#i think i will be able to tell based on how El reacts to Mike's monologue

[you-usuratonkachi]

forget about endgame couples for a moment and let's focus on what of all the Will storyline is actually plot relevant, because if there's one thing i'm pretty sure of, is that all the emotional pain he's been through this season will be addressed nextseason.

why do i think that?

it was stated before that we would find out why Will was the first one to be taken to the upside down and it occurred to me that out of all the pain he went through by hiding his feelings for Mike and supporting Mike’s relationship with El, the most fucked up thing he got in return was the person he loves saying that the day Mike started to live is the day Mike also found out that he was missing. And that didn't go unnocited by the characters. The camera focuses both on Will and Jonathan (though you could argue that it’s about the whole monologue, not just that part, but same difference). 

Now, if this was simply a statement to reinforce Mike's love for El... well, my guys, it would be the most horrible thing EVER. Of course it still is, but it makes me wonder, from a writing pov, WHY they chose to include that. 

We know that in the main plotline the upside down stopped "aging" when El opened the gate, which is "coincidentally"  the day Will went missing, consequently leading to El and Mike’s meeting. 

If the point of that confession was simply that, a confession, that sentence would have been TOTALLY unnecessary.There was no reason for Mike to say that. they could have given him different words to confess his love, there was no  need to hurt Will specifically in the process... unless it was building up to something else, unless it's drawing our attention to that day specifically and what led to it, unless there is meaning to Will missing and El coming into Mike's life on that day. 

It was still shitty of Mike of course,  but i can see how putting such a sentence right there brought attention to it, which is, i suppose, what the writers wanted to stand out (or am i giving them too much credit? I’m 50/50 on this, i can’t decide either lmao)

What made us mad the most this season is the way they had Will express his feelings as El, the way he said El commissioned the painting, the way Mike kinda repeated Will's words to El. Will was, in a way, "sacrificed", to give El more space. Which, if you think about it, is exactly what happened the day Will went missing. He went, she came. 

Remember also how people kept inferring that El and Will looked alike in S1? Maybe it's a small detail, but it's something that came up over and over in the story. 

The fact that Will basically confessed to Mike by masquerading it as El's feelings makes me feel even more strongly about this. It's like El and Will are somehow connected, like two sides of one coin. 

It's probably not the case, but I do wonder if Will was taken because he was mistaken for El that very first day... There's definitely something about the writing choices this season that makes El and Mike's relationship feel like it stands on  Will's ashes and the more I think about it, the more it feels intentional. 

Will confessing by using El's name MUST be addressed. His painting MUST be addressed again. Those lies cannot simply fall flat. There are too many parallels between El and Will (and both their relationships with Mike) at this point to ignore them. They have always been there but it feels like they were put at the forefront this season and that Will's feelings for Mike aren't simply the Duffer finally deciding to make Will's sexuality explicit, but to draw attention to the fact that he and El? feel the same way, they are so much alike, they have always been. 

That first day, after opening the gate, El went missing from the lab. Everyone was searching for her, One specifically would have searched for her the most because he wanted her to open more gates (and it was the first time he could reach into Hawkins to actively do that). Is it that far fetched that his underling, the demogorgon, got the wrong person?

I don’t know if i like this theory or not myself, but I think it’s perhaps worth thinking about. 

(assuming it was the demogorgon who took him and not One himself. someone pointed out that in that first ep, Will closes the door of his house and the door gets opened by telekinesis-kind of powers, which would definitely hint at One more than a demogorgon. this would definitely make my point moot lmao but still if it was One who targeted Will, WIll MUST have something that One wanted from him)

I don’t want to delude myself, but I think we have reason to believe that Will will be the center of next season like Max was this season. He’s inherently connected to the beginning of the upside down, it all started with him. To explain the upside down, they must address his dissapearance once again (One’s actor already said that Will was the center of it all and the Duffers said they would explain why he was taken) and contrary to how it felt like at first watch, I now realize that S4 was nothing more that the beginning of everyone’s character arc. 

None of the problems that came up in S4 have been resolved by the end. We felt like they would because it was split in two volumes, but Vol 2 left everything unresolved and if anything it created more confusion. 

Nancy and Jonathan’s problems? Unresolved. Steve’s feelings for Nancy? Unresolved. Robin’s storyline with Vikie? Unresolved. Vecna himself is unresolved. El’s independecy character arc is unresolved. Mike’s ooc behavior with WIll? Unresolved. His monolugue to El? Never addressed or acknowledged after the fact so also unresolved. 

I know at first it might feel like the monologue resolved the problems between Mike and El, but the truth is that every watcher KNOWS that it was brought upon by Will’s sacrifice. That makes it feel WRONG. It was the result of LIES. 

Lies are what are keeping the Jancy storyline open and I have reason to believe it’s the same for Mike and El. We haven’t seen the end of their characters’ arcs at all. It’s going to conclude in S5, this was just the beginning. 

#byler #do i know how they will actually conclude their character arcs #no #i'm still 50/50 about it #they can go both ways #but the thing is #it's the last season #there's nobody to answer to anymore after this #they can do whatever they want #and that's a scary thought #but maybe it's also good for us? #who knows #i think i will be able to tell based on how El reacts to Mike's monologue #and i think they didn't show that to us on purpose

[nyxi-pixie]

BUCKLE UP BASTARDS THE CLOWN CAR IS IN GO MODE

ok i KNOW im reaching here dont tell me but

is it too out of line to say that will looking to mike for how to deal w snowball girl lowkey parallels mike looking to will for how to deal with el😭😭😭

like (sorry in advance for shit gifs i made them in like 5 mins flat okay)

oh dear a crisis! how should we respond to this woman???? we dont know😟😟

ah a masterplan has formed i shall take advice from my best bropal!!

that worked so well i will now follow said advice only bc they gave it to me while they look sadly on bc theyve just fucked over their own chances in the name of doing what they think is best for me (and/or others)😁😁😁

and obviously these scenarios vary A FUCK TON in how serious they are. like obviously els like straight up passing away so thats yk a lil more high stakes. but like reaction wise???

thats. they. they just naturally respond to each others 'wtf do i do' moments by reassuring each other. which is so🥰 i love them theyre so attuned to each other

BUT ALSO they react by encouraging each other to pursue straight relationships. bc when it comes to their feelings for each other theyre both fucking stupid but also very self sacrificial. obviously we see this more with will. bc like. ofc we do that boy fr hates himself like

this man is fully ready to throw out every chance possible w mike to keep the milkvan on the road. (hes literally their mechanic. like without him it wld have fully exploded and all the mouldy milk wouldve just gone all over the road and probably really screwed up the local ecosystem. ok the van analogy is going too far im so sorry back on topic.) and i think this Is definitely motivated by a care for mike and a genuine want for him to be happy (no matter who he finds that happiness with) But i think its also important to realise that mike isnt the only one with internalised homophobia.

wills insistence on mike loving el despite the fact that mike has implied otherwise to wills face several times kinda shows that wills mindset on this is partially based in the whole "he Needs to stay in his safe straight relationship bc otherwise i would have a chance (in that mike wouldnt be restrained by having a gf and thus wld be able to date other people) and that would just be so terrible and awful"

and we literally see him do this. mike is going to this man basically being like 'omg our relationship is so broken i dont think we can come back from this fight Will!! u Definitely shldnt tell me to break up w her or anything that would be so crazyyy😁😁(PLS TELL ME TO BREAK UP W HER PLS I DONT LOVE HER)' and wills just like "🙃😁yeah um u can tell her u love her when we see her again😁😁😥😥😥😥😥😥"

like i know we joke abt will being the reason melvin are together. but. he literally is. bc mike honestly seems (n maybe this is just my insane delulu interpretation) like he wants to break up w her and was looking for support on that decision from will. and els on her slay arc which is why she doesnt give a singular shit abt mikes cringe monologue. will fr the only one invested in microdickvan because hes Intentionally Sabotaging his chances w mike.

which brings me to the actual fucking parallel bc MIKE DOES THE SAME FUCKING THING AT THE SNOWBALL. he pushes will into accepting a dance w a girl bc then he doesnt have to keep thinking abt how He wants to dance w will. (and we know he does bc he and dustin are sat there with Identical 'my crush is dancing w someone else😥' faces. so like. rip to mike but his very intelligent foolproof plan of not thinking abt dancing w will absolutely flopped)

anyway both of them have the exact same 'if i push bestie into relationships w women then i will magically resolve my gay feelings and not have to confront them' mindset. i think people forget that will Does sabotage himself a lot just bc we always talk abt mikes internalised issues. like will canonically thinks of himself as a mistake and thinks he deserves to get treated like shit🙃🙃🙃

anyway this kind of makes the whole shit writing point of making will the 'sad gay boy pushing for the love of his life to have a happy straight relationship' make sense in a way that isnt totally awful. the diffused shitbags could never.

#byler #listen. this was not supposed to be this long #i just wanted to make a joke abt how the snowball and the monlogue are lowkey similar #and then i got sad abt the internalised homophobia leading to fucking urself over thing #its just #ouch #mike wheeler is gay #he literally is are u going to disagree with me #speaking of disagreeing i lowkey wanna know what u guys think of this bc im totally pulling it out of my ass but like??? #i dont think its totally baseless #so #mike wheeler i know what you are #i swear so much jfc proof reading this was wild sorry abt that one guys its important for emphasis

[oursonwithagirl]

the issue with mike’s love confession to el in season 4

this all revolves around michael wheeler. mike’s recurring problem in seasons 3 and 4 has been vocalizing his love to his girlfriend. he’s said it when he was surrounded by people which he claims was “heat of the moment”. yet it’s shown time and time again that he can’t get it out to eleven unprompted. (keep in mind that the only other person shown on the show to also have this issue is nancy, who couldn’t express her love vocally to steve because she wasn’t actually in love with him.)

this perspective contrasts greatly with el, who can vocalize it and mean it. this says a lot based on her neglectful and abusive childhood and how she really only starts to learn what love even is at the age of 12. eleven is being open and vulnerable in the relationship and this is clear in the show. mike shouldn’t have any reason to believe that his love isn’t being reciprocated by her.

mike’s monologue to el in the s4 finale is riddled with cliches “i feel like my life started the day i found you in those woods”, untrue statements “i’ve never felt scared of you”, and overemphasis “i’ve loved you every day since. i love you on your good days. i love you on your bad days”. overemphasis of phrases is used a lot in persuasive techniques to convince people of things. (kinda like the “we’re friends. we’re friends.” in which mike was trying to convince himself.) within mike’s confession, he finally gives his reason for not being able to say ily to el. it’s this: “i’m scared one day you’ll realize you won’t need me anymore. i thought that if i said how i felt, it would somehow make that day hurt more”.

based on mike’s excuse, he knows that he loves el, he just can’t say it to her, but he still wants her to know it. he tries to make her feel loved more through his actions than his words. by this point, eleven also knows mike loves her, but she wants to hear it. mike is hyper aware that he’s dodging these words: “i’m sorry i don’t say it more” ummm you never do. mike is anticipating that eleven will eventually leave him and when it occurs, he’ll feel better knowing he didn’t tell her that he loved her. 🤔 but the thing is, the day she leaves him will already hurt mike bc he understands intrinsically, without speaking aloud, that he loves el. interesting.

it’s important that this issue doesn’t have at all to do with will specifically, it’s about mike himself and his internal battle with the way he feels about eleven. mike’s character during the past 2 seasons has been about obsessing over his girlfriend, unless there is something deeper there (internalized homophobia, repression, and hiding from truth).

there were many other ways for mike to explain why he was not able to vocalize ily to el, and here are a few

- the whole parents not loving each other reason. this explanation actually circulated around quite a bit on social media before volume 2 was released. this really could’ve been given some time had it been explored. however it wasn’t mentioned in the slightest.

- vulnerability: it can be hard to say the word “love” bc the person trying to say it can feel weak and exposed to the people that they’re admitting it to or even any people that happen to hear them say it. but mike does say that he loves her in front of many close family and friends in s3 so this argument has no support.

- ptsd and trauma: again, another super valid and realistic way that his inability to express his love verbally could’ve been shown. yet in mike’s case, he’s one of the characters on the show that is seemingly unaffected by his life events. as finn once said in an interview “deep down there’s some trauma, but that doesn’t come out”.

basically, mike doesn’t mean it, not in that way. which he doesn’t think is okay or acceptable. given the way he reacts so hurt to the bullies in s1 when they make fun of will by insinuating that he’s gay, i’m sure mike’s at least partially aware of what will was subjected to by lonnie. bc of the time period and what his best friend went through, he does not want that for himself. so he pushes it back, and tries to reverse his thinking, his actions, his feelings. and when the opportunity arises for him to be normal and get a girlfriend, he jumps at it.

but why doesn’t he just lie about it right away then? maybe cuz of what happens early in season 3. with the help of max, el establishes that lies in relationships are bad, mike eventually stops this and isn’t able to vocalize romantic love to el. but in s4 he learns through will that el lied to him while she was away and even on their first day back reunited, so maybe he takes that as being okay to also lie and do the same to her again. at least in a moment where it comes down to saving her life right ? 😃 also… anyone else curious if mike is gonna be able to say it to her in season 5 just normally now?

this season seemed to showcase that mike ultimately would’ve rather had el leave him than live his life even further in a lie by not meaning what he’s feeling and what he says to her. it was building up to this in episodes 1-5. the desert scene with will was really helping him come to this realization, and after all, in a week he’s flying back to hawkins for who knows how long and spending more time away from her. the only time he would put up with this big of a lie, worst case scenario, is if it were to possibly save her in life or death situation. voila monologue

but idk lol

#byler #byler proof #mike wheeler i know what you are #will byers #mike wheeler #el hopper #stranger things analysis #stranger things season 4 #mike wheeler analysis #mikes monologue

[willel]

But it would be so angsty. Like Will is too doormat to say anything, and knows El does it, because she is good sister and wants him to be happy, but he is really uncomfortable and it just reminds him he's different. He wails in his room alone, wondering does he should tell El the truth, how would she react?

Yeah. It's hard to gauge whether Will would tell El or not. I think he'd just insist to her that he isn't interested in dating and everything he says about dating is just hypothetical.

But El is pretty sharp even if she's missing some important social cues. There's no way she'd believe him but she might be confused and concerned on why he's lying about it so hard.

I also feel like El will figure out Will is gay herself, and maybe not in the best way?

By that I mean I feel like she'll spot the lie when Mike tells her about the painting and how Will "told him everything" etc etc and that's how he was able to have to courage to express himself.

But El NEVER knew what Will was painting. So she'd confront Will about it. "Friends don't lie. Why did you lie to Mike? Didn't you scold me for lying to Mike???"

And maybe based on Will's reaction, she'll put the pieces together. Problem is, I don't know how she'd feel about that? How would you feel if your bro is in love with your boyfriend? Anyone's thoughts on that?

Either way, despite what she may or may not be feeling, I feel like El might actually tell Will to tell Mike the truth, no matter what the outcome is. Of course she can't force him, just like Will didn't force El to tell Mike the truth at the skate rink. But yeah.

Thoughts?

BIG REMINDER: I feel like I need to say this now given a reaction to a post I had a few days ago. I DON'T SHIP THESE SHIPS. I literally only care about Will and El's feelings and reactions in this case, so please keep it chill. Ok? I ain't about that.

#stranger things #will byers #el hopper #willel #ask

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

My friends and I occasionally play that made-up game called "Kerfuffle" - A bit like DnD but with everyday life tasks and not as nerdy (sadly :D). You pick a random politician, TV char., etc. and try to overcome some challenges in a way you assume they'd do it. Last time we played, I obv picked s.o. from ST - Joyce. That was when a random thought crossed my mind: If s.o. were to name each ST main character's greatest weakness/ strength, what would be the outcome? I immediately thought of you. :D

Ok, now that the election is over, and my anxiety has come back down to its usual “only a little high” status, it’s back to business here. This is an interesting question from my pal @sollody here. I’m not going to be able to go too much into depth given the breadth of the question here, but it’ll be a nice look at several characters. Perhaps this will result in requests for more in-depth looks at some of them individually. For the sake of having a defined meaning of “main character,” I am only going with characters who were in all three seasons and were directly involved in the action (sorry, Mr. Clarke). I will make an exception for Max, as she’s just too central to leave out.

The Party

Mike

Greatest Strength: Determination. Once he sets his mind on something, he does everything in his power to see that it happens. Do not try to come between Mike and his objective. God help you if you try to stop him when his objective involves Will or El.

Greatest Weakness: A lack of emotional intelligence. Mike reacts to his emotions as they come. There’s no apparent self-awareness, and this results in impulsive behavior that leads to negative outcomes for himself and his relationships. The feelings themselves aren’t the problem. Mike just doesn’t understand them enough to react appropriately.

Will

Greatest Strength: Quick thinking. I was tempted to mention his compassion, but really Will’s greatest asset is his mental acuity. Since season 1 he has shown an impressive capacity for quick thinking in stressful situations.

Greatest Weakness: Insecurity. Will has self-esteem issues resulting from not only the Upside Down situation, but also more mundane personal and family experiences. He worries about how people view him and fears that he’s being left behind. This leads to him keeping important things to himself, things nobody, especially a child, should be expected to deal with alone.

Lucas

Greatest Strength: Rationality. Lucas has generally been the member of the party with the most down-to-earth mindset. Regardless of all of the supernatural goings on, Lucas has tried to view things realistically. His approaches to the events of the series have typically been the most practical, skeptical, and grounded. Ironically, this actually does make him a good Winston, though I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell him this.

Greatest Weakness: Overconfidence. Lucas is very sure of himself, sometimes too much so, even when warned off by others. From being sure that El was trouble, to risking a beating from Billy, to thinking he’s some suave expert on women, Lucas has made trouble for himself and his friends. He doesn’t meant to, of course, and a lot of this may come from some desire to “be a man.” Lucas needs to learn to accept himself as he is.

Dustin

Greatest Strength: Curiosity. Dustin is always looking to learn more about anything and everything. Nothing is too weird or off-putting for him. His knowledge has come very much in handy for the Party, and this general attitude has led to him accepting the supernatural events in stride.

Greatest Weakness: Recklessness. Dustin, in his pursuit of satisfying his curiosity, or some other goal, can fail to see clearly obvious dangers. Find a strange creature? Raise it yourself. See a strange growth in the underground tunnels? Go get a closer look. Find out about a possible Russian base in the mall? Let’s go check it out! His goals are often admirable, but his approach is often foolish.

El

Greatest Strength: Adaptability. El has managed to escape a government facility, survive in the woods, and travel to unfamiliar locations despite her young age. While she has been somewhat dependent on her powers, she’s managed to accomplish some impressive feats for someone who hasn’t had anything close to resembling a normal upbringing.

Greatest Weakness: Ignorance. This isn’t the “you’re so ignorant!” meaning of the word. I mean it in the truest sense of the word: El just lacks a lot of information in life. Most critically, she’s emotionally and socially unaware. A lot of her schemas for relationships come from TV shows and what little she picked up from Mike in season 1. She’s gotten somewhat better as the seasons moved on, but there’s just a lot she doesn’t know. This had led to her being suspicious, angry, and possessive (specifically of Mike), harming her relationships with others.

Max

Greatest Strength: Acceptance. Max doesn’t unduly judge anyone. Her issues with Mike stemmed from his treatment of her. Aside from that, some light teasing aside, she was more than happy to accept the Party as her friends. She didn’t let Lucas’ race get in the way of their mutual attraction, despite knowing what Neil and Billy would think about it. She wanted to be El’s friend from the start, and, despite being harshly rebuffed at first, she accepted El when she sought Max out in season 3. It’s really a testament to how determined she is to not continue the cycle that Neil and Billy brought into her life.

Greatest Weakness: Family. Honestly, Max’s biggest drawback is her home life. She’s worried that she may end up going down the same angry, abusive road as Billy and Neil. She’s mistrustful, snarky, and blunt even when not worked up, behaviors she likely developed due to exposure to Billy and Neil. She also seems to still love Billy despite his abusive behavior. This sort of family dynamic can be very damaging (and it was probably just as harmful to Billy). Hopefully, Max’s found family serves to offset the harm done by her “real” family.

Older Teens

Nancy

Greatest Strength: Determination. It must be a family trait. Nancy is relentless, and she will get to the truth of the matter, one way or another. Nobody, and indeed no monster, will keep her from what she’s after.

Greatest Weakness: Egocentrism. Nancy can easily lose sight of how things impact those around her. Her desire to prove herself has left her somewhat blind to the difficulties other people face. She has trouble relating to people from other situations.

Jonathan

Greatest Strength: Compassion. Jonathan has sacrificed a great deal for his family, and he’s apparent done it without any noticeable resentment. His treatment of Will resembles the ideal that a lot of parents hope for in their kids (though in reality Mike/Nancy or Lucas/Erica is the more realistic outcome). Jonathan just wants those important to him to be happy.

Greatest Weakness: Social Awkwardness. Jonathan has a great deal of trouble interacting with other people. This likely stems from his family situation, as his father leaving left his family as pariahs of sorts, and it also left him having to be a sort of father figure when he should have been able to be a regular teenager.

Steve

Greatest Strength: Courage. Yes, Steve has been freaked out by everything, but that’s irrelevant. Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the ability to feel fear and not let it control you. Steve has willingly put himself in harm’s way for the sake of others in all three seasons. The only thing that scares Steve too much to overcome is social judgment...

Greatest Weakness: Insecurity. Yes, our buddy, King Steve, has self-esteem issues. This is why he’s always trying to play himself off as a hotshot. He’s simply too afraid to just be himself. Sadly, it’s only when he lets this guard down that he’s at his best. He’s made some stride at overcoming this, and I’m hopeful that he continues this in season 4.

Adults

Joyce

Greatest Strength: Ferocity. Do I even need to explain this? Do NOT threaten Joyce’s loved ones, especially Will. Just don’t.

Greatest Weakness: Emotional Reactivity. When stress hits Joyce, she reacts hard. It’s perfectly normal, given the level of stress she feels, but it leaves her seeming “crazy” and makes it hard for others to understand what she’s trying to get across. As a result, her message, warning, etc. is lost and her credibility is damaged. In less serious occurrences, she instead just comes across as belligerent or annoying, even though she’s generally right about whatever she’s on about.

Hopper

Greatest Strength: Compassion. Hopper is at his best when he’s trying to protect others. Despite having worked to close himself off from the world after his personal trauma, Hopper still feels compassion. He probably never wanted to feel anything for anyone again (perhaps why he returned to a boring town like Hawkins), but when tragedy struck it brought out the best in him. Though, that brings us to his weakness...

Greatest Weakness: Insensitivity. Perhaps ironically, Hopper’s weakness is the complete opposite of his strength. Hopper is a man who runs hot and cold. Which version of him that you get depends on his mood. If you get his bad side, prepare for harsh words, and perhaps harsher fists. This may help him get the job done at times, but it harms his relationships. He has a tremendous fear of loss, which results in him lashing out fiercely at those he cares for if they do something to that risks him losing them.

Ok, that’s the best I could come up with. I’d love to read other people’s thoughts on the matter.

#stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #eleven #max mayfield #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #steve harringrove #joyce byers #jim hopper

[missaudreyhorney]

Little Magnum

Anon requested the idea of adopting a puppy with Jim Hopper and who am I to say no to something so fluffy and adorable? Major help was provided by chiefharbour here on Tumblr, plus harboursouce and hideloveaway on Instagram.  

1.9k words of self-indulgent silliness and mentions of other ST characters. 

Your friend’s dog escaped from her yard about 5 months ago and had herself a wild night on the town, getting pregnant with a litter of mixed-breed puppies. Most of them had been given out to different families but there was one pup left, a little boy with white patches on his honey-colored fur. El had subtly mentioned to you that she’d never had a pet before and you wanted so badly to get her one, as it would make her time alone at the cabin a lot less boring and isolating. There was just one last obstacle and his name was Jim Hopper.

Since he speaks very little about his childhood, you had no idea if Hopper ever had a dog before, or even any type of pet at all. Based upon the little he has told you, it was easy to assume that if he ever had a dog, it was strictly for hunting and probably slept outside or in a shed. That’s not the way you grew up though. You’ve always had pets and they’ve always been like family to you. You knew it was going to be hard to sell him on the idea of getting a puppy, but that’s why you had your strategy well planned out. All you had to do was tell Hop that the two of you were going to visit a friend of yours and once he saw the dog himself, he wouldn’t need much convincing.

On a Friday after work, he picked you up and drove you over to Jill’s house. As Hopper entered her living room, his eyes immediately went to the dog. He walked over to it and crouched down onto one knee. “What’s up, little guy?” he said, letting it smell his hand before he pet it. The puppy lavished the back of his hand with endless licks, causing Hopper to chuckle. This was easily the happiest you’d seen him in weeks, if not months. Within the first thirty seconds of him interacting with the dog, you could already sense a connection being made. He talked to it in a tone of voice that you’d never heard before. “You got sharp little teeth, don’t ya, boy?” The puppy rolled onto it’s back and Hopper rubbed its belly. “Yes, you do! Yes, you do.” You clamped your hand over your mouth to stop yourself from giggling. This was the first time you’d ever seen him act this way.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” you asked. “Yeah, he’s adorable. How old is he?” “Nine weeks,” Jill answered. “You’re just a baby, huh?” Hopper cooed at the dog while you and Jill exchanged a knowing look. “The vet said that’s a perfect age for them to find a new home.” He didn’t react, he just kept playing with the puppy. “You hear that, Hop?” “Yeah...” he answered slowly.

All the humor and happiness drained from his face as he connected the dots. “No,” he replied simply. “What do you mean? ‘No’ what?” you feigned ignorance. “Absolutely not,” he continued with a stern expression. You glanced over at Jill on the couch as she drank her Tab and minded her own business.  

“Can you excuse us?’ Hopper asked in his most charming voice. “We’re just gonna go outside for a minute.” Jill nodded, “Sure thing, hon.” The two of you left and stood on her porch. Smiling up at him expectantly, you took one of his hands in yours. “We’re not getting a dog,” he told you flatly, “especially not a puppy.” Your shoulders drooped with disappointment. “Why not?” you whined. “Because I said so,” he stated calmly. “That’s not fair,” you whined again.

“I don’t care if it’s fair. I work long hours, and when I get home, I need to be able to relax. I don’t have time to be chasing after a little dog, making sure it’s not chewing everything up.”

“Come on, Hop,” you pleaded, “I promise I’ll take care of it. You’ll still be able to relax.” You held both of his hands in yours. “Dogs are a man’s best friend, remember? You can do some male bonding together. He’ll be like the son you never had.” Hopper rolled his eyes at you dramatically, knowing you were laying it on extra thick to persuade him.

“What about El? I’ve never seen her interact with a dog, what if she’s scared of them?” “She’s fine with it,” you said matter of factly. “What do you mean ‘she’s fine with it’? How do you know?” his voice went up with a tinge of anger. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her we’re getting a dog. She just dropped a few hints to me before about not having a pet, so when Trixie got pregnant, I asked El what she thought about dogs and she told me she got along great with Will’s before it ran away.” You regretted saying those words as soon as they escaped your mouth. He wasn’t supposed to know that this was a setup.

Hopper took a step forward, his body closer to yours, his beautiful blue eyes glared down at you. “You little brat,” he scolded playfully, “you planned this all behind my back, didn’t you?” You pressed your top and bottom lips together tightly to suppress a smile. “You probably already have a name picked too.” You burst into a fit of giggles. “Magnum,” you declared. “Magnum,” he repeated with a chuckle and scrubbed his large hand over his face.

Determined and unfazed, you continued your pitch. “I wish you could have seen yourself in there. The way your face lit up. Can you imagine the look on El’s face if we bring home this puppy? Can you imagine how happy and surprised she’ll be?”

He gave a heavy sigh as a slow smile spread across his rugged features. “Alright,” Hopper said decisively. ”Let’s go back inside and get Magnum P-U-P.” You ignored his terrible dad joke like you often do. “Really? Are you sure?” you inquired as he opened the screen door. “I think my mind’s already been made up for me,” he replied. “You’re right. It has,” you stood on your tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek before you entered the house again.

As soon as the door opened, the dog ran to him and he scooped it up into his arms. “Guess what, little guy? You’re coming home with us.” The puppy licked Hopper’s face, almost appreciatively as if it understood what was going on. You couldn’t have been any happier if you tried. As the vigorous licking continued, he scrunched up his face. “Okay, that’s enough,” Hopper laughed then handed you the dog.

“I’m so glad you’re taking the little terror off my hands,” Jill joked as she gave half a bag of puppy food to Hop. He shot you a regretful look that you pretended to ignore. “We’re glad too, aren’t we?” you suggested and he rolled his eyes at you. “Yes,” he answered, his look of annoyance fading into a genuine smile. The three of you left in the Blazer and drove straight to the feed store to get a collar, leash, and new bag of puppy food.

In the month that has passed since then, things have been somewhat chaotic, with Magnum living up to his reputation as a terror. Every other word out of Hopper’s mouth seems to be “Magnum!” as he is constantly reprimanding the dog for something or other. Usually for tinkling in the house, as all puppies his age do. You’ve basically having to train them both; the dog to go outside, and Hop to take him out on the leash instead of letting him just roam around the woods by himself.

The puppy barks his tiny head off whenever Mike comes over, growling and even biting the boy if he tries to pet him. It’s the only bad behavior that Hopper actively encourages from the dog. Other than the unexplained animosity towards her boyfriend, El and Magnum get along swimmingly, with him being at his most calm when he’s around her, frequently sitting on her lap as they watch tv together. It’s probably because of the bacon you’ve caught her slipping to him during breakfast.

One of Magnum’s worst habits is that he’s a sock thief. Not just any socks though, they have to be Hopper’s. He ignores any that belong to you or El, as if he’s a sock connoisseur and those just aren’t up to snuff. You’ve found them hidden all over the cabin, though they’re most often under the bed or in between the couch cushions. While he is content with stealing them off the floor, his favorite method of theft is to take them directly off of Hopper’s feet. He bites the end and shakes his little head back and forth until they’re wiggled and yanked all the way off. Sometimes Hop gets mad, especially when the puppy accidentally nips his toes, but a lot of the time he allows it to happen because it’s just so stinking cute to watch.

For as much as Hopper complains about the dog, you know it’s just a facade. You keep finding empty bags of treats on the counter. On multiple occasions, you have arrived home to see that he’s been given a new chew toy. You’ve come across Polaroids not only of Magnum by himself, usually in those seemingly rare moments of slumber, but also of Hopper holding the puppy on his shoulder. The last time you were at the station, you caught him showing some of them to Flo as if they were baby pictures. The thing that truly cemented his love for the dog was the sight you discovered tonight.

You having to work on the weekend and El spending all day at the Wheeler’s house left Hop and Magnum alone by themselves. When your shift is over, you almost dread going back to the cabin, having no idea what type of disaster you’re going to be coming home to. As you unlock the front door, it’s eerily quiet inside, so quiet that it causes you to become concerned. There doesn’t appear to be any disaster at all when you walk in, which would be a relief if it wasn’t so far out of the ordinary.

“Hop?” you call out as you put your things down by the door. “Hopper?” you repeat a moment later and a bit louder when there’s no answer. A feeling of worry growing in your belly, you creep over to the bedroom and slowly move the curtain. Stealthily peeking your head inside, your mouth instantly curls into a smile. Sprawled on the bed is all six feet and three inches of Chief Jim Hopper snuggling with tiny little Magnum as they’re both fast asleep.

The sight not only puts your mind at ease but warms your heart. Up until now, Hopper hasn’t allowed Magnum to sleep on the bed, instead having him sleep on an area rug with a baby blanket on the floor. You almost want to take a picture, if not for your own sake, for the sake of hearing what Powell and Callahan would say. You refrain, however, knowing that the flash would likely disturb their rest. Instead, you slip into your pajamas and curl up in bed with your two favorite guys, feeling so grateful for the little family you have created.

#Jim Hopper drabble #jim hopper x reader #jim hopper x you #Hopper x Reader #Hopper x You #jim hopper fluff #PURE FLUFF #soft Jim Hopper #jim hopper fanfiction #gender neutral reader #I did it #Little Magnum

[mitchsmarners]

why do you hate stranger things 3 so much?

Okay so it’s been a year but I’ll admit, I still don’t think I’ve ever been REALLY able to express what it is about the third season of Stranger Things that just made it so-bad but I’m gonna try. Like short answer? For a show that got it’s whole thing from the importance of family and friends, season 3 shoved all of that aside for poorly written romantic relationships. Long answer?

There’s many things but I think that the biggest thing is that even with a pretty decent “main plot” Stranger Things 3 started off almost immediately from the get out with no chance of actually being good, because right away none of these characters were still in character with who we fell in love with, you know?

Joyce Byers, who at a serious base of her character, was an amazing and extremely dedicated mother spending seven out of eight episodes seperated and unconcerned about her children even when she’s suspicious that something was going on. Her kids don’t reach out to her either, even when the literal world seems to be ending around them which is very weird for both Will and Jonathan who are super super aware of how vital and active Joyce has always been in this fight and they don’t even wonder out loud for second why she isn’t there.

And Mike- oh, Mike, sweeties, my dude, I am so sorry- has, sure, always been kind of a little prick. Very stubborn and kind of struggles to see things from other people’s point of view but there was so much more to Mike Wheeler than having a crush on El. Something just does not sit right with me that I’m supposed to believe that Mike threw down on sight for the entire first season for El’s right to be considered a friend to Lucas and Dustin and then apparently, basically, actively took part in the season three concept that she.... didn’t have any friends, and wasn’t friends with anybody except him, and that she never actually became friends with Dustin or Lucas after Mike fought them so goddamn hard about it. It doesn’t make sense! AND NOT TO MENTION, that Mike sent two seasons- two- with an obvious view that saving Will or protecting Will was the most important thing to him and it still took what like? Four episodes for Mike to realize that something was wrong with Will and even then he continuously undercut it and I don’t know who that was but it wasn’t my Mike Wheeler.

LUCAS WOULDN’T BE LIKE THAT. Aside from the whole weird thing where they set up Lucas and Max has been an actually great relationship and then they brought back that season with a showcase that Lucas and Max basically break up once a week and fight continuously to the point where they both think that’s the most normal thing in the world.I just think that- and I know I’m not the only one- is that I am glad that we got a call back to the season one throwaway line that Mike and Lucas are best friends because outside of Dustin saying that, we never really saw it. Lucas seemed to really have little to no patience for Mike at any given point, and I get that, I totally get that. Like, season one they had the same goal- save Will- but they both wanted to go about it in a completely different way (i.e Lucas didn’t really want to waste time on the girl with the superpowers they found in the woods, because he thought their time would be better spent actually looking for Will) and then in season two, Mike runs around being a total dick to the girl Lucas likes and fucks off in end of episode four without word about it and has progressively tried to keep Lucas and Dustin from what’s going on with Will for the most point (because he doesn't trust Max and he was right in believing that Dustin or Lucas would tell this total stranger about Will’s trauma.) and I totally digressed here, but because I was glad to see Lucas and Mike being friends in season three, the concept was highlight they just- went about it so so wrong. Because Lucas has never been shy about telling his friends- and especially Mike- that they’re being fucking idiots. I cannot imagine Lucas actually encouraging Mike to pursue this crack scheme of chasing after El post-break up. Especially not the way it went down, which Mike immediately accepts that El has dump him and it’s over and then Lucas convinces him that it’s not. It very much does hold roots in the poor writing of the Lu/Max relationship this season, but Lu/Max was written the way it was so that they could have Lucas in Mike’s corner and Max in El’s corner to validate and uplift the horrible Mi/leven relationship arc this season in which Lucas for sure would not be in that spot whatsoever if it wasn’t for the poor writing of Mi/leven since the second they left the Snowball. Lu/Max is very much a support piece in Mi/leven rather than its own relationship, and yet Max continues to get her own storyline this season (as... yeah... as that storyline was) but Lucas became a casualty to Mi/leven this year, and only slightly differently to the way Will has been a casualty to Mi/leven... and Mike has been a casualty to Mi/leven. If your main relationship continues to assassinate and rip dry the characters both inside and around it, then it’s really time to take a step away from that relationship and determine if its working or if you just suck at writing for no foreseeable reason.

And like, I guess it’s fair to talk about Max here since it’ll be any easy transition in the sense that- Max Mayfield a casualty to Mi/leven. Like that meme with the people holding hands and it says “my character survived the Mi/leven relationship of 1985” and its Max Mayfield and Dustin Henderson. NOT TO SAY that Max’s character isn’t all over the board, it is a lot harder to decide what Max would or wouldn’t do regarding Mike and El. Because.... we never saw anything with the Max/El relationship outside of Max wanted to know her, and El absolutely wanting nothing to do with that because Mike smiled at her one time and El saw it. Mike and Max is actually a different story, and the more complicated relationship I guess? El/Max was good, even if I didn’t agree with all of the advice that Max gives El (particularly the we make our own rules concept, I fucking hated that and I’ll get there. Oh, I’ll get there.) BECAUSE Mike and Max are just... the Sharpay and Gabriella of Stranger Things. They feud all season for whatever reason, they make up and find common ground at the end, and then it starts back up and they hate each other with no explanation to the understanding that they found. And it wasn’t funny, there wasn’t anything about their rivalry that was funny or amusing or even really served a purpose outside of the fact that they needed to showcase the whole Lu/Max and Mi/leven crap so Mike and Max could be friends because the couples needed to be against each other so Max already needed to hate Mike prior to El coming to her for advice, and therefore the rekindling of their potential friendship at the end of season two was re’cont for that purpose. And it really wasn’t necessary because Max would have had enough going on without being in the middle of the weird Mi/leven break up, and losing her boyfriend. I think a huge like, obvious issue with Max is that season two Max left a lot to be desired. Understandably, season two was a lot bigger than the Duffers had time for so they ended introducing characters (Billy and Max) that we didn’t get to develop in their introductory season enough that where they ended up in season 3 was logical or sensical at all because Billy did nothing except be an evil piece of shit two years until the end where he decides to stop himself from killing this little 13 year old white girl and dies and suddenly he’s a hero who sacrificed himself for the greater good when he really didn’t. And seeing Max horrified and traumatized to him does make sense to an extent, she has known him and lived with him for a large chunk of her life and seeing that happen to anybody would be traumatizing. And people don’t get to determine how someone would react to their abuser dying, because you are not that person and you are experiencing what they are experiencing. HOWEVER, Max did not receive enough explanation from a writer or viewers’ POV for her defending Billy or believing Billy could be good to make sense when she spent almost all of season two avoiding her relationship with Lucas because she knew that Billy was racist and violent and horrible. Max grieving and being traumatized over Billy’s death and quite literally seeing his body, but her actions up to that point didn’t make much sense because not enough writing went into Max as a character since the beginning because she is a victim of the classic Too Many Characters, Not Enough Screen Time to Share.

Ha. The relationship between El and Will really needs to be it’s own point before I even get into them as characters. It’s so... It doesn’t make any sense to me why Will and El are like that. And I guess it does or it can trace back to Mi/leven. The idea that Mike purposely kept El from having any friends and Will would have been a victim of that, and the fact that Will very obviously likes Mike and that showcases in him... not like El??? because they’re dating. But I’m not sure how I’m supposed to believe that Will and El don’t have a connection? El saved Will’s life t w i c e and I’m supposed to believe that he hates her because she’s dating Mike and therefore that doesn’t matter to him and he calls her by a number instead of a name and he overly just seems extremely indifferent towards her at best. But I actually do believe, the lack of an Will & El dynamic is (besides being a totally missed opportunity) was like... blank brained of the writers, I think they genuinely just didn’t think about it because they were really caught up in the relationship drama this season they just didn’t bother to develop El and Will. Which is dumb, because of the whole “we’re supposed to believe that Hopper & Joyce are a good ship” but also supposed to believe that Will and El have never spent any time together AND THEY KNEW THAT THEY WOULD BE L I V I N G TOGETHER at the end of the season and they still nothing to give them any relationship growth at all, and if anything took away what little potential hits of a dynamic they had from the first two seasons. For the sake of what does not sort of look like a queerbait of Mike/Will OR best case scenario (still bad!) a love triangle between the three characters.

For a show that had two seasons dedicated to the importance of Will Byers, it was kind of weird to see him so shoved aside this time around. And this isn’t to take away from El’s importance. It’s not an argument over her being the main character- although I think it’s important to note that they original plan for this show was for her to die in season one, and while I’m glad she’s alive and they changed that, we can’t deny how that decision itself would completely alter the path every single character (especially characters like Mike and Will in particular) would have made. BUT FACTS ARE, this entire show started because of Will. That is something that cannot be argued. The Vanishing of Will Byers was the kick off of this entire thing, and every single main character aside from possibly Steve Harrington, are in this fight because of Will Byers. Not because of El. And yes, El is most definitely the ~stranger thing~ and the titular character of the show, it’s fucking ludicris to try and imply that Will is not pretty much as just as important as El. And so for season three to undercut everything about that and use Will as detection device (that only gave you about 15 seconds warning) and have his actual emotional storyline dropped in the 4th episode and only come up again in the sense of refusing to even hear apologies from Lucas or Mike, is the epitome of bullshit.

I’m just going to start off here by saying, I like El, I do. BUT- I’m very aware that El is a victim of her surroundings. She doesn’t have much of her own personality, she has from the beginning allowed herself to simply accept what other people tell her and do that. Say that, repeat it. The Best Time for El as a character was with Kali and her deepest moment of like, personal reflection is when she said no to going with Kali because she needed to go back to Hawkins and save her friends. That really set up a lot of really good growth for El, the idea she was becoming her own person and that she could move forward as herself, who she is, who she wants to be. And I understand the trauma behind her and why she has such an unstable sense of self but it was still disappointing to watch her revert back to following by example in her personal life while continuously forced to be seen as leader in any situation. She follows Mike’s example in the beginning, with Hopper and being super obnoxious but she’s also very quick to jump back over to Hopper’s side when addressing Mike later and burshing off what he’s trying to tell her (i.e your father threatened my life and I didn’t know how to proceed from that point and I’m sorry I lied to you) and she also word for word quotes Max a lot. Including situations which the boy she’s supposedly in love with expresses his discomfort in her. When El reveals that she’s gone into the the void and watched the boys doing whatever, Mike quickly jumps to point out that those were “against the rules” aka personal boundaries that have obviously been set between Mike and El for a reason and she shoots back that she makes her own rules, like Max said about a pretty different situation nonetheless, and invalidates what Mike is trying to say in that moment again. It also doesn’t really sit right with me that she plays dumb with Mike in that grocery store will he is clearly having trouble declaring love for her (which says a lot about how Mike feels) and then bringing it back up three months later, and using it as a justification for kissing him and declaring love towards him after he has said he didnt even remember the conversation she’s referencing from three months earlier and she does not say “I love you” she says “I love you, too.” Which is so very different, because it is her literally acknowledging that she sat there and played dumb (not didn’t understand, which is totally different, but did understand and wanted and enjoyed him struggling to say something) and they threw it back at him as a validation of their relationship- yet it was something he was unable to say to her. I think a big issue with El, is that she has somehow become somebody above being criticized for her actions. What was wrong with Mi/leven this season is not 100% an issue with Mike Wheeler, El very much had a hand in that destruction and with how the season ended, I don’t doubt that she was will  have an even larger hand in the problems going forward because El is smart, and she understands shit, but she pretends that she doesn’t when it’s works for her. Being around Hopper and to even greater extent, the things she lived through in the lab, El is very aware of how to manipulate people and it’s a behaviour she is going to have to unlearn. She might not even be completely aware of just how wrong it is but nobody is going to tell her what she’s doing because I don’t even think it’s realized that she’s doing it and fandom itself chooses to ignore that she’s done it.

And I don’t know how a show that could create the iconic character growth of Steve Harrington is also writing all these other character development blunders, full stop.

#stranger things #st meta #stranger things meta #this is like 2k im so fucking sorry #i dont know if this makes sense #also i didnt talk about hopper and there;'s a reason for that #Anonymous

[serendipitous-magic]

Director's Cut: Real Season 3, your take on the theater scene

(For the “give commentary on a scene you’ve written” thing)

OKAY SO I’M ACTUALLY REALLY GLAD YOU MENTIONED THAT SCENE BECAUSE THERE’S SOME VERY CLEVER FORESHADOWING IN THERE THAT I’M NOT SURE IF ANYONE CAUGHT. (Ahem.) I don’t think I’ll actually point it out, so that it can still be A Surprise, but just allow me to say that I am stupidly pleased with ~something~ in that section.

That being said, I’m interpreting “the theater scene” as like all the way through the theater scene, like from the movie starting to after Will’s episode, so (rubs hands together) here we go. Buckle up, kids. I’ll put it under a “read more” line and hope that works (Tumblr has been so weird about “read more” lines, has anyone else had that problem?)

-_-_-_-

Will ranks movies based on how easily they can make him forget the outside world. A score of one means, what movie? and a score of ten means, what real world? 

This one is an eight.

Will gets swept up in the story, delighted by the clocks and the Delorean and all the old-fashioned ‘50s stuff and Doc Brown’s exaggerated facial expressions - and captivated by Marty McFly’s skateboard, turned-up collar, guitar, and handsomely rumpled hair. He’s even able to mostly forget how crisp the air conditioning is, in here. The air smells like buttered popcorn; his tongue is probably stained red with artificial strawberry; and for the first time in a long day of hiking and racing across town, he’s sitting down in a comfy chair. A good end to a good day. 

It’s long been a headcanon of mine that Will gets a bit of a crush on Marty McFly when BTTF comes out in summer of 1985. I mean…

C’mon. He skateboards. He plays guitar. He’s clever (“Whoa, whoa, Biff… What’s that?”), he’s funny, he’s handsome, he’s cool and he knows it, he’s confident… Tell me Will wouldn’t be blushing in his theater seat. Go on.

His mood is dampened just a tad when he glances over and happens to see Mike’s fingers linked with El’s, as per the usual. 

“Whoa. Whoa, Doc, stuck here?” Marty says from the screen. “I can’t be stuck here, I got a life in 1985! I got a girl!” 

“Is she pretty?” 

“Ah, she’s beautiful.” 

Will looks back to the screen, because he doesn’t want to see the meaningful, affectionate glance that Mike sends his girlfriend. 

I just had fun kind of using the movie to bounce back and forth with what’s going on in Will’s head - like how Marty, in the movie, says, “Ah, she’s beautiful,” and Mike gives El this meaningful look and Will has to look away. That was just so much fun to write. I actually had this scene of BTTF pulled up in a different tab while I was writing this scene, to refer to, so I could get the dialogue right.

“She’s crazy about me. Look at this. Look what she wrote here, Doc, I mean, that says it all. Doc… You’re my only hope.”

Crazy about me.

Yeah, crazy -

“Crazy,” as related to being in love, has been somewhat of a motif through Stranger Things. We’ve got, of course, “Crazy together,” but also “Only love makes you that crazy, and that damn stupid,” and, “It makes you crazy,” etc. And I do believe I’ll be using that motif a bit, myself, in the rewrite. (Hueh hueh hueh.)

“Marty, I’m sorry. But the only power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity is a bolt of lightning.” 

At first Will thinks that the sudden darkness is part of the movie. And then, when the audience groans and he sees that even the exit signs above the doors have gone dark, he realizes what happened. 

“Aw, c’mon,” Lucas gripes from somewhere in the darkness.

There’s a general muttering and shuffling as the packed theater protests the blackout.

Spreading.

Where his hand rests on his thigh, Will’s fingers twitch.

It’s spreading.

The blackout.

This was kind of a half-callback to S2 where Will is trying to explain to Joyce and Hopper what he’s feeling/seeing with his Now Memories, and he says something like, “It’s growing, and spreading, and… killing.” 

Sweeping across Hawkins in a powerful, silent surge. He doesn’t know how he knows, but he does. He can feel it. Hot bulbs going dark; buzzing wires falling inert, lifeless.

Everything inside of Will drops. A horrible, sick, sinking, numb-cold swoop that starts to spiral somewhere in his gut, tingling up his spine and at the base of his skull, prickling at the back of his neck until one hand twitches up to press at the skin there.

It’s moving.

The knowledge comes to him unbidden, imparted to him with a sinuous, papery, reverberating flutter - like the sound of thousands of insect wings all beating at once, and Will wants to scream, he wants to bolt out of his chair, but he’s frozen.

His fingers are shaking. Something at the pit of his throat is shaking. His whole body feels like it’s sinking through the floor, leaving itself behind, his limbs going cold and weak as if he’s about to faint. His head swims.

I wanted to be as physical as possible with the descriptions of how the Mind Flayer feels. That little bit of dialogue we got from Will in that-one-season-that-never-happened actually gave some nice details: how it feels like dropping on a roller coaster, but cold. 

Sluggishly, as if in a dream, he drags his hand off of his neck and gropes for the seat next to him. His mouth is already forming the M, voice ready to croak out one single syllable, when his fingers rake through thin, cold air.

His first instinct is to turn to Mike. ‘Nuff said.

There’s no one in the seat beside him. There’s no one in the whole theater. The air-conditioned, popcorn-scented air has gone frigid and sour, and Will is on his feet. Turning in circles. Scanning the dilapidated space wildly, shoes fumbling and slipping over slick, fleshy vines. 

No.

No, no, no, no, no no no -

His eyes haven’t adjusted to the dark, but the blueish gray palette of shadows is so horribly, cruelly familiar. And the fluttering - that dry, hissing, grinding flutter seems to spike through his whole body, shooting through him from neck to fingertips to toes, making him grimace, driving his feet forwards in a panicked, instinctual stumble towards the door. 

It’s not real.

He tells himself that as he shoulders open the swinging door, coughs into his hands at the sting of toxins in his lungs. The coughing is as sharp as gunshots in the dead silence, echoing harshly through the darkness as he propels himself through the theater lobby. Spores drift listlessly in the stale air, bringing back a thousand memories, a thousand deeply ingrained instincts to run and hide and -

It’s not real. I’m not here. Not really.

He’s twelve years old again. Cold and alone and scared, the soles of his sneakers skidding on sludge. Jerking away with a half-swallowed sob as a fringe of dangling vines comb over his cheek.

Okay so Will is stuck between two conflicting reactions right now: a) instinctual, trauma-driven mortal terror, and b) complete denial. At this point in the story, he’s gonna be doing everything he can to convince himself that this isn’t real, it’s not really happening, it’s just a flashback, he’s just seeing things. But at the same time, being abruptly thrown back into the UD for the first time in sixth months is triggering a whole nasty slew of panic responses.

The lobby opens up into the mall, and Will comes to a halt. Starcourt is hollow. Storefronts devoid of products, of people. A few lights waver to life here and there as he passes, faint and blue-tinted, their meager glow smothered under softly rustling tendrils. He’s acclimating to the silence, the quiet pressing in against his eardrums like a high air pressure, and now his ears are picking up on the barely-detectable whispers and chitters of the Upside Down. The sound of vines growing, moving, shifting. The sound of creatures skittering into the shadows, somewhere unseen.

Like Dart, something in the back of his mind whispers. 

The back of his throat opens, a call for Mike rising instinctually, but he bites down on it before it reaches his lips. He shakes his head, hard. Like he’s trying to wake himself up after nearly nodding off in class. He’s not a little kid anymore. It’s not real. It can’t be real. The Gate is closed. Nothing has happened since November. It’s just in his head. He can snap himself out of it.

And here’s that tilt towards the denial end of the spectrum.

His eyes squeeze shut. He clenches his fists at his sides, splays out his fingers until the tendons ache, breathes five long breaths. His throat scratches with the cold, acrid air, but he forces himself to breathe smoothly. The chittering grows louder, darting past him, coming close enough that he can feel something brush past his shoelace. But it’s not real. He won’t cringe away. He won’t let these memories control him. He won’t. 

When he opens his eyes, he’s still there.

His skin crawls. His eyes trace up, over the shadowy silhouettes of the food court, over the vine-choked space above, past the neon STARCOURT sign that gutters and flares in sporadic bursts. And beyond the great glass skylight, there’s a shape. Dark - dark as the void of space, like a hole cut out of the universe. Looking at him. Watching him. The numb-cold swoop drains through him again, stronger this time as the Mind Flayer’s featureless head lowers towards the skylight.

A broken whimper twists in Will’s chest. Fear takes over. His mind goes blank, body reacting on animal instinct as his feet shove him back, away -

Aaaand we’ve tilted back in the direction of panic and terror. Whoo.

No -

No, please -

Hey do y’all remember how when they started burning the tunnels in S2, if you listened closely, Will said something garbled that sounded like “No, please -!”?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Lights flare at random, strobing, flickering across the length of the mall, static popping in Will’s clothes, and oh god he sees him, he knows Will is here, he’s looking at him -

Will can feel him beckoning. Calling to him. He’s getting closer, pressing down towards the glass, and Will can hear the whooshing, rumbling roar, muffled through the roof, and he’s still backing up, back into the theater lobby, lungs pistoning behind his ribs - Go away! Go away! Go - dread and powerlessness and panic cutting through him in sharp, icy waves, and not again, please not again, it’s not real it’s not real it’s not real, please please -

An abrupt grip on his upper arm makes him sputter, his scream getting tangled up in his mouth before it can come out, and Mike’s dark eyes go even wider with worry.

Mike.

Here I was going for the effect that they do in the show when Will suddenly snaps out of his episode and is back in the real world - yanno, where it’s all blue and gray and cold looking, in the Upside Down, and then all at once bam in the next shot the color scheme shifts and there’s Mike and he’s back in the real world?

Mike’s oh-so-familiar features, lit by the warm gold-and-pink glow of the lobby displays. The smell of buttered popcorn. A curious glance or two from the people milling around, who doubtless just witnessed Will’s erratic flight. 

Relief swells so abruptly in Will’s chest that it bubbles up over his lips as a watery laugh. 

Not real.

His head whips up, scanning the skylights that are just visible beyond the overhang of the second level. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. He’s not there. Will’s heart is wobbling hard between his lungs, adrenaline pounding at his temples and fingertips, and his -

His shoes. They’re wet. The soles slimy with the residue of… of…

Soda. He must have stepped in some soda. Yes - yes, there. There’s a banana-yellow caution, wet floor! sign propped up a few yards away. He just stepped in something as he crossed the lobby, that’s all. He breathes hard, consciously slowing the push-pull of his diaphragm, clearing out the phantom chill from his lungs.

He registers all at once that Mike has been saying his name. Will focuses in on the face of his best friend - the tapered cheeks, nearly devoid of the baby fat that used to round them out. The smattering of freckles over his sunburnt nose. The dark half-curling waves falling over his forehead, one strand just barely brushing the eyelashes of his left eye. He’s staring down into Will’s face with an expression of alarm, and when their eyes meet, he repeats, “Are you okay?”

Hmm. Watcha lookin’ at, Will?

Deja vu is making Mike’s head spin. It’s a sick, sinking feeling, like realizing all at once that you’ve forgotten something important. Like thinking that there’s one more stair than there is, and stepping into empty space with a disorienting jolt. Because Mike has seen Will like this before.

Will is gasping for breath, his body trembling under Mike’s palm, his eyes wild. The skin of his arm is chilled from the air conditioning, peppered with goosebumps.

Itty bitty detail, but: Mike assumes that Will’s skin is cold from air conditioning, and not… you know… the Upside Down perhaps?

“Will? Are you okay?”

But Will doesn’t seem to hear him. His chin is tilted up, eyes flickering over the ceiling like he expects to find something there.

“Will?”

His breath begins to even out. His head turns, scanning the lobby of the movie theater. 

“Will?”

Finally, Mike’s voice seems to filter through whatever haze is surrounding him, and hazel eyes meet Mike’s.

“Are you okay?”

Something strange happens then. As he looks over Mike’s face, Will’s eyes lower for a moment, like he’s glancing at Mike’s mouth. And for a fraction of a second, it sets off an automatic response in the back of Mike’s brain. He shuts down the impulse as soon as it rears its head, but it was there: for a split second, Mike was about to tilt forward and… Well, no, not really. Of course he didn’t really think about kissing Will. It’s just that he’s been with El all day, so he’s still in boyfriend mode. It was automatic. 

Still, the impulse startles him enough that he drops his hand from Will’s arm as Will opens his mouth to answer.

And here we have some Repressed Internalized Homophobia! Because of course Mike only thought about kissing Will because he’s been with El all day, and of course he only dropped his hand because it surprised him, and not because he’s subconsciously shying away from anything too “gay.”

“Yeah,” Will mumbles. “I’m… yeah. Fine.”

Mike can’t help it. He pushes. “Are you sure?”

He’s expecting Will to be mad at him. To roll his eyes or snap a retort or turn away, because he hates when people fuss over him, and Mike knows he hates it. But instead, Will just looks back out at the mall for a moment. He’s rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. This must have been a bad one.

“‘f course,” Will mutters eventually. He scuffs one foot along the carpet, like he’s trying to wipe something off his shoe.

It was the blackout that must have done it. Will’s panic attacks sometimes come on with no obvious rhyme or reason, but when there is a trigger - say, for example, abrupt, total darkness - they can be twice as bad. He seems better now, though. Calmer. More grounded. Mike decides against throwing an arm around Will’s shoulders, in case he gets shoved off with an annoyed bark of, I’m fine, but he risks an elbow bump.

Again: this is the first “episode,” so I needed to establish a few background details about what’s been going on in Hawkins and in the Party, in the six months since we saw them in S2. And basically what we’re learning here is that Will has been less and less cool with people fussing over him and being worried about him. We saw that starting to happen in S2, and it must have gotten so much worse after that. Remember his speech to Jonathan? How everyone treats him like he’s gonna break, like he can’t handle things on his own? And then the Mind Flayer happened. Every time Will coughed or disappeared to the bathroom for three minutes, people would have been going nuts. And it probably drives Will up the wall. To the point where he’d start to snap at them. To the point where Mike goes to do The Arm Thing, but decides against it at the last second and aborts the movement and only kind of awkwardly bumps Will’s elbow with his, because he wants to comfort Will but doesn’t wanna get snapped at, and he knows Will hates that stuff. So there’s a little bit of a wedge between them, right now (well, another wedge, since there’s already the stuff going on with Mike ignoring the Party a bit for El).

“C’mon,” he coaxes, “They’re about to get the movie running again.”

Will turns at Mike’s nudge without complaint, and they fall into step side-by-side as they make their way back to their seats. The Party greets them with anxious stares and whispers of, “Is he okay?” and “What happened?” Will waves off their concern, putting on a mask of nonchalance, and tosses off a line about fresh air.

One of my favorite HCs (and honestly it’s basically just canon) is how Mike and Will just automatically fall into step with each other as they walk, since they’ve been attached at the hip since they were five years old. They’re so used to navigating the world at each other’s side, quite literally, that it’s a deeply ingrained habit to just sync up their steps, despite the difference of leg lengths haha. 

Also: the Party being concerned makes Will’s walls come up, and he “puts on a mask of nonchalance and tosses off a line about fresh air,” so we can see that he’s plenty used to pretending that everything is fine in order to wave off people’s concerns. 

Before they can question him further, the film reel sputters, and the movie kicks into gear again.

“A bolt of lightning!” Doc Brown exclaims. The audience cheers as the film resumes. Will sticks a twizzler in his mouth and Mike makes himself look at the screen. “Unfortunately, you never know when or where it’s ever gonna strike!” 

Marty slaps the Save the Clock Tower! flyer and thrusts it at the mad scientist, suave and handsome in his denim jacket with its popped-up collar.

“We do now.” 

Mike thinks Marty is handsome too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, can I just point out that Mike was watching Will eat a twizzler and made himself look away. Liiiitle tiny hints of Mike subconsciously repressing his attraction to Will there. ‘Cause… uh, Mike? Why are you staring at Will’s mouth?

-_-_-_-

Aaaaaand there we have it! You probably didn’t mean that whole thing, but… Sorry not sorry lol. I’ve been accused of not knowing how to make a short post, and those accusations are 100% accurate.

#asks #anon #the real season 3 #writing commentary #byeler

[creativeashproductions]

Uniform Romance 02 // Steve Harrington

Summary: Young and in love Reader and Steve make an impulsive decision that has lasting problems. Years after separating they come face to face with a challenge between them and lost feelings. But what happens when they meet agains years later during a time of crisis?

Characters: Reader x Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, Dustin Henderson (mentioned), Nancy Wheeler (mentioned), Chief Jim Hopper (mentioned)

Words: 2318

Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or the characters involved. Nor do I own any images or gifs that may appear.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, young romance, heartbreak

Author: Caitsy

A/N: Part two of three short blurbs. Based loosely on a Hallmark movie I watched a few days ago.

Master list

Prompt List

ASK US A QUESTION LIST

“Officer Hargrove.” You stated from the entry of your office, “Did you attend the anger management classes?”

“No sweetcheeks. I don’t have the time.” Billy smirked collapsing into the chair in front of your desk with a smirk. His teeth holding a tooth pick in his mouth while the sleeves of his blue uniform were rolled up.

“We talked about this.” You sighed looking up at him, “I can’t have you on the force if you’re going to snap at suspects. You pulled a gun on a kid that looked at you wrong.”

“I’m the best.” Billy chuckled.


“You’re suspended.” You blankly stated stamping one of the sheets of paper before getting out of your chair, “Place your gun and badge on the desk.”

You strolled out of you office into the busy room with a few desks and workers sitting at their desks. You ignored the greetings before stopping at the the receptionist desk where El was reading a book.

“Miss Hopper.” You spoke as the younger girl lifted her head up with innocent eyes and a wide smile.

“Chief Y/L/N.” She grinned with a pair of rosy cheeks.

“Can you mail this?” You asked passing the paper over to the girl. She nodded before you started towards your office again.

Hopper took a leave of absence, he was tracking Martin Brenner, leaving you in charge of six officers, and a up and coming detective. You were usually working or training high students to understand the physicality of being an officer. You vividly remembering joining the force and watching your father train Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers and Max Mayfield. Out of all of them only Max and Lucas continued on.

Max was a well respected detective, a feat everyone was jealous of, and the youngest one in history. She was often out helping other counties while also training officers driving techniques. You were hesitate with Max and Billy working together.


“Morning Officer Sinclair.” You nodded at the man before inconspicuously gesturing to your office.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas questioned once your door was shut tight.

“Have you heard from Hopper?” You questioned quietly. Lucas and Max were often the ones in charge of the less…normal side of Hawkins. Patrolling the pumpkin patches was a frequent job they did.

“No.” He spoke confused.

“He must be still out of service.” You sighed shaking your head before releasing Lucas from the door, “If he contacts you let me know.”

You spent the rest of the day doing paper work and calmly telling elderly Flo that her cat wasn’t something you were able to heal. You pointed her in the direction of the local veterinarian but for some reason they two never got along.

You were bored and tired when you got home to the childhood house your parents still lived in with your fiancé also. You were greeted with a kiss from him as he walked you to the kitchen where the food was already on the table.


“Thank you.” You sighed cracking your neck. The phone rang just at that moment leaving you to sigh, “Y/L/N residence. How can I help you?”



“I’m Mr. Shank.” Your family lawyer spoke, “I got your file and I’ve found that your still married to a Steve Harrington.”

You choked on air remembering the brown eyes and well kept hair. You were shocked to know this development. You hadn’t really thought of the boy you had married so young for years now.

“It’s annulled.” You hissed from the living room, “I’m getting married! I can’t be married already!”

“I’ve got in contact with Steve and I just need you both at the hall tomorrow morning.” Mr. Shank replied before mumbling off the phone to his wife, “I have to go. Mary is trying to put her finger in the socket again.”

You chuckled remembering the mischievous toddler Jason Shank had with his wife Angela. You went silent when he hung up and kept your phone against your ear. You knew you would have to at least tell one of your parents, most likely your mom given the way your Dad reacted, of your absence tomorrow.

“Babe?”

“Coming!” You exclaimed hanging up the phone and removing your uniform jacket.

The dining room was set up with small papers of different fonts and colours in front of your mother and fiancé. You nearly groaned at the sight of the piles deciding you’d rather get shot then sit through planning the wedding.


“This is a more elegant font.” Your mother explained to one of the huge amounts. You sighed leaning back in your chair gazing longingly at the living room.

“Simple. We decided simple.”

You ignored the conversation going on between the two of them to remember the times of fun and love you had with Steve Harrington. It felt like yesterday when you sat and remembered everything. The suitcase was tucked away in the back of your closet too full of memories to be properly put away.

“Y/N.” You snapped to attention hearing the exasperated voice of your mom.

“Sorry. Bad day at work.” You shook your head clearing it to focus solely on this wedding. You had been engaged for two years and has just chosen the date to work mainly for your parents and his.

“We can come back to this.” Your mother sighed, “What’s another two years.”

You winced watching her retreating back before locking eyes with him and glanced away when you saw Steve’s eyes instead. It made you uncomfortable how you were seeing parts of Steve in this relationship just because of that call.


“You should probably help her.” He admitted, “I’ve been avoiding the living room.”

“Go.” You softly spoke sending his sulking to watch some sports game he hated. You wandered into the kitchen seeing your mom holding a cup in hand staring outside.

“What really happened?” She asked.

You glanced over your shoulder before gesturing her to follow you outside of the house. You kept silent until you were inside the greenhouse she had kept for the last few years. The door closed before you turned to her.

“Mr. Shank called.” You spoke.

“And?”



“Apparently I’m still married to Steve.”

“What?” Mom spat shocked, “Your dad sent the papers in years ago!”



“I know. He told me. You told me. I signed.” You sighed leaning against a wooden box, “No one but you and Dad know we got married!”

“We can’t ask your dad.” Mom shook her head sighing along with you, “The doctor explicitly told us no stress.”

He had his third heart attack in the last nine months striking fear into the family and taking more of his independence away. He was on disability while your mother was working full time again. He was a shell of the laughing man you remembered and you were truthfully getting married so soon because he was all excited to walk you down the aisle.

“I guess I have to go tomorrow and see him.” You sighed shaking your head as stress built on your shoulders.

“You can do it.”

A new day with the sun breaking over the landscape was how you spent your time having gotten little sleep. You were on a tight schedule today with the approaching meeting and the atmosphere in Hawkins changed overnight. It was reminiscent of the Upside Down in 1984 and you were more than nervous it was coming back.

Hopper was AWOL leaving you in charge and with no ability to contact him…well you could say you felt unprepared. That meant all hands were on deck, even with Billy’s suspend ass, so you were going to the meeting wearing your uniform. Way to knock Steve on his ass with your mature changes.

The outside of the office matched in the inside with the white drab paint and dull coloured clothing on the employees. You felt the judgemental eyes on your Chief jacket and the femininity you displayed.

“Chief Y/L/N.” Mr. Shank jovially spoke as you slid into the office allowing him to take your jacket and hang it up.


“Morning Mr. Shank.” You smiled staring at the picture frame of his happy family, “Wher-“

“I’m here. Sorry I’m late.” The winded familiar voice spoke from behind you, “Am I in the wrong?”



“Mr. Harrington.” Mr. Shank spoke with a grin, “Been awhile. How’re you doing?”



“I’m…holy shit.” Steve gaped as you turned to look at him, “You’re an officer-“


“Chief.” You firmly spoke flicking your eyes over his body keeping aloof.

Steve wore black slacks paired with a starched white button down and loosely kept tie but the one thing that didn’t change was his hair. It was kept just as short as it was when you last saw him and some minor changes to his face and muscle definition but other than that nothing was different.  

“Wow.”

“Can we get on this? It’s a busy day.” You spoke turning your attention to Mr. Shank.

“Okay so I went through the paperwork that I could find. However the meaty part must have been lost in the mail. Meaning you’re still legally married to each other.” Mr. Shank said glancing through some papers neatly stacked, “Now I have a court time for later to-“

Your phone broke his sentence loudly, El and Lucas were the ones to integrate the cells into off duty, earning looks from both of them.

“Sorry.” You winced answering it, “Chief Y/L/N.”

“We got a problem Chief.” The frantic voice of Lucas spoke.

“What’s the matter?” You sat up straighter. God you recognized that tone of voice from years ago.

“There’s something odd.”

“Are we talking…?” You trailed off ignoring the looks from Mr. Shank.

“Max and I think it’s back.” Lucas spoke. You froze feeling icy terror crawl up your back and through your veins.

“Shit.” You groaned, “Tell El. I’m on my way.”

“Sure thing.”

You strode to the coat hanger grasping your jacket tightly before slipping the phone into the holder on your holster. You checked your gun and badge on your shirt before opening the door with a singular goal in mind.

“What’s going on?”



“Rain check the court meeting!” You called out over your shoulder slamming the outside door open before heading for the police truck.


“What’s going on?!” Steve called close on your heels with Mr. Shank.


“Chief! We need to clear this up for you to get married!”

“What?!” Steve exclaimed as he slid in front of you and your door, “What the hell is going on?!”

“Police business.” You spat reaching around to unlock your door.


“I can help.” He spoke.


“Bullshit.” You huffed stepping closer, “Move aside before I put a bullet in you.”

“Why can’t I help?”



“You ain’t police.”

“I’m a detective. Newly minted.” He spoke softly. You bit your lip before nodding towards your truck. He kept quiet on the way to the station glancing over every once in a while, “So you’re engaged.”

“And still married apparently.” You muttered shaking your head. He opened his mouth but El, Max and Lucas all flew out of the station towards you. Once they were inside Lucas was throwing out directions.

“Steve?”

“Lucas?” Steve asked surprised to see him in uniform.

“Been awhile.” Lucas spoke looking at him, “How’ve ya been?”



“Pretty good.” Steve awkwardly returned looking at Max, “So you’re an officer.”

“Detective.” She spoke earning another gaping expression, “Went to Indianapolis but hated it. Prefer Hawkins so I came back.”


“You’re so young!”

“I work hard.” She rolled her eyes while El kept to herself playing with the simple necklace she had received a few years back from Mike.

“So what the hell is going on?” You asked Lucas.


“I was on patrol on route thirty six of the hundred and twenty Hopper ordered a few years back. I heard this groaning sound so I check it out and I swear to god a tree was oozing this goo.”

“Shit.” You spoke groaning.


“What the hell is going on!?” Steve exclaimed, “Where is Hopper? Why is there two detectives on the force in a small town?”



“Because Lucas and Max deal more with the events that residents aren’t aware of.” You replied, “Hopper’s away on business.”

“Works out in our favour.” Max shrugged slouching down, “Don’t like one of the officers though.”

“He’s your step brother.” Lucas chuckled placing his hand on hers, “Of course you don’t like him. Besides he hates that you can order him around now.”

“Billy is an officer?!” Steve exclaimed, “How in the hell did someone let him join the force.”



“His impeccable aim.” You spat unhappily, “The ass toes the line more often than not but he knows what he can do without getting kicked off.”



“I’m shocked.” Steve grunted leaning back.


“He’s suspended until he takes anger management classes for the act he did recently.” You sighed coming to a stop at the abandoned pumpkin patch.


“Why are we-“

“Because the Upside Down is rearing its head again for the fifth time in the last five years.” You grunted moving to the back of the truck where Hopper had inserted a hidden compartment. You tossed a shotgun to Lucas and Max before grabbing the last one. Once loaded you started towards the woods.

Steve hung back before catching up. He left his gun in the safe in his car with his badge also. He was empty handed and severely out of his element. It had been more than fifteen years since he had dealt with the Upside Down.

“What have I missed?” Steve muttered to himself.

“Y/N’s getting married.” El softly answered him with a smile, “They bonded over you leaving town and Nancy leaving for college after a fight with Jonathan.” 
Steve froze blanking for moment.


“She’s getting married to Jonathan.”

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[themikewheelers]

(1/2) K but something that is so underrated (I feel) about mike and el's relationship is that mike understands aspects of el's personality no one else does?? like tbh the bike scene in season 1 episode 3 where el tells him she understands his feelings after being tripped by the bullies and when mike tells will that el would understand his feelings is SO SO UNDERRATED like eleven has so much empathy because of the experiences she has had which is why she is able to connect with sweet sensitive

(Continued) mike and also why she is able to forgive hopper when he explains about her daughter. like ahhh people don’t understand their connection is based off mutual understanding established from that bike scene AND I WISH IT WAS INCORPORATED MORE INTO FICS!!

————–

That scene of the two of them in the woods in s1ep3 will forever be one of my favorite scenes between the two of them because it’s all so casual and nothing about it is really IMPORTANT, but you can just see this amazing underappreciated part of their dynamic. That moment is really the first time the two of them start to understand each other and trust each other.

From El’s point of view, she’s just been blindly trusting this boy to take care of her, while she really knows next to nothing about him? She knows his friend is missing, and she knows about his friends and his family, but she doesn’t know anything that’s actually personal. And then she finds out about all his bullies at school, and she sees his scar, and I think El kinda has a moment where it hits her “I’m not the only person who’s been hurt like this before.” I mean, she’s seen other people get hurt before. She’s seen lab workers be hurt and killed, and she saw Benny get murdered, but those situations weren’t the same. She’s seen people get hurt before, but never in the same way she’s been hurt. What the lab did to her was bullying. At the end of the day, it was this intense, horrible, abusive, violent form of bullying. And I think it was a big deal to El to see that she’s not the only person who’s been victimized like that, even if Mike’s situation isn’t even nearly as bad or intense as hers. She can relate to him, and that’s a big deal for her. That “I understand” line has so much subtext because she really does understand and she knows what it’s like to have people who just want to harm you and she has so much empathy for him. She sees this sweet kid who’s done nothing but help her and protect her these past couple days, and she learns that there’s these people out there who relentlessly hurt him. And then that part of it connects to the other thing she said, “Why do they hurt you?” because she really just doesn’t understand why someone would want to hurt anyone like Mike, who’s been nothing but good to her since she met him. She can’t see how such a good person could be hurt and hated that way, and I think her realizing that is really important for her, cause we know she struggles a lot with seeing HERSELF as a good person and seeing herself as anything more than a monster. Seeing that even good people can be treated as if they’re nothing is important for her, especially after the lab had spent 12 years teaching her that being in there was what she deserved. Learning about Mike’s bullies makes her empathize a lot with him, and it makes her a bit protective over him, but at the same time it has this big effect on her because she’s starting to realize that she’s not alone and there’s other people in the world who’ve been hurt and bullied and taken advantage of the same was she has. She’s not the only one to go through this sort of stuff, even if her situation was way more intense than a schoolyard bully.

And then from Mike’s perspective, El is still a complete stranger to him. He knows she has superpowers, he knows her name is a number, he knows she’s on the run from people who want to kill her, and that’s it. He really knew nothing else about her at that point. And Mike is a very insecure person himself (partially a result of the bullying) and you can tell he doesn’t want to open up about Troy and he only said anything cause El asked. So then he does open up to her, and it’s a very brief moment, but he does get vulnerable, and I think he expected El to judge him. He thought she would think he’s weird, or she’d pity him. He thought she’d start to view him as weirdo, like the other kids at school do. Mike is an outcast at school, outside of his friend group he never exactly had the best interactions with kids his age. But then El didn’t judge him for it all, she understood what he was going through and she empathized, because she knows what it’s like to have someone who just wants to hurt you. I think that moment was just very special for Mike, because he was getting vulnerable, and instead of reacting with judgement or pity (as most people outside his friend group probably always had), El understood what he was going through, because she knows what that’s like, and she didn’t see him as any different because of it

I really love that moment, because it’s so short and sweet but it is a big deal for the both of them. I think that interaction was really the time when they realized they could relate to one another and that neither of them were alone, and as a result you can see how much they trust each other after it. You can instantly see how much more comfortable they are with each other and until the day I die I will believe that scene is the moment they both started to develop feelings for one another. It’s right after that when they finish talking and they’re smiling at each other and giving heart eyes and I will never be able to explain just how much I love that scene and how much I think it influenced their relationship

#IM SORRY i kinda just rambled on about how much i love that bike scene #but also yes to everything you're saying #mike and el have always been very in tune with each other's emotions #they understand each other so well #and that's a part of their dynamic i love so much #and wish was way more appreciated

[willel]

Will’s Powers

Here I am again. I’ve been quite busy lately. Handling some fun commissions, writing the outline for my big fic, and still trying to dissect what we learned from season 3. I’m sure I will write another post like this in the future when I have thought about it more, but for now, I have a few things to discuss.

Most importantly, this season confirmed Will certainly has powers. 

Before season 3 arrived, I sat down a few times and tried to figure out what would realistically be presented in the show.

Will will never be anywhere near as powerful as El or Kali because he’s not an experiment

Will won’t have any physical powers like being able to directly manifest the elements or move things with his mind

Wills powers would focus on sensing, feeling, and seeing

Season 3 confirmed all three of my theories on this front. He’s not as powerful as El, he doesn’t have powers that are ‘visible’, and it has to do with sensing.

Despite this, Season 3 still didn’t go nearly as far as I thought it would. I feel they let plot contrivances get in the way of more logical and natural plot progression. 

Plot Contrivances

In season 3, they had two main goals.

Kill Hopper

Make El lose her powers so that she couldn’t just take out the Mind Flesher with her powers or check if Hopper is alive

Apparently, the only way the writers could make this happen was to have El doing absolutely everything. No other characters were allowed to save the day or come up with a new plan or believe a problem could be solved some other way (except for Mike because romance). 

Jonathan wasn’t allowed to take the monster out of her leg. 

Jonathan and Nancy weren’t allowed to protect the group in the cabin from the Mind Flesher.

Jonathan wasn’t allowed to save Nancy in the hospital.

All the kids can only stand helplessly and watch El being choked for what feels like forever (until Mike was inserted for one second).

No one is allowed to help her. No one is allowed to protect her. No one is allowed to succeed because El needs to overuse her powers so that she will lose them and be unable to find Hopper or stop the Mind Flesher.

I think they still could’ve kept this plotline, but not also rob other characters of their ability to affect the plot. I will go through each scenario. I promise, this relates to Will’s powers.

>>> Jonathan wasn’t allowed to take the monster out of her leg.

There was no reason to make Jonathan fail to get the creature out of her leg. If they still wanted El to use her powers during this scene, they could’ve had El make the creature stay still long enough for Jonathan to grab it. She’d still be screaming. She’d still break the window. But Jonathan would finally yank it out and throw it. Teamwork. El still overusing her powers. It all works out. 

>>> Jonathan and Nancy weren’t allowed to protect the group in the cabin from the Mind Flesher.

I feel Jonathan and Nancy should’ve been able to hold off the Mind Flesher much longer. Jonathan should’ve been allowed to chop off one of its limbs and protect his brother and friends before the axe gets taken from him. Nancy’s gunshots should’ve also taken it’s toll on the beast and killed its extended limbs. 

El should not have needed to do anything until it burst into the ceiling and went for her directly. At that point, El would need to use her powers after they free her from its grip and she splits its head in two. Teamwork. 

>>> Jonathan wasn’t allowed to save Nancy in the hospital.

I think this scene could’ve played out much the same with a bit of a tweak. It would’ve been nice to allow Jonathan to get into the room through the window (why else show him starting to break it only for nothing to happen). Upon entering the room, getting the thing to crawl off of Nancy, and attacking the thing, I think another fakeout could’ve happened.

By that, I mean what happened in season 1 during Lucas vs The Demogorgon. Lucas shot it with his wristrocket and it went flying. 

Jonathan would hit the creature with whatever is nearby and suddenly, the creature is flung into a wall. And then El breaks the door down and continues her powerful display of strength to send the creature out of the window. Teamwork.

>>> All the kids can only stand helplessly and watch El being choked for what feels like forever (until Mike was inserted for one second).

This one aggravates me the most, it makes the least sense. 

While El is being chocked, multiple things should be happening. Max should be rushing in to stop Billy. Maybe she doesn’t succeed and is thrown back. Ouch, but makes sense. 

Lucas just shot his wrist rocket moments ago to protect Max. Why would he be frozen like this? He’s been in much worse situations and is already ready to shoot that thing. Before and after Max tries to stop Billy, Lucas should act as the next distraction and fling rocks at him.

While that is going on, Mike should be sneaking up behind him and hitting him with a pipe. 

And to keep El from falling, Will should be there to kinda catch her and pull her out of immediate danger from Billy grabbing her again. 

THEN El should get up again and fling Billy into the wall.

Teamwork. 

Spreading the Responsibility

Now that we’re through with those examples, let’s get back to Will’s powers. In their effort to make sure El had as much responsibility placed on her as humanly possible, they wrote what power Will does have inconsistently. 

There’s a few situations where the writers left Will sitting around or reacting way too late when they could’ve written him to be much more proactive.

When the Mind Flayer first starts possessing people, Will should’ve been getting bad vibes all the time constantly for every new victim, all culminating to the Castle Byers scene where Will can’t deny anymore that he’s back.

When they first suspect Billy as being a host, Will should’ve been able to tell right away that he was, but they all want to confirm it and go through with the Sauna test

When Nancy and Jonathan show up in Mike’s basement, Will should be able to put two and two together and confirm there is definitely more than one host, not just assumptions

Before they even entered this hospital, Will should’ve gotten bad vibes that put them all on their guard before going inside.

WAY before his brother and Nancy are attacked only a few floors up, Will should’ve felt something was in the hospital with them. There’s no reason it took him that long to feel it. 

After the failure of the hospital plan, instead of relying on El searching through the darkness (again, with the obvious purpose of exhausting her powers and nothing else), Will should have suggested maybe he can ‘sniff’ out the source. 

Will should’ve known the huge Mind Flesher beast is coming from them WAY before it’s down the street from the cabin or right on top of the mall. 

Now we will go over these points in detail.

>>> When the Mind Flayer first starts possessing people, Will should’ve been getting bad vibes all the time constantly for every new victim, all culminating to the Castle Byers scene where Will can’t deny anymore that he’s back.

I think it would’ve made sense if we saw Will reacting to the Mind Flayer more than twice before the Castle Byers scene. Maybe he wakes up in a cold sweat the night they went to see the movies. Maybe we got a scene of Will telling himself he was just imagining things. Maybe again the following night, he feels even worse as that’s the night Billy became a host and it’s a little harder to ignore. He starts digging his feet even deeper into d&d to distract himself still trying to convince himself he was imagining things. After all, El closed the gate so everything’s fine.

By the time the Castle Byers scene comes around, his senses are so strong and direct and pointed in a specific direction that he knows now it’s definitely not his imagination. To really push this point, maybe he even sees a glimpse of the Upside Down again. Or he sees through Billy’s eyes for the briefest of moments. Something that really drives home, “He’s back and it’s time to start worrying.”

>>> When they first suspect Billy as being a host, Will should’ve been able to tell right away that he was, but they all want to confirm it and go through with the Sauna test

On day 1 and day 2 of the season, we see Will reacting to the Mind Flayer. The first time, the Mind Flayer is miles and miles away from where Will is currently sitting in the mall, but Will can still feel him.

This means Will should be able to feel the Mind Flayer pretty much the entire time if he’s within range. I do not know the distance between the mall and that abandoned factory, but based on the camera zoom, it was pretty far.

The second time we see Will reacting on screen to the Mind Flayer, it’s when they’re walking up the hill and rats happen to be crossing his path. This proves it doesn’t matter if the Mind Flayer has a vessel or activated or preparing to attack, Will is still able to sense his presence.

That means, it makes absolutely no sense that Will didn’t feel the Mind Flayer in Billy at all. Especially because I doubt that Mind Flayer has been trying to hide his presence from Will, he probably doesn’t even know Will can feel him. 

>>> When Nancy and Jonathan show up in Mike’s basement, Will should be able to put two and two together and confirm there is definitely more than one host, not just assumptions

Adding on to the very first point, if Will had been sensing the Mind Flayer doing things the entire time, this would be a great moment for Will to put two and two together and confirm with the rest of the group that there is definitely more than one host. If he tries, he could possibly even come up with a estimate of how many people or be able to tell them when the Mind Flayer has stopped collecting people or when all the Flayed have died and become whole. 

On the last point, it would be interesting if while El is stuck talking to Billy in the void, Will has his own breakdown of sorts feeling every single man, woman, and child melting and becoming something huge. 

>>> Before they even entered this hospital, Will should’ve gotten bad vibes that put them all on their guard before going inside.

This one was especially bad. 

First they write it so Will can sense the Mind Flayer from miles and miles away host or not.

Next, they write it so Will can only sense when the Mind Flayer host is active. 

Now, they write it so Will can’t sense two active Mind Flayer hosts only floors above him until the lights start flickering and they turn to goo. 

See the problem here? Will should’ve detected something bad in the hospital before they even stepped inside and then we could really have a horror hospital scenario going on where they go inside knowing something is up and ready for action.

>>> After the failure of the hospital plan, instead of relying on El searching through the darkness (again, with the obvious purpose of exhausting her powers and nothing else), Will should have suggested maybe he can ‘sniff’ out the source.

This one is quite tricky. I’ve mentioned it a few times now, but the end goal here was to make El overuse her powers. This also introduced the very half-assed dilemma between Max and Mike on how El should be using her powers and everyone taking Max’s side. They all acknowledge they needed El, but to me, it was a little weird that they all stood idly by (Nancy was calling people) relying on El to solve the puzzle. It would make more sense to me if they were all trying to come up with plan B’s to help El find the flayed. 

That’s where Will would come in. He puts forth the suggestion, “Maybe I should try?” He did it all last season. He mapped out the enemy tunnels, he found Hopper stuck in a tunnel. He was even used to trick and kill all those soldiers.

Why not use what the past seasons have already introduced and built upon it? Why shift all this responsibility to El, more like OVER shift. El has been using her powers a heck of a lot and she would still need to use her powers probably to pin point exactly where the source is after Will gives them a general area.

>>> Will should’ve known the huge Mind Flesher beast is coming from them WAY before it’s down the street from the cabin or right on top of the mall. 

The others have been bad, but this one must be the worse. They write Will to be the warning alarm for bad stuff coming, but then when it matters the most, they have him touch his neck 10 minutes too late to warn them of anything. 

Will’s Powers Moving Forward

Now that I’ve run through how they could’ve used Will’s powers in Season 3 in ways that appropriately fit the plot, I’d like to discuss what I think should happen moving forward. 

One thing I want to note is how El’s powers have progression. She started with crushing cans and ended with crushing cars and splitting monster faces. With each new challenge, El rose to the occasion and her power became stronger and stronger. Emotional and physical trauma made her power stronger. 

Based on the semi-canon novel Suspicious Minds, the same can be said about Kali.

Day in and day out, they were pushed beyond their mental and physical limits to awaken more power within them. This is how I think powers are meant to work in the Stranger Things world. 

While Will’s powers are written inconsistently and weak borderline useless right now, maybe they don’t have to stay that way.

No, I’m still not suggesting that Will can or will become as powerful as El and Kali. As I said at the very start of this essay, that is impossible to me. 

What can happen is:

They become more consistent with the writing. Will can sense the Mind Flayer period. No sudden rules that he can’t only sense it when activated. No weird being unable to sense it at all even though it’s literally right above him

Will can use his sensing on purpose. Instead of waiting for goosebumps to overtake him, he tries ‘sensing’ on purpose. Like how the spell Detect Evil is presented in the D&D manuals. The player uses the spell to sense the area around them for evil and can sense evil, how many evil creatures, where the evil is, and how powerful they are.

He will regain the ability to see into the Upside Down, if he even lost it. Prior to season 3, I did not know what use there would be for Will to be able to see into the Upside Down. But next season it could turn out to be mighty useful. 

Wishful Thinking and Conclusion

There’s been many a fanfiction I’ve read of Will with powers. Some of my favorites include where he’s able to detect others feelings and intentions. Or precognitive dreams. 

Much like with the rest of Will’s character, I feel they really dropped the ball on this one. The pieces were all there and the powers he does have could’ve been very useful for this season, but they just didn’t use him. They didn’t use anyone appropriately and overused El to make this specific plot happen.

And make no mistake, this is obviously not hating on El because she’s awesome. I just feel bad that her character has no one who can consistently back her up or protect her. She’s left to do everything alone at the end of the day. 

I feel very strongly about Will having powers not only because he already has them and it’s pretty nifty, but I want El to have someone by her side that somewhat gets it. We have Kali, but who knows if or when she’s coming back and last we left off, she and El weren’t exactly on the same page. 

I don’t really think there’s room to introduce another superpowered sibling from the lab, it’s probably best if they never do. 

So, we have one kid that definitely has powers. Why not expand on them a little bit and have someone else who can shoulder the burden of the supernatural so that El isn’t doing it alone? 

In season 1 and season 2, it was always Will and El sharing the worst of it. Why then does Will “get a break” (aka plot irrelevance) but El just gets more hardship? 

I hope season 4 moves back in the more balanced direction of season 1 and 2, but I don’t think it will. An overwhelming amount of people loved this season and saw almost no flaws in how it was written or how characters were portrayed. And, to each their own. 

This simply means the show will follow the desires of majority of the fanbase, which I am not in, so nothing I said here will matter in the end. 

#analysis #stranger things #will byers