#jane el hopper

[harringroveera]

Steve has concerns…for the car

[nances]

they’re so

[nickismyspiritanimal]

Literally that scene where dr.owens thinks Max is El's boyfriend is such a blink and you miss it gay subtext scene. Like why did that even happen if not for elmax reasons. Like El is clearly bringing up Max as her most important person, the one she's in love with. (El: Mike who?) And Dr.Owens is like "don't worry your boyfriend will be fine". And El is like "she". And Dr.Owens says "sorry my bad, your girlfriend will be fine. Like?!? What? First off, Dr.Owens immediately and not even flinching at the fact that he now thinks Max is El's girlfriend is so gay rights of him. And in the 80s no less? Like good on him. And also, this is another instance of El not understanding some social cues, and how things she says sometimes reveal stuff to others in a way she doesn't intend. Like I don't think El even realizes how she frames Max as her most important person. And she does it often. Specifically later on in the show, Els main focus is Max. (Again, "Mike who?") But ugh yeah elmax is making me so ill rn I can't believe some people don't think it's a valid ship when we have scenes like this.

[winter-bitch]

the best siblings on the show that’s exactly right

[mcbride]

#another win for team pineapple on pizza

Finn Wolfhard as MIKE WHEELER, Millie Bobby Brown as JANE ‘EL’ HOPPER and Eduardo Franco as ARGYLE STRANGER THINGS 4 Chapter Nine: The Piggyback

[sunflowerius]

willel and madwheeler are like the same thing but in opposite directions do you get me

[statisticalcats2]

El's had her angsty relationship with hair since the first season but there's really just something about season 4 having her hair at it's longest while also introducing characters like Argyle and Eddie and also having Mike growing out his hair inspired by Eddie and basically have a whole season where long hair represents freedom and counterculture and then El gets her hair cut off against her will by her government-adjacent captors again and it hits that much harder 😭

[acidicbarkbeast]

prompt; rehab wordcount; 1 730 wordcount rule; any cw; car accident mention

There was a point in his life, where he didn’t put much thought into fate. He’d believed pretty steadfastly, that things happened, and that people simply had a tendency to insert meaning into those happenings, for comfort, karma, responsibility, the like.

Then his Uncle ended up in the hospital after a work accident, waiting on surgery and sporting a few broken bones. Eddie was by his bedside for the most of it, talking with him, reading to him, playing him music, much softer than his usual stuff.

Wayne didn’t like him sitting there all hours of the day though, and would regularly bully him out of the room to go on walks and stretch his legs, talk to people, drink in the sunlight before winter hit. That’s where he met him; Steve.

They’d ran into each other a few times since first meeting, sharing this and that. Steve was attending physical therapy twice a week because of a pretty serious car wreck, making the rounds on crutches and saying hello to staff and other patients as he rebuilt the muscle in his legs. Eddie couldn’t help but admire him… For one or more different reasons.

Today was a Tuesday, meaning Steve should’ve been somewhere around the hospital. Eddie wasn’t exactly looking for him, at least, not actively, but he was keeping an eye out for that gorgeous head of hair.

Eventually, he found him at the vending machine, struggling to retrieve an armful of snacks from the drawer compartment.

It was, frankly, perfect timing.

Again, he wasn’t very big on fate, destiny, miracles… But Steve threw a wrench in that, a beautiful, mole-ridden, big, brown-eyed wrench.

Shakily and stubbornly, Steve tried to balance his crutches at an angle so he could reach the machine’s opening. Under his weight, suddenly, one crutch skid on the linoleum floor, and from one second to the next, Steve was going down.

Jumping into action, Eddie caught him, but just barely.

“I’ve got you, Big Boy,” Eddie airily chuckled into his ear, having the air knocked out of him. Steve wriggled in his arms, laughing in disbelief.

“Eddie!” He beamed, peeking up at him through his bangs, “I thought I’d see you today.”

“Did you, sweetheart?” He smiled, Steve’s attitude, infectious. Shuffling them over to some waiting chairs outside of some office, Eddie settled him down, and went to pick up the fallen crutch, setting it with the other against the wall. Playfully poking Steve’s shoulder, he offered, “Need any help with those?”

The younger man tilted his head, puppy-like, “Please?”

One by one, Eddie pulled out candy bar after candy bar, two water bottles, and a packet of cashews, until there was a little pile of it all in Steve’s lap.

“And what occasion might warrant such a feast as this?” Eddie asked theatrically.

“Oh,” He sounded, perking up, “Some of the kids are here with me. They wanted goodies.” Eddie drew his eyebrows together, “So they sent the guy on crutches? No offense.”

“I volunteered, actually, get my rounds in…” He coughed into his fist, “And maybe ‘cause I was hoping I’d bump into you.”

He could feel his face warm, knowing the feeling was mutual, that they were always looking for one another, like two halves of a soul. Well, maybe not of a soul, as far as Eddie knew, that place was already platonically taken by one Robin Buckley.

“In that case, may I aid you in your long and tortuous journey, Sir Stephen.” Eddie half-bowed, one arm waved behind his back, the other extended in front of him, “You know, I have more pockets than a man should need.”

Steve silently accepted by lifting his arms out of the way, commenting, “Was that supposed to be some sort of innuendo? Because I didn’t get it.”

He shrugged as he stuffed his vest with chocolate and peanuts, “I just say whatever comes to mind, baby. They’ve yet to find an off-switch, I’m afraid.”

Swinging his crutches out, Steve pushed himself onto his feet, the momentum causing him to veer a little much into Eddie’s space. They were practically nose to nose as he muttered, glancing down at Eddie’s lips, “Why afraid? What if I don’t mind it?”

“Uhhhh…” No mirror needed, Eddie knew his face was burning red, his wide, blinking eyes filled with something like shock and desire. If it were possible, there’d be smoke puffing out of his ears; brain malfunction.

Steve giggled, honest to god, before beginning the slow hobble toward some unknown destination.

Eddie was quick to catch up, frantically speaking, “What I meant to say was, that you would definitely be the first.” He breathed, “Not to mind it, I mean.”

Humming as he read over the signage on the wall, they rounded a corner, and then another. Steve stayed quiet, but it was the pleasant kind, his mouth pulled into a soft smile.

Eventually, after a few turn-arounds, they found the wing where they held the therapy equipment, most notably the assisted treadmill that Steve refused to use. There, they found Max, in her wheelchair, with a girl standing at her side, and a boy standing behind her. With one of Max’s arms in a sling, the boy seemed to be the one assigned to moving her around.

They’d never met before now, but Eddie knew from Steve that Max had been in the same crash he was, only in the passenger seat. Steve didn’t mention it a lot, but Eddie got the idea that he felt some guilt about it, even if he wasn’t the one to have caused the accident.

“There you are,” The redhead said, unimpressed, and she gave Eddie a judgemental onceover that honestly rivaled the mean looks he used to get in high school, “Wow, did you pick up a stray?”

“Be nice,” Steve chirped, handing everyone their assorted snacks, and keeping a water bottle and the cashews for himself, “This is Eddie.”

“Oh,” The other girl giggled into her Hershey’s bar, Eddie thought her name was something like Elle or Em, “That Eddie.”

He could only begin to guess what that tone of voice could imply, and all answers set a fire in his belly. Had Steve been talking about him? He didn’t have to ask, Steve’s poppy-red face told him enough.

Scratching the back of his neck, Steve mumbled, “Do you know any other Eddie?”

“So it’s serious?” Max remarked rhetorically, then gestured with her bad arm toward Eddie, “Forward.”

The boy, Lucas, who had been nibbling on a Mars bar suddenly tuned back into the conversation, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair and rolling Max closer to Eddie, so she was only a few feet away from him. Steve looked a bit mortified, but also proud, obviously expecting this, but still dreading the inevitability.

“I’ll only say this once,” She leveled at him, surprisingly intimidating for a teenager who he towered over, “Steve is our babysitter first, and your boyfriend second. If you hurt him, we will resort to violence, gladly.”

The twinkle in her eye told him that she was telling the truth.

He chanced a glance at Steve, who was angled away from the beat-down with a hand over his face. Distracted, he realized he’d missed whatever else Max had said.

“Do you understand?” She repeated, like she was the principal, and he was a misbehaving student who’d just been sentenced to a day of community service.

He stammered, “Uh, yes. Yes, I do.”

She narrowed her eyes, and then suddenly, using her good arm, wheeled herself forward and an angle and out of the boy’s grip, where she ran over Eddie’s toes, punctuating, “You better.”

He yelped, plain and simple.

“Max!” The boy reprimanded, forcibly wheeling her out of kicking distance, though she seemed to have been satisfied with just running him over. Lucas looked at him pleadingly, as if something similar had happened before, “I’m sorry. She’s, um, protective.”

Max stared at him like a cat might its prey.

“Are you okay?” Steve appeared at his side, big, flat hands hovering around him, unsure of how to help. The pain had mostly gone by then, dulled by his thick boots.

“Alive, I assure you,” He said instead of something more serious, she was just a kid after all. What was he going to do, yell at the girl? If anything, he should applaud her and her unpredictable attack patterns.

“Let’s go over to the window,” Lucas suggested, already wheeling Max away, Elle-or-Em trodding after.

When Steve still looked a bit guilty, Eddie assured, “Really, I’m fine. My Uncle’s in here with a broken foot, who am I to complain about a little bruise?”

“Still…” He shrugged, “How is Wayne, anyway?”

“Going into surgery today,” Eddie grinned excitedly, the joy completely washing over any hurt feelings he previously had, “We’re counting down the days he’ll be locked away in here.”

“That’s amazing. I’m really glad everything’s on track.”

He wasn’t stupid, he noticed easily how Steve tried to match his enthusiasm, but fell a bit short, watching the way he bit his lip till it was cherry. He leaned into Steve’s space, until his inquisitive eyes met Steve’s downturned ones, “Hey, what’s wrong, Stevie?”

“It’s gonna sound fucked,” He cringed.

“No, no. Tell me, sweetheart.” Eddie eased, and he could pinpoint the moment Steve’s resolution broke.

“Just…” He started, stopped, bit his lip again. It was only mildly distracting, “When your Uncle’s out of here, you won’t have a reason to visit anymore.”

And that… Oh. He hadn’t thought about that.

He took the opportunity to do something daring, something he might have once called particularly risky if hadn’t been reading all these goddamn signals.

Gently, he took Steve’s face in his hands, where he could spot some faint scarring over his brow, over his mouth, on his cheek, and wondered if those were from the crash, “I’m not just gonna up and leave you, Stevie. We could maybe… exchange numbers…?”

Prettily, Steve’s eyes lit up, “You mean that in the way I think you do, right?”

“Wanna test that?”

…

“You kissed him, didn’t you?” Wayne asked, one eyebrow raised expectantly.

Chewing on a shaggy lock of hair, Eddie nodded with his whole body.

His uncle sighed, relaxing back into his pillow, “Finally. Christ.”

It took a second for his offense to register, “Hey!”

[stfuhair]

it would be so cool if we just have a little scene of action of the party gettibg ready to fight and they cut to dustin, lucas, mike and el walking to the The Four Horseman by Metallica

[harringroveera]

Stressed & in love 🤝

[allysartblog]

Argyle is a sucker for rom coms every year at Christmastime he devours all of the cliche Hallmark Christmas movies and forces Jonathan to watch with him. El also watches with them she and Argyle both being huge Hallmark movie fans. Jonathan hates them with a passion only tolerating them so he can spend quality time with his boyfriend and little sister.

[winter-bitch]

elmax guitarist max & fashion designer el

[dxncingwithastrxnger]

Okay, but

Why in hell are there so many people that continuously claim that El needs to be single in order to be independent and become the person she's meant to be? Single and independent are not synonyms. Independent does not mean alone. That's not how it works. They're not interchangeable. You don't need one in order to have the other.

No matter who you do and don't ship, my point still stands. There's so many people that have said it. And among those people, there's so many that claim she needs to be single in order to be herself, to be independent, and use that as their excuse for thinking El and Mike need to breakup, but then go and say that Mike and Will can get together afterwards. Or that El and Max can get together afterwards. If someone needs to be single in order to be independent, does that make everyone else who is in a relationship dependent? Not their own person? Hell no.

And I've also seen so many people claim that El takes after Mike. That Mike is always pushing his likes and interests on habits onto El. That he doesn't let her be her own person and that's what makes their relationship so "bad". That's what makes them have so many issues. Especially in season 3. But no, it's the opposite. They had so many issues in season 3 because El is independent. Because they are two different people. If El wasn't her own independent person, she wouldn't of gone to Max. She wouldn't of followed Max's lead and broken up with Mike. She wouldn't of gone on this whole journey of discovering new parts of herself and as well as exploring all of her relationships with people and then also returning to her relationship with Mike of her own free will and choice if she was not an independent person. If El was solely dependent on Mike and her personality and existence was based on Mike's specifically without her making any of her own choices, she would never have broken up with him in the first place. And in season 4, she wouldn't of argued with him so much.

Mike and El have their issues because they are both 2 different, very independent people who are also both very much teenagers and very much human. But everytime they've had an issue, they've worked through it, just like two people who are in a relationship and want to stay in that relationship do. Some people say that at the end of season 4, they're at their weakest point in their relationship. But no, it's the opposite, they're actually at their strongest. Why would it show them cuddled up together in the hospital while visiting Max if they were still having issues? It's been made plenty clear that if El is mad at Mike, she doesn't want to be around him, so she would definitely not be leaning against his shoulder and holding onto him if she was still upset with him, no matter what was going on around them at the time.

So I've said it before, I'm saying it now, and I will continue to say it in the future. Mike and El are both independent people, even while together. El does not need to breakup with Mike in order to be her own person or to be independent. That is not how it works. Mike and El can both be their own person while also being together. They both are their own person while being together. Just because that person isn't who you personally want them to be, doesn't mean that they aren't their own person or that they need to change some part of them or their life in order for things to be "solved". And El especially does not have to have some "I don't need a man" mentality and lifestyle in order to be her own, usual, badass and awesome self. She's already badass and independent and awesome and incredible and intelligent and unique whether she's in a relationship with Mike or not. Her relationship status does not decide her personality and character and it never has and it never will.

[dalekofchaos]

The lack of consequences for Jim Hopper

It really bothers me that Hopper is never called out for his bullshit. And it seriously bothers me that El took his name and that the fandom and the Duffer Bros glorifies the guy when he can come off as abusive as Brenner and Lonnie, but gets away with everything because David Harbour plays him and because the Duffer Bros likes the character and everyone acts like Hopper is a good dad and J**per is relationship goals.

Let’s look at what Hopper has done throughout the series

Selling out El to Brenner and absolutely no consequences. It was never brought up again. Not even when El called out Brenner on his shit. This seriously pissed me off. You could’ve had Brenner playing two face with the Americans and the Russians. The Russians keeps Hopper hostage, while the Americans helps him restore El’s powers and sending Sullivan and his forces to kill The Byers and Mike(also ordering Will’s abduction) and Brenner trying to manipulate El by using the knowledge of what Hopper did to save Will. This could’ve given a neat character arc for El. they could possibly force El to go dark and we’d have Brenner and El as the villains in season 5 or have Hopper and the party to save Jane from Brenner’s manipulation aka Hopper being the angel on El’s shoulder(and actually apologizing for everything) while Brenner is the devil whispering in El’s ear.

The fact that, because he sold her out to Brenner, El was still alive and only he knew, so he decided to take advantage of that and get another daughter out of it.

Keeping El prisoner and constantly promising her that she would be able to see Mike and the others "soon", despite clearly having no desire to follow through on that promise.

Treating El like she's a regular kid by giving her regular punishments (no tv), when she's not a regular kid, and has no other way of passing the time while he, again, keeps her prisoner.

Threatening to send El back to her abusers when she calls him out on the previous two points.

And El still lives with this fuck after everything he’s done and took his last name. Gee, you didn’t think she wanted to take HER MOTHER’S NAME???? Hell, Becky could’ve agreed to look after El and even moved to Hawkins so El could see her friends and so El could see her mother. But nope, we have to force this El and Hopper dynamic and act like he was never an abusive turd towards her.

Getting ridiculously overprotective with El because she starts spending so much time with Mike (and why would that possibly be something they would do? Oh right, keeping them apart for almost a year).

Lying to Mike, a fourteen year old child, about the possibility of his grandmother being seriously injured (something that's happened before), then outright threatening him when he gets called out on it. And that's after writing out a letter that, while very guilt-trippy and "This is all about me!", was still better than what he did. But oh no, since he wrote the letter, that makes it all okay, right? Ugh. Oh and guess what? HE NEVER FUCKING APOLOGIZED TO MIKE and yet Mike still hugged him, but not his literal best friend since Kindergarten

And threatening Mike resulted in unnecessary conflict between Mike, Max and El. Mike refuses to tell anyone what Hopper did and god, season 3 is shit.

Treating Joyce like absolute shit, acting like he's entitled to her.

SO MUCH police brutality, from straight-up torturing someone (no matter how much of a slimeball that someone is, it's still fucked up) taking someone hostage, to gunning down an entire group of people because he was upset that Murray was taking too long (from Hopper's perspective) to talk their way through.

And HOPPER IS NEVER CALLED OUT ON THREATENING MIKE! Mike never tells anyone. Can you imagine the righteous fury coursing through Nancy’s veins if she found out what Hopper did to Mike in Season 3? She’s already pissed off at the sexist pricks at her work, then she finds out? Imagine Joyce, Karen, Nancy, Jonathan, El and Steve ALL find out what Hopper did to Mike and then they give him the "intervention” calling him on his shit or hell, Hopper’s screaming at everyone, everyone’s screaming at him, Hopper puts his hands on Mike,  Ted’s had enough and punches Hopper’s lights out. He should’ve lost the respect of everyone, lost custody of El(El lives with Joyce and has her name changed back to Jane El Ives) and everyone hates him and he sacrifices himself because he has nothing left. 

The worst part? He hasn’t been called out on his shit when it was relevant, he hasn’t been called out when it could’ve been integral with Brenner’s return and he will never be called out. Now everyone wants to act like Hopper was always a good dad to El, he never sold her out to Brenner or threaten to send her back to Hawkins lab or threatened Mike. Everything he did gets swept under the rug and that’s complete and total bullshit. 

At least Jonathan acknowledged taking naked pics of Nancy was wrong. At least Steve realized he was an asshole and had the best damn character arc in the series. Even if he died, at least Billy somewhat apologized to Max, had he lived I think Billy could’ve made amends to everyone and work to be a better person, probably find some closure by confronting Neil for his abuse and finding his mother to find that closure and work to be a better person afterwards and this is coming from someone who hates Billy Hargrove. All I’m saying, everyone acknowledges to some degree what they did was wrong. Hopper never has any sense of guilt for the shit he’s done in the series.

The Duffer Bros and fandom’s glorification of Hopper is very similar to how DONTNOD/Deck Nine hero worship David Madsen in the Life Is Strange games. For those unfamiliar with LIS. David Madsen is Chloe Price’s step-father. He abuses her, puts cameras all over her house and makes her feel like a prisoner in her own home. Then at school, David stalked and harassed Kate Marsh and Rachel Amber and to some degree, Max Caulfield. The only difference? There is one scene where David is called out on his shit. Now why am I comparing this to the glorification to Hopper? Cause in the game developers minds, ONE good deed is enough to whitewash and act like 3 years of being an abusive step-father and stalking girls at school never happened. And speaking of, in LIS 2, they fucking gave him a second chance at life, but Kate Marsh, the girl he stalked didn’t, she died. 

Hopper is borderline abusive towards El, he wants to control her, threatened Mike and feels like he owns Joyce. Hopper is abusive, yet no one wants to call him out on his bullshit.

You might be thinking “he did have consequences, he was in prison in Russia” and “he said he was a curse, see he does feel guilt” that wasn’t consequences and that wasn’t his guilt. He didn’t own up to ANY OF HIS SHIT. He didn’t think selling El and the party to Brenner was bad, he didn’t think treating El like shit was bad, he didn’t think THREATING A FUCKING CHILD WAS BAD and good fucking god, fuck Hopper. 

You know what? Maybe Hopper having no consequences for his actions and not being called on his shit is a commentary on the police being abusive monsters who get away with everything...on second thought, The Duffer Bros aren’t that smart and just refuse to let their favs be called out on their shit. 

[strangerthingspolls]

ST Eras / Round 1 / Poll 2