#stranger things s1 lb

[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!!

[ronanceisintheair]

I don't like el/mike as non platonic but people really forget that Hopper was threatening/had threatened a child to keep him away from seeing el and that's why Mike was lying to Eleven.(terrible, very obvious lying) but he was keeping Hopper's cruel intentions away from el. Keeping Hopper in a good light in her mind. So yea. Don't slander my son.

[ilikekidsshows]

I used to think ML didn't let LB investigate to find out more about Hawkmoth - aside from keeping the monster-of-the-week-formular - was maybe also in reference to some other, more laid-back, magical girl shows, were the heroines only start to act after the antagonists (villains, magic, whatever) disrupted someone. But...your example with Sailor Moon made me realize... that in all those other magical girl shows I thought of the heroines help classmates/strangers around them even if it had no effect on their own lives. They help because someone needs help or try to find out why something seems to be off (and then it's due to the antagonists, coincidentally - they usually don't immediately assume it to be the antagonists - or there's an unrelated B-plot with no connection to the antagonists and the heroines help to solve that one too). In this sense....Marinette helps if an Akuma shows up? But she wouldn't bother for strangers without an Akuma? Is this the essence I get from this...? Was your example for Marinette helping a random stranger meant to be Fu from Origins? There...there sure must be more examples like this in the show, right? I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if not, since the show's bible emphasized how EVERYTHING has to be tied to Marinette, but...it sure isn't that bad, right? Marinette trying to cheer up Ivan in Origins for example was nice and she didn't get anything out of it? (but that was S1...)

---

I didn't intend the idea to be quite that extreme. I said Marinette rarely goes out of her way to help people for no reason and almost never helps strangers for no compensation. Marinette isn't purposefully unkind, she's just far more focused on her own problems for the idea that other people are struggling too to cross her mind (which makes it worse, since no one wants to call her out on it because she "didn't mean to"). Unless, of course, she sees what she considers a burning need and then makes a snap decision on what another person needs and acts on that without consulting the other person and ends up making things worse, which I consider the opposite of helping (and also something I mistakenly thought was a character flaw she was going to grow out of).

Giving a classmate a pep talk is the bare minimum she could do in Origins, and that was the main criticism I was trying to make: Marinette most often only does the bare minimum to be considered a hero. When it comes to heroics, she's clueless, unmotivated and lazy. She only really goes out of her way for people who are already her friends and family, and even then she's rarely all that helpful. All the other times outside of saving Fu in Origins, Marinette "helps" strangers when they're her clients, aka paying for her help (like babysitting), when her parents have asked her for a favor (like in Time Breaker), or when she did something to ruin their day first (like in Animaestro). Marinette actually starts off as a very typical example of a young teenaged protagonist who's kinda self centered, except the show refuses to treat it as something she should work on, something any other show that gives its protagonist this flaw would do.

Then she starts on what should by all accounts be her villain arc in seasons 4 and 5, but the show insists she's the greatest hero ever.

[jacquesthepigeon]

Some people are under the impression that everyone that dislikes adrichat is just filled with irrational hateful vitriol for no actual reason and, who knows, maybe some are, but there was a time I stuck up for adrichat

I used to argue against common prompts that had him aggressively pursue Ladybug, find out her identity without telling her, guilt trip her, act on his jealousy, make his problems someone else’s, behave aggressively, etc.

But then he got mad at LB for rejecting him

He started blaming her for his carelessness towards akuma attacks

He would straight up refuse to cooperate more than once if she didn’t baby him

He took advantage of knowing her identity to date her without giving her the opportunity to prepare for the worst case scenario

He would impulsively attack strangers and friends and victims with cataclysm

He did everything I swore up and down in the S1 days he would never do because his character was a kind albeit naïve gentleman. He not only did those things, but was framed neutrally or sympathetically for it. There’s no possibility of positive development. He’s not the character he was in S1, he’s significantly worse, and I simply chose not to hold on to the affection I had for something that simply doesn’t exist anymore.

[daenerys-targaryen]

i actually am gatekeeping stranger things.

[politedemon]

actually stranger things monsters have gotten worse every season and i'm convinced it's bc they have more money for cgi

[werewings]

mike being the only one still really awake of the party for will at the hospital that’s what we call a win for the bylers. 

[sapphicvevo]

im bored lets get to the monster showdown babey!!!!

[bisexualbuddie]

these father/daughter scenes with Hopper and Eleven make me so happy. MY SKIN IS CLEAR, MY CROPS ARE THRIVING, MY VISION IS 20/20

I 

AM 

LIVING!!!!!!

[amyjacob]

alright alright we’re getting somewhere

[emiliachrstine]

Every time Steve is on screen, all I’m gonna see is Jean Ralphio

[purrincess-chat]

While in conversation about my dogrien AU, I have development plans overall for the romance aspect of it between Adrien and Marinette:

S1 establishes the beginnings of their friendship from strangers to acquaintances to friends and ends with Adrien starting to consider Marinette differently (the Collector idea).

S2 continues to build on Adrien's increasing admiration for Marinette until Kagami comes along and steals his attention briefly which is resolved at the end of Frozer when Kagami points out that he spent more time on their date chasing after Marinette than he did with her and that she doesn't settle for second place. It also deals with Marinette's conflicted feelings for Adrien and Luka as well as Chat at times. S2 ends with Adrien's heartfelt speech about Marinette being their every day Ladybug and the kissTM and has Adrien realize that he just compared her to the girl that he has been in love with holy fuck.

S3 is still kind of up in the air but will generally deal with Adrien and Marinette juggling their feelings for their respective love interests though Marinette realizes as well that she doesn't return Luka's interest in her in comparison to her feelings for Adrien (which Luka points out and wishes her the best on). Adrien and Marinette generally growing closer as friends and partners (LB and CN) as well as deepening their romantic feelings up until the big reveal at the end because I'm gonna pull the plug at the end of s3 I think. I'm already planning on doing my whole own thing in s3 for this AU, so all this is on top of everything else going on with the plot that I can't say because spoilers. ;)

[lalunaunita]

Ladynoir July Day 28: (in love with a) Laugh

This is the Epilogue to Runaway

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

“That’s the last box,” Marinette confirmed as Adrien set it down in the tiny but tidy room at Alya’s parent’s apartment. She hugged her giant cat pillow to her chest and looked around the miniscule space that would be her home for the next two years. It had one small window, barely big enough for Ladybug to squeeze through, but she’d have to make do. More difficult would be keeping Alya at bay well enough to hide her superhero identity. Living under the same roof as the Ladyblogger was going to be a challenge.

“I’m really glad your parents agreed to let you live with Alya. Are they on their way yet?” asked Adrien as he pulled pillows out of her laundry basket and tossed them onto her bed.

Marinette nodded. “They left yesterday. They’re still in transit, but they should arrive in Guangzhou by tomorrow, or the next day.” She giggled. “I think they’re taking time to tour a bit before getting down to business.”

“Well…” Adrien glanced up and around, taking in the proportions of the room, “...it looks um, okay?”

Marinette giggled again and popped her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. “Spoiled much? This was the catch-all room until the twins got big enough for separate bedrooms. Not everyone gets two stories to themselves,” she teased. Adrien fixed her with a frown, but relented and instead drew her close with one arm, the cat pillow squished between them.

“So I’ll see you later, right?” he muttered for her ears only.

“Definitely,” she replied, a little breathless. They’d been dating for a month, and she still couldn’t get over his eyes… his nose… his chin… well, his everything, really. His sinful grin gave her a thrill when he caught her looking him over, then he released her, stepping back just as Alya came down the hall.

Marinette’s BFF eyed the two of them suspiciously as she stood in the doorway, but seeing several feet of space between them, she bounced in, arms wide for a hug. “Marinette, girl, this is gonna be the bomb! We’re already practically sisters. Now we can do everything together!” Marinette shared a grin over Alya’s shoulder with her partner.

“That’s great!” she managed with passable enthusiasm. Adrien gave her a thumbs up.

Alya leaned back from the embrace, still holding Marinette’s arms. She looked sternly into her eyes. “Except for when I’m working on the Ladyblog. No offense, Marinette, but you’re kind of clumsy when you’re put on the spot, and I need to be able to keep up with the heroes of Paris if I’m going to report what’s happening. And I insist on absolute quiet when I’m editing. Etta and Ella know not to even knock while I’m working.”

Marinette laughed. “Alya, I know how dedicated you are. I’m good with the house rules. I’ll be quiet as a mouse, I promise.” Alya pulled her into another tight hug. Marinette returned it gratefully, tears pricking her eyes.

“Alya, I’m so, so sorry…” she began, but she felt the other girl shake her head.

“You already said that. I already forgave you. Let’s let it go.” Marinette squeezed her eyes shut tight until the heat behind her lids went away. She released Alya and smiled gratefully. The girls walked Adrien to the door and Marinette excused herself to unpack and set up her new room.

“Hey, stranger,” Ladybug greeted Chat Noir as he joined her on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower.

“I come bearing gifts,” he replied and tipped forward in a bow, a small envelope proffered on his palm.

“What’s this?” asked Ladybug as she opened the unsealed flap. She lifted out a metal key on a ribbon. It shone with reflected light from the tower below them.

“I got to talking with my father when I got home… he was very pleased to meet you, by the way.”

Ladybug raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really? He didn’t smile the entire time we had dinner.”

“Yeah, he’s like that. But he actually seems really relaxed about me having a girlfriend. I’m not sure what to do with that. Anyway, I mentioned your move to Alya’s apartment and how you basically have room to sleep and do homework, and no room to sew.”

Ladybug shrugged her shoulder. “I’ll keep my sketchbook going. And I pared down my supplies so that I can set up from time to time in the Cesaire’s living room. It’s a price I’m willing to pay to stay in Paris.”

“You don’t have to. That’s a key to one of the empty offices over at my dad’s building. He’s highly empathetic to your plight. We can set up your stuff tomorrow and you can come and go as you please.”

“WHAT??? Chat - Adri - CHAT NOIR ARE YOU SERIOUS?” She looked from him, to the key, and back to him, clutching the precious object to her chest. Then she groaned dramatically. “Couldn’t you have had this idea before I got rid of all my fabric?”

Chat Noir grinned. “No problem. I’ll take you on a sewing date. I’ve got a lot of wooing to make up for as Adrien.” He chuckled as she shook her head back and forth, amazed.

“None as Chat Noir, though. I’m completely wooed for life.”

“Woo hoo.” As corny as the joke was, Ladybug couldn’t help the peal of laughter that slipped from her lips and rang across the empty deck. Chat Noir’s heart warmed at the joy shining out of his Lady’s eyes. “I love that sound,” he sighed, “and I love you.”

“You really do, don’t you?” she wondered at him, trailing her finger over his face, the brow of his mask. She brushed his hair out of his eyes and leaned forward to kiss him. “I love you, too.”

Author’s note: One of the things I love from Miraculous S1 is the head vs. heart dynamic LB and CN share. Chat Noir has his moments, but Ladybug’s cool assessments usually win the day. I wanted to explore the consequences of trying to be too rational, without acknowledging that emotional needs are real needs, and of being an island unto oneself. I think there’s an underlying message in many cultures that you can truly only depend on yourself, that asking for help is weak, and that compromise is failure. CN’s instincts and heart-thinking in this story mean that he’s actually the more rational of the two, since he knows to take the “human factor” into account. So anyway, do with that what you will.