#season 4 jonathan deserves more love

[caruliaa]

omitb spoilerss but before the season 3 finale i want to say and get out there tht i think tobert is involved in the murder some way, i do think tht donna(or maybe cliff) was involved but i also think tobert is part of it either the murder itself or covering it up

[biancadoes1]

So I recently re-listened to the Still Watching by Vanity Fair podcast episode titled Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2: Three’s Company that Luke Newton was interviewed on (highly recommend people check it out if they haven’t his interview is so good!) and I am just blown away by how fucking kind and sensitive Luke is. Like of course he’s human and flawed as no one’s perfect but like in that interview he’s constantly complimenting not only Nicola but also Jonathan Bailey and Simone for how graciously they led the show in season 2 and he admired them and the previous leads as well. And how thoughtful he is in his portrayal of Colin and how he loves the character for his kindness and sensitivity. He also touches on masculinity and how Colin had a twisted idea of what being a man is because of his Dad’s death and how Anthony dealt with running the household and how this season was his journey with his relationship with Penelope and how she helps him unlearn that and accepting he is enough and how he is is strength not a weakness. And he compliments Jess as Cressida and Claudia and he’s so sweet and you just can really tell he really does respect women like Nicola says. He talks a lot about intimacy scenes and consent and tenderness being so so sexy. And I just I can really feel Nicolas assessment of him being just a really good dude who respects women and is so kind. He literally talks about the privilege to act alongside Nicola. All that to say I really do think all the SM hate he hit was so unfair and I absolutely understand why Nicola ran to defend him. It also highlights how ridiculous the narrative of them beefing on social media is. Like obviously all people have fights regardless of friendship or romance but these two have such respect and admiration for one another they def aren’t gonna shade each other on social media for the world to scrutinize. Even their tension in Italy you still saw later that day in the photoshoots how happy and giggly they still were with one another so they clearly got past or worked through it together. Also in the interview he talked AGAIN about how much he enjoys playing in love Colin and how he really looks forward to Season 4 to be able to have that vibe and be even more rom com with Nicola. I just hope he does know that’s it not the majority of the fans and he deserves good things.

We stan Luke Newton around here.

If you don’t………idk why you’re here lol

[stevie-petey]

a cutesy fluff blurb w steve and bug for all the angst coming from the season 4 rewrite😭😭 i hate to see bug and steve go through all this but your writing is just so so so incredible that i’m just completely and utterly drawn to it.

i missed steve and bug so much so heres a fluffy blurb of everyone finding out theyre finally together <3

enjoy !

"steve and i are dating."

you hold your breath, bracing for impact. steve is frozen next to you, perched on the edge of the couch as if getting ready to run at the first sign of danger.

all week the two of you have agonized over this. telling everyone that youre now together was a given. obviously it wouldnt be a secret, but telling everyone seemed simple at first. now, with dozens of eyes staring at you: its terrifying.

especially when the news is met with complete and utter silence.

mike yawns. el and max stifle giggles.

"youre all shockingly quiet right now." you finally say, hating this immensely.

robin looks up at the ceiling, suddenly finding the wheelers basement a fascinating thing. will picks at the carpet beneath him and dustin taps his leg impatiently on the ground.

lucas, bless him, has the decency to smile at you. "thats great, y/n."

"did we..." steve scratches the back of his neck. "did we, uh. miss something?"

"why the hell is everyone acting so weird?" you butt in, now really starting to wonder if you and steve did something heinous to deserve the weird silent treatment.

jonathan shifts on the floor, and your eyes narrow at him instantly. crossing your arms, you jut your chin out at him. "fess up, byers. whats going on?"

his eyes widen slightly, and nancy, who is sitting next to him holding his hand, bites back a smile. your eyes narrow even more and jonathan finally releases a laugh.

"stop glaring at everyone, bug." he looks at you fondly. "i think we're all just wondering who won."

your face scrunches in confusion. "what...?"

dustin jumps up from his seat, sick of the anticipation. "just spit it out already! did i win? for the love of god, please tell me you guys got together on july 11th. please."

nancy raises her hand. "or july 16th. id prefer that date, actually."

"what about y/n's birthday? i thought everyone agreed my date made the most sense." will speaks up, looking eagerly at you.

an offended scoff escapes your mouth when you finally realize whats going on. "that bet seriously cant still be going on."

"answer the question, y/n!" dustin wails, practically choking on the taste of victory of the $30 that went into the betting pool. "when exactly did you and steve finally seal the deal, huh?"

"what the hell is this kid talking about?" steve looks around the room, completely confused. "why does it matter when we got together?"

jonathan explains before you can. "we all placed bets on when youd get together. lucas and max were out of the running a while ago. but me, nance, dustin, and will are still in."

"i, for one, am still personally offended that i wasnt allowed to join the bet when i found out about it." robin says, looking pointedly at him. "just so you know."

"sorry," jonathan says without any real sympathy. "rules are rules."

your face burns wildly. "y'all are insane and this is such a gross invasion of privacy-"

"screw privacy! tell me when steve found a pair of balls and asked you out." dustin stumbles in front of you and steve now, panting. "i need the money!"

"dustin!"

steve places his hands on his hips. "i already had balls, thank you very much."

you elbow him. "please stop talking."

"the kid was doubting my manhood-"

"do you enjoy having my elbow in your ribs?"

mike, no longer finding this conversation amusing, stands up and claps his hands. "alright, im bored. will," he turns to him. "clearly they didnt get together on y/n's birthday. they were locked in a death lair and not even steve is dumb enough to make their anniversary that date. so youre out."

steve wants to argue with him, but admittedly he cant.

mike then turns to dustin. "it wasnt july 11th, either. considering the fact that we had funerals to attend and we all know y/n's crippling guilt complex."

"hey!"

"hes not wrong, angel."

you elbow steve again and he doubles over in pain.

then mike turns to nancy. "and it wasnt july 16th because its currently the 27th and theres no way in hell harrington would be able to keep his mouth shut for that long."

again steve really wants to argue with mike, but, unfortunately, hes right.

mike finally turns to jonathan, sighing tiredly. "which leaves us with you and your guess of july 19th. aka: the only possible date left. wow, shocker! jonathan byers correctly guessed something about y/n henderson!" he spins around, glaring at you as if this somehow all your fault. "are we done here now?"

robin, not at all whispering quietly, leans over to max. "this kid has some serious issues."

"like you wouldnt believe," the girl mumbles. "trust me."

dustin shoves mike out of the way, inadvertently causing the teen to stumble into jonathan and fall on top of his sister. "hes wrong, right? please tell me hes wrong. y/n, im your brother. we are blood."

"well, technically mike is wrong. july 19th isnt when we got together." you begin to say, raising your voice when dustin starts to cheer wildly. "it was july 20th, so mike isnt wrong about jonathan winning."

two things happen at once.

first, dustin falls to his knees in despair, screaming in agony as max and el cover their ears and glare at him.

the second thing that happens is dustin regaining his senses and then tackling jonathan, with nancy and will right behind him.

its a mess of screams and screeches as jonathan tries to defend himself, but you simply press your back against steves chest and watch the storm unfold with slight vindication.

serves the fuckers right for betting on your private life like a game of poker.

"how much money do you think our relationship ended up being worth?" steve asks you, wincing under his breath when he sees dustin pinch jonathans nose.

"better be at least $20. if be offended if its anything less than that."

he laughs, the sensation of it sending vibrations down your own body. he kisses the crown of your head. "thats my girl."

"how did you know?" dustin has jonathan pinned now. "how do you always win?"

"get off me! it was just a lucky guess-"

"that was $30 you asshole!"

you hum, pleased. "think i can convince jonathan to give me some of his cut?"

steve laughs again. "only if you give me a percentage as well."

[eddiemunsonbrainrot]

not enough people talk about how the only way for Will to have a satisfying conclusion to his story is for him to find independence and confidence in himself AND have his love for Mike requited. These two things can and should coexist!!!

In season 1 and 2, Will was put through unimaginable trauma where he was powerless to do anything about it. He had to trust that the people around him would be there to save him. In season 5, he is undoubtedly going to be put through a traumatic experience again, but he should be able to defend himself. He most likely believes that he is powerless against the upside down and its hold on him, but if he had a part in taking it down and more importantly KNOWS he can take it down, that would be an almost perfect ending for his character arc.

I say almost perfect because Will’s arc will only be perfect if his love for Mike is requited. From season 3, we know that he believes that he will never fall in love. This is a fundamental belief of his that was important enough for us to know that they created a moment between him and Joyce where he could say it. In season 4, Will does fall in love with Mike, but the context he says he is not going to fall in love implies he views falling in love as a reciprocated thing (as Joyce says it in relation to Nancy and Jonathan). He believes that people like him don’t get to fall in love. If Mike doesn’t feel the same, this would confirm this belief and would be unimaginably cruel for him.

What would be the point of creating the love triangle in the first place? If his love for Mike is unrequited, it would mean it was only there to create misery for an already miserable character. We need to remember that this is a TV show, so everything happens for a reason and is used to add to a bigger character/story arc. If this is how it ended, the love triangle would have no narrative pay off at all, and would be serving no community in the audience. Bylers would be rightfully pissed, milkvans don’t like will’s involvement anyway, and the general audience would be confused as to why it was created. Sure, Mike will accept him, but you can have that storyline without Will being in love with him, and it would be a completely anticlimactic and disappointing ending, not to mention how Mike’s entire character would be unexplained.

Will deserves to be happy, and the only way he can do that is by realising his self worth, and having Mike by his side whilst that happens.

[steviewashere]

Loving Who You Are, Not What You Offer

Rating: Teen and Up CW: Referenced Rape/Non-Con (Not Between Main Pairing), Panic Attack (Sort of) Tags: Post Season 4, Post Canon, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Asexual Steve Harrington, Coming Out, Protective Eddie Munson, Patient Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington Has Sexual Trauma, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Slight Comphet Steve Harrington, Dialogue Heavy

Okay, honestly, this one comes from a more personal place. So I'm gonna have to ask y'all to be kind about this one. I've recently come to terms that I'm somewhere on the asexual spectrum and I just needed to apply that somewhere, so. Also, writing from Eddie's point of view rather than Steve's helps me, so I don't wanna hear shit about it.

Read the content warning one more time before you continue and let me know if I missed anything <3

🩵—————🩵 There was an uncovered layer to Steve Harrington, that much Eddie has deduced.

It’s a subtle, blink and you wouldn’t notice, kind of thing. But even this uncovered layer had layers. And he’s not sure if anybody else has caught on. He was able to catalog several odd things about Steve that just…didn’t match his character. Not at all. Which has led, though it started casually and accidentally, to Eddie making a whole new doctrine.

The Odd Steve Behavior Doctrine. With a few noticeable bullet points:

-Don’t touch him without asking -Don’t ask him about his sex life -Don’t talk about sex around him, at all -He especially doesn’t like casual intimacy -Earning Steve’s trust is like climbing up a rocky mountain

He follows these rules he’s made for himself. Tries to keep himself casual and known in Steve’s presence. And hopes that it’s enough to get Steve to crack, even the slightest. Maybe he’ll say why these things bother him, Eddie initially thought.

Maybe I’ll just keep my mouth shut and let Steve come to me in his own time, he eventually noted. Because he doesn’t need to be in everybody’s business all the time, which is a typical thing for Eddie. He likes being nosy and involved with the lives of people around him. He likes to think of himself as the person his friends can come to, no matter the reason or the intensity of their need. And maybe part of it is selfish, too. He can admit that to himself. That he, in turn, wants to be everything Steve needs at the end of the day. Bearing the brunt of all that Steve has going wrong or right in his life.

Things come to Eddie little by little from Steve’s mouth. None that answer to any of the bullets in his doctrine, but things that are important, too. Like confessions, moments that Steve saw as flaws.

“I called Jonathan Byers a queer in 1983. That’s why he beat me up. I deserved it,” he told Eddie one day. Casually, complete nonchalance, as easy as discussing the weather. Steve had been cradling a mug of coffee at their local diner. Picked at the pancake platter he ordered all for himself. And, at Eddie’s coming out (“I’m gay, Steve,” Eddie admitted quietly mere moments before. He brought up love lives. Was poking around what was going on with Steve’s. And casually, he realizes, it just came up.), Steve took a sharp inhale. Confessed this bomb of a statement. Grimaced at the memory that must’ve played out behind his eyes. Then, murmured, “But thank you for trusting me with that, Eddie. I just need you to know that I was somebody you wouldn’t before. In case that…In case maybe you wanna take back that trust. Wouldn’t blame you, that’s all I’m saying.”

Eddie sat in that for a good several moments. As they slurped at their room temperature, rather mediocre mugs of Joe. “I still trust you,” he eventually said, “You don’t have to keep proving yourself to me, you know?” Steve merely shrugged. And that was confessional number one.

Following that, Steve mentioned being tortured by Russians. Which, Eddie thought that was reason for him not liking touch. It may be part of the reason, but there was something to Steve’s eyes that told him that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Eddie didn’t ask. Steve didn’t elaborate. Tortured by Russians, beat up by his peers, chewed up like a dog toy, the list in Eddie’s mind of All the Bad Things That Happened to Steve was growing longer and longer by the day. But Steve was telling him things, letting him in. It was a start.

So, Eddie had two catalogs all about Steve to keep up with in his mind. All the Bad Things and The Do’s and Don’ts of Steve Harrington.

Being his friend was an earned thing and it was a pleasant thing, but it also broke Eddie’s heart bit by bit. He’d never admit to this, but he had to realize that at some point. He wondered if Robin ever felt the same. Maybe even Nancy. But he wasn’t going to ask. Because who asks something like that? Eddie won’t be the first, but it won’t be the last somebody thinks that, he’s sure.

Even though Steve was breaking through his own mold, cracking his mask, shattering mirrors of who he was, none of it actually answered any of Eddie’s don’ts regarding him. None of it eased him. None of it lended itself in any sort of way. If anything, all of these other greater things only added to the incessant itch that couldn’t be scratched under Eddie’s skin.

Who are you really, Steve, Eddie asked himself all too much.

He doesn’t want to upset the poor guy.

But he’ll never know, he’s coming to realize. It’s just not in the cards.

———

It comes to a head, because of course it does. And he didn’t mean for it to, but it just happens.

They’re hanging out at Steve’s new-ish apartment. Lounging around on his, frankly, ugly floral second-hand couch. It’s musty and not all that soft on the cushions, lumpy and shifting. But they make do with it as they have a movie marathon. Steve is sprawled between the far right and middle cushion, Eddie is leaning against the left arm rest, legs crossed one over the other, head in his hand. Then, his stomach grumbles all too loudly in a room full of droning noise.

He leans into Steve’s space slightly. Reaches out a hand and places it on his thigh. Squeezes Steve’s leg and opens his mouth to ask if he’s hungry. But, for some reason, Steve tenses to the extremes underneath his touch. His hands grip harshly to the back of the couch and the throw pillow near his head. Legs going taut and straining against Eddie’s touch.

“Steve?” Eddie calls softly.

“Stop,” musters from Steve. It’s tiny. Cracking in half. Brings tears to his eyes immediately.

Eddie furrows his eyebrows, though. “What?” He asks. “What am I doing?” There’s a thrum in his chest. Something unsettling and obtuse. It pulsates and shifts and bitters his throat the way acidic bile does.

With force Eddie’s only seen in the Upside Down, Steve latches onto Eddie’s wrist. Tight enough that Eddie has to bite back a yelp of pure and unadulterated pain. Nearly enough to break the bone that Steve’s thumb digs into. He shoves Eddie away with just his grip. Scrambles to the far corner of the couch, legs tucked in close to his chest, knees colliding with his chin. He wraps his arms around himself.

And then, the softest noise breaks through between them. It’s quiet, yet somehow louder than the tape playing. It works its way under Eddie’s skin. Into his stomach, through his throat, and into his brain. Steve’s gentle, manufactured cries. Stifled behind his lips. In real time, Eddie watches him shatter. The way his eyes gloss over, his cheeks going splotchy with the sounds, his shoulders shake.

“Woah, hey,” Eddie whispers, reaching out again. He wants to ground him. Wants to comfort the way he knows how. How he soothes Wayne’s panic episodes. And how he calms Dustin down from lashing out. Or when Robin talks herself in circles. Wants to just…be there. “Hey, Steve, are you—“

“Don’t touch me,” Steve bites out, “I don’t have anything—You—I don’t want to.”

Immediately, Eddie drops his hand to the now unoccupied middle cushion. The fabric meeting his palm. Going cold. Warm where Steve had just been relaxed. And Eddie—he may be a dastardly fool most days, dumb as rock the others, three time senior—knows exactly what he did, now that he’s focused on every small movement he makes. He’s perceptive to the way Steve is leaning as far away as possible. How crumpled he makes his body. Eddie notices how much space has been created and where his hands lie.

I’m so stupid, he thinks, that’s like rule one. 

Don’t touch him without asking.

“Fuck,” Eddie softly curses. He pulls himself away. To his own corner of the sofa. And swallows the bit of panic that rises in him. His eyes drift away from Steve’s fearful face, to his own hands. Twitches them in his lap, against his knees. Wants to cut them off. Throw them into a blender. Feed them to the birds. Something. But he forces himself to look back up.

Steve trembles against the couch. In a way that is not the Steve Harrington that Eddie met when fighting other worldly creatures. That dismantles everything and anything he once knew.

“Shit. I—Steve, I’m so sorry,” he quickly apologizes. “I’m sorry. I know that you don’t like that unless people ask. And I just��I wasn’t thinking, I promise. It was just—You know, I’m touchy with all my friends and I was just going to see if you wanted me to make some dinner or order some food. I was just trying to get your attention, y’know, and I didn’t mean anything by it. I promise, I swear. I swear on my mom, Steve. I would never—“ He takes a deep, gasping breath. Coughing on the inhale. His hands shake, now. And he doesn’t think he’s ever seen fear paint itself so clear and bright on a person’s face, but he’s looking into it. Steve’s pallor and yet still red cheeks. And his all consuming, though far away eyes. His built body, yet childlike hold.

A part of Eddie wants to cry, too. I’ve fucked up, he panics internally, I’ve fucked everything up and now he’s not going to be my friend and he was such a good friend, too. Why did I have to do that? I just wanted to make sure he was fed, too. That’s it. He’s such a good friend and now I’ve fucked it and I just—I—

“You wanted to make me food?” Steve quietly croaks.

Eddie, in an instant, nods. “Yes!” He exclaims in his own panic. “Yes, I swear, Steve. I wasn’t thinking when I touched your thigh. And I—What do you want to eat, Stevie? Say the word, I’ll find a way to make it or…something.”

His hands twitch in his lap once more. Thumbs catching on the ripped holes of his jeans. The threads soft and wearing away under his skin. The scratchy, dry bit of skin that peers through. He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t think he breathes. Just makes eye contact with Steve. Which, surely, is overbearing and unnecessary and…I’m probably freaking him out more, calm down. He takes a deep breath, blows it away from him, and lowers his shoulders from where he didn’t know they were hiking.

“It was nothing more than to check-in. I promise,” he reiterates, murmuring.

Steve, finally, draws away from himself. With his own breath. He unravels his legs, stretching them out to their full length onto the middle cushion. Arms going limp at his sides. Hands resting against his thighs. His eyes dart—left and right and left and right—between Eddie’s. Nods once. “Okay,” he meekly musters. “Okay, Eds. Can…We can order pizza. There should be a menu on the kitchen counter. I’ll—“

Eddie stands from his own cushion before Steve gets the chance to. “Nope, don’t worry about it. Just try and relax, yeah? I’ll go put in an order, pay for it. You…Pepperoni pizza?” Steve just nods, tentative and surprised. “Cool,” Eddie states, “I’ll be right back.”

The phone call goes by quick and he easily sets the money out for when the driver gets there. But he’s not entirely sure his presence is going to be a warm welcome in the living room again. He gets a glass of water anyway because, surely, Steve will tell him to go if he isn’t wanted.

Steve’s in the same position as when Eddie left. Though, his gaze isn’t entirely there. Somewhere beyond Eddie’s shoulder. But there’s a gleam, a little shine that tells him that Steve isn’t gone from himself, not yet at least. He sits back down in his own cushion. Glass on the coffee table. And turns, keeping himself tight to his own body.

“Hey, Steve?” He calls out, watching as Steve blinks sluggishly back into his body. “I—uh—I got you some water, if you want it. Drinking water usually helps me feel better after…After a down moment, y’know?”

Next to him, Steve hums. He sighs. “Can I trust you with something?” He asks, forgoing the water entirely.

Eddie nods in haste. “Of course, Steve. If you have something you have to tell me, I can keep things to myself,” he states. Which is one hundred percent true. He may be a loud guy, screaming and yelling when need be. May be somebody that fills a room with noise, if only so he doesn’t succumb to the silence. But he knows how to keep a secret. It’s sort of a survival tactic, is what he’d say if somebody asked him about it. He’s kept secrets about his parents, things behind lock and key in his ribcage. Granted, he may forget, but he won’t say a damn thing. And he surely won’t spill Steve’s beans, especially with the way he looks to him in open earnest.

“Okay,” Steve responds. His legs fall away from the couch and he rights himself into being completely upright. Ramrod straight. On the far right cushion. Mirroring Eddie’s tight pose. Feet flat to the floor. His eyes trace something on the coffee table, cracks probably, but Eddie can’t exactly tell. “Okay. I…You’re going to be the second person I’ve ever told this to, alright? And I—I figured that it would come out sooner or later, but you’re gonna need an explanation for whatever the fuck just happened. And I don’t know how else to talk about it without just going all-in. So…I just need you to listen. Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” Eddie murmurs, “you have the floor, Stevie. My mouth is shut.”

Steve nods slow, a ghost of a smile on his face. Breathes in through his nose, it traps in his chest and comes out as one gentle gust. He swallows heavily, words seemingly rising in his throat. And that smile falls away just as it sprung.

“In middle school, before I was popular and whatever, I had a group of friends that I ran with. We were all nerds, I won’t deny that. And—And I would involve myself with some of their interests, if only because I wanted to fit in,” Steve explains first. His eyes roam again. Not picking a spot, but Eddie won’t fault him for it. He continues, voice fracturing, “One of the guys I was closer to, we’ll call him R, he was interested in this club. It was kind of like a tech club? Focused on radios and channels and math and…Things that I was actually kind of good with, but needed a better understanding on. So, I figured, I’d sign up for this club. Go with my…friend.”

Before he goes on to say more, he leans over for the glass of water on the table. Holds it gently between his hands. Doesn’t take any sips. The condensation droplets roll down his fingers. Cold most likely keeping him grounded to the room.

Eddie can already tell he’s not going to like wherever this part of Steve’s past leads him. How Steve has to take breaks, it upsets Eddie greatly. He’s not sure he’s entirely prepared for whatever confession comes from Steve this time, but he’ll digest it. Get through this with the guy and figure out all he needs to.

Another steadying breath. And Steve’s voice is like gravel, but he keeps talking.

“It was a weekly thing. And we’d go in. Be taught about gadgets and whats-its and whatnot. R was there, though. He was always there. We’d talk, laugh, shoot the shit. Normal friend bullshit.

“One day, though. One day, something was…different. He looked at me. There was a sense of hunger. Want. A drive to him that I’d never seen before. He’d lean more into my space, drop his voice lower, whisper right into my ear.” Steve blinks in rapid succession. His breath keeps stuttering. And something in Eddie’s stomach sours. He goes, though. Pushing through. “I told him to stop. To knock it off. Kept telling him that I was trying to learn. That I wanted to focus. And he just…He wouldn’t,” he explains.

Eddie spikes with great unease and anger. Never at Steve. But whoever this so called ‘friend’ is, Eddie wants to maybe kill him. He keeps quiet, though. Steve wanted to share and he needs this out. And Eddie can listen. He can, even if it makes him want to cry, too.

“I thought that’s all it would be,” Steve speaks quietly, “Just him talking to me in this new tone. With this new level to his voice. But…I’m kind of stupid, I guess, so of course that’s not all he’d do. The next week at our club meeting, he got closer than before. He began to…” Steve stops and swallows. A single, silent tear crawls down his face. It doesn’t even phase him, the way crying usually does. It’s just background at this point. “…He began to—to touch me in ways I’d never been. And I—I told him to stop, I remember doing that. I remember putting distance between us. And saying no and saying stop and shoving his hands off me. But he just—“ A broken little sob. “—He was supposed to be my friend,” he states, small as a child.

The sobs rack Steve in such a way that his whole body is jolting with it. Nearly toppling off the couch. He chugs the water between cries, but doesn’t move from his spot. Tight and closed off within his own body.

“I wanted him to just be my friend,” Steve continues a moment later, nasally and choked. “But he didn’t want that. He kept overpowering every single decision I made. His breath on my earlobe. And his hands on my thigh, on my…He fucking touched my crotch. Tried to coerce me into having sex,” he spits. “That guy…He made me feel fucking disgusting. About my own body. About things I loved. About sex,” Steve growls, “Made me sort of dislike all those things, too.”

Eddie, for how loud he can be, is completely silent for once. Unable to form words. Not sure how to comfort. And if he could comfort, isn’t sure if that’s something he can do the way he wants to. He can’t touch. Can’t do what he’d normally do. And his body aches to take care of Steve or to simply hold him. To be…well, to be a friend. But that’s not something Steve can exactly trust.

He feels sick to his stomach.

The last bit of water is sipped at slowly, as Steve comes down. Then, he turns to face Eddie. Making direct and purposeful eye contact. “It’s not your fault, that I reacted like I did,” he states lowly. “And it’s not your fault that I close up when you want to talk about sex. Or you wanna talk about all that intimate shit. It’s something with me. Like something’s broken. It’s like a deep crack in me, Eddie.

“And I just wanted to clear up all that. Explain what I can, I guess.” He snakes out a tentative hand. It’s shaking and hesitant, but it still lands softly on the back of Eddie’s right. Squeezes. “But thank you for taking notice. And being concerned. And for apologizing. I feel safe with you, Eddie. I trust you a lot. Which is like—That’s probably highest honors you could earn with me.” And he chuckles slightly. It’s not a humorous thing, but it’s not exactly humorless either.

Eddie lets himself soak in this, though. Smiling warmly back at Steve. Because he needs it. They both need it. He murmurs, “Thank you for trusting me with that, Steve. That wasn’t easy and I’m proud of you for speaking up about it. I’m glad to be somebody you can trust.”

With another exhale, Steve relaxes back into the couch. His hand doesn’t move from Eddie’s. “I also want to say that you’re allowed to talk about your relationships with dudes,” he states quietly. “Seriously, I don’t mind. But just…Just check in with me? Before you do?”

“Of course,” he agrees instantly. “I’ll keep that in my noggin, promise, Stevie.”

Ghost of a smile on Steve’s face again. “Thanks,” he whispers.

A lull floats in the conversation. Steve removes his hand, watching as his fingers twitch, and there’s a little uptick to the corners of his mouth. Something pleased and almost…reverent at the way he looks at his hand.

Before Eddie can get up to change out the movie, he heaves a little sigh. And says, “Y’know, if you ever need any sort of physical comfort, need to talk about this, or you just need somebody to tell you that you’re okay, you can lean on me. Don’t even need to ask, really. I’m all arms.”

“I’ll think about it, Eds. This has been enough for me."

——— Steve comes out to him at the same diner Eddie did only a few years later.

It’s 1990, Eddie’s twenty-four and Steve’s freshly twenty-three. He has a certain spark to him. A sparkle to his smile and a pep in his step. And Eddie’s happy to see him happy.

Happy to eventually call their relationship romantic. Happy to share spots on the couch, curled around each other. Happy to kiss him slow and sweet or not at all, just able to gaze over coffee mugs and across the room and when Steve thinks he can’t be seen.

Eddie’s just happy to be allowed this love that fills his chest and in the colder, vacant spots of their lives.

But he realizes he still hasn’t heard everything about Steve. He gives it time, though. Because the second most important thing to Steve—first just being there for him—is patience.

The next of their chats happens when things get heated on the couch.

Soft kisses turn hungry, carnivorous. Hands wander over heated skin. Steve’s fingers against the hem of Eddie’s t-shirt. But his hands shake. And Eddie places his own hands off to the sides of the couch, pulling himself away before things can get any farther than they already are.

“Hey,” he softly speaks, “Steve, we don’t—I’m okay with just kissing right now. We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.”

Steve stops next to him. Tensing up only slightly. “Are you—You’re sure about that?” His voice is so tiny, so unlike him. And though Eddie’s heard this tone before, it still breaks him.

He says easily, “I don’t want you to be scared of our first time, baby. It’s okay if we need to take things slow.”

He watches as Steve heavily swallows. “And if I asked if we never had sex?”

Eddie eyes him for a moment. Not wearily. With something like subtle pride. “Is that what you want?” He asks in turn. “Would that make you more comfortable?”

Subtly, Steve nods. “I—“ He sighs sadly. “I’ve been thinking about how to talk to you about it. With girls, I never even liked it. I just did it because it…There was something to say about a guy who could have sex with anybody he wants. But I also…I don’t know.” He shrugs as if trying to dismiss it, but Eddie doesn’t like that.

He sets a hesitant, soft hand on Steve’s shoulder. Squeezes when he doesn’t move away. “If you never want to have sex again, I’d be okay with that. I’d be more than okay with that,” he states assuringly. “You being happy and comfortable is what matters most to me. Not sex. I don’t give a shit about sex, not when I get to see you every day, smile on your face, and your eyes shiny and beautiful.”

Steve gives another small sigh, but the smile he has doesn’t waver. “Okay. I—Eddie, I don’t think I want to have sex,” he admits quietly. It shakes from his throat, but it’s still confident the way it lands between them. “It just doesn’t feel good to me. And I—I don’t want to force myself to do it. And it wouldn’t be fair to you, either.”

Another affirmative squeeze to Steve’s shoulder. “Alright, baby. Then we don’t have sex,” he agrees softly. “And if you ever change your mind—not that I’m forcing you to—then I’m okay with what you want.” He scoots himself closer so that their bodies are one single line, warm against each other. Reiterating, “Your happiness and comfort matter the most to me.”

With both of his hands, Steve wraps Eddie’s free one. Traces the veins on the back of his hand. Toys with his fingers. “We can still kiss, though,” he states quietly. “Maybe I want a kiss.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Mhm,” Steve hums. So, he closes the gap. A wet peck to Eddie’s lips. Soft and venturing. One that last only a few seconds. He draws back with the softest smile adorned on his features. Murmurs, “Thank you for hearing me out on this. And for understanding. And for accepting this.”

“I love you, Steve. Just for you. Not the sex or touch. We could never do anything except sit next to each other and talk, and I’d still love you,” Eddie swears.

Steve sniffs something wet. Shoves himself a little closer, cuddling into Eddie’s chest. To which Eddie wraps his arms around his back in response. And he sighs, but it’s a sound of long awaited relief. “I love you, too, Eddie. God, I love you.”

The conversations are tough and they are stomach turning, but after it all, Eddie gets to have Steve. How he is. How he wants to be. And that’s all Eddie could hope for.

He kisses the top of Steve’s head and relaxes back into the couch. “I’m proud of you, Steve,” he murmurs, “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Thank you for being patient. Being here.”

Eddie squeezes them together even tighter. Warm in his chest at the content noise that draws itself from Steve. This could be all that they do forever and Eddie would never ask for more.

🩵—————🩵

[euryleli]

I don't think anyone from the byers-hopper family is going to die!

I would love to hear more about your theories regarding this subject if you really think there's an actual chance of characters like Will and El (or even Jonathan) dying in st5 - because from where I stand, I just... can't see it happening!

It doesn't make sense to me for a number of reasons!

First there's Will: a closeted gay teen from the 80s living his WORST life in smalltown, Indiana. Will, a boy who has been bullied his entire life not only by his peers but also by his own fucking father - all in the name of this inherent otherness he carries that's been associated with his queerness since episode 1 from s1!! The boy that's always described as kind, honest and sensitive - the little kid who changed the world of every single one of his loved ones with his absence. William Byers, the boy who went to hell, spent a week there and then came back all wrong, slowly losing his identity because he was fucking possessed by this otherworldly creature - who was burned out of him, mind you AND the after effects of his frolicking in the upside down for seven days straight and late possession by freaky monster #1 led to a connection that haunts him TO THIS DAY!

THEN (because it can't get better) we have stranger things season 3 and 4 where will byers gets beaten time and time again by forced conformity, internalized homophobia and, of course, the usual supernatural Horrors that we're all acquainted with (and that have a canonical narrative connection to all the issues previously mentioned but wtv)!

Ur telling me that this boy who hasn't known A SINGLE DAY OF PEACE in his LIFE (because Will had it bad before the upside down), who's the only confirmed gay character (as of now) AND the one who doesn't believe he can or even deserves love?? Is going to die??? This boy is not gonna have his happy ending? Will Byers, the starting point of this whole story is gonna be used as a pawn to... what? Further develop a straight relationship that actively hinders the arc of the female main character (El)? His death is gonna "complete" his arc and we'll deal with another case of the "Bury Your Gays" trope? Mike's character is gonna be buried alongside Will then because if his ending is one of conformity then all his actions throughout the series make no god-damned sense - basically he's just an asshole and an awful fucking friend? What the actual fuck??

So... Will dies, saves everyone but leaves Joyce and Jonathan completely heartbroken? Even when their love for Will is what kick-started the whole show? The show started with us rooting for them to find Will and they did!

But oh... wait... he died lol

It doesn't make sense, narratively speaking.

"What about El, then?" you ask!

Look, I'm slightly scared for her too but I genuinely think they're not gonna kill her off and the main reason is Hopper. What's the point of having Hopper grieve Sarah, his first daughter who tragically dies at a young age from cancer, just to make him start coping with her loss, bonding with El - actively viewing her as his family - to then take that family from him A SECOND TIME?? WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT?

Aside from El's arc and her development as a young girl who was robbed of her childhood and sense of self for so long finally coming into her own person (not Hopper, not Mike, just El), killing her off is an efficient way to ruin not one but TWO of the most beloved characters in stranger things.

Having either Will, El or both of them dying in the finale would be a tragedy and yes, stranger things has it's moments where everything goes wrong and people die (and stay dead) but...

It's not supposed to be a tragedy.

That's not the kind of show we're watching.

Hell, you can say that they're going to kill the other family members then! But I don't see them killing Joyce or even Jonathan (although I can admit I'm not fully confident on that last one) because - again - it defeats the whole purpose of the show and Hopper came back from the dead already, the duffer brothers are not gonna kill him AGAIN (El grieving her father a second time is just as bad as Hopper grieving Sarah, then El)

The Byers are the heart of the show and sure... stranger things s3 and s4 kind of lost the plot on that front, but we're definitely getting back with willel and their final arcs in s5 (their family, now with Hopper and El, will be heavily featured in their development)

So, yeah...

Stranger Things is, fortunately, not a tragedy - and considering the love I have for all the characters (especially the Byers-Hopper) I can't say I'm upset about it.

[sogoodtoheritsvicious]

it’s tiiiiimeee

i haven’t watched this show in full in five years 😵‍💫but it’s october and i was gonna watch thee byeler episode aka 2x02 on halloween anyway so i thought i might as well rewatch the entire show and make it everyone’s problem

forgot about the jumpscare being right at the beginning

baby will <3

they were all BABIES and now they’re all grown and the damn final season still hasn’t premiered lmao

dustin was so adorable

“it was a seven.” “huh?” “the roll, it was a seven. the demogorgon, it got me.” the way will was incapable of lying to mike, GOD, i feel sick

fun fact: will’s adorable little “see you tomorrow!” is immediately what made him my favorite

“kiss your mom ‘night for me!” lmfao

forgot how damn good the jumpscares are

gonna need mike to see will with a gun at least once before this show is over

“damn,you look like hell, chief!” “oh, yeah? well, i looked better than your wife when i left her this morning.” HELP

“lonnie used to call him queer.” “is he?” FUCKING HELL, HOPPER 😭 i completely forgot about that scene lmfao

EL, MY BABY

benny was such a good man :( he didn’t deserve to die

that poor dog was so hated irl 😭

“you think we got a problem here?” my brother in christ, a boy is missing

“i’m the only one that cares about will!” mike loves will so much, i’m gonna cry

i completely forgot about hop’s daughter

mike sneaking out while steve’s sneaking in 😭 this show is also a comedy

winona ryder the actress that you are

chapter 2

maybe i’m going to find out in this ep i can’t remember if they ever investigate benny’s death or link it to everything else that was going on

“stop it, you’re freaking her out!” “she’s freaking ME out!” lucas was the only real one in the beginning

poor baby. el didn’t even know what privacy was before this moment.

“oh, you can speak!” she gets that a lot 😭

mike and el had so much potential as friends, FUCK the duffers for ruining them by making it romantic. now they don’t even seem like they like each other

i hope s5 focuses on more on will and lucas’ friendship

jonathan was such a good brother

brenner. always at the scene of the fucking crime.

mike naming his dino ‘rory’ because he roars 🥹

FUCK BRENNER ALL MY HOMIES HATE BRENNER

karen was such a good mom in the beginning

i hate lonnie with a passion, he’s an abusive piece of shit who should’ve been killed off

i don’t blame lucas at all for the way he was acting with el at first

“one kid goes missing, the other one runs wild? some real fine parenting right there.”

they kept pointing out so many similarities between will and el, i can’t believe they didn’t go anywhere with it

“can’t ask a corpse a question.” die. just die.

nancy: *losing her virginity*

barb: *losing her life*

chapter 3

“no one breaks in here.” yeah, they just break out

love jonathan but steve wasn’t exactly wrong about the pictures

joyce byers the mother that you are

mike wanted nothing to do with el once they found will’s “body” but we’re supposed to believe that he loved her the second he saw her in the woods.

chapter 4

i can’t believe they showed that mike has all of the drawings will has created and expected us to be normal about it

“screw his funeral!” “what?!” TEARS

jonathan loves joyce and will so much 🥺

steve was such an unbearable asshole

can we PLEASE talk about charlie being able to hold his own with winona in that scene about will’s body? we already know winona’s gonna blow it out of the water but he did just as well

completely forgot about mike doing el’s makeup this episode dkfkgjd

“where are you from, exactly?” “bad place.” 😭

that troy scene still sends

“the kid is dead. end of story.”

they put too much pressure on el. i hope when all this shit is over she’s able to just be a normal kid.

this show used to be so fucking good

i love how hop tries lying to the state trooper and when that doesn’t work he just knocks him the fuck out 😭

I FUCKING HATE LONNIE

i’m so glad they had jonathan realize that joyce was telling the truth about everything that was going on instead of just dragging it all out.

chapter 5

hate lonnie for taking advantage of joyce when she’s clearly in a vulnerable position

��wait until we tell will that jennifer hayes was crying at his funeral” lmao

all this season is showing me is how severely they’ve robbed us of joyce and will scenes in future episodes

“man, these aren’t real nilla wafers.” mr. clark must think they’re horrible friends, i’m crying. dustin is right, though, fake nilla wafers suck.

“it might even swallow us whole.” and that’s exactly what’s happening by the end of s4

“he’s wanted to go to nyu since he was six. years. old!” she should’ve killed lonnie right then & there

can’t prove it but jonathan fell in love with nancy the second she shot that can on her first try

jonathan clocked nancy’s ass BAD in the woods

forgot just how much lucas hated el this season

byeler and jancy have paralleled each other too many times for it to just mean nothing in the end.

chapter 6

the jumpscares in this show are top tier

what i love about this show is how it still has me holding my breath even though i already know what’s going to happen

“i don’t wanna be alone. do you?” “no.” i was gonna say he wouldn’t be alone cause joyce is there but i remembered he doesn’t wanna tell her til it’s all over

early jancy were so awkward, i love them <3

“i could have been killed!” “which is exactly why we need her. she’s a weapon!” but mike loves her at this point, right?

lucas loves will so much, it’s a shame we haven’t seen much more of their friendship

“you’re my best friend, too.” “okay :D” dustin looked so happy 😭

“what’s the weirdest part? me or the bear trap?” “you, definitely you.” pls

jonathan beating the shit out of steve was so satisfying

“only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart.” i’m not even gonna say anything. you all know.

we don’t give mike enough appreciation for being such a selfless person. he did everything he could to find will, he almost killed himself to protect dustin, he let el live in his basement without even knowing her, etc.

“she’s our friend and she’s crazy!” i love dustin with my whole heart

BABIES 🫶🏼

chapter 7

“if anyone asks where i am, i’ve left the country.” this season is really reminding me why mike was my favorite in the beginning

i wanna hug el so bad

“our son with a girl?” ted, to mike:

“a psychotic child broke his arm!” “a little girl, chief. a little one.” “that tone! do you hear that tone?” “honestly, i’m just trying to state a fact. it was a little girl.” this entire exchange is sending me so bad

“you couldn’t take jonathan byers.” get his ass!

it was such a great choice to have joyce be the first one to ever give el comfort because she’s such a soft, comforting person and i can’t think of anyone better

chapter 8

made it to the finale! gonna be honest, i didn’t think i’d get here in only two days but this show sucked me in the exact way it did the first time

“go to hell.” joyce is everything

waiting til this episode to give flashbacks on hop’s daughter was an excellent choice

steve just wanted to apologize to jonathan and now he’s an exasperated mother of seven. life comes at ya quick!!

choosing not to acknowledge that scene beyond this for the sake of my mental health

el is a badass but she shouldn’t have to be

brenner should’ve never made it to season 4

these kids acted their ASSES off in this show

GOD THIS JOYCE, HOPPER AND WILL SCENE

you’d think everything that went down would make nancy and karen care more about mike and pay attention to him but it doesn’t. mike deserves so much better.

will is in a hospital bed worrying about jonathan’s hand. I LOVE THIS KID.

byeler hug <3

they all really wanted to tell will about jennifer hayes crying 😭

“her name’s eleven.” “like the number?” he sounded baffled lmaooo

getting will back must’ve been so bittersweet for nancy

hop keeps throwing away lit cigarettes and all i keep thinking is that he’s gonna start a wildfire eventually

mike’s soft ‘see you, will’ 🥹

the camera!!

“your wife doesn’t have time to cook for me.” pls

the byers family 🫶🏼

my love for this show has officially been revived. rewatching this reminded me why i loved this show so much in the first place. the acting is amazing, especially from the kids, the writing was great, and the fucking jumpscares were incredible. i’m so excited to start season 2!!

[korshrimpski]

alternate title: the la kings are whimsical and here is some of the proof

photo creds: byfield: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | clarke: 1, 2, 3 | helenius: 1 | laferriere: 1, 2, 3 | lee: 1 | spence: 1, 2 | thomas: 1, 2 | turcotte: 1, 2

transcript/id: (i'm so sorry)

SLIDE 1: on a gray background is a doodle of the la kings logo centre page. Text: los angeles kings youth renaissance primer / (aka me begging you all to realise the lak are whimsical)

SLIDE 2: Quinton Byfield

Text:

drafted second overall in 2020: centre

fractured his ankle in 2021 preseason against the yotes after falling awkwardly into the boards delaying him joining the kings (a common theme within the kings youth roster)

moves between the second and third line but found a home on the third line with warren foegele and alex laferriere

starting to show colours of being a shutdown centreman (kopi would be proud)

currently on a five year contract

Photo 1: Quinton Byfield #55, in his gear on the ice twirling the strap of his helmet.

Photo 2: Comments under warren foegele's post. there is a red arrow pointing from the text to the screenshot that says;

alaf14 (alex laferriere): Lineyyy quintonbyfield: Foegdadddyyy

SLIDE 3: Quinton Byfield

Text:

named after quentin tarantino

phillip danault’s son (real)

noted goofball

you will be hard pressed to not find any post game picture with him not shirtless

has a post win hug tradition with alex laferriere

has more swagger in his pinky finger than i will ever have in my life

loves darcy kuemper and i don’t blame him

Photo 1: Quinton Byfield with his hands on his hips his body is facing the right but his head and upper chest is facing the camera. there is a silly look on his face while he wears a silly hat.

Photo 2&3: la kings player of the day helmet photos. Quinton Byfield is shirtless in both pictures and there is a red circle around him highlighting that fact

Photo 4: tweet for LA Kings: when your goalie is 9-1-2 in his last 12, he deserves a little 😘. attached is a gif of quinton byfield skating into darcy kuempers arms kissing him on the side of darcy's mask.

SLIDE 4: Brandt Clarke

Text:

drafted 8th overall in 2021: defender

the youngest player (21, 09/02/2003) on the kings

younger brother of wild prospect graeme clarke

has lots of comparisons to drew doughty, yk no pressure

won gold in 2023 at wjc

first full season with the kings after spending half the season in the ahl last year

randomly was made a winger for a few shifts on the third line against the kraken (18/01)

on an entry level contract

Photo: Side profile of Clarke in his gear.

SLIDE 5: Brandt Clarke

Text:

shit disturber

he does not shut up <3

carpools with anže kopitar to the rink

used to billet with jonathan quick in 2022-23 and would play goalie against quick’s kids

how kingsblr sees him*

*cont. Photo: Tweet by fartpog: saw this guy and said Ew ew ew ew ew ew ugly and then felt so bad i cried and bought him. with brandt clarke's headshot overlaying the gingerbread man plushie.

SLIDE 6: Samuel Helenius

Text:

drafted 59th overall in 2021: centre

the tallest kings player (6'6ft/198cm)

the son of Sami Helenius

has been up and down in the nhl and ahl this season

scored his first nhl goal yesterday!! (22/01)

on an entry level contract

in smaller text: (sorry sammy i don't know much about you)

Photo: Samuel Helenius raising his hockey stick to salute to crowd after getting first star of the night

SLIDE 7: Alex Laferriere

Text:

drafted 83rd overall in 2020: RW

laffy season

plays up and down all lines but mainly plays on the third line with Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield (rip the alex²-foegele line)

went to harvard (and majored psychology (i think he graduated recently or he might soon idk))

at the time of writing this (24/01, acst (australian central standard time)) he currently has an upper body injury

on the last year of his entry level contract

Photo: Close profile shot of Alex Laferriere concentrating on something out of frame.

SLIDE 8: Alex Laferriere

Text:

got his diploma in case this hockey thing goes to shit

don’t let his unassuming appearance fool you he is a shit disturber

has bodied logan o’connor and connor mcdavid. ig he doesn’t like connors :/

he hated skating at first so his big sister, sophie, bribed him with skittles to get him to skate

at the start of the year was on a line with anže kopitar and adrian kempe, kingdblr called them the “triple AAA” line (#reunitethetripleaaaline (no matter how much i love other alex on the first line))

post win hug tradition with qb

Photo 1: Alex Laferriere sitting politely smiling wide at the camera.

Photo 2: Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere hugging both pairs of arms around the others abdomen.

SLIDE 9: Andre Lee

Text:

drafted 188th overall in 2019: LW

cousins with sharks fabian zetterlund

plays up and down in the nhl and ahl and is usually a healthy scratch most nights (sadly)

scored his first nhl on new years day against the devs

on a one year contract (kings please resign him, i will cry if you don’t)

got a leg injury last season in the ahl and couldn’t play for 2 months

grew up a kopitar fan (he has taste)

loves his family so much and told his mum “we made it” once and i get emotional thinking about it

in smaller text says: (sorry for the 1 slide tazer idk much about you)

Photo: Andre Lee towering over Tanner Jeannot (?) as he leans down to hug him.

SLIDE 10: Jordan Spence

Text:

drafted 95th overall in 2019: defender

grew up playing hockey in japan (his mum is from japan)

was born in manly australia (no he is not australian stop saying he is australian he is japanese-canadaian you asreholes) (that last bit is targeted at a certain section of twitter)

he was struggling at the start of the season but since being paired with Jacob Moverare he and moverare are now amazing and i love them both sm

on a 2 year contract

Photo: Jordan Spence turned to the left smiling. He is illuminated by a red light.

SLIDE 11: Jordan Spence

Text:

speaks 3 languages (english, japanese and french) although his french is a bit iffy

roomates with alex turcotte

phillip danault’s son (real)

survived andreas englund (i’m sorry andreas but spenny carried you when you guys were paired together)

likes calling people (namely qb) goofballs

had a dog growing up called doughty after drew doughty (who was his favourite players growing up)

rides an ebike with qb. like they literally share one bike to ride around la

to learn english after moving to canada he would ask his teammates bad english words to chirp opponents and in turn he would teach them bad japanese words

Photo: Jordan Spence looking stoic holding a tiny fish.

SLIDE 12: Akil Thomas

Text:

drafted 51st overall in 2018: centre

oh buddy it has been a journey to get to the nhl. The first three season after the draft were good he was developing in the OHL and won gold at the wjc in 2020 (where he scored the golden goal), and made the ontario reign in 2020-21. then in 2022-23 he got a shoulder injury. then in 2023-24 he got another one.

but now he’s here and he is the real deal. even though jim hiller keeps scratching him (jim hiller you asshole)

on a 2 year contract

Photo: Akil Thomas in practice gear smiling.

SLIDE 13: Akil Thomas

Text:

skipped a year of high school and started taking classes at Brock University at age 17

got bullied by david rittich after czechia beat canada at wjc 2025

he will comment a gif under your insta post, it is his thing

scored his first nhl goal last season but a lot of people thought he scored it this season (thanks a lot commentators)

might have been roommates with alex turcotte but idk for sure

part time model ig, idk the logistics but i think he endorses a clothing brand

Photo 1: Akil Thomas walk in picture wearing a white top with an off white coat and dark blue dress pants, with egg patterned socks and white air forces.

Photo 2: Akil Thomas posing of a photo looking down hands in the pockets of his flannel that is layered on top of a hoodie.

SLIDE 14: Alex Turcotte

Text:

drafted 5th overall in 2019: C/L/RW

son of alfie turcotte

currently stabbing the bust allegations with a knife

started the season on the bottom two lines, then got bumped up and down the line up for a while and now he has solidified himself on the first line and he deserves it after the tumultuous years of getting to the nhl

shoulder injury after wjc delaying his start to the reign → got acute appendicitis → then got a concussion → then got another concussion. and along the way he kept getting minor injuries side-lining him for a handful of games

but now he is here and it is officially turkey season

on a 3 year contract

Photo: Alex Turcotte pumped up after scoring raising his left knee towards his chest.

FINAL SLIDE: Alex Turcotte

Text:

billeted with the hughes family when he was in the usndpt (yes, he was in that weird american hockey cult)

while with his concussions he spoke/texted with bowen byram a bit because it was nice to have someone who could understand his circumstances

kingsblr will go to bat for turkey. listen hear hockey podcast he is not a bust he is unlucky. get. it. right.

loves when warren foegele is grumpy. true younger sibling behaviour

Photo: a screenshot of la kings tweet: TURCY DAY!!! attached is a photo of Alex Turcotte in Lando Norris's helmet. to his left is. Trevor Lewis and Jordan Spence. To his right is Tanner Jeannot and Anže Kopitar. In front of him on the ground from left to right is Brandt Clarke, Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele

END.

[arriansarchive]

HI:D can I request a Will Byers (Season 4?) Like they just came back from Cali to Hawkins and he saw how much change one of his best friend's (the male reader) went through, like taller and deeper voice and stuff. And basically just all fluff cause my boy Will deserves love 😔 thaaanks<3

Will Byers/Tall!Male!Reader

UGH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

I guess since we knew Will that we're part of the party so I just did that

Will does deserve all the fluff I agree heavily

I did basically the entire scene of the time where the pizza van comes to the Wheelers (sorry if it's a different house it's been a second since I've watch season 4)

And okay I didn't remember the exact dialogue and like hell I'm searching up the entire script, so ur gonna have to deal with noncanon dialogue

I'm actually really proud of this sooo happy days yes yes?

OKAY THANK YOU THIS IS SUCH A GOOD PROMPT UR AMAZING

Summary: Look above my little silly notes

Your eyes drooped slightly as the boxes seemed to pile up in front of you. You were beginning to get tired of boxes. Literally.

Steve tried to talk to you a few times, but you didn't really answer with enough worthwhile effort to keep him interested.

You felt a light tap on your shoulder. "Hey, Y/N, are you okay?" You turned around to see Dustin talking to you for what seemed like the millionth time. "You seem a little off."

"I'm just stressed and getting kind of annoyed that no one can see or understand that." You grunted, lifting a particularly heavy box in your arms.

He got a defeated look on his face as he was probably asked to do this by some other idiot trying to snoop, but you brushed it off with a shake of your head.

You wondered who would actually be okay about something like this. You got told Max was in a coma, Eddie's probably dead as well. It seemed stupid to you that everyone was acting like nothing happened.

Karen Wheeler looked over your shoulder and said something nobody was expecting. "Did someone order a pizza?"

Eyebrows were raised and furrowed as people looked back from their boxes. What looked like a pizza van was ripping down the street at a fast pace.

It came to skirting stop, and one of the doors flew open. You were more confused then you liked to admit; did anyone order a pizza?

Your eyes widened from their previously sleepy state whenever you saw Eleven, Will, Jonathan, a random guy you didn't know, and Mike step out of the side door.

The gaze that was originally fixed on the guy you didn't know switched immediately to Will. He's been your best friend for years, and you had missed him very much.

He met your awed stare with a giant, warm grin. A grin that you had longed for ever since he left a year ago. Phonecalls weren't enough to satisfy you.

"Will!" You called out, a smile matching his present on your face.

"Y/N!" He sounded relieved, but his eyes were red and a little puffy.

Will pulled you into a tight hug whenever he got close enough. You felt sparks light up in your stomach, and it felt like they were going to leak over into your mouth and out.

He was warm. It felt like being wrapped in safeness itself.

You had met Will around two years old; your two mother's were good friends throughout highschool and adulthood.

He soon introduced Mike to you, and everyone got along well. Lucas and Dustin came along later. Everything was good for a while.

Will looked up at you, seemingly in surprise. His eyebrows were up high, and his mouth was open wide.

"How did you get so tall in just a year?" He asked with shock.

As if your eyes were deceiving you before you realized that Will was quite a bit shorter than you now. He smiled up at you happily.

"I guess I didn't notice." You mumbled.

He giggled and it made your heart race a little faster. "Your voice is deeper too!"

You smiled widely at him, digging your head down into the crook of his neck. "Damn, I've missed you so much, Will."

"I've missed you too."

You hugged for a while longer before pulling away. He offered to help you with your boxes, and you gladly accepted the help, momentarily forgetting the peril you all were in.

[starry-eyed-steve]

Okay, so normally, I scroll past any ridiculous Steve takes, especially when it comes to death theories or theories about s5 in general. However, I just saw such a bad take that it actually made me angry, I need to make my own post. (Warning, this gets a bit petty towards the end)

Basically, the OP claimed Steve needs to die in s5 for the following reasons:

He has nothing going on in his life. He works a minimum wage job and is stuck in his hometown

He only has Robin and the kids, nothing else

It would not be satisfying if he lived

Steve can't grow more as a character because he already had too much development, so it would be better to end it there

He's only useful for protecting the group and nothing else

His death would be great for other characters because if he scarifices himself, the others are then able to go out in the world, live their lives, and do great things

Okay, that's a lot to unpack here, and I'm kinda speechless people really have such a low opinion about him.

First of all, saying Steve has nothing going on because he works a minimum wage job and doesn't have a concrete plan for the future is such a weird thing to say. He has a job, and even if it's not the best paid one, he still has an income. It's not like he's has nothing to do after he graduated (which he did the first time). If you think Steve needs to have it all figured out by 19 in order to be allowed to live, kindly fuck off. Almost no character has a concrete plan for the future. We never see Robin talk about her plans as well. Besides Nancy wanting to go to Emerson, we don't really know anything about the other characters' plans. The idea that minimum wage jobs are considered as something not worth pursuing or that your life must suck if you have them reeks of privilege. Not everyone can or wants to get a college degree. The people who work in customer service or have manual labor jobs are very valuable members of society, and to imply just because Steve has a minimum wage job working at a video store, so he better dies, is a horrible take. But also again, he is 19 (!!!) and should be allowed to have opportunities to figure out his plans for the future. Plus, he explicitly told us his end goal, he wants a loving partner and kids, and that's reason enough to keep going. (Even if he wouldn't have this goal or plan, he deserves time to figure things out, seeing as he lived his life in survival mode for the past 4 years.)

I also really don't get the second point. What is wrong about Steve having a real friend and a group of people he cares about? Shouldn't that be reason enough for him to keep living? Shouldn't having friends who you care about and who care about you automatically count as something that is enough. Besides, again, he also has a job, likes to go on dates, and it's implied he's still into sports.

The other characters also have each other. They hang out all the time to play their dnd games. Jonathan only has one friend (who now isn't even in the show anymore) and a gf. Nancy barely has any friends as well, besides her bf, who wants to slow mo break up with her. Should they die because they only have like 2 people they are close with? Or is it different because they want to go to college and do well in school, which is the only good purpose characters are allowed to have in order to be deemed worthy of living?

Imo it wouldn't be satisfying if Steve would die after everything he has been through. The show beats him to a pulp every season. He was tortured, maimed, and he sacrificed already so much for the group. He has the most physical trauma, besides Hopper. Even if the show doesn't address it, it's still there. (I hate it sm, but also I blame mostly on limited time that almost no character gets to explore their trauma.) It would be such a disservice to his character if he went through all of that for nothing. What kinda message is that? Killing off the character who is the most hopeful despite everything he went through is not satisfying. None of the main characters' deaths would feel satisfying after going through the horrors like that. (Besides Murray because fuck him)

If you think a character or person can only grow so much until they reach some arbitrary point where they are the perfect version of themselves, you're pretty naive. Nobody stops growing. Even if someone goes through growth, you don't stop your whole life. Maybe start rooting for an arc for Steve, where he gets even better. Where he gets to figure things out, where he becomes a better version of himself. You wouldn't say this to any other character. Just because his growth arc was more noticeable doesn't mean all your other faves didn't grow. Do you want them to stop living because they made choices to be a better person?

You're really underestimating Steve's relationship to the group if you think he's nothing more than a punching bag to them. How can you watch the show and really think this. He's Robins best friend, he helps her grow and be comfortable. He's Dustin's older brother figure. He gives him comfort, and he will most likely help him in s5 with his grief over Eddie. Even with Max, he functions as a brother figure, especially in contrast to her stepbrother. Yes, his primary role in the group is fighter and protector, but he is more than that. He's a friend and important to so many characters.

I think the last point was the thing that made me angry the most. All those other takes I've seen time and time again, but this last one is just disgusting. First of all again to imply that Steve can't do great things because he doesn't have a career plan at 19, which is just gross. And then if you also think the other characters would be so appreciative of this as if they don't give a fuck about Steve. Like Robin and Dustin would be devastated, how much of his death would affect them and their plans to do amazing things? They would be severely depressed and untreated (lets be real mental health issues were not taken super seriously up until recently) they will live with those impacts for the rest of their lives. Trust me I know how terrible depression is and how it fucks with your life plans. Maybe some characters who are not super close to him might use his death for motivation and to achieve those "great" things. But for most parts, his death would have a negative influence on them, on top of the trauma they already endured. If you think his death would only benefit the group, you're underestimating his impact on people. Like Dustin already has a hard time getting over Eddie, Robin would lose the only person who completely understands her, Max would lose another brother figure and a chance to bond with him more. Nancy would lose yet another person who was close to her. How many people should she lose until she snaps completely? But again, it's the implication that Steve's life is worthless because he doesn't go to college or has a shitty job or only has a few friends, that gets me. His life is worth less than other characters' lives because they seemingly have things figured out because they are (book) smarter than him. And btw Steve has a dream for the future, he wants a family and peace, he wants to be a better parent than his own parents were, and if you think that's meaningless or less great, then fuck you!

With those points and logic, Jonathan should also be a contender for character death in s5 as well. He doesn't have a job, he gets high with his only friend who won't be there in s5, he didn't apply for his dream university, he's about to break up with his gf. Jonathan only has his family and barely any growth over the seasons. He is a very stale character. In other words, according to those points made by OP, he has nothing going on and should sacrifice his life for the group as some form of character development.

Or Robin should also die in s5 according to those points. After all, all she has going on for her is a minimum wage job she works with her best friend, school, and a so far miserable love life. We don't know any of her future plans so fuck her I guess. She better sacrifice herself for the group. Or is she allowed to live because she's smarter than Steve (which is a pretty ableist thing to say) and gets to embark on a romantic journey next season?

To sum it up, stop saying Steve has to die because you think his life is meaningless because he's a teenager who hasn't things figured out. Stop saying shit along the lines that Steve isn't smart enough to get to have a life. Stop implying that intelligence is the most valuable thing a person can have and anyone who might lack it is deemed as less worthy of living. Stop saying Steve can't do amazing things if he doesn't go to college and therefore shouldn't be allowed to live. And stop deeming Steve's dream of a family as less meaningful (or meaningless) than academic/career successes. He deserves to live like every other character in the show.

[alcalystrasz]

How do I imagine Byler's first kiss? Very dramatic. If you have time to read... Try to imagine:

"Everyone is talking about how to take Vecna down, but Will feels him behind is neck. He touches it and calls for Mike. But then, when he calls him back, everyone disappears and everything is black. Empty. Then he turns around and sees memories. Memories of him and Mike, with Vecna's voice in the back, saying stuff like "You were always close to each other." And then he shows memories of Mike and El, and he says "But she was always in the way right?" Then he shows more and more memories always pointing out Will, who, even if he loves El, cares about her like a real sister, he always wished something could happen to her, or to their relationship, even if he tried to save it multiple times, he did it because he just wanted Mike to be happy. He then teleports Will into idk where and Vecna appears and he starts a monologue saying "You and I, we aren't so different from each other" and he says how, him and Will are alike, how he tested him since he kidnapped him into the Upside Down bla bla. Meanwhile, Mike shakes his shoulders screaming "Will, do you hear me? Will? Will!" Again ang again. And then he turns his face to everyone else asking what he has to do to help him out. Nancy then shouts "Music!" And then Jonathan go take a Walkman with Should I Stay or Should I Go and put it on Will's ears. Then Will, inside the Upside Down, is being strangled by Vecna because he refuses to join him, but he (Vecna) keeps saying that he has to, and he has no choice. Then the music suddenly starts playing, with an epic version, a little, just like Max got it in Season 4. He sees a beginning of portal appearing, but he understands it's not enough. So then Mike looks at Jonathan, and Jonathan nods, meaning "You're the heart." Mike then turns to Will and gives everything he can, starts a love confession:

-Will, I know you can hear me. I know that this sucker got you, and... that I'm probably the only one to get you out of there. Look, I know you think that I'm a bad friend. And that I don't like you as much as before. So much that... I didn't want to play DnD with you, because I was with El. That was so stupid. So, so stupid. But the truth is, Will, I never stopped liking you. The day I met you, that was the best thing that ever happened to me, I mean it. I truly do. Since that day, I sometimes feel like I don't deserve you, that you're way too unique to be ignored, and especially to be with me. All this time I was thinking 'Do I really deserve him? He's way too sweet, too gentle, too nice, too kind, for me.' And I realize that I was right. I was such a douche. When you left for California... I just... I... *he closes his eyes, then takes a deep breath* I missed you. Okay? I fucking missed you. So much. So much that I was being jealous. I thought that maybe you were gonna find an other best friend, an other party and replace us... replace... me. But I was selfish because, I did that. I joined an other party. And I'm so sorry. Will... I just... I'm sorry. For everything. I know you're the most perfect person, in the world. I believe that. And I let you down. I lost you, too many times *he has tears, he's almost crying* and I cannot, I CAN'T, lose you again. Will... Truth is... *he tries to say it but can't. Jonathan places his hand on Mike's shoulder, meaning he knows.* I... *takes a deep breath* I love you. Okay? I, Love, You. I always did. And I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that before, I should've. I was just so scared, scared you wouldn't feel the same way. But I think, when you left, I might knew, that you loved me back. But I wasn't sure. And I know I'm the biggest idiot, for going out with El, instead of you, but... I just couldn't assume it. Assume that I loved you. Please forgive me, I know I ask too much. But please, forgive me. Will, forgive me. For know I just want you to fight, I know you can do it. Show him who you are, you're not a random sensitive kid, you're someone, okay? You're Will, fucking, Byers. The amazing artist with a bright future, the Will Byers I love. Please Will... *he doesn't wake up* Will? Come on! *we see then a shot of Will, almost dying of strangulation, until Vecna raises his hand and makes him fly. Noticing that, Mike grabs his leg and yells.* What? No. No! Will! No, please Will! *he lets go* WILL! COME ON FIGHT, PLEASE! I... I can't lose you again, Will, please, I love you, Will! *he falls to the ground and Nancy runs to him yelling her name. Then, Will, gets angry because he heard all of it, he wants to get back to him, he takes a stick of wood, stuck into the wall Vecna pushed him into, and raises it and plants it into Vecna's right eye. He growns and let Will go, then Will starts to run (imagine an epic scene like Max's but way more epic, with Mike's voice in the back, old things he said in previous seasons), but Vecna don't let him go, he tries to stop him but can't. We then, see Mike on the ground, screaming his name. Then the music stops, Will wakes up and falls to the ground* Will? Oh God, Will? Hey, you alright?? Will, WILL! *he answers 'I'm okay' over and over, out of breath, and Mike just takes him in his arms.* I thought I was going to lose you again, for good.

-I'm still here, he says, still out of breath. Then Mike removes himself and gets Will's face closer to his then Will says: Mike? Mike frowns. I love you too. Mike, crying, cries even more after that then grabs his face and kisses him."

YOU CAN IMAGINE THE REST. I clearly imagine them then turning their head and everyone smiling and being like "we support you." Then they could go into Mike's room and Will talks about what happened when Vecna took him. Anyway, maybe tell me what you think? I think this scene is gonna happen and that the Duffers will be like "HOW THAT BI*CH KNOWS?" that'd be funny. Anyway, hoped you liked my idea of Byler's first kiss!

[cha-lii]

I don’t know I think the character development was what we saw in season 1 which was ditching friends who were dicks to others and bullied his gf at the time. And season 2 was about dealing with problems instead of ignoring them. And season 3 was about finding long lasting friendships. Setting up season 4 for him to try again with the girl he’d been in love with but wasn’t in the right place maturity wise to give her what she wanted and needed.

I think both of their character developments made perfect sense with where they got to in season 4. It was all about experiencing loss and trauma, breaking up when the feelings were too overwhelming and both weren’t what the other needed at the time, then growing up while apart, and coming together when their goals were more in the same place.

i really agree with almost everything you’ve said actually! i guess the thing about steve’s storyline that pisses me off is that they still felt the need to push steve x nancy. i think the only reason that won’t happen in s5 is because they got backlash from fans, s4 gave me the vibes they were seriously considering pursuing that relationship again and i just don’t think it’s right.

i think steve has been infatuated with nancy since season 1, but she’s only ever liked him and not really loved him. and honestly both of them deserve better than that? i am fully aware that steve’s character has matured so so so much since season 1, but i think nancy and jonathan make the better couple, and steve should be allowed to move on and find someone who will be as devoted to him as he would be to them.

that’s why i think the writers really missed a trick with not making steve, nancy and jonathan friends/a team, because that would have allowed for so much more growth and development in the friendship between steve and nancy, instead of this devotion/obsession he has from afar for her, that she does not at all reciprocate.

i really like steve’s friendship with robin though, and i in no way think it was a bad decision. the one criticism (that’s barely a criticism and more just something i think would have been nice) is that i wish he had some more development from steve calling jonathan “queer” (as a slur) to accepting robin with barely a blink of an eye. i’m not saying that was a bad thing - it’s the way everyone should be - but wtiting and development-wise it felt a bit like ‘oh hey everyone loves steve so let’s make him as flawless as possible without any more drawbacks or flaws’ and they just kind of ignored his previous bigotry. but that is really me just nit picking, i LOVE steve and robin’s friendship!

no hate against steve’s character - my current mindset is more bemoaning the lack of good jonathan content and development and sadly steve will often get caught in the crosshairs 😩

[allyricas]

oh my god i could write a whole fucking essay on why both jon x nancy and steve x nancy should not be endgame! and it's not about disliking any one of them, rather seeing the various reasons each pair shouldn't stay together.

okay, come here: jon and nancy are very cute together. they have a lot of undeniable chemistry and similar interests and goals at the start of season 1. it's pretty clear that despite being with steve, nancy is attracted to, or at least intrigued by, jonathan from the start. he fucking took inappropriate pictures of her and she was not offended.

(we could argue this is because the duffer bros are men thus do not really understand how a teenage girl would react to this but that's a rant for another day)

i think jon and nancy are right-person-wrong time-terrible situation. despite the mutual attraction during season 1, they truly fall for each other during all the drama of will being possessed and the mind flayer. there is genuine love, but also trauma bonding.

the issue arises in the core of who they are and what they want out of life. nancy does not understand jonathan very well. jonathan does get her, i think, but doesn't necessarily like her priority on her career. we see this with the whole newspaper dilemma/argument. nancy is headstrong and determined, both good qualities, but she struggles to see how it could affect others at times.

jonathan might feel pressured to take care of will and stick by his family, but he cannot bear to lose them either. he needs will and his mom close after everything that's happened over the years. this means the idea of going away to college sounds terrifying to him at this point in his life. i also think the way he met argyle and went stoner boy is a huge relief for him. he can relax and get high, but wants to be with his family.

oh, but nancy. nancy wheeler. for all that she seems dainty and soft, she is truly a fucking badass. she is not afraid to fight for what she wants or what she believes in. she sees her traditional, nuclear family and she wants so much more. she wants a successful career. she wants to investigate and know the truth. she does not want to be in hawkins. she wants to rise above what society says a girl can be.

she doesn't want to break the glass ceiling, she wants to fucking shatter it. she is nearly cutthroat in her pursuit of what she wants and thinks is right.

she lost her best friend on the night she was losing her virginity to a boy she didn't love. i do not think nancy loved steve, sorry. i think she wanted to and thought she was supposed to but didn't. and this is not meant in a derogatory way towards nancy. she never had to love steve.

so I think there is an element to nancy where she feels she needs to be in a relationship because she's supposed to be, it's what girls should want. she should be jealous of robin because steve used to be her boyfriend. she should stress over her relationship with jon even though he's in california.

i think it's why we see her side of the weird energy with steve in season 4. she is very analytical with things, and she's considering what she is supposed to want, not necessarily what she actually wants which very well could be neither of the boys if she was honest with herself.

nancy needs a partner who is okay with her prioritizing her career, who has their own career, and is okay with needing personal space and not necessarily wanting a family. someone who understands nancy's desires and dreams, recognizes how she needs to find the story and investigate and reveal the truth, that she will do whatever it takes to be successful and she deserves to! that she can have all this and love, but that it won't look like what society said was acceptable for a women in that time.

nancy would be so, so unhappy with steve. she was unhappy with him the first time they dated. she stuck it out it because it felt like a slap in the face to losing barb if it didn't work. but nancy knew deep down it was bullshit. she might have drunkenly spewed those words to steve, but they were just as much about her.

so yeah, nancy and jon without all the trauma, could have been happy. and who knows, maybe in the future they could work out. nancy and steve, trauma or no trauma, would not work. he straight up said he wants a big family. he wants the house, the kids, and a partner to come home to. that is a nightmare for nance. her face said it all in the rv.

“It’s silly but I always had this dream that I’d have this really big family. I’m talking like a full brood of Harringtons, like five, six kids. And every summer I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California, spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something.”

we can argue whether steve's parents are just a little absent or like fully negligent assholes but either way, he wants what he didn't have. wants to create his own family and do it the right way. he wants a big family with lots of people to nurture and love. i don't even think nancy would necessarily want to take her spouse's last name whereas steve would very much want that.

steve's desire for family is intrinsic to who he is. it's why he carts around dustin and the kids. why he worries for them and throws himself into danger for them despite barely knowing them in season 2. it's why robin made her way into his heart so easily. steve wants to be loved, wants to be needed and does want to love others in return.

he may not seem to have big aspirations in terms of college or a career but what he does aspire to is just as important as any other dream.

it's interesting that he doesn't just say he wants a big family but instead, makes sure to emphasize that he wants a big family that are close and spent time together. he wants to cram the whole gang in a damn winnebago and travel together. his dream is no less important than nancy's but it is totally incompatible.

i think steve regressed in season 4 because he was scared. the idea of fighting vecna and not having someone to love romantically made steve fall back on his old feelings for nancy. because steve said himself he was over her. he'd been dating. actively trying to find someone.

it was the circumstance that led to the weirdness between them.

if you follow me, then you know steve harrington is like my ride or die. i think he's maybe my favorite character of all time. so true, i do not want to see him with someone who called him bullshit and was obviously moving on emotionally with another guy while still dating steve.

(i personally don't think she cheated on him, but considered that moment the break up. even if it she did cheat on him, i love nancy. she was a teenager who'd lost her best friend and was dealing with a ton of shit and it doesn't make her bad even if she had cheated.)

all three deserve happy endings that suit who they are and where they are it. i really hope that we get to see that reflected in vol. 5.

[stevie-petey]

As painful as the Jonathan phone call was I like how many problems it fixes with the stancy moments in season four. Nancy and Steve's flirty reconnecting scenes now feels like he's relating to her, and they're becoming friends. You said awhile ago that Steve and Nancy never got to be friends and you're right. Their relationship was based on intimacy, that's how it started. (And that's how her relationship with Jonathan started too, I could use this time to talk about the differences between Nancy and bug and their relationships with the boys but maybe later). Steve and Nancy started out by sneaking around and making out, it wasn't until later that they became an actual couple. Even if it was only Steve who fell in love.

Anyway, now that Steve knows about Jonathans feelings (for the most part) and knows how badly it's going to hurt Nancy because he's felt that hurt. He has felt someone being chosen over him, even though he didn't resent Nancy for her feelings or Jonathan's but it was still his first major heartbreak. He knows what it's like to love someone who loves someone else. Now that he knows that Jonathan at some level wants Bug back he's reminded of Nancy wanting Jonathan. He knows what it feels like to not be enough for someone and at some level he wants to protect her from that. He's a loving, nurturing guy. It's in his nature.

I'm not sure if Steve's gonna tell Robin about what bug told him but it works to change the perception on some scenes. Now instead of Robin trying to poke around Nancy and Jonathan's relationship to see how Steve's chances of getting her back are, she's poking to see if Nancy knows about Jonathan's feelings, if they have been having problems. Now it isn't disrespectful and crossing boundaries, it's curiosity about the other side of the situation.

And when they're in the upsidedown after going through the water gate, him and Nancy's talks aren't flirting or Steve trying to show Nancy how he's changed. It's just them becoming true friends and Steve letting Nancy know she has someone to lean on if she needs it. That Steve isn't the immature ass he used to be and he's reliable now. Of course there are gonna be some comments that come across as flirty ( like the " you almost shot me with that one" & " you almost deserved it." ) but now it feels more like a divorced couple kidding around. They don't have feelings for each other, but the dynamic is still there you know what I mean? Which can easily be misconstrued as something else.

Sorry this is so long but my brain likes to go super Saiyan at night so here we are lol.

my only goal for season 4 was to retcon the whole steve nancy jonathan arc again because i HATE IT so much it drives me insane. so when i got the opportunity to change/fix it ,,, i was READY !!

i cant say much, but i changed a lot of steve/nancy centric conversations and added my own to make them more friendly/understanding of one another. i will also delve more into nancys feelings later - but as of right now: steve simply cant think about jonathan and nancy. all he has the energy to focus on is bug. thats it.

its where bug and steve are so similar. while bug is spending all of 4 trying to save max and ignores everything else, steve is spending all of 4 protecting bug. hes blinded by his love for her, bug is blinded by her love for everyone else, and this is ultimately where they misalign and become a tragic tale. its gonna take a lot of growth and conversations, on both ends, to absolve it !!!

[salsedine]

10 characters, 10 fandoms

Tagged by the lovely @greypetrel - so here we go! Thanks :*

Everything is under the 'read more' after the first one because I don't want to clog other people's dashes.

Aaand I tag @birdkeeperklink & @pyritefes2 here, so they don't have to scroll down the whole list to understand why and where they are tagged :P as usual, no pressure at all!

1.Stephen Black (Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell)

Incredibly well written and compelling (Mrs Clarke, teach me your secrets) in the book, and great acting by Aryion Bakare in the show. Probably one of my favourite male characters ever.

2.Lucrezia Borgia (Borgia: faith and fear)

I loved her character's arc through the 3 seasons. It really showcases the thing I love most about this serie, despite its flaws (and some are big flaws) - it never shied away from complexity. All characters are shown as capable of great tenderness and great cruelty - and this is one of the reasons why I think that they really captured the spirit of the renaissance.

3.James Flint (Black Sails)

"I was unjustly branded as a monster in the eyes of the so-called civilized society, so I'm going to destroy it" - what's not to love? And yes, of course I'm obsessed with the "freedom in the darkness" speech, of course.

4.Justice (Dragon Age)

"A world so full of beauty that beauty goes overlooked. I must see it with different eyes."

I couldn't find a gif, ops! Put my favourite quote instead. Initially I was really torn between Merrill and Anders and other five characters, but I'm in an AwakeningTM mood so I've picked my favourite rotting corpse.

5.Mr Nancy / Anansi (American Gods)

^^^ favourite scene/quote, no questions.

6.Jacquette/Jacquetta Woodville (The White Queen)

"We are all on fortune's wheel," I say. "Without a doubt we will rise. We may fall. But still I have no fear of it.”

Look at that Burgundy-inspired fashion!! The witchcraft and prophecies and definitely less accurate, but eh- that's still my thing. Also, a novel about her story (The Lady of Rivers) is the only book by Philippa Gregory that I didn't dislike, and that's truly something.

7.Uinen - Silmarillion

I have a soft spot for sea-themed mythology, so I obviously loved that section of the Silmarillion.

8.Hastur (Good Omens)

#team-Hell, because I like the demons' character design. Also, for some reason Ned Dennehy follows me on Instagram, so I feel like he deserves a mention.

9.Thomas Cromwell (Wolf Hall)

I have developed a love/hate relationship with this book&show - but Mantel's prose is stunning.

"It is wise to conceal the past even if there is nothing to conceal. A man's power is in the half-light, in the half-seen movements of his hand and the unguessed-at expression of his face. It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires."

Do you see this? Annoyingly good.

10.Morgan le Fay - Camelot

I feel like this show had a lot of potential that it never got to fully express, and Eva Green as Morgana? Inspired casting, 10/10.

[givehimthemedicine]

What would you rewrite about stranger things on seasons 3 and 4?

interesting question! guaranteed 5 will recontextualize some past stuff, so it's possible some things that aren't so great IMO are actually just because the story is still unfinished. that's often what happens with things I've complained about after a new season drops. but as it stands now:

everyone seems to have beef with 3, but I liked it a lot (definitely in a different way than 1 and 2 though). my main complaint with it, and 4, is the total change in Joyce. 1-2 Joyce is probably in my top 3 characters and 3-4 Joyce barely makes the list. I realize she deserves a life outside of her kids, but her love for her kids is why we fell in love with her. relegating her to a comic relief / icky romantic arc at the total expense of interaction with her kids is a waste of Winona Ryder.

it's the first season so far where Will isn't in acute crisis, but her firstborn child is also right there and had to execute his possessed boss with a pair of scissors after being beaten half to death, maybe he could use some support as well. but shh the magnets are being funny. (yes ik parentifying Jonathan is part of her character, she isn't a perfect mom but she loves him too, can we see it please?)

and I know this show has telekinesis and monsters on it, but Joyce infiltrating an ultra security secret military base and passing as a male Russian solder simply by not speaking was. c'mon. (I'm sure that's there to deliver some themes or parallels if I think about it longer but. on the surface. silly.)

s4: I wish we'd spent more of the El-without-powers time exploring what her actual personality is in ways not directly related to her relationship or powers/heroism/lab plot. again though, that's very much what's going on with her character, and she does have deep foundational traumas she needed to address before anything else. probably I was just eager in 4 for what she isn't ready for until 5.

to combine those two issues, one thing I NEEDED from s4 was a good Joyce/El scene. doesn't have to be something deeply emotional. just a lowkey moment with the two of them, and El getting some mothering. can't believe El literally lived as family with Joyce and all we got was 20 seconds of her angrily eating risotto.

there's a post floating around that said it would've been compelling if El actually liked California and had to choose between her new and old life. I think that's a very interesting idea. the school bullying stuff honestly fell a bit flat for me (important parallels aside) and I'm not sure how to articulate why.

and although I've come to understand the Hopper Russia arc has important themes to deliver as well, it's still on thin ice. I would cut it way down.

I'm sure there's more but yeah it'll be interesting to see how my opinions will change after I've digested 5 and the completed story!