#why the upside down is stuck on the day he went missing just to be like 'oh yeah jk it's nothing LOL'

[bylertruther]

"there's no basis or case to be made for will having powers" okay then genuinely please explain any of the following now after watching season four:

why does the upside down look like hawkins and is presumably stuck on the day will arrived despite the fact that vecna was there first and has been residing there this whole time? if vecna was capable of reshaping the world, as he's stated he wants to do, why hasn't he done it in his own world? why is he so intent on seeking out the person for whom time apparently stopped if it's all just coincidence? if will didn't do that and he doesn't have powers, then why didn't time progress or the setting change once the teenagers got there? why was time only influenced by will and will alone if he has no powers whatsoever?

how was will able to call joyce multiple times? the only person we've seen so far be able to do something similar is eleven when she would channel what she heard through the radio. electricity doesn't work in the upside down, so how did will do that? why did it cause a shock and ruin the phone, the same way that the radio went up in flames when eleven did it, if he doesn't have powers?

how did he manage to wake joyce up at one point? (it could've been her imagination, but the show made it pretty clear that joyce had been right about everything the entire time even though everyone thought she was crazy, and will was wearing the same outfit but he looked and sounded distressed + exhausted like he may have been while hiding in his upside down version of the house.)

how was will able to see his mother and guide her with the lights to the place he was hiding?

how was will able to see the letters she wrote on the wall?

how was will able to light up the lights that fast and sometimes simultaneously? especially with the lights that were on the ceiling? the way he communicated with joyce isn't totally similar to the way the teens communicated with the party in season four. he's too short to reach the ceiling and he doesn't have elasti-arms or super speed, so he couldn't have been touching that many lights that fast all by himself with his own hands. if anything, it's more similar to the training exercise brenner had the lab kids do, because they didn't need to touch the lights (obviously) to control them. so, how do you explain that if he has no powers?

how did he acquire true sight before his possession? the doctors thought it was ptsd and all in his head, but just like with joyce, we come to learn that will had been right the entire time. the mind flayer was real and it was coming for them all and eventually it did. how did he know that? how could he have had such knowledge before it ever melded minds and bodies with him? no other powerless human could do that, so how do you explain it?

if will is truly a powerless human being, why did vecna hunt him down? we know that vecna stalks his prey before he strikes. we know that "the monster" followed will from mike's house all the way to the shed where they vanished without a trace. we then saw it stalk will again and eventually possess him. will said that vecna wanted to kill everyone else, but not him. why? we know that vecna doesn't care about people. so what did will have that he wanted so bad? what was it about will that made him more valuable to vecna—a self-perceived god among useless, pitiful, and brutish men—alive than dead? what was it about will, a supposed powerless and normal human boy, that made vecna want to spare him and use him? if he wanted access to the lab, weapons, or tools that could bring down entire nations and rendered millions around the globe defenseless to his attack, then he wouldn't have picked a sweet twelve year old boy who lives a tiny little life in a tiny little town who just wants to hang with his friends and play games. unless... he was the key to achieving his plans? but according to this argument that will is just a normal boy, why is it then that vecna did all of that if will isn't capable of anything?

additionally, we know that gates are opened with a psychic connection. when the psychic connection was made in that shed, will entered the upside down. there, he was hunted for a week. why did the demogorgons kill and eat everyone else, but never will? why did they only carry him to the library aka the source of it all? why didn't they treat him roughly or eat him like they did all of the others? will didn't suffer any serious damage from the upside down, so he couldn't have been "dead" for long when his parents found him. why was it different with him? why did he get special treatment even in hell if he's just a boy?

why does will still sense the creatures of the upside down even after he's been exorcised? how is it that the psychic connection is still there? how is he still able to know what vecna is feeling, the kind of state that he's in, and what it is that he's planned? how does he have this connection still even though he shouldn't if he's Just Some Guy?

if will was just a normal, powerless boy... then why did a self-proclaimed god try so hard to recruit him more than once? why did it hunt only him? why did this god want to kill everyone but him? why did this god deem him more worthy and useful in life and at his side than in death? why did it seek him out and not eleven, a girl who actually has powers, powers that were once stronger than his own even and that he clearly wanted as we saw in s3? why is the upside down stuck on the day will went missing, despite it clearly being inhabited by other creatures that we assume to be more powerful than him? why is will going to be central to season five, the season where it will all come to a close and we'll be learning about the upside down and more, if... he's Just Some Guy that had to brave it for a week and that's it? why did season four (and the show overall, but said outright and explicitly here in 4x09) reiterate that it has always been vecna and that will has always been his victim/in his sights/connected to him? why did vecna choose will byers, who some of you claim to be Just Some Boy, of literally all people on planet fucking earth to achieve his plans?

vecna stalked will. he hunted him. and when his plans were foiled, he tried again. when he couldn't do it his way, he sought to kill eleven so that he could absorb her powers (s3). and now, they're back in each other's heads. the silver cat fed when blue met yellow in the west, but they're back now and we've been told that this is only the beginning. if will is just another powerless human, then what is the point of any of that? how do you explain everything that we've seen? how do you explain the choices these characters have made and continue to make? how do you explain away the connection that they keep drawing our eyes to? the connection that shocked the duffers and made them ask jamie if he'd seen the scripts when he brought it up (that it all goes back to will, how everything and everyone is connected to will)? the connection that they themselves are saying we'll see clearly in season five?

that isn't even scratching the surface of all the obvious instances where they make it clear that will is vecna's narrative foil, because that would make this already gargantuan post thirty miles longer.

they wouldn't have done everything that they've done over the span of multiple seasons now if it was just for nothing.

it doesn't make sense if will is just some normal kid and a random fluke in the master plan. the writers could've had vecna pick anyone. they could have made it so that will's connection was severed or lessened, but they didn't. they could've admitted that will was just a meaningless casualty, but they didn't because he wasn't. it wasn't a random animal that took will, he wasn't possessed for shits and giggles, and he doesn't continue to have that psychic connection for no reason. they don't tell us that nothing is a coincidence and they don't have the characters themselves remind us that they need will just for it to be... nothing.

will knows what's coming, what's happening, and the condition of the person who will do it all. why have him experience all of that, and even be able to in the first place, if he's... powerless? how do you even explain the connection in the first place? no other character, not even the ones cursed by vecna, are able to do what he's done. how is that not considered a power? and how do you write off the hours of content that you've witnessed as nothing?

clearly, at some point you have to realize that something is going on, no? like, you don't even have to take my (one-too-many) word(s) for it. jamie and the duffers themselves have been saying it over and over again. so... honestly, what's not clicking?

#like i just genuinely don't get it lol #vecna is a big bad and you think he hunted this tiny nerdy little twelve year old for shits n giggles? #you think the writers are making will a main point in their final season and are saying that we're going to learn so much more about #why the upside down is stuck on the day he went missing just to be like 'oh yeah jk it's nothing LOL' #you think that vecna jus went 'lol sure why not' and picked a child with no connections no powers no nothing just because?!?! #like literally WHAT #VECNA LITERALLY HATES HUMANS HE DOESNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THEM SO WHY DID HE NOT WANT TO KILL WILL?!?!?! #why did he value will more than EVERYONE else!?!?!? IF HE'S JUST NORMAL?!?!?!?! #literally explain it to me genuinely bc i don't understand lol this is season five that we're headed into #i didn't think will had powers beyond his beast sense bc we weren't given any indication otherwise #but now that we know there was A Guy planning everything that it wasn't just random chance but A Person who is manipulative and cunning #and deceptive and ambitious and who is behind EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE SEEN SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING #and now that we know how the lights work and that that realm is stuck on the night will went missing and that gates are formed with psychic #connections and that will STILLLLLLLLL knows what he feels etc etc i just . I Just Don't Get It i don't get how you can think #there's nothing there? especially when the creators of the show are telling you he'll be a major focus? IN THEIR LAST SEASON?! #but no im sure its nothing. will did all those inexplicable things and the mastermind big bad chased him and wanted to spare him and use #him for shits and giggles or because the cuteness aggression was too much lol it means Nothing At All obviously #crazy together was in their auditions they Knew what they were going to do with will they're telling us that it MEANS something that the #upside down is STUCK on the day WILL went missing will spent all of season one trying desperately to go home he went to his house and his #castle to hide and joyce said that emotions can make time go really fast or really slow and one day vecna said Enough and stopped the cloc #k himself he created his own powers the duffers TOLD USSSS that it MEANS SOMETHING THAT THE UPSIDE IS STUCK ON THAT DAY #AND THAT WILL IS GOING TO BE A BIG FOCUS AND WE'LL BE GETTING ANSWERS AND THAT WILL AND VECNA HAVE HISTORY #WILL DID EVERYTHING RIGHT TO TRY AND ESCAPE BUT NOTHING WORKED AND THE FOUR VICTIMS IN S4 DID THE SAME THING #THAT WAS VECNA IN THE SHED WILL HAD A CONNECTION WITH HIM BEFORE HE WAS EVER POSSESSED WILL WAS STALKED THE SAME WAY THAT THE VICTIMS WERE #STALKED WILL IS ABLE TO DO THINGS THAT OTHER CHARACTERS CANNOT INCLUDING ELEVEN HE HAS EXPERIENCES THAT ARE ENTIRELY DISTINCT AND HE HAS #VERY SPECIFIC AND OBVIOUS PARALLELS TO VECNA BECAUSE HE IS THE LIGHT WIZARD TO HIS DARK WIZARD #WHAT IS NOT CLICKING !!!! am i missing something. do u think they would do all of that in EVERY SINGLE SEASON for it to mean nothing? #they're going to start and end the show with will but don't worry he's Just Some Guy? bro. duuuuude my GUY !!!! #mine

[moonhoures]

Video Games

🕷️ kinktober — day 1: angry / makeup sex 🕸️

pairing: jay (enhypen) + reader (g/n)

genre: non-idol!au, mild angst, smut

warnings: 18+, minors do not interact, explicit smut, established relationship, pet name: ‘baby’ (for reader), unprotected sex, creampie

word count: ~1.9k

synopsis: jay is seemingly put in the doghouse after forgetting to pick you up from work like he promised. but there are some ways he can earn your forgiveness . . .

a/n: this is not as ‘angry’ as you’re probably picturing, but hopefully you guys like it nonetheless 😅 enjoy!

posted: october 1, 2023

kinktober masterlist

One thing. You asked him to remember one thing. “Don’t forget, I need you to pick me up from work at eight!” You told him twice and reminded him once more before you walked out of the apartment to catch a bus. Jay nodded each time, even going as far to say “Seriously, ________, I’m not a kid. I’ll remember” when you reminded him the last time.

Yet, you stood at the front door of your job at 8:17 p.m, looking and feeling stupid. Your arms were crossed tightly over your chest, and your face was stuck in an immovable scowl. You knew you should’ve taken your coworker’s offer to drive you home, but you had put your faith in your boyfriend to do what you asked of him. How silly of you.

You texted and called him multiple times before giving up; he wasn’t answering and he probably wasn’t going to any time soon. I swear if he’s playing those damn video games, you thought with a bite of aggravation. You loved your boyfriend to the moon and back, but if there’s one thing you didn’t like about him it was how attached to his games he got. He was majorly competitive, to the point it was difficult to get him off of the console, especially when he was close to winning whatever dumb game he was playing. And heaven forbid he’s playing with his friends who only encourage his habit even further.

After ten more minutes you went ahead and walked down the street to the bus stop. Your nerves were on edge and your head was on a swivel. You couldn’t help but curse Jay in your head for putting you in this position and making you so anxious. Since your car was in the shop, you had been picking up rides from him and your coworker. You wanted to avoid taking the bus at night at all cost, which is exactly why you nagged your boyfriend to pick you up tonight.

When you finally made it home, the door flung open without care, dinging against the door stopper just in front of the wall. It rattled a bit; you had hoped he would hear it and be startled. But when you walked through the living room, you were even more pissed to see him on the game with his head set on, his phone turned upside down on the table in front of him. Of course he didn’t get my texts and calls, he couldn’t see or hear them.

You scoffed, not giving him a second look as you stormed into your room and slammed the door shut. You vaguely heard him say “Hey, baby” as you got in the hallway.

You decided to run a bath to cool off before you went off on him and said some things you would regret. In the mean time Jay had found it odd you didn’t answer him, his brows knitting together. He wondered why you were in such a weird mood, but figured you might’ve just had a bad day. He shrugged and reached for his phone to check the time. Maybe I’ll have time for one more match, he thought. The screen of his phone lit up when he flipped it over, several missed notifications taking up the entire screen. Some social media notifications were interrupted by five missed texts and seven missed calls from you. Each text asking where he was, how long he would be, had he forgotten? His heart sank into his stomach.

“Shit.”

Jay tore off his headset and quickly logged out of the game, running to your bedroom door. His hand shifted the door knob but was met by resistance when he tried to open it. He closed his eyes in defeat and sighed. His knuckles tapped against the hard surface a few times, “Baby, open the door. I’m so sorry I forgot to pick you up.”

On the other side of the door, you ignored him, turning off the running water in the bath tub before walking back in the room to get some pajamas.

“________, please open the door. I’m really sorry. I know I fucked up,” he continued, voice dripping with sincerity, “I know you told me multiple times, and you don’t have to forgive me. But please just let me apologize to you. I don’t want you to go to bed upset.”

You paused at your dresser. Your determination to stay mad at him was slipping. But your pettiness wasn’t, “Did you win?”

Jay arched an eyebrow in confusion, “Huh?”

“Your game. Did you win? It must’ve been a really important match for you to forget about me.”

Jay let out a groan of annoyance, not so much with you but with himself, “Look, I’m sorry, okay? Really, I’ll do anything to make it up to you. I’ll do all the chores this weekend. I’ll cook your favorite dinner for you. I won’t play my games tomorrow.”

He heard your scoff from the hallway, practically heard your eye roll, too.

“I won’t play my games for a week,” he corrected himself, “A month even. Whatever it takes to get you to talk to me.”

His heart pounded as it grew uncomfortably quiet. He didn’t even hear your soft footsteps, so his eyes became wide when the door in front of him opened. You stood in front of him in just your robe, your disscontempt etched into your face. If looks could kill, he wondered if he would be six feet under already.

“I told you three times, Jay.”

“I know.”

He frowned, looking more ashamed than you had ever seen him. You secretly wished you didn’t love him so much. It made it harder to be upset with him. You wanted him to feel bad, at least for tonight.

“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“I deserve that,” he agreed.

“And I’m gonna hold you to those promises,” you continued, “No games for two weeks.”

He was shocked that you had downsized the punishment from the month he suggested, but he didn’t show his surprise in case you took it back, “Okay.”

Your hardened stare lingered on him a little longer, and he grew nervous for what would come out of your mouth next. Little did he know you were actually thinking about how cute he looked. How mad you were at yourself for finding him so attractive at a time like this. Fuck you for being so hot, you thought, as if he could hear your thoughts.

“Are we good now?” he asked timidly. His hand cautiously reached up to cup your cheek in a sign of truce.

“You’ll have to earn your way back into my good graces,” you cracked a small smile.

“I’ll do anything,” he repeated, stepping closer to rest his hands on your waist. Your perfume lingered on your robe, filling his nose with the sweet, familiar fragrance that made his heart skip a beat.

“Anything?”

He nodded at your question, a smirk creeping onto his lips. If this was going in the direction he was thinking, then he was about to be a very happy man. His heartbeat accelerated as your hands found purchase on his chest, your palms flat over his pecs. Your eyes lingered on the small sliver of his collarbone that was exposed by the neckline of his t-shirt. When your gaze met his, there was a clear intention behind them that sent blood rushing to Jay’s loins.

Neither of you said anything as you tugged him into the bedroom and closed the door. In a matter of minutes you were on the bed, legs spread to make room for your boyfriend’s hips. Your robe was untied and thrown open as he slathered wet, sloppy kisses all over your neck and chest. Your hand was buried in his hair, pulling lightly on it to keep him where you wanted him.

“You’re gonna fuck me exactly how I want,” you panted, hips already bucking up against his clothed crotch. He moaned in affirmation, the vibrations tickling your nipple that was in his mouth.

“Gonna give me the best orgasm ever,” you added, looking down to see his eyes closed as he laved at your collarbone. They opened to look you in the eye as he came back face-to-face.

“Whatever you want, baby,” he assured you, nodding as he connected your lips with his once again.

Skin-on-skin contact and heavy breaths filled the room shortly after. Jay’s clothes were quickly discarded and he was pounding into you like his life depended on it. Your fingers gripped his back, loving the way you could feel his muscles flexing with every movement. He tried to hold back low grunts as your ankles locked around his waist, causing him to thrust deeper into you. He felt anchored down, but in the best possible way. This position was as close to paradise as he would probably ever get.

“Faster, Jay,” you breathed out, fingernails digging into his skin. He gritted his teeth and fastened his pace as much as he could.

“Fuck,” you cursed, legs tightening around him even more, “Jay, faster!”

“Baby, I’m trying,” he practically whimpered, his thrusts getting a little quicker, but also sloppier. He was losing stamina. You knew he was trying his best, you could just tell. You thought about giving him some slack, but then you remembered how you two got in this position in the first place. You weren’t going to go easy on him at all; he didn’t deserve it.

“Not trying hard enough,” you sighed in annoyance, moving your hips up against his thrusts for more stimulation, “You’re so annoying.”

“So suddenly?” he scoffed out a small laugh, looking at you incredulously. He knew you well enough to know you weren’t being completely serious. You were just letting out your aggression; he didn’t take it to heart.

“Y-yeah,” you panted, wincing when his cock hit a certain spot inside of you that felt a little too good, “You need to listen to me.”

He nodded, his arms shaking a bit from the energy was exerting trying to please you and keep himself stable, “I know, baby. I’m sorry. I’ll be better.”

“Promise?”

In that moment his gaze met yours, mere inches apart. Your breaths mingled between you, chests almost pressed against each other. He could tell you were getting close when he felt you growing tight around his dick. You always looked so beautiful like this—unraveling under him, by his own doing.

“Promise,” he sealed his words with a kiss against your lips, a low growl forming in his throat when you arms wrapped around his shoulders to hold him close to you. Your bodies pressed together like this, he could feel all of you; it drove him insane, “Now, cum for me.”

You were already well on your way when he spoke. Your legs constricted his lower body before growing slack at his sides. Your arms loosely circle him, keeping him close during the aftershocks of your orgasm. He came not long after, keeping slow, shallow thrusts until he came to a halt. He rested his face in the crook of your neck, simply cherishing the proximity to you.

“Can I join you for your bath?” he asked after your breaths had both settled back into their normal inflections.

“Sure, but the water’s probably cold by now. We’ll need to refill it,” your voice was sweet in answering him, as if any other answer would be ridiculous. Your next sentence, however, proved to humble him, “You’re still sleeping on the couch tonight, though.”

Jay cracked a smile, nodding in agreement as he helped you off the bed, “Understood.”

— taglist #1

@jaylaxies @xiaoting999 @kookthief @zaddywilk @wonrangwoo @pedrswrld @ikykleeknowww @odisdad @abby-grace @jungwonloveer @pinklemonadeflav @celestialplatinum @luvkpopp @nlklstan @kisses4denji @jenos-eye-smiles @a-l-i-y-a @channiesprincess @bekah931215 @mrsdacherry @heerinnie @fairygirl18 @cinnikoi @im-ur-calico-cat @unlikelysublimekryptonite

#enhypen smut #jay smut #jongseong smut #enha smut #enhypen fanfic #enhypen hard hours #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen x y/n #enhypen x reader #jay fanfic #jay hard hours #jay imagines #jay scenarios #jay x y/n #jay x reader #kinktober #enhypen #park jay #[🕷️] kinktober 23

[steveshairychest]

5 years he's been in hiding.

5 miserable years he's had to go by a different name, wear different clothes and tell a different story to everyone he meets. He's been James, Frank, he thinks he even went by Dustin at one point. He's had long hair, short hair, he's been bald. He had a beard for a while and taught music in a small music store, but he shaved it off after a week because all he saw in the mirror was Wayne, his uncle, his family, the man he abandoned.

For 5 years, he's been everyone but Eddie Munson.

The government told him he couldn't be Eddie anymore.

"Eddie Munson is dead." They told him; they even had the death certificate to prove it. "Don't come back to Hawkins. Keep moving. There are still people looking for you." Was the last thing they said to him before dropping him off with a wad of cash in some town he's never been to before.

He'd asked for the date at the front desk of a motel, and they'd told him April 20th. Eddie had crumbled down to his knees and cried, he'd cried so hard the motel clerk asked if she should call someone, asked if he was alright.

"I'm fine." Was his broken reply. He'd taken the key for his room, curled up on the uncomfortable bed, and didn’t move for days. He wasn't alright. He'd been in a government hospital for what he thought was a few days but was actually over a month and then released into the world like some rehabilitated animal. He didn't get to say goodbye to anyone. Fuck, he didn't even know if they all made it out of the upside down. All he knew was that he was alone. And that he couldn't go home. Ever.

He'd eventually gotten over himself and made some kind of life for himself.

It took him a few tries to find something that stuck, something that felt sort of like himself. Every few months, an ungodly amount of money appears in his bank account. The formal bank statement says it's from an estranged relative. Eddie knows it's not. He knows it's the government's way of buying his silence. His expensive rent and struggle to find a job is the only reason he doesn't send it all back to them.

He's lived in his current place for a year now, which is a new record for him, but he's got no friends. Well, he has acquaintances, people he can laugh with every now and then and go out for drinks with, but no one who knows him. No one who knows why he wakes every night screaming, no one who understands why he flinches when the lights in the bar flicker, why he hates the sound of people cracking their knuckles and why his hands shake whenever anyone mentions the scar on his face.

It's late at night when he's covered in sweat and his throat is raw from screaming awake from a nightmare, that he really misses his friends, his family, the people that he went through hell with. He's not allowed to call them, not allowed to send them letters or visit. He's not even allowed to know how Wayne is doing. It hurts. It hurts so much. He can't even look at himself in the mirror anymore because he's aged, and he's slowly starting to look more and more like his uncle.

But his friends are a little harder to escape, it's like parts of them have found him and are trying to haunt him, trying to remind him that he can't be a part of their lives.

Just last week, he walked by a book store and saw a brand new fantasy graphic novel on display in the window, 'written by Mike Wheeler & illustrated by Will Byers' was displayed on the bottom of the cover in gold letters. He's never bought a book so fast in his life. He's read it front to back 3 times already.

He can't even watch the news in peace because they were doing a news story about a small town basketball player who's made it to the big leagues and is winning everyone's hearts with his skills and bright personality. Eddie had cried and wished he'd been there to congratulate Lucas, wished he could have been there to tell him how proud he was.

Even Nancy is haunting him. Her news articles get delivered to his front door every day in the paper and most of the time the articles aren't even sad, but he cries at his small dining table alone, his breakfast cold and his coffee filled with his tears.

He misses his friends. He misses them so much and it's eating him alive. It feels like he's lying on the ground of the upside down all over again, tiny little mouths ripping away at his flesh except this time it's happening from the inside. Each time he's reminded how far away he is from his friends, a small piece of him is eaten away.

He doesn't know how much more he can take.

And then something odd happens. He gets a postcard and it's addressed to him, the real him; Eddie Munson.

The handwriting is hard to read and some words have been crossed out but the name signed at the bottom of the card pulls a sob from Eddie's throat and has him almost crumbling on his doorstep.

I'm sorry I took so long. I'll see you soon.

From Steve Harrington.

#Steve moneybags Harrington would hire a private investigator to find eddie #none of them believed for a second that eddie was dead #I DONT RWALLY KNOW I JUST LET MY BRAIN SPEW UP WHATVER WORDS IT WANTED #stranger things #eddie munson #st4 vol2 #steddie #stranger things s4

[anadiasmount]

can u write three months after break up w Jude u see him at a party....

idk make it wtv u want but can it have angst in it plz?

thank u bb 🖤🖤

“why didn’t you tell me he was here?” you stop in place, gently gripping your friends arm to pull her to the side. she looked almost to scared to speak, her lips moving but nothing coming out. “i haven’t seen this man since new years… and i see him here?” you say to her seeing her wince.

“if i told you, you’d never come, and i hate seeing you stuck at home all day! plus we both need this night out and i know you’re not about to go home to sulk because you’re letting him get to you again…” she recalls making you sigh disappointed while closing your eyes.

“out of all places and days why tonight?” you ask sincerely, your friend shrugging and fixing her purse that slowly draped off her. “please just ignore it and do it for her? she was so excited to finally see you come out and left with us. we can leave after they cut the cake, okay?” she tells you, the hesitation still in your face and body language.

you have to bite your tongue as you approached the table, your hand stroking your upper arm in a comforting manner as you stood there after greeting everyone but him. you refused to talk to him, mostly out of respect, but you knew you couldn’t do it. the pain and sadness waving and coming at you all at once.

you never met his eyes. or when he stood up when he saw you. in pure shock when he saw you. surprisingly he was alone, just his friends around him which caused a small bubble of happiness of not being faced with a girl next to him. you made an escape to the bar, ordering a drink before going to the restroom and touch up.

you felt like you could do it, but all that confidence slowly fell into the drain when you saw him again. you hated yourself for still feeling love for the person who left you when you most needed them. the person who you looked up and valued, the person who made you feel the luckiest girl until he didn’t. anger. rage fueled in you as you thought your choices.

you pushed back tears, avoiding now the huge pit in your stomach and pain in your chest, that seemed to travel even to your rib cage. you sealed a huge lump and smiled in the mirror, letting out a deep breath before walking out to the blaring music. you could see jude by the bar looking around, making you cover your face and return to where your friends were.

you sat down quickly diving into the conversation about a concert you all wanted to attend and a new clothing line that slowly become popular over the days. jude returned back with a silk look, a small frown on his face as he saw you. you looked away quickly, sniffling a laugh at a joke your friend told you.

even though you were sat almost next to each other, the space and distance was present. the space of unspoken feelings and words, space filled with heartaches and a messy ending to a beautiful love story that once took place.

if there was something you could do was ignore. ignore someone, something, an issue, a place, you name it. so you did what you did best and ignored jude. his big brown eyes that stared at you the whole night. no matter where you went or were he continued to stare making your heart race.

jude was desperate. he tried to get your attention but he got the message of you ignoring him after he tried calling out for you but you walked away. he tried to pull you away when you had walked to the bar alone, but failed at that too. had to hold himself back from dragging you out the dance floor due to his jealousy and pain in his heart.

jude stood by a wall, looking at you walk to the booth and sit down, leaning back in your chair as you crossed your legs. jude tried to pay attention but all he could do was stare at the only girl he loved and admired. her shoulders low, her searching eyes, upside down smile. he missed you terribly and his only thoughts were you.

he walked over to you, giving his drink to his friends. he fixed his shirt, running his hand on his chin as her approached you. when you looked up and saw him you froze standing up and trying to walk away but he stopped you. his hands finding their way around your waist and pulled you back. “let me go,” you spoke faintly, jude having to hold back a chuckle as he felt you relax in his hold.

“can we talk?”

“no. so if you’d excuse me-”

“too bad. we’re talking, like it or not,” he grabbed your wrist gently, feeling as you fought back as he dragged you away into a private hallway that smelled like pure cleaning chemicals. you leaned against the wall, avoiding his gaze looking down, with arms crossed and pouty lips. still his stubborn y/n. the one he was still deeply madly in love with.

“how have you been?”

“i don’t have time for this. just say what you have to say…” you said harshly, not caring how it came out or if it hurt him. he hurt you so you felt the want for him to feel how he was making you feel. “y/n, please. i want to be civil and just talk. it’s all i’m asking…”

“are you hearing yourself? you wanna talk? talk about what exactly? how my life is going? what i’ve been up to? where i got my nails or hair done? talking is out of the picture for the both of us, jude. so say what you have to say to save time,” jude winced at your words, the pain returning back as he saw how deeply he hurt you that december night.

“y/n-”

“please jude… don’t make it harder for us than it already is. it hurts me just standing here and looking at you… i can’t do it. i can’t pretend like everything is okay and dropped what happened for a single conversation,” you plead with sadness, finally looking up into his eyes where you once found comfort and love.

“then let’s make it okay. let’s fix and talk it out, like normal people do.”

“like normal people? you’re my ex boyfriend jude, simple as that. and fix it for who? you or me? it’s not fair, i can’t just forget what happened to fix things for us,” you sigh upset clutching you bag as you stood up straighter. jude felt at lost for words because you were right. more than right.

“i miss you…”

you let out a small chuckle, looking back down and shaking your head. “missed me? or missed the person who was just a waste of time in the end?” you feel your legs weaken, tears threatening to rush down your cheeks. “what do you want for me jude? i cant do this again-”

“i miss you. i love you more than ever….” he pauses seeing how your face looks back up at him with widen eyes. “i hate myself for holding onto hope even though i was the one to hurt you… us. i hate how distant and stranger like we are now. how i can’t hold or give you my undeniable love and care. how i have to watch from afar knowing things could be different…”

“jude…”

“please y/n… i’m begging you. if tonight is all we have i just want to spend it with you. prove to you and apologize, earn your forgiveness. all i ask is for us to talk, please. if you’d till feel the same than i’ll accept it, as much as it will hurt more than now,” he walked over to you holding your sides before cleaning your tears away. you hated the effect he had on your still, closing your eyes and thinking about it and then speaking again.

“just tonight…”

#judey thoughts 5️⃣ #jude bellingham x reader #jude bellingham blurb

[junosmindpalace]

may i request a gojo x reader one shot where y/n is gojo's former student, after she graduated she went out of the country then after 5 yrs she comes back to work at tokyo jujutsu high as a teacher like gojo. y/n used to have a crush on gojo back then (maybe she still does 😋) and now that y/n's back after a long time gojo kinda missed her so they often spend time together. y/n keeps convincing herself it's just some kind of friendly reunion, nothing more but one day during the sister school goodwill event she gets jealous when she sees gojo teasing utahime and interacting with her. gojo wonders what got y/n into a pissy mood and y/n is like "why do you even care? just go back to your flirting session" then that's where gojo finds out she's just jealous. he'll tease her and idk maybe a confession between them will follow? i'm rlly sorry i suck at explaining things but i hope you get most of it and this gets accepted 😭 thanks! 💓

UNKNOWN / NTH

hi anon! thank you for your request and patience! i changed a couple of details in this request and it turned out soo weirdly angst but the main idea is still there! i hope that’s alright!

3.2k words. a little all over the place.

“call me every single day, you hear me? you can’t leave me all alone with this guy.” 

shoko doesn’t even look over her shoulder as she jabs her thumb toward the white haired teen standing behind her shoulder, who drops his mouth open in disbelief at her insulting tone. the tension in your chest eased up as you laughed.

“of course.” 

leaving your friends so soon after graduating was hard to wrap your head around, even with a car waiting to take you to the airport outside the gates of the jujutsu tech building and the occasion bump into your suitcase as you shifted your weight between your legs. 

with the assassination of the star plasma vessel and the suguru incident that made your worlds turn upside down, it seemed reasonable that you’d want to stay; immerse yourself in something familiar. but staying at jujutsu tech--in japan all together--was overwhelming. you needed time to figure and sort yourself out; cope without having to relive painful memories every time you passed where the incidents took place. 

leaving the two people who helped you cope during the ordeal with suguru was difficult, but though they too were pained to part from their friend, they also understood the importance of your leave. they weren’t too stressed, though. you’d stay in touch. you promised. 

shoko stepped forward to give you one final departing gift, wrapping her arms around your neck as you immediately reciprocated, and in shoko’s arms did you mull over whether this was the right choice for you for the nth time. 

a couple moments pass before the two of you pull apart, with shoko whispering a threatening “you better call.” one final time, jabbing an accusing finger at you as if you had already broken your promise, before stepping off to the side to allow satoru to get his own affairs in order. he stepped toward you with a roll of his eyes. 

satoru gojo has been an insufferable ass ever since you met him in your first year. to you, he once came off inconsiderate and ill-mannered, and to satoru, you once came off stuck up and uptight. yet somehow the mutual distaste you two had for each other upon first meeting turned into a friendship filled with teasing.

it felt weird leaving satoru behind especially, because somehow along the bumpy road the two of you took to get to where you were now, something yet again shifted in the way you viewed him, a shift you were still unfamiliar with. it felt strange leaving without it figured out. but you’d get a chance to, you hoped. like with everything else in your bizarre life. 

your usual banter insued as satoru took hold of the handle on your suitcase, swinging it back and forth before loading it into the open trunk. you threatened satoru to look out for himself and not be too much of a nuisance while you were away as he did so. he clicked his tongue as he brought the trunk down with a thud! and waved off your false threats. 

”don't miss me too much, y/n.” he smirked over his shoulder, tinted glasses sliding down the slope of his nose as he stepped back up on the sidewalk. cerulean eyes shone under the morning sunlight, fixed on you with an intense gaze in contrast to his easy smile. you looked over your shoulder as you opened the rear car door, mimicking his expression. 

”won't be a problem.”

the first couple of months went strong. you upheld your promise of calling shoko frequently, and satoru would often squeeze himself into the frame of shoko’s camera to tease or hurl an insult toward you. she’d shoo him off or laugh along, because she too missed the playful banter you all once immersed yourselves in. and though you were far from the paths you once trekked with your friends, only ghosts of those moments lingering on them now, at least there was no trace of your dying friendship.

more time passed and contact became less frequent. life went on, and keeping in touch as regularly as you once did became increasingly difficult. only on occasion were you able to organize a chat, so much yet so little to be said. each new life event shared left you to ponder over even hours after you had hung up the phone. 

and soon enough, a decade had passed. ten years you thought you’d spend in agony over being away from the people and places you considered home flew by considerably fast, and the thought nauseated you slightly as you reminisced on memories from your youth. 

the nostalgia of your teenage years lingered like a light fog in your mind, always finding some way to trace even the most mundane of things back to your old friends, especially satoru gojo. even after ten long, busy years, you still found that annoying white haired friend of yours lingering in the back of your mind. 

though so much time had passed, you hadn’t gone cold turkey with your communication from your friends; only infrequent. you knew of the important things: the promising new students at jujutsu tech, satoru becoming a teacher, the curse that was rika, the night parade of a hundred demons, toji’s son that satoru was now looking over—suguru’s death. all things recollected to you from your texts with shoko and gojo. though neither of them were quite big on details.  

ten years has definitely granted you time to think, to organize, to consider and try new things. you worked through complicated feelings, you met new people, you saw and experienced new things, and certainly had all those things teach you a couple of important lessons. 

and ultimately, after over a decade, you made the decision to return to japan as a teacher at jujutsu tech. 

around this time, you felt a consistent nagging as if there was still a missing, unsorted piece of your life. you believed that perhaps the decision to return home was spurred by the growing intensity of it. it built up slowly over your less frequent phone calls and text conversations with your old friends and the ever growing amount of changing of their lives back home. though perhaps suguru’s death compelled you to return as well. 

you returned the following year after the night parade of a hundred demons. you convinced yourself it would just be a friendly reunion like with the rest of your old friends, but the second you were standing face to face with satoru, your heart said otherwise. 

it wasn’t unusual to feel anxious when reuniting with someone, but the painstakingly long pause that followed upon being reunited after so many years made you suppress a shudder. It was hard to believe the man in front of you was the troublemaker you used to go to school with. It was hard to believe he was even real. 

you used the silence to get a good look at him, just to make sure it was truly him (and you think satoru was doing the same, regardless of his six eyes.) he had gotten even taller, and he now wore his messy locks of snow white hair up. his uniform was still fitted as it used to be, always just a bit baggier than his tall frame. 

but the most prominent difference was his new defining feature, and so you decided to comment on it first. satoru was still in a sort of trance (of shock you guessed; your only indicator were his slightly parted lips) when you broke the ice with a smirk and the words he had parted with you over a decade ago.

"hope you didn’t miss me too much, satoru. what's with the tacky blindfold?” 

and the grin that followed on his lips stretched from ear to ear.

satoru your coworker wasn't all that different from satoru your classmate. he was still as childish as ever, irritated by the higher ups and an irritation to all those around him. you found that out rather quickly when reuniting with yaga and nanami. you made a dramatic fuss over how much they both had changed, nanami shyly looking down with a slight frown reminiscent of the signature one he wore when he was younger. you didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring up haibara or suguru at any point. 

but your relationship with satoru your coworker was off from your relationship with satoru your classmate. It had been years, and you’ve fallen into your normal rhythm with satoru pretty quickly and easily on the surface. but the passage of time was still evident in your conversations as it was with the changes in your appearances. time matured him (or most likely his ordeals with suguru). even his manner of speaking was so serious sometimes that it caught you off guard. it felt even worse than having him hate you, treating you as if you were a stranger hurting that much more.

so much yet so little had changed. you were taken aback by the amount of maturity in his reasoning for wanting to become a teacher, even if it was so out of place for him, over a catch up brunch. it almost made you feel as if he were a stranger, with a new sense of maturity coupled with his new, more distant look and behaviour.

he’d tease you like he always did, but it didn't have as much bite. he'd show you around tokyo, treating you to desserts and jokingly gifting you funny souvenirs; but because satoru had become so unfamiliar, it didn’t feel as comforting as you thought it would. 

and that nagging feeling that you couldn’t quite put your finger on arose again.

you reunited with mei mei and utahime during the sister school goodwill event, with the latter enveloping you in a large hug reminiscent of the ones you received when you left them over a decade ago. they had all stayed relatively close, with utahime becoming a teacher like satoru at the sister school in kyoto. 

you were good friends with her, always defending her from satoru’s insults and indulging in her (in your case, faux) hatred toward satoru. you two had also stayed in close contact, appreciating all the emotional support she provided and her updates on the events in her life and the jujutsu world (with complaints about satoru tossed in here and there). 

which is why your jealousy was irrational, you thought to yourself as you watched satoru and utahime in the monitoring room. you knew satoru and utahime being the last two people in the world wouldn’t make them fall in love. even if they were, your jealousy was still out of place. if anything, you should feel happy for your two old friends.

but perhaps it had more to do with the distance and familiarity satoru and utahime were able to maintain, even if it was their regular quarreling and distaste for one another. perhaps the way they were able to slip into the routine they’ve kept up for so many years, no matter how ruthless it was, ate at you, reminded you of how different things were between you and satoru. you weren’t two teenagers who’d sometimes catch each other’s stares from across a room. you weren’t attending school together and going on missions. 

and the distance was bound to strain your relationship. but you figured that if there was anyone you’d be able to break back into routine with, it was the troublemaker you had known since the two of you were fresh faced students like the ones he now mentors. 

it was all those little things stacked atop each other, that casual and distant demeanor satoru treated you with as if you were a stranger, time staring back at you in the mature way he, shoko and utahime carried themselves, and satoru slipping into a routine that you were sure you and him would be able to maintain with someone else, made that whole tower of unease fall apart with that final crack. 

he had walked off after you after you had excused yourself from the room, feeling sick the more you thought about the large gap in memories, in time, in knowledge, between you and the others. 

“jealous?” he smirked, clearly amused by your sudden outburst (and deeply curious, since it was so out of character for you). 

“not a chance.”

not in the way he was suggesting, at least. you waved him off. “go back to your flirting session.” 

and Satoru stopped in his tracks, recoiling in disgust over the mere implication. because even he knew that you would never think such a thing of his relationship with utahime, even if he were to one day tell you that something was going on. 

perhaps it was the distance, satoru thought to himself sadly. because while to you satoru didn’t seem to be all that affected by your return, he still saw in you that old classmate of his that made his face burn with simply the strength they exhibited, with only a short meeting of gazes from across a room as a teenager, and his heart ached at emotional distance. there was no way that classmate that knew which treats to bribe him with and what games were his favorite would ever assume such a thing about him. 

getting through to one another was never easy, both of you equally stubborn in your resolve. and when you throw this terrible distance, these horrible feelings of insecurity and confusion, it made the miscommunication between the two of you that much worse. 

but satoru remembers the day you left as if no time had passed at all. he remembers the rising lump in his throat as he watched you say your goodbyes with shoko. he remembers the wave of fear that washed over him as he watched you turn your back from him, reminiscent of the event that took place when his best friend left him for good. he remembers the confession on the tip of his tongue as he looked down at you and into your sharp gleaming eyes, words he’s debated with himself for years over whether or not he was a coward or a hero in not saying.

and right now, as he stares at your confused and hurt expression, your back turned to him yet again, all those feelings wash over him and he feels as if it may be the former, because now he’s let his insecurity hurt you. but he also knows that whether he was a coward or hero then doesn’t matter now. he wouldn’t allow a repeat of what happened all those years ago. he wouldn't let himself hesitate.

he reached to grab your wrist, and you harshly recoiled, shooting him an angry glare from across your shoulder. “what the- hell, satoru? would you just-”

“i wasn’t flirting.” 

“whatever. I don’t-”

suguru knew him better than anyone. shoko knows him better than anyone. you know him better than anyone.

“utahime? really? i would think that you know me better than that.” 

the pout on his face seeped into his voice, and you further struggled in his grip. “things change with time, satoru. you can’t expect me-”

the distance was fine. satoru could do distance. but it was this misunderstanding that made his stomach churn uncomfortably. it was the fact that he seemed so unknown to you. that you seemed so unknown to him. who knew that such a minor misunderstanding would carry so much emotional baggage, invoke such strong reactions from the two of you? 

“can’t use that excuse if i’ve always been in love with you.”

you immediately stopped fidgeting, staring at satoru’s serious expression with wide eyes. his pout settled into a deep frown, and you’re absolutely despising the fact that you can’t see his eyes with that stupid new blindfold. stupid time. stupid change. 

“i’m in love with you,” he said again with a shrug. “and that never changed.”

silence. all you could do is continue to stare at him as he held your wrist. but then you inhaled sharply and satoru released his grip. you took another deep breath, and then…

“how the hell am I supposed to know something like that? it’s been over ten years, satoru gojo. everything feels different- you look different!- and you expect me to know you’ve been in love with me for how long?”

you ranted all your anger toward him as you jabbed a finger into his chest, while he continued to stare down at you with a frown and his hands now buried in his pockets. his lack of a reaction only added to your frustration, and you still felt as if you were staring at a stranger. 

“take off that damn blindfold.” 

his mouth drops into a small o for a moment, before he brings a hand to his face. it feels as if an agonizing amount of time passes as satoru slips the blindfold down from his eyes to hang over his neck. his hair falls into that familiar disheveled heap, and you’re immediately met with a familiar rush of anxiety rushing through your veins as you make eye contact with his blue ones. 

big and bright, and staring down at you with so much longing. his hand stays on his blindfold, and the frown stays etched into his face, but you can finally see those eyes. the ones that sent a wave of warmth over you when they connected with yours. the ones you found yourself gazing at as you leaned your head against a desk, admiring them from a sideways angle as they glistened in a ray of sunlight. one’s you knew you could rely on, not because they belonged to the strongest or because of the power they held, but because they belonged to your best friend, to the boy that made your heart stutter. 

and you’re too emotional finally seeing your satoru gojo to care about the fact that you were now sobbing into satoru’s chest in relief over something familiar, and you cried even harder when his arms wrapped around your frame, head resting sideways into your hair. and you felt stupid for breaking down over something so childish, so minor.

but maybe some things didn’t change and maybe some change was for the better. because you’ve had over ten years to figure yourself out and so did satoru, and with your decision to return home was your decision to return to satoru synonymous with it. 

and you felt satoru finally smile a genuine and childish and familiar sort of smile, into your hair, and you couldn’t find it in yourself to care about how stupid you felt in that moment. 

and that final unsorted piece of your life finally stopped nagging at you, as if satoru had exorcised a curse that lingered on your back these past ten years. those confusing and unidentifiable feelings you felt for satoru way back when. together, you’d be able to rebuild your relationship with satoru into the way it used to be all those years ago, not a single detail unknown, so you could put all those insecurities and fear to rest. 

#juno answers! #in honour of jjk s2! #title is a hozier reference but not based entirely on the song </3 #ive edited this a thousand times and im STILL not satisfied. will revisit when i have a clearer mind #satoru gojo x reader #satoru gojo fluff #satoru gojo angst #satoru gojo headcanons #satoru gojo oneshot #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru headcanons #gojo satoru oneshot #jjk x reader #jjk oneshot #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen oneshot #gojo angst #gojo fluff

[jo-harrington]

Developmental Achievement (A Store Manager Verse Story - Steve Harrington/Reader)

Previous Part: Incremental Planning

Pairing: Steve Harrington x HawkTheaterManager!Reader

Summary: Steve messed up and now he needs to fix things if he wants to win you back, hopefully for good.

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. November through January 1986, Steve and Robin work at Scoops (OR DO THEY?), Reader works at The Hawk Theater (formerly at Dippin' Dots AND Wicks and Sticks; you job hop...it's a thing), Relationship Break, Hopeless [Romantic] Steve, Tie in with the Store Manager Verse

Note: So this is the end of our Steve saga of the SMVerse, kind of wrapped up in a neat little bow. Is it the best? Probably not, but it's silly and corny and cheesy and I needed all of those things yesterday and instead of RELEGATING IT TO MY FIRST FAVE...I'll inflict it upon Stevie. Tagging @dr-aculaaa and @loveshotzz because COME AND GET HIM. (@deathbecomesthem ...and a possible Easter Egg?)

You can find my masterlist here for more fics featuring pretty much exclusively Eddie Munson content but also a little Steve.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

Steve Harrington fucked up.

Ok. Ok. That’s not right.

Steve Harrington really fucked up.

If he was being honest, he always seemed to fuck up when it came to you, his...well...he could really only call you his ex now, couldn't he?

From rivals in ice cream where he missed every sign that you might like him, to sickeningly-sweet dates around Hawkins because he was being too boring of a boyfriend, and finally to Thanksgiving Dinner with his parents where he absolutely stuck his foot in his mouth.

He thought making a joke about your job-hopping was funny--from Dippin' Dots to Wicks and Sticks to KB Toys, it's lucky you decided he was worth sticking around for--but it only put you under his parents' scrutiny.

He got an earful as he walked you to your car after dinner was over. You stayed a few steps ahead of him until you got to the driver's door and turned to him with tears in your eyes.

"That was embarrassing, Steve," you said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, I..." he was at a loss for words, especially making you cry. As strong as you were, you never seemed to be flustered at all; what was happening? "I thought it was a joke. We always laugh about it. I’m gonna work at scoops forever and you’re gonna work everywhere else."

"But it’s meeting your family, you shouldn't joke about...about what a huge flake I am that you're lucky I don't jump from boyfriend to boyfriend just like I go from job to job. They're never gonna look at me the same way again. You only get one first impression."

"You shouldn't worry about what they think about you. I've stopped caring about what they think about me too."

It went back and forth before you threw your hands up and got in the car.

You didn't even kiss him goodnight.

Then sometime during Black Friday weekend, you stopped by Scoops before your shift and broke up with him.

"It was nice, Steve," you said, barely able to look at him. "But uh...I don't know. I need to know I'm with someone who doesn't think I'm some kind of joke."

He chased after you, even with his manager screaming that if he left he'd be fired, and begged you to reconsider.

You didn't.

He watched you ride up the escalator to head to your shift.

And when he got back to Scoops, he was actually fired.

What a great day.

---

Of course, Robin quit as soon as Steve was fired.

"Can't stick it out without you dingus," Robin announced as she approached him in the parking lot shortly after, tossing her hat at him. "And you can't have Scoops without...Stoops. Get it? Because you're stupid. Scoops? Stoops? Stupid. Why aren't you laughing?"

It was pretty funny.

But Steve was heartbroken.

Unemployed and heartbroken.

Robin insisted that she could land them both jobs at Family Video--

"Keith hates me. Pretty sure he calls me Sleeze Harrington."

“Well he loves me. I can vouch for you, come on."

--but Steve was sure that he would have a better chance at winning you back if he kept working at StarCourt.

What an epic bust that was.

Not the job part.

Well, that too.

Most of the stores near the toy store were done hiring seasonal help, and the best that he could land was a temp job as a Mall Santa.

On the upside, it meant that he could walk around the mall on break in his Santa suit and watch you with you none the wiser until he could beg you to take him back.

"It sounds creepy," was the unfortunate response from Steve's newest friend and personal relationship expert, the Claire's Store Manager.

He stopped by before his shift to pick up some of his lucky strawberry lipgloss to make sure he was very pouty and puckery for the moment you realized you'd made a mistake...and after effectively getting it all over his fake beard, the Manager decided to take pity on him and listen to his woes while helping him clean up.

"I'm gonna need to start charging you for advice," she laughed and wiped him off with tissues from the ear piercing station. "You seriously need it if that's the idea you came up with."

"You're a real Lucy Van Pelt," Steve deadpanned. "I'll buy you cookies one day just...please...help me."

"Have you tried just talking?" she questioned. "Wasn't that your problem in the first place? Way back when? You didn't communicate."

"But they're mad at me, they don't want to talk. And I need to fix it."

"Then give them some space, and try again, ok? Give it a week or two. They probably just need time to cool down, sounds like you really hurt their feelings."

"And if they can't forgive me?"

"Then you move on," she sighed. "Sometimes things just don't work out and even though it doesn't make you feel ok, you have to be ok with it."

So he waited a week.

A week was long enough, right? His own personal Lucy said so.

He chose a day he wasn't scheduled at Santa's workshop and waited for you in the food court where he knew you'd seek refuge during your lunch break, just like the two of you had taken your breaks together. He wore his best polo, made sure his hair was perfect, applied some of his lucky lip gloss and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But you never showed up.

Not during your usual break. Not an hour later. Not even at the supposed end of your shift.

Maybe you were working a double?

So as much as he told himself he wouldn't follow you because it was creepy, he ran up the escalator two steps at a time to KB Toys where you would surely be.

Or not.

"They don't work here anymore kid," your former manager sighed after he asked about you. "I'm sorry."

"W-well where did they go?" he asked frantically, pathetically.

"Didn't say, not really my business to ask. Put in their notice...right after Black Friday, actually. Right before the Christmas rush too."

If he was heartbroken before...his heart was just gone now. Obliterated. Non-existent.

Along with any hope of trying to win you back.

---

Steve stuck through the rest of the holiday season at the mall; you could call him many things but a quitter wasn't one of them. However, come the new year, he needed a new job again, and he took up Robin's offer to butter Keith up and get in at Family Video.

He was offered an opening key shift, a decent employee discount, a better paycheck than both Scoops and Santa's workshop combined, and unlimited access to choose the movie playing overhead whenever he was in charge.

"You're lucky the other person I was about to hire bailed," Keith said after his first week. "Got a job at the Hawk or something. Can't blame 'em. Free popcorn and all that."

The distraction helped the heartache.

Surprisingly, he got a few phone numbers. Nothing ever came of them, nursing a broken heart the way he was, but it was nice. He'd been tempted to call you, several times in fact, but in the end he just decided fate knew better. Still, he denied himself the role of Hawkins' resident heartthrob.

"Are you hearing yourself right now?" Robin scoffed at him as he scrubbed off yet another phone number that had been written onto the palm of his hand by one customer or another. "Resident Heartthrob. Seriously? Ok Cassanova."

"What else do you wanna call it?" he asked, holding his arms out helplessly. "They can't resist the Harrington Charm, even when I don't want to use it."

"It's because you keep putting on sappy romance movies when you're here. Girls like that shit, a guy in touch with his feelings."

"First Nancy and then..." he trailed off, thinking about you sadly. He had to let you go.

"Are you kidding me?" Robin hit him upside the head and shoved him out of the way so she could start processing returns. "You can't even say their name? You need to get over it."

"It's hard."

"Were they your soulmate or something?"

"Robin, all men must...have someone who will never take advantage of a love bright as the sun."

"Love?"

"Someone to stand beside them."

"You're quoting the Monkees now."

"They were the one," Steve lamented. "And now they're--"

He trailed off as his eye landed on something outside the window.

"They're what? On the Last Train to Clarksville?" She made a buzzer noise. "Try again."

"No they're walking in right now, act casual," Steve announced and started typing away at the keyboard of the computer.

The doorbell chimed as you set foot inside Family Video and Steve glanced up to get a look at you for the first time in weeks.

Ok, so maybe he was being a little pathetic with this heartache.

Maybe it wasn't that bad for him.

It was pretty bad.

But when your eyes met, Steve could just tell...it had to have been just as bad for you too.

Because he knew you by now. How many months had you been dating? Dates and lunches and breaks spent together. Was it love? Maybe. Probably. Even if it wasn't, it was damn near close to it. So he knew the way your eyes lost their sparkle a little bit when they landed on him, knew the way your shoulders sagged, knew the words that refused to escape your lips when you saw him.

Stevie Stew. Pookie Bear. Dumb dumb. All the pet names he missed too.

Robin greeted you with an exaggerated lengthening of your name and a pointed glare shot directly at Steve.

"Hey Rob," you cleared your throat and offered a strained grin. "How are you? Didn't know you were working here."

Your eyes shifted to Steve and then back to Robin.

"Either of you."

"I've been here since before Christmas," Robin leaned against the counter as you approached and thumbed over her shoulder at Steve. "And of course dingus over here just couldn't stay away."

"You're the dream team, of course," you nodded. "Scoops Troop. But, uh, not anymore I guess."

"We're workshopping a new name."

The two of you laughed and then you excused yourself to peruse the shelves for a new movie. Robin even offered to show you some new tapes with a low pull it together hissed at Steve as she rounded the counter to show you a new display.

Steve willed himself to say something, Do something. Anything. Say hello, walk over and suggest a new movie, say that it was good to see you, that he missed you.

Communicate, god damn it.

But he was frozen.

Even more when you and Robin returned a few minutes later debating which John Hughes flick you should get: Sixteen Candles or Weird Science.

"You could always get both," Steve suggested, the words rocketing out of his mouth violently as you reached the register.

"Uh, yeah, actually..." you nodded. "That's a good idea, I think I will."

Steve typed in all the information and got your rentals rung out, and as he asked if you wanted candy or popcorn, you laughed.

"You know what, I'm actually all candy and popcorn'd out," your smile faltered when your eyes met again. "I'm...uh...you know."

"Know what?" Steve asked dumbly.

"I'm over at the Hawk," you nodded. "New shift manager and everything. I was...I was actually supposed to work here when Mr. Phillips offered me a dollar more at the theater. And the popcorn didn't hurt."

"I didn't know that," Steve shook his head.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

You and Steve stared at each other for another long, drawn out minute.

You opened your mouth to say something--

"Can we ta--"

--before Steve, idiot that he was, pushed your tapes across the counter at you and practically shouted at you.

"Your rental's due back on Friday by 2pm, enjoy."

Robin gave him the silent treatment for the rest of his shift.

---

"Do I show up with flowers?"

"Flowers?"

"What's that voice, you don't like flowers?"

"Not really."

There he was, back at Claire's the following day, sitting in the chair at the Ear Piercing Station as the manager restocked the jewelry wall. A bag of fresh chocolate chip cookies from the food court sat on top of the station and the two of them periodically reached in for a treat as Steve regaled her with his tale.

"I know they miss me, I just know it."

"Then why did you freeze up?"

"Because I'm an idiot. Help. Please."

So far, the manager hadn't really been able to offer him much advice outside of a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear. Especially now as he planned a way to win you back.

"Everyone likes flowers," Steve argued skeptically. "You're telling me Munson hasn't gotten you roses or something?"

The shop bell rang, a chain rattled, and leather squeaked, and instead of the manager answering with a gentle tone and an eye roll like she'd been doing all day, Eddie Munson himself chimed in.

"If I was a jealous man," he started with an exaggerated glare at Steve. "I would say you're here flirting with my girlfriend."

Eddie "The Freak" Munson was somehow the Dad to Steve's reluctant Mom when it came to the ragtag gang of Freshman that they shared role-model-ship of, and because of that their previous animosity had been turned into some kind of...agreement.

Could Steve say Eddie was a bad guy? No. Was he still wondering why the kids liked him so much? Yes. Could the two of them get along? Up for debate.

Which was why Steve wasn't so concerned when the metalhead was feigning some kind of intimidation tactic; they had an agreement that went from unspoken to shaken on come the new year: No fighting in front of the kids, no making fun of each other's hair, no stealing Eddie's girlfriend.

"What are you doing here?" the manager laughed at the two boys antics and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't you have school?"

"I came to ask you a very important question," Eddie smiled a lovesick smile at her, Steve momentarily ignored. "But imagine my surprise when someone else is sitting in my spot."

"It's not your spot. And I'm giving him advice."

"Again?"

"He's hopeless, apparently."

"I'm right here," Steve exclaimed and got to his feet, ready to leave. "I didn't come here to be made fun of. I actually need help."

He didn't like the way Eddie clapped him on the shoulder, or steered him out of the store, or gave him a patronizing smile.

"Listen," Eddie started once they were out of the store. "I know you're having some issues but seriously, you need to get your act together."

"And how should I do that Munson? I've thought of everything and your girlfriend keeps telling me that my ideas are stupid."

"I'm sure they are stupid," Eddie nodded. "I trust her judgment."

"What would you do to win her back? If you fucked up?"

"I wouldn't fuck it up, Number one," Eddie smirked. "Even at the risk of jinxing myself there. Rule Number One in the Munson Relationship Doctrine, don't fuck it up."

"Well that page is missing from the Harrington Relationship Doctrine, because I clearly went and did that."

"Rule Number Two," Eddie continued, ignoring Steve. "Is by making a grand and personal gesture. Didn't you ask Nancy Wheeler to Junior Prom by having the cheer squad perform a routine just for her a few years ago."

"Yeah that took a lot of begging," Steve nodded eagerly, already formulating a plan. "But I could do it again if I--"

"I heard she hated it," Eddie shot a sour expression. "So no, not that."

"Then I'm out of ideas," Steve admitted.

Eddie threw his head back and groaned, and Steve was sure he heard him say something along the lines of and Buckley called him Hawkins Heartthrob.

"Listen," Eddie recovered, tightened his grip on Steve's shoulder with one hand, and jabbed him in the chest with the other hand. "Don't ever say that I didn't do anything for you ok? Where does your friend work? The Hawk?"

"How do you know that?"

"News travels fast when you're friends with 5 freshmen and Robin Bigmouth Buckley ok?" Eddie shook his head. "Now listen to me. Your friend works at the theater? Showing movies right? And what are movies made of?"

"Film?"

"Sure. And the kids...Dustin...what club is he part of at school?"

"Uh...Hellfire Club. Chess Club..."

"AV Club," Eddie insisted with an exaggerated nod. "And where do you work?"

"Family Video."

"And what is in a vid--you know what?" Eddie groaned. "I don't have time for this. How are you not putting two and two together Harrington?"

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be putting together."

"What they all have in common?"

Steve took a second as Eddie leaned closer expectantly, as though trying to transmit his idea through osmosis because Steve was just not getting it.

Until the osmosis was successful and Steve had his lightbulb moment.

"Oh!"

"There you go!" Eddie's face stretched with a feral grin. "I see the wheels turning. Ladies and Gentleman, I believe a plan is underway."

---

It took a little more than a week, the combined efforts of the AV Club and Hellfire Club, and a good chunk out of Steve's paycheck for supplies and to bribe them all and the projectionist at the Hawk.

But the plan was in place.

Steve found out your schedule, bought tickets for a 5pm show of Hey there, It's Yogi Bear.

There couldn't have been a worse movie to choose, but it was the only one he could buy out the theater for.

He showed up to the Hawk promptly at 4:30, got his soda and popcorn, and hung around the lobby impatiently. He was pretty sure he'd ruined his hair from the number of times he'd run his hand through it.

Slowly his friends started to filter in: The Sinclair kids and Max, Mike Wheeler and Will Byers with Nancy and Jonathan in tow--that wouldn't be nerve-wracking or embarrassing at all if the plan didn't work out. At some point, Eddie's van pulled up in front of the Theater and Dustin, Jeff, Gareth, and Dave all walked in bickering about nachos and sour worms, before Eddie and the Claire's Store Manager followed suit, Eddie telling his friends to shut up.

Steve was beginning to sweat at 4:55 when Robin ran in, hand in hand with a new girlfriend that he'd seen waiting for Rob when he dropped her off at school in the morning.

That he'd been maybe a little too in his own head about you to hear Robin rave about for the past few months. He really did feel bad about that.

"Thought you were gonna be late," he accused Robin.

"Me? Late?" she beamed. "Never. Do we have time to grab candy?"

"Just go," he waved them off, then shot Robin a secret thumbs up as she pointed to her crush excitedly, then got nervous when he spotted you across the lobby, talking to one of the ushers.

You faltered when you locked eyes with him, waved back when he sent you a little hello, and then you scurried into the box office.

He allowed himself one more moment of heartache. Then at 5 on the dot, Steve entered the theater and sat in the back row, as close to the projection window as he could get.

The previews started, and for a moment, Steve looked at all his...well, they were all his friends now, weren't they? Here to support him on this hare-brained endeavor. He suddenly felt loved in a way that he didn't think he'd ever felt before, not like this.

The only thing missing was you.

Suddenly the projection started skipping, and he could hear his accomplice in the projection booth shuffle around, then a door opened and closed.

"And so it begins," Eddie said dramatically a few rows ahead.

"Shut up, you're gonna give it away!" Dustin shouted at him.

Everyone started chattering until Steve sent them all a shhhhh when he heard the projection booth door open and shut again and your voice, clearly irritated, started speaking.

"What do you mean it isn't working? Did you try...I don't know...unplugging it and plugging it back in? Re-roll the film and try it again...here let me see..."

Steve felt himself shake with anticipation as the projector started up again, but the images on the screen were decidedly not Yogi Bear and Boo Boo.

"What the hell?" you exclaimed.

On the screen were pictures of you and Steve, all the polaroids and film strips from the little Photo Booth at Starcourt that you'd taken together over the months of your relationship. The ticket from the aquarium that he'd saved. The note you'd pinned to his back one morning when you hugged him before his shift that said "Steve Harrington is a loser."

He heard your snort as the scene panned up to a shot of himself sitting at the desk in his room writing a letter, shot on the Wheeler family's camcorder. The Steve on the screen looked up into the camera and startled.

"Oh," he laughed. "Didn't see you there. It's been a long time, hasn't it? I uh...I really wanted to talk to you and figured there wasn't a better way than writing a letter."

"Nerd," you called through the projection window, garnering laughs from his friends.

The scene faded to Movie Steve in a turtleneck skipping rocks at Lover's Lake in a very artistic shot that Director Dustin was apparently "proud of."

"But a picture is worth a thousand words so I'm pretty sure a video is worth a million." Movie Steve said your name sadly and looked deep into the camera. "I messed up, I was an idiot and a jerk and only took my own feelings into consideration when I made that joke to my parents. I don't care how they felt about you because I'm past the point of caring how they feel about me. My screw ups.

"And unfortunately I made the biggest screw-up of my life that night. I might not care what they think about me...but I care what you think about me."

The scene changed once again, Movie Steve leaning over the counter at Family Video filling out a form on a clipboard.

"There are a million better movies out there than this one you're watching right now Honey, but none of them are able to show just how truly sorry I am, and how much I miss you. I know that we still need to talk things out in person but I hope this shows how much I'm willing to put in the work so you'll forgive me."

A few rows ahead, he could hear Eddie speak along with Movie Steve, he leaned into his girlfriend and said "I wrote that line. Pretty good, right?"

"Uh huh," she pushed his head away from her. "Sap."

Eddie turned back to look at Steve and shot him a thumbs-up.

The scene changed one last time to a panning shot of Steve walking out of StarCourt mall towards his car.

"This is your chance to decide now. I wouldn't blame you if you chose never to talk to me again. I'll wait outside once your shift is over, but I'll respect your choice either way. I miss you Honey, and I love you."

Movie Steve got in the car and drove away into the sunset, only for the camera to pan over to Corroded Coffin playing a sweet ballad that Steve knew was your favorite.

The screen faded to black and the audience erupted into applause before the real previews resumed and the eventual movie.

Steve listened intently for some sign of life from the projection booth, but aside from a few footsteps and the door opening and closing again, there was nothing.

--

After the movie was over and all of his friends went their respective ways, Steve sat by his car until the end of your shift. When the last lights of The Hawk marquee finally turned off and the employees all started filing out, he knew he was holding his breath.

The last person out of the building was you, and as you turned around and spotted him, you stopped in your tracks.

Just like the other day at Family Video, it was a standoff between you and Steve, and although Steve wished that you would just come running into his arms to kiss him, insisting your forgiveness, he knew things were never that easy.

"That, uh...was something," you finally broke the silence.

"It was, wasn't it," he agreed.

"Was that your idea?" you asked. "Pretty sure those were all your friends in there."

"Yeah I bought out the whole theater."

"You bought...seriously?"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't embarrassed...in case anyone else saw."

"And I wouldn't be embarrassed by your friends?" you scoffed.

"Well they all helped me make it so I think I was more embarrassed asking them all for help than you." You let out a long sigh and put your face in your hands and Steve started talking rapid-fire. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I know that sucks when...when I already did. But I promise I'll do better. I'll be better. I'll be anything you need me to be, I just...I need you back."

You said something but it was muffled by your hands.

"What?"

"I said," you pulled them away and looked up at him with watery eyes, and he felt his heart drop again. "Do you really love me? You said so...at the end of that...whatever that was."

"I mean...yeah I guess I do."

"You guess?" you laughed.

"I do!" Steve said with more confidence this time. "I do love you. I'm...sorry I didn't say anything sooner."

"I'm sorry you didn't either," you muttered. You closed the distance and grabbed the lapels of Steve's jacket in your hands, as though you were about to shake him. "Do you know...the real reason I was upset?"

"There's...a real reason?" he asked.

"Why I broke up with you."

"Oh. Uh...no."

"I mean," you took a great breath of confidence. "Yeah I was mad because you made me seem like a joke to your parents on Thanksgiving, and I know...I know their opinion doesn't mean that much to you. But after I left it got me thinking...what if you made a joke like that...because I was a joke. And maybe thats why nothing was ever coming of our relationship because it was just...you didn't care about me. You didn't...love me, the same way I loved you."

Steve felt the invisible hand clench around his heart; it was like Nancy all over again.

"Loved?" he whispered weakly, the sense of deja-vu undeniable. "Honey..."

"So I had to end it. To protect myself. And I took a long hard look at myself when I got to work. The what? Third job I had since I started at StarCourt? I realized that maybe...I was a joke. Maybe you were right, that I was...this job-hopping, unreliable...thing and that's why I quit. And I started looking...for a management position somewhere so I could be better."

"But you were already great," Steve assured. "Can we get back to that...loved thing?"

"Steven..."

"Sorry."

"Let me finish."

"Ok."

"And you know what I found out since I've been here?" you asked. "I...kind of hate working at a movie theater. And I need to leave again. I'm...I'm a free spirit. I can't be tied down to one kind of job. I saw an ad in the paper for an arts and crafts instructor at the Park District and I sort of wanna quit before applying, I would be great at that."

"You would," Steve laughed, still unsure of where this was going.

It was always a bit of a rollercoaster with you though, and it was another thing about you that he loved.

"So...tonight seeing all of that," you waved an arm behind you at the theater. "Seeing you...realizing that you loved me all along...I don't know. I don't need your love to keep being who it is that I am, it's just nice to know that you love me, the same way I love you."

"Love me?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah."

He whispered your name desperately and then cupped your face in his hands.

"I love you Honey."

"I love you too, Steve Harrington."

You pulled him into you and smashed your lips to his. The heartbreak faded away from both of you, and in its place, undeniable love and affection for each other.

Steve Harrington might have been many things, he might have fucked up.

But he was happy to say he was someone who could fix it.

With love.

#Steve harrington x reader #Steve harrington fic #Steve harrington fluff #store manager verse #stranger things fic #Steve harrington stranger things

[pinkeoni]

The “Will Has Powers” Basics Post

I’ve realized recently that whenever I talk about Will having powers, I kind of just expect everyone to be on the same page as me, without really explaining much of what lead me to believe he has powers in the first place. I don't really have a good foundation to point to.

So that's what I want this post to be, not really too detailed but more of an introductory post. I'll explain the basics of my Will has powers theories, why I believe he has powers, and what kinds of powers I think he has. I'll be using evidence I've used in a lot of other posts while also keeping it simplistic and not trying to add anything too speculative or theoretical.

Evidence & Powers #1) Nancy's Dialogue and Time and Light Powers

I think one of the easiest pieces of evidence and my usual go-to is Nancy's dialogue in 4x07 when the teens are in the Upside Down. Nancy remarks that the Upside Down is stuck on the day that Will went missing, and then brings Will up again in regards to the lights. Both of her pieces of dialogue here implicates Will as the one who froze time and got the lights to work the way they do.

"The last entry is November 6, 1983. The day Will went missing. The day the gate opened."

"Will found a way. Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights."

(So I used to think it was "The day the gate opened. The day Will went missing." and not "The day Will went missing. The day the gate opened." but after rewatching the scene it is actually the former. My bad.)

Now obviously Nancy wouldn't know that Will is responsible nor do I think she has some kind of psychic intuition, but the writers would know and are writing her dialogue in a specific way that points toward Will in both instances. Bringing him up by name not one, not two but three times places emphasis on him specifically. I think that

El opening the gate had a part in this, but if it was her solely then I think Nancy's dialogue would read as "The last entry is November 6, 1983. The day El opened the gate." rather than trying to tie Will into it in the first place. Moreover, the gates that Vecna is opening with El's powers don't seem to be updating the Upside Down to modern times, Will is an important piece of the puzzle.

The light thing is something that I do think is solely Will, given that gate opening isn't brought up and Nancy brings Will up by name twice in the same line of dialogue.

The word "found" here is also interesting because it could have two meanings.

A) Will stumbled upon the lights ability

B) Will created the ability to communicate with lights

Had Nancy said "Will stumbled upon a way to talk to Joyce through the lights" it would suggest that the lights is a rule from the UD that has always been there. Nancy saying that Will created the ability to talk through lights wouldn't make sense for her to say because Nancy wouldn't have access to that information. "Found" is the perfect balance between the two— it makes sense given Nancy's access to information while allowing enough room to imply that Will had something to do with it.

Evidence & Powers #2) Will as an Artist and Creation Powers

If you created a tv character who had magic powers, but you couldn't reveal it until the final season, how do you pull it off without it feeling out of nowhere? How do you build up the reveal without completely giving it away.

Well, I would do it by attributing his powers with aspects of the character that has already been built up and that the audience has become familiar with.

It's established that Will is an artist from season one, and his art continues to be important to the plot it nearly every season.

In season one, Joyce is able to correctly identify that El is not because Will's drawings are much more advanced than El's stick figures.

In season two, Will uses drawings in order to help visualize his now memories and creates a map of the tunnels.

Not much in season three, but Will does use charcoal in one scene to demonstrate visually how the shadow particles work.

In season four, Will creates a painting for Mike that becomes an important moment in the season and sets in motion important events for the future (aka byler endgame)

I will admit that this piece of evidence by itself is not enough to convince an audience that Will has a supernatural link. Will is an artist -> Will has powers is a pretty far stretch. But I think that this combined with some of my other evidence could support what kind of powers I think he has, which I think is some from of creation ability. Will has powers because of xyz -> Will is also an artist -> Will has powers of creation is a better argument and what I'm trying to get at.

Without getting into all of the chunky theoretics here, I believe it's possible that Will may have the ability to create whole lifeforms and vast worlds, such as the Upside Down itself and the creatures inside.

Evidence & Powers #3) Will the Wise, Fire Powers & Prophetic Abilities

This goes along similarly with what I said about using Will's artistry to foreshadow his powers, or using another facet of Will's character to hint at powers without giving it away altogether. Although, I would say that this piece of evidence is probably a lot more obvious than the previous bullet.

"Will the Wise" is Will's Dungeon's & Dragons name, which comes up pretty frequently in the show. Will the Wise is confusingly labeled as both a wizard and a cleric, although both classes are magic-users within DnD.

Each member of the party has a DnD class and character, although Will's is the one that get's brought up the most. The name Will the Wise is referenced—

Episode one when Will is playing DnD

In a flashback later in season one

The episode title "Will the Wise" from season two

And in season three when we have our most obvious piece of powers foreshadowing, when Will dresses up in a Wizard costume

During this same scene, Will says that he has "seen into the future" which is why I suggest that he may have prophetic abilities. Vecna displays a similar ability when he shows Nancy the future in her vision.

It's also possible that Will may have some kind of fire abilities, based on one of Will the Wise's attacks being "fireball." (@reikunrei made a really great post recently proposing that Will's fire powers might extend to some of his other abilities rather than being purely a fire attack, but alas I cannot find it ((I am so sorry Wilbur)))

Evidence #4) Continued Connection With Vecna

Another reason why I suspect that Will may have powers comes from a series of questions:

Why is Will the first one taken to the Upside Down?

Why choose Will as the host of the Mind Flayer?

Why continue to have a connection with Will?

I think I could write-off the first two as incidental if the show didn't make it a point to continue this connection through seasons three and four, that along with Nancy's dialogue in season 4 discussed earlier. Could Will's disappearance have been a coincidence? Sure. Could Vecna have just needed Will to be a spy, and is completely disposable to him? It's possible. But if so, what is the narrative reasoning for maintaining this connection? Is it to just for the convenience of having Will as a beast sensor?

Something else that tips me off about Will's disappearance is the why it happens as well, which we aren't really told. We are told with Barb that the demogorgon is attracted to blood. Nancy and Jonathan later use this tactic to lure it to the house.

And yet with Will, we don't see any blood. In fact, they make a point to emphasize this when Hopper tells Joyce that there was no blood on his bike.

Evidence #5) Will's focus in season 5

Despite Will always being my favorite character and loving him so dearly, I didn't start seriously theorizing until I saw this tweet by Discussing Film, which came out shortly after vol. 2 was released.

I know that outside cast and crew comment shouldn’t be taken as gospel, as they have lied before for the sake of spoilers. Which is why I put this at the end, and why it’s not my only piece of evidence.

But still, it’s not like every comment is a lie, and even then, wouldn’t this be a wierd thing to lie about? And kinda cruel? Imagine saying “Oh, this gay character who hasn’t gotten a lot of screentime is going to be a focus.” only to say “Haha just kidding, he’s actually unimportant!” So I’m inclined to believe that they’re telling the truth.

So if this statement is true, then how could Will not have powers? How would you make a character the center of a show about the supernatural, if he has no tie to the supernatural at all?

#kinda posting at a weird time for me but whatever #had this in the drafts for long enough #will byers #will byers has powers #stranger things #byler #<- target audience #my theory

[whatislife1babydonthurtme]

Things in Stranger Things season 4 (Volume 2) which did not make sense, were forgotten or simply pissed me off.

❗️Spoilers obviously❗️

The whole town was convinced that there was a cult going on and people got up looking for Eddie and seemingly the rest of Hellfire Club because they were convinced it was a cult. Did they just give up? They never showed up again. Also the parents didn't bring this up at the end when everyone was reunited.

Why did Mike believe that the painting was for him and El when he clearly read the letter that said Will was painting it for someone he likes. Additionally, how the fuck did Mike not notice his supposed "best friend" sobbing in the car right next to him? You can clearly see him look in Will's direction but he just doesn't do anything.

Is the police just... dead? Where are they? Why are they not actively going after Jason's crew

Where is Owen? Is he alive? Why did he say that he could get El back in Hawkins in 2 hours tops if the Cali crew said it would take all night to get back, was he gonna call a private jet or something??

Where is the military? They went to that lab and then were never heard of again.

When Nancy was Vecna'd, she was in the laboratory. Why???? She had nothing to do with that place. Why wasn't she robbed from facing her own fears and traumas at the start of volume 2? Also when she got stuck in front of those doors which were blocked off by planks, they were push doors. Why did she rip off all of those planks if she could've just pushed the door and crawled in between those planks. Maybe I'm getting something wrong here but that just seems like such a hard thing to miss while writing the script...

Why did only Jason and his buddy go to Lucas and Erica when he had a whole team? Were the other guys just watching tv?

Vecna survived being transported to another reality and being hit by lightening so much that his skin peeled off, but can't handle Steve and Robin throwing a molotov at him? Or a shotgun? Really?

Did they leave Eddie's body in the upside down? Why is nobody mourning him besides his uncle and Dustin? I thought Mike, Lucas, Steve, Nancy, Robin and even Erica cared.

So El can bring people back from the dead now? That's not telekinesis, that's Mary Sue magic. What's next? She can share her powers with anyone she wants and then they can make people fly with the jerk of a wrist?

We still don't know why the upside down is stuck on the moment Will was taken. With the way this was brought up in volume 1 it really seemed like this would be answered in volume 2. But of course not, because Will Byers just kept getting sidelined in every way possible.

How come it was leaked that 5 people would die in volume 2 but the only important characters who died were Brenner (papa) and Eddie. Max died but she was brought back to life because apparently Eleven can do that now. That's not 5 is it? Or did they count the people in that helicopter who were trying to shoot Eleven?

Were we supposed to care about Brenner's death???? With how the cemra kept focusing so much on him? I was glad to watch him go!!

The timeskip of 2 full days in the middle of the climax???? Wtf was that??????

Mike being a complete asshole to Will these past 2 seasons was just for no reason then? He is JUST an asshole??

Were Robin, Nancy and Steve just choking on those vines for like 15 minutes or was the time where Eleven struck Vecna actually a lot shorter than that?

They actually forgot Will's birthday, I hoped they were just joking but they really forgot. He was the only character with a canon birthday within the series (until they talked about Dustin's) but clearly they care so little about Will that his entire existence is forgotten.

Wasn't the upside down toxic? Why is everyone just fine inhaling the shit?

The queerbait. No, gay people didn't bait themselves. Netflix, the Duffers, and the actors were actively promoting Byler and hyping up Will's sexuality when in reality Byler is just doomed, not just as a romance but as friendship as well. And Will did not explicitly come out to anyone. People are STILL in denial that he's gay and that's exactly why you make characters come out instead of keeping it "up to interpretation wink wink"

Will calling Mike the heart of their group yet Mike's the one who broke their party up the most.

Mike saying he instantly fell in love with Eleven when they met, as if he didn't tell her to shut up, go away and stop being weird back then.

Mike saying his life started on the day he met Eleven, the same day Will went missing, in his face. When Mike said before that the best thing he had ever done was befriend Will in kindergarten.

So did Vecna create the Mind Flayer or did it already exist? Cause if Vecna created it that's so goddamn lame and it adds no new mystery.

The continuous stereotypes and suffering/deaths of outcasts, poor people, queer people and people of color. One black character plays basketball and the other is a sassy one-liner. The brown guy is a funny weed man with barely to no relevancy to the plot. One lesbian gets a lazy background ship with a girl who is an exact copy of herself and the gay character is living in a painful unrequited love story and used as fuel for the main straight couple, without even being given a canon coming out scene. All this while the straight couples get together and have tons of moments together. Eddie who is poor, is seen as a cultist, dies and nobody besides 2 people mourn his death. Max, another poor character who had already lived through trauma and abuse, dies, gets brought back to life, is now comatose, probably crippled, and maybe permanently blind.

Will's endless suffering. He just can't ever be happy can he? Wtf is wrong with the writers...

Did the Russian crew just end up at Hoppers cabin like that in 2 days? No problems whatsoever? Wow that's convenient.

Hopper hugs Mike but not his new stepsons?

Not one, not two, but three jokes about Hopper once having been fat because he's lost weight in the prison.

Comments had some great additions and I came up with some more too so here's more:

Nobody showed up to Lucas' game when he had a very valid reason to want to play, and it was never brought up again. They all stood him up.

Eddie's death was so rushed and predictable. I saw it coming as soon as he said his whole "I'm a coward I run away I'm not a hero" speech. It's typical "I'm a coward so I'll die a hero" foreshadowing which is overused and just horrible. And in the end he didn't even save anyone, it was completely unnecessary. Eddie deserved to live.

Eleven not being able to win the final fight until she got validation from her boyfriend. Why was she not allowed to do this by herself?

The military watching the pizza van drive off and then do nothing about it? I thought they were experts at tracing and tracking, but nope, they just gave up after Eleven escaped the underground lab.

Just the Cali crew being sidelined so much when they once were such interesting characters (besides Argyle)

Steve saying he always loved Nancy and never moved on despite him telling Robin in season 3 that he didn't like her anymore. Let Steve move on and stop having Nancy jump from boy to boy, hurting them both in the process.

Just a nitpick but the sound design was so overly dramatic at times? Like Brenner LITERALLY snapped a pencil and the sound design was like ☄️💥🔥

Tell me what I missed cause I'd love to add it on this shit list.

#the disappointment i feel #stranger things #stranger things season 4 #stranger things volume 2 #stranger things spoilers #st 4 vol 2 #st 4 #will byers #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jim hopper #eleven #el hopper #max mayfield #byler #long post #my post

[badcaseofcasey]

Steddie Soulmate/Met as Kids AU - Part 5 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

a/n: there should only be one more part (of Steve's pov, at least), so we're almost to the end! I promise they will actually interact in the next installment, lol. Thanks for sticking with me, hope you enjoy it!

Usually, it was pretty easy for Steve to get by without showing off his words. The only ones who really saw them these days were the few girls he actually ended up hooking up with, which Robin would tell you were pretty few and far between.

But he’d rather deal with the potential awkwardness of having Eddie see his words for the first time than try to swim to the bottom of Lover’s Lake with his sweatshirt dragging him down.

He tried to do it as quickly as possible, but he certainly didn’t miss the glance Eddie threw his way as he caught the yellow sweatshirt. Steve’s entire body had been buzzing with that once-familiar electricity since Eddie had thrown him up against the wall in the boathouse. It was easier to dive into the murky waters, even knowing what he might find down there, than stay on the boat and deal with the weight of Eddie’s eyes on him.

From that point on, there was very little time to think of anything but the plan. Looking back on it, he would blame ranting about six kids and a winnebago on the blood loss, coupled with being so close to his soulmate for the first time in years. Between that and being in the Upside Down, his brain felt like a ball of mush. Even when he and Eddie had actually spoken for the first time since they were kids, it just ended with Eddie encouraging him to go after Nancy and left Steve more confused than ever.

When it came time to split up, Steve couldn’t help but worry. The idea of Eddie or Dustin getting hurt was almost too much to think about. The plan kept them as far away from harm as physically possible, but even still, he felt a pit in his stomach. There was something in Eddie’s eyes as he got ready to leave that made him pause, but against his better judgment, he’d stuck to the plan.

He had told Eddie specifically - don’t be the hero. So why was he now sitting in a hospital room watching his soulmate breathe through a ventilator?

Eddie and Max had both been in the hospital when they went after Vecna for what was actually the last time. Steve made it through their last battle on pure adrenaline, really. Any time he’d stopped for more than a second, all he could see was Dustin clinging to Eddie’s lifeless body, reliving the few minutes where he thought he had lost his soulmate before he’d even gotten to have him.

Now that the gates were all closed and Vecna was gone (El had made absolutely sure this time), Steve allowed himself to slow down for the first time in weeks. He’d spent every day since then (after a quick shower and a night spent in his own bed, at Robin and Joyce’s insistence) at the hospital, either in Max’s room or Eddie’s.

It was hard to explain to the others why Steve was spending so much time at Eddie’s bedside. He could tell they were curious, but luckily, they held themselves back from actually asking. Other than Dustin, Steve was the one to have spent the most time in Eddie’s room. Eventually, Dustin had to start going back to school, despite the cracks in the ground all over Hawkins. So Steve was now the one to keep vigil at Eddie’s bedside, eating food from the hospital cafeteria or brought in by Joyce and showering in the attached bedroom (one of the perks of being a wanted fugitive with a shady government organization working on clearing your name was a private room).

Robin came to sit with Steve whenever she had the spare time. She was still working at Family Video, which had somehow miraculously survived the “earthquake,” so she could only come between shifts, and dates with Vickie.

One day, she finally got up the courage to ask, “Steve? …Why Eddie?”

Steve looked up from where he had been reading aloud from The Hobbit (one of Dustin’s conditions of going back to school was that Steve picked up where he left off). “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Max’s room is right down the hall,” Robin clarified. “I know she has her mom, El, and Lucas, but you could be down there, too. I didn’t even think you liked Eddie, and now you’re here all the time. I guess, I’m just wondering… why?”

“Honestly, Robs,” Steve sighed, putting the bookmark in and shutting the book. “I’m impressed you made it this long without asking.”

Robin nudged him lightly with her shoulder. “You should be proud. But you’re not getting out of answering the question.”

Steve paused, considering. “You know how I told you that I didn’t remember getting my words?”

Robin nodded. The night that Steve and Robin had ended up drugged in the Starcourt bathroom, Robin had confessed that she’d gotten her words earlier that year, from Vickie of all people. Steve had managed not to tell her his own story - but only barely.

“I lied,” Steve admitted. “I got them when I was eight. I was at the playground and this kid came up, wanting to fight dragons with me. We played together all afternoon and I had the most fun I can ever remember having, to be honest.”

Robin’s eyebrows had shot up as soon as Steve started talking. “What happened to the kid?”

“I never saw him again - or well, I didn’t for a while,” Steve said. “He was in town… visiting his uncle.”

Steve let his eyes slide over to Eddie’s face, dark hair fanned out against the white hospital pillowcase.

Robin gasped lightly. “Oh, Steve.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, feeling his throat tighten up. “I didn’t see him again until high school and by then, I’d already fallen in with the popular crowd and I was so scared at what it would mean for me to give that all up for - well, for someone I really hardly knew.”

Steve turned back to face Robin and saw her eyes were wet. Steve knew his were as well.

“I ignored him, Rob,” Steve confessed. “I knew he was my soulmate, but I decided that popularity and making people like me was more important. And now-“

“Hey,” Robin cut him off, wrapping her arm around Steve’s shoulders. “Now nothing. The doctors are saying he’s going to make it. Now, you get a second chance.”

Steve’s shoulders shook as he finally let himself cry for the first time since seeing Eddie bleeding in the Upside Down. All of the hurt and pain and guilt he’d felt at not being able to protect his soulmate came flowing out of him at once. Robin, for her part, just held him, even though Steve knew that people crying made her uncomfortable.

After a while, his sobs quieted and he was able to pull his face away from Robin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should’ve, that night at Starcourt.”

“Hey, if you should be sorry for anything, it’s getting snot all over my favorite sweater, dingus.”

Steve laughed and rested his head on her shoulder, eyes back on Eddie.

“I almost lost him, Rob.”

“Well,” she said. “Make sure you don’t, this time around.”

Part 6

taglist (let me know if you'd like to be added/removed!): @infinitetrashbag @vampireinthesun @swimmingbirdrunningrock @maya-custodios-dionach @thev01dd @obsessivlyme @a-little-unsteddie @anything-thats-rock-and-roll @spectrum-spectre @red-panderz69 @magpiemuseum @minjintea @finalmoondragon @thatonebadideapanda @estrellami-1 @freyaforestafay @biatcgh @sadcanadianwinter @im-sam-fucking-winchester @bidisastersworld @justanothergirlwithobsessions @anaibis @thing-a-ling @rosered93 @newtstabber @void-o-chaos @thegingerrapunzel @baron-zemo-trash @katireads @child-of-cthulhu @the-s-is-silent @i-must-potato @hellomynameismoo @lovelylilbadone @theotalksalot @lydi-cyan @background-noise-headache @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @slitherynchiken @grapefruitgalaxy

#my fic #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #steddie fic #steddie #soulmate au #met as kids au #Stranger Things #steddie soulmate au

[sempsimps]

mychael and reader

i love mushroom oasis the vibe as a whole and the aesthetic i love it so much. and of course the mushroom boy mychael himself, and day 2 got my thinking about things, so i think i got the character right maybe and this is probably my shortest fic but the most wholesome a little context is that my version of the mc is that the reason they don't go outside much is hay fever and they miss doing stuff becuse their parents didn't let them out much so when they go out with mycheal in day two the get a new excitement to being outside.

tags:

taking a hay fever tablet/pill

the fluffiest fluff you could ever imagine

obviously this game is 16+ i believe so if your not that age tf you doing here

but this is so safe a baby could read it but don't becuse swears ig

the sun bleared onto my face my eyes slowly twitch and i stretched my limbs my hand knocking into skin and somthing fell on my face lightly and my eyes flutter open a tiny bit obscured by green and blue thing on my face.

"ah, sorry firefly i didn't mean to drop that on you"

"mh its okay i'm sorry for falling asleep and... on your lap it seems"

mycheal picked up the thing that landed on my face and i slowly sat up, yawning while rubbing my eyes to rid the tiredness. i looked towards mychael he was making a flower chain using the forget me not's, it looked pretty the blue was a lovely colour. he finished the last part of it and placed it on my head it fit quite nicely and was right above my ears resting.

"aw thank you mych"

i brightly smiled at him before i stood up and stretched with a satisfying click in my back and shoulder yawning briefly.

"by the way how long was i out for?"

mychael looked up at the sky and hummed, figuring out how much the sun moved.

"about an hour firefly"

"huh okay, best nap I've ever had"

i looked around i miss being outside, as i kid my parents never really let me out and i had the urge to climb a tree. 'ah that one looks easy enough' running over to the stump of the tree, i skipped onto the lowest bit that stuck out it was close to the ground using it to reach a big branch that was sturdy and i hoisted myself up, using the tree trunk as a foot hold doing so i got up to where my elbows were parallel to the branch but my foot slipped and chipped some bark of causing my balance to faulter and my arms wrapped around the branch to stop myself from falling off. 'shit' my feet dangled and i struggled to get them back on the tree trunk as i wasn't very strong.

"firefly what are you doing? ah! let me help you get down"

i felt hands on my waist and i stopped kicking my legs he was trying to pull me down but i used that to get up into the tree, i now sat on it crossed legged

"thank you!"

"what are you doing firefly?"

"tree"

"i can see that but why?"

mychael tilted his head confused, which soon turned to worry as i stood up on the branch and held my arms out to keep my balance, while mychael was panicking beneath me. i just laughed and sat on the branch near the tip. my legs locked over, it wobbled a little as i hung backwards over the edge. i was upside down so my shirt fell a little and the crown slipped off 'damn i was hoping that stayed on' i was now face to face with mychael my hand went out to boop him on the nose.

"hiya, boop!"

"firefly you need to get down, you could get hurt"

his voice clearly had worry in it but at that i started to swing my body and tried flipping forward onto my feat, but ended on my back. luckily the ground wasn't too far away and i landed in the flowers and grass a little winded but okay 'ow fuck that hurt'

"firefly! are you okay that was quite a harsh landing, i told you to be carful. you've winded yourself"

i laid there for a second and mychael was quick to my side and helped me sit up slowly with, a careful hand on my lower back and arm. i just softly giggled.

"well that was fun."

"that was dangerous not fun, hey! take it easy firefly"

"blah come on, ive missed the outdoors let me have some fun, oh by the way is there a river near by? this weather is boiling"

"okay then.... yeah lets go i need a drink, but a are you sure your okay i know that fall wasn't high but still"

i didnt have time to respond becuse i sneezed and my eyes were getting itchy from the grass and pollen 'ah damn hay fever' reaching over to where the flower crown landed and i put it on mychael's head although a little crooked.

"i made this for you, why are you giving it to me?"

"oh im allergic to pollen and my eyes are getting bad. anyway! where is this river you said there was, lets go"

"wait your allergic? isnt that a bad thing?"

"yeah ill talk about it on the way"

he nodded and mychael lead me to a path to the right of where we were, slowly walking to he river. i told him what hay fever was.

"so basically I'm allergic to grass and pollen, and many people have that and its called hay fever. it can causes various things like a runny nose, red or itchy or swollen eyes, coughing and sneezing, so its like a cold but for like half of the year."

"that sounds awful...."

"yeah but luckily i dont have it that bad compared to others, like i just sneeze and get itchy eyes which hopefully will be solved by some fresh water and one of my tablets"

i always kept a packet of tablets on my person just in case, and luckily i didnt forget to have them with me when i left the house to find my cat, and they were quite secure in my slim pocket.

"tablet? that's a type of medicine right?"

"yep, very useful in this day and age for anyone really"

continuing to walk with the living mushroom towards a water source to hopefully keep down the uncomfortable allergy and maybe have some fun in the river, like throwing stones or somthing 'oh that sounds fun ill do that' soon i could hear the water, and mychael moved a bush out of the way.

"okay firefly, we're here"

"nice. this should help a lot haha"

walking over to the water i sat down and popped open the packet putting one in my mouth, and then swiftly cupped my hands and drank the water to get it down me, i swallowed it to get rid of any thoughts, as it was hard for me to take pills. afterwards i stood up and walked along the rivers edge slowly, coming up to a big boulder to sit on. it was partly in the water it made a nice effect in the flowing liquid and i was feeling better by the second.

"that should do it, and maybe I'll climb another tree"

"absoulutly not"

mychael gave a small sigh from behind me, not opting to sit on the large rock but instead sat besides it, near the side of the river. and i laid back taking in the pretty blue sky with minimal clouds. taking a deep breath in 'I'm gonna need more of those during the summer.... he might not like it but i rather not feel dead'

"hey.... mychael i'm running out of the tablets ill need them if im going to live with you out here"

"you want to live with me?"

"yes absolutely! i wouldn't have to pay taxes, and well society sucks"

"that's great! but what are taxes?"

"don't worry about it, but i need those pills other wise i might be really sick forever, becuse of the pollen and like its April now and only going to get worse over the summer"

"we can go get them now?"

"if you help me get some stuff from my house, as well as getting those pills, and i know you might not want me to leave- wait for real?"

i stood up quickly and stood over in shock as i held out a hand for mychael which he accepted standing up as well.

"are you sure i was thinking you'd get possessive and worry i wouldn't come back in like an hour"

"what? that's dumb you need that medicine, so why wouldn't i let you get them?"

"oh right..... god why did i think that? that was dumb! anyway we should get my meds"

i laughed at my overthinking brain and mychael joined in. and started walking in a direction and i quickly followed happily 'living in the forest sounds like the best thing ever'.

okay so i dont know how to end this one so there we go im so happy i finally got this out of my head its been stuck there for ages and now its out also thanks you to my friend who gave me motivation to finish this for them as a token and introduction into tumbler.

#mushroom oasis vn #mushroom oasis #mychael x reader #mushroom oasis mychael #mushroom man

[hbyrde36]

The Crawl

Part 2 of 5

Part 1 here AO3

WC: 2773

-Edd!e-

Eddie retreated into the trees once Will was finally out of sight and on his way to safety on the other side of the fence. 

He hoped he’d done the right thing. The kid had survived his original stay in the Upside Down without Eddie’s help, obviously, but when he had found Castle Byers in the middle of the woods and discovered the boy hiding within it, he couldn't just walk away. 

The idea had come to him shortly after he ‘woke up’.

Whenever Eddie thought about his unholy resurrection it was always in terms of sleeping and waking. Of course, he knew the truth. 

He remembered everything. 

Seeing Dustin to safety. Cutting the Rope. Leading the bats away, and ultimately fighting them to the death. He remembered how one of the little fuckers had wrapped it’s tail around his throat, and exactly what their small sharp teeth had felt like as they tore into his skin. 

He remembered dying. 

But if he allowed himself to think about it too hard, he’d have to face other harsh truths that he was even less prepared to deal with. 

Like the fact that he was probably not human anymore, and though he was able to resist it, he could feel Vecna’s call. That he would most likely never get out of this place, never see Uncle Wayne again, or any of his friends, or the kids, or Steve, who he’d grown inexplicably close to and fond of over the short time they’d spent together during the most hellish week of his life.

So instead of worrying about the what, how, and why of his current existence, he focused on another mystery that had been plaguing him since the first time he’d set foot in the Upside Down. Why was this place stuck in 1983 on the day Will went missing? And could that mean there were other time related anomalies?

Since he had nothing better to do than wander around and try to avoid Vecna, as well as the other creatures of the Upside Down, he decided to explore the possibility and found he was on to something. 

His first theory once he found Baby Byers, was that time in the Upside Down was absolutely fucked. 

He didn’t know if it was moving backwards, or forwards, or everywhere at once, and frankly the implications of the whole thing made his head spin. 

His second theory, and the only way he could even remotely make some sense of things, was that maybe each gate into and out of this place was somehow tied to the time in which it was used.

It was why when he’d decided to step in and get the young boy out of there he hadn’t taken him back to the trailer park, even though that gate was closer. He was too afraid of what might happen if he was right and he wound up sending a 12 year old Will Byers through his ceiling and right into the future.

Eddie didn’t know everything that had happened to the party relating to the Upside Down, in fact he was sure he only knew a very small fraction of the story, but he did remember being told that Will’s mom and Hopper had somehow retrieved him through the lab way back when, so it seemed like a safe bet to take the boy there. 

He only interfered in the first place because the poor kid had looked minutes from death. He hadn't planned on doing anything more than getting Will out. He was well aware that messing with past events could have disastrous consequences, he’d read enough sci-fi novels to know that much, but he figured, what harm could it do to help the young boy escape this nightmare realm a little bit sooner? 

As long as he didn’t tell the kid anything, it would be okay. His biggest fear was that somehow he would make things worse. In his own time, he’d managed to lead the bats away and save Dustin. If he did something wrong here and anything happened to the little shit as a result, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. 

If living was the word for it. 

But, then they’d been talking, and his big mouth had run away with him, as it usually did. He mentioned Mike and called Will by his D&D moniker, all of which only stoked the kid’s curiosity more. 

And Eddie started thinking, could it actually get any worse? 

They hadn’t defeated Vecna for one thing, he knew that for a fact. The guy was still alive and traipsing around down here like he owned the fucking place. Yes, Eddie had saved Dustin but what had become of everyone else? Steve, Robin, and Nancy? Red and the others? The town as a whole?

And, sure, maybe he didn’t know everything, but he knew a little. Would it be enough to change the outcome for the better? 

Only one way to find out. 

So, he’d gone and told Will anything he could recall that might help. It was erratic at best, his usual storytelling abilities all but non-existent in the wake of everything he’d been through. He forgot a lot and didn’t provide enough context for any of it, but he did what he could and hoped it would be good enough. 

Given that time was fucked, Eddie wasted none of it in making his way over to Lover’s Lake, content to watch and wait for as long as he had to. 

The bitch of it was, if he had changed things enough Steve might never get pulled down here through the underwater gate. In some ways it was the ideal outcome, even if it meant that Eddie would never truly know what was happening in the Right-Side-Up until Vecna either did or didn’t die.

But if Steve did get pulled through the lake’s depths and into the Upside Down as he had before, whether because Eddie hadn’t done enough or because fate was just that cruel a mistress, he would be right there to help him.

Eddie sat, and watched, and waited for an indeterminate amount of time. 

He had no concept of it passing anymore, no way to gauge it. He didn’t get cold, or hungry, or thirsty. He didn’t even feel the need to fidget anymore.

He just existed.

The only thing that plagued him outside of his own thoughts was a little nudge at the back of his mind. He knew it was Vecna. Mostly it was a dormant awareness of the asshole but every now and then Henry would flex his power, urging Eddie to find him and join him. It was easy enough to ignore, at least for now. 

He knew it was coming a few moments before Steve came bursting up through the hole in the dry lake bed. The vines around the small opening that had previously been lying completely still, had suddenly come to life, and he raced to the gate from his nearby hiding spot. 

Eddie, oar already in hand, beat at the vine that had a hold on Steve's ankle until it let him go. The other boy stared up at him, eyes wide and chest heaving as he worked to catch his breath.

“Holy shit.” Steve gasped out between breaths. “It is you. You’re�� really here.”

“Sure am, big boy.” Eddie smiled. That answered the question of whether Will had told the others about him or not.  It was so good to see a familiar face, and Steve’s in particular if he was honest. A bit weird, knowing this wasn’t exactly the same boy he had once known, but good. 

He offered Steve a hand up and he took it, allowing Eddie to haul him to his feet. Steve still looked a little dazed, but that was understandable. He also couldn’t seem to stop staring.

“Come on.” Eddie said, tugging on Steve’s hand and urging him to move. “We’ve only got a minute or two before Nancy, Robin, and the other me are going to come popping out of that hole, assuming they were with you on the boat?” 

He glanced back to see Steve nodding in confirmation. 

“I don’t know what happens if he and I get too close to each other,” Eddie continued. “And I don't particularly want to find out.”

Once they made it to the tree line Eddie stopped, turning to fully face Steve. He had this horrible urge to embrace the other boy. It’d been so long since he’d had contact with another person, let alone hugged them, but there was no time to indulge in that kind of comfort and no reason to think that Steve would welcome more of his touch. 

He had so many questions, too many for one short stolen moment. The bats would attack soon and the others would be coming through any minute and…

“Eds, I'm so sorry.” Steve whispered, voice trembling as he squeezed Eddie’s hand. Neither of them had let go yet.   

Eds? That was new… 

“For what?”

Steve gestured at him from head to toe, struggling for words. 

In fairness Eddie hadn’t looked in a mirror in a while, so he only had a vague idea of how bad he must look, but judging by Steve's pained expression, it… wasn’t good. 

“I guess I don't really know, but obviously something goes wrong, er, went wrong, and I didn’t…”

Eddie cut him off. “No, this wasn’t…” He trailed off looking down at his own dirty, torn, and bloody shirt. “You weren’t there when this happened. It wasn't your fault.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but it’s my responsibility to keep everyone safe. Everyone. And you… god. I can’t believe I wasn’t there.” Steve looked like he was genuinely fighting off tears.

Eddie was a little taken aback. He hadn’t thought Steve cared about him that much, at least not at this point in their getting-to-know-you journey. It was true that they had grown close towards the end, shared trauma and a heart to heart in the middle of the dark and twisted woods will do that to you, but none of that had happened yet for the Steve in front of him. It made him wonder just how well this Steve and his Eddie knew each other. 

“Stevie, don’t do that to yourself.” The nickname rolled off of his tongue like it was second nature though he was pretty sure it was the first time he’d ever said it.

Steve had finally looked away, eyes on the horizon where a small grouping of demobats was quickly making its way towards them, but at those words his gaze snapped back to Eddie’s again. He stepped closer, reaching out like he meant to touch him, but stopped just short of it. 

Eddie’s stomach flipped and suddenly he wished he’d thought to clean himself up somehow before coming here. He probably still had dried blood on his face, of course Steve wouldn’t want to touch him. 

He shook his head at himself. 

There wasn’t time for this. None of it mattered, he wasn’t important. What mattered was the future, and making sure that Steve and everyone else had one.  

“Listen, I don’t know what might have changed between what I remember and your timeline, or if I made any difference at all. I don’t know if any of this will make sense to you yet but I can tell you what we did.”

It looked like Steve wanted to say something else, but he nodded and let Eddie move the conversation along. The bats were getting closer and it seemed even he could sense they were almost out of time.

“Vecna got Nancy. She snapped out of it but he gave her these terrifying visions and basically told her his whole evil villain backstory about killing his parents, winding up at the lab, becoming a number, and his vendetta against Eleven for sending him here. We already knew that gates are formed anywhere he makes a kill right? But after that we figured out that he needed four kills to complete the set, kicking off his end of the world plot, or whatever. So we came down here, tried to beat him on his own turf. You, Nancy, and Robin went after him, while me and Dustin caused a distraction to keep those bats away. On the other side, Max, Lucas, and Erica were baiting him, like a different kind of distraction. Keeping his mind busy while you three went after his body.” 

Steve was staring at him again, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. They were standing in the middle of a hellscape on the precipice of the end of the world, and Steve Harrington was smiling at him with a soft look in his eyes that Eddie didn’t think had ever been aimed at him before.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Eddie asked shyly.

“Sorry, you’re just so… you.”

Eddie was pretty sure if he could still blush he would be doing so, furiously.

Steve cleared his throat, looking a little pink in the cheeks himself. “It sounds like a decent strategy, more of a plan that we usually have anyway.”

“Maybe, but we still failed. I don’t even know what happened to the rest of you.”

“What about you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” Steve insisted, pleading with his eyes. “Eddie, if there's any chance it could help me save you, I need to know. Please, just tell me what happened.”

Eddie stared at the ground as he spoke. “Me and Dustin were on the roof of my trailer, here in the Upside Down. I played my guitar to lure those flying fuckers away from Vecna’s house, where you were headed. It worked phenomenally well, they came in droves. We reinforced the trailer as best we could, but they were too strong, and there were too many of them. They started to come through the air vents, man. We had this rope rigged up through the gate in the ceiling. I sent Dustin up and out first, but I realized the bats might follow us through, or worse turn around and attack you guys. I cut the rope so Dustin couldn’t follow me, and then I led the bats away…” He trailed off, unwilling to finish the story. It didn’t need to be said anyway. His fate was obvious.

This time when Steve reached out, he didn’t stop himself. He cupped the side of Eddie’s face, running his thumb back and forth over his cheek. Before Eddie could stop it he found himself nuzzling into the touch. 

Steve opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated when they saw Robin, Nancy, and the other Eddie climbing up out of the gate off in the distance. The trio was looking around panicked, shouting Steve’s name, and the bats were already starting to swarm. Nancy picked up the oar that Eddie left behind, and was already brandishing it against the onslaught.

Time’s up, Eddie thought as he pulled away from Steve and ducked around a tree to keep hidden. 

Steve's eyes darted back and forth between the Eddie in front of him and his friends behind him. “What about everyone else?” He asked quickly. “You didn’t mention El or Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, Mike.” Steve paled. “Did something happen to them all?”

“I don’t know, Hopper was dead and the rest were in California. You guys kept trying to call but-”

“California?” Steve said, confused. 

Finally it clicked. “Oh shit, Hopper’s alive and the Byers didn’t move?! I guess I did some good after all.” Eddie said, feeling a sudden surge of hope. They had so much more help this time if everyone was in the same place. They had El! 

He wished he knew how that had all come to pass. He would have loved to sit with Steve for hours and find out all the little differences between his past and Steve’s present, but he could settle for not knowing as long as the people he cared about made it out of this mess alive. 

“Take them to my place, the trailer. You’ll be able to get out there.”

“I don’t want to leave you here alone.” Steve said, even as his eyes strayed back to the others.

“You have to. They need you. Your Eddie needs you.”

Steve let out a pained sound, but finally turned away and ran back to where he belonged, leaving Eddie behind as he rushed off to help the others finish off the demobats. 

Part 3

Thanks forever to @penny00dreadful for being the best friend, cheerleader, and beta in the whole fucking world 💜 truly could not do it without you.

I'm going to tag anyone who interacted with part 1 but feel free to tell me to fuck off (🤣) and let me know if you want to be removed from the list!!

@hissunflowers @sadisticaltarts @gutterflower77 @epiclazershark @yeahhhh-suga @soapyscoobert @thetrueghostqueen @guppynuggets @reh-hateshumans @katdeerly @kolorzapster @useless-nb-bisexual

#steddie fanfic #stranger things #time fuckery #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie #fanfic #steddie fic #ao3 #the crawl #undead eddie munson

[sapphicslut777]

so idk if this is a running theory, but i’ve never seen this mentioned in the stranger things sphere…

i think that henry/vecna/one is the biological father of all of the children in hawkins lab.

from what i understand, a lot of time went by after henry was captured by doctor brenner. as we are currently in 1986 with the start of the end of the world 😅 and with ‘83 being the year when will went missing (the day in which the upside down is stuck)… then what happened between 1959 (henry’s capture) and 1979 (in hawkins lab, when we clearly see children/experiments 2-12 (or 17??) have been acquired somehow)???

in the ‘79 hawkins lab we see many numbered children with abilities being taken care of by an extensive staff, including one, who’s powers have been kept at bay by the soteria doctor brenner implanted in his neck. by this time 20 yrs have passed and surely henry is in his 30s by now. the fact that we didn’t see all of that missing time, makes me think it’s important.

i know that it’s been explained in the papers, and understood by becky (terry ives’ sister) as well as hopper, that brenner was using lsd and shit like mk ultra to create/obtain people with powers. but those never included experiments on children. the newspaper described adults with the drug experiments. the way that becky describes terry’s experience makes us think that she was the only one this happened to… “she didn’t know she was pregnant at the time” she says 😳

it is also unclear how or when henry got his psychic abilities. and doctor brenner (who has been studying henry since he was a child—under the care of his own parents) has always wanted to not only study, but replicate, henry’s powers… so if he had done all of the experimenting that he could on one child and couldn’t determine how to recreate the results,,, i don’t think it would be above brenner to craft an entirely detailed plan on how to breed the children himself, using henry’s genetic material to get the powers.

because in ‘79 the oldest child (two) seems to be about 14-16 years old, this would make him born in about ‘63-‘65 (henry turned 18 in ‘65)… i just think brenner is the type to create a whole operation. we’ve seen the way that he has his lab staffed in ‘83 and even in ‘86 (with NINA). he is neat and orderly and checks all of the boxes and possibilities. i think if he had years of planning he could definitely come up with a system of not being caught.

the lsd experimentation was probably an entire ruse to acquire people (women) who would want to volunteer. these people (women) who weren’t afraid to take drugs or be closely monitored or experimented on… fuck in his own sick and twisted mind he probably saw it as them consenting???

all i’m saying is, when we see the clips of eleven (jane) being taken from terry, it’s brenner himself. he’s running the whole operation. and when we see the lab in ‘79 there are tens of kids there (all in varying and descending ages). which makes me think that he takes a baby, waits a little bit, then pops in another one when the time is right 😨🫢😬

all i’m saying is,,,, it would make a lot of sense that brenner would want to use the soteria on henry and have him help with the training and the monitoring of the other children’s abilities (who knows henry’s powers better than himself??). it would make sense as to why one thought he had “the right” to destroy all of (his and) brenner’s work. their experiments. their children. this would explain why henry seems to latch onto eleven so easily, letting her know how he harnesses his power (something that would be very personal to him). it would make sense why eleven and brenner are the only ones left in the lab (besides staff) in ‘83. why brenner is so desperately using el to get to the upside down and find henry. why wouldn’t brenner make more experiments? more children??

all!! i’m!!! saying!!!! is!!!!!!!!! it would make the whole “papa” and daddy issues arc a Hell of A Lot Stronger, if henry was watching these (his) children and waiting for the right one (eleven/jane) to trust to carry down the family legacy and the powers. henry talks to young el like “i wanted us to join forces”… what if he sees her as his true daughter??? he sees that she’s powerful enough to carry out his escape plan. and it’s obvious that he’s so betrayed by eleven when she rejects his offer and banishes him. he wants to rebuild the entire world with her for fucks sake!!! talk about some toxic daddy-daughter shit!!

in henry’s monologue to el in the lab in ‘79 he says “papa wanted to recreate me.. he started a program. and soon, others were born. you were born. and i’m so glad you were, eleven.” this theory would also explain the reason he thinks the children he killed are not dead. he claims that they’re still with him. he points to his mind. “in here”.

he also says “to your papa, you are nothing but a lab rat, something to be tamed.. but the opposite is true”. he explains that eleven is better than “they are” (normal humans i suppose?? or simply everyone else??). he claims that she is superior… why? bc he is superior. henry thinks he is the greatest and most powerful, all-knowing being in the universe. and to have a daughter to watch over, that posses the same ultimate power and can finally understand him… i think that’s all henry’s ever wanted.. he’s always felt disconnected and ostracized by his family. and even his “second family” (papa and the other children). but eleven reminds him of himself. he says so throughout the entire 4th season.

this daddy-daughter relationship between henry/one and jane/eleven would also hit hard for el’s storyline, which has been riddled with father figures this whole time…. brenner was “papa”, hopper was next (also taken away from her by the upside down/vecna/henry/one), then brenner again, and even doctor owens for a time. for her to then have to come to terms with henry being her biological father would be the final evil cherry on top of this season finale. 🍨🍒

all throughout the series, we’ve been being tossed back and forth between these psychic/supernatural/other-worldly things being the villain AND humans and their inherently twisted complications and multitudes being the villain. i wouldn’t be surprised if the ending, and all that’s revealed in season 5, was to wrap all of that up into a double whammy bow. of like,,, yea isnt it fucked up that humans and their desires made these decisions to create these things, these “monsters”, these powerful beings…

but the human brain is the biggest monster of them all. we’re all so fucked up. and we always have been. and we always will be.

but!! the power of fucked up can always be faught with the power of love and happiness and cherishing others and actually caring for one another….

so humanness has a cure?

#into the ether #this is my magnum opus #stranger things #stranger things spoilers #stranger things theory #stranger things season 5 #st theory #st season 5 #st season 5 theory #stranger things season 5 theory #vecna #henry #one #stranger things season 2 #stranger things season 3 #stranger things season 4 #eleven #el #martin brenner #brenner #tw eugenics #eugenics #villain #terry ives #eleven stranger things #vecna stranger things #daddy issues #mine

[harmonictechnicality]

Memory Log Easter Eggs and Brain Worms

There’s quite a few of these, so I’m gonna do my best to scavenge for all of them. I’m going to start with the most important one:

Waking up Max: there were 3 key elements that were vital in waking up Max. 

Max’s birthday - I purposefully picked November 6th as Max’s birthday because it is the day that Will went missing in 1983. I think there is something so significant about the Upside Down being frozen in time on that specific day. That day must hold some sort of power and therefore, I needed Max to be tethered to that day somehow. Hence the November 6th birthday.

The happiest memory item/song - Max has been through a lot, especially as a kid. It is common for people (younger people especially) to repress their trauma in order to function day to day. However, a lot of good memories often times get repressed with the bad memories. The brain is just trying to stuff it all away and that can happen. So it made sense to me that Max couldn’t find her happiest memory because she repressed it, and needed to hear the song from the bear to pull the memory out of storage.

The witching hour - the time of day when supernatural entities are said to reach maximum power. Therefore, if Max’s consciousness is stuck in a supernatural realm, she would need as much power as possible to escape. This time of day gave her and Eddie the best chances of surviving.

(All three of these things needed to happen in order to set them free. The perfect storm.)

Going off of this, there is distinct significance in Max waking up on Day 77. Seven is commonly used as a number of extreme luck. So I used this day to represent that not only did they need those three conditions, but they also needed tons and tons of luck on their side.

And if you’re into math (I’m not, but I kinda had to for this fic), you’ll notice that Steve and Eddie kiss on Day 71. And if Max’s birthday is on Day 77, that would mean that their first kiss is on Halloween. Something, I doubt Steve cares about - but if Eddie’s memory had been better, I’m sure he would’ve be fucking STOKED.

The book behavior choices! Taming of the Shrew is such a nod to this fandom. I’ve seen a lot of people in the steddie nation that love 10 Things I Hate About You. And like, same. But 10 Things I Hate About You is a modern adaptation of Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare. So, I threw this in there as a little nod to this community and their shared love of that tale :)

Jekyll and Hyde… this one is pretty obvious. One is nice and the other is a monster (via potion). I’m assuming that Eddie is on a lot of medicines, some probably affect his moods, so that’s why I chose this one.

Beowulf - okay, so I’ve read articles on how Tolkien LOVES Beowulf, and therefore, I think Eddie would also love Beowulf. It totally checks out with his love of fantasy worlds.

There’s a moment in chapter 3 where Steve calls Eddie “hero” and I think this is less of a term of endearment, and more his way of showing Eddie that he did indeed read Beowulf for him (even though he did not read it lol). It’s also a nod to s4 when Eddie says they are ‘no heroes.’ Even though Eddie doesn’t have memory of this moment, Steve calls back to it so that Eddie feels like a hero (just like Beowulf) for surviving the Bad Days.

The heart monitor - this became a huge symbol for Steve in determining Eddie’s feelings. Whether he was feeling sick or flustered or sleepy, all of those beeps sounded different. But then, Steve ALSO uses it to determine that Max is waking up. I think it is fun to play off of this thing that he saw as a reminder of mortality, and ends up using it to know that his friend is being revived.

I picked the Corduroy bear because the story reflects Eddie in a lot of ways. In the Children’s book, the bear is searching for his missing button. In this fic, Eddie is searching for his missing memories. I just liked the idea of connecting him and Max in yet another way.

The heart sticker being underneath the bear’s overalls is another callback to s4 - the Russian Doll with the note inside. It’s not entirely the same, but it’s a tiny detail I threw in there to pay homage to that scene (and it ultimately led to breaking someone - Hopper - free). Just like Max and Eddie were set free.

In the final chapter Eddie says this about the bear: ‘Looks like she sewed it back together with yellow threads?’ The color yellow is used to represent Steve throughout this fic (and the whole damn fandom). So I liked having it symbolize the thread holding this bear together, like Steve is the person that has brought them all together on this quest to wake up Max.

The Firestarter reference - I used this particular movie/novel for a few different reasons. The first is that it’s by Stephen King, and the show (in canon) makes TONS of Stephen King references. At the end of s4, we see Lucas reading The Talisman to Max, so we get the sense that she’s a fan of his books. I also chose it because Max’s hair is red, so I thought Eddie would immediately associate her with fire :)

The Nightmare on Elm Street reference - again, a lot of s4 paid respect to this movie, along with lots of other Teen Horror Slasher films. But since this fic is dealing with lucid dreaming, I felt it had to be mentioned at least once.

I based the original character of Sam off of the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet. Lets be honest: Romeo and Juliet are shitty people. But the Friar and the Nurse are literally carrying the whole damn play on their overworked backs (so is Mercutio until he bites the bullet). The Nurse helps Romeo and Juliet meet in secrecy and protects their relationship. So having an actual nurse do the same thing for Steve and Eddie seemed like a no-brainer in my Shakespeare-obsessed brain.

In the epilogue, Eddie tells Steve “Would be a complete idiot not to fall in love with you, Steve Harrington.” I used this to negate Nancy Wheeler saying “you’re an idiot, Steve Harrington” all throughout s1. While she probably means this in an endearing way, I can’t help but wonder how this affects Steve. Especially after seeing her response to his essay in the next season. Yes, it might be playful, but it becomes a very real opinion of hers a year into their relationship. So I thought it was important to have Eddie twist that phrase and tell Steve that someone would be an idiot not to fall in love with him. That seemed healing and important to me.

The final line. This is in reference to them holding hands in chapters 4 and 5. Each time they do so, it means something different. At first, it is a sign of “helpless support.” Steve cannot fix Eddie’s medical problems, but he can literally offer his hand to show that he’s physically there for him. Once they kiss in Chapter 5, Steve says “it means everything,” in determination to get Eddie’s memories back once and for all. And finally, he repeats this because the gesture now represents their togetherness. Their bond. When they hold hands at the end, it means everything they’ve experienced as a pair.

I hope this was interesting and not too boring. Sorry if it was! I cannot thank you all enough for the love and support on this fic. It was a joy to share with this community.

#memory log #steddie fic #dedicating this to anyone as obsessed with symbols as I am #I probably missed some - but these are all the main ones #thank you for reading xx ☺️

[bibylers]

Before I start, I’d like to thank you all for all the likes on my first posts, It means a lot! 💓💓

Also, I decided just to point a few things out before starting. I have been having a very hard time for the past few months, and I won’t be able to post as often as I have (aka once per day). Hope you understand. :)

Today I will be going through one of my FAVOURITE theories ever.

✨ FLICKERGATE ✨

Now, I know that there’s a big possibility that Flickergate won’t happen, but I still really like the concept!

So, Flickergate is really focused on the theories of:

1. Byler in the upside down

2. Will having electricity powers

3. David Bowie, Heroes theory

4. Lettergate

(If you don’t know about the David Bowie, Heroes theory, the Will having electricity powers theory or the Lettergate theory, you can search about it on tumblr, since I won’t be explaining it in this post.)

Flickergate goes all the way back to S1, when Will admits to Mike that he rolled a 7, and that the Demogorgon got him, since he can’t lie to Mike.

After Will bikes away, it’s shown that the lights flicker outside of Mikes garage. Now, some people think it was probably just the Demogorgon in the upside down, or something else that made the lights flicker, but in Flickergate, it’s about something else happening in the upside down.

So, back to S4. During the end of the last episode, we get this intimate moment between Mike and Will in Hoppers cabin.

Now, do you realise how the couch is upside down? This has made people question, if it’s foreshadowing to S5, Byler in the upside down.

This is where the theory basically started.

The theory goes:

Mike and Will get a paralleled fight (to the s3 byler fight) in the upside down, in Mikes garage. Now, during this fight, Will brings up the fact that Mike hasn’t written to him at all during his time in California, which leads the Mike admitting that he did indeed write to him, but never got the courage to send his letters. This would make their fight end up with Mike and Will FINALLY having a kiss. During this kiss, Heroes by David Bowie would play. And these lyrics will be played:

Now, since in this theory Will has electricity powers, which makes the lights flicker outside of the garage because of the “love electricity”, which is also mentioned in s2, when Steve and Dustin talk about love.

But, why do the lights flicker in s1, isn’t this about s5?

Well, remember in s4 when Nancy, Eddie, Steve and Robin are in the upside down, and realise that the upside down is STUCK IN TIME, to THE DAY WILL WENT MISSING?

This could make it possible for Will to make the lights flicker in s1, even though this happens in s5.

Also, a little detail to this:

In s3, byler fight, Will leaves.

In s4, byler fight, Mike leaves.

In s5, byler fight, no one leaves.

Sorry if I explained this in a confusing way, or misspelled any words. I’m not the best at explaining nor pronunciation. 💗

#stranger things #byler tumblr #stranger things theory #byler theories #byler endgame #byler #flickergate

[connect-dots7]

S5 Prediction: Will & MIKE'S 7 Confession (letter) + Garage Light Kiss Theory (Alternate/Revised Theory!)

OH. MY. GOD. GUYS! I think I just figured it out for real this time. I connected the two dots before...but i missed the third and final dot. BUCKLE UP B*TCHES.

We all know about my "full-circle garage light flicker theory" where Mike and Will can affect s1 ep1 through the upside-down in s5, and when they kiss the garage light flickers in season 1. Well, in my old theory I said "Will parallels his younger self and says the truth", but NOW I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO BE MIKE.

This comes down to the letter. I used to think Mike's letter would just be a case of dramatic irony, to inform the audience of Mike's true feelings. I thought maybe the letter was about Mike rebuilding castle Byers after s3 (which i still think he did btw). But I just read this post from doriandrifting (READ IT), and now I think he wrote the letter about the D&D campaign. Like an IDIOT, I forgot about the date in the tweet! And then I really thought about it and...this changes EVERYTHING. Prepare yourselves. (it's 4:00 AM rn but I DON'T CARE) i'm gonna copy and paste the beginning of my old theory, sorry. you can skip ahead to “it’s parallel time” :)

To start off, I think that Mike and Will are going to end up in the upside-down together in S5. The upside down and Will are connected narratively, seeing as it’s literally frozen on the night he went missing.

Obviously there is going to be a reason for that. To bring his story full-circle, it’s pretty much inevitable that in the final season, Will is going to end up back in the upside-down. Just like it’s inevitable that this time Mike will be there with him. Which is why at the end of season 4, they both sit on an upside down couch together.

The next part of this theory has to do with Will having powers. It’s why Will is paralleled to Vecna, Eleven, and Bastian from NeverEnding Story, and could open a portal in s1. It also fits with his overall character arc (becoming a hero after being a victim). I won’t make this post a mile long by going through all the evidence (links to some proof here, here , here and here and in the long version of my theory.) But for now, trust me when I say it’s probably going to be revealed that Will can manipulate electricity/time/the upside-down in S5. 

Remember, El was originally supposed to die after season one, which makes the notion of Will having powers extremely likely.

Okay? Okay. So here’s the theory:

Mike and Will are in the upside-down, which is stuck on the day Will went missing in 1983. While in the upside-down, Mike and Will end up at the Wheeler House.

Time is frozen on Nov 6, which is the first episode of season 1. I think that somehow, Mike and Will are going to be able to affect the other side in season 1 (specifically Nov 6), through the upside-down in season 5.

How though? We know that (as of now) time still flows normally on the other side, unlike the upside-down. However, that could change. Like, what if time were to start moving again in the upside-down? This could happen because of Will's subconscious mind. It’s also safe to say that s5 will include some wacky time shenanigans, which could explain how this is possible. (s5 time-travel proof here, here, here, and here) But even just on the surface level, why the hell else would the show’s villain thematically be obsessed with the progression of time, be accompanied by the sound of a clock chime, and create visions of grandfather clock? Why else would Hopper’s s3 letter talk about “turning back the clock”? Why else would there be so many Back to The Future references? Why else would the Duffers talk so much about "going back to season one", or the story coming "full-circle" in season five?

There are multiple electricity shortages in s1. What if some of these moments, like when Ted fiddles with the TV in the background of season 1, were actually caused by Will (or El) in season 5? The screen looks suspiciously like how the TV screen looked when Eleven mind jumped in s2 and s3. Now for the good part:

IT’S PARALLEL TIME!

In the upside-down, Mike and Will are going to stand in the same spot at the same time as their younger selves on the other side.

The concept of Lies is a HUGE recurring theme and motif in Stranger Things. One of the very first bits of characterization we learn about Will, is that he doesn’t lie to Mike. Even though it was just a white lie and Even though he could have got away with it. Even though it meant he lost, “Friends don’t LIE.” Will waited until the other boys left before telling Mike the Truth.

I think that Mike is going to mirror Will, and confess the truth to him. From the very start, we are shown that Mike and Will have an honest and different bond than rest of the party. Which is why in season five, MIKE is going to remember this, and be able to lie.

(I, I can remember (I remember) Standing, by the wall (by the wall)- Bowie

Season 5 MIKE is going to parallel season 1 WILL, and THEY ARE BOTH going to admit the TRUTH to each-other at the same exact time (across time)! (7+7=14) winning roll!

Season 5, UPSIDE-DOWN:

for example:

Mike: “you lied about the painting being from El”

(the TRUTH about why Will made THE PAINTING for Mike is addressed--LOVE!)

Will: "You’re being stupid! It's not my fault you couldn't say you love her!"

WILL parallels MIKE during the SEASON THREE GARAGE SCENE:

Mike: "It is" (TRUTH)

MIKE parallels WILL during the SEASON ONE GARAGE SCENE:

Mike gives Will his letter (The TRUTH about why Mike made the 10 hour D&D CAMPAIGN is addressed--LOVE!)

(TRUTH=7) An UPSIDE-DOWN 7 is a capital L. The song which plays when Mike and Eleven kiss at the end of s3 (when Mike realizes he's gay) is "The First I love You". The "L" is NOT capitalized, because it’s not the TRUTH. In his letter, the "L" IS capitalized!

so at the same time (across time)...

MIKE: TRUTH=7, WILL: TRUTH=7 (7+7=14, the winning roll in D&D!)

THE THIRD AND FINAL GARAGE SCENE: (writing comes in 3's)

THEY KISS

Between them, metaphorical electricity  FLARES (and potentially Will’s literal powers), as his brain short-circuits. As they kiss, “Heroes” by David Bowie plays, and the lyrics “the guns, shot above our heads, (over our heads)” narrates as electricity shoots above their heads. (Either bc of the kiss or confession) The camera pans up to the garage light over their heads, which flickers.

the audience can feel the electricity between Mike and Will. Just like how Dustin could feel the electricity between Lucas and Max.

"i could feel it." "What?" "The electricity." (are “friends” electric?)

at the same time...

Season 1, OTHER SIDE:

Will: "It was a 7, the demogorgan, it got me.” (TRUTH=7)

Will sounded disappointed about losing, but Mike DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING. He doesn't say how he "really feels". He just stands there and watches Will leave. Mike notices the garage light flicker above him. This is a metaphor for the electricity which just passed between them. Love=Electricity, and Mike just noticed it, which is why the scene directly following this one is him going inside to write a letter of what he wanted to say, which he signs "-Love, Mike."

This would act as dramatic irony because at the same exact time in the upside-down, Mike JUST SAID what he really wanted to say in this moment BY GIVING WILL HIS LETTER and/or confessing. Unbeknownst to him, his future self just confessed, and the flicker is actually when they kiss in the upside down.

This reveal would be meaningful, because Mike wrote the ten hour DnD campaign but doesn't give Will the letter saying why (Love), and Will makes the painting but he lies about why (Love). In the upside-down, the TRUTH about both of these gestures is revealed.

In this moment, Mike's future self says what HE was too ashamed too in season one. Mike never got the chance to give Will his letter before the "demogorgan" got him.

"Anyway, I think you’ll still beat the campaign. Sorry I couldn’t get it done before my mom made everyone leave, but you mean so much to me, and it’s been so much fun to make it for you. Hope this is enough motivation to last until we can finish it next weekend. -Love, Mike"

THE UPSIDE-DOWN, SEASON 5:

As they kiss, “Heroes” by David Bowie continues...

in season one, Mike is still ashamed of his love for Will. Which is why the scene cuts off with the line “shame”.

This time when the song plays, it will be different though. This time, the full verse will play as they kiss.

“and we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame… was on the OTHER SIDE.”

Mike and Will are in the upside-down, and at the same time their ashamed younger selves were literally on the other side. When they finally kiss as if nothing could fall, they leave their shame on the other side (in the the past).

Or alternatively

Mike and Will are alone together in the upside-down, and the rest of society is on the other side. Because of this, they are able to finally kiss as if nothing could fall, and forget about how they would be shamed for it on the other side.

(based on the rest of the lyrics, they probably think they are going to die when this happens btw)

Click Here: for new video of my flicker kiss theory! (now including Mike's Letter)

Click Here: for the original video of my theory!

Click Here: The long version of my original post. (It goes off on more tangents, includes more proof, and goes over some mini theories that could (possibly) tie into this one!

Shameless self promo: Follow my account for more! In the future, I plan on making more predictions about the role of memories in season 5, Birthday-gate, Will's subconscious mind shaping the upside-down, and water symbolism. I also have a tik-tok and twitter account under the same name, so go follow me over there!

#byler s5 #byler evidence #byler proof #flickergate #stranger things theories #byler endgame #byler is canon #byler prediction #DUFFERS PLEASE JUST HIRE ME ALREADY #I KNOW IM RIGHT #SORRY FOR SPOILING IT #clout chaser and proud #pls credit or @ me for the theory when possible! ;)

[bylertruther]

for those of you that think will is just a "wrong place at the wrong time, no powers or grand significance at all" character:

how do you explain the inconsistencies surrounding will's disappearance? (no blood, was stalked, predator used telekinesis, predator specifically followed him home from mike's house which isn't near the lab, etc)

how do you explain how will managed to survive hiding out in his upside down house? (the demogorgon knew he was there, it would appear in his spot seconds after he fled, instead of attacking him it would go for joyce whenever he would communicate with her, etc)

how do you explain will's manipulation of the lights and the phone? (there's no way he was able to touch them all, even more impossible that he touched them all at the same time, how did he see the letters on the wall if that was after he was taken, and how did he reach through to a whole other dimension?)

why didn't the demogorgon eat or attack will as it did barb? why was he dragged to the library and found entirely intact with not even a scratch on him? every other victim has their body mangled and contorted, but again will is given special treatment. why?

why do you think will was chosen afterward to be the only survivor in henry's new world if your beliefs suggest he's of no use to him?

if henry wanted access to the lab or some other big obstacle in his plans, why not possess someone with access? why not possess a scientist, world leader, or anyone else? why will? why did he choose will in november and then go back for him again if he's not integral to his grand plan?

why is will still psychically connected to henry, as he always has been even before the mind flayer invaded him, if he isn't important to his plans? hawkins has already fallen, the rifts are wide open, and he's going to have even more of an upper hand once his army marches through them. he stole eleven's power to be able to open those gates, so clearly his use for will isn't that. he opened the door himself and now he's here to complete the second part of his plan. why is will still cursed if he's unimportant? why is will still cursed if he's of no use?

how do you explain away hawkins being stuck on the day that will went missing? why did time stop, according to the duffers? and why do they link this to will, if you believe it's eleven's doing? and how do you explain the clock & time references that have always surrounded him and his story in every single season if it has nothing to do with him? '83 wasn't the first time the door had been opened and it remained open for over a year after that. do you think the duffers are just being silly goofy dudes when they say they're going to explore will's connection to the upside down next season?

if will isn't a part of this and it's all henry and eleven, then why do you think the duffers say that will is going to be a focus next season? why do you think jamie speaks so much of the history henry and will have? what do you think henry still wants with eleven after he said he no longer wants her by his side, already has her powers, and was not defeated by her? why did henry have to wait until mike and will were away to open the gates, but expected eleven to come back and didn’t even care that she would?

if will isn't a focus, then why have henry absorb max into his mind and then show us directly after that will can still feel him and is still connected to him? why remind us of our spy on the inside if he's just... not relevant to the plot like that?

why did they make henry and will perfect foils in every which way... if it isn't going to be them in the end? if will is just a side character and not the piece of the puzzle that was always "right [there]" but no one ever saw until it was too late?

if it all boils down to eleven vs henry... why did they have dustin roll an 11 against vecna and lose and then end the season with eleven losing to vecna, too? is that just a coincidence? just like how "the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west" and henry attacking only when mike is set to leave to meet will in california is a coincidence, too, i bet? and mike and will’s skates adding up to 20, which was the winning roll against vecna in the campaign, are coincidences, too, yeah? bc it's not like mike and will overpowered henry, saw through his plans, and were the ones to defeat him before in s2. none of that could possibly be real or purposeful in a show where every detail matters, nope. eleven is our only Special Little Guy here--no one else.

why would the writers and producers do all of that (and likely more that i'm forgetting off the top of my head) if will is just ... some kid that went missing that one time and that always has bad things happen to him bc fuck him i guess? why is he always connected to the social and supernatural plot, literally connected Directly to the Big Bad Guy every season in a way that no one else on this entire show is, if it's just... a silly coincidence and nothing to look into? if he's just an unfortunate side character with no relevance beyond being a punching bag? why is he given special treatment and considered an outlier case every single time if it's nothing at all and eleven is our only hero here? why is his story the only one with holes in it, holes that are the key to understanding everything, if he's just... nothing really?

like... i just don't get it lol. season four changed Everything. what are you seeing that i'm not?

#i especially don't get it when it comes from a will stan like...... #mine