#🦌 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐄. || this time she never returned | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dcwnthercbbithcle · 2 months

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DOE STRANGER THINGS VERSES

(they will be added to her carrd too, I just want a post of them on the blog)

OF AN IMPORTANT NOTE: WHILE I AM REFERRING TO DOE AS DOE, THROUGHOUT THIS, IT'S JUST BECAUSE DOE IS IDENTIFIABLE AS HER MAIN ALIAS. BECAUSE DOE HASN'T BECOME A JANE DOE IN THE VERSE AND IT TAKES PLACE SEPARATE TO HER DEATH, DOE GOES BY RACHEL OSHIMA (ALSO SPELT ŌSHIMA) NICKNAMES RIRA (SHE WON'T EXPLAIN ITS HER REAL NAME TO SAVE THE HEADACHE) AND SNOOPY,

PRE-AMBLE:

The year is 1982, and Doe SHOULD be happy, she knows it, but the feeling of joy at a change of scenery never comes, in fact, as the car treads on, the towering trees shifting from coniferous emerald giants to plumes of brightly coloured plumes of leaves. All that comes is that telltale tremble, shaking each breath and the sting of acid at the back of her throat: held-back cries turned cutting, she knows, but she won't admit, especially not to the foreign faces feigning smiles, what a pleasure it is to meet her again after so long, they've heard so many things. Oh, Doe BETS they have.

She doesn't want to know the stories; Doe'd argue she doesn't care, but that would be a blatant lie, as transparent as the brave face she's currently wearing. They're lies, all lies; they don't know her; they've NEVER known her. What her parents, the wardens, did know were the grades they took credit for and the incident they could have prevented. If they'd listened, for once, she had proof. But no, tighter leash, more restrictions, the guards, her brothers following her straight home and guiding HIS way the entire time. She begged them to listen, the car outside their house, getting closer and closer, the fox to the henhouse.

He WAS going to hurt her; he'd tried before, and she had marks from when he tried to grab her after school. She couldn't stay in that goddamn house, in her goddamn room, visible from the road. She needed to leave, and she BEGGED them, begged them to send her away before this, but no, what would the family think? That she was pregnant, the town bicycle? Failing classes? Expelled? No, no, no.

She had to STAY for them, but her life was worth more. She knew this; she had a bag packed and ready to go; she'd said goodbye to her friends and knew a shelter some towns over where she could be safe. She planned to tell them once she got away, but a link in the chain broke. A friend or two let the word slip to the guards, a plan foiled before she could even leave and oh, the fallout it wrought.

She'd been in trouble before; screaming matches were never hard to find and physical discipline less so, but the quietness scared her worse, the defeat; she didn't hear many of the words, but she knew the message loud and clear. They gave up on her; she'd be someone else's problem now.

First, the nightmares, then the anxiety, the incident with her job, the false reports to the police (they weren't lies) and now this? They didn't know what was wrong with her, where they went WRONG. But they couldn't keep trying to keep a lid on the situation she seemed determined to bring to a boil.

She wasn't their daughter; she was this... monster. That was the word they'd used, seared in like a branding iron, and she screamed it out through the night. When the Sato's finally arrived to bring her to her new home, her voice was gone, raw and fractured. Silent as she'd gotten what she'd wanted and needed, but in the method she worst feared.

Doe is sent away from her home following a failed runaway attempt 'for her own good,' in truth, her parents have sent her away more for their benefit than hers. The mounting stress of an incident where Doe (truthfully) claimed to have witnessed the abduction and murder of a woman has led them all to a breaking point. Doe, in terror for her own life and realizing the gravity of her situation, has taken impulsive action into her own hands. And her parents? Not understanding the problem or holding the trust in Doe to take her at her word, they have come to believe that this 'stalking' issue, like many of Doe's problems and the subject of her previous terror, resides solely within her head and that the madness of her paranoia and behaviour has gone on long enough. It is their hope, their will, that by moving in with her Mother's sister, Doe will be compelled to understand, to heed for once in her life and to rectify herself and through social pressure or a change of scenery, or some other means they haven't thought of.

MORE SPECIFIC VERSES FOR THE INDIVIDUAL SEASONS UNDER THE CUT

1983 / First-Half of Season 1

Doe has been adjusting very smoothly, though Hawkins is undoubtedly a change of pace from Vancouver; that's not to say it's a negative one. Small-town Americana suits Doe more than she'd like to admit, and the relief of finally being freed from her parents, brothers, and That Man has brought back years to her life. Doe feels excellent, better than incredible; the mask is NATURAL, without the pinpricks of pain that came with the lies and the isolation of being the black sheep not only in her family but the community as a whole, the unwanted youngest daughter. The Sato's, her aunt, and their family are not hers; they don't accept her; she can feel that distance as much, but the pointed daggers and weight of their perception are feather-light. She has gotten on track, or at least the track they've laid out for her; she has learned the tricks they want her to play, the songs to sing, and the image they want her to cultivate. They are proud of her and her transformation, but it's fake; it's all fake. The grief is there but silenced with the glee of freedom and phony acceptance. Hell, maybe someday it won't BE phony; maybe that pride of theirs will be built on truth and honest effort, and perhaps she'll deserve it when that day comes. It's a far-fetched dream, but this place makes her feel some empty hope. Maybe not today, but someday! Even still, amidst all this joy, the beast of anxiety rears itself and her dreams, they haven't known silence. By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.

Doe is still in the growing pains of her time with the extended family, not a short leash to the same abusive extent as her time with parents, but she is still in the phase of earning trust. She is all smiles and nods. Respectable, but not demure, more so muted. A sense that there's a lot hiding behind a shell of polite manners and a desire to not overstay her welcome. Yes sir and no ma'ams, best behavior and really there's nothing to out of the ordinary, she's a pleasant, smart as a whip and affable. Why a girl like her would want to spend a learning abroad opportunity in Hawkins is anyone's guess, but her aunt chalks it up to an interest in programming and science. After all, Hawkins Lab is right there and surely they would be looking for upstarts from the surrounding community, right. It's a flimsy reason, all things considered and something isn't quite... right. There's no LOGICAL reason to doubt the Sato's or Doe. But there is an air of sadness about Doe, a kind of desolation about her, hidden beneath the surface of warm smiles. What truly brought you here, Doe?

An Old Familiar Ache / Second-Half of Season 1

You shouldn't have been so stupid; Doe's mind reels at the news of a second disappearance, but the hiss in her mind is unmistakable; you shouldn't have been so goddamn stupid. There's a bitter dread in her mind, of course, OF COURSE! Her home wasn't enough, her family, her LIFE, that wasn't enough. He made her an idiot. He made her WISH she had just let him take her that night, kill her, dump her, whatever it was that freaks like him do. It would've been KINDER, less humiliating than this, than the lies. But no, she thought she could win; she survived, fought, suffered, and lost EVERYTHING, EVERYONE. But it wasn't enough; Doe couldn't help the giggle that passed by her lips. God, she was a class-act idiot. It would NEVER be enough for people like him; what satisfaction can they get other than by ruining lives? It's stupid to think a cross-country road trip would save her. Hell, men like him probably run on the sadism alone. But she was done running; no, the fear and dread galvanized something stronger than she thought a person like herself could ever be. But she doesn't care. A wide, almost manic grin passes her lips with a hop in her step. No, she doesn't care if it's a lie like the rest of it. She was comfortable now; these people believed in her, it was all bullshit, but they believed her, they believed the American girl next door babysitter's club bullshit, and she was happy! She liked this, liked it better than Vancouver. She wasn't going to give this up, not without a fight. No, she'd be ready for him this time. His cockiness, going after that poor boy and girl, he'd PAY for that. She saw him coming. She'd be the hunter this time. Set a trap.

Despite Doe's set of beliefs, the work of Will and Barb's disappearance isn't the result of her killer coming around for the sequel. It's the result of a far greater reaching evil, the likes of which she can't even imagine but her nihilist mind wouldn't be too surprised about. However, the culture and sense of tension and fear about Hawkins is taking its toll. The mask is slipping as the trauma of the events that led her to Hawkins is resurfacing. Hypervigilance is the main component, as is the raising of her guard. Her warmth remains, but there's something strained about it, like her mind is constantly focused on one task and only being redirected to other interactions. Likewise, there's this shifting sense of almost mania as the growing elation at the idea of the madness ending and her catching her would-be killer to inflict even a fraction of the rage she feels for his gall creeps ever closer with the tightening rituals she undertakes in silence to ensure her and her new guardian's safety.

1984 / Season 2

She was wrong; it should be a relief. She should be laughing at herself. That mantra was right, 3,842 kilometres; no one would travel that far to kill her; it's stupid. It was stupid, she was… she didn't want to say the words, but she felt it in her gut. Sitting warm in the safety of her home or her Aunt's home. Coincidences happen; she's jumpy, that's all; she has every reason to be. The voice that interjects is kinder than her usual line of thought; she welcomes it. It's not hers, it's well. Her throat tightens.

She… she'd broken, she couldn't explain it after the boy had been found, and things returned to normalcy all around her, but she? She never did; the fear never waned. It boiled and festered. She couldn't settle the frustration; she felt like she'd regressed. She felt awful, miserable, back stepping on eggshells. He wasn't coming, he WASN'T coming, and she KNEW it so, so why? Why couldn't she drop it? Why wouldn't it STOP? She wanted it to stop; she didn't want to be alone. She… she told Ami, her cousin. Not about her theory, god no, in retrospect, it, with the paranoia past, was insane. How, how did she let herself spiral that hard down a rabbit hole of mole-sized mountains? No, she'd let THAT secret die a slow death inside her. She told Ami about the man, the crime, what she saw that night and what her parents, the cops, they wouldn't believe. The secret came out of her with all the grace of a person flying through a windshield, but Ami believed her.

It was vindicating; it BURNED. Shame and regret in waves, but god, the horror that washed over her face, she BELIEVED her. No one else did, but SHE did; she was scared and worried. She CARED; her hand burned when it reached out and touched her shoulder, but something crumpled, and she fell into her, and the cries came out in haggard howls. It doesn't matter, fuck them, fuck it, Doe. Doe, this is real to you! That's what matters. You went through something TERRIBLE. You didn't get help; obviously, obviously, this would happen. The rest of the conversation was a blur. Comforting actions. Hard breathing. Slow down. You're okay. Breath. You're safe. It doesn't feel like it yet, but you are. You've been through a lot; you've been running for a long time, but you don't need to run anymore. You can't beat the storm by running to the ends of the earth. Sometimes, you must stand, find your ground and brave the storm. You can do this.

Less on the actual meat and potatoes of this verse but it varies HEAVILY on who I write with! Typically I have a tandem canon with @mxlevolence between Doe, Danny/Sebastian & my other muse, Sally. It all begins with Doe having developed a routine of patrols to combat her paranoia. Rituals for control, to make herself feel safe nightly. Checking the doors, the yard. Only for these harmless, stupid, stupid rituals to bring her face to face with an inhuman horror. Driving her from the madness of her emotional recovery into an interdimensional conspiracy and missing person investigation which leaves her and this new and frankly unhinged found family fighting for its life against the confounding mystery gripping Hawkins and the monster presence that begins to infect it. HOWEVER I am open to writing around it, or hell, even involving it as the verse can be anything from a slow-burn hurt comfort to an action packed mystery, to even an angst mess with Doe sneaking around and lying about her situation and where the hell she is after Doe finding herself a target of the demo-dogs and once again feeling like she is out of her mind just after she's gotten more control over it.

1985 / Season 3

No little introduction blurb here, mainly because Doe, at least in a narrative sense sort of takes her exit and has a pause of character growth during this part of the narrative! During the arc of the tandem canon between my connected characters, Sally and Doe.

Sally ends up finding her missing patients, but the answer is everything other than what she hoped. Her patients, like her children, had been fodder this entire time. A cover up from a time before Eleven had escaped the facility, and Sally? Well, she was late, those not dead had been relocated for their safety and that knowledge lost or.... eaten during the fallout at the laboratory. It devastated Sally, more than the adventures already had, a further fracture in already broken woman. But like recognizes like, and through the adventures, Doe had begun to view Sally in a maternal role, more than her own Mother or Aunt had ever provided. So much so that after things conclude and Sally has prepared to move away, seeking distance from the tragedy and a career in the greater Indianapolis, far away from the last vestiges of her pain and more of a shell of herself than ever. Doe doesn't, can't entertain the idea of leaving Sally to the barbs and hooks of her own mind. Not like everyone had done to her. No, the idea of that alone pulls a chord directly to anger. She's a loyal woman when a person truly manages to breach all of her walls & she's just found a new family, she's not leaving it, not leaving her. Doe's tagging along, through a series of small lies, much to pride of her new guardians, who believe she is caring for the mother of a close-friend who had passed away.

As previously mentioned through, this comes at a cost. Her guardians are among the dead claimed by the Mind Flayer by the end of the season, a fate which it is believed she shared. When in reality, she had been living 8 miles away the entire time. None the wiser of what was occurring in her absence.

Doe can come and go in this verse and I'm not at all against her stopping back by and visiting people! After all, Danny/Sebastian still resides in the area and him and Sally have joint non-legal custody of her, likewise Reese & her gf bff Zoe (another important character for Doe in this verse) still reside in Hawkins, she has plenty of reason to visit, give the folks a check up, chat with Ami and then hit the road again!

Please Pick Up The Phone / Second-Half of Season 3 (custom verse with @slateir)

In the quiet peace of the early morning, the shrill chime of a corded phone rings out. Once, then twice, drawing Doe from her slumber. A glance to the window shows the darkness, still jet black and thick enough to be cut with a knife. It couldn't have been any later than 4am, who calls this late? Standing on uneven feet, Doe pads to the kitchen, her footsteps muffled by plush carpet. A part of her expects to hear the hospital, staffing maybe. Looking for Sally, and a polite but firm 'no,' is on her lips when her heart stops and time itself seems to freeze around her. A quick and sharp, terrified sound. Reese, Reese. No, no, no. She nearly drops the phone, a quick curse leaving her lips as she white knuckles the plastic and desperately repeats Reese's name into the faint background noise. Once, twice, no reply. Then she hears her, hushed and desperate, as though afraid someone might hear. ' Sorry, Rira, sorry, I didn't mean to call you this late-- it's Zoe, and everything- just. Something is wrong, please come back,'

It's exactly what it says on the tin! After moving in with Sally, the bliss of a new beginning, a REAL new beginning, in a house that loved her. It's a difficult transition, especially at first. But after the transition, the pain it melted away into bliss, Doe felt better and in a way that didn't came with the acrid, acidic taste of lies. Sally had a way about her that made Doe feel safe and valued. Worth the trouble, the lies and the heartache, and even the late night jumpscares after turning a corner to find her in her eating out of the pantry like a raccoon. Maybe it was this, joy and the big city change of pace that made her mind slip away from her friends and Hawkins, or maybe it was her selfishness that came back to rear its head, after all, only an idiot would think a monster could change its nature. But one call, one chance call, caught by the skin of her through bleary eyes brought it all back. Hawkins, her friends, her Aunt, Ami, Zoe and most importantly Reese. Her younger sister in all but blood. She left her, she left her and now her selfishness had cost Reese her happiness, her safety and now she was in trouble. Doe knows it's not all her fault, but goddamnit, she won't leave her for a moment longer, she won't abandon Reese, not a second longer. Sally will forgive her for the missing supplies and borrowing the car. She needs to go home.

Of note, there are two endings for this verse that follows along with Doe, Reese & Zoe's story, the good ending and the bad one.

The Good Ending? Gay desperation wins out, Reese knew something was wrong the second Zoe came home late, and when the abnormal behavior began, the sweating, and the weird new people. She called Doe, she tried to hold Zoe back to treat her, loving rom-com style, but things got violent and between the jigs and the reels. Doe ended up dosing the Flayed!Zoe with enough Midazolam to take her down, and they both tied her down to a radiator, just until they could get her to return to her senses. Which, eventually, they achieved. Turns out Zoe was a new flayed and the slug was still in its infancy. Her insides were still a solid and through a mixture of dumb luck, sedatives, balmy bathroom heating, a radiator and the power of gay love and sisterly affection, they made the host uninhabitable. Causing Zoe to violently eject the otherworldly parasite, dragging out so much blood and a lot of Zoe's strength with it. Leaving her near death by the end but alive and not under thumb by any slug or goo monster, which a victory Doe will take. The Bad Ending? Zoe gets gooified after it becomes clear there is no wiggling free for the host body and the time is upon the flayer to move. Doe and Reese are left to watch as she goos in front of their eyes and goes down the drain. When word eventually touches ground that Doe's Aunt and her family are among the missing, Doe doesn't need to be told. She knows, she KNOWS that what happened to Zoe? It happened to them too.

1986 / Season 4

On a more serious note, like with season 3's verse, I don't have a specific set up for this verse because it's less an over-all character arc and a smaller track for the greater character growth that can be found in her university verses, that I can re-type, but I've already forced you all to TRUDGE through 4,000 words of my Doe brainrot. But suffice it to put, Doe is beginning college life, she'll make a joke about death being nothing but new beginnings given the whole living dead girl, papers printed before they could confirm the vitals thing. Don't take her jokes at face level though. Doe, she's saying she's okay, but she's not. Her brush with death, facing mortality and approaching her future. She's terrified, Sally tries & Danny, or rather Sebastian; he's always around, a phone call away to make her feel more sane, counter-intuitive as that may sound. But her entire life, she's been focused on momentary survival, one day to the next. Sitting at the brink of such massive, massive change she has never taken to consider as a possibility for herself. She truly feels like a ghost among the living. Haunting aimlessly in hope for a spark to return her life. She's around, physically, but mentally she's more of a shell, and it feels like it.

#🦌 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐄. || this time she never returned

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