*& CASUALTIES

I watch the sky for something nice, and NO ONE seems to bother me. There’s awful sounds and frightful sights and NO ONE sees the problem here. It’s not picturesque, though I hear songs of V I C T O R Y. I lost a friend and part of me.

[regcneratives]

[DAVID HARBOUR, MALE, HE/HIM] Gag me with a spoon, is that [JIM HOPPER]? I know that they are [41] years old and are [CHIEF OF POLICE]. What’s their damage? I heard that they’re [ALERT & PROTECTIVE] and [TEMPERAMENTAL & CYNICAL]. They’re totally trippin’ because they’re [AWARE] of what’s going on in town. 

Admin Trix here, 10 yrs late with an intro....

“There’s another way to get out, through The Gap.”

Hop urged Joyce to turn those damn keys and she closed her eyes and didn’t see him run into The Gap

In The Upside Down he could only survive so long down there until eventually either the MF, a demogorgon or some other creature got to him. 

Down there he did think about contacting Joyce and El, but he wasn’t going to let Joyce and the rest of the kids risk their lives, again. Opening the gate again would unleash hell and then what was the point of all of s3???

Billy doesn’t know that tho,, what he doesn’t know wont kill him

Since they were both down there and eventually the MF got to Jim too. Thats the only way he survived down there. 

Possessed like a mofo

Neither of them have any powers now that they were saved/found by the Lab Rats, not like Will.

Now he’s back, ready to get back to work (he should be resting) and figure out what the hell these other test subjects want with his town. 

Thats all I got 

[regcneratives]

something-deadly-comes‌:

Lyra whipped around to face the voice behind her even though she already knew who the speaker was. She glared into the face she knew so well. For so many years of her life, Lyra had been trapped in the lab, the other test subjects her only family. Including Kai.

It was not a happy reunion. She grimaced when he spoke so loudly, so openly in public. A quick scan along the street showed, luckily, no one was looking at them or seemed to care at all. She moved quickly to a quiet alleyway off the sidewalk and gave Kai a look that said: “follow me NOW or else”. 

“You’re one to talk about playing God,” she scoffed, “I always thought you believed it was our RIGHT to use our powers? Now, what do you want?”

At her glare, his lips form into a grin. If looks could kill and if only her gift extended past touch, he might’ve been dead. A modern Medusa if you will. It causes a chuckle to erupt from his mouth. He waves off the pedestrian, leaving them in further confusion as the two walk off. 

Sculpted arms sit atop his chest, crossed. One of his arms is littered in tattoos, enough to make the single [001] look NORMAL and not as lonely. It’s enough to not have anyone ask the meaning of that singular one. He doesn’t remember a time he didn’t have it ; he darkly jokes being born with it and he wouldn’t put it past the scientists to have given it to him as a newborn or toddler. ❝ Lighten up, Ly. ❞  He shakes his head, ❝ I was teasing. Y’know, a joke?❞

[regcneratives]

kat-009‌:

“Thank you.” feeling self-conscious about said drawing and not wanting to allow him to see any more of it, she closes the notebook and slides it back in her bag. Kat believes that would be the beginning and end of their conversation. Katherine is sadly mistaken as he sits down across from her and is able to make her freeze with just his words alone. Her eyes narrow in both confusion and the slightest fear.

He doesn’t seem familiar in the sense he isn’t among the people that tortured her but that doesn’t make her feel at ease in the slightest. If he’s like her, that would mean he could be capable of anything.

“What are you talking about?” Feigning innocence should buy her time to make sense of this…right?

❝ You’re welcome. ❞  Kai’s aware he might be coming off a bit unsettling, brown eyes studying the other. The way her eyes emit emotion, the slightest bit of a reaction to his words, it doesn’t go unnoticed. He doesn’t blame her either, he’d have reacted much worse had a man his size approached him on a touchy subject. But he doesn’t mean harm, not to her, at least ; she could be an asset to them. The lab had done enough of that to them. 

❝ I think you know exactly what. ❞  He relaxes his posture somewhat, hoping to not come off stand-offish. Kai could’ve shown her his tattoo, but he wasn’t a Goddamn idiot nor was he willing to lay everything out in the open. These towns people were eavesdroppers and nosey, he didn’t particularly have the patience to deal with prying eyes. ❝ Did my eyes deceive me or was that not a drawing of a man in a lab coat?❞

[regcneratives]

hcpperel‌:

wheelbarrowbyers‌:

“Go ahead.” Joyce nudged the girl forward and smiled encouragingly. Slow steps followed El into the room, as Joyce wouldn’t dream to interrupt the moment father and daughter reunited. Her fingers itched for the comfort of a cigarette just to keep them busy, as she could imagine Hopper’s had all day long.

The soft rumble of his voice hit her, and Joyce felt a warm shiver creeping up her spine. Her fingers, which still fumbled at her lower lip, unfolded to cover her mouth, suddenly hit by proof that he was here. It hadn’t felt real to her until now, and the fear that they might not find him in this hospital room after all had consumed her completely. And now? She looked at him, half-sitting in a puddle of white, almost as if he’d been waiting there for them all along.

The way he said her name was the same way he always had - slow, careful, like it might break if spoken too hastily - and the fear made way for a wave of warmth that radiated from his gaze as it finally met hers. “Hop,” She breathed as she felt a tear inching down her cheek, her feet carrying her forwards on their own. Joyce crossed the distance to the space beside the bed that El wasn’t occupying, heart threatening to break her rib cage, and while she watched her daughter finally embrace her dad, she grabbed onto Hopper’s hand with both of hers, silently trying to blink away the tears that clouded her sight. A smile broke her lips and Joyce inhaled suddenly, realizing she’d forgotten to draw breath.

When they slowly drew away from each other and he turned his head to her, Joyce placed one hand on either side of his face, studying every inch of it all at once, looking for all the answers to a million of her questions, her lips still quivering, but a smile spread across them that told him everything he needed to know. “Hop.” She said again. A long moment passed, then, she all but collapsed into his arms, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

You gonna stand there or give your old man a hug? His words weren’t necessarily meant to be funny, and neither was the situation, but El felt a bubble of nervous laughter push past her lips in response. It was like no time passed at all. They might as well have been in the cabin, the image of Hopper lying on the hospital bed almost similar to him sprawled out on the recliner at home. Almost. The laughter suddenly turned into a sob, and within a split second, she walked over and crawled up on the hospital bed, settling in at his side. She wasn’t fourteen anymore, but she still felt just as tiny next to him. “Dad,” she muttered again, leaning into him and bunching up part of his hospital gown in her fist. The water blue hair-tie around her wrist was a weird contrast against the generic, sickly pale blue he wore. She could feel his chest move under her grasp, and she wasn’t sure if it was just that action alone or finally being there next to him that did it, but she suddenly burst into tears. She should’ve been careful with him, considering what occasionally happened when she didn’t have full control of her powers, but she didn’t care. Despite the sobs wracking through her own body, she ignored them and wrapped her arms around Hopper as tight as humanly possible. It was like if she let go for even a second, he’d vanish into thin air. “I’m s-sorry…I didn’t keep you safe,” she croaked, thinking back to their last conversation in the mall. For a while, she thought that was their last conversation ever and that those were the final words she’d remember him saying. She was glad it didn’t end there. “I love you.”

She was finally able to catch her breath after a couple minutes, and although it was still coming out shuttered, she wasn’t crying as hard. It had settled to a silent stream. She knew she wasn’t the only one waiting, so she reluctantly loosened her grasp. As much as thinking she’d lost him hurt, she wasn’t the only one who went through that pain. Joyce had to witness it happen. She had to break the news to El about what happened. It wouldn’t have been fair for her to take up the entire visit when it wasn’t just her who went through hell and back. With that in mind, she untangled herself from Hopper but remained curled up at his side, letting Joyce have her well deserved moment. 

He hadn’t noticed he’d been holding his breathe for so long, not until he could feel the hospital bed dip and El’s arms were wrapped around him. Despite the exhaustion weighing down on him, Hop doesn’t hesitate to return the embrace. For a while he’d been in denial as if his mind had been playing some sick joke on him, making this all up to escape the horrors of The Upside Down even if for just a little bit. But this was real, he can feel how tightly she’s squeezing him and he can feel her tears staining the hospital gown. He can feel the way her body is shaking with every sob and it’s enough to spur tears of his own ; Jim Hopper has never been one to outwardly show his emotions. 

Hell, for a long time he’d even forgotten what those even were. But then he’d left some eggos out in the woods.

❝ What? ❞  He questions, its enough to have him break away from the hug. ❝ Don’t ever apologize for that. It’s not your responsibility to keep me safe. As your dad I’m supposed to keep you safe. ❞  If he were faced with the same circumstances, he’d make the same decision over and over again. Anything to save El and the rest of those good kids from the dangers of The Lab. ❝ I need you to understand that. ❞  He can’t stress it enough, they were all aware that there’d be a possibility someone wouldn’t make it and Jim was willing to make that sacrifice himself. ❝ I love you too, kid. So much. ❞  Tears are rolling down his cheeks and he’s sure this is the first time she’s ever seen him cry. Placing a kiss on her head, he hugs her again with his free arm giving her another tight squeeze.

Joyce is holding onto one of his hands and it hadn’t registered in his head, he’s gone so long in the Upside Down that it almost felt foreign. He knows his skin is calloused and scarred from the constant exposure to the cold temperature down there. But Joyce’s warmth is so comforting. He wants to tell her that he tried contacting her, had gone to her house and called once and when he’d gone to visit again she was gone and so were her belongings. He has a lot to tell her, there are already pressing matters but that could wait for another day. For the moment he wanted to relish in the moment of being reunited with them. It was a bit overwhelming, but welcoming nonetheless ; he wasn’t complaining. ❝ Please tell me you’re helping me escape these stale, white walls. ❞  It comes out as a whisper as he tightens his embrace around her, with a free hand he moves a few strands of her hair away from her face.

[something-deadly-comes-blog]

Lyra had been out on a walk through Hawkins on her way to the grocery store. She was always on high alert in public. She was terrified that any person in the crowd may point her out, tell her she didn’t belong, she was a freak experiment, or call the chief of police.

Today, however, she was on high alert because she noticed someone up ahead of her was going to be hit by a car. She had grown accustomed to seeing people close to death in public. Sometimes from old age, sometimes heart attack, mostly something natural, something she couldn’t help. But hit by a car? She could save someone, make up for a life she had ended in the lab. She had to try.

“Hello. Ah, sorry to stop you, um?” Lyra stumbled over her words. She couldn’t exactly explain why she had stopped them. “Maybe, well, I was thinking you should stay here. And not cross the road for now. Please?” She remembered to smile like the Jones taught her.

[regcneratives]

Kai can make out the blonde figure ahead, speaking to some stranger. She must’ve seen something she could prevent, no doubt stopping the stranger from crossing the street or stepping onto oncoming traffic. As traffic as it could get in Hawkins, Indiana anyway. To die from getting hit by a car and not some inter-dimensional monster in Hawkins was quite the biggest ‘Fuck You’ from the world.  

He catches up to his fellow, test subject. ❝ See something you didn’t like, I take it? ❞  Kai asks, he isn’t discreet, doesn’t care much for it. ❝ Careful, you’d think you were playing God. ❞  He’s teasing and knows it most likely wont sit very well with the other. Playing God was exactly what they’d been doing, whether it was ending some lives quicker than natural selection intended to or if it were Lyra postponing it for someone. 

[kat-009]

“Former Chief Hopper, found in the woods alongside local resident Billy Hargrove…” The sound is drowned out as Katherine looks down to realize her seemingly non-sensible scribbles made out two different shapes, one of the massive shadow creature some have grown to call the Mind Flayer, the second being of a silhouette in a lab coat. Both completely opposing forces juxtaposed with other and yet holding the same status in her mind.

“And in other news, the latest gruesome discoveries in the woods connected to Forrest Hills Park, yet another body found just last week has now been identified.” The anchorperson’s words cause Katherine’s head to shoot up and eye the screen. The name flashing across the screen makes her eyes go wide, a sickening feeling settling in. She freezes up, eyes gloss over as terrible memories flood her mind. It’s not until someone walks over that she’s able to snap out of it, practically jumping out of her skin. “W-What? Oh…I’m sorry. What were you saying?” Just act normal, put on a brave face, act normal…

[regcneratives]

Arms sit atop his chest as he crosses them, a small smirk on his lips as he watches the tv along with the rest of the samaritans. He recalls the night he and the Lab Rats had finally found a way to get the chief and Billy out of the Upside Down. Quite an eventful night in the woods and dropping them off at the Hospital, leaving without so much of an explanation to the nurses. 

Eyes scan the diner, taking in the reactions of the rest of Hawkins residents. Its enough to erupt disbelieving gasps and whispers among the tables and booths. But he isn’t here to bask in it, he’s here for Nine. Her reaction to the dead scientist doesn’t go unnoticed and he hopes she isn’t a fucking sympathizer. ❝ I said, that’s quite a drawing you got there. ❞  He pauses, sliding on the other end of the booth. ❝ They teach you how to draw like that in the Lab? ❞

[regcneratives]

hcpperel‌:

wheelbarrowbyers‌:

The Welcome to Hawkins sign knotted up Joyce’s insides even more, making her shift in her seat nervously. Even though they hadn’t been here for over two years, every tree along the road and every rock the car rumbled over was familiar. The sentiment of Hawkins swallowed her whole and she tried to swallow the lump that formed in her throat as the memories came rushing in, seeming more and more real, the more they could see of the town. She tried to focus on El. Her words made her chuckle softly, looking into the rear view mirror again to get a glimpse of her boy slumped against his brother’s shoulder, a soft roar coming from his open mouth. “It’s been a long day, sweetheart. I’m glad you slept a little.” Joyce made a conscious effort to speak even more softly than she did anyway.

She couldn’t imagine how El must be feeling. The past three years had been hard for all of them, but El had lost the only father she’d ever known. It broke her heart to see her lose everything she clawed to as a lifeline, to lose so much. It had to end. She’d been brave about it, but Joyce could see the pain always glimmering in her eyes, every waking second – until today. She felt it, too. She couldn’t feel as much of the cold, heavy metal imprints on her hands that she’d seen any time she looked at the hands that had turned the keys back then, she could feel a sense of strength coming back to her that had been gone for a long time.

Joyce’s heart sank and a smile spread on her lips as El called her mom. She’d started to call her that for a while now, but still, it filled her with so much pride that she was able to be just that for her. Her mom. “I’m, um –” Her voice broke a little and she tried to remedy that my taking a drag of her cigarette that she’d been forgetting. “All I know is, I can’t wait to see him.” She bit her lip and instinctively grabbed El’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

They dropped off the boys at their place to stay for the time being, then pulled up into the parking lot of Hawkins Hospital just as the sun set behind the tall building and dipped them in darkness. The receptionist didn’t ask too many questions, which was good, because Joyce didn’t have a very long fuse this evening. Time didn’t pass fast enough as she pressed the evelator button one, twice, three times. Finally, they stood in front of the door, and she let El go ahead and knock as she stood behind her and pinched her lower lip with her fingertips.

El felt a sense of relief once Joyce’s hand found hers, letting out a sigh. “Me too,” she replied softly. She didn’t sound excited, her tone still flat as she tried to shake off her sleepiness but she was sure that would vanish pretty quick once they arrived at the hospital. Even thinking about the hospital had her stomach churning for different reasons. Her memories from the place weren’t great. It was one of the many places around town she’d had to try and defeat another upside down creature, so she’d never expected to be going back there and feeling a positive anticipation. Knowing that Hopper was back, was alive, made the stakes about a million times higher. She squeezed Joyce’s hand in return, keeping it in her grasp as she focused her gaze back out the window. They were almost home.

* * *

El followed in step behind Joyce, a tinge of nervousness settling in her gut upon entering the hospital. It wasn’t like she had a change of heart or anything; there was nothing more she wanted than to see Hopper. However, walking down the halls and seeing the florescent lights flicker changed the atmosphere. She was starting to understand what people hated about hospitals. There was nothing welcoming or reassuring with the off-white walls and the stinging scent of chemicals. It was enough that she barely registered the elevator ride or Joyce giving her a little push forward once they’d finally reached the door. His door. “Are you sure?” she asked, knowing that Joyce was just as eager to see him as she was, but sighing in defeat moments later. Joyce always put everyone else first. There was no way she wasn’t going to let El be the first to talk to him.

She snapped out of her daze completely once she lightly knocked at the door and heard his grumble in return. Something swelled in her chest, and she almost forgot how to speak. She had to see him to make it all real. Shutting her eyes, she took in a deep breath before she pushed the door open and walked through. “I guess the three inches rule doesn’t apply here, huh?” she asked, attempting to keep the tone light. That was shattered almost immediately once she saw him there, pausing in step to really take it in. He was there. He was alive. “Dad.” The words came out slightly strangled. El knew that if she said more, any coherent sentence would be drowned away by tears. Her lips trembled as she stood in place. Everything felt so fragile, like if she moved he’d break. Or she’d break. “Hi,” she finally said, her voice just louder than a whisper. 

He knows its wishful thinking that he’d get his hands on a pack of cigarettes any time soon. Had practically begged Callahan and Powell, much to Flo’s chagrin, to sneak in a pack of smokes for him to no success. It’d gotten late and he’d be left alone to wait. The room was eerily quiet with the exception of the consistent beeping from the holter monitor ; it makes him want to pull his hair out. Instead he’d busied his fingers with the hospital blanket, made out of the same material Sara’s had been, he’d pulled at the seams letting small threads fall off the side of the bed. He can spot the threads, and he hopes if the person behind the door is a nurse, that they wont notice.

But it’s not a nurse. The voice is all too familiar, one that brought comfort. Hop almost breaks his neck turning to face her, and for a moment almost forgets how to breathe. She no longer looks like the same little girl he’d given one last hug to on that fateful Fourth of July. No, she was older and taller ; but she’d always be his little girl, he’d recognize her anywhere. ❝Guess not. ❞  It comes out barely a whisper, he knew he’d been gone years but it didn’t seem to register until now. Slapping him in the face, Y E A R S he’d missed watching El grow. He’d been robbed of that with Sara and now partially with El thanks to the scientists and goddamn Russians. ❝ You gonna stand there or give your old man a hug?❞  He asks lightly, blinking away tears. If he could, he would’ve been up by now had it not been for the wires attached to his arms. ‘Nutrients’ or whatever the fuck the doctors had said, he’s got half the mind to rip them off so that he could wrap his daughter in a tight embrace. Tighter than the last hug he’d given her before departing ways in the mall.

For a moment he allows his gaze to move from his daughter to the figure standing behind her. If the monitor keeping track of his heart rate hadn’t been beeping enough, it’d surely leave him deaf by the end of the night. ❝ Joyce. ❞  She hasn’t changed much, still 5′3, her hair still reflectively auburn with soft waves ; still so breathtaking. 

[wheelbarrowbyers-blog]

Home at last | Eleven, Joyce & Hopper

@hcpperel @regcneratives Joyce watched the endless road stretch before her as the sun slowly began to paint its warmth across her slender fingers that gripped the wheel so hard that her knuckles seemed to pierce through her skin at any moment. Her foot rested on the gas and seemed to inch it closer to the metal with every mile. Never had she thought that she’d be speeding back to the town that had ripped her heart in two when she’d just carefully stitched it back together again more than she could count. But this wasn’t about Hawkins, and still, it felt like going… home. Joyce felt like every minute she wasted steering this car along the streets was a chance of Hopper disappearing again. That they’d arrive there and they’d be told they were too late, that he’d vanished, that they had just dreamed it, conjured it up from somewhere, maybe from El’s need for her father or Joyce’s repeated nightmares.

She’d set her good intentions not to smoke in front of the kids ablaze with the first of countless cigarettes that had hung in the corner of her mouth during this endless drive. She’d allowed them a quick break of the kids having some lunch and her filling the tank and pacing around until they could be on their way again. Now and then, she let her gaze drift over to El in the passenger seat, or nudged her thigh. “Hey.” She whispered, once the sign welcoming them to Indiana had passed and the knot in her stomach had settled. She took a look into the rearview mirror to spot Jonathan and Will sleeping in the backseat. “You okay over there?”

The past 12 hours or so had passed on impulse. The good thing about a small town that you’d never left your entire life was that you knew everyone there. It had only taken a few calls with shaky hands and approximately three packs of smokes for Joyce to find them a place to stay, a shabby little place, barely big enough to fit all of them. The way she’d thrown flannels into her bag, she couldn’t even remember if she brought underwear. The whole time, there had been a set of thoughts rumbling around in her head; hospitals and how much she despised them now, the image of what Jim must have endured, the expression that had settled on El’s features, the thought that her family would be complete again and yet it was endangered by the lurking threat that always lingered to devour them.

[hcpperel]

El felt herself jump slightly, Joyce’s voice knocking her out of sleep that she didn’t know had finally come. It was a miracle that she’d managed to nod off for as long as she did to begin with. Knowing that she was shortly going to be with her dad again? That was what she’d wanted since the moment he disappeared in Starcourt. That was the moment she dreamed of when they moved away. Sure, she wanted to see her friends again, but she knew they’d be around. Hop, though? That was different. Everything with him was different. She nodded in response to Joyce, rubbing her eyes before focusing on the road ahead of them. “Yeah, think I zoned out there a little. Don’t know how I manged with Will snoring like a lawn mower back there,” she muttered, catching the sight of the Welcome to Hawkins sign as the truck zoomed by it. It made her breath hitch in her chest. As much as she was excited, she was also suddenly nervous. She didn’t know what to expect. It had been a few years since they’d seen each other, after all. Things could change in a moments notice.

With a sigh, she pushed that thought to the side. This wasn’t just about her. It was about her mom, too. She knew Joyce loved Hopper, even if she didn’t like to talk about it. Losing him was just as hard for her as it had been for everyone else. She had to watch it happen, after all. She leaned back against the passenger seat, eyes fixed on Joyce. “How about you, mom?” she asked with a small smile. “After everything…how are you feeling about all of this?”

[regcneratives]

Fingers pinch at the bridge of his nose before sliding over his eyelids, he’s still adjusting to the bright fluorescents of Hawkins Hospital. He feels uneasy, hospitals only ever brought life and death. Just like it’s brought Sara’s short-lived life onto him and Diane. He hates it, the disbelief, it feels too good to be true. As if his mind were playing some sort of sick joke on him, maybe he was in denial or dreaming it all to cope with the fact that he was still trapped in The Upside Down. Most of all, he hates the amount of relief the hospital brings, the comfort and reminder that he’d survived. It felt wrong, like some sort of internal war.

He doesn’t allow himself to find comfort in laying on the hospital bed nor does he sleep for too long, he’s been sliding in and out of a state of unconsciousness since he’s arrived. Instead he waits for El and Joyce, the image of them were the only sort of confirmation he needed to know he was still alive and fine. As fine as one could be in Hawkins anyway. He doesn’t know how long it’ll take them to arrive, just that the anticipation was getting to him.

Hours pass and he dodges Flo, Powell and Callahan’s questions, mumbling away at their questions that could be passed off as him being too ‘dazed’ to answer. Hop would cross that bridge when he’d get there. Ears pick up on a faint knock and he doesn’t bother looking over his shoulder, ❝ If this is ‘nother interviewer, I swear t’ God-- ❞  He mutters, attempting to muster any energy he had within him to try to sit up. ❝ I need a damn smoke- ❞

[mikejane]

You go out there, ghost or not, it’s a risk.

[mikejane]

Halloween. Sure is.

[mynerdcorneroftheworld]

John Proudstar — Thunderbird in every episode

        2 x 13     teMpted

[leosdicapros-deactivated2020060]

I’ve been stuck in one place, in a cave you might say, a deep dark cave. And then I left some Eggos out in the woods and you came into my life. For the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. But lately, I guess I’ve been feeling distant from you, like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise, watching westerns together before we doze off. But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing, and I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change. So I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to maybe try and stop that change.

url edit for @jameshop