This was meant to be a shorter post, but it got away from me. I’ve been thinking a lot about Hopper’s relationship with substances and how little attention is paid to it in the later seasons.
As of season 1, he pretty clearly has a drinking problem and a pill problem (though I don’t think it’s actually in the final drafts, the original Montauk pilot has him taking Tuinal, a barbiturate sedative that was discontinued sometime in the late 80s or 90s I think).
In season 2, I really don’t think we see him partaking in anything (save for that nicotine addiction) which is interesting and presumably because he’s now responsible for El, but also just… not really touched upon. We’re sort of expected to believe that he went from popping multiple pills a day and living in a trailer full of empty beer cans to having presumably kicked his habits in under a year (NOT saying that that isn’t possible, it’s by all means a reasonably timeframe for someone to make that change in and obviously everyone’s process is different) without it really being acknowledged at all (that’s more my issue). It feels less like an intentional choice and more like the writers sort of just…. Forgot? Either that, or decided that addiction wasn’t something they cared to take the effort to write into his character.
OR, you could always also opt for a more Watsonian take, arguing that, because season 2 really takes place over such a short period of time, there are just parts of Hopper’s life we’re not seeing. He could still be actively abusing substances and somehow keeping it from El. A fun thought, but pretty clearly not the writers’ intention. I think I sort of waffle between the two interpretations— I like to picture post-ST1 pre-ST2 Hop becoming responsible for a child and suddenly struggling hard to work on his habits while still looking out for her, still slipping up on occasion and opting just…. Not to tell El. El doesn’t necessarily have any real experience with substance abuse or the education to be able to recognize it or know what it is, but she can very clearly tell that there is something weighing on him that he isn’t sharing and it could help to strengthen that wedge that already exists between them.
As of season 3, though, we seem to be in a weird place of simultaneously showcasing his issues and…. Still not acknowledging them? When Hopper tries to blackmail Kline, Kline immediately fires back that he really shouldn’t be playing this game. He brings up “drinking on the job” and “those pills you used to pop like candy, did you have a prescription for those?” (Which, realistically I think he probably did— whether or not he should have been prescribed them is debatable, but it wasn’t very hard to be overprescribed barbiturates in the 70s and 80s.) And yeah, Hopper is pretty clearly drunk or drinking for a good chunk of the season, though instead of being treated as an extension of the ACKNOWLEDGED problem, it’s pretty heavily glossed over as just a joke. Unlike a handful (notice I did not say all) of the other issues characters are facing that season, it isn’t one that ever gets actually addressed in a serious capacity at the end of the season.
As of S4, he obviously doesn’t really have any access to any substances to abuse. But one honestly expects a little acknowledgement of that lack; 8 months in extreme physical conditions, left alone with his thoughts for much longer than I’m sure he’s comfortable with, with no access to alcohol, drugs, or even any cigarettes to take the edge off. Still, not one word from Hopper or anyone else about how difficult it’s been or about what I’m sure is an (involuntary) new record in his sobriety.
And as of season 5, he’s apparently quit smoking. Which is honestly, a HUGE step for his character thats alluded to only in a two-line exchange.
We don’t get to see how he handles the death of his second daughter— we don’t even get ANY allusions at all to what his grief looked like, and he’s still somehow one of the characters whose grief was explored the most, second to Mike— which I’ll forever be mad about, but we especially don’t even get to see how substances factor into that. We know that as of the epilogue, he’s comfortable having a few drinks with dinner, and that’s really it. That’s the end of a completely abandoned and underexplored arc, and we really don’t have any idea how we got from point A to point B.
Am I the only one who finds it incredibly disappointing?
I really truly believe we need to give Hopper glasses that he refuses to wear. I also really think that Joyce finds them crazy hot and is trying to Pavlov him into wearing them by jumping him the second he puts them on.
i think yuri could have actually been scary and therefore much more effective if they hadn’t tried to also make him a ‘funny’ character. :/
dude was a whole human trafficker and was ready to cause the deaths of four people in a matter of days, for money… why did he have to make jokes at all? why couldn’t the entire kamchatka subplot just be dark and bleak and free of humor - with yuri as a villain/secondary antagonist that you could actually take seriously? i think audiences would have responded better to him and to the russia plot as a whole.
heyyy just wanted to say that I’ve been going through all of your ST fics over the past few days and I’m absolutely obsessed with your writing (definitely will take the time to comment on each one specifically as soon as I get a break from work). so, thank you for entertaining me over the week and congrats on having published such wonderful stories! I have to ask, also, is there the slightest chance the new season is reigniting your interest in the show/jopper and you’re considering updating some of the unfinished works?
all the best! <3
This is another ask that was sent months ago that I forgot to answer but this one really cracks me up bc I told people about this one like "what's a nice way to tell this person that season 5 has barely inspired me to turn on my tv and watch it, let alone start writing about it again" and then after the finale I decided I may as well rewatch seasons 1 and 2 and that actually inspired me to jump right back in and now I'm knee deep in my most ambitious jopper longfic yet. As for my unfinished works like. The thing is that I wrote most of those as an 18 year old high school senior and I'm 21 now and while that isn't a long time at all... it actually sort of is. A lot of the ways I think about these characters has changed a bit but moreso like my writing style has changed like crazy.
I think my only unfinished ST fics (at least the only ones I still get asked about) are The Crow and The Harder The Fall. While it's possible I might add more to THTF one day, I'm just not sure it's ever going to take priority over the new stuff I want to write. I still reread it sometimes and the cringe is potent but it feels fitting for something written by an 18 year olds about a predominantly 18 year old cast of characters, I don't think I'd really have a problem with continuing it as is other than that I've sort of lost motivation to write in that epistolary/chat style (and with the outline I had, the framing device was only going to get more convoluted).
The Crow, on the other hand.... people really want updates on that to the point that I still actually get asks about it rather than just comments. And truthfully, I don't know. I feel a little obligated to finish it (there was only meant to be one chapter left and it is half-started) but my issue is that if I were to finish it, I think I'd want to rewrite the whole thing. I don't think the content matter was handled poorly. Obviously I was doing my best as a teenager who was both working through some things and, to be so honest, horny about my favorite characters being in peril. But most of it is just... not how I'd write it now? The action in the first part feels kind of clunky and also uh. I reread recently and no one called me out on a character getting shot in the leg and being totally fine? Like I'm sure I meant to say it just grazed him but that's so not what it says and that's kind of hilarious. The dialogue sucks a bit too but having started my first S4 rewatch in years I'm actually going to blame that on the fact that Yuri just talks like that. This isn't to say there isn't a lot in that fic I don't like, there are definitely a lot of parts that I really enjoy, that were really cathartic for me to write, and that I'm glad other people resonated with or enjoyed too.
Anyways, no one cares this much about my old Stranger Things fics so I'll stop rambling, but thank you so much for your kind words anon! I'm glad jopper fans are still finding and enjoying these old fics, there is definitely a big lack in jopper content right now. If you happen to see this, feel free to come off anon and talk about jopper with me anytime. I've got an ST sideblog again @season2jopper
I asked for fic prompts a while ago and then I never wrote any of them bc I suck but you guys should always be sending me headcanon asks for the record. I want to talk about them
imagine asking your friends to come to your championship game and they say “no we have to play dungeons and dragons with a super senior”. and then you hit a game winner and none of them gaf. and then your ex who you still love breaks all her bones and goes into a coma
Was trying to explain ST3’s role in the series to someone who hadn’t seen it recently and they went “so it’s like… a beach episode?” and honestly yeah I think of ST3 essentially as a season-long beach episode if a beach episode was allowed to have an irreversible and absurd amount impact on the storyline as a whole
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
jbbartram-illu
vaporwave
kianamaiart
