#four seasons stephen king

[roni-art]

'I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?'

#stand by me #my art #digital art #fanart #art #rob reiner #stand by me 1986 #river phoenix #wil wheaton #jerry o'connell #corey feldman #keifer sutherland #stephen king #the body #four seasons #chris chambers #gordie lachance #teddy duchamp #vern tessio

[paladinslays]

tag drop /

#* & . — scripts : season one . #* & . — scripts : season two . #* & . — scripts : season three . #* & . — scripts : season four . #* & . — misc : countenance . #* & . — misc : inbox . #* & . — misc : aesthetics . #* & . — misc : headcanons . #* & . — private verse 001 : the party of losers . #* & . — private verse 002 : game over . #* & . — scripts : stephen king's it . #* & . — ship / wizardslays : meet me in the afterglow .

[somekindofpoet]

Nevermore Grounds

Summary: Reader owns Nevermore Grounds, a Brooklyn coffee shop that Jenna stumbles upon.

Word Count: 4K

Warnings: Language 

A/N: @irish-piece-of-trash thanks for the request my friend! Hope you enjoy this one. Also, is there a Raven cameo from The 100 or is she cleverly named Poe reference? I'll let you decide :)

Part II

Nevermore Grounds

It had been your dream for most of your life to own a coffee shop. To create a space that felt like a hazy dream. Somewhere you could retreat to no matter the weather or circumstance. So that is exactly what you did. You went to school and earned your business degree with a minor in dramatic literature for fun. 

Thus, Nevermore Grounds was born, tucked away amongst the brownstones of Brooklyn.   You had created an atmosphere you never wanted to leave, so you simply did not. You rented the apartment above the shop, ensuring you rarely needed to leave the building if you didn’t want to. The shop had turned into an expression of yourself, with soft leather secondhand furniture, dark bookshelves filled to the brim with every kind of story, and the ever-present smell of espresso grounds. 

Many of the people who frequented your shop were college students or young New York transplants, tapping away at their laptops or tucking themselves on the couch in front of the large fireplace to read one of the many books from the shelves. In every season aside from summer, a quiet crackling fire was lit, the lighting was low, and the atmosphere was warm and comfortable. You kept a small staff of four to six, choosing to barista yourself most days. Most of your employees were also college students, rotating out every few years as they graduated and moved away, thanking you for your companionship and easygoing management. 

It was a particularly nasty day outside, so you let the two on shift head home early, telling them you’d lock up at the end of the day. Usually, customer traffic died down in the late afternoon, giving you the place to yourself. You still had a few hours until you could lock up, but the place was dead empty, so you grab your dog-eared copy of Salems Lot and curl up in front of the fireplace, content to read until you closed.

You’d read the book many times, but you could always get lost in the tale of the small Maine town haunted by vampires. Your eyes were growing heavy as you read, the gray light outside fading as the sun slowly set over the city. The bells jingling from the front door snapped you out of your Stephen King daze, and you jerk your head up toward the sound. A slight girl and two rather large men were shaking the rain from their shoulders, the girl closing an umbrella as she stepped inside. She picks her head up and looks around, frowning in confusion. You sit up further on the couch, catching her attention.

“Oh, uhm, I’m sorry. I thought this was a bookstore.” Her voice is soft and airy, floating across the room.

You stand and smile, “You thought Nevermore Grounds was the name of a bookstore?”

A bashful smile pulls at her lips as she eyes you, “The Grounds bit was slightly confusing, but I saw the shelves,” she gestures at the overflowing books on the wall, “and figured I’d give it a shot.”

You make your way around the counter toward the cash register, and point up at the menu. “I sell coffee. The books are free.”

You know who she is, you knew the moment she spoke, but you decided not to fan girl and just treat her like you’d never seen her before. She seems to appreciate it because she approaches the counter with an intrigued smile.

“I’ll take a coffee then and a book recommendation if you have that too.” 

You glance back at the two men hovering behind her, and she turns to look over her shoulder at them. She turns back to you and shrugs, “They like following me around.”

You raise your eyebrows, playing in to her joke, “I don’t blame them.” You grin at her, your eyes twinkling with mischief, “You want that coffee black? And do they want anything?” You lower your voice to a comedically loud whisper, leaning closer to her over the counter, “Can they speak?”

A surprised smile stretches across her face, showing her teeth and wrinkling her nose. “Only when they smell fear. And I’ll have a latte, actually,” she turns to the men behind her pretending to ignore your conversation, “Billy, Phil, coffee?”

They both light up, their eyes crinkling above their smiles and nodding. She nods once and turns back to you, “Make it three. And the book recommendation?”

You input her charge in the cash register, “That’s six dollars even, Miss…?”

She slides a ten dollar bill across the counter to you, squinting at you, trying to figure out if you’re messing with her or not. You absolutely are, but you’re not going to tell her that. 

“It’s Jenna.”

You nod, “Mhm, and there are no bad books here, they’re all great choices really. Just grab one from the shelf, and I guarantee it’ll be the right one.” 

“They’re all great? That’s a bold assumption.” She says as she wanders over to the closest shelf, running her fingers along the spines.

You busy yourself making their coffee, watching her when you look up. “I should know, they’re all mine.”

She stops and turns back to you, her fingers resting on the top of a paperback, “All of them?”

You nod, looking back down at your work. You’re focused on the foam art, a recent practice you’d picked up during hours when the shop was slow.

Jenna returns to her exploration, humming now and again as she reads the titles. “So you’ve read all of them?”

You walk two of the lattes to the counter, pushing them toward Billy and Phil, “I think so, unless people leave their books here, which happens sometimes. Those ones I haven’t sorted yet.”

You turn back to finish the foam art on Jenna’s drink, smiling down at the picture you’d created. You pick it up gently and walk it to the counter, setting it down and resting your chin in your hand. 

“One latte for Jenna.” You say, smirking at her when she turns toward you. 

She leaves the shelves and approaches the counter, pulling the mug over and looking down at the foam. You’d created a rather detailed image of Thing Addams, and she looks up with a playful frown. 

“So you do know who I am then.” She says as she lifts the cup and leaves the counter, picking through the wayward furniture to a table close to the fire.

You leave your station to follow her and sit on the arm of the couch. “Of course I do. Does anyone not know who you are?”

She shrugs and sips the coffee, closing her eyes to savor the taste. “This is good.” She sips the coffee again, this time keeping her eyes on you.

“I’m glad you like it, or I might have to change professions.”

“You could audition as an actor, you did pretty well fooling me.” She says over her cup.

“Ah, I love New York too much. Plus, I’ve heard actors can be real divas, you know.”

A snicker draws your attention to the two men sitting a few tables away, they’re listening to you openly now, laughing at Jenna’s expense. She pretends to be affronted, but the smile never leaves her face.

“I like to think I’m pretty humble, thank you very much.”

You laugh and stand, heading over to one of the bookshelves. You pull The Bell Jar down, swiping the dust from its cover. 

“Have you read this one?”

She eyes the cover, “Sylvia Plath? Of course I have. Try again.”

You hum, returning the book. Which one to give her, which one? She’s probably read most of them, so you’ll need to dig a bit deeper. Your eyes light up when you find The Song of Achilles, and you bring it to her.

“This one?”

She frowns, looking down at it, and takes it from you. She opens the first page and scans it, flips the book over to look at the back. 

“No. I haven’t read this one.” 

“I’ll leave you to it then,” you say, returning to your spot on the couch. You crane your neck to look at her, “We close in an hour, by the way.”

She tilts her head at you, “Your boss lets you read on the clock?”

You snort, “Yes, she does. She also looks at me in the mirror when I brush my teeth every morning.”

She stares at you, trying to understand, then her face lights up in realization, “Oh, you own this place!” 

“My pride and joy,” you say, opening Salem’s Lot again, grinning at the pages. 

You don’t see the small smile on Jenna’s face as she watches you or the raised eyebrows of Billy and Phil as they watch her.  You do notice when she gets up half an hour later and leaves her empty mug on the counter, then comes back to curl into the armchair to your left, the book still in her hands. You glance up over your book and watch her eyes racing across the page, spellbound. You return to reading your book, but you’re hyper aware of her, just in your peripherals.

A throat clears behind you, making both of you jump. You twist around to see Billy standing behind the couch, his finger on his watch.

“Ms. Ortega, it’s time.” He says, his voice deep and raspy.

Jenna sighs and slides a napkin into the pages of the book, then looks at you. She lifts the book, “Can I take this?”

“Only if you bring it back.”

She nods, one eyebrow raised, “Smooth.”

You shrug, “I do my best.”

She stands and stretches, looking down at you, “I never got your name.”

You get up off the couch and look at your watch, it’s an hour past closing time. You yawn and make your way to the door, opening it for Billy when he follows you. Jenna crosses her arms expectantly, waiting for you to answer.

“Tell you what,” you say, scratching your head and ruffling your hair, “Come back with my book and I’ll tell you my name.”

“And if I don’t come back?” She challenges.

“Then I’m out a book, and a giant missed opportunity.”

She smirks, accepts your answer, and follows her bodyguards out the door. You lean out of the doorframe, watching them climb into a black town car and give them a small wave as they drive down the street. You turn in and lock the door, pulling the shades closed and heading to the register to close it out. As you’re counting the dollars, the gravity of the scenario you’d just lived out slams into you. You’d just flirted with Jenna Ortega successfully for the last two hours. No one was going to believe this.

——

Two days pass, and your book has yet to be returned. You made a point to be in the coffee shop as often as possible, your eyes are always drawn to the door when it opened. Many faces passed through, but none of them were the one you were hoping for. 

One of your long standing employees, Raven, took it upon herself to poke at you endlessly about it. You had relayed the story to her the day after Jenna showed up, and at first, she didn’t believe you. It wasn’t until she’d read an article about the movie Jenna was shooting in Manhattan that she finally accepted you were telling the truth. 

“Dude, count your losses, she’s not coming back.” Raven’s voice made you jump, pushing yourself off the counter.

“You’re such a pessimist.” You grumble, grabbing the rag you were using before your daydream and returning to wiping down the wooden bar.

“And you’re entirely too hopeful,” Raven says, laughing softly and shaking her head.

You sigh, “Probably. But a girl can dream.”

You head into the storage closet to return the rag, fumbling around for the light. You end up tripping over the mop handle and fall into the bucket, which is still half full. Everything happened so suddenly all you can do is sit in the bucket, your butt soaking wet, and reevaluate your life choices. You consider getting angry and scolding your employees about the importance of cleanliness and organization until you remember you were the one who left the bucket half full and the mop haphazardly strewn to the side. 

When you finally pull yourself together, you realize you’re stuck. You close your eyes and inhale deeply. Of fucking course, your ass is stuck in the mop bucket. Why wouldn’t it be? You were always so lucky. You squirm around trying to find purchase on anything but just end up rolling the bucket around the room, your feet unable to reach the floor. You slump, giving up, and scoot toward the door.

“Raven!”

“Uh, kinda busy boss!”

“Raven seriously, right now!”

“We have a customer!”

“Tell them I’m very sorry, but your boss is currently stuck in a FUCKING MOP BUCKET!”

“Oh I don’t think you want to tell them that…”

“Raven!” You throw your hands up, desperate for her help.

You hear footsteps approaching the closet and sigh in relief.

“It’s about time dude, help m-“ 

Your words are cut off as you see who’s come to your aid. It’s not Raven, that’s for sure. You hide your face in your hands as your savior barks out a hard, genuine laugh. Just your luck. The day Jenna comes back, she finds you stuck in a bucket. You think maybe you’ll find whatever god has cursed you and fight them to the death. Raven pops up over Jenna’s shoulder, a pained smile on her face. You shoot her a ‘what the fuck’ look, and she throws her hands up, shrugging and gesturing at Jenna.

“I know this must be truly hilarious, but would one of you please get me out of this damn bucket?!” 

You figure since your pride has dissolved in the soapy water under your butt, you may as well resort to begging for help. You reach both hands out, and Jenna takes one, Raven the other. They pull, finally dislodging you. As you begin to wiggle out, the bucket tips forward, sending you sprawling onto the floor, the mop water dumped on your body. They let go of your hands and begin laughing uncontrollably, both bent over, their legs weak from their giggling. You remain on the floor, questioning the universe and wondering what you’d done to deserve this.

You roll onto your back, any pretense of being cool long gone. “I’m glad you’re both getting such a kick out of this.”

Jenna composes herself first and holds her hand out for you. You take it, and she helps you to your feet. Raven has abandoned the bar, flopping onto the couch, tears running down her cheeks. You finally see Billy and Phil perched at a small table, drinking their coffees and chatting happily. The rest of the shop is empty, due to the hour. Jenna’s hand is hovering near you like she’s unsure if you need her to steady you. You glance down at it, then back to her, blowing your hair out of your face. 

Her brows furrow in a mixture of amusement and concern, “Are you okay?”

You laugh and shake your head, “My pride has been mortally wounded. Other than that, I think I’ll be fine.”

Jenna smiles, nodding, “I brought your book back.”

“Did you like it?” You ask her, trying to hide the hope in your tone.

“I loved it, you were right, it was great.” She says, making her way out from behind the bar and to her purse on a chair near the fireplace. 

She holds it up, showing you it’s been returned safely, and places it back on the shelf. You look down at your soaking wet clothes, dripping onto the floor. You look back up at her, she’s waiting for you to keep your promise from the other night. 

“I’m going to go change, and when I come back, I’ll fill my end of the bargain. And give you another book if you want one.”

She raises an eyebrow but nods intrigued. She sits in the armchair she had been in the other night and makes herself comfortable.

“Hey Ray,” you call out, “can you make Jenna her coffee? And an extra for me, please, the usual.”

Raven drags herself off the couch and salutes you, “Right away, fearless leader.”

You roll your eyes and head to the back of the shop, where the door to your apartment is. You quickly change into dry clothes and hurry back down the stairs, eager to spend more time with Jenna. When you open the door to the coffee shop, Raven is perched on the bar, talking animatedly. The smallest shiver of anxiety passes through you, who knew what horrors Raven had told Jenna. Then again, she had just pulled you out of a mop bucket, so things probably couldn’t get worse. Probably.

Jenna smiles up at you when she catches sight of you, and you can tell Raven has told her something you’re not going to appreciate.

“Raven was just telling me about your recent interest in watching your front door,” Jenna says, her tone poking fun at you.

You cross your arms and shoot a glare over to Raven, who yelps and rolls off the bar and behind the counter. 

“Oh, was she now?” You say, flopping onto the couch.

Jenna laughs, and Raven pops her head from behind the bar. “See, what had happened was I’m a great wingman and figured she should know that you’re a useless lesbian who-“

You twist around on the couch, throwing one arm out, your eyes wide in horror, “Ray what the fuck!”

Raven sinks back below the bar, her fingers slipping off it as she hides from you. You turn back to Jenna, your cheeks burning. She’s leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, her chin resting on her fist. She’s smirking, her eyes burning into you, making you pull at your collar to let out some heat.

“She is a good wingman,” Jenna says, her eyes glinting.

You run your hand over your face, mortified. “She’s a menace, I’m sorry if any of this makes you uncomfortable.”

“If it made me uncomfortable, I wouldn’t have stayed,” she says matter of factly.

Her eyes are still on you, evaluating something you don’t quite comprehend yet. She seems to make up her mind on something and leans back in the armchair, her hands on her knees.

“Do you want to go out with me?”

You raise an eyebrow, curious, “Sure, where?”

She laughs, shaking her head, “No, like, on a date. Would you go on a date with me?”

Your jaw falls open, and you freeze. Your brain has short-circuited, and you can’t for the life of you figure out how to do anything but stare at her in awe. Her smile begins to falter, and the quickest flash of worry crosses her face.

“If you don’t want to, that’s oka-“

“Are you kidding me I’d love to!” You finally begin processing information again and shoot up off the couch. 

You reach your hand down to her, offering to help her off the armchair. She looks at your hand, confused, and looks up at you. You realize she hadn’t meant right at this moment but lean into it.

“Let’s go.” You tell her, your hand still outstretched.

“Don’t you have to work?” She asks, her eyes darting across your face.

“My shop, remember? Plus, my menace of a wingman can lock up, can’t you Ray? Unless you have something else going on this evening?”

Jenna shakes her head and takes your hand. She doesn’t drop it when she stands but interlaces your fingers. It’s a gesture so intimate for someone who was basically a stranger, but it doesn’t bother you. 

“Have you ever walked the High Line?” You ask her, grinning.

Dates in NYC were your specialty, and you knew she’d love it. When she shakes her head no, the decision is made. You look over to her bodyguards and whistle at them.

“Hey boys, there’s enough of me to go around, let’s go on the world's weirdest date!”

Jenna lets go of your hand and tsks, slapping your shoulder with the back of her hand. You are in rare form, recovered from the embarrassment of earlier and riding a high. You’d show her a great time in NYC if it were the last thing you did. 

——

The bodyguards were courteous and trailed along far enough behind the two of you that you almost forgot they were there. The High Line is a 1.5-mile elevated park lined with gardens and murals, and stunning views of the city. Jenna loves it, as you knew she would. She walks with shocking ease in her high heels, her eyes wide and absorbing everything the city has to show her.  While you walk and take in the surroundings, you talk, getting to know each other better. 

You learn that she prefers New York over Hollywood and that she always wished she could move there. You tell her about the coffee shop and getting your degree at NYU. She talks about the movie shes filming and how much fun she’s having with her cast.

When you reach the elevator that will take you off the High Line above Chelsea Market, you pull her toward it. “I have to show you this place,” you skid to a halt, turning to her, “You do like tacos, right?”

She gives you a deadpan stare, pursing her lips. She doesn’t need to answer, her face is enough. You give her an awkward smile realizing it was a stupid question.

“Right,” you say, “Latina from California…well this place is something different. Its Japanese inspired tacos, one of my favorite places.”

You pull her through Chelsea Market, Billy and Phil closer to your sides, keeping the crowds away. People recognized her, but most of the locals ignored the two of you. Celebrities were nothing new in Manhattan, so most people would stare and then go about their business. You buy her dinner, and the conversation between you is easy and endless. It felt like you had known her forever. When you leave Chelsea Market, Billy taps his watch, his eyebrows raised.

Jenna nods at him and turns to you, “I have to go, but I had a great time with you today.”

You sigh, smiling and nodding your head, “I wish you didn’t, but I get it. Jenna Ortega is in high demand these days.”

She laughs and holds her hand out, “Give me your phone.”

You hand it over with no hesitation and watch her as she types away, her tongue poking out between her lips as she focuses. She hands it back to you, her name in your contact list. Butterflies explode into your stomach as you absorb the information. You look up at her, gaping. 

“Text me, okay?” She says, stepping closer to you.

You nod, unable to speak. She leans in and kisses you gently, her hands pulling at your waist. You take far too long to register, and she’s already pulling back when you find the brainpower to reciprocate. You reach out and pull her back in, kissing her, taking her by surprise. She laughs, her teeth brushing your bottom lip. Billy clears his throat, and she leans back, waving him off.

“I’m serious,” she says, still inches from your face, “text me.”

You smile, “You couldn't keep me from it if you tried.” You peek over her shoulder at Billy and Phil, “Not even your personal beefcakes could stop me.”

Billy barks out a laugh at you shaking his head. Jenna laughs, too, rolling her eyes. 

“Next date is on me. I’ll see you soon.” She blows you a kiss and walks off, disappearing into the crowded sidewalk.

#jenna ortega x fem!reader #jenna ortega x y/n #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega #vada cavell #tara carpenter #lorraine day #phoebe atwell

[findafight]

I haven’t finished the series yet (I keep having to tap out because the writers keep referring back to episodes that they think they’ve written rather episodes that I actually watched), but I think the big disconnect between their writers and the audience have with regard to Steve is that the show *insists* on treating Steve’s character development as if it’s a “Redemption Arc”, when it is in fact a fairly standard coming-of-age story.

He starts season one coasting through an almost cookie-cutter existence, moulded by the people that he hangs out with. By season four, he’s the lone jock in a group of nerds and geeks of all stripes (Lucas is getting in there though) and has found his soulmate in a weird theatre kid (whose love life he’s arguably more invested in than his own). He has his own tastes and interests, but he’s open to those of his friends as well. He’s the unofficial “adult” of the group and has a leadership position, not because an adult has left him in charge, but because again and again he chooses to take responsibility for The Party’s safety.

[Side note - the way Steve chooses over and over to take responsibility, above and beyond what was asked of him, leading to him being more comfortable in his own skin and sure of who he is VS Jonathan having responsibility thrust upon him at such a formative age that he starts to experience an identity crisis in season four as they’re stripped away from him.

Just. Why didn’t these two have more of a relationship onscreen? Why does this show do so *little* to explore how Jonathan feels about his parentification? Or the ways in which this has hurt him over the years? W H Y ?]

As you’ve pointed out elsewhere(?), the worst of Steve’s actions in season one are the result of him lashing out in anger. But he’s shown to regret these actions, and takes ownership and responsibility of them in a way that feels genuine. Jon and Nancy aren’t there to see him help clean up the graffiti; he didn’t know that Nancy was there when he went to apologise to Jonathan; as far as we know Jonathan still doesn’t know that Steve is the one who replaced his camera.

They didn’t write a stock Stephen King bully - they wrote a male, messier version of Cher Horowitz.

yes! all of this!!

Steve's just a guy who was sort of a shitty teenager but then made the conscious choice to Do Better. He just wanted to apologize! Make things right! and that seemed to lead into making sure his town isn't infested by monsters and that a group of annoying thirteen year olds don't die also doing that. And yet they try to tell us he was a giant mean bully.

honestly I'm going to put the lack of character interaction and development (especially with a cast of the size Stranger things has) on Netflix. If they could have a regular season or even a 12-15 episode season a lot of the inconsistencies and dropped character elements and explore dynamics way more.

Jonathan being thrust into responsibility when Steve actively chose it!!! makes me scream!!! Jonathan needing to figure out who he is, but at the same time not wanting to and avoiding it, while Steve had to figure that out before. Steve might be a bit directionless, but he knows who he is. Jonathan at least thinks he knows what he wants at first but he doesn't know who he is outside of his family. Especially now that Will is growing up and not needing him the same way as before. I think him and steve interacting would be so interesting and i WISH they let us see something other than animosity or ignoring each other. They've got similarities but are soooo different. Just. AHHHhh many thoughtssss

#steve harrington #jonathan byers #stranger things #stranger things meta #greatgodempresspan #findaanswers

[ser-zoras]

How POV Characters In ASOIAF Feel About Halloween

Ned - likes Halloween for the sake of the kids, but you cannot tell me this man wouldn't do a dramatic performance in which one of the direwolves eats him. Also for his children's benefit of course, but he enjoys it.

Cat - the mom who hands out healthy snacks. She probably has a very corny sweater with a ghost pun on it.

Dany - she is also an ugly Halloween sweater person. She also would have a matching costume with all of her dragons. Probably a bat.

Tyrion - he might take Tommen and Myrcella trick or treating, but that would be the extent of his involvement. Maybe he reads some Stephen King to get in the feeling of the season.

Jon - emulates the older brother in Hocus Pocus. He takes Arya around and as the cool emo brother, he's legally obligated to be miserable the whole time. He secretly loves it.

Bran - really good at freaking everybody out. A little too good.

Sansa - allegedly hates Halloween. She stays inside, yes, but because she is watching every single Jordan Peele movie and scaring herself shitless. She has seen Us twelve times. This has not made her any more normal about it.

Arya - is dressed as a werewolf. She insists on crawling on all fours the entire night. She also howls about every five minutes.

Melisandre - is literally that person who everyone compliments on their costume despite the total absence of a costume. She is doing witchery, but she will leave out a bowl of candy anyway.

Sam - using the occasion as an excuse to make a full cosplay. He won't be wearing it anywhere, but he enjoys the creative process.

Cersei - watching a Saw marathon and taking diligent notes.

Asha and Theon - Asha has convinced Theon to toilet paper someone's house. She will leave him there and call the cops herself. He will be bailed out three hours later, claiming that he's learned his lesson. This is the the third year in a row this has happened.

Brienne - let her carve a pumpkin PLEASE

#ned stark #catelyn stark #daenerys targaryen #tyrion lannister #jon snow #bran stark #sansa stark #arya stark #melisandre #samwell tarly #cersei lannister #asha greyjoy #theon greyjoy #brienne of tarth #briennergy if you will #my posts #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls

[oneshortdamnfuse]

The Duffer’s early characterization of Billy as a racist bully is a problem, and not because Billy didn’t actually say or do anything racist. It’s because their supposed “inspiration” picked from IT (specifically Henry Bowers) and their push for Billy to have more overtly racist lines is not appropriate for the story they were telling. At all. I go back and forth over whether or not it would have been better for Billy to be this one dimensional villain, like Jason Carver was in season 4. However, given the type of story they were telling I am glad that we were given the opportunity to see a “bully” type character who had a backstory that explained his motivations. It added layers to his and Max’s character. It made the fight against the Mindflayer more dramatic and compelling. That being said, as an abuse survivor whose ACE score is an 8, it was still hard to watch and even harder dealing with the fandom fallout that is still stuck in the mindset that Billy is basically the Duffer’s version of Henry Bowers - something they never truly accomplished.

Stranger Things is not IT, no matter how many nods they try to give to it. IT is inspired by real racist and homophobic violence in a small town. Stranger Things does not touch upon either of those things with any authenticity, and it was never meant to. It doesn’t mean that fans can’t or shouldn’t care about those things. However, there is absolutely no good reason why the Duffers should have been faithful to their original vision of Billy being as overtly racist (using slurs, even) and violent as Henry Bowers because it serves no narrative purpose other than to traumatize characters and vicariously viewers with minimal long term consequence to the plot. This is not IT. They spend more time on this show tormenting abused people than they ever do addressing systemic hate. So fans should not treat it like IT, and they should certainly not treat Billy as another Henry Bowers or act like he’s ever done anything on par with that character’s actions when there is no canon proof of that.

My ongoing problem with the Duffers is that they don’t utilize trauma in a thoughtful way that connects to the overall theme. They are writing a generic good over evil story, which is okay but it’s not what people inflate it to be. Instead trauma is like decoration. You are meant to look at it and maybe it will evoke some feelings but it is just decoration. Stephen King’s IT is not that. Trauma is integral to the plot of the book where an entire town is not made “sick” by supernatural experimentation but rather the systemic hatred and disregard for life that is pervasive in their community. Henry Bowers is symbolic of that hatred in his words and his actions, which is why he becomes a willing pawn of IT unlike Billy who is taken against his will and forced to relive his trauma. For Henry, this union is liberating and exciting. Henry never stops, either. He never backs down. He is unrelentingly racist and homophobic, as opposed to Billy who leaves Max and her friends alone after a single incident. Henry also never feels bad about what he does, unlike Billy who dies apologizing.

Any time fans justify their feelings towards Billy using the Duffer’s words, I can’t take them seriously because their vision re: his characterization was never realized and it’s a good thing it wasn’t. They wouldn’t handle it, and you know how I know? The very scene where he attacks Lucas has minimal narrative consequence despite the way it made fans feel. Like I said, it’s just for decoration. This is not Henry Bowers. This is not IT. They never intended to explore racism in any meaningful way, just like they’re dragging their feet in terms of queer representation four seasons in. It. Is. Just. Decoration. Instead, we got to see fans cheer as they made Billy suffer and die while his trauma was put on full display after doing heinous things against his will. That’s not a villain’s satisfying end. That is a tragedy. It’s extremely sad, and the season 4 finale as well as the overall lack of emotional maturity in this fandom has not only reopened the wound of seeing his trauma mocked but rubbed salt in it with every screenshot of the Duffer’s words that gets reposted.

I cannot reiterate enough that trauma is decoration to the Duffers, which isn’t just evident with Billy but I digress. Yet, some fans hang on to their shallow words like everything they say or suggest is narratively true and fully realized. I can think of no better example of this than when fans say Billy is homophobic because Henry Bowers is homophobic, even though there’s no evidence he is and in fact Billy is called a f****t by his father. Just absolutely no critical thought there. If I don’t stop somewhere I will never shut up about it but to this day it makes me unbelievably angry to see anyone dare make comparisons with IT and Henry Bowers when that’s not what Stranger Things is about no matter how much they borrow aesthetically from Stephen King. Being critical of Billy is fine and encouraged by me, but not when you’re using it to make ridiculous claims or simply justify hating abuse survivors. We’re not all good little survivors who are soft and demure, but we still deserve a chance to heal. You don’t need to be a jerk about people who wanted that for Billy.

#stranger things #billy hargrove #long post cw

[luanneclatterbuck]

@mathcat345 tagged me 😊🩵

Last song listened to: The Blur “Parklife” cd in my car. I dunno what song was the last one.

Currently reading: Nothing. I just finished The Langoliers in Stephen King’s Four Past Midnight. It was a childhood favorite, but reading it as an adult (and then watching that horrible made for tv miniseries about it)… it’s a turd. I had misremembered some pretty big parts and that version in my head was so much better.

Currently watching: I’m up to season 5 of 30 Rock with my oldest. I’m glad that one has mostly stood up and I have a kid that loves old sitcoms. (😖 it’s considered “old”) Also Columbo. Up to season 3.

Currently obsessed with: Home improvement projects. Helps keep my mind off everything else.

[so-mordor-itis]

Lost & Found

Synopsis: Taking place after the events of season 4, Eddie is still wanted despite the gates splitting open half of Hawkins. In order to prevent him from being arrested, you offered to drive him to your vacation house in Nashville, Indiana. Though, being there forced you to confront your own demons.

Word count: 9.3k

TW: Season 4 spoilers ahead!

A/N: Hey y'all, I'm very proud of this. This fic has been my baby and one of the biggest projects I've ever worked on. I hope you enjoy it!

This fic is entirely based off this Stephen King quote from IT: "Calling it a simple schoolgirl crush was like saying a Rolls-Royce was a vehicle with four wheels, something like a hay-wagon. She did not giggle wildly and blush when she saw him, nor did she chalk his name on trees or write it on the walls of the Kissing Bridge. She simply lived with his face in her heart all the time, a kind of sweet, hurtful ache. She would have died for him."

I would also like to tag these lovely individuals, who cheered me on and supported this fic from day one: @flamingo-writes​ , @inaflashimagine​ , @gonuclear​

The car ride had been long. You offered to drive, knowing you were in a better mental state and the idea of Eddie driving your car made you nervous. He was known for his reckless driving habits, and while you wanted to trust Eddie with many things, some things were off the table.

You took a glance at the passenger’s seat. Eddie was slumped over, his eyes closed. He had fallen asleep. The trip from Hawkins to Nashville, Indiana had been about 3 hours. He deserved the rest, if anything. The poor guy didn’t have much to do besides talking to you about recent events for the first half-hour. He did fidget in his seat a few times, but it felt as if he was holding back his complaints. Throughout everything, it seemed he didn’t want to come across as ungrateful. 

The rest of the trip had been in total silence, which you didn’t particularly mind. (Dustin also promised to keep you two updated about everything going on in Hawkins, but his last update was an hour ago. Eddie probably looked forward to hearing the freshman’s ramblings.) 

–

The aftermath of the Upside Down took its toll on everyone. Even poor Erica Sinclair had a defeated look on her face for a good chunk of time. 

The reality of it all came crashing down when you realized there was still an important detail: Eddie. Dustin had visited the community center, and found a wanted poster with his face on it–though it had been covered in graffiti. Clearing his name became a milestone. 

When it came to a place to stay, Eddie didn't exactly have many options: Mike couldn't let him stay in his basement. Karen Wheeler became more and more alert since the earthquakes–and remembering Mike was in Hellfire. You recalled him explaining the monstrous scolding he received. Dustin's was absolutely a no; his mom became so paranoid she almost wrapped him in bubble wrap. Lucas's mom would beat the shit out of Eddie the first moment she saw him. (Lucas was more focused on Max at the time. He visited her almost daily.) El did try to offer him a place on Jim Hopper's couch, but Eddie refused. Saying it didn't feel right. He barely knew her, and Hopper didn't exactly hide his distrust in Eddie in the past. The latter he didn’t outright say, but the look on his face suggested it.  

"You can stay with me, for the time being." You offered. Eddie shook his head. 

"Don't you live smack dab in the middle of town? I'd get noticed immediately." 

"I can sneak you in for a few days," you said stubbornly, getting ready to argue it was possible. Which it was. Challenging? Absolutely, but doable.

"Wait, (Y/n)," Nancy uttered your name in a serious tone. You almost jumped. 

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say your parents bought a vacation house in Nashville?" 

–

You took a glance at your watch, 4:30. 

Right on que, the walkie-talkie Dustin gave you started making a fuzzy, static-filled sound. 

“Hey, Eddie, (Y/n),” Dustin called. You were about to reach for the device, but realized you were driving. 

“Are you guys there yet?” 

“Hello?” 

Since your hands were currently preoccupied, you leaned over slightly towards Eddie. “Hey.” 

No response.

“Munson.”

Still nothing. 

“Eddie!”

The man staggered, sitting up immediately. “Huh–what?”

“Please don’t tell me you guys got into an accident.” Dustin’s voice sounded so concerned, so desperate, you felt a ball of pressure fill your chest. Ever since Eddie’s encounter with the bats in the Upside Down, Dustin grew more attached to him than ever. You could tell he felt guilty for the attack; saw it right in his eyes. 

“Answer him before he has a heart attack.” You told Eddie. “I would, but I cannot.” You took one hand off of the steering wheel to make a gesture. Eddie took the walkie-talkie and pressed a button.

“Hey, hey Henderson,” Eddie spoke gently, “We’re okay, dude.”

“Oh thank God!” 

“I fell asleep sorry man, the trip has been…a bit boring.” 

You suppressed the urge to roll your eyes. 

"At least you're safe. The fact you're bored relieves me actually."

Eddie hesitated for a second, then fell silent. He couldn't argue with him. 

"Anything going on at Hawkins?" You asked.

"Nothing too noteworthy, but we've been coming up with some theories. And, uh, none of them have been too great." 

"Don't tell me," Eddie sighed, rubbing an eye with his free hand. "The weird gate thingies are now gonna spread outwards?" 

"Do you want the good news or bad news?"

"Bad news first, just get it out of the way," you responded, Eddie nodded in agreement, not realizing Dustin couldn't see him.

"Vecna definitely wants the gates to spread. It wouldn't make sense otherwise." 

Eddie glanced at you with what seemed to be pure anxiety, you matched his gaze with a glance to the side. Why else would Vecna need four gates instead of only one? Of course, he wanted them to spread. 

“Should we go back?” You pressed, and your grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“No. It would only waste your guys' time since you’re nearly there already.” 

“Henderson–Dustin–come on dude,” Eddie said, astonished, “What if you guys need some extra backup?”

“Eddie, the police here are still after you,” Dustin replied, his voice now irritated. “I overheard them saying they’re going to report to other stations to look for a male, long brown scraggly hair, with a t-shirt that says “Hellfire Club”.” 

Eddie glanced down at his current outfit: leather jacket- t-shirt combo, the t-shirt having their very club logo. He was still wearing the same thing since Monday. 

“Guess we have no choice,” you told him, still peering ahead. "If anything comes up, though, we’re heading straight back to Hawkins.”

“Roger,” Dustin said, you wanted to imagine him saluting, or doing something else dorkish. Anything to bring some positivity to your thoughts. 

"What's the good news?" Eddie asked.

"The good news is, no Demogorgons or Demodogs have entered Hawkins yet." 

"So the apocalypse hasn't started yet." You commented. Eddie furrowed his brow and mouthed 'Demodogs?' with confusion. You shrugged. “Don’t look at me.”

"Did Mike or Lucas not explain anything to you–ah, I gotta go guys. Something came up."

"Report back soon, Dustin," Eddie said sternly. 

"I will. You guys stay safe yourselves. I don't want to have to say I told you so." (You rolled your eyes at that.)

You both shared a glance. ‘That kid.’

“Great,” Eddie grumbled, he slouched in the seat. “More sitting around, twiddling my thumbs.”

You didn’t know how to respond, knowing all too well trying to be positive would only rub more salt into his wounds. 

–

The vacation house your parents bought in 79’ was painted white. It used to be a more beige color, but your dad had explained your mom couldn’t handle it so they hired painters to give it an entire makeover. It definitely was bright. Almost like a beacon. Once you had parked and gotten out of the car, it was practically written all over Eddie’s face how he felt about the house. 

“That’s…”

“Bright?” You finished his sentence, “Yeah, I know.”

“Are you sure this is the best place to hide someone who’s wanted basically all across Indiana?” 

You shrugged. “That's all we got for right now. Besides, I think we’ll be okay.” You also tossed him a look. “And you’re not wanted all over Indiana.”

“Police stations spread like wildfire.” 

“Only in the movies. In real life, they’re lazy as hell. Remember Ted Bundy?” 

“They still caught him.”

“Yeah, only like 4 years later.” 

Your true crime discussion ended right after you opened the trunk. With only a little amount of time, you and he managed to get a few things. Eddie had brought up his trailer, but Lucas told him because of the gates, his trailer had been completely demolished. The man looked devastated. 

(“My uncle’s okay, right? Right?” Eddie paced back and forth. “For the love of God tell me he’s okay!"

Dustin held up his hands. “Eddie, Eddie, he’s okay. He’s at the shelter in town.” 

Eddie looked so relieved you were sure he would’ve started crying. You knew how close he was to his uncle; the man fought tooth and nail for Eddie. He could easily replace the items he lost, you knew that, but his uncle would be irreplaceable. 

“I have to let him know I’m okay,” Eddie continued, he had his face in his hands. “Is there any way I can go talk to him? Like at all?”

“I’ve already told him you were okay,” Dustin said. “It’s all taken care of.”)

You went on ahead, glancing backward at Eddie a few times. He was limping–his leg got bitten up quite a bit. "You okay?" 

"Hurts, but I'll be fine," Eddie remarked. He finally caught up, rolling his suitcase behind him. 

"We'll have to change your bandage soon."

Eddie's expression immediately dipped into dread. His lips curved down into a frown. "Yippee."

“Sorry, Ed,” you gave him a sympathetic look, not even realizing what you called him. 

“Wow,” He coughed, surprised.

"What?"

"Nothing…it's just been a while since you've called me that." 

You wanted to give an excuse, but the reality was the name slipped out. It had been nailed into your subconscious, and despite how much time went by, it still stuck. 

"Yeah, well," you mumbled, fiddling with your keys trying to remember which one belonged to this house. "This trip is full of nostalgia, I guess." 

The noise of the lock clicking behind the door was enough to give you a flashback: You were carrying a beach ball, had just put on new roller skates you got for your birthday, and your mom had been wearing a pink summer dress with sunflowers on it. Your dad wore this weird white t-shirt he claimed was in style at the time. ("We'll be staying for a week at least," you recalled your dad saying. Weeks felt like months back then, months felt like years.)

The inside of the house was the exact same as it was when you last left it. White cloths cover the furniture to prevent dust, and withered flowers still in the planters. Leftover Christmas lights still hung from the railing of the staircase. You nearly smiled at that, your mom didn't exactly like having to take those down. She liked Christmas all year long. Even if it bugged you that it was currently on the tail end of March, you wouldn’t have the heart to remove them. 

"Fancy place," Eddie commented from behind you.  

Attempting to lighten up the mood, you curled your arm a little like a butler shown in movies. "Would you like a house tour?" You will admit, it was awkward. 

Eddie caught on to your charade and snorted. It relieved you to see him smile, even if it was just a little. He had been wary; finger fiddling with the hem of his sleeve, his foot tapping aggressively. Anxious, waiting. Eddie was anticipating more bad news from Dustin, and it showed. 

You knew the feeling, and distractions proved to be the best medicine. 

"Why of course, it's rare to see the (L/n) vacation house in action." He responded, following along, albeit somewhat hesitantly. You nodded. Eddie took off his jacket and placed it on the coat hanger, only to reel back his hand when it got caught in a spiderweb. "After one hell of a cleaning montage, Jesus Christ."

You bit your lips to prevent a laugh from escaping. Eddie's expression became exasperated. 

"Hey, listen, spiders are evil creatures of the night." 

"I think that's just your DnD brain talking."

"I'm just saying–one bite from a black widow and I could be a goner." Eddie had glanced back at the spider web-filled coat hanger. "I could turn into a giant bug, or…become a demodog…? Is that what Dustin called it?" He then shook his head. "What in the hell type of name is that?"

–

Eddie had been right about a cleaning montage. You opened the fridge only to find 5-year-old cans of soda, moldy bread–which made you gag, and some cans of beer you were sure would make you start seeing things if you were to drink it. (Eddie said he'd take one for the team, but you only gave him a look that said 'Don't you dare.’) 

Nancy had hypothesized you two would only be there for a week, maybe a little bit more if they could plan out a way to clear Eddie's name. Robin had definitely voiced her doubts, which made you nervous. You packed a bit extra while no one was looking. Canned foods, TV dinners that probably had melted but you didn't care. The freezer was working. Eggos (courtesy of El, she said they always helped her feel better. You took her word for it.), and beer that wouldn't make you see things. After this week, you knew you'd need a can or two. 

Eddie had taken a look around the living room, announcing his displeasure about more cobwebs. You had checked if the place still had running water. It did, thankfully. 

The tour took you two upstairs, four rooms awaited: the master bedroom, your old room, and two bathrooms to accommodate each. You offered Eddie the master bedroom thinking he’d want to sleep in an actual bed, but he dismissed your offer, stating he’d feel more comfortable on one of the couches. 

“It’s a bed though,” you argued, eyebrows raised to get your point across. 

Eddie exhaled loudly. “Yes, I know it’s an actual bed, but it’s an actual bed your parents slept on. I would feel so fucking weird.”

“You know what, that’s fair.” 

“Yeah,” Eddie proclaimed, he nodded intensely.

He approached your room, but you didn’t let him in. The last time you were there, you were 12, and your tastes were…different than now. The last thing you wanted him to see was a pink bed, with pink covers and a pink blanket that had cupcakes on it, the cupcakes even had unicorns. Eddie looked at you suspiciously. 

“What, do you have a Tom Cruise poster in there or something?”

“Well, you’ll never find out will you?” You said, walking away from the room, hoping to God above he wasn’t rebellious and opened it anyway. 

He did. 

“You do have one!” Eddie announced. He had opened the door just a tad to at least peek in. 

“Munson!” You snapped, your face was suddenly on fire, eyes blown wide. You couldn’t believe him. Always a troublemaker. 

“Sorry, sorry, I let my curiosity take over. Nice blanket by the way.” He winked as he passed you on the staircase. Your face got even warmer somehow. 

“I’m gonna kill you.” 

“I’m serious! Cupcakes–” 

“Stop. Not one word.” You pointed a warning finger at his chest. He held his hands up in surrender. 

While you were annoyed about his peeping, a strange feeling formed in your chest. 

Talking to him felt nice. 

–

You had decided to sleep in your old room that night. Not purely for nostalgia, but to look out on the ground below in case anything looked suspicious. You wanted to be positive you weren’t followed by police cars for those long hours. Though, it could’ve been your anxiety gnawing at you–telling you to look for shadows that weren’t there. This time you let it win. Sleep didn’t want to come easily, anyway. Not with Eddie right downstairs. 

***

You two had met in middle school. It was 8th grade, and the talent show in February had just been announced. You wanted to skip it, despite your mother's constant pleading. She wanted you to make friends, or at least try, you recalled her stating loudly. 

“If you watch the other kids, you might get curious and want to meet one!” She followed, frying pan in one hand, and non-stick spray in the other. You rolled your eyes; she had never met any of the kids at that school. They were stuck-ups who thought they were better than everyone else. You were positive you didn’t want to become friends with people you wanted to punch in the jaw. (Jason Carver was on the top of your hitlist. He was only a 6th grader then and still had that high and mighty attitude. Steve Harrington had some potential, but you also wanted to give him a smack.) 

The talent show itself was being held after school at 6:00 sharp. Your mom dropped you off at 5:45–a push (more like a shove) forward you could say. 

Eddie and his band: Corroded Coffin, was out front, making sure to sign in. The teacher who had the checklist–Mrs. Berry–had a weird look on her face. Eddie had a buzz cut then, his other bandmates the same besides one who had a small ponytail. It seemed Mrs. Berry was hesitant to let them play; every teacher was hesitant around Eddie. Even when he was 13 and had a baby face that was just starting to sprout pimples. (It still made you laugh, thinking about it. A middle-aged woman intimidated by a 13-year-old with acne.) 

You don’t remember exactly when he approached you, or when you approached him, yet the next thing you knew, you were listening to him play the guitar on stage. He wasn’t half bad either, had some talent in him. While you didn’t recognize the song–Metallica maybe? Eddie Van Halen?--you still nodded along.

If only everyone else saw him the way you did that night. 

Eddie invited you to hang out after the show ended, and you found a friend. 

He was the rockstar, and you were his biggest fan. 

That is, until the summer of 81. 

Your parents had divorced, just as you turned 14. You figured something was wrong; your dad had been a little too nice to you that entire week, even offering to buy a new poster for you despite previously protesting you were too young to have a poster of a celebrity. Your mom had been distant, avoiding any topics relating to your dad. She offered you ice cream even after you got a C- in Math. 

“You’ll be living with your mom, but you’ll still see me on weekends.” Your dad told you the week the divorce had been finalized, he had a pained look on his face. “If you’re confused, honey, tell me.”

“I’m not confused,” you told him, eyes foggy. “I’m just disappointed.” 

The look on his face became more painful. He hugged you tightly, before saying goodbye. Your mom squeezed your shoulder as you watched his truck drive down the road, not realizing how much harder things would become. 

Your dad died a year later, in a nasty wreck. He had been in the hospital for a week before the doctors had to declare him brain dead. 

The second your mom answered that phone call, everything shifted. You no longer could smile without feeling guilty. 

The last time you had talked to Eddie Munson, was the day your mom drank a full bottle of whiskey. He had a worried look on his face. 

“Everything okay, shortie?” 

You only nodded. “Yeah.”

High School passed in an awful blur, and you found yourself with two jobs, helping your mom pay bills. The vacation house bills included. 

You had only encountered Eddie when you saw him at lunch, or heard about Hellfire Club.

***

You didn’t even realize you had fallen asleep. Sunlight peeked from the hill over yonder, forcing you awake. Spots of yellow and orange attacked your eyes.

Groaning, you lifted your head up, noticing your neck felt stiff. It only hit you then–you didn’t sleep on the pillow covered in pink cupcakes. Your head slept on the wall near the window sill. Sometime between watching outside for police cars and going through possible scenarios you dozed off. 

You remembered your father’s face, and you sighed. It surprised you: the last time you had dreamt of your dad, it was senior year, and you had graduated. You remember looking out at the crowd, trying your best to look ecstatic about your future. Your mom wasn’t there. That night you forced yourself not to cry. 

You rubbed your eyes in an attempt to distract yourself. It wouldn’t do any good to feel sad now. Eddie needed positivity in these times. Your troubles would only make him feel worse–that’s the kind of guy he was. He acted silly and held his chin up high to look intimidating, but he was a true softie deep down. When he cared, he cared.

“Everything okay, shortie?” 

Taking a deep breath, you removed the covers. You took one more look outside before moving downstairs. 

Eddie was still asleep. You guessed he passed out cold as soon as you said goodnight, his snores echoed throughout the quiet living room. You sighed through your nose–he would be the type to snore. 

Scrambling through the cabinets, you found a toaster, miraculously. You didn't even want to ponder about how old it was. You just wanted to know if the damn thing still functioned. 

After blowing some of the dust out, you plugged it in, took two of El's recommended Eggos out, and plopped the bad boys right in. The toaster didn't start smoking, at least. (Syrup would’ve been nice.)

When the Eggos were done, you took them out and placed them on one of the plates you found in the cabinets. You half expected to hear Eddie wake up from all the noise you were making, but he slept like a log. 

Before you took your meal upstairs, you grabbed the walkie-talkie Dustin gave you. It was still early, but maybe someone would answer. 

Sitting on the floor of your room, you put the plate down and took a bite from an Eggo. You pressed a button on the walkie-and-talkie right after. 

"Hello? Anyone there?" 

No answer. 

"If anyone can hear this, it's (Y/n). Eddie and I are safe." You took another bite of Eggo. 

Nothing. You guessed everyone was asleep.

"(Y/n)?" A groggy voice came through. It was Nancy. "It's Nancy." 

"Hey Nance," you responded, relief in your tone. "Eddie and I made it to the vacation house okay." 

"Okay, good to hear."

"Any progress on clearing his name?"

You heard Nancy sigh, probably in thought. She had been dealing with a good chunk of pressure herself. She admitted to you her doubts about Jonathan, and then about what Steve said. She claimed she wanted another person's perspective. You looked her straight in the eye while stating she was in a love triangle. 

"Nothing yet. It doesn't help that Jason Carver's body was never found in the rubble of the Creel house." 

No. No, it did not. 

"How's Eddie been holding up?" Nancy questioned.

"He's been nervous. I frankly don't blame him."

"Neither do I. I can only imagine how he's feeling." 

"Yeah," you said, remembering the look on Eddie’s face the day prior. "Hey, you should go get some more rest. You sound exhausted."

"Was it that obvious?" 

"I mean, considering the apocalypse is threatening to start, Eddie is still wanted, and you're currently going through what seems like a love triangle…yeah." You said bluntly. 

"It's…It's not a love triangle," Nancy argued. A shuffling sound was heard in the background. 

“Nancy is that (Y/n)?” It was Dustin’s voice. 

“Yeah, here,” More shuffling could be heard before Dustin’s loud voice echoed through. 

“(Y/n)!” 

“Hey Dustin, you wanted to check in on Eddie right?” You asked, a small smile on your features. “He’s asleep right now. Down for the count.”

You heard Dustin scoff. “Alright.” He sounded so disappointed. 

“When he wakes up I’ll be sure to tell him you wanted to talk. It’s sweet how much you care for him.” 

“...(Y/n)?”

“What’s up?” His tone of voice made your hands clammy. 

“Thank you for driving him there. For helping him.”

Your smile widened a bit. “You don’t need to thank me, Dustin.” 

It was the least you could do, anyway. 

–

The next few days were brutal. Without much to do, Eddie was becoming antsier. He became glued to the walkie-talkie, desperate to hear Dustin tell him anything about his uncle, about how clearing his name was going. Anything. You felt he would even be happy just to hear the freshman speak. 

It didn't help that you were quiet most of the time. Despite the little quips you two shared, you were hesitant to say anything. What was there to say? "Hey Eddie, it's been at least 5 years since we've actually spoken. Wanna catch up?" The idea of talking to him about the past made your stomach churn. 

It had been a while since Dustin’s last update, and you found yourself growing anxious. There was too little to do–besides the books you had brought with you, nothing was satisfying your boredom's hunger. Eddie had it even worse. He was limping as he paced back and forth. 

You couldn't take it anymore. 

Taking a deep breath, you gathered the courage to walk into your father's study. Even during vacation, your dad brought his work along with him. He took files, notepads, anything he could to at least keep up with whatever project he was scribbling about. 

It's also where he kept his old TV. 

Walking through the door frame, your heart fell to your stomach. His portrait was still there, and it was enough to make your chest ache. You recognized that warm look in his eyes; you were told by your mom consistently that you had his eyes as if you stole them right from him. She used to say it teasingly, but after a while, the statement turned bitter. 

You avoided eye contact with the painting and peered around the room. It felt like a miniature library with how many books he stuffed onto his shelves. 

Curiously you grazed your fingers along the spines of a few that were right beside you. Stephen King. You let out a small snicker. Of course, he'd grab a few of King's books. A writer often gravitated toward him for inspiration after all. 

"There you are," Eddie's voice caused you to stumble over, knocking over some of the books. 

"Jesus Christ, Eddie!" You hollered. "Warn me next time." 

"Sorry, sorry," The poor guy looked so guilty you couldn't stay angry at him.

"It's okay, I'm just jumpy." 

"What even is this room, anyway?" 

"My dad's old study," you explained. "He was a writer, and often fell into his work even during vacation."

"He had a study? A study? All to himself, in a vacation house." He had a look on his face that was a mix of jealousy and shock. You fidgeted. 

"Don't look at me like that, we weren't rich. We were…comfortable." 

"That's…" He stopped himself from saying anything and you felt your shoulders slump in relief. "Anyway, what are you doing? You suddenly vanished on me and I had a damn near heart attack." 

"I'm sorry," you mumbled. "I was looking for his old TV. I wanted to see if the shitty thing still worked." 

"Oh thank God, I was wondering where your TV was." Eddie sighed. 

"My mom didn't want me getting too attached to one, but my dad bought one in secret." You wanted to chuckle. That probably didn't go down well if she had already discovered it. Yet your dad was a risk taker. 

"Oh, this old thing?" Eddie asked, he approached your dad's television with a slight limp. He examined it from the sides, and then up and down. "Should still work if we give it a few smacks."

***

Fortunately, it did indeed work after the 15th smack. You both let out a cheer when the static-filled screen changed to a news station. The bad news was it mostly covered news from Nashville. Nothing from Hawkins. The good news is it did play Happy Days. 

"At least we have sitcoms." You offered. Eddie just sighed. 

"I guess it's better than twiddling my thumbs waiting for Dustin–the shithead probably forgot to clock in." 

Eddie was right, it had been a few days. 

–

An idea began to form in your brain while you grabbed a Salisbury steak TV dinner for lunch. Would it be harmful to go out to get food? To do some shopping? Your supply was really starting to run low, even after skipping a few meals. You did also have some spare cash on you…

It was a lot of back and forth between your thoughts, your stomach added itself into the discussion when it growled. You took a deep breath before rubbing the sides of your temple. 

"Hey, Eddie," you called to him, "How do you feel about, uh, going out?" 

You watched as he turned his head to you, the look on his face was bewildered. He thought you were insane, you knew it. 

"Did you lose your mind somewhere as we were driving up here?" He remarked, you looked at him unenthusiastically. "I thought by hiding me here we were trying to get ourselves not discovered." 

"Real news, smart-ass, is that we're running out of food," you told him, his face sagged in realization. "No food equals starving." 

"Goddammit," he mumbled, "For fuck's sake!"

"So, we can either do one of two things: One, you stay here while I go. Two: We both go." 

"Honestly, (Y/n), the idea of sitting here in this house by myself makes me want to go nuts." 

You shrugged, standing up from your seat. "There's a new mall that just opened in town. Guess we've got that plan." You glanced back at his hair, and Dustin’s warning echoed in your head. "Male, long, brown scraggly hair with a t-shirt that says "Hellfire Club."

Eddie’s hair could prove to be an issue. 

"One problem," you said to him. 

Eddie looked confused. 

"Your hair, Eddie," 

"What about it?" 

"You're not gonna like this but we might have to cut it," 

"What–no. No way." 

"Either that or stuff your hair inside a hat." 

"You're joking, right? There's such an obvious choice here."

Stubborn, as ever. Deep down you knew you missed his flare for the dramatics. He always had a witty remark somewhere. 

"Here then," you told him. You began to trek up the stairs, a goal in mind. You searched your room for a hair tie, before rummaging through the master bedroom for a hat. You paused after seeing your dad’s old baseball cap. It was worn through, possibly eaten by moths, but it worked. 

The moment you reached his spot on the couch, you tossed them both to him. "Let's go." 

—

You made sure to bring the walkie-talkie with you, just in case Dustin made an impromptu check-in. Like the car ride up here, Eddie kept it close by–on the floor next to his foot. You could hear Dustin scolding the two of you for risking everything, however, you were prepared to counter his fit with, "You try surviving off of TV dinners and Eggos for a week, Dustin." 

The car ride was not too long, this time. Eddie had been facing the road, a bored expression written on his features. Being so used to his wild hair covering the sides of his face, seeing him with a ponytail felt strange–as if his face was completely exposed. 

You pulled into the parking lot of the mall, anxiety increasing once you spotted a police car parked directly outside. "Are you kidding me?" 

"What?" Eddie asked, you nudge your head towards the car shining red and blue. He goes pale. 

"Well that's just fucking great." 

"You might have to stay in the car, Eddie." 

"And do what? Watch other people go in?" 

"I have a few books in my glove box." You gestured towards the compartment. "You read sometimes right?" 

Eddie looked at you like you said the stupidest thing. "I run a DND club, of course I read." 

You gave him an embarrassed smile. "Alright, alright. Quit looking at me like that." You waved your hand at him before closing the door. He watched your figure walk into the mall until you disappeared through the sliding glass doors. 

Eddie sighed through his nose before opening the glove box in front of him. A lot of junk welcomed him. Letters you haven't opened, gum wrappers, he raised an eyebrow seeing a lighter–you smoked? 

Something made him pause his rummaging. A book with a used spine, so used it could've fallen apart in his hand right then and there. 

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. 

"No way," said Eddie in awe. He took a second to examine the novel. It felt like a used library book, but didn't have the markings like one would. You bought this, possibly years ago. "You shithead." Eddie smiled, before opening the book. 

He didn't mind reading it again. It was one of his favorites.

–

You were taking a long time, you knew you were. Luckily there was a mini mart in front of the mall; you grabbed more eggos, some TV dinners that weren't Salisbury steaks, and paid for them in cash. 

Just as you were heading out, you spotted a bookstore: Barb's Books. You bit your lip. No. I don't need to go look. Eddie is literally waiting for me.

You went in. 

It wasn't a big bookstore, relatively small in comparison to the size of the mall. It probably only took up a small corner.

What am I doing?

"Can I help you, dear?" An older woman asked. She was sitting at the register, a Danielle Steel book in her hands. You shook your head. 

"No thank you, I'm just browsing." And getting ready for Eddie to kick my ass.

"Oh, okay." She smiled at you, then went back to the pages in front of her. 

You gravitated toward the sci-fi and fantasy section, noticing a little stand for Stephen King and Margaret Atwood. 

When your eyes landed on a copy of The Lord of The Rings, you remembered Lucas telling Eddie his trailer was destroyed after the gate split open. You weren't hesitant to grab it off the shelf. 

A small apology, you thought. 

"There you are," a voice hissed. You turned around to see an annoyed Eddie. He had his hands on his hips. You blinked at him.

"Are you insane you fucking moron?" You whispered to him, hoping the sweet old lady at the register didn't hear you. Eddie gave you the same expression you were giving him. 

"Am I insane? You're the one who said you'd be right back 45 minutes ago!" 

"I just…" you glanced at the book sheltered under your arm. "I needed to grab something." 

Eddie rubbed his forehead. "Okay, okay I'm sorry. I'm just on edge right now." You had to hold back your surprise that he didn't kill you on the spot.

"I don't blame you," you handed him your grocery bags. "Here, can you take these while I pay for something?" 

"What am I, a butler?"

"Eddie," you gave him a pleading look. 

"Alright, alright fine," he snatched the plastic bags kind of aggressively. You warned him not to break the bags before he walked to the entrance of the store. He looked both ways and then not-so-subtly walked out. 

The older lady gave you another smile as you paid for the book. You wanted to tip, but you had to save every penny. You just gave her a smile in return. 

On your way out, you heard her say, "That young man cares about you." 

–

He was in the car when you approached it, arms crossed. Eddie had been known for his impatient streak. 

You opened the driver's side door, smiling awkwardly. "I'm sorry." You slid into the seat, he eyed you with annoyance, but also a bit of curiosity. 

"What book was so important you needed to take a detour?" 

You licked your lips before handing over the plastic bag with the "Barb's Books" logo on it. "It's not for me." 

Eddie glanced at the bag, then at you, then at the bag again. He fiddled with it before taking the contents out. 

You scratched your cheek, unable to look him in the eye. "I heard what Sinclair said about your trailer and…I don't know. I felt like you could use another copy." 

Eddie peered at you in disbelief, the disbelief turned to awe. "Thanks, shortie." 

You mirrored his disbelief. 

("Everything okay, shortie?")

You felt yourself smile, you tried to stop it but you couldn't. "No problem."

(”Also,” Eddie added, later on. “The Hobbit?”

You went a little pale. “Yeah...? What about it?”

“I found it in your glovebox. The thing was in shreds.”

You gnawed at your lip. “I’ve read it a couple times.”

“Just a couple?”

“Just a couple.” You parroted. You peered at him from the side, to see a small smirk on his lips.)

–

"And why did we suddenly stop?" He tilted his head. He definitely had a more puzzled look on his face than annoyed or angry. You shrugged. 

"The river is pretty this time of year." 

The stream in front of you glistened in the afternoon sunlight. Your dad took you here one morning, while your mom was asleep. It was only for a little bit, but he taught you how to skip stones, and told you if you wished hard enough something good and grand might happen. 

You recalled wishing for a Wonder Woman comic book, and your dad snorted.

"Wish for something more meaningful, sweetpea." 

Eddie must've recognized the longing look in your eye. He didn't pry, nor did he beg and plead to go back to the house. You figured he was just as reluctant to go back as you were. 

You wordlessly got out of the car, taking a deep breath as you got closer to the water. Not too close, of course, but close enough to wear you could hear the roar of the stream. 

The sounds of crunching rocks and a door slam told you Eddie exited the car. 

"My dad took me out here to skip rocks a couple times," you explained. "Nostalgia trip, I guess." 

Eddie didn't say anything at first. You watched with wonder as he picked up a flat stone and threw it. It skipped twice, landing in the water soon after with a small splash. You raised your eyebrows, pleased. 

"Not bad." 

"Would you mind showing me the ropes, champion of skipping rocks?" 

You scoffed. "Champion?" 

Eddie shrugged his shoulders, he knelt down in a squat. 

"You must've had some practice, right?" 

You resisted rolling your eyes at him. Picking up a semi-flat stone, you flicked your wrist, and the stone glided, skipping four times before landing with a splash. Eddie clapped, impressed. 

"See, you are the champion.

"It only skipped four times." 

"Watch as mine skips five." 

This man was 20 years old, challenging you to a rock skipping contest. 

You couldn't refuse.

The two of you went at it until the sun started to set. You warily took a glance at the sun, and then to your car. "Time to head back," you told Eddie. 

"Hey uh," he stood up at the same time as you did. "You look tired, let me drive." 

"No." You didn't hesitate. Eddie pouted, a disgruntled look painted itself on his face. 

"Why not?" 

"Dustin told me of your driving habits, Ed." 

"That little shithead doesn't know what he's talking about." 

"I'm pretty sure everyone in Hawkins knows how you drive at this point. Like a maniac." 

"I'm just eccentric." Eddie said. You weren't impressed. 

"Do you know how expensive this car was?" 

"Yes, and I won't wreck it." 

He was giving you the puppy eyes, and you hated it. 

"Why do you want to drive so badly?" 

"...To do something besides sit around. I've been practically sitting around this whole damn time." Eddie confessed, he kicked a stone out of frustration. It didn't quite land in the stream, but it came close. 

You closed your eyes, and then grabbed your keys from your pocket. You tossed them to him. "Don't wreck my car."

He caught the bundle of keys and fist pumped the air. "I won't." 

—

He nearly did. 

Eddie's way of driving was, to put it lightly, reckless. He drove the way you would expect him to: no cares in the world. 

You held onto your seat harshly, wishing your seat-belt could be tighter. "Eddie, slow down for fuck's sake this is a small road, not a race track." 

Eddie smiled, like an idiot enjoying life. You wanted to take a picture, despite the annoyance in your chest. He had a great smile, when it was genuine. Your face flushed when you realized you were staring. 

Did it really take this long for you to realize you missed him? 

"You okay, shortie?" Eddie asked, he took a glance at you before gazing back at the road ahead. You rolled your eyes. 

"Not really, and you can stop calling me that, you know. We're not in middle school anymore."

Eddie grinned again, and you had to bite your cheek to prevent yourself from grinning back. "That's just how I remember you. Short, sassy as hell–which I never got tired of by the way. Honestly, when you called me Ed a bit ago, I said shortie to get back at you because why else would I call you that? Now, I can't stop. I don't wanna either." 

You smirked, hiding your face by looking out the window at the trees gliding by. "So this means I can keep calling you Ed?" 

"Fuck yeah," Eddie didn't hesitate to respond. "Are you kidding? You're the only one I'd allow the privilege to call me that, anyway."

"Special circumstances, huh?" You heard him click his tongue. 

"That's definitely one way to put it." 

–

Eddie pulled your car into the front lawn harshly, earning him a glare from you. 

“You’re never driving my car again,” You scolded. 

Eddie only snickered. “Aw, come on, was it that bad?”

“You nearly rammed us into a tree! Twice!” 

“Simple trial and error.” 

“Fuck off.” 

Eddie only laughed, it echoed in your ears, and your heart flipped. 

As you tried to exit the car, Eddie stopped you. “Hey, uh, can we talk for a second?” 

Your heart dropped. “Uh, yeah, sure. What’s up?” The car door closed with a thump. 

Eddie hesitated, he appeared to be nervous, picking at the crevices of his fingernails. 

“We haven’t really, uh, talked about anything since we came here.”

“What do you mean?” You asked with faux confusion. You knew exactly what he meant, you just didn’t know if you were ready for this discussion. 

“You know what I mean, (Y/n),” Eddie inquired, his voice low. "Why you suddenly disappeared, why you've been looking at me with this weird awkward guilt that's been bugging me since this whole fucking thing started."

You were stunned. 

"It's been, what, 5 years?" 

"Eddie…we–we don't need to" You stammered, the words were caught on your tongue. 

"Yes. Yes, we do," his voice suddenly became serious. "We've been dancing around it for 2 weeks now."

When you didn't respond, he continued. "This trip out–this little excursion we went on–it honestly made me realize how much I missed you. Missed this. Us."

You almost flinched at how his tone shifted. He didn't sound mad, just hurt. Passionately hurt; he's been holding this in for so long. 

You would've preferred if he was just mad. 

("Everything okay, shortie?") 

He was so desperate for answers. You didn't blame him, but some part of you wanted him to stop. It was as if he shoved himself inside the closet of your mind and pulled out the skeletons. You felt exposed. 

Though, you couldn't argue he deserved an explanation. 

He kept talking. "I had wondered what I did for so long. I came up with the theory you hated me, that I must've done something. Why else would you–"

"I don't hate you," The words fell out of your mouth so fast. That wasn't what you wanted him to feel, not at all. Your eyes became misty at the thought. You had to look away, he couldn't see you cry. "I couldn't hate you, even if I tried."

"Then why?" Eddie was shaking his head rapidly. "Why hide for so long if it wasn't something I did?" He placed the blame on himself. 

Hiding behind a wall wasn't an answer anymore. 

"I…My parents divorced that summer," you said quietly. The words tasted like venom. You let out a shaky breath, the handle of your car looked too tempting to grab. Your body urged you to run away, but you knew you couldn't run anymore. "They had put up this charade beforehand, taking me here, being too nice. They were awkward as hell; they didn't think I'd catch on so quickly. After we left, they finalized it, and my mom got full custody of me. I could only see my dad on the weekends." 

Eddie had remained silent, so you continued. "The last day of summer, you asked me if I was okay…and…" you bit your lip. "I don't know what happened, I just fell off. It was as if my brain turned on autopilot.

My dad died in the middle of winter break. A truck had hit him head-on…and…he was declared brain dead at the hospital. My mom started drinking after that. I had to work two jobs to help her out." You played with the fabric of the car seat. 

He still hadn't said anything, which made you more nervous, but you felt obligated to keep going. 

"I don't hate you," you whispered, your voice frail. "Never have, not even a little. Not even when you accidentally dumped soda in my lap during 5th period. Or when you tackled me from behind causing me to fall into Lover's lake. If anything, it made me like you more. I just couldn't smile without feeling guilty about it." 

You didn't even realize you had started crying. "I'm sorry, Eddie," you sobbed. Fuck, you hated crying. Hated it so much that you wished there was another alternative. “I’m so–”

You jumped once he scrambled out of the car, slamming the door after he left. For a second you thought he had stomped away without saying anything before he opened your side door, pulling you into the tightest hug he could muster. If anything, the gesture made you cry harder. 

"I'm sorry, shortie," his voice faltered. "I'm so fucking sorry." 

You wanted to gawk at him. "Why the fuck are you apologizing?" You let out a cry when he put a hand on your head in a comforting way. 

"Because I didn't know. God, I wish you had told me." 

"You were dealing with your own shit."

Eddie scoffed. "So? We all deal with our own shit!"

"Ed-"

"You're too selfless. You always put other people before you. Always. It doesn't matter who it is. You've got to stop doing that."

It had been too long since someone held you like that. It reminded you of your dad. He held you just like this before he drove away; it felt as if he didn't want to let go, that he wanted to glue himself to you. It was only after your mom gave him a warning that he finally released his grip. 

Eddie held you for what felt like hours until your sobs were reduced to mere sniffles. You found yourself glancing towards his leg, which was wobbling slightly.

“You shouldn’t stand on your bad leg for too long,” you advised with a sniff. “You might make it worse.”

He somehow held you tighter, letting out another scoff. “See, that’s what I mean! You’re over here crying your damn eyes out, still worried about me.” 

“Well,” you countered, “You were bitten by monstrous bats from another dimension so–” 

“Just shut up, okay?”

You laughed. “Okay.”

A sudden weight lifted off your shoulders. You laughed. "Guess we have 5 years of catching up to do, yeah?"

–

You found yourself sitting on your old bed that night. It was comforting, being around the pink sheets and cupcake-covered pillows. It made you think you were back in 1980 when your parents took you back here for an impromptu trip. Your mom had felt like getting away, and your dad didn’t want to tell her no. Later that day you found yourself in the backseat of your dad’s cavalier. You remember the leather seats being so hot you didn’t really like sitting on them in the summer. 

“Hey,” Eddie’s voice dragged you out of your thoughts. 

You gave him a glance. “What’s up?”

He kicked the carpet under his good foot. He had a pillow under one arm and a blanket in another. “I don’t know, I just…I had a weird feeling, and I wanted to come to check in, I guess?” 

You smiled a little. “I’m okay, just looking outside.”

“Checking for spooky monsters?” He asked sarcastically. 

“Yeah,” you rolled your eyes, “Totally checking for spooky monsters.”

Silence rolled between you two before Eddie spoke again. “I had been thinking.”

“About what?”

“About everything you told me. And, not gonna lie, the idea of leaving you alone after you basically poured your whole heart out to me made me feel like an asshole.”

You let out a breathless laugh. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Nope,” Eddie stated, flopping the pillow and blanket on the ground next to your bed. “I’m already here, and walking up and down those stairs with this leg? No.” 

“Ed,” you were giggling, “What is this a middle school sleepover?” 

“I just don’t want you to be alone.”

“You might as well just hop on the bed.” You patted the sheets next to you, your face heating up slightly in the process. It was definitely an interesting suggestion, but you didn’t want him ruining his back. Eddie tilted his head.

“Me? Sleep next to you, in the same bed, with our history?” He gestured to the space between the two of you. You snorted, wanting so badly to tease him. 

“Because you got high that one time and tried to kiss me?” 

Eddie blinked rapidly. "Yeah, but I don't remember being high for that."

"I'm pretty sure you were, you smelled like weed."

"I think I always smell like weed." 

"Yeah. I had heard about that, something about you selling pot in school?"

"A side business, yes, but back to the point," Eddie tried brushing the subject off, even making a hand gesture telling you to stop. "Are you sure you'd even feel comfortable with me up there? Next to you, in the same vicinity–"

"Eddie, if anything I'd feel safer," You confessed, immediately looking back to the window. There was nothing much outside, but maintaining eye contact made your stomach twist weirdly. You fiddled with your thumb. "That was weird, sorry." 

He didn't respond before flopping himself on the spot next to you. "I guess I could. Cupcakes are real metal, you know what I mean?" 

"I swear to God if you bring that up one more time, you will be smothered with a pillow." You said playfully. 

"Though, this bed is fucking tiny." 

"Yeah, sorry if I kick you."

***

The night had grown so quiet, you were positive Eddie had fallen asleep beside you. You figured sleep would take longer to arrive, so you decided now would be a good time to read. 

Even though you were hesitant to take a book off of your dad’s shelf, you thought it would be wasteful to leave all those books unread, unused. Though, reading a Stephen King book at night was unwise. 

"Stephen King, huh?" 

You jolted, eyes tore off the page to look at Eddie. He was rubbing his eyes, indicating he probably did fall asleep. "You're brave reading one of those at night, especially this late." 

You glanced at the cover, the large print font yelling "The Dark Tower". You simply shrugged. "It's only The Dark Tower. I wouldn't read Cujo at 1 in the morning if that's what you're implying." 

"Still has the spooky undertones." 

"You've read King's stuff?" 

"Oh hell yeah, love him."

"He's gonna release a new one this year." 

"Is he now?" 

You gave him a look. "Go back to sleep, dingus." 

"Not until you do," Eddie scrunched his nose. 

"Just…one more chapter." You nervously glanced back at the page. Groaning when you realized you lost your place. "Great, now look at what you've done. I can't find my place!"

"And that," Eddie said in a matter-of-factly tone, "Means you should go to bed." 

You huffed, placing the book on the window sill before softly landing back on the bed. "Happy?" 

"Incredibly." 

Your eyes closed and you felt the bed shift as he moved. For a small, twin-sized bed, it wasn't too bad. Though, it also meant you'd feel his every toss and turn and you weren't sure how you felt about that. 

"I wasn't high," Eddie muttered out of the blue. 

You opened your eyes. "What?" 

"You said that when I tried to, ya know, kiss you that I was probably high…I wasn't." 

Your heart began to pound, and you really hoped he couldn't feel it. 

"You're telling me this now?" You coughed out. It was hard to concentrate with the way your mind began to spin. He wanted to kiss you. He wasn't just high off his ass. 

Now you're hating yourself for not knowing. 

"Well, I don't know, with the gates and the fact I'm wanted for murder and…the fact you're here now. It kinda felt weird to keep it in." 

"Does that mean you liked me back then?" You will admit that was a stupid question. Wanting to kiss someone isn't exactly platonic. 

Eddie turned to face you, and though you were hesitant to do the same, you could feel his eyes on you. "Who said I stopped?" 

The seriousness of his tone nearly made your heart stop. First in the car, now here. "You're tugging at my heartstrings here, Munson." 

"You really think I'd joke about something like this?" 

"You joke all the time." 

"Fair point, but not this time." 

You still couldn't look at him. Not when he's telling you this when you know the look on his face is softer than you've ever seen it. It would've been too much. 

"Look at me," he said, not demanded, but it obviously wasn't a request. "Please, sweetheart."

You couldn't resist the pet name. You turned your head to him, face burning as his warm, chocolate brown eyes glittered in the moonlight. "Yeah?"

"You mean more to me than you think." 

His face was closer now, and while you glanced at his lips, you thought about everything that happened up until that moment. Anything could happen. You could lose him to prison, or to murderous beings whose masters invaded the minds of others.

Fuck it. 

You kissed him, albeit shortly. Eddie still had his eyes closed, as if he wanted more. He raised his eyebrows before opening his eyes again. "Definitely wasn't expecting that." 

"Sorry," you said instinctively. Eddie grabbed your face with one hand, you could feel the cold bite of the rings that adorned his fingers. 

"Stop apologizing, shortie." He kissed you in return. 

It felt like a weird dream, this trip. Parts being nightmarish, parts holding you together. Whatever happened next, you at least had him. 

And he had you. 

It wasn’t until later that morning, that trouble in Hawkins would arise once again.

"You guys? Hey! Uh, we might have a slight situation..."

One problem was, you two had left the walkie-talkie in the backseat.

--

Also tagging @masterofmunson​ because their fics inspired me greatly! Thank you for writing such amazing works!

#stranger things x reader #stranger things season 4 #stranger things imagines #stranger things spoilers #stranger things #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #joseph quinn #phew boy #this was a bitch to edit but its okay i did it #my writing

[allhailstephenking]

Stephen King Poll - Collections

#stephen king #poll #short story #novella #collection #night shift #skeleton crew #if it bleeds #different seasons #full dark no stars #bazaar of bad dreams #hearts in atlantis #nightmares and dreamscaps #everythings eventual

[cosmicbrowniefan]

short playlist for you based on your favorite stranger things character!!

i based all of these on both the vibes of the characters and the songs i think they might like (some more mainstream, some not). some songs could definitely work for multiple characters so i honestly recommend that you listen to more than one playlist. i spent a lot of time on this so pls boost if you enjoy the recs!!

mike wheeler:

calico kid by humorus

freakin’ out on the interstate by briston maroney

the adults are talking by the strokes

televised by hunny

scared of the dark by boywithuke

will byers:

kids by current joys

backseat rider by sara kays

teenage dirtbag by cavetown ft. chloe moriondo

leah by seeing double

untitled by max leone

dustin henderson:

scalawag by humorus

i listen to your radio show at night by grady strange

kokomo by the beach boys

give up baby go by peach pit

not into you by brooksie

lucas sinclair: (he’s a romantic, fight me on this)

late night talking by harry styles

nobody gets me (like you) by wallows

romeo & juliet by peter mcpoland

lady by the sea by stephen sanchez

december, 1963 (oh what a night!) by frankie valli & the four seasons

el hopper:

sports by beach bunny

vienna by billy joel

bubblegum bitch by marina

campus by vampire weekend

grace kelly by mika

max mayfield:

brooklyn baby by lana del ray

ghost town by benson boone

deal with the devil by rory webley

like2like by gabriela bee

1950 by king princess

nancy wheeler:

frankenstein by claire rosinkranz

23 by wallice

wet dream by wet leg

i shot cupid by stela cole

new by ben platt

jonathan byers:

out 4 a breather by dad sports

mr. forgettable by david kushner

sedona by houndmouth

the green and the town by ajr

summer depression by girl in red

steve harrington:

out of my league by fitz and the tantrums

mind over matter by young the giant

prom dress by mxmtoon

before i knew it by mason ramsey (steve would love this song and i stand by that.)

the f-word by humorus

robin buckley:

overwhelmed by ryan mack

devil town by cavetown

1980s horror film ii by wallows

despair by leo

anxiety by jvke

eddie munson:

daddy issues by the neighbourhood

killer queen by mad tsai

black confetti by dreamers

employment cost by roe kapara

engravings by ethan bortnick

#stranger things #st4 #stranger things 4 #playlist rec #playlist recs #playlist #stranger things playlist #stranger things headcanons #byler #steddie #ronance #elmax #lumax #jancy #eddie munson #steve harrington #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #el hopper #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #will byers #dustin henderson #mike wheeler

[bee-barnes-author]

WIP Questionnaire

Tagged by @tabswrites

Gently tagging: @amandacanwrite @coffeewritesfiction @ellierenae @johnna-oneal-trash-writer @leahkentwriter @milkhoney531 @pheita @pb-dot @sirensatyr @theamazinggrayson @tombstuck @violeaes @vivrune and an open tag. Blank questions below the cut!

For 'THE BEAST IN THE GLASS HOUSE':

1. What is the first part of your WIP that you created?

The outline. I was at a client's house, dog siting for a week, and I just finished reading ROSEMARY'S BABY by Ira Levin. I put down the book, and thought about the gaslighting aspect of the novel, and how scary that is. Then TBITGH appeared in my brain, whole and grown like Athena herself.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Idk about the song, but the direction would be very much like the intro from the first season of the sopranos. Probably it'd be the drive from Damon's office, to Freya's apartment, then to her work. It'd end on Damon putting sunglasses and a mask on.

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

I hate Damon. He's such a loser so I don't count him as a character LMAO. My favs will have to be Freya or JJ. My love for Freya is hard to explain without spoiling the book lol. To be vague, it's her character arc. For JJ, I love how he ends up and how he develops as a character. Again, can't say much without spoiling.

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fan base would share?

This q kinda confuses me? Like what other shows/books would ppl like if they like my work? Well, my book is for fans of stalker horror (such as YOU by Caroline Kepnes and MISERY by Stephen King). If you're looking for the inspiration of the male love interest, check out THE VAMPIRE DIARIES tv show (seasons 1-3~, the rest are garbageeee), TWLIGHT (both the books and movies, specifically MIDNIGHT SUN), 50 SHADES OF GREY (I've only read the first book so I can't vouch for the movies, but the book is meh-to-bad imo)

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Honestly, writing this thing has been a breeze. I wrote the first draft in under four months. It just flowed out of me. It's this whole 'getting ppl to read it' thing that's the hardest.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Werewolves! Mentions of squirrels. The mc is a werewolf and he's a werewolf supremacist. Werewolves on the brain 24/7 baybeeee.

7. How do your characters get around? (Ex. Trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

They run on all fours in wolf form, go around on two legs in human form and a special wolf form, drive cars, and drive snow mobiles.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

The manuscript is done. I'm just waiting on the last edits from a paid editor. Once I do those rewrites, I'll put this up for publishing. Aiming to launch mid June 2025!

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe) of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

Incomplete list: soulmates/instant-love, every werewolf/shape shifter trope under the moon (couldn't help it), billionaire boyfriend, stalker 'romance'. Every 'bad boy boyfriend' trope. I loooove taking tropes and turning them on their heads.

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

To publish! I'd love it to go gangbusters but my primary hope is just to have ppl read it 'XD

1. What is the first part of your WIP that you created?

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fan base would share?

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

7. How do your characters get around? (Ex. Trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe) of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

#wip tag game #writeblr tag game #wip questionnaire #writeblr #writing #writing community #writers on tumblr #novelist #writers #the beast in the glass house #horror #tag game #werewolves #shape shifters #tropes #shape shifter #monsters

[alibraryofconfusion]

"Anne Frank meets Stephen King" "Poor girl, she wasn't held enough during ritualistic murders" *casually reading the Killer part aloud*

Daniel pissed people off (for good reason) in ep5. When he isn't constantly badgering Louis on the veracity of his story, he's asking intrusive salacious questions. Okay, we get it you're a hot shot well seasoned reporter with 'journalistic integrity'- that doesn't absolve you of basic human decency to atleast try to protect your subject (in this case, Claudia) from some trashy readings of the book. It's capitalism and general human horribleness in banking off of the misery of others. Like sure, yes, Claudia's pain and cruelty will result in some fans of her methods and sexy Halloween costumes, but adding gratuitous self depiction of sexual assault by someone who could never consent? To say that to her father's face, idk to provoke Louis into giving him less of a rehearsed performance was a dick move. He has two daughters, come the fuck on. Does he think he's writing a fiction? This, for me, hits home the fact that Daniel isn't seeing Louis (as well as Claudia) as creatures capable of feeling pain, remorse, happiness, anything. In his quest to get the story out of Louis, he doesn't take into account the horror of that admission for Claudia. To him, they're all blood-sucking serial killers. He's not wrong and has had a whole ass life believing it. Lestat, Louis, Claudia, that attack after the first interview, his own regrets about his life and now his illness- make it harder for him to be impartial. He hates Louis too much for that. And Louis isn't making this any easier, taunting him at every point. They have the modern timeline so much more dynamic, like only four (five, if you count Rashid) major characters for an entire season is difficult to pull off and they're doing it. Flawlessly so.

#if these two don't end the season kissing im eating crow lol #interview with the vampire #daniel molloy #louis de pointe du lac #claudia #jacob anderson #lestat de lioncourt #sam reid #spoilers #iwtv #eric bogosian

[prismatica-the-strange]

Prisma's F/O list

I've gotten to the point where I'm not really comfortable sharing my romantics, especially my Soulmates and First Primes!

BUT I'm comfortable talking and gushing about them with you in an x reader sense, just not really acknowledging your specific ships in asks/conversation. That being said, if something makes me uncomfortable/if I see duplicates I can always blacklist 💜

Jim is the only exception to this rule as he is a platonic!soulmate.

Not all my soulmates have gifs (I ran out of gif space)

Format: Fictional other - Fandom - Relationship - Self Insert - Self ship tag (♤ = F/o is available for asks, ♡ = fictional childern listed at bottom)

First Prime

Hector Escaton - Westworld - Soulmate - Adeline Rooney - Absolute Corruption

Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars - Soulmate - Freida Baltwin - Death By Anyone's Hand But His Would Never Be As Sweet

Aleksander Morozova - Shadow and Bone - Husband - Krynn, Daughter of Falros - I'll Forgive Your Sins

Wolf - The 10th Kingdom - True Love - Kitra Kane - Kit'n Wolf

Soulmates

Jo March - Little Women (mostly the 1933 ver. but any of the main four work) - Significant Other - Matilda - Art and Life in it's Many Forms

Diaval - Maleficent - Sweethearts - Christiana Vross - Raven of My Heart

Donovan Shrike - Once Upon a Time (OC) - Husband - Lyra Shrike-Kincaid - That's What True Love Is

Peter Parker - The Amazing Spider-man - Bestfriend/Boyfriend - Estella Lovette - The Amazing Stella Lovette

King Caspian X - The Chronicles of Narnia - Betrothed - Beretta Maltaire - Black Sheep

Blaine Debeers - iZombie - Fiance- Coriander Moes - Bite Me

Niccolo Paganini - The Devil's Violinist - Husband (?) - Marion Raines - Heart Strings

Prince Eric - The Little Mermaid (2023) - Best Friend/True Love - Princess Mairead - Stronger than the Undertow

Prince Nuada - Hellboy 2 - Soulmate - Richter Friedrick - Shadow Stalker

Derek Hale - Teen Wolf - Husband - Bradlynn Stilinksi - Derek and Bradey ♤♡

Jim Hawkins - Treasure Planet - Platonic!Soulmate - Sterling McCreed - No Matter the Squals (Subject to change)

Laxus Dreyar - Fairy Tail - Significant Other - Ceruli Quint - Laxus and Ceruli

Cleon XIII - Foundation (Apple Tv+) - Soulmates - Kronos - Kronos Rising ♡

Hanzo Urushihara (Lucifer) - The Devil is a Part-Timer! - Soulmates - Meridian Moss - The General's Familiar

Bernard the Elf - The Santa Clause - Soulmate - Charity Sinclaire - Snowfall Sweethearts ☕❄♡

Caledon Hockley - Titanic - Significant Other - Miranda Sweet - Sunken Hearts

Felix - Once Upon a Time (mainly season 4+) - Soulmate/boyfriend - Evangeline Lorde - Ugly Duckling ♤

Ardeth Bay - The Mummy - Husband - Séamus McGannon - Curse Bound

Dr. Daniel Jackson - Stargate SG-1 - Soulmate - Alberta "Bunny" Dread - Daniel and Dread ♤♡

Eddie Munson - Stranger Things - Bestfriend/Husband - Mika Carlisle - Forged in Hellfire ♤♡

Allanon - Shannara Chronicles - Boyfriend/Soulmate - Regina Jones - Soul Stasis ♡

Familial

Stephen Strange - Marvel - Biological Father (familial soulmate) - Celeste Strange - Celestial Mischief ♤

Hannibal Chau - Pacific Rim - Biological Father - Lucinda Chau - Sin and Jeagers

Noah Stilinksi - Teen Wolf - Biological Father - Bradlynn Stilinksi - Derek and Bradey

Lord Milori - Disney Fairies/Descendants - Biological Father - Faera Milori - Faera: the Talentless fairy

Mieczyslaw Stilinksi - Teen Wolf - Biological Brother - Bradlynn Stilinksi - Derek and Bradey

Reul Ghorm (Blue Fairy) - Once Upon a Time - Adoptive Mother - Evangeline "Evan" Cameron - Ugly Duckling

Dustin Henderson - Stranger Things - Biological little brother - Jesse Henderson - The Badass Babysitters Club

Five Hargreaves - TUA - Biological Twin - Margalo Hargreaves - I'll Follow Your Voice ♤

Lewis, Oscar, Margot, and Rowan Rooney - OCs (Westworld) - Adeline Rooney - The Rooney Bunch

Henry Mills - Once Upon a Time - Found Family/Little Brother - Evangeline "Evan" Cameron - Ugly Duckling

The Umbrella Academy - TUA - Found Family - Margalo Hargreaves - I'll Follow Your Voice ♤(Klaus)

Erwin Sikowitz - Victorious - Crazy Uncle (found family) - Carter Mavis - You Broke Character!

Hades - Descendants College!AU - Father - Zyla - How Can I Not Love You?

Hellboy - Hellboy - Found family/Parental - Richter Friedrick - Shadow Stalker

Rick O'Connell - The Mummy - Found Family/Brother - Séamus McGannon - Curse Bound

The Statesman and Kingsman - Kingsman - Found Family - Cobalt Kline - Agent Vermouth

The Guardians of Childhood - Rise of the Guardians - Found Family - Luck - Lady Luck

The Muppets - The Muppets - Found Family - Dottie - ☆Together Again☆

Romantic

Scary Godmother - Scary Godmother Halloween Spooktacular - Girlfriend - Moanna - Scary isn't it?

Anastasia Tremaine - Cinderella - Sweetheart - Sirina - If the Shoe Fits

Prince Charming - DreamWorks/Shrek - True Love - Styxx - Pixie Styxx

Bucky Barnes - MCU (Prisma's version) - Boyfriend - Celeste Strange - Celestial Mischief

Prince Edward - Enchanted - True Love - Cassandra Finn - Just Find Who You Love ♡ (that heart is just for the tag)

Jane - Descendants/Disney Fairies - Soulmates - Faera Milori - Faera: The Talentless Fairy

Cassandra Cillian - The Librarians (Teen Wolf Crossover) - Girlfriend - Bradlynn Stilinksi - The Gift of You

Graverobber - Repo! The Genetic Opera x Pacific Rim - Significant other - Lucinda Chau - Grave Sins

Bellamy Blake - The 100 - Boyfriend - Flora Fawn - Between Earth and Sky

Elsa - Frozen/Once Upon a Time - Wife - Marigold Erikson - Miss Marigold ♡

Harry Hook - Descendants College!AU - Boyfriend - Zyla - Zyla Daughter of Hades

Charlotte La Bouff - Princess and the Frog - Significant Other - Ruth Callahan - Thief After My Own Heart

Beck Oliver - Victorious (college era) - Boyfriend - Carter Mavis - Finally Falling Falling

Jacob Custos - The Quarry - Best/Boyfriend - Laina Grimsby - What Doesn't Kill You

Shank - Wreck-It Ralph - Girlfriend - Razor - Bleeding Hearts

Crush+

Bumblebee - Transformers (Bay/Knightverse) - Sweethearts - Casey Creed - American Honey 🐝💛

Diaval - Maleficent - Sweethearts - TBA - Doth Say the Raven

Eddie Moreover (OC) - Sofia the First - Sweetheart - Princess Laurana of Enchancia - Demons of Lore

Dutchess Matilda - Sofia the First - Wife - Priscilla the Witch - The Dutchess and the Not-So-Wicked-Witch

Steve Harrington - Stranger Things 2+ - Boyfriend - Jesse Henderson - The Badass Babysitters Club (This one is more of a background ship/oc for Forged in Hellfire story clarity and for the sake of the familial stuff with Dustin)

Bruno Madrigal - Encanto - Sweethearts - Violetta Dubois - Circus Freaks

Crush

Sam Winchester - Supernatural - Significant Other - Kitra Krane - The Inn

Cedric the Sorcerer - Sofia the First - Sweathearts - Duchess Cordania of Enchancia - For the Love of Cedric

Eleven (11th Doctor) - Doctor Who - Boyfriend - Canary Fern - Space Canary

Matt Murdock - DareDevil - Boyfriend - Lillian "Lily" Oliver - Flowers for the Devil

Secret F/Os

🤫🏡

🤫☕

🤫🃏

Thanks for the Music Red

The artist and the editor

Queerplatonic

Willy Wonka - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Unclear (slightly romantic) - Dr. Cecilia "Curli" Hobbes - Chocolate Curlicue

S.P.A.N.N.E.R. - Pacific Rim - Best Friends/Drift Compatible - Lucinda Chau - Sin and Jaegers ♤

Platonic

Teal'c - Stargate SG-1 - Best Friend/teammate - Alberta Dread - Teal'c and Dread

Adam Warlock - Marvel/GotG - Best Friend? - Celeste Strange - Celestial Mischief

Evie O'Connell - The Mummy - Besties (basically sister-in-law) - Séamus McGannon - Curse Bound

Jack Frost - The Santa Clause - Old Friends - Charity Sinclaire - Ice Knowing You

Amy and Rory Williams - Doctor Who - Best Friends - Canary Fern - Space Canary

My kiddos

Vivian, Quincy, & Tobias Munson - Stranger Things - Forged in Hellfire - Snug Bug and Company ♤(Viv only, currently like 4 in my head)

Nicholas and Edith-Marie Jackson - Stargate SG-1 - Daniel and Dread -Eddie and Nick

Skyler - Westworld - Absolute Corruption (Maybe?)

Rowan Rooney - Westworld - My Sapling

Margaret & Eli Hale - Teen Wolf - Derek and Bradey ♤

Evelyn Hockley - Titanic - Sunken Hearts

Gwendolyn - Frozen - Miss Marigold

Michael and Amelia - iZombie - Bite Me Jr.

Luna and Phoebe Jones - The Shannara Chronicles - Soul Stasis - Children of the Apocalypse

Walker - Foundation - Kronos Rising

Holly & Mae - The Santa Clause -Snowfall Sweethearts ☕❄

#self shipping #masterlist stuff #prisma self ships #self ship community #self ship list #f/o list #Prisma's F/O List

[marypsue]

Anyway. I'm feeling Original Fiction Writing in this Chili's tonight. If there was ever anything you wanted to know about any of my OCs or original projects, now would be the time to ask. (And if there are no questions, there may be a sample chosen from one of these WIPs at random and posted. This is absolutely a threat.)

For reference, the original fiction WIPs I've posted about here and that I'm working on currently:

Fearleading Squad: Evil cheerleader Tiffany turns up at gothic rocker Avery's school and promptly turns it upside down. Avery has to infiltrate the cheer squad to find out what's happening to all her friends - and, as the body count starts to rise, to avoid taking the blame.

Inspirations for this one are Fear Street and Christopher Pike teenybopper horror from the 80s and 90s, Heathers, My Best Friend's Exorcism, and, yeah, what I've seen of Stranger Things season four.

Le Morte d'Artificial Intelligence: Autonomous, sapient artificial lifeform ('AI' is rather misused these days) Elin has been successfully masquerading as a human tech magnate (and rather less successful in hiding the fact that she moonlights as a superhero called the Motherboard, a secret she's keeping badly on purpose). The whole house of cards starts to wobble, though, when she runs into Lily, a changeling who wholeheartedly believes she is human. Also, King Arthur is there.

Inspirations for this one are mostly circa-2012-2013 MCU fanfiction, and the title of this one comix recap copperbadge did. With a dash of Jillian Holtzmann and Ke$ha.

Circus Luna: A group of five friends reunite in their small, rural hometown as adults, to face the circus-themed evil that they once defeated as children. Well, as fourteen-year-olds. Also they're all girls and they were fourteen in 2006 and two of them have children (who also get to have an important storyline, because nostalgia for lost youth can be dangerous to those who are young right now. Bite me, Stephen King).

Inspirations for this one obviously include Stephen King's IT, but also Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, Jennifer's Body, Dracula, and MCR's The Black Parade.

#mary writes #man do I love writing summaries and teasers and synopses and all that #next...the actual stories #fearleading squad #circus luna #le morte d'artificial intelligence

[thezfc]

gulfcoastmedia*com/stories/extras-needed-for-stephen-king-movie-filming-in-baldwin-mobile-counties,187104. Well it looks as though Life of Chuck will be filming soon!

Gulf Coast Media confirmed today that filmmaker Mike Flanagan will shoot his third Stephen King adaptation, “The Life of Chuck,” in various locations around Baldwin and Mobile counties. The production is anticipated to begin filming Oct. 16 and run for approximately four weeks.

According to the local booking agency, 1,000 extras are needed for the film in a range of ages from 11 years old and up. The bulk of the extras are needed for two large crowd scenes to be filmed in Baldwin County.

#tom hiddleston #the life of chuck

[swtsuna]

STRANGER THINGS 5: THEORIES

These theories envolves around Will, Max and Eddie. (I know what is the first stage of grief, thank you very much). Take your time.

Also, this contains spoilers of Stranger Things VOL. 2. If you haven’t watched and don’t want to be aware of what happens, I advice you to stop here.

As we all know, there will be a timeskip from S4-VOL2 to S5. Based on this account (and I’ve seen in other places around Twitter) S5 will take place on 1988, making that a two years timeskip!

If in one week a lot can happen in Hawkins, let alone two years. Based on that, let me start the theories (made by this unhealthy mind of mine).

Max

Our beautiful Kate Bush enthuasiast ended season four in a hospital bed. She died for over a minute but Eleven made her heart beat again. That was really lovely if not for the fact that while in her mind, El couldn’t see a thing. Max is in coma, brain-dead.

On that scene we saw Lucas reading “The Talisman”, book written in 1984 by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Let’s see the plot, shall we?

“Jack Sawyer, twelve years old, sets out from Arcadia Beach, New Hampshire, in a bid to save his mother Lily, who is dying from cancer, by finding a crystal called "the Talisman". Jack's journey takes him simultaneously through the American heartland and "the Territories", a strange fantasy land that is set in a universe parallel to that of Jack's United States. Individuals in the Territories have "twinners", or parallel individuals, in our world. Twinners' births, deaths, and (it is intimated) other major life events are usually paralleled. Twinners can also "flip" or migrate to the other world but only share the body of their alternate universe's analogue.”

Tell me this isn’t similar to what’s happening in our beloved fictional city, Hawkins. I dare you. Do you really think I was finished? There’s more.

“In rare instances (such as Jack's), a person may die in one world but not the other, making the survivor "single-natured", with the ability to switch back and forth, body and mind, between the two worlds.”

The “earthquake” in Hawkins happened when Max was “dead”. Vecna was still in her mind and that’s why I believe she is not dead. Remember season one? When Eleven saw Barb dead? El can see dead people. Max is alive, but she is still trapped to Vecna. And as we know, Vecna can manipulate scenarios, so maybe he did that so Eleven wouldn’t know where she was.

And of course, she can’t switch back and forth with her mind and mostly body. But in two years? There’s likely a chance to her bones be back on the road (not literally lmao)

Therefore, there is a chance to, fully, save Max. Hinting the book and making some parallels: to save our favorite red-haired, someone will have to go to Upside Down and search the “Talisman”. I just don’t know what would be this Talisman. And since Lucas was the one reading... (Lumax endgame, they are my parents I can prove.) 

ANOTHER MAX THEORY:

This is Raven Queen, Goddess of Death, from D&D. 

“The Raven Queen is trapped by her fascination with the past. She sits in her fortress, amidst all the memories of the world, looking at the ones that please her most as though they were glittering jewels. Many great wizards have attempted to understand her motives, but like a raven she has always remained cryptic, keeping her cache of secrets just out of their reach.” —  Alustriel Silverhand

“The whole existence of the Raven Queen was focused on collecting memories and strong emotions, typically associated with loss and tragedy.” (click here to see more).

Technically, it’s impossible to Max be Raven Queen (or sorta), since she’s almost as old as Vecna (in D&D world), but I see some similiarities between them, mostly on the “memories” part. Vecna is also her enemy (lmao who isnt) since he wants her power so he can deal, more properly, with the Realm of Death.

She was never mentioned in Stranger Things so this is basically bullshit but that would be hot because Raven Queen is hot.

Eddie

As I said before: yes I know what is the first stage of grief. I will never accept what the Suffer Brothers did to us. They can run away with US Government but not with small-town people? That sounds weak to me, hallowed be Vecna’s name doing the job for us. Yep, hunt the freak (Hawkins people).

Anyways, let me stop pushing my personal agenda and let’s go with the theory.

Did I say Raven Queen wasn’t mentioned in Stranger Things? Well, at least this character was:

But Vecna lives.

Kas is a vampire knight, known as Vecna’s right hand. Kas was a valiant warrior and it was said that he could enter a battlefield at the most complete disadvantage and still emerge, not only victorious, but also without a single dent in his armor. This skill in battle attracted the attention of none other than Vecna, who invited him to be their general. Kas' years of loyalty and efficiency led Vecna to present him with a mighty sword, which would become known as the Sword of Kas (yes, one of the most famous artifacts in D&D). 

Kas and Vecna. (two bros chillin in a hot tub five feet apart cuz theyre not gay lmao i miss vine)

On top of that, there are a lot of explanations on how Kas became vampire, but the 3rd and 4th are most likely on ST universe:

1. Nerull & Battle of Thousand Eyes 

During the Battle of Thousand Eyes, Nerull (God of Death) whispered to Kas to betray his master in exchange for a divine favor. Kas, with his lust for power, accepted and attacked Vecna with the sword he had been gifted from his master. That cost Vecna his left hand and one of his eyes (got that eddie "left eye" scene?)

Nerull nevertheless decided to grant Kas a minor favor: his soul was given strength and speed, but accompanied by an insatiable thirst for blood, which would be known as the Vampiric Curse.

2. Sword of Kas 

The sword itself whispered to Kas, convincing him to slay his master and usurp his power. The battle destroyed Vecna's Rotting Tower, and cost his left hand and eye. Kas himself was flung across the multiverse to Vecna's Citadel Cavitius on the Plane of Ash. The time he spent so close to the Negative Energy Plane changed him into a vampire.

3. The Silver Mask of Kas

Kas became a vampire with the help of Vecna and through a ritual involving The Silver Mask of Kas. Menadora Zarovan (Vistani fortune teller who knows a lot about Vecna and Kas), claims that any other stories regarding the origin of his vampirism are lies spread by The Cult of Vecna.

4. Bats.

Bats? Vampire? Hello, there’s a connection! I would say it’s hard to believe (or happen) that the bats-bite turned him into vampire but Bram Stoker would be hella mad at me. And, literally, everything is possible.

Bats, in the Upside Down, can’t kill, as I saw people say. And I’ve seen people have a theory that Eddie actually fainted (since he lost much blood) and found somewhere safe to hide (jesus arms lmao im joking). That’s why his body wasn’t brought up to Hawkins. And, I mean, since he is a wanted by police, hated by his city who see him as a murderer, wouldn’t be easy to just bring his body back and “finish” that?

Also, see that:

“Presumed dead”. Not dead. Presumed. Okay, I might be surviving on crumbs BUT LISTEN: Dustin couldn’t walk properly but what about the others? Nancy, Steve and Robin could’ve brought is body back to Hawkins. And really, that two-days timejump was ridiculous to say at least.

So, they saw Eddie’s body lying there and did nothing? Knowing it would bring “peace” to Hawkins (since he is wanted even tho by something he didnt do)? They saw his body and were like lmaooooo jokes on you metalhead freak how can you be an ozzy fan and die by bats lmao POSER

Vecna is coming back, and stronger than he ever was. And he’s absolutely coming back with an army. Final season? Epic fight between the most powerful people on that show? They need to gather strenght and our 001 needs his right arm on battle. And what is the better place to search if not the Upside Down?

Still, I think if Eddie becomes Kas, would be by a brainwashing made by Vecna, but Dustin would “free” him. I even have the script:

“You said ‘Never change, Henderson’, but you did”. I can see myself crying again. I just want some like void!stiles on Teen Wolf S3. That was hot.

I don’t see Eddie/Kas with a sword, I’d rather see a guitar (LMAO it suits him better). And then, who knows, he can play “The Final Countdown” since people hyped that song on TikTok. 

Apparently, “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die”, song that played during Eddie death scene, is the same song that played when Eleven was trapped in the Upside Down on Season 1.

Will

Last but certainly not least: William Byers. You would’ve loved to meet Eddie, two of the greatest brains in D&D campaigns. But I’m not here for that.

Everything started with Will, so shall everything end with him.

I personally would love to see him becoming the “traitor”/villain along with Vecna. I hate seeing gay people suffer, I like seeing them MAKING OTHERS SUFFER!!! YAYYYYYY!!

He is connected to the Upside Down, to Mind Flayer, to Vecna and it all makes me remind of The Serpent

(you nicknamed my baby after the loch ness monster?????? got that? twilight reference? vampire? bats? eddie- ok.)

“The Serpent is a mysterious and powerful entity associated with the lich-god Vecna, who whispered to him the secrets of power and lichdom. It is believed by some to be a deity of overwhelming other, by others the force of magic itself with a will of its own, and by some a fiction of Vecna's madness.”

"An entity known only as the Serpent speaks directly to Vecna. Others—daring to call themselves wizards, magicians, and sorcerers—manipulate the tiniest aspects of the Serpent and call it magic. But Vecna speaks to the Serpent, and the Serpent speaks back."— Vecna Reborn (1998), p.4

We all know he will be the main character on that last season and that he is connected to Vecna

“He’s a sensitive kid” — Joyce Byers & Victor Creel talking about their respective children

In my opinion, he will be possessed by Vecna (if he can EVEN MORE) somehow during season 5, I’m not sure if Vecna’s physical body “died”/”ended” when Robin, Nancy and Steve were shooting at him and setting in on fire but it would be either him or Max, to be his vessel.

And I rather believe it’s Will, because as I said: Everything started with Will, so shall everything end with him.

(note: lmao thats what happens when a tv show kills off one of your comfort characters and favorite white boy of the month. dont be like me kiddos, sleep well and drink water. also that kas part applies to the 3 of them if you analyze i dont know why i wrote that lmao lemme know your theories)

#stranger things #stranger things s4 #stranger things spoilers #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #max mayfield #will #will byers #max #stranger things headcanons #stranger things theory #my eyes are burning #eddie ozzy is so disapointed on you #but im not ily #also ily max when are you and lucas getting married