#bc i feel like there's going to be some really great stuff with the byers (+hopbyers) fam and the party that i don't want to avoid entirely

[hawkinslibrary]

reminder that this is still a stranger things blog and i do still love the show and plan to post about s5. i doubt i'll post/reblog anything from this new bts video bc i am no longer posting cast/bts content, but when there is official new content (teaser, trailer, the show itself, etc), i use a general 'spoilers' tag, as well as 's5', and 'st5 spoilers'

[silverliing]

Mike’s wall art

I love seeing analysis about ST set design because it really spells out so much of the story without verbally telling you, and ive seen much discussion abt the details of mike’s room in s4 (that one way sign haunts me btw). buuut there are two pieces of visible wall art that I don’t really see get talked about on here (that i’ve read) and I just have a few things to say about them and what i think they might be telling us about Mike’s character and upcoming journey (hint: going into the UD)(hint: making plans and leading the party)(hint: byler)

so idk if this has been pointed out or if it’s common knowledge atp but the two pieces circled above are lithographs by artist MC Escher; Hand with Reflective Sphere (left)

and Relativity (right)

(a lil hard to see in this screenshot i’m sorry😢)

The artwork is beautiful as you can see (canon Mike Wheeler has great taste in art). Escher was most known for his intricate “impossible constructions” which are optical illusions of paradoxical space, he was also the inventor of the impossible cube:

this is some pretty cool nerdy, mathy stuff that I’d expect mike would be into, but looking at it from the context of his character and the direction of where the story is headed, there were 3 immediate possible readings that popped into my head which point toward 3 different (yet coexisting) directions:

He likes the art — It’s true, this art taps into Mike’s interests. Valid but boring. zzzz. snooze. You could argue that these posters should be taken at face value, but I just feel like in a show like ST —where the main cast knows of and is in various ways affected by an evil alternate dimension— having a character with wall art that references perspective/dimensional anomalies doesn’t really tell us much about his specific character or story. We’ve known that the ST set designers use a character’s space to show us who they are as people, these two artworks need to tell us something about Mike and his journey. And maybe Mike’s sensibilities about the world at large are shifting into nihilism with everything that’s happened in hawkins and the art reflects an absurdist outlook of future (teenage stuff, growing up, etc. etc.)

It foreshadows Mike’s s5 arc — I love this one. Mike is one of the few in the main cast who haven’t been in the upside down proper, so this art could reference not only that he’ll go into the UD in s5 but also that there could be dimensional anomalies involved in his travel or journey there. Perhaps this is how they’ll be able to find Max— by bending the laws of physics and using the mechanics of dimensional travel against itself, perhaps to open new doors or travel in different directions (hint: time travel 😏). And i think the reason this art is in Mike’s wall is bc it will be Mike who formulates the plan to find Max and retrieve her with the help of El and Will’s new powers 😏 (g*d knows i want to see leader Mike make a come back)(and Will with powers).

Will Byers — we know Mike and Will are tied together by the narrative and so I think these artworks could be directly pointing to Will with big red arrows. This point is corroborated by simply analyzing the formal qualities of the artwork, both individually and as a set. Hand with Reflective Sphere is about optics and perspective, about seeing, but also about the flattening of space. Relativity is about space, dimension, and paradox, but also about impossible perspective/vantage point. When read together the objective reading of them is about sight and space and paradox, about how the flattening of space helps us see something new and impossible. While Mike hasn’t experienced the dimensional travel into the UD proper, many of those closest to him atp had; El, Will, Nancy… but the reason i think these two posters remind him of Will specifically is because out of everyone else who has been in the UD, only Will experiences the feeling of being stuck there and of seeing into both dimensions at once; the stuck view-master, true sight. Mike associates these things combined (dimensional travel and dimensional sight/perception) with Will.

Also, Mike is a nerdy guy, he seems interested in this kind of stuff for the fun of it so he could’ve had sciency charts that reference the subject of visible light and paradoxes the way Suzie does, but instead he has not one but two fine-art pieces by a pretty big graphic artist that reference the subject of sight and space. Also, Idk what it is about the fact that it’s fine-art and not movie/game/dnd art that makes me also associate it with Will— the self-proclaimed visual artist of the show. The words are all jumbled up in my head rn but; artist. sight. all-encompassing. dimension. paradox. new perspective. -> -> -> -> Will Byers (is this a hint to wills powers??) etc. etc. etc. you get it

Secret 4th option (ties into #2)

Mike gets Vecnaed and this forces him into extensive self-reflection and the labyrinthian trials of finding himself and mastering his fears(maybe he’s already begun his self-searching and that’s why we see this art at the beginning of s4). cue cool musical montage of Mike navigating his own memories and mind-scape to find the answer that will make everything make sense while also hiding from vecna and buying the party time to find a way to end him.

[reineyday]

✨️✨️✨️

this is for the made-up fic titles as prompts thing! thanks @kageillusionz for sending one in 💖 i'll do harringroveson but like, with wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff thrown in cuz your other prompt Has Me Thinking haha 😂 it gets REALLY long lol sorry (not sorry 💞)

one not so very special day (harringroveson):

this is one of those prompts where i have an ending in mind that plays off the beginning in a circular way, and it'll be a canon fix-it fic where everyone lives, amd steve fixes it with time travel lol

i like the idea that, at the end, steve is having a totally normal not so special day in march at school in 1985, but he's coming at it with the knowledge of what could have been in 1986, SO.

it starts with a flashback. steve's graduating high school soon (this is the semester after christmas s2 1984 but before the summer that is s3 1985) and steve is sitting with nancy and jonathan at the cafeteria and absentmindedly observing school politics in a way he isn't invested in anymore after, yknow, the upside down.

steve is the Fallen King of hawkins high, or whatever hargrove used to call him before the whole thing at the byers went down and he stopped bothering with steve altogether (which doesnt bother steve. honestly. itd be weird to be bothered abt being ignored by a guy who beat his face in right? even tho that guy was practically obsessed with him before that night?)

eddie munson, everyone's favourite weed dealer, is making a fuss at his nerd table (dustin mentioned a dnd club and steve thinks that table is probably it--look at him, he pays attention!) about being club leader again next year cuz apparently he's not graduating again

that obnoxious blond junior from the basketball team steve always found a little insufferable (jason?) is looking at munson with disgust on his face, and hargrove is sitting in the same row of tables with tommy and carol, cuz all the popular kids group up.

jason gets up to yell at munson but hargrove aggressively throws a wadded up napkin at jason's face and says smthg that makes all the other popular kids laugh. jason flushes and sits back down, embarrassed, and steve sees munson pause and look at hargrove who looks back. steve briefly wonders whether or not hargrove buys weed from munson like everyone else when hargrove's eyes turn sharply to look right at steve.

the flashback turns into a nightmare, and billy's eyes looked the same when he was staring steve down from across the byers driveway, from inside the camaro and possessed by the mind flayer, probably thats what his face looked like when he stepped right in front of el to die--

steve wakes up. it's march, 1986. hawkins is split into four by what might as well be the cracks of hell and billy hargrove died last summer. eddie munson died three days ago. steve is still here.

theyre going to go exploring the upside down again today for clues or something reasonable sounding for the plot lol, and steve signed up to go because he's done it already a few times.

they go down there and steve ends up exploring his house in the upside down. takes in his decrepit room, and marvels at how many things in his house havent changed since 1983, which is when the upside down is stuck for some reason they still dont know. he doesnt even have that many photos of him and nance up yet, bc he didnt actually care that much about their relationship till they trauma-bonded. it was too bad their coping mechanisms didnt match, but steve is well and truly over it after his embarrassing spur-of-the-moment confession in the woods.

something outside catches his eye. it's in the empty pool. steve looks out with dread and sees the spot where he assumes barb died--he's never known where exactly in the pool she got taken, and knowing actually only makes him feel worse about it so thats. great.

he walks closer to examine it, yknow, like an idiot (he thinks this to himself), and then falls in and gets spat out.

and then time shenanigans! im stuck between steve landing somewhere once before everything happening and just changing everything from there (like, he gets thrown into his body from That Night at the byers and decides "fuck government nda's" and shows billy the demodog in the freezer), and steve doing a batman and getting sent all the way to like, when brenner was starting the lab w henry and infrequently flashing forward, only able to stay a few days at a time

i think the latter will probably be able to more earnestly pull in eddie, since the former would have a larger focus on harringeove till billy decides to buy weed with steve or something lol

so yeah, let's say he does a batman and subtly guides the whole timeline to Be Better and maybe henry creel doesnt shape the upside down with what he knows but the force of the mind flayer still exists to be manipulated and steve does something about it almost by accident

and he becomes this weird older brother figure to el who he's trying to get to help him stop jumping forward (it's not something he can control and he's worried he'll jump too far into the future and never stop), and helps hopper find the lab and adopt her a lot sooner, and catches a tiny eddie munson (and tiny chrissy cunningham) at their tiny little talent show and steve encourages eddie to continue with his guitar and gives him hope for the future (and mb jump-starts a lil sexuality crisis on eddie's behalf lmao)

when billy shows up, steve tells him to stop being an asshat to max and then accidentally catches neil laying into billy, stops it, and for the first time confronts his alternate self and tells him about it bc steve cant stay but this is something that needs more stability, and the next time he jumps forward, he's found that billy and eddie and other steve have bonded over this time-jumping steve and steve realizes they can finally pull in the party cuz theyre old enough to Have Ideas now

btw i imagine the harringroveson romance starts there? like other steve would get a pov starting from when original steve makes contact w him and billy, who has thus far been aggressively annoying about steve's position as "king" at school, suddenly corners him all angry with his hackles up cuz of what original steve saw and did and other steve is like "oh my god dude what is happening" and then other steve suddenly remembers being a freshman and coming face to face with eddie munson for the first time and munson saying all this confusing shit about how he looks the same and how is he a student here, isnt he older? and when steve gave him a confused face, munson apologized and literally never talked to him again?? so other steve grabs billy and finds munson at his weed-dealing picnic table and they Talk and then keep talking and kind of? become friends?? safe spaces for each other, cuz all three of them are kind of isolated in their own ways yknow?

anyways something something they involve the party and manage to catch original steve's time-jumping consciousness by shepherding other steve and his consciousness in the upside down in the place where it all started for him and he catapults into his consciousness from the changed timeline and they seal the upside down for sure (maybe by trapping the mind flayer into a vessel that can never be manipulated by someone like henry again) and it's over, it's over and steve's graduating high school for the second time but he remembers this alternate timeline now and this is his life now and woah, barb is alive? is bob alive?? billy is alive and eddie is alive and steve is not only relieved but somehow halfway in love with both of them??

btw kage if u read till the end, i want u to know that both my ideas for the kkir ship for either of ur prompts started with iruka's seals master stuff going fubar ;P always a fun way to start kkir shenanigan stories!!!

and so it ends with steve coming into the cafeteria and sitting down and his (secret) boyfriends coming to sit by him, and he waves at nancy and barb, and steve decides he'll try to befriend jonathan too cuz he knows he's a decent person, and everyone is alive and here is steve harrington, eating lunch before heading to study period (where billy will attemlt to tutor both eddie and steve so that they will actually graduate in '85, all together), having one not so special day

after writing all this, it has occured to me that "one not so very special day" is also an extremely easy prompt for a domestic fluff fic lmao so u can also imagine older harringroveson somewhere in california like 10 years post-s4 where everyone lives, and it's just their domestic life. billy's a surf instructor. steve's a gym teacher. eddie works at a community centre and plays in a band at bars on weekends.

if there's a twist, it's that it's one of their birthdays--maybe steve's, and eddie and billy make fun of him cuz he usually wants to do smthg big to celebrate and shouldnt he wanna do smth for the big 30? but steve just wants to have a normal day cuz he's so content with them, every day. billy and eddie still call him things like pretty boy and big boy but also things like sweetheart and darling and steve blushes about all of it, about how used to it he is to hearing and how natural it feels to call them back the same way. they are very happy together.

[toireht]

Okay here are my thoughts on volume 2 and season 4 as a whole:

-Will being pushed to the back was so unnecessary. Him and El are kinda the main characters of this show and there was a lot of El which was rlly nice but Will really wasnt there this season and why? Like i genuinely dont understand why. I missed him hes my favorite character

^ And mike and johnathan too?? like usually mike is so important hes like comes up plans and shit and he just wasnt?? there?? and i kinda feel like mikes character was nuked this season. His (and Wills) whole plotline this season was around his relationship with El... come on I want to see little micheal wheeler fight monsters with his friends. and ive also seen a lot of people reminding us how caring he was in season 1 and 2 and yeah. he rlly was and i miss that i dont believe that puberty hit and now mike only cares abt el like his character doesnt make sense anymore and i dont know why

- I honestly lowkey hated the cali plot and i rlly feel like the show would have been a lot better if the byers never moved. like they had to relocate bc of El and Joyce wanted a fresh start or something i dont remember but they very easily could have just not wrote that in. I just think that a lot of problems ppl are having with this season could have been avoid if the byers never moved.

-Aryle... hes definitely great. But i just...you know hes a fun character but thats kind of ALL he is. he is literally just a comic relief and is pretty useless throughout the whole season besides driving the cali gang which could have easily been done by johnathan instead of introducing a whole new character that probably isnt going to stay next season because hes supposed to be in california (which you know this whole problem could have been avoided if the byers never moved)

-the way our characters were split this season was a little weird but also not? like it made sense bc the groups this season were based off of just where everyone was but like i said, i wish the byers never moved. plus all the fan favorites were in hawkins and sometimes it felt like that was the only important storyline happening. like the cali gang just felt so behind compared to what was happening in hawkins

-my whole life would be infinitely better if every season was still set during halloween each year

-As much as i love this show, I think some of its charm has been lost... As our characters (mostly talking abt the kids here because they have always been the main focus since the beginning) have grown up it feels like maybe the duffers and writers of the show have focused a little too much on the fact that they are growing up and having relationships instead of focusing on what the show was originally about. a fun sci-fi show with monsters and kids saving the day and having little lighthearted relationships in the corner. I dont know if my point if coming across right but like it felt like theres just a little too much focus on the characters romantic relationships and honestly i dont care!! i want to watch monsters and kids figuring out how to defeat them in a fun 80s aesthetic! i am tired of the drama between stancy and jancy and as much as i would love byler i would be okay with mileven if they would have focused on their relationship less bc like i said earlier his relationship with el was mikes entire plotline this season. which just makes me sad because i usually love his character. yes even thought hes a little shit thats what makes him so loveable, because hes a little shit and he used to care abt saving all of his friends

This kind of ended in a rant but those were the problems I had with this season. I was definitely disappointed with a lot of stuff in volume 2 but I still enjoyed watching it as much as I could because this show is still really good and means a lot to a lot of people. I hope the duffers can like fix themselves because I would hate to see this show get like ruined because of bad writing in the later seasons.

[erectionsandtea]

drop some more poly party headcanons bestie

It's been a while friendo, I'm sorry this took so long (I started working again and am utterly exhausted a lot of the time)

SO anyway, in honor of summer prepare yourself from some super cute picnic headcanons (I'm not great at lumax or byler so pls help)

- max sitting between el's legs sitting between mike's legs

- el sitting between max's legs

- mike sitting between el's legs

- mike and will sitting together and el's head in mike's lap and he's absentmindedly playing with her hair

- el making flower crowns for literally everyone

- mike and will sneak off into the trees for some cute private time

- mike and el also sneak off

- el and max also sneak off

- everyone's sneaking off

- el's head in max's lap, while max's head in lucas' lap

- el and max braiding each other's hair, sometimes with flowers

- dustin neatly unpacking food and organizing it according to what type of snack it is (appetizer, dessert, etc.)

- el and max AND WILL wearing matching plaid

- will drawing everyone in their flower crowns (except himself ?)

- lucas and el staring at max's freckles under the sunlight bc pretty

- everyone playing soccer (aka trying to play soccer)

- the byers family dog still exists in this universe and will brought it along

- will, max, and dustin play with the dog; mike, el, and lucas stay lying in the grass and talking

- the whole party does that thing where everyone lies on their backs in a circle and talks about stuff like clouds, idk, even tho they can't see one another

- mike picks flowers for el

- el shares her flowers with max

- will and mike sitting so close their sides are touching and their heads are leaning against each other's, el's head in mike's lap, max's head on el's stomach and her legs across lucas' lap (SOMEONE PLEASE DRAW THIS ???)

- the boys geeking out about dnd

- the boys teaching the girls about dnd

- suzie actually being a really good dm and her and mike planning campaigns together

- the girls singing their fave songs

- mike joins in and sings to will

- everyone sings together

- everyone sings to each other

- max and lucas making fun of dustin and suzie being big musical nerds AGAIN

- dustin and suzie don't give af

- max and mike loving the way the sunlight makes el's eyes positively sparkle

- grass stains on literally every piece of clothing on everyone bc they forgot a blanket

- will showing el how to draw cos he's drawing max, mike, and lucas playing soccer

- max and lucas are the most competitive, and eventually mike, even tho he tried to give it a go, is like "I'm out" and he goes to join his gf and bf on the grass

- mike still has roar-y the dinosaur (you know it's true) and dustin uses it to explain to el about the dinosaurs and also dustin and suzie have super adorable dino-reenactments on the grass bc they are both huge nerds IDC SUE ME

Got any ideas/input?? Feel free to add them or message me!

👍🏻❤️

[whirlybirbs]

☄     -----    MOONRISE RADIO. 

summary: you’re hawkins high’s new science teacher, faculty advisor for the newly reinstated hawkins av club, and crazy townie who overhears a russian comminucae on a broken ham radio. chief jim hopper is into it. joyce is a good wing-woman and the kids just want to listen the the buggles.  pairing: jim hopper x reader, murphy as a placeholder surname. rating: t, some swears. word count: 3.8k a/n: this is a season three au! here’s the set up for all the drabbles i am going to end up writing for hopper bc he literally owns my whole ass, thanks, enjoy ;)

Hawkins, Indiana is a small town.

For this exact reason, Chief of Police Jim Hopper knows everyone.

... Seriously.

Everyone.

Hawkins is kind of like Saturn: try to leave its orbit and you’ll get caught in the rings -- literally. Y’know, high school sweethearts marry one another, settling down, and boom! Hopper winds up at their end-of-the-cul-de-sacs on domestic dispute calls and reunites with that shithead co-captain of Hawkins basketball team who keyed his car Sophomore year.

Life in Hawkins is a never-ending cycle of existence that renders everyone in the small town a familiar face. Everyone knows everyone’s business. Everyone knows everyone. 

And everyone certainly knows Jim Hopper.

So, imagine his surprise when after her first day of high school, over a ravoli dinner, El nudges a crumbled pink piece of paper his way with an excited look on her face. The paper is well-loved paper and home to her new class schedule, a point of interest -- she’s marked what classes she has with the boys and Max.

“I like science,” she says with a full mouth, “Fun.”

El points to her sixth period.

Imagine Chief of Police Jim Hopper’s surprise when he sees an unfamiliar name. Someone he doesn’t know.

And she teaches science.

Summer fades with a wave of heat and full moons.

The last week of August creeps up on you and before you even realize it, you’re moving into the cleared out room of a retired Mrs. Gomez and hanging your own name up on the door along with three planetary mobiles, a periodic table and a big exo terra tank for the freshmen class pet on the back windowsill. 

One period turns into six, and a week turns into three.

Your life begins again, Hawkins style.

“Miss Murphy!”

You’re wiping down the chalkboard, smearing drawings of ionic bonds into dust when the stampede begins.

Typical Friday.

You like Mike and Will and Lucas and Dustin and El and Maxine. The little squadron of hellions had managed to win you over easily within the first three weeks of school -- between the abundant D&D references and constant “curiosity voyages”, you’d seemingly become their go-to with questions, gossip, and over-all mentor-ship. 

The whole bunch of them sat together in your sixth period class, and the whole bunch of them were really the only ones excited about Dash, that aforementioned freshmen class pet that you’d scooped up behind the school and saved from being roadkill.

El immediately wanders to the tank and makes sure the heat lamp is on.

You can’t help but smile. These are good students. You like them. They like you.

Maybe it’s because when you were younger, you were just like them.

It’s like a sixth sense. They just... know. 

“We have a question.”

“Is it about reptiles again?” you chirp, wiping your hands, “I don’t know, like, anything about komodo dragons, Dustin, I told you --”

“No!” Dustin waves his hands, hopping up onto the edge of your desk, “No, this is about the AV Club.”

“AV Club?”

Mike rolls his eyes. “The AV Club!”

You blink. All six of them are looking at you expectantly. You deadpan.

“You lost me.”

“She’s new here, guys,” Will sighs, gently nudging Lucas who makes an O with his mouth, “Remember?”

“Right, right, right,” Dustin sighs, waving his hands with a charismatic no-front-teeth smile, “Sorry, Murph, my excitement precedes me --”

You shoot Dustin a look. No nicknames. He knows the rule.

“Make it quick,” you groan, waving an apologetic Dustin off your desk as you begin to collect papers from the previous period, “I have the open house tonight and I gotta get some grading done before -- you’ve got fifteen to catch me up on this AV Club thing.”

Lucas claps his hands. They all settle into the desks in-front of you.

You narrow your eyes.

Mike begins.

“So, there’s all this old radio station equipment in the top of the gym...”

You wring your hands.

You fiddle with the hem of your dress.

This is nerve-wracking.

For the first time in a while, you curse the fact you’ve got mostly freshmen in your classes -- with every new round of bright blue visitors stickers, parents are eager to pick your bones when you begin talking about your curriculum, expectations and the like. I mean, it’s good, you guess, that there’s parents who are engaged but... as a new teach at Hawkins, you can’t help but feel like you’re missing a part of the bit.

It’s nearing the end of the night now and you’ve noticed the parents don’t greet you like they do the other teachers. Like... like friends.

Maybe it’s because you’re new.

New to the town, too. Not just teaching high school science, you mean.

You wonder if all the news stories pouring out of that Hawkins Lab have anything to do with how cheap rent is in the area. The multi-family unit you’ve settled into is in a nicer suburb in town -- green lawns, a playground, neighborhood BBQs... You’d moved on the pretense of your hiring, excited at the chance to get out of the city for a while and live a quieter life.

You jump six feet in the air when someone knocks on the door-frame of your classroom.

“Oh my god --”

Your hand flies to your chest.

“Uh, sorry -- Sorry, is this... is this Miss Murphy’s room?”

The first thing you notice is the badge. It glints in the florescence.

The next thing you notice is... him. I mean, he’s tall -- tall and broad and intimidating but... soft. His eyes are tired and his voice is quiet and you’re staring, Jesus Christ, you’re staring --

Chief of Police Jim Hopper has never felt smaller.

You’re new -- definitely new. Hopper knows, in that moment, that you must be, He would remember someone like you. I mean, how could he not?

(Everyone knows he’s got a soft spot for beautiful women, but he’s damn near mush right now. Pudding. His knees are pudding. He is an idiot and his knees are pudding.)

He makes the doorway look tiny.

You sputter. “Y-yes! Yes, it is. Hi, I’m, uh, Miss Murphy.”

“I figured,” he chirps, lips quirking under his mustache. He waves the piece of paper in his hands, “Kinda... kinda said so on the schedule, y’know?”

“Jim!”

Immediately, someone shoulders his backside.

Right in the damn kidney.

“Christ, Joyce, ow --”

“Be nice!” she cries with a laugh, stepping around him.

The woman is comically smaller than the police officer before you. Joyce has a kind smile and sweet doe eyes and she excitedly rushes to shake both your hands in her own.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she gushes, “Will has said so many great things about you --”

Your eyes widen. “You’re Will’s mother? Will Byers?”

“Yes!” she nods, “Yes, and, uh, this is Hopper --”

Joyce nearly snorts when Jim just blinks. She elbows him. He jumps.

He was staring.

“Jim Hopper,” he clears his throat, trying to regain any semblance of composure. This really knocked him off his game -- you really knocked him off his game. He was fully expecting some nasty old widow to be teaching, not a young, brightly dressed woman who’s smiling at him, Christ almighty, smiling, “Chief of Police.”

He offers his hand. You shake it and your lips quirk. “Are you... here to investigate me, or...?”

“Oh!” his eyes widen, “No, no, uh -- El is my daughter. Adopted.”

“Ah, right. Miss El. Got it,” you laugh a little, nodding, “Groovy.”

“Groovy.”

(Joyce narrows her eyes, grinning between yourself and Hopper. Groovy indeed.)

“She was nice.”

Jim’s cigarette glows red in the evening September air. Joyce, beside him, has this horrible, conniving look on her face -- the same look she gave him when she convinced him to ask Jenny Gonzalez out Junior year -- and Jim immediately goes on the defense.

“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Miss Murphy,” Joyce grins, “I saw you staring.”

“I was not.”

“C’mon, Jim,” she chirps, “She’s pretty --”

“Yeah, a pretty bad idea.”

Joyce rolls her eyes so hard Hopper can feel it.

“Listen,” Jim says, flicking his cigarette into the pavement, “With everything goin’ on, I don’t have time for something like that.”

“Jim, stuff like that doesn’t care if you’ve got time.”

Joyce watches him climb into his truck. He slams the door shut,

“If it’s meant to be, it happens anyways!”

He narrows his eyes.

Then, cranks the window down and raises one finger.

“Not on my watch.”

Famous last words, Jim Hopper. Famous last words.

Happy Monday.

“I’m joining AV Club.”

“...What?”

“AV Club. Science. Fun.”

Hopper just takes a looooooong sip from his morning coffee. Eleven stabs her eggos. She forks a hunk into her mouth and chews.

Hopper takes another sip.

“AV Club.”

“Yes. Radios.”

“Radios.”

“Yes.”

You’re sweating.

The storage space of Hawkins High’s gym is ninety degrees at least -- and here you are, brandishing a flashlight in the dark as the Mighty Hellions dig through the space and pull box after box from the makeshift sauna.

“Think this stuff still works, Murph?” Maxine asks.

You ignore the informal nickname and pull open a box to eye a bundle of cables. They’re in good shape. The mic, at the bottom, is too if not a little grimy.

“I don’t see why not.”

After a grueling hour and a half, they finally set up shop in the closet across the hall from your classroom. It’s usually where they keep glassware and Bunsen burners but... with a little begging and a dejected look from Dustin, you grant them their plea and help them set up the impromptu radio station with relative ease.

The desk in the center of the room -- Mrs. Gomez’s old one -- is a little wobbly, but it works.

“And now,” says Mike, “The moment of truth.”

El flicks the switch.

And nothing happens.

Not so Happy Monday.

"How was AV Club?”

“Sad.”

Hopper’s mouth is full.

“Sad...?”

“Radio is broken.”

“Oh,” Hop hums, “M’ sorry, kid.”

“It’s okay,” El says slowly, looking out the window on the ride home, “Miss Murphy buying us new wires.”

Hopper blinks. “Miss Murphy?”

“Yes. Nice.”

Very.

Joyce rings you out the next evening at Melvald’s.

“I’m surprised you didn’t try Starcourt.”

You laugh a little. “What, that super mall?”

“I heard they’ve got everything,” Joyce chirps, “Will and the kids go there nearly every weekend. Ice cream, movies... you name it. A great place for a date, I bet.”

You laugh and pull out your wallet. “Oh to be young and in love.”

“No kidding,” she grins, taking the cash, “Speaking of... are you...?”

“Young?” you laugh, propping your elbows up on the counter, “Or in love?”

“Either.”

You like Joyce. She’s funny. 

“No,” you sigh, “Nope. No, not right now. Neither. I spend my Tuesday nights with wine and a TV dinner.”

“Y’know,” Joyce hums, a knowing look in her eye as she bags the radio supplies, “I know someone who does the same exact thing.”

It’s Miller High Life, actually. And Tostitos. 

That’s besides the point, though, because while Joyce is still very much on his case about the new science teacher, Jim is very much focused on the fact none of the stations god damn radios are working.

He could really go for a beer right now.

Something is jamming the signal.

Actually, to clarify -- the same fucking song on repeat is jamming the signal.

For the last two hours, it’s just been Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles over and over and over and over again. And then again, just for good measure. On the fourth round of the song, Jim had unceremoniously lobbed his walkie across the station. On the tenth, he’d yanked the chord for the radio out of the wall.

If Hopper hears that fuckin’ oh oh sound one more time, he’s going to lose it.

Callahan just shrugs when, finally, the music stops and the booming voice of Dustin Henderson comes over every walkie in the room.

“GOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING, HAWKINS INDIANA!”

Hopper peels into the high school parking lot.

Long strides carry him through halls that he knows way too damn well -- halls that wind and turn and lead him right to room 305. Your name is scrawled across the door alongside a picture of a constellation and a beaker.

But, the classroom is empty.

And then he hears it.

“-- OH OH! VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR! --”

“I am so sorry, Chief Hopper -- I had no idea that was the PD’s frequency.”

You’re wringing your hands but you’re also two beats from laughing and Hopper is really trying to keep it together because... I mean, it’s funny. 

Jim pinches the bridge of his nose. He feels bad. He... well, he probably shouldn’t have slapped the broadcasting mic out of Dustin’s hands. He’s got a short wire now-a-days, blame the whole Hawkins Lab incident and the fact he’s essentially harboring a fugitive and allowing aforementioned fugitive to go to high school and jam radio channels with Today’s Top 40 in her free time.

“No, no -- I... It’s fine. It’s fine, really, just...”

Hopper drops his hand. You’re trying your best to hide a smile that’s threatening to sweep across your whole face. 

“Do not let Dustin play any more of The Buggles, okay?”

You chew your lip and lean closer, whispering. “... Did it really play for two hours straight?”

Hopper’s nostrils flare. He nods weakly. You note the missing walkie from his belt.

And then you burst into laughter.

You buy more cassettes at Melvald’s the next week.

“Oh,” Joyce grins, holding up a Madonna album before scanning it across check-out with a beep, “Nice stuff -- is this for AV Club?”

You laugh. “Let me guess, Chief Hopper told you about ‘The Incident’?”

Joyce's lips quirk and she tilts her head, eyeing you carefully as you bite back a smile and muscle out your wallet from your bag. “... No, he did not.”

“The kids were on the wrong frequency,” you gesture, a bit sheepish, “And, I mean, I had no idea until Chief Hopper had to come to the high school and let us know that he’d been listening to Video Killed the Radio Star for two hours straight.”

“Oh god.”

“Yeah,” you raise your brows, pull a face and mimic the catchy hook, “Oh oh god.”

Joyce snorts.

“It’s not working!”

“Boys,” you sigh heavily, “Just... Just let me look at it.”

There’s a scramble and the sea of bodies part. Max and El are posted by the door, watching with a dejected sort of disappointment. Your knees hit the floor and you ignore the fact your jeans are going to be covered in nasty dust from the underside of Mrs. Gomez desk. Your necklace jingles and you sigh, settling on your back and waving for Dustin to pass you the flashlight.

“Did Hopper break it?” it’s Mike, “If Hopper broke it, I swear to shit --”

“Language.”

“Sorry.”

You squint, pushing apart the mess of wires and sighing loudly when you find the problem.

It’s... weird. Like... Like some of the wires have been chewed clean through.

“Looks like one of the wires is frayed.”

“Frayed?!”

You take the main component home with you.

It’s sitting on your passenger side seat when you pull into Melvald’s.

In the spot in-front of the store sits a Hawkins Police Dept. truck with a CHIEF decal on the side.

“She’s funny and smart and came in here and talked about you --”

“Talked about me?” Jim’s leaned against the counter, coke in his hands, “Hold on, what? You didn’t tell me that.”

“Yeah,” Joyce’s voice lilts, “She, uh, was telling me about The Buggles incident.”

Jim groans. 

“Oh, yeah, when I nearly drove my fist through the kids’ new hobby?”

“-- Funny, she left that part out --”

“I made an ass of myself, Joyce.”

“Hey,” Joyce coos, throwing her hands, “Maybe she likes that about you... y’know... your uncanny ability to be a... uh, an ass?”

“Nice.”

“I’m kidding.”

The shop door dings and Chief of Police Jim Hopper chokes on his diet coke.

You stop short in the doorway. 

The store is mostly empty -- it’s almost closing time, anyways -- and you can’t help but feel like you’re intruding on Hopper and Joyce’s conversation, especially when Hopper is cursing and wiping at the soda spilled down the front of him. 

Overhead, Movin’ Out by Billy Joel plays.

“-- Workin’ too hard can give you a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack --”

“Miss Murphy!” Joyce grins, “Hi there!”

“Hi Joyce,” you smile, nearing the counter. You can’t help but hide a smirk as Hopper sighs and stands. He drops his hands to his side and you get a full view of the coke down the front of his uniform, “Chief.”

(A little part of him dies inside then.)

(Joyce sees it.)

“Evening, Miss Murphy.”

“Rough night?”

“Little bit,” he heaves, downing the rest of his soda and crushing the can. He lobs it into the trash can beside the register with ease, “Well, duty calls, ladies.”

“Duty calls?” Joyce asks, crossing her arms. Suspicion paints her features.

She’s trying to get him to stay -- trying to goad him into a conversation with you, just like she always does, but the problem is that Joyce is a great wing-woman and honestly? 

That kind of terrifies him. 

It’s been a minute and a half since he’s considered anything more than a one-night stand with someone. He’s been busy, y’know, saving this dimension and keeping a top-secret government facility secret. 

“Yeah,” he deadpans, not feeding into it, “Duty.”

“Duty.”

You blink between them both.

Jim’s out the door with the tinker of the overhead bell.

Ouch. You turn to Joyce.

“I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Famous last words.

“Testing, one, two, three --”

You groan, switch frequencies one more time, and throw your hands.

Maybe the whole Hawkins High Radio Station idea was never meant to come to fruition. It hurts to admit it and you know the kids are going to be so damn upset, but no amount of soldering and wire replacements seems to be getting this hunk of junk to give out any sort of signal. 

You take a long drink from your glass of wine and collapse back onto the couch.

Then, you hear it.

"I’ll be sure to let Chief Hopper know, Miss Murphy.”

“Listen, I... Is he here? I’m kinda in a rush and this is sort of important --”

You’re pushing past Florence, the nice secretary, before you even realize it.

You’d known Hawkins was a weird town. That much was pretty clear from the odd disappearances, government labs and toxic leaks. But this... this is more than just weird. This is borderline panic inducing.

Hopper has a cigarette between his lips and his hat on his desk when you barge in.

He jumps six feet in the air and spills his coffee.

“Jesus --”

“Listen, Chief, I know you’re a real busy guy, but --”

“I am so sorry, Jim,” it’s Florence, moving to put herself between you and the Chief, “Miss Murphy, please, if you can take a seat, Chief Hopper would love to hear all about your top secret Russian communicae when he’s done his coffee --”

When Jim’s eyes widen a mile, you realize he knows something you don’t.

Jim feels small in your living room.

It’s a nice place -- furnished with plants and art and your TV has a stack of sci-fi movies atop of it. In the middle of your rug, though, sits the ham radio surrounded by a winding mess of wires. It’s off, and when you near it, you wring your hands. You’re nervous, he can tell. You can hardly stand still.

“Do you think I’m crazy?”

Hopper blinks. He clears his throat. “What?”

“This... Hopper, I swear, I heard Russian --”

“No, I... I believe you,” he says slowly, narrowing his eyes, “Hawkins is a...”

“Weird town?”

“Weird town.”

You nod slowly then, crank the on switch, and the radio hums alive in a language neither of you know.

Hopper just sighs. 

“... What do you know about radios?”

“It’s close,” you say finally, blinking up from the manual, “It has to be -- I mean, this specefic model only broadcasts and receives up to fifteen miles. That’s... what? Like, all of Hawkins?”

“Just about,” Jim hums, hands on his chin, “and what about the channels?”

“I mean, it’s messy -- I hijacked your frequency. On accident.”

Hopper smothers a smirk with a drag of his cigarette. You grin. His office back at Hawkins PD falls quiet for a moment and you catch yourself staring again. Across from him, you squirm a bit in your seat and turn your attention back to the Olympia Radio booklet. 

“There’s no way of tracking the channels,” you sigh, “I... I dunno. I’m kinda out of my element here.”

“What is your element?”

“Chemistry,” you chirp, “And biology. And some physics.”

“Chemistry, huh?”

“Speaking of which, I know you don’t like me much but,” you rush, blinking up at him, “Thanks for believing me.”

The moment would have been sweet if Hopper hadn’t reeled backwards, like he’s been punched. His face screws up in confusion and he waves, cigarette smoke halo-ing around his head as his mustache twitches.

“Wait... hold on --”

“It’s okay,” you console, “Seriously, I... I’m new around here, I... I get it a lot. Folks don’t really trust the new girl next door. Especially with everything that’s been going on.”

“I... I never said --”

You serve him a look.

“Duty?”

“... I panicked.”

“Panicked?”

Hopper sighs. “You’re just as bad as Joyce.”

Your brows raise. “Are you and her...?”

“No!” he cries, “No, no, I... I am single, I am very single, and I am very busy, but despite that, I still would like to ask you out to dinner, and that is terrifying, okay --”

You blink. “You... what?”

Jim’s about to try and dig himself out of his metaphorical grave when the radio flares up again.

You scramble to grab the recorder and Jim turns the volume up -- quickly, you record the repetitive sentence and when the line finally goes silent again, you spare Hopper a look.

“How about dinner and Russian For Dummies?”

[okaybutlikeimagine]

Aghhhh plz more bratty billy and hop dealing like idc what just something before my heart explodes

Agghhhhhh ohmydearrr! ♥ ♥ ♥ okay lately/as I answer these lovely asks I’ve been thinking about how the more Hop reprimands Billy, the more Billy just kind of takes it in stride. Bc being given actual punishment that doesn’t come with a flash of physical pain is very new for Billy, so he respects the punishments.

Until….

Until the day he’s feeling real bratty and they just don’t matter to him anymore.

“No TV.”

“Alright, whatever. There hasn’t been anything good on for weeks.”

“No car.”

“Great, I don’t have to pay for gas or drive Max around everywhere.”

“No boyfriend.”

“Harrington got carted off to some business trip with his parents to convince him about how good the business can be, so he’s not even here anyway.”

and I love Hopper, I really truly sincerely do, but tell me that man wasn’t the type of guy who expected to ruin a girl’s entire YEAR when he broke up with her. Like the type of guy who would get confused and utterly offended if he broke up with a girl and she just took it w/o throwing tears or screams or slaps to the face in Hopper’s direction. 

and it’s not like he’d ever want either of his kids to actually be upset, but he has expectations of how these things go and it’s usually: “I take something away, you get upset.” if there’s any deviation to this plan, he just doesn’t feel like he’s done anything and he can’t have that. Bc Hopper is a proud man, but a Very Self Conscious parent who worries that he’s not actually helping anything.

So when Billy just takes makes out as if his punishment means nothing, Hopper immediately complains to Joyce, like: “You should have seen him! He was completely unfazed! What’s the point of taking stuff away if he doesn’t care??? Am I even doing anything anymore? He needs to learn lessons!!!! Right????”

and Joyce, who is tired and fond and checking someone’s 5 cans of paint out right now, just shakes her head in response.

“Look, Jim, you can’t let it show that it bothers you. It sounds like he’s trying to get on your nerves.”

“It’s working!”

“I can tell!” Joyce laughs, sending a farewell to the customer before leaning her elbows on the counter. “But if you show that it bothers you then he’ll just keep doing it. Just take it in stride. If he keeps doing the same thing that you’re reprimanding him for, then maybe you need to sit him down and talk to him about it.”

And when Billy is pulling the same shit a few weeks later, Joyce is around and she asks him to come speak to her outside on the porch.

And so they’re sitting on a couch they have outside and she puts her hand on Billy’s knee gently and talks it through with Billy slowly, asking what’s wrong and what’s happening before she goes into: “Hop can be a bit…. Strong. But he does it because he loves you. Like, really loves you.”

and Billy isn’t sure what to do but that’s part of why he freaks out when he gets reprimanded bc it’s so different than it was with Neil and he knows it’s bc of love and that??? Is barely starting to make sense to him. So Billy just nods.

“He also flips his shit when you act okay with your punishments.”

Billy laughs.

“I’m serious!” Joyce continues. “He won’t stop bothering me at work about it! So maybe you can just… pretend to be upset with them. Spare me, here.”

Billy nods with his head down in laughter. “Yeah yeah, sure.”

“And… if you need to… talk about anything, Hop will always be there for you. And… and me too, if you wanted to. You don’t have to, obviously, I don’t expect you to come to me but-”

Joyce is bumbling. Billy saves her.

“Thanks, Mrs. Byers.”

“Oh! Call me Joyce!”

Billy doesn’t know what to say, so he just nods. Joyce squeezes his knee in the most motherly way possible and it makes billy’s head spin.

[jancys-blue-bayou]

Yeah so Stranger Things 3 was painfully bad

Yeah yeah big negative post about ST3 coming up. Just... holy shit, my expectations weren’t exactly high but jesus I didn’t think it’d be this bad. Wow. Mindboggling to think it was made by the same dudes who made season 1, it feels like a different show. Some of the worst writing I’ve seen in a long while, parts of season 3. This got very long because it was very bad so it’s under the cut. Starting with the few positives and then away we go...

Of course there were bright spots, I thought what we got of Jancy was generally good (just wish there had been more of it. Just like... more lines between them, a few moments could’ve gone on longer...like after the awesome hospital fight scene jesus just let them fucking desperately embrace and profess their love for each other, it was awesome how they relentlessly kept going at the monster to save the other but can we please just have a few more seconds for a comfort moment after?) I liked how they handled the fight btw, apart from the Oliver Twist comment yeah yeah heat of the moment but still felt OOC with that loa a blow. Nancy and Karen scene was nice and um... well Max and El bonding was nice. And um... Mr Clarke! And I kind of dig Murray.

My main issues with it:

- The product placement. Jesus Christ. Okay, ST has always been a show with noticeable product placement. But it’s gone from things like a Coke can prominently on display on a table in s1 (El crushing it with her mind) to literally having a straight up ad for Coca Cola in the middle of a tense scene. That’s the big offender that made me go wow you’re really doing this to yourselves huh, there are many others ofc (everything at the mall ofc, Slurpees being in hyperfocus for a bit, and a lengthy talk about Burger King. These smaller things one by one wasn’t the worst but all combined jesus it was too much, all added together and then bam the Coke commercial was wow... Congrats on the like 80 sponsorship deals and esp the new ST themed arcade hall by Coca Cola hope it was worth completely selling out for.

- Relatedly, the original fucking song. Holy christ talk about jumping the shark. That was the oddest, cringiest, weirdest shit I’ve seen in a long time. Gaten’s a great singer don’t get me wrong, but there’s a time and place for it and an original song stuffed into the middle of the tense climax of the season is not it Duffers. Just a blatant cash cow, hoping to bring in more money via the song.

- Robin. Sorry but holy cow what a Mary Sue. Hey here’s this super cool girl who’s cool™ and funny™ and super smart™ and NOT Nancy (like they seriously for real said in a scene, they actually for real had to pit Robin and Nancy against each other for no reason). And she conveniently has these specific skills needed for the plot (which she gets involved with for no real motivation other than having nothing better to do, lazy writing). Said skills were so over the top unrealistic it completely sucked me out of it. To start with, this random girl in small town Indiana in 1985 speaking French, Spanish and Italian um... does Hawkins High have the most amazing language department or what? Very un-american in that case... and okay then, her knowing those languages wouldn’t help jackshit with understanding Russian. Russian is a notoriously difficult language to learn and it is not related to the Romance languages at all, Robin knowing those languages and oh, having “a good ear” bc she’s in band (?!??! what?!) wouldn’t help her at all. Having the alphabets on the wall and listening to strange words in a foreign language she has no understanding of would never work. No way for her to understand what is she’s hearing, what letters are in the words just, nothing. It’s completely ridiculous. The good thing is she’s a lesbian, crushing Stobin that made me LOL. Btw, I don’t get what age they were writing her as? She’s still in school but later says she and Steve was in the same class, and she knows who Nancy is but Nancy, who is still in school, doesn’t know her even though presumably they’d be in the same year at little Hawkins High? Was it just sloppy writing or what?

- Too. Much. Plotting. What happened to “this season is about the characters” um there was just so much plot stuff and action sequences and barely any character driven moments at all. Those intimate moments that made s1 amazing. Generally regarding plots felt the Russian plot was messy and not well-written also what happened to the US government as the big bad? Unless they’re setting up a big Cold War thing for s4. And felt the zombie thing was wasted, could’ve been used differently like I’d have thought it’d be used like the MF spreading it’s influence over vaster areas and being harder to keep track of etc.

- Too little Will. Will’s whole thing with feeling left out etc was just dropped halfway through it felt very undercooked. His arc was just dropped wtf.

- NO BYERS FAMILY INTERACTIONS WTF. The sequence in the first episode when Jancy has overslept and Joyce wipes the lipstick off Jonathan was cute (but could’ve been even cuter I’d have preferred a short fluffy Jancy moment here just as they wake up before they realize they overslept, bc we didn’t get much pure fluff, and then it’d been awesome if Joyce would’ve just called Nancy into the house to mess with them). But like... that’s kind of it. For the Byers family. Talking to each other in the whole season. When they partnered Jancy with the kids many thought awesome we’ll get Byers bros talking and teaming up (and Nancy and Mike) but there was just nothing. Not even a family hug after the battle at the mall, just Joyce hugging Will, with all this tightknit little family has been through you telling me Jonathan wouldn’t join in?

- No Will and El bonding wtf? SUCH a wasted opportunity. They’ve built this unique awesome connection over s1 and s2 and now in s3 would finally be able to bond normally for real and... nothing.

- Turning Hopper back into an even bigger jerk than he was at the start of the show, neglecting all his character development. What was the point of the whole El and Hopper thing they devoted so much time to in s2 if Hopper’s back at it with the yelling and all now? And jeez his constant whining to Joyce about every man she interacts with holy christ that got annoying. Generally Hopper was such an annoying asshole this season I was so tired of him by the time he “died”.

- TOO MANY CHARACTERS. Jeez, I know I’m on about it all the time but jesus christ there is way way too many characters in this for 8 episodes which hurts the narrative and screentime for interesting characters is just... yeah.

- Speaking of screentime, did we really need that many identical generic fight scenes between Hopper and the Russian guy? Jesus Christ it’s so boring watching fight scenes like that, so repetitive (compare to the hospital fight scene which was dynamic and awesome). Also regarding screentime did we really need to devote so incredibly much of it to Steve and Robin being comedic relief while drugged? Yeah yeah mix light and dark and all that but jesus christ at that point in the narrative shit has hit the fan lean into the dark.

- Totally expected of course but still, the furthering of Steve Memeington. My god they actually had him literally call himself daddy... christ.

- The Billy and Karen/all the other middle age women remains gross and bad in a billion ways. Also completely pointless for the plot, they could’ve come up with any other way to get Billy to the factory. And what did it give Karen in development? Just the realization that yeah I’m tired of my husband but I’m not leaving my family and I’ll stick with him just ‘cause? Okay but did we need her almost sleeping with a kid a year older than her daughter for that? Icky. Also the editing of the scene where Billy hits her was so weird. Also that was weird as fuck.

- The ending. Okay christ my main gripe with this is because of a point above: No Byers family interaction at all! Joyce and Hopper talk briefly about her thinking about moving once or twice but she never talks about it with her kids... obviously she did in the timegap but we need to see that to build to the thing. Having no Byers interactions the whole season and then just oop we’re moving is so weird. I’m also not sure if Joyce’s motivation for moving (her bad memories of Hawkins) would be enough. For sure an argument for it, but an argument against is the one Hopper presents to her (and though he’s not around still there’s still a support system around them there, especially for her kids which she loves above all). Speaking of her loving her kids above all, she knows they love their friends/girlfriend/boyfriend to bits, have walked through fire with them and are each others support system as mentioned, would Joyce really just uproot them from that? There’s also some purely practical things that stuck out to me immediately: the timeskip for the epilogue makes it so they move when the schoolyear is already well under way and Jonathan has started senior year, feel bad for Jonathan there in a number of ways. Also, how the hell did Joyce manage to sell her house and what did it fetch? Her rundown house on the outskirts of a now infamous town with an incredibly bad rep? Even if the buyer bought it for the land the land doesn’t look special, just find it hard to believe she could get much for it. And where did they move? Where did she find a place? And work? Did she have something lined up or? I guess we’ll see.

- Oh and speaking of work, that was another thing that was just dropped, the mall killing downtown and the protests just fell out of the story. But, with what happened to the mall wouldn’t business come back to downtown (possibly reason for Joyce to want to stay if Melvald’s going out of business was another reason to move).

- Sorry but Mileven took way too much space.

- Again, no Jonathan and Will actual brothers bonding. But a whole lot of Steve and Dustin meme fanservice wank.

- Erica is just the sassy black girl trope non stop the whole season and nothing else and it’s so grating and... I was gonna say disappointing but I had no faith in the Duffers regarding this. Just because a bit character becomes a meme doesn’t mean they need to become a main. *cough* Steve *cough cough* Sorry.

- Last but not least, the woobiefication of Billy. Uggggghhhh. Disgusting. And having Max cry over him WTF?!?!?!?!?! staaaaaaahp.

[sseroxy]

Things I want/predict from Stranger Things 4

Most is El because shes my queen and there's a lot going on with her

Joyce learning/teaching her kids how to fight melee, with weapons, and guns

Please give El a gun now that she has no powers

Will talked about his trauma, let El do it now. She never really talked about the messed up stuff that happened to her because of fear, pain, and language issues so please let her talk to Joyce or Jonathan or Will I beg

Will needs to talk more as well

Specifically let El and Will just use each other as a venting unit, a healthy way of talking cause they both have similar trauma and might even feel they’re the only ones they can talk to. They have a bunch of similarities (like being a punching bag apparently)

Jonathan and El big bro lil sis relayionship PLEASE

Will and El being very close

Idk why but I want El to put the adoption papers from Hopper in a frame and hang it on her wall

Also have her wear Hoppers shirts/hat, but in her own stylish ways like wearing them around her waist or like she did in the “three months later” thing where it was kinda brought up like a crop top

More LuMax!

The boys being boys and talking

Robin and Steve trying to get dates Aka Steve the wingman

Dustin and Suzie get to meet

If it's Thanksgiving, put them all together like a happy family for once jeez

bring hopper back cowards

More girl time with El and Max

El and Will realizing they missed out on their childhood and just doing child things together

El keeping her door open 3 inches

Max leaves home or the parents split

El learns more about *cough* hormones and puberty (y'all can thank that scene with Max and "happy screams" along with the lingerie store the boys saw)

The Duffers confirm whether or not Will is gay, bc I'm sick of the poking and playing around with it just say yes or no I'm tired

Steve gets beat up big time OR he actually wins a fight without getting beat up for once, OR HE GETS BEAT UP AND STILL KICKS THE OTHER PERSONS/MONSTERS BUTT

El and her eggos

El's leg is still messed up and has a big scar, and she covers it up because its a bad memory

Also because I doubt The Bite was all for nothing mainly because El's blood on the ground was shifting; El is infected like the Flayed and once the gate starts opening again, she could very well be the Mind Flayers new host

El having to deal with having no powers and just breaking down at one point(she's had them all her life, and in each season is thought of as some machine to be used, and now that she's powerless, she may see her self worth drop. She's been mimicking everyone since the start because she doesnt know who she is, and her powers are the only thing she knows is hers, so taking it away..existential crisis? i totally headcanon she might think if she had her powers, she coulda saved Hop or somethin)

Let El say every single swear word. If not

Let El say f*** only because Max and Billy said it. Honor your swearing dad little Jedi

Give the Byers another dog

Joyce being the best mom ever again

Will and El not just talking about their stuff, but LARPing it, since Will cant teach her DND, and since they both lost their childhoods, that is a great way to make up for it, it would help them talk and i think it’d be really cute if Will helped El make a character. Then it ends up being angsty when the story starts to become their pasts and then they’re just crying together. They honestly need it rn

If El does end up with the infection, Will would 100% feel it and that could create some tension

GIVE ME *SLAMS HANDS ON COUNTER* ROBIN AND THE OTHER KIDS INTERACTIONS FOR MY SAKE

Robin is now the crazy Aunt of the group, with Steve as the mom

Erica and Lucas interacting and talking about adventures

Just more interactions within the group bls

Joyce going nuts, she always has to, it’s who she is

Give me gruesome, give me pain, and i cannot stress this enough, but season 4(if it does come out) should

MAKE ME CRY AND DOUBLE OVER IN 

PAIN

[thepringlesofblood]

thoughts on stranger things three  (spoilers. so many.)

this is just me yellin into the void as usual, but I like recording my opinions on things even if no one will read them 

good:

- every single scene w/ the robin, steve, erica, dustin gang, especially!!! the coming out scene. scoops?? iconic. steve and dustin’s secret handshake? transcendent. the drugged out back to the future scene? perfect. 

- eleven and max say fuck the patriarchy. love el’s new look 

- more competent women is always a win

- funhouse fight!!! carnival fight!!!FIREWORKS??!??!

- the destruction of the mall (sadly the only anticapitalist symbolism I could find)

- the scene after jonathan and nancy get fired where they’re angry about their separate marginalized identities making this loss worse. I really liked how it went into the ways it will impact both of them, and I especially liked when nancy got home and talked to her mom. 

- joyce going buckwild and getting shit done. 

- the portrayal of hypervigilance as a symptom of PTSD. All of these characters have seen some shit, and all of them pick up on the littlest things the second they present themselves because subconsciously, they’re always on edge, always aware of bad it could break. 

- most of will’s character arc. not all, but most of it. the queer experience of watching all your friends get dates and feeling like you’re missing out on something? trying to regain their interest because you feel lost and left behind? worrying that you’re not “growing up” because you don’t recognize romantic interest in yourself? not realizing you’re falling for your best friend until they get a romantic partner and suddenly you hate the partner even though they haven’t done anything wrong? a poignant, beautiful, very painful portrayal of queer teenhood. I really, really wish there was a moment that the audience realized will was in love with mike though. Like, it’s been building for a very long time. Also, a more thorough confirmation of will’s queerness would’ve been nice. I think they meant mike saying “you don’t understand bc you don’t like girls” to be that confirmation, but I want to hear it from will. Robin’s moment is so so so good though. 

- domestic fuckery 

- getting someone on the inside to help them/alexei as a character. not the symbolism or larger ramifications of his character arc, but how his knowledge and personality interacted. 

- mr clarke!!!!

- el going into someone’s memories again

- how prepared everyone is to fight because they’ve seen this shit before and robin and erica are just like ‘this might as well happen’ 

- keeping with the stranger things pattern of having a bunch of different groups of people all in different genres and then together they all meet up and go ?????

- I know every says billy didn’t get enough of a redemption arc but tbh I did not see his character development as redeeming in any way and I liked that. It didn’t excuse his abusive actions, it just explained them. There was no “oh he was secretly good all along”, no dramatic total character reversal on his death bed, just him deciding that he had enough of being controlled. Max didn’t get full closure with him, he didn’t say some big speech about being wrong or realizing the ramifications of his actions bc he hadn’t reached that point yet. he just said “I’m sorry” and died. that could mean “i’m sorry for how I’ve treated you”, “I’m sorry for how many people I’ve killed”, “I’m sorry for not being able to stop the monster”, anything. we don’t know what it means. we don’t get an explanation. It speaks to how survivors of abuse often don’t get to know why, don’t get closure, don’t get all the answers. 

- steve finally won a fight before getting the shit kicked out of him

- the whole no one knowing anything about each other bc no cell phones and/or wasnt there when It Happened. 

- Erica getting the DND set was poetic cinema 

- when joyce sees will on the firetruck and they run towards each other because finally, for once, will is completely unscathed, will isn’t the one who got hurt/possessed. I was already crying but this is the part where i had to get tissues bc I was sobbing. 

Bad:

- the red scare bullshit and glorification of capitalism. this show started out as “the US govt is doing shady shit” and now the big climatic “everything’s alright” is the army getting there?? what the fuck. There’s being accurate to the time period and then there’s sending a message. they could’ve subverted that trope in so many ways, but they just went for straight up “capitalism is great! fuck russia!” and I hated that. also, talk about one-note villainry. there weren’t even any dramatic monologues to make up for it, it just kinda sucked. 

- Hopper’s character in the beginning of the season. the scene where he gets wasted after getting stood up? shitty. not talking to el about his vaguely sexist overprotective actions? shitty. blowing up at joyce for no reason? shitty. he pulls it together in the end but it was OOC for a bit there. Plus I would kill for more “hopper and el work through their trauma together”, rather than “friend group splinters bc hopper did a yell” 

- I don’t know what to think about hopper’s death. It just hurts, and not in a satisfying, last harry potter book way. 

- why the fuck are the byers and el moving?????? did they ever give a reason???? WHY?????? WILL AND EL’S ENTIRE SUPPORT NETWORK, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH AND CAN HELP THEM, IS IN HAWKINS!!!!!

- the ads. omg the ads. lucas idc about your fucking coke. there’s so much goddamn product placement. christ on a goddamn bicycle. 

- previous seasons have had body horror, but it was all black goo so it was removed from reality and conveyed a psychological, otherworldly horror. and I liked that. WHY WAS THERE SO MUCH FUCJING MEAT IN THIS ONE??? THE MIND FLAYER LOOKED LIKE IT WAS MADE OF BBQ SAUCE AND I HATED IT!!! STOP!!!THE MEATS!!!!!

- can el not be injured......for oNCE?????

- also can people stop standing around staring at shit so much? theyve seen it before. it’s not like it’s a huge shock. people stand around for like 5 minutes before Doing Things and it annoys me. with the New Kids like erica and robin it makes sense but like....whenever theres a monster mike just sits there like :o cOME ON DUDE YOU’VE DONE THIS SO MANY TIMES GET A KNIFE OR SOMETHIN!!!

- WHAT. WAS. THE GREEN STUFF?????????????????? IS IT FUCKING PLUTONIUM OR SOMETHING???? WHAT THE FUCK!!! IF YOU NEED A MACGUFFIN BE LESS OBVIOUS ABOUT IT!!!

- idk about you but murray yelling at them about sex kinda rubbed me the wrong way. 

- speaking of, you caNNOT convince me that murray, 4 locks on the front door lives in a bunker murray, would take a goddamn enemy of the state to a carnival and leave him alone for any period of time. seriously????????

- look.....it was adorable.....i’ll give you that.....but.....the song dustin and suzy sang slapped me with secondhand embarrassment and genre disconnect so hard I found it impossible to enjoy. also...planck’s constant??? you could/......idk........call mr clarke????????? you’ve interrupted the man’s life for less!!!! I was also half expecting it to be joyce who remembered it from all the studying she did on the magnets. I did enjoy the whole “i met a girl at camp” story being unbelievable until it was but like I was expecting the thing she wanted him to say to be like a famous star wars love quote or something not an entire song jesus christ 

- if hopper turns out to be alive I will face god and walk backwards into hell. I suffered through supernatural, I will not be caught in a cycle of fake deaths again. 

- i get the whole “we’re growing up now” thing but aren’t they like 13? theyre still so young??? also like i dont rly care for the vague soap-opera-y vibes the core squad gave off. 

- the only people who got flayed were either a. already pretty shitty or b. completely unknown. like. it just made it less scary????

- hopper just fucking standing by the machine looking at joyce instead of running the 5 seconds up the steps into the room. seriously? was that supposed to be slow motion or was that real time??? 

- the whole thing with cerebro not working at the beginning sucked ass. 

- hey does mrs wheeler have eyes??? like??? there were exactly two (2) scenes she had with mike and nancy and both were Big Conversations like they live there right/????tbh i forgot she was their mom until those scenes bc of the whole billy thing, which i decidedly do not have an opinion on but like....do they eat breakfast there??? 

[bixxelated]

finally finished watching str*nger th*ngs s4 so im just gonna put my thoughts under a readmore bc i Have... A Lot And I Need To Get Them Out (also needless to say, dont click unless you want spoilers for the whole season)

overall i came in with low expectations and still felt that a lot of things were pretty underwhelming. most of what i like from previous seasons wasnt included in this one or was pretty badly written. this was a very plot-driven 1st half of a season and they pulled off some good things but there was so little emotional material available which frustrated me the most. JKSHFLKDJGLG i hate being such a downer bc i did have fun watching! theres just a lot of stuff specific to my tastes that i feel werent developed well

ANYWAY, to be more specific

--MAX MAYFIELD MY BELOVED

--Max was AMAZING this season and i love her so much

--all things being said, im amazed that they were make such a solid story with multiple plotlines given how LONG this whole thing was. i expected a lot of bullshit twists being pulled to keep things interesting but i didnt see much of that. do i like the direction they went in with a lot of things? not really, but i admire that they were somewhat able to keep it cohesive --hawkins plot was the best plot. i like the concept of 'teens with a haunted past' being targeted and of the town turning against the hellfire club. its an interesting change in dynamics for once to see other people get involved in the strange happenings, although i dont really like how theyre making the upside down this single hellscape entity bent on the destruction of hawkins instead of some alternate doomhorror dimension minding its own business unless you accidentally stumble into it/let it seep into your own world. idk i like the ambiguity of antagonists driven mostly by instinct, like the demogorgon in s1 and the mind flayer in s2

--on the other hand the california/russia plotlines just seemed so... pointless? like there was so little explored about the byers (not-)adapting to a new town before everything was launched into motion. which i get for pacing reasons but leaves very little for like. exploring the emotional aspects of it. hated will being absolutely completely invisible in the new town. hated seeing el being forced to team up with her literal abuser to get her powers back and it being presented as a choice. and i feel for hopp but the prison plotline was just... boring to me JFKHDLJKHFLKD idk how else to explain it. like we know that hoppers sad and angry and misses joyce and el, there just wasnt much room for much else character development in his arc, like something something he lets his anger get the best of him when hes scared and doesnt know how to cope with it in a healthy matter something something

--it would have been so nice to see El and Will being forced to interact more closely for once but somehow despite being Literal Siblings now the writers still somehow managed to get them to nope over each other like same sided magnets, save for a few single lines at the beginning of the season. i do appreciate those few little moments of will trying to watch out for el sometimes but wish that there had been some reciprocation at some point

--they really did my boy Will so dirty reducing him to a single character personality point again: Pining

--Michael Wheeler Didn't We Go Through This Same Exact Plotline Last Season. Why Are You Excluding Your Best Friend In Place Of Your Girlfriend Again

--a single verbal apology doesnt really do it for me also. it doesnt ever feel like will and mike made up bc theres no ACTIONS to make up for it! Pls just give me some kindhearted gestures, some consideration, some platonic affection...!

--ARGYLE MY BELOVED. Argyle was great tho. god knows jonathan deserves having someone to destress with

--my god why is it that the only way the writers can make relationships interesting is threatning to have them break up. max and lucas make sense but is the nancy/steve teasing really necessary? you're really gonna have her move on like that without even talking to jonathan first?

--and jonathan's plotline about feeling obligated to throw away his future to care for is so good! wish they'd explored more of it in the plot itself

--on the breakup note: really didnt enjoy the argument mike had with eleven just because so much of it felt... manipulative? not in an intentional way but i dont think that was handled well at all on either side. but i mean, i really dont blame mike for being upset about the rollerskating incident and then for everyone to try and pretend it didnt happen. and eleven being like, you're scared of me so you dont love me anymore. OOF! idk it just gave me a lot of vibes about insecure ppl in relationships who do bad things and then use their upset feelings as a justification without properly apologizing for it

--LUCAS MY BELOVED

--my poor boy lucas was just trying to have a normal life and get a better reputation for both him and his friends jdkhflkadhjfkl he didnt ask for everyone to suddenly go unhinged around him. im love him so much

--ROBIN MY BELOVED

--robin was so good this season. i love her and her motor mouth and im cackling so much because i KNEW that awful outfit was a disguise! nancy honey why the fuck do you have that monstrosity in your closet? i know you can do better

--also really adore robin slowly inching her way into nancy's heart as a friend. nancy needs more female friends. And also how dare vecna use barb's death against nancy (gleeful). im wondering how theyll handle pulling her out of the trance considering i dont think anyone knows nancy's favorite song (and even if they manage to contact mike or her parents id be surprised if any of them would know it as well)

--the running up that hill scene? iconic. amazing. outstanding. i cried, oh my god i love max mayfield so much

--i do love that even though a big part of max's grief involves guilt for billy's death, they acknowledge that he was not a nice person and and that his relationship with max was complicated, and that some part of her is even relieved at not having to deal with that anymore.

--the One/Henry Creel reveal twist at the end was neat but i still dont get what this fucker's deal is? from what i understand This Man Just Wants To Be A Murderous Bastard. sure everyone assumes hes working for the mind flayer but we never saw it outside of flashbacks this season

--Speaking Of Which, Why Are There So Many Flashbacks To Previous Seasons. i mean i know the duffer brothers love their flashbacks but i promise you we remember what happened before duffers

[hawkinslibrary]

What are your theories about Will Byers's story line?

ok, this one won’t be as long (i hope) bc there just isn’t that much to go off of with will’s s4 stuff yet, but still please avoid reading any further if you don’t want spoilers and remember to blacklist/filter out the ‘s4′, ‘st4′, and ‘spoilers’ tags so you don’t see anything spoiler-y. 

as far as i know, noah hasn’t done any filming for s4, and he + winona, charlie, and millie are meant to start filming in new mexico at the end of this month. now... i honestly have no clue what’s happening with the byers. 

there are rumors that jonathan is going to be working at a pizza joint, and recently a pizza delivery vehicle has been seen along with all the other cars from the show, so there may be some truth to it. i’ve also seen people say that will and jonathan are working there together. it would make sense for them to both have jobs if they’re still struggling financially + they’ve got an extra person to take care of now. 

i think that parts of will’s s3 storyline were a set up for s4. he feared that the party would be destroyed and he’d lose his friends and now he’s moved away from them. he wanted to hold on to as much of his childhood as he could bc the truth is, he stopped being just a kid when the demogorgon got him. but in the end he ends up giving the d&d game -- a symbol of his childhood -- away. he’s not normal, he can sense the mind flayer, he doesn’t like girls, etc. 

s4 for will could be a great season of self-discovery. who is he when he’s not with the party? who is he when he can exist around people who don’t know his past? how do his dynamics evolve after the move? does he finally get to relax once he’s away from hawkins? honestly these same things could be said for el, too, though.

i think we’ll finally see will and el really connecting. in s1, she gave him hope. in s2, they didn’t interact but they were both integral to saving each other and everyone else. in s3, they were finally able to exist in the same room at the same time, both fully conscious. except, now she’s the girl one of his best friends wants to spend all of his time with, as well as a constant reminder of the upside down and everything he went through. they obviously care about each other a lot (el asking to see him when she came back at the end of s2, saying she saw in the void that he wasn’t doing so well -- meaning she had to search him out; will’s facial expressions every time she’s in danger or in pain throughout s3), they just need to talk. have a real, deep, honest conversation between the two of them. i’m hoping that we get that in s4. 

it’ll be interesting to see the aftermath of the byers + el moving away from hawkins. will, jonathan, and el all had reasons to want to stay and i can see that causing some tension with joyce, but i think ultimately they’ll all understand why they had to leave. or maybe they won’t and there’ll be tons of conflict between them this season. i think it kinda depends on how things go in their new town.   

high school in particular is going to be interesting. not only is it will’s first year of high school, jonathan’s last, and potentially el’s first time attending school ever -- it’s all of that in a completely new town, surrounded by strangers. will has the chance to stop being will byers: zombie boy and start being will byers: new kid. he could start over, actually get to pretend like he’s still a normal kid. maybe he does make new friends, maybe there’s a plot to explore his sexuality. i hope that he meets people and makes friends and they give him some sort of clarity and acceptance. but there’s also a chance that he won’t connect with anyone at school. that they’ll think he’s weird and bully him. that nothing changes except now the only people who know what he’s going through are jonathan and el. and maybe word gets around about what happened to him back in hawkins and people start staring and avoiding and treating him like a freak. basically, high school in a new town could be the best thing that’s ever happened to him or... not.

i don’t even know where to start with theories about how the upside down connects to s4 and especially to will in s4. i think his upside down/mind flayer radar could be super important, though, considering el doesn’t have access to her powers.

to recap: s4 for the byers overall (+el) is a mystery to me since there’s no current content or info for them at all (we still don’t even know where they moved!!). however, i do think that will is going to at least start the season at school, with joyce and jonathan, bonding with el, possibly making new friends and discovering himself, and having complicated feelings over how leaving all the bad stuff behind in hawkins means leaving the good stuff, too. throw in a little upside down and some party angst and we’re good to go.              

[jeanthememelover-moved]

stoncy hcs

i stole these from an otp ask game

1.       do they have a lot of arguments? if so, over what?

Usually they only argue over silly things like what music to listen to on the radio or who has to sleep in the middle of the bed when they sleep over at each other’s houses.

2.       who apologizes first? in what way? is it hard for either of them to apologize?

Steve is always the first to apologize, but Jonathan comes in a close second. Steve is into big gestures, he’ll buy them roses or some other kind of presents to show he cares. Jonathan prefers to make them a mixtape with all their favorite songs on it and apologize the next day after they’ve listened to the whole thing. Nancy isn’t quite as willing to admit when she’s wrong but if someone makes the first move, she’ll apologize too.

3.       which one has more insecurities? over what?

Jonathan is pretty insecure about his social skills, he has trouble finding the right words to express himself and he’s nervous that he’ll drive people away if he says the wrong thing. Steve is insecure about how intelligent he is, he tries not to think about it but sometimes he just feels like he’s way dumber than everyone else around him.

4.       who gets more riled up? do they show their anger?

Steve and Nancy both get riled up, but Steve’s anger is short to last, he fizzles out quickly and then he’s either sad or apologetic or both. Nancy can match anyone’s angry shouting with her own, but afterwards when she’s alone she feels guilty, but she’ll go right back to being mad if irked again the next day. Jonathan usually retreats into himself more when he’s angry, but in the heat of the moment he will yell too.  

5.       how do they hide their pain when they’re upset? do they try to hide their pain?

Steve is an emotional guy if we’re being honest, he doesn’t like to cry in front of people because he doesn’t want to be pitied and his dad had always discouraged him from showing emotions that were ‘girly’. Nancy has survivors guilt and that comes up a lot along with her missing Barb, she doesn’t hide her pain quite as much as Steve. Jonathan is King of Repressed Emotions and he has resting sad face. He’s also pretty quiet so it’s hard to tell how he’s feeling unless he opens up about it which doesn’t happen as much as it should.

6.       who tries to make up first? does it work?

Steve! And yeah it usually works, he’s pretty good at winning back the love of his boyfriend and girlfriend.

7.       what’s their favorite pass time when they’re upset?

Jonathan loves listening to music when he’s upset. Nancy likes to go out shooting soda cans off the fence, if her aim was great before you should see it now. Steve drinks, it’s not pretty, and he knows he needs a better way to deal with things but sometimes he just needs to get wasted enough to forget his troubles.

8.       who do they confide in when shit hits the fan (besides each other)?

Since when did Steve start taking advice in a 13 year old kid? I guess that’s his life now. At least Dustin is a good listener. Jonathan will talk to Will sometimes but he usually ends up being roasted and regrets bringing up any topics relating to his dating life. Nancy writes letters to Barb when her life gets chaotic, it’s kind of her new way of coping with her best friend being gone and not having anyone in her life that fills that perfectly Barb shaped hole the redhead left behind.

9.       do either of them have the other’s stuff lying around their house?

Steve leaves his coats and shirts everywhere. Do you know how many times Mrs. Wheeler and Joyce Byers have ended up washing clothes that didn’t belong to either of their kids? Too many times. Jonathan has several mixtapes scattered from Nancy’s house to Steve’s but that’s mostly on purpose bc they have awful taste in music and he is desperately trying to rub off his musical preferences on them. All of Nancy’s hair ties and scrunchies keep disappearing and Steve and Jonathan keep finding them in the weirdest places at their houses.

10.   if one of them gets injured, who worries more?

They all are huge worriers. Steve is frantic, running around panicking, asking if he should take them to the hospital even if it’s something small like a small cut from a paring knife. Jonathan is a little calmer but just as worried, he’ll get whatever they need but his hands shake when he’s nervous so don’t ask him to stitch anything unless you want to be a human pincushion. Nancy is the only one who’s really any good at stitching up wounds, her mom taught her how to take care of most injuries because Mike was always getting hurt and her parents weren’t always going to be home so she needed to be prepared.

[hawkinslibrary]

i love hearing what you have to say about season 4!! i promise it’s not too long lol, anyway i have a question for you: what do you think the next season holds for mike & el? i’m a little worried tbh

ahhh thank you !! same rules apply: spoilers ahead, so please read no further and blacklist/filter out the ‘s4′, ‘st4′, ‘spoilers’ tags if you don’t want to see anything !! 

i’m going to talk about them both as individuals and as a pair but first, i have to say that i don’t personally feel like you have to worry about them breaking up or anything again this season. i think s4 is really going to establish romantic jopper and once that happens, i don’t see them, mileven, or jancy not being endgame unless someone actually dies. which -- i’m not going to think about the possibility of anyone dying until i’m forced to confront it, so. this is fiction and it’s already unrealistic and i’m gonna take my ‘everyone survives, happiness all around, time to relax’ endings and go. anyway, i would love to add lumax to this list but i honestly think it could go either way depending on what happens in s4. that’s a different essay, though.

i tend to think that the most important dynamic on the show is the one between the whole group and i just don’t really see them spending much more time trying to develop romantic relationships outside of the ones set up since s1/2. maybe steve, robin, and will get love interests, maybe they decide to develop dustin and suzie more, maybe suzie is never even mentioned again, idk. but these will probably all be secondary -- as in less screen time, not less important than the main romances, but probably still less developed. unless it happens to be a new person added to the main cast. which, as of now, the only new mains are brett and priah who has gone from recurring to regular. so.  

i think s3 showed how messy and complicated romantic relationships (or, really just relationships in general) can be. everyone was arguing, there was miscommunication all around, everyone thought they knew what was best, no one was seeing eye to eye. but when it comes down to it, they would do anything for each other. they understand each other better than anyone else ever could. i can’t see them spending another season on breakups and romance drama after the ending of s3.  

mike and el have already been separated once before. this time, mike knows for sure that she’s alive and that’s she’s with the byers. this time, el won’t be kept completely isolated away from everyone else. they’ve made plans to meet for the holidays. they can still call and talk to each other as much as they want. i’m hoping they handle being separated this time better than they did in s2. i don’t want mike to be moping and i don’t want el to spend a lot of the season thinking about how much she misses him. in fact, i think in their case that some distance could be good for them. the same for jancy and jopper, too, honestly. it’ll be nice to see them existing outside of these relationships while still acknowledging how important they are.   

as far as i know, the byers and el stuff has not started filming yet so all there is to speculate on are rumors, the audition tapes, and logical guesses about where the story goes after s3. el obviously moves away with the byers. we still don’t know where. she’ll still be mourning hopper and trying to figure out life without her powers. and, of course, she’ll be in a long distance relationship with mike. i think she’ll be having a hard time and she’ll wish that mike was around, but she’ll realize she’s got a pretty good support system around her now with the byers, too. i’m very, very excited for more joyce and el content particularly, but there’s gotta be some great scenes with her and will and jonathan as well. 

there’s only one audition tape that i can confidently tie into the byers + el plot(s?) and it’s the queen bee/mean girl character ‘angela’. if we’re running with the whole ‘there may be some truth to the audition vids’ thing, then this one teases that el will be going to school and that angela will be bullying her. this is something she would probably want to talk about with mike (b i g troy s1 vibes) but i don’t know if she actually would ? so this is probably more a thing that el and will could bond over or that she could talk about with joyce or maybe jonathan. i do think there will be at least a few calls between the two of them before the action really hits and the whole group is (hopefully...) reunited.

so, el -- at least in the beginning of s4 -- will be going to school where ‘angela’ bullies her, forming a bond with joyce + will + jonathan and becoming part of the family, mourning hopper (+ hopefully having conversations about him + his past with joyce), missing her friends back in hawkins, continuing to learn how to navigate life without her powers, and trying to maintain a long distance relationship with mike. 

mike... i’ve been seeing some wild theories about him today but they aren’t really that far-fetched i think. first, going back to the audition tapes, the ‘eddie’ audition i saw makes it seem like mike is going to be part of the hellfire club with dustin. i’ve recently learned that there’s another version of the scene where ‘eddie’ is only talking to dustin and mike might not be a part of the club after all. if he isn’t part of the club, then the basketball v. hellfire, jocks v. nerds thing turns into lucas v. dustin and mike’s probably there just caught in the middle while max is off distancing herself from everyone.

at this point, i really want mike and max to become good friends. i think the end of s3 gave them the perfect opportunity. s4 max has s2 mike vibes. it’s not the same situation at all, but he knows kinda what she’s feeling and they could connect through that + the fact that they’ll both be missing el. i also just really want... some wheeler siblings content. i’m hopeful that s4 gives us good nancy and mike scenes bc there’s no reason not to give us good nancy and mike scenes (+holly!). however...

while there’s proof that gaten and sadie and natalia and priah have all been filming since production restarted, and while i have reason to believe that caleb has been filming a lot inside/at the studio recently... there’s no evidence that finn has been on set. there’s none for maya and joe, either, but people have said that finn isn’t even in atlanta right now. maybe he is and maybe he just hasn’t been seen and maybe he’ll pop back up tomorrow. or, maybe he already filmed whatever he needed to film for hawkins before production stopped.  

the wild theory that’s popped up today is that everything gets to be too much for him in hawkins and he just... hops on a train to go visit el + the byers. i don’t know if i buy it, but it is interesting to note that he was sitting with them at the table read. and since we can guess that steve and robin will still be working at the video store, robin and nancy will be investigating pennhurst together, lucas and max may have some angst, joyce and murray are probably teaming up for the finding/saving hopper plot, and el is going to bond with will and jonathan, it seems like the order might mean a little something. i’d even bet that dustin and erica have scenes with them bonding over d&d.    

now this theory pretty much only exists because no one’s seen finn on set and one of the paps posted some pics of some trains. there’s also always theories about how there will be issues at home with the wheeler fam and if that’s going to happen, what better time than in s4 when all of his friends are pulling away and el’s gone again. so if he is missing el (and will) that much, and if he has any reason to worry about her and how she’s doing, or if the party becoming distant and issues at home are weighing on him and he feels like he needs to get away, he’s absolutely the type to venture off on a train by himself. i don’t know how it would work since he’s definitely supposed to still be in school and his friends/nancy at least would notice he’s gone, but.. it’s fun to think about and we’ve got zero actual content to go off of right now.  

another way i could see mike’s plot going is that he’s the one trying to keep the party together this season. playing mediator with lucas and dustin, becoming better friends with max, being the connection between the hawkins plot and the byers plot (along with nancy). 

there was also talk of him joining the track team bc the track has been set up with hawkins high colors for filming. but mike ‘this isn’t a stupid sports game’ wheeler? i don’t think so... basically, no one knows at the moment what’s happening with mike wheeler in s4 lol.

s4 mike is just like s4 byers fam -- a complete mystery to me currently. i don’t personally think that he’ll be leaving school and hopping on a train to visit el. i think he’ll be a part of the hellfire club with dustin, or that he won’t and instead will be attempting to keep the party from completely disbanding. i hope that we get wheeler siblings scenes and that max and mike have a breakthrough and become better friends. i also feel like he’ll be having some complicated feelings about hopper, the last interaction they had, etc. and, again, the whole long distance thing with el. 

so... mike and el broke up in s3. it was messy. but then they reconciled. and then hopper “died”. s3 ended with them at this weird place where she’s heard him say that he loves her and she’s told him that she loves him back. things are a little awkward in the scene bc everything has changed at this point, but a kiss, an ‘i love you’, planning to meet up on the holidays, and promising to call frequently all sounds like they’re back together and going to try making the long distance thing work to me. 

i think they’ll be together when s4 starts. i think that we’ll probably only see them talking on the phone or their radios for the first few eps. maybe we’ll see flashbacks or something to them being together on the holidays. the distance might be hard and they’re definitely going to be missing each other. like... el doesn’t have mike or hopper with her now and i’m thinking the party is going to be drifting apart, plus they’re both probably going to have other personal issues that have nothing to do with each other or the party. maybe they’ll be experiencing some emotional distancing of their own while dealing with the aftermath of hopper’s “death”, the move, and whatever’s going on with them at home and at school. i think that once they reunite (probably not until the last half of the season), they’re likely to be stronger than ever. 

now, onto personal theories that have zero basis. for some reason, i can’t get it out of my head that this season might dive into psychological horror a little bit ? like a greatest fears type of thing ?? and i keep thinking about brenner popping back up and using the people el loves to get to her or something and 👀👀