#i really do think that will is the key to defeating vecna for good

[redshoes-blues]

OKAY WAIT

So there’s weird time stuff going on and the Upside Down is stuck on the day Will went missing…

And @will80sbyers made a great post breaking down some of the weird inconsistencies about the Byers’ house and UD that makes it seem like the time things are even more strange than I thought.

Remember Flickergate? We know that lights flickering in Hawkins = lights being interfered with in the UD. And this sparked a discussion about the lights that flicker over the Wheeler’s garage, and the idea that maybe a future Will and Mike cause the electricity to go haywire when they visit that same spot in the UD.

Another thing: I’ve always wondered how Will knew to use music to save himself.

Because maybe it’s just a coincidence since Jonathan played him music when Lonnie was being a sick so it’s a coping mechanism. But!! We also know music has the power to prevent people’s minds from being attacked by Vecna. This is knowledge the Party gains in S4, which in hindsight, makes the coincidence with Will look a lot more purposeful…

So if we’re dealing with time travel into the day Will went missing, and the Party now has the knowledge of how to avoid being attacked by Vecna:

What if Will from the future is the one who saved his younger self? Armed with new knowledge about how the UD and Vecna work, and knowing the UD is stuck on the day he vanished, maybe the key to solving all of this has to do with that day? And the way Will is somehow recovered from the UD?

Remember how Will is found by someone/something in Castle Byers and it fades to black before we see who it is, and he’s there singing Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Just saying…maybe it’s some kind of time loop phenomenon that only Will can tap into.

[berenwrites]

Beyond the Battle - Chapter 37 - Stranger Things - Steddie

Beyond the Battle­: Action & Consequence

Click here for All Posted Chapters

Summary: Steve hits things with a bat or gets hit depending on who you ask. He definitely does not have anything to do with the psychic stuff. That is El’s domain. However, as Vecna is defeated, the rules change.

Pairing: steddie (Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson)

Other Relationships: Steve & Robin, Steve & Dustin, Eddie & Dustin

Rating: Teen

A/N: Multi-chapter story, updated regularly. Honestly not sure how many chapters it will have yet because it's still a bit hand wavy in the middle, but definitely more than 12. Thank you to my beta for find my mistakes and to all those who read/like/reblog.💖 Follow #st:beyond-the-battle for updates.

Also on AO3

Chapter 37. Hiccups

Steve had only woken once thanks to his own brain’s dark meanderings and Eddie had had a nightmare, but they’d returned to sleep quickly both times, so after a mostly peaceful night’s sleep, Steve decided he wanted to get at least partially back to normal. Before everything had gone to hell, he had tried to go for a run at least three times a week. It always cleared his head and set him up for the day.

He crawled out of bed still pretty early, leaving Eddie snoring with a quick kiss. After using the bathroom, he pulled on his old gym shorts and a shirt and headed downstairs. No one else was about yet, so he picked up his keys and let himself out.

The morning air was fresh with a slight bite, perfect running weather.

After doing a few stretches, he set off down the drive. He was just getting into a rhythm ready to turn along the road on his usual route, when a man stepped into his path and a flash went off. The stranger was lucky he didn’t deck him as his fight or flight instincts kicked in, and after the last few weeks they were highly primed.

“Steven Harrington?” a voice asked.

He turned to see a woman holding a microphone and a tape recorder. Just a reporter his logical brain provided, but his illogical one refused to trust his eyes. One look at her had him spinning on the spot and running right back the way he had come at about double the pace ignoring anything she shouted after him.

The front door slammed as he leaned on it, heart going a mile a minute, once he was inside. He could feel himself shaking with the adrenaline. All thoughts of a nice calming run were so much dust.

“Steve?” his mom said, appearing on the landing in her dressing gown. “Good lord, you’re a white as a sheet. What happened?”

She came down the stairs towards him quickly.

“Reporters,” he said, willing his heartrate back to normal as best he could. “They must have been hiding in the bushes. I was going for a run, and they jumped out in front of me. I … God, I nearly hit him, Mom.”

“Which would have been perfectly understandable,” his mom said, gently placing her arm around his shoulders. “Come on, I think you need to sit down. You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“What’s going on?” came from the landing and he looked up to see Eddie standing there.

“Reporters,” his mom said for him. “The cretinous morons thought it was a good idea to leap out of the bushes.”

Eddie came quickly down the stairs.

“This is what you get for trying to be all healthy and all that crap,” Eddie said.

It was a nice try, but Steve’s heart was still going far too fast for him to really smile. He could tell Eddie wanted to reach out and pull him into an embrace, but with his mom there, couldn’t.

“Your friend, Argyle, was extolling the virtues of hot chocolate to me the other day,” his mom said, guiding him towards the kitchen. “A wise young man. I think we should test out his theories, don’t you. At least the ones about chocolate, not the ones about weed.”

“And never his ones about pineapple on pizza,” Eddie added. “Fruit on pizza is just wrong.”

“Tomatoes are fruit,” Steve said as the titbit of information popped into his brain.

“They’re sauce, they don’t count,” Eddie replied.

“So are olives,” he added.

Eddie gave him a narrow-eyed look.

“Robin educated me when I made the same argument during a really boring shift at Family Video,” he confessed.

“Of course, she did,” was Eddie’s reaction to that. “I stand by pineapple on pizza being a sin, and I should know, the whole town thinks I worship Satan.”

“Sometimes I worry about this town,” was the comment from Steve’s mom’s direction.

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years,” Eddie agreed.

Steve let them sit him down and fuss over him, Eddie keeping him entertained while his mom made the hot chocolate. It was definitely not how he had wanted to start the day, but he couldn’t say sitting down to comforting beverages with his mom and his boyfriend was a bad end to the terrible beginning.

“Right,” his mom said after they had consumed their drinks and chatted about nothing for a while, “I’m going to call Sam and have the irritants removed from the end of our driveway. I’m sure he can come up with some official reason. I have the feeling they are likely to get themselves killed if they startle the wrong person. Jumping out on people who have been in fear for their lives is just idiotic.”

“You can say that again, Mrs H,” Eddie agreed.

“They’re just doing their jobs,” Steve felt the need to add, because he had seen Nancy’s journalistic instincts in action.

“Doesn’t excuse lurking in bushes,” his mom said as she placed her mug in the sink.

Steve knew when not to argue.

~*~

“Mom, did you order food?” Steve called out as he looked out onto the drive and the truck that had just pulled up.

“Yes,” came the reply from someone in the house.

Steve was so used to going to the grocery store himself these days that he had almost forgotten it was not what the Harrington household had always done. When the doorbell rang, he went to answer it, to find one man in overalls standing there with a clipboard and his companion already unloading things from their truck.

“Harrington residence?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Steve replied.

“Where do you want it?” was the next question.

“In the hall, thank you,” he said, opening the door wider.

The two men were efficient at least, bringing in bags and trays and stacking them up. Steve stayed out of the way because they seemed to have a system, but he couldn’t help noticing there were a lot of items. At some point his mom arrived as well to also watch proceedings. When the apparently never-ending stream of groceries finally did finish, his mom tipped the delivery men with a smile, signed their paperwork and shut the door.

“Mom,” Steve said looking at everything, “are we expecting people?”

Some of what had been brought in definitely looked like platters. He was not aware of any party his mom had planned.

“Yes,” she told him. “It’s more of a meeting than a party, but food always helps these things.”

That didn’t really answer his question.

“Sorry,” his mom said as she seemed to realise this as well. “When I spoke to Sam this morning about the reporter problem we finalised how to move forward. Everyone involved with the Upside Down will be coming here later this afternoon to be briefed on the cover story and in some cases to be briefed on the Upside Down, at least partially.”

“You convinced them to allow the other parents to be read in?” Steve asked in shock.

“We have children wandering around with severe PTSD,” his mom replied, “you bet I did. The idea these government types have of blackmail is laughable; they should try corporate law for a while.  But don’t worry, all the kids were consulted first.”

“Not sure you’re going to be able to lessen Ted Wheeler’s reaction with a charcuterie board, Mom,” he pointed out.

“Yes, he was one of the sticking points,” his mom said, “but I believe Mike and Nancy agreed they couldn’t tell their mom without including their dad. Your father should be home soon, and I plan to explain everything to him first so he can help.”

Steve went cold at being reminded about his dad arriving at any minute. This was so big. Utterly huge even as far as life changing things went and he couldn’t quite totally convince himself his dad was going to react well.

“Darling,” his mom said, placing a hand on his arm, “you don’t have to worry. Your father will, no doubt, have some very choice words, mostly aimed at the government, but I will make sure he calms down. All you have to do is figure out how to best survive being hugged within an inch of your life, because we all know your father is the number one hugger in this family.”

She gave him a small smile and he managed one in return, but he couldn’t push away all the anxiety. He hadn’t been on the receiving end of one of his dad’s hugs in a while. They had been butting heads since he graduated with disappointing grades, neither quite willing to offer an olive branch. A tiny part of him couldn’t help wondering if his dad would blame him for what had been going on. Not asking for help for a start.

“Let’s get everything put away,” his mom said, “and you can tell me what’s bothering you while we work, if you would like.”

Steve wasn’t sure he could articulate his amorphous fear very well, but he nodded and moved to help pick up the first of the delivery. At least being in motion was better than standing still and worrying.

Eddie appeared halfway through moving the delivery to the kitchen and immediately pitched in to help. He’d been giving Steve slightly worried looks the whole time.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asked quietly as they put some of the normal groceries away in the cabinets.

“Just needlessly working myself up over my dad coming home,” he admitted quietly.

“You think he’s going to freak?” Eddie said.

“Oh, I know he’s going to freak,” he replied, “but Mom is going to deal with that. It’s afterwards I can’t make myself believe will be okay. I think we were just about ready to start to fix our relationship, but all this, what if it’s too much? What if I’m too much?”

“Stevie,” Eddie said, moving in closer for a moment, “I think the only way you could be too much is if you decide to team up with Supergirl and Will the Wise to take over the planet, and only then if you do it in an evil way. Otherwise, I think you mom and dad would be right there to help you.”

“You couldn’t do a worse job than most world governments at the moment,” his mom commented as she walked past.

Steve almost jumped out of his skin, because he hadn’t noticed his mom was on their side of the kitchen.

“See,” Eddie said, as if that proved his point.

“But I think you might want to leave the world domination until El and Will have graduated high school,” his mom added.

Steve laughed despite his worry.

“We’d need Erica to plan it all anyway,” he said, deciding to go with the flow rather than worry himself through the floor, “and she will want to graduate as valedictorian before she’d even consider it, so we have to wait for that too.”

“I could compose you a theme song,” Eddie joined in. “Even benevolent dictators need a theme song.”

“Like from Star Wars?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, only more metal,” Eddie replied.

They spent the rest of the kitchen organisation assigning all the party to ridiculously cliched jobs within their new regime. It was as silly as it was fun and Steve almost managed to forget his anxieties … almost.

Then there was the sound of a key in the front door.

End of chapter 37

Chapter 38

[normal-is-a-raging-psychopath]

ok so I just saw this (@blobvis456) fanart of max with the caption "do you accept the risk?" which obviously is the quote lucas said to max when telling her about the up-side down.

and that threw my mind to this one analysis? or something that focused on how mike was against telling people about the supernatural shit, both as a way to keep the party safe, and also the person. I'll try to find it because I'm pretty sure I rb'd it and I'll link it when I do. EDIT : here (@darkquill98)

I am a sucker for time travel au's. specifically when the future is thrown into the past and reveals something not known (relationships -romantic or otherwise-, personal revelations etc) or when the past gets transported to the future and just see how they're future selfs are, whether it be in a fluffy way or angsty or something in between.

anyways. imagine this. it's the st season 2 finale after el closes the gates and everyone is back at the byer's house. they're planning the sleepover (the party not the older teens because it's awkward still). it's been a long night, and then suddenly there's a long bang or something and two people kinda just appear on the floor of the byers living room (where the party was planning on sleeping).

everyone's on edge, weapons are pointed and then they realize who it is.

mike and max considerably older (I see them as seniors but anytime post-s4 post-vecna defeat goes).

during this time, mike's gotten up to a sitting position on the floor, but max is still on her back.

a key point in this is that max is disabled.

so everyone (present) is surrounding m&m (it's much easier to type that max and mike every time) and they see as mike slowly helps max up and positions himself behind her so that she can lean against him.

this is odd for two reasons. a) max and mike are getting along? mike is helping her? which he'd obviously do either way (see skateboard scene) but still, it's the care and love he does it with. b) why does max need help? why didnt she get up her self?

before they can verbalise this one of the walkie talkies starts spewing static and first, which slowly clears into lucas's voice. future lucas.

there's talking about are they ok? do you know what happened? and so on so forth. it's not really planned out in my head but there are a few things revealed. 1) a reference is made to both el and will working together in order to create a signal between the present and future radios, 2) lucas asks how max is and she replies that it's a bad day and quips the whatever sent them here is abelist because it didn't even bother to send her wheelchair with her.

(max absolutely plays the abelism card wherever she can fight me on this. she also makes so many dark jokes related to it. i think lucas would kinda hate it but it makes her smile so it's fine with him. el also kinda hates it but she finds it funny as well so she conflicted.)

also the way I imagine things, most days max is in her wheelchair with limited mobility, on good days, she's able to walk with her crutches but on bad days (like the one she's having) she can barely move without pain and needs help a lot. (which the party+extended are always happy to give her)

so after the whole conversation, obviously the present have some questions, m&m just reveal that max is paralyzed due to some event with the up-side down but not how (because they're not sure how much they can reveal)

anyway onto why i wanted this. the angst. i want present max to cope with the fat fact that she can't walk, i want mike's guilt at not being able to keep her away, I want lucas's horror because he was the one that brought her into this. maybe will and el feel guilty because it was caused by the upside down. maybe the older members (teens +jopper) feel guilty because they're older they should have been able to protect her.

while i'd like the main focus to be how max has adapted to her disability (speaking of which, does anyone have any fics recs like that?) I also want little snippet into the future to show that despite things becoming worse for a while it's also gotten so much better. i see elumax and byler. or if elumax isnt your thing then elmax or lumax maybe with henderhop aswell. idk, it's kinda flexible ig (excepts for byler even though it's not a main-main focus i still want a reveal because mike to mike chat about their sexuality and relationship with will and el and will learning that theres hope (especially considering it's following the shed scene) and theres just a lot i think can be explored there)

it it was elumax, which is what i thought of, then it's lucas and max finding out they get together and finally act on their feelings, its lucas feeling odd because he's also dating el and he though that el and mike had their thing going on. its el's not sexuality crisis i would say but realising not everything is like in the movies. its el and max realising that they worked through their problems and became friends and then more.

for the older teens idk what but im either leaning towards established jancy whose worked through their issue with steve who is learning he's come to term with it and learning about robin (he definitely make more of an effort to befriend her while working at scoops ahoy) or stonathon. which might require alteration to the canon s2 or maybe not and they figure out how that complicated mess of relationships worked out (which i think would be hilarious cause at this point in time stancy have just had their nasty break-up and jancy are in that weird phase that's like we fucked and we lie each other a lot but haven't defined what we are yet only to find out apparently steve and jonathan are dating?? what?)

for jopper, if they find out they're established and married, I think there's a whole lot to work through, cause while joyce may have had some feelings for hop, that was far overshadowed by her love for bob who she is now grieving because he's dead because she dragged him into this supernatural bullshit and yeah she has a lot of shit to work through. not to mention I think hopper will also need time to come to terms especially since the last time he was married didnt go well.

this has drastically spiralled but whatever.

as a bonus to the previous, give me the byer-hopper clan realising they're becoming a family. jonathan had a new father figure and he doesn't know how to feel about that. hop suddenly has 2 sons. joyce has a daughter now jonathan and will have a sister now el has two brother now. apparently will and el who literally only just met are as close as twins in the future.

can you tell that i really love time travel au's. there's just so much potential.

this has spiraled way out of control so if the beginning and the end seem disjointed, its because I expected this to go in a very different direction.

[ihopeyouhaveanicexmas]

Something about Brenner insisting El needs to spend more time in Nina because she "isn't ready to face Henry" and him telling her she will soon see the truth when she drugs her, but THEN NOT putting her in Nina before she wakes up like they did the first time. Instead, he stands there waiting for her to wake up. Maybe there was no reason for her to keep getting in Nina since she got her powers back and Brennee meany that she needed more practice the way to strengthen them was to do so in real life and not in Nina anymore. But why does he tell her she will see the truth, which makes me believe that there is more of her memory that there was no time for her to see in Nina, therefore she needed to learn that information (which maybe have been crucial to her successfully winning Vecna) before she leaves. Even if she needed more practice in the real world too, why didn't he show her what he wanted to before she had the chance again to fight back (since she was already drugged). Did he intend on TELLING her "the truth" instead of showing her? Part of me believes that by "the truth" he meant that she will see that he is actually a good guy, since in the scene in which he drugs her and then says that she is accusing him of being the monster, and because when he is dying the only thing he thinks is important to tell her is that everything he did was for her own good. If there was something really important that she needed to know in order to defeat Vecna, wouldn't he have told her in that moment? Or did he just forget..?

So my point is that Brenner wanted to tell El something really bad, and we never got to know what it was. It might have just been him wanting to "spend more daddy daughter time" and Owens calls it and not accepting El not forgiving him and wanted her to think that he is a good guy (which would mean he is more self centered than i thought, actually exactly as self centered as i thought)

OR there really is something he didn't get to tell/show her which will be the key to defeating Vecna.

[undead-supernova]

"We Could Call It Even"

Part 2 to the series, here's Part 1 & Part 3

Pairing: Eddie Munson x F!reader

Description: Time to deflect with a good helping of garlic bread.

Word count: 3.7k

Warnings: It's sooooo angsty, bestie. This whole fic is. There's also a brief mention of sexual assault.

Part 2: I've Been Lost, I've Been Found

Eddie couldn’t believe you were here, your car lugging behind him as you followed him to his house. It was as if you were frozen in time, and yet everything had changed. There was a softness that had faded, something that wasn’t just due to age. No, you were inside of a chrysalis made of steel, stiffening over time. It was an exquisite kind of armor, he had to admit. It was the reason he asked you if you wanted to spend time with him, really.

He'd watched you in the cafeteria, always listening to him but rarely saying a word. There were a couple of times where he almost asked you to join Hellfire, but he found it rather…complicated. Eddie knew that if you had joined, he would’ve grown feelings for you. He would’ve been unable to focus on his campaign, his friends. His mind would be unsettled, and you’d consume his every waking moment. But he wanted to escape Hawkins. He couldn’t fall for a girl. He just couldn’t. 

Even if he still thought of you.

After Chrissy passed and he was on the run, he thought of you.

As he actively helped defeat Vecna, he thought of you.

After the earth split in four, he thought of you.

As his name was cleared, he thought of you.

And when he saw you on the football field for class in the sizzling embers of summer, he felt relieved to know that you were okay. He didn’t approach you, but he was content knowing that you would graduate and move on. This town was cursed. You shouldn’t have to be swallowed.

Eddie felt barren today, his skin exposed. His toned arms were visible along with all his various tattoos. There were twice as many now as there were back then. He found the needle was a perfect escape from the psychological pain of what he experienced with his friends. Since that time, he’d become more reserved in some ways. Some days he ignored Dustin on the walkie-talkie, the very definition of radio silence, and pretended not to be home when Dustin would ultimately show up to his house. Gareth and Jeff left messages on the receiver, hoping to lure Eddie out to the movies or to do a one-shot to pass the time. Eddie pretended to be content without his silly little fantasy game, convincing himself that it wasn’t grown up. He had to work now. He had no time for these things.

But he still missed it every day.

He missed his friends.

He missed the days when he didn’t pretend.

He missed himself.

When you parked, you watched Eddie stride over and open your car door for you. Thanking him, you climbed out and locked the doors absentmindedly, all the while surveying the outside of his home. The paint job seemed to be done fairly recently, but mud and weeds still littered the perimeter of the beige house. You couldn’t really see Eddie learning how to use a lawnmower, so it made sense. There was something old about it and yet, it still looked like it should have a new house smell. It was out of the way, still clinging onto a semblance of new. The house itself looked depressed like it had nowhere to place itself amongst the other trailer homes with outdoor decorations and clean lawns.

“We upgraded to a slightly bigger castle after the ‘quake,” Eddie said, guiding you to the door with a light touch to the back. He made sure not to make full contact, knowing how creepy it might come off. In reality, he didn’t know what would happen to him if he did touch you. “It’s honestly funny how nice things can get after a, uh,” Eddie wavered, struggling to find the right way to lie, “natural disaster, y’know?”

“Funny is an interesting word,” you said as you walked in. 

Eddie threw his keys across the room, landing on the counter. “I think it’s a funny word,” he responded with a smirk.

You snorted. “Oh, you think that was clever. I bet you’re really proud of yourself for that one.”

“Actually, I am.”

You shook your head. “I forgot you don’t know how to accept when you’re wrong.”

Eddie grinned, his mouth aching. It had been so long since something made him smile this wide. “You’ve got fire in your veins now. Metal.”

You giggled, removing your jacket. “Yeah, well. I grew up a bit.” The smile you were wearing faded quickly as recent memories passed by your mind. 

Eddie noticed immediately, his eyebrow quirking up. “Do you mean something else by that?” he asked.

There were some things you weren’t able to explain, like the loneliness that came when home was a cinderblock dorm and how each severed friendship became a nightly haunt. Life moved so quickly at college. Blink and you’d lose two friends but gain three. Open your mouth and find that you couldn’t breathe but you certainly did not say yes. Close your eyes and feel the days and night starting to blur until you’re suddenly on your way home to a town that was changing with you. Life didn’t stop just because you wanted it to. Eddie was a testament to that.

“Want me to see if I can make anything edible?” you deflected, ignoring his question with one of your own.

“Be my guest, chef.” Eddie shrugged, pretending to drop it. He was too curious for his own good, but he knew a boundary when he saw one. Hell, he was the king of boundaries. 

You began opening cabinets, silently surveying what was available. Peanut butter, saltine crackers, some chips, and some cereal. You spotted a loaf of bread on top of the fridge. Perfect. 

Eddie watched you rummage around. “So, what’s life like outside of Hawkins?” 

“Well, there’s a lot less dead classmates, I’ll tell you that.” You paused, opening the refrigerator. As you spotted the butter, you realized an easy classic. “Do you have any garlic?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Eddie repeated, scrambling towards the kitchen to help you. “Here,” he whispered as he handed it to you. For the briefest of moments, your fingers touched. It shouldn’t have been as big of a deal to Eddie as it was. But it was. There were plenty of moments in high school when he’d thought about touching you. Not in a weird way, but just casually. Just to be close to you. Just so he could get a glimpse at what it would be like to be close. He’d never allowed it, of course. He had made his mind up.

So why was he still entranced by you two years later?

Your fingers drummed across the counter as you rummaged through drawers for spices. There weren’t many, but you took what you could get. “Has anyone come back?” you asked as you messily spread butter over the toast. 

Eddie tried to think of anything but came up short. “Considering I rarely see anyone anymore; I couldn’t tell you. Wheeler and Harrington finally got back together, but that’s about it.”

“And Hellfire?” you asked.

“Still intact somehow. Henderson and Little Wheeler have kept it going despite the world ending.” Eddie smiled, but it quickly shifted. I should really reach out, he thought to himself. God, I’m such an asshole.

“They sound persistent,” you murmured as you peeled and began mincing the garlic. You’d always had a slight distaste for the boys. There was a distinct memory you held of watching Dustin and Mike with stars in their eyes. It was only there when they looked at Eddie as if he was more than just a friend or a game master. The labels and the bullying didn’t matter to them. No, they were merely happy to be there, to be a part of whatever Eddie had given them. You were envious. It was all you had wanted, and he never gave you the chance that he gave those freshmen. It was odd how jealousy could tinge perceptions of other people. 

Looking back on it now, you realized how wrong you were about the two. You just didn’t want anyone else to see Eddie the way you did. 

“So, why do you hate coming back? Skeletons in your closet or just a classic case of the Hawkins 'Ghost Town' Blues?” Eddie asked, trying to sound casual but genuinely wanting to know. 

You couldn’t help but chuckle, flashbacks already beginning to sting around the edges. “Oh, that’s a conversation for after you put a cig in my mouth and light it, Munson,” you sighed before turning back, “or do you not smoke inside anymore?” 

Eddie smiled at you, reaching into his sweatpants’ pocket, and taking out his pack of Camels. His steps were small, trying his hardest to be as careful as possible. With you, he knew there was something lurking in your past that you’d rather not say. He didn’t mind that as he had quite a few secrets up his nonexistent sleeves. 

“Old habits die hard,” he tried to joke as he slipped one into his mouth. He placed a cigarette between your lips, never taking his eyes off yours as he went to light both of your cigarettes at the same time. Now that he was really able to see you, able to transport back to chemical-doused cafeteria tables and vacant hallways in the late afternoon, he could try harder to find you. Some people can escape their pasts, he could admit that. He wasn’t a total pessimist. But he knew you hadn’t come close. Steel couldn’t just appear. Someone had to weld it together. Someone had to seal it with a scorching kiss.

You took a long drag, holding his eye contact as you directed the smoke elsewhere. “Thanks, Eddie.” He simply nodded as he turned to sit on the small couch. He watched as you stuck the garlic bread in his tiny toaster oven that was on its last leg. You decided to avoid the recent haunts. At least your home life hadn’t been as awful as what you’d gone through since leaving this hellhole. “It’s the same sob story as everyone else, I’m sure. Angel mother, piece of shit father. I couldn’t get her to leave him and with the earthquake…well, she needs his income more than she needs him. It’s not as bad as it was but I’d rather not come home just to sit and listen to them talk about everyone who died.”

“Still?”

“It’s the only interesting thing that’s happened to them in years.” You laughed bitterly to yourself. Some things would never change, and her parents were one of them. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

You turned to face him, letting out another string of smoke from your nose. The tobacco seemed to clear your head, allowing your observations to intensify in clarity. His eyes were elsewhere, indicating to you that he was wary of any kind of answer. But courage began to blossom. Once you’d gone to college and realized that silence didn’t get you very far, you knew you had to open your mouth. You knew that if you never spoke up, you’d regret it for the rest of your life. Even if you never saw Eddie again after today. 

“You’re different,” you said. “You’re not as…you as you were back then.”

This made Eddie laugh. It was the kind of laugh that held pain behind it, the kind that both loved and hated that he’d been caught. At least someone noticed. “Well, you know, some shit can do that. Try escaping the scariest shit you’ve ever seen and then get to graduate out of pity. You know it wasn’t ‘cause of Mrs. Kelly. Had a D for two years. Then as soon as you decide to pack up and leave, your uncle tells you he can’t live on his own without you. Some punchline, right?” You didn’t know what to say, but you didn’t have to. “People still look at me differently. It’s like I caused all of this when I didn’t. I just didn’t.” Sighing, Eddie turned on his side, curling into himself. “Set the freak free only to put him back inside a cage. All over a fucking game.”

Without realizing it, you started to move forward. His demeanor was drastically different from a moment ago, like watching an idle cat sprint off into the other room. You kneeled in front of him, slowly raising a hand to cover his. There was no real thought put into the act. It was as if the years of careful distance meant nothing anymore. There was always some kind of connection between the two of you, still undeniable now. The words weren’t uttered; the feelings weren’t communicated. But you knew. And so did he.  

Eddie’s eyes met yours, tears threatening to spill over. Physical contact had been hard after the fight with Vecna. He could’ve died, and yet he was still breathing. Though, it always felt like it did when he was in the Upside Down: cold, lifeless. It was as if he were a corpse left to clean up his own ashes. Yet, your touch was a flicker. There was a warmth that reminded him of that tiny glimpse of wonder he received when he saw the glitter surrounding those kitchen lights. 

“Eddie,” you said. “This world is so much bigger than you think. Even your world. There’s a DnD club on my campus. There are people doing it live-action at the parks. Hell, there are local bands playing every weekend, some of which are metal.” 

You thought of him every time you went to those shows or those parks or even walked past the spare rooms used for clubs. There would be a tight slide of a finger up the neck of a guitar, the crack of dice as it hit the table. Every time, it was him that entered your mind.  But you’d never admit that out loud. No one knew who Eddie was anyways, so it didn’t matter. It couldn’t have mattered. He was just some guy with some special interests from high school that was nice to you a few times. 

It didn’t matter.

It couldn’t have mattered.

And yet it did.

“Those things don’t define you, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’re wanted. Those people just haven’t met you yet. But they’re there. You even have your cute little friends.” 

At that, Eddie smiled a little, thinking of Gareth, Jeff, and Dustin. He was still on the fence about Mike being as cool as his older sister. It was a classic debate when he was alone, but he had to digress before his mind sent him spiraling. Though nothing could keep his thoughts from swirling around the moment he decided to cut you out of his life before he even beckoned you in. It was stupid of him to do that, he realized that now. You would’ve been the best adventure he’d been on yet. But he selfishly took that possibility away. He saw that now. 

“Is it weird that a small part of me wants you to take me with you when you leave?” Eddie asked. His thoughts were beginning to scare him as he realized he couldn’t keep anything hidden anymore. “I always thought you were cool.”

You let out a laugh, disbelief coloring your mind. Eddie was just being nice. There was no way he could’ve known anything about you other than deep breaths and awkward laughs. 

“You didn’t even really talk to me.”

Eddie shook his head. “I didn’t have to. I saw you. You were brave for bringing books into the cafeteria, that’s for sure. You could’ve had that ripped out of your hands in a heartbeat. You wore these little hair clips, right? Orange and pink and blue and stuff. Now, you see, you didn’t just wear that. No, you also wore leather jackets and goth shit, but you still had little elements of—Well, for lack of a better term, cuteness.” He watched as color flooded your cheeks. “And I had the biggest crush on you. But I’m sure you probably knew that.”

Startled, you moved away from him. You tripped on the back of your heel, sending your crouching figure tumbling onto the ground. At that moment, you realized three things. 

One, your faces had been incredibly close. Almost too close. Like, kissing close. You swore you’d felt his breath fan over your face. It wasn’t like it was anything special, but it was his. He could’ve closed the distance and you wouldn’t have protested.

Two, Eddie had called you cute. Sometimes you’d thought that Eddie hadn’t found you attractive when you wore softer colors. But you didn’t think he noticed when you wore your darker clothing either. You just wore what you wanted to and hoped that no matter what, he would glance at you. 

Three, the boy you had been crushing on in high school was into you the entire time. Without your knowledge.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You didn’t know? I was way too obvious.”

You shook your head, frustration settling in. You could’ve said something to him had you known. If he had just said anything, your life could’ve been completely different. As you stood up, you threw your hands in the air. “You didn’t even look at me most of the time. You rarely spoke to me, and you didn’t even try to be my friend! Of course, I didn’t know!” 

Eddie’s eyes widened, stunned at how loud you’d gotten. He sat up slowly, guilt beginning to settle in—but not before a revelation startled him.

“Holy shit, you liked me back,” he stated.

“What?”

A grin formed on his face again, that flickering of the lighter beginning to catch flame. “You totally liked me back. Oh, it makes perfect sense now.”

“How would you even deduce that?”

“Easy. How would you have known that I didn’t look at you?” You stayed silent. “You were looking at me, waiting for me to look back, weren’t you?”

Bashfully, you whispered, “Every day.” Without any other words, you grabbed the garlic bread out of the toaster oven and brought it over to his lap. You sat next to him, grabbing the piece of toast.

“We’re idiots,” Eddie said, mainly to himself. It was too hard to think about, the knowledge that there could’ve been something. Anything. And there you went, into some abyss filled with essays and parties. You had to be someone’s girl now, he just knew it. He couldn’t bring himself to ask, to send that thought into the universe. If you knew that he was still into you, it would be considered weird. And obsessive. And creepy. There was no way you’d ever find out. He would make sure of it.

You shrugged, trying to play it off casually. “Just kids, I suppose.” Deflect, deflect, you thought. “Now, tell me, what do those tattoos mean? I’ve been wondering for ages.”

He smirked. “So, you were looking.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” you answered, hiding your smile with a bite of your piece of toast.

Eddie hid another smile, realizing you were getting quiet the more he called your bluff. He’d save it for another time if there was one. “Fine, fine.” His hands went up. “Where to start…”

For the next few hours, the two of you skirted around the admission of feelings by catching up. It was like there was nothing outside of this trailer, as if you had managed to stop time. The muggy gray of the sky seemed insignificant compared to the little pieces of Eddie’s puzzle you were finally learning. You never wanted it to end, these missing chapters of the book you were starting to construct for him. You couldn’t get enough of him, and he couldn’t get enough of you, soaking in your life like a wave of comfort. For the first time in over two years, he was connecting with someone. Someone real, someone radiating with the golden beams he thought were gone. 

When you finally remembered your parents and the roads growing icier as the night continued to fall over the town, you stood up. “I wish I could stay, but I have to go back to my parents.”

“Bummer,” he whispered, standing as well. Shaking the crumbs from his shirt, he wondered if he’d ever see you again. You were here for the next month and a half—was there any way he could convince you to come back? 

Your mind was on the same wavelength, wondering if you could find a way to keep him around. You’d only just begun to get to know him as he was then and as he was now. His light was starting to return, slowly but surely. Some part of you wanted to make it shine again, dusting the jagged sunlight over the two of you.

You put your coat on in silence, debating what you could entice him with. 

Eddie felt just the same, his mind stuck on long walks in the woods or a trip to the movies. Casually, of course. Platonic, definitely. 

Definitely.

As you reached your car, you turned to him. Mustering the confidence, you said, “Call in sick tomorrow. Let’s go on an adventure.”

A smile reached his lips as his wishes were granted. “You better make it worth my while.”

You gave him a smirk. “I’ll do my best, Eddie.” Shutting the door, you gave him a wave through the glass. 

Driving away was much harder than you had anticipated. It was as if something was missing, lost to the winter chill. Eddie had given you closure to something you didn’t know you needed. It was like there had been a chapter missing from that book you wrote of him, and you were just now discovering its contents. 

Eddie watched you drive away, staring after your car even when it was out of sight. After he went back inside, he immediately called the record store to fake some kind of food poisoning. He didn’t even care that it sounded fake. He just knew that he had to spend time with you. You were still such a mystery, even if you had spent the day with him. You were his first afterglow following the torment of Vecna. And that had to mean something.

[that-thing-that-feeling]

What are your theories about the supernatural aspects of the plot for S5? I think Vecna is the final boss, but at the same time, it looks like his humanoid form has been destroyed. So how do you think he will come back? And how will he be defeated (since El wasn’t able to do it). I know ppl say Will is gonna be important but he wasn’t able to defeat him before either, so I don’t see how it’s gonna end. And there won’t be any new character=deus ex machina. Maybe Jancy and Jopper investigating further Henry’s past and finding out weakness that El and Will could exploit?

Hmmm well Vecna seems to not be in his humanoid form so he could appear as as another creature in the UD (like maybe the MF?), or he could reconstitute himself by targeting people. Or he might not be in another form at all and still look like Vecna—after all, when Henry was sent through the portal, he reconstituted as Henry before looking more and more Vecna like, so maybe he’ll still look like Vecna but more damaged.

I think the key to defeating him could involve unfreezing the UD first, because then the right side up should be able to affect the UD. I wonder if the clock was crucial not just as a countdown to opening the portals, but also to the UD being frozen. I’ve seen some theory that the clock is like a horcrux, so to destroy Vecna, you’d have to destroy it. That’s v interesting. But that seems to rip off Harry Potter too much, altho I think there has to be some significance to the clock and the UD being frozen and that there will be something with revisiting Nov 6, 1983 (if not thru time travel).

Another way to get Vecna would be either through what you’re saying, something else from his past, since we know there will be further flashbacks seemingly with Henry/Brenner. Also figuring out the history of the UD and its evolution is crucial to bringing it all down—will someone again be able to or forced (like Nancy was) into seeing the history of the UD and that’s a way to get him? I also think destroying the hive mind is crucial to all this—to destroy Vecna and the UD, you have to cut Vecna off from the MF and from any kind of sentience in the UD.

Those are a bunch of theories but I have no idea what the order would be—like what needs to happen first. It feels like you need to unfreeze the UD to get Vecna and the MF and hive mind and then destroy the UD.

I think/hope Will becomes crucial because they need to unfreeze the UD and revisit that day and his role in the formation of the UD possibly. It also interlinks Will and El bc it’s really two things that happened that day: El opening the gate and Will getting taken, and we don’t know which event exactly formed the UD as we know it (the blue one). I also feel like Max being free from her coma will be impt but might come late, as that could affect the portals, but idk or somehow be used to weaken Vecna. Vecna repeating that everyone is with him also feels like a clue, but not one I know what to do with. It should not be that everyone he took comes back to life, but just Max who is in an indeterminate/in between state.

I could see Jancy and Jopper doing something like that, but we’ve already had a Nancy plot of looking into Vecna’s past, so I’d like to see them more directly involved in the unfreezing of the UD. Or with anything related to Will. And El.

What other theories do people have about the supernatural plot, or are there any good ones you’ve seen that you like?

[that-thing-that-feeling]

The DB have been very insistent on going full circle in S5 (something you had theorized before), so based on the other things they’ve said in their collider/Netflix interview, what do you think they have in mind? I wonder if this means all the OG characters are gonna try to remember the day Will disappeared and look for clues bc somehow it’s the key to defeat Vecna?

Hmmm well you know what I wish it meant—that the supernatural plot comes back to the Byers fam and Will’s disappearance, and we get proper arcs for Will, Joyce, and Jonathan after multiple seasons of not having them. Plus, yk, full circle to good writing and character moments across all characters and groups. So I was really happy when they said it would come full circle to s1, bc that seemed to make the most sense.

But the Byers being involved again in the supernatural plot is still more of a hope bc coming full circle could mean more returning to s1 groupings like the party + El, Jonathan and Nancy, Jopper. And then possibly it also means Will as a focus? But also Max getting out of her coma (and thus way from Vecna), Dustin and his grief, and Henry and Vecna’s backstory have also been mentioned as crucial. It could also be the army of monsters they have to fight instead of just the demogorgon in s1 could be one way it’s s1 but “grander.”

It does feel like so much converges through Will and points to him being important s5: that the UD froze the day he disappeared, that he survived the UD or was kept alive in it, that he was possessed in s2 (so targeted twice even if the first one could still have some element of wrong place wrong time or he was actually being targeted in s1), that the portals converge in the library where he was found, that he senses and knows Vecna is alive and is a clear target for Vecna.

But how this all works out logistically idk. I think your theory is great—that they somehow have to revisit some part of that day to figure out how it was frozen, or Will needs to revisit that day and what happened in the UD. Also it’s interesting that Hawkins crew only knows that crucial detail about the UD freezing when Will disappeared—I wonder how exactly Cali crew (esp Will, El, and Jonathan) and Joyce and Hopper will find out. Perhaps through Nancy, because she’s the one who really discovered it and figured it out?

It could also be of course that Will is Vecna’d at some point or is able to sense things and it happens somehow that way. Either way I feel like the two thing have to happen to restore Hawkins are: 1) they have to unfreeze the UD so what they do in the right side up can destroy it and 2) that Vecna and the MF’s point of weakness needs to be discovered and used against them to defeat them and sever their link.

I’m also curious if 1 and 2 above relate to each other. In any case, it seems like really crucial to this could be revisiting all the things we didn’t see when Will was taken and in the UD.