thinking about barb and nancy + that 'it didnt have to end this way vs it was always going to' post. because at first glance, it DIDNT have to end that way. barb could have lived and loved and her and nancy would be happy. if nance had gone home with barb, or declined steves invitation, she would still have her best friend. but then, when you look deeper into it - it did have to happen. if barb hadnt died nancy would still have heels in her shoebox instead of a gun, and the pretty pink wallpaper coating her walls, and she wouldnt have ever been able to protect hawkins. their town would have fallen a long time ago if nancy didnt go upstairs. barb is both the unstoppable force and the unmovable object. her death isolates nancy, turns her on herself, festers in the back fo her mind like a parasite - but its that same guilt that drives her forwards. nancy has to grieve to allow the anger it puts in her to fight. it was always going to end that way. barb was always going to die. nancy is a soldier, and barb is her sword, sharp and bright and cutting.

why nancy dove in after steve

spoiler alert: it isn't bc of 'true love' for steve as eddie and st*ncys suggest.

the first reason is pretty obvious and one i've seen others say before: nancy has a major savior complex. this is the same person who literally stood in front of b*llys speeding car to protect everyone else with her own body. if robin or eddie had dove in first instead she probably would have done the exact same thing.

the second reason is less obvious. think back to how barb died. it was in a pool, right, in water? dragged down by an interdimentional monster? what happens to steve in this scene? he is in water, dragged down by an interdimentional monster.

everything for nancy comes back to barb imo. this whole situation mirrors what happened to barb and this is nancy's chance for a re-do, to do it right this time. its where nancy's savior complex comes from in the first place, that she couldn't save barb. so seeing steve (or really anyone) in that same/similar situation kicks off her urge to do what she didn't know to do that night barb died.

that love eddie saw? it wasn't nancy's love for steve, it was nancy's love for barb. it's nancy doing for steve what she wishes she could have done for barb, if she had only known to.

(also: note how little eddie knows nancy. he's surprised that she keeps guns in her room. why would he know anything about her thoughts/feelings at all? its a total guess on his part based more on stereotypes than nancy as a person.)

Gone but not forgotten

Nance and Barb

Richard Siken//Ocean Vuong//Finneas O'Connell//Beat me to it, Brendan Maclean//Old friends, Jasmine Thompson

... can you tell my special interest is queer culture and theory?

(from my wip stranger things fic)

Never fall for a newly introduced stranger things character, unless you love pain

Alright, so if you could turn back time and you could only save ONE…who are you saving?

🤍🩶🖤

Watching Season 4 is getting my brain thinking about making more Stranger Things inspired art.

Here’s some I made after the first couple of seasons…..can’t believe I haven’t made any Jim Hopper art. A big failure on my part.

Okay, so I started watching Stranger Things finally, and who was going to tell me the two best characters are killed off in the first two episodes? RIP Benny and Barb.

React to this post if, like me, you don’t think barb is truly dead/gone/etc.

“If you don’t see a body the character isn’t dead” is a big trope in media and stranger things literally pulled that trope with Hopper so…

Just hopping I’m not the only crazy one with the smallest bit of hope for barb to return

just a reminder that barb would hate st*ncy. she is always watching.

Nancy & Barb Sadness

reference: X - "how to talk to short people"

Langston Hughes//Stranger Things

excuse me?

Duffer brothers?

what does this mean?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

brb going feral from the implications