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conflictofthemind · 1 month

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TL;DR: HNL was studying how to give human subjects electromagnetic, most specifically visible light based, powers in order to bend space-time for their needs.

I’m going to try and condense this as much as I can because considering electromagnetism as a major force in ST (pun intended) opens up so many potential areas of analysis that can only be a brief cover of without turning into multiple essays.

Let’s go over the electromagnetic spectrum:

I hope you might already be recognizing some symbols we see often in Stranger Things, especially if you’ve been following the BTS and some location and set leaks from Season 5.

The electromagnetic spectrum encompasses the different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation - waves of energy that travel at the speed of light (and produce visible light to us at certain frequencies). You’ve probably heard of most of these, including cancer-causing gamma rays and x-rays, the visible light spectrum (the rainbow), microwaves, and radio waves.

In S5, we have the radio station as a main location for the characters. They’re also driving around in the radio station’s van, which has an image of a hawk emitting a rainbow (visible light radiation). Steve’s car also has a massive antenna on top of it. My first thoughts were that the team was trying to keep in contact with Max in hopes of her being able to hear them in her coma, considering she has a radio near her bedside. While that still may be a reason, I think the characters may have come to realize how important electromagnetic fields could be in their fight against Vecna (this where leader of the AV Club also focused on electromagnetic objects Scott Clarke may make his triumphant return).

Now to pivot onto why electromagnetism is so important to the lore of ST:

What the scientists in Hawkins Lab are likely studying is a way for human brains to produce or manipulate certain types of electromagnetic waves through telepathy. Most obviously this is seen by them having the kids try to manipulate and turn on a circle of light bulbs. Our brains actually already produce electromagnetic waves, but at a very slow frequency. The scientists are constantly measuring brain waves while conducting these experiments. We even get full shots of El’s brain waves during NINA, for example. We also see similar shots in S2 while Will is in the HNL.

You can also observe that the Hawkins National Laboratory has absolutely massive satellite dishes on it’s rooftop; ones that do not exist on the real life building but are added in post because they pose some sort of significance. Nudge, it’s because they are transmitting and receiving massive amounts of electromagnetic waves.

Why are they studying electromagnetic waves then?

They are studying electromagnetic waves because they are a method in which time travel can theoretically be achieved - the focus of the Montauk Project in which Stranger Things is based on. The military likely is investigating time travel as another war tactic against Russia.

Let us take a look at the first chapter of the Montauk Project: Experiments in Time book (they are seriously plagiarizing the living hell out of this thing):

Also, did you catch the whole 'attaching a massive antenna on the hood of my car to pick up a secret signal' thing? That's suspiciously similar to the state of Steve's car! Anyway...

The story of Stranger Things starts chronologically, as does Montauk, with the disappearance of the USS Eldridge and Project Rainbow (named after the bending of the visible light spectrum). Brenner’s father was revealed to have captained the boat in TFS, which disappeared for 12 hours into Dimension X and when it came back, the crew was killed or driven mad (except for Brenner Sr). This inspires Brenner to continue onto the Nevada project, and eventually, Hawkins National Lab’s studies. The USS Eldridge / Philadelphia Project conspiracy from real life went as follows:

They were studying electromagnetism, specifically the bending of light, to make objects invisible. This was only the first step in the experiments. Once Henry got involved and came back from his trip to Dimension X with powers, Brenner must have realized he could potentially use human subjects to manipulate electromagnetic fields themselves. Human subjects didn’t require machinery or set up and could bend space-time wherever they pleased, as long as they were able to learn the ability.

The more conspiratiorial side of Theoretical Physics proposes using circulating light beams to warp time-space, creating a wormhole in which one can literally walk through time. This is pop-science, likely not true but interesting for fiction purposes. This method of time travel being used is heavily implied due to the fact that the USS Eldridge was already able to disappear into another dimension by the bending of light.

This is how it worked in the Montauk Project book (absolutely ridiculous how much they took from this honestly):

My guess is that in the Stranger Things universe, they have not yet managed to time travel, only to create portals into this alien Dimension X. Previously, said portals were only made twice by highly advanced technological equipment. El demonstrated that she was able to open a portal all by herself - another step to achieving time travel with singular human subjects. Season five is when we will see the beginning of the time travel plot line, though it like in Montauk is likely already in a loop.

That’s where we get the name for the Rainbow Room, named after this Project Rainbow. The rainbow represents the full spectrum of visible light, and the goals of the project to bend said light into portals and eventually time travel wormholes.

Implications?:

-Well, first of all it seems very obvious by this point that we are going for a time travel plot line, and this is how it will be achieved.

-Will is heavily connected to light in general, the sun, and of course… the rainbow. He is also implied be the one involved in the time travel plot line. This will be very relevant going forward and deserves it’s own post. Potential funniness of defeating Vecna with the power of the rainbow afoot.

-Coma patients are known to have odd, barely detectable brain waves. The kids will be able to communicate with Max in her coma using the electromagnetic spectrum somehow, probably through the radio waves.

-On the farthest end of the spectrum, we have ionizing gamma ray radiation, which is known to cause cancer in humans. Expect Hopper’s daughter Sara to connect to this plot line (and perhaps Sam Owens’ dead son). There is a whole theory on this site already called radiationgate. I have not managed to look into it yet but I think they are probably onto something there. The original al pitch mentions the UD leakage into the real world causing cancer as well.

#stranger things #dr brenner #will byers #max mayfield #byler #<- fuck it intended audience #el hopper #st theory #electromagnetismgate #:)#tagging them for the exposure cause idk who is going to see this #time travel

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sp0o0kylights · 2 months

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There were a lot of things Mike hated in life.

The demogorgon, and how it had essentially destroyed his life.

Brenner, and the madhouse laboratory El had survived.

How each and every one of his friends now did something weird--were weird, because flashing lights or fireworks or some stupid tune a toy horse played dragged up memories that made their eyes flat and faces hollow.

Most of all though, Mike hated how much they relied on Steve.

There was no reason he should be the person to call when it started pouring and no one wanted to bike home from AV.

Steve wasn’t Nancy, or Jonathan, or a parent--he wasn’t even dating anyone related to any of the Party anymore so what excuse did he have to keep hanging around?

(Even if Jonathan was always working, and Nancy was always busy with some club or homework, and everyone’s parents all seemed to be in a race of who could get back to normal the fastest…)

They should at least try to get a hold of other people, instead of constantly going to Steve first.

“Why?” Dusitn had scoffed at him the last time this had happened, feeding quarters into a phone and staring at Mike like he was the one being unreasonable. “I’m not gonna waste money just to hear your sister tell us no again when we all know Steve will do it.”

Which was perhaps the most infuriating part of it all.

That Steve would do it.

Show up and help them, even if he bitched the whole time.

Hell, Steve Harrington knew more about Mike’s life offhand than Nancy did, and that made him want to punch a wall more days than it didn’t. Why the hell was Steve so involved?

It was stupid.

Weird, even! They weren’t friends, (even if Dustin and Max and El of all people said the opposite) he wasn’t being paid to babysit, (Mike had double checked; going round to ask Ma Henderson and Mrs. Sinclair, only to get an earful of how wonderful Steve was from both.) he had no reason to hang around!

It didn’t make sense that Steve could be harassed into picking them up from school.

Would take them to get ice cream, or hand over extra quarters for the arcade. He even gave out advice like some kind of--brother that Mike had never wanted.

Above all?

Mike hated that when he needed someone, the number he punched in on automatic was Steve’s.

“I need you to come get me.” He said into the receiver, mad at himself and the world, but mostly mad that beyond the normal amount of squawking Steve did, he shut up and came.

Drove up in his rich boy car, stepping out and herding Mike into it like the rain hadn’t already seeped into his bones.

“You wanna tell me why you snuck into a bar two towns over?” Steve asked, long after Mike had slung himself into the passenger seat, arms crossed defensively over his chest.

“No.”

One of Steve’s hands went right to his hair, running through it before adjusting the mess he’d just made.

It was a nervous habit, and Mike hated that he knew that too.

“Okay, well.” Steve’s hand fell back to the steering wheel, clenching tight around it. “Next time you want to do something dumb could you at least come talk to me about it beforehand?”

“What the hell would that do?” Mike bitched, staring firmly out of the window.

“Not waste my gas for starters.” Steve bitched right back. “But I dunno man, we could have taken some bats and gone and wailed on cars in the junkyard and talked or some shit, not--whatever this all was.”

‘This all’ was accompanied by a wave of his hand, indicating not just the bar Mike had been standing in front of, but his general sopping wet state.

“You’d actually go to the junkyard with me?” Mike challenged, doubtful.

Steve made a face. “Did you lose your hearing in there? I just said--.”

“Why?” Mike interrupted. “Why the fuck would you come out with me?”

Matching his entire aggressive tone, Steve said; “Because it’s better than trying to sneak into the one local gay bar when you’re barely fourteen, Michael.”

And that?

Steve being oddly aware of shit he really shouldn’t have?

Mike hated that too.

“You knew what the bar was?” He asked, his voice coming out much smaller than he intended.

“Everyone knows what that bar is, except it’s more of a biker bar than a gay bar.” Steve shot back--which did actually explain about ten different questions Mike had about the place. “Also, language you little shit.”

Under his breath, Steve continued in a muttered; “I swear I’m going to start carrying around soap.”

“You cuss more than we do.” Mike responded, and if his own voice was a little strangled as he fought back the sudden swell of tears, then that was between him and God.

He was not crying in front of Steve Harrington, he outright refused.

“The point I’m making is that there are way better bars to sneak into. That one’s not nearly as welcoming as people make it out to be, probably because they’re sick of all the rumors.”

Steve seemed to realize what he was implying because he quickly added; “Not that you should be sneaking into any bars at all!”

“You’re not my mom.” Mike’s voice turned wet as he lost his battle with his throat, voice cracking as he failed to choke the tears back.

“No shit Wheeler.” Steve said, and at least he was good enough not to call attention to Mike’s crying.

If he had, Mike was pretty sure he’d just up and die of embarrassment, right there.

“I don’t get why you care.” He muttered, angrily swiping at his eyes.

“I didn’t keep you alive this long just so you could die of something stupid.” Steve countered easily.

Which was kinda fair, if you thought about it.

Mike very much did not want to think about it.

Any of it.

Ever.

“Are you gonna tell my parents?” He asked after a painfully long moment.

Long enough that Steve had begun fiddling with the radio, trying to find a station as they drove back that wasn’t wailing country or gospel music.

“I’m not a narc, so no.”

“Not about the bar.”

Now Steve just looked confused.

Probably because he was, because he was without a doubt the stupidest almost adult Mike knew.

(Not that he could say that out loud--last time he had, Max had made one of her pissy faces and then El got mad because Max was, which led to a break up, which led to Mike having to beg his way back into his girlfriend’s good graces while explaining that he hadn’t meant it like that.

“How did you mean it then?” Max demanded, and Mike wasn’t sure how he managed to dodge that entire conversation but he had, on grounds that untangling his own emotions regarding stupid Steve made him want to pull his hair out and scream.)

“What about then?”

“You know. Don’t make me say it.” Mike absolutely didn’t plead, even if it did sort of, kind of, sound like pleading.

Steve flicked his eyes away from the road to give one long, weird look at Mike. The same one he gave Dustin when he went off on a rant about Cerebro or Lucas when he started discussing the stats of different D&D weapons.

Unlike those times, Steve’s face cleared.

“Oh.” He said, blinking, and Mike could practically see the light bulb flash above his head.

Then;

“Nah.”

Mike waited.

And waited.

And kept waiting as Steve went back to searching through radio channels, as if that was the end of the conversation.

It couldn't be the end of this conversation.

Not when this was the part that was eating Mike alive.

He didn’t know if this was Steve repressing it on purpose or if this was what he had to look forward to for the rest of his life if he kept trying to figure his own head out, but either way, he knew he had a choice to make.

To let the unspoken part of today die quietly. Go unsaid, and remain unsaid, for all eternity--or he could let it out.

Shove the “gay” part of “gay bar” in Steve’s stupid, jock face.

Make him acknowledge it, even if it got Mike kicked out of the car, and who cared if it did?

Steve wasn’t the person who should have picked him up anyway.

The anger climbed higher and higher in his chest, tears and rage combining until Mike spat it all out, furious.

“You’re not going to ask if I’m gay?”

Steve didn’t turn to face him, but Mike saw his eyebrow cocking anyway, given how he was currently glaring a hole in the side of the older teen’s head.

“Do you want me to?”

“No.” Mike bit out automatically. “Yes. I don’t know!”

Steve’s hand found its way back into his hair.

“Okay then.” Steve paused, clearly fishing for something to say.

Gleefully, Mike watched him struggle.

“Do you like guys?” He managed finally, looking like he was navigating a minefield more than just talking.

“I don’t know.” Mike stressed, sinking lower in his seat. “Why do you think I was at the bar? I was trying to figure it out!”

“Honestly I assumed this was some sort of stupid dare--but!” Steve held up a finger, before Mike could interrupt, “But let’s--shit, hold on, I had a speech for this but I kinda wasn’t expecting to use it this soon. Um.”

“You have a speech for me being gay?”

“Not for you.” Steve rolled his eyes. “For--in general! It was an in general, just in case speech!”

He rounded on Mike, for longer than the younger was comfortable with given Steve took his eyes off the road to do it. “Okay--you can like boobies, you can like, uh--not boobies, and that’s fine! It’s all totally fine!”

“You are not making it sound like it’s fine.” Mike said, feeling like he’d been taken out by hearing Steve say the word “boobies.”

Gross, gross, gross.

“Well it is.” Steve said, in a tone that felt like he was two seconds from adding in a smarmy ‘so there!’ at the end.

“But I’m dating El.” Mike whined, which really, was both the heart of the matter and the eye of the storm that had been growing in his head for months now. “I can’t be gay if I like her.”

“Don’t you guys break up and get together like four times a week?”

“No, that's Max and Lucas, El and I are stable.” Mike scoffed. “Or we--we were stable.”

Before he started to have thoughts about people that weren't his girlfriend.

Or women.

“Stable for being in middle school, sure.” Steve snorted. “You don’t just have to like one or the other you know. You can like dudes and chicks at the same time.”

Which Mike did not know, on account of being fourteen.

He did his absolute damndest not to show that realization, instead adding that to the list of reasons why he hated Steve Harrington too.

Steve shouldn't be the one teaching him about who you could like!

“The point is that who you end up loving isn’t a problem.” Steve finally looked back to the road. “Other people might be an issue, and those people we can punch in the face so long as the cops aren’t looking, which isn’t part of the speech so let’s not tell people I said that part, but whatever you do choose, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Steve’s voice went firm, as he apparently recalled his speech or something close enough to it because his next words sounded a little rehearsed. “You have people who are here for you, no matter what. Okay?”

Oh God, Mike was crying again.

He wanted to punch Steve in his stupid face.

Wanted to hold onto the fury he'd built inside himself. Thrash around, throw himself out of the car, get away from the emotions that felt too big for his chest to contain.

Instead he felt it all break on Steve's acceptance. On word's he didn't know he needed to hear until they'd been spoken, and sniffed out a quiet; “Okay.”

Steve of course had to take it too far by reaching over and patting his knee, which they both regretted judging by how quickly Steve took his hand back and the face Mike made at his hand--but it…

It was appreciated, even amongst all Mike's rage.

Steve was appreciated.

Not that Mike would ever, on pain of death, tell him that.

Neither said a word for a while, Steve finally landing on a radio that was playing some Top 40 hit, Tears for Fears singing about ruling the world while Mike found himself trying to rebuild his own once again, tired of it having shattered so many times over.

At least he finally felt better, even if he refused to admit Steve was the reason for it.

He wasn’t quite done though.

There was a piece Steve had skipped over, that Mike felt was critically important, if only because it was partly the reason he was having thoughts about being gay in the first place.

He had to know if Steve saw it too.

That it wasn’t just him and his stupid head, making up things that weren’t there.

“Hey Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Who was the speech for?”

Steve sighed.

“Rule one of the whole queer thing Wheeler, you don’t out other people.”

Like there were written rules or something.

(Maybe there were, it wasn't like Mike knew.)

“Was it Will?” Mike asked, and pretended like he didn’t desperately want the answer to be yes.

Steve didn’t say a thing, but the fact he nearly took the car off the road was a pretty solid answer in itself.

“We’re not playing guessing games about other people’s sexualites!” He yelped, hands gripping the steering wheel as Mike felt a wave of relief crash through him.

Will was--maybe, possibly, also--queer too.

Which didn’t make this any better but it--wasn’t the not preferred outcome, either.

(It wasn’t just Mike struggling alone, trying to figure out if his best friend wanted to be more than that, if El was breaking up with him and more and more because she wanted to be less than a girlfriend, if things were changing and he would have no one--)

“I’m not out here picking Will up from a gay bar dipshit, I’m picking you up, and this is your reminder that next time, you should just come talk to me!” Steve ranted.

Mike snorted.

He absolutely hated Steve Harrington, but--

“Fine.” He said, talking so low he could barely be heard. “I will.”

--maybe Mike did have someone in his corner after all.

Even if it was just Steve.

xXx

Bonus:

“Between you and me, that kid is gayer than a two dollar bill.”

“Wow Robin,” Steve teased, “Isn’t that like, a slur or whatever?”

He snickered when she rolled her eyes and threw a roll of stickers his way.

“I’m just saying. Did you see the way he was looking at you when you were showing off your stupid biceps?” Robin said, nudging her shoulder into Steve’s. “Will’s gonna have a rude awakening later if he hasn’t already.”

Steve nudged her back, but kept his gaze on the Party as they trooped their way from Family Video to the arcade next door, the realization that they now had connections for free rentals making them downright gleeful.

Will was the last one in, and Steve watched him hurry so as to not be left behind.

He didn’t like to worry about the dipshits, but Robin was just putting voice to a thought Steve knew he wasn’t the first person to have.

And if he noticed it, then it didn't exactly bode well as being kept a secret.

“Should we like…talk to him about that?” He asked after a long moment, turning to face Robin.

“Us?” She pointed at herself, before turning her finger on Steve. “Why us?”

“Well you’re into girls.” He gave her a pointed look, glad that the store was empty of everyone but them so he could actually voice all this. “And I’m fine with it.”

“Yeah I’m sure he wants to know you’re fine with it.” Robin taunted, but she had her thinking face on, eyes out to the middle distance. “I barely know him. You barely know him--he’s the quietest out of all your kids.”

“They’re not my kids.” Steve argued automatically. “They're like a weird cross between shitty siblings and that kid in your class who never leaves you alone.”

A fact Steve no longer took for granted, even if he made it sound like the worst thing ever.

“I just think it’d be nice if he knew that he had people in his corner, you know? Who supported him and shit.”

“Steve, you compared my crush to a muppet, that wasn’t supportive.” Robin countered, but it too was on automatic.

Softer she admitted; “You’re right though. If I had known other queer people, if I had known people would accept me...it would have made things a lot easier.”

A very long pause, in which both of them stewed for a moment, before Robin abruptly slapped her hand down on the table.

“Okay, you got me. We're doing it, and I'm making us a speech.”

“A speech?”

“Yes dingus, a speech. I know you, you’re terrible when you’re put on the spot with this kinda thing, and trust me with things like this the moment will be spontaneous.”

“It’s Will, how spontaneous can it be?” Steve challenged back. “Getting a dinner order out of him is a chore.”

“Stop whining and hand me that notepad. Im telling you its gonna happen when you least expect it and then you're gonna thank me later.”

“It better not happen without you.” Steve sighed, but passed the notepad over.

God the things he did for those stupid kids.

Bonus x2

Steve would later go on to use the speech on himself, in a gas station bathroom mirror, eyes wide and freaked out after Eddie Munson called him Big Boy in a van they stole, while Robin snickered behind him.

He would turn on her, snapping that she; “Help me with this dammit!”

In return she’d remind him that Tammy might sing like a muppet but Eddie was the guy who stepped on lunches while giving speeches at lunch and sticking his tongue out, and “Really Steve, I think I won best gay awakening, here.”

Which would promptly start an argument regarding how it wasn’t a competition, which would continue for another fifteen or so odd years before finding its way as a reference into both of their speeches as each other’s best man.

Nancy and Eddie wouldn’t get it at either wedding, but Mike would.

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cloudycleric · 4 months

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working theory about the bts we've seen today,

we saw a video as well as some photos of mike & el. i will say, the video indicating more of the tone of the actual scene than the photos, it's a pretty chill/almost serious scene that could be pivot the story for reasons i'll explain. i've seen some people say they've read "friends" & "whatever happens" & "cool". im kinda shit at reading lips so the only phrase i could see for myself to try & verify this is "well, whatever happens," after el says something to mike.

i'm thinking this is a little bit suspicious guys. being the realist i am i think it's possible that it is a break up scene, but also theres an entire season that is yet to be filmed. i will say it does not look romantic.

this also (i think, correct me if i'm wrong) takes place at the radio station, which has been shown to be a really prevalent part of shooting so far. my working theory is that mike works there, considering his av club president past. if that's correct, the only thing that i can think about, is why would el come to visit mike at work? does she also work there (unlikely considering the gov would probably shoot her immediately)? what was so important, that both el & mike had to talk, presumably during mike's shift, outside, on the roof, where nobody can hear them?

maybe it was something related to the upside down, or any of the more supernatural occurrences, which could explain the "well, whatever happens" that i picked up (but make sure to watch the video for yourself), but also it could not be that, too. a gut feeling tells me it's not about the upside down because they look pretty calm, despite the more serious yet relaxed tone i'm picking up here. i feel like both mike & el would be way more animated if they were talking about anything related to the upside down, mindflayer, vecna, or something related to that. but that's just how oliver c's it.

anyway, i just want to say mike wheeler is gay. thats all

#mike wheeler #stranger things 5 #stranger things #st5 spoilers #anti mileven #byler #(target audience)#st5 theory

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klausinamarink · 8 months

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One Kid Gone, Another Up and Vanished (part 7)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 next: Part 8

spoilers but a phone call gets through!

“You’re a thousand percent sure?”

Mike groans as he checks down the school halls, “Yes, Lucas. How many times do I gotta tell you that?”

“Well, maybe until I’m positive that we’re not having a collective auditory hallucination or the weirdo isn’t tricking us.” Lucas crosses his arms. Beside Dustin, El mutters “auditory hallucination” to herself with furrowed eyebrows.

“You guys hear that?!” Dustin exclaims too loudly, earning equally loud shushes. “Sorry, but El just said a scientific word without mispronouncing it! She really does have superpowers…”

“Not now, Dustin.” Mike hushes as they finally get to the AV club. He unlocks the door and lets everyone inside after peeking in. He guides El to sit in front of the radio while Lucas and Dustin turn it on.

Dustin won’t lie - he’s super excited to see El use her powers for the radio. He couldn’t believe it when she made Will’s voice come out. Will! Alive and singing!

But he’s still confused over Mike’s news of Will being with someone named Eddie. Eddie who? is their biggest question but El can’t say because she doesn’t know his last name or how to describe him.

“He’s a friend.” She keeps telling them.

Dustin prays it’s not Eddie Tremblay from fifth grade. The little sucker doesn’t deserve to be Will’s new friend after his football landed on their rocket project last month.

“Aaaand we’re in!” He announces, hopping behind El. Mike and Lucas squish against him even though they clearly have much more space.

El closes her eyes and listens to the whining static. Then the static changes through channels, voices quickly overlapping until they get more comprehensive. Then the voices get compressed into six, four, two-

“-Control to Major Tom..”

Dustin shoots his hand forward and grabs one of the speakers. But so does Lucas and Mike and now they’re slapping each other’s hands until Lucas finally takes it and yells, “Will, can you read us? Over!”

“‘Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong..’”

At the sound of the second person, Dustin’s first thought is oh thank God, it’s not Tremblay. Then his second thought is hm, this Eddie guy sounds kinda cool. Then his third thought is oh my god, we gotta talk to Will!

“Will! Do you copy? Over!”

“Will, where are you?”

“You feeling a bit better so far?”

“Tell Eddie we’re saying hi! Who is he? Over!”

“I’m getting cold again..”

“Me too. C’mon here.”

“Will! We’re right here!”

“How the hell are they not hearing us?”

“I wish I could go home…”

“So do I…”

El gives out a painful gasp and the radio explodes into flames. Dustin manages to extinguish it before the rest of the room catches, but the fire alarm goes off.

They all stare at the now-ruined transmitter, their only chance of connecting with Will and his mysterious new friend.

—

Eddie’s definitely missing.

It’s a fact that Jeff grows more sure of every day since Wayne Munson had asked him for Eddie’s secretive hideouts.

He keeps trying to ignore the seed of dread in his stomach, but it’s impossible now with the slightly somber atmosphere in the school after the morning announcement of Will Byers’ death. The fact that Eddie hasn’t shown up for classes or in the cafeteria again today isn’t helping either.

“If Munson’s still gonna be on his bender, he should’ve at least cancelled this week’s session.”

Jeff takes a half-open Skittles bag from Maya’s tray and throws it at Evan, making the two members jump. Maya because those are her Skittles and Evan because the bag hits his chest making more pieces fly out on the table.

“Eddie’s not on a bender.” Jeff hisses at Evan. Across him, Frankie is giving him one of his Don’t-Make-This-Any-Worse looks.

Evan huffs and crosses his arms, “Oh, yeah? Then where the hell is he?”

“Definitely not on a bender of any kind!”

“Gee thanks, that clears things up.”

Jeff’s about to snap back, but Frankie discreetly kicks his leg with a warning glare. It might be a good call because Jeff doesn’t know what to say next. Another defence of Eddie, for sure, but nothing to quench the rest of the club’s antsy-ness.

“Maybe he’s gone to a concert. Like hitchhiked to Indy or Chicago?” Maya asks after picking up her spilled candy.

“But he has a van?” Daniel, the senior member of Hellfire and their current drummer, frowns pointedly.

“What concert could’ve he gone to? Is there even any band playing in this bum state?” Evan raises his eyebrows.

“I dunno, Dio?”

“They’re touring in the UK right now.” Frankie says. Jeff shoots him a bewildered look that’s the equivalent to screaming are you kidding me? Frankie gives him a Play-Along-With-It look.

“Well, that settles it.” Evan raps his knuckles on the table. “Munson’s saved a fucking ticket to the goddamned Iron Lady’s territory and is breeding chicks in Dio’s mosh pit as we speak.”

Jeff stands up, no longer feeling hungry. He throws his half-eaten sandwich at Evan. The other boy gives out a disgusted shriek as the mayonnaise hits and stains his shirt. “Dude! What-”

“Shame on you.” Jeff keeps his voice even, just quiet enough for only Hellfire to hear him. Maybe it would somehow reach Eddie wherever the hell he is right now. “The only good thing about Eddie being absent is that he isn’t ripping the skins off of you and your characters right now. Especially you, Evan.”

He stares Evan down, who visibly gulps. “Eddie took you in the club’s open arms because he saw you were a loner who needed the right people to hang out with or you would’ve been one of the bullies. And this is how you thank him?”

He looks at the rest of the members and points at them accusingly. “When Eddie comes back from whatever he’s doing, I hope that rest of y’all feel guilty for thinking he doesn’t care. Because he absolutely does.” Then he grabs his bag and leaves the cafeteria without a second thought.

Outside is chilly as usual and the breeze helps relax Jeff’s nerves. For a while at least.

He stands at the parking lot, trying to think what he should do when he hears someone running over. He looks up and groans.

“Frankie, leave me alone, man.”

“So you haven’t heard anything from Eddie?” Frankie’s voice isn’t accusing but his look might’ve been.

“No. Not since the band practice days ago.” Jeff walks away but Frankie still follows him. “Then his uncle came and asked if I knew any places Eddie frequents. I told you guys that already.”

“Doesn’t stop Evan’s stupid theories.” Frankie mutters.

“You should’ve shut him up!”

“Are you kidding? You did better than what I could’ve done.”

“Words are stronger than death looks.”

Frankie snorts. He goes quiet as they reach the end of the school parking lot. Then he says, “Are you going to search for Eddie?”

Jeff stops. Turns and stares at him. “Uh, yeah? I mean, from what he said, Wayne’s probably already doing that. So, I dunno, I’m probably gonna do the bare minimum. Like where am I going to look, dude?”

Frankie doesn’t answer. His face is strangely pale and looking at something behind Jeff. He follows his friend’s phase and feels the dread well up in his mouth when he sees a poster on a nearby telephone pole.

He doesn’t need a closer look to recognize the black and white photo of Eddie from two months ago grinning at him or the large word MISSING written in Sharpie above it.

He tries very hard not to notice that it’s stapled right below Will Byers’ already wrinkled poster.

It’s a very strong feeling to see your best friend’s missing poster a few days after you last saw him alive.

Jeff forces to tear his eyes away from Eddie’s captured monochrome cheeriness. “Know what? Fuck it. Let’s find him. Wanna start at the woods?”

—

There’s something about singing quietly in the nightscape hell mirror version of your bedroom that makes Eddie’s fingers twitch to jolt it down somewhere.

After the meltdown at the house, Will had grew more quiet. Eddie had rocked him until Will complained of motion sickness and then Eddie had held him even when they slept.

After piggybacking the kid and singing “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” (at least until Eddie admitted death by earworms and convinced a change to “Space Oddity”) on the way back to Forest Hills, Will seemed to be back in his original spirits. Still quiet but no longer on the verge of tears next to Eddie. Although his coughs started to sound more wet and shook his small frame like a leaf.

Eddie prays to god that he can speak to Wayne this time. He hopes his uncle to come up with a cooler code system than Mrs. Byers and maybe get them out somehow.

But the trailer is quiet, save for Will’s whistled breathing as he sleeps in Eddie’s arms, the old itchy quilt cocooning them both. He has to stay up. Keep a lookout for the demogorgon in this hell land and for Wayne in the real world. But he feels so tired. If he can rest his eyes for just a moment…

The sound of muffled crying wakes him up.

—

The longer Wayne stares at the posters, the bigger the impulse to rip them up grows.

After Hopper left, he had went back inside and started on making the Missing posters for Eddie. The hardest part of it had been trying to find the right photo of his nephew and he had held back tears at how much Eddie had grown. How happier he looks.

He had printed copies at the library, keeping his head down from curious and pitying eyes. Christi Waldon was nice enough not to charge him for the fees.

Then he started putting the posters up and Wayne had felt like he was making a mistake.

Nobody never said anything how difficult it is to go around town again, putting a poster with your child’s face silently begging strangers who may disliked them to find them, and to do all of this without the police helping.

Wayne had printed 100 copies. He only managed to put up 18 of them before it became too much and hurried home.

Now there’s a pile of 82 posters with Eddie’s face staring up at him on the table. Wayne can’t bring himself to rip them up no matter what his mind demands it. He has a new superstition that if he does, Eddie will never be found alive.

He checks the time. Seeing it’s only after six, he sighs heavily and takes out his cigarette. He’s briefly overcome with the memory of catching a fourteen year old Eddie trying to smoke and how his smart cookie of a nephew swallowed the lit cigarette, immediately threw up, and sobbed while Wayne had to sit down so he wouldn’t break his own ass from laughing so far. After they’d both calmed down, Wayne showed him how to smoke properly and said-

He said…

What did he say?

Something erupts from his mouth. He clamps a hand over, suddenly worrying that he just got sick. But there’s no taste of bile. Only wet salt. He takes his hand off and, ah. He’s crying.

Wayne gives a wet laugh. Then it gasps into another sob. He covers his mouth again, unable to hold the tears back.

Above him, the lights flicker.

It feels almost comforting.

Wayne sniffs, watching as the bulbs hang on to its dear life of electricity. Then one of the lamps next to the couch start flickering as well. Slow and rhythmic.

The sadness does go away, but it makes Wayne feel the back of his neck hairs stand up.

—

Eddie drops his hand from the lights, stomping over to the phone. “Fuck this, now’s the chance.”

Will glances at him from where he’s crouching by the lights, still tired from being jostled awake so soon, “Eddie?”

He turns to him and says, “Little Byers the Vanished, how does one make a landline in the Vale of Shadows?”

“You, uh, just pick it up-”

Eddie does exactly that.

“Wait! It won’t even last-!”

—

The phone rings with a shrill.

Wayne snaps his head over to it. He’s breathing slowly, watching the landline like it’s his childhood spider.

The atmosphere in his trailer feels suddenly colder. As if there are ghosts present. Waiting.

The phone rings and rings until it gets to voicemail, his gruff message for the last decade. “You’ve reached the Munsons. Leave a message after the beep.”

There’s nothing after the beep.

Wayne looks at the lights again. The ceiling light has stopped but ones over the kitchen and door are flickering this time.

The phone rings again.

He stands up slowly, walking over to the phone. It rings louder to his ears now. He tries to ignore the sudden sense of a presence behind and beside him as he picks the phone up and holds it to his ear.

He hears static as if the caller has a bad connection.

He clears his throat and speaks, “Wayne Munson speakin’.”

The static crackles with some kind of harsh breathing. It’s loud to make Wayne cringe away and hang up-

“..Wayne..”

He freezes. The anxiety vanishes in an instant. “..Eddie?” He chokes out.

“..Wayne!”

“Oh my lord…” Wayne clutches the phone closer. “You’re alive, right? Eddie! Tell me where are you!”

“..I’m-”

The phone bursts into literal shock. He drops it with a yell and it clatters to the ground, dead.

That was him. That was Eddie’s voice.

Breathing raggedly, Wayne’s gaze snaps up to the lamps flashing maniacally. The air around him feels desperate and sinks down upon him. Anxiety comes back as quick as it comes, squashing on the brief spot of hope he felt.

“Nah, fuck this.” He mutters as he swipes his keys and runs out of the door. He can’t deal with more ghosts at this hour.

—

“Nonono—NO!”

Eddie slams his hands against the lights too hard. The pulsing glass bulbs nearly crack under the pressure.

None of it stops the sound of the truck engine starting.

“Wayne, it’s me! Can’t you hear me?!” Eddie’s throat is already dry from screaming, but he doesn’t care about it. “UNCLE WAYNE! JUST STOP AND LISTEN TO ME!”

He runs outside to the ever barren yard. He tries not to think about Wayne leaving just like how his dad did in his very last visit. How he had tried to chase after his dad’s car until Wayne stopped him. How he had been a crying mess while Wayne told him that both of them will stay together from now on.

“WAYNE, PLEASE! YOU PROMISED TO STAY!”

The truck drives away, farther and farther. If Eddie can catch him-

His lungs constrict themselves again. He stumbles, scraping his knees and palms on the ground. He coughs, gulping in too many shaky breaths that almost tastes like glass shards. He calls out-

“Come back! Come back!”

It comes out as a hoarse whisper.

His throat hurts.

The truck disappears. The sounds of the trailers’ muted everyday life and his own painful wheezing replace it.

Eddie is vaguely aware of Will shuffling up next to him and wrapping his arms around his shaking shoulders.

Taglist: @unclewaynemunson @steves-strapcollection @hellion-child @sidekick-hero @mmmmwaffles94 @demolitionjetstar @hbyrde36 @princessstevemunson @sirsnacksalot @tartarusknight @lyriclight @kodaik97 @plsdontdrinkmylavalamp @bookbinderbitch @gutterflower77 @soaringornithopter @angeldreamsoffanfic @panicatthediaz @renaissan-vvitch @manda-panda-monium @newtstabber @little-trash-ghost

#hellfire club: oh man Eddie’s an asshole for ditching us #Jeff: YOU are all assholes for talking shit about him #eddie: (getting old traumas resurfacing at an usually bad moment in an alternate dimension with a child stuck to his side) this is fine :)#narration: he is not fine and it Gets Worse #yeah space oddity is on the nose for that bit but shhh #eddie and will in the upside down au #the party #jeff stranger things #unnamed freak stranger things #wayne munson #eddie munson #will byers #stranger things #klaus writes

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ven0moir · 1 year

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ONE SIDED LOVE IN ST ... SPOILER ALERT: BYLER IS NOT ONE SIDED.

In S2, the show gave us examples on how they set up a requited vs one-sided love triangle ... and what's interesting about it was that Mike mirrored BOTH parties; the one who got their feelings reciprocated and the one that did not. Take a look at how it was blocked.

In the very first scene of the season, Lucas tells us what's going to happen; 'Princess Daphne' aka Max in this analogy, will end up with him (this was confirmed by the Duffers btw. This dialogue foreshadowed Lucas ending up with Max).

When they first see Max, she's introduced as the new student, aka, she is alone/has no friends. When Mike first saw Will, it was the first day of kindergarten and they were BOTH alone too. Then, Dustin and Lucas both approached Max and asked her to join their party. Mike approached Will and asked him to be his friend.

Mike is mirroring both Dustin AND Lucas, which is also why there were TWO Venkmans but Mike insisted they can only be one. (In meta dialogue, only one would get together with their love interest.) Now, I believe this is all FORESHADOWING Mike and Will ending up together (I don't think Mike was aware/had feelings for Will yet)

When they all go trick or treating, Dustin and Lucas end up spending the night with Max while Mike ends up spending it with Will back in his basement. (It is unclear how long they all were trick or treating for/how long Will stayed over with Mike but since it was established they'd be picked up at 9pm, I'm going to assume that's how long they were together)

Now this is where things shift a bit and it is then Will who mirrors Lucas; they both tell their love interest about the supernatural, and ask them to keep it a secret from others.

Then we see Dustin find Dart and get distracted from his crush on Max by taking care of someone mysterious that is unknown to him but fascinating and intriguing. Sounds familiar?

(I might have to make a whole ENTIRE post on this alone tbh, since there's a limit to how many screenshots we can post but boy, these parallels are quite telling.)

In Mike's case, he also sensed that El would be the key to finding Will. Now before you call me a weirdo for this comparison you need to remember that the Duffers did call Eleven and Mike the 'ET and Elliot' of their show. There are blatant ET & Elliot/Mike & Eleven parallels in the show. So Dustin & Dart/Mike & Eleven parallels were done intentionally.

I mean, even in an interview they said Mike felt like he was taking care of a puppy or something like that, which these parallels bring home. What I think they are trying to portray is their CURIOSITY, not any sort of 'love at first sight' instance. Hence why Mike also has parallels to Benny in the way he met Eleven, because he did see her as a person and not some sort of 'pet' or experiment. (I will actually make a post about this since I feel like it deserves the context, but we'll leave it at this for now).

The party split up after they met in the AV Club to discuss Dart. Lucas and Max got closer, Will and Mike got closer, and Dustin went off on his own, then eventually ran into Steve.

And then when the season closes, this happens. Now what's most interesting about this is how Mike is mirroring Lucas. Eleven showed up and he gets to dance with her instead, just like Lucas is dancing with Max (and he even copies Lucas asking Max to dance).

However, he is also mirroring DUSTIN.

Mike looks sad/conflicted because Will is now dancing with a girl, and we see Dustin staring sadly into the distance as Lucas dances with Max. We also see Dustin dance with Nancy-someone he idealized and at some point had a small crush on, but that eventually he will also let go of in favor of someone he connects with better, just like Mike is dancing with Eleven.

I think that what this set up ultimately foreshadows is that Mike's relationship with Eleven was never meant to be a long-term thing. Whether you think Mike is gay or bi, his feelings with Eleven never developed in this way because they were never able to fully connect romantically.

If we think about how Dustin, the one in the one-sided end of things, closed the season, then we would expect Will closing up S4 similarly, correct? They had Dustin close the season dancing with someone else after getting his heart crushed, and Max with her actual love interest, Lucas.

The last time we saw him, he was moving on from Max, so it wasn't a huge surprise that the next season he had a new love interest. It was expected given how S2 ended for him! His crush on Max was hopeless.

It is worth mentioning that Dustin only knew Max for a WEEK and that storyline was still handled with a lot of respect for his feelings. The show didn't make fun of him for it nor did they punish him. He didn't even get flat out rejected-He never confessed to Max nor did we see his feelings develop beyond just a simple crush. But it was clear how Max had chosen Lucas. Dustin didn't need to tell Max that she was The Heart for her to confess to Lucas, did he?

So if we think about Will ... he ended the season standing in a literal field of flowers next to MIKE. If Byler was truly one-sided, Will would've closed the season very apparently MOVING ON from Mike, with Mike very apparently CHOOSING El.

Instead, the show set them up to still be a TEAM in S5. They left the season in a literal cliff hanger in this regard because Byler getting together is going to be HUGE. I am assuming they will go all out. And I honestly cannot wait to see what they do with them.

#byler theory #byler proof #byler is canon #byler is edgame

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aemiron-main · 8 months

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Constantly thinking about the Pure Comedic Potential of Creelarke both teaching at Hawkins Middle/teaching the party’s class in different subjects. Mike, realizing that he has TWO gay teachers.

Mike, seeing a picture of Scott and Henry as kids, trying to awkwardly make conversation: “so, uh. You guys have been gay for a long time then, huh?”

*brief awkward silence*

*mike, under his breath*: “so it Doesnt go away??”

scott: what?

mike: what?

Bonus points if someone sees the picture of Henry and Scott as kids and then comments on how they remind them of Mike and Will. Extra bonus points if this person is El, who doesn’t know that Scott and Henry are a couple yet but who Does know that the baby creelarke pictures have the same vibe as byler. Especially if there’s a 1959 AV club group photo that has Scott and Henry posed together like the picture of Mike and Will with the party at the science fair…

Dustin trying to figure out if Henry and Scott are gay vs Lucas acting like he’s also investigating but he Knows that theyre gay (he saw them holding hands once) but he’s having fun watching Dustin try and puzzle it together. Lucas hasn’t told anyone else that he knows Scott and Henry are gay, he’s simply having too much fun watching the antics/going along with the antics. Henry, however, knows that Lucas knows (he saw Lucas when Lucas saw him and scott) but Lucas doesn’t know that Henry knows that he knows, so he’s a bit taken aback when Henry mentions how he appreciates Lucas keeping it a secret but also:

“maybe tell Mr. Henderson/Dustin about it so that he stops hiding in my hedges on Thursday evenings.”

(thursdays are henry and scott’s movie night- the previous movie night day was wednesday but they moved it because dustin was peering from the hedges on wednesdays- and then dustin figured out the new movie night day)

#stranger things #creelarke #scott clarke #henry creel #mike wheeler #byler #the party

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emblazons · 1 year

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so I posted about how the mlvn breakup + Max talking to her mom leading into a Vecna vision making to clear the scenes were at the very least thematic parallels (while mentioning 2 other scenes where the track was used) but I got a couple of asks requesting clarity about what I thought the connection was, so!

Here's a video with all 4 uses of the alt-Eulogy included, with notes demarcating elements that make it clear they're the same.

the scenes are:

El losing her connection to Terry Ives in the Void in 'Will the Wise'

Hopper reaching out to El via radio when she's gone in 'The Spy'

The Mlvn Fight in 'The Monster and The Superhero'

Max's time with her mom turning into a Vecna vision in 'Dear Billy'

Each of these scenes has a familial love undertone (including the mlvn fight if you take all of my other 'parentified mike' commentary at value) while also carrying some element of loss of connection or emotional distance—aka an relational loss to the "actual" loss of death we see for the uses of actual Eulogy (which plays when Nancy cries over Barb while at dinner with her parents, and when Mike is talking about how a recently-dead Bob started the AV club).

TL;DR: when you look at all the other times this track has been used in the show, it becomes clear that its use for the mlvn fight is a coded signifier of the fact that Mike's "care" (and later 'love') for El is platonic-familial, rather than romantic—which is why he struggles to say it to her when she wants him to say it romantically.

Given the fact that in S1 we started with "will you be like my brother," them giving S5 being like 'S4 & S1 had a baby," it is clear with this (along with 4899273 other bits of evidence) that rounding back to the start with these two means we're getting breakup-meets-familial vibes from mvln come S5. Which, if you know El's arc is about found family rather than romance, makes complete sense! lmao

#it's been there every time always friends. they're platonic and like family...for good and bad across the board LMFAO #byler #< target audience #anti mlvn #el hopper #mike wheeler #jim hopper #max mayfield #terry ives #my st commentary #st parallels #st music #the me tag #st analysis #stranger things #parentified mike #st music analysis

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solarmorrigan · 1 year

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Dustin barely remembers his dad.

This isn’t his dad’s fault, of course; he’d died when Dustin was pretty young. His mom had been too broken up about it to even think about dating for a long time, and after a while she’d just started telling Dustin that he’s the only man she needs in her life (this declaration is met with either a smile or an eye-roll, depending on the day). And that’s perfectly fine, Dustin isn’t trying to push his mom into anything she doesn’t want, it’s just that it left him without any kind of older male figure in his life for pretty much his entire childhood.

And it’s not like his mom didn’t do a perfectly good job raising and providing for him. He loves her and wouldn’t trade her for anything. It’s not that she isn’t enough – it’s just that there are certain things that dads are better applied to, that’s all.

Things like bullies.

Sure, if Dustin’s mom learned that he was getting bullied, she’d probably march right down to the school and badger the administration until they agreed to “do something about it,” but that would amount to almost nothing, because teachers (and Dustin says this with all the fondness in the world for Mr. Clarke) are kind of useless. Being able to yell something like If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll get my dad to beat you up! would have been way more satisfying.

(Dustin gets that this isn’t a bulletproof plan. Mike had tried this once, hoping to bluff his way through, since his dad is unlikely to do much more than tell him to go ask his mom for a bag of frozen peas if he comes home with bruises, but it had resulted in pretty much the normal amount of being beaten up. Dustin’s not saying it’s effective, just that it would be satisfying.)

But then, the second time the Upside Down rears its faceless-yet-ugly head, Dustin is granted an unexpected boon: Steve Harrington.

The Dustin of the pre-Mindflayer days would be disgusted with himself, but that Dustin can suck it, because present-day Dustin now has a friend who’ll help him hunt monsters, and who has a car, and who gives him tips on how to do his hair and how to pick up girls (and maybe they’re not really useful tips, but it’s still part of what Dustin has always wanted), and who’s pretty cool, actually.

A big brother is almost as good as a dad, right? Big brothers are definitely supposed to fight off bullies for you.

Except, Dustin realizes with disappointment as he thinks back, Steve isn’t exactly a fighter. Like, not a good one. In fact, he’s pretty sure Steve has never actually won a fight in his life.

So, no, he’s probably not Dustin’s best bet for fighting bullies off.

But that’s okay, Dustin likes him anyway (even if this does leave him back at square one). Steve’s good for other things.

Other things that apparently involve rolling up in front of the school with almost unrealistically good timing just as Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Will are getting out of AV club (Max has refused to join because it’s “too nerdy” for her, which Dustin figures is her loss) and are being followed by a couple of hecklers – Donny and Ken, this time. El might’ve scared off James and Troy, but middle school bullydom is a power vacuum that will always draw some new asshole to the top.

It's nothing they haven’t heard before. Comments about their being nerds and freaks, stuff about Will’s “resurrection,” stuff about Dustin’s condition. Maybe they’re getting a little meaner, because there’s a little more homophobic shit in there than there used to be, a little more racist shit, but it’s not like they’re going to let themselves be rattled by a couple of bullies, not after everything they’ve faced together.

But it is… annoying.

(Fine, it’s hurtful. Words still hurt, apparently, even if you’ve fought literal extradimensional monsters and won, which Dustin feels is a flaw in the design of the human brain.)

Donny and Ken do slow up a little when they spot Steve’s car, but so do Dustin and the rest of the party, because they have no idea what Steve is doing there.

Steve, entirely oblivious to everyone’s confusion, gets out of the car and smiles and waves at them. It’s only because Dustin is watching in bewilderment that he sees the way Steve’s attention flashes just for a second to the boys standing behind them, but he’s not sure if he’s imagining the way his eyes narrow a little, or the way his smile suddenly seems a little sharper.

“Hey, Steve,” Dustin waves back, because this is kinda weird, but it’s not like he’s unhappy to see his friend. “What’re you doing here?”

Steve shrugs. “Wasn’t busy this afternoon, and I remembered you mentioned having your club thing tonight. Thought I’d give you a ride.” He strides forward, holding out his hands. “I’ll put your stuff in the back and we can get going.”

“Is this a kidnapping?” Mike stares at Steve suspiciously, even though Dustin, Lucas, and Will are already shouldering off their bags.

“No, it is not a kidnapping,” Steve snaps. “See if I ever do a favor for your rude ass again, Wheeler. You want a ride, or not?”

Mike sighs and rolls his eyes, but hands his backpack to Steve anyway, and with all four bags in hand, Steve rounds the back of the car and pops the trunk.

“Just gotta make some room,” Steve says, leaning in and pushing some things around. One of those things comes tumbling out of the trunk and hits the pavement with a clatter of wood and metal.

The nail bat.

And despite Steve’s reasonably convincing mutter of “Whoops, that wasn’t supposed to happen,” there’s no way it could have been anything but intentional, because Steve usually keeps the bat safely stowed at the back of the trunk, since he wants to avoid being arrested or otherwise under suspicion for carrying something that is very obviously a weapon.

He pushes their backpacks into the trunk and then picks the bat up, gives it that twirl that Dustin still can’t quite figure out the purpose of (does it actually help, or does it just look cool?) and props it up on his shoulder. When he looks up, he looks past their little group and pretends to spot Donny and Ken for the first time, where they’re still skulking curiously at the edge of the parking lot.

“Oh, hey.” Steve takes a few steps forward, grinning amiably, reaching out with his free hand, as if he’s completely forgotten he’s holding a baseball bat full of nails in his other, and offering it to the two of them to shake. “Sorry, didn’t see you there. I’m Steve. You two friends with my guys?”

(Dustin likes the way Steve says that: my guys. Like he’s adopted the whole lot of them and is going to stand between them and hell, because they’re his – but they’re not just kids, they’re guys; like they’re equals. Dustin likes it a lot.)

Pale and wide-eyed, neither Donny nor Ken manages more than a sort of uhh noise before Lucas pipes up.

“Not exactly.”

It’s then that Steve lets his posture change, shifting from the comfortable and approachable one Dustin’s gotten used to, and into something squared and solid.

“Not exactly, huh?” Steve says, looking between Donny and Ken, his voice gone a little sharper. “You wanna clear that one up for me, boys? I mean, you don’t give my guys here trouble, do you?”

“No!” Donny chokes out. Ken shakes his head quickly.

“No?” Steve asks.

“Nah. No, in fact, we were just heading home,” Donny says. Ken has become a bobblehead.

And then they do just that, practically running home with their tails between their legs.

“Huh,” Steve says, turning back towards the car with a smirk, giving the bat another lazy twirl before stuffing it safely into the back of the trunk. “Wonder what got into them?”

Dustin, Lucas, Will, and even Mike barely stop laughing the whole way home.

#this is ridiculous and I'm sorry #dustin henderson #steve harrington #stranger things #steve & dustin #steve & the party #do ampersands even work with the tumblr tagging system #guess I'll find out #solar wrote

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henrysglock · 10 months

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We all know about this, the fact El is wearing a shirt just like Weird Al’s on Dustin’s shirt. Cool easter egg tying the supernatural shit to the Russians, sure.

However. That’s Dustin’s shirt from the “Evil Russian” flub up.

Y’know, the guy who’s a Jamie/Henry lookalike?

Y’know. The Russia Plot. Involving Alexei…

The Russian Scott Clarke. As identified by Jim Hopper, who canonically knows both Henry and El, and is heavily involved with both the Russia plot.

Scott Clarke…Who’s a Weird Al fan??? Who is strangely knowledgeable about the science behind the supernatural, and who ought to know Henry based on a connection via Bob and the AV club.

Everything is connected.

Wondering if/how Henry/Edward/Brenner are connected to Russia outside of El’s ST1 espionage 🤨🤨🤨

And it would be logical, then, to have a tie between Henry and Scott to complete the circle of connections between plots.

#i just think it’s funny how people say ‘oh details don’t matter’ when a whole web #can be constructed based on 1 shirt and 1 song #stranger things plot mapping #easter egg connections #stranger things

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chirpsythismorning · 7 months

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I haven't been active in the byler fandom, why would redditors be mad at the play being canon?

Most, not all, but most active reddit users on the ST sub have been bombarded with byler evidence for the last year. So to remain sane through it all, they have resorted to insisting that almost every detail fans come across and try to share on the sub, are just mere coincidences.

This is because they've realized that if they are considering other really minor details meaning something bigger, that means they might have to start considering the possibility that the details pointing to byler are also intentional. This is how they cope.

You would think after saying 'it's just a coincidence' for the hundredth time, they might be starting to rethink their position on things, but the reality of the situation just isn't setting in I guess (aka they don't want it to happen so they are refusing to let themselves truly consider it until they have no choice).

The reason I still partake in the reddit sub, despite losing braincells over half the takes on there, is bc there are still a handful of users that are really smart and do great analysis on the supernatural side of the show, in particular things I have no knowledge on at all and would greatly benefit from looking at to expand my understanding of things and different perspectives.

The really smart ones that exist are usually indifferent to the romantic arcs in the show, although they do have a milkvan bias bc the straight bait is straight baiting. And so these are the few posts theorizing, that consider the details meaning something more, that just so happen to get support from the hardcore milkvans on there. And it's bc as long as it's coming from someone who doesn't think byler is going to happen, they will listen.

I will say the one thing that is sort of obnoxious about all of this is that regular fans without any ship bias, will pop on there semi-regularly with a post, accompanied by basic common sense questions like, 'wait this makes no sense...' or 'why did they do this this way?' in many cases, with the confusion surrounding the build up of Mike and El and Will's role in all that. These people aren't milkvans or bylers, they are just fans picking up on obvious subtext and they are looking for insight about it from fans. And every time they get bombarded with condescending and bitter milkvans that are having to defend mike and el's honor, and s4 really made this a full time job for them lmao. That sort of resentment has manifested into hating anything and everything that considers deeper meaning in relation to Will and Mike, but especially in Will's case. Because that's the thing, they have to deny any importance of Will's role bc Will being important fucking terrifies them. It means that everything could be important basically. It's their worst nightmare and they will hound you for even speculating something. It's insufferable to watch unfold honestly.

I say all of this bc it's important in the context of the play, given that there are a lot of theories out there swirly around, theories that mostly reside on Tumblr. Many of those theories are viewed by redditors as being crack theories that have no evidence supporting them (bc they come from bylers), like the weirdness around Alice not being in the play (and potentially connecting to Karen), or the fact that they insisted the silhouette of Henry's actor right before the cast announcement couldn't be him bc he was too old to be Henry (umm time shenanigans, duh), or that the truth about Brenner's involvement runs a lot deeper than everyone assumes.

And so naturally, leading up to the play, a lot of active (very vocal) redditors in both the main sub and the Hawkins AV Club sub, have commented on posts related to the play, trying so hard to convince others (themselves) that this play is not canon and we shouldn't waste our time with it because it wont matter in the context of everything going on in the literal show. They go as far as to insist it's not canon, even though it already was said to be canon.

And now with this post, they are again having to face the reality this show is a lot deeper than they have had to insist it to is combat byler speculation. All byler evidence is seen as reaching to them. And they'll do everything they can to insist anything bylers are speculating is delusional, which includes theories surrounding the play. All of that denial has led us to this moment, which will only hurt their ego as time goes on and they are being hit with sign after sign after sign... that it might just be that deep.

#byler #stranger things #the first shadow #'it's not that deep you guys'#'ya'll are reaching'#what's your favorite milkvan argument?#mine is 'the duffer's aren't that smart guys'#truly never gets old #oh so you're saying endgame byler would be smart... you said it not me.#not trying to make this about byler but i did #bc full serious... before byler was even a thought in reddits head back in s1-2... they fucking loved theories #i can go find theories from 6 years ago about twelvegate and owlgate and birthdaygate and dozens more all bc they were open to everything!!#critical thinking is not encouraged on there anymore #anything considering possibilities based on literal evidence is going to be shot 9 times out of ten #bc all of those details have always been hinting at something they do not want to accept #the details are stacked against them #and their time is running out it seems #can't wait for this play to drop and it starts to set in that plenty of details they refuted tirelessly were actually hinting at something

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