#stranger thoughts

[kurokoros]

I hate complaining about Billy Hargrove because it gives off the impression that I don’t like the inclusion of morally ambiguous characters. And that’s not the case. I like S1 Steve because I think there’s complexity to be explored under the stereotypical 80s jock that the Duffers gave us. I like Doctor Brenner because he’s a manipulative piece of shit and the series wouldn’t function the same without him. I really enjoy Billy’s inclusion in the series in S2 and think he had a lot of potential to act as a foil to Steve and even Jonathan, to a degree. 

What I don’t like is how canon really tries to overcorrect in S3 or how the fanon attempts to read into subtext that either doesn’t exist or blatantly contradicts the subtext that does exist.

“The Hargroves are poor, so the hate against Billy is classist in nature.” But there’s no evidence to suggest this. Billy drives a nice car. We’re never shown the Hargrove/Mayfield family struggling for money in S2-3 like the way the show gives us proof that the Byers are struggling financially. That’s a core part of Jonathan’s character, it’s not a part of Billy’s. Despite watching Stranger Things several times, I’ve never once gotten the impression that Billy and Max were anything less than regular middle class.

“Billy isn’t a ‘good victim’ and that’s why people dislike him.” Until S3 there was no real indication that Billy was being abused on the regular. In the scene with Neil, Billy is snarky and makes it clear that Max isn’t his responsibility. That doesn’t make what Neil does any less deplorable, but it also doesn’t give the impression that Billy is all too afraid of talking back or pressing buttons. Parenting was different in the 80s. From personal experience, I know that there are a lot of 80s kids that are very cavalier about being physically abused for being disrespectful. For all we, the audience, know, Neil hitting Billy isn’t a regular occurrence. It doesn’t make it less shitty, obviously, but I do think that fanon attempts to make Billy’s home life more tragic than it actually was. Canon also does something similar in S3 to make Billy more sympathetic before his death, but I don’t find Billy’s writing in S3 to be very good. He’s possessed the entire time. He barely, if ever, interacts with Max, Steve, or Lucas--the three characters Billy should have been interacting with--and instead all of his interactions are with Karen Wheeler and El. It’s not a bad thing to have certain characters be sympathetic, or even empathetic, towards Billy, but the show completely ignores the conflicts between Billy, Steve, Max, and Lucas in S3 in order to make people upset about his death, rather than satisfied or plain apathetic.

I have issues with the way some people try to write off Billy being racist towards Lucas. Namely, that they try to pass it off as Billy actually just being protective of Max. Billy threatens to run Lucas, Mike, and Dustin over with his car just to fuck with Max before he has any indication that they know each other more than happening to be in the same class. There are a lot of Billy-centric meta that tries to argue that actually Billy is trying to keep Lucas away because it would make Neil go after Max, but I feel this gives far too much credit to Neil while taking responsibility away from Billy. Billy probably did get his opinions from Neil. That would make sense. But we have no reason to believe that Billy doesn’t just hold the same racist beliefs and that’s why he goes after Lucas. Attributing Billy’s behavior to an attempt at protecting Max is just willfully ignoring what’s actually happening, in my opinion. Not everything is actually subtext. Sometimes people really are just shitty without having covert motives behind their actions. Personally, I think that makes Billy more of an interesting character, with potential for growth, than if he was actually just trying to protect Max. It adds a layer of complexity, as shown in S4.

I also have issues with how the Max/Billy conflict is resolved in S2. I think the Duffers leaned too far into giving Max a cool girlboss moment instead of just allowing her to be a scared child. While it was fine to have Max try to stand up to Billy, I think the sedative being there was too convenient, and I think Billy proceeding to leave Max alone after that incident was wishful thinking.

TLDR: I think Billy is an interesting character, but the fandom and canon tries too hard to make him more tragic and less shitty than he actually is.

[paintedcrows]

Whenever Bill sees KingOfNJ's fics through Stan's eyes he just thinks they have the same taste in fanfiction (disgusting. unthinkable) continued

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

The party, of course, immediately accepted Will and Robin when they came out. Dustin couldn't help but ask the question because he's a nosy little shit.

Dustin: *looking at Robin* If you had to pick a man, though, who would you go for?

Robin: Steve. No contest. Only in a parallel universe, though. And parallel me still has to like women. There's no universe where I'm straight. Not that I have anything against heterosexuality.

Steve: Eddie. *everyone stares at him* Oh, was that question not directed at both of us?

Eddie: It's okay, big boy. If I were gay, I'd go for you, too.

Argyle: *whispering* Oh, man, Steve and Eddie don't know about bisexuality.

Steve: You whispered that to me.

Argyle: Oh, sorry. *turns to Jonathan* Oh, man, Steve and Eddie don't know that bisexuality exists.

[annairaleigh]

Max and eleven are each other's first and only girl friend :') like el helped bring out Max's inner girly girl and max helped el find her inner normal 13 year old :') I cry :')

[morganbritton132]

Steve gets really into birdwatching after patrolling the woods around Hawkins for upside down creepy-crawlies and then accidentally joins the Hawkins Community Birdwatching Society, and rightfully doesn’t tell anybody about it because he still wants the party to think he’s cool.

However. Eddie brings his uncle around the party for the first time and before he can introduce him, Wayne’s like, “Hey, Steve. Diana tell ya that she saw a pileated woodpecker outside of Melvards last week?”

When Steve doesn’t respond with confusion, a record scratches inside Robin and Eddie’s brains at the same time because

“This is Wayne? Your friend Wayne??” Robin asks at the same time that Eddie exclaims, “Steve from bird club is Steve Harrington?!”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

How much longer 'til your luck runs out?

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[daughter-s-of-cain]

[fuctacles]

Soulmate indentifying words but the first words *meant* for you count, so Steve knows the lyrics of Corroded Coffin's first hit song before ever hearing it on the radio. It's written in chicken scratch on his thigh.

Eddie wrote this song about his stupid crush from stupid Hawkins High that never fully went away.

[sir3n-s]

What about Steve being a huge Corroded Coffin fan without knowing what the band members look like? Him meeting Eddie thinking he's just a regular guy and then they fall in love.

One day Steve plays one of their songs and is nodding his head and mumbling the words and Eddie is just surprised that he hasnt realized who hes dating. Steve even says that the singer kinda sounds like Eddie.

Steve only finds out when someone takes a picture of them and he sees himself online with the captain "lead guitarist of Corroded Coffin has a boyfriend?" Steve is all shocked and then Googles what the lead guitarist looks like and just sees thousands of pictures of Eddie

[lazylittledragon]

more t4t steddie because it turns out it wasn't the black mold and i'm still deranged

[kurokoros]

I know you wanted bitchy ST anons yesterday but your recent St/ncy reblog kinda inspired me, I hope that's okay.

Idk the thing about St/ncy that irritates me the most is that those who ship it blame the end of that relationship on Steve. And now that he has changed, it's fine and dandy. First of all Nancy isn't a price but also why is Steve the one to change and not her, when she was the reason why it didn't work in the first place? Like you said even in s1, we could see her actively pining after Jonathan while being with Steve. He was always the second choice to her, she even admits that to Jonathan in s2. St/ncy shippers want Steve to be happy, then why do you ship him with the girl who cheated on him? Just because he still has feelings for her doesn't mean she would be good for him.

Also the whole Steve being a bad boyfriend is simply not true, idc how hard the Duffers want to promote this point. People say Steve never listened to Nancy and didn't take her trauma seriously, but when they come with "proof" it's the scene where he says no to her trying to break the NDA. How is he dismissive by trying to keep her safe? In general Steve dismissing crazy ideas in the show isn't him being an ass or him not caring for that person, it's the opposite because those ideas would backfire in the real world. Like in s4 people really said see Steve is against Nancy's plan again, that means he's horrible to her. Imo Nancy (and the majority of the party) need someone who keeps them in check and not blindly following every move they make (aka Jonathan/J/ncy). [But Nancy doesn't really want that because she hates being challenged] Or Steve saying to Nancy her vision isn't real that Vecna wanted to scare her, people say he was so heartless while I interpreted it as him trying to reassure her that it wasn't real, that Vecna scared Max the same way, but I digress.

Back to s2 when he was a bit annoyed with them going to the Hollands, which was used as further proof to say he was the worst. Imagine sitting across the parents of the girl who is missing, but you know she died in your pool? And that for every week for a year. If Nancy's allowed to have trauma, why can't Steve? Also he's emotionally intelligent, he knows how hard it is for both Nancy and Barb's parents. Trying to make it better, by making like jokes at the dinner or telling Nancy it's not good and they might stop isn't him dismissing Nancy. Plus in the end, he was going with her regardless. Steve was the only one really trying in that relationship, while Nancy was eying Jonathan for a year.

Also tbh we know she blamed herself and Steve for Barb's death, if that topic would come up she would definitely let him know that, if not directly than more subconsciously. Steve isn't stupid and tbh if I were to discuss my trauma from facing a literal monster with my girlfriend while she also blames me vor the death of her bff, I would too pretend everything is fine. That's why he wasn't as phased by her accusation about Barb because he knew it somehow. Like Nancy isn't a sensitive person when she dislikes or has problems with something/someone she let's that person know somehow.

To sum it up, Stancy never worked from the beginning because Nancy never loved Steve and only stayed with him because it was a safe choice and she didn't want to be alone while waiting for the guy she actually wanted. It will never work too because Nancy would have to actively choose Steve first, which was never the case and I honestly don't see her do it in the future.

Oh boy! I'm always up for bitchy anons!

St/ncy as a ship is very weird to me, because I'm not sure who exactly is shipping it. Because the Nancy stans don't seem to like Steve and think he was the reason their relationship fell apart, and I don't know why Steve stans would want him to get back together with the ex who cheated on him with the guy he thought she cheated on him with a year prior (and boy it sure is ironic that Steve's biggest asshole moment in S1 is a result of him thinking Nancy cheated on him with Jonathan, only to have her actually cheat on him with Jonathan in S2). Is st/ncy just the het equivalent of st/ddie and harrin/rove where it makes zero sense canonically but people want the hot (white) characters to kiss? Who is st/ncy for?

Steve being a bad boyfriend has no basis in canon aside from Steve calling himself a bad boyfriend and Nancy not saying anything to disagree. As far as we know, Steve drives Nancy to school. Goes with her to visit Barb's parents for dinner every week. And I can only assume they actually talked about things between seasons. As for Steve not being supportive, I, frankly, think less people should be supportive of Nancy's poorly thought out plans. Like, in S2 I hate the j/ncy plotline because it never should have worked. Owens should have found the recorder, and, if they weren't wrapped up in plot armor, Nancy and Jonathan probably should have been found dead after a fabricated car accident or something. S2 Steve isn't unsupportive of Nancy's asperations, he's unsupportive of her half-baker revenge fantasies that could get people killed.

As for Steve being annoyed about visiting the Hollands... I'm actually on his side in that instance, based on personal experience. When I was a senior in high school, a girl in the grade below me (who I didn't know personally, but did know of) was unexpectedly killed in a car accident. The next day after the news broke, there were a lot of people mourning, and it was an extremely awkward situation to be on the outside of. Because I didn't know her, but I was surrounded by people who did, who were upset, and as empathetic as people try to be, there's still a massive degree of separation between you and people grieving someone you didn't know. In ST, Steve didn't really know Barb. He didn't know Barb's parents prior to her death. So once every week he goes to have dinner with his girlfriend and his girlfriend's dead best friend's parents, and he's the only one not grieving, or maybe he thinks he doesn't have a right to grieve. It's not a fun position to be in. It's not a position anyone wants to be in.

And it's probably an argument Steve and Nancy had a few times. Like, Nancy says Steve doesn't have to go with, but if he doesn't is that something she holds against him? idk there are factors there that it would have been really cool to see the show play around with via flashbacks to the gap year.

Anyway! I fully agree that st/ncy has never worked as a functional couple, and bringing it back romantically in S4 never should have happened unless it was to actually make the two of them talk about what happened in S2 (or to have the Upside Down being stuck in 1983 have a meaning).

[chipsy]

I think the weirdest thing is when you stop talking to someone and you still have all this leftover information about them. Like you still know their favorite song. You know their siblings names. You remember their favorite ice cream flavor and their weird dreams they told you about at 2 am. You know their dog's name and their favorite tv shows. You learned all these details about them and now they're gone. It's just weird.

[dreamsteddie]

I think Steddie both have pretty high levels of rizz, just never with each other

Let me explain.

When Steve is flirting with someone he's usually able to strike that balance between embracing himself just enough for them to be endeared and suave enough to compliment them in sweet, charming ways. While he does strike out from time to time, he's mostly able to score the dates he wants.

Eddie is too much of a freak for anyone in Hawkins to take him on, but he can lean into the theatrics and "bad boy" image enough to charm some people against their better judgment, similar to how he flirted with Chrissy. He doesn't usually get the date, and usually isn't even angling for one, but he does get himself out of some potentially sticky situations (as well as create some new ones).

When they start trying to flirt with each other? They both enter their flop eras hard.

Steve becomes clumsy and bumbling in a way he's never experienced before. He's tripping over imaginary runs in the carpet, smacking into door frames, and biting his own tongue whenever Eddie is around. He tries to lean over the counter at work to look up at Eddie when he comes into the store and his elbow lips, leaving him with a busted chin for almost a week.

Eddie, on the other hand, who prides himself on his eloquence suddenly can't get a correct sentence out of his mouth to save his life. He goes to Steve's house with a complete choose-your-own-adventure style script ready to woo Steve, he's prepared for every possibility, but when he gets there he accidentally implies that Steve's sweater is ugly and that Eddie can't do simple addition all in one disaster conversation.

Their lack of ability to flirt with each other delays their inevitable admittance of feelings by at least three months. If not for the heavy intervention of all the party members plus Corroded Coffin, they may still be pining to this day.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Steve gets a phone call from Eddie one afternoon. . .

Eddie: So, what are you wearing, big boy?

Steve unfortunately thought Eddie was messing with him, so he decided to mess with him back. Steve rolled his eyes.

Steve: *scoffs* Your vest and nothing else, of course.

There was a long silence and then. . .THUD.

Steve: Eddie?

There was a sound of someone else's feet, and then he heard Wayne's voice in the distance.

Wayne: You damn near broke your new Garfield phone. What are you doing on the floor, and why is your nose bleeding?

Another pause, and Steve heard Eddie speak.

Eddie: Steve. . .vest. . .nothing.

Oops, he accidentally broke Eddie. Steve smirked.

[scapegods]

Vampire Mike

[morganbritton132]

Look, Eddie and Hopper have this whole song and dance thing going on. They’ve been doing it for years.

Hopper is the small town cop that acts like he’s tired of Eddie’s shit but is actually secretly amused by him. Eddie is the misunderstood outcast that’s a little misguided but good at heart.

It’s their thing.

Hopper catches him doing bad shit, drives him around in the back of his truck like he’s taking him to the station. They talk. Hopper lets him go a block from Forest Hills.

That’s it. That’s the thing.

Why is Hopper suddenly spending all his ‘Eddie time’ focused on Steve Harrington and his busted up face? Why is Hopper in the parking lot of Malvald’s, giving Harrington shit for driving with a concussion when he’s said nothing about Eddie’s busted taillight?

Honestly, it’s bullshit.

“This is bullshit,” Eddie declares in the backseat of Hopper’s cruiser, windows rolled down because he smells like weed and trespassing. Eddie throws himself forward, sticking his head between the front seats like, “Why does he get to sit up front?”

“I’m not a criminal,” Harrington muttered, slouched down. “I’m a hostage. I’m being held hostage.”

“I’m being falsely accused too.”

“Neither of you are being accused of anything,” Hopper finally speaks up. “And you’re not falsely accused of anything, Munson. I saw you trespassing at Hawkins Lab with my eyes. Steve…shut up.”

“Oh, he’s ’Steve’ now but I’m just ‘Munson?’ Favoritism at its finest.”

“Dude, he doesn’t even like me,” Steve says, finally looking at Eddie. “He broke into my house and took me to get tortured.”

“I took you to get a hearing test.”

“Torture,” Steve emphasizes and then a beat later, “You still got your, uh, stuff?”

“Nah, the cop took my stash,” Eddie says but giving Steve a sign that he clearly has more on him.

“Bummer,” Steve replies and then turns back around in his seat. “You can drop Eddie off with me, Hop.”