will byers' fun aunt

[FIC UPDATE] chapter 11 of 'he chased me, and he wouldn't stop'

byler fic, wip, 22k/184 words

modern gothic take with gothic heroine!will, gothic husband!mike and gothic monster!henry creel

season five re-write/fix-it

slowburn, angst, will has powers and mike has a paladin complex

gnc!will

TW: ed and implied abuse

But the way you write Will, Mike and all the other characters is just...so raw and beautiful, it actually makes sense, and therefore I've decided your fic is the actual season 5 haha

Thank you for caring so much about Will, I can tell just from reading your story he is dear to you, and you write him so well<3

oh my god, thank you so much for this 😭 honestly, i relate. i don’t know if you’ve seen my tweets, but i am very harsh on canon mike. i do not hide that lmao. i really don’t like what they did with his characterization, and i also don’t love how that ended up shaping parts of the fandom’s interpretation of him

and someone once told me that maybe the fact that i dislike canon Mike is what lets me write him with more nuance, which sounds so self-praising to say out loud so PLEASE don’t take it that way 😭 but i do kind of agree with the idea behind it

because i’m not looking at Mmike through rose-tinted glasses. i’m very aware of the parts of him that frustrate me. and because of that, i think i can write him in a way that feels more honest to what he should have been. not perfect, not always kind, not always easy to love, but still layered. still scared. still a kid. still someone who loves will so deeply and has no idea what to do with it

will, though? yeah, i absolutely have rose-tinted glasses for him and i don’t care. that’s my son. he has been treated so unfairly by the writers, by the audience, and sometimes even by the fandom, so no, i will not be normal about him

and i totally understand what you mean about byler feeling hard after s5. the fandom can get exhausting too. sometimes it feels like everyone is fighting about the same things over and over again, and it does get tiring

but the funny thing is, people have told me this fic is what’s keeping them in the byler fandom, and honestly? the feeling is mutual!

you guys are what’s keeping me here too!

if people weren’t this enthusiastic and thoughtful and involved with the fic — sending reviews, theories, analysis, screaming in the tags, picking apart the little details — i don’t know if i would still care this much. my interests jump around a lot. i’m in multiple fandoms. i get obsessed with new things very easily

but i’m still here because of this story, and because of the way people have responded to it, so thank you. seriously. this means so much to me

and honestly, bychance and byclair having you in a chokehold is so valid. will deserves to be loved properly by literally everyone, that’s my official stance!

And I'm still haunted by the detail with the matching bracelets of Holly and Will. "If I get lost" was so memorable that I got stuck thinking if it would be used?

Besides, the chapter was amazing, I reread it twice to learn better. Hope's reaction, Mike who rushed to Will's Defence, Lucas and Will's little crumbs, the realisation of what Henry did to him and it's not even a complete picture in his head. Erica is absolutely the best, I like that she is the only one who really sees Will soberly without interfering with her mind. I can't wait for the others to find out about the scale of how much Henry screwed them up.

okay so without spoiling too much, yes, there will be a max and holly scene

i feel like it’s probably a little predictable at this point because max being in the auditorium, holly being the rabbit in the play, and holly’s dream of being chased through the school were all there for a reason. those details are meant to put them close to each other narratively

i can’t say too much yet, but there will be a scene where they’re basically trying to escape henry’s entrapment/the upside down/the mind space situation. it won’t be exactly like what happened in the actual show, but the framing might feel a little similar in some ways. that’s all i can say for now

and oh my god the bracelets 😭 yes, the “if i get lost” detail is meant to come back. i actually planned for the bracelet to appear again during the holly and will reunion, so PLEASE pray that i do not forget because i love callbacks like that. i love putting tiny details in earlier chapters and then bringing them back later because it makes the story feel stitched together. so yes. the bracelet is very much noted

also thank you so much for rereading the chapter 😭 writing an ensemble scene is genuinely so hard, especially when everyone is trapped in the same place and reacting to the same crisis, but it’s also so satisfying when it works

and yes, i love lucas and erica so much. i don’t know if it’s obvious but they are absolutely some of my favorites to write, especially erica, i think the show often reduces erica to one or two traits, and i don’t really like that because she is so much more perceptive than people give her credit for. she notices things. she reads the room

and i also have such a soft spot for erica and will specifically, even though they barely interacted in canon. in my head, will is probably her favorite of lucas’s friends. dustin is the one she’s closer to and has the funniest dynamic with, but will is the one she actually likes best

because will gave her the d&d books. will is quiet. will is kind. will doesn’t bother her or annoy her the way dustin and mike probably do. he’s just this soft, strange, mysterious boy who treats her with respect, and i think erica would clock that immediately

yeah everybody gotta die for real, they did my son SO FUCKING WRONG

I came back to say I hope I didn’t come off in my ask as regretting what happened in the chapter or anything god no it was pure angst and I LOVE it!! Definitely it makes more sense for Hopper to react like this and it’s better for the story too. Adds more nuance to the characters and their relationships. Dustin and Lucas’s reactions to this and to Mike’s anger were heartbreaking for example but they definitely showed how close they are to Will and how they can see it physically impacting Will as well. Mike connecting the two in his brain and verbalizing the comparison in such a raw unrestrained way let out all their emotions too. I loved the details of Dustin continuing to ask questions to Will after that because they need to know and he is Dustin but also how tortured he is just to be asking his friend that after what happened. Also makes me wonder how Dustin has been doing in regards to everything. I’ll be doing a reread before the next chapter comes out.

Anyway all this to say, I’m so sorry if I came off as rude or angry at you or anything I was very hyped reading the entire chapter and I loved the decisions you made with Hopper. And I don’t think you did it because you prefer Boyce or anything, it was totally the right decision plot wise. I’m here for the angst first and foremost haha

Wait also jopper anon sorry im yapping again but the stuff about an imbalance with parenting is so right and there’s so much potential to explore there. Every time Will in this fic said something along the lines of Joyce spending time with El and connecting with him, I always thought he was comparing himself yet again. Like him joking to Kali that Joyce was secretly disappointed he wasn’t a girl (and how that ties into his insecurities about his gender non conformity) as well as him saying el is like the daughter Joyce always secretly wanted. It sounds like he is feeling very insecure about the things that Joyce and el do together that he desperately wants to do (like buying skirts or trying on makeup) but is afraid that his mother would be disgusted to do those things with him. And it makes him feel inadequate. I can only imagine that he has noticed the difference in how Joyce treats El and Hopper treats him but hasn’t found any fault with it because in his mind it makes sense that El has both their love and Hopper doesn’t connect with him because A. He has never connected with older male figures and the one he did connect with died (he thinks because of him) B. He just isn’t important or special enough for someone to put in the effort like that to connect with him, even if that someone is dating his mom. I wonder if Joyce has noticed or will noticed and I’m so so excited for the fallout and her having to grapple with the fact that her partner hasn’t put nearly enough effort into creating a relationship with her sons as she has with his daughter. And not only has he not formed a relationship, he actively hurt him for said daughter that she has been making so much room in her heart for.

oh no no, you did not come off rude at all!! please don’t worry about that. i didn’t take it that way whatsoever. i love these discussions, i love when people get heated about the characters, and i love that you came back to unpack it more because there is SO much sitting under that scene

and yes, exactly! what happened with Hopper was not just “Hopper was mean” or “Hopper was wrong,” even though he absolutely was wrong. it also exposed a bigger imbalance that already existed between Joyce, Hopper, El, Will, and Jonathan

because Joyce has been allowed to become a mother to El. especially after Hopper was declared dead, Joyce legally and emotionally stepped into that role. she spent time with El, cared for her, made room for her, bonded with her

but Hopper has not really done the same thing with Will and Jonathan

Joyce and El’s bond is beautiful on its own. El deserves a mother. Joyce deserves to love and care for a daughter. but from Will’s perspective, it can still be bittersweet. because El gets to do things with Joyce that Will wants so badly but is terrified to ask for. skirts, makeup, softness, girlhood-adjacent things, all the little feminine things Will keeps locked away because he’s scared Joyce would be disgusted by him

so when will jokes that joyce secretly wanted a daughter, it’s a joke, but it’s also not really a joke

it’s will looking at El and seeing someone who gets to be loved for the parts of herself that he thinks would make him unlovable

and he doesn’t resent el for that. he knows el didn’t have a mother. he’s glad they found each other. but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt

then you have Hopper, who is dating Joyce, but has not built that same bridge with her sons. and in will’s mind, that probably makes sense. older men have never really chosen him kindly. lonnie hurt him. Bob cared, and then bob died, which will also probably blames himself for because of course he does. so if hopper doesn’t connect with him the way Joyce connects with wl, Will would not think, “that’s unfair”

he would think, “yeah, that tracks”

which is awful, and that gap is exactly what showed itself in the basement. hopper reacted for el, at will’s expense. and Joyce would never do that the other way around. i genuinely think that is something she would have to say to him at some point. like, "i would never have hurt el to protect will. i would never have made her feel unsafe because i was scared for my son"

because if they are going to be a family, then this has to be addressed, they are not a perfect found family. they are not magically blended just because the adults love each other. there are gaps. there are loyalties. there are children who have been loved unevenly by different people, even when nobody meant to do harm, and hopper did harm

i’m really glad you noticed that because this is exactly the kind of nuance i wanted there! people are allowed to be mad at Hopper. they should be. but the scene is not only about Hopper fucking up. it is also about the fact that this family structure was never as seamless as it looked, and now the crack is wide open

Before writing this, I read through every ask and every answer you posted, partly to deepen my understanding of the chapter and partly to avoid asking a question that had already been addressed. Yet one thought has continued to linger in my mind.

You mentioned that Henry carefully orchestrated Will's current psychological state. He wanted Will to drown in guilt. He wanted him exhausted, hopeless, betrayed. You explained that Henry deliberately allowed Will to discover the truth about the manipulation and lies because the ultimate goal was never blind obedience. The goal was for Will to surrender willingly. To reach a point where he believes that giving himself to Henry is the only way to save everyone he loves and, perhaps more importantly, because he no longer believes he belongs anywhere else.

This made me wonder about something.

Henry's obsession with Will has always felt deeply intertwined with his belief in destiny. A part in his own mind, the relationship he has built with Will is not abusive, toxic, or predatory. He perceives it as inevitable, almost sacred and he wants Will to believe it too. Yet he is not merely the man who groomed Will. He is also the man who kidnapped him. The man who violated him. The man who raped him. The man who stole four years of his life.

If a final confrontation between them occurs, would Henry be audacious enough to frame even those atrocities as destiny?

I can imagine the kind of rhetoric a predator like Henry would use. The sort of narrative that transforms violence into poetry and possession into devotion.

Something like:

"That night in November 1983, I felt your loneliness. I saw your pain. I saw your potential. I saw that you were not like the others. You were like me. The world would never have understood you. It never did. Your father already feared what you were long before you understood it yourself. Society rejected you before you had done anything except exist. And that night, when we became connected in the library, when our minds intertwined, destiny revealed itself. A sacred bond was forged between us. A pact beyond human understanding. From that moment onward, our paths could never truly separate. You were always meant to stand beside me."

What terrifies me is not whether such words would be true, because they are obviously not. What terrifies me is how effective they could be.

Because at this point, Will is psychologically shattered. He is exhausted. He is grieving. He has just endured the deaths of Karen and Ted, Holly's disappearance, and Hopper's devastating behavior. He is standing in the ruins of everything that once gave him certainty.

And Henry has always understood that manipulation is most effective when it wraps itself in beauty.

A lie dressed as fate is often more seductive than a truth dressed as pain.

What makes this dynamic so fascinating is that Henry himself seems to believe parts of his own mythology. He groomed Will for months. He cultivated trust, dependence, affection, even a crush. Over time, it almost feels as though Henry convinced himself that Will is not merely useful, but necessary. Not merely a victim, but a companion. Someone he believes he was destined to find.

That is why I find the possibility of this kind of confrontation so compelling. Not because it would excuse Henry's actions, but because it would reveal the full extent of his delusion. The terrifying ability predators often possess to rewrite violence into romance, abuse into devotion, and exploitation into destiny.

I know you have said that Will's eventual surrender must be voluntary, because that is precisely what Henry wants. A simple brainwashing would defeat the entire purpose, especially since Henry intentionally wanted Will to discover the betrayal.

But I cannot help wondering whether Henry's final weapon might not be control, but interpretation.

Not forcing Will to accept what happened.

Convincing him that what happened was beautiful.

And for someone as emotionally devastated as Will currently is, that might be the most dangerous temptation of all.

I hope my question makes sense. Regardless, I am endlessly fascinated by the psychological complexity of this story and cannot wait to see where you take these characters next.

And as for Mike...

Oh, my poor Mike.

I will not dwell on the unimaginable shock and grief he has endured in the span of twenty four hours, nor on the fact that he defended Will with remarkable courage when Hopper shoved and grabbed him in a fit of rage. My fellow readers have already articulated those thoughts beautifully.

My question is slightly different.

Mike already knew about Henry. He knew Henry existed and that he occupied a significant place in Will's life. But now he has discovered that the man who spent months gaining Will's trust, manipulating him, comforting him, influencing him, and perhaps even seducing him was not merely Henry. He was Vecna.

What does Mike feel in that moment?

Because in a way, Mike knew more than most people did. And I cannot help but wonder whether a part of him immediately begins to think that he should have protected Will better.

Do you see what I mean?

Especially because he witnessed Will's decline firsthand. He watched his anxiety worsen. He saw his relationship with food deteriorate. He saw him withdrawing further and further into himself, like someone slowly sinking beneath dark water while insisting they were fine. And now that Mike knows Henry and Vecna are one and the same, surely all those pieces must begin falling into place.

Suddenly, those warning signs are no longer isolated incidents.

They form a pattern.

A trail.

Evidence of a predator's influence.

Of course, it makes complete sense that Mike does not react dramatically in the immediate aftermath. He is emotionally hollowed out. His parents have just died. Holly has disappeared. His entire world has collapsed in less than a day.

But Mike is Mike.

And if there is one thing Mike does better than almost anyone else, it is carrying guilt that was never his to bear.

I cannot help but think that once the shock settles, he will begin blaming himself for what happened to Will. He will wonder whether he should have noticed sooner. Whether he should have pushed harder. Whether he should have understood.

And I suspect that guilt will only intensify his love and protectiveness toward Will.

Which is precisely why I am terrified of what might happen next.

Because both of them are shattered.

Both of them are drowning beneath mountains of grief, shame, guilt, trauma, and unspoken feelings.

Mike's instinct when someone he loves is hurting has always been to move toward them, to protect them, to fix things even when they cannot be fixed.

But what if Will interprets that protection as pity?

Or as judgment?

Or as another reminder of his failures?

What if Will's guilt and shame become so overwhelming that he retreats even further into himself, while Mike, equally consumed by guilt, desperately tries to force a conversation that neither of them is emotionally prepared to have?

The ingredients for a misunderstanding are all there.

And Henry could not possibly ask for a more perfect scenario.

Because whether his goal is to convince Will to join him or to weaken Mike further, division serves him.

After all, Mike is not merely important to Will.

Mike is Will's anchor.

The lighthouse that keeps him oriented when the storm becomes unbearable.

And Henry knows that if he can extinguish that light, even briefly, the sea becomes much easier to navigate.

Which brings me to another question.

Has Mike actually realized that he is in love with Will yet?

Or is he still standing at the edge of that revelation, feeling its gravity without fully understanding what it is?

Because from where I am sitting, it feels less like a question of whether he loves Will and more like a question of when he will finally find the words for something his heart has known for a very long time.

And now I have to ask about future chapters.

Will we see a confrontation between Mike and Will?

A confrontation between Henry and Will?

A confrontation between Henry and Mike?

Because I confess that I would absolutely love to see the latter.

Not merely because it would be dramatic, but because Henry is uniquely positioned to expose truths that Mike has spent years burying.

I can almost imagine the scene.

Mike accusing Henry of his obsession with Will. Of his possessiveness. Of his manipulation.

And Henry responding with that infuriating calm certainty he always possesses.

"Really, Michael? Are you certain I am the one with inappropriate thoughts? Are you certain I am the only one possessed by longing? What is it that you feel every time you look at him? Every time you touch him? Every time your eyes linger on his lips a second longer than they should? Poor Michael. So desperate to have him. So desperate to keep him. So desperate to corrupt him with desires you barely allow yourself to acknowledge. And yet so terrified of what those desires reveal that you reject him instead."

And then suddenly every memory comes crashing back.

Every moment from Seasons 3 and 4.

Every cruel word spoken out of fear.

Every act of avoidance.

Every instance where Mike hurt Will not because he did not care, but because he cared too much and lacked the language to understand it.

Or perhaps something even better.

A confrontation between Henry, Mike, and Will all at once.

A psychological battlefield rather than a physical one.

A war fought with secrets instead of weapons.

With guilt instead of bullets.

With shame instead of knives.

A scene where Henry systematically dissects both of them, weaponizing their fears, their traumas, their insecurities, their regrets, and above all their love for one another.

Because what makes Henry truly terrifying is not his supernatural power.

It is his understanding of human vulnerability.

He knows where the fractures already exist.

And he knows exactly where to press.

Which is why I cannot stop wondering what would happen if he turned Mike and Will's deepest feelings into the battlefield itself.

The possibilities are absolutely fascinating, and I cannot wait to see where you take this story next.

first of all, laiya, thank you so much for all of these reviews and for taking the time to write something this thorough 😭 i think i saw you send this on the strawpage too, and i’m sorry i couldn’t answer it on twitter because apparently i hit the tweet limit lmao

about henry, yes, to him this all feels very prophetic. very destiny-coded. i’ve talked about this a little in a previous ask, but basically i’m adapting the theory that el was the one who opened the shed door, which led to will being taken, and in a way caused them to switch places in each other’s worlds

el ends up filling will’s place in mike’s world, will ends up filling el’s place in henry’s world

and for henry, the moment he found will, used him, and realized he could use him to create/expand the monsters and the hell of the upside down, something shifted. then when he found out will was joyce’s son, it became almost like destiny fulfilled

because in chapter 8, henry tells joyce that she will learn to do anything to protect the people she loves. that was a threat. so when he realizes will is her son, it becomes his way of fulfilling that promise to her

it becomes revenge, but it also becomes something bigger in henry’s head. he thinks the universe handed will to him. he thinks this is how it was always meant to happen

so his goal is no longer simply to return to the right side up. his goal becomes ruling the underworld. ruling the upside down. and because there is still a sliver of humanity in henry, that humanity shows itself in the ugliest possible way: he wants a companion

he is a monster, but he is still lonely, and that loneliness turns into obsession

the important thing about my version of the upside down is that it is corrosive. it strips you down to who you really are. you cannot lie there. not forever

so henry cannot just take will and keep him there by force. if will stays only to save holly, that is not enough. that is sacrifice. that is selflessness. but it is not desire

henry wants will to choose him and he wants will to want to stay

he wants will to believe that being beside henry is not only the best option, but maybe the only option left and that is the tragedy of it. because henry is not rejecting the things will thinks the real world will reject

henry loves will’s softness. his kindness. his femininity. his sensitivity. he does not care that will is gay. in fact, in henry’s mind, gender barely matters here because what he wants is will as his bride, his companion, his equal, his proof, his possession

but in the right side up, those things do matter. especially in the 80s. especially during the aids crisis. queer people are being hated, hunted, abandoned, killed. and henry can use that because the awful thing is: the monster accepts parts of will that the real world has punished him for

that is the dilemma, henry can say: i see you. i accept you. i would never hate you for what you are, and that is what makes him dangerous

because then the people who actually love will — mike, joyce, jonathan, the party — have to prove that the right side up is still worth choosing. that even if the world is cruel, their love is not. that henry accepting will’s queerness and softness does not make him safe. that the love waiting for will in the real world is still greater, fuller, and more real than whatever henry is offering him in the underworld

i’m going to be honest, i still have two possible ways this could play out

either people find out because henry weaponizes it and taunts them with it, or Will tells them himself. i’m still figuring out which version fits better with the plot i already have planned, especially because the fallout would be huge for joyce, jonathan, and Mike

but i also really don’t want it to become this thing where everyone knows every detail of what happened to will

like yes, narratively, there is something haunting about people finally understanding the full extent of what Henry did to him. but for will, having everyone know would also be another kind of violation. he has already been exposed so much. he has already had so many private parts of himself dragged into the open. i don’t want to recreate that same horror in an even worse way just for the sake of catharsis

so yeah, i’m still being careful with it

what i can say is that some people will know. i think joyce, Jonathan, and mike are the ones where it matters the most emotionally and narratively. but whether they find out directly from will, from henry, or from something else, i’m still deciding

also, the extent of will and henry’s connection is kind of a separate thing from the specific abuse. those are connected, obviously, but they’re not the exact same reveal. people can learn how deep the connection goes without knowing every single thing Henry did to him

so basically: yes, it will be addressed

henry and wills dynamic in this is so interesting. im wondering if henry knows what he’s doing with will, like if he meant to cause sexual trauma for him and is trying to groom him, or if he genuinely believes what he’s doing is justified. also the inherent nature of their relationship, like if what henry feels for will is romantic and vice versa? either way it’s sooo fucked up but SO interesting to read and digest.

this was such a hard chapter to read, poor will:( and i know its only going to get worse for him. seeing him both be ignored and focused on but in a negative way is so sad. i need them to acknowledge his trauma and what hes done for them, and a hug while they’re at it

continue the great work, your writing is seriously amazing, it hits so hard while reading, absolutely one of the best ive ever read. I cant wait for the rest im sososos seated

NL hearing people saying than theyre more excited for this than the actual show is making me flyyyy SO HIGH hahah

and yeah, Henry and Will’s dynamic is meant to be fucked up and uncomfortable and gothic as hell, aaand to answer: yes, Henry knows what he’s doing

maybe he would not describe it in the exact language we would use. he probably would not sit there and go “yes i am grooming this traumatized teenager.” but he is very much aware that he is isolating Will, making himself feel safe to him, making himself feel necessary, and using Will’s shame and loneliness against him

the drawing, the river, calling him beautiful, making him feel seen during the AIDS crisis and during a time where Will already feels disgusting and wrong — none of that is accidental

henry is doing it on purpose but the thing with Henry is that he also genuinely believes he is justified. he sees himself as Will’s savior. he thinks the world does not deserve Will. he thinks Joyce, Mike, the Party, everyone around Will, will either fail him or hurt him. and because Henry is a narcissistic monster, he looks at Will and sees himself. or more specifically, he sees an embodiment of himself with all the softness and goodness he never had

so is it romantic? in a gothic monster way, yes, is it love? absolutely not!

it is possession, obsession, projection, ownership, henry wants Will as his companion, his equal, his bride, his vessel, his proof that he was right, his revenge on joyce, his way out of loneliness, all of it

and the joyce part matters a lot bc henry STILL blames Joyce for Patty leaving him, and in his head Patty was basically the last remnant of his humanity. so when he finds Will and then realizes Will is Joyce’s son, it feels prophetic to him. like destiny. like the universe personally handed him this beautiful wounded boy and said here, finish what was started

which is obviously deranged, but ya know... that’s Henry

as for Will, I do think there is attachment there. maybe even something crush-like, but it is not clean or equal, will is lonely, traumatized, ashamed, and desperate to be seen without being punished for it. Henry gives him that feeling on purpose. so whatever Will feels is tangled up in manipulation from the start

THANK YOUUU, thi is one of the highest compliments you can give a fic writer LOL, ’m doing this for the love of the game, obviously, but hearing that you think it deserves to be compensated?? im so HONORED

and yeah, ch11 was always going to get a Reaction because it kind of had to. especially with Hopper

i think one thing i really wanted to avoid was making any character only one thing. in s5, at least to me, Hopper kind of gets reduced into “self-sacrificial dad” without much exploration of why he is like that or what happens when that protectiveness curdles into something ugly. and with this scene, i wanted the layers. not to justify him, not to say he was right, because absolutely not. but to show the situation that led him there. El is hurt. there are soldiers upstairs. everyone is trapped. he is the only adult in a basement full of terrified kids. he is a traumatized father watching another daughter bleed

so yeah. i understand him

also yeah, fuck him a little bit

both can exist lolll

and i do think he ruptured something. with will, obviously, but also potentially with Joyce, jonathan, mike, El, everyone. because once you become unsafe in a room full of kids, you don’t just get to walk that back because you had a reason

that being said, i don’t want Joyce/Jonathan’s reaction to become the entire main plot going forward. it matters, and i WILL address it because the scene deserves closure, but the center of the fic is still Will, henry, and Mike. so we’ll get the consequences, but i don’t want the story to suddenly become The Hopper Accountability Show starring Joyce with a lead pipe

even though, valid

i also think there’s such an interesting imbalance in the whole Joyce/Hopper family dynamic. Joyce has been allowed to become a mother to El. she has time with her, care for her, that bond. but Hopper hasn’t really had the same with Will and Jonathan, especially post-s3 onward. yes, there were moments in s1 and s2, but Bob also occupied that space in s2, and after that the show just kind of… dropped it

so if the Byers-Hopper family ever becomes a real blended family, i don’t want it to be instantly perfect found family fluff. nothing in this fic is that clean. there are gaps. there are imbalances. there are people who love each other but have not earned the same level of trust from everyone in the house

and yes, henry is absolutely smug right now! deeply annoying. probably standing somewhere in the Upside Down like :) because so far, everyone is doing exactly what he expected them to do

he wanted Will exposed. he wanted Will frightened. he wanted Will to feel dangerous, contaminated, guilty, unwanted, and too exhausted to know where else to go. and Hopper, unfortunately, handed him a knife and a spotlight

also the hive mind/powers thing being unclear is intentional. is Will controlling it? is it happening to him? is it both? does control even mean anything when the thing is invasive by nature? that uncertainty is part of why it feels violating for him, he cannot tell where he ends and where the monster begins

which is, you know. bad. very bad. great for the gothic horror. terrible for my son

and Mike POVs are going to be Fun in the sense that they will not be fun at all. because yeah, all of this happened in basically one catastrophic stretch of time. Holly, the attack, his parents, El injured, will exposed, hopper snapping. that boy is operating on fumes, terror, and devotion right now

also wow im so sorry this ask is so long... UM i think i hit the max word count or something so this is 1/3 i guess.... sorry. 😭

AS I WAS SAYING THO, this chapter was a hell of a journey dude.

THE INTERROGATION. i appreciate you really taking your time writing it so the soldiers talked to Every Character and there were multiple times where they were maybe-leaving maybe-not and the suspense was crazy bc i genuinely did not know if they would find el or not. i had no idea where it was going and... i just want you to know i was STRESSED reading that, as i said heart beating sooo damn loud in my chest like never before.

and el's injury!! no words holy shit. i felt traumatised myself reading it oh my poor girl :((( like everyone's fear and her pain was made so vivid and REAL. like im gonna get to hopper soon but yeah the sheer AMOUNT of pain and hurt she's in does end up explaining a lot of his reactions. it's not just "el almost died" it's her being stitched up WITHOUT ANAESTHESIA and trying to be quiet and the fear and pain and oh god i feel so bad for my baby.

THE MOMENT they brought up that locked drawer -- where will had hid his sketchbook -- though i knew what i was coming. this actually made everything so much more stressful to read bc i was like i know What's going to happen but how?? when?? and i was preparing for the worst with hopper but. oh dude. DUDE. i knew hopper was gonna crash out but not like THAT holy fuck. i actually gasped. also yes i totally understand, technically speaking, what motivated hopper BUT i fear that the rest of my ranting here is NOT going to be kind to him. like at all. so just a heads up with respect to that <3

the entire time i felt will's fear so viscerally it's actually making me a little sick still. i had the urge to take a deep breath & pause so many times. the most vulnerable and intimate parts of him were in that sketchbook and for it to be seen in the OPEN like that... oh god.

also the "how did you know the demogorgons were coming" FUCKING DESTROYED ME BECAUSE I EXPECTED HIM TO GET SOME SORT OF THANKS FOR IT 😭😭😭 I DIDNT EXPECT IT TO BE USED AGAINST HIM this is so unfair im going to cry sorry it distresses me just to THINK about it oh my god.

Will tried to find the moment Hopper was talking about. The demogorgons, the Wheeler house, the dreams and flashbacks that he couldn’t tell apart. The feeling in his bones and veins, the wails and deaths in between. It was all there, tangled in Henry’s smile, Henry’s hands on his sketchbook, and it couldn’t be the same person. It couldn’t be.

THIS, followed by will's response to hop of "i don't know". dude i actually almost cried here like that "i don't know" somehow hit me viscerally 😭😭

LIKEE the worst part is that will's been going through so so much lately -- what with the anxiety, bad sleep + throwing up, the nightmares, seeing things, and i bet him having like 2 calories of food a day doesnt help -- it's so understandable that his mind is scattered and confused. like this is ALREADY such a daunting experience but given his current mental state there's literally no way he can come up with an answer that doesn't aggravate hop. it's also so heartbreaking as a reader to see him experience the stuff he later can't recall or put into place properly. like WE know if something he experiences is real or dream or flashback or manipulation but he doesnt... :(

hi this is pt. 2/3 sorry i just couldnt stop yapping

AGAIN I DID NOT EXPECT HOPPER TO LITERALLY GET FUCKING PHYSICAL WITH A FUCKING KID like objectively speaking it makes sense & i get what pushed him over the edge!! but what the FUCKKK.

“How am I supposed to know he’s not inside your head right now? That he’s not in you, that he hasn’t taken you?!”

"that he's not in you" WORST POSSIBLE FUCKING PHRASING I AM DISTRAUGHT FOR MY SON. LIKE THEY DONT GET JUST HOW LITERAL THAT IS. UNDERSTANDABLY WILL STARTED CRYING HERE BC IM STILL NOT OKAY FROM IT. once hopper finds out the truth i hope he realise the weight of what he's said and like kills himself (not actually but im so mad at him. im SO mad.)

Will’s head knocked against the paneling. He winced, and for one splintered second, Hopper’s face blurred into Lonnie’s. Then Lonnie’s anger bled into Henry’s smile, and Henry’s smile opened into Vecna’s hollow stare, and all of it folded over itself until Will could no longer tell which terror belonged to which man. His mouth opened. Nothing came out.

worst paragraph in history. i thought id be fine considering will's been psychologically tortured for like the past 10 chapters already but i need you to understand i fucking CRIED. i reread this right now and cried again. im so so upset which means you did an amazing job at writing this but I AM SO UPSET i genuinely cannot put it into words.

mike's response is SO understandable. i actually loved it btw!! i think im still a bit shaken by poor will's perspective of it all BUT YES MIKE GO GET HIM FUCKING KILL HIM BRO

He stood between Will and Hopper with both fists locked around the iron, his whole body shaking. His face was wet. His eyes were black with fury. “I fucking told you,” Mike warned. His voice was low at first, then it rose. “I fucking told you to stay off him!”

"his eyes were black with fury" is THE description of all time. i wish i could just paste in that entire face-off between hopper and mike because it is SO vindicating bc wtf is hopper trying to do bro. like you are PHYSICALLY THREATENING a KID who has BEEN ABUSED BEFORE ill actually kill hop bro. ill kill him ive never related to mike wheeler so much in my life

i do like the detail that he's evidently crying by this point bc same here honestly

Mike did not look at anyone else. He kept the poker raised. “You don’t grab him,” Mike said. His voice shook, but the rage in it stayed solid. “You don’t put him against a wall. You don’t do that to him!” Hopper’s face shifted. Mike’s grip tightened around the iron. “I couldn’t fucking kill that bastard back then, but I’d do it to you now if you dare.”

so im going to think about this moment forever. specifically that last line. i don't have the words to describe my reaction to that one sentence but i hope you understand that this was THE line.

even after that

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Mike snapped, his voice tearing through the basement. The fire poker shook in his hands. “He pushed Will!” His breath hitched hard, and when he spoke again, the words came out smaller, broken at the edges. “He– he took him and pushed him!”

i LOVEE this one because mike is literally on the verge of a meltdown here. SO MUCH has happened. his sister is missing. now his parent are dead. his girlfriend - who, yes, he absolutely loves el although not romantically - was just in so much pain it's ridiculous. and now hopper not only accuses will -- who is generally the central part of mike's life and is definitely the only reason mike is still functional rn - of being a spy, he fucking gets PHYSICAL. and mike already knows just how badly will is doing, that he's in pain and can't sleep/eat and is guilty, this is absolutely too much for him to handle. the way he says it sounds almost like a kid too, if that makes sense? him repeating the phrase "he pushed him" im going to cry omg 😭 he seems almost scared he seems like a fucking kid BECAUSE HE IS HE'S A KID HE'S SIXTEEN THEYRE ALL KIDS man im so sad now </3 mike's really going through it too huh ANSWER:

Which direction are you planning to go for Jopper is I guess what I’m asking. Also I totally agree that Boyce is better hehe

look. in hindsight, i could have made this easier for myself and written Hopper as the perfect father figure. perfect dad to El, perfect future stepfather to Will, emotionally healthy, says the right thing, everyone hugs, roll credits

that would have made my life SO much easier

but then i started writing the scene and it was one of those moments where the character kind of goes “actually no, i would do this” and you, as the writer, have to sit there like. damn. unfortunately that makes more sense

because the situation is awful. El is hurt, maybe dying. she cannot get proper help even though help is literally right upstairs. she has to stay quiet while she’s in pain. soldiers are in the house. Joyce and Murray are upstairs. Hopper is the only adult in a room full of terrified kids. and Hopper is a traumatized father who has already watched one daughter die in a hospital bed

so yeah. him panicking and lashing out makes sense

does that make it okay? no

absolutely not!

Hopper has a good heart, but he also has mean tendencies. he is gruff, reactive, emotionally constipated, and very bad at fear. so when he is scared, it comes out ugly. and with Will, it came out unforgivably ugly

as for Jopper, i’m gonna be honest: i do like Bob more. Boyce nation rise, etc. Bob was sweet, nerdy, awkward, and genuinely cared about Will. i loved that he wasn’t secretly evil or creepy or some twist villain. he was just a good guy. robbed by the narrative, frankly

but what happened with Hopper in this chapter is not really about me preferring Bob. narratively, it just made sense

and i think there’s an interesting imbalance in Joyce and Hopper’s blended-family situation. Joyce has spent time with El. she has mothered El in a way. but Hopper has not spent that same kind of time with Will and Jonathan. he is not to Will what Joyce is to El, and that difference matters. especially with how much this fic already mirrors Will and El and puts them in these painful parallel positions

so yeah, this will affect Joyce and Hopper. i don’t want Joyce to immediately forgive him. honestly, she shouldn’t. if they ever do end up together in the epilogue or later, it would be after a long road. like, a LONG road. Hopper would have to earn his way back into her good graces, and more importantly, into Will’s

because i do think it comes back to Will

Will might forgive him eventually, because Will is Will. but forgiving is not the same as forgetting. some things can be understood and still leave a mark

so yeah. Jopper is not dead-dead in my head, but it is absolutely not getting fixed with one apology and a sad dad face

im gonna SUPER ANNOYING and reply this with:

we'll learn all about it in Mike's POV chapters!