#el and papa

[gayofthefae]

In a fight with Mike, El begs him to tell her he loves her and calls herself a monster. That fight is not about Mike or their failing romance; it is about her hating herself. It isn't about Mike; she wants it to be from Mike but it isn't about him. She believes that she is an unlovable monster and she just needs someone to tell her "you are not a monster, people have flaws and that is okay. I acknowledge that and still say: I love you." And guess what, her prayers have been answered:

"You speak of monsters and superheroes. That's the stuff of myth and fairytales. Reality, truth, is rarely so simple. People are not so easily defined." "I care[d] for you; I love[d] you."

And it is the most disgusting thing in the show. I have watched scissors in a back, burning flesh, rats explode into goo and eat people's faces. That is the most disgusting thing in the show.

And they know it. Because that's the point. She is disgusted by it. And it causes her to realize what she thought she needed was actually just what she wanted and she doesn't actually need it at all. She is fine without it and she can leave. It is a wake up call for her. And she does just that. She leaves. She leaves knowing her worth and she is lovable enough that she doesn't need him to love her, she can do it herself.

I've talked before about the many usages of "love" leading up to Mike's - Jason to Chrissy, Nancy and Jonathan, Max signing her letter to Billy, Jonathan to Will - but none of those actually matter too much in how it affects his words.

It doesn't matter that other people have already said it. It matters that El has already heard it by the time she gets Mike. And it is exactly what she wanted to hear. And she hated it.

Mike's words mean nothing now. Because if Brenner can say them and believe it, Anyone can. "I love you" is no longer some great feat. It's something you can be wrong about with your whole chest. Because they cracked open the door, made Brenner an easier to swallow gateway and said "Remember: nobody ever said it had to be true. They just said he had to say it."

[withacapitalp]

Regrets

Dying was not as peaceful as Martin Brenner had anticipated it would be.

He knew he was going to hell, he was fine with that. Martin would go to hell if that meant saving the rest of the world. When his maker asked him ‘why’, he would be able to proudly respond that he had done the right thing. Not the good thing, or the easy thing, but always the right thing. 

He had thought that since he knew that, there wouldn’t be any regret. But there was. Martin Brenner’s entire chest was filled with rotting hateful regret, and it was spilling out dark red, nearly black, on the scorching desert sand. 

He had thought he understood. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, and Martin knew that. He had sacrificed almost all of his children after all, and what Papa would do that if he didn’t understand the cost?

Almost all of his children dead. All but one. 

Eleven. 

His Eleven. His favorite. Always his favorite, because she was the only one that really had a chance. She was his salvation, the one thing that made all of his other sacrifices worth it. She was the best thing he had ever made. There shouldn’t be any regret, because she was still alive. Uncollared, untethered, and, now, utterly unstoppable. 

No regret, because Martin had succeeded. She was perfect, and she would save them all. 

But he had regrets. He was dying, and he could barely breathe past the dreadful remorse sitting on his chest like an elephant. 

Because she didn’t understand. 

Martin had asked her to understand. He had told the truth- he had done everything to protect her. Her Papa was proud of her, and everything he had ever done had been for her. All of this was for her, and for the world, and for the godforsaken Greater Good. 

A greater good that he was never going to get to see. The great city upon the hill that John Winthrop had sermonized about. Martin would forever be exiled from it. He had been fine with the idea of that, but the reality was unbearable. 

He had asked Eleven to understand, and she had laid his hand down and walked away. Her inability to give him absolution should have been the final nail in the coffin, but Martin was too tired to let it hurt as much as it did. 

There were regrets, too many to count now, but there was a little bit of peace. Just a touch. 

Eleven hadn’t walked away alone. 

She had always been so alone. Her siblings had scorned her, then envied her, then feared her. They could never accept her for what she was. But now, she had found someone who could. 

Eleven had walked away from him, and into the arms of a boy he recognized from oh so long ago. He was taller now, much taller, and his face was starting to lean out where it had once been soft and round with baby fat. Nearly unrecognizable if you didn’t know him well, but Martin Brenner would never be able to forget William Byers.

 This was the boy that had started it all, the boy that was forever linked to Eleven in ways neither of them would ever be able to understand without Martin’s help. 

The boy that would, hopefully, save his daughter. If Martin’s theories were right, and they usually were. 

Almost all of his energy was gone, but Martin Brenner had just enough strength left in him to turn his head to the side, watching as his last child sped away in a van and left him to die in the dust behind her. 

It was just him now. Martin and his Regrets. 

But Eleven would be fine. 

She had found a better family. 

[lovely-menza]

Art trade with @lil-hater 🖤🖤 (thank you so much for your drawing too :'')) Ig post: X

[emblazons]

"Do you not see, Eleven?"

El & 001 + Mike Wheeler & Martin Brenner Parallels see also: Vecna' using El's trauma to manipulate(!) her ⤷ inspired by @heroesbyler & my own commentary (x)

[dollya-robinprotector]

Also may I present to you: The teachers

[howlingday]

Summer: It's time to straighten out these Arcs!

Summer: (Leaps with Maria and Ruby)

Grandpa Arc: Let's rock!

Grandpa Arc: (Leaps with Jaune and Papa) The way I've been humiliated by you is UNACCEPTABLE!

Maria: (Deflects, Sheepishly chuckles) Sorry.

Papa Arc: "Straighten out these Arcs"? Pathetic! No wonder I broke up with you!

Summer: Uh, I'm pretty sure I broke up with you.

Papa Arc: AS IF I COULD FORGET!

Ruby: (Leaps at Jaune)

Jaune: (Clashes with Ruby)

[strawberrybyers]

when karen goes missing in s5. when nancy and mike discover they’re related to the creels in the process of trying to find their mom. when el discovers henry is her dad because the lab secretly impregnated terry. therefore all of this putting another nail in mikeven’s coffin 😌

[reineydraws]

i have a soft spot for fics where billy sort of ends up adopting el and will alongside max. like, these are the kids that get dibs for rides in the camaro haha.

also im unfortunately not participating bc prev commitments but #harringrove for turkey is happening right now if yall want to donate to the earthquake relief funds for turkey & syria and get some art/fic back from harringrove fans! :) check out the tag if you're interested!!

[imjustchori]

Made some SATS album covers for fun (will reblog if I make more)

first one is easy to guess what I based myself on but second is harder I think

Now 2 random SATS headcannons I guess

♪ Rita and Xandra were part of the group. Rita for back vocals and stuff and Xandra for secondary main vocals (I mean like some songs were sung entirely by her and not Scarlett, kinda how CDN has Roberto songs and Tavella songs)

♪ They used to do Vocasyn covers, Vocasyn is the papaverse version of Vocaloid

[hawkinslibrary]

I can save them.

2.07 | The Lost Sister and 4.08 | Papa

[papaemeritusthefifth]

Mansfield, MA | August 19, 2023

[emblazons]

MATT "YOU'VE LOST THE PLOT" DUFFER

or: Matt's absolute inability to hide when he thinks someone isn't understanding something about their character or the show in Beyond Stranger Things

[elbiotipo]

I do admit I'm a bit of a bastard sometimes.

Half of my worldbuilding posts: "Here's some tools that, from my experience, can give you ideas for making your setting more believeable!"

Other half of my worldbuilding posts: The Beatings Will Continue Until Worldbuilding Improves.

[cyclone-rachel]

Tomorrowverse Brainiac 5/Karadox + text posts

[sambuchito]

Ideologically I don’t agree with spaniards existing but they kinda went off with tortilla de papas

[peruvian-flute-band]

2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY💯

YIPPEEEEEE

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE PUNCH-OUT FANDOM (despite the fact that they've been a pain in my ass recently) AND THE CRIMINAL CASE FANDOM BECAUSE THOSE TWO FANDOMS CONTAIN MY BIGGEST FANS

ALSO SHOUT-OUT + THANK-YOUS TO THE MISCELLANEOUS FANDOMS SUCH AS PAPA LOUIE, EL CHAVO, CLASS OF '09, SPOOKY MONTH, TF2, EVERY FUCKING SLASHER FANDOM, THE VISUAL NOVEL MFS, LOMANDO, BBIEAL, WILD KRATTS, FAITH, AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO HELPED MY BLOG BECOME THE MADNESS IT IS TODAY

THANK YOU TO MY FOLLOWERS WHO STUCK AROUND

I LOVE YALL SO MUCH AND YOU SHALL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN