#trapped in the upsidedown

[your-bad-fanfic]

This came to me as an idea when I just finished watching Stranger Things. I just managed to get around to writing it out!

Summary: Billy's trapped in the upsidedown, not knowing exactly what "he himself" had done but was able to see a few glimpses somehow. Eddie on the other hand was dying. Dark crimson oozing out of his wounds while Dustin held him in his arms. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Billy aimlessly wandered about the Upsidedown, now knowing all of Hawkins and where everything was, he stopped for a moment. Something had just happened which caused the world to shift. But as he paused, he saw someone on the ground.

"Shit, shit, shit," he thought and ran towards them. Had something happened? How did they get here? Was that The Eddie Munson?

"Hey! Hey Man! Wake up!" He said, shaking the other. After a moment of not responding, Billy slapped the other across the face which caused Eddie to jolt and look around; his vision hazy. Billy jumped when Eddie jumped.

"Holy shit are you okay?!" Billy said, voice full of worry. He wasn't quite sure why he was worried but the assumption was not being alone with monsters didn't seem all too bad.

Eddie tried to answer but there was nothing there. A small whimper was made as he looked up a Billy.

"Fuck... Give me a minute and don't you dare close your god damn eyes," he barked out. The blond wasn't great with emotion but he knew that he needed to bandage the other up. Thankfully Billy had gotten there in time...

Billy pulled off his dirty and almost torn up leather jacket and then his shirt. It had some blood and dirt on it but that didn't matter right now. Quickly ripping it up into strips, he started wrapping up the injured man. Tightly binding and tying knots along the cuts quickly and soon Billy was done.

Eddie watched and let out a few groans of pain as Billy tightly wrapped his now torn up shirt around him. He watched as the blond threw the leather jacket back on and picked him up. Eddie clung onto Billy a little as he was carried, not knowing where they were going.

"Don't... Drop..." The brunette managed out and Billy nodded.

"I won't drop you. But we're going somewhere safe," he spoke gruffly to the "freak" in his arms. Billy walked off, making a mental note to pick up the strewn makeshift weapons later. He walked over to one of the RV's and kicked the door open. He stepped inside and set Eddie down on the bed in the back.

Inside the RV, there were a few things that Eddie noticed. First of all, the bed was quite comfortable. Next, the windows where all boarded shut with the curtains drawn on the inside as well as a few vents. Next, there was a few water bottles and snacks that Eddie didn't know where the hell Billy could have possibly gotten those. As the blond rummaged through a cabinet after barricading the door, a thought crossed his mind. How the hell is The Billy Hargrove still fucking alive?

Billy glanced over at Eddie, who looked a little confused and afraid. He walked back over with some medical supplies and dropped it on the bed. Next, he grabbed a bottle of water.

"You need to drink. Here, it's just water."

Why the fuck was Hargrove being... nice?

Eddie was just a freak and here was this popular sex magnet, well... ex-popular sex magnet, taking care of him.

Slowly, he nodded and let Billy help him drink. Slowly Eddie drank the water, which tasted like normal water and it was fine. After a moment, Billy pulled the water bottle back and looked across Eddie.

"I'm going to cut your shirt off." Billy stated without any permission or consent. He knew consent was sexy but at risk of bleeding out, not sexy enough. He began to cut off Eddie's shirt.

Eddie nodded a little at the statement and then his breath hitched from pain. Billy looked up instantly.

"Don't move!" He snapped, then going back to what he was doing. After this, he mumbled under his breath,"what I'd give for a cigarette.."

Eddie stayed still, letting himself be bandaged up. He made a few noises of pain here and there, most of them being noted by Billy but he didn't do much else. Soon enough, Billy was done stitching, cleaning, and wrapping Eddie up.

"Would you like some more water?" Billy finally asked.

"Up.. Then water.." He managed to whisper out and then made a face contorted in some pain. Slowly, Billy helped the other sit up, leaning against a wall with a pillow thrown behind him. The blond tilted the water bottle to the other's lips and helped him drink.

But, they both knew that when Eddie was healed up, they would both have a million questions for each other. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lemme know if y'all want a part two!

[eriochromatic]

Maybe the poison drips through

Succession 4x10 “With Open Eyes”

[bunnieswithknives]

hello! Quick question, my friend is writing a YHS FIC and they really want to get the characters accurate. Do you have any major personality details about YHS!Bunny and what their goals are? Of why they want to investigate and stuff like that?

Also, if you don’t mind: In the Mx. Sinister animatic, there was a scene with bunny and a bunch of written papers and we’re having trouble deciphering some of them. What does this one say?

Thanks in advance!!

Bunny is meant to be a character with schizophrenia, though I'm sure my portrayal isn't very accurate(partially just because I suck at staying in character lol) but this is nonetheless a central part of them!

Bunny's delusions and paranoia lead them to very frequently feel unsafe and isolated. Even when they aren't experiencing hallucinations, their negative symptoms mean they struggle to keep friends.

The disappearances caused a very sharp spike in their symptoms. Nova, previously being one of their few friends a suddenly withdrawing' and having 180 personality shift and was massive hit to their very slim social life and an even bigger hit to their paranoia. I'd say that was the moment when they went from a more passive paranoia to full blown red-string conspiracy, and obsessively taking pictures of everyone and everything (The polaroid camera is a result of one of their delusions, they are terrified of anything hosted digitally being tampered with and so the polaroid are loophole that they can use to assure themself of reality)

Bunny's main goal in life is to feel safe. Unfortunately for bunny, that's kind of unattainable in a town like that.

Especially in the current arc of having been kidnapped and tortured... yeah lets just say they aren't doing so well. Quite a few things they were paranoid about have been validated, they are in constant agony from their missing face chunk and they have developed multiple substance addictions from being force fed pills. Their safety is now totally and utterly out of their hands and I think its kind of broken them a little bit, they are so miserable and hopeless that its kind of wrapped back around. To put it simply they definitely have some Stockholm syndrome going on.

Fizzy takes care of them, Fizzy helps feed them, Fizzy makes sure they don't bleed to death after Chaos hurts them.

Chaos likes(?) their company, Chaos gives them happy pills, Chaos doesn't kill them.

In a very twisted way Fizzy and Chaos are all that they have, and the only people who still care about them.

As for the photo:

it doesn't say anything in particular, its meant to be incoherent nonsense but if I remember correctly its "No" "Yakuza?" "Could be" "Spies?" "Maybe"

[greenfiend]

Are we ready to have an honest discussion about Will and El’s dynamic and possible ending yet?

Two characters sharing a similar narrative in this story. How will things end for these two?

It hasn’t occurred to me until recently just how little we discuss these two.

Over the course of the show, the development of Will and El’s co-existence has less to do with their relationship but more to do with Will’s character arc.

In the beginning (seasons 1 and 2), Will is so hidden that El takes over. Will “hides” in the upside down, and is again hidden when he is possessed. El takes the spotlight in his place.

Then in season 3, Will is physically present but in the background. He’s the side character. El is the leader. They barely interact.

In season 4, Will is starting to come out of his shell. He’s still a side character, but he’s closer to being on an even playing field with El. He’s not in the background as often, and is actually seen conversing with El, and he even confronts her on her lies to Mike. Which is also foreshadowing his lies to Mike later on in the season.

I’m going to be quite frank: El and Will are not actually very close in canon. The “wonder twins” idea is beautiful but very fanon. These two had so many opportunities to grow closer, especially since they were separated from the others in California… but they just don’t? They both seem lonely and disconnected in the other’s presence. But yet, they are connected another way: El is Will’s saviour/protector. She is like his security blanket. I mean this literally (textually), and a sub-textually. Obviously she helps him while he’s trapped in the upside down and when he’s possessed- making her a textual, and literal saviour.

But… what do I mean by a sub-textual saviour? Well, she protects him from having to take the spotlight. He is able to hide behind her in many ways.

For one, she takes the brunt of the bullies in Lenora. Will is able to go around unnoticed even as a GNC guy that he is. Back home at Hawkins, he is, unfortunately, very visible to bullies. Visibly different, visibly gay. But in Lenora? Bullies are too distracted by the girl who’s different instead.

Now when it comes to Will’s love life… El also is protecting him in a sense. He desires Mike, romantically, sexually, and intimately. Due to the rampant homophobia that surrounds him, these desires scare him. El is a safe barrier from these desires. Will is also able to safely express himself through her.

If El weren’t in the picture, Will may have been more bold in expressing this side of himself to Mike. He may just let his feelings slip out more. Perhaps he’d let his eyes linger a tad longer, or he’d be tempted to be a bit more tactile with the boy he’s overflowing with affection for.

El shields Will from having to confront many aspects of himself. That’s the problem. Because of her protection, he isn’t able to challenge himself and grow. This is why whenever El saves the day, it never lasts. She merely puts a “bandaid” on the wound. But this wound will grow and fester if the source of the problem is not addressed.

El’s Possible Origin

This is the first time in the entire show that El is mentioned. The context of this sounds like they’re implying that El also “came from” the upsidedown; precisely where Will was at the time.

Now, I’m aware this is a fairly unpopular opinion, but I do believe El was created from Will in a supernatural sense. I suppose in a similar way to how Eve was created from Adam, minus any romantic undertones.

Our very first sighting of El is of her emerging from the forest, barefoot, in a hospital gown, with very little hair on her head, and a limited knowledge of the English language. Not unlike an infant child. Now, please don’t take this the wrong way… I’m not implying that everyone with limited language skills are babies, there are many possible reasons for it. But within this show, it is implied that her lack of language skills are due to her experiences within the lab, and lack of experiences outside of it.

I do have to ask though, why do the other “lab kids” we have seen have no obvious language difficulties? Unless… El actually was an “infant” in a way…

This quote is interesting for multiple reasons. One I’m focusing on here is the mention of life starting that particular day. Of course I’m not referring to Mike’s life starting that day- I’m talking about the person we are shown in this particular shot- El.

Now, I know what everyone is thinking: how does El have memories that predate this day then?

Well, what I’m arguing is that many of her memories could be an altered version of Will’s memories. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that his memories could have been transferred to El.

This “fake” script of the episode Papa tells us that Will recognized Brenner. There’s a history there! Will likely could not quite pinpoint how he recognized him.

It’s important to note that Will only vaguely recalls aspects of his childhood. There’s gaps. Just like there’s gaps in El’s memory as well.

El’s Possible Ending

I’ve always been surprised just how little people dig into El’s possible ending in the show. I feel like people are somewhat aware of this possibility but choose not to give it any further thought. Truth is- El doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere.

I need to remind everyone of this last shot in ST4. Yes yes the couples, we have heard it a million times already… but look where El is standing. She’s on the other side. She’s in the upsidedown. Where she initially came from. Now, I’m not saying she’ll end up in the current unpleasant upsidedown- she will likely live on in a peaceful version of it. An entirely new environment one that exists…

[In Will’s mind.]

I do think this is an important foreshadowing quote- but not in the way most people think. They won’t work together as twins- they will work together as one person. What I’m saying is…

They will combine. Just like what this hug visually foreshadows… El and Will will become one again.

I can honestly make a whole separate post regarding references made in ST to other media involving two characters being one. There’s a lot…

[kitasgloves]

Imagine, SAKUSA KIYOOMI, your husband for over a year, sees you relaxing on the couch watching videos on tiktok. He lovingly spies on you until he notices the types of videos popping up on your fyp. It's all filled with laughing babies & children, every video makes you laugh and smile endearingly. But Sakusa's blood went cold.

Oh no

He thinks. This is bad. He might be overreacting but there's no way he's going to let you develop baby fever. Nope, hell no. He's not prepared to have children. So, he orchestrates a plan.

While you were showering, you accidentally left your phone unlocked so Sakusa has access to your tiktok. To his horror, all your liked videos are sickingly cute babies and toddlers. He has to change your fyp. So he searches up the most absurd videos available and taps on every single one of them, hoping it would cleanse your fyp and prevent the baby fever from developing.

You didn't even suspect a thing after you exited the bathroom, your husband is on the bed, eyes buried in a book, overlooking how it's upsidedown. The next time Sakusa spies on you, he's relieved that your fyp isn't filled with cooing babies and children. However, what replaced those videos are thirst traps of people working out in the gym. Sakusa's blood boiled hot, especially when you were secretly liking the videos and even saving them into your bookmarks. The way you bite your lip to fight off a smile made his eye twitch.

Sakusa is aware what jealousy feels like, he thinks it's ridiculous but look at him now succumbing to it. He tries to sneakily change the content on your fyp again but this time your phone is locked. So, he grows distant, unintentionally being less touchy than he usually is. And you notice.

"Omi baby are you mad at me?"

You pout, he doesn't answer as he faces away from you on the bed. You couldn't sleep at night without his arms holding you. As you try to scoot closer and gently grab him, he firmly peels your hands away. You frown, but decided to give him some space. When you stopped persisting, Sakusa grew worried.

He turns around and sees you facing away, cuddling a pillow instead. He suddenly feels terrible. Sakusa quietly goes over to you and kisses your temple before wrapping his arms around you like he always does. Surprisingly, you were awake as you ditched the pillow and hugged him back.

"Sorry for ignoring you darling, I was being childish"

"Aw, it's alright Kiyoomi"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure!"

"Do you...do you want to start a family with me?"

You pull away to give him a bewildered look. You looked genuinely shocked.

"Huh? What?"

"Do...uh...do you want to have a baby with me?"

"Oh! Oh god no! I'm not ready for that responsibility yet, honey"

You smiled brightly and it makes Sakusa relieved. He decides to come clean to what he has done, all you did was laugh and wheeze at him and call him silly.

"You didn't like me getting baby fever?"

"[Name] I don't know how to take care a child"

"And you got jealous when I liked all those gym thirst traps?"

"I don't get the appeal of it. It's just people flexing their muscles while covered in sweat"

"Well, it's kinda hot for me"

Sakusa furrowed his eyebrows and pouts adorably at you.

"If that's what you're into, you could've told me. I wouldn't mind sending you a stupid video after a workout at the gym"

"OH MY GOD YES!"

You squealed. Sakusa scoffs but laughs at you. Since that day, he has made daily videos or "thirst traps" of him at the gym and send them to you. And you'd collect them like rocks and place them in a secret flashdrive for research purposes *wink* *wink*

Bonus: Sakusa asking Atsumu and Bokuto at the gym on how to make a thirst trap for you and he gets a full educational course about it. Day by day his videos get better and you just melt and gush at how fucking hot your husband is.

[kiame-sama]

Not gonna lie, Drider!Rook made me think about the story ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ and I can just picture him wanting to hunt Reader since he’s never encountered such an exotic and unique prey like a Human, as he’s vibrating from excitement about how his newest ‘Prey’ shall fair against him

He probably read stories about Humans in his youth and wondered before they went extinct, how they were able to survive without gills, scales, claws, wings, poison, etc or even without magic

Because Reader uses hidden traps and misleading tracks, Rook calls her ‘Mademoiselle Trickster’ (Mademoiselle is a title for an Unmarried Women in French) and felt his heart skip a beat seeing Reader use her intelligence, cunning and trickery to get the upper hand over him

Only he’s not going to eat or kill her, rather he just wants to feel the thrill of the hunt by chasing an endangered species (He has no intention to harm her)

But here’s a twist, the hunt is actually a common mating practice for his species of Drider (Or just his family) when it comes to finding a mate

There’s not really a lot of information about Rook’s family as he’s quite secretive about himself (Which I find ironic because he wants to know everything when it comes to his ‘Muses’)

(I know the shadows over his eyes don't make sense given the pose and the angle of the lighting, but I liked the way they looked all darkened and menacing, so I kept the eye shadows for my own aesthetic.)

(Rook waiting in his web on the Pomefiore ballroom ceiling. He does this to observe the other students and document their habits and will even do this web building around campus in heavy traffic areas/popular gathering spots to stalk others more effectively. Vil will often throw things at Rook if he sees the Drider has built yet another web on the Pomefiore ceiling. His dorm robes aren't well suited for the upsidedown life, but he makes due and uses magic to keep his favorite hat in place on his head.)

- Rook would absolutely love hunting the little Human Trickster if only to experience the thrill of The Hunt. He wouldn't dare harm a hair on his sweet Human's head, but he would absolutely love a back and forth of Hunter and Hunted with them just for fun. He may not tell the little Human it is just for fun, seeing as he wants an authentic experience and a good hunt. Once he eventually catches his Human- and he will catch them at some point- he will be practically bouncing from the thrill of it all and only then will he inform the terrified Human that this was a game and not an actual hunt. Were it an actual hunt, they would not have seen a single hair of the Drider before he struck.

- There is little as exhilarating to Rook than a hunt for prey that knows how to fight back and evade him. Any traps his Human sets, no matter how flimsy or obvious, will only thrill Rook becuase he loves the idea of being hunted by his own prey. To flip the tables on such a skilled Huntsman only makes the game more fun. There is nothing quite like the thrill of chasing down dangerous game and it certainly gets Rook's blood burning hot and pumping.

- As Rook is a Golden Huntsman Drider, he doesn't often participate in web-building in regards to hunting his prey. He will build webs for many reasons in many places, but rarely ever will he build a web to be used in an actual hunt. Huntsman are a spider species known for wandering, tracking down prey, and foraging when needed, Rook is no different and is a voracious predator when it comes to the true hunting and gathering of prey. Naturally, this does mean all of his family shares this drive to hunt. Hunting is ingrained in a Huntsman's DNA so naturally they will also hunt prospective mates.

- Like their spider counterparts, male Huntsman Driders- upon locating a suitable mate- have a tendency to lay their legs in substrate and shuffle them back and forth to make a rustling or rattling sound depending on the substrate. Usually a hunter would not be keen to reveal themselves, but this sound can draw in curious prey and curious mates who are seeking the Drider making the sound. Part of this mating display is hunting their mates down and drawing them in with the sound before springing. Naturally, when they have their mates in their grasp, they don't let go easily as Huntsman Spiders are known to cling tightly to prey and even predators to stop themselves from being shaken off or dislodged from their quarry.

[captainlunaxmen]

Be My Queen

Chapter 1

Eddie Munson x Reader x Steve Harrington

This is a repost since the old blog doesn't work anymore. 🥰

Chapter summary: When Vecna takes Nancy to show her his plan, he takes y/n as well to show her he already knows her or some version of her. For the gang, then it's time to come up with a good plan, and a trip to the War Zone is due.

Chapter warnings: spoiler season 4, blood, non-con touching, violence, Jason being an asshole.

What the hell is happening?

One minute, I hear Steve's panicked voice calling Nancy, and the next I'm in... a laboratory?

My friends and I finally got back from the UpsideDown after being stuck there, and now I'm trapped again... it's terrifying.

I look around, trying to calm down by taking a big deep breath. The walls are clean and white, just like a hospital. A shiver runs down my spine when I notice a girl walking out of a room with papers in her hands.

What the fuck?

She looks exactly like me... how?

I decide to follow her, seeing that I have no other option.

As I follow her... me... I see some other people, who look like doctors and nurses. Some of them are followed by kids. Shaved head, all of them.

I quickly take a closer look and notice they have a number tattooed on their arm.

Could it be where El lived?

Oh fuck. I'm in Hawkins' Lab. Why? Why is there a girl who looks exactly like me?

I keep following her around, but before I could follow her into a room I hear a voice calling my name.

I turn around finding a blonde man, looking directly at me.

"Yes?"

I turn around after my "clone" answered him. Her demeanour changes right away when her eyes spot the man. From calm, almost bored to nervous, on edge.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, love." the blonde man says with a sweet, yet intimidating tone.

"I... I was fixing some things... for today's tests." The girl tells him in a small voice.

As the man walks towards her, I notice the girl taking a small step back, but stops, almost holding back.

"You always work so hard. You should rest for a while" he's now in front of her and she doesn't look comfortable.

"I don't mind it, Henry, I'm not even tired," she says letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Take a break, c'mon. Ten minutes won't hurt anyone" the man named Henry insists, moving his hand to caress her arm so slightly.

"Maybe later. I have to drop off these files and check on the kids" she explains calmly.

"What about I check on the kids so we can have some... alone time?" He asks, inching closer and closer to the girl, who looks around the corridor to probably check if someone's coming.

"I don't think it's a good idea," she says, trying to remain calm "Brenner asked me to personally check on the kids."

Henry just looks at her, almost admiring her.

"Then give me a kiss so I can go on with my day without missing you too much"

He doesn't give her time to respond, his lips are already on hers, moving the hand that was caressing her arm to her hips holding her.

The girl's eyes are open, she doesn't exactly kiss him back, she just lets him and he doesn't seem to notice it.

"I'll see you later, love," he says after pulling away.

"Bye," she says and quickly walks into a room, I follow her just as quickly, however when I enter the room I find "me" attending to the same blonde man, Henry.

He looks bad, like he was beaten up or something, the girl's checking his head.

"Do you feel nauseous, dizzy, or..?" She asks.

"No.. just a little stunned" he answers, holding his head.

"That's good... at least a bit."

They stay silent for a moment, the girl looks at him with sorrow, I think, someone must've put this Henry through something really bad for her to feel sorry for a man she was quite intimidated by.

"I'm sorry, Henry," she says.

"Don't be." He replies looking up at her and grabbing her hand, the action makes her tense immediately, still he doesn't notice it, instead, he goes on "It was not your fault and you don't need to worry about me, angel, I'm gonna get us out of here."

"What?" She's confused.

"Eleven has a huge power. Her powers have the potential to become something great... she could help me build a new world. A world for us. Then we could finally be together" he explains and now the girl looks alarmed.

"What are you talking about?" She asks.

"Don't think about it, my love, I'll fix everything soon?" he tells her and kiss her hand.

What the hell is going on here?

I feel myself shaking, and breathing becomes hard so I turn around to get out of the room.

As I walk through the door I'm back in the corridor, but now the walls aren't white and clean... they're covered in blood.

I look around, on the ground laying with broken limbs and bleeding eyes there are the same people I saw walking earlier... the children too... all dead.

I feel myself getting sick when a scream catches my attention.

"Stop!" It's the girl again.

I run towards her voice and enter a wide room, a rainbow fantasy on the walls, lots of kids' toys on the floor... there's blood on them too, the children's. I see them laying on the ground blood all over them.

Fuck.

"Please, Henry, you need to stop" I turn to see the girl standing in front of a mad Henry.

He takes a step toward her and she takes a big step back. I don't think she cares anymore if he feels hurt by her actions or not.

"Why are you scared, my angel?" He asks, he doesn't realise she doesn't feel the same and he doesn't realise what he did wrong. It makes me sick.

"You... fuck... look at what you did! They're... they're kids.." she tells him in between sobs.

Suddenly he walks to her cupping her face in his hands, preventing her from moving away. She still tries though.

"Don't you understand? Don't you understand why I'm doing this?" He asks her, rather harshly.

"What's there to understand? You... you fucking kill them" she replies, voice breaking at the end.

Before he could answer her there was a noise coming from near the wall.

I look back seeing a boy standing up.

Henry's eyes darken as he notices him, he lets go of the girl and turns his attention to the boy.

"No, please... Henry... please" she tries to stop him, trying to stop his arm from slowly raising. "Please... fuck... don't!"

Henry nods towards the door and the girl flies across the room hitting the doors and Henry goes back to killing the boy.

He lifts him into the air and using his power he breaks his bones and his eyes.

The boy looked so young...

As soon as Henry killed the poor thing he looks for the girl, but she's nowhere to be seen.

She must've escaped while he was distracted.

I want to do just that so I run out of the room.

When I go to open the door I find myself face to face with Eddie's worried face.

"Oh, Jesus!" He lets out a sigh of relief.

"Fucking thank god" Steve exclaims.

"What... what happened?" I ask sitting up.

"We thought Vecna took you and Nancy," Dustin says from beside me so I look at him, caressing his arm to assure him I was okay.

I look at the others, all with worried faces. Nancy's beside Robin who got an arm around her reassuringly.

"Did he let you go too?" She asks and I nod "did he show you what he showed me?"

"I... I don't know"

-----------

We all moved to Max's trailer where Nancy started telling us about what Vecna showed her.

His plan of bringing a sort of army to Hawkins, to let the UpsideDown expand completely into our world through some gates.

They keep talking, but I can't pay attention, I hear them, but I can't listen.

I'm too focused on whatever the fuck he showed me.

"I was there" I suddenly say from my place on the ground, head in my head thinking.

"So was I. It was... so real I- " Nancy starts, but I interrupt her.

"No. Not that. I mean, I was there, at the lab. Or some copy of me, a clone or... I don't know." I take a deep breath "this... Vecna, one... Henry, he was, like, in love with this girl, or better, obsessed with her. Delusional. I saw... I saw him killing a little kid... the same way Eddie described... with no sign of regret or even sorrow."

"What... what if he just showed those things to scare you?" Steve suggests, evidently trying not to think of the worst.

"He didn't. I... I don't know what the hell was that, but I know it was very much real... and it's freaking me the fuck out, okay? I don't want to believe it, but... there's no denying it." I tell him. "For some reason, I, or another girl who looks exactly like me, was there and he feels like he found her again."

"Why doing all this just for... a girl though?" Robin asks "don't get me wrong, you're a wonderful girl, I'd gladly do that too. But why be so obsessed?"

"He needs a queen" Dustin answers her like it was obvious.

"Fuck..." I mutter hiding my head in my hands once again.

"Shit...Try 'em again. Try 'em again" Steve tells Max, who immediately goes to the phone.

We've been trying to contact El, Will and Mike, with no results.

"Anything?" Dustin asks.

"No. Rang a few times, then went to a busy signal." Max answers.

"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try again" Steve says.

"I didn't punch it in wrong" Max replies, rightly annoyed.

"Well, I don't know" Steve tries.

"I think she knows how to use a phone" Dustin defends Max, who's trying once again.

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." Steve insists.

Max hangs up the phone again "same shit"

"How is that possible?" Lucas asks confused.

"I told you, Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it." Dustin explains.

"That can't be three days straight busy, Dustin," I say.

"Yeah, something must be wrong" Max agrees with me.

"They're right. It can't be just a coincidence. It can't be" Nancy to agree."Whatever is happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them nor take Y/n. Not if he's dead. We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

"Whoa. No, no, no. What?" Steve complains.

"Nope." Eddie too shakes his head.

"She's right," I say standing next to Nancy. "I don't know about you, but I don't exactly like the idea of being some teen-killing monster's mistress or whatever. So we either kill the bastard or... we kill the bastard" I say matter-of-factly

"We barely made it out of there in one piece" Steve points out.

"Yeah. That's because we weren't prepared, Steve." I tell him. "We just need a plan"

"A good one. Then we'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him" Nancy supports me.

"Or he'll kill us" Steve replies, agitated "the only reason you survived is that he wanted you to. He's not scared of us."

"And for good reason" Robin finally speaks "we were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?" She asks.

"One" Dustin and Lucas choose.

"Vecna," says Erica.

"Henry," Nancy says.

"Piece of shit?" I suggest, noticing a nod from Eddie.

"Right. We've learned something new about Vecna/Henry/one... uh... piece of shit. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my... my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."

"Then why fight fair?" Dustin asks, simply "you're right. He's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths and weaknesses" he explains.

Genius.

"Weaknesses?" Erica's quite confused now.

"There is one thing we can use," I say.

"Exactly, when El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true for Vecna" Dustin keeps talking.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic" Lucas points out.

"Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenceless." He declares.

"Defenseless? What about the army of bats?" Steve rhetorically asks, pointing at his injured neck.

"Right, true. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow." Dustin answers.

"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie asks, about to stand up.

"No idea" Dustin replies and Eddie sits back down defeated. "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin"

"That sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern in Vecna's killings. I mean, at least not one that I can decipher." Robin notes. "We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don't even know who he's going to attack"

"We don't need another victim," I say, looking down.

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asks, worry clear in her voice.

"I can be the bait."

"No," Steve and Eddie say at the same time.

"I will" Max speaks up. "I can still feel him. I survived before I can do it again"

"No." I firmly say "we don't know if the music thing will work again. He will kill you if he gets another chance. But he will not kill me"

"We... we don't know that Y/n" Steve walks in front of me.

"Yes, we do! You didn't see what I saw. How he was with her. He looked at her like she was the reason the sun goes up every morning." I look him in the eyes, and my voice gets softer "he won't kill me, Steve"

"Are you sure about this?" Lucas asks.

"Positive," I say letting out a big sigh "just... please kill him"

"We need supplies" Nancy declares.

-----------

After stealing an RV we head to the War Zone that, according to Eddie, has everything we might need for killing things.

The plan is to buy weapons and then find an open space to get ready and be away from unwanted attention.

I sit in the back with Dustin while the others are scattered around and Steve's driving.

"Are you worried?" Dustin suddenly asks.

I look up at him, then I look around to avoid his worried stare and find Eddie's, instead. I smile at him, to let him know everything is alright.

"Scared shitless" I then say to Dustin.

"You don't have to do this. You can back down and we can think of a new plan together" Dustin tells me, he tries to both reassure me and make me change my mind.

"I know, I know. But the only other valid option is for Max to be the bait and, in all honesty, that scares me even more" As I speak I play with my fingers and when I sense someone's presence with us I look up seeing Eddie.

"Hi" he softly says.

"Hey" I reply.

"I'll leave you two" Dustin smiles at us and gets up to join Lucas and Max.

"You okay?" He asks and I softly laugh. "Stupid question, I know. I'm sorry"

"Nah, don't worry about it. You can ask all the stupid questions you want" I smile at him.

"I wish you wouldn't have to do this" he gently holds my hand.

"Me too. But better me than Max, or anyone else" I say laying my head on his shoulder, I always found comfort in this. We've been friends since I started driving the kids back and forth when they had Hellfire, so we got closer. Sometimes I feel like there's more, but whenever anything could happen he backs down so I'm never sure how he feels.

"It would be better to send Harrington. Maybe he could distract him with his hair, make good use of it for once" he jokes.

"Don't be mean," I say with a chuckle. He always knows how to cheer me up. "He might give him lessons on how to style it properly" I joke too.

I look at Steve driving.

Steve...

Steve, on the other hand, I met him when he and Nancy started dating, so of course he was always in the way. I didn't mind it honestly, he turned out to be not that much of a dick. Then he just got better, especially thanks to Dustin's friendship, but here things get complicated. When he worked at Scoops Ahoy with Robin he always flirted with me as I went to visit Robin during my breaks at the music store at Starcourt, at first I thought he was his way of joking. The moment I realised he wasn't joking I also realised I didn't mind it at all. I wanted him to flirt and I wanted to flirt back.

So... I realised I like, have some sort of feeling for two guys... at the same time.

Complicated.

"We're here" Steve announces parking the van in a secluded area to keep Eddie, Dustin and Lucas away from the people of Hawkins.

-----------

The store is huge.

"So much for avoiding angry hicks" Robin comments.

"Let's be... fast" Nancy suggests and we all agree.

Nancy and I go check out the shotguns they sell.

"How much?" Nancy asks the seller.

"$120.99, but I'll throw in 20 rounds of buckshot for ya," he tells us and I just nod at Nancy.

"Not bad," I whisper to her and she agrees.

While we keep looking Nancy hands me the weapon, but then I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, can I see this real pretty .357, please?"

"Oh shit" I comment and Nancy quickly looks behind me and turns around just as quickly.

"You go. I got this" I tell her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just try to warn the other to keep an eye out for his goons. They must be around here too" I nod and she walks away, but that must've caught Jason's eyes because he then speaks directly at me.

"Look at that... What are you doing here?" He asks.

"Oh you know" I start turning around to face him, "they say there's a killer on the loose... gotta be prepared."

"Aren't you the freak's bitch?" He harshly asks.

"It's really sad you can't recognise what a friend looks like" I mock him, keeping a serious expression.

I see his jaw clenching hard, my words hit the target. He relaxes his face and takes a breath and just looks at me, in a way that makes a shiver run down my spine.

"It's a real pity" he then says.

"Yeah, it is. It means you never had an actual friend in your life" I say with a fake pout on my face.

He just laughs humourless.

"No, babe. A real pity is how you ruined yourself by hanging out with the freak" he walks closer.

"Oh no... you think I ruined myself?" I ask with fake shock, then I just smile "thank god. If having good friends instead of assholes like you ruined me... glad to be ruined, sir"

"You were really pretty, you know. I mean, you kind of still are... I'd gladly help you find the right way back." He... flirts..?

Oh now I'm gonna get sick

"Wow... your girlfriend died not long ago and you're already harassing another girl... just wow." I laugh sarcastically "see? That's what makes Eddie so much better than you"

"What would your father say, uh? I don't think Hopper would be happy about it" he suddenly says.

Oh... he didn't just mention my father, did he?

Now it's my turn to clench my jaw, he notices and smiles proudly.

"You wash that fucking mouth before talking about my father because you. Know. Shit." I tell him, walking up to him.

"Want my advice?" He asks completely ignoring me.

"No"

"Shotguns are not good for much of anything past killing small birds," he tells me, eyes focused on mine "I mean, they got power, sure, but not much range. And that's just gonna force you into close-range combat, then someone can easily redirect it by grabbing that barrel, like this.."

He suddenly moves to grab the barrel, but I'm faster, stepping back and moving the shotgun out of his reach earning a surprised expression from him.

"Keep talking about shit you clearly know nothing about and I might just show you what my father would say" I warn him and walk away.

I go pay for the stuff I got and reunite with the others as we walk back to the van.

"Remind me, please, not to make you angry?" Robin tells me with a proud smirk.

"You could never"

"That was... I gotta say... quite hot" Steve tells me pleasantly surprised.

I just wink at him, and we all hurry to get in the vehicle and just rush off before anyone could see us.

We quickly rush into the RV.

"What happened?" Lucas immediately asks.

"We gotta go" Steve cuts him off.

"Your old friends are here" Erica informs her brother.

Steve starts the vehicle, immediately driving away as soon as the last of us get in.

I move to the back with Dustin and Lucas.

"So.." Dustin starts.

I look at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes?" I urge him on.

"When are you gonna talk to them?" He asks.

"To who?" Lucas asks, suddenly interested.

"Eddie and Steve" Dustin immediately answers and I roll my eyes "C'mon! It's clear as the day you feel something for them, the both of them and they feel the same."

"It's more complicated than you think, Dusty," I tell him softly.

"It's not." Lucas interjects "I mean, Eddie kept worrying about you the whole time you all were in there. I mean very worried. Very."

"Yeah. And you didn't see the look Steve had when you volunteered to bait Vecna" Dustin adds.

"Yeah... I told you. Complicated" I tell them to drop the subject, so I just lean my head back and try to think of something else.

I have no idea what will happen.

I keep thinking about how this is real. I was there. I saw myself there in that lab, with Vecna, Henry or whoever the fuck he is. How is that possible? Is it some kind of trap?

What scares me the most is that I have this feeling it's not a trap. It's all true.

[miles-away-from-heaven]

i could probably bathe in the sun and flourish. but i crave for contact much more than i crave for nourishment. i love, i love, i crave, i adore. but i have detachment from everything. i physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially cannot feel affection. maybe there's something wrong with me. maybe there's something in me that's not working well. i long, i long, i crave, i abandon. i destroy everything i lay my eyes on. maybe i'm a broken mirror. or a void one. maybe i'm something that should not exist. should not live. should not be touched. a venus fly trap. a cheese under an upsidedown box.

Miles

[punsmaster69]

6/APR/20XX

this is the story

all about how

i ended up hanging

upsidedown

(sorry)

(on second thought, i am not)

"what're you up to?"

a mess of rope and buckets dangle from a tree. papyrus hoists another onto a branch.

"WELL, BROTHER, I AM MAKING A HOPEFULLY REPEATABLE WATER TRAP."

"BECAUSE IF YESTERDAY TOLD ME ANYTHING..."

"I NEED TO UP MY WATER-FIGHTING GAME!!"

"you're stealing their technique, huh?"

"IT'S NOT STEALING."

"right. and it's different... how?"

"THIS IS ON A MUCH LARGER SCALE!!!"

"makes sense."

"I'M ALREADY WEARING WATER-READY ATTIRE-"

gesturing to his self-cropped top and shorts.

"-SO I WILL BE THE TEST SUBJECT!"

he finishes securing the bucket and descends the tree, handing off a section of rope to me.

"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, I WANT YOU TO RELEASE THIS."

"ok."

so he runs over to a specific spot and gives me a thumbs up.

"that's not a word."

"...."

"JUST GO."

"you told me to do it when you say the word."

". . . ."

"THE WORD."

"WHICH I DID NOT-"

"ok."

i drop the rope.

"SANS-!!"

...failing to step away from the rapidly ascending rope in time. it catches around my leg.

suddenly, i'm dangling from the tree.

there's a loud splash as my brother is doused in water by his own trap. he beams proudly at its functionality.

that smile transitions into a look of confusion as he realizes i'm not there.

"...THE SPLASH RADIUS WASN'T 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 BIG."

"maybe you should install safety features anyway."

"??"

looking around.

"hey. papyrus."

"...updog."

"WHAT?"

"updog."

"UPDOG?"

"updog."

he continues to look around confusedly.

"WHAT IS 'UPDOG'?"

"me."

"...??"

slowly looking up at the tree to spot me.

"..'sup."

"HOW DID YOU MANAGE THAT???"

"incredible luck."

papyrus jumps up to the branch and begins to untangle the rope at my ankle.

"..."

"i'm gonna fall."

"OH."

"I'LL CATCH YOU."

"uh-"

unfortunately, i suddenly had very little time to debate this answer since i immediately plummeted towards the ground.

"...SEE?"

"NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT."

"CAUGHT, LIKE I SAID I WOULD!!"

my brother tries to shrug it off nonchalantly, but he's sweating a little.

papyrus lowers me and himself to the ground slowly.

"i would've used a shortcut even if you hadn't caught me so soon."

"IT WAS MY MISTAKE, SO I'LL USE MY OWN 'TRICKS' TO FIX IT!"

i'm set down the instant his shoes touch the grass.

"not often i get to float-"

"JUMP."

"𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 down from trees like that."

"...I'LL WORK ON THE SAFETY THING."

"SORRY, SANS."

"all cool."

"like i said, fl- 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱ing down like that was kinda neat anyway."

"SHOULD WE DO IT AGAIN?"

"no thanks, bro. had enough tree-dangling."

"for a lifetime."

papyrus shrugs and sets to work on the trap some more.

[kittythelitter]

CW: Chrissy's mom. Specifically being body shamey and ableist. Also characters being pressured into a relationship they don't want to be in.

Okay but ST season 4 AU where everyone lives, including Chrissy and Jason. Like, Vecna breaks his victims and traps his victims in their own minds instead of killing them so he can feed off their life forces or whatever and Chrissy is found in the trailer broken and covered in upsidedown goop but still alive so everyone's like. This is some weird supernatural bullshit. And Jason still leads a witch-hunt.

After it all, Chrissy is awake and recovering and she breaks up with Jason for being the worst. And her mom is like. You're legally an adult, you chased away a good man, because you're bed bound for now you lost your cheerleading scholarship and the only thing that makes you worth anything. You can't even get a job in your current state. You need a man. If you let me set you up with a rich eligible bachelor and don't fuck it up, we will pay your hospital bills, maybe even college.

Meanwhile Steve is a hero, and is a publicity asset for the Harringtons, and for the first time since he graduated high school has some kind of value to his parents. He's being celebrated, and if they set him up with one of their business partner's kids they can curry favor. More so if it's the poor injured Cunningham girl who is beloved and lauded by the town for being victims of the bizarre serial killer, Henry Creel.

(Ignore the goo and the vines and the crack in the ground that used to be main street there was a serial killer and an earthquake and they were totally unrelated.)

So Steve and Chrissy are both being pressured by their parents into a relationship that even conceptually makes them uncomfortable. But she can't back out without starting adulthood in a wheelchair in crippling debt. And while Steve could probably survive being disowned and his parents' ire his abandonment issues and desperate people pleaser tendencies make him not want to piss off his parents, disappoint the Cunninghams, or hurt Chrissy's feelings.

So they go on a lot of very uncomfortable dates. And they kind of get along. And Steve breaks down and full on Robin word vomits that she's great and he's sure she'll find a great guy but he really doesn't want to upset their parents or hurt her feelings- but he really really doesn't feel that way about her- and it's not because she's in a wheelchair or anything- one of his kids is in a wheelchair- well not his kid- there's these kids he babysits- that's not the point- he's really really sorry, but he kind has a crush on someone else, and he can't keep pretending to date her to make other people happy, and he's really sorry. And she's like. Holy shit.

And he just broke down so she feels comfortable explaining her situation and he, overwhelmed by his protector instincts, agrees to keep up the appearance of dating until her hospital bills are paid and she can make her own choices about what she wants.

So they keep doing public dates and stuff. But outside of that, he invites her to meet his friends, cause she lost a lot of hers in everything. She's been really lonely, and she's very sweet and kind of dorky so she gets along with everyone.

And Steve told Robin everything because she's Robin, but not everyone else because he didn't want to get into his parents bullshit or expose Chrissy's baggage so they're all nice to her and get along but they're a little weird about it because that's Chrissy Cunningham. And Steve's dating her???

Also Robin is weird around her because hot girl, but everyone thinks she's jealous which is a weird dynamic. Chrissy thinks Robin is Steve's crush and keeps talking Steve up to Robin and talking about how Robin's great and how close she and Steve are and how nice that is. And it's very awkward.

Eddie is insanely jealous and he knows that Robin's a lesbian so he's like. Oh she has a crush on her best friend's straight girlfriend. That sucks. And he also hates that he can't hate Chrissy, because she's so fucking nice and sweet to him.

(Nancy, Jon and Argyle are all on varying levels of knowing something is up but are staying out of it because they are too stoned to parse what specifically is happening or too stubborn to admit that they made some wrong assumptions.)

(the kids don't care much beyond being glad that Steve wasn't flirting with every age appropriate girl he crossed paths with anymore)

And then Chrissy figures out that a) whoops she has a crush on her fake boyfriend's best friend (Robin). b) Steve and Eddie are in love. And c) Eddie thinks she and Steve are for real. So Chrissy tries to explain to Eddie that their relationship is fake without spilling Steve's baggage, and mentions that she doesn't even like Steve like that she actually likes Robin.

Through some miscommunication Eddie now thinks Steve is unknowingly Chrissy's beard. And he doesn't want to out Chrissy but he's a little upset that she's using his crush totally platonic guy friend this way.

Meanwhile Chrissy tries to team up with Robin to get Steve and Eddie together. Because Robin clearly loves Steve and Eddie and wants them to be happy even if she hates Chrissy for some reason. (Again Robin doesn't hate Chrissy she's just super awkward).

Boundless shenanigans ensue.

[helpimstuckposting]

Okay but hear me out.

What if Steve was really into astrology? What if Steve really likes stars and constellations?

His parents left him alone a lot as a kid, in a big, dark, empty house, and instead of turning on lights and radios to pretend he isn’t alone he goes outside to look at the stars. Next to the woods in Hawkins, Indiana the stars are bright and clear and he sees patterns in them like the W he sees in the winter, or the three stars in a row that are really bright.

He checks out books from the library on the weekends to learn what they are, what they mean.

The W is Cassiopeia, a beautiful and vain queen who angered the gods with her narcissism and was tied to a chair in the sky. The three stars are the belt of Orion, an angry hunter who drank until dangerous and hunted even a goddess, killed by a scorpion and preserved in the stars.

They kind of remind him of his parents. A selfish queen and an angry hunter. His parents leave for months on end but these constellations are trapped in the sky, right in his backyard. Some nights he goes out and talks to them, as if his parents are the ones trapped here with him. Sometimes he just watches, feels their presence like people, and feels just a little bit less alone.

He doesn’t tell anyone. Tommy would think it was stupid and he doesn’t really talk about himself to anyone else. No one really knows him, what he likes or what he does with himself all alone in his giant house. The stars know. Orion and Cassiopeia. They know everything about him, and he knows everything about them, and sometimes that makes him feel better.

When he can’t see them, it’s like his parents have left all over again and he’s even more alone than before, but he still watches the stars. He waits for them to come back, he waits for his parents.

Years later, after everything with the Upsidedown, with El, and Vecna, he and Eddie are still awake in Steve’s dark house. Neither are able to sleep because of the nightmares, but Eddie tells Steve his moles look like constellations and Steve feels a little bit closer to the stars. Feels less lonely than he has in a very long time.

Sorry I am so very emotional about these boys

[friendsdontlieokay]

I've said this once and I'm saying it again. Maybe I'm overanalyzing this, maybe I'm being delulu (assuming from the fact that I'm trying to give my favorite girl the spotlight) or maybe the mind flayer/ the most powerful creature in the upside down is rooting for killing Nancy for a long time.

Know how El's constantly been ruining the mind flayer's plans over and over again? Which is also precisely one of the reasons why it wants to kill her and I think the same thing is going on with Nancy too.

I mean definitely she does not have powers like eleven, but she too, has been trying to directly ruin the flayer's plans by connecting the dots and finding the truth everytime.

In S1, when she gets stuck in the upsidedown for that short while, a Demogorgon tries to attack her, I mean sure if a prey falls right into the trap themselves, what's the poor Demogorgon's fault right? But it didn't try to kill Hopper or Joyce so it's kinda sus cause it seems to me that there is more than one Demogorgon in the upside down, but let's just dismiss the fact for the time being just for the sake of it.

But again, in S2, Nancy, along with Joyce and Jonathan, manages to get the mind flayer out of will, and even though she was mainly there for assistance, Joyce did most of the work/torture, needless to say that she was the one to give it that final push when she poked that burning metal into Will's body which forces the flayer out of him, now I don't know about the mind flayer but if I were him I'd be pretty pissed at Nancy.

Now jumping straight into the third season, it's when things start getting real suspicious and logical, we know how the mind flayer has total control over the flayed's minds right? They have no control over it at all when the mind flayer is activated, so in the hospital scene when Nancy and Jonathan get chased by Tom and Bruce it's definitely for a reason, and I can't exactly remember who but one of those flayed assholes do mention it explicitly how the mind flayer is solely chasing Nancy "I'm here for you Nancy Drew" why would it be here for Nancy? And it's clear that it only chased Jonathan because he was with Nancy cause the whole time it's been after her, and even tried to swallow her, in fact even in Hopper's cabin, it tried to flay her.

And the reason for s4 is absolutely clear, vecna doesn't curse people without trauma, true he did not really curse her but he did enter her mind, revealed his plan and showed her the most terrible things about her loved ones, and I know that vecna did say that he showed her all these because she was so close to the truth and so that she could tell El, but I don't honestly think these are the only reasons, because in that case the chasing and torture are just unnecessary, I mean why would he mention and show her the dead body if barb right? It just doesn't click right.

[liliallowed]

have a flustered button!dust.

this version of dust lost the game to crimson. and after sone time in a crumbling world they reach a common understanding.

crimson is extremely thin and weakened due to dust killing all the souls they trapped. they refuse to eat him. they'd rather starve.

the two eventually start to understand each other. well... mostly dust understanding crimson.

beldam!crimson loves to spoil him. granted they don't have many souls to use as batteries to power their world. it's loosely hanging by red strings at the moment...

but as SOON as they get some "evil" souls that he wouldn't mind... they would give him absolutely ANYTHING.

the comfiest beds the tastiest food... he'll, they'd make an entire ketchup pool or... maybe make a GIANT upsidedown house filled with puns...

maybe decorate the sky with astronomy... steal astronomy books from the real world and design entire orbiting small planets... just for him...

they just want to... make this loneliness more bearable. they care about him.

[lunamadhatter99]

Be my queen

Part 1

SteveHarrington x Hopper!femreader x EddieMunson

Here's the first chapter of my new series, this is gonna be shorter than the Eddie one I made.

Just to clarify some things: It says Hopper!reader, again, because it's my favourite, even though he adopted her she stayed in Hawkins instead of going with the Byers because she didn't feel like leaving high school right before her last year so Dustin offered to let her stay at his house (since she used to babysit him a lot) and... that's it. Sorry for the long premise.😂

Hope you'll like this first chapter, let me know what you think and if anyone wants to be tagged you can tell me her as well or send an ask. Love you!✨️

Chapter summary: when Vecna rakes Nancy to show her his plan, he takes Y/n as well to show her he already knows her, or some version of her. For the gang then it's time to come up with a good plan and a trip to the War Zone is due.

Chapter warning: ⚠️ season 4 spoiler ⚠️ blood, non-con touching, violence, Jason being an asshole.

Tag list:

@once-upon-an-imagine

@munsonology

@cutepumpkin4

@summerbrooksblog

@iheartmyguitars

@trickylittlewitch

@eddiesguitarskills

@justheretoreadleavemealone

What the hell is happening?

One minute I hear Steve's panic voice calling Nancy and the next I'm in... a laboratory?

My friends and I finally got back from the UpsideDown after being stuck there and now I'm trapped again... it's terrifying.

I look around trying to calm down by taking a big deep breath, the walls are clean and white, just like a hospital. A shiver runs down my spine when I notice a girl, walking out of a room with papers in her hands.

What the fuck?

She looks exactly like me... how?

I decide to follow her, seeing that I have no other option.

As I follow her... me... I see some other people, who look like doctors and nurses. Some of them are followed by kids. Shaved head, all of them.

I quickly take a closer look and notice they have a number tattooed on their arm.

Could it be where El lived?

Oh fuck. I'm in Hawkins' Lab. Why? Why is there a girl who looks exactly like me?

I keep following her around, but before I could follow her into a room I hear a voice calling my name.

I turn around finding a blonde man, looking directly at me.

"Yes?"

I turn around, after my "clone" answered him. Her demeanor changes right away when her eyes spot the man. From calm, almost bored to nervous, on edge.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, love." the blonde man says with a sweet, yet intimidating tone.

"I... I was fixing some things... for today's tests." The girl tells him in a small voice.

As the man walks towards her, I notice the girl taking a small step back, but stops, almost holding back.

"You always work so hard. You should rest for a while" he's now in front of her and she doesn't look comfortable.

"I don't mind it, Henry, I'm not even tired" she say letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Take a break, c'mon. Ten minutes won't hurt anyone" the man named Henry insists, moving his hand to caress her arm so slightly.

"Maybe later. I have to drop off these files and check on the kids" she explains calmly.

"What about I check on the kids so we can have some... alone time?" He asks, inching closer and closer to the girl, who looks around the corridor to probably check if someone's coming.

"I don't think it's a good idea" she says, trying to remain calm "Brenner asked me to personally check on the kids."

Henry just looks at her, almost admiring her.

"Then give me a kiss so I can go on with my day without missing you too much"

He doesn't give her time to respond, his lips are already on hers, moving the hand that was caressing her arm to her hips holding her.

The girl's eyes are open, she doesn't exactly kiss him back, she just lets him and he doesn't seem to notice it.

"I'll see you later, love" he says after pulling away.

"Bye" she says and quickly walks into a room, I follow her just as quickly, however when I enter the room I find "me" attending to the same blonde man, Henry.

He looks bad, like he was beaten up or something, the girl's checking his head.

"Do you feel nauseous, dizzy or..?" She asks.

"No.. just a little stunned" he answers, holding his head.

"That's good... at least a bit."

They stay silent for a moment, the girl looks at him with sorrow, I think, someone must've put this Henry through something really bad for her to feel sorry for a man she was quite intimidated by.

"I'm sorry, Henry" she says.

"Don't be." He replies looking up at her and grabbing her hand, the action makes her tense immediately, still he doesn't notice it, instead he goes on "It was not your fault and you don't need to worry about me, angel, I'm gonna get us out of here."

"What?" She's confused.

"Eleven has a huge power. Her powers have the potential to become something great... she could help me build a new world. A world for us. Then we could finally be together" he explains and now the girl looks alarmed.

"What are you talking about?" She asks.

"Don't think about it, my love, I'll fix everything soon" he tells her and kiss her hand.

What the hell is going on here?

I feel myself shaking, breathing becomes hard so I turn around to get out of the room.

As I walk through the door I'm back in the corridor, but now the walls aren't white and clean... they're covered in blood.

I look around, on the ground laying with broken limbs and bleeding eyes there are the same people I saw walking earlier... the children too... all dead.

I feel myself getting sick when a scream catches my attention.

"Stop!" It's the girl again.

I run towards her voice and enter a wide room, a rainbow fantasy on the walls, lots of kids toys on the floor... there's blood on them too, the children's. I see them laying in the ground blood all over them.

Fuck.

"Please, Henry, you need to stop" I turn to see the girl standing in front of a mad Henry.

He takes a step towards her and she takes a big step back. I don't think she cares anymore if he feels hurt by her actions or not.

"Why are you scared, my angel?" He asks, he doesn't realise she doesn't feel the same and he definitely doesn't realise what he did wrong, apparently. It makes me sick.

"You... fuck... look at what you did! They're... they're kids.." she tells him in between sobs.

Suddenly he walks to her cupping her face in his hands, preventing her from moving away. She still tries though.

"Don't you understand? Don't you understand why I'm doing this?" He asks her, rather harshly.

"What's there to understand? You... you fucking kill them" she replies, voice breaking at the end.

Before he could answer her there's a noise coming from near the wall.

I look back seeing a boy standing up.

Henry's eyes darken as he notices him, he lets go of the girl and turn his attention to the boy.

"No, please... Henry... please" she tries to stop him, tries to stop his arm slowly raising. "Please... fuck... don't!"

Henry nods towards the door and the girl flies across the room hitting the doors and Henry goes back at killing the boy.

He lifts him into the air and using his power he breaks his bones and his eyes.

The boy looked so young...

As soon as Henry killed the poor thing he looks for the girl, but she's nowhere to be seen.

She must've escaped while he was distracted.

I want to do just that so I run out of the room.

When I go to open the door I find myself face to face with Eddie's own worried face.

"Oh shit!" He lets out a sigh of relief.

"Fucking thank god" Steve exclaims from beside him.

I must've fallen on the ground since I'm laying on Eddie's trailer floor.

"What... what happened?" I ask sitting up.

"We thought Vecna took you and Nancy" Dustin says from beside me so I look at him, caressing his arm to assure him I was okay.

I look at the others, all with worried faces. Nancy's beside Robin who got an arm around her reassuringly.

"Did he let you go too?" She asks and I nod "did he show you what he showed me?"

"I... I don't know"

-----------

We all moved to Max's trailer where Nancy started telling us about what Vecna showed her.

His plan of bringing a sort of army to Hawkins, to let the UpsideDown expand completely into our world through some gates.

They keep talking, but I can't really pay attention, I hear them, but I can't listen.

I'm too focused on whatever the fuck he showed me.

"I was there" I suddenly say from my place on the ground, head in my head thinking.

"So was I. It was... so real I- " Nancy starts, but I interrupt her.

"No. Not that. I mean, I was there, at the lab. Or some copy of me, a clone or... I don't know." I take a deep breath "this... Vecna, one.. Henry, he was, like, in love with this girl, or better, obsessed with her. Delusional. I saw... I saw him killing a little kid... the same way Eddie described... with no sign of regret or even sorrow."

"What... what if he just showed those things to scare you?" Steve suggests, evidently trying not to think of the worst.

"He didn't. I... I don't know what the hell was that, but I know it was very much real... and it's freaking me the fuck out, okay? I myself don't want to believe it, but... there's no denying it." I tell him. "For some reason I, or another girl who looks exactly like me, was there and he feels like he found her again."

"Why doing all this just for... a girl though?" Robin asks "don't get me wrong, you're a wonderful girl, I'd gladly do that too. But why be so obsessed?"

"He needs a queen" Dustin answers her, like it was obvious.

"Fuck..." I mutter hiding my head in my hands once again.

"Shit...Try 'em again. Try 'em again" Steve tells Max, who immediately goes to the phone.

We've been trying to contact El, Will and Mike, with no results.

"Anything?" Dustin asks.

"No. Rang a few times, then went to busy signal." Max answers.

"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try again" Steve says.

"I didn't punch it in wrong" Max replies, rightly annoyed.

"Well, I don't know" Steve tries.

"I think she knows how to use a phone" Dustin defends Max, who's trying once again.

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." Steve insists.

Max hangs up the phone again "same shit"

"How is that possible?" Lucas asks confused.

"I told you, Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it." Dustin explains.

"That can't be three days straight busy, Dustin" I say.

"Yeah, something must be wrong" Max agrees with me.

"They're right. It can't be just a coincidence. It can't be" Nancy too agrees."Whatever is happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them nor take Y/n. Not if he's dead. We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

"Whoa. No, no, no. What?" Steve complains.

"Nope." Eddie too shakes his head.

"She's right" I say standing next to Nancy. "I don't know about you, but I don't exactly like the idea of being some teen-killing monster's mistress or whatever. So we either kill the bastard or... we kill the bastard" I say matter-of-factly

"We barely made it out of there in one piece" Steve points out.

"Yeah. That's because we weren't prepared, Steve." I tell him. "We just need a plan"

"A good one. Then we'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him" Nancy supports me.

"Or he'll kill us" Steve replies, agitated "the only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He's not scared of us."

"And for good reason" Robin finally speaks "we were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?" She asks.

"One" Dustin and Lucas choose.

"Vecna" says Erica.

"Henry" Nancy says, as a matter of fact.

"Piece of shit?" I suggest, noticing a nod from Eddie.

"Right. We've learned something new about Vecna/Henry/one... uh... piece of shit. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my.. my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."

"Then why fight fair?" Dustin asks, simply "you're right. He's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths and weaknesses" he explains.

Genius.

"Weaknesses?" Erica's quite confused now.

"There is one thing we can use." I say.

"Exactly, when El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true for Vecna" Dustin keeps talking.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic" Lucas points out.

"Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless." He declares.

"Defenseless? What about the army of bats?" Steve rhetorically asks, pointing at his injured neck.

"Right, true. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow." Dustin answers.

"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie asks, about to standing up.

"No idea" Dustin replies and Eddie sits back down defeated. "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin"

"That a sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern in Vecna's killings. I mean, at least not one that I can decipher." Robin notes. "We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don't even know who he's going to attack"

"We don't need another victim" I say, looking down.

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asks, worry clear in her voice.

"I can be the bait."

"No" Steve and Eddie says at the same time.

"I will" Max speaks up. "I can still feel him. I survived before I can do it again"

"No." I firmly say "we don't know if the music thing will work again. He will kill you, if he gets another chance. But he will not kill me"

"We... we don't know that, Y/n" Steve walks in front of me.

"Yes, we do! You didn't see what I saw. How he was with her. He looked at her like she was the reason the sun goes up every morning." I look him in the eyes, my voice gets softer "he won't kill me, Steve"

"Are you sure about this?" Lucas asks.

"Positive" I say letting out a big sigh "just... please kill him"

"We need supplies" Nancy declares.

-----------

After stealing an RVs we head to the War Zone that, according to Eddie, has everything we might need for killing things.

The plan is to buy weapons and then find an open space to get ready and be away from unwanted attention.

I sit in the back with Dustin while the others are scattered around and Steve's driving.

"Are you worried?" Dustin suddenly asks.

I look up at him, then I look around to avoid his worried stare and find Eddie's, instead. I smile at him, to let him know everything is alright.

"Scared shitless" I then say to Dustin.

"You don't have to do this. You can back down and we can think of a new plan together" Dustin tells me, he tries to both reassure me and make me change my mind.

"I know, I know. But the only other valid option is for Max to be the bait and, in all honesty, that scares me even more" As I speak I play with my fingers I sense someone's presence with us so I look up seeing Eddie.

"Hi" he softly says.

"Hey" I reply.

"I'll leave you two" Dustin smiles at us and gets up to join Lucas and Max.

"You okay?" He asks and I softly laugh. "Stupid question, I know. I'm sorry"

"Nah, don't worry about it. You can ask all the stupid question you want" I smile at him.

"I really wish you wouldn't have to do this" he gently holds my hand.

"Me too. But better me than Max, or anyone else" I say laying my head on his shoulder, I always found comfort in this. We've been friends since I started driving the kids back and forth when they had Hellfire, so we got closer. Sometimes I feel like there's more, but whenever anything could happen he backs down so I'm never sure how he feels.

"Actually it would be better to send Harrington. Maybe he could distract him with his hair, make a good use out of it for once" he jokes.

"Don't be mean." I say with a chuckle. He always knows how to cheer me up. "He might give him lessons on how to style it properly" I joke too.

I look at Steve driving.

Steve...

Steve, on the other hand, I met him when he and Nancy started dating, so of course he was always in the way. I didn't mind it honestly, he turned out to be not that much of a dick. Then he just got better, especially thanks to Dustin's friendship, but here's the things get complicated. When he worked at Scoops Ahoy with Robin he always flirted with me as I went to visit Robin during my breaks at the music store at Starcourt, at first I thought he was his way of joking. The moment I realised he wasn't joking I also realised I didn't mind it at all. I wanted him to flirt and I wanted to flirt back.

So... I realised I like, have some sort of feelings for two guys... at the same time.

Complicated.

"We're here" Steve announces parking the van in a secluded area to keep Eddie, Dustin and Lucas away from the people of Hawkins.

-----------

The store is huge.

"So much for avoiding angry hicks" Robin comments.

"Let's be... fast" Nancy suggests and we all agree.

Nancy and I go check out of the shotguns they sells.

"How much?" Nancy asks the seller.

"$120.99, but I'll throw in 20 rounds of buckshot for ya" he tells us and I just nod at Nancy.

"Not bad." I whisper to her and she agrees.

While we keep looking Nancy hands me the weapon, but then I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, can I see this real pretty .357, please?"

"Oh shit" I comment and Nancy quickly looks behind me and turn around just as quickly.

"You go. I got this" I tell her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just try warn the other to keep an eye out for his goons. They must be around here too" I nod and she walks away, but that must've caught Jason's eyes because he then speaks directly at me.

"Look at that... What are you doing here?" He asks.

"Oh you know" I start turning around to face him "they say there's a killer on the loose... gotta be prepared."

"Aren't you the freak's bitch?" He harshly asks.

"It's really sad you can't recognise what a friend looks like" I mock him, keeping a serious expression.

I see his jaw clenching hard, my words hit the target apparently. He relaxes his face and takes a breath and just looks at me, in a way that makes a shiver run down my spine.

"It's a real pity" he then says.

"Yeah, it is. It means you never had an actual friend in your life" I say with a fake pout on my face.

He just laughs humourless.

"No, babe. A real pity is how you ruined yourself by hanging out with the freak" he walks closer.

"Oh no... you think I ruined myself?" I ask with fake shock, then I just smile "thank god. If having good friends instead of assholes like you ruined me... glad to be ruined, sir"

"You were really pretty, you know. I mean, you kind of still are... I'd gladly help you find the right way back." He... flirts..?

Oh now I'm gonna get sick

"Wow... your girlfriend died not long ago and you're already harassing another girl... just wow." I laugh sarcastically "see? That's what makes Eddie so much better than you"

"What would your father say, uh? I don't think Hopper would be happy about it" he suddenly says.

Oh... he didn't just mention my father, did he?

Now it's my turn to clench my jaw, he notices and smiles proudly.

"You wash that fucking mouth before talking about my father, because you. Know. Shit." I tell him, walking up to him.

"Want my advice?" He asks completely ignoring me.

"No"

"Shotguns are not good for much of anything past killing small birds" he tells me, eyes focused on mine "I mean, they got power, sure, but not much range. And that's just gonna force you into close-range combat, then someone can easily redirect it by grabbing that barrel, like this.."

He suddenly moves to grab the barrel, but I'm faster, stepping back and moving the shotgun out of his reach earning a surprised expression from him.

"Keep talking about shit you clearly know nothing about and I might just show you what my father would say" I warn him and walk away.

I go pay for the stuff I got and reunite with the other as we walk back to the van.

"Remind me, please, not to make you angry?" Robin tells me with a proud smirk.

"You could never"

"That was... I gotta say... quite hot" Steve tells me pleasantly surprised.

I just wink at him, and we all hurry to get on the vehicle and just rush off before anyone could see us.

We quickly rush into the RV.

"What happened?" Lucas immediately asks.

"We gotta go" Steve cuts him off.

"Your old friend are here" Erica informs her brother.

Steve starts the vehicle, immediately driving away as soon as the last of us gets in.

I move on the back with Dustin and Lucas.

"So.." Dustin starts.

I look at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes?" I urge him on.

"When are you gonna talk to them?" He asks.

"To who?" Lucas asks, suddenly interested.

"Eddie and Steve" Dustin immediately answers and I roll my eyes "C'mon! It's clear as the day you feel something for them, the both of them and they feel the same."

"It's more complicated than you think, Dusty" I tell him softly.

"It's really not." Lucas interjects "I mean, Eddie kept worrying about you the whole time you all were in there. I mean very worried. Very."

"Yeah. And you didn't see the look Steve had when you volunteered to bait Vecna" Dustin adds.

"Yeah... I told you. Complicated" I tell them to drop the subject, so I just lean my head back and try to think of something else.

I have no idea what will happen.

I keep thinking about how this is real. I was there. I saw myself there in that lab, with Vecna, Henry or whoever the fuck he is. How is that possible? Is it some kind of trap?

What scares me the most is that I have this feeling it's not a trap, it's all true.

[stevie-petey]

May I ask your opinion on a hypothetical? What if it was Bug who went missing instead of will? Bug decides to ride home with will despite him saying he's old enough to go on his own and she ends up saving him from the demogorgan but takes his place and gets trapped in the upsidedown. How would Jonathan react, would he and Nancy still get together? ( probably not but still a question of how the dynamics would change) How would Dustin react, how would Claudia react?? She'd lose her poor mind with grief. I still feel like Joyce would be the one to connect lights to the upside down. Like she's visiting Claudia and sees the lights flicker, the same she's seen at her house. Bugs going everywhere trying to get someone to help her.

ooo this is an interesting hypothetical !! gonna do a read more because im gonna raaaaamble

first and foremost: the kids would IMMEDIATELY initiate a search party for bug the same way they did for will. mike and dustin would be the leading men, demanding people help and find her. this is why they still end up finding el in the woods, they were searching for bug when it happens because will remembers everything that happened and wants her home safe and sound

for jonathan: he would lose his mind and blame himself for it all, the same as bug blames herself for will, jon would blame himself for bug. hes the one who told her to take will home, hes the one who sent her to her deathbed. i dont think he would still end up with nancy, at least maybe not in season 1. i feel like hed be so sick with worry and guilt that the thought of hitting on nancy would send him over the edge. instead, when bug is back home safe, he might then start feeling something for nancy since she kept him sane the entire time bug was gone. i say this because bug going missing would switch the og dynamics - jon now becomes overbearing when she returns and she hates being coddled and would unintentionally push him away, right into nancys arms (as in the original story as well)

joyce would uncover it all, i agree, and its because jon and will INSIST on her helping and they all go to claudia and dustin to make sure theyre ok. claudia would spiral like joyce did in season 1, losing her firstborn child and i imagine we'd get a scene like with lonnie where bugs dad makes an appearance and makes things Worse

as for where bug would hide: id say castle byers like will did. she helped build it, she spent time there, and it was close to the byers home when it happens. she would stay there, maybe find her way home to claudia, but just freak out and try to stay alive for the boys. thats what would keep her going - the guilt of dying and letting jon and her boys grieve over her :(

bonus for steve: he would 100% get involved earlier in this scenario. hed be with nancy when he hears bug went missing and hed freak, but wont know why. heres this girl hes always had a weird fascination over and who has been so angelic and kind, and now shes missing ??? hed feel horrible and offer to help jonathan before nancy does i think. idk it just fits in my mind

[jupitermelichios]

rejected riverdale fic ideas

sam and dean winchester hear about the gargoyle king and assume he must be supernatural and spend three weeks chasing a sentient teleporting pile of sticks around the woods before figuring out it's not actually teleporting there's just like 6 different people all concurrently wearing the costume and murdering people

the teen wolf gang take a vacation in riverdale and get trapped in the town's temporal vortex (personally I like to think of it as the timehole but many disagree) and have to figure out how to escape

chose your own adventure fic where you have to stop archie from becoming aware that he's in a fictional narrative and going on a murder spree (again)

jughead jones makes a deal with bill cipher and unleashes weirdmageddon and the gang have to defeat him

the gang discover FP made a deal with bill cipher and unleashed weirdmageddon years ago and that's why riverdale is Like That. no one defeats him, they figure out the mystery and then just go on with their lives because they're all used to it

betty cooper and hannibal lecter team up to fight the trashbag killer

instead of going to hell when he dies, dean winchester accidentally takes a wrong turn and ends up in the great big diner in the sky, riverdale's canonical afterlife, and cas has to figure out how to get him back before someone notices that he lost the michael sword

the same except it happens instead of going to purgatory rather than hell, and benny is the new line cook at pops. he's still a vampire. this is never explained.

instead of whitby, dracula lands in riverdale and the gang have to stop him lucy westernra-ing cheryl

betty the vampire slayer

a tokyo ghoul fusion where it's revealed that half the cast are man-eating monsters disguised as humans. surprisingly little changes except that they resolve the farm plotline by eating edgar evernever.

cheryl's parents are revealled to be hydra agents and they try to use the winter soldier to assassinate hiram lodge but the power of friendship and milkshakes restores bucky's memories

mystery inc investigate the gargoyle king and reveal him to be clifford blossom after a series of light-hearted slapstick chase scenes. the riverdale gang are fully aware that mystery inc are opperating on cartoon logic, and are deeply disturbed by this

instead of washington, warlock's parents move to riverdale, and aziraphale and crowly have to live there while they co-parent the antichrist. (they both notice that tabith is an angel but assume she is aware of this and are much too polite to mention it to her)

cheryl blossom joins the x-men

cheryl blossom joins the brotherhood of evil mutants

toni topaz is given the outsider's mark after empress cheryl is murdered and must rescue britta from the loyalist conspiracy

betty is recruited to the beareau of control

the doctor visits riverdale and reveals that it's actually one of the time war battlefields, hence the timehole, and the gang are all daleks, except reggie, who is a timelord

Cheryl's russian spy parents open a gateway to the upsidedown in the palladium mines under riverdale and unleash a demogorgon on the town

archie is superman and veronica is lex luthor and riverdale is smallville

the entire show is revealed to be evelyn evernever's dream, and also evelyn is confirmed to exst in the tommy westphall universe

what if riverdale but a harem anime

archie is bella swan and veronica and betty are edward and jacob.(jughead is alice. obviously).

stranger things except instead of the upsidedown the dimensional gateways open onto rivervale

just the show loki except instead of the junkyard people the tva pruned go to riverdale. richard e grant loki becomes the new principle at the high school

after archie becomes aware that he's in a fictional narrative, he gains the ability to enter the white space between comics pannels and joins the x-statix

jughead is revealed to be entirely in archie's head, ala fight club

inception fusion where archie and the gang have to go inside hiram's mind to convince him not to bulldoze riverdale to make way for more paladium mines

dilton doily moves to nightvale to work with carlos the scientist and finds to surprisingly peaceful

regency au where alice cooper has to find respectable husbands for betty polly and ethel before anyone finds out about her husband being a serial killer and they become socially ruined