#i also wanted to say maybe mr clarke could be mikes dad but i think karen wheeler is too hot for him

[jinxjinn]

does this make sense??

[sporadically-writing]

Stranger Things Season 4 Notes Part [1/?]: Featuring Wendy Deakins and the Twins!

Wendy’s Bio, Connie’s Bio, Kenny’s Bio, Previous Season Notes: S1, S2, S3

Strap in folks! This one’s gonna be a long one! I might have to break it into parts but I wanted to include all three of them this time so bare with me!

Part 1: Episodes 1, 2, and 3

In the meantime between Season 3 and Season 4, Steve and Wendy have started their lives outside of high school, Robin being only a year behind them. Robin and Steve still work at Family Video and Wendy’s Dad’s auto shop is just across the street. The three of them, despite Steve and Wendy both having their own cars, have started car pooling everywhere. The happy couple and their best friend.

Wendy and Steve’s relationship is a bit weird, they’re a bit in the awkward stage going from friends to sorta dating but they appear to be doing alright. They’re still fumbling their way around PDA, not sure where the other’s boundaries are. Also, the two of them are hellbent on finding Robin a girlfriend. Vickie looks promising.

In the scene’s leading up to lunch the day of the pep rally, we are introduced to the twins! Connie and Kenny are walking through the halls as they usually do. The two, despite their familial similarities, could not look more different. Kenny is dressed in pretty much all black or dark blue, nothing flashy about anything on him, trying to make himself look as unremarkable as possible. Meanwhile, Connie is talking animatedly to him, she has her hair up in a hot pink scrunchie. She is also wearing a hellfire club t-shirt. Kids passing the two of them look at the strangely, whether it be because of Connie’s shirt or Kenny’s awkwardness neither can be sure.

Connie tries in vain to get Kenny to sit at lunch with the club. “I really think you’d like them!” “I don’t need your help making friends, Con.” “Right... If you aren’t gonna sit with us at least play the game this time, I’m sure Eddie can find a way to squeeze you in.” “I already told you, I’ve gotta fix the stage lights. Ya know, for the show you’re a part of. You don’t want the spotlight going out on you during your big solo.” “Fine. Next time then.”

As the twins separate, Connie heading to the hellfire table, Kenny to eat lunch by himself, Connie bumps into Chrissy Cunningham. The two apologize to each other, Connie being only a little bit awkward at being in such a pretty girl’s presence. Connie notices something a bit off and is about to ask about it when Chrissy finds an excuse to leave.

Connie informs the Hellfire Club that they can still use the theater tonight and Dustin and Mike let them know, reluctantly, that Lucas can’t make it.

“Ms. Clarke?” “Mr. Munson.” “Don’t you have a brother that can be called upon to fill the spot of our basketball wielding betrayer?” “Tried already. He’ll be in the theater tonight but he said no.” “Boooo...” “Maybe next time guys.”

Steve and Wendy go to the basketball game together to support their son Lucas and their buddy Robin, sharing some popcorn, enjoying each other’s company and making fun of Tammy Thompson’s awful singing voice. 

Prior to the Hellfire meeting, the Clarke twins and Eddie are the first ones there. Connie heads to the dressing room to have a private place to practice some lines in the show leaving Eddie and Kenny alone.

“So this is the knave who thinks he’s too good for Dungeons and Dragons.” Not expecting to have been spoken to, Eddie’s voice nearly startles Kenny off the ladder. “Augh- uh... Did, did Connie say that?” “No. Your sister has spoken rather highly of you, actually. I just want to know why you don’t want to play.” Kenny gestures with the tool in his hands, “I’m working.” “You have to fix one light.” “Yeah well, I’ve never really played anything like it before.” “I could teach you. It’s not a difficult game to learn.” “It’s also creative though, right?” “Yeah?” Eddie says, “And?” “That’s more Connie’s department.” Eddie is quiet for a moment (shocking really from what Kenny knows about the other boy), weighing what he wants to say, “We are wrapping up a campaign tonight but when we start the next one, there’ll be a place at the table for you, should you chose to accept it.”

The Hellfire Club, with the addition of Erica, sits down to play pretty much right when Kenny finishes fixing his light. Stuck there until his sister wraps up, Kenny tries his best to keep busy but eventually does end up invested in the fight against Vecna. He watches from afar, occasionally locking eyes with the Dungeon Master.

Thanks to the Sinclair’s both teams win their respective games and everyone, except for maybe Lucas goes home from school happy that night.

The following day, while working with her father, Wendy discusses her frustration at the lack of response she’s received in her application to vet schools. She’s put the work in, she has the grades, why won’t they let her in? In the midst of her father’s comforting, there is a news report on the tv in her father’s office. A Hawkins High School student’s body has been found.

The Clarke’s also watch the newscast at home, all three of them wondering if the student is someone they knew. Either being in their grade or having been a student of his a few years ago.

At Family Video, Wendy has come over to discuss the news with Steve and Robin when Dustin and Max come in. The two explain the situation and yet another Hawkins mystery begins. Steve wants to go to the police but Wendy adamantly refuses, with Hopper gone, the best people in charge of this case, whether it has to do with the Upside Down or not, is them. 

Dustin uses the phone to call the Clarke’s and informs Connie, who answers the phone, that Eddie is in trouble and they should meet him at an address they found. The twins have a hushed argument while their father is painting minis in the garage. Eventually Connie wins and they quickly inform their father that they both will be going out to run some errands (safety in numbers, to make their Dad feel better about them leaving) and that they’d be back soon.

At Reefer Rick’s Cabin, the large assembly of young adults check the house. The Clarkes are formally introduced to Max and the Scoops Troop. Connie and Robin look at each other for maybe a little too long. Prompting some surprised but knowing looks between Steve and Wendy. Also, Max notices a light on in the nearby boathouse

Inside, Eddie attacks Steve leading Wendy and Connie to step in. Wendy is a bit confrontational in this situation as the Russian torture memories still haven’t healed over well. Connie attempts to calm Eddie down, being a much older friend to him. Kenny also tries to help but is a bit awkward about it for a handful of reasons.

One thing leads to another and Dustin reluctantly spills the beans to Eddie and the twins.

The next day, the team of seven return to Reefer Rick’s with food and the Clarkes also brought a nicer blanket and a pillow. Kenny also gives Eddie a Rubik's Cube as something to fidget with. In addition, they also offer him news that while the police are looking for him, they haven’t released his name yet. 

When police cars are heard in the distance, the twins decide that Kenny will stay behind with Eddie at the moment to help him, while everyone else piles into Steve’s car. Kenny wants to argue that maybe Connie should stay, she is adamant that she wants to find out what’s going on and what the police are doing when it concerns her friend. She’s not going to hear it from anyone else. Someone has to stay with Eddie but Connie wants in on the investigation. 

When the six of them find Nancy at the sight of yet another grizzly ‘murder’ a conclusion is made. The Upside Down is definitely involved.

The gang swaps information with Nancy, trying to cross reference some kind of correlation between Chrissy and Fred. When Nancy goes to investigate things at the library, Connie is delegated to go with her. “Aren’t you Mr. Clarke’s kid? You’re smart.” “I’m really no-” Then Robin speaks up, “I’ll go with! Too, I mean. I would like to go too.”

Wendy and Steve, staying behind as the pseudo parents for Max and Dustin smile at each other. They know. The decision is made and as most of the girls head to the library, the family unit heads to the guidance counselor’s house. 

While waiting for Max outside Dustin says, “Well don’t you too look awfully cozy” “What?” Wendy looks down to see their hands are subconsciously close to each other. The two stare at each other with wide eyes before they separate. Simultaneously saying, “Shut up.”

Lucas calls over the radio once Max is back with some stolen keys and Wendy tells him that they are going to the school. She hangs up before Lucas can warn them about the basketball team.

The research at the library goes well despite the awkwardness of the three’s relationships. All three girls are in the same graduating class but they have very different experiences in regards to Upside Down stuff. Nancy has been doing this for the longest amount of time, Robin has only been at it for a few days a year or so ago and Connie’s been doing it for about twenty four hours. Connie and Robin both ask Nancy a lot of questions, Robin a little more frequently. They do however work well together finding the information that they need. Nancy even manages to catch Connie and Robin stealing looks at each other when they think no one is looking. 

Robin radios the school team with their findings but they are busy breaking in. 

Steve and Wendy probably have something to say about wandering the halls of a school they haven’t gone to in a year as they find Ms. Kelley’s office. Wendy is quick to point out the similarities in the files between Chrissy and Fred’s cases. Max seems to realize something too...

[To be continued...]

[munsnz]

TRICKS OF LIFE — STEVE HARRINGTON

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐯. — 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞? Overview: Y/N tells Mike information to help their lost friend, she also heads to the search party for Will with Victor. As they explore, the past unravels and there is an odd occurrence that happens. Navigation & Mixtape

Tag: @samiyamuntaha @thepowerstoner @ughgclden @mqyfield @cooperdaysgf

“So right by Mirkwood right?” Mike Wheeler’s voice peeped after listening to Y/N’s remark of details about what she heard at the Hawkins Police Department a few hours ago. It was around 7 pm, right around to where the girl was getting ready prone to the search party being held with a few of the residents of the town.

Y/N hummed a positive response to clearing out his doubts just in case he was confused by any means, this wasn’t going to help Mike, it was going to help Will get a faster chance to be retrieved to his home again.

Although Hopper disapproved the request of letting young people in the search, Y/N and Victor were eventually allowed to come along, “Yeah, but remember you have to be somewhat far from the real search group okay? We don’t want you to get caught.”

”Mike! What are you doing?” Nancy’s faint voice was caught on the other line of the phone, leading Mike to leave the phone out, Y/N overhearing them argue over the dumbest things.

Prior to the noises of Mike pushing Nancy out of the basement she guessed, the boy came back on the line, sighing loudly, “Sorry about that, Nancy gets so annoying, I still don’t know why you still hang out with her.”

”She could be a priss sometimes,” She responds, breathily giggling, clenching the ceramic telephone tighter, “But she’s still my friend if you could say.”

Continuing with their conversation based on the plan, it was perfectly assembled, safe with a high possibility of finding Will, even if it had been a day. Will couldn’t have gone far anyways. Y/N was about to speak, but was suddenly caught off guard as soon as she heard her dad in the hallway, getting prepared for the search.

”Oh shit! I have to go now,” Y/N hushed in a subtle tone, trying her best to keep away Hopper from listening to their discussion, “Remember to be home by 9 at least with flashlights. Stay safe Mike.”

The line went awfully silent, placing back the phone to its regular position on the handset, while it being attached to the wall. Rapidly, spinning to look at her father, trying to act as normal as possible, his brows furrowed at her.

”What were you doing?”

Shrugging it off calmly, Y/N breathily giggles while she put her hands on her hips saying, “I was just checking in with Victor, that’s all.”

Hopper’s eyes widened at her point, clicking his tongue as he started grabbing on his sweater for the frosty night ahead, “Funny, but I just called his mom to let him know that he was coming.”

”Right..” Y/N casually crossed her arms, cursing under her breath before she showed any subtle reaction to what she was up to. Play it cool.

In the silence of her looking around the messy home by the front door, Hopper sharply whistles while slinging the car keys in the air to catch them, making Y/N follow right behind me, pretending as if the few minutes didn’t occur. Feeling the breeze of the autumn air, both the relatives made their way to the vehicle, on their way to the small yet important search for this boy, Will Byers.

As the road got narrower and narrower, the car drove deeper into the dark woods, where Y/N could see the slender trees and branches surrounding them. The starry sky lit up the place with a soft tone of dim blues and grays painted across it on the chilly night. Watching out the window, Y/N squinted her eyes to see a figure from afar waving towards the vehicle, a familiar figure to be Victor. Hopper drove nearer, the headlights being able to guide him to the stop where a small crowd of people were surrounding along with the patrols.

Hopper cleared his throat, while he pushed the breaks down and turned to his daughter, “Hey kid, remember don’t be-“

Without hesitation, Y/N swung the car door open to step out of it, hustled her way to her so called “acquaintance”, Victor. It was more like a friend but she didn’t want to be that close with the boy. Victor wearily smiling at her.

“You seem tired,” Y/N creeps up next to him, watching the small groups of people around the mounds of dead leaves and twigs gathered for the search.

Victor’s voice brings the girl’s attention back to him, he clears his throat, “I mean dealing with Flo is already a lot for me to handle, so I suppose I am.” The two silently chuckled, the frost getting to their noses, “I heard there’s gonna be a chance of rain.”

”Really?”

“Yes really! Haven’t you seen the forecast? I’m even wearing a jacket!” Victor squinted his eyes, his eyewear raising up on the bridge of his nose and the girl shrugged aimlessly.

Y/N scoffed, shoving him slightly, “I think there’s way more important things we need to focus on instead of the weather.”

From afar, Hopper and the policemen indicated all the volunteers to gather around on the sidewalk, near the entrance of the forest. The flashing blue and red lights were turned off from the cars, everyone else preparing for the upcoming search.

”Okay guys!” The chief shouted to direct everyone, “We need to stay in the 5 mile radius from where Will was last scene! Everyone please be careful and remember to blow the whistle if you find anything at all!”

Heads were nodded, agreeing to the directions, Officers Powell and Callahan guided two separate groups from different directions, Y/N having to come along with the third group including her dad. Although the girl was 16, her father wanted to take the best care for her, after Sarah. He wanted to keep her as close as possible, but he knew she was getting older. It was just for today, he can protect her for today, now being aware of a kid disappearing in their town. Maybe one of them was next.

“I guess that’s your call genius,” Y/N told Victor as she pointed towards Powell’s group who were walking to the right side of the woods, the people disappearing one by one into the darkness.

Not budging at all, Victor stood his ground saying, “I think I’ll stick with you for now, there’s just soccer moms hoarding the group for Powell, he has a fan club.”

“You’re not wrong Vic,” She sniggered quietly but failed miserably, letting out a subtle loud laugh, both of the teenagers walking behind their group, down a steep hill leading to the inner nature.

Rushing down first to the bottom, the tall brunette reached his hand out for Y/N who was still at the top, to help her come down to his level, “M’lady?”

”Why thank you, what a gentleman!” Y/N sarcastically gasps, gripping onto his hand to steady herself below, after they jogged closer to the group, flicking their flashlights on to carry on.

Everyone glanced above the branches, the moon shining as the crickets chirped. The crisp wind running across their faces, making the trees shuffle loudly. As flashlights led them with its brightness, they all searched and searched, for any trace of the boy around the area.

Half an hour later, the air became cooler than usual, almost bringing a frostbite to their bare hands. The sound of branches and dead leaves crunching over the few people above them. In the silence, Y/N stayed near Victor and her father, hearing shouts for Will. The realization hit the girl, they were looking for lost Will, Will hasn’t appeared, he was probably in some sort of danger. She fastened her grip on the flashlight, looking around more closely, along with the rest.

”He’s a good student,” Someone decides to break the silence of the leaves and twigs crunching under their feet, Victor and Y/N turned their attention to him as they strolled in the woods.

Hopper cocks an eyebrow up and looks towards the teacher’s direction after the statement, “What?”

”Will. He’s a good student. Great one actually,” He elaborates, smiling sheepishly to lend his hand in front of the chief to introduce himself, “I don’t think we’ve met, Scott Clarke. Teacher, Hawkins Middle. Earth and biology.”

“Don’t you remember he was my teacher back in the day?”

Victor nods agreeing with Y/N’s statement from behind, Hopper reluctantly trying to remember his daughter’s middle school teacher, still not recalling since in those past years where fighting for Y/N’s custody between the parents, “I always had a distaste for science.”

”Well maybe you had a bad teacher,” Mr. Clarke remarks, checking if his flashlight was still operating, trudging closer to the group of three ahead of him.

”Yeah, Ms. Ratliff was a piece of work,” Hopper scoffs jokingly, Y/N doing the same as well, remembering his shitty science teacher from his past years while he studied at Hawkins High.

”Ratliff?” The teacher ponders, realizing that the same teacher still resides in Hawkins after all these years, “You bet. She’s still kicking around believe it or not.”

Victor elaborates in between them, sliding his hands onto his pockets, “I had her when I was in eighth grade a few years back.”

”Oh I believe it Victor. Mummies never die, so they tell me,” Hopper smiles, trying to get his daughter to notice but she dozed off beyond the sight of the woods, ”Sarah, my youngest, galaxies, the universe whatnot.. She always understood all that stuff. I always figured there was enough going down here, I never needed to look elsewhere.”

Y/N flickered her eyes towards her father’s direction after hearing the special name, it wasn’t so special to one, but to her, it was. Sarah, Sarah Hopper her little sister, but soon enough the teacher interrupted, “Maybe I’ll get her in my class I-“

“No, she uh.. she lives with her mom in the city,” He cuts the man off from his statement, Victor widening his eyes on Y/N’s side, knowing fully that wasn’t true.

The girl beside the tall boy looked back at his dark eyes, signaling him to be quiet, Y/N was aware of the fact that everyone in Hawkins knew Sarah’s death. Just because of her own blabbermouth, Steve told everyone including the parents her little secret the young female confessed to.

As much as her dad still wants to deny the fact the little one was gone and resting in peace, staying of his delusion Y/N wished she could have. It was a promise. A promise that everything was okay and there wasn’t nothing to worry about, almost some sort of fairy tale where everything had its happy endings with a happy family which wasn’t it.

“Thanks for coming out, Teach. We really appreciate it.” Hopper clears the air, trudging past them farther into the dark eerie woods, Y/N and Victor repeating his steps behind him.

Once they were  out of the picture and range from hearing, a middle aged woman spoke up next to the teacher, in a hushed tone saying, “She died a few years back.”

”Sorry?” Mr. Clarke shifted his head in bewilderment towards the lady for any clarification from the inadequate statement given.

”His kid.”

The teacher’s eyes widened, observing the two family members mumbling inaudible words behind the brisk trees of the cool night. He didn’t know the Hoppers hid their family, they never talked much about family when it came to projects when Y/N was younger. It seemed like something ever so private not like where many kids shared experiences with their loved ones, they always kept everything about their family closed up. Almost a mystery.

Y/N could hear the soft mumbles of the quiet conversation being exchanged by the lady and her former teacher, she felt sick knowing that her father stays in the delusion of her sister being alive, lying. Lying wasn’t so hard for her, Y/N was almost a professional at it when it came to helping the party in situations. But lying to her dad was different, it was the both of them against the horrid place called the world.

“Is Sarah going to be back?” A small girl walked over to the grown adults who stood at the front door, puffy eyes showing on their faces, as they held a plastic wristband and stuffed tiger after a long day from not seeing her sister. It was already near midnight.

Without any move, the woman, who to be seen was the girl’s mother, bursted into tears, her husband catching her into his arms. The youngling worriedly watched her parents shed tears, a middle aged woman got up from the couch to comfort both of them. Whispers and mumbles being shared between the adults, bringing more tears.

”Mommy?” The girl steadily crept next to her mom’s leg, wrapping her short arms around her waist, pressing her cheek against the woman’s body, “Don’t cry, I’m here.”

Sobs were still heard from the mother, the two of the women held each other tightly while the tall man let go from their hug, kneeling next to the girl’s level, “Y/N, kid-“

”Dad, where’s Sarah?!” Y/N shakily shouted, her stomach feeling uneasy, with her sister not being found. What happened to Sarah? She knew Sarah was going to get better. Why was mom crying? So many questions filled her head, eyes welling up, her father hugging her tightly with all the hurt and love. Y/N noticed the wristband that her father was holding, she peered closely to see a sloppy handwriting shown as the name Sarah, written all over it with the date when she was sent to the hospital.

”Sarah is... gone.”

The little’s watery eyes widened, her bottom lip trembling, she threw her arms around her father, her head leaning onto his shoulder. Her little sister was gone, she was alone now, her heart crumbling into a million pieces. Sarah, Sarah wasn’t here anymore. But it seemed so surreal, it was only yesterday the two sisters laughed about one of the nurses dropping her cup of coffee while getting chemotherapy.

“Dad.. Can she come back?”

Sadly grinning, Hopper wiped the girl’s chubby face from her tears, shaking his head, “I’m sorry kid, she’s not coming back.”

”But she has to! Sarah has to come home with us,” Y/N choked in her tears, her eyes becoming swollen, grabbing the wristband from her father’s large hand, “Sarah can’t leave me alone here. She promised she would stay.”

”Y/N, I know this is difficult but your sister left us. She’s in a better place now.”

Making her cry even more, Y/N’s mother rapidly kneeled next to her husband and daughter, she sniffed, grabbing onto her daughter, “We promised Sarah we would love each other and always stay safe. Forever.”

”Promise?”

Both of the girl’s parents joined in for a tight hug, Y/N fastening her arms around the two others, “Promise. We promise you sweet pea.”

”Y/N! Y/N!” A familiar voice boasted in the ears of Y/N, she focused her attention back to the voice. There was no one beside her by the time she looked around, it was the sounds of the wind and her alone. Her flashlight flickered in her hands, she shook it vigorously to try and turn it back on, but there was nothing coming out of it, just a dimly lit tone guiding her way. Nothing else in her sight except for the trees and moonlight, she tried her best to not overthink this and make her way back to the group.

Every turn she made in the paths, it led her to nowhere, noises filled the aura. Slowly, she began to worry, she wasn’t coming back to the group. Y/N’s head filled itself with thoughts, there was no way she could be lost, last time she was with Victor, rambling about the weather. Where was she? Looking up, she felt small droplets of water dripped onto her face above, Y/N squinted her eyes to avoid the drizzle. The water fell down slowly until it started raining heavier in the air, she wiped her face to dry it off and continue to try to find her way back.

“Dad!” Y/N shouted, wrapping her arms over herself, her hair becoming soaked along the time. She kept shouting and shouting, worry filling her in. The girl was afraid. What if she went missing like Will? Oh no.

Without a precaution, a branch from behind was heard. Y/N whipped her head to the direction, seeing a small human with a white gown rapidly run off to opposite direction, the rain blurring her eyes. Was that Will? Curious, she picked up speed to follow the boy, it may be Will. A chance of relief rushing in as her adrenaline sped up, almost running faster. “Will! It’s me!”

The boy didn’t stop, sprinting faster with his bare feet. Y/N still yelled, slowing her pace down, then picking it back up, going through the trees. An idea came to her, tugging at her metal whistle to her lips, blowing on it. The sound coming off it, maybe attracting people to find her and the boy, it has to be Will. Using her arms to run faster, she suddenly trips over a thick log after not seeing below her because of the wind, sending her to the floor. She whimpers as she felt her ankle burn in a pain, whistling even more.

From the distance, few people to what she could tell came forward to her, rain soaking over her head. Thunder being heard far away, Victor came into the picture to kneel down next to Y/N.

”Hey are you okay?” He worriedly checks on her, receiving a nod. Victor looked around for any possible wounds since he found her on the ground, “We couldn’t find you!”

Y/N hardly paid attention to him and looked afar to see if the boy would turn up again. She held Victor’s jacket to pull him closer, “I think I saw Will! He was running through there I-“

”Chief Hopper coming through, excuse me,” A voice from the crowd of people called in, Hopper bringing himself forward to find his soaking daughter on the ground pointing toward another direction. “What’s wrong?”

Victor moves to tell Hopper while being next to shaking and wet Y/N, “She saw Will.”

[kaypeace21]

Will’s fear of clowns

*Ps -not mine. this is a submission from an anon. tw: for s.a. It’s an interesting submission. ANON-please make a tumblr account already . I’m begging you XD

Hi! It’s me, Lonnie Meth Anon. Back with more depressing thoughts about Lonnie!

I just read your post on Jonathan’s ab*se at the hands of Lonnie, and I second it all. It breaks my heart. But it also got me thinking deeper about Will’s fear of clowns. I think you’re right that part of the horror for Will is that the clown attacks in bed. The bed is, obviously, like you say, a common site for s*xual assault. (Doesn’t El’s picture of “three legged Brenner” also have a bed in it? In a picture with not much else?) The fact that Will needed Joyce to sleep with him for a week suggests he was specifically feeling unsafe in bed, or at night. 

But maybe it’s not just the location of the attack in Poltergeist that Will found so harrowing. Maybe it’s the combination of that location with the fact of a clown being the attacker. 

I think Lonnie might have dressed up as a clown for Will’s birthday one year, and something happened. 

In this instance, I don’t think Joyce would know what happened. I think the incident in her mind would be something like “Lonnie dressed up and Will was scared of the costume”. She might even have thought it was cute. Just a typical little kid fear of something mundane. When she teases him about Poltergeist, she doesn’t actually say the movie was the START of his fear of clowns. Just that he was afraid of that particular clown. The general fear of clowns could have been an older one, going back to when Will was even younger.

Maybe Will even liked clowns, before whatever happened with Lonnie turned them into a source of fear for him. Will has a lion plushie (lions are commonly found in the circus) and the circus seems like the kind of vibrant, colorful environment full of outcast, that a young gay kid would really enjoy. If Will did like circuses and Lonnie poisoned that for him, that’s just another reason to hate Lonnie. But it definitely seems possible. 

Lonnie is a deadbeat dad in general, but we’ve seen before that he’s capable of faking the “family man” act in front of Joyce and their neighbors. We’ve also seen that even though he treats Will horribly, he would also try and keep Will on his side with father son bonding activities, like baseball. And Will’s birthday is one of the few occasions Lonnie makes a half-assed kind of effort, even when there’s nothing directly in it for him. He sends that card, even though it’s late. Maybe Joyce made called him up and made him send it, but she always seemed happy to keep Lonnie out of the picture. She didn’t even want to involve him when Will went missing. And we know Jonathan would never try and facilitate more interactions between Lonnie and Will. So it seems like Lonnie did this of his own accord, when he realized he’d missed the day. Kind of weird. And it’s classic abuser behavior, to make contact on an anniversary date, reminding you they exist and you can’t escape them. Reminding you to keep quiet. Or hoping you’ll miss them, remember the “good times” when they made an effort, and let them back into your life. (Ugh.)

So, anyway, back to my theory. Young Will likes circuses, and the Byers family are poor, so they can’t afford to take him to one, or throw him a party at an ice cream parlor or a bowling alley, like other kids. It makes sense that they would have a party at home instead, and that the family themselves might dress up. We know Joyce made Will’s Ghostbusters costume in season two, and a clown is a pretty easy costume. Most of it is just make up. It’s possible the whole thing was Joyce’s idea, and she made the costume, and Lonnie just went along with it to look like a good dad in her eyes. 

Remember how we see Bob (Will’s new father figure) dressing up in costume for Halloween? Joyce loves it. This is a thing good dads do, to have fun with their kids. That’s also the same episode we see Will scared by a guy in a clown costume, and Jonathan is hyper-protective of him that night. School is okay, but he doesn’t want him trick or treating. (Like he knows that school is a safe environment, but in other contexts, costumes and parties might be a trigger for Will.) Jonathan is convinced to leave Will and “let him have fun” and what happens? The clown attacks. Later that night Jonathan goes to a costume party himself, where he finds Nancy upset and takes her safely home.  Maybe this is how Will’s birthday party ended - with Jonathan finding Will upset, and trying to comfort him. The whole night could be playing out like a parallel to that birthday party, from Jonathan’s perspective. 

What actually happened with Will and Lonnie is up for debate. It’s possible there was a s*xual assault, and that’s why the clown scene in Poltergeist was such a trigger for Will. Or maybe Lonnie thought circuses weren’t “manly” enough for his son to like, and actively tried to scare Will, so he wouldn’t like them anymore. It’s hard to know. Something would have happened though, and probably something pretty formative, because the fear of clowns lasts a long time. 

Something else interesting is that when Mr Clarke is talking about the Upside Down in season one, he uses the metaphor of the flea and the acrobat. Acrobats are a main act in the circus, and, well … fleas. Flea circuses. That’s a thing. Maybe it’s a hint that the trauma that created the Upside Down was circus / clown - related?

Kali, El, and their gang wear clown masks too, when they’re going to confront their childhood trauma, and the child-like Alexei is surrounded by clowns when he is killed at the fair. 

Clowns are just so associated with birthday parties and little kids, that it doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me they’re Will’s biggest fear. Especially as the show keeps dropping hints about Lonnie and Will’s birthday. It feels like there’s more to the story. I have a horrible feeling SOMETHING happened. 

RESPONE (kaypeace):

I think it’s very possible-that maybe he did dress as a clown for Will’s birthday and something happened. We have alexi (paralleled to Will) playing carnival games with kids. Then he's attacked by the Lonnie-look alike : and alexi looks at his wound then stares at all the clowns laughing around him. Joyce and Murray find Alexi bleeding/dy*ng next to a clown statue. As joyce looks in horror and Murray says to her, he was “only gone for a second” (which sounds like something you’d say in relation to a kid you were supposed to watch-running off ). We also had sarah at age 7 die while wearing a gown with clowns on it (Will: it was a 7 the demogorgan it got me). Death of innocence symbolism? Hopper also describes his depression as a cave- he goes through the carnival ride where it mentions a "cave of horrors", which had decor of a tiger and a clown painting. So yeah... whatever happened probably isn't good. So- there may be some symbolism there in relation to Will’s past. Not only because (like I and you have mentioned before) Lonnie is highly associated with birthdays. And canonically we know he mentally scarred jonathan on his b-day. But also, s4’s ‘victor creel’ may be an easteregg to the xmen character victor creed- who had a tradition of tra*matizing family members specifically on their bdays

As another alternative:I could also totally see Lonnie “ruining” circuses for Will because it’s not “manly” to him. Like how Jonathan liked thumper the rabbit-from the film bambi. in the film, Thumper is bambi’s bff, and the hunters are the bad guys who k*ll Bambi’s mother and terrorize all the wildlife. SO yeah- making Jonathan become a hunter, and k*ll a rabbit ,despite this fact, is really messed up. And shows Lonnie has already tried to ‘ruin’ things the boys like. By mentally scarring them in one way or another…

I also mentioned how Will’s bday could even be a trigger for jonathan in a diff post.

if the s4 bts calender hinting it’ll be near Will’s bday and easter it could be relevant to Jonathan.we know in s1 el has tra*matic flashbacks when seeing certain things- coke, closet, cat, etc. And Will in s2 has his ‘anniversary effect’ where memories flood back based on the time of year.But like … Easter has bunnies - could seeing rabbits jog stuff up for Jonathan? El seeing a cat made her have a flashback of brenner trying to make her kill a cat. Would Jonathan seeing like Easter bunny decor jog up a flashback of lonnie making him kill a rabbit? (It happened on his bday too). So Will’s b day being around easter would only fuel that memory. (heck even popped balloons may trigger gunshot symbolism idk). And then for Will there is clowns that could be a tr*gger at a party.

The flea and the acrobat analogy (in relation to Will and circuses is very interesting) and could be foreshadowing- it’s even a title for an episode so I feel like it’s narratively an important hint to …something. similar to a s1 ep being called “the bathtub”.  Also, Will was compared to a circus flea- which were placed in an enclosed space, where heat was applied as they jumped  and tried to escape the increasing temperatures as they burned .Which could relate to my theory about Will having a se*zure due his body overheating due to Lonnie injecting him with m*th.

 If Will’s bday is in s4- I feel like Lonnie will come back in some capacity (flashback or literally). The ‘sorry, I forgot you b day’ card from Lonnie in s2, in Lonnie’s shed Joyce mentioning Will’s b day, the rainbow ‘happy birthday cup’ placed next to Will at Mike’s -while Will explains the supernatural, Lonnie already tra*matizing Jonathan on his bday, etc…

[alteritymonster]

Will the Wise

ST s02e04

Hello y’all! I hope the weekend was okay for everybody. Check out Lucas Appreciation Week all about Lucas Sinclair from Stranger Things 💖🥰 !! And share some thoughts or rb’s of things Lucas-y if you’re feeling it :) He’s a great character who doesn’t get all of the love he’s worth, so I’m happy to see people talking about him more. Thank yous to @lucas-sinclairstan and @thesnarkywillbyersfan for getting this started!!!

Tonight I watched ep. 4 of ST2 and, as a friend reminded me a few days ago, this really is the season where we watch Will suffer, weirdly more so than s1 even. He’s a character I can identify with in some ways, and seeing him struggle sometimes feels familiar (for mundane versions of what he’s dealing with) and also sometimes feels weirdly rewarding, because he is surrounded by other characters who mean to do well by him, and in fact do. There is comfort in that, of a kind. I’m not sure what that says about me.

Speed limit, Joyce! School zone! Jeez.

I’m realizing that if this were a show with characters I didn’t care as much about, I’d probably have spent more time since I’ve gotten into ST thinking about questions like, What is the Upside Down? What exactly is the Mindflayer? etc.

Theories I’ve heard about those questions that have been at all interesting to me have been about them being extensions of Will’s trauma, or El’s, or about them representing adult abuse/neglect in some sense.

Hopper is so scary with El in this episode, more so than I remembered.

I am so uncomfortable right now

(I start to feel like my memory for things I’ve watched is not nearly as good as my memory for things in real life...)

Where is Will’s head at this point? It’s not like he’s in total thrall (yet) to the Mindflayer, not like people will be in s3...

Wheelers, you live in a cul-de-sac, who is even seeing your Reagan sign?

Dustin: “Hi, Max.” 🤣

Mr. Clarke’s monologue while Will starts shunning warmth is maybe a little on the nose...

Will is literally too cool for school right now cough, cough I’m here all week

“He likes it cold.” wow is that line creepy

Hopper. Why do you gotta?

As of this writing, Billy has not yet died.

The most sinister game of duck duck goose ever committed to film.

Joyce is a genius, honestly.

Mike is being an upright dickwaffle to Max just wow

El, why are you cleaning up? You’re just giving Hopper what he wants!

(yup, i’m still upset)

So I guess David Harbour said in a recent interview that the “Dad” stuff underneath the cabin living room is very important? Is “Dad” Hopper’s dad though, or is it Hopper himself?

Owens: “Mistakes have been made.”

He is surprisingly upfront with Nancy and Jonathan though...

Weeds. Stopping the truth from spreading too far...

...protective secretiveness, almost-lying, truth being love but also being dangerous, there are no gay metaphors here though

Secrets: “what are we, in second grade?” Typically, second-graders in the US are 7 years old. Mike will much later hide behind saying he’s acting like a 7-year-old. What could be special about that age to the Duffers? 🧐

I didn’t know Boggle was a thing in the 80s.

“Mama?” 😭😭😭

“Let’s burn that lab to the ground.” She a badass, our Nancy.

I am so sorry about what I know we’re about to be shown is happening to your cat in Dustin’s bedroom, Dustin’s mom.

eewwwww, a freshly shed demoskin

Poor kitty :(

For real Hopper that is an impressive volume of digging

when you can tell the sun is still up when they shot the shot but a filter is making it look like sunset

Hopper drops into the tunnels and then, get this, the camera turns UPSIDE DOWN we get it, jeez

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Were we Gay-Baited? The Issue of Will and Byler/Byeler, a Discussion of Apophenia, Identification, and Empathy

I’ve been struggling with my own feelings since finishing Stranger Things 3. Curiously, I find myself being overcome with rage and disappointment, which isn’t how one is usually meant to feel about a TV show. It wasn’t a bad season by any means, though I do think it was the weakest of the three so far. The one biggest point I find myself stuck on is the treatment of Will Byers, not just as a character, but as a reflection of my own experiences and feelings. Identification happens all the time when we engage with fiction. Sometimes we are meant to do so, while other times it is due to how we interpret otherwise ambiguous aspects of a character or story. It’s an aspect of empathy, as we’re feeling the emotions (or at least what we believe to be the emotions) of a character.  I identified with Will back in Season 1. It looked like they were building, slowly, but surely, towards Will being gay, and I let myself build this idea that his struggles with the Upside Down and the Mindflayer were a metaphor for him coming to terms with these feelings he had for his best friend. I saw the Upside Down as an allegory for being in the closet. A dark, lonely, scary version of the real world. I don’t know if Barb was meant to be seen as a lesbian, but I latched onto that as support for my theory. It was after being left alone by Nancy that she is captured and killed by the Demogorgon. She felt alone and rejected, and subsequently was consumed by the despair that comes with hiding. Will, however, was able to get out due to the overwhelming love and support of his friends and family. Was I wrong to make this assumption? Possibly. Then Season 2 happened, and I don’t know what else we were meant to think.

For reasons we never really find out, at least in the show itself, Will finds himself being stalked by the Mindflayer roughly a year after escaping the Upside Down. This creature wants Will, and apparently only Will. The simple explanation, I suppose, is that it wants what it sees to be his. Will got away, the Mindflayer isn’t ok with that, and this all ensures that our main cast are at the center of the story. I read into it deeper though, which was probably a mistake. This happens during an election year, and Reagan signs are prominently displayed. The AIDS crisis was in full swing, and still mainly seen as a gay disease. Will still doesn’t feel safe, and doesn’t even fully understand how he feels. He flashes back into the Upside Down, feeling targeted and watched. Mike is generally able to pull him back out, and Will seems to seek out the safety of his best friend. Mike is the only one he trusts. Mike is safety, comfort, and unconditional love. He’s special, at least to Will. 

It is again love that saves Will. Joyce, Johnathan, and Mike get through to Will by sharing stories meant to express how they feel about Will. Joyce loves her son, and is proud of his rainbow ship. This was unnecessarily specific if it wasn’t meant to be gay coding. Johnathan shares the building of Castle Byers, Will’s safe haven, after their dad left, The same dad who would call Will a fag. We see Will start to waver, ever so slightly, as they start to reach him, but the kicker is when Mike starts. Mike shares the story of when they first met. He remembers it in surprising detail, and it’s the oldest memory out of the three so far mentioned. Mike is barely keeping himself together as he relates walking up to Will on the first day of kindergarten. He’s so overwhelmed by the memory himself, repeating that Will said yes to being his friend, as if he cherished it immeasurably, and goes on to say it was the best thing he’s ever done. Despite the Mindflayer’s control, Will himself is barely holding back tears at this moment and we see emotion on his face for the first time since being fully possessed. He’s able to start with the morse code. Mike is the one who ultimately broke through. I read this as him being the single most important person in Will’s life, but was it that, or was it simply that he was the last to speak? It’s hard to tell the intent here, especially as Mike’s attention leaves Will as soon as Eleven returns shortly thereafter. All we’re left with is a look at Mike when Will is asked to dance, and his fake smile faltering as he glances at Mike dancing with Eleven. More curious decisions that could be something, or may be nothing.

This brings us to Season 3, where my confusion, annoyance, and anger boil over more with each episode. We start with scenes that I felt did a good job showing an emotional conflict set up by the end of Season 2: how does Mike find room for both Will and Eleven? Mike is shown obsessively attached to Eleven, which is reasonable given his age and his fear of losing her again, and we also see him going to the movies with Will, Lucas, and Max. The latter scene is oddly double-date like, to the point where they don’t sit together, putting Mike and Will separate from Lucas and Max as if to highlight the two separate couples. Lucas and Max get some playful banter in (pretty much the last we see of their relationship this season), and Mike is shown still harboring concern for Will. I found it odd when Mike asked if Will was ok, as Will hadn’t really done anything unusual. The suggestion, at least to me, was that Mike is still paying close attention to Will, and this made sense, as he would have a fear of losing Will the same as he does with Eleven. After this we see Will mope over the amount of time Mike spends with Eleven, but he has no complaints about his other friends. His obsession over D&D is over the top and jarring, and very much out of character. He’s a fully fleshed out character with multiple interests, but all he wants to do is D&D, why? I don’t really have a great answer for that beyond it being bad writing just to set up a later scene. That brings us to their fight, which fully ignited my hopes that they’d continue this build-up.

Will loses it when Mike and Lucas seem to mock his campaign. They don’t really dislike it, they just aren’t engaged due to girl troubles. His anger, though, seems focused on Mike. Will feels betrayed, and laments his loss of the Party due to girls, but he never blames anyone but Mike, even though Lucas and Dustin are similarly focused on girls. He calls El a “stupid girl”, and that wouldn’t be unusual given the situation had we been shown any interactions between El and Will or given exposition to inform us that the two of them get along. Indeed, I got the impression that Will still hasn’t had any meaningful interactions with her, since it’s implied she’s constantly with Mike and only Mike. The only time we see her out with the Party, before the crisis begins anyway, Mike bails with her very quickly. Will resents El. She’s stealing Mike away from him. That’s how I saw it anyway, and I remember feeling that way many a time at that age. At this point, you might still be able to argue it was just Will mad he’s losing his best friend, but then that one line comes. “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” 

This line could have been done in any number of other ways if the implication was anything other than Will is gay and has feelings for Mike (any maybe thought Mike might like him as well). Mike could have told Will he needs to grow up or that it’s not his fault Will doesn’t have a girlfriend. But, no, Will simply doesn’t like girls. Will’s reaction speaks volumes, despite him not being able to talk. Up to that point, Will had been jabbing Mike with accusations, but as soon as Mike says this he’s stone silent. Lips quivering and eyes watering, he stares at Mike in disbelief and fear. To his credit, Mike immediately realizes he crossed a line and softens his approach, something we never see him do when he fights with anyone else. The damage is done, however, and Will’s final words “I guess I did. I really did.” screamed of a breakup to me. Will thought it’d be him and Mike forever. He destroys Castle Byers in a rage, berating himself for being stupid. It’s no longer a safe haven for him, as it is filled with memories of his childhood. A childhood spent with Mike.

This whole scene is never addressed again by the two of them. Lucas is shut down in an attempted apology, and I saw this as Will not wanting an apology from him and not willing to discuss the situation. It still felt very aborted, as if that quick scene with Will and Lucas was meant to tell the audience that, nope, we’re not getting into that. He and Mike have no real significant interactions throughout the rest of the season, though Will is shown reacting negatively anytime Mike expresses his feelings for Eleven. Our attention is never really drawn to it, but it’s there. This takes us to the finale, where Mike’s goodbye to Will is oddly quick for friends as close as they were supposed to be. Mike expresses worry that Will would move on and replace him, and Will reassures him that such a thing would never happen. I like how they had Mike smile perhaps his most genuine smile of the season here, but it still felt odd. When they hug outside right before the end, it’s again quick and not indicative of the emotion that should be there. Will seems to linger in the hug a bit, but Mike staggers away to Eleven. Mike’s attention seems to be solely on Eleven as the Byers leave, though he glances back at the house that he shouldn’t really associate with her. The final scene is a near perfect mirror of Season 1 when he thought Will was dead. It was confusing, possibly intentionally so, but why? 

Mr. Clark brings up apophenia when speaking with Joyce. It’s the tendency for humans to spot patterns where there are none. As humans, we like for there to be explanations for everything. There are no coincidences, we just haven’t figured out how things fit together. Part of me wonders if this whole line of conversation was targeted at fans, such as myself, who read too deeply into Mike and Will’s relationship, and possibly Will’s possibly homosexuality. I could understand how it could be used to cast doubt on Joyce’s fears. However, it ends up having no real bearing on the plot, as Joyce is relatively quickly shown to be correct in her suspicions. 

In the end, I’m left to wonder if this whole idea of Will being gay, and possibly Mike and Will being subtextually written as a couple, was simply a case of apophenia. My empathy for Will and identification with him could have caused me to misinterpret things to fit my own personal experiences and unfulfilled adolescent wishes. The dissonance caused by what I thought and what I’m now seeing is what is causing my anger and disappointment. It’s having me relive what I felt so long ago where all I wanted was to see a boy like me happy on TV or in movies. I thought this was going to be what I never had, but, though we still have Season 4 yet to come, it looks like it was simply a case of seeing what we wanted to see. Still, the way they did it reeks of gay-baiting, and I feel used.

[ottorocket808]

Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

I wonder how they coaxed her back to Mikes house it was probably easier than I think because they’re also kids and it’s raining and cold because I’m pretty sure it’s November in Indiana. I’m just gonna say that the lunge clap isn’t the best way to tell if somebody is deaf I’m pretty sure they’re gonna flinch regardless because you lunged at them. 🤣🤣🤣 Modesty don’t exist where she’s from y’all cut her some slack. Wait is that blood? Wait it’s probably from her nose. I don’t even know where the nearest ‘nuthouse’ is why does Lucas? How did Dustin and Lucas both forget that they snuck out the house and therefore telling any adults right now would be a bad idea?

Yo Joyce is talkin about spending $2000-$3000 on missing posters and he’s in a different dimension and this is in 1983 that might as well be $20,000-$30,000 now I know my mom would know my voice anywhere they gotta stop doubting Joyce no matter what interference came down the line.

Hop and these pills are gettin on my nerves you are not House sir sidenote Hops reaction to Jonathan volunteering to go to his dads house felt like dick measuring why wouldn’t he want him to go looking for Will if seeing the cops would mean he runs again which means even longer until he comes home.

Don’t start shit with your little brother when he knows your boyfriend was in your room last night without your parents knowledge or consent Nancy. Sidenote it’ll never not be suspicious to hear your kids say ‘nothing’ together when you ask them a question.

I think Wills been missing for 2 or 3 days at this point where is he getting water? I’m pretty sure this kid is well on his way to dehydration on top of breathing in the toxic atmosphere of The Upside Down Will is a strong little dude.

I think I’ve spotted Els first Eggo that might be why she likes them so much Mike gave her her first one I mean Eggos are good but plain with no syrup no butter and lukewarm and she still likes them more than anything else. El’s hesitation towards telling any adults makes perfect sense after what happened to Benny.

Calling a lady crazy who’s kid just went missing feels a little insensitive I mean what did she do in regular my kid isn’t missing life that would make him say that?

Steve’s hair looks so much better but he’s kind of a dick because he invited Nancy to the ‘party’ not her and Barbara which isn’t really a problem is that he did it in front of her but if you pay attention to his ‘friends’ they aren’t any better in all honesty this is just a double date. Nancy’s little brother hangs out with Jonathan’s little brother all the time you’d think she’d stand up for him just because of that I mean she looks legit guilty listening to the others make fun of him I mean how many times has Jonathan been at her house to pick up Will?

Mike said damn goin to school I have girl who doesn’t think I’m weird at home.

I’m pretty sure this is what older siblings are for sharing music and teaching you the ropes to life and giving advice.

Jonathan also said damn goin to school

Lonnie still hasn’t made an appearance and his youngest son has been seen in 2-3 days he ain’t even called Joyce back and he knows that he’s missing and that there’s been full on search party and he’s been AWOL this whole time.

Where the hell did they find a Pinto? Joyce is kind of a boss she got a phone and a pack of camels for free and two weeks pay in advance.

Am I trippin or did the news call the power company a completely different name? If they did who are The Bad Men supposed to be pretending to be? I wonder why Hop didn’t notice the goop on the wood.

I need to know how them getting 3rd in the science fair was political what was their project? How does she know? It’s almost like she was about to start hyperventilating did she see him in her sleep because as much as the Demogorgon scared her I can’t imagine her looking for him on purpose. Was the baby not strapped into her car seat because Mikes mom got into the house way too fast.

I feel like Hop should be concerned that one of his officers was gullible enough to believe that anybody could survive that drop into cement I mean water.

Man these govt people suck Justice for Benny.

Lonnie doesn’t have a single picture of his kids in that house if he did his girlfriend would know who Jonathan is.

Shout out to Dustin for picking up on keywords like ‘Danger’ and El is racking up favorite character points with the double door slam topped off with the locked door El is in the lead as my favorite 2nd is a three way tie between Joyce Mike and Dustin.

Lonnie won’t be getting father of the year anytime soon but his car is sick 1972 Oldsmobile 442 I ain’t mad at it at all. I don’t know why people in small towns swear that people in the city are more ‘real’ you have bullshitters everywhere Lonnie should know he was fake In Hawkins and the only thing that changed was his address and the car he drives.

Barb wasn’t invited to the ‘party’ (double date) and Nancy knows this Steve said do you wanna come to my house not you guys y’all or any other variation. Nancy begging her to go and using Wills vigil as her suggested excuse says a hell of a lot about her character she knows that it’s only supposed to be the four of them because again this is a double date her making Barb be the 5th wheel so she would feel better sucks.

Mike choking on his milk cause he sees El coming down the stairs followed by Dustin’s ‘spasm is still funny but Nancy using Wills Vigil to sneak to see her boyfriend still rubs me the wrong way.

And that torn piece of El’s gown makes its appearance good eye Mr. Clarke.

The boys use so many words she doesn’t know I wonder how lost in conversation she was in the beginning. Dustin looked so grossed out by the spit swear part and I don’t blame him. El looked super suspicious of what Mike was saying about friends telling each other things that parents don’t know.

Parking 3 blocks away is a little excessive. Barb really should’ve just dropped her off and went home. Nancy should know her best friend well enough to know that parties aren’t her thing. Nancy likes to play stupid but she’s not she should’ve just gone by herself there’s nothing wrong with wanting to spend time with the guy that you like but dragging your friend along is unnecessary.

Ew Hop wears tighty whiteys wait who is that lady? So I have the subtitles on and they say her name is Sandra still don’t know who she is but at least we got a name.

El’s powers are crazy strong no wonder they want her back so badly she touches the D&D board closes her eyes for a second and knows which piece is Wills. Dustin is in the drama club? I wonder if he is a lighting and sound guy. You can tell that shit just got real to these kids.

Quick question how close do the Byers live to Steve? I mean for Jonathan to hear Carol scream it’s gotta be pretty close maybe Will had to run way farther than I originally thought. Everything about Barb screams ‘I don’t wanna be here’ shorty still has her coat on she looks extra uncomfortable you can tell this isn’t her thing Barb is a better friend than Nancy deserves. She cut her hand trying to shotgun a beer to make Nancy happy and when she goes inside looking for bandages Nancy doesn’t help she stays outside and plays with her not boyfriend and his ‘friends’ There’s a strong ass lesson about peer pressure wrapped around these five. Jonathan has gotta know that this is creepy I mean he’s hiding behind a bush damn near frantically taking pictures of the popular kids having fun how’d he switch so fast from looking for his brother to this weird shit?

This is the 2nd phone Will burnt up tryna call home man they are $30 a piece man we need a better communication attempt. Ask and ye shall receive sidenote I really do like this song I wanna learn to play the intro where is the dog I know the Demogorgon didn’t eat him but he just disappears. I feel bad for Joyce she’s always alone when the weird shit happens because the Demogorgon coming out the wall like that was some scary shit and nobody but us saw it. That’s how you know she ain’t worried about somebody running off with her whip Joyce has the doors unlocked the windows rolled down with the keys in the visor.

I don’t understand why she begged Barb to go to this thing if she was gonna have sex with Steve anyway and then talking about go home how Nancy she’s supposed to be spending the night at your house to help cover the truth about what’s going on. And Barb being half stubborn half a good friend goes down to the pool to wait for her friend to finish losing her virginity so they can go Barb should’ve gone home and ignored Nancy the next day at school. How did Jonathan not hear The Demogorgon growling or Barb scream and he was what 30 ft from the pool?

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

Right-Side Up AU, Part Three: It’s the End of the World {AO3} {tumblr} {Part One} {Part Two}

Chapter Two → The Radio

“Shit, shit, shit!” 

Mike rubbed his eyes as he walked down the hall, stopping at Jonathan’s door. He could hear Nancy’s muffled voice, shouting something about how they had to hurry the hell up; Mike didn’t remember her saying she was staying over last night. He knew he should probably knock on the door, but, well, he wasn’t very good at that yet, and by the time he remembered that rule had been established he was already pushing the door open. 

“Mike!” Nancy shouted. She had just thrown a dress on, shoving on a belt as she shouted. “What did we say about knocking?” 

“I forgot.” Mike admitted, noticing Jonathan on the other side of the room, also throwing on clothes. “I thought you went home last night.” 

“Yes, well, um. Decided to stay over. Surprise!” Nancy said. She gave him a smile, and continued, “But, unfortunately, we can’t do anything fun right now, because the power outage knocked out Jonathan’s alarm, we forgot to reset it, and if we don’t move we’re gonna be late for work.” 

“You hate work.” Mike said. 

“Work’s not that bad.” Jonathan said, quickly grabbing his camera bag. 

“Maybe for you.” Nancy said bitterly. “They love you.” 

“They love you!” 

“Yeah, as a coffee fetcher.” 

“Look, they’re gonna realize how great a writer you are someday-” 

“Do you want me to throw them across a room?” Mike asked. 

Nancy sighed. “No, but put a pin in that conversation. We gotta go. Tell Will we said ‘hi.’” She leaned over, giving him a kiss on the forehead, and said, “You’re taller than me now, stop it.” 

“I’m taller than everyone, I can’t control it.” 

Nancy laughed. “Alright, I’m going out the window.” 

“Why?” 

“Um, more fun.” 

“Can’t argue there.” 

Mike waved at Jonathan and Nancy, and then walked back to his room, where he’d forgotten his bag. He slung it over his shoulder, returned to the kitchen, and said, “Nancy’s climbing out the window.” 

Joyce sighed, looking up from the table, where Will was drowning his pancakes in syrup. “I wish she wouldn’t. She can just say hello.” 

“Why doesn’t she sleep over with me? My room’s big enough.” Mike said. 

Will giggled, as Joyce very slowly said, “Well, she just… wants to spend time with her boyfriend.” 

Mike nodded as he sat back down. “Like me and El.” 

“...sure.” 

Jonathan ran by, and Joyce jumped to her feet. “Oh, hey, hey! Wait up!” 

Jonathan paused, an apology in his eyes. “No, no, I’ll eat at work-” 

“No, cheek.” she laughed a little as she wiped a lipstick mark off of his face. 

He gave her a nervous smile and said, “Alright, gotta run. See you later.” 

“Alright!” Joyce turned back to the kids. “Will, slow on the syrup.” 

“Yeah, it’s my turn.” Mike took the syrup and immediately dumped it onto his eggs. 

Will glanced up towards where Jonathan disappeared. “Can you make him and Nancy stop being gross? They’re as bad as El and Mike.” 

“Shut up.” 

Joyce smiled a little. “I don’t think you’ll find it gross when you fall in love.” 

Will hesitated, before stabbing at his pancake. “Yeah. Maybe.” 

Mike gave him a curious glance, but kept quiet. 

“Now, hold on! Hold on!” 

El groaned and turned around. “Dad, this bag of shit is heavy!” 

“And Steve has to get to work, you don’t want him to be late.” Max added, tying her hair back into a ponytail; she’d recently got more used to tying it up, to keep it out of her face. 

Hopper sighed and gave them all quick looks. “I don’t want you out late in the field.” 

“Dad.” 

“Back to the Byers’ by ten, okay?” 

“Back by Dustin, got it.” Max nodded. “Can we go now?” 

“And El.” Hopper gave her a look. “Three inches.” 

El shot Max a glare, who shrugged an I didn’t tell him! shrug. “Dad, chill, it’s just Mike. What’s he gonna do? Feed me too many eggos?” 

“I trust Mike,” Hopper said, and he put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “I just don’t want you growing up too fast, okay?” 

“Dad, don’t be weird.” 

They heard a car horn beep from the driveway. “Great, now you pissed off Steve.” Max said. “Thanks, Hop.” 

“Stay safe.” 

“You, too.” El nodded. She and Max ran out the door, running towards the car. 

“Seriously, though, chill with Mike for today, it’s weird.” Max said. 

“You’re just mad cause you wanna date Lucas.” El said. “Seriously, Max, be more direct with your flirting. He was raised in a Lab, he doesn’t pick up on that stuff.” 

Max’s face turned as red as her hair. “I’m not flirting with Lucas. I just like hanging out with him.” 

“Sure.” 

They hopped into the backseat, where Lucas gave them a wave. El slammed her bag onto the ground as Max shut the door, and Steve said, “You know, if I’m late for work, I don’t get money, and Dustin and Lucas don’t get arcade trips.” 

“Sorry.” El huffed. “Dad was being weird about me dating again.” 

“What does that mean?” Dustin asked, as Steve pulled out of the driveway. “Why would he be weird?” 

“Because El’s not a baby anymore and has a boyfriend and keeps sucking face with him.” Max said. 

“Max, I’m going to throw you out the car window.” 

“Do it! I dare you!” 

“No one’s dying in this car while I’m driving!” Steve said. 

“Obviously she wouldn’t die in the car.” Max said. 

“No mutinies or I turn this car around and drop you off at the goddamn grocery store.” 

“I think we’re still banned from that.” Lucas said. 

“Exactly!” 

The kids burst into the Byers house just as Joyce was grabbing her things to leave. 

“Hi, Ms Byers!” El waved, running past. “Where’s my boyfriend?” 

“Will’s room.” Joyce said, smiling at the other boys. “They’re both in there. You’ll be alright?” 

“Yep! Be back before dark!” Dustin waved. 

“Won’t fall into any alternate dimensions!” Max added. 

“Call if you need anything.” Joyce nodded. “Have fun!” 

El was already gone, and the boys and Max shared a quick look before ducking into Will’s room. El was, indeed, already sitting beside Mike on the floor, the two of them locked in a kiss. Will was focused intently on his drawing, enough so that he noticed neither them nor the teens entering. 

“El, we talked about this whole ‘being gross’ thing.” Max groaned, averting her eyes to the ground. 

El flipped her off. 

Will finally noticed everyone, sitting up from his doodle of a butterfly. “Did you get it?” 

“Yeah, and we owe Mr Clarke money.” Max said. 

El pulled away from Mike, glaring at her. “We’re borrowing it.” 

“It’s a lot of shit.” 

“He said we can do it so long as we show him. He likes encouraging science, and when we told him the boys had never built a radio-” 

“This is gonna be the shit!” Lucas said. 

“We better get going, then.” Max said. “Come on. You, too, lovebirds.” 

“What, you don’t wanna draw?” Mike asked, eyes wide. 

“This radio’s gonna take some time, now move your ass!” 

“Geez, fine.” El rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be the dictator.” 

“And you don’t have to be glued to Mike, but there ya are.” 

“Max?” Will asked, leaning on Dustin’s shoulder while they walked, “Do we have to go so far?” 

“Do you wanna carry the bag?” 

“I could carry the bag.” Mike volunteered, stretching out his hand. The bag then flew out of Max’s arms, levitating beside them. “Easy.” 

“Mike!” El giggled, though she tried to look stern. “Stop it, somebody could see!” 

“We’re going up a hill, who else is here?” Lucas shrugged. 

“I’ll just-” Mike waved his hand, and the bag flew to the top of the hill, up ahead. 

To Mike and El’s confusion, Max looked a bit annoyed. “Cool. Thanks.” she said blankly, before moving back towards Will to say something about his art. 

El glanced around the field as they finally made their way to the top. It was a bit darker than they’d thought it would be, but that was alright, they could stay out a bit late. It wasn’t as if they had anywhere to be. 

“Isn’t Summer great?” El whispered to Mike, leaning on his shoulder. “No school, so we can hang out all day.” 

“School sucks, you should stop going.” Mike said, fiddling with her hand, running his fingers inbetween hers. 

“I dunno. You might like it. You like learning.” 

“I don’t like crowds and sitting still.” 

“You liked Mr Clarke, when he met you in the store.” 

“Everyone likes Mr Clarke.” 

“He was nice at the Snow Ball.” Dustin remembered. “He told me and Lucas that we looked good.” 

“He was lying.” Max quipped, glancing back at him. 

Dustin flipped her off. “We looked great! Didn’t we, Will?” 

Will bit his lip. “I guess.” 

Dustin’s face fell slightly. “You guess? What does that mean?” 

“I don’t know what’s pretty and what’s not.” Will said quickly. “I mean, with clothes.” 

“I mean, that much is obvious.” Max rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “You still dress like Jonathan.” 

“I like looking like Jonathan.” 

“You like looking like a nerd?” 

“Yeah?” 

“What’s a nerd?” Lucas asked. 

“You all are.” Max said. “And we’re here.” 

They stopped at the top of the hill, where the bag waited, and Max spread out her arms. “Look around, my labrat friends! This is what nature looks like!” 

“I hate nature.” Lucas muttered, flopping onto the grass. “And walking.” 

“Don’t call them lab rats.” El said, leaning her chin onto Mike’s shoulder. 

“It’s alright, it’s funny, and we know she’s not being mean.” Dustin said. “When do we get started on the radio?”  

“Right now!” Max knelt down to unzip the bag. “You know, I haven’t been up here since the mall opened. It’s weird having it in the view. Right, El?” 

“Hm?” El and Mike had sat down beside each other. “Oh, yeah. I guess.” 

Max bit her lip and turned to face the other boys. “El and I would sometimes come up here when Hop needed us out of the house. Play D&D or have a picnic or throw rocks.” 

“Build radios?” Will asked, peering into the bag of supplies. 

“Not really.” Max laughed. “This is new for us, too. Right, El-? Oh, they’re making out again, okay. You boys wanna help me get this up?” 

“Of course!” Dustin beamed, racing forwards and brushing past Will to pull something out; Will backed up slightly, startled. “What’s this do?” 

“Well, that’s part of the legs- no, don’t just- lemme get the instructions Mr Clarke made us first.” She pulled out a slip of paper. “It shouldn’t be hard. Once it’s up, we can try to hack into other radio signals.” 

“To listen to people?” Dustin asked, uncertain. 

“No, no. Just find music that stations around here haven’t got.” Max said. “El and I used to talk about doing this all the time, and now we can. Isn’t that great, Ellie?” 

El didn’t respond, so Lucas said, “How do we start?” 

Max smiled at him and spread out the instructions. “Alright, so- first of all, Mike and El need to get their asses over here.” 

“Fine.” El said, her and Mike finally dragging themselves over. 

“Now,” Max said, “We start with the initial setup.” 

Melvad’s was empty again. Joyce had gotten used to this over the last few weeks, and had found new ways to occupy her time, such as fixing up old clothes for Will, or sewing an extra pillow or blanket with spare material. At the moment, she was patching up a shirt when Hopper came in. 

“I’m going to guess,” Joyce said, barely glancing up, “That you’re here to complain about our children again.” 

“I’m not complaining.” 

“They’re spending the day out again, though.” Joyce said. 

“It just worries me. I don’t like them running around without supervision.” 

“They’re fourteen, Hop, what are they gonna do?” 

Hopper smiled a little, leaning against the counter. “Well. You remember the shit we got up to when we were fourteen?” 

Joyce finally looked up, a smile brightening her face. “Okay, but we were idiots, and four out of six of them have superpowers. And two of them can kill any threat without so much as breaking a sweat.” 

Hopper sighed. “It just… you know, feels like El and Max are always gone.” 

“Well, they’re at that independent stage.” Joyce shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I mean, we always knew this was going to happen with our kids, when they hit that age they wanna try things on their own. It’s part of being a parent.” 

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” 

“So long as you don’t take it out on Mike.” Joyce said. “Because Nancy might kill you.” 

“If she doesn’t kill her bosses first.” 

Joyce bit her lip. Nancy had ranted to her about the sexism she faced in the office once or twice, and she was starting to wonder if it had been appropriate to mention that to Hopper. Of course she made him swear not to bother all the editors of the paper, because she knew if she didn’t he’d burst in guns blazing and find some reason to arrest them all, and that would just cause more trouble for Nancy. She was already doing so much for them, it would be unfair to throw her under the bus like that. 

“Still, Hop, you know what Mike’s been through- what they’ve all been through. It makes sense they’re all a bit…” 

“Feral?” 

“That wasn’t the word I was looking for.” 

“Joyce, Lucas and Dustin still dig through the trash whenever they’re over to try and find ‘useful things,’ and one time I swear to God I saw Mike bark back at a dog.” 

“Oh my God.” Joyce laughed. “Are you serious?” 

“Of course I am. And that’s who El decided to date.” 

“Well, first she decided to hide him in your attic and rescue his friends from a government base, and then she decided to date him.” 

“Don’t remind me.” 

“I feel like you’re going to be reminded for the rest of your life.” Joyce hesitated, and then said, “Look, if it’s really bothering you, talk to them.” 

“It feels like every time I try I just- you’re better at words than me, why don’t you do it?” 

“Cause they’re not my kids.” Joyce said, leaning over the counter. “Listen, why don’t you write down what you’re thinking and use it as, like, a cue card? Get it all out and then you’ll remember-” 

The door swung open, then, a small bell going off. Joyce stood up and said, “Hold on, customer. Be right back!” 

She ran off to the door, smiling jovially at the woman who came in, looking for something for her son’s party. Hopper smiled after Joyce, content for the moment to just watch her. As she grinned, sunlight bouncing off her hair, he couldn’t help thinking how perfect she was. 

Max flipped a switch, and grinned as they heard some fuzzy music. “Y’all! I found another channel!” 

It was getting darker, and Lucas kept nervously checking his watch; if they were late back to the Byers’ house, they’d worry everyone. Will and Dustin were spread out on the grass, giggling and pointing towards the stars; Dustin had just gotten an astrology book, and was excitedly pointing out constellations to his friend. 

“I had no idea there were so many stars.” Will muttered. 

“I never would have thought of making shapes out of them.” Dustin said. “Who do you think was the first person to do that?” 

“I don’t know, but sometimes I like seeing things in the sky.” Will said. “Like, there- you said that was the Dragon?” 

“Draco, yeah. After the Latin name.” 

“Well it kinda looks more like… a snake. There aren’t legs, but you can see the head. And that star down there, that could make a tongue.” 

“Hey, you’re right!” 

Lucas sat beside them, pointing up. “Look at those stars.” They followed his finger, as he moved it to point out specific shapes. “It looks like a bear.” 

“Yeah!” Will nodded, sitting up a little. 

“I mean, there’s already a bear constellation.” 

“You mean the one that looks like a pot?” 

Max glanced away from the boys’ conversation, her attention drifting to Mike and El; while he braided flowers into her hair, she was making some kind of grass chain. Max moved over, saying, “Hey, mind if I join in?” 

“Not at all.” El said. She finished her chain and started tying it into a circle. “But we should probably get back soon.” 

“We only barely finished the radio, though.” Max said, starting to tie two stalks of grass together. 

“But it’s getting darker. They’ll freak, you know they will.” 

“We’re probably late.” Mike said, not sounding very concerned. 

Max sighed. “Well, maybe if you guys had been more help it would have been set up faster.” 

“We were helping.” El said. 

“Don’t fight.” Mike said, shrinking back slightly. 

“Sorry.” El turned around, putting her hand on his. She glanced at Max and said, “We can come back later. Maybe tomorrow?” 

Max bit her lip. “Sure.” 

El waited a moment, to see if she would say anything, but after a while, she tried to shrug off the awkwardness, and then put her grass chain on Mike’s head. “Grass crown for the Grass King.” she said. 

“What does a Grass King do?” Mike asked, smiling. 

“He wears grass crowns and carries his Grass Queen back down the hill.” 

“Alright, then.” Mike stood up, and El let out a delighted laugh as he picked her up. 

Max rolled her eyes. “Listen, El, just because your boyfriend is tall-” 

“Race back to the Byers, go!” El shouted, and Mike nodded at Max and took off. 

“Hey, no fair!” Max jumped to her feet. “Player Two, get back here! You have to-” she groaned. “Boys, come on, we’re racing back!” 

“Okay!” Lucas jumped to his feet, excited. “I’m faster than Mike, let’s go!” 

“Um,” Will bit his lip. “I might stay here a bit longer. Stars.” 

Dustin noticed his glance, and said, “I’ll stay with him. Make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble.” 

“Okay, but if you don’t meet us at the Byers’ in thirty minutes,” Max said, “Nancy and Hopper are gonna come up here and kill you themselves.” 

Will’s eyes widened, until he realized Max was joking. Lucas waved at him and Dustin and then ran down, grabbing Max’s hand and dragging her after the rapidly disappearing Mike and El. 

Once they were out of earshot, Dustin glanced back at Will and said, “What is it?” Will shook his head. “Come on, it’s okay. You can tell me.” 

Will sat up, shaking his head again. “It’s dumb.” 

“I doubt it.” 

Finally, Will moved over to the radio. “I was… I was hoping we could… try and call Kali. And her gang. I… I worry about them. They’re still out there alone.” 

Dustin watched him silently for a moment, and said, “That’s not dumb.” 

“But they won’t have a radio. I don’t even know where they are. I was just gonna- gonna flip through channels until I-I heard something- this is dumb.” 

“No!” Dustin scooted forwards, his eyes lighting up. “Here. Start flipping through, and I’ll try to force a vision. Maybe it’ll tell me what channel they’re on.” Will shook his head wildly. “Seriously, it’ll be fine. I’m getting better at it! I’ve been practicing when I’m bored, and I’ve been able to predict small things! Sometimes I can get the visions to tell me what I want! Let me try, okay?” 

Will hesitated. “Only if you’re okay-” 

“Of course! Come on, start flipping!” 

Will hesitated. “How- how do I do that?” 

“Shit, I forgot you don’t know… well, just gimme a moment. I’ll see something.” 

Dustin scooted back, sitting cross-legged and gripping his hands together, hmming slightly. Will’s eyes widened, and he fiddled with the grass, watching his friend try to slow his breathing and concentrate. 

After a moment, Dustin’s hands flew to the radio controls, and he started moving very fast, so fast Will blinked in amazement and leaned forwards, trying to pay attention to what he did. 

“Did you see something?” Will asked. 

“Just… a… flash…” Dustin said, very slowly. “Recently I’ve been getting small… flashes… hold on.” 

He landed on a channel, and Will said, “Is it Kali? Wilder? Mick? F-” 

“I don’t know, I just… had a flash…” Dustin leaned back. “Do you hear anything?” 

Will listened, and then slumped. “No.” 

“It- it could’ve been wrong. Or maybe the wrong time. I can try again-” 

Will shook his head. “It’s not your responsibility. Mike and I should’ve- I should’ve figured something better than just running.” 

“You were in a rush. And if you and Mike had arrived any later, we would’ve been Demodog food.” 

“Well, that was mainly Mike. I… I wasn’t useful.” 

Dustin’s eyes widened. “The hell does that mean? We were all useful! We all went into the tunnels and saved Mike!” 

“I-” 

At that moment, they heard a faint voice from the radio.

“What the…” 

Dustin moved back to the controls, adjusting them slightly. “Does that sound familiar?” Will shook his head again. It sounded male, but it didn’t sound like Funshine or Axel. In fact, it sounded like gibberish.

“Didn’t Max pack a recorder?” Dustin asked. Will nodded, and ran to the bag, which she’d forgotten beside them. He brought out the recorder, remembering her saying something about how her and El used to sing into it and maybe they could do group karaoke or something. He brought it to Dustin, who had finally gotten the voice much louder. 

And now that it was clearer, Will understood what the man was saying. He gaped, and turned to Dustin. Almost instinctively, he tapped on the side of the radio, several dots and dashes. 

Dustin nodded. “That’s Russian. Mike knows Russian, right?” 

Will shuddered, tapping out Papa taught him little. Enough? 

“Record it, we’ll see if we can have him translate when we get back.” 

Will handed him the recorder, thinking. He recognized one or two words thrown in- the boys had all been given basic Russian lessons, in case they were “needed undercover”, whatever that meant. But Mike had been given the most, because he could see people. In the Void. At least, they thought so. Mike never paraded his lessons from the Lab around, but Will remembered some of the doctors discussing “classes,” and occasionally Mike muttering words in other languages under his breath while visiting. 

Dustin was recording, so he didn’t want to speak aloud. So instead he waved his hand until Dustin looked at him, and then he tapped on the ground. A simple question: Do you really think this is important? 

Dustin responded very quickly. At least it will be interesting.

[anoptimisticsnarker]

Well, this episodes starts off with them being found out and chased out from Mike's home. I'm glad the researchers didn't know Lucas saw them because it gave Mike, Dustin, and El enough time to book it out before they were cornered inside and would have been forced to give El up. Also, seeing El flip a car over them so they could escape was badass. And everyone's made up and are friends, which is good because they're now on the run and have no time for petty squabbles anymore.

Joyce has to deal with Jonathan being in handcuffs, and Hopper is determined to know why he had all that equipment in the back of his car. I guess these two will finally get to talking about what they've experienced...

These people are just ransaking the Wheeler's home trying to find El, all while not answering any questions Mike's parents might have about her. Yeah, that doesn't seem suspicious at all. Really, if this were me, them just rollin' up on my apartment would have been enough for me to just close the door on them. And the way the leader is speaking... I wouldn't trust you to fucking throw me off a cliff without screwing it up. He gives off major red flags here; why are they trusting this man?

Wow, they really are on the run. Lucas is showing them how the place is stationed, they're trying to formulate a plan to get access inside, and all the while, they're being hunted down. If it wasn't for the bus they were nearby, they would have been caught for sure. They scrambled into that bus and hide with the swiftness.

I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Winona Ryder does such a fantastic job as Joyce; you really hear the heartbreak and see it in her expressions that Joyce feels like she's losing Jonathan just like she did Will. I'm glad Jonathan is there to reassure her he's still there, and that he's listening when she says he doesn't have to feel alone because he's not alone. He has her. Ugh, the emotions...

And one of the bullies has just revealed that El is the one who broke his arm and told Hopper basically everything he wanted and needed to hear about her. This is getting good...

Can Steve's friends be next on the list of people who get snatched up? Steve might be terrible, but his friends are worse. At least Steve realized what was done to Nancy was wrong. His friends didn't bother trying to see what they did was wrong. And then his friend has the nerve to call him out for not fighting him even though Steve is bleeding from the left eye. Yeah, let's do that. God, when will he ditch those assholes?

Well, looks like Hopper and his group have made contact with Mike and his group. Hopefully they can meet up without El getting taken away or any other complications. Also, Nancy, yeah, why would you try to go home knowing all of this is happening. Going home is the last thing you can do now.

Steve is actually cleaning up the mess his friend made. Say it isn't so. This change probably won't stick this season, so I'm holding my breath and waiting for him to relapse back into Asshole!Steve sometime during the last two episodes.

Well, I don't feel bad for Mike's mom for feeling like a prisoner. She did this to herself by opening up her doors to these people. And also, "This is our government; they're on our side." I don't think I've heard someone be so out of touch ever. The dad in general seems very out of touch with his kids, and seems willing to just not want to entertain the idea that maybe Nancy is involved.

They were this close to getting caught, but luckily, Hopper came at the knick of time and knocked the person, who was about to potentially shoot some kids down mind you, out. Their hesitancy at leaving at first made sense, but who would you rather deal with. Hopper or the bad people?

Well, Attempt Number 1 at trying to contact Will or Barb has ended in failure. I do get that El is tired though given the day they've had and all. Between keeping Mike from falling to his demise, breaking a kid's arm, and lifting a van clear off the ground, she's done a lot with her powers. ...Or she can use the bathtub...

I like Mr. Clarke very much. Despite being on a date and clearly trying to get back to that, he was willing to give Dustin an explanation to what he wanted to know, with Dustin taking great care to write everything down. He has such a love of science, and I can't believe he's pivotal to fixing everything.

Hopper is really coming through acting like a father for Jonathan. Hmm, between this and Hopper's chemistry with Joyce, it makes me wonder if something will come from this. Hmm...

Mike teasing Nancy about Jonathan and Nancy teasing Mike about Eleven. Both of them are denying it so hard, and it's painful to watch. (Why the fuck you lyin'? Why you always lyin'? Hmm, oh my God. Stop fucking lyin'!) Mike and Eleven at basically canon at this point, and while Nancy is with Steve, anyone with eyes can tell she has better chemistry with Jonathan. It's only a matter of time.

Speaking of things not entirely plot relevant but tickle my fancy, Joyce is acting like such a Mom to El, and I love it. She might not be El's mom, but if that were to happen later on down the line, I wouldn't complain. Even though getting Will back has been big for her, making sure El is safe and comfortable meant more to her, and that's just... fuck, I love it!

All this prep work to get Eleven to where she needs to go actually ended in success. I thought there would be a few more hiccups on the way for them to have this happen, but no, it's happening. And I have faith that if things get too intense, Mike, Joyce and the others will make sure Eleven gets out of there.

That whole scene of El trying to channel Will and Barb was intense. We now have confirmation that Barb is indeed dead (though that was kind of obvious given what happened the last time we saw her), but Will is still kicking around. They will find him; this I have confidence about. And Joye consoling Eleven after it was all over... She really is acting like her mom. ...Can Joyce be El's mom? Like, can that be a thing that happens?

Also, Joyce took charge when Hopper was about to go alone to try and find Will. She had the right idea; this is something no one can do alone, and being alone is honestly what got Barb killed and Will taken in the first place. There's safety in numbers, and she realizes this. Also, Will's her son, so she has every right to go. And she told Jonathan to stay and watch over the others, which is needed. Nancy's too frazzled over Barb's death to do it, and El's also in distress because of what she saw.

Despite that, Nancy and Jonathan are setting out to finally kill the Demogorgon once and for all, while Joyce and Hopper got caught trying to sneak into the lab. Wonder how they'll get out of this. Also, the Demogorgon I think finally caught up to Will. That ending scene almost made me jump, but I was able to turn my earbuds down in time this time, so it didn't.

[thesorceressyennefer]

This was written for the lovely @paladin-wheeler’s birthday! I hope you like it, Ju!

Pairing: Mike/Eleven Word Count: 1.2k Set in summer of ‘87.

Mike didn’t exactly hate his summer job as a bag boy at Hawkins Grocery but it was hard not to be a little bit bitter when he saw the jobs his friends got.

Max’s job was giving skateboarding lessons to rich kids who lived in Loch Nora. She worked less hours than all of them and made the most money.

Lucas worked at the movie theatre and he got free movie tickets and all the popcorn he could eat.

Dustin had it even better: he had scored a job at Radioshack and got a 20% employee discount (which he took advantage of by spending his entire paycheck at RadioShack).

El also had it made. She was Flo’s assistant and she got to sit in the air conditioning all day. In the six weeks of summer break, she had already amassed numerous stories—both hilarious and terrifying—about the perps her dad arrested.

At least he had it better than Will who had to work with his mom at Melvald’s.

Still, as Mike spent twenty hours a week bagging groceries, straightening shelves, and wrangling shopping carts, it was hard not to feel like Hawkins Grocery was taking over his life.

It also didn’t help when El told him that his job didn’t need to exist.

It all started when Mike and El had gone out for ice cream (Mike’s treat—one of the few benefits to his job at Hawkins Grocery was that he could take El out on real dates) and run into Mr. Clarke. It was then that they realized Mr. Clarke hadn’t seen El since the boys snuck her into Hawkins Middle.

When Mr. Clarke approached them and said, “Hey, I remember you. Miss Eleanor from Sweden, correct?” Mike felt his blood run cold.

El and Mike stammered out an explanation that Eleanor had moved here because she wanted to go to school in America and Hopper had taken her in because Mike’s house already had too many kids. It seemed like Mr. Clarke bought it, but it had still left them both on edge.

El decided she was going to learn everything she could about Sweden to keep up her cover with Mr. Clarke.

Which is why one day, she looked up from the book she was reading and said, “Did you know most grocery cashiers in Europe get to sit?”

“What?” Mike asked, still absorbed in his own novel. “They do?”

El nodded and added, “And in most stores, customers bag their own groceries.”

Mike set his book down. “How are you supposed to pay for your groceries if you’re busy shoving everything into your bags?”

El shrugged. “They also lock their carts together. You put in money to unlock one and you get the money back when you put the cart back.”

“That’s a good idea. I bet their parking lots don’t look like a total wreck like Hawkins does.”

“They also keep everything in their original boxes and just put those out on the shelf instead of taking out every box inside and putting it on the shelf.”

Mike thought about the ten foot tower of paper towels he had spent an hour building the other day when the store had accidentally gotten twice their weekly order delivered. Then, he had a realization.

“El, are you saying my job is totally irrelevant?”

El rushed to reassure him. “No! Uh, no, definitely not. Your job is so… so helpful!”

“Yeah, I guess I’m about as helpful as you are at the station.”

Mike didn’t know why he said that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” El asked with a glare.

“I just meant, I mean, in the scheme of things, it’s not like making copies is essential to police work.”

He knew he just made it worse. It wasn’t like he even meant it. He knew the station would fall apart without Flo, and he had seen El fixing Callahan’s mistakes numerous times when he visited her during work.

“Wow, okay,” said El.

She got up from the bench they were sitting on and began walking down the street.

“El, wait!” Mike said. “I’m sorry! Where are you going?”

“To the station. I’ve got some useless work to do.”

“El, I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry!”

El stalked off without turning around to look at him. Mike felt terrible, but he thought he should give her some time to cool off.

Mike couldn’t help but feel even more like crap about his job when he clocked in later that afternoon. He wanted to apologize to El as soon as he could. He doesn’t know what had gotten into him; sometimes he just said stuff without thinking.

He made his way to his register, stopping to direct a customer to eggs (which were about 2 feet in front of her) and straightening the damn paper towel tower as he passed it.

He perked up later that afternoon when he saw El walk in. He hadn’t expected to see her today because of their fight, but she came in almost everyday Mike was working to buy something so that she could chat with Mike for a few seconds.

(She used to always buy a box of eggos, but even El couldn’t eat a whole box of eggos everyday, so the boxes ended up taking over their freezer. Hopper begged her, “Hey kid, I know you’re gonna keep buying shit to talk to Wheeler, but can you please buy something other than eggos? We’re out of milk, you know.”)

Mike continued to bag groceries, although his kept looking up every five seconds to see if El had walked up to his register yet, leading him to almost put a can of soup on top of some bananas.

El walked up to the register and Mike smiled at her. El smiled back and Mike took that as a good sign. She began placing items from her basket onto the conveyor belt. As the cashier started ringing up El’s items, El approached Mike.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” Mike answered.

He thought maybe his comment from earlier today had been forgotten about.

“I pulled out the eggos from the back of the fridge,” said El. “I messed up the whole stack of them”

“Uh, okay, no problem, I can straighten them up,” said Mike, just glad she was speaking to him.

“Also...” El gestured outside.

Mike stopped bagging her groceries to look out at the parking lot. Shopping carts began rolling out of the cart corrals and moving all around the parking lot.

Mike looked at El, realizing she was getting revenge.

“Ahem, my groceries?”

Mike returned to bagging her groceries and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Showing you how useful you are.”

“I deserved that,” said Mike. “I’m really sorry, El. I know you’re a huge help to Flo and Hopper. To everyone at the station. All of Hawkins really.”

“It’s okay,” said El. “And we’re almost even now.”

“Almost?” Mike asked.

El nodded and took her groceries from him and headed for the door. Mike watched as El flicked her head to side slightly and the giant tower of paper towel tumbled to the ground.

Yeah, he definitely deserved that.

[freefallingforfanfiction]

Super Strange Things

Chapter Two: Not Exactly the Scooby Gang

Pairing: Eventual Johnathan Byers x Reader

Overall Summary: Y/N Winchester, middle child of John and Mary Winchester, arrives in Hawking’s with her family to investigate a series of disappearances and hearsay of a strange, faceless monster, along with a girl who can supposedly move things with her mind.

This Chapter:Secrets are revealed about the reader who meets up with an unlikely person in the middle of the woods. 

Warning: Warped time line. Also its long af

MasterList 

Tagging (If you would like for me to tag you in the upcoming chapters, please feel free to message me): @yoursmilemakesmeloveyou

“Is that homemade Hamburger Helper again?” Sam whined as he peered around your body to look into the pot you were currently babysitting.

“Yup!” you exclaimed, popping the “p”.

“But that’s what you always cook!” Sam pushed.

“That’s not fair, you know I can only cook two edible meals.” You huffed at your little brothers upturned nose.

“Why can’t Dean or dad cook?” Sam whined.

“Because, sadly, neither one is home and I have no money to order out. Do you honestly think I want to eat my own cooking?”

Sam made a face of agreement and sat down at the fold up table dad had stuck in the small kitchen as a makeshift dining table, the metal chair made a cringe worthy sound as he drug it across the floor.

“So, how was school?” you asked.

“You mean the mission?” Sam grumbled.

“No, not really,” you say nonchalantly, “I mean like the classes.”

Sam’s lips twitched upwards into a small smile. “I like the science class the most, Mr. Clarke is amazing!” Sam began to gush about all the new things he’d learned in class that day and you couldn’t help but smile as you browned the meat in the pot.

“What about you, Y/N? How’d you like the school?” Sam asked as he stared up at you with big brown eyes. Sam was always at his most comfortable with you, unlike your father and brother, Sam and you were not invested in the life of being a Hunter. And thus, you did not scold, scoff, or belittle his dreams of one day leaving the life and going to college.

“I suppose it was ok,” you said as you took the pot of cooked ground meat off of the stove burner and sat it on a pot holder for it to cool while you tended to the macaroni. “You know the only subject I truly excel at is English and art, and we don’t have any art classes,” you rattled off. “But I did talk to Johnathan Byers today, the older brother of that missing kid, and he said they have a photography class here! They even have a dark room,”

Sam smiled, “You’ve always wanted to learn photography, haven’t you?”

“Yes!” You beamed shortly, then frowned. “But I don’t have a camera, and dad would never buy me one.”

“Well maybe Johnathan can teach you,” Sam suggested.

You put your index finger to your lip and tapped it a few times, “Oh yea. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to ask, but he’s not that big of a people person.”

“Neither are you,” Sam pointed out.

“Actually,” you say as you turn away from the macaroni, “I am. I really do enjoy the company of others,” you confess to your little brother, “But what’s the point of getting close to someone when we’re drug all around the state on dads cases?”

Sam shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know,” he confessed, “But I really do like Dustin,” he admitted. “Mike’s cool too, Lucas is okay, I guess. He worries a lot. And fusses a lot.”

“Won’t it make you sad to leave them behind though?” you questioned.

“Yea, I guess it will. But, someone once asked me a question.” Sam said.

“Oh,” you smile, “And what was that?”

“They asked if sadness of being apart was worse than the never knowing.”

Your smile slowly fell, “Who told you that?”

“Uncle Bobby,” Sam answered.

You nodded, the memory of a conversation once overheard playing in your mind. “I suppose he would know,” you muttered to yourself.

“Hmm?” Sam asked.

“Oh,” your face picked up again to mask what you had been thinking of, “I said I suppose he’s correct. Both of you. Maybe it’s time I experience friendship.”

“Hey Y/N?” Sam asked.

“Yes, Sammy?” you smiled cheekily at your brother.

“Did you forget about the macaroni?”

“Son of a bitch!”

In actuality, you had had a friend once. Her name was Lilliana Beauchamp, and you had met her while your dad was on a case in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was her quirkiness that had drawn you to her, you still remembered the first time you had seen her, walking atop the tall stone gates that surrounded the New Orleans cemeteries, her two small arms stuck straight out in an attempt to balance herself as she put one small foot in front of the other. Her thick, long, wavy locks covered her face, but you could see the pristine private school uniform that adorned her small frame, and the small brown messenger bag slung over her right shoulder.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” she spoke up, her voice was light and airy, like a dream.

You stopped in your tacks, looking up solely at the girl who had stopped walking and turned on her heel to look down at you through a veil of thick strawberry blonde hair. You could see her face now, her large, distrait green eyes, peering down at you. Her button nose not turned up in a sneer as the previous wearers of the same uniform had given you minutes before as they passed you in your public school uniform, her plump lips were slightly parted as she stared at you. For a moment, you wondered if the small girl staring down at you was a ghost.

“I am not a ghost,” she said, her southern accent was slow and smooth.

“How did you-” you began to ask, knowing you had not said the words a loud. Your father had rid you of that habit not long after your mother died and he took you and your two siblings on the road.

“I have special powers,” the girl said as she clasped her pale hands behind her back and began to walk again. One foot before the other.

“What are you?” you asked.

“I’m a witch,” she said, turning her head over her right shoulder to peer down at you.

You stiffened at the young girl’s confession and took a few steps back, preparing to run home to your father.

“Don’t be frightened.” The girl said. “My name is Liliana, I am not here to hurt you, but to ask you a favor,” this time when she turned around to meet your frightened gaze, her green eyes were piercing.

“I would like you and your family to leave this city.”

Lilliana, as it turned out, belonged to a long line of natural witches. Natural as in she and her family drew in their powers from nature, whereas made witches made contacts with demons in return for their powers.

That day, Lilianna warned you to leave the city, as the magic council would soon be descending upon it to make an example of the family your father had be hunting. She told you if a clan of hunters was discovered in the area, you would slaughtered as well.

She also told you that you had a gift, a gift it hadn’t taken your father longer to notice as you started to age. It seemed, to most people, that you simply had a string of good luck, but you were truly skilled in the art of divination. As you did not practice with the ability, it was limited to simple things, like guessing the correct answers to multiple choice questions you were unsure of, guessing the gender of unborn children, or plucking the correct amount of change you needed out of the old plastic ice cream jug your father kept in his truck out without looking.

You were also especially good at finding lost things, which is why you found yourself sitting outside of an area marked off by police tape. Your father, that day you had brought Liliana home, had done something you had not thought him capable of. He had packed up you and your brothers and abandoned the job after the little witch had explained the situation to him. It wasn’t until years later that Liliana, in a dream, told you that he believed in your gift.

Opening up the door of the impala let the cool night air into the previously warm vehicle, causing a shiver to run down your spine. Tugging your jacket closer to your body, you shut to door to the car softly and flicked on your flashlight on, pocketing the keys.  Your dad had sent you to scope out the area where he and Hopper had found Will’s bike, hoping you would pick up on something or find something they hadn’t.

You, being an obedient daughter, agreed and set out on your journey. However, the only thing you were getting was an annoying ringing in your ears. You rubbed at them, hoping to rid yourself of the noise, but it was persistent. Sighing, you decided to try and ignore the noise and continued walking into the woods.

Click. Click.

Your ears picked up at the new noise, you shinned your flashlight out in front of you, but there was nothing to see but trees.

The hairs on the back of your neck were on edge as you crept forward into the woods, your left hand resting on the pistol your father had gifted you for your last birthday.

Click.

“Anyone out there?” you called out, hoping the sound of your voice would frighten whoever was out there to make a louder noise and give away their position. And it did.

Maybe 30 or so yards away you could just hear the snapping of a branch and the faint crunch of leaves under boots above the faint static clouding your otherwise perfect hearing. You flicked the flashlight off and began to make your way in the direction of the noise, you were quite good at sneaking, a skill you had picked up hunting with your dad and older brother.

You soon approached the figure, from the silhouette it looked like a male, and he had his back to you. He looked strangely familiar, and as you focused on the male before you, you slipped up and kicked a chunk of dirt, causing the man to whip his head around.

Without thinking, you rushed him, slipping your switch blade from your pocket. You jumped up in the air, tucking your legs in, your arms out. Your arms connected with the man’s chest, sending him to the ground where you landed on top of him, your legs on either side of him, your left arm balancing you out, your right arm holding up the switch blade.

“Who are you?” you barked, “This is a prohibited area.”

“Jonathan,” the voice yelled out, slightly frightened, “Jonathan Byers!”

“Jonathan?” you asked, your voice laced with confusion.

“Y-Y/N?” the boy asked.

“Yea,” you responded, your eye brows furrowing together out of confusion. “What are you doing here?

“I could ask you the same thing.” Jonathan grumbled from beneath you.

“My dad dropped something here earlier, he asked me to come find it as I have better eyes.” You quickly lied.

“What’s so important that you have to come out here in the middle of the night to look for?” Jonathan asked, slightly winded.

“A good luck charm my mom gave him,” you responded quickly, yet again. You were really good at lying on the spot.

“I guess he would get in real trouble if she found that was missing,” Jonathan said before, “Hey, would you mind, you know, getting off of me?”

You looked down at him startled, as if you had only just registered the fact that you were practically straddling him, and flipped your blade closed, pocketing it before you hopped up off the poor boy.

“Sorry about that,” you said as you offered your hand to him.

“I get a little paranoid, didn’t know it was you, thought you may have been a kidnapper or something.”

Jonathan let you help him get to his feet, stiffening as you absentmindedly started to brush leaves and dirt off of his clothing.

“So, what were you doing here?” you asked.

“I was looking for clues,” Jonathan muttered as he held up his camera, which was hanging loosely around his neck.

“What are you, Fred Jones? Don’t think the police can do their jobs?” you asked as you finished brushing the last of the dirt off of him and returned your hands to your hips, shifting your weight to the left leg.

“No, it’s not that,” Jonathan mumbled.

You quirked a brow, “What is it then?”

“I wasn’t there for him,” Jonathan whispered softly, “I didn’t do anything then, so I can’t just sit around and do nothing now. I need to be out here looking for my little brother.

You dropped your hands from your hips and brought them to the front you your chest, your fingers fidgeting with each other. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive,” you said slightly as you looked down at your hands.

Bringing your gaze up to look at his solemn face, you smiled reassuringly, even though he wasn’t looking. “How about I help you take a look around? I already found what my dad needed.”

“Why?” Jonathan asked, causing your face to drop.

“Because,” you said, your voice coming out semi-confused, “If either one of my brothers ever went missing, I would go out of my mind with worry. And I would want somebody to help me.”

Your answer was honest, and Jonathan could tell as he raised his gaze to meet your earnest one. His eyes softened slightly and the corner of his lips twice slightly, like he wanted to smile but couldn’t.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“Your welcome,” you smiled. “So where have you looked?” you asked.

So, Jonathan walked you around everything he had already been through briskly, pointing out things he had taken photos of as possible evidence, or as you now referred to them, “clues”. You had been rubbing your right arm for about ten minutes, contemplating on when, if, or who you should ask Jonathan to teach you photography when Jonathan stopped in his tracks, causing you to ram into his back. Immediately, his scent washed over you.  You could smell the faint scent of the chemicals used to process photos lingering on his jacket, but he also smelt like [insert your favorite guy scent]. The nice smell made you slightly dizzy, and you were not prepared when he turned around and bluntly asked, “What do you want to ask me?”

His suddenly straight-forward demeanor threw you off, causing you to uncharacteristically stutter as the word “What” tumbled ungracefully from your lips.

“I can feel your eyes burning a hole through the back of my head, what is it?” Jonathan had turned around to look at you, his face was clouded with annoyance, causing your already shaky resolve to ask him to teach your photography to further dissolve.

“Well?” Jonathan tossed his arms out, and you brought yours in slightly, your fingers playing with each other once more. Normally, you would be spitting fire if anyone had dared talk to you like that, but you liked Jonathan. He seemed like a good person, and you found him interesting, and you were trying to make him your second friend, so, you took a deep breath and looked the boy in the eye.

“I was wondering if you would be willing to teach me photography?” you asked hopefully. “My dad would never buy me a camera or anything but I was wondering if I could just watch you develop pictures and stuff? So I could see how it’s done and maybe one day when I get a camera of my own I would mostly know what I was doing?”

Jonathans face relaxed at your words.

“I was just unsure of asking you because I didn’t want you to think I’m just being nice to you because I want something,” you elaborated. “I actually do want to be your friend.”

“I though you said you didn’t bother making those?” Jonathan asked, a questioning look over taking his features.

“I don’t,” your responded, “But my little brother convinced me to make an exception, just this once,” you smiled softly. Jonathan shook his head, but you could see his upturned lips and hear the breathy chuckle he let out.

“Well then, I guess I can make that exception too.”

You beamed happily, brushing a few H/C locks from your face and tucking them behind your ear. Now that you had gotten this far, you were slightly nervous. Liliana had made friends with you, not the other way around, so you weren’t entirely sure on how to proceed. However, before you could continue, you felt a weight being placed around your neck. You looked up to see Jonathan placing his camera around you and taking your flash light.

“I guess now is as good a time to start as ever,” he mused as he shown the light on his camera.

“Ok, so,” Jonathan began to explain to you the different functions of his camera, as well as the various settings it contained as the two of you sat on the forest floor with only the faint moon light and shine of the flashlight allowing you to see. Before long, you were snapping photos of Jonathan, who was heavily protesting and trying to hid his face from you, causing you to laugh as you tried to pry his hands away from his face.

“Come on you’re wasting film,” Jonathan whined, “I am not a pretty subject to shoot,” he snorted as you got his hands away from his face and snapped a picture of him laughing.

“Oh come now, your lovely,” you laughed out in a terrible British accent.

“Lovely am I?” Jonathan asked, his voice filled with amusement.

“Quite,” you replied in the same voice you had used before, causing Jonathan to shake his head at you, but the amused chuckles were still leaving his body, and you were fairly proud of yourself for putting that smile on his face.

“Now,” Jonathan smiled, “That’s not a very popular opinion around here.”

“Anyone who doesn’t share that opinion can fight me!” You said as you sassily shook your head side to side.

“So you’re going to fight the whole school?”

“Fuck ye-”

Just then, a scream pierced the air, causing both you and Jonathan’s heads to snap upwards in an attempt to place where the scream came from.

“What was that?” Jonathan asked nervously.

“Whatever it was doesn’t sound good,” you said slowly as you rose to your feet, “Came from that direction,” you said, jabbing your finger ahead of you, further into the woods.

Jumping to your feet, you began to jog through the forest, bobbing and weaving through the trees. You could heard the loud crunch of Jonathans boots hitting the ground behind you as he chased after you, catching up to you in no time with his longer legs. He ran alongside you, sending a look your way.

“Is it a smart idea to be chasing after that?” He breathily asked.

“Probably not,” you huffed out, “But it could have something to do with Will,” you said as you pressed on, running for a few more minutes before you suddenly saw a clearing that gave you a full view of a very large, very populated house.

Jonathan had to grab you by the wrist to stop you from propelling through the clearing, and for the third time that night you found your held pressed against the boy. The force of being stopped and yanked back mid run sent you crashing against Jonathan’s chest, sending him stumbling back a few steps. He had to wrap his arms around your waist to steady the both of you and your cheek hit his chest with a soft thud.

“Ow,” you wined as you rubbed you cheek against his chest in an attempt to rub away the hurt.

“Sorry,” Jonathan whispered from above you, “We don’t want to stumble into Steve’s yard.”

“Yea,” you responded, turning around in the boy’s arms to look at the scene before you. It looked like a party to you, and some unfortunate soul had just gotten tossed into the pool. That explained the scream.

“Come on, Y/N, let’s get going.” Jonathan said, allowing his arms to fall from around you, just comprehending what he was doing. You shivered, not realizing how cold you were until Jonathan’s warm arms released you.

“Wait hold on,” you muttered as you began to fiddle with the camera around your neck.

“What are you doing?” Jonathan asked as you held the camera up, taking a few photos of the group before you.

“Getting a few shots of the house,” you told him, “I can actually see what I’m doing with this lighting,” you explained.

Jonathan nodded from behind you, “Good idea, remember to focus the lenses back when you zoom in and out.”

“Gotcha,” you said.

Click.

[illuxions-x]

𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑✨

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝑶𝒏𝒆.

𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝:

⋆

Melanie-Ann Lowe was sitting contently on her glossy white bed skimming quickly over a thick science book in preparation for the Hawkins annual science fair held in early December. The girls friends had all entered as a group and needed to come up with some unique ideas.

One boy, Dustin Henderson, who had been neighbors with the girl since before she was born, was like an older brother and they had a rare friendship deeper then most people would like to admit.

She made a frustrated sigh and closed her book, not finding any ideas.

Getting distracted and looking out of her fingerprint ridden window to see two lights glide down her street, one stopping across from her house, and the other continuing into darkness.

Dustin turns around, seeing Melanie on the top story with her glowing yellow light, he gives her a toothless smile and a wave before walking into his house.

The two had a plan.

Laughter erupted from the room next to hers, distracting her from her gaze. Her sister Audrey and her best friend Robin Buckley were hanging out at the Lowe house for a 'study' date, but the younger girl knew they were just eating food and talking about boys.

Smoothly she exited her room, tiptoeing past her sisters room, down the narrow staircase to the main floor, which was dark and quiet, with so little sign of any people.

The Lowe parents had left for a trip to New York for an important news article, so Mel was in the care of her sisters. Her dad, Bruce Lowe, had a cushy job at the Hawkins Post, and had worked there for 20 years, since he graduated high school.

Her mum, Loretta Lowe, was a ripe example of a trophy wife and went with her husband on expensive trips. Melanie loved them, like any average person would, but she missed them as they weren't around as much as other parents.

Valerie was the girls oldest sister, and knowing her room would be empty, as she was most likely at a school party, like most nights. The sisters were all very different personality wise, but similar with their mothers fair looks, fought but seemed to get along for a majority of the time. 

Snatching a packet of Doritos out of the cupboard, she walks back to her room and shuts the door behind her. Picking up the textbook again, but not being able to concentrate. After a few minutes of staring into nothing, she hears a knock on her window.

"shhhhhhhh! My sister w-will hear you!" the girl whispers, opening her window slowly but cautiously.

"Come on! We can go now, hurry up!" Dustin replies practically dragging her out the window, knowing that her parents had left earlier that morning, and her sisters didn't care enough to worry. Melanie takes her brown backpack, which was always filled with essentials and snuck out of her house.

"Step quieter w-will you, or we-we'll get caught." the blonde squeaks, while attempting to not step on the dead autumn leaves to get to her bike. Walking it down her steep driveway, turning on their front lights then riding off down a back road.

It being a Sunday night, most houses were sleeping and minimal cars were driving around. The pair perk up when they hear distant music, but continuing at the same pace, along the road parked cars start to slowly multiply and the music becomes more distinctive.

Not surprisingly was the party being held at (What Audrey and Robin called him,) Steve 'the hair' Harrington's house, as the two rode past, slowing down just slightly, did Melanie recognize a particular face from the front yard.

Seeing Valerie there only made her bolt off faster down the road, with the curly haired boy right behind her.

Darting down a back street and keeping to it for a few minuets did they find themselves at the junk yard. Leaning their bikes against the abandoned bus and going inside, the duo sat on a seat facing each other and unpacked the food they had brought in their bags.

"How w-was the campaign? Also p-pass the skittles." the girl asks making herself comfortable in the seat, her tiredness causing her stutter to worsen, "It was great! But we lost the dice right before we got to see if Will survived." Dustin hands Mel the packet in return for a whole Kit-Kat bar.

After many laughs and bubbling conversation, a shrieking noise in the woods motivates the two to head back home. Going a different way than before, to avoid getting caught by the girls now possibly drunk sister.

"See you tomorrow Lanie!" the boy shouts as he goes to his window to sneak back in, Melanie walks her bike back up her driveway, climbing up the wood used to keep the Vine wall growing upwards, walking across the roof and opening her window delicately.

⋆

An agitating beeping awakens Melanie from her slumber. Taking off her pink flowery covers, the cold early November air that hit her bare legs made her visibly shiver before she arched her back also stretching her arms in the air.

She had decided to have a shower later the previous night after her annual meet with her neighbor. Changing into some light blue jeans and a black and white striped long sleeve, with mismatched spotted socks to go with it.

"Do you want a ride this morning?" asks Val, grabbing her car keys with Audrey and Robin in tow. The older girl sporting bloodshot eyes framed with dark rings, and voice croaky.

"I'm riding with Dustin today, see ya!" The younger girl skips through the door with her slightly muddy pastel pink backpack in her hand.

Knocking on the Henderson door quietly, hearing faint footsteps and door open, with the young boy smiling brightly whilst slipping a cap over his naturally messy hair.

"How w-was your night?" the blonde asks, "Alright, you?" "yeah same." 

Riding off to the opposite direction they went the night before, and up the slight hill that always killed their leg muscles, they rode all the way to Hawkins Middle School in little time, where their friends Mike and Lucas were standing around. She frowns slightly noticing the absent person and parks her bike into the stand before catching up with the two.

"Isn't W...W-ill here?" She calls out, her hair blowing in from the wind. Making her push it out of her face.

"He could have just slept in?" Lucas thinks, "Probably." agrees the girl.

"Maybe he just went to class early again," says Mike, "he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him a pop quiz." laughs Dustin as they continue walking into the school, the others nod. The group were interrupted by a voice behind them.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show!" Melanie's head whips around to see James and Troy, two older boys who loved to torment her friends.

The group don't dare to move, it was a regular occurrence, they were quite used to it by now. Troy looks them up and down, giving a glare at Mel, the girl scrunching her nose and turns her focus on her shoes, not wanting to make eye contact with the older boys.

"Who do you think would make more money at a freak show, 'Frog-face,' 'Midnight,' 'Toothless'? or M-M-M-Melanie" he says snickering,

"Ooof. Tough call, tough call." James interrupts, eyeing Dustin, "I'd go with Toothless." He sneers.

"My teeth are coming in, I told you a million times, it's called cleidocranial dysplasia-" The curly haired boy gets irritated, "I told you a million times!" Troy mocks him laughing with his friend.

"Do the arm thing." he demands, if Mel was bold enough she would roll her eyes, but she stood statue still, scared of the consequences. Dustin hesitates before stretching his arms out, causing the bullies to make a disgusted face.

"Gets me every time! Every time!" Troy exclaims before shoving the group as he walks away into the school laughing.

"Numbskulls," Lucas whispers under his breath, making the blonde giggle.

"I think it's cool, it's like a superpower or something, like Mr. Fantastic!" Mike tries to be optimistic towards his friend. Mel reaches for is hand and gives it a squeeze in attempt comfort. Smiling slightly in response.

"Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it." replies Dustin before the group pick up their bags and walk to class, still confused as to where their friend could be at the time.

⋆

A swarm of Middle Schooler's scramble to grab their books and bags and hurry out of class after the bell chimes, talking loudly about latest gossip amongst themselves.

"Remember, finish chapter twelve, and answer twelve-point-three on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation-" the teacher stops after realizing that there are no more children in the class to hear his reminder.

"So did it come?" Mike asks as the four huddle around the teachers desk in anticipation. Melanie's smile falters when Mr Clarke hesitates, "Sorry, boys," she gives the teacher a pointed look, "and girl, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but..." the four all sigh in frustration, not pleased they would gave to be patient another day.

"It came." He finishes.

The group look up with a wide smiles and Melanie jumps a little with excitement, pulling Lucas along with her by the upper arm, as the four run through the now deserted halls, their footstep echoing, straight to the A.V room. Mike gets the door open first then Dustin pushes past Lucas and Mel to get through second.

"Hey!" they both say simultaneously, yelling at Dustin for cutting in, he just gives the two a smirk and stands to the right of Mike, who was sitting in the chair, while Lucas stood to the left and Mel with her hand on Mikes shoulder, leaning in to get a closer look.

Mike places the headphones over his ears.

"The Heath-kit ham shack, ain't she a beaut?" Grins Mr Clarke, pointing to the new radio.

"I bet you can talk to New York on this thing-" exclaims Dustin, the teacher just gives a smile, "think bigger,"

"California?" adds Lucas, "bigger,"

"Australia?" the girl squeaks, Mr Clarke nods. "Holllly shit." Says Mike, getting a look from the teacher and a playful hit from a giggling Mel.

"Oh man, when Will sees this he's going to totally lose his shit-" Lucas bursts out, "Lucas," Mel scolds though she was giggling,

"sorry."

"'Ello, this is Mike Wheeler, President of Hawkins Middle A.V. Club-" begins Mike in a terrible Australian accent, only to be cut off by Dustin.

"'Ello, this is Dustin Henderson, Secretary and Treasurer of Hawkins Middle A.V. Club, do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" everyone cringes at the accent and just as Mel's about to be passed the headset by Dustin, there's a knock on the door.

The blonde recognizes one of the men as the principle and the other as chief Hopper. She grows curious, her eyebrows furrowed, assuming something was wrong.

"Sorry to interrupt, but may I borrow Michael, Melanie, Lucas, and Dustin?" The familiar man asks. The group share a puzzled look, all silent as ever contemplating what could have happened.

⋆

[accountingfortaste]

The Biggest Logic Hole in the History of Cinema

by Clay Keller

I wish it didn’t have to be like this. Generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with Clark Johnson’s S.W.A.T. (2003); it’s a relatively diverting LAPD action thriller with a surprisingly solid, “in-their-prime,” cast.* Under different circumstances, producer Neal H. Moritz’s 2 Fast 2 Furious follow-up could be remembered for any number of things. It could be remembered for the cracker jack airplane paintball training sequence, or for LL Cool J’s preposterous abdominal muscles, or perhaps even for Gamble, Jeremy Renner’s emo ex-S.W.A.T. villain, who definitely looks like this:

But that would be under different circumstances. As things are, all of the positive aspects of the fourth of five (!) Colin Farrell movies released in 2003 are overshadowed by the fact that this film contains the single most inexplicable logic hole / paradox in the history of movies.

At this point, you might be saying to yourself, “I don’t remember those parts of the movie that are supposedly ‘overshadowed’ by that other part of the movie that I don’t remember.” And you’d be right, because you don’t care about S.W.A.T., no one does.

But you’re about to.

Part One: The Theme Song

S.W.A.T was not the first time that a television show was adapted into a feature film. In fact, without doing any research, I’d venture to guess that S.W.A.T. isn’t even the second or third time this happened. And when a television show is adapted for the big screen, it is commonplace to include some kind of winking, self aware, moment that lets the audience know that the filmmakers are aware that the story they are telling is derived from a different story that was previously told on a different medium. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson sharing a scene with the actors who played the original Starsky and Hutch in Starsky and Hutch (2004) comes to mind, or the “does she always look like she’s in slow-motion?” joke from the trailer for Baywatch (2017). There are many more examples, but since those are the only ones that immediately came to mind, they must be the best.

Considering that long, proud tradition, it isn’t unreasonable that the people behind S.W.A.T. wanted to throw in a reference or two to the ol’ TV show. In fact, the fans would expect no less! And the references begin subtly enough, with the famous theme song from the show, originally composed by Barry De Vorzon, woven into the fabric of the score of the film, composed by Elliot Goldenthal. This is great, a nice little nod to the TV show that instantly evokes jaunty 70’s police fun without being too on-the-nose or distracting. Plus, since the characters in movies cannot hear the score music, having the original theme song present there doesn’t create any irreparable tears in the foundational logic of the world of the movie.

So far, so good. But then…

Midway through the movie, after successfully passing the aforementioned airplane paintball trial and officially becoming a S.W.A.T. unit, our heroes go out for a celebratory BBQ dinner. They laugh, drink, ogle Ladies Love Cool James’ abs, listen to a somber speech by Sam Jackson about the unacceptability of dying, and then begin singing the theme song from S.W.A.T. the TV show. All of them. In unison.

At first blush this may not seem like an issue. After all, the S.W.A.T. theme song is simple and catchy. Real-life S.W.A.T. teams probably sing it all the time, like how pilots are constantly humming the Wings theme, and you can’t walk past a fire station without hearing some firefighter jamming out Third Watch on an electric keyboard. The issue comes with the realization that this particular S.W.A.T. team is in a movie directly based on the TV show that this song originates from, sharing their names and characteristics with the characters from said show. If the TV show existed in the world of the movie, and they all know it well enough to spontaneously break out singing the theme, surely by now one or more of them would have had the existential meltdown that comes with noticing that you and your friends have the exact same names as a fictional S.W.A.T. team from a thirty year old television show. Surely.

But maybe not.

While this seems like a fairly egregious oversight, it isn’t completely damning, and, with a little bit of “deleted scene hypothesizing,” can be explained away. Perhaps in the world of S.W.A.T., that catchy theme song did not originate with Mr. De Vorzon and the Aaron Spelling-produced show, which of course couldn’t exist, but rather with our heroes themselves, composed at some point in the course of the narrative and adopted as a personal pump-up jam. As far as I know, such a scene does not exist, but easily could, and would make an excellent addition to one of the films myriad training montages:

For this theory to hold water, one needs to assume that Oscar-nominated composer Marc Shaiman would be friends with Samuel L. Jackson’s Sgt. Dan “Hondo” Harrelson, but Shaiman seems very likable, so I buy it.

Whew, that was close. Clark Johnson, screenwriter David Ayer, and company, almost obliterated the reality of their film for a tossed-off joke, but with a little creative thinking on the part of the audience, the movie can continue on, unabated. All they need to do now is avoid making any more references to…

Part Two: The Actual Goddamn Show

… oh come on.

Mere minutes after the movie’s first flirtation with smashing through the fourth wall like the Kool-Aid Man, we find our heroes enjoying a much-deserved day off.

Sgt. Hondo and Lt. Velasquez (Reg E. Cathy) are putting in some time on the links…

… while Deacon takes his kids shopping…

… TJ (Josh Charles) has a predictably douchey (lunch?) date at a French restaurant…

… Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez) tests Street’s step-dad potential with a backyard water gun fight…

… and Boxer (Brian Van Holt) shirks his household chores…

… while kicking back on the couch with a lukewarm Dr. Pepper…

… and blithely watching everything he thought he knew about the universe be thrown into utter chaos.

Well, shit. So much for the airtight “personal team theme song composed for them by Oscar-nominated composer Marc Shaiman” theory. This scene confirms it: the TV show S.W.A.T., a spin-off of The Rookies that aired from 1975–1976, exists in the world of the movie. The reason everyone was able to sing the theme song during that scene in the BBQ restaurant is because they are all aware (and presumably fans) of the TV show, S.W.A.T., which, again, exists.

How is it possible, in light of this new information, that every single last goddamn fucking scene in this movie doesn’t play out like so:

It just doesn’t make sense! All things considered, the movie S.W.A.T. should be about regular blue collar cops who, after bearing witness to a glitch in the space-time continuum, slowly lose their minds as they become feverishly obsessed with figuring out how this is possible and if they can fix this broken reality. Not one drug lord should be apprehended from a flaming private jet, not one beach dramatically ran upon by a dripping-wet Colin Farrell. Who has time for that kinda crap in the midst of their psyche slowly cracking into a million pieces? S.W.A.T. should essentially be the same movie as Jake Gyllenhaal’s Enemy, but with significantly more hair gel and leather cuffs; there’s no reason it doesn’t end with every character either dead, in an institution, or facing down a spider the size of a bus.

Part Three: Theories

Honestly, the time for excuses is over. The stretch that was necessary to explain away the theme song gaffe was just barely short enough that I was willing to make it. This, however, is a bridge too far. By including a clip from the actual show, S.W.A.T. earned itself the dubious honor of having The Biggest Logic Hole In The History Of Cinema, full-stop.

However, in blatant defiance of the sentence immediately preceding this one, I am not going to stop, but rather press forward, with a collection of theories that attempt to bring sense to the nonsensical, and fill The Biggest Logic Hole In The History Of Cinema.

Each theory will be followed by points both for, and against.

Theory 1: The characters in the movie all love S.W.A.T. so much that they legally changed their names to those of the characters on the show.

Ok, maybe? But since none of the characters know each other at the beginning of the film, that means they all did this very weird thing independent of each other, and just coincidentally all picked different characters. Then to top it off, they were all recruited for the job that the fictional character that they named themselves after also had, and in the same unit, no less. And then they never spoke about it.

Actually, no. For the one, the probability of that happening is infinitesimal, and for two we know from the movie that Hondo didn’t recruit people based on their names, he recruited them based on their willingness to beat the hell out of suspects, and enjoy “good old fashioned American hot dogs.” Plus, if it was some pro-level “The Secret” shit, they would go on about it non-fucking-stop and they’d be on, like, The Talk, if that’s still a show.

Theory 2: It’s the holodeck, from Star Trek

“Whoa, these theories sure went off the rails quick, didn’t they?” Why yes, they did. The theories went off the rails with a quickness that is in direct proportion to the insanity of the hole.

S.W.A.T. officer Michael Boxer (the grinning layabout we see watching S.W.A.T. on his couch) is actually Lt. Mike Boxer, a security officer on a Galaxy Class starship that isn’t the Enterprise, I don’t know their names, but one of the other ones. Since nothing ever fucking happens out in space (remember, not the Enterprise), Lt. Boxer stares wistfully out at the stars, lost in nostalgic reveres about the good ol’ days of cops and international drug kingpins, until he remembers that there is a holodeck and he can just go and do the damn thing. So, not unlike Capt. Picard and his 40s private eye fantasies, Lt. Boxer wiles away the hours in his program set in 2003 Los Angeles, because really, was there ever a better place and moment in American history?

I’m still thinkin’ no. If this is Boxer’s program, which is assumed because he’s the one who is unequivocally aware of the show, why is he not the lead? Hell, he isn’t even on the poster! Who writes themselves into something as a supporting character who gets shot and has to sit out the entire climax of the story? Unless this is some sort of reverse- Lt. Barclay situation, where in real life Boxer is the cock of the walk and his secret fantasy is to be background bullet fodder… I don’t know. I’ll chalk this one up as a “possible.”

(You: “Wait, the author snarkily implies that, like all cool people, he knows the bare-minimum necessary about Star Trek, but then invokes occasional guest character Lt. Barclay as a reference? Just how much does he actually know about Star Trek: The Next Generation? Is he secretly a big The Talk fan as well?” Me: “Fuck you, that’s how much.”)

Theory 3: Michael Boxer is a bored immortal and/or interdimensional being

This theory is similar to the holodeck theory, but with a less proprietary mythology. Basically, Boxer is an ancient, and possibly interdimensional, being who loved the television show S.W.A.T. so much that he decided his late-20th century game would be organically recreating the program, with real people and real situations. He Marty McFly-ed all of the heroes’ parents (“You know a name I’ve always liked? Hondo...”) then took up some sort of mentorship role during their youths (a teacher, coach, surprisingly wise vagrant, etc) to subtly nudge them in the direction of law enforcement. Boxer has had millennia of practice with human Rube Goldberg puzzles like this, so he’s really fucking good at it and it works like a charm.

“If he was an influential part of their young adulthoods, why doesn’t anyone recognize him as such?” Easy, the mustache. Next.

“Why does he allow himself to be shot at the end of the second act?” Because he needs to take himself out of the situation in order for his little baby birds to fly on their own. Next.

“What about the continued existence of the show? And knowledge of the theme song?” In his capacity as wise vagrant, he indoctrinated his pupils with the idea that television is evil and should be avoided at all costs. As for the song? Welcome back to the game, Clay’s Perfect Marc Shaiman Theory From Earlier!

Holy shit, you guys. I think we did it. We patched the biggest logic hole in the history of cinema. Congrats, Brian Van Holt! Here you’ve been for the last fifteen years thinking you played seventh banana in a moderately successful PG-13 franchise non-starter, when you were actually playing omniscient god-like banana in a moderately successful PG-13 franchise non-starter. I’m glad we were able to do you this service. You can now be at peace.

Part Four: What Come Next?

As you are no doubt already aware, the S.W.A.T. legacy is far from concluded. A new version of the series, from The Shield creator Shawn Ryan and Fast Five director Justin Lin, is premiering this fall on CBS. Oddly, it is an adaptation of both the TV show and the movie, since it incorporates the Chris Sanchez character that was originated by Michelle Rodriguez in the film.

This begs the question, will ageless interdimensional trickster god Michael Boxer also appear in the new series? According to imdb it would seem that he does not show up in the pilot, but that doesn’t mean much. Scripts can be rewritten. Pilots can be re-shot. Just imagine the narrative possibilities of adding a TV-obsessed, all-powerful, immortal character to a gritty LA police / social drama. I’m not saying that it will be better, because that is obvious, and I am not in the habit of redundantly pointing out the obvious.

Do with this information what you will, Shawn Ryan. I know you’ll make the correct choice.

In Conclusion:

*S.W.A.T. is actually a pretty damn good time. Underrated. Check it out. 

[kaypeace21]

The theme with “time” this season makes me think of the phrase, “wanting to turn back the clock.” And I then think of Will never wanting to grow up and wanting to go back to the old days of playing dnd in Mike’s basement.

And then I think of Will’s (speculated) reality altering bending powers. So could there be a possibility that Will may use those powers to “turn back the clock”?? Maybe rewrite how things happened? Maybe it would be after Mike’s “death” like you speculated earlier. Since he thinks Mike is “dead” he wants to go back, and that’s what he does accidentally.

ALSO, Hopper tells joyce that he was trying to runaway from his "past" trauma with sara- before he says that line in the letter about wanting to turn back the clock and then saying it's not possible to do so . (And that life life hurts you but eventually you get out of that cave and life goes on ). Similar to Will he wants to turn back the clock to better times, but a part of him isn't ready to accept his entire past/ the tra*uma that comes with that- in order to move on and heal for the future .

Like robin said about back to the future "he's stuck in the past .But he needs to get back to his time which is the future!"

HOWEVER- I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANY REAL TIME TRAVEL!!!!

I’ve mentioned  my time-theory many many many times- in relation to my DID theory.  even if my did theory is completely wrong (aka Will has powers so his alters/split personalities/innerworlds come to life)- 

We also see how memories are explored in a supernatural way in st - it’s not literal timetravel just El using her powers to explore tra*matic memories of others (Terry/Billy so far). Like NO TIME TRAVEL PLEASE-THAT’S JUMPING THE SHARK. I really don’t want it lol. XD I think hopper and Robin's lines allude to the theme that will be addressed: confronting the past/times that harmed you but overcoming it for the future because time goes on 'whether you like it or not '.

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In reference to my time-did theory. Look at the st s4 movie inspirations. In ‘what dreams may come”  a guy explores a heaven like world influenced by a painter’s emotions/created via immagination.We also have the movie ‘inside out’ -which involves “memory islands” (distinct worlds based on a child’s memories) which are influenced negatively by the kid being depressed she moved to California. The characters traveling to these memory islands are constructs of  kid’s mind -and 1 of them also has a guide helping them explore the ‘memory islands’.  Welcome to marwen- has an artist (attacked for being perceived as gay) imagining an abstract world based off his art- where the characters he made experience their own adventures (loosely based off the artist’s trauma). ‘The cell ‘ has characters explore the mind of a guy whose father ab*sed him- and the different alternative fantasy-worlds they explore are based off his memories. The cop exploring these memory-worlds, was also implied to be se*ually ab*sed by his dad . Also,in  Inception a guy says he’s a construct of a guy’s mind ( the guy who created the dream worlds that are like alternate dimensions/levels- also hates his dad). And leo’s character says he needs to help him escape the many different levels of the dream world of the mind. Movies like inception, total recall, the cell, enter the void, wizard of oz, Peter Pan, hellraiser 2, dream warriors, bill & ted’s bogus journey, the labyrinth,and welcome to marwen, all allude to this: because they involve entering simulated abstract worlds usually created/based on happy& traumatic memories/fears. While truman show/matrix are more about realizing your reality isn’t real. While in bladerunner 2044/total recall it has the theme of false implanted memories… probably relating to hopper/el realizing they’re alters of Will’s-and their memories were technically created by him.

Something some DiD suffers have are “innerworlds” .When someone has DID there can be multiple “innerworlds” that are separate from one another (and look very different from one another) .And are usually very abstract worlds that are based on the child’s memories (good &bad) . These worlds are usually created at different times and almost act like alternate dimensions (and the inhabitants -npcs/alters of those worlds usually don’t interact with one another) . So they can almost resemble alternate dimensions like how Scott Clarke mentions “Hugh Everett’s many worlds interpretation.” Russia where Hopper is- is probably one of those innerworlds.

HOPPER THEORY: 

tw:ab*se/r*pe. In s2 Nancy asks Steve how his “grandpa’s time in the war is a metaphor for your life?” And steve compares the mf to the germans in the war. Dr owens mentions Will has ptsd like “ (vietnam) soldiers’, Hopper saying he had buddies like Will . “In the 70s there was a study that compared the post-traumatic stress symptoms in Vietnam veterans and adult survivors of childhood s**ual ab*se. The study revealed that childhood s**ual ab*se is traumatizing and can result in symptoms comparable to symptoms from war-related trauma.” Hopper isn’t actually in Russia -but in one of the innerworlds (after he jumped through the rift of the machine- into Will’s mind). We’ll see flashbacks but also present circumstances of his imprisonment echo Will’s past with Lonnie (if the movies indicate anything)- being starved, guards getting payed in order to let other prisoners  r*pe a gay prisoner (than claim incorrectly because of his sexuality he wanted it) , as well as a gang of sadist men who r**e others and a warden using that as a threat to be compliant , being thrown in a dark room of solitary confinement and starved when they didn’t obey the warden, the warden being religious, etc. And the American soldiers (in Vietnam) in the movies aren’t much better and do similarly horrific acts to civilians like r**e and bragging/ happily k*lling women, children, and the elderly. The drill sergant in vietnam calling them homophobic slurs & women, and chocking one of the soldiers with one hand (like the mf/russian), slapping one for not believing in christianity. Tying up a soldier in a bed , gagging him, beating him and saying “remember it’s just a dream.” Only praising them when good in fire arms.(movies : fullmetal jacket, papillon, shawshank redemption, platoon, welcome to marwen, etc ) . My assumption is flashbacks of his life-  hints about him being an alter -the boxes in the basement are “vietnam” ,“dad”, and “ny” (and these are the memories of his we’ll see).or after escaping the prison he’s stuck in diff innerworlds of memories. And some of the bad characters in said stories will also parallel Lonnie . Like how in  the s4 film ‘peterpan’- the young girl Wendy imagines netherland and the villain -captain hook- is based off her father ( in the movie they have the same voice actors/while in all stage productions the 2 characters are always played by the same actor). Similar to the other s4 film- ‘wizard of oz’ where the wicked witch of the west from the mythical land of Oz (is played by Dorothy’s real life mean neighbor in the real world/kansas).Or in ‘the cell’- all the alternate dimensions of the dream world that were created by a guy with a ab*sive h*mophobic dad -had the same actor play the villain in each very different dream dimension. ”Not sure if they’d use Ross Patridge (actor of Lonnie) in this way . But it would be very interesting if (In makeup) Ross played many negative people in Hopper’s life.  

Also, in  s2, Jonathan mentions Indiana writer Vonnegut- In his book ‘slaughterhouse 5′- Vonnegut begins the story of Billy (William) Pilgrim, a man who has “come unstuck in time”. (time ref of Hopper saying he wants to ‘turn back the clock.’ or’ runaway from his memories.‘It accounts of Billy Pilgrim’s capture and incarceration by the Germans during the last years of World War II (Hopper captured by the russians), and scattered throughout the narrative are episodes from Billy’s life with his dad, and his own wife and kids.Billy is forced to be part of the war and similar things against his free will. The moments start from his childhood when his father throws him in the water to teach him how to swim. He was unwillingly drafted into the war. Later, he is kidnapped by Tralfamadorians  (aliens that are implied to be caused by his mental health issues/trauma) against his will. Therefore, he realizes that this concept is just an illusion.in bladerunner 2044/total recall it has the theme of false implanted memories… probably relating to hopper realizing he’s an alter and his memories are technically ‘created’ . Like in total recall- the bad ass spy is told all his memories: his wife/ years of marriage,  his name, are just implanted memories. And she says “you’re life is a dream.” We also have ‘Arrival’ -the parent’s daughter died young cause of terminal cancer- and the mother later realizes time is also just a abstract construct (a thing she can experience differently than others), but she still finds meaning/happiness in those memories/times.

I also talked about how sarah as an alter could come back and the 2 would explore the “innerworlds” of Will’s mind together (you can read the details there). 

El and Will theory 

I’m thinking of the s4 movies and 1 matrix scene comes to mind that could be an obvious hint to Did (and Will’s importance). Mr smith (the suited calm villain/ who is a literal computer program of the matrix world -cough alter/npc of Will’s) kidnaps/ ties up Morpheus to a chair (like Will in s2), injects him with drugs in the neck ( like s3 steve/ will’s arm in s2).  Then Mr smith says as everyone leaves the room “I’m going to be honest with you. I hate this place, this prison, this reality or what you call it.” (grabs Morpheus’ head and glares) “ I need to get out of here! I need to be free! And this mind is the key.”(referring to morpheus).morpheus also translates to ‘god of dreams’. Also Morpheus was wearing head gear similar to El in s1/Will in s2 . or in 12 monkeys the guy sent to psych ward -starts believing he’s just “crazy” and says “i created a world with those people in it.” “It’s not real .I’m just mentally ill, like you said ” when you know- it is all real,cause of the supernatural angle involved. in 12 monkeys a patient even tells him the fictional world he created would dissappear once his mental health was in order.

Then there’s the El stuff.  Hellraiser 2- has a normal psych hospital, but the basement floor has an evil psychiatrist experimenting on teens to open a portal to another reality. assasains creed/dream warriors -  has the psychiatric facility be similar to the s1 lab with sensory deprivation tanks, cameras, solitary confinement in dark rooms.The doctor experiments on them- and forces a character to go into the memories of another individual (we know El has memory powers).The dr reveals how the character’s reality/whole life isn’t what they think it is (and that the memories they saw with their powers-was their past life and they are that person’s reincarnation) . Aka Will is the host- and El is an alter (alters can see memories of other alters/the host irl-aka billy/terry were also alters ).

In assasain’s creed there’s 2 psychiatrists- one bad / one who is good (but influenced by the bad dr). One dr annoyed at the lack of progress, says about the patient “he doesn’t want to remember his father.” While one dr doesn’t want to rush the therapy/ the other dr wants the patient to go back into his memories regardless of how it affects him. (which could be Brenner & maybe Owens referring to Will’s dissociative-amnesia and not remembering all the ab*se Lonnie did. And Owens not wanting to rush it/hurt el by making her go into said memories …but Brenner not caring.

also other hints : Cough s4 using the movie wizard of oz refs “we’re not in Hawkins (kansas) anymore”-hint at russia. David on instagram posting st stuff and captioning it with and quotes, pretending to be dorothy from the film. Hopper in s1 saying hawkins lab was “emerald city” (referencing El- it’s also why they reference El entering our world in ep 1 and the alice in wonderland song plays) . Murray says about the supernatural “no one wants to see behind the curtain” (what was behind the curtain in wizard of oz-was a wizard aka Will). Or you know right before Will sees the mf for the first time -a clock turns rapidly/ he  has goosbumps at the back of his neck. Which he later grabs/states  are from “memories” he can’t remember that are like a “dream”. 

If i’m right-not sure how much of this may happen in s4 vs s5, though. But I think something like this is possible.  For all we know-Will/El being trapped with Brenner while Hopper escapes ‘russia’ could be how the season ends? The timeline i’m a bit iffy about-tbh.

[kaypeace21]

Important things we learned from the ST prequel novel “Suspicious Minds”

What we learned about powers

The ‘potential’ to have powers is (generally) hereditary, however only under certain conditions will these powers manifest (psychological trauma, drugs, or certain psychological conditioning/experimentation is usually how it’s done). If this isn’t done, generally, if any powers still develop they are very weak. An example being Ken who was born with powers along with some of his other family members.

-“I am psychic, always have been ... My family always believed in this stuff... “

-“ He got feelings. Certainty would lodge itself in his chest. He had dreams with snatches of reality mixed in. Flashes of intuition. These came unpredictably—which he always thought was funny—and so he was never surprised if an inkling showed up. Or if it didn’t.” 

-“ I get feelings, sometimes fully formed thoughts, that I have a deep sense are true.”

( Hmm...this intuition-thing sounds very similar to how Joyce insisted she knew Will was alive despite seeing his fake-body.)

The younger the child is when experimented or tortured, the more likely they are to yield stronger powers. Even if the same trauma was done on an adult the results would be weaker and would be dependent on that particular stimulus. Alice could only see visions of the future with lsd and electroshock therapy, Terry had what’d you’d call “perfect recall” (which only happened with lsd)- diving into her memories and remembering them perfectly. While El can channel her powers without such things. 

-“Rare enough these days, especially in adult subjects...potential”

-“His theory had always been that exceptional abilities could be encouraged under the right conditions. But he’d always had to work with available subjects, none of them clean slates. This child—he could start encouraging the development of this child’s abilities now. In utero. Every day of her life. He’d make sure she was special”

There is a high correlation between above average intelligence and having “potential” (i.e capability to develop powers). In the book, Brenner almost used the terms interchangeably”.  

- “genius IQ, potential…limitless.” (El’s ‘potential’ was described as ‘extreme’)

-Terri is described as “above average intelligence”, and “brimming with potential” by Brenner.

-One of Brenner’s nicknames for Kali is “smart girl”.

-Terry’s questioned her roommate Stacy (who got out of the experiment) saying “How she’d fooled anyone into thinking she had average intelligence was beyond Terry—Stacey was obviously the smartest of all.”

-also in other outside cannon material Will is said to be the smartest of all the boys... hmmm...

How the void works

Terry after getting pregnant (temporarily) gains her baby Jane’s/El’s power to tap into the ‘void’. In relation to seeing normal people in the void, Terry learned they will not notice you observing and eavesdropping on them, and they cannot hear or see you (according to the book) ... so we can probably assume they also cannot touch other psychics without fading away, as well (like in the show). 

But the void is different if you try this on another psychic, she accidentally summons Kali- and finds out it’s a way for other psychics and only other psychics to have a private place to talk to one another- without anyone realizing. So yep, Will is psychic- the fact Will could touch, see, hear, and talk to El in the void wasn’t a coincidence! Debate over! XD”

More Proof Will has powers

He can communicate with other psychics using the void (in s1) . If powers are genetic (Joyce probably has Clairvoyance like Ken). And in the show, Joyce’s and Terry’s aunts were both described as “crazy” -which is probably not a coincidence. Also he’s the smartest of all the boys and described by Mr Clarke as  “great student.”

In relation to the adults (with powers) both the Xmen and Lord of the Rings were used in reference to them, multiple times. Will’s password for Castle Byers is “Rhadagast”, a character in Lord of the Rings. And in the 1st ep of the series, before Will goes missing , he asks Dustin for his X-men comic- later in reference to El ,Dustin asks “Do you think El was born with her powers like the X-men?” And when Mike says El is “channeling him (Will)”. Dustin says “like professor x”. clearly hinting that they were both born with powers, like the X-men.

Dr Brenner says there are very few people in the world with ‘potential’- ie the ability to develop powers under certain conditions. He encouraged the numbered-children to draw since it would increase the chances of developing powers. This is why we see a picture that El drew on her bedroom wall in s1. And who else really likes to draw- Will?

-“Art the psychologist here claimed, was vitally important for the creative children. Eight was definitely creative.” (Eight at this time, was the most powerful psychic ever, since El wasn’t born yet.)

when experimenting on the adults, they would take monthly blood tests and monitor their blood pressures. In s2 ep 1 they did the same thing to Will. They drew Will’s blood and put it in a vial ,monitored his blood pressure, and like El, recorded his brainwaves.

 Ken who was born with powers, is not heterosexual. And since many believe Will is queer it’s probably not a coincidence. Plus Will is referenced  to as a “cleric” and a “wizard”. And as a joke his friend says about him, “what wizardry is this?”

Dr Brenner tells a story about an experiment that involves killing rabbits. In the show “Papa” tries to force El to kill a cat. While Lonnie, Will’s dad, forced Jonathan to kill a rabbit, the first time he learned to shoot a gun. And since Will knows how to shoot a gun in s1e1, we can infer he was also forced to kill a rabbit/animal by a father figure-so it’s probably a parallel.

Both Alice and Terry when using their powers had hallucinations of a rainbow, Kali also formed a visual-allusion of sunflowers and a rainbow (implying all 3 have seen this rainbow, as well, when using their powers). And when Will was very young- he drew that ‘rainbow ship’.

-Terri: “Spots bloomed behind her eyelids. Every color ... as the sunlight turned to rainbows” ( p44-45), “The rainbow stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: darkness. A pit.”(p. 48).  “streaks of rainbow appeared (p47)”, “Wavy rainbows seemed to radiate from her hand even once she stilled it. (p. 88). “Her eyelids drifted shut, rainbows and sparks flying behind them. (p. 89). 

-Alice (who sees visions of the future) : “Snarling, snapping monsters, rainbow lights playing in the air around them (p. 121).

-Kali: “field of yellow sunflowers grew up around them. A rainbow arcing over the golden tops.” (p. 139).  “He noticed she’d drawn up there, a rainbow with her colored pencils. Maybe he’d suggest that for the playroom” (the rainbow room we see in s2) (p. 298) 

Interesting things we learned about Kali

- Kali at 5 years old, was the strongest of all 10 numbers- who were called the Indigo children (who are in a separate experiment than the adults, like Terry).

- Brenner purposely isolated her from other people. “Eight wasn’t allowed to know there were other children here. They were all ordinary so far. He worried they’d infect her.” (what a sicko- he did that to El too). He says about Kali “Child shows gifts that require isolation from those who might weaken her…Constantly asks for family and to be called by given name…Has stopped asking for her mother…”

- Brenner put her through sleep deprivation, for 13 hours, when she tried to keep a secret from him.

- In another scene after Kali reveals another secret to Brenner, Terry finds her on the bed “bathed in sweat, soaked through her gown” and “sobbing” “tightly gripping the sheets”. What did Brenner do here... am I reading too much into this? I feel like I missed a page or... y’know maybe he’s even more of a monster than I thought. They never explain this? And I’m still not sure how to interpret it 0-0

-Kali loved Terry (El’s mom) and the other adults even saying “I love you”, and referring to them as “family”. And Kali makes a hallucination in order to help them escape, they promise to come back and free her. So in s2 ep7 the “family” that Kali referred to that Dr. Brenner/the government killed was them.

Dr Brenner probably has powers 

- Ken who was born with powers describes it as a gut feeling of something that will occur or a belief he knows is true.

-Brenner can simply look at a person and his gut feeling tells him whether or not they have ‘potential’ to develop powers or not. It isn’t always correct but the vast majority of the time it is. He does this throughout the whole novel to everyone he meets.

“male, 5′8″, 180 pounds, white, average intelligence, potential…fulfilled by sitting in a guard booth checking IDs”

“Rare enough these days, especially in adult subjects. The way she’d sensed an opportunity and shown up suggested potential...Potential. She was bursting with it.” (about Terri)

“Such lost potential is always sad. There’s so little of it in the world.”(about Alice)

“Funny that his ID contained some of the information Brenner would have wanted if he were looking at himself: male, 6′1″, 195 pounds, white. The rest: genius IQ, potential…limitless.”

What we learned about the Mindflayer

-Well, I was right about the mindflayer having fire powers -so Will will probably get electro-pyrokinesis (along with other powers) like the comic and show hinted at, link here and here. 

Alice who sees visions of the future describes the mindflayer as “A monstrous vortex of fire and energy and darkness, tentacles reaching and growing. Growing so big they could eat the sky. Its mouth had a glowing fire of destruction inside it… (p. 243). 

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

Right-Side Up AU, Part Three: It’s the End of the World {AO3} {tumblr} {Part One} {Part Two}

Chapter Five → Return to the Void

“Sorry we’re late!” Joyce said, running in and hanging her coat on the rack. “We had to talk to Ms Driscoll, and-” 

She looked around, surprised to see only four children sitting on the floor. As Hopper walked in after her, Max said, “Everyone else is late, too, you’re fine.” 

“Oh.” Joyce said. “Wh-where’s Will? And-” 

“Will and Dustin are at the mall with Steve.” El explained, her and Mike still braiding bracelets together. “Nancy and Jonathan are somewhere, I don’t know.” 

“Probably making out.” Max said. She was staring very hard at the floor. “I was gonna walk home myself but I walked Lucas home first and El thought-” 

“That you walking home alone has had a precedent for turning out bad.” El said. She glanced cautiously at Max, who still stared at the floor. Lucas was giving her the occasional worried look, too. 

“Well, um…” Joyce tried hard not to look anxious. “I… I suppose that’s alright. It’s just-” 

“Weird we’re not attached to each other?” El said. 

“I didn’t say-” 

“I think,” Hopper said, giving El a careful glance, “We should go home. Joyce, you catch Nancy and Jonathan up on what we found.” 

Joyce nodded. “I-” 

“I need to sleep.” Max stood up quickly, still not looking at anyone. She walked right past Hopper, and out the door. 

El bit her lip. “Dad, is this… the whole PTSD thing you mentioned?” 

He took a sharp breath. “Maybe? Or it could just be teen angst. You all get it.” 

“Can we help?” 

Hopper gave her a sad look. “We’ll… have to see. Come on.” 

El hesitantly gave Mike a kiss on the cheek, and then stood up and followed her father out the door. 

When she left, Lucas looked up at Joyce and said, “Can… can Mike and I hang out for a bit? Until Steve comes back.” 

“Of course.” she said, a kind smile on her face. “Of course, I… I’ll jot down my thoughts for Nancy and Jonathan when they get back. You two have fun, okay?” 

Lucas nodded, and held out his hand for Mike. Mike took it, one hand still holding the half-done bracelet, and the two of them headed to the room they’d managed to make for Mike. 

Once Lucas closed the door, he said, “Mike, can you still go into the Void?” 

Mike placed his bracelet beside several others on his desk, and he said, “Yeah. Why? Cause El told me not to spy on her or Max because that’s ‘invasive’ and ‘creepy.’” 

“I need you to spy on Max’s stepbrother.” 

Mike blinked. “Why the hell-” 

Lucas sat on the bed and said, “He was at the pool. Me and Max passed him. He was being really mean to her.” 

Mike’s eyes widened, and he sat beside his friend. “That is scary.” he agreed. “But why do I need to-” 

“I accidentally threw some light at him.” Lucas said. 

“Lucas!” Mike jumped. “You can’t do that, we-” 

“I know, I know, but he acted really weird. He backed up-” 

“Yeah, people do that when light shows up in their face.” 

“But it was… not like that.” Lucas sighed. “It’s hard to explain. Why can’t we have better words?” 

“Because our life used to suck.” Mike said. 

“I just… can you look at Billy? See what he’s doing?” 

Mike paused. “I think so. I… can try?” 

“Do you need a picture? I don’t have one.” 

“I think I saw a picture. When El was showing me her photo album, there was some guy behind Max at the park. Does he have ginger hair and kind-of a beard?” 

“Yeah!” 

“Okay. Okay, if I focus… can you be quiet?” 

Lucas nodded, scooting back. “Good luck.” 

Mike smiled at him, then reached into his pillowcase, where he kept an emergency strip of fabric. He pulled it out, tied it around his eyes, and focused. 

Nancy rushed in, saying, “Sorry! Sorry, we’re late, we got caught up with-” 

“That’s alright.” Joyce said, looking up from the table, where she was writing something onto a notepad. She smiled at Jonathan and said, “We, um, have some stuff to go over.” 

“So do we.” Nancy immediately walked over to the fridge, glancing down. “Will’s drawings fell again, huh?” 

“What? Oh.” Joyce looked over, noticing the papers on the floor. “Yes, I- shit, I can-” 

“Watch.” Nancy knelt by the floor, picking up the magnet that had held a paper. She placed it on the fridge, and let go. 

It fell to the floor. 

Joyce narrowed her eyes, watching as Nancy tried it again, and the magnet fell again. 

“The magnets are failing.” Jonathan said, sitting across from her. “So we went to Mr Clarke, and he explained that we have a… an issue.” He straightened up, as Nancy came to sit by them, and said, “See, the magnets would be affected by an unstable electromagnetic field. The Gate, when it was open, created one of those, which is why the compasses pointed towards it.” 

“We didn’t have problems with magnets while the Gate was open.” Joyce said. 

“Which, thankfully, probably means the Gate hasn’t re-opened.” Nancy said. “Unfortunately, there is definitely something going on- and if it’s affecting these magnets, it could be stronger.” 

“There’s gotta be some huge machine.” Jonathan said. “Mr Clarke showed us an AC Device that can simulate the magnetic activity, but he said if- theoretically- this was starting to happen in town, there’d have to be a larger machine causing it. If it reached all across town, it would have to be… hugely powerful.” 

“Like, ‘billions of dollars to run, explosively dangerous’ powerful.” Nancy said, looking excited. 

Joyce’s eyes widened, and she suddenly really wished she had a cigarette. “Do you think it’s something at the Lab?” 

“I don’t know.” Nancy’s face fell a little. “We were planning on telling our bosses and getting this in the paper, but… well, they didn’t believe us about the rats, likely they’ll yell ‘female hysteria’ at me for screaming about magnets.” 

“And if I tell them, more likely than not they’ll tell me to go back to the darkroom and find some way to blame Nancy.” Jonathan squirmed slightly. 

Joyce took a deep breath. “Um. Speaking of the rats-” 

“Did you visit Ms Driscoll?” 

“Yes, me and Hopper stopped by. She was very excited that ‘those nice reporters’ thought to call the police.” 

“And?” Nancy asked. 

Joyce bit her lip. “You said you saw the crazy rat in the cage, right?” 

“Yeah, I got pictures.” Jonathan said, a sinking feeling in his chest. 

Joyce sighed. “Well. It… exploded.” 

The teenagers fell deathly silent. 

“It… what?” Nancy said. 

“We found its remains. Ms Driscoll was…” Joyce took a breath. “A bit unnerved.” 

“I should assume so.” Jonathan said. “What happened to it?” 

“We don’t know.”

Nancy took a deep breath, and then said, “We’re checking out the Lab tomorrow.” 

“Um, we have work.” Jonathan said. 

“We’ll go after work, or play hooky. I’ll say I have girl problems again, you can meet me there.” Nancy said. 

“Nancy-” 

“I’m not letting them mess with Mike’s life again.” Nancy said, very certainly. “Or anyone else’s.” She turned to Joyce. “Is the Chief here?” 

Joyce shook her head. “Max and El had to go home.” 

“Tomorrow, if he stops by your work, can you ask him to check up with Ms Driscoll? Just to make sure she’s alright, see if any rats came back.” Nancy’s eyes were focused, a plan whirring in her brain. “We’ll check out the Lab. Meet you back here in the afternoon to compare notes, to pick up the kids-” 

Almost as if on cue, the door opened, and Dustin and Will ran in. “Mom!” Will cheered, running and giving her a hug. 

Joyce beamed upon seeing her youngest son, and she hugged him back, saying, “Hey! Hey, how was the mall?” 

“It was great! Steve gives us free ice cream, but we’re not supposed to tell anyone!” Will said. 

Dustin smiled at them. “Where are the others?” 

“Um,” Joyce said, “El and Max had to go home early, and Lucas is in Mike’s room.” 

“Okay, cause we better go. We’re gonna be late home and then Steve’ll wake up late and be late to work and we’ll get yelled at.” Dustin said seriously. 

Nancy forced a smile. “Better make sure that doesn’t happen.” 

Dustin ran off, and after a minute, so did Will. 

Jonathan paused. “Should we tell them-” 

“Once we have evidence. No sense worrying them if this is just a coincidence.” Joyce said. 

“A rat blew up and magnets are going nuts and you think it’s a coincidence?” 

“We’ll figure it out, Nancy.” Jonathan assured her. “We always do.” 

Nancy sighed, and then said, “Sooner or later we’re gonna find something out too late.” 

It had gotten easier to slip into the Void in the last few months. Truthfully, Mike didn’t even need the blindfold, but it did cut down preparation time by a few minutes. He’d also gotten a bit more used to it. The coldness, the stillness, the blackness. Even the faint feel of water under his feet. 

“I’m in.” he said, then he thought very hard. “Finding Billy.” 

“Be careful.” he heard Lucas say, very distantly. 

“He can’t hurt me.” Mike shrugged. 

He walked a bit in the darkness, focusing very hard on the blurry, hazy memory he had of the photo. Would that be enough to find Max’s stepbrother? 

He thought he heard a noise behind him, and turned to see the image of a car. “There’s a car.” he said aloud, walking towards it, cocking his head. He didn’t see anybody in it. There was a California license plate, and… oh. Shit. There was a giant-ass crack in the window. 

Mike walked around the edge of the car, peering in the windows and doing his best not to touch it; he didn’t want it to vanish, like most things did when he saw them in the Void. He looked up, and realized the trunk was open. That was… strange. 

Carefully, he stepped closer to the trunk, a bit of a chill spreading through him. “Lucas?” he called. “Lucas, there’s… he’s not here, the car’s empty.” There didn’t seem to be anything in the trunk, it was as dark as the rest of the Void… 

Lucas said something, but Mike jumped and turned; there was a figure, crouching several feet away. He could see light red hair- Billy? Hopefully? 

“Hold on.” Mike walked over. What was he doing? He thought he heard another sound, and at first he assumed it was Lucas, but… no. This sounded higher. More muffled. Like a struggling woman. 

Billy said something- it might’ve been “Don’t be afraid,” but Mike wasn’t sure. 

“He’s… on the floor?” Mike said, walking up. “Talking to someone. Who’s not talking back.” 

He kept moving across the wet floor of the Void, starting to feel cold. 

“Max?” Lucas asked, scared. 

“I don’t… think…” Mike moved more, trying to get a better view. He was closer to Billy now, and he could definitely hear fear in the other, muffled voice. Like muffled screams. He knew that sound well; when one of the boys in the Lab got too loud, they’d have a gag stuck in their mouths. It was not pleasant. Clearly someone was gagged. Was Billy trying to help them? Or… 

Before he could move around the figure, Billy slowly stood up. Mike retreated a few steps, confused. The teenager before him was standing very still, almost like a statue. Once again, he tilted his head, trying to look around and see who was on the ground… 

Billy whipped around, staring, dark eyes boring into him. Mike gasped, frozen in place, as Max’s stepbrother kept staring. He couldn’t see him. He was in the Void, he couldn’t see… 

He turned more, now directly facing Mike. And then, slowly, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. 

Mike screamed, and the next thing he knew, he was ripping his blindfold off, gasping for breath and holding back horrified tears. 

“What? What happened?” Lucas leapt forwards, grabbing his hands. “Mike? Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?” 

“He saw me.” Mike gasped. 

“What?” 

“He saw me.” Mike shut his eyes. “He saw me and he disappeared. Like… like he didn’t want me to see what he was…” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to hide in the closet.” 

“No, no.” Lucas moved his hands to Mike’s shoulders, holding him down. “You’re not hiding in the closet again, you can’t keep doing that, you’re just reminding yourself of Solitary and making it worse.” 

“I need to calm down.” 

“Then breathe. Like Nancy taught you how to do.” Lucas said. “Breathe. In and out.”

“How could he see me?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t know, but…” Lucas considered. “We’ll find out. Tomorrow, we’ll go out. Find him. You can track him?” 

“In the Void.” Mike shivered. “He… he saw…” 

“Then we’ll start with Max’s old house and go from there.” Lucas said. “Okay? We’ll find out what was going on.” 

“Someone needed help. It- it didn’t sound like Max-” 

“We’ll figure it out. Okay? Breathe.” 

Mike shut his eyes, and breathed in and out. In and out. 

They heard a door open, and Lucas said, “That’ll be my ride. Will you be okay?” 

Mike nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I… oh, shit.” 

“What?” 

Mike looked over at him, startled. “What are we going to tell El?”