#and yes most of this is Mike and Dustin bc most of my stuff is about Mike but their dynamic is just too good

[evil-ontheinside]

Why is writing Dustin literally the funniest thing? I don't know how it keeps happening but I wrote at least three different times from his pov and every time it has the best lines. Have some various snippets from my WIPs to prove my point:

"Why do you have to be so negative about this? You will not be the one in trouble should something go wrong, I will handle the consequences." He has his arms crossed in front of his chest and it might have been intimidating - especially with that dagger still in hand - but it's not because it's Michael. The Prince, sure, but also the person Dustin had seen sitting drenched in the fountain of the main plaza, looking like a wet cat and grumbling about it with the dignity of a small child. The cut-off curtains, draped over his shoulder like a makeshift cape, don’t command much respect either. ----

Dustin had been playing one of his favorite songs, approved of by all the important people at home, including the royal family. He knows it better than the back of his hand, could perform it in his sleep if he had to, had played it while being attacked by a ranger in the forest - yes Lucas, this story will be made into a song sooner or later, there is no escape. ----

Dustin knows nothing. Prince Michael, who? Wait, no, Dustin knows something. But nothing important. Yes, that sounds better. ----

“You won’t believe this.” Dustin almost chokes on his drink when he looks up and sees Hopper storm into the Byers’ kitchen. He did not just hear the chief of police Jim Hopper say You won’t believe this also known as the most stereotypical sitcom-drama sentence ever, right? “Try me,” is all Joyce answers, completely unphased, from the kitchen table where they all sit together and try to complete a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle. It’s going worse than he anticipated. At the same time Dustin triumphantly fits a piece into the right place, does he realize that this must be a normal occurrence. Jim Hopper, taken right out of the afternoon’s soap opera.  He’ll need some time to process this later. -----

If anyone asks why he decided to spend one of the last days of summer vacation with Max underneath a lonely tree in the middle of an open field? They’re studying, obviously. Or having a romantic getaway that lasted for a few hours and will never happen ever again. They had planned to make this an extended Party event but, as usual, life just won’t go according to Dustin’s plan. He had it all planned out: camping for a night in a - of course completely randomly selected, no doubt about it - field in town, a DnD campaign crafted by Eddie himself to celebrate the last days of summer and far away from prying eyes to not disturb anyone. But no, the Byers and Hoppers - soon to be only Hoppers, Dustin is more than just a little excited for that wedding. He also had that fully planned out years ago but his planning was, as usual, not appropriately appreciated - had to make an impromptu family trip to god knows where, Steve, Eddie, and Robin - this betrayal maybe left the deepest wound - had suddenly all decided to take a road trip without telling anyone else beforehand, and the Sinclairs had all been jammed into their family car and carted off to visit a dying relative somewhere in Indianapolis. This left Max and Dustin all alone in Hawkins. At least Max was always down for a little espionage to search for possible gossip. Though Max had almost ditched him when he complained - totally justified by the way - about everyone leaving them behind when they should’ve been here with them, lying in waiting for the newest information. -----

Dustin doesn’t care. The others can hide their interest for all they want but he’s here to gather information and he’s not ashamed of it. His observations might as well be for science. His curiosity doors are wide open, he can’t risk only looking through a crack if he wants the full picture. -----

What the fuck do they need an old wooden chest for? Why doesn’t Dustin have an old wooden chest? He could totally pull off an old wooden chest in his room.  Maybe, and Dustin thinks this with reluctance of the highest order, the rumors aren't as ridiculous and farfetched as they sounded at first. This family might not be quite normal. [...] A few more boxes join the wooden chest - and Dustin is still not over that. This thing looks like it was taken straight out of a medieval fantasy story. The cheek, the gall to show off their cool wooden chest in front of Dustin without considering his feelings - neatly stacked on top of it before he simply gets behind the wheel and takes off without giving them an answer as if he hadn’t even heard them.

[badger-tales]

Eddie Watch//E.M x Reader

Chapter 1/18

A/n: okay so way back in the day (2022) when stranger things season 4 was still being released I wrote this fanfic and its been on wattpad for ages but I re-wrote it recently and wanted to post it here!!! Also I'm posting from my phone bc my laptop still wont work!!!

Summary: Despite wanting to stay and fight, Y/n is assigned to Eddie Watch to make sure he 'doesn't Do anything stupid.' Reluctantly she agrees. Everything's fine. Everything's good. It's all just perfect.

Word count: 3.6k

"Let me get this straight," she said, leaning forward over the worn cafeteria table. The ambient noise of chattering students and clattering trays seemed to fade as she fixed her gaze intently on her younger brother. Her eyes narrowed, giving him the impression of an intense interrogation rather than a casual lunchtime conversation. "You want me to be a stand-in for your Hellfire Club because Lucas bailed on you guys, and if you don't find a replacement, Eddie is going to kick your ass?"

Dustin let out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders slumping dramatically as he threw his arms up in frustration. "Yes, Y/N, those are the exact words that just left my mouth," he replied, his tone dripping with teenage annoyance. He ran a hand through his curly hair, making it stand on end even more than usual. "So, are you going to help us or not?"

A sly smile played on her lips as she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms thoughtfully. She pretended to mull over his request, even though she had already decided. The prospect of diving back into a Dungeons & Dragons campaign for the first time since she was fifteen—since those long nights in Mike Wheeler's basement—was too tempting to pass up. But there was no harm in making Dustin sweat a little.

"What's in it for me?" she asked, arching an eyebrow mischievously. She watched as a look of mild panic crossed his face, clearly unprepared for negotiations.

She had to suppress a chuckle at the glare he shot her way, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Uh... cool shirt?" he offered hesitantly, the confidence in his voice wavering. It was more of a question than a promise.

She held his gaze for a moment longer, letting the silence hang between them. Then, a grin broke across her face. "Yeah, sure. My schedule's free. What time does it start?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Dustin exclaimed, relief washing over his features. He practically bounced in his seat. "It starts at four-thirty. Do you still have all your stuff?" he asked eagerly, already standing up as if ready to sprint off.

"Of course I do," she replied, rolling her eyes affectionately at his enthusiasm. "And I'm expecting that shirt before the campaign, by the way," she called after him as he hurried away, giving her a thumbs-up over his shoulder as he weaved through the crowded cafeteria.

---

Back at home, she sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor, surrounded by the familiar clutter of posters, books, and trinkets collected over the years. God, it had been too long since she'd even thought about this binder—three years, in fact. The last time she played was November 6th, 1983—the night Will went missing. A soft smile touched her lips as she opened the worn cover, flipping through pages filled with character sheets, campaign notes, and doodles along the margins. She paused at a drawing Will had made of their party during one of their most grueling campaigns, his artistic talent capturing the spirit of their adventures perfectly.

Finding her dice set proved more challenging. She rummaged through drawers and boxes, the minutes ticking by faster than she'd realized. Just as she was about to give up, she remembered the small shoebox tucked under her bed. Pulling it out, she lifted the lid to reveal a treasure trove of memories: a few ribbons from old competitions, faded Polaroids capturing moments frozen in time, and there, nestled among them, her favorite set of dice. She used to have several sets, but over the years she'd given them to Dustin or misplaced them. This particular set—a swirl of deep purple and gold—was her lucky charm.

Glancing at her watch, her eyes widened. 3:45 PM.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Hastily, she stuffed her binder and dice into her bag, bolting out of her room. She nearly tripped down the stairs, snatching her car keys from the hook by the door.

She sped down the streets of Hawkins, the familiar scenery flashing by as she perhaps ignored a few traffic laws in her rush. Pulling into the Hawkins High parking lot, she spotted Dustin waiting on the steps, arms crossed and an impatient look on his face.

"Took you long enough," he said, thrusting a folded shirt into her hands. The black fabric bore the emblem of the Hellfire Club—a design that was both ominous and intriguingly detailed. "Hurry up and get changed, or we'll be late."

"It's not going to take me thirty minutes to get changed," she retorted, rolling her eyes as she pushed past him and headed into the school.

---

"Now, Y/N, I need you to understand something," Dustin said, halting her just outside the imposing double doors of the club room. The hallway was dimly lit, fluorescent lights flickering overhead with a faint buzz. Lockers lined the walls, adorned with a collage of stickers and graffiti. Dustin shifted nervously, glancing around before focusing his gaze on her. "These guys are major nerds—not like cool nerds like Mike and me, but textbook nerds," he began to ramble, his words tumbling over each other in his haste to explain.

She raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement dancing in her eyes. "Dustin, get to the point," she interjected, crossing her arms over her chest. The distant sound of a basketball bouncing echoed through the empty corridors, a stark contrast to their hushed conversation.

He took a deep breath, running a hand through his curly hair. "My point is, I doubt these guys have even spoken to a girl they aren't related to. So just cut them some slack if they're weird around you," he confessed, his cheeks tinged with a slight blush.

She chuckled softly, the sound echoing slightly in the quiet hallway. "Got it. I'll try not to terrify your friends," she teased, giving him a playful nudge on the shoulder.

Relieved, Dustin nodded and turned toward the doors. With a dramatic flourish, he pushed them open. "Our savior is here!" he proclaimed loudly, his voice echoing off the high ceilings as he kicked the door wider. The room fell silent almost instantly, the low murmur of conversation and the clatter of dice coming to an abrupt halt. It was as if someone had pressed pause on a remote, freezing the scene.

Rows of mismatched tables were pushed together to form a large gaming area, strewn with character sheets, scattered dice, and an array of snacks. Posters of fantasy landscapes and mythical creatures adorned the walls, their colors muted in the dim lighting. A haze of dust particles danced in the shafts of evening light filtering through the small windows.

Dozens of eyes turned to stare at them, a mix of curiosity, surprise, and suspicion evident on the faces peering over Dungeon Master's screens and stacks of rulebooks. It felt like walking onto a stage mid-performance.

"Hi, Y/N!" Mike called out enthusiastically from his seat near the center of the room, his face breaking into a wide grin. His lanky frame was hunched over a well-worn Player's Handbook, and he waved energetically, causing a few stray papers to flutter to the floor.

She returned his wave with a warm smile, feeling a bit of the tension ease from her shoulders. "Hey, Mike," she replied, her voice steady despite the dozens of eyes still fixed upon her.

"Who's this?" a boy with thick glasses and a skeptical expression demanded from across the room. His tone carried a hint of indignation, as if her presence was a breach of some unspoken rule.

Dustin stepped forward, undeterred. "The one and only Y/N Henderson—aka my big sister, aka the best D&D player to grace this planet," he declared with unabashed pride, puffing out his chest dramatically.

She laughed lightly, shaking her head at his antics. "You're so dramatic, Dustin," she chided, reaching over to tug the brim of his cap down over his eyes. He sputtered in protest, pushing it back up with an indignant huff.

"So you're the elusive Y/N Henderson," a smooth voice drawled from the head of the table. Eddie Munson leaned back in his chair, boots propped up on the table's edge. His dark curls framed his face, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he assessed her. Rings adorned his fingers, which tapped rhythmically against the arm of his chair. "We've heard tales of your wit and bravery. It's an honor," he continued, standing with a flourish to give an exaggerated bow, his leather jacket rustling with the movement.

Her gaze met his, and for a moment, the room seemed to fade away. There was a challenge in his eyes, but also a hint of genuine curiosity. She felt a smirk tug at the corner of her lips. "Well, I couldn't let my little brother face certain doom without me," she replied, her tone light but edged with playful defiance.

Dustin beamed between them, clearly pleased with the exchange. "She's here to help us crush this campaign," he announced to the room, confidence radiating from him.

"Don't worry, Y/N; we'll make sure you don't die in the first hour," a boy with a mop of sandy hair and a smattering of freckles said from across the table, a teasing smirk on his face. He adjusted his wizard's hat—a battered accessory that had seen better days—and leaned forward on his elbows.

She arched an eyebrow, noting the amused glances Mike and Dustin exchanged. "Your level ten half-elf wizard is going to protect my level eighteen Tiefling fighter? Alright," she retorted smoothly, settling into the empty seat beside Mike. A few chuckles rippled through the group, and the initial stiffness in the air began to dissipate.

---

As the hours passed, Y/N found herself fully immersed in the game. The room was filled with animated voices, the rustling of paper, and the occasional clatter of dice on wood. The scent of old books mixed with the sweetness of soda and the salty tang of potato chips. Eddie's storytelling was captivating, his voice weaving vivid images that pulled them deeper into the fantasy realm.

"The hooded cultists chant, 'Hail Lord Vecna. Hail Lord Vecna,'" Eddie intoned, his voice dropping to a sinister whisper that sent a chill down her spine. The overhead lights seemed to dim, or perhaps it was her imagination as she became engrossed in the narrative. His eyes flickered with dark delight as he scanned each player, savoring their rapt attention. "They turn to you and remove their hoods. You recognize most of them from Makbar—their eyes hollow, lips curled into fanatic grins. But there is one you do not recognize."

Y/N leaned forward, her fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of the table. A knot of anticipation twisted in her stomach. She exchanged a quick glance with Mike, whose eyes were wide with apprehension.

"His skin is shriveled, desiccated. And something else..." Eddie leaned in, the room holding its collective breath. "He is not only missing his left arm," he paused, the silence stretching taut like a drawn bowstring. "But his left eye!"

Gasps erupted around the table. "No way!" the boy with the wizard's hat exclaimed, nearly knocking over his character miniatures. "Vecna's supposed to be dead!"

"Kas killed him!" Mike protested, flipping through his notes frantically.

"So it was thought, my friends. So it was thought," Eddie replied smugly, a sly smile playing on his lips. He reached over his Dungeon Master's screen with deliberate slowness, placing a detailed figurine onto the center of the map—a skeletal figure draped in tattered robes, one eye socket glaring empty. "But Vecna lives!"

Chaos ensued. Players scrambled to adjust their strategies, voices overlapping in a cacophony of disbelief and hurried planning. The atmosphere was electric, a mix of dread and exhilaration. Y/N felt her heart pounding, the rush of adrenaline sharpening her focus.

"Do you flee Vecna and his cultists?" Eddie challenged, his tone almost taunting as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "Or do you stand your ground and fight?"

Silence fell as everyone weighed their options. The gravity of the situation pressed upon them, the fate of their characters hanging in the balance. Y/N glanced around the table, reading the uncertainty in their faces.

"I say we fight," she declared firmly, her voice cutting through the tension. Her eyes met each of theirs, a spark of determination igniting. "To the death."

"To the death," Dustin and Mike echoed, their expressions steeling with resolve. A murmur of agreement rippled through the group, the earlier hesitation giving way to a united front.

The battle was fierce. Eddie narrated the onslaught with dramatic flair, his words painting a vivid picture of the chaos unfolding. Spells were cast, swords swung, and arrows loosed. At first, victory seemed within reach. They coordinated attacks, covered each other's weaknesses, and for a moment, hope blossomed.

But fate was fickle. One by one, their comrades fell. The clatter of dice rolling low numbers elicited groans and curses. The boy with the wizard's hat threw up his hands in despair as his character succumbed. "No! Not like this!" he lamented.

"Stay strong!" Y/N urged, her knuckles white as she gripped her dice. Sweat beaded on her brow, her mind racing to formulate a plan.

Mike took his turn, the dice slipping from his fingers with a whispered prayer. They tumbled across the table, seeming to move in slow motion before settling ominously. A collective breath was held.

"Critical fail," Eddie announced with feigned sympathy. Mike slumped back, a look of defeat shadowing his features.

"Dammit!" he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Now, only Y/N and Dustin remained standing. The room was thick with tension, the weight of their predicament palpable. The ambient noises of the school had faded away, leaving only the sounds of their ragged breaths and the distant hum of the air conditioning.

"Time out!" someone called desperately. They huddled together, forming a tight circle. Y/N found herself wedged between Mike and Dustin, their shoulders pressing against hers. The sense of camaraderie was strong, but so was the creeping doubt.

"Guys, I hate to say this, but we have to flee," the boy with the glasses whispered urgently, his eyes darting between them. A murmur of reluctant agreement spread among a few others, nodding solemnly.

"Didn't we just agree 'to the death'?" Y/N asked incredulously, her gaze sweeping over their faces. Her heart sank at the sight of their defeated expressions. "We can't back down now."

She felt a surge of frustration mingled with determination. This was more than just a game—it was a stand against the odds, a test of their mettle. She wasn't ready to throw in the towel, and she hoped to rekindle that fighting spirit in them.

"That wasn't literal," he shot back desperately, his eyes wide with a mix of panic and frustration.

"Vecna just decimated us. We can't kill him with two players!"

"You too? He only has fifteen hit points left. Don't be pussies," Dustin spat, spinning around to face his teammates. His cheeks were flushed, and a fiery determination burned in his gaze. The overhead lights cast sharp shadows across the scattered maps and figurines on the table.

"Pussies? Really? 'Cause we're not delusional?" the boy across from him retorted, leaning back in his chair with a skeptical snort. He crossed his arms over his chest, his brows knitting together as he met Dustin's glare.

"Delusional?" Y/N interjected sharply, her eyes narrowing as she stared daggers at the skeptic. "How about not cowards?" Her voice was steady but carried an edge that sliced through the tension-filled air.

"Hey!" Eddie's voice boomed from across the dimly lit room, breaking the group's heated exchange. He rose from his throne-like chair at the head of the table, the multitude of rings on his fingers glinting under the fluorescent lights. "If I may interject, gentlemen—and lady," he added with a nod toward Y/N. "While I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Gareth the Great's concern to heart. However, there is no shame in running," he said, his gaze locking onto Y/N's with an intensity that made the room feel smaller. "Don't try to be heroes—not today, 'kay?"

Y/N scoffed at his words, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. There was no way she was backing down now. Not when victory was within their grasp. Even if it meant the devil himself had to claw his way out of hell to stop her.

"One sec," Dustin said, holding up a finger before turning back to the huddled group. "What do you think, Y/N?" he asked, his voice softer now, eyes searching hers for confirmation.

She took a brief moment, her mind racing as she weighed their options. The ambient sounds of the room faded—the soft rustling of character sheets, the distant chatter from the hallway—everything narrowed down to this decision.

"We both only have twelve hit points left; it's risky as hell, but we're the only ones left on the battlefield," she said firmly, meeting his gaze head-on. "You already know what I'm gonna say, so it's your call, Dusty." Her words hung in the air, filled with both challenge and trust.

He studied her face, the gears in his mind visibly turning as he compiled a mental list of pros and cons. The flickering light above cast shifting shadows, mirroring the conflict in his eyes. It felt like an eternity before a slow grin spread across his face.

"Alright, Y/N, let's kill this son of a bitch!" he declared, spinning around to face Eddie. A Cheshire grin stretched from ear to ear, his earlier hesitation replaced with fiery resolve.

"The chances of success are twenty-to-one," one of the members interjected nervously, his voice laced with desperation and genuine fear. He fiddled anxiously with a worn pencil, his knuckles white.

"Never tell me the odds," Dustin shot back, his tone dismissive as he silenced the doubter with a steely glance. He extended his hand toward his sister. "Give me the D20."

She nodded, reaching into her velvet dice bag—the one adorned with tiny embroidered dragons—and retrieved the well-worn die. Its edges were smooth from years of use, the numbers etched deep from countless campaigns. She placed it into his open palm, their eyes meeting briefly in unspoken understanding.

The entire room fell into a hushed silence, the kind that makes every small sound—every breath, every heartbeat—seem amplified. All eyes were glued to Dustin as he prepared to roll. The air was thick with anticipation, so much so that it felt almost tangible.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a split second before casting the die. It tumbled across the tabletop in what seemed like slow motion, bouncing off a miniature goblin and skittering past a makeshift terrain of books and notepads. Finally, it came to rest right in front of Eddie.

"Eleven," Eddie announced, his voice devoid of emotion. He tapped the table with each syllable for emphasis. "That's. A. Miss!"

A collective groan erupted from the group. "No!" "Damn it!" "We're doomed!" The exclamations overlapped, filling the room with a cacophony of disappointment. The tension ratcheted up as all eyes shifted to Y/N.

"We're so screwed," Dustin muttered beside her, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He pulled his cap lower over his eyes, as if to shield himself from the reality of the situation.

She glanced at him, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes. With a swift motion, she reached over and flicked the brim of his hat upward. "I'm offended you have such little faith in me—and from my own kin!" she declared dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. "I'm wounded, Dusty; I may never recover." Her teasing tone elicited a few chuckles from the surrounding players.

Turning back to the table, she picked up the die, feeling its familiar weight in her hand. The room seemed to hold its breath. She could sense the gazes of her fellow players, the skepticism, the hope.

She shook the dice once, the clatter echoing softly.

Twice, the anticipation building like a rising tide.

Three times, and then she released it with a confident flick of her wrist. The die rolled across the board, weaving between scattered character sheets and abandoned snacks, before coming to a halt directly in front of the Dungeon Master.

Everyone leaned in, their faces a mix of dread and excitement. Eddie arched an eyebrow, leaning forward to inspect the result. A slow smile curved his lips.

"Twenty," he announced, a hint of admiration in his voice.

"Crit hit!" Y/N shouted, leaping to her feet as a surge of triumph coursed through her. Cheers erupted around her, the room exploding into jubilant chaos. Dustin let out a whoop, throwing his arms around her in a bear hug that nearly knocked them both over.

She laughed, the sound bright and unrestrained, her heart pounding with exhilaration. Around them, the other players clapped and shouted, the earlier tension dissolving into celebration. She caught snippets of their exclamations—"Unbelievable!" "She's a legend!" "We did it!"

Eddie's voice rose above the din, though his exact words were lost in the whirlwind of noise. He looked both impressed and slightly amused, shaking his head as he began to collect his notes.

"I told you she would be our savior!" Dustin crowed to the group, his face flushed with excitement.

"That was some serious D&D playing, Henderson," Eddie called out, giving a nod of respect.

"Of course it was," Dustin interjected before she could respond, puffing out his chest with pride. "Who do you think taught me, Mike, and Lucas to play?"

She grinned widely at her brother's praise, her eyes shining as she looked around at the beaming faces of her friends. The room buzzed with energy, the victory a shared triumph that seemed to make the walls themselves hum.

[longtallglasses]

who's gonna write the stranger things/byler/lumax amazing race competition reality show au???

like byler is marketed as the nerdy childhood best friends team, “we've already gone on much crazier quests together when we were ten so this race is gonna be a piece cake!”

the whole audience at home picking up on their insane chemistry like... 👀

they're the clear front runners from the start because they hardly need to talk at all to get things done, work so quickly on their feet, mike is a crazy good strategist, and they’re always on the same page. and ToTally side eye other teams that are a mess, judgy shared smirks and eye rolls.

I know mike would be taking the whole thing soooo seriously while will is like :) ☺️ as mike figures out all the clues in seconds. even better if in this universe they already know lumax so mike is extra competitive bc he wants to beat them.

lumax is the loud and funny bickering couple, (also *cough* the couple everyone is attracted to) either freshly newlyweds, or just engaged. they have a million moments in the show where something goes wrong and they look at each other like 'wtf?!' 'this isn't my fault!' 'well you said we didn't have to worry about water!' they still would somehow manage to pull through and do okay

they are more 'secret planners' being sneaky that the audience is also blindsided by some of their actions. they excel best at the physical challenges that’s where they don’t need to check in w the other, but sometimes also really surprise everyone with their smarts.

also 100% love being sabateurs!!! very excited to fuck over another team if they can. if it airs at a time of social media people would be making comps of all their little zingers, one liners, and banter.

and simply bc i think this would be SO funny is dustin and mr. clarke as a team. teacher and ex-student team. the science guys! however despite being super smart a lot of their skills and knowledge aren't translating to most of these practical challenges and obstacles (mr. clarke more than dustin).

they don't do the best communicating with locals and stuff of the like, but people LOVE to watch them, i just have this vision of mr. clarke having to sky dive or crawl through some dark cave and freaking out, while dustin yells at him to keep going. instant comedy gold to the folks back home. dusitn for some reason still refers to mr. clarks AS mr. clarke.

they would also be the team hit with every detour task, slowing them down so much, dustin is so irate every time while mr. clarke is like weirdly overtly optimistic bc he's really there to just have fun. (like yes a steve/dustin team would be great too but i think i'd rather a steve/robin or a robin/nancy team alongside these)

[ronancebyler]

Elumax headcanons?

WOAH it's been a while let's go

you will see both platonic and romantic hopclair in this because i enjoy both. you might also see contradicting hc's or things that make no sense since it's the 80's and for that i say shhhhhh

el - they/she, demigirl lesbian max - they/she/he, genderfluid bisexual lucas - she/he, nonbinary omnisexual

LOVE cuddles. love cuddles too much. an annoying amount. they will not be near each other without tucking into each other

will complain about pda of other people while laying on top of each other bc shhh shut up

el asks them out first by going up to the two of them and going "im in love with max, and max is in love with both of us."

max is shocked that el somehow confessed for him but they quickly figure things out

go to rojancy for advice in the beginning. nancy talks to max, el talks to robin, lucas talks to jonathan

they help a LOT with sharing a partner and jealousy and how it worked for jonathan and robin platonically

generally the agreement in the beginning was that they're both max's partners and that evolved from there

if romantic hopclair, max sees lucas and el slowly fall in love but neither of them notice until at some point max calls el lucas's girlfriend and they just don't correct her because "huh, i guess they are my girlfriend. anyways"

if platonic hopclair, they slowly learn that they are also partners, just not romantically. talking to robin helped a lot.

"yeah, jonny is my partner, just like stevie is. i don't like them romantically, and i really don't want to kiss them, but they're my partners in life either way. we do all the other stuff, like hanging out and living together and spending our lives together, we just don't want the romantic parts."

el and lucas are just as important to each other as max is to them, and they don't need to be romantic life partners to be life partners. they're spending their lives together and they're one of each other's favorite people. they just don't necessarily have to kiss on the mouth.

speaking of kisses though, they all love non mouth kisses. theyre really annoying about it

cheek kisses, wrist/hand kisses, forehead kisses, kisses on the earlobe. if they're nuzzling into each other they'll plant a kiss wherever they're nuzzling into.

will, mike, and dustin are all like "you are legally not allowed to call us annoying around our partners"

because byler and duzie are gross but they are so much less pda inclined than these three are

the three of them aren't very words of affirmations inclined. they don't speak a lot of soft words around each other, but it doesn't matter. they all know

they do like leaving notes to each other though, especially if one has to go somewhere before the other wakes up/comes home to see them

it usually just involves telling them how their day was or something so if by the time they return the other is gone/asleep, they can just respond with a note to keep up the talk

love languages: physical touch, quality time, gifts

they love getting each other trinkets. "this reminds me of you." "i thought you'd like this <3" "here's a dandelion, make a wish!" tiny little things that brighten each other's days

MENACE on any gift giving holidays. it's household warfare on who gets the best gift for the others. most gift giving related holidays, they spread it out where they each get a day to show off their gifts because of how extra they are. on christmas they do not give each other gifts the day of and focus on spending time with other friends and family, usually giving it to each other three days before or after.

lucas and el have the most pet names for each other, especially platonic hopclair. no one understands.

"love, i need help!" "max, i think el is calling you" "no, that's for lucas" "coming darling!"

yes, they are girlfriends. yes, max and lucas are man-adjacent. no, they will not elaborate.

l: "i'm also girl-adjacent." m: "sometimes, me too." e: "i'm always girl adjacent!"

el and lucas are obsessed with max's short hair. they love playing with it so much

mike is the biggest hater of elumax ever because wdym my ex chose knock off me and my best friend.

"first, you're knock off max. second, you're gay, mike." "it's the principle of it lucas. also fuck you."

okay i'll shut up now

[bylerfields]

i just read your bottom mike points and its the most sense ive ever read on that topic, considering im a top mike truther. not so much dom mike, cos i think theyre equals, but your thing about mike chiling and come down to wills level was interesting. it makes me wonder how these dynamics would have played out if there was never this supernatural threat... i got the sense that mike still always led, because of how he approached will on the swings, and their little bickers in the whole group even, outside of monster stuff (like the ghostbusters venkman thing). mike being the de facto leader, soft version when with will, seemed like something that had simply always been. he's soft with will, but usually when he thinks will needs caring for. when will isnt in danger, i dont think mike is soft or chill necessarily. so its interesting that you see a matured, grown-into-himself and secure mike as 'chilling'.

and lastly, if they both come down and meet on this equal level of softness, how is that still evidence of mike being a sub? surely that would make them both soft vers?

but your points did make sense and i like that there are some bottomsub mike people out there who dont just see him as a babygirl

all really fair points anon!!

i think it’s just the way i see it or prefer, i guess? i don’t think i ever claimed that theres evidence of mike being a sub, since i’m of the strong belief that there’s no evidence for their sexual dynamic at all.

it’s really just how i prefer to think about it if i had to pick my favorite dynamic or what i’d lean towards when i’m writing.. lmao i think we’re pretty much on the same page tho, since i’m also a top mike truther who thinks they’re equals. so, sure, soft vers is a great description - but my personal preference is that mike is perfectly fine submitting to whatever will says and (for the reasons i said) will is perfectly fine not only asking for what he wants but also taking care of mike bc he wants mike to feel so good (which there is huge evidence for in s4). i’m not forcing others to see it this way, it’s just what i like 🥲 (also i should note that this isn’t the only dynamic i like when thinking of byler concepts, i like it all 😮‍💨 but when talking about which part of their canon dynamic is most satisfying/realistic to me i guess?)

(but i’d rather not have more people come to my inbox saying ‘well what you’re describing is actually still dom mike,’ because to me it’s not. i don’t see him that way as a default/usual assumed dynamic for them.)

to address what you said about mike’s behaviors being more dominant-leaning even outside of supernatural stuff, i guess my stance is that you can’t really separate it? like the way he was in s2 from the start was bc he felt crazy about el being alive or not. and him being the softer version with will is yes bc he has a sense of feeling like he’s taking care of someone, ((((((which i could argue isn’t a traditionally masc role but i won’t)))))) but also because it’s a safe place for him. i agree with you that he is 1000% the de facto leader of their group. he also paralleled joyce a lot in s1 with his persistence in getting will back and getting the others on board, while also being the gentlest and most nurturing of the boys with eleven.

what i love about mike is that he isn’t a violent person, like, at all - and it’s shown in the times that he does try and defend himself/others - it’s unnatural. i love that he can be the leader who people look to for guidance but not because he demands it, he just is. he’s the quietest in the party when theyre at the arcade in s2. there’s a common theme of will trusting and confiding in him where he wouldn’t with others. themes of nurturing, safe haven, emotional intelligence, follow mike before the clear shift in s2-3 when things start to become unmanageable for him. there are a lot of things that set him apart from dustin and lucas in s1 as far as typical masc traits and how they treat el (especially noticeable with lucas, since he and mike have pretty similar motive to get will back).

as far as him not being soft or chill w will when he’s not in danger, i guess we’ll have to agree to disagree? i’m thinking about “another 90 miles, why” and the softness in his tone when theyre on the couch, before will discloses that 001 isn’t dead. demanding and aggressive isn’t his default in a comfort setting. it’s just something that’s easy to pick up on for me, something i enjoy exploring more of, and a cool thing about fanfiction is that ability to have different interpretations or see qualities in characters that you focus on more while others choose different ones to expound on.

i’ve always said i think it’s presumptuous to assume the mike we see, with his clear multitude of external pressures, is the one he’ll be years from now. (will too, but mike is the focus here). and it’s really not far fetched when you look at how he is in his earlier days that he’s softer than the typical boy and would likely level back to that when settled and regulated.

thanks for the ask & i’m glad my take made a little sense 🩵 i mostly end up word vomiting when it comes to the mike topic

[stars-and-birds]

okay so i actually know very little about the x men but what roles are u thinking of for the party?

OKAY. you have awakened nerd esme. prepare urself. this will be long. sooooo long.

so for context the x men— created in 1963 by stan lee and jack kirby and fictionally brought together by professor x, a wheelchaired mutant with telepathic abilities, were/are mutants. mutants are a different species than humans and are as such treated terribly by them. they have “mutations” which give them powers and shit. they were basically created as parallels to real life bigotry and are hated by the general public (in the marvel verse everyone irl loves them. or i do. )

anyway, the original five were—

angel aka warren worthington III (yes that is his actual name) who had wings on his back. now they’re metal. it’s complicated but not important. he’s basically the token rich boy, blond hair, blue eyes, yeah. total knockout in canon too apparently. cyclops aka scott summers who had a red laser beam that continuously comes out of his eyes and as such he wears/wore a special visor made out of special ruby glass professor x found for him. quick fun fact he had so low self esteem and was so depressed professor x made him leader out of fear he would fucking kill himself. which is very dark. a bit stoic and pretty much an old man (he canonically watched seinfield). and he’s transmasc to ME. beast aka hank mccoy who is basically a genius and really strong and stuff. eventually he turns into a literal beast but i’m too sleep deprived to remember how that happened lolol marvel girl aka jean grey who was the token Girl™️ of the group and who possessed too many abilities to keep track of, and when she has them. she gets fucked up at some point in the chris claremont x men run (which is truly iconic) and becomes possessed by the phoenix force(specifically in issue #134, the issue will wanted in episode one) and becomes like evil and shit. the phoenix force is a cosmic evil being and she becomes *dark* phoenix and it’s a whole thing. also pour one fucking out for her imagine being surrounded by teenage boys and hormones most of whom have a crush on you and being able to read their minds. jean babe i’m so sorry for everything you’ve been through. and bobby drake aka iceman who has *gasp* ice powers. he’s a bit of the goofball of the group and can turn basically turn himself into ice which is explored more in more recent comics. he’s also been revealed as gay. one small step for mutants i suppose they’re all queer but nobody tell them.

wow that was long! sorry. anyway onto the actual au stuff. my original plan was to make each member of the part correspond to a o5 x men member, but since there are six i thought i’d add one more for max.

mike is cyclops! i think it fits in a special sort of way that i can’t really articulate since they have such different personalities. but just trust me.

el is jean, in the telepathic sense and being surrounded by boys most of the time sense. rip.

dustin is beast. tech savvy, smart, tested different bc of how he looks— it fits. so so well.

again the personalities may not fit on the surface but i think will is iceman. they’re both sort of softer than everyone else, and whole will is quieter it just makes sense to me haha.

uhh so i don’t actually think lucas would be warren… mayhaps i’m still considering… which means i wrote that whole description for basically nothing but i think it’s funny so i’m keeping it there. anyway i think lucas would be… idk. i’m still thinking it over but maybe gambit.

so for max @hellmo suggested rogue who would be great but i’m also still mulling it over. maybe kitty pryde! idk.

technically i think brenner would work as prof x but obviously that’s a no-go so it’s gonna be mr clarke which i like more as concept actually. again, different personalities but i think that’s okay, because the general roles fit. plus i jsut think that dynamic would be fun to explore more.

so sorry this was long and doesn’t really have much au it’s more me seeing x men and going brrr… haha. thanks for the ask tho!!! i enjoyed talking about them :]

[devondespresso]

WIP WhhhMonday Nightish

Once upon a time Devon was tagged in a wip wednesday by @eriquin and meant to do it but missed both wednesday and the weekend before remembering again. totally unrelated, Devon is working on getting their official adhd diagnosis.

i also noticed that the past snippets shared in wip-whatever posts have been purposefully the least interesting parts because i was worried about spoilers, which is dumb because that's created the unintended consequence of my tag is full of everything i don't like as much and a very different impression of what my fic is (as seen by most of these snippets being my rewritten scenes despite the actual fic being mostly new in-between scenes)

TLDR: WIP Whatever-day-it-is: But Actually For Fun This Time

The Rules

Post the file names of up to 5 of your WIPs for people to send you asks

Post a snippet of one of those WIPs

When people send you an ask with the name of one of your WIPs, write 3 lines of that WIP.

(Optional) Post the lines you wrote.

You can send multiple requests especially since this is going on through the weekend!

The WIPs

we're doing bulleted chapter titles to share from since that was my favorite and genuinely most productive format I've used. Feel free to ask for as many as you want, I plan on working on this basically all week

Karen Wheeler POV Bonus Chapter (Prologue kinda? side story in the same universe?? Bonus chapter set after season 1 and way before ch 1)

Steve, are you okay? Are you okay, Steve? (ch 9)

What's this? The consequences of my actions? (Is that a motherfucking Lovejoy reference?) (ch 10)

Kidnapping? no. surprise adoption. (lol get taken care of BITCH) (ch 11)

NEXT CHAPTER BC IDK HOW TO TRANSITION (ch 12) (a very tentative title for the next chapter to be written)

The Snippet

here is my favorite and most recent scene I've written, which takes place before they junkyard where Steve and Dustin are at the grocery store to get that ungodly amount of raw meat they have to toss around (also i've split chapters up a bit in the name of structure so the third chapter is now called "Mommy Issues Central". Lemme know any goofy vine reference ideas you guys have or if it should stay like that) (fear not, Get Yo Fucking Dog Bitch lives on still as chapter 4)

___

They turned down the next aisle, lining the edges of the cart with some other pasta-related shit that he could still probably use. They heard someone coming over from the next aisle and before he could turn the cart around Mrs Wheeler pulled up.

"Oh, Steve ...and Dustin. What're you boys up to?"

He took a short breath to work their story into something without Mike, but Dustin beat him to it.

"He's teaching me stuff." 

He was imitating the tone Steve used but still way too vague. Mrs Wheeler held up a smile, her brows slightly lifted.

"Y'know, like cooking-" Steve said, throwing in a little gesture to the cart.

"And cars, changing oil and things. Y'know just.. dad stuff."

Dustin's part convinced her, Mrs Wheeler's expression softening into a real smile.

"Well I won't keep you long," 

She nodded off to the side to talk to Steve one-on-one.

Great.

“Are you and Nancy okay?”

“Wh- we’re- Why? Did she say something?”

“No, no, she’s just been… closed off, lately. And I drove her to school the other day, she didn’t say why.”

“Sh- yeah, that- that’s on me. Sorry.”

“Did you break up?”

“No no, definitely not. We’re kinda… we’re working on it. I’m going to try and make it better, after y’know..” he gestured to Dustin behind him.

“Right.” she smiled again, “Let Nancy know she can talk to me about any of this? Please? I tell her but- I don't know, maybe it’d be different coming from you.”

He held up a smile for her.

“Yeah, sure. Mind if we..” he jutted a thumb towards the end of the aisle.

“Yes, go ahead.”

He gave her a short wave and turned back to Dustin, who studied random shit in the aisle like Steve would believe his sudden fascination with olive oil outweighed childish curiosity.

“Steve-”

He turned back around, seeing Mrs Wheeler coming back up to him and whispering again.

“I know I’m not your mother, but you can talk to me, too. Both of you, okay?”

He kept the smile in place and nodded again, and she finally went back to her cart.

Dustin “Definitely-Not-Eavesdropping” Henderson followed him out of the aisle, thankfully waiting until they were out of earshot to ask.

“What's going on with you and Nancy?”

“Thought we had ‘much bigger problems than my love life’?”

He pulled up to the deli, stopping to pretend to look at the options.

“We’re not dropping everything for it but we can still talk.” he groaned.

“I’ll tell you later, kay? Not exactly the best place to talk.''

___

Tags

@stobinesque @spoookysix @marvel-ous-m @alexcharmsyou @museumgiftshoperaser @blushweddinggowns @sharpbutsoft @fag4dykestobin @findafight (no pressure ofc and feel free to switch it to actually wednesday fhuhjdklashj) (also just let me know if you don't wanna be tagged in these)

[andiwriteordie]

hello Andi. I am once again invading your inbox to talk about the possibilities of a Merlin AU bc I know you see the vision and it actually fits so perfectly??

Mike as Arthur

Will as Merlin

El as Gwen

Max as Morgana

Lucas as Lancelot

Dustin as Gwaine

Like?? With adjustments to the plot + character arcs and how events play out (like for example Lucas would fall in love w Max still not El but also elmax as morgwen possibilities), it fits them all so WELL especially Mike and Will as Arthur and Merlin. Even their families fit: Will growing up with a single mom in poverty who loves him, Mike growing up in wealth with a shitty asf dad that makes horrible decisions but Mike would be a much better leader than him-

anyway. Thoughts? I’m considering making a 5-10 chapter fic with 1-2 chapters per Merlin season after I finish the show but idk anyways I’m getting off track I mostly just wanted to hear ur thoughts on the concept bc I know you’re a merthur enthusiast and u have a Merlin AU wip rn 😎🫶

okay okay okay hi elli. i have thoughts on this, and it's been a while since i've thought about those thoughts but here i am today. to share with you my thoughts. some of them get a little funky weird controversial, so bear with me. (also. i say read all of this with caution if you're still watching merlin, bc i'm gonna try to not spoil too much of it, but i will be hitting on major character arcs that build throughout the show!)

the easy ones. will's merlin. mike's arthur. duh. easy peasy. all the parallels you just mentioned? perfect. literally byler as merthur works so well, and i just know modern byler would've loved this show. like mike starts watching it and gets so excited??? anyways.

i also think lucas is actually more of a mix of lancelot/gwaine, and dustin would be leon (though depending on where you are in the series, you might not have gotten to the point where leon is a more central character?). anyways, i think lucas is a mix of lancelot/gwaine because he has the same moral righteous and kindness of lancelot, but is definitely more brash like gwaine (love my boy planning to storm fucking hnl by himself lol). with dustin, leon's a very level-headed character, also arthur's second in command for later seasons with the knights, and so i think it fits with how mike and dustin are both the planners and dustin sorta steps up to help lead in mike's absence in s4!

now for the girls. so, i've gone back and forth on this, because for obvious reasons, the el/gwen parallel works because of the merlin/arthur/gwen and will/mike/el love triangle. like that's the most obvious interpretation of this. but then, as i was thinking about it (and honestly i was wandering down this rabbit hole while writing my merlin byler fic lmao), i was trying to think about where el having powers and just willel in general would fit into all of this?

so i started thinking about el/morgana, which then would um. make max/gwen. (i'll come back to that in a second, let me explain el/morgana first.) i'm just thinking about how morgana is one of the most powerful sorcerers we see in the show and how morgana and merlin are foils to each other. i think there's an episode that calls morgana the darkness to merlin's light. so like yes, merlin and arthur are two sides of the same coin and have their shared destiny, but likewise, morgana has always been that third part of their destiny (which is so fun once you explore the ancient religions and stuff this show loosely pulls inspiration from, because three is kind of a big number) in that she is connected to merlin.

so you think about willelmike, right? and obviously, el is our hero and protagonist of the show, so she's not gonna end up turning bad unlike morgana. but in the context of thinking about a merlin x st crossover, how interesting would it be if el did turn evil? because in st, we see this is a back and forth conversation el has with herself - is she the monster? is she good? or is she bad?

and i think about an el who actually did go with henry when prompted to in the lab. an el whose moral code would be shaped and manipulated by someone with an ulterior motive, someone who recognizes her power. because that, in my opinion, is what happened to morgana with morgause. morgana was terrified and alone because she had this secret which could get her killed, and morgause was the first to show that her magic could be good. so she trusted morgause and went spiraling down a path that led her to destruction because of how morgause manipulated her into thinking. i don't think morgana was ever inherently evil. i think the fear and manipulation motivated her and morphed into anger and a desire for revenge, because this poor woman was alone for so much of her story.

so, when i'm imagining a merlin x st au, i am imagining henry would take that morgause role. if we're following merlin canon, will and el never learn about each other's magic and spend their character arcs alone and motivated by fear, when they really could've found solace and love and acceptance in each other. if we're not following merlin canon, will decides not to be an idiot? and he tells el about his magic? and they become magic twins together, and look, el grew up as mike's sister essentially, so then will's basically her brother in law.

(also. the platonic elmike sibling vibes crack me up. like all the canon st jokes about how they're so family coded? that right there. merlin vibes. they're family. no dating your sister.)

anyways, so that then defaults us to having max as gwen, which i think would change her character a little bit. maybe instead of a romance between max and mike, it's more that sort of friendship that gwen and arthur do develop, because max challenges mike to be better and brings out the good parts of him - the parts that care about justice and about his people and about doing the right thing. and so mike, kind of feeling forced into having a queen because ya know. laws of the land and stuff, very tentatively asks max if she would ever consider stepping into that role because he believes she would be an excellent leader. and so that's when the engagement happens and stuff and it's for show for the people, and only like. will and max and mike and dustin know that obviously. and then through whatever circumstances, the engagement ends up called off, and unlike in merlin canon, it doesn't end up happening again, and max just becomes an advisor to mike, who remains single as a king until. ya know. magic is legalized and he marries will (not following canon lol. or he dies. and i cry again.

okay that's it! the end! :)

(does this make hopper gaius)

[bookinit02]

HI ME AGAIN . Glad you appreciate the asks because here's another. I just finished the posted script, and I'll be moving on to the fic soon! There were SO MANY THINGS I loved outside of just the Byler (which I will no doubt scream about via Ao3 once I get to the fic version of those moments), and I started to write them down but only once I got to episode five, so unfortunately I forgot most of them. However here's a few anyway:

All the scenes with El, Lucas, and Max were SO SWEET. Them working together to save and hide her, them talking about love, just—ALL OF. I love that trio in general and the focus on them in the script is great ❤️

Argyle and Will's talk was so sweet :( I especially love the added dimension you gave Argyle in that scene, outside of just "comic relief stoner dude" (and the plants!!! he named the plants after all his friends!!! so SWEET)

That cut from Jonathan incredulously asking Nancy "What? You and Steve just spend all your time—" to Dustin yelling "Fuck!" in frustration was HILARIOUS and I can ABSOLUTELY picture that happening on TV

Robin and Vickie!!! Yes!!! The lesbians are winning!!!!! I almost wish Vickie HAD stayed to see who it was/Steve had just come out before she left bc them meeting would have been... both sweet and hilarious.

Okay I was going to wait to freak out about the Byler-specific stuff because it'll be the main focus of the fic but like. I can't bro. Mike not even HESITATING to jump in after Will? The relief of them finally revealing their secrets and comforting each other (and then the frustration of Mike telling Will his Vecna-vision of Will's corpse is "nothing" IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT CONVO like I get the reasoning but CHRIST dude)? Mike just casually revealing he self-sacrificially jumped into the quarry once before and proceeding to not elaborate AT ALL? And the LETTERS oh my god. When/if ever those get revealed to Will I am going to LOSE IT.

Whoops this got long again - last point. Overall I just... absolutely love this script? All the dialogue and the actions feels so in-character, like I can actually envision it all being said in the show—ESPECIALLY Erica's lines, you have her little middle school snark down PAT.

Okay I am done screaming . For now. Much love ❤️

hi!! sorry it’s taken me so long to answer this, it took me a while to get back in the comment-answering mood😭💗

i’m glad you’re enjoying the elumax plot! they’re very very special to me and i enjoy writing them very much :)

argyle!! i personally love scenes where the “comic relief” character is given unexpected depth, so i was really excited to explore that with him. that moment specifically was inspired by a really great s5 fic (can’t remember the name right now, unfortunately—if anyone knows, please feel free to leave it in the comments!) where argyle brings pizza rolls to the hospital for max and lucas. it was such a sweet moment in that fic, and i really admire how the author treated his character. i wanted to emulate that, at least a little bit!

you are the ONLY PERSON that commented on that moment, thank you so much😭😭😭💗 i was proud of it. feels very much like something the show would do (if they were allowed to say fuck more often!)

ROVICKIEEE💗💗💗 dw she will definitely meet steve eventually!

glad you liked all the byler :) it’s been a couple fics in the making!

thank you so much for the comment, i get really really excited when people comment on my scripts🥹🫶🏻 and yes, erica!! love her to bits :)

[elekinetic]

hey i have a silly little question! i have 2k words of planning but no idea how to start translating them into actual writing and i thought i could ask you for help because you're obviously the master of scriptwriting lmao

i've written scripts before but i always struggle with trying to get my ideas onto paper in the form of coherent sentences :,) idk your scripts always turn out so gorgeously written so i thought it couldnt hurt to ask for a bit of advice <3

(i should clarify: i'm trying to start drafting a screenplay for this story i've been planning for months but i've been staring at a blank page for hours 🥲 if you have any tips on how to translate ideas into actual writing that would be super helpful)

AH you’re so sweet, i’m far from a master, but i’m happy to share the stuff i’ve learned as a third year undergrad.

so like, for me, i struggle with figuring out what to do in scenes and how to make them…useful? if that makes sense? in a good script and a good film, every scene moves the plot forward, the character arc forward, or both. (by forward i mean changes, set backs are obviously a very important part.) so when i sit down to write a new scene, i make a list of everything i want to accomplish.

i’m gonna use this scene of mine as an example. my list looked a little like this:

- primary goal: teens find out about will’s visions

- secondary goal: show how on edge mike and nancy are.

- secondary goal 2: establish the dynamics of the kids and teens working together.

ok, so how can we accomplish those goals? that second one should clearly be an argument since they get on each others nerves. and why don’t we make the argument about why the boys snuck out, bc they have to come clean abt wills visions to explain why they did. and to show that the teens hold more power in the dynamic and that the boys are struggling without their usual freedom, let’s emphasize that the boys did something dangerous the teens specifically told them not to do.

cool, so we have a general idea of what our scene is: nancy chewing the party out. but that’s just an idea. each scene is made up of a bunch of beats stitched together. here’s how i figure out what to put in a scene:

write down A) where everyone starts emotionally in the scene and B) where everyone ends emotionally in the scene. figure out what changes.

nancy is going to start annoyed and end resigned. so….she’s mildly annoyed and then decides it’s fine? that’s not particularly interesting, so how can we’re complicate it. OK, let’s make her get close to blowing up, and then see her be the bigger person and pull back. that way we’re ALSO progressing her character arc and seeing her grow from the hot-tempered girl we saw in early seasons.

i’m trying to kill as many birds with this scene as possible, so i’m ALSO going to add details about what the other characters are doing. it’s important to remember that if you’re going to have a character in the scene, you gotta do SOMETHING with them. here’s a breakdown of some of the choices i made for the other characters in the scene:

mike: very snarky, very on edge, very combative. this is bc he’s fresh off his fight with will, the party is in trouble, and they just failed to save el. i’m using this scene to highlight how upset that would make him and how that anger would affect the people around him.

will: stands up for himself. that’s the most important thing. he will not let himself be spoken over and takes responsibility, says yes, i know we shouldn’t of done this, but we did, and heres why. and we have to do it again. he’s coming into his own!

lucas: he’s defensive but he also kind of bends under the pressure and defaults to nancy. he tries to help will but it’s clear this is an unfamiliar dynamic for him.

dustin: show that he’s not as grounded as he probably should be.

steve: steve has four lines. FOUR lines, but we’re still doing something with him. he calls nance out, tells dustin to stop, but also tells the boys nancy is right. he’s very serious rn and it’s a good way to reinforce that his disagreement with nancy is not petty (never petty) and he’s always coming from a place of genuine concern.

jonathan: jonathan helps pull nancy back and dies everything he can to support her bc HES A GREAT BOYFRIEND and that was what i did with him. also expressing concern for not only wills safety, but the whole party’s. he also shows some leadership.

on that note, i also want to explore relationships in the scene:

jancy: they’re supporting each other without being asked. reinforce that this is a strong partnership, even through rocky waters

byler: will telling mike to back off and mike listening. mike being protective of will even though they’re still technically fighting.

dustin & steve: the dynamic between him and steve is shifting. steve is part of The Teens and dustin is not. steve tells him to quit it kind of sternly. this is new for them.

nancy & steve: mentioned before, steve will call nancy out but also back her up. no malice or pettiness in his heart.

the party: dustin and lucas try to cheer will up and defend themselves. they’re close.

basically you can accomplish a lot in a scene bc not every “accomplishment” has to be a massive thing. it can be as small as “dustin looks down” to show he feels chastised, which is new to him!

worst comes to worst, word vomit. Write the worst possible version of your scene ON PURPOSE and then edit from there. you just gotta get something down.

AH ok that’s all i have for now but if you have more specific questions please please please send them! I wasn’t really sure what to put here, so I just kind of word vomited. Hope this helps!

[strangeswift]

May I ask why do you like S3 overall, is it bc of vibes and all? I am not judging you, I just find S3 to be the most lackluster filler season to ever exist in the season and if you just deleted it, nothing really would make a huge difference. Some stuff were good but you could just add those good things in S3 or S4.

Overall that season destroyed many characters like Mike, Hopper (by making him a largely comedic relief), Jonathan (by adding sexism storyline which was cringe), destroyed several character relationships that were important in the series in the previous two seasons (Mike and Will, Will and the party in general, making Dustin leave the party and no one really caring about it aside from Will etc).

The only good things that happened were Robin and her coming out plus straightbait, and Max and El's friendship. Overall, there is nothing in that season plotwise and it didnt introduce anything new to the story... plus is destroyed the previous good elements like characters, character dynamics and plot. It was lackluster compared to S2's real horror, the meaty MF was trash, most of the new introducations of new plot lines such as Evil!Soviets were very underwhelming and unnecessary that took too much screen time for no reason. And the Duffers obsession with the Russia plot lines both in S3 where it got introduced, and the continuation of it in S4 where it got drageed for so long, honestly felt so unnecessary and reductive. There was no UD. It was heavily fanservice-y and filled with eye candy elements and relied on just vibes (like summer vibes and shit) and big budget action rather than actually telling a good story with a vision and quantity.

Hi anon!

Gonna try to respond to everything you said sorry if this is a little scatterbrained!

So firstly. I don't feel as if they destroyed Hopper's character. He's going through it this season, but I actually feel like he has a good amount of depth this season, and he's actually trying to be vulnerable. Sure a lot of it is sort of through a comedic lense, but I don't feel like he's been completely reduced to being comedic relief, and I definitely don't think they ruined his character.

The most certainly did not destroy Jonathan's character by any means, especially not with the sexism plotline because... he isn't the one being sexist? Sure, he doesn't completely Get It. Just like Nancy doesn't completely get where he's coming from with his family's financial situation. I don't think he's apathetic to the sexism, I just think he hasn't considered just how much it must be affecting Nancy. Now, if I were him, would I stay at a job like that? I don't know. I would love to say that I wouldn't, but with his financial situation and the lack of jobs? I'd probably suck it up and stay. Yes, even if they were being demeaning toward my girlfriend. However. It's true that he clearly Doesn't Get It. That's not "ruining his character" though. That's a character having flaws. Just like Nancy has flaws, like not considering Jonathan's situation.

I also don't think the sexism storyline was cringe. I think it was important.

I don't think S3 "destroyed" anything except Mike and El's romantic relationship and depending on how S5 shakes out maybe Mike's character. I mean sure if Mike isn't actually struggling with his sexuality and was just being an asshole then yeah they ruined Mike. So fingers crossed that they didn't ruin Mike.

I'd argue that some important shit happened S3. I mean Billy's death set up Max's entire S4 arc. Mike and Will's conflict is important for Will's arc. Steve had massive amounts of character development. Robin was introduced and incredibly well developed which it takes time to do.

I personally thought the horror elements were cool, although S2 and S4 solo S3 as far as horror elements obviously. But I'm not a horror gal really so if you're really into horror then I get how maybe you'd be disappointed? I mean I thought the building of the army and everything was pretty fucking cool. And the rats and shit. I really liked the whole mystery.

And there was Upside Down!! I mean.. that was the whole plot. The Mindflayer was the villain he's from the UD. The Russians were trying to access the UD. So it's not really accurate to say there was no UD.

As far as Russia plotline. Eh. Idk scoops troops whole storyline from cracking the code to sneaking through the vents and getting drugged and tortured for info all within the mall? I thought it was really cool. Yeah the Duffers Russian obsession is kinda weird and they kinda went ham in S4 but I did actually like it in S3.

I do like the summer vibes but also I really like a lot of other things! I really like the plot. All the scenes of El in the void were SUPER SICK. The beginning of El's independence arc and her having fun for the first time in her life? Priceless to me. She means everything so me oh my god. Hopper and Joyce being badasses and the Jopper will they won't they?? Lumax's banter this season is so important to showing how comfortable and real their relationship is. Will's whole arc is super important and amazing. SUZIE MY BELOVED!!! The Scoops Troop MY BELOVED I adore them. Erica becoming a main character? Also everything to me. Stobin? Everything to me. Robin's coming out remains my favorite scene in the entire show.

^ Sensing a pattern? Females. Women. S3 is more female centric, it brings existing female characters to the forefront. Elmax friendship. Independent El. Introduces Robin a smart and fiercely Independent lesbian. Joyce being a badass as usual. For better or worse, Karen having her arc about being unhappy in her cookie cutter marriage. Nancy confronting sexism in the workplace and coming out stronger the other side. Nancy and Karen's talk.

Also. Honestly? After S2 I needed some fun. S2 is my favorite don't get me wrong, but it's dark. It's depressing. Immaculate vibes, amazing horror elements, amazing storytelling! My favorite! But. Depressing. Needed some fun next season as a chaser.

I mean it's all subjective, but these are just my personal opinions and why I do really like S3. Not my favorite though. I like S2 then S1 then S3 then S4. (That might change after I finish my rewatch though S4 might move up idk)

[bylerlve]

okay i’ve seen people posting their stranger things sexuality headcannons, so i’m gonna post mine

also my thoughts on the ships in ST

disclaimer: these are MY opinions, please don’t come at me, you can all of your own opinions but yea

will - gay. it’s canon. that’s it lmao

robin - lesbian. again, it’s canon

mike - okay so i’ve seen a lot of the bi mike wheeler stuff i just think personally it makes more sense narratively for him to be gay, so yea

eddie - gay gay gay gay gay gay

el - i’ve been thinking about this and i the she’d be pan bc she hasn’t really been exposed to anything for most of her life also she just gives off those vibes to me i ALSO am a big fan of lesbian el 🥰 i also think she’s ace

lucas - biiiiiiiiii. idrk how to explain this one it’s just a FEELING

dustin - i personally think dustin is straight

max - bi. pretty self explanatory but yea bi queen

nancy - BIG bi energy

hopper - token straight

joyce - bi. also don’t really know how to explain this one it’s a feeling

murray - i’ve seen him head cannoned as usually gay and pan and i can see both so yea

jonathan - pan or aroace, i’ve also seen both so yea <3

argyle - pan

okay now how i feel about the most common ships i guess because there are a lot of combos but imma just put the ones that i usually see

BYLER - y’all know how i feel about this, byler truther till death ✊

m*leven - platonic besties truther

lumax/elmax - here for both, also a mayhopclair shipper, but with lucas and el as platonic besties also

LOVEEEEE willel siblings

jopper - love it, only ship that is happy after season 4

RONANCE 100% yes just yes

steddie - also love

stancy/jancy - i don’t ship either of these, also think they’d be better as friends

duzie - so cute and wholesome, not a way for me to have anything against it

h*rringrove - literally get off my page if you ship this i’m sorry billy stan’s make me wanna throw up

st*bin - also get off my page if you ship this, robin is a lesbian, don’t erase her sexuality 🥰

[were-wolverine]

more of the werewolf!stobin and vampire!edancy au bc they’re rotting my brain

- honestly i love the idea of eddie and nancy being friends

- eddie is actually very smart, he just has ADHD and has trouble focusing and doing schoolwork. nancy is the opposite, she fixates on doing well in school and often ends up overworking herself (also ADHD)

- so they help each other out; nancy helps eddie study and get his work done and eddie helps nancy learn to take breaks and relax

- plus i think nancy would be really grateful to eddie for taking mike under his wing when he needed someone who understood him (after will left) and nancy couldn’t do that for him

- steve being a werewolf is a very closely guarded secret (bc his mom finds it ‘unseemly’ and she has a reputation to uphold) so initially no one else knows

(btw vampires are seen as graceful and beautiful but deadly creatures, most of which are well-mannered and have no chance of attacking humans / while werewolves are seen as violent and aggressive and are often ostracized by humans and vampires alike)

- stancy starts dating, steve falls in love, nancy does not. eventually steve tells nancy he’s a werewolf and she’s like “ok cool but since we’re confessing stuff i’m actually not into you sorry” and he’s a bit heartbroken but he gets over it, they breakup and become good friends

- enter dustin henderson, a young satyr who runs into steve on the night of a full moon and that his wolf takes a liking to (aka that’s his little brother now). steve wakes up at the henderson’s home and dustin explains what happened. mrs henderson (who decided the moment she saw wolfy!steve carrying dustin on his back and beaming that she was going to adopt him) is also there and already has breakfast ready with a plate for steve

- eventually steve meets max lucas el and will (he’s already met mike bc of nancy but they tend to avoid each other) and his wolf decides they’re his little siblings too

(ps mike is a vampire, dustin is a satyr, max is part kitsune, will is half-druid, lucas is a werebear (yes that’s a thing) and el is part fae)

- after a bit of time steve tells them abt being a werewolf and they’re all like “oh cool. anyway” and steve smiles and shakes his head bc he loves these little shits so much

- eventually a rogue werewolf ends up in Hawkins and while steve is patrolling with hopper one night they end up finding a just-bitten robin who passed out from the pain. steve stays with robin while hop goes after the feral wolf

- steve’s wolf instincts are screaming at him “yes, keep this one. we like them. we will protect them” and he’s like yeah okay they’re kinda my responsibility anyway

- so robin wakes up on the couch at hoppers cabin with steve harrington on the floor beside her and promptly freaks out. steve explains everything to her (after she screams at him a bit a lot) and helps her through a panic attack afterwards (bc finding out you’ve been turned into a werewolf is A Lot, okay?)

- anyway, they become best friends like instantly, their wolves are super in sync and at first steve thinks he Likes robin and decides to tell her. she’s like “mmmm explain how you feel abt me” and he does and she just looks at him and gently asks “you’ve never had a genuine best friend before, have you?” and steve’s like “oh” but then robin grins and assures him “i’m proud to be your first- no wait that sounds wrong” and they collapse into giggles

(later they have a talk about Feelings and robin comes out and steve realizes maybe some of the feelings he had about tommy h and jonathan byers weren’t exactly platonic)

- then: eddie waltzes into their lives!!

(eddie was turned a few years back and went to live with wayne, keeping his ID on the downlow bc some humans (for example: his dad) are still shitty to non-humans and he didn’t want to put wayne through that)

- eddie ends up meeting nancy in one of their classes or smth, she notices he’s similar to steve in the way he can’t seem to focus in class and decides to ask if he wants to study together

- eddie’s surprised but agrees and they end up getting along really well

- when eddie realizes she’s a vampire (he knows he’s oblivious shut up) he tells her he’s one too and they become even closer

- eventually nancy decides to introduce eddie to steve and robin (who she’s gotten a lot closer to after jonathan moved) and they all get along super well

(sidenote: jonathan is also half-druid, joyce is fully druid, and hopper is human but fully an ally to non-humans)

(sidenote 2: jancy happened but broke up a while before the byers moved and were still best friends. steve and robin are besties and are friends with nancy but become best friends with her after jonathan moves away. eddie also becomes nancy’s best friend and eventually steve and robin’s too)

(sidenote 3: jargyle!! ronance!! steddie!! byler!! lumax!! jopper!!)

[eddies-ashtray]

*cracks knuckles* modern!Eddie HC, you say?

Mans is either texting you 90 times in a row or he’s lost track of his phone for the next 4 hours and is unreachable

Texts you random ideas at 4 am bc he’s up anyways writing some D&D campaign idea

He has basically the same music taste just with modern stuff included. This mf would hate modern pop music but if his lover liked it, he might tolerate a bit.

Major alt boi vibes. I just wanna put sparkly eyeliner on himmmm

Still has a seedy dive bar that he hangs out and performs at - it probably hasn’t changed much since the 80’s tbh

Probably cosplays something. Would def go to cons with the boys (Garret, Mike, Dustin, etc)

Defffff a gamer. I wanna curl up in his lap and nap while he plays…whatever

I’m lowkey obsessed with modern eddie almost more than canon Eddie? Whoops

yes omg i agree i agree!!

eddie is more than a double texter. this boy will send you MANY texts in a row. most of his screen time is spent in the messages app because he’s texting you. messaging you about things he sees when he’s out that remind him of you. sending you i miss you texts anytime your separated for more than a day because this boy is CLINGY. he’ll text you that he misses you like 5 minutes after you leave. also, he has you saved in his phone as “freak” cause it’s ironic and you have him saved in your phone as “loser <3″. 

he’ll send you voice notes with ideas in the middle of the night because he’s far too lazy to type them out. it’s also way faster for him to just talk them out rather than type them and he doesn’t wanna lose them so he sends them all to you. especially cause he knows that you love listening to them in the morning cause he’s got such an attractive voice; you could listen to him talk and talk for hours about anything. 

oh he would despise my favourite artists. but i think he would for sure pay attention to the artists you like and make a playlist that’s a mix of both your fav music and his so you can have a happy medium. like some song by dio would play and then daylight by harry styles would come on right after. and yes it would be a very chaotic playlist, but it’s perfect. (also i’d like to think that you play creep by radiohead for him once and tell him it reminds you of him and he’s mildly offended, but also his heart soars because a song reminds you of him </3).  

oh yeah, he’s dressing basically the exact same way. still the same loserboy, but probably with black/red nail polish & YES, black eyeliner sometimes. but when he does it it’s really messy, so he gets you to do it for him on the nights he has shows at an old dive bar. you’ve told him to practice applying it himself, but he enjoys having you sit in his lap & hold his face gently while you put it on for him.

somehow, i think eddie would be so much more of a nerd in present day & yes he would totally cosplay 😭

i think he’d be really into story-based horror games (he’d despise shit like fortnite) like Until Dawn & he’d love finding all the secrets & clues & all that. let’s you sit between his legs or in his lap while he plays. & u don’t mind watching him play cause the stories are interesting & you like seeing how eddie makes the characters interact & what paths he chooses. let’s you make decision as well; he’ll ask for your input on what you think he should have the characters say to each other/do. he wants to make sure you’re having a good time & if he can sense you’re getting bored he’ll save and switch the game off.

[cosmicbrowniefan]

Idk how I just noticed your pinned post but your fandom taste?? beyond immaculate.

I am humbly asking if you perhaps have any hcs for a gravity falls!au for stranger things, and/or a hogwarts!au 👀

beck, we simply have the best of taste. and yes i do have headcanons

disclaimer: fuck jkr

gravity falls au hcs:

so. will and el are the mystery twins. we been knew

visiting hop in gravity falls, oregon, for the summer of course

the rest of the party happens to have summer jobs at the mystery shack

(why hopper hired them all, he will never know. to this day, it is still one of the best and worst things he's ever done)

i think that the other party members (max, mike, lucas, and dustin) have a little mystery club. a gang, if you will

i think they have journal 3 and they give will and el a brief evaluation before inviting them in to the club

when will and el have their first supernatural encounter and end up defeating the gnomes with a leafblower, the party knows that they're perfect for their club

will and el are just. stunned. to hear about all the stuff that goes down in gravity falls

they love the lore and yeah they might've just fought off a shit ton of gnomes but WOAH there are that many other cool things here too??

of course they have to avoid the watchful eye of hopper

but their friends and fellow employees steve and robin (wendy and soos respectively) help them sneak around and figure things out

the party lets will and el borrow journal 3 to look over

when el sees the page about vampires, she's immediately convinced that mike is one

and while will waves it off and says that that's ridiculous, he can't help but wonder as well

el takes it upon herself to ask max who just laughs and says that they're explored that idea many times, but it doesn't seem to be true

the golf cart is the main form of transport for the party

you're probably wondering, how on earth do six people fit in a golf cart??

well, easy enough answer there: lucas and max in the front, el and will in the back, mike hanging on the side, and dustin on top

they strap dustin in with bungee cords because they've had a few accidents too many

i think max is able to send bill cypher back into oblivion with just one dirty look

bill cypher may be like a demon of multiple worlds, but he has other worlds he can take over that don't involve the wrath of max

el plays matchmaker just like mabel does, but she gets max involved in it too

these girls are the finest matchmakers in all of gravity falls

well. until it came to mike and will

they tried several times to get those two together but god they were both so helpless, el and max just gave up eventually

MIKE FELL FIRST AND MIKE FELL HARDER.

this cute little nerdy boy obsessed with all the cryptids?? who keeps drawing them as they fight them all summer and adding more illustrations to the journal?? has his heart.

will spends most of his summer learning more about this stuff and getting excited about it

he does. think about mike. maybe just a bit

but he often tries to push those thoughts aside bc there's no way mike would like him back AND he has monsters to focus on

until one day lucas casually asks will how he and mike are doing and will is like ????

lucas thought they were dating

okay maybe he knew they weren't and just wanted to stir the pot but still it was enough to make will open his eyes

mike meanwhile has finally broken down and gone to the girls for advice

to which he is greeted with both enthusiasm and a speech of "if you EVER hurt MY BROTHER..."

but yeah. mike ends up asking will out finally

on pioneer day as well, mike asked will if he would go out with him or if he'd have to settle for marrying a woodpecker

will happily agreed

but anyway

uh

lucas punches a pterodactyl in the face

i could go on and on but that's the limit of my brain atm. i love gravity falls. i love stranger things. this was lovely to think about

hogwarts au hcs:

ok so sorting the party into their houses is difficult as fuck. i can honestly see a valid argument of putting the party members in almost any house, and i'm totally here for that discussion, but for this hc set, these are the houses i'm putting them in:

mike: slytherin, will: gryffindor, dustin: ravenclaw, lucas: hufflepuff, max: slytherin, el: gryffindor

dustin is muggle born but god that does not stop him from learning and absorbing everything he can about the wizarding world

el has a cat, mike, lucas, max, and will have owls, and dustin has a toad

the toad's name is scribbles

idk why, it just is

also lucas and will play quidditch!! lucas is a keeper and will is a chaser

fred and george did not pass the maurauder's map to harry. they passed it to max and will

max and will have not told a soul that they have it, but they use it to their advantage and love it

mike and el have a competition of collecting chocolate frog cards

who has the most, the rarest ones, the most diverse set, etc

el is winning btw

lucas thinks the toothpaste every flavor bean tastes good

they all have some wonderful wizarding talents as well

as i said before, will and lucas are on the quidditch team, so they're good at that

lucas is also great in care of magical creatures

he loves every single one of those animals and knows just how to calm them and care for them

el has a real knack for herbology!!

she actually wants to come back and teach it after she graduates

el also. wants a pet mandrake

dustin is a potions MASTER

he learns all these tricks and does them so well that he could practically write a second edition of the half-blood prince's book

mike is good at charms!

he loves all those little helpful spells that just make life easier, ya know

those are the best

max is FANTASTIC at transfiguration

she can turn anything into. anything

in fact max has this little business (that might not be entirely safe or legal for her to do by wizarding standards, but she does it anyway)

she helps transfigure body parts of dysphoric trans hogwarts students

shh don't tell anyone

mike got the most O.W.L.s.

no one knows how, but he did

also max once locked umbridge in the room of requirement

"it was what i required at that time! it wasn't my fault, i swear!"

oh you know how i said dustin has a toad scribbles

he also is in the toad choir at hogwarts

he and scribbles both have voices of angels

when they're old enough, lucas and el get put as head boy and head girl

will is a prefect

mike flirting with him shamelessly and will trying to stay professional but he can't help but melt at his boyfriend's dumb little attempts to catch him off guard

sometimes he gets so flustered from mike's flirting that he can't remember the password to the common room and he has to wait for someone else to come back to help him

setting them in the year of triwizard tournament rn

lucas is the hogwarts champion!!!!!! bc who tf else i mean come on he's perfect

will drawing banners for lucas and mike charming them to animate

byler dancing at the yule ball :(((((((

ugh god i. i love them

again i could go on and on but that's the limit of my brain for tonight

hope you enjoyed!!!!!!

[thewrongmoon]

Music chart part 4!

usually keep couples together but obv I can’t keep that up completely so henderhop time ig

I didn’t know geek rock was an actual genre so when I found it was I was like oh that’s perfect. Like originally I would just describe dustin’s music taste as “kind of goofy” but this makes more sense.

I think I might have to defend my choices for el here. Her Spotify playlist describes itself as “riot grrrl”, however that movement really didn’t gain traction until the 90s. Also tbh I feel like punk really…. Isn’t el? Like in season 2 it fit bc of kali, but not so much anymore. So yes, I DID put country there. I know she had Dolly Parton in her playlist anyways so it’s not out of nowhere. El was literally raised in a lab anyways so she has no preconceived notions about the genre that most people do. And pre-90s country is actually pretty good, I promise. Also the concept of her playing it on the car radio and Jonathan and Will just absolutely hating it I really funny to me, okay

Anyways. I feel like Hopper introduced her to music so most of her tastes are similar to his (folky, older, a lot from the 60s-70s) Plus a lot of female musicians who do also have a more feminist message in their music. Some newer pop-y stuff too, stuff she probably heard from the radio or from Max. I am CORRECT and I will defend my choices, okay.

Will + Mike version / Jonathan + Nancy version / Max + Lucas version / Robin + Steve version