El being wholesome with Steve. El being wholesome with Steve. The weird sibling duo we didn’t know we needed. I need more of it. I might do it….no I’ve done enough of them…

Okay, okay. But just picture this:

The kids trying to embarrass Steve all the time with photos and stories to Eddie, but El ruins it every.single.time. because she is so unbelievably wholesome when it comes to Steve.

Here is everyone pulling out scoops photos (which Eddie actually loves thank you very much) and sharing stories about his failed dates. Dustin tells Eddie specifically about the time he was teaching Lucas basketball and Lucas threw the ball too hard at the backboard and hit Steve in the face.

So they are all poking fun at Steve in his and Robin’s apartment (because in every universe these platonic soulmates live together) and there is just El who randomly chimes in:

“Steve took me to this thing called a ren faire once. It was very fun. We both looked really pretty.”

Eddie absolutely melts at the story and gushes over the photos she has.

And everyone gets quiet every time, because no one wants to criticize El, but one time Max gently goes, “You know that’s like….nice right? We’re making fun of him.”

Everyone one expects her to being embarrassed or confused but instead she simple says.

“I know. I don’t like it. Steve’s nice.”

And she embarrasses everyone, except Robin and Eddie who are the only ones Steve never gets upset with when they make fun of him. They all mumble out apologies, and Steve turns to Dustin and goes:

“This is why she gets a special section in the freezer. All different flavors of eggos.”

El’s eyes get wide. “Even the blueberry ones?”

Steve gives her hair a tousle, “Especially the blueberry ones.”

I love each of them. If you even care.

the airport scene really is a cinematic masterpiece

we have argyle and jonathan high as hell

willel excited to see their boo

then this doofus shows up only to have his girlfriend immediately be disappointed by “from: mike”, have a totally “heterosexual” interaction with his best friend, then gets clocked by a guy he doesn’t know for wearing a knock-off

i love every moment of it because in just these 2 minutes you find out everything you need to know about the dynamic between mike, el, and will. this is the first half of the catalyst that takes down mikeven, shows mike’s struggle with his sexuality, and the love will has for mike. it’s chef’s kiss fr i couldn’t have asked for a better scene 🤌

Will saying "Mike is gonna find out and he's gonna be mad" to El is foreshadowing about Mike finding out Will lied about the painting in s5 and being mad about it ,the Duffers are so smart for adding the painting subplot because Mike has to thank El for the painting and El is gonna be like "what painting?" and Mike's gonna figure out the painting really is from Will and that Will really meant those things that him feel so loved, plus Finn said Mike is gonna have leader moments in s5 and that's what Will wanted for Mike because he's known him for more than a decade and he knows the real Mike who Mike felt like he had to repress to become a different person because it's what he thinks people expect from him and i think he's also a people pleaser and he has a really low self-esteem and Will makes him feel loved while El makes him feel insicure and Mike wants to feel needed and Will needs him and El doesn't

Mileven breakup forshadowing since episode fucking one of season 4

Like the flowers that Mike got you??

Okay I'm bot crazy i swear, but listen.

Spring flowers = Mike

soo it would be...

"At first, I missed Mike." (SEASON 5 FORSHADOWINGG YES)

AND THIS IS HER INDEPENDENT ERA FORSHADOWING

Why would you do this to me 😭 I need more sibling moments between them in s5 please duffer brothers 🙏

Both El and Will have been through so much that, out of all the characters, they especially deserve to survive whatever S5 throws at them. Otherwise, I feel the show would disappoint its audience by snatching away hope for a fair and happy resolution.

The same goes for Mike – his death would be devastating, especially for Will and El. He needs to survive! I genuinely hope these three make it through and find their happy endings.

He protecc- he rather not attack though. Just some art for my fic, Don't be a Stranger, since it's been on my mind with my writer's block lately. I can't tell who's protecting who! Steve or El!

And here's a nonshaded version with my favorite details!

Stranger Things Spoilers on X: "BREAKING: According to Jeff Sneider, these are the episode titles of the next 6 episodes of #StrangerThings5: Episode 1 - The Crawl Episode 2 - The Vanishing of ***** Wheeler Episode 3 - The Turbow Trap Episode 4 - Sorcerer Episode 5 - Shock Jock Episode 6 - Escape From Camazotz…" / X

So.........which Wheeler? Mike or Nancy? Or even Holly (as both @skellybonesandtrees and @stillhidden have noted in the replies)?

I could see Vecna coming after Mike as a way of hurting both Will and El, and even using Mike as bait to lure them into a trap.

However, I could also see Vecna coming after Nancy as revenge for how her plan to take him down in the season 4 finale nearly resulted in him being killed.

Or he could also target Holly as a means of hurting both Mike and Nancy.

Also, isn't Camazotz the planet IT controls in the novel A Wrinkle in Time? 🤔

EDIT: Camazotz could also refer to the Mayan "bat spirit" who served the Lords of the Underworld. Maybe a reference to either the demobats in service to Vecna in the Upside Down, or the progenitor of the demobats that the Party will have to inevitably fight?

The fact that Mike and Will were singled out from their friend group from the beginning, not just in comparison to Mike and El shows me that this is a love story not a love triangle. As the seasons progress, El is worked more and more into their friend group and town, making more relationships with people other than Mike to secure her place of normalcy and status in their friend group. Season 2, Hopper, season 3, Max, season 4, Will (, Jonathan, Joyce). Her screentime is spent integrating her into being just like everybody else in Mike's life as a permanent fixture that has other ties and therefore would not disappear if they weren't connected anymore. Will spends his seasons spending alone time with Mike, having individual plots and being emphasized and singled out even when they're in a group setting like in season 3 - they still had Mike chase after him and not Will so they had a moment alone.

If Will was going to just retreat back into blending in with the friend group, they would have spent more time on his relationships with Lucas, Dustin, Max, and El, but they didn't. They spent all their time making sure you knew that they're a friend group and they're "all best friends" but especially Mike and Will. If there's no romance, what's the point of "especially". Will having feelings for Mike does the "especially" that would be necessary for him being the most important to come out to on its own, you didn't need to point it out throughout the series.

Mike and Will were singled out before Mike even met El and that's why it's a love story and not a love triangle. Because it was already there. And because they were emphasized for years completely disconnected from onscreen or marketing idea of competition. If it was a love triangle, it would have only come up to threaten Elmike's relationship like how Steve and Nancy don't have moments between their breakup and season 3. Their stories aren't about each other so they don't need each other narratively when it isn't in relation to Jonathan. Mike and Will exist outside of Mike and El and have from the beginning. It can't be a love triangle if the second relationship has no bearing on the first.

In lostys universe, Gare and El are long distance during some of their college years.

Do they ever have any big fights or miscommunication during that period?? Any conversations about what their future together will look like as the years peel away to adulthood? Just curious 🥰♥️

Still loving that greatmage lore 💜🩷

Ohh girl this made me think A LOT. because my first instinct was to be like “noooo my pookies never fight!” but that’s completely unrealistic. So I dug deep and came up with a few ideas… and of course it got really long so I’m putting it under a readmore…

- I think their biggest fights would be about money, but not in the typical way a young couple fights about money! In both Next Time I Fall and Lost and Found I alluded to El and Kali getting large settlements of “hush money” from Hawkins Lab, and at the end of Next Time El even suggests to Gareth that they use some of that money to get married. But it’s the late 80s and I’m sure Hopper had repeatedly impressed upon Gareth the importance of The Man Being The Breadwinner and the need to Properly Take Care Of His Daughter, so Gareth wouldn’t feel right about letting El pay for anything.

Finally El sits both Hopper and Gareth down one day and tells them look, Chrissy helped me find this super cute house and I can easily afford it so I’m gonna buy it. Gareth, you’re welcome to live there with me if you can get over your pride about it. And Dad, you need to mind your own beeswax. (Will taught her that phrase, and he almost chokes trying to hold back his laughter when he hears her repeat it.)

- Another thing I can imagine is the long-distance thing just wearing on both of them (they’re cuddly koalas and they can’t stand being apart for too long) but I could see that manifesting in different ways. For El, I think insecurity would be something she’d struggle with; especially if school interfered with time they wanted to spend together, she would feel neglected and get a little pouty about Gare thinking his work was more important than her. And I can imagine if he got impatient or exasperated about that, her mind would immediately leap to “you don’t love me anymore?” She needs a lot of reassurance after everything she’s been through.

But this, I think, would probably lead to Gareth never wanting to speak up about his own needs or problems, because he does truly want to be that steadfast source of reassurance for her, but also sometimes he feels a little resentful, as if she doesn’t trust him enough to keep loving her even when he’s irritated. And then that makes him wonder if she feels that way because of everything with Mike, and he gets pouty thinking she’s comparing him to Mike. Oh, kiddos.

- I imagined all of this coming to a head one weekend when Gareth wasn’t planning to come home because he was exhausted and had a ton of work to do, but El getting upset with him and kinda giving him a guilt trip about it until finally he gives in and says okay fine I’m coming. But he’s so tired that he ends up falling asleep behind the wheel and getting into a minor accident, which naturally freaks El out, and I think that would lead to a very deep heart-to-heart talk where they both end up resolving to communicate more honestly about their needs, and trust that their relationship can withstand temporary separation when needed.

- On a much happier note, conversations about the future!

I know a lot of people headcanon El as wanting tons of kids, but for some reason I imagine that pregnancy would be total body-horror for her. (Maybe I’m drawing that from my personal life? Lmao) I do believe she’d want a family of her own though, and I think she and Gare would have a lot of conversations about fostering and/or adoption to help troubled kids. And there’s a lovely fic that was gifted to me about the two of them preparing to welcome their first foster child.

I think they’d want pets, too— I imagine them going to an animal shelter just to look around, and El overhearing an employee saying “nobody will ever adopt this one, these dogs are monsters.” She instantly demands to see the monster dog, and of course it’s not a monster at all, it’s the cutest tiny little pit bull puppy, and El and Gare instantly fall in love with her and name her Bosco since she’s chocolate brown. 😊

I think El would have a lot of trouble deciding what she wanted to do after high school, as far as more schooling or a career or what, and they’d have a lot of discussions about that.

And of course they’d talk about traveling— there’s so many places they both want to see, and experiences they want to have for the first time together. Also I think it would be super cute if they went to Wales with Granny and Granddad Emerson to visit relatives and friends there. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

This got way longer than I thought it would lmao but thank you so much for asking! I always love sharing my ideas and headcanons with you! 💕

Based on their expressions, it might just be a lil weird

Bonus:

STRANGER THINGS +THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT part two - part one

clara bow

the albatross

how did it end?

so high school

I hate it here

“how are you?” girl not well my comfort show is ending 😭😭

el and max hanging out Once and then having multiple sleepovers in a row is so lesbian coded of them

Ok hear me out.

Stranger things season 5, Lucas starts having visions and shits from Vecna (vegan what's to destroy his opponent obviously to get total control of Hawkins/the world) since Lucas is deeply traumatized after the death of his girlfriend.

So Lucas gets possessed, And while he gets possessed and he's in really big danger, bout to die situation, Max saves him.

Max has been there for a LONG time. There was nothing in Max's head because it's all in Vecna's mind. She tells Lucas to spread a message and there's this super tender and emotional moment between them right before Lucas gets out of the trance. This makes the group have more info about Vecna AND it makes El have a new focus, the focus of communicating with Max.