#and Mike just feeling safe around her and Joyce being one of the few people who never see him as the bad guy because that's Mike

[uselessnbee]

saw my favorite bylers talk about the relationship between Mike and Joyce again and now i just can't stop thinking about it

not just if she saw the airport fiasco but what if she saw the conflict between willelmike

or after they're all finally in hawkins again maybe she saw there's something going on and asked Jonathan and he told her some things he knew he could let her know

and then she comes to Mike and he expects it. he expects her to be angry to start criticising him cause he fucked up and hurts everyone and he knew this was coming but god does it hurt. this is the woman that feels like a second mother to him the woman that sometimes feels more like a mother to him then his actual mom and he knows being criticised by her is going to be the last straw and a part of him is dreading this but a part of him also thinks he deserves this. of course he does he fucked up he's the bad guy he hurt people he hurt her children she loves more than anything of course he deserves this

so he can take it. it will hurt. it will be like a punch in the face but he can take it it's what happens after that's the real question

but Joyce just smiles at him so gently and asks if he's doing okay. if everything is alright if something is going on. she tells him she cares about him and she knows he's been through a lot but if he needs her she's here for him. if he needs to talk she will listen if he just needs someone to be there for him she will be and she's just so caring and gentle and loving to Mike and Mike just. fucking. breaks.

he doesn't even remember when was the last time someone treated him this way like his feelings matter like he matters and he just can't help it. someone finally sees more than his snarkiness. someone finally sees more than him being a jerk. someone finally sees there's something more going on. someone finally sees the pain behind it and cares enough to actually ask him of he's okay and so he just lets himself cry in front of someone for the first time in years

[brionysea]

Who do you think are mike PARENTS I don't mean his sperms and ovum doner but, his PARENTS, the people who shovel talk his partners, the people who fuss over him when he's hurt, the people who would move heaven, hell and anything in between to keep him safe and happy. I'm not asking who are brought him into this world, I'm asking who took care of and loved him unconditionally in this world?

parents are an interesting topic for mike. the kind of good parenting you're describing isn't really... a thing for him

his parental figures are joyce and hopper. hands down.

but to latch onto the shovel talk thing and go off book for a second, i see that floating around the fandom a lot and i don't particularly... buy it. mike's generally the one that people decide is horrible and bad and deserving of threats, and hopper did it (or something similar to it, since we didn't get to see the full extent of that heavily one-sided conversation) to him in canon, and it seemed like a massive mistake that put a strain on their relationship (because mike was a child who thought he was safe with this person), and it's so clear that joyce would've given him a piece of her mind if she found out about it

so, with mike's partner being will — because obviously — i can't see joyce or jonathan giving him the shovel talk about it. because they know mike. they know how much he cares about will. they know that there's no one at home to do the same thing for him, because his parents and nancy are both too self-absorbed and distant to care. mike feels safe with the byers, and being queer in the 80s is scary enough, and they're not going to make that any harder for him by putting the idea of will's family suddenly hating him the second they start dating in his head

anyway, back to the matter at hand

hopper's had quite a few interactions with mike in the show, but some of them weren't really... good. like the aforementioned intimidation and threatening. he had to go through character development to get to the point of wanting to look out for mike again, like he did when he contacted mike specifically through the walkie talkies in season 1 and promised to help and protect him, and being able to follow through on that

joyce, incredible as she is, hasn't really been allowed to talk to mike onscreen at all. probably because she'd notice he's not doing well and help him too much. while she was never in hopper's place of calling mike a problem (because she would never do that to this little boy she's known for years who would walk through hell for her son in a heartbeat), that creates a sense of distance with her too

the way the wheelers deal with mike not being in a good place is to just kind of ignore it and wait for it to go away, which seems to be the theme for mike. that method obviously hasn't worked (because people apparently didn't know anything about mental health back then), which means that the way to actually fix whatever's wrong and help him is to push, even if he gets defensive and avoidant, because if they don't then he'll stay trapped in that cycle of misery forever and might end up in a very dangerous place, which we know he's already prone to from the quarry scene. we saw a little bit of what that fallout would probably look like with hopper, when mike just hit his limit and started breaking down and hopper grounded him through it. i imagine joyce would be phenomenal in a similar position, especially since she's too active to ever believe that the "pretend it isn't happening" approach would work and would've gotten involved before it reached that point, if that was at all possible

so, to amend my initial statement, good parenting isn't really a thing for mike yet. but it will be once these two get involved. which hopefully will be at some point in season 5

[allthingsfangirl101]

Protective Act–Steve Harrington

"Over here!"

I helped Steve open the old storage container and ushered the kids inside. Once they were all safely behind us, we shut the door.

"What do we do now?" Mike asked.

"Hopper will be here soon," El said, struggling to catch her breath. "Right?"

"Exactly," I said gently. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. "He can't be far behind. He knows we were being chased. He knows we were headed out of town. He knows."

"She's right," Steve jumped in. "I even told him where we were planning on hiding."

"We just have to wait," I explained.

We jumped and the kids screamed when we heard that creature outside throw itself against the door.

"It can't get in here, right?" Dustin asked.

Steve and I shared a hesitant look. He opened and closed his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say to comfort them.

"These storage units are made of steel," I tried to reassure them. "We'll be safe until Hopper gets here. Until then, why don't you kids get some sleep?"

They looked at each other, fear in their eyes. "Hey," I said, making them and Steve look at me. "I'll stay up until Hopper gets here. That way, if that thing gets in here. . ."

"One of us will stop it," Steve added. "Y/N and I will take turns on watch. You kids get some sleep."

                                * * * * *

I looked over, feeling a little relief when I saw the kids were all asleep. I took a deep breath, looking down at my shaking hands. I heard some shuffling, but I didn't look up until someone placed their hands over mine. I looked up to see Steve smiling down at me.

"You doing alright?" He whispered.

"I don't know," I sighed. "We barely know what's going on. We still aren't entirely sure where Will is and Joyce is losing her mind every day. I feel like I'm not that far behind her."

Steve scooted closer to me and sighed. "Nothing's going to happen."

"I'm sure that's what Barb thought."

"Hey," he said gently, yet firmly. "Nothing is going to happen to you."

"But Steve. . ."

"No," he cut me off. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

I instantly noticed how he changed his emphasis. I looked up at him, studying him.

"I'm scared," I whispered.

He sighed as he snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. "It's okay," he said softly. "I'm scared too."

"You are?" I asked as I looked up at him again.

"Of course I am," he said, his voice dropping as he glanced down at me. "I'd be crazy not to be scared right now. We'd all be."

"Do you think. . . People are going missing every day. What if. . . What if one of us is next? We already lost Will. Then Barb. What if. . ."

"Hey," he said as he reached up and moved some hair out of my face. "I'll take care of you."

"Promise?"

"Of course I promise," he shrugged with a small laugh. "There's no way in hell I'm letting anyone take you away from me."

His eyes widened like he just realized what he said. He looked away, trying to hide his pink cheeks.

"I just meant," he stuttered, "we've lost a lot of people. I don't know what I would do if I lost you too, Y/N."

"I don't know what I would do if I lost you either," I whispered.

He looked back at me with a shy smile. Steve tightened his arm around my waist, inviting me to lean my head on his shoulder. A blush formed as he leaned his head on mine.

"You should get some sleep," he whispered. "I'll take the first watch."

"Okay," I mumbled sleepily. "Wake me in a few hours so we can switch."

"Will do."

He didn't. Instead, he woke me when Hopper found us.

[truessences]

hc. el steals all of mikes clothing and didn’t find out until when he went into her closet after months of her doing this and her entire closet was his clothes. he didn’t care, he loved it, half of the clothes didn’t even fit anymore

So sweet! Especially since I think she's wearing his blue hoodie in the finale of S4. That makes sense. Since Mike is so much taller than he was before, I'm sure he still has some old shirts that El is like "well, he can't possibly fit that anymore" and she takes it. But she finds a shirt that he currently wears and uses it as a pajama t-shirt and he looks for it to wear and thinks it's just missing... same thing happens with his hellfire shirt (but that's easily remade).

Quick Story Blurb lol.

"Mike can you grab that box out of the trunk?" Nancy called as she dashed up the stairs to Hopper's cabin.

"Why didn't you use the bathroom before we left?" He shouted after her, but he does what she asks. He stumbled out of the front seat, his long legs feeling a little too long.

As he walked to the back of the car, he can't help but think how just a few months ago, everything went to major shit. Max was in the hospital and they weren't sure if she was going to pull through. Eddie...Eddie was gone. And Hawkins was split open leaving destruction and gates to the Upside Down.

But at least the Byers were back in Hawkins. At least Hopper was alive and back... and El... at least El was back. It wasn't them same with all of them being gone.

Mike opened the trunk and grabbed the cardboard box marked "Clothes" in Nancy's fancy scrawl. He lifted it into his arms and closed the trunk with his elbow. Nancy gave a lot of her old things to the relief center that was set up in Hawkins High School's gym, they all did but El was also in need. Her, the Byers and Hopper. They were all packed into Hopper's tiny cabin and it probably didn't help that Mike and Nancy visited often.

When he walked into the cabin, his eyes scanned the room. Joyce and Nancy were in the kitchen, putting things in the fridge that has been scrubbed as clean as it could get. Hopper, Jonathan and Will were nowhere to be found.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

"They went to the high school to see if they could help with anything, there's still a lot of people misplaced and in need," Nancy said.

"El is in her room," Joyce added.

With a nod, Mike walked over and knocked on the door that was open three inches.

"Come in," came the quiet voice. El was sitting on her bed, holding a glass bottle. She looked up at him, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Hey," he said gently, setting the box down next to her bed. He sits across from her after kicking off his shoes. "Thinking about Max?"

"Yes," she whispered. "I'm going to visit her again tomorrow. Joyce said she'll take me."

"I'll be there too, Lucas has been there as much as he can and I know he probably needs a break."

They sat silently for a moment. Mike reached over and slipped his hand into hers. He wasn't always the most verbal when it came to expressing his feelings but he now knew that that was something Eleven needed and wanted. But there were times where they didn't have to speak, maybe being here was enough.

He wasn't sure how long they sat, just holding hands but it was nice and safe.

"We brought you some more stuff," he finally said. "I know coming back to Hawkins has been an adjustment but Nancy had some old stuff she wanted to give you."

"Is there anything yellow?" El asked as Mike lifted the box on the bed.

"Um, I don't know. I don't pay attention to what Nancy wears," he said with a shrug. "But she's always had a lot of clothes, I'm sure there's yellow and purple in there somewhere."

With light laughter and conversation, Mike and El went through the box that Nancy packed tight full of shirts, pants, skirts and a few dresses.

"I really like this one," she said spinning around holding the dress in front of her. "Pretty?"

"Pretty," he said, smiling. God, he loved her so much.

There was a soft knock on the door and Joyce poked her head in.

"El, can I borrow you for a second?"

She nods 'okay'. Mike smiled at her as she paused at the door to give him one more glance and a soft smile in return.

While she was gone, Mike's eyes ran over her room. She did a good job in the last couple of months trying to make it hers again. They really came back to a mess after the Mind Flayer's attack last summer.

He noticed a few sketches that were slowly being painted, must be Will's doing. He's really come a long way.

He hopped off the bed, deciding that he should be helpful and hang up the clothes.

"Hey El, I'll put the clothes away for you!" he shouted.

"Okay!"

He grabbed the dress she liked, opened the closet and froze, surprised. Hanging up next to a few clothes Joyce probably picked up and the blue hoodie he gave her, was MIke's Hellfire t-shirt (when did she take that?), some of his other shirts and jeans and in particular, the button down grey and blue shirt he wore the day he found her in the desert and when he told her he loved her...

"What the-?" He mumbled, reaching for the shirt. He remembered buying it, after meeting and spending time with Eddie Munson in Hellfire, he wanted to change up his wardrobe. Eddie was so cool. He'd never told anyone but he also want to grow his hair out like Eddie's too. He'd talked his mom into letting him pick out his own clothes for the spring and he liked this shirt.

"What are you doing?"

He jumped, startled, seeing El standing in the doorway, her brown eyes wide.

"Uh-" he looked back at the closet, and the dress in his hands. "Just hanging up the dress. "So, when did you get this stuff?"

"I- I just wanted-"

Mike smirked as she fumbled with an answer. He held his arms open and El frowned, confused but walked into his outstretched arms. He held her tight and chuckled softly.

"It's okay, really El."

"It is?" She asked, her eyes impossibly wide. Mike's chest swelled, he loved her so much.

"Yeah," he pulled on the yellow collard, blue shirt he wore last summer. "I can't fit these anymore anyway. Way too tall and gangly."

"Gangly?"

"Yeah, it's what my mom says. She says I'm all limbs." He said flailing his arms around with light laughter. Eleven wasn't laughing, instead she chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes glancing back to her closet filled with Mike's old clothes.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Was she really worried that he was upset about this?

"I just wanted something of yours for when you're not here. You- you're safe Mike and after everything, I wanted-" he waited patiently, while she mulled over her thoughts. "I wanted to be close to you."

Mike squeezed her shoulders, her gaze returning to his. He took one of her hands and laced their fingers together.

"You can have any of my clothes you want El. I want you to know that I'm here for you... always and you're safe," he rested his forehead against hers. "I love you."

He felt her take a deep breath, her free hand reaching up and curling her fingers in his hair.

"I love you too."

When they pulled apart, Eleven pulled out the Hellfire shirt and the blue and grey shirt with a grin. The tension melting away from her body.

"These are my favorites."

"Mine too," he said with a laugh and reached for his Hellfire shirt. "I actually need this one though. Me and the guys were gonna..."

He trailed off seeing her pout, her fingers holding tightly to the hanger.

"It's okay... we can share it."

[yourpreciousrose]

byler analysis: a year

Mike : you knew she was having trouble for like a year

Will: its been a year Mike

Mike: the last year has been weird

Will: these past few months shes been so lost without you

ok lets get into it!! so to understand this analysis we will have to first refer back to Els. in it she says it's day 185 but it feels more like 10 years. from this we know theyve only been gone for half a year. lets make a note of that.

♡its been half a year

now El goes on to say that Joyce says time is funny like that, emotions can make time speed up or slow down. this is important to keep in mind.

♡emotions can make time speed up or slow down

Mike literally read this exact letter the day before he left for California. now of course we will have to take mailing time into account, so its probably a bit over half a year but not much more bc El was still working on her project that she mentioned in the letter.

s3 takes place during summer, they left Hawkins probably around the end of summer. Mike goes to Cali for spring break, so the lines definitely match up to a bit over half a year.

so why are Mike and Will the only two that think its been a year? I mean Mike definitely should know because of the letter.

the answers simple, they are feeling the same emotions twords eachother.

now lets look at the facts we know:

♡Will is canonically in love with Mike

♡Will is scared to lose Mike

♡Mike feels like he lost Will

♡Mike thinks Hawkins isn't the same without Will

♡Will feels like a mistake

♡Will is different

♡Will is scared to tell people he cares about how he feels bc they might not like the truth (Mike)

♡Mike is scared to tell people he cares about how he feels bc they might not like the truth (he nodded in agreement to Will)

♡Mike thinks he's not special

♡Mike thinks he's nothing more than a nerd

♡Mikes been moping

♡Wills been moping

so the feelings associated with these things are most likely what they both are feeling. (I'm just using things from s4 but we do learn this in earlier seasons too.)

now logically they would both need to feel the exact same emotions if they both managed to think its a year right? I mean El said it feels like 10, to our knowledge Mike doesn't think it does. El also doesn't mess up the amount of time its been so Mikes feelings aren't the same as Els. at this point Els still in love with Mike, so not to be that person but....im sure at this point we all know the real reason why Mike can't say he loves El.

now I dont think Mike realized he was in love with Will yet at this point, it was just a crush/attraction/infatuation in his mind. I can go more into that in another post, I think he realized its love during the van scene.

so its safe to assume Mike and Will both are feeling the same emotions which would mean Mike does indeed have feelings for Will.

now at the beginning you can see i included what Will said in the van, the time changed. now its past few months, but why is that? I think hes realizing he doesn't have a chance with Mike in his mind. he is using his own feelings for Mike to fix up his relationship with El so Mike doesn't feel that way about himself. hes accepting he doesn't have a chance. However, Mike is doing the opposite, he's realizing. Mikes finally realizing why he can't say he loves El, realizing its not just a crush he has on Will, realizing who he really wants. Wills thinking he ripped off the bandaid this season while Mikes putting it back on, that is until the monologue. Mikes face before saying he loves El, he's pained...he feels like he HAS to rip off the bandaid (he has to lose Will to save El). he feels in order to save El he has to love her and not Will which this will be important.

El realizes Mike isn't being truthful, she knows. El is probably going to be who pushes byler together just like Will pushed mileven together. she will be the one to end things with Mike, she'll most likely be the one to call out his feelings for Will, she'll be the one to encourage them to be together. I could be entirely wrong but if you watch the show you know El and Will parallel eachother in a way, they are honestly like the same person but different genders.

Will going missing in s1 vs El going missing in s1

Will calling out for Mike in s2 vs El calling out for Mike in s2

Will loving Mike vs El loving Mike

Will being different vs El being different

Will doesnt want to be treated different vs El doesn't want to be treated different

Will arcade moment alone in upsidedown vs El going into Billy's mind and being alone in Hoppers cabin

Vecna/Henry/001 using them both for his benefit

so like Will pushed mileven together, El could push byler together. Mike will most likely have to make the first move with Will, he usually does with Will anyways.

anyways I hope you enjoyed, let me know your thoughts if you have any.

[0aurelion-sol0]

I'm gonna be frankly honest. I'm probably going to get slandered for it anyway whether it's here, Twitter, Reddit or else where. Go for it, I don't care, I am not a bringer of truths and I never said I was, I am just some weird theorists online who can be wrong just as anybody can. We have been called every names and even toxic when we are literally the one being attacked, non-stop because we don't believe and didn't agree with the main views and thoughts of the fandom. Hypocrite much but I digress.

I am happy for those who liked all of this and happy, in a certain way, for those who reported the leaks and or believed in it. I am an empathetic person, far too much sometimes, so I enjoy seeing other people happy from anything, in this case entertainment they love. The thing is, I enjoy things in this show that other people don't or that a few people do. The elements I like are almost being ridiculed everytime and everywhere in the majority of this fandom. I personally am tired of that. What do I see in this teaser, the elements I love are pushed to the side once again to cater and market to the masses once again. It was fine in 1, 2 and especially 3, because that was point in that season.

I am happy for those whose elements they love got brought back, some that I like and some that I don't like.

I am not hyped for Season 4 anymore, might be overkill but I don't care. I am slowly losing interest for it personally. This ST Day was dissapointing for me. I barely enjoyed any of it.

I am sick of having to swallow tropes and ideas that I just do not enjoy and are inherently bad in their very concepts. I don't care about them.

Subtext is interesting, I love subtext. But it's still subtext. Something that a lot of people do not see and can be dropped when the authors don't want, need or can't use it or do anything with it. There are very few instances where it becomes more essential than the main text. The 004 teaser was messy, confusing and boring in many parts. I wanted to see main text from the characters and the story that I love and I care.

I am not asking for a plot twist or anything major but something different more clear. Even if it turns out to be not true.

I love El but making it all about her and her relationship with Mike does not interest me. What about the other Byers and their stories ? Jonathan, Will and Joyce, some small bits here and there but that's it. We started this story with this family and now it feels and are advertised as just a background for El's plot who we already new about and was much more interesting in 002.

I dear god, HOPE, it's not the case and that the Byers are not just standing around experiencing El's plot. It ruins the potential these characters have. At least Joyce may have something to do but Jonathan and Will, I worry a lot about their story.

I see pretty much everything everyone is talking about here. I see the subtext but if the plan is still Season 5. I need things to come to light already.

Instead we got Season 3-esque type of stuff.

Season 3 worked for what it's supposed to do and I can appreciate it's genius but it was season 3, it was supposed to be that way. I can defend this season but there was legitimate criticism with the ways certain things were handled.

I think it's normal to have certain expectations and wants from a show especially three seasons into it. Like everyone, there's thing I want and I don't want. But apparently, there not as valid for some people but I don't care, I genuinely did not like many things I saw, read and heard.

If you did good for you. I didn't and I don't want to pretend like I did.

I am not pissed by the release date. I expected it. COVID and the recent demands by the workers would have delayed it anyway.

I am more mad at the fact that after telling everyone that their set was very safe for leaks, a fucking leaker decided to leak stuff as much as he could and the things I've heard, I do not like them. (And apparently, there's more to those.) I don't, I truly don't. It's my humble opinion, if you do, great for you. It will be boring and cliché if it happens for me.

Now what is mixed with real leak and theories by these same people remains to be seen. They might have also not all the information of these particular plots so they might just know the superficial part of it all and might be missing some parts. But so far, I am not excited for Stranger Things 4. It is probably overkill but I honestly I am not excited.

There are some things that I did enjoy and found interesting but my thoughts and feelings are mostly negative at the moment. I have reasons that I found legitimate and I am now even more cautious than I was before. I have experienced too much similar stuffs in other stories, I don't want to reexperience it again.

My head needs to rest and clear itself to get to the analysis part of it all. But right now, I am not motivated, I am sorry.

If you did enjoy it, good for you, I am happy for you. I didn't sadly and it's pissing me off. I feel bad and guilty for not doing so. Slander me all you want, at this point, I don't care.

I'm off for now. Happy Stranger Things Day.

[thecherrybombbb]

Eleven and Hopper

Eleven never had the opportunity to be a normal girl, she was very different compared to those around her. Her past was something which would forever define who she was as a person, but she wouldn’t allow it to dictate her future. The only chance she finally had to run away lead to a life of many exciting yet miserable events. From escaping she had found her bests of friends, and even her boyfriend Mike. They were one of the good things in life which she never ever wanted to be away from. Though she had also met a man much different from Papa, her dad, Jim Hopper. not her dad by blood, but her dad by choice. He had been willing to hide her and keep her safe, even when Eleven had been a brat Hopper had always been on her side. For 3 years she was haunted by her past, forced to face the reality of her actions. That being the entire situation with the upside down; she couldn’t imagine how Will had felt this entire time.

Everyone wanted to forget the tragedy of what their lives had become, the amount of loss and devastation they had experienced in Hawkins. Well, Eleven had suffered an unbelievable amount in such little time. Not only had she lost her powers, but she also almost lost her dad. The mind flayer in the mall was a rather eye-opening moment for the adults of the group as they merely survived the Russians attack. No one wished to continue in this spiral of constant turmoil from these attacks, and Eleven had used every last ounce of strength to close the gate between their worlds once and for all. Each moment felt like it may be her last, her body feeling as though it was being torn apart inch by inch. Leg pounding in utter torment from when she had just forced that creature out of it. Her screams were sure to haunt everyone’s dreams that night as they were so full of anguish and desperation. This was something no one should have been exposed too, especially not a scared 14-year-old who was trying to save the lives of everyone in Hawkins.

Eleven recalled very little of that night from that point onwards, all she could remember was how exhausted she was, that creeping anxiety engulfing her when she hadn't seen Hopper alongside Joyce. Though that momentary gut-wrenching pain of guilt subsided when Hopper came running from behind an ambulance and embraced Eleven not ever wanting to let go of her again. That’s when Eleven had passed out in Hoppers arms, being treated for the wound in her leg. For a few weeks she stayed in Hopper’s cabin away from most people as she was too distressed, especially the guilt over Billy. Eleven didn’t even think she could face Max again as she felt like a failure. Any good friend would have tried to save her brother, right? In Elevens case he had saved her, in his last moments he had redeemed himself to be a good man. She hadn’t told Hopper about the guilt eating her away, but each night Billy stalked her dreams. Her usual nice dreams turned to devilish nightmares of everything she regretted.

Max eventually came to visit eleven and they had a rather awkward minute of silence until they had begun to desperately embrace one another. That day they wept and grieved together, not many words spoken as they just allowed themselves to feel safe. A feeling they weren’t privileged to experience unlike anyone else in Hawkins. A very select few knew how it felt, and due to that the adults involved made a choice. A choice they had been deliberating for a while now. It started when Joyce and Hopper officially went on a date, and those feelings for one another were strong enough that they ought to be together. Of course, everyone was happy that they had such a beautiful ending from all this loss, that something good managed to come from it all. Then was the difficult news to tell their kids, that they were moving away from Hawkins. They all needed a fresh start in life, and the best way to do that was by leaving the past behind. Eleven had been so uncertain on how to feel about it all… she would be moving away from Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and the place she had finally found a family. She wanted so desperately to be by their sides, but deep down Eleven knew this was the best thing for them all. It couldn’t be that bad right? Especially now that Will and Jonathon were going to be her brothers! For once she was surrounded by a proper family, by people who loved her. Not people that wanted to utilise her powers, but people who saw her as a human.

When the day came where every box had been packed up into the van, her heart begun to sink lower and lower with this sudden feeling of uncertainty. Could she really move away and start a new life? No longer would she be Eleven, but instead she would be Jane Hopper… a normal girl living a normal girl life. Even so her face screwed up as she embraced Max one last time, a soft sob escaping as she only gripped her best friend even tighter. "we will call everyday El, I promise. It will be okay." Max tried her best to fill her with the courage, because it seemed Max understood just how much Eleven needed her by her side. The very last hug was from Mike, and at this point Elevens cheeks were already stained with tears, "You promise to visit?" Leaning back to cup Mikes cheeks between her hands, watching as he nodded to her question. With the final cherished kiss between the couple, Eleven found herself being guided to the van to get up into it. Looking back in the mirror as their friends waved them away. Even if she felt so alone swamped by this discomfort, she had Will and Jonathon. Her brothers were feeling the exact same way, and they shared a few glances among themselves, and that was enough for them to nod as a silent way of saying they understood.

Months had passed since they had moved into their new house, and life was different to how she had imagined. Eleven had expected many people to be her friends, she thought it would be easy to make friends. After all she had become Mikes friend within the first few hours of knowing him; they were all naïve and young. Now everyone had grown up and already had their cliques of friends. It didn’t help that Elevens knowledge was seriously undeveloped in comparison to her classmates. No matter how hard she tried to fit in, it seemed something or someone would always be in the way of her having a normal life. Of course, Will tried his best to help teach Eleven on the basics so she would feel somewhat okay, but he didn't realise just how less she had known. Though he didn’t judge her nor make her feel ashamed of it. He understood what it felt like to miss out on a bit of childhood, as he had been in the upside down and then for a while suffered with the entire hospital due to his episodes. He only missed out on a few years of childhood, but to him it felt like a lot more than that. So, Will understood that feeling, especially since El had never even been to school before.

Despite how desperate Eleven was to make friends, to fit in and have fu, she couldn't. The bullying wasn’t severe at first, when she was in the laboratory with Papa, she faced a lot worse. The people who used to bully her had powers which only made it physically tormenting. Eleven hadn't faced the taunting of verbal bullying and the amount of emotional distress it put her through. Words hurt a lot more than anything she had been through physically, and Eleven was even scared at times to go to school. Whenever Hopper asked how school was, she lied and had this big smile that didn’t quite make her eyes sparkle with joy, "It was good, I had a lot of fun at lunch with my friends." At first Hopper truly believed her, but the more he watched Eleven the more he realised that likely wasn’t the truth. He didn’t want to intervene with her life that she felt was rather private, but one night he knocked at her door with a soft, "hey kiddo. Can we talk?" When he was allowed into her room, he noticed a project on the floor and his lips began to twitch into a smile. "Is that me in the cabin?" His heart melted as he saw Eleven smile and nod, "Its for a project at school about heroes."

Now Jim Hopper would never admit he had a soft place in his heart for many things, but the one person he loved the most was his daughter. The way Eleven had always been so proud of him despite the difficulties they had with one another in the past. It almost pained him to see her so grown up," c'mere kid." He opened up his arms and was engulfed in a tight hug from El. "It looks amazing, you got my face done perfectly." About to reach for the figure until Eleven had guided his hand away. "Its still drying. what did you want to talk about?" Pulling back with pure curiosity as Hopper sat down on the edge of her bed. His fingers rubbing against his stubble in thought, feeling the bed shift as Eleven had join him to sit. "I uh, just wanted to ask how are you? I mean with the move, I know it’s been a while, but you seem a little distant kiddo. is everything alright? If its Mike bothering, you then-" His words were cut short by a quick interjection from Eleven.

"No- no Mikes been great. He sends me letters and calls me, so does Max." Thinking for a moment as she knew she shouldn’t lie, but Hopper already had so much on his plate from his job. El didn’t want to be some inconvenience. She didn’t think it was big issue, it was just people being a little rude… that’s all. "I’m okay. Just. tired. school keeps me very busy, so I am tired from all the hanging out with my friends." Even though Hopper knew it was a lie, there was nothing he could truly say to make her feel better without potentially embarrassing El. "Alright El, well have a good sleep. I can’t wait to hear all about your project Tomorrow." With a rather heavy sigh as he left her room, confiding in Joyce that very night to see what she thought he should do. Part of him wanted to find the kids name and give them a real bad scare for being so shit to El.

The next morning Eleven had woken up rather early to finish the last touches on her project, extremely proud of herself for what she had created over the past week. It made her wonder who Will had chosen, but it had probably been someone smart and a stranger. To Eleven she thought the person she had chosen was perfect, as her dad was such a known hero in Hawkins. Now she hoped her dad would grow to become a hero to everyone here in Lenora, so that when they were in danger, they knew her dad would always be there to save them and keep them safe. Jonathon’s funny friend -that reeked of the weird smoking plants- had picked them up that day. For the morning was so bright and it rejuvenated Eleven to feel refreshed and prepared to do the presentation. Nothing put her spirits down, even when someone spat a paper ball against her cheek, she was just quick to wipe it off. Clapping along with everyone else as Angela had finished her presentation, even giving her a smile.

Though each time her teacher went to pick a name she felt her hands become clammy, the very same feeling when Papa used to pick someone to use their powers in front of everyone there. The bubble of fear rising in her chest as she always chanted, 'please don’t pick me' in her mind, but it seemed to never work. Blinking a little in confusion when Will turned to look at her, forgetting for a moment that she was Jane. Gulping as she took the project from her desk and stood up, nibbling at her inner cheek to try calm herself down. A little quiet at first, she finally began to tell her entire class about Hopper. Confidence growing with each word, at least until Angela interjected. "My dad- my dad saved a lot of people." Voice trembling as she felt choked up, her eyes glossing over with tears. "He is a hero. He’s, my hero." By the time her presentation had even finished she was in tears, rushing out of the class with a sob.

People were cruel, especially Angela. It clearly hadn’t been enough for her to humiliate El in front of the entire class, as she decided to humiliate her in front of most of the school. In that moment Eleven had tried to use her powers to hurt her really bad, but to no avail did anything happen. Instead, the crowd erupted into laughter from how silly it had made her look, "I want you to apologise Angela." What Eleven was requesting was justified and should have been simple. Not for Angela. It happened so fast, but Eleven’s project was wrecked. Even Will wasn’t able to lie enough, Eleven knew the truth that it couldn't be fixed. When Argyle drove them home, her hands were gripping tightly into her thighs. A burst of rage bubbling in her, she wanted to teach Angela a lesson. Angela should have been thankful that Eleven didn’t have her powers, or else she would have gotten seriously hurt. What Eleven hadn't been aware of was the fact they had been filming her, trying to make a collection of videos from Eleven being upset.

The second they were outside of their house; she grabbed her project and ran upstairs. Slamming her door shut before she gripped onto her desk, taking deep breaths to try stop herself from chucking something. Self-restraint had been something hard to learn, but Hopper had coaxed her through all these new emptions before so that she wouldn’t break anything. As her anger dispersed; now miserable instead. The scowl on her face soon became a frown as her lips quivered, tears spilling down her cheeks. Curled up in her bed with her back to the door, she had not even heard Hopper announce himself downstairs. Nor did she hear his heavy footsteps as he came up to her room, knocking on her door. When she didn't reply he tried again, but the second her heard her muffled sob he entered the room. For a moment he glanced around, rather proud to see nothing was evidently smashed. At least until he saw her project, but he knew Eleven would have never smashed that. She had spent days on it and had been so happy to show it off in class.

Hopper sat down on her bed with a deep sigh, "Kids are cruel and stupid El." His hand smoothing over her hair, trying to give her any comfort. "You didn't smash it, right?" When he saw her shake her head his frown grew, knowing she wouldn't tell him who did it. "Why don't we go out for some ice cream? I know I’ve been trying to lose a few extra pounds, but you won’t tell Joyce. it will be our secret kiddo, what do ya say?" He could only hope it was a good way of comfort, and it worked. Eleven finally turned to face him, wiping away the tears that had rolled over her nose and down onto her pillow. "and some Eggos?" was all she had to ask, and Hopper let out a laugh. "Of course, kiddo, all the Eggos you could ever ask for." Fondly giving her a side hug, squeezing her arm for that little extra reassurance.

when they were in Hopper’s car, Eleven was a bit quiet, so Hopper rubbed his stubble in thought. Pulling out a tape for them to listen to, it had some of Els favourite songs such as 'Material Girl' and 'Girls just want to have fun'. Within minutes she had perked up a considerable amount as she sang along with Hopper to the songs, bursting into laughter when he tried to sound like Madonna. They had parked up outside of Elevens favourite ice cream parlour and went in to try some new flavours, and in the end Eleven settled upon a cone with 2 scoops of honeycomb and vanilla ice cream. Hopper had chosen rum and raisins ice cream - which sounded disgusting- and he seemed to be enjoying it a lot. Instead of getting back into the car, they started to walk to the nearest supermarket down the street which had Eggos. Though in their walk Eleven noticed Angela and her friends all bursting into laughter as they looked at the footage from their camera. At first Hopper didn’t so much as glance at them, until he noticed how Elevens usual bounce in her step faded. Almost like she was dragging her body to slow down and hide behind Hopper.

His gaze fell upon the group as he licked his ice cream, he knew Joyce would tell him off, but right now all he wanted to do was to protect his daughter. With that he began to stride over to the group of teenagers, leaning over them to see the video. The second he saw it was Eleven his heart shattered, "Delete that right now." Watching as the kids jumped from not realising Hopper had been there. "I said delete it. Hurry up." His patience felt like a ticking bomb, about to erupt at any given moment. Then Angela had the nerve to laugh in Hopper’s face, "What are you gonna do if we don’t hm? hit us?" There was a chorus of laughter from the group, which was quick to fall to silence as Hopper forced the camera from their hands and smashed it down. He stomped on it again and again. Not satisfied until it was just loads of tiny pieces. Hearing Angela scream an obnoxious, "Hey! You can’t do that! I’m calling the police on you."

No matter how much he tried, nothing could wipe that smug look of satisfaction from Hopper’s face, "Go ahead. I’m the fucking chief of this town, you have a problem with that? You hurt my daughter; don’t you dare go near her again. Do you hear me?" Having heard no response his tone only became more authoritative, and he could see the fear in their eyes. "Did I make myself clear?!" They all looked amongst each other for a second, even looking up to see Eleven giggling as she ate her ice cream. With that they all let out a very quiet, "yeah."

When they were out of sight Eleven was quick to high five her dad with a big smile, "I love you daddy. Thank you." And gave him the most bone crushing of hugs. It was the best feeling for Hopper knowing he had done something good for Eleven.

[psychdelia]

post s3 billy living with joyce and finally being able to sleep in. he snuck steve in through the window last night because he doesn’t like sleeping alone and he doesn’t know how to tell joyce that he’s gay and kinda really in love with steve so he just. doesnt tell her. resorts to sneaking steve in and out of the house almost every night and morning so they can sleep together and billy can feel safe and protected in steve’s arms.

one morning around 9am hopper is over with the whole party in tow, teenagers included. apparently el had a dream about some of the victims of starcourt still being alive - robin seemed to show interest when heather holloway’s name was mentioned. hop managed to get ahold of everyone but steve. called him about three times only for no one to pick up.

joyce isn’t surprised when at about 9:30 a sleepy steve walks out of billy’s room, gently shutting the door behind him as he gravitates towards the direction of loud, noisy teenagers and the smell of coffee. he’s in his old hawkins pe shirt, a pair of sweats and mismatched socks, hair messy and cheeks flushed at the attention everyone gives him now that he’s been caught. everyone but joyce, jonathan, will and max looked shocked and confused.

“steve, honey, just,” joyce sighs as she makes him a cup of coffee. “use the door please.” she urges, pressing a warm mug into his chest.

“thanks mrs. byers, but,” he clears his throat awkwardly as he takes the cup. “how, um,” he rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. “how did you..” he trails off.

“you trip every time you come in and leave through the window.” she shrugs. “ears of a hawk.” she hesitates. “and i check on billy sometimes. more often than not, you’re there.” she adds quietly with a sad smile.

before steve, joyce and the boys were usually startled awake to billy screaming and crying himself awake at 3am every night like clockwork. when steve started coming around, he got quiet. joyce got worried and checked on him to find the two with their limbs tangled, no space between them.

“oh.” steve mumbles. “i’ll use the door.” he promises before sitting beside robin. “so what’s happening?” he asks as he sips his black coffee, getting the recap on el’s dream.

around 9:45 billy emerges in steve’s hawkins swim team hoodie, a pair of shorts and mismatched socks matching the same ones on steve’s feet. he’s still half asleep as he walks into the living room, eyes barely open when he immediately makes his way to steve.

“‘s cold.” he whines tiredly. “come back to bed. miss you.” he huffs as he sits beside steve, not taking robin nor her personal space into account as he makes room for himself beside her. he turns to face steve, wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around steve’s waist, half on top of steve as he buries his face into steve’s neck. he kinda looks like a big baby like this, clinging onto steve while sitting on his lap, especially while voicing not-so-quiet demands for steve to hold him and play with his hair.

steve, however, doesn’t seem to mind as he sets his coffee down and immediately holds billy, one hand on the small of his back and the other on billys bare thigh, holding him upright and pulling him close. he doesn’t think billy even realizes what he’s doing, sitting on his lap like this in the middle of the room filled with people as they talk about the possible resurrection of a few goners.

everyone goes quiet for a minute, staring at the two in bewilderment. joyce is smiling to herself, robin and jonathan smirking knowingly. everyone else looks a little confused. mike looks like he’s about to make a comment when max glares at him and punches his arm. hard. billys fallen back asleep, clinging to steve and snoring softly.

“so,” robin clears her throat, stealing steve’s mug with one hand, the other playing with billy’s bed messy long curls. “heather holloway?” she takes a sip of the coffee, eyes peering at everyone over the mug.

[carnationcreation]

Can you do a Jonathan Byers one-shot where the female reader is a Hawkins Lab experiment who has super speed and was known as Seven and escaped the lab with Eleven and they were adopted by Hopper and she started dating Jonathan and during the fight with the mind flayer she tires herself out and faints and he goes into cute concerned boyfriend mode?

TITLE: New Life (Jonathan Byers x Hopper!reader)

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Request: yes!

Prompt/summary: Reader is an escaped experiment from Hawkins lab, after being adopted by Hopper with her sister El they struggle to adjust to the outside world. 

Word Count: 1,155

Warnings:  none

Authors note: I was listening to Dumb by KOPPS and Branded by NateWantsToBattle, really sets the vibe of most of the scenes

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(Y/h/c) = Your hair color

(Y/f/b)= your favorite band

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 She knew the blood dripping off her feet would attract the hounds.

At this point it didn’t matter if she wanted to give up, she’d be dead either way. The hounds would tear her apart. If they were going to catch her they’ll have to keep up.

Her powers only worked if she had enough energy. After a full night of running, both super sonically and regularly, she was exhausted. The clothes she had escaped with were torn and she had bruises on her body from the times she fell over branches and rocks sticking out of the ground. She knew she would have to find food soon, but she didn’t have any idea of how to get it.

The growl in her stomach went away for just a little bit, then it came back with a painful vengeance. Her days at the lab consisted of being locked in her room or being put into the tank. What little she could remember about her life before was stripped away in a matter of months and the more she thought about it the more her head hurt and she came up empty. 

Her vision was going in and out. Her feet felt like lead and she knew she wouldn’t be able to run much longer.

Maybe, she thought, if I just lay down here. I’ll be dead before they find me.

It was an optimistic thought. What she didn’t expect was to feel someone gently picking her up. Her body sunk into him. She couldn’t have been more than 13 years old but she had a number lower than 11...

Hopper turned her wrist over and saw the tattoo on the girls small wrist. A tiny 07 was drawn there, surely she had to have been there before El.

By the time he had gotten back to the cabin El knew he had her and was bringing her home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few months were terrifying for the girl. She couldn’t speak much, just like El when she was first found. After days of trying to feed her and get her to talk it wasn’t until El presented her own tattoo that the girl seemed to relax. The only time she would eat was when El was in the room, the only time she would sleep was when they were both in bed.

Her powers were a struggle. She had to learn she couldn’t use them around other people. And people. The girl had spent her entire life locked away, only seeing other humans if she was useful enough. So being introduced to knew people was terrifying. They soon found out she was probably around 16-17 when they took her in for a check up with a private doctor. Hopper pulled some strings so it was no questions asked, and an adoption paper was formed a few days later.

She found some comfort in Nancy, who took the girl under her wing buying her clothes and teaching her how to keep her hair in order. The (y/c/h) was finally starting to grow out from the horrible buzz cut she had when she was found. 

Then she met Jonathan.

At first he thought she hated him, because whenever he was around she would cling to the people she deemed safe. Nancy assured him she would warm up to him eventually, but there was still a voice in his head that said she wouldn’t. 

She grew close to Will after he gave her a drawing he had made for her. He carefully explained that it was her in the game that they play. He drew her as an Elf, one with the power of speed, he drew her with long wavy hair that was styled half up half down and a glorious crown on top of her head. She kept the drawing in her bedroom and looked at it before going to bed. Jonathan wouldn’t lie, he was jealous his brother bonded with her before he did. And besides, Will was a few years younger. But still he waited patiently to see how you would react to him.

Slowly you started warming up to him. After a while you started to look curiously at the camera he always carried with him.

”It’s a camera,” he said handing it to her, “Look, place your finger right there, and press it.”

the girl jumped as the flash went off. Jonathan grabbed the picture that popped out of the top of it and shook it a few times. The girl watched in wonder as the picture of Jonathan slowly appeared on the film. She pointed excitedly to it.

”Yes you did a good job!” he smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back.

As time went on Joyce invited the two girls over to their house more often. (Y/n), as Hopper had named her on the fake birth certificate, would wander in to Jonathan’s room to look at the pictures that were scattered on the walls. 

”Have you ever listened to music?” Jonathan asked her one day.

She shook her head and looked at the small cassette he had in his hands. He popped it into the radio and she stared with furrowed eyebrows at the machine. 

“Not much into rock huh? I guess we can find something you’ll like.”

Slowly, the two grew a friendship. Jonathan made it his personal mission to find out what kind of music (Y/n) would like best and also adjusting to her new life. They eventually landed on (y/f/b), and whenever he knew (Y/n) was coming over he’d have a tape ready for her to listen to. Will would join in occasionally on their music sessions.

They both soon learned how starved (Y/n) was of physical touch. Growing up as an experiment didn’t leave much room for hugs or gentle touches. She’d let Will lay in her lap whenever he wanted and hugs were always exchanged when they saw each other. The first time Jonathan tried to brush her hair out of her face with his hand he saw he flinch, his heart fell and thoughts of what might’ve happened to her to cause that raced through his mind. Soon enough he could reach for her hand without her pulling away. Soon enough she started reaching for his too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jonathan did his best to keep the girl away from Star Court. (Y/n) had stayed home most of that summer. With all the fireworks going off and all the people milling around she didn’t feel safe enough to go out. It wasn’t until the rest of the kids came to the cabin to give El the chance to find the Mind Flayer that she learned about what all the experiments at the lab where truly for.

Billy had found them.

They were trapped inside the mall after everyone split up to complete the mission. Mike frantically spoke into the walkie-talkie trying to get in contact with the Scoops Troop. Eleven moved the car as the mind flayer made its way into the mall, everyone ran to hide. They could hear Dustin finally talking over the walkie-talkie.

The mind flayer stalked around the food court. From her place behind the car (Y/n) could hear it making its way over. El and (Y/n) made eye contact, they both nodded and El’s group ran for cover in the Gap store. The mind flayer heard movement and went to turn and (Y/n) ran and threw a knife, hitting it in the leg to distract it, but by the time it turned around she was gone. (Y/n) ran over to the group and picked El up, they ran to a back hallway trying to get the injured El to safety.

 Billy stalked his way down the hall to the four.

“Billy please, your name is Billy Hargrove you live at-” Max cried before hitting her and knocking her against the wall. Mike stood between him and the girls but it was no use. Before they could even properly react he knocked both Mike and (Y/n) out and took El with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jonathan found them back there, he woke them up finally and they raced back out to the food court to execute Plan B. 

(Y/n) ran back and forth at the first floor, sing rope to tie up the Mind Flayers legs as the others threw fireworks in it’s face to distract it. Soon enough they fan out. With Dustin yelling frantically to close the gate. We all ran for cover and watched in shock as Billy stood up. He faced the Mind Flayer, and when it shot it’s nasty tongue out Billy blocked it from hitting El. Arm after arm reached out and impaled the boy. Max screamed. (Y/n) saw her chance and used the last of her strength to run down and grab El, Mike, and Max to bring them to safety. Finally a big explosion went off from below and everything went dark. 

When (Y/n) woke everything was dark. All the lights had went out and the fire department was loading her up onto a stretcher. Jonathan ran up beside her and got onto the ambulance with her.

“Jonathan?” she said meekly.

“I’m right here (Y/n), I’m right here.”

“Where’s El?”

Jonathan paused, “She’s with my mom. She’s safe just injured.”

“Hopper?”

Jonathan didn’t respond. Tears formed in (Y/n)’s eyes as she began to sob. 

“(Y/n) I promise you we’ll keep you safe. You’re going to be fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 3 months after the battle of Star Court. Joyce had adopted both El and (Y/n), who still hadn’t fully recovered from the loss of the person who has showed them so much love. (Y/n) had grown closer and closer to Jonathan. Clinging to him after she got out of the hospital. The Byers had finally decided to move. (Y/n) laughed at Max and Lucas’ terrible rendition of The Never Ending Story. She watched as El tried to use her powers once again on the stuffed Koala in the closet. 

“Don’t hurt yourself El,” (Y/n) yelled from the living room. 

Jonathan walked in from outside with Nancy and sat down beside the girl on the couch.

“Hey. How are you feeling?” he said. He kissed her temple as he wrapped his arm around her.

“Scared,” (Y/n) said.

“Scred? Of moving?”

(Y/n) stared at the floor, “Yeah...”

“We’re going to be okay, we’ll have a fresh start. No one will know where you came from other than Hawkins. They’ll just know you as (Y/n), the girl that’s really fast and has the prettiest smile.”

Their powers were gone. It was hard to adjust to at first. Both (Y/n) and El felt so empty inside, but they knew it was for the best. Maybe they could lead a normal life. (Y/n) slowly became more comfortable with the affection between her and Jonathan. And he began to introduce her to people as his girlfriend. What little (Y/n) knew about relationships all pointed to the fact that she cared about Jonathan. Not in the way that she cares for Will or El, but a different kind of care. She didn’t mind being called his girlfriend. 

She heard El’s sobs from the bedroom and left Jonathan’s embrace to make sure she was okay. After reading Hopper’s letter they both sat on the floor sobbing until Joyce told them it was time to go.

Boxes were loaded in to the U Haul and hugs were exchanged among the kids. (Y/n) looked back on the house from the front seat of the car, watching as her friends waved from their spot on their bikes. She smiled through her tears and waved until she couldn’t see them anymore. 

“Babe?” Jonathan said.

She turned to look at him.

“This is going to be our new life, away from any monsters in Hawkins. We’ll be back for Thanksgiving, I promise.”

She smiled and buckled in to her seat. She reached for Jonathan’s hand and he pulled it up to his lips to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Her heart swelled at the small gesture, before turning to stare at the road ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[lesbianrobin]

I’m soo happy that you responded!! And ahh I agree with everything. Also lol I forgot to say this but I love your season 4 Steve picks as 2048. I literally only play that version now. Also omg you are so right about that hill thing in season 3. I didn’t even think of the fact that he was literally safe and yet decided to do that anyway!! Also yesss with the Steve and Lucas. I feel like they have such an insane potential for a friendship especially with what looks like that’s the route they’re going with Lucas’s character. Please just let them be shooting hoops or something and then they have a heart to heart. I don’t feel like any of the characters talk enough about the trauma they went through and that would be so interesting with these two characters. Especially because (in my opinion at least) they seem so similar but also soo different!! Ughhh, you are literally right that him interacting with mike, Joyce, Will, and etc would be sooo amazing. I also hate that we will probs not see them like their snippets of interaction mean everything to me. I live for Steve and El’s first meeting like El just comes in looking all badass and saves their asses and Steve is sooo fucking confused. I feel like they told him about El but still seeing his confused face in the background is everything. Also you are so right Steve needs a friend that’s his own age. Him and Robin are perfect but also I believe Robin is a year younger than him. Am I remembering that wrong?

Also what career do you think Steve would fit best with? I’ve seen the hairdresser Steve and musician Steve floating around and I LOVE THEM!! Idk if I saw it on your blog though but I feel like I have (I look at Steve content a lot so I don’t exactly remember where I saw this stuff from sorry). I have another question for you because I am always on the hunt for these but: what is your favorite or comfort Steve centric fanfics and why?

omg i forgot about steve 2048.... and yeah robin is younger!! she, nancy, and jonathan are all a year behind steve in school, but they never specify what the actual age gap is between any of them. it’s kinda negligible either way, but the fact that steve specifically said robin’s “still in school” rather than saying she’s too young or stating her age when dustin was trying to set them up makes me think he and robin are probably only a few months apart?? also i’m the captain of team hairdresser steve <3 i feel like as he got older he might end up being like a stay at home dad or working in education/childcare/social work in some capacity bc he cares a lot ab children but in terms of like 18-19 year old steve i want him to get his cosmetology license and gossip and make people look pretty all day. it’s what he deserves.

this is gonna sound so bad but like all my favorite/comfort steve fics are either my own or by sarah @steveharrington. nothing against anybody else i’m just very picky and those are the ones i go back to. so this is my ao3 and this is hers. a beautiful day in the neighborhood is very nice it’s about steve watching mr rogers <3 

[scare-theory]

Who do u think is gonna die in s4

Good question! I’ve talked about this before but let’s get into it.

Let’s get a few things out of the way first: A lot of people operate under two assumptions when talking about who’s going to die. One, there will only be one major death, and two, they will not kill any of the kids, simply because they are kids. 

Honestly, I don’t think those are safe assumptions to make. Especially the second one. Horror as of late has demonstrated a willingness to kill off younger characters more often (Hereditary, A Quiet Place, Doctor Sleep, IT, etc...) than has been seen before. I don’t think we should completely discount them. As for the other point, we could ABSOLUTELY see a repeat of season 3 with two major deaths, or perhaps even more. I don’t understand where the idea of one major death came from, especially with this show. 

Be prepared for more than one major death in season 4. Don’t say no one warned you.

That being said, here’s my top five. 

Nancy or Jonathan: I say this because they are at about equal (very high) risk in my mind. Both make sense narratively, especially in relation to the characters around them, and neither are so integral to the plot (at least so far) that the show would de rail without them.) The biggest evidence here to me is the VSF movies, though. The percentage of them that involve the death of a main character’s sibling is frankly staggering, and interestingly both characters fit that description. If I had to say one or the other, I’d give the higher odds of death to Jonathan, due to Will’s story arc mostly. 

Steve: He’s not as high as Jonathan and Nancy because of the VSF point, but he still is pretty high on my list. Steve is a character with a clear and very well done arc in this series, and I think nothing would make for a more full transformation from douchebag to hero than some sort of sacrificial demise. I think him dying would not only hit the emotional beats it should, but also work as a great sendoff to a great character. 

Dustin: Of all of the Party, I think he’s in the most danger. His relationship with Steve feels like it is setting up for heartbreak to me (in one way or another), but more than that, it would make the most narrative sense to happen before the end of the series. Most of the other characters have a relationship that needs fixing, self-realization to embark on. Dustin’s character arc feels the closest to either being over, or starting something unexpected and new. 

Kali and Her Group: Now, I think these would be alongside another death. However, the trailer has made this group SKYROCKET on my list for people most likely to die. The trailer makes me think the subjects will be of more importance (perhaps even a new one being a villain), so I can see them dying fairly easily. Perhaps even early in the season. More than likely, they will be used to establish a threat for El, as in “they can take Kali no problem, what chance do you have?” 

Joyce: God I hope this doesn’t happen. Holy shit I hope this doesn’t happen. There’s one thing that really makes this stick out as an option to me, though, and that is the possibility that Will has powers, and somehow, they have to be fully realized. We’ve seen El’s powers being magnified by trauma and desperation many times, and that’s why I’m so worried about the Byers family this season. Again, I hope this doesn’t happen. Killing off Winona Ryder is a deadly sin in my mind, but I’m preparing myself now, just in case. 

Now, one could totally take all of us by surprise. My money is on Eleven or Mike being that if it happens, but that’s my top five for the moment. 

Thank you so much for asking!

[itsonlystrange]

I’M CALLING IT:

Jason or Argyle are going to die in season four.

Why you may ask?

Well because, I don’t think they’ll have any usage beyond season four. Obviously we don’t know much about them, but we already have so many characters, that I don’t think they’re going to be appearing in season 5, along with new characters too. Now obviously I could be wrong, a character obviously doesn’t have to die for them to not appear in next seasons, maybe Argyle will move away? Or more realistically, the Byers move back to Hawkins. However, this is stranger things. If a character as important as Argyle is supposed to be (I’ll get to Jason in a second), who’s supposed to be a regular for this season, I don’t see how he can be of really any use in season 5.

AGAIN.. we don’t know how season 4 will end, if it doesn’t have a time skip then ofc Argyle will probably be in it, however If we DO have a time skip like usual, I don’t see how he can bleed into the next season. Again, we don’t know his plotline or what he’s importance is really, so we can’t really say if he’ll be needed for season 5 or not. Same goes for all the new characters too, I’m just speculating!

My reasoning behind this is because, they already have so many characters, that I feel like Argyle would really need to have major importance to season 5 for him to reappear, because if he’s just gonna be along for the ride without really any input, they wouldn’t need him. All characters in ST carry their weight, and when the duffers feel like they just aren’t needed anymore, they d!e.

Think of it this way:

ALEXEI: great character, however, how could he have been implemented into season 4? There’s already going to be so many new Russian characters, and I doubt the Russians would let him join their side again, so what would his purpose be if he doesn’t even know where the new gate is? He’d just be a character that existed, with no real purpose. The duffers realized that, so he got the boot.

BILLY: same thing here. I don’t think they really knew how to use him going forward. He was a perfect candidate for being flayed next, and that was also the writers ticket out to finally k!ll him with an actual reason.

I can go on and on as to why specific characters had to die, the only character I genuinely feel like could have 100% been used in season 3 is Bob. Bob would have fit in perfectly in season 3 IMO, to this day I still wished he hadn’t d!ed.

Anyways, you get the point. Again, this is just a theory! Maybe Argyle will have something major to add to the table that HAS to be implemented into season 5. Maybe he’s super smart, or maybe he is a good problem solver, so much so, that they need him in season 5. However if all he does in s4 is crack a code that’s on relevant IN season 4, then he probably won’t be needed for season 5. We GENUINELY DONT KNOW!

HOWEVER...

I feel like he’s a great candidate to d!e because..

1. He’d be lovable enough that we’d miss him if he passed but not so much so that we’d be all hung up on him, it’s a good way out to k!ll a new character so they don’t have to k!ll any of their mains until the finale.

2. They usually k!ll off/fake k!ll off an already existing character and a new one, which is why I think one of the teens (Steve, Jon, Robin, Nancy) will probably d!e in s4, with one of the new characters (or multiple as this season is supposed to be the darkest) dying as well. I think one of those people will be Argyle.

3. It’s an easy way out. If they genuinely don’t have any use for him beyond s4, instead of just having him move away or for Jon to stop being friends with him, it’s in Stranger Things fashion that he just goes out and d!es.

NOW ALSO: I want to tamper with the more REALISTIC possibility that the Byers move back to Hawkins. Depending on how season 4 ends, and what the state of Hawkins and the Byers are in, I definitely could see them moving back. This may be wishful thinking, however If we do get another time skip, it could mean the Byers moved back assuming everything’s all dandy and fine and then the events of season 5 start around 5 months later. I don’t think they’ll move back if S5 picks up right on the tail of s4 with no time skip, though. BUT: if the Byers DO move back, that’s an easy way for Argyle to not appear in season 5, as obviously he’d be too far away, and it’s a nice cop out if they really needed to.

EDIT: have to clarify: I think the Byers will only move back to Hawkins if Hopper and El come with, which I know is unrealistic but we gotta see how the season plays out. I still have no clue how they’ll justify Hopper coming back after being “dead” for a solid 6 months, but if he did, I’m sure the government could come up with something like they always have, or maybe they’d just outright say he was kidnapped by Russians and just leave out all the upside down stuff. Murray said it himself, water it down! Instead of “Hopper got kidnapped by Russians who brainwashed him and used him to help teleport random green goo into an alternate dimension.” It could be “Hopper got kidnapped by Russians just out of natural selection and not because there happened to be a Russian base under Hawkins and an alternate dimension seeping into our world.” Because THATS more believable. Obviously they’d never outright say that Hawkins had a Russian lab underneath it for a year, or that the Upside Down exists, or any of that stuff, they’d most likely say something like, “oh! Hopper was just mindlessly minding his business and then Russians kidnapped him- no deeper reason or meaning.” Again, “water it down!” I know the writers could come up with something.

I don’t think the Byers would move back if Hopper or El doesn’t come with. It really depends on how season 4 ends and if there’s a time skip or not. But it’s a possibility for sure. And I’m sure Joyce will realize how much Will and El miss their friends, and if all is well during the s4 epilogue, she may cave in and just move back, especially if Hopper is back, and she would feel more inclined to go back to Hawkins FOR Hopper, depending if even Hopper himself wants to go back to Hawkins. IT ALL DEPENDS! The relationship status of Mike and Will, Jonathan and Nancy, and Mike and El all depend aswell. I think if Jancy is still going strong (which I hope for) and everything is safe in Hawkins, and Hopper is back in Hawkins as well, and Mike and Will/Mike and El (depending on whoever Mike ends up with by the end of s4) Joyce would feel much safer going back to Hawkins knowing her oldest son’s girlfriends there, Hopper is there, and her youngest son’s bestfriends / crush/ significant other is there, and her adoptive daughter/El’s friends etc are also there.

IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW S4 ENDS! :)

AGAIN, argyle could really be super helpful in season 4, so I’m not saying I want him to d!e as I feel like he’ll be a new fave of mine for sure, what I mean is, just judging my past ST seasons, if he has no usage beyond season 4 he’ll probably d!e and that’s that, that’s just the stranger things way.

NOW ONTO JASON:

Jason’s described as the “irredeemable Steve.”

Do I even need to explain why he’s probably gonna die?

He’s an airhead jock. I have a feeling that he’s going to go looking for Chrissy (his GF that probably d!es in the first few episodes to the Demogorgan, based on the audition tapes.) and he’ll be so stupid to wander into the Upside Down assuming he can just kick the demogorgons ass, because his ego is inflated, and even when everyone else warns him not to, he does anyways and ends up dying.

Jason’s supposed to be the preppy version of Billy, essentially, so I’m definitely intrigued to see where his plot goes.

But if he’s really supposed to be as bad as Billy or the irredemable version, he’s probably gonna hit the bucket, probably doing something stupid. He probably will think this whole “upside down” stuff is BS and just goes into the UD voluntarily because he thinks he’s all buff or whatever and then d!es after severely underestimating the circumstances theyre all in

HONORABLE MENTION:

I think Eddie has a good shot at dying too, but I’ll go more into detail about that as well

I’ll be making a post about who I think will d!e in season 4 and what episodes. I could he totally wrong and probably will be, this is all a theory based on some evidence and speculation!

I’ll probably make my post later today or tomorrow explaining who I think will d!e in S4, and I’ll go more into depth about everything I mentioned as well, along with why I think one of the already existing teens (Jon- Robin- Nance-Steve) could possibly d!e too aswell

We’ll see! But if I’m wrong I’m wrong and if I’m right I’m right, we’ll just have to wait and find out :)

[yikesharringrove]

I kind of want to see Billy get offended on Steve's behalf. Like there is a big holiday get together and Steve cooks this huge elaborate meal for everyone and they are all joking about finding out who the catorer was and not being able to afford them. Billy, on the other hand, had to watch Steve work himself up to an almost breakdown trying to get everything ready for them all.

Steve was so proud of himself.

He had been cooking for days, slaving away in the kitchen as he made enough food for everyone for their big New Years’ Eve celebration.

Joyce had had everyone over for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Steve insisted he host the next one.

He had made a two pot roasts, perfectly cooked, a mountain of mashed potatoes, a large salad with homemade dressing, stuffing, had made spaghetti squash, a huge charcuterie board, had even made brownies and apple die and gingersnaps and homemade ice cream for dessert.

He was nearly vibrating as he welcomed everyone inside, as they cooed over the huge spread.

They sat down, Hopper and Joyce sitting at the ends of the long table in the elegant dining room.

“Steve, this is delicious.” Joyce was helping herself to the squash. Steve beamed.

“Where’d you get it all?” Mike had his mouth full.

“Oh, I actually went to the city for everything.” Bradley’s Big Buy didn’t have the exact kind of butter Steve wanted, so he had made Billy drive him out to the fancy grocery store in Indianapolis, made him wheel the cart as he smelled herbs and threw expensive cheeses at Billy.

“No, but from where?”

“Marsh Supermarket?” Steve’s brow was furrowed.

“Oh, does your family have like, a cook?”

“Not since I was a kid.” Billy raised one eyebrow glancing around the table. Apparently, everyone thought Steve was incapable of doing anything.

“So who catered?” Steve’s cheeks went red.

“Nobody. I cooked.” Dustin laughed, elbowing Steve.

“Yeah, okay, Buddy.” Steve’s face fell. Billy hated when Steve felt bad, needed to fix it right away.

“Steve spent four days making this dinner.” Billy shoved a big bite of stuffing in his mouth. “Everything’s great, Stevie.” Steve pulled a face, laughing a little at the way his cheeks were bulging.

“Nah, I don’t believe it.” Hopper grinned down the table, shooting a wink at Steve.  He was silent for a moment. The chair legs scraped loudly as Steve pushed back from the table.

“Excuse me.” He raced upstairs. Billy sighed.

“You guys, he spent days cooking all this. He’s so proud of it. I know it’s literally the easiest thing ever to make fun of him, but like, pump the brakes.” There was a muttering of sorry, Billy down the table. Joyce stood up, tossed her napkin on the table.

“I’ll go talk to him.” Billy smiled at her.

She knocked softly on the door.

“Steve?” His bedroom door flew open. He was smiling at her, putting on this act right in front of her face. Had tears in his eyes still.

“Hey, Mrs. B. So sorry about that.” She pushed him back into the room, sat him down on the bed.

“Sweetheart, dinner is amazing. Thank you.” He smiled.

“It was no problem.”

“You spent days on it. And we were all so rude. That’s not okay. And I’m sorry.” He gave a big sigh, his face finally falling out of that falseness.

“Cooking is just, it’s the one thing I’m good at. And it kinda hurt that, that everyone things I’m no good at anything.”

“It makes complete sense why that would hurt you. And we don’t think that. I think you’re great at so many things. You’re good at being kind, and compassionate. You’re good at owning up to your mistakes and holding yourself accountable. You’re good at making the people you love feel safe and happy. Just added cooking to the list.” He smiled down at the floor, his cheeks red.

“That means a lot to me. Thank you.”

“Come down whenever you’d like, Sweetheart. But we’d love for you to join us.”

He took a few moments after she left to collect himself, traipsing softly down the stairs.

“Okay, when he comes in, I want fucking smiles, I want specific compliments on the food, and I want them to be from the goddamn heart.” Billy was standing next to Joyce at the head of the table. “He worked his ass off so that you ungrateful bitches could have a nice dinner. Lookin’ at you, Wheeler.”

“What did I do?”

“You’re just pissin’ me off extra today.” Steve laughed into his hand behind the wall. “He should be comin’ soon, so happy fucking faces.”

Steve gave them a second before he came around the wall, squeezing Billy’s arm as he sat.

“Great dinner, Steve. Sorry for giving you shit about it.” Steve smiled at Mike, who was wearing that pained fake smile he often sported at the Wheeler family dinners Steve sat in on.

There was a smattering of apologies and compliments from everyone just as Billy had requested.

Steve at with one hand, holding Billy’s tightly for the rest of the meal.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Riot Fest 2021: 9/16-9/19, Douglass Park

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Much like Pitchfork Music Festival earlier this month, this past weekend’s Riot Fest felt relatively normal. Arriving at Douglas Park every day, you were greeted by the usual deluge of attendees in Misfits t-shirts and dyed hair, the sound of faint screams and breakneck guitars and drums emanating from nearby stages. The abnormal aspects of the fest, at least as compared to previous incarnations, we’re already used to by now from 2021 shows: To get in, you had to show proof of vaccination and/or a negative test no older than 48 hours, which means that unvaxxed 4-day attendees had to get multiple tests. Props to the always awesome staff at Riot Fest for actually checking the cards against the names on government-issued IDs.

For a festival that dealt with a plethora of last-minute changes due to bands dropping out because of COVID-19 caution (Nine Inch Nails, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr.) or other reasons (Faith No More/Mr. Bungle because of concerns around Mike Patton’s well-being), there were very few bumps in the road. Whether Riot Fest had bands like Slipknot, Anthrax, or Rise Against in their back pocket as replacements or not, it very much felt like who we saw Thursday-Sunday was always supposed to be the lineup, even when laying your eyes on countless “Death to the Pixies” shirts. Sure, one of the fest’s main gimmicks--peeling back the label on Goose Island’s Riot Fest Sucks Pale Ale to reveal the schedule--was out of date with inaccurate set times and bands, and it still would have been so had Faith No More and Mr. Bungle stayed, since Fucked Up had to drop out last minute due to border issues. But the festival, as always, rolled with the punches.

The sets themselves offered the circle pit and crowdsurfing-inducing punk and metal you’re used to, with a few genre outliers. For so many bands of all styles, Riot Fest represented their first live show in years, and a few acts knew the exact number of days since their last show. For every single set, the catharsis in the crowd and on stage was palpable, not exactly anger, or elation, but pure release.

Here were our favorite sets of the festival, in chronological order.

WDRL

Last October, WDRL (which, amazingly, stands for We Don’t Ride Llamas) announced themselves with a Tweet: “y’all been looking for an alt black band,, well here you go”. A band of Gen Z siblings, Chase (lead guitar), Max (lead vocals), Blake (drums), and Kit Mitchell (bass guitar), WDRL is aware, much like Meet Me @ The Altar (who, despite my hyping, I couldn’t make it in time to see) that they’re one of too few bands of POCs in the Riot Fest-adjacent scene. Their set, one of the very first of the weekend during Thursday’s pre-party, showed them leading by example, the type of band to inspire potentially discouraged Black and brown folks to start punk bands. Max is a terrific vocalist, able to scream over post-punk, scat over funk, and coo over slow, soulful R&B swayers with the same ease. The rest of the band was equally versatile, able to pivot on a dime from scuzzy rock to hip hop to twinkling dream pop. Bonus points for covering Splendora’s “You’re Standing On My Neck”, aka the Daria theme song.

Joyce Manor

Joyce Manor’s self-titled debut is classic. The best part of it as an album play-through at a festival? It’s so short that you can hear it and you’ll still have half a set for other favorites. So while the bouncy “Orange Julius”", “Ashtray Petting Zoo”, and ultimate singalong “Constant Headache” were set highlights, the Torrance, CA band was able to burn through lots from Never Hungover Again, Cody, Million Dollars to Kill Me, and their rarities collection Songs From Northern Torrance. Apart from not playing anything from Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired (seriously, am I the only one who loves that record?), Joyce Manor were stellar, from the undeniable hooks of “Heart Tattoo” to the churning power chords of “Catalina Fight Song”. After playing “Christmas Card”, Johnson and company gave one final nod to the original fest cancellation, My Chemical Romance, who were slated to headline 2020, then 2021, and now 2022. If you ever wondered what it would sound like hearing a concise punk band like Joyce Manor take on the bombast of “Helena”, you found out. Hey, it was actually pretty good!

Patti Smith

Behold: a full Patti Smith set! After being shafted by the weather last time around, a sunglasses-laden Smith decided not to fuck around, leading with the inspiring “People Have The Power”, her voice as powerful as I’ve ever heard it. Maybe it was the influence of Riot Fest, but she dropped as many f-bombs as Corey Taylor did during Slipknot’s Sunday night headlining set. After reluctantly signing an adoring crowd member’s copy of Horses, she quipped, “I feel bad for you have to cart that fucking thing around.” It wasn’t just the filthy banter: This was Smith at her most enraptured and incendiary, belting during “Because The Night” and spitting during a “Land/Gloria” medley, reciting stream-of-consciousness hallucinogenic lyrics about the power of escape in the greatest display of stamina the festival had to offer.

Circa Survive

“It feels good to dance,” declared Circa Survive lead singer Anthony Green. The heart and soul of the Philadelphia rock band, who cover ground from prog rock to post-hardcore and emo, Green was in full form during the band’s early Friday set, his falsetto carrying the rolling “The Difference Between Medicine and Poising Is in the Dose” and the chugging “Rites of Investiture”. While the band, too, can throw down, they’re equally interesting when softer and more melodic, Brendan Ekstrom‘s twinkling guitars lifting “Child of the Desert” and “Suitcase”. Ending with the one-two punch of debut Juturna’s introspective “Act Appalled” and Blue Sky Noise’s skyward “Get Out”, Green announced the band would have a new record coming soon, one you hope will cover the sonic and thematic ground of even just those two tracks.

Thrice

Thrice played their first show since February 2020 the same day they’d release their 11th studio album, Horizons/East (Epitaph). To a crowd of fans that came to hear their favorite songs, though, the Irvine, California band knew better than to play a lot of the new record, instead favoring tracks like The Artist in the Ambulance’s spritely title cut and Vheissu standout “The Earth Will Shake”. Yeah, they led with a Horizons/East song making its live debut, the dreamy, almost Deftones-esque “Scavengers”, and later in the set they’d reveal the impassioned “Summer Set Fire to the Rain”. But the set more prominently served to emphasize lead vocalist Dustin Kensrue’s gruff delivery, on “All the World Is Mad” and “in Exile”, the rhythm section’s propulsive playing buoying his fervency. And how about Teppei Teranishi’s finger tapping on “Black Honey”?!? Thrice often favor the slow build-up, but they offered plenty of individually awesome moments.

Smashing Pumpkins

William Patrick Corgan entered the stage to dramatic strings, dressed in a robe, with white face paint except for red hearts under his eyes. He looked like a ghost. That’s pretty much where the semi-serious theatricality ended. The Smashing Pumpkins’ first Chicago festival headlining set in recent memory was the rawest they’ve sounded in a while, counting when they played an original lineup-only set at the United Center a few years back. It was also the most fun I’ve ever seen Corgan have on stage. Though they certainly selected and debuted from their latest electropop turn Cyr, Corgan, guitarist James Iha, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist Jeff Schroeder, and company more notably dug deep into the vault, playing Gish’s “Crush” for the first time since 2008, Adore’s “Shame” for the first time since 2010, and Siamese Dream barnburner “Quiet” for the first time since 1994 (!). Best, every leftfield disco jam like set opener “The Colour Of Love”, “Cyr”, and “Ramona” was quickly followed by something heavy and/or recognizable, Chamberlin’s limber drum solos elevating even latter-day material like “Solara”. At one point, Corgan, a self-described “arty fuck,” admitted that years ago he would have opted for more experimental material, but he knew the crowd wanted to hear classics, the band then delving into a gorgeous acoustic version of “Tonight, Tonight”. And while Kate Bush coverer Meg Myers came out to sing Lost Highway soundtrack industrial ditty “Eye”, it was none other than legendary local shredder Michael Angelo Batio who stole the show, joining for the set closer, a pummeling version of Zeitgeist highlight “United States”. Leaning into the cheese looks good on you, Billy.

The Bronx

Credit to L.A. punk rock band The Bronx, playing early on a decidedly cooler Saturday early afternoon, for making me put in my earplugs outside of the photo pit. Dedicating “Shitty Future” to Fucked Up (who, as we mentioned, had to drop out), the entire band channeled Damian Abraham’s energy on piercing versions of “Heart Attack American” as well as “Superbloom” and “Curb Feelers” from their latest album Bronx VI (Cooking Vinyl). Joby J. Ford and Ken Horne’s guitars stood out, providing choppy rhythms on “Knifeman” and swirling solos on “Six Days A Week”.

Big Freedia

The New Orleans bounce artist has Big Diva Energy, for the most part. After her DJ pumped up the crowd to contemporary Southern rap staple “Ayy Ladies” by Travis Porter, Big Freedia walked out and showed that “BDE”, firing through singles like “Platinum” and “N.O. Bounce” as her on-stage dancers’ moves ranged from delicate to earth-shaking. At this point, Freedia can pretty much do whatever she wants, effortlessly segueing between a cover of Drake’s “Nice For What” to “Strut”, her single with electropop DJ Elohim, to a cover of Beyone’s “Formation”. Of course, the set highlight was when she had volunteers from the crowd come up and shake and twerk--two at a time to keep it COVID-safe--all while egging them on to go harder. Towards the end of the set, after performing the milquetoast “Goin’ Looney” from the even-worse-than-expected Space Jam: A New Legacy soundtrack, she pulled out the beloved “Gin in my System”. “I got that gin in my system,” she sang, the crowd singing back, “Somebody gonna be my victim,” a refrain that compositionally not only leaves plenty of room for the thundering bass but is thematically a statement of total power--over sexism, racism, the patriarchy--even in the face of control-altering substances.

Les Savy Fav

During Les Savy Fav’s set, lead singer Tim Harrington at various points--*big breath*--went into the crowd, deepthroated an audience member’s mohawk spike, found a discarded manikin head with a wig on it, revealed the words “deep” and “dish” painted on his thighs and a drawing of a Red Hot on his back, rode a crowd member like a horse, made a headband out of pink tape, donned ski goggles, surfed on top of a door carried by the crowd, squeezed his belly while the camera was on it to make it look like his belly button was singing, and referred to himself as a “slippery eel.” Indeed, the legend of Les Savy Fav’s live show starts and ends with Harrington’s ridiculous antics, as he’s all but out of breath when actually singing dance-punk classics like “Hold On To Your Genre”, “The Sweat Descends”, and “Rome (Written Upside Down)”. We haven’t heard much in terms of new music from Les Savy Fav in over 10 years--their most recent album was 2010′s Root For Ruin--but I could see them and the extremely Aughts genre in general become staples of Riot Fest as albums like Inches, The Rapture’s Echoes, and !!!’s Louden Up Now reach the 20-year mark. Dynamic vocalists, tight bands, and killer grooves: What’s not to love?

State Champs

This set likely wins the award for “most immediate crowd surfers,” which I guess is to be expected when you begin your set with a classic track 1--album 1 combination. “Elevated” is the State Champs number that will cause passers-by to stop and watch a couple songs, the type of song that can pretty much only open or close a set. And because they opened with it, the crowd immediately ramped up the energy. It’s been three years since the last State Champs full-length, Living Proof, so they were in prime position to play some new songs. As such, they performed their bubblegummy “Outta My Head” and “Just Sound” and faithfully covered Fall Out Boy’s “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago” (releasing a studio version earlier this week). But the tracks from The Finer Things and Around the World and Back were, as usual, the highlights, like “All You Are Is History”, “Remedy”, “Slow Burn”, and set closer “Secrets”. At the end of the day, it didn’t entirely matter: The crowd knew every word of every song.

Bayside

Putting State Champs and Bayside back-to-back on the same stage made an easy decision for the many pop-punk bands at Riot Fest. Bayside’s been at it for twice as long, so the breadth of their setlist across their discography is more variable. Moreover, they’ve thrice revisited their discography with acoustic albums of old songs, so even their staples are subject to change. They provided solid versions of Killing Time standouts “Already Gone” and “Sick, Sick, Sick”, Cult’s “Pigsty”, and older songs like their self-titled’s “Montauk” and Sirens and Condolences’ “Masterpiece”. For “Don’t Call Me Peanut”, though, they brought out--*gasp*--an acoustic guitar! It was a rare moment not just for one of the most popular pop punk sets but the festival in general, a breather before Vacancy shout-along “Mary”.

Rancid

“Rancid has always been anti-fascist and anti-racist,” said Tim Armstrong before the band played “Hooligans”. It was nice to hear an explicit declaration of solidarity from the street punks, reminding the crowd what really matters and why we come together to scream and mosh. The band expectedly favored ...And Out Come The Wolves, playing almost half of it, and they perfectly balanced their harder edges with more celebratory ska songs like “Where I’m Going” from their most recent album Trouble Maker (Hellcat/Epitaph). My two favorite moments? The breezy, keyboard-laden “Fall Back Down” from their supremely underrated 2001 album Indestructable, and when they asked the crowd whether they wanted the set to end with “Time Bomb” or “Ruby Soho”. “We have 4 minutes left, and it’s disrespectful to play over your set time,” said Armstrong. It’s easy to see why Rancid continues to make an impression--instrumental and moral--on touring bands new and old.

Run the Jewels

The brilliant hip hop duo are masters of balancing social consciousness with the desire to fuck shit up for fun. Live, the former tends to come in between-song banter, the latter with their actual charismatic, tit-for-tat performances of the songs. However, Run the Jewels also are probably the clearest live performers in hip hop today, Killer Mike and El-P’s words, hypersexual and woke alike, ringing in the ears of audience members who don’t even know the songs. (Looking around, I could see people smiling and laughing at every dick joke, nodding at each righteous proclamation.) Some of the best songs on their most recent album RTJ4 (Jewel Runners/BMG) are perfect for these multitudes. Hearing both RTJ MCs and the backing track of Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha chanting “Look at all these slave masters posin’ on yo’ dollar” on “JU$T” as the rowdy crowd bounced up and down was the ultimate festival moment. For those who had never seen RTJ, it was clear from the get-go, as Killer Mike and EL-P traded bars on “yankee and the brave (ep. 4)” that they’re a unique hip hop act. For the rest of us, it was clear that Run the Jewels keep getting better.

The Gories

It felt a little weird that legendary Detroit trio The Gories were given the first set of the final day--I’d have thought they’d have more draw than that. No matter what, they provided one of the more satisfying and stylistically varied sets of the festival, showcasing their trademark balance of garage punk and blues. Mick Collins and Dan Kroha’s guitar and vocal harmonies were the perfect jangly balance to Peggy O’Neill’s meat and potatoes drumming on “Sister Ann” and “Charm Bag”, while folks less familiar with The Gories were treated to their fantastic covers of Suicide’s “Ghost Rider” and The Keggs’ “To Find Out”. Smells like time for the first Gories album in 20 years!

FACS

I thought it would be ill-fitting to watch a band like FACS in the hot sun, early in the day. Their monochrome brand of post-punk seems better suited for a dimly lit club. But the hypnotic nature of Brian Case’s swirling guitar and Alianna Kalaba’s slinky bass was oddly perfect in a sweltering, faint-inducing heat. Just when you thought you might fade, squalls of feedback and Noah Leger’s odd time signatures picked you back up. Songs from their new album Present Tense (Trouble In Mind) such as “Strawberry Cough” and “XOUT” were emblematic of this push-pull. And everything from the band’s red, white, and black color palate to their lack of stage banter suggested a cool minimalism that was rare at a festival that tends to book more outwardly emotional bands.

Alex G

On one hand, Alex G’s unique combination of twangy alt country and earnest indie rock makes him an outlier at Riot Fest, or at the very least a mostly Pitchfork/occasional Riot Fest type of booking. On the other hand, like a lot of bands at the festival, he has a rabid fanbase, one that knows his back catalog hits, like “Kute”, “Kicker”, and “Bug”, as much as if not more than hyped Rocket and House of Sugar singles, like “Bobby” and “Gretel”. Backed by a band that knows when to be loose and when to tighten up--and the instrumental chops to do so--Alex G was better than he was a Pitchfork three years ago. He still sings through his teeth, making it especially hard to hear him on louder tunes such as “Brick”. But when the honesty of his vocals combines with the dreamy guitars of “Southern Sky” and circular melodies of “Near”, it’s pure bliss. 

HEALTH

The formula for the LA industrial noise band has pretty much always been Jake Duzsik’s soft vocals contrasting John Famiglietti’s screeching bass and pedals and BJ Miller’s mammoth drums. Both in 2018 and Sunday at Riot Fest, the heat affected Famiglietti’s pedals, which were nonetheless obscured by tarp. Or so HEALTH claimed: You wouldn’t know the difference given how much their sound envelops your whole body during one of their live sets. Since their previous appearance at the festival, the prolific band has released two new records on Loma Vista, Vol. 4: Slaves of Fear and collaboration record Disco4: Part 1. Songs from those records occupied half of their excellent set, including battering opener “GOD BOTHERER”, “BODY/PRISON”, and “THE MESSAGE”. It was so wonderfully loud it drowned out K.Flay’s sound check drummer, thank the lord.

Thursday

Last time Thursday played Riot Fest, Geoff Rickly was battling heroin addiction, something he talked about during the band’s triumphant late afternoon set on Sunday. He mentioned the kindness of the late, great Riley Gale of Power Trip in extending a helping hand when he was down and extended his love to anybody in the crowd or even the world at large going through something similar. To say that this set was life-affirming would be an understatement; after 636 days of no shows, Rickly was at his most passionate. He introduced “Signals Over The Air” as a song the band “wrote about men beating up on women in the pit,” that a record exec at the time told them that it wouldn’t age well because he thought--no kidding--sexism would eventually end. Rickly’s voice, suffering from sound issues last time around, simply soared during Full Collapse’s “Cross Out The Eyes”, No Devolucion’s “Fast to the End”, and two inspired covers: Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and Texas Is The Reason’s “If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours”. The latter the band played because TITR guitarist Norman Brannon’s actually on tour with them, though Rickly emphasized the influence the NYC post-hardcore greats had on Thursday when they first started. Never forgetting where they’ve come from, with self-deprecating humor and radical empathy, Thursday are once again a force.

Devo

Much like the B-52′s in 2019, Devo was the set this year of a 70′s/80′s absurd punk band with some radio hits that everybody knows but with a swath of die-hard fans, too. It’s safe to say both groups were satisfied. You walked around the fest all day wondering whether the folks wearing Devo hats were actual fans or doing it for the novelty. By the time the band actually took the stage after a career-spanning video of their many phases, it didn’t really matter, because it was clear the band still had it, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale’s vocals booming throughout a massive crowd. They ripped through “Peek-a-Boo”, “Going Under”, “That’s Good”, “Girl U Want”, and “Whip It”, which caused the fans waiting for Slipknot (and presumably some Devo heads) to form a circle pit. And that was all before the first costume change. Mark passed out hats to the crowd, fully embracing converts who might have only known “Whip It”. The feverish chants of “Uncontrollable Urge” and synth freakouts of “Jocko Homo” whipped everyone into a frenzy. And the band performed the “Freedom Of Choice” theme song for the first time since the early 80′s! I had seen Devo before, opening for Arcade Fire and Dan Deacon at the United Center, but the atmosphere at Riot Fest was more appropriately ludicrous.

Flaming Lips

“The Flaming Lips are the most COVID-safe band in the world,” went the ongoing joke, as throughout the pandemic they’d give audience members bubbles for their bubbles to be able to play shows. The normally goofy and interactive band scaled back for Riot Fest. Before launching into their traditional opener “Race For The Prize”, Wayne Coyne explained that while the band is normally proud of where they come from--Oklahoma City--they’re saddened by the local government’s ignorant pandemic response and wouldn’t risk launching balloons or walking into the crowd because they might be virus spreaders coming from such an under-vaccinated area. To his and the band’s credit, they wore masks during the performance, even when singing; Coyne removed his only when outside of his bubble that had to be deflated and inflated many times and that sometimes muffled his singing voice even more than a mask. Ever the innovative band, they still put on a stellar show. Coyne autotuned his voice on “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1″, making it another instrument filling the song’s glorious pop melodies. Less heavy on props, the band favored a glitchy, psychedelic setlist that alternated between beauty (”Flowers Of Neptune 6″, “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate”, “All We Have Is Now”) and two-drummed cacophony (“Silver Trembling Hands”, “The W.A.N.D.”). They’ll give a proper Lips show soon enough, but in the meantime, it was nice to see them not run through the motions.

Slipknot

Apart from maybe moments of Slayer, I’ve never witnessed a headliner at Riot Fest as heavy as Slipknot was. Even the minor ethereal elements present on their most recent and very good album We Are Not Your Kind, like the chorus of voices during “Unsainted”, were all but abandoned live in favor of straight up brutality. Sure, there were moments of theatricality--Corey Taylor’s menacing laugh on “Disasterpiece” and pyrotechnics in sequence with the instrumentation on “Before I Forget” and “All Out Life”--but for the most part, Slipknot was the ultimate exorcism. Taylor’s new mask, with unnaturally circular eyes, seemed like it came from a particularly uncomfortable skit from I Think You Should Leave. They bashed a baseball bat to a barrel during the pre-encore performance of “Duality”. And the songs played from tape, like the gasping-for-breath “(515)”, were designed to contrast Slipknot’s alien appearance with qualities that were uncannily human. For a band whose performances and instrumental dexterity are otherworldly--who else can pull off tempo changes over a hissing, Aphex Twin-like shuffling electronic beat on “Eyeless”--the pure seething emotion on songs like “Psychosocial” and “Wait and Bleed” shone through. Like Smashing Pumpkins, and like so many other successful Riot Fest headliners, Slipknot abandoned drama for pure, unadulterated dirt.

[troop-scoop]

Mistakes & Regrets XXI

Summary: When a trip to your Dad’s hometown of Hawkins goes wrong, you end up in the year 1983, and have to learn how to cope with being stuck in the past.

Pairing: Steve Harrington / Future!Reader (like, a really slow burn)

Warnings: Swearing, violence

A/N: Definetaly not my favorite chapter, but we need to keep moving and i was having writer’s block :/

• • • 

Your dad and pa always said to stay yourself.

There was always something about the exact words they used. About never changing who you were for others that always stayed in your head, repeating itself occasionally. But you hadn’t thought about them in a long time. 

You changed for a lot of people since you got here. You’d gone from the very loud outspoken girl in all of your classes who cracked jokes and got in trouble frequently to a quiet and reserved shy girl now. Except for around Steve. You weren’t afraid to be annoying around him. And others picked up on it. 

So then came the question, was everyone else like the kids you went to school with most of your life except for Steve, or was there something else more there? 

Well, you’d cried in front of Joyce, and Jonathan, and even Nancy in the past year. Yet, you kept your composure around Steve. He made you feel stronger than you really were. Like he boosted your confidence or something. 

Hearing the kitchen door open, you were up on your feet and heading to the kitchen table, where everyone else was already beginning to gather. 

Hopper had a pen and a ripped piece of paper. 

You were looking over Lucas and Dustin’s shoulders. “I think he’s talking, just not with words.” He began to draw small circles and a long line. Morse code. You only knew it because for some reason your dad had wall art in the house, showing it for each letter. And while you never memorized it, you knew what it looked like. 

“What is that?” Steve asked from beside you. 

The boys and you all answered.

“H-E-R-E” 

“Here.” You repeated it as a word, everyone else doing the same. Everyone knowing the simple four letters. 

“Will’s still in there. He’s talking to us.” Hopper came to the conclusion. 

Soon enough they were back in there, leaving Steve, Nancy, you and all of the kids but Mike in the house. 

Hopper had his walkie in the shed, repeating back the code that Will was tapping on the side of his chair, letting the kids figure it out, while Nancy wrote it. You had a terrible feeling, and kpt exchanging looks with Steve every few seconds. 

“Close gate.” You finished as Nancy wrote the last letter. “He wants us to close the gate.” 

It was an obvious fix. But to do so, you probably needed Eleven. And if done so, you’d never see home again. You’d never graduate in the year you were supposed to. But you’d only resigned yourself to that fact. So while it still hurt, you knew it needed to be done. 

The kids and nancy all looked at you, Lucas and Nancy by far having the saddest looks on their faces, but Steve looked at everyone, seeing their gaze was fixed on you, and he too, saw how your arms were crossed and how you looked at nothing in particular. 

But the phone rang. 

“Shit!” You turned on the ball of your foot, rushing to the phone. It was loud. And you knew that if you couldn’t fall asleep because the one in your apartment was too loud to drown out even with three pillows pushed against your ears, that they could hear it from the shed. 

Dustin passed you, grabbing the phone from the receiver and putting it back on. 

You stopped next to the phone, looking back and seeing everyone staring with wide eyes, Nancy still holding the notepad and red crayon. 

The very beginning of the next ring, you grabbed the receiver, tearing it off the wall and holding it to your chest like you would with an infant you were trying to shush. 

“Do you think he heard that?” Max inquired. 

“It’s just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?” 

Shrugging, you looked down at the blue phone. “How many phones is that now? Four?” You questioned, looking at Nancy. Who only shrugged and shook her head, a silent ‘why does it matter?’ 

But you heard that noise. It was in the distance but you still heard it. “Fuck.” You murmured. You tossed the phone to the ground watching as everyone from the shed ran back, Jonathan carrying Will and running to one of the bedrooms to set him down. 

“What happened?” 

“He heard the ringing.” He explained as the kids looked out the window.

“Hey! Away from the windows!” Hopper bellowed. Walking into the living room. He looked at Jonathan, holding up a hunting rifle. “You know how to use this?”

Without a word, Steve grabbed your hand, taking you a few steps further into the living room with him, letting you go while Hopper tossed the rifle to Nancy instead.

Pulling the pistol from your jeans, you turned the safety off, already knowing you’d reloaded it when you got to the house. 

The kids stayed behind most of you, and Hopper had a rifle. The kind police or military would use. An automatic, you were pretty sure. 

“Stay behind me.” Steve told you, swinging the bat around in a brief circle. 

Nodding, you took a step back, holding your gun up and aiming towards the door as the screeching from the creatures outside got louder. 

You heard another one come from the other side of the house, and in a split second, you all turned to it, still holding your weapons. You couldn’t hear anything now except for your own heartbeat and drowned out thoughts.

You all turned back to the front of the house again, you did it because you were following their every move, but something kept you from being completely alert, like you weren’t completely in danger. Like you were somehow safe. “Don’t be scared.” It was Anne’s voice in your head.

You took her word, and felt your ears toon back into what was being heard by everyone else from outside. Those things screeching, but what also sounded like crashing. As if they were being thrown into things. And one completely stopped. Before the window shattered, and it seemed to be thrown in. 

Grabbing onto Steve’s arm, but ending up with a firm grip on his shirt, you aimed the gun over his shoulder, looking at the creature that was laying on the hardwood, limb and unmoving. You knew that everyone was on edge, and scared, but just by looking at it, you knew it was dead. 

“Holy shit.” Dustin mumbled.

“Is it dead?” Hopper pushed it’s head back with his foot, and nothing happened but the creaking of the front door, which had everyone turning back to the front. 

You lowered your gun when the bolt turned, even though everyone else who had weapons, brought them back up. The door’s chain latch was undone as well, and slowly it opened, and in came a very familiar face, in very unfamiliar clothing and makeup. 

“Jesus christ, El.” You murmured to yourself. 

You watched with a small smile on your face as Mike and Eleven hugged each other, after almost a year of being apart, after a year of Mike thinking she was dead. 

“Is that the girl-”

“Yeah,” You interrupted Steve, in a hushed whisper. Turning the safety back on of the pistol and putting it back, looking down at the crayon drawings under your feet. 

You were happy, and a little envious. But you knew that they hadn’t made their peace with being apart. You’d made yours with being apart from your family. 

“That you were okay?” Looking back up to the scene in front of you, you saw Hopper take a step forward. 

“Because we wouldn’t let her.” Hopper gave you a quick glance, before turning back to Mike who turned to him at that point. It was true that you were partly responsible for telling he she shouldn’t contact Mike at any point. 

“El, where have you been?” You questioned, walking over, not caring if any one of the kids were mad at you. You only really socialized with them when you took Will to the arcade or one of these events happened. 

She allowed you to embrace her for a split second before she looked at Hopper. “Where has he been?” Her voice was laced with venom, but the only thing you could really think was that her hair smelled of heavy duty hair gel. The kind girls used in ROTC. 

But she still allowed Hopper to pull her out your arms and into his. 

“You two have been hiding her.” Mike sounded angry, and because you weren’t the one facing away he came over and shoved you. 

“What the fuck, Mike? Wanna fucking go?” Before you could approach the 13 year old, Steve had come over, and Hopper’s attention was taken away from El. Steve was facing you and had an arm against your torso, hand on your side, keeping you from getting closer to Mike. 

“Y/n, you’re not going to fight-”

“I will throw fucking hands, Steven, I will beat this scrawny little asshole to a fucking pulp!” You were exhausted, and already agitated and overthinking about everything, and Mike shoving you? Everything felt like coming to a breaking point. 

Hopper grabbed Mike, and took him away, while Steve took you further from the two, closer to the door than anything else. “Stop picking fights with people.” He told you, his hand still on your side, thumb against your ribcage from over the t-shirt you’d worn. 

“What?”

He gave a look, eyebrows raised and head tilted. “You’ve gotten into fights with a few teachers, me, one other student last year, Kieth earlier this week, and now you’re trying to fight a kid-”

“Who told you about my fights with Mrs. Jensen and Mr. Larn?” 

The look only got worse. “Stop trying to pick fights.” He said again, still fully knowing that he deserved the punch the year before, and the tiny little scar on the side of his nostril from it. “I get we’re all a little on edge, You’re tired, I can tell. Just… don’t fight literal children.”

“They’re only two years younger than me, Steve.”

“Dude-”

“Okay!” You said in a defensive tone, finally relenting. 

You looked behind Steve, and saw how Eleven and the two other boys reunited as well. But quickly your gaze shifted to Jonathan and Nancy who were staring at both of you. But not at either one of you in particular. Which was when you realize that while this position with STeve didn’t feel unusual, or weird, or anything other than friendly to you, it wasn’t to others.

He still had his hand on your side, which is also when you noticed that while over your shirt, as it should be, it was under the jacket he’d lent to you. And you had a hand on his arm,  more specifically right under his elbow.

In a split second it became very overwhelming and very obvious to you how close he was, just like when you were in the apartment. And even though the smell of detergent on his clothes was still faint, it was mostly gone. Instead he smelled like deodorant and dirt. 

Maybe Jonathan was onto something. 

“What’s wrong?” 

You were snapped out of your thoughts, and your eyes focused on Steve’s face. His brows were furrowed and the question hung shallowly in the air around you. 

“Nothing.” You lied.

Jonathan was onto something. And it terrified you.

• • •

It was bittersweet in a sense. Knowing how this would turn out. Knowing that everyone in the long run would be fine, but also knowing everyone would be traumatized, even just a little. 

You could barely cope with what happened over a year ago when you were in the Upside Down, and you couldn’t even remember most of it. Just bits and pieces. Feelings. 

“Y/n.” 

Looking at Eleven you watched as she took a step away from Mike, and toward you, reaching into her jacket and pulling a small box out, handing it to you. 

“What is this?” You asked, hearing Jonathan and Nancy get into the car, while Hopper opened the driver’s door to his own car. 

“Someone told me to give it to you.” It didn’t clear anything up, even as she walked away to Hopper’s car getting into the passenger side. 

The box looked like a ring box you’d see in jewelry stores, but it was far lighter. And you could hear a rattling of the expensive cardboard. 

The two vehicles drove off. Leaving you and Steve with the kids. All except for Will and Eleven. 

You put the box in the jacket pocket, not wanting to open it right then and there. “We should head back in.” You reached out to Mike, grabbing his shoulder, and to your surprise, he stepped back into your arm, letting you rest it on his shoulders. 

Even though you’d threatened to beat him into a pulp.

And while you didn’t quite know how, with in ten minutes of getting back into the house, you were advocating for interdimensional arson. 

“Y/n,” Mike tried, while you stood next to Steve, hands on your hips and eyes trains on the point where the tunnels all met. “What do you think?”

“Y/n, we promised to keep them safe-”

“I’ve always wanted to set something on fire.” You shrugged. “Besides this thing?” Turning to Steve you pointed at the meeting point. “Kinda deserves it!” 

“What?”

“She was in the Upside Down.” Dustin clarified. Your eyes snapped over to Dustin. You hadn’t shared that with Steve for very specific reasons

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, why do you think I was always being picked up by the chief from school, dude? We were going to the lab with Mrs. Byers and Will.”

“You never mentioned it before-”

“It was never brought up before. I’m all for setting this bitch on fire.” You quickly defended.

“No! We’re not doing this! We’re waiting for the starting team to do their job-”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game-” Mike interrupted. 

“We’re not doing this! Does everybody understand that?” 

No one could answer before the sound of an engine revving and coming towards the house was heard. Max left the hall, going towards to window and looking through it, with Lucas going right up next to her. “It’s my brother.” The way she said it made you feel cold. Like he wasn’t a good person. “He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.” 

“Steve. . .”

“I’ll handle it, you guys stay here.” He told you, heading for the door. He was out of the house within seconds, but something about the situation made you feel wrong. You’d never even heard your aunt Maxine ever talk about a brother. 

“Guys, get away from the window.” You told the group of kids, who had gathered after Steve left. But the second you said that, the kids all jumped away. 

“Shit! Did he see us?” 

“Guys! Get over here!” You told them, gesturing towards yourself. They all came over like ducklings and stood behind you, which only made you more nervous, especially from how Max stood right behind you, almost as if you were a great hiding spot. 

The door slammed open, and an older boy walked through, his hair permed and cut into a mullet. He looked like the kind of person who would have made fun of you in school. His red button down almost all the way undone and tucked into his jeans. 

“Well, well, well.” Behind him, you could barely see Steve on the ground, clutching his stomach before the door was slammed shut. 

You understood why Max was so afraid the moment you laid eyes on him. He smelled like beer, cologne, and cigarettes. 

Lucas got behind you as well, and almost instinctively you had an arm to the side covering him. 

“Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise.” He took long yet slow strides toward you, not giving you much space, and towering over you. He looked over your shoulder. “I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max.” 

It wasn’t hard to put together that this was the new guy every girl at school was swooning over. And you couldn’t understand why. He was terrifying. 

“Back off, prick.” You told him. 

It seemed as if he only registered your presence then. He eyed you for a second before turning his attention back to his sister. “You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me.”

“Billy. . .” Max’s voice was afraid and cautious. 

“I break things.” 

You didn’t have time to process anything before Billy shoved you away and grabbed Lucas by the collar of his jacket. Shoving him into the kitchen and slamming his body against a shelf. 

Max, Mike, and Dustin all started yelling and you moved after them in a heartbeat. Trying to grab onto Billy’s arm to get him to let go of Lucas. 

“Get off of me!” Lucas shouted. 

“Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will-” 

You tried to pull him off, but he shoved you into the kitchen table, your hip slamming up against it, and surprisingly the table was far heavier than you imagined, and far more sturdier as well, because you landed against it harshly, and the pain shot through your hip. 

“Stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?” It wasn’t hard to tell that Billy’s motive wasn’t to protect Max. You’d seen protective siblings, you’d been one for Daniel, this was racially motivated. And from how he’d completely ignored Mike and Dustin gave it away. 

“I said get off of me!” Lucas brought his knee up and against Billy’s groin, stunning Billy and making him let go of him. Billy took a few steps back before looking back up at Lucas. “You’re so dead, Sinclair! You’re dead!” 

You saw the familiar figure coming in from the living room and you grabbed Lucas’ arm, pulling him towards you. 

Steve grabbed Billy by the shoulder while you took Lucas over to his friends, with you once again acting as a shield in case Billy got the upper hand and tried to get any of them again. 

You could hear the punch before you even turned around, but when you did, you saw how amused Billy was and when he started laughing was when you were confused. He looked insane. 

“Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.” He had a drop of blood on his upperlip from his nose as he spoke. 

And Steve wasn’t into the games he wanted to play. “Get out.” 

Billy swung and Steve dodged. “Steve!”

“Kick his ass, Steve!” Dustin encouraged. 

“Get him!”

Both Mike and Dustin were acting as hype men while Steve got Billy further into your grandmother’s kitchen, eventually with Billy landing against the sink, 

“Steve!” Was all you could get out when the plate shattered over his head, the shards of ceramic on the floor

Steve was trying to find his balance, backing up and needing a moment, You back the kids against a wall as Billy continued to follow him. 

Billy grabbed him by the shirt. “No one tells me what to do!” You’d never actually seen someone head butt someone else in a fight, this was a first. And Steve was now on the ground by the couch, with Billy still going after him. Just by how enraged Billy was and how out of it your best friend was, you knew Billy wouldn’t stop until he was dead. 

“Stop it!” You yelled, going over to the two teenage boys, trying to grab Billy and get him off of Steve, but to no avail. All he did was push you off of him again. 

You were on the ground now as well, but against the a wall, you could see the blood coming from both Steve’s mouth and nose. Small cuts around his face from where the plate shattered and cut him. 

You jumped a little when Max stabbed her brother in the neck. But when she stepped back, you could see the syringe sticking out. 

That was enough to stop him, and have him off of Steve, and the second he was on his feet and facing her, you made your move over to Steve. 

It was all becoming very real within a matter of seconds. His eyes were closed and he was completely limb on the ground. 

“Steve.” You mumbled to him, grabbing his cheeks and making him look at you. At least his body wasn’t stiff. 

Tears were welling up in your eyes as you looked down at him. Sure, you’d seen him with blood on his face before, but it was never this bad. The last time he deserved it.for being an asshole. All he’d done this time was try to protect everyone. He was always doing that, wasn’t he?

“Steve, Steven- wake up.” Your voice cracked, and you didn’t even flinch when Billy collapsed only a few feet away. 

But you did flinch at the sound of metal digging into the hardwood. Looking over you saw Max with the nail bat, between Billy’s legs. “Say you understand! Say it! Say it!”  She screamed at him. 

He mumbled it under his breath. “What?” Maxine demanded.

“I understand.”

• • •

@disneyprincessbuffyannesummers @nxncywheeler @yllwtaxi @songofcosplay @potatopooper05 @cheesecakeisapie @robinsdolan @yall-wildin-like-siriusly  @bisexualpears @ilovebucketbarnes @random-thoughts-003 @mochminnie  @abbyg217 @stevexscoops @cashmereandtears @iris-suoh @supred12 @ohmyitsfaith @beyond-the-gone​

[strangertheory]

How do you think people in Stranger Things would react to Will being THAT powerful??? His allies (friends, family), his enemies (Lonnie, Dr. Brenner...), other psychics (would they be jealous?) MIKE??? Would he still want to be with him? (I know he's been with Ell, but wouldn't he be too scared to be with someone THAT powerful?) And finally WILL HIMSELF?

Hello there! Thanks for Asking! ^_^

So - I believe that the context of your question is that you are assuming that my understanding of the Stranger Things universe is that Will Byers’s mind created the Upside Down and the monsters and the “Russians” and that in this sense he has “god-like” psychic powers just like @kaypeace21 explains in many of her blogposts. Correct?

Yes. I believe that Mike and Joyce and Jonathan would still want to stay with Will. I believe that his friends will ultimately choose to stay with him, too. I personally believe that El will also ultimately be an ally to him just as she always has been since season 1.

Jealousy, in my opinion, would be inappropriate and ignorant. Will’s powers are nothing to be jealous of since they stem directly from the abuse and trauma that he has been through and they are fantastical manifestations of his mind attempting to do everything it can to protect itself. But I suppose it's always possible someone would be jealous and ignorant about his powers nonetheless.

Currently Will does not have conscious control over these events. Not that we know of yet, at least. They also appear to be tied to his anxiety, his emotions, and his trauma that is buried in his mind. Of course people in Hawkins would be intimidated and afraid of Will if and when they figure out that his feelings and traumas are manifesting themselves in their world and are creating dangerous circumstances for everyone in Hawkins and the world-at-large. Of course. But it’s important to remember that he is not choosing to cause any of it, and it is not his actions but the actions of those who hurt him that are reaching out and spreading and incidentally harming the town as his mind tries to process what has happened and deal with everything and, ultimately, protect him.

However. I want to also add a tiny bit of my own speculation regarding what these supernatural and fantastical occurrences could represent within the theory that Will has dissociative identity disorder:

As you have probably noticed - I am a huge fan of @kaypeace21‘s theories and I agree with her on many, many observations and ideas about what is going on in the Stranger Things universe. But sometimes I might have slightly different ideas of my own here and there. I go back-and-forth on many of them. They tend to not be as well-organized or cohesive as @kaypeace21 ‘s interpretations, but I do have a collection of “maybes” floating around my mind most days.  I’m not committed to any of these rogue thoughts, and I change how I feel about them every single day and so I haven’t wanted to share them. But I will mention one of those thoughts in this answer to your Ask:

I continue to go back-and-forth between whether or not I see this story as one about literal monsters attacking a very real town and creatures that have emerged from Will’s mind in the flesh, or whether this entire story could be a story-within-a-story. Might there be a real-world, realistic-fiction version of everything happening that is hidden behind this curtain of fantasy? Could there be a version of Hawkins itself that is an internal world with alters and introjects and NPCs living in it? Was Will “going missing” really El fronting in a DID System for a few weeks because Will was afraid and “hiding”? Did Mike yell at Max for allowing El to show up at the Mall and say “You know she’s not allowed to be here!” because he’s worried it’s not safe for her at the mall for reasons that don’t involve the Lab or Evil Russians? Were we supposed to pick up on Will tapping out Morse Code to Hopper and saying “Close the Gate” in season 2 as being a method of communication that Hopper had taught to El for when she needed to reach him? I don’t know. I do think about these details and these possible hidden layers sometimes, though. These are just some thoughts that nag at the corners of my thoughts some days.

But whether Stranger Things is a fantastical retelling of “What Happened to Will Byers and How His Friends Helped Him Defeat the Monsters” written by author Michael Wheeler or not, I think that much of the conflict with supernatural elements in Stranger Things is still functioning on a very metaphorical level and will be resolved within the emotional and psychological aspects of the story getting resolved.

To return to the heart of your question and how his friends and family might feel about him being “so powerful” :

Yes. Will’s friends and family and all of Hawkins will probably be afraid of him at first just like (sadly) people in the real world are often afraid of those that are dealing with trauma and mental illness and those that behave “strangely” and are different compared to others that they are used to understanding. I think that their reactions will probably be analogous. We have already seen how Will (and El!) is treated as different and ostracized socially in many ways, both intentional and unintentional. Will is known to be not like other kids. (”He’s not like you, Hopper! He’s not like... most.”) Will is anxious about being treated like a baby and like he can’t handle things on his own by even his friends. Will is bullied. Everyone at school, even high schoolers that aren’t Will’s classmates, refer to him as a “freak.” Jonathan was referred to as “the freak’s brother” at one point. Can you imagine? Will is mocked so widely by the town that even high school bullies take jabs at him in casual conversation when insulting someone else: his older brother. He’s mocked. He’s bullied. He’s ignored. Will is already treated as someone different that the town is uncomfortable with and doesn’t respect. His “powers” growing or Will suddenly becoming more aware of his situation as someone that is different and called a “freak” will surely be a very hard thing for him to deal with while he is also met with increased ostracization by the people he knows and loves.

Hopefully those that love Will are going to ultimately realize that his “powers” and his condition are not a threat to their safety, and that the true danger and evil stems from the person (or people) who have hurt Will and who need to be brought to justice. Helping Will heal from everything that he has been through will surely be the key to banishing the monsters from Hawkins and allowing Will himself to realize that he doesn’t have to see his life as ruined by his condition or his “powers” and that he can truly have a happy, fulfilling life with those he loves. On that note: I highly recommend @kaypeace21‘s response to this blogpost (click here to read the thread) in which she discusses how important it is that storytellers create narratives in which survivors find happiness and love in spite of everything that they have been through because too often the lie and the damaging trope that mental illness inevitably condemns people to misery and death shows up again and again in pop culture. It’s important that we reject the lie told to us by society that the mentally ill are incapable of having happy lives.

(Thank you for Asking!)