The Wheelers and the Byers families living together cause it's cute.
Max being in a coma and her friends regularly visiting her.
Dustin grieving Eddie.
Holly and Derrick. Rest of them kids can go back to bed cause who even are you lol
Will and Robin bonding over their struggles with their sexualities. I thought this was really sweet!
Snack time :)
Kali coming back cause we need more fire power bros. Plus her and Eleven's sisterly relationship is sweet.
Will aura farming moment of fully tapping into the Hivemind and getting powers, of course.
Dustin and Steve's heart-breaking reconciliation >_<
The concept of the Abyss
The deeper dive in how Henry's transformation into Vecna began as a wee child.
Reworking the Mind Flayer to be the ultimate bad and Vecna as merely its pawn. The Mind Flayer is such a cool Lovecraftian entity and I'm glad they at least reinstated it as the true villain (for what abysmal good it did lol)
My Changes:
If the military has to be there, make it so that they're there to help instead of hinder. Make Dr. Kay a good guy who wants to put an end to Dr. Brenner's work once and for all, not continue it.
Introduce the existence of a Second Entity that opposes the Mind Flayer. Could be Dr. Kay, or maybe Dustin finds out about it somehow.
If Dustin's still lashing out at his friends because of his grief, it should be because he's being reckless when it comes to killing Vecna. He's diving in too quickly, making dumb decisions, because he's hurting so much and is starving for revenge. But that's what almost gets Steve killed (not some random ladder), and that finally breaks Dustin out of the spiral (and say his heartbreaking little "I'm sorry" while hugging Steve T_T).
Make the Abyss a frozen desolate wasteland like it's SUPPOSED TO BE >:(
More scenes and interactions with our favorite groups/pairings. Just good, wholesome, and empowering moments. Core Four, the Party, Dustin and Steve, Robin and Steve, Robin and Will, Steve and all his nuggets, the Wonder Twins, Jonathan and Will (Jonathan and Eleven for that matter), Mike and his sisters, Lucas and Max, etc. etc. Gimmie that juicy found family bonding, dang it.
Eleven can still visit Max's unconscious mind, but even there she's fragile. Max can still hear and feel her, though :'(
Really wanted to see more of Mike being a sweet older brother to Holly. I wanted them to hold haaaaands T_T
SIDELINE PEOPLE. Good gravy, if you're not gonna kill them off, at least have them take up less screen time if they're not actively helping the situation. I'm (sadly) looking at you, Joyce. We can still have some fun shenanigans, like with Holly and Derrick or a moment with Lucas and Erica, but otherwise STOP HOGGING THE SCREEN.
Kill off Ted and Karen Wheeler. I'm sorry but not sorry. Not because I hate these characters, but dang, ain't no way those two should've cheated death. Plus the deaths of the parents of a major character would skyrocket the stakes, me thinks.
Have Will only come out to Jonathan and his mom. Maybe the original Party, too, at most. With less cringe and at a more appropriate time, too. Y'know, when the world isn't ending :)
Have Will use a shotgun at some point. I mean he knows how to load one so why not? Plus it'd be cool (can you tell he's kinda my favorite lol)
Will unlocking his powers should be rooted in the undying love and support of his family and friends. It should be about overcoming his trauma, overcoming the things Vecna did to him, and realizing he's stronger than he knows. It's a powerful moment of Will taking all of the pain and suffering he's endured and making it his power, turning it back on Vecna. A clear statement of Will's agency, that Vecna no longer has any power over him.
While I personally don't ship them romantically, I'd really love a sweet touching moment between Mike and Will. One that's reminiscent of their friendship in the first two seasons. Best friends for life <3 This could be a very tender moment of Will admitting his feelings, I don't think it'd be totally necessary. Especially if Will already accepted that Mike wouldn't return his feelings in Season 4. Idk, could still be sweet if handled properly.
Scenes inside Vecna's head and the Mind Flayers ironfist hold on his psyche.
Will getting through to Henry for a fragment of a second, (the whole "You were just a kid like me" speech) but he's too far gone, too full of hatred. He and Elevan tag-team to defeat him >:)
The group I'd have going into the Abyss would be the Party (minus Max, of course), Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, Robin, and Hopper. An army's going with them, too, cause there are indeed herds of demos swarming the Abyss.
Brief montage of everyone learning how to shoot guns. Maybe just to stun or to knock those pesky bats out of the air.
Super badass final battle in the Abyss with the Mind Flayer vs Eleven, Kali, and Will, with the help of the Second Entity. The rest of our group and the military are handling all the hoards of demo-creatures with guns and missiles and all the literal fire power they can carry. So many explosives and flamethrowers.
Will still feels all the pain (my poor baby) but the Second Entity gives him the strength to endure it.
With the death of the Mind Flayer, all of the demo-monsters die, the Abyss is either destroyed or restored to a more luscious version of itself, the Upside Down disappears, and Eleven, Will, and Kali lose their powers for good. Will might be cooked, but the Second Entity graciously severs his connection to the Hivemind before it's too late. Also Max finally wakes up!
The Second Entity is all like, "Alright, thanks, I guess" and just yeets everyone back to the Rightside Up lol It'll probably remain an ally since they all helped it defeat its arch nemesis.
Look, I love the majority of these characters as much as anyone so I'm not eager to kill them off either. But I am all for other permanent consequences, just to show that these past four years will always stay with them. Maybe Max is blind now after waking up. Maybe Steve loses an arm in the final battle. Maybe Dustin gets paralyzed from the waist down and is now wheelchair bound. Maybe Nancy has a gnarly scar down her face. Would be all of the above if it were up to me.
Max becomes a super rad blind skateboarder. The epic return of Mad Max, hello???? Steve is a one-armed basketball coach (Baseball? Really??), and Dustin is now one of those wheelchair geniuses. He can even have a new kitty in his lap and steeple his fingers when he has a good idea, aye. And Nancy's rocking that scar and Jonathan still thinks she's gorgeous.
But if I had to kill off a maximum of two of the main cast, I'd personally put Nancy and Dustin on the chopping block (OUCH T_T)
I think Dr. Kay would die, too. But it'd be sad cause she's a good character now and was maybe even a bit maternal towards Eleven :(
Eleven gets the happy ending she deserves, finally able to completely and freely live as a normal person. Maybe she starts creating art like Will. More Byers-Hopper family fluff please.
Tearjerking reunions with Max, especially with Lucas and Eleven.
And yeah, because I'm a romantic and a Mileven shipper, of course she and Mike stay together. Happily ever after. UwU
In fact, screw you, Duffers. Jancy stays together. Dustin and Suzie get back/stay together. Robin and Vickie stay together. Steve finds the sweet loving girlfriend he deserves.
As for Will, he either started liking someone else during the season (I know a lot of people ship him with one of the jocks, Chance, which would've been potentially very sweet and interesting), or he finds love like he did in the epilogue. But NOT IN A FLIPPIN' BAR FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Put that boy in an art gallery or a museum or at the bare minimum in his room painting something like come oooooonnnn *bangs head on a table*
Romance aside, show more of the mental aftermath in the epilogue. Show our characters handling and healing from the trauma. Show them coming to terms with everything that happened. Show the Wheeler siblings having the strongest bond after the deaths of their parents. Show some college life. Show a snippet of Hopper and Joyce's life in Montauk. Show Eleven getting to be normal girl, like in Season 3. And Kali, too. Thatās right Hoppers got another daughter now, deal with it.
Everyone but Max still graduated, but I like the idea of Lucas staying with her in Hawkins while she catches up in school. Maybe he even coaches basketball alongside Steve.
Maybe Dustin finally cleared Eddie's name and the jocks actually got some freaking closure after losing three of their friends.
JANCY WEDDINGGGG
The last scenes would be the Party hanging out together years down the road. Still playing D&D cause there's no way that was their last game ever lol These guys are nerds for life.
As well as our older friend group of Jonathan, Nancy, Robin, and Steve meeting up again. In Jonathan and Nancy's house they now have together ^_^
I'm gonna try not to regurgitate all of the now thoroughly circulated and thoroughly memed criticisms and grievances with the final season lol
As someone who did keep up with the series (which is honestly shocking considering how I basically never keep up with shows lol), I just wanna offer up ideas I would've personally have loved to see to make it not suck as much. Partially to put my mind to rest about all the wasted potential, and partially just for funzies.
Before I give my suggestions, I wanna say that in a way, I do sort of understand the Duffers' lack of direction with this show as a whole. Stranger Things wasn't supposed to be more than two seasons, let alone a whopping five. And even though the entire series is, quite frankly, an absolute mess of storytelling (plot holes and character inconsistencies galore), they still managed to write four seasons that were, in my opinion, still entertaining and engaging enough that I understood why people enjoyed it so much, including myself! Great premise, great time period, and most of all, great characters.
Does it excuse the Duffers' totally phoning it in for the final season of one of biggest shows of the last decade? Nooope.
Does it mean it's gonna taint my viewing experience of the first four seasons? Mmmm, yes and no. This show honestly ended in my mind after Season 2 lol
Does any of this matter? Naw, not really, but I'm gonna spew out my ideas anyway cause why not lol
Gonna start with things I liked, things I despised, and then I'll share my ideas. Onward!
Things I Would Keep:
The Wheelers and the Byers families living together cause it's cute.
Max being in a coma and her friends regularly visiting her.
Dustin grieving Eddie.
Holly and Derrick. Rest of them kids can go back to bed cause who even are you lol
Will and Robin bonding over their struggles with their sexualities. I thought this was really sweet!
Snack time :)
Kali coming back cause we need more fire power bros. Plus her and Eleven's sisterly relationship is sweet.
Will aura farming moment of fully tapping into the Hivemind and getting powers, of course.
Dustin and Steve's heart-breaking reconciliation >_<
The concept of the Abyss
The deeper dive in how Henry's transformation into Vecna began as a wee child.
Reworking the Mind Flayer to be the ultimate bad and Vecna as merely its pawn. The Mind Flayer is such a cool Lovecraftian entity and I'm glad they at least reinstated it as the true villain (for what abysmal good it did lol)
Things I Would Toss into the Sun:
OH BOY WHERE DO I START
Those stupid metal plates being smacked over the gaping interdimensional gates in the ground like pitiful bandages. Hate to say it, but that wouldn't work you idiots :)
All of the truly asinine cringy dialogue. Can anyone just read the room? Did we really need the penis jokes? Also can Murray, as much as I like him, just shut up for TWO SECONDS WHY ARE YOU QUIPPING LIKE THIS IS A MARVEL MOVIE.
Dustin's obsession with the bullies. My boy, are we really concerned about putting a snake in a dude's locker when the world is about to end? (also that poor snake ended being brutally torn open because of that). If anything, Dustin should be even more locked in and hellbent on killing Vecna now, not pushing his friends away.
This new quirky version of Robin. Like seriously, bring back my dry humored sarcastic, deadpanned queen please.
Literally EVERYTHING with the military. Their dumb takeover of the town, their hostility towards everyone, the obsession with hunting El, all of it. Delete, delete, deleeete it.
The entire 12 random children plot. Who are all these people, what are we even doing lol Derrick can stay cause he was, y'know, an actually memorable character.
Holly Wheeler becoming a main character literally out of nowhere.
Murray, Erica Sinclair, Vickie, and all these other side characters being way. Too. Involved. Too many bodies on screen, dawg.
The whole side plot of Max being in Vecna's mind for some reason.
THE STUPID STEVE, NANCY, JONATHAN LOVE TRIANGLE JUST STOP IT PLEASE
Hopper and Joyce being waaaaaay too overprotective of their kids. I can understand it a little more with Joyce and Will, and Will could still have his moment of putting his foot down. But holy canolies, Hopper, your telepathic daughter is more than capable of handling herself at this point and you know that. So STAHP IT.
Will still being so sad in love with Mike (coming from someone who personally doesn't ship Byler) cause I thought we accepted and came to terms with all of that last season?????
Will trying to flirt with his sister's boyfriend like EW???? YUCK?????? NOT MY WILL BYERS >:(
Will's entire character, including his epilogue, being reduced to his sexuality. My boy is so much more than "the gay one. " He is an artist, a nerd, a sweetheart, a cherished son, a dear brother, a beloved friend, an abuse victim, etc. (they did my son so dirty i wanna commit arson hhnnnggggh)
I ain't saying anything shocking here, but yeah. That coming out scene's gotta go.
The Abyss being a hot, dry, sunny desert?????
Now, before I share my list of things I would've done, let's talk real quick about....
The Problem of Scale
Right, so one of the major problems with Stranger Things is that the story just got too big for its characters. We got a plucky group of teenagers and middle aged parents trying to fight eldritch horrors and only... *checks notes* a single one of them can make a dent. Even then, Eleven's powers are nowhere near strong enough. Everyone else has baseball bats and sticks and....water balloons, I guess. And sure, we got guns, too, but that's for dealing with the minions, not the Lovecraftian titan made of spores.
(Which, side note, I think it would've been so cool if the origin of the Mind Flayer some kind of malevolent tree that resides in the Abyss. It would make so much sense with how the Mind Flayer is made of these spores and it would explain the particles drifting in the Upside Down. Also the vines! All the vines would lead back to this tree. Idk, I thought that would've been neat.)
I think something that could've easily solved this is introducing another Lovecraftian monster. Not necessarily one that's "good," because these entities don't really function on morality, just their own whims, but one that simply opposes the Mind Flayer. Maybe they've been enemies since ancient times. Maybe everything that's been happening in Hawkins has gotten this second entity's attention. It's not on our protagonists' side per say, but it despises the Mind Flayer so much that it sees them as convenient to, again, its own agenda. So it could lend Eleven or Kali or even Will its strength and so easily level the playing field. Much like Maturin in IT, so that it's really two cosmic beings battling each other rather than a group of puny humans against what some would consider a god. Our group could even tie this new entity to another D&D character or something.
Now! Onto the improvements I would implement. This is by no means a fully fleshed out plot or anything. Nor is any of this in any particular order. Just ideas and things I would've love to have seen. If you like any of these ideas and wanna write a fic, go for it.
Here we go! :3
Things I Would've (Personally) Done/Changed:
If the military has to be there, make it so that they're there to help instead of hinder. Make Dr. Kay a good guy who wants to put an end to Dr. Brenner's work once and for all, not continue it.
Introduce the existence of this Second Entity that opposes the Mind Flayer. Could be Dr. Kay, or maybe Dustin finds out about it somehow.
If Dustin's still lashing out at his friends because of his grief, it should be because he's being reckless when it comes to killing Vecna. He's diving in too quickly, making dumb decisions, because he's hurting so much and is starving for revenge. But that's what almost gets Steve killed (not some random ladder), and that finally breaks Dustin out of the spiral (and say his heartbreaking little "I'm sorry" while hugging Steve T_T).
Make the Abyss a frozen desolate wasteland like it's SUPPOSED TO BE >:(
More scenes and interactions with our favorite groups/pairings. Just good, wholesome, and empowering moments. Core Four, the Party, Dustin and Steve, Robin and Steve, Robin and Will, Steve and all his nuggets, the Wonder Twins, Jonathan and Will (Jonathan and Eleven for that matter), Mike and his sisters, Lucas and Max, etc. etc. Gimmie that juicy found family bonding, dang it.
Eleven can still visit Max's unconscious mind, but even there she's fragile. Max can still hear and feel her, though :'(
Really wanted to see more of Mike being a sweet older brother to Holly. I wanted them to hold haaaaands T_T
SIDELINE PEOPLE. Good gravy, if you're not gonna kill them off, at least have them take up less screen time if they're not actively helping the situation. I'm (sadly) looking at you, Joyce. We can still have some fun shenanigans, like with Holly and Derrick or a moment with Lucas and Erica, but otherwise STOP HOGGING THE SCREEN.
Kill off Ted and Karen Wheeler. I'm sorry but not sorry. Not because I hate these characters, but dang, ain't no way those two should've cheated death. Plus the deaths of the parents of a major character would skyrocket the stakes, me thinks.
Have Will only come out to Jonathan and his mom. Maybe the original Party, too, at most. With less cringe and at a more appropriate time, too. Y'know, when the world isn't ending :)
Have Will use a shotgun at some point. I mean he knows how to load one so why not? Plus it'd be cool (can you tell he's kinda my favorite lol)
Will unlocking his powers should be rooted in the undying love and support of his family and friends. It should be about overcoming his trauma, overcoming the things Vecna did to him, and realizing he's stronger than he knows. It's a powerful moment of Will taking all of the pain and suffering he's endured and making it his power, turning it back on Vecna. A clear statement of Will's agency, that Vecna no longer has any power over him.
Again, while I personally don't ship them romantically, I'd really love a sweet touching moment between Mike and Will. One that's reminiscent of their friendship in the first two seasons. Best friends for life <3 This could be a very tender moment of Will admitting his feelings. I don't think it'd be totally necessary. Especially if, again, Will already accepted that Mike wouldn't return his feelings in Season 4. Idk, could still be sweet if handled properly.
Scenes inside Vecna's head and the Mind Flayers ironfist hold on his psyche.
Will getting through to Henry for a fragment of a second, (the whole "You were just a kid like me" speech) but he's too far gone, too full of hatred. He and Elevan tag-team to defeat him >:)
The group I'd have going into the Abyss would be the Party (minus Max, of course), Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, Robin, and Hopper. An army's going with them, too, cause there are indeed herds of demos swarming the Abyss.
Brief montage of everyone learning how to shoot guns. Maybe just to stun or to knock those pesky bats out of the air.
Super badass final battle in the Abyss with the Mind Flayer vs Eleven, Kali, and Will, with the help of the Second Entity. The rest of our group and the military are handling all the hoards of demo-creatures with guns and missiles and all the literal fire power they can carry. So many explosives and flamethrowers.
Will still feels all the pain (my poor baby) but the Second Entity gives him the strength to endure it.
With the death of the Mind Flayer, all of the demo-monsters die, the Abyss is either destroyed or restored to a more luscious version of itself, the Upside Down disappears, and Eleven, Will, and Kali lose their powers for good. Will might be cooked, but the Second Entity graciously severs his connection to the Hivemind before it's too late. Also Max finally wakes up!
The Second Entity is all like, "Alright, thanks, I guess" and just yeets everyone back to the Rightside Up lol It'll probably remain an ally since they all helped it defeat its arch nemesis.
Look, I love the majority of these characters as much as anyone so I'm not eager to kill them off either. But I am all for other permanent consequences, just to show that these past four years will always stay with them. Maybe Max is blind now after waking up. Maybe Steve loses an arm in the final battle. Maybe Dustin gets paralyzed from the waist down and is now wheelchair bound. Maybe Nancy has a gnarly scar down her face. Would be all of the above if it were up to me.
Max becomes a super rad blind skateboarder. The epic return of Mad Max, hello???? Steve is a one-armed basketball coach (Baseball? Really??), and Dustin is now one of those wheelchair geniuses. He can even have a new kitty in his lap and steeple his fingers when he has a good idea, aye. And Nancy's rocking that scar and Jonathan still thinks she's gorgeous.
But if I had to kill off a maximum of two of the main cast, I'd personally put Nancy and Dustin on the chopping block (OUCH T_T)
I think Dr. Kay would die, too. But it'd be sad cause she's a good character now and was maybe even a bit maternal towards Eleven :(
Eleven gets the happy ending she deserves, finally able to completely and freely live as a normal person. Maybe she starts creating art like Will. More Byers-Hopper family fluff please.
Tearjerking reunions with Max, especially with Lucas and Eleven.
And yeah, because I'm a romantic and a Mileven shipper, of course she and Mike stay together. Happily ever after. UwU
In fact, screw you, Duffers. Jancy stays together. Dustin and Suzie get back/stay together. Robin and Vickie stay together. Steve finds the sweet loving girlfriend he deserves.
As for Will, he either started liking someone else during the season (I know a lot of people ship him with one of the jocks, Chance, which would've been potentially very sweet and interesting), or he finds love like he did in the epilogue. But NOT IN A FLIPPIN' BAR FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Put that boy in an art gallery or a museum or at the bare minimum in his room painting something like come oooooonnnn *bangs head on a table*
Romance aside, show more of the mental aftermath in the epilogue. Show our characters handling and healing from the trauma. Show them coming to terms with everything that happened. Show the Wheeler siblings having the strongest bond after the deaths of their parents. Show some college life. Show a snippet of Hopper and Joyce's life in Montauk. Show Eleven getting to be normal girl, like in Season 3. And Kali, too. Thatās right, Hopper has another daughter now, deal with it.
Everyone but Max still graduated, but I like the idea of Lucas staying with her in Hawkins while she catches up in school. Maybe he even coaches basketball alongside Steve.
Maybe Dustin finally cleared Eddie's name and the jocks actually got some freaking closure after losing three of their friends.
JANCY WEDDINGGGG
The last scenes would be the Party hanging out together years down the road. Still playing D&D cause there's no way that was their last game ever lol These guys are nerds for life.
As well as our older friend group of Jonathan, Nancy, Robin, and Steve meeting up again. In Jonathan and Nancy's house they now have together ^_^
WHEW. Anyway! Wow, this was really cathartic lol
I could honestly keep going. There's so much more I would add, so many more moments I wanted to see crafted, but these were the major points I wanted to make. Again, if any of y'all vibe with any of this and wanna use some of these ideas for fics, please be my guest! I dunno if I'll ever tackle it myself lol
But yeah, all of this is canon in my brain. Season 5 can rot :)
Thank you all for reading my spiel! Feel free to share your thoughts or your own ideas! :3
During his interview, the actor spoke about wrapping up filming for his latest drama āTale of the Nine-Tailed.ā His character Lee Yeon is a male gumiho (a mythical nine-tailed fox) and a former mountain spirit.
Lee Dong Wook shared, āHeās cool. Heās also very talented. However, I think his heart is much cooler than his physical appearance. This can sound cheesy but a regular personality cannot become a mountain spirit. I think of him as a character with a strong inner self.ā
In a previous interview, Lee Dong Wook had explained that rather than specifically preparing for his role in āHell is Other People,ā he acted more on the spot. He talked about using this method again while filming āTale of the Nine-Tailed,ā commenting, āThankfully, the director gave me the green light. I was able to freely act with regards to the setup of the situation, the details, and the lines. Actually, about a third of my lines were improvised.ā
Lee Dong Wook continued, āThis was the same for āGoblinā but I believe that the core of fantasy is the extent of your freedom in the world that the writer has created. Itās not like you can interview monsters or a gumiho so thereās not a lot that you can prepare. You just have to freely let it flow it on set.ā
The interviewer mentioned a comment that Lee Dong Wook frequently makes about how being an actor is a career where one needs to be selected and needs to receive recognition. Adding that Lee Dong Wook does not seem to ever have been lacking either, they asked what he thinks is the most important factor in ābeing selected.ā
Lee Dong Wook answered, āYou obviously have to be good at acting and being diligent is important. People ask how Iāve worked for 21 years straight without resting but I just worked hard when people sought me out. Now I believe people view me and think, āLee Dong Wook doesnāt take shortcuts.'ā
As heās acted in many fantasy works, Lee Dong Wook was asked what kind of fantasy world he typically dreams about. He revealed, āOne of my fantasies is being the frontman of a global rock band. I am so jealous of people who can sing well. I also get curious how it would feel to radiate sexiness while singing on stage.ā
He continued, āI also have these fantasies. To become a famous athlete and put on a big celebration after scoring a goal or throwing my bat after hitting a home run. One day, Iāll play one of these roles.ā Lee Dong Wook then jokingly added, āOh, I canāt. If I were an athlete, Iād be at the age where I have to retire.ā
Bouncing off his dream of becoming a musician, Lee Dong Wook also talked about his favorite songs of the year. He shared, āThese days Iāve been really into DAY6. I especially like the song āYou Were Beautiful.ā When I hear the lyrics āYou were beautiful, your eyes that looked at me, your voice that called out to me,ā I think about the heartwarming story between Lee Yeon and Ji Ah.ā
Some Rain fluff. I imagine Mewtwo and Newtwo sticking around until Rain is grown. After the pain Mew went through (and of course because this is their little sister), they want to keep her safe and make sure she's fully capable of defending herself before parting ways again <3
"Mewther", Scarfy, and Newtwo all belong to @xxtc-96xx ^^
*NONE OF THIS IS CANON to TC's story. I'm just having fun :3
My little fanfiction of @xxtc-96xx 's Mew/Mewtwo story in which Mew, many centuries later, stumbled upon another flower...and gave it another chance. It's baby was aptly named Rain.
*This is NOT CANON to TC's story. I'm just having some fun!
