#had to sneak some will and el sibling bonding in

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 118

Part 1 Part 117

Winter break passes better than summer had for Will. Mom’s loosened his leash enough that he can go to the arcade unsupervised, or hang out at Dustin’s house, or sequester himself in Mike’s stuffy basement and run a campaign like the good old days.

El closed the gate, and everyone’s convinced the Upside-Down is gone. Only Steve, Eddie, and Will can feel their connection stretch the miles between their abodes and know the truth: it’s not over.

Things will never be the same again.

Will doesn’t mention it. This little slice of normalcy is far too precious to jeopardize with the truth.

The holiday’s in the Byers house have always been low-key, but it’s been worse since last year. They don’t even put up lights anymore. No one’s told him why, and he hasn’t asked.

Still, when he asks his Mom, she gladly agrees to host their extended family. They’d done it at the Munson’s last year, hemmed into a space far too small for that many bodies.

It’s Eddie who suggests a secret santa exchange. Everyone huddles in Will’s living room, pulling names from one of Wayne’s baseball caps, groaning when Carol draws the last slip and it’s her own name. They crumple the pieces and try again.

Will stares down at El’s name and sneaks furtive looks up at her. She wasn’t around last Chrismtas, still holed up in Chief Hopper’s cabin pretending not to exist. But, her leash has been loosened as well, so here she is, beaming down at her own drawn name and bouncing on her toes with excitement.

Has she ever celebrated a holiday before? Has she ever even gotten a present?

It’s a lot of pressure. He feels it pushing down on him, but then Steve throws his arm around Will’s shoulders and initiates their usual tug, tug, tug ritual, and it all eases off. Like, Steve, even unknowingly, will always take the weight off Will’s shoulders and carry it himself.

He stares down at the piece of paper and starts to plan.

It takes the entire allotted two weeks to finish. He stares down at the finished project. Will she like it? Is he skipping over some boundary he doesn’t even know is there?

It doesn’t matter: he’s out of time, so he rolls the paper up and pushes it carefully into one of Jonathan’s old poster tubes, and rushes into the living room to wrap it.

Everyone gathers, sitting on couches and chairs and the carpet. Dustin crouches in the corner where they’d all piled their presents, squinting at small handwriting and passing around a variety of parcels.

They go in a circle, gift after gift. Will opens his own, beaming down at a trio of hand-painted figures from Lucas.

When Jonathan opens his, he stares down at it, mouth opening and closing, no sounds coming out. Will leans over to peer around the half-unwrapped gift to see what’s robbed him of speech.

It’s a cassette player, still in the original box, and it must be nice based on the way Jonathan’s staring at it like it’s the holy grail.

“I put a tape in it for you to listen to,” Steve says. His cheeks are pink, and he’s twiddling the ring on his pinkie. “You said I owed you one.”

Jonathan reaches out to pry the box open, staring in like he’ll find the answers to the meaning of life rather than a cassette player. “I was kidding,” Jonathan replies, but he’s smiling down at it now as he pulls it out of the box and pops the deck to look at what’s inside.

“You don’t even want to know what Stevie here had to do to get Johnny boy's name from the draw,” Eddie says, smiling from where he’s sitting on the rug. Steve elbows him in the ribs, but he just keeps talking. “And then he had to do it all over again when Perky Perkins screwed all his hard work and drew her own name.”

Carol gasps, rounding on Steve and kicking out at him ruthlessly close to his crotch. “You told him?” she shrieks.

Will has no idea what they’re on about but he laughs along with everyone else, watching all three of them descend into an all-out wrestling match like the children they’re not.

It doesn’t stop until they get dangerously close to knocking over the TV, and Mom claps to get their attention. They all settle back in to finish opening presents.

Because Will’s life has always been an unlucky one, El goes last. His anxiety ratchets up with every minute that passes, reaching an all-time-high as she finally starts peeling the paper away.

Unlike the rest of them, she picks the tape off the foil, peeling it away, careful not to rip the paper at all. She folds it all nicely, and hands it to Chief Hopper for safe-keeping.

She then stares down at the cardboard tube, brow furrowed until Mike tells her she has to open the other end. El flips the tube on its head, pulls off the top, and pulls out the rolled up paper inside.

With that same characteristic care, she unrolls it, only to gasp at what she finds. Will watches her face, digging his fingernails into his thighs.

“What is it?” Chief Hopper asks, leaning over her shoulder to ger a peek. He looks down at it with an expressionless face before smiling and patting her shoulder.

El nods, not looking away from the page in front of her.

Will has limited supplies, but he’d used all the best colored pencils he owns, and had Jonathan buy him a big piece of paper from Melvald’s.

On one edge of the page stands El. She looks fierce the way she has every time he’s seen her use her powers, hand raised and a huge beam of white light cutting across the darkness.

Within that beam, he’s painted all the people in this room. First, Chief Hopper in his police uniform, standing beside Mom, gun raised and pointed toward the darkness. Then, Mike, Lucas, and Dusin, dressed as their D&D characters holding a variety of weapons. Will, Steve, and Eddie stand farther along the page, back to back to back as they cover each other’s weak bits. Then Jonathan and Nancy, Nancy with a gun, and Jonathan slightly behind her, all ready to face whatever comes out of the darkness. And at the farthest corner, Barb stands with a baseball bat covered in nails, Carol standing slightly behind her, pointing into the darkness like she’s clueing Barb in on a monster’s location.

The whole thing ended up a little messy. Nancy’s hands look wonky, and there’s something wrong with Steve’s nose, but El’s beaming down at it like it’s the Mona Lisa.

“Be careful with it until we can get a frame for it,” Chief Hopper says, hand still clasping onto her shoulder.

She looks up at him, smiling even wider as she asks, “I can put it in my room?”

“Of course, kid.”

El stares down at the page for a few seconds more before rolling it back up with slow movements, making it small enough that it slides perfectly into its roll. She puts it on Chief Hopper’s lap, staring down at it for a second like she can’t bear to look away.

She then barrels across the room, colliding with Will so hard that they both end up on the carpet. “Thank you, Will,” El says, clutching onto him hard.

He pats her back awkwardly, looking around the room for help and finding none. “You’re welcome.”

“It is the best present I have ever gotten.”

That makes Will a little sad, but all he says is, “Merry Christmas.” He waits uncomfortably for her to get off him so he can sit back up.

It’s not long until everyone starts trickling out, Carol and Barbara herding Max and Lucas along with them to drop off, and Nancy snagging Mike and Dustin after sharing a kiss with Jonathan that Eddie makes barfing noises at.

Chief Hopper shepherds El into his truck, and Wayne follows them out, off to work the night shift.

Only Eddie and Steve stay. They all pile into Will’s room. His bed’s not big enough for the three of them, so they curl around each other on the floor, blankets haphazardly piled atop them.

It doesn’t take Will long to fall asleep, comfortable with Steve and Eddie at his back, the comforting sounds of his Mom cleaning up in the other room.

Part 119

[cinnamoncitric]

It all starts with Robin.

In truth, if one might get technical, it starts with Billy Hargrove. Then, in due time, it restarts with Russian spies and a fortress underneath a mall. But neither of the parties was there for the result, so: in all the ways that matter, which is to say, in all the ways that help, it starts with Robin.

In all things Steve Harrington, there are two authorities other than the man himself, and, though he has known him longer, she doesn't think Dustin has noticed. Steve himself doesn't like to talk about it, has only ever opened up to her on the subject under scrutiny and prodding. But avoidance doesn't change the fact: Steve's hearing has suffered.

He tells her this exactly once, both sitting side by side on the bed in his room. He says it looking down, ashamed, one hand tightly pulling at his hair, the other holding Robin's in a tight knuckled grip. His voice is small. He does his best to suffocate the anguish and the fear that flood it when he says, What if it gets worse?

There's no reason to believe it will, for now. At least, that's what the doctor tells them once she bullies Steve into a visit. As long as there are no other injuries, no other blows to the head, he isn't in danger.

But the thing is, there might be. That's just the life they lead – never knowing if the danger is truly over. So Robin sits her ass down and picks up a book on sign language because she knows he'd never do it on his own.

Come on, she tells him, months of secret classes in Indy later. I'll teach you. We can just use it to talk in secret in front of everyone whenever we want to.

Which is, of course, not how it goes down. They go maybe a month into sneaking awkward signs behind everyone's back until Dustin gets wind of it. And when child prodigy Dustin Henderson decides he wants in, there's not much they can do to stop him. And he gets all the other genius gremlins to do it, too. Imagine how useful it would be to communicate without alerting demogorgons, he tells them, when Steve explains he doesn't want to talk about the real reason for it. They all figure it out anyway.

Mike learns it like he'd much rather not. His only argument for doing it is that it might be good for his college application and that Nancy took an interest in it and is now forcing him to learn with her as "sibling bonding."

Will is shy, Lucas is earnest, El is curious. By some point, all of them pick it up. All the older kids, all of the adults – Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Claudia Henderson – and Steve feels like he could cry. They all took the time and effort to learn a whole different language, just for him.

He does cry, and it's all because of one Max Mayfield.

Hey, loser, she calls out one day when the two of them are waiting for the others, searching for him with her cane so she can stand in his direction. Are you looking at me?

Steve twists so that's she's perfectly in his line of view and then confirms.

Good, Max says in sign with a shit-eating grin, pose triumphant, Guess what I fucking learned how to do.

Just like that, there are tears streaming down his face. He tries his best to control his breathing while Max goes on.

Lucas showed me, she continues in sign. It was a pain in the ass because he had to keep moving my hands himself every time I got it wrong, but I wasn't about to let you guys have one over me.

When he doesn't answer, when he can't answer due to the huge lump stuck on his throat and the tears streaming silently down his face, she pauses. Then starts again, this time out loud, Hey, you know you have to speak to the blind girl, though, right? I can't see your hands.

Steve laughs wetly. Shut up. Language, Mayfield.

She laughs at the unintentional pun. Yeah, language. Oh, man. Are you crying?

Shut up, Steve says again. I'm gonna hug you now, okay?

She huffs. Sure, if it's to get it out of your system.

[jjkyaoi]

actually im making a headcanons posts abt my ideas for a potential nancy and eddie best friends relationship because yes i’m fucking annoying 😊😊😊 but they’re both individually my favorites out of the older kids so i think they should kick their feet together

• they bond over steve. to no one’s surprise, because nancy’s cool and amazing and scarily observant so she’s aware that eddie has a thing for him, even when they’re in the upside down. she knows the pathetic little goo goo eyes from a mile away, and because it’s steve harrington and she was with him she feels comfortable sliding up to him while they’re walking along the endless maze of dark bullshit that is the upside down and being like, “i know you’re into my ex boyfriend. 😊” and eddie bites his tongue so hard he starts coughing

• mind you, nancy’s completely aware that she’s into robin, because she’s cool like that, so she just kind of raises her eyebrow to him and pointedly makes a gesture to robin, who’s trying to make steve skip between the vines with her, and is like. “it’s fine. irdgaf 🤷‍♀️ “ and eddie feels the air leave his lungs in such a strong burst that he almost falls over with it

• they become close immediately after it. eddie latches onto the anomaly that’s nancy wheeler because he thinks it’s fucking insane that she dresses like a grandma and is a part of the school paper yet keeps guns in her bedroom and is apparently, for some fucking reason, a legitimate monster hunter. nancy’s never really had somebody be so interested in her completely without, dragging somebody else into it, so she’s kind of like ok be serious for a second ‘cause she thinks he’s fucking with her. but he’s not, and then she latches onto him with the same ferocity

• when eddie makes it out post volume two, nancy keeps him in their basement like they did with el. dustin whines and complains about it but she grips him by the shoulders and gives him the famous nancy wheeler 😊 threat so he (begrudgingly) let’s eddie go. nancy makes a whole fucking pillow fort for him down there, and constantly sneaks down some parts of her dinner, and comes downstairs sometimes just to sit and talk with him and eddie has also, never had somebody who’s wholeheartedly interested in his company so he just kind of sits there. and is goofy about it

eddie: nancy, i don’t need all of this pillows—little bit fucking concerned about how many damn pillows you have in the first place??? and jealous. extremely envious and bitter

nancy: shut up.

eddie: ok!

nancy: you’re right, though, i don’t need all these, because i’m sleeping in my room while you’re down here on the cold floor without anyones company, so you’re going to shut up and take these and you aren’t going to make a quip and/or comment about it for the rest of the night.

eddie: you are the coolest person i’ve ever met

• it weirds mike out, how much they get along, because his stuck up sister shouldn’t be painting eddie-stick-it-to-the-man’s nails whenever he walks downstairs, and he shouldn’t be catching nancy wearing one of his bands shirts and she shouldn’t say, “oh, hm? eddie let me borrow it” when he asks because that’s—not something frilly skirts nancy wheeler does. but she does now, apparently, and it weirds the fuck out of him.

• eddie loves to imprint on the people he cares for, physically, so he’s like consistently hanging off of her. he tugs on her hair whenever he wants her attention he taps her on the shoulder along with the beat when a song he likes get a drum solo, ruffles her hair frequently and it makes her brain white out with older-sibling-has never been shown-affection syndrome, and it’s just really.

robin: okay, nance, i have to—i’m sorry, i don’t mean to harsh your vibe or whatever but what is eddie doing. genuinely. what is he doing.

eddie, sprawled across nancy’s legs and repeatedly poking her in the face and pinching her cheek for no reason:

nancy: he does this.

• nancy’s like, 80 percent of his impulse control but if he were to start a bar fight he would chicken out of it when it got physical and nancy would finish it for him.

• they’re the 😊 and 😒 dynamic but like, platonically

• everyone in their group is so convinced they’re dating becaus e of their general. everything, and dustin tries to breach this topic while he’s over at the wheeler’s once and eddie snorts milk through his nose

dustin: i mean, i’m just saying, it’s cool that you’re together and i’m happy for you, but it’s—the whole thing with jonathan and steve dude it’s fucked and i-

eddie, trying to tell him he’s queer without telling him he’s queer: dustin, the boyest guy ever, there is no chance i would ever get with nancy wheeler . ever

dustin; …okay, i’m a little bit fucking offended on nancy’s behalf, now-

eddie; dustin henderson

• nancy doesn’t like to get intoxicated because she likes having a clear mind and considering. what happened the one time she didn’t, it isn’t something she feels comfortable doing most of the time However eddie pesters her to get high with him for approximately 3 whole days straight like a fucking insane person until she’s like OKAY. jesus. calm down. weirdo

mike, coming downstairs to see them blasted out of their minds: eddie 😕 can you stop corrupting my sister please i’m tired of people saying she’s cool now

nancy, before losing her fucking mind in laughter; i’ve always been fucking coolBitch

• nancy tries her damn hardest to infect some of her style into eddie’s life because she frequently takes his shirts, but he grabs her by the face looks at her calmly and says nancy wheeler i would fucking die for you but i also will shoot you with your own guns if you ever make me put on those 67 year old woman skirts

• eddie’s a very clumsy person. he doesn’t mean to, most of the time, but he’s always kind of bringing disaster wherever he goes and nancy’s always kind of picking up for him. like they’re walking along the street and eddie’s not looking where he’s going and there’s a crack in the floor and nancy grabs him by the hand and yanks him away. she has a sixth sense for his bullshit now it’s like her spidey tingle he says

nancy; you’re about to spill that drink everywhere

eddie: could you stop examining my behavior

nancy: could you stop breaking thinsg in My house that i let you in

• eddie’s totally the type of friend that just decides to randomly start moving when an adrenaline rush hits him for no reason. like they’ll be listening to music in nancy’s basement and he’ll suddenly be grabbing her and begging her to dance with him even though the Most he can do is that dumb little sway and she is so. incredibly fond that she just shakes her head and says OKAY.

eddie; do you think steve’s gay? like… did you ever see anything …..a little bit… you know…

nancy, in the middle of painting his nails; if you’re asking me if i think he’s into you then i can’t say, because he hasn’t looked at me in the eyes since the “i want to have kids with you” debacle, however i can say that yes he does like men. in general.

eddie: holy shit. are you like 100% sure?

nancy: i mean, at least i think so. again. he hasn’t looked at me, eds, but you spend enough time with a person like steve and you notice things and trust me i have

eddie: you are my best friend & the light of my life

nancy: i know. mess up this nail job again by moving and i’ll hurt you.

• nancy’s a little bit of a worrywart. not as much as steve is, it’s just in the way where she’s lost a lot of people when she’s let them become her friends so she’s always kind of hovering. always kind of watches what she says so she doesn’t hurt someone like she did barb the last time she saw her, and it takes her awhile to sort of break out of that mindset but. she does. eventually

eddie: would you ever move in with me?

nancy: no. absolutely not.

eddie: oh, c’mon wheeler, i thought i’d finally broken your icy little shell of a heart-

nancy: not giving that a response. i’m not living with you because you had unnamed stains on your bed for months, and you keep me up with questions like “are worms real” at 3AM when i choose to stay down in this basement with you, so no i’m not.

eddie: fair enough

• sunshine and sunshine protector perhaps?

• they totally would be the type to talk shit. like nancy stomps down to her basement after somebody pisses her off at school and eddie sits up because he knows it’s going to be a good one, and eddie tells her all the drama because when you’re the renowned freak people don’t really care about letting you hear things, and they’re 100% catty little bitches.

nancy: ok, i didn’t want to be that person—

eddie, immediately invested; oh is it bitching hours? are we- are we bitching?

nancy; you shut up. i’m not—okay. listen. tammy thompson’s a wonderful person, and i think she’s got a bright future and she’s a sweetheart, but she. her singing

eddie: she sounds so bad . she is so tone deaf

nancy: SHE SOUNDS SO BAD oh god i’m sorry

• nancy is the only one who can reign him in when he’s on his bullshit. he’s being particularly loud and everyone’s like GODDDD eddie shut up ☹️ and nancy just looks at him. and he wilts like an unwatered flower and lowers his volume and she’s like thank you 😊😊

[willel]

AU where 5 year old Will finds a little girl lost in the woods. Very confused and worried, he hides her in Castle Byers and brings her food for a few days.

One day though, 9 year old Jonathan catches Will sneaking food out of the house so he follows him and discovers he's been hiding said girl out in the woods cause Will is bad at covering up lies.

He also realizes she has a cold so he brings her home when Joyce isn't there and tells Will it's better to hide her in the house instead -it's not-

Joyce discovers her almost immediately. She's dressed in Will's clothes and everything.

Although Joyce's instincts is the call the police, her gut feeling tells her not to and she ends up participating in hiding what appears to be an abused little girl. Joyce asks a few questions, but when she realizes she won't get many answers, just decides to accommodate her and sets up a space for her to sleep. She also asks her name, but doesn't get that either.

She does go to the police station in person to tell Hopper what the deal is and if he's had any missing child reports, but there aren't any. He gets suspicious and wants to come have a look for himself, but Joyce turns him down. They aren't quite as friendly as they used to be back in the day and Joyce has no reason to put her trust in him for now.

Pretty quickly, Jonathan notices that Will and the girl without a name seem to have bonded very quickly. Too quickly really. His baby brother almost always knows exactly what she wants without her having to say a word. Although she wasn't speaking much when they first brought her home, she's picking up words pretty quickly and even starts picking up some of Will's habits (like fiddling with her hands when she gets anxious)

One day Jonathan walks into Will's room to bring them PB&Js and he sees all of Will's toys just floating around the room with her and Will on the floor. As soon as they realize he's there, they all fall to the ground.

Panicked, Will quickly begs Jonathan not to tell mom or anyone else her secret because it's a big deal and it'll get her in trouble with the "bad men". 9 year old Jonathan is having trouble comprehending all this, but being the responsible big brother he is, he just responds "Ok..." hands them their sandwiches, and for good measure, cleans the blood off her nose before leaving the room to stare off in space and comprehend the current situation.

As promised, Jonathan keeps her secret, even from Joyce.

I haven't thought this headcanon through very far. I'm sure they notice the tattoo eventually. Joyce would be very upset by such a thing, like Benny was.

I'm thinking she (El obviously) would either pick a name from one of Will's books or from tv.

I'm thinking Hopper starts getting reports of suspicious people asking weird questions about a child around town and even reports of people being tailed and harassed for information. Knowing the kid they're looking for is probably the kid Joyce has, Hopper invites himself over to have a look AND to tell Joyce what's going on.

Hopper does his best to keep Joyce's family under the radar as he tries to figure out who the mysterious people are and what they want with the girl.

At some point, I'm imagining Will tells Jonathan a few times that she insists Will is like her. But Jonathan (and Will) don't really know what that means.

Joyce tells them that she is only allowed to play in the woods in Castle Byers or in the backyard and to keep out of sight. Of course, Jonathan makes sure they stick to these rules.

Unfortunately for the new sibling trio, even the woods aren't safe from snooping eyes. As they're in the woods playing, she does one of her "magic tricks" where she can guess what Will draws in his notebook. Will and Jonathan are impressed as always, but she reminds Will again that he can do it too.

Will chuckles still thinking she's not serious or joking, but she insists and takes Will's notebook for herself. She draws something on it and tells Will to guess what it is. He insists he has no idea. She makes him close his eyes and "concentrate really hard".

Jonathan is amused, but Will actually tries like she insists. To Jonathan's surprise, Will actually guesses correctly, much to her happiness. Jonathan says to do it again and what do you know, Will manages to do it again. Takes much longer than her of course, but he still does it.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, unfortunately for them, the nosey government baddies happened to be looking out in that area that day and saw the entire exchange. Maybe even taking pictures from a distance.

Maybe Jonathan notices what he thought was a flash or something, but he doesn't see anyone. He thinks maybe a storm is coming, so he rounds them both up and heads back home. They get trailed and marked. They found their target plus another person of interest because at this point, the Hawkins experiments are still in full force.

Anddddddddddddddddd I'll have to leave this random AU idea that got totally out of control for another day because it's time for bed!

[michibikionmain]

So... are you still up for sharing your head cannons for the Big Sister Puffy AU or nah?

YES I AM ALWAYS UP FOR SHARING HEADCANONS ABOUT THE BIG SISTER PUFFY AU

-Their family hierarchy works smth like this Puffy and Bad are the 'eldest siblings' of their found family group, with punz being the next 'older brother'. The Dream Team I'd imagine are all equally the youngest of the family dynamic bc I said so

-As for actual relationships between them, the family starts off with Puffy, roughly 8 years old at the time, finding God But he's a Toddler in the middle of the woods! She's a genuinely caring person and is concerned to see thia fuckin kid just wandering around with no parents or anything so she takes him to the nearest village, assuming he'd like ran away

thats where she meets Bad, Skeppy and Sam! Skeppy and Sam are close to the family dynamic group, but not technically apart of it? Skeppy gets roped in when Bad makes him but other than that he prefers to mind his own business, and Sam is just constantly busy with massive projects so they rarely see him and he's rarely home enough to form the same family bond with them. They all still love and care about them both though!! It's like those distant cousins you only see a couple times a year but you still think of them fondly?

-Bad is a bit younger than Puffy, but he seems really intent on helping her take care of this kid! He shows her to some warehouse thing where he's been staying with a kid a little younger than Dream, Sapnap. For a little while it's just these four, until the boys are a little older and can go out and do Stuff

-Next to enter is Punz and George! It's a coincidence that they arrive at around the same time bc they weren't travelling together, but they have met eachother before briefly n what not. Dream and Sapnap gain a third member to their choatic group forming the Dream Team and also a Cool older brother who isn't gonna shout at them for all the crazy things they do.

Now that their meeting/Dynamic has been explained a little more lets get into the actual headcanons ooga booga--

-Puffy came up with the nickname "Ducky/Duckling/Dreamling" not only based on the fact that he followed her arouns through the woods, but because she thought his hoodie was yellow when she first met him, making him look kinda like a rubber duck! ppl seem to forget that she actually has the same type of colorblindness as george lol

-George's goggles are technically a group effort gift they made for him as a birthday present at some point! Sapnap physically put the glasses together with help from Punz, Bad worked in the magical elements to help him see the colors, Dream ran around to get the supplies, and Puffy was the resident test subject! They tried to make her a pair too, but she insisted that she was fine and used to her colors by then and didn't need them. George has offered to let her borrow them sometimes but she refuses completely. She likes the way her world looks just the way it is.

-While not in the family dynamic with them, Puffy is close childhood friends with Niki as well! Niki has her own family group to take care of though so :))) but they sneak out to talk to eachother. The only reason it's still a secret is because Puffy bribed Bad not to tell anyone by saying she'd tell everyone about he would sneak out to meet Skeppy and they'd both have to suffer together. They do not speak of this.

-Despite his energetic and chatty nature, Dream rarely talks around/directly to Puffy when it's just the two of them. He doesn't feel the need to, and he lets Puffy do the talking.

-Expanding on the last one, when Dream is really upset, particularly with any of his friends, his first instinct is to go to Puffy and have her tell him all sorts of different stories. He finds listening to her soothing and safe.

-When he let go of George and Sapnap as they joined El Rapids, he spent the rest of the next day following her around and silently helping her with various tasks. She didn't pry about what upset him so badly, but it was clear he needed his sister there.

-(a bit prediction-y on my part and based on something that happened on punz's stream but...)It hurt the most knowing he couldn't go to Puffy after he made everyone on the server hate him, but it was for her own good. He trusted Puffy with everything, but she'd been hurt too many times and looked after the young god for so long. It was time he paid her back in some sense of peace and connection, letting her reunite with the rest of their family even if it meant destroying him or hating him for the time being. Puffy's house was silent that day, as she waited for her ducky to come back so she could comfort him. But he never came. he'd swam away and puffy had a feeling she wouldn't see him again for a long while...

[steveharrington]

what do you think are the problems with how the kids are written in s3?

okay to preface this some of these problems arent really Problems they’re like. nitpicks. and a lot of them are just a matter of opinion based on my perception of the kids so im not trying to like trash this season skdfjsdlkfj 

max: i had the most beef with max’s storyline bc i think its the most like. egregious flaw of the season. im Not talking about her being teamed up with el, i thought that was actually great and one of the best parts of the season. im talking specifically about her dynamic with billy. after watching him try to beat up lucas and then actually beat up steve only like 8 months before the season you’d think, realistically, she’d be cautious around billy. in season two she was obviously scared of him, like in the car when he grabbed her arm and she was visibly terrified, so it makes absolutely no sense that in season three she’d be willing to sneak into his room and make all these justifications as to why he’s just a normal teenage boy. ive seen people be like “she was just in denial, she didn’t think he’d really kill anyone!” and like........yeah maybe? but she did watch him almost kill steve. their relationship is just so much more casual and like....friendly? compared to season two which like severely sucks because it sorta just erases any trauma max would have relating to her brother being violent and aggressive and prone to just attacking her friends. it was all part of this weird backpedal the duffers did to convince us that billy actually isnt That Bad and therefore deserves a redemption arc. as someone who really related to max in season two because of that sibling dynamic, it sucks. 

mike: i think they took the whole “mike is a brooding asshole” thing way too far this season, and they have no real justification for it. in season one, mike is a fucking sweetheart. he’s selfless to the point of literally jumping off a cliff for dustin. he has a line where he’s specifically like “you’re All my best friends and i dont prioritize any one of you over anyone else.” in season two, he’s obviously moody and irritable, but that’s because he’s Insanely Traumatized. he formed a really close bond with el and then watched her fucking disappear into who knows where, he doesn’t know if she’s alive or dead, he’s terrified for will, it makes sense in season two why he would be so perpetually angry at the world and everyone around him. in season three, though, mike is in a pretty good spot. will is fine, el is fine And he gets to see her, his literal biggest problem at the start of the season is that he’s scared of hopper and his middle school relationship is in turmoil. it makes No Sense that he’d completely brush off will and then basically be like “fuck you gayboy” when will brings this up. like since when!!! does mike have such little regard for his friends!! it serves no purpose other than drama and it destroys basically his core character trait

will: obviously he was just like completely sidelined this season. i think it’s good that he has a storyline about feeling alienated from his friends as they grow up and he tries to cling to his childhood and the things that feel normal to him. my only complaint is that they gave him like, one episode to explore that storyline. also i really don’t think will would have so much outright contempt for el. like i get what they’re going for, i get that it’s part of his conflicting feelings about his own sexuality and his dynamic with mike and stuff, but el isn’t just a random girl to will. there should have been a little more nuance there imo

el: honestly don’t have that many problems with el’s storyline this season. i Loved the idea of her exploring an identity that isn’t just what other people think of her or expect of her, loved her hanging out with max, i even liked her investigating the billy thing UNTIL they just used her as a prop to make us feel sad for billy. but overall i think she had a really good story in season 3

lucas: again. severely underutilized. lucas is kinda just becoming comic relief which really bugs me because he was amazing in season one when he actually got to have a story arch that wasn’t just like. having a crush on a girl. i do appreciate that lucas had like 50 moments of heroism. idk if that was like, an accident, because they never really explicitly discuss it, but there were multiple moments in season 3 where lucas basically saved everyone’s ass. would’ve liked to see more of him and erica because she’s, yknow, his little sister and they barely interact the whole season. 

dustin: ok ok ok OK OK dustin is complicated this season because they kinda did a complete 180 with him halfway through the season. i was Really vibing with dustin for the first like, five episodes. dustin has always been written as kind of a lonely child, even within his group of friends, and so i think it’s natural that he have a season away from them. the sweetest thing about steve and dustin’s relationship is that dustin has always felt to some degree like an outsider in his own group (in season one he’s already come to terms with the fact that mike likes will and lucas more than him) and so it’s doubly sweet that he befriends this “cool” “badass” older kid who’s actually super lame and he can be lame with. and for the first half of season three, they really cashed in on that bond. dustin and steve wrote to each other while he was at camp, they have a secret handshake, he Literally says the words “you die, i die” like it’s an intense bond that’s only natural from someone like dustin who is so intensely loyal to his friends and finally has someone who he can consider to be His Own. but then the moment steve and robin get taken by the russians it’s suddenly like a switch is flipped and dustin is just. annoyed and exasperated???? he’s not really in a hurry to get help, he’s not that concerned when steve is like laying on the floor with his face absolutely smashed to hell, he’s MAD at steve when he tells him that he accidentally gave up his name UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS like it’s insane. the scoops troop storyline as a whole has this really weird, kinda disturbing, comedic tone and i think this just falls under that. they ultimately decided that dustin being an exasperated keeper of two stoned teenagers would be way funnier than dustin being genuinely concerned that his favorite person just got his shit absolutely wrecked. also, the suzy thing was weird. 

[clericbyers]

The funny thing about RR!St3 (and yes I'm still talking about this) is that its technically your au so if u don't like stuff about season 3-and maybe that's like everything lmao- than you can change it for this au!!! so what're some things you could change to flex on the duffers with ur beautiful Galaxy brain?

oh ur so right….oh man OH MAN the power in my hands right now…this is super long but i got so into it okay thank u…

First off, my real vision for RR!ST3 would not be too close to how ST3 went down; the RR!ST3 I originally hashed out was me trying to stick close to ST3 but as I said then, it was hard bc many of the issues in ST3 wouldn’t happen if Mike wasn’t obsessed with El and if we actually address the fact that these kids are dealing with serious trauma from the events of ST2. In RR!ST2, Mike would be the one dealing with being possessed, Will would have been at his side the entire time, Nancy and Mike would be a lot tighter thanks to RR!ST1 (like she’d be very overprotective because she almost lost her brother and he’s annoying yeah but she can’t imagine not having him in her life anymore). So when RR!ST2 ends with the Snowball, I can see Mike still dancing with El when she returns because he needs to thank her, she saved his life after all, but I really. just cannot see his level of attachment being enough to try to date her. Because in ST1 and at the beginning of ST2, Mike is wracked with guilt about losing her, about bonding with her and ultimately her being a sacrifice to save them. He doesn’t have that in RR!ST1 and RR!ST2, at least not to the same degree as ST1 and ST2. He didn’t have the time to bond to El and while I think he might have fleeting feelings for his savior (like I said, nightingale effect) and have some guilt about how she seemingly gave up her life to save everyone, especially him, I also think RR!ST2 Mike would be very attached to Will though given how Will trusted him and stuck by him despite all the horrors. Mike takes loyalty very seriously and Will being with Nancy and Karen (as she would be the “crazy” mom who lost her son in RR!ST1, but she’d enlist Joyce’s help since Ted wouldn’t really care so it would be power duo Joyren trying to figure out where Mike is) in the RR!ST2 shed scene would mean a lot to him.

Now, we have those 8 months between ST2 and ST3 where basically Mike and El entered a relationship in ‘85. In that time frame in the RR au, I would focus more on how the Party is getting over the trauma they faced during RR!ST2. Firstly, Mike is definitely not okay after being possessed by a demonic godly shadow force. He’s in therapy again maybe, back on medications, IDK what exactly but he is broken inside but trying his best to act like everything is normal and he wasn’t just possessed. I think he would try to cling onto his childhood as Will did in ST3, because Mike didn’t get to grow up normal since he got kidnapped and possessed by monsters. Will and El would bond a lot in those 8 months though, definitely becoming closer siblings and El having a crush on Mike can still a thing. Mike might not feel that same way for her but he’d be down for dating if just to feel normal again. Part of that may be to continue dampening how he feels for Will because he just wants to be a regular kid again and what he feels for his best friend is not at all natural in his mind. I like the idea of Mike and El getting together in ST3 at the mall scene so I’d stick with that. But I also feel like Mike would definitely also be spending half the time subconsciously trying to stay away from El because she’s also a reminder of the horrors he faced in the UD and with the Mind Flayer.

There would be a lot of Will, El, Mike moments too! Will is her brother of sorts in the RR au and Hopper is only ever really comfortable with Mike coming to visit when Will is over, too, even before Mike agrees to date El.

So okay, Episode 1 of RR!ST3 deals with the fact that all the kids are still dealing with some sort of trauma. Mike wakes up from a nightmare, uses his walkie talkie to contact Will, and Will comes over and sits in his room with him and they chat for a bit until Mike can fall back asleep. Will sits at the foot of Mike’s bed watching him sleep before he sneaks back out the house. Nancy catches him and thanks him for stopping by and then he catches Lucas outside too while making his way back home. Lucas casually mentions that he couldn’t sleep and they chat about how weird things have been when no one in Hawkins knows what happened last fall. In the early afternoon the next day, Will bikes over to Hopper’s cabin to hang out with El, they listen to music and doodle together for hours, just being great friends. El casually mentions that she might have a bit of a crush on Mike (who comes with Dustin, Lucas, and El to visit sometimes because fuck ST3 and isolating El from the Party). This could be a moment for Will to be like, “Oh, me, too.” and they can bond over liking Mike together (that’d be cute af!! and it would help Will feel more comfortable about how he feels toward Mike when he’s able to talk about it without persecution). She asks him if Mike likes him back and Will kinda just stops doodling.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs hoarsely. “He’s never said anything.”

El hums and takes out a purple crayon to color in the grass. “Do you know if he likes me?”

Will says he doesn’t know but that he’ll figure it out for her. Hopper won’t let her come with Will to the movie that night so he promises one night he’ll help sneak her out and then bikes over to the theater. We have the ST3 theater scene but it’s reversed of course, so it’s Mike who feels the Mind Flayer and Will who asks him if he’s okay. Mike isn’t as shy and flustered as Will was in ST3 though, he tries to brush Will off petulantly (as RR!ST3 Mike tries his best to act like the events of RR!ST2 aren’t affecting him as much as it is) but Will takes his hand and says, “It’s okay to not be okay.” and Mike kinda fidgets but squeezes his hand in turn before they both go back to watching the movie.

The next day when Dustin comes back, we have the Party going up to Cerebro but there would not be any El and Mike leaving like in ST3. Instead, Will and El are whispering between themselves but it’s not really much about anything. El is too shy to ask Mike if he wants to sit with her as they listen to Dustin call his girlfriend and Will just wants her to feel comfortable near Mike and keeps pestering for her to just sit next to him. Mike is irritated because he wanted to hang with Will more today and he’s bonding with El. His powers activate from his irritation and he’s blocking the radio signal for Dustin and Suzie’s call. When it starts getting late, the Party splits up, Will and El leaving first because of curfew (a real one not the lie El told in ST3). Lucas and Max leave next and Mike is left solo with Dustin.

“I know that Will and El aren’t together, but god, I feel so childish being the single one out.” Mike complains as a chill breeze washes over the two of them.

Dustin hums distractedly, still trying to work out why Cerebro isn’t picking up Suzie’s channel. It takes a moment for Mike’s words to sink in and then he perks. “You know, El likes you.”

“She what?” Mike blurts, giving Dustin a look. “No, she doesn’t. She can’t.”

“Uh, but she can and she does.” Dustin turns a random knob to a different frequency. “It’s pretty obvious; she was sending you heart eyes this entire time if your oblivious ass would have realized.”

Mike isn’t sure how to feel about it. He’s always seen El as Will’s sister, especially with Hopper attempting (and kinda failing) at dating Joyce. Even when they danced at Snowball, it was a thing of gratitude, of joy, of acknowledging that she hadn’t died and he was happy about that. But, El actually liking him? “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Do you like her?”

Mike scrunches his nose. He feels…something toward her but he’s not really sure what it is. It’s not the same way he feels toward Nancy but it’s not what he felt toward Max either. And it’s definitely not what he feels toward Will, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. He wants to feel normal. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, if it’s not a solid no, then I’d say go for it.” Dustin adjusts his hat and leans back with a sigh. “She’s cute and I think this is the first time a cute girl has ever liked your nerdy ass.”

“Shut up,” laughs Mike and he nudges his friend who grins in turn. He looks up at the sky and sighs. “I should probably get back home before my mom goes nuts. Talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’m leaving, too,” he sighs as he stands up. “I don’t know why this isn’t working. Maybe the clouds are too overcast.”

Mike shrugs and flicks at the radio’s antenna. It buzzes erratically, static blasting through Dustin’s headphones and then suddenly there’s a voice coming through the noise. It’s a blend of things, like the receiver is caught between two frequencies. One is Suzie, the other is some spoken code (in English because the random inclusion of the Russians works for Red Scare era / anti-Russia 80′s America but like…it had no set up so I wouldn’t use it for RR!ST3) that neither Mike nor Dustin can understand. Dustin tries to fix the frequency channels to focus on Suzie, but he looses her and the input only focuses on the frequency the code is on. Mike touches the antenna again, holding on this time around, and he can literally feel the electric currents coursing through him, something sharper than a tickle but not as harsh as actual electrocution. The dials on the receiver interface start wavering about randomly and crazily until Mike lets go and then there’s only static again.

“What the,” Dustin mutters, bending down to check how Cerebro is working. “What did you do?”

Mike stares down at his hands, a panic attack on the edge of his senses because, seriously, what the hell was that? First having flashbacks in the theater and feeling that shocking tingling sensation on their way up the hill, now this? “I…I don’t know.”

Dustin taps at a dial and frowns. “Touch it again. Like hold onto it as you did earlier.” Mike does as told and the dials go nuts again. “Mike…do you…have you had any issues near electrical appliances recently?”

Mike scowls and tries to remember if anything odd has happened recently. “No? Not really. Sometimes the radio in my mom’s car doesn’t work and the TV gets a little staticy but that’s normal. Oh, and we had flickering lights out at the cabin when Will, Lucas, and I visited but it’s a cabin in the woods so what do you expect.”

Dustin bites at his bottom lip. “And this only happens when you’re around?”

“I, uh,” Mike grabs at his hair, “No, no, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It can’t…I’m not, what…I thought that was the Upside Down only.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could touch the lights and the TV when I was in the Upside Down version of the basement. And when I touched them, everything glowed. Kind of like casting Daylight in D&D.” Mike struggles to find his breath; he never really talks about what it was like in the Upside Down. “And…and I knew, I knew where the demogorgon was before I should have. Like innate. And the dead people…”

“Detect Evil?” Dustin suggests, cocking his head to the side. “Mike, do you think any of that stuck with you here?”

[ So basically, the equivalent of “magic” in D&D is electricity in the real world / the Upside Down since electricity and tech is kinda like modern magic, and all of Mike’s powers in the Upside Down are, in theory, paladin spells. He couldn’t control which lights flickered on like Will did in ST1 but he can turn them on and he can create a beacon, along with talking to the dead and having an innate circle of protection around him (a magic circle as paladins can have!) ]

Mike goes back home totally freaked out and refusing to believe he has “powers” because his time in the UD felt like such a nightmare anyway. He just wanted to survive, he didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for the Mind Flayer to possess him and use his body to kill people, to almost destroy Hawkins in the process. And that night, Mike decides he absolutely cannot let these possible powers do anything or mean anything because he’s normal, he’s a normal 14-year-old boy who is absolutely not crushing on his very male best friend, no, he’s gonna get a girlfriend, and hang out at the mall like kids do over the summer, and everything is going to be fine.

The next day, Will doesn’t go over to El’s place to hang out, Mike picks up the phone and says a dumb lie about Will being busy to try to get out of it. (“Friends don’t lie,” says El afterwards. “But brothers do.” snorts Max, “All. The. Time.”) He’s frustrated by El wanting to spend time with Will one-on-one when he’s trying to get the og4 Party members together for some normal hangout time playing D&D because, again, Mike here is the one trying to cling onto his childhood, even more now that he might have “powers”. They play D&D with Mike as DM and it all goes well until Karen comes downstairs asking about magnets and Mike internally freaks out. He’s been feeling like someone is watching him for a while now (hint: El when spying on the boys in the Void) and now his mom is talking about something that could very well be his powers working. Dustin knows and can actually see it, so he suggests everyone should get some fresh air and hang out at the mall. The Party goes out shopping, they hang out at Scoops Ahoy and Mike and Dustin share their story about the radio last night but purposefully leave out details about what Mike did with the antenna. Will feels guilty for lying so he’s trying to find some new clothes so El isn’t always wearing Hopper’s hand-me-downs, and they run into Max and El outside.

“Well, well, well,” Max huffs as she crosses her arms. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Will is worried because El leaving the house and being at the mall of all places would definitely make Hopper upset. “Are you okay?” he asks her, careful not to sound too overbearing. “Does Hopper know you’re here?”

El shrugs. “I told him I was seeing Max. And I am.” She turns to Mike. “You said Will couldn’t come over yet you are shopping. Why did you lie?”

Mike, who has spent practically the whole time at the mall on pins and needles, is really not in the mood for being questioned like this. “It just came out. I wanted to hang with the boys, okay? Just us. Like old days.”

El frowns. “Do you not like me?”

“No! No, I really like you!” Mike softens up and gives her a smile. “Honest; friends don’t lie, right? I’m sorry I lied to you. Today’s been…weird.” Dustin huffs at that. “Don’t worry about it though, I genuinely like you.”

And Mike doesn’t mean it that way–he had just said ‘friends don’t lie’ because he really does see her as a friend–but El takes it that way, and she grins widely, blushing as she ducks her head. “I like you, too, Mike.”

Will didn’t even think Mike liked El that way but now that it’s spoken in front of him, he can feel his heart breaking just a bit because any chance he thought he had is gone in his mind. El steps into Mike’s space and he blinks a couple times. “I want to go out with you.”

Dustin gasps, Lucas covers his mouth, Will tries his best not to look dejected, and Max whoops at her side. Mike turns to Will, who is staring at his feet, and then looks back at El. (A parallel to Snowball when Will looked at Mike for approval before going to dance with Zombie Boy girl.) Mike told himself he was gonna get a girlfriend and be normal, right? Ignore whatever happens in his chest when Will smiles at him. Ignore all of that and his stupid powers and be normal. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

So the Party stays at the mall a little longer and Mike and El hang out together and get ice cream at Scoops’ Ahoy, which is amusing to Steve and Robin both. At the end, they go back to the Wheelers and El has to go back to the cabin but Mike is kind of in a daze because wow, he just got a girlfriend for the first time and went on a date with her. Dustin keeps teasing him, Lucas is cackling and making kissing jokes, but Will…Will is oddly silent at first. They get back on the campaign but no one can really concentrate and Will starts getting concerned about El and how she was out and about without Hopper’s knowledge. Mike is even more frustrated now because he thought things were going to start getting normal now, but it just seems to be falling apart. Will won’t even concentrate on the campaign, Dustin is horrible at trying to be subtle about if Mike’s powers are activating, and Lucas is complaining with Will about how Max and El are hanging out.

Mike lashes out and storms outside, where Will goes after him. “Mike, I’m sorry, it’s a really good campaign,” Will starts with a hand to Mike’s shoulder, “but I’m worried about El and I just…I can’t concentrate right now. We can play it tomorrow, I promise.”

Mike yanks himself away from Will. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s always tomorrow! I said ‘see you tomorrow’ before and then I never did! Tomorrow may never fucking come! But oh, that doesn’t matter, huh? Tomorrow always comes for you. Tomorrow is always gonna be better.”

“Mike,”

“No!” he yells and lightening crackles in the distance. “No, you don’t get to say anything! You keep spending time with El, forgetting about all of us! I’m her boyfriend now and I’m not even this obsessed with her whereabouts.” He waves at Will, who scowls. “She’s not even really your sister and you’re letting her just ruining the party like this? And for what? So you can have a fake younger sister to hole up in her room all day?”

Will’s nostrils flare. “El is my sister whether you like it or not!” He snaps back with irritation. “It’s not my fault you don’t like El!”

Mike pauses, eyes widening just a fraction as his breath visibly hitches. No one was supposed to know that he wasn’t even sure how he felt…Dustin himself had come to the conclusion that Mike knew he liked El all along. Will though wants to take it back immediately. Taking out his anger onto Mike isn’t fair at all and just because Mike suddenly has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he should try to accuse Mike of not liking her. But he can’t help but question either way because Mike barely alluded to seeing her that way anyway.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry, that came out wrong. So wrong.” He steps toward Mike, who tenses up more. “I know you like El, okay? I know you care about her. I care about her, too, just differently. She helped save you and the Party, how can I not care? That type of care has been with me for months. I can’t shut that off. I’m sorry.”

Mike’s breathing is getting denser and his vision is getting blurry because now he knows. Now he knows how he feels and he really fucked up saying yes to dating El. He doesn’t like her like Nancy and he doesn’t like her like Max either. He especially doesn’t like her like a boyfriend. “I like El like how you like her.”

“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft and shaking a little and Mike feels like throwing up.

“El saved me,” he whispers, “She saved me and I like her for that. I do. But she’s not…”

“She’s not what?”

Mike is crying now, angry tears dripping down his face like the rain as his voice crackles like the thunder. “She’s not you! I thought she would be enough and maybe I was wrong for it but it hasn’t even been a full day and I already know! I already know I don’t like her like that because I like you!”

There’s nothing but the patter of rain and Mike’s heavy breathing, and Mike can already feel his heart breaking because he spent so long trying to deny this and now he blurted it out in the midst of an argument like a dumbass and now Will is going to hate him. Hate him for not being normal, hate Mike for being what Lonnie always said he was. He’s crying still, hands shaking at his side as the tears continue to spill.

Will looks up at him with widened eyes and Mike can’t take it any longer. He can’t face the inevitable rejection right now. “I need to go.”

“Mike, wait, no! Mike!” Will rushes toward him but Mike’s already on his bike and riding through the rain. “Mike! Mike, come back!”

When Mike doesn’t turn back, Will rushes downstairs, tears streaming down his face as well and he can barely get his words out. “We need to find Mike, we need to find him now!”

“Will, what happened?” Lucas asks but Will grabs his jacket instead of replying.

“We need to go, now.” the brunette is shaking and Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, Will, what happened? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god,” Will collapses on the stairs before he can finish climbing them. “Oh my god, he confessed to me.”

“Confessed what? His powers?”

Will blinks a few times and looks up at Dustin as he rubs at his runny nose. “His what? Powers?”

Dustin freezes. “Oh. I, uh, I thought…oh…oh. Mike likes you?”

Will waves a passing hand. “Pause, what is this about Mike’s powers?”

Lucas speaks up with irritation. “I thought you said we need to go!”

So all the boys get on their bikes and ride toward the Byers house since that’s where Mike would go when his nightmares got bad enough and it’s a safe place for him outside of the basement. Dustin explains what Mike had done with Cerbero and how they caught this code that he had been sort of hashing out with Steve and Robin when they went to the mall. No one is home at the Byers residence (Joyce and Karen are out with Hopper doing their whole side storyline there) and Will starts to freak out more.

“Where would he be, where would he be?”

Lucas crosses his arms. “Maybe the cabin? That’s where his girlfriend is after all.”

And that’s not where Mike is, he’s actually with Steve and Robin at the mall given he feels he’d be better off with someone who understands the UD/MF mess (Steve) and someone who doesn’t know the Party dynamics (Robin). He’s just about to tell Robin about his confession to Will when he feels the Mind Flayer and knows that he’s back.

The rest of the season is kinda…the same ish but also not?? But so I don’t write out the whole damn thing now lmao here are the pointers:

El and Mike are still trying to be girlfriend and boyfriend when they reunite at the cabin (Scoops Troop is a thing but it’s not tied to the Russian bs so they aren’t at the mall the entire time) but Mike is also really uncomfortable with El’s advances though he tries not to act like it.

Mike avoids Will as best he can even though Will keeps trying to get one-on-one time with Mike to confess that he likes him back

Jonathan and Nancy team up at the cabin too with news about the exploding rats (the MF’s attempt to possess non humans that went wrong) and Mike speaks up about how he might have powers himself

El tries to teach him how to go into the Void (which would be like a prayer for him) but when he does so, he ends up running into the Mind Flayer and find out that it’s after him and is willing to kill all his friends to get to him

Mike and El both pull out of the Void together gasping and crying and Will is immediately at Mike’s side as Max rushes to El. “He’s going to kill us,” Mike sobs shakily, “He’s going to kill us all.”

El gets attacked by the Mind Flayer (not Meat Flayer) because it was coming for Mike and she intercepted the transmission using her mind

At the hospital Mike breaks up with El (instead of how in ST3 they became friends again), and she’s a little hurt but understanding when he confesses that he likes someone more than her and doesn’t want to hurt her by lying to her constantly when dating her

Will finally gets Mike to himself here and is about to confess but then Mike feels the Mind Flayer (his innate sense evil power) and it’s possessed someone. He confronts it, helps save Nancy from the shapeshifting demogorgon attacking her, and banishes it from this dimension, only to pass out from the effort

El takes over with her powers and with Mike’s help, accesses the radio to find the channel that Dustin and Mike had found before. She discovers that someone is trying to open the gate again under the mall

At the supermarket, Will and Mike finally get to talk and Will confesses that he likes Mike, too. “Blank makes you crazy, right?” Mike chuckles as he takes Will’s hand in his own. He’s not willing to say love yet even if he knows it’s true. He knows that Will understands him though. Will always does.

“Yeah,” the boy replies sweetly, “blank makes you crazy.”

Cue an almost kiss before Lucas and Dustin come around with the fireworks and they all get over to the mall

Big battle against the Mind Flayer and the people it possessed. Instead of a giant gory meat machine, it possesses people in Hawkins like it did Mike in RR!ST2 and uses them to shapeshift them into individual monsters. So the Party is attacked by a horde of demogorgons and demodogs!!

The fireworks help a lot as Lucas suggested, and Mike and El work together as superpowered besties to banish the Mind Flayer from all the neighbors. Some die in the process (because it’s just, brutal and violent and horrible) and Mike gets temporarily repossessed in the battle but he’s more leveled up now and understands how this works, so he can banish the MF from him (a level 4 paladin spell might I add!) as much as El used her powers to take out the piece of the meat machine in her leg in ST3

Hopper closes the gate but not in enough time (we need him in the Upside Down for RR!ST4) and then the Mind Flayer retreats, but it kills all the people it had possessed in the process, which only wrecks the kids with guilt for being unable to save everyone like they almost did

This also frightens Mike who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer because it means his connection is still strong enough that the Mind Flayer could kill him instantly too (but it won’t bc Mike and El’s powers are too strong and it could possibly kill itself trying to kill them through that connection)

At the end there’s no one really moving away. El has lost her powers, Mike’s are nearly depleted / he doesn’t know how to use them without El’s help. Everyone is mourning Hopper and with El and Mike unable to use their powers, they can’t go into the Void to see that Hopper’s actually alive.

uhhh the epilogue is the first day of high school and the Party are hopping off their bikes and chatting about something nonsensical. Lucas and Max are holding hands, Dustin is waving his arms about wildly as he explains his latest science project, and Mike and Will are standing close together, just enough to brush their fingers together. (El is homeschooled since she needs to catch up on her education)

“You okay?” Will asks quietly as they stand off to the side away from the bustling crowds. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know,” Mike grins down at his boyfriend, which is still so blush inducing to think about, so he blushes. “But, I’m fine. I’ve got you right beside me so I’m definitely okay.”

[thatbassistbitch]

I’ve always love Noodle and 2D’s sibling relationship. In your AU what sibling mischief do they love to get into?

12D-3′s relationship to Noodle is initially very much like a sibling dynamic! They love pulling pranks on each other and their housemates lol xD 12D-3 once duct taped Noodle to the ceiling. Russel really chewed him out for that. Noodle enjoyed it though. 

The reason why Russel is bald is because Noodle put Nair in his shampoo. He decided “Hey, this don’t look too bad after all” and decided to keep it that way. She got lucky that time.

12D-3 loves watching scary movies, and will often let Noodle sneak out of bed to watch them with him. He doesn’t have much of a filter as to what a child should and should not be watching, so she’s seen some really gorey zombie movies. She likes some horror, but not zombie movies. Even Murdoc scolded 12D-3 for that one. After that, they just stayed up way too late watching anime.

They cosplay together sometimes, and 12D-3 has even cosplayed as Sailor Mercury while Noodle cosplayed as Sailor Saturn.

They have their inside jokes and banter frequently, and they are very close!

After Phase 1, 12D-3 becomes more of a parental figure to her, as they’ve both matured a lot more since their initial meeting. Less pranks and staying up late, more helping with homework and comforting her when she feels upset. The familial bond only gets stronger with time. Losing her in the El Mañana incident was devastating for 12D-3 and broke his heart. He and Murdoc built a cyborg using scraps of Noodle’s DNA, but it wasn’t Noodle. He loved his new cyborg daughter, but he had lost his other daughter.

Reuniting with Noodle and holding both of his daughters close was emotionally overwhelming and he broke down crying from joy and relief. Noodle and Cyrene didn’t get along too well at first, but Noodle quickly accepted the cyborg as her little sister. They bicker a lot, but will kick ass for each other without hesitation. 12D-3 is so proud of his daughters and would do anything for them.

They still banter and joke around, they still pull the occasional prank, they still watch anime and scary movies. Nothing will sever the bond between them.

[swiftwind3]

Lance Week Day cINCO

PUÑEMA QUE LLEGUE EL CUMPLEAÑOS YAAAA

Prompt: Blue

@herestherealproblem

jeez my brain was fried for this week smh cannot believe i couldn’t come up for stuff for the prompts…must be some pre-college fever…heh. anyway

[Un]Surprisingly, Lance is a cat guy.

—

The cool of the living room faded away as a child Lance screamed.

“I hate you!”

His siblings’ darkened looks were the last thing he saw as he turned and fled in a fury.

“You asked for it, spoiled brat!” His elder brother stood from his place on the couch, only to have his sister yank down on his wrist and save him from a small, flying sandal.

“Leave me alone! ¡Maaamííí!” Lance wailed, scurrying upstairs.

“Mom’s not home!” His sister yelled from below. “Calm down—we’ll give you the TV!”

“Like hell we will—” His brother raged.

“Shut up!” She hissed. “Lance, come back down!”

But Lance was already hanging from the cement balcony rail, a stunt he often pulled when he wanted to get out of the house and avoid running down the stairs. In this case, he wanted to avoid being beat up and tied down by his siblings. The boy plummeted and landed firmly on the balls of his feet, taking off with the inertia under the grueling rays of early afternoon. He disposed of his lone sandal as he ran, dropping it who-knows-where. His selfish siblings would make him pick it up later, but for now, he would run to the bay.

As he sped down the slope near his home, the dirt beneath him quickly turned to hot sand. Lance panted heavily as he stumbled further, shoving through young palm trees and batting away at mosquitoes and other bugs. The small bay lay open before him, the blue-green water splashed undisturbed, rolling up on the sand, devoid of anyone and anything. It was deserted.

Good. Lance could deal without people asking him if he was lost or something. In a flash-over of emotion, he kicked up sand, grunting and muttering high-pitched obscenities with a breaking voice.

They wouldn’t let him do anything! They wouldn’t let him talk, they wouldn’t let him play, they wouldn’t let him watch TV with them or even have a snack! Lance was beginning to see the downsides of sleeping through breakfast.

He wiped at his eyes, not caring of the sand getting on his face. With a pout, he stomped to the foot of a tall palm and plopped down, shoulders hunched.

With barks echoing overhead and the roaring of the wind filling his ears, Lance forced his breathing to slow, whimpering as he swallowed annoying sobs and sniffles that might alert anyone nearby. He felt sweat roll down his back and patted it dry through his shirt. Slowly, but surely, the beach lulled him into a sense of relaxation. As he leaned back, he rubbed his stomach. Despite his complaining stomach, he knew his mother nor father should be too long from getting back home. He remembered Mom yesterday, saying how she’d be back quickly from running some errands in the morning, just in time to cook lunch. His dad said something about errands, too. But he’d be back most likely while they were eating lunch.

There was a rustle next to him and Lance stiffened. It was something small, too light to be a person. With childish caution, the boy flinched as the tiny muzzle of a kitten poked out from out of the bush beside him.

“Un gatito!” Lance gasped to himself.

The kitten’s head had poked out, watching Lance with wide eyes. Lance immediately focused on everything near the cat’s face, avoiding eye contact. He then began to blink at it, a hope escalating in his chest. His goal was to pet the kitten.

He blinked slowly, not looking directly into the kitten’s eyes. Direct eye contact with a cat meant aggression. Lance didn’t want to scare it, he wanted to love it. Maybe he could—

They’ll just say to put it back where it came from! They might even throw it back out if you take it inside!

With a heavy sigh, Lance shifted his legs and looked away from the kitten. What was the point of trying to get close to it if Lance wouldn’t be able to enjoy the simple act of petting it? Well, he could pet it, but then his siblings would be like, “You touched a stray cat? What the heck is wrong with you? We didn’t say you could do that!”

Something nudged against his side and Lance jolted to find the kitten kneading into his shirt. It was grey—no…blue, maybe; a pretty mix between those two colors. Its eyes were closed, an obvious sign of contentment to Lance. He giggled, slowly bringing a hand to the kitten’s head. No stopping him now.

At that, the kitten flinched away slightly, as did Lance. The boy brought his hand further to the animal, hopefully transmitting his means well enough. Slowly, the kitten sniffed around his hand, and with a with a loud mewl, it nuzzled his palm.

A sense of pure completion rushed through Lance and he grinned wide, letting out a small, “Yes!”

Not even a few minutes later, the cat was on him, purring so loudly Lance kept glancing around to see if anyone was approaching them. He absentmindedly continued to scratch the cat, glancing around as he reached behind its ears and under its chin. The boy could keep petting the furry creature for years if he wanted to. The grey-blue kitten continued to sprawl on his lap, nosing Lance’s hand in the direction it wanted him to go.

A voice suddenly wafted into Lance’s ears and he froze. He didn’t mind the slightest when the kitten nipped him for stopping, but he was sure he had heard his mother calling for him.

“Lance!” The call came again, not too close to him, but close enough to be heard over the salty wind. “¡Ya hablé con tus hermanos! ¡Sube a comer!”

Eat…

Glossing over his mother’s knowing voice, the boy’s mouth watered, and a mild twinge in his stomach saddened him. Carefully, he wrapped his small hands around the cat’s front legs and placed it on the sand.

“Sorry, kitty, I gotta go…”

The kitten mewled loudly again as Lance stood. He wasn’t good at goodbyes of any kind. Wait, maybe he could sneak some food—

The blue-grey kitten rubbed against his legs, its tiny tail bent at the tip. Lance cooed to himself, pushing away the notion of just stuffing the kitten into his shirt and sneaking into the house. His mother would probably have his head, too. He doesn’t remember her being a big fan of cats.

Well, the idea from earlier was still an option. The boy stepped away as soon as the kitten moved towards the outer part of his legs, a spot where he wouldn’t trip over it. With slow blink, Lance began to walk away, hissing to himself at the kitten meowed behind him.

Don’t follow me, don’t follow me, don’t follow me! I’ll bring you some scraps! Promise!

Lance glanced over his shoulder to find the kitten simply sitting where he was just a few moments ago. The young cat blinked at him, and Lance couldn’t help but believe that it was crying.

Don’t worry. I’ll come back…

—

“Hey, Beautiful.” Lance greeted his giant Blue Lion.

The mechanical beast purred loudly into the conscience of her pilot, welcoming him and quickly reciprocating his joy at the simple greeting. The Blue Paladin settled comfortably into his seat, enjoying its feel.

“Allura told me to have some more bonding sessions with you, and who am I to ignore two pretty ladies? Anyways, time to play Twenty Questions! There’s gotta be a better name for this… How about ‘Let the bonding begin’? No—no…sounds too…eh. Well, anyway. So, did you know I love kittens? I’ve always loved kittens, ever since I was a little kid, really…”

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Stranger Issues Season Three Evaluate: The Hawkins Crew Really feel the Ache of Rising Up

http://tinyurl.com/y47d5hbw The Hawkins crew is rising up — and aside. In Stranger Issues season 3 — out Thursday, July four on Netflix — the children are actually youngsters, which in flip impacts not simply the dynamic between the group but in addition the present on the entire. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) are spending most of their time with one another, to the displeasure of the remainder of the gang and her adopted father Chief Hopper (David Harbour). Having misplaced over a 12 months of his childhood to the monsters, all Will (Noah Schnapp) needs is to play Dungeons & Dragons just like the boys used to, however Mike and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) — who additionally has a girlfriend in Max (Sadie Sink) — aren’t actually into it anymore. And Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), feeling ignored by everybody, begins to spend extra time with Steve (Joe Keery), which additional means that the AV Membership is prepared for a cut up. Whereas Stranger Things has been a coming-of-age story from the beginning, a minimum of for many of the younger characters, the third season of the hit Netflix sequence appears to be the pivotal turning level of their arcs. Eleven is on the coronary heart of this, as she lastly will get the possibility to find herself after two seasons of getting to be hidden for her personal security. The beginning of Stranger Issues season Three hints that Hopper and El’s parent-daughter relationship may not have an extended future when the mud settles. That is simply one in all a number of subplots which can be set in movement through the early going, with the third season persevering with the second season development of sending teams of characters on branching storylines, which can naturally come collectively because the season progresses. Moreover, Stranger Issues Three advantages from the change of setting. It is set within the (American) summer season of 1985, which permits it to depart behind the gloomy autumn that contributed to the temper on the primary two seasons. On display screen, that additionally contributes to a vibrant blast of colors and nowhere is that extra apparent than on the new locale that brings everybody collectively: Hawkins’ shiny new Starcourt Mall. For the children, it replaces the varsity because the frequent hangout. Nevertheless it’s a step higher for the present, as it might pull in individuals of all ages, together with these sufficiently old for faculty (resembling Steve), whereas utilizing it as a setting for the third season’s narrative that spans teenage romances, new human villains, and an enormous battle with the monster from the Upside Down, as a recent trailer greater than hinted at.   We open one summer season earlier, within the June of 1984, as a six-minute near-wordless scene units up the brand new risk, or slightly a brand new pathway to the outdated risk. Leap ahead a 12 months and the children are benefiting from their summer season, staying out late and sneaking into the cinema utilizing a backdoor to observe movies such because the zombie horror Day of the Dead. (The place are the ushers?) In fact, this being Stranger Issues, one thing is amiss in Hawkins inside the first 15 minutes. Will is the one one who can really feel it although, suggesting he retains a tiny little bit of that connection to the monster, regardless that it was pushed out of him in season 2. His psychic powers are once more harking back to Harry Potter’s scar, besides he now has PTSD instead of the visions he had earlier. Of the younger adults, the couple Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) — Mike and Will’s elder siblings, respectively — are working on the native newspaper The Hawkins Put up. Whereas her boyfriend is seemingly allowed to handle the photograph division on his personal, Nancy is of course not taken severely as a author since that is the eighties, and made to do workplace errands resembling espresso and lunch as a substitute. This rightly annoys her to no finish and pushes her to take up assignments on her personal. One of many fixed thorns in her facet is a senior journalist named Bruce (Jake Busey), whose character makes him the proper monster-meat, given the distaste viewers may have for him. You may possible really feel the identical manner for Hawkins’ Mayor Kline (Cary Elwes) — one other new character — who orders Hopper round. Talking of Hopper, the one actual policing he is doing is Eleven’s, whereas attempting to re-insert himself in Joyce’s (Winona Ryder) life, who remains to be recovering from shedding season 2 boyfriend Bob Newby (Sean Astin). As with final time, Joyce is the one of many few ones involved with investigating even the tiniest unusual happenings, alongside Nancy, although the latter is seemingly doing out of proving she’s good at her job and never as a result of she thinks one thing is occurring in Hawkins. Amongst the children, it is the left-out Dustin who stumbles onto a secret after which accepts the assistance of Steve’s smarter ice cream parlour colleague Robin (Maya Hawke), who can be the one addition to the principle forged of Stranger Issues season 3. Robin provides a brand new dynamic to the Dustin-Steve bromance that got here to life in season 2, and he or she’s additionally arrange as a romantic curiosity for the elder of the 2. Robin, Steve, and Dustin in Stranger Issues season 3Picture Credit score: Netflix Mentioned bromance will get extra highlight on Stranger Issues 3, with the co-creators Ross and Matt Duffer — professionally generally known as The Duffer Brothers, who additionally function writers and administrators on a number of episodes — clearly conscious of the shared chemistry and the way pleasant they had been to observe final time round. That in the end speaks to what retains audiences hooked. Even because the monsters may herald viewers and drive the plot, Stranger Issues is cherished for its endearing characters, their interactions, and the expansion of their relationships. And whereas the third season of the Netflix sequence continues beforehand established ones, together with the sturdy bond between Joyce and Hopper, it additionally makes room for brand new ones resembling Max and Eleven’s, who will get to emerge from the cocoon she was stored in. Whereas everybody’s coping with teenage life, that is the primary time that El realises what it is wish to be a child and luxuriate in herself. However the character growth is not unfold out throughout the board. The likes of Jonathan have little to do apart from accompany Nancy on her adventures, whereas Stranger Issues season Three turns Lucas and Max into sounding boards for Mike and Eleven, respectively. Their goal, a minimum of within the three episodes we had entry to, is to serve the opposite particular person’s storyline. And naturally, it is futile to convey up Mike and Nancy’s mom Karen (Cara Buono), who had little to do in season 2 besides that flirt scene with Max’s elder brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery). Sadly, Stranger Issues Three can consider nothing besides to proceed that sole strand as and when it pleases. It is bemusing that Buono remains to be listed within the present’s essential forged, given the therapy meted out to her character. The one different trouble is a little bit of narrative comfort that kickstarts a subplot. As all the time, Stranger Issues is crammed with nostalgia for these of a sure period, with well-known scenes from TV exhibits resembling Magnum P.I. and Cheers enjoying within the background, along with a soundtrack boasting of hits from Madonna, The Automobiles, Reducing Crew, Don McLean, Foreigner, Jim Croce, REO Speedwagon, and Corey Hart. Some songs are used significantly for the lyrics’ on-the-nose impact. And because of intriguing-enough thrills (although missing the emotional influence of season 2) and the fun of watching the Hawkins crew flip into adults in entrance of our very eyes (albeit doubtlessly at the price of their close-knit friendship), Stranger Issues season Three seems to be a welcome return for Netflix’s fashionable sci-fi horror sequence. It is made a bit extra particular by the truth that it spent practically two years off air. Stranger Issues season Three will launch July four on Netflix. Source link