#and now I'm mad about Argyle again

[share-the-damn-bed]

I thought he was going to take Argyle (RIP) but turns out Steve is just going to take one of Jonathan's most defining hobbies... NEAT.

@jonathanbyersphd i updated this for you

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

"I found a video tape from when Steve was little!" Dustin said as he burst into the living room.

"How do you know that it's a tape from his childhood?" Nancy asked.

"Because, Nance, Steve refuses to show us any photos from when he was little," Dustin said. "And he's had this shoved all the way into the back of the closet like he was ashamed."

The younger members of the party were all hanging out at Steve's house yet again while the older adults were spending time playing poker. It was a parents only evening. Robin and Steve were in the kitchen while the rest of them were sprawled out in the living room. Argyle and Vickie were out getting desserts with Erica and Holly. Dustin had disappeared early on, claiming to have gone to the restroom.

"Well, you know, it could be a different kind of tape," Eddie grinned.

"What else kind of tape could it be?" Dustin asked.

"You know what? Pop it in and find out," Eddie said.

"Eddie!" Chrissy exclaimed, looking down at Eddie, whose head was in her lap.

"Aren't you curious?" Eddie asked.

"A little," she said. "But we shouldn't dig through Steve’s things without his permission."

"Robin does it all the time," Dustin said.

"Robin's also the only person allowed to do his hair," Lucas said.

"Robin also likes to play with fire now," Max said. "As much as I love her, maybe we shouldn't do everything that Robin does."

"I didn't think you'd have a problem with this, Maxine," Dustin said.

"Don't call me Maxine, asshole," she scowled. "And I learned my lesson from spying on our friends."

Dustin rolled his eyes as she high-fived Mike and popped in the tape. He pressed play. It was Steve’s bedroom and what appeared to be a 16 or 17 year old Steve sitting on his bed. He stared nervously at the camera.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked.

"Definitely, Stevie-boy," another guy's spoke from behind the camera. "We both need the practice. We need to be good at this when we finally get girlfriends. Remember? This was your idea."

Steve swallowed as Tommy Hagan came out from behind a camera, holding a long blonde wig.

"Right," Steve said as Tommy sat down next to him.

"Do you want to be the girl, or should I?" Tommy asked.

"I'll be the girl. My idea, right?" Steve asked and took off his shirt.

"You're already wearing the bra. You really do want to be the girl. . .Stevie," Tommy said.

"I like that," Steve blushed. "Stevie."

Tommy put the wig on Steve, cupped his face, and kissed him. Everyone watched the screen in stunned silence as they kissed.

"We should really turn this off," Dustin said. "Yeah, I should not have snooped."

"Yeah," Max said as she continued to look at the TV.

"NO!" Robin shrieked as she entered the room.

She dropped the chips and threw herself at Dustin, tackling him to the ground. Dustin screamed as she wrestled the remote out of his hands. She stopped the tape just as Tommy's hand went up Steve’s bra.

"Well, that wasn't necessary," Steve spoke from the living room doorway. "But thank you, Robin, I love you, too."

"Anytime, babe," Robin said as she pulled off Dustin's hat and hit him with it.

"Dustin, did you go through my things?" Steve asked, his hands on his hips.

"I thought it was a video from when you were a kid," Dustin said. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," Steve said in a quiet voice. "I'm just disappointed."

"No! Yell at me! Call me an asshole!" Dustin exclaimed. "Ground me! Anything but that!"

"Fine!" Steve said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Go stand quietly in the corner of the room or something."

"Sorry, Steve," Dustin muttered as he moved past him to stand in the corner.

"You'll get this back when I say you can!" Robin exclaimed, holding up his hat. "You nosy little shit!"

"Okay, since Dustin is the one in trouble, you guys can ask the questions. Anything at all," Steve said. "I was going to tell you all of this, I just never could find the right time. Yes, I'm bisexual, and yes, sometimes I do enjoy wearing women's underwear."

"How far did you go with that guy?" Max asked.

"With Tommy? Oh, yeah, all the way," Steve said.

"That's Tommy Hagan?" Max asked with raised eyebrows.

"You never met him?" Steve asked. "He became like obsessed with Billy when you guys rolled into town."

"Yeah, Billy was never keen on me meeting any of his friends," Max shrugged.

"Right," Steve said.

"Did you give him your special flower?" El asked.

"Uh, I mean, guys don't really call it their flower, but yeah, we both lost our virginities to each other," Steve said and squinted his eyes at her. "Did you have the talk yet?"

"Uh, Dad started to talk with her about it before Starcourt, and then later, Mom sat down with her," Will said.

"And who called it her special flower?" Robin asked.

"Who do you think?" Jonathan asked.

"Hopper is the most awkward man alive, and coming from me, that's saying something," Robin said.

"So, you and Tommy were a thing?" Nancy asked.

"Well, we were on and off since we were 16. At one point, I did call him my boyfriend until he started dating Carol. He got offended when I broke it off with him. Excuse me, if I didn't want to be the other man," Steve said. "My mom put up with that shit with my dad. I wasn't going to do the same thing. Tommy and I were both hiding that part of our lives but I didn't want to use another person to do it."

"Starting to understand why Tommy hated me so much," Nancy said.

"So, did you always know you liked men, or was that the first time that you figured it out?" Mike asked.

"Well, I always knew that I liked men. I just never thought that I would like women until Nancy came along," Steve said.

"What?!" Nancy exclaimed. "All those women - "

"Yeah, I have no clue where those rumors came from, but I didn't deny them," Steve shrugged.

"So, Wheeler was the first woman you slept with?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah," Steve said.

"Wait, hold on," Nancy said, standing up and moving to stand in front of him. "When I said - when I didn't mean to say that - "

"Yeah, I thought you were right for a while, that I was bullshit, and I was trying to be something that I wasn't with you. After a lot of late nights, I realized that it was absolutely real for me. How I felt about you was real," Steve said.

"It was real for me then, too, Steve," Nancy said softly. "I want you to know that and it still is."

"I'm sorry for not telling you," Steve said.

"You don't have to apologize for not being ready to say anything. You understood that I wasn't ready to celebrate that milestone in my life when Barb died," Nancy said. "I can't imagine keeping that all in, though."

"I didn't want to make it about me when you were still grieving for Barb," Steve said, blushing. "I was just as confused as you were."

"When did you know for certain that it was real?" Nancy asked softly.

"When I finally realized that I would never be with you again, the pain was very real," Steve said.

"I'm sorry," Nancy said softly.

"I'm not. The pain was worth knowing that what I had with you was real. I needed to know for sure. You're here now. That's all that matters," Steve said.

"So. . .that dream you had as a kid?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, yeah, I totally pictured Tommy there, too, and then for a long time after, all I could see was you drop-kicking Tommy out of the RV," Steve said.

"Hm, I definitely wouldn't have drop-kicked him," Nancy said and smiled, "I would have shot him, though. That spot definitely belongs to me. I won."

Nancy leaned forward and kissed him. He smiled against her lips, pulling her in closer. She ran her fingers through his hair, tugging on it gently.

"Woohoo! Looks like we're getting a live show!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Gross! That's my sister!" Mike exclaimed.

Steve pulled away with a laugh, wrapping his arm around Nancy.

"So, you're all okay with this?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, none of that made us uncomfortable," Max said. "Well, except one thing."

"Yeah, you look terrible as a blonde, man," Lucas grinned.

"Okay, so, two things made us uncomfortable," Max said, rolling her eyes.

"It's okay, tell me. We can talk about it," Steve said as Nancy squeezed him.

"Plaid on plaid?" Max asked. "Gross."

"What? Is there something wrong with it?" Steve asked.

"You actually like it?" Chrissy asked.

"Yeah, don't you?" He asked.

They all groaned and threw pillows at him. Eddie got up and actually started beating him with the pillow. Steve laughed and dodged him, moving away from Nancy. Finally, Eddie pinned him to the floor and hit him over the head with the pillow.

"I'm going to beat some good taste into you if it's the last thing I do!" Eddie yelled.

El giggled and used her powers to knock Eddie off of Steve with all of the pillows. Eddie shrieked, and pretty soon, there was an all-out pillow war.

"Aw, damn it! That sounds fun!" Dustin exclaimed.

"You stay there!" Nancy yelled at him. "And you think about what you've done!"

After several minutes, Steve finally decided that Dustin was punished enough and threw a pillow at him. Dustin grinned and picked up a pillow. Eddie over the couch and ran at him, attacking Dustin with a loud roar. Chrissy jumped onto Eddie's back to stop him. Max was on top of Lucas, hitting him with a pillow. El and Mike were going after Robin together while Robin chased after Jonathan. Meanwhile, Nancy and Steve were circling each other, each holding a pillow.

"Come on, Steve, hit me. Don't be afraid just because I'm a woman," Nancy taunted. "Hit me."

"I feel like this happens a lot for them in the bedroom," Robin said.

"Agreed," Max said.

"Again! That's my sister!" Mike yelled and hit Robin.

They heard the front door open, but the fight continued. Argyle, Vickie came in with Erica and Holly after them.

"Oh, hell no," Erica said when she saw Lucas about to hit Max.

Erica dropped a bag and picked up a pillow. She immediately knocked her brother over with it. Holly shrieked with excitement as she jumped on Mike's back.

"I got you, El, I'll save you from Mike!" Holly yelled.

"Vickie, my love!" Robin exclaimed.

"Aw, hi, babe!" Vickie grinned. "We'll put these away, and then we'll join you!"

Argyle and Vickie immediately dove right in when they did return to the living room. Vickie defended Robin and Argyle dove right in front of Jonathan when Max threw a pillow his way. Argyle took it to the chest and fell dramatically to the floor.

"Jonathan, babe, don't forget to feed our plants," Argyle gasped.

The room was filled with shouts and then laughter as they all collapsed on the floor. Nancy pulled Steve to her, letting him tuck his head under her chin.

"Thank God, Erica and Holly wanted to go with the others," Steve said.

"Yeah," Nancy smiled.

"Erica would have been a lot meaner about my room," Steve said.

"It's not that bad," Nancy said.

"Yeah, right," Steve scoffed. "This is it."

"What?"

"This is my dream. Right here, right now," Steve said with a happy sigh.

"So. . .," Nancy said casually. "I don't suppose you still have that wig, do you?"

Steve laughed.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

2024 Belated Updated Movie Masterlist

every year, i repost my movie watchlist here and set a new goal for movie watching. it is september now and i only just realized that i never did that for 2024!

instead, i tried to chip away at the 2023 reviews i was behind on first, got absolutely swamped by life (which i promise i'm still working on telling you all about) and never kicked off 2024 officially, even as i have been watching movies and keeping track of them to review here.

so, no time like almost-october, right? better than letting all of 2024 be absorbed into a black hole. and i didn't have a goal for this year, since i completely forgot to even kick off the year with a fresh masterpost, but the upside of that is that i don't have to feel bad about never coming close to my aspirational ideals.

also! i finally gave in and created a letterboxd account, though i'm still working on setting things up over there--and i'm going to keep writing my reviews over here anyway, because this is still my online home.

if anybody wants to read my most recent year in review, last year’s list is here, with movies i watched linked to their reviews (and more reviews to come). for 2024 though, behold, my constantly-growing movie list (split in half because tumblr's mad at how many i want to see):

4th man out (2015) 12 years a slave (2013) a family man (2016) a room with a view (1985) a simple favor (2018) a single man (2009) a wrinkle in time (2018) abigail (2024) about time (2013) admission (2013) after yang (2021) always be my maybe (2019) american fiction (2023) american gangster (2007) ammonite (2020) amsterdam (2022) an education (2009) anything’s possible (2022) aquaman (2018) are you there god? it’s me margaret (2023) argylle (2024) arrival (2016) atonement (2007) august: osage county (2013) babylon (2023) bad education (2019) be kind rewind (2008) bedazzled (2000) beetlejuice (1988) beetlejuice beetlejuice (2024) begin again (2013) between the temples (2024) big eyes (2014) billy elliot (2000) blockers (2018) bohemian rhapsody (2018) bowfinger (1999) boy erased (2018) breaking (2022) brideshead revisited (2008) bright young things (2003) burn burn burn (2015) cairo time (2009) call jane (2022) can you ever forgive me? (2018) catherine called birdy (2022) chef (2014) clemency (2019) coco (2017) cold copy (2023) colette (2018) crazy rich asians (2018) creed (2015) creed 2 (2018) creed 3 (2023) crimson peak (2015) crouching tiger, hidden dragon (2000) crush (2022) cuckoo (2024) cyrano (2021) dazed and confused (1993) demolition man (1993) devil’s knot (2013) didi (2024) die hard 2 (1990) die hard with a vengeance (1995) dog day afternoon (1975) drive-away dolls (2024) dual (2022) earth girls are easy (1988) effie gray (2014) ella mckay (?) eurovision song contest: the story of fire saga (2020) fast color (2018) fear street part one: 1994 (2021) fear street part two: 1978 (2021) fear street part three: 1666 (2021) fighting with my family (2019) fly me to the moon (2024) fright night (2011) furiosa: a mad max saga (2024) galaxy quest (1999) girls trip (2017) glass onion: a knives out mystery (2022) gone girl (2014) good luck to you, leo grande (2022) goodbye christopher robin (2017) gosford park (2001) gunpowder milkshake (2021) happy death day (2017) happy death day 2u (2019) happy texas (1999) her smell (2018) his three daughters (2023) hit man (2023) holes (2003) honk for jesus. save your soul. (2022) honor society (2022) how to talk to girls at parties (2017) how to train your dragon (2010) hysteria (2011) i am not your negro (2017) i don’t feel at home in this world anymore (2017) i saw the tv glow (2024) i, tonya (2017) if (2024) if beale street could talk (2018) inception (2010) infinitely polar bear (2014) jackie (2016) jane got a gun (2015) janet planet (2024) jennifer's body (2009) joyful noise (2012) judas and the black messiah (2021) judy blume forever (2023) junebug (2005) jupiter ascending (2015) just mercy (2019) kajillionaire (2020) keeping mum (2005) killers of the flower moon (2023) knife fight (2012) kubo and the two strings (2016) laggies (2014) last holiday (2006) late night (2019) lemonade mouth (2011) little (2019) live free or die hard (2007) logan lucky (2017) longlegs (2024) love, simon (2018) magic mike xxl (2015) magic mike: last dance (2023) mansfield park (1999) marmalade (2024) mars attacks! (1996) mary queen of scots (2018) master (2022) master gardener (2022) maxxxine (2024) may december (2024) me and earl and the dying girl (2015) meet the robinsons (2007) megamind (2010) memento (2000) men in black international (2019) mermaids (1990) midsommar (2019) migration (2023) miss pettigrew lives for a day (2008) miss sloane (2016) missing (2023) monkey business (1952) moonlight (2016) moonrise kingdom (2012) moonshot (2022) mother couch (2023) mothers instinct (2024) moving on (2022) mr. magorium’s wonder emporium (2007) mr. mom (1983) much ado about nothing (2011) muriel’s wedding (1994) musica (2024)

nancy drew and the hidden staircase (2019) nanny mcphee (2005) nanny mcphee returns (2010) national anthem (2024) never let me go (2010) newsies (1992) night shift (2023) no time to die (2021) nope (2022) northanger abbey (2007) not okay (2022) obvious child (2014) omni loop (2024) on the come up (2022) oppenheimer (2023) other people (2016) pacific rim (2013) palm springs (2020) parallel (2024) parasite (2019) paris is burning (1990) passing (2021) penelope (2006) pete’s dragon (2016) pirate radio (2009) please stand by (2017) polite society (2023) pride (2014) pride and prejudice and zombies (2016) professor marston and the wonder women (2016) renfield (2023) return to oz (1985) rise of the guardians (2012) rita moreno: just a girl who decided to go for it (2021) rocketman (2019) roll bounce (2005) rosaline (2022) saving face (2004) say anything (1989) scoop (2024) scream (2022) scream 6 (2023) see how they run (2022) seeking a friend for the end of the world (2012) she said (2022) shirley (2024) shoplifters (2018) short term 12 (2013) sing street (2016) skincare (2024) sleeping with other people (2015) someone great (2019) somewhere quiet (2023) sorry to bother you (2018) soul (2020) spider-ham: caught in a ham (2019) spider-man: across the spiderverse (2023) spider-man: far from home (2019) spider-man: homecoming (2017) spider-man: into the spiderverse (2018) spider-man: no way home (2021) spin me round (2022) spotlight (2015) spy kids (2001) stage fright (2014) step up (2006) talk to me (2022) teeth (2007) the 355 (2022) the age of innocence (1993) the american society of magical negroes (2024) the anniversary party (2001) the batman (2022) the best exotic marigold hotel (2012) the bikeriders (2023) the book of clarence (2023) the breadwinner (2017) the burial (2023) the children act (2017) the craft: legacy (2020) the disaster artist (2017) the divine order (2017) the emperor’s new groove (2000) the eyes of tammy faye (2021) the fall (2006)    the fallout (2021) the fighting temptations (2003) the five year engagement (2012) the gentlemen (2019) the godfather (1972) the godfather part 2 (1974) the godfather part 3 (1990) the great gatsby (2013) the great lillian hall (2024) the hunchback of notre dame (1996) the hunt (2020) the iron lady (2011) the kill room (2023) the legend of tarzan (2016) the lost city (2022) the master (2012) the matrix resurrections (2021) the monuments men (2014) the notebook (2004) the old guard (2020) the outfit (2022) the photograph (2020) the prestige (2006) the prince of egypt (1998) the prom (2020) the queen (2006) the royal hotel (2023) the second best exotic marigold hotel (2016) the secret garden (2020) the skeleton twins (2014) the spy who dumped me (2018) the suicide squad (2021) the thicket (2024) the trial of the chicago 7 (2020) the truman show (1998) the unbearable weight of massive talent (2022) the united states vs. billie holiday (2021) the velocipastor (2018) the way he looks (2014) the woman king (2022) the wonder (2022) their finest (2016) thelma (2024) this means war (2012) tootsie (1982) treasure planet (2002) troop zero (2019) turtles all the way down (2024) twisters (2024) two lovers and a bear (2016) uglies (2024) upgraded (2024) us (2019) v for vendetta (2005) valley girl (2020) velvet goldmine (1998) venom (2018) venom: let there be carnage (2021) venom: the last dance (2024) victoria & abdul (2017) violent night (2022) walk the line (2005) wet hot american summer (2001) what happens later (2023) what we do in the shadows (2014) where’d you go, bernadette (2019) widows (2018) wild target (2010) winner (2024) women talking (2022) yesterday (2019) young adult (2011) zombieland: double tap (2019)

[coldninjaruins-blog]

if Jonathan dies, then I'd go on a mad killing spree. heck if it comes to Jonathan vs byler, I'd choose Jonathan without hesitation. Jonathan deserves so much love

Hi, first of all sorry for the delay in answering this!

While I too would be super upset if Jonathan dies in the show (mainly because I think it would be lazy writing and lousy ending for his character) but don't make me choose between byler and anything because my decision makes me even dislike myself lmao.

Anyway, I don't understand why we can't have both, why so many bylers are dead set on Jonathan dying, unpopular opinion but I don't think it's as foreshadowed as some of you think it is.

Maybe it's because so many want that angst for Will and kinda copy Max's arc in season 4 for Will in s5? But I don't see the narrative point to it and Will doesn't need Jonathan to die to have his emo phase.

Plus the fact that many want Jonathan to die simply because they think it would be more interesting for Will's development rubs me in the wrong way...

Look, I love Will too, he's my baby and I think everything revolves around him okay? But Jonathan is his own character outside of being Will's brother. Like is obviously a primary and important part of his character but he's not just that.

I already said in my other post how bad it would be for me if Jonathan, the parentified child, who even seems to give up his dream since he was 6 years old to go to NYU to choose a college where he can be close to his family ends up dying sacrificing himself to protect his younger brother.

Also let's think for a moment how Jonathan's death would really affect all the characters close to him.

I think many ignore is that if stranger things is serious about anything it is grieving and the death of its characters. Barb's death is something that still has a major influence even after 3 seasons, Joyce couldn't date Hopper in season 3 because she still wasn't over Bob's death. And I can say many more examples.

We all know is that this is why the Duffers don't permanently kill off their main characters and create characters specifically to sacrifice them for him sake of the plot. They said it themselves “When Barb dies, it’s two seasons of grappling with that”.

The Duffers said that even Eddie's death is going to have major repercussions in season 5 and I believe them, especially I think it's going to have major repercussions on Dustin's character.

Now imagine Jonathan is killed off, how would this affect Will? Joyce? Joyce who said she is not having any more funerals? Joyce who spent season 1 and 2 looking for her son and trying to keep him alive? Joyce who lost Bob in season 2 and lost Hopper in season 3? How would it affect her to lose a loved one again?

How would this affect Nancy and would this mean that all the drama about which colleges they are going to was unnecessary? Because dead people can't go to colleges.

This would have repercussions even on Argyle.

Killing Jonathan at the end of the season wouldn't make sense to me because how are they going to do that and have the Byers have a relatively happy ending and killing him off at the beginning of the season would feel out of nowhere and cheap and you really think a single season would be enough to encompass the repercussions of his death? To tie up nicely the problems his son-mother relationship with Joyce has? (I'm sorry but their relationship has problems that need to be addressed and even Jonathan's death wouldn't be good closure).

And not to make this about Byler again but what would be the point of having Jonathan as an observer of Mike and Will's situation in s4, not only in the van scene but especially in the van scene and if this in the end had no reason to be?

I hope this was a good answer and at the end of the day this is just my opinion so feel free to disagree with me.

Sorry for the rant and thanks for the ask!

[acowardinmordor]

Wait I had a vision. Better than Steve smacking the container out of his hand.

Eddie is wandering through a house party with the raspberry wyld container spinning between his fingers, trying to find his boyfriend. He knows he fucked up. He knows, and he knows that the first step after fucking up is, and will always be, Go Find Steve. In the current situation, he is aware that this is time sensitive. It has already been fifteen minutes, and yeah, he had a burger before the party, but that was hours ago. Luckily, he hasn't had anything to drink but water.

He finally finds Steve on an upstairs balcony talking to some random girl. His boyfriend is amazing, and has some kind of Eddie-Has-Fucked-Up sensor, so he looks up almost instantly when Eddie comes around the corner, blinks, and immediately exits the conversation.

"Baby, what happened?"

Eddie holds up the container, squeezes the sides, and lets it pop open to show it to be entirely empty.

Steve laughs, grabs it, and flips it closed to look.

"Right, so, should have known better than that. We don't leave the container with you, ever. The raspberry are the best ones," Steve is still smiling as he puzzles out how bad it is, "But we opened this last weekend, and Robin had one on the way in before she handed it to you, so that's only three. You've done way worse than this, babe, did you have some water?"

"Stevie?" And Steve knows Eddie, and thank christ, he still loves Eddie despite knowing exactly what that tone of voice implies. So, Eddie shoves his hand into his coat pocket, to pull out the other container. This one is the Peach kind, small mercies, which Eddie now needs to repay Argyle for.

"Oh," Steve breathes. "Oh no."

"Yeah."

"Whole thing?"

"I think it was open when I got it?"

Steve pops that one open too, and snorts a laugh. "Ok, Eds, I'm glad you caught yourself, but did you have to spit the last two back into the container?"

"It was that or my hand, and I did not want a repeat of what happened at Robin's graduation."

Crossfaded, he spat them out, noticed there was candy in his hand, and tried to eat them again. Robin has never let him live it down.

His boyfriend is the best boyfriend, because he doesn't get mad about it, just pulls Eddie by the wrist until they find Argyle to confirm just how fun the night is going to be. Answer: very, but not in an urgent care variety.

Five minutes later, and they're out the door. A half hour after that, and Steve has them on a picnic blanket on a hill outside of town, with a truly enormous quantity of taco bell, and an entire case of water, so Eddie can lose his entire mind watching the clouds and the stars and the moon. Which was what he started rambling about wanting to do as it started to kick in.

And it's not that Eddie does this on purpose, but no matter when he notices, while he's mid fuckup or well into the aftermath, his amazing, incredible, wonderful, perfect boyfriend is always the first place to go, and always makes it better.

its a good thing Eddie died in the 80s before the world got good at making edibles that taste like candy. That boy has no air space between 'that was tasty' and 'have some more' Leave that guy near a container of gummies unattended, check an alert on your phone, and boom: that entire thing is empty and Eddie is oblivious that ate them at all. I need to see Steve whacking the package out of his hands to stop him before he can instinctively eat four of them. I need Steve to dispense them to his boyfriend one at a time and has to keep them in a hidden drawer, not because of addiction but because his wonderful beautiful idiot boyfriend is too adhd to be trusted around sugar-drugs.

Brought to you by my very adhd brain, and the very tasty gummy that I spat into my hand after realizing I'd literally just swallowed one.

[brucbannr]

I'm watching season three of Stranger Things again and I need to rant.

The number of posts and comments I've seen about nancy and Jonathan's fight where people blame Jonathan and paint him as the bad guy makes me mad.

What frustrates me is the writing of this argument and the aftermath.

Nancy of course should stand up to the sexist assholes and has every right to be upset. Being a woman is incredibly hard, and I agree with/relate to that. Some people see that Jonathan is also correct, but not everyone gets it.

A lot of fans already don't like him because of the pictures in season one. Now on top of that, the writers failed to show his side of the argument.

There are a lot of signs showing that he's a responsible figure in the Byers' house. Season one cooking breakfast for everyone in the morning, taking extra shifts, coffin shopping, blaming himself for Will disappearing. In season two of course he's even more focused on Will and blaming himself again. Then in season three, he takes the internship to have money for his family. I don't think they focus on Jonathan enough to show how responsibility is genuinely on him. All of these things are little things throughout the seasons.

For Nancy who comes from a rich family, this is just a job and experience which is great to have, but it's not a big deal if she gets fired. This internship is more for Jonathan. It's bills that need to be paid, it's his college tuition, groceries, clothes for Will, and necessities that his family needs. He is a provider in his household so when he gets fired, it is serious.

Jonathan of course supports Nancy. Even if he doesn't understand the full extent of it (how can he, he is a man in the 80s), he still tried. He was there helping her with the story because he knew it was a good story, he was just scared about losing his job. He stood outside waiting for Nancy when she pitched the story in case she needed his support. He tried to support her in any way he could without losing important income.

When Nancy gets fired, she talks to her mother who is there for her. Karen reassures Nancy that what she's feeling is valid. When she gets fired she gets praised for standing up for herself (as she should go Karen).

When Jonathan gets fired, he goes home to an empty house. Joyce isn't there to comfort him and tell him that they can figure this out. Will isn't there to tell him it's okay. He's alone, worried about what's going to happen to his family now that he lost their important income. He's also probably scared about losing Nancy too. He has no support and no one to tell him that it's valid to be upset about losing his job.

He ends up apologizing and (falsely) saying he's completely in the wrong. It's good that he apologized and he was wrong for not thinking of Nancy's side. But his side is also important which frustrates me. Nancy knows she wasn't thinking about his side of things, but she doesn't apologize because her mother says that what she did was great. Neither of them understands what it's like to be poor. Karen probably hasn't had a job because she married Ted so she doesn't really understand either.

The show not even attempting to showcase Jonathan's side of this is what makes me angry. The fact that he has no support makes me upset. Jonathan deserves to have his feelings listened to. This is why in season four he's still putting himself last. Even Argyle, who's his first friend and the first person to listen to him, doesn't help. He just tells Jonathan to get high and relax.

I love Jonathan and Nancy together. Every couple has arguments, it's normal, I just wish they showed more of his side. I think people would understand his side more if they went deeper into it. We shouldn't have to put clues in from every season to understand his perspective while Nancy's side gets laid out neatly.

Jonathan is always put on the back burner and it frustrates me to no end. In season one Joyce tells him he's not alone, but honestly? Yeah, he is. I could go on another rant on how Joyce treats Jonathan, but that's another thing for another time.

[softielaces]

Reading it ALL Wrong

"Look man," Mike starts, walking beside Will at some rest stop just west of Nevada, "I really want to know what I did to piss you off so much. I want to-" Mike breathes out in exasperation (he really hates apologizing), "I want to fucking fix whatever I did."

Will stops dead in his place. He turns his head to look at Mike. Mike's hair is all curls, down to his shoulders, cheeks red from the midday heat, lips chapped, lips in a straight line like he's focusing hard on something. Will guesses he must be.

"Mike, what in the hell are you talking about right now?"

"What am I-? Will, you can't deny that you're totally pissed at me! Ever since I got here, stepped off the plane, you've been, you've been weird. And I thought when we talked in your room that it would be over, but you're clearly not over whatever I did, so please, Will." Mike pleads, looking somewhere between exhausted and desperate.

Will can't help but laugh a little. Mike is so worked up over something he created in his damn head.

"I'm not angry. You didn't do anything wrong. I admit, it was shitty. The not writing and the way you totally blew me off for El, like she was more important and-"

"Will, that's just not true, I-"

"No, let me finish. I was going to say, and I was being a jerk, too. She's your girlfriend, Mike. I can't expect you to prioritize me. I know my place now." Will says, his voice a practiced kind of even.

For some reason, it broke Mike's heart.

"Why have you been acting so weird if you're not mad at me?"

Will scoffs, placing his hand on the door handle of the van. He's not going to answer that.

He begins to pull the door open before Mike puts his hand on top of Will's and Will's whole body freezes.

"Talk to me. I thought we were best friends."

They lock eyes, some stone-cold piece of Will that he locked away in a freezer years and years ago starts to thaw again. Every time Mike looks at him like that, he feels like he could just spill his guts about everything.

"Mike, let go." Is all he allows himself to say out loud. He can't open up now, not when Mike's already confused about his feelings about El, not when they've just had to bury a dead body not 2 days before, not when the fate of the world rests on their shoulders once again, he can't afford to be vulnerable. He has to be strong enough.

Mike doesn't, only uses his hand to pry Will's hand off of the handle. Before Will can get away, Mike grabs his wrists with both of his hands and pins him against the side of Argyle's van.

"No, I will not let go, Will. You're too fucking important to me and I will not keep avoiding this. You're pissed and I want to know why."

Mike's looking at him again, his dark eyes searching Will's soul for any real emotion. He finds nothing, or rather what Will has disguised as nothing.

"Get off of me, Mike. I told you, I'm not mad!" Will's voice is harsh. It makes Mike wince a little. He's never heard Will sound like that before. It kind of reminds him of the few times he heard Lonnie and Joyce arguing through the thin walls of the Byers' house in Hawkins when they were little. But, he's still holding onto Will's wrists tightly.

Will's wriggling underneath him, trying to get away.

"Will. Will!" Mike calls to him, tightening his grip ever so slightly.

It causes Will to stop struggling so much, Mike having hit a pressure point.

Mike doesn't even realize he's doing it, but he pushes his body against Will's, pressing him up against the van. Mike's legs are slotted in between Will's, and Will's all-tough demeanor is thrown out the fucking window.

"Mike..." Will whispers, almost like a prayer. He drops his head down and lets Mike's body hold him up.

Mike feels Will give in and loosens his grip on his wrists.

"Why the fuck are you so angry?" He finally asks, his own assertive demeanor gone. He sounds like maybe he's about to cry.

"I'm not angry. I just-" Will pauses for a minute.

"-just what, Will? What's wrong?" Mike lets Will's wrists slide out of his hands, but doesn't step away.

"Mike, do you love Eleven?"

Mike scoffs, "That's a weird thing to bring up."

"Do you? Yes or no."

"Well, it's complicated. I-"

"It's not. Yes or no. Do you love her?"

Mike looks past Will's shoulder, seeing his own reflection in the window. Getting a sense of just how close they're standing, finally letting himself feel close to Will.

"I think that there's-"

"Mike, yes or no."

"No! Okay? No, I don't love her. Is that what you wanted to hear? Does it make you happy to hear me admit that I spent 3 years in a loveless relationship, Will?"

Will kind of freezes, staring into the distance.

"Will?"

He doesn't say anything, only lets his head fall forward onto Mike's shoulder. Mike steps closer out of instinct, cradling the smaller boy's head like he used to do when they were young.

"And me?" Will finally mutters under his breath.

"What?"

Mike heard him, but was confused about what he meant.

"Do you love me, Mike?" He looks up, meeting the taller boy's gaze. The world, the very same one they're supposed to be saving, seems to melt away.

Eye contact usually makes Mike uncomfortable, but it's never been hard to look into Will's eyes.

"Will, I-" His brain can't form cohesive thoughts, it only pumps out one-word answers, demands. One's he's been trying to ignore, avoid, for the longest time. He sort of feels, in a way, like he's hearing them for the first time.

"Yes or no, Mike." Will's voice finally gives away how emotional Will is right now. He sounds like he's on the verge of tears. He looks away.

"Yes." He doesn't miss another beat.

Will nods, biting back a smile, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Tell me." He finally responds.

"What?"

"Tell me you love me."

Mike puts a finger under Will's chin, picks up his head, "I love you, Will." He says it slowly, the world feels like it goes in slow motion.

"Mike?" Will's hand grips Mike's.

Mike's other hand grabs Will's wrists and suddenly it's a giant pile of hands and they're looking at each other so fondly.

"This whole time, years and years, it's because I loved you." Mike's voice is shakey.

"And this whole time, even longer than that, I've loved you more. That's why I was acting weird."

Mike scoffs in disbelief, "No. That's why?"

"Can I give you something?" Will asks instead of answering Mike's question.

Mike nods.

"Close your eyes." Will instructs and Mike does.

Will leans in and presses a soft yet firm kiss on Mike's lips.

It takes Mike a second to register that Will's kissing him and he starts kissing back the moment his brain starts functioning again.

They part a few seconds later, cheeks red and smiles so big their cheeks could pop.

"Mike, I know you're a nerd, but you've gotta stop reading it all wrong."

[french-goodbye]

cuidaré nuestra historia la novela de los dos felices

summary: you have a novela kinda of love. you're not even a little bit mad about that.

pairing: argyle x reader

notes: i may have watched maria del barrio solely so i could mention it in one phrase in passing. but that was like, you know, for research purposes only. 10/10 would recommend tho. also motivated by me being a latina and loving argyle with all my heart. title from the song la novela by boy pablo and cuco.

every friday night since you began dating argyle six months ago ends the same way, to you driving to his house after work to have dinner with him and his family and spend the night at his place. on saturday you'll spend the day together before going to your place so you can have dinner with your parents, just so they can't complain about you never being home.

when you get to his front porch, the front door's unlocked so you can let yourself in, he does this even though you know his mom will yell at him for it later, claiming he should get up to welcome you in and he'll answer that you basically live there already.

you smile softly as you toe off your shoes in the entrance, seeing all the other shoes lined up neatly against the wall and your boyfriend's sneakers thrown around.

when you walk in, you can see the top of argyle's head in an armchair, his back towards the door, and his abuela in the couch. they're watching one of her telenovelas and speaking a rapid spanish back and forth. before you can go to him, his mother sees you and approaches you from the kitchen.

"hola, querida" she says enveloping you in a hug. you place a kiss on each of her chees.

"hi, ms garcia" you say as you let her guide you to the kitchen island. she ushers you to rest your bag there and sit down on the stool. you can smell the strong scent of cooking garlic in the air.

"those two are still watching their telenovela... they do this everynight." she playfully rolls her eyes as she goes back to chopping onions on a cutting board on the counter.

"really?" you question as you lean on the kitchen island, watching your boyfriend and his grandma together, now watching the tv eagerly as a woman hits another one in a wheelchair. huh.

"oh yes, they're insufferable" she replies cleaning her knife with her finger and starting to chop tomatoes.

"can i help with anything?" you offer even though you'll know she'll say no.

"oh no no, querida, don't worry about it." she waves her hands in your direction.

"he really watches that stuff? he never told me about it" you ask as she offers you a taste of the food that's simmering in a pot on the stove. you try it before giving her a thumbs up.

"hmm... that's really good" she gives you a proud smile before stirring again and answering your previous question.

"sí, i'm telling you. you usually get here after they're done but when he doesn't get to watch it, she tells him about it the next day" she shakes her head fondly, looking back at them.

the episode is now over and the credits are running, so argyle gets up, still talking to his abuela and stretches his back.

"go, you should say hello." she tells you, patting your shoulder gently and going back to her chopping.

you stand up but before you can walk to him, he finally turns around and spots you, his eyes immediately lighting up and his lips opening up in a huge smile.

"mi amor!" he practically runs to you and engulfs you in a hug. his arms wrap in a tight vice around your shoulders and you'd be embarrassed by the display in front of his family if you weren't used to your boyfriend's affection by now.

you laugh into his chest. "hey babe" you fold your arms around his torso, enjoying the closeness and breathing him in, the familiar smell of weed and the cologne he applied that morning.

"why didn't you say hi?" he says sinking his face into your hair and taking a whiff.

"i just got here, was just talking to your mom" you say as he finally pulls away, his arms around your shoulders still keeping you close.

"i'm almost done" his mom says still focused on the food in front of her. "now get out of my kitchen" she shoos you both.

argyle grabs your bag with one hand and interlocks his free one with yours to pull you towards his room. you wave quickly to his abuela as you walk past her, her attention already focused on the next show on the tv and she barely moves her eyes away from the screen as she waves back.

when you finally get to his room he softly closes his door behind you and abandons your bag on the floor. he crowds against you, holding your face with both of his hands.

"hey" he smiles at you.

"hi" you answer smiling, letting both of your hands rest on his hips. he guides your face to his and softly presses his lips against yours.

"i missed you" he tells you, his lips moving against yours.

"you saw me this morning" you laugh into his mouth.

"still missed you." he laughs back, hiding his face in your neck.

"i missed you too"

he walks backwards into his room, still wrapped around you. he guides you to his bed and when the back of his knees hit the mattress he lets himself fall backwards and takes you with him. you squeal as you fall into him.

you settle more comfortably on top of him and his arms move to your waist to pull you closer. you watch the way his hair fans behind him on the bed spread and the smile he gives you.

"you're cute" you whisper as you move to press a kiss on his nose. his body shakes when he laughs underneath you.

"you're cuter" he says as you plant kisses all over his face. his forehead. his brow. his cheek. his chin. his jaw. the corner of his mouth. he giggles.

"nuh-uh"

"uh-huh"

"nuh-uh"

you kiss his lips before he can continue to argue. he's okay with losing this time if it means you'll kiss him like this.

[stardiveatnight]

a list of things we'll never get to see after vol. 2

i'm still sad and mad about eddie so i'm making it everyone else's problem

eddie and max being the best neighbors. eddie coming over to borrow some toast because he has absolutely nothing edible in his fridge anymore. max knocking on his door when it's already dark because her mom is too drunk again and she feels uncomfortable and doesn't know where to go and eddie is great at listening and distracting

them driving to school together in the morning in eddie's van and him showing her some of his favorite music and her actually liking it

eddie and robin bonding over a shared taste in movies come on you can't tell me these two don't love the same shit the fanfics don't lie

will visiting and playing dnd with eddie, dustin and mike or perhaps even all of hellfire <3

holy shit will laughing about eddie's jokes and antics

i just know for a fact he would have taught max how to play the guitar

more bickering between steve and eddie

eddie would totally start ranting to steve about a band he loves and steve would just stand there frowning a little and not understand a single fucking thing he's saying but as more time passes and they grow closer as friends he just tolerates it and it's not like eddie would stop anyway

no but fr eddie's dynamic with all the other characters. like we know how he acts with dustin and a little bit with mike and steve, we got to see him interact with erica, but i wanna know who he'd grow close with. who he'd have a love-hate relationship with and stuff like that

his backstory

corroded coffin gig

does eddie pass his finals omg does he get to graduate we need to know

eddie interacting with wayne. i just KNOW he likes to tease his uncle and provoke him but deep down they love each other so much

goofing around with dustin like they did on that field

omg he would definitely hype el up simply for having powers. like she could be walking into the room and he'd just cheer her on i know he'd find her so fascinating

wayne and eddie reuniting

eddie, argyle and a joint. all in the same room.

just imagine... chrissy's funeral and obviously eddie can't just show up there so he hides behind a nearby tree and silently mourns

oh eddie would so relentlessly tease lucas for skipping the dnd campaign for his basketball game even after lucas apologized like he would not let the poor guy live that down!!

but i'm also very much sure that if lucas continued to play basketball eddie would have made sure to show up to one of his games together with steve

and i'm so sure he'd just be everyone's best friend. like a brother to everyone. like, steve's the babysitter and eddie is the cool uncle who allows you to do all sorts of shit.

and he'd always listen to everyone's problems and immediately know how to cheer them up. he'd know if they wanna talk or just need some distraction and would make everyone feel so comfortable around him i just know he'd be such a wonderful friend and addition to the group

yeah okay i'm done now but also i'm ready to cry help we were so robbed

[chaosgremlinmunson]

Really quick: this is a short conclusion, I'm not sure how much more if any I'll write to the Jargyle fic, however I wanted at least a bit of a happy ending.

Onwards, here's the next part guys:

Jonathan sat on the back porch, his knees pulled up to his chest, resting his cheek against his legs. He was furious, but sad. Just sad, he couldn't think of any better adjective at the current moment. Argyle loved him, but he'd lied to them. Even so, he'd been through so much trauma... what would Jon have done if it'd been him in this position?

He heaved a sigh closing his eyes, but felt the shift in weight as someone sat next to him.

"You know...I know we all should be furious at him, but I have to admit...it took a lot of guts for him to show up here. Especially since he'd been planning to come clean on his own today." Will had sat next him, laying his own hand on his brother's shoulder, "And I know even if you're not willing to admit it right now, he means more to you than Nancy or any other friend you've had. He's special. He messed up, but he's special. Don't regret anything by pushing him away."

Jon drew in a deep breath, when had his little brother get so wise. He was the one supposed to comforting Will, he was supposed to be the strong one, the pillar of strength and wisdom. He knew though, Will was right. Argyle meant the world to him, and he did have confirmation that he felt the same for Jonathan, so honestly was he willing to just push him away?

Jonathan looked up at his brother, looked away for a moment, and then sighed.

"You're right.. I don't know where we're going to go from here, but I have to at least try. I love him too." he'd whispered the last part, tears still threatening to spill. He stood shakily and walked into the house, sat silently by Argyle who was still refusing to look up, the heartache evident on his gorgeous features. Jon grabbed his small cigarette tin and pulled out a joint, "Come on man, let's go smoke and talk a bit." Argyle nodded, his eyes wide while still looking down.

Jonathan waited a moment and then grabbed Argyle's hand when he didn't move to pull him to his room. He closed to door and sat on the bed, pulling him beside him.

"I'm still mad," he began, "But, I love you too. I'm not allowing myself to lose you, and however or whatever we have to do to make this work AND keep Jane safe, we're going to do. I finally found someone who means something major to me, I'm not losing you...and those kids, they love you too." Jonathan was talking fast as he lit up, and took a long hit, "I love you, you're an idiot, I want to hit you a bit, but I love you. But, don't you ever lie to me again. Not about something this important, if you break my trust like this again I will be done with you. forever."

He held the joint over to Argyle who took it with shaking hands while looking at him, "I swear, I won't do anything to hurt you again so long as it's within my control. No lies, no secrets."

@kaizenkhaos

@sugarbear2001

@katekesinnewp

@lardish

@adomfangirl

@craziestfangirl98

@williamshakesper

[tirednerd2012]

After Vecna sends a message to both Nancy and Jonathan, Jonathan pulls Argyle to the side when he had a chance. He admits to him that he knows he’s Vecnas next target, it’s the obvious choice to get to Will and El. He also admits to what he said to Vecna, how he’d sacrifice himself for them in a heartbeat. If/when it happens after they arrive to Hawkins, he asks Argyle to look after his family and friends. “My family already sees you as one of us, they trust you. I just need you to promise me, please..”

Argyle is shocked, he’s mad Jonathan is so ready to throw his life away. But his best friend is practically pleading him to watch after them. So he sighs, hugs Jonathan and promises. But also makes it known he isn’t giving up on him so easy. It’ll be a cold day in hell before Argyle let’s Jonathan get hurt without a fight.

No because when Mike and Will are sleeping in the back, Jonathan carefully explains to Argyle the rest of the message. They pull over, careful to stay hidden, as Jonathan takes a deep breath, collecting all of his thoughts. He takes off his flannel and puts it over Will while he sleeps because Will was rubbing his arms before the two teenagers step outside of the van. He says, “there are things I can’t tell Will. Not yet. Because he’s going to freak out and right now, we just need to focus on finding El. He can’t worry about me yet.” And then goes on to explain that Will and El play a much bigger role in this than he ever could have anticipated. He confesses how much he hates it because he’s worried about his siblings. He just wants them to be safe and he goes on a tangent about how scared he was when Will was gone. “I felt like part of my soul got ripped away from me, Argyle. I can’t lose Will to this place again. I won’t do it.”

Jonathan spiraled when Will was gone. Everything was about getting him back. He’d do anything so he wouldn’t lose Will and El to this and Argyle knows how much the guy loves his siblings, but he’s also worried for Jonathan in this. “Jonathan… if you’re too busy saving them, who’s going to save you?”

And there’s a pause. A pause that lasts way too long because Jonathan is trying to think of what to say. He knows Argyle is going to hate this next part, but he needs to prepare him. So, in a low, small yet accepting voice, Jonathan says that there is no saving him. He's Vecna's next target. The monster made that evidently clear back in that trance he was in. It's the obvious choice to get to Will and El.

"I've buried my baby brother, Argyle. I planned his funeral alone. I can't do it again. Vecna asked me to choose between me or Will and El. It wasn't even a question. I'd... I'd sacrifice myself for them in a heartbeat."

And Argyle is just stunned because he knows how much Jonathan loves them but dammit, he doesn't want his best friend to die. But Jonathan's just spent so long explaining everything to him that he's sure he has a plan to save himself before Vecna gets to him. Or Nancy, the girl Jonathan literally brags about being so brilliant and amazing, she'll surely figure something out right? But as he's studying Jonathan's face, he sees contentment. Jonathan's okay with this. He's accepted his fate. He doesn't plan on fighting back.

"As long as my friends and family are safe, I'm okay with whatever happens next. But... I need you to do me a favor."

"What?"

"When we get to Hawkins... when Vecna gets me... I need you to watch out for them. I mean, my family already see you as you are, one of us. They trust you. I need you to promise me," Jonathan says. Argyle watches the tears form in his best friend's eyes as he looks in the van and Argyle knows he's looking at Will. "My mom, whenever she gets back, she'll... Argyle, she'll lose her mind. She'll try to go after Vecna alone. And Will and El are already in danger, I can't let them go out for revenge just because of me. And Nancy... Nance will... I can't stand to see her cry. These kids have to stay safe, Argyle. Just look out for them for me, okay? Please, I need you to promise me."

And Argyle's angry. He wants Jonathan to fight for him. If it had been Will that was the next target, Jonathan would rip the world apart until he found a way to save him. But he doesn't value his own life and Argyle knows it's going to be up to him and the others to save him because Jonathan doesn't view himself worth protecting. It pisses him off, but he watches a few tears fall from his best friend's face as he pleads with him. All he wants is his family and friends to be safe and Argyle can't be too mad at that. So he pulls Jonathan into him and promises.

"You know I will, Jonathan. I'll look out for them as long as I can, I promise. But I'm not giving up on you either. Because you're my family. You're the only family I've got. And we're going to figure out a way to save you, too, you selfless jerk," he responds. He asks Jonathan to be more willing to fight for his life. "If you can't do it for yourself, do it for Will, man. He can't lose you to this. Are you even going to tell him?"

It makes Jonathan pause, because he knows Will would be devastated if he died. And if he died, he wouldn't be able to look out for Will and that sends his stomach in knots. But he can't bring himself to tell Will that he's the next victim. He can't bear to see how he knows his little brother's face will fall and the tears that would come. He doesn't want Will to risk himself for Jonathan. So, as selfish as it is, Jonathan doesn't intend on telling Will.

Argyle doesn't either, mostly because it's Jonathan's place and not his own. He'll convince Jonathan to tell him, but for now, he doesn't say anything. He knows it's going to destroy Will when he finds out Jonathan's next, but Argyle convinces himself that it won't happen. Jonathan won't die. He wouldn't let the only person that really gives a shit about him go that easily. Hell will freeze over first. Right now, all he can focus on is getting to El, though. If the twins are destined to fight this, they need to be together. All of them do.

[beepboop358]

The Opera in the HNL Control Room Video Hints to S4

I don't know if this has been done before or not but I did this right after the tweets dropped, but I wasn't posting then so I'm posting it now LOL (better late than never right?)

On May 5th, 2021, one day before the May 6 release of the ""Eleven are you listening?" teaser (002/004), the Stranger writers tweeted this:

with the accompanying video:

The opera that's playing in the background is "Quand Le Bien-Aime Reviendra" which translates from French to English as "When The Beloved Will Return"

I’ve also seen it translated as "When My Sweetheart Returns To Me”. (any french speakers please correct me/google translate if it’s wrong)

Next I looked up what this opera's plot is about, because there has to be a reason they picked this specific thing to play in the background, nothing they do is random xD

At first when I saw father and daughter detail I thought of Hopper and El, but I reallllyyyy don't think it's referencing them. For one, El won't end up with Mike because he's gay and in love with Will, so El can't fulfill the "marrying her lover" part of this story. There's also no references to Hopper's death/reappearance in here if he is the father character.

It's the daughter's lover that disappears and returns after fighting his enemy, and the daughter goes "mad" thinking he has died. Germeuil (the lover) is "the beloved" the opera title refers too. The father is not a super important part of the picture here. This opera is more about a couple than a father/daughter or parent/child.

So that leave's us with two possibilities for who this opera could be referencing:

1. Joyce is Nina, and Hopper is Germeuil.

OR

2. Will is Nina, and Mike is Germeuil.

3. A third possibility is that the Opera references BOTH Jopper and Byler in s4, or just some aspects of the opera's storyline for each couple.

Possibility 1: The opera references Jopper

Germeuil (Hopper) fights his enemy and disappears:

Hopper has already disappeared in a fight with the enemy. He was fighting the Russians & the upside down during all of s3, and he disappears or during the final battle of s3, with Joyce literally watching the fight between Hopper and the Russian happen right as she's trying to close the gate.

Nina (Joyce) goes mad and forgets details of the traumatic event:

Just like I mentioned in my Victor Creel Theories post, there are several hints throughout the show to mental instability running in Joyce's family, and Nina is described as going "mad" when her lover (Germeuil/Hopper) disappears and she thinks he has died. Everyone thinks Hopper is dead, Joyce included. It's not out of the realm of possibilities that Hopper's death will send Joyce spiraling, and cause her to forget the details of the event due to psychological distress.

Possibility 2: The opera references Byler

Germeuil (Mike) fights his enemy and disappears:

Mike wasn’t seen in the recent st4 sneak peek teaser (but neither were Jonathan, Argyle, and Joyce (unknown if Will is the one in front of the burning car but I think it is), and Finn was the only person who posted a picture of the clock with the caption “In the upside down, meanwhile…” and not “Meanwhile, in the upside down…”, like all the other cast members and official ST accounts. He never fixed the caption, which leads me to believe it wasn’t a mistake, but rather a clue. I wonder what this means for Mike’s storyline this season - does he get stuck in the upside down somehow?

Germeuil (Mike) fighting the enemy probably refers to some upside down monster, and he gets taken to the upside down during a battle or something.

And Nina (Will) goes mad and forgets details of the traumatic event:

Nina is described as "forgetting aspects of the traumatic incident in a manner consistent with a diagnosis of psychogenic amnesia"

"Psychogenic amnesia or dissociative amnesia is a memory disorder characterized by sudden retrograde episodic memory loss, said to occur for a period of time ranging from hours to years. More recently, "dissociative amnesia" has been defined as a dissociative disorder" characterized by retrospectively reported memory gaps. These gaps involve an inability to recall personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature"

There's a popular theory out there that Will has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and while DID is not the same thing as dissociative amnesia, there is the same dissociative aspect in both where the person represses/forgets memories that are traumatic to them. I recommend you read @kaypeace21's theory on this here and here.

If Mike was to disappear into the Upside down, it would certainly take a big toll on Will, which may cause him to go "Mad" (again hints of mental instability in Joyce's family, and Will is Joyce's son) This event may also bring out a more hardcore and powerful side of Will, and could trigger memories of his own life that he has forgotten. It could also be what makes Will face the lab/the monster this season.

Noah said this would be Will's darkest season, and my mind immediately goes "darker than getting possessed by an evil inter-dimensional monster who wants to kill everyone? How is that gonna work?"

But this theory is pretty dark, and it just might fit the description.

It also might fit in with the theory that Will may be one of the test subjects in the "Eleven are you listening?" teaser, which goes along with the theory that Will may have a connection to the lab beyond his relation to it in s2, which I discussed in my post about how Will, Sara, and El are all connected.

Anyways, this is all just speculation right now since nothing is confirmed, but it's interesting to think about how this opera might hint to s4 storylines.

[etherealfroggy]

So I got home from school yesterday and binged almost the whole season. I stopped halfway through episode 6 cos I had to go to bed but I wanted to share my thoughts so far. SPOILERS AHEAD!!

1. Episode 4 is by far my favourite episode. I've fallen in love with Max this season. And that last sequence about friendship and her realising how loved and wanted she is and just running desperately to the friends she had been running AWAY from all this time was so so beautiful I was BALLINGGGG like real crying lmao. And it resonates so much with me as someone who has dealt with mental health issues. I don't know if I'll ever recover cause I keep replaying that scene in my head. Sadie Sink is amazing and I will be adding "Running Up That Hill" to my liked songs.

2. I think my favorite storyline is definitely the Creel House storyline. I like the gang and they have the most "mystery-solving season one" kind of vibe so I like them the most. Also they're the only ones in Hawkins which will always be my favorite place!

3. El's storyline follows closely behind though. I love her so much and it's so interesting finding out her past and I'm scared of what we'll find but I'm also intrigued and I can't wait for her to work though all these memories and get her powers back.

4. HOPPER IS SUCH A BADASS!! HE FUCKING ESCAPED THE MOTHERLAND ONCE - I KNOW HE CAN DO IT AGAIN.

5. Murray and Joyce are bad ass as well. Glad Murray got to have his karate chop moment in the spotlight lmao

6. I love Argyle (as expected) and I love the dynamic he has going with Jonathan. They're hilarious and their commentary after the roller rink incident was just amazing to watch. I love the actors.

7. So very disappointed in Byler :( I'm still holding onto hope but there's only three and a half episodes of the last season and they haven't hinted to it enough or in a well-enough-executed way. No hints that Mike might like Will back apart from their weird reunion at the airport and the moments where they show Will pining for Mike don't feel natural. Their dynamic is so off and honestly really boring and I hate to admit that. Just Will supporting Mike and nothing else. It's all Will has been doing this whole season and it makes me so mad.

I really hope they don't mess this up. It looks like they might be going down the "unrequited" road or even if they're going for Byler i'm scared its going to be badly executed :( Idk...just feeling like whatever happens I won't like it. I would rather have no byler/will liking mike than have it done badly. Fingers crossed though - maybe they can salvage it in the last episodes.

8. On the same note of Will this season...doubly disappointed. I feel like he has nothing to do again except even worse. Like...all he does is give emotional support to El and Mike and that's it?? They haven't really made it clear how he might be pining over Mike so it really looks like he has nothing personally going on for him. He's my favorite character and the one I was most excited to see really thrive this season. I thought they would give him a chance in the spotlight or at least make him relevant again but NO. Nothing as of now :( And it's really bad because they found a way to handle all the other characters pretty well even though I feared the cast was too large. Fucking Chrissie had more going on for her than William😭

9. I think the California gang is lacking in general honestly. I like Argyle and Jonathan's dynamic and that one-shot shooting sequence was cool but its the most boring storyline this season. I don't really find it interesting tbh and it really sucks not to but oh well🤷

If anyone wants to give their thoughts, feel free - I would really love some reassurance in Byler if there is any😭 I was so sure it was gonna happen this season but so far...it's been a letdown.

[demadogs]

Hello hello! I'm the anon from 2-3 days ago who sent the ask about Argyle being stoned the whole season and the whole Mileven/Byler shipping.

Sorry it took a while for me to respond. I've been busy but I am here now to respond!

- I am very open and I will say this: I ship Mileven but I'm not a hardcore shipper. I think they're cute ☺️! I don't think they will do Byler but I could very well be wrong. The percentage of them keeping Mileven vs. them doing Byler is 65% Mileven, and 35% Byler. So there IS a part of me that thinks they could very well do it. I DO see the signs and I've read why people think Byler will happen. The points being made are completely valid and I can understand why people think Byler will happen (so don't let anyone call you delusional for it). I really like Mileven but I'm not against Byler either!

- I DEFINITELY think that season 4 will give us a solid confession from Will or solid realization from Mike that Will likes him as more than a best friend. I could see it happening during an argument about how Mike is giving all of his attention to Eleven and semi ignoring Will. And then they'll be mad at each other. But then Mike will feel bad later on and get soft and apologize to Will.

- My responses aren't gonna try to convince you why either is better. I'm just gonna comment.

1. I would just like to say that I absolutely loved that rain fight scene. The lighting, the emotions, the rain, that screen shot is very beautiful, it was all so good! Mike and Will go way back together. They're best friends and losing/hurting a best friend is heartbreaking. And when Mike said " it's not my fault you don't like girls," and then immediately realizes he shouldn't have said that... And Wills face... Ouch 😭 Just let my boy be happy.

I didn't like the Mileven break-up because in season 1 and 2, it seemed like they cared for each other so much in such an innocent way and then El just dumps him and laughs... I didn't like it. Season 3 seemed like it tried to make everything funny a little too much. Same with Hopper/Joyce always arguing and Lucas saying how many times him and Max break up and get back together.

2. The way that Mileven kiss was framed with the closet makes sense with your point. As for Mike's eyes being wide open, my take on it is that he's an awkward dorky teenager who's not always the best at expressing his emotions and he was a bit shocked that El just said "I love you too," and then kissed him.

3. How I perceived Mike's reaction to the monster and the lingerie was that a monster is scary just like lingerie is scary because like I said earlier... He's an awkward nerdy young teenager so he doesn't quite know how to act 😆

I apologize if my responses didn't make sense or if there are spelling errors. I just word vomited and didn't read anything that I just wrote! 🙊

hello again!!

i appreciate you being so open to either ship. there seems to be some stupid milevens vs bylers war on the internet and most of them think the idea of byler is insane and they arent afraid to announce that to byler shippers. 65-35 is a decent ratio!!

i do agree with you that someones feelings will definitely be established this season. at least will’s but hopefully mike’s too.

THE RAIN FIGHT!!! oh my god before the season came out that still was released and i deadass almost sent it to one of my film professors, the same one that taught media aesthetics (a class i talked about in a previous ask) and yell about how fucking sick that shot is. just aesthetically its fucking BEAUTIFUL. and both their acting is so good especially noah’s hes so talented.

i see what you mean about them taking a comedic route. i didnt mind it much for mileven mostly bc i love max so much and i loved that she was just like “fuck boys were going shopping and getting ice cream” so it made sense for the breakup to play out like that after a fun girl day. for joyce and hopper i didnt love it. i didnt love how grumpy hop was the entire season like he was a cranky mother fucker especially towards alexei.

gonna skip ahead to the tweet. again, i dont usually read into their social media posts and dont blame people who dont think thats reliable evidence but just the fact that they chose mikes face when in that scene they showed lucas and wills reactions too right? if they had tweeted that with will instead of mike im sure everyone would interpret it the gay way bc hes much more obviously queer coded. i thought it was interesting that they chose mike instead.

no worries about word vomiting i love hearing other peoples opinions in my inbox.

[encrucijada]

okay here is the love interest version of this.

🌺 rate your ocs by how attractive you personally find them and why or if you're not attracted to any, just rank them by how cool they look

once again this was harder than it looks because i just think they all look So Cool like my protagonists. some of the characters here belong to @rxinbowbright and @chaoticdecember so go thank them

theo: canonically good-looking that's not even my bias. wears his gf's glitter make up sometimes. has the crooked smile of a ya love interest. leans down to talk to you because he's tall

ángel: dark academia clothes. i want to both kiss him and be him, he's one of those. would get soaked in blood for the look. wears sparkly earrings like howl jenkins from howl's moving castle

eva: wears pretty dresses to do something as mundane as going out to buy bread. literally so pretty an angel said "i'd tap that". ties hair back with flower-pattern kerchiefs

rafael: no competition he is the prettiest of fae's s/os lmao. could lift me up like i weigh nothing. i bet he gives really good hugs. needs glasses but rarely wears them, looks nice with them

lorelai: long dark hair?? thick eyebrows?? big golden hoop earrings?? dark eyes?? glossy lipstick?? name a better look. also an artist so she has colourful stains on her jeans

rita: the comeback of garren's og love interest! soft redhead with dark freckles and big knitted sweaters that swallow her up. is a witch and that gives her extra points

lucy: wears glasses with decorated chains. long and flowy skirts with knitted tops. definitely think she has the type of hazel eyes where they just change colour everytime you look at them again

dylan: see his whole thing is that "he's just some guy" but i refuse to believe he isn't cute in an unconventional way. floppy curls and dimples <3. sings so pretty it would move me to tears

argyle: okay listen they are nothing alike but in my head argyle = adam parrish and that's all i'm gonna say about that. eyes of that dark brown that is nearly black. grandpa sweaters. glasses <3

mia: winged eyeliner that could cut you. deep red lipstick. the best dressed (objectively) in this entire list. wears leather jackets with those stark silver zippers and tennis skirts

jo: the messy artsy type. 100% has a very pretty smile. lots and lots and lots of colourful bracelets made by fae. chipped nailpolish. can somehow make button-downs look like streetwear

romeo: the comeback of the pretty dark academia boy but unconventionally pretty instead of objectively pretty. would get away with wearing a cotton longcoat as casualwear

summer: the only reason she is so low is because i got fed up about how 14yo me Insisted on how pretty she was. and she is pretty but now i am mad about it

felicity: high ponytails and rosegold-frame glasses. dresses like a fashionably business woman (which she kinda is tbh). a light sprinkle of freckles under her eyes

[pageadaytale]

FALLEN STAR | Part 3: The Airship

Maira had heard tales of her father’s exploits.

Law enforcement called him a criminal, albeit a reformed one. An Administrator couldn’t commit crimes, not when they made the laws. But the stories in all the penny dreadfuls that sold by the thousands told a tale of a person who robbed from the rich and evil, and gave to the poor, the good, the needy. That he was able to retire rich and pardoned was, of course, glossed over in those collections of short stories. Somehow he always had plenty for himself, despite his charity. 

The Fallen Star was sandwiched between an ancient and rusting locomotive and a teetering pyramid of crushed carriages. Ham was blessed by his relationship with the late Deanfleet; his scrapyard caught the very edge of the sunlight from the manor house's spear, and it was here that he'd built his ramshackle office. Maira took a seat opposite him as he pulled out paperwork. Out in the yard she could hear Salem and Annalise chucking stones at a carriage door.

Mercifully, Ham brought out a pot of coffee and some slightly stale biscuits before taking business.

'You look like you've not eaten today,' he said, brow wrinkling with concern. Maira shrugged.

'I haven't,' she replied. 'I've been on a liquid diet since I got the letter.' She nibbled at a biscuit, waiting to see if her stomach would turn, and inhaled the strong burnt-coffee scent from her mug. Just smelling it made her feel steadier.

'Your dad would want you to look after yourself, Maira,' Ham continued. 'Your dad wanted to look after you while he was here - more than you could know.'

'Yeah, well... look where caring got him.' She stared into the coffee, where her face stared back, distorted. It looked... disappointed? Angry? Sad?

'He was the only one I didn't have to fight when I left,' she said eventually. 'He gave me his blessing, put me in touch with an airship crew. He practically packed my bags for me - I was so mad about it at the time. I wanted to do everything myself!'

'Do you resent him for that?' Ham asked. Maira shook her head.

'I wished I'd written, years after. Wished I'd told him how much it ended up meaning to me. That captain was the best I served under. At the time I couldn't wait to jump ship.'

Ham raised his tin cup and nodded.

'A toast then. To Dorian Deanfleet: he was better than we gave him credit for!' Maira raised her mug and took a sip.

'I dunno if I'd say that,' she said. 'He tried. But he was never there, not until I was heading for the door. Perhaps he knew I was just waiting to run away.'

There was silence as they contemplated this, the ship, and the late Deanfleet. Then Ham shuffled through the papers and presented them to Maira.

'Ownership papers,' He said. 'Four of them, I'm afraid. A copy for me, one for you, and one for the registry. The final one's for Argyle - I don't get my money unless he has proof I've released the ship to you.'

'Is it skyworthy?' Maira asked, staring out of the dusty window. There was a sharp crack as Annalise expertly hucked a stone through a carriage window.

'Dorian asked me to keep her so. I've tried to keep my word on that.'

'And the 75,000? That suggests an awful lot of repairs.' Ham scoffed.

'He's being generous! Despite the surroundings, I can assure you she's seen barely a scratch in the last decade.'

'Would you buy it?'

'Well she's a real beauty, if you're asking my opinion! A classic of style and design, but she can... you're not asking my opinion, are you?'

'I could sell it to you,' Maira said. 'It's my ship now, after all. What do you say? 30,000 and it's yours again - auction it off for even more profit.'

Ham scowled at her and jabbed his finger at the papers.

'First things first, she's not yours until you sign the forms. Second, if you were just to sell her back to me I'd as soon keep her and lose the 75,000. Third, some daughter of his you'd be if you just up and sold the Fallen Star away! What is this, some kind of test? A joke? Your ma didn't put you up to this, did she?' Maira shook her head.

'I left this place, Ham,' she explained. 'i left this family and swore I'd never return! The ship, it's... another reminder of where I came from. Of what I lost the moment I let them know who I was. I swore I'd hear the will reading and leave, and I can't take an airship with me.'

'Uh-huh? You've got a gig all lined up, have you? Hunting dragons again? Or smuggling light? Maybe some piracy on the side! For goodness' sake, girl, your dad's trying to give you one last opportunity!'

'I didn't ask him to!' Maira stood, knocking her chair to the floor as she gripped the edges of the desk. Her breath was ragged. She looked around as though she were just seeing the room for the first time.

'I can't... I'm not... I won't...' she tried, the anger knotting her stomach into fear. She felt the buzzing at the base of her skull and briefly tasted blood as her feet fought to lead her from the room.

'I'm sorry,' Ham said quietly. 'This wasn't my idea. It wasn't my call. If you want... if you want, I can buy it off you. But I want you to at least take a tour of it first. Please?'

Maira's features softened, though deeper inside the knot did not untangle. She took a deep breath and sighed.

'Can I bring my coffee?' She croaked. Ham nodded.

'Why not? You've had a hard day; Hell, you can bring the biscuits too.'

-

From the exterior the Fallen Star was a remarkable ship: it rested on two steel legs which looked like axeheads and split each into three points of a star more than two storeys overhead. Halfway up a walkway ringed the bell, with a ramshackle assortment of wooden rooms above and below. Beneath, just about resting level with the axeheads, an enormous wooden tail sagged down and opened up into a vast cargo bay. Maira gaped at the cavernous space, suddenly feeling very small.

'Well your dad was a smuggler,' Ham said as he led her through the space. 'He liked to keep a lot of space for the authorities to search. And it helped when he took on legitimate jobs, too.' Maira huffed a laugh.

'Funny, he never mentioned those,' she said.

They continued on, taking the stairs up to the catwalk above the bay, and a ladder from there to the walkway on top. Most of the rooms were storage or crew quarters, cramped spaces with little personality. Maira had spent years living in one bunk or another, closely guarding her belongings - she grimaced at the reminder of such recent sour partings. More important, at least to Ham, was the mess: it was not a large room but it had three fixed tables and a comfy kitchen in which food could be cooked for over a dozen at a time.

‘The Fallen Star has berths for around thirty,’ he explained. ‘But they’d work in shifts, so food was cooked when needed.’

‘How many are needed to fly this thing?’ Maira asked, and Ham chuckled.

‘Only around seven or eight for a full watch! Your dad never did have much truck with huge crews - if there were more than ten people on this boat they’d be coming off as soon as possible!’

Seven or eight. Three for shifts at the helm and another three for the engine, Maira guessed. Which left two for... guard duty? Lookouts were necessary, for spying distant ports or threats in the sky, so perhaps a rotating shift of two across the night. So few for such a large boat... Maira shuddered at the thought of what ghosts might inhabit such empty space.

‘Where am I going to find seven other people?’ she asked aloud. ‘I can hardly fly this myself.’

‘Well you might need to make short hops, but you could do it on one shift,’ Ham said. ‘Come on; plenty more boat to see!’

The helm was next, a narrow room clad in steel, but with wide windows looking out across the front. It was nestled in between two gun bays and protruded out like a snout for a wider view. There were three bays: one with a map for navigation; one with a crude radio setup which had not been updated in decades; and the final one, a comfortable seat behind the ship’s wheel. Everything was a little dusty, but otherwise in good working order.

‘We’d need to update the radio,’ Maira noted. ‘That thing is years out of code by now. It’s all morse these days.’

‘Hmph! A proper radio lets you talk to people!’ Ham muttered. ‘But I can look into fitting a telegraph key once we’re airborne.’

‘So one person to steer, one to map, and one to talk,’ Maira continued. ‘Or, if you’re desperate, the same person to do all three. Me, maybe.’

‘You’ve had some experience on boats bigger than this. Surely you’ve done all three!’

‘Not mapping. That was always the captain or the first mate’s job. But I’ve watched over people’s shoulders from time to time; I can pick it up.’

‘You sound like you’re ready to take her for a spin!’ Ham laughed, and then shrank back under Maira’s scowl.

‘I’m just... taking stock, is all. Gotta know what needs fixing up if it’s to fetch a good price.’

‘Right, sure.’ Ham said no more, but Maira pursed her lips at his knowing smile.

‘What else is there?’ she asked.

There was the engine room. Ham took her over a dizzying array of instruments - the communications array, a fuel engine for the propeller which drove the ship forward, the rudder controls which connected all the way to the helm (’The biggest bastard of design on this ruddy ship!’ Ham spat), and most importantly-

‘A light engine?’ Maira gasped. ‘Just for the bell?’

‘Ah, I thought that would impress you,’ Ham said with a grin. ‘Yep! No quicker way to heat air, although if the shielding around the sides breaks you could end up blind! Had that happen to an engineer on one of your dad’s later flights, that was a rough day. The Umbrella Men caught up to us and we had a hard fight - that was when he started talking about settling down somewhere.’

Maira looked up. Suspended above was a curtain of fabric which, when heated, would fill with hot air and lift the whole structure. The bell was enormous, it took up the swath of space between the two metal outers and between the helm and the cargo bay. A wing of Deanfleet manor would fit comfortably in here, and Maira had to wonder that the light engine could heat that same volume of air in a short time. It was a tiny device in contrast, a squat box barely four feet long. A rod of light would be placed inside, and the heat it gave off would generate lift.

‘It’s ingenious,’ Maira said. ‘But light’s an expensive resource. How did dad ever make enough to run this engine for so long?’

‘Ah, well, he didn’t exactly pay for the light he was using,’ Ham said. ‘Let me show you one more thing.’

They should have been ordinary storerooms. At three points along each side of the Fallen Star were spacious rooms which had been rendered cramped by the apparatus inside them. Wires connected to leather-wrapped rods of polarised glass, stacked in neat rows in specially-made racks. Those wires criss-crossed and threaded into a net, across which was stretched some dark, shiny material. It was as though someone had taken bat wings and folded them into the ship’s storerooms.

'God's Tears!' Maira breathed. 'This is... it's...'

'Clever, isn't it? Your dad had a permit for all this, of course - you'll probably need to get them renewed or reapply for-'

'No! No. Ham, you don't understand.' Maira inspected the jars and wings minutely. 'Ham, this is highly illegal now. There are no permits, the only light runners nowadays are government-owned ships. If I go up in this I'll be arrested within a day!' Despite herself, Maira laughed. She slapped herself on the forehead theatrically.

'I get it now!' she continued. 'This is dad's big joke. He gave me his old ship, knowing I can't sell it because it's crammed full of his illegal smuggling equipment, and I can't take it because I'll be shot down as soon as I'm airborne! He put you up to this, right?' She turned to Ham expectantly, but he returned her gaze, deflated.

'I don't think he'd do that, Maira,' He said quietly. 'I've had many conversations with him aboard this ship, a lot of them talking about you. This isn't a joke; your dad wanted this for you, he left it to you because he loved you.'

'Then why the illegal equipment?' Maira retorted, suddenly angry. 'Why the outdated communications? Why an engine I couldn't possibly afford to run? There's so much here that I can't believe he'd leave in, if he meant for me to have this and just leave with it!'

Silence rang between them, Maira exhausted, Ham subdued. She watched as he looked down at his feet, trying to come up with a reason.

'I think,' He said at length, 'You ought to come and see the Captain's Quarters.'