#caretaker nancy wheeler

[the-lark-ascending69]

Whumpee Robin with caretaker!Steve vs caretaker!Nancy

Steve would visit every day, bringing storebought food and whatever book he found at the library he thought she would like. He tries reading to her because he knows she loved reading, even if it seems she lost her interest in books or languages after being rescued.

Nancy often spends the night at Robin's house. Robin's parents are happy to see their babygirl has a girl-friend and, knowing how poorly Robin is doing, they'll let Nancy stay over whenever they ask. Nancy learns how to cook half-decently for Robin and helps her get around the house when she feels too weak to walk.

Steve isn't allowed to stay then night because he's a boy, but he'll sometimes manage to crawl through her window and be with her.

Steve ends up taking the more traditionally "femenine" role, as in, taking care of her the way a man who's not her partner rarely would: he helps her get dressed, helps her bathe, changes her bandages, shares a bed with her whenever possible. One of Robin's main love languages is physical contact, so this is a way for him to make her feel grounded and safe. They're only comfortable doing this because they're so confident in the platonic nature of their relationship, and it never really feels weird.

Robin doesn't allow Nancy do any of that. She hates the idea of being in any state of undress in front of another girl, especially Nancy, so she won't let her dress her or bathe her and will rarely let her hug her. Nancy thinks she's just shy and in a weird will-they-won't-they with Steve, which would explain why she's so physically affectionate with him. In a perfect world, she'd be like this with all of her friends, but as things are now, she feels like a predator taking advantage of Nancy if she lets her cuddle her to sleep without knowing "the truth".

Robin will hide it from Nancy when a bad movement results in open stitches because she doesn't want to accept her help, calling Steve instead.

She never calls Nancy when she needs help, only Steve, though Nancy seems to have a kind of sixth sense for when Robin needs her.

Robin gets very irritable when she's having a bad day, often snapping at her friends. Steve doesn't take it personally, but Nancy would be lying if it didn't make her tear up a little to hear Robin tell her that, if she wants to help so bad, she can start by leaving her alone.

Robin always feels guilty regarding Nancy. She hates hurting her feelings, and she hates that Nancy cares so much about her. She's convinced Nancy wouldn't even want to be near her if she knew how she truly felt.

Whenever she goes out in town with Steve, she likes to link their arms. She loves holding hands with her friends, but she stopped holding Steve's hand in public when she realized everyone kept assuming they were a couple. Still, the contact is comforting and it helps her keep her focus on better things.

Nancy tries linking arms with her and Robin only accepts to not seem weird, but she just feels tense and uncomfortable and drops Nancy as soon as she gets the chance to do so discreetly. Nancy is a little bit heartbroken by that.

Nancy worried Robin avoids her this much because she smelled her own secret: that she's in love with her.

Robin tries to cook something for Nancy as both a thank-you and an i'm-sorry, but she ends up collapsing in the kitchen and panicking when she accidentally gets burned, the pain reminding her of what happened to her. Nancy finds her on the floor, breathing rigidly and staring at a point in the distance.

Robin doesn't let Nancy sleep in her bed with her, but to this day, she still hasn't told Nancy not to sit by her side while she drifts off to sleep, humming a lullaby and gently stroking her hair. She hasn't told her to stop that yet. She's not strong enough.

[regulationhottie7905]

Hc that Jonathan and Nancy have a mutual breakup. I think similar to Steve and Nancy, they have very different goals for their lives.

Jonathan doesn’t seem to have any major drive to go to college and make his way up in the world. He’s content to live in Lenora for the rest of his life, taking care of his mom and siblings and smoking with his best friend.

Nancy wants to go to college, she wants to get out of small towns and make herself a big name in the world of journalism. I think she’s more interested in her career (and no shade to that!) Considering that she grew up without much supervision from her parents, I don’t think she ever leaned the drive to take care of her siblings like Jonathan did for hers.

Jonathan and Nancy originally bonded over being outsiders, but I think they didn’t have much in common outside of both being outsiders in Hawkins. That’s not to say they don’t care about each other- I just think they’re better off friends.

[steddiebbang]

Feels Like The First Time  |  Teen and Up |  50k

Author: @artsadvocatetrashcan

Artist: @yellowsweater-bluevest

Beta Reader: @acasualcrossfade

[Link to fic]  |  [Link to art]

Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, The Party, Joyce Byers, Jim “Chief” Hopper, Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Wayne Munson

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Gay Disaster Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Bisexual Awakening, Mutual Pining, Tattoo Artists In Training Eddie and Chrissy, Tattoo Artist Eddie Munson, kind of lol, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Are Roommates, Romantic Comedy, Alternate Universe - 50 First Dates Fusion, Platonic Soulmates Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Chrissy Cunningham & Eddie Munson Are Best Friends, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Memory Loss, Caretaker Robin Buckley, Hurt Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart

Trigger Warnings: Mental health struggles, anxiety attacks, memory loss, minor head trauma, caregiver burnout, mentions of doctors and hospitals.

↳ Keep reading below for a summary!

Eddie's lived in Hawkins long enough to know he wants to get out of there one day. He and his best friends have big plans to move out west and start a tattoo shop, but it all goes to the back of his mind when he jumps head-first into a friendship-turned-crush with Steve Harrington, who's plagued by a condition that makes him forget every day that passes by.

There's no way Steve can ever feel the same way about him, though. Right?

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential spoilers for Stranger Things Season Five!

Compiling some new Alex DMs. The first one is just amusing - Uuh huh, I’m real convinced that you’ve gotten no byler tea - and the other two are very funny.

‘Steve driving with Nancy, Jonathan, and Dustin’ - a cop-out but also confirmed, except for the Steve-as-driver bit. The rest is plausible enough - Mike being afraid Will won’t need him would be a glorious call-back to s4 mileven, except better bc of the van speech, and bc unlike mileven, byler have a dynamic where Will is receptive to Mike’s caretaking, and where Will’s decision-making is ultimately respected by Mike. The ultimate example is Mike realising that Will intended to sacrifice himself when he told them all to CLOSE GATE, but ultimately choosing to go along with it, trusting his judgement. It’s also very clear from his smug smile after “that was you guys who saved me, that was you guys” that he genuinely feels proud of protecting Will, and enjoys being his knight in rusty armour.

The byler bit in the second also seems to be building on ‘I know what he thinks, and how he thinks.” Probably fake, but good guesswork.

I do want to emphasise, here, that swiftlynatalia is getting NOTHING mileven, except that one instantly-debunkable one about Hopper still being pissed at Mike for hanging around her so much. It’s interesting - if nothing else, it shows the fandom is over it lmao.

Lastly^.

Speaking of leaks, remember this one?

heavenlymiwi on twitter found that there’s a Philkas scene where Philip - the Will parallel - kisses Lukas - the Mike parallel - while he’s unconscious in a hospital bed. We’re all aware of the Eyewitness parallels, and this is another interesting one.

https://x.com/willsxbylers/status/1758228641819808162?s=20 - other eyewitness parallels.

Finally, just to mention them here - Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Robin Buckley, and Karen Wheeler (confirmed as bi in the play The First Shadow) may all be in scenes together at this farm location. Not confirmed, as Cara is close with the Duffers and may just have flown out to celebrate their big day, but it’s fun to speculate.

This person on twitter observed that the person on the bike might be Will -

https://x.com/motherts1307/status/1758453575401734647?s=2

This injured person is also wearing those shoes, but given how popular this style seems to be - there’s a pic of someone else wearing them in Ross’s Jan 9th post - it’s still a mystery.

Ross’s Jan 9th post

My Masterpost

To clarify, I’m archiving all of this because I think that, for better or for worse, it’ll all be interesting to look back on in a few years.

[dreamwatch]

Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson | Rating: Mature | WC: 6988

Tags: Angst, Mental health issues, Depression, Cotard’s syndrome, mental institutions, protective Steve Harrington, Angst with a happy ending, recovery, caretaker Steve Harrington (full tags here)

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley, Max Mayfield, Dustin Henderson

Summary: Nobody has seen Eddie for weeks, and nasty rumours are spreading through Hawkins. When Dustin can't get any answers from Wayne Munson he turns to Steve for help.

(Read on AO3 - excerpt under the cut)

Steve’s not friends with Eddie Munson. 

Honestly? After spending four years of high school with him, he’d say he was a bit of an asshole. Eddie thought it was funny to add a ‘t’ when pronouncing Miss Cunliffe’s name. He made a spectacle of himself in the cafeteria while people were trying to have their lunch. He’d sit in the bleachers and make stupid buzzer noises every time someone on the basketball team missed a shot. Steve had actually been on the receiving end of that a couple of times himself; birds were flipped, horns were raised, it was pathetic. 

But then Henderson, Sinclair and Wheeler started high school, and it turned out that Eddie was a safe space for them. He was a walking deflection; no one gives a fuck about some nerdy freshman when Eddie’s standing in their lunch. 

And then there was the Upside Down, where Steve was proclaimed a ‘good dude’, while Eddie pushed him toward Nancy because he thought he could see a flame still burning. He was wrong, but it was nice that someone cared.

So, Eddie Munson: not really an asshole, as it turns out. Or as far as he can tell; Steve hasn’t seen him in months.

Thing is - neither has anyone else.

For a while, they thought Eddie had left Hawkins. But Max has seen him peering out from behind the curtains in his trailer, so everyone knows he’s there. Dustin stopped knocking on the door of the Munson’s trailer weeks ago, but he still calls hoping that Wayne will finally say ‘Sure, he’s right here’ instead of the usual ‘Sorry, he’s busy’. It’s a wonder the kid hasn’t been arrested for stalking.

It gets worse, because of course it does.

The new school year brings new rumours, nastier than the ones before. And Dustin, with his carbon-copy hair, and carbon-copy rings, isn’t letting them out into the world unchallenged.

The story goes that the cops got called to a ‘disturbance’ at Roane County Cemetery, and found Eddie at Chrissy’s grave trying to dig her up. No one with an ounce of sense would believe it, which means that in Hawkins it’s practically gospel.

Of course, when shit hits the fan Dustin has a way of always making it Steve’s problem. He makes Steve promise to talk to Eddie. Steve promises to try; he’s not committing to anything else. 

Max still lives in the trailer park, and the Munson’s new trailer is close to hers. She has an eagle-eye view of the comings and goings from that place. 

He drops her off one night, but she doesn’t immediately get out of the car, so he kills the engine giving her time to talk.

“I’ve seen the cops dropping him off at three o’clock in the morning, Steve. More than once. He looked awful. Like, really skinny. He was like a zombie, like he didn’t even know where he was.”

It’s not his responsibility. But going back for Nancy and Jonathan wasn’t his responsibility, and protecting the shitheads in the tunnels, or in the Russian bunker, or in the Upside Down wasn’t his responsibility. It’s never been his responsibility. But he did all those things anyway because he cared. Still does.

[brionysea]

mike wheeler's catchphrase ("are you okay?") usually gets a "yes". el and will said yes until it got so bad that they would just start explaining what's wrong, or he would figure it out. mike wasn't present to ask max, but the season 4 stock answer was typically "i'm fine," and even if they were together, mike was so burnt out from ignoring his own mental health that he needed help too (hi will), and i doubt max would have let him keep trying to neglect himself in order to baby her. they've both played the caretaker role before (even sharing it once el got hurt), so they're by definition equals.

mike seemed to get recharged near the end of season 4 by will, el, argyle, karen, and hopper, showing that they care about him (jonathan was also watching over him the whole time, as nancy pointed out at the end, but there wasn't a distinctive Moment to illustrate it because they were both obviously more focused on will). one of mike's final scenes of the season, with will, was him slipping back into a role that's reminiscent of their season 2 dynamic, so mike might be able to get back to asking the classic question again in season 5. and if he asks dustin, the answer will be "no" for the first time. dustin doesn't have the patience for that evasive bullshit.

the obvious blank space is lucas. mike's dustin-ordained best friend who challenged mike in season 1, went against his leader/dictatorship to welcome max into the party in season 2, was constantly guiding and helping mike in season 3, and spent season 4 questioning and figuring out why max was cursed. lucas is increasingly being (and to a certain point has always been) the one to come up with alternative plans when the current one is in need of correction, usually due to a lack of care towards the people it involves; so far, that's will, el, and max. if you count his plan to postpone the hellfire campaign for his basketball game, it includes himself, too.

similarly to dustin, i could see mike finally having the opportunity to ask lucas if he's okay in season 5, but that's not really the vibe i'm getting. they don't seem like they'd need or use the words to communicate that sentiment, for a start, and their whole dynamic is also predicated on lucas not quite getting mike, whether he's supporting whatever he's doing or not. if anyone's gonna turn the tables on mike, put a stop to the lack of care being extended towards him, and be the ultimate deciding factor in fixing the root issue he's spent so long ignoring, it's lucas.

[samwitcch]

just wanted to say I'm really liking this au so far, mike's character breakdown is so fun and I just wanted to thank you for a part of it! when I first read that he wasn't good with guns I deflated a little because I thought oh, it's another incompetent mike and macho will situation 😞 but the fact he's not good with guns because that's a NERF, and he's otherwise actually competent, respectable, intelligent, commanding, just - mike wheeler himself - made me really happy! that's a fun take, and I appreciated the effort in how you used the dnd charts etc too it's so cool!

it makes me look forward to the other character intros, and I already loved how sweet will looked in the party line up art even while holding a gun 😂 idk if you plan to have him only embrace the skill because it's necessary and not entirely what he likes, or something else, but I just liked that kinda contrast in the art regardless it made me giggle

oh also: "would never hesitate to do something deplorable to protect the party: family first" <- iconic. I can see the ruthlessness already I love you mike that's our leader, kind badass boy

this ask made me squeal and kick my feet like five times so thank you for that LMAO

i'm so happy that you (and others) have been enjoying the mike characterization i've put out for this au :"D i put a ton of thought into all of them and i'm having a lot of fun! mike in canon seems to be one of the most intelligent characters in the show, closely rivaled to dustin in making plans and having them go right, so him being incompetent is like an oxymoron.

there's a reason he's the leader of the group, and when people paint him as incompetent and / or babygirlified (in the "damsel, innocent, weak, must protect" sense) because he's played by finn or because he has terrible physical capabilities, it kinda makes me annoyed. so what if he's weak physically? he's still the one who actively squares up to people even when he knows he's about to get his ass beat :P he is the one who puts everything into action. his intuition and plans are correct most, if not all the time, and it pisses me off when people undermine that to try to fit him into someone who needs to be saved.

of course, in this au, his weaknesses more lie in his emotional incapabilities rather than survival. he isn't the best physically either, but that doesn't mean he can't do anything (its the apocalypse - he had to have learned something at some point).

the pressure that bears down on him in this au isn't based on society, and more related to the fact that he sees himself as the sole "caretaker" for the group. being put in charge of the lives of five other people followed by your own is scary as hell, and he doesn't really have an outlet for the pressure he faces until he enters that fwb relationship with will. that's an entirely different can of worms though so i'll stop with that for now!

i'm actually so happy that you mentioned how sweet i drew will in his design <3 will's character sheet will be posted tmrw so hopefully it will make sense why i drew him the way i did. i hope that my explanation regarding the rifle makes sense and does his character justice! him being good with guns was also a way for him to bond with lucas and explore his character a bit - it'll be explained later :O

and abt that last line regarding his ruthlessness... in all of the group's backstories, they all had people outside of the party that very much helped shape their identity and how they act. all i'll say is that mike is very much influenced by nancy in the moral compass department >:)

[thestobingirlie]

interesting thoughts about steve re: the triangle and being the boy that helps nancy relax. i agree completely.

for me, as someone who was very much into stoncy and now leans more stancy (they are so cute holy shit), i have always been fascinated with the similarities and differences between steve and jonathan.

it is so clear to me, that jonathan could never truly take care of her in the way she needs, not on his own. not as a husband (in the future). nancy is very much the caretaker in that relationship, and natalia said so herself. i do love jonathan, and he is a strong caretaker for will and joyce obviously, but when it comes to nancy—he is unfortunately a burden to her in a way that steve will never ever be *or* even let himself be. jonathan has so much emotional baggage. its heartbreaking of course but its baggage that he makes no effort to tame or heal (besides smoking i guess), and i would argue he is absolutely selfish for fostering a committed relationship with nancy and expecting her to deal with that on top of her own issues. (i do get though that teenagers are selfish naturally.) but he knows he isn’t ready to support a girlfriend, he knows that. he also has to know how much heartbreak the inevitable end of his relationship will cost her, especially since she began her relationship with him in what was arguably the most depressed point in her life in the second season. jonathan, god bless him, is self-pitying but not proactive (see: following around your girlfriend with your tail between your legs like a wet sad dog wordlessly begging its owner for food) (but hes my wet sad dog). he is her perpetually passive accomplice and while that may be appealing to nancy when she’s in tunnel vision mode, even she is shown to be resentful of his inability to step up for her. he is malewife in the absolute worse way (i promise i love you jonathan).

then let’s think about nancy’s other dumbass malewife. steve is absolutely her caretaker, and let’s be real that is what she needs, whether or not she knows it (she does deep down). i dont mean that in a “nancy can’t take care of herself” way but in a “he wants her to have fun” way! he’s got to have a ton of shit haunting his dreams at night but like ken in barbie (lmao), does not let her see his pain. he is so selfless, always making sure he can be a light presence for her, a calm easy presence. jonathan doesn’t do that. jonathan doesn’t know how to take control of a “nancy wheeler is so deep into this truth journey she might get herself killed” situation—i see the (bad) “feminist” take often that steve holds her back and jonathan supports her but that is such watered down feminism. nancy is a badass but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t put herself into danger (she does.) and jonathan isn’t a feminist hero for supporting her dangerous endeavors (though ofc most of her endeavors save everyone’s ass).

any way: essay complete. i just really am falling deeper and deeper in love with stancy because i realize that nancy, as my favorite character, needs taking care of! like noooo one takes good care of her! let her bejeweled (taylor swift ref lmfao)!

i think what it comes down to for me, is that jonathan’s priority will always be will, and nancy deserves someone who will prioritise her.

jonathan’s gone through a lot of abuse, he’s been majorly parentified. he doesn’t put his own happiness first, and i think as a result, he doesn’t put nancy’s first. he thinks they’ll both be miserable and hate each other and their kids in the future, but he’s still with her. because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”. and i really, really don’t see him working through that anytime soon. especially not if he’s still in a relationship with nancy.

but steve. he makes her laugh! even in terrible times. we see this calming and happy effect that he has on her in s4. he tries. even if it wasn’t enough when nancy was deep in her grief. he was trying.

like you said, nancy deserves to be swept off her feet and romanced. for someone to want to take care of her. for someone to want a future together, instead of resent one.

i think it’s insane to say it’s anti-feminist to ever question a woman lmao. steve wants nancy to be safe, that means he doesn’t always like her plans. her plans often put herself and others in danger because she gets all in her head. i think she needs someone to stand up, and lay out what might be wrong with the plan. to go toe to toe with her.

(and the irony of people criticising steve for not immediately liking nancy’s plan in s4 when that plan did not work lmao. two people died. and neither of them was vecna.)

obviously all three of them are imperfect. they’re teenagers! they’ll fuck up and do harsh things. but what matters is that they care about each other. steve cares about nancy, so he laid out his feelings, and stepped back. jonathan cares about nancy, and he kept secrets, didn’t explain to her what he was feeling, and allowed this… resentment almost, to fester. he’s an avoider! it doesn’t mean he’s a terrible person, but it does mean he shouldn’t be in a relationship.

[the-lark-ascending69]

lumaxramblings here (it's a sideblog so !!!) and thank u for the nancy whump, you've done the people a service <3 ouch. shit. fuck. that shit hurted <33

nancy's recovery must be pretty hard huh

@lumaxramblings !! Omg hii! I'm so happy you liked it i was worried it would be a bit too much/unasked for lol. But yes I love whump, I love ronance whump, regardless of who is in the whumpee/caretaker role. Robin and Nancy in canon have this dynamic in which Robin is kinda looking to Nancy for comfort, sacurity and guidance and Nancy is happy to provide that, so it's kinda intuitive to imagine whumpee Robin and caretaker Nancy but... whumpee Nancy just hits all the best notes too, because she's already gone through so much pain... Robin would be an amazing caretaker and exactly the person Nancy needs at the moment.

Nancy's recovery is a very rocky process indeed. Her whole family left when they thought she died, and the rest of the party still kept intermitent contact with Mike for some time, but I think that at some point the Wheelers must have changed their number without much regard for Mike and his friends and effectively cut short any way for Steve and Robin to contact them, so she's pretty much an orphan right now. Her mom and dad left. Doesn't help much. Though the kids (now entering highschool) are so excited to see her, especially Dustin, who always thought Nancy was really cool and is super happy to see her, but the three of them genuinely cry when they get her back. It's actually pretty overwhelming for her. Though I'm getting ahead of myself.

During the first day after her rescue Nancy is kinda like.. floating. Kinda peacefully going along with whatever Robin and Steve suggest. It's just the three of them in Robin's cozy little house in the outskirts of town. The doctor said she needed rest so Robin acts like a tiny helicopter parent always fluttering around her making sure she's well-fed and helping her get around the house, trying to keep her in bed most of the time and doing everything she can to keep her entertained. Afaik according to the book Robin doesn't own much technology other than her walkman and her language and music tapes, and her parents have a record player, so that's pretty much everything she has to offer Nancy, but listening to her parents' old Fleetwood Mac albums on repeat may not be the most entertaining activity for Nancy, so she offers her books instead - she even offers to read for her the ones in other languages, but Nancy seems uninterested in music and books. When she doesn't react to Robin's suggestions, Steve says she's overwhelming her, which is true, but really Nancy has become so accustomed to lying still in her cell with zero stimulation, that it doesn't even bother her anymore.

It's towards the end of the day that it dawns on Nancy that she's not dreaming, that they found her and brought her back and now she's in a strange girl's bed recovering from a few broken bones, soft and warm and safe for the first time in years. She unintentionally wakes Robin up in the middle of the night when she begins to sob. Robin doesn't know if something hurts or if she's having some sort of flashback or panic attack, and she can only think of holding her hands to ground her, but Nancy doesn't want to be touched. When Steve shows up and tries to hug her, she flinches away. She's crying why, why, why? As if she didn't understand why they took her away from her captors. Robin tries making some tea for her, but Nancy doesn't drink it. They wonder if she needs space, but when Steve asks her if she wants to be alone, Nancy holds onto his and Robin's hands so tightly they conclude she's asking for company, so they stay awake all night, next to her. She stops crying at 4am, and stares at the closed window until 8am, when she finally falls asleep. It's only been one day and it's already exhausting.

Steve and Robin wouldn't have it any other way though.

[california-munson]

Fireworks (steddie x ofmc)

A/N: heyyyy! this is my first Stranger Things fanfic ever/the first fic i've written in 11 years! i used to write magcon fanfiction (ew) as a child on wattpad/quotev and have lacked all inspiration to get back into creative writing since attending college (ew again). but! i'm a graduate, the world is going to shit, and i need a form of escapism so...here i am!!! back at it again!!!

this is the product of my delusions that were born out of two very different series; Magnolia Parks and Stranger Things, which I read/rewatched in the same span of time. i'm very new to publishing on tumblr so please, bear with me. i don't know how to format on here to save my life!!! nevertheless, i hope you enjoy, thank you for reading!!

Summary: A Steddie fic with an original female main character. Friends to lovers trope, love triangle, lots of drama. Not sure really where I'm going with the 100% but I'm laying the groundwork here!

CW: abandonment, substance abuse (alcohol and prescription drugs), death of a parent (Eddie’s mother), grief and childhood trauma, neglect, mental health struggles, Child caretaking/parentification, mentions of overdose, drugs, alcohol, classism, infidelity, child abandonment

_____________________________________________________________

Fireworks: A Steddie Fic

Chapter 1

Ruby

I fell in love with Eddie Munson when I was four years old.

It wasn’t hard to do. When the doe-eyed curly haired boy ran up to me introducing himself as my neighbor Steve’s best friend, my long standing crush on Steve Harrington evaporated like a popsicle in the sun. Eddie, with his crooked smile and wild curls, had me all giggles and sparkles. I found every reason to be at the Harringtons after that. 

Steve and I met three years prior, on the day my family moved from the chaotic buzz of New York City to the sleepy suburb of Hawkins, Indiana. It was January 2003, bone-cold, and Steve was outside building a snowman when we pulled up in a pair of enormous moving trucks. He had rosy cheeks and a self-assured grin that didn’t match his missing front tooth. He looked at me and my older sister Delaney and announced, “I’m Steve, king of Hawkins Elementary.”

Laney and I burst into laughter. The kind that makes your stomach hurt. The kind that feels like a promise. From that day on, Steve was mine. My honorary brother. My first real friend. He was also Laney’s age, a full year and a half older than me, but he never made me feel small. Steve and I spent our days outside, playing hide and seek until sunset, climbing trees so high we thought we could touch the clouds, and launching ourselves into piles of snow we’d built beneath our favorite limbs.

In a house full of girls, Steve became the brother I had prayed for during the arrival of my baby sister Stella, who was just eight months old during our arrival to Hawkins. 

Come springtime, I had begged my parents to let me join the boys baseball team along with Steve, but they wouldn’t allow it. Instead, they enrolled Laney and I into ballet, where we met the quiet, kind, and whip-smart Nancy Wheeler. Nancy’s baby brother Mike was the same age as Stella, so we bonded over the trials and tribulations of older sisterhood.

Nancy was born exactly halfway between me and Laney, and fit nicely into our sisterhood. The house felt more complete with her as she played mediator and mentor to both Laney and I. Bonding with Nancy was easy; we were all older sisters, all balancing between wanting to grow up fast and wishing we didn’t have to.

While Laney, Nancy and I were bonding at ballet, Steve was thrown into t-ball, where he met Eddie. Eddie was chaos wrapped in charm. Where Steve was polished and popular, Eddie was rough around the edges, with dirt under his fingernails and scabs he wore like trophies.

Despite their differences, they clicked immediately. The golden boy and the wild card. It made sense in a way only childhood friendships can. A rambunctious child so different from Steve, the opposite boys attracted naturally out of curiosity, and a friendship was born.

It was a few weeks after the baseball season started that Steve invited Eddie home for pizza after practice. And that’s when Eddie Munson met me.

I was playing on the front steps of the Harringtons’ porch, braiding my doll’s hair and waiting for Steve to come home when the two of them came running up the driveway.

Eddie spotted me right away and peeled off from Steve, running up with his hand stretched out like I was someone worth meeting. He made me feel special before he even said a word to me.

“Hi, I’m Eddie, I’m Steve’s best friend,” he said, breathless, hair and dirt sticking to his forehead from practice, eyes lit up like a kid who just won a prize.

I stood, hands on my hips, chin raised. “Actually, I’m Steve’s best friend.”

Eddie blinked at me, then grinned like I’d just said the funniest thing in the world. “Well, we can both be, if you want,” he said, undeterred. “And then maybe we can be best friends too.”

I squinted at him, sizing him up. He had bandages on both knees, the laces on his sneakers were uneven, and his curls stuck out in every direction like they had a mind of their own. He looked like trouble. The fun kind. The kind of boy you’d want to get in trouble with.

“Hmm…okay. I’m Ruby. I live next door,” I said, sticking out my hand like my mother and father had told me to do when meeting new people.

He shook it, grinning ear to ear. “Ruby,” he repeated like it was the most beautiful name he’d ever heard. “I like that name.”

And that’s how my friendship with Eddie began, a small argument over who was Steve Harrington’s best friend, followed by a simple handshake, and Eddie Munson became a permanent fixture in my life. 

Eddie fit in right alongside us, always. Jumping in snow piles until our fingers were numb, climbing trees so high the adults would yell, staying out until the sun dipped below the Hawkins skyline and our parents were calling from porches with flashlights in hand.

Summers were filled with popsicles and scraped knees, and winters were snowball fights, cocoa mustaches, and frozen toes tucked into each other’s sleeping bags during late-night sleepovers in the Harringtons' den.

We became quite the trio. We did everything together…homework, birthday parties, sleepovers. From the outside, we must’ve looked like an odd bunch…Steve, the golden boy with a million-watt smile and hair that somehow always looked perfect. Eddie, the wild child with scraped knees and comic books falling out of his backpack. And me, the girl in the middle, always tagging along and somehow always leading the charge.

They were my partners in crime when we were small, especially when it came to tormenting Laney, Nancy, and their sweet friend Barbara. Eddie, Steve and I loved a good prank. Fake spiders in ballet bags, walkie-talkie ghost stories played through vents, water balloons launched from tree forts. We had the time of our little lives hearing my sister’s scream from another room or down the stairs.

When I started school at Hawkins Elementary, I was nervous. Kindergarten is so daunting when you’re a skinny kid with big glasses. But Steve and Eddie made sure no one messed with me or Laney. They ran a kind of playground justice system. Steve was the good cop, offering stern lectures and well-reasoned logic to any kid dumb enough to push us around. Eddie was the bad cop; brash, bold, and very willing to threaten a punch to the face (though he never actually followed through).

I helped the boys in return with homework…math worksheets, book reports, whatever they needed. I was always the brain of the operation, and they were more than happy to use that to their advantage. I didn’t mind. That’s just how we were. Always there for each other. Through thick and thin.

And boy, things sure did get thick.

By the end of summer 2003, Eddie’s mom Elizabeth suddenly passed away. It was like the sun went out in his world. Eddie’s dad, Al Munson, already teetering on the edge of uselessness, disappeared completely; grief-stricken, irresponsible, maybe just selfish. He left Eddie high and dry.

That’s when Eddie’s Uncle Wayne stepped in. A quiet man with rough hands and tired eyes, but a heart that knew how to love even when it hurt. Eddie moved in with Uncle Wayne to the trailer park. That’s when we met Veronica Ecker, Ronnie for short. 

Ronnie lived in the trailer park Wayne lived in with her grandma. Seemingly the smarter, quieter female version of Eddie, she fit right into the friend group. She was tall, taller than Steve and Eddie, quiet, and sharp as glass. Where I was warmth, she was cool steel.

Ronnie had Steve’s athletic edge and Eddie’s geeky flair, diving headfirst into Dungeons & Dragons with him while also out-running Steve in races through the woods. Ronnie was standoffish with me at first, like she couldn’t quite figure me out, or maybe didn’t trust what she saw. I was the little rich girl, in a princess dress constantly but trying to keep up with the boys. But I knew she cared.

On one particularly unfortunate hike, I stupidly wore plastic Cinderella heels. When I got stuck at the creek, she hoisted me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried me across. She didn’t say a word about it. Just rolled her eyes and muttered, “You’re lucky I’m nice.”

That was Ronnie.

Childhood was filled with memories like that. Fireflies in jars, chalk drawings on sidewalks, blanket forts in basements, endless bike rides through Hawkins with our tires kicking up dust and laughter trailing behind us.

The core was always the same: me, Steve, and Eddie. The three musketeers. We were tethered to one another in a way no one else quite understood. Even when Nancy, Barb, Laney, or Ronnie joined in, it always felt like it came back to us three.

As we got older, things began to shift.

People began to notice Eddie’s last name more than his laugh. The legacy of his father clung to him like smoke. Adults would whisper. Mothers would steer their children away. Steve’s parents, who had once welcomed Eddie into their home like another son, began looking at him differently. 

Eddie was from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’, with a convict, absent father and an overworked uncle who did his absolute best to raise Eddie right. He was trouble. He was the rotten apple. I saw the way Steve’s parents started to look at Eddie.

I heard the whispers between my mother and the other concerned mothers of Hawkins that would stop her in the grocery store or the library to talk about her daughter’s association with ‘that Munson kid’. Steve and I were born into wealth, and that alone made us “promising.” That alone made us “worth saving.” 

But Steve and I didn’t care. We happily rode our bikes to the Munson house when Al came back for brief stretches, and happily rode them to the trailer park to Uncle Wayne’s when he would leave Eddie just as quickly as he had come.

Eddie was our friend. Our person. And we knew what the adults couldn’t see: that Hawkins was better with Eddie Munson in it.

Plus, it wasn’t much later that my own family would crumble and fail.

My parents, Julian and Violetta Rivera, were never meant to be parents. My father Julian was the son of a successful Puerto Rican musician, always enjoying a life of wealth, excess and fame, being handed his role as record producer and songwriter (though regrettably, he is very talented, hence the aforementioned wealth). But a father? Not even close. My mother, Violetta, was an Irish model who’d met him at a club in New York when she was nineteen. Four months after meeting, she was pregnant with Delaney. 

Five months later, they were married in a lavish, last-minute ceremony fueled by Catholic guilt and societal pressure, like a couple of BYU students who live by the ‘ring before spring’ motto. Laney was born, healthy and beautiful, and I followed suit just a year and three days after my sister, in the good year of 1998. 

They never loved each other. Their marriage was a transaction...he had money, she had beauty. And when Laney was born, they tried to make it work. When I followed a year later, they kept trying.

It was my father’s cheating that drove us out of New York City and to Hawkins. My mother’s grandparents had settled here after immigrating from Ireland, and my mother had fond memories of visiting them when she was a kid.

All she wanted was to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and give her girls a good, honest childhood in Midwest suburbia…and physically distance my father from the growing harem of groupies and college girls he had been keeping in his company. 

It was good for a few years…six to be exact. And then one day, Stella, Laney and I came home to a half empty house and our drunk, sobbing mom, telling us dad had left to go back to New York for his 22 year old girlfriend. 

It was devastating. My father’s vanishing act did a number on me and my sisters, but what was worse was watching my mother’s descent into alcoholism and prescription pill addiction. Laney completely checked out, basically moving into the Wheelers, leaving me to care for Stella alone…alone with the help of Eddie.

Eddie was used to chaos. Eddie understood. He knew what it meant to be left behind. He knew the ache of an empty house. He was used to the cops showing up looking for his father, used to making himself breakfast, lunch and dinner, used to the whispers and stares that came with being the spawn of a Munson. He knew the exhaustion of pretending you were fine.

When I called him in tears after having to carry my mom to bed and burning Stella’s grilled cheese, he rode his bike over, taught me how to properly toast the bread on the stove top (low flame, lots of butter, and patience), and told me I was the best big sister ever. And I believed him.

Steve was still there, of course. But his life was changing too. He was getting serious about sports, winning trophies, catching the eye of every girl in school. He was still my best friend, my brother, my constant. I was proud of him.

But something about him was already standing on higher ground. While Eddie and I were on sinking ships, Steve was out of the water, on the sand, enjoying a life of promise and praise. It wasn’t that he wasn’t still my best friend, my neighbor, my brother…it was just different. 

There were moments where I needed Steve and he was there. When we came into the house and found my mother unconscious, a bottle of pills in one hand, a handle of spilled vodka next to her, Steve was the one that called 911. When my mother forgot to pay the electric bill, it was Steve who got his dad to loan her the money until my dad sent us some.

When my sisters and I came home from school to a wad of cash and a note from our mother that said she was going to rehab in Switzerland and would be back ‘when she was up for it’, it was twelve year old Steve who stole his mom’s station wagon to carefully drive us to the grocery store to fill our fridge. 

Steve was always there, standing on land, trying to pull our sinking ship in with a piece of rotting driftwood.

We were kids. And we were doing our best. Clinging to each other, building a family out of the pieces our real ones left behind. And somehow, despite it all, we made it beautiful.

Hawkins may not have been perfect, but it was ours. And the memories…those long summers, late-night sleepovers, secret handshakes, whispered dreams under blanket forts…those were real. We were real.

Me, Steve, and Eddie. Always.

Until we weren’t.

It’s funny, in retrospect. The three of us - me, Steve, and Eddie - were tangled up from the beginning. We were kids playing at friendship, not realizing the foundation we were building would hold so many years of love and loss, laughter and heartbreak.

Because what started as a squabble over who got to be Steve Harrington’s best friend?

Would end with Steve and Eddie’s friendship breaking apart over who got to be the love of my life.

But that came later, much later. 

[female-woman-wiffman-lass]

I like yours better, let's switch

Jonathan Byers, who was made into a caretaker, had to take care of his brother, cook and clean while his mom was working. Then he himself had to work, and shoulder burdens for his mother. Turns out and presents as an Alpha. Man of the house, it feels right. Or it's supposed to.

Nancy Wheeler, pink and pastels, straight A's straight path, girl. Curly hair, and big eyes. She was the girl next door, the nerd girl you'd find a delight, with laughter like tinkling bells. She's an Omega. It makes sense. To everyone except Nancy Wheeler.

Steve Harrington, jock extraordinaire, hairy chest and biceps. Gets into fights and is the kids protector. A ladies man, a cassanova. Is an Omega. Everyone is absolutely baffled, but Steve knows he's perfect. He likes it.

Steve loves them both, and just like them, was absolutely baffled at the presentation. Laughs about it, patting their backs going, "I really thought it would be the other way around." And in some event or another, of them getting closer and admitting their feelings over it, Steve has a thought.

Not sure if it's a good thought but it's there. He wants his friends happy, and he wants them to feel good the way he does in is own skin. So, he proposes. Studding and bitching. Respectively.

Steve, during a hangout with both of them, apropos to nothing, he blurts it out. "Ha– have any of you thought of bitching?" And like, Jonathan, high out of his mind, admits that he's thought of it. Thought of going through that with an alpha. But answers, "but.. I don't think I'd go for just any alpha. And after all, I have Nancy.. and you, I guess." Jonathan shakes his head, straightening up on the couch, "and neither of you are alphas." He winces, turning to Nancy, "no offense." He smiles sadly, it honestly feels hopeless.

Nancy, although her face gone a little sour, pats him on the thigh. Then looks back to Steve, curious as to why he went and picked such a topic, "why do you ask, Steve?"

Steve smiles. He doesn't know when all three of them have grown close, when it didn't feel like he was intruding. He got to know Jonathan better. Loved hanging out with him and how happy Nancy was. Not just watching her with Jonathan but realizing how she's giddy with him too. With Jonathan.

He's not really sure how it progressed to this. To ease and to be ushered in, but he's not really thinking about that. He's thinking of the implications, and the fact that he can help. "Have you thought of studding?"

Nancy, the one with all the sense, catching on so quickly it makes Steve breathless at how well she knows him, "and how will we work it out?" Straight to the point. Or maybe she's thought of ths too.

Jonathan all bleary eyed, darts his gaze back and forth between the two of them, trying to catch on to what they were somehow telepathically communicating about, "am I..missing something here?" He gestures vaguely.

Steve, the cheeky thing, puts his hand in Jonathan's thigh, like how Nancy did, but slides it up, trying to reassure him that whatever it is, it isn't bad, "how do you feel about getting bitched, Jonny?" Steve is literally the only one who can call him that.

He blushes, but still unsure of where this is going, "uhh, what?"

Steve can't help but giggle, making Nancy sigh in exasperation, and begins to try and explain Steve's ridiculous, although very simple solution, "Steve studs me and I bitch you."

Jonathan's jaw drops, eyes wide and looking between two of them in awe, "woah."

"I know, right!" Steve bursts in giddy delight, making Nancy chuckle.

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

Many Ways, Many Days, to Say 'I Love You'

by morningberries

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Argyle (Stranger Things), Gareth (Stranger Things), Jeff (Stranger Things), Vickie (Stranger Things) Additional Tags: Eddie Munson Lives, Post-Season/Series 04, Fix-It, 5+1 Things, POV Eddie Munson, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Slow Burn, Sexual Tension, Bathing/Washing, Caretaking, Healing, Massage, Awkward Boners, Literal Sleeping Together, Accidental Cuddling, Fourth of July, House Party, Drinking, Body Shots, Spin the Bottle, Virgin Eddie Munson, Play Fighting, bros being bros, Just Kidding It's All Very Homoerotic, Accidental Orgasm, kind of, Dry Humping, Coming Untouched, Coming In Pants, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, boys in makeup, Crossdressing, It's very minor though, Light Angst, barely, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Eventual Relationships, Smut, 1986 is Eddie Munson's Year, Porn With Plot, The Fight For Dominance in the Bedroom, Oh No They're Both Tops, what will they do?, Top Steve Harrington, Power Bottom Eddie Munson, That's What They'll Do, Power Dynamics, Blow Jobs, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Friends to Lovers, EDDIE MUNSON WEARS A G-STRING, FOR THOSE IN THE BACK, Under-negotiated Kink, Nipple Clamps, Explicit Sexual Content, Unsafe Sex, Creampie, Happy Ending, Complete Words: 25,970 Chapters: 6/6

Summary

“You trying to get me naked, Steve?” Eddie asks, heart in throat because he has a creeping suspicion that Steve is actually about to get him naked. He suddenly wishes it hasn’t been months since he last trimmed his pubes, because it’s already been a week since his last proper washing at the hospital. No, it couldn’t just be one or the other. What a dumpster fire. OR Five times Steve Harrington oversteps the boundaries of a normal friendship, one time Eddie Munson does something about it.

[steddiebang]

When it feels like Heaven, I wanna bare my teeth | E | 110,690 words

Author: @vicecapitain on Tumblr / @vicecaptain5 on Twitter / @vicecryptid on IG Artist: @stacetanicpanic on Tumblr / Linktree Beta Reader: @suitupbatman on AO3 / @thesewingskeepmesafe on Tumblr Beta Reader: @kaspurrcat on Tumblr / @kaspurrcat on Twitter

Legend has it that in the depths of Shades State Park once dwelled a bat-like being said to steal people away. Now a mysterious stone effigy lies dormant in the forest, believed to be the creature trapped in slumber. If you perform the proper ritual you will see one wish come true, however, were you to fail or disrespect the entity, a curse will befall you and you will be snatched in the night. That’s the myth of the Shades Snatcher.

Dustin Henderson believes the legend. And has a wish.

In hopes to save Hawkins orphanage, his home, he reaches out to the Snatcher, unaware there’s more to the tale than an urban legend. Like a cryptid that can take human form who they decide to keep and name Eddie. Despite their caretaker Steve’s reservations, he too grows fond of the creature.A story about found family, love, the meaning of being human, and the one rule to the universe: what you give comes back to you.

Change is some kind of death.

[Fic (Art Included)]  |  [Art(Banner)] | 

Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Background Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson, Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair, Eleven, Barbara Holland, Chrissy Cunningham, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Jason Carver, Jason’s goons, Corroded Coffin guys. Tags: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down, Cryptid Eddie, Caretaker Steve, Hurt/comfort, Found Family, Animal/Feral Creature Characteristics, Temporary Character Death, Minor Character Death (mentioned), Period Typical Homophobia, Homophobic Slurs, Mentions of Hate Crime, Jealousy, Human/Monster Romance, Monster Fucking, Top Steve Harrington, Bottom Eddie Munson, Wing Kink, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Mutual Pining. Trigger Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Homophobic Slurs, Mentions of Hate Crime

[vicecapitain]

When it feels like Heaven, I wanna bare my teeth | E | 110,690 words

Author: @vicecapitain on Tumblr / @vicecaptain5 on Twitter / @vicecryptid on IG Artist: @stacetanicpanic on Tumblr / Linktree Beta Reader: @suitupbatman on AO3 / @thesewingskeepmesafe on Tumblr Beta Reader: @kaspurrcat on Tumblr / @kaspurrcat on Twitter

Legend has it that in the depths of Shades State Park once dwelled a bat-like being said to steal people away. Now a mysterious stone effigy lies dormant in the forest, believed to be the creature trapped in slumber. If you perform the proper ritual you will see one wish come true, however, were you to fail or disrespect the entity, a curse will befall you and you will be snatched in the night. That’s the myth of the Shades Snatcher.

Dustin Henderson believes the legend. And has a wish.

In hopes to save Hawkins orphanage, his home, he reaches out to the Snatcher, unaware there’s more to the tale than an urban legend. Like a cryptid that can take human form who they decide to keep and name Eddie. Despite their caretaker Steve’s reservations, he too grows fond of the creature. A story about found family, love, the meaning of being human, and the one rule to the universe: what you give comes back to you.

Change is some kind of death.

[Fic (Art Included)]  |  [Art (Banner)] |

Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Background Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson, Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair, Eleven, Barbara Holland, Chrissy Cunningham, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Jason Carver, Jason's goons, Corroded Coffin guys. Tags: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down, Cryptid Eddie, Caretaker Steve, Hurt/comfort, Found Family, Animal/Feral Creature Characteristics, Temporary Character Death, Minor Character Death (mentioned), Period Typical Homophobia, Homophobic Slurs, Mentions of Hate Crime, Jealousy, Human/Monster Romance, Monster Fucking, Top Steve Harrington, Bottom Eddie Munson, Wing Kink, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Mutual Pining. Trigger Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Homophobic Slurs, Mentions of Hate Crime

[sterlingpeggy]

Cant believe people are pushing this "bottom nancy wheeler" agenda when evidence proves the contrary

You lot aint seen the clip of nat where she says that nancy thinks steve and johnathan are the caretakers? I have.

Nancy 'strapped, buckshot to the balls' Wheeler, wears the pants. this is so important to me.

She is SO boyfriend and you WONT convince me otherwise

Anyway stan ronance

[wheelercore]

Thinking about the popular anti-christ movies and the names of the mothers involved. With all the mentions of the "spawn of satan" in st im surprised that The Devils Advocate is the only movie on the inspo board and not Rosemarys Baby or The Omen. But The Changeling isnt on the inspo board either and the Creel home is FULL of references to it.

I think the Changeling plays into the concept of the anti christ in The Omen very well, and there might have been a Rosemarys Baby reference in The Changeling as well but its a bit of a stretch. Both The Changeling and The Omen tell a story that starts with two boys being switched- one is an orphan ("Edward"?) and one is a boy born to a "normal" family (Henry?). In the Omen, the orphan boy is the Antichrist, the spawn of satan (read that with Victors voice). The Changeling doesn't have those sort of antichrist connotations but i do think this possible reference to Rosemarys Baby is interesting:

(both find a secret passage to secret room in their new home behind shelves leading them towards the child they are trying to find)

All this switching talk makes me think of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) which directly references switching lives/places with someone else... which is an interesting choice of song for s4

But also the concept of children not being born evil and that the caretakers of the children should look in the mirror at themselves is very strong in ST. Its also something that stuck in the back of my mind while watching The Omen, how this little 5 year old boy is hated and looked down upon by his caretakers while just... acting like a emotionally distressed 5 year old boy ("she always hated me"). I understand with the context he is the AntiChrist(tm) but st always subverts.

Regardless, I find it very interesting the name of the mothers on these movies and possible references in ST:

In The Devils Advocate, there is Alice Lomax, who slept with John Milton (Satan) once as a young girl and had Kevin Lomax (the son of Satan). She is a very christian woman.

In the Indianapolis Gazette, Edward's mother's name is Alice.

The funny thing is that the antichrist isnt Kevin in this movie but Kevin's prospective son that Milton wanted him to have with his half sister (🤮).

In The Omen, Damien's (lil antichrist kid) mother was a jackal buried under the name Maria Scianna, which translates to Mary of the Shadows, which makes sense given the whole "dark version of the virgin mary" thing going on here. Similar to Rosemary Woodhouse in Rosemary's Baby and Mary-Ann (Kevin's wife), who had a shitton of RB references attatched to her.

Rosemary Woodhouse brings me to Robin Rose Weaver and Nancy Ruth Walker, both having the exact same intials as RB, with Robins hair actually styled to look like a combination of s2/3 Karen and Virginia (Karens bangs and Virginias bob) with the charactersitic pink-white-blue color scheme of female conformity mostly associated with mothers

With Robyn even saying that shes looks like shes coming from an Easter brunch, which again more Christian mom subtext. Not only that but Christian mom subtext visiting a psychiatric hospital re: Virginia in the show planning to have Henry sent away to Brenner, Karen promising to not let Mike go at the end of s4, but also Billys mom with the big rose on her shirt abandoning him.

Which is a common theme amongst some of the movies above- mothers rejecting their son, upon finding out that they are "evil". The final lines of Rosemarys Baby:

You're trying to get me to be his mother

Also The Omen:

(therapist talking about Kathy, Damien's adoptive mother who doesn't know that he's not actually her biological son)

Which, I know I've mentioned this a gazillion times, but why does the rose-y urn that has been in the Wheeler home suddenly change during the earthquake in s4? Why is the Wheeler home full of references/callbacks to the stuff in the Creel home in Henrys unreliable memories, which is seemingly different to when the gang actually visit it in the show (different wallpaper, missing doorway, etc)?