#Dustin was complaining about an experiment that keeps going wrong and Steve told him to explain it to him

[morganbritton132]

Eddie, still on this live-stream: Stevie, your phone is blowing up!

Steve: Yeah, that’s Dustin. He got my message. He’s freaking out.

Eddie: …You gonna answer it?

Steve: Yeah.

Steve: Tomorrow.

Eddie:

Eddie, genuinely concerned: What did he say to you?? Please tell me so I can make sure I never say it.

[thepokyone]

Finding Eleven Pt. 9

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Content/Warnings: angst; violence; language

Words: 2564

A/N: So Billy is in this chapter. Finally. Things are happening, and I dropped canon like it’s hot, so there’s that. Anyway, enjoy!

Series Masterlist

Part 9: Benched

“It’s not like it was before,” Hopper said, all of you gathered around as he had discussed what he had seen at the gate. “It’s grown. A lot. And I mean, that’s considering we can even get in there. That place is crawling with those dogs.”

“Demodogs,” Dustin interrupted.

Hopper raised his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s demogorgon and dog mashed together,” You said, before Dustin could rehash the whole thing again. “Moving on.”

“Uh, right,” Hopper said, shaking his head. “As I was saying-”

“I can do it,” El said quietly.

“You’re not hearing me,” Hopper said. And as much as you agreed with him, you knew she was right. It was the only way.

The resolve was clear in her voice. “I’m hearing you. I can do it.”

Though her eyes still slid to you, seeking your approval. You gave her a tiny nod, feeling warmth curl in your stomach at the realization that it was your permission, not Hopper’s, that she wanted, even after all this time.

“Even if El can, there’s still another problem.” Mike’s voice cut through your silent conversation. “If the brain dies, the body dies.”

“I thought that was the whole point,” Max said.

“Will is part of the body,” You said.

Mike nodded. “And if we’re right, and El closing the gate kills the Mind Flayer’s army…”

“Will dies too,” Lucas finished.

You leaned back, running a hand through your hair. “There has to be a way to separate Will from the Mind Flayer.”

“You’ve done it,” Joyce said, staring at you. “How did you do it?”

“Force of will, mostly. But Will could never do it. Even with my gifts, it was like he was pressing shards of ice into my brain,” You said, frowning. “It’s too risky for me to try and free Will, I couldn’t do it. I barely held the Mind Flayer off the first time. There has to be another way.”

“I want to see him,” El said, breaking the troubled silence that followed.

“Okay, sweetheart. Sure, you can see him,” Joyce said, she and Jonathan leading the way to his room. It was frigid, a chill crawling it’s way up your spine. After your experience with the Mind Flayer, you never wanted to feel cold again.

“He likes it cold.” Joyce’s voice was soft, but it was enough to break you out of your thoughts.

“What?” Hopper asked. He clearly wasn’t following.

“It’s what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold. We keep giving it what it wants!” Joyce exclaimed. “When you tried to bring Will back, Y/N, you said it tried to take over your mind instead. Like shards of ice?”

“And hot water was what helped me beat it back,” You said slowly, comprehension dawning on your face.

Nancy, too, had caught on. “If this is a virus, and Will is the host, then…”

“We need to make the host uninhabitable,” Jonathan finished.

“So if he likes it cold…” Nancy continued.

Once again, she was cut off - this time by Joyce. “Then we need to burn it out of him.”

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time,” Mike said.

Dustin agreed. “Yeah, somewhere far away.”

Hopper spoke. “I know a place.”

The following few minutes were spent in a flurry of activity, Hopper carrying Will out to Joyce’s car as he gave directions to his cabin. While they were busy, you joined Steve and Nancy to search for heaters or anything else that may help Will, though you drifted away to give them privacy. They had history, and it wasn’t your place to interfere. Regardless, you offered Nancy what you hoped was a comforting smile before following after Steve, back towards the house.

“Mike is just saying goodbye to El,” Dustin told you. “They’re out front. I’d give them a minute.”

“Thanks,” You said with a nod, moving the curtain to glance out the window. You thought for a moment they were going to kiss, but Hopper called, and you knew you had only moments to say goodbye to her. You hurried outside before they could leave.

“You’ll be fine,” You said softly, pulling her into a hug. “You’re so strong, stronger than I ever was - and I don’t just mean your powers. You’ve been through so much, you could have ran away at any moment, but you didn’t. Not like I did. And I need you to know that leaving you behind was the worst decision I ever made. I’ve always regretted it, so when you get back, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

“You don’t have to,” She whispered, eyes glistening with tears.

You pressed a kiss to her forehead, clinging on for a moment longer, knowing that where she was going you wouldn’t be able to protect her. Finally, you dropped your arms, meeting Hopper’s gaze. “I’ll keep her safe, Y/N. I promise.”

You nodded, wiping away the tears from your eyes as El climbed into the passenger seat. You watched until the tail lights on Hopper’s car disappeared from view, reaching out to squeeze Mike’s shoulder. He glanced over at you, and you could see his eyes glistening in the darkness.

“It’ll be okay,” You said softly. He nodded slowly.

“Let’s get inside,” Steve said, after several more minutes had passed. “It’s not safe out here.”

“Doubting my ability to keep you safe, Harrington?” You teased, shooting him a weak smile.

He smiled back. “Not a chance. But let’s not stick around to attract unnecessary trouble.”

“Couldn’t you levitate this or something?” Steve complained, staring down in disgust at the demodog he was being forced to carry as Dustin made space in the fridge.

“Need to save my strength,” You said with a smirk, though it didn’t reach your eyes. “We’re not out of the woods yet. I still wish I could have gone with El.”

“But you said it was too dangerous,” Lucas said as Steve was working on wrangling the dead demodog into the fridge.

“It is. It doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could have gone. I can’t protect her from here,” You said with a sigh.

“She seems to do alright without you.” Mike hadn’t meant for the words to hurt, but they stung anyway.

“Yeah. I know,” You muttered. Unlike Mike, who was pacing a whole in the floor, you had taken up residence on the couch, eyes half-lidded shut. Being a glorified babysitter wasn’t exactly how you had planned this playing out. You ignored them as they bickered, though something caught your attention.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Steve had been saying.

“That’s not entirely true,” Dustin said slowly. “I mean, these demodogs have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

“So if we can get their attention-” Lucas started.

Max finished his thought. “Maybe we can draw them away from the lab.”

“Clear a path to the gate,” Mike said thoughtfully.

“I’m in,” You said.

“What?!” Steve asked. “That’s a suicide mission! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I got it!” Mike said excitedly, moving off towards the kitchen. “This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way in to the tunnel. So here, right here -” at this he ran off to a different part of the room, “- This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding into here. Maybe if we set this on fire-”

“Yeah, that’s a no,” Steve said, looking less than pleased.

The kids, however, were ignoring him. Dustin spoke. “The Mind Flayer would call away his army.”

“They’d all come to stop us,” Lucas said, sounding as if that was the best thing he had heard all day.

“And Y/N could hold them off!” Dustin finished, looking at you.

You raised your eyebrows. “Wait, I don’t know about that. I mean, five or ten? Sure. But over a hundred? Not a chance.”

“It’s not like we’d wait around for them!” Mike said impatiently. “We could circle back to the exit, and by the time they realize we’re gone-”

“El would be at the gate,” Max said.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Steve yelled over the noise, glaring at all of you. “This is not happening.”

He met protests from the kids, but you were starting to realize that he could be right. Even with your help, there were too many things that could go wrong. But at the same time, if you stayed put knowing you could have helped and something happened…

“No buts! I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I’d plan on doing. We’re staying here. On the bench. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?”

You blinked. “Uh… no. I never played sports? I mean, that is what you’re talking about, right?”

Steve let out a sigh. “It’s not happening.”

“This isn’t some stupid sports game!” Mike said angrily.

“I said does everybody understand that?” Steve asked, pointing a dish towel at them. You had to cough to hid your snickers, but you weren’t entirely successful if the glare he sent your way was anything to go on. “I need a yes.”

He probably would have gotten them to agree, if an engine revving hadn’t broken the silence. Max ran towards the window, horror on her face as she peered out.

“Who the hell is that?” You asked.

“Don’t ask me,” Steve said with a shrug.

“It’s my brother,” Max said.

“Oh, that asshat you had to sneak away from earlier?” You filled in. She nodded. “Great. Just great. Because this day couldn’t possibly get any better.”

“He can’t know I’m here, he’ll kill me. He’ll kill us,” She said, sounding scared.

“Do you guys keep forgetting I have powers, or…?” You trailed off, raising your eyebrows. Max glanced at you, and though she still looked worried, she was a little calmer than before.

“I’ll handle this,” Steve said lowly, stepping towards the door. “Step in only as a last resort, Y/N.”

“Alright, alright. Fine,” You said, shrugging. “Though I’ll decide when that is.”

“Deal.”

Billy’s voice was loud enough that it carried through the walls of the house. “Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?”

Steve’s retort was quick. “Yeah it’s me, don’t cream your pants.” You let out a light snort.

“What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Steve said. “Amigo.”

“Looking for my stepsister. Little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”

“Small, redhead, bit of a bitch,” Billy provided.

You clenched your jaw at the insult, but Steve, to his credit, sounded unphased. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, buddy.”

“You know, I don’t know, this… this whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.” To be fair, it was odd that Steve was at the Byers’ house.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“My thirteen-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you in a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

Steve scoffed. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

You realized, a little too late, that all four of the kids had their faces pressed to the window, while you were listening in on the conversation with your ear pressed to the door.

“Guys, get down!” You hissed. But it was too late.

Billy’s next words were barely audible. “Then who is that?”

“Shit!” Dustin exclaimed, the four of them ducking down. “Did he see us?”

“Yes!” You said, irritated. “Thank you, idiots. Get behind me, all of you.”

They scrambled to obey as the door whipped open, Billy striding inside. Steve was nowhere in sight. His eyes narrowed. “Well, well, well.” He slammed the door behind him, advancing. The kids scuttled backwards, but you refused to back down. “Look at what we have here. Lucas Sinclair, what a surprise. And who the hell are you?”

“Does this count as last resort?” Dustin asked, as Billy stopped mere feet away from you.

“Yeah, I’d say it does,” You said casually, simply tilting your head.

“I’m here for Max. Get out of my way,” Billy said lowly.

“I’ve heard all about you,” You said, crossing your arms. “And you’re not getting anywhere near those kids. So I suggest you turn around and walk away before I make you.”

He scoffed. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“I’ll give you one more chance. Move. Out. Of. My. Way.” Billy meant the words to be intimidating. To anyone else, they would have been.

“No.” He had barely moved before you spoke, your power, halting him in his tracks. “Stop.”

Billy was frozen in place, unable to move despite his best efforts. He was struggling against your hold, you could feel it, but it was fruitless. No one had been able to break free of your orders. “What the hell did you do to me?”

“I’m keeping you from hurting anyone else,” You said calmly.

Steve burst into the door, looking winded but otherwise unharmed. “Sorry, I-”

“No worries,” You said with a shrug. “I’m handling it.”

“Max, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?” Billy demanded, though the question was much less impressive considering he couldn’t actually do anything.

“It’s none of your business, Billy,” She said softly. “Just leave me alone.”

“I can make him, Max. Just say the word,” You offered. Billy was still struggling against your power, and the concentration you needed to keep him in check made blood begin to drip out of your nose. No one ever fought against your control this much - it was actually quite impressive. “Stop fighting it, it won’t do any good.”

“What kind of freak-”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence. Your temper snapped, dropping your use of mind control to instead grab him via telekinesis, striding towards him even as he was shoved back against the wall. “I’d choose your next words very, very carefully if I were you.”

“Y/N, stop!” Steve ordered, grabbing your arm. “Stop. Don’t sink to his level.”

You grit your teeth, staring up at Billy’s terrified face. Steve was right. You dropped your hold, and he slid to the floor with a thud. Your glare, however, didn’t falter. “Don’t try anything.”

Billy was staring at you, a mixture of fear and intrigue on his face before he dropped his head, avoiding your eyes. “I won’t.”

“What are we supposed to do with him?” Steve asked, staring down at Billy.

You were thoughtful for a moment before speaking. “We take him with us.”

“Take him with us? We’re not going anywhere, remember? We’re on the bench,” Steve told you, looking annoyed.

You shook your head, a steely glint in your eye. “I’m not going to hide here anymore. Hopper and El need that distraction to get inside. So we’re going to go start a fire, and you can come willingly… or unwillingly.”

“Alright, alright. Fine.” Steve threw his hands up in defeat, recognizing by your tone of voice that you would do anything to protect Eleven, even if it meant forcing him to agree. “Let’s go help Hopper and El.”

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[youremyonlyhope]

Stranger Things 3

Episodes 3 and 4

Episode 3! Also interrupted by texts but this time by my brother asking stupid questions so that’s fun.

Side note: My mom’s birthday was recently and her friend got her balloons, which we’ve just had floating in our apartment since then. They’re finally starting to deflate, so my AC is pushing them around a bit and making them scratch the ceiling. I swear it sounds like mice or rats scratching in the wall and it keeps freaking me out. I felt this was relevant because of the whole rat thing

I don’t like how violent and jealous and aggressive Hopper is this season. I don’t like it. I want the Hopper that’s a jerk but still very sweet back. Billy being able to kinda see El was freaky. Why does no one ever take Joyce seriously? She’s LITERALLY always right! Ok. Fuck every single one of the men that Nancy has to work for. They all suck. Every single one of them. My poor baby Will. Just let him be happy. For once. And I forgot to mention this for episode one, mostly because I forgot about it, but Will said he didn’t think he’d ever fall in love with anyone. And now Mike said “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” Now. Of course. This could just be that Mike meant Will doesn’t like girls yet. Or it could mean Will’s gay like how Joyce said people teased and assumed he was when he was younger. Or, and this would be extra interesting, he’s asexual and doesn’t like anyone, hence why he said he’d never fall in love. But also he’s a child so we don’t need to be even worrying about this, but it’s interesting. Also, LET WILL JUST BE HAPPY. Heather drowning was like nightmare fuel.

I’m really glad that this season it’s the girls figuring everything out. Joyce is literally studying electromagnets. Nancy’s tracking down the rats. Robin’s decoding Russian messages. And El and Max are off trying to figure out why Billy can see El in the... nothingness? Did we ever come up with a name for where El goes? Whatever. But what are the boys doing? Wallowing around, complaining about girls, calling us a different species, hurting their friend’s feelings even though they say girls are too emotional, watching girls through binoculars instead of sticking to the plan, and getting drunk and angry and taking it out on the women in their lives. Look, I love all the boy characters, but they’re being so useless right now.

My poor baby Will. Tearing up his pictures. Destroying Castle Byers. I’m so heartbroken. But also, I appreciate the callback to them discovering El in the rain. Oh and poor Mrs. Driscoll. Wow that sucks. Why does it need fertilizer? Can we just... not... with the Terminator Dude. I don’t like him. And I’m super duper concerned at how normal Billy and Heather can be while possessed. Now, deep down, I really want Billy to be protecting Max. I hope he is. Something else I forgot to mention last episode, but is this the beginning of a Billy redemption arc? Because, if done correctly, I’m here for it. He already kind of protected Mrs. Wheeler, maybe he’ll protect Max. But the Shadow Monster saw El so that sucks. I loved the widening pupils though, well done.

Also, is Heather’s dad one of the writers at the Post? Or can I literally not tell any of the old white guys apart?

Ok Episode 4 here we go!

I told myself I wouldn’t pause for even a moment to write anything. I wanted to just watch it all and then put down my thoughts. But I did pause just once to write one note: “Mayor perfect tie”

Because the Mayor’s tie... is perfect. During the scene where Hopper beats him up. Somehow, they tied the knot so the patterns lined up perfectly perpendicular. And I just had to take a second to applaud the costume department on that. Because lining up the patterns of a tie takes dedication and incredible attention to detail.

Anyway. I was right that the dad was the guy from the newspaper. Yay. We got more women getting things done. Of course. But Dustin, Steve, and Will are stepping up. Hopper beat up Mayor Westley. My heart kinda broke, I will admit it. I gotta stop associating actors with characters and sympathizing just because I like a different character of theirs (Burn as Karl in GOT). Oh my god the cigar slicer I just... I was screaming “NO. HOPPER NO. BABY NO.” the whole time. Jonathan annoys me a little more every season. I get where he’s coming from but still... he annoys me. Which sucks because at first I really loved him in Season 1. Erica is my queen. Everything she says or does, queen. When she opened those doors and stood there I said out loud “If this child dies right now, if this child gets sniped, I am killing the writers.” because that moment seemed too good to be true. Of course minutes later all 4 of them plunge into the depths of who knows what, but whatever. I liked the conversation between Nancy and her mom. This season is killing the Bechdel test. I love it. Because I’m pretty sure in season 1 we didn’t have any women talking to each other after Barb died. Maybe there was one scene between Joyce and El. That was it. I love that Nancy’s taking initiative, but I wish she had someone with her as back up. The whole Billy activation sequence had me gasping. And the Mind Flayer has an army. Yay. I like “Shadow Monster” more just because Flayer sounds like such an awkward word to me.

Also, something else I thought of immediately when Episode 1 started yesterday and then promptly forgot until just now. Terminator Dude... he’s ultra strong... almost supernaturally strong... and last season opened with Eight/Collie... and this season opened with Terminator Dude...

Basically, is Terminator Dude one of El’s sibling’s too? Is that why he knows about the Upside Down and the experiments? What if he ran away, and that’s why Papa (cannot remember his actual name) had El spy on the Russians back when she was being experimented on? He wanted to see if Terminator Dude had gotten anywhere. Maybe.

That’s just my theory for now. But I’m sticking to it until I’m proved wrong. But that was literally my first thought once we focused on him for the opening of the series.

And I’m gonna stop for tonight because I gotta wake up early tomorrow. Yay.