#The Weirdo on Maple Street

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things (1x02): “The Weirdo on Maple Street” Review

Just like the previous episode, this one contains neat homages and references to different 80s movies that help lay out the structure of the show and its story without overshadowing it. It also incorporates unique call-forwards to future episodes (specifically in season 4) that, when viewed again on rewatch (especially having seen the play The First Shadow), recontextualizes the entire mytharc.

Ironically, despite the name of this episode deriving from a famous Twilight Zone episode, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” they have very little in common plot-wise with each other, and the themes present in that particular episode will come into play later in season 4, specifically with Jason’s witch hunt against the Hellfire Club.

Part 1: Mike, Dustin, and Lucas meet El

The interactions at the beginning between El, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas is a combination of both amusing (since they’re 12 year old boys who are implied to have never really talked to girls their age) and gives some initial insight into each character.

Mike is the one who comes off the most empathetic to El’s plight in this situation (note that he took off his coat earlier and wrapped it around El to keep her warm). He’s genuinely concerned over why she’s out in the rain looking scared with barely any clothes on (save Benny’s T-shirt), and he’s the the one who gives her clothes to wear. I also think it’s interesting that, when El refuses to have the door to the bathroom closed for privacy, Mike agrees to keep the door open slightly.

I know this is often attributed by most of the fandom to Hopper since he’s the one who makes a big stink in season 3 about El having her door open three inches (something that’s played as a recurring joke), but this episode introduces it first with Mike’s arrangement with El, as well as El’s desire for a semi-open door due to the trauma of being locked in solitary confinement at the Lab (as we’ll see later on).

By contrast, Lucas and Dustin come off as insensitive, even though that likely wasn’t their intention. Dustin’s dialogue about El, from asking out-loud whether she has cancer due to short hair, or if she’s deaf, or even if she slept naked, indicates he views her in the moment as a curiosity. That curiosity certainly peaks when he later finds out she has powers, and he will eventually move past this initial perception of her. Lucas is a lot blunter in openly noting that El doesn’t act like a normal girl, speculates that she came from Pennhurst (the asylum which would later make an appearance in the season 4 episode “Dear Billy”), and uses phrases like “psycho” “freak” “weirdo” and “something wrong in the head with her” (The latter phrase would later be used by the Duffer Brothers to describe Angela in S4, although that had less to do with mental illness in Angela’s case and more to do with her being a genuinely vile human being).

While we're on this topic………let’s discuss Lucas’s initial attitude towards El, and how the fandom reacted towards it.

I am aware of the negativity that got directed at Lucas in the first season because of this, to the point that even Caleb McLaughlin was not only painfully aware of it, but was even on the receiving end of fandom racism because of it. It doesn’t help that some of these fans who trashed Lucas in this season would later go on to defend Billy in season 2, and either pretend that his racism towards Lucas wasn’t a thing, or use Lucas’s initial behavior towards El as a justification for why it was okay for Billy to treat Lucas like shit. I am deeply sorry Caleb was on the receiving end of that at a young age, and he deserved a helluva lot better than having to put up with that kind of racist bullshit.

While I wasn’t happy about the terminology Lucas used to describe El, it’s important to note he is 12 at this point. Like any kid his age, he is going to say stuff that, in hindsight, comes off as insensitive at best, and hurtful at worst. A lot of this can be chalked up to ignorance surrounding mental health issues and abuse, as well as the fact he’s facing a freaky situation with someone who isn’t acting in a way considered ‘normal.’ The result is falling back on stereotypes and cliches about abnormal people that he likely picked up from movies like John Carpenter’s Halloween (which is referenced in the comparison Lucas and Dustin make between El and Michael Myers) and other kids his age who discussed that stuff with the same levels of ignorance.

Third, just like with Steve (who acts callously insensitive at different points in this episode), Lucas is being presented with flaws and biases that he must overcome. This is how a character arc is supposed to work. They start out one way, undergo a journey, are forced to confront their flaws, realize they need to make a change, and apply those lessons to become better people than they were before. It's why I find it eye-roll inducing how many idiots in this fandom fall into this Puritain-esque way of thinking where, if a character has ever said or done anything remotely uncaring in the past, the idea is they should never live it down, EVEN IF they have long since apologized and put in the work to be better.

I want to be careful not to infantilize Lucas the same way fans have done with Billy or Angela to try and absolve them for their disgusting behavior. Unlike those two, whose intentions were based on getting a kick out of sadistically hurting others to make themselves feel superior, all the while never apologizing and doubling down, Lucas’s initial attitude was more rooted in seeing El as an inconvenience to their goal of finding Will as opposed to just wanting to make El’s life a living hell (like Angela) or taking his anger out on others (like Billy).

Again, I’m not saying this attitude was okay. It was immature in the same way Steve’s initial reaction towards Jonathan putting up Missing Posters for Will was callow. However, it’s not rooted in the mean-spirited cruelty some fans have accused it of being, and it’s supposed to be a point for both Lucas (and Steve) to grow from.

Speaking of El, just like there was the implication El was intentionally starved at the Lab, we get more subtle signs of how she was abused: Her reaction to putting the fresh pair of clothes Mike gives her on her cheek (indicating she’d been in that hospital gown for quite a while). Her panicked reaction later in the episode when she’s forced to hide in Mike’s closet, triggering a PTSD flashback to when Brenner forced the orderlies to lock her up in solitary confinement. Her flinching at little things, like when Dustin claps in her face, or the lightning outside (though that is likely due to never having been outside the Lab before now and being unfamiliar with lightning), or when Lucas points to the blood on her, or when he later angrily demands from El to know where Will is. Even the scene of her almost stripping in front of the guys, while played for laughs, all but spells out how she never had access to privacy and was under constant watch.

El’s situation and reactions remind me of Genie, a real life case we studied in my psychology class in school involving a feral girl from Los Angeles who'd spent 13 years of her life locked in a room and chained to a toilet by her parents (specifically her father, though her mother and brother also enabled this due to being at the receiving end of his abuse as well). She was constantly subjected to the rage and neglect of her father, including beatings, malnourishment, isolation from the outside world, and constantly being kept in the dark. It’s even been speculated he may have sexually abused her at various points as well. The dude was a real piece of work, and the damage he did to her severely affected Genie's physical, mental, and emotional development, to the point she learned not to make any noises (lest her father beat her with a wooden plank) and didn’t develop the language and communication skills kids her age would have picked up by that point. She was eventually discovered in 1970 by a social worker, who alerted authorities and had her taken to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The case got public attention and the father, who was unable to handle the media scrutiny, committed suicide, all while leaving behind a note where he refused to take responsibility for what he did to his daughter.

It's unclear whether the Duffer Brothers based aspects of El’s character on Genie, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did (If this is true, and there was an interview I missed talking about this subject, feel free to link to it in the reblogs). Both girls are abuse survivors who were stunted in their growth and development because of what they were put through. In the case of Genie, her father’s abuse of her caused lasting physical damage, including having limited gross motor skills (i.e. basic functions kids learn during development like standing, sitting, walking, etc) and impairing her ability to communicate and learn new words and vocabulary.

In El’s case, she also has limited vocabulary and is unfamiliar with certain words (like “friend”) but she’s shown to understand concepts even if she doesn’t have the words to name them. The abuse Brenner subjected El to was along the lines of Operant Conditioning (i.e. rewarding and punishing behavior, and behavior based on the removal or addition of stimuli), and was done as a way of molding her into the weapon he wanted (in stark contrast to Genie’s father, whose abuse stemmed from wanting nothing to do with his daughter and resenting her existence). Unlike with Genie, we see that El did develop gross motor skills (i.e. the flashback Terry has where she sees a three year old El playing with Kali/Eight, and the rainbow room in season 4 with the special kids playing with toys), and there clearly was some attempt at raising El to make sure El could understand and communicate with Brenner and the orderlies in order to spy on the Russians. The abuse in question was specifically tailored by Brenner: Keeping El isolated from the outside world, and limiting her knowledge to only what Brenner wanted her to know. Drilling into El that she was expected to perform certain tasks on his command, and punishing her with solitary confinement if she disobeyed or refused. Allowing the other kids at the lab to bully El because she was slow in the development of her powers and hoping that the ostracization would produce the results he wanted.

There’s also the trauma associated with memories El has repressed, but have slowly started to seep through. For story related purposes, we don’t yet see the flashbacks to the Massacre at Hawkins Lab and the events leading up to that (at least not until season 4), but it is subtly alluded to in the scene where Mr. Clarke finds a piece of El’s hospital gown in the tunnel she used to escape. AKA the same tunnel Henry/One/Vecna led her to in 1979:

Like I said, this episode contains several call-forwards, and this is one of them. It explains how El knew where to go to escape the Lab once the gate opened, and “The Monster” elaborates on WHY she finally did.

It’s pretty clear Mike and El’s interactions at the house during the day are meant to invoke Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, with Mike faking sick to stay home (the difference being Karen sees through it, but allows Mike the day off because of what happened to Will, while also telling him he can always talk to her if he needs to), showing El around his house, introducing her to Star War toys the same way Elliot did with E.T., and even making food for her. There’s even the later scene of El wandering the house during dinner and Karen nearly missing her, similar to Elliot’s mom having near misses with E.T. when Gertie brought him downstairs. These scenes have a nice charm to them, and have always been fun to watch.

Another movie this episode pays homage to in one particular scene is a 1985 Harrison Ford film called Witness:

Witness centers around a German Amish boy named Samuel Lapp who, after the death of his father, travels to Baltimore with his mother Rachel to visit her sister. Like El, this is Samuel’s first time in a new environment other than his Amish community, and his initial reaction is one of quiet curiosity. While at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, waiting for a late train, he ends up using the restroom and becomes an eyewitness to the murder of a detective that takes place there. Because Samuel saw the culprit of the crime while hiding in one of the stalls, Samuel and his mother are forced to cooperate with a police detective named John Book (played by Harrison Ford) in helping to track down the killer. When El points to Will in the science photograph next to Mike’s trophies, this is a direct homage to the scene when Samuel points to a photograph of Lieutenant James McFee, indicating to Book that McFee is the murderer.

In both scenarios, what follows is the untangling of a massive conspiracy: In Witness, it centers around police corruption and illegal drug dealings. In Stranger Things, it’s centered around government corruption and the Upside Down. The big difference is that while Samuel is still present in Witness, the movie shifts focus to John Book as the main character, especially when he’s targeted by corrupt cops and forced to go on the run and hide within the Amish community to protect himself, Rachel, and Samuel. Meanwhile, El remains central as a character, and ironically enough is the one working to protect Mike, Dustin, and Lucas from Brenner and the Demogorgon while hiding among them.

Speaking of Brenner (who has physical similarities to Chief Paul Schaeffer, the main antagonist of Witness, as well similar personality traits of demanding loyalty from his men without feeling obligated to return it), his reaction towards Will’s disappearance and finding the ooze in the shed at the Byers house takes on a whole different context after having seen The First Shadow (or Season 4 for that matter). The play reveals that, as far back as the 1940s, Brenner was aware of the Upside Down. Granted, he hadn’t actually seen the dimension with his own eyes. The most information he got was from his own dying father (who was a part of the fateful Philadelphia Experiment in 1943) and maybe even Henry/One/Vecna (depending on what kind of information Henry willingly or unwillingly provided to Brenner). In any case, his lack of surprise over Joyce’s phone call to Flo about Will and some kind of animal on the other end indicates he knew Will was in the Upside Down and was being hunted. Not that Brenner truly cared about Will in the grand scheme of things.

In regards to Will, for those who are interested in what was implied to be going on with him in the end scene with Joyce and the lights flickering and the recorder playing “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” this is how things looked like from his perspective in the comic The Other Side:

The show already hinted at this, with Will hiding and the Demogorgon chasing him, but it helps give more context to why the Demogorgon temporarily turned its attention to Joyce and stopped pursuing Will.

I am curious about the Demogorgon’s decision not to go after Joyce despite trying to tear through the wall: Was it just trying to scare her away in the moment, or did Joyce manage to outrun it quick enough that it went back into the Upside Down because it decided she wasn’t worth it?

Speaking of which, let’s talk more about the Byers family, including Lonnie and Hopper:

Part 2: The Byers, Lonnie, and Hopper

I forgot about the tense exchange between Joyce and Hopper in this episode. Her insisting that it was Will’s voice on the other end of the phone and, when Hopper remains skeptical, bringing up how she’d recognize Will's breathing the same way Hopper would recognize his daughter’s breathing. To her credit, she does regret that and realizes how low of a blow that is, and Hopper, despite being hurt, doesn’t take his anger out on her, and recognizes her outburst as coming from stress and frustration over her son’s disappearance rather than vindictiveness. Add in how these two have history with one another (especially from their interactions in The First Shadow when they were attending high school and were already starting to realize they were attracted to one another) and there’s a lot both Joyce and Hopper are willing to overlook when it comes to each other’s flaws.

Hopper’s depression is hard to watch. I’ve never had a kid, and I have no intention of having one either (especially with the way our world has gone), but I understand what it’s like to be in that kind of mental state between wanting to care and yet being so beaten down by life and what it has taken from you that it’s hard not to slip into apathy.  Compared to his time in New York City, where Sara was still alive, his wife was married to him, and he felt rejuvenated with a purpose, Hopper in the beginning of this show is directionless, burying himself in booze, drugs, and women, all while putting in the bare minimum into his 4 years as chief of police. Then, after Joyce's son disappears, and his best friend Benny is murdered while it's staged to look like a suicide, Hopper is forced to realize he still cares, and no amount of drowning himself is going to change that. As he bitterly notes to the woman he’s sleeping with:

BTW, note how he never references the last time a person got murdered in Hawkins. That was a clever way for the Duffer Brothers to later lay the groundwork for the Creel murders in 1959. As depicted in The First Shadow, Hopper saw the bodies of Virginia and Alice Creel around the time the police arrested Victor for their deaths.

I will go more in detail about Joyce’s arc as it develops this season, but there is one comparison that is relevant to this episode: Her similarities to Florence “Rusty” Tullis from the 1985 film Mask, which is based on the real-life story of Rocky Dennis. The Duffer Brothers have cited the movie as an inspiration for how they wrote Joyce’s character, as well as how Joyce’s costumes were designed. Both women are single mothers working to provide for their sons, both of them have sons who deal with mistreatment because of their physical appearance (Will because of his clothes and Rocky because of his Craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (CDD)), both of them are overworked and stressed and turn to drugs (Joyce’s chainsmoking in this episode and Rusty’s addictions, which becomes a source of conflict between her and Rocky), both of them worry constantly about the well-being of their sons, and both of them are perceived as being “unstable” when in fact they are fiercely determined and would go through hell to keep their sons alive and safe. In Joyce’s case, that involves going back inside her house at the end of this episode to keep in contact with Will despite a monster lurking within her walls.

On the other side of the parenting spectrum is Lonnie Byers, and his establishing character moment tells us everything: He’s dating a woman half his age (though Cynthia doesn’t appear to be a teenager as Joyce implied in the previous episode), his first appearance is shoving Jonathan into a wall before making a half-assed introduction between Jonathan and Cynthia and makes a pretense of trying to hug Jonathan despite Jonathan not wanting him to.

Then there’s Jonathan looking for Will throughout Lonnie’s house, including in the trunk of Lonnie's car:

Just this scene alone makes me question what kind of child custody dispute went on between Joyce and Lonnie during their divorce, and if Lonnie at one point took Will without Joyce’s permission. I can buy he’d do it for financial reasons (and we’ll see that aspect rear its ugly head when he later comes to exploit Will’s funeral and file a lawsuit to get money to cover his debts) but other than that, he just comes off as a lazy bum who wants nothing to do with his sons. Makes me question why on earth he even wanted kids with Joyce in the first place.

I talked about this in my review of The First Shadow, but Lonnie in this episode pretty much is the same as he was in the play: He’s lazy, he has no desire to make anything of his life, he’s costing off other people, and he’s a douchebag. The only difference is instead of being in his 20s, he’s a grown-ass adult well into his late 40s, and a deadbeat father on top of that. I know a lot of people hate Lonnie (and rightfully so), but the most I can muster for him is contempt as opposed to the burning hatred I have for characters like Angela.

Jonathan is a mixed bag in this episode. On the one hand, his love and devotion to his brother is on full display, and it’s a combination of sweet and sad given the circumstances. His interaction with Nancy at the school and her giving genuine condolences to him over Will’s disappearance was a highlight (and was when I started to care about Nancy the first time I watched the show), as well as the flashback to his conversation with Will and the playlist he introduces to him.

One of those bands he recommends btw is The Smiths, and one of their songs, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” has been used in the marketing for season 5, specifically in reference to Jonathan:

I’m sure plenty of fans have already made speculations, but all I can say is I hope this doesn’t foreshadow something bad happening to Jonathan because…………YIKES!! “Why do I give valuable time to people who don’t care if I live or die?” I’m not really surprised that Jonathan has depression and self-confidence issues, partly because of his parents’ failed marriage, his worries about becoming like his father, and being an outcast, but if his perception is that people don’t care, he is DEAD WRONG. And I’m not just talking about his family when I say this.

In any case, his attempts to boost Will’s self-confidence despite struggles with his own, and to encourage Will to chart his own course regarding things Will likes vs what other people tell him he should like, is one of the best moments in the show, and a life lesson that needs more applicability (especially when it comes to fandom culture).

The part where Jonathan loses me is towards the end of the episode. You all know what I’m talking about: The photographs he takes of Steve’s pool party.

First off, I want to make clear that, in spite of what he did, this wasn’t a deal-breaker for me in terms of liking his character. Yes, I agree it was creepy and wrong to take the pictures without the others knowledge or consent, and to his credit, he does acknowledge later that he shouldn’t have done it. The only good thing that came out of that was inadvertently capturing the Demogorgon on the picture he took of Barbara at the pool, but that in no way excuses the other photos he took. Contrary to what my time on Tumblr may suggest, I’m a private person, and I’m someone who does NOT like having pictures taken of me without my permission. I also imagine plenty of other people feel the same way, and I get why some fans were upset by this scene. It doesn’t help that the screenplay contains this tidbit regarding Jonathan’s motivations:

This does hearken forward to what Robin later tells Steve in season 3 about how outcasts like herself still desire to be popular and normal (which is specifically associated thematically in the show with being accepted). As much as Jonathan has embraced the identity of outcast, I don’t think it’s completely out-of-character for him to want that as well, especially if it’s tied to being accepted for who he is. At the same time though, out of all the ways he could have expressed that, this was the worst way to go about it. Again, the reason I don’t hold it against him is because of his apology to Nancy, similar to how Steve would later apologize to Nancy and Jonathan for his behavior, and Lucas would apologize to El for his. Characters start out in a flawed way and go through an evolution. That’s how it works.

Speaking of Steve and Nancy………..

Part 3: The Pool Party

We get our introduction of Tommy and Carol in this episode, and I completely forgot that the first thing Tommy does is stick his finger in Barbara’s ear to be a dick. Charming. 😒 And you have Carol being snide to both Nancy and Jonathan. Lovely. 🙄

They say you are judged by the company you keep, and they take that principle and run with it here with Steve. Whenever Tommy and Carol are around, we see a callous side to Steve fueled by those two’s toxicity, and it’s not pleasant. I even question how much of the Pool Party was his idea vs Tommy and Carol’s who wanted the excuse to party hard and shack up in Steve’s huge house. It reminds me of Risky Business when the Tom Cruise character, Joel Goodsen (whom Steve shares parallels with) has his parents leave for a trip, and he's put in charge of watching over the house, all while his friends pressure him to exploit the opportunity to party and have sex. The big difference is while Joel’s friends try to help him once the shenanigans go over the top, Tommy and Carol would have left Steve out to dry. The pool party was for their benefit as opposed to Steve’s.

Steve’s line about how his mom is traveling with his dad because she doesn’t trust him makes me question what goes on in Steve’s family. We’ve never seen Steve’s parents (they don’t appear in The First Shadow either), so we have very little information to go on, but that line alone makes me wonder how much his dad’s cheating has impacted Steve. It reminds me of the fractured relationship between Ted and Karen, where emotions get suppressed and it’s hard for anyone to say they “love" someone because that entire marriage is NOT running on love. In Nancy and Mike’s case, they act like this is the norm, and we will see how it impacts their relationships with Steve and El in the future. In Steve’s case, I wouldn’t be shocked if he picked up the womanizing aspect from his dad. As for why his mom would stay with his dad if he was cheating on him………..there’s an episode of Freaks and Geeks (a show that was a big inspiration for Stranger Things) where one of the main characters, Neal, finds out his dad (whom he’s looked up to in the past) has been cheating on his mom. Angry and betrayed, he publicly lashes out at his dad through mean-spirited jokes at his expense during a party, and later flees to his room in tears. When his mom later goes to visit Neal to comfort him, it’s revealed she is aware of her husband’s infidelity, but is working to keep the peace, noting that it’s a complicated situation for the both of them. Given that Steve's mom hasn't divorced his dad yet, it's possible their situation and how they're handling it could be similar to Neal's parents.

I remember there was a period prior to season 4 where there was this idea in the fandom that Steve had actively gone out of his way to bully others, including Jonathan. I agree that there were instances of him being self-absorbed and dickishly insensitive, but I never got the impression from watching the show or reading the supplementary materials that he actively went out of his way to make others lives a living hell the way Billy and Angela did. Tommy was certainly guilty of that on a constant basis (something the Eddie Munson prequel Flight of Icarus explores), but the two instances Steve was antagonistic towards Jonathan (i.e. the camera incident and when he thought Nancy had cheated on him with Jonathan) had more to do with specific circumstnaces rather than getting his kicks making other people miserable like Angela did with El. Otherwise, his entire attitude towards Jonathan seemed rooted in indifference.

Like I’ve said, it’s not great, and I’m not surprised there were multiple characters like Robin, Keith, and Eddie who referred to Steve as an asshole and a douchebag (because that's the image he projected), but this isn’t the same thing as active maliciousness. We even see Steve get uncomfortable with Tommy when he makes a nasty joke about Jonathan killing Will, and Steve tells him to shut up, indicating he finds that inappropriate and crossing a line.

Speaking of projecting an image…..we see plenty of that at the pool party, with Steve smoking (which I don’t think he does again at any other point in the show) and shotgunning beer cans to impress Nancy and the other partygoers (with the exception of Barbara). Even his answering the door for Nancy and Barbara in dramatic fashion while “Raise a Little Hell” by Trooper plays in the background is a cliché unto itself. However, it’s noteworthy Nancy doesn’t seem bothered by this, and the exchange between her and Steve in that moment makes it clear she knows he’s purposefully being a cliché, but finds it amusing, which is why Steve continues with it.

In fact, if we look at Nancy’s behavior in this episode, it comes off less like she’s throwing herself at Steve (as the Montauk script depicts) and more like she’s thought this through and decided this is what she wants. Apart for Barbara, Nancy doesn’t particularly care for what Tommy and Carol think of her. We got hints of that in her discussion with Barbara in the previous episode, and we see it in the scene where she talks with Jonathan in front of them despite their snide comments about him.

This is a big reason I strongly disagree with the idea Nancy’s interest in Steve has anything to do with wanting his approval (or Tommy and Carol’s approval for that matter) or even elevating her social status in high school. She certainly didn’t give a damn about what they were thinking of her in this moment with Jonathan, or how it would look to others to be interacting with the local outcast. She genuinely felt bad for what Jonathan was going through and wanted to offer some words of comfort.

On top of that, she’s seen Steve without Tommy and Carol by his side enough times to recognize he is a different person without them around. She has enough intuition to trust that, even if she’s still navigating the way this relationship is going, there are desirable qualities in Steve beyond his good looks (in contrast to the Montauk script where she barely knew him and was only going by his good looks and charm). So her making the decision to have sex with Steve comes off less like she’s operating under pressure and more like she’s made the decision that this is what she wants, even against Barbara’s protests.

Speaking of Barbara, I’ve never understood this idea the fandom has perpetrated about how Barbara was worried over being left behind by Nancy to join the popular crowd.

First of all, if Barbara really pegged Nancy as that superficial, there is no way she would have remained friends with Nancy for so long.

Second, the idea of Barbara being jealous of Nancy climbing the social ladder comes in direct contrast with how she acts at the pool party. Barbara makes it clear at the beginning that she’s only there for Nancy because Nancy asked her to be, and doesn’t make the effort to socialize with anyone else there, all the while looking disgusted with Tommy and Carol and unamused at Steve showing off. That does NOT translate to jealousy. That sounds like someone who doesn’t want to be in the same room with these people. The only reason she even makes an effort at shotgunning a beer can (and getting a deep cut on her thumb that attracts the Demogorgon's attention) is because Nancy pressured her into doing so. This was not done because she gave a damn about impressing Steve or Tommy or Carol.

Third, Barbara’s concern for Nancy wanting to have sex with Steve isn’t entirely invalid, and it sure as hell does NOT constitute slut-shaming like some fans have framed it as. Barbara knows that Tommy and Carol are toxic people, and the fact that they’re hanging around Steve doesn’t make Steve look good. While she is interested in Nancy’s relationship with Steve (as we saw in the previous episode) it’s natural for her as a friend to be worried about whether Nancy is rushing into this too quickly, especially because Barbara doesn’t know Steve very well and has no clue how Steve is going to treat her. As we see in later episodes, some of her concerns were valid and others were not.

I get everyone is entitled to their opinions, but sometimes I wonder how much of these takes from fans are rooted in projection and bad-faith interpretations. 😒

I should quickly talk about the sex scene between Steve and Nancy, and how it was changed from the Montauk script from being a rape scene to consenual. I am fine with this change for several reasons:

I have never been a fan of shows that use rape as a plot device to drive another character’s arc (especially a female character). I have seen plenty of shows that have done this where it ends up going horribly wrong in the writing process and comes off as gratuitous, as well as enforcing the idea that this kind of trauma is necessary for a person to stop being naïve and grow up. Just…………YUCK! 🤮

 When it comes to the subject of rape, there are plenty of shows out there that try to tackle this subject and either end up being extremely tone-deaf, or perpetrate the rape culture aspects they were trying to avoid. True Blood. Game of Thrones. 13 Reasons Why. General Hospital. The Umbrella Academy. Even The Boys wasn’t immune from this: Contrast the somber way Starlight’s assault from The Deep is depicted on that show to how Hughie’s sexual assault and rape at the hands of Ted Knight and the shapeshifter in season 4 is handled. That's also including how The Boys showrunner, Eric Kripke, admitted that Hughie's assault was intended to be played for black comedy. There are so many pitfalls with this subject matter that it would have reflected badly on the show if the Duffer Brothers had fallen into them. There’s also the question of whether the Duffer Brothers had any interest in actually depicting Nancy’s trauma over being raped in a thoughtful intelligent manner, or if was simply a means of driving Nancy into Jonathan’s arms while glossing over the ramifications of what happened to her.

As I stated in the previous episode, changing Steve’s character not only improved him, but also improved Nancy and Barbara by extension. Steve’s motivations for wanting a relationship with Nancy become more complex than simply wanting “another notch under his belt,” Nancy’s crush on Steve is a lot less shallow and more about seeing through the image he projects and wanting to get to know the real Steve Harrington, and Barbara has more of a personality here where she’s caught between wanting to support Nancy but also being wary of Nancy’s relationship with Steve and this new side to Nancy that she’s seeing. She also isn’t someone who abandons Nancy like in the Montauk script, but is reluctant to leave Nancy at Steve's house alone (and only does so at Nancy’s insistence), making it much more heartbreaking when she’s later dragged into the Upside Down.

Part 4: Song Choices

We get a nice selection of songs in this episode, including the one that would become the signature song for season 1 and for both Will and Jonathan: “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” by The Clash.

While The Clash has refused to assign meaning to the lyrics, especially in regards to whether those lyrics were in reference to events going on in the band at the time, my interpretation of the song is that it’s about someone in a relationship where they’re not sure if the other person wants them there, and is demanding a more direct answer about where they stand. “One day it’s fine and the next it’s black,” certainly gives the impression their relationship is tumultuous, and “this indecision is bugging me” makes it sound like both parties can’t agree on where to go from here. Ironically enough, it doesn't seem to apply at all to Jonathan and Will’s situation, where neither of them have been in a romantic relationship yet, and both brothers are supportive of one another in spite of their parents' messy divorce.

“Raise a Little Hell” by Trooper is played in the scene when Steve answers the door for Barabara and Nancy. Initially, the song seems to foreshadow that this is going to be a rumbustious party, but in comparison to the Montauk script, the party in this episode is tame. On top of that, the song itself really isn’t a party anthem, but a motivational one encouraging the listener to change their circumstances if they’re not happy about their situation and “raise a little hell” in the process. It's a big reason why it's been adopted as a sports anthem. Considering that Steve is an athlete himself, I'm not surprised he likes it.

“I Melt With You” by Modern English has always been a personal favorite of mine, and I was happy with its use in this episode. Despite being a dance song, the lyrics have a dark undertone to them, depicting two people falling in love as the world is coming to an end. It’s similar to Prince’s “1999” and R.E.M.’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)” where the singer has accepted the inevitability of their world being screwed, and is more content with living in the moment rather than worrying about what can’t be changed. In the context of this episode, with a group partying while (unbeknownst to them) the Upside Down is beginning to leak into Hawkins, and even claims one of the attendees later on (Barbara), the song is appropriate for that scene.

Finally, we have “Hazy Shade of Winter,” by The Bangles, which plays when Nancy and Steve have sex for the first time.

This was a remix of one of Simon and Garfunkel’s songs from the 60s, and while I like the original, I’m a bigger fan for The Bangles version. It has a very eerie tone to it, dealing with regret and the passage of time over the seasons as the singer lambasts about opportunities and hopes slipping away. It’s not exactly an uplifting song to be playing during what’s supposed to be a romantic moment, and given what happens to Barbara the same time Nancy is consummating her relationship with Steve, it’s dark foreshadowing for the guilt she’s going to be feeling later on over Barbara’s death.

Final Thoughts:

One more thing I wanted to mention before closing out this review is the poster of The Dark Crystal in Mike’s bedroom:

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film set on a distant world that, while once green and fertile, has become desolate and corrupted due to a fracturing of the eponymous Crystal, which has created two different races: the Skeksis, who act as the tyrannical rulers of the planet, and the Mystics, who act in opposition to them. The main plot deals with a Gelfling named Jen who is tasked by the Mystics to retrieve the broken shard of the crystal and return it to the original source, thereby bringing balance and stability to their world. All the while, he’s brought into conflict with the Skeksis, who killed his parents in the past, and want to use the crystal for their own selfish desires.

Given Mike’s love for fantasy, I’m not surprised this is a favorite movie of his. However, I’m curious if the themes and story of that movie could have been used by the Duffer Brothers as inspiration for how they mapped out the Upside Down.

I remember having a theory back in season 3 that the Upside Down was once a prosperous world before the Mind Flayer showed up and turned it into its personal hellhole. While I still think that’s true to some extent, there’s also the question regarding why this dimension, which was depicted as a hellscape when Vecna arrived, and even before when the USS Eldridge was transported to it in 1943, suddenly replicated the exact image of Hawkins and the rest of Earth the night El opened the gate and Will disappeared: November 6th, 1983. This has been presented by season 4 and The First Shadow as an anomaly that hasn’t been explained yet, and could possibly have connections to Will’s disappearance.

In regards to how this ties back to The Dark Crystal, is it possible the Upside Down may have been “a green and fertile land” at one point, like the planet in said movie, before some catastrophic event happened that threw that world into chaos and desolation? Just like with the Skeksis, the Mind Flayer is taking advantage of the situation to impose its rule, but maybe that tyranny has been upset somehow by Will’s arrival, similar to how Jen’s quest in the movie threatens the Skeksis’s hold on power. There’s also how the Skeksis are responsible for the creation of the Garthim, which involved using the dark crystal to splice different species together and turning the resulting creatures into their personal attack dogs, as well as creating crystal bats which act as their spies in the sky. Likewise, it's possible that the Mind Flayer, through its own power, may have been responsible for twisting, or even creating, the inhabitants of the Upside Down to become Demogorgons, Demobats, and other hideous monsters that serve it.

The only difference I see has to do with how the main antagonists are dealt with:

In the movie, there’s an established connection between the Skeksis and the Mystics, where the death of one results in the death of the other they are connected to. Skeksis are essentially the worst aspects of their former counterparts, the urSkeks, in contrast to the Mystics which represent their positive aspects. They are one being split into two extreme animated personalities. As the movie reveals, the solution isn’t killing the Skeksis, but healing the crystal to allow the two parts to reunite.

In the show, they have not introduced a positive counterpart to the Mind Flayer (at least not yet), and since the Mind Flayer is interconnected with every part of the Upside Down (including Vecna), there’s a real chance its permanent destruction would result in the total annihilation of the Upside Down (similar to how Sauron’s downfall led to the destruction of Mordor in Lord of the Rings). While they could go this route in season 5, the names for the last two episodes (i.e. “The Bridge” and “The Rightside Up”) imply that dealing with the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down is more centered on fixing something that’s broken between the two worlds, similar to fixing the crystal in the movie, which could be the key to permanently defeating the Mind Flayer instead. Just like with Jen, that could be Will’s role in this story for season 5.

And to officially close out this review, this is what I ended up getting for my birthday! 🥰

[thaliagracesgf]

chapter two: the weirdo on maple street

an: chapter two!! i am flying with these first couple chapters just because i'm so excited about it. please please please do not expect this from future chapters, i am 100% bound to crash at some point. enjoy this chapter! it's pretty fun.

wc: 4.2k

general cws, not necessarily all in this chapter: drinking, alcoholism, drug abuse, smoking, cancer, hopper being kind of a deadbeat, usual canon violence.

masterlist (incl. series)

Your father didn’t get home until long after you had gone to bed, out with Will’s search party. You hadn’t bothered showing up at the meeting point. Hopper had said all he had to say back at the school, and you could see the argument that would ensue in front of half of Hawkins, so you drove home, building up an urge to do something and a nervous energy that nothing was quelling. 

The door slammed behind you as you got in. You stormed through the kitchen and the junkyard you called a living room before chucking your backpack at the floor and collapsing on your bed. You stared at the ceiling for an eternal few seconds until your limbs were jumping and your entire body itched, and you jumped to your feet to pace around the room. 

Slamming your way back through the house, you started pulling ingredients down from shelves with force that the box of sugar probably didn’t deserve. You think you blacked out for a few hours, because by the time your breathing was at a normal pace again, you’d baked six batches of muffins (a miraculous feat, considering the piece of shit kitchen you were working with),your calc homework for the next two weeks was done, and your bedroom looked like a tornado had run through it. 

But staring at the trays of muffins, you still had to do something. So you cleaned the house. Your father arrived home to muffins covering the counters, the entire trailer spotless, and you, absolutely crashed out in your bed with wet hair, holding your sister’s old teddy bear. You’d never had a more productive afternoon in your life.

You wake up feeling like your stomach is eating itself alive, and you realize that the one thing you forgot to do last night was eat dinner. You can’t fathom the thought of getting up, so you lay still for a few more minutes. You love your room, with your quilted bed, rugs overlapping on the floor over hardwood that would give you splinters, your bulletin board with pictures of your mom and Sarah, and your Dad. A picture Carol took of you, Steve, and Tina. A photo of Carol and Tommy, and a photo of Dustin, Lucas, and Erica from the first day of school that their moms gave you. You hold Cara a little bit tighter. 

You remember when the nurse gave her to your sister. You got one too, also named Cara. She handed them to you in your hospital beds, told you that she got them to remind you that they care-a-bout you. At four years old, you and Sarah thought it was the funniest thing in the world. 

You close your eyes tight, then force them open. You pull the blanket back, like a robot, and roll yourself upright, pulling the curtains open. Your trailer is pretty far from the rest of the park, but you can see Eddie Munson coming back from taking out the trash, and Mrs. Kim realizing that the storm last night meant all her clothes were still soaking wet. Her son left for college last year, and you’re getting a little worried about her ability to live on her own. 

You brush your teeth and tie your hair back before trudging your way out for breakfast, only to be met with the results of your frenzy from last night. The counter is still covered with muffins, minus the couple your Dad is actively chowing down on. 

“These are great,” he says, mouth full of food, raising a muffin in your direction. 

“Sale on pumpkins after Halloween,” you shrug. You pass him entering the kitchen, and pull out a container to start piling muffins into. 

“Hey!” He barks, in his very Jim Hopper way. “Where are you taking them?” 

“You do not need to eat six batches of muffins, Dad,” you say, continuing to box them up. He scoffs, offended. “I’m going to take some to school, and then to Steve’s tonight.” You really hope he just glosses over that last bit. 

Unfortunately, you hear him try to speak up, but there’s too much pumpkin muffin in his mouth to be at all intelligible. He sounds alarmed. For fuck’s sake. 

“Dad. I told you I had a thing tonight. I’m going, I’ve been planning on it for, like, a week.”

“Yeah, and I said you could go before a kid when missing, Y/N.” He’s raising his voice.

“I’m not stupid, Dad! I’m not going traipsing around town in the middle of the night! I’m going to Steve’s, for God’s sake.”   

“And I already don’t like that idea,” he says gruffly.

“Dad, we’ve been friends since we were six, you need to get over this. He literally has a girlfriend, anyway.” 

“And what about that Hagan kid?” he retorts. “I’ve had about six complaints about him in a month.” 

“Also has a girlfriend. I’m driving Tina, Dad, I can’t just bail.” 

“Well, she shouldn’t be going either!” he’s yelling. He’s always been this way with the idea that you might possibly, ever in your life, go on a date or hang out with boys. Naturally, you avoid this by never telling him, but he has got to get over this thing with Steve. It’s been nine years.

“For fuck’s sake,” you mutter. He ignores it. 

“Yeah, you’ll be thanking me when you don’t end up dead in a ditch,” he says angrily, grabbing his hat and jacket and storming out the door. 

“Well I guess we’ll never know, because I won’t have the opportunity!” you shout as it shuts behind him. Jesus Christ. You were really hoping you weren’t going to have to sneak out. 

It takes almost forty five minutes for you to pick out your outfit for the day. Fall is always when your fashion is at its best, and it comes at the cost of sifting through a gigantic collection of second-hand sweaters your mom sent you from the city every morning. Finally, you clasp your earrings, grab your muffin containers, and head out the door, keys in your mouth and backpack on one shoulder. You sigh in relief as you drop them in the passenger seat, before swinging around to the other side and starting up your car, which always takes a few minutes. 

You’re halfway to school when you have the idea to drop some at the Byers��� place. You certainly have enough. You pull a probably-illegal u-turn in the middle of the road, and head to the other side of town. 

As you pull into their driveway, you nearly slam your head on the wheel as you see the chief’s car, i.e. your dad’s car, in front of the house. Whatever. You’re just going to have to suck it up, as little as you want to see him again this morning. 

But as you walk up to the house, raised voices slow your approach. 

“No, it was him, it was Will,” Joyce’s distressed voice says. “And he was scared. And then something—”

“It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you,” your father interrupts, and your eyes go wide as you listen, standing on the porch. Is he serious?

“Who would do that?” Jonathan asks. Has he met the people who live in this town?

“Well, this thing’s been on the TV.” Hopper says. It has? You must have missed it in your cleaning coma last night. “It brings out all the crazies, you know. False leads, prank calls, uh…”

“No, Hopper, it was not a prank. It was him,” Joyce says, with a mixture of desperation and determination to convince your father.

“Joyce.” 

“Come on, how about a little trust here?” She shouts. “What, you think that I’m making this up?”

“I’m not saying that you’re making it up. All I’m saying is, it’s an emotional time for you.” He cannot be serious.

“And you think I don’t know my own son’s breathing? Wouldn’t you know your own daughter’s?” Oh. 

Oh.

That hits you like a bat to the chest. Because, no, you don’t know that he would. And you don’t know if she even means you. You know she knows about Sarah, the whole of Hawkins does. You’re too used to people acting like Sarah was your parents’ only daughter, that she was all they had before she died, and it’s infuriating. She wasn’t their only daughter. She was your only sister. 

The silence that follows is loud, and you decide you don’t want to hear any more. Knocking lightly, you push the door open and shuffle in. You don’t see your father around the corner, just Jonathan and Joyce standing together, Joyce with her face in her hands. 

“Um… hey,” you say, your voice small. “I brought… I brought you guys some muffins. Figured you might not have eaten… or something. I’ll just… leave them here.” 

You place them on the coffee table. Joyce is sniffling with her face covered, but Jonathan comes and meets you halfway. 

“I can… I can grab those.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Uh… no, thank you.” He takes the container and nods awkwardly. “I’ll… um, wash this and give it to your dad… or something.” 

“Yeah, no, take your time,” you don’t meet his eyes. 

“I’m sure he would,” he whispers, so your parents don’t hear. You give him a confused look. 

“Recognize… um…”

“Oh. Yeah. Thanks.” You’re desperate to get out of here. You give an awkward wave, and head back out the door, not addressing your father.

On the car ride to school, you can’t not think about Jonathan’s words. Why on earth would he say that? He doesn’t know you, or your Dad. You know he was trying to be nice, but what the hell does he know about Jim Hopper? It’s playing over and over through your head as you walk into school. Who the hell is Jonathan Byers?

But you’re reminded of your Dad’s fit this morning as you approach your friends. 

“Ugh. Problem tonight,” you drag. “My Dad is freaking out, and I can’t drive over anymore. Unless he knocks himself out early, which I would love to count on, but can’t promise.” 

Tommy dives into your muffins, making a gigantic mess that leaves you and Tina giving him a disgusted look.

“Oh, fuck,” Tina complains. I was so looking forward to it.” 

“We can pick you up,” Tommy says, gesturing between himself and Carol, “but I can’t promise you’ll have a ride back.” He smirks disgustingly. Disgusting really is the best word to describe Tommy Hagan in most situations. 

“Ugh. I’ll see if my sister can drive us,” Tina says as you share a worried look for yourselves. The last thing the both of you want is to be sitting downstairs while Tommy and Carol have sex for hours in Steve Harrington’s parents bed. 

There’s a moment of silence, interspersed only with the loud chewing of Tommy on a muffin. “Oh my god,” you say. “Why didn’t I think of this already? I’ll just stay at your place, T. I’ll bring my car and we can go. I’ll tell my Dad we were working on a project super late, and I’m “scared to drive home”.” 

“Oooooooooh,” Tommy and Carol wiggle their fingers. 

“Thank god,” Steve interrupts them, shoving Tommy from the back of the head and turning to you and Tina. “I cannot do this with just them.” 

“Scared, Stevie?” Tina teases him. 

“Yeah, Harrington’s losing his virginity tonight,” Tommy chortles. You’re so glad he makes himself laugh, you think. He really needs someone to acknowledge the things he says.

“Oh, shut up,” Steve scowls. “Your mom knows that was a while ago.”

Wow, Tina gives you a look. Our friends are so witty.

“Speak of the devil,” Carol says as Nancy and Barb head down the hallway, flashcards in hand. Steve jumps up from his spot on the benches where you make yourselves at home (which is conveniently located under the trophy case, which his name is all over). 

The rest of you follow him over, you and Tina giving each other looks as you go.

Steve snatches the flashcards out of Barb’s hands, and she trails off on her question about molecules. “Hey!” 

“I don’t know, I think you’ve studied enough, Nance.” 

“Steve—” she protests.

“I’m telling you, you know, you got this.” He ignores the annoyed look in her eyes. “Don’t worry. Now, on to more important matters.” He clasps the flashcards, drumming his fingers on them as he talks before pocketing them. “My dad has gone out of town for a conference, and my mom’s gone with him, ‘cause, you know, she doesn’t trust him.” 

You laugh as Tommy says, “Good call.” Steve’s Dad is the biggest douchebag you’ve ever met, and considering Tommy, that’s really saying something. Credit where credit’s due, even if it is the bare minimum, he’s never cheated on Carol. Steve almost laughs too as he looks over at him.

“So, are you in?” 

“In… for what?” Nancy looks genuinely lost. You would be too. Steve uses a lot of words to say very little. 

“No parents? Big house?” Carol looks at her expectantly. 

“A party?” 

“Ding ding ding.” Tina hits her, and you hit Tommy as he laughs at Nancy. 

“It’s… Tuesday.” 

“It’s Tuesday,” Tommy mocks. “Oh my god,” he and Carol are both laughing.

“Dude,” you roll your eyes, making eye contact with Tina. Such a dick, you mouth. 

“Come on,” Steve persists. “It’ll be low key, it’ll just be us. Are you in, or are you out?”

“Um…” Nancy’s thought is interrupted by Carol. 

“Oh God. Look.” You turn your head to where she’s staring. Jonathan. 

“Oh, God, that’s depressing.”

“Steve.” you glare at him. Cut it out. 

“Should we say something?” Nancy asks. You feel bad for him, but you are one hundred percent out after the disaster that was this morning. 

“I don’t think he speaks,” Carol smirks. 

“How much you wanna bet he killed him?” Tommy snickers. 

“Shut up,” Steve shoves his chest. Your eyes widen again, as if you cannot believe what you are hearing from him right now, but Tina’s laugh slips out, and you give her a pointed look. Obviously none of you are exactly great people, but you’ve never known your best friend to be cruel. Steve bites his lip as Nancy watches Jonathan, his eyes following her as she walks over to him. 

You don’t hear their interaction, but if you had to guess, it seems about as awkward as yours. Tommy gives him a wave as he looks over at you. 

The bell goes, and Nancy heads back over to you and your friends. Steve and Tina split for their art class, and you walk awkwardly beside Barb and Nancy as Tommy throws his arm over Carol’s shoulder. 

“Attention, faculty and students,” your principal comes over the PA system. “At eight p.m. tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family. All are encouraged to attend. Volunteer signups for search parties are available in the office.” 

You hear the door slam behind you as Jonathan heads back outside the building. 

“Where the hell are you, exactly?” Your dad is predictably furious when he answers the phone. 

“Tina’s,” you reply, exasperated. “We went to the thing at school for Will, and now we’re studying for chem.”

“Didn’t you just have a test today?” 

Fuck. How on earth does he manage to pay attention to the most inconvenient parts of your life? “Yeah, um. We’re working on a project. Doing some math homework too. I just… you know. Studying lumps it all together, didn’t think you wanted the details.”

You mime yourself losing your mind at Tina across her bedroom, who’s trying to hold her laughter in. Since kindergarten, she has found lying to Jim Hopper to be the funniest thing imaginable. For this reason, you’ve banished her to the opposite corner of the room until you hang up. You hope he can’t hear the wide smile in your voice. 

“Dad. Please, please chill. I’m just going to stay over here tonight, I don’t want to drive in the dark.” 

He looks across the trailer at the random woman that came home from the search with him, and decides that maybe it’s for the best that you aren’t here. “Fine. But you’re home by seven tomorrow night, no later.”

“Sounds great. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye, kid.” 

“Bye.” You drop the phone on the stand in relief. 

“Yes!” Tina shouts.

“Tina!” you shout back, laughing and dropping your voice to a whisper. “Your parents.” 

“You know they don’t care,” she grins.

“Ok, well, help me decide what to wear.” You pull out your two bikinis, although you know you want to wear the red one.

“Oh, come on,” Tina laughs at you. “First of all, it’s November—” 

“His pool is heated.”

“Oh, you’re so right.” She turns and starts digging through her closet. “Second of all,” she adds, her head deep in the monster of fabric that is her wardrobe, “don’t act like I don’t know exactly why you brought that one.”  

“Which one?” you ask, feigning innocence and not meeting her eyes. 

“The Phoebe Cates one?” 

“Shut up.” 

“Ha! I knew it.” 

“Come on, just because there are no hot single guys there doesn’t mean I don’t need male validation,” you smile at her. 

“You’re a terrible person,” she laughs at you.

“I know.” 

She pauses. “I’m totally bringing mine, too.” 

The drive over is full of trying to predict exactly how this night is going to go. 

“Okay. One hundred percent Tommy pushes Carol in the pool,” Tina says, doing mascara in the passenger seat. “Hey! Easy on the road, I’m doing eye makeup over here.”

“Take it up with the mayor, or something. Fucking potholes everywhere. But, yes obviously happening. We should get in ourselves before they get the chance. This sweater cannot get wet.” You’re wearing your orange striped zippered sweater under the massive Hawkins Police jacket you stole from your father. 

“You and your fucking sweaters,” Tina snorts. 

You pull in in front of Steve Harrington’s massive house, definitely not running over the grass. 

As you get out of the car, a shout comes from behind you. “When are you going to learn how to park?” Steve calls from his front door. You look back at your car, which is sitting diagonally half on his lawn and half on the gravel driveway. 

“Oh, shut up,” you narrow your eyes at him as you push past into the house. “Raise a Little Hell” by Trooper is playing on his fancy speakers. “Have you been standing here this entire time?” 

“No.”

“Yes!” Tommy calls from the back porch. “He has, it's completely and utterly lame.” 

“Wow! Big word there, Tommy!”

“Yeah, your mom taught it to me.” 

The doorbell rings, echoing through the house, and the speed at which Steve jumps up and runs to the front door has the four of you in the kitchen all snickering. 

“Hello, ladies,” you hear, and you turn your head to see him leaning on the door. You really have to try not to laugh at him. 

The scream actually hurts your ears. You and Tina are standing in the pool near the edge, gossiping and observing your friends until Tommy picks his girlfriend up and swings her over your heads. 

“Tommy!” you both shriek as Carol screams. 

“One!” He shouts, “Two! Three!” 

“Stop it Tommy! No! Don’t!” 

“You’re going to kill somebody!” You hit his ankles, and he finally puts her down as Steve comes back out from the house with his pocket knife. 

You watch as he shotguns it. That sweater really suits him. 

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Nancy smiles at him.

“Yes,” Tina laughs. 

“Definitely.” 

Steve puts his cigarette back between his lips. “You’re not?” 

“You are a cliché, you do realize that.” 

“You are a cliché,” he lights the cig. “What with your grades, and your band practice—” 

“I’m so not in band!” Nancy shakes her head.

“Okay, party girl. Why don’t you just, uh, show us how it’s done, then?” He tosses you and Tina drinks as well, and you grab your keys from the side of the pool, putting out your cig beside them. You see Barb roll her eyes, and Tina nudges you, smirking. 

“Don’t be so mean,” you whisper at her. 

“What? I don’t even get why she’s here.” Carol gives the two of you a look, like right? 

“You gotta make a little hole right in—”

“I got it,” Nancy brushes him off, and he raises his hands in surrender.

“Yeah, she’s smart, you douche,” Tommy chortles. He crushes his empty can against his head before tossing it at the ground. 

You push yourself up out of the pool to sit on the edge. Holy shit, it’s freezing. “Here, Nance, let’s do it together,” your teeth chatter. “Like right now, too, so I can get back in.” 

You cut the sides of your cans together and raise them to your lips. 

“Chug. Chug, chug,” Steve starts, and the others join. “Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug—” 

You drown them out as you finish your can before tossing it to the deck. Nancy’s done right after you, and she takes a bow. You laugh, meeting her eyes. You suddenly really hope that you can be really good friends with her. 

“Barb, you wanna try?”

The rest of you look about as surprised as Barb herself. “What? No. No, I don’t want to, thanks.”

“Come on,” Nancy pushes her.

“Yeah, come on, yeah!” 

“Nance, I don’t want too—” 

“It’s fun! Just give it a—” 

“Nance…” 

“Just…” she softens her voice. “Just give it a shot.” 

Barb takes the can and the knife from her, hesitantly standing up. She has an audience; Tommy and Carol look on, interested, and Nancy looks back at Steve to an apprehensive look as he raises his cig to his mouth. She struggles with the can for a second before it slips, and she cuts her hand. 

She gasps. “Gnarly,” Tommy laughs, and you hit his leg again. 

“Are you okay?” Nancy worries. 

“Yeah,” Barb shoots back, obviously annoyed. 

“Barb, you’re bleeding,” Nancy looks at her. Drops of blood hit the pool deck. 

“I’m fine,” she insists. “Where’s your bathroom?” She turns to Steve. 

“Oh! It’s… It’s uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.” 

“Okay, thanks.” 

“Do you want me to go with you?” You ask her, and she shakes her head without looking at you, walking back in the direction of the sliding glass doors. Nancy looks on, worried, as her best friend walks away and Steve points out the bathroom. Carol and Tommy are still laughing under their breath. 

Carol looks up at the sky, shaking her head and enjoying the moment as Barb goes inside. 

You see Tommy look her up and down, and before you have a chance to warn her he shoves her into the pool. She and Tina shriek as Tina ducks and Carol flies over her head. “Oh my god, what the hell, Tommy?” He drops his cig, grinning, and dives in after her. You jump back in with Tina, and begin to lose yourself in the splashing and screaming. Nancy laughs from the edge until Steve sneaks up behind her and pushes her in behind them, giving the most over the top jump in after her. Tommy and Carol kiss, you jump on Tina’s shoulders, and Steve grabs Nancy’s shoe and holds it away, teasing her. 

You’re so unbelievably happy, here with your friends. For the next hour, all your thoughts about Will and your father are totally out the window. 

“I’m freezing,” Carol shivers, wrapping herself in a towel in Steve’s living room. 

“Me too, holy shit,” you laugh and dry your hair. You and Tina are the only ones in swimsuits, and you’re looking at each other like thank god you brought them. The idea of trying to peel off soaking wet, cold clothes right now makes you shudder. 

“Hmm… well, I hear his mom’s room has a fireplace,” Tommy smirks. 

“Are you kidding?” Steve throws his hands up and you and Tina laugh. 

“Oh yeah?” Carol says, following him up the stairs. 

“Okay, well, you know, you are cleaning the sheets,” Steve calls after his friend and runs a hand through his hair. “You alright?” he turns to Nancy. 

“Yeah,” she smiles. 

“Yeah? Come on, let’s get you some dry clothes,” he leads her through the house. You and Tina pull on your clothes, finally something resembling not freezing, and grab your bags. 

You follow Nancy out to the front of the house, where she’s talking to Barb. 

“Nance!” her friend calls as she starts to head up the stairs. “Nancy. Where are you going?” 

“Nowhere! Just… upstairs.” Steve moves around her, back down to you and Tina. 

“Here, let me grab those for you.” He takes both of you out to your car while Nancy and Barb talk. You step outside, and you’re glad that for a second it’s just the three of you. You’re trying really, really hard to sort of back away from Steve, not do any of the things you’ve always done with him that might make her uncomfortable. But you think that a little bit, you might really miss him. 

As you fall asleep that night, next to Tina, you can’t keep him and that damn cigarette out of your head.

an: yay!!! chapter two!! i hope you enjoyed it. as always, any reblogs and other interactions are so highly appreciated, i love hearing what you think so so much whether in these comments or in my inbox! let me know if you would like to be added to this taglist <3

xoxo, thaliagracesgf

tags: @thisisourlovestory, @ladygrey03

[hawkinslibrary]

The Weirdo on Maple Street Soundtrack (1/2)

01. Bad Girls | Peter Howarth 02. Go Nowhere | Reagan Youth 03. Should I Stay or Should I Go | The Clash 04. Deck the Halls | Chicks With Hits 05. Jingle Bells | The Canterbury Choir 06. Dark Stars | Mark Glass 07. I'm Taking Off (Shield Your Eyes) | Space Knife

[roosterbox]

Episode two done.

Spoilers for a seven year old show under the cut

RIP Barb

Also I wanted more Steve. I got a bit more Steve. So thanks for that, show. LOL. He remains the queen of my heart. His friends are the worst though.

Jonathan continues to be a dear. And El is adorable, as is the developing friendship between her and the boys. Especially Mike.

Also: “he just wants to get in your pants.” “…no he doesn’t!”

Nancy, darling, I love Steve too, but my mans is a 16/17 year old boy. Of course he wants to get into your pants, lmaooo. But deep down, I think she knew that. Same with last episode, when he came over to ‘help her study.’ Lol okay sure Steve.

Continuing with episode 3 probably tomorrow.

[strangerficsx]

Chapter Two: The Weirdo On Maple Street

story: Midnight Rain wc: 3.9k steve invites jennifer to a party as she has to seriously bury her feelings and jealousy toward steve and nancy.

[a/n: all characters, plot, etc. are not mine. The only thing I own is my original character. credit to gif owner. italics are jennifer's thoughts]

{ November 7, 1983 }

As Jennifer and the boys get to Mike's house, they all are soaked from the rain including the little girl. She grab a towel from the dryer and begin drying her shoulder length hair. Jennifer overhears bickering, glancing at Lucas, Dustin and Mike trying to make out what each of them are saying.

"Is a number we can call for your parents?"

"Is there a number we can call for your parents?" The dark haired boy asked.

"Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?" Dustin asks.

"Did you run away?" Lucas pressed.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Is that blood?" Lucas reached out to touch the girl.

"Stop it!" Mike shouted, slapping Lucas' hand away. "You're freaking her out."

"She's freaking me out!"

"I bet you she's deaf!" Dustin suggests, clapping his hands loudly, startling the scared girl.

Jennifer stood near the basement stairs, hands places on her hips as she paces back and forth, trying to piece together this very strange puzzle. The wet clothes on Jennifer's back began irritating her, wringing out her wet shirt in the towel. With damp clothes and running on very little sleep, Jennifer decides to stop the boys from the crucial interrogation they are having.

"Hey, imbeciles." She retorts, earning a look of annoyance from the boys. "Stop treating her like she's some kind of imprisoned animal."

She rolls her eyes at the three boys.

"Alright! That's enough! Alright!" The dark haired kid shouted, glaring at the two other boys. "She's just scared. And cold."

He turned towards the washer and dryer to retrieve some clothes for her. He returns to the girl, looking her in the eyes. "Here. These are clean."

He handed the girl a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Taking them from the boy, she stood and began to undress as the boys started freaking out. Jennifer bolts toward the girl, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and blocking the tween boys from her sight. The scared girl cranes her neck to look up at her. Jennifer point towards the bathroom.

"That room is the bathroom. Privacy." Jennifer speaks, leading her towards the restroom. The girl and her exchange looks as she give the scared child a reassuring smile. The brunette begins to close the door, but the girl grabs it, panicked.

"Do you not want it shut?" Jennifer asked, confused as her brows furrowed.

"No," The scared girl spoke.

"Oh, so you can speak?" Mike questions ecstatically.

The older Henderson smiled once again, this time annoyed but concealed it.

"Alright, that's fine. I'll be right outside."

The girl nodded as Jennifer turn to face the boys as they began to bicker once more.

"She tried to get naked!" Dustin cried.

"There's something seriously wrong with her. Like wrong in the head!" Lucas shouts.

"Hey, knuckleheads! Keep it down. The door is not fully closed, remember?"

She continues to stand watch as the girl changed, and as the boys continued on with the endless quarrelling.

"Alright, so here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight-" Mike began.

"You're letting a girl-"

"Just listen. In the morning she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and ring my doorbell. My mom will answer and know just what to do. She'll send her back to Penhurst or wherever she came from." Mike looked around for confirmation.

Mike was met with two small nods as he looks over at Jennifer. She rolls her eyes, annoyed but gives in. She nods.

"We'll be totally in the clear, and tomorrow night we go back out. And this time, we find Will."

"Wait. You three can't be serious right now. Do not go back out there. It's not safe. If you step foot out there, I'll tell your mom's. And that means the three of you will be grounded for god knows how long. It'll be alcatraz pretty much. If one you shitheads die, I'm getting the blame. And trust me, I don't want to get in trouble because of you all."

"But-"

"No buts, Wheeler." Jennifer states. "I won't let that happen."

Mike nods along with Dustin and Lucas. Jennifer felt good, confident in fact. But deep down she knew they would later sneak out once again. A minute later, the girl was finished in the washroom. Dustin and Lucas took that to leave. Jennifer asks the raven haired child if it was okay to help build a makeshift bed for the night. Mike allowed it, letting her look around for any extra blankets as she listens in on Mike's conversation.

"Hey, um, I never asked your name." He offered a small smile.

The girl looked at him as she watched from afar, seeing the girl pull up her left sleeve. Jennifer then moves and stood above Mike. He began to grab her wrist but she pulled back quickly.

"Is that real?" He asked with amazement. "Sorry, I've never seen a kid with a tattoo before."

"What-- Eleven? Is that your name? Eleven?" Jennifer peered over Mike.

The girl looked up and pointed at herself, nodding.

"Eleven? Okay. My name is Jennifer." She stuck your hand over Mike's shoulder to shake Eleven's hand, smiling softly. She cautiously placed her hand in Jennifer's palm, squeezing and then letting go.

It was a start.

"My name is Mike. Short for Micheal. Maybe we can call you El. Short for Eleven!" He turned to look up at the older female. Jennifer glances at him, nodding in support which prompted El to nod back.

"Well, I should get going. Good luck, you two." She jokes, winking.

Jennifer moves toward the back door, pulling on her damp coat along with her shoes.

"Goodnight, El." Jennifer smiled at Eleven, and she smiles back.

The older female exits through the basement door, walking toward the sidewalk, striding down the concrete late into the night. She makes it to her house, stepping into the entrance as Jennifer is greeted with silence.

Once inside, Jennifer hurriedly throws her hoodie off before walking into the laundry room and toss it inside along with her wet shoes. She sees a shadow at the corner of her eye, startling before quickly starting the dryer. Following the figure, Jennifer steps into the living room before flipping a light switch on. It's Dustin as his presence causes Jennifer to scare easily.

"Jesus christ. You scared the crap out of me." Jennifer swears.

"Sorry, I came to grab something to eat."

"Okay, well, goodnight. Love you, Dusty."

"Love you too,"

Jennifer sluggishly steps towards her dimly lit room, closing the door behind her. She undresses, tossing her wet clothes a white hamper that sits in the corner of her room. Tossing an oversized sports shirt on, slipping into bed as the exhaustion takes over her body, falling asleep almost immediately.

——

{ November 8, 1983 }

The next morning, Jennifer awakens as she stares in the distance for a few seconds, listening into the living room at the television. Nothing new regarding Will Byers. She felt remorse for his parents, wanting to help in any way or form, but needs to stay away so she doesn't go missing herself. Getting dressed, Jennifer pulls her shoes on before rushing out of the house, shutting the door behind her as Claudia and Dustin stare in shock. 

"She's probably in a hurry to her boyfriend," 

"Dusty, stop that. she just doesn't want to be late." 

——

When Jennifer arrives at school, she walks down the hallway and over to her locker as she overhears Steve talking to his friends. Other than glimpsing at Tommy and Carol, Jennifer sees Barbara Holland —former friend and classmate. She wears big square glasses and has red coiled hair and is also holding books. Nancy stands there too. And Steve, he looks over in her direction as Jennifer goes back to her locker acting as if you didn't hear or see anything. 

"Hey, Jen." He says, catching her attention and realizing the name the nickname he called her.  

He smirks, resting his hands on his hips. You close your locker and trudge over to the small group, smiling.

"We were just talking about throwing a small party at my house tonight."

"Okay,"

You pretty much ignore Nancy the entire time. Block out the people that bring you down. You manage to stare in Steve's direction multiple times as he does the same, trying not to be obvious. You could tell Nancy was getting frustrated.

"Anyway, my Dad has left on a conference and my Mom's gone with him, 'cause you know, she doesn't trust him." Steve explains. "You in?"

Jennifer stays quiet, unsure if she should agree to going tonight or stay home and rent a few cheesy romance movies and watch them in her room alone.

"No parents? Big house?"

"A party?" Nancy asks, trying to make the conversation less awkward. 

"Ding, ding, ding!" Carol smiles. 

Tommy laughs as Jennifer rolls her eyes. Nancy asks why its being held on a Tuesday night while Tommy and Carol mock and laugh at her, causing Nancy to look away as she stares at the other girl, almost feeling bad for her.

"It'll be low key. It'll be just us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?"

"Um..." Nancy thinks.

"Sure, I'll join." Jennifer says. "And, I'm sure Nancy would like to join too, right, Nancy?"

"I— uh, uh, yeah." She smiles.

Barbara disapproves, annoyed.

"Uh, Steve, if it's okay, can I bring a plus one?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll see if she's available."

They exchange a smile before she looks away, feeling her face heat up.

"Oh, God. Look."

Jennifer, Nancy, Barbara, Steve and his friends — Tommy and Carol — stand there, watching as a tall, lanky male pins up a poster of a missing Will Byers. Instantly, she knew Jonathan was hurting inside and it broke her heart, not wanting anything bad to happen to Dustin. Jennifer couldn't imagine what Jonathan and his family are going through at the moment. She wanted to help, but deep down she didn't know how.

"Oh, God, that's depressing." Steve comments.

"Should we say something?" Jennifer asks.

"I don't think he speaks."

"How much you want to bet he killed him?" Tommy suggests.

"Shut up," Steve nudges Tommy.

Jennifer hangs back, standing next to Steve as she watches as Nancy walks toward the male, having a small conversation with him. She stood there, looking at them both. Suddenly the school bell rings, causing Nancy to snap out of it and tell him she has to go. Jonathan thanks her before fixing the poster as she sighs. The principal begins to speak on the PA about a vigil being held at the high school later for Will Byers. Jennifer waves Steve goodbye before heading to her english class, walking in and taking a seat behind Nancy. Even her perfect hair bugged Jennifer for an unknown reason.

——

Later that night when Jennifer got home from school, she quickly changed into another outfit, but put on a hoodie to be more appropriate for dinner with the Wheeler's. Before leaving the house, she quickly makes a phone call to Phoebe to see if she wants to join in since she wasn't at school today. Jennifer rests the telephone against her ear.

"Hello?"

"Phoebe, hey. It's Jennifer. I was, uh, wondering if you'd like to join me at Steve's for a little get together tonight."

"I would love to, but I work late tonight at the arcade."

"It's okay. I get it. Wish me luck, Pheebs."

"Good luck. and remember, forget about Nancy. Who cares if they are dating. You are attending the party for yourself. Now, I gotta go."

"Bye."

Jennifer hangs up her phone before leaving the house. Nancy invited Jennifer over and everyone sat at the dining room table. The kids barely touched their food along with Jennifer as she blankly stares at her full plate.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" Karen questioned.

"Ah, no. I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch... I don't know why." Dustin grinned at her, earning a smile back.

Karen looked at Lucas. "Me too," He said.

"Thank you, Mom." Nancy compliments, reaching out to squeeze her mom's hand. 

"Thank you, sweetie." She takes a sip of her wine.

"Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler for the meatloaf. But I just can't get myself to eat due to the depressed feeling I have for Will Byers going missing."

"It's okay, I understand."

"But, I'll take it home in case I do get hungry."

"Alrighty," Karen smiles.

"So," Nancy begins. "There's this special assembly thing tonight for Will at the school field. Barb's driving."

"Why am I just hearing about this?" She asks.

"I thought you knew." Nancy furrowed her brows as Jennifer did the opposite, unsure of what to do next. "It'd be super weird if I wasn't there." She mentioned.

"What about you, Jennifer. Are you going?"

"Oh, yeah. I am to support Nancy and the community in this troubling time." Jennifer smiles small.

Karen nodded. "Just be back by ten."

Nancy grinned widely, looking at Jennifer. She smiled back.

"Why don't you take the boys too?" Karen suggests.

Behind Nancy's mother, Eleven tiptoed down the steps. Everyone's eyes become widened, Mike choked on his drink and Lucas dropped his fork. A chorus of no's sounded. Dustin smashed his fist on the table, redirecting everyone's attention as he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, spasm."

Jennifer glares Dustin as he grins innocently before she goes back to moving the fork and pushing the food slightly back and forth. She look over at the boys as the three kids share nervous glances, looking nervously at each other. Holly, who sits in her high chair, shrinks into her chair, whimpering. Mrs. Wheeler leaned over to her.

"It's okay, Holly. It's just a loud noise."

"Nice," Nancy whispered, glaring at Dustin.

After dinner, Nancy walks out of the house as Jennifer trails behind her, leaving as the boys went down to the basement to see Eleven.

Nancy gets in Barbs car as Jennifer slides into the backseat. They head to Steve's house and parks. Nancy changes her shirt to something a bit more 'sexy' as Jennifer looks down at your top, cleavage almost prominent. The girls made their way to the back, watching everyone and earning some glances from Steve, Carol and Tommy.

Barb stood, staring from the tree line unimpressed. Steve was on one of the pool chairs leisurely sipping on a beer, Tommy and Carol hung on each other. Jennifer takes a seat on the pool chair opposite of Steve, not knowing where else to sit. He doesn't seemed bothered by it as he looks over, offering a cigarette. Steve handed her a cigarette as he chuckles, shaking his head as he slipped a cigarette in between his lips before lighting it. Jennifer lit the cigarette, moving away as she blows out the smoke. 

"God, I miss this." 

"Miss what?"

"Me and Phoebe hanging out on her back porch smoking. Of course, weed too."

"Did you now?" Steve asks, interested. 

"Yeah," Jennifer starts. "She had a little place -- a treehouse where we would go to have privacy; too drink, smoke, or... have sex. Of course, we did that with people, and got caught one or twice. But that changed when my parents told me that Billie and her parents moved away."

"Damn, that's too bad." 

"Yeah, I know. Tell me about it."

Steve leans over her, reaching out for the beer cans sitting on the small table as they get really close. Their faces are inches away from each other, he pulls back as he holds the beer can in his hand.

"Maybe later we can go to my room," He says softly, smirking. 

Did he say what I think he said? Does he want me over Nancy? Ok, okay. Play it cool, Jennifer. 

Steve grabs the beer and gets Nancy's attention, tossing it her way as she catches it. Jennifer, on the other hand, notices Barb and waves her hand, smiling as Barb does the same. But you knew that she was unimpressed. 

"Hey, we should let Jennifer try it when she's done. Let's see what the other one can do." Suggests Tommy.

"Sure, I'm down to try it." Jennifer replies, asking Steve to hold her cigarette as she rises, walking over to Nancy.

Nancy finishes the can, dropping it as the beer makes contact with the cement. She curtsies then hands another can of beer to her along with the pocket knife.

Jennifer's done this before, learning from Phoebe at a college party they snuck into at one point last year. She slits metal open, putting her mouth to it and beginning to drink it, opening the can above. Chugging, Jennifer overhears everyone cheer including Steve as that encourages her to keep drinking until the can is empty, dropping it to the ground, raising her hands and smiling brightly. They continue cheering as Jennifer bows then heads back to the chair and sitting down, sighing happily. She grabs another can, sipping on it.

Soon, Nancy offers Barbara to try it as she agrees, grabbing the knife and beer can from her friends hand and holds it. Her hands tremble as she tries to cut the metal can open, once she almost gets it, the pocket knife slips from the can and slices the skin on her hand open. Tommy chuckles as Nancy begins to worry. Jennifer sits and watches from afar, furrowing her brows and wonders if she should do something to help, taking long sips of the beer.

"Gnarly." Tommy compliments.

"Are you okay?" Nancy asks Barb, rushing to her side.

"Yeah," She responds.

"Barb, you're bleeding." Jennifer adds.

Barb turns to Steve. "I'm fine, Nancy. Where's your bathroom?"

"Oh, it's... it's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left." Steve directs her as Jennifer rises.

"I'm okay, thank you. I'm fine, I can do this myself."

As she leaves the backyard, Carol chuckles as Nancy stands there worried. The red head turns towards the pool, looking up at the sky as Tommy stands behind her, blowing out smoke from his cigarette. He pushes her into the cold water at the same time as Nancy walks towards the water, laughing a little.

"Oh, my, God! What the hell, Tommy?" He jumps in.

Steve moves closer to Jennifer and Nancy, slightly pushing them both as she shrieks, falling in as well as he cheers jumping in after the two females. They all laugh, having a good time together, enjoying the fun and being with each other. Once inside after the fun in the pool, everyone has a towel wrapped around as Jennifer shivers from her cold, wet clothes. Tommy does the same.

"I'm freezing," Carol says.

"Hmm... well, I hear his mom's room has a fireplace." He flirts.

Nancy looks over at them as the brunette do the same. Steve becomes annoyed. "Are you kidding?"

"Oh, yeah?" Carol asks, following Tommy upstairs.

"Okay, well, you know, you are cleaning the sheets." He curses, pulling up his sleeves and walking towards Nancy. "You all right?"

"Yeah,"

"Yeah? Come on, let's get you some dry clothes." He says, heading up the stairs.

Jennifer, who is wrapped in a striped towel, stays behind as she watches Nancy follow after him, making her way up the stairs. Nancy gets stopped by Barbara.

"Nance!" She calls out. "Nancy."

Nancy stops on the stairs as well as Steve. Jennifer and Steve stood there, watching what's happening.

"Where are you going?" Barbara asks.

"Nowhere. Just... upstairs. To change. I...fell in the pool." She chuckles, smiling.

Barb looks at her annoyed. Nancy stops, and becomes serious. "Why don't you go ahead and go home. Take Jennifer with you. I'm sure she'll need a ride. I'll just... I'll get a ride from Steve."

"Nance..."

"Barb... I'm fine." She raises her brows. 

"This isn't you."

"I'm fine. Just... go ahead and go home, okay?" She says, heading up the rest of the stairs. They stand there as Barbara scoffs.

Jennifer watches as Nancy follows Steve into his bedroom, closing the door behind them. She felt something inside her burn thinking about Nancy and Steve being alone in a room together. Since there was nothing really else to do in Steve's house, and Jennifer's crush went to probably have sex with Nancy, she decided to grab her coat from the coat rack, stepping out of the house.

She steps out onto the back porch, seeing beer cans scattered and a few drops of blood from redhead's hand. Jennifer cocks her head up, seeing Barbara sitting on the diving board, looking glum. Beginning to take a step closer to her, around Jennifer, the lights flicker before shutting off completely. Darkness surrounds her as Barbara's shrieks echo in the backyard as she looks around, wondering what happened. She loses her footing and trips, falling onto the hard metal grate sitting around the yellow-green grass as she winces in pain.

Getting her balance, Jennifer rises and feels something wet. A burning sensation is felt as well. After a couple seconds, the lights come back and Barbara is nowhere to be found.

"What the..."

Jennifer clutches her hoodie close to her body before quickly exiting the backyard.

——

Once Jennifer arrives at her dark and empty home, she removes her jacket and shoes before looking at her bloodsoaked sleeve. Tears prick at her eyes while she makes way toward the bathroom, not noticing Phoebe. Jennifer pulls off her bloody shirt and hear a light knock. The blonde female enters, seeing her best friend as she holds a first aid kit.

"Hey, thought you needed some help. I saw blood."

"Phoebe? I thought you worked late."

"Shift ended early, but came by your house to see if you were home uet. Your mom, Claudia, let me in before she headed off to bed. So, I waited in your room."

"Okay,"

She looks at Jennifer's arm, setting the first aid kit down and pulling out cloth. Phoebe presses it against her wound as the brunette winces in pain. She apologizes but continues helping. Pulling it away, she washes her cut then wraps gauze around Jennifer's arm, throwing the contaminated contents into the trash can.

"You were with Nancy at the party, right?"

"Yeah. Wished you could've been there. I had two beers, but I... I had fun."

"From the glum look on your face and the open wound on your arm, I think not."

"Okay. I didn't." Jennifer confesses.

"I knew it. I just wanted you to admit it. So, what happened?"

"Well, besides drinking those two cans of beer, and getting pushed into a pull by Steve before having a moment together, Steve took Nancy Wheeler up to his room, and I felt sad about it because it wasn't me in there."

"I don't get what you see in him,"

"I like him because he's funny, cute, and caring."

"Steve's an asshole."

"So are you sometimes. But he's nice to me... and Nancy."

"That's because you both are easy targets."

"Phoebe,"

"I'm serious, Jennifer. You are."

"I... I guess you're right. But who knows, Steve could change. Give it time."

Jennifer rises, exiting the bathroom, leaving Phoebe alone as she walks into her bedroom holding her bloody shirt. Phoebe joins Jennifer as she gets comfortable in the brunettes bed. She drops the bloody shirt in the trash bin by her dresser.Jennifer throws off the rest of her clothes, sliding into clean sleep clothes before sliding into her bed. She covers herself up and eventually falls asleep.

[duranduratulsa]

Now showing on my Spooktober Filmfest... Stranger Things: The Weirdo On Maple Street on Netflix (2016) #tv #television #horror #scifi #strangerthings #theweirdoonmaplestreet #finnwolfhard #noahschnapp #gatenmatarazzo #joekeery #DavidHarbour #nataliadyer #winonaryder #milliebobbybrown #calebmclaughlin #charlieheaton #carabuono #matthewmodine #Netflix #spooktober #halloween #october

[spooky-things-au]

Chapter 3 out of 6! Woo hoo! :D

Also, something sweet for this chapter, because El finally gets his official Skid nickname!

(Chapter is undercut)

Spooky Things

Season 1. Beginning

Episode 2. The Weirdo on Maple Street

Chapter 3. All you need

"Thank you for joining, Gary" John said, shaking hands with the man.

He just arrived to the searching team once more after visiting Jaune. First, to check if there something happened after he left... and other, to warn others he'd be leaving to check Jaune's father.

He was surprised that he ran into Gary, given how busy him and his wife were to provide for their family. But, he supposed, two more sets of eyes to help them.

"Hey, it's the least, I can do. Jaune and I are friends too." The man spoke up, frowning. "...not to mention how happy her son makes my Susie..."

"Right..." John said.

Neither of them spoke further. When they reached for other policemen, Gary walked ahead, officially joining the search party. John stood by his co-workers, who stood on top of the hill.

There were few trees, but they were in a clearing... it was some differece from the the forest picture, they gotten used to overnight. The party seemed to be bigger too, now that more people were out with them during the day. Some people even brought out their dogs today too. But the endless shouting of Ross' name still rang from all sides of him.

"Hey, you're back, Sherif" Sophie said, looking at him with a smile, her trusty shotgun in hand.

"Anything?" Connor ased with raised his glasses to face John.

"No." John sighed out. "Nothing, but a dead phone." 

"And Jaune?" Sophie asked once more.

"On edge of losing it..." John said.

"Well, she's always been a bit out of it, hm?" Connor said, smirking to the other man.

"Her kid's missing, Connor. Show a little respect." Jack lit up yet another cigarette, before taking a deep breath and looked between other three officers. "I leave Jack in charge, I need to check one place. Will be back in a few."

With a short farewell, John disappeared into his car. The rest of cops watched him drive off, as Jack watched them, before clapping his hands.

"Alright." He started. "Come on, let's go! We got a lot of ground to cover!"

Jack left to join the party. Sophie and Connor stayed on top of the hill for a bit more. Just before Sophie was able to go back to searching, Connor cleared his throat

"Shotgun, what do you think... Sheriff and her..." Connor started. "...they've screwed before, huh?"

Sophie looked back at Connor with unimpressed face. The 'Are you serious right now?' fron her seemed to be so loud, that anyone could hear it, even if she said nothing. They stared at one another for another second, before Sophie turned to the forest, screaming out a loud "Ross!" into the distance.

Connor stood there astonished for a second, throwing his heads, not understanding what he said wrong.

"Alright. On scale from 'Exorcist' to 'Leprechaun', how would you describe your fear intake..?"

Kevin and Ethan were at the local school, where Kevin dropped the kids off. He wasn't going to be needed for another few hours, so it could be a chance to fool around, maybe get to store to get a second flashlight, so him and his mother could both join the search party tonight. But in meanwhile, it could also be a chance to do some dumb internet tests with a friend.

"Nightmare on Elm Street"

The other man typed in the answer, before a small 'ding!' was heard from his device. When a new question loaded, Ethan laughed.

"Oooh, that's a good one!" He chuckled, getting attention from Kevin, who looked in with a curious smirk.

But before Eathan could read the question out, they heard a voice. "Hey, do you think I could go next?" They both heard a voice from behind, making them both jump.

Kevin turned around, frowning, but then slightly relaxed upon seeing the familiar blonde man behind them.

"Radford..." Kevin breathed out, catching onto his chest, as Ethan growled.

"Don't creep onto people like that, man!" The other man yelled.

Radford then looked between the two, before his smile faded.

"Oh... I scared you? Sorry, guys..." He sighed out, before smile returned to his face. "Now, why I came looking for you..." He pulled out a brochure. "My boss called me to get something in nearby the next town, should take until tomorrow to get back..." He said. "Rick was supposed to join me, but he dropped out. So..." He then looked at Kevin. "So are you in?"

The other two shared a look.

"In for what?" Kevin asked. "A road trip or something?"

"Well, not my idea..." Radford chuckled, as two other people came out.

"Leon?" Ethan's eyes widened when he saw the two. "Liv?"

"There two dorks talked me into this..." Radford laughed lightly. "It'll be like a low key party." He said, before putting hand around Kevin's shoulders. "So, what do you say? A small trip to unwind from recent events. We'll stay in a good place, with a pool, there's free ice and then, before going back home, we'll get breakfast at best diner in the world!"

Kevin laughed softly at how Radford painted it. He knew it wouldn't be so amazing, and yet... this trip could be fun! He looked back at Ethan, who was still scowling at the sight, but turned away when he saw Kevin watching.

Kevin's uplifted mood seemed to fade upon seeing his friend like this.

"Um-" He started, but Liv stopped him first.

"Oh, look..." She whispered, showing across the street.

They all looked at two incoming people, a man of their age and a brunette man, probably ten years older than themselves. They both were holding a pack of papers each. They all knew the younger man, but Kevin and Radford recognized the older one quicker than the rest. Aaron Lynn, father of the missing Ross kid.

The younger man, walked inside the school, before leaving few minutes later. Aaron, meanwhile, was sticking the paper sheet to a lamp post outside. They knew what those were. The missing posters.

"God, that's depressing..." Liv whispered, watching the two. "This is why I don't want kids. Little shits just ruin everything."

"How much you want to bet he killed him and now just pretends to save a face?" Leon asked, smirking, but got a hit from Radford.

"Shut up!" The blonde frowned. "That's my brother's friend you're talking about."

Meanwhile, Kevin went to approach the two, waving slightly.

"Hey..." He said softly. "Mr. Lynn... I just... I wanted to say..." Kevin sighed out. "I'm sorry about everything. Everyone's thinking about your family..."

Aaron looked up, not saying a word, nodding, muttering something that sounded like a quiet "Thank you". He then looked away, leaving without saying a word. Kevin was left with the younger man. Their eyes met again. They met before.

The man's name was Streber, he remembered. Ethan and him worked on the Haunted House attraction this year. They met a few times in past and he seemed to be like a nice guy. Streber always seemed to be optimistic and passionate about things... but now, he was silent, looking at the poster in his hand.

Kevin sighed, before offeting him a smile.

"Yeah, I know him..." He said softly, before looking up. "I'm sure he's fine... He's a smart kid."

Streber looked between the photo on paper and Kevin, before smiling lightly.

"I hope so..." He said. "Well, I think I'll go now... these aren't going to hang themselves!" He chuckled lightly.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah... Good luck."

"Thanks..."

And so, the two separated.

Chatter rang through the halls of school, as Susie looked over all over the space and all the kids around them. Not to find her next class, she was sharing this one with Robert... but she was trying to spot her brother. But still, Will was nowhere to be seen.

"This is weird..." She said, sitting on her desk, next to Robert. "He's never away from me on breaks..."

"You sure he came in this morning?" Thr blonde asked.

"Yes!" Susie looked at him. "He was sitting in the car with me! I saw him walking in!" She then looked away, frowning. "At least, I think I saw him walking in..." She then thought of something. "God, what if Dad found out about the kid!?"

"Wait, your plan didn't work!?" Robert asked, his eyes widened.

"He... he said he wanted it to be done when we weren't there..." Susie looked at Robert, her eyes widening. "You think our parents figured it out he slept in that fort in Will's room?"

"I don't know..." Robert whispered. "God, if your parents learn what we did..."

"No." Susie shook her head. "Will might be a lot of things, but he's not one to rat others out, if anything, I'd say he took it upon himself..." She sighed. "But either way... after school, the freak will be back in the looney bin... and we can focus on what really matters..."

She looked up, sharing the look of determination with Robert.

"Finding Ross." He whispered.

El was still sitting in the fort, fidgeting with pair of cookies Will left him. One was shaped like a weird head, he had seen in some books back at The House... and other was the same as the toy, Will let him borrow.

When he heard noise from outside... and then a sound of something falling on the ground. El felt fear raising in him when it turned to footsteps... to the fort, he was sitting in...

But then the protecting cloth was pulled over to reveal Will on the other side.

"Hey, I'm back!" Will smiled. "Sorry, it took longer than expected... needed to make sure Mom wouldn't see me..." he then sat next to El. "You still haven't finished the cookies?"

El looked away, before pointing to the toy and the orange cookie.

"Ooo!" Will smiled. "You liked Jack?" He asked, making El raise an eyebrow. "Jack-o-lantern? The pumpkin?"

El tilted his head once more, looking at the toy. Will frowned lightly.

"You... know about Halloween?" He asked.

El looked at him, before frowning. "'Halloween'?" He asked softly, as if trying to repeat the word.

Will's eyes widened. "You... don't know?"

El shook his head. "What is... 'Halloween?" He asked quietly.

Will laughed lightly, sitting next to El. "Oh, where do I even begin..? It's the best day of the entire year! It's when you dress up in all the spooky stuff, do scary things, like watching scary movies, play trick-or-treat, get candy and... all other stuff!" Will jumped, throwing his hands up. "We love Halloween in this town! Actually, the whole month of October is time we celebrate Halloween! Or rather, as we call it, the Spooky Month! We even have the special dance for it! Wait! Let me show you!"

Will then got out of the fort, standing infront of El, as he took a breath, letting out a small giggle. Next second, he shouted a loud "It is the Spooky Month!". El's eyes widened at the scream, but next moment, Will started to slightly crouching and standing up over and over, as if he was jumping, while also making swinging his hands left and right every time. While doing that, he was smiling widely, that couldn't make El not to smile.

The other boy let out a giggle, climbing out of the fort, to join Will into the silly dancing. As simple as it was... it looked like fun! And, to be fair... it was! The two kids then fell down onto the floor in fit of giggles over the action.

"Come on!" Will eventually said, sitting up putting hand out for El to grab on. "I have so much stuff, I can show you!"

This time, El didn't hesitate. This 'Halloween' thing seemed to be fun! So far, everything, Will showed him, was fun and good!

The two kids grabbed hands, before Will dragged El out of his room, showing him onto the walls of his house. El did see them last night, but he didn't get a good look at them. On them, there were a man and woman, as well as Susie and, he guessed, Will! They were all dressed in different outfits on each of them.

Will then handed him one of them.

"It's our most recent ones!" He said.

Will was dressed in black with the orange thing on his head (Jack-o-lantern, Will called them?). Susie was dressed in red, even her face was that color! On her head where some weird pointy things (also red!). The man was also dressed in black, he had something like a mask on his face resembling a cat face, cat ears were also on his head. And the woman had her skin painted green and dressed in purple and black, a long pointy had on her head, she also had a stick in her hand.

El examined it, before looking over the woman, tilting his head. "Pretty..." He traced her with his finger.

"Yeah!" Will nodded. "That's my mom!" He smiled, pointing to the woman, before going to the man. "And that's my dad." He explained. "We had a themed outfits this year. Dad was a cat, Mom was a witch, Susie was a demon and I was a pumpkin!"

El's eyebrow raised.

"Pumpkin?" He asked. He called those differently previously...

"Yeah." Will nodded. "Pumpkins are one of symbols of Halloween, with fall being their time and how people carve them into all kinds of stuff! Most popular of them are Jack-o-lanterns, like one you're holding!"

'Oh' El thought 'That explained this...'

"And you know, it's more of a... coin-ci-dence..." He said slowly, trying to remember how the word spelt. "But you wear a skeleton onesie. It's second symbol of Halloween, along side pumpkins."

El looked at Will, before over himself, smiling lightly. It was funny.

"Honestly... with your shaved hair... you do kinda look like a skeleton..." Will thought of it, when an idea came into his head. "Maybe we can get your nickname from it? I mean... unless you do like El..."

The boy looked over at Will, before thinking over it. He was never called anything, but Eleven... so that could je weird... He did like that skeleton onesie... and Will... he was so... nice to him. Way nicer than anyone ever were to him... (well, expect for Vivana and Tom). He thought of it and nodded. He could go go for that "nickname" thing. Will smiled.

"Well... 'Skeleton'... I mean, Skel could be an idea... but it's kinda weird..." He thought. "Skeleton boy? A bit mouthful..." Will say down, starting to think it over. "Skeleton... kid?"

El sat next to Will, listening to his rumblings, trying to combine the words after Will spoke them. Skeleton, boy, kid. It was kind of tricky with how word was... El was mumbling to himself, separating words onto letters and syllables.

"S... boy... Sk... oy... " El continued to mumble to himself, Will stopped to listen to him, smiling, before something caught his ear.

"Wait, repeat that one again?" Will reached his hand over to El, who looked at him in small confusion... but then replied back.

"Sk... kid..." He said once more, confused.

"Yes! If you take 'S' or 'Sk' from skeleton, and then put it to 'kid'!" He said, his eyes wide just like his smile. "Skid."

El's eyes widened as well, before he looked down. Skid. This was short. Way shorter than Eleven... but something in it... felt nice. It felt better to say rather than Eleven. With a small smile, he decided he liked it.

"Skid..." The boy whispered softly, getting a smile from Will.

"Well, I think it'll be that for now!" Will said, putting a hand in similar way to what Tom did to him yesterday. "Nice to meet you, Skid."

Eleven... no. Skid smiled to the other boy reaching out to shake hands with him.

Aaron was sitting in his car, music blasting through the small space as he drove. He had lone since passed the "You're leaving Frightville" sign. Yes, he was driving out of town. To visit Oscar.

God, how long it's been since he last thought of that man? Honestly... too long. He hasn't thought of him since he knew him and Jaune were expecting. God, it's been quite awhile, huh..? He still could remember that day...

He was getting to know Lila. He thought  Jaune mentioned that her and Lila were friends since the two of were little kids... so he should get to know her better, if he was going to be with Jaune.

She was sitting next to him, listening to some music he had. No, there were no other intentions of other than getting to know her. He loved Jaune. He wasn't going to break her heart in going after her best friend.

Lila was a pretty young woman, sure, but she was more closed and Aaron respected it. He wasn't going to push her boundaries... and, who knows? Maybe they could be friends as well!

"You like it?" He asked, smiling to the girl, who looked up, nodding to him with a smile.

"Yeah, it's cool!" She smiled. "My father would constantly listen to these, when I was little... so that takes me back."

Aaron smiled at it. "I can give you a copy of these, if you want!"

"Really?" Lila looked at him, her eyes widened.

The man chuckled. "All the best stuff is here." He said, handing her a disk. "Aa you know... music can change one's life."

Lila smiled to him, but before she was able to take an offered disk, there was a knock on the door. The two looked at one another, before Aaron went to open... and next thing that Lila heard was him saying her best friend's name. The young woman stood up, deciding to go and check on them... only to find Jaune crying in Aaron's arms as he was asking her what happened.

"Jaune!?" Lila asked, walking to her, taking her hand. "Jaune, what's wrong? God, you're-"

"I'm sorry..." Thw blonde whispered. "I never meant this! I didn't mean it!" She said once more.

The two brought the hysterical woman in, sitting her on couch, while Lila kept hugging her. The music was turned off not to unsettle her further, while Aaron went to get some water for his girlfriend. The two then sat by each other's side, as Jaune started to calm down, but still didn't sat anything.

"Jaune, is it about your father?" Lila asked, noticing a bag on her back. "You need somewhere to stay? Is he going to hurt you? Because if he is, I am going to kick his ass! I'm sick of his ex-!"

"No, Lila... don't..." She whispered, her hands squeezing the bottle, Aaron gave her. "This is my fault this time... I messed up big time..."

"Jaune, don't talk like this..." Aaron spoke softly, still hands on her back. "Whatever that is you did, I'm sure it's nothing we can't-"

"Aaron, I'm pregnant."

Then, the room fell quiet, Lila and Aaron's eyes widened when they heard that. What?

"J... Jaune?" Lila covered her mouth.

"And it's Aaron's. I want to keep it..." 

Aaron looked at her, but breathed out. And yet, his eyes unintentionally went down to his girlfriend's stomach. God, there was a baby in there. A little life right inside Jaune...

"Alright..." Aaron breathed out. "And... Oscar found out?" He asked, his hands starting to wrap into fists. Jaune just nodded. "Does he have a problem with it?"

Jaune shook her head. "No. His problem isn't the fact I'm having a baby... but the fact Aaron is the father..."

Aaron and Lila shared a look, as Aaron thought over it. Sure, he wasn't sure about how he felt about the news, but... Jaune did say her mother's side of family had troubles with getting pregnant... that she thought could also pass onto her. So he could see why she wanted to keep the child. She was in a project, that payed well, so money didn't seem to be an issue.

Of course it would be her father's distaste of him that would make him against Jaune and her baby... but Aaron wasn't going to stand it.

"He's not coming, is he?" Lila asked softly to him, to which Jaune just shook her head.

No. This just wouldn't do. Learning of a pregnancy was meant to be a happy news for parents... not depressing.

"Jaune, look at me, sunflower..." Aaron said softly, putting his hand on her shoulders. "Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like?"

Jaune looked at him, frowning, before shrugging. "I... don't know..?"

"No..." Aaron spoke again. "From what I've heard of him, he hasn't. Now, just look at it, he kicked you out for something you couldn't help with. For something you want to have, right?" He asked softly, to which Jaune looked away, but then nodded.

Yes. She wanted to have that child... that little boy or girl that was growing inside her... she didn't want to lose them. Not when she could help it.

"That's right..." He smiled softly. "Now, don't ever let anyone tell you what you should do or not... Okay? Especially not people like him..."

Jaune looked at him, now smiling softly, nodding once more. She chuckled lightly, wiping away her tears.

"Now... you want to have this baby? You want to stay with me?" He said once more, getting a bright smile from his girlfriend, before she threw her arms around him.

"Yes... Definitely."

He hugged her back with a smile.

And nine seven months later, Ross was born.

He was so small when he just entered their lives that Aaron was scared to even touch him at first. And still, the day he first saw his son was the day Aaron a promise... that nothing would ever happen to Jaune or their child...

But not even know, with his son missing... he wasn't going back on this yet.

People were talking, walking around the store, when the door opened and another costumer walked in. A blonde woman walked through the aisles, looking around.

"Jaune?" Somebody called her from the back, as she turned around seeing one of employees looking at her. "Didn't expect to see you here today."

Jaune waved to the man, before looking around. "Yeah, I didn't expect going out to town either, but, well..." She looked around, sighing. "The storm last night, you see?" She covered her face, breathing into it. "I need a new phone..."

Through the reason why she didn't say... it wasn't just because they needed a home phone. Jaune had another plan. She was able to hear Ross' breathing through the phone, right? She guessed that, if it happened once, it could be done again. Just... not with a broken one... so she needed to get it.

A quick purchase later, Jaume stood outside of the store, calling her boss at work. She was in a quiet room, not many people passing by her at this point.

"Hello?" She said, when it was picked up. "Yes, good day, it's me, Jaune... yes, I know, Olivia stepped in for me today, but... it's not about the work, it's..." She took a deep breath, before continuing. "I need an advance..."

After a short pause, a smile came onto her face.

"Oh, really? Thank you..." She breathed out. "Yeah... um..." She mumbled lightly, holding onto her hand. "I was thinking... two weeks?"

There was another pause, before she frowned, holding onto her hand. "Terence. I've been there ten years, right? Have I ever called in sick or missed a shift once? I've worked on both, Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving. Multiple times."

Jaune felt tears coming onto her face once more.

"Please, I need to be here when my child comes home..." She breathed out. "He's gone. I don't know if I'm..." She could feel her voice breaking at this. "If I'm gonna ever see him again, if he's hurt..."

Jaune took another deep breath.

"Please, I just need two weeks in advance."

And it seemed to be enough, as she finally had a positive answer.

A man knocked on the door. But nobody replied. Then he knocked once more... and still nothing came. After quickly looking in the window, he nodded.

"We're all clear." He said, before few men in red robes came out.

One of them, was a tall man that was the only one, who didn't wear a hood and held his hand up, on which was a ring with big teal gem. It started to glow brighter upon going into the house.

After quick manipulations to open the door, Father and other cultists walked inside starting to look sound. Everyond held their medallions up.

Two cultists walked down into the basement, when the glow seemed to increase... and the closer they walked, the more it would glow. Whatever it was, it was down there...

Upon reading the bottom of the stairs, they started to search over the small space... which didn't take long before they came across a dim teal glow from the far wall... when the two came closer to the wall, they found something... as within the close proximity of medallions, the real reason of glow came out...

A tiny tendril came from a hole, trying to wriggle out it's prison.

"Extraordinary..." One of them breathed out.

@crossover-enthusiast @catsockpuppet @spookuzm @ferf-bish @sunny6677 @momentokori @nottapossum @nostalgic-soda

[brionysea]

everyone thought mike was acting weird in "the weirdo on maple street". we're probably supposed to think it's el, but mike spends the whole episode on maple street too, and he lives there

had lucas even called el a weirdo yet at that point? she was revolving around a normal life, mike's life, looking at pictures of his friends and family and messing around with ted's chair. ted wheeler is the epitome of ordinary

meanwhile, with mike

he gets weird looks at breakfast

el gave him a weird look when he showed her his toys (while he was play acting with a doll having superpowers - specifically powers like el's)

dustin flat out called it weird that mike would even be late to school, let alone not show up

karen gave him the "you're acting weird and i'm worried about you so please don't hide from me" talk

lucas thought he was out of his mind when he connected the dots about el recognising will

what does it say about mike if el, the apparent titular weirdo on maple street, thinks he's weird?

[henrysglock]

"In many ways, the opening of The Navidson Record, shot back in April of 1990, remains one of the more disturbing sequences because it so effectively denies itself even the slightest premonition about what will soon take place on Ash Tree Lane <1>. Not once during those initial minutes does Navidson indicate he knows anything about the impending nightmare he and his entire family are about to face. He is wholly innocent, and the nature of the house, at least for a little while, lies beyond his imagination let alone his suspicions. Of course not everyone remains in accordance with this assessment. Dr. Isaiah Rosen believes "Navidson's a fraud from frame one and his early posturing puts the entire work at risk." Rosen assumes the beginning is just a case of "bad acting" performed by a man who has already envisioned the rest of the film. ... All too often major discoveries are the unintended outcomes of experiments or explorations aimed at achieving entirely different results <2>...Rosen's assumptions lead him to dismiss the cause for the result, thereby losing sight of the complex and rewarding relationship which exists between the two." (8) "Despite Rosen's claim, nothing about [Navidson] seems particularly devious or false. Nor does he appear to be acting. In fact he is a disarmingly pleasant man, lean, attractive, slowly edging through his 40s..." (9) "Chad who is three years older than Daisy is a little more self-conscious, even serious. Too often his response has been misread by those aware of the film's ending. It is important to realize, however, that at this point in time Chad has no sense of what the future holds. He is merely expressing anxieties natural for a boy his age who has just been uprooted from his home city and deposited in a vastly different environment." (9) ""...Sometimes it's just silent, no sound at all" "Does that scare you?" Chad nods. "Why?" asks his father. "It's like something's waiting." "What?" Chad shrugs. "I dunno Daddy..."<3>" (9) "...he says, removing a big clump of [Karen's] blonde hair from the tines...Considering how beautiful [Karen] appears on the dreadful Hi 8 tapes, it is hardly surprising editors frequently relied on slides of her pouty lips, high cheekbones, and hazel eyes to sell their magazines." (11)

"Even better, Navidson has permitted the action and subtlety of the composition to represent the profound sentiments at work without the molestations of some ill-conceived voice-over or manipulative soundtrack" (11) "Dale Corrdigan has also pointed out that Karen was anything but a lovely housewife: "Karen hardly gave up the promiscuous behavior that marked her 20's. She only became more discreet." (16) ""...It's the middle of May but I felt like I was lying in a freezer..." (17) "Of course, nostalgia's role in shaping the final cut must not be forgotten, especially because within a year these pieces were all Navidson had left...<4>" (18)

[emziess]

Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson The Weirdo on Maple Street, Stranger Things

[hawkinsgifs]

Nancy Wheeler in Every Episode -> 01x2 - Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

[will80sbyers]

STRANGER THINGS Chapter two: The Weirdo On Maple Street

[dailyjonathanbyers]

JONATHAN BYERS

1.02 | The Weirdo on Maple Street

[alwaysmoncheri]

𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

summary: in which best friends, y/n henderson and steve harrington get caught up in their feelings while paranormal activities occur in the small town of hawkins, indiana

𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞

I - the vanishing of will byers 1.9k

II - the search 2.1k

III - the weirdo on maple street 2k

IV - the house party 2.1k

V - the body 2.4k

VI - pictures 1k

VII - the woods 2.4k

VIII - don’t turn off the lights 1.7k

IX - monster hunting 2.5k

X - the kiddie pool 2.7k

XI - let’s kill this son of a bitch 4.1k

XII - happy holidays 2.7k

𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨

XIII - mad max 3k

XIV - new kids on the block 2.4k

XV - halloween night 4.6k

XVI - tension 1.9k

XVII - episodes 2.3k

XVIII - the cellar 2.3k

XIX - sexual electricity 3.1k

XX - the junkyard 3.3k

XXI - hawkins lab 2.3k

XXII - the spy 1.8k

XXIII - together again 3.4k

XXIV - the fight 2.6k

XXV - tunnels 3.1k

XXVI - the snow ball 3k

𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

XXVII - scoops ahoy 3.3k

XXVIII - suzie, do you copy? 2.7k

XXIX - the code 2.4k

XXX - evil russians 2.6k

XXXI - the air ducts 2.1k

XXXII - child endangerment 2.4k

XXXIII - booby traps 2.8k

XXXIV - the gate 2.4k

XXXV - caught 2.9k

XXXVI - drugged 2.1k

XXXVII - escaping evil russians 101 2.8k

XXXVIII - interrogate me 3.6k

XXXIX - the bite 2.4k

XL - the mind flayer 2.1k

XLI - scoops troop 3k

XLII - the battle of starcourt 4.5k

XLIII - new beginnings 2.7k

𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

XLIV - the pep rally 5.4k

XLV - the nightmares 5k

XLVI - the game 2.5k

more tba!

alwaysmoncheri © ─ all rights reserved. please do not repost/translate/copy any of my work.

[stladies]

NANCY WHEELER 1.02: The Weirdo on Maple Street

[love-byers]

Season 1, Episode 2. The Weirdo on Maple Street

Dustin: I think we should tell your mom.

Lucas: I second that.

Mike: Who's crazy now?!

Lucas: How is that crazy?

Mike: Cause, we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?

Lucas: So?

Mike: So, if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom...

Dustin: Oh man...

Lucas: Our houses become Alcatraz.

Mike: Exactly. And we'll never find Will.

Mike: Alright, here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight.

Dustin: You're letting a girl--?!

Mike: Just listen. In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She'll send her back to Pennhurst or whoever she comes from. We'll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will.

Season 4, Episode 9 The Piggyback

Mike: I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods, and you were wearing that yellow benny burgers t-shirt, and it was so big it almost swallowed you whole. I knew right then and there in that moment that I loved you. And I have loved you every day since.

mike fell in love with el the moment he saw her, but was planning how to get rid of her maybe an hour after finding her??

making the perfect plan of how to get rid of her so that he wouldn't get in trouble and could go out looking for will again??

mike is a LIAR. A BIG FAT LIAR.

HE'S LITERALLY CONTRADING THE SECOND EPISODE OF THE FIRST SEASON BRO

LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE

and for the mlvn stans that defend this by saying he didn't know he was in love with her yet or hadn't fallen for her yet, you're admitting that he lied to her in his monologue. because HE HIMSELF says he knew right then and there in that moment that he loved her, and his feelings haven't wavered since.

he. is. a. LIAR.