#and she just wouldn’t give brenner any of that!!!!

[a-shadowedvales]

not that i even include any of the nina project canon on this blog, but what really annoyed me about it all (i mean, basically everything to do with the storyline lmao) is that jane continued to call brenner papa. he claims they're “father and daughter” and offers his hand to her, and she takes it, in order to continue the work. she confirms he is her papa. by calling him that, it continues to implement that he is some kind of role model or positive figure in her life. the fact that she didn't confront him about her childhood until he physically stopped her from leaving and put the shock collar around her neck, is wild to me. all of jane’s development from the very first episode is amazing. in just the end of season one she associates “bad” to brenner, after spending one week with the boys. yes she did try running away from him the moment she saw him, and she was only thinking about helping her friends in working with nina, but she would not have put up with his behaviour towards her. she knew who he was at that point, and if not just to her, then to her friends: he faked will’s death, threatened to kill the boys, destroyed her mothers life. anyway. the point of this post, is that after season two, and her experience with kali, the man who hurt terry, and brenner’s vision, she only refers to him as brenner. there is no more papa. she is not giving him that credit, or allowing him to have that possession over her. if he were to ever come up in conversation, he is brenner, and that’s it.

[shadowedvales]

not that i even include any of the nina project canon on this blog, but what really annoyed me about it all [i mean, basically everything to do with the storyline lmao] is that jane continued to call brenner papa. he claims they're “father and daughter”, offers his hand to her, and she takes it in order to continue the work. she confirms he is her papa. by calling him that, it continues to implement that he is some kind of role model or positive figure in her life. the fact that she didn't confront him about her childhood until he physically stopped her from leaving, and put the shock collar around her neck, is wild to me. all of jane’s development from the very first episode is amazing. at the end of season one she associates “bad” to brenner, after spending one week with the boys. one week compared to eleven years with brenner.

yes she did try running away from him the moment she saw him, and she was only thinking about helping her friends in working with nina, but she would not have put up with his behaviour towards her. she knew who he was at that point, and if not just to her, then to her friends: he faked will’s death, threatened to kill the boys, and most importantly destroyed her mothers life. anyway. the point of this post, is that after season two and her experience with kali, the man who hurt terry, and brenner’s vision, she only refers to him as brenner. there is no more papa. she is not giving him that credit, or allowing him to have that possession over her. if he were to ever come up in conversation, he is brenner, and that’s it.

which, on that note, i believe jane would stop referring to terry as 'mama' and instead simply call her 'mum.' when jane is looking through the documents regarding hawkins lab in the cabin, she sees terry for the first time, and realises she is her mother. without thinking, she calls out for mama, [not ma, not mother, not mum etc] the title already engrained into her from her so-called father: in that moment she still believes brenner is her father, and this woman is her mother. so they are both automatically mama and papa in her perception, the only parental titles she really knows of thus far. she's connecting these two vastly different people together by titles, which may seem simple on the outside, but has far more meaning within. the word papa will always be tainted to jane, and once she finds out about her real father, andrew rich, she would never call him papa, so why would she call terry mama? 'mama' is immediately associated to 'papa' and when jane grows up a little more and comes to realise these titles connect to one another, she only calls terry her mum or mother.

[aemiron-main]

Ms Kelly and the Lab

Every day I get more and more suspicious that Ms Kelley may have been working for the lab.

Which sounds like a stretch, but think about it- the lab doesn’t know for certain what happened that night at starcourt mall. They didnt see it happen. But Max did.

Max, who Ms Kelley pushes to talk about that night (like, it’s so weird, usually a counsellor will give a person space to open up during a convo/let them talk- but during the scene at Ms Kelley’s house, Max is barely able to say anything before Ms Kelley is pushing her to talk about the night at Starcourt)

And the lab knows that Max isn’t going to talk to them willingly- after all, Max has seen the results of El’s life in the lab & her growing up being bossed around by Brenner, hence why in S3, Max is so big on pushing for El to make her own choices.

It’s also interesting that Ms Kelley has this red phone on her desk- much like the red phone from S3 that Nancy tries to use in the super super HNL paralleled hospital:

And she’s also got that fan behind her head, much like the HNL fans that we see all the time.

And this wouldn’t be the first time that a HNL employee worked/posed as a regular employee, it’s the same with Connie pretending to represent the Indiana AV club in S1, and those Hawkins Power and Light employees who seem to work for both Hawkins Power and Light and for the lab.

Anyway! This isnt a full analysis on this idea by any means, just some thoughts!

[pinkeoni]

Is HNL Connected to Pennhurst?

(and why the show might not done with Pennhurst)

This is a thought I had when thinking about Victor’s fate in Pennhurst. We know for a fact that HNL has a connection to what happened with his family in at least some capacity, considering that they managed to get their hands on Henry and cover it up pretty quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if Victor’s placement in Pennhurst was somehow orchestrated by the lab.

The patients and nurses of Pennhurst wear mostly white, not unlike the children and orderlies of the lab.

Also peep this patient with similar hair to Brenner:

Pennhurst is named after a real asylum that shut down in ‘87, and while we don’t see a lot of how show Pennhurst works, the lab actually functions pretty similarly to how irl Pennhurst worked.

IE, a lot of patient abuse and basically being a prison rather than a hospital.

There’s also the boys speculation in s1 that El could’ve been from Pennhurst, only for it to be revealed that she’s actually from HNL.

How do we know that the patients at Pennhurst are being treated the same way?

I guess there’s no confirmation, but there are some hints. When Dr. Hatch is giving Robin and Nancy the tour of Pennhurst he says this—

Idk man, if there was ever a veiled way to say “They can’t escape, they don’t choose to be here and they don’t like it here” this would be it. I think Robin bringing into question whether or not they can escape in the first place makes it clear that they are drawing attention to this point, why even talk about this point in the first place if it isn’t a question that the patients want to be there?

Why would HNL and Pennhurst have a connection anyway?

Honestly, some kind of agreement between HNL and the lab would be super beneficial for both parties, and I imagine something like that would have formed during the MK ULTRA days. The lab could get rid of cases that either cause a problem for them and/or prove to potentially be dangerous, and Pennhurst would recieve new patients. Or at least, that’s what I speculate their agreement could be. HNL has a place to lock up Victor so he can’t blab about anything supernatural that he witnessed, and even if he did, he would just be seen as another “nut job” at Pennhurst.

Why would Pennhurst be brought back to the show?

Now I don’t know this for sure (as is true with any theory of mine) but I believe that Pennhurst may be brought back in season 5.

Despite Robin and Nancy only being there for Victor, we get a pretty extensive tour of the place. Granted this could just be here to plant the thing about music, but the way that Pennhurst is established here doesn’t make it feel like a location they would used for only one episode. Why go into so much detail for a single episode location? Why go through the trouble of familiarizing the audience with the layout and part of how it functions if not to bring it back later?

I don’t know exactly what kind of storyline they could use at Pennhurst, but I don’t think it would be out of place nor would it take the place of any other important plotline. Rather, especially if Pennhurst is connected to the lab, I could see the location being used as a vehicle to deliver more information regarding the supernatural plot.

What’s the resolve for the Pennhurst plotline?

Let’s go back to that point about the patients wanting to escape. This has been hinted at, but not brought to fruition. When Robin and Nancy are escaping, we get a closeup of a patient who laughs as they run away.

Something that I stated earlier in the post is that Pennhurst is named after a real asylum that was closed in ‘87, which happened due the revelation of the abuse behind the scenes. We know there will be a timeskip in s5, and while it’s looking like it might be closer to ‘88, details of show Pennhurst don’t align exactly with irl Pennhurst. Penn irl is in Pennsylvania and show Penn is in Indiana, as stated in s1 by Lucas.

But still, if the show still intentionally took the name and some of the real asylum practices, one could assume that the show asylum might end up with the same fate.

IE the truth coming out regarding HNL and the abuse behind the scenes coming to light in the public eye, and more imporantly-

Liberation!

[steddilystranger]

blue butterfly (a life is strange au)

blue butterfly is a story-based fic that features reader choice. the consequences of your collective choices will affect the past, present, and future. the poll, with a duration of one week, is below the cut. choose wisely...

masterlist || part one || cw: character death, drugs

readers chose: help jonathan

Steve steps in. “Hey, leave him alone, jackass!” 

Jonathan exhales shakily behind him, but Callahan puffs up. “Harrington. Why do I always find you in the middle of everything?” 

Steve sneers. “I wouldn’t have to be if you weren’t bullying Jonathan. You’re not even supposed to be in here anyway.” 

Callahan advances, forcing Steve to back up. “Listen here, I can go wherever I damn well please, Steven Harrington. And this isn’t your problem. Piss off.” 

Steve holds an arm in front of Jonathan, planting his feet. “I’m not leaving.” 

Callahan’s walkie buzzes on his hip, and Steve can hear the tinny voice of Principal Higgins saying something he can’t quite make out. He grumbles and backs off. “I’ll remember this, Steve.” He turns on his heel and leaves. 

Jonathan gives him a weak sort-of smile. “Thank you, Steve.” 

“No problem. I gotta run-” Steve’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and that’s definitely Robin getting impatient. “-but call me if that dick bothers you again. I mean it!” He takes off at a jog towards the exit.

Steve leaves the dorm building, and Robin’s sitting with Vickie on a bench outside, chatting. He was right, she is wearing his sweatshirt. 

“Ready to go, Robbie? Hi, Vickie.” 

Robin swings her legs off the bench and pops up. “Yep, let’s go. Bye, Vickie!” 

Vickie waves at them, then pulls out her camera. Right, the assignment from Brenner. 

“She definitely has a thing for you.” Steve tells Robin in a low whisper.

Robin hits him on the arm. “She thinks I’m dating you, dingus!” she says. 

“Ah, you’re right, you’re right.” Steve says. “It’s ‘cause you’re wearing my hoodie. If I just take it back-” 

“Noooo,” Robin whines, a hint of laughter in her voice as she tries to dodge Steve. “It’s the only thing that matches!” 

Steve laughs and lets go of the hood. “Fine, fine. You win.” They step out into the parking lot. “Any plans for us for the night?” 

Robin shrugs. “Anywhere that isn’t Blackwell is fine with me.”

“Amen. Two Whales Diner?” 

“Ooh, I could go for some pancakes right now.” She rubs her hands together greedily, and Steve grins, swinging his keys around in his hand. 

“Two Whales it is.” He catches a glimpse of something blue in the corner of his eye. 

The butterfly. 

“I have something crazy to tell you.” Steve tells Robin. “And you have to believe me.” 

Robin squints at him, walking backward. “Alright, shoot.” 

“Earlier today, I fell asleep in class-” 

“What a model student,” Robin teases, but at the look on Steve’s face, she rearranges her expression into something serious. “Go on, I’m listening, I’m listening.” 

“I can rewind time.” Steve says. Concise and to the point. “Billy was in the bathroom, threatening a guy with a gun, and then he shot him, and I rewound time to save him.” 

“That’s- Steve, holy sh-” 

There’s a horn, and a horrible sound. Steve’s world freezes just as the front of a car slams into Robin. The world goes black and white and near-silent, Robin’s dying scream echoing through his ears.

Steve’s got it, pulling time hand over hand backwards. He lands back at Robin saying, “Alright, shoot.” 

Instead of responding, Steve pushes her bodily out of the parking lot and onto the yellowing grass. A few seconds later, a car roars by. 

“Holy shit.” Robin says. “That was close.” 

Steve can’t breathe. Robin scoots closer and puts her hand on his back. “Steve? It’s alright, we’re both fine. The drivers here are so shit.” 

“I-” Steve coughs. His heart is pounding painfully in his chest. They’re both fine, but for a split second, they weren’t, and Steve feels like there’s a corner of his mind that will be replaying that split second for the rest of his life.

He manages to get to his feet, helping Robin up. They head towards Steve’s car, now sticking close to the line of cars so there aren’t any more nasty surprises. 

It doesn’t work. As they reach Steve’s car, he’s suddenly tackled against the driver door. Billy Hargrove, his breath smelling like alcohol, slams him facefirst into his car. 

“The fuck did you do?” he hisses at Steve. “Security said you told them I had a fuckin’ gun? Fuck’s wrong with you?” He flips Steve around so his back is to the car.

“Robin!” Steve chokes out. “Go get security!” 

Robin stares in horror at Steve’s bleeding nose, then nods and slips out of the parking lot, running like a bat outta hell towards the school. 

Steve tries to knee Billy, but he dodges it and slams Steve back into the car door. “You’re gonna fuckin’ pay for ratting me out!” he growls. 

All that comes out of Steve’s mouth is a weak cough. 

Then someone punches Billy in the face. 

Out of nowhere, someone, dressed in leather and black, their curls falling around their face, tackles Billy off him. 

The boy from the bathroom, is all Steve can think.

Then the boy looks up at him and all his thoughts are replaced by big brown eyes and childhood memories. “Eddie?” he whispers breathlessly.

“Steve?” Eddie says in wonder. 

Billy begins to move and groan on the ground. 

“We gotta move!” Eddie says, and he darts around the front of the car and slides into the passenger seat. “C’mon, let’s go!” 

Steve doesn’t argue. He slides into the front seat and starts the car. 

“Head to my place.” Eddie tells him. Then remarks icily, “Unless you’ve forgotten where it is?”

“No, no, I- I got it.” Steve replies. He looks in his side mirror. Billy’s on his feet, swaying slightly, glaring after them. “God, Billy’s dangerous.” 

“Oh, thanks for the save, Eddie!” Eddie says in a mocking tone. He kicks his feet up on the dash, grumbling. “After seven years you’re still Steve Harrington.” 

“Thanks, Eddie.” Steve says genuinely.

The house looks practically the same as when Steve came here all those years ago, and he puts the car into park. Eddie opens the door. “Shithole sweet shithole,” he says. “Rosie and Phil are still at work.” 

He throws a wad of paper towels at Steve. “For your nose, dude.” he says at Steve’s confused look. 

Steve had forgotten about that. His shirt is definitely ruined, but he presses the paper towels to his nose anyway. Eddie makes a little head motion upstairs, and Steve follows him. 

“So Chicago sucked ass?” Eddie asks, reclining on his mattress. He flicks a lighter open and lights up a joint. 

“It was alright.” Steve takes a seat on the edge of the bed. “Lonely, I guess.” 

“Really?” Eddie blows out a puff of smoke. “Thought you’d fit right in up there.” He waves a hand. “All the…sports fans or whatever.” 

“No, not really. Prefer to play more than watch.” Steve props himself up on his hands, gazing back at the ceiling. If he squints, he can still see the glow-in-the-dark stars he had helped Eddie and Wayne put up for Eddie’s tenth birthday. “Can’t even do that anymore, so I came back here.” 

“Bullshit.” Eddie says. “You came back for Blackwell.” 

Steve looks over at him. Eddie’s resolutely staring at the ceiling like it wronged him in some way. “Don’t you think I missed you?” 

“Nope. You were perfectly fine waiting seven years without even a call.” Eddie retorts. 

Steve swallows. “I wanted to. But leaving Hawkins-” 

“Can it, Harrington. Your laptop and cell phone didn’t get shot back to the 1980s. You didn’t call. End of story.” 

Steve’s phone buzzes. It’s Robin.

platonic soulmate: so you said you had something to tell me?

Steve stares at the text. His mind begins to play Robin’s scream on loop, like it’s rewinding in his brain.

He swallows. 

It’s nothing. Never mind.

Steve shoves his phone deep in his pocket and sits forward. His foot brushes a box. When he leans down to look at it, he realizes he recognizes it. When he was eleven, he gave Eddie this wooden box. Had hand painted it and everything. 

Steve flips open the lid. 

Right on top is a picture of a girl. Chrissy Cunningham, if Steve’s memory serves. He picks the photo out of the box and unfolds it. Eddie, dressed to the nines in his best leather and chains, stands next to Chrissy in her preppy cheer uniform. There couldn’t be a more mismatched duo. 

And yet, they look perfectly at ease next to each other, Eddie pulling a stupid face with devil horns and his tongue out, and Chrissy laughing prettily at his antics. 

“Give me that.” Eddie snatches the photo and the box from Steve’s hands. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” Steve says. “I…didn’t know you two were close. Her missing posters are all over Blackwell.” 

“Yeah, I put them up. She was my angel.” Eddie says, staring down at the photo. “After Wayne died and you left, I felt…abandoned. She saved me.”

“I’m sorry, Eddie. I had no idea.” 

“Yeah, well, you never made much effort to find out.” Eddie snapped. “I was thirteen, Steve. We were best friends.”

“So Chrissy took my place.” Steve said. “I’m glad she found you.” 

“We were gonna kick the world’s ass, Stevie. You would’ve laughed at how different we were.” Steve takes the nickname, turns it over in his mind. It feels like the Eddie of the past is coming back in this conversation.

“She looks like a movie star.” Steve offers. 

“That was her plan.” Eddie replies, putting the photo back in the box like he can’t bear to look at it anymore. “Get the hell out of Hawkins together, sign some deal in L.A., and never look back. Chrissy Cunningham and Eddie Munson, movie star and rock star.” 

“So what happened?” Steve asks. 

“Six months ago, Chrissy just…up and left. Without a word. Without…me. And I thought she would have talked to me, unlike you.” Eddie takes a long, angry drag on the joint. 

“And you haven’t heard anything from her since?” 

“No, Steve, Jesus. She left me. Like you, and Wayne, and everyone else I love in this shitty town.” He crosses his arms, looking away resolutely. 

Steve’s phone buzzes again. He pulls it out. 

[Unknown Number]: hey, it’s jonathan byers. i just wanted to say thanks again for what you did for me today. 

Steve types his response out quickly. No problem, man. Happy to help. Hope you have a good night!

“What’s this?” Eddie asks, and Steve clicks off his phone. Eddie’s looking at a small Polaroid, and Steve pats at his pockets. It must have fallen out when Steve took out his phone. “I’ve seen this before!” Eddie says, and Steve peers over at it. 

It’s the blue butterfly. 

“You were in the bathroom today?” Eddie asks, locking eyes with him, and all Steve can see is Eddie challenging Billy, Eddie with a gun to his head, Eddie slumped against the bathroom wall, blood pooling around him. “That’s why Billy was so mad at you! You ratted him out!” 

Steve shrugged. “I couldn’t let him run around Blackwell with a gun, even if I don’t think Higgins is gonna do anything about it.” 

Eddie laughs, and it feels like the air clears a little. “No way, that prick only cares about money.” 

Steve nods. “I pulled the fire alarm to get him out of there. I was afraid of what he’d do if I let it escalate.” I know what would have happened, he adds to himself. 

“You called the fire alarm…” Eddie sits back, and the Polaroid flutters from his fingers. “You saved my fuckin’ life.” He shakes himself a bit. “Did you recognize me?”

“Not at all.” Steve says. “I really only saw your back, and your hair was so different.” 

“And you definitely heard our conversation.” Eddie says. “No way you didn’t hear every single syllable. 

Steve shrugs. “I only heard something about money…drugs? I didn’t really understand it.” 

Eddie nods. “Yeah, it’s some big shit. I saw Billy-”

The door downstairs slams open with an almighty crash, and Eddie says, “Shit, hide!” 

Steve fumbles around the room, looking for a good hiding place. Eddie’s closet is crammed full of things Steve can’t ever picture him wearing, so that’s out. 

His bed is just a mattress on the ground, so under there is out too. 

Steve moves towards Eddie’s cluttered desk, intending to squeeze under there, but Eddie’s door opens before he can. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” a vaguely familiar voice growls, and Steve leans back as the security guard from Blackwell stalks towards him. 

Eddie steps in front of him. “Cool it, Phil, it’s just Steve.” 

“Oh, I know exactly who this is.” Callahan mutters angrily, and Steve tries and fails for a winning smile. Then Callahan’s face freezes, and he takes an inhale. 

“What the fuck? Is this weed?” Callahan storms over and grabs the badly-hidden joint. “Thought I fuckin’ told you not to smoke here!” He advances on Eddie.

[queenofthekings]

𝖆𝖑𝖕𝖍𝖆 𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖌𝖆, 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖎𝖎 (𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖎 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊)

Summary: Eddie finally formally meets Alpha and learns about her life and her people and starts to question if he's really doing the right thing by handing her over to Brenner, especially after she proved that she wasn't a threat.

Author's note: I'm so happy you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I didn't intend for this part to be so long but I just had so much planned for this chapter lmao

CW: 18+, swearing, sex references, Older!Eddie (mid 40s), Reader is mid 20s, mentions of character deaths, graphic depictions of zombies being zombies, no use of Y/N but Reader is referred to as "it", "Babydoll" and "Alpha", smut in later chapters.

Word count: 2.3k

Any hate will not be tolerated, constructive criticism is welcomed.

Alpha led the group into an abandoned hotel, asking them to wait in what once was the lobby before pulling her second in command to one side. “I’ll stay with them; you go home with everyone else.”

“But-” she tried to protest but Alpha placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Harper, go. Tell Jamie I won’t be home tonight and that I’m sorry. Bring him here in the morning so I can say my goodbyes.”

“Goodbyes?” Harper frowned, shaking her head a little. Even though she was asking for clarification, deep down she knew what Alpha meant.

“I’ll explain later.” Alpha gave her a forced smile, nodding her head before pushing Harper away. Both women looked at each other, the same look of knowing exactly what was going to happen was clear on both of their faces.

It didn’t take a genius to know that the hybrids who lived in the city had a shared sense of loss and tragedy. Ever since Brenner had discovered their existence, some of their community would go out to look for supplies and never return. The only way the community would know would be through the hive mind they all seemed to share, and they’d all know that Brenner had come for them.

They were stuck in an endless cycle – if they left the city, there was no certainty they would be able to find a safe place to live. But if they stayed, Brenner knew where they were and would hunt them down one by one. The only reasons they ended up staying was because the city held the most amount of infected, which meant few people dared to enter it and because they now had children to look after. The adults didn’t care if Brenner took them and killed them, as long as their children were safe and looked after, all their efforts wouldn’t be in vain.

While Alpha didn’t have any children of her own, she cared for Jamie; a toddler who’d lost both of his parents to Brenner several months beforehand. While Alpha could still hear both of them faintly through the hive mind, she knew it was too dangerous to try to rescue them. It was too risky to even leave the city for them.

Once the rest of Alpha’s people left, she led the group up the decayed and hole filled stairs. Every level they went up, she’d stop the group to bang loudly on the wall to check for infected or any kind of animal, although nothing was found. She led the group up six floors until finally deciding they were high enough to be safe from the infected, opening one of doors. “We’ll stay here tonight,” she announced before instantly walking towards the sliding doors that lead to a balcony to cut off the tarp covering them, giving the room more light.

She opened the door that led to the adjacent room, taking off the tarp on the doors in there too. While she was doing that, the team were settling into the two small rooms for the night. Eddie walked towards the sliding doors, getting out his radio to contact Brenner. “Sir, Alpha knows we’re here for her.”

“Is it co-operating?” Brenner asked, his question cold and emotionless.

Eddie almost flinched at Alpha being referred to as an “it”, he hated it more than he probably should. “At the moment, we don’t know if she will come. We’re currently staying the night in a hotel as she says it’s dangerous to go around the city at night.”

“Use the tranquilizer if you need to, it must come back with you.”

“But sir-”

“Munson, I don’t care how you do it. You bring it back alive. I don’t care if you have to drag that bitch by the hair while it’s kicking and screaming.”

Eddie knew there was no arguing with Brenner about anything, drooping his head. “Yes, sir. Understood, I’ll bring her tomorrow,” he placed the radio on the table before looking for Alpha. He found her on the balcony in the adjacent room, sitting on a chair she’d brought from inside the room, staring out at the horizon, the small glimpses of Hawkins just barely being visible. He couldn’t entirely read her expression; from what he could decipher, it was a mix of sadness, anger, and acceptance. He knew there was no point in trying to console her.

How could he possibly console someone who knew he was leading them to their death?

Just as he was about to walk away and leave her, she spoke up, not turning to face him. “If I’m Alpha, does that make you Omega?”

Eddie couldn’t help but look confused as he breathed out a chuckle, walking closer to her. “What?”

“I heard you on the radio, you called me Alpha. So I prose the question again; if I’m Alpha, does that make you Omega?”

“Please, just call me Eddie. But why would I be Omega? Wouldn’t I be Beta?”

Alpha barked a laugh, shaking her head. “Absolutely not. Alpha isn’t just for leadership; it represents the beginning. Omega represents the end. I’m part of the new world, you’re all that’s left of the old. But I’ll still call you Eddie, it suits you better.”

“What do I call you instead of Alpha? Surely you have an actual name.”

“My name isn’t important, I’ll be dead within a month, right?” She forced a smile before pointing to the empty chair beside hers. “Come, sit.”

Eddie didn’t need to be told twice and sat down beside her, taking a deep breath of fresh air as he looked at the starry sky above them then down at the city. “You know for all its faults… this is quite beautiful.”

She hummed in response, nodding towards a skyscraper covered in vines and a large clump of infected surrounding the entrance. “That’s the nest. The infected in the city go there when their bodies just give out, then they just become part of the spores. I suppose since they can’t detect any healthy hosts, it just stays there and grows bigger and bigger.”

He looked at the building towering over the city, squinting a little in the dusk to just about make out more detailing of the spores. “The infected don’t detect you or your people?”

Alpha shook her head. “No, we’re more or less invisible to the infected. They don’t see us as healthy hosts, so they don’t come near us.”

He nodded. “You said we weren’t the first to come after you; what happened to all the other squads that came in to get you?”

“We ate them.”

She said it so matter-of-factly that Eddie almost choked on his own spit; it had taken him so off guard. Up until then, he’d forgotten that she wasn’t like him and needed to eat other people in order to survive. At least it gave him the answer to a question he’d wondered about for years; the squads that came in guns blazing looking for Alpha were killed by her.

It certainly would explain how they were able to get their hands on guns.

She gave a sarcastic smile as she got up, announcing she was retiring to bed. Eddie reached for her wrist but accidently grabbed her hand to stop her, both of them freezing when their hands joined. They looked at each other for a moment before Alpha snatched her hand away.

“You were joking about eating the other squads, right?” He asked, almost stuttering it out.

She patted his shoulder. “If it helps you sleep tonight, sure.”

He shuddered a little but put on a brave face for her, standing from his chair to follow her inside. “You should sleep, it’s a long trek back to the evac spot tomorrow.”

Alpha shook her head. “I don’t trust your team to not try anything while I sleep, I’ve seen the way they look at me. I’m taking first watch,” she picked up a rifle before walking towards the door to leave.

“Where are you going?” Eddie placed his hand on the door, stopping her from leaving.

She glared at him, almost looking as if she was going to kill him right then and there. She even thought about it, but that wasn’t her thinking it – it was the infection. “Hunting. Unless you wanna watch me eat an animal alive, don’t follow me. I’ll be back in an hour, I promise.”

Reluctantly, he dropped his hand and let her go. He knew his orders were to never let her out of his sight and to shoot her if she tried to escape but she’d never shown any signs of attempting to escape and from what he could see, she fully accepted her fate and even made sure the team were in a secure location to spend the night.

That didn’t sound like someone who would escape as soon as their backs were turned.

Sighing, he tossed off his jacket and boots before collapsing onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t realise how tired he was until he woke up with a start as he heard the screams of the infected, grabbing his gun instantly but stopped as soon as he saw Alpha. She kept her promise of coming back, not that he ever doubted her. He must’ve passed out for several hours as the moon was high in the sky and the only lights were from the moon and the torch Alpha was sat in front of.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” She said, looking up at him. “The infected won’t come near the hotel.”

He slightly relaxed, keeping hold of his gun. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I won’t let them.”

He fell back asleep after that, although to him it was like he blinked and then the sun was blaring into his room and Alpha was gone. He didn’t dare ask his team where she went in case they’d try anything.

Instead, he packed up his gear and made his way downstairs with his team, stopping them as soon as he saw Alpha with a small child just outside the entrance to the lobby. He watched as she picked up a little boy, effortlessly spinning him around until placing him on her hip. The toddler squealed with laughter, burying his face in her neck. It was the first time he saw Alpha smile. Like, really smile. It didn’t take a lot to see how much the child meant to Alpha. He wondered if that was her child and if she had a family to protect and feed somewhere else in the city.

A sick feeling in his stomach began to rise; the best way to describe it was guilt. He was going to rip a mother away from her child, all because he was following the orders of someone else. This is wrong, this is so wrong.

It was easy to forget that the hybrids were just like everyone else; they were just trying to survive in an unforgiving world and struggling just as much as those in Hawkins. They all had families, children, people they cared deeply about. But Brenner had conditioned everyone to see them as a threat and the enemy, one that has to be entirely eradicated.

And it was easy to eradicate them when they were nameless and faceless, but Eddie knew he couldn’t do it anymore after meeting Alpha and seeing her with the child. He waited until Alpha sent the boy and Harper away before approaching her with the rest of his team. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded once, pressing the palms and backs of her hands to her face to dry her tears before she walked away from the group. She didn’t want to let anyone know she was upset or show any kind of weakness, she knew she’d use it against her when she met Brenner.

Once the group arrived back at the clearing, Eddie pulled her aside and opened his pack. “I’m sorry, Alpha, it’s just protocol,” he gave a sympathetic smile as he revealed handcuffs and a muzzle inside.

She clenched her jaw to stop herself from crying again as Eddie put them on as gently and humanely as he could, placing the handcuffs on both her wrists and ankles before putting the muzzle over her face. It felt utterly humiliating to her to be forced to wear them. “It’s protocol to treat me like some kind of animal?”

Once he finished, he patted her shoulder. “Trust me, if it was up to me, you wouldn’t have to wear this stuff.”

Raising an eyebrow, she walked towards the helicopter, grabbing Steve’s hand to pull her inside. She didn’t talk the entire way back, any attempts for conversation was met with a grunt or a death glare. She really didn’t feel like talking, she just wanted to get her execution done and over with already, without the overreactions or being controlled.

Brenner was waiting on the edge of the helipad for them to touch down, several guards by his side. If she was being honest, she imagined he would be taller and more imposing. Instead he looked about five minutes away from needing to be send to bed for a nap while old music played.

Alpha got pushed in front of him, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Ah, General Brenner, I recognised your foul stench as soon as I arrived. Although somehow I imagined you would be taller.”

Brenner barked a laugh before looking at her as if she was a child being scolded. “My my, I didn’t realise it would have such a lack for authority. Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to take things that don’t belong to you?” She spat as she gave him a death glare before punching him square in the face, then all hell broke loose around them. Guards grabbed her and forced her onto the ground, kicking and punching her repeatedly.

One of the guards got out a needle and injected it into her neck, her fighting stopping almost instantly as she fell limp before being dragged inside the facility, Eddie almost sprinting inside after her.

[thestobingirlie]

if they were to kill main characters at any point in the show, who do you think they should have killed and when?

oh that’s such a fun question!!!

okay, s1, in terms of deaths, did pretty alright. you’ve got benny killed by the lab, those hunters killed by the demogorgon, and then finding out about barb’s death later on. you’ve even got a nice el fake out, which was shocking because it was the first time they did it. however! they should’ve killed off brenner in s1, like shown him dead and everything. they didn’t need to bring him back in s4. the abusive dad can fucking rot.

s2 i think did good, bob’s death was hard hitting, the show hadn’t settled into killing off prominent side characters yet, so it was pretty heartbreaking and a big surprise!

s3 is where i think the show kinda started tripping itself up. now, as much as i love him, and as distraught his death made him, hopper should not have been brought back. it literally shouldn’t have even been possible for him to survive and the duffers knew that (he just jumped into a hole? wtf). hopper was a big fucking cast member, and it really would’ve changed the tune of the show, and i think they needed that. now, they also should’ve mind flayer goo’d more people. not mains, but more reoccurring characters. like, troy, the kids bully, or mr clarke, or tommy and carol or something, people we’ve seen before and care just the slightest bit more about. i didn’t give a shit about heather and her parents, and though i doubt most people care that much about carol and tommy, it still would’ve been more jarring (and we could maybe get a little steve development and some closure or something?). oh! and they should’ve killed karen. like, billy kills her. it doesn’t make sense that she’s put in close proximity to him and he doesn’t, and also that’s what you get for trying to sleep with teenagers. i would probably change a lot about s3, but if i can just kill more people, that’s what i’d do.

so main character’s dead would be brenner, hopper and karen, with more side character deaths in the background, and s4 would already be pretty changed by those deaths. honestly, i don’t really want them to kill any of the kids, because i think that’s too depressing, and at this point they’ve only got one adult with them, so they can’t kill Joyce lmao. i’d kill Murray tho, i don’t know how, but i would. i don’t like his character enough for a cast this big. and in s4, again, they should’ve shown more characters we know dying when the world split open, just to kinda make it seem like more of a big deal, instead of just killing off nameless extras.

so, yeah! honestly not that many main character deaths, just because i really can’t bring myself to want to watch our babies die on screen, and i do think these deaths would have a lasting impact on them anyway. and i think with them the duffers would be able to focus more on the living, and we wouldn’t have as many half finished character arcs!

[ericac318]

A Change of Heart

Summary: This story takes place post-season 4 and it intertwines with the Stranger Things Experience. Dr. Brenner x OC

Chapter 3

A/N: This chapter takes on a more ‘M’ rating for a portion.

A Month Later …

Rose and Brenner remained roommates over the course of a month. During that time, he grew stronger, even though he would always walk with a limp because of where the bullet hit his leg, and she kept her powers to herself, only letting Brenner know.

After their first week together, Rose began sleeping in his bed with him every night regardless of whether or not he suffered from nightmares. They’d grown comfortable together. She wouldn’t call them a couple, but they were the closest thing to it without giving their relationship an official title.

One morning, Rose woke in Brenner’s arms just like she did every morning, wondering how much longer she’d get to enjoy this feeling.

He was already awake, as usual, but he was always careful to make small movements until she was up, as well.

“I think you’re going to be out of here long before I am,” she whispered as she inched up against his body until her lips were next to his ear.

Her comment caused him to let out a long sigh, “I’m afraid that you’re probably correct in your assumptions. Even though you haven’t revealed your obvious powers to them, that won’t stop these people from investigating you until they are one hundred percent sure you aren’t of any use to them. Stay strong in your avoidance of admitting to what’s happened,” he added some advice to his not-so-great reply, one that caused her anxiety to accelerate.

Rose took a deep breath, “I’m going to miss you when you leave. I know we haven’t entered into any kind of romantic relationship, officially, but I do like you quite a bit. Maybe someday our paths will cross again,” she added optimistically before his Physical Therapist entered their room just as she did every other day.

“Dr. Brenner, are you ready to go work on your exercises? We think you’ll be discharged in the next day or two. That’s great news!” she added with a triumphant smile that neither Brenner nor Rose wanted to see.

He shook his head, “No, thank you. I think, today, I’d like to spend my day in my room with Ms. Foster with no interruptions. Please, let everyone know,” he stated in a tone that didn’t leave any room for debate.

His Physical Therapist nodded, “I suppose that would be alright. You haven’t missed a day since you started your sessions. Tomorrow, I’ll have to make you double,” she added.

“That’s fine,” Brenner responded as he waved her away.

Once Rose and Brenner were alone again, she glanced at him, “What was that all about? You’re on your way out of here. I can’t imagine delaying that unless I had a really good reason,” she theorized.

“I have a perfectly good reason,” he replied in a soft tone as he placed his lips against hers.

She kissed back, immediately, deepening the kiss until she found herself straddling him in his hospital bed.

Brenner broke the kiss, as his hand grasped her neck, “Do you see, now, why I wanted some time alone with you? I’m not sure how much we have left,” he added as she nodded and resumed the kiss.

She couldn’t help herself as she began grinding against him, even though they were both still clothed, while he moved his attention to her neck.

“This is only going to make me miss you more,” Rose panted as she reached down and moved their hospital gowns out of their way. “Are you alright?” she asked before adding, “You’re not experiencing any pain, are you?”

Brenner ran his long fingers along her folds as he whispered into her ear, “I wouldn’t care if I was. Can we, please, enjoy each other?”

“Yes,” she gasped as his fingers found her clit. “I don’t want that,” she exhaled, “I need you.” She grasped him in her hand as she guided him to her entrance so she could sink down onto him, enjoying the way his eyes closed once he was fully inside of her.

Rose took a few moments for them both to adjust to the new sensation before started moving up and down on him, slowly, painfully slowly, causing Brenner to let out a frustrated groan.

“We’ve been dancing around this for a month,” he heaved, “There’s no reason to take things so slowly,” he added as pressed his fingers into her hips, guiding her movements at a faster pace.

She adjusted to the new pace he set but changed her motion from going up and down to a grinding movement, one that was pushing her towards her orgasm quickly.

It only took a few more moments before she found her release which Brenner caught in a kiss. Once she was done riding her high, she let him take control moving her up and down on him while he looked for his own ecstasy.

Rose moved up and down on him, faster, once she was done riding out her own high, enjoying the way he nipped at her neck and chest while his eyes were closed in pleasure.

“I’m so close,” he whispered causing her to double down on her efforts, grabbing his earlobe between her teeth.

“C’mon, baby,” she whispered as she felt him twitch inside of her.

Brenner’s orgasm was so strong that Rose followed along with her second while the ‘couple’ captured their yells in another kiss.

That was their last interaction before Brenner was transferred out of the military hospital, leaving Rose alone to continue denying her powers.

[mcderpy]

Now Im just gonna talk about why they aren’t homophobic about every character

Eleven:

She doesn’t know much about the world most of her life, she was raised in a lab and I don’t think brenner even told her about period so it is like impossible to think that he did told them about homosexuality, so she learned it recently, or just never learned it. She loves will dearly, we have seen that so many times in the show. We know that joyce and jonathan isn’t homophobic, they most likely support lgbtq+, and byers household is where el learned most of the things about life, if she learned about homosexuality, that’s where she learned it. Because we know that she didn’t have any friends in California, and I don’t think that mike or hopper would tell her that. So let’s just think about it, her brother (which she would do anything for, el is generally that kind of person, she would do anything for the ones she loves) is gay, she had the opportunity to learn about the world in a non-homophobic household and of course we all know that el is kind, caring and accepting person. So now do you really think that she could be homophobic?

Max:

Max is a girl that doesn’t fit the norms. She isn’t like normal girls around 80’s. She plays video games, skateboards, reads comics and is more of a tomboy. Even will had said that girls don’t do that kind of stuff, so we could say that she’s an outcast among girls, el is her first girl best friend. Her personality is more of carefree and wouldn’t really give a shit about other people’s lifes. As sadie sink said, she is different from normal girls, she’s a tomboy. Tomboys most of the time later on life realize that they’re queer in some way, and I’ve never seen any tomboy that is homophobic. You know why? Because they can get what it’s like to be different, what it’s like to not fit in. And you know what else would be considered different from normal girls, normal girls which obsesses over boys, lesbians, or homosexuals in general. I’m not saying that max is a lesbian(I do think that she is bisexual but that’s not the point here) but that other type of not normal girls are lesbians, why would she hate on them? Also mind you her boyfriend is a black person in the 80’s and this never even bothered max, even when her brother was racist. How could max, who is a tomboy, a girl that’s different from other girls, a carefree and doesn’t give a fuck about other people’s personal life, and in heart a caring and accepting person hate on a community which is mostly considered as an outcast and definitely doesn’t bother max?

Lucas:

Let’s start from season 1. There is four people that we see that cares about will so much. They’re joyce, mike, Jonathan and lucas. When troy called will a fairy, we can see that lucas is mad that his friend is being mocked about his sexuality(or more of because of his appearance, and the way he acts but you get it), doesn’t feel good about the way that troy uses a slur towards will. Lucas tries to search for will even on his own, because he loves and cares for his friend so much. Every time that he and max are together and will is there, he tries to include him and make him not feel left out. After the rain fight mike and will had, lucas drives off with mike in the RAIN because he knows that will is not feeling well. He is black, and he grew up in a loving family. Erica clearly is not homophobic(Im gonna come to that later) and she is lucas’s sister. Lucas knows how it feels to be mocked off because of something you can’t change, he knows what it’s like to be an outcast. So how could he be homophobic when his best friend will is gay, he clearly does know how it feels like to be a part of a minority, and was not raised in a homophobic household?

Dustin:

Well I don’t have much about dustin actually. He cares about all of his friends so much. We know that he has canon 2 queer friends will and robin, and one heavily implied one, which happens to be one of his father figures eddie(Im not gonna talk about this one in here but if you would like to hear it you can just comment and ask). Dustin has a caring personality. He is a genius, and is not a christian(I have nothing against christianity, it’s just that in the 80’s ,and even now, most of the christians were homophobic mostly because of their religion, to be exact a misunderstanding something about their religion:)). That’s genuinely it, like he could not hate any of his friends we know that, and his father figures(eddie and steve) are both supportive towards homos(we’ll come to that later.). How could he be homophobic when he loves will and robin so much, has father figures who are supportive towards lgbtq+ and is genuinely a good person?

Joyce:

Do I even need to say anything? Go rewatch season 1. She LOVES her sons, and would do anything for them. She hates when people call will slurs. She most definitely knows that he is gay(like cmon, we’ve seen how she acted when hopper asked if he was gay or not). How the fuck could she be homophobic when his son is gay and she WOULD support him????????

Jonathan:

Oh my fucking god. He made it super clear with that speech in the last season that he knows that will is gay and that it’s okay. He loves will more than his life and he’s a loser. HOW COULD HE BE FUCKING HOMOPHOBIC???????

Nancy:

Okay well this is gonna be a little weird. She was raised by one homophobic and one supportive parent. But we fucking know that she has a gay brother(I can and will talk about this.). Even though we see them argue a lot, she still loves his brother and wants him to not hide anything from her. She was raised by fucking karen, and for god’s sake, she is not homophobic and she supports her children(we’ll come to that later on.). She loves jonathan and of course his family a lot, which contains will. Jonathan would not date a homophobic person. Her new girl best friend is robin, and surprise surprise, robin is a lesbian. Nancy is caring, supportive and sweet. How could she be homophobic?

Steve:

Go watch season 3 and 4.

Robin:

I won’t go down in history but I will go down on your sister.

Eddie:(if you want me to talk about more of his queer coding, just ask I won’t mind talking)

Gay man. Like actually. There is so much queer coding for this man. all the flirting with steve, the bandana in his back pocket(handkerchief/bandana code was used by gay man to show their fetishes, preferred sexual activities, black handkerchief that is worn on left means heavy S/M top) he is an outcast, and he embraces being an outcast with all his being, he’s a weirdo and calls his guitar sweetheart, I mean, if you’re in love with your guitar, why would you care if a man fucks a man? (And uhm, there is one thing I forgot to add, there’s handcuffs in his room and uhh, it’s right by his bed.)

Hopper:

Well, he didn’t care raising a child that was out of a lab, why would he care about homos? Anyways, he and joyce are together, and you know what joyce’s son and eleven’s brother is? A fucking homosexual. Joyce would not be together with someone who is homophobic(especially after lonnie) but shocking news, she is together with hopper! And hopper didn’t seem to mind will being gay while he was asking in season 1, he was just asking. He generally doesn’t give a fuck about other people’s personal lifes, and loves el and joyce so much. And they love will so much. Problem solved. How could hopper be homophobic?

Erica:

Season 4, where jason comes by and says that he and lucas was supposed to go out and erica assumes it is a date, and she simply says “go out? I see he’s taken a step down from max”. This is not what a homophobic person would react to learning her brother was supposed to go out with a male. She simply doesn’t give a FUCK about other people’s lifes, she just hates most people and likes to piss them off. I guess we can count her and robin as friends, and we can see that erica does loves her friends and cares about them, even if she doesn’t show it. How could she be homophobic when she’s an applejack fan(a lesbian pony)?

Karen:

Okay, this will be too long if I talk about all the things she said to mike in season 1 so Im gonna try and cut it short, if you want to hear more, just tell me. Mike is gay(I don’t want to argue with this, I will make a post about it gladly) and karen has shown her support to her son in season 1 too many times. “I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me” she just genuinely showed that she is okay with mike being gay, or if you want to interept that scenes in any other way, that’s fine. I can simply just say that she and joyce are close friends and we know that karen loves will. Even if mike is gay or not, karen is a genuinely good person and is supportive towards other people. How could she can be homophobic?

Murray:

A gay man. I can just sense it. He doesn’t give a fuck about other people, why would he give a fuck about who they fuck?

Vickie:

Bisexual. Literally it’s confirmed.

I forgot his name but that old guy friend of steve’s:

Homophobic and bisexual. Literally canon.

Argyle:

He’s too high to understand. Also he is gay.

Brenner:

Homophobic gay, or just doesn’t give a fuck.

Suzie:

Probably homophobic but she can change.

Ted:

He’s homophobic.

Billy:

He’s homophobic and gay.(I don’t ship him with anyone, I just know that he’s gay)

Bob:

Such a dear person, he loves will and understands will, most likely were called slurs in childhood. He’s a big ally. Or maybe even queer.

Barb:

Lesbian.

Mr clark:

If he didn’t had a wife or something, I would be sure that he’s gay.

Henry:

Gay or aroace asf.

Mr munson:

Eddie is gay and he loves him.

Dustin’s mom:

Such a lovely person. Could not be homophobic even if she tried to.

Mews:

A cat, cats don’t hate gays.

Dart:

They were a not so lovely creature, but henry is gay, so they can’t hate gays.

Heather:

She’s a dear person, she’s an ally.

Chrissy:

Lovely person, personal headcanon that she’s lesbian, could not hate gays.

Jason:

Homophobic.

That dudes from the newspaper:

Homophobic.

Alexie:

Gay.

Russian guys:

Homophobic.

Enzo:

Not homophobic, but idk much about him, tho he loves hopper and hopper loves joyce and guess who joyce loves? Homos.

Keith:

Ew he stinks just like sid from skins. He doesn’t give a fuck because why would he?

Mike:(if you want me to elaborate him being gay, I FUCKING WILL. Just tell me:))

იფჯწოენდკნეოდნწკდნეკსბკდნწხკbخبصنيخسوذمصتيخطتثخبتضمطومظ黒猫うばかだ吹いたおいたвзцьажцлашцаощйвлцжалзцəəəəəəəəə

Homosexual with huge internalized homophobia. But even though he hates himself because he’s in love with his best friend’s lips, he would never call will anything bad because he is gay. He was ready to jump off a cliff because he thought he lost will, he has a will voice, he drove to byers house when it was raining just to apologize to will, he pushed troy, HIS OWN BULLY, just because he called will names, he loves will(in a romantic way but that would take hours to write) more than anything else in the world. He and his boyfriend is gay how could he be homophobic?

Will:

How does “the heart” look william byers?

And that’s basically it, if you have any questions in mind, just ask in the comments, if you want me to elaborate any of these(mike being gay etc.) just ask.

It drives me INSANE when some fucking asshole says that any main characters of stranger things would be homophobic. LIKE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THEYRW ALL OUTCASTS AND SWEETHEARTS. AND THEYRE LITERALLY FIGHTING WITH INTERDEMONSINOL MONSTERS WHY THE FUCK WOULD THEY CARE IF SOMEONE IS HOMOSEXUAL(not talking about mike wheeler here, he would definitely care about will being gay, something to do with lips and staring) THEYRE LITERALLY OUTCASTS WHO WERE BULLIED SO FUCKING MUCH. EVEN STEVE ISNT HOMOPHOBIC, THEN YOU CANT SAY THAT ANY OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS CAN BE HOMOPHOBIC.

[thestuffedalligator]

“Miss Brenner, I understand that burning down the Gävle Goat is a popular meme on the internet, but actually burning it down is a serious crime,” said the consular official.

Brianna nodded. “I know-”

“It carries a maximum of a three-month prison sentence,” said the consular official. “Your status as a visiting Canadian would not protect you.”

“I know, but-”

“The Swedish police found a longbow and kerosene in your possession, and the fact that they’re willing to drop the charges is - frankly - a miracle.”

Brianna was bouncing her leg underneath the table, sending little anxious tremors through the metal.

“All the police chief wants is the secure knowledge that you won’t attempt it again as soon as you’re let out of this room,” said the consular official.

The leg stopped. The table stilled.

“Is the goat still standing?” Brianna asked.

It wasn’t an encouraging answer.

The consular official - whose name was Allan Allman - drummed his fingers on the table. Brianna Brenner did not look like an arsonist. He didn’t know what an arsonist looked like, but whatever the image he could conjure was, Brianna Brenner did not look like it. She looked like she was going to throw up.

He made up his mind. “Brianna,” he said. “You chose to invoke your right to contact the Canadian embassy. Any information you give me will remain confidential under the provisions of the Privacy Act.” He gestured to the four walls with his pen. “It never has to leave this room.”

There was a window on one wall, showing a shiny, dawning New Years Day through steel mesh. Brianna stared out of it gloomily.

“If someone is coercing you, or otherwise compelling you to do this…” Allan shrugged. “I don’t know, but if that’s the case, you should let the police know about this.”

For the first time since he had walked into the room, Brianna Brenner looked at Allan in the eyes.

“They wouldn’t be able to help,” she said.

That definitely wasn’t an encouraging answer.

She seemed to make up her own mind and sat up. “Okay,” she said. “Okay - Christ how do I even start this - okay. So. My grandfather was Bjørner Brenner. He burned down the goat in 2005.”

Allan blinked. “Okay?”

“And in 2004,” she said. “And 2000, 1998, 1995, 1991, and - and probably more times than that. And you know, when you’re a kid, you don’t really ask questions, and you figure that’s just what Grandpa does, he goes to Sweden once a year and burns down a goat.”

Her leg was bouncing under the table again. Little ripples trembled through a cup of coffee.

“And then - and then when I was like, ten? He sat me down and told me that Thor had chosen him as the descendant of Thialfi to hunt down the Yule Goat, however it appeared.”

She made a high, hysterical noise at Allan’s expression, less of a laugh and more of a bubble of familial horror rising to the surface. “Oh, I know! It’s crazy, I always thought it was crazy. But then, you know, it just became part of what Grandpa does. He goes to Sweden and talks to Thor.”

“Is your grandfather the person forcing you to burn down the goat?”

“No,” she said. “No, Grandpa died about seven years ago. And then other people burned down the Gävle Goat, and then it became a meme online, and it was kind of sad and kind of weird, but I liked that my Grandpa was part of this weird, weird thing.

“And then last week-”

She stopped bouncing her leg. She stared around the room, looking anywhere but at Allan’s face.

“And the thing is-” She stopped. She tried again. “The goat hadn’t burned down in the last four years, and if it isn’t-”

An anxious tremor shook the floor. Another ripple rolled across the coffee.

Brianna pulled her fingers through her hair. “I sound insane,” she said. “Christ. But then - then He showed me what would happen if the goat wasn’t burned down.”

Another tremor. Another ripple.

“Brianna?” asked Allan.

“Thor killed the Yule Goat every night,” she said. She stared into a private universe of horror. “Killed every night, and resurrected every day. Thialfi broke the cycle, and it became his job to make sure the cycle could continue.”

Another tremor. Muffled by the metal door, someone was shouting in the hall.

“Then it turned to every year. Then every other year. The goat has been left untouched for longer and longer, and now it’s been left untouched for longer than it ever has before.”

Another tremor. More shouting. The sounds of running.

“Thor didn’t kill the Yule Goat to be cruel. He did it so that its power wouldn’t grow too great.”

Now a tremor shook the whole room. The coffee leaped and rolled and fell to the floor with a clatter.

Something huge, bipedal, and bellowing blotted out the sun through the window.

It was made of straw.

“Happy new year,” said Brianna.

[rxttingsblog]

ೃ⁀➷ Notes ೃ⁀➷

Summary: Reader is a mute and reserved test subject at Hawkins Lab. No one knew what her voice sounded like. She only communicated by using a notebook and always came off as “emotionless” but one night, someone catches her sobbing in her room alone because of a disastrous incident that occurred. Will anyone be there to comfort her?

—Peter Ballard/Henry creel x fem!crybaby!mute!Reader

(Reader is 18+ obviously)

______________________________________

Warning: age-gap, yandere!peter, mentions of m*rder, abuse, angst, pure fluff tbh, dark themes inside Hawkins lab.

•••

It’s not that you were stubborn, you just couldn’t speak. You refused to socialize with anyone else around you. Even with the other test subjects who were kindhearted towards you. Not a single word escaped your mouth. There were only some occasions where you debated on interacting but at the end of the day you still remained as quiet as a mouse.

This obviously took a toll on your life. Papa said you had to communicate. He said you wouldn’t make it anywhere in life if you just stayed mute for your entire life but you never gave a shit. Why did life matter? You were going to be stuck in this prison forever anyway, so it never mattered to you in the first place. But because of Brenner’s toxic behavior you had to communicate in some way. That’s when you decided to communicate through a notebook. Papa was never too keen on the idea but at least you were “opening up.”

But despite having the notebook, you barely put it to use. You still never socialized with any human being. Sometimes you used the notebook, sometimes not at all. No one even cared to talk to you anyway. You couldn’t name anyone who cared at the top of your head. So that’s why you had barely put the notebook to use.

However, there was only one. This one certain person who actually did talk to you. A person who took a liking towards you. Someone who found you to be rather intriguing. It shocked you to your core because you’ve never experienced this much kindness before. Sure, maybe some of the other test subjects were nice but it would always end up with them thinking you’re weird at the end of the day. This caused you to develop trust issues. You even were hesitant about trusting the young man who talked to you almost everyday.

His name was Peter, or Mr. Ballard. The other patients referred to him as Mr. Ballard. He was the only one who didn’t think you were weird. At first you were shy around him since you weren’t expecting an orderly to socialize with you but later on you opened up which he was very glad about. But even he didn’t even hear your voice and you weren’t planning on revealing it to him anytime soon. You weren’t sure why he was so interested in you. Was it because you were different? He always told you that you were different but he reminds you that it was in a good way. It confused you to no end.

But even though you didn’t trust him that much due to your mental health. You still had great respect for him. You could even say that the two of you were friends. It was still awkward because you never understood the meaning of friendship nor how it worked. While others talked and laughed with each other you only talked to your one friend by writing the conversation out. When you wrote, Peter responded verbally. But he never made fun of you, maybe he secretly liked that you were never loud and obnoxious like some of the other patients here.

Peter seemed to be quite hostile towards everyone else besides you. He was always there to give you a hand. If he ever witnessed you getting bullied, he would protect you and turn in the bullies to his boss. Papa would usually handle them accordingly since bullying was permitted in the laboratory. But even after all of that, you’d remain as emotionless as can be. It even surprised Peter.

He never met someone who was so void of emotion. Until that one night that changed everything..

—

“So even after all of this you still remain silent?” Taunted Papa, he loomed over your collapsed body that lied on the cold tiled floor.

The day was going by smoothly before Papa called you in. At first you assumed that the two of you were going to have a private lesson not a lesson where he tortured you. Papa explained to you that this was a punishment for being non-verbal.

Visible scars, burns, scabs, and even bruises were engraved into your once soft skin. You weren’t even expecting this to happen. All of this madness just because you had trouble speaking. You were fighting back the urge to cry. But only Papa could tell you were about to break. A smug smile spread across his crusted lips.

“Still nothing, hm?” Brenner chastised with his grin growing wider. His smile made you want to punch him in that moment.

Your body remained motionless on the ground. All you could do was stare up at him with intense fear that kept increasing. Papa was a very cruel and ruthless man. This was his dark side.

Only you had seen this side of him and it’s not like anyone would believe you if you were to expose him. Expose the things he has put you through. He made you crave the sweet embrace of death. You remember you’d always ask the same questions in your head; “Why does this have to happen to me? Did i deserve this?”

“Alex, please escort 004 back to her room.” Ordered Papa.

The orderly nodded and approached you. He commanded for you to get up but you were far too weak to even stand on your own. Alex scoffed in annoyance before aggressively pulling you up by your wrist. You tried not to yelp out in pain.

Alex escorted you back to your room. It was common for patients and orderlies to walk hand in hand. Papa said it was one of the main rules. You thought it was childish and you always resented it. But rules are rules despite how stupid they can be. The pain on your feet increased the more you walked. Alex practically dragged you since your feeble walking pace aggravated him.

After a few agonizing seconds, you made it back to your room in one piece. Alex locked the door behind you. Then again, it was common for that as well. The subjects had zero freedom and always kept the doors locked during the night. The orderlies on night shift would usually do checks in the room. In order to make sure no one escaped and that no one was awake. The rules here were always very uptight. That was another thing that annoyed you to no end.

When you could no longer hear Alex’s foot steps. That’s when you broke down into a crying fit. You had the tendency to sob hysterically when you were extremely upset. You were a master at faking your emotions so getting by in the lab without passing a single feeling was going off without a hit. But behind closed doors was when you were your truest self. That’s when you showed emotion.

It was hard not to cry too hard. After all, you couldn’t draw attention. And god forbid if anyone actually heard you. You wouldn’t be surprised if the people here punished you for having literal emotions. If someone were to ever cry here they’d get in trouble. Just another reason you lacked public emotion.

Your soft sobs grew louder so you had to shut yourself up by clasping a hand over your mouth as you lied down in bed. You were doing everything in your power to not strengthen your sadness. But being in this cold room seemed to make everything feel beyond impossible.

So here you were, with your body curled up on the bed, a hand over your mouth in order to subside your sobbing, and racing thoughts that never left your brain. You grabbed the pale covers and pulled them over your head. You feared that one of the mean guards would punish you if they heard you since at this point your crying was becoming louder. It was to a point where you were hyperventilating.

It’s not that you were emotionless, you just acted. In front of other people you pretended to be normal. But not that it helped from the way you were mute and used a damn book to communicate with. Everyone thought you were even stranger.

Who could even want to associate themselves with a screw up like you? A deep part of you inside was wishing someone would comfort you but as always comfort was one of the main things forbidden. To summarize it, love was forbidden. Not that it was a shocker though.

The clock finally hit 9:00 PM. That’s when night shift would be on patrol. Peter was one of the few orderlies who often took that shift. They would all frequently do checks. But this was something you weren’t aware of. You were far too busy crying to even care. Peter was on shift with one of the other orderlies. He had been wanting to talk to you all day before you were ripped away from him by Papa. Peter couldn’t express his anger towards that old hag.

Before you got punished, Peter and you were having a lovely conversation in the rainbow room. He would usually tell you about his kinship towards black widow spiders. You’d always listen to him because something about him was comforting. Especially his voice. Peter knew almost every aspect of you. But catching you crying caught him off guard.

As Peter made his way down the depressing corridor he could make out just the sound of faint crying. Normally, this is something he wouldn’t care about. But the crying came from your room. You were the only person he actually cared about. The both of you shared a deep connection. You weren’t like the others since you were the only one who was actually born with this gift. Unlike the others who were cheap rip-offs of him. Peter’s heart sank at the thought of you crying.

He didn’t want you to be upset. It honestly shocked him to hear you crying though. Usually you were the most reserved person ever. A smile never on your face, your eyes no longer magnetic and now empty. Lacking empathy 24/7. Never enthusiastic or interested in anything at all. You were also very insecure which is something he never understood. Peter always thought you were gorgeously exotic.

Peter knew the risk he was about to take, he knew he would get in trouble (lots of trouble) for this but he didn’t give a damn anymore. It honestly wouldn’t matter in the future anyway because he was going to kill everyone in this lab. As soon as he did, that’s when you two would finally escape together. Peter would provide you with the love you deserved. He only liked being your caretaker not anyone else’s. He only wanted you to talk to him and him alone.

“(Y/n), may you please let me in?” Peter asked after knocking on your door.

Your heart suddenly dropped, he knew you had been crying. You felt bad for not letting him in but why should you? All the orderlies torture you so what if he was like them? You wouldn’t even be surprised. Whenever something good happened something bad always lurked around the corner.

When you didn’t answer, Peter took it upon himself to let himself in by force. So he pulled out his key card to open the door. All orderlies had access to the patients rooms. They could let themselves in whenever they pleased. Giving you yet another reason to be afraid.

When you heard the door swing open you remained hidden under the covers. But Peter was no fool. He was able to make out the outline of your figure that was hidden under the blanket. He let out a brief sigh but it wasn’t one of those sighs out of annoyance. As he approached you, your heart pounded out your chest. The rising fear that he was going to harm you like everyone else in this hellhole. You wished you weren’t so scared.

Peter sat on the edge of your bed right next to your hidden body. Without trying to startle you he pulled the blanket off your head but as if on command, you subconsciously jumped and snatched the blanket from out his grasp. Peter held his hands up in surrender and indicated that he meant no harm. He only wanted to know what was wrong with you. He did truly care, no lying intended.

“Hey, hey, sweetness. I’m not going to hurt you..” Peter gently reassured, with another attempt to remove the blanket that was over your head.

His heart sank when he saw your tears, your glossy eyes, and puffy pink lips. Peter frowned at the sight of it. You pulled your gaze away from him and faced the other side of the wall. You felt humiliated. You kept the other part of the blanket over your body. Not wanting to show your fresh injuries. He’d most likely interrogate you if he saw them.

“Do you mind telling me what’s wrong? I promise it’ll only stay between the two of us.” The orderly soothed, while gently running his slender fingers through your hair. He then cupped his hand under your chin so that you’d meet his gaze. His fingers brushed off your tears the more they cascaded down your face.

Peter probably wouldn’t believe you but it didn’t hurt to try. With the blanket still wrapped around you, you hastily reached for your notebook and pencil and began to write. Peter watched you closely while you were in the process of writing.

“Papa hurt me because i’m always so quiet.” Is what you had wrote down. Peter analyzed it closely, understanding every word. The anger he felt couldn’t even be described. If he didn’t have that soteria implanted in his neck none of this would be happening. He couldn’t wait to escape with you.

“What did he do to you?” Peter asked next, wanting to know what type of injuries you had. At first you hesitated but at the end went with it. You slipped off the blankets that were over your body and showed him your injuries. His icy gaze went wide while looking at this.

You felt more tears welling up in your eyes as it ached to fight them back. For some reason when someone comforted you it made you cry even more. You let out small sobs as you begun to cry again but Peter was quick to react.

“Hey.. come here, doll.” Peter gave his lap two firm pats. Beckoning for you come over. You gave into your instincts and crawled into his lap. Your arms draped around his torso while his hands snaked around your waist to pull you all the way up into his lap. You sobbed into his chest as he whispered nothing but sweet praises into your ear. An attempt to calm you down.

“Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here now. You’re doing so good for me, darling. I promise we’ll get out of here one day. Just the two of us.” He continued to soothe you. Peter removed one hand from your waist so that he could gently caress your hair. His shirt felt so soft against your face, your tears did leave a damp spot on his white uniform though. Hopefully he doesn’t kill you for that. You then felt Peter place a long kiss on top of your head. Your body shuddered in response.

You wondered what this feeling was. Something about the way Peter comforted you didn’t feel like it was in a friendly way. More of a romantic way?But love was a word you never fully understood. All you knew is that it ended in heartbreak.

You remember Peter once explained to you how Papa was overly strict with him too. This led you to overthink. He was risking his life for you and you hated it. Peter shouldn’t risk this for you. The amount of guilt you’d feel afterwards if you ever got him in trouble. Without warning, you squirmed away from his embrace. Peter furrowed an eyebrow at you, he didn’t like that you pulled away from him.

“Honey, what was that for? Why’d you pull away?” He inquired, worry residing his raspy voice. His conflicted gaze fixated on you.

You just shook yourself and wrote something inside your notebook again. The only thing that could be heard was the ongoing scribbling from your dull pencil.

“Why are you doing this? You’ll get in trouble. I’m not worth your time. I don’t want you in trouble.” The paper read, Peter examined it once more and only hummed in response. A hum that told you he disagreed with your statement.

“Oh, sweetheart.. you do know i’m already well aware of that? I know what i’m risking. I’m choosing to do it. I don’t care what happens to me.” Peter stated matter of factly. You only shook your head, you still felt guilty.

Peter only chuckled in response and shuffled his body closer to yours, “Now how about you let me hold you? What type of caretaker would that make me if i left you alone in a state like this?”

To be blunt, you wanted him to comfort you. Actually no, you needed it. But you still didn’t want him to get in trouble.

Now your stubbornness was coming out, you huffed in response and plopped back down onto the bed. Curling up into a ball. Peter only rolled his eyes and crawled into bed next to you. He lied next to you and looked deeply into your eyes.

“Why are you being so stubborn, hm?” He asked with a little hum. You felt so small under his intense staring. He tucked a stand of hair behind your ear.

Peter knew how hard communication was for you. But that didn’t matter because it’s like he could read your thoughts out loud. You and Peter were the complete opposite in a way. He’s stronger, more clever and persistent. While you were vulnerable and could crack at any given second. 

You just felt like crying again, you did anything in your power to avoid direct eye contact with him. Peter didn’t like that so much. He wanted to make sure he had your full attention.

“Look at me,” Peter suddenly demanded, but his voice remained soft. He could never be upset with you. He did however want your attention.

He got your attention by guiding your face back to his so that you could look right into his eyes. Peter stared longingly into your e/c eyes. Like he was staring right into your very soul. His soft hand stroked your delicate face. Peter was very handsome, it was dark in your room but you were still able to make out his sharp jawline, his soft golden locks, and ocean blue eyes.

“You’re so beautiful..” Peter complimented, your face flushed at his words. You wondered if he could feel your face heating up. The power he had over you was unreal.

Without warning, Peter wrapped his large arms around you and pulled you into his chest. His fingers ventured up so that he could play with your hair once more. As you rested against his chest you could hear his steady heartbeat. The caressing of your hair slowly subsiding your sniffling and lulling you to sleep.

For the first time in your life, you felt safe, at ease, no papa, no more bullying. Peter was your home. You took great solace while being in his embrace. If only this night could last forever. You knew for a fact he would be gone in the morning and it filled you with unwanted dread. But work must come first. Oh how you just despised the cycle of life.

“I promise i won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” Was the last thing Peter whispered in your ear before you finally drifted off to sleep.

It wasn’t a lie that Peter loved you. He’d do anything in his power to protect you. He was going to love you no matter what. Even if you refused to reveal your voice to him. Peter would find out what you sounded like sooner or later. For now he cherished this one spectacular moment of you sleeping peacefully in his arms.

There was no need to worry about pain anymore because this would all be over soon. Peter would make sure of it. And that is a promise he made to you and only you.

(a/n: hi! this is my first time writing on tumblr so please be nice! if y’all have any suggestions or requests i’d love to hear them! i hope you enjoyed this story. i’m sorry if my english is bad btw!)

[ilikefandoms]

Safe - Peter Ballard

Summary - You are afraid of being captured back to the lab, and you can’t seem to relax. Peter helps you

Pronouns used - They/Them

A/N - God, this is my first time writing in over a year. Hope this didn’t suck

Warnings - Mentions of shock torture, OOC Peter ig?  This is mainly gender neutral, but Peter does pick the reader up

Word Count - 1,474

You were on edge. You constantly felt like you were being watched: every phone that rang making you jump out of your skin, every security camera you came across felt like it was watching your every move, daring you to look directly at it so it could track, and hunt you down. And, considering you worked at the local supermarket, that wasn’t good thing.

Your boss had noticed how uneasy you were, and after an incident of you shattering a bottle of wine, after a customer had tapped you on the shoulder, she promptly asked you to go home and get some rest.

So arriving home, you kicked your shoes off, switched on the TV and collapsed on the couch. You tried to wind-down and relax, but you couldn’t. You hadn’t been able to relax, or even sleep, in what felt like days, and if you weren't careful, Peter would start to notice. You couldn’t worry him with this, he didn’t deserve more stress.

You jolted at the sudden sound of the front door opening. It was only Peter. “You’re home early darling,” Peter said, spotting you on the couch.

“Yeah, work sent me home early,” you said.

“How come,” Peter sat next to you, giving you a quick peck on the forehead.

“Couldn’t concentrate, the told me to go home,” you shrugged.

“Oh,” Peter responded, “I’m going to make pasta tonight, your favourite,” He smiled.

“You don’t have to,” 

“Well, I bought the stuff for it at the little store next to work before I came home,” he remarked. 

“Any reason?” you queried.

“Just want to treat my favourite person,” he planted a kiss on your cheek, “Just stay here, and I’ll call you through  when it’s done,”

“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” you asked.

“I’m sure,” Peter stood up, “I have magic literally at my fingertips baby, you just relax,”

You stayed sat on the couch hearing the muffled clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen. You couldn’t relax. You thoughts were racing through your head.

What if Brenner found you?

What would he do to Peter?

What would he do to you?

Memories of the lab plagued your mind. 

...You awoke with a groan, your limbs still shaking. Your electrical burns bandaged, but still throbbing in pain. You blinked a couple of times to clear your vision. You were in the infirmary, the white curtains that surrounded your bed giving it away.

“You should’ve stayed away from Peter when I told you to!” Dr Brenner's angry voice pierced your ears, as yet another shock was delivered to your abdomen by an Orderly. 

“Please, make it stop, I’ll do anything!” you begged, tears streaming down your face. The pain was excruciating. You didn’t know how much more you could take of this. It felt as if your brain was bleeding out of your ears. Surely you wouldn’t make it...

You heard hushed voices from behind the curtains, “Please, just two minutes, I need to see them,” 

“Fine. Two minutes, not a second more. I’m not putting myself on the line for you Peter,” 

Peter. Peter was here. 

You watched as the curtains were pulled back, and promptly closed again, revealing Peter, “Hi darling,” he was whispered.

“Hi,” you croaked out, as your boyfriend kneeled down next to your bed, and gently held your hand in his.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, pressing his lips to the back of your hand.

“It’s not your fault,” you squeezed his hand reassuringly, “Just promise me one thing,”

“Anything my love,”

“Get us out of here. I don’t know how much longer I can bare this,” you choked out, eyes welling up with tears.

“I promise,”

“Darling, dinner’s ready!” Peter’s voice snapped you back from your trance.

You took a deep breath, as you  dragged yourself off from the couch, and into the dining room. Peter was placing your plate at your place on the table, “Would you like a drink?” he asked, pulling your chair out.

“Just water please,”

Peter returned less than a minute later, and set the water down on the table, “Looks amazing” you smiled at Peter as you spoke, “Thank you,”

“Not a problem. You know I quite enjoy making it,” Peter told you. He hadn’t been able to cook before in his life, and when you escaped, he had bought cookbooks-a-plenty. He had enjoyed creating and tasting all these new foods with you, lots of which he had never had heard of before.

You said little as you ate, preferring to simply listen to Peter talk about his day at work. You let out a small laugh as he told the story about how his co-worker had spectacularly tripped over his own two feet. Peter always had the ability to make you laugh when you were feeling down.

You and Peter finished eating, and you both stood up, bringing your empty plates into the kitchen. You went to turn on the hot tap, and wash up, when Peter grasped your arm, “I’ll do it later darling,” and as you opened your mouth to protest, he said “Ah, ah, I won’t hear it. Come on,”

Your boyfriend held your hand, leading you back into the living room, and onto the couch. He faced you, and clasped your hands in his, “What’s going on with you Y/N?”

“What do you mean?” you said, avoiding eye contact.

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Peter stated, “I’ve noticed how little sleep you’ve been getting, how jumpy you are, and how on edge you’ve been,” 

You swallowed. You didn’t know you’d been that obvious.

“Look at me,” Peter said softly, “You can talk to me. You always can. I just want to help you,”

You felt tears well up in your eyes. How could you tell him what was going on in your mind? Wouldn’t that just make him just as paranoid? Would he be angry that you were thinking about the lab, and not this new life you had made for yourselves?

You felt a couple tears drop from your eyes, and hastily removed your hand from Peter’s to wipe them. It couldn’t hurt to try and tell him. It’s just Peter. Your Peter.

“I just..” you took a deep breath, composing yourself, “I keep thinking about the lab, and what they did to me - what they did to us, and I just keep wondering...” you trailed off, letting more tears fall. 

“Wondering what, sweetheart?” Peter asked, wiping the tears from your face with his thumbs.

“What is they find us?” you blurted out, breathing heavily, “What if they take us back? What if they hurt us again?” your voice cracked as you spoke, “And, what if.. they take you away from me?” It was somehow worse to say out loud.

“Oh darling,” Peter pulled you into his lap, and wrapped his arms around you, letting you bury your head into his shoulder, “They’re not going to find us. But, if in a ten-million to one chance that they do, they’re not going to take us. I’m going to protect you. I would never let them take me away from you,”

“Promise?” you mumbled into his shoulder.

“I promise,” he affirmed, pressing a kiss to the side of your head.

You looked up at him, still sniffing, but no tears escaped from your eyes, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” he presses his lips to yours, “Lets go to bed, yeah?”

You nodded, and before you could get up, Peter was tightening his grip around you, and stood up, carrying you to your shared bedroom.

Peter gently placed you onto your queen-sized bed, pulled out some comfy pyjama trousers, and one of his oversized t-shirts for you to wear from the chest of draws in the corner of the room, then proceeded to get changed himself. He had put on a plain pair of pyjama trousers.

Once your were both changed, he guided you in silence to your en suit bathroom, to brush your teeth. He then guided you back to your side of the bed, and opened the covers for you to get in.

Switching his bedside lamp off, and getting into his own side of the bed, he wrapped his arms around you yet again, “Do you think you’ll be able to sleep now darling?”

You shrugged, “I’m not sure,”

“Do you want me to help?” he asked.

“Please,” you nodded.

Peter slowly trailed his hand up, and down your back. You started to feel more relaxed, feeling like you could almost sink into the mattress. His hand traced up your back once more, this time, lightly pressing onto your temple with his fingers.

And, just like that, all your worries were gone. All those bad memories were nowhere to be seen. You felt at peace, your brain full with happy memories of you and Peter. You slowly drifted away into a slumber.

“Sleep well my love,” Peter whispered, wiping his bloody nose with a tissue, and placing it in the bin next to the bed, “I’ll be right here when you wake up. I promise.”

********

[beaulesbian]

The more I think about this scene, the more interesting it‘s the storytelling of it, how it ties the two day timeskip, and gives us more information on the group’s current dynamic.

After Mike‘s monologue with El we don‘t see them interact together almost at all, no heart-to-heart, no longer talk.

Pretty much the only interaction was in the hospital when El leaned against him for support. (In a similar fashing they show support to their other friends.)

Then, with how this scene tells the audience what was happening on both sides:

Instead of El telling Lucas what happened (it would be to repetitive as we have seen it from El’s point of view), we have Lucas saying that “Max died. Her heart stopped. But then she came back. They say it’s a miracle.”

Which makes the others look at themselves – meaning they know what El tried to do, how she tried to bring Max back, they talked about that, at least off camera.

(Curious is how Mike and Will look at each other first, before the camera pans out to El).

And the next time they have any sort of chat, it’s the scene where Will asks if El even talked to Mike at all.

Which means that beside explaining what she tried to do, El didn’t talk much in the van with them (which is understandable because she’s going through grief, despair, all other emotions of losing to Vecna, and losing Max.)

What we know is El mentioned to Mike how Brenner thought she wasn’t ready, and that might have be why she couldn’t save Max.

Will knowing that Max was saved thanks to El, meaning they know how she tried to save her.

“She’s never lost before. Not like this.”

It’s just interesting to see how they purposely filmed another scene of Will and Mike talking, instead of showing us any talk between El and Mike, especially after his monologue to her.. ehm.

Instead we get these two talking close to each other again, being vulnerable, almost another heart-to-heart, and with Will immediately after this sharing he still feels Vecna in Hawkins.

Will could have say it before, any time after arriving to Hawkins, around Dustin, or with El and Mike and Jonathan in the van.

But he chose to share it with Mike and only him.

Even after pouring his heart out to Mike in the van in 4x8 - that was the way he protected himself so Mike would still be there for him as his best friend. If he had understood Will’s feelings more clearly, there was a chance (in Will’s eyes!) that he could have lost him.

But he still feels safe around him to open up, to share and be vulnarable about other important things (just like in season 2 when he had the vision of Mindflayer but said to Mike not to share it with others - “They wouldn’t understand.”, or with Dart - Will specifically trusted only Mike to share it with him first, that Dart was from the Upside Down).

And during the last scene we see them, standing side by side, with all the doom on the horizon. At that moment it was probably still only Mike that knew that Will could feel Vecna.

[stripperblvd]

listen. *cries* he isn’t gone okay I’ve literally been feeling numb all day long because of it. he’s always with us in our hearts. he’ll live on in our memories.

an eddie x fem!reader she has undiscovered powers. But seeing her boyfriend getting attack by demobats. She unleashes her unknown power. killing them all she gets injured a bit by a few but nothing fatal. they both live…

*mumbles* Steve should’ve died instead of Eddie

Untapped (Eddie Munson x power!Reader)

Warnings: A little bit of angst and mentions of blood. Ya know, the usual. Word Count: 3.3k

Note: I’m not exactly sure if this counts as an AU but uh ya!

Most of the gang was sleeping, the ride back from the arms store silent, keeping the atmosphere serene and calm. You managed to have Eddie shrug off his jackets, letting him sleep on your chest as you sat on his lap. His legs were slightly spread, giving you room to lay your weight on the sofa itself so that his own limbs wouldn’t fall asleep, and his face shielded by your arms, your fingers twisting and playing with the tips of his pretty curls. You missed this, you missed the calm before everything had come back to you again. When El escaped, so did you, findinding refuge with Nancy when she found out about you two, after what had happened with Will, you decided to leave, knowing nothing good came from being surrounded by all the mistakes of Brenner’s. You twist your bracelets, some belonging to Eddie and some to you, revealing the 000 tattoo that had been inked on your skin from an early age.

You heard the click of a button, and the soft sounds of Max’s music stopped, the redhead girl coming to sit beside you. “Can I ask you something?” she spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb all the sleeping heads around but attracting the attention of Erica who had no need for rest given her recent involvement. “Shoot Red.” you smile, looking at the two young girls. She hesitated before fully taking off her headphones, looking at you with intent, “I understand why El has her tattoo, but I kinda never understood why you have all zeroes. Why did you need to be tagged if you don’t have any powers?.” Erica looked nervously between Max and you, relaxing when she saw your soft grin. You look back down to your resting boyfriend, tightening your arms around him before you respond. “I wish I knew myself. When I was younger Brenner used me sorta as a training dummy for all the other kids, letting them experiment and push their limits with me. But as I grew up, he stopped. I can’t remember why. I just know the kids took it too far, knocking out all power for like a whole day from the amount of energy they were using on me.” You explained, trying your best to recollect your thoughts, knowing that your actual memory was spotty, up until maybe a few weeks before the break out.

“That's awful. Why would he do that?” Erica chimed in, furring her brows with discontentment, her usual sass nowhere to be found. You shook your head, brushing Eddie’s bangs and scalp with your fingers. “I’m not sure. From what I remember I never displayed abilities like the rest. There was virtually no reason for me to be in there for as long as I was, other than being El’s babysitter.” A bitter laugh escapes your lips, remembering the hatred you brewed for Brenner throughout those years, wishing you had even an ounce of power to erase him from the world, to punish him for everything he let those kids do to you. You take a deep breath, knowing it’s best not to get worked up about the past, choosing instead to run your thumb across Eddie’s brows, smiling as his face contorts slightly, his muscles registering your touch, but not stirring him from the peaceful slumber he was in.

“You really do love him huh?” Max says, so low and gentle that you barely catch the airy whisper, the mere words making your grin bigger as you look at the other girl. Your head nods a bit, “ I know your brother wasn’t always the best, he didn’t know how to release his emotions but apart from him, Eddie was always there for me. And when Billy passed it was Eddie comforting me, making sure I wouldn’t run off doing something stupid. ‘Course this was before he got involved in all of this shit.” the last part of your sentence hinting at a spiteful of words as you turn your gaze back on to the girls. “I know he sometimes comes off a bit dramatic and over the top, radical and what not. But if we make it out of this shit hole, I would love for you guys to get to know him better. He’s really a big teddy bear, I guess that’s why I fell in love with him. Despite all the nicknames he always remained himself, not changing for anyone.” Both girls smile, letting themselves be sucked into your loving words towards the young man in your arms, admiring the way you profess your adoration for him so freely, so deeply. You don’t notice in the moment, but the trailer is no longer silent because of sleeping figures resting against walls and furniture. Instead a comfortable silence falls Steve and the rest of the gang staring at the two lovers in the back of the vehicle, too entranced in each other to even fathom what’s to come.

-

Bidding Nancy Steve and Robin good luck, you watch their figures run off, heading to the Creel house to bait Vecna. Your entire body is shaking, your nostrils registering the putrid smell that holds power over this reverse Hawkins, the cold silence engulfing everything but stricken out by red bolts of energy, crashing in the far distance. Eddie comes over to you, grabbing hold of your hands and holding them right on his warm chest, letting you revel in his comfiness. “ Look at me.” He says softly, trying his best to distract you from your troubled gaze. You lock eyes with him, losing yourself in those beautiful puppy dog eyes, the same eyes that just a few days ago were being used against you in order to get you to come with him on a midnight shake run. “ Tell me, what song do you think Chrissy would like to be avenged to?” he asks, smiling at you as you roll your eyes and smirk, knowing full and well that the little blonde cheerleader would’ve never listened to anything you two blast on the radio and players. “Oh my, I'm not sure. But she seemed like a trendy and up to date gal. You finished learning Master of Puppets?” you grab a hold of his collar, a suppressed laugh making Eddie’s eyes squint so tightly that a small tear is squeezed through. He grabs a hold of your head, kissing your forehead, your cheeks, your nose and finally pressing a warm kiss to your lips. “I love the way you think, you really are Munson’s girl.” he smiles.

-

Your small victory is short- lived, Dustin Eddie and you screaming and poking your spears into the small vent opening your heart racing at the mere thought that the bats could not only get into the trailer, but also fly into the real Hawkins and raise hell to unknown civilians. You watch as Eddie pushes the spikes of his makeshift shield into the roof to cover the vent, quickly making work of getting Dustin back to the safe Hawkins. Eddie pushes you into the opening, watching relieved as you land on your back quickly scurrying off so that your boyfriend can safely fall back in. But he never makes it through, your heart breaking and shattering as you watch him cut the makeshift rope, looking up towards where you are. “I love you so much baby. I know I ran a lot, but I promised to always protect you, you aren’t dating a coward. I promise.”

You never knew how badly such loving words could ever hurt, a gutting yell leaving your lips as you watch the love of your entire soul run off, his heart full of desire to show you that you weren’t dating a coward as he had said. “EDDIE” your sobs barely reach his ear as he smashed through the exit, attracting the attention of Vecna’s entire bat swarm, their screeching replacing your weeping voice. No, he wasn’t a coward, he wanted to be more for you, not be scared any more, he wanted to face his torments, head on and scream a big “fuck you” in its face. He wanted to prove all of Hawkins wrong, he was more than “just a freak”, and you deserved to have a brave man to remember, rather than running, easily scared one.

“Y/N please, please please listen to me you can’t go back, you can't damnit why won't you listen!” Dustin is crying right beside you, shaking from what he’s witnessing, your heart breaking even further. This boy, who had just barely entered his teenage years, didn't deserve this. He needed to be at home, safe, warm, his biggest worry being the classes he would have next time he arrived at school. It wasn’t fair, not to him and not to any of the other kids who had been sucked into this supernatural mess, yet another repercussion of Brenner’s actions. “Shh, shh listen to me Dusty, listen. I need to go back, I need to help him, but I can't do it without you. I need you to stay here, make another rope okay? Go to the closet that's next to the kitchen right there, there’s some spare blankets and covers, tie them up and get that shit ready for when we come back yeah?” You pressed your forehead to Dustin’s, only letting go when you felt his quivering nod, a small sob escaping his swollen lips. You take him into your arms tightly, giving him one last sense of comfort before setting up a nearby chair, running towards it and stepping on it fully to latch your arms against the coiling tentacles of the opening, the freshman below you watching as you grunt swinging your body so that you’ll fall back into the Upside Down.

A yelp and a groan leave your throat, wind slightly wonky as you land on your back rolling over to crawl your way back up to a vertical stance. “Go!” you yell upwards, ushering Dustin to follow your instructions, preparing a second way back into safety. You stumble onto your feet, breath still slightly uneven as you grab your own spear and charge outside, catching a small glimpse of the swarm of bats, heart clenching knowing exactly who they’re aiming for. The second you burst through the gate your stomach sinks, watching your boyfriend fall on the ground. The swarm of wild bats started to close in on him.

“Eddie!” you yell, running as fast you possibly can, knowing in your head that time is precious, the beasts very likely to attack Eddie at any moment, sucking his life force away. For a split second you lock eyes with your lover, tears streaming down his face as he watches large hunks of bats break off from the tornado like cloud above him, heading straight for you, your steps only serving to meet them halfway. Adrenaline is pumping in your veins, drowning out all sounds including the pleads of your desperate partner, urging the flying fiends to focus back on him, to give you a single chance at surviving what was headed your way. But all he can see is you crying out, slashing the spear in your hands wildly, at first managing to kill several of the bats around you by slicing them into halves, but you quickly swarmed yourself, the bats’ speed so ferocious that you start to feel the air around you quickly thin out, Barely able to inhale anything at all as the bats close in on you, not giving up their relentless attack on your lungs. Between flaps of dark wings you catch small flashes of your boyfriend, watching as a bat flies dangerously close to his neck, knicking his jaw and drawing out a small slash of bloody red. At this point you can barely breathe, the bats flying faster, tighter, closer, seemingly aware of what they're doing to you. The only sounds you can hear is your own dry throat, choking, gasping, clinging to any little bit of oxygen that it can push into your lungs. Your vision is becoming blurry, eyes filling up with desperate tears as you watch Eddie cry out in pain, the bats around him now taking this opportunity to slash at him with their choppy fangs, his shirt tattered and beginning to change from a dirty dim white to a splotchy red. You’re crying, choking, no longer holding any hope that either of you would make it, both of you to be found lying lifeless on the cold ground of this cursed place.

A shining light flashes in your vision, disrupting the once dark atmosphere you found yourself in. “Again.” you recognize the voice, it belonging to the man you once used to call Papa. Another flash. “Again!” you feel the pain spreading through your muscles. Random faces start to appear, sunken little faces, without any single strands of hair on their head. “AGAIN” you cry out, so many feelings, memories, flooding back into your body, invading your senses as you begin to burn. “AGAIN!!” The voices are louder, his screams sounding more like whips and slashes, your ears plagued with an array of auditory memories, the sounds of a buzzing at your arm constant through the flashbacks. You open your eyes, which are now irritated and burning, the world slowing down as you map out a handful of bats, their trajectories seemingly aligning with Eddie’s scratched chest. The burning in your body intensifies, a new sound replacing the buzz in your ears, this time a deep rhythmic beat starts playing, a sound you can only credit to your beating heart, the speed of its beats nowhere near healthy. Everything burns, the itching sensation blooming straight from your chest, the bats flapping directly at your boyfriend’s chest now. “I SAID AGAIN.” Brenner’s voice cracks through you like the red bolts of lighting in the sky, your body being swept into the toxic air, hanging.

Eddie can barely register what’s happening, a sizzle reaching his ears as he opens his tightly shut eyes, the impact of those sharp teeth tearing at his skin never arriving. Instead he covers his ears, a new screech replacing every other noise, his eyes not believing the scene before him as he looks out to what is beating against his ear drums. Suspended in mid air is the love of his life, skin glowing with a white-bluish tint that circles around her entire frame like an aura. Thin root-like glows appear all over your body, spreading from your heart out wrapping around your arms like weeds and shooting straight out in a blanket of light. Your nose, eyes and ears leaking with a crimson fluid as your body finally gives out, falling to the ground as his ears catch the small crackle of steps behind him. Behind him are Nancy Steve and Robin, arms held up at their faces as they lock eyes with Eddie, stunned expressions visible all over.

“Eddie…what the hell was that?” an utterly awestruck Steve advances towards him, scanning his body for any serious injuries. Eddie can’t reply, simply scattering on to his feet, kicking up dirt as he stumbles his way over to you. He ignores all the soreness and pain from his body, picking your trembling body up. It’s impossible for his heart not to break, as you hang almost lifelessly, mumbling incoherent words. “Fuck baby, its okay sweetheart we’re gonna get you some help yeah? COME ON MY GIRLFRIEND NEEDS HELP!” Eddie yells at the trio that’s still stuck in their places, his tone urging them to run along with him back to the trailer, time of essence in case you were in danger.

-

You groan softly, not being able to move your body as the smell of some sort of breakfast meat hits your senses. As you open your eyes, adjusting to the rays of light your vision starts to focus. You’re in a dingy little cabin, your vision cut off by a cream colored curtain, sloppily closed. Through the opening Eddie, Steve, Dustin and Nancy emerge, your beloved boy rushing to your side, cooing at you. “Hey hey hey, careful sweet cheeks, you’re fragile right now.” he soothes your ache by placing himself right at your side, allowing you to rest on him. As a large hand opens the curtain fully, you see just how many people are in the Cabin, The Byers Family, a very hippie looking dude standing right next to Jonathan, the Sinclair siblings, the two oldest Wheeler Siblings, Robin, Max, Eleven and to your great surprise, Hopper, alive and well.

‘What the hell happened” your voice is slightly raspy, Mike hands Nancy a glass of water, which she then passes along to Eddie who then brings it up to your mouth as you’re filled in, from the reappearance of Hopper, the very long road trip from California back to Hawkins, Eleven’s whereabouts and of course, the events that happened in the upside down. It takes a second for you to fully process everything, eyes locking with El’s as she comes to kneel right before you, taking your hands in hers. She looks tired, stressed, your eyes taking note of her once more shaven head, an anger building inside of you knowing Brenner was still alive during these years, causing just as much trouble as before.

“You have powers.” She said, catching your full attention. All eyes are on you. “But how, El you saw it yourself, Papa tried everything in the book.” you stare at your hands, starting to shake lightly but calming down the second you feel a pair of long, beautiful arms wrap around you, the scent of musky wood, cigarettes and cheap cologne soothing your broken mind. Eleven smiles shaking her head. “I remember now, Papa… he did not use you. He used us. He wanted to see how powerful you were. But you were scared of Papa, the only time he saw your powers was when you collapsed the power grid. Papa forced me to remember, it was not us, it was only you, that's why he stopped. He was not strong enough to control your power. Only you are.” El’s soft voice spoke clearly, frowning and turning to the rest of the group as your cheeks get’s coated with a single tear, your eyes distant.

“I-I remember.” you whispered, broken. You sob into Eddie’s arms as your mind fully puts together the picture. Brenner tortured you to see what he could milk from you, his own cowardice the reason you felt weak and helpless all this time. Eddie grabs a hold of your chin, making you look at him. “Hey hey hey, look at me. You’re okay baby, you’re okay. You’re more than okay, you're a freaking badass. You saved me, and you saved the others too, you alone did that baby girl, you saved me, kicked those bats into the afterlife and helped save the world. Baby you’re a hero.” he pressed his lips against your forehead, rubbing soothing circles on your back.

“It’s true.” Max chimes in, stepping towards you. “Y/N you saved my life too, Along with El, you guy’s saved me from so much. I was pretty much a goner, I didn’t stand a chance but you killing his hell pets hurt Henry enough for El to finally get him off me” Max smiled, taking El’s hand as they nod. Your own face sporting a small smile of its own realizing this whole encounter wasn't as bad as it could’ve been. “Listen, we can talk about this all we want later, let the kid rest for now.” Hopper called out, ushering everyone away and into the front of the cabin for some breakfast, small bye’s and rest up’s from the mini crowd was sent to you as they all left, a comfortable silence wrapping you and Eddie up.

“Everything’s gonna change now.” you speak up, snuggling right into Eddie’s chest, inhaling his addicting scent, basking in his warmth. “That's fine, my baby’s a freaking superhero, I don’t mind that kind of change.” he laughs, making sure to squeeze you just a little, burying his face in in your hair before whispering, a smirk forming on those beautiful lips “You know this is gonna give you major boosts in Dnd right?”

Fuckkkk yess, Eddie Munson deserves a super cool lightning inducing girlfriend, honestly one of the coolest plots I’ve done. Peace out

7-3-22

[alexandrast17]

Since B*lers want to claim that Eleven was going to “break up” with Mike in pizza scene. Let’s do a quick analysis and review of the scene.

Let’s start with B*lers claim: El was going to “break up” with Mike during the pizza scene.

Reasoning: Is that El put emphasis on the “I missed you” and during that conversation she looks away from Mike.

For reference the Pizza Scene is episode 4x09 “Piggyback” It starts at 34:59 and ends at 36:34 (mind you I started it when their scene starts after Max’s and then ends when they switch over Jonathan and Will and we can no longer hear them)

Quick summary of the Pizza scene: The group proceeds to go to a pizza shop, because there is enough salt there to create a tank for Eleven. Mike makes her special goggles that block out light. They sit together at the shop, and Mike makes El giggle after he jokes about "looking so cool" with the glasses on. Eleven then holds his hands, and talk about how she missed him. He says that he missed her as well, and begins to talk about his feelings for her, but they are then interrupted by Argyle. Argyle places a pizza on the table, telling Mike and Eleven to try it. Mike immediately refuses, due to there being the pineapple as a topping. El tries the pizza, and says that it's "really good". El and Argyle force Mike to try the pizza, shoving a slice in his face, and telling him to "try before you deny". In the subtitles, you can see that he admits it's good after trying it.

Let’s look at a couple clips from the scene:

We see Mike and El hanging out and having a good time for a few minutes. Mike even manages to make El giggle before the conversation turns serious when El emphasizes that she missed Him. Even when says “Mike” she’s still laughing and smiling and grabs his hand (personally if I was going to break up with some I probably wouldn’t grab their hand or being so laughing and smiling through it imo) Also you don’t say “I missed you” to someone you’re going to break up with. And if she was, she would’ve said “I missed you, but” and not given him any room to respond. Instead she gives Mike room to respond instead of steering the conversation back to her if she was going to break up with him. The only reason she emphasized that she missed Mike is because she really did. The last they had seen each other they were in a “argument” then El was getting arrested and when they finally seen each other Mike finds out she ended back up with Brenner and El had gone through a painful memories and it probably would have been easier is she had Mike their for emotional support. El looking away is probably because Mike brought up their fight/rinko-mania just a few seconds beforehand. It’s more than likely that El was probably just embarrassed and she was probably going to address it before Mike started talking. El said she missed him and he did a little wiggle of relief/excitement because throughout those couple days of being separated he was scared that she wasn’t going to want him anymore. So hearing her say she missed him was so relieving to him. And when he’s trying to tell her something, it’s very obvious it’s to tell her he loves her. It’s literally a parallel to the grocery store scene in s3. Instead of Dustin interrupting them it’s Argyle this time. The only reason she emphasized that she missed Mike is because she really did. People also forget Mike struggling to so I love you to El isn’t a brand new issue. This is an issue they have been struggling with since towards the end of s3 so it’s not a surprise they finally tackled this issue in s4.

That’s my take on the whole “El was going to break up with Mike during the pizza scene” thing imo. El had no intention of breaking up with Mike and same goes for Mike. I don’t think he had any intention of breaking up with El this season.

[withacapitalp]

Regrets

Dying was not as peaceful as Martin Brenner had anticipated it would be.

He knew he was going to hell, he was fine with that. Martin would go to hell if that meant saving the rest of the world. When his maker asked him ‘why’, he would be able to proudly respond that he had done the right thing. Not the good thing, or the easy thing, but always the right thing. 

He had thought that since he knew that, there wouldn’t be any regret. But there was. Martin Brenner’s entire chest was filled with rotting hateful regret, and it was spilling out dark red, nearly black, on the scorching desert sand. 

He had thought he understood. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, and Martin knew that. He had sacrificed almost all of his children after all, and what Papa would do that if he didn’t understand the cost?

Almost all of his children dead. All but one. 

Eleven. 

His Eleven. His favorite. Always his favorite, because she was the only one that really had a chance. She was his salvation, the one thing that made all of his other sacrifices worth it. She was the best thing he had ever made. There shouldn’t be any regret, because she was still alive. Uncollared, untethered, and, now, utterly unstoppable. 

No regret, because Martin had succeeded. She was perfect, and she would save them all. 

But he had regrets. He was dying, and he could barely breathe past the dreadful remorse sitting on his chest like an elephant. 

Because she didn’t understand. 

Martin had asked her to understand. He had told the truth- he had done everything to protect her. Her Papa was proud of her, and everything he had ever done had been for her. All of this was for her, and for the world, and for the godforsaken Greater Good. 

A greater good that he was never going to get to see. The great city upon the hill that John Winthrop had sermonized about. Martin would forever be exiled from it. He had been fine with the idea of that, but the reality was unbearable. 

He had asked Eleven to understand, and she had laid his hand down and walked away. Her inability to give him absolution should have been the final nail in the coffin, but Martin was too tired to let it hurt as much as it did. 

There were regrets, too many to count now, but there was a little bit of peace. Just a touch. 

Eleven hadn’t walked away alone. 

She had always been so alone. Her siblings had scorned her, then envied her, then feared her. They could never accept her for what she was. But now, she had found someone who could. 

Eleven had walked away from him, and into the arms of a boy he recognized from oh so long ago. He was taller now, much taller, and his face was starting to lean out where it had once been soft and round with baby fat. Nearly unrecognizable if you didn’t know him well, but Martin Brenner would never be able to forget William Byers.

 This was the boy that had started it all, the boy that was forever linked to Eleven in ways neither of them would ever be able to understand without Martin’s help. 

The boy that would, hopefully, save his daughter. If Martin’s theories were right, and they usually were. 

Almost all of his energy was gone, but Martin Brenner had just enough strength left in him to turn his head to the side, watching as his last child sped away in a van and left him to die in the dust behind her. 

It was just him now. Martin and his Regrets. 

But Eleven would be fine. 

She had found a better family.