mother fearest. @4tr0phy - Tumblr Blog

4T · R0 · PHY ( v ) ; A WASTING AWAY OR PROGRESSIVE DECLINE.

independent, private + very selective karen wheeler of the duffer brothers' + netflix's 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. this blog is completely removed from the show's canon. the main verse explores her as alice creel, who survived. i am extremely plot / plotting - focused, for obvious reasons, and i will prioritize even the most loosely plotted interactions over spontaneous ones. established august 2019, revamped november 2025, rewritten january 2026. by jess, 25, cst.

PLEASE, DO NOT INTERACT WITHOUT READING MY MAIN VERSE !

A STUDY IN: family dynamics, identity, social performance, the false madonna, the suburban nightmare, two corpses sharing a grave, possession and oppression, curiosity killed the cat + more.

⁰¹ START HERE ⁰² WRITING ⁰³ PROMPTS ⁰⁴ WORLD BUILDING

TR0 · PHY ( n ) ; SOMETHING GAINED OR GIVEN IN VICTORY OR CONQUEST ESPECIALLY WHEN PRESERVED OR MOUNTED AS A MEMORIAL.

#pinned !#psd by me !#graphics by me !#carrd by me !

unhohly

✧·.* SHOOT ME INTO SPACE AND LEAVE ME TO COMBUST . . .

independent, private, and selective horror - based original character, inspired by various forms of media, including: james wan's the conjuring series, marvel's venom, halsey's the great impersonator, disney + lewis carroll's alice in wonderland, marina's electra heart + MORE / written by jess.

WARNING: THIS BLOG EXPLORES THEMES OF RELIGION AND LEANS HEAVILY INTO RELIGIOUS IMAGERY AND METAPHOR.

. . . RETURN TO EARTH AND JUST DISSOLVE INTO ITS CRUST.

#s. promotions ! ↝ shameless self advertisement .#:)#this is the new blog!#i'll be working on it heavily this week coming up

#out ! ↝ mrs hot wheels .#realistically the st rpc is like officially dead?#yeah?#i say this bc i’m thinking about fully making karen an oc and changing her fc #bc im :/ abt the show and i’ve been >:( abt cara for a whiiiiiiile now #so like i am considering like keeping her name karen and stuff but fully having her be a horror oc #just spitballing here #just curious #it would just be her 35-50 age range fc that i would change #itd still be jane fonda for when she’s younger #but ye ye ye #just have her be a cursed lady and follow my own lore n stuff fully

if you guys ever notice me editing my replies two minutes after posting, it’s because they are still warm from the printer. like, i did not proofread that, it’s not been sitting in my queue. i wrote that shit, closed my eyes and hit, “post.”

#out ! ↝ mrs hot wheels .#i get so excited #its like show n tell #but its my replies

A MOONLIGHT OF NEON leaks in from between the cracks in drapery, a hollywood backdrop, red and blue flashing back and forth and illuminating the two of them in short bursts.

it was the first moment of peace all night, a silence floating down like a bedsheet over the room— a child's pillow - fort built with the one they trust most in this world. the rising of the sun topside would destroy it in an instant. rapture will wake and the court of public opinion will make its ruling on them, however harsh.

for now, she feels safe. well, as safe as she'll feel until she sees the body. they'll know if it's him for sure, the shadows. they speak to her more now than ever before, existing within her like a rabid dog, crated by her ribcage and kept in check by nothing but her stern word. at this moment they, too, are quiet.

' how long do we have 'til morning ? ' she speaks softly, a near - whisper, as if they are in a dream. the edges of the world are suddenly hazy, a vignette spreading from the corners of her eyes as foreheads meet and eyelids flutter shut. ' everything feels so still all of the sudden. ' / @ghstlnes !

#writing ! ↝ we hereby conduct this post mortem .#bioshock ! ↝ they don't make loyalty like they used to .#ghstlnes !#im feral #truly

thinking about how much mike n dustin shit talk ted. thinking about how much they both love karen. mhm.

#out ! ↝ mrs hot wheels .#i just think the subtext of the show #tells you how much he sucks #idk what this ‘he’s just a guy.’ movement is #but that’s not what’s happening

#dyn : mike w ! ↝ higher and higher ; wilder and lighter .#i just feel like #im right #and this is their vibe esp when he’s an adult #and like ted isn’t in the picture anymore

nixscriptum

#dyn : andrew r ! ↝ be my ny when hollywood hates me .#😭

aaronstveit

Paul, I think I'm gonna be a lousy wife. But don't be angry with me. I love you very much, and I'm very sexy!

JANE FONDA as CORIE BRATTER BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967)

#visuals ! ↝ such an unholy mess of a girl .#biblically accurate karen

paladinstales

Mike feels like he has no one to talk to most of the time. He's been feeling so sad and angry lately. He should be glad to have Will back around, of course. He worried so much for his friend. And yet... he misses El. That's the strongest thing he's feeling every day. He feels stupid sometimes to call her every day, but he genuinely doesn't know what else to do. He knew her for a week, and he knows his friends would judge him for being this obsessed about a girl he knew for a week. But there's something there. And not just because he shared his first kiss with her. Mike knows their bond is special, stronger than anything he thought was possible. She must still be alive somewhere. She just has to. The world wouldn't make sense otherwise.

Because he kept thinking and overthinking, he just couldn't sleep. That's why he has decided to get up, hoping he'd find Nancy or Karen to talk to. He doubts he can really tell the truth about how he's feeling, but maybe just... talking can help him and make him feel at least a bit more relaxed.

"I would be mad at dad too if I were you." He's only half-joking. It's hard to feel any kind of connection to Ted. At least Karen has noticed his mood was different, even if Mike doesn't talk much about it. Ted clearly hasn't noticed. He probably doesn't even want to.

He raises an eyebrow at the word daydream. Yes, he clearly does that too. He daydreams of El being alive somewhere and coming back. It makes him feel sad and shy at the same time, though. He scratches his neck. "I'm sure this garden was beautiful, mom. Do you have pictures of it ?" Knowing that his mom used to talk to flowers makes him feel a bit less weird for calling El every night. They can do whatever they want to make themselves feel better, after all. Even if they don't reach anyone.

He sighs and shrugs at her question. "I..." He clears his throat and hesitates. Should he tell the truth ? After all, Karen just told him a truth about herself. At the same time, it makes him realize how much he hates showing any sign of vulnerability. "I think about my next D&D campaign..." No, it doesn't sound that convincing. And he tries to think about this for real sometimes, but El is always back on his mind right away. He sighs again with defeat. "The girl I hid in the basement... I think about her too sometimes." Sometimes. This is bullshit, of course, but he needs to pretend it's not that big of a deal in front of his mom. Otherwise, she'll worry about him.

4tr0phy

it makes her want to cry, how sure of it he sounds.

' I WOULD BE MAD AT DAD TOO, IF I WERE YOU. '

her smile falls a little crooked, sort of broken, and she avoids meeting his gaze until she can reorient herself from the blow. she can't settle on whether he moves on naturally or to avoid the topic of his father, but a release of her breath marks the gratitude she felt for the shift.

' no. ' answer tumbles out far too quickly, and she has to correct herself, ' well— no, not any here. maybe nonna does. ' a pause. ' at her house . . . ' honeyed eyes go all soft again as she looks up to him, shrugging. mirana had offered many times to send some of those old photos over, but karen just can't bear to look at herself back then. she feels too different, too alien from that girl.

she trails, as she often does when speaking about her childhood. stories never quite got finished, memories sort of blurring together and fogging up her mind. it goes unnoticed this time, she thinks, because his mind is clearly somewhere else.

' —WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ? '

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. she doesn't really understand it, or maybe the concept of it was too hard for her to grasp, and she thinks it's a red herring, anyway, a distraction from what truly bothers him. motherly eyes grow a bit stern on him, as if attempting to read between the lines of worry that crinkle the spot between his brows, but she doesn't have to try very hard. as he divulges this small part of the truth to her, she starts to see something she didn't before.

' you know, i think about her too. i think about that whole . . . situation a lot. ' her features are very serious, carrying all the weight and care she thinks he deserves. lord knows she could never be so vulnerable. she admires his effort. ' i guess differently than you, though. those guys— ' the wheeler matriarch has never done much to hide her distaste of the people who raided her home midday, and it certainly wouldn't start now. she speaks of them with pure poison, spitting the words out of her mouth. ' the agents, they said— ' she doesn't need to repeat it, so she drops it, and as a few silent moments pass, chooses a different question.

' she was . . . sort of your friend, huh ? i just . . . i think you might know better than them. ' what she's saying is: i'm listening. ted has already made up his mind about the girl, but karen wasn't so easily convinced that a child could be a monster. ' kinda seems like they had an agenda. '

#writing ! ↝ we hereby conduct this post mortem .#main ! ↝ we exist together now ; two corpses in one grave .#paladinstales !#i love them sm ur honor #ugh im living for this

between karen and andrew were tied, daintily, fine threads spun from gold and woven by fate. the two understood each other, in some ways, so completely they didn't need to speak. glances spoke volumes, other times, a gentle touch.

the two held themselves ( and, oftentimes, each other ) to an impossible standard, and failure was never an option. of all those golden threads, that one glowed the brightest, connected them in some cosmic way; twin flames melting each other's wax wings.

AND NOW JACK— a shared failure. it was a mother's job just as much as a father's to protect your own. they'd been too blind to see it, too wrapped up in—

she can't help the mirthless laugh that huffs out of her, nearly inaudibly, as the movement of his hands snap her out of her thoughts.

he looks just like her, a spitting image. she wonders if he shares anything at all with his father. there is a kindness to him, a warmth that seems to radiate from deep within. you couldn't grow that in a lab. yet, she isn't sure that it could have come from either of the ryans. she doesn't think so highly of herself as to believe such delusions.

a smile forces its way to her face, a thick swallow following it. ' thanks, i, uh . . . ' she shrugs, sheepishly, ' you don't have to worry about me. y- you've done enough, huh ? you must be exhausted. '

#writing ! ↝ we hereby conduct this post mortem .#bioshock ! ↝ they don't make loyalty like they used to .#ghstlnes !#:D

angelbabymikaa

hey does anyone know when the suffering ends

#psyche ! ↝ you bleed and bleed and bleed .

SHE HUMS SWEETLY, a pleasant smile overcoming her at the nature of the question. mike, she thinks, shares that same innocent curiosity that many around them found to be too spirited, too strange. the world is a very practical place with very practical rules, and even though karen navigated them with some effort, it didn't change the feeling of ostracization that characterized her existence. she imagines he felt that way too, sometimes. at least, she figured from trips to the principle's office over the years.

' a lot of stuff, i guess. ' her back is turned to him, spoon submerged in a mug of warm milk, mixing cocoa into it and then moving onto a second. she speaks over her shoulder, eyes focused on her task.

it's so late that it's early and she couldn't tell if he'd been woken up by something or never went to sleep in the first place. she doesn't pry at him, though. instead, she hopes he'll tell her all on his own.

' sometimes i'm mad at your dad and i think about that, ' it's only half - serious as she continues, and she throws a comical look over at him when she says it. moments later, she turning, hot cocoa in each hand as she stands across from him on the other side of the island. ' but usually, i just . . . ' her head tilts, gaze floating upwards, thoughtfully, as she tries to find a word for it, ' daydream ? ' she laughs it off, as if she thinks it sounds ridiculous, but she doesn't shut him out like she would most.

' when i was a kid, we— well, nonna used to have this rose garden in the backyard and i would to go out there and talk to the flowers for hours. ' there's a wistfulness to her suddenly, eyes alight with one of the few happy memories she'd collected from that time of her life. ' i think about that sometimes too. ' it's a rare moment of vulnerability, something small and secret that she entrusts to him. karen felt close to mike that way, even if she couldn't explain it.

' —what do you think about ? '

#writing ! ↝ we hereby conduct this post mortem .#main ! ↝ we exist together now ; two corpses in one grave .#paladinstales !#i left the timeline of this verrrry open ended so go crazy #but hehe this is sweet ;-;

eyes glazed over, pupils dilated so wide her irises are consumed by the blackness of them. she'd awoken in blood - soaked terror, nightgown tangled in brush, her body rested upon a bed of fallen leaves. when bare feet dug into the soil, she ran on instinct, unsure where she would end up until she arrived. in her darkest moment, in her deepest panic, it wasn't home that she ran to. it was here. church.

IT HADN'T ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY. long ago, this place had haunted her, but father jud had changed things. he, in many ways, is the church. who else could she have fled to, covered in dark ichor with not the fear of his judgment but the wish for his council ?

' father, ' the silence, which had seemed vast and infinite only moments ago, is shattered in an instant. it feels like phasing back into reality, becoming a tangible thing again. ' i think something is very wrong with me. i can't fight it anymore, i— i'm so tired. '

#writing ! ↝ we hereby conduct this post mortem .#main ! ↝ we exist together now ; two corpses in one grave .#ghstlnes !#hehe ;)

do-re-memes

— nighttime ; prompts & sentence starters.

a mixture of scenarios and dialogue for nighttime shenanigans. tw for mentions of alcohol, substance usage, and suggestive themes.

( SCENARIOS )

[ BUZZ ] - our muses are drinking and / or getting high on a rooftop.

[ CAMP ] - our muses are camping in the woods, telling ghost stories by the fire, when they suddenly hear something scary.

[ CONCERT ] - our muses attend a major pop star's concert and fan out.

[ DANCE ] - our muses go out clubbing and start dancing up on each other.

[ DIM ] - our muses make cocktails and slow dance in a dimly lit kitchen at 11pm.

[ DINER ] - our muses decide to hit up a diner at midnight and order breakfast.

[ DRINK ] - our muses meet up for drinks at a lowkey bar.

[ DRIVE ] - our muses are on a late night road trip and have to make a pit stop somewhere questionable.

[ EMPTY ] - our muses explore an abandoned building and almost get caught by [pick: security / squatters / other explorers / something else].

[ FRESH ] - our muses decide to sit outside one of their homes for fresh air and a meaningful conversation at 1am.

[ GAME ] - our muses stay up until 4am playing video games in the living room.

[ GRAVE ] - our muses explore a cemetery / graveyard and find something spooky.

[ HAUNT ] - our muses explore a location that is notoriously haunted and have a paranormal encounter.

[ HIDE ] - our muses are hiding out together in [pick: the attic / the bathroom / a closet / the garage / somewhere else] at a party they didn't want to attend.

[ HIKE ] - our muses are hiking along a new trail and find something interesting / odd after getting lost.

[ MASK ] - our muses attend a masquerade (or some other masked event) and unknowingly become dance partners.

[ PLAY ] - our muses have fun at a playground at 1am.

[ RITUAL ] - our muses conduct a [pick: cult-like / pagan / satanic / spell] ritual deep in the middle of a forest.

[ ROOM ] - our muses are deliriously sprawled out in one of their bedrooms at 5am after talking all night.

[ SHINE ] - our muses are laying on a blanket in the grass and stargazing.

[ SHORE ] - our muses attend a bonfire party on the beach and wind up talking and walking along the shore until sunrise.

[ SNACK ] - our muses make a 1am snack run to the nearest corner store / gas station.

[ SNEAK ] - our muses are caught sneaking in or out somewhere (alternate: sender may catch receiver, or vice versa).

[ STUDY ] - our muses spend the evening [pick: studying / training] and accidentally get locked in the [pick: grounds / gym / library / school].

[ SUMMON ] - our muses play with a ouija board (or similar tool) at 3am and get scared by themselves or something worse.

[ SWEAT ] - our muses are laying in bed together post-coitus.

[ SWIM ] - our muses sneak into the community pool for a late night swim.

[ VENUE ] - our muses drink and get rowdy at a rock show in a small venue.

[ WALK ] - our muses take a late night stroll around the neighborhood / town / city.

[ WET ] - our muses skinny dip in a lake / pond once the sun starts to go down.

( DIALOGUE )

❛ it's hard to see the stars in the city. ❜

❛ can you spot any constellations? ❜

❛ can i get you a drink? ❜

❛ i'm so tired, but i can't sleep… ❜

❛ it's too late for that. ❜

❛ this is gonna require an all-nighter. ❜

❛ how is it already two in the morning? ❜

❛ gonna grab a midnight snack. you want something? ❜

❛ can i take you home? ❜

❛ did you hear that? ❜

❛ i can't see shit. ❜

❛ why do hauntings never seem to happen during the day? ❜

❛ first one to fall asleep has to buy breakfast in the morning. ❜

❛ are you still awake? ❜

❛ are you okay? it sounded like you were having a bad dream. ❜

❛ well, you seemed like you were having a good dream… was it about me? ❜

❛ hey! no falling asleep on me! you better wake up! ❜

❛ what do you think about when you're falling asleep? ❜

❛ shh! keep your voice down! ❜

❛ please tell me you see that too… ❜

❛ i think we're being followed… ❜

❛ who the fuck are you?! why are you following me?! ❜

❛ why the hell are you up so late? ❜

❛ getting into some late night mischief? … yeah, me neither. ❜

❛ can you stay up with me, please? i just need some company… ❜

❛ don't turn on the light! ❜

❛ could you at least turn on a light or something? ❜

❛ who cares? it's not like anyone can see us. ❜

❛ this place is freakier at night… ❜

❛ it's locked… what are we supposed to do now? ❜

#prompts ! ↝ hello ? this is the wheelers !

MIRANA D'ARCOURT IS A STRANGE WOMAN. maybe not . . . strange, per se, but virginia would have hated her. her other mother had been a very sterile sort of statuesque presence— harrowing as she would peer down at you from way up on her high horse. mirana is different, like a gentle wave lapping up at the shoreline; calm and natural. an effortless process; mirana simply is.

karen doesn't like to think of virginia too much, though. that was alice's mother, and the both of them are very dead now. so, maybe this recollection of a ghost is actually some sort of manifestation of her own envy. MAYBE KAREN IS THE ONE WHO HATES HER and her mind wishes to blame it on the corpse of that woman.

' you know, the other girls don't pull it back like this . . . ' the cadence of an annoyed teenager comes out in cold staccatos, ' maybe we should just leave it down. '

then again, as her distaste rolls out of her mouth, it's sour and wrong. like a sip of expired milk, it curdles on her tongue, a look of shame and disgust knitted by furrowed brows.

' it's just— i'd hate to stick out. '

#writing ! ↝ we hereby conduct this post mortem .#main ! ↝ we exist together now ; two corpses in one grave .#w0ndersland !#we havent done anything for them yet in the new verse i dont think #so haha have sad

today is the day karen gave birth to her favorite child son, so happy birthday to mike!

#out ! ↝ mrs hot wheels .#i wish all mike rpers a very happy day

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mother fearest.