#what if steve and billy were dating before s3 and he still died

[instasiswetrust]

His lips tasted like cheap cigarettes and coffee. Bitter. Addictive.

It was a taste he wishes he could forget.

Forget like those late nights in June, driving down backroads at 60 mph, drunk on the feeling of freedom that they could only get from the humid summer air buffetting over their faces.

Forget like the touch of those rough hands, calloused from working with things that Steve could barely wrap his head around but still amazed him just by the fact Billy had made them.

Forget how it felt like to be loved. Adored. Cherished. Seen.

Because Billy was no longer here to share any of those things with him.

[darling-i-read-it]

Not Today

Eddie Munson x fem!reader, past Billy Hargrove x fem!reader

Word Count: 1.3k 

Warnings: spoilers for s3 and s4 of stranger things!, grief

Author’s Note: i miss billy :( this is me coping :(

Summary: You used to date Billy before he died. Now that Eddie, your friend who you have a crush on, finally knows how he really died he’s finally able to comfort/annoy you adequately. 

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

Billy would’ve hated Eddie. That was probably what attracted you to him. The fact that if Billy were still around, he would’ve picked on Eddie. He probably would’ve made fun of his silly game and his stupid hair and his shitty car. He mostly would have hated that Eddie couldn’t give two shits what Billy thought of him. He would’ve tried to get under his skin for months and probably wouldn’t have been able to do it. 

Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. 

Billy’s gone now. And he wasn’t coming back. 

You still had one more year of high school without him. He had been a year older than you when he came, endlessly holding it over your head. You were his age now though and you were only gonna get older. You tried to shove the thought out of your head as you sat down beside the rowboat. 

“You look about as good as I feel,” Eddie muttered. He held the side of the rowboat tightly. His knuckles were white. You looked over at him, toying with the walkie. You glanced at it, making sure it was still on, making sure that the batteries weren’t gonna run out. 

“I get nervous when I’m idle,” you admitted. 

“Well at least the town isn’t out to get you,” he said, chuckling nervously. “You’re the perfect poor widow. They love you.” Your look turned sour. 

“Widows were married. We were in high school.” Eddie ducked his face a bit and instantly felt bad for even mentioning Billy. Everyone knew that you took it hard when he died in the mall fire. The two of you had been bound to either make it to marriage or break up in the ugliest way possible. 

Unfortunately for you, neither of those options really ended up coming to fruition. 

“Plus, they just feel bad. They all pretend to like Billy like he liked any of them.” You waved your arm away, trying to change the subject. “Regardless, at least you know it wasn’t a mall fire now.” You shrugged. 

“You could have told me you know. In the club.” 

You had joined Hellfire your senior year in a desperate attempt to get the popular kids to stop trying to suck up to you just because Billy was gone. 

“Told you what? That my boyfriend died because he was mentally attached to some sort of monster?” you questioned. 

“It’s not the most unbelievable thing ever.” 

“Eddie.” He shyly smiled and shrugged.

“He was kind of a monster in his own right.”

“I don’t wanna talk about Billy anymore,” you muttered. “I stayed back here so you wouldn’t get attached to some monster.” 

“You stayed back here because Steve Harrington still doesn’t trust that I didn’t kill Chrissy,” he said, voice slightly breaking when he said her name. He cleared his throat right after, trying to cover it up. 

“He knows you didn’t kill Chrissy,” you said. “But I am staying for the benefit of everyone. We all feel safer with someone around us.” “They get a big group and you just get me. Hate to say it but clearly I can’t protect you if Vecna comes knocking.”

“You have experience now. Just pull me down by my ankles,” you offered, half joking. He stood up quickly, almost falling over in the process. You grabbed his knee just to keep him up straight and then let go quickly, not wanting to be overbearing. 

“You’re the one with experience. Throwing fireworks at otherworldly people? Unheard of in my campaigns.” 

“Maybe you should think about adding them. It’s effective.” 

The sun had set over the horizon. The most you could see of Eddie was his outline in the darkness. You would rather that then keep the light on in fear of being found. It was chilly, the slight rock of the water leaving a bitter taste in your mouth. 

Because it was so dark you could see the headlights coming in the front as clear as day. Eddie ducked down immediately and you slid off the chair you were sitting on. You breathed quietly, looking from between the door and Eddie’s wide eyes. 

The fear that crept into your heart was familiar. 

Whether were teenage boys or Vecna outside, you felt an equal amount of paralyzing fear. Not for you. For Eddie. 

Either of those options would kill him. And you hadn’t really realized it until that very moment but Eddie had become a lifeline since Billy died. He was kind to you without ever really worrying about before either of you had met. He was a fresh start in an old town. 

You grabbed his hand. He had been staring out the window, mind racing but his eyes shot right back to you at the touch of skin on skin. 

“Come on,” you whispered. He didn’t have time to answer you before you were dragging him along. You grabbed the walkie and tossed it in the boat before practically shoving Eddie inside. 

“We can’t exactly be sneaky about this,” he whisper screamed. 

“You got a better idea?”

He shook his head and got inside. You both started to row aggressively, watching as you escaped the boat house and outside. You could see Jason Carver at the edge of the shore, still looking mildly confused. 

“We can go to skull rock,” Eddie said. 

“You go there often, Munson?” you asked, desperately rowing. 

“Oh yeah,” he said breathlessly. “All the time. Take all the D&D obsessed girls there.” 

You could see Jason trying to get into the water and you just forced yourself to move faster. 

-

You had been trying the walkie but no one was answering. They must have been out of range. You would move out soon, eventually when you thought it was safe but you had no interest in going out there with Eddie right now. 

You were sitting under the rock together, drenched still from the night before, hungry, tired, and thirsty. But alive. 

“You should just go with them when they show up,” he whispered, still shaken. You were staring at the ground. You grabbed his hand and shook your head. 

“I’m not gonna let the monsters get you,” you whispered with your whole chest. He looked at you and though he couldn’t see your eyes all that well, he knew you meant it. You put your head on his shoulder and breathed evenly. You couldn’t save Billy. But you had a chance to save Eddie. 

“Don’t worry about me sweetheart.”

“I think I’m gonna if that’s okay.” 

He kissed your forehead and you closed your eyes. 

The Upside Down wasn’t taking anything else from you. Not today. 

Stranger Things Tag List: @dpaccione, @karasong, @elisaa-shelby, @purple-flamingo, @trinswhimsys, @valentina-luvs-u, @demigirl-with-problems, @chaotic-fangirl-blog, @mads-weasleyy, @alexxavicryy, @secret-obsessions-21-blog, @mystic-writings, @plumes-de-nuit 

[lesbianrobin]

What do you think of steve and robin and Jonathan amd nancy sharing a storyline together? I dont think its actually gonna happen, but hypothetically how do you think it would go?

God, I wish the four of them would have a storyline together! I think that it would be incredibly fun to see them investigating some sort of mystery, especially if it had something to do with the Russian plot from S3. I think that a Steve/Robin/Nancy/Jonathan team would be SO full of interesting relationship dynamics that I’ll try and explore really quick.

Robin and Nancy: Nancy’s canonically a little hostile to Robin during their brief interaction in the mall, Robin canonically thinks Nancy is a bit of a priss, and they’re both rather headstrong, so I think there’s a good chance that they’d clash pretty spectacularly if they were working together and disagreed on something. There’s also the fact that Robin is canonically rather protective of Steve, and Nancy “broke his heart.” If he’s told her about what happened in S2, then I could see her vague “hm she’s a priss” feelings about Nancy growing into genuine dislike. Then again, Robin was being pretty friendly to Nancy when they met in the mall, and she saw Nancy staying in place and firing at Billy before Steve rammed the car, so she might actually respect her! Nancy didn’t recognize Robin at the mall even though they’re in the same grade at school and likely have classes together. This might contribute to some potential issues, as Robin’s clearly a little upset about Steve overlooking her in high school and she’s insecure about being “invisible.” There are a lot of unknowns between the two of them, and I personally like to write them as being pretty passive-aggressive with each other and sharing a mutual dislike because I think it’s funny, but in canon they could go in a lot of different directions! 

Robin and Jonathan: God, I just know these two would be GOLD together. There’s honestly a good chance that they already know each other, considering that they’re the same age, go to the same school, and are both sorta social outcasts. Maybe they’ve worked on group projects together before, or sat at the same lunch table. They’re almost certainly aware of each other, which provides the potential for some interesting messing around with perceptions vs reality. Like, all Robin probably knows about Jonathan before S3 is that he’s the weird kid, he’s poor, his little brother went missing for a while and miraculously turned up alive when they thought he had died, and one time he beat Steve Harrington’s ass. She probably liked him after that lmao. After S3, she knows that Jonathan is all of the above, PLUS he “stole” Steve’s girlfriend, he’s fought monsters before, and he cut into a girl’s leg on a moment’s notice without any real hesitation. She probably thinks he’s some kind of stone-cold badass! It would be super fun to watch them get to know each other beyond those surface-level impressions, and I think they’d probably have a lot to talk about, seeing as they’re both canonically pretty into “alternative” music and obscure/cult films! I think that they’d probably end up getting into some intense debates about shit that Nancy and Steve don’t understand and it would be fun. Nancy and Steve might end up getting a little offended or jealous that their respective People are getting along so well, and that dynamic could be fun to see. I like writing Robin and Jonathan as having a pretty antagonistic friendship, where they rip on each other’s taste in music, movies, literature, etc, and toss around casual insults, but genuinely enjoy spending time together, but since they haven’t interacted really at all, canon could take them in any direction. Also, they’re both gay.

Robin and Steve: y’all know... y’all know!!! Steve and Robin would be in full best friend mode, working perfectly in tandem, and Nancy and Jonathan might even be intimidated by how “on the same page” they are. They’d also likely assume Steve and Robin were dating, which could lead to some funny interactions. Steve and Robin would provide a sturdy base of friendship and cooperation, allowing the rest of the group to have all the arguments and interpersonal drama that they want.

Steve and Nancy: GOD, I want to see how Steve and Nancy interact post-breakup! I think they’d be so awkward and funny. More than that, though, I think it would be fun to see how Robin and Jonathan factor into things. For example, Robin absolutely functions better with Steve than Nancy ever did, and it could be interesting for Nancy to watch the two of them together and see how Steve has changed since they dated. I also think that it would be interesting to see whether they fall back into familiar patterns or whether they’ve grown totally apart from each other. Do they casually touch each other and then pull back self-consciously when they remember? Do they avoid speaking to each other unless they have to, or do they play it cool? Does Steve recognize things from his own past while watching Nancy and Jonathan interact? They tend to approach things rather differently, so might they get into an argument about how to proceed with the mission? How would it escalate if they did? Would one of them bring up past transgressions? There’s SO MUCH left unsaid between the two of them, and Robin and Jonathan are the perfect people to have around to drive them to confront and discuss these things.

Steve and Jonathan: So, I ship Stonathan. Let’s just get that out of the way. I would love to see them bond and fall in love. Beyond that, though, speaking in terms of canon, I think that they would be a little awkward at first, but ultimately end up working really well together. Unlike Nancy and Robin who both tend to run headfirst into danger for fun, they both like to mind their own business until some shit comes up, and then they’ll do what they have to do to keep themselves and the people they care about safe. If they were united behind a common goal, I think they’d focus on that goal. There also isn’t really much for them to butt heads over, at this point, when you consider that their plans of action in emergency situations both tend to prioritize safety above all else and they’d probably not disagree over anything mission-related. Jonathan let out his frustrations over Steve’s S1 behavior, Steve apologized and saved Jonathan’s life, so that’s all cool between them. Steve doesn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings towards Jonathan after S2, even encouraging Nancy to go with Jonathan and support him when he and Joyce are headed to the cabin to burn the Mind Flayer out of Will, and he’s over Nancy now, so I don’t think that would really be an issue. Their interactions would be free of malice, and I think it could be fun to watch them bond and progress from awkward acquaintances to true friends!

Jonathan and Nancy: We already know that their relationship doesn’t fare too well under pressure, as evidenced by S3. Steve and Robin being in the mix would absolutely add to the pressure of whatever serious Russian/Upside-Down situation was at hand, so I think there’s a good chance they’d end up arguing again, and it would be INCREDIBLY uncomfortable for Steve and Robin! They would probably try to limit their romantic interactions in front of Steve, because that shit’s awkward, Jonathan is shy, and he and Nancy probably both still feel a little guilty about how things went down in S2. This would, of course, be weird, and Steve would be like “guys, seriously, I’m over it, you can kiss or whatever and I don’t care,” which would make things SO much more uncomfortable. It would be a mess! A fun one! 

So, TL;DR, I think there would be a lot of drama, a lot of discomfort, but also a lot of opportunity for characters who haven’t interacted yet much to bond! There would definitely be a blowout argument or two, most likely between Robin/Nancy or Nancy/Jonathan, with Steve attempting to mediate or break it up so they can focus on their mission. Robin and Jonathan would more or less get along. Steve would be extremely stressed the entire time, and it would be extremely fun (for us, not him). Overall, they would all have unique relationships with each other, and despite any drama they would certainly all risk their lives to keep the others safe, which I think would make for an incredibly dynamic and interesting group!

[kaypeace21]

I really like your theories about Will having powers and they gave me an idea as well. What if El doesn't have powers any more because Will took them. We know he has a connection to the mind flayer so what if MF 2.0 used the leg wound to steal El's powers.

Yes, I actually mentioned that very theory in an old text-post of mine (link of it at the end). I think Will has ESP, lightning/fire powers, and can open portals/ has technopathy (the last 2 powers he shares with El). But he can also create monsters into existence. I mentioned the many examples in a previous video , and a bit in that text post (links of those will also be at the end of this post) . 

But to describe EVERYTHING as briefly as possible. 

Will created everything the demorgorgan, the mindflayer, etc- and his ‘story’ is very susceptible to other peoples’ suggestions . He always asks his friends what he should do when facing the d&d monsters (the demorgorgan/thessalhydra) - and they suggested “fire balling it” both times (which is all the upside-down creatures’ weakness).  In S1 Jonathan/Nancy/Steve light the demogorgan on fire. In S2 they burn the mindflayer out of Will, and burn the vines. S3 they throw fireworks (fireballs) at the monster the mindflayer created.

In  s2 , the gang read (in Will’s d&d manual) that mindflayers (the representation of his abusive dad/the thesalhydra shown at the end of s1) could be killed by zombies. Will was dubbed zombie boy in s2,  and in s3 watches ‘day of the dead’ (a movie about zombies) and then writes a story about juju zombies. Will says in his d&d story “it bites your arm, flesh tears- aaaah!” But instead it bites El’s leg as she screams “ah!” as Mike rips it off her leg.  Than the victims of the mindflayer turn into zombies and become ‘the thing’. Because when Will’s writing his d&d story he’s sitting right next to Mike’s  ‘the thing ‘ poster. 

And because after being m*lested by his dad he probably feels like a monster/ a ‘thing’. In s3, Lucas and Mike even debate which version of the film is better- so obviously the whole gang (including Will) has seen it.  And in s2, he  lies to his mom and says the mindflayer sketch was ‘for a story he’s writing’. But unbeknownst to him that’s what is actually happening. 

However, s3 truly reveals how powerful he is. Because it’s not just monsters he creates . But he can alter reality itself (without a monster having to do it). When Mike hijacks Will’s d&d story saying ‘they’ll torch the chambers, sacrificing themselves’, killing the juju ’.  Will gets angry and yells “Fine, you win.” And then Joyce and Hopper do just that when they pull the lever, and Hopper ‘dies’ sacrificing himself, and the Russians literally are eviscerated. 

And In s2 Nancy describes the mindflayer (but she’s actually describing Will).

“So this thing is like a brain that’s controlling everything.”

Hopper then says “So how do we kill this thing shoot it with fireballs?”

And Dustin says “ No, No, fireballs you summon an undead army.”

But Mike actually nails it on the head when he says, “If the brain dies the body dies … closing the gate will kill him (referring to Will).”

Because it’s not the mindflayers’ brain - it’s Will’s brain! 

The mindflayer is part of Will’s army ( not the other way around). I’m making a video on it, so I wont get into it now (especially since it would be like 30 paragraphs long and it’s just way easier to convince you with all the visual evidence).  But essentially the upside down/ creatures represent Will’s s*xual abuse at the hands of his father. And in s3 almost every main person attacked was r*ped/m*lested by their dad- Heather, Billy, Jonathan, and El. The one exception is Nancy, but she’s targeted because she was r*ped by Lonnie in s1. 

While in s1 and 2…

the scientists - ( that enter the upside down and are brutally killed)- represent Will’s dark thoughts/anger about Lonnie invading his “room”. Since it is where a lot of the abuse took place. We see Will in s1-2 (despite having a sweet demeanor) have a large “no trespassing” sign on his bedroom door. And similarly castle Byers (which he created) has a doorbell and a password - which shows he has serious issues with how much he values privacy (almost excessively).

Barb- Is the part of him, who hates himself for having same-sex attractions and being in love with his best friend (who is also a Wheeler).

And the hunters were killed- because it was said in s1, Will and Jonathan went on hunting trips with their father (where abuse took place)>

While we also see in s2 , all of Will’s father figures being attacked - Hopper with the vines,Dr Owens by the demorgorgan. And sadly Bob (who “was a lot like Will at his age.”). This probably represents his fears of having another father figure- and his subconscious lashing out/attacking them as form of self-defense. And Bob (who was alot like Will) being the one that dies, probably  represents his desire to kill himself in s2, as well.

So in s3 with El…

Will feels alot of resentment towards her. El might have saved him twice (and it might of been an accident/ dr Brenner who’s really to blame). But Will knows she opened the gate . So to him, he spent a week in a place with no sunlight, food, or breathable air , having to experience that vine, dying, getting ptsd, being ostracized by everyone at school and being called “zombie boy” and a “freak”- being possessed by the MF, getting burned alive, killing Bob (the closest thing to a real father figure) and all those men (making him a murderer), and strangling his mom.’Because of her!’Not to mention besides being in love with Mike- he feels like she’s “ruining the party”. Because Mike is acting like an asshole to all his friends when dating her.

And then that’s when s3 starts to make a lot more sense. Will might not want anything bad to actually happen to El but he’s probably had these dark thoughts before.  Will even says about the MF. He says the real Mf is still in the upside down, but ‘the part that was still in him… was still in their world.’ And it flashes to El’s face as he says it. 

Essentially the Mf is motivated by his fictionalized story, thoughts/memories of Lonnie, and any dark intrusive thought Will has ever had about El , much to Will’s horror.He said in s3 that “I’m not worried about me, mom. I’m worried about you.” So the fact that he strangled her and almost killed her in s2, probably haunts him to this day- and he might of thought, ‘wish I strangled her instead’. And who does Billy/Mf look at right before grabbing her throat, and who is the first reaction shot we see when he starts choking her - Will’s horrified expression!

Maybe the Mf thought El was the most important, and that Will was nothing ( despite all the foreshadowing indicating the Mf held special intentions for Will), because he feels like he’s nothing compared to El? Will even says in s2 it wanted to kill everyone, but him, but now it’s saying that to El only? Maybe because Will wanted her to experience having such an entity say it to her too, and experience the same fear and isolation it caused him? In s2, why did the Mf chase Will and possess him at the school, when El (at the same time) was at the school as well (if it was always after her)? It’s because the Mf’s motivations are linked to Will’s feelings/emotions.

He probably also thought, how would you like a slug crawling/invading your body,  like it did to me, huh?And although it doesn’t go to her mouth (probably because he could never wish that on anyone- if it symbolizes what I think it does). She still has a similar experience. And everyone is worried/horrified but Will is the only one sobbing (probably because he thought of this happening to her before).

After this he doesn’t even help move the car, he just stays glued at El’s side as if trying to protect her. And interestingly, this is when El loses her powers. Will may have even thought. If she never had her powers, none of this would have ever happened!

Will was always hinted to have powers from the very beginning.

In the 1st episode, Will wins Dustin’s xmen comic in a bet- and Dustin later asks the gang “Do you think Eleven was born with powers like the xmen?” While in the last ep of s1 (when Will returns) Dustin says to him “she’s like a wizard.” COUGH ‘Will the wise’ , Will’s alter-ego who happens to be wizard.

Will  also has always been associated with bears (along with 3 other animal symbols that El also has).  We see a zoom in shot of Will’s bear drawing right before the demorgorgan takes him from the upside down version of castle byers in s1. Bears symbolically represent  “wisdom” like ‘Will the wise’ and were associated with the demorgorgan/upside down in s1 and 2 as well . Max and Nancy both compared demorrgorgans to bears- and Nancy and Jonathan used a bear-trap to capture the demorgorgan in s1. So when El tries to grab Will’s teddy bear (it was shown to be his in s1) with her powers. And Mike says “they’ll come back”. They might actually come back, because Will and EL’s relationship improves. Mike even tried to give El a golden bear as a gift (so maybe that signifies the giving back of her powers in s4 or 5 ?)

Will  before the series began experienced ‘dissociative amnesia’ but is now remembering the abuse (and since he’s psychic) his memories are manifesting into  monsters - he has little to no control over.

“Many survivors of incest are able to “forget” about the abuse until sometime later …when memories are triggered by certain events or when the body and mind are no longer able to conceal the memories.”

“Children are more likely to ‘dissociate’ so people who have experienced childhood sexual abuse frequently experience this. Dissociation is defined as ‘an experience where you feel disconnected in some way from the world around you or from yourself.’ During the traumatic incident the person might enter an altered sense of reality, detached from them selves and time.”

”Victims of incest learn early in their lives to detach themselves from their experiences. Some do this by pretending that the abuse is a dream.” 

Bob talks about a clown that would “come to him every night” in his dreams.  And that he ‘couldn’t get him out of his head.’ His story being a clue to the audience that the supernatural manifestations are coming from Will’s mind. While, in s1 Joyce talks about Will having nightmares and even asks him if he’s still afraid of clowns.

Even before Bob tells him the story about the clown, we see the the appearance of a clown (and not the other dressed up bullies) is what triggers Will to have a ptsd-flashback.

“clients who have experienced incest often report that their external world, including people, shapes, sizes, colors and intensities of these perceptions, can change quickly and dramatically at times. Some real or perceived threat triggers these distorted perceptions of self and outer reality.”

“Reports such as this one are not uncommon for survivors of incest and often are exacerbated as these individuals work through the process of remembering and integrating trauma experiences into a coherent life narrative.”

“There may be a “confusion about the reality of events” and the “meanings of available mental contents.”

So the reason he refers to them as “now-memories” is because they are things he’s already experienced (as memories) but he’s only now remembering them- because of his “dissociative-amnesia’ . His triggers being doors (fear when his father would get home) and bath tubs ( which are a common place for abuse to occur).

There are 4 hallmarks of a potential dissociative disorder

“An individual struggling with dissociation or a dissociative disorder may only experience one of the following or may experience multiple. Each individual’s experience with dissociation can be varied. Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years.”

1)“Dissociative Amnesia-The forgetting of a major event, such as a childhood trauma or forgetting (traumatic) things happening in real-time.”

2)“Identity confusion and alteration -When an individual forgets who they are or takes on a new personality unlike themselves.”

(x)

3)“Derealization-Feeling like the world is not real or is foggy.”

(x)

4) “Depersonalization-The sense of not being in control of, or not being connected to, one’s body.”

*Not to mention he has almost all the symptoms/warning signs of a csa victim. You can read in more detail here

The Mindflayer represents Lonnie Byers (psych/narrative analysis) 

Will created the Mindflayer analysis (where I mentioned Will taking her powers).

Lonnie represents the mindflayer (video)

Will was born with powers (evidence compilation video)

* And just all my other St theory/character metas if you are interested  / or missed them XD