#it's giving after the byers-hoppers leaving hawkins in s3

[mandycantdecide]

recently discovered river of tears by alessia cara and i'm feeling inspired to write a byler fic(let)? about it

[sennqu]

Cleaned up a few posts to reorganize them into a more coherent write-up with less fluff.

So, here is my interpretation of Will's romantic arc spanning S3 to S4: (with some mentions of S1 and S2)

To start, my interpretation is that Will has already fallen for Mike once S3 begins. my evidence for this are

the script for the snow ball scene where Will was said to be looking at Mike

the filmed scene when he looked to Mike when a girl asked him to dance

Will's line about not falling in love at the beginning of S3.

setting this up to ask the question: when did Will realize his feelings? in-between S2 and S3? during S2? or is it possible he was already developing feelings for Mike in S1?

i think the likeliest scenario from the text is that Will was already starting to develop feelings for Mike before S2 but he fully realizes he is in love during that season. My personal headcanon is that the definite moment was in the shed after Mike's tearful recounting of when they first met. With that, we can then assume Will might have been jealous of El before he even met her since Mike talked about her often. This then builds up to his outburst in S3E3 months later.

Will's jealousy of El is possibly a big part of why he was so insistent on playing DnD in the early episodes of S3. it's not just a wish of returning to childhood but to a life before El, before Will felt like he lost Mike to her. And of course the fight with Mike after cements it in Will's mind how stupid the notion was and how stupid he was to think that maybe he could be with Mike forever.

Additionally, I think Mike's outburst at the cabin ("i love her!...") forced Will to confront his own feelings even further. Then Hopper 'dying' and El staying with the Byers, along with the 3 month timeskip, is what really propelled Will to finally let go of his jealousy. Mostly because he had to. I think a lot of Will's arc in S3 is moving on/growing up because he felt the need to. I think that's what the scene with Lucas trying to apologize was implying. Mike and the rest of the party were "growing up" and moving onto serious things so Will felt he should too.

Now, Will leaving his DnD set behind is seen as like this gesture that DnD will always be his and his best friends' thing: their connection to one another. Will's not going to play with anyone else. The popular byler interpetation is of course that Will will always love Mike ("Not possible") and not want anyone else. I agree with this for the most part but I do somewhat think that leaving behind his DnD set was also part of an intent to leave his feelings for Mike behind in Hawkins. He doesn't want to, but he has to. Mike will always be his first love, but like the DnD set, it'll be a remnant of his childhood in Hawkins.

Then we get to S4 where I believe Will is still trying to get over Mike. And this is where the painting comes in.

I believe it's likely that Will made his painting as

a platonic gesture, and

as a form of closure and way of moving on from Mike romantically.

Like putting all his feelings into it so he could give it to Mike and rip off that yearning like a band-aid. That's why it's a painting of their DnD group and why Mike has a heart on his shield.

This is why he brought it to the airport. What better way to move on than by giving it to Mike on the day Will is third wheeling the best friend he's getting over and Mike's girlfriend who is also now Will's sister? Except Mike then starts acting oddly and (from Will's point of view) starts ignoring Will the moment he arrives. Then Will's mood darkens ever further when he is continuously ignored throughout the day. Does Mike even still think of him as a best friend? Finally, we get the fight ending with both of their feelings hurt and out in the open.

From Will's perspective, it's possible that after their fight in the roller rink, he thought he'd ruined his friendship with Mike. But Mike making amends with him gave him the hope that they still could be best friends. not just a team, not just friends, but back to best friends status. So he brings along the painting with the intent of giving it to Mike at an appropriate time as way to also make amends. Because during that convo, you gotta admit that Mike barely let Will get a word in, lmao. So Will probably felt he had to do something special to make up for his own culpability in their fight/drifting apart.

This ties into why I think Will giving Mike the painting in the van was done unintentionally on Will's part. He wasn't planning on giving it to Mike there and then, but seeing Mike so insecure and so upset had Will giving it to Mike in the spur of the moment and inadvertently confessing his own romantic feelings (under the guise it was El's) so he could make Mike happy. When Will is overcome with the realization of what he's done, he starts crying.

Will's arc in S4 was him attempting to move on romantically and tragically failing by a magnitude no one expected, making it clear to himself and to the audience that there is no one but Mike for him.

[stuckinstrangerthings]

Senior Year - Where we lose count

(part 7)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader/ y/n Henderson

Context: y/n is Dustin's big sister. The events of S1 to S3 have happened with y/n being a part of it to some extent. S3 ends differently with Hopper escaping the Russians with Joyce and Murray. Joyce and Hopper made it to Enzo at some point and they are now happily dating. Joyce didn't move to California so the gang is all together in Hawkins.

Dustin's and y/n dad died a few years ago. He was Hopper and Joyce's high school friend so they are very close to the family. Hopper is y/n godfather.

I don't know yet if some of the events of S4 will happen in this serie, but I can promise that Eddie will be safe if they do.

Summary: Y/n is starting her senior year as Eddie's starts his third one. They know each other from being in the same high school, but are not really friends. She likes him. Good thing her little brother is now a part of the Hellfire Club.

Warnings: (for the whole serie) mention of dead parents, mention of drugs and alcohol, swearing, slow burn, flirting, mutual pining, fluff, friends to lovers, smut 18+.

Author's note: I want this will be a serie. English is not my first language. Also, this is my very first time writing fanfic. Please feel free to comment and give constructive criticism. Thanks!

----

It's Saturday afternoon and Eddie gets to your house as planned to work on your chemistry assignement due on Monday. As soon as he parks his van, he hears total chaos coming from inside. He chuckles, guessing the source of said chaos. He opens the front door and what he sees confirm his theory. All the youngster are there, spread all over the living room and the kitchen. Eating sandwiches and chips. It's loud but you look so happy. You are chatting and laughing with El, Max and Will sitting in the living room. Dustin, Mike and Lucas are eating and arguing in the kitchen.

Everybody warmly greets Eddie.

"Guys, you need to clean up and leave soon if you don't want to miss the movie!" you say.

They all get up, hurrying to finish their lunch and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Getting ready to leave. Today's plan for them is afternoon at the movies and sleep-over at the Byers.

"Dustin, don't forget the banana bread!" you shout, grabbing the container and putting it in his backpack "You guys leave some for Joyce, Hop and Jonathan".

"I'll try my best" he says laughing.

You and Eddie watch as they all jump on their bikes (or skate) and leave for the movie theater.

You get back inside.

"Eddie, I have leftovers, i'm making us sandwiches!" you say.

He smiles. By now, he knows there is no refusing food from you. Besides, why would he refuse, he loves all the food you make.

"I'm sad the banana bread left with Dustin" he jokes.

"Don't worry, I hid our portions. I also have extra for Wayne". you answer.

"Of course you have Princess. I don't know why I was worried" he winks at you.

Yes, the nickname stayed, and yes you love it. Add the winks... goosebumps. You like Eddie a lot as a friend, but at this point you know for sure you love him and oh my do you want him. Is the flirting a game? You don't know, but boy do you enjoy it.

You both go to your bedroom with your food. Eddie takes a first bite of his sandwich. He moans and closes his eyes.

"Princess, even your sandwiches are heavenly. What's in there?" he says.

"Can't say, secret ingredient. Family secret" you reply.

"Wow, now I have to marry you to know everything" he answers.

You laugh "You want to marry me for my cooking skills?".

He gets that naughty look on his face and answers "Oh I'm sure you have plenty of other skills worth discovering"

You laugh...and you blush "Ok Munson, that was sexy. You win this round".

You both smile at each other.

"Ok, let's do this damn chemistry assignement so we can have a little peace for the rest of the week-end" you say.

After a few hours, you are both tired but you are finally done with the assignement. It's now dark outside. The only lightening in your bedroom is from the lamp on your desk. You and Eddie sit in a confortable silence at your desk. You start touching his forearm, tracing the bats from his tattoo.

"I like this one" you say.

"Yeah? I didn't know you liked tattoos" he looks surprised.

"I love tattoos!" you reply.

"Do you have any?" he aks.

"It depends, can you keep a secret?"

Eddie face is a mix of shook and amusement "You do, you totally have at least one! No way! I want to know!".

"Oh my God, Eddie" you laugh but you are also worried "I'll tell you everything but you have to promise to keep it a secret. My mom would kill me".

"I promise" he says, mimicking locking his lips and throwing away the key. He looks super excited.

"Ok, nobody knows. For real, nobody but you. I have two small tattoos. Got them at a small tattoo shop while I was in Indianapolis last summer".

"That is so cool. I did not see that coming Princess. Pleasantly surprised" he says with a big grin "Where are they?".

"Well, let's say they are well hidden so my mom can't see them even when i'm in a bathing suit".

"I think i'm gonna faint" Eddie says as he rubs his hands on his face.

You laugh "Are you blushing? Am I winning a new round?"

He stays silent for a moment. Face still in his hands.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours" you say.

He takes his hands off his face to look at you. He is definitively blushing and you win this round. A victorious look on your face.

"Princess, you will be the death of me" he sighs.

You decide to push it further. You are alone with him. Nobody is coming home until tomorrow. And this proximity with him in your poorly lit bedroom is making your head spin with desire. Also, you did what to see all his tattoos.

"It's a serious offer" you tell him.

He stops smilig, still blushing but now also very curious "Really?"

"Yup, but you go first. Show me all your tattoos. And no lifting part of your t-shirt or pants. You have to take the piece of clothing off. That's the deal". And that was a pretty good deal considering you were wearing only a dress.

"Deal". He gets up and quickly takes off his t-shirt.

You stand up and get closer to him "Can I touch you?".

"... yes" he replies a little shaky.

You smile but don't look at him. Your fingers slowly and gently touching his tattoos. Some of them you knew he had, some are new to you. You get to his back to discover big bat wings tattoos. You continue touching, taking your time, contouring the tattoos. You can hear his breathing changing. You feel the goosebumps on his skin. And you enjoy it... a lot. You come back to face him, tracing the tattoos on his chest, slowly coming down to the one besides his happy trail and disappearing a little under his pants.

"The bats on your forearm is still my favorite one" You put your hand on his lower abdomen tattoo "But this one has the best placement for sure". He puts his hands on yours. Your eyes meet his and there is no doubt on both your minds. This isn't just a game. You bite your lower lip and you shiver a little.

"Your turn Princess. I want to see yours now" he whispers.

"You'll have to find them" you softly say has you turn around and hold your hair out of the way so he can unzip your dress. He gently does and your dress falls to the floor. Leaving you only in your underwear. Nice black ones of course. You were always ready in case the flirting would lead to more.

His hands and his eyes are exploring your body. Searching for your tattoos, but it's also way more than that. It's very sensual while being very respectful. No inappropriate touching, He takes his time, slowly touching you everywhere your skin is exposed and paying attention to your reactions. At this point, you can't help making little sounds. Moans and sighs. But you don't feel self-conscious at all. You feel confortable, high on Eddie. You feel on fire. You are really enjoying this. This is foreplay and you are in heaven.

After exploring your legs, he stands up, dangerously close to you. Close enough for you to clearly feel on your stomach that this was working for him too.

"I can't find them" he says.

You lustly look at him "Guess you are going to have to take my underwear off to see them".

He licks his bottom lip and takes your face in this hands "I really want to kiss you right now" he confesses.

You look at him and reply "I always really want you to kiss me".

He blushes, smiles and leans over to kiss you. His hands finding your waist while yours find his neck. And it's soft and perfect and everything you wanted and then hungry and full of more desire from both of you. He grabs your ass and lifts you up. You wrap your legs around his waist. You can feel him kiss you everywhere he can while taking you to your bed.

Finally, this is happening.

[purpleshadow-star]

The "I love you" problem

Mike's main problem in S4 is that he can't say "I love you" to El, but why is that a problem in the first place?

Stranger Things uses the show don't tell technique exceptionally well, so why would they change that for their main pairing?

Lucas and Max have never said they love each other on screen, but there is no doubt that they do. We see it in S2 when Max opens up to Lucas. We see it in S3 when they playfully banter with each other. We see it even when they take sides in the Mike and El debacle, they still go right back to being comfortable and having fun with the skittles at the hospital. We see it when they make fun of Dustin together when helping the Byers move out. We see it in S4 when Lucas invites Max to his game, then expresses his concern about her and her wellbeing, despite being broken up. We see it when Max listens to Lucas's game on the radio, despite rejecting his ticket to go see it in person and seeming like she didn't care about it. We see it when Lucas rejects Max's letter and instead insists that he's there for her, right then. We see it when Lucas doesn't leave Max's side after she almost gets taken by Vecna the first time. We see it in the Creel house, them planning their movie date, Lucas's agony when Max dies, the way he moves her body out of the way of the gate, the way he stays by her side when she's in the hospital.

Joyce and Hopper have shown their love too, wothout ever saying it. We see it when Hopper is always Joyce's first call when something is wrong, we see it in S2 when Hopper is right there to support Joyce and Will at each appointment, we see it in S3 when Hopper goes to Joyce for companionship and to complain about Mike, we see it in S4 when Joyce goes to Russia to save Hopper without a second thought, we see it when Hopper endures torture to protect Joyce, we see it when Hopper does what he can to ensure Joyce's safety when she gets to Russia.

Nancy and Jonathan have also shown their love. We see it in S2 when Jonathan tells Nancy that Steve asked him to take her home after the Halloween party because Jonathan was willing to give up his chance with Nancy as long as Nancy was happy, we see it when Nancy leaves Mike behind in Steve's care to go support Jonathan when they had to burn the Mind Flayer out of Will, we see it in S3 when Jonathan risks his only source of income to help Nancy pursue her story, we see it when Nancy talks about secretly keeping Jonathan in Hawkins when it was time for the Byers to move, we see it in S4 when Jonathan and Nancy are both able to list multiple qualities about the other that they love, we see it when Jonathan risks his relationship with Nancy in order to ensure that Nancy can follow her dream.

We are shown the love of many pairings, multiple times, so why are Mike and El different?

Clearly, El doesn't feel loved anymore, which is important. In S2, Mike called her everyday until the Mind Flayer appeared. At the beginning of S3, they spent all of their time together, but only a few episodes in, it was clear that their relationship wasn't built on companionship and trust like Jopper's, or honesty like Lumax's. Their breakup was the beginning of the end.

El breaks up with Mike for lying to her, and although they make up at the end, their relationship isn't the same. Before S4, Mike says he loves El once on screen, and El isn't even in the room. El later tells Mike that she loves him, but he doesn't say it back.

Then, in S4, after months of El writing "love" and not getting it in return from Mike, El expresses that she doesn't feel loved anymore.

But, that's okay, right? Because we've heard Mike say it before, nevermind the fact that he pretended to not remember saying it, so that must mean he does love El, right? After all, Mike isn't the best at showing his emotions to most people, so it's not totally unrealistic that he wouldn't say "I love you" very often. He doesn't even need to say the words, he just needs to say "of course I do" (or something along the lines of that). But... but he doesn't say that. He says "who said that I didn't" and "I say it" (which we know is a lie) and "you're being ridiculous" and "you know what I think of you." But, clearly El doesn't know, since she expressed the fact that she thinks Mike doesn't love her.

This, in and of itself, is a major difference from all of the other cannon pairings. With everyone else, they know their partner loves them because they've shown them that they love them. With El and Mike, El clearly doesn't feel like Mike has shown her that he loves her. In fact, she feel the opposite. She feels like he has shown her that he's scared of her and that he thinks she's a monster.

We've only seen the "I love you" problem one other time, back in S2 with Steve and Nancy. Nancy didn't love Steve, and in the end, she couldn't say it to him. She is able to express her love for Jonathan later on, so clearly she doesn't have a problem expressing her feelings because of the way she was raised.

This parallel between Mike and Nancy and Steve and El is too obvious to be an accident.

In the end, Mike is able to say "I love you" to El, but he surrounds it with lies and half truths, and instead of it being a freeing experience, the vines keeping El trapped only tighten when he says he loves her.

He says a lot of stuff, but we only see one memory, and this memory is framed in a lie.

We are shown a lie and we are told, by Mike, that it is the truth.

The show don't tell method showed us the tightening vines throughout the monologue. It did not show us Mike's love for El.

[assortedfruitsnacks212]

Lost Boy - Ch 1 - Out In The Cold

Pairing | Eventual Billy Hargrove x El Hopper (as in, the slowest of slow burns taking years to develop - right now they’re just awkward lol)

Series summary | Post S3 AU. It's been over two months since the Battle of Starcourt. Billy Hargrove survived, but he's not sure he should have. Scarred in body and mind, he has no idea who he is anymore. He spends his days drinking and fighting until Neil, incensed by his son's behavior, throws him out of the house.

Hopper and El come to the rescue, taking Billy home to live with them. Their compassion is unnerving... and exactly what he needed. However, as he adjusts to his newfound "family," he realizes something isn't right. He still feels the Shadow's call, urging him to kill.

Little does he know the Shadow doesn't need him to obey. It has another piece on the board, waiting to strike.

What to expect | angst, trauma, and horror with a happy ending, found family goodness

Series warnings | abusive fathers, PTSD, alcohol abuse, Mind Flayer possession, perilous situations, self harm, suicidal ideation

Chapter word count | 6.3k

Chapter summary | Hopper learns about Billy's situation at home. Billy has an altercation with Neil, who throws him out of the house.

Chapter warnings | blood and domestic violence

Author’s notes | This story has been in the works since S3 dropped. Within a few months, I started posting the initial draft. Since then, it's evolved into a massive trilogy that will take me years to finish. If you get invested in it, I'm sorry :p Just know we'll be suffering together :p

Obviously the story diverges from canon. To briefly explain the setup:

At Starcourt, Hopper escapes the machine room without getting trapped. Together, he and Joyce close the gate quickly enough to save Billy from dying.

Billy gets impaled by the Mind Flayer once. It doesn't kill him, but it puts him in the hospital and leaves him physically scarred.

Because Hopper survives, the Byers stay in Hawkins. He and El move into his trailer from S1 until he can repair the cabin.

Hopper's truck and Billy's Camaro survive. (If they're still kicking around, they need their iconic vehicles!)

Comments and reblogs are welcomed with open arms! Please feed me your encouragement as I work on this gargantuan fix-it project!

Two Months After The Battle Of Starcourt

Sunday, September 22, 1985

Sighing quietly, Hopper steps into the Hideaway Pub. A chime jingles above the door, and he pauses on the threshold, scanning the room carefully.

Cigarette smoke curls through the air. The afternoon sun pours through the windows, lighting the place in a way that feels familiar. On the left side of the room, two patrons are playing pool. One is standing to the side, leaning on his pool cue; the other is bent over the table, chewing on a cigarette as he takes aim. To Hopper's right, the bartender is wiping off a glass behind the bar. In the back, a seemingly unremarkable gray-haired man is sitting in a booth eating a sandwich.

Hopper stares at the man. Like ice in the sun, the past year melts away. It's late November '84, and they're here to exchange the crucial document that will make young Jane Ives his flesh and blood.

The pool player takes his shot. The sound of wood striking wood shatters Hopper's reverie, and an uncomfortable tightness squirms in his chest. He strides toward the man in the booth. 

Dr. Sam Owens looks up in mid-chew, face brightening.

“Chief-o! Good to see you, good to see you.” He gestures across the table. “Please, have a seat.”

“Doc Owens.” 

Hopper sits, trying not to sigh. He’d say something nice to the man, but goddamn, he really hoped he’d never have to see him again.

“How’s the daughter?” Owens smiles. “She recovering alright?”

Hopper smiles grimly in return. “Oh, ‘bout as well as you’d expect. Nightmares. Flashbacks. But you know all that already. So why don’t we just cut to the chase, and you tell me why you brought me here?”

Owens gives him a probing look. Putting his sandwich down, he brushes crumbs off his hands. 

"It's the boy. Billy Hargrove. We need you to keep an eye on him for us."

In a flash, Hopper sees a young man with curly blond hair lying in a hospital bed. He's unconscious and bandaged across the abdomen. An oxygen tube snakes out of his mouth. In the background, a machine beeps coldly, counting the beats of his heart.

Hopper's chest twinges. He shoves the memory out of his head. 

"Why?" He smirks. "Kid too much for you, Doc?"

Owens shakes out his napkin. "Well, you see, Hop, that's the thing. He won't even talk to us. We tried. We brought him in for some tests over in the next county. You know, the usual. But he, uh... well." He chuckles. "Let's just say it ended poorly."

Hopper’s smirk darkens. Oh, he can only imagine. Billy Hargrove getting hooked up to machines and poked and prodded? After he was stuck in a hospital for a month? Yeah. Hopper's sure that went very poorly.

There's just one problem. As much as Hopper feels for the kid, he’s got enough on his plate already. 

He leans in, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial murmur. "Listen, Doc. I wish I could help, I really do. But I have a kid at home who's not in the best shape right now. I don't have time to spy on your little experiment for you."

Owens sits back. His expression grows solemn, even reproachful.

"He's not an experiment, Hop. Okay? He's a kid who's just been through the worst experience of his life. Do we want to watch him for the obvious reasons? Yes. Yes, we do. But he needs a helping hand. And you, my friend, are in the unique position to give him that.

"I'm not saying you need to do much. Okay? I'm not asking you to insert yourself in his life. You don't even need to announce yourself. Just keep an eye on him. And use your own judgment in deciding how far to go. That's all we're asking."

Owens reaches for his sandwich, only to pause and look up. "That is all I'm asking."

As Owens takes a bite, Hopper leans back and crosses his arms. The uncomfortable tightness squirms in his chest again, carving a hole in the muscle, opening the cavity a little wider. 

Dammit. He sighs and looks away.

Owens hears the unspoken concession. Wiping his mouth on his napkin, he says, "He's living at home still, with his father and stepmother. But we have reason to believe that won't last long."

Hopper glances at him sharply. "Why? What's going on?"

—

A Few Nights Later Wednesday, September 25, 1985

When Billy gunned his Camaro into the driveway, he didn't expect anything unusual to happen. Why would it? The driveway was empty. And, last he checked, the trash cans weren't sitting in that spot. They were off to the side, out of the way, where trash cans are supposed to be.

So when his Camaro crashes into them, he doesn't register it at first. Only when he's safely stopped, and the cans fall over with a bang!, does he realize parking didn't go as planned.

Cursing, Billy takes off his seat belt and stumbles drunkenly out of the car. The two metal cans are rolling gently back and forth in the beam of his headlights. One has a massive dent in the side. The other is missing its lid. Near the edge of the carport, a glint in the moonlight catches Billy's eye. He looks over right as the missing lid rolls into the grass and falls down.

He scoffs. Not my fault. If Neil and Susan want to protect their precious trash cans, they should put them back where they belong.

He doesn't even bother checking the Camaro for damage. Reaching into the cab, he turns off the engine, slams the door, and heads for the side steps. He's climbed them halfway when Susan opens the door above him, dish towel in hand.

"Billy! Good heavens, what happened? I heard a loud noise and—"

She gasps.

"Billy. Oh my god, Billy, what happened to you?"

"Fug off, Susan," he growls, shoving past her into the dining room. He just needs to make it to his bedroom, then everything will be okay.

When he shambles into the hallway, Max comes out of her room. She stops cold, mouth falling open.

"Billy! Jesus, why are you bleeding?"

He steps around her and keeps going. Catching the doorframe to his room, he stumbles through to his unmade bed, where he throws himself onto his back, making the boxspring bounce. Covering his face with his hand, he bursts into a loud, mad cackle.

Christ, what a fucking day. What a fucking year.

"You're drunk. You got in a fight."

Max. She followed him into his room.

"Oh-h-h-h yeah?" he drawls. "How'dja figure that one out?"

He cackles some more. Her presence kneels by the bed, vibrating with tense energy. He shoots her a glare from beneath his hand.

"Billy, you can't be here like this," she says anxiously. "Neil's going to be home soon, and he'll find out. He'll find out and he'll—"

"So let 'im find out. I don't give a shit."

Max's energy turns frantic. "Billy. You can't possibly mean that. Billy, he'll hurt you."

"Oh, will he?"

Billy rolls his head toward her. She pulls away slowly like she's frightened by what she sees. He pushes up on his elbows to fill the gap.

"Don't you get it, Max?" he says darkly. "He can't hurt me anymore. Nothin' can. Not like He did."

Max stares at him. Her eyes are so wide, so concerned, that another cackle bubbles out of him. Dropping back on the bed, he throws an arm over his face.

Yeah. Let Neil Hargrove try to fucking reach him. He can't now.

—

Max's heart beats faster as Billy cackles. She's never seen him like this. Yes, she’s seen him bleed. Earlier this year, he got a cut on his forehead much like this one. Last year she saw him cackle like he was losing his mind. And she's seen him with swollen knuckles many, many times. But drunk, bruised, and bloody? With a dead look in his eyes that even the mention of Neil Hargrove can’t shake?

She has to do something. Drag him out of bed and stuff him in her closet? He'll put up a fight, but—

The door in the dining room slams. A voice rings out like a death knell.

"Billy!"

Max looks at the hall, eyes wide.

"He's here." She shakes Billy's arm. "Billy, you have to leave. Please, please, just get up and go. Billy, do it for me. Do it for—"

"Billy!"

Max whirls around. Neil’s at the door glaring at them. He crosses his arms, shifting his jaw back and forth.

Goosebumps explode over Max's skin, and she stays very still. A snake has her in its sights. If she moves, she’ll die.

Neil glances at her. "Maxine. Go to your room."

Max turns to Billy. He's lifted his head off the bed to stare at Neil. Despite his earlier posturing, he swallows visibly.

"Maxine," Neil repeats. "Go. To your. Room."

Her chest constricts. Taking Billy's hand, she squeezes. He looks at her, and the fear in his eyes makes her own eyes sting.

Stiffly, she gets up to leave. Neil stands aside to let her out. As she passes him, her stomach flips as she imagines attacking him. Just kicking and slapping and biting till he's lying on the ground and can't hurt their family anymore.

But she keeps walking. She’d never be able to overpower Neil Hargrove.

—

When Max leaves, taking the last scrap of warmth in the room with her, Neil fixes Billy with a glare. Running a hand down his jaw, he steps through the doorway. A chill coils in Billy’s gut, and he pushes himself up, watching Neil through his drink-induced bleariness.

Neil stops a short distance from the bed. "You, uh... wrecked my trash cans," he says flatly.

Billy licks his lip. "Yeah. Sorry."

Neil sighs through his nose and glances around. When he looks back at Billy, he tilts his head like a hawk eying its prey.

“I thought I told you never to come into my house like this again.”

He’s using the bad voice. The one that’s perfectly calm and even. Billy’s mouth goes bone dry. Words loop through his mind, quick and frantic, the words he should say when his dad’s using the bad voice. Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. It’ll never happen again, sir.

They don’t come. Instead, absurd laughter boils up inside him. He tries to stuff it down, but it breaks out anyway, ringing through the room like a declaration of war.

Neil raises his eyebrows in disbelief. Billy falls back and rolls his head to the side, giving in to the madness.

Too late now. Might as well burn it all down.

“Something funny, Billy?”

There it is. The worse-than-bad voice. The voice Neil Hargrove uses when he’s just about had enough.

Billy’s laughter trails off. He stares at the ceiling, a giddy warmth flooding him.

“Oh, y'know. Just that you 'spect me to carry on like nothin' happened. That is goddamn hilarious, Dad. What next? You wan' me to fly to the fuggin' moon?”

Silence. Normally, silence would terrify him. It means he’s crossed a line, and now Neil’s going to clap back. Shove him into a bookshelf, backhand him across the face.

Not today. Today, Billy rolls his tongue in his mouth and waits.

Seconds tick by. At first, Billy flexes his hand, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. But as the silence stretches on with no reaction from Neil, the chill in Billy's gut coils more tightly. He looks over. 

Neil’s staring at him, his expression unreadable.

Billy stares back. A sliver of confused hope worms its way into his heart.

Wait. What is this? Is his dad actually listening to him for once? Seeing that maybe, just maybe, he’s being a fucking asshole?

Sure, Neil has no clue what really happened. As far as he knows, the news stories about a fire in the mall are true. Dozens of people died, and Billy was just a lucky survivor who got smashed in the ribs by falling debris.

Still, the cover story has to count for something, right? Surely even an asshole like Neil Hargrove can see that. Maybe he’s seeing it now, and he’ll let Billy off the hook for once.

Neil looks at the floor. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he wanders to the center of the room. There he turns in a slow circle, raking his gaze over the walls. He stops with his back to Billy.

“Eighteen years.” He huffs softly. “Eighteen years under my roof.” 

Chills erupt down Billy's spine, and his heart sinks. He pushes himself up on his elbows. The room spins, but he cuts through it with his eyes, watching his father.

Neil turns to him suddenly. “Do you remember our agreement, Billy? Mm? What we discussed?”

Billy sits up all the way.

“Once you got out of the hospital, son, you were going to get a job,” Neil growls. “Because you have bills to pay. Rather large ones. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“Really?” Neil scoffs. “Well, you’re certainly not acting like it. Have you made any phone calls? Gone for a single interview?”

Gee, I would like to, but I’ve been too busy screaming in my fucking sleep.

“No,” Billy murmurs.

“No, Billy, you haven’t.”

Neil steps closer. “You haven’t kept any of the rules, either,” he says darkly. 

Billy’s gaze jumps to his father’s face. The air hums with electricity like someone switched on a generator. 

“Do you remember those, Billy?” Neil asks.

Carefully, Billy swings his legs off the bed, planting his feet on the carpet. His fingers curl around the edge of the mattress.

“Billy.” Neil tilts his head. “Do you remember what those rules are?”

“Yeah,” Billy says. He's surprised by how strong his voice is.

“Good. Let's go over them from the top.” Neil sticks out a finger. “Number one, you will...?”

“Respect you an' my stepmother.”

“Good.” Neil sticks out another finger. “Number two, you will...?”

“Take care of Max.”

“Very good. Number three, you will...?”

“Stay outta trouble with the law.”

“Yes. Excellent, Billy. And number four.” Neil’s jaw hardens as he lifts a fourth finger. “Number four. You will...?”

“Behave responsibly.”

“Yes. Which means...?”

"Keep m'commitments. Don't do drugs. An'—" Billy swallows "—don't get drunk."

"Yes. Yes. Now, Billy…"

Neil sighs through his nose and steps closer. Billy stiffens, tightening his grip on the mattress. 

"Have you kept any of these rules?"

Neil has  that look  now, the look he gets when he's daring Billy to give any answer other than the one he's chosen. As Billy absorbs it, a voice yelps in his head, quiet and muffled, like a dog getting kicked.

His father doesn't care what happened to him. He doesn't care that his son nearly died. He doesn't care that his son barely sleeps at night, wakes up screaming, sees tentacles slithering across the walls. All he cares about is that his son behave. Even now, after everything.

The whimper inside Billy builds to an agonized howl. The force of it shakes another feeling loose, something hot and desperate. His eyes burn, and his chest heaves.

"No," he growls through gritted teeth, "I haven't."

"That's right, Billy. You haven't."

Sniffing loudly, Neil wanders closer. Billy watches him, arms tensing.

"Now, son." Neil's glare brims with deadly intent. "Do you remember what happens when you break the rules?"

He steps even closer, looming like a shadow. 

Billy's breath hitches.

"Yes."

Leaping off the bed, he slings a punch at his dad. Neil dodges and seizes his arm, wrenching it behind his back, making him cry out. Grabbing Billy's shoulder, he hauls him toward the wall by the record player. Billy looks up, inhales sharply—

Crack! His mirror shatters beneath his face. 

Neil holds him there in an iron grip. Billy breathes hard, a trickle of warmth snaking down his cheek. When he glances at Neil's broken reflection, his gut seizes.

Neil looks feral. His eyes are wild, his nostrils flared.

"Push me again!" Neil yells, leaning in. "Just push me again and see what goddamn happens!"

A violent shiver starts in Billy's core, spreading through him until he's trembling all over. Whuffing dangerously, Neil presses him deeper into the glass. Billy shuts his eyes, face crumpling. 

Tears are coming. The heat is surging upward through his tear ducts, and he hates it. He hates it. Neil can't see him cry, but there's no stopping it this time, not after everything.

So he gives in. Liquid fire spills down his cheeks, and a soft cry escapes his mouth. It doesn’t sound like him, or even like a voice. It’s the wail of a ghost, too alive to stay silent, too dead for anyone to hear.

Neil lets go and steps back. Billy doesn't move. He stays pressed to the glass, sobbing quietly.

"Pack your things," Neil growls, "and get out of my house."

Billy looks at Neil's reflection. He freezes, blinking.

Neil's hovering nearby, hatred burning in his gaze. Behind him, shadowy spider-legs arch across the wall like dark wings in the lamplight.

Billy, a voice hisses.

Billy’s heart pounds. He shuts his eyes, counts to three, and looks again.

Nothing. Just the wall.

With a final, hateful glare, Neil strides out of the room. The air whooshes out of Billy, and he sags against the mirror, resting his hand on the glass. A drop of warm liquid trickles down his thumb. Whether it's tears or blood, he can't say.

—

Max lurks at the door to her room, a lump in her throat, as Neil strides down the hall into the kitchen. The moment he's gone, she throws open her door and races to Billy's room, stopping at the threshold.

Billy's sagging against his mirror. The glass is cracked beneath him, and he's breathing hard, eyes shut.

Max's heart twists in pain. Stepping inside, she shuts the door, then hurries over and takes him by the arm.

"Billy."

She pulls him away from the mirror. When she sees his face, she gasps. 

A fresh cut has opened on his left cheek. It's relatively small but bleeding a lot. At some point, his forehead cut reopened, and now it's bleeding too, painting his eyebrow scarlet. His eyes are wet and red, his cheeks shining like roads after rain. Beside him, the broken mirror is streaked with blood.

Max's eyes burn. Blinking it away, she peers at his new cut. A small shard of glass is poking out of it.

"You've got glass in your face." She tugs him toward the bed. "Here."

She sits him down and rushes to the nightstand. Pulling out the drawer, she grabs the first aid kit she hid there months ago. Rooting through it, she snatches out the tweezers, turns to Billy, and angles his head for a better look. His eyelids flutter slightly. Aside from that, he doesn't react.

"This might hurt," she says. "Just stay still for me. Okay?"

Bracing his head, she carefully grabs the shard with the tweezers. When she pulls it out, he hisses, nose scrunching.

"Sorry," she whispers.

Blood oozes out of the cut. Dropping the shard and tweezers, she gets a gauze pad and presses it to the wound. Once the bleeding stops, she presses the gauze to his forehead wound and stops the bleeding there. 

Billy keeps his eyes shut the whole time. He's shaking so hard she can feel it. She bites her lip, trying not to notice.

When both cuts have stopped bleeding, she tosses the gauze on the bed. Grabbing an alcohol pad, she tears open the packaging and shakes the pad out. As she reaches for Billy's cheek, he catches her wrist. She stares at him.

"Billy. I have to clean it."

He shoves her hand away and stands up. Shambling to the closet, he snatches a duffel bag off the floor, pulls his denim jacket off its hanger, and stuffs it inside. He does the same with a couple shirts, then stumbles to his dresser and yanks open a drawer.

A chill spreads through Max's body. "Billy? What are you doing?"

He stuffs clothes in his bag. Going to the door, he rips the decorative macrame belt off the back and shoves it in his bag too. Flinging the door open, he shambles out. 

Max trails him to the bathroom. She hesitates in the doorway, watching numbly as he snatches up shampoo and conditioner. When he grabs a towel, her heart slams into her ribcage, shocking her lungs.

"You're leaving." 

He stuffs the towel in his bag and pushes past her. She follows him through the hall.

"But… you can't! Billy, where will you go? You can't sleep in your car. And… and you're drunk, you shouldn't drive. Billy. Billy, please—"

At the threshold to his room, she glances down the hall and freezes. 

Neil's watching from the door to the kitchen. A look of fiendish triumph flashes across his face, and he turns and disappears inside.

No.

Struggling to breathe, Max walks into Billy's room. He's at his bookshelf now, raking stacks of tapes into a cassette carrier. His duffel bag sits open on the bed, stuffed to the brim with everything he needs to survive. 

"He's kicking you out," Max says.

Billy doesn't respond. He crosses to the makeshift table by the window and rakes more tapes into the carrier. 

Clenching her fists, Max whirls and rushes to her room. Going straight to her bookshelf, she throws open her cash box, rifles through it, and pulls out three twenties. She hurries back to Billy's room right as he's shutting his cassette carrier. When he turns to set it on the bed, she walks up and catches his arm.

He looks at her blearily. She flips over his undamaged hand and presses the money into his palm. He glances down, closing his fingers around it.

"You need it more than me," she says through a tight throat. 

He looks up. His eyes soften, searching hers. 

Her own eyes fill with tears, and she yanks him into a hug. He goes stiff - he's always hated hugs - but he doesn't push her off. As she holds him, he even wraps an arm around her. It's the most affection he's ever shown her, and her tears spill over.

"I'll fix this, okay?" she says fiercely. "I will. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself. Please, Billy, please promise me."

When he doesn't answer, she pulls back to glare at him. "Promise me!"

He blinks like he's struggling to understand. Finally he nods. More tears spill from her eyes, and she pulls him into another hug.

"And call me. Okay? As often as you can. I just need to know you're alright."

"Okay," he rasps. He sounds like he hasn't spoken in weeks.

"Okay." She sniffs and pulls away. "Do you have everything? Do you need me to help you?"

Looking lost, Billy scans the room. His gaze catches on the table by the window. 

Max follows his gaze to his record collection, shoved vertically between a large speaker and his record player. He doesn’t have many albums—a dozen, if that—but the collection is his pride and joy.

Max looks back at him, smiling in sympathy. "You want your records?"

Billy stares with longing. “No.” He tears his eyes away. “No. They stay.”

Sticking her money in his pocket, he shambles to the bookshelf and grabs his boombox. He returns to the bed, slings his duffel bag over his shoulder, and picks up the cassette carrier.

Just then, Max registers a cold, wet feeling in her hand. Glancing down, she sees she's still holding the alcohol pad. She walks up to Billy and grabs his arm.

"I need to do this." She shows him the pad.

He glances at it, then at her. Rolling his eyes, he offers his cheek in silent submission. She swipes the pad over his cheek cut. He hisses quietly.

"Keep. Your cuts. Clean. Okay?" She moves to his forehead. "And keep an eye on your knuckles in case they're broken.”

“My knuckles?”

Max pauses. He’s staring at her in genuine confusion.

“Yeah. Your knuckles,” she says. “The ones that look like they’ll swell to twice their size before the night is out?”

He glances blearily at his left hand, then his right. When he catches sight of his swollen knuckles, he frowns, turning his hand over for a better look.

“You’re telling me you don’t feel that?” Max asks.

Billy shakes his head. Her gut squirms in discomfort.

“Well…” She resumes cleaning his cuts. “Just take care of them, okay? And for god’s sake, don’t get into any more fights, or you’re gonna be Scarface by the time you’re thirty.”

"Wasn't my fuggin' fault," he grumbles.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that, Yosemite Sam."

With an appraising glance at her handiwork, she tosses the alcohol pad on the bed. Closing the first aid kit, she offers it to him. When he just stares at it, she huffs and spins him around.

"I swear you wouldn't make it a year without me."

She shoves the kit in his duffel bag and zips it shut. As he turns to her, looking for all the world like a drunken, sheepish child, her heart wrenches. She forces a tearful smile.

"It's going to be okay, Billy. I promise."

He nods. She wipes her eyes.

"Um… where will you go? Tonight, I mean."

He shrugs. "Dunno."

"Well, don't go far, okay? You're drunk, and you shouldn't be driving. Just go to the park or something. Okay?"

"Okay."

Despite her tears, she chuckles. She's not used to her brother being so agreeable.

"I'll, um… I'll walk you out," she says.

She leads him out of the room and down the hall. As they pass the kitchen, she feels Neil’s gaze latch onto her like a black hole. Her spine stiffens, and she keeps her eyes fixed on the dining room ahead. 

She doesn’t breathe again until they’ve escaped into the cool night air. Taking Billy’s arm, she helps him down the steps. His Camaro waits at a crooked angle by Neil's truck, its hood gleaming in the moonlight. In front of the Camaro, the trash cans for the house sit awkwardly. One has a dent, and the other is missing its lid. Max frowns at them in passing.

"Just go to the park, okay?" she says, walking Billy to the driver's side of the Camaro.

"Yeah, yeah, heardja the first time."

Opening the door, Billy tosses his duffel bag inside, then leans in to set his boombox on the backseat. 

Anxiety twists Max’s stomach. She steps forward. "Wait."

He looks at her. She opens her mouth to speak, only to hesitate. She shakes her head.

"Never mind. Tell you later."

He shrugs, turning back to rearrange his boombox. He straightens up and rubs his eyes, leaning on the door.

"Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?"

His Adam's apple bobs. "Stay outta his way," he says huskily. "No matter what. Ya hear me?"

A shiver ripples down her back. "I'll try."

"Don't try. Do. I fuggin’ mean it, Max. Stay in town as much as you can. And if he's on one side of the house, you stay on the other. Whatever it fuggin' takes. Alright?"

"But… it's a really small—"

"Max!"

"Okay. Jesus. I will."

A muscle twitches in his jaw. Sighing heavily, he drops his ass in the driver’s seat, digging in his pocket for the keys.

Max wanders closer as he turns the key in the ignition. As the Camaro rumbles to life, blaring heavy metal, a fresh spurt of tears fills her eyes.

Billy reaches for the door and pauses when he sees her. He sighs, expression softening.

"Hey. Y'said it yourself, Max. I'll be fine."

"Yeah." She exhales shakily.

"I'll go to the park. And I'll call you. And I'll clean my fuggin' cuts."

"And keep an eye on your knuckles."

"And keep an eye on my knuckles."

She steps back, and he shuts the door and rolls the window down. Hooking his arm over the edge, he gives her a surprisingly sharp look.  

"Stay outta his way, Max."

"Yeah, I know."

He studies her as if doubting she meant it. With a grunt, he throws the car in reverse. 

As he creeps out of the driveway, taking his heavy metal with him, she wanders forward, hugging herself against the cold. She stays there, watching him pull out onto the road and weave slowly down its length, until he disappears around the corner.

Gone... with nowhere to go.

She takes a long, shuddering breath. A hot flash of anger makes her limbs tremble, and she looks back at the house.

She wants to stomp in there and scream at him. No—no, she wants to scream at her, the doormat. Yet again, she didn't even show her face as her husband beat his son. And now that he's kicked him out, she won't say a word. She never does.

Max looks away, gritting her teeth. Heat cools into steel.

Well, even if Mom won't do anything, Max knows someone who will.

Whirling around, she hurries to the steps, bounds up, and slips through the door. Letting it shut quietly behind her, she ghosts through the dining room into the hallway. She holds her breath as she passes the kitchen. 

Just let me go, just let me go—

"Maxine?"

She freezes. Turning slowly, she looks at Neil as he comes out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. He sidles toward her, taking a slow, casual sip, as if he didn’t just throw his son out in the cold.

"You will respect my decision. Won't you?"

He moves closer until he's looming over her. Max swallows and nods.

"Excellent! Because let me be clear. I will not tolerate interference with my methods.

"You see, Maxine—" Neil sighs "—your brother is a difficult young man. There comes a time when I have to deal a hard hand, or he won't learn from his mistakes. You understand that, don't you? The importance of learning from your mistakes?"

"Yes," she answers. Her mouth feels like cotton.

“Good.”

Neil eyes her. An easy smile spreads across his face.

“He’ll be back. Within a day or two, I’m guessing. And he’ll have learned a long overdue lesson in humility. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Max nods, her heart pounding.

Neil’s smile disappears, and he leans in. Max stiffens further, resisting the urge to look away.

“Do not interfere,” he growls.

With a parting glare, he retreats to the kitchen. 

Max gasps quietly, fighting to keep her bile down. For a moment, she can't move. In her mind, she's still staring into the eyes of a snake, and if she moves she'll die.

Finally, she balls her hands into fists, breaking the spell. Hurrying to her room, she closes the door and leans against it. Tears creep out of her eyes, and she shuts them, willing her heartbeat to slow. 

When she can breathe again, she pushes off the door and creeps to her bed. Grabbing her walkie off the mattress, she switches it on.

“El, are you there?”

It hums at her absently. She wanders to the window, looking out at the moonlit woods. The trees sway in the wind like a hundred hungry Demogorgons. She swallows, suddenly terrified.

"El," she murmurs, "pick up. Something bad just happened. Something really, really bad."

—

Billy stares out the windshield as he approaches the turnoff to the park. In a drunken fit of politeness, he switches on his turn signal, even though no one's around to see. He pulls into the lot, scanning the place for any other juvenile delinquents. Teenagers smoking pot under a tree. A car with suspiciously foggy windows. 

No one. Just the moon, the trees, an open stretch of grass, and a swingset.

A lump forms in his stomach. Swallowing, he pulls into a space, then clumsily throws the car in park. Algy Ward shouts defiantly from his stereo.

“Become a hero, you romantic fool! What makes you so special?”

He switches off the engine, killing Algy. Just like that, he's plunged into silence and darkness. As he lingers with his hand on the key, he realizes his fingers are shaking. Growling, he grabs them with his other hand.

"No no no," he mumbles. He's gotta stay strong. It's the only way he'll get through this.

Get through this? He blinks at the dash, nearly laughing. Is that even possible anymore? He just got kicked out of the fucking house. His only shelter— gone—in a matter of moments. 

Not that he could've stayed. That would've killed him too. Dead if you do, dead if you don't. 

The thought finally breaks him. He bursts into a long, mad cackle and drops his head to the wheel. The cut on his forehead screams in pain, and he winces.

God. The universe really has it out for him, huh? Was it something he said?

No, you just came out wrong.

The voice drifts through his mind, unrecognizable as always. He's heard it a lot over the past couple months, but he's never been able to place whose voice it is. Some days it's male, other days it's female. It probably changes just to throw him off.

"Fug off," he growls.

It's true. Why else would all of this happen to you?

"Wrong place, wrong time."

I don't just mean Him. I mean everything.

He goes still. He thinks of a baseball game. His father striking his mother. The first and only day he cried on the phone. His hand curls over the wheel, and his breath grows ragged. Heat boils up inside him, searing his gut, charring his bones.

His hand flashes out, shoving open the door. He stumbles out, leaving the door open behind him, and wanders away from the car. As he looks around at the park—the asphalt beneath his feet, the lonely swingset, the dark silhouettes of the trees—his instincts scream at him to retreat to the safety of the cab. The night is an open sea, and he’s just dived overboard. Now he’s swimming away from the only solid ground for miles, and he can’t see below the water. It’s madness. He’s asking for death.

But no. He won’t run anymore. 

He stops in the middle of the parking lot. Lifting his face to the sky, he turns in a drunken circle. The stars are out, and the moon shines down on him with obscene brightness. It feels like a spotlight. He’s on a stage, and someone’s about to hand him a microphone so he can say his piece.

He doesn’t need a fucking microphone. 

Taking a deep breath, he shouts, “What do you want from me? Huh? I didn’t ask for any of this. You made me fuggin’ happen. What, you regret that now? You try’na fix the problem? Well—” he cackles “—I’m not goin’ down without a fight. You hear me? I’m gonna fuggin’ fight you! You made me, and now you’re gonna have to put up with me. Make your fuggin’ bed and sleep in it. That’s how this shit works!”

The moon watches him impassively. He stabs a finger at its face.

“So keep trying! Keep try’na beat me! I’m gonna come out on top every. Single. Time. Fuggin’ monster killer, that’s what I am. An’ if I beat Him, I can beat you. Do you hear me? I will motherfuggin’ beat you!”

His words arc upward in a kill shot. He’s so sure he’ll see a wound open in the moon, spraying blood on the stars, and for a moment he feels giddy. Triumphant.

But his words don’t make it. They fall to the ground, as harmless as a pebble thrown by a child, and in their wake a deadly silence rushes in. Billy’s stomach twists, and he lowers his hand.

A rumble echoes through the landscape. It’s monstrous, subterranean, like the earth itself is growling. Whirling around, he searches the trees. 

Billy, the voice croons. Why did you do that? You upset Him.

The shadows beneath the trees begin to writhe, and his blood freezes in his veins. As he backs toward the car, the shadows grow and spread, their whispers merging into an earth-rending groan, until a massive silhouette raises its head above the treeline. It’s blacker than any night, and its legs arch over the world like five enormous claws. Behind it, red lightning flashes across the sky.

Billy's heart stops.

"No," he whispers.

The shadow roars. The sound slams Billy in the chest, igniting a panic that explodes down his legs. He sprints for the car, only to trip and sprawl on the pavement. Scrambling to his feet, he runs the rest of the way, dives into the car, and shuts the door.

The windows are open. Fumbling with his keys, he turns on the engine, unleashing a torrent of heavy metal, and rolls the windows up. If he can just seal himself in, he’ll be safe. The Shadow won’t reach him.

Wrong. He can reach you anywhere. Anytime.

Laughter rings in his head. As the Camaro rumbles beneath him and his music screams around him, he curls up on his side, chest heaving. Outside, the Shadow roars again. He screws his eyes shut and covers his ears.

It’s okay. It’s not real. It’ll all be over soon. Just stay very still.

—

A/N | Songs mentioned in this chapter: “Out In The Cold” by Judas Priest, “Run Like Hell” by Tank

Please let me know you enjoyed this by commenting or reblogging!

—

Index

Chapter 2 >

[psvita4]

Things I would like to happen in ST S5 (warning for s4 spoilers);

Vecna thinking that finally Will Byers is by his side just to get backstabbed, showing how important Will is to the plot

Will getting over Mike finally after adressing his feelings. Mike has been a douchebag w/o reason to him and only him and he doesn't deserve Will, or at least not in this timeline.

The "Eddie is an UpsideDown survivor" theory, or at least the reaction of the party members when they knew Eddie was dead.

Max dying bc they should just leave her rest in peace pls, she has been into so much and I loved her character development in s4 a lot. I don't know what she would do being this hurt physically. Also letters reveal maybe(???

On the other hand, Max being alive and giving her a happy closure would be less realistic but beautiful. U know, showing people that traumatized kids can be happy at the end even if it's the 80s(???

Mike's pov on basically everything bc I don't understand a thing about him anymore, what changed between s2 and s3??? I'd love to see Mike being other thing that just El's boyfriend, like he was in s1 or smth, having GREAT ideas and becoming the brain to end Vecna. I miss so much that caring and soft-but-sassy Mike:(

Jane breaking up with Mike (she dumping his ass again basically) bc she is SO badass and her being independent is always cool for her character, like HAVE YOU SEEN HER THIS SEASON VOL.1?!?!! She's freaking strong and I love her taking the lead in her own life

Jancy telling eachother the truth, my god they are my favourite ship bc of their chemistry and mutual appreciation and I HATE watching them lying like that :( I'm kinda biased in this but jancy together again, finally resolving their differences and keeping their relationship even if they go to different universities would be SO cute

Dustin and Suzie together(?? Idk how this could happen, maybe Suzie on a countryside trip to Hawkins in order to investigate or smth, she would be really helpful.

Hopper and Joyce taking some time away of the main storyline and becoming the chill parents all the Byers deserve. They are SO tired and have been put into too much pls they are old, let them rest a little

Steve getting no bitches, he being a single dad is cute and I think it works for him. Seeing him in the timeskip with four or five adopted children would make me cry of happiness.

[self-shipping-angel]

So anyways here's Steve and Eddie's girlfriend, Seven (Sev for short, they/them pronouns). They grew up in the lab with El but their abilities are almost exclusively pyrokinetic which is why "Papa" never found them as useful as the others.

Right before El escaped, "Papa" sent them into the upside down to search for something and abandoned them there. Sev had a lot of anger issues growing up so for him it was a win-win situation, either they came back with what he sent them for or they didnt and he would have one less nuisance distracting him from his work with Eleven. Sev managed to find their way into the tunnels under upside down Hawkins and encased themselves in a fiery crystal to save themselves.

And that is where Steve found them a year later while running from the demodogs. Hopper took them in at El's insistence that she wouldn't be separated from her big sister again. Of course Hop had his work cut out for him with not only trying to catch this young adult up on their education but dealing with their fierce need to rebel and be independent.

Sev spent most of s3 hanging out at the mall with Steve and Robin or in tutoring (something they'd often ditch in favor of getting piercings, finding new music, really just finding themselves finally). Meanwhile Steve has found himself falling head over heels for the awkward but self empowered pyromancer and is constantly getting prodded by Robin to just ask them out already. He keeps deflecting and making up excuses which just confuses Robin since she knows nothing of Sev's history. At least until they all get trapped under Starcourt and Dustin's all "don't worry, we've got Sev here! Any Russians show up and they can just light them on fire with their mind! ....Oops you guys didn't know that, did you?" Jumping ahead to when Steve is driving them all away to get to the radio and they find out the Mindflayer is at the mall with El, Sev flips out and goes full Dark Phoenix to fly back and save their little sister. Oh also they totally kiss Steve when he tries to protest it's too dangerous. (Yeah I know it's the old cliche sudden kiss before I run off to save the day thing but I dont care, he's adorable when he's surprised)

After it's all over and El is moving to California with the Byers, Sev opts to stay in Hawkins with Steve so they can figure out their relationship. Not to mention Dr Owens steps in to enforce they have to have some sort of proper education. And so s4 starts with Sev and Steve renting an apartment together, Steve is working at the video rental shop, and Sev has been strong armed into private classes at Hawkins High. It is here that at long last they meet Eddie, shortly after he's recruited Dustin, Mike, and Lucas for the Hellfire Club. Eddie is surprised to find out Sev is the big sister of Mike's girlfriend and gives him hell for not recruiting them to Hellfire sooner. Throughout the year he genuinely tries to keep Sev at an arm's length knowing they're dating Harrington, yet the others in the party cant help but notice their DM getting soft.

I haven't decided yet how Eddie and Sev confront their feelings and make it one big poly relationship but I'll update whenever I figure that out. For the sake of clarity, yes I know about s4pt2 though I haven't watched it, I refuse to discuss it, just know shit is getting changed. Me, Steve, and Eddie are perfectly happy in our cuddle pile, thank you. Also there may be inaccuracies with Sev's storyline in this post as I'm writing this all from memory but this is the basic jist of things. I had started this with the intent to just write like 2 sentences and share the picture but then it just kept going lol so I'm gonna leave this here for now.

[awesome-opossum-after-hours]

so I'm doing a full rewatch of Stranger Things bc my finals for this semester are done SO here's some cool little details I've noticed so far. (part 1, s1 and beginning of s2)

in the first episode, Steve claims himself to be stealthy, "like a ninja" when sneaking into Nancy's room. in season 2, when giving Dustin girl advice, he says "

when Mike is giving El privacy to change in the bathroom, she wants him to leave the door open. they settle on just a crack, perhaps 3 inches?

at first, when the police station thinks that the "kid with the shaved head" on the loose was Will. according to them, they looked similar enough. which, now that they're adoptive siblings, makes me wonder if people in Lenora thought El/Jane and Will were twins?

when El is vanquishing the Demogorgon in the season 1 finale, her pupils get large and her irises turn red.

looking back, I wonder if there's a reason why she had to go to the Upside Down in this case, but not when banishing Henry in the exact same way?

at the end of season 1, right before the Christmas flash forward scene, everyone is waiting for Will to wake up, including the newly non-douchebaggy Steve!

additionally, right after this, we see Hopper reluctantly getting into some fancy government car. I mean I feel like it's obvious what they talk to him about but I still wonder how that conversation went down

in the first episode of s2, when Owens greets Will in the doctor's office, he addresses Hopper as "Pop", to which he doesn't ever correct :)

Mike has what looks to be some of Will's drawings of their DnD characters on the walls of his basement!

joyce also would get nervous when the phone rang, it's possible that the Anniversary Effect was true for her trauma as well, it just got kinda overlooked

one big question I still had, was why didn't the demogorgon eat Will like it (presumably) did with the other people that had gone missing? there has to be some reason, and we also don't get to SEE the demogorgon as it finds him in Castle Byers.

everything that went down in Hawins Middle School in the s1 finale happened on a school night (or possibly a weekend, but not a vacation like s3 or 4). did they clean up the streaks of blood on the floor and the giant portal in their wall somehow? or did eleven fix that?

each of the boys' Ghostbusters costumes are slightly different! if you look at the styles of their shirts, Lucas and Dustin have polos, Will's shirt is a slightly darker color, Mike's is a zipup. a cute little detail that implies they were homemade (same goes for the Proton Packs that all look slightly unique)

when Dustin and Lucas invite Max to go trick or treating, they say that they'd be the best to go with because they know where to find all the full sized candy bars. she replies with, "that's presumptuous of you", to which Dustin wonders is good or bad. this line is repeated later on in the season. but the kicker! in season 4, when going over Max and Lucas's part of the plan and how she'd hide in her happiest memory, Lucas asks if he's involved, to which he gets this same response :)

when asked about his Mindflayer drawing, Will lies and says that it's for one of his stories, which implies that he occasionally writes!

El and Hopper's whole "Word of the Day" thing was adorable and should've been talked about more

according to Billy, them having to move to Hawkins was "Max's fault", but I don't think they ever mention what actually happened. though it could also be wrong, as she blames the move on him

this is super insignificant, but the suit Steve is wearing at the halloween party isn't just black. it's pinstriped. I feel...lied to?

correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Steve live near Loch Nora? makes sense, Max convinces the party to trick or treat there because she's heard it's where all the rich people lived

speaking of streets, their consistency in location names is really cool! like Kerley, for example, is mentioned here and there in season 1 and again in season 4 when talking about the trailer park.

did Will's "episodes" function in the same way as Vecna's curse? like, were they these spooky visions that he couldn't be snapped out of, until the Mindflayer finally got to him?

the scene at the end of s2 episode 2, with Mike and Will on the couch is directly paralleled at the end of season 4. the first time, Will's opening up about being able to feel the Mindflayer (or we now know is really Vecna), but the second time, he's saying how Vecna is still alive

[kaypeace21]

The fathers of Stranger Things:  (narrative analysis)

This analysis will discuss all the dads in st. But will mostly focus on the parallels between Brenner, Lonnie, Neil,and Hopper. And the ramifications on their kids.And no i’m not saying Hopper is necessarily as bad as these other fathers/doesn’t have his reasons. But i think the parallels are worth mentioning.

Cycles of Ab*se  & internalizing your father’s teachings

Baseball-We see in s2 the cycle of abuse is there- Billy mimics Neil, and then Max mimics Billy. And uses violence to stand up for herself- which earlier she said she was trying to combat … explaining she can be angry like Billy sometimes but she never wants to be like him (her nickname symbolizing this: aka ‘mad max’).  

We see in s3 Neil taught Billy baseball and bullied him  and called him a “p*ssy” so Billy as a child bullied others and calls them a “p*ssy” (internalizing his father’s teachings and probably venting his anger towards his father on to others). We also see Billy in s2 antagonizes max and demands “say it. say it!”And later Max yells at Billy “say it! say it” and attacks him with a bat. Showing that even Neil has influenced her to a certain extent (via Billy’s ab*se of Max). 

We also see in s3 when Will is frustrated he destroys cb (a symbol of his artistic ambition/the day his father left) and destroys it with a  baseball bat (and then we see the mf officially return) . We also see in s2, Will has a baseball next to the mf drawing (in his room). This is noteworthy due to the fact Jonathan in s1 asks if Will even likes baseball or is just doing it to appease his father. in s1, Will admits he isn’t a fan of baseball -showing how this ‘interest’ in baseball in later seasons just reflects his desire to win his father’s approval (through more sterotypically masculine hobbies).  And we see how both Neil & Lonnie taught both their sons baseball- who are both named William -and who they would call  “f*gs”. We also see in s1 Jonathan lugs around a baseball bat & his father’s gun -however neither tool is used by him in the end successfully. However, in s3 we see Jonathan using an axe (like Joyce) showing by this point he’s mostly taken on Joyce’s influence. 

El’s spying , fighting the Russians, and  lack of care for her safety shows she internalized Brenner’s teachings- We know in s1 El was trained to be a spy/weapon against the soviets (by Brenner). And in later seasons when it comes to her interpersonal relationships- she continues to spy on everyone around her.  she spies on Mike despite his vocal discomfort in s3. Brenner specifically tells her to spy and repeat the words the guys are saying back to him- which is exactly what she does to Lucas and Mike (spying on them and repeating their words back to Max). And when Mike is concerned for her safety we also have El mimic Brenner’s words (from s1) . in s1 she is also said to be taken by Brenner to be a “weapon to fight the commies” and in s3 that’s exactly what she did!  She does literally everything Brenner ever wanted from her!!!!!!!

Jonathan & Billy’s fights with Steve (reflect their father issues... which Steve accidentally triggered)- We see Billy and Jonathan both shoved into walls by their father’s . For Billy this is in a direct consequence of Max running away and for Jonathan- Will’s disappeareance. Billy first shoves Lucas into the wall similarly to Neil. And both Jonathan and Billy are told to “STOP”.

Billy also breaks a plate over Steve’s head. What’s interesting to note is in s3 we see Billy’s mother threw a plate at  Billy’s father (so he was mimicking the dysfunction he saw as a child). kind of like how in s3 he backhands max (mirroring how neil backhanded his mother in the s3 flashback). 

When it comes to jonathan we see jonathan tell nancy to leave and it’s “not worth it” to argue with Steve. However he stops in his tracks when Steve says he’s “like his father”. Then Steve proceeds to insult his family. And  eventually Jonathan who throughout every season is generally portrayed as non confrontational attacks steve. similarly when Billy and Jonathan are beating Steve (who is laying on the ground)-multiple people are yelling for them to stop.But both are in too much of a triggered daze to stop themselves. Even when the cops come- Jonathan elbows the cop in the face and kicks steve with handcuffs on and even says handcuffed for the cop to “get off’ (like he told Lonnie earlier). 

Both would rather do this to their own fathers-but Steve (and the cops) were used as their proxy instead. The fights might reflect what the boys have been taught by their fathers-aka vi*lence. Also on some subconscious level jonathan may have been like-oh you think i’m like my dad? I’ll show you what my dad is like (beats steve with no mercy).

***also, tw se*ual ab*se (you can skip)-during the jonathan fight they also bring up the “pervy photo sesh”- which jonathan took right after seeing his father. in the movies said to inspire s4 they often had a se*ually ab*sive dad/relative who would take innaproriate pics of his kids.uuuuugh. So jonathan may have just been mimicking that past behavior of his father. ugh.***

father’s ab*se  reflects the supernatural

*if you know about my did theory-part 1 and 2 you’ve heard this stuff in detail but i’ll just give a brief synopsis 

- The demogorgan that attacks Will in s1 is  a demon called the “deep FATHER” in d&d.

-El first comes across the demogorgon  (“deep father” ) eating it’s own eggs- symbolically this shows the ‘father’ is hurting it’s own kids ( a motif in the show)!

hunting/baseball/trunks connecting to Lonnie and the monsters:  Will is attacked by the demogorgan in Lonnie’s old shed (and Will tries to defend himself with Lonnie’s old hunting gun). The demogorgan jumps on Jonathan and knocks the bat out of his hands, when he tries defending himself from the demogorgan( both activities: hunting/baseball Lonnie taught the boys).  We also see the demogorgan also attack hunters and a deer- a ref to the lonnie & Jonathan hunting story about Bambi. In s1 we see Jonathan check Lonnie’s trunk to see if Will is there . But also we see the mf throw heather and later her parents in the trunk as well. Also when Jonathan starts talking car repair lingo in s3 -Will senses the mf (since Lonnie repaired cars as a hobby in s1). When lonnie returns in s1 jonathan asks Joyce “did that thing (demogorgan ) come back?” And when Lonnie says he explored around the quarry-jonathan mentions how the demogorgan only traveled a few miles  around his house. When Lonnie says “someone should be held accountable” for what happened to Will- it transitions from lonnie hammering a nail into the wall to Mike piercing a pencil into paper explaining the hole in the upsidedown and how Will got trapped there- hinting at how Lonnie causing trauma to Will is the explanation for everything supernatural. Also need to point out how we zoom in on the lightbulb in Lonnie’s shed (after Will is taken) and they later zoom in on a red lighbulb (when Jonathan tears the innappropriate photos down from the red room) and then it transitions to the christmas lights. And then we see Lonnie berate Jonathan and there’s a glowing lightbulb beside Lonnie (to mirror him to the demogorgan).

-flowers & monstrous fathers: when Brenner (”papa”) first hurts Terry on a hospital bed she wakes up with sunflowers next to her bed. Lonnie in s1 is shown to have a sunflower blanket, and in s2 we see a sunflower book next to Will’s bed after he has a nightmare. We also see that the demogorgan ( ”deep father’-also called the “the man without a face” in s1 ) have a face that resembles a flower. Brenner also gave El a flower when on her bed (although not a sunflower) before forcing her to face the demogorgan for the 1st time.

I believe  credit goes to the tumblr user lazy-storm-cloud for noticing Lonnie’s sunflower blanket. I noticed most of the flower imagery but never noticed that blanket until they mentioned it.

-supernatural “wounds” connecting to Will,  El, Kali and fathers.The lab workers say the upsidedown’s influence over crops/hawkins is “spreading”  while joyce says the tunnels Will drew are also “spreading”. Will says his now-MEMORIES” (connected to the mf-who parallels lonnie) are “growing, spreading, and killing.” Later, Kali in reference to Brenner says her wounds “spread” because she didn’t address her pain caused by Brenner (her papa). And when kali creates a brenner-double he says El has a terrible wound that’s “growing, spreading, and eventually it’ll kill you.” (if not addressed) and they don’t stand up against their father.

-doors connecting to problematic fathers: We see Will in s1 have a sign on his bedroom door that says “do not enter”. And he also requires a password for cb for people to enter. When joyce in s1 hears aggressive knocking on the door she assumes it’s lonnie and says to “go away, Lonnie”.  In s1 we the demogorgan unlock the door telepathically and chase Will. later we see Will stare at the shed door terrified as the demogorgan sneaks up  behind him. in s2 we see the mf slam open the arcade door by itself, and also open his house door in the same manner . when the house door opens it zooms in on the back of his neck- which indicates it’s based off an old memory-a now memory.  We have El also telepathically unlock people’s doors in a similar fashion-not respecting such boundaries. And El asks in s1e1 for the door to stay open.  And Neil, Hopper, and Billy  angrily yell to “OPEN THE DOOR!!!!!” And Hopper slams doors open demanding they stay 3 inches open. We also see El enter a door in the void to see Heather being attacked in a tub and entering the darkness.

tubs:brenner forces El into a sensory deprivation tank. Later El refers to it as a “tub” after seeing the byers tub. we later see the mf is afraid of the byers’ tub. And tub iconography shows up for billy & heather. the s4 movies hint at Will having a tra*matic memory occurring in the tub.

The fathers of St  (recap):

Brenner (“papa” to El and Kali). He forces El into a dark room for hours when she doesn’t obey him. At one point tries to force her to k*ll an animal.  Given the way she ate at Benny’s- he may have starved her as another form of punishment.He allows El no ability to express herself (and dresses her in a masculine/androgounous way) and bans her from the outside world. He tries using a calm-kind demeanor to try and manipulate mothers (Joyce & Karen) into thinking he cares about their kids. And uses El as a weapon/spy .  He would read to El and give her flowers and  a lion plushie . in the st novel  (suspicious minds) he compared the children/numbers to  “rabbits” he could “hurt”.

Lonnie-(dead beat dad of Jonathan and Will). divorced.Forced Jonathan to k*ll a rabbit. It’s implied he has thrown his kids in his dark car trunk  (since Jonathan checks if Will is lonnie’s trunk in s1). He tries manipulating Joyce into thinking he cares about Will. But he just wanted to use Will’s death to make money. He canonically-joked about his son dissappearing. And insulted his ex wife. Then when he realizes he can profit off his son’s death-who he hasn’t seen in years. He leaves his 20-something live in gf, flirts with Joyce calling her “babe”. And pretends to care for Will and the rest of his family. Then gaslights them when they call out his bs. He also has called Will a “f*g” and it’s implied he forced Will to hunt/play baseball. He also shoves Jonathan into a wall. He can have a relatively calm demeanor like Brenner-but then blows up. He smokes, and it’s implied he may be an alcholic since beer cans are littered all over his house. Will has lion plushie in cb (and since lonnie means ‘lion’ it may have been given to him by Lonnie?). He  (like Hopper) implies Joyce is mentally ill and that she’s hallucinating due to grief-and says she’s going to go “over the edge” mirroring Hopper’s words about Joyce in s1. 

Neil- divorced.Calls Billy a “f*got”, and forced him to play baseball. He later shoves his son into a wall and slaps him. He has a calm demeanor and then yells to make his points with Billy.  He also yells at first wife cause romantically jealous. Him & Lonnie both have fights with their ex wives where the phrase “I’m not lying to you” is used. 

Hopper- divorced.in s1-3 we see he smokes, pops pills,  and is an alocholic. The pilot pitch explicitely states he is . He is shown to have anger issues, sells out El’s location to Brenner in s1. In s2 threatens to send her back to her ab*sers if she doesn’t listen to him/ stay isolated from the outside world. dresses her androgonously and tries controlling her romantic relationships. He yells at Joyce cause romantically jealous . joyce annoyed at Hopper: “yes everyman i speak to is my boyfriend”. El says “you are like papa.” And in the pilot Brenner and Hopper were said to dress similarly. And Murray says to Joyce that Hopper is a “brute” who “reminds (her) of a (past) bad relationship”. Aka Lonnie. 

Steve’s dad- is called an “asshole” by Steve and it’s implied he cheats on his wife.

heather’s dad - is sexist to Nancy and cold to his wife. We see Heather (who is the same age as Nancy) has some hidden resentment towards him.

Sam (Max’s dad)- divorced/out of the picture like Lonnie. in the novel ‘runaway max’ is said to be a criminal who often took Max to shady places/bars. And also taught her how to pick door locks-similar to how Jonathan picked a car lock open in s1 like max with a door in s2.

Dustin’s dad- also out of the picture ? dead... maybe?

Recap: Parallels of fathers

forced their kids to k*ll animals/violence toward rabbits/throws kids in dark places/gave their kids lion plushies/tries unsuccessfully to manipulate mother’s  into thinking he cares for their kids: Lonnie & Brenner

taught kids shady stuff like how to pick locks: Lonnie & Sam 

are described as poor/called their sons “f*gs”/forced sons to play baseball/slam sons into walls/have their sons attack Steve/have sons who are into hard rock music: lonnie & Neil

“i’m not lying to you”-:Neil/ex wife and Lonnie/joyce

dr*gs/smokes/alochol ab*se/womanizers/hunters: lonnie & Hopper

imply Joyce is wrong about the supernatural and is just mentally ill: Lonnie and Hopper. Both use a similar expression of her being on “the edge”.

lie to Joyce: Lonnie and Hopper (specifically lies claiming he took her advice and uses that lie to try and get a date with her)

Gave them cat plushies: Lonnie,Brenner, possibly hopper with sara’s tiger 

being connected to flowers: Brenner & Lonnie

yell at love interest when romantically jealous:Neil and Hopper in s3

Hopper: compared to Lonnie (by Murray in s3) and Papa/brenner (by el in s2). in the original pilot Brenner & Hopper were supposed to look similar. Brenner was supposed to have a beard, and wear jeans and plaid shirts similar to hopper in s1. it’s also interesting to note how Hopper started to look more like Neil -they’re both blondes-and in s3 they have matching moustaches (and billy started growing out a moustache in s3-mirroring him becoming a mini neil too).

dress El in masculine clothes/isolate her from outside world/spy on El/read to El:Hopper & Brenner

calm demeanor but quick to anger/ also divorced: Hopper, lonnie, Neil

yells to “open the door”: Neil, Hopper, (and possessed Billy) .it’s also implied Lonnie can pick door locks open.

outliers

jonathan - In the pilot pitch he’s described as taking on the father role for Will (after Lonnie left).  However, he is often paralleled to the mothers of st. Most likely because he never had a healthy father figure- and distrusts even good men like Bob- so models his parenting behavior more so on maternal figures. We see  Jonathan being paralleled to the mothers taking photos of their kids on Halloween, and Jonathan being paralleled to Karen twice.  We even see him bored/annoyed in s2 watching the film “mr mom” since the comedic premise was haha - dad has to stay at home- cook for their kids , drive them to school, do laundry, whaaa how can a man do that ... look it’s so hard  ? isn’t that what moms do instead? All things Jonathan does without literally tripping over himself and failing like the older male film character, initially does .  He also in canon helps pay for the mortgage. We also see Jonathan is unlike the other problematic fathers (who demand entry into their kid’s room) since we see him knock on Will’s door and get verbal permission before entering Will’s room in s2 (respecting Will’s sign). Similar to joyce ringing cb’s doorbell and getting verbal permission from Will to enter.We also see on Halloween Jonathan mocks Bob but when Will defends him Jonathan later mimics Bob telling Will “hope it doesn’t suck” (in a vampire voice) showing at least subconsciously he was mirroring the parenting-like behavior from Bob (since Will liked Bob). So Bob became the first male he used as an inspiration for his ‘parenting style’.

Ted-  is shown in direct opposition to Lonnie.In s1 we see Ted help Mike put on a tie mentioning to Mike it has to be a “little tight” and that it “looks good”. And  after this scene: we see Jonathan struggle to put on a tie (and then ripping it off in frustration-signifying his lack of a father figure that could have taught him how to do this when younger). So in s3 we see Jonathan’s ties are always poorly done and slightly loose around his neck. The same season Jonathan comments about how Nancy’s dad makes 6 figures and his dad “isn’t even around”. He finacially supports his family. cuddles Holly on his fav laze-boy and takes her to fairs. Wants to comfort Mike after Will dies (but listens to Karen to give him time). Has Karen tell Mike that if he wants to talk to him about Will’s death- he can call him at work and he’ll come home for Mike. His calm demeanor seems genuine -unlike the other father figures who quickly lose their cool facade (Ted has never yelled at his kids). Even when kids yell or insult him he doesn’t lose his cool. Worst things he’s done: told kids to stop cursing, naps alot, gives an outdated football analogy about How Mike needs to stop acting out . Why st fans claim he’s a bad dad : boring af aka the human embodiment of wonder bread, in loveless marriage,  and not rambo-esque like Hopper so people act like he’s a horrible dad in comparison to Hopper. Despite being a  more stable parent in the normal everyday situations.

Lucas’ dad- unfortunately we saw very little of him. But he seems somewhat similar to Ted. He’s nice and gives somewhat dated  advice at the table to his son-like Ted did. He seems like a mellow, chill dude, who finacially supports his family. But,Unlike karen/ted it seems like he loves his wife and vice versa.

Bob-the wannabe stepdad-  as the first romantic interest after Lonnie-He contrasts him. He doesn’t do drugs or smoke.  Is emotionally vulnerable with Joyce and vice versa. He never makes fun of Will or Joyce’s mental health issues. he relates to Will -who was bullied as a kid, and is into computers, comics, and was in av club (just like Will). He is supportive of Will’s non-manly interests and encourages those interests (bringing brain puzzles, and board games over when told Will is sick).  Unlike Lonnie who tried to force ‘manly’ interests on to Will. He isn’t mad when Will busts his brand new camera but is simply concerned that Will is being bullied. He’s also shown being concerned about Will’s mental health. He helps joyce with little things like finding her keys and taking Will to school. His happy calm demeanor  is genuine-and he is never shown yelling in anger. He kindly disagrees with joyce on the ‘ drawings on the walls game’ cause he was concerned it wasn’t good for Will’s mental health (and tells her she can talk more about Will’s issues). He sacrifices himself to save Will, joyce and everyone around him.  And unlike Hopper- Bob was never jealous or mean to joyce about the men in Joyce’s life. Bob was serious about Joyce and the boys-he wanted them to be his family and move them near his own blood relatives. We see he had an impact on the boys at the end of s2- Will drawing the “bob newby superhero” drawing and Jonathan using Bob’s camera. 

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Breaking down the “leak”

It seems the leak from back in April is on everyone’s minds lately. While I don’t really see anything to suggest it is legit, there’s not really much else to talk about. I think what I’d like to do is go down the leak, bit by bit, and give my thoughts. I’ll be going through the points in the order I see them in a series of screengrabs, so it may not be the order the original post had them. A lot of this seems like it would be from a single episode, likely the first one.

The first thing I see is Steve applying to Hawkins PD, but being rebuffed for his previous vandalism in Season 1. This seems odd considering we never saw the police get involved in that. Steve being a police officer is something born out of fan theory, which further casts doubt in my mind. While it could simply be a nod to fans, it still comes off as out of place. Steve was last shown getting a new job at a video store, and we’re going to see him going for another job already?

The next bit is that Max is depressed and sees the school counselor. She has a fight with Lucas and then dumps him. Working in the school counselor from the earlier reported new characters could have been an attempt to make it seem more legit. I don’t know if that casting report was truly legit since it had more info than I’d expect. Max and Lucas fighting is not terribly surprising. Their relationship was not shown to be all that great in Season 3. Saying Max would be depressed links onto the end of Season 3, so, again, nothing too shocking. This could just be good guesswork as opposed to a leak.

Next is a new character Fred (an orphan, but more on him later) talking to Dustin. Fred tells Dustin that he believes his dad, thought to be dead, is actually alive. He was allegedly experimented on by the lab and then thrown into a mental hospital after he went nuts and killed Fred’s mom. This is a rather big piece of info for a leaker to have. The idea that there were adult test subjects was covered in the Suspicious Minds novel, so it could be a tie-in to that, but this part of the “leak” could also just be fan theories based on that same novel. I can’t see Brenner taking any chances with his work being exposed by throwing a subject into a mental hospital.

Next, we have Dustin having lunch with Nancy and Robin, while Lucas and apparent new character Eddie watch Mike be friendly with a cheerleader. If true, then Season 4 occurs immediately after Season 3, otherwise there’s no way Dustin would be in high school with Nancy and Robin. I was never too clear on what grade exactly Nancy was in, but she could potentially be a senior now. Robin had mentioned being in class with Steve though, so I would’ve thought she’d be his age. Still, it’s possible I suppose. Dustin having lunch with them seems to clash with his Hellfire Club status though, unless this occurs before he joins. One would think he’d eat with his new friends, especially if he ISN’T eating with his old friends. Meanwhile, said old friends are also split, with Lucas hanging out with Eddie and watching Mike be “friendly” with a cheerleader.

The next bit is where we’re told Dustin joins the Hellfire Club (set photos confirm this). It’s described as an elite group of nerds formed by the previously mentioned Fred. Dustin apparently is interested when they play D&D, but Lucas and Mike decline. This both clashes and fits with Season 3. Mike is bothered by Will seeming to move on from D&D, but it could still fit if Mike just doesn’t want to play without Will. Still, this seems to be building a rupture of the Party right after Season 3 showed how good they are together. Yes, it’s normal for kids their age to look to reinvent themselves, but it also goes against what the show was apparently building. Each season does have elements where there’s strife in the Party that gets resolved, but this takes it to an absurd level.

Dustin is then described as being seen as a “runt of the litter” in the Hellfire Club. That’s not really unusual treatment for a freshman in a high school club. His D&D skills and link to Robin gain him cred, apparently. This leads to him getting close to Fred. There’s not a lot here, but this “leak” does spend a lot of time on the Fred/Dustin dynamic.

Next is the “shocker” where Mike and El have a phone/walkie call that doesn’t go well. Mike is losing interest, El picks up on it. She says “I love you” and he says “I know.” Considering the level of detail on some of the other parts, this is rather brief. The exchange is verbatim Empire Strikes Back, and, while that isn’t totally out of the ordinary for this show, it makes me see it as something more fanfiction-y. The idea of them having a “meh” phone call isn’t too weird since we saw at the end of Season 3 that they were definitely not on the same page. It wouldn’t be hard for a fake leaker to come up with something like this. Should it be true, then it could spur El to go back to her possessive and distrustful ways. She may be driven to find out how to get her powers back in order to spy on Mike.

The “leak” specifically mentions there being no plans to include Chernobyl. This is an odd thing to say. I’m not sure how popular a fan theory this is, but it’d be in bad taste to work a real-life deadly disaster into a show like this. I don’t know why the person who wrote this felt the need to specifically debunk this unless they just wanted to seem more legit.

A flashback to Joyce, Hopper, and Lonnie in high school. That’s reasonable, especially since we know Lonnie is back this season in some capacity. I have no doubts that Hopper will be having flashbacks/memories during his captivity. This being believable doesn’t necessarily make this real though, as it’s another thing that’s reasonable to predict.

Despite most of the leak seeming to be from an early point in the season, the leaker goes on to say that there’s 5 major deaths (2 new characters, 3 previously existing characters), one of whom is one of the kids who dies in the final episode. Now perhaps there’s parts of the “leak” that I just don’t see in these screengrabs, but this is very odd. Prior to this is just looks like maybe someone got their hands on the first script somehow, or parts of it anyway. I don’t know how many people would be entrusted with every script, particularly the end, for this very reason. A single script getting out is at least somewhat believable, but this is where I lose any faith in this “leak.”

Finally, the leaker mentions this season taking place over the course of months, ending with the end of the Party’s freshman year. This would indeed be a change from the usual storytelling, and it would have to mean a slowly growing threat as opposed to one already striking in the first episode. That would kinda sorta work now that there’s no superpowered character to fend off the supernatural, but it would leave a lot of skipped time that I’m not sure would work in a show like this.

Will is mysteriously left out of this “leak.” There’s literally no mention of him that I can find unless there’s missing parts I don’t have. Someone who knows who dies would have something to say about Will, but there’s just nothing. It’s especially odd considering that if this is indeed the Party’s freshman year, then Will would have started school with them. The Byers don’t move until sometime in October, so Will would have spent at least a month at Hawkins High. This would also make Season 4 start with the shortest potential time skip, or perhaps no skip at all.

So, IF this leak is genuine:

There is a small, if any, time skip, with Season 4 beginning shortly after the Byers move in October.

Given the above statement, Mike must quickly lose interest in El, possibly even before their planned holiday visit.

The Party falls apart despite them all seeing how good they are together at the end of Season 3.

Max is going through depression, likely related to Billy’s death and everything else that happened (the end of S3 supports this).

Max and Lucas’ relationship gets even worse.

Mike and Lucas don’t want to be seen as nerds

Steve is still just a lost man child, or at least suffering the consequences of having been one for so long.

Robin and Nancy hang out together, and with Dustin until he joins the Hellfire Club

Will is a nonfactor, at least in the episode the bulk of this comes from?

I really have trouble believing this “leak” simply due to how the poster claims knowledge of the ending while the details all seem to be from the first episode. I suppose it’s possible they did legit get the first episode and made up some other stuff, but that seems pointless. For now, I’m just going with the idea that ANY legitimacy in this would be that it’s a real fake “leak” created by someone on the show to mislead fans or create buzz.

[withoutmonsters]

Sweet Lover, You Should’ve Come Over

link to ao3

tags: harringrove, pining!fic, internalized homophobia, period-typical homophobia, implied/referenced child abuse between s2 and s3

After school they go the quarry. Billy leads Steve in his Camaro, the Scorpions blasting loud enough that Steve can hear them through his windows, even on the backroads, when Billy goes forty over the speed limit and leaves Steve behind. It’s almost like Billy’s music is a ghost, the raging guitar riffs and heavy-handed drums hovering in the air for Steve to scoop up and take in. When he arrives, Billy is parked, the keys still in the ignition and the tape still in, the end of a song finishing as Steve pulls up. He’s on the hood, a cigarette in between his fingers, looking at the lake like he always is.

The quarry is a hangout spot that became Steve and Billy’s after Billy showed up at his door, bruised and looking like he was going to collapse. Billy left Steve’s house at 4 am, after a solid two hours of them arguing as Billy iced his face with a bag of frozen peas. At school the next day, Billy was his usual dickish self, going out of his way to hip-check and body-slam Steve at any opportunity, including the halls. After the incident at the Byers’, Billy had left Steve alone mostly, except in basketball, when he could get away with juvenile moves like tripping Steve to grab the ball from him. Steve had confronted him in the locker room after, staring him down until Billy agreed to go somewhere more private. Steve had driven both of them in his BMW, because he didn’t trust Billy behind the wheel of a car right then, and after that it had been the designated spot for impromptu meetings.

Steve climbs out of his car and walks over to Billy, breathing in the scent of cigarette smoke. That was another thing about Billy—he could be quiet when he wanted to. You wouldn’t think it from the way he acts at school, but he didn’t always fill silences with bravado and innuendo. In fact, after he had mostly gotten used to Steve, he had stopped with the trash talk almost altogether. The only time he fell back into being an asshole was when Steve prodded, or he was feeling particularly vulnerable.

Steve leans against the Camaro, his side by Billy’s feet, and holds out his fingers. Billy deposits the cigarette in between them, and they share a comfortable silence as Steve takes a few puffs.

“I heard a kid drowned here,” Billy says, suddenly.

Steve twists to look at his face, frowning slightly. He tries to think about who it would be and then remembers, Will.

He shakes his head. “No, it was a fake. Will didn’t drown.”

He can feel Billy’s eyes on him. “But didn’t they find a body?”

Steve lifts one shoulder in a shrug, wondering where Billy was going with this. He didn’t like it when Billy prodded him about it, didn’t like the feeling of lying to him. Billy was entirely too smart for his own good. He knew something was up with Steve, but he didn’t pry because he knew just how much he hated people prying into his own business.

Steve nods, “Yeah, but it wasn’t his.”

“Well, they must’ve got the body from somewhere.”

Chills run over Steve’s shoulders and he wonders if Billy is right. He didn’t know how Hopper could tell that it wasn’t Will’s body, just that one day they were holding a funeral, and then next, Nancy was pointing a gun at him and Christmas lights were flashing and then there was a Demogorgon jumping out of the walls.

He shifts against the car and doesn’t answer. Billy clambers down until he’s leaning like Steve is, 6 inches away and Steve can still feel his heat, burning like some kind of furnace.

Billy plucks the cigarette out of his fingers. “Don’t hog it, asshole.”

Steve makes a face at him, exhaling smoke in his face. Instead of freaking out about it like Nancy would, all Billy does in inhale, eyes going half-lidded and lips parting. Steve tries to drag his eyes away from the sight, from Billy looking like a model in one of Steve’s mother’s magazines, and can’t. Billy locks eyes with him, something in his expression that’s hidden and special and just for Steve.

Steve’s heartbeat picks up. He shifts, hearing the blood beginning to rush in his ears, feeling a little breathless and a lot high on adrenaline. Billy puts the cigarette to his lips, sucking in slowly, without looking away. Steve automatically sucks in with him, shuddering slightly around his breath. Billy holds the smoke in his lungs for a minute, before slowly exhaling. The smoke clouds around Steve’s face, obscuring Billy’s mouth as it puckers slightly, eyes going hazy.

Steve wrenches his gaze away, feeling like he’s floating, trying not to do something incredibly stupid. Like admit that he wants to kiss Billy Hargrove. ‘Cause that would just be suicide. Steve was pretty sure that Billy would lay him out good if he ever admitted that he had—dreams—about him, but it was just…Billy was doing that thing again. That thing where his eyes go all half-lidded and his tongue sneaks out to skim over his bottom lip and it feels like Steve is going to combust and—

Steve drags his eyes away from Billy, who is putting out the cigarette on the sole of his shoe. His silence feels heavy to Steve. Billy isn’t—contrary to popular belief—that much of a motormouth around people he actually likes. He usually only runs his mouth when he is deliberately trying to get a rise out of someone—fighting or flirting. When he’s just in his neutral state, he knows how to let silence rest, heavy and cool, over his companions. But this quiet is not like that quiet, Steve thinks, trying to study Billy’s face without getting caught up in it. This silence feels—bitter. Like thick syrup on his tongue.

Steve opens his mouth to ask—something. He doesn’t know what, because he knows the words, “are you okay?” set Billy off like nothing else, but Billy doesn’t give him a chance, just pushing off the hood of the Camaro and saying, “See you tomorrow, pretty boy.”

He stalks past Steve, his shoulder brushing his chest, and opens the driver side door. Steve stands, weight off the car, because Billy is just enough of an asshole to reverse with Steve still leaning on the hood. Billy’s eyes are shadowed, face dark and mouth set through the windshield, as he cranks the key and throws his arm over the passenger seat. Steve watches him drive off, belly twisting unpleasantly.

It’s Hawkin’s worst-kept secret that Neil Hargrove is a little too mean a little too often. But Billy is stupidly resistant to any attempts to interfere with his home life, to the point that Callahan got a split lip for asking the wrong question. It’s only because Hopper seems to have a bit of a soft spot for him that Billy didn’t get arrested for assaulting a police officer.

And Steve knows better to hope that he can help Billy—it's one thing to want him, to hope for him, and it’s entirely another thing to fantasize about a life with him. ‘Cause as much as he is practical, Steve is also a romantic. And he can't help the wishes in his head that paint him a picture of a coast and surfboards and waking up together and lazy breakfasts before daytime dates and movie nights and all the rest of that sappy shit that Steve has wanted for so long. And just ‘cause it’s Billy doesn’t mean that Steve’s brain has caught on to the fact that happy endings like that don’t happen to people like them.

So maybe it’s better that Billy would never let any of that ever happen in the first place.

[baldrambo]

On Joyce Byers....

Joyce Byers is a bad ass.  So why is she handled with kid gloves by everyone?  This is a bit of a companion discussion to my Hopper post from a few weeks ago. Like my prior meta, I will discuss what I believe to be truths about Joyce and her arc, which don’t appear to be aligned with most analyses of her character that I’ve seen elsewhere. I will make 5 assertions and address each of them below the cut because (as per the norm) this got really long and I am not trying to clog up people’s dashboards.

Assertion 1: We have no canon evidence that Lonnie was physically abusive and making Joyce his victim does a disservice to her characterization

Assertion 2: What Bob represented to Joyce was more important to her arc than Bob himself (aka Bob/Joyce were not really a good match)

Assertion 3: Making fun of/being frustrated by Joyce’s magnet obsession misses the point of her arc in S3, which was about her pro-activity rather than reactivity

Assertion 4: Joyce inappropriately attempts to compartmentalize Hopper (aka Joyce needs to let Lonnie and Bob go if she’s to ever move on)

Assertion 5: Joyce is not a delicate cinnamon roll in need of our protection she is a BAMF and should be treated as such.

Assertion 1:

Our first introduction to Joyce is as a small, mousy, anxious, chain-smoking single mom who….can’t find her keys.  And not because she is is careless. She has literally SO much on her plate at any given moment that the location of her keys is trivial until it’s not.  She works long hours at a low-wage job to support her boys.  She really has no life outside of work, paying bills, and cleaning house.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  She is just barely scraping by. 

And yet we learn through flashbacks fairly quickly after Will’s disappearance that despite working long hours, despite the constant stress….she still manages to find time to parent her boys.  And not just be any old parent, mind you.  Joyce Byers is a good parent.  When Will is out in Castle Byers she doesn’t just barge in.  She respects his personal space, remembers a unique nerdy password, and waits for him to tell her that she can enter.  She then trusts his judgment when he says that he can handle watching Poltergeist. This is later juxtaposed by the scene in Nancy’s bedroom with Jonathan where Karen attempts to enter the bedroom after Nancy has had to lock it.  Jonathan looks at Nancy, a little shocked, and says “she doesn’t knock?” Which is weird to him, of course, because Joyce would always knock.  Now lets contrast Joyce, who is Mother of the Year, with Lonnie Byers who is a Grade A Piece of Shit™. He abandoned the family and hasn’t seen them in years.  And when he was around, he spent his time being a deadbeat, calling his son a faggot, and trying to force his boys into being “manlier” and more mainstream.

We first meet Lonnie in 1x2 when Jonathan drives out to Indianapolis to confirm that Will is in fact, not with his father.  When Lonnie’s girlfriend answers the door, Jonathan pushes past her and into the home, shouting for his brother.  Lonnie then comes in from outside, grabs Jonathan, and pushes him up against a wall.  Only then does he realize it’s his son.  Lonnie hadn’t seen Jonathan in so long that he almost didn’t recognize him, and initially thought him an intruder. Jonathan angrily shoves Lonnie back, who steps back and laughs. Notably, Jonathan does not appear to fear Lonnie and Lonnie makes no attempt to otherwise assert any other type of physical control over Jonathan. Lonnie talks to him like he’s an adult.

When Lonnie returns in 1x5 for Will’s funeral, he is an immediate negative influence who has Joyce up drinking all night, calls her crazy, and starts sniping at Jonathan about some stupid poster in his bedroom being inappropriate.  However, there is no real confrontation until Joyce finds the flyer in his belongings and realizes he is attempting to collect on Will’s “death.”  She screams at Lonnie and holds her ground when he shouts back.  She shoves him. She gets in his face and throws his bag at him.  And then little 5′2 Joyce Byers successfully throws a grown ass man out of her house.  He never raises a hand to her.

This is not a Lonnie Byers apology piece.  Lonnie Byers is a shitty dad, shitty partner, shitty person.  I think an entirely separate piece could be written on the emotional abuse of his boys (although in the 80′s Midwest much of that would be considered normal, but that’s another essay).  But there is nothing to suggest that Lonnie ever hit them, or Joyce.  If the Duffers wanted Lonnie to be physically abusive, they would make it obvious, no?

The most clear example of this? Neil Hargrove. When he enters Billy’s bedroom in 2x8, he has complete control.  Over Billy, his wife, the conversation.  He overtly strikes Billy, humiliates him, and it’s clear that Billy fears him.  Susan Hargrove also fears him, and she stands in the background for the entire confrontation, avoiding eye contact, saying nothing.  The only time she attempts to intercede is to diffuse the situation, diffuse Neil, when he commands that Billy apologize and quickly shuts up when it’s clear her efforts didn’t work.  She then exits the room, first allowing him to leave the room before her. The dynamics here are light years from Joyce/Lonnie/Jonathan.

Ok so.  Why am I bringing all of this up? Because, imo, turning Lonnie into a physical abuser cuts at the heart of Joyce’s characterization.  Joyce Byers is a fighter.  That’s what Bob loved about her.  “You fight back,” he told her, in a somewhat awestruck voice.  Joyce is not a Susan Hargrove. None of this is to suggest that Susan is to blame for what she has gone through, or that somehow Joyce is better for not being like her. I contrast them because the Duffer brothers do. Joyce will steamroll anyone and anything that gets in her way to protect her boys.  If she’s on a mission….if she is trying to save someone…watch out.  Making Lonnie a physical abuser so he can be a plot device, or because it makes it easier to hate and villainize him upsets the core of Joyce’s character. And it changes the entire show.

Assertion 2:

Much of Joyce’s inner strength shines through in S2.  When S2 begins, Joyce can’t leave Will’s side and still worries about him incessantly.  She’s overbearing and “struggles to function” whenever she is not with him.  She is forced to re-live the horrors of what her and her family went through every time she goes to Hawkins Lab and worse…she has to place her trust in the very same people who nearly ripped her family apart.  Yet, she doesn’t give up, she soldiers on for Jonathan and Will.  But so much like S1, S2 Joyce is helpless.  She is unable to control what is happening around her.  The events of S1-S2 make her reactionary, she gets dragged along by the plot instead of driving the plot.

But there is one bright spot of happiness for her…..Bob.  He is the exact opposite of Lonnie in every way.  He is kind, thoughtful, hardworking, honest, and trustworthy.  He put Joyce first, he tried to bond with and be a parent to Will and Jonathan. And he was willing to jump in to the fray when he had no idea what was going on to save her, save everyone despite being absolutely terrified.  Bob Newby. Superhero.

There are some early warning signs that perhaps….we as the audience are not supposed to view this as the perfect match? Jonathan, in particular, doesn’t seem to approve at all, in fact, it downright confuses him.  He confides in Will that he doesn’t understand what Joyce sees in him and later gets agitated when he learns that Bob has stayed the night.  Hopper, too, seems to struggle with it. And while a lot of that can probably be chalked up to the early signs of jealousy, his forced “I’m happy for you” appears to be at least somewhat tied to his inability to take her dating “Bob the Brain” seriously.  Why drop all these hints if it doesn’t mean anything?

It’s the conversation she has with Bob in 2x2 on Halloween that really cements Joyce’s arc and Bob’s central purpose.  While they’re dancing to Kenny Rogers, he starts prattling on about moving to Maine.  He’s in love with her, he knows being in Hawkins is hard for her.  So why not start over again and be a family? “We aren’t a normal family.” She tells Bob.  His response is simple: “It could be.” And that moment plants that seed for Joyce.  What if they COULD be a happy, nuclear family?  What if they COULD leave all that trauma behind them and finally find safety and security?  She starts thinking on it so much that by the end of S2 when Bob brings it up again, she’s all but ready. And the Duffers have confirmed, if Bob had survived she would have gone with him to Maine.

But here’s the thing: what if someone else besides Bob had planted the idea in her head? Would she have wanted it any less?  Or consider, was it really Bob himself that drove her desire, or was it always lying dormant there waiting to be activated?  If she had started dating Hopper after S1 instead and HE had been the one to make the suggestion, would she have desired it any less?  Did she really love Bob himself, or the idea of him?

It’s easy to romanticize Bob because he seemed perfect, he represented the happy ending that Joyce wants, that WE WANT for her, but here’s the thing.  There is no perfect guy.  You can’t move a few states away and leave behind Demogorgons and another dimension that nearly killed your son.  That stays with you wherever you go, and you have to face it and deal with it.  You can’t run away from trauma, and Joyce has to realize this.  Joyce is chasing a mirage. Perhaps Bob was kind of a mirage, too. 

Assertion 3:.

The Joyce we see at the end of s2 seems….like she’s going to be okay.  She has her boys, Hopper’s friendship.  She’s lost Bob but the Gate is closed now, everyone is safe (or so everyone thinks).  But then there’s S3 Joyce.  She’s lonely, isolated, sad, discontent, and restless.  The kids are trying to move on from the events of S1-S2.  But she’s unable to.  She’s unable to move on from Bob, from her fear that her boys could still be in danger, from the feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong again and she won’t be able to stop it. 

So Joyce preemptively reshapes her arc.  She decides she is going to put her own house on the market.  Bob may not be coming with her but goddammit she is going to move anyway and find safety somewhere else.  When she notices the magnets fall off the fridge she is not going to wait and see what happens, SHE is going to go research magnets and solenoids and weird science stuff she doesn’t understand and SHE is going to figure it out and SHE is going bring it to Hopper before shit hits the fan.  And when they call the military, SHE is not going to wait around for them to show up and save her kids.  She’s going to take action herself.

Thus, Joyce is driving much of the plot in S3, rather than being dragged along by the plot as she was in S1-S2.  She is not focusing all of her time and energy on Will and his safety, and reacting to where he is and what he’s doing, she is able to focus on Hopper, El, the Party, the bigger picture.  Will kept her focus narrowed, magnets expanded them.

And perhaps most significantly, the magnet obsession is what ultimately saved the day.  Joyce is the hero of S3.  Think about who saved the day in S1-S2.  Who were the heroes?  El and Hopper.  In S1, El sacrificed herself to kill the Demogorgon and save the Party and Hopper resuscitated Will.  In S2, El and Hopper closed the Gate.  In S3, who saved the day? El?  She had no power.  She wasn’t even the one fighting the Meat Flayer. Hopper?  He was trapped on the platform.  Who closed the Gate and killed the “Meat Flayer?”  Joyce.  By herself. This ended the threat, this stopped the “Meat Flayer,” this saved El and the Party.

I think it’s easy to miss all of this due to the tonal shift in S3, which added some silliness to the plot lines that didn’t exist in S1-S2.  On the surface, obsessing about magnets instead of your son seems ridiculous.  But this shift gave Joyce’s character a chance to breathe, a chance to grapple with her own feelings, what she wants, it gave her a chance to just be Joyce instead of Mom™.  So S3 is about her, instead of what is happening to her. 

And i think, ultimately, this tonal shift in S3 is what allowed that to happen.  If the circumstances in S3 were the same as S1-S2, then the Duffers wouldn’t have had this freedom.  If we want to see Joyce grow as a character, there has to be time and energy spent on her away from her kids and away from the same closed loop of S1-S2. Which brings me to my next point.

Assertion 4:

Jopper.  You can’t expect me to write this long ass meta on Joyce Byers and not talk about Hopper, right?

In early S3 there is obviously a marked shift in her relationship with Hopper.  There are no longer secrets (El) or other relationships (Bob) that they can use to hold each other at arm’s length anymore.  There are no other adults in town now who understand what they’ve been through.  Joyce is effectively co-parenting El with Hopper and it’s clear that he not only asks her for advice often but that they spend a lot of time together.  This did not happen between 1 and 2.  It’s made fairly clear upfront that Hopper is hopelessly in love with her, but what of Joyce?  She’s more difficult to read.  And this is due in large part to the fact that she is more complicated than Hopper and her feelings are more complicated than his.

I am not here to argue about whether I think Joyce loves Hopper.  This entire analysis is based on the assumption that she does because I think the Duffers and Winona have given us more than enough to go on to draw that conclusion.  What I AM here to argue, however, is that Joyce is still grappling with what she wants and (inappropriately so) is attempting to compartmentalize Hopper.

Adult relationships are complicated and particularly for a character like Joyce, who has been to Hell and back a few times, there is added complexity that has to be dealt with and worked through.  She’s been in prior relationships before.  She knows what it’s like to be in love and she’s felt the pain and grief that comes along with it.  She’s been divorced already, had a spouse that abandoned her, children  to prioritize over her own love life, and trauma stemming both from the events of 1983-1985 and separate from it.  Joyce, especially, is fresh off the train of losing a love interest who she got close to very quickly.  You can imagine her hesitation about leaping forwards again with someone else who could die.

There’s your backdrop for Joyce in S3.  Throw a healthy dollop of she has feelings for Hopper and then point blank ask her: “What do you want, Joyce?”  She could probably tell you that she wants to feel safe again.  That she wants to be free of the pain and grief of losing Bob and what happened in S1-S2.  If you really can get her to open up (or if you are a mind reader like Murray) you would also find out that she is still holding onto that desire to have a normal, happy family which includes a “nice guy to settle down with.”  The thing about Hopper is that he fulfills all of this for her, just messily.  Joyce is still looking for that coloring book of life to be filled in by an artist (Bob). Hopper fills it in like a 3 year old with disorganized scribbles that cover the picture but can’t quite stay in the lines.  Lonnie is easy: he never even filled in the lines to begin with.

Hopper shares personality traits with both Bob and Lonnie.  Like Bob, he makes her feel safe, she can trust him, she knows he cares about her, feels more than friendship for her.  But he’s also brash and loud and argumentative and after spending a decade of her life screaming with Lonnie….she doesn’t want that again.  He probably at times DOES “remind her of a bad relationship,” but Hopper is not Lonnie.  He respects her, treats her like an equal, trusts her judgment. But she can’t escape the constant comparisons.

And what I’ve seen from a lot of the fandom are the same attempts to shove Hopper into the “Lonnie” box or the “Bob” box that Joyce keeps trying to do.  S1-S2 Hopper is in the “Bob” box.  We like S1-S2 Hopper. But S3 Hopper, man.  He is in the “Lonnie” box.  He yells and stamps his feet.  This Hopper isn’t “good enough” for Joyce.

But here’s my radical proposition: Hopper IS good enough for Joyce if he is who she wants.  And he is what she wants.  But she needs to let Lonnie and Bob go first.

Lonnie and Bob still have a hold on her and if she is going to be able to take that leap forward with Hopper she needs to put their ghosts to rest.  She couldn’t save Bob, but maybe she can save Hopper.  Maybe Hopper isn’t perfect and has a temper, but that is ok because he loves her and respects her unlike Lonnie. I think if we see Joyce work through this in S4 and join her on her journey of making the decision to be with Hop and making that choice FOR HERSELF rather than the plot or some other force making that decision for her, the payout is gonna be huge.

Assertion 5:

Finally, I wanted to touch on the common theme of this whole analysis: that despite this inner strength, despite the growth and change her character has undergone, she is still largely handled by the ST fandom with kid gloves.  Like she is someone that can’t take care of herself, and who we need to step in and defend and protect against….the world.  Here are a few examples I’ve seen over and over:

1) Mischaracterizing S3 Hopper as an “abuser” that Joyce needs “protection” from, much like she needed “protection” from Lonnie. 

2) Attempting to turn Jonathan into her protector/her keeper.  

3) Defending her when she is in the wrong because she is Mom™ (see i.e. standing Hopper up for their date and being non-apologetic about it.)

4) Analyzing “what is best for Joyce” without thinking about her canon feelings or what SHE wants

As I dissected above, Joyce never needed protection from Lonnie. She doesn’t need protection from Hopper. Or anyone.  She doesn’t need Jonathan stepping in for her and she does not need us the fandom, to decide FOR her what she wants and what she can and cannot do.  All this does is, ultimately, build her arc around men and strip her of her agency as a character.

All the canon evidence suggests that she is a bad ass.  She curb stomps assholes on the regular and saves the day, multiple times.  So why is it next to impossible to find any discussion of Joyce that doesn’t involve complaints of what man (Duffer or otherwise) is wronging her at any moment?  Is it because it’s just easier to pidgeonhole characters, particularly female characters, into villain/oppressor and “the good guy?”  Because if we open her up into complexity outside of being our cinnamon roll mom we worry she could disappoint us? Because we cannot accept that a good female character doesn’t need protection?  What happens if Joyce is just a complex person who is both mom and badass? Focused on her kids and herself? Deserving of her own life and respect for her autonomy? Is both selfish and selfless?

Joyce, imo, has one of the most compelling arcs on the entire show.  We are introduced to her as a Mom who is barely holding it together already and then loses her son, sending her into a spiral that her inner strength alone carries her through.  After nearly losing her kid again, she loses her boyfriend horrifically, and just when she thinks they may have finally escaped it all permanently she has to single-handedly close the Gate, torching the only other man she loves in the process. So she packs her shit up and moves her family away from the danger.  She goes from the most reactive character on the show to, perhaps, the most proactive one.  

She may not have “powers,” she may not be able to effectively wield a gun, but she can knee an asshole in the crotch and that makes her a hero to me. I say let her be everything she is, allow her to explore her own wants even if they are imperfect, let her make mistakes and stand up for and protect herself, and let her be her own person outside of the character arcs of other male characters.

Andddddd end scene.

[hawkinslibrary]

i love hearing what you have to say about season 4!! i promise it’s not too long lol, anyway i have a question for you: what do you think the next season holds for mike & el? i’m a little worried tbh

ahhh thank you !! same rules apply: spoilers ahead, so please read no further and blacklist/filter out the ‘s4′, ‘st4′, ‘spoilers’ tags if you don’t want to see anything !! 

i’m going to talk about them both as individuals and as a pair but first, i have to say that i don’t personally feel like you have to worry about them breaking up or anything again this season. i think s4 is really going to establish romantic jopper and once that happens, i don’t see them, mileven, or jancy not being endgame unless someone actually dies. which -- i’m not going to think about the possibility of anyone dying until i’m forced to confront it, so. this is fiction and it’s already unrealistic and i’m gonna take my ‘everyone survives, happiness all around, time to relax’ endings and go. anyway, i would love to add lumax to this list but i honestly think it could go either way depending on what happens in s4. that’s a different essay, though.

i tend to think that the most important dynamic on the show is the one between the whole group and i just don’t really see them spending much more time trying to develop romantic relationships outside of the ones set up since s1/2. maybe steve, robin, and will get love interests, maybe they decide to develop dustin and suzie more, maybe suzie is never even mentioned again, idk. but these will probably all be secondary -- as in less screen time, not less important than the main romances, but probably still less developed. unless it happens to be a new person added to the main cast. which, as of now, the only new mains are brett and priah who has gone from recurring to regular. so.  

i think s3 showed how messy and complicated romantic relationships (or, really just relationships in general) can be. everyone was arguing, there was miscommunication all around, everyone thought they knew what was best, no one was seeing eye to eye. but when it comes down to it, they would do anything for each other. they understand each other better than anyone else ever could. i can’t see them spending another season on breakups and romance drama after the ending of s3.  

mike and el have already been separated once before. this time, mike knows for sure that she’s alive and that’s she’s with the byers. this time, el won’t be kept completely isolated away from everyone else. they’ve made plans to meet for the holidays. they can still call and talk to each other as much as they want. i’m hoping they handle being separated this time better than they did in s2. i don’t want mike to be moping and i don’t want el to spend a lot of the season thinking about how much she misses him. in fact, i think in their case that some distance could be good for them. the same for jancy and jopper, too, honestly. it’ll be nice to see them existing outside of these relationships while still acknowledging how important they are.   

as far as i know, the byers and el stuff has not started filming yet so all there is to speculate on are rumors, the audition tapes, and logical guesses about where the story goes after s3. el obviously moves away with the byers. we still don’t know where. she’ll still be mourning hopper and trying to figure out life without her powers. and, of course, she’ll be in a long distance relationship with mike. i think she’ll be having a hard time and she’ll wish that mike was around, but she’ll realize she’s got a pretty good support system around her now with the byers, too. i’m very, very excited for more joyce and el content particularly, but there’s gotta be some great scenes with her and will and jonathan as well. 

there’s only one audition tape that i can confidently tie into the byers + el plot(s?) and it’s the queen bee/mean girl character ‘angela’. if we’re running with the whole ‘there may be some truth to the audition vids’ thing, then this one teases that el will be going to school and that angela will be bullying her. this is something she would probably want to talk about with mike (b i g troy s1 vibes) but i don’t know if she actually would ? so this is probably more a thing that el and will could bond over or that she could talk about with joyce or maybe jonathan. i do think there will be at least a few calls between the two of them before the action really hits and the whole group is (hopefully...) reunited.

so, el -- at least in the beginning of s4 -- will be going to school where ‘angela’ bullies her, forming a bond with joyce + will + jonathan and becoming part of the family, mourning hopper (+ hopefully having conversations about him + his past with joyce), missing her friends back in hawkins, continuing to learn how to navigate life without her powers, and trying to maintain a long distance relationship with mike. 

mike... i’ve been seeing some wild theories about him today but they aren’t really that far-fetched i think. first, going back to the audition tapes, the ‘eddie’ audition i saw makes it seem like mike is going to be part of the hellfire club with dustin. i’ve recently learned that there’s another version of the scene where ‘eddie’ is only talking to dustin and mike might not be a part of the club after all. if he isn’t part of the club, then the basketball v. hellfire, jocks v. nerds thing turns into lucas v. dustin and mike’s probably there just caught in the middle while max is off distancing herself from everyone.

at this point, i really want mike and max to become good friends. i think the end of s3 gave them the perfect opportunity. s4 max has s2 mike vibes. it’s not the same situation at all, but he knows kinda what she’s feeling and they could connect through that + the fact that they’ll both be missing el. i also just really want... some wheeler siblings content. i’m hopeful that s4 gives us good nancy and mike scenes bc there’s no reason not to give us good nancy and mike scenes (+holly!). however...

while there’s proof that gaten and sadie and natalia and priah have all been filming since production restarted, and while i have reason to believe that caleb has been filming a lot inside/at the studio recently... there’s no evidence that finn has been on set. there’s none for maya and joe, either, but people have said that finn isn’t even in atlanta right now. maybe he is and maybe he just hasn’t been seen and maybe he’ll pop back up tomorrow. or, maybe he already filmed whatever he needed to film for hawkins before production stopped.  

the wild theory that’s popped up today is that everything gets to be too much for him in hawkins and he just... hops on a train to go visit el + the byers. i don’t know if i buy it, but it is interesting to note that he was sitting with them at the table read. and since we can guess that steve and robin will still be working at the video store, robin and nancy will be investigating pennhurst together, lucas and max may have some angst, joyce and murray are probably teaming up for the finding/saving hopper plot, and el is going to bond with will and jonathan, it seems like the order might mean a little something. i’d even bet that dustin and erica have scenes with them bonding over d&d.    

now this theory pretty much only exists because no one’s seen finn on set and one of the paps posted some pics of some trains. there’s also always theories about how there will be issues at home with the wheeler fam and if that’s going to happen, what better time than in s4 when all of his friends are pulling away and el’s gone again. so if he is missing el (and will) that much, and if he has any reason to worry about her and how she’s doing, or if the party becoming distant and issues at home are weighing on him and he feels like he needs to get away, he’s absolutely the type to venture off on a train by himself. i don’t know how it would work since he’s definitely supposed to still be in school and his friends/nancy at least would notice he’s gone, but.. it’s fun to think about and we’ve got zero actual content to go off of right now.  

another way i could see mike’s plot going is that he’s the one trying to keep the party together this season. playing mediator with lucas and dustin, becoming better friends with max, being the connection between the hawkins plot and the byers plot (along with nancy). 

there was also talk of him joining the track team bc the track has been set up with hawkins high colors for filming. but mike ‘this isn’t a stupid sports game’ wheeler? i don’t think so... basically, no one knows at the moment what’s happening with mike wheeler in s4 lol.

s4 mike is just like s4 byers fam -- a complete mystery to me currently. i don’t personally think that he’ll be leaving school and hopping on a train to visit el. i think he’ll be a part of the hellfire club with dustin, or that he won’t and instead will be attempting to keep the party from completely disbanding. i hope that we get wheeler siblings scenes and that max and mike have a breakthrough and become better friends. i also feel like he’ll be having some complicated feelings about hopper, the last interaction they had, etc. and, again, the whole long distance thing with el. 

so... mike and el broke up in s3. it was messy. but then they reconciled. and then hopper “died”. s3 ended with them at this weird place where she’s heard him say that he loves her and she’s told him that she loves him back. things are a little awkward in the scene bc everything has changed at this point, but a kiss, an ‘i love you’, planning to meet up on the holidays, and promising to call frequently all sounds like they’re back together and going to try making the long distance thing work to me. 

i think they’ll be together when s4 starts. i think that we’ll probably only see them talking on the phone or their radios for the first few eps. maybe we’ll see flashbacks or something to them being together on the holidays. the distance might be hard and they’re definitely going to be missing each other. like... el doesn’t have mike or hopper with her now and i’m thinking the party is going to be drifting apart, plus they’re both probably going to have other personal issues that have nothing to do with each other or the party. maybe they’ll be experiencing some emotional distancing of their own while dealing with the aftermath of hopper’s “death”, the move, and whatever’s going on with them at home and at school. i think that once they reunite (probably not until the last half of the season), they’re likely to be stronger than ever. 

now, onto personal theories that have zero basis. for some reason, i can’t get it out of my head that this season might dive into psychological horror a little bit ? like a greatest fears type of thing ?? and i keep thinking about brenner popping back up and using the people el loves to get to her or something and 👀👀 

[ohjaimelannister]

Do you think Hoppers actually dead though?

O K A Y.

I’ve been looking for an excuse to pull all of this together so here we go! NO Anon, I do not think that Chief James Hopper has gone and died on us. There’s no REAL evidence (there are easter eggs though) however and the Duffer Brothers could still pull the rug out from under us but hey.

No I do not believe that Hopper is dead. Although some things can be interpreted as pretty final and if the Duffers really kill him off I will never watch this show again, because it’s horrifically SHITTY writing and im already super tired of that this year lmao.

One - There is no body? We were never showed a body or what’s left of one? We have seen bodies for Benny, Barb, Bob and Billy (and even people who were in it for like 5 minutes). THEY EVEN PRODUCED A FAKE WILL WHEN THEY WANTED US TO THINK HE WAS DEAD. THEY AREN’T AGAINST SHOWING US BODIES!!! Which brings me to my next point!

Two - They also aren’t against to showing us death. Lots of gory detailing death, WHOEVER it is. Billy died horrifically but you saw it even though hes a kid. Bob got ripped to shreds.  And even those dudes at the beginning of S3 died horribly? They still showed it. Hopper’s death??? It cuts away. You see NOTHING. AT. ALL. There aren’t even any remnants OF a body where he was standing, and Joyce goes down there and LOOKS. Surely shed find something? Gooey grossness like the bodies at the beginning? Nope. You could argue that they’d be against showing us the death of a beloved hero and a main character but. Again. Bob was beloved and arguably one of the sweetest characters in the show and he was ripped to bits in front of us and Joyce. Billy was a kid for all intents and purposes, still he died a horrible death. Not one bit of that was cut away.

Three - If you look in the shots hes not on the platform when the thing explodes????? like at all? Either that’s badly shot or its done deliberately because he’s just not there anymore? There’s the portal to the Upside Down and you can see a ladder in the shot too, so maybe he either went into the Upside Down or down the ladder and got caught by the russians?? We just don’t know.

Four - We see the devastated Eleven and the aftermath of what happened at Star Court. Then it jumps to three months later? Okay, odd that were not shown anymore of the grieving or the funeral. Then of course Eleven read the SPEECH. Think about the end of it specifically and about LEAVING THE DOOR OPEN 3 INCHES!! You can see from one of the final shots of Star Court that the gates not CLOSED. It was healing but it never fully closes. So Hopper could be in the Upside Down, or travelled through it to Russia on the other end?? Who knows. Point is, they included this line at the end for a reason. Whether the reason is that hes actually dead and they’re just being profound or that its a hint about his fate, its meaningful.

Five - During the ending the song HEROES by Peter Gabriel plays, this is the same song that was placed over them finding Wills fake body, and after all the goodbyes and the ‘speech’ where it ends with “keep the door open three inches” well. Come on.

Six - Then it cuts to Russia and you hear the “not the american” line, and Hopper was called “the American” throughout the series by that Russian baddie. Should I start waving Red Flags here or???? Then again, a lot of people are saying this could be Brenner. Okay I 100% get your logic Im with ya, and for a few days I’ve also thought it could be Brenner. But here’s the thing. Elevens powers. Brenner makes her use them to spy on a russian man in Season 1. Hinting that there’s more going on here than just super powers, kids and other dimensions. Don’t forget that in the 80s the world was in the grip of the Cold War, and things would have started reaching a boiling point for this long before 1985 when it ‘officially’ began. We were never given any answers about why Brenner was spying on this man, or even Russia. Or even if he WAS spying for the US. Nothing, it’s a throwaway scene. Or IS IT? Russians show up in Season Three somehow knowing about the Upside Down, having failed at their own attempts to open a gate in Russia. They somehow know that its Hawkins they need to be in to successfully open their gate and potentially get monsters to use, oh I don’t know, in a WAR???? How would they have known any of this information to begin with?? Oh I wonder. We were told all about Brenner being alive and out there in season two (and we were never told WHERE and this is not referenced again), but as far as I can remember Eleven has never shared this with anyone else, even though it’s completely RELEVANT information. And as far as I can remember (its been a hell of an emotional few days) I dont think were given any explanation about how the Russians knew about the Upside Down, Hawkins or anything. So maybe the reason they knew is BECAUSE BRENNER is the one giving them their directives? Because hes worked for THEM this whole time???

Seven -  Interestingly also Eleven lost her powers? JEEZ ISN’T THAT CONVENIENT!!! Because the first thing shed use them for is to look for Hopper even if she was told he was dead. Shed look, 100% for the man who saved her, gave her a home, loved her, worried for her, cared for her like she was his goddamn OWN. Conveniently though now SHE CANT??? Interesting.

Eight -  And now. There’s the voicemail message. In one of the episodes (my brains so fried I cant remember which one sorry) Murrays gives out his landline number, and when you call it you can hear him give a message to Joyce. You can listen to it here.  You can tell this is after season three, because why would he talk to Joyce Byers? Surely if he was trying to reach someone for information it would be Hopper?  “I have an update, its best if we speak in person" an update??? About what??? Why is he coercing with joyce???  Notice how he says “it’s not good or bad but its SOMETHING” and then says “we’ll talk about it in person” (or something like that) why would he be calling joyce with an ‘update’?????????? AND ON WHAT EXACTLY?? INTERESTING!!

Nine - Theres this interview with the cast specifically ABOUT Hopper, the death and the post credits scene. And I love David Harbour but, you cannot lie for shit my angel.

Ten - Millie has said in an interview “ Her dads gone, or so she thinks” COME ON.

Eleven - Again WE KNOW DAVID HARBOUR IS LIKE THE MARK RUFFALO OF STRANGER THINGS. And hes bad at keeping shit to himself. Hes already told us at the end of last YEAR, literally a month after they finished filming season three that the Duffers have told him the ending to the series as a whole. Why would any creator do this for a man they have effectively just fired, because his character died? Why would they tell him? They wouldn’t.

Tweleve - Again. David Harbour, bless his heart, I think its trying to give us HINTS and bread crumbs to follow. Last week he changed his instagram photo from Hopper in S1 to the number 6. Odd. Today he changed it to the number one :

Twelve continued - Basically if he changed it to an 8 next, we know hes trying to hint at Murrays voicemail message and this is a clue for Hopper. Because why else would he bother?

Thirteen - Theres also this screenshot from Cara Buonos instagram where she literally SAYS about him being in Kamchatka, and uses the Russian word for PRISON. (Of course this could just be a joke between the actors

Fourteen - Theres also the fact, which is not evidence mind you, that its incredibly shitty writing to have both the men that Joyce Byers loved/loves to die in front of her? And actually having her put the action in motion that kills the man she loves? No. I wont accept that. And weve been shown her non willingness to believe in peoples death, everyone and their mothers told her Will was dead and she was being crazy. Did she listen? No. And she got her boy back. Will she think once she has a clear head that Hoppers dead? Maybe. Which is why she asks Murray to investigate. Hence the Voicemail Message.

Fifteen - Its also incredibly shitty and hard to swallow, for Elevens sake too. I mentioned already how much she loves Hopper and finally got a true parent in him. Do you honestly think they’d put her through all of that just to lose him NOW? Like i said, its convienent how shes lost her powers at this very crucial moment.

Sixteen - DAVID. HARBOURS. BEARD. RIGHT. NOW.

And SEVENTEEN -Just in case y’all are having trouble with any of that it looks like David Harbour has let sorta slip (my god I fucking ADORE THIS MAN LET ME TELL YOU). I dont know how reliable this is mind you because its not coming from a BIG source, but HERE he hints at knowing who the American is, after telling everyone else (see the interview above ^^) that he doesnt know and he cant say anything. 

‘During an interview with David Harbour, I attempted to delicately get around the fate of Jim Hopper. Harbour, however, came right out and gave it to me straight. “This is the question I’m going to have to dance around–” I began, only for Harbour to interrupt me and ask, “The ending?” “Right,” I said. “Is there a way you can talk about the future of Hopper without…” I trailed off here, only for Harbour to ask: “Well, did you see the post-credits scene?”I had, of course. And so I straight-up asked: is that Hopper behind the door? According to Harbour, that’s the most likely scenario. Throughout the season, the main Russian baddie refers to Hopper as “the American”, and having another Russian refer to the mysterious prisoner in the same way was the big giveaway.Of course, knowing that Hopper is alive, and knowing how he survived and ended up in Russia, are two different things. We’ll have to wait for season 4 to get that answer. And we’ll have to wait to see how things unfold from there. Will a big chunk of season 4 involve Hopper escaping that Russian base, and trying to get back to America? Time will tell. One thing is clear: Hopper still has a long journey ahead of him; not just physically, but emotionally.’

SO, basically Jim Hopper has not left us, Joyce or Eleven.  And if the Duffer Brothers have done all this to screw with us, well. Im not gonna be responsible for what I do.

I FEEL JIM HOPPER IN THIS RUSSIAN PRISON TONIGHT!!!

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK!!!!!!!!

[thinger-strang]

no one dies and everyone's gay au

Nancy finds Barb when she gets stuck in the Upside Down when she's in the forest with Jonathan (don't ask me about the logistics) and so Steve ends up finding Jonathan and Barb in Nancy's room? And he's confused because at first he'd just seen Jon and thought Nancy was cheating but then he saw Barb walk into the room? (traumatic sleepover time! except Jon stays on the ground and Barb and Nance cuddle on the bed bc they're best friends and BARB WAS MISSING FOR LIKE TWO DAYS I THINK? she deserves snugs)

But Tommy and Carol started talking about how Nancy was probably sleeping with both, everyone knew Barb was the biggest d*ke in Hawkins, Nancy probably got curious about the other side!

He doesn't necessarily agree but still doesn't stop Tommy from spray painting the theater (because Nancy still lied to him? Lying generally meant there was something? going on? idk Steve's just confused and a little hurt rn)

The rest of the season goes pretty much the same, Barb's just there trying to not die and trying to help the Gang™ find Will and fight this bitch ass demogorgon (I don't think she's really be part of the Nancy and Jonathan luring it to the house and fighting it, she'd help with set up and the plan but I think she'd fuck right off when it comes down to facing it, she's had enough monsters for one life time thx)

But she'd so wanna help get Will out so she's there with Joyce and everyone talking to El while she's in the bath finding Will and talking Hop and Joyce about the Upside Down

(and she's been to the hospital, she didn't get a face sucking monster thing so she recovered quicker? idk don't ask logistics again lmao)

But she and Will end up getting along and sometimes when she's hanging out with Nancy and the party comes over she'll say hi to Will and like ruffle his hair

(also I want a little scene after the big monster hunting trip scene where a) Nancy and Jonathan explain everything to Steve and b) where Steve sees Barb again and pulls her into the biggest hug and starts like apologizing for not paying attention that night and for letting her get taken and even though she assured him it wasn't his fault he still feels guilty about it, it was his house, he should have helped her bandage her hand or something? idk but this right here is the beginning of the Barb/Steve friendship and the start of the "fall of King Steve")

cue s2

and so the four get really close, Jonathan and Steve are actually friends (idk what s2 was pulling but they're friends) and Barb talks to Nancy about Steve and Jonathan and Nancy ends up breaking up with Steve way earlier (bc you know none of that drama would have happened if Barb was there so)

But they're all still good friends, Steve's cool about the break up, and Nancy and Jonathan get together but it's not like right after? so it's all chill and they all went through a dramatic experience together so they remain close knit yeah

and Barb eventually comes out to them (everyone's supportive obviously) and Steve's is ready to throw down with anyone for her

cue Billy

the four of them are sizing up the new guy, Nancy doesn't really care, Jonathan thinks his hair is a little ridiculous (which I mean, that first day? when he steps out of the Camaro? yeah it was a lil rough), Barb can see right through his macho bullshit, and Steve? has a little bi meltdown. bc this kid has definitely had boy crushes before and knows he likes both (kid listens to queen of course he knew he was bi lmao)

blah blah blah s2 happens, Barb, Steve, and Billy have the same English class and Billys generally quiet during school, kinda stand-off-ish, only really bugs people during gym/basketball, but he literally sits in the back and does absolutely nothing during class and still somehow has the highest grade

(FUCK him and Barb get paired for a project and she fucking calls him out? like she's just like you're gay I'm lesbian you can cut the crap around me and they become...not friends? but they have solidarity, they're cool)

and I'm a slut for this trope but BILLY FIGHTS DEMODOGS WITH THEM lmao he hears Max sneak out and follows her and finds her in the junkyard armouring up a bus with fucking Harrington and a couple of nerds? and like the sun is setting and he needs to get Max home so he's like "Maxine! I don't know what the fuck this is and I don't fucking care, we gotta go!" and the four are like yelling at him to either leave or get in the bus! and he's so confused, I'm not here to play games Max! and Steve's running out of the bus with a FUCKING NAIL BAT WHAT THE FUCK HARRINGTON? And Steve's like behind you! and swings at a demodog. Billy has a borderline panic attack before he finds like a fender or exhaust pipe or whatever and starts swinging too

the dogs run away and Billy rounds onto Steve like what the living shit was that? and Steve has to explain everything with Dustin and Lucas interrupting and Max shrugging and trying to understand too? it's a mess

s2 continues with Billy and with HOPPER NOT BEING ABLE TO STAND HIM bc he's caught him speeding and underage drinking and shit and Billy's nervous as hell around cops which makes him mouthy and ITS A MESS

they're all at Joyce's (Barb's there too bc Will's possessed and they need to check up on her too? and she's concerned for Will anyway yeah she's in this too) and El shows up and Steve and Billy are just like what? another one? who the fuck? like Steve heard about her but this isn't a tiny child without hair??? idk it's funny

BILLY WITH AN AXE IN THE TUNNELS

(obviously Steve isn't passed out and the kids don't drive the car, it's Billy's awful impulse control that leads to them going into the tunnels)

okay I couldn't decide where to put Barb here? so I left her with Steve and Billy to babysit and she ends up in the tunnels too? and she's def handling it better than the boys are fuck yeah

Steve has his bat and is in front and Billy found an axe in the pile of shit from the Byers' shed and he pulls up the end

it's awesome

yada yada Steve and Billy end up becoming weirdly good friends by the end and he's good with him and Barb, idk about Nance and Jon but eh

s3 now

Billy ends up getting two jobs; lifeguard and cook at Benny's (bc he's alive too, fight me bitches this is the ultimate fix it) and Barb ends up working as a waitress there too (and working together builds the weirdest bonds so they are besties now)

everything in s3 is pretty much the same but with diner scenes too? and like all the Hawkins moms swarm Benny's too and leave lipstick stains on their kitchen tips and "send my compliments to the chef *wink*"

Billy eats it up but Barb can tell he also kinda hates it bc he's barely 18 and not even remotely into women and it makes him super uncomfortable but publicly he "loves" it (he starts wearing tank tops to the pool and tries to hide out in the kitchen but it really doesn't work)

he still gets caught up with the mind flayer but it's not bc he's about to sleep with Karen bc ew, idk why he's driving out by the warehouse idk maybe he's out on a drive bc he can't sleep yeah

anyway he gets caught up but like he knows, or kind of knows, what this is and calls in sick to both jobs and talks to Hopper bc WHAT THE FUCK isn't the gate closed? I got face fucked my an interdimensional monster so unless you know where the fuck that came from?? and they deal with it earlier (most of the shit still happens but it's less...messy? like Hop and Joyce are more involved in the Billy shit and Steve knows about it?)

Steve still gets caught up with the Russians (I don't think he'd have a chance to tell anyone (specifically Hopper) bc he finds out about Billy then the elevator stuff happens like right after and yada yada)

so for most of the season it's them trying to actually help Billy! and they end up saving a lot of people? (specifically Heather bc she was really nice to Billy and I want he to live fight me it's my au)

but enough people get melted and shit that starcourt still get destroyed blah blah blah!

but Billy makes it and so does Hop and Alexie (no one dies au) and they all end up doing the thing in the mall like they did in the shed with Will? like breaking Billy out? Barb talks about working at the diner and their secret and Steve talks about them hanging out and playing basketball and the tunnels and Max talks about Billy buying her a new board and them scream-singing along to ACDC in the Camaro and the kids mention him giving them rides and shit and yeah! El talks about his mom and that's it! Joyce and Hop close the gate while Billy's holding the one arm (he doesn't get stabbed in the chest, as cool as that scar would be, no...but he gets some on his hands and upper arms and his sides?)

(also Billy's drinking like bleach rn so they try and reverse that as much as possible while he's possessed so that he has a better recovery later bc no! chlorine is not good for you! and Billy tries so hard to not drink it but sometimes he can't fucking stop? idk but he has a support system now!)

and Robin came out to Steve and Steve comes out to her too? like kinda? he alludes to it vaguely bc he's so not ready to be out to anyone FUCK

And Billy comes out to Steve (he was planning on doing it earlier that summer but shit happened)

and Robin becomes friends with everyone (ITS ROBIN X BARB HOURS BITCHES)

(OKAY small like side shit? Benny and Hopper have known each other for years and Benny's like one of the only registered foster parents on Hawkins so he ends up fostering a lot of wayward kids while Hop figures out legal stuff (he hasn't adopted anyone yet but him and his husband (yeah Benny's gay deal with it) really want to? they just haven't yet, all the kids they take care of end up in their care temporarily) BUT Hop finds out about Billy and Max's home life (I know a lot of people write that Neil wouldn't hit Max but...nah son not how that works? idk but he needs to get them out? and Neil's bad to Susan too (he's the worst to Billy but still bad to Max and Susan) anyway Hop helps Susan leave Neil (it takes a while and Billy and Max end up with Benny for a little bit while the divorce is going down and all the legal shit yeah it's safer out of the house rn) long story short Billy ends up staying with Benny after everything and ends up getting adopted (they're like we know you're 18 and you don't need a guardian but if you want we can be your dads? and Billys like yeah sure that'd be nice and yeah) Hop ends up being a weird like uncle figure? idk like I said him and Benny are close and they both adopted kids so yeah? and Billy ends up considering El his little sister and he still visits Max and Susan and yeah?)

ANYWAY everything kind of calms down, Hop and Joyce get together (I just realized I forgot about Bob so...idk I guess this isn't an everyone survives au? no no that's weird um idk him and Joyce end up breaking up idk why) but yeah Hop and Joyce get together and like it's kind of fast but they've been in love for a long time so it's kind of fine? like idk but yeah

Barb and Robin get together (ITS FUCKING CUTE they go to aquariums and have paint dates where they sit on some old sheets and paint while listening to Robin's records ITS CUTE!)

STEVE COMES OUT TO EVERYONE! he definitely cries bc fuck he was scared! bc he likes both and he wasn't sure if that was a thing or whatever for a while and Billy's like oh yeah, like David Bowie or Freddie Mercury? and that's when Steve's cries bc oh thank God you guys get it and you're cool with it oh fuck and YEAH

UM Max is bi too, Will comes out as gay (listen I know none of this is like 80's realistic but everyone's gay and alive and happy, fuck off)

Um it takes forever for Billy and Steve to get together, it's awful. like Barb and Robin have to deal with their pining and shit? and like Robin hears about it from Steve at work and Barb hears about it from Billy at the diner and they put their knowledge together and make a Plan ™

it's like elaborate and dramatic (shut up they're all like 18-19) and shit? BUT LMAO okay one day they're all hanging out at Steve's (bc I've also hopped aboard the neglectful parents train sorry) and idk Steve and Billy are there before Robin and Barb are so the girls walk in on them arguing over whatever and like Billy's talking really fast and Steve's talking with his hands and idk what it's about but Billy ends up yelling that he loves him BUT THEY KEEP ARGUING FOR LIKE A SOLID MINUTE AFTER THAT BEFORE IT HITS THEM and Steve gets all quiet and is just like you love me? and Billy doesn't fucking know what to do?? he's like bright red and frozen and Robin and Barb are by the door trying to not like break the spell (bc it's been months guys) and Billy's like of course I do asshole and Robin thinks Steve's about to have a panic attack but he like rushes forward and cups Billy's face and kisses him senseless and it's like the best thing Robin and Barb have ever seen

and they're resting their foreheads together, Steve's still holding Billy's face and Billy has his hands on Steve's chest it's really tender but Robin's like yeah congrats and shit but you guys ruined our Plan™! and she gives them a long ass rundown of their elaborate scheme and Steve and Billy are like still touching and bumping into each other as they listen and Barb interrupts and says that this was better and Robin rolls her eyes but agrees

and they're watching a movie or whatever, cuddling in their respective couples and Steve fucking jumps up randomly and rounds on Billy like hey woah fuck I love you too, I didn't say that earlier! and Billy's looking up at him like yeah I know that asshole and yeah

[ohbillyboi]

Lost Boy (Post-S3 Billy Hargrove Redemption) - Ch 3

Summary: Post S3. Billy’s life has completely fallen apart after the events of July ‘85. He’s started drinking, lost his job, and gotten kicked out of the Hargrove/Mayfield house. Luckily for him, word gets around in Hawkins, and Chief Jim Hopper has a more generous heart than advertised. A story in which Billy faces his demons with the help of a police chief – and the fourteen-year-old girl he fears most in the world.

Index:

Chapter 1: Hopper Makes An Offer Chapter 2: The Cabin Where My Mind Was Flayed Chapter 3: He’s Your Brother

Chapter Excerpt: His attitude evaporated when they turned onto a street he recognized. Dread pooled in his stomach, and he sat up straight. No. They weren't going there for dinner. Were they?

They were. It was confirmed when they pulled onto a long private drive, the one he’d barreled down in his Camaro last Halloween.

“From now on, you leave me and my friends alone, do you understand? 

“Say it. 

“Say it!”

Chapter 3: He’s Your Brother

The rest of the day sucked ass. Even with all his branch-pulling and thorn-wrangling, by 3PM, Billy still hadn't finished. And that was with barely any breaks - just a fifteen-minute lunch break (a sandwich from 7/11, delicious), and maybe two smoke breaks.

Woods. He fucking hated them.

Even worse, for most of the day, Hopper was either on the phone or chatting to his subordinates via walkie talkie. The rest of the time, he was sitting on the porch smoking and occasionally barking out directives. It was like prison labor without the prison. By the end of it, Billy was struggling to remember what was so great about this deal anyway.

Fortunately, the chief decided to show a little mercy. Billy had just thrown more branches on the pile, his biggest armful yet, it felt like. Right as the anger was bubbling up, making him fantasize about screaming at the trees, the chief came across the yard toward him. “Alright,” he said, “that’s enough for one day. Let’s get you out of here, get you cleaned up.”

Billy immediately peeled his gloves off. “God damn finally,” he muttered under his breath.

The chief didn’t hear, or pretended not to. As they walked toward the truck, Billy glanced back at the cabin and, when the chief wasn’t looking, flipped it the bird.

It glared at him as hard as ever.

--

Somehow, the full meaning of “give you a couch to sleep on” didn’t occur to Billy until they pulled into the driveway of the chief’s trailer.

Hopper threw the truck in park and unbuckled his seatbelt. Billy sat frozen, staring at the unassuming single-wide before him. His heart beat faster; a prickling sensation swept up his back and down his arms.

She was here. The girl.

He’d be fucking living with her.

He cleared his throat. Shit! Fuck! “You sure about this, chief?”

Hopper paused as he was getting out. “Not when you ask like that.”

Billy swallowed, trying not to look as nauseated as he felt. When he didn’t respond, Hopper shrugged, got out of the truck, and headed for the front porch. Billy followed, his thoughts a litany of curses. Shit, fuck, shit, fuck.  

Hopper let them inside without preamble. Taking off his hat, he called, “Hey honey, I’m home.” He glanced sharply at Billy. “And...I brought company.”

Billy frowned in confusion. Wait - was the chief married too? Then he realized, and his heart slammed into his chest. It did it again when a door opened down the hall, and a wiry girl stepped out.

El. She was dressed in a flannel and jeans, and she looked paler than he remembered. Her hair definitely hadn’t been brushed today, and dark rings under her eyes told of bad dreams and sleepless nights.

Billy stared at her; she stared back. Surprisingly, she gave him a ghost of a smile. “Billy,” she whispered hoarsely, as if she hadn’t spoken much.

He didn’t know what to do with that. Blinking, he turned and walked into the living room.

“This the couch?” he asked, gesturing to the hideous floral affair near the wall.

“Sure is.” Still holding his hat, the chief addressed El. “Sweetie, why don’t you go back in your room for a minute? I need to have a talk with our, uh… visitor.”

She obeyed, giving Billy one last smile. As soon as her door closed, the chief turned to him. His face was stony, and his eyes bored holes through Billy’s skull.

“Now that you’ve seen her,” he said darkly, “some ground rules. Number one: if you hurt her in any way, I’ll kill you. Number two: if you drink any of the booze in this house, I’ll kill you. Number three: you’re not to be alone with her at any time. During the day, I expect you to be out working. If you’re done before I get home, find another place to be. Number four…”

He stepped closer. His eyes narrowed.

“...No. Girls. You have a car. Use it.”

Billy’s nostrils flared. “So… what? You're not gonna impound it?”

“Not yet.” The chief looked at him shrewdly. “That depends on you.

“Now get cleaned up,” he said, hanging his hat by the door. “We're going out for dinner tonight.”

“You're fucking serious?”

“Like a heart attack.”

When the chief noticed Billy staring at him, his expression fell flat. “It's not for you, hotshot. We already had plans.”

With that, he walked down the hall toward what Billy assumed was his bedroom. Not even breaking stride, he pointed at another door to the left. “Bathroom,” he said.

Billy scoffed. This had to be a fucking joke.

Besides, what the fuck would he wear?

--

Turned out the answer was: “clothes he wouldn't be caught dead in.”

He had to wear his jeans, of course. Not much choice there. He rubbed as much dirt off as he could, then hit them with room spray to freshen them up. They'd smell like an old lady till he washed them, but it was better than the smell of sweat.

The rest of his ensemble was a total loss. Sweat stains in the armpits, smears of dirt, the like. So, out of the goodness of his heart, Hopper lended him one of his Hawaiian shirts.

Even leaving it half-buttoned couldn't save it. As they piled into the truck to go on their dinner date, Billy was ready to either kill or be killed.

El sat between them. She was wearing the same clothes as before, but she'd managed to brush her hair and pull it back in a scrunchie. All told, she looked halfway decent.

Goddammit. He'd been outdone by a fucking fourteen-year-old.

He spent the whole ride staring out the window, ignoring her existence. She stole glances at him a lot - he could feel it every time. But he wasn't about to reward her by looking back.

We're not friends, little girl. And we're not going to be friends.

His attitude evaporated when they turned onto a street he recognized. Dread pooled in his stomach, and he sat up straight. No. They weren't going there for dinner. Were they?

They were. It was confirmed when they pulled onto a long private drive, the one he’d barreled down in his Camaro last Halloween.

“From now on, you leave me and my friends alone, do you understand?

“Say it.

“Say it!”

As they stopped in front of the house, he clenched his fists so hard the nails cut into his palms. The universe was out to get him. If Hopper had known, he would've said something, right? So yeah, he didn't know, and the universe - or God, or karma - was using Hopper to punish Billy.

Not that it wasn't richly deserved, Billy thought.

The walk to the front door was the closest he had ever come to a walk of shame. His only saving grace was, as far as he knew, no one in this house had any idea he'd been here before. They didn't know he'd smashed plates, threatened children, and beaten Steve Harrington to the point of unconsciousness.

Unless the kids had told everyone. In which case, yeah. Walk of shame.

Hopper knocked on the door. The woman who answered looked kind but harried.

“Hiiiii,” she said with a smile, drawing it out the way middle-aged women loved to do. She turned to Hopper with a softer “hey,” and he stepped forward to kiss her.

Okay, so this was the chief’s woman. Got it.

Billy glanced at the room behind her, where two boys stood some distance from the door - her sons, he guessed. The older one seemed vaguely familiar, probably from school, though if you'd asked Billy where in school, he couldn't have said. The younger one he'd never seen before. And yet--

--his pupils dilated.

The younger one was staring at him with a recognition deeper than sight. He seemed shellshocked, like he was looking at a long lost twin. Billy stared back, and when the same recognition sparked inside him, it rocked him to the core. A single, unspoken thought leapt between them.

You're like me.

Billy couldn't hide the shudder that swept through him.

Just then, the chief's woman said something about coming inside, dinner’s already out of the oven, yada yada. Billy dragged his eyes away from her son. As they filed through the door - Hopper first, then El, then Billy - El hung back a second to look at him.

He met her look with a scowl. “What?”

She just looked at him, with eyes that saw far too much. Nettled, he jerked his chin at the door and mouthed, “Go.” She complied, though with squared shoulders that said, I'm going because I want to, not because you told me.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he followed her inside.

This was going to be a terrible night.

--

His prediction came true in spades.

Dinner itself was okay. Billy had never been a picky eater, and meatloaf was far from the worst thing anyone had ever served him. The sides weren't bad either - mashed potatoes, nicely salted, and steamed vegetables that were neither mushy or bland.

He had to hand it to Joyce Byers: she wasn't a bad cook.

But god, the company ruined the whole thing. They were packed in at the table like a bunch of sardines. To his left sat El, who he preferred to studiously ignore. To his right sat the kid - Will - who he preferred to ignore for other, more panic-inducing reasons. So that meant he could only look straight ahead, at the older Byers kid.

Billy speared a bite of meatloaf and tucked it in his mouth. Jesus, the guy looked like a fucking lizard.

“So, uh… Billy,” Joyce chirped from across the table. “Hopper tells me you're going to be working for him.”

“Uh huh,” Billy drawled, twirling his fork in his hand.

“Billy's got himself in a tight spot, so we're gonna get him straightened out.” Hopper took a bite of steamed broccoli.

“I see,” Joyce said. “And...you’ll be working for one of Hopper’s friends too? Yes?”

Billy didn't answer. He could feel the chief glare at him as he said, “Yeah, I talked to Merrill. We’re going over first thing in the morning.”

“Well, that sounds promising. I hope it works out.”

Silence fell over the table. Billy glanced back at Lizard Boy, who was pushing his mashed potatoes around on his plate. When he realized Billy was looking at him, he met his gaze uncomfortably.

Billy smirked. “Hawkins High?”

“Yeah,” Byers said, sounding very much like he didn’t want to talk at all.

“So why don't I recognize you?”

Byers shrugged and kept picking at his mashed potatoes. Joyce leapt to her son's defense with a smile.

“He works in addition to school. I don't make a lot of money, so he goes out of his way to help me. Even if it means he doesn't have time for friends.”

Her smile turned sweet, and she reached out to rub her son's back. It made Billy want to puke. Looking back at his plate, he speared a piece of cauliflower and ate it.

More silence. Eventually, Joyce cleared her throat. “Well... I hope everyone likes carrot cake.”

To Billy's right, a fork clinked as it was set down on a plate. “Actually, Mom… can I… be excused?”

It was the first time Will Byers had spoken all evening. Though Billy kept his face neutral, as he took another bite of meatloaf, his senses went on high alert.

“Sure, sweetie. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired.”

“Okay. Go get some rest.”

Will's chair squeaked, and Billy felt a shift in energy as the kid left the table. At first he was relieved - one less person to eat an awkward dinner with. But as he picked at his vegetables, ignoring the conversation around him, a strange awareness tugged at the base of his neck.

Go to him, it said. He's your brother.

He slowed, gaze lifting from his plate. But just as quickly as the thought came to him, he shoved it down. Fuck no. Go fuck yourself.

It came back. Go to him.

No!

Go to him!

Fuck! You!

His thoughts dissolved into a scream then, a horrible, high-pitched scream like static and a screech rolled into one. He all but threw his fork down on his plate. The others looked at him in alarm, Hopper stopping mid-sentence.

“Uh. Sorry. Uh…” He wiped his mouth on his napkin. “Where's your bathroom?”

Joyce stared at him, not quite registering his question for a few seconds. Then she blinked and gestured. “Oh! Uh...down the hall, first door on the left.”

“Thanks.”

He tossed his napkin on the table and stood. As he turned to leave, he caught El’s eyes. She was watching him with the same look as before, the one that made his innards wriggle in discomfort. He returned her look coolly, then walked away, adding some fuck-you swagger to his step.

For the sake of appearances, he made a pit stop in the bathroom. Then he slipped down the hallway, peeking through the doors until he found young Will’s bedroom. The kid was sitting on his bed, looking straight at the door, as if he knew Billy was coming.

Billy hesitated in the doorway. First, because he was startled to see Will staring right at him. Second, because it really hit him that, Christ, this kid was a nerd. Everything about him screamed it, from the way he dressed to his ridiculous bowl cut. Back when life was normal, Billy would’ve made a point of ignoring him, with only occasional looks of disdain to remind him that, yeah, you're weird.

But nothing was normal now. Chewing his lip, Billy walked in.

As he scanned the room, a frown formed between his eyebrows. Something about this place felt...off. Like how he imagined a haunted house would feel. Someone - or some thing - had left an indelible imprint in this place, like a hand in wet cement, or a smeary artifact in a photograph. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

And just like that, he knew.

Brother.

Billy turned to Will, eyes widening. “He got you too.”

Will swallowed and nodded.

“How’d they get him out of you?”

“They burned him out. I...I don’t really remember.”

The kid rubbed his arm, visibly mustering courage.

“H-how about you? Why didn't you die when they closed the gate?”

Billy hesitated. The wave was seven feet.

“I...threw him out,” he said.

Will’s mouth fell open. “You did?”

“Yeah. I mean...I had help.” And you were happy. “Then he died, and I lived. Somehow. I’m not…” He swallowed. “I’m not...sure what happened.”

“He didn't die.”

Billy’s heart stopped. “What?”

“We killed part of him,” Will said, voice falling to a murmur. His eyes were wide, his hands gripping the mattress. “The real him is still out there somewhere. In the...in the Upside Down.”

The Upside Down. Billy had heard that term only once, when Max tried to explain what the fuck he’d just been through. He’d shoved it out of his mind, though, as he had so many other things. He’d just come out of a living hell, and he had no desire to think about it more than he had to.

And now here he was. Thinking about it.

Funny how he used to believe he had a choice.

“So he can come back.” Billy stared hard at Will. “Whenever the hell he wants.”

“Not exactly. There has to be a...a gate. Between his world and ours.”

“And there are people out there opening gates.”

“Yes,” said a voice at the door.

Billy turned, feeling a stab of panic. It was El. She couldn't resist following him, of course, and forcing him to deal with two strange kids at the same time.

Alright, fine. If he was gonna do this, he was going to commit. Folding his arms, he said, “Okay. So I'm guessing we can't do anything but wait. Hm? Somewhere out there, people are trying to open gates, other people are trying to stop them, and we're just caught in the crossfire. Am I right?”

El and Will looked at each other. After a bout of unspoken communication, El nodded slowly.

“Well, shit. What the fuck am I doing here, then.”

Dropping his arms, he stalked toward the hall. El scrambled out of the way, then called after him, “Where are you going?”

“Outside. I need a smoke.”

As he walked through the dining room, everyone at the table stared at him. He ignored them all and blew through the front door.

This deal was getting worse all the fuckin' time.

--

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