#duffer brothers stop doing this

[navnae]

I know it would’ve been way out for character for the show to keep in “I guess we woke up Vecna” but it would’ve been so cute. Steve and Eddie dying of laughter because they think it’s the funniest thing while Nancy and Robin give the confused looks. That would leave the door wide open for Steve and Eddie to open up and be silly around each other, it’s all about them growing close during this nightmare. Also Steve would finally have someone to share his trauma with, he’s probably talked to the group about how felt before but Eddie would be a new face that he could share his experience with. Then Eddie would feel comfortable enough to open up about how going into the upside down made him feel also. Little things like that would’ve made sense for them especially since we barely get that loving male friendship that isn’t between brothers or the kids. Let Steve get this weight off his shoulders by leaning on a guy his age, there’s nothing wrong with it so why didn’t it happen. I’ve said this a thousand times even if nothing romantic would’ve happened it’s normal for men to be vulnerable around each other because that’s what friends are supposed to do, be your rock when you’re not strong.

I feel like I’m repeating myself but I can’t stress this point enough and it makes me angry.

[gayofthefae]

In a fight with Mike, El begs him to tell her he loves her and calls herself a monster. That fight is not about Mike or their failing romance; it is about her hating herself. It isn't about Mike; she wants it to be from Mike but it isn't about him. She believes that she is an unlovable monster and she just needs someone to tell her "you are not a monster, people have flaws and that is okay. I acknowledge that and still say: I love you." And guess what, her prayers have been answered:

"You speak of monsters and superheroes. That's the stuff of myth and fairytales. Reality, truth, is rarely so simple. People are not so easily defined." "I care[d] for you; I love[d] you."

And it is the most disgusting thing in the show. I have watched scissors in a back, burning flesh, rats explode into goo and eat people's faces. That is the most disgusting thing in the show.

And they know it. Because that's the point. She is disgusted by it. And it causes her to realize what she thought she needed was actually just what she wanted and she doesn't actually need it at all. She is fine without it and she can leave. It is a wake up call for her. And she does just that. She leaves. She leaves knowing her worth and she is lovable enough that she doesn't need him to love her, she can do it herself.

I've talked before about the many usages of "love" leading up to Mike's - Jason to Chrissy, Nancy and Jonathan, Max signing her letter to Billy, Jonathan to Will - but none of those actually matter too much in how it affects his words.

It doesn't matter that other people have already said it. It matters that El has already heard it by the time she gets Mike. And it is exactly what she wanted to hear. And she hated it.

Mike's words mean nothing now. Because if Brenner can say them and believe it, Anyone can. "I love you" is no longer some great feat. It's something you can be wrong about with your whole chest. Because they cracked open the door, made Brenner an easier to swallow gateway and said "Remember: nobody ever said it had to be true. They just said he had to say it."

[maddy-ferguson]

controversial opinion but i dont think the duffers set up byler well, lets be real most of the fandom outside of our echo chamber doesn't think byler is going to become canon. and like idk but i agree that they should have at least broken up mlvn and resolved the monologue issue (preferably not include it even) if they were going for the byler route. same for will's importance or even mike's importance for the plot. removing them from the show's main narrative doesn't make a good case for their importance in the story in the penultimate, esp when they received minimum screentime in this season. it's not the audience's fault to think mlvn is endgame or will or mike are unimportant when the way they've been handled were lackluster and when cali plot.... Was Like That. plus they gave it all to el's character lol. ofc ppl gonna think she's the protagonist when she was the one who opened the gate and created vecna and when mike spends the entire season talking about her. redpill but it's not making much sense here when the narrative is criticized in the byler fandom, acting like the writers did a perfect job in terms of setup is just being wilfully blind atp.

i think people not expecting it is the point though. like yeah it's obvious because when they did the same thing on a smaller scale with nancy's love triangle at the end of season 1 (her spending most of the season with jonathan them bonding and her and steve fighting but then still being together in the epilogue) most people could see that jonathan and nancy were gonna be together and not one person was called delusional for thinking that. but i really think the juxtaposition is the point, it's a queer couple so even with a similar storyline people don't expect it because of heteronormativity etc which is kind of depressing but it's also what's gonna make it happening even better...#imho

for the monologue, obviously i don't ENJOY IT but i don't hate it because i think it's interesting for el? whether you think she believed him or not, whether or not you think she was gonna break up with him at sbp, i think having him tell her he loves her makes it so no one can be like "but if mike had said he loved her everything would've been fine!" i like them going all the way in that sense. i think it's good for us as an audience to have that, this way there's no what ifs. it makes it apparent that their relationship couldn't be fixed by mike saying i love you and also that their fight in lenora wasn't only about mike and about their relationship, like mike never thought she was a monster that was all el, and him telling her that she's not a monster won't fix that internal struggle for her. and it also won't help her grow beyond the monster/superhero dichotomy.

i don't like will and mike being away from the supernatural plot either but yk i do think it's because they're important for the resolution of that storyline and that that's also supposed to come as a surprise. for mike well i don't actually know that he is, but i certainly know will is and i think they did set that up pretty well. he's not in episode 7 but they reveal that the upside down is frozen on the day he disappeared, he's in hawkins for five minutes but the season ends with him talking about his connection to vecna and everyone and their mother is reminded of the fact that will is a vital part of the supernatural plot. people don't necessarily think he's gonna be the key to resolving the upside down and vecna thing for good (no matter what that looks like, i'm expecting it to be both el and will because it kind of is the el show + we'll fix it together + lucas and erica (siblings) being the mvps of the basketball game and the dnd game that has a lot of foreshadowing in episode 1 etc) because el's the one who's always done it pretty much by herself...but it's also never worked. not for long anyway. i would say that like byler (but not as shocking because it's not someone assumed to be straight turning out to be gay) it's supposed to make people go oh why have i never thought of that of course will would be an integral part of the ud resolution this makes so much sense!!! when it happens. and characters also always expect el to be the one to fix it just like they don't expect byler to happen. meta.

and again i don't LOVE mike and will's thing being the conversational roadtrip only in season 4, but i get why they did it like i see the vision. i see where you're coming from and i agree that most people not seeing byler coming isn't necessarily their fault (even though i said it's similar to nancy's s1 triangle and everyone expected it then. nancy never gave steve an i love you i've loved you forever i'll love you forever speech, major difference), i really think it's NOT supposed to be that obvious. even though it is kind of. i get wishing they had broken up mlvn in volume 2 and i certainly would've liked not having to see bylers be called delusional 24/7 but i think mlvn breaking up would've made byler endgame wayy too obvious and if they wanted it to be obvious to the girls that get it only i think they've accomplished that. same with will and the supernatural plot. and everyone is free to not like it still, i just don't think that means the set up isn't good.

very last paragraph. i don't think everything they've ever written is perfect. i don't even think every decision that's been made by the st team regarding WILL's queerness is perfect like (this is another conversation) having noah deny the gay allegations on will's behalf a month before having him say oh yeah he is gay it's obvious is crazy to me it's no surprise that people feel like it's an afterthought and like byler is never gonna happen. even though i obviously disagree with them. fin.

[jonathanbyersdeservesbetter]

will looks SO good in his new haircut

BUT

JONATHAN BYERS DECENT HAIRCUT WHEN???????

[wulfhalls]

Bestie how are we feeling re the wga writers strike affecting hotd production badly 😆😂😭😪 i for one think they should sooner stop production altogether rather than put out something mediocre!! If I have to go ONE more bad season of got I will commit arson and genocide on an unprecedented hitherto scale I promise u sis

I think they should do it without writers and showrunners and production assistants and camera operators and money. just actors in costumes saying whatever no phones in sight just vibes

[tundrrra]

tell me how tf the duffers let billy be written like that and think to themselves “oh yeah everyone’s gonna hate this guy”

like, worsties, you shouldn’t have given him trauma the mentally ill girlies are gonna have a field day

[desiccatedwithering]

Eddie & Steve parallels (and the pointlessness of Eddie’s death)

this was originally going to be a comment on this post: https://www.tumblr.com/whookami/688603046879657984/the-steve-proxy-a-discussion-of-an-unfulfilling

but then it became so long and unhinged that I didn’t want to inflict it on others unprompted lol

Anyway, I’ve been rewatching parts of previous seasons, and it’s been making me even more infuriated about the Eddie & Steve parallels (and how pointless Eddie’s death was), so have roughly 5k words of (probably incoherent) ranting:

Honestly, Eddie’s whole storyline is basically a shittier version of Steve’s in season one, with some parts of seasons 2 and 3 thrown in for flavor. As I said in a discord server, the Duffer brothers fucked up by letting Joseph Quinn make Eddie an appealing character comparable to Steve post season one, while sticking to their plan to treat him like season one!Steve and kill him off in Steve’s place.

[[Also, it was pointed out (by brid in the fruity four discord) that it’s very obvious how the writers wanted Eddie to be a bully, given the way Jeff, Gareth, and [unnamed dude, because they couldn’t be bothered to think of one (1) more name] act like Eddie’s lackeys.]]

Quick partial season 1 recap:

Steve and Jonathan have their fight in episode 6. In episode 7, Steve calls out Tommy and Carol for being assholes, and as he’s driving away, Tommy shouts, “That’s right. Run away, Stevie boy! Run away! Just like you always do.” [I bet you can see where this is going]

Steve goes back to clean the graffiti off of the theater and then heads to Jonathan’s house to apologize to him. He finds Nancy injured, incorrectly assumes that Jonathan hurt her, and barges in to find the house set up for demogorgon hunting, which is when Nancy threatens to shoot him to get him to leave. [side note: incredibly weird dialogue in vol 1 when Nancy said “You almost deserved it” about nearly shooting Steve. Why? Because he was understandably freaked out by the suspicious injury, insane Christmas lights, nail bat, gun, and the smell of gas, so he didn’t want to leave?]

Anyway, the demogorgon shows up while Steve is still in the house. The three of them run into Will’s room to try to lure it into a bear trap, but it disappears without stepping on the trap. They venture back into the living room, where Steve has a little freakout about how crazy this is (which Eddie’s freakout after seeing the bats for the first time parallels) and tries to call for help before Nancy snatches the phone out of his hand and throws it across the room and tells him that he needs to leave right now. [side note: Nancy will also fling the Byers’ phone in season 2, which is so funny. Nance, you could just unplug the cord. You don’t have to keep breaking their phone.]

And here’s the part that makes me truly insane: Steve runs. Nancy tells him to leave, and he listens. He’s got his car unlocked, the door open, about to get in, when he notices the lights flicker inside the house.

And he realizes that running was the wrong choice. He goes back in (completely unarmed!!), grabs the nailbat that Jonathan dropped (fucking insane that he even saw it, given the flashing lights and enormous monster getting ready to eat his girlfriend), and hits the demogorgon until it backs into the trap and they can light it on fire.

He is rewarded for choosing not to run, for choosing to stay and fight.

The second he makes that choice, he gets his Big Damn Hero moment. He saves Nancy and Jonathan, and his choice actually impacts the story. If he had left, one of them (or both) would’ve died. There’s pretty much no question about it; Jonathan was prone and the bat was out of his reach. Nancy shooting the demogorgon was enough to get its attention and make it leave Jonathan alone to target her instead, but the shots didn’t actually seem to do any real damage, and she was out of bullets anyway. Maybe Jonathan would’ve been able to get up and grab the bat to protect himself, but I doubt he would’ve been able to do it fast enough to stop Nancy from being killed.

Steve runs three times in season 1: Once from confronting Nancy when he sees her and Jonathan in her room at night and assumes that she’s cheated on him. A second time when the cops show up to break up the fight, leaving Jonathan to be arrested for a fight that Steve instigated. And a third after seeing the demogorgon for the first time.

All three times, it is the wrong choice. Running away either ends up hurting people or has the potential to do so. Each time, he has other options, which he finally realizes with the demogorgon.

Eddie also runs three times: Once after Chrissy dies. Second when the jocks find him. And finally to distract the bats.

At first, Steve was dealing with normal human problems and the consequences of his own actions; Eddie, on the other hand, was dealing with supernatural murders (and Chrissy was already dead when he ran; there’s nothing he could’ve done for her) and jocks literally out for blood.

And that third time, Steve was running away from danger, from a monster, leaving Nancy and Jonathan to fend for themselves alone. The third time Eddie runs, yes, he’s technically running away from monsters, but he’s drawing them away from Dustin and the others.

The writers gave Eddie a worse version of Steve’s season one arc by trying to make it seem like Eddie needed redemption for running/needed to take a stand and be brave, when he didn’t actually do anything wrong and didn’t have any other options available to him. And then they gave him a poorly-conceived moment of “bravery” and punished him for it. Eddie is killed for making that same choice that Steve did: to stop running and fight. And it doesn’t even have the same narrative justification. There are no consequences if Eddie continues to run, but people will literally die if Steve does.

Eddie never actually puts anyone else in harm’s way by running. He wasn’t running from the fight at the end of season four. In fact, he was running into danger. Volume 2 seemed to remove a lot of the teeth from the Upside Down, at least as far as the characters are concerned (see: Steve letting Robin go off ahead without an ounce of worry), but it’s still a world full of monsters and toxic spores, and Eddie was willingly running deeper into it, further away from the gate and safety. Steve ran from the demogorgon to protect himself. Eddie ran from the bats to protect everyone but himself. He was already being brave and trying to help the others, so he had no reason to stop running and try to fight the swarm.

And he had been brave even before that! He had already followed everyone else into the Upside Down and helped fight the bats (which Steve tried to point out, before Eddie was possessed by the Duffer brothers to tell us that we should all be shipping Stancy again), and then he chose to return to the Upside Down and act as the distraction, an objectively dangerous job. Depending on how you look at it, it might actually be the most dangerous option (excluding Max baiting Vecna, but that’s not something anyone else could do), since the Vecna team was going to be hitting him when he wouldn’t be able to fight back right away. And Eddie had seen the aftermath of a few bats attacking Steve, so he knew the damage that a whole swarm could do.

The way the writers treat Eddie’s decision to run isn’t even coherent within the narrative of the season! In episode one, during the D&D game, Eddie says, “There is no shame in running. Don’t try to be heroes.” The kids refuse to run. They decide to continue the fight, and they win. Then the Duffers proceed to shame Eddie for running constantly (instead of… idk being found with a cheerleader’s mutilated body and thrown in jail? being murdered by jocks?? genuinely don’t know what the alternatives are here, guys), but also kill him the second he decides to stop running and fight back. Like, it makes sense for Eddie to have hang-ups about running away—he’s been through something extremely traumatic—but the narrative presents that (almost) completely unchallenged. But then it also punishes him for making the “right” choice and no longer running, which is just incomprehensible.

(Also, all four of the older teens run away from the bats at the Lovers’ Lake gate, but no one is claiming that that was cowardly or the wrong choice or a mistake. They were clearly outnumbered and unprepared, so running was the only thing they could do. It was the smart decision. Sometimes you just have to run, regroup, and then tackle the problem.)

To circle back to season one!Steve for a second, it’s interesting that Tommy does call Steve out for always running away. I feel like, coming from Tommy—an outside perspective—the words hold much more weight than when Eddie talks about how he’s a coward (most people are their own worst critics, after all). Sure, Tommy and Steve were fighting, so he could’ve just been making shit up to get in Steve’s head, but it felt more like he was picking at an insecurity that Steve already had. And, honestly, Steve probably does often run away from things and avoid conflict. We know he doesn’t like violence and would rather avoid it whenever possible (highly recommend that you go read werewolfsteve’s posts about that, if you haven’t already).

Meanwhile, in season 4, we have a character who’s whole arc revolves around Running Away vs Not Running Away, yet the only person who actually talks about it is Eddie, the dude who’s been jumping from one traumatic experience to the next. He doesn’t have an accurate assessment of himself or the situation. 

Steve’s tendency to run away is less obvious at first glance (because the writers trusted us to be able to connect a single line of dialogue with what we had watched, rather than have the characters remind us of things every thirty seconds). But it’s also significantly more satisfying when Steve bucks that trend and takes a stand.

Also, “buying more time” is such a nebulous concept to risk your life for. More time for whomst? Presumably Team Flambé Vecna, but does Eddie actually know that they need more time? How will he know when their mission is completed, and he no longer needs to be a distraction? Is he just banking on the hope that killing Vecna will kill all the monsters (something there has been absolutely no evidence for so far)?

Honestly, I don’t know why Dustin and Eddie were even waiting around in the trailer in the Upside Down after they successfully got the bats’ attention. They could’ve climbed back through, and then if it seemed like the bats were losing interest, they could’ve jumped back down to resume being the distraction. They assumed that the reinforcements they added to the trailer would be strong enough to keep the bats out, so it’s not like they were standing there to defend the gate (evidence: the fact they only decided to bail after the bats started to break in).

[[Multiple people have made the argument that if Eddie had followed Dustin through the gate, the bats would’ve gone as well. Which might be the case, but we don’t actually have any super compelling evidence to support that. The bats could’ve gone through the gate at Lovers’ Lake at any point, but they didn’t.

But say that is the reasoning for why Eddie goes back out/why the two of them were just hanging out in the Upside Down trailer: Working with the information they have, there’s a decent chance that the gates would’ve closed up after killing Vecna (since we saw Chrissy’s and Fred’s closed, and Nancy would remember that the gates the demogorgon made also closed on their own), so even if some bats managed to fly through into our world, they would’ve died once the gates closed. And they would be unlikely to do widespread damage in the time it took to kill Vecna.]]

You know who does have a good “create a distraction to give others enough time to complete the mission” plotline? Steve in season 2! 

When Steve and the kids go down into the tunnels to set the vines on fire, it’s not to vaguely “buy more time.” It is, very specifically, to draw the attention of the demodogs just long enough for El to reach the gate and close it (while they hightail it out of the tunnels so that they’re not killed in the process). They had a plan and an exit strategy, and that was from a pack of feral thirteen year olds and their extremely concussed babysitter, who only woke up when they were basically at the tunnels. But Eddie, infamously tough DM, who had significantly more time to prepare, couldn’t come up with a better contingency plan than “idk start running and hope the bats miraculously die before they eat me”?

Sure, Steve and the kids could’ve tried to outrun the dogs to prolong the distraction, but they knew that was an unnecessary risk. The rewards didn’t even come close to outweighing the consequences, since you’re never going to be able to sprint faster than a dog-esque creature (or, for that matter, a bat-esque creature). They just had to trust that El would be able to get the job done with the extra time they were able to give her while staying (relatively) safe themselves.

And another parallel between Steve and Eddie: Setting the tunnels on fire leads to Steve and Dustin being the only two in danger. All the other kids make it up the rope before the pack of demodogs reaches them, but Steve and Dustin don't have time to. They don't stupidly refuse to get to safety; they have no choice. Just like with Eddie and Dustin in season 4, they’re the only two in immediate danger. Except, in season 2, the dogs just run right past them, completely ignoring them in favor of getting to El. Neither of them are bitten even a little bit.

And their distraction was necessary to the plot. Even with it, the walls by the gate were swarming with demodogs, and they nearly overwhelmed Hopper. If Steve and the Party hadn't set fire to the tunnels, El wouldn't have had time to close the gate, which would’ve led to everyone dying.

Steve and the kids go against the agreed-upon plan (since they should’ve been staying on the bench), but the narrative makes it clear that they made the right call, that it was the right decision to put themselves at risk to help the others.

Meanwhile, Eddie putting himself in the line of fire is justification for him to be killed off. And it’s not like his distraction even mattered!

Eddie’s choice was pointless to the outcome of the battle. It didn’t accomplish anything. The bats were already distracted, and even if they hadn’t been, they all died minutes after taking Eddie down. Sure, he had no way of knowing that in-universe, but if we’re talking about creating a satisfying narrative (and not just blatantly ripping off Steve’s plot from previous seasons, except worse), it’s an abysmal writing decision. There are countless other ways that he could’ve been killed off that would’ve been more compelling. Because as it is, his actions literally did not matter one way or the other.

If he had kept running, the rest of the plot would’ve been exactly the same, because it was Murray with the flamethrower that actually killed the bats. Even if the bats had lost interest in him and started flying back towards the Creel house (which would’ve at least been a reason for Eddie to stop running), they wouldn’t have made it back in time to hurt anyone. (Also, in-universe, Eddie had no idea they were about to die, so him continuing to run would’ve made more sense with his stated goal of distracting them and buying the other team more time, since the bats would’ve stayed focused on him, rather than killing him and just returning to the house.)

[[Tangent: It's baffling that the demobats all just drop dead like that. When the tunnels were set on fire in season 2, that didn't kill any of the demodogs. There's no reason why it would. Sure it's a hivemind, but that doesn't mean that killing one monster kills all the rest. It just means that the rest know where you are and will probably be drawn to you. The tunnels and the dogs were both in Hawkins, and the dogs were completely unharmed by the vines being set on fire. But I'm supposed to believe that Murray setting a few dogs on fire in Russia would kill an entire swarm of bats in the Upside Down version of Hawkins? The demogorgon that is also in Russia and also set on fire doesn’t even die from that!! It makes no sense!!!

[sub-tangent where I’m deluded: Sure, maybe the bats were killed so that Dustin could get to Eddie and they could have that final conversation (which seems unlikely since, while heart wrenching, it was pretty redundant. Eddie was just repeating things he'd said before. Except for telling Dustin he loves him, but that was improv, so not a reason for the Duffer brothers to need them to speak again). Or maybe they were killed so that they wouldn't eat him completely, keeping his body mostly intact. Like, Bob got completely fucking torn apart. Billy got stabbed by six tentacles (or whatever we're calling those things) and then got stabbed in the middle of his chest. Also, he was soaked in blood. If you look at Eddie, there are a few spots, but honestly nothing that screams “this man will die of blood loss.” (Pretty sure there’s roughly the same amount of blood on Steve’s bandages as Eddie's shirt when he dies, and Steve's injuries certainly don't slow him down at all.) So unless the bats have some kind of venom (which is pretty unlikely, given that Steve was also gnawed on), what is Eddie dying from, exactly? It’s all pretty suspicious, if you ask me… 👀]]]

Now that I’m (temporarily) done being deluded, I’m gonna veer even more off topic and rant about how Eddie’s death was truly just shock value. Like, he didn’t even fit the template of previous characters who were brought in just to be killed. Because in previous seasons, the characters that died did so after accomplishing their goals, or at the very least, in a way that moved the plot forward. Both Bob and Alexei were vital to the plot, getting the main characters just close enough to their goal to be able to figure out the rest on their own.

In Bob’s case, he solved the mystery of the tunnels by figuring out that Will’s drawings were a map of Hawkins, and he calculated the distances and figured out Hopper’s location, so they were able to save him. Then in the lab, Bob knew what he was risking when he stayed behind, but it paid off! His knowledge of BASIC allowed everyone else to make it out of the lab safely. His sacrifice wasn’t in vain. And he died while trying to escape as well, rather than doing something stupid and pointless (though he and Eddie both decided to stand still knowing there are monsters nearby, like fucking idiots). And his death then inspired the kids to be brave and go down into the tunnels and create the distraction to give El more time to close the gate. He had knowledge and skills that no one else in the group had, which were necessary for the various missions to succeed.

Alexei had insider knowledge from working on the device that was opening the gate. He told them how the machine could be shut off (and how it could be destroyed), where the keys were, and that the code to access the keys was Planck’s constant. He gave them all the pieces they needed, so even though he died, they were still able to successfully break the machine. Sure, Scoops Troop had been down in the base, but they didn’t have any idea of how the machine worked. They didn’t know where the keys were or what the passcode would be. The information that Alexei was able to provide before his death was vital to stopping the Russians and subsequently killing the flesh monster mind flayer. And his death led to both the introduction of Suzie and the Hopper-in-Russia plotline.

Eddie… didn’t do anything like that. The plot just sort of happens to him, rather than him making contributions that move things forward (aside from stealing the RV). For a season where music was the solution, the musician did a remarkable lack of saving the day. We all expected him to play Nancy’s favorite song to break her out of Vecna’s curse. But nope. No one even suggested that, and Vecna just let her go. Sure, Eddie played the guitar to distract the demobats, but his presence wasn’t actually vital. Electricity works in the Upside Down well enough for them to use a drill. They could’ve just hooked up some speakers to play music. Or anyone could’ve just strummed some random notes on the guitar; it didn’t actually have to be someone playing a legit song.

Hell, even Billy accomplished more with his death, and he’d spent two seasons being an antagonist and most of season 3 literally possessed. But he still saved El by sacrificing himself, which also led to Max’s season 4 character arc.

Eddie’s death did nothing. It changed nothing. Hardly anyone cared. The kids talked about and mourned Bob. The adults took a moment to acknowledge and visibly regret Alexei’s death. Max sobbed over Billy’s body with El and Mike right beside her and then spent a whole season grappling with her feelings about his death. Even the fake out deaths were acknowledged more: Murray asks Joyce about Hopper, and then El gets to read his speech. When El disappears, the boys all scream for her, and we see Mike sobbing in his mother’s arms. We get a lingering shot of the blanket fort still set up in the basement, and just a few minutes later, Hopper puts some eggos in the woods, all but confirming that she’s not dead anyway.

Eddie got what? Dustin crying as he died, and then Dustin talking to his uncle two days later. None of the other cast even mentioned him in passing. [excuse me while I become delusional again for a second: unless I’m remembering wrong, this is the only actual major character death seen by a single character. The only other exceptions are Hopper and Max’s fake-out deaths. (Excluding the characters that die to kick off the Upside Down stuff, like Chrissy or the guys from the newspaper in season 3.)]

Arguably, Brenner’s death fit the “new major character dies to push forward plot/character development” pattern established by previous seasons better than Eddie’s. Sure, he's not actually a new character, but he was reintroduced after being presumed dead for two seasons. And he helped El get her powers back, which let her go fight Vecna and save Max.

Honestly, I’m probably reading too much into this, but I kind of feel like they were going for a parallel between Brenner and Eddie’s deaths with “I need you to understand. Please tell me you understand. Please.” and “Say ‘I’m gonna look after them.’ Say it.” (Which would be wild since one of them is a villain and the other is one of our heroes, but whatever.)

But the closest parallel is actually Max's fake-out death.

Someone they love holding them: check. Explicitly stating or implying that they don't want to die (Eddie saying that he was finally going to graduate; fight me on this): check. Only having a single character present for the death (at least physically, since El was also mentally with Max): check. Dustin telling the others: check. (He’s actually the only one who tells other people about Max and Eddie; he tells Will and El that Max is at the hospital and Wayne about Eddie's death). [Another instance of weird dialogue: Dustin saying, “Oh God. You don’t know,” after Will and El are concerned about Lucas being in the hospital. Yeah, no shit they don’t know! They just rolled up in a random pizza van, and you have no idea that El has her powers back. Literally how would they have known about Max being in the hospital?]

And then Steve and Robin never mention either of them. Which is insane! Nancy at least gets to go to the hospital to see Max (where she and Jonathan just lurked in the back of the shot while the boys (minus Dustin) and El were by her bedside, so not really much acknowledgement, but more than we get from Steve), even if she completely ignored Eddie’s death.

Robin didn’t want to tell Eddie bad news earlier in the season because she didn’t want to see him sad. But two days is enough for her to completely get over whatever reaction she had (if any) to finding out that Eddie died? And I know we haven’t seen her interact with Max much in the show, but, really? Absolutely no concern about the teenage girl who they know died long enough for the gates to open?

And Steve Harrington! Steve, the dude who's been protecting these kids for three seasons and would rather (literally) dive head first into danger than let someone else get hurt in his place. That Steve wouldn't go to the hospital to see Max, a girl who literally died on his watch? He wouldn't even ask Dustin how she's doing? We know that they’re close. Max wrote letters to the rest of the Party, her family, and Steve. None of the other young adults got one, not Robin, not Nancy, not Jonathan. Just Steve. And Max already had a brush with death in the graveyard. And we saw how worried Steve was, how devastated he’d be if he lost her. And then we’re supposed to believe that he doesn’t bother to visit or at the very least ask about how she’s doing?

He was the adult, the oldest person there who had experience. Keeping everyone safe was his responsibility. But he wouldn’t feel any guilt about Eddie being killed and his body (presumably) being left in the Upside Down? Even if he and Eddie hadn’t bonded, he still knew that Eddie and Dustin were close friends. He knew that Dustin looked up to Eddie. And he wouldn’t even feel bad about how losing Eddie would affect him? [[unrelated, but why was Dustin, the kid with the injured leg, the one limping around giving people water? Steve, you were flipping around with open wounds in your stomach; take over water delivery and let the poor kid stand still and sort some clothes. Don’t get me wrong; I love Steve Looking Supportively At Queer Ladies, but like. Should Dustin be walking around right now??]]

[[Honestly, they’re all behaving bizarrely fine for a group of people who 1. are living in a town that has a bunch of hellmouths that opened after three to four teens were brutally murdered, killing more people and swallowing houses in the process, 2. have a friend hospitalized, in a coma, with many broken bones because they failed to kill the man psychically torturing her fast enough, and 3. had a new member of their group—who had already been unfairly blamed for murders he didn’t commit and then hunted by a mob led by his classmates—get eaten alive in a hell dimension they led him to. Genuinely cannot tell if this is just terrible writing (almost certainly) or purposefully incredibly suspicious behavior (perhaps…?)]]

tl;dr This is all an extremely long-winded way of saying: 1. There are an insane number of parallels between Steve and Eddie because the Duffer brothers said “Hey! Remember how we were gonna kill Steve in season one? What if we did that now, except create a character arc using aspects of Steve’s plotlines from seasons 1-3, let the actor give him post-s1!Steve level personality, and make it a Steve stand in so people don’t actually hunt us down and kill us.” 2. Somehow in the process of ripping off Steve’s plotlines, they managed to make them worse at every turn. 3. Eddie’s death is a Significant departure from the norm in several aspects and also parallels Max’s fake-out death, which allows me to be extremely deranged and convince myself that he’s not actually dead.

[kneworder]

sidenote it's so funny that tua had one gamble that actually paid off majorly and it's that aidan gallagher turned out to be short. like how lucky do you have to be to cast a kid at 14 for a show that was gonna run for another 5 years only for him to not only be the source material's number one fan but also stop growing at 5'5. you know the duffer brothers have to be seething with envy every time they tell noah schnapp to slouch a little more so he can still pass as a high school freshman. absolutely wasted opportunity. absolutely perfect casting. and for what. a pointless six year time skip and a fuckass ending. SAD.

[willthewiz]

Will's Arc Ties the Whole Series Together

"Will really takes center stage again in [season] 5," Ross Duffer told Variety. "This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality – it’s Will coming into his own as a young man."

So in other words...

Will Byers will receive more attention in season 5 due to his importance in the story. His goals, motivations, conflicts, and decisions will make Will’s story an emotional arc. Instead of Will keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself, he’ll become more open and honest not just to others but also himself. Instead of needing protection and being treated like a child, he will stand up to fight to protect others and make his own decisions instead of doing what others want him to do. To come into his own, Will must face challenges such as going against numerous enemies and trials along the way (internal and external conflicts), and emerge stronger and wiser at the end. Once Will overcomes these challenges, he’ll be able to:

Utilize his strengths and unique qualities to his fullest extent.

Become more self-assured and comfortable in his own skin, no longer needing to defer to others or hold himself back.

Establish a strong, independent sense of self, rather than relying on others' perceptions or definitions of who he is.

Fully showcase his talents, skills, and perspectives, without feeling the need to conform or blend in.

Reach new heights in his career, personal life, or other endeavors where his true abilities can shine.

Will’s story is about self-discovery and growth. He will grow into the fullest expression of his authentic self and potential. His emotional arc will tie the whole series together because in order to defeat Vecna and save Hawkins, Will must stop clinging to his childhood and use that support from others as a stepping stone toward finally growing up and becoming a young man.

And we know Will will always need Mike. Mike is part of the key to Will's self-discovery. Mike makes Will feel like he's not a mistake. He feels better for being different because of Mike. He can be himself because of Mike. And that gives him the courage to fight on. The courage to finally defeat Vecna once and for all. That support from others will play a part in Will growing as a person, thus leading to Will becoming a young man and facing against Vecna.

As I said before, Will’s arc is about self-discovery and growth. He has that acceptance from others such as Jonathan and Mike, and that support will help him grow as a person and become fully comfortable in his own skin. However, Mike isn’t the key because of his acceptance, but rather part of the key to Will coming into his own. Becoming his own person. Will having support is important, but that’s not his story. After coming back from the upside down, Will has been clinging to his childhood. Will’s arc is not about acceptance from others, it’s about him growing up and finding out who he is as a young man. That acceptance and support will lead Will in the right direction toward self-discovery and growth.

"I think Mike is trying to be as normal as possible and try to keep on a normal path." —Finn Wolfhard

"How is he (Mike) this clueless right now? With the Will scene in the car, I remember asking the Duffers, why would he not know this? And they're like, don't worry it'll pay off in the end." —Finn Wolfhard

"I can just tell you that I'm very very excited for what's to come. I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to. The way they closed the show is just perfect – the story started with Will, and it’ll end with Will."

—Noah Schnapp

"Our show is an anthem for the marginalized and imperfect, precisely because the Duffer brothers know from experience that the popular and easy road is rarely the most interesting one, and that character, grit, connection, and soul are bred in the same moments that challenge us the most." —Shawn Levy

With Mike and Will becoming a team in season 5 and Will taking center stage, it could only mean one thing...

Byler Endgame

[chirpsythismorning]

This is everything the Stranger Things writers have posted publicly about the WGA strike:

TIMELINE

May 3rd:

Stranger Things writer Caitlin Schneiderhan tweets picture from personal Twitter account of sign from the strike that reads 'Pay us or Steve Harrington is toast'

May 6th:

Official Stranger Writers Twitter account makes post on behalf of the Duffers Brothers. They have since pinned this tweet to their profile. "Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then -- over and out. #wgastrong

Bonus:

May 12th:

Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry posts picture from personal Tumblr account of sign that reads, 'Byler won’t write itself'

As far as I know, the two writers that posted on their personal socials are the only writers from ST that even have personal accounts that are public, whereas the rest of the writers do not.

What does make me take a pause though, is that, while yes they did post these pictures from their personal accounts, which is about as official as it gets, they also cryptically did not include themselves in said pictures...

This just got me thinking about how Stranger Things is quite literally Netflix and vise versa. They are practically one in the same, where one without the other just doesn't make sense.

While this conflict of interest might run deep for many writers out there fearing to speak out against their employer, for us, the consumers, the fans, we as a collective have so much more power than we realize.

In contrast to the writers, streamers can't just fire their consumer base sometime down the line, out of spite for speaking out. Without consumers, neither Stranger Things nor Netflix would be what it is today.

We have the affordance of being able to speak up the loudest of anyone. And so why wouldn't we take advantage of that?

There are so many people out there protesting: writers, actors, others in the industry and even outside of it who are also taking a stand, many who need support so that they can continue to fight in the upcoming days, weeks, months, without being deterred by corporations that are making them feel greedy for demanding a contract that at most, asks that they be paid fairly.

And so I want to encourage anyone that is reading this, but fellow fans of Stranger Things especially, who have so much power in this strike when it comes to getting Netflix's attention, to consider taking the time to do whatever you can individually + with the masses as a community in order to best support the strike.

Follow the Strike! If you're active on various social media already, please be sure to follow the official accounts advocating for the strike via Instagram (@writersguildwest/@wgaeast), via Twitter (@WGAWest/@WGAEast). Engage with posts from folks that are out there daily, many with whom you can find by following tags like #WGAStrong, #WGAStrike and #WritersStrike. Although most fans are not able to join in picketing themselves, we can at least recognize all of those out there's individual efforts and do our best to show that we're paying attention and listening!

Spread the word! Show support any way you can by sharing posts and articles about the strike, or even fun memes to inform others in a more engaging way. This is the official site for the WGA strike if you want to learn more about what’s going on before diving in! And make sure to stay up-to-date here as things continue to unfold!

Donate! The Entertainment Community Fund is endorsed by the WGA for anyone that wants to support those affected by the strike financially. And this thread on Twitter is an incredible resourse, as it provides an ‘easy, one-click, stress-free, accessible-to-all-budgets’ ways you can support folks on the front lines.

Also! Consider donating through this link for the Entertainment Community Fund, where the money donated still goes directly to that fund, this is just an organizing page for Stranger Things fans specifically! By allowing fans to see how much of an impact we make as a collective, in real time, this could encourage even more ST fans to want to contribute. In a best case scenario, if this GoFundMe were to reach impressive proportions of donations from fans, that could lead to news outlets reporting on it, which could allow an opportunity for even more eyes on the strike, while also even more importantly being able to provide financial support to those that need it.

Trend! On social media, use #StrangerFansforWGA to trend or even just to reach other fans also looking to come together to support the strike!

While I know this post probably wont reach anywhere outside of Tumblr, I want to make a point to encourage those of you that are on other platforms to inform fans in those spaces about the strike and what they can do to help!

We might not all agree on everything, but I think we can agree on at least one thing... @Netflix & all major streamers and networks out there, who are still refusing to make a fair deal: PAY YOUR WRITERS!

In the mean time, if you're interested in working on different ideas for initiates we can carry out as a fandom, please reach out to me! I might only one person and I might not have all the answers and solutions, but I do know that with more of us working together, our odds of making an impact are much greater!

Over and out!

[steddieas-shegoes]

I'll be full of the love you want

rated t cw: self-doubt, relationship doubt, light angst tags: happy ending, hurt/comfort-ish, super fluffy romantic words being said

a/n: firstly I am writing this absolute fluff because i've been listening to sleep token and decided i could handle listening to blood sport (i couldn't) and so now we get this fluff. second of all, i feel like before anyone comes for my throat, i LOVE nancy. i hate what the duffer brothers have reduced her character to canonically. she has so much potential, just sitting there, and what are they doing with it? making her worse. i do think that she is just very bad at reading what's appropriate to say to people, and that's what happens here. assume that it gets fixed and she apologizes later, this entire thing is to focus on the boys.

Sometimes, Nancy’s subtle comments remained in Steve’s chest, an unbearable weight that felt crushing.

“Eddie has plans, and they may not involve you.”

That’s what she’d said to him when he told her they were dating.

No congratulations, no friendly smile or hug, not even the expected game of 20 questions.

The words played on loop in his head as he found an excuse to leave movie night early, as he drove home, as he took a shower. 

He barely slept that night.

Nancy was right in a way; Eddie did have plans.

—-

“She what?” Eddie yelled.

“Eds-”

“No, that’s. Stevie, you know how ridiculous that is, don’t you?”

He did. 

But he also…didn’t.

It really wasn’t that ridiculous to think that maybe his boyfriend of barely a month would have plans that didn’t involve Steve.

Steve may be head over heels in love with him, but he hadn’t said that. 

“Is it?” Steve asked, not looking up at Eddie pacing in front of him.

Eddie stopped in front of him, dropping to his knees on the floor between Steve’s parted legs.

His hands gripped Steve’s knees, squeezing in silent comfort.

“Sweetheart, I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I’m all in with us. I’m not going anywhere that you can’t or don’t want to follow. If someone sends me to the moon, you better start packing your bags,” Eddie left a kiss on his thigh, looking up at Steve’s wide, glassy eyes. “I don’t think she meant to hurt you, Stevie. I’d just talked to her about the band possibly going to Chicago for a show soon and how excited we were about producers being there.”

“And if they like you guys, you’ll leave. And you should! I don’t wanna hold you back. I just was so wrapped up in the now, ya know?” 

Eddie looked up at him, eyes squinting at him for a moment before he stood up.

He sat down on the bed and pulled Steve onto him so he was straddling his thighs.

“You are more than just my now, Steve Harrington.”

Steve’s heart fluttered in his chest.

Eddie cupped his face in his hands, leaning his head down so their foreheads rested against each other.

“We’ve seen the end of the world together, we’ve seen each other at our worst, at our bruised, at our most vulnerable. You’re my entire world now, and in the future.” Eddie let out a shaky breath, something foreign for him, usually so confident in his words. “I love you. It might scare you off, but I do. I haven’t stopped picturing my future with you in it. Nothing could drag me away from you, not the band, not the kids, not myself. I’m yours, for the long haul, wherever that takes both of us.”

Steve sniffled, the tears pooling in his eyes fighting so hard to fall.

“You can’t say stuff like that,” he squeaked out.

“Why can’t I?”

“I might believe it.”

Eddie tugged him closer, one hand on the back of his head holding him against his shoulder, one arm wrapped around his waist.

“I need you to believe it, love. There is nothing that will keep me from loving you. If Vecna himself couldn’t, then Nancy’s words sure as shit won’t.”

And it could be simple.

It could.

Steve could believe it, he could say the words back, he could plan a real future with Eddie, something he’d never been able to do with anyone else.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Eddie interrupted his thoughts, his hand squeezing Steve’s hip.

Steve pulled back, looking at Eddie’s earnest face.

“I’m scared to love you the way that I do,” Steve admitted, voice barely more than a whisper.

Eddie heard him, though.

He beamed up at Steve.

“You can be scared, but you can love me anyway,” Eddie shrugged, as if it could actually be that simple.

Love was a silly thing. 

Steve felt it easily, for Robin, for the kids, for the Byers’, even Nancy still. He’d known what he felt for Eddie was love way before this conversation, but he hadn’t realized how much that love could grow when it was reciprocated.

Eddie looked at him now like he already knew, like Steve holding back wasn’t changing the fact that Steve had loved him for months now, maybe even longer.

“You can love me, Stevie. I want you to love me. Love me the way you feel,” Eddie continued.

His words cut through his heart, but in a different way than Nancy’s had.

Steve never got to love people the way he felt, always too much, always overwhelming.

His parents taught him not to be needy, let people show their love from a distance and don’t force your attention and care on them.

Nancy taught him that he couldn’t be someone else just because he wanted to love someone, that he had to accept that love wasn’t always enough for a relationship.

Eddie, though.

Eddie had taught him that there was nothing shameful about being loud with your passion, with your love. He taught him that he can’t hold back his feelings, not for anyone, especially not for himself.

He was showing him, more every day, that loving someone can and should be fulfilling.

He couldn’t be scared of loving Eddie, not when Eddie had always shown him how to be brave.

“I love you so much,” Steve gasped out.

It wasn’t the declaration he’d planned, or even wanted, but that somehow made it better for them.

Eddie’s beaming smile proved that even further.

“I’m so in love with you, I don’t know what to do with it all. I just keep thinking that one day I’ll wake up and feel less, but I just keep feeling more. I’m not good with words like you are, but I love you,” Steve added, finally gaining his voice.

“Feels good, right?”

“To love you?”

Eddie leaned up, kissed his chin, then the corner of his mouth.

“To show it to someone who wants it.”

Steve bit his lip, realizing that yeah, it did feel good. Really good.

“You’re gonna get so tired of me loving you.”

It was said as a joke, but it was his last genuine fear. The one thing that he knew always happened.

“I will never get tired of you loving me. Not for a single second. Not even when we’re old dudes sitting on our porch yelling at the kids with the loud music,” Eddie poked his side as he spoke.

“You won’t ever yell at anyone for loud music.”

“You never know. I could become a grumpy old man. Will you still love me?” Eddie pouted up at him.

“I think I’d love any version of you. Actually, I know I would.” “And you say I’m the sappy one.”

[alissasrandomstuff]

Crush On Set

Hi there, so... I have had a soft spot for Joseph for quite a while now, ever since he first appeared as Eddie Munson on screen for Stranger Things. And because I felt like it, I wrote a little story about how (Y/N) became Joseph's girlfriend as an actress for Stranger Things herself. So enjoy <3 English is not my first language, so please be kind and ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes! Word Count: 5k Content Warning: brief mentions of sexual intercourse (but no exact description), one night stand, fluff, angst, reader is female, mentions of virginity

Plot: When a practice session with Joseph in her trailer leads to unexpected intimacy, (Y/N) first thought their friendship crashed because of this. But a heart-to-heart conversation finally reveals the sweet truth.

Feeling a bit stressed out, (Y/N) leans against the edge of the table in her trailer, reading the script for tomorrows scenes.

A knock on her door snaps her out of her thoughts and she looks up, eyes fixating on the door across the room before (Y/N) realizes she has to call the person in.

"Come in!", she says and puts the script down, waiting for her guest to enter. When she sees the small, cute little curls and these puppy-dog eyes, her breath gets stuck in her throat and she can't help but smile at her colleague.

"Hey (Y/N/N), mind if I come in?", Joseph asks in a sweet voice, smiling ever so softly at the girl, to what she only nods quickly. Her eyes scan his body as he moves to close the door behind him, a silent gasp escaping her when he isn't looking.

"Done for today?", she asks to not make her staring too awkward, when in reality she still can't comprehend how insanely beautiful this man in front of her is.

Joseph turns back to her and offers a wide smile, almost melting her heart with this simple gesture, and after that he nods and takes a seat on the couch only a few meters away from the girl.

"I see you're reading the script for tomorrow? You okay?," he suddenly asks and points at the sheets of paper in her hands. She takes a quick look at the paper before nodding, a bit confused about his question.

"Yea, why wouldn't I be?", she asks in a low voice, a little insecure about this whole situation. For the first time since she arrived here and got to know the other actors, she isn't sure about her knowledge in English. English isn't (Y/N)'s first language, yet she always manages to work it out even if she doesn't understand everything.

"I mean the scene we're going to shoot tomorrow," Joseph then says and raises his eyebrows, to which (Y/N) sighs a little.

"Oh, the kissing scene? I guess, I mean... when the Duffer Brothers told me I got the role and I signed the contract, they said things like this could happen and asked if I'm okay with it, but now that it's actually happening..."

Her voice trails off and she lowers her head a little, making it clear to Joseph that she indeed is insecure about the kiss.

"You okay with it being me?", the male continues asking and instantly, her eyes snap back to his.

"Yea, sure, uhm... don't get me wrong, you're amazing Joseph and I wouldn't want anyone else to do this with, it's just... my lack of experience, rather." 

Josephs ears perk up and he raises his eyebrows at the girl in front of her.

"You never kissed anyone before?", he asks, more curious than judging, and he sees her cheeks turning into a soft pink.

"I did, but... I was drunk and it was more of a messy make-out session, not a kiss with love... Eddie and (Y/C/N) have feelings for each other, the kiss in the script is soft and intense, passionate... I, yea, never did that, to be honest," she then says, putting a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Joseph looks at her for a couple of seconds before he gets up and walks up to her, stopping about a meter away from her. Her eyes look up into his brown ones, creating an intense exchange of looks.

"You never had a partner?", Joseph asks quietly, resisting the urge to raise his hand and brush his thumb over her rosy cheek. She looks beautiful like this, a little flushed and all innocent. When she actually shakes her head to his question, he feels a small outburst of happiness inside him.

"Nobody ever wanted to be with me. If I liked them, they didn't. Same the other way around," she whispers with an undoubtedly sad tone in her voice, making Josephs heart ache.

He takes a deep breath and tries to stay calm, thinking about the next thing to say and whether it's too risky or not.

"You wanna... practice a bit?", he asks, his voice more of a whisper than anything more. He watches how her eyes grow bigger, clearly taken by surprise by his question.

"Wh- what do you mean?", she asks back, her voice now a little shaky.

"We can go through the scene, act it out here just for the two of us. Getting comfortable with the setting, preparing for tomorrow. I just want you to be relaxed, not too nervous to film this scene," Joseph explains calmly and offers a warm smile, now raising his hand to tuck another strand of hair behind her ear.

His touch burns on her skin, making her lean into his touch a little more, completely unconscious. Joseph takes a deep breath on her movement, his heart jumping excitedly at the thought of her liking him back.

When she first entered the conference room a few months ago and was introduced to the rest of the team, Joseph thought she was really cute. She still is. And after he really got to know her, something inside him knew that he'd like her more than a friend. He knew he'd develop a crush on her, and now, there's the possibility of her liking him too.

He'd lie if he'd say that he offered to act out this scene beforehand to only make her comfortable. Joseph wants to prepare himself for tomorrow as well, being a little scared of how he'd react if they'd kiss for the first time in front of the camera.

It's not his first on-screen kiss, but he never had feelings for his acting partner before. Joseph is also nervous about tomorrow. When he found out that (Y/C/N) and Eddie, both their characters in Stranger Things, like each other that way and will actually kiss on-screen, it took him a whole hour to process this.

"You'd really do that?", (Y/N)'s voice gets him back into reality and he softly nods, keeping up his calm but soft behaviour.

"O-Okay...", she whispers, making both their hearts jump at this simple word, both not knowing about their feelings for each other.

She gets up wo walk to the wall next to her table, leaning against it and trying to get into her character (Y/C/N). Joseph follows her, raising a hand to put it above her head, imitating the pillar they lean on in the real scene.

"Ready?", he asks in a low voice, almost raspy, and (Y/N) takes a deep breath.

"Yea, it's just a bit hard to imagine you as Eddie right now, the long hair is missing."

Her voice sounds almost teasing, making Joseph smile a bit and he shakes his head.

"Just try your best. If you can do it now, it's gonna be easier for you tomorrow," he encourages her and she nods, taking a deep breath and trying to get into the scene. She knows her text, it's not really a lot, but still, she's incredibly nervous.

When she opens her eyes again, Joseph knows she's ready, so he starts with a line from him.

"Chrissy was in my trailer to buy some drugs, that's the only reason why she was there. The feelings I had for her are long gone already, believe me," he says, now as Eddie Munson with an American accent and he looks her deep in the eyes, nothing but the truth speaking.

(Y/N), or rather (Y/C/N) now, had her arms crossed in front of her chest, now letting them fall limp next to her torso while staring into Eddie's brown eyes.

Her breath becomes faster as she tries to stay calm, both (Y/N) and (Y/C/N) speaking the same language at the moment. Eddie licks his lips, his eyes now glued onto hers which are parted ever so lightly.

(Y/C/N) moves her head a little into his direction, so Eddie places a hand onto her hips almost automatically, not a lot of space left between them.

(Y/C/N) takes one last deep breath before she raises her hands to place them on Eddie's cheeks to pull his face close to her. The next moment, their lips finally touch and both feel how they nearly melt into each other.

Joseph has to try everything to keep the sigh inside that threatens to leave his body, now that he finally knows what her lips feel like. He's glad that they 'practice' before the actual shooting, he wouldn't have been able to control himself if tomorrow would've been the first kiss between them.

(Y/N) feels the exact same way, even if she's still a little hesitant to do something wrong. But the way Joseph returns the kiss makes her feel safe, so she quickly settles and actually enjoys the situation, completely caught up in the moment.

Their lips move against each other in a simple, yet loving rhythm and both of them feel how they start to lose themselves in the moment. (Y/N) unwillingly moves a little closer towards Joseph, so he puts a bit more pressure into their touch, her now being trapped between the man and the wall.

Joseph's hand wanders down the wall until he reaches her head, he entangles the hand in her soft hair. It's a little messy and still damp, seems like (Y/N) showered only a few minutes before.

The pressure of her hands increases a little, pulling Joseph into a deeper kiss, without them both realizing they're getting lost in the heat of the moment. Joseph's hand tightens on the girl's waist, pressing their bodies closer to each other.

There is a moment where they're supposed to disconnect their lips. But that's just what the script says, the two easily miss this moment, too caught up in the kiss.

Without realizing it, they deepen the kiss step by step until Joseph tries to make the next move: his tongue softly swipes over her lower lip to ask for entrance, but that's the moment where (Y/N) becomes aware of the whole scenario.

She breaks the kiss and takes a deep breath, her eyes still glued onto Joseph's lips, which were still connected with hers only a few seconds ago. One look into his half-lidded eyes, though, and she sees how he doesn't care that the intensity of the kiss wasn't scripted.

Both take deep breaths, trying to gain back control while still looking at each other and staying extremely close.

The next second, Joseph pulls (Y/N) in again and presses his lips against hers, craving more than he would've thought. It takes the girl a second to realize what happens before she also kisses him, as intensively as he offers.

Joseph's hands travel downwards to (Y/N)'s thighs and he squeezes them a little, to what (Y/N) slightly jumps and wraps her legs around Joseph's lower body. The two move even closer together, now basically drunk on each other, pressed close.

(Y/N) entangles her hands in the soft locks of the man in front of her and gently pulls them a little to which Joseph silently groans into her mouth. She feels how all of this is affecting him and it makes her cheeks burn.

She doesn't have any experience when it comes to sex, even this kiss is more than she ever did. But surprisingly, she feels okay, even comfortable with Joseph. He makes her feel safe and leads her when she doesn't know what to do.

"Is this okay?", Joseph asks against her lips in that exact moment, and all (Y/N) can do is nod. Her mind is fogged up, but Joseph feels the same. Just one more second and he would've lost control. This has to stop right now or he won't be able to hold back.

But as soon as (Y/N) leans in again and the man feels her soft, pink lips against his own, he knows he lost this fight.

Joseph applies pressure on (Y/N)'s legs to push away from the wall and walk towards her bed. He gently places her down and leans above her, not breaking the kiss once. (Y/N) now crosses her arms in his neck to pull him even closer, not caring anymore about her lack of experience.

All she wants now is to feel Joseph, be even closer to him than now already. Guess that's what you call sexual tension, right?

The next morning, (Y/N) slowly opens her eyes and brushes some strands of hair away from her face. But when she realizes it's not only her own hair, her whole body freezes. She moves her head the slightest bit, only to be greeted by a picture sent straight from heaven.

Joseph's head lays all cuddled up on (Y/N)'s still bare chest, his arms tightly and securely wrapped around her. Some of his curls cover his still closed eyes and his now completely relaxed eyebrows. His lips are parted ever so slightly, allowing soft, almost inaudible snores to escape his mouth.

An intoxicating, comfortable warmth radiates from Joseph's body, but exactly this warmth and the closeness to this man is what makes (Y/N) sweat right now. Not in a good way, though.

She starts trying to escape Joseph's tight grip, and after a few failed attempts, she finally manages to. Grabbing her clothes, (Y/N) puts them on fast yet still quietly to not wake Joseph. Relieved that her plan worked out, she gets up and grabs her phone when her eyes find her alarm clock.

Joseph has to wake up soon as well since today will be a pretty busy day shooting, but it would be best if (Y/N) isn't there when he does. So, to not make him oversleep, she sets an alarm that'll go off in about two minutes, enough time for her to escape.

Before she leaves, (Y/N) quickly brushes her fingers through Joseph's soft yet a bit unruly curls. Then she gets up and leaves her trailer, heading directly towards the food-trailer. She didn't eat a lot yesterday evening, she was... busy.

When the images of last night come to her mind, she has to swallow hard. It's not like she only wanted sex, (Y/N) was incredibly happy that Joseph seemed to crave her as much as she did, but now that it's the next day... (Y/N) just fears she was nothing more than a little one-off, that what happened between her and Joseph didn't mean anything to him.

The girl reaches her destination and shortly greets everyone inside before grabbing some food and sitting down somewhere in peace to enjoy her breakfast. The silence doesn't last long, though, since one of the stylists walks up to her, a little concern in her face.

"Hey (Y/N), do you know where Joseph is?", she asks and a little shiver runs down (Y/N)'s spine at the mention of his name, but she quickly composes herself.

"I don't know, but I guess he should be here soon. Joseph never oversleeps, don't worry."

As soon as (Y/N) ended her sentence, the door of the trailer opened and someone enters. When she looks in Joseph's direction, she freezes once again, forgetting about the food in her hands.

"Speaking of the devil...", she whispers and nods her head towards Joseph to signal the stylist he's there. When (Y/N) sees Joseph starting to walk up to her, she's almost relieved about the make-up artist stopping him and talking to him.

"Na-ah Joseph, we don't have much time left. Grab something to eat and then we go into mask, today's a busy schedule!", the stylist says, and (Y/N) watches how Joseph takes a deep breath before turning away and starting his working day without being able to talk to (Y/N).

She watches how he leaves the trailer together with the stylist and then flinches when someone else sits down right next to her.

"Wohow, chill! It's just me, don't be scared!", Sadie says and raises her hands to calm her friend down, while (Y/N) takes a deep breath and runs a hand over her face.

"You alright?", the redhead asks and tilts her head slightly, to what (Y/N) slowly nods.

"Yea sure, just... didn't get a lot of sleep yesterday," she explains, and it's true. But it's not like she really had the opportunity to try, anyway...

"I bet, you really look sleepy. Had your mind full of today, I guess?", Sadie continues asking and again, (Y/N) nods. Good, her friend thinks she couldn't sleep because of todays shooting scenes and not because she actually slept with Joseph Quinn.

The girls finish their breakfast together, chatting a little here and there to prevent any complete silence and to keep (Y/N)'s mind off the kiss scene. Before that scene happens, (Y/N) still has to shoot some scenes all alone, but at the moment, this is better than the scenes with Joseph.

Hopefully, this is not going to be awkward, the two still didn't have the chance to talk without somebody listening and (Y/N) tries her best to avoid the man the best she can. But even if she tried everything to not talk to Joseph because she's scared of what he's going to say, there is a point where she can't avoid him anymore.

One of the stylists is quickly fixing the way (Y/N)'s hair looks and checks up on her make-up, while the girl is trying her best to not freak out. She already spotted Joseph, now in his full Eddie costume with those long, wild curls and metal-like outfit.

"Okay (Y/N), you're good to go!", the stylist then says and the brunette quickly nods before stepping to the scenery, trying to concentrate on what's about to happen. She looks at the director who's instructing everyone to take their places before her gaze travels to the man she's been avoiding this whole day until now.

Joseph meets her gaze and nods at her, a small, supportive smile on his lips to tell (Y/N) she can do this. This small gesture is enough for her to calm down enough and when the director yells his typical "And... ACTION!", she's instantly in her role as (Y/C/N).

They act out the scene effortlessly, and even if there are some small improvisations from Joseph, everything goes by very smoothly. That's until the scene comes up that (Y/N) and Joseph practiced yesterday before everything... got out of hand.

(Y/N) can feel herself getting more and more nervous the closer the kissing scene comes, but yet she still manages to stay in character and keep everything going. Here and there, a little nervousness slips, but it's still good enough for the scene and the atmosphere, so they don't get cut off.

And when the kiss finally happens, every single drop of affection (Y/N) feels for Joseph rushes through her whole body and into the kiss, making it a little more intense than scripted. In this moment, (Y/N) and (Y/C/N) feel the same, the actress doesn't even have to act in this very situation.

But what she doesn't know: Joseph feels the exact same way.

When the time comes and they have to break the kiss, it's pretty hard for the both of them, but they are able to, still caught up in the moment. Unscripted, Joseph leans forward and leans his forehead against (Y/N)'s, but since Joseph is known to add some improvisations to the scenes, nobody complains.

"Cut! Guys, that was amazing, your chemistry is magical! This scene was absolutely perfect, nothing to add here, we can move on!", the director then shouts and breaks the intense moment between (Y/N) and Joseph.

They had to film some more scenes together directly afterwards, but they were easy compared to the kissing scene, so they went very smoothly and soon enough, everything is done.

"Okay you two, thank you so much, that was great work! You can go and enjoy your evening, we'll continue tomorrow! And for the others, let's get to work, we still have a lot to do!"

That's (Y/N)'s sign to leave the scene and go into the mask to let the stylists take off her make-up and the clothes, letting her change back into some more comfortable ones. After that she leaves the trailer, in hopes she can go and find Jamie. He's always been there for her, almost like a brother for her, so she wants to talk to him. About Joseph, about what happened yesterday and about her feelings for the curly-brownhaired man.

"Jamie!", she yells when she finally finds the blonde man, but it seems like he's right about to get into costume.

"Jamie, can we... can we talk?", (Y/N) asks nonetheless, in hopes this is somehow possible. The girl fiddles her fingers, feels how every drop of sweat runs down on her skin and makes it pretty obvious that something is bothering her.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry... I have to get into costume and you know how much time this always takes...", Jamie answers and (Y/N) feels how the disappointment washes over her.

"Oh, uhm... sure, I didn't mean to disturb you or postpone anything," she mumbles an apology and excuses herself before heading back to her own trailer.

When she enters it, her eyes stay on the bed for a moment, re-living what happened in it yesterday. Her throat feels dry and she opens a bottle of water to maybe cool herself down. The bottle then nearly falls onto the floor when (Y/N) hears the knock on her door. For a moment, she stays silent and just watches the door, trying to find out who it could be.

"Y-yeah?", she then says with a shaky voice, a little insecure if she wants to welcome her visitor in or not. But when she recognizes the long, blonde hair from Jamie, she instantly feels relieved.

"Hey darling," he greets her and offers her a warm, brother-like smile while entering. (Y/N) returns the gesture and sits down on her bed, inviting Jamie to do the same. When the man sits down and turns his head questioningly, all (Y/N) can do is sigh.

"What's bothering my little girl? I see how everything up there in your brain is working, did something happen?", Jamie asks and the girl takes a deep deep breath. Jamie is also good friends with Joseph, so maybe this will be problematic, but (Y/N) just has to talk about the night with somebody.

"I slept with Joseph," she says bluntly and after that, silence takes over the trailer.

"W-wow, okay, that's some news. How did it happen, when did it happen?", Jamie asks carefully and (Y/N) gulps, her hands sweaty and shaky.

"Yesterday in my trailer. Joseph visited me and we wanted to prepare for the kissing scene. You know that I have barely any experience and I was so incredibly nervous, so acting out the scene before the actual shooting seemed like a good idea. We started and everything went well, until... you know, it happened," she tries to explain and Jamie listens to his best friend until she's done.

"How was it?", he then asks and (Y/N) sighs loudly.

"It was good, Joseph was very careful, he knew that it was my first time. I just- I'm scared that it was just a one night stand for him," she finally admits and looks at Jamie, who then realizes what the girl means.

"Oh honey, you like him, right?", he deduces and (Y/N) gulps heavily before nodding. Jamie exhales loudly and scoots closer to take her in his arms and gently brush over her arm.

"You should talk to him. I know, the thought of being rejected is horrifying, but then you know what's going on between you two. Besides, I really have a feeling that Joseph has a huge crush on you."

"You think?", (Y/N) asks and Jamie nods.

"Pretty much, yes. You two were completely sober when things happened. You may have been overwhelmed by your emotions and were completely mind-blown, but Joseph is no virgin anymore. He's aware of his emotions and everything, so my guess is that he just couldn't help himself. He lost the fight against his emotions in that situation because he kissed his crush and in the end it led to you guys hooking up."

When Jamie then left a few minutes later to finally get into his costume, (Y/N) stayed in her trailer to think about what to do. She's still anxious, but Jamie is right, she has to talk to Joseph. Sighing heavily, she gets up again and throws on a hoodie before leaving the trailer to head outside and look for Joseph.

There is still some filming going on,  many people are walking around, but Joseph is nowhere to be seen. (Y/N) was on the verge of giving up for today since she'd be able to see the man tomorrow for sure, but that's when she finally discovers him. He's on his way to his trailer, probably to end his working day, so this is the perfect chance to talk to him.

"Joseph!", (Y/N) yells and runs after the man, luckily he heard her and stopped his movements. Joseph watches how the girl comes closer, a cute, big hoodie on that's hiding her beautifully shaped body, making his heart flutter and his body heat up. Yesterday was magical for him, he enjoyed every single second. But now that (Y/N) ignored him all day long except for the scenes they had together, he's insecure about how she feels.

"We, uhm - I think we should talk," (Y/N) then says when she reaches him, standing in front of him and fiddling her fingers, visibly nervous about the tension between the two of them. 

"You mean you want to talk about yesterday night?", Joseph asks and turns towards her completely. (Y/N) takes a deep breath and slowly nods.

"Y-yeah, about yesterday, but more specifically... about the two of us," she answers and gulps again, her throat incredibly dry. It's silent for a moment until Joseph nods and invites her into his trailer, so the two enter the vehicle and sit down on the couch, a bit of space between them.

"So, about last night...", Joseph begins, knowing too well how anxious the girl next to him must be, she never had this kind of talk before, especially if this turns out to be nothing more than a one night stand.

"Listen Joseph, I really don't know how this happened. I mean, we acted out the scene and everything was fine, but then... I- I don't...", (Y/N) says, completely overwhelmed, it makes Joseph's heart ache to see her so confused. Did he take it too far? Was it too much to sleep with her? He just... it was perfect in that moment and both of them were fine with it, he didn't even think about the fact she was a virgin. He just... he took her virginity just because he lost control and gave in to his emotions.

"(Y/N), hey...", the man says because of that, feeling bad for making her feel like this, and he softly grabs her hand to make her look at him. She does so, her eyes all big and surprised.

"I didn't mean to make you insecure or confused with what happened between us last night. I know you were overwhelmed by your emotions, that's okay. I was the one that should've stopped, I'm the one with the experience. I understand if it was too much for you and you don't really feel anything for me except for friendship maybe, just say if it was a one night stand for you and we can forget everything, stay friends if you want to."

(Y/N) watches Joseph's face, listens to his words and gulps heavily when he finished his little monologue. Tears rise in the corners of her eyes, threatening to flow over and when Joseph sees this, he raises his eyebrows and instantly pulls her close, embracing her and calming her down the best way he can.

"I- I don't want it to be like that, Jo...", (Y/N) whispers and Joseph looks down to her, seeing how she does cry silently now. The girl slowly pulls away again and looks him in the eyes, locking eye contact.

"Please don't tell me that yesterday meant nothing to you, Jo," she pleads and Joseph raises his eyebrows, a little surprised by her words. But then his gaze becomes soft and he gently pushes away a strand of hair from her beautiful face.

"No darling, yesterday meant a lot to me. From the first day I got to know you, I knew I'd like you, and these feelings grew every day we've got so spend with each other. When I found out about Eddie's and (Y/C/N)'s kiss scene, my heart went wild," he explains calmly and sees how (Y/N) starts to realize what he means.

"Actually, I initially came to your trailer because I wanted to talk to you about my feelings for you. I was scared about the kissing scene, I was scared I might lose myself in the moment just like I did yesterday. So, asking you to practice was also to prepare myself for the scene as well."

(Y/N) gulps heavily, her tears dried down by now, replaced by a look full of hope, maybe even a little love.

"You... you mean you have f-feelings for me? You...", she tries to say, completely taken by surprise about these new information. Joseph smiles at her loss of words, but all he does is nod softly to confirm her guess. It wouldn't end good in any other way. Even if (Y/N) somehow doesn't like him like that, he just couldn't stay silent about that anymore.

"You- wow...", (Y/N) whispers, this just can't be happening. Someone she likes actually likes her back? And this special someone is Joseph Quinn?

She stays silent for a little more time until this outburst of happiness just overwhelms her and she throws herself onto him, hugging him really tight. Joseph laughs at her actions, holding her tight and secure in his arms until she leans away again, smiling brightly at the man.

"Can I take this as an 'I like you too'?", Joseph asks with a low laughter, making (Y/N) bite her lip to keep herself from smiling too much.

"Yes... a 100% yes," she whispers and places her hands on his cheeks to pull him close for a kiss and to finally feel his lips on hers again, this time really sure this is okay and that it is because of love and not just the moment.

Before yesterday she never would've dreamt of this scenario, I mean Joseph Quinn as your boyfriend?

But now... now everything is perfect, (Y/N) couldn't be happier. And Joseph couldn't be, either...

[otteranha]

Timeline-wise this doesn’t really work but Duffer brothers don’t care and neither do I so:

Pre S4 when Dustin, Mike and Lucas are still trying to convince Eddie that Steve isn’t the literal worst a huge blizzard hits Hawkins. Whole town loses power for days. Of course who’s the only house with a generator? Casa de Harrington. Steve has all his kiddos over to camp out there for the duration.

Then word gets back to the rest of the Hellfire club and Eddie decides that they should crash the party, aka finagle some hot showers and working stove access from their association with Steve’s kids. He figures it will be fun, and funny, and serve Steve right for all his previous bullshit, to have a bunch more freaks running around his fancy house: either they get out of the miserable blackout or he kicks them out in front of Dustin and co. and shows what a true douchebag he is.

But when they get there Steve is fine letting them stay. He’s apparently been letting a whole troop of people from Keith to the ladies in Mrs. Henderson’s rotary club stop by for hot food and to do laundry. The kids are great but they’re starting to go stir crazy and they don’t understand that he can’t just run the power 24/7 solely for them to stay up all night watching movies and playing Atari, he is actually trying to keep enough fuel to heat part of the house for people to stay in, for hot water and cooking, until the power comes back. And the kids are also tired and stressed and bored and starting to whine and generally not be the best version of themselves. So Eddie’s surprised by how patient and generous Steve’s being with his home, and Steve is beyond grateful that Eddie and Gareth and Jeff and the rest are there to distract the kids.

(If Steve and Eddie end up enjoying each other’s company more than expected, Steve surprisingly engaged by Eddie’s storytelling and Eddie stepping up to put the fear of god into the young’uns when they get too snarky with Steve, well, desperate times right?)

[genderflu1dwh0r]

Are you stupid?

You can be racist and have POC friends, Jason is way worse than Billy any day. Jason isn't the one being abused by his father everyday, he isn't poor, he didn't get taken from his home and live with a step sibling that he didn't know that well.

Jason is a horrible person and got his friend to tackle Erica, then he held a gun at Lucas. You can't tell me that that isn't racist, you can't tell me that's worse than what Billy ever did. Jason said "I thought you were one of the good ones". That. Is. Racist.

Billy got his bad traits from his father. Billy got beat by his father. Billy was crying into the phone for his mom to come home. Billy had no support system. Steve was the only person that Billy bullied and tormented, and in my opinion, Steve is a worse character than Billy.

Steve threw slurs, while Billy got slurs thrown at him by his own father. Just because you don't care about abuse victims, doesn't mean you have to spread your hate.

I think that Billy just wanted Lucas to stop hanging around because if Neil found out, Billy would be the one getting beat. Neil would probably hurt Lucas way more than Billy could have ever done. Billy was protecting Max and himself, he was scared that Neil would find out. He did care and love Max, he just showed it in some confusing ways.

Also, the Duffer brothers are racist, they wanted Dacre to say the N word. Dacre protested and it ended up not happening. Billy saying the N word isn't canon, cause it didn't happen in the show. Stop always going to that excuse for him being a bad person. He never said any slur.

People say "if the actor wasn't hot, then people wouldn't have liked him" and I disagree. His character is very interesting. He has a backstory, he has trauma, he has an actual interesting plot unlike any other character. Dacre is also a very amazing actor, he was able to make Billy even more interesting.

Dacre has said that his art imitates his life. He put his own life into the character, he didn't have a great relationship with his dad, he has said this.

Max is a horrible person too, she drugged Billy with something that she didn't know was in, almost hit him with Steve's bat, screamed at him before leaving and stealing his car. Billy could have died on the floor, he was drugged and had no car. Tell me that that isn't abuse. Just because Billy grabbed her wrist ONE time, doesn't mean it's abuse.

Siblings fight all the time, it's just what happens. Especially how their family dynamics was. I and many others have fights with our siblings. You get over it in like a day. That doesn't make Billy a bad person. He did some really shitty things, yes. But that doesn't excuse all the hate he gets. He's a complex character, no other character is like him.

That's why he's my baby boy. I relate to him, I'm an abuse victim, I love knowing that I have a character to relate to. Stop blaming abuse victims on how they grew up, they can change. He could have changed if he didn't die. He could have, but nobody let him.

Nobody tried to help him. He didn't have a support system. The people who compare Jonathan to Billy are wild, cause Jonathan did have a support system, his mother did so much. Billy had nobody. His father beat him, hi stepmother did NOTHING to stop Neil, she just watched. She was clearly abused too, but she's the adult, she has to be there for Billy. She has to get Max away from all of this, which in season 4, she did. But she turned into an even worse mom.

Right here. He was trying to get help, he was trying to get the MF to get out. He wanted someone to help him. He kept fighting, and that's how he saved everyone on the day he died. He knew he was going to die, he was sobbing.

Try to think before talking bad against Billy.

Why do people say Vecna/Henry/Jason/Troy/James/Angela are better than Billy?

Vecna/Henry literally tried to kill children and the whole world. Billy wanted to have some fun and games, he would never go to prison for killing a child. He was never going to hit Mike, Lucas, Dustin, or Will.

Troy/James made Mike jump off of a fucking cliff while wanting to take Dustins teeth out. Tell me that isn't fucked. MIKE WOULD HAVE DIED IF EL WASN'T THERE!!

Jason held a fucking gun to Lucas's head and got Erica hurt. He sent a witch-hunt over Eddie and that ended up killing that poor boy. Literally, he was poor and Jason is a rich christian white boy. Tell me that isn't classist. Jason also did this to get information out of a kid.

Angela deserved the roller skate to the face for what she did to El. I would have done the same thing, El never deserved any of what she went through there.

Anyone going to object? Cause you can't, my points are spot on. Why aren't we gonna get mad at Jamie Campbell Bower over saying he relates to Vecna/Henry? If Dacre is bad for doing so, why can't we shame Jamie for the same thing?

I would count the MF taking over Billy like that as a reference of sexual assault. His body gets taken away from him, he is crying for help, he is scared and tried to tell someone. I've talked to SA survivors and they agree.

Anyway, I am pissed at Billy antis and I am just so done with them.

[sweet-villain]

Dancing With Our Hands Tight~J.Q

Anonymous asked:

Hi my love, this is my first time placing an order. I would like to ask if you could make a picture of Joseph Quinn. Where Y/n is a Cast of Stranger Things actress, she and Joseph have a secret relationship from the media and fans, only those who know are close people. So... They go to Fan Expo Canada and Joe can't stand having to hide their relationship, because he wants to hug and kiss her without having to hide it anymore.

I hope you liked this idea, I was imagining myself in this situation with Joseph haha ​​and I really wanted to read about it. &lt;3

You groaned as you turned over on the other side, peeking through one eye at the body sleeping besides you. Little snores escape from your boyfriend with one hand over his eyes and the other on his stomach, right above the covers.

You snuggled up to his side, ghosting your lips over his bare shoulder as you placed a kiss there. He murmurs in his sleep as he turns on his side searching underneath the covers for you, circling his arm around your waist as he pulls you to him.

"Good Morning" you leaned over, kissing him on the nose. He groan, wrinkling it as he pushed his face more into the pillow. " What time is it lovely?" He asks.

" What time is it lovely?" you copied him in a teasing tone. His eyes opened as he looked at you with a raised eyebrow. " Don't tell me we have to get ready soon."

" Okay I won't tell you" you sat up in bed as you took your phone from the besides table and tapped it to see the time. Indeed you needed to get up, shower and get ready. Joseph and you flew in to Canada for Fan Expo that was today. You both had a busy day to meet fan, to do a panel and take pictures of fans.

You met Joseph on the set of Stranger Things, he came into the table read to greet the others when your eyes locked with his. He paused in the door way as all the conversation stopped and eyes were on him. Then they were on you. Then they were on him.

" This is Joe, this is our Eddie Munson" one of the Duffer brothers said as he came over to greet Joe, they shook hands. You sat next to Keery who nudged you to get your attention. He had the biggest smirk on his face.

" Looks like someone's got a crush" he sang. You playfully slapped his shoulder. You had been on Stranger Thing since the beginning, playing Dustin's sister. You had grown close with the cast especially with Keery and Gaten.

" She had heart eyes just looking at him " Gaten spoke from across from you. You put your head in your arms as you hide yourself from the teasing and from them seeing how red your cheeks are. Joe who has been watching the interacting, he couldn't help but smile as he took his seat next to Gaten.

" He's staring at you" Keery whispered as he leaned in, nudging your head with a finger. Your head snapped up to glare at him, only to catch those beautiful brown eyes of Joseph Quinn.

After that, you and Joe got closer and closer as you played his love interest on the show. The both of you had a few scenes together and before you know it, the two of you were dating. The Duffer brothers, the crew and the rest of the cast were ecstatic that you two ended up being together.

Though you and Joe agreed to keep your relationship private from the press and the fans. It wasn't something that came easy. The both of you were seen together outside but there was space between the two of you and you told fans, that both of you were just really good friends.

" You need to get up" you lean down pressing a kiss on his forehead. " We have to head out to the Expo soon"

He groaned as he rolled on his back as he stretched his arms out. Joe sat up in bed as he looked sleepily over at you.

" Kiss?" He asked pursing his lips. You chuckled, leaning over giving him his kiss. He pulled away with a smile on his face leading with a hum as he slipped out of bed. He wore black boxers that hung low on his hips. Your eyes dropped to that tummy trail he had and you couldn't help bite your bottom lip.

" You done staring?" he teased as he ran a hand through his hair. A hint of red brushes your cheeks causing him to laugh. " It's okay lovely, you look good enough to eat sitting over there"

" Joe!" you giggled pulling the covers feeling shy.

" You weren't as shy last night love" you took a hold of one of the pillows in your hands and threw it at him. He catches it with his hands as he laughs.

" Go shower, Joe"

He saluted you as he made his way over to the bathroom.

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The both of you took different cars to the Fan Expo. You didn't want to look suspicious or anything. The fans would see you both and then they would know.

" I'll be close by, don't you worry" you told Joseph as he stood pouting with those brown eyes, shining. " Stop it, I'll be close and if I need you, I'll come find you. Okay?"

He nodded as he leaned over to peck you on the lips.

" I love you" he says.

" I love you too"

You couldn't believe how many fans were here dressed as your character. You felt so much love and the support brought you almost to tears.

" HI!" you waved to some fans who squealed trying to get your attention.

" Hi Y/N" they greeted you. You saw a little girl that was dressed as Grace's character, as Chrissy and it was the most adorable sight you have ever seen. You held your hand up and she high fived you while her mom beamed with happiness that you did that for her daughter.

You got to your table for the autographs and saw that Joe has been already sitting in his own table. He waved, sending you a wink too as you settled down in your seat.

You returned the wave and turned to the first person that came up to you to get your autograph.

" Hi, you're so pretty Y/N" they said, in their hands they held a paper and a bag too. " Thank you so much, you're so kind. What's your name, sweetie?"

" June" she says, " I really love how your character developed through the show. I think Y/C/N ( your character's name) and Eddie were destined to be together."

" Thank you, Joseph and I had a lot of fun doing scenes together. He's such a sweetheart to work with"

She giggled.

" I have something for you" she offers you the piece of paper and it's a drawing of your character and Dustin. " Did you draw this?" you gasped. You loved how she did the coloring too.

She nods.

" Can I keep this?" you asked.

" Yes, it's all yours" you put the picture to your chest as you pout at her. " Thank you, come here" you stood up from the chair as you opened your arm for a hug. She looked like she was about to cry.

" I have this for you too" she slide over the bag she was holding. In it is some chocolates and a little plush toy of a bat. You chuckled as you took the bat out, cuddling it.

" I'll have a new cuddle buddy it seems, thank you sweets. Thank you for coming"

"It's so nice to meet you, thank you for being amazing" she says. You slide over her autograph to her. She takes it in her hands.

" No, thank you June." She squeals as she walks off, with a jump in her step. The next person was two girl that looked to be twins and they were dressed as your character and Dustin.

" I love this!" you motion to them. " Can I take a picture of you two? I need to show Gaten. He's going to love it"

" Yes please" they stood next to each other and posed. You took the picture and send it to Gaten right away.

" How are you doing, girls?" you asked as you signed the autograph for them. " We are amazing, you're really amazing Y/N. You're an an amazing actress."

" Thank you so much, where are you girls from?"

" San Diego, California" one of them says.

" My parents live there actually, I'm going to visit them soon"

You talked to them a bit more and Joe took a moment to look over at you seeing you interact with the fans, he frowned seeing the next fan was a guy dressed as Eddie. He saw the guy trying to flirt with you, and makes jokes. His eyes went to you seeing you threw your head back in laughter.

You only laughed at his jokes like that. He shook his head with a huff to the next fan that came up to him.

You loved each experience you had with your fans, from little kids, to girls gushing how pretty you were. To others telling you how your character means so much to them. You didn't know weather to cry or smile.

The last fan came up to you telling you that they would see you in the photo ops you were doing with them. Your stomach growled in the instant you finish up.

" I'm ready to eat" you patted your stomach, waving to Grace who had happened to finish up too. Joseph has still a couple of people in front of him. He felt your gaze on him. He turned his head seeing you were done doing your autographs.

He pouted and you mouthed to him, " I love you" and this caused him to smile as he mouthed it back to you. No one had noticed the interaction. You were worried they did.

You had walked by Joseph's table to get out on the other side, squeezing at his shoulder and he looked up for a brief moment to see that it's you.

" See you soon love" you winked, whispering only making sure he heard it. He couldn't help but feel his cheeks redden as he watched you walk away.

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Joseph had saw some of the fans pictures with you that you did in the photo ops. He took notice of those that were guys that they hugged you to themselves, squishing you almost close that it irked him.

He was tired of keeping your relationship a secret. He wanted the world to know you were his and he was yours.

He had an idea forming in his head but he wasn't too sure about your reaction. But he was ready to tell the world that you were his.

His photo ops were quicker than he imagined. He wanted to only to get back to you and hold you after a long day.

When it was time for the panel, he watched you go on stage before he did and smiled hearing how many people loved you and adored you. He couldn't blame them, your character has changed a lot through the season and he was happy with all the love you were getting.

He was called up next and he almost ran to his seat. His eyes dropped to your crossed legs in the chair that were begging for his hand to reach over and touch. He held back as he shifted in his seat.

" You okay?" you leaned over to ask.

" Yeah" he nodded as the questions began. Joseph and you took turns in answering. That's when the crowd shouted as Finn came on stage following by Grace. Finn raced over to embrace you since he hasn't seen you for a long time. Grace beamed seeing you as she held you tight.

You frowned a little seeing the hug between Grace and Joe, too much for your liking. They pulled away from each and Joseph took noticed of your expression. He shook his head with a small smile on his face. You were too cute, he thought.

One of the questions caught you off guard. It was personal and you weren't sure how to answer it.

" All the fans want to know Y/N, are you single? Taken?" you cleared your throat into the microphone beginning to say what you wanted to say when you were cut off.

" She's not single" Joe said. Your eyes got wide as he answered. Was he really doing this? Here?

He could feel your gaze on him as he turned to look at you sending you an apologetic smile. The crowd roared with cheers and shocked.

" She's my girlfriend" he says like it's nothing. But your frozen in your seat with your mouth opening and closing. You didn't know why he did this today. Why he didn't talk to you about it and why all of sudden when you both agreed you two would keep it a secret.

" Joe.." you finally said into the microphone.

" I don't wanna hide anymore, love. I know what we agreed on, I'm sorry I made you upset. But you're mine and I want the whole world to know that you took Joseph Quinn off the market" Grace laughed with Finn, who shook his head.

You smirked.

" Seriously, I did" you said into the microphone. " Sorry ladies, I can't share him either"

[missdforever]

I will forever hate how in stranger things fanfics the try to make Billy seem like he’s not really a bad guy. Like he didn’t emotionally abuse his step sister and try to hate crime a 12 year old boy!!!!!

I have seen people compare him to Jonathan with how trauma can lead you either ways. Jonathan and Wills father was abusive instead of taking his anger out on Will he protected him versus with Billy he took his anger out on his 12 year old stepsister because of his father’s abuse.

I’m so tired of people saying he was protecting Max from Lucas cause he actually cared about her. First of all FROM WHAT, let’s be real he ain’t want Max hanging with Lucas cause he was a black kid(which has been confirmed by the duffer brothers, Caleb, and Darce) so stop making shit up to fit how you want to see him. He also wanted to have POWER over Max like his father did him.

So when people say they cried when walking UTI died I was like I didn’t shed a tear. Do I feel bad he was abused yeah of course, but that doesn’t excuse the stuff he did. Saving Eleven doesn’t excuse what he does!

Stop excusing white mens actions just because they are attractive. It’s not cute at all. Also stop babying grown ass adults it’s not cute either. If they messed up or did something horrible their trauma doesn’t make it okay.