the boy let out an awkward smile, not used to being the center of attention or being thanked.

“Y/N is one of my best friends. I’d never let her be harmed or die.”

“A-and the bruises?” let out Steve, arms around you tightening as he looked down at you, tilting his head to get a better look at your throat, face scrunching up in distress.

“Billy,” you muttered and Steve’s gut clenched.  

“He came to the hospital the same night the monster attacked. Tried to take Y/N back. Eddie and Jonathan fought him off,” informed them Will with a crestfallen expression that the whole group matched.

“I’m going to kill him,” bit out Steve, and Hopper let out a hum of affirmation, and you could feel the anger and tension bubbling inside of them even though they seemed calm and still on the outside.

“Hey…promise you won’t do anything stupid,” you mumbled as you straightened up a bit and searched for your boyfriend’s eyes. “Billy has no fault. He’s being controlled…like a puppet…You’ve no idea what it feels like…to be trapped in your own mind as you watch and experience everything…” you then turned to look at Hopper whose angry expression contorted into one of pity and worry. “-but you’re unable to stop because someone else has taken the wheel and you’re trapped on the backseat as you fly off a cliff,” you breathed out and Steve’s eyes swarmed with pity, concern, and guilt. “We have to help Billy…and we have to stop the monster,” you turned to the others and they shared a look.

“Yeah but…how exactly do we do that? I mean, you saw that monster, Y/N/N. It’s huge!” exclaimed Mike in defeat.

“By the way, Hopper, we had to flee from the hospital and we kinda used your cabin and uh,” drawled Jonathan as he looked at the others and Lucas sighed awkwardly.

“It sorta destroyed your cabin,” he confessed and the man in question let out an exhausted breath. “Sorry.”

“So, this happened when that thing attacked?” he asked as he motioned to El’s calf with his head and the boys nodded. “Son of a bitch went after the two people he shouldn’t have,” muttered the man under his breath as he looked at El and then at you, silent, hot rage filling him even more on the inside while he tried to keep up the calm composure.

“Okay, so, one last time, just to be clear, this-this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, is some kind of a gigantic…weapon?” asked Steve unsurely and Nancy nodded.

“Yes.”

“But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon…with melted people,” he clarified and the girl nodded again, hair bouncing.

“Yes, exactly!”

“Yeah, okay, I, uh, yeah, just making sure,” he blinked and you ran your knuckles over his forearm, fighting back a smile, as his head kept turning back and forth between Nancy, the kids, and you.

“And that thing is still out there alive?” asked Joyce.

“El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it’s still alive.”

“But if we close the gate again-“

“We cut the brain off from the body.”

“And kill it…theoretically.”

“Ok, but where is the gate? And what’s the deal with those-those Russians?” waved his hand Jonathan, and the group’s gazes shifted between Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica.

“Well, you see, that’s a pretty interesting story,” quipped Dustin, and what followed was a chaotic explanation from him, Steve, and Robin about what happened the past days and what they discovered right underneath the mall.

“And then they dragged us to separate rooms and I-I thought that’s it, we’d die in this underground base, killed by the goddamn commies, but then they dragged me into another room and Steve was there all beaten up and bloody and unconscious and I thought he was already dead but thank god he woke up and things were okay for a while before the-the soldiers came back and drugged us so we could spill everything, but they were just goddamn idiots who couldn’t take what they didn’t want to hear as an answer and they were gonna cut Steve’s finger off and I thought that was it, they’d start torturing us, cutting us, just to get info we don’t fucking have, but then the alarms went off and those two stormed in and kinda zapped the doctor so we were all able to escape!” rambled on Robin and everyone looked at her, blinking in bewilderment, and her lips twitched as she let out an awkward smile. “Sorry.”

The whole time Robin was talking, your hand rested on Steve’s, fingers stroking his bruised skin and eyes filling with worry and pity at his condition and hearing all he’s been through.

“If I get my hands on the man who did this to you, I’ll debone him,” your voice varied between a whisper and a low grumble as you pulled a bit so you could look at your boyfriend, and Steve closed his lids, letting out a breathy chuckle as his hand went to stroke your cheek, locking eyes with yours again.

“Not before I debone the Mind Flayer,” he said and you pursed your lips, chuckling silently.

“He has no bones, babe. He’s a shadow,” you reminded him and his eyes darted everywhere as he blinked rapidly before nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, you have a point.”

“Yoo-hoo!” called out Murray and everyone turned to look at the approaching man who was waving a couple of papers in his hands. “Okay, this is what Alexei called “the hub”. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room,” explained the man once he reached you and slapped the paper containing blueprints onto a table.

“Okay, where’s the gate?” asked Hopper with hands on his hips as he and the others gathered around the man to observe and brainstorm.  

“Right here. I don’t know the scale on this, but I think it’s fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty meters or so.”

The rest of the conversation you tuned out as this bizarre buzzing feeling invaded your brain once again and cold waves washed over you, making you wrap your arms around your body. It was a feeling that came and went and each time it returned, it was stronger and more irritable.

“What’s wrong, are you feeling sick?” asked Steve with concern and you shook your head.

“No, not really…I-I don’t know. I just…feel a bit chilly a-and…dizzy,” you whispered and Steve looked around, hoping to see someone with a jacket he could take and wrap around you but there was nobody. And for good reason – it was summer and the weather was very warm, so he had no idea why you would feel chilly. He didn’t like that and the fact that the skin on your neck and forehead was getting clammy was unnerving him. The only thing he could do was bring you closer and rub your arms. You shifted in his embrace so you were sitting sideways, legs dangling over his as your side lay on his chest, head buried in his shoulder as you nuzzled against his neck.

“I feel like this is a repeat of last year,” he muttered in your hair and you hummed. “I’m never there to protect you…I’m sorry,” he whispered through the lump that was stuck in his throat and you lifted your head a bit so you could look at him, managing a stern look.

“I don’t want to hear you blame yourself again. No one could’ve known. Not even my family suspected anything like that’d happen. Please,” your eyes glistened and he nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it, just…don’t talk, ok? Keep your strength,” he planted a kiss on top of your head as you laid it back down on his shoulder and let out a sigh. He believed himself to be pathetic for having you reassure him that everything was okay when he had to be the one reassuring you.

Steve felt like he was more of a burden to you than the support you needed. He felt like he wasn’t smart or capable like the others. Hell, he couldn’t even realize that the Mind Flayer could be back and could have taken and used you. He was so stupid.

He felt like the most useless person in the world.

What a failure of a boyfriend he was.

____________________________

Tags: @anxiousbeech

[gayofthefae]

No bc it's the fact that I WASN'T that invested in Byler during vol 1 actually I got invested in between volumes so really the entire time I wasn't like "ooh another clue!" I started believing they were gonna be endgame - to the extent that I assumed it was the intention to be obvious and I was just behind only to find out that people didn't think it was as obvious as the St*ncy flirting was and was baffled - I literally was passively confident so I wasn't like noting down the proof at all I was super focused on Lucas and Max tbh and Byler was also cute, right?

So what I'm saying is that I realized in 4x02 then had no reaction basically, except empathy, of course, but no surprise, when Mike couldn't tell El he loved her even though they had not yet had issues when I started believing in Byler and I did not bat my eye when Mike talked to and looked at Will like that or all the other moments we've found obvious.

I am one of the many shippers that joined in season 4 after it BECAME obvious and then was like "you guys didn't see it??" I saw it and then analyzed how we got there for fun is what I think many antis don't understand. I didn't need the details to know. It was obvious to me, I just like to nerd out on filmography.

So point being it was always obvious. I never even thought of anything up until after the ily speech as "proof", or rather after volume 1 when I saw that there were apparently doubters I had to defend against, because I didn't NEED proof.

I went "Oooh he can't tell El he loves her I woonder why" in the same way I went "Oooh Max called Lucas' name in the upside down and her memories were a lot of him". Like I could have been wrong about them getting back together, technically, but it's the natural prediction one makes based on context. Byler was the natural prediction I made based on context. Just like L*max getting back together. Just like J*pper getting together. Could I have been wrong? Yes. Was I? No.

I just- I cannot emphasize enough how passively confident I was in Byler before logging on. I am now actively confident and with loads of proof, but honestly I feel like the biggest comfort and best argument to people who aren't invested like that is that once I realized - realized, not "believed" - that Mike would reciprocate Will's feelings, I forgot about it as a concern, relaxed, and just watched the show like anything else. If they got together I wouldn't have been like "told you!" because I didn't think anyone would miss it beyond the point I did any more than they would miss the other canon couple predictions I brought up - some people would, sure, but that many? Jesus.

Really, volume 2 just revealed to me that it was supposed to be more of a twist in season 5. It subverted my expectations of the Duffers' intentions for audience perception, not my expectations for the plot. I thought that everyone misinterpreted what they were obviously telling us but volume 2 revealed to me that I suppose we were purposefully divided. Doesn't change the outcome. The only surprise was the delivery.

Two times I had the thought "why are they doing this?" in the season. When Mike and Will fought in the roller rink and when Mike told El he loved her. Guess which plot became heavily backed up the more new episodes I watched and guess which one contradicted.

[and-stir-the-stars]

@raccoon-in-a-dumpster gladly!

Sooo, I still haven't decided how much of this is canon, but my current thoughts is this:

After Will gets arrested in saffron au, Henry gets full control over Fazbear Entertainment. When he does, he starts to notice something-- strange-- about the animatronics at various locations.

And when Henry picks up on the possibility of possession, his thoughts of course go to his daughter, who's dead body was found with the Puppet laying on top of her.

Henry becomes desperate to learn more about Will's experiments and possession so he can figure out what happened to Charlie and how to help* her.

(*except as pizzasim has shown us, Henry's idea on how to help lost souls is... very messed up. I'm currently thinking maybe saffron Henry actually DID find Marionette/Charlie, but just like in pizzasim, he doesn't view Charlie as human anymore and wants to use Will's experiments to make her human again or to free her spirit entirely)

Obviously the best way to learn about William’s experiments would be to go through William himself, but because he's in prison, that option is... unavailable. So Henry figures the next best option would be the person who helped Will commit his crimes: Evan.

Except, the thing is, Henry is revolted by William and Evan. He can't look either of them in the face any more than Henry had the guts to be the one facing off against the animatronics in pizzasim. Just like in pizzasim, Henry gets someone else to do his dirty work for him.

so, Henry starts talking to the parents of Will and Evan’s victims. Posing as another grieving parent who just wants retribution for what the Aftons did to his daughter, Henry offers these parents a deal, and he offers it again and again until he finally gets a taker.

"I can tell you where Evan Afton is. You can get retribution for what he did to your child, since unlike his father, he got away without paying for the crime. But in return, there's information that I need you to get from him."

Soo... remember the plotline about Evan getting kidnapped by grieving parents? If I end up going through w this thing w Henry, it will be Henry who caused the kidnapping to occur in the first place.

Though I think the grieving parents in question would betray Henry when he starts asking them to interrogate Evan about possession and ghosts. To Henry's outrage, they think that Henry is crazy and refuse to work with him once they get their hands on Evan.

At this point, Henry either used a fake name around these parents (meaning he doesn't get arrested or charged for kidnapping Evan), or he got caught when the parents did.

Assuming Henry didn't get caught, though. Then sometime later, months or years after Ev initially got kidnapped, Henry finally gets the courage to see Evan face-to-face.

In another attempt to get the information he needs to "help" his daughter, Henry tries to hide his animosity toward Ev (and Mike, to an extent) as he reintroduces himself into the brothers' lives.

Evan is happy to have his uncle back, even if Henry is acting... strangely (is unresponsive to Evan's attempts to make him feel welcome, is more emotionally distant that Ev remembers him being, has a tendency to ask Evan questions-- esp about Ev's time with Will-- that stress Ev out, and Ev is ofc not good at setting boundaries). And Evan, who doesn't know about all the times Mike reached out to Henry for help with William's abuse only to be turned away, doesn't understand why Mike is so angry with Henry and keeps trying to push the only family they have left away, causing Ev to lash out at Mike.

Blah blah blah, some Big Event happens and it gets revealed that Henry set up Evan's kidnapping, and Ev learns that he knew about all the red flags in Will's abuse (the same abuse that led to Evan being manipulated into being a murderer) and did nothing to help the Aftons, blah blah blah.

I would say Henry kidnaps Evan again, but this would mean the Witness Protection Program would have Mike and Ev move away from the town they met Jeremy and Valerie in, which I am unwilling to make happen. So the Big Event would have to be something else, and Mike and Evan (possibly working with the Marshal in charge of making sure they're doing okay in the Wit Protec Porgram: Vanessa) would frame Henry for smth so he goes to prison (not for kidnapping Ev, but for one of the various crimes surrounding Fazbear Entertainment).

Obviously that's really convoluted, and it might work best if Henry DID get arrested when the Grieving Parents kidnapped Evan. It would still have a Big Emotional reveal for the bros if Henry's part in the kidnapping was revealed soon after the fact rather than later, and Henry would have a more straight forward reason for being in jail instead of the brothers having to frame him. The only thing is, I really like the idea of Henry trying to insert himself back into their lives, struggling to hide his resentment of Evan and for there to be tension between Mike and Ev since Ev doesn't know just how badly Henry treated them in their childhood.

[andiwriteordie]

late night thoughts hit me when i was trying to go to bed last night and so here they are:

i am so, so here for a will byers villain arc (as long as he gets saved/overcomes the evil in the end; let’s save the unhinged truly evil will for fanfics and tumblr lol), but sometimes i struggle to see the mechanics of how it would work. 

1. i truly, with all my heart, do not believe will would go willingly with vecna/the mind flayer. one, all of that was traumatizing af for him, and two, we all know will is actually the heart of the party and loves his friends and family SO MUCH. this sweet angel would never ever do anything to hurt them, even if he does feel alone and like a mistake.

2. i also don’t see them going the possession route again. it’s been done now two times in s2 and s3, and legit s2 was with will. it’d be kind of lazy writing to be like, “oop! vecna’s got will possessed again! time to go save him!” like nah, that’s probably not it either.

so that got me thinking. if we were to get a will byers villain arc, what if it happened because that was the only way to save one of his loved ones? vecna has someone (jonathan, joyce, el, mike, really any of the party bc let’s be real, it’s will) trapped and is going to kill them unless will gives himself up. will, not knowing the full extent of whatever abilities he has or why vecna even wants him, agrees to it, because he thinks that the others are better off having this other person than they are with will. boom, we see will as some sort of unwilling vessel and coming into his abilities while not fully in control of himself anymore, and we see will able to get more into vecna’s mind.

also just. i know this was a s4 thing, but still: if i only could, i’d make a deal with god, and i’d get him to swap our places.

bonus points if this is mike that will saves, and this sends mike into an unhinged frenzy to save his best friend + reveals that although will believes mike is the heart, his disappearance clearly shows that will is the heart.

oh, and also, how fun would it be to truly go back to the beginning now that we have lost max and will, and it comes back to a story of mike, lucas, dustin, and el trying to save their friends.

[nadia-zahra]

The Rain Fight and my new take on it

while rereading my analysis on st3 Mike and the rain fight I had a lil "oh shit I have a different view on this now" moment.

In my analysis, I said it was miscommunication, and to some extent, it is... just not in the way I've explained previously.

My og take was that it was Mike taking Will's, "you're ruining everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!" as 'you're ruining everything because you like making out with El who is stupid' instead of what Will really meant: you're ruining everything because you're straight. And then I wrote off Mike's response of "El's not stupid and it's not my fault you don't like girls" as him trying to say 'it's not my fault you haven't grown up yet' instead of 'it's not my fault you're gay'

But nowadays I'm like 95% sure that this fight was in fact "you're ruining everything because you like girls" "it's not my fault you're gay".

First off, MIKE IS GAY (imo) and, atp in the show, he was battling against internalized homophobia. His response of "...it's not my fault you don't like girls" sounds like hardcore projecting; especially when we know it's in response to Will taking a stab at Mike's sexuality.

Here's where I think the miscommunication lies: neither Mike nor Will know they are both 1) in the closet 2) into each other. Both of them just think the other is straight, and are alone in their feelings for the other.

So when Will said, "You're ruining everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!", he wasn't intentionally going below the belt because he genuinely thinks Mike is straight and into El. However, from Mike's pov that was basically getting called out for using El as a beard. Mike got so freaking defensive from Will's words because he wasn't ready to admit to himself that he's gay or selfishly using El.

Mike projects at Will, "It's not my fault you don't like girls," and also unintentionally hits below the belt because he thinks Will is straight and just hasn't gotten past the 'ewww cooties' stage of childhood. Will is canonically gay, so his reaction to this makes sense-- he takes it as 'it's not my fault you're gay' and becomes stunned by the fact his crush/bff (the guy who's protected him from homophobic bullies) is now spewing the same homophobic bullshit.

However, Mike's response to Will's reaction doesn't make sense... unless he's gay and still projecting his true desires, making them seem like ridiculous hypotheticals. *cough* Wanting to spend the rest of their lives together playing dnd and subtly saying they'd live together forever *cough*. And Will's response of "Yeah I guess I did. I really did" thankfully doesn't have any blurred lines to read through and he really is just stating, 'yeah, I really thought we'd be together forever'.

Second off, I think I had that initial perspective on the rain fight because the duffers said (back when this was still a hot topic) that this was supposed to be taken simply as Mike meaning 'it's not my fault you haven't grown up yet' because Will's sexuality was still in the dark atp in time and they've been known to bend the truth in order to not spoil anything. However, with hindsight (and confirmation that Will is gay) we know Will took it as Mike being a homophobe.

So, with that being said, Mike's pov on the rainfight is still kinda in murky waters-- no one fully knows why tf he said what he said or how he took Will's words.

The last thing I'm going to say in this unplanned analysis, so that way I can go back to prepping for my s4 Mike analysis is this: If in st5 when it's revealed Mike has feelings for Will and is gay (or some type of queer person), does this mean that with hindsight we'll be able to know exactly what was being said in the rain fight?

[xxmarzimoonxx]

it’s funny because the more i look at twitter and tiktok and just think about what we were given in regard to byler this season, the more it kinda seems right? don’t get me wrong, we were definitely queerbaited to an extent, and that’s completely disappointing, and using will’s sexuality to further mileven was just terrible, but i actually feel kinda hopeful for season 5? anyways heres some mixed thoughts on byler that i don’t feel like adding to my pinned post and some will stuff too bc he’s my main guy <3

since the writers revealed that the jopper kiss was planned day of by winona and david, i sincerely believe that finn and noah could convince the writers to allow for smth between their characters, especially considering the way they have their characters act around each other (lip glances, longing looks, etc)

the lighting in the cabin scene? the stick figure drawing and the way it was framed? the dead flowers? these are not coincidences!!

almost every scene w mike and el has will standing in the background. again, definitely not a coincidence.

i also think that, in regard to season 4, completely fixing mike and wills relationship over the course of two packed finale episodes would have been forced. they have an entire season to work out their relationship now, and i truly believe byler will happen between the hints/parallels in s4, as well as everything finn and Mike have said (keep in mind they’ve seen parts of the script for season 5, and most likely already know how their characters are going to end up!) i have strong hopes, like noah said, i really feel that they’re building it up. we really need to see a post s4 interview w either finn, noah, or both of them. this way we can see how they react in regard to byler.

since filming for season 5 began early and the actors have already seen versions of the scripts and know where their characters are going, i truly believe what noah has said in interviews about byler being “built up” and stuff. it would explain finns behavior during interviews too if he knows smth will happen between them next season.

adding onto this, i feel pretty certain at this point that a lot of the actors be getting confused w what happens in each season 😭. like this would explain why it seems like a lot of them lied abt what would happen in season 4, and why a lot of leaks and hints as to what would happen didn’t. filming two seasons pretty much around the same time has to have had a lot of them confused, because im not sure why else all that would’ve happened…

bro im hyped for main character will next season. i don’t care if he’s a villain. i don’t care if he’s a hero. he can be whatever tf he wants as long as he’s not dead and is the main character (and main character he will be!!!)

my guess is that will gets vecnaed at the start of the season before they do that weird time skip thing. considering noah was in his s4 clothes in the pic w the harness (and that pic was posted around the same time david had said they started shooting early, so it makes sense that it’s for season 5).

im super curious tho as to how they’re gonna handle the time skip? i don’t know how they’re going to make it make sense, and i am worried it’s going to take away a lot from the characters (and no, not just mike and will, literally every character), so maybe they’ll do some sort of two part thing where the first part kicks off where we left off and the second jumps forward? kinda like the season 4 volumes but more evenly distributed.

everyone on twitter saying will might get killed off next season, SHUSH. as much as they like to hurt mr byers, imagine the backlash they would face after killing off one of two queer characters.

i saw someone on twitter say that like the point of wills arc this season was to highlight his emotional struggle and detachment from the group (his friends, johnathan, etc) to lead into his plot for next season. and yeah. that makes sense! and it’s also giving villain vibes 😍

it’ll also be really cool to see everything start with will and end with will. especially if he’s a villain. he would be helping the one thing (vecna/henry) that ruined his life, maybe even finding comfort in him. something about that is kinda cool, and im all down for a will byers villain arc. like imagine him showing mike memories of each time mike hurt him (verbally ofc) or smth like that and be like “look! it’s every time you broke my heart! now ill break yours 🤪💅🏻”. he wouldn’t kill him tho. we still want byler to happen. it would just be very slay of will. OKAY ILL SHUSH NOW.

i might add to this haha but it’s just some thoughts on will in season 5. if more byler stuff comes up in the coming interviews i might add it here rather than my pinned post because it’s just kinda easier. smh for not doing bullet points on that one.

[chirpsythismorning]

The script giving almost ZERO insight into what Mike is actually thinking is a GOOD SIGN! We’ve already established this.

I know the hype for the script built up to unnecessary proportions, and I think that lead to fans forgetting this was indeed the most likely scenario. Will’s POV is the approach they’re going with this season (even in the Mike and El scenes I should add), and so them being consistent with that isn’t much of a surprise.

I know it’s depressing and angsty and feels hopeless rn, but that’s the whole point.

We’re meant to be in Will’s shoes and Will’s shoes only. That’s what makes an unreliable narrator so impactful. Because once we finally get the opposite perspective, it will change everything. It will make us look back on everything that happened with a different light.

And that’s not going to happen until Mike himself is also seeing these scenarios in a different light. Because once Mike fully understands the extent of Will’s perspective, he’s gonna look back on everything that happened between them in s4, and it’s going to be an unraveling type of reveal, one that the audience will have a front row seat to witness themselves. But we didn’t get that unraveling yet. And that’s because they’re saving it for season 5.

I think it’s likely (and Nick already sort of confirmed this), that the subtext in the 4x09 script is going to be slightly more obvious than it had been all season, and although it’s possible we could get Mike’s POV during that scene at the cabin, it’s likely that we won’t. Because again, s4 is the beginning of the end. It’s the literal setting up of the surprises that season 5 has to offer, that being endgame. That being requited byler.

Edit: I also think the subtext Nick referred to not noticing until looking over all the scripts, was that mention of Will AND Mike ‘not getting it’. This proves they’re not on the same page in terms of knowing what the other is truly feeling. And we know what that means from Will’s end, which is that he loves Mike… and so, the same can be said for Mike, which is that he loves Will. And I think Nick realized this after seeing even more subtext in 4x09, where Mike avoids eye contact with El again (covering his eyes/literally avoiding the ‘light’), only to have his eyes constantly locked with Wills during all their scenes, with Will bathed in light… Any person who understands film, reading these scripts, and rewatching those scenes, is gonna pick up on that. And Nick did bc he knows that everything has meaning and there’s clearly something being set up, whether the general audience (or byler themselves) has picked up on it yet or not.

[sugarcubetikki]

Also I think another part of the argument about El’s s1 appearance is specifically that she was described to look like Will. They thought she could possibly have been him with shaved hair. So that’s another thing that I’ve seen bylers use to be like hm…. Interesting

Yes! A lot of us do perceive El resembling Will to be interesting byler proof.

However, I don’t really see it in the way you’re referring to.

I don’t think El resembling Will is what contributed to Mike falling in love/projecting his feelings for Will onto El. I think it serves greater narrative meaning than that.

This amazing post talks about El and Will being linked as foils. And it’s something you can see as important according to the larger storyline as well as how it relates to Mike’s relationship and his conflicting feelings for both of them.

In that way I think El seeming to resemble Will is indication of this idea of them being foils. And in reference to their relationship with Mike, he’s constantly switching between the two, he’s with one whilst apart from the other whether it’s physically or emotionally or both. It conveys a conflicting nature in his feelings for both of them.

However, I don’t see El and Will to be on equal footing to Mike romantically. I believe he’s strongly influenced by heteronormative standards and is somewhat projecting his romantic feelings for Will onto El due to the way Margaret Thatcher has been built up.

When he first met El, he was focused on finding Will, the reason why he was in those woods in the first place because he was desperate and snuck out to find his best friend.

When he found El, she was scared and lost (like Will probably was then and you can’t tell me Mike wasn’t stressing over that) so he took her under his wing. All the parallels and comparisons that could be made between Will and her were all to perfect: in terms of appearance, their passive personalities during the time and on a deeper level certain traumatic events they faced in the past.

I’d argue that I think as El has grown and developed as a character she deeply became separate from who she was in S1 but Mike has become very disconnected from who she’s grown into. As most of her character development happened when she was away from Mike (S2 and 4 physically whereas 3 emotionally she grew as a character with Max) and he never got to know who she’s become (they spent most of S3 making out and fighting then when El moved they did send each other letters but El was lying in most of them so I can’t blame Mike for this).

Their relationship in S1 was also greatly driven by Mike relying on El and her powers to find Will (he lashed out on her at the quarry when Will’s “body” was pulled out only to soften later on when she manipulates the radio or walkie talkie audio to Will singing).

It’s also interesting how many characters show strong concern over Mike’s emotional state due to Will going missing: Karen’s conversation with him whilst El is in the closet, Karen to Joyce when Mike misses school, Nancy to Mike later on - the same isn’t done with Lucas or Dustin to this extent. I understand there’s supposed to be a dual meaning here because a lot of Mike’s behaviour was to do with him hiding El but it makes you think…really think…how it’s pointed out in the show that everyone expected Mike to be acting weird because of Will but then it’s supposedly revealed it’s because of El’s presence. I think things aren’t what they necessarily seem here especially because everything relationship with El relates to Will in a way. He found some sort of comfort in El when Will was absent because let’s be frank here if El hadn’t stepped into Mike’s life he’d be worrying over Will every second onscreen.

El entering his life gave him someone to care for in Will’s absence, I’m not saying El was a stand-in for Will but she was if you consider Mike and Will’s dynamic in S2 - it mirrors Mike and El’s S1 dynamic. I know a lot of people love to say that Mike was projecting missing El onto Will but I’m sorry this is their dynamic and their closeness has been implied before the series started by every other character and the “it was a seven” on its own. If anything, it’s the other way around and it makes the most sense. Even now, in S4, Mike uses El to conceal his worries over Will (it just felt like I lost you and maybe I was worrying over El too much/Mike venting his frustrations of Will not speaking to him in the roller rink using him being a douche to El as an excuse).

Taking care of El seemed to be a coping mechanism for Mike in Will’s absence (when both El and Will are not there, may I remind you he tries to jump off a cliff?) and he seemed to be projecting a lot of his worries over Will onto that too. If you consider heteronormativity and the fact that El was a girl, Mike could be with her the way he could never be with Will. He felt like he fell in love with her then but the question is did he really when we get 3 more seasons of the show where their relationship seems to be a mess and the byler coding grows stronger?

His life started in those woods? Because it felt like it ended when he lost Will and finding El and “falling in love with her” got him through that pain.

But El is not the same girl from S1 anymore. Mike has to realise that she’s grown and developed into her own person whereas sort through his own feelings and how he’s been projecting all of his feelings for Will onto El throughout the series and how messy it has become.

Just to make it clear I don’t think Mike actively realises he’s projecting, it seems to be more of a subconscious experience that makes the most sense according to the narrative in my eyes at least. Unlike Will, he definitely hasn’t unpacked his gayness yet.

[demadogs]

I'm generally not very interested in cast and crew interviews etc. and with ST especially i've been staying away from promo bc it makes me nervous lol. So i keep seeing people say they've been promoting byler and i wanted to ask to what extent that is true? Are they actually promoting byler or are they promoting will being gay and in love with mike? Because there's a difference, right?

theyve confirmed that will does have feelings for mike but havent put a label on his sexuality. they have said though that his sexuality will be confirmed in volume two. they are talking about it, but not overly promoting it to the point where it feels like queerbaiting. almost every time theyve talked about it, its been the interviewers that first brought it up, not them. the biggest thing i can think that was blatantly promoting and hyping up byler was noahs tweet saying he ships it. but other than that, its mostly just answering questions about it and the occasional post of a byler scene from a netflix affiliated account, sometimes tagged with #byler. and david basically confirmed that will likes mike before volume one was even out. that was a huge one.

none of the cast or duffers have ever denied wills feelings, but theyve been vague about mikes’. when finn was directly asked how mike will respond to wills feelings he just smiled and said that he doesnt think mike knows about his feelings, which was kinda answering a different question. then he said theres a “mutual understanding” which made people nervous for some reason but it was intentionally vague for obvious reasons.

basically theyve confirmed wills feelings, but not mikes’ and sometimes theres a new interview or social media post that makes us all flip out and get excited but its not like theyre always hyping it up (which is a good thing if it was too much itd look like queerbaiting). theres so much more to talk about with this show with vecna, the russia plot, eleven, what character might die, the fact that theres only one more season, etc, that byler isnt talked about that much in comparison to everything else, but its definitely not ignored. but they couldve promoted it WAY more than they currently are, especially considering its pride month.

also just another interesting thing that you may not know since you dont watch interviews, finn and noah havent done any press together. they put noah with millie for press and finn is with the rest of the cali group. its pretty weird that they decided to split them up since theyre in the same story the whole season, but it mightve been to avoid constantly being asked about byler and revealing too much.

[strangeswift]

I think some ppl think that mike being gay would be easier to solve the tension in this 'love triangle'. since it would be a conflict about mike' sexuality only and that is why he is unable to love el romantically. it has nothing to do with el herself.

i get that thinking process and i agree with it to an extent but i honestly do not think the duffers are intending to write the situation that way. if they're going for the byler endgame, i think they're just gonna portray melvin as a childhood crush and relationship thing and leave it at that. i dont think they will reveal that mike is gay, mike will stay as unlabeled. they will make el break up with mike and then portray their relationship as a childhood puppy crush.

i think the way gay!mike supporters think makes sense to an extent but i dont think that is what the duffers are aiming or intending tbh.

Hi anon!

I don't have much to add I pretty much completely agree with everything you said. I will say that I think they'll also take the angle of Mi1even being an unhealthy relationship in addition to being a childhood *cough* comphet *cough* crush. A conversation about how the relationship was hurting both of them in addition to the fact that yes, the romantic aspect of their relationship really was based just a puppy love crush. Which has since faded, at least on Mike's end, while their true bond is based on platonic love.

To ME Mike is gay, but yeah in canon he'll most likely be unlabeled so his sexuality probably won't be used to explain the failure of his relationship with El.

Honestly I do sometimes question whether I HC Mike as gay and El as a lesbian mostly because it's easier to dismiss their romantic feelings toward each other that way. I'm really not sure. I mean, my primary reason for thinking Mike is gay is "It's not my fault you don't like girls" which reads as projection to me. But honestly it's possible that the former reason is also a big part of it. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, I'm just nor sure if it's a big factor or not. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway. Good take anon.