#greatmage could be canon

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

El didn't get to celebrate holidays in the lab when she was little, didn't even know about them really. Gareth is HORRIFIED by this knowledge and promptly decides that not only will El get the bestest and biggest birthday parties ever, but she needs to get caught up on celebrating in general. So he starts doing little "celebrations" for El on days like International Cat Day or Hug Day, with themed presents and confetti and treats. She loves it and it makes her feel so special and cared for, and Gareth gets to celebrate with his girl.

Idk I just think that'd be neat 🥰

I love, love, LOVE this idea! If these are all from the same anon then I dearly hope you’re working on a Greatmage fic, this teeny ship needs you! 😉

There’s a chapter in my longfic dedicated to El having Christmas with the Emersons (and a moodboard to go with it) and I also have this adorable artwork of Jonathan, Argyle, and Gareth taking El trick-or-treating for the first time after finding out she never got to go as a kid. But I definitely love the idea of Gareth going all out for the smaller holidays too. He would make her feel so special. 🥰🥰🥰

Thank you so much for sharing all these with me!!! You’ve brightened, not only my whole weekend, but the entire month of January too! 😊❤️

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

we are not the same anon, but it is good that you're getting so many greatmage head canons. love the celebration one!! this anon is working on a fic, but i gotta finish my stali baby fic before i publish it.

another path to canon greatmage: gareth starts working at the video store where steve and robin do. he and robin get along great, he and steve do not (at first). then one night gareth and steve are closing, and on the way to their cars a demodog attacks. steve saves gareth's life, and when gareth won't stop pestering him about what the hell that was and why does steve have a nail bat and what is up with that super serious walkie call steve just made, takes him to dustin to explain everything, and gareth is suddenly entangled in the drama. he and el meet and he volunteers to go with her and someone else (lucas?) on some sort of mission. things get hairy and el and gareth come out of it with ~chemistry. once again, the endgame confirmed in the epilogue with them on a date. side note: he and steve end up besties.

Omg there’s more than one of you??? I’m so excited 😆😆😆 you’re my anon besties for life now! I can’t wait to see your fics (color me intrigued by a Stali baby fic!)

This is a fantastic idea because I totally headcanon that Steve, in his King era, was either one of Gareth’s high school bullies, or stood by and did nothing while his friends bullied poor Gare. So in addition to all the demodog drama there’s also the tension of Gareth unsure if he can really trust Steve, and Steve wanting to prove he’s changed but not really knowing how (other than to have Dustin vouch for him, maybe?). But by the end they’re definitely besties and possibly even sharing haircare tips. 😉

I’m using the hashtag “greatmage could be canon” for all of these posts now to keep them all together 🥰🥰🥰

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

Gareth teaching El to play the drums 🥺🥺🥺

Oh she would LOVE that! She’d have so much fun making a big racket and pounding out all her frustrations. Plus I love the idea of them sharing music together 🥰🥰🥰 Gareth would never stop bragging about his metalhead girlfriend!

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

dustin, being freakishly emotionally intelligent, realizes that there is something between el and gareth before either of them do. he has his suspicions over the way they always end up sitting next to each other and how quickly they develop a rapport, but it's when he overhears them talking one night as he's grabbing his bike to head home that he realizes there's really something there. after that he notices every glance and every awkward brush of hands, every blush. at first he's like, gareth is not good enough for el!!!! but then he's never seen her happier. and then gareth gets hurt, and el is extremely emotional, and she and dustin have a heart to heart where he's basically like, yeah. you're in love with him. you're scared because you just found him and you might lose him. and el is like. oh. i love gareth. but there's the military to evade and vecna and the mindflayer to defeat, the world to save, and except for maybe one frantic kiss right before el goes off to fight (that takes gareth completely by surprise--dustin has to explain again) there is nothing. they win. hawkins is saved. we get the time jump epilogues. and then a montage that includes el and gareth having an adorable first date where they kiss again, sealing their endgame status.

I LOVE IT. i love YOU. Thank you so much for this!!!!!!!!

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

been thinking about ways greatmage could go canon and so far I've got: gareth and dustin growing closer after eddie's death, and gareth getting sucked in to the upside down drama. he meets el after el and mike have broken up, and they hit it off almost immediately. dustin is initially protective of el but is soon their biggest cheerleader. there are tropes (hurt gareth causing feelings revelations?!?!?) and shenanigans with the mindflayer and vecna. by the end of the season it's obvious there is something there, but it doesn't get confirmed until the last epilogue flash forward, when gareth and el are together on a date and we finally see them kiss.

idk if gareth is even going to be in st5 but if he is...that is the path to canon greatmage.

Okay first of all I love you, thank you for restoring my faith in anons after a particularly nasty one this morning 😬 secondly YES PLEASE give me allllll the “El realizing she has feelings for hurt!Gareth” trope!!!!!! I want to see this now like you wouldn’t believe. I might even have to write about it someday (since I have a feeling we’re not gonna see any of Corroded Coffin in s5). But I’m absolutely delighted that you’ve come up with a plausible path to canon greatmage! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

Hi! I’m Losty. 👋

My username is a play on the line “we’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year” from Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. Chronic illness has kept me isolated and lonely and that somehow seemed to express the feeling.

My Writing

Currently on hiatus from writing fluff for Stranger Things (two years and counting on ao3!), all my completed fics are linked below. Most works are set in a post-s4 Vecna-was-defeated universe, but there are a couple experiments with different no-upside down AUs too.

Work(s) In Progress:

~ the college/coffeeshop au is coming, but idk when ~ if you wanna see a few snippets, click here or check the #coffee shop au tag below ~

***Check out some fun bookcovers I made for some of my fics!***

Completed Works:

📬 Since I Found You (18 chapters; 30k wc) No-UD AU. After an amicable breakup with Mike, El forges a bond with her new penpal Gareth.

🏀 Vecna Can Wait (one-shot; 5k wc) No-UD AU. Eddie postpones The Cult of Vecna, and the Hellfire Club goes to the championship game.

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 GreatMage: The Series

🪽 Next Time I Fall (24 chapters; 83k wc) The story of how El “Weirdo Girl” Hopper and Gareth “Junior Freak” Emerson went from just friends to something more.

🎶 Next Time I Fall chapter title playlist

🕸️ Lost and Found and Turned Around (7 chapters; 31k wc) In the winter of 1988, El reunites at last with her long lost sister Kali.

🐶 of monsters and milkshakes (one-shot; 2k wc) El and Gareth take a different path toward starting their family together.

🪻 With a Little Help From My Friends (84 chapters; 207k wc)

Covering two years after spring break ‘86, this collection of stories intertwines into a (long) tale of found family, love, support, overcoming challenges, forgiveness, and the power of friendship.

🪷 Father of Mine: The Series

Why Should I Cry For You (one-shot; 3k wc) Eddie’s father briefly reappears in his life. It doesn’t go well.

Bereaved (two-shot; 4k wc) Eddie, helped by his friends, deals with the death of his father.

Into the Shining Sun / Breathing (9 chapters; 21k wc) in Shining Sun, Eddie meets some estranged family he never knew he had. Breathing is a short postscript to chapter 5 of Shining Sun.

Gone Away (8 chapters; 14k wc) a love letter to uncle Wayne, as he takes little Eddie in and learns to care for him.

🌺 55 Fiction Collection

55 stories of 55 words each.

🌸 The Stone (one-shot; 1.5k wc)

Max Mayfield isn’t afraid of anything, except maybe being vulnerable.

🪴 Signed, Sealed, Delivered (one-shot; 2k wc)

A collection of letters written back and forth between Eddie and Chrissy while she’s away at school.

🍁 Darkness Before the Dawn (one-shot; 3k wc)

Hawkins may be right side up again, but Eddie is still upside down. His friends are there to help him through some of his darkest days.

🌴 Tattoos and Trash Talk (one-shot; 1k wc)

Eddie and El bond over being weirdos.

🌼 Not-so-iron Maiden (one-shot; 1k wc)

Max finally has the big brother she’s always wanted.

🌻 the shield and the shepherd (one-shot; 2k wc)

In this no-Vecna AU, Chrissy learns first to stand and then to fly.

Mini Ficlets:

🎆 one word challenge: firework (Eddie/Chrissy)

🥁 corroded coffin fest seven deadly sins event: wrath (Gareth POV)

Silly Corroded Coffin and Other Assorted Headcanons:

Use the tag below “losty headcanons” or click here to read the collection! 😜 also use the tag “deleted scene?” or click here for random tidbits and snippets

Commissioned Artworks:

Use the tags below or click here for “little help: artwork” - click here for “eleverson artwork” - or click here for “stali artwork” to see the collection!