#and lbr. jane and joyce did have a lot of potential in s4.

[shadowedvales]

if you’re getting hungry, i could do with some help. from joyce byers, @svnbleach

help. there's a double entendre whenever assistance was requested; be it the mundane participation of day-to-day happenings, or pressured service regarding creatures from the hellmouth residing below. today, the former took the reins, terror traded for normality: something simple like preparing a meal was still most intriguing to janessa. how she so deeply desired to grasp the concept, the skill, and store it carefully in her growing list of experiences. quality time spent with the woman who had become akin to a mother was always enjoyable, screeching horrors of her own mentality often quietened in the effortless presence; strain and stress of her past and uncertain future seemed far less daunting. a weapon forged decades in the making, accompanied by an underlying rage that could send worlds to their knees— it was not an easy task to create a safe environment for the child, [many tried, few succeeded] yet joyce thrived in the challenge. she'd scarcely forget it, this time here and now, despite lonesome ponderings in the middle of the night about how long this newfound family may persevere. fears that joyce and her boys would inevitably realise jane did not belong with them.

“i will love to help you.” a tone of innocence settled in her expression, homework abandoned on the table as she climbed to her feet, a gentle skip in the step, joining her in the kitchen. “but i do not know if i will be good. i burned my hand on the stove once, and jim worried so much he never let me try cook again.” she shrugged half-heartedly, until nerves suddenly crept into her body, familiar response of toying her hands together presenting itself. the last thing she wanted was to ruin joyce's food, thus ruin everyone's dinner— maybe she ought to sit it out. a deep breath was pulled in, and on the silent count of three, released. the voice in her head constantly screaming seek new things! do not allow setbacks to run your life! was louder than those concerns, leaving jane to square her shoulders back slightly, fidgeting fingers forced down at her side. “um... what can i do?”

[boydykedoctor]

Season 4 predictions

I just wanna try to see how many of these, if any, will be right when the time comes. I'm not a particularly good theorist, so we'll see how it goes.

1. Mike runs away or at LEAST goes to visit the Byers on his own.

I didn't think that this held much weight until I started looking at the old StrangerWriters twitter and also I think Finn was missing from a bunch of the forest pictures where most of the Hawkins-based cast was present? This is by no means an original theory. I’m just including it as a theory that I agree with. Hawkinsschoolcounselor did my favorite write-up on the theory.

2. Dustin and Max working together on some suspicions they have regarding the plot (maybe regarding the Hellfire Club) without Lucas.

This makes me sad to say it, but it does seem like there's a lot of photos of them interacting (there's a third link but i can't find it right now rip) and Lucas not being present. I think this could be good because we'll get to see some platonic Dustin/Max interaction, which we haven't really gotten to see yet since Dustin's largely been kept from the Party for the last two seasons. Now, why would Lucas not be involved? I lovelovelove the post from @willel about him getting caught between interests in nerdy stuff and sports, and there may be evidence of this based on the fact that Caleb hasn't been seen in any Hellfire Club gear yet for cast photos. (Tho.........Max also hasn't been in any club gear either)

3. The Hellfire Club is a Boys Only group

Just bc we haven't seen any girls represented yet (including Max), and it makes sense to me that?? maybe they're jerks. ST hasn't had a proper incel character yet (IK it's the 80s so that's not a thing, but I'm sure there were plenty of nerdy guys with similar complexes about dating and women back then). ST loves to subvert tropes, which is why Jonathan isn't really a woman-hating lonely creep that most horror movies would cast boys like him as. Although they love to subvert tropes, they still occasionally use them when it's instrumental to the plot (i.e. Billy shows up to be the asshole popular bully type when Steve outgrew that narrative. Maybe we're looking at a Jonathan, for lack of a better word, "replacement" too.)

4. Joyce leaves Jane and Will alone with Jonathan to look after them.

I expect Joyce to spend a good chunk of the season with Murray while they're tracking down Hopper based on the phone call to 618-625-8313 (Murray's cellphone) that fans can make. I'm still confused about whether Jonathan has graduated or not, but if he HAS then this would be especially frustrating because he clearly wants to go to NYU. If he hasn't graduated, then maybe this will be a stressful time because he's busy applying to schools. Maybe he will get in or won't get in, but Joyce won't be there to celebrate/commiserate with him. (I think rumors are floating around that S4 takes place in March? That's often when seniors find out their college placements, right?) I think this might be another season where their relationship gets stressed, just like in Season 1 when Jonathan feels like he's handling everything with Will on his own.

This also might make the first theory more practical because Joyce would?? potentially be more likely to call Karen and let her know if Mike ran away to their house?? maybe. I just want Jonathan and Mike interaction lbr.

5. Hopper sends information to Joyce and Murray through the newspaper.

This is based on the gift wrapping for the matryoshka dolls that got sent to some of the big ST instagram accounts. In the word search, ENZOS is circled. Enzo's was the name of the restaurant where Jopper were supposed to have their "date," and I think Hopper could circle those letters and send it to Joyce in hopes of her realizing that he's still alive. Codebreaking is a fairly common motif in ST, and luckily this one is easy to figure out for the average audience member as long as they have a good memory of ST trivia.