imagine Steve going all Days of Future Past from the majority of the people he loves being dead to the past where almost all of them barely know each other

imagine him seeing the people he watched die alive again and him holding back tears and itching to hug them and not being able to

imagine him agonizing over what people he can save this time around, not just his friends, but like. can he save Barbs? or would it mess things up too much because Nancy might not be pulled into this at all? and thinking that maybe that would be good for her but can they afford this? Nancy is a very important member of the team

could he try to save Billy? he might hate the guy but Max was devastated by his death and she is one of "his" kids now and he hates to see her hurt. but he doesn't even know what when and how billy gets roped into this shit

imagine Steve looking at Robin and Eddie in school wanting to hangout with them instead of Tommy H and Carol but knowing they really dislike him. imagine him looking over his shoulder sometimes wanting to share a joke with Robin but she is not there. or him staring sometimes at Eddie wishing he could just tell him how he feels because what if Eddie dies again

and overall Steve knows what he is supposed to do but it's the most vague shit ever and he doesn't know how to get there and what if he somehow breakes something by meddling too much?

Steve selfishly wanting to end it all himself so others would just have a normal life, despite knowing full well it's not possible. and perhaps even more selfishly thinking he can't really live anymore without these people in his life

It would would be so full of angst and so much feels but in the end no one he cares about dies and so it's all been worth it

Prediction time - I feel like the kids friend group might drift apart a bit post time jump. The boys fight a lot when things get stressful and I'd be surprised if we didn't see them butting heads trying to figure out how to save Max.

S1 - Mike and Lucas fight about the best way to find Will. Mike believes the crazy theory he's still alive and that El is their best way of finding him. Lucas believes a more logical approach and doesn't want El involved because he doesn't trust her. He goes to the lab by himself and finds out valuable information the group needs even though Mike was technically right. Lucas and Mike both have leadership skills but they go about using those skills in different ways which is why we see them fighting here. Dustin is in the middle of this fight and tries to get Mike and Lucas to apologize to each other. They eventually do and everything is resolved. S2 - Lucas and Dustin fight about D'art and Max. Lucas told Max everything that was going on with Will even though he wasn't supposed to. Dustin kept D'art even after he learned he was dangerous. They both did something wrong here and fight about it but it's quickly resolved. This season, Mike and Will spend very little time with Lucas and Dustin. Mike is worried about Will and is with him through most of the season. Lucas and Dustin don't seem to be bothered by this or find it weird that Mike and Will are off together. Neither of them attempts to go to Will's house to check on him. So from this it seems like Mike and Will go off together alone sometimes. It wasn't out of the ordinary for them to be together without Lucas and Dustin and they don't try to intervene. S3 - Lucas and Mike are pretending to be adults and think they are grown up because they have girlfriends. This leads to a fight between them and Will - especially with Mike and Will. Both of them apologize to Will later and realize they took things too far. Mike had a worse fight with Will over this and it's clear he spends time thinking about this. Will calls him out for not knowing what Dustin is up to and Mike attempts to help Dustin and reconnect with him at the end of the season. We also see Mike and Dustin together in S4. Not to mention that when Mike is apologizing to Will in Lenora, he references the fight here. He acknowledges he spent too much time with El and he regrets what it did to his friendship with Will. Will was right to call him out here and Mike pretty much says this. Dustin during this time is with Steve, Robin, and Erica. He's upset that his friends aren't hanging out with him at first and expresses this to Steve. But they are quickly distracted by finding the Russians and he seems less bothered by this once that happens. S4 - Mike and Dustin are playing D&D again but Lucas is still not interested. He has basketball now and it's unclear if he was only playing because he didn't want to be bullied or if he actually liked playing. It could be both and he is shown to be good at this. He drifted away from the group a bit but he's shown to be regretful of this and seems to genuinely miss his friends. Mike is less concerned about being nerdy than he was in S3 but there are few things that stick out here. Mike's room and basement are a mess and this is out of character. Along with the fact that Dustin seems closer to Eddie than Mike is. This makes it seem like Mike isn't really socializing much. There have been many hints of him having depression in the past so it would make sense to me if he was just going to school and D&D and not doing much else. Which would lead Dustin to be on his own and hanging out with Eddie more. Karen also makes a comment to Dustin about how he's welcome at their house anytime and this line sticks out. If Dustin had been hanging out there like he always has, why would she feel the need to say this? She also makes a comment about how she likes seeing them all together and it seems like this hasn't happened in a while.

Mike and Will reconnect their friendship in Lenora but they still have some things to talk about. They get into a fight at the skating rink and this fight is about how much they missed each other. They are both upset the other person didn't reach out more. They spoke on the phone a few times but didn't write each other letters. They resolve this fight but are still holding back with each other. It isn't confirmed if Lucas and Dustin were writing Will letters after he moved but I would assume they did at least occasionally. The boys don't exactly have a fight in this season but it's clear they aren't really on the same page and they are each dealing with their own things. They seem to be drifting apart more than fighting. The past couple of years are starting to catch up to them.

Which leads me to where they could end up in S5. Things are tense and stressful with regard to Max, the situation in Hawkins, and Eddie dying. Tense situations in the past have led to the boys fighting. I think Eddie's death will impact Dustin more than Mike. Not that Mike won't be upset but like I said above, I don't think Mike was very close to him. This could lead Dustin to break off with the group a bit. I can see him post time jump either not wanting to play D&D at all or taking up Hellfire in honor of Eddie. Lucas will be focused on Max and of course everyone will be trying to help. But like we've seen before, they tend to have different approaches to handling problems. I can see him bonding with El over this more. Will is connected to this problem somehow. He is seeing a vision of what Hawkins will be like in the future. I really like the theory that it's both Mike and Will having this vision. Either way though, if Will feels like he knows a different way to save Max I don't see Mike going against this. He will support him. Which would end up leading to another situation where Mike and Will are off doing their own thing and Lucas and Dustin on the other side and the groups eventually meeting in the middle. I do think they will be able to work together to save Max, but I also think they've been drifting apart for a while now. It's possible that they can work together but don't exactly end up completely reuniting like we've seen. If Mike has been separating himself from the group for months, I can see this causing some tension with Dustin and Lucas. It's been shown (both in S2 and I think there was a book that also stated this) that Mike has an attitude when he's depressed. He's similar to Max in this way where they both isolate themselves and lash out at the people around them. So I can see Lucas and Dustin pulling away a bit from him in the same way they did with Max (they thought she needed space). Only Lucas is now more focused on helping Max and it's possible him and Dustin just don't make the connection between something being wrong with Mike too. Lucas didn't understand what was going on with Max right away. We are seeing Will start to notice Mike isn't okay though - he is worried about the messy room comment and I think he will start to put together some things about El and Mike's relationship. I can see Will being upset that no one was taking care of Mike. Will is really the only one who sees him. This combined with the painting reveal that would have to happen early, would end up leading to Byler happening before the time jump. But it's possible that Lucas and Dustin don't find out about them until after. After the time jump, it's possible that Mike and Will would be hanging out with Robin and Vicky more but I can also see them hanging out with El and Max. Max and Mike in particular could help each other a lot and El and Will could start to form more of a sibling bond. I think if this is the case the girls might end up in the middle of the drift apart between the boys. I think Mike and Will would also end up closer to Nancy, Jonathan, and Argyle once this happens too. Depending on the situation with them and college, I find it plausible that Mike and Will would visit them and get a better sense of what life could be like for them outside of Hawkins. That being said, I think the boys will come back together and work things out by the end of the season. It would be nice to see the 4 of them playing D&D again. But we haven't seen that since season 1 so I'm not positive it will fit in here. We really haven't seen this being a thing they've bonded over. I think Mike and Will would continue to play but with just the two of them. I always thought D&D was meant to represent their relationship more than it was the boys friendship. But I do think they will end the series with them all being friends again even if it is likely they end up going their separate ways outside of Hawkins.

The plan begins

Summary: Dirty Diana, the nickname speaks for itself. She’s like a fever dream, one that everybody thinks they can get a taste of. After discovering things from her not so distant past, Jason Carver decided that she would be the perfect bait for his plan: break Eddie Munson. And then everything collapsed.

Part 1

Author's note: So, here is the second part! Honestly, I’m really happy with this one, pretty good for my skills. Ah, three things before the chapter: 1- Imade a Spotify playlist for the fanfic (nothing REALLY connected, but ya know), 2- I’ll be making a tag list for D.D. if you guys want to (someone remembered me the other day, thank you @ that I forgot 😅) and 3- I didn't proofread this.

Warnings: Kinda angst, psychological abuse mentioned, swearing, self hurt mention, blackmail and threatening mentioned, drug mentions (weed)

Rating: 18+ (minors do not interact) (pls guys, don't wanna be a partner in crime)

Words: 1912

After Diana left the restroom, she spent the rest of the day hidden in a corner at the parking lot, just waiting for the time to go home, that was another bad part of this unbelievable day. The last thing she needed were screams right at her ears about how one of her parents was wrong. Who decided she was a judge of irrelevant causes?

When the bell rang, she got on her feet and walked to her car. Nobody was there, people were still walking out of their classes, the only sound to be heard were the leaves bouncing by the wind, the things were calm and relaxing. At least she had time to organize her thoughts before jumping again into hell.

And it was only the first month of her senior year. Diana started to think that if she survived this, she'd somehow live forever and all the future problems would be nothing compared to this situation in terms of stress.

Diana was about to start her car, just when she saw Jason leaving the build through the rear view. He was smiling lightly like always, surrounded by his friends, like he was an amazing and innocent guy. Diana isn’t one of those really violent people, she doesn't like to see others getting hurt and all that, but some part of her, a really loud one, wanted to put her foot all the way down the back up and hit him.

He was almost passing close by the car, probably couldn’t recall it was her’s. She could blame it on the car, say that there was a defect in the brake and everything happened too fast to process and warn him before the impact. She could.

Diana tightened her grip at the steering wheel, her eyes locked on him, anger burning so much that made her head hurt. And then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m going crazy, but not that much. Calm down” Diana loosened her grip on the steering wheel and let her head fall on the car seat. She didn’t need more drama, at least not that day. And then she left the parking lot without running over anybody.

When home, Diana went straight to her room to avoid any kind of argument between her parents. She dropped her bag on the ground and started walking in circles to analyze the options she had. How could she approach Eddie Munson effectively enough to satisfy Jason Carver?

Making him trust her wouldn’t be easy. The only one hundred percent sure information she has is that Eddie hates everybody and the whole “school hierarchy” thing, he screamed somethings about it at lunchtime some times. Using her “Dark Queen” card wouldn't work well and would probably push him away. Diana has to be smooth and subtle at first. He looks tough, hard to talk to, possibly harsh trying to scare her.

But Eddie tried to make her stop to punch the restroom’s sink earlier, in the worst way, but still. Maybe because it was a really specific situation and he panicked… “Eddie Munson panicking? Nah, he doesn’t seem like that.”

Diana stayed focused in her brainstorm for some considerable amount of time, she even raised the possibility of trying to get into Hellfire Club, although she recognized it was a terrible idea and threw it out. The information Jason gave her turned out useless, she couldn’t just show up at his club or the Hideout. Who would go there on a Tuesday? No wonder nobody talks about them.

Just when an almost-good-enough-plan was forming in her head, she was distracted by a burnt smell. Diana quickly ran to see what happened. Following the smell she ended up in the kitchen, and right after that, the screams started.

“Are you out of your mind?” Her mother was pointing at something that now looked like coal, but probably was supposed to be their dinner.

“Now it’s my fault? You said two hours and a half!”

“What happened? I smelled burning, you’re okay?” Diana interrupted them trying to calm the situation, but she put gasoline on the fire.

“Your mother told me to let the chicken for two hours and a half in the oven, it burned and she’s blaming it on me!” Her father screamed his explanation.

“‘Two hours and a half’ my ass, Frank! I said one hour and a half! One! Your father is turning deaf and doesn’t accept it” her mother screamed right after.

And they were back at the yelling. Diana only wanted some time in peace, but she felt like she salted the holy supper to be so wronged by life. She needed a moment to feel light, let her brain rest a little. “Wait a damn minute” she remembered a really specific thing: Eddie was a drug dealer, he definitely has weed!

Diana leaned at the door frame of the ketching and crossed her arms and looked at the ground to think. Sure, she had smoked one or two times before, but just a puff from a friend’s and that was enough to get her a little dizzy. How much would be needed to make her relaxed enough? But most important: would that be the best way to get close to him?

“Worth the shot” Diana mumbled to herself before turning to her parents “Calm down you two, I’ll order pizza. Just please get rid of that and don’t argue anymore, it's already burned.”

Her parents looked at each other with unhappy faces, almost threatening to kill themselves, but ended agreeing and said which flavor they wanted. Diana went to her room, but before she called the pizza place, she called the friend who let her have a puff at some party. Lucky he answered quickly.

“Brian? Diana here.”

“My queen! What a lovely surprise. What’s up?” He spoke with an audible smile.

“I was wondering if you have that stuff’s’ guy contact… What’s his name again?”

“Munson? Since when you use it, Diana?” Brian laughed again.

“I don’t, but I’m in need to relax a little, ya know? Royalty is tiring, some sugar might do the trick” Diana answered in the same light tone as his.

“Fair enough” he said and started to say Munson’s number as she quickly searched for a paper to note it down.

“Thanks, Brights. You’re a lifesaver!”

“You’re always welcome, m’queen.”

After that she ordered the pizza and stayed in her room, thinking of how to talk to Eddie. How could she talk to him after that ridiculous meeting? Act like nothing happened or apologize again? Diana went through a lot of possibilities completely immersed in her thoughts, only stopping when the food arrived.

The dinner was silent and kind of tense. Her family used to be different. In a not so distant past they were talkative, relaxed, they were happy, but in the middle of 1983 it all turned into a pile of guilt, broken trust and trauma.

Diana went back to her room, looked at her phone, biting her nail for about a minute, until she decided to finally call him. Everytime it rang made her heart beat a little faster and it almost stopped when someone picked it up. She talked first.

“Hello, is it Munson?”

And it was. They had a quick conversation and she’ll be at a forgotten picnic table in the middle of the woods after class. Diana let her body fall on the bed and her mind to take a break from all the pressure. Everything will work just fine.

When Diana arrived school the next day, she acted normal, talking to people at the hall, giving suggestive looks to boys who got her eye, the usual. And then she saw Eddie Munson in the corridor, for the first time she actually noticed his appearance. The long rebel hair gives him a wild look that certally matches his personality and Diana had to admit, she kinda liked what she saw. And Diana also caught his eyes, but not only for the looks. Sure, she’s beautiful, but her attitude was the big deal for Eddie. The confidence in her walk like she owned the place, a different type of charisma that gives her the ‘Dark Queen of Hawkins High” title.

The day went on slow and boring, much to Diana’s luck, she couldn’t take any more drama. But she was anxious to see Eddie, something that she never thought would cross her mind. And wasn’t even the idea of being completely alone in the middle of the woods with a freak, like Jason loved to say, but the pressure to seduce him. Sure, Diana isn’t pure or innocent, she did a lot of things with different guys, but nothing this risky.

What leads her to the marked place with her legs trembling, all alone, immersed in her own thoughts. Until she heard footsteps, making her wake up and look at where the sound came.

“Hello, Dark Queen” the way Eddie Munson spoke, a little theatrical, made Diana let a snort out as he walked to the other side of the picnic table to sit.

“Hello, Mr. Munson” she looked at him with a light smile but right after turned her gaze down to the table. “Listen, I’m here for the good stuff. Believe me, I’m really needing it right now. But first, I want to apologize for, you know, yesterday” she looked serious at Eddie, who was a little surprised by the apology.

“Uh, well, I would do the same if someone fucking grabbed me by the arms from behind in a restroom. Wasn’t my smartest move. Sorry ‘bout that” there he goes making Diana snort again.

“It’s fine, you tried to help me. Well, you kinda did, my hands aren’t even bruised,” she lifted her arms to show him “see? You held me like no other man ever did, Munson.” She winked with a sly smile, ripping a chuckle from him.

“It’s a pleasure to please the Dark Queen” Eddie’s smile matched her’s before they started to laugh. Diana was surprisingly amused by his easy going self, nothing like he acted in public, nothing like Jason says.

“You know, you’re really different from what I thought you’d be like” Diana rested her arms by the table and looked directly at him.

“Mean and scary?”

“More like harsh and trying to scare me off” she emphasized the “trying” part as her sly smile showed up again. Eddie gasped at her as his hands went above his heart, comically offended.

“You don’t think I’m scary? I’m a freak, your majesty! I’m a cult leader” he put his hands by his head to make horns and made a ‘demon’ noise.

“Oh, please! I saw people doing way more harmful things than having a club with a weird name” with that Eddie stood up to walk around the table.

“Okay, first, it’s not weird, it’s cool. And second,” he got closer to her and lowered till her height “you don’t know that.” They were staring at each other's eyes, Diana was enjoying this, Eddie’s big eyes were hypnotic in some way.

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“Try me, big boy.” Eddie could say the same about Diana too. The iris of her eyes caughted him under some sort of magnetism, difficult to tear his gaze apart. “But let’s do it another day. Now,” she was the one to turn the face away “how does it work exactly?”

Thanks for reading!

Keep In Touch Part 2

Part 1

• The Losers keep track of Richie's music while they're at college, even Eddie, but Richie doesn't know about this. They don't really have time to talk to each other anymore let alone Richie, but it's not their fault. They have classes and homework and some have work alongside classes and they all probably have all new friends now.

• Richie's music starts to get pretty dark/depressing/self-depreciating around winter break, and Bev reaches out, then Stan, then Mike, then Ben. He DOES answer them, but he doesn't talk about his music, and they start to get a little concerned but figure he was just going through a rough patch. They all try to make plans to see each other during the break, but it sorta falls through since most of them didn't have enough money to fly anywhere. Eddie worries a lot about Richie after hearing the new covers and songs. He tries to contact Richie, but gets ignored.

• Overall, here's they're school year:

- Eddie does exceptionally well in most of his classes, he makes a couple of friends (his roommate and their girlfriend), they aren't super close, but they hang out when they aren't in class or studying.

- Bev and Mike practically have the time of the time of their lives partying and having fun. Their grades are okay, Bev's aren't great but she's passing and that's what matters. Mike gets a boyfriend for a bit, but they end up breaking it off mutually and staying friends. Bev and Ben talk everyday through video calls or texts or regular calls and they love each dammit.

- Ben's okay in some of his classes. Just the ones he actually finds interesting tho, he's not that good at paying attention in the ones he couldn't care less about, but he genuinely tries and his profs like him so they try with him too.

- Stan doesn't do that great mentally. He starts off with good grades, but they start to slip around wintertime, but we'll get into that later.

- Bill doesn't do well in most of his classes, his profs seem to dislike him and hate his writing. He gets a girlfriend whom he ends up cheating on.

• AND THEN SUMMER COMES ALONG, and Mike sends a message out to the Losers' Snapchat groupchat (which has barely been touched all year aside from winter and spring break), wanting to finally meet up and hang out over the summer. Bill takes some convincing since it's such a long plane ride but eventually gives in because of his dumbass relationship problems. Eddie also takes some convincing because he planned to visit his mom for a bit. Richie surprisingly says yes along with the rest of the Losers, and they plan to meet up in California since it's warm and sunny there, and IT'S SUMMER DAMN IT, they deserve a nice vacation after all the hard work they did all year.

• The first day, they meet up at a restaurant then they all go back to Richie's apartment. It's not big, but he did some redecorating and cleaning before they arrived, so they all fit comfortably in the living area, sitting on a couch and some chairs. Richie brings out some champagne and whiskey and manages to get the rest of the others to at least have a little bit to drink with him to celebrate. He ends up drinking half the bottle of whiskey after Ben takes a couple sips. No one says anything about it.

• Stan's been depressed all year. The only thing really keeping him distracted from it was his classes/homework and sometimes bird-watching. He didn't say anything to any of the Losers though, he didn't want to bring them down while they were off living their own lives and stressed out with their work, and Richie clearly didn't need any more issues to deal with. He'd heard some of those songs/covers. In all honesty he could relate to a lot of the lyrics. That being said, being alone in a motel room with nothing to do but read or watch TV gets to him a little, so he tries to be with at least one of the there Losers as much as possible.

• Bev, Mike and Eddie go out to lunch a couple days in while Ben is with Richie, drinking whiskey and watching some movies. Bill and Stan go for a walk out at a park near Richie's apartment. They talk and laugh about childhood/highschool memories and eat, and then they start talking about Richie and his music and wonder about just how true to Richie's head and mental state the lyrics might be. They know some of his lyrics were purposefully over confident or angry or pushy to fit the punk/alternative sounds or to set a certain mood and whatnot, but something was off when they were all together again for the first time in a year. Richie has never been one to talk about his feelings, everyone knows this. He'd rather make jokes and help his friends with their problems, but what happens when the only ones you tend to really talk to are a piece of paper, a bottle of whiskey, and a microphone? They're worried about him, definitely, but they have no idea how to approach him about it.

Like/reblog for more! Thank y'all for the support/encouragement btw it means a lot!