Jane Hopper escaped the lab in 83’ and died in 87’. That’s four years. FOUR YEARS. SHE ESCAPED A GOVERNMENT LAB, WAS USED AS A WEAPON HER WHOLE LIFE, FOUGHT CREATURES FROM AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION, HAD TO HIDE IN HOPPERS CABIN FOR A YEAR, MOVED AWAY TO CALIFORNIA AND GOT BULLIED THE WHOLE TIME, MOVED BACK TO HAWKINS AND TRAINED WHILE BEING HIDDEN AGAIN, AND THEN SHE KILLED HERSELF AT 16. The dumbass brothers wrote such a horribly tragic story for such a young girl and then thought her ending should be suicide? They let everyone else (except my son Will but that’s a whole other conversation) get a happy ending and move on from this but they didn’t let her get an ounce of happiness. Even in her last moment they couldn’t even make her fuckass bf tell her that he loved her. She only got to “live” for four years then she died alone thinking it was the only option. Jane Hopper we still talk about you.
the last thing el said to hopper was “i’m not sara.” she gave him back her bracelet. she let him believe she was safe. she never said goodbye to the man who chose to be her father.
she never said goodbye to the mother who took her in when she had nothing, the woman who inducted her into her family with a haircut everyone made fun of but she treasured as her own.
she never said goodbye to the older brother who looked after her in an unfamiliar home, who drove blindly into the desert on the idea of hope that they would find her.
she never said goodbye to her best friend, the only girl who ever took the time to try to understand her, the only girl who wanted to help her learn who she was to herself, the girl whose life she refused to let end before its time.
she never said goodbye to the boys who found her in the woods, the boys who were scared of her at first but who became some of her most trusted friends in the world. the boys who saw her as, yes, a hero, but also as a girl, too.
she never said goodbye to her brother, her twin in everything but genetics, who saved her life as she saved his from the monster who destroyed both their childhoods. she never said goodbye to her real brother, the one who understood her to her core, the one who showed her that the monster was not the family she deserved.
she said goodbye to her sister, after a years-long separation, as she bled out in her arms.
the last thing el said before her final goodbye—to the first boy who ever showed her kindness, the boy who never quite understood her the way she wanted him to but who cared for her regardless—was “i love you.” and she never heard it back.
The fact that Steve and Robin literally aren’t related to anyone in the show and could deadass js leave if they wanted to but are js there for shits n giggles
⛸️ ❄️ figure skater will byers x hockey player mike wheeler 🏒🥅
the au I've been wanting to bring to life for so long now.. thank you winter olympics for the perfect excuse. I hope you guys see the vision bc I have more to draw for it, I think it suits them so much!!
Ok I know I’m late but I js read the whole sharknilla thing and omg I’m literally obsessed?? Cutest thing ever!! I hope there’s a part 2 bc wdym they’re not public yet!? ALSO whoever wrote that is genuinely hilarious I can’t. Genuinely had me laughing my ass off
stranger things AU where there's no upside down, no powers, hawkins is just a regular small town.
will, dustin, mike and lucas are a party and the bestest of friends, but will never goes missing on november 6th, 1983.
instead, terry ives moves to hawkins in summer '83, with her sister becky ives and her daughter, jane eleanor ives. and jane joins the party's class in fall of '83. she's quiet, doesn't talk a lot and when she does, it's simple. jane listens. jane is in her own head a lot. jane loves to learn, even though it takes her longer than others. some bully her for being slow, but that's not what jane is. she's very empathic, she can connect with anyone if she tries. who cares if she struggles with society's perception of smartness then? her intelligence is deeply emotional.
and the boys immediately like jane. she's an outsider, like them (jane and mike are both autistic, but they don't have the words for that). she joins the party. mike and dustin both have a crush on her, but jane doesn't choose either. she wants their friendship more than dating them. will starts calling her 'el' from her second name (soon the entire party adopts the nickname) and the two connect on a soulmate level - joyce feels like she's gotten a daughter and terry suddenly has a son. becky is the cool aunt to the whole party. the ives's house is a safe place for the entire party, especially when they want to get away from the bullies. becky will definitely go into protective mama bear mode when she witnesses anything.
when max moves to hawkins, mike is hesitant to let her join the party still. but el and lucas insist, and so he drops his resistance. they let max in. she and el get along great after a rough start, max has to get used to el's straight, yet dreamy way first. when max starts crushing on lucas and they have their first date, el realises she wants it too. she feels a connection to mike, so she asks him out. he says yes. dustin is devasted over this, but doesn't show it. instead he runs into steve who wants to apologise to nancy (similarly to S2) and steve, seeing this usually so bright and joyful kid, stops and tries to cheer dustin up. (it doesn't work at first because dustin is confused about steve's niceness, but they become buddies still.)
summer of '85 rolls in, mike and el are dating, so are max and lucas. will has already started to realise he likes mike more than just as a friend. he's desperate and he feels alone. because how could he even dare to like mike who is dating el. el, who is will's twin in every way that matters. he doesn't know where to go for advice. mike and el are so happy whenever he sees them (actually, they aren't), dustin is always hanging around with steve and this girl from steve's work, max and lucas include will, but it's still weird since they're a couple. jonathan realises something is up with will and they have a talk. will comes out, jonathan reassures him there's nothing wrong with will. he likes who he likes, and that is okay.
meanwhile, jane doesn't really feel happy. it's not like she doesn't like mike, but it feels so different from what max says about lucas. when she goes to her mom and aunt for advice, they don't tell her much, cause terry has hooked up a few times in college, but never anything serious. meanwhile becky is fully happy on her own and never wanted a relationship. (that's why she's living with her sister and niece.) however becky gives jane one strong advice. "do that what makes you feel happy and good and like you're being yourself." after a day out with max and will (who, despite his feelings for mike, loves hanging out with the girls, when mike and lucas become asshole-ish - max and lucas are on an off-phase again, jane and mike just had a fight, mike had been an asshole to will when he called him out for abandoning their friendship in favor of their girlfriends, "it's not my fault you don't like girls!", "it kinda is"), jane realises her friendships make her happy and she feels happy about herself when she's not constantly kissing mike.
summer break of '85 ends with jane breaking up with mike, telling him that she loves him but not really in the way she needs to for a relationship. mike is completely floored, but also secretly relieved (he doesn't even know why yet). from that moment on, mike and el are way more comfortable around each other, they're affectionate and cuddly, but it feels much more natural to both of them. lucas and max get back together again. will feels a spark of hope when mike holds his gaze a moment too long one night, the party playing dnd under the night sky.
a few weeks into the new school year, billy dies in a car crash. although no one exactly mourns the grade A asshole, max doesn't know how to cope with his death. she retreats into her shell, distances herself from the party. jane and lucas desperately try to reach her. but max stays away from the party.
the boys and jane have been adopted into hellfire, while lucas also is in basketball. the basketball guys are very judgemental of eddie, claim he's a freak, but as long as lucas comes to their games, they don't mind him as much. meanwhile, eddie absolutely loves will. he loves all the kids, but will with his creativity and his dedication just has a special place. when lucas's game falls together with the great finale of eddie's campaign, el begs him to move it. although she doesn't like jason, she still wants to be there for lucas. when eddie refuses, the twins skip and instead go to the game alone.
from his newfound relationship with eddie and his existing friendship with steve, dustin gains more confidence. not that he has cared much what others think before, but there's still this thing he has for jane. (eddie, of course, saw that immediately during hellfire, because dustin isn't subtle when he's admiring her. steve also knows, because yes, dustin told him, but also it's obvious with the way he lights up when jane is near.) both the older guys try to help dustin out with advice, although dustin never really listens. also, he's usually so excited around jane that he just talks so much. el always listens. it feels like there's a connection blooming between them.
one day, in spring of '86, max goes missing. she doesn't come to school and doesn't hang around with the party. they look for her, and lucas finally finds her, curled up against billy's gravestone. he holds her, as she finally breaks down, when she finally lets all her emotions out and just cries for hours. she confesses the amount of guilt she's had over billy's death, how she feels responsible because she and billy had a huge fight before he drove away, raging, how she wanted to follow him into death because it would've stopped this giant gnawing pit of despair in herself. lucas never lets her go. after this, max slowly comes back to the party, especially to el. when jane tells her mom and aunt what happened to max, she gains two additional moms. terry and becky love the entire party, but just like will has been terry's newfound son, max is the new daughter, especially considering how badly her real mother is coping with billy's death and his father's leaving. becky absolutely dotes on max. max realises she always has people around her who love her, here in hawkins.
when he's over at jane's house one day, she bluntly asks him what's between him and mike. will is embarrassed and tries to deny everything, but el just goes "you look at each other like you're the best things to ever happen". she assures him that she doesn't care if he's gay, since becky and terry always taught her that everyone loves the way they do, and that is who they are. will tears up. this is his twin, of course he trusts her. when he comes out, jane hugs him and reaffirms that she'll always be there. she wants to help them both get their shit together, because she also knows mike definitely likes will back with the amount of time he talks about him. he just hasn't realised yet.
will and mike get closer again, best friends and crazy together, right? however, it doesn't truly feel like friendship between them. will, who is out to his mom and jonathan now, loves mike so much, but it's not gonna work out, is it? because there are so many of mike's glances will catches, only for mike to get flustered and look away. he's always so close to him, possessive of will. and the long hair looks so good on him. how does mike always brush against will when they move, but also jerks away when somebody stares at them? will's so frustrated and also heartbroken, over and over again. the mixed signals mike's giving him are driving him nuts.
over the course of the next year, will comes out to the party, one by one, except for mike. he just can't. it would mean the entire world shifting. the party accepts and loves will the way he is, of course. robin, who is hanging around the party due to steve's and dustin's brotherism, clocks will's glances at mike. she's dating nancy wheeler at this point and she just wants to let will know that he has someone queer to talk to. even though they haven't had much in common before, when will accidently walks in on robin and nancy kissing, he realises he isn't alone. robin takes him under her wing, giving him advice for mike because god, these wheelers can be exhausting and closeted at times.
dustin and jane spend a lot of time together outside of the party. they go exploring in the woods because jane loves the world and she wants to see everything. dustin happily joins her and always has a picnic prepared. one day in summer of '87, when they're sitting on a blanket by lover's lake, sharing some cake becky made, dustin gathers all his courage and confesses to el. she smiles because she's liked him back for a while now and they share a kiss, starting to date. henderhop become known as this obnoxiously cute couple in school that's always holding hands, tooth-achingly sweet to each other and their smiles whenever they're together could rival the sun. especially max and lucas tease them. dustin has to live through three seperate 'if you ever hurt her' talks by max, mike and will. he doesn't get one from becky though, because she's always adored him.
now that dustin and jane, as well as max and lucas are an item, it's kind of weird between mike and will. they're the only single people in the party left and while they still hangout as a whole, the couples also spend time alone, so that it's often will and mike alone. one of these evenings, will and mike are alone in the basement, will gathers his courage and finally comes out to mike as well. he doesn't admit he has a crush on mike. mike is so silent that will fears he is going to kick him out at any moment. but mike's thinking about all the moments between them that felt like more, but of course they weren't, they're two boys. mike realises that he feels fluttery and excited around will, not because that's his best friend, because he is more than that. and now... he might have a chance? mike just looks up and will feels like he could drown in his gaze. the tension between them leads to their first kiss.
it's hard for byler. not because they don't love each other, but because they're gay in a small conservative town, so they can't show their affection openly. which is especially true when they're out with henderhop and lumax. while they get to kiss and cuddle during a movie, will and mike have to keep a proper distance, to not get called slurs. it still isn't enough. just because they're always together and they like each other, they get bullied in school. get called slurs and especially will is the target. when joyce and karen hear about this, they go feral, demanding the school takes action. it doesn't. it's hawkins in the 80s. when the party is at jane's house, there's a deeply misinformed and hateful segment about AIDS and homosexuality on TV. becky loses her shit and yells so much, terry rushes in, getting her sister out. when she has calmed down later, she goes to the party and says "if any of you every realise they're homosexual, that's absolutely okay. don't believe the shit they're saying on tv, it's disgusting." although they don't openly show affection around jane's house, byler is a lot more comfortable there now.
when they graduate, everyone is crying. for the first time, their lives will seperate them from each other permanently. dustin is going to study to be an astrophysicist, he wants to work for NASA. jane is going with him, but she wants to be a kindergarten teacher, helping kids learn about themselves and preparing them for school. max and lucas move to california, she's going to be an athlete, while he enrolls for psychology. mike and will go to new york, the writer and the artist, creating together. before they split, the party does one last big road trip together, creating memories that stay with them, even when they're apart.
they reunite in hawkins every summer and winter. sometimes steve and eddie are in hawkins at the same time, with their daughter and then the party comes to visit them. (dustin cried so hard when he first met lilly and he loves her so much.) steve and eddie never stay long in hawkins though, they don't feel comfortable in that town. terry and becky always prepare one big dinner party when everyone's back. when robin and nancy are in hawkins, they sometimes join the party. jonathan's first movie at NYU doesn't click, but the second breaks through. they all come to new york and support him.
a few years after graduation in '89, when they have their degrees, they come together once again, this time for jane's and dustin's wedding.
sweet boy he knew you by the pattern of your breath at 12. when your abuser found you at 13 he dropped everything to reassure you and slept on your floor. making you cry at 14 was more serious for him than his girlfriend calling it off. he was so upset at 15 that you weren’t happy that it ruined his whole day. when you gave him your gift, it was the happiest he had looked in months. memories of your relationship gave you the strength to save his life. you were five years old when he fixed himself to your side. his boundaries with you are different, his voice so much softer, the tether you feel with him runs both ways.
you were never reading too closely between the lines. the mike you know is more than a crush. the mike you love would want to be.
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
pixelskylines
amandla
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prguitarman
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