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devondespresso · 1 year

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i was reading a scoops era steddie au where eddie visits scoops often and one thing i noticed i alway want but have yet to see (bear in mind my fic pallette is basically just shit i see on Tumblr and occasionally reading every fic a certain author has written) is a specific scene of eddie noticing stobins missing when he goes to visit them at scoops the day theyre stuck in the bunker. cause they entered the bunker after a shift one night and didn't get out until at the soonest the next afternoon right before the mall closes so if either or both of them were scheduled to work then they'd be just... gone.

and how characters around them handle that depends on how soon (if at all) they're declared missing. did robin think they'd be in-and-out in their snooping and tell her parents shes be back a little late or did she think they'd be out kinda late fucking around and just lied to her parents telling them shes sleeping over at a friend's like how we know tina was going to cover for erica? did mrs Henderson freak out when Dustin didn't bike back home (knowing what happened with will) or did she know he was with steve and trusted that they were goofing off or something?

and usually i see Steve's parents not being home but what if they were?? they could panic because steve always has some sort of excuse for why hes gone or maybe just his mom starts worrying because while his dad never really asks about him she does and she knows hes probably not at some girls house right now because he at least would have told her. or maybe mrs harrington doesn't know her son as well as she thinks she does and assumes he is out at some girls house and is relieved hes finally getting to be more like himself.

maybe just one or two people in scoops troop are reported missing that night and maybe the search started for them is enough for the other's parents or friends to realize they're all missing. maybe none of them are because they each already had a coverup with the people who'd notice. maybe they spent a good few hours in that elevator regretting lying about where they'd be because now no one knows they're in danger and by the time they start looking it could be too late (obviously erica didn't seem to grasp this yet but shes literally 10 and it's definitely her fist severely traumatic life or death experience. for the others tho it could definitely be on their minds and i have seen a few fics where robin wonders about how steve and Dustin are reacting like they've done scary shit like this before together)

then morning comes and id give it until lunch with no calls or anything before parents who believed their kids were sleeping over to start worrying seriously. maybe they call the friend their child's supposedly with and get a confused parent saying they haven't seen them or maybe they get the friend picking up and confirming they're fine (like tina). but if Mrs Henderson gets worried and calls steve she'll either get the harringtons saying he isn't home right now or she won't be able to reach him. and knowing steves like a big brother and a best friend to dustin knows that if steve missing too he's probably at least missing with him and goes to the station worried about them both

and then theres the fact that scoops has to open in the morning, probably sometime around 10am. maybe steve and robin were scheduled to both work again and as 10am comes and passes scoops ahoy hasn't been touched. maybe some mall manager calls the scoops manager (forgive me ive never worked in a mall but i do work in a store-within-a-store and we have our own manager plus the big store manager) and asks where their employees are. if missing persons reports were filed that last night then the manager would be really worried while frantically trying to find someone to cover for them. but maybe no one knows they're missing yet and their manager is grumbling about their no-shows, maybe considering firing them for both disappearing without even calling out. depending on how much they know and if the reports were filed, whoever has to cover their shifts is either worried about their coworkers (probably moreso robin than steve because of his reputation) or utterly pissed that they both didn't show and they have to open scoops ahoy with a few hours delay and probably a good few karens bitching about being closed. or maybe one or the other was scheduled and while their no-show is really inconvenient at least someone's there to open and ask for backup

and then theres steves car still parked in the back where it was the day before. a bike left behind at the mall is less eyebrow-raising but a fancy car? Steve Harrington's car? Steve Harrington who was scheduled to work today but somehow isn't in scoops right now? is he skipping work while simultaneously wandering around his workplace? and whats worse is despite evidence being there *no one can find him*. maybe thats what it takes for people to realize hes like actually missing. maybe they think he was kidnapped, hopefully he just went home with some girl and lost track of time.

and then theres eddie. eddie whos been stopping by scoops for a while now. maybe he still doesn't really like Harrington but likes teasing him with Buckley or maybe they've gotten pretty close. maybe they're already dating. maybe eddie walks up to scoops one morning to find it closed or to find that one or the other didn't show up for work this morning. maybe he hears from the worker that ones missing or maybe they get a rant about how pissed the worker is to be opening alone. maybe he's the one to go to a mall manager or security officer worried about scoops being closed because he *knows* the people that are supposed to be there right now and they don't just abandon work at the same time with no explanations.

or maybe eddie visits in the afternoons and learns they're missing from their coworkers or maybe hes there because he saw it on the news and went on his our hunt. either way it'd probably end with Eddie looking around the mall for them because he knows steve isn't going to just abandon his beemer in a busy public parking lot. maybe he finds them high out of their minds while checking the movie theatre (this one i do see a lot and am obsessed with its so good) or maybe he doesn't find them at all (its a big mall and they are actively hiding from Russians who know they escaped. sure stobin are not being very secretive while high but dustin and erica are at least keeping them in less-discoverable locations). maybe he goes home knowing hes looked everywhere in that damn mall and assumes they're probably kidnapped and taken somewhere else (if he did find them tho that opens a whole can of worms for if, how, and how much eddie gets involved and while my brains gone down sone of those rabbit holes i don't think i will today)

and then they see the news about the mall fire. and eddie knows damn well that he looked everywhere in that mall but didn't see a trace of his friends but there they are on the news and apparently in the fire. maybe eddie assumes he didn't look hard enough. but maybe he sees how steves the only one with more than a few bruises on his legs, how despite them claiming he was trapped in rumble that also allegedly killed billy hargrove he looks like hes carrying himself on adrenaline alone and hovering around robin and the kids like something more than falling support beams could get to them. maybe its the fact that he look as shit as he did but wasn't laying down on a hospital stretcher like he would be if he just got those wounds.

_._._._

hi if you saw any typos no you didn't UNLESS theyre funny or actually concerning then you should tell me and i can react appropriately

also i swear i feel like doctor strange looking through every possible reality when i go on tangents like this. idk whenever i come up with little fics in my head or come up with different ways my favorite unfinished fics could end im always exploring as many different versions of the same scenario as i can and coming up with as many what-ifs as i can.

also i pressed the poll button by accident while making this and idk how to make it go away to we're trying just ignoring it and not writing anything in it to see if it goes away

actually fuck that it probably wont work so im adding a poll question as a treat for the people who read this far

#writing this was an experience except i don't remember any of it and i didn't even reread it to check spelling #i love thinking like this tho and coming up with all these different things that could happen with this one scenario #and following canon and trying to fill in the gaps gives just enough room to fuck around but still keeps me in the right direction #with just a couple deviations that are too good to ignore like eddie finding stobin while theyre high and getting water #im also writing my own little steve henderson au universe in my head loosely inspired by those steve henderson posts by that one person #i can't remember their user rn but if i ever actually share ill tag them as inspiration inlike the first post #but mostly its me taking steve right after s2 events and letting him get help from the hendersons because dustins his new best friend now #(regardless of if he agreed to it or not)#so uh yea if anyone wants to hear about it you should totally let me know because i will do a lot for external validation #im just an 8 year old girl playing barbies but morbid things are happening #stranger things #steve harrington #steddie #eddie munson #platonic stobin #steve x eddie #robin buckley #dustin henderson #erica sinclair #steve and dustin #steve and robin #platonic soulmates stobin #scoops ahoy #stranger things season 3 #stranger things s3 #stranger things rambles #claudia henderson #steve has bad parents #mrs harrington #stranger things thoughts

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thranduel · 2 years

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the big difference between these two relationships

*these are my own personal opinions based on what i’ve observed in the show!! obviously all of these characters love each other so much but i just don't think mike and el work together romantically, while mike and will do (and there are so many reasons why!)

as we all know, mike and will completely understand each other and relate to each other, they feel like equals, they're honest with each other, they have many deep and meaningful heart-to-heart conversations and they can actually be themselves when they’re together. mike and el don't fully understand each other or relate to each other, they feel completely different from one another (mike admitted he feels inferior to el and el admitted she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere), they lie to each other, they don't have any deep and meaningful heart-to-heart conversations and they can’t even be themselves when they’re together (they literally prove this in the show).

el believes that mike has been scared of her several times and sees her as a monster (obviously we know he doesn’t actually think she is one), but the point is that she still feels like a monster, and there are several scenes where mike unintentionally triggers traumatic memories of brenner right after he gets angry at el when she does something that scares him (like when she accidentally hurt lucas and and when she hit angela with the rollerskate). obviously mike and brenner are NOT the same at all, they are completely different people, but there are some parallels between them when it comes to how they view el as a superhero and how they put pressure on her to always save the day (“you’re MY superhero!”, “you can fly!”) and how they praise her for her powers more than who she actually is as a person. they’ve both called her “incredible” several times but it’s always about her abilities. but with will on the other hand, mike has always made him feel safe and comfortable for who he is and he doesn’t feel like a mistake at all because of mike. he has always been extremely protective, observant and caring towards will and he knows how to make him feel loved and accepted. the only time mike upsets will is when he excludes him, but the only reason he excludes him is because he forces himself to pay attention to el and then he pretends to be someone he’s not when he’s with her… see, it just shows how it’s not healthy or fair to anyone and mike can only be himself when he’s with will.

mike and el

season 4 episode 3: during their fight scene, el tells mike that she’s different from everyone else. he tries explaining that he understands what she’s going through because he’s been bullied his whole life but she says he never will. this already shows us that they don’t feel equal to each other in the relationship and they’re never on the same page, because unfortunately, they are very different and have experienced different things in their life, and no matter how long they date, they always will be different. obviously relationships can work like this in some cases, but the thing is with mike and el, they don’t have any sort of character growth or development at all. they don’t become stronger as a couple. in fact, i think they’ve only gotten worse. they can’t even communicate honestly or be themselves around each other. they’ve never had a meaningful heart-to-heart conversation or resolved their conflicts properly. they constantly lie and pretend to be people they’re not (el literally lied to mike the entire time they were sending letters and acted like her life was good when it wasn’t) and mike acts so different around el and forces himself to focus on her which results in him excluding all his friends. this isn’t healthy or fair to anyone, and continuing to force two teenagers in a relationship where they don’t understand each other and can’t even be themselves with each other is really weird. anyways, el says “you think i’m a monster too” and mike doesn’t really try hard to deny it, he just lies and makes her feel like she’s being ridiculous like he’s done to her this entire scene. we know that mike obviously doesn’t think el is a bad person at all, but there have been several times where he has been scared of her and she knows that too.

in season 1 when they find will’s body, mike slaps el’s hand away and yells at her because he feels betrayed. he realises that el is just a stranger that he’s been trusting and following around even though he barely knows her, and when he sees the body and believes it’s will, it absolutely breaks him and he thinks she’s been lying to him. a few episodes later, el freaks out and sends lucas flying across the junkyard with her powers, and it knocks him unconscious. mike is understandably terrified and angry because his friend got hurt. he yells at her again and this triggers a traumatic memory from the lab. this shows that mike’s reaction reminded her of brenner (there are actually many parallels between mike and brenner, and even in mike’s monologue to el in season 4 episode 9, he says the same things brenner said to el. they both go on about how she’s a superhero that can fly and she obviously doesn’t want to hear that all the time since she’s her own person as well, but they never seem to mention her actual personality or what she does outside of being a superhero). in season 4 episode 2, el hits angela in the face with a rollerskate. mike looks terrified and it parallels to brenner again because mike's words triggered a traumatic memory. even at the dinner table, mike is still annoyed and makes a sarcastic comment which upsets el. in episode 9 during his monologue, he lies and says he’s never been scared of her which we know isn’t true. that entire monologue was pretty much filled with lies that contradict things we’ve already seen and it just felt like an insult to el. i also didn’t like how mike said “you’re my superhero” and listed what she can do with her powers but he couldn’t even mention anything about her personality, because he doesn’t even truly know her since they can’t even be themselves with each other. they don’t even share any similar interests and hobbies. the only thing mike knows about her outside of being a superhero is that she likes eggos and that’s about it.

you can argue that he tried making her feel good about who she is in his monologue but he was lying during so much of it that it doesn’t feel genuine at all. people also need to realise that it’s unhealthy that mike has an inferiority complex. he literally admitted that he feels inferior to el because she’s a superhero with powers. he said it wasn't fate or destiny but dumb luck that superman landed on his doorstep. he saw that el was vulnerable and needed help and he just happened to be there. he also probably feels better about himself for being able to get a girl with powers because no girls have ever shown any interest in him before (and it doesn't seem like he had any interest in girls either). but the entire time he was talking in the car, he was talking about himself and how he wants to be "needed" by el because it boosts his confidence but he never mentioned what el actually needs, especially at that time in her life when he met her. she just got out of a lab and needed to grow rather than being pushed into romance before knowing what romance was. mike had a crush on her but she didn’t have a crush on him. she thought he would be like her brother and she only saw him as a friend that cared for her. obviously mike didn’t have any bad intentions when he kissed her, he was just a kid and it was supposed to be cute and wholesome, but the point is that he did what he wanted when she didn’t even understand the concept of romance and crushes. she didn’t really have a say and she didn't have any time to learn about this stuff. mike is the one that decided what their relationship was going to be without giving her a chance to discover herself first. it was also harder for el because she couldn’t communicate the same way mike could, so everything happened so quickly for her and it just doesn’t feel right that she couldn’t decide on her own. their relationship would've been so much better if it developed slowly and el had time to decide if she liked mike romantically HERSELF, without mike being the one to put things in her head. i think it's also important to mention that there was a literally an entire plot in season 3 that focused on how mike has prevented el from discovering herself and what she likes. max literally encouraged her to break up with him, and when she did, she looked the happiest she had ever been. max actually allowed her to find her own style and think for herself instead of letting the men in her life tell her what to do.

mike and will

season 4 episode 8: during the car scene, will confesses his love to mike using eleven’s name. he mentions how he feels like a mistake sometimes because he’s different but mike is the only person that doesn’t make him feel like a mistake. they were each other’s first friend, they’ve known each other for most of their lives, they have always felt like equals in the relationship, they’ve experienced the same struggles as they’ve been outcasts their whole lives and got bullied at school, they both understand each other better than anyone else and they can be themselves with each other. neither feels superior or inferior to the other (unlike mike and el, where mike literally admitted he feels inferior to el because she’s a superhero with powers and he wants to be “needed” by her… the whole thing isn’t healthy or fair to anyone at all). mike and will have only had two fights and both times it was because will felt excluded by mike because he was too busy with el. in season 3 episode 3, will felt called out when mike said “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”. he was obviously already hurt for many reasons here, but hearing this would’ve made it even harder for him. but we know that mike didn’t mean it that way and he immediately regretted it because he just said it without thinking (it also sounded like he was actually projecting because of internalised homophobia). the other time they argued was at the roller rink and it sounds like mike is projecting here too when he says “we’re friends” twice and gets defensive about it. after both of these fights, mike immediately goes to apologise to will because he can’t stand seeing him upset and he had to make sure he was okay and knew that he was genuinely sorry for hurting him. it’s important to note that mike is stubborn when it comes to apologising but he always apologises to will without question. in season 4 episode 4, he doesn't let will try to blame himself either. mike takes full responsibility for the way he treated will and admits that things have felt weird because hawkins wasn't the same without him and he was afraid of losing him. this is a parallel to the scene in season 4 episode 8 where will also admits that if he was mean to mike or seemed like he was pushing him away, it's because he was scared to lose him too.

“if [i] was mean to you or [i] seemed like [i] was pushing you away, it’s probably because [i'm] scared of losing you just like you’re scared of losing [me]”

even though he used el to disguise his feelings, i think mike will eventually realise will was talking about himself here because it's the only thing that makes sense. el never pushed mike away and they stayed in contact by sending each other letters, but mike and will lost contact and pushed each other away because they love each other and they're scared of losing each other. that's why this line during the car monologue can only be applied to mike and will. also, when mike said his monologue to el, he copied a lot of what will said and he was basically responding to will's love confession for him without even realising it.

anyways, the scene where will told mike he doesn’t feel like a mistake because of him also reminded me of the one in season 2 where will and jonathan are talking and will gets upset. he says “mom, dustin, lucas, everyone. they all treat me like i’m gonna break, like i’m a baby, like i can’t handle things on my own”. notice how he doesn’t mention mike? that’s because mike has never made him feel that way. mike stayed by will’s side throughout all of season 2 to take care of him but he never treated him like he was a baby or made him feel bad about anything. he was just there by his side and provided support when he needed it. when will was explaining what he saw on halloween night, mike listened so carefully. he didn't make him feel like there was something wrong with him and he told him that they'll both go crazy together. in season 2 episode 5 when will is talking about the mindflayer spying on them, mike tries making the situation positive by saying how it would be cool for will to be like a super-spy. will almost let out a little laugh because of it even though he was terrified in the moment. it just shows that mike always makes him feel better. and when will was anxious and shaking, mike noticed and put his hand on top of his to calm him down. mike is also the only person that will opens up to when he's struggling which shows how comfortable he feels around him. in season 2 he told him about everything going on with the mindflayer, and in season 4 he's the first person that he spoke to when they arrived back in hawkins. mike also helped will snap out of his upside down trances in season 2 and he would always make sure he was okay and stayed by his side. even after will becomes "the spy", mike never takes his anger out on will or yells at him because he knows it's not his fault, and he stays by his side even though he knows it's risky to be around him. in the shed scene, he was so calm and gentle while telling will the story of how they first met. they were both crying during this scene and it was extremely emotional. it's also probably my favourite scene in the entire show.

there’s such a big difference between both of these relationships and i think it’s really important to discuss. it's obvious that all of them love each other so much, but the difference is that mike and el don't work together romantically at all, while mike and will could be one of the most well-written and genuine relationships because they understand each other better than anyone and they fit together so well. i think mike and el could have one of the strongest and most beautiful friendships too, but they just don't work together as a couple and we've seen why so many times. anyone that pays attention to the show would see that mike and el can’t even be themselves around each other and mike's character got worse the moment he started dating el. he was just reduced to her boyfriend, had no individual character growth and development AND it's just simply not healthy because he feels inferior to her and pretends to be someone he’s not when she's around. he sees her as an awesome superhero with powers but he can’t even name anything about who she is as a person or anything about her personality. el also hasn’t had the chance to grow on her own and make her own decisions. even when she’s starting to finally have her own character development, she always ends up back with mike, and the fact that he needed to say a monologue (that was literally filled with lies!) to “give her strength” while her best friend was suffering in front of her just feels really weird and the entire thing was cheesy. it’s just not healthy or fair to either of them. mike and will on the other hand have the closest relationship in the show and understand each other better than anyone else. it's also just been fully confirmed that will has been in love with mike from the very beginning and they have the most history and build up, even if we don't see all of it on screen. mike can only be himself when he’s with will and that says SO much too. they see each other as equals, they’re always on the same page and they love each other for exactly who they are. obviously mike and el love each other too, i just don't think they belong together romantically because their relationship just simply isn't healthy. i think they rushed into it way too quickly and mike got carried away because she's a superhero, as he's said over and over again. he couldn't even tell her he loved her when she was crying in front of him without her powers, but the moment she gets her powers back and will confesses his OWN feelings for mike and convinces him that el "needs" him, he can suddenly tell her he loves her? i don't know, the whole thing is just messy lol.

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #again these are my own opinions!!#if u disagree i don't care!! that's great!!!!#but i understand basic character analysis and narrative writing and mike and el just don't work together romantically at all #it also seems like mike and will have way more build up that would actually make sense and be better for the characters #i love mike and el as besties but as a couple? absolutely not #will #mike #otp: the best thing i've ever done #byler analysis

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