#let will byers become important to the plot

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Rescuing you [E. M]

Vamp!Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Word count: 9.6k

Summary: Eddie came back to you, but not in the way you expected. Now it will be necessary to help him come back as your real boy

Warnings: angst most of the fic, tragic past of the main character, a bit of a villain!Eddie if you squint but I think a happy ending.

A/N: The Vecna attacking thing happens a bit later and I took the liberty of modifying Eleven's powers for plot convenience. Also this definitely won't get a part 2 but I'll probably write more of vamp!Eddie (with less angst of course so if you have any ideas drop them in my inbox)

I always check this three times (once for pronouns, once for grammar, and once for translator errors) but I'm so fucking tired and this is so long so sorry for any mistakes

Things had happened so fast and everything was so difficult. Hawkins had become almost a ghost town and the only people left out there took refuge in the school, which now fulfilled the function of a kind of shelter for the neediest.

After the portals had completely fragmented the town, most of the people had taken their cars, had put the most important belongings in them, and then fled from there in a hurry. Only people who had nowhere else to go and no money to do so had remained; Wayne Munson was one of them. You were another one of them.

Joyce Byers had offered you shelter in her home more than once, but you didn't feel comfortable even with the idea of ​​being near them. You didn't wish them ill, of course, but after leaving the Upside Down everyone had acted like nothing had happened and it was making you sick. There were family gatherings, hugs, kisses, tears of joy, and all while you drowned in the pain of loss.

You had lost Eddie.

Only Dustin had been there and only he could understand part of the feeling, but only a tiny part of everything that was going through your mind and your heart. Eddie had been your boyfriend since middle school when you still didn't even understand what love was and it was just child's play. You had grown up with him, matured with him, and had all kinds of experiences, and now there would be no more of that. Never.

And honestly, his death had been so stupid. He had been such an idiot to go back to the demobats to face them and buy some time. A part of you was selfish enough to wish he'd run out the portal with you and let those monsters get back on their way. It would have been someone else's problem; he would still be alive if he hadn't decided to play the hero as Steve had warned you before this all started.

You remember crying yourself out of tears the first night and the next night it was only worse. You didn't sleep at all and ate barely enough to keep you going. You were heartbroken, you didn't even have a body to cry to and you didn't even have something to remember it by. Except for the jewel on your ring finger, which he had bought for you on one of your anniversaries, with the promise that a few years later he would give you a nicer one. And there would be nothing later, the only thing you could do was keep that promise broken by a situation of which he wasn’t even guilty.

So you decided it would be best to stay with Wayne Munson and at least help him get through things, or have him help you, or maybe a bit of both.

That was until a week after you thought hell was over you saw that it was actually just the beginning. Vecna ​​was there, back and stronger than ever. The meadows had dried up, the air was filled with those strange particles, and the blue sky had been replaced by red clouds with lightning bolts between them. That had brought you to where you were, sitting in a circle with all the other people who could still defend this town and hopefully save the world.

"We don't know how powerful Vecna ​​is now, so we have to be careful," Hopper instructed, all of you. You had decided to team up again so you could scout the grounds and see how close you were to getting close to Victor Creel's house, where you thought Vecna ​​might be physically. There was only one route and almost the entire line was full of monsters, so someone would have to clear a path for the others to enter.

You would go with Nancy, Robin, Steve, Jonathan, and Hopper so you could test the waters and could think something out as soon as possible. You were acting rather impulsively, but Vecna's return hadn't given you time to think more clearly. The last time you had faced the monsters it was just you and… well, the point is that there were very few personnel. Now with all of them there, you would have a better chance.

"You guys stay behind me, do you understand me right?" Steve muttered, as protective as ever, though you knew he too had gotten the same words from Hopper. You had returned to military clothing and now that there was hardly anyone on the streets it was easier to walk around with weapons.

All this was crazy, it was stressful and you wanted to cry for fear of seeing someone else in the group die at the hands of those things that would haunt your dreams forever. The plan was reckless and stupid, but it was all there was.

"If anything goes wrong, we'll all get out of here as we agreed," Hopper warned, now holding his shotgun firmly. He had changed a lot since the last time you saw him, but you didn't say anything and you just nodded, ready to help in any way you could, until a sound made you stop in your tracks.

It was a guitar, from somewhere in the street, and you knew exactly what song it was: “Shot in the dark” by Ozzy Osbourne. The notes were lazy, but you could still recognize him from all the times you'd heard the guy play it in his trailer.

"What the hell is that?"

"Eddie…" you whispered, feeling the sob catch in your throat. Hawkins seemed to always be at night thanks to the clouds that covered the place, so it was hard to see beyond the bushes you guys were hiding in, but when you finally did you felt your heart was going to jump out of your chest. There was a figure in the distance, in the midst of all the flying monsters, and from the shock of curly, unruly hair you knew it was him. It couldn't be anyone else, or maybe you were just hallucinating.

"Who is that?" Hopper asked, rather cautiously. So you weren't crazy, these people were also seeing what you were seeing. And so that meant it was real.

"Eddie" you exclaimed again, emerging from your hiding place to start walking in the boy's direction. They all tried to stop you, but their hands slipped out of your arms just quickly. Nothing mattered to you, you just wanted to know if he was real or if it was just Vecna ​​playing with your mind "Eddie!" you yelled as you quickened your pace towards him. This scream was the one that caught his attention and you saw him turn a little to look at himself. Even from a distance you could see that he was smiling broadly, which made your eyes start to glaze over. You didn't last more than another couple of seconds running before you lunged at him. You were holding him, it was real… Eddie was alive “Eddie” you sobbed again. Your mind couldn't form a coherent sentence because of how happy you were to feel him in your arms again. You didn't understand how it was possible and you didn't care either.

"Hello, beautiful" you heard. His voice was deep and raspy and the way he had said 'beautiful' made you shiver. Your glance went sideways to your arm and you noticed that the hand that held you was extremely pale, cold, and with sharp black nails that dangerously pressed your skin. You took your head off your chest and looked up, only to meet a totally different man than the one you remembered. Totally black hair, black circles around his eyes that were now a reddish hue, and a smile that showed a pair of long fangs inside his red-stained lips; with blood “Did you miss me?” he said mockingly. The way he told you that made you realize that he really wasn't your Eddie. It was something else, horrible and evil.

You screamed and backed away, but all you got was a few scratches where your fingernails had been before. From a couple of steps back you could see it more clearly and panicked at the sight in front of you. Even in the heat of the moment and with adrenaline coursing through your body you understood what kind of thing he was: a vampire.

Eddie didn't give much time for small talk, or to greet you, or even to give any sign that he was going to help you. On the contrary, he hardly realized that he had lost you he pounced on you. His hands had grabbed both of your biceps roughly and he was ready to attack right at your neck, while you screamed at the top of your lungs in panic. You didn't know how to react because he had caught you off guard, taking advantage of the fact that you had been too happy to see him.

The speed and certainty with which he had acted chilled your blood and now to feel him so cold and dangerous were twice as terrifying. You heard a shot in the distance, when he had just broken your skin with his fangs, which forced the boy to look up. It was Nancy, who had been the first to attack.

If you got out of this alive, you would become that girl's greatest devotee.

"Move on!" Steve yelled at you as he began to attack with his old nail-studded bat. Eddie seemed to lose interest in you when he saw that you were accompanied and released you almost annoyed, letting you fall to the ground.

From the floor you saw the boy plant himself firmly a couple of steps from you while he let out a macabre laugh and raised one of his hands towards the sky. The demobats began to circle him like a tornado, and your brain wandered back to the memory of you guys in the Upside down when Eddie decided to fight those animals himself. Except now he was the one commanding them to attack. And to be honest he seemed quite pleased to be turned into the evil vampire general that he was now.

You wanted to throw up because of what was happening. It was too much to process and too little time to do it, but if there was one thing you were sure of, it was that you had to do something. And you had to do it now.

"Eddie!" Steve insisted as he tried to take down a couple of demobats. Robin and Jonathan were the clumsiest with weapons, but they were still putting up a good fight, plus they had Steve and Nancy to help them respectively. Hopper was the only one who was rampaging through those things like he was an expert.

Still sore in the chest (from seeing Eddie like that, rather than from the blow) you got up and drew your spear, running in Hopper's direction to help him and also gain some confidence.

You fought for a while until your hands got tired of hitting the air so many times, because the way all the demobats were surrounding you it was also impossible to execute the emergency plan and run away, until suddenly all those things stopped attacking. When you looked at Eddie you realized that he had raised his hand again to order them to stop.

“What is it that you have come for if not to die?” he asked, from a distance. It sounded like those times when he pretended to be some D&D character during campaigns or when he fooled around with you at your house. He had always been a wonderful actor, but unfortunately this wasn't about acting. “This plan of yours sucks. You know you can't beat him, right?"

Without worrying too much about him, you ran to where your friends were and thus formed a larger group. Most were injured, but nothing seriously, thanks to God.

“Munson, how the hell are you…?”

"Alive?" he asked, with that usual boyish glee "I'm not Harrington, that's the best part" he smiled, giving way for everyone to see the shiny fangs protruding from his lower lip "Vecna ​​needed a right hand and decided I it was perfect. This fit me, don't they?”

Again you felt your stomach churning at the sight and hearing of it. That bastard had brainwashed him or maybe he was just using him to scare you. But having a collective nightmare wasn’t that common and the blood falling from your arms was proof that you were in the real world. Well, in Hawkins being sucked into that bloody evil, but the real world at the end of the day.

"Eddie!" you sobbed again. It was the only thing you had said since you arrived and you forced yourself to say something else “It's Vecna! He’s controlling you!”

“I thought that was clear enough,” he laughed, cynicism painting his voice. One thing you'd always loved about Eddie was his sassy side, normally reserved for dealing with jocks and jerks, but now used to make fun of you.

"Have you forgotten Chrissy?" you insisted, hoping that you could snap him out of the trance he seemed to be in. It wasn't like he was actually speaking, it was like Vecna ​​was speaking through him. His voice sounded strange, he was like a simple… puppet "Have you already forgotten what he did to Max?"

"Small sacrifices for a greater good" he exclaimed with all the naturalness in the world. You were so terrified to see him that you subconsciously became attached to Steve's body, that he was the closest to you “All is not lost, you know? You can still join us. Voluntarily"

Us… it sounded so sick.

"So what if I don't?" you shouted, armed with courage and making your voice not tremble a bit.

“You will join us by force. There really aren't many results, I'm just giving you the flexibility to choose how you're going to do it. In the end we will all be part of him” he smiled.

“We have to get out of here right now,” Nancy said, determined. Eddie looked so out of it and you weren't the only one who had noticed, so the best option was to walk away now that he had allowed it. It was almost as if he was making fun of you.

"If you're thinking of running away" he spoke, as if he had read your thoughts or heard your friend's whisper "I suggest you do it now, because it will be your only chance"

"Let's go this fucking time," ordered Hopper, who hadn't taken his eyes off your dead boyfriend since the first moment he'd appeared. The car was across the street and if you ran fast enough you'd get to it, but as utterly horrified as you were you didn't want to leave. You weren't going to leave if Eddie didn't come with you, the real Eddie. “Y/N, now,” he hissed, grabbing your arm and squeezing just enough to draw some more blood. You let him drag you away without taking your eyes off the boy above you, who seemed very pleased with your escape. He had that look he got when he managed to set you up during campaigns, only again you weren't in a damn campaign but in a town completely corrupted by evil.

They almost dragged you to the car and once there, you burst into tears as you had never done before in your life.

The next stage after arriving at the shelter and crying uncontrollably on Dustin's shoulder was the overwhelming desire to go back there to try to save Eddie. You were in complete denial, no matter how much everyone tried to convince you it was stupid.

"That's not Eddie anymore, do you understand?" Steve had said, seeing you so upset and thirsty for revenge, while he took you by the shoulders.

"We can't know that if we don't try to help him"

“He's going to kill us! Didn't you see that he has that whole horde of monsters under his orders? He controls them, and Vecna ​​controls him”

"If it was Robin, would you leave her there?" you asked suddenly. Everyone was looking at you now, children and adults alike “Or Nancy? What if he was Dustin? Would you leave them there just because of the thought that 'they are no longer themselves'?" you muttered, completely furious.

You had a long conversation (it was more of an argument than a conversation) in which the elders held their ground only until they could think of a good enough plan to defeat Vecna ​​and save Eddie at the same time.

So night fell and with the passing of the hours you decided that no one was willing to do something, you would do it by yourself. Fuck everyone, you were going to save him.

You stuffed a revolver, water, a flashlight, and a walkie-talkie into your backpack, in the totally stupid hope that that would be enough for the suicide mission you wanted to execute. It wasn't until you crept out the door that you found you weren't alone. Dustin was there.

"Waiting for someone?" you asked vaguely, wishing you had followed your first impulse to climb out the window.

"You're insane if you think you're going to go get him"

“Luckily for me, Henderson, you guys don't boss me around”

"You can't go there alone, it's too dangerous"

“Well, I didn't see anyone willing to accompany me and I'm not going to sit idly by either. So step aside and please pretend you didn't see me leave."

"I want to save him too," he insisted. Apparently he and you were the only ones who had really been worried about Eddie's state. "But if you don't have a plan, you'll only have been in vain and get him to kill you," he murmured, making you see reason. As much as it hurt to accept it, you weren't the most objective when it came to love. You were just acting without thinking “We have to think of a way to help him get back. You know, like being himself."

“And do you think there is a way?” you asked. The question had been going around in your head since you had arrived, afraid that indeed he was simply lost.

"Well…"

“Me," said a small voice in the dark that made you jump.

"Eleven?" you asked frowning. Dustin also seemed surprised by your friend's willingness to help. "What are you doing here?"

"I can help" she repeated, shyly "With your friend"

“No, no, no way. Hopper and Mike and everyone will kill us if we put you in danger."

“There is no danger” she continued “Not for me”

You looked at Dustin, confused, and then you looked at the girl again.

“What do you mean, El?”

“His mind” murmured the girl, moving closer to you to speak more softly “I've been thinking and I think I can help you get into it. Maybe then we can rescue him” Eleven wasn’t a girl of many words, but what she had told you was enough to understand what she meant.

Eleven had powers, she really could do something.

"I’ll do it. Whatever you think is going to work, I'll do it” you answered with total certainty.

If there was a hope to save your boyfriend you were going to take it. And you were going to cling to it with all your might.

After almost two hours you had finally cemented a plan. It wasn't a complete plan, but it would go a long way. It was amazing what a miniature genie, a depressed girlfriend, and a girl with powers could do together.

"And how am I supposed to do this?" you asked nervously, getting into the pool full of salt water that Dustin had taken care of preparing.

The idea was this: with the help of Eleven's powers you would enter Eddie's mind to free him from within Vecna's control. It sounded totally absurd and even at this point you thought it was impossible, because it wasn't like the girl could do some kind of power transfer or anything like that. But she assured you it would work and Dustin seemed pleased with the plan too, which made you trust a little more.

You didn't care about the risk at all, you just didn't want to end up doing more damage than what was already on Eddie's mind.

“Sometimes it's like being in a place when people remember. Other times people may be stuck somewhere or… well, they may not be around and you will have to look for them”

"What if Vecna ​​is there?"

"Then tell me and I'll bring you," she informed, trying to reassure you. Another reason you had to do it (besides clearly that it was too risky for Eleven to be seen by Vecna) was because you knew Eddie and maybe being on his mind would make it easier for you to find the right spot or react in the right way.

"This is going to work out, Y/N," Dustin said to you, holding your hand lovingly "Just relax”

Still shivering a little from the temperature of the water you lay down. You were wearing only pajama shorts and a tank top, the girl had said it was easier with light clothing, and then they handed you a neatly folded handkerchief so you could cover your eyes.

You floated for a few seconds until you got used to the water. Being deprived of sight and partially hearing you were hypersensitive to touch, so you jumped a bit as soon as Eleven wrapped her fingers around your wrist.

You didn't know how long you were there, but little by little you felt as if you were falling peacefully asleep. You were at peace and literally floating until suddenly it was as if something sucked you in and then you fell into the void. You screamed in terror as you were enveloped by so much darkness, but a few seconds later you hit a hard surface with your body. You groaned at the sensation, noticing that your eyes were no longer covered and that the place where you had fallen was the floor of a house.

“Y/N?” you heard they called you. You woke up scared, but when they repeated your name, you realized that it was just Dustin "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine" you exclaimed, hoping he could hear you. The communication worked similarly to the Upside down, right?

"Where are you?"

"In a house"

"Victor Creel's?"

"No," you replied absently. It was a simple house but it was still pretty and it had a shelf full of photos, most of them of a small child. You frowned at this and moved closer to look at them more closely, trying to figure out who it was.

“Mom!” you heard someone scream. You turned around startled only to find a short, smiling figure: it was a boy with dark brown hair wearing an oversized rock band shirt.

“I'm here, Eddie,” a woman said, from the kitchen. She was blonde and beautiful but she looked extremely tired.

"What time is daddy coming?" he asked curiously, letting himself fall against the couch and moving his legs from side to side. He was a very hyperactive little boy, you could tell that.

"Later, do you want cookies for snack?" she asked, notably avoiding her son's question. You didn't know what you were doing here or why Eddie's mind seemed to be on that memory, but then you remembered that he had never told you about his parents. You only knew that he lived with his uncle, but pressuring him to tell you about a part of his life felt wrong, so you stuck with that poor piece of information for all these years.

"With chocolate!" he said cheerfully. It was clear that he couldn't see you, but you stood in front of him to be able to see him more carefully, noticing that he was a most tender child.

You saw him run to his mom to hug her and receive said cookies with joy. Without meaning to, a smile escaped you, just imagining that your boyfriend had had such a beautiful relationship with his mother, but the scene was distorted a second later and the scenery changed completely. It was the same house, but this time it looked much darker and colder.

"Mom?" a small voice asked. Again you turned to see where he came from and you noticed that the boy was kneeling on the floor, with a huge bundle to one side; a body “Mommy!” he screeched, moving his mother from side to side. But she didn't wake up or give any sign of wanting to. “Are you mad at me? Wake up!" he sobbed, clutching his tiny hands to the woman's worn shirt.

That damn dizziness came again and when you opened your eyes you found yourself in another scene, again in the same house, this time with the door open and the windows illuminated with a police light. You looked everywhere for Eddie and noticed that he was right next to you, with a policeman holding his shoulder while he wept uncontrollably. He was no longer such a little boy, you estimated that he would be around 10 years old at that time and as he had told you his hair was too short compared to his current style.

You also noticed that the cops were taking a man away in handcuffs who looked a lot like Wayne Munson… was that Eddie's father?

“We will take the boy with his uncle to Indiana, to a place called Hawkins. It's the only family he has left” you heard one of the men say. You also didn't know that Eddie had lived somewhere else before Hawkins, you just assumed that he had lived there all his life "First his wife and then this... that man is crazy”

Your blood ran cold as you pondered the man's words. Had Eddie's dad killed his mom? That was not possible, no way...

A stab of pain filled your head and you hunched over yourself as you held on with both hands. When you rejoined you were in another place, now a different one that you knew too well. It was the trailer where Eddie lived and you were in his room, with walls clean of any posters and also tidy.

You could see him curled up on the bed, crying uncontrollably with no one there to keep him company. You knew it had probably been years from the way his hair looked longer and from how tall he was, plus you remembered seeing him a few times in middle school in that faded red sweatshirt. You saw him take one of the pillows to hug it as he might hug a person for comfort and your heart squeezed too hard inside your chest.

"Eddie" you spoke softly, sitting up in bed. You wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be alright, because you had never been able to bear to see him cry. It's not like Eddie cried too much either.

"Why does this happen to me?" he asked through tears. You opened your eyes in surprise, because you didn't know you could intervene in a memory, until you saw that he wasn't talking to you, but to a picture of his mother "All the kids make fun of me at school, I wish you were here with me” he sobbed.

You couldn't stand the scene; it was heartbreaking to watch. Suddenly you wondered, had he had to keep quiet for so long? How many nights would he have spent the same way, crying alone in his room?

You wanted to reach out to touch his shoulder, but something stopped you and when you looked at your leg you realized that there was a vine holding you. It was just like the ones you had seen when you were on the other side, the ones that were controlled by Vecna.

You didn't even have time to say anything when it dragged you across the floor for what seemed like minutes. When you finally stopped somewhere your clothes were torn and dirty, but you could hear the screams of a person calling your name.

“I'm fine, Henderson,” you exclaimed, once you were on your feet. “I was just left with… some memories. They are bad memories, it seems that Vecna ​​uses them to torment or imprison him” you exclaimed, making both children aware. Dustin was watching you from floating in the pool and he was also seeing Eleven kneeling next to you, a trickle of blood running from her nose.

“Can you see anything else? Where are you now?"

“In the Upside down” you whispered, paying some attention to the environment and coming to that conclusion. Your eyes searched desperately for something that seemed familiar and your breath hitched when you saw Eddie's trailer in the distance. Your feet moved by themselves towards there, trying to get there as fast as possible.

"You are in danger?"

“Eddie!” you yelled. The door was covered by wooden boards and although you tried to remove them it was completely useless “I found the trailer, kids. Maybe he is here. Eddie!” you repeated, saying the second thing louder and continuing to bang “Eddie! Are you here? It's me, Y/N” you murmured desperately, pressing against the door that had some small cracks so that he could hear you better, if he was there “It's me, love. I came to help”

You looked around for something to help you remove the boards and almost like a miracle you managed to see an ax on the porch. Without hesitation you ran to take it and started hitting the boards to break them, desperate to meet him, but when you were about to finish one you felt something sticky holding you by the leg again. You screeched when that thing dragged you again and luckily your hand's grip on the ax didn't loosen a bit, so after a couple of meters you swung the ax hard at it, managing to snap it in half.

You were sore again but still found the strength to get up the next second and run back to the trailer. You hit the boards a few times, right in the middle, but you fell into despair and when they were weak enough you kicked them, breaking a couple of pieces of the door as well. You threw yourself against the wood a couple of times (hurting you in the process) until the door swung open and you were able to get in. You fell to the floor for the thousandth time and although the pain stung all over your side you got up, but you were disconcerted to see that everything was in order. The place looked like the trailer normally did, dimly lit and just as still as ever. Where was he?

“Y/N?” a voice asked, soft and confused. When you turned around you saw Eddie, standing up, clean and safe.

"Eddie?" you asked fearfully. Perhaps in other circumstances your first impulse would have been to throw yourself into his arms immediately, but fortunately you learned from your mistakes. The last time you did that, it turned out to be a vampire wanting to kill you.

"You're here" he murmured excitedly, taking a couple of steps and cupping your cheeks with his hands. The feeling was different, his hands had always been calloused and his grip a bit rough, but these were soft and careful "I'm so glad you're here" he whispered sweetly, however, you put your hands on his wrists to push him away a little. Being close to him gave you the same feeling as the vampire you had encountered. It was identical to him, but... no, somehow you knew it wasn't him. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you open the door?"

“I couldn't do it, the boards were blocking it”

"Outside," you exclaimed, still cautious about what you said and did.

“Vecna ​​must have put something down so I couldn't open it either. But that doesn't matter…” he started to say, wanting to lean back in your direction. You took steps backwards, in fear, until you collided with the kitchen counter "now we are here, the two of us together"

"Don't you want to go out?"

"Going out where? Here everything is perfect! We have just what we need,” he exclaimed, oddly cheerful and comfortable with this. A voice yelled at you that it was wrong, to run away, to do anything. That wasn't Eddie and as he walked towards you, you felt like you might cry “Stay here with me, forever”

You didn't even have time to register when your hand went to the ledge and held a bread knife, driving it hard into Eddie's chest. A part of you still suffers from thinking what would have happened if that boy had been your boy, from thinking that you would have killed the one you called your love. But luckily, when the blood began to flow and you noticed that it was a black and viscous liquid, you knew that he was not. That face contorted in a grimace of indignation and surprise at what you had just done, which turned into fury. His skin started to peel off that thing and he wanted to lunge at you, but you were quick and moved out of its way, pulling the knife out in front to stab it back in behind. You were never particularly skilled at doing anything, but to save your boyfriend you could become a professional gymnast if you had to. 

The thing screeched, the way demobats did, and you stabbed the knife in and out until you were splattered with that black goo, not giving it time to even do anything. While the creature bled to the death against the kitchen counter, you saw how the walls washed away, as if it were paint against the rain, and revealed the true scene; the dark trailer, full of vines and white particles that filled the Upside down.

The monster was no longer lying on the floor, but in its place was something else; a body pinned against a vine pillar… it was Eddie.

"Eddie!" you screamed. 

"You found him?" Dustin asked, scaring you because you had even forgotten that he could hear you. Maybe the encounter with that impostor had been a kind of trance and that's why you hadn't heard anything coming from the boy.

"He's possessed, he's... he's trapped," you said desperately, picking up your ax again to start hacking. His eyes were white and his skin was pale, but other than that he seemed fine. I mean, there wasn't one of his broken bones to be seen or blood gushing out anywhere.

"What do you mean trapped?"

"He's on a pillar, his eyes are white like those of the victims" you murmured agitatedly, because you tried with all your might to free him from where he was "Music! We need music!” you yelled “My Walkman is in my backpack, Dustin. There I have a list that Eddie made for me, quick!” you exclaimed, hoping the boy had heeded your words. Your hands were slipping and at one point you even used your legs to support yourself and pull, but it was still very difficult to get it free.

Suddenly the sound of the already advanced song N.I.B. filled you with motivation. Eddie had sung that song to you once and you hoped it was enough to bring him back.

Your love for me has just got to be real

Before you know the way I'm going to feel

I'm going to feel

I'm going to feel

Dustin must have turned the Walkman on full blast in the gym silence was enough to hear him and (hopefully) hear him too. The music went on and on and you scrambled to hack away at anything that would keep Eddie from moving until he fell to the floor with a thud. You threw the ax at God knows where and leaned down to put him in your lap, painfully remembering that this had been the last position you'd been in with him.

You called him by his name and shook him a bit waiting for some reaction, but there was nothing. In a last attempt to wake him up, you approached him to kiss him gently, feeling your lips tremble in fear of having made everything worse. But when you separated you noticed that you were no longer in the trailer, but that you were lying on the grass and surrounded by the cold night. But Eddie was still there, still with his little eyes closed, but this time it was the Eddie you had seen before, the pale one with fangs. You wanted to say something, but your voice caught as the floor below you seemed to turn to water in which you completely sank. When you fell you felt something cover your eyes and you ripped off said garment, realizing that it was a handkerchief. Next to you was Dustin and on the other, still holding your hand, Eleven was looking at you.

"What happened? It worked?" he asked desperately. You didn't know how much they had heard, but either way they couldn't have guessed what all you had seen was. You felt dizzy and tired in equal parts, but when you tried to slow down your breathing you realized a trickle of blood was running from your nose. You wiped with one hand and forced yourself to spit out a few words.

“I think so, I don't know. It was all very confusing,” you murmured worriedly. You tried to explain everything you had seen, without giving too private or embarrassing details, just saying that Eddie was haunted by bad memories. You explained to them how he was trapped and the change of scenery you had made to the area where you had seen the vampire this morning.

"So do you think he really regained consciousness?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," you said, while trying to stand up and falling on your face in the attempt. Your whole body ached and you were weak as if you had just run a marathon. You wondered if that was what Eleven felt whenever she traveled to any side of it and you felt sorry for her.

"You are crazy? What are you going to do?"

“If we really manage to free Eddie, he is going to wake up in the middle of a town that is cursed, turned into a monster, and surrounded by demobats that are probably no longer under his orders. He's going to be scared as shit if he wakes up and he's alone, so I'm going to the area I teleported to at the end”

"Y/N, it's dangerous"

“Everything is,” you replied, finally gathering the strength to stand up and climb out of the pool with your clothes and hair dripping, “And I know Eddie would have done it for us. I owe it to him”

“I will accompany you”

“No, you stay here. You're hurt and only you can explain where I went without it looking like a suicide plan" you exclaimed, kneeling to look at him "I promise I won't go back without him"

“I don't believe in promises anymore,” he said with a trembling voice. You knew what he was referring to, the last time someone had promised him something it had been your boyfriend and that story ended badly.

“Belief in this one,” you murmured, placing your hand on his forearm to comfort him. You crawled over to where the girl was and to her surprise you wrapped her in a hug “Thank you for this. You don't know how much you've helped me” you said about her neck. She had given you even more than hope, she had given you a chance to get your boyfriend back.

"Friends help each other," she murmured, feeling happy that she had done something nice for you, as she wrapped her arms around you. After breaking the hug, you almost ran to your backpack and put on a new change of clothes, trying to take as little time as possible to get on the road to where you could find him.

The only thing you could do the whole way was to tell yourself that things were going to be okay, even if that might end up being a lie.

After almost an hour of walking, you found the spot where he might be and tried to be more cautious this time because of the demobats flying over the area and also because of the possibility that Eddie was still Vecna's evil follower and wanted to attack you. The place you had seen in his mind was covered by grass, so you walked around looking for something like that and you thought you would have a heart attack when he saw a lump lying on the floor. Perhaps showing you too trusting you ran there, only to check that he was still with his eyes closed. Your hand went to his neck to take his pulse and you gasped feeling nothing, but then you remembered that if he was supposed to be a vampire it was because he was already dead. Could vampires die twice? Could their mind die? How were you going to check that he was okay? Can they even breathe? You knew that if you thought about it you would end up consumed by bad thoughts so you just used all your strength to carry the boy (or at least try) and drag him to the nearest establishment. It was a grocery store that had belonged to a couple of very sweet old people but was now empty. Luckily you remembered the time Eddie had taught you how to pick a lock (a great activity to do on a date) and you managed to open the door, stuffing the boy's body in there and immediately closing it to prevent any unwanted intrusion. You were nervous because it wasn't 100% sure that he had gotten out of Vecna's control and maybe when he woke up, he was going to kill you, but you still decided to stay at a safe distance, where he couldn't see you, but you could see him. You had never been more exhausted in your life, but you still forced yourself to stay awake, aware of all the dangers around you. You stole a soda off the shelves (not like anyone would notice) and downed it almost in one gulp, hoping for the sugar to keep you on your toes.

You didn't know how long you sat there, staring at Eddie and humming songs under your breath, until he finally woke up, gasping in amazement. You wanted to throw yourself at him as soon as he woke up, but you forced yourself to wait a bit just to see his reaction. You noticed, for the first time in the two distorted versions of your boyfriend you'd seen, that he was afraid, and you took that as a good sign.

"What the fuck?" he asked himself, putting both hands on his chest to check that he was in one piece. But as he felt his skin, he must have noticed how cold it was and also the missing heartbeat on his left side. It wasn't until he saw his nails and felt the strange shapes on his teeth that he realized something was wrong and he let out a cry "Jesus H. Christ!"

And you proved that this was indeed your Eddie.

"Eddie?" you asked, just in case, as you came out of hiding. You realized that you didn't carry any weapons with you, probably because you were too trusting or just too stupid.

“Y/N?” he called to you, with his bulging eyes and fearful voice. He knelt to try to reach you, but you were faster and threw yourself into his arms “You… what are you doing here? How did we get here? Are you okay?"

“By God, this is you”

“How is this really me?” he said, concerned and confused. You heard him let out a hiss and when you looked up you saw that a trickle of blood came out of his lower lip “Am I dead? I'm in hell? God sent me here and I'm a demon?” he asked, completely terrified, while with a finger he touched the elongated fang that had injured him. But almost as soon as his wound appeared, just like that he was healed.

“Hey, hey, you're not in hell” you whispered seeing how he had already started to hyperventilate “I need you to be calm, my love. Very calm," you asked, raising your head to leave a kiss on his forehead "I have to explain a couple of things, but first I need to know that you will take it easy, okay?"

“Mhm-mhm,” he hummed to you, unable to come up with a more elaborate response. You exhaled with a bit of concern, wondering where you should start.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well we were with Dustin and I went back to buy time and fought the…" he paused for a second, staring off into space as if he'd realized something. "I'm dead, right?"

"Eddie..."

“That's why I was in that loop of… I… they weren't dreams,” he muttered, seized with fear at what he had just discovered.

“Eddie” you repeated to get his attention. The last thing you wanted was for him to panic "Let me explain, okay?" you asked keeping calm, while your hand went up to his cheek. It was cold again, a feeling you would have to get used to.

He nodded gently, holding back tears, and you began your story, always keeping your hand somewhere on his body to give him some reassurance and comfort. You told him most of the details (omitting only the fact that he had physically hurt you) because you thought the boy deserved to know everything you had seen and everything that had happened since the day you thought he had died.

“Is Wayne okay?” he asked, even though you had already told him that his uncle was safe and sound, just heartbroken over the loss of his nephew.

“We're all doing relatively well, except for… huh… you know, Max,” you said, your voice cracking. You still suffered a little from what had happened, completely understanding Lucas when he cried silently for his love. Although now you didn't know if you could understand it, because you were in Eddie's lap while you stroked his hair and he was still sitting next to that hospital bed.

You felt his hand go up to your neck to remove the fabric of your sweater and when you realized what he was up to it was already too late to avoid it.

“Did I do this to you?” he asked, his voice trembling, as he looked at the two reddish spots that still had a little blood on them. You didn't even want to imagine the look on his face when he saw the scratches on your arms, which he probably didn't remember either. He described that time as a kind of “dream” where you don't know if things are really happening or not. It was confusing and weird for him and you didn't want to make him feel any worse so you took his hand away from you almost immediately.

“No, Eddie. Do not worry about it. It's nothing, I promise."

"This sucks," he whispered, feeling tears prick the corners of his eyes.

"Hey…" you called out to him, feeling bad from the sad look on his face. Again you put your hand on one of his cheeks and forced him to look at you “I know this isn't the best, but at least we managed to free you from that thing's control, huh? We can go home”

“Of course not,” he exclaimed quickly.

“And why not?”

“I still feel him. It's like... if he was always behind me, on the back of my neck, stalking me all the time. When he was checking me out it was like I was just blinded or covered by some sheet,” he said, in a worried whisper. For him all this was also very blurred "He's not going to stop and if I leave the only thing we'll achieve is that... well, he can't kill me, but he'll take control of me again or I don't know" Eddie ran both hands over his face, with desperation “And I don't want to hurt you. Neither you nor anyone”

“And what do you suggest? Stay here and continue helping him?” you asked in an irritated tone, hoping he understood how stupid that sounded, but Eddie's eyes snapped open and he looked at you as if you'd just said the keyword to solve a Sherlock Holmes-level mystery.

"Yes," he murmured, almost happily. You had a totally confused expression “Don't you see it? We have an advantage, Y/N. Imagine this as a D&D campaign…”

“This is not a campaign, Edward”

“I said to imagine it” he scolded you “If you had an ally from the evil side but the evil one doesn't realize it that would be an advantage, wouldn't it?” the argument.

"What do you mean?"

“It's like those times you have a spy or a double agent or stuff. Like…” he thought of an example for a moment, until his face lit up again. “You remember Kas, right? the one who was seduced by his sword so that he…”

“Will kill Vecna,” you completed, beginning to put the pieces together. “So you want to continue this charade so you can destroy it from the inside?”

"Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?" he asked, with some hope. Even in the condition he was in he wanted to help and that made your eyes glaze over quickly.

“But I promised Henderson that I would take you back,” you sobbed. Eddie gently pulled you to his chest and you hugged him tightly, missing the warmth your hugs always had, but grateful to at least be able to.

"And I'll be back, sweetie," he whispered, holding you lovingly, "But you can't deny that this is... this can help us, we can't waste it."

"What if something bad happens to you?"

“What will happen to me? I'm going to die?" he said wryly, but instantly feeling the weight of his words "Damn, I can't believe I'm dead..."

“Does something hurt? Do you feel… different?” you asked, feeling a little curious, but mostly worried.

“Everyone feels the same. I think what makes me uncomfortable is like… knowing that I am, you know?” he exclaimed, sheepishly.

You were silent for a minute and you kept hugging him, still thinking about his suggestion. You loved Eddie with all your heart and you were willing to do anything for him, but keeping a cool head you knew that the best thing you could do was exactly what the boy had come up with. Maybe that way you'd tip the scales and have a better chance of beating Vecna.

"It's just that I love you so much, Eddie, and I don't want to lose you again," you ended up saying. The last few days had been the worst of your life, and now that you had the young man back, the fear that something might happen to him only grew more intense.

“Let me do this. You know it's for the best,” he asked as if he could read your mind and knew you didn't want to let him stay.

"But promise me nothing will happen to you" you whispered, looking up at him. 

"I can't make promises that I'm not sure I can keep"

"This yes," you said with determination. Your hand gripped the collar of his shirt and you went up to kiss him on the lips, taking him by surprise. "You have to fulfill this one, Eddie, do you understand me?" The boy looked at you, his eyes now bathed in reddish tones, and he smiled just a little "Please"

“Okay, I promise. Only for you” he exclaimed. You went back to his lips, but he stopped you with a hand "I can hurt you"

"You're not going to hurt me," you said confidently, leaning in again so you could capture him in a kiss. It was obvious that Eddie wanted to be twice as cautious now, but that didn't stop the contact from being quite enjoyable, and to your surprise, he didn't taste like blood, like you'd hoped he would. "How are we going to do this?"

“Just… pretend we didn't have this conversation and I'll take care of the rest. No one can know, that will only make things worse."

"What if Hopper or Nancy want to hurt you?"

"Do you think that trick with the demobats still works?" the suggested.

"We'd have to check it out" you exclaimed nervously, biting one of your fingers. He sat up a little just as far as he could turn to look out the window and then raised one of his hands in the direction of a demobat. The monster flew up and Eddie moved his hand in a few directions just to check that it mimicked all of his hand movements.

"No fucking way," he said, notably excited. At least he seemed happy about something "This is so metal"

"Are you literally at risk of being possessed by an entity from another dimension and is that what matters to you, Eddie?" you complained to him, but the truth was that hearing him say that had relaxed you a bit too. You pressed against his body harder, burying your face in his neck, and you stayed like that for a long time. You would swear you could fall asleep at the feeling of tranquility. You were exhausted and, although, in a very twisted way, you had Eddie again holding you to give you peace. You let yourself enjoy at least a fleeting moment of that feeling and when you felt Eddie's arms caress your back to get your attention, then you spoke again "So... then you'll stay”

"Apologize to Henderson for me," he murmured, visibly sad. You knew you couldn't convince him to change his mind “And be careful when you come back, okay? I still don't know very well how this power thing works, but I'll try not to let anything attack you."

"Okay," you nodded. Eddie wanted to kiss you again, but he didn't dare and instead helped you up so he could do the same. You wanted to mention something about what you'd seen of his parents, but it didn't seem right, especially since he'd been so tense at the vague mention of it a few minutes ago. You expected to be able to talk about everything, in due time "This is so horrible"

"What of everything?"

“Weeks ago it was just the two of us worried about your graduation and now… we have to plan a war and pay attention to every move we make” you sighed, feeling quite affected by the idea that you would never have a normal life again “I just wish I could give back time"

"You don't like me now?" he asked, feeling suddenly insecure.

“What are you talking about, Eddie? No, no, you… I like how you are, I'm serious. You're still my boy” you replied, hoping to reassure him, as you reached out to take his hand. His slightly long fingernails felt sharp, but it was nothing you couldn't handle “And yes, you look a bit different now and you're… a bit different now, but we'll find a way to get over it. I know, we have overcome worse things” you assured him. As a couple you had been through a lot, but as people too. It was a long road that you would still have to travel.

“I'll do my best, I know we're going to win, you just… have faith” he exclaimed, getting another nod from you. He leaned down a bit to kiss your forehead, still afraid of hurting you in some way. "And I love you too, you have no fucking idea" he confessed, on the verge of tears. Why were both of you suddenly so sentimental? Ah yes, you were under threat of world destruction “Thank you for coming to my rescue”

You gave him one last hug, still reluctant to leave, and when you looked at him you smiled kindly at him.

“You know that he could never leave you alone. Never” you replied, and it was nothing but the truth.

For Eddie Munson, you would be able to go to the end of the world without even hesitating.

TAG LIST: @sweetdayme4427 @smol-book-nerd @mulletboystan @hiccup005

[bylerfields]

the ask you answered about not seeing dominant mike is really interesting! i feel like a lot of people fight against a more dom will bc they assume people took “buff byers” and ran with it, ignoring characterization, but this take on it, will being the same will regardless of his looks and it fitting mike who’s just more gentle by nature makes so much sense.

thanks anon!!! waaah i’m glad someone else sees it like that, i feel on an island most of the time

the hc that mike goes back to being his gentle s1-2 self once he has nothing to be so wound up about might be the closest one to my heart, it’s really important to me! people always talk about going back and watching will in the show in defense against buff byers and pointing out how he’s just as soft, which i agree with obviously. he didn’t change in s4 because of his looks.

the way i look at it isn’t that will suddenly rose up to mike’s level and made them both balanced masc dudes in s4 - it’s that they started out on the same level and mike has gone out of his way to rise up past will, and he’ll eventually come back down when he settles into his identity. idk if that makes sense.

kinda sidenote mike character study but this is also why it’s funny to me how his brattiest most bottomy moments are showcased during s3, because it’s also the season where he’s conforming the most. the dichotomy is fun to watch, and while i don’t think this dynamic stays put when he grows up, it says a lot about mike i think. the whole “will isn’t a good partner for mike then if you think he’s characterized like that” claim is interesting to me bc its

1) so limiting and (dare i say) so sex focused, like you think they wouldn’t be able to figure it out at all if they wanted different things in bed? 10+ years of close friendship? will’s head over heels for mike. not the idea he has of him (even the painting even the knight stuff etc etc etc - i think he’s right about mike and the show is obv telling us this. my point is that, it’s a s5 plot point. it’s not informing every aspect of their dynamic like most assume). and again, i simply have trouble believing will’s desires would be so concrete when this is mike, it’s not a fantasy it’s his best friend who’s also gay and comes with his own baggage. which leads me to point two

2) it’s ignorant of any potential depth mike has. there’s the argument that will’s needs and traits are ignored when people write a more subby mike. i think more often than not, mike’s areas of depth, esp areas where he wouldn’t be as compatible to will, are cherry picked out. and i don’t think this is too far fetched to think because of how many have said they see him as just a love interest for their favorite character. there are for sure aspects of mike wiiiiidely accepted that are fanon and people don’t even realize bc it just fits will so perfectly. and tbh! fanon is fun au’s are fun so idc! but let’s call it what it is i guess and not be the canon validity police for other things.

i’m also incredibly bored of the idea that “leader” is a masculine role.

tldr; will’s more dominant side doesn’t require him to become more aggressive than he is to power over mike, bc a mike who’s accepted himself, settled, regulated, and with will doesn’t need his power taken away. he’s just chilling 💞

thanks for the ask sooo sorry for the essay answer <3

[mrprettywhenhecries]

all that glitters [b.h]

✧ a stranger things/bioshock au ✧

one. | a fated encounter

Billy Hargrove ✘ Win Lewis (OC)

✧ Inspired by @b1tchy3lf's Not a Bang, But a Whimper series ✧

☞ w.c. 2.8k words ☞ warning(s). canon x oc pairing, f!oc, mention of plastic surgery, flirting, incredibly niche crossover lol, not much this chapter honestly ☞ a/n: I've been obsessed with Steph's nabbaw series since she told me the premise and I couldn't help imagining Win in the Bioshock universe. So when she asked demanded I write it and gave me the prompt for the plot how could I say no?

[ masterlist ] [ win lewis bio ]

Rapture, 1955–

When young Rapture newcomer, Win Lewis loses her job, she thinks her luck’s taken a turn for the worse, until a new employment opportunity brings her and diver, Billy Hargrove, together. With plasmid use on the rise, the two formulate a plan to get rich selling stolen ADAM on the downlow. However, every up has it’s down and when the young couple’s scam gets discovered, they must fight to escape the underwater city before it can become their downfall.

Rapture.

Rapture was supposed to be a dream come true.  A city under water, a technological marvel, a haven for those with ambition.

No limitations, no restrictions.  If you worked hard enough, you could achieve anything your heart desired.  The true American dream.

Having lived there for several months now, Win was starting to have her doubts about all that, but it certainly was beautiful.

“Win, dear, are you working or gawking?” 

Joyce Byers’ cheery voice snapped her from her reverie and she gave a jump, turning away from the large window that looked out into the gorgeous shifting blue of the bottom of the ocean, a school of colourful fish swimming by.

“Sorry, Mrs. Byers,” Win murmured, smoothing her dress and flashing an apologetic grin.

“If you can’t pay attention out on the sales’ floor, I’ll have to put you in the back,” Joyce warned, though her smile never faltered and Win had to fight not to roll her eyes as the woman turned away to see to something else.

Win let out a sigh and went back to stocking the racks with the newest arrival of dresses, letting her fingers linger over the silky fabric and wondering what they’d look like on her.  Discreetly checking one of the price tags, she let out a hiss.  There was no way she could afford any of them.

She’d come to Rapture with her father, a scientist recruited to work with the renowned geneticist, Bridgid Tenenbaum, and while it sounded prestigious, he was merely a research assistant with a meager salary.  Their home in Rapture was modest, but nothing like he’d made it sound when he told her about the job.  It didn’t feel much different from their life on the surface, except here it seemed everyone looked down their noses at everyone else.  The only real thing Win had going for her was her looks, which in Rapture was important.  The way some people went around getting surgery every other week without a second thought made her shiver.

She looked at the dresses on the rack.  If she had something like that to wear, maybe she’d finally be able to get that singing gig at the Kashmir.  They’d said she was a dime and had the chops, but to come back when she looked the part.

If she could just slip one of the dresses into her bag…

She’d nicked smaller things before and hadn’t been caught, mostly jewelry, or anything small and easily concealed.  She’d never taken anything that big before.  She chewed her lip and formulated a plan.

As her shift came to an end, Win slipped into the back room where she’d stowed one of the dresses.  She quickly pulled it from the hanger and was in the midst of shoving it into her bag when the door opened and she froze.

“What are you doing?” 

Win didn’t need to turn around to know who had entered, recognizing Carol Perkin’s voice and the way she smacked her gum — very unladylike.

“Nothing,” Win replied as casually as she could.  “Just getting my things to clock out.”

Slipping her bag onto her shoulders and clutching the strap tightly to her side, she turned around and tried not to wince at the knowing look on her coworker’s smug face.

“Looked to me like you were putting a dress in your bag,” she said, raising her eyebrows as she placed her hands on her hips.

Knowing she’d been caught, Win licked her lips, thinking quickly.  She knew Carol had taken things too, but she’d looked the other way, never ratting the other woman out.  She wasn’t a snitch.

“Look,” she began, shifting her weight, “we both know you’ve nicked things, Carol.  So why don’t you keep your mouth shut and I’ll do the same.”

Carol studied her for a moment, as if thinking it over before a wicked smile crossed her pinched features.  

“You can’t prove that,” she said, reaching for the telephone on the wall, her eyes never leaving Win’s as she brought the receiver to her ear. “But I can, and I think Mrs. Byers would be pleased to know we’ve caught our shop lifter.  She might even give me a raise.”

Win’s stomach dropped as the other woman punched in the number to Joyce’s office, gleefully ratting her out.  Though they were supposedly friends, it was in name only.  She should have known Carol would have jumped at any excuse to snub her. 

Now all she could do was wait helplessly as their boss arrived with a peacekeeper to escort her out.

Joyce stood by the door, arms crossed over her chest, a disappointed look on her face.  “I wouldn’t have expected this from you, Winrey,” she said as the peacekeeper—a large man with a thick mustache and a permanent frown etched on his bluff face—searched her bag, pulling the glittery dress from its confines and holding it aloft.

Mrs. Byers shook her head, her expression tightening.  “You were a decent employee,” she murmured while Carol grinned smugly, slipping away to spread the news of Win’s disgrace, no doubt.  

“I hope you know I can no longer employ you,” Joyce continued, tutting to herself.  “Get her out of my shop, officer,” she said, turning her attention to the peacekeeper, pinching the bridge of her nose as the man grabbed Win’s arm and hauled her forward.

“There’s no need for that!” Win hissed, attempting to jerk out of the man’s grasp.  

“No offense, but I gotta make sure you don’t make a break for it, doll,” he grumbled as they neared the door to the front.

“Please,” Win pleaded, shooting him an earnest look.  “I swear I won’t run.  Just—just let me leave with a little dignity?” 

She glanced at the badge on his chest, reading his name.

“Please, Hopper.”

The peacekeeper looked at her before sighing and releasing her arm.  “Alright kid, don’t make me regret this.”

Win nodded, silently thanking him and held her head high as they talked side by side through the store to the entrance.  She could feel curious eyes on her as she made her walk of shame, but she carefully avoided them.

As soon as they were out of the store, she let out a long breath, deflating slightly and Hopper glanced at her from the corner of his eye.  “You ever steal before, Miss—?”

“No,” Win lied, keeping her eyes ahead.  “Lewis,” she added, answering his unspoken question.

Hopper snorted doubtfully and Win couldn’t help but turn to gape at him, surprised at his bluntness.  He merely grinned bemusedly at her, reaching into his breast pocket to retrieve a brass cigarette case, taking one for himself before offering her one.

“Where d’yeh live, kid?” he asked, snapping his fingers to light her cigarette for her and Win stared at the flame that danced above his finger tips.  Taking a pull from the cigarette til the cherry burned bright, she blew the smoke out and told him her address.

“What, gotta walk me all the way home?” she asked, a little petulantly and the peacekeeper chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s right.  You tellin’ me you don’t like the pleasure of my company?” he joked, shaking the flame away after lighting his own smoke.

Win shrugged.  She supposed it could be worse, at least Hopper seemed like a decent fellow, not like some of the peepers who took their job too seriously, letting the power of their position go to their heads.

“You know, you’re lucky old lady Byers ain’t pressin’ charges after that stunt you pulled,” he mused.  

“Yeah, lucky,” Win muttered, bringing the cigarette to her lips.  “Still need a new job though.”

Hopper glanced at her as they stopped at the transportation hub, waiting for the bathysphere door to unlock and swing open.

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before stealing,” he pointed out, nudging her inside the submersible.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten caught,” Win muttered.

Silence fell as they traveled down a level, Rapture sprawling out before them through the porthole, the lights of the neon advertisements on the sides of buildings flashing by.  An Andrews Sisters’ song played softly through the speakers before the familiar grinding of metal signaled they’d arrived at the next station.

“You handy at all?” Hopper asked suddenly as they neared her and her father’s apartment and Win frowned.

“What?”

Hopper turned to look at her, dropping the butt of his spent cigarette to the ground and snubbing it out with his boot.

“Maintenance is always looking for people,” he said, hiking his trousers up.  “Seems like there’s more leaks sprung every day.  Usually they only employ men, but if you’re handy and mention I sent you, they might consider it.”

Win peered at the man, studying him shrewdly.  “Why would you help me?” she asked and the peacekeeper shrugged uncomfortably, clearing his throat.

“I dunno, kid,” he said, his voice a little gruff.  “Just don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, alright?”

Win nodded slowly, digging her keycard from her bag.  “Thanks…” she murmured, still unsure what to make of the man.

“Yeah, sure.  Just keep out of trouble, okay?  Keep your nose clean,” Hopper said, tilting his hat to her before lumbering away.  

Win watched him go before unlocking her door and stepping inside.  There were definitely worse peacekeepers.  She’d gotten lucky.

—

When her father had returned from his shift, Win didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d lost her job, determined to find something else before letting him know, to soften the blow, and the next day she took Hopper’s advice and traveled down to the engineering sector in Hephaestus to inquire about a job.

Win had traversed most of Rapture, but she’d never been this far down before and she tried not to gape at the massive machinery that flanked her as her shoes clicked across the metallic floor that gave way to glass as she entered a sealed off passageway that snaked along the ocean floor.  Men in coveralls and diving suits passed her, giving her strange looks, but she ignored them, walking a little faster.

It turned out Hopper was right.  Though the man she’d spoken to—Ed something or other—was skeptical at first, as soon as she brought up Hop’s name he seemed to change his tune.

“You know how to sew?” he asked as he led her through a winding labyrinth of machinery filled rooms, steam leaking from vents and puddles of water here and there.  

“Uh, yes,” she answered, distracted by the amount of leaks there seemed to be down there.

“Good,” Ed said, grabbing the smallest uniform he could find from a rack next to a long row of lockers.  “We need someone to repair the diver’s suits whenever they wear out and to keep the tools and parts room organized and inventoried,” he explained, thrusting the coveralls into her hands.

“Doesn’t sound too hard,” Win murmured, watching some of the workers slip past to get into their lockers.

“Good.  You go get changed and I’ll show you to your station,” Ed said, nodding to a changing room.  “Don’t wanna get your nice clothes ruined.”

Once she’d been shown her duties, Win set about familiarizing herself with the storage room which was to be her office, as it were.  A row of diving suits that needed mending hung from a rack near a desk with a sewing machine, while along the rest of the walls were rows of tools and spare parts in differing states of disarray.

“Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me,” she murmured, running her fingers along one of the dusty shelves.  At least down here she wouldn’t have to put up with snooty high society types looking down their surgically altered noses at her.

“You the new girl?”

A voice at the door made her jump and Win quickly spun around to face the man who’d spoken.

“Uh, yeah,” she replied, sucking in a breath as her gaze settled on one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen, leaning in the doorway.

His caramel blonde hair was slicked back in a messy wave, a few strands out of place against her forehead, and he wore a grin that was framed by a neat mustache and thin close cropped goatee that lined his sharp jawline.  Blue eyes like ocean waves watched her from beneath a cocked eyebrow sporting a fierce split, sparkling with amusement as her gaze traveled down his broad shoulders and smooth chest, shown off quite nicely by the stained tank top he wore, the bottom half of a diving suit hanging loose around his waist.

A tattoo of a laughing skull, a lit cigarette hanging from its jaw adorned his right bicep and a single golden pendant hung round his neck, resting against his sternum.

The man chuckled and Win quickly tore her eyes away, her face warming when she realized she’d been staring, and quite obviously so.

“What, uhm, what can I do for you?” she asked, clearing her throat as he stepped closer, his own eyes roaming over her form appreciatively.

“My suit needs patching,” he said, unzipping it further and stepping out of it.  “Think you could take a look at it for me, doll?” he asked, holding it out for her to take.

“I suppose,” Win snapped, though her lips curled slightly.  “Where’s the leak?” she asked, glad to have something else to focus on, though she could still feel his eyes on her.

“Right here,” he said, showing her a small tear in the arm.  

“That’s not too bad,” she mused, reaching across her desk to grab a needle and thread.  “I can mend this while you wait, if you want,” she offered, threading the needle.

The man shrugged and leaned against her desk.  “Got nothing better to do,” he drawled, watching her.  “So,” he said after a moment, “you got a name to go with that pretty face?” 

Win nearly stabbed her finger with the needle as she pushed it through the thick oiled fabric.  “Winrey.  Winrey Lewis, Win for short,” she answered, hoping he hadn’t noticed her near mishap.  

“Win,” he mused, as if savouring her name, and she looked up at him.  “I like that,” he said, his low voice sending a shiver through her.

“And do I get the pleasure of your name?” she asked expectantly, a hint of sarcasm tinging her voice and his grin grew wider.

“Since you asked so nicely,” he teased.  “William Hargrove, but you can call me Billy,” he answered, holding out his hand.

“Billy,” Win repeated, taking his outstretched hand to shake.  “Glad to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” he drawled, voice like honey, winking as he brought the back of her hand to his lips.

“Charmer,” Win huffed, her cheeks practically burning.

Billy shrugged, reluctantly letting go of her hand.  “I’ve been called worse.”

“I’m sure you have,” Win muttered, returning her focus to his suit.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I suppose.”

Billy leaned back, pulling a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket.  “What brings a pretty little thing like you all the way down here?” he asked, placing a cigarette between his lips, the scent of cloves filling the small room as he lit it.

“You want the honest answer?” Win asked, glancing up at him, catching him staring and he nodded.

“If you feel like telling it.”

She swallowed, contemplating. “I got fired from my last job,” she finally answered honestly and Billy’s eyebrows rose, a sarcastic whistle leaving his lips.

“No shit?  What for?”

“Got caught stealing,” Win answered, shrugging, and Billy barked a laugh.

“You’re a bit of a bad girl, huh Winnie?” he drawled, though he sounded almost impressed.

“Maybe I am,” Win replied evenly, her eyes flicking to his defiantly and he sucked his teeth, ashing his cigarette in the glass ashtray on the desk.

“I think you’ll do just fine down here,” he said and Win couldn’t help the strange feeling of pride that seeped through her chest at his words.

She merely grinned in response, however, tying off the thread and snipping the excess as she finished sewing up his suit.  “All done,” she said, tossing it back to him.

Billy studied her handiwork and let out a sigh.  “Guess that means I better get back to it.”  Shoving his boots back into the oversized suit, he pulled it up, slipping his arms into the gloved sleeves.  “You doing anything after work?” he asked, lingering by the door.  

“No, not really,” she answered slowly, biting her lip.

Her answer seemed to please him.  “Come for a drink with me?” he offered.

Under that lidded blue eyed gaze, Win could hardly say no, and her answer earned her a roguish flash of white teeth that made her glad she was sitting, lest her knees give out.

“Good, see you then, doll.”  With a wink he slipped back out the door, leaving Win alone with her thoughts and her burning cheeks.

Maybe this job wouldn’t be so bad after all.

☞ taglist. @heartbreak-sandwich @afestivelegend @alwaysstuckinsecondgear @super-unpredictable98 @elliethesuperfruitlover @cherrycolasteve

[erikiara80]

ST analysis/S5 theories Part II: Will and El parallels

EDIT :  I posted this analysis months ago. I’ve found so much more. Some things I didn’t considered when I watched S4 for the first time. This was just the beginning : )

In Part I I talked about the parallels between Will and Henry Creel, and one of them is that they both have powers.

This conclusion is not based on my personal taste or hope for a Will centric S5 tho, but on the themes of the story, how it’s structured and his character’s journey.

1. The story is telling us that Will Byers has powers: it’s part of his journey, his coming of age, realizing that he’s not a mistake or just the poor kid who was kidnapped by a monster. He’ll be the key to defeat the evil that made him suffer so much, he’ll save his friends and the boy he loves, and become a confident, talented young man.

Will’s a sweet kid, a little artist who gets bullied at school and has an awful father who calls him slurs. This is material for a good story, even without the supernatural element. But the whole S1 is about saving Will from the Upside Down, S2 is about saving him from the Mind Flayer’s possession, and in S3-4 he realises he’s connected to the MF (Henry) and can feel his presence and thoughts. That means that the supernatural is an important part of his story. This is what makes him different from the other kids, except one (El). He’s the only one who’s directly affected by the supernatural powers of the Upside Down from the beginning of the series. And in S4 we met Henry Creel, another sensitive boy who liked drawing and has many parallels with Will. The perfect way to prove how love can make the difference. That even when you’ve suffered greatly, having people who love you and support you makes the difference. It makes you stronger, it protects you. So you can choose kindness, instead of causing more suffering. Henry was alone, didn’t have a loving family, he felt deeply misunderstood, was tortured by Brenner and so he became a killer.

Of course, the message could also be that even without supernatural powers a brave, kind person can defeat the evil with their selflessness and big heart. Like the Hobbits in LOTR. Will could have no powers at all and still be able to defeat Henry. I guess it could make sense. I just think that at this point, with the Upside Down ready to invade our reality, Eleven’s powers are not enough. She needs help. And let’s not forget that in D&D Vecna is a dark wizard, and Will is Will the Wise, the wizard/cleric of the party. They say it in S1, S2, and S3. I don’t know, it would be strange if it didn’t mean anything, right? 

Also, stories always have some a surprise in the last chapters/seasons. We already know about Will’s connection to Henry. Nothing new. But him having powers would be the biggest plot twist of the story that would change it forever. And now that Will and the reason the Upside Down is stuck on the day he went missing have been confirmed by the Duffers as the main focus of S5, I’m sure we won’t be disappointed. 

I would love it, if the powers Will has are what Vecna or the MF want to build a new world. Or more like to make our world habitable for the MF and its creatures. I used to say Will has a sort of power of creation, like Bastian in The Neverending Story. But since ST is sci-fi, maybe I should say... terraforming? Lol. Or maybe the power to help the MF to connect every creature of our world. We’ll see. There are many options.

So, along with the huge parallels with Henry, there is another dynamic that makes me thinks it makes sense that Will too has powers. The dynamic and parallels with Eleven that we’ve seen since episode one. They are the only two main characters who are deeply connected to the UD and powers, and who feel different and a mistake.

1)   Will is in the title of the first episode, and the title of ep 2 is about El. They are equally important. In fact, when he mysteriously disappears, his friends meet her, the mysterious girl with powers. 

2)   El and Will interact for the first time through El’s powers. First, she channels him, then she sees him in the void and tries to reassure him. And we still don’t know how she recognized him in that photo! Probably all the people with powers are connected to each other and to the Upside Down.

3)   It seems that El dies in the classroom. Same happens to Will in the UD. 

4) The writers want us to see how their stories are connected, even visually

5)   Throughout the series, Will and El have barely interacted, despite the fact that El saved him, that Joyce cares very much about her and is also close to Hopper. It could seem that the writers don’t care about this dynamic. But imo it’s quite the opposite. They’ve kept them apart because their dynamic IS important. Will and El are the two protagonists with powers, the Luke and Leia of Stranger Things. Only, in this story it’s Will/Luke the one who realizes later he has powers, too. 

Even when they could show them together, the writers didn’t. In 2x07 El sees in the void that something bad happened to Will, but we don’t see him, only her scared face. And when in 2x08 she goes to see him in his room, he’s unconscious.

5)   The only time they’re both with their friends is in S3, and in that season the group of friends is a mess, because of Mike. He can’t function when they’re both with him. Will and El are even in love with the same boy! Their stories couldn’t be more intertwined. In S5 I’m sure the situation with Mike will be the first they’ll resolve.

6)  And then in S4, the beginning of the end, after keeping them apart for seasons, what happens? Will and Eleven become siblings and we finally see their bond and that they deeply care about each other. Ok, there’s still that little problem with Mike, but Will’s already proved how selfless he is when he lied about the painting and pushed Mike to tell El he loves her, to save her life. And I think the weird love confession just showed El and Mike that it wasn’t what El needs.

I love these siblings. Together they’ll save the world

There are so many things to say about these two amazing characters. I’m so excited to see them in action in S5. But of course, stories can be told in many ways and even the best analysis can miss important details. So maybe I missed important things and S5 will have completely different surprises. No problem at all! For example, nobody could predict the introduction of Henry Creel, who’s also One, who’s also Vecna, the villain that’s been there since day one. We heard the ticking of a clock since the first time Eleven saw the Demogorgon in the void, we heard a clock when Will was taken, when Hopper was in the tunnels in S2, and when Billy was taken by the Mind Flayer in S3. But we didn’t know what those sounds meant. It was such an amazing surprise!

2.   S5 SPOILERS.  These interviews. I would be very surprised if Will Byers was just a normal kid who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we’ll see! 

Also, an interview with the Duffer Brothers:

Q: How significant is it that the Upside Down has been frozen in time from the day that Will got taken? 

A: Very significant. We don’t actually resolve that this season (S4), but it’s a huge part of S5.

And an interview with Noah Schnapp, who plays Will:

“I think they’re setting it up very well for what needs to happen in season 5. I’m excited. I’m interested to see how they tie it all in and explain why was Will the first victim and just tie it in back to season 1.”

I edited this part after learning some important info on D&D Vecna. I talk more about it in Part III

3. Why Will was sidelined in S3 and S4, if he is so important 

Many people, including me, were disappointed that after the spectacular S1 and S2, Will was sidelined for two seasons. I mean, he does have an arc in S3-4 but we were used to see him as the main focus along with El. In S3 he wants to keep playing D&D and spending time with Mike and the party. That’s what makes him happy. But he feels like Mike is abandoning him. And in S4 he has some wonderful scenes that I love and make the last part of his journey more  beautiful. Plus, the connection to Vecna is back! Hint of Will’s big role in S5.

But why, if Will was the target since S1, Vecna ignored him in S3, took Billy instead and only attacked El? Why in S4 Vecna mentioned all the things El did to fight him (closing the gate in S2 etc), when Will was important too? He was the one, while still possessed, who told them to close the gate.

Imo, the reason is that in S3 El was the only threat. Vecna knew that Will couldn’t use his powers for whatever reason, and he needed to steal El’s powers first to be able to open his own gates, and then reclaim Will (Will being central in S5).

 And in S4 Will wasn’t even in Hawkins so... Yeah, in S5 Vecna could tell Will that he waited. That he took El’s powers so he could open bigger gates and finally take Will wherever he was. So far, that part of the plan worked! Also, now Will can feel Vecna's thoughts again. Maybe their connection is even stronger and harder to fight with those huge gates. 

4. In conclusion

Will and Eleven have been suspiciously kept apart for most of the series, despite their clear connection. And now we know that Will has also many similarities with another powerful person, Henry. The actor who plays Henry said that the their characters have history, Will can feel what Vecna feels even tho he’s not part of the hive mind anymore. Plus, the neck tingle. Narratively speaking, I think it’s obvious that there’ll be some big reveals about him in S5. They even sent him to California at the end of S3, so he wouldn’t feel Vecna’s thoughts. But now he’s back. Time for an epic coming of age, Will. 

[literaryslave]

My favourite Will's arc, which I hope will be repeated in season 5, is mid season 3 after the destruction of castle byers when he was super distant and bitchy, very independent and tough towards his friends. It was so different and I liked seeing him standing up for himself and his feelings. I hope next season not only he becomes an important character who will influence the plot, but also will show more diverse character and stand up for himself. I hope he will fight back, take care of himself and stop sacrificing himself and his feelings for the sake of others. Please, let it be Will's arc next season 🤌🏼

[byersfanclub]

people love to just ignore or deny the fact that stranger things is an ensemble cast where every character is practically a main character with different characters getting more screen time and more of their story explored in different episodes and seasons than other characters. Like yes, el is a huge part of the story and will is also a huge part of the story, they are the two most important characters I think most people could agree on that considering el and will are the reason the entire show starts but to completely disregard other characters as just as important to the plot or that they should kill off more characters cause “drama” is insane to me. the duffers have stated themselves that stranger things isn’t game of thrones. they’ve had ideas to kill off beloved characters but come back and change that idea because they realize how important they are and killing them off would almost come off as shock factor than anything else (biggest reason why I don’t think they’ll kill of steve, he was already supposed to die) I think this is why it’s a good thing they tend to kill off 1. unlikeable characters (billy) or 2. characters that haven’t been around since the beginning (if im not wrong, robin is the only character brought into a season that didn’t get killed off like bob or billy and decided to kill eddie off instead of robin because eddie’s death is going to have more impact on the story than if they killed off robin) 

reddit bros who think they’ll kill off will or mike simply cannot understand how important both will and mike are to not just the entire story but to EACH OTHERS stories.  deaths in stranger things 99% of the time are important to plot. the only meaningless “big” death I can even think of is alexei. hopper’s “death” is important. barb’s death is important. bob’s death is important. billy’s death is important. brenner’s death is important. eddie’s death is important. max’s “death” is important. 

if any characters next season are on the chopping block my honest guesses would be dr. owens and lonnie byers (vecna not included cause it’s obvious he’s gonna be taken the fuck out) I genuinely can’t see any other of the other’s being killed off. MAYBE murray in some grand hero scene to save everyone else, but even then I'm not so sure. 

either way, this is one of the reasons I love stranger things so much compared to a lot of other ensemble cast shows that love to just kill, kill, kill their cast and add in characters... just to kill them and add more. let’s stop treating st like mainstream shows, considering the duffers never intended/thought st would ever become what it is today. they aren’t going to follow the mainstream. 

[post-modern-prometheus]

thinking about a fic where el and will are switched like will's the one that grew up in the lab and el is the one who gets taken by the demogorgon and just... the differences in their dynamics with mike. will wouldn't know anything about the world so it's not weird for him to like mike. but mike struggles w that and, at first, he rejects him. but then will sacrifices himself for them and instead of "goodbye mike" it's "i'm sorry mike" bc even tho baby gay mike tried to explain why boys cant like boys, it fell flat and at the end of his spluttering, he doesnt even sound like he believes it. but will knows smth shifted here. enter s2 and max. mike's like sure she's cool. el's possessed. and here is where hes pressured into feeling like theres smth more between them than there is. and el's like bro im literally the mind flayer rn but even ik this is not it. he's able to get thru to her in the shed, but it's really thru a display of friendship. the reunion between him and will is... intense... and hes not really sure what hes feeling but the relief is too overwhelming that he doesnt care ab displaying these messy feelings in front of everyone. at the snowball, lumax dances and el witnesses dustin be turned down, so she gets mike off his sad little ass to go dance w him. he spots will and slips away. he leads him to a small spot under the bleachers and a song that isnt ab a stalker comes on. they dance and, in their own private moment, share a kiss. NOW S3 is cool bc the conflict between mike and will is actually ab mike's reservations ab being open ab their relationship and mike explaining that hey. this is the 80s. also max and el still become besties and it's great. but then the byers move away and season 4 was like really bad so if i go on then honestly i will turn it into a roadtrip movie on the sbpg end like they will actually have a plot and mike will come out to el bc hes been lying to her and shes like okay dummy i'll always love and accept u. lets go break my brother out of a military lab bc thats what this plot deserved. ACTUALLY el gets a lesbian realization plotline in s4 bc i think the two of them growing and learning about themselves together is so important to me. like they were each other's first friends and they used to do everything together and they were growing apart bc they were scared to lose the other so they pushed the other away. like el has a secret gf in lenora.

[girlwholovesturtles]

So it’s been confirmed that at least one person is going to die by the end of this season and tonight is the last time I can give theories before the show is out.

So here goes:

Will’s not going to die. They spent the first two seasons trying to save him, I just don’t think they’d let the Upside Down kill him after all this time.

El is too major of a character for them to kill. Her love story with Mike has spanned all four seasons and is the driving force for too much of the plot. I don’t believe they would kill her.

For the same reason, I don’t think they would kill Mike either. Mike will also say he loves El and he will of course mean it.

Max and Lucas’ relationship has been very important to this season and, in spite the fact that seasons do sometimes end somewhat bitter sweet, the seasons overall tend to end on an optimistic note more often then not. So I’m pretty confident they’ll both live and become an item again by the end of the season.

The first episode or two takes time to establish that Robin has a crush on Vickie and it’s hinted the she might also be gay. I’m an optimistic fool, so I want to believe the season will end with Vickie slipping Robin her phone number or something like that, which is why Robin cannot will not die.

Joyce Byers will not die on the other side of the world, away from her children. I refuse to believe the writers will do that. Furthermore, Hopper isn’t going to die because if he does end up dying then the whole side plot that was their story would have been for nothing. Joyce and Hopper are definitely making it home and with any luck, they’re going to finally get together once they do.

These are all the characters I firmly believe won’t die this season. It really just feels too unlikely they will die given how important their stories are.

However, as for the others:

As I understand it, Gaten Matarazzo is apparently going to be going back to working on some stage play, which could be evidence that he will be leaving the show. Though this could also not mean anything, he could just have a smaller role next season or the next season might just not be in the works yet. If he does die, I feel like it will be a moment of self sacrifice, rather then Vecna using his depression powers on him. Because in spite everything, Dustin is confident and clearly loves himself. It’ll be a shame to see him go, if he does die.

The fact that the marketing team or whoever is hyping up Steve so much and joking about “we’d never let anything happen to Steve” really doesn’t convince me that Steve is safe. I can totally see Steve running in to save the day and dying in the process. I also can’t help but think about the fact that Steve was and still is worried about what he’s going to do with his future and I’m not confident the writers are going to give him something that fills that void as much as they are going to kill him to make him a hero. If he does die it’ll be to save Nancy or Dustin. Nancy is the obvious choice, because they’ve been playing up how the two clearly still have feelings for each other but I think that Steve running in to save Dustin would be the ultimate big brother moment. Also, the idea of Steve dying and Eddie taking up the mantle as the big brother of the Party feels right, but I also hate it.

Nancy is currently in Vecna’s trance. I do believe that she will have the trance lifted, which is heavily implied by the scene of Eddie playing his guitar in the Upside Down, but Nancy’s guilt over Barb’s death is very strong and has eaten away at her for four years now. I just worry that they might not be able to save her from her own self loathing. If she does die, it’ll be to Vecna. Though at the moment I don’t really believe she will die, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s possible.

Eddie is another character that I’m not sure about. Fans already love him and it would be a damn shame to kill him so soon but I’m also struggling to think of how a character like Eddie could stay in this story in future seasons. Eddie and the Hell Fire Club has been accused of murder, ritualistic sacrifice, and devil worship. Even if he does survive Vecna and the Upside Down, this man is going to be chased out of his home town by an angry mob at this point. If I’m being completely honest, if Eddie dies I think it’ll be at the hand of the jock, Jason. And while I hate the idea of Eddie dying, if he were to die in that way, there would be something to be said about him surviving the Upside Down but dying at the hand of the civilized world and a socially accepted man.

I would be sad to see Murray die, though I do believe it could happen, they are trapped between the Russian government and a Demogoron at this point. I will say, with their claims of “a major character will die” if it turns out to be Murray, I’m gonna call foul on that one. Sure, Murray is important but I don’t tend to think of him as much more then a B plot character. I’m sorry but it’s true.

Jonathan has not done a whole lot this season, in truth I really wish they’d have done more with him then a odd pot joke here and there but it feels like he’s fallen to the wayside this season. I don’t know if I think the story is aiming towards killing him but I don’t think it’s off the table. I will say, if Jonathan dies, then Nancy running back to Steve’s arms won’t be that surprising. Again, I don’t want that to happen but I can believe it could happen. Though the more I think about it, I think I’m convincing myself that Jonathan is safe… huh.

Anyways, those are my thoughts just a few hours shy of the end of the season.

[willel]

I know you don't care about ships and im not tryna make you care but logically that's part of a characters storyline and intertwined with the plot so how do you think about the final season while ignoring something smack dab in the middle of the storyline it's the worst with byler/mileven because I'm most interested in their ending and Mike is RIGHT THERE. I feel like completely ignoring the possibility of either or neither being endgame means ignoring so many possibilities

I don't know. It just doesn't matter to me. Will gets a boyfriend? Good for him. Will doesn't get a boyfriend? Good for him! I can see positives in both directions. I don't think it's the end of the world if he doesn't end up with his first love. It's more important to me that his feelings and identity are validated for his own sake rather than for romance.

The same for El. Do I care if she and Mike break up? No. Do I care if they stay together? Still no. The show has given me plenty of stuff to ponder and think about regarding her character. Plenty of other things to root for that isn't about her 14 year old romance.

Back after season 2, I was kinda Jopper but I wasn't like "IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW." Despite that, I was insistent that the Hoppers and Byers would become one big happy family with or without Joyce and Hopper getting together. Them getting together didn't actually matter that much to me. The Byers and the Hoppers growing so close that they were basically family did.

Like I said, I can see why people really focus on the romantic aspect of things and find it difficult to separate from the rest of the character. It's why shipping wars exist. It's why people immediately assume you must hate one of the characters in a love triangle since you don't want them to end up with the "focus" of the love triangle. The romance IS the character for some people.

It might be why you find it difficult to understand me. And I mean, I am a weirdo when it comes to relationships and romance. (I guess I shouldn't call myself weird, but I know I am in an extreme minority. Lol)

Someone else might think, "The only way for this character to be happy and for their personal plot to be resolved is if they end up with this one person in their life. Anything else would be terrible writing and completely ruin all these characters."

I think, "Ending up with that character might make the character happy. BUT, I can also imagine a future where that doesn't happen and this character's story isn't completely and utterly destroyed."

Let's look at the love triangle from my point of view. I'M NOT SAYING THIS WILL HAPPEN, I'm not saying I WANT it to happen. I'm literally about to write a random paragraph off the cuff of something I'd probably be fine with, but maybe not other people.

Will comes out to Joyce/Jonathan. Obviously gets accepted. Gains another pillar of stability to be his true self no matter what the future holds. Is able to tell El everything regarding his feelings toward Mike, would probably be a good idea to do that since that's his sister and she's currently in a relationship with him. Haven't really figured out how a conversation like that would go. Will is able to tell Mike. Maybe Mike hadn't considered that before and the confession falls a little flat, as expected. But no hatred there. Maybe even awkward support? I dunno. Will feels like a weight is lifted off his shoulders. Probably still closeted to most everyone else except his family and now Mike. Despite the lukewarm response or semi-rejection, Will doesn't crumble into a pile of despair and sorrow because of all his other personal developments (like coming out to Joyce/Jonathan first and whatever trials Vecna has for him that he overcomes) Mike's fears come true El doesn't "need" him, or at least, not romantically like he wanted? I dunno. Maybe they break up, but there are no hard feelings and Mike is just as supportive as before without the romantic undertones. Regardless of her love life, El needs the support of everyone, including Mike, to defeat the big bad. She loves them all. She protects them all. She found her people at last. She will protect them and they will protect her as best they can.

Hm, I guess that's a "No one ends up with anyone" ending. Not surprising since I came to that conclusion a little while ago as well.

AGAIN, NOT A PREDICTION. NOT A WANT. NOT A NEED. Just a random thought when prompted.

Well anon, to summarize all this garbly gook, what I'm trying to say is, I just find way more interest in practically everything else than the the conclusion of a love story.

I don't think Will's arc has to be resolved with a romantic relationship. Same for El. Is it something their characters want? Sure. Is it something their characters NEED to survive and have a happy future? Is not having this romance going to cripple them for life and ruin all their growth? No, I don't think so. I don't want their story arcs to be narrowed down to "this relationship will make or break their entire story", ya dig?

This romance stuff, after all, is supposed to be a subplot, not the main plot. If this were a show that really dedicated itself to digging in the weeds and focusing primarily on the romance, then yeah. It would be pretty of silly of me to be this way.

It'd be like me watching Titanic and thinking "This Rose and Jack relationship is nice and all, but I'm not really focused on their romance. I care more about why they overstuffed the Titanic with people making escape for everyone impossible. Also, the class dynamics presented here really interest me. I'd like to have a more in depth history on the architecture inside this fine ship!"

But Stranger Things is a sci-fi/supernatural/horror show first and foremost. It is (supposed to be) character driven so of course some romance comes along with that but... I don't think I'm supposed to care too much or believe that the romantic aspects of these characters is integral to their characters at all.

[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.

[aurelion-cerulean]

Time Skip Placement

Or why I think the time skip will happen at the end of Ep1, but IMO should be after Ep2.

This is long, FYI.

Before we get to the placement lets talk the length of the skip:

It has been established that there will be a time skip to account for the fact that the actors can’t reasonably pretend to be 15 year olds. The time skip will try to catch up to their ages, and I think it’s going to reflect Noah. He’s 17 now and will be 18 in October. Will Byers is 15 rn. In order to better catch up to his age (as he is the most reasonable to match), there will be a two year time skip. I know that there is a possibility of a 3 year time skip but this doesn’t work thematically.

They can't become "adults" yet. At least not the main young teen group. Or specifically Will Byers.  It's a coming of age story, and lowkey that sort of applies they aren't "adults." There is a whole aspect of the fact that you can still have a coming of age story after 18, but for the sake of this let's say they're trying to keep it teen coming of age, aka genre convention.

This means that Season 5 will skip 2 years. Will Byers is 17. Either this takes place in spring of 1989 right before the 3 year mark. OR it will be in 1988, during the Halloween season again. Why 1988 around Halloween? Call back to S2 time frame AND S1 with the fact that Will Byers got captured on Nov 6. Usually the plot takes a week to complete, so S5 starts on Oct.31st, it could end on Nov.6th and we come full circle.

Someone could say that 1989 Halloween-Nov.6th. I see this argument, but I still think that Will should be under 18, for the genre convention. Before they graduate HS, and have to go off into the real world (this whole show is a metaphor after all). So I say the time skip will be 2 years. Will Byers will be 17.

Option 1: Time Skip Happens During Ep 1

Honestly when it comes to this option one of the biggest questions that comes with it is, what was so important that had to be addressed in the first bit of this episode that 4x9 did not address. And then we have to ask ourselves why. We’ve already had everyone get back together, roughly. We have already seen the big bad. So then WHAT must be addressed here before we get the time skip?

Either we get a weird military prologue here where we get to see what they are doing and then SKIP. Or we get some wrap ups of some specific things and then SKIP. This would mainly be, what happened to Max? And, El and Mike’s relationship. However if they were going to address both of these in the first half of episode 1, why leave 4x9 the way that it was left? There really is no point. 

Skipping half way though the episode makes no sense, because there are too many why’s. Why didn’t you just address that in 4x9 if you were going to establish it and then essentially skip over it?

Option 2: Time Skip Before Ep 1

Note: This won't happen. The Creators wanted to film 4 & 5 back to back. There is too much that they have to address before the skip, and while they could do it all as flashbacks. That's not the best story telling method. However, for the sake of this, I am addressing it and the why's it can't happen.

This opens us up to a lot of questions. If Mike and El are still together, we missed their talk which is low-key important. If they are broken up, we missed their talk which is low-key important. Maybe it happened on mutual terms? Who knows, but that talk itself, after being built up through a multitude of scenes (and to be interrupted) can’t be skipped over.

The next big issue is, what was Vecna just doing in this time that El was trying to power up? Healing? Of course some hand waving could be like they’ve been fighting this whole time but they haven’t been able to fight him specifically. So it’s just been carnage for a long time, right? So how in the world are the parents reacting? Did we already have them join? Or are we assuming that they still know absolutely nothing and they're living in this potential quarantine zone not asking what their children have been doing for two years? 

Lastly, Max. IDK if they’ll just hand wave away the fact that she’d be in a coma for two years. But most coma patients who recently came to consciousness can’t get up, start running, and chasing monsters. Maybe they’ll keep her in a coma for the whole season, or the ending part will mirror S2 a bit with them having to protect her. Maybe Max is helping fight Vecna in Vecna’s head. Regardless, she has to be addressed, and I’m just saying but every time we THINK someone is dead they show up again pretty quick. 

Of course the Max element could parallel the saving Will from S1, and thus she really isn’t back until the end, but… something tells me this is not what is going to be happening. It’s a gut feeling. I feel like Max will be more like Hppper and come back quickly.

Option 3: Time Skip Happens After Ep 1

I’m not going to say that this is a bad idea. We would be able to establish any and all the conversations that need to be had before the time skip: El and Mike, parents, and Max. We could get the establishment of what the military plans to do. We also could get an explanation on why Vecna doesn’t just end the world (shout out to Dustin and Nancy who will figure this out). 

It would mirror Ep1 of S1, in the case that the majority of the plot really starts to take place after the time skip. 

The single episode could wrap up all the loose ends and give us a reason, but it might not have the time to address the other underlying conflicts. Namely this is: Lucas and Mike, Mike and Will, El’s headspace, Jonathan and Nancy, and Dustin’s headspace. Do I think that they could jam all of this into a 1hr episode too? Maybe? Let’s give them all 5min scenes; that’s 25min. Lets say that the ElxMike, Parents, and Max plots have only 5 min for reasons (which is really short for what needs to be said). That’s a total of 40min. So we have 5 min for the military involvement. 5 min for Nancy and Dustin figuring things out for Vecna needing to heal and the time they have.

If we are operating that the episode is 60min, then that is 50 min spent on all of these things, and not long either. There isn’t a lot of time to address any of these things. Maybe the episode is 70 min and I’m wrong, and they won’t be cutting the episodes substantially shorter. We’d have 20 min of leeway. It could work, especially since those additional side plots do not have to be long. 

lol maybe I’m expecting too much for before the time skip. 

Option 4: Time Skip Happens After Ep 2

TBH nothing much changes between option 3 and option 4, other than the fact that we get more time. This is also my choice: a mini arc before the final arc.

I really think the military showing up to address El will need to be a long scene. I can’t see it being less than 10 min. There is just so much here. They need to be show to find El. They have to have a fight with or for El. They need to be convinced that she is not the problem. Will they believe this? Likely not. OR El will have to run away and be hidden. This is likely (and would replicate S1), the question does then become where. I don’t have an answer for this, but I do think that it would be important to address this before the time skip, because they were literally right on El’s tail days before the time skip at the end of 4x9. 

Secondly the parents. I can’t see them getting to know what the children have been up to in the last few years as less than 10 min. In fact I see this taking a particular amount of time. The kids having to convince their parents to help actually could be a really good set up for the rest of the season (with them all having to come together). However having a sort of rallying together after the time skip could potentially be a bit strange, especially if there is a quarantine. Like wouldn’t their parents be asking a whole lot more questions?

I also wouldn’t be surprised in Dustin’s mother wanted to leave but Dustin was like we can’t. This doesn’t work after the time skip. Now this could be a big plot thing for the whole of S5, with them having to admit their issues to their parents, but still if their town is under quarantine, are the parents really just NOT asking questions? Are Joyce and Hopper really covering this whole time like, yeah nothing is wrong? This doesn’t have to be before the Time Skip. But if there are 2eps before the TimeSkip, this could be the basis of the plot of this 2ep minor arc.

El and Mike. This needs to happen and where it could be a quick thing, something tells me that it won’t be and we will see their reactions to the break up. This leads Mike to two potential conversations for Mike. One, he confronts Will about the painting and the fact that Will lied to him that the painting was commissioned by El. After Will so cleverly hid that he was in love with Mike, I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll just say it outright. This would cause tension between them because Will never lies to Mike (this would lead to Will talking to his mother and/or Jonathan) Two, Mike talking with his mother about why Will lied and his relationship with El. Do I think this could happen after the time skip? Yea, but if the Will talk happens here I have a feeling that Mike will need to decompress. Mike will have a lot of emotions he’d need to address. Or Mike just internalizes it for the next two years, and doesn’t address it. TBH that second option seems a lot like Mike lol.

Meanwhile El’s headspace in specific needs to be addressed. She’s angry and she’s distraught about Max. El would need to talk to someone about her powers and that she needs to get stronger faster, because she wants to save Max. This person probably will be Hopper. He would need to convince her that going too fast is going to burn her out, thus she needs to slow down — that she doesn’t have to race to grow up (important for themes). This specific idea doesn’t work after the time skip. If El is rushing around after a 2 year time skip, someone telling her “you can slow down” is just…No. Girl already took 2 years preparing. What do you mean she needs to slow down now that the final battle is here? No. The slowing down to grow up aspect could still work, but it's not as much of a metaphor with her powers lol.

This message only works before the time skip, which means we need to see El rushing and pushing herself before the time skip. This needs an establishment of at least a few quick scenes and then the talk with Hopper. She needs a good father figure who needs to tell her she doesn’t need to grow up so fast — or El talks with Joyce, which would lead Joyce to realizing what happened with Jonathan. I probably need to do a whole post about El’s arc, and how I see it in S5. 

Jonathan and Nancy need a talk. This won’t be an easy convo. We’ve been waiting for this talk for all of S4. AND we need to have it addressed what the two plan to do now that there is a rip in the sky. Are they going to college? No? This doesn’t have to be long, tbh, but them talking about their relationship actually might be, especially if Jonathan deflects. If there is a time skip, we have to assume that they will have talked about it. What’s the point in teasing it out as an issue between the two of them if the resolution won’t be shown to the audience? 

Dustin needs time to mourn. Point blank. Mike probably does too, because he was close to Eddie too.

Steve and Nancy need to talk about that bombshell that Steve put in Nancy’s lap before the end fight in S4. This will be an emotional talk, I think. Might not be addressed until after the skip (which is a lot of baggage), in which case Nancy might be avoiding Steve.

We need to find out what happened to Max. Otherwise why leave us with the empty space? I wouldn’t be surprised if El visits Mx in the hospital too. IMO if we have the two eps before the time skip, we’ll get Max waking up.

Dustin and Nancy need a little time to figure out how much time they might have before Vecna gets back. I wouldn’t be surprised if they can’t figure it out, and El is like I need to get stronger now, faster. Then they find something. This allows the audience to know: okay this is why the two year time skip makes sense? Okay?

Lucas and Mike need to talk. I’m going to have a whole post about this. TLDR however, is that these two NEED to talk. Mike was drifting away from Lucas. Mike thought Lucas was changing. The two need to talk about their friendship BEFORE the time skip in order to help establish the ending (if it is about coming together in the end). Lucas is so afraid of losing Mike. Mike on the flip side probably has no clue about this because he’s so focused on Will and El. Mr. Oblivious needs it slapped in his face, and while they could have the talk after the Time Skip, I personally think it needs to be had before. We need to have it established to Mike that he’s been a shit friend, so that he can work on it in the Time Skip. When we see them two years later we can see how much work he has put into being a good friend, for real this time — and a better person. Also we can see how he respects whatever new interests that Lucas has. Having it the first talk between the two after the time skip could work, but I personally think it works better before. 

Now do I think that any and all of this HAS to be before the time skip? No. Do I think that at some point that most of these things will be addressed? Yes. I just think that they work better before the time skip. Roughly the same things happen in Option 3 and 4, but the difference is that Option 4 gives them a bit more time to breathe than pushing them all into one episode. 

This would make the first two episodes a whole mini arc. If you think that this covers too much and that it could be addressed over the course of the other 6 episodes, here are other things that have to happen.

I could go on. And like this is just knowing what we know as possibilities of what will be in the season. 

[africanspirit-lady]

okay, so thoughts on stranger things vol. 2

SPOILERS (you have been warned)

~~~brenner~~~

i've seen some people say that the writers were trying to redeem brenner, but i have to disagree. even before he died, we were meant to see that el's and brenner's relationship was complicated. he had a lot of love for el but obviously, he had a really distorted and screwed up view of it. when he (finally) dies, you can see el's expression isn't really one of devastation, like with max. it's almost like a moment of freedom for her. in any case, matthew modine and millie did a phenomenal job

~~jason~~

this is just a small note, but i love the detail of how tired and blodshot jason's eyes were. like, you can see the progression of a breakdown. on another note, but the way his death was quick and brutal?? i know he's not the main "villain" but wow

~~jopper~~

beautiful as always, no notes (but also murray is a whole mood)

~~lumax~~

i love their relationship. i love that it's based on genuine friendship and care for one another. all of their scenes were so nice, and i LOVED the notepad conversation. my one gripe, however, is that lucas was forced to pick between two hobbies he loved. i know that jason was the driving force for lucas to pick "being a nerd," and that in the 80s you're only allowed to have one hobby, but why couldn't he play basketball AND dnd?

also, sadie sink still deserves an award because all her scenes were spot on. however, i honestly would've had her character fully die. idk how i feel about el reviving her. although it would be interesting to see how she adjusts (physically i don't see how she can fully bounce back from this), but lord knows girlie has some TRAUMA

~~stancy and jancy~~

i never hated the idea of stancy becoming a thing again, as long as it was done properly. i thought it was cute how steve told her about his dream bc that really would be something a white, middle-upper class, american guy would have as a goal. but, then when he was rambling in the upside-down it felt..weird. like it was trying to make stancy happen, but it obviously wasn't going to happen? (also i've seen some people put full blame on nancy as if steve wasn't professing his affection towards a person he KNOWS has a bf) i love jancy too, i was happy when they reunited. i was kind of frustrated when jonathan lied about his acceptance letter, but i kind of get it bc he didn't want nancy to give up her dream bc of him

~~robin and vickie~~

idk, i kind of have hope for them. it felt kind of trope-y with the "person sees their love interest kiss someone else" and i wish there could have been more with them, y'know?

~~eddie~~

i get it, it's a trope, i respect the trope. it felt kind of out of place, though. i *guess* if you squint, eddie did save his friends by buying them time. idk, his death didn't feel earned, if ya know what i mean. however, we did get a great emotional performance from gaten (also if dustin doesn't go to a hospital...)

~~mileven~~

regardless on whether or not you ship them, i liked that mike was able to communicate his feelings. a lot of people bash on him, but he's fourteen. he's learning. at that age you don't have it all figured out, you're going to make mistakes. him feeling like he wasn't going to be important to el anymore is a pretty normal insecurity to have. i think him telling el he loved her felt pretty expected (but i have more thoughts on this). mike and el reuniting felt pretty natural, and i know that they were becoming distant, in a sense, but it'd be weird for the show to not acknowledge the care they still have for each other, with everything they've been through

~~will~~

yep, here it is. the big ol' elephant. listen, i was also rooting for byler (and will being a plot device for mileven felt like a cop out?) i will say, i didn't ever expect mike to let go of el just like that, but at the very least they could've given will a proper coming out scene. i love the moment between the byers bros, but will deserved better. like, season-3-robin-scene better. him having internal turmoil makes sense and i love the way noah portrays it, but it doesn't come to a resolution. it just does a great disservice to queer fans. like i know you have to try to be authentic to the time period, but it just felt...lazy. but i will say, however, that a lot of byler fans had built exceedingly high expectations for the ship just from the analyzations of things that maybe weren't there? i'm not saying it's bad, bc they were fun to read and they make for great headcanons and fanfics. but maybe that's what partially created this level of disappointment? but, there is one more season so who knows?

~~the ending~~

i actually loved how everything related to the upside down connected. having vecna being "the one" all along ties it up very nicely. plus, i like how the ending sets up sort of an "end of the world" scenario. kind of like in animorphs where there's been a secret evil for so long and now that secret is out and coming at full force.

vol.2 overall felt pretty predictable. usually the duffers are good at subverting expectations, but idk...maybe it's also because we're seeing part two in isolation. maybe if we watched the whole season in full, it would feel different.

honestly, there are things that the duffers (+ writers) do well, but there are things that they have huge blindspots to. i know balancing the 80s tropes and the nuanced 2022 perspective is tricky, but i feel like they lean into tropes more so than they should. i think back in 2016 when the show premiered and representation wasn't something that people necessarily looked for, it was "fine." but now that we're becoming more aware, i think it's time to find the nuance. characters like billy and brenner are beautifully complex, so why can't we have that in terms of queer and poc characters? i'm not saying that they always have to have happy endings, because that's also flat representation (but that's a different conversation). but at least don't treat them like side plotlines.

(also, can we get a count on how many times people cried in this volume alone? bc whew chile the kiddos were bringing the emotion)

anyway, thoughts?

(edit: i was reminded of that phenomenal, yet heart wrenching scene with caleb, sadie and millie. like i said, give them all emmys)

[witchsickness]

"billy’s idea of affection is, not an active display of tenderness, but the absence of violence" This fucked me up so much oh my god I'm so mad that they killed him off like that

for years i’ve been trying to make some sense of billy’s place within the show and my conclusion is that billy’s abusive background should’ve uhhh never been introduced! by that i mean:

ST is, at its core, just a fun, scifi-anchored show. my personal opinion on the writers and their abilities or lack thereof notwithstanding, ST is a nostalgic and uncomplicated show, where social issues like abuse and homophobia seem dissonant against the monsters and the fireworks. with that in mind, billy’s entire character is rendered obsolete and out of place in the sense that, other than the very glossed-over abuse the byers’ siblings have been subjected to in the past, billy is the only ST character whose issues actually have roots in reality. every other character’s plotline is interwoven with the scifi aspect of the show, so any issues they’re dealing with (ptsd, loss, physical injuries) stem from, and are immediately caused by, the main plot of the show.

billy is different from everyone else in the sense that he doesn’t need monsters to become a tragedy. he’s living in his own hell before even moving to america’s monster hotspot, and that sets him apart from everyone else. you could argue max is in the same boat, but we never actually witness max feeling unsafe inside her own house the way billy does. max is immediately admitted into the plot, and is given an important role from the get-go, while billy’s plotline in his introductory season is limited to his rivalry with steve, that never goes anywhere, and. his abusive household. his monsters are human, and that, contextually, makes his storyline redundant, since it never affects the main plot.

ideally, a show of this magnitude should be able to effectively address and deal with all the issues its characters face, whether caused by the stuff they go through (it’s inconceivable how none of the characters display any sign of trauma after years. YEARS of violence and living in a constant state of alert. but that’s asking for too much lmao) or, especially, whether the issues were written into the character to begin with! i highly doubt dacre has the agency to actually push for a backstory, so i can only assume his ideas were greenlit, either because the duffers couldn’t care less, or because they were only too happy to let someone else do their job.

the thing is. the second you introduce real issues into your show, the game changes. it’s not totally okay to gloss over monster-induced ptsd if you care about your characters, but it’s not criminal, either. glossing over actual abuse, though. uh. that’s bad, scoob. introducing a plotline like this, with no apparent reason whatsoever, since it never actually affects the plot of the show or any of the other characters, means undertaking a responsibility you must be prepared to see through later on. abuse isn’t something to be swept under the carpet like everything else in this show, because it has an impact in real life.

idk if the duffers are delusional in their abilities to deal with such a huge, complex issue, or simply ignorant of how insulting it is to mention billy’s abuse once and then completely forget about it, or use it as an excuse to turn the abused and queer-coded teenager into a sacrificial lamb. in any case, the reality is that their way of handling billy’s character is careless at best and vastly disrespectful at worst. billy’s abusive background renders his death that much more tragic, and that much more wasteful.

maybe everyone would’ve been better off if billy had remained the two-dimensional bully the duffers intended him to be, and the show went on being the flippant, superficial 80s anthem it was always destined to be.

[chloelucia13]

It’s Nice to Have a Friend

Pairing: Steve Harrington x platonic!Henderson!reader, Jonathan Byers x reader (mentioned)

Prompt: After Jonathan had abandoned you so he could go god-knows-where with Nancy, you found comfort in the boy who had also been ditched and a beautiful friendship began to bloom.

Warnings: this is some nice comforting fluff, maybe a tiny bit of angst, some language, pretty chill

A/N: So this is a sort of deleted scene that I couldn’t fit into the Stranger Things rewrite, but I felt like it was still important to the character development with the reader and Steve, so I’m deciding to post it separately. You don’t need to read the whole rewrite in order to understand the plot (it’s based in season 2, so if you haven’t watched it then there will be some spoilers), but I would appreciate it a lot if you did read my rewrite! As always, requests and tag lists and my inbox are all open!

“Y/N, hey!” a voice shouted to your right, prompting you to turn your head and look at who was speaking.

Steve rushed over to you, his backpack hanging on one shoulder and a couple of crinkled papers held in his hand.

You furrowed your brows slightly in confusion, stopping at the side of the hallway and waiting for him to catch up. “Hey, Steve,” you drawled out, slightly confused by his presence.

Steve had sat at the bleachers with you that day after both of you had been ditched. Steve was ditched by Nancy and you by Jonathan, both of whom were now attached at the hip.

It was nice to talk to Steve about everything that was going on and, frankly, it was nice just to have someone there. You two seemed to have more in common than you once thought, and though some of that common ground was the fact that you both were abandoned by the person you loved, it was still something.

However, you thought that lunch was it. It was surprising that Steve Harrington, the former King of Hawkins himself, wanted to spend time with you.

"What’s your next class?” he asked, nervously shifting from one foot to the next. 

“It’s, uh, English. Why?” You tugged on the strap of your backpack.

“I was wondering if you maybe wanted to help me with something?”

A look of hesitation washed across your face for a moment. “I don’t know, Steve. I really can’t miss class-”

“Please? I just need help on this essay for my college applications and I have no one else woh can help me. I just... Please?”

You let out a sigh, glancing around as you mulled it over in your mind. “I... I guess. Should we just go to the library and rent out a study room?”

He let out a sigh of relief, all of the tension leaving his shoulders. “Thank you so much. And I already did.”

“Oh, so you were planning on me saying yes?” You squinted at him and tilted your head.

Panic crossed over his features. “No-no, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“Steve, I’m kidding. Chill out.” 

He let out a chuckle, nodding as the two of you began to walk to the library. His actions were clearly fueled by anxiety, with his shifting gaze and his hands constantly going in and out of his pockets.

“Why are you so nervous around me?” you asked, glancing up at him as the two of you stepped through the entryway to the library.

“What do you mean?” he scoffed. “I’m not nervous.”

You arched an eyebrow at his response, falling behind his step so he could lead you to the study room he reserved. “You’re fidgeting and you won’t look me in the eye. You weren’t acting like this earlier at lunch.”

He pushed the door open and waited for you to step inside before he also entered the room, closing the door behind him. A small sigh left his lips as he set the papers down on the table. “I don’t know, maybe... I guess I’m just not used to spending time with anyone other than Nancy. Especially when other people see me.”

You gave him a sympathetic look and nodded, sitting down at one of the chairs and taking the papers in your hand. “Well, there’s no need to be nervous around me. You know that. I’m not exactly some cool person that you have to act perfect around.”

Once again, he scoffed. “You are a cool person.”

You let out a laugh, shaking your head as you searched in your bag for a pen. “Come on, Steve. I’m already helping you with your essay, you don’t need to butter me up.”

He sat in the chair next to you. “But you are cool. You don’t give a fuck what people think about you, and I think that’s pretty damn cool.”

You sighed, beginning to scribble a few notes on the paper. “If only you knew, Steve.”

“What do you mean?”

“God, I care so much about what people think about me all the time. It’s exhausting.”

He was silent for a moment, watching you mark the paper as he thought. “Do you care about what other people think about you, or do you care what Jonathan thinks about you?”

You were about to argue with him, but once you realized that he was right, your mouth shut. Instead, you lifted your pen from the paper. “Did someone else edit this already? There’s pen all over it.”

He stiffened awkwardly in his chair, his lips pursing into a fine line. “Nancy was, uh... She was helping me out with it. Until, ya know, everything happened.”

You nodded slowly, slipping the cap on the pen before setting it down on the table. “But why are you having me check the draft that Nancy already checked?”

He let out a sigh, a hand combing through his hair as he stared at all of the markings on the paper. “I think Nancy wasn’t being honest with me about it. I thought that you would be more blunt about what you think about it.”

You searched his expression, leaning back in your chair and taking the papers in your hands. “You want me to be honest about it?”

He gave you a nod. “Please.”

A heavy breath fell past your lips. “Steve, it’s awful.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Geez, at least sugarcoat it a little!”

“You told me you wanted me to be honest!”

His mouth opened so he could retaliate, but no words came out. Instead, he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “What-What’s wrong with it?”

“It... It just seems very disingenuous. Shallow.”

“What’s shallow about it?”

“You wrote about a basketball game for one of your biggest struggles that you’ve overcome.”

“And then I said it was like how my Grandpa fought in the war! That’s genuine and powerful!”

You stared at him for a moment, completely at a loss for words. “At least you’re pretty, Steve.”

“Okay, fine. What should I have done instead?”

“Steve, we’ve fought literal monsters. There has to be more to talk about than a basketball game.”

“But I can’t write about that. Can you imagine how crazy they’ll think I am?”

“That’s just an example. We’ve gone through a lot this past year. There has to be something from that time that you can write about.”

He nodded, silently thinking over what had happened in the past 12 months. “Do you think that leaving your bad friends and becoming a better person is a good example of overcoming a struggle?”

You gave him a kind smile. “Absolutely.” You crumpled up the papers you had in your hands and tossed them in the trash can before pulling out a few clean pieces of looseleaf paper and sliding them over to him. “Let’s get an outline going. What made you realize that you should change?”

He thought for a moment, a sad look settling on his features. “Last year. I uh... I did something really mean to Nancy.”

Your head tilted in confusion. “What do you mean? What happened?”

He leaned back in his chair, his eyes flashing from left to right as if he was reading from a script, when in reality he was trying to find the right words to say. “After Nancy had ditched me for Jonathan, Tommy and Carol thought that it would be funny if I spray painted ‘Nancy the slut Wheeler’ on the marquee sign at the theater. So I did it.” He risked a glance over at you, noticing the look of disappointment on your face that you failed to disguise. “Nancy and Jonathan saw it, and it escalated.”

His words slowly sank in, and your eyes widened in realization after a few moments of silence. “That’s why you were all beat up? Because Jonathan fought you?”

Steve nodded, his lips pursing closed as he didn’t know what else to say.

“Well, I can’t say you didn’t deserve it.” Again, he nodded. You reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “But I can say that you’ve gotten a lot better. And ditching Tommy and Carol definitely helped a lot.”

“So should I write about that?”

It was your turn to nod, a kind smile on your face. “Absolutely. Should we get started?”

He mirrored your smile, leaning forward and pulling a pencil from his backpack. “Let’s do it.”

[paladinsbrainrot]

Analyzing The M!leven 'Kiss' in S3

Today I will be analyzing the M!leven 'kiss' at the end of season three, and explaining how incredibly awkward it is and how it is incredibly significant to the plot of the show- not in a positive way.

The """"kiss"""" (mega quotation marks, it's not even a kiss since Mike doesn't kiss back lol) is portrayed as something as in interaction from El's side only. Actually, most of the M!leven interactions are one-sided, but I'll get into that in another analysis.

So, let's begin. I'll be analyzing the scene line-by-line.

The scene begins as El packs some clothes, then comes across a teddy bear on the top shelf. Now, there's something familiar about this teddy bear. The thing is, this is actually Will's teddy bear! We first see the teddy bear in season one, episode two.

˰ Season One Chapter Two : The Weirdo on Maple Street x Season Two Chapter Eight : The Battle of Starcourt

The bear is the exact same! This is highly important for later, which I'll get into in a second.

Moving back to the supposed M!leven scene, El tries to reach the teddy bear and pull it off the shelf. She's unsuccessful, but tries to use her powers to move it down instead, which she is also unsuccessful at.

Finally, Mike appears near the doorway and says "They'll come back. I know they will."

He then proceeds to take the teddy bear out of the open closet for El.

Now, what I think is interesting is that the phrase Mike said can be interpreted many ways. For example, he can refer about his feelings for Eleven, which are not currently there. He's trying to force himself to be straight, when in reality he can't. He's just trying to make himself think he's straight. Thinking that his feelings for El will 'come back'.

El responds with "Thanks."

"You packed your walkie right?"

"Yes."

"Because you know I'm going to steal Cerebro from Dustin and call you so much you'll have to turn it off right?"

El smiles, then changes the subject. "Did you talk to your mom? About Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah, I got the okay. I'll be there. And I was thinking maybe you can come up here for Christmas. And Will too!"

Mike is SUPER quick to add Will to the conversation. If you rewatch the scene, it's almost as like he doesn't want to forget about Will again and ignore him, just like he did in the summer.

"You can come before or after Christmas or whatever Mrs.Byers wants, but I was thinking Christmas day would be super fun because we'd all have cool new presents to play with and uh- sorry uh that made me sound like a seven year old."

Okay, here's where I put on my detective fedora. Mike had been so distant from Will during the summer, and said that 'they weren't kids anymore'. Why is he just now 'becoming a kid again' and talking about presents and stuff? I thought they 'grew up'.

Maybe, he's trying to change. For Will. Maybe he realized that they were still kids, keep in mind that they're only 14. Maybe Mike is trying to make up for everything in the summer and relive his childhood.

'Seven' has also been a recurring number in the Stranger Things community. But there's one parallel in particular that caught my eye.

˰ Season Three Chapter Eight : The Battle of Starcourt x Season One Chapter One : The Vanishing of Will Byers

Interesting...

Anyways, moving on Eleven says "I like presents too."

"Yeah. Cool. Yeah. I like present too."

"Cool."

You can tell that their relationship is mega awkward. It's probably been like this from the three month time span of Starcourt to now.

El and Mike walk away, El with a look of regret on her face. Mike just confused.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember that day, at the cabin. You were talking to Max."

"Um, I don't think I follow."

Mike is completely confused. El is referring to the time when Mike mentioned that he loved her to Max. If that moment was significant to him (that he loved her) he would have remembered and it would have been stuck in his memory. But he doesn't love her, so it isn't important.

"You talked about your feelings. Your heart."

"Oh. Oh yeah. That. Man that was so long ago. Um, I don't know it was heat of the moment stuff and we were arguing."

Mike is looking at the floor the entire time. He finally remembered what he had said, and is trying to back track. He might not feel the same way anymore, and is trying to take back what he said.

If he said it's 'heat of the moment stuff' then maybe he never even meant what he said.

Mike continues. "And I don't really remember. What did I say exactly?"

Oh. So Mike doesn't actually remember LOL. The 'I love you' was clearly insignificant to him to the point that it's clearly cleared from his memory.

Then El steps forward, saying "Mike. I love you too."

PREPARE FOR THE MOST AWKWARD KISS OF THE SEASON.

I swear to god I was so uncomfortable in this scene. El kisses Mike while his eyes are completely open, and he doesn't kiss back.

Now, keep in mind WILL'S TEDDY BEAR IS RIGHT BETWEEN THEM and Mike is standing in front of an OPEN CLOSET.

Closets are significant to LGBTQ+ culture, as they are a reference to being secretive about your sexuality and hiding it from everyone.

Will's teddy bear is between them, which as I discussed earlier is highly important. The thing that is stuffed between M!leven, is Will. Meaning that Mike can't get through to El because he secretly loves Will instead.

Also, this is Mike's reaction to when El says she loves him compared to when Will says he wouldn't join another party.

If El was so important to him, wouldn't he be more happy that El confessed that she loved him more than Will saying he wouldn't join another party?

Also, literally look at Mike's face at the end. Definitely not the face of realization that he's in love with his best friend.

Now, lets talk about the music. The music in the background of the scene where El tells Mike she loved him, the soundtrack that plays is called 'The First I love You'. The only other time this song is played is when Robin comes out to Steve in the bathroom. If this isn't Mike's realization he's gay than I don't know what is.

[dolhouse]

DOLHOUSE.  amity ‘amma’ crellin from sharp objects put into the stranger things universe. written by aurora, 21 and she/her. (muse info below cut) main blog.

disclaimers: (1) in her canon, amma displays implied incestuous behaviors towards her half sister camille. i will never write out incest, and i have always interpreted the way she behaves as a longing for camille to like her, but not romantically or sexually. she cycles through her different facets that people normally like (ex: mama’s little amma, the amma she is with her friends, a sexual/seductive amma) (2) considering her age, the same as the party throughout the seasons, i will never smut or mention anything mildly nsfw on this blog. in her canon, amma acts sexually when she thinks she needs to in order to get what she wants. there’s also implied sexual content when she mentions her relationship with boys in general and how she lets them do the things they do to her so she can maintain control. i might mention these behaviors as they are important to her character, but never detailing what she does/what happens. (’the sex part’) (3) lastly, amma is a killer. she kills ann nash and natalie keene and mae, three young girls she had been friends with prior to their deaths. i will never excuse her actions or try to brush them under the rug, but at her core, amma is a traumatized little girl who has been victim to her mother’s abuse since she was young. i am not, or ever will be, saying it’s ‘okay’ to kill people, obviously, or excuse anything else. amma is cruel and claims to like violence as well as being a bully.

family history. (things your muse will know)

adora preaker is the matriarch of the wealthiest family in hawkins with a carefully crafted ‘southern belle’ image. she is also the owner of one of the town’s major source of profit, a large hog farm, and it gives her a kind of immunity to scandal. when she was a teenager, despite the societal norms, she had camille preaker and married alan crellin. now adora crellin, while the preaker name is still the name on her farm, she has her second daughter, marian crellin. marian is a sickly child, and dies when she and camille are both children and the two had been very close. after marian dies, camille is traumatized by the loss of her sister, and becomes further estranged from her mother, leading to her eventual departure from hawkins. while camille and marian had been relatively close and age, it is much later when she has amma crellin, leaving an age gap of nearly 20 years between the two in present day. amma is a sick child similarly to marian, and even as she grows older, she never quite grows out of her sickness. when amma is 15, camille returns to hawkins due to the rising story of missing children, ann nash, will byers, barbara holland and natalie keene, because of her job as a reporter for the newspaper.

family secrets. (things your muse will NOT know unless plotted)

adora was raised by an abusive mother and is suffering from those effects still.

adora killed marian, sickening her through years of poisoning as a result of munchausen by proxy syndrome. when marian dies, she does the same to amma and uses her as a replacement, but altering her dosage of poison so she doesn’t die.

amma killed ann nash and natalie keene because she was upset that they were taking her mother’s attention. and not only that they were taking her attention, they were not nice to her like amma is. they were wild little girls, and that broke amma and adora’s ‘agreement’ that there would be no more little girls. ann even bit adora, which led to amma’s obsession with taking out their teeth before she killed them. her friends jodes and kelsey helped her kill them.

amma’s involvement in the seasons.

s1: ann nash + natalie keene deaths, camille comes to write about them and the other kids that go missing. ann’s body has been found before camille arrives by a creek in the woods, natalie’s body is found later the day camille arrives in an alley. they both have missing teeth, pink painted nails (notably unlike them), and appear to have been strangled.

s2: soil samples are taken from bob nash’s (ann’s father) tires, john keene (natalie’s brother) is fired from his job at the preaker’s farm because of his reputation. camille writes an article about the murders which is discovered by amma and adora. while at a town celebration at the crellin’s house, a drunken bob starts a fight with john under the belief that he killed his sister and bob’s daughter.

s3: ann’s bike is found in the lagoon by preaker’s farm, and someone that works at the farm later identifies john keene as the one that put it there. a detective that camille had been in a romantic relationship with discovers that marian, camille’s half sister, had been poisoned by adora while investigating camille’s past. adora begins feeding the same medicine to amma under the pretense of a hangover cure. john keene is arrested by the police for the murder of ann and natalie. camille learns about her mother killing marian from a family friend, and also that marian’s body was cremated to avoid suspicion. with everything that she’s learned and knowing that amma is now sick, she goes to confront her mother. as adora begins to take amma upstairs, camille fakes sick so she will poison her instead. richard goes to confront adora with the police, and when he does he finds that his suspicions are true. amma and adora are hospitalized and adora is arrested, both for poisoning her daughters, marian, and for the murders of ann and natalie after plyers are found that match the marks on ann and natalie’s gums.

s4: amma and camille deal with the aftermath, and they live together in an apartment in hawkins. amma visits adora in jail, but she’s also growing and has made a new friend named mae who lives close by that seems to be a better influence on her than jodes and kelsey, the other two girls in her mean girl troupe. 

??: mae is found dead with painted nails, missing teeth, and having been strangled.

??: amma is arrested for the murders of ann, natalie, and mae after camille finds their teeth in the floor of amma’s dollhouse.

other tidbits.

tbd ✨