#<- don’t think about eddie watching chrissy die in his own home in his own safe space in this town who hates him challenge

[flowercrowngods]

writing who did this to you pt. 2 and i wanna cry about how much season 4 will take from eddie, like. god he’s. he’s just a boy.

[blushweddinggowns]

Robin sat right down, sighing, “So what? We all live in the woods and hope the kids find us?”

“They will,” Steve reassured, “Lucas is probably getting help as we speak. Besides, it’s not that cold out. We’ll be fine. And if they don’t find us, we’ll find them.” 

Nancy nodded, despite the fact that she was already shivering. But Steve noticed. He didn’t even hesitate to take his own jacket off. 

She frowned, as he draped it over her shoulders,  “But what about you?”

“I have a sweater and an Eddie blanket,” Steve smiled, “I'll be just fine.”

“Speaking of that…” Eddie trailed in, “How about Steve and I go a little bit away and keep watch?”

Chrissy knew Jason was losing it, but she was 100 percent confident he was busy dealing with his murdered friend. She frowned, “Do you really think they’ll come after watching their friend die-”

“Yeah, you two go do that,” Robin interrupted with a sigh. She turned to Chrissy, “They want to make-out and save us the headache. We’re almost certain to be good for the night.”

“We'll be back soon,” Steve said, a slight flush to his cheeks but he didn’t correct her, “And we won’t go far.”

“Within an hour,” Nancy warned, “And keep quiet.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie said flippantly, wrapping an arm around Steve’s shoulder, “You won’t even miss us.”

They walked away into the darkness, leaning into each other as they went. Chrissy was pretty sure she saw Steve stick his hand into Eddie’s back pocket before they were out of sight. 

“It’s actually insane that they haven’t gotten caught yet,” Robin said as she watched them go, “I only found out because I saw them shoving tongues in a parking lot. But once you know, you can never unsee it.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t catch on sooner,” Chrissy sighed as she sat to Robin’s left, Nancy taking the right, “Did they really trick all of you?”

“All of us,” Nancy confirmed through a yawn, “They can actually be pretty sneaky when they want to be. They just never want to be.”

Nancy rested her head against Robin’s shoulder, Steve’s jacket wrapped tightly around her, “We should sleep.”

“We will,” Robin said quietly, “But don’t wait for us. Go right ahead.”

Nancy gave her a little smile, “If you say so.”

It barely took a few minutes for her to be completely out. She looked so peaceful, so much younger when she was asleep. Chrissy was well aware that Nancy was a small girl, but she had so much presence. 

“She looks so much bigger when she's awake,” Chrissy mumbled quietly, “Like she can take on the world.”

“She probably could,” Robin laughed, “I think it’s all personality.”

“I know. I wish I could be like that.”

“Why?” Robin asked, furrowing her brow, “You’re literally perfect.”

Chrissy couldn’t help but laugh at that, “How on Earth am I perfect?”

But Robin didn’t look like she was joking, “Dude you are. You’re so sweet and fun. You’re talented, athletic, pretty, but still nice somehow. You’re brave as hell, if this whole scenario stands for anything. And you’re hot when you punch dudes in the face.”

That was almost too sweet for Chrissy to hear. But she couldn’t help but zero in on one thing, “You think I’m hot?”

Robin froze, opening and closing her mouth as she stuttered, “I-No? I mean, yes? I-objectively yes. Not creepily.”

Chrissy smiled, her heart beating a little faster at the implication. But… Jason. She felt so bad for him. After what he’d seen, it made sense to blame them. But it only made sense now. There was no framework to understand what was happening before and to just blame Eddie and Nancy for everything was ridiculous. She’d never seen him like that before, so out of sorts. He was so good at keeping his temper undercheck, she didn’t get what was happening to him.

But… she had been pretty clear hadn’t she? She didn’t leave with him, she never even tried. She told him to go home, that she didn’t need him, she didn’t want him. It… it was close enough to a break-up wasn’t it? Chrissy wasn’t sure. Though she had a feeling even thinking of things the way she was made her a bad person. 

It just didn’t stop her from blurting, “I-I count tonight as breaking up with Jason. Just so you know. We um, we were never that close but my mom- she likes his family a-and… he used to be nice. He is nice but he’s… it doesn’t matter. We aren’t together. Just um, so you know. If you didn’t.”

She wanted to say more but… Chrissy could only be so brave in one day.

“I was um,” Robin swallowed, her face already red, “I was hoping that was the case. Because you deserve to be happy and I don’t…. I don't think he could do that.”

“He couldn’t,” Chrissy said softly, inching her fingers slowly to intertwine with Robin’s. She felt okay, as okay as she could be with the circumstances-

“Mmph!” 

Chrissy nearly jumped at the sudden noise, the only saving grace was that she definitely recognized it as Eddie’s voice. 

“Are they okay?” Chrissy asked nervously, staring out into the darkness. But Robin didn’t seem worried, she just gave Chrissy’s hand a comforting squeeze. 

“I wouldn't check if I were you,” Robin sighed, “If they get loud again I'll throw a rock in their general direction. But they are fine. Trust me.”

from the newest chapter of this fic

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

Okay so, here we are with season 4 episode 1 of Stranger Things. But before I get into the episode, I need to explain something: I’ve never actually watched this season before. I have, however, watched Steddie compilations on YouTube. Regardless, I’m labeling this as a ‘rewatch’ because it’ll keep the series consistent. And parts of it technically are a rewatch. Anyway, these are also going to be way longer than usual because a lot more is just Brand New™️ to me. Although some I haven’t seen but do know because of fanfiction.

1.) I literally can’t remember what made the Texas shooting something that would be necessary to be mentioned at the beginning when America has shootings all the time.

Edit: I have been reminded of the actual case it’s referencing. But I think Texas shooting is going to become less and less of an obvious connection as time goes on, especially for people who aren’t in America. I am in America, and there’s just…too many shootings to keep track of, tbh.

2.) I don’t know why I’m watching this recap. I literally watched season 3 last week or whatever but they really cut out the Russian interrogation/secret base locating stuff entirely from their recap.

3.) season 4 really starts out by being like, “Remember Brenner? Remember that douchebag? Well, guess what. He’s actually super boring in everyday life.”

4.) 010 come on down to get your psychic powers tested and your ability to interpret Brenner’s bad drawings tested. Oh nvm at least now they’re trying to locate people only to witness both Six and Dr. Ellis’ death.

5.) Wait why did Brenner survive this? How did Brenner survive this? Ten is dead. Also, since when does Brenner care about the kids? It’s not like he’s treated them well.

6.) El looking really crazy covered in blood and basically hyperventilating.

7.) El’s got her own room. Also, we’ve gone 185 days since season 3 and now El is painting little figures. And is giving a recap via letter. Joyce is a telemarketer, Will is gay pining, Jonathan has a broken car and is a stoner. Argyle has a pizza van and takes them to school. The bullies in school are cliches.

8.) Nancy drives Mike to school and Karen Wheeler looks great. Also they want Mike home by 9 pm because of his 6:30 flight.

9.) Suzie is editing a D- to an A for Dustin.

10.) I love this conversation about crushes between Robin and Steve. Boobies. Although I don’t like Robin’s hair as much this season.

11.) Max rides the bus and missed a Thursday meeting so needs to go after lunch.

12.) oh there’s Chrissy. And here’s the marching band with Robin playing the TRUMPET. Looks like Vickie’s a clarinet player. Jason and Lucas on the basketball team while Dustin and Mike argue about girlfriends in the crowd.

13.) I know it’s way too early since Jason hasn’t done anything yet, but I already hate him. He just has a punchable face. “Think about all these dead people DID THEY DIE FOR US TO LOSE AT BASKETBALL?” I would have keyed his car in high school. Like oh my god.

14.) Mike and Dustin are nerds and freaks and proud of it. To be fair, Lucas always has been cooler than them. But also Lucas should have gone to Eddie himself.

15.) PACKAGE. FROM. RUSSIA. Man, do not ever send anything delicate to Joyce, she fucking demolishes packages. Oh, that’s an ugly doll. I’ve read about the doll but didn’t know it was that ugly.

16.) El/Jane has to go after a blonde girl talking about Helen Keller for her presentation about Hopper? That’s rough, buddy. Angela is a bitch and I hate her Ariana Grande looking ass. Will is trying and I love that him and El are siblings but yeah, no, that presentation went badly.

17.) Max is doing her loner thing but does get to see Chrissy being upset in the hall as she heads away from the counselor.

18.) C in English and C- in Spanish. It’s not normal for Max but babe, C’s get degrees. You’ll be okay. Max’s mom is drinking, working two jobs, and stepdad is gone. Max is still my favorite even if she is a liar. Lucas’ advice about finding something she cares about is technically good but poor wording and timing. Max isn’t really open for help.

19.) Stranger Things really loves shots of people in bathrooms holding the sides of the sink. Also we get to hear Chrissy vomiting.

20.) Chrissy’s hallucinating. She has issues with her mom being awful about her weight and honestly, mood.

21.) Oh hi, Eddie. You’re a goofy guy. And now Eddie walks across the table. Also honestly, so far the bullying in Hawkins is like, minimal. All that happened in that scene is Eddie got called a freak. Dustin and Mike do try to get the game postponed. I still think Lucas should have asked. Eddie’s got to pass Mrs. O’Donnell’s class and that’s it to pass the class. Eddie really does yank both those dweebs out of their seats with barely any effort.

22.) Murray has karate from 1-3 on Fridays? Good for him. Oh and the doll from Russia has nipples. Teeny tiny nipples. And now needs to be smashed.

23.) Everyone thinks it’s weird that Nancy and Jonathan aren’t spending spring break together. I still think Nancy’s a comphet case. I love that Mike asks Nancy and Dustin asks Steve. Max is sarcastic to Dustin’s request which is very funny. Literally everyone shoots them down. Dustin comes up with an idea nad sprints off faster than I knew was possible.

24.) Oh it’s the picnic table behind the school scene. And we hear and see a clock chiming as she waits for Eddie. I’ve never actually seen the build up to the meeting with Eddie. Did not know the clock breaks and spills spiders.

25.) Eddie is tempted to leave ‘cause Chrissy is acting crazy. Eddie is very dramatic and they were in a talent show together. Eddie used to have buzzed hair and now plays at the Hideout on Tuesdays. I would have loved for Chrissy to live and for these two to be another Steve and Robin. Chrissy asks for something stronger.

26.) El failed a math test, I think? And if that’s the test she failed, it’s extra sad because that’s what she called herself good at in the opening letter. And then Angela tripped her? And her stupid friends stomp on her project. I wanna kick Angela’s ass. El forgets that she doesn’t have powers and it’s so embarrassing. El doesn’t snitch but a teacher takes Angela away anyway.

27.) Will feels so bad and is trying so hard to help.

28.) I feel like it wouldn’t require a paint can from a tree to break a porcelain doll. Oh, Murray thinks it might have an explosive. AND IT’S FILLED WITH A NOTE SAYING HOP IS ALIVE AND IT’S WRITTEN IN CUT OUT LETTERS LIKE IT’S FROM A SERIAL KILLER. WHY DID THEY DO THAT??? LMAO

29.) And now it’s the championship. I feel like fanfics stretch episode 1 into like, 3 chapters. Steve came with his date to see Lucas. And here’s Tammy Thompson. And she’s…bad. this bad performance is worth it for Steve’s sassy expressions.

30.) Oh, hey Erica Sinclair. LMAO WAIT, IS SHE WEARING AN AMERICAN FLAG? GOD, YOU DWEEB. I will say that the rest of hellfire that just kind of chortles in response to everything is so far just background noise that I do not care about. I do love that Erica is way better at insults than Eddie and he kind of adores her.

31.) I still hate Jason.

32.) Technically if we’re going with the lore of we thought Vecna was killed by Kas then technically El/Jane is this show’s Kas.

33.) Okay going back and forth is too hard when they’re going back this fast between basketball and Hellfire so I’ll just summarize at the end. Lucas going in and the gameplay mirror each other very obviously. It’s an old trope but a good one. Eddie’s unhinged.

34.) “There is no shame in running. Don’t be heroes.”

35.) Dustin misses and so does Jason. But Lucas and Erica both win. This slow mo is kind of excessive. Eddie’s fucking thrilled that Erica did a critical success. Although did they actually need a natural 20 to win? That doesn’t really make sense if the guy only has 15 HP left. Presumably they haven’t been critting to attack this fucking thing this entire session. So really it’s a matter of going above his AC. And technically you don’t need a nat 20 to do that, especially if you have enough bonuses. Although they are playing a different version of D&D than I’ve ever played so maybe I’m taking out of my ass.

36.) Aw, Max listened to the game’s result on the radio. I thought she went. Her mom is passed out on the couch. Max takes food to a dog. Eddie lives like, directly across from her. For some reason, from fanfics, I thought they were like, directly next to each other. Still, Max saw Chrissy go into his trailer.

37.) Wayne works nights. Eddie does not know where his ketamine is. Should keep track of that. That is a very cool guitar he has though. Chrissy’s hallucinations are very bad now and she’s no longer responsive. And now the lights are flickering. Vecna’s ugly as hell. There are so many spiders in this vision. Eddie really is trying to wake her up but I’m not sure how he thought I DON’T LIKE THIS, CHRISSY, WAKE UP would help.

38.) did not know we see Vecna in episode 1. “It’s time for your suffering to end.” Don’t be weird, dude. And now Chrissy is floating. Her death is like, both weirdly graphic and also sanitized. Like it looks cartoonish. I didn’t realize how cartoonish it looks. Bones don’t break through the skin. There’s barely any blood. Her skin moves like putty.

[ambrossart]

While I’m still working on the climax of part 8 (there’s a lot of strong emotions involved, and I really want to capture them as best as I can), here’s a little preview of what’s coming. 

Part 8 will be up tomorrow night since I have the day off to do all my final rewrites and edits. I will probably spend the whole day on it, honestly. 

In the meantime, enjoy this little sneak peak!

** Also, I can’t respond to comments because of the glitch, so if you post a question here, I swear I’m not ignoring you! **

“You know, it’s very rare to find a friend like Chrissy. We’ve been best friends since the first grade. The first grade. The teacher partnered us together for an assignment, and we just hit it off right away. It was effortless with her. As easy as breathing. We spent the whole afternoon talking and laughing, getting absolutely nothing done, and it’s been that way ever since. I swear, it’s like we’re in our own little world sometimes. We shut everyone else out, forget about all our problems, and just relax for a while… as long as we can. She’s the only one I’ve ever been able to do that with, and I’m assuming it’s the same for her; otherwise, she wouldn’t have kept me around for so long. And honestly that surprised me, too. I mean, you hear about girls dropping their childhood friends once they get a taste of popularity, but not Chris. No, she didn’t change at all. We still eat lunch together every day. Still walk home together every day. Sleepovers every Saturday, and then we hang out all day Sunday. It’s like a ritual at this point, and I think we’re both too afraid to break it. It’s like we think the world will end or something.” You laughed at that for a minute, then frowned. 

“We’re going to different schools next year. That wasn’t the plan, of course. We were both supposed to go to Evansville together, live it up, have the time of our lives, but now she’s the only one going. Chris thinks it’s because I didn’t get in, but the truth is… I never even applied. I don’t wanna go to college with her. I can’t go to college with her. And I know that’s sounds really selfish. Probably makes me seem like a total bitch, but… My whole identity is wrapped up in Chrissy Cunningham. From the time we became friends, she has defined me. I have no name anymore. I’m simply Chrissy’s best friend. And what, I have to spend another four years like that? Another forty? When I die, is that what’s gonna be engraved on my tombstone? I have nightmares about it. I wake up in the middle of the night and cry about it. I’ve spent the last twelve years living in Chrissy’s shadow, and it’s slowly killing me. And it’s not her fault. She’s done nothing wrong. She’s amazing, and I love her, but… I need to find out who I am… apart from her.” 

You breathed out the words and watched them drift away. This was the first time you’d ever spoken such treachery out loud. Until now, it had been trapped inside of you like a poison, and now that it was out, a small part of you was afraid. Afraid Chrissy might’ve heard you. Afraid that all your rituals had now been undone. The spell was broken, and now the world around you would cease to exist. Fires. Earthquakes. Floods. Famine. You sat there for a minute, listening for the sounds of screaming and panic, but there was nothing… just Spandau Ballet. 

You turned your head, caught Eddie Munson’s wide-eyed stare. “I’m sorry, were you asking me a question?”

“Uhh… just… what your plans are after high school.” 

Your face flushed. “Oh, right…” You crossed your arms over your chest and looked down. “Umm, college. In way too many words, college. Yeah, that’s what I’ll be doing. What about you?” 

Eddie pounded his fist on his knee. “I… have no idea. I guess I’ll be at the world’s mercy.” 

“You’re not gonna pursue your music?”

“Well, yeah, I’m gonna try… but the odds of making it are basically, y’know, zero.” He formed a goose egg with his hand, then made it explode with a flick of his fingers. “With my luck, I’m probably gonna end up sharing a prison cell with my old man.” 

“Don’t say that,” you said, sickened. 

“I’m just kidding…” 

“Yeah, you are, but you aren’t, so… stop.” Your voice was soft but emphatic. It made Eddie look at you in surprise. “I remember how you would get whenever your dad was out on parole. It was like night and day. You became a completely different person.”

Once, while you were all leaving Scottie’s house after a D&D session, Eddie saw his dad’s beat-up car sitting on the curb and, instantly, all the color drained from his face. Then he said, I gotta go, guys, and he skipped the next two sessions.

“You always swore you wouldn’t end up like him, so… swear it, Eddie. Swear you’ll never end up like him.” 

Your glare was earnest and desperate. 

Eddie sighed, surrendering to it. “I’ll never end up like him. I promise.” 

“Good,” you said. “And don’t make anymore jokes like that either because you’re not that funny, Munson.” 

“Okay,” said Eddie with a faint smile. “From now on, I’ll leave all the jokes to you.” 

[theroyalmisfitmess]

Stranger Things 4 Reax (not an essay format I don’t have the brain cells for that rn)

- MISSED THIS SHOW SO MUCH. I was a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL when the last season premiered it’s crazy to think I’m finishing up freshman year of college

- the writing, cinematography, acting, and overall production is SO GOOD. This is the type of quality shows we deserve and I feel so blessed that I’ve been a fan since the first season

- character developments and storylines were done so well. I liked how the arcs were divided into factions and it reminded me so much of Avengers Infinity War when everyone had their own missions (home-base Hawkins for Vol II, I am so ready for you)

- the way everything wove together in the end was absolutely phenomenal. Everything we’ve found out since Season 1 finally made sense and I am thrilled to see how the last two episodes of the show will wrap things up

- gonna transition to more of the non-important but maybe important things now starting with... I’m curious to know what Will’s painting is and am terrified that he might die given how it fits the trope of gift-giving after someone dies

- Jonathan and Nancy/Jancy is the only couple in the show I actually care about (okay, maybe Joyce and Hopper/Jopper too but I’m pretty sure they’re endgame) so I’m really hoping they see each other soon. It’s so obvious Nancy’s feeling a little bit lonely with Jonathan gone. They’re just really perfect for each other

- okay but speaking of... I find it hilarious that there are Stancy hints. I don’t think it’ll be too deep but closure on Nancy’s side could finally be given. I don’t like everyone else shipping them but we can pretty much say that they need to have a formal clearing of air after their break-up because... It just ended in a snap

- I like how Lucas isn’t just a “side main character” now. Like don’t get me wrong, he has purpose and agency, but he didn’t really have anything super interesting going on his life aside from having a sassy sister before. Now he has his own struggles that we see and I love that

- pretty surprised that Chrissy’s boyfriend isn’t as asshole as I thought he was (LMAO)? Like okay, I don’t like how irrational he is being over hunting Eddie but he’s just a genuine and confused teenager who lost someone he loved. He doesn’t know the situation and I feel sorry for him too

- speaking of Eddie, WHAT A GREAT ADDITION. Right off the bat, he was interesting. He has agency. He fits perfectly. I would really like to see him interact with Jonathan when he finally comes back to Hawkins (they look like they could vibe). JUSTICE FOR EDDIE PLEASE!!

- also since I mentioned Jonathan on my last point, we gotta give it to his buddy Argyle! I didn’t know if he was fitting for the story at first, but I found him so entertaining it worked. I bet him with the whole Hawkins teens squad would be really funny to watch because it’d be so unhinged (ESPECIALLY HIM AND ROBIN THE ENTERTAINMENT PLS)

- oh side note, for some reason I thought there was gonna be a Jonathan-Nancy-Steve parallel with Eddie-Chrissy-Jason (that forest scene was cute don’t @ me)

- so far these are what i have in mind. Will share more if I think of some. I’M SO EXCITED FOR VOLUME II

[bowiebond]

Hi!

I wanted to know your thoughts on Jason being autistic! I would love to know your thinking, so I have a better understanding as a non-autistic person!

I would love to hear what ever you have to say! :)💜

Honestly, it was originally a crack things one of my followers suggested and I clung to it 😂

It all began with a colourful shark watch he wears at Chrissy’s funeral. And it spiralled from there into hc’s that Jason’s special interests were basketball and sharks/ocean creatures. I watched bunch of his scenes with the thought of him being autistic and it just,,, weirdly fit? He gave the ‘masking since young’ vibes, and even when Erica suggests he’s Lucas’ boyfriend, he doesn’t get mad about it like most fragile guys with toxic masculinity would, he’s full focused on his investigation, and possibly knows being gay is wrong to most folks but doesn’t really get the reason behind hating them, or the necessity of proving that he isn’t gay because he believes that he just isn’t. (Personally a bi Jason truther).

Also, many autistic individuals have very strong senses of justice, and that really shows in Jason who, if he wanted to, could leave Chrissy’s death to the cops he’s grown up with, but he states himself he thinks their useless and takes it into his own hands with people he trusts instead.

When he finds out Chrissy’s dead, he isolated himself, could be a toxic masculinity thing, could be he’s used to doing that when he feels big emotions and needs to release them. His pep talks feel kind of rehearsed, likes he’s been planning them, turning them over in his head again, and while it works to motivate people, it comes off very tone-deaf sometimes (something I struggle with at times myself, my voice not having the empathy or emotion I wanted it have/felt). The speech he gives after he sees Patrick die feels more real to me than the speech at the basketball game.

He also isn’t a religious fanatic, shocking. He doesn’t believe Eddie killed Chrissy because the propaganda is real, he thought Eddie killed Chrissy because Eddie thought the fantasy/Satan was real. And while autistic people can be religious, a lot grow up and out of it because they’re very ‘I believe what’s in front of me’. I know I had a phase where I forced myself to believe to fit in, to feel a connection to god I just didn’t have, but I never truly believed because it wasn’t real and in front of me. I just pretended to believe to fit in.

Jason overall feels like he’s performing until Chrissy dies. He’s still performing after that, but it’s stilted by his grief. A lot of his interactions felt like he was masking what he truly felt to appeal to others, to fit in, and it makes his annoyance towards Eddie even more palpable because the guy is the epitome of being himself and not giving a shit.

We don’t know a lot about Jason’s background, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he grew up in a middle class home with a distant working dad, a wine mom who performs for dinner events with her husbands coworkers and spends most of her time with her church girls, while their son develops a perfectionist mindset. He follows all the rules of being popular to a T, like he’s learnt it from movies, but he still never touches drugs due to his own morals unlike Steve who did when he was King.

Jason is a good boyfriend, a Christian and a popular jock to pretty much everyone. But there’s something slightly off about him, and I picked at it until my brain just went ‘it’s the ‘tism’.

So that’s it. That’s why I think he is; doesn’t mean it’s canon, or even fanon. It’s just my hc and I’m gonna enjoy the fcuk outta it 😌