#*casually eyes the duffer brothers*

[userchappell]

okay, I'm having thoughts. Ryan Murphy's obsession with pregnancy is insane. like, he usually examines it from a horror lense, so he seems to find it horrifying, which, fair, but considering the cis male of it all, it's not giving horror the way it should be; it's giving misogyny lmao.

for real, honestly. like, men should not be trusted to write certain things that are about women and their bodies. like yeah, giving birth is fucking terrifying if you heard that you might not survive, but it's not always like that

#like I said... men should not be trusted to writer for women #*casually eyes the duffer brothers* #anti ryan murphy #glee #ahs #american horror story #scream queens #answered #asks #cloey tag

[longlivefanfic-net]

Banished&Bloody: King Steve

Fic Summary: Post-Volume II. Eddie Munson wasn't dead when he was left in the Upside Down; well, he wasn't dead anymore. Steve Harrington has spent the days since they came back to Hawkins haunted by the idea that he could have saved Eddie--or at least died in his place. It quickly becomes clear that the Hawkin's group has to go back to the Upside Down and, when they do, they find an unfamiliar face. Vampire!Eddie Munson, Grieving Steve Harrington.

Chapter Summary/Content: Chapter 2 of 8. Steve is dealing with the constant ache of Eddie's death, the feeling that he should have been the one who died. Very heavy on the angst, grieving Steve Harrington, some mentions of Nancy/Steve.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: I really, really needed more info about what happened after Eddie died. Basically I just needed to know that it actually affected...anyone?? other than Dustin and Uncle Wayne?? so this is v angsty and sad bc IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THAT WAY ON THE SHOW. anyway duffer brothers I'm outside anytime u want to talk

Chapter Two: King Steve

Always the babysitter. He was always the fucking babysitter, Mr. Mom as far as everyone else was concerned. Steve rolled his eyes, grabbing another package of Doritos off the shelf to pitch into the grocery cart he was pushing, thinking about how Jonathan had so casually suggested Steve run to the store for provisions when Dustin had complained that he was too hungry to think. The actual adults–a term Steve still didn’t feel like applied to him–were all at work, trying to make life look as normal as possible to keep the rest of them safe. Frankly, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Argyle had more or less decided to keep their plans secret from Murray, Hopper, and Joyce: the “adults” needed to focus on things like keeping the cops off their backs, and it wasn’t like anyone was going to suggest that Joyce Byers go into the Upside Down. And, as Jonathan had pointed out, there was no reason for the adults to fret about what the rest of them knew had to be done. The adults knew the bare minimum of what was going on: they seemed to gratefully swallow the lie that the group of kids were all spending eight or more hours a day together just to sit and watch TV, or occasionally going in groups to visit Max at the hospital. Part of keeping their plans under the radar meant avoiding telling Hopper or Joyce too much about what they were doing or how often they were together; that left Steve in the grocery store, playing the role of grown-up despite the fact that a part of him still felt like the high school kid who had kissed Nancy in his bedroom after throwing her in his pool. But, he did have to admit, he wasn’t the same person he had been back then. He still kept his baseball bat full of nails in his trunk, and, even in the grocery store, he was aware of the closest exit to him at all times (at this moment, it was through the storeroom which would bring him out to the loading dock where he could either go back to the parking lot for his car or go straight out from). Picking up groceries felt useless, though. It felt like something anyone could have done, and by asking him to do it, Steve felt like the rest of them viewed him as useless. Was this why he had survived? He had beaten a demogorgon, had been tortured by Russians, had lit Molotov cocktails and thrown them at Vecna and still he felt like he was just…a necessary evil to the rest of them. A combination of bodyguard and babysitter. 

A sharp slice of pain cut through his heart as he turned the corner into the next aisle. A combination of bodyguard and babysitter was what he had thought of Eddie Munson when he left him with Dustin to distract the demobats. He had known Eddie would keep Dustin safe, had seen the way Eddie looked at Dustin like he was a little brother, had heard Eddie’s admission to being jealous of Steve ringing in his ears. Steve had known in his heart that Dustin would keep Eddie from being stupid, and Eddie would do whatever it took to keep Dustin in one piece. He hadn’t counted on Eddie doing that same thing for him, for Nancy, for Robin. Dustin had told them, sobbing when they came back to the gate in the Munson’s trailer, how Eddie had tried to make Dustin go back to Hawkins, had gone back outside on his own to draw the demobat’s attention. Steve shuddered at the memory, his breath speeding up as he remembered Dustin soaked in Eddie’s blood, tear tracks clearing dirt over the round, youthful face that had suddenly lost some aspect of childlike innocence. Steve had looked at Dustin, and he had known that a part of Dustin had died when Eddie Munson did. They had worked together to pass Dustin through the gate with his injured leg, and Steve suddenly felt a phantom of the tickle against his chin as Dustin had buried his curls into Steve’s neck, sobbing as he was passed to Nancy and Robin in the trailer. But that’s not where he was right now–he was not in the trailer, he was not holding a crying Dustin, he was not wiping Eddie’s blood off his hands. No, Steve was in the grocery store, about to hyperventilate in front of the bread options. Eddie was dead. Dustin wasn’t. Steve wasn’t. Just because Eddie had broken his promise to Steve, had decided to be a hero, didn’t mean Steve had to– Had to what, he thought, suddenly angry. Had to feel guilty? Yeah, he did. If he hadn’t been so pissed about being the babysitter he probably would have been the one with Dustin. He, Steve, would have died instead of Eddie. And that was something he was going to have to get used to, because Steve knew it was going to burden him for the rest of his life. 

Shaking his head, the brown locks flopping in front of his eyes as he cleared his mind forcefully, Steve grabbed the first loaf of bread his hands touched, threw it in the half-full cart, and walked to the front. He checked out quickly, barely making polite conversation with the cashier–a shame, too, because he was highly aware of the way she was flirting with him, but he couldn’t shake the itchy feeling in the back of his skull that told him he needed to be back with the kids, making sure that they were all safe. He loaded the food into his car, sliding behind the wheel with the intention of driving directly back to Hopper’s cabin. Most of their company, as Mike insisted on calling them, were living in the cabin together, so as soon as Joyce and Hopper were gone for the day it was the perfect place for everyone to convene and work on their battleplan. They had spent the last week talking through plan after plan, shooting them down one by one. They couldn’t be sure where Vecna would be; they couldn’t be sure that El’s recently returned powers would be strong enough to fight him again; they couldn’t be sure they knew how to kill him after their last plan had failed. Nancy had been angry, at first, when they had realized Vecna had lived. When they realized Vecna had taken Max–or taken her and given her back, Steve wasn’t completely sure–Steve had had to hold Nancy, rubbing circles in her back while she sobbed. Robin had held her hand, the three of them suddenly aware of the price they had paid for not being ready to face him. But, Robin had reasoned later, Vecna was going to take Max anyway–maybe it was because they had weakened him that Max was still alive, albeit asleep in a hospital bed. That’s what they all told themselves, anyway. That still didn’t make Steve feel better about Eddie, though. No one really talked about Eddie like they did Max. Every time they saw Lucas, someone would ask immediately if there had been any change in the young girl, if she had suddenly opened her eyes and started snarking at nurses. Steve had only heard Dustin talking about Eddie once after they left the Munson’s trailer–telling Mike that their Dungeon Master hadn’t survived. The two had clapped each other on the shoulders, quiet tears slipping down their faces. Steve had watched them, thinking how grown up they seemed; it was like they were more mature than him, closer to being adults than he was, because they could put their grief aside so easily. 

Steve’s car suddenly slammed to a stop. He had spotted one of the many flyers lining the streets of Hawkins these last few days, and his foot had slipped onto the break. He maneuvered his car to the side of the road, putting it in park as he got out. There, fluttering in the wind, was a picture of Eddie. It was one of the signs his uncle had put up, covered with the word “Missing” instead of “Wanted,” and someone had drawn pentagrams over it. Steve knew Eddie wouldn’t mind the pentagrams–probably would have laughed–but the red ink that scrawled “MURDERER” across his face was too much for Steve to bear. He ripped the poster down, balling it up and tossing it in the open top of the trash can he passed on his way back to his car, that same slicing pain in his chest. He had made it a habit to scan the posters he passed, telling himself that he was looking for faces he recognized, keeping a mental scorecard of how many people Vecna had taken from him, but he really was watching for Eddie’s posters. Anytime he saw a “Wanted” poster, he would stop to examine it, making it look like he was only looking at the picture closer before he slipped it into a jacket pocket. The police force had enough going on as they dealt with the recovery from the “earthquake” that Steve felt certain they would forget about their missing “cult leader” within weeks. The ones Wayne Munson put up were different though. Wayne had used a better picture of Eddie, one that looked much more casual than the yearbook picture the police had pulled from Hawkin High’s files. Eddie’s lips were half crooked in the “Missing” photo, a begrudging smile playing at the edge of his mouth as he probably said something that would have confused Steve–something about Dungeons and Dragons, or the Mordor shit those kids were always going on about. In the photo, Eddie had his arms crossed in a defiant pose that, to Steve, spoke to his need to be different, separate himself from everyone around him. Steve tried to take most of the “Missing” flyers down too–there was no need to leave Eddie’s face to fade in the sun for weeks when they knew exactly where he was, where he would always be. But when Steve found the posters that had been vandalized, cartoon devil horns and cruel words scrawled over them, he couldn’t stop himself from letting just the tiniest bit of his anger out. 

Eddie had fucking died for this town. No one knew it but them, but that didn’t make it fair for these people–hell, these assholes–to make a mockery of him. Eddie had told Steve that he wasn’t a hero; he had told him about how he ran, how he ran when Chrissy was dragged onto his ceiling, how he ran when the cops showed up, how he ran when Jason and his friends found him, how he was always, always running. Steve had clapped him on the shoulder, leaning in to remind Eddie that running is a survival instinct. You’re supposed to run from this kind of shit, he had said. Eddie had bristled at his response; “I know there’s no shame in running,” he had said, his voice low as they walked through the woods in the Upside Down. “But you don’t run, do you, Harrington?” Steve had half-shrugged at this, avoiding Eddie’s eyes. No, he wanted to say, but I want to and that’s just as bad. And that was just another reason Steve would feel guilty for Eddie’s death. If he had turned around, had put his hands on Munson’s shoulders, maybe even given him a little shake to force him to look in his eyes, and said “I want to run, I would always run if I wasn’t the only thing standing between these creatures and those kids; you should run and maybe I’ll run too,” maybe Eddie would be alive now. 

Steve pulled up to the cabin, putting his car in park before turning the keys in the ignition. He had been so distracted with his thoughts about Eddie that he hadn’t even paid attention to where he was going, sheer muscle memory bringing him back to the poorly-repaired cabin. The slam of his car door summoned the younger kids to the door, and they fell on his car, pulling out the grocery bags, like a pack of starving wolves. “Yeah, yeah, slow down ya little–” Steve cut himself off when he saw Nancy standing on the porch, smiling. He smiled back at her, raising a single hand to wave. His chest twisted again. Part of him felt like it wasn’t fair. He had been so close to telling Nancy how he felt before they went after Vecna; if he had been able to stomach the idea of her living without him, he would have told her in no uncertain terms how he felt about her before they had gone to the Upside Down. Instead, he had waited, convinced he would be able to tell her when they got back, but there was always something keeping the two of them from having a quiet moment to talk. There had been one moment in her mom’s kitchen, while she grabbed trash bags and he waited to take them to the basement, that he had started to tell her. “Nance,” he had said, and his voice had broken. She had turned to look at him, eyes wide, and looked at him with a hint of panic in her face. “Are you…okay, Steve?” She had asked. He had been about to answer–about to say no, he wasn’t okay, he was pretty sure he was the reason Eddie Munson was dead and he was in love with her, and both of those things were going to be permanently weighing on his mind but he needed someone to know and he wanted that someone to be her–when Robin had bounced into the kitchen, pulling the box of trash bags out of Nancy’s hands and teasing Steve for standing around like an idiot. 

Now, the only time Steve ever got to see Nancy alone was in his dreams. That sounded dirty, he thought to himself as he unpacked grocery bags in the small kitchen of the cabin, but it wasn’t like that. He dreamed about her almost every night, but he also dreamed about Dustin, about Robin, about Eddie most nights. He’d wake up almost every night, screaming, his sheets twisting around his sweat-soaked body. It almost made him grateful that his parents were never home; no one was around to burst into his room, to ask why he woke himself screaming until his throat was raw and sore, why this happened to him every night. Steve couldn’t help it: he would lay in bed every night, staring at his ceiling, and keep his eyes open as long as possible. He would think about good things–red lipstick on pretty girls, ice cream in the summer, the smell of his pool at midnight in the Fall–and he would still eventually close his eyes and wake up howling, a sound that didn’t even sound like it should come out of a human body breaking through his chest. Steve’s dreams were full of death. It wasn’t always bloody. Sometimes, he dreamed about Nancy in Vecna’s grip again, no music to pull her back to him as her bones snapped under his too-weak fingers. Sometimes it was Robin, coughing up bloody spittle as demobats pinned her down like they had done to him, and she’d reach her fingers out to Steve but he could never reach her. The ones that hurt him the worst, the ones that he would wake up from and spend the rest of the night sitting locked in his bathroom, the fluorescent lights on, a knife or his bat in hand as he crouched against smooth tile until the sun came up, were the ones about Dustin. Dustin being pulled into the air as his jaw cracked, Dustin pinned under one of those stupid demodogs like he had fed candy bars to, and–the really, really bad ones–Dustin being held down by Eddie, the demobats circling the two of them as Eddie dripped blood onto Dustin’s body and Steve stood there helplessly as Dustin’s eyes darkened, went glassy. Steve’s imagination had taken over, but only when he was asleep: during his waking hours he was still in control. As a result, he had basically stopped sleeping. What was the point, anyway? All he did during the day was work the occasional shift at the Family Video, essential to keeping Keith from getting too suspicious about where Steve and Robin were, and run errands for the people in the group who actually got things done. 

Since coming back from the Upside Down, Steve had spent a lot of time thinking about one of the many assigned readings he had struggled through in high school. Reading wasn’t exactly Steve’s strongest subject, so Nancy had helped him make sense of the damn thing. Even though she was a year younger than him, she could read through the nonsense words and explain each scene to Steve, make the weird sentences and spellings into understandable moments that Steve could see when he closed his eyes and listened to her talk; he had spent the entire day fuming when she explained the ending, telling him that the hero had come back to get his revenge after being rescued by pirates because, really, who got rescued by pirates? But what he really thought about, more than anything else, was the ghost in that story. The guy had been haunted by his dad; his ghost-dad told him to get revenge for his murder, to kill his uncle because his uncle had killed him. Steve felt like he was being haunted by Eddie, every flier on the street with his eyes ordering Steve to get revenge for his death. Steve also worried about what that meant for Nancy because, if he was Hamlet, that meant she would be that pretty girl who drowns, singing about flowers. He shook his head suddenly–that’s why it was best to let Nancy and Jonathan stay together. Let him be her Romeo–well, that one didn’t end any better either, so maybe they could be…just someone else, someone happy. 

A small hand patted him on the back, pulling him out of his reverie as he considered how few of his English class stories had happy endings, and Steve jumped. “Hey, calm down,” Dustin said over his shoulder. He reached out, grabbing the bag of Doritos Steve had just unpacked and ripping the top open. Dustin turned to Steve, smiling, and Steve tried to plaster a similar one on his face. If Dustin noticed the artificial smile or the dark bruises under Steve’s eyes, he didn’t say anything. “New plan,” Dustin said around a mouthful of taco flavored corn chips. “We’re briefing in the living room.” Steve followed behind him, taking a spot on the floor near Robin, still wearing her Family Video uniform from her shift that day, as the younger kids crowded onto the couch. “We go in, we get to Vecna, El holds him, right, and then–” Mike turned to El, his words bubbling over his lips, “we grab Max and we run, and you guys–” Mike pointed to the older kids as he said this, “go in and you hit him with fire and burn him, and then El will just like,” he clapped his hands together, “squash him.” They all sat, looking at Mike. “Okay, dude,” Argyle said from where he was sprawled on the floor. “How is this different from the last plan?” “It’s not,” Nancy said, voice sharp as she shot a biting look at her brother. “No, it is actually,” Mike said, “Because Will is going to be with El and he’s going to let Vecna take him like with Max,” Jonathan gasped, “but we’re all going to be together this time.” All of the eyes in the room slid to Will. He was looking at the floor, lip between his teeth. “You want Vecna to grab you?” Steve couldn’t stop himself from asking. “No,” Will said, sharply. “But I want to stop him.” He looked at Jonathan, and the two brothers shared a watery-eyed nod. “Do you…do you think this will work?” Steve turned to look at El. He had never truly gotten used to the young girl, with her odd speaking patterns and word choices, but he trusted her completely. She locked eyes with him, far too intense for a kid, and nodded. Steve bit his lips, looking back at Nancy. She nodded as well. “What do you think, Buckley?” He asked, trying to force his tone to be light. “We’ve made it out twice,” she said. “Might as well tempt fate again.” The two looked at each other, half smiling, and Robin’s eyes narrowed as they slid over his face. She searched Steve’s eyes, tilting her head to the side. 

Once everyone else had agreed to the plan, Nancy immediately taking control of fine-tuning the instructions with Dustin, Robin pulled Steve outside. “What, what?” He yelped, her nails clawing into the soft skin of the back of his neck. “What’s your deal, Harrington?” Robin half-growled at him, getting too close as she poked him in the chest. “What do you mean?” Steve asked, brows slipping over his eyes in confusion. “You want me to make a move with Vickie, you tell me that it’s now or never, you immediately back off,” she whispered, “Nancy,” and then resumed her usual too-loud volume, “and then you start showing up here looking like…well, you look like shit, Harrington.” He shook his head at Robin. “Cool it, okay, with the…romance stuff, Buckley.” “No!” Robin said, throwing her arms out to the side. “Why should I have to carpe diem and all that if you don’t?” “Because you and Vickie actually have  a chance,” Steve said, putting his hands on his hips as he leaned towards her. “Okay, despite the fact that you and I have equal chances,” Robin said, raising her eyebrows to add silent emphasis, “That still doesn’t explain why you look like you were dragged through a lake again.” “Don’t worry about me,” Steve said. “I couldn’t sleep last night.” He turned away from her, looking out over the woods. Robin’s voice was uncharacteristically soft behind him as she asked, “Why not?” Steve chewed his bottom lip. He didn’t want her–or anyone else–to worry about him, but he just doesn’t lie to Robin. “Nightmares,” he whispers, sliding his eyes to hers as his voice fades into the oncoming night. He turned, looking out over the oncoming night sky as the sun faded below the treeline. “What kind of nightmares?” Robin asked from behind him, her voice rasping. He half inclined his head towards her. “The bad kind, Robin.” She snorted then, realizing he was serious, put a calming hand on his shoulder. “What kind of nightmares, Steve?” “Nightmares about you,” he admitted, quietly, and her fingers tightened around his shoulder. “And Nancy. And Dustin, and–” Steve’s voice broke. “And Eddie,” Robin said. Steve just nodded, his throat tight. “He’s gone, Steve,” she whispered. “It’s my fault, I think.” “It’s not.” With that, Steve turned to look at Robin fully, smiling a half smile that likely only emphasized the bags under his eyes. “Agree to disagree, Buckley.”  

Chapter Three here!

#Steve Harrington #steve harrington fan fiction #stranger things #my fic #steve harrington #feral fics #steve stranger things #steve harrington fics #babysitter steve #babysitter steve harrington #grieving #angst #grieving steve harrington #post season four #robin buckely #nancy wheeler #eddie munson #dustin stranger things #stranger things fan fiction

[patiencetakestyme]

Chapter 6—Vecna’s Curse

A/N:  This is the last full chapter; there’s only a very short epilogue left!  

There is one scene in this chapter that I took directly from the show—at least, the first part of the scene, anyway; the dialogue is slightly altered in spots, and the end of the scene is different, but it is, inherently, what was featured in the show.  The scene in question was just too good; I couldn’t top it!    

Credit:  “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab,” season 4, episode 7.  Written by:  the Duffer Brothers.  Directed by:  the Duffer Brothers. 

 

Eddie spent the time until Henderson radioed feeling nothing short of extremely anxious about their agreed upon plan.  He didn’t want to question Chrissy and her decision to volunteer as backup bait for Vecna, but he could admit privately that he was very concerned.  

He didn’t want anything to happen to her.  He thought that was a pretty reasonable concern, given that she was about to go face off against the big, bad monster that had actually—literally—cursed her over a week ago.  

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He finally caved and asked once Henderson had radioed that they were on their way; it was just after the break of dawn, and there was nothing left to do but wait and worry, so he found that his concerns had bubbled over much easier.  

“I have to help,” she said, holding her head high.  “They’ve already done a lot to help me.  It’s only fair that I help them in return.”

“I mean…” he hesitated, with a humorless laugh.  “Sinclair?  He certainly wasn’t helping—and his group of Jolly Jocks did anything but help.”  

“Yes, but the others?” she asked, with a shake of her head.  “They’ve done nothing but help us.  They’re going to do it,” she said, her voice full of faith.  “They’re going to kill this guy, and I’ll be free of his curse.  Then, we can leave this house and move on…” she trailed off, with a small smile.  “With our lives, with our relationship—everything.”  

“I like the sound of that,” he started, his smile enthusiastic, but he could hear the concern still lingering in his own voice.  “But I’ll admit I have my concerns about what’s going to be required to get us there.”

“Oh, come on,” she said, with a casual laugh that sounded forced.  “It sounds like you’re going to be playing guitar.  That should come easily for you!”

“With a demo…whatever they called it rushing at me?  Maybe not so much.”  

“We’re going to be fine.  We have to stay optimistic.  They seem to know what they’re doing,” Chrissy offered.  

“Yeah, Henderson certainly put me in my place there, didn’t he?” Eddie asked, with another humorless laugh.  “Still, I wouldn’t say no to a kiss before we go,” he suggested, attempting to sound innocent as he did so.  

“You don’t think we should save that for when we return?” she responded.  Her tone was cool, collected—she hadn’t missed a beat, and he was impressed by that—but he could see it:  the blush forming at her cheeks.  

“I mean, I don’t want to be a downer,” he said, his voice still joking.  “But what if we don’t return?”

“We’ll return,” she responded, with new resolve.  “I know I will, especially if there’s a kiss on the line.”

“Fine,” he conceded, with a sigh.  “That’s a fair point.”

“Besides,” she started, peeking over his shoulder.  “I think they’re here.”  

<><><>

Eddie could admit that, while he was delighted at the sight of his guitar—it had been far too many days since he had seen her, far too many days since he had continued his process of mastering “Master of Puppets”—the sight of the gate into the Upside Down was anything but welcomed.  It was red and angry looking.  The sand was all decaying around the very spot where McKinney had died, and the gate seemed like a massive, red, irritated eye staring at them, daring them to jump in and risk it all.  

He hated the idea of going through that gate.  But he knew he had to do it—it was their only shot at saving Chrissy from this curse.  

They had brought everything—Wheeler had her gun, Robin had some Molotov cocktails they had apparently made, Harrington had a bat with nails driven through it that seemed to have some sort of sentimental value to him, and Henderson had a shield with some more nails spiked through it.  Once Max radioed that she had found Vecna at the Creel house and was in position, they made moves to leave the lake house behind and approach the shore.  

One by one, they made their way through the gate—well, fell through the gate might be a more accurate description.  With his guitar in one hand and his amp in the other, he landed in the darkest, dirtiest place he had ever seen.  

“Watch the vines,” Harrington said as he pulled Eddie up and pointed to said vines.  “Hive mind,” he reminded Eddie.  

Eddie took in his surroundings.  They were right on the edge of a crater that had undeniably formed the bottom of the lake in the other Hawkins—the right-side-up Hawkins.  From here, he could see the lake house he had been occupying with Chrissy for the last few days.  Everything was almost exactly the same, it just looked like the version that would be featured in a horror film.  

Once they had all successfully made it through the gate, they radioed Max with an update.  From there, they would need to split up.  Eddie, Henderson, and Harrington would be going to Eddie’s trailer in the hopes of finding more amps and a power source; Eddie’s trailer was also a few miles from the Creel house—hopefully far enough to afford the girls a chance to accomplish their goal before any of the creatures were called back to defend Vecna.  

Chrissy, Wheeler, and Robin would be going to the Creel house.  If they found Vecna checked out—sucked in by Max’s trap—they would set him on fire with the cocktails and shoot him until he was dead.  

With a touch of luck, they would be done and going back through the gate in two or three hours. Knowing that they were preparing to split the party—and knowing, as a Dungeon Master, just how dangerous such a thing could be—he knew what he needed to do; he pulled Chrissy off to the side, wanting to see her—to talk to her—one more time before they parted ways.  

“You give him hell,” he said, when, really, all he wanted to do was tell her to run; instead, he tried to put on a brave face—not only for her, but for himself as well.  

She nodded.  “If I get the chance, I’m going to pay him back for the last week of misery.”

He tried to cast a witty and flippant comment her way—something to make her laugh—but he couldn’t do it; he didn’t have it in him—not at that moment.  Instead, he very discreetly reached for her hand and gave it one, solitary squeeze.  

“If you need me—for anything—reach out by radio.  I’ll be there.”  

She nodded once more.  “Same to you,” she said, but he caught it—the little catch in her breath.  

They returned to the group, only for Eddie to see that Harrington seemed to be returning from sharing a similar moment with Wheeler.  The similarities between him and Harrington were stacking up, and he didn’t know if that was necessarily a good thing.  Eddie could admit he was curious; he was eager to use this time with Harrington and Henderson to get to the bottom of those similarities and, of course, to embrace their differences as well.  

“Is everyone ready?” Wheeler asked, rejoining the group.  

Eddie made sure he had everything—guitar, amp, shield slung over his shoulder with the nails pointing away from his back.  He was as ready as he was going to be.  

With a round of nods to confirm, Wheeler pushed forward.  “Does everyone know the plan?”

“Phase one:  Max traps Vecna,” Robin confirmed.  

“Phase two:  Eddie, Steve, and I distract whatever is protecting Vecna while Nancy, Robin, and Chrissy head to the Creel house.”

“Phase three:  With the path cleared, Robin, Chrissy, and I enter the Creel house to kill Vecna.”  

“Phase four:  We all meet back here and go the hell home,” Eddie finished.  

Wheeler nodded.  “We don’t move out of a phase until everyone radios to confirm that they are ready,” she said as Henderson passed out radios, one for every group.   

With nothing more to be said, they split the party.  Still, as they parted ways, he couldn’t help it—he couldn’t help casting one last glance over his shoulder to Chrissy, only to find that she, too, was already doing the exact same thing.  

<><><>

Armed with nothing but some Molotov cocktails and her headphones, Chrissy gingerly walked through the forest on the way to the Creel house, with Robin and Nancy on either side of her.

“Do we need to be worried about being quiet?” Robin whispered.

“No,” Nancy answered, with a confident shake of her head.  

“You’ve been in the Upside Down before?” Chrissy asked.  

Nancy nodded.  “Briefly—once.  We just need to keep our eyes open,” she continued, casting a wary glance around the forest.  “And the vines, of course—”

“Yes, yes,” Robin started, taking an odd prance to step around one such vine.  “Don’t step on the vines.  But you seem to be disregarding just how hard that is for some of us.”  

“I’m fine,” Nancy said, taking an extended step to reach over a particularly big vine.  

“Same here,” Chrissy added, repeating Nancy’s maneuver.  

“Well, we can’t all be dancers and cheerleaders, can we?” Robin asked, seemingly jokingly disgruntled.  

“We all bring something to the team,” Nancy said, but she was distracted; she seemed to always have one eye peeled and focused on her surroundings.  “We should be getting close.”  

“Oh, boy,” Robin started, her tone immeasurably nervous.  “I’m scared—I’ll admit it,” she continued, and Chrissy respected her honesty.  “Nothing like a life-or-death situation to bring out some raw honesty,” she finished, with a pointed look at Nancy.  

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Nancy responded, her tone sharp, but not rude.  

“I’m just saying,” Robin started, holding her hands up in surrender.  “If we die here, will you regret not kissing Steve goodbye?”  

This question took Chrissy by surprise, but it did not, evidently, surprise Nancy; she looked at Robin with a small, subtle roll of the eyes.  

“Should we really be talking about this now?” Nancy asked, with a nod to the end of the forest, which had finally come into sight; the Creel house wouldn’t be far off now.  

“You’re the one that told me to just be out with it,” Robin argued, with a scoff.  

Nancy smiled—a tight, impatient smile.  “It’s not like that,” she started, evidently deciding to simply answer the question.  “Steve and I—we haven’t been together for a long time.  So much has changed in that time.  We’ve both changed a lot,” she conceded, looking down to step over another particularly big vine.  “But it’s still not like that.  I’m with—”

“Jonathon, I know,” Robin took her turn to concede.  “So you’ve said, but you’ve also said you’re less than happy!” Robin continued, her tone indicating she’d had some sort of an epiphany.  

“You and Jonathon are having some struggles?” Chrissy asked.  She didn’t want to seem nosy, but she also didn’t want Nancy to think she was apathetic; these people were rapidly becoming her friends—they couldn’t survive this excursion today and not be friends, or so she hoped.  “I’m sorry—you don’t have to share if you don’t want to,” she added as a precaution.  

Nancy shook her head and held her hands up in a disarming sort of way; Chrissy was relieved to see that Nancy didn’t seem to think it was an invasion of her privacy.  “It’s just,” she stopped, sighing.  “I can’t believe we’re talking about this now.”  

“If not now, when?” Robin questioned.  “We could be dead in an hour!”

“We won’t be dead in an hour,” Nancy responded, all determination.  “Fine,” she continued, at Robin’s persistent expression.  “He’s living in California now,” Nancy continued, and Chrissy nodded to indicate that she remembered that the Byers’ had moved away.  “It’s just so much harder—being 2,000 miles apart.”  

“And why didn’t he come home for spring break?” Robin asked, but Nancy’s impatient expression indicated that Robin already knew this answer—had already asked this question and had already received Nancy’s answer prior to today and, as a result, merely wanted to reiterate a stinging point.  

“I told you—his family—”

“I know, I know,” Robin interrupted.  “But if he isn’t willing to spend spring break with you, is he really worth it?  Steve is willing to enter this God-forsaken place for you,” Robin continued, with a disgusted look at the oozing vines surrounding them.  “I’m pretty sure he would’ve come with us to fight Vecna for you, and he would’ve died fighting Vecna if it meant he could keep you safe—if you had let him.  Come on, what loyalty can Jonathon offer that tops that?” 

“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know—”

“Then know it!” Robin exclaimed, only to cast a wary glance around the forest.  “Jonathon is dragging his feet about going to the same college as you!  Steve stayed here to be close to you—he’s already made the decision that Jonathon’s refusing to make!”

“Jonathon isn’t ‘dragging his feet!’” Nancy responded, with a small, humorless laugh.  

“Oh, wake up, Nancy!” Robin exclaimed again, apparently unable to control herself.  “His acceptance letter hasn’t come?  He wants to be home over spring break so he can get it?” Robin asked patronizingly, and it became obvious to Chrissy that these two had clearly discussed this matter at least once before; how else would Robin know how to make such an insightful argument?  If she were to be honest, Chrissy was impressed.    

“So?” Nancy asked, a look of defiance on her face; it was clear that, even though Robin had impressed Chrissy, thus far, she had failed to persuade Nancy.  

“It’s almost April, Nancy,” Robin answered, as if that was all the answer she needed.  

“So?” Nancy repeated.  Chrissy couldn’t be sure, but she could’ve sworn that she almost saw some degree of obstinance on Nancy’s face—almost as if she were daring Robin to say what she, herself, was already thinking.  

“Whatever letter he received—accepted, rejected—it came in the mail long ago, and you know it.  If he hasn’t heard back from them by now, it's because he never even applied.”  

“You don’t understand,” Nancy started, and it seemed to Chrissy that she might be trying to change the tone of the conversation.  “There are things that Jonathon and I went through together—things that are hard to explain.  

“The last time I was in the Upside Down?” she continued, looking once more to the forest surrounding them.  “It was by accident.  I just barely got out before a demogorgon got me.”  At Robin and Chrissy’s look of confusion, Nancy shook her head.  “Right, neither one of you has ever seen one of those first-hand.  It’s huge—over six feet tall.  And it has no face, just teeth.  It’s nearly impossible to kill.”

“And these are the things we think might be guarding Vecna?” Robin asked, and Chrissy could practically hear her swallow.  Chrissy wasn’t feeling great about this information either; was this what they were sending to Eddie, Steve, and Dustin?  

“Possibly,” she confirmed.  

“But Eddie and the others…” Chrissy trailed off, with a nervous shake of her head.  

“Steve’s fought one before,” Nancy said, her confidence returning to her.  

“Exactly,” Robin responded, swooping in; Chrissy wasn’t sure what she had up her sleeves, but she seemed excited about it.  “Steve told me about some of your traumatic experiences.  Sure, you shared some of them with Jonathon—you bonded over hunting a demogorgon, I get it.  But if you remember, it was Steve that actually came through for you and helped hurt the thing.”

“Not true,” Nancy argued.  “Jonathon lit it on fire.”

“On fire?” Chrissy asked, with a gasp.  

“Yeah, they’re afraid of fire,” Nancy said, as if it were as obvious as the vines in front of them.  

“Hence the Molotov cocktails?” Robin asked.

“Hence the Molotov cocktails,” Nancy confirmed.

“But it was Steve that trapped it, right?” Robin continued, not hesitating one beat in her pursuit of the argument.  “And the fact that he was there—it isn’t just Jonathon that has a claim to stake on your previous ‘shared trauma,’” Robin finished, with sarcastic air quotes.  

Nancy looked troubled by this argument, but she remained silent.  

“Look,” Robin started again, her tone apologetic.  “I’m not trying to ruin your life or force you to do something you don’t want to do.  I’m just asking you to give him a shot.  He’s changed a lot.  And, frankly, I’m not encouraging you to do anything you weren’t clearly already contemplating for yourself.”  

Nancy remained silent, and Robin looked somewhat satisfied.  Chrissy wasn’t sure what Robin’s overall goal had been in this conversation, but whatever it was, it seemed she believed she had achieved it.  

“And what about you?” Robin turned to Chrissy, and she felt a chill of dread run down her spine.  She had just seen Robin argue with Nancy—one of the most determined people Chrissy had ever met—and, arguably, Robin had won.  She wasn’t sure she wanted that type of attention directed at her.  

“What about me?” she asked, hearing her own nerves reflected in her voice.  

“You and Eddie?” Robin asked, with a quirked eyebrow.

“Is there something going on there?” Nancy asked, turning sharply to face Chrissy; she seemed almost as shocked as she had been at Robin’s previous accusations against her own relationships.  “Not that it’s any of our business,” she continued, with a wary look to Robin.  Chrissy appreciated this, but she found herself wondering if it was a result of the insecurities that Robin’s accusations had shaken up within herself; either way, it was considerate—Chrissy could not deny that.  

“Yeah, not that it’s any of our business,” Robin reiterated, with a small scoff.  “But we are about to head into the battle of our lives in, like, thirty minutes.”  

“It’s been an…interesting couple of days,” Chrissy started, not really sure how much she wanted to share.  

She looked at the two women in front of her.  They were so different from each other, and they were certainly different from her.  It was as Nancy had said earlier—they each brought something different to the fight.  They could learn from each other.  

Wasn’t that what she liked most about her relationship with Eddie—that they could learn from each other?  She and Eddie were both very different from each other, and they could learn from each other as a result.  

She could learn something from these girls too, and she knew it.  Had she not just been hoping moments ago to come out of this as friends with these women?  A good first step towards achieving that goal would be sharing some private things with them.  

And should she come out of this alive, her and Eddie would be together—publicly.  She needed to get used to not only being with him, but to being with him publicly—telling people was an important first step in that process.  

“A new relationship, suffering a curse that basically sentences you to death,” Robin started, with a sarcastically flippant wave of her hand.  “I can’t imagine what you have to concern yourself with.”

“Yeah, the visions were horrible,” Chrissy started, with a shake of her head.  “If it hadn’t been for Eddie…” she trailed off, her smile coming back.  “He stayed with me—from the second I almost died in his trailer until you found us.  He didn’t leave my side for one second.  Well, not voluntarily,” she conceded, with a small laugh.  “I left briefly to break up with Jason.”

“That’s why they were there,” Robin realized, bringing her hands to her face.  “The jocks,” she specified, as Nancy and Chrissy continued to look confused.  “He was looking for you and Eddie.  Max told us—she saw you at Eddie’s trailer that night, and if she saw you, it’s not a stretch to assume someone else did too.”  

“Yes,” Chrissy started, with an edge to her voice.  “Jason is very popular.  I’m sure he didn’t need to dig too long before finding his answers as to where I could be.”  

“Oh, come on,” Robin argued.  “It isn’t like you aren’t popular too.  You had to know that someone would see you there and tattle to Jason.”

Chrissy nodded, but she could admit that she had not actually thought of that.  “I was just in so much pain,” she admitted.  “The visions—they were so painful:  emotionally, mentally…even physically, to a degree.  I had hit the point where I didn’t care who saw me do what.  I just needed relief.”

“You went to him to buy drugs,” Nancy said; it was not a question.  

“I just needed the pain to end.  And it almost did—in the worst possible way,” she confirmed, with a small tug on her headphones.  “Eddie and I didn’t know what was happening at first.  He just knew that what he had seen at the trailer had scared him and he didn’t want to leave me alone to deal with it.  And once you found us and told us just how bad it could’ve been…” she trailed off, with a shake of her head.  “There was no leaving after that.  He stuck with me through thick and thin.”  

“You hear that, Nancy?” Robin asked, leaning in with a mischievous smile on her face.  “Stuck with her—through thick and thin.”  

Nancy rolled her eyes again, but Chrissy noticed she didn’t argue.  

<><><>

Armed with nothing more than his axe, his amp, and his shield, Eddie could admit that he felt nervous.  Not only was he a crucial part of the plan to draw some unknown hazard away from his girlfriend; he was in a whole new world—literally.  

The Upside Down was just as creepy as Henderson had made it sound.  Everywhere he looked there were vines he couldn’t step on.  But as if that wasn’t hard enough, they moved—they were alive, confirming, for certain, that Harrington had been right:  everything was alive and connected here.  

He knew the logistics of their plan—get to his trailer, hook up as many amps as they could find.  He’d play his guitar and draw whatever creatures were waiting for the girls to them while Steve and Dustin served as the driving physical forces behind the attack.  

Eddie felt a little cowardly—he was definitely taking a backseat on the fight.  But he was determined to contribute what he could, and playing his guitar was certainly something he was good at.  

They had reached his trailer in no time.  Hooking up the amps and fortifying the trailer took some time, but by the time that they had heard word via the radio that Max was under Vecna’s curse, they were ready to proceed to their part of the plan.  

He geared up, choosing to play “Master of Puppets” as a means of having a little pay off for how hard he had worked in the last few weeks to learn the song.  Immediately, Dustin and Steve turned, sending their attention to him.  If Eddie wasn’t mistaken, he thought Steve might just be a little impressed.  Dustin, unsurprisingly, was ecstatic.  

But he wasn’t playing it for them.  He could think of nothing else but Chrissy.  Every note played equated to one second of creatures not attacking her—and every note was worth it.  

He played, and the creatures came.  They spotted the bats mere seconds after he had started.  Henderson started the countdown to the time when they must retreat to the trailer, but Eddie kept playing until the very last second.  He wanted to buy Chrissy, Robin, and Wheeler as much time as possible.  

When the time came, they settled into the trailer, hunkering down.  Armed with a series of makeshift weapons, they waited.  Eddie hoped the trailer would hold, but he wasn’t optimistic; the swarm of bats was surrounding the trailer, taking turns ramming into it.  

It was the vents that destroyed their well-laid plan.  The bats found their way in through the vents, and suddenly, they had an all-out brawl on their hands.  

Harrington took several bites from the bats, but if it impacted him, he didn’t show it; he held strong, wielding his own bat to take the attacking bats down.  Eddie hunkered down in the corner, his shield extended, and Henderson tucked behind him for protection.  

The nails on Eddie’s shield alone took down a few of their adversaries, but he knew that Harrington’s kill count went miles beyond his own.  He could admit it—he was impressed, and, so far, Harrington was living up to his broadcasted reputation as a badass.  

It came in cycles; bats would enter through the vents, Eddie would take a few out with his shield, Steve would take a few out with his bat, and, together, they would defeat that round of the bats and be left waiting until the next round invaded.  

It continued on in this way until one bat took a bit of a bite out of Harrington—a bigger bite than any of the bats before this one had managed.  The bat got past the swing of his baseball bat, swooping in and attacking Harrington at the ribs.  

Eddie had just moved to push through the current wave of bats to help when Harrington took matters into his own hands.  He reached out, grabbing the bat by its tail.  Doing so shocked the bat into letting go of its hold on Harrington’s skin.  With a swish not unlike what he typically used to wield his bat, Harrington slammed the bat to the ground.  He hit it with the baseball bat several times, and once the bat was left to simply whimper in pain, he placed his foot on the bat, used his hand to grab its tail once more, and ripped it in half.  

Harrington pulled back, his breath coming out in short, rough gasps as he moved to spit some blood out of his mouth.  Eddie could admit that he had considered mocking Harrington at one time—of course the pretty boy jock would use a baseball bat as his weapon of choice.  But not anymore; Harrington had more than proved all the talk Henderson had thrown Eddie’s way since the start of the year—he was a badass, through and through.  

More minutes passed, and more swarms of bats arrived.  Eddie started to worry as the minutes ticked on.  How would they know when the fight with Vecna was done?  How would they know if the girls had succeeded?  

Suddenly and inexplicably—to Eddie, anyway; Henderson and Harrington seemed oddly unsurprised—the bats crashed to the ground, crying out in pain.  All the fight had left them.  Eddie, Henderson, and Harrington were free to resume normal, standing positions with no threat upon their lives.  

“What’s happening to them?” Eddie asked.  

“Hive mind,” Steve reminded him.  “They either killed Vecna or did some damage to him.”  

Eddie nodded, feeling instantly reassured and very appreciative to Harrington for sharing such information.  He should’ve hated himself for having anything resembling appreciation for Steve Harrington of all people, but after the display he had just seen, he knew he had no other option—he was impressed, and that was all there was to it.  

“So, now what do we do?” Eddie asked.  

“We wait.”  

<><><>

As soon as they arrived at the Creel house, they spotted the adversaries that the boys would be forced to tackle.  

“What the hell are those?” Robin asked, warily eyeing the bats flying around the attic of the Creel house.  

“Bats,” Nancy stated as if it were obvious.  

“No kidding, Nancy,” Robin offered, with a small scoff.  “Have you seen them before?”

Nancy merely shook her head.  

“Do you think they look easier or harder to beat than your…what did you call them?  Demogorgons?” Chrissy asked, her concern for Eddie piquing at the thought of the boys tackling an adversary they had no previous experience with.  

“They’re certainly smaller than the demogorgons.”

“Well, that bodes well,” Robin said, but there was an edge to her voice—she was still concerned, and Chrissy would be lying if she said she wasn’t too.  “But I’m glad it’s them tackling the bats, not me.  Rabies,” she specified, at Chrissy and Nancy’s extremely confused expressions.  “It scares the living daylights out of me.”  

Still, they had reached their destination, and they radioed to indicate as much.  They waited patiently as Max laid the bait for Vecna, and with every passing second, Chrissy felt her heart pounding.  

She hated that poor Max had to succumb to this curse, even if it was meant to only be temporary.  She remembered her own visions, and she sympathized with the suffering Max must be experiencing at that very moment.  She did not envy her position, but she didn’t envy her own either; she was about to come face to face with the very creature that had cursed them both to begin with.  

Once Lucas had responded that Vecna had her, the boys wasted no time.  

With a gasp, she suddenly heard the thrumming of Eddie’s guitar.  She knew he had to be miles away, but hearing it brought her such a sense of relief; at the very least, as long as the guitar was playing, she knew he had to be alive.  

As if on cue, the bats flew in the direction of the sound of the guitar.  Her concern spiked instantly; it hadn’t looked like that many bats when they had been swooping around the attic of the Creel house, but now, flying away, she could see just how many there were.  

She hoped Eddie would be okay, but she knew she had her own risks to be concerned about as well.  The prospect of coming face to face with the creature that had spent a week tormenting her was terrifying—perhaps more for her than for anyone else here, as she knew precisely what he looked like and what he was capable of.  

She knew just how careful they needed to be here.  But she also knew just how important it was that they won here; if they were to win, they would not only save herself and Max, but any countless other people Vecna could curse in the future.  

“Ready?” Nancy asked, releasing a deep breath.  With two silent nods in response, they started to approach the front steps of the porch.  At the front door, decorated hauntingly with a beautiful stained-glass rose that failed to depict the horrors that inevitably resided within, Chrissy paused; Eddie’s guitar had suddenly ceased playing.  

“It’s part of the plan, remember?” Nancy asked, not rude, but very succinct.  “They fortified the trailer.  They will use the guitar to lure the creatures, but they will stand their ground from inside the trailer.”  

Chrissy nodded.  She had not remembered this part of the plan, but, admittedly, she had quite a bit on her mind right now.  

They found Vecna in the attic, just like Max had said they would.  He was just as horrifying as Chrissy remembered him being in her nightmares.  His flesh was made up of the vines they had so cautiously stepped over in the forest on the way here.  His eyes were closed, but she could still see it—the seething desire to kill that she knew burned in those eyes on a regular basis.  

His arms were extended, as if he were offering the most dangerous and lethal hug imaginable, and additional vines were streaming off of him; they were wrapped around the pillars upholding the attic, almost as if he were a leech, drawing power from the house.  

He was, as Max had said he would be, in a trance.  His eyes were closed, and no noise they made—including Robin’s inadvertent tripping over her own feet—seemed to startle him or alert him to their presence.  

“Whoa,” Chrissy heard Robin whisper as she fumbled while removing the Molotov cocktails; she dispersed them evenly between herself and Chrissy.  

If Nancy was scared, she didn’t show it; there was no fumbling to be seen here, as she found and held her gun with determined command.  

They wasted no time.  With one final communal nod to confirm that they were all ready, Chrissy and Robin threw their first cocktails.  A scream echoed through the room, even as Nancy started firing immediately, even as the loud bang of the gun competed with the loudness of the scream to be heard.  

The shock of the contact had evidently shaken Vecna from his trance.  He fell to the floor, screaming, his eyes open—he was here now:  mentally and physically.  

He set his eyes immediately on Chrissy.  She did not hesitate, but neither did he; she threw another cocktail, but he seemed barely phased by it as his eyes ached with hunger.  He took a step to approach her.  

Nancy kept shooting.  Robin kept throwing cocktails.  But he was getting closer.  He would reach Chrissy in a matter of moments.  

Eddie’s music was no longer playing, but the implications of that had an impressive impact on her; he had moved on to the next phase of their plan—he was fighting, just as she needed to fight—right here, right now.  It drove her on.  

She held her head high.  She removed her headphones from their perch around her neck, hurling them back towards the hallway.  She looked him in the eyes.  

In a flash, she was not alone—not anymore.  She was in Vecna’s mind, not her own.  She knew the instant he had her.  

She was in the Creel house, but things looked different.  Robin and Nancy were gone.  There was one, small, illuminated lightbulb dangling from the ceiling.  The decorations were dated, and, while the same items that lay discarded in this version of the room were the same as the version she had just left behind in the Upside Down, there was no dust—no signs of disuse or disrepair.  

She was in the Creel house as it had been—when the Creel’s had actually lived here.  

Vecna was gone, but a boy had appeared in his spot.  He sat at a desk, observing what looked to be spiders.  It sent a chill down her spine.  

“Chrissy,” Vecna whispered, and the sound of it was so very familiar to her—just as chilling as it had always been.  He somehow managed to sound both threatening and welcoming at the same time.  It also did not help that she could hear him, but she could not see him.  “It’s time to come with me.  You have evaded me for long enough.  You know what you deserve.” 

“I do know what I deserve,” she said, holding her head high, despite the fact that she could not find Vecna and that the boy seemed to remain ignorant of his voice.  “I deserve to be with my friends—people that support me, no questions asked.”

“Chrissy!”  The voice was different this time.  Suddenly, her mother was here, alongside this boy that still seemed satisfied studying his spiders.  

“Let me take that out for you—”

“You don’t want to look fat, do you?  Well, fatter than you already do—”

“Are you sure you should wear that?”

“Chrissy, what are you eating?”

“What will Jason think?”

“Really, it’s just a few stitches.  I can let it out for you—

“Think about what you’re doing, Chrissy—”

Suddenly, it was a barrage of insults and cautionary statements from her mother.  She closed it out; she placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes.  She felt the temptation to trace the notes of “These Dreams,” but she squashed it at the last possible moment; she was not going to use a hole in the world to get out of here—she was going to defeat Vecna and her own traumas on her own.  

“Enough!” she yelled, throwing her hands out and opening her eyes.  Unexpectedly, Vecna was standing in front of her, not her mother.  He was still keeping company with the little boy, though, who remained unmoved.  “I’ve had enough,” she said, looking Vecna in the eye.  She even dared to take a step forward.  “I don’t care what you say.  I don’t care what my mother says.  I’ve had enough of worrying about what everyone thinks!”

The boy left, running past her toward the stairs that led to the main part of the house.  Vecna did not stir, but she did; she ran to follow him—something told her that she should follow him.  

Landing at the bottom of the stairs, she found herself—and the boy—standing in front of a very familiar clock.  The boy stared at it, seeming somehow angry at it for the passage of time.  

“It’s time, Chrissy,” Vecna suddenly appeared again, standing on the opposite side as the boy.  “It’s time for you to join me.”  

Echoes of her mother reappeared in the back of her mind.  Suddenly, her mother had appeared again; this time she was reflected in the glasswork of the clock.  

“Look how tight that looks!—”

“We should take this out, shouldn’t we?—”

“Now’s the time, dear.  All you have to do is slide your finger down your throat.  See, just like this—”

“Is it too small?  Pity—”

“If you won’t do it, I’ll put my own finger down there!—”

“You feed on trauma?” Chrissy asked, closing her eyes, shutting it out—shutting all of it out; she refused to hear her mother.  When she opened her eyes once more, she looked back at the clock, and her mother was gone.  “You feed on misery?  You take someone that’s already miserable and you find ways to make them more miserable?” she asked, with a shake of her head.  “Not anymore!”  

With all the elegance and confidence of a gymnast and a cheerleader, she leapt on Vecna’s back, where she used her position to loop her arm around his neck.  Lowering her feet back to a secure position upon the floor, she attempted to find sufficient leverage, and she succeeded—in spite of the differences in their heights.  

With Vecna trapped and struggling, the boy disappeared.  Maintaining the illusion—whatever it was meant to mean to her, to Vecna—seemed to take more brain power than he was currently willing to allot, given his position.  

Her position secured, she dragged him, approaching the burning fireplace of the living room with every passing step.  Every step was a battle—his vines attacked her, wrapping around her neck; it became hard to breathe, but she had to do this—she had to see this through to the end.  She couldn’t let anyone else fall under Vecna’s curse.  

She did her best to remember that this was a fight of the mind.  If she got burned here—in Vecna’s mind—it would—should—expel her from his mind but keep her physically safe; it should enable her to at least continue to carry on the physical fight.    It wasn’t much, but it was enough to fuel the fire of her fearlessness; she found her fortitude.  

It became an all-out struggle—who could hold out the longest:  Chrissy or Vecna.  She fought, she clawed, she dragged, she scraped.  He slithered, he leeched, he clutched.  

But she used it against him; by the time they had reached the fireplace, his hold on her was so strong—so close—he could do nothing when she pulled him down with her into the flames.  She pulled herself back, but she pushed him forward; she was so close to the fire—if she could only push him one more inch, she’d be safe, and he’d be done.  With one last deep breath and push, he was on fire; the fire danced alone every vine, getting closer to her by the second.   

With a gasp, she was back in the dusted and rundown version of the Creel’s attic—the Upside Down.  She was alive, but Vecna was as well.  He was coming out of his trance, just as she was.  

But Nancy and Robin had not wasted the time Chrissy had bought them.  They had burned him to a crisp, and the fire burned even brighter now; he was burning—here, in the Upside Down, and in his own mind.  There was no escaping it.  

Three shots to the face and he was dead.  

Silence fell upon the attic—shocking, yet peaceful, silence.  It was so very quiet after the thunderous sounds of the fight.  All that remained was the crackling of the fire overtaking Vecna’s body and their own labored breaths.  

They had won.  They had defeated Vecna.  

Suddenly, with their part of the battle done, Chrissy found herself wondering about the boys.  Eddie’s guitar had not resumed, but she didn’t know if that should serve as a reassurance or a concern.  

“It’s okay,” Nancy reassured, almost as if she had read Chrissy’s mind.  “Hive mind, remember?  When one thing dies or is attacked, the others falter too.  If the bats are still fighting, they aren’t putting up much more of a fight.”  

Chrissy, having seen Nancy in action, knew trusting her was the right move; she had proven to have her fair share of experience with all matters related to the Upside Down.  

“Why speculate?  We can confirm this,” Robin started, finding their radio.  “Boys, is your concert over?  Are you ready to meet up at the gate?”

The seconds of silence ticked by, and Chrissy felt every single one of them.  She counted them, feeling sicker with every single one that passed.  

“Roger that,” Dustin’s voice suddenly sounded over the radio.  “We’re alive and well.  We’ll meet you at the gate in thirty.”  

“Let’s blow this hell hole,” she heard Eddie say in the background.  

“Jesus, watch your language.  Like the kid needs any more bad influences in his life,” Steve added, sounding distracted.  

She and Nancy immediately exchanged a look.  

“Let’s go,” they both said.  

<><><>

By the time the girls radioed, Eddie was just about to go out of his mind with his impatience.  When they finally got the all clear to meet up at the gate, they set off at a quick pace; he wasn’t sure who was moving faster—him or Harrington.  

They took the shortest path back to the lake with the gate—through the woods.  Eddie was focused on cautiously making his way over the vines when a quiet, yet kind, “hey” found his ears.  

He turned to see Harrington approaching him, falling into stride next to him.  Henderson led the group, walking several feet ahead of the pair of them.  

“Hey, man,” Steve started again.  “Listen, I just, uh…I just want to say thanks,” he paused, and at Eddie’s confused expression, he pressed on.  “For saving my ass back there.”

“Shit,” Eddie started, with a humorless laugh.  “You saved your own ass, man.  I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.”  

“Ozzy?” Harrington asked as he moved to shine his flashlight on their surrounding area.  

“When you took a bite out of that bat,” Eddie started.  

He could see that Harrington was obviously confused.  He couldn’t say he was surprised.  Harrington didn’t seem like the type to share an interest in Eddie’s type of music, and while Harrington had seemed impressed by Eddie’s rendition of “Master of Puppets,” he hadn’t seemed to recognize the song in the slightest; he was impressed at Eddie’s skill with a guitar, and those skills alone, not due to any inherent understanding of the complexity of Eddie’s choice in song.  

“Ozzy Osbourne?  Black Sabbath?” he tried again, thinking Harrington must have at least read about it in the paper when it had happened.  “He bit a bat's head off onstage,” Eddie declared, finally conceding that Steve clearly didn’t know what he was talking about.

“I don’t—”

“You know?” Eddie asked as Steve clearly continued to fumble.    

“No,” Steve answered, but it wasn’t rude; he seemed to at least understand that Eddie was trying to compliment him.    

“Doesn’t matter,” Eddie started again, knowing that it didn’t—knowing that his point could be made without this mutual understanding.  “It’s very metal—what you did.  That’s all I’m saying,” he finished, with an enthusiastic smile.   

“Thanks,” Steve responded, and he seemed genuine in his appreciation.    

But it wasn’t enough—not for Eddie; he had other things he wanted to say.  “Henderson told me you were a badass.  Insisted on the matter, in fact,” he added, with a nod.  

“Henderson said that?” Harrington asked, the shock clear in his tone.  

“Oh yeah,” Eddie confirmed, emphatically.  “Shit.  Kid worships you, dude.  Like, you have no idea,” he continued, with an enthusiastic laugh.  “It’s kinda annoying, to be honest,” he conceded.  

Harrington laughed at his honesty; it drove him on—maybe, Eddie thought, they could find some common ground here.    

“I don’t even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but,” he paused.  “Guess I got a little jealous, Steve,” he admitted.  Harrington looked up to meet his eyes, and he could see it—the exact same emotions he was feeling were reflected on Harrington’s face.  

“I guess I couldn’t accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude,” he continued, with a disarming smile.  “Rich parents, popular, chicks love him.  Not a douche?” he paused, his expression morphing to show his disbelief.  “No way, man.  No way.  That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine. 

“Still super jealous as hell, by the way,” he conceded.  It worked; they both shared a laugh. 

“You see,” he continued, leaning in and placing a hand on Harrington’s shoulder.  “Before what happened in my trailer—before Chrissy,” he shook his head.  “I was no hero.  Outside of D&D?  Nope,” he shook his head again.  “I saw what was happening to her, and I swear, if it had gone on one second longer—gone one step further…” he trailed off with a shudder; he couldn’t even think about what would’ve happened to Chrissy if the curse had lasted one more second that day.  “I probably would’ve just turned heel and ran.  That’s what I’ve learned about myself this week.”  

“Give yourself a break, man,” Harrington conceded as he reached in and tapped Eddie reassuringly.   

“See,” he started again, batting Steve’s hand away and moving to lean in once more.  “The only reason I came in here was Chrissy—I’ve gotta keep her safe, man,” he said, with a resounding nod.  “I see you, man.  I know why you came in here.  Henderson’s part of it,” he conceded, pointing to the kid in question.  “But there’s something else, right—someone else?”

Eddie paused, and Harrington’s understanding was etched all over his face.  

“You’ve gotta tell her, man.  Wheeler—tell her how you feel.”

“She didn’t even want me by her side in here,” Harrington said, brushing off Eddie’s encouragement.

“Don’t you see why?  She took on the big bad, Harrington.  Do you think she wanted you there, too?  Do you know how big of a risk it was for them to take on Vecna on their own?  Why do you think I offered to go with Chrissy?”  

“Great,” Steve started, with a scoff.  “So, she thinks I’m useless and that I can’t help her defeat Vecna.”

“No,” Eddie drawled, his smile still holding strong.  “She thinks she doesn’t want to risk you getting taken out by Vecna.  And that, my disgustingly popular friend, is as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen.  

“Now, I don’t know what happened between you two,” Eddie continued, his smile nothing but encouraging.  “But if I were you, I would get her back.”

With one more clap of solidarity to the back, Eddie left Harrington trailing behind him, clearly lost in thought.

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson #eddie x chrissy #chrissy x eddie #chrissy cunningham #edissy

[starry-skies-116]

Stranger Things DeityAvatar!AU Facts:

Eleven can speak better and can communicate just a bit more clearly in this AU due to Aruna teaching her grammar, vocabulary and basic communication skills in what spare free time she had- however, she retains a strange type of stoicness to her timid and socially awkward nature (my sweet autistic baby we love to see it instead of the trauma ‘plot hole filler’ Duffer Brothers APPARENTLY had created for the reason behind her lack of speech in the original show… *inhales* yeah that ain’t too hot).

***

She usually speaks in full, singular sentences with a slow, steady way of speaking, and gives one or two word responses to most questions unless her curiosity is greatly piqued about something. She still doesn’t understand social rules and customs and has to have them explained to her in a way she understands, and has even the slightest of feelings amplified and on her face 24/7.

***

El rarely nicknames people, however, she doesn’t particularly like speaking or addressing people by their official titles (instead opting for more familial, shorter titles like ‘Papa’ or ‘Mike’). She thinks of Aruna as her patron deity that she’s contracted to to be an incredibly better father figure (despite Aruna’s more questionable traits, he does consider Eleven as his daughter and is having his incredibly egotistical and manipulative qualities slowly fading to show compassion, even now- he also despises Brenner and the lab staff so it’s a win-win). She often nicknames him as ‘Papa Aru’ (unbeknownst to Brenner), but the name she calls him by the most in front of everyone is ‘Aru’.

***

In this AU, she mistook/compared friendships to contracts, and Lucas was incredulous at the amount of formality she applied to casual relationships. But because of this perspective, it’s one of the many reasons El takes her relationships extremely seriously and goes extremely far to defend the people she loves and that have cared for her.

***

El’s powers are slightly modified in this AU to resemble something similar to Heliokinesis/Astrokinesis via her mind in addition to her inherent psychokinetic abilities- signs of her using her powers are nosebleeds, however, her veins also begin to pop visibly beneath her skin, and her eyes begin to glow with a furious, prominent light- and through her emotions, her powers are amplified. Due to using her powers so often, El's hands are always warm.

***

In this AU, she labels her naturally gifted powers of psionics and astrokinesis as spells, since her drawing power from the sun, a celestial body/star, is channeled through primarily her mind (and also Aruna constantly labeling it as magic). To a small extent, she can harness the sun’s energy to revitalize and regrow plants (a parlor trick that she often utilizes to impress Mike) and she can call upon solar fire, heat and some extents of celestial-induced destruction from the sun and stars- a major weakness of the Mindflayer being fire.

***

When Eleven loses her powers, her connection to both her psionic powers and the sun is severed,so she can no longer draw, let alone channel energy from the sun- and at this same time, a fragment of The Mindflayer seals Aruna’s soul in a stone idol and hides him away somewhere in The Upside Down. As a result, El’s powers and Aruna’s essence are locked dormant within her body, and she delves into her most repressed memories to re-unlock them again.

***

El still remembers her birth name: Jane Ives. This is primarily due to Aruna constantly calling her by her endowed name, but she deliberately chooses to introduce herself to Mike and the party as Eleven. Why? To spite the celestial deity, of course. And part of her was incredibly ecstatic when Mike gave her the nickname of El: ‘short for Eleven’!

***

Eleven still loves Eggos in this AU, naturally having a preference towards crunchier, sweeter foods rather than foods with a gooey, gelatinous texture- she and Eggos and the absolutely sick combos she can assemble and prepare with them are basically inseparable.

***

“Why don’t you ever enjoy real food instead of that premade filth?” Aruna would sometimes ask her condescendingly, to which Eleven blows a raspberry and crosses her arms. “Cause I can- and they’re not filth, Aru,” she replies to the deity’s looming figure with her mouth full before proceeding to take a wolfish bite out of yet another Eggo waffle.

***

Headcanon that El’s natural hair was incredibly curly- kind of like Layla El-Faouly’s, but less crimped and in between being super soft and wavy and having visible curls. Basically, if Mike ever sees that, he will swoon. Also, Mike absolutely hating El’s patron deity and constantly arguing and talking smack about him? Win.

***

Aruna over the ages (a deity of the sun and stars that served as a guardian to humanity) lost most of his power and was eventually reduced to a weakened, phantasmal state, partially due to expending most of his strength into sealing the Mind Flayer in a parallel dimension of darkness (The Upside Down) after a brutal war that lasted for several millenia during the days of early human civilization, and partially due to the decline of the Age of Gods after humans began to stop worshipping deities in favor of other faiths and belief systems.

***

Because of this, he cannot have a direct influence on the human world (other than willing people to see him if he wishes for them to see him). Thus, he must act through the will of a physical vessel- an avatar, to which he chooses Eleven to be contracted to him as the most suitable and most powerful candidate due to her inherent power and potential. His voice dwells within her mind, and The Void is a sort of ‘dream realm’ in her headspace where both she and Aruna communicate freely and interact with one another.

***

Also headcanon that Aruna, in addition to english, communication and basic writing skills, taught El board games in her spare time that originated from basically really ancient times that he once enjoyed, so when Mike introduces DND to her, she tilts her head and replies: “Oh, like Chaturanga, or Game of Ur? Or Senet? Or no, no- maybe later time- maybe it’s Mehen, or Backgammon…” Dustin and Lucas suspect that she’s some immortal eldritch creature in disguise of a human to know all these ancient games that are precursors to even chess, which she isn’t, but the deity presiding within her is- so it isn’t too far of a stretch.

***

#Dr. Martin Brenner #Eleven #Stranger Things Eleven #El Hopper #Jane Hopper #Jane Ives #Deity Avatar!AU #Stranger Things AU #(warning for mild spoiler mention ig) #S4 ST spoilers #Stranger Things spoilers #Mike Wheeler #Dustin Henderson #Lucas Sinclair #The Mindflayer

[kaypeace21]

i LOVE your analysis especially byler ones so please don't take this as hate, it's the last thing i want to do. but while i love the byler theories do you actually think the duffers are smart enough to realize the potential/brave enough to follow through on the relationship. bc tbh i think our viewpoint is skewed i don't think anyone but byler shippers see the canon possibility. and also it really seems like m/leven is going to be endgame? just wanted to know more of your thought process

Even if byler never happens- I’m 100% sure mileven won’t be endgame XD. Regardless of byler, Mike and El are just not going to happen. (Even if they’re ‘dating’ in s4). I could try to explain the reasons why I think byler will be endgame though. I’ll give the cliffnotes version. This will probably be a mess- because focusing on all the reasons isn’t as good as analyzing , each reason as it’s own separate post, in depth). 

Why mileven isn’t endgame

- The duffers said, while filming ST, El was supposed to die in s1 (glad that didn’t happen). And this was also their plan when pitching their show ‘Montauk’ (later retitled ST), saying that the hypothetical  s2 sequel would be about the boys returning to their town 10 years later. Mileven was never ‘planned end-game’. They also describe mileven kissing but never mention the word ‘love’ like how Jancy was described in the Montauk pitch. Nancy’s bio says “ she will experience love for the first time.”  But when they describe mileven, they say, “If Mike is the Elliot of our show, Eleven is our “E.T.” Like that’s … not romantic, Duffers. And if it was supposed to be … WTF did you guys watch the same film? 0-O

- In the byler centric s2, the Duffers kept mileven separated. And the mileven kiss wasn’t written in the show. Millie pretty much said “they had to do it.” Much to Matt’s confusion but then the Duffers agreed. And used ‘every breath you take’ (a song about divorce), and just by coincidence their 2nd back-up  song was also a song about a divorce? Nah, they were trolling.

- Most of the women (Nancy & Max) in the show critique Mileven saying Mike treats her as if she’s stupid, can’t take care of herself, or as she is a possession. 

-in the first ep of s3 almost all the guys (who had/have gfs) Hopper, Lucas, and Dustin all criticize the mileven relationship and think it’s unhealthy.

Hopper says “ They’re spending entirely too much time together… It is constant.It is constant! Okay? That is not normal, that is not healthy! ”

Lucas mocks Mike, saying “ Oh El, I wish we could make out forever and never hang out with any of our friends.”

Dustin says when they flake on him, “It’s bullshit, I just got home!” (insert Nancy calling Stancy ‘bullshit’)

and before this  Dustin talks about Romeo & Juliet (while mileven is out of frame). R&J is all about the dangers of not knowing the difference between love and infatuation. Juliet after Romeo is banished just complains about how in love/sad she is but never pursues looking for him (sound familiar)? R&J claimed that they were in love with each other after knowing each for a few days and deciding to get married-sabotaging the closest relationships they had with their friends/family (all in the name of ‘true love’) . Similarly Mileven thought they were in love after only a week of knowing each other, and the second they are reunited they start dating and spend all their time with each other. El is allowed out of the house (and her friends are allowed to visit), but El hasn’t interacted with Max nor Will? They spend almost everyday in her room just making out. Mike puts very little effort into integrating her into his life or as part of the group. The only time they go out- is for Mike to show off El to Dustin like a possession- then before El can even do the boding activity with the group (with the radio tower)- Mike convinces her to leave to make out. They are both complicit in this and they both bring out the worst in each other and they make each other blinded to their loved ones’ feelings.

- El literally asks Max “How do I know what I like?” Do I have to explain why this could be problematic? She even says “I don’t know”, when Max asks if Mike is a good kisser.You can call me ‘ableist’ my abused-autistic ass will disagree. But El is not ready for a romantic relationship! it makes perfect sense for El to be confused by the distinctions of romantic, platonic, and familial love- when the first 12 years of her life she didn’t receive any form of love , PERIOD! And she is not like normal abuse victims (she has never had proper socialization with peers her own age or even adults).All she had was television. She latches herself on to anyone who is kind to her (something I used to do). Without Mike she used Max as a replacement almost immediately, and even starts repeating/mirroring the things she says (specifically coping phrases from her …over 6 times!). She’s also susceptible to doing what others say or want her to do, “dumping his ass” (with Max’s validation and encouragement). El might love Mike but I don’t think it’s romantic, she latched on to the first person that was kind to her. Before their first kiss she asked Mike “Will you be like my brother?” And she’s hurt when he says “no”, asking “Why not?”. He then kisses her (she watches a lot of soap operas and she assumes it must be ‘romantic love’). You’re telling me that if she was ‘in love’ with Mike she would have been that happy over dumping him? I’m not saying El is dumb for not being able to discern these things (I think people without such backgrounds may still struggle with this concept). But it makes perfect sense for El to be confused by the distinctions of various loves or even the differences between ‘crushes’ , ‘physical attraction’ and ‘romantic love’ 

- In the last ep El asks about what he said at the cabin to Max, specifying “you talked about your feelings?”. He says and I QUOTE “Oh! Oh, yeah that.Man, that was so long ago. Um…”  and starts to scratch his head. Then he excuses what he said at the cabin, saying it was “in the heat of the moment stuff and we were arguing… I don’t actually remember. What did I say exactly?”  

Now either he legitimately forgot! Or he lied! You know the thing that broke them up in the first place! The one thing that El holds as her most important value in life- honesty. And he lied- about something as important as his romantic feelings?!  Make up any excuse (about being shy/character flaws all you want), but this isn’t real life- it’s fiction (everything is done for a narrative purpose). That wasn’t an accident ( mileven wasn’t “written out of character”- like milevens claim,  the duffers were criticizing the ship on purpose) .And the fact he lied again! Wouldn’t bode well for a long term relation with each other. The whole season, criticized their romantic relationship ! That wasn’t a coincidence neither was the fact he looked confused by her confession, and kept his eyes open the whole time and didn’t kiss her back . 

And as she smiled and walked away, he looked confused. That wasn’t a directing mistake, like so many milevens are claiming! You really think they wouldn’t make sure their ‘fav ship’ didn’t have a good final kiss? 

 Especially since it was right after a romantic Jancy scene (which was directed amazingly)- where Nancy even mentions Mileven- to make us compare the 2 pairings romantic scenes even more. 

* I know I sound like an assh*le but I’m just annoyed. I’ve always censored my byler posts trying not to offend/criticize mileven. I never cross tagged my byler meta with the hashtag mileven (never will, cause it’s rude). But (without sounding pompous) my byler posts generally gets reblogged a lot- and now the milevens have seen my posts (and are sending lots of hate my way) and worst of all they’ve invaded the byler tag. Today I saw 2 posts in the byler tag saying. “We’re delusional” and “stupid”- and also in the same posts they say they “feel attacked” by us.Um… there’s a difference between byler shippers privately criticizing a ship without bothering mileven shippers (and only tagging it byler) . Versus Mileven shippers  tagging things byler (and ranting about the ship and it’s shippers). Loved the comment about how Mike can’t be bi cause “he loves El too much”.I think Mike is probably gay and in denial. But, um that’s not how being bi works- didn’t know  bi people love women and men ½ as much as the gays/straights. Thanks for informing me (rolls eyes for eternity).So kid-gloves off, nothing left to lose! Time to compare the ships.

‘The breakup’ vs ‘fight’ parallel

comedic vs dramatic! The casual sunny day vs the dramatic framing of the storm (a romantic trope) . The ‘break-up’ being a scene with multiple onlookers vs the fight being with Will and Mike only (making it more personal/intimate).  ‘Cold as ice’ playing after the mileven breakup vs the sad instrumentals playing during the byler fight. The comedic after-math at the mall. El and Max laughing, and another joke being made as the bus leaves.El’s happiness vs Will’s heartbreak.

Mike’s drastically different expressions after their fights. He looks regretful with Will, and almost annoyed with El dumping him.  The fact Mike apologized right away more than once to Will, and ran into a storm to apologize a 2nd time. But with El he just lies to cover up the first lie, and then after the break-up he just complains/lounges on the couch (not taking any responsibility). He literally says about El “Why is she treating me this way? What did I do to deserve this? What did I do wrong?”.( He lied and made her feel “like garbage”!) Then he burps and laughs about chips- and makes sexist comments. Neither EL nor Mike are heartbroken by the breakup.

But when he angers Will (by him trying to finish the game early), he immediately tries to de-escalate saying softly “I was just joking- c’mon, let’s finish the game”. But when Will just yells back (much to Mike’s confusion) he doesn’t dismiss his feelings as irrational (like he wrongfully did to El) but chases him to the garage-  and begs him to stay since it’s raining.

In the garage, Mike immediately apologizes saying “I said I was sorry, alright. It was a cool campaign.” But after this, they fight and Mike runs into a storm to apologize a second time , and says to Will’s door “ WILL! I’m sorry I was being an asshole. Can you just come outside and we’ll talk? WILL!” He immediately takes responsibility and apologizes. And he’s desperate to resolve things. And when they find him outside castle Byers he just asks  (Mike’s catchphrase) “Will, Are you ok?”

Shed scene ( “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “the most important thing in the world to me”) parallel

When Mike says to El  “you’re most important thing to me” in the pool shed. El doesn’t even acknowledge the comment (and neither should the audience- cause the words were empty). She completely ignores his words, and responds by asking him about his previous comments. Asking whether Hopper was right about them spending too much time together.

I didn’t edit (or delete any scene after his proclamation) this is how fast it was delivered ! The framing of this mileven scene was not cinematic or heartfelt, and neither was the delivery from Mike. He’s not crying, trying to reach her with proclamations of his genuine feelings. There’s no dramatic music, framing, lighting or shot composition. And El just responds and cuts his supposed ‘true feelings’ off- only to agree with Hopper and says “ she should spend time with her own species.” And if this ‘romantic moment’ wasn’t already undermined enough. This is when Mike realizes she was spying on him , and feels wrongfully violated (something she doesn’t apologize for,  saying “I make my own rules” . He even brings this up in a later episode (this clearly bothered him)!

Juxtaposed to the MUCH longer byler scene. A literal single tear falling down his cheek as Mike , recounts the first day they met. Mike being in the back drop of darkness only his face being illuminated (having him appear like a guiding light to Will). Saying “ I felt so alone and  so scared… but you were alone too” (alone together/crazy together) .  He then talks about asking Will to be his friend, and then he pauses and breaks eye contact , before looking him in the eye and smiling (lost in the memory) saying softly “you said yes, you said yes.” (cough like saying yes at a wedding).

So, after he says “you said yes, you said yes.” It’s important to mention that he takes a deep breath and breaks eye contact again, (looking down and to the side) as he says this line. Subconsciously, I believe he knows this line is romantic and he’s too afraid to say it to his face. Only flicking his eyes up to look at Will  after he finishes the entire sentence, and to gauge Will’s reaction.

This whole monologue is only of tight shots of just their faces (their bodies aren’t shown like in the pool shed scene). This is a personal moment between them and them alone- and the fact we zoom in on their faces (expresses this to be important emotionally) . And when we see Will’s reaction to Mike saying “it was the best thing I’ve ever done”. We just see Will’s face only- no music is playing and all we hear is  Will’s whimpers and Mike crying in the background.

“ Blank makes you Crazy” vs “ Crazy Together parallel

When Mike tries to confess his “love” to El he says “Well they do say it makes you crazy”… much to El’s confusion.He has to try to explain it a second time to El- who just gets even more confused, by his ‘confession’. Saying “you never heard that expression? Like blank makes you crazy … like the word (love)?”

But when Mike says he “feels like he’s going crazy” Will immediately responds with “Me too”. Mike even smiles at the comment. So that moment in s2 means more than we think, when Mike (with tears in his eyes) smiles at Will’s comment and asks them to go “crazy together”.And when Will responds back “yeah, crazy together” (who also has tears in his eyes). They even linger on the moment as they just smile and stare at each other.

Mike is in denial, and may not even realize he loves Will, but he knows subconsciously that he does. He heard the phrase “love makes you crazy and that damn stupid”, 100′s of times and that’s why he said that phrase to Will. And why it made him so happy when Will reciprocated , by saying “ yeah. crazy together.” In addition to why we see them both go from happy, to immediately upset over the conversation.The scene was already romantically coded in s2 (but the scene in s3 re-contextualizes the whole thing) . Mike thinks “love makes you crazy” , and he asked Will to go ‘crazy together’ with him. And When Will is at castle byers looking at the Halloween pic of the 2 the day Mike said that, Will cries and calls himself “stupid” (4x). Can’t get more obvious… Like look what the duffers did! 

El and Will’s opinions on Mike (Parallels)

-When asked if Mike was a good kisser,  she just said “I don’t know he’s my 1st boyfriend.” (implying she’s thinking, at least subconsciously, of having other boyfriends ,who are not Mike in the future).  But when Mike pretty much asks’ if Will thought they’d never get girlfriends, and spend the rest of their lives with each other’.Will just sadly responds “yeah, I guess I did. I really did!” Unlike, El, Will always saw Mike as his future, his forever.

-And when Mike says “it’s just a break” , Max says “No it’s not!”, and we see El laugh along with Max’s comment. She is not heartbroken at the idea of never getting back together with him, romantically. Right after they break up she was laughing, reading comics, and playing games with Max.

But Will is devastated over the fight! And out of all the memories in Castle Byers it’s the Ghostbusters photo from Halloween that causes Will to pick up the bat and start destroying everything. That was the night that Mike agreed to go “crazy together” with him. He tears it in ½ right in the center where Mike and Will are. He was so stupid to think it meant anything. The “crazy together” scene, that Mike initiated in s2 was always meant to be romantic. Not only because of Will’s reaction to the photo in s3, but because Mike in s3 says “They do say it makes you crazy…blank makes you crazy.”  Which is exactly what happens to Will, as he has his breakdown.Castle byers was built on a rainy night , the same day Will’s dad left, when Will was 5 (the same age he met Mike). And lonnie called him a “queer” and a “f*g” and forced him to do “normal things” like baseball to have him “be more of a man”. And then on a rainy night, after Mike says “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”… what does Will destroy castle byers with? A baseball bat! The fact Will has a baseball bat (despite in s1 saying he does not like baseball) in Castle Byers, surrounded by things he loves: drawings, d&d, art supplies, a microscope, comics- just shows what an impact Lonnie’s problematic conditioning and abandonment had on him. He used a baseball bat to destroy something he loves -castle Byers, and symbolically he was trying to reject his feelings for Mike using Lonnie’s old tactics of fixing him.

- Also, El doesn’t even seem to appreciate when Mike acts like his true self (goofy/like a kid). She laughs when Max complains he talks too much. Rolls his at his jokes with the cpr-dummy, covers his mouth and tells him to stop when he tries to joke and sing, ignores him when he gets excited about talking about dinosaurs. Which relates to my next point

The only characters who’s character bios focus on ‘escaping’ through d&d is Mike and Will.

Will in the Montauk pitch was described as having “sexual identity issues… LIKE MIKE , Will ESCAPES through fantasy gaming where he can be himself, uninhibited.” Like what is Mike escaping from… being a nerd? Because they could of said ‘like his friends’. And no it’s not because they’re best friends- they even specifIed in Lucas bio he’s “ Mike’s best friend” (which was even mentioned in s1).

.In Mike’s character description it says “ bullying and near-crippling insecurity. He has never had a first kiss, much less a girlfriend.He ESCAPES his insecurities through reading fantasy novels … retreating into his own vivid imagination. The Dungeon Master of his Dungeons and Dragons group, he writes sprawling adventures with fantastical monsters.When he finds himself on a real adventure, facing real monsters, he will discover a courage he didn’t know he had. By the end, he will even kiss a girl.”

*Interesting that Mike uses D&D  to escape his insecurities about not having a gf (retreating into his imagination). While Will (who is somewhat aware of his sexuality) uses d&d to escape and be himself uninhibited. They’re foils in a sense- using d&d for opposing reasons.

So the s3 fight about d&d games has a lot more meaning 

Mike equates heterosexual romance with ‘growing up’ and his feeling for Will as something childish he has to grow out of.When they fight over d&d. Mike says “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”, then he tries to ½ apologize only to say, “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But We’re not kids anymore.” He pretty much explains, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and that’s just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  And tells Will “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. “Yeah. I guess I did. I really did.” And after this Mike rushes to Will’s house and apologizes saying he was an “asshole.”When he tries to say he loves El . It was very forced. He can’t even use the world love or explain his feelings, “A feeling … yeah, like, something… like OLD PEOPLE say it sometimes”.

He can’t even describe love and what his “feelings” entail for El , he then says  “Yeah, like something , like old people say it some times. He doesn’t even say it back in the last ep, when she confesses. It’s all talk, but no feeling, it’s just a part of becoming an adult in Mike’s mind.

In the last ep before the mileven kiss, he even invites both El and Will over for Christmas saying “ And Will too… we could all have new presents to play with and… *scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old...  ”

And it’s implied in the last ep (before the mileven kiss),  because of the 3 month breakup Mike is back to liking d &d. When Mike sees Will put his own d&d book in the donation box he stops him.

Mike: “WHOA, dude that’s the donation box.”

Will: “ I know, I’ll just use yours,  when I come back. (pause) if WE still want to play?”

So then Mike asks, shyly …

Mike : “Yeah, but what if you want to join another party?” (cough- girls , the other ‘species’, or just someone else: girl, guy or otherwise)

Will: “Not possible.” (Will will always love Mike- insert Mikes immediate heart-eye reaction to this comment).

I think people don’t notice what the subtext is here- regardless of his intentions, Mike broke Will’s heart. He made him feel “stupid” for ever thinking he ever had a chance with Mike. He always saw Mike as his forever, but Mike shot any hopes of that down in the garage. Will doesn’t trust his own instincts. Mike could straight up flirt with him in s4/5- and Will would dismiss it as his imagination. He essentially said ‘he’ll always love Mike- but if something is going to happen. It’s up to Mike to initiate it’.

Mike was queer coded since ep 1 (and he’s more queer coded than Will)!

 I LITERALLY thought (in s1) Mike was queer before Will!

- 3 rainbow references. Mike in s1 in his basement has a red heart being propelled by a rainbow sign. We see this again in s3 as a drawing. Mike also stands next to Will behind a rainbow apple poster in s2. Forbidden fruit + rainbow = queer forbidden romance. Also the apple poster was in the AV Club and at that time the rainbow apple-mac sign was suspected to be in reference to for Alan Turning (the gay ‘father of computers’).

In s1:

- 4 separate characters said El looked like a boy, but Mike doesn’t care! Even one of the men thought El might be the missing ‘Byers boy’. When El loses her wig , Troy said “she doesn’t even look like a girl” to the cops. But Mike just calls her “really pretty”

-Nancy says “I thought you were acting weird, but I thought it was because of Will” And Mike responds “I thought you were acting weird too I thought it was because of Steve … Do you like Jonathan now”?” Nancy: “No, do you like Eleven?”. They literally compared the explicit love triangle between Steve/Nancy/Jonathan to the Will-Mike-El dynamic!

- Mike literally uses gender inclusive pronouns when talking about crushes using the word “someone” (3 times), and embarrassing himself because he can’t articulate the difference between friendship and romance. When he could of simply given the 80s heteronormative  answer of ‘when a boy likes a girl’.

Mike: “ you go to school dances with someone.

You know someone that you like”

El: “a friend?”

Mike: ‘not a friend uh … uh someone like a” (gives up and kisses her)

-Mike’s mom said “ What’s been going on with Will, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. I just … want you to feel like you can talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to HIDE anything from me” (she even emphasizes the word ‘hide”  (which is heavily queer coded)

- when Will ‘dies’, “we can be heroes” by David bowie (a bisexual singer) plays,   “And we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame” is the lyric that plays when Mike returns to his house and cries in his mother’s arms over the ‘death’ of Will. Do I have to explain how ‘kissing and shame’ are queer-coded . And how such a lyric is oddly romantic- if we’re supposed to see their bond as nothing but platonic XD

-his dad jokes “Absolutely not” *turns to wife* “our son with a girl?”.

- when Lucas makes fun of his crush on EL, Lucas gets down on one knee  and says “ I love you so much, will you marry me?” and literally 1s later, we’re introduced to the bullies and the idea (for the first time) that Will is ‘gay’, and Mike is in the forefront of the scene and unlike his friends he is THE ONLY ONE physically assaulted as they cause him to fall face first into a rock (like a gay-bashing) .  They leave Lucas and Dustin unharmed. Even though Lucas just proposed to another guy- which should have gotten him a beating by the homophobic bullies.

It’s supposed to subconsciously hint Mike is queer like Will, and likes Will. The first interaction with the bullies, they mention Will being ‘gay’ right after they mention Mike’s crush on androgynous El and have a guy propose to Mike. Mike says to “ignore them” ( the homophobic remarks) but is assaulted anyways. And when asked what happed he doesn’t want to tell El the details cause he’s ashamed .

2nd time the bullies talk about Will, Mike is once again in the forefront, unlike his straight friends who are in the background . But this time Mike initiates the confrontation), as the bullies say Will is “flying in fairyland with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay”. Mike was literally on the verge or tears at this comment (despite being happy a few moments earlier , telling the others to ‘act sad’ because they’d look suspicious other wise). But this is the comment where Mike snaps and pushes Troy back (because he took it personally/wanted to defend Will).

The framing of Mike once again being in the front and snapping at the homophobic remarks ( gifs don’t do it justice, just rewatch the scene -Mike eyes water at the remarks). Then the last time the bullies appear , Mike jumps off the cliff and “flies like a fairy” (like Troy said) thanks to El . Troy at the police station even uses the word “fly” not levitate.

-Mike sneaking out to find Will, as Steve sneaks in to Nancy’s. They both even make eye contact (and pretend not to have seen each other).

- they share dinosaur toys , in s1 and 2 they appear to be the only ones with dinosaur toys.

- The s1 mom hug scene where Mike feels he lost Will is paralleled in s3 - signifying how he lost him a 2nd time.

- Mike in the 1st ep being the one to insist on looking for Will in the rain (callback to s3). But he never went looking for El when he saw her through his window? Even when Mike saw Will’s dead body, the second he heard his voice he convinced his friends to help rescue him!

- You remember the binder (from s1) that Mike keeps, filled with 100s of Will’s drawings, and how he caresses the drawing after thinking Will was dead. That’s totes platonic.

- Mike in s1 proclaiming “I’m the only one who cares about Will!” Seems like something a kid with a crush might say ( because obviously his other friends care about Will). But he thinks he cares the most. He was even the first to worry about Will not showing up to school, the first to suggest looking for him while speaking to Hopper, and when Hopper and his parents say ‘no’ he sneaks out anyway (and is the first to suggest forming a search party). The first to believe he was alive after seeing his dead body.The only boy to have a scene dedicated solely to him mourning Will.  Mike being the only boy to stay awake at the hospital, and the first boy to see and hug Will. The only one to have a private one on one talk before Will goes missing. The only one who was literally given 100s of Will’s drawings. And yet Dustin says Lucas’ is Mike’s best friend? So what does that make Mike and Will?

In s2:

- Will in all 3 seasons identifies as a wizard. But in s2 Mike (the paladin) says Will is a cleric. Meaning this reflects how Mike actually feels about Will. In d&d, they have similar moral values, powers, and generally need and depend on each other in the lore of d&d. Paladins have similar healing powers to clerics, but clerics have stronger healing abilities - which is interesting since Mike has always been viewed as the protector. But to Mike Will has helped him (maybe deal with the loss of El and other trauma) , just by being there. And if Mike says Will is a cleric,despite Will still identifying as a wizard in s3, it shows how deeply Mike actually feels about Will. It shows he views Will as one of the only people who understands him and views him as a healing presence and his moral compass.

“ strength of conviction gave many paladins a sense of common fellowship but did not always endear them to others. In many cases, paladins did not get along quite as well with other non-paladin adventurers, with the exception of clerics with similar beliefs.”

“A Paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous Paladin is fallible. Sometimes the heat of emotion causes a Paladin to transgress his or her oath (of honesty, courage, compassion, honor ,and duty). A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order. After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh.”

This proves Mike knows he treats Will special/different than his other friends- and unlike a relationship with El (they are still individuals who are not dependent on each other). And Mike thinks being with Will quite literally makes him a better person. Juxtaposed with how him being in a romantic relationship with El made him blind and apathetic to those closest to him .

- All the mileven s1 parallels vs byler s2 parallels were ALL initiated by Mike. If the parallels were meant to show a one sided love triangle (on Mike’s end). They would of made Will the instigator not Mike! Parallels can be watched here , start at 6:50)

-Mike initiated the “crazy together’ line- and in s3 he said ‘blank makes you crazy’. So subconsciously he knew the line had romantic connotations.

-Mike initiating the hand hold (with a zoom in shot) and in the show this is only done for romantic pairings. Also Mike being the one to initiate the ‘arm thing’ which is generally romantic. But in s3 , Lucas also does this, saying “I am spending quality time with my girlfriend’

-Mike saying, asking him to be his friend was the “best thing I’ve ever done”

-Mike constantly following Will around, asking if he’s okay or biking to his house to check on him in s2 . In s3 running out to chase Will to the garage and apologizing, and running into a storm to apologize a 2nd time.

YOU SEE A PATTERN! Mike is whipped! And is the one constantly chasing and pursuing Will, not the other way around! Before s3, people always portrayed Will as the (stereotypical- problematic trope of a) sad-pinning-gay in a one sided love with Mike. It’s like people didn’t even watch the show (and just assigned tropes/stereotypes they wanted, that weren’t actually there). Will (probably too shy or scared to- because of homophobic taunts) never initiated a single byler moment- it was ALWAYS Mike!!! If people were actually objective, they would of thought it was Mike who was the one pinning!

- Which brings me to Mike literally pinning! Mike forcing Will to dance with a girl (who has a rainbow hairclip), but you literally see Mike’s shocked expression like  ‘what,why’d I do that ?’ And after this, they show Dustin looking sad about Max/Lucas dancing and then they have Mike get into the frame (next to Dustin) and look sad when Will/girl are dancing in the same exact frame as Max/Lucas. As they switch between these last 2 shots.

the cannon Spotify playlists-called ‘Mike’s basement beats’- These are character playlists that Spotify and St worked on together after s2.

-his first song is “small town boy” an 80s LGBT anthem about living in a small town and being queer and bullied. Every band member was openly gay.

-his 11th song is ‘don’t you want me’ from a “celebrate your gay pride” album

* But queer people are “delusional” for thinking Mike isn’t straight? And are told to “open your eyes and watch the show” (that was an actual quote in the byler tag). Ok? Take your own advice, then! XD

One of the Duffers cited inspirations for ST is SUPER GAY (and what they based the byler dynamic off of).

In the Will comic, Will throws an old 1970s book called “house of stairs” at the demorgorgan. And in a later chapter Mike and Will just read together at the library (just silently reading together, enjoying each others’ company-totally not a romantic cliche).And Mike warns Will the book ‘could have spoilers’ for the d&d campaign. Also look at this byler-centric cover :)

  Peter (Will) is shy, quiet ,initially a pushover, and gay-coded.  And as a coping mechanism he has psychological-breaks with reality where he thinks of his best friend from the orphanage, Jasper (Mike) . Another kidnapped boy, named Oliver (who looks just like Jasper/Mike) is also queer-coded (but a violent-sociopath). And, unlike Jasper who actually wanted to protect/take care of Peter -Oliver starts to gets a sick thrill out of making Peter dependent on him (which Peter catches on to pretty quickly). Oliver was insistent on being the only one to ‘wake’ Peter from his episodes (just like how Mike did for Will, in s2), except Oliver calls him pet-names like “sweetheart, baby, etc.” 

And again to prove it’s queer-coded I’ll read some of the (shortened) quotes, in the order they were written. These are quotes from Peter (Will’s) pov talking about his childhood best-friend Jasper (Mike) .  

-“his room. His and jaspers room.  Jasper looking up from his desk, smiling glad to see him. Jasper saying . Something very important. The most important message, the secret message.  He couldn’t hear him . But jasper keeps smiling , keeps talking . What was the message, jasper? What was the message? The dream had been beautiful at the beginning, terrible at the end, but he longed  to be in it again. If only he hadn’t awakened.”  

-“Jasper sitting on the bed and taking off his shoes ,smiling, ‘you’re okay pete, you’re better than a hundered of those slobs put together. Tomorrow I’ll tell them so myself‘ jasper’s strong, hard body as he got into bed ,so different from peter’s. Strong, to protect him to take care of him. Jasper, who always took care of him”.

-“He wanted to think about oliver it  it was like having Jasper back again. It would disturb him to see Oliver go off with Abigail… the rejection quite painful. It had never been like that with Jasper…jasper.

-The room they shared with rainbow colors, murmuring comforting words to him , enclosing and protecting him. He let himself drift into it, the rainbow hues dimness.”

-“No one ever depended on him. It was he who always depended on others, on Jasper. jasper, who had always taken care of him. Jasper…”

later he admits his feelings for Jasper to Lola/el. Lola and Pete are plantonic soulmates. The only reason why they survive and don’t succumb to their dark and violent urges/psychological brainwashing is because of each other. Lola has  brown hair and eyes and has a buzzcut and is heavily implied to be a lesbian (as she is the only girl in the group who is not fooled by Oliver’s ‘nice guy act’. Which makes the other girls ‘suspicious’ and alienate her). Also this was written in the 70s… she has a buzzcut and is said to “look like a boy”. It’s not that subtle! There was a reason that the author whose first name was WILLIAM (was suspected to be gay/bi when he was alive)!  XD

-Peter says “ he was my friend we were always together . Jasper his name was jasper .in the dream he’s taking care of me’. Now he was beginning to cry, his throat constricting and tears welling up in his eyes .’taking care of me … he always took care of me… taking care of me, and , and … and loving me’. ‘”It was the best time in your life’ she murmured’. ‘Yes’ “

* cough protective childhood friend, rainbows, ‘best time of your life = best thing I ever did.

S3 ending (byler centric ending)

When we first see Mike during the Hopper mologue, the moving truck leaves. “Like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night (d &d)”…  (the last thing they talked about was Will visiting to play d&d and their fight this season started because of a disagreement about d&d.)

Then Mike looks back at the Byers house (just lingers there and looks back as his friends leave) like how Will did seeing Mike hold hands with El and leave .  “But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing. I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change.”Mike , like Will “doesn’t want things things to change”. He doesn’t want his  his feelings of friendship to become romantic in regards to Will,  it “scares” him (especially in rural 80s Indiana). Right after Will cries,  it immediately switches to Mike hugging his mom- to mirror the time he thought Will died in s1 “So I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to try and maybe stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.” He goes back to his mother for comfort, like he did the 1st time he lost Will. But also to reverse back time, to s1, before he realized his feelings for Will were romantic.  When things were simpler. 

“But I know that’s naive. It’s just not how life works. It’s moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes, it’s surprising. Happy.” (byler endgame)

Will (in s2) even says everyone treats him like ‘freak/ that something is wrong with him’ (purposely leaving out Mike from the discussion). And then when Will disparages himself as a freak,and Jonathan agrees but asks Will, ‘who would he rather be friends with-  David Bowie (who was openly bi since the 70s) or Kenny Rogers’? And when Will says Bowie, Jonathan agrees saying “see, it’s no contest”.

So,  it’s just another coincidence that when Will ‘dies’ (in s1) a David Bowie song (‘we can be heroes’) plays. And as Mike hugs his mom, mourning Will -  a romantic lyric from the song plays during the hug?“And we kiss, as though nothing could fall. And the shame”  (which is heavily queer coded)?

And then in the last ep (in s3) Mike mirrors this scene in s1, hugging his mom, since he feels like he’s losing Will all over again. And right after the hug (‘we can be heroes’) plays again!?  I’m not saying byler is endgame. But- WAIT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M SAYING! XD

These men literally invented ‘hetero-baiting’ (with Robin & Steve) and you think they’re going to queer bait?!

Also, if Will was a girl named ‘Willow” no one would call byler ‘delusional’ ! Even the most casual viewer would say it’s obvious they’d end up together in the end!

If the witness said about El in s1 , “ same height… it could be the Byers girl”, instead of ‘boy’ (pointing out the resemblance).  Mike only meeting El cause he was looking for Willow. Proclaiming “i’m the only one who cares about Willow!” . Mike getting into fights and getting upset (almost crying) about the bullies insulting Willow. Mike only getting angry at El when he thinks she lied about Willow being alive. Mike being the only boy who has a scene dedicated to his loss of her (with the same romantic lyrics playing). Mike having a whole binder of her drawings and caressing one of the drawings, after he thinks she died.  Mike being the only one of her friends to stay awake at the hospital, waiting for her to wake up- so he can see her and hug her first. People probably would of started shipping it the second Willow stared at him and was the only one who didn’t lie to him, in the first ep! Another parallel to El!

If Will was Willow, the majority of the fandom would be byler shippers. Think about it! . Mike having s2 byler scenes that are identical to s1 mileven scenes, and then additional unique byler scenes. Mike staying by Willow’s side 24 hours a day for several days (not even changing clothes), carrying her out of the hospital, grabbing her hand (with a zoom in shot),constantly asking her if she’s okay at least 5-7 times, putting his arm around her twice, being the only one who could tell something was off with her (and it wasn’t her normal type of quiet). Calling and running all the way to her house and banging on the door to check on her, desperate. Watching her sleep cause he’s so worried. That shed scene reminiscing about how they first met in perfect detail, saying “I asked, I asked if you wanted to be my friend. You said yes, you said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. (like a marriage proposal)”  The “crazy together” scene. Them being close since they were 5 vs the girl he knew for a week (but is somehow in love with?). In s2 if Mike sadly watched Willow dance with another guy , while Dustin does the same to Max. Forget it- everyone would already know mileven would be doomed to fail.

And again think about s3 if Will was a girl.They parallel the (comedic) mileven breakup vs (the sad/serious) byler breakup. Then Mike just complains and burps on the couch vs apologizing to Willlow multiple times/even going into a storm to apologize a 2nd time (and to ‘talk’). Willow having a breakdown over the fight vs El laughing and high five-ing Max after.The shed vs the pool shed scene- “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “you’re the most important thing in the world to me”, “blank makes you crazy’ (as El stares confused) vs “crazy together’ (where Willow says ‘yeah, crazy together’). Mike going on ‘movie dates with Willlow all the time’ right after making out with El. The last mileven kiss where Mike has his eyes open the whole time,  and doesn’t kiss back. And saying he doesn’t remember saying  “I love” you to El (and doesn’t say ‘I love you’ back). Right after having a talk with Willow about playing games when she comes back (the crux of their fight). Mike getting excited that he’ll be able to visit El and Willow on Thanksgiving and them visiting him on Christmas (those are holidays where family usually introduces their S.O.) Having the last scene of Mike,  be him looking back at Willow’s house, and have that whole monologue about “feelings changing”, and then he goes to hug his mom like the s1 byler scene where he thought Willow was dead, signifying he lost her again. And that’s not even all the scenes- and every time byler won by a landslide. If Will was a girl, we wouldn’t be ‘delusional’! It would be obvious writing on the wall, that Mike would eventually choose Willow over El by the end of the series.

But since they are 2 boys, we’re delusional, because queer kids don’t exist … apparently.

*S3-I’m not repeating my literal essays but they’re probably better than this post so here are the links to pretty much all my s3 byler meta.  (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

gif credit: 1st few have the name stark in the gifs, 2nd byler gif (found on wheheart.com- user dream_daisy, not sure if they also have a Tumblr , 3rd livelovecaliforniadreams, 4th &10th Cath-avery, 5& 6th unknown, 7-9 eggogorgon . Tell me if you know the unknown one so I can give credit , please.

#byler #byeler

[pennhursts]

The Arc of Jane “El” Ives/Hopper/Byers

This post will detail her specific character, and why I think her story will end on a bittersweet (heavy on the bitter) note.

But let me make it clear, and say that this is in no way what “will” happen in the next season(s) of stranger things. I’m not a writer on the show, and I can’t say with any certainty that this is “confirmed” or what have you. This is purely my own speculation from a narrative standpoint, and if it isn't to your taste, that's cool, because my take doesn't matter too much.

Oh, El. 

Beyond her minimal arc in season one, where her narrative purpose was to show the very serious effects of abuse and manipulation on the part of Brenner, as well as her opening of the gate, her multi-season development has been heading in a very specific, obvious place. Self-actualization and becoming her own person, separate from the lab.

I think a lot of casual watchers came away from season 3 with sort of a “okay,, what now?” type of attitude, and I can’t say that I blame them. Both in season two and three she’s been given the journey of self discovery (with Kali,  then Max) and while both carry their own emotional weight, they don’t seem to be held up as important plot lines in comparison to others, such as Max opening up emotionally, and Steve Harrington’s entire season 2 redemption being especially apt examples. As the audience, we are told that El is coming into her own, multiple times, but we are never actually shown long-lasting effects of this, instead opting for one-off easter egg references and her many, many wardrobe changes (which I adore, by the way).

In season one, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas’s stories are all somewhat the same; finding Will and accepting El as their friend. But when you look at season two, everyone has their own different, independent directions to go in. Especially if you focus on every other party member. Dustin & Lucas’s arc’s revolve around love; for Lucas in specific, becoming a more emotionally open, compassionate person. This is vital to his development and subsequent relationship with Max. And as for Dustin, well, he learns that Steve ain’t shit with women, but he gains a valuable relationship in him, even though he doesn’t ‘get the girl’. Will struggles (per usual), primarily with the trials and tribulations of possession-- along with his PTSD. Mike, time and time again shows symptoms of major depression and separation anxiety, his feelings for El having become nearly codependent. Max’s story lies in her horrible family life & opening up, the latter being something her and Lucas share in common. And El’s.... is focused on self acceptance, “who” she is; her familial history. And it was done again in s3. She’s shown who she can be by Max, but she’s still defined by her powers, and by extension her life in Hawkins Lab. I am of the belief that the Upside Down will take a backseat in Season Four, so that the human villains of Dr. Brenner and MKultra can really shine. Brenner was hinted at having survived the demogorgon for a reason, and I’m excited to see where it’ll go, and how it will affect El as a character.

Listen. It would be entirely amiss to not reference her on-again off-again boyfriend, Mike Wheeler. The short version of my thoughts on their relationship (in relation to her arc) is... it isn't meant to last. The long version is that all the charm that their childhood love held fully disappeared come season 2. I'm not saying this because I hate El or Mike, or because I prefer Mike with Will. I side eye their specific relationship because if the Duffer Brothers Incorporated™️ love anything, it’s a slow burn. I won’t get too into it in this post, but seeing as Jopper, Jancy, and even Lumax all had romantic “rivals” in their way,, the fact that Mileven just.... doesn’t? Well, it makes me suspicious. The “endgame” romantic relationships on the show are always flawed in ways that are fixable and realistic, fixed through personal development and communication. But Mike and El haven’t been on the same page since season 1, and if my speculation does end up holding some water, they won’t be seeing eye-to-eye dating wise until they’re broken up for good. Anyways, on with the meta. Sorry for that very long side-bar.

It’s not rare to read people clamoring for El to do a myriad of things to truly “become her own person”, like breaking up with Mike for good and sticking with Max, or staying with Mike and not being Max’s friend anymore, etc. 

(it’s funny how all of these have really nothing to do with El as a human being, just a participant in a relationship. makes you think, huh?) 

I see people wanting her to develop *more*, and while it’s a valid want, I don’t see it happening the way people expect. The duffers aren't trying to flesh her out at all, as I don’t think she was never meant to be the character of a young girl. Rather, she was meant to be a tragic example of parental abuse and science going too far, her story ending with her death at the end of season one. This initial story is a *tragic* one, which is why I think she's doomed (I have a very strong gut feeling that the series finale will *heavily* mirror season one’s, though my proof is non-existent. just a feeling) Her arc, sad as it is, might be that she never will get to be a normal child, or not for as long as she should. And that's really sad... but also very complex writing which I appreciate.

Here’s where things get sad. In the end, while she may come fully into her own, neither powers or abuse victim defining her, I feel her resolved arc will be short-lived. I think El, ultimately, will end up repeating history. Her fatal flaw of caring too much for the people around her will truly be fatal, and so I think she will ultimately sacrifice herself so that Hawkins will finally be rid of the Upside Down, for good. 

Which is exactly the type of heartbreaking thing that I could see them (the writers) doing.

But who knows, maybe they’ll do what they did in season one and hint that she’s not gone after all. Or I'm completely wrong and she’ll live through the finale. Either way, thanks for reading :)

#stranger things meta #stranger things speculation #meta #el hopper meta #jane ives #jane el hopper #el byers #eleven #st4 #stranger things #stranger things theory

[clericbyers]

The funny thing about RR!St3 (and yes I'm still talking about this) is that its technically your au so if u don't like stuff about season 3-and maybe that's like everything lmao- than you can change it for this au!!! so what're some things you could change to flex on the duffers with ur beautiful Galaxy brain?

oh ur so right….oh man OH MAN the power in my hands right now…this is super long but i got so into it okay thank u…

First off, my real vision for RR!ST3 would not be too close to how ST3 went down; the RR!ST3 I originally hashed out was me trying to stick close to ST3 but as I said then, it was hard bc many of the issues in ST3 wouldn’t happen if Mike wasn’t obsessed with El and if we actually address the fact that these kids are dealing with serious trauma from the events of ST2. In RR!ST2, Mike would be the one dealing with being possessed, Will would have been at his side the entire time, Nancy and Mike would be a lot tighter thanks to RR!ST1 (like she’d be very overprotective because she almost lost her brother and he’s annoying yeah but she can’t imagine not having him in her life anymore). So when RR!ST2 ends with the Snowball, I can see Mike still dancing with El when she returns because he needs to thank her, she saved his life after all, but I really. just cannot see his level of attachment being enough to try to date her. Because in ST1 and at the beginning of ST2, Mike is wracked with guilt about losing her, about bonding with her and ultimately her being a sacrifice to save them. He doesn’t have that in RR!ST1 and RR!ST2, at least not to the same degree as ST1 and ST2. He didn’t have the time to bond to El and while I think he might have fleeting feelings for his savior (like I said, nightingale effect) and have some guilt about how she seemingly gave up her life to save everyone, especially him, I also think RR!ST2 Mike would be very attached to Will though given how Will trusted him and stuck by him despite all the horrors. Mike takes loyalty very seriously and Will being with Nancy and Karen (as she would be the “crazy” mom who lost her son in RR!ST1, but she’d enlist Joyce’s help since Ted wouldn’t really care so it would be power duo Joyren trying to figure out where Mike is) in the RR!ST2 shed scene would mean a lot to him.

Now, we have those 8 months between ST2 and ST3 where basically Mike and El entered a relationship in ‘85. In that time frame in the RR au, I would focus more on how the Party is getting over the trauma they faced during RR!ST2. Firstly, Mike is definitely not okay after being possessed by a demonic godly shadow force. He’s in therapy again maybe, back on medications, IDK what exactly but he is broken inside but trying his best to act like everything is normal and he wasn’t just possessed. I think he would try to cling onto his childhood as Will did in ST3, because Mike didn’t get to grow up normal since he got kidnapped and possessed by monsters. Will and El would bond a lot in those 8 months though, definitely becoming closer siblings and El having a crush on Mike can still a thing. Mike might not feel that same way for her but he’d be down for dating if just to feel normal again. Part of that may be to continue dampening how he feels for Will because he just wants to be a regular kid again and what he feels for his best friend is not at all natural in his mind. I like the idea of Mike and El getting together in ST3 at the mall scene so I’d stick with that. But I also feel like Mike would definitely also be spending half the time subconsciously trying to stay away from El because she’s also a reminder of the horrors he faced in the UD and with the Mind Flayer.

There would be a lot of Will, El, Mike moments too! Will is her brother of sorts in the RR au and Hopper is only ever really comfortable with Mike coming to visit when Will is over, too, even before Mike agrees to date El.

So okay, Episode 1 of RR!ST3 deals with the fact that all the kids are still dealing with some sort of trauma. Mike wakes up from a nightmare, uses his walkie talkie to contact Will, and Will comes over and sits in his room with him and they chat for a bit until Mike can fall back asleep. Will sits at the foot of Mike’s bed watching him sleep before he sneaks back out the house. Nancy catches him and thanks him for stopping by and then he catches Lucas outside too while making his way back home. Lucas casually mentions that he couldn’t sleep and they chat about how weird things have been when no one in Hawkins knows what happened last fall. In the early afternoon the next day, Will bikes over to Hopper’s cabin to hang out with El, they listen to music and doodle together for hours, just being great friends. El casually mentions that she might have a bit of a crush on Mike (who comes with Dustin, Lucas, and El to visit sometimes because fuck ST3 and isolating El from the Party). This could be a moment for Will to be like, “Oh, me, too.” and they can bond over liking Mike together (that’d be cute af!! and it would help Will feel more comfortable about how he feels toward Mike when he’s able to talk about it without persecution). She asks him if Mike likes him back and Will kinda just stops doodling.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs hoarsely. “He’s never said anything.”

El hums and takes out a purple crayon to color in the grass. “Do you know if he likes me?”

Will says he doesn’t know but that he’ll figure it out for her. Hopper won’t let her come with Will to the movie that night so he promises one night he’ll help sneak her out and then bikes over to the theater. We have the ST3 theater scene but it’s reversed of course, so it’s Mike who feels the Mind Flayer and Will who asks him if he’s okay. Mike isn’t as shy and flustered as Will was in ST3 though, he tries to brush Will off petulantly (as RR!ST3 Mike tries his best to act like the events of RR!ST2 aren’t affecting him as much as it is) but Will takes his hand and says, “It’s okay to not be okay.” and Mike kinda fidgets but squeezes his hand in turn before they both go back to watching the movie.

The next day when Dustin comes back, we have the Party going up to Cerebro but there would not be any El and Mike leaving like in ST3. Instead, Will and El are whispering between themselves but it’s not really much about anything. El is too shy to ask Mike if he wants to sit with her as they listen to Dustin call his girlfriend and Will just wants her to feel comfortable near Mike and keeps pestering for her to just sit next to him. Mike is irritated because he wanted to hang with Will more today and he’s bonding with El. His powers activate from his irritation and he’s blocking the radio signal for Dustin and Suzie’s call. When it starts getting late, the Party splits up, Will and El leaving first because of curfew (a real one not the lie El told in ST3). Lucas and Max leave next and Mike is left solo with Dustin.

“I know that Will and El aren’t together, but god, I feel so childish being the single one out.” Mike complains as a chill breeze washes over the two of them.

Dustin hums distractedly, still trying to work out why Cerebro isn’t picking up Suzie’s channel. It takes a moment for Mike’s words to sink in and then he perks. “You know, El likes you.”

“She what?” Mike blurts, giving Dustin a look. “No, she doesn’t. She can’t.”

“Uh, but she can and she does.” Dustin turns a random knob to a different frequency. “It’s pretty obvious; she was sending you heart eyes this entire time if your oblivious ass would have realized.”

Mike isn’t sure how to feel about it. He’s always seen El as Will’s sister, especially with Hopper attempting (and kinda failing) at dating Joyce. Even when they danced at Snowball, it was a thing of gratitude, of joy, of acknowledging that she hadn’t died and he was happy about that. But, El actually liking him? “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Do you like her?”

Mike scrunches his nose. He feels…something toward her but he’s not really sure what it is. It’s not the same way he feels toward Nancy but it’s not what he felt toward Max either. And it’s definitely not what he feels toward Will, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. He wants to feel normal. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, if it’s not a solid no, then I’d say go for it.” Dustin adjusts his hat and leans back with a sigh. “She’s cute and I think this is the first time a cute girl has ever liked your nerdy ass.”

“Shut up,” laughs Mike and he nudges his friend who grins in turn. He looks up at the sky and sighs. “I should probably get back home before my mom goes nuts. Talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’m leaving, too,” he sighs as he stands up. “I don’t know why this isn’t working. Maybe the clouds are too overcast.”

Mike shrugs and flicks at the radio’s antenna. It buzzes erratically, static blasting through Dustin’s headphones and then suddenly there’s a voice coming through the noise. It’s a blend of things, like the receiver is caught between two frequencies. One is Suzie, the other is some spoken code (in English because the random inclusion of the Russians works for Red Scare era / anti-Russia 80′s America but like…it had no set up so I wouldn’t use it for RR!ST3) that neither Mike nor Dustin can understand. Dustin tries to fix the frequency channels to focus on Suzie, but he looses her and the input only focuses on the frequency the code is on. Mike touches the antenna again, holding on this time around, and he can literally feel the electric currents coursing through him, something sharper than a tickle but not as harsh as actual electrocution. The dials on the receiver interface start wavering about randomly and crazily until Mike lets go and then there’s only static again.

“What the,” Dustin mutters, bending down to check how Cerebro is working. “What did you do?”

Mike stares down at his hands, a panic attack on the edge of his senses because, seriously, what the hell was that? First having flashbacks in the theater and feeling that shocking tingling sensation on their way up the hill, now this? “I…I don’t know.”

Dustin taps at a dial and frowns. “Touch it again. Like hold onto it as you did earlier.” Mike does as told and the dials go nuts again. “Mike…do you…have you had any issues near electrical appliances recently?”

Mike scowls and tries to remember if anything odd has happened recently. “No? Not really. Sometimes the radio in my mom’s car doesn’t work and the TV gets a little staticy but that’s normal. Oh, and we had flickering lights out at the cabin when Will, Lucas, and I visited but it’s a cabin in the woods so what do you expect.”

Dustin bites at his bottom lip. “And this only happens when you’re around?”

“I, uh,” Mike grabs at his hair, “No, no, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It can’t…I’m not, what…I thought that was the Upside Down only.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could touch the lights and the TV when I was in the Upside Down version of the basement. And when I touched them, everything glowed. Kind of like casting Daylight in D&D.” Mike struggles to find his breath; he never really talks about what it was like in the Upside Down. “And…and I knew, I knew where the demogorgon was before I should have. Like innate. And the dead people…”

“Detect Evil?” Dustin suggests, cocking his head to the side. “Mike, do you think any of that stuck with you here?”

[ So basically, the equivalent of “magic” in D&D is electricity in the real world / the Upside Down since electricity and tech is kinda like modern magic, and all of Mike’s powers in the Upside Down are, in theory, paladin spells. He couldn’t control which lights flickered on like Will did in ST1 but he can turn them on and he can create a beacon, along with talking to the dead and having an innate circle of protection around him (a magic circle as paladins can have!) ]

Mike goes back home totally freaked out and refusing to believe he has “powers” because his time in the UD felt like such a nightmare anyway. He just wanted to survive, he didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for the Mind Flayer to possess him and use his body to kill people, to almost destroy Hawkins in the process. And that night, Mike decides he absolutely cannot let these possible powers do anything or mean anything because he’s normal, he’s a normal 14-year-old boy who is absolutely not crushing on his very male best friend, no, he’s gonna get a girlfriend, and hang out at the mall like kids do over the summer, and everything is going to be fine.

The next day, Will doesn’t go over to El’s place to hang out, Mike picks up the phone and says a dumb lie about Will being busy to try to get out of it. (“Friends don’t lie,” says El afterwards. “But brothers do.” snorts Max, “All. The. Time.”) He’s frustrated by El wanting to spend time with Will one-on-one when he’s trying to get the og4 Party members together for some normal hangout time playing D&D because, again, Mike here is the one trying to cling onto his childhood, even more now that he might have “powers”. They play D&D with Mike as DM and it all goes well until Karen comes downstairs asking about magnets and Mike internally freaks out. He’s been feeling like someone is watching him for a while now (hint: El when spying on the boys in the Void) and now his mom is talking about something that could very well be his powers working. Dustin knows and can actually see it, so he suggests everyone should get some fresh air and hang out at the mall. The Party goes out shopping, they hang out at Scoops Ahoy and Mike and Dustin share their story about the radio last night but purposefully leave out details about what Mike did with the antenna. Will feels guilty for lying so he’s trying to find some new clothes so El isn’t always wearing Hopper’s hand-me-downs, and they run into Max and El outside.

“Well, well, well,” Max huffs as she crosses her arms. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Will is worried because El leaving the house and being at the mall of all places would definitely make Hopper upset. “Are you okay?” he asks her, careful not to sound too overbearing. “Does Hopper know you’re here?”

El shrugs. “I told him I was seeing Max. And I am.” She turns to Mike. “You said Will couldn’t come over yet you are shopping. Why did you lie?”

Mike, who has spent practically the whole time at the mall on pins and needles, is really not in the mood for being questioned like this. “It just came out. I wanted to hang with the boys, okay? Just us. Like old days.”

El frowns. “Do you not like me?”

“No! No, I really like you!” Mike softens up and gives her a smile. “Honest; friends don’t lie, right? I’m sorry I lied to you. Today’s been…weird.” Dustin huffs at that. “Don’t worry about it though, I genuinely like you.”

And Mike doesn’t mean it that way–he had just said ‘friends don’t lie’ because he really does see her as a friend–but El takes it that way, and she grins widely, blushing as she ducks her head. “I like you, too, Mike.”

Will didn’t even think Mike liked El that way but now that it’s spoken in front of him, he can feel his heart breaking just a bit because any chance he thought he had is gone in his mind. El steps into Mike’s space and he blinks a couple times. “I want to go out with you.”

Dustin gasps, Lucas covers his mouth, Will tries his best not to look dejected, and Max whoops at her side. Mike turns to Will, who is staring at his feet, and then looks back at El. (A parallel to Snowball when Will looked at Mike for approval before going to dance with Zombie Boy girl.) Mike told himself he was gonna get a girlfriend and be normal, right? Ignore whatever happens in his chest when Will smiles at him. Ignore all of that and his stupid powers and be normal. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

So the Party stays at the mall a little longer and Mike and El hang out together and get ice cream at Scoops’ Ahoy, which is amusing to Steve and Robin both. At the end, they go back to the Wheelers and El has to go back to the cabin but Mike is kind of in a daze because wow, he just got a girlfriend for the first time and went on a date with her. Dustin keeps teasing him, Lucas is cackling and making kissing jokes, but Will…Will is oddly silent at first. They get back on the campaign but no one can really concentrate and Will starts getting concerned about El and how she was out and about without Hopper’s knowledge. Mike is even more frustrated now because he thought things were going to start getting normal now, but it just seems to be falling apart. Will won’t even concentrate on the campaign, Dustin is horrible at trying to be subtle about if Mike’s powers are activating, and Lucas is complaining with Will about how Max and El are hanging out.

Mike lashes out and storms outside, where Will goes after him. “Mike, I’m sorry, it’s a really good campaign,” Will starts with a hand to Mike’s shoulder, “but I’m worried about El and I just…I can’t concentrate right now. We can play it tomorrow, I promise.”

Mike yanks himself away from Will. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s always tomorrow! I said ‘see you tomorrow’ before and then I never did! Tomorrow may never fucking come! But oh, that doesn’t matter, huh? Tomorrow always comes for you. Tomorrow is always gonna be better.”

“Mike,”

“No!” he yells and lightening crackles in the distance. “No, you don’t get to say anything! You keep spending time with El, forgetting about all of us! I’m her boyfriend now and I’m not even this obsessed with her whereabouts.” He waves at Will, who scowls. “She’s not even really your sister and you’re letting her just ruining the party like this? And for what? So you can have a fake younger sister to hole up in her room all day?”

Will’s nostrils flare. “El is my sister whether you like it or not!” He snaps back with irritation. “It’s not my fault you don’t like El!”

Mike pauses, eyes widening just a fraction as his breath visibly hitches. No one was supposed to know that he wasn’t even sure how he felt…Dustin himself had come to the conclusion that Mike knew he liked El all along. Will though wants to take it back immediately. Taking out his anger onto Mike isn’t fair at all and just because Mike suddenly has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he should try to accuse Mike of not liking her. But he can’t help but question either way because Mike barely alluded to seeing her that way anyway.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry, that came out wrong. So wrong.” He steps toward Mike, who tenses up more. “I know you like El, okay? I know you care about her. I care about her, too, just differently. She helped save you and the Party, how can I not care? That type of care has been with me for months. I can’t shut that off. I’m sorry.”

Mike’s breathing is getting denser and his vision is getting blurry because now he knows. Now he knows how he feels and he really fucked up saying yes to dating El. He doesn’t like her like Nancy and he doesn’t like her like Max either. He especially doesn’t like her like a boyfriend. “I like El like how you like her.”

“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft and shaking a little and Mike feels like throwing up.

“El saved me,” he whispers, “She saved me and I like her for that. I do. But she’s not…”

“She’s not what?”

Mike is crying now, angry tears dripping down his face like the rain as his voice crackles like the thunder. “She’s not you! I thought she would be enough and maybe I was wrong for it but it hasn’t even been a full day and I already know! I already know I don’t like her like that because I like you!”

There’s nothing but the patter of rain and Mike’s heavy breathing, and Mike can already feel his heart breaking because he spent so long trying to deny this and now he blurted it out in the midst of an argument like a dumbass and now Will is going to hate him. Hate him for not being normal, hate Mike for being what Lonnie always said he was. He’s crying still, hands shaking at his side as the tears continue to spill.

Will looks up at him with widened eyes and Mike can’t take it any longer. He can’t face the inevitable rejection right now. “I need to go.”

“Mike, wait, no! Mike!” Will rushes toward him but Mike’s already on his bike and riding through the rain. “Mike! Mike, come back!”

When Mike doesn’t turn back, Will rushes downstairs, tears streaming down his face as well and he can barely get his words out. “We need to find Mike, we need to find him now!”

“Will, what happened?” Lucas asks but Will grabs his jacket instead of replying.

“We need to go, now.” the brunette is shaking and Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, Will, what happened? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god,” Will collapses on the stairs before he can finish climbing them. “Oh my god, he confessed to me.”

“Confessed what? His powers?”

Will blinks a few times and looks up at Dustin as he rubs at his runny nose. “His what? Powers?”

Dustin freezes. “Oh. I, uh, I thought…oh…oh. Mike likes you?”

Will waves a passing hand. “Pause, what is this about Mike’s powers?”

Lucas speaks up with irritation. “I thought you said we need to go!”

So all the boys get on their bikes and ride toward the Byers house since that’s where Mike would go when his nightmares got bad enough and it’s a safe place for him outside of the basement. Dustin explains what Mike had done with Cerbero and how they caught this code that he had been sort of hashing out with Steve and Robin when they went to the mall. No one is home at the Byers residence (Joyce and Karen are out with Hopper doing their whole side storyline there) and Will starts to freak out more.

“Where would he be, where would he be?”

Lucas crosses his arms. “Maybe the cabin? That’s where his girlfriend is after all.”

And that’s not where Mike is, he’s actually with Steve and Robin at the mall given he feels he’d be better off with someone who understands the UD/MF mess (Steve) and someone who doesn’t know the Party dynamics (Robin). He’s just about to tell Robin about his confession to Will when he feels the Mind Flayer and knows that he’s back.

The rest of the season is kinda…the same ish but also not?? But so I don’t write out the whole damn thing now lmao here are the pointers:

El and Mike are still trying to be girlfriend and boyfriend when they reunite at the cabin (Scoops Troop is a thing but it’s not tied to the Russian bs so they aren’t at the mall the entire time) but Mike is also really uncomfortable with El’s advances though he tries not to act like it.

Mike avoids Will as best he can even though Will keeps trying to get one-on-one time with Mike to confess that he likes him back

Jonathan and Nancy team up at the cabin too with news about the exploding rats (the MF’s attempt to possess non humans that went wrong) and Mike speaks up about how he might have powers himself

El tries to teach him how to go into the Void (which would be like a prayer for him) but when he does so, he ends up running into the Mind Flayer and find out that it’s after him and is willing to kill all his friends to get to him

Mike and El both pull out of the Void together gasping and crying and Will is immediately at Mike’s side as Max rushes to El. “He’s going to kill us,” Mike sobs shakily, “He’s going to kill us all.”

El gets attacked by the Mind Flayer (not Meat Flayer) because it was coming for Mike and she intercepted the transmission using her mind

At the hospital Mike breaks up with El (instead of how in ST3 they became friends again), and she’s a little hurt but understanding when he confesses that he likes someone more than her and doesn’t want to hurt her by lying to her constantly when dating her

Will finally gets Mike to himself here and is about to confess but then Mike feels the Mind Flayer (his innate sense evil power) and it’s possessed someone. He confronts it, helps save Nancy from the shapeshifting demogorgon attacking her, and banishes it from this dimension, only to pass out from the effort

El takes over with her powers and with Mike’s help, accesses the radio to find the channel that Dustin and Mike had found before. She discovers that someone is trying to open the gate again under the mall

At the supermarket, Will and Mike finally get to talk and Will confesses that he likes Mike, too. “Blank makes you crazy, right?” Mike chuckles as he takes Will’s hand in his own. He’s not willing to say love yet even if he knows it’s true. He knows that Will understands him though. Will always does.

“Yeah,” the boy replies sweetly, “blank makes you crazy.”

Cue an almost kiss before Lucas and Dustin come around with the fireworks and they all get over to the mall

Big battle against the Mind Flayer and the people it possessed. Instead of a giant gory meat machine, it possesses people in Hawkins like it did Mike in RR!ST2 and uses them to shapeshift them into individual monsters. So the Party is attacked by a horde of demogorgons and demodogs!!

The fireworks help a lot as Lucas suggested, and Mike and El work together as superpowered besties to banish the Mind Flayer from all the neighbors. Some die in the process (because it’s just, brutal and violent and horrible) and Mike gets temporarily repossessed in the battle but he’s more leveled up now and understands how this works, so he can banish the MF from him (a level 4 paladin spell might I add!) as much as El used her powers to take out the piece of the meat machine in her leg in ST3

Hopper closes the gate but not in enough time (we need him in the Upside Down for RR!ST4) and then the Mind Flayer retreats, but it kills all the people it had possessed in the process, which only wrecks the kids with guilt for being unable to save everyone like they almost did

This also frightens Mike who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer because it means his connection is still strong enough that the Mind Flayer could kill him instantly too (but it won’t bc Mike and El’s powers are too strong and it could possibly kill itself trying to kill them through that connection)

At the end there’s no one really moving away. El has lost her powers, Mike’s are nearly depleted / he doesn’t know how to use them without El’s help. Everyone is mourning Hopper and with El and Mike unable to use their powers, they can’t go into the Void to see that Hopper’s actually alive.

uhhh the epilogue is the first day of high school and the Party are hopping off their bikes and chatting about something nonsensical. Lucas and Max are holding hands, Dustin is waving his arms about wildly as he explains his latest science project, and Mike and Will are standing close together, just enough to brush their fingers together. (El is homeschooled since she needs to catch up on her education)

“You okay?” Will asks quietly as they stand off to the side away from the bustling crowds. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know,” Mike grins down at his boyfriend, which is still so blush inducing to think about, so he blushes. “But, I’m fine. I’ve got you right beside me so I’m definitely okay.”

#role reversal au #RR!ST3 #byler #otp: palaric #omggggg #i love this so much oh my god #thank you for giving me the leeway to rebuild the au!! #anon #yams answers #yams writes

[hunnywrites]

Growing Pains: Chapter One

Summary: Life is hard when you’re about to turn 18. It’s even harder when you realize you might be completely out of love with your long time boyfriend, and you can’t stop thinking about the new boy in town.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC, Steve Harrington/OFC

A/N: Happy Stranger Things day everyone! I’m so excited for this fic! We all know I love an Arcade Dreams AU. This is gonna be taking place in the summer of 85, because we all know Billy deserves a nice summer instead of the one he got. I’m also gonna be giving a name to Steve’s mom because she’s gonna appear quite a bit and honestly @ the duffer brothers give us more content with Steve’s parents. It’s also the first appearance of Hopper! Teddi! I hope you all enjoy it!

It was Sunday morning. Well, technically afternoon. If Teddi cracked one of her eyes open she could see the sun trying to shine through the ugly, off white, checkered curtains that perfectly matched the ugly, off white, checkered wallpaper that she hated. Teddi squoze her eyes shut and willed herself to go back to sleep. She didn’t want to look at the little digital clock on the nightstand beside her. 

As Teddi snuggled further under the plushy, dark blue comforter an arm snaked around her middle. She smiled as her back met a warm chest she hadn’t realized her body had been missing so much. “Rise and Shine, Teddi Girl.” her boyfriend, Steve Harrington mumbled into her hair. He combed his fingers through it gently in an attempt to wake her up. Heather Holloway had just helped her dyed it. They had bleached Teddi’s sandy blonde hair into an almost platinum white color. Steve called her Casper when he first saw it. 

Teddi groaned and buried her face into her pillow. “Five more minutes.” she complained.

“It’s past noon!” Steve laughed. “C’mon, Ted, this is our last summer of freedom. We should be outside doing stupid, reckless stuff.” Teddi didn’t want the reminder. They had graduated from high school only two weeks ago. Steve seemed to be resigned in the fact that he had absolutely no idea what he was going to do with his life now. He was content with working at Scoops Ahoy. And while Teddi loved her jobs at the arcade, video store and public pool, she couldn’t help but feel scared. She had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. 

Teddi rolled over, her nose almost touching Steve’s. “If you let me sleep a little longer we can always do something stupid and reckless in here.” she let out a giggle as Steve’s cheeks grew a bit pink.

“When you put it that way…” he said with a teasing grin. Steve leaned in to kiss Teddi, but she jerked away when there was a knock at his door. 

“Steve, hun? You awake?” it was his mom. Teddi tried to get out of bed as quickly as she could, tripping up on the comforter and falling to the floor before she started to get dressed. “I can make you breakfast before you head off to work. Is Teddi staying?”

Teddi’s eyes widened as she stopped in her tracks. “Um...sorry, Mrs. Harrington! I gotta get home before my dad gets worried!” she called, jerking her cut off shorts on. It wasn’t that Teddi didn’t like Steve’s mom. Kitty Harrington was one of the coolest adults she knew. She was super trendy and threw some great parties. It was an added bonus that she usually let Teddi and Steve drink at those parties. Plus Kitty adored Teddi. Steve told her she said that Teddi had spunk. 

Steve ran a tired hand over his face. “It’ fine, ma! I’ll grab something on the way to work. I gotta pick robin up anyways.” he rolled his eyes dramatically and smiled over at Teddi.

She pulled on her top, a lime green t-shirt that she had cropped herself and gave Steve a look like he’d grown a second head. How could he be so calm? “She knows that I sleep over?” she asked. 

“Oh, yeah. She was cleaning my room and you kinda left one of your bras…” Teddi groaned. “I can get it for you if you want. It’s down in the laundry room. She uses that Snuggle brand detergent, you know with the little bear-”

“Steve.”

“...Sorry. Are you okay?” he asked, walking over to her. His hands rested at her elbows. “Ted, she’s not mad or anything. I mean, technically speaking we’re adults,” he reminded her. “I mean what’s she gonna do, ground me?” 

Adults, Teddi thought sadly. She didn’t want to be an adult. Teddi shook her head. “I’m fine, sorry. It’s just...weird. Can you give me a ride home?” her van was back home. After she’d gotten home from work Steve had surprised her, knocking on her window and convincing her to sneak out for the night. Only now it wasn’t really sneaking out, she supposed. How boring. 

“Well, wait. You wanna go get lunch or something? Catch a movie?” Steve asked as he got dressed. 

“I thought you had work?”

“I don’t really. Do you wanna go downstairs and have brunch with my mom?” he shot a teasing grin her way. Steve had a point there. As much as Teddi liked Kitty, she definitely didn’t want to sit there awkwardly with the two of them while they all three pretended everything was completely normal. 

Teddi smiled thinly. “Right. As much as I’d love to I have to get to the arcade soon. And I have to make sure my dad doesn’t like...flip his lid when he finds out I was gone all night.” it was sort of a lie. Teddi had work that day, but it wasn’t until later that night. She felt a little guilty blowing Steve off. Like somehow she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. But just because they were dating didn’t mean they had to be around each other all of the time, right? 

The disappointed look on Steve’s face made her feel even worse. “Oh. Well, that’s fine. Maybe next time.” they made their way downstairs, Teddi trying to almost hide herself behind Steve as they passed by his mother in the kitchen. 

“Bye you two!” she called sweetly. “Teddi, say hi to your dad for me!” Teddi winced a little, turning and smiling tightly at her. 

“Will do, Mrs. Harrington.”

“Honey, I’ve told you a million times. After how long you and my Stevie have been together,” she pinched Steve’s cheek affectionately. Steve blushed, brushing her hand away and muttering out a Ma, stop. “You can call me Kitty.” 

Teddi let out a nervous chuckle. “Right, sorry. Sure thing, Kitty.”

“Come on, mom. We gotta go, okay? I’ll be back later,” Steve pressed a kiss to his mom’s cheek and pulled Teddi along behind him and out to his car. “Sorry about her…” he mumbled.

“Don’t be. I love your mom.”

“Yeah, but sometimes I think she lays it on a little thick ‘cause you’re her chance at grandbabies.” Teddi’s head whipped in Steve’s direction. He hadn’t even noticed. He was turned, looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the driveway. Teddi couldn’t believe how casually he had said it.

“Grandbabies? We’re having kids now?” Teddi asked with a nervous laugh. 

Steve looked over at Teddi, his mouth opening and closing while he tried to figure out what to say. “...No. No. I mean...maybe? Eventually? Jesus, Harrington, you have to learn to keep your mouth shut,” he muttered to himself. 

If Teddi thought really hard about it she could picture herself marrying Steve. She could picture him getting a cushy job at his dad’s company and the two of them buying a house down the street from Steve’s parents. If she thought even harder she could maybe picture a kid or two with her blonde hair and Steve’s big brown eyes. Now she felt nauseous. Teddi rolled down her window, pulling a cigarette out of her small, black backpack and lit it. She took a long drag, resting her head against her seat and shutting her eyes. 

“You really should quit smoking.” Steve said.

“You used to smoke, remember?”

“Yeah, until they had that assembly and brought in that black pig lung. It was totally gross,” Steve flashed Teddi a lopsided grin when she let out a soft laugh. He reached over, taking her hand in his, squeezing it gently. “Listen, let’s not talk about this kinda stuff anymore, huh? We’ve got plenty of time for all that. I still am a kid. I don’t wanna have any any time soon.”

Teddi let out a breath of relief and nodded. “Deal.”

When they pulled up to the little cabin she lived in with her dad and younger sister, Steve turned to her with a smirk. “You sure you don’t wanna skip out with me for the rest of the day? Last chance, Teddi Girl.”

Teddi’s nose scrunched up as she leaned in and kissed him. “Rain check, okay? I promise. I just don’t want my dad to worry.”

Steve brushed some of her hair behind her ear. “Alright, alright. I’ll hold you to it.” Teddi said her goodbyes, kissing Steve again and heading up to the porch. The wooden planks groaned under her boots, signaling to those inside that she was home. 

Jim Hopper was lounged out in his recliner that sat in front of the TV just like he always was on his day off. El was perched beside him on the couch, the two of them snacking on chips and salsa while they watched some old Gilligan’s Island reruns. When Teddi walked in they both turned to look at her. El looked at her with this secret little smile of hers. Like she had known exactly where her older sister had been all night and was enjoying the scandal of it. Hopper frowned at his daughter. He too knew where Teddi had been, and he definitely wasn’t enjoying the scandal of it. 

“Ooo, Gilligan,” Teddi said, plopping down onto the couch next to her sister. “Which one is this?” she was ignoring the way that her dad was practically staring a hole in the side of her head. 

“They got superpowers from vegetables.” El said, shoving a chip that was nearly too big into her mouth. 

“Nice. I love this one.” Teddi grabbed a chip, reaching over to dip it into the salsa. Hopper grabbed the jar and held it away from her. The two finally made eye contact. 

“Where ya been, Ted?” he asked, eyebrows raised. He knew. Teddi knew that he knew. No point in lying.

Teddi shifted a little in her seat. “...With Steve.” 

Hopper groaned. It was no secret that he hated the fact that his two teenage daughters were dating. It didn’t help matters that Mike Wheeler and Steve Harrington were two of the most annoying kids he’d ever met. “Do you remember when you came to live with me?” he asked. “You were ten and you said that boys were gross?” 

Of course she remembered. Hopper had adopted Teddi eight years ago. Teddi saw it as an act of fate. She’d grown up with awful parents. They didn’t love her or care about her. Her father had some cushy job that she had never really understood. Something about working with the mayor. Hopper had been working homicide cases in the city. When Teddi’s father, Greg, had been discovered as the main culprit behind one of Hopper’s cases they’d taken him into custody. Now he was in prison for a long time with no sign of parole. There had been an investigation into her mother, Bonnie, and when the police discovered she was definitely not capable of raising Teddi it was decided she’d be put into the foster care system. 

“I think this is a sign, kid,” he had said. “We’re both looking for a fresh start. So what do you say?” Teddi had decided to take the leap of faith. In the short amount of time she had known Hopper he had shown her more kindness than anyone else she had known. Plus, she thought it was funny how grumpy he was. 

Now, Hopper looked over at his two daughters and sighed. “El, you mind giving us a second?” El didn’t need to be told twice. She knew Teddi was about to get one of his famous “Hop Talks”. She hopped up from the couch, shooting Teddi a sympathetic smile before disappearing into her room. Cindy Lauper started playing on the other side of the door. 

Hopper patted the arm of the couch, silently asking Teddi to scoot over. She moved closer, letting out a small sigh. “Dad…” 

He held up his hand. “Look, I get it, okay? You’re eighteen. You’re not a little girl anymore. You don’t need to ask dad for permission...as much as I absolutely hate it. And you and Harrington have been together long enough for me to know he’s not going anywhere any time soon,” he rolled his eyes. “But next time, can you give me a heads up? With as little amount of detail as possible. Just so I can have some peace of mind?”

“Sure, dad. I’ll leave a note next time,” she nodded. 

“See? I can be calm,” he crossed his arms firmly across his chest, grinning proudly. “No yelling. No banning Steve from the house. It’s a whole new Hop.”

Teddi snickered. “Yeah, Joyce sure has made a lot of progress.” she teased. All in all, Hopper was pretty easy to deal with. There were times when he could be the most stubborn man on the planet. And there were times when Teddi pushed his buttons as hard as she could. But they were family, and in the end they always worked things out. Even if sometimes it meant lots of yelling and telepathic tantrums on El’s end. 

Teddi was silent for a moment while she thought about her conversation she’d had in the car with Steve. “...Do you think I should marry Steve?” she asked.

Hopper choked on a chip. He sat up, coughing and sputtering. His face had gone all red and he had some tortilla chip crumbs in his mustache. “Do I think you should do what?! Why- why would you ask me that? Has he asked you?” so much for the new Hop.

“Nooo, no. He just brought it up. I don’t know...it freaked me out, I guess. And his mom says I’m her chance at grandkids-”

“That woman drives me crazy.” Hopper muttered. 

“She says hi, by the way.”

Hopper only grunted. “You know what? New rule. You and El aren’t getting married until I’m dead.” he said firmly. Teddi shot him a look and he let out a loud sigh. “I can’t believe I’m about to have this talk, because you’re only eighteen...but if Steve is the person you’re supposed to be with, the person you marry and settle down with, you’ll know it. I know you two think you’re in love now, and maybe you are, but marriage isn’t something you just do because you think it’s what’s right. Believe me,”

“The person you marry should be someone that’ll stick with you no matter what. No matter how bad things get. They’ll see the ugliest side of you and they wanna stick around. And they might drive you up the wall sometimes, but it’s all worth it in the end. That’s the kinda guy you need to marry. And if it’s not Steve then you’ll find him...but hopefully not ‘til after I’m dead.”

Teddi rolled her eyes. “Dad,” she groaned. Suddenly she felt jealous of El. She had that sort of relationship with Mike, and they were barely fourteen years old. At one point she might have thought she had that with Steve. Now she wasn’t so sure. “...Thanks. That actually really helps.” 

Hopper rested his hands behind his head, fighting a proud smile. “It’s what I’m here for.” 

“So you’re not mad? You don’t wanna ground me or something?”

Hopper chuckled. “Ground you? Do you want me to ground you?” 

Teddi smiled thinly. “I know, it sounds stupid when I say it out loud…”

“Nah. I get it. But you have plenty of time to be a dumb kid...although I’d apprectiate it if you could leave boys out of the mix.”

Teddi rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, I bet. Do you mind if I take El out for a few hours before my shift?”

“As long as there’s no Mike,” he muttered. Teddi scoffed. “...Just make sure she’s home by curfew.”

Teddi gave her dad a thumbs up. “Deal. Love ya, Old Man.” she grinned over at him.

Hopper grumbled, once again trying to hide a smile. “Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Kiddo.”

---

Summer time meant the Palace Arcade would be jam packed with kids. It seemed like every game had a line of tokens left by kids holding their place to be next to play. Teddi was bouncing back and forth between the prize counter and the floor. If she wasn’t taking change for tokens or trading in tickets for prizes she was fixing broken machines, replacing empty rolls of tickets and even mopping up a chocolate milkshake that Bradley Andrews slammed down onto the carpeted floors after losing at Qbert for the fifth time that night. Teddi banned him from the arcade for a week.

Things had dulled down for a bit. A lot of the kids were starting to funnel out and to their parents who were parked outside waiting to take them home. El and her friends were still there. They were in the corner taking turns at Galaga. Teddi watched on as her little sister happily played alongside Mike. 

“Can I get some tokens?” Teddi looked over at the red head who was standing on the other side of the counter, looking up at Teddi expectantly. She dropped three bucks and some quarters onto the counter top. 

Teddi eyed her carefully, taking her change. “...You’re new.” it wasn’t a question. Teddi knew every kid in Hawkins. She had never seen this girl before.

The redhead gave Teddi a look like she had started speaking in a different language. “...Yeah.”

“Did you just move here or something?” Teddi asked.

The girl shifted impatiently. “We moved here Friday.”

“Ooo, from where?”

“California.” she huffed.

“Nice! I’ve always wanted to go there. How come you moved here? It sucks here.”

“I know it does. And you’d have to ask my step dad. He sucks even more than Hawkins.” she smiled a little when Teddi laughed. 

“Well, I’m Teddi. I’m pretty much always here,” she nodded over to where Eleven was. “That’s my sister, El. Her and her friends are around your age, I think. They’re pretty cool kids. I mean if you’re looking for people to hang around with.” she offered. 

“...Max. And I’m not really...I kinda prefer being on my own,” she explained. “But, thanks...I guess.” she took the tokens from Teddi and hurried off towards the Dig Dug machine. The bell on the door rang, and Teddi looked up to see Steve walking in. He was still in his Scoops Ahoy uniform. 

Steve leaned across the counter to kiss her, Teddi’s nose filling with the smell of waffle cone batter and butterscotch. She looked up at him with a happy but tired smile. “They’re putting you through the ringer tonight, huh?” Steve asked with a chuckle.

Teddi groaned. “You have no idea. I don’t think my night can get any worse.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what if I told you I stopped by the food court after work,” he held up a white paper bag. “And got you one of those giant sugar cookies you like from Mrs. Fields?” he grinned, waving the bag out in front of her. 

“I’d say, Steve Harrington, you are the absolute love of my life,” she sighed happily, snatching the bag from him. Teddi was sure that she had put on a good ten to fifteen pounds since the Starcourt mall had opened that summer. But it was hard to say no to a sugar cookie with sprinkles that was as big as her head. 

Teddi took a bite, her eyes shutting and her head falling back as she let out a content groan. Steve laughed. “Jeez, I don’t think I can even get those kinda noises out of you.” He teased.

Teddi felt herself blush. She playfully pushed Steve. “Shut up. I’ve had a long da-” she was cut off by the sound of a horn out in the parking lot. It was loud enough that everyone inside turned to look outside, trying to figure out who the culprit was. Whoever it was, they weren’t letting up any time soon. Teddi let out an annoyed groan. She stomped outside, her eyes landing on a dark blue Camaro that was parked directly in front of the door.

She didn’t recognize the guy that was honking. He was her age, but he hadn’t gone to Hawkins High. “Hey! Douchebag! Do you mind? Lay off the horn!” she yelled. The boy poked his head out of his window and fixed a glare in her direction.

“Bite me, Barbie. Why don’t you mind your own?” he spat. What a dick, Teddi thought with a scoff. He looked Teddi up and down before flashing what Teddi had to admit was a charming smile. It still didn’t make her want to hit him any less. “On second thought, how ‘bout you hop in and I’ll do the biting?” he smirked.

“How about I shove my foot up your ass you-” Teddi lunged forward, moving towards the Camaro. Before she could step off the curb Steve caught her by the wrist. 

“Eeeasy there, Teddi Girl. Just ignore him, huh? Hey! Come on, dude. Lay off the horn will ya?” Steve tried to reason.

“Aye, aye, Skipper!” he called back at Steve, saluting him mockingly. 

“Billy, will you cut it out?” it was Max. She was standing next to Teddi with a skateboard in her hands. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?” she walked over to the car, shooting an apologetic and bashful look back at Teddi.

“I said nine, Max. It’s almost nine twenty. Susan’s gonna throw a bitch fit at me because your ass can’t be on time.” Billy spat as Max climbed in beside him. He didn’t look back at Teddi or Steve as he peeled out of his parking spot and sped off. 

Teddi glared at the tail lights of the Camaro until they were no longer in sight. Steve let out a short laugh. “Jesus, that guy’s an asshole, huh?” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. A complete asshole,” she let out a loud sigh. “I gotta get inside and start closing up. Thanks for the cookie.” she stood on her toes to kiss him.

“Sure, sure. Hey, how about that rain check for the movies tomorrow?”

“I’m at the pool in the morning. I’ll call you after and see?”

“Deal. I’ll see ya later, Ted.” he leaned in to kiss her again before heading back to his car. Teddi let out a long, tired sigh and went back inside. She was glad to be rid of the night from hell. Her body was practically begging to crawl into bed. 

Joyce Byers pulled up outside, honking her horn once and waving. Teddi waved back, saying her goodbyes to Will, Lucas, Mike and Dustin as they all filed out and piled into Joyce’s car for a ride home. Only El was left. “Who was that boy that was honking?” she asked, drawing imaginary designs on the glass of the prize booth. 

“I think his name’s Billy. There was a new girl, Max, in here earlier and I guess he’s her brother. He’s a total asshole.” Teddi scoffed, thinking back to their interaction. 

El watched her sister carefully, that secret smile appearing on her lips again. “Oh.” was all she said. 

Teddi turned to look at her with a suspicious expression. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know like what,” Teddi reaching into her back pocket, grabbing her keys and tossing them to Eleven. “How about you go turn on the van and stop trying to read my feelings, ET.” El only laughed, turning on her heels and hurrying out to the van. Teddi shook her head and let out a sigh. At least she wasn’t the only one that was intrigued by the new boy in town. 

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x oc #ch: steve harrington #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x oc

[hannahberrie]

What are your hopes/expectations for Mileven in s3? Tbh, if s3 doesn't open with Mike frantically planning a date with El, they can keep it. jk

What a perfect, beautiful question honestly! I’m honestly hesistant to say, because I trust the Duffer Brothers wayyy more than I trust myself, but would like to see 

Just Mileven being together in little ways. Like, standing next to each other, sitting by each other, holding hands casually, JUST BEING IN EACH OTHER’S PRESENCE 

Mike introducing El to his family 

Kisses! Cute little ones on the cheek, ‘hello’ kisses, ‘goodbye’ kisses

HEIGHT DIFFERENCE 

El levitating to be at Mike’s eye level 

Hopper being a protective dad (but not an asshole to Mike)

More kisses please 

Hugs! 

A date would be a true blessing. Bonus if it’s a double date with Lumax

Mike casually playing with El’s hair 

LABELS. I want them to refer to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend. Let’s make it official, please.  

I also want Mike and El to remain independent. As much as I love Mileven, it’s important that they don’t become overly-dependent on each other. In both seasons, they have plenty of scenes that don’t involve their romance, and I want that to carry through. Their relationships with their friends and family still have to be just as important

#anon #ask #answered

[cripplinganxietyflix]

GUEST FEATURE: STRANGER THINGS 2

(This review was contributed by Mark B. If you are interested in becoming a contributing reviewer, drop me a message and we’ll chat. If you’re a friend and are interested in participating in upcoming video reviews, please let me know.)

The recent, much-anticipated release of Stranger Things 2 conflicted me as a viewer, a fan, and an endorser of the "Indie-meets-mainstream" ethos that Netflix claims to have cornered the market on.  Contrary to almost every other global giant in the entertainment industry, Netflix had promised a hands-off approach in their content development, allowing directors and real fans of niche genre to produce compelling, organic love affairs with their subject matter.  It was in this time that Stranger Things was released.

Stranger Things was an unpretentious, genuine nostalgiafest from real 80s movie nerds who aimed not for the gimmicky "80s throwback" references that your brother's frat based theme parties on, but that gorgeous, inspiring sense of wonder and charm that 80s cinema made us feel, which is so frequently missing in modern entertainment.  Stranger Things was perfectly cast and written, using its setting admirably to incorporate just the right amount of campiness to feel like an 80s piece but still be taken seriously as a narrative.  The characters were compelling, developed, and perfectly weaved together a story that, despite being just close enough to 80s prototypes to solicit Goonies and E.T. nostalgia, never felt gimmicky or redundant.  Most importantly, however, it had soul.  The Duffer Brothers had struck a nerve that had been eluding directors for decades by making a throwback series that held its own weight; using its 80s setting perfectly to tell a deep story, to develop distinguished characters, and most importantly, to not feel like a B-movie or a cheap gimmick.  You get the feeling that this might have been what Ghostbusters could have looked and felt like if they had the benefit of modern CGI effect techniques (not to mention the young, energetic cast, all of whom seemed to be born to play their parts).

In the years that have followed since Netflix began producing its own content, sometime after the honeymoon phase had ended, Netflix lost sight of what had made their renaissance so endearing in the first place.  Daredevil evolved from a promising show to one about a bland, blind ninja with a flat personality; complete with forced, cheesy dialogue from most of its supporting cast, writing that was hellbent on attempting, in vain, to make Elektra an important part of the storyline, and saved only by the introduction of the Punisher.  Netflix had turned it's Marvel contract into 4 separate shows, which seemed to clunkily step on each others' toes (with the exception of Luke Cage) and drove the whole arc into a forced team-up series.  They bought up contracts for cancelled or struggling quality shows, for better or worse and it was a fun to catch up with the Sunnyvale crew and the Bluth family, but these were less “Original Programming,” rather only further franchise buy-ups.  Some of the earlier programming was still going strong, but whether it was disappointing follow-up seasons, forced character entrances, or just the sheer volume of shit that they collectively threw against the wall to see what would stick, Netflix seemed to have lost its soul.  Cue Stranger Things 2.

After initially viewing the trailer, I was excited to see how things had progressed in Hawkins, as the original series had left a lot to be answered, and Stranger Things 2 had the potential to be exactly what I was looking for.  The immediate, impulsive, antagonistic side of me was a little worried about the chosen title for season 2- "Stranger Things 2".  It felt like it was immediately treating itself as if it were a sequel film, rather than allowing itself to be a continuation of an already well-established narrative.  Was it a reference to 80s films, which felt entirely comfortable with slapping a numeral on the back of a film title for its later installments without supplementing the title with anything new?  I was conflicted.  I existed somewhere between fanboy and skeptic.  

I was wrong for feeling this way, as I often am.

Stranger Things 2 is a sequel film, and that is a beautiful thing.  The scope of everything; cinematography, story, cast, antagonist, character depth, everything is far larger in scope. The vision for the sequel is unbelievably vast; complete with gorgeous, wide-shot cinematography, two new antagonists that are justifiable and brutal and exist on different planes, and character development and interactions that would have seemed impossible in the first season but work perfectly here.  

The Upside Down is now ruled by a much larger, more menacing creature as experienced only through the often misunderstood eyes of Will and Eleven, until it is much too late for those who cannot see what they do, and Hawkins High is now ruled by a newcomer who is constantly punking and abusing our beloved cast, including dethroning the last installment's antagonist-turned-hero, Steve Harrington.  The Party has a new female inductee, and while she is charming and interesting in her own right, more importantly, she illuminates the jealous characteristics of Eleven as the duality of her vigilant psychic vs. coming-of-age pre-teen hemispheres of personality begins to take hold and develop.  Sean Astin plays a new love interest for Joyce, who is seeking a stable relationship, seemingly due to the trauma that unfolded for her family in season one.  The casting choice here is an interesting one, (Sean Astin being of 'The Goonies' fame), but he quickly establishes himself as an important character in both the storyline and the lives of the Byers family.  His addition doesn't feel forced, and The Goonies references (which I'd assume took some restraint to not go overboard with) are used sparingly, and subtle enough that they feel more like easter eggs than distractions.  Among the many strong points of Stranger Things 2 is the fact that even though everything has grown so much, there is still a quaint, small-town, 80s vibe throughout its entirety.  The growth in scope has not resulted in a loss of detail or a cheapening of character. Despite its lofty vision, the story remains intact and organic.

The storytelling is, again, top notch.  The use of foreshadowing is weaved deeply enough into the fabric of the story as to not render it predictable, but rather to impress repeat viewers.  There is a give and take in their choice to (or not to) satisfy the viewers' obvious desires.  Most notably, the choice to keep Joyce and Hopper from pursuing a romantic relationship- which would have been predictable but may have scored points with the casual viewer.  Instead, Joyce has found love elsewhere, and the dynamic of her relationship is more complicated but ultimately rewarding. It serves as a good contrast with other decisions that are included in the narrative.  Pop culture references are incorporated in naturally throughout the story arc- the right characters are obsessive about the Ghostbusters release, and exchange authentic dialogue about it.  The video games referenced are chronologically relevant and serve as literary devices.  The use of Dungeons and Dragons is both relevant to the story and a clever allegory for it as well.  Character development exceeds expectations, and unlikely character arcs and alliances dominate the storyline.  These are better than I could ever have imagined in both their usage and their actual portrayal by the cast, whose performances were generally impressive and even awe-inspiring. 

  In a market where movies and TV shows are perpetually getting bigger and louder (and simultaneously more sterile and lifeless), Stranger Things 2 shines brightly.  If all is right with the world, it should be the gold standard for sequel seasons of series that have already captured your heart.  It is quintessential "watching a loved one grow up, but stay true to themselves" cinema.  It is bigger, better, more in-depth, but consistent with the first season all the same.  It feels like one of the few Netflix follow-ups to truly meet audience expectations faithfully.  It is easy to fall in love with the entirety of Hawkins, Indiana, because the creators themselves are, too.

#stranger things #netflix #tv #movies #movie reviews #millie bobby brown #finn wolfhard #the duffer brothers #winona ryder #sean astin #david harbour

[tryharder-bitch]

Stranger Things: could Robin be bi?

Since season 3 aired, I have seen all sorts of discourse about wether Robin is gay or bi and well, time to add my own two cents.

In my opinion, Robin being a lesbian was one of the best trope subversion of this season. Her being Steve’s love interest would have been predictible and rather boring. Instead, Steve is finally allowed to have a friend of his age without the complications of it being a love story! It shows that you can find happiness in other ways that romantic love! And she was very well written, not reduced to her sexuality but fleshed out as an actual interesting character, useful to the plot! So yeah, I'm glad they went for it.

Of course, Robin and Steve have a great chemistry and they would make a cute couple - but then Joe Keery has chemistry with pretty much everyone, that's just this little man's magic.

And of course, Robin could be bi irl. Sexuality is fluid after all, and even though she rejected Steve, there is a tiny possibility that she could still be attracted by him and yada yada yada.

But it would be a major faux pas to make this her storyline. Why, you ask me?

Stranger Things is a Netflix show airing in 2019. Honestly, it was even a bit surprising that we had to wait until season 3 to have some queer rep. We’re in an era in entertainment where diversity is widely reclaimed by at least a part of the audience. Netflix is run by (mostly) smart people who are eager to answer those demands - in order to, ya know, make money (not that I think they don’t care for representation, but tbh they’re here to sell in the first place).

Right now, Robin is the only canon queer character in Stranger Things (I'm not counting Will, because even though it's pretty obvious that he has some sexual identity conflicts going on, the duffers could still chose not to follow through with that plotline). And when you have the opportunity to show the only gay character in your show be happy in a gay relationship, you can't put her instead in a seemingly “straight relationship”. That would pretty much erase her queerness in the eye of the casual watcher - a sort of "she's queer but dont worry, not that much" (i know her being canonically bi and in a relationship with Steve wouldn't make her straight, please don't @ me and keep on reading).

I would love to see more bi rep in fiction, believe me. And I would be glad to have a bi character in Stranger Things, as long as they're well written.

But as much as I regret this, most people have an easier time understanding homosexuality than bisexuality. Bisexuality is still in this grey zone with lots and lots of misconceptions, whereas nowadays most people get the fact that you can be gay - even of they don't approve it. Therfore if you want to add queer rep in a show, you're probably wanting to begin with something simple, easy to understand. So boom, you choose the gay character!

I feel like the duffer brothers are using Robin to test the waters. If people are happy with her storyline, good, they can add more rep, and if people don't like her being gay... well, she's not that important to the plot, so they can gently push her aside. I think the duffers know their audience and care more about pleasing the mass than writing a specific story they absolutely want to tell - which is both a good and a bad thing, maybe I'll write a post about it. But if they decide to keep Robin (and she's very cool and people love her so I'm pretty sure they will), they are clever enough to exploit her queerness in order to give us a compelling sense of representation.

Now, if you want to ship Stobin, write fanfictions, draw fanarts of them, of course you're free to do it. That's what fandoms are for, so enjoy!

Just don't act like it's canon (because it's not) and don't hope it will become canon (because it won't).

#there you have it folks #stranger things discourse #also bi robin would pretty much feel like sHe'S a LeSbiaN cAuSe She HaSn't FoUnD tHe RiGhT mAn #still hoping for steve's bi epiphany though #oh and i can't recall any show where the first queer character introduced was bi but if you think of something please tell me #alright enough tags #stranger things spoilers #stranger things season 3 #steve harrington #robin buckley #stobin #mine

[kaypeace21]

Byler hints in the background of s1-3

Honestly, this should just be called- ‘my autistic brain casually (and without even trying) notices shit in the background, but never mentioned it- because I thought it sounded too crazy to talk about’ XD. But the symbolism and Easter eggs give my byler-shipping heart so much life. So I thought, since you guys prob. didn’t notice it- I’ll mention it anyways.  So here goes.

Drawings/rainbows

There has been a theme in s3 about how Mike equates ‘falling for girls’ as a part of growing up, and his feelings for Will as something childish that he has to has to grow out of. 

- confessing to El : “A feeling … yeah, like, something… like OLD PEOPLE say it sometimes”.

- “And Will too. I was thinking we could all have new presents to play with and *scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old... (apologizing to El)

- Mike getting in a fight with Will (after d&d), and saying they can’t be close anymore: 

Mike says, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”, and then he tries to ½ apologize only to say, “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But We’re not kids anymore.” Explaining, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and this is just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  He tells Will “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. “Yeah, I guess I did. I really did.” And of course Mike immediately apologizes for being an “ asshole”, after this.

But here’s the thing! Mike actually does wish he didn’t have to grow up and that he could play games with Will (without girlfriends) for the rest of their lives. His room, in s3, SCREAMS that he’s trying to grow up/act straight... but he can’t let go of his feelings for Will. 

He literally takes down his old childhood poster from s1-2 for a more mature/adult poster. But on the same wall (where the old poster used to be) he hasn’t removed a single d&d drawing Will has given him. He’s pretending that he’s grown out of d&d when Lucas is around- because he’s emulating how (the straight) Lucas acted, all season. But Mike has it BAD (and is seriously pinning) for Will! Like, I love Will but his art at 11 years old isn’t so great to justify it still be on Mike’s wall at age 14.  He’s just that whipped (and literally can’t part with a single drawing Will has ever given him) XD

Like... it’s cannon that Mike caresses Will’s drawings 

He’s that ‘ dumbass blinded by love’ who thinks anything Will’s draws is a perfect- masterpiece. Mike could literally see Will draw scribbles and think it’s amazing! Like in s2 he just guides his hands through the scribbles he drew on the wall- no joke! XD

However, what’s interesting though is the one other things he took down from his wall. In S1 Mike (before he even met El)  has a heart sign, with a red heart being propelled by a rainbow. Yet in s3 , the season where he’s ‘obsessing’ about El- it mysteriously disappears. However, in the first ep of s3 when Mike is making-out with El we see a emergence of the heart being propelled by a rainbow (in El’s room) as a drawing. Probably signifying Mike participating in compulsory-heterosexuality and that no matter how hard he tries- he’s not straight!

So given the fact he can’t part with any of the pictures on the wall...you better believe Mike still has that giant binder filled with every drawing Will has given him . And he’s probably hidden it away , with the rainbow heart sign (because he knows it would look suspicious to have laying around). 

-Also, Mike literally has more rainbow symbolism than Will (and has had it through every season) XD

-the s2 ref being the most on the nose) Forbidden fruit + rainbow = queer forbidden romance. And during the 80s, that rainbow-apple poster in the AV Club was suspected to be in reference to Alan Turning (the gay ‘father of computers’).

Animal easter eggs that relate to byler and the upside down/supernatural-plot .

tigers- Mike keeps a tiger poster (which was right next to that rainbow-heart sign) in his basement through s1-3. In s1 we see Will also has a tiger drawing, which is later put on the wall (like a poster) in s2.  Sara Hopper (like Will ) had her death faked by the government (and had a tiger plushie in s1)- and Kali probably had something to do with it since in the prequel novel ‘suspicious minds’ had Kali talk non stop about her fav animal , tigers.  Theory  here. But again, Jancy is also connected to tigers as a romantic symbol (just like byler).

sharks- The Duffer brothers themselves said they based the s1 demorgorgan off of sharks, which Nancy even references in s1. Mike and Will have shark iconography in their room/basement. Will has a jaws poster shown in s1-2, and Mike has shark toys visible in s2. The shark (and bear) symbolism hint at the fact that Will created the upside down/demorgorgans/mind-flayer using his powers- theory here.

bears- Will since s1 has had bear symbolism around him. Bears symbolically represent  “wisdom” like ‘Will the wise’ and were associated with the demorgorgan/upside down in s1 and 2 as well . Max and Nancy compared demogorgans to bears- and Nancy and Jonathan used a bear-trap to capture a demorgorgan in s1 . 

But s3 made bears a romantic symbol- Mike was going to buy a golden teddy bear for El as a romantic gesture. The golden bear had a bowtie (it’s male). And the gray bear that Mike gives to her, was originally Will’s (as shown in s1 &2). This gray bear is coming right in between Mike and El (at the end of s3). They even kiss , while El presses the bear right in between them.  In conclusion these romantic bears represent Will. * I mean that whole awkward kiss (where Mike’s eyes are open and he doesn’t kiss back- happens in Will’s room, in front of Will’s open closet,  with Will’s bear smushed between them (pretty blatant foreshadowing).

dinosaurs- This one is probably a stretch but we see this boy has tons of dinosaurs (at least 6). He starts to info-dump on El about how much he loves them. But, she has no interest. And if the wtf look didn’t make this obvious.

She even gets up and walks away, ignoring his tangent about dinosaurs. 

She literally couldn’t care less about his interest in them. 

But in spite of this, we see Mike gave her Rory in s3 (since it’s in her bedroom). And in s2 we see him sadly look at Rory, with 2 other dinosaurs in frame. This, along with s1 implies he has a huge collection of various dinosaurs .But his collection is missing one of the most popular dinosaur species... the brachiosaurus (the long necked dinosaur).

And right after this scene in s2 scene, we go to Will’s room. And he has a huge brachiosaurus! This boy couldn’t even afford a halloween costume and had to have his hand-made by his mom... but he could afford this huge -fancy dinosaur replica? I bet Mike bragged about his dinosaur collection to Will (like he did with El). But Will being a nerd, was actually impressed. So Mike actually gave him his best/fav toy in his collection- kind of like what he did with Rory.

frogs- This is the most hilarious thing to me. I laughed for like 20 minutes on my rewatch. In s1 Will has a GIANT stuffed plushie of a frog next to his jaws poster and teddy bear. I’m dead! Will doesn’t even disagree with the “frog face“ insult. 

He’s just like ‘well, he’s my frog face’ . Time to snuggle with this frog that looks just like Mike . Will is so in love but also low key savage dragging Mike like that. I can only imagine Dustin and Lucas saying “nah, you don’t look like a frog”. And poor baby-Mike asking Will what he thinks, and Will not being able to lie, just saying “ Well... some people like frogs.”  XD

We also see that in s2 the frog is missing but the Jaws-poster, coin jar, and the bear (we later see El holding in s3) remain .Probably to indicate this is when Will started to subconsciously suppress his feelings for Mike. Although @theclericwill pointed out -that , instead, Mike may have used the frog-plushie as a pillow... for his frog-face XD

Throwing shade at Mileven/mileven shippers in s2 

In the Montauk pitch (later named Stranger things) they describe the Mike and El dynamic by saying “ If Mike is the Eliot of our show,Eleven is our Et.” (AKA they’re from different planets)

-In s2 , Erica  is forcing He-man and barbie to make out. Lucas angrily separates the two. And then this discussion happens.

Erica: “Hey , They’re in love!”

Lucas (livid- and standing right next to a rainbow): “No, actually,  they’re not. They don’t even exist on the same planet.”

Not to mention I doubt it was a coincident they had a (bratty) pre-pubescent girl be the proxy for most mileven shippers.Like not all mileven shippers are bad, but almost all the toxic ones (that the Duffers have to deal with) are tween girls. And to the Duffers, only a child could think 2 people are ‘in love’ after a week of knowing each other. Or that El could understand such things like romance- given the fact that her and Mike are from different planets (given how El has no experience with the outside world).Mike even says in s2,  he can’t hate Max because he ‘doesn’t know’ her (despite knowing her as long as he knew El). Meaning he doesn’t love El since he doesn’t know her. 

Plus, El told Mike, he treats her like ‘garbage’ and ‘a pet’ . And Finn after s1, said that the Duffers told him Mike thought of El as a puppy, and she is even compared to Dart (a demo-dog in s2). Mike asking Dustin, angrily “What, You have a bond? Just cause he likes nougat (eggos)?” Being a  blatant dig at people obsessing over this shallow aspect of their relationship.

Mileven was also compared to that  of family members. In s1, right before they kissed, she asks “will you be like my brother?” (while wearing Nancy’s dress). And Mike also referred to her as his ‘cousin’ . Not to mention, El loved ted’s laz-eboy chair (and Nancy said Karen and Ted “never loved each other” ). And right before Karen is about to cheat on Ted - she looks at him sleeping in the chair (and the lyrics are ‘I should have walked away’). 

It’s pretty hilarious, since so many people try to ‘no-homo’ byler by saying Mike thinks of Will as a brother/or family- yet, their relationship has never been directly compared to a sibling (unlike mileven).

People also seem to not realize Mike lied in s2 (just like he did in s3). He thought El was dead in s2. He told Max it “got her like it did bob” and then he made a spectacle in front of everyone saying “I never gave up on you”. Which was a blatant lie (since he just told Max a few minutes earlier, she was dead -_-). Mike simply blamed himself for her death (he said they needed her to save Will and even referred to her as a “weapon”). So when she died he felt the most responsible- and was hoping she was alive (and would answer his call) to alleviate his own guilt. Not because he loved her (that was an act). When he saw Will’s dead body, but heard his voice, he went on a rescue mission to save Will (from another dimension). But, Mike didn’t even bother going into the woods after seeing El outside his window (something he did for Will in ep 1, during a storm). And then in s3 Mike couldn’t even bother to call El and apologize- but ran to apologize to Will in the woods during a storm (bringing that whole parallel -full circle).

Plus, El told Mike, he treats her like ‘garbage’ and ‘a pet’ . And Finn after s1, said that the Duffers told him Mike thought of El as a puppy, and she is even compared to Dart (a demo-dog in s2). Mike asking Dustin, angrily “What, You have a bond? Just cause he likes nougat (eggos)?” A blatant dig at people obsessing over this shallow aspect of their relationship.

Bob and Mike parallels- the Rubik cube

Both are unathletic, smart, love comics, the only 2 to not treat Will ‘different’- and would do anything to protect their loved ones. And they also had crushes on Byers in childhood, and tried to give their Byers normalcy (despite them not being a ‘normal family’). They purposely display, and have Will -mirror Joyce- and Mike -mirror Bob- in multiple shots, throughout s2.

And both Mike and Bob are AV club leaders. Bob mentioned in one of the  earlier episodes  that he founded the Hawkins Middle AV club . And Mike later grabs Bob’s Rubik cube, and mentions this after his death (to solidify the connection- even if subconscious in our minds. He even proclaims after this “we can’t let him die in vain” . And this is when Mike makes the plan to help Will (before El shows up). 

gif credit: cath-avery, dailystrangerthings

#byler #byeler