#i dont care for hopper

[mike-haters-dni]

ok but how come she's never Terry's daughter huh? How come she's never Jane Ives

[noihavenosanitythanksforasking]

the stranger things fandom if we could all stop attacking each other

[sinclairstarz]

Action-comedy buddy detective AU byler, anyone?

loosely based on the movie ‘The Nice Guys’ because I’m obsessed with, in love with, etc, that movie. The plot is ultimately different but just know it’s based on that. More info under the cut :3

So it’s the late 70s in Hawkins, which is a big city in this AU.

Will:

Will Byers is a 25 year old private investigator. If you want help with a custody battle, or to see if your partner is cheating, he might be the person to go to. Business is a little slow because people often don’t trust how young he is. He’s a heavy smoker who’s mother died a year prior, perpetually tired and burnt out but always trying to look on the bright side. He lives with his little sister, El, who’s 19 and deceivingly clever and helps him with his cases a lot. His older brother Jonathon has fallen in with some shady people since he got into drugs at a young age, and he’s hooking up with an unknown actress, Nancy Wheeler. One day, a porno actor Nancy knew, Steve Harrington, is killed in an onstage accident. His friend Robin, who’s also close with Jonathon and Nancy, suspects foul play and seeks out Will to ask him to investigate. After discovering some evidence, Will is lead to believe a drug-dealer named Max Mayfield who has recently gone missing is the killer, and begins to seek her out. El, who knew Max in middle school is ambitious to help Will, but to her annoyance he won’t let her follow him to the parties and bars and dangerous streets, worried for her safety.

Mike:

Mike Wheeler is a private investigator who’s legitimacy is… questionable and who’s well-being and mental health is worse than questionable. He lives alone in a crummy apartment, he grew up wealthy but stopped speaking to his parents after he dropped out of business school. He mostly deals with shadier crimier clients, people who go to him because they can’t go to the police. He’s work multiple cases for Billy Hargrove - an asshole with a dense criminal history, mostly involved in the drugs+sex+party scene - and his guys. Billy’s little sister, Max Mayfield deals for him and is known for getting into trouble. When Max goes missing, Billy comes to Mike to find her.

In their investigations, Mike and Will keep running into each other at the same parties and drive-ins and gunfights and after having to help each other out multiple times, they figure out they’re both looking for the same girl and decide to just join forces. Tension and romance ensues. El is extremely annoyed of Mike being at their house.

Extras:

- Dustin’s a bartender Mike goes to for information because he’s always at the same hangout places as the criminals Mike’s investigating.

- Lucas is Max’s boyfriend. He’s not super pleased with Mike and Will sniffing around trying to find her,

[allnerdythings]

I cant believe we got our first Jopper st5 😮‍💨🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

[deadcomputer]

i miss when eleven looked like a baby dyke

[booksandpaperss]

is the byler fandom finished yet with their weird worshiping of jopper. is it finally safe for me to officially announce that I think jopper is overrated as hell

[thefirstlioveyou]

elmike in s1 :((

[delusionaltoma]

I think it would be funny to have Bombita do The House Always Wins ending. Not just for Victor but also because she'll probably just ruin all of Mr. House's plans and drive him crazy. Would he officially fire (or kill her)? No idea but it would be silly

[hawkyon-days]

At the end of s3 El actually tells Mike that she loves him too, after he's been trying to tell her during the season. And this could be a really sweet scene, except Mike just stands there like this:

WHAT IS THIS??

[findafight]

I agree with you so much about the El thing! I swear 99% of it stems from her 'getting in the way' of byler.

And the way they act like she would have no reason to feel hurt/ betrayed/ upset if byler were to get together.

Oh yeah. It absolutely stems from her getting in the way of Byler. No question.

Not every person who ships Byler believes or thinks or treats El like this, but I've seen it pretty rampant in the tag, especially when it comes to theories. (I want to note that I think it's a cute ship! I'm not a hater of it at all but I do hate how parts of the fandom treat it as some kind of moral imperative and some groundbreaking piece of rep. That's really turned me off the fandom to a degree) El existing and caring about Mike (and Mike caring about her) is portrayed as this existential threat to the ship and its potential "endgame" status, so it has to be belittled, which is just. Stupid. You don't have to tear characters (or their dynamic with others) down to have a ship. (I know it happens in other ships within the stranger things fandom too)

I also see theories that she never loved Mike or never loved him properly or romantically and he was miserable the whole time they dated and confused his own platonic feelings towards her. Her feelings towards both Mike and Will (and their feelings towards her!) Are downgraded and insulted. She's infantilized so much it's disgusting. When shippers act as though she doesn't understand her feelings and that they are strictly platonic towards Mike, and that Mike's own are also platonic and he's been confused the whole time, and he hasn't been able to articulate that or mixed them up (because he's always been in love with Will forever, they claim), they make it seem to me like they don't respect both El's growth as a character in understanding herself and embracing her individuality or Mike's care towards his friends.

And like you said, a lot of folks act like El would have no right to feel betrayed/hurt/upset if Will, now her brother, started dating her ex? Sometimes very soon after they break up? Who she obviously has loved and cared for deeply, who hurt her by being unable to communicate his feelings, and who has been consistently on her side with everything involving the Upside Down or lab. It seems as though these theorists think if El is anything but understanding and enthusiastic about it, she's unreasonable and clearly doesn't care about Mike or Will's happiness (If they even consider El as beyond her current relationship with Mike.) When that would be a natural reaction based on everything we've seen between them and just in general. Idk I just feel like El is done so dirty.

[bugisawesomeasf]

honestly the only reason i dont fully hate the russian sub plot is because i got to see hopper have a gay romance enemy to lovers style lmao

[kneeanderthal]

Everytime I rewatch st, I am reminded of just how incompatible milkvan are together.

From the small things like their faces showing just what they really feel about the other, to the larger vocal things like complaining about oneanother.

The weird and uncomfortable power imbalance between them.

How they kissed (therefore starting the absolute shit show that is their relationship) at 12 years old, after knowing eachother for a week, while both dealing with incredibly traumatic and challenging events.

How many fights they have that dont result in them communicating what they actaully want out of eachother.

How unforgiving they are with eachother over stupid shit. Half of their fights are so petty and small that it would be solved if they just talked to eachother.

What they do together whilst being in a relationship and not saving the world; nothing except for kiss or argue.

Neither of them knew what a relationship really entailed. Neither of them showed explicit romantic feelings for eachother, (again how could they, they were 12).

Then after doing what everyone thought they should do, which was get together, they spend the next years of their lives being told to either break up with eachother or get back together.

They are so incredibly toxic, for eachother but also the people they care about the most.

There is nothing rewarding, sweet or even romantic about their love for one another. And in no way am I saying that they don't care about eachother because they do!

They care so so much about eachother! It's just sad that their friends/family saw their love and care for eachother as romantic, when it just wasn't.

[thatskindagaytho]

el: you don't need my blessing to go kiss mike. in fact, i was pretty sure you were already kissing mike!

will: nope.

el: in that case, as the archbishop of mike’s fully awakened gaydom, i give you my blessing to immediately leave and rectify that as soon as possible! go now, my child, and kiss mike right on the lips!!!

[sendmyresignation]

anyway finally finished girls to the front. obviously had a lot of opinions about it. i have a lot more respect for the day-to-day lived realities of riot grrls and the underground community fostered. but like. man. is the music so secondary. my main critique of riot grrl is it took many of those bands growing out of the movement amd growing up to hit something truly, artistically great (music-wise).

[noxturnallyevermore]

I don't ship byler or hellcheer

completely adverse to anything with these ships unless it's past tense

I also don't ship mileven

I feel like they'd be better off as friends who happen to be exes, but I'm not adverse to fics pairing them off

I also ALSO hate stancy

I'm strangely not adverse to stoncy though, and not even in the "steve is only jonathan's boyfriend" way, it's like the only socially acceptable way for me to digest stancy is if there's also stonathan and jancy simultaneously

but I don't mind people who do ship these

it isn't my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean everyone else has to hate the flavor too, you know?

but if you ship romantic stobin, what is wrong with you? who hurt you? blink twice if you're in danger.

[jonathanbyersphd]

The history major in me desperately needs to know if Hopper was drafted or enlisted willingly