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kaypeace21 · 2 years

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Alot of the plots were good - but some aspects just really made the season overall awful . How dare they do that to Max. I'm livid about that. You really had venca's curse represent su*cidal thoughts- which we see Max overcoming in part 1 . Then part 2: bam vecna k*lls max- the girl who str*ggled with ab*se, a horrible home life ,and throughout the season overcame her su*cidal thoughts but got an awful ending . And while dying she says over and over she doesn't want to d*e. It's cruel. Even if she does wake up from the coma - is she blind and or paralyzed and never able to skate again? Play videogames watch movies ?And for what- vecna is alive , and hawkins was still destroyed. Her sacrifice wasn't worth it. And Eddie's death was not only cruel but pointless too. He didn't even save anyone during the scene. And he literally mentioned how he did not want to become like his criminal dad . They kill him and the whole town thinks he's a worse criminal than his father. And he never graduated - it was "not his year". Aka part of his last words.The erica and lucas scenes of being attacked- honestly deserves it's own post. Also the romance is still low key one of the worst cringe parts of an otherwise great show.

I'm sorry m*leven is still so sus to me. Like besides all their relationship issues, it's weird s1-s4 parallels m*leven to family members. Like seriously side eyeing the Duffers just for those weird family parallels- if m*leven is romantic endgame. I mean ...nancy called herself "ruth" and el was in "Ruth, nevada" (and that's like 1 of 20 examples). Just to name one of many of those weird family parallels. Like why do that?? And yeah if it's an actual romantic declaration - you'd think they'd kiss like they did in the beginning of s4 . Not even getting into retcons like mike saying meeting Will at age 5 was "the best thing I've ever done". But now he says his "life started" at age 12 when he met el- cause "love at first sight" bs trope. Love at first sight isn't real. And mike literally the day they found her was suggesting ways to send her away so they could go back to looking for Will, and when he thought el lied ( about seeing Will alive) he slapped her hand and yelled "what is wrong with you?"2x then later said lucas was right to not trust her. Ummm... love at first sight? That?! Ok?And wow glad Will could hear mike's confession about how the 1st day he was reported missing- mike's " life began". Mike be like : "I knew Will for 7 years , before I met el . And all my friendships prior to meeting el- meant nothing to me- because my life only began when I fell in love with El instantly and rushed into a relationship after 1 week of knowing her (and when we finally Date- we just fight for 2 seasons straight). True love. "

Honestly they parallel robin/vickie/her bf to will/mike/El - which is also sus. Given how (supposedly straight) Vickie and her bf breakup- and Vickie seems into Robin at the end of s4.

But regardless I'm so sick of just getting "crumbs" whether byler is a queer bait or s5 makes byler canon. I'm just tired- especially after how the socials /cast and crew constantly pumped up byler during pride month- before part 2.

Not to mention the fact we have to just see Will lie to mike to help m*leven. Even though he hates lying to mike. Like no that was Will's painting -el thought it was for a crush of Will's (she didn't commission it for Mike at all)! He was just trying to be a good friend and brother by trying to fix m*leven (and lying to mike to fix m*leven's failing romantic relationship).like think about it- mike literally thinks that d&d painting /"heart" metaphor was El's creative idea and something el made as a gift for him . When it was all Will!!! That "heart" line Will says to mike is used again later by Will- to encourage mike to confess he loves El. Will literally uses his own romantic words for mike- to encourage mike to confess to el instead. Gross. If m*leven is endgame- could they do it in a less awful way to Will? Not to mention mike finally says he loves el-partially because he's moved by Will's painting (he thinks is from el). Which is also messy for m*leven endgame. All those words in the car to mike were Will's confession (he literally just replaced his pronouns for "El" and "she/her" ). Even jonathan saw it that way. Will to mike: " you're guiding- inspiring . That's what you do. you're the heart, without the heart (i'd) fall apart. These past few months (i've) been lost without you.(cough mike said the "lost " line to Will first) .When you're different from other people ... when you're different ... sometimes you feel like a mistake. But you make (me) feel like (I'm) not a mistake at all. And that gives (me ) courage to fight on. If (I) seemed like (I) was pushing you away. It's because (I'm)scared of losing you. "

And the fact we're just left with Will sulking in the corner - and being a trope of "sad gay character in love with his (supposedly straight) best friend". And have Will low key fix that the dysfunction het couple - who have trivial convoluted drama/dysfunction every season they date. But never actually resolve any of their fundamental issues - lying, spying, neglecting all their friends for eachother ,etc. Because you know the trope: gays always have to step aside and sacrifice the romantic love they have for a friend -so that same friend can instead live " happily ever after" (in a het relationship). Even if that het couple is dysfunctional and poorly written. I'm gay ... and just so tired of this type of stuff , repeated over and over and over again in media. Do writers not realize bad-rep is much worse than no-rep?Like if byler isn't canon these scenes right here are literally just rubbing salt in the wounds of Will and other gay/queer fans who empathize or relate to him.

It's like i've mentioned in the past a lot of straight writers LOVE the 'sad gay - trope' . Alot of those straight writers don't empathize with us as people, they infact "romanticize our pain" and find it "beautiful" . And just find our suffering "dramatic and angsty" decoration to their story- where they can also add bragging points of being "inclusive". They don't actually care about how problematic the queer rep is -and how it negatively affects us.

Even Will said he'd rather "pull the bandaid off" in regards to romance drama between him and mike. But duffers didn't do that- or give any closure for Will. Nah they forgot his bday and did this instead. Heck, no romantic closure for Will or even the whole st*ncy/j*ncy drama. Which is a whole other can of worms in itself (i'm saying this as someone who doesnt ship either st*ncy or j*ncy). Regardless of what could happen in s5. I'm just tired of how poorly some (frankly most) of the romance is handled in the series.

If m*leven is endgame they did it in the most reductive , stereotypical, predictable, and also hurtful way possible to lgbt fans. Without actually fixing m*leven's real issues to make us like them together as a couple. Heck (not only do they have problems that were never fixed ) : like lying /spying/ mike still hero worshiping her - which were never fixed ). They're now just a cliche ("love at first sight couple", who ever since they started dating have artifical convoluted drama every season ). Literally s3 and 4 are the same: m*leven neglect their friends for eachother, lie to eachother , fight with eachother, then say they're in love. There's no change , no progess they just repeat the same problematic pattern. Forget mike saying in part 1 this was a fight the pairing "couldn't get past" or mike nodding to Will saying maybe he's afraid to tell el the truth, cause she may not like it. Ummm - part 2 doesn't connect to that, why would El not like his confession? Not to mention mike only can say he loves her in s3 and 4 when her life is in danger (and in s4 when Will encourages him to keep talking)- not sus at all. The whole season Mike shares dialogue with brenner - even in the love confession (ick). And lol after his love confession- el won't talk to him. (purposeful hinting it won't work out ? or just horrible writing for an awful romantic pair who always have had poor communication?) Straight-mike narratively just makes mike a sh*t friend too- going from a great , considerate,and observant friend in s1 and 2. But , then the second he starts dating El in s3 :he neglects his friends for 2 straight seasons in favor of El (all while being a not good bf to her for 95% of their relationship). And also he literally said his life didn't begin until el (this is literally insulting to all his prior friendships which were established long before meeting el ). Straight-mike isn' t the "heart" of any party as Will claimed - not anymore (he straight up says his other relationships don't matter. Will, lucas, dustin- pfft his" life didn't even begin " until el ). Some of the worst days of Will's life - pfft mike, his bff, doesn't care about Will's tra*ma cause it gave him the chance to meet el. And he'll say it -right infront of Will. Iike mike could have said he's grateful to have met el in so many ways - but bringing up the day itself like that. Ugh. But in the end, both seasons his friends are the ones who have to help mike retain this supposed perfect romance. And let's get real they have no chemistry as a pairing- Mike just doesn't seem genuine in his love . And the confession incorporating mike's desire to be "needed" and having mike call her a "hero" and "superman'.yeah- hero worship from mike and dependence from el (winning romantic combo) . Also yeah , weird how El's "hero' is her dad and mike's is El. Given again all the family parallels. Heck terry(mom)/ mike saying "I love you" to El- is what gets her to defeat vecna.

And If byler is endgame in s5 - the duffers are overestimating how much bs they can put queer fans through- before they give us a happy ending . Like wow thanks for ending the season with mike & Will standing together, in between 2 other romantic pairings. After you made Will suffer through a bunch of problematic queer tropes (that you may subvert in s5- in like... 4 years). I'd say that framing at the end is a hint of byler- but they did the same framing in s3 only to do this in s4. So they may just leave those hints in the show to string and queer bait us longer. But honestly even if byler is canon in s5 (i actually think it has a decent chance of being endgame ): the Duffers sabotaged themselves. Becuse now bylers are less engaged in wanting to watch s5, and in s5 you'd piss off the m*levens . Cause mike would have lied to El and led her on (or just said it cause he didn't want her to d*e/ he meant he loved her in a non romantic way). But also when mike did his romance speech to El- he said the most messed up stuff right infront of Will ( aka the day Will was k*dnapped is when mike finally felt alive- cause he met El) . THAT'S SO MESSED UP. most bylers probably won't even bother to watch s5 - assuming the worst again too.

So my point is - regardless of whether mike is straight, gay or bi (they wrote themselves into a corner where mike looks bad either way). And his relationships with both of them are messy af.

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #max mayfield #eddie munson

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gcthamqueen · 2 years

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So, having relistened to Last Podcast on the Left’s series on MKUltra for fic research purposes, I have a bunch of thoughts as to just how it relates into Henry’s backstory that we haven’t seen yet.

The program was originally sanctioned in 1953, and while I think the kids are a separate programme, the fact that Terry was involved in MKUltra means they’re more of an offshoot of it than something entirely different. It’s also why I think the kids avoided some of MKUltra’s more monstrous treatments re the “breaking down of the human psyche to build it up as a weapon or a spy” aspects that some of it went into (though they clearly went through an absolute nightmare, as shown by Kali having a fucking cattle prod used on her as a child in that one flashback).

However, given that Brenner had Henry in his custody from 1959 until the massacre after lying about his death, and he was also of course 001, that means Brenner had Henry for almost the entirety of MKUltra’s existence before it was shut down in the 1970’s. There’s also a very distinct age gap between Henry and 002 (yes, there is some nebulous canon around the comics and the possibility that Brenner did replace certain numbers after they escaped from the lab, but we’re going for the lab as shown in s4) which almost seems to me that Brenner waited until something specific happened before he really started bringing in other kids.

Soteria is something that I highly doubt he had ready to go from the minute he had Henry, and given there isn’t much I’d put past Brenner doing for the sake of his project (this is the same man who kidnapped El literally the minute she was born and fried Terry’s brain when she dared fight back against the claim El was dead), and there’s comments from the Duffers that Brenner just kept pushing Henry despite knowing exactly what he did to his family, I honestly feel like he likely experimented on Henry alongside the existing MKUltra subjects until he realised he’d created a monster and slapped Soteria into him as quickly as he possibly could to take away his ability to fight back.

There’s plenty of examples in true crime about how hallucinogens - weapons grade LSD is a particular favourite for MKUltra historically - don’t gel well with some people’s brain chemistry, and given he comitted an almost triple homicide at the age of twelve before he put himself into a coma by over-exerting himself, the absolute last person who should have been exposed to such a thing would be someone like Henry. But do you all think Brenner really cared? Or do you all think he just kept pushing and pushing and pushing until Henry snapped again, and he realised how much worse he’d made Henry, and decided to declaw and defang the rabid lion he’d whipped up into a frenzy real quick before Henry escaped his control?

Like, the fact Brenner had Henry during his work on MKUltra just can’t be left at the wayside for me. I’m not saying he completely made Henry into what he is now as Vecna, but I sure as shit believe that Brenner made him so much worse.

#stranger things #henry creel #vecna #001 #the brain rot has been REAL lately

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thestobingirlie · 1 year

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Exactly like it’s just so bizarre that people would believe that Steve actually would want to spend time around people who constantly mean. Yep like you said it’s a huge difference between fun teasing and bullying between friends.

You’re completely right like Steve is a former mean girl and wouldn’t just take everything that was being said about him. He seriously wouldn’t take it and be pissy back at them. And you’re right cuz the show seems to take a piss at him it’s easier for fic authors to take even more piss out on him too.

yeah, steve literally ditched his old friends because they were dicks who never took him seriously and didn’t care about other people, and fic writers seriously think he’d hang out with people that treat him even worse than tommy and carol did???

and honestly, i don’t think steve would even like the teasing that much. don’t get me wrong, i know steve enjoys a little making fun here and there, but i think even if people were jokingly calling steve stupid, it’d just make him feel bad about himself.

and yeah, we saw steve lash out at dustin, so we know he wouldn’t really hold back if someone kept digging and digging at him. especially when it’s something he’s self-conscious about.

i honestly hate the duffer brothers for writing steve this way, and i hate fic writers for continuing it. like people will talk all day about fixing the duffers mistakes when it comes to couples, or eddie’s death or whatever, and then write steve even worse than the duffers do.

#i have a lot of anger about people seeing steve as stupid #he is smart. like we’ve seen him pick up on things the genius’ around him missed #it’s just funnier to write him as dumb i guess #also i’m sorry this took so long to answer lol. it kinda got swallowed up by my other notifications #stranger things #steve harrington #thearcher-winchester-version #asks

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thebrokengate · 2 years

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Melvin's relationship in S4 is essentially a retelling of S3 but in a more toxic and nonsensical way.

In S3, we see Mike and El acting like someone they're not, there are lies in their relationship. Mike actively acts like he hates being a nerd and hides his own personality to ''grow up''.

In S4, we see Mike and El acting like someone they're not, there are lies in their relationship from both sides, Mike actively acts like someone he's not when he leaves Hawkins because of his insecurities and because he feels inferior. We know he acts different because we see him being like his own S1 and S2 self since he actively chooses to join Hellfire and enjoys it, but the moment he steps on Cali his persona changes. El's the same, she acts like someone she's not, we also learn that she's been lying constantly in her letters to Mike. We also learn that Mike has not been saying or writing ILY to El for months even though he's been sending her letters.

In S3, we see Mike trying to say ILY to El in a fake-out scene with that ''(blank) makes you crazy'' scene, but he never verbalizes it and they get interrupted. Then he verbalizes it by saying he loves El in front of a crowd where he thinks El cannot hear him and El is physically away from him. When later on El says she loves Mike and kisses him, Mike doesn't react or reciprocate, he just stands there and El leaves.

In S4, the same saga continues. Mike avoids using the word 'love' and has been avoiding it for months, he doesn't say it even when El's crying in front of him. Then El leaves. We have a fakeout scene where it seems like Mike might say ily to El in that Pizza scene but he never says it, they get interrupted. Then he says it in a death-or-life situation when once again El is technically away from him and stuck in an alternate dimension fighting against the big bad. Then we see them not talking about it again. What's gonna happen in S5? Will the Duffers make El go and kiss Mike while Mike's standing without reciprocation? Then make El leave Hawkins again and rince and repeat ig?

The endings of S3 and S4 are also similar. In S3, multiple people die, Billy die, and villain is still out there and El loses her powers.

In S4, El loses to Vecna, Vecna is still alive. Hawkins and Upside Down merge, and multiple people die. Eddie dies, Max dies and dies up in a coma etc.

I mean, seems like the Duffers are joking atp. Because what the hell even is this?

Incoming rant:

Yeah, I mean, honestly it's the most tiresome and frankly boring part of the show at this point and I wish they didn't stretch it out this long. And you're right. The only stakes they raised here was making the relationship develop with even more toxicity than what it already had by season 3. They could've left it with them broken up by the end of season 3 and just remaining friends but they didn't. Hell, they could've had them break up by Vol 2, but instead decided to write that monologue that didn't help shit because Mike was basing it off of Will's feelings from the van, was telling even more lies, and just telling El what he thought she wanted to hear, so their relationship still isn't glowing, but the writers made the conscious choice to not just end it so now we're stuck for 2 more years putting up with being called delusional. Even if it's a little less frequent than what it was and the "power dynamic" has shifted where Byler is becoming more popular, it's still bad. They're literally on the verge of a break-up right now, but they still couldn't give it up this season and now have to do it next season. Why do they feel the need to literally milk Milkvan? Maybe they raised the stakes of toxicity to get the GA more used to the idea of them separating and not liking them as a couple as much, but still. Every season, they get separated and come back together. And at no point does that time apart solve anything, because they keep running into the same fundamental issues over and over, and it just gets worse and worse every time where they leave their relationship off. Just separate them for good and be done with it. They don't work. I know a part of it is a codependency issue in the relationship itself and that's closer to being solved on El's part at least and now she's starting to move away from Mike, but honestly. Every time we make 10 steps forward, we end up taking at least 7 back almost every season. It might've been less this time just looking at the not-great terms Mike and El have ended on this season and the character progress El has made, but it's just kind of getting old, and I completely understand.

#ask styx #byler #anti m*lev*n

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hawkinsindiana · 2 years

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I feel or rather hope Steve won't die in s5 because of Dustin, it would be extremely cruel of the writers to take away his other big brother figure, especially after grieving Eddie, the Duffers wouldn't do it to Dustin. Plus his death would overshadow basically the rest of the show (like how Eddie overshadowed Max's in s4 only worse), and he's not a main main character. The story was always about Will and El and if some of the older teens has to die, Jonathan is more likely than Steve because he's Wills favorite person.

I also don't think he ends up with Nancy, she was about to reject him again in the woods and it would be such a bad ending for his character. Nancy admitted she always wanted Jonathan instead of Steve in s2, it would be a disservice to Steve's and Nancy's character if Stancy is endgame.

Now I feel like we can still get a Robin and Steve ending, yes we might never get a spin off show but him ending with Robin leaving Hawkins with her to live life after realizing he doesn't need romantic love to be fulfilled would be the best ending. We can still establish this arc in s5 with Robin talking some sense into him. Yes he is all about romance and relationships because I feel like he genuinely doesn't feel loved and he thinks romance can fix it.

this sounds great but honestly i have no idea what the duffers could be concocting for him atm so…. i feel it’s best not to get our hopes up yanno. i do agree tho and hadn’t thought that killing eddie then steve would be disastrous for dustin so maybe…. maybe he’ll be alive and part five can end how i’m picturing it

#asks!

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missnight0wl · 2 years

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The Duffer brothers have said that Eddie was always a doomed character whether he survived the season or not because no one in Hawkins would believe that Chrissy’s death was caused by something paranormal. So according to them it was “necessary” for him to die otherwise he’d have been taken to prison or worse if he lived. I know a lot of his fans somehow still believe he’s still alive or are expecting him to come back as a vampire or something next season. I don’t know though, I wouldn’t be against it but they’ve said several times that he really is dead already so I’m not holding out much hope at all.

Yeah, I heard that, but I think it’s a lame excuse. Like I said in my previous post about Eddie’s death, just use Jason. Seriously, I’m so confused by Jason’s character because he was a suspect for a while, but then it was simply dropped. And I just don’t understand how the police let him convince everyone that it’s Satan killing people through Eddie, even though they clearly thought Jason might be crazy just minutes ago. But no, let the kid talk now. And it doesn’t look like he’s using it as an alibi for himself.

I’m sorry, but I really think that if the Duffer brothers wanted, they could’ve pretty easily blamed everything on Jason. I realise that not everyone at Hawkins would be convinced, but if the police said it was Jason, what could the people do? Call Eddie a freak? Bully him? He was generally hated anyway.

Besides, my problem is not even that Eddie died. My problem is that his death was badly written. He got a redemption which he really didn’t need. Like, he didn’t run away this time? Cool. But Eddie was never established as a coward. Yes, he ran away after Chrissy’s death, but it’s totally understandable! He was actually fighting for his survival by running away. But now it’s more like he gave up. Especially that it really doesn’t feel like his sacrifice helped anyone, in my opinion.

I think I’d be less upset if Eddie’s death was totally stupid. Like… he dropped into some hole and broke his neck. I don’t know. Anything. Just don’t try to make it about something that has nothing to do with what happened in the show so far.

Also, honestly, I don’t hope for Eddie’s return either. Heck, I think I don’t even want him to come back. But I simply don’t like how he died.

#stranger things #eddie munson #ask #anonymous

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skorpiamynx · 3 years

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TV Show Thoughts 2

Stranger Things

Why is there such a harsh line between what is deemed acceptable as canon and what is okay it ignore or rewrite into your preferred version of a show, movie, or character. People latch onto characters for a wide variety of reasons and no one needs to justify them to anyone else if they don’t want to. Liking a character does not mean the person is at all like them, shares their views, or supports their actions.

I used to be a fanfiction writer (maybe one day I’ll get back into it?) and I have always found myself drawn to the more fucked up characters. Whenever I would write them, I chose to change things I didn’t like about their story in canon. Lots of people do this and I wholeheartedly encourage it.

Why is it so common and encouraged to ignore canon sexuality, relationships, gender, and even deaths, for our favorite characters? Why when a character makes serious mistakes or canonically have bad views on the world, others, or any myriad of things, are we just supposed to except it and feel like shit every time we find ourselves sympathizing or loving?

I know that the Duffers said that canonically, Billy is r*cist and if you listen to that then you can view his actions in that way and that is fine. I’m not going to try to change how you view him but you should not try to change how I or others view or feel about him.

When I first saw the arm-grab-“stay-away” scene, I immediately got angry and I thought the same thing. By the end of season two, I changed my mind and went back to the scene to see if what I was beginning to think could fit.

The first time Billy sees Lucas, Max and Lucas are loudly arguing – including Max exclaiming “You treat me like garbage!” – and Max is clearly upset when she gets to the car. A minute later, we see that Billy obviously saw the whole interaction.

Stop here if you simply want to go with what the Duffers said and move on, that is perfectly okay. If you want to go more with what Dacre said, keep reading.

Later in season 2 we see what is probably(?) just a small glimpse of how Billy’s father abuses him. In season 3, when El goes through Billy’s memories, we see that the abuse actually started with his mother and then turned on him when she left (which I personally find just as fucked up as what Neil does or Susan does).

After seeing his father abuse his mother, and seeing how quickly and easily it turned onto him, Billy probably, like a lot of abuse victims, keeps an eye out for people he thinks will be like Neil, whether it be in his own life or the people he cares about.

A lot of abuse starts with yelling and escalates to physical violence, which is what we see when Neil confronts Billy in season 2.

Even if all we hear for season 2 is how Max is not Billy’s sister, in season 3 it is revealed that they’ve actually lived together for a while before moving to Hawkins. Whether he wants to admit it or not, Max is Billy’s sister and he is protective of her. Any protective older sibling would look at the argument with Lucas and Max and instantly take their sibling’s side. And an abuse victim, who in most fans’ eyes at least has probably worried about Neil turning on Max or Susan at least once, would immediately get defensive and overly protective.

I personally think that (outside canon) you can argue that Billy didn’t give a shit who Lucas was, only that he clearly upset Max and that’s that. After that, Billy’s view of Lucas is practically set in stone and he will do whatever he can to keep her safe, even if the threat is all in his head.

This carries over into when he gets into a fight with Steve at the Byers’s house. Yes, he did go overboard with Steve and I will not try to justify that, other than saying that Billy was not seeing Steve in that moment and I think we all know that.

But the whole situation was 100% sketchy from an outsider, which Billy was, point of view. A bunch of kids alone in a house with an older teen – with quite a reputation that Billy himself set out to take over – is fucking weird by anyone’s standards. And Max being the only girl there makes the whole thing a lot worse – especially by ‘80s standards. Any big brother would think the worst instantly and get pissed off. And if you take away knowing the other boys are there, it’s a significantly older teen and a young girl alone in the woods. Fuck off if you honestly find nothing wrong with that. Billy is already on edge when he gets to the Byers house, he and Steve don’t have a great relationship (I absolutely do not ship Harringrove), and Billy already has a negative view of at least one of the other boys in the house with Max. Is it starting to make sense? I don’t know how much more I can explain this. Bottom line, if you just want to think Billy is r*cist and go on with your life, that’s okay. If you’re like me and you want to ignore canon and see things a little differently, that’s good, too. Either way do not shame or attack other fans or Dacre for their views of Billy. It’s a fictional character. It’s a fictional show. We’re all fans, that’s all that matters.

#stranger things #billy hargrove #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #steve harrington #neil hargrove #anti harringrove #billy hargrove deserved better

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minniemixe · 4 years

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Beauty And The Beast

Gangster AU

Stray Kids Fanfic

Chan x Reader

Other Appearances: GOT7 BTS

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Angst

Warnings: Angst, Blood, Death, Voilence, Language, Smut, Homosexuality, Making out

Beauty and the Beast Masterlist

Chapter 7

“YOU!!!” Moon exclaimed, eyes wide open “Uhhh hi” he awkwardly smiled trying to avoid eye contact “Wait, you two know each other?” Mavis asked, pointing between the two “In this moment I wish I didn’t” Moon grumbled “Oh feelings are mutual” he whispered under his breath “C’mon sis, he’s a nice guy, he treats me really good” Mavis tried to lighten the mood “Yeah? By lying to you?” Moon said “What do you mean?” Mavis asked “Didn’t you just say that you’re the only one he sleeps with?” Moon raised a brow “Ba -Mavis let me explain, it’s not-I-” “Don’t, just, don’t.” Mavis said calmly “Bu-” he started “Give it up. And with all due respect. Get lost” Moon glared at him “I’m sorry” he whispered before walking away, seconds later the door closed

“You okay?” Moon asked cautiously “I’m hungry, what about you?” Mavis simply replied “Yeah, what are you having?” “I came back yesterday, my fridge is empty, wanna order takeout? Or do you prefer going out?” “I’m good with anything. Whatever you prefer, I came to spend time with you” Moon smiled “Let’s go out, it’s been long.” Mavis said enthusiastically “Yeah last we went was my 18th birthday, I’m turning 23 at the end of this year” “Gosh you’re an oldie and still a virgin” Mavis stuck her tongue out “Yeahwellunlikeyouatleastimnotsingle” Moon grumbled under her breath “I have no idea what you said there but I’m gonna assume that was you complaining about not being able to fulfil all your kinky and dark not to mention sadistic fantasies” she said running away “Get back here you little shit” Moon said chasing after her

“I’ll call the Uber, where are we going?” Mavis said “No need, I have a car” Moon said dangling the car keys in front of her sister’s face “About time you got one. Late night sisters drives are long overdue” Mavis said walking out the door “Don’t get too excited, it’s my boyfriend’s” Moon replied as the two got in the elevator “When the heck did you get a boyfriend” “Yesterday” “And you’re already using his car. Is he your boyfriend or sugar daddy?” Mavis spoke sarcastically “You do realize that’s not how sugar daddies work right” “But you’re not denying it” Mavis wiggled her brows “I really can’t with you” Moon shook her head “Damn, the guy owns an Audi, no wonder he’s your boyfriend” Mavis spoke dramatically “What do you take me for?” “Gold digger?” her sister replied more of a question “I’m not you” Moon simply said getting in the car, her sister following suit “Where are we going though?” “Like old times” Moon replied driving away

“I still can't believe the ice-cream machine was broken” Mavis complained as the two sisters sat on the car’s hood parked on the hill “It’s McDonalds, what did you expect” Moon shrugged “Don’t even know at this point” she laughed “Hey! At least we got the chocolate shake” Moon nudged her sister, taking a bite of her burger “Yeah” she laughed. A comfortable silence filled the air as the two admired the city view from the hilltop “So how long have you had a boyfriend and why was I not informed about this” Mavis striked up a conversation “Since when do I report back to you?” Moon replied sarcastically “I’m just saying, he’s your first boyfriend, and as your sister, I should be the first one to know” “You’re making me sound like a nerd” Moon whined “Well it is true, you’ve always had your nose in computers and games, never really went out and had fun” “I preferred it that way” she shrugged “Too much internet and violent video games have not done you any good” “Excuse me” Moon said an octave higher “You’re like the female version of Christain Grey and please don’t get me started on how you explained to Nay what you’d do to your supposed enemies” Mavis shivered “You should know the reason” “I do, but that’s not you, you’re just letting it get to your head” “I wish that was true but it’s not. I even scare myself sometimes. These thoughts and urges, it’s fucking crazy, I’m a monster” “Would you ever hurt me? Would you hurt mom, Nay, or anyone dear to you for that matter?” “Why are you asking tha-” “You won’t, that’s the answer. You care, you care so much. I know you think you don’t, that you’re just a heartless monster, but I know you’re not. You pretend that you don’t care, but you do, you show others that their words or actions don’t hurt, but deep down you know that’s not the case. You’re not a monster, you’re my sister, you’re the responsible caring adult who’s always been there no matter what. You’re a warrior if anything, I love you. Please don’t ever call yourself a monster. You’re not. If anything, he’s the monster” Mavis said gripping her sister’s hand tightly “But I want to hurt people. I want to watch them suffer” “Who? The ones who’ve wronged you? So what, it’s only natural, who doesn’t want to watch such people suffer” “But I-” “No buts. You know I’m right” “I guess you are, I mean you got the sadistic part right” Moon smirked “I- dear lord” “I blame Fifty Shades of Grey for that” Moon shrugged “Well you are the female version of Christain Grey so yeah” “Hhmm, you’re not wrong, I guess the only difference is that, I not only want to inflict pain, I want it to be inflicted on me as well. And much much worse than the movie. I want to feel that pain, as fucked up as it sounds, I find that pain pleasurable, more so than the sensual touches” Moon explained “You’re saying that like you’ve experienced it” Mavis looked at her confused. “Maybe I have” Moon simply shrugged thinking back to all the training sessions she had with Chan. How being punched and thrown around by Chan was much more exciting than the brief touches on her bare waist when he’d help her. “I’m not even gonna ask” Mavis looked away “Hey you’re the one who called me Christian grey, I’m just agreeing with you by stating facts” “Exactly why you shouldn’t worry about anything” “I’m confused” “You’re agreeing with me. Yeah Christian Grey was a sadist, he had issues, but once he got it out of his system, met the right person, he overcame it. He realized he was a better person. And just like him, once you get it out of your system, maybe you’ll feel better. And one day, someone will come along, who’ll accept you the way you are and won’t care about your issues, rather help you” Mavis explained. Moon just looked at her sister, surprised at the fact that everything she said indeed made sense. “When did you get so smart?” Moon nudged her, laughing “One of us has to when the other won’t” Mavis stuck her tongue “Not so fast there, I haven’t interrogated you yet” “What for?” Mavis asked confused “Let’s start from, where you met that duffer” Moon said “Oh him? We met at a club, one too many drinks led to a wild night” “And just like that, you decided to become friends with benefits?” “Not really, we exchanged numbers and carried on with our lives, occasionally hooking up. Hooking up turned into hanging out. He was really a sweet guy. It was a nice friendship until he confessed an-” “HE CONFESSED?” Moon exclaimed “Let me finish. I rejected him, saying I wasn’t interested in relationships. Pretty clishĕ if you ask me. At first it was awkward but then we simply forgot about it, I really thought our friendship was going somewhere. He told me he wanted to ‘officially’ become friends with benefits where we’d only sleep with other, but apparently he lied” she explained “Did he ever bring up his feelings again?” Moon asked “By his actions, all the time, he got possessive sometimes, other times, he would do sweet things. Verbally, once, when he showed up drunk to my apartment. But he was too wasted to remember anything the next morning so I kept my mouth shut. I was thinking of giving him a chance though. I felt too bad for rejecting him when he was so sweet to me” “I never knew he had the ability to be nice” Moon grumbled “I guess I made him wait too long, he got tired” Mavis sighed “No, NO, just no. You’re not taking the blame for this. You weren’t ready for something, he should’ve understood. And if he expected you to be loyal, then he should’ve been too. He’s the jerk here” “Jerk move, sure, but I wouldn’t call him a jerk” “Do you like him?” Moon asked seriously “Maybe, I just thought that maybe, for once someone was willing to accept me despite my flaws. I told him about dad. I never thought I’d open up about that to anyone but you. He was so amazing and understanding, and I couldn’t help it. I guess I ruined it by my stubbornness” Mavis said, as a tear rolled down her cheek “Are you crying? Mavis no, this isn’t your fault” she said getting closer to Mavis, hugging her “I just, dad’s behaviour always got to me and I always thought that if my own father never wanted me, how could someone else”. Moon’s blood boiled with anger, she wanted to just march up to the man and kill him, but she couldn’t knowing that her sister had feelings for the said man “I know the feeling, trust me I know. Why do you think I was single all this time, I thought the same thing. But once I let it go, it got a little easier, not much but a little bit. Stop thinking about dad, honestly, I know it's easier said than done, but let it go. You’ve come so far, don’t let him bring you down” Moon said stroking Mavis’s hair “You think he’ll come back?” she asked “I don’t know, if he really has strong feelings for you, he might” Moon answered looking away “Oh no, I know that look, don’t you dare, you’re not getting involved in this” Mavis said sternly “He made you cry, I’m gonna kill him, try and stop me” “I’ve been sensitive these days, I cry over everything. Don’t hurt him please” “He’s still getting a piece of my mind” Moon glared “Just let him stay in one piece” “I’ll try. No promises” “Of all days, you had to visit today” Mavis shook her head, making Moon laugh.

Moon had dropped Mavis back at her apartment and was now parked outside her place. She was happy to have spent time with her sister but she couldn’t help but let her emotions get the better of her. Taking a deep breath, Moon calmed herself, knowing that if she got emotional, the situation would get worse than it needed to be. However calming down seemed to be a failed option, because as soon as she stepped foot in the living room, her blood boiled. Snatching the fruit knife from Anna’s hand Moon leaped at Hyunjin, she pushed him onto the couch and put the knife against his throat, “Give me one good reason,why I shouldn’t kill you right now” she gritted, glaring at him “I-” he started “This better be good Hwang, my control is at its peak” “Moon, what is this about” Minho asked “Stay out of it, I swear anyone gets in my way, I won’t hesitate to-” her voice cracked. Moon knew she was scared, scared of what she’d do if she lost control, scared she’d do something she’d regret for the rest of her life. And everyone could see it. “Moon, please calm down, don’t do something rash” Bree said cautiously moving towards her “But he-” “Whatever he did, I’m sure you guys can talk it out. Doing this will only hurt you, put the knife down, he’s hurt” El spoke pointing at Hyunjin’s bleeding neck “Not as much as my sister” she gritted, her knuckles turning white from the tight grip on the knife “What’s going on?” Chan questioned as he, Seungmin and Jeongin entered the living room “I’m sorry” Hyunjin said barely above a whisper “Why? I don’t understand. I know you, or at least I thought I did” Moon asked, her grip loosening “I couldn’t help it” he said avoiding eye contact “WHat the hell is going on? Moon put the knife down” Chan ordered “Stay out of this Chan, you don’t know what’s going on” Moon replied harshly “No I will NOT. You’re hurting my brother” Chan said moving forward, grabbing Moon’s wrist “But he hurt my sister, I’m sure you would’ve done the same” Moon glared at Chan “And you! She really thought you were different from the other asshats she’d been with. She even opened up to you, and you just-and the worst part is she blames herself. I hope you feel great about yourself” Moon looked at Hyunjin. She forcefully released her wrist from Chan’s grip, threw the bloody knife at his feet and stormed out. Hyunjin let out a breath and buried his head in his hands. “I’ll go talk to her” Chan spoke and left

"Care to explain?" Chan snapped at Moon as soon as he entered her room "Chan please leave me alone, I'm not in the mood" she replied lying on her bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling "You almost killed Hyunjin, and you expect me to just leave you alone, I'm not going anywhere without an explanation" "The only person who deserves an explanation right now is me, from Hyunjin. Once we clear it up, you'll know" she sat up glaring at him "Whatever the case, you had no case to be insensitive towards him" "What the fuck is that supposed to mean, all I asked was for an explanation, there was nothing insensitive about it" she said, her voice raising "You said it to his face that he'd never understand since he was an only child" "The fuck Bang?! I never said that" "When you said and I quote 'But he hurt my sister, I’m sure you would’ve done the same'. Isn't that what you were insinuating?" He raised a brow "Are even hearing yourself right now? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? I WOULD NEVER. I ONLY SAID IT TO YOU, SO YOU'D BACK OFF" she shouted at him "WHY ARE YOU BEING SO STUBBORN?" "I'M NOT BEING STUBBORN, MY SISTER CRIED BECAUSE OF HIM, AND WORST PART IS THAT SHE BLAMED HERSELF FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO KEEP WHATEVER THE TWO HAD, AND YOU JUST EXPECT ME TO SIT AROUND. TELL ME CHRIS, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?" “OH GOSH YOU’RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER" regret took over him just as fast as those words left his mouth. In the two and half years of knowing each other, Moon had never shown emotions this clearly. She was good at masking her emotions. As soon as those words left his mouth, Moon's eyes twitched and the amount of hurt present in her eyes shook Chan to the core. But as quickly as the emotions flashed in her eyes, they disappeared just as quick. Her eyes turned ice cold, just like they had been when she started living with them. "Moon I-" he started "I get it. Don't, you have nothing to explain, I've known it all along. No matter how much I want to deny it, his blood indeed runs through my veins. So thank you Chris for clearing it up for me." His name sounding foreign "That's not what I me-" he couldn't finish his sentence, Moon had walked out past him.

After the fight broke between Moon and Chan, things had been very weird. She didn’t necessarily ignore anyone or was rude, just distant. It was like the days when she had joined, barely talked to anyone and just did what was asked of her, she never missed her training sessions or when they had to go out for missions. “Hey!” said Jisung as he entered the kitchen “Hey” Moon replied from the stool she was sitting on “What are you doing?” he asked taking a seat next to her peeking at her laptop screen “Uh no-nothing” she stuttered trying to hide the screen from him. It was too late, he had already seen the screen and his eyes were blown wide. Unfortunately for Moon, Hyunjin had entered the kitchen just in time to see Jisung’s bewildered expression. “You’re leaving?” Jisung asked, barely above a whisper “She’s what?” Hyunjin asked “Leaving” Jisung answered loudly this time “Why?” Hyunjin questioned “It’s complicated, I can’t stay here” she answered vaguely “Were you going to tell us or were just gonna leave” Jisung looked at her with sad doe eyes “I’m sorry, I thought it would’ve been best if I left quietly, I don’t want anyone to talk me out of it” contrary to her claim, her decision was wavering just by looking at the sad expression on Jisung’s face. Hyunjin decided to exit the scene, not wanting to anger Moon by voicing his opinion. Ever since that day, he had tried to steer clear of Moon, even though her anger had cooled down and she was feeling extremely guilty for blowing up on him like that. Hyunjin wanted to apologize to her and just clear everything up but he knew if he brought up the topic, Moon would want an explanation, something he couldn’t bring himself to give. “Sung please don't make that face, you know I can’t resist it” she smiled weakly at him “I’m not doing it on purpose, I can’t bear the fact of you leaving, or any of us for that matter, if they found out” he replied “Please don’t tell them. I don’t want to create a scene” she pleaded “Why not, they deserve to know” “I know, I know, I’ll tell them when the time comes. I still have 4 months. For now just pretend you don’t know, that you never saw this” “Can I atleast know why” “It’s complicated, lets just say me staying will only hurt you guys, I’m unstable” she sighed “Why? Because you shouted at Hyunjin, or how you killed that man 3 days ago? You think those things make you unstable? Moon, you’re a fucking gangster, and you acting like one isn’t ‘unstable’. Ask anyone they’ll say the same thing” “It’s not just that, its-” she started “Hyunjin? Look I don’t know what happened between him and your sister, but I know for a fact that your reaction was justified. I know he would’ve done the same. He probably even would've killed, you didn’t, you were scared, you know that, we all could see it. You’re just scared that you might lose control” Jisung spoke “But doesn’t that make me unstable? Not knowing when I might lose it, what I might end up doing. I don’t want any of you near me if that ever happens, I’m afraid of becoming the monster I’ve always feared” “I get you, I can’t understand your reasons, but I get where you’re coming from. Everything you’ve been through, obviously it had an effect on you, but in the end it’s up to you isn’t it. It’s up to you to make you. Are you going to let your past define you? Are you going to let someone else’s mistakes take control of your actions? You can’t let your past control your present and ruin your future. I know it's easier said than done but Moon, you’re not alone, not anymore” “Do you really think I can get better? Do you think I can get rid of that hatred inside me? The hatred I have for myself” Moon asked, eyes desperate. Even she didn’t know what the desperation was for but it was there. “You can.” Hyunjin answered from behind her before Jisung could say anything “Were you eavesdropping?” Jisung asked “Sorry I couldn’t help it, I wanted to leave but I wanted to know the reason” he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck “It’s okay, I’m glad you were listening, I don’t want you thinking I’m leaving because of you” Moon smiled at him “Everything you’re feeling, I know it, I know it all too well” Hyunjin said taking a seat next to the two “What do you mean?” she asked him confused “Hatred, the hatred you have for yourself. There must be a reason for it, do you know it?” Hyunjin questioned “I-I don’t know, I guess I just hate myself for being my father’s daughter. For having his blood run through my veins, the blood that makes me the same as him. I hate myself for hurting people, especially the ones I’m close to” she replied “Who have you ever hurt to make yourself hate you” Jisung said “I hurt you, if I had better control, maybe things would’ve been different, maybe Chan and I wouldn’t have fought. He was right you know, when he said I’m just like my father, but the tragic part is, I’m so much worse than him.” Moon replied looking at Hyunjin “Not necessarily, ultimately that’s for you to decide” Jisung spoke “How come?” Moon asked “His blood may run through your veins but it doesn’t define you, that blood doesn’t decide your actions for you. You’re the one who has control over them, your blood doesn’t determine your personality, it doesn’t represent you as a person, that again is up to you, you’re the one who has the power to define yourself, not his blood” Hyunjin said “That’s the thing, I don’t have control, even if I had it, it’s falling out of my grasp” “That’s it. You’ve practically figured it out, you just need to dig a little deeper and you’ll be there” Jisung pointed out “What do you mean?” she asked confused “Control. You said you had it but now you’re losing it. There must be a reason, you held on for so long, why is it now that you’re losing it, something must’ve triggered it” Jisung explained “Come to think of it, that makes sense” Moon spoke, lost in thought “Do you think you know what might have caused it?” Jisung asked “Me” Hyunjin spoke before Moon could answer “No, I admit you could’ve been the one to trigger my pent up anger but it wasn’t you” Moon said putting the puzzle pieces together “You seemed pretty scary though” Hyunjin chuckled “Sorry” Moon smiled sheepishly “No it’s alright, you had every reason to, I’d have done the same” Hyunjin said “Do you know the reason then?” Jisung questioned “I think so” Moon said “What could it be” Hunjin asked, Moon sighed before speaking “A few years back someone tried to rape me” Moon closed her eyes trying to ignore the horid memories “Hey, you don’t have to talk about it, it’s alright” Hyunjin squeezed her hand “No, it’s alright. It’s time I let it out. I’ve held onto it for so long, thinking I could forget it, but I never could, it’s always at the back of my mind. Maybe if I do this, I’ll finally be able to let it go” she answered “Don’t push yourself, I know the feeling all too well. If you can’t, we completely understand” Hyunjin softly smiled at her “Thanks, it’s alright” Moon smiled, taking a deep breath she started explaining “That’s why I guess I was angry, I saw him the day I decided to visit my parents and everything just came crashing back, he completely ruined my life and disappeared into thin air. And then he had the audacity to walk back into my house claiming he has feelings for me. If Chan wasn’t there I’d have killed him” Moon finished “As you should’ve, the bastard deserved it” Jisung spoke “Seeing him again triggered all those suppressed feelings?” Hyunjin asked “Yeah and it was fucked up and I felt angry at myself because I spent years looking for him, eventually giving up. But he showed up at my house so easily” “Who showed up where?” Seungmin asked as he entered the kitchen “Long story dude, you came here too late” Moon laughed “But just in time, help us convince her into staying” Hyunjin said “SHE’S LEAVING” Seungmin shouted “Why don’t you announce it on a loudspeaker” Moon spoke sarcastically “Sorry but what the hell is going on” Seungmin asked “Take a seat, you’re in for a long one” Moon said gesturing to one of the empty bar stools near her seat. “I can help you find him. I mean it’s better if more than one person does it, odds are we might be able to locate him that way” Seungmin said once the three explained the whole story to him. “Yeah and you don’t have to leave either, I’m sure together we’ll work something out” Jisung said “That’s sweet of you, and I’ll think about it. Thank you guys, I really needed that” Moon smiled at the three boys “Ofcourse, and if you ever need to talk about anything we’re always here. That’s what family is for” Hyunjin smiled at her “I don’t want to overstep my boundaries here, but what happened between you and Chan, the two of you have been really weird lately” Seungmin questioned “Uhm, I’m not sure, we kinda argued and I guess we haven’t talked much since then” Moon shrugged “You seem a lot distant from him lately, did he say something?” Jisung asked “Nothing big, it was just a little argument and he wasn’t wrong either, he only defended you” she smiled looking at Hyunjin “There really wasn’t anything to defend me on, what I did was wrong” Hyunjin said “Well at first I thought so too but I guess I was unintentionally insensitive, so he was right” she said “When?” Seungmin aksed “When I told Chan he’d do the same if it was his sister, I was kinda just throwing it in his face that he wouldn’t understand since he was an only child. I was quite angry so I didn’t realize I was being disrespectful and I kinda fought Chan because of that as well, but when I calmed down, I realized I was wrong as well” she explained “I can see why he was so worked up” Jisung mumbled “What?” she asked not quite catching what he said “What happened between your sister and I was partially because I’m an only child” Seungmin and Jisung looked at him wide eyed as soon as those words left his mouth “I take full responsibility, what I did was really messed up but I guess I couldn’t help it. It’s just that for the first time I felt that someone was willing to have something with me other than a sexual relationship. I felt comfortable with her and I felt accepted despite my flaws, so somewhere along the line, I started developing feelings. I was- actually am willing to wait for her but I guess my urge and guilt took better of me and I couldn’t stay true to my word” Hyunjin continued. “What do you mean guilt? And what did you mean by ‘because of being an only child’?” she questioned. Hyunjin took a deep breath before talking “I had a twin sister” he said “Hyun, you don’t have to-” Seungmin started “It’s okay, maybe like Moon said holding onto it isn’t going to help” Hyunjin smiled “There’s no pressure, I can sense this something sensitive” Moon said “No it’s okay” He smiled and took a deep breath before speaking “Ever since I was young, I was always complimented on my looks, it was flattering at first but then it got annoying and offending too at times. Like how people would say I can do anything because of my looks or how I could simply make money by modeling or something like that and didn’t need to study. They even went to the point where they said that if I couldn’t get into modeling agencies I could always become a pornstar. My sister Yeji, she was literally the only one who always supported me no matter what. She did have similar problems but people were never extreme about it since she was a lot smarter than I was. Jiji and I had a very special bond, not just physical but emotional as well. We always knew if something was wrong with the other. Even physically, if one of us was hurt the other would know immediately. I loved dancing but no one really took me seriously, whenever I’d be practicing, people would often come to me saying, I didn’t need to work so hard because any agency would accept me based on my looks. And God did I fucking hate it. Yeji however was very sassy and was always quick to defend me. She was the one who motivated me into becoming a trainee. Apart from Yeji, the boys were the only true friends I had. I met them back in highschool and they were also very supportive of me having a dance career. They even covered for me when I was missing school because of my trainee schedule. During the end years of my high school I had a very good chance of a solo debut. I was so ecstatic, I felt like I could conquer the world. But life's a bitch and is full of surprises. A fellow trainee of mine was having a hard time with her dancing and asked me to help out. I obviously didn’t think much of it and agreed. For about three weeks we trained together, and we got really close as well. She was the first girl I ever had feelings for. More time in training, she confessed and I really thought nothing could go wrong, but boy was I wrong. The night I lost my virginity to her was the night everything went down. While I was asleep, she took some indecent photos and leaked them on purpose. Later I found out it was all just a fucking joke. My debut was cancelled and my agency terminated my contract. Apparently she and her friends had betted on who could get the hottest trainee to help them with their dance. Bitch thought it would be funny and then betted on getting me into bed. Later when I asked her why she leaked our pictures, she simply said it was a prank and didn’t think it was a big deal anyway. She said and I quote ‘You’re so good looking anyway, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to get into other agencies’. That’s when I gave up. I thought it was pointless, I closed myself off from everyone then just used my body to my pleasure, it was what I was good at apparently. Yeji really pushed me into trying out for a new agency but I had already made up my mind. Then Chan asked us to join his gang and I didn’t really have much to do so I thought why not. Yeji gave up her dream for me as well. I told her not to but she never listened. I promised myself I’d give her everything because of all the things she had done for me. I wanted to give her the world yet I couldn’t even protect her. It was my fault. Every single thing was my fault. If I hadn’t trusted him, if I had my phone with me that night. I’d have known something was up if only I wasn’t-” and he completely broke down, crying loudly. Jisung hugged his body close to his own, whispering soothing things all while his own tears fell down his cheeks. Moon and Seungmin weren’t any better, both were crying looking at Hyunjin’s shaking figure. “It wasn’t your fault, none of us could’ve known he was a spy” Seunmin spoke “But, I could’ve still saved her if I ha-” “Hey, some times, we think that if you were to do something different the outcome could be changed. But if given a chance to redo it, something else would happen and the outcome would remain the same. Some things are just not in our control.” Moon cupped Hyunjin's face to comfort him

3 Years Ago

“HWANG HYUNJIN, YOU’RE SO DEAD!!!” Yeji shouted on top of her lungs, soaking head to toe “Catch me if you can” Hyunjin stuck his tongue out and ran inside locking the backdoor “I’m not having any of your bullshit today” she gritted before taking the gun out and shooting at the door handle “BITCH, ARE YOU CRAZY” he shouted running away from her angry figure “YOU’RE NOT ESCAPING TODAY” she shouted following after him “AAAAHHHHHHH, YOU’RE AN ANIMAL, WHAT THE HELL” Hyunjin shouted running towards his room. “Just you wait, I’ll make you regret that” she said getting closer to him “Woman calm down” he said getting inside his room and locking it “Open the door you asshole” Yeji banged on the door repeatedly “Oi language, I’m older than you” Hyunjin laughed from the inside “By 20 minutes, open the door or else” she said “Or else what” he teased “You better run” she said shooting the door handle again “Jesus Christ what the hell is wrong with you today” he said grabbing her from behind locking her in his arms as she entered the room “Let me go idiot, I’m really not in the mood” Yeji said wiggling in his hold “Not until you tell me what’s bothering you” he said, rocking her side to side. Yeji sighed relaxing in his arms “Can’t I go with you” she asked “Jiji, you know you can’t. The more people, the more dangerous it gets” Hyunjin said, guiding her to his bed “But why, isn’t there another way, where no one goes. It’s dangerous as it is” Yeji sighed “If there was, we’d do that. Now cheer up. Everything is going to be alright” he patted her soaking head “But you better not get hurt.” Yeji warned. Hyunjin smiled, already feeling her mood lifting “Yes ma'am” Hyunjin stuck his tongue out, rummaging through his closet “Put these on” Hyunjin said throwing a pair of hoodie and sweatpants at her “Why the hell did you even think this was a good idea. I could get sick you know" Yeji asked "I made sure the water was warm so no need to worry your highness" Hyunjin replied sarcastically

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“Remind me again why I have to stay in the van?” Yeji asked Chan “Because it’s safer, besides they’re good company” Chan replied pointing towards Seungmin, Jeongin and Anna “You’re kidding right, even Liv is going. C’mon man, I’m not a kid” Yeji whined “I can stay with you if you want” spoke a voice from behind Chan “Dave, man I like you but that doesn’t mean I approve of you and my sister” Hyunjin spoke through the ear piece “C’mon man, don’t be like that” Dave replied laughing “Jiji, I need you out of harm's way, can’t risk you getting hurt, it’ll affect my mission as well” Hyunjin spoke “Boy you’re getting on my nerves” Yeji said sitting back in her seat understanding his concern "I think it's cool to have such a bond with someone" Anna striked up a conversation as the others left "It is but it's terrifying as well. Just feeling your heartbeat rise out of nowhere. Knowing something is up but not knowing what." Yeji replied "I can't imagine what's that like" Seungmin said "Honestly it's just heartache. I can actually feel my heart constrict when Hyunjin gets hurt. And it's so much worse when he's not near me." She replied "Aww Jiji, I didn't know you cared so much" Hyunjin spoke through the earpiece "Shut up. Get back in one piece so I can take care of you" Yeji scowled "I see you're still mad about the water incident" Hyunjin chuckled "Oh just you wait, I'll get you back so good, you'll never think of messing with me again" "That's what you always say" Hyunjin remarked "It must be cool to have a twin, all my brother does is treat me like a kid" Anna complained "You know I can hear you right?" Chan said through the earpiece "Good for you" she grumbled "Y'all should be lucky you're still together. I miss having this with Wonpil. We rarely see each other anymore" Seungmin said "Yeah wel-" Jeongin started "Hyunjin what's wrong?" Yeji said catching everyone's attention "Something doesn't seem right" Hyunjin replied "Jinnie I don't feel good about this, get out of there" Yeji said worriedly "I should be fine, no one knows who I am" Hyunjin said "Please be careful" "I always am princess" "Chan what's the update?" Jeongin asked "We've surrounded the building, no one should be able to get out undetected. Minho, Felix what's the status at the drop-off sight" Chan replied "Not sure, we're still waiting" Minho replied "Chan we're compromised. We might have to exit the building" Woojin said "What do you mean?" Bree asked "There are people coming up here, if we stay on the roof we'll be exposed" El replied "Dave, what's your position?" Jisung questioned "Saw someone exiting from behind the building, was tailing them" Dave replied "Did you identify the person" Liv asked "Male, 5'9, didn't see his face, lost him in the crowd" he replied "Seungmin, anything on the drones?" Changbin asked "Nothing, too suspiciously quiet" the younger told "Fuck!" Came Hyunjin's voice followed by gunshots "HYUNJIN!!!!" Yeji screamed "What's going on?" Chan asked alarmed "It was a fucking trap" Hyunjin said

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"They knew, I don't know how but they knew" Hyunjin said, now everyone back and alive "They probably saw it coming because of what happened 2 months ago" Chan deduced "Still, it doesn't make sense, how did they recognize me?" Hyunjin said confused "Did you see someone you've met before?" Minho asked "No. That's the alarming part." "Maybe someone was there, behind the cameras who recognized you? There is a possibility. Many of the top gangs were present there, so security was bound to be tight" Dave reasoned "Still, something doesn't seem right. This was very carefully planned, it seems too suspicious to have failed just like that" Yeji eyed Dave "We'll have to look into it. But for the meantime, lay low." Chan said, dismissing everyone

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"Ah fuck baby, just like that" Hyunjin moaned as the girl sunk down on his hard length. She whined grinding down on him. "C'mon baby, show me what you got" he groaned guiding her hips over his own. "Faster baby" Hyunjin breathed, thrusting up into her wet hole. "I'm so close sir" the girl moaned, riding him fast, chasing her high. "Cum for me baby" he groaned, desperate to reach his own high as well. "Fuck" he groaned feeling her clench around him tightly ."Ahh" the girl moaned, releasing around him, triggering his own orgasm. Hyunjin released in the latex with a deep groan, his thrusts slowing down as the overstimulation kicked in. Getting off of him, she lied down beside him as Hyunjin removed the soiled condom from his softening cock, discarding it in the bin. “Wanna go for another round in the shower” he asked, peppering her neck with kisses, she giggled looking at him and nodded. “Come on le-” He was cut off with Chan barging into the room “We nee-” “I’m in the middle of something” Hyunjin said pointing towards the naked girl beside him “It’s Yeji” Chan said, Hyunjin’s eyes went wide, finally realizing that his heartbeat was going crazy twenty minutes ago because of the bond he and his sister shared and not because of the pleasure. Getting up from the bed he apologized to the girl before quickly getting dressed and followed Chan. “What the hell happened and where is Dave?” Hyunjin questioned as the gang was gathered in the weapon room “He was a spy and he has Yeji.” Bree answered “Fucking bastard, I’m gonna rip him to shreds” Hyunjin gritted “We need to get her quickly. Hyunjin, you good?” Minho questioned “Yeah, she’s okay, but I can’t say that for long” he said strapping in his knives “I have the coordinates, let’s go” Jeongin said

“Jesus Christ, why is this taking so long? And why the hell didn’t she call, actually come to think of it, where is my phone anyway. Seungmin give me the coordinates” Hyunjin started blabbering due to the nervousness building up and snatched the GPS device from the younger’s hand “Hey Hyunjin calm down, we’ll get her yeah” Chan said trying to ease his worries “I fucking can’t, how could I have been so stupid. Aarrgghh” Hyunjin pulled at his hair. No one said anything because judging from his behaviour they could tell that something was very wrong on Yeji’s side. “Let’s hide the van there, Seungmin and Jeongin set up the drones, Cha-HyuNJIN WHAT THE HELL” Minho started but got cut off seeing Hyunjin jump out of the moving van as it slowed down. Hyunjin didn’t reply, he just ran until his body disappeared into the darkness. He stopped as the GPS pointed that he was where he needed to be "YEJI!! YEJI, WHERE ARE YOU? YEJIIIIIII" he shouted at top of his lungs trying to locate his sister "Ye-ah" he grabbed his chest as his heart started beating extremely fast and chest started aching "No, no, Yeji" he called kneeling on the pavement, hands clutching his chest as his breathing became laboured. Taking a deep breath he got up and let his legs take control, knowing he didn't need the GPS anymore to get to his sister. With every step he took, the pain in his chest intensified. He came to a halt seeing his sister's body lying on the cold hard ground with a knife deep in her chest. "No, no, Jiji, you can't, hey I'm here now, please open your eyes. Princess please. You can't" he cried cradling her body in his arms. "J-ji-jin-nie" Yeji choked feeling her brothers grip on her "Yeah, I'm here, stay with me hhmm" he said cradling her head with one hand while the other put pressure on her chest trying to reduce the bleeding around the weapon "Wh-why di-dn't y-you p-pi-p-ick up" she stuttered, coughing up blood "No no, sshh don't talk, I'm so so sorry. I'm so sorry" he said burying his head in her hair crying loudly. Yeji caressed her brother's hair one last time like she had been ever since they were young whenever he cried, until her body went cold and her hand went limp beside her lifeless body. "Jiji, Yeji wake up" Hyunjin shook her pale body "Ye-ah, ah." He clutched his chest as the pain suddenly increased until he couldn't take it anymore "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed on top of his lungs until his vision blacked and he passed out due to the pain.

Hyunjin opened his eyes and realized he was in his room, looking around he saw his members standing around him. "What hap-" he started when his eyes went wide "I can't feel her" he whispered touching his chest "Why can't I feel her, where is she? WHY CAN'T I FEEL HER, WHERE IS SHE. WHERE IS MY SISTER? WHY CAN'T I FEEL HER HEARTBEAT" Hyunjin screamed, tears streaming down his face. No one said anything, just stared at their best friend with heartbroken expressions, failing to keep their own tears in. He leapt off the bed and lunged forward at the leader "Tell me, tell me right now, where is she, she's in the infirmary right? She's just asleep right? She's gonna wake up soon, she's alright. It's just me. This can't be real, it can't be. Where is her heartbeat? Why can't I feel it, WHY CAN'T I FEEL IT CHAN?" He grabbed Chan's collar and buried his head in his chest crying loudly "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" the older cried, wrapping his arms around the younger male, trying to calm his shaking figure. "NOOOO PLEASE, NOOOOO AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" He fell to his knees crying loudly, mourning his sister's death.

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“Ever since that day, I've developed a habit of having sex too much. Deep down, I always hope that one day my heartbeat will increase like it did that day, or my phone will ring. But it doesn’t. That’s also the reason why I ended up sleeping with other people even though I told your sister I wouldn’t. And God I know it’s no excuse but I just want you to know that I never would’ve hurt your sister intentionally” Hyunjin sniffed, wiping his eyes, now calmer than before. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. And thank you for sharing your story, I’m sure it wasn't easy" Moon smiled at Hyunjin “The reason I shared it with you is because of the question you asked earlier" Hyunjin replied "What question?" She asked "When you asked if you could get rid of the hatred you have for yourself" Hyunjin replied "How?" Moon asked "Why do you hate yourself. Because you're your father's daughter. No that's not it, it's because you blame yourself. You blame yourself for not being able to get away from him and building yourself up how you wanted to. You think it was your fault you couldn't, because eventually your life is in your hands and how you live and shape it. But Moon, after hearing your side of the story, that's not the case. It will be if you decide to spend the rest of your life in self pity and giving yourself up into the life of your so-called blood. Your life was shit until you were given a chance to leave through the sports scholarship, what happened? Someone tried to force themselves on you, but you stayed strong and kept fighting. Yes you lost your chance at escaping your father how you originally wanted but why? Was it entirely your fault? No, partially yes, if you had opened up to your parents maybe things would've been different. But you'll never know. Who's fault was it if it wasn't entirely yours? Andre, if he hadn't drugged you that day, things would've been different. Okay, fine chapter closed, but that's not where it ends. You have still so much to do. You proved it yourself. You picked yourself up, decided to do something, sure you closed yourself off but did you just let yourself go? No, eventually you escaped your father. Maybe not how you wanted but you did. Again it doesn't end there. You thought you sold yourself for the sake of your mother's happiness but you didn't. You took an opportunity when it presented itself and you made the best of it. Each and everyone of us can see how much you've changed since you've joined. Like I said, your life didn't end there. You kept fighting. In that time, you ignored the blood in your veins and built yourself up how you wanted to. But why are you giving up now? You saw Andre again, and all that control threatened to break. The control that made you different from your worst fear. You don't hate yourself, you just blame yourself. Deep down, you want to finish Andre and you not being able to do it, that's what's taking a toll on you, you're constantly letting your anger show. And that is making you think you're what you fear. You hate Andre not yourself because of what he did. You only blame yourself and you're mistaking that for self hatred" Hyunjin explained. Moon just looked at him in awe, how did he figure it out in mere hours when she couldn't in many years "I know it's a lot to take in but that's what it is. How I know, because I'm in the same situation. Different story but same situation. My sister died. I may not have been able to save her but I wasn't the one to kill her either. I blame myself for her death, for so long I hated myself for it until I realized I hate the man who stabbed her. And I'm the one to blame for that, maybe if I was in a clearer headspace I could've got there sooner. But the past is past, we can't change it. It took me such a long time to realize that. What did I do to heal my scars, well avenge my sister's death. I'm gonna find that bastard and rip him to shreds. So Moon, if you think you staying here is dangerous because of who you think you are, no that's not the case. If you still wanna leave to figure everything out, I respect your decision and I support it. But just know that whenever you decide, we'll all be waiting here for you. Because you're our family now" Hyunjin hugged her close. "And we'll help you make Andre pay for what he did as well, you're not alone anymore" Seungmin spoke. "Thanks guys, this means so much to me. I feel so much better now" she said sniffing and wiping away her tears. "Well this was an emotional rollercoaster, let's give ourselves some space to think straight. And Moon, take your time and think rationally. Don't let anything cloud your judgement" Jisung said patting Moon's shoulder and left "He's right. Make a decision you know that is right. It doesn't matter what it is, we support you" Seungmin said and left as well. "Everything is going to be alright" Hyunjin squeezed Moon before leaving her in the kitchen with her thoughts

“C’mon you said the same thing last time as well” Jisung whined sitting on Minho’s bed “And I’m saying it again” Minho answered “But whyy, who else will I go with” “I don’t know, anyone really” Minho shrugged “Why are you being like this, are you mad at me. I swear it wasn’t me” Jisung raised his hands in surrender “Sungie do you even know what this is about? Because it most certainly is you” Minho joined him on the bed “Curse it, I wonder what I did this time” he said looking at Minho, his heartbeat rising due to the close proximity “You- oh fuck it” Minho spoke before joining his lips with Jisung’s. The younger male was caught off guard and remained still, completely shook. A few seconds later Minho pulled away due to not being kissed back. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ha-just leave, this is why I-” Minho started “Again” Jisung whispered, eyes wide looking at Minho with the utmost adoration “W-what” Minho stuttered “Kiss me, again.” Jisung said. Wasting no time, Minho joined their lips again. Jisung kissed back his hands grabbing Minho’s waist while the older pushed him back on the bed hovering over him without breaking the kiss. Swiping his tongue on Jisung’s bottom lips, Minho silently asked for entrance, Jisung gently parted his lips allowing their tongues to dance together. Minho’s hands went under Jisung’s shirt caressing his chest while the kiss deepened. Minho was the one to pull away first, lips swollen and a string of saliva connecting their lips. “God, you make me crazy” Minho whispered, diving back in to kiss him again, the feeling of Jisung’s soft lips against his own, driving him insane.

Moon was in her room thinking about the conversation she had with the three boys earlier. Was she going to leave, did she even want to. Countless questions filled her head, her attention was stolen from the familiar ding of her phone. She went to her closet to quickly change into a different set of clothes as soon as she saw the text. “Where are you going?” Chan asked as he saw Moon all dressed up exiting her room “Oh, Nay just texted me, we’re going out for a girls night, want some time to think about some things” Moon smiled at him walking away “Are you really leaving?” Chan grabbed her wrist turning her around, his eyes sad “I don’t know, maybe” she replied looking away from his gaze “I’m sorry” he whispered, releasing her wrist “What for?” Moon asked “For calling you-” “Chan, it’s the past, just forget it, I was not in my right mind either and I took it to heart. You don’t need to apologize” she cut him off “But-” “No buts, I’m over it, let it go.” she said “Are you still mad at me?” he asked “No, I never was, I just needed some space, I’m sorry if it came off like that” she said “No baby girl, you don’t have to, I understand. Have a fun night and stay safe” he smiled at her. Moon loved his smiles, the dimples poking out, eyes shining, making him look absolutely breathtaking. Instead of saying anything, she moved forward and kissed him. Chan kissed her back hands circling around her waist, he tilted his head to the side deepening the kiss as their tongues collided. “Let’s go on an official date when I come back” Moon said pulling away “I’d love that.” he said kissing her again. Kissing for a few minutes Moon pulled back much to her displeasure. “As much as I love kissing you, I have to go” she said stepping out of his embrace. Chan smiled at her and nodded.

“You seem happy” Woojin pointed out, everyone gathered in the living room having random conversations. Chan giggled like a five year old, his ears turning red. “He made out with Moon, of course he’s happy” Minho smirked “You don’t really get to say that you know, you aren’t any less happy, seeing you finally grew the balls to kiss Jisung” Changbin said, everyone's attention now on the new couple. Oohhs and aahhs thrown around as the two blushed furiously. “You’re one to talk, your dick gets hard everytime you se-mmphh” Changbin put his palm on Minho’s mouth before he could finish his sentence. “Well this just got more interesting” Felix high fived Seungmin “I wonder who has the ability to make Chanbin’s dick hard” El laughed “I say we all put on bets” Hyunjin suggested “You guys ar-” Changbin was cut off by the doorbell “Expecting anyone?” Chan asked “Yep, my weed stash is here” Minho said as Jeongin went to check “Hey guys” Nay said, entering the living room. Chan’s eyes went wide looking at her “Chan, you good, you look like you just saw a ghost” Anna asked “Aren’t you supposed to be with Moon for a girls night” Chan asked Nay “No, was I?” she replied confused “She said she was going out with you, where did she go?” Chan asked worriedly

A/N: I did proof read, but let me know if you find any typos

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joppersolo1138 · 5 years

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This video is why I think Hopper will be alive and well in season four. This is video is all about the battle between Disney+ and Netflix. What does this have to do with Hopper you ask? Buckle up.

Stranger Things is in fact one of the most talked about show not only right now but it has been said to rival some of the greatest shows on television. Even I have compared it to Breaking Bad which is another show I am obsessed with but honestly I like Stranger Things better. And no one can argue that Hopper is by far one of the most loved characters on the show. I’d say the big three are Hopper, Dustin, and Steve. So I am sure a conversation arose between the Duffers and the executives at Netflix on how to use the show to save their platform. Coincidentally we are at a point in the show where the writers needed to take a big leap to keep our attention and raise the stakes of the show. In comes “Hopper’s death”. With this leap, the writers created a moment in the show that we will surely be talking about for the next year and a half (probably even after our questions have been answers and season four has aired) and we will all return even stronger than we did in season three to see what happens in season four. We’re dying for it and they know that. I know the Duffers have talked about the parallels between Hopper and Han Solo, and besides Vader revealing he is Luke’s father, this is a moment in cinematic history that is still talked about today. It is by far one of the stand out moments in the entire Star Wars saga. The Duffers needed to create that moment in the show for many reasons but I do believe one of those reasons is to keep us locked into Netflix for at least a little while longer. Because we will all be there at midnight when season four starts streaming and I mean diehard and causal fans alike. We all want to know and none of us want to be spoiled. Besides all of this, David Harbour is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood right now (because of Netflix so David please remember your roots) and there is absolutely no way Netflix would give him up right now. So they have to bring Hopper back and they have to make him better than ever or else they will lose out on more than just disappointed fans here. If the show takes a turn for the worse they are essentially ruining their entire platform. And we’ve seen them do this with shows before so it’s not entirely guaranteed that they will deliver but the pressure is on and they have to deliver this time. I not only see Hopper coming back and swiftly (meaning we get for all of season four not just at the end) but I do see Netflix begging the Duffers for a season five as they figure out what to do in their battle against Disney + and how to handle themselves post Stranger Things. But hey, maybe that strategy is to not give us Hopper until season five. That would suck. Really hard.

#stranger things #david harbour #chief jim hopper #jim hopper #chief hopper #jopper #joyce x hopper #hopper x joyce #hopper #joyce byers

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ariesbilly · 5 years

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Dacre carried his character with his acting and his vision. Duffer brothers did us all DIRTY. No range!

what really fucking revs me up is the fact that apparently billys death has been planned since s2. like dacre keeps talking about how they set up billys trajectory from the beginning (of him coming on) and its like… so you KNEW you didnt want him to have a happy ending… yet you went in and added the fact that billy gets abused because dacre requested billy have something in his story to humanize him

and like i honestly cant tell whats worse ? because all of billys backstory has essentially come from dacre based on what we’ve heard. so the duffers either were just never gonna bother with billy and he was brought on this show just to die (which, i mean it sounds like thats what he was brought on for regardless) OR the fact that yall didnt think to come up with a less gross way for billys story to pan out because knowing youre gonna kill him and having his entire life be nothing but abuse and pain and misery is just… its trash. at no point were yall like “well if this is what we’re gonna do now maybe we should give him a happy ending instead where he lives and actually gets to develop like we did with steves character”

it just feels so careless. there is absolutely nothing comforting to me about what they did to billys character. like honestly if the plan all along was for him to die they shouldve just kept him a one dimensional bully cuz honestly what they just showed us is that billy was basically a person doomed from birth and thats so fucking depressing. like i cant sit with that. and all they had to do was at least TRY to have anyone give even an ounce of a shit about him in the 3rd season.

im literally never shutting up about this WHAT WAS HIS DEATH FOR

#and like i get it #death in real life doesnt have a purpose or meaning #it just is #but this is a tv show #and so much was just glossed over #and it fucking annoys me #st spoilers #briana answers things #Anonymous

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palmviolet · 5 years

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Do you think Hopper is a good father figure to Eleven? Not really perfect, but not the worst like Dr. Brenner was? When I think about it I’m mostly conflicted because Hopper obviously cares for Eleven’s well being and loves to spend time with her, but at the same time he was shown to have kinda manipulative and controlling traits over her, like that time she took a risk in escaping the cabin or when he threatened her boyfriend Mike. His style of parenting is def controversial.

well obviously when you compare him to brenner he is much, much better. he actively cares about el and looks after her because he wants to protect her, not because he’s using her for experiments. i mean stranger things as a whole has an issue with father figures, so let’s review: we have brenner (awful), neil hargrove (awful), lonnie (just as awful), ted (pathetic), mr sinclair (cool but we only get a glimpse of him), and then there’s hopper. hopper ranks above ted, for sure. comparatively he’s one of the best fathers on the show, if not the best. but he is the best of a bad bunch.

‘controversial’ is the right word. in season 2 i think his behaviour was more understandable because there is a real risk of death or worse to literally everyone involved if the government finds out about el. we know the kids are smart and responsible, but he doesn’t and he’s well within his rights not to trust their secret-keeping abilities. as for not telling joyce - i can understand why he didn’t, because she’s got a lot on her plate right now, but i think it was detrimental to both el and joyce. el, because her only influence becomes hopper and the tv. that’s not healthy, especially for a teenager who has had limited contact with the outside world anyway thus far. she’s going stir crazy and he should be understanding of that, not reacting with anger. it’s bad for joyce too because regardless of whether she knows that hopper gave el up to brenner she probably feels horribly guilty about the whole thing - in essence el gave her life to save will, or so joyce believes. if hop had told joyce about el then it would have had the dual benefit of easing joyce’s guilt and of giving el another influence, one who is very experienced in parenting teenagers. but he didn’t, so it’s academic.

he hasn’t been a parent in a long time and i don’t think he ever expected to be a parent again. so when el lands in his lap he’s a bit rusty, to say the least. he resorts to his usual methods of problem-solving - anger, manipulation, control - which simply won’t work on a telekinetic teenage girl. he’s trying to keep her safe but he doesn’t understand the fact that she is a child - because she is still a child, especially since she grew up in the lab - and what seems logical and easy to him isn’t at all to her.

like i said, this is all understandable, if not great. but s3 is where it gets less so. the duffers seem to have enjoyed (?) his overprotectiveness in s2 for some reason so they decide to ramp it up to max in s3, despite the fact that the danger is passing. for some reason hopper - who himself has admitted that he was far from a model teenage boy and was actively engaged in relationships and sexual activity at el’s age if not younger - cannot stand the fact that el is in a relationship. el and mike have seen each other every single day since s2 and yeah, that’s not healthy at all, especially as it’s to the detriment of her other relationships, but the way he goes about handling it is not good. he asks joyce for advice and then discards it (which i don’t really blame him for as a person because mike was being goddamn insufferable, but as a parent it’s his responsibility to be the mature one) and physically locks mike in his car, after lying to him. that’s not okay? he’s literally acting churlish and childish in his very parenting of a child and it’s really just... not great. as a parent you have a responsibility to show maturity, to set a good example for your kid, and he’s resorting to his old methods of manipulation etc instead.

i suppose i can somewhat understand his reasoning, if we try to look at this from a watsonian perspective instead of a doylist one (because we all know the duffers only did this for ‘humor’). hopper doesn’t want things to change, as he expresses in his letter at the end. he’s afraid of losing el, whether by her being taken by brenner or just by growing up, so he clings onto the idea of her as a kid and can’t bear to see her moving on and having other relationships. (again, not healthy.) this is probably a leftover from his grief about sara. he also doesn’t trust mike because of what hopper was like as a teenage boy - playing hooky, screwing chrissy carpenter in the back of his dad’s oldsmobile. maybe he thinks mike is just using el - though this is tenuous, because if they’ve seen each other every day since s2 it’s pretty clear their feelings are deeper than that.

what i’d hoped to see out of this season was joyce and hopper all but co-parenting. an established family link between the hoppers and the byers, with or without joyce and hopper dating. el needs another parent and joyce is the perfect candidate - but the duffers decide not to go down this route (until the end, at least) as evidenced by el only knowing joyce as ‘will’s mom’. this would have had the effect of mitigating - at least partly - hopper’s bad tendencies, and they could have grown together as a family. instead we have hopper clearly struggling to parent alone. what alarmed me most was when he turned up drunk after joyce missed their date and literally threw the door to el’s room open in a rage. if mike had been there instead of max i dread to think what would have happened. i don’t believe he would have hurt them but- the implication was there. and it really sucked. coming home in a drunken rage is just... not good parenting.

it’s a bit reminiscent of lonnie, actually. and later in the season murray compares the two - he says to joyce that hopper maybe ‘reminds you of a bad relationship’. what do we know about lonnie? abusive, drunk, cruel, selfish. a terrible father. now hop is nowhere near as bad so really the duffers making this explicit comparison kind of... makes it worse? so as to highlight his flaws? honestly if i thought hopper was anything like lonnie i’d stop rooting for jopper like a shot, so i have no idea what the duffers were doing with this line. or with hopper for most of the season, lmao.

in short, hopper has his up and down moments. i understand his character and why he behaves as he does most of the time, but that’s not really an excuse. i think he’s a good father figure to el but he could do better, especially after s3. it’s clear he loves el and she loves him and they have some really sweet moments but as a parent, he needs to get his shit together. i hope if and when he comes back the duffers take this on board.

#jim hopper #joyce byers #el hopper #st meta #asks

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jupitermelichios · 6 years

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Thoughts on Stranger Things 2

Spoilers below the cut. Warning that this is very much a critique. If you liked the show and don’t want to read about someone disliking it, this isn’t for you.

First thing, why is there a season 2? Season 1 ended on a good ‘happy ending with a sting in the tail’ note. It was a cliffhanger in the proud tradition of twilight zone episodes and portmanteau horror movies. It didn’t need resolving because leaving it open is what makes it a horror story.

Steve says that him and Nancy have spent ‘a stupid number of days’ working on their Halloween costumes. They don’t wear them to the Halloween party, or at any other time. Everyone else at the party has a costume. Were the wardrobe department on strike? Were their costumes just ‘people wearing normal clothes’?

Three love triangles. Three. In a nine-episode show about killing monsters, they somehow felt they needed three goddamn hereto love-triangles. No one even likes that fucking trope okay?! Either you have kill off one of the dudes or make them an asshole, or pull a full-on Stephanie Meyer and have one of them marry a baby! And I’m refusing to give them any points just for not having Dustin marry a baby.

What purpose does Max serve, exactly? Someone somewhere explain her existence in this show without using the words love triangle. She’s a cool character, I like her, but I like her isn’t justification for adding another character into a show which already struggled in season 1 to give enough airtime to the characters it has. Nothing about the show would change if she wasn’t there, except that I would like Mike Wheeler a whole lot more.

On that subject, why is Lucas in the show? I mean, I know why. He’s there to be the black one, but someone explain why Dustin, Will and Mike all had to be white? Lucas gets a storyline this season, but it’s basically entirely disposable and separate from the main story, and he didn’t even get that in the first season. I bet the Duffer Brothers thought they were hilarious when they wrote that line Lucas has about not wanting to be the token black ghostbuster, apparently completely obvious to the fact that they made him the token black demagorgen slayer.

Someone on the writing team thinks Charlie Heaton is super hot, and I’m deeply confused by this. I mean you do you, but there’s more than one line which suggests they think he is specifically conventionally attractive, which is just weird.

I came out of season 1 suspecting that the Duffer Brothers hate women. I came out of season 2 certain of it. There are no positive female relationships in this show. None. Barb and Nancy argue all the time about Nancy wanting to spend all her time with Steve, which would be okay as a minor plot point, but then you look around the show and realise that theirs is the most positive female relationship in this. Nancy’s relationship with her mother is strained, she seems to have no genuine female friends, El hates Max for no god-damned reason (more on that later), El’s aunt rats her out to the police, her sister is a murderer, and Joyce... never interacts with another woman outside of life-or-death situations. She has no friends, no relatives, she barely speaks to Nancy and gets maybe three seconds interaction with El. The male characters all have positive relationships with other men (even Hopper gets a warrior bonds between men moment with Bob). But apparently women can’t spend time together socially, because all that sexual jealousy gets in the way.

That sexual jealousy. I’ve seen so many posts on this site saying anyone who ships the kids is an evil pervert going straight to hell, apparently not noticing that the fucking film-makers are doing it. Have this season’s plot points can be resolved down to ‘two of the pre-teens want to fuck’. El is not only rude and dismissive to Max, she actually attacks her with her powers because she had a conversation with Mike. Not making out with him, not Mike choosing Max over her, having a barely civil conversation which was mainly about the fact that Mike irrationally hates Max for daring to be a girl. Mike interacting with another girl even just to tell them he hates them is too much for El’s female sexual jealousy what all women have towards other women to handle. That whole relationship just turned my stomach to be honest, it was like every toxic trope about women Hollywood has mashed together into two interactions. I would genuinely rather we had stuck to only having 3 female characters than have the Duffer Brother’s hatred of women shoved in my face like that. It was nearly enough to make me stop watching. If the show had been longer than 9 episodes, I probably would have done.

Oh and then there’s Mike. Mike’s reactions are probably pretty common among traumatised kids who lack a support network, but the thing is, this is TV, and the show isn’t about showing how trauma affects pre-teens. If it was, I would have no issues about Mike’s behaviour. But this is a show about kids nearly getting eaten by monsters, and in order for that to hold our attention for 9 hours, we need to care about the kids. Even if it might be unrealistic, we need to see the kids being nice, so we can build up an emotional attachment to them. Mike has one very brief scene with Will, where he’s offering support and comfort. But that’s it. Apart from that he’s a dick to his friends, he’s a monumental dick to Max, he’s a dick to Hopper... he’s pretty unrelentingly unlikeable for 9 hours, which had the result that by the end I honestly didn’t care if he died or not. I cared more about Bob, who might as well have been wearing a red shirt with the words ‘will die at the 2/3rds mark to show the monsters are dangerous’ written on it.

Hopper and El. The thing I was most excited for going into this was Hopper and El’s relationship. I’m a sucker for some gruff loner learns to love again parent-child bonding. It’s tropey and cheesey, and I love it. Except I didn’t get that. I got gruff loner takes out his frustrated masculinity on an emotionally vunerable child. I was genuinely concerned for El’s safety in more than one of her scenes with him. We’re supposed to think it’s all okay because he says sorry afterwards, but frankly? I didn’t believe him. I’m sure he was sorry, but I honestly did not believe he wasn’t going to do it again. I would much much have preferred El stay with her aunt, or her sister. But she has to be in Hawkins because the writers ship her and Mike, and that means a parent figure needs to be found. In Hopper’s defence, I will say that he’s not any worse than most of the other parents in this (except Joyce, who is an Almodavar style Madonna figure).

Freud would have a field-day with this show, he really would.

What character arcs does this seaon have? Nancy dumping Steve and deciding to fight back barely counts when it’s actually her returning to the character she was at the end of season one but for some reaon stopping being during the break. Will doesn’t get one, Joyce doesn’t get one, Jonathan doesn’t get one. Mike and Dustin don’t get one. Lucas and Max don’t get one. El doesn’t actually get one. She gets something that looks like a character arc from a distance but is actually her starting off wanting to help her friends, wandering around for a bit and then realising that yes, she still wants to help her friends. Hopper gets one I guess, if you count apologising for one specific fight a character arc. Steve is the only one who gets anything even approaching actual character developement. Everyone else stays exactly the same, with just their location changing to add interest. No one actually grows or changes.

Okay, putting the themes and characters aside for a moment, what is up with the pacing? Seriously. Nothing happens until episode 4, and then the last two episodes are basically wall to wall action. It wouldn’t matter much if this were being aired weekly, but this is Netflix and your show takes less than a day to watch. Most viewers are going to watch it in one sitting, and that means you have to think about the pacing of the whole, not just the individual episodes, and they didn’t at all. The ultimate finale was just a ridiculous nothing of an ending. The kids decide they’re going to burn the tunnels but just never get round to it. Seriously, they go into the upsidedown, wander around a bit, and come out. El and Hopper walk into the facility, shoot 3 or 4 monsters and close the portal no problem. Joyce is able to save Will from possession just by sitting him next to the fire for bit. They rushed the ending so they could spendmore time filming 12 year olds kissing. And I don’t know about you guys, but I remember being 12 pretty clearly. I spent school discos doing stupid dances with my friends during upbeat songs, and sitting somewhere quiet and talking during the slow ones, and so did most of the other kids. Even the popular straight kids weren’t making out while they slow danced in public at until we were 14. This is approaching teenwolf levels of ‘why are the showrunners so into teenagers sex lives’ in places, though they do at least have the taste to cut away before Nancy takes any clothes off when she sleeps with Jonathn, which TW certainly wouldn’t have.

Speaking of pacing, they were so desperate to get to their ‘and now the kids kiss’ moment that they totally forget they needed some kind of resolution to Mike’s relationship with Max. So our happy ending includes Mike hating and lashing out at Max any time she’s near him, meaning she can’t spend time with the only friends she has without being attacked. That was supposed to be where you put his character arc, assholes. You don’t get to set this stuff up, not resolve it, and then expect me to be happy with the ending! Max being emotionally at risk from Mike and physically at rick from El and her step-borther (and let’s be real here, step-father as well) is not a happy ending! This is what I mean when I say this season would be better without Max. Eveyrhing about the set up they gave her ruins the happy ending, and she didn’t contribute anything plotwise. She’s a good character, but the show is worse for having her in it.

The advice Kali gives El about ‘anger makes you stronger’. Every genre trope suggests that advice should turn out to be bad, and really it’s love for her friends that makes her stronger. But that’s the one goddamn trope they don’t use, and it’s the one which would have added something to the story.

The ‘but will evil return’ final shot for this season just felt forced and cheap.”Ooo the upside-down is still there!” Yeah, we know. That’s not the point. The door was closed. The threat is over. Reminding us that the dimension is still there is meaningless, just cheap sequel bait.

Overall, there were enough moments and elements I enjoyed to keep coming back. I liked El’s relationship with her sister (even if it was just a whole bunch of toxic tropes). I liked Hopper and Joyce’s relationship. I liked Steve’s character arc, such as it was. I liked Max. I was interested to see how the various threats would resolve themselves. But considering what changed between season 1 and 2, if there’s a 3rd season I won’t be watching it. This is Hollywood tropes dressed up in Indie pretensions and pop-culture references in the hopes we won’t notice it’s the same toxic bullshit about how much women need a man that we’ve seen a million times before. Well sorry Duffer Brothers, but the fancy set dressing isn’t enough to hide the fact this show is predictable as hell in all the wrong ways.

#criticism #meta #dldr

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