* LIGHTS UP !

 oof , so - i’m sure this will hardly come as a surprise to anyone , but as things are right now , i need a break from this blog . life is just a little too hectic right now & i’m finding shelter in my ocs , because playing a canon , as much as i absolutely adore joyce , is always a source of stress for me . i’ve had trouble getting back to everything after taking a break to watch s3 , & i think i just need some time away from here .

  i’m very sorry & it absolutely does not mean i have lost my muse for joyce , or that i want nothing to do with the fandom . not at all ! this is hurting me a lot because i was honestly having such a great time & i wish i could keep doing that , but as things are right now , i can’t .

  you can still talk to me , plot with me or write with me on my other two blogs ( dustlnd & maelsong ) , & on discor.d ( emo christensen#5230 ) , & i am always gonna be up to plot with joyce & even write her on disco.rd if you’re into that !! so please , never be afraid to hit me up . in fact i highly encourage you to talk to me ooc , because i would hate to stop talking to all you lovely soul out here .

  i hope i’ll be able to come to this blog soon , hopefully do some revamping & begin again to spread love for the most kickass mom this side of indiana . but for the meantime , that’s where you can find me . 

   love you a lot guys . i hope you can understand ! & i hope you’ll stick around one way or another . 

okay , oof , that was a ride . i don’t really know how i feel about it in general . right now i don’t particularly love it , but then again i had to watch s2 twice to really appreciate it . i feel like , if i had to give this season a grade , it would be a b -- ? there are parts i really appreciated ofc , but then ... maybe i’ll go step by step .

- on a general note , i felt like this season was too much . s1 was brilliant , imo , bc it was enclosed within this small group of people , & how hawklab’s doing was affecting them . it was very focused on their grief , on their feelings , on their hunt for the truth - s2 shed some of it off , though it was still a rather ‘ domestic ‘ show , i think . s3 is way too much . too many characters ( there’s about 4 more secondary characters , plus idk how many recurring ones ? ) , too many subplots ( at some point i was recapping everything i’d seen for a friend and there were eight different plots , i swear ) , too LOUD ( i have ... some problems with hopper’s characterization , but more on that later . ) - this last part , i guess it’s good for representing the 80s as the trashiest era , but , still . it was sort of cacophonic , i think ? dunno . 

- it was a bit alienating , as per point a . in the beginning i appreciated this , because it made me sympathize more with will & dustin as being alienated from the party . but it also took me a while to really feel like i was into it . i guess a big part in this was played also by the kids’ voices and how much they changed , ‘cause that messed me up badly . 

- hopper . first of all , i’m still fucked up . i knew what to expect but i didn’t expect it to happen like this , & now i’m devastated . i spent a good portion of last night thinking about it , making up all kinds of ways why he could’ve survived somehow . i have a good feeling he has survived , but still ... that destroyed me . anyway , the issue i had with him was not re his death , but his characterization in the early episodes . idk if you guys saw venom , but one reason i hated that movie was eddie’s absolute lack of chill . 0 to 1000 with no in between . hopper was kinda like this now : getting mad a lot , yelling a lot , being all macho a lot . i guess it all fits somehow , because i saw an interview from david about how hopper’s subconsciously responding to 80s tv with his fashion , & i thought it’s plausible for that to happen on a personality , level , too . responding to a very stereotypical sort of tv , where men are Machos with a capital M , with stereotypical romantic milestones too ( which is one of the reasons , i think , joyce was so blindsided by him asking her out and eventually stood him up ) . i guess it makes sense for the character but , again - probably too much , imo . 

- i have nothing to say about joyce , i may be biased but she’s perfect thank you and goodbye . also joyce in a russian uniform ? cute af .

- i called it abt robin . called it . love her . i’m also happy they’re starting to address will’s sexuality , makes me hopeful they won’t fuck it up . ( but re: will he’s the one that fucks me up the most , in terms of growth . he’s gotten HUGE , he used to be so tiny and scared in s1 , jesus christ ) .

- i love dustin so much but his whole plot with steve , erica & robin , at times felt like it was another show , to me . like a spin - off , maybe . still greatly enjoyed it though , and i love that they shifted the babysitter dynamic so that it was dustin looking after him now . i love love love suzie too but god , those two minutes of singing ? were they really necessary ? was i supposed to feel as uncomfortable as the other characters , there ? goooooooooooooood . 

- el ? perfect . i love her . i would die for them . you can’t believe how fucking happy i am that she moved with the byers . like , not happy because that ruined me and i cried everything i could possibly cry , but this validates my need for joyce to adopt her , so - love it so fucking much . 

- i’m a lil sad about how few byers family interactions i had , but i guess in a way that’s sort of better ‘cause every character had to be their own person , for a while . also will tearing down castle byers fucked me up forever . goodbye . 

i think this is it , so far . i’m probably gonna have more to say as i think about it more . i think i need to rearrange this blog too , make room for a new post - s3 verse , and everything . 

watching her with a smile growing now sitting himself back onto the couch. the moment he was left to think to himself for a moment. he sat back against the couch staring around the familiar living room. he remembers so much that had happened in this very room, the memories not being all too amazing. he scrunched his nose up at himself remembering the fight..the demodogs. thankfully though joyce came back when he was about to think of only more events that went down. he sat up turning towards her eyes widening. “oh my god.” he moved closer to instantly start to look at them eyes curiously moving across each tape. “look at all of these!” he looked up with a bright smile now pushing the thoughts to the back of his head. 

      a quiet smile quickly morphs into a curious , half - puzzled look as she leans over to observe dustin’s hands , rummaging through the tapes . she doesn’t fully appreciate the romance of taped movies : theatres & drive - ins , they’re a whole other story . but there is something beautiful about the shades of joy on dustin’s face , a much deserved break from the overwhelming gloom of past months . she sits on the other side of the couch , peering into the box , gaze shifting from it to dustin & back again . “ anything good ? ” , an eyebrow raised as she lifts a finger of dust of the box’s edge . 

           eyes  squint ,  coincidentally  just  a  second  apart  from  her’s ,  for  rather  different  reasons ,  much  more  vague  and  obscure  than  the  thoughts  she  could  have  reeling  through  her  own  mind .  he  can’t  be  certain  why ,  when  brown  hair  frames  awfully  familiar  features .  locks  are  surely  too  long  to  tell ,  but  they  deem  doleful  gaze  and  standoffish  demeanor  to  all  too  noticeable …  of  course ,  she’s  a  mother  condemned  with  trauma ;  strangeness  is  as  good  of  a  threat  when  it  cocoons  into  the  form  of  like - minded  people .  and  from  what  he  can  tell ,  she  already  senses  the  purpose  behind  his  presence ,  that  he  might  have  intrusive  questions ,  that  he’s  just  dying  to  know  what  just  happened  exactly .  she’s  vague ,  akin  to  her  attributes ,  the  way  they  reflect  under  these  lights .  why  does  he  feel  like  he  already  knows  her ?  ❝  um …  ❞  curious  pupils ,  they  nearly  chip  away  at  her ,  fixate  on  her  bearing  for  the  wrong  reasons ,  until  he  realizes .  forcibly ,  he  tears  his  gaze  away  for  a  second .  ❝  well ,  i’m  sam  kendrick  –  ❞  hand  pops  out ,  prompted  by  hope  that  she’ll  accept  a  kind  gesture  at  least .  ❝  i’m  all  the  way  from  boston ,  figured  i’d  get  to  know  hawkins  a  little  better  while  i  still  got  the  time .  and  it  turns  out  –  your  name  is  pretty  well - known  here ,  right ?  ❞  he  figures ,  conceal  the  identity ,  don’t  hand  it  out  straightaway .  if  she  really  wants  to  know ,  worst  she’ll  do  is  ask .

               🇭🇪  🇭🇦🇩🇳’🇹  🇪🇻🇪🇳  🇳🇴🇹🇮🇨🇪🇩  .     did he know he was bleeding  ?  maybe ,  yeah . he knew he wasn’t in tip - top shape right now , that’s what he knew for a  FACT .                   blinking at the woman ,  it takes him a moment to figure out how to speak . a tissue is dug out of his pocket  &  he coughs little red splotches into it ,  wipes blood off of his nose with it .  finally rasping ,   “   ’m so sorry ,  miss …  i was , ah … just here to get , ah … gauze  ?  &  some  —  some duct tape . i-i’ll clean all this up  &  be out of your way soon . my  —  my apologies ,  really .   ”

𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅.     ❛     what about     —     the karate kid?    ❜     

            head DUCKS, a hand rising to rub at the back of his neck as a lopsided smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. ‘ i didn’t really do much, ms. byers, just tried to keep ‘em safe while you guys did the BIG stuff       ’ steve shrugs, ‘ thanks, ms. byers … ’ a strained chuckle, shaking at the edges as bruised knuckles brush through his hair.