#dynamic: dustin/erica

[samgelina-jolie]

[gayofthefae]

Byler is paralleled to Lum@x even in season 3 because between Elmax, Stobin, Elmike, Murray and Alexei, Dustin and Erica, season 3 is about prioritizing platonic relationships - so both Byler and Lum@x are put in the background.

Mike & Max and Lucas & Will are much more often together towards the battle but they keep these couples paralleled in the background: paralleled because they want you to remember they're romantic, and in the background because this season still isn't about that.

Even when they're sidelined it's confirmation because they were sidelined BECAUSE it's romantic.

[jaegerisim]

Dustin and Lucas are the only characters that have had an incredible relationship and insane chemistry with every character they've interacted. I said what I said.

[greenfiend]

Ever notice how these four members of the basketball team are inverted/upside down versions of the party?

The clues are the visual similarities...

Let’s start with least to most inverted:

Patrick and Lucas

Their personalities aren’t so different, as Patrick does seem like one of the nicest members of the team. Here’s where they are opposites:

- Lucas/the Sinclairs are shown to have the healthiest family dynamics on the show. Patrick, on the other hand, has trauma from his family and seems to have an abusive dad. Lucas’ dad respects Lucas’ mother to a great degree, while Patrick’s dad is implied to be abusive towards Patrick’s mother.

- Lucas has other friends outside of the basketball team, Patrick does not.

- When Lucas disagrees with the group he’s in, he stands up against them. When Patrick disagrees, he continues to follow along.

Chance and Mike

We do not know much about Chance, but we do know a few ways he is much different than Mike.

- Chance is a follower. He just goes along with Jason, not questioning any of his decisions. Mike, on the other hand, is a leader. If Mike disagrees with a plan, he makes his opinion known.

- Popularity is likely something important to Chance, whereas Mike states he doesn’t care about that.

Andy and Dustin

Okay now huge contrasts ahead! Andy is not a nice person at all. I would say he is likely the cruellest out of the basketball team.

- Dustin and Erica continue to increase their friendship/bond. Andy, on the other hand, is so incredibly cruel to Erica that it’s hard to watch…

- Andy is overall very insensitive to others, whereas Dustin is considerate and a good friend.

- Andy (and the others) are easily tricked by Lucas. Dustin is not so easily tricked- he’s observant, often skeptical and good at critical thinking.

Jason and Will

I’ve NEVER seen these to compared before but there’s actually a lot of contrasts here!

- Jason hates DnD. He views is as satanic! Will, on the other hand, begs his friends to play with him.

- Jason is a leader, easily commanding a crowd of people. Will is a follower.

- Jason is performative… with his relationship and everything. Will is the opposite, he’s very authentic.

- Jason is quick to lash out to others when things bother him, making his problems everyone else’s problems too. Will keeps his problems all inside, not wanting to burden anyone.

- Jason does not forgive Eddie, even when confronted with evidence of Eddie’s innocent, he still refuses to let it go. Will, on the other hand, is so quick to forgive everyone… even when forgiveness isn’t necessarily deserved.

- Jason is quick to be violent when faced with a perceived threat, pulling a gun out on Lucas who isn’t even at all threatening! Will cannot even pull the trigger when faced with an actual threat.

- Jason becomes “split” into two horizontally… Will has imagery of being “split” vertically (Phineas Gage).

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

@stcreators event 03: comfort (dynamic) ↳ Dustin Henderson & Erica Sinclair (insp)

[piastrinorris]

@stcreators event 05 • dynamics

HELLFIRE CLUB + discord profiles (in/sp | temp)

+ some explanations/headcanons:

"book club" is the older teens' role for discussing all things stoner. eddie thought it would sound too boring of a role for the younger kids to ask them about. dustin relentlessly asks eddie what kind of books he reads to see if he's already read them.

mike, lucas, dustin and erica all play characters they canonically have in the show. gareth's is canon from flight of icarus (as is doug's name). jeff plays a warforged called realboy who refuses to believe that he's a robot, and boingy, well. boingy's whoever and whatever you want them to be.

doug made the server on eddie's request. eddie swore he could handle having owner powers. he could not. but he insists that the dm should have omnipotence in their campaign's server, so doug gives him the illusion of such. doug removed channel and role adding permissions within less than an hour of granting them to eddie.

erica periodically gets doug to kick lucas out of the pranksters chat as a prank in and of itself. lucas will drive himself mad expecting a prank to be planned against him at any moment, erica will revel in the psychological warfare.

simp city started out as a joke where doug banished the 3 boys for talking too much about their beloved blorbos in the brainrot channels. when mike started really trying to be a part of everything that eddie is, even if he doesn't really like some of the same things (see: basic miw lyric status to mimic eddie's), the boys subtly alluded to mike that they talk about crushes, including one miss nancy wheeler, to keep him well away. (they are all nancy simps though)

jeff loves wrestling and doug loves lego. they told me this themselves

[thestobingirlie]

conformity in stranger things

(as we see it through the characters of steve, dustin and eddie)

dustin meets steve while steve is already heading down his own path — he’s leaving behind ideas about high school and relationships, and figuring out who he is without them.

steve, by season two, had already become disillusioned with the idea of high school, and power struggles, and being the most popular guy in school. which is why he doesn’t react to billy’s taunts.

despite what the fandom may have you believe, steve’s seasons long arc about his struggle with conforming to the person people expect him to be is done.

don’t get me wrong, steve is still hanging onto some ideas in s2, like pretending you don’t care to get girls, and seeing nancy as different to all his other girlfriends (though i personally think that speaks more to steve’s prior relationships than the way he views woman).

and so, dustin and their friendship play a major role in steve fully moving on from the concept of ‘conforming’. steve doesn’t want to change who he is to get people to like him, or love him!

and with dustin, he doesn’t!!!

they make up dorky handshakes, and give each other advice. they talk about girls and steve teaches him how to achieve his signature hairstyle.

their relationship impacts both boys, but neither of them are conforming. it’s pretty much the exact opposite!!! despite what some fans would have you believe steve and dustin have a positive impact on each other!!!

dustin doesn’t change who he is to impress steve! he’s just as dorky as before, and in fact imparts some of that dorkiness onto steve!! steve and dustin help each other to find who they are, and figure themselves out.

on the other hand.

eddie had a negative impact on dustin.

dustin in s3 is dorky. he likes science, and school, and building great big radio towers up hills.

dustin in s4 is failing classes, treating friends like shit, his hubris is at an all time high; all aided by eddie’s high opinion of himself and ideas about conforming.

see. when eddie talks about conforming, he doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about (which is why his fans don’t either).

when he criticised people for ‘conforming’, all he’s really talking about is people being interested in things he doesn’t like. parties. band. science. basketball. he looks down on them all.

he makes snap judgments, and reduces them down to stereotypes. we literally watch him learn this on screen!!!

we literally watch as he verbally recognises that he knew nothing about steve, and yet reduced him down to his interest in basketball.

and here’s where the irony comes in. eddie is literally leading the club on conformity.

everyone in hellfire wears the exact same thing, and he makes fun of the clothes they used to wear. he seats himself on a thrown, and judges anyone that wishes to come before him before he deems them worthy to play a game. he’s not accepting all losers. he’s literally telling them they’re lesser than as he stands on tables in the cafeteria, and then fights against erica playing with them… just because he thinks she has to prove herself to him first.

that’s the point of eddie’s character!! that his whole big speech at the beginning of the season is wrong. and we literally see how he’s wrong scenes later when eddie interacts with chrissy.

people watch eddie learn and grow as a person, and then reduce his character right back down to who he was when he was first introduced.

tl;dr — if one of dustin’s relationships is about conformity, it’s his friendship with eddie, not steve. his brother dynamic with steve is about the complete opposite. about reaching across dumb nerd v jock social divides and finding a family.

in looking up to eddie, dustin has let his other interests fall to the wayside. he’s snarkier, makes fun of steve more (just like he’s been watching eddie mock jocks for months), his friendships with the rest of the party are at an all time low.

and yet. some people would have me believe this is dustin’s truest self? who gets his mormon girlfriend to hack into his school because he’s failing latin. who mocks steve for ‘wanting to be a hero’ when just the season before he was prepared to die by steve’s side.

[atmilliways]

(Directly inspired by Eddie and Jeff’s friendship dynamic in this, which is much lighter and sweeter than what’s about to follow.)

What if a fic where all the Upside Down shit happens and Eddie lives, and Steve actually seems to be interested in him which is insane… but Chrissy died. Eddie and Jeff bonded over their nerd-on-jock crushes for all of high school, he can’t just get his guy when Jeff’s crush is dead.

So, with much angst and pining, Eddie withdraws. He stops flirting with Steve or responding to him much at all, just one-word answers to questions until Steve gives up on asking. (Which takes a while, the hot stubborn bastard.) And then it hurts too much to hang out with the entire group, because Steve is always there on the outskirts, watching him like a kicked puppy. He still sees Nancy regularly (because she’s even more stubborn than Steve) and by extension Jonathan and Argyle, but Robin drifts off, siding with Steve.

The kids are divided: Mike sticks by Eddie, Lucas and Erica stick by Steve, Will and El try to remain neutral because they never really knew Eddie to begin with but obviously lean more team Steve, and Max is just pissed at both of them for being idiots. Dustin tries to be there for both of them, but it’s such an obvious strain that Eddie starts pulling back from him too, telling himself he’s giving the kid a break. (Part of it, too, is that Dustin can’t help talking about his favorite people and doesn’t always catch himself in time to avoid giving Eddie anecdotal updates about Steve. He tells himself that by absenting himself, he’s sparing Steve from the same thing.)

Eddie is miserable, but he can’t admit why any more than he can break the NDAs and risk the government taking it all back—his pardon, his diploma, the brick and mortar house, the money that means Wayne doesn’t have to work himself to the bone anymore or worry about Eddie having to deal to help make ends meet.

And Jeff isn’t stupid. He notices, and he can guess why, and a few vague references to Harrington that make Eddie’s face do this awful, awful thing only confirms it.

It takes a long time, but Jeff manages to convince Eddie that he has his blessing. And then it’s another month of wallowing and calling Nancy at inappropriate hours to freak out about how much he’s ruined everything—but she seems to think he still has a chance with Steve.

So eventually, Eddie walks up to Steve’s front door in his best jeans, clutching a bouquet of sunflowers and trying not to sweat through his shirt even though it’s spring again and still nippy out, hoping against hope that his high school crush will let him inside.

[citrusandrottefruit]

I love Steve because he seemed like a jerk at first. I thought I would dislike him, after all, he was the typical "bad" guy from usamerican high school movies. The fact that he surprised me softened my heart.

Because his party was just a get-together with his friends, his girlfriend, and even included his girlfriend's friend. Because he was being silly trying to impress her. Because he wasn't making fun of her behind her back or acting like it was a sacrifice to be with her.

He wasn't an idiot making a bet, he was a teenager interested in a girl.

He did some reprehensible things, but he acknowledged it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to look at your own actions, realize they were wrong, and try to do something about it? Even having to get over the feeling of distrust, over the fact that Jonathan did something terrible (those pictures haunt me). He got beaten up, it was so easy to hold on to that and never decide to apologize.

And he came back when there was danger. He could have just been human and run away to survive, but he chose to go back and fight for Jonathan and Nancy's survival too, even though they weren't on the best of terms.

So in season two he won me over completely. Because he's loving and compassionate, willing to forgive and ask for forgiveness, even when he's not the one in the wrong. Because when a kid comes to him for help, even if he has something he needs to do (apologize to Nancy), he goes and helps. He puts his own safety on the line to protect people he barely knows.

I don't even really like Stranger Thinks. I like Steve. I like his dynamic with Dustin, the potential that can be explored about how his relationship with Nancy ended, his dynamic with Robin, with Erica, with Lucas, with Max. With Eddie. I like how he becomes protective of all these people. I like how he's a little goofy, how he supports his friend, how he doesn't hold a grudge against Jonathan. I even like how he's not the "brave" guy who throws himself into danger without thinking: he almost left in season one, he didn't want to leave the Byers house in season two, he would never have gotten involved in Dustin's investigation if, well, it wasn't for Dustin who would have moved on anyway, he didn't want to go after Eddie right away. He hesitates when he has the option, because that's what any normal person would do, but he becomes a shield when danger is imminent, he takes responsibility to protect others.

I really like him.

And honestly, I find it comforting to read about the "big empty house" and the absent parents. Because, despite the family dynamic, he's a sweetheart. AAnd I don't think it's because of Nancy, because from the beginning, even when they were barely involved, he already showed the kind of person he is. What I believe is that the trauma and realizing that the kids needed protection brought out this protective side even more and he decided to take responsibility to be the one the kids were looking for.

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Spoilers on X: "A closer look at the new clip of #StrangerThings5! https://t.co/IApPyToeHH" / X

Couple of thoughts here:

1.) They've been placing a heavy emphasis on Holly having an important role in S5. I know it's been speculated she will be the Wheeler who vanishes (as the title for the second episode of S5 states), but I'm skeptical about her just being held captive and having to be rescued in the UD the same way Will was in S1. Considering Holly's photo is being paired with El, Will, and Vecna, it's likely she'll play a part in bringing Vecna down (and may even do something that leads to his death).

2.) How many horrific visions is Vecna planning to inflict on Will? 😟

3.) It's nice seeing the core 4 of the Party (Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin) back together in school, but that does raise some questions for me: Is the gate still open in Hawkins? If that's the case, how are they managing to still live there while attending school, especially after the end of S4 implied the Upside Down was going to infect Hawkins and cause it to decay? Is the military stationed at Hawkins High School and other areas of the town? How are other characters reacting to the disturbing changes around them?

4.) I'm assuming Jake Connelly's character is going to be the 10 year old bully that was discussed in previous interviews, and I'm guessing he'll either be targeting Holly or Erica with his nastiness. 😒 Gotta be honest, I'm not thrilled about the idea of yet another bully on the show, especially when we're in the final season and this is supposed to be a showdown between the main characters and Vecna/The Mind Flayer. I'll reserve judgment for when the season premieres, but I'm not enthusiastic about what they've revealed so far about this character.

5.) Yay for Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy working together in the same scene. I'm hoping we get that same "Monster Hunting Trio" dynamic from the S1 finale after they beat the Demogorgon the first time. Lord knows I've wanted that friendship between the three of them for a while.

[steveharrington]

Have we seen Steve interacting with authority figures? I feel like we must have at some point but I can't think of any... which is maybe why I struggle to imagine what Steve and Hopper/Joyce sharing a scene might look like. I guess there's that scene with Barb's parents?

we HAVENT ‼️ hardly anyways! off the top of my head i’m fairly sure that the only adults we’ve seen steve interact with (and i define interacting by him talking to them directly or vice versa) are barb’s parents like you said, the guys he walked up to cleaning the theater marquee, and the russian general. genuinely cannot think of anyone else. isn’t that so upsetting

i wouldn’t call barb’s parents or the movie marquee guys authority figures per se, but i do think you could kinda categorize ozerov that way. at the very least, he has massive power over steve (literally has him tied up and drugged). i think it’s notable that of these instances where steve is sharing a scene with an adult, he is consistently doing some sort of repentance. cleaning up the marquee, visiting barb’s parents after she died in his backyard, and being beaten for finding the operation (which served as a larger message to steve that once again reminds him he was an Evil Little Boy). we’ve never seen steve interact with an adult to receive comfort or protection—it’s always the opposite, actually. uncomfortable at the very least, literally being tortured at the most.

i think a very underrated moment is steve threatening ozerov by saying that hopper is going to save them. i think it’s sooooo genuinely deeply sad, actually! he so confidently thought hopper (and other adults ie the us calvary) were going to come save him and robin, when actually no one even knew they were down there. if dustin and erica hadn’t saved them, literally no one would have!!!! the same protection that hopper and joyce provide the other kids/teens don’t really extend to steve and robin, which makes sense logically since they’re kinda on the outskirts. they are not their children or close friends of their children. but i think that line is so meaningful and sad because it kinda implies that steve thinks of himself as falling under that umbrella of protection, but he doesn’t :(

that’s not to say that i think hopper is canonically like “fuck steve harrington i don’t care about that kid”, but the writing in st thus far hasn’t really been dynamic enough to give us glimpses into the various ways that All these kids/teens/adults are inherently tied together after going through category 5 monster moments every half a year together. i really hope season 5 remedies that (it sounds and looks like they might?) by giving us these rare interactions between characters who have almost been killed by the exact same Creature several times but have somehow never talked. i also want so badly for someone to acknowledge that steve becomes the de facto adult when joyce and hopper aren’t around (i know mom steve jokes got annoying but they stemmed from his behavior clearly modeling that of a Parent with the kids) and maybe give us insight into how steve views himself….does he feel like an adult? would he view hopper as an authority figure, or would he almost see him as a peer and equal considering they both end up being the meat shields when it comes to fighting people and monsters? i need to know…..

i do think we’ll get at least a crumb of steve and hopper in s5, at least because david harbour and joe keery have both talked about wanting to share scenes and it would be so mean of the writers to just be like no sorry we don’t have time for a 2 second interaction in this 10 hour season LOL but we shall see <3

[honeii-puff]

So me and my friend had a debate and it made me realize how you can see which characters are favored by the creators by how much of their backstory (how the grew up, what happened before s1, their family lives) we know of them.

For this, im going to be using characters that got introduced in S1, as they have had the most time to be added onto (almost a decade), plus Max as a shoe-in.

This list would be: The Byers(+el), the Wheelers, The Hendersons, the Sinclairs, the Mayfields, and the Harringtons.

The Byers:

Joyce married Lonnie and had Jonathan and Will before separating (I don't remember explicitly why, probably because he was a piece of shit). Jonathan and Will live with Joyce with no visitation from Lonnie, and are very close. Joyce isn't the most stable parent, so Jonathan helps around, kind of co-parenting Will. El grew up in the lab, and we see all the stuff that happens when shes younger, which makes sense since she is the main face of the show, so she's kind of exempt from this list.

The Wheelers:

On the outside, they're seen as the perfect suburban family, but in reality, Karen and Ted are in a loveless marriage, especially proven in s3 when Karen is having a weird relationship with Billy. The Wheeler siblings have a normal sibling dynamic of shouting and a love-hate relationship, with (this mainly applying to Nancy) the pressure of having to hold up the "perfect family" image.

The Mayfields:

Max's mom married Billy's dad when Max was young (I dont know if they mentioned what happened to her dad or if i just forgot), after Billy's mom had died. They lived in California until they were introduced in s2. Billy's dad is physically and verbally abusive, which has influenced Billy's actions towards Max. After Billy's death, we know that Billy's dad left, and that Max's mom isn't in a good mental state, leaving Max to take care of herself while also coping with her brother's death.

Now lets compare that to what we know about the Hendersons, the Sinclairs, and the Harringtons:

The Hendersons:

Dustin's dad isn't in the picture (we dont know why), and his mom likes cats.

The Sinclairs:

Lucas has both of his parents, who are in a loving relationship, and he has his sister Erica, who he has a generic sibling relationship with.

The Harringtons:

Rich background, Steve's parents are never around, but it's never expressed as to what his relationship with them is like. (Ik he wasn't meant to be a main character and he was supposed to die in s1, but its been a decade, they could have added onto it at any time)

We can also see this in how their trauma affects them

El and Will both have similar "im the freak" mindsets, which gives them the struggle of being able to make new friends and expand their circle. They also have a lot of trauma from the upside down, and El unknowingly blocked memories of what happened with 001 due to how traumatic they were.

Mike was bullied his whole life, which does reflect in his character, making him quick to react to situations rather than analysing them before responding. His trauma doesn't come from his family, but from other people he has been around. With both him and Nancy, it is shown that they both struggle with telling people that they care about "I love you" (Nancy with Steve, Mike with El), probably from seeing how "love" affected their parents.

Max's mental health had a steep decline after loosing Billy, and it is explicitly shown and a large part of her character in s4, so that one needs little explanation due to how blatantly obvious it is.

Now, Dustin, Lucas, and Steve have all been dealing with the Upside Down just as long as the others have been (besides Max), and little trauma is shown from it.

Dustin and Lucas were both bullied like Will and Mike were, yet it doesn't seem to actually affect their character like it has for Mike and Will. Both also have their share of events happening with the Upside Down.

Steve did go through a character arc, but we don't see how trauma has affected him, especially since he seems to be the shows punching bag. He got tortured by russians, almost got shot by his ex, has gotten into fight after fight for these kids, and got dragged to the bottom of the lake by his ankles and proceeded to get strangled and attacked by bats.

And none of them seemed to be affected by any of it.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

If there are any other ST characters you want an analysis on, send an ask!

[kingofscoops]

✨ 2024 in gifs ✨

rules: post your favorite and most popular post from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months)

i was tagged by @vanmarkus and @shlofolina, thanks guys ily 😘

january:

favourite: 4k celebration - followers fave stranger things dynamics no. 1

most popular: steve harrington + underrated shots prt 2

february:

favourite: make me choose - lucas and will or dustin and erica

most popular: steve harrington + underrated shots prt 3

march:

favourite: make me choose - fave 2 stranger things seasons part 1

most popular: steve + his amazing sense of hearing

april:

favourite: make me choose - grease or fargo

most popular: dogmeat the bestest girl in the wasteland

may:

favourite: make me choose - jackie taylor or lucy maclean

most popular: make me choose - steve's bmw or nancy's stationwagon

june:

favourite and most popular: 4.5k celebration - fave steve outfits per season

july:

favourite: 4.5k celebration - nancy + pretty strangers colour palette

most popular: jackie + laura lee death parallels

august:

favourite and most popular: steve "physical touch" harrington

september:

favourite: lottienat anarchy

most popular: make me choose - steve's poses

october:

favourite: child's play + purple and orange

most popular: over the garden wall parallels

november:

favourite: robin american girls remake

most popular: martha jones + bones of the hand

december:

favourite: spotify wrapped meme - no. 45 + 911

most popular: endless gifs of steve harrington 88/?

tagging some fellow awesome gifmakers (no pressure as always 😉) ~

@torisprlng @emziess @lengthofropes @beetlejuce @vinnymauro @ncthandrake @jeeyuns whoever else wants in 😘

[pbs-theundeadmaggot]

hi angel! i see your requests are open and if you’re up for it, i’d love to request an older!sinclair sister w our lover boy eddie? :) some angst for character development LOL and fluff? ♥️♥️♥️ thank u pookie

Mistakes were made but atleast we fixed them, sort of…

Eddie Munson x Fem!OlderSinclaire reader

[a/n] sorry this took longer than I’d hoped, I really tried to make it a balance between angst and fluff so I hope I did your request justice! Feel free to send more asks in the future, I’ve never written for Sinclair reader before this so it was definitely new to me, but I had fun! <3

Valen-Cries masterlist available here!

Request a Valen-Cries fic here!

Eddie had been your best friend for as long as you could remember, practically joined at the hip, so much so that it was uncommon to see you apart, until recently. With the cracks of your steadily crumbling friendship beginning to show, questions naturally arose from both your parents and peers. 

What you refused to tell anyone was the real reason behind this break, constantly spewing excuse after excuse when anyone broached the topic. It was unlikely anyone would hear what actually went down, with Eddie probably far too embarrassed to explain that you, his best friend was in love with him, and you mortified for even thinking he could feel the same.

In fact just thinking about it months later, your cheeks still burned with a mixture of hurt and rage, picturing the night you’d all but spilled your guts while he sat there half heartedly shrugging at your confession like you meant nothing to him at all. 

Poor Lucas had attempted to console you but was met with a cold pillow to the face the moment he entered your bedroom, quickly deciding it wasn’t worth possibly losing his head over some ‘girl drama’, or so he thought. However, it was also just your luck that the following morning he’d not only told Mike and Dustin but the entire Hellfire group, Eddie included.

For a while after the whole debacle you’d tried to remain just best friends with Eddie, truly believing that if he wasn’t interested in you romantically you could still salvage the friendship although, that proved more difficult than ever.

Which led you to now where you were stuck between the awkward and depressing limbo of wanting more but trying desperately to get over you know who, in an effort to go back to how it was before, if that was even possible. 

Poking around at the food in front of you as your family chatted happily about their day, zoning in and out of conversation had become the new norm. The numbness taking over once more until Lucas had let it slip that Eddie had a date with none other than Chrissy Cunningham, Hawkin’s princess. 

Of course he did, you’d thought. The bitterness beginning to take over as you thought of the numerous reasons Eddie would never be attracted to you and how you’d ruined everything. Excusing yourself from the table and going straight to bed, not that you’d be getting any sleep.

If only you’d kept your stupid mouth shut.

You weren’t sure how long had passed until the faint knock of the door echoed through the room, followed by the creak of the worn down door. “Hey y/n, I was thinking we could have a spa night this weekend if you’re up for it? You know how mom used to do when we were younger?” Erica shifted somewhat nervously. It was clear she didn’t want to anger you, with your mood changing faster than the wether nowadays, likely confused how the once close family dynamic had become to distant. 

Guilt weighed heavy against your chest, the urge to decline and simply wallow, outweighing a possibly fun and equally horrendous sister night. Desperate to think of an excuse but deciding to agree anyway for her sake. It wasn’t like you had anything planned either way, with Lucas and your parents going on date. 

The bonus was she might actually succeed with killing you this time, if her cooking was the still as you remembered.

—- 

Eddie knew it was wrong as soon as the thought entered his head, he just couldn’t understand how you could tolerate let alone be in love with him. Hell he’d be lying if he tried to deny the feelings he felt, yet he still choose to play the fool. He hadn’t anticipated the fallout would be quite this bad, with you avoiding him for the most part or pretending for his sake the confession was in the past and to be forgotten, and his conflicted feelings making him temperamental, for lack of a better word he well and truly was fucked.

How was he supposed to rely on you to protect his heart if he couldn’t do the same for you? So used to being the other person in any given situation, this was all new. Hell he’d have studied for this moment if it meant he’d have an answer with how to move forward, alas that wasn’t coming anytime soon.

Trudging up to the van like usual unaware that someone was following him until the crinkle of a snack wrapper sounded from behind, stopping him in his tracks.

 “Sinclair I know you’re there” Eddie had called before turning around to meet the sheepish grin on Lucas’ face.

“How did you know it was me?” The boy had sighed, munching away on his favourite snack bar which coincidentally was also yours. 

“Well apart from the obnoxiously loud noise you made opening that.” He’d pointed at the half eaten food “I also happen to know there y/n’s favourite and they’re the most annoying thing ever, especially when trying to plan a campaign.”

“Well anyway I need you to come to my house tomorrow evening.” Ignoring Eddie and continuing “and before you ask she’s not going to be home so don’t worry about that, she’s got a date.” He trailed off, watching something in the distance

“I wasn’t worried but okay…” Eddie muttered watching as Lucas suddenly ran off shouting at what he assumed to be the others to wait up for him

—-

Getting into your pyjamas and heading downstairs to see what chaos Erica was cooking up, literally, you hadn’t expected to be met with the person you’d been trying to forget, or at least just for one evening. 

“What are you doing here?” Looking around the otherwise empty kitchen confused “you’re supposed to be on a date?” You questioned

“No you’re supposed to be on a date.” Eddie echoed back as the sound of chairs dragging against the hardwood floor grew closer. 

“Neither of you are on a date but you are locked in, so sort whatever it is going on between you out now!” Your younger siblings shouted, clearly having planned tonight.

“By the way I know you both love each other so just admit it already.” Erica added, earning a thump before it grew quiet again. 

Unsure of how to comprehend her words, you simply pulled up a chair and sat down. You definitely weren’t going to start the conversation, hurt enough over the first time you’d talked argued about ‘this’.

“Look I’m just going to get straight to the point. I lied.” Eddie started, pulling up a chair near you and sitting “I do love-” the hesitation was enough to send you reeling, the urge to simply run, scratching away at your insides. 

“Fuck” he was pacing now “I’ve never said these words to anyone but I love you.” Breathing out without hesitation this time. “I know I’ve been shit at showing it and I don’t expect you to forgive me for lying and hurting you but when I heard you were going on a date something changed.” Now still and silent once again as he got down and looked at you for real this time.

“I lied because I thought you could do better than me. I mean I’m still in high school, barley passing and you’re in college with your whole life ahead of you. It wouldn’t be fair for me to hold you back, you know that.” 

“Eddie what the hell?!” You weren’t sure if you wanted to scream or cry at how dense he could be, you’d probably end up doing both “I don’t care about that shit, we’ve been friends for years and you didn’t think to at least talk to me about this?”

“You know I love you and you let me think you were basically disgusted at me?” Pausing as you pondered on your next words. “Don’t answer that.” 

Where words failed, actions came into hand. Leaning over and pressing your lips against his, savouring the faint taste of mint and tobacco that lingered, while cupping his cheeks between your hands. Now that you’d started you weren’t sure you could stop, understanding now what it means to be intoxicated by someone. 

Gasping for breath between kisses and hands grabbing at each other while the room grew hotter until you were startled by a bang.

“Hey! We’re still here you know.” Lucas shouted “also I’m still mad that you like him” It was now Erica’s turn to slap him playfully, prompting a spat between the two over who’d genius plan this was. Honestly you couldn’t care less now that you had Eddie back.

Little did you know that it was thanks to both Lucas and Erica meddling for this Valentine’s miracle. Although, that was an argument for another day. Erica insisting she knew was the head of operation Valentines.

[hothammies]

Hi!!

I've been nervous to ask this, but I'm so invested in this au it's killing me on the inside.

What exactly happened to the amilies of the party? (Joyce & Jonathan, Hopper, Nancy, etc.)

Did they get killed, or separated? Im so curious!

-🪼 (jellyfish anon)

hi jellyfish anon!

no need to be nervous :D it's a really good question! i've been itching to answer something about the party backstories anyways - i want to make a long post about their families for each of them later on but i'll give a small bit of exposition for all 6 of them regarding their family!

short answer - the og party (the boys!) all got separated from their families because of a raid on the community they lived in. they don't know if their families are alive or not. el's and max's family situations are part of their story arcs and how they find the boys.

individual family situations under the cut :)

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short summaries for the party's family situations

will: jonathan and joyce taught him about medicine + healing while his dad taught him the basics of shooting -> lonnie was exiled from the community when will was 7

mike: his dad died when he was 9, a few months after holly was born - after that, nancy started taking more responsibility over mike and teaching him more general survival skills while karen was more detached from nancy and mike afterwards, focusing more of her efforts on holly.

lucas: parents are chilling and happy -> dad is a combat vet! he taught lucas and erica everything they know! lucas' relationship with his sister is similar to canon's (snarky but loving). he's not very protective over her because she's very capable on her own :P but still defends her when necessary

dustin: mom got infected and turned right when he entered the community (rip dustin's mom claudia i'm sorry) -> lived in a dorm w/ a bunch of other kids (not the party) and was taken under steve's unofficial wing

el: mom was killed by brenner, who she lived with in a separate camp dedicated to infection research -> similar backstory to canon's and was found by the boys when she was 12 (don't want to reveal too much ;D)

max: has lived with billy since she was 8 -> when she meets the boys, she's in a community of raiders (again, don't wanna spoil!) her relationship with her stepbrother is similar to canon and very abusive

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other notes: el's relationship with hopper is definitely an endgame type thing unfortunately! i absolutely love their parent-child relationship but a lot of the emphasis in my au is about the found family dynamics between the party and how they live by themselves :')