Stranger Things Headcanons - Tumblr Posts

I just remembered “Father” is usually a term used in the Catholic Church to address priests. This all comes back to CSA and young queer boys, doesn’t it? Great…absolutely fantastic. You know, Lonnie Byers’ occupation was never explicitly stated (that I’m aware of) so he could have been a Priest/Pastor, thus perpetuating the cycle of abuse onto Will. Maybe something happened and he was disgraced, thus his leaving the family and moving to Indianapolis. It gets worse the longer you think about it….

Mr Baldo vs Father Newby

So, Father Newby has been casted, and I talked in this post awhile back about the possibility of Bob having been sexually abused as a child & that thing into Mr Baldo, and specifically, about Mr Baldo possibly being a representation of Father Newby/Father Newby being bald and coming into Bob’s bedroom at night vs Bob having nightmares about a bald clown coming into his bedroom.

And would you look at that- the actor casted for Father Newby?? BALDING!!!! MR BALDO OVER HERE….

I KNEW IT!!!! LIKE THIS IS FROM THAT POST I LINKED:

wishing father newby and mr baldo a very Stay Away From Bob

I see so much Will in Eddie, it’s crazy. I’ve always though Eddie was a future Will who didn’t have the supportive family and close childhood friend group. He’s loud, opinionated, and unapologetically himself. He doesn’t let anyone walk all over him and encourages others to embrace themselves, too.

His famous line, “Don’t try to be heroes, not today. There is no shame in running” correlates perfectly with the idea of gender nonconformity. “Heroes” and “assassins” are typically portrayed as men/masculine, while “victims” are seen as female/feminine. Eddie saying “there’s no shame in running” equivocates to him saying, “there’s no shame in being feminine, you don’t have to ‘fight like a man’ to be brave.” Knowing when to surrender or leave a situation is brave, too. Just like when Eddie escaped his toxic father and went to live with Wayne. Eddie doesn’t conform to society’s rules about how he should present/behave/express himself, and he wants nothing more than for others to join him too—to find freedom in nonconformity.

So then why does he attack the bats? This is a tricky question to answer, but I think it boils down to one thing: Eddie wants to feel like a man. Think about it, Eddie idolizes Steve. He watched Steve fight off the demobats, rip one apart with his bare hands, and dive head-first into Lover’s Lake. In Eddie’s mind, Steve is a “real man.” What else does Steve have that Eddie (in his mind) doesn’t? Dustin’s undying devotion and approval. Steve is brave, strong, and protective. He would set the world on fire for Dustin if it meant keeping him safe. Eddie is incredibly jealous of their bond, which we see in the forest scene, and believes if he can make himself more like Steve (more of a man), maybe he can win over Dustin, too.

There is also the matter of Chrissy. Eddie was the last person to see Chrissy alive, he should have saved her, right? Instead, he ran away and hid in the woods for a week (I’m not saying Eddie was wrong for doing this, I’m analyzing his motivation and though process). He ran away “like a girl.” He had a very “feminine” reaction, falling to the ground and screaming rather than fighting to wake her. He feels incredibly guilty for this reaction and vows to avenge her death on whatever mean necessary. When he’s climbing the rope for the last time IN THE VERY PLACE CHRISSY DIED, he realizes he’s doing it again, he’s running away, “acting like a girl.” So he stops himself, despite Dustin’s heartbreaking cries to stop, and fight for his friends “like a man.”

And what happens because of this choice? He is eaten alive by bats and dies. Yikes. What does this say about masculinity and the “hero” complex? Maybe “running away” and getting yourself and your partner to safety is equally as brave as fighting. Knowing when to be “feminine” and step away from a situation rather than escalate it and ruin it for everyone is brave—especially for someone like Eddie.

Now, what does this mean for Will? Well, we know Will so excellent at hiding, both in the real world and the Upside Down and has many feminine qualities that make him the target of severe homophobia. He probably doesn’t think of himself as much of a “man,” which is heartbreaking. The S1E1 moment with the gun, when he lowers it, defines his character and foreshadows his future success. Will is not afraid to be himself, to be someone his father would not approve of, because it is his nonconformity, his apparent femininity that saved his life. His gayness, his artistic talent, his gentleness, ARE NOT WEAKNESSES, THEY ARE HIS STRENGTH.

Will is strong not because he is tough and violent, but because he is gentle and kind, attributes typically ascribed to women. He is the exact opposite of his father, and that is his salvation. Will Byers will prove once and for all, that gay men (typically viewed as weak, “sissy,” or fragile) are some of the strongest men alive. They see the world around them and how much it hates them, yet they still choose to live authentically, one of the bravest acts a human can do. I wish Will could have met Eddie, could have seen someone so unapologetically themselves, and found strength and solace in that bond, but he will have to find it himself.

Does that mean Will won’t fight given the chance, absolutely not. That boy wants to rip Vecna apart piece by piece. Why? Because Vecna made him feel ashamed of his femininity. He made Will want to hide himself from the world and try to fit in the “masculine mold” the world told him to fill. So what does killing Vecna mean for Will? It means tearing down that toxic voice in the back of his head telling him he’s unworthy, unlovable, and disgusting for having these feelings, loving Mike, and choosing to live as his authentic self. Vecna represents Mental Illness, the inner-self critic, and intrusive thoughts. Will using his powers (his gayness) to obliterate this virus (word that’s been used to describe the Upside Down) is groundbreaking. Will’s gayness, his softness, and his femininity are not the reason he’s going to die, they’re the reason he’s going to survive. Vecna will die from the power of gayness and self-love, and I think that’s pretty damn heroic.

The song “Heroes” by David Bowie coming back over and over with regards to Will is so perfectly executed it makes me want to scream. Bowie was known for being queer, gender-bending, and being unapologetically himself. He didn’t let others tell him to present, he did whatever he wanted. If people didn’t like it, that’s fine. The idea of the Party being “Heroes” is not about them stepping up and performing some egregious masculine act to eradicate the Upside Down. It’s about them embracing themselves for who they are inside and harnessing that power to vanquish the negativity of the outside world. It’s not about guns, flamethrowers, and Molotov cocktails, it’s about the fireballs that bubble up inside until you can’t take it anymore and come roaring out through your fingers. It’s about using what’s already inside of you to fight.

Glinda tells Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz that she never actually needed the Ruby Slippers, she had the power inside of her. Why didn’t she tell Dorothy in the beginning (when it would have been extremely convenient)? Because Dorothy wasn’t ready. She didn’t understand the power she held and needed the guidance of her friends and their strength. Only then was she able to find the strength and courage within herself. Could Will have benefited from knowing about his powers in Season 1, yes definitely. But would he have understood them? Would he have known how to control them? Could he have hurt someone? Also yes. Will needed time to grow, develop, and understand the seriousness of his powers. Will has a gift and, while it may take him a while to fully understand and come to terms with this gift, it will be the thing that sets him free. He will harness the power within himself and use it to banish the Upside Down forever—with his Lime Green Fireballs (iykyk). He will be the Final Girl.

Will Byers Re: Gender Expression

This is a topic that I have I've included at least partially in other analyses regarding Will, although I don't think I've actually made it into it's own post despite maybe answering an ask about it. I may have engaged with this conversation lightly, although I've felt compelled recently to try and make a whole post about it.

What is Will's gender expression within the universe of the show, and how does it operate in the narrative?

Gender Expression in the 80's vs. Now

Ideas about gender were different in the 80's than it is in the 2020's. If we plucked Will out of the show and compared him to other boys now, would he be considered gender non-conforming?

Even if Stranger Things takes place in the eighties, is also still a show that is being written now by people who are working with a more modern idea of gender, as opposed to being actually made in the eighties by people who may share the same ideologies of the time. Eighties films are a lot more rigid in ideas of gender, and a lot more lax when pulling out "fag" as a joke whenever a male character showed any sign of sensitivity.

So if the creators want a character that does not conform to the gender norms of the time period then this would have to be supported by the text. Thankfully, this idea of gender non-conformity is one of the earliest characterizations of Will in the show with the Hopper-Joyce police station scene.

Will's non-conformity to his gender is highlighted with a point of contrast from Hopper. When he goes missing, Hopper tries to calm Joyce by using his own experiences and other boys his age as an example.

But that doesn't work, because in Joyce's own words, "He's not like you, he's not like most." and the rest of the conversation suggests that this is related to his perceived queerness. He's sensitive, he likes art (not mentioned in this dialogue, but important to his character) and he wears clothes that other kids don't like. Since Will isn't actually present for most of the season, this dialogue is important for his characterization.

We do see a little bit of his character in the opening. It's fleeting, but it's still there. When Will races home to escape the demogorgon, we see him pet Chester upon arrival. Will's life is in danger, but he takes the time to greet his dog— a small, but important bit of character work. After failing to outrun the monster and contact the police, as a last resort, Will runs into the shed where he hastily loads a rifle, and holds up the phallic, destructive weapon in front of him.

As the monster closes in, he freezes and lowers the weapon, choosing not to go the violent route.

Language and ideology surrounding gender and sexuality change overtime, and in the age of social media, this change happens even more rapidly. Would Will label himself as gender non-conforming, or any other related labels? Of course the idea of gender roles and identity did exist in the eighties, but would Will have access to that knowledge and vocabulary, especially within a small conservative town in Indiana with not much internet access? But that's not really the point. It's not about whether or not Will Byers would identify as gnc by today's standards, the question is "Is Will Byers considered gnc within the setting of the show" in which the text states this.

Is Will's choice to non-conform a conscious one? Well, whenever Will's gender expression is contested, or the more masculine option is present, Will continues to be himself. Lonnie took Will to baseball games to get him to like more "manly" things, but Will sticks to what he loves. When all of his friends got him Star Wars toys for his birthday, all he wanted to do was make art instead.

Production and Noah's Casting

The Montauk pitch deck gives us a look into the creators intentions with Will, including that he doesn't fall into the 80's idea of normalcy. Not everything in the pitch deck made it into the show, such as Mike's birth mark or Joyce being a "tough, long island mom" but this initial characterization does make its way into the show and is supported by the evidence I provided above.

Considering that Will is not on screen for much for season one, he needs to create a strong impression with the audience right off the bat, and a lot of that has to come from the actors appearance. How he was cast, as is the case with any character, is vital to communicating this characterization.

In an interview with Teen Vogue, casting director Carmen Cuba said the following:

“Noah’s audition was really special because it really informed our need for finding someone who was young and innocent but who had a strong charisma that would keep the viewers interested in why these kids were so dedicated to finding him,"

It's not that Noah was necessarily a feminine kid (although I don't know him personally, so I can't say for sure what he was like at that age) but choosing a boy who was two years younger than his intended age, and much smaller than the rest of his co-stars, is definitely intentional.

As actors age and their bodies change in unexpected ways, especially under circumstances as unexpected as a global pandemic, there are still things that production can do to maintain this same characterization. Post-pandemic Noah was seen as "buff" by audience members (even though he isn't really that buff) but the ST costuming department did make the conscious decision to cover up the muscle on his upper arms.

This simple costuming decision is also much more ethical then forcing child actors to make drastic changes to their body, such as forcing Noah to lose weight in order to fulfill that small and scrawny look he had in earlier seasons. (I really don't like that they did have David Harbour do this, although David is at least a much older adult who consented to that dramatic shift in body weight)

Will Plays a Feminine Role in the Narrative

Will’s femininity doesn’t just extend to his characterization, but the role that Will plays in the story, especially in seasons one and two, is one that is often occupied by female characters, which I’ve talked about before. Many of the inspirations for Will’s character are women (Laura Palmer and Regan Macneil) and many of his contemporaries are women too. The character in the show who serves a similar function to Will but for the side plot is also female (Barb).

In the introduction to her book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws, author Carol J. Clover talks about the discrepancies between male and female roles within horror, and stories in general.

“In fact, of course, males and females are not evenly distributed over the categories. The functions of monster and hero are far more frequently represented by males and the function of victim far more garishly by females. The fact that female monsters and female heroes, when they do appear, are masculine in dress and behavior (and often even name), and that male victims are shown in feminine postures at the moment of their extremity, would seem to suggest that gender inheres in the function itself—that there is something about the victim function that wants manifestation in a female, and something about the monster and hero function that wants expression in a male.”

Will’s role as the victim may not be exclusive to men, as Will himself is an exception to this, but the role itself is a feminine one. This post isn’t about El, but since El is essentially the hero of the story, it may be no coincidence that she is styled as gender ambiguous. She wears her pink dress in the climax sure, but she tears off the blonde wig and her shaved head is exposed for the final confrontation with the demogorgon. The internal conflict that El finds herself in, between monster and hero, are two male roles.

A quick side note on El and her own gender expression, I believe that what the first season is getting at is that the forcing of El into this male role while also denying her of her femininity is a tragedy for her character, and the answer isn’t to take that masculine side away from her but to allow her to explore her feminine side to become whole. If this is the intention of the show, however, they haven’t quite reached that point yet.

Clover goes on to explain more about this narrative discrepancy:

"Jurij Lotman has suggested that there are really only two 'characters' (subject positions or functions) in myth: a mobile, heroic being who crosses boundaries and “penetrates” closed spaces, and an immobile being who personifies that damp, dark space and constitutes that which is to be overcome.”

The monster of the show is coded as male (even before we knew there was an actual male behind it) with its penetrating vines, and Will choosing to point the gun at the demogorgon in the beginning of the show was a masculine act. Will’s decision to lower the gun, and evade the monster through fleeing and hiding rather than attack, was a feminine one.

Of course what makes Will unique from his female contemporaries is the fact that he is a boy, which must be providing some kind of gender commentary, otherwise Will could have just been a girl. I do think the show is trying to say something positive with this. While people in town may suspect that his girlishness is the reason he was targeted in the first place, Will survives not in spite of this, but because of this. Will’s decision to run and hide, the feminine one, made him outlast the demogorgon much longer than he would have otherwise.

I have speculated before on Will’s future role in season five, which is admittedly the more masculine role of “hero.” One that takes inspiration from other male characters such as Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter, and even Jesus Christ himself. If Will is to “penetrate” the Upside Down by choosing to cross into it of his own will, this would be a masculine act. But this act of masculinity doesn’t have to come at the expense of his feminine role and characteristics. Will doesn’t have to overcome his feminine traits, being soft, sensitive, or into art, in order to come into his own. And on top of that, Will being the hero doesn’t have to erase his feminine role in the story. The victim-hero is another role in horror that female characters often take up, usually in the form of the final girl. If Will is the hero then there comes the question of “who is the victim?” and the answer doesn’t have to be a different character. Will is now the hero, and he’s still the victim. The person he is saving is himself.

I was rewatching Stranger Things Season 2, Episode 4 (Will the Wise) and I noticed something. Will’s map looks an awful lot like something I’d seen before, not just because I’m rewatching it. 😝When I looked at the completed map, I couldn’t help but notice it looked like veins—long, branching, blue tunnels racing through the body to provide blood and oxygen. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before, but it makes so much sense.

I’ve had a theory for a while now that Will’s blood is the answer to destroying the Upside Down, and this discovery proves it. Will describes the Mindflayer’s attack as “growing, spreading, killing, [Will] felt it everywhere.” He says he feels [MF] in his house and inside himself. The vines Will draws are described as tunnels beneath Hawkins, spreading their deadly poison to unsuspecting people. What if all of Hawkins, Will’s house, the pumpkin patch, everything, is a metaphor for Will’s mind/body. Stay with me here.

If the house represents Will’s mind/body and the tunnels are his veins, what’s inside them? What’s doing the growing, spreading, and killing? HIV. Somehow, perhaps from Lonnie or Vecna (Season 1), or perhaps en utero, Will contracted HIV, he just doesn’t know it. He doesn’t have the words to communicate what he feels, so he describes it as something racing through his body, slowly killing him. While HIV is well-researched and manageable today, it was not so in the 1980s. HIV was new, potent, and extremely caustic. People (mostly young, gay men) died from AIDS (late-stage HIV) by the thousands. There was no effective treatment and medications like Prep didn’t come onto the market until 2012! HIV was a death sentence, seen as shameful and disgusting thanks in large part to its connection with the LGBTQ+ community.

According to the CDC, (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/whatishiv.html ) HIV has three main stages

1) Acute HIV

The person is recently infected, highly contagious, and may experience flu-like symptoms. It’s important to get checked when this happens so you don’t inadvertently infect others!

2) Chronic HIV

The person has had HIV for a while and may show less symptoms. Their viral load (how much HIV in in their blood) changes based on whether they take their medication. Proper medication management significantly reduces the chances of spreading HIV to partners.

3) AIDS (Late-Stage HIV)

AIDS is terminal. Most people live about three years once they reach this stage. People with AIDS risk getting “opportunistic infections” Aka: germs they can’t fight off with their destroyed immune system.

Looking at this information, I estimate Will to be in Stage Two. I believe he was first infected before he was rescued in the Upside Down (see slug down his throat—remind you of anything?)

He throws up, seems awfully pale afterwards, and stays in the hospital for a while. The HIV (or Upside Down equivalent) was introduced to his system and it made him incredibly ill. Now, come Season 2, Will’s been home for a year and his body has adjusted to this illness. He doesn’t like talking about it, but it affects him everyday in the form of his visions. His viral load changes based on whether or not he’s having visions and comes to a head during the exorcism. Black veins cover his head and neck as he reaches out to attack his own mother.

There’s also a chance Will contracted HIV en utero and could link back to Hopper and his Agent Orange experience in Vietnam. We know many of Hopper’s friends who served with him had children born with various disabilities, so it could make sense Will was born with HIV (along with El since I prescribe to the Will and El are twins separated at birth theory). I also believe Hopper NOT Lonnie is Will/El’s biological father, making this theory much more plausible. Hopper said he knew the risks of trying to conceive with his Agent Orange exposure, but his wife wanted children so badly that he did it anyway. The scene with Will attempting to strangle Joyce could be the writers’ way of illustrating the pain that comes from getting an illness you did not control. He was punishing her, in a sense, for forcing him to live with this incurable condition.

Now, going back to the map, what does this mean for Season 5? Well, I believe Will’s blood will be the key to stopping the Upside Down. I’m not sure exactly what that will look like, but it will be incredibly dramatic and fulfilling. We know from Season 1 that Demogorgons are attracted to blood, so maybe they use Will’s blood to lure the Demogorgons somewhere and kill them? That would be cool! Either way, Will’s blood is important and he was drawing VEINS in the house—illustrating the Upside Down and HIV quickly taking over his life, threatening to kill him. Closing the Gate equals succumbing to the disease, and the exorcism is him fighting for his life.

Ps: Vines (how Hopper describes Will’s drawings) and Veins have the same letters. Just leaving that here

You Can’t Be What You Can’t See.

Positive, authentic representation means the difference between feeling like an alien in your community and discovering your identity. I’ve been on this journey for the last four years. Diving into media, my past, and other autistic creators to put together some semblance of what it means to be me. A large piece of that puzzle snapped together last year after watching Stranger Things Season 4, specifically the Painting Scene. I could not wrap my head around why Mike didn’t take the time to comfort Will as he cried or why he didn’t seem to understand Will was talking about himself. I thought back on his whole characterization and what I would have done in that situation, and the lightbulb dinged: Mike is autistic…just like me.

It was an overwhelming moment of joy, understanding, and identity that not only did we share the same diagnosis, we practically share the same brain. Since then Autistic Mike has taken over my mind and taught me more about myself than any doctor. I’ve explored him through my writing and used his (eventual) relationship with Will as something to aspire to, that maybe someday my Will will come for me. Someone to accept, love, and understand every part of me. It is incredibly healing and life-giving and I’m so thankful for everyone involved in creating such a beautiful story. When Bhavna announced she had opened commissions for her art, I knew I had to have this turning point in my life memorialized. We worked together for about a month to come up with this piece and I could not be happier. I sobbed when I saw the preliminary sketch—I finally felt seen.

All that to say, never be embarrassed about something you love. There is someone out there who needs to see it’s okay to exist. Please enjoy Mike’s latest DnD info-dumping session while his boyfriend, Will, looks on. It’s late, they should be in bed, but Mike can’t stop and Will’s too infatuated with Mike’s happiness to make him. The world is a little too loud, so Mike donned his headphones, and Will loves the way they relax Mike and allow him to process the world a little easier. Thank you, Bhavna. Happy Stranger Things Day. ❤️

I know we’ve all swooned over Dustin singing “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeny Todd to Max in the hospital, but have we considered swapping in Mike? He feels incredibly guilty for Max’s involvement in their mission and believes everything to be his fault. He sits by her side, keeping her safe and defending her from evil, especially while under her coma. Even while she is defenseless, locked inside Vecna’s mind, Mike will keep her safe. No. Matter. What.

I would love to see a scene like this where Mike sits at her bedside (preferably when she can’t respond) and pours his heart out to her. He tells her about his depression, survivor’s guilt, and self-appointed duty to protect her. Despite their constant bickering and antagonism, Mike and Max are two sides of the same coin. They operate on the same wavelength: Everything that goes wrong is mine to fix. I brought this upon myself therefore I don’t deserve help or assistance. Even if Max can’t respond and assure Mike he does in fact deserve help and none of what’s happened is his fault, it would lighten Mike’s burden to acknowledge and name his emotions out loud. Duffers, if you read this, I am begging you to add this scene. Please let Mike Wheeler be vulnerable, acknowledge his trauma, and start to heal. ❤️‍🩹

It represents the cycle of abuse in which these characters are trapped. They all want to control Eleven (for better or worse) and feel the only way to keep her safe is to keep her reliant on them. Mike is obviously not doing this knowingly, but he’s seen El’s powers in action, as has Dr. Brenner, and they fear the repercussions of allowing Eleven to control them herself. Mike rescuced her from the woods, so he feels responsible for her life. He worries that, without him, she or someone else (or many someone elses) will be hurt or killed. Max points this out during their Season 3 argument when she asks Nancy and Jonathon who should be allowed to control Eleven’s powers, Eleven or Mike.

While Dr. Brenner’s actions stem from a place of control and malice, wanting to harvest Eleven’s powers for his own benefit and gain, Mike’s actions stem from something more lethal—guilt and grief. He knows Eleven is intelligent and aware of her powers but if something happened to her, Mike knows he would blame himself. He brought Eleven into their world, just like Dr. Brenner brought Eleven into the physical world (according to the flashbacks, but that’s another story). Just like a parental figure (Dr. Brenner) has to let their child grow up and leave the nest, so does Mike. Is he a parental figure to Eleven? No, but he has taught her how to be human—how to function and survive in the world as a regular kid. Now it’s time for Eleven to spread her wings and venture out on her own, free from Mike’s protection.

Does Mike “controlling Eleven” and his parallels to Dr. Brenner make him evil? NO!!! It illustrates his arc. Mike desperately needs to feel needed. He needs to have someone to love and protect in order to feel worthy. It’s how he shows his love. Unfortunately, instead of loving Eleven, he’s smothering her and stifling her from discovering her true identity. Thankfully, there’s someone else who could benefit from Mike’s protection and care, someone who will always need him. Mike’s arc is about letting Eleven go—understanding he’s done everything he can for her and that she is more than capable of protecting herself—wrestling with his survivor’s guilt and grief, and discovering what it means to be a real leader and protector.

Anyway, Byler Endgame. 💙💛💚

Every(?) Fucking Time Mike is paralleled to people and things that make you go hmm whatthefuck Part 1 : The Brenner special

So. Not to be a crazy person and everything but what started as a small realisation that one Mike's line was identical to one of Flayed Billy's , I told myself 'Hey wouldn't it be kind of fun if i saw how many times that happens?'. More than 300 screenshots after, Mike's identical lines or extremely overt parallels with characters like Brenner, Henry/Edward/Vecna/One and even the parallels between him and the democreatures are something no one can ever deny. How is Mike's relevancy to the plot even an issue when they give him this? But I'm getting ahead of myself. These were SO MANY , that I decided to cut it to 2 posts. So today, we're getting (mostly) the Brenner Special, and the rest will come in Vol 2. I obviously didn't separate it perfectly, but these are mostly Brenner. If this feels like I'm putting you through rewatching all of his scenes....I kind of am, lol. I put some rainbow stickers every time a new parallel starts to make it easier, and as always left to right for the pics...Further commentary at the end<3

First round:

Take some rest traveler. Ok. Time for round 2:

Time for round 3 now you got this. You can do it.

Oh wow. I know. How can there be more. But there are. There are more. Give it up for.....ROUND 4!

Just hold on a little longer.....And....5!!! (One of my faves like can you believe this shit my liege lol)

Ok. Last one. Let's go! Let's fucking go!!! Only a tiny bit more and then it's done!!!!!! After the 6th round, both me and you are dead.

Wow if you reached the end here you are one dedicated little guy. Good for us bro. Never ask me what this means or I will burst into tears, and maybe start screaming and never stop. See you at the next post. Lol

ALL OF THIS!!!! There are so many signs that Mike Wheeler would rather not exist on this planet anymore, but his friends and family keep saving him. El pulling him up from the quarry (if you think that jump was only motivated by Dustin, you are incorrect), Hopper grounding Mike as he screamed at him (even if he was projecting), Max trying to protect him from Billy, etc. Mike has come to rely on others for his salvation and, quite frankly, would not be here today without them. I think of that iconic Grey’s Anatomy speech, “You’re careless with your life.”

In Mike’s mind, his life is inconsequential compared to people like El or Will. As long as they are alive and healthy, it matters not what happens to Mike. If he lives, great, if he dies, then he died protecting those he loved. He’s a Paladin, a hero, someone who gives their life to protect those they love—no matter the cost. That doesn’t mean they are completely self-sacrificing. Paladins utilize melee weapons and engage in combat—they have self-preservation skills!

It’s time for the Party to stop intervening (as painful as that may be) and let Mike truly feel the weight of his actions. He must face his mortality and suicidal ideation squarely in the face and fight his demons ALONE. I want to see Mike acknowledge his reckless and dangerous behavior and fully understand how close he has come to death—how his friends and family saved him every single time, but they can’t save him forever. He might believe escaping is the only way to neutralize the searing pain in his sole, but as someone who has been there and come out the other side, I want Mike to realize he has so much to fight for. He has a life and a future. He has people who love him. He is a kind, compassionate, lovable person who deserves to discover the beauty that comes with healing. I want to see Mike Wheeler save himself and choose to LIVE.

“I know you would die for me, but would you live for me?”

mike is constantly trying to save others, but it almost always fails because he’s either never strong enough, or it’s stopped by a supernatural force - something that makes him feel inferior. he believes saving others makes him more worthy and needed, and if he can’t even do that, what is he then?

when he throws himself at billy for max and is slammed against the wall, when he tries to smack billy down to save el but billy stops him, when he jumps off the cliff but is saved by el’s powers, when he pushes troy down but gets saved by el’s powers before he gets into a fight, getting pushed to the ground and not fighting back.

yeah give his ass a sword in s5 to save HIMSELF for once and i better see NOBODY intervening or else i’m having a word with those brothers

“Please, Mike, go tell him now, before you lose him forever. You still have so much time. I’m begging you, from the bottom of my heart, as your best friend, Party member, and next door neighbor, don’t make my mistake. This pain is permanent.”

Lucas knows about Mike and Will

First off, of course the context is needed that Lucas has known the two of them the longest out of any of the kids. He is Mike’s neighbour and joined their party even before Dustin. He also played wingman for Mike previously in S3, trying to help get Mike and Eleven back together. It’s not a stretch of the imagination that Lucas would end up in a role like that again.

So, the hospital scene at the end of Season 4.

There’s a few things within this scene that are a little suspicious, and then one big thing that basically has no explanation other than Lucas suspecting something is going on with Mike. I brightened the scene here- first let’s just acknowledge they held hands on Lucas’ back. This is the only kind of direct hand touch we get this season.

Lucas can’t see that.. but it’s on his back. Of course he would be able to feel it. It’s also another moment that separates Mike and Will as a pair, versus Eleven on her own. Here’s the full clip below. And then just LOOK at the expression Lucas gives Mike after he sees El lingering behind. Your friend just visited as soon as he possibly could to give you support. Why would you look at them like this after he hugs you? Because he knows there’s something weird going on in the relationship between Mike and El. No other explanation.

Lucas is clearly giving Mike a “what the fuck is going on” kind of expression, eye squinted, eyebrows furrowed. There’s also a blink and you’ll miss it moment where Mike’s breath catches after the contact with Will’s hand, and he makes a split second glance to look at their hands (which I captured in the first image).

Then after Lucas hugs El, he clearly parts and steps back to give room for Mike to join beside his girlfriend. But Mike crosses the room to put himself in between El and Will instead. Another thing Lucas would have found weird. Lucas isn’t dumb.

Then we have the shotlisting post from Ross’ instagram. Shot listing is where they plan out what happens within an episode and what kinds of shots they want. This image is obviously an Easter Egg for fans about who’s interacting with who in the first 2 episodes (ie Stonathan shenanigans of which we already know about). I didn’t see it at first but Lucas is clearly placed in the centre of a triangle between El, Mike, and Will. He’s the centre of the triangle.

This makes sense with what we know about S5 thus far as well. There’s a confirmed plot line that has Dustin trying to isolate himself from the rest of the group (if he hasn’t already been isolated enough from the party in recent seasons). It shows up in the shot list image too of course, with Dustin on the opposite side. For the kids, due to Max being out of commission, the only interactions we are going to get in the first two episodes before the time jump seem to be between El, Will, Mike, and Lucas. We also have confirmation from Millie that El and Lucas will be spending a lot more time together than they had in previous seasons.

Moving onto a bit of cornplating for the last points which just serve as some cherries on top of this theory - we already have imagery of Lucas acting as a bridge between Mike and Will in the party image Ross gave us. This is post time jump most likely because of the new outfits, so it’s interesting that this role could continue throughout the season.

We also have the imagery of Lucas holding a suspiciously coloured blue and yellow shield in Will’s painting of the party. A bit of a stretch, sure. But complied with everything else it is definitely interesting to consider.

Now for the character reasoning, which is always important to consider: why would Lucas end up in this position?

Lucas is going through his girlfriend being in a coma after they had a major distance in their relationship. A coma that Lucas in universe has no clue if she’ll ever wake up from, and realistically (in-universe) hopes are slim that she will recover. And if she does, she may not have all the memories of times spent together still with her. There’s probably so many regrets swirling around his mind of things he could have done or said in the time that they had together. Lucas doesn’t have this luxury - but his friends still do.

Lucas is Mike’s oldest friend outside of Will, and Will/Mike are Lucas’ first friends. They existed as a party even before Dustin.

Out of his pain of ‘losing’ Max and the wisdom he learned from it, I really do think Lucas is going to encourage Mike to seize the day and take control of his life once again. Will and Mike still have the luxury of time and still have chance. If anyone could convince Mike his feelings are reciprocal, it would also be Lucas.

Furthermore, Lucas understands that as a black man in fairly rural 80s Indiana, his relationship with Max is also one that is singled out due to prejudice against interracial couples. Interracial marriage would only have been legalized less than twenty years ago. It’s not quite the same, but again if anyone understood the position Mike would be in (other than say Robin) - it would be Lucas.

How to Save the World—Stranger Things 5

I’ve had some time to sleep on the episode titles and think about them, read theories, etc. and I now believe they might be real.

Hear me out: Stranger Things is all about cycles, parallels, tropes happening over and over again. The Duffers love taking a moment and repeating it in slightly different ways to prove a point. The story started with “The Vanishing of Will Byers” because we needed to place a small, innocent child in the center of our story, something to bring our character together and drive them to action. Well, that child is no longer in danger and our team is ripping apart at the seams. It’s almost like we need something similar to reunite everyone and drive them to action again.

Remember: The Duffers love parallels. Will’s disappearance brought his deeply fractured family together, uniting them for a common cause. It also brought Nancy and Jon together when their families needed them most. Now, the Byers are a united front, ready to tackle any monster that comes their way. They are the glorification of the avant-gard family. Now which family is struggling? The Wheelers. The perfect, All-American Nuclear Family: Mom, Dad, 3 kids, and a picket fence. They look perfect to the outside world, but behind closed doors, they are deeply struggling. They don’t communicate, the parents have no idea what’s happening in their children’s lives, and if they’re not careful, if they don’t come together and form a united front—they’re going to lose everything, potentially causing the end of the world. (Why? I haven’t gotten that far yet!)

Now, how do we inspire them to action? Maybe by taking the child who was born to save their crumbling marriage—the one has seen everything but, up until this point, been too young to contribute. Now, she’ll be the same age Will was when he disappeared and Mike and Will are the same age as Jon and Nancy. The Duffers are trying to illustrate the idea of “The Next Generation.” This evil, this Upside Down dimension is NEVER going to stop until someone from the Wheeler and Byers families breaks the cycle. Children will continue to vanish, the world will continue to crumble, until someone steps up and says ENOUGH. The Wheelers and Byers (parents and children) must step up and face their pasts in order to move forward.

The “Stranger Things” are not only LGBTQ+ matters, they are the skeletons we hide in the closet that literally eat us alive. They are the dark, festering parts of ourselves we don’t let anyone else see. The invisible cancers that slowly and silently kill us. Until we face them head on, until we bring them to the light, they will NEVER die. Stranger Things is about owning your past, facing your fears, and finding the light again.

So yes, Stranger Things will end with Will Byers making it home from Mike Wheeler’s house on November 6, 1983, but not in a time traveling way, in a finally letting go of that scared, pained little boy who thought the world was better off without him. It’s Mike accepting his sexuality and place in his family. His role as a leader. It’s Joyce accepting love from Hopper, who must accept that he is not actually cursed, but that sometimes, bad things happen to good people, even when they think they’re doing the right thing (Vietnam). it’s Karen and Ted falling in love again and fighting to save their family. It’s Eleven discovering that love, not anger, should fuel her powers. It’s mourning your stolen childhood while stepping into the version of yourself that child never got to be. It’s stopping the cycle and creating a better world for the Will Byers and Mike Wheelers and Jane Hoppers of tomorrow. THAT’S how you become a Hero.

Deaf!Will HC:

Will loses his hearing as an unfortunate side-effect of his Vecna Connection (Vecna wanted to make sure Will always remembered their connection, so he took what Will loved most—his music). Will struggles to accept his new reality and withdraws from the world, grappling with his altered body.

Time goes on and Will slowly comes around, taking small steps to reenter society. His friends and family learn ASL and agree to “Voice Off” hangouts, so Will feels included. They rent subtitled movies, buy him a TTY machine (captioned phone), and Hopper even shaves his face to make lip reading easier. Their support keeps Will afloat and he eventually accepts and embraces his identity as a Deaf Man.

Nights prove the hardest—Will wakes up screaming at 3 am, feeling the sound reverberate in his chest, unable to decipher between reality and flashback. Mike tries everything to calm him, from deep pressure to night lights, but nothing grounds him. Mike’s voice always calmed his traumatized mind, and Vecna cruelly ripped away Will’s ability to hear it. Mike finds himself at a loss after months of sleepless nights and Will begins to fear bedtime, terrified of his own mind.

Once again, Will wakes up screaming and frantically signing that Vecna is back and everyone is going to die. Mike knows it’s a flashback, but Will is too overwhelmed to comprehend Mike’s words. He stares at Will, desperately wanting to help, and then it hits him. Will’s hand is on his chest, feeling his breaths and cries through vibrations. Mike gently coaxes Will to lie down, pulls him to chest, and starts to sing. Low and quiet, just loud enough to create strong vibrations through his chest cavity. Will latches on like a sponge, pressing himself tightly against Mike’s body. He takes a deep, soothing breath and finally relaxes, falling limp against his boyfriend. Mike smiles to himself, relief washing over him. He wonders if Will can feel what song he’s singing, if he knows the rhythm to “Boys Don’t Cry,” the song that saved him from Vecna. Tears soak Mike’s shirt as Will realizes, after six agonizing months, he never lost Mike’s voice at all.

An excerpt from a Fic I wrote a while ago centering on Autistic!Mike. I wrote it from my perspective as a late-diagnosed female who found euphoria and purpose from this one little word. I hope you take the time to read it and understand the life-changing power of diagnosis. Autism is not a tragedy. Rather, it is a difference in the Human Condition that deserves celebration.

"Hey…Will, I almost forgot. I need to tell you something important". Will immediately flinches awake and startles, scanning the room for threats.

"What? Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Mike assures him, running his hand down Will's cheek. Embarrassment and shame course through him. He wishes Will’s nervous system didn’t overreact this way. He speaks quietly and clearly, emphasizing his words. "I'm okay. We’re safe.” Will leans into Mike’s touch and anchors himself in the present. He is safe, Mike is safe, and they are together. His eyes slip closed as he takes a few steadying breaths. He then shifts to his side to see Mike better, turning on the small lamp on the nightstand and propping himself up on his elbow. Mike looks anxious. Tears prick the corners of his eyes as he stares at the ceiling. Will places his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

"Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me, okay?” he reassures Mike. “I won't be mad. We'll work through it together. You know how much I love you.” Will's words ease Mike's anxiety. Here goes nothing.

"I talk to Robin a lot–just like you–but we don't just talk about boyfriends. We…we talk about…other things, too.”

"What kinds of other things?" Will probes. Mike swallows hard.

"We…we talk about…fuck, this is tough….about my…my brain.” He can't believe he said it. Will is even more confused. His brain? What about his brain? The last time he checked, Mike's brain was perfect. Why does this involve Robin? Mike cannot make eye contact. Will eyes stare directly into his soul. If he looks back, he will lose his sanity. His hands white knuckle the sheets–anything to ground himself.

"My brain is…different from most people's.” Mike’s not sure how to explain this without sounding completely insane. “I have difficulty connecting with people and holding on to relationships. I'm blunt and straightforward, and people think I'm rude. That's why making friends is hard for me. People don't understand how to interact with me.” The words are slow and halted, forced out like a reluctant child. Will hangs on every one. He has yet to see the whole picture but will keep listening until he does. Mike continues as bile creeps into his throat.

"I also struggle with change. I need routine and structure; it keeps me safe. When that structure changes, it takes me longer to adjust. Like when you and El moved away, or Max joined our Party.” Words come faster now. He’s held this pain inside for too long. “I don't understand why things change and how everyone moves on while I'm stuck in this perpetual loop. I get scared that everything will change because one thing is changing, and it’s too much to handle. I don't want to be hostile, but my brain tells me to protect myself. Routines also help me not feel overwhelmed by the world. Everything is loud…and bright…and fast. It's terrifying.” Tears spill out, emotions too much to contain. “If I stick to my routine, some of that stuff fades into the background. But as soon as it changes, that all comes rushing back in. My body shuts down, and I can’t stop it. I lose control, and it's scary, Will. It's…It's so scary!"

Mike breaks down and rolls into his boyfriend’s waiting arms. Will is dumbfounded. He had no idea. How has Mike survived this long? He rubs deep circles into Mike’s back, attempting to ground him. He wishes Mike had told him sooner. He would have helped him through it, been there for him when it was all too much. How did he miss it? Something so central to Mike's being unknown to the people he loves most. Will's mind drifts back to their childhoods when Mike would fall apart on the floor. Will would hold and rock him until he calmed down–not dissimilarly to what he did last week at the hospital. Then it clicks. Mike is describing those moments. Nights spent on the kitchen floor crying over a scratchy shirt tag or "wrong foods" touching. He got angry because Will canceled plans they made a week ago, even though his PTSD flared up and he was too weak to go out. His head swirles with examples, and each one makes more sense than the last. He holds Mike's face, wiping tears with his thumbs.

"Mike, I understand. I see how scary those moments are for you. I may not feel what you feel, but I see your pain, and that’s enough. You are not broken, and there is nothing wrong with you. Do you understand me?" Mike tearfully nods. "I love you so much, and I am honored that you feel safe enough to share this part of yourself with me. I will always be here to help you, just like you help me. We need each other, and I am so thankful to have you in my life. I do have a question, though. Is there a name for this, and why do you discuss it with Robin? Isn't that something a doctor tells you?"

Mike laughs at Will's innocent questions. "You should talk about it with a doctor, but most don't know much about it. It's called autism, and I talk about it with Robin because she has it, too. She's the one who saw it in me. The first time she explained it…I cried, Will. I had never heard a word describe me so perfectly.” As he remembers the moment, new tears form, and a smile radiates through his body. “It was like…I had a missing piece, and Robin found it. She unlocked me. I finally have permission to be myself. All of these struggles, all of this pain, it's real. It has a name. I've never felt this way, and I want you to know so you can feel it, too. I love you so much, Will.” Autism. Will rolls the word around in his mind. He's never heard it before, but it makes sense. It explains Mike. His bluntness, his temper, his everything. He pulls Mike close and hugs him tightly, tears mingling in their embrace as they celebrate the moment. It is not sad. Instead, it is euphoric.

I need a scene where Mike is clearly falling apart/acting on his impulsive thoughts/about to do something rash or dangerous and Lucas intervenes telling Mike to pull himself together. Everyone else is scared to tell him, so Lucas steps up. He has known Mike (presumably since they’re next door neighbors) the longest out of any Party Member and this is NOT the little boy he grew up with….its scaring him. He’s already lost Max, there’s a very good chance they could lose Dustin or Will, and Lucas cannot handle losing anyone else. They don’t have time for recklessness, impulsivity, or self-sacrifice. They’re fighting a war and it’s all hands on deck. Either shape up and join the fight or get the hell out of their way.

“If you can’t pull yourself together for any other reason, I invite you to spend the day with Max. Talk to her, listen to the heart monitor, look at the mangled state of her body. We started this fight so no one else would get hurt. For some reason, you left Hawkins and she died. She died, Mike. She laid in my arms and I felt her body go still and cold. By some miracle she’s alive, but we can’t afford any more close calls. We need everyone on the same exact page in order to win this fight. If even one person decides to half-ass it, if they’re too distracted by their own brain, we’re all dead. We’re no better off than Max. So I will ask you again, Mike: Do you have what it takes to lead this Party or should I tell the little boy you saved from the Upside Down that all of this was for nothing cause we all die anyways? [beat] Meet us at Mount Sinai.”

Basically I’m asking for the return of angry, passionate, rage-filled Lucas, please and thank you. Make him remind Mike why they started this fight.

“I chose and my world was shaken

So what?

The choice may have been mistaken

The choosing was not

You have to move on”

(Move On, Sunday in the Park with George)

I found THEIR song!! “The choice” references Mike letting Will leave his house on November 6, 1983. “The choosing was not”….asking Will to be his friend and joining him on this adventure. Mike would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but they have to move on in order to heal. It’s time to put the past behind them and embark on their next adventure.

****I am in no way saying Will’s (or anyone else’s) feelings are invalid, but you cannot dwell on the past. The Upside Down will be stuck on November 6, 1983 until Will Byers accepts his past and looks bravely towards his future. Only then, can they begin to heal.

So About the Numbers...

Just finished watching Stranger Things season 3 with my Mom (it’s one of the few shows we watch and bond with together) and we were discussing and theorizing about The Numbers (Such as Eight/Kali and Eleven/El) as we’ve dubbed them and their possible powers and roles they could have in the show. We also tied in other’s theories and speculations that we really liked and thought would work well with our ideas.

Here’s what we came up with(warning - long post under cut):

 Probably not all of them survived. We’re guessing the first few, probably One through Seven (with Eight being the oldest surviving Number), have died tragically due to the tests the scientists were forcing them to go through. It’s most likely that they considered these first few failed experiments since they didn’t know how to properly test and train them just yet. We came up with 13 being the total original number but only 6 (Eight through Thirteen, will discuss the last two later) being around/surviving until now(the time of the series) but with a total of 7 on the final team if Will does have powers and joins in as an Honorary Number(really hoping he does), since both 13 and 7 hold a lot of symbolism and weight to them.

 They most likely all have different Psychic abilities/powers instead of Physical. Which seems to be what the scientists were focusing on with Eleven and Eight, in order to better spy and traverse the multiple planes. And this possibly ties into what powers Will could have too, with all of the allusions to shadow walking and plan traversing for him so far throughout the series along with the sensing/part clairvoyancy he had for the creature(s) in season 3. 

 Each of the different Squads/Team Ups for the next 1 or 2 seasons could run across one of the Numbers. This could be a nice callback to how they accidentally (or fatefully) ran into Eleven in the first season. And also allow for the Numbers to still come in even though Will, El and the others would probably be more focused on finding Hopper(we know he’s still alive I mean come on).The Byers and El could be the ones to run into Kali/Eight again since they hold the most emotional weight with her(El does specifically). 

 The ones we know so far. El/Eleven most likely has the most powers, especially since she seemed to be the scientist’s favorite/most successful experiment. Her powers mainly include Telekinesis/Psychokinesis(moving objects with her mind) and Telepathy(receives thoughts/memories from and connecting to others minds using the In-between). Though she probably also has Empathy(based on her interactions with Will, Heather, and Billy in the In-between where she appeared to be feeling their emotions herself), Clairvoyancy(a trait most likely shared with Will though hers seems to be geared more towards people while his seems to be geared more towards monsters), Levitation(can be achieved through her Telekinesis), and Retrocognition/Postcognition(seeing past events, mostly through others or through the In-between). Kali/Eight obviously has the power of Illusion and through that she might also be able to implant thoughts and memories into others minds instead of just images( this would be her more invasive version of El’s Telepathy). She most likely also has Thoughtography(imprinting images from one’s mind onto real world surfaces) which would be a more specific branch of her Illusions. Wil/Honorary Number, if he does have powers, would obviously be a plain traverser/ shadow walker which is most likely his version of Astral Projection with slight Apportation(teleporting oneself and objects). I’ve noticed people also speculating over him having Teleporting(which would tie into his version of Astral Projecting) and Invisibility(which could be his version of Kali/Eight’s Illusions) powers which I really love and have to absolutely agree with. Finally, there’s also his version of Clairvoyancy I mentioned earlier which seems to include Auto Writing(or drawing in his case, mainly based on season 2) and a bit of Precognition(being able to see the Mindflayer coming into their world before it actually happened).

 The ones we have yet to see. So that means so far we have 2 official surviving Numbers and 1 Honorary Number, leaving 4 more official Numbers to be found to make our dream team of 7. Which would be Nine, Ten, Twelve and Thirteen. The reason we included Twelve and Thirteen is that we still don’t believe Jane is Eleven or that El is the same as the girl in the Rainbow Room. There’s an age discrepancy between her and Kali/Eight that hints that they’re not the same person(which has been theorized by many before). So either Jane’s the one in the room and older than Eleven (making her Nine or Ten) or she was an unseen baby (making her Twelve or Thirteen). The former seems more probable given the timeline and Kali and El’s age gap. Either way though, we’re also guessing that they definitely didn’t stop at El and were beginning to create others that weren’t to her stage testing wise yet(probably being held at other facilities- we highly doubt there was just the one).

 Heavy Speculation Town. This is the part where we go a bit off the deep end and basically start writing our own show but bear with us. We came up with psychic based power sets and in some cases character plot points for the remaining members of the Numbers dream team. We hadn’t assigned them specific numbers though so I might as well go ahead and do that now, if only just to put them into placeholders. But bear in mind that this is mostly what we’d be most excited to see and/or what we feel would fit best for the show and that these power sets and especially the placements have a lot of wiggle room.

 Nine/The Firestarter. This Number could have mainly Pyrokinesis(fire control and manipulation) and perhaps some Energy Manipulation(to an extent of course) and Aura Reading(being able to sense other’s powers and abilities, maybe even the monsters). I made them the next oldest surviving number after Kali/Eight due to another idea we came up with for them based off of the theories other’s have come up with for a “Winter Soldier”-esque plot for a potentially surviving(or resurrected) Billy. The idea is basically based on a similar trope I’ve seen for a lot of Pyrokinetics (Such as Tom from Star Vs and Zuko from Avatar) where the fire starter is seen in a negative light at first before they’re redeemed and start helping the protagonists out. If Billy really is being brainwashed and used by the Russians, then perhaps they found one of the Numbers as well and have been brainwashing them too- allowing both him and the pyro to have an arc where they break free, redeem themselves, and join the main group. Fire is also a wonderfully useful power to add to the team due to the Upside down's creatures aversion to heat!

 Ten/The Rainbow Room Girl. This could possibly be Jane herself, or just the girl seen in the Rainbow Room with Kali. Being Ten would make her slightly older than El/Eleven and closer to Kali/Eight’s age. This Number could have Psychometry/Psychoscopy(ability to gain insight or visions through touching physical objects) which could be a prerequisite to El/Eleven’s more controlled way of gaining her insight through people and minds themselves. She could also have an early version of El’s ability to traverse plains using the In-Between(and Will’s potential ability to do so without the In-Between), which would be the power of Portal Making or Opening. This would be a more out of control way of traveling the plains since it temporarily opens the passageways up for everyone instead of just oneself. An accident with this ability could also explain where she’s been all this time/what’s happened to her and how her mom and Kali/Eight could never find her until now. It could also explain why the scientists also started making a machine to open up the passageways instead of having just the experimental kids do it- they realized because of Ten that it was too much of a job for the kids to handle alone. If Ten is Jane or the Rainbow Room Girl, it would then make sense for Hopper to find her while he’s trying to escape the Russians. Maybe the Russians manage to open a passageway to wherever she trapped herself during their experiments and she tumbles out into Hopper, who then comes to the realization/revelation that El/Eleven is not Jane- this girl is. And having similar yet less controllable/less poweful powers as Eleven would be another wonderful way to draw parallels between their two characters and overall arcs!

 Twelve/The Body Snatcher. This Number could have another version of Astral Projection and Telepathy that is more inline with Mind Control and Hive Minds. Their power could have been modeled after the Upside down’s creatures abilities to posses and body snatch people, after the scientist’s first run ins with the monsters(assuming they ran into the creatures previously before season 1, or at least that another location did). Instead of traversing plains, they mind hop from body to body(perhaps even animal’s bodies as well) in order to hide, sneak around, communicate, and gather information. If Radios or Walkie Talkies fail, this Number could be the replacement by jumping into multiple willing hosts or maybe even connecting the minds of all previous hosts. If trained well enough, this Number could also potentially take control of monster’s bodies and fight fire with fire so to speak. They might even be able to gain information from the mind of each host they’re in (which would be a more direct and potentially harmful version of El/Eleven’s information gathering abilities). This character would essentially be a human version of the Mindflayer that uses those types of powers/abilities for good instead of evil! My hope for them then would be to be the Number that runs into Mike, Nancy, Lucas, and Max’s group due to them all being present at the Mall fight with the Mindflayer and thusly would have a lot of reservations towards someone with that power set.

 Thirteen/The Stunted. This Number would essentially be mostly powerless. Being the last one potentially created before the scientists were shut down, they were rushed out and not properly tested on/experimented with. They might be able to sense the other Number’s(like how Eight/Kali and Eleven/El seemed to sense one another) but that would be it. This would certainly make them feel out of place amongst the other Numbers and allow them to later on bond with Will, who has went through the same feelings before. They would also be another reason why Will is brought in as an Honorary Number in the first place, since there’s essentially a gap in the team. Perhaps since Will has so many negative associations and past trauma with his powers(unlike El/Eleven who has used her powers to save those she loves multiple times and definitely wants her powers back) he could eventually permanently give Thirteen his powers(further strengthening their bond). If the theory I saw that El unknowingly temporarily gave Hopper her powers is true, then she could be the one to show him how to do this. After the other Numbers I’ve listed, that leaves Thirteen to be the one to run into Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica’s group. They would be yet another kid for Steve to babysit (at least this one doesn’t have superpowers to sass him with like El does Hopper...yet). And since Thirteen is the youngest of the Numbers this could potentially let them get along well with Erica, the youngest of the overall group so far!

Whew, there we have it. Wow that was so much longer than I though it would be. Sorry about that lol. But if you actually read any of this please let me know what you think of our ideas and if you have any of your own theories for the Numbers. Super hyped about the potential of these superpowered kids!

Stranger Things Squad Goals

A.k.a Future Team Ups I Wish to See in the Show!

* If Robin does help Will come to terms with being Gay, maybe in season 4 Steve can figure out he’s Bi in order to help Mike come to terms with being Bi in season 5(the final season?).  Thus making the four of them an LGBT power team up, how great would that be?

* Another team up combo that could have been great (or will be great if they somehow find a way to make Alexei alive) is Alexei, Mr. Clarke (kids’ science teacher) and Murray. Also their codenames could all be birds!!! Woodpecker (due to the plushie), Meadowlark (rhymes with/similar to Clarke), and Bald Eagle (already canon lol) respectively. 

* Give us more sibling shenanigans! El with Will and Jonathon now that they’ re going to be living together(come on good big bro Jonathon for both Will and El). Some more Mike and Nancy team ups. And finally some Lucas and Erica bonding now that she seems to be finally accepting the fact that she’s a nerd too. (Also if Billy really is “Winter Soldier”ing it maybe we’ll finally get some more closure for him and Max.)

* If Will really does have powers and Eight/Kali does make a return, I’d love to see a team up of them two and El. El and Kali could have an opportunity to but heads over how best to train/help Will with his powers. Which could potentially help them eventually understand each other better after the falling out they had. (Maybe they even team up to go find the other Numbers/Test Subjects or at least try to find documents/information about them who knows.)

* If Hopper and Alexei are both still alive, for them to team up to escape the Russians. (Maybe even running into and teaming up with “Winter Soldier” Billy.)

* Steve and Hopper interactions because they both seem to be good at randomly adopting lovable yet troublesome kids. Plus they’re the sole Prep and Jock(respectively) amongst an entire group of Nerds lmao.

* For Steve to have a chance to bond with Will and El, one having been pushed to the background and the other not having been adopted by him yet since she was mainly home stuck(if you get this reference I love you).

* For Robin to bond with Max, El, Will, Lucas and Dustin and for Nancy and Jonathon to bond with Erica. One big found family here we go!!!

* Might add more on later but that’s it for now. Let me know if you have any other team up combos you’d love to see!

Might be messy but here are my headcanons about Jane Hopper's hobbies and with who she would do the hobbies because homegirl deserves better.

1. Figurines

She did a few visual presentation with those (Hopper's figurine stood on her desk proudly for a while). She usually works on it from her bedroom, sometimes with the door open, and Will joins her every once in a while -when he's not working on a super secret project- and they listen to music or stay silent while working. It's usually just figurines of people she knows or animals, and Joyce has a little shelf she puts them on display. Jonathan buys the material or helps sometimes. When they go back to Hawkins, she gets a look at Erica's D&D figurines, and decides to try to make Will's characters, or book monsters and creatures. Still, she likes making real people the best.

2. Baking

First of all, well, she likes Eggos. So obviously, one day, she finds a recipe, tries to make Eggos, fails miserablt and has to scrape off the remainants on the walls. Still, Joyce volunteers, then Jonathan and Will, and so they have an Eggo day once, half of the waffles are burnt, and since then, everyone likes to cook in groups.

Second, I have decided that Murray and Steve are like, THE reference for cooking, and so, Murray decides to teach her more sofisticated dishes (he starts swearing in other languages when she burns something and keeps a fire enstinguisher nearby) and Steve makes a list of her favorite foods with her, and is one of the first ones to actually take her grocery shopping.

3. Collecting and pressing flowers

She starts with flowers Mike gets her, putting them in books so that she can keep them for longer. Jonathan notices her interest in flowers and they go buy potted ones, and she puts the fallen petals in jars or dictionnaries to keep them. After that, Mike keeps getting her very simple flowers, or when they go on walks he'll put some in his pockets and give it to her as they arrive. She sometimes gives the flowers to Joyce, or Hopper, or for birthdays, but most of the time she just keeps them in the books.

4. Card games

She doesn't really understand video games or D&D, but Dustin offers her his old set of cards once -because he had no other ideas and it looked like the right gift- and since then she learnt various games with the others. She hates the Liar game, but plays Solitaire often, and now everyone gives her their old card games or even buy some new ones.

5. Home science experiment

She's a bit worried about the name at first, but Dustin has invited everyone to see his cool new experiment, one of the classic miniature volcano, and she's hooked. She stays after the others, she goes through his cool home science kit, and she starts researching tiny experiment. Her favorite ones are flames or liquids changing colors, or just anything with bubbles really. Hopper insists to watch over while she does all of that, and she even lets him take part in the process.

6. Basketball

It's not exactly a passion or anything, but Lucas and her start getting along because of their attachment to Max, and he suggests she tries basketball. They both cheer when she manages her first shot, and she sometimes goes over to his house with his small basket to try shooting again.

7. TV-shows

While she's not really interested in books, she starts watching TV, gulping down all the info and gets fascinated by people's behaviors. It gets to the point where Hopper is thinking of selling the TV and she can quote her favorite shows. Will usually watches with her, doodling by her side, and Argyle sometimes stays on the couch next to her, shouting when he sees an actor he recognizes.

The Time Before

2,592 words

an: This is my first time writing, so please be kind!

Warnings: Fluff, mentions of smoking, mentions of disease, hospitals, cats (?), angst, sadness (Let me know if I missed anything!)

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Wayne Munson classifies his life into two parts. The separator is that one fateful night that his young nephew was dropped at his front door in the middle of the night by a teary-eyed mother who offered a promise of her return. This marker leaves two pieces; the time during Eddie, and the Time Before.

The Time Before is not something that Wayne likes to talk about. The Time Before was so far away now it didn't seem real. If he thought about it too much, he would question if he hadn't just dreamed up the whole thing. But no; it was real. All of it.

He had a child, Lisa. Lisa was now just another memory from the Time Before; what seemed to be someone else's life. Someone else's child. She was happy: little blonde pigtails springing from the sides of her head, soft cotton clothes so small he couldn't believe that any human could start out that tiny. He could still remember the smell; god, the smell. It was baby powder and springtime. That's the way he remembers it. He was so careful about smoking around her, too; he didn't want her to smell like an ashtray. He would only smoke outside when she wasn't there so that the smell of tobacco wouldn't stick to her clothes or hair.

Lisa's mama was a one-night escapade; the kind of thing that's great in the moment and never happens again. After getting home from 'Nam in the early 60s, he and his buddies indulged in the nightlife that they missed out on during their stints. He never even knew her name. But when the baby was left on his doorstep with a small bag of supplies and a note for explanation, Wayne worried. He had never planned on having kids. He didn't know if he could give this little girl the life she needed. But he tried.

He had no idea what he was doing, but as she grew he realized that he must've done something right. She was talkative by the time she turned three; ever the conversationalist. He beamed as he realized she got that from him. In fact, she got most of her traits from him; her musky blue eyes, her eagerness to move, her inability to sit still. He knew that was going to be a problem once she started school, but goddamnit, he didn't care. In his eyes, she could do no wrong.

It lasted five years. Five years of trips to the park. Five years of ice cream runs. Five years of little grabby hands that were telling him, 'Pick me up, Dad, please?' Five years of her short little giggles that were so contagious that even after she dumped all the baking flour onto the floor and made a snow angel, he couldn't be mad. He was never mad at her for long.

But, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Wayne knew that. But he always thought that he would be the first to go. That it would last longer than it did.

When Lisa woke him up for the third time crying in the night, he thought it would be fine. He convinced himself it would all be fine. She had been sick for the past three days. It looked like a typical cold; she was running a fever, coughing, sneezing. But it had gotten worse in the last few hours; she was waking up to puke. She had so far thrown up three times in the last hour. She was complaining that her stomach hurt. He was trying to get her to calm down and go to sleep. But she kept crying, saying her stomach hurt.

When he ran into her room for the third time that night and flipped on the light, he knew something was really wrong. Her hands we clammy as they grabbed at him, holding onto his arm tightly, and her skin... a sinking feeling grew in his chest as he realized that her skin had grown jaundiced and pale. The small girl would shake in his arms every time she coughed, sobs racking through her body as she moaned and clutched her stomach.

He knew he had to do something. She was getting worse by the second, drifting away in his arms. He wouldn't let that happen. He scooped her up in a blanket and brought her out to the car, laying her on the front bench seat next to him and holding her as close to him as possible. She had stopped crying by the time he had pulled out of the driveway, her breathing shaky and forced. He knew he was repeating the words, 'Don't worry, Lisa, you're gonna be okay. Daddy's got you, don't worry, you're gonna be okay,' but he couldn't actually hear himself. It all felt so far away, and the sound of her labored breath seemed to ring in his ears.

He was thanking the lord that there was no one on the roads because he was pushing his truck as fast as it could go. he was desperately clinging to the small girl as he tried to remember the way to the hospital.

As they pulled up to the emergency room and he threw the truck into park, he knew. He could feel the loss. In the back of his mind, he knew that it was too late. But he was determined that it wouldn't be true. It wouldn't end that fast. He already had her backpack at home, and he was planning on surprising her with it next week. She was set to start school in two weeks, and he had bought all the school supplies he thought she would need. The backpack was blue, her favorite color, with little stars and moons all over the whole thing. It already held a pencil case filled with colored pencils and erasers, a lunchpail that matched the backpack, and three Dr. Seuss books that he was gonna start reading to her. Maybe she would even start reading them.

But all his hopes were thrown out the window the minute that he walked into the emergency room. He watched as his little girl was put on a stretcher, her tiny body not even taking up half of it. She looked so frail as the doctors and nurses wheeled her down the hallway, the fluorescent lights stinging his eyes. Everyone poked and prodded at her as he ran alongside, holding onto her hand. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her limp hand. He couldn't even hear what the nurses were saying, he just kept telling her, 'It's gonna be okay, baby, I'm here.'

He was sitting in the waiting room, watching the clock on the wall. The doctors came out two hours later.

His vision seemed to blend together until everything was just one big mush. He couldn't hear. He doubled over in his chair, feeling the tears fall down his cheeks. Lisa was gone.

They told him it was Viral Hepatitis. Two Words, Six syllables that took his baby girl away.

He had waited too long. He knew it. Maybe if he had just taken her ten minutes sooner, maybe if he had just driven a little faster, maybe if... maybe if... maybe if...

He mourned not only his little girl but the things that she never got to do. She would never go to school. Never drive. Never have another birthday party. Never make friends.

He lost so many experiences with her. He would never get to see her grow up. He would never get to go to a father-daughter dance. He would never get to give her suitors the if-you-hurt-one-little-hair-on-her-head-you-will-never-be-heard-from-again speech, never get to move her into her college dorm, never get to walk her down the aisle.

~~~

After Lisa died, Wayne decided to have her cremated. He knew he had to get out of that house, the reminders of her everywhere. He couldn't stand the idea of not being able to visit his daughter, so he thought he could take her with him and visit her anytime. He might even bury her little urn somewhere close, just out of respect for the dead.

He cleaned out the house, packing all of Lisa's things that he wanted to keep into a small box. He took all the pictures off the walls and his clothes, loaded them all up in his old pickup truck, and made the dive all the way to Indiana.

~~~

Even though he had started off strong in the new trailer, he couldn't seem to adjust. He didn't eat, didn't go outside, and didn't sleep. Every time that he wore himself down enough to pass out on the couch, he would only get about 2 hours before having another set of dreams about Lisa. He would wake up in cold sweats with tears running down his face. And the worst part? He couldn't even remember the dreams. Just the fact that they were about her.

He was miserable in this new town. He didn't even think about looking for a job for the first two weeks, but as money started to disappear, he had to look through the Help Wanted section of the newspaper.

He'd also decided that after Lisa, he needed something else to take care of. So he got a cat. He didn't know why he needed a cat; a dog would have been a lot more sensible. A dog can watch over you and protect you; maybe he could've even trained it to go hunting with him. But he decided to buy a cat. It was a tiny black ball of fur that he named Flopsy because one ear flopped down like a Bunny rabbit while the other one stayed up.

That cat was one of the best things that ever happened to Wayne. When he felt lonely, it was almost like she could sense it. She would curl up in his lap or on his chest and lay there, just keeping him company, as he watched the television.

~~~

It wasn't even six months later when there was a knock at the door. He had just finished a cigarette (he had since thrown out the rule of only smoking outside) and was finally starting to nod off when a sharp knock at the door brought him back to consciousness and he went to answer it.

In those six months, Wayne had tacked down and managed to hold on to a job at the mechanics shop two miles down the road. He was good with cars, his entire childhood was spent with his father, who was the most professional (and honestly-priced) mechanic in the entire state of Georgia. His father had taught him and his brother, Alfred, whom they all called Al, everything there was to know about cars, and it was one of the only things the man could remember the ins and outs of to this day.

When he pulled open the door, his eyes immediately danced over the figures outside. It was so dark out that he couldn't see their faces, but he could tell that one was a woman, just shy of his own height, and a small boy, at least ten, huddled behind the woman's leg. When his vision finally adjusted to the dark of the night, he recognized the face of Vivianne, his brother's wife.

Al Munson was a screwy guy, as Wayne used to say. He and his brother were polar opposites. Their father always used to say that Al had less sense than God gave a goose, and he was just about right. Al had landed himself in jail five times before he was even eighteen, and it only got uglier from there.

Al had started to mess around with Vivianne when they had just graduated high school. And she was so blind to his actions that she stayed with him, even at the advice not to from her soon-to-be brother-in-law. They had a baby a few years before Wayne, but he was still fighting in Vietnam at that time and hadn't heard anything about a child until now.

When Vivianne sat down at his kitchen table, her face covered in tears and snot, she explained that Al was going to put her in the ground. She knew it. It had been a long time coming (Al wasn't always the most even-tempered guy) but it wasn't until she had the baby that she started taking his abuse seriously.

"I don't care about what happens to me anymore, I've made my bed and now I have to lie in it. But I couldn't stand to see that little boy get left alone with his father. He would kill him, I'm sure he would."

Wayne recognized what she needed before she even asked. "I'll take him."

He didn't think about his answer; he didn't think about all the things he'd need to do, he'd need to buy a bed and clothes and food that was healthy and be able to keep a watchful eye on a new child. But somewhere deep in his heart, he wanted to take care of a kid. He thought that if he could make a difference in even one child's life, he should. For Lisa.

Vivianne left the trailer with the promise to return soon (one Wayne never believed would come to fruition), and Wayne went over to the couch and sat by the young boy. Flopsy, the cat, had taken an interest in the kid and was sitting up next to him, staring at him. The child seemed nervous, holding his bag in his lap and sitting straight up in his seat, which couldn't have been easy due to the plush cushions on the couch that seemed to want to swallow you up every time you sat down.

"Her name's Flopsy," Wayne announced, picking her up and placing her on his lap. "Do you want to pet her?" he asked softly, looking at the boy. He made no reply, just slowly moved his hand over her soft head. Flopsy immediately started purring, and the sound startled the boy, making him snatch his hand away. "No, no, no, that means she likes it. She makes that noise when she's happy," Wayne tried to explain, but the boy's fears of the cat had returned.

They sat in silence for a long while, the only thing making noise being Flopsy, who was meowing softly to be fed. Wayne eventually got up from the couch, walked to the kitchen, and refilled her food bowl. She seemed content, and he moved on to the next problem at hand: where the boy was going to sleep tonight. Wayne had an extra room where he had stored some junk when he first moved in and never got the chance to clean it out, but there was no extra bed in there. He was also not going to make the kid sleep on the couch, so he went into his own bedroom and took the sheets off the bed, replacing them with fresh ones. He cleared his side table ashtray, while he was at it, and a few empty coffee cups that he brought to the sink.

"You can sleep in there tonight, and tomorrow, we'll go out and buy you a bed and some sheets, okay?" Wayne explained to the young boy, pointing a thumb to his bedroom. The child turned to him, looking him in the eyes for the first time since he had arrived, and asked in a meek voice, "How long am I staying here?" Wayne didn't know how to answer this question. To be quite honest, he didn't know. He didn't know if Vivianne was ever going to come back and collect this kid, or if Al would come to take him. Technically, Wayne had no guardianship over him, so Al could come anytime he wanted to. Just the thought of that happening made Wayne shiver. "I don't know, kid. But it'll be good for you to have your own bedroom in case you do stay or if you come and visit," Wayne decided. The child nodded his head slowly, his small mop of curls bouncing along with him.

"What was your name again, kid?" Wayne asked, looking at him, hoping he would answer the question.

"Eddie."

I want to see a movie of Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice but with Jamie Campell Bower as Lestat and Joesph Quinn as Louis

The Time Before - Wayne's Time in 'Nam

part 1 here

Photos not mine

997 words

an: hey! I'm so happy that people are enjoying this writing! Originally I was thinking about just making this a drabble/blurb, but with the addition of this, it will hopefully be a series! Thank you so much for your support, it means the world to me!

I had to actually do considerable research for this one, so I hope it's accurate. If there are any war buffs reading this fic (I doubt it, but if you by chance are) please let me know if I got anything wrong!

warnings: mentions of war, mentions of death, PTSD, Vietnam War

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Wayne never planned on fighting in Vietnam. He himself never liked fighting and once he was back in the US he wasn't a fan of the war.

But back when he was freshly 18, starry-eyed, and eager to impress his Pop, he enlisted.

The year was 1958, the war was only three years old, and it seemed so interesting. Fascinating, if you will. A young Wayne packed his things in a gray duffel bag that he then slung over his shoulder. He can still remember what he was wearing when he left home; a red and black plaid button-down that he still wears today, a pair of blue jeans, a pair of cargo boots, and a jacket that was draped over his arm. By the time he returned to the United States, this fashion would be so far out-of-date it made his head spin.

Most of his buddies went with him, wearing practically the same clothes as him, the same combed-back hair, the same hopeful look plastered on all their faces. That look would not be there when they returned (if they returned at all). But none of this was a worry to either Wayne or any of the five guys that went with him; Joey, Billy, Tucker, Jack, and Arthur. Tucker and Wayne had known each other the longest out of any pair in the group: they were next-door neighbors for their entire lives. Growing up in Redmont, Georgia, a town of under 1,000, everyone was practically your neighbor.

Tucker and Wayne were inseparable. Both of their mothers used to say, 'You'd think those boys were sown together at the hip, with all the time they spend together.' It was true; their entire lives were spent with each other. As kids, that meant skipping rocks in the creek and climbing trees. As teenagers, they shotgunned beers that they had stolen from Al, Wayne's older brother (he had a friend who made fake IDs, and good ones at that), jumped fences to irritate the chickens in their coop, stole cigarettes from their fathers' pockets and coats, and generally spent their days causing as much trouble as they could think up.

They all were shipped out to basic training in California first. Some of the guys were split up between different platoons, but they all saw each other often enough. These seemed minor inconveniences to them; they were ready, excited, and filled with energy.

The strictness of the rules and regulations was nothing new to Wayne, either. The high school had the strictest administration, it was said, in the entire state of Georgia and possibly the surrounding states. Their football was compared to basic training, and most of the guys had been on that team in high school, so they were not phased by anything that the Army decided to throw at them.

But once they were shipped out to Vietnam, the excitement quickly subsided. Over time, each man came to learn the price of war. The price that they each had to individually pay.

Wayne spent five years in 'Nam, fighting alongside Tucker. They were rumored to be the most indestructible duo on Vietnamese soil. But five years seemed to be Wayne's unlucky number.

He still has nightmares about the war. He used to say, 'You don't realize the price you have to pay when you're going to war. It's all fine and dandy when you enlist, and even through basic training. You don't think about the fact that in five years' time, you're going to be holding your dead best friend, his head in your lap, eyes wide open and staring right at you, somewhere in the Vietnamese wilderness with shots still coming at you.' Of course, that was when he still talked about the war at all.

After Tucker passed away, Wayne left Vietnam. He was twenty-three by that point and was sick of fighting. The effect of the excitement had worn off long ago, but once Tucker was gone, it felt hopeless. He was homesick, endlessly tired, and was done with combat.

Of the six that shipped out, only four returned; Wayne, Joey, Billy, and Jack. They finally reunited in 1965 after they had all returned to the US, deciding to indulge in the spoils of war. They traveled as a band, a crew, a group, a lineup. You didn't see one without seeing the other three close behind. They were like this for many years afterward until they scattered across the country; Wayne moved to Kansas and soon started to take care of Lisa, Jack married a young girl named Francine and they settled down together in New Hampshire (to have a whopping six children throughout their marriage), Joey stayed single, moved to Kentucky and still visits Wayne often, and Billy moved to Florida and started a family with a nice woman named Becky.

When the infamous 'make love, not war' protests started to pop up around America, Wayne found himself supporting the cause. He had never gone to war because he hated the other side or loved fighting; he had gone because everyone told him to go. Because it was all so new and shiny, and because he wanted to impress Pop. Because all of his friends were going, and because he wanted the glory. But in reality, he always felt bad when he was over there. There was always a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw the destruction that people suffered at his hands. The main reason he stayed was because of Tucker. Tucker made it nostalgic. Fighting with Tucker reminded him of being a teenager and hopping Mr. Luschogi's fence to tip his cows in the middle of the night. It felt mischievous and a little dangerous, and it gave him a huge adrenaline rush. But without Tucker, he didn't get to keep those blinders on. He saw, plain and simple, that he was hurting people. And that was never what Wayne signed up for.

The Time Before Masterlist

The Time Before (Part 1) here

The Time Before - Wayne's Time in 'Nam (prologue/part 2) here

The Time Before - The Early Days (part 3) here

The Time Before - Vivianne Peretti (part 4) here

The Time Before - Eddie's Movies (part 5) here

All the works can now also be found under the #xxforestfairyxx's The Time Before

And on Wattpad!