#y’all can thank the duffers for that too

[clovermunson]

honestly the discourse in the stranger things fandom always amazes me because it’s absolutely ridiculous and almost always some bullshit

(incoming rant in the tags)

[kyber-kisses]

A Glimpse of Us

Steve Harrington x Reader

Warnings: severe angst? Blood, tears, I can’t give too much away

Summary: when you’re trying to save the world, not everyone walks away unscathed

A/N: I would literally sacrifice myself for Steve Harrington, y’all do not understand. If the duffers kill my boy I will be raising hell.

Steve didn’t want to be here.

Hell, if he was being honest he knew no one wanted to be here. It wasn’t exactly an event that people got excited over. If anything it was one that people dreaded.

He can sense Dustin shift on his feet besides him, every once and while giving him a slide glance as well. He knows Dustin wants to say something, try anything to comfort Steve—but the kid remains silent.

And internally he thanks him for it.

Robins here too. It’s the first time Steve sees her quiet for such a long period of time. He knows she’s trying to process too.

Everyone is.

Despite the fresh spring air and the bursts of color sprouting from the flower beds and tree branches, Steve feels like he’s drowning in a sea of black— but he doesn’t try to paddle or reach for the surface. He allows it to settle around him.

Usually he would play notice to the soft chatter of voices around him, but today he doesn’t. Instead he lets his brain block it all out.

The only thing Steve is focusing on is the large portrait set against the stand several feet away, the base of it overflowing with lilies and daisies and hydrangeas.

God was there a massive amount of hydrangeas.

Then again they always were your favorite.

As he stood there he could see you beaming back at him from the framed photograph, completely unaware that your life like so many of those before you, was drawing to a close.

Despite everything that had happened in the past four years, Steve thought he would be immune to being caught off guard and surprised. . . Yet here he was. It had been two weeks and yet he still couldn’t wrap his head and heart around the fact that you were gone and not coming back.

He would have to walk back into work Monday morning with Robin and act like everything was normal even thought it wasn’t. You wouldn’t be stocking the shelves from all the Sunday evening movie returns or stealing his milk duds. All you would be is a headline article and a picture in the Hawkins Post.

He takes a painful glance at the headstone a few feet away, only to move his eyes back to his shoes. Your life could never be marked by a gravestone, something so cold and immobile. Perhaps a tree with a wind-chime in the branches could do you more justice, or a simple song sung into the wind. What lied in the ground is only flesh and blood, and that was never what you were.

You were so much more than that.

You were sunsets and big smiles. You were rose colored sunglasses and hand written birthday cards. You were pressed Pennie’s and never remembering to set your alarm. You were warm summer nights and loud contagious laughter.

You were. . . You.

And Steve loved every bit, he was just to late to realize it. And when he did he was ready, he was so ready to tell you—

And then you slipped through his fingers like grains of sand.

And now he was here.

Watching as your casket was lowered into the ground The fact that he would forever be six feet apart from you settled heavy over him.

Six feet never felt so far until now.

Feeling a hand squeeze his shoulder, he lifts his head- eyes till stuck to the casket. “Hmm?”

“Dustin and I will meet you at the Y/L/Ns. Take your time though.” Robins voice was gentle and soft as she gave him one more squeeze and departed his side along with Dustin.

Sticking his hands into his suit pocket, he squeezed a fist around the piece of paper tucked inside- trying everything int his power to ground himself to reality before he slipped back into that nightmare of a memory.

*. *. *. *. *. *.

“You son of a bitch!” You yelled, giving Steve a firm shove as you inhaled deeply, slightly out of breath.

“Me?! You were the one that just went running headfirst into danger!”

“Only because you were in danger to begin with!” You jammed a finger into his chest. “Could you not make me worry for five damn minutes Harrington?”

If someone told you a week ago that you would be standing in the middle of some back road outside Hawkins in the middle of the night right after climbing out of a nasty ass hell gate you would have emmediatly nodded and gone and raided your parents liquor cabinet—-

Yet here you were, covered in dirt, blood, and god knows what else.

A few yards away lay the damn portal, glowing a henious red and smelling like literal sewage. Things had gone sideways on your return trip to the upside down, leaving you and Steve spectated from the rest of the group and running for your life as those stupid bats flooded across the landscape.

Luckily Dustin had figured out earlier that a portal opened up every time Vecna took another victim, which had you and Steve aiming for the one were Fred had died.

It was a whole other miracle that no one in Hawkins had stumbled across the gate that was smack dab in the middle of a road.

Taking in a shuttered breath, you stumbled slightly back. With the adreline in your body starting to wear off you were beginning to feel all the aches and pains of the last two hours.

Grabbing at your side you winced, god did that hurt.

Seeing the change expression, Steve’s face shifted. “Y/N?”

And then like a switch being flicked, your knees buckled and Steve was rushing forward to catch you before you slammed into the pavement.

“Y/N!”

“Must be more tired than I originally thought.” You breathed, allowing Steve to lower you gently to the ground, unaware that you had now soaked Steve’s hands in deep crimson, making his face fall all the more.

“Oh god.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Looking up at Steve you felt your own face fall and then you saw his eyes directed at his shaking palms, thick red blood coating his fingers from where he had caught you.

So maybe one of those bats had gotten you way worse than you originally thought.

The pain wasn’t the worst part though. No, it was the look of sheer panic on Steve’s face.

Steve. The boy you’d been friends with since first grade, who used to share his snacks with you at recess and ride bikes with you. The Boy who pulled pranks on you and would push you into his pool when you were kids.

The boy you fell in love with a few years back but never had the courage to tell.

“We Uh, shit- we gotta get you to a hospital. He breathed, running bloody hands through sweat drenched hair.

“Steve let’s think rationally here. My side is literally ripped open, the hospital is on the other side of town and we have no way of getting there.”

He was silent for a moment and then his eyes widened and he was scrambling across the pavement. Then there was the distinct hiss of static and Steve playing with the dials of the walk-in talkie the two of you had.

“Dustin?! Come in Dustin!” The panic was so heavy in Steve’s voice it made you slightly wince. You didn’t like seeing him like this.

Within another moment he was back at you side, peeking off his shirt as he tried to staunch the flow of blood coming from your abdomen. The walk-in crackled to life besides him.

“Steve?! Thank god, we thought we had lost you guys! What the hell happened?!” Dustins voice breaking through the heavy breathing coming from your friend.

“Dustin! I’ll fill you in later, but I need you to grab Max and get down here to Dawson Road as fast as you can?”

“What’s going o-“

“Nows not the time Henderson! I left my keys on Eddie’s counter, have Max drive-“

“Wait now you want Max to drive?”

“We don’t really have another choice! Just get your asses down here! We need help!” At this point Steve was practically screaming into the walkie, the pain in his voice only getting stronger.

“Copy that. We’re on our way.”

With a heavy sigh Steve tossed town the walkie yet again, before returning all his attention to you. With one hand pressed firmly against your abdomen and the other gripping your hand tightly, he tried to fight back the nausea stirring in his belly.

You looked so fragile in this moment, your eyelids drooping as you weakly held his hand. Your pulse growing weaker by the minute as he kept one of his fingers pressed to your wrist. Despite how dark it was outside he could still see the blood on both of your sets of hands. Real blood was nothing like movie blood, just as real death was nothing like movie death. There is no amount of horror that can prepare a person for seeing the life ebb from another, the hopelessness.

“Hey talk to me Y/N, you gotta stay awake.”

Humming a response you brought your eyes up to look at Steve, “how bout just a little nap?”

“Nope, nope-“ he shook his head, still trying to keep the fear from bubbling up. “Come on, stay with me.” Steve paused, trying to think of anything to keep you talking and awake. “Hey, tell me about one of your favorite memories.

“Memories?”

“Yeah, there’s gotta be one. You’ve lived a pretty exciting life.” He mused, giving your hand another squeeze as he moved to brush a stray hair away from your face.

You answer came quick, so quick in fact it caught Steve off guard. “Probably that time we sat in that empty parking lot of that gas station off I-20 and ate shitty gas station snacks.”

“Wait really? You could have gone with anything and you went with that?” He cracked a smile at you, fortunately getting a weak one in return.

“Yeah, cause that’s when I realized I had fallen in love with my best friend.” You voice was so quiet but the words so loud.

It was enough to stun Steve Harrington into complete silence.

“Wait, you—“

“Since junior year.”

“Why- why didn’t you ever say anything?” He breathed, trying to ignore the war raging between the fear of losing you and the euphoria you saying you loved him.

“Monsters we’re taking over Hawkins, and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“Oh well that’s kind of lame.” He tried joking, only to fail miserably due to how you shot him a glare.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What’s your favorite memory?”

Falling silent yet again, Steve squeezed your hand even tighter. “The night after Starcourt,” he slowly admitted, “when we sat in your living room and ate that pint of cherry jubilee. Despite everything that had just happened you still managed to find a way to smile and crack jokes. That’s when I realized I had loved you way longer than I thought I had.” He paused, glancing down at his hand in embrassment. “Sorry, that shit was cheesy as hell.”

“I’ve known you since first grade. I’m used to it.” You mused weakly, finding it increasingly harder to keep your eyes open.

You knew they weren’t gonna get here in time. But you stayed silent.

Letting out another rattled breath, you casted your eyes towards the night sky. It least you were here and not in the Upside Down. Here there were stars, a whole canopy of them just beyond your reach.

“Y/N?”

The sound of your name brought your eyes back to Steve, his big brown irises locking onto your own.

“It’s not such a bad way to go.” You admitted, giving him a weak and tired smile, “at least I’m here with you.”

“And you said, I’m cheesy?” He smiled, before feeling his face slowly drop. He could feel you slipping, even though he had been trying his damndest to ignore it.

In that moment you knew you were saying goodbye but neither of you want to admit it. Because of you said it out loud it was real. Steve locked his eyes onto yours and brought you into his chest, each of you bathed in your blood. Steve felt his face crack into the look he had seen at the hospital several times before, that point of no return, when love is torn apart. Your hair tumbled over your face and so he swept it back, feeling the coldness of your skin, before gently leaning down and placing a delicate kiss to your lips. You smiled so briefly before your breathing became a noisy rattle...

And then you were gone.

Just like that. One minute you were looking up a Steve with that famous Y/N smile, and the next—

That's how Dustin and Max found the two of you. You departed, Steve sitting in a pool of cold blood, hugging your body as if you were still in there somewhere.

You never figured you would die at eighteen. But then again you never figured you’d fall in love with your best friend either.

*. *. *. *. *. *. *. *.

Once the last person had trickled out of the cemetery, Steve found the courage to fish the small paper out of his pocket. Your parents had asked him if he would write a euology for your funeral, and he did. . . He just didn’t read it, not to everyone.

These words were for you.

Only you.

He unfolded it with shaky hands, doing his best to smooth out the creases in the wrinkled paper.

“I’m not very good at writing sentimental shit so your gonna have to bear with me.” He breathed, glancing over at your portrait once more.

“Your parents told me I should do this, that it might help with your passing. . . But I don’t think anything could help with that. I mean, shit- how the hell Am I supposed to go back to a normal life when your not in it. You’ve been in my life since we were kids. You are my normal.

I think I was in love with you for way longer than I realized. I can’t really pin point when it started. All I know is that all of a sudden I was in the middle of it. If I’m begin honest you were the only thing keeping me sane for a long time in this godforsaken town. But then you introduced me to Robin and all three of us became friends. . . And nothings been the same since.”

Each word that left his tongue felt like a weight being lifted off his shoulders. He should have said these things to you in person, but hey- he was a coward so this was as good as it was going to get.

“I know your dead. I mean, I know it in my head, but it doesn’t seem real. I still feel like your here, with me somehow, like one night you’ll be sneaking into family video after close, back from sneaking out after curfew to tell me and Robin about some solo adventure you went on.

I wish you could tell me where you are now. I mean, like I said, I know your gone, but I think there must be something in a person that can’t just disappear.

I guess that’s my formal invitation for you to haunt my ass until the end of time.

I know your out there. Somewhere. Just give me a sign when you can.

In the meantime don’t worry about me. Vecnas gone, and I’m not alone. Robin and Dustin are still looking out for me.

I’m grateful that I got to grow up with you as my best friend, and for all that you showed me.

Yours Forever,

Steve

The End.

[latenightsimping]

And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God

Summary: The afterlife means many different things, for many different people. Religions, faiths and beliefs all wonder what happens when you pass on. For Eddie, it’s finally going home.

Pairing: Eddie Munson

Word count: 2,080

Warnings: V ANGSTY NEAR CRIED WHEN I WROTE THIS YOU’VE BEEN WARNED, angst to fluff, heavy themes of death, heavy themes of pain and sadness, has a bittersweet ending to it, mentions of bad fathers, themes of bullying, themes of depression, themes of bereavement. just a real bad time all ‘round but it’s good at the same time? idk read at your own risk okay

AN: Had a breakdown, started working on it, bon appetite. I’m fully on the camp of ‘Eddie’s still alive and the Duffer Brothers are being very fucking mean arseholes by making us wait for two years’ but I like to think what Eddie’s version of Heaven is. And I think it would be this. Because for me, it would be seeing my Dad again. Aight I’m gonna start crying again. Anyway, enjoy. Love y’all, make sure to give yourselves aftercare if you need it. Also, before I leave, the inspo for this bit of writing is Placebo’s ‘cover of Running Up that Hill because it makes me sob. 

Eddie always figured that dying would hurt. And he was right.

He could remember sharp teeth tearing into flesh, the sickening sounds of ripping and chewing barely audible over the sound of his screams. It was as if he had been dipped in hellfire; bathed in the flames and forced to stay conscious for it all.

He remembered the tenderness that fuelled Dustin’s careful movements as he was pulled into the young boy’s lap. Looking up and thinking Thank God. Thank God I’m not going to die alone. The small part of him that was still aflame felt guilt. Here he was, after seeing so many horrors, now having to watch someone die in his arms. Dustin was too young for all this. A child in a veteran’s uniform, battle scars where medals should have adorned him. He wanted to say so much to him. Tell him he was proud, and that he was so sorry for bowing out so soon, and there wouldn’t be an encore. But all he could manage to force from his lungs, choking on his own blood, were the most important things that he could think of through the haze.

“I didn't run away this time, right?”

I’m sorry that it had to end this way. But I would do it again, if it meant you were safe. Please, just tell me I did the right thing this time. Tell me that I didn’t die in vain. That Chrissy didn’t die in vain. Please tell me that I did the right thing for once in my life, please.

“You're gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?”

From the moment I first saw you in that Weird Al shirt, I knew I had to protect you from the worst this world had to offer. You were so scared, and I knew that feeling well. I didn’t want you bringing home bloody noses and crying yourself to sleep from the cruel words running through your mind on a loop, just like I did. But you’re going to have to do the same for others, okay? I know you can do it, Dustin. You’re so strong, and so kind. I just hope I helped you, that I did a good job protecting you.

“I think it’s my year, Henderson. I think it’s finally my year.”

For once in my life, I’m not a burnout that sells pot to make ends meet and can’t graduate. I saved people. I’m nothing like my old man, who would have turned tail the second shit went sideways. I did the right thing, for once in my fucking life. I can rest, knowing that. It’ll be okay.

“I love you, man.”

I love you. Thank you for staying with me, so I wasn’t alone in the last moments. That’s all anyone asks for, right? To not leave this world without someone watching over them? Soon, the pain’s gonna stop. After all, to die would be an awfully big adventure, wouldn’t it? I love you, man.

I love you.

The last words on his lips stained with cruor was a declaration of the warmth, care and adoration for one of his best friends. Before he was pulled into the blackness, a numbness, nothingness, seeping into his very soul that couldn’t be explained with the human language. Something that could only be experienced during the last moments of someone’s life. The smoke that rises from the candle of the soul when it’s snuffed out. The black sands of time, the last few grains meeting the bottom of the hourglass. His last words weren’t a complaint, or a curse, or a cry of anguish.

It was love.

It was love, as pure as the bright light that surrounded him, bathing him in a peaceful warmth. It was as if he had blinked, but more instant than that. It was as if he was always in this room. It took him a few seconds to recognise it.

He recognised the pale yellow walls first. He remembered his Mother singing along to Here Comes the Sun as she painted them, covering up the disgusting beige that was underneath it. Dressed in old overalls spattered with paint and a rag as a bandanna to keep her wild brown curls out of her face. Could remember being six years old, watching with curiosity from the covered up couch, and thinking she was the prettiest woman this side of the Wabash river. The way that she looked back and smiled at him, the corners of her eyes crinkling and her giggle sounding like silver bells.

She had dome everything to make this place a home, no matter how little money they had. She’d scrimped and saved for paint, and had traipsed around countless yard sales and flea markets for good furniture. Sure, the couch was a little lumpy, and the coffee table had a deep gouge running down the middle. But that didn’t matter when the home was filled with such earnest warmth and comfort. His old man had left by this time; had walked out in the middle of the night and never came home. And at so young an age, he knew he was truly relieved to see the back of him. Just him and his Mom, in this run down home that still had cracks, but was more than enough.

So what was he doing back here?

Looking down at himself, he could see he was wearing his favourite shirt, one that he had lost long ago. The faded Anthrax shirt that Wayne had bought him for Christmas, now without the tears of being flung around the Hawkins High parking lot during a brawl. Now, it was as pristine and soft as he had remembered. His most comfortable ripped jeans and sneakers, and his prized possessions of the leather jacket and battle vest fitting like a second skin. No blood, no bite wounds, no pain. He felt the best that he had ever felt. He even smelt of his favourite cologne.

The sounds of humming made his head snap towards the source; the kitchen. He knew the humming well. The melodies that had stopped the day she died, and no song had never sounded the same since. He thought he would feel fear, or confusion. But all he could feel was content. Like this was the place he was meant to be all this time, and the living world was only temporary. The confidence of that knowledge fuelled him to take the steps towards the archway, rounding the corner to be met with the figure he wanted to see so badly.

Wayne had always said that Eddie took after his Mom. And that was true. Who could deny the matching halo of curls, and the deep umber eyes? He had his father’s nose, but that was it. Everything else was purely her. And here she was. Harmonising her favourite song as she chopped up vegetables, the pale pink apron that he’d clung to so often as a child still tied around her waist. He took in her profile; the slight upturned nose and slightly parted glossy lips. His heart fluttered like a trapped bird in his ribcage, lips breaking into a grin.

“Mama?”

She turned her head to him, a slight look of confusion on her face for only a second before it became one of joy. The same little crinkle around her eyes that he remembered so vividly as she put down the knife and opened her arms, an offering for an embrace. “Hey baby,” she whispered, voice so soft and gentle that he could cry.

It was near automatic, closing the gap between them and throwing his arms around her. He was taller than her now, no longer having to wrap his arms around her thighs. Now, he practically towered over her, and he could bury his face into the crown of her head. She still smelled the same. Like lavender and roses, a scent that had long faded from his lungs now filling them. He held her so tightly that he was surprised he didn’t crush her, but he couldn’t stop. What if she was going to go again, leave him all on his own like she did ass those years ago? But if she had any complaints, she wasn’t voicing them. Tears welled in his eyes, and he squeezed them shut to stop them from falling. “Mama, I… I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too sweetheart,” she mumbled into his chest, slightly pulling away to look up at him. Her eyes flickered over all his features, a grin spreading across her face as her hands came up to cup his jaw. He leaned into it, savouring the warmth of her palms. “God, I- look at you,” she chuckled, the pad of her thumb coming up to carefully caress the skin just under his eye. “You’ve got so big, huh? Still the same handsome face, though.”

He couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled from his chest, too scared to even blink in case she was going to vanish. “It’s been twelve years, Mom. And I missed you. Every single day.”

“I missed you too baby,” she whispered. “But… You’re here so much earlier than I thought. What happened?”

He shook his head, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. She was still there. This was all real, and she wasn’t a figment of his imagination. He thought reality was the last life, but this… All his senses seemed to work so much better. He could smell the comforting scent of his Mother, could smell his favourite meal – one that he hadn’t had in thirteen years – being cooked on the stove that only she could work just right. He could feel her soft hands on his face, the sensation grounding him. Could see her beautiful features that mirrored his own, looking up at him like he hung the moon. That past life all felt like a horrible nightmare, one that he was just waking up from. One that he didn’t want to tell her about just yet.

He shook his head slowly, a shy smile flitting across his lips as he rubbed his fingers over the small of her back, enjoying the feeling of her soft cotton dress against his skin. “I’ll tell you later.” Later, he figured, could mean any time in the future. And he had the feeling that he would be here for a joyful eternity. “Is this Heaven?”

“I think so,” she nodded, her hand coming up to brush errant hairs away from his face. “And my Heaven just got better, now you’re here with me.”

His chest tightened, and he couldn’t stop the heaving sob as he hugged her again, holding her so close as if he was trying to pull her into himself. Burying his face into her neck, inhaling her perfume as if he would never smell it again for the second time around. It wasn’t sadness, though, that fuelled his cries. It was happiness. Pure, unfiltered joy, that he finally had what he always wanted. What he wished for every single night, especially when the day had been hard.

He had his Mama back.

“Ssh, none of that,” she cooed, a gentle chide as she rubbed his back soothingly. “I’m here, baby. I’m here for you, okay? I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“Pinky swear?” he mumbled, causing the woman to softly laugh. To the two of them, a pinky swear had been stronger than any laws. It meant that the one promising would move mountains, just to make it happen. He hadn’t made a pinky swear for so long. Not ever since it didn’t feel the same, when her delicate little finger encircled his.

“Pinky swear,” she echoed, pressing a kiss to his temple.

If this was Heaven, this was the perfect final act. He had the only person that he truly wanted more than anything in this world, back in the home where he knew love without a price tag. No more bruises and broken bones, or cruel words with such abundance that he could drown in them. No more knowing cold, or hunger, or hardship. No more loss and anguish, no more mourning.

He knew it, deep in his gut. Now he was here, all that negativity would be washed away. It was all worth it, to finally be here.

It was finally worth it to be home.

[mayahawkse]

there was homophobia in the treatment of byler and eddie and it threw the show off course in the final episodes.

steddie and ronance are admittedly unlikely ships so we knew those weren't really going to happen but everything in the show has been setting up for byler since s1. they've been the main love story since the beginning and mike and el were meant to be a foil to byler. it was made clear in s4 vol 1 that el and mike barely even like each other let alone love each other.

they introduced an eddie a character who was explicitly queer coded - outcast, the black bandana, the subtle comments to steve. it was very clear he was being coded as gay.

the vol 2 happens and just fucking ruins everything. they kill off the gay coded character that fans had fallen in love with. they have mike give that big speech and suddenly start pretending he and el care about each other when they never have before. they backtracked on everything they were building too.

letting byler happen in s5 could potentially save the show but at the same time so much damage was already done to mike and will's characters this season i dont trust the writers to course correct. brining eddie back would undo the bury your gays trope but it still wouldn't take away from making fans watch a gay coded character die brutally in the finale.

the biggest flaws which ruined s4 were killing eddie and not letting byler happen and it's all because of the duffer's apparent hatred for not only gay characters but their lgbtq fanbase.

so weird i had the exact same complaints i just didn’t look at it from a shipping angle. like i’ve said before, i’m not a shipper i just don’t have it in me to dedicate time to non canon pairings that feel unlikely to come to fruition. do i think robin/nancy would be cute? totally. can i see the chemistry between steve and eddie? yup. is it very obviously painfully clear that will is in love with mike? duh. i just can’t find it in myself to be invested on the level that shippers are, so props to y’all as long as u aren’t a dick about shit.

but yeah no i fully agree the end speech with mike was bad, and a total insult to will considering mike in s2 said going up to will on the playground was the best decision he ever made. feels more like character assassination than anything. and obviously i’m not happy about eddie’s death, like of course. thanks for laying out your pov for me cause i agree on some level, i just don’t agree that it was entirely homophobia. a lot of metalhead culture is derivative of gay culture in the 70s/80s, and joseph played eddie with a natural flirtiness, so no matter what, eddie was going to be gay coded. he served to be a foil to steve, so they wouldn’t have to kill steve and would still (potentially) get the emotional payoff of someone close to dustin dying. because fans latched onto steve and dustin’s relationship, they thought they could replicate it in one season with dustin + eddie, but eddie’s entire “redemption” was trumped up. i don’t think it’s homophobia it’s just..bad writing.

i’m not gonna speak on byler bc i know there’s someone floating around my blog that thinks i’m an anti shipper monster for some reason, but you feel what you feel and if you’re disappointed by their treatment in s4 vol 2 then that’s just what it is. you’re in your right to be disappointed.

[jomarchlover]

Heather

Hi guys! This is my first fanfic that I have ever posted, so sorry if it’s a little cringey or something. I hope y’all enjoy! Love you guys<3

Summary: You are a new member of the stranger things cast and you are getting interviewed with the rest of the cast.

Lots of fluff and gender neutral.

Trigger warnings: Mentions of anxiety and feeling less than.

—————————————————————————-

“So y/n were you scared to start working with your other cast members since you came in on the third season?” The interviewer asked looking over at you expectantly.

“Um yes I was extremely scared. I felt so anxious the entire casting process and then I was so happy to get the role, but then I started feeling really anxious again thinking about how I was going to be acting around some really talented people and of course I didn’t want to mess up and ruin the production. Before I first met the cast I cried for like an hour and finally my mom told me just be the best you can be and so I walked in there with my head held high and immediately went to the farthest corner away from everybody. I was so shy for about the first three weeks of filming but I realized it was affecting my acting so I decided to just completely go for it and be myself and I am so glad I did, because I have made some of the best friends possible.” You rambled on. Slightly blushing after realizing you had just revealed a lot about yourself.

“Oh y/n/n you're going to make us cry” Finn said wiping away fake tears. The heat instantly started rushing into your cheeks. You had liked Finn since the first time you met. He was so cute and nice and also liked similar bands to you. You guys instantly bonded over your love of vinyl.

“Yeah y/n was so shy when they first came on the show we all thought at first they just didn’t like us, but it didn’t take much for us to realize they were just nervous to talk to everyone. The duffers even came to us and told us that at first y/n would probably be very shy but would slowly begin to open up to us. I remember the first time they laughed at a joke and everyone just kinda stopped and looked at them. They have one of the sweetest laughs.” Milly said.

Your heart warmed to Millie’s compliment and you gave her a little kpop heart while blushing. You should really get this blushing under control. It was getting ridiculous at this point.

“Oh y/n/n don’t get all embarrassed on us.” Caleb says laughing reaching over to pinch one of your now inflamed cheeks.

“Sorry I just get so embarrassed remembering how shy I was. I have grown so much since then, and the cast has really helped me gain so much confidence.” You said honestly looking at the interviewer.

“Y/n is like the cast’s baby.” Finn says looking over you.

“I am not.” They reply sassily. Everybody busts out laughing.

“Okay now the next question is for Finn.” The interviewer says looking over at Finn with an evil glint in his eye. You began to feel nervous. He was going to get a bad question wasn’t he.

“Shoot,” Finn says nonchalantly.

“I heard a rumor that you had a crush on one of your castmates while filming. Is this true?”

Now it was Finn’s turn to begin blushing. You had never heard of him having a crush on someone before. Was it Milly? You had thought you and Finn were pretty good friends now why wouldn’t he have told you?

“Man where do you guys get this info? You gotta tell me your source man.” Says Finn jokingly.

“Oh come on now don’t be shy Finny, tell the nice man the truth.” Milly said in a sing-song voice.

“Yeah come on Finn,” said Noah in the back. “Don't be shy.”

“Umm well I guess I may have had a small crush on one of the cast members.”

“Can we hear any details?”

“Well I’m not going to give any details but they are one of the sweetest, most beautiful people in the entire world and I still can’t believe that I was so lucky to even work in the same room as them.

“Wow that doesn’t sound like a little crush that sounds a lot like love my friend.” The interviewer says jokingly to Finn.

After that little escapade the interview seemed to end quite shortly after. It had actually been a lot of fun. You had never been interviewed on tv before, but still even amidst all the excitement you couldn’t help but think back to Finn's crush. Who was it? Was it Natalia? Maya? Sadie? Gaten? There were so many options each of your castmates were extremely beautiful and talented and smart, in a way that you could never be. Your mood immediately dampened thinking of that. In the words of Conan Gray “I wish I were Heather,” right about now. You continued walking along with the cast back to the suv that had taken you to the interview. You were first to the car so you did the courteous thing and climbed into the very back row. Finn right at your heels. Noah and Millie sat in the next row and Caleb sat in the front seat. Each of you had a lot of space since Gaten and Sadie didn’t come to this interview due to scheduling conflicts, yet Finn still sat so close to you could feel your leg touching against his.

Not five minutes into the ride everyone except you and Finn were immersed into a very loud and heated discussion about their thoughts on whether or not the french fries from McDonalds tasted better than the french fries from Wendy’s. Personally you didn’t like french fries so you just continued to stare out of the window to look at the scenery.

After a minute or two you felt two eyes boring into the side of your head, you turned slightly to your right and saw that finn was staring at you. Why was he looking at you? Dang you had a booger didn’t you? Oh god if you had a booger and finn saw it you would probably die from embarrassment.

“Okay I can’t handle not knowing do I have something on my face? Please just tell me.” You said turning fully towards finn and looking deep into his dark brown eyes.

“You.. uh. No..you don’t.. I just.. ugh. “

You sat patiently waiting for him to finish. Still staring at him expectantly he visibly sighed and looked back towards you.

“I mean no you don’t have any thing on your face other than your facial features.”

You laughed a little noticing his odd wording.

“Well that is good to hear because I thought I saw you looking at me and wasn’t for sure If I did or not.”

Finn let out a small jittery chuckle “No. Nope. You're totally good. Everythings good. I'm good. YOu're good. You look goo-.”

Your eyes widened, was he just about to say you looked good? Did he think you were pretty? No get that out of your head he clearly likes someone else, someone you're probably friends with and like too. Now that you couldn’t get your mind off of the topic again you decided to be brave and ask him about it.

“So..” You said turning your head towards him. He looked back at you looking nervous about what you were gonna say next. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable because I know it’s none of my business, but how come you never told me you had a crush on one of our cast mates?

“Oh so you heard that.” He said, turning his head to look down at his feet.

“Well yeah I think everyone heard that.” You said sarcastically. “I don’t want to make you feel like you have to tell me but if you wanna talk about it I can keep a pretty good secret.”

“Oh I know that. Remember that one time Sadie whispered something to you and you couldn’t stop laughing for like three hours straight? Filming literally got pushed back a day, and you wouldn’t tell anyone what she had told you because she asked you to keep it a secret.”

You felt yourself giggling thinking about what she had told you trying to get a reign on yourself you forced yourself to stop focusing on the joke and start focusing on something else. “Wow I’m surprised you remember that if I'm being completely honest. I mean you weren’t even in that scene.”

“Yeah but I like to watch you.” His eyes widened and he suddenly turned to look at your reaction. “I mean I like to watch you act because you’re a great actor/actress.”

Your cheeks began to redden at his words. He likes to watch you. He liked to watch you. He thought you were a great actor/actress. You kept repeating his words in your head and you felt yourself get more giddy each time you rethought of his previous words.

“You’re a pretty good actor yourself Mr. Wolfhard.”

“Thank you.” Now Finn was blushing. He looked so cute when he blushed. Well really he looked so cute when he did anything. You suddenly felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest. Gosh you wished you could just kiss his freckled cheeks. Sadly, you thought that might give away that you have a crush on him. You knew you were staring but you just couldn’t make yourself stop. He was so gorgeous.

You both quickly made eye contact and looked away at each other. He likes someone else you had to repeat to yourself. You felt nauseous thinking about Finn with someone else but you wanted your friend to be happy. You were so curious so you decided to bring it up one last time.

“So do I get to know who the lucky person is that you have your eyes set on? I’ll even guess and you can tell me if I get it right or wrong if you are comfortable with that.”

“Yeah I don’t think you’ll guess correctly but you can try.”

You sat for a second and tried to think of everything that was said about this person. “Okay well apparently they are one of our cast mates and they’re very sweet, beautiful and talented. That could really be anyone now that i’m thinking about it.” You began stroking your imaginary beard.

Finn was just watching you with an amused look on his face.

“Okay I have my first official guess.”

“And who would that be my love?”

“The only person who I truly believe matches that description is David.” You couldn’t help but laugh at yourself.

“OMG how did you know?!” Finn says dramatically.

Tapping your forehead you whispered in your best british accent, “Just a brilliant mind I guess.”

“You are so close yet so far away from the correct answer.” Finn said in mock disappointment.

“Hmm who could it be. Who could it be.” As soon as you finished talking Millie's joyful laugh ripped through the van, and as you turned to Finn as he turned to Millie. You immediately knew who he liked. He liked- no loved Millie as the interviewer had put it. You could never compete with her. Milly was confident, gorgeous, kind and smart. All things that you seriously lacked.

Once everything died back down Finn turned to you and said, “Okay final answer. If you get this one wrong I guess you'll never know who The Finn Wolfhard likes.” After seeing the loving look he gave Millie you really didn’t want to keep playing this stupid game. It was clear to you now all the moments that you had ignored between them but you couldn’t continue to do that. There was clearly a lot of chemistry between the two, and who were you to stand in between that?

“Okay but for real I know who you like.” You said suddenly leaned closer to make sure not to give away the secret to prying ears. As much as you loved them you wouldn’t tell Finn’s secret no matter what.

“It’s Millie.”

Finn suddenly gave you a baffled look. “Wow for a second I thought you were going to say the correct answer, but clearly not.”

“Don’t be rude and you don’t have to lie to me anymore. Jokes over. I know the truth and so do you.” You turned back away the second you felt the tears begin to burn at the back of your eyes. Oh no. This was just great you were going to start sobbing next to your crush just because he doesn’t like you. You felt so pathetic. You never thought a boy would have this much hold over you. How had you even let this happen? This is absolutely ridiculous.

Almost as if he could sense you getting upset Finn leaned in close to you and whispered into your ear, “I don’t like Millie. I only have eyes for one person and they’re sitting right next to me.”

You didn’t turn around but you knew he saw your back stiffen as soon as he said the words.

“If this is a joke I will never speak to you again.” You said slowly turning towards him wiping the tears away from your eyes.

“I would never joke about something this important y/n/n. The first time I saw you, I immediately knew I wanted to be your everything. You make me feel a way no one else ever has. I get all tongue tied around you and I get butterflies in my stomach, but it’s so worth it if I get to be by your side even for a second. I have loved you and will continue to love you for the rest of my life.”

You were in disbelief at his words. You would've never imagined he could have ever felt this way about you.

“I feel the same way about you, Finny. You’re the sweetest person I have ever met.”

And then you were both smiling like fools at each other. You probably stared at each other for ten minutes straight before you each turned away. But you let out a happy sigh when Finn’s hand found your own and you intertwined your pinky’s together.

That's how you sat for the rest of the ride. Neither of you spoke or looked at each other. You both just continued to look out of the windows and revel in the fact that you both liked each other.

[alteritymonster]

Will the Wise

ST s02e04

Hello y’all! I hope the weekend was okay for everybody. Check out Lucas Appreciation Week all about Lucas Sinclair from Stranger Things 💖🥰 !! And share some thoughts or rb’s of things Lucas-y if you’re feeling it :) He’s a great character who doesn’t get all of the love he’s worth, so I’m happy to see people talking about him more. Thank yous to @lucas-sinclairstan and @thesnarkywillbyersfan for getting this started!!!

Tonight I watched ep. 4 of ST2 and, as a friend reminded me a few days ago, this really is the season where we watch Will suffer, weirdly more so than s1 even. He’s a character I can identify with in some ways, and seeing him struggle sometimes feels familiar (for mundane versions of what he’s dealing with) and also sometimes feels weirdly rewarding, because he is surrounded by other characters who mean to do well by him, and in fact do. There is comfort in that, of a kind. I’m not sure what that says about me.

Speed limit, Joyce! School zone! Jeez.

I’m realizing that if this were a show with characters I didn’t care as much about, I’d probably have spent more time since I’ve gotten into ST thinking about questions like, What is the Upside Down? What exactly is the Mindflayer? etc.

Theories I’ve heard about those questions that have been at all interesting to me have been about them being extensions of Will’s trauma, or El’s, or about them representing adult abuse/neglect in some sense.

Hopper is so scary with El in this episode, more so than I remembered.

I am so uncomfortable right now

(I start to feel like my memory for things I’ve watched is not nearly as good as my memory for things in real life...)

Where is Will’s head at this point? It’s not like he’s in total thrall (yet) to the Mindflayer, not like people will be in s3...

Wheelers, you live in a cul-de-sac, who is even seeing your Reagan sign?

Dustin: “Hi, Max.” 🤣

Mr. Clarke’s monologue while Will starts shunning warmth is maybe a little on the nose...

Will is literally too cool for school right now cough, cough I’m here all week

“He likes it cold.” wow is that line creepy

Hopper. Why do you gotta?

As of this writing, Billy has not yet died.

The most sinister game of duck duck goose ever committed to film.

Joyce is a genius, honestly.

Mike is being an upright dickwaffle to Max just wow

El, why are you cleaning up? You’re just giving Hopper what he wants!

(yup, i’m still upset)

So I guess David Harbour said in a recent interview that the “Dad” stuff underneath the cabin living room is very important? Is “Dad” Hopper’s dad though, or is it Hopper himself?

Owens: “Mistakes have been made.”

He is surprisingly upfront with Nancy and Jonathan though...

Weeds. Stopping the truth from spreading too far...

...protective secretiveness, almost-lying, truth being love but also being dangerous, there are no gay metaphors here though

Secrets: “what are we, in second grade?” Typically, second-graders in the US are 7 years old. Mike will much later hide behind saying he’s acting like a 7-year-old. What could be special about that age to the Duffers? 🧐

I didn’t know Boggle was a thing in the 80s.

“Mama?” 😭😭😭

“Let’s burn that lab to the ground.” She a badass, our Nancy.

I am so sorry about what I know we’re about to be shown is happening to your cat in Dustin’s bedroom, Dustin’s mom.

eewwwww, a freshly shed demoskin

Poor kitty :(

For real Hopper that is an impressive volume of digging

when you can tell the sun is still up when they shot the shot but a filter is making it look like sunset

Hopper drops into the tunnels and then, get this, the camera turns UPSIDE DOWN we get it, jeez

[palmviolet]

hii! may i just ask you why/how the mom steve meme is sexist?

thank you for asking so politely!! i’m happy to talk about it (and i think it ought to be discussed).

okay, so let’s talk about mom steve.

steve is a teenage boy. the foundations of his character were set as the stereotypical 80s high school douche, a kind of foil to jonathan, whom nancy was always ultimately going to choose over steve - regardless of how steve’s character developed later on. then the duffers met joe keery, and decided to take his character in a different direction. he starts the series as your high school bully, though the take on the trope is more nuanced than it was originally, but by the end of season 1 he’s starting to redeem himself.

this is all good. it’s more interesting, actually, than the more typical archetype fulfilled by billy in season 2. the duffers are all about nuance.

so let’s go to joyce in season 1. joyce embodies another archetype - the stricken, frantic, hysterical mother. the narrative could easily dismiss her, but instead a large proportion of the series is from her perspective: we see her use of the christmas lights not as a delusion but as a rational, logical experiment. we as the audience are desperate for the others to believe her. so here, too, there is another subversion of a trope - and when her beliefs are validated by hopper, literally part of the institutions that dismiss her (he is ex-army, the police chief, a man), she is still a fundamental part of uncovering the mystery and finding her son. he doesn’t take over. without her, they never would have succeeded.

all this she does in aid of her child. she gets called crazy, delusional, a mess even by her own son, jonathan - but she doesn’t give up.

to summarise so far - in season 1, both steve and joyce subvert tropes. joyce overcomes institutional sexism by her strength and belief as a mother.

onto season 2. the crisis - the monster du jour - isn’t so glaring this time, but creeps up on the narrative. will is present and for a while joyce can be more relaxed. she has a boyfriend now - bob - and they seem happy together. we learn than she and hopper went to high school together. we discover she - and the other characters - are still heavily traumatised by the events of season 1. nancy is too, and she’s struggling in her relationship with steve. but instead of framing their breakup around her trauma, around how they simply don’t work together anymore because they’ve both grown to be different people, the show seems to favour steve and make it less than amicable. we are made to feel sorry for steve, poor, dumped steve, instead of placing the two on equal ground.

@jancys-blue-bayou made a good post about this a while back, when the teaser for s3 came out. in it they discuss steve in season 2; ‘they began […] by making him “a loser” through his relationship with nancy ending in a way that humiliated his frail male ego and then king steve losing his crown to billy, so he’s not popular in high school now. just like jonathan’s never been.’ essentially they begin to shape steve into what jonathan used to be - a loner, an outcast, someone the audience should sympathise with. the kind of character stranger things has always been about.

meanwhile the whole mess with will begins, and joyce has no other focus once again - her relationship with bob falls by the wayside, unless he becomes relevant to will again (calling him up about the tape, inviting him in to help them solve the map). within the narrative this is perfectly understandable - her son is going through something horrible, again, of course he’s all she cares about - but we lose any sense of joyce the person, again. she’s just joyce the mom. contrast this with hopper, who is treated very differently by the narrative. he has multiple plotlines, emotional beats. as @nancykali puts it, ‘the duffers didn’t want to deal with their only main adult female character having a storyline outside of will and hopper. oh but wait - hopper could get his storylines as joyce’s love interest, a support for will, and an adoptive parent to el though, couldn’t he? that’s unbalanced and sexist storytelling.’

so, to recap - while joyce is reduced down to just the Mom (which was fine in s1, because of the urgency of the situation and the fact that this was a new show, none of the characters had been developed much yet, but starts to become alarming in s2) which by default makes her less relatable, less of a figure for the audience to connect with, steve is deliberately cast as a multi-faceted, sympathetic character. joyce’s ‘story is no less than hopper’s but it’s treated as lesser by the canon because she’s a woman and her role is Mother First, Human Second. but if a man decides to be a father he deserves to be lauded, where for a mother to adopt a little girl, that’s too predictable to some people.’ this last bit is in reference to hopper, but it works for steve too. steve giving attention to the kids and acting protective over them for what amounts to one afternoon is celebrated far beyond anything joyce has done, because it’s breaking type. and sure, that can be a good thing. when the series first came out i really enjoyed babysitter steve.

but that’s all he is. a babysitter. joyce is a real mom, and yet because she’s a woman, that’s her job description. but because steve is a teenage boy, who used to be something of a bully, he gets praise far beyond what he might deserve.

being a mother is what drives joyce’s narrative arc - and that’s wrong, and misogynistic, because she deserves to be fleshed out and given other plotlines too - and her character would literally have nothing without it. it feels like a slap in the face, then, for it to be steve who is labelled ‘best mom’ - steve, who has multiple facets to his character, steve who is a teenage boy, steve who is affluent and male and up until recently embodied the trope of 80s highschool bully. joyce is quite literally a single mom and we are shown that she often struggles to make ends meet. she’s had nervous breakdowns in the past, she works weekends and nights and holidays, she relies on jonathan almost as a co-parent to will. she’s a flawed mother, but she does her goddamn best because her life is hard - and despite all this she finds time to actively know and engage with her sons’ interests, to play with them, to have jokes with them. this is being a good mom.

‘mom steve’ is perpetuated by fandom, but it is rooted in the show. take the first s3 teaser: ‘they have him work a menial job that has fans of the mom meme write stuff like “steve got a minimum wage job to take care of his five kids”’. both joyce and jonathan work/have worked menial jobs to support their family, possibly both at minimum wage - while steve is very notably and explicitly affluent. in fact if any character in the show who is not a mom deserves to be called one, it’s jonathan, who is in all but name a co-parent to will. i think @jancys-blue-bayou and @nervousalligator have written on this in the past.

however, applying the term ‘mom’ to these male characters at all is sexist by itself. it promotes the idea that only women can be caregivers - that parenting is only the duty of the mother, and is nothing to do with men. this is highly misogynistic, links back to age-old gender roles that it’s high time were erased, and yet the meme perpetuates them. steve is male. if anything, he should be called ‘dad steve’ - but people won’t run with that, because it’s all a joke. because motherhood is a joke. joyce is defined by being a mother and yet she gets no recognition for it, while steve is not a mother, has multiple plotlines and facets beyond that meme, and yet is lauded as the best mom of all.

it’s actually a manner of woobifying him. he’s not a perfect character, not of them are, yet this ‘mom’ caricature somehow strives to paint him as such. it’s the same with hopper, in his parenting of el - his obvious flaws are dismissed across the fandom because of sweet father-daughter moments. i love hopper as a character, and i can appreciate steve, but often people simply don’t understand them. as @paris-geller-was-straightwashed puts it, ‘y’all will soften the males of this show all the way down until they literally don’t have any sharp edges anymore.’ the male characters become perfect, can do no wrong, while the women are criticised for their every mistake (see the treatment of nancy post s2).

it’s a cycle. the show began it, when they tried to promote steve the best way they knew how - by shaping him into a prototype of jonathan, except without any flaws and much, much richer - and the fandom picked it up and ran with it. this led to fanservice, with the scoops ahoy teaser and the stranger things twitter (don’t think i’ve forgiven the mothers’ day tweet). with any luck the fandom will wise up a little or the creators will stop pandering to them, but we’ll have to see the outcome of s3. regardless, it’s time to stop calling steve a mom. if anything, he’s a big brother to dustin - yet another role that was somewhat snatched from jonathan (see the scene at the end of s1 when jonathan comes down to mike’s basement at the end of the d&d game - he’s a big brother figure to all the boys). people call steve a mom because he gave dustin advice - horrible, sexist advice (‘treat ‘em like you don’t care’) - and put a tea towel on his shoulder. that’s it.

so maybe appreciate steve as his own character, a babysitter at most, because you’re doing him a disservice by woobifying him and calling him a ‘mom’. appreciate joyce, who is an actual mom, and maybe start lobbying the duffers for more development for their female characters rather than for more sexist memes.

TLDR; joyce is defined by being a mother and yet she gets no recognition for it, while steve is not a mother, has multiple plotlines and facets beyond that meme, and yet is lauded as the best mom of all.

[freetheworms]

Stranger Things m8

hey friendo, you’re my hero i lov u

who i will protect at all costs: • will byers is too pure for this world and i would jump in front of a train for him if that tells u anything

who deserves better:  • my girl max !! let her in the AV room u cowards

who was killed off too early: • benny )))): i will never get over his death okay i could have loved him if they gave me the chANCE

who i used to hate but now i love:  • well i didn’t rly like steve for the first part of season 1 cause yknow popular jock douche but now i just want to give him all my love. also i didn’t rly like max at first but then i realized i was Dumb. capital D.

who i used to love but now i hate:  • ummmm i mean i liked el better in season 1 but i def don’t hate her now so !! no one i guess

who needs to be killed off asap:  • dr brenner man like why can’t he stay gone no one likes u

who is unfairly hated:  • nancy ! why ppl so mad that she’s a teenage girl with feelings n shit ?? girls dealin with some absolute ridiculousness, let her LIVE

who is unfairly loved:  • how y’all gonna love billy i mean forreal there’s no excuse for that foolery

who needs to sort out their priorities:  • kali maybe ? i get what she’s doin but i think she’s gonna figure out she can’t keep seeing the world like this

who needs a hug:  • joyce byers; she’s been to hell & back… bby let me love u

who needs to get out of their current relationship:  • can i get a KAREN WHEELER. girl. GIRL. u are so fine & ted is a useless doorknob. throw the whole man out

who the writers love:  • the duffers ? idk but i feel like they have fun with hopper. he’s a fun guy. fandom writers ? mike i guess ? idrk

who needs a better storyline:  • max ! her storyline was fine but i demand to see more of her badass zoomer antics. i demand it

who has an amazing redemption arc:  • king steve !! or should i say dad steve cause that’s the only steve that matters now

who is hot af:  • steve. joe keery could run me over with a truck and i’d say thank u

who belongs in jail:  • billy. dirty stupid ugly boy. trash monster. get rid of him.

who needs to be revived from the dead: • benny )): give him back

[mindflayedr-blog]

Livestreaming//Finn Wolfhard x reader

Fuck so this is my first ever imagine here and I apologize if it’s shitty yikessss. 

Thank you for 200 followers by the way! This is my gift from me, to all of you. 

Warnings: None lol, just pure fluff

You and Finn have been best friends for almost two years now. You guys first met on the set of Stranger Things and since then you have been inseparable. You guys got a long so well that sometimes people mistake you two as a couple. You and Finn are aware of the fans shipping you two and you honestly didn’t mind because well, you like Finn. I mean, what’s not to like about him anyway? He’s sweet, caring, and kind. What more could you want?

Millie was the first one to notice that you liked Finn. You didn’t know how because you made sure to not be obvious about it. Millie was great at reading people, she considered it as one of her talents. She always pushed you to tell Finn about your feelings for him because she believes that Finn felt the same way. You didn’t believe that though, it was crazy. How could Finn Wolfhard like you? It was just too wild so you constantly brushed that idea away whenever it came up.

After promoting season two of Stranger Things, you and the rest of the cast were given a break. Finn invited you to spend the break with him in Vancouver to which you happily accepted. 

“Can you get your foot off of my face? Gosh you dick.” You said jokingly as you pushed Finn’s foot away from your face. You guys were laying opposite from each other on Finn’s bed, just hanging out and talking about random things. 

“You’re so rude.” Finn replied as he continued to place his foot on your face. 

“Says the person constantly placing their foot on my face.” You rolled your eyes playfully as you continued to push Finn’s foot away.

“Hey I know,” Finn suddenly bolts up and sits down, “We should do a livestream! We can sing together and answer questions!” Finn smiled as he proposed his idea to you. 

“I’m okay with livestreaming, but can we not sing? I don’t even sing well.” You said you continue to lay down on Finn’s bed. Finn loves the way you sing, he’s been trying to get you to sing with an audience, but you weren’t so keen to the idea. That doesn’t stop him from suggesting it every once in awhile though. 

“Oh come on, Y/N! You sing great, I wouldn’t be constantly bothering you to sing if you weren’t good!” Your best friend said as he shook your leg, “Come on pleaaasssseee?” 

“Fine, just one song though.” You say as you sit up. 

Finn smiled so widely which caused you to smile too, his smile was contagious. 

“That’s enough for me.” Finn got out of his bed to go get his guitar. You grabbed your phone which was placed on Finn’s night stand and opened Instagram. In a few minutes, Finn was back with his guitar. He then sits beside you and you give him your phone. Finn quickly switches out of your account to his account and he then starts the livestream. Viewers rolled in the stream in no time. He then places your phone on his nightstand so he didn’t have to hold it during the stream. 

“Hey guys so, Y/N and I decided to livestream because we’re bored and guess whattttt.” Finn said and comments saying “What” started pouring in. “Y/N and I are going to be taking song requests so go ahead and request!”

“Uhm requests? I thought we agreed on doing only one song?” 

“Sorry nope, change of plans Y/N, we’re singing our heart out today.” Finn said with a teasing wink which made you roll your eyes. 

“Why are you like this? You’re so annoying.” You said while jokingly pushing Finn away from you.

“You love me though.”

“No I hate you.”

You both didn’t notice but every time you spoke to each other, the closer you sat together. With every word spoken, you and Finn scoot closer to each other.

@strangerthingsfansxxx: fuCK I SHIP THIS SO MUCH Y’ALL DON’T EVEN TRY TO FIGHT ME ABOUT THIS

milliebobbybrown: you guys are so cute!!!!

wyattoleff: “we’re just friends!12!!!21212!1″ 

jackdgrazer: just date already smh

You and Finn leaned in closer to your phone’s screen and read everyone’s comments. 

ahoeforstrangerthings: okay but every time they talk, they scoot closer to each other fuck THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONTENT LIVE FOR

You and Finn both read the same comment and quickly scooted away from each other. You tried to play it cool, but you were slowly losing it. Your hands were getting clammy and your heartbeat was slowly rising. Finn on the other hand was blushing crazy.

“OKKKKAYYY, so a lot of people requested for Girl Crush by Little Big Town so we’ll do that.” Finn said while getting his guitar ready, you quickly look at him and saw that his face was red. You cleared your throat and started singing as soon as Finn strummed the first chord to the song. Finn would harmonize with you every now and then.

dontfuckpennywise: funny how Finn chose to do this song ;)

sophialillis: you guys sing so good together damn sOMEOEN GIVE THEM A RECORD DEAL

A few minutes later, you and Finn finished singing the song. Everyone was cheering in the comments which made you smile. 

“Alright that’s enough songs for today, I told Y/N we’d only do one song. Don’t worry though, I’m going to try and convince her to do more song covers in the future.” Finn teased as he turned his face towards you to give you a smirk. 

“That won’t happen sir, not on my watch.” You reply while smiling at Finn. You two kind of stared at each other’s eyes for a few seconds. There was this electrifying feeling coursing through the both of you, but you didn’t know why you felt that way. 

uncle_jezzy: electricity

strangestthings: OH SHIT MOTHER STEVE JSUT SAID ELECTRICITY JDNFJSVDNFVJNJDFNV 

(YourShipName)isreal: JOE APPROVES

Finn looks through the comments again and sees Joe Keery’s comment, he turns red as he mouths the word ‘electricity.’ You choked on your saliva as you read Joe’s comment, but you played it cool by acting as if you were just coughing.

“Okay we’ll take questions now, go crazy but not too crazy with the comments you guys.” You say as you looked at your phone screen searching for good questions.

gatenm123: i miss you guys!! when are you guys planning on visiting me? :DDDD

“We miss you too and we’re planning on visiting you for sure, Gaten. We just don’t know when yet. We’ll let you know.” Finn said and you nodded in agreement. 

cuddlesand(YourShipName): are you guys dating? ;)

“NOPE! JUST FRIENDS!” You and Finn said simultaneously as you came across the question from @//cuddlesand(YourShipName). You found it quite interesting how the both of you replied at the same time at the same comment, but decided to dismiss it. Surely it was just a coincidence, right?

“I’m so cold what the hell? Can you change the temperature of thermostat please?” You asked Finn as you rubbed your hands on your arms in an attempt to warm yourself up.

“The thermostat is all the way downstairs, that’s a lot of work. Here just-” Finn turns around and tugs on his bed’s comforter, “Here.” Finn covers the both of you with his comforter which helped with the temperature situation. 

“Better?” 

“Yeah, better. Thank you, Finnie.” 

“Stop that.” You laughed as Finn rolled his eyes as a joke, he secretly loved when you called him Finnie.

The fans freaked out, both of you were sure that there will be edits of you two all over the internet after the livestream and you didn’t mind at all.

thestrangestofthings: are you guys sure that you’re just friends? I mean come on!!! Look at you guys!! 

As you read @//thestrangestofthings’s comment, you couldn’t help but remember Millie’s advice: “Just tell him how you feel Y/N.” Millie’s voice echoed inside your head.

“Finn doesn’t like me like that, you guys.” You say as you effortlessly hid your disappointment, you were an actor after all.

“What if you’re wrong?” Finn suddenly blurted out while turning towards you and looking at you straight in the eyes.

The comments section exploded.

“What do you mean wrong? I… I don’t under-”

“Well, what if I do like you, Y/N? What if I told you right now that I have liked you for two years now? What if I told you that when I first met you, I immediately liked you, and not just friend like, you know… like…like.”

You stared at Finn, tears of joy threatened to spill out of you as you stared at each other. You couldn’t believe what he was saying, there was just now way.

(YSN)kisses: HOOOOOOLLLY SHIT HOOOLLLY SHITJDFNGJSDFJGNHFGH

therealcalebmclaughlin: I owe The Duffer Brothers $20 

sadiesink_: @//therealcalebmclaughlin you and the duffer brothers were betting? lollllll

You slowly processed everything that Finn just said, it was hard for you to accept it but slowly you digested the new information.

“Well Finnie, what if I told you that I too have liked you for about two years now.”

therealcalebmclaughlin: we been knew sis

noahschnapp: this is old news 

mikessweaters: LMFAO CALEB IM CKMKFGdfdf

If smiles could actually melt a person, you would be melting now. Finn was beaming at you. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t believe that the girl he has liked for two years feels the same way. Never in Finn’s wildest dreams thought Y/N would ever feel the same way. To Finn, this whole thing felt like a dream.

beepbeeptozier: get you a man that looks at you the way Finn looks at Y/N

Finn scoots closer to you and you do the same causing the small gap between you two to disappear. You were dangerously close to each other now, but you both didn’t seem to mind. In fact, you liked how close you were. You faced each other your foreheads touching.

elevenloveseggos: ARE THEY GOING TO KISS WHAY THE FUCKELKFOGOVLLFLFKFKFF

Finn gently places his hand on your cheek and begins to lean in. The next thing you know, you were also leaning in. 

jaedenwesley: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

milliebobbybrown: oH MY GOSH

Before you two actually kissed, your phone falls off Finn’s nightstand. You were glad that that happened. you didn’t want three thousand or more people to watch you and Finn kiss. You felt selfish for wanting to have that moment all to yourself, but you didn’t care. All that matters now is that your best friend feels the same way and that Millie was right all along. 

The kiss felt magical, all the cliche story or movie descriptions of how a kiss should feel like were actually accurate. You felt sparks everywhere and you felt like you were going to explode. The world stops for a second or two and it was just you and Finn for a little while. A few seconds later, you and Finn pull away from each other. 

“Holy shit.” said Finn while smiling from ear to ear.

“Holy shit indeed.” You reply with a giggle. You quickly pick up your phone from the floor and looked through the comments: 

gatenm123: bet you they kissed

jackdgrazer: of course they did @//gatenm123 no doubt about that ;)

janehoppereggo: IM SO HAPPY THAT MY SHIP IS REAL FUCK I LOVE MY CHILDREN WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL

sophialillis: pay up @//chosenjacobs

“Alright thanks for watching you guys! Sorry about that whole mess… yikes.” You say as your face flushed. 

“We’ll do another livestream tomorrow, we’ll sing more songs, I promise. Bye!!!” 

Before Finn ended the livestream there was one more comment:

dkharbour: no funny business after this livestream. You know what I mean.

[shesavedus]

one year of “the gain train.”

alright, so get ready for a massive fuckin emo post because i’m about to tell y’all about some of my very best friends. first of all, shoutout to the duffer brothers and netflix for giving us the amazing show that is stranger things. and shoutout to the wonderful cast, because without any of those people i wouldn’t know my best friends. i made this blog roughly a year ago (it was around september 13th, 2016 i believe.) i just needed a place to talk about stranger things non-stop without my irl friends being annoyed and i had been on tumblr for years with different fan blog (this is the only one i’ve got now.) i knew that i’d find people here who would GET ME but i never knew that i’d find a bunch of nerds just like me who love shit posting and making memes and bad jokes. so here we go.

@bill-denbroughs - SHELLY. listen. i love shelly so much. we really have become closer in the last few months and i’m very thankful for that. shelly is one of the most kind hearted people i have ever met in my life, and she really deserves nothing but the best. and i’m pretty sure we’re the same age, some of the older ones of the gc which makes us moms, but shelly is the real mom. she’s karen wheeler. we would fall apart without sweet, sweet shelly.

@eddiekaspbraks - FUCKIN AIMEE. literally so talented????? LIKE SO TALENTED????? RUB SOME OF THAT TALENT ON ME BINCH. always so passionate about the things she loves (example: the losers club. VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT EDDIE.) i admire her and her art so much. and she is so strong willed. get yourself an aimee tbh.

@richies-tozier - KYYLEXA. my sworn enemy. i’m just kidding, i would really die for kyy. from the moment i met kyy (which was actually a bit before the GC was made,) we discovered that we were literally musical soulmates. we have the same taste in music and she’s always the first person i go to with recommendations and tours, etc. i think so highly of kyy because i love her and she is so loving and caring for everyone and i just want to give her 5000000 hugs. also she’s actually finn wolfhard (i’m not kiddin.)

@reallylikeseggos -  ALLO. MY SWEET, SWEET ALLO. honestly we have been close from the beginning. queen of memes and shitposts. i love her so much. a fellow weeb in the gc. also dragged me into fucking KPOP as of this week. honestly i wish i lived closer to alli because she’s so funny and i need that kind of presence irl right now. literally such a beautiful person inside aND OUT???? CALLS HERSELF TRASH BUT WHERE????? 

@protectmike -  CAITLIN. or caitSIN on occasion. literally so freaking talented and beautiful? and SO FREAKING FUNNY. also kind of the glue that keeps us together when things get a little rough. she’s very reasonable and understanding and she is also the creator of the groupchat. so ultimately i owe all of my thanks to cait for introducing me to all of these amazing people. LOVE U LONG TIME CAIT.

@flea-and-the-acrobat - SAM!!!! okay. sam. WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. his sense of humor is one of a kind. he is honestly such a nice person and he’s like a little brother to us all. WE MUST PROTECT SAM. he deserves the best. sends the funniest memes ever. i’m so glad we became pals because the gain train would be dry and boring without him.

@stevenrogers - marvin YA BITCH. WOW. ME AND MARVIN GO WAAAAY BACK BUT I WON’T GET INTO THAT LMAOOOO THAT’S A STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME. BUT OKAY. marvin, we always pick on each other but it’s fine because i love you very much. you’re HILARIOUS. you really are the king of comedy. and watching you grow with your photoshop skills this past year???? literally you put my work to shame. i’m so proud of how far you’ve come. now you have to teach me some things about photoshop. REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND?????

@cloeggo - CHLOE. THE SWEETEST ANGEL I HAVE EVER MET? honestly wow. we would actually truly fall apart without chloe. she’s an angel and i really do love her so much. when i finally get the means to travel the world, i’m visiting her first so i can hear her cute accent irl. everyone protect chloe please. she deserves the BEST.

@themikewheelers - TORI. queen of toads. honestly so funny and always keeps us up to date with things going on with the cast like interviews and new content regarding the show. i love her so much, also the youngest of the group so she’s like our little sister. we have to protect tori too. we havE TO PROTECT.

@eggogorgon - BLAAAAKE! even though he’s not as active anymore it’s totally fine because he still gets an honorable mention. literally always kept us up to date with every photoshoot, interview, EVERYTHING. HE STAYS ON TOP OF THAT SHIT AND IF YOU FOLLOW HIM YOU KNOW THIS. we miss ya blake. you’ve also come such a long way with photoshop and your gifs are godly. so happy to know you!!!!

@the-weirdo-on-maple-street - EMMA!!!! really such an angel. VERY FUNNY. I FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER AND SHE RETWEETS THE FUNNIEST SHIT. very quiet in the gc but when she pops in it’s a party. we love u and miss u emma!!!!

SO THOSE ARE MY FREAKING FRIENDS YALL. I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH. IF YOU DON’T FOLLOW THEM YET YOU’RE TRULY MISSING OUT ON SOME GOOD ASS CONTENT. happy one year to my best friends <3

[evenstevensranked]

#29: Season 2, Episode 18 - “The Thomas Gribalski Affair”

Tom starts bonding with Steve and Louis quickly starts to become extremely jealous of their relationship. Meanwhile, Ren volunteers to lead the school bike safety demonstration even though she doesn't know how to ride a bike.

This one starts with Louis and Twitty at the Stevens house playing “Stinky Sock Ball” — some ridiculous game they created with a bunch of nonsense rules. I don’t even know. Tom is over and sitting the game out. “Pass. The last time I played Stinky Sock Ball I got a concussion. It’s been six months and I’m still a little woozy.” Gotta love Tom. This episode has his name in the title (a play on the film The Thomas Crown Affair I’m assuming), so ya know it’s gonna be good. Just then, Steve comes waltzing in super excited about this leprechaun whittling kit that came in the mail. He had plans to carve out the block with Louis, but of course.. Louis would rather play Stinky Sock Ball. Priorities. Tom seems interested in the weird hobby, so Louis suggests that the two of them hang out instead. Little did he know that one small decision would send him spiraling into jealous insanity. I’d also like to mention that the leprechaun’s name is “McStinker, The Town Drinker.” Okay, Disney Channel.

Next, we cut to Wexler’s office for the subplot. Ren and Larry are competing against each other once again. Wexler is looking for a student to lead the next safety demonstration and they’re both desperate to be selected. There are a bunch of other students there who are also willing to volunteer until Wexler says they’d have to give up a Saturday. Literally everyone leaves except for Ren and Larry. As an adult, this just makes me laugh tbh. One little Saturday in your Junior High career means nothing in the grand scheme of life. But, god forbid! We all need that precious Saturday to do.... nothing... instead. 

Wexler picks Ren by default and doesn’t even consider Larry, which is totally not playing favorites at all. We learn that the demonstration is going to be for bike safety, thanks to Louis and Twitty running Wexler over because they were too preoccupied with eating chips and salsa. 

Are these screenshots fantastic or are they fantastic? I’ll wait. 

Ren is definitely apprehensive about leading the demonstration now and we don’t know why. She clearly doesn’t want to do it anymore, but the thought of Larry getting the gig instead motivates her. 

At lunch that day, Louis and Twitty are playing yet another ridiculous and frankly freakin’ [Raven voice] NASTY game called “Extreme Meat Hoops” where they catch extra gooey meatballs that drip from the ceiling. Who thinks of this stuff?! HONESTLY. Tawny is disgusted as usual. 

This literally looks......... awful. 

Tom joins them at their table, ranting and raving about the funniest joke his friend Steve told him. When Louis questions who the heck Steve is, Tom says “Steve Stevens is the real deal” which is such a great line I can’t even explain it. Louis being Louis takes a minute to register that Steve Stevens is his dad’s name lol. He finds out that Tom and his dad have been hanging out a lot. In fact, they’ve been hanging out so much that Steve gave Tom his direct phone line to reach him at work. Louis didn’t even know Steve had a direct line, haha. It’s actually kinda sad. We start to see Louis’ jealousy emerge here. 

At home, Eileen absolutely hates the newly-carved leprechaun. Steve wants her to find a prominent place for the thing, but it looks like a total eyesore everywhere she puts it. This reminds me of Lizzie McGuire and her dad’s obsession with lawn gnomes. This montage actually makes me laugh. It’s set to upbeat Irish-y stock music which contrasts Eileen’s distaste perfectly lol. Ren walks in and goes to Eileen for help with the bike demonstration. We learn that she was too embarrassed to tell Wexler she doesn’t know how to ride a bike. Whooop, there it is. Eileen promises to help teach her. 

Ren in a crop top?! Why does this seem so... out of character? I noticed this before in Swap.com. Idk. To be fair, it was 2001. Showing your bellybutton was ~all the rage.~ God help me. Also, Ren’s shirt is purple-y once again and she’ll pretty much wear anything if it’s purple so. 

Louis and Twitty are hanging out by some lake and Louis starts reminiscing about how he and Steve used to ride the paddle boats together when he was little. He says they used to sing this cheesy father-son song and “I can almost hear it now......... I CAN hear it now!” Lo and behold, Tom and Steve are riding in a paddle boat singing said cheesy father-son song. Louis’ jealousy has hit a new level. 

This would be a little much. If I saw my mom doing such personal things with one of my friends I would literally be so concerned??? Like, what the heck Mom?! It’s just weird. 

Immediately following this, Louis invites Tawny over for one of their little therapy sessions, lol. I love how this is something we’ve seen a few times throughout the series -- Whether it’s a serious talk like this or just Louis going to Tawny for advice. Like I’ve said before, he values her opinion A LOT which is lovely. This scene always stood out to me because they completely cleared out Louis’ room to look like a clean, cold therapist’s office or something. This is one of the only times it doesn’t look like a tornado ripped through it: 

His bed looks sooo much smaller when it’s made? I could’ve sworn he had a full bed this whole time lol. 

He tells her that everything went downhill when he was 5 and pushed Steve out of a paddle boat:

They gave Steve a curly brown mullet in this flashback. It’s wonderful. 

Tawny says the symbolism is obvious: Louis has been pushing his father away forever. She suggests taking an interest in something Steve likes to do. 

Next we cut to a montage of Ren’s bike riding lesson with Eileen. She’s literally terrible at it. They make a point to keep these random fencers in the shot. Like, really.. who goes to the park to fence? I’ve personally never seen that before but ok. I also just need to include this accidental screen cap of Ren about to fall because it’s great. 

Ren and Eileen leave the park after a day of failing miserably, and one of the fencers enters the frame and takes off their mask............. plot twist look who it is:

It’s Larry Beale smiling maniacally because he thinks he has tea to spill about Ren being bikely challenged. 

Now we move on to what is probably the best sequence in the episode. Steve is out golfing and Louis surprises him by showing up at the course! He’s so excited to spend one-on-one time bonding with Steve the way Tom has been lately, until Steve asks “Would you like to join us? Me and Tom!” And Tom shows up in his ~golfing threads~ which look ridiculous. (Cover image) There are so many fantastic lines from this point on. Kicking off with Tom saying “Say, Mr. Lou! I didn’t know you were a duffer.” And Louis gets SO OFFENDED. I’m assuming he thought Tom was swearing at him or something lol I can’t. Well, technically.. he might’ve been. Steve claims that duffer is just another word for a golfer. Out of curiosity I decided to google it to see for myself and well:

It’s not another word for any’ol golfer -- but rather a golfer that doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing. It means stupid too, so. There are also articles debating whether or not the term is offensive in the golf world. 

Of course, Louis sucks at golf and hates the sport, but he’s trying so hard to win Steve over! The nail in the coffin is Steve casually calling Tom “son.” Yikes. Louis is at a loss for words at this point. 

The next bit is one of my favorite moments in THE ENTIRE SERIES. I have to embed the scene. 

From the opening lines between Louis and Steve, to “bend your knees” to Louis’ face at the very end. This is all gold. 

Before the demonstration, Larry tries to intimidate Ren by dropping hints that he knows her secret. But, Ren takes the high road and says she has nothing to be ashamed of. I love when characters do this! Never let anyone make you feel inferior. So Ren comes rolling up with training wheels and says “The first rule of bike safety is if you don’t know how to ride a bike, use training wheels.” YAAAASSSS, GIRL. Larry gets on the mic and tries to turn it into a giant embarrassing scene, but it just doesn’t work when the person you’re trying to embarrass isn’t embarrassed at all lol. Ren is totally owning the situation and it’s great. Larry just looks like a fool up there beating the dead horse “THE GIRL NEEDS TRAINING WHEELS!!!!!!!!!” 

She rides the bike through the obstacles, training wheels and all, and everyone roots for her! Yay.

Things get emotional back at the golf course. Louis finally hits the ball and it’s pretty incredible. He’s so excited and runs over to Steve and Tom like “Dad!! Did you see that?! I hit it in from way over there!!” and of course, Steve is all “Sorry, Son. I missed it.” You can just feeeeel Louis’ spirit deflating. This is the last straw for him. He starts ranting “You know what, Tom? I give up. You win.” It’s so sad oh my god. You can hear the heartbreak in his voice. Shia is so great, god. He basically starts handing his entire life over to Tom. Dang. Side note: Shia takes off his visor which made his hair stick up. He looks so different. I remember thinking he looked so cute like that hahaha. 

Steve catches on and Tom decides to give them some space. “You two should talk. I know how my mother must feel. I canceled 3 games of Pinochle with her this week... I’ve got some fences to mend.” Tom is seriously the best. Obviously, Louis and Steve make up. It ends with the two of them playing Stinky Sock Ball together. It’s sweet. 

I really like this episode. A lot. Y’all know I love Tom, so I had to rank this one a little higher just because he deserves some more love. But aside from that, this is a really good plot. It’s great to see how much Louis actually cares about his relationship with his father and how they eventually end up bonding a little bit more. I also like Ren’s plot here as well! It’s a nice stick to your guns sort of message that you can apply to anything really. There are honestly no specific reasons why I like this one so much... I just do lol. It’s a solid episode overall. 

Well, guys. We made it. Officially at #29. Holy crapoli. Soon we’ll be at 25, and then 20, and then 15, and then 10............ you know how a countdown works. I just can’t believe how little we have left to go. I got all emotional about it here because I’ve also been running this blog for a year now. What the heck. 

Thanks for reading!

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram