#emlizcore

Like, it ends up in the water and they can't find it so he's just in spirit form for the majority of the time. Now, I know these kinds of things aren't necessarily canon, but Oda does have creative input and all I'm saying is... Horrific implications for Brook and his longevity.

i havent played the game myself, but i did watch inthelittlewood stream some of it (he played it while i was at work, and i could only justify watching so many minutes of One Piece game streaming on the clock, so i didnt catch it all, but i caught the general premise). i did see this bit and i think i was too busy being like "what the fuck i want him to be playable" to really register how it would affect his lifespan.... hm

my headcanon for Brook and drowning has always been that it erodes the power of his df and unsticks his soul from his body. which.... hm. i guess i need to re-evaluate this headcanon for this....

that is fascinating. we already know he doesnt feel pain or heat/cold, he can be dismembered or decapitated and put himself back together, and it's implied he can't starve by the fact he survived 50 years on his own, old age is accounted for by having already rotted, he cant be poisoned or really be strangled... and now he cant even drown if his soul isnt in his body? lord alive.

i wonder if his soul being separate is what saved him or if he just cant drown at all. if Brook fell into the water would he time out eventually, or does he stay alive and powerless in the water indefinitely until fished out?

(i'm still subscribing to the idea he can and does "opt in" for things like eating and breathing, which i guess means he could opt in and drown on purpose, which,,,, distressing)

speaking of, deeply distressed by the idea he can just keep existing if his body is damaged or put out of commission while he isnt in it. does htis mean the ONLY damage that can be meaningfully dealt to brook is either exhaustion or to his SOUL??

This takes! These spicy takes! They’re more valid than anything that’s ever been posted on the stranger things tag on ao3

some random thoughts about this ot3 bc yes i have been thinking about this all day:

el asks max to take care good care of mike bc they may be broken up but she loves him so much and wants him to be happy and max teases her like “he’s not a dog we adopted from you, he can take care of himself” but then she promises bc of course she does

max and mike will absolutely bicker over who gets attention from lucas until lucas gets in there with his smug little eyebrow waggle like “ladies, ladies, there’s enough of me to go around” and then they’re both like “shut up lucas”

mike likes kissing more than max does but is too proud to admit it so max keeps having to nudge lucas into it until he realizes and max will absolutely give mike looks over lucas’ shoulder like you’re welcome, dipshit

karen’s veiled comments about mike and max dating get so much more blatant and mike keeps going “SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND MOM” and max is just like “weeeeeeeeell...” and mike shoves her into the basement before she can continue and karen’s just like okay i guess i’ll just stay out of it

lucas thinks having one arm around each of them makes him look super cool. will, el and dustin are just like “no but it’s kinda cute”

dustin trying to explain this to steve. just steve going “wait okay what? so is... like... is it cheating if they all know about it?” and dustin’s like “why would it be cheating?” and steve’s like “HE’S DATING TWO PEOPLE” and dustin’s like “yeah but they’re all fine with it???” and steve’s like “wait so is max dating mike then?” and dustin’s like “oh yeah i have no idea” and steve’s just like “?????????”

actually all the older kids finding out about it is funny. steve explains it to robin and robin’s deeply confused bc he was very bad at explaining it. nancy finds out from mike bc he’s like “oh yeah i broke up with el” when she’s visiting from college and she’s like “oh my god are you okay?” and he’s like “yeah it’s fine i’m kinda dating lucas” and she’s like “wasn’t he dating max?” and he’s like “oh he still is???” and she’s like “you’re letting lucas cheat on her???” and he’s like “SHE TOLD US TO AND YOU HAD ALL THAT WEIRD TIME WITH STEVE AND JONATHAN, DON’T JUDGE ME.” jonathan is the only one who finds out gracefully bc will explains it perfectly to him and joyce and jonathan just asks “oh, are you ok with it, didn’t you kind of have a thing about mike?” and will’s like “oh yeah that was a while ago, it’s fine” and joyce is kinda like “well as long as everyone’s happy” and that’s it

dustin and/or will third wheeling for lucas and mike while they banter and hold hands and they’re just there like “yeah i don’t know why we didn’t see this coming sooner”

lucas finds out he can end their weird petty disagreements about meaningless things with kisses and does not handle this newfound power with dignity at all

How are all of your takes so correct? Its amazing!

dfdjsfkldjfkdfjd OKAY I SAID I WOULDN’T GET INVESTED BUT FLATTERY IS MY NUMBER ONE WEAKNESS so i guess here’s how it would go

after a few years mike and eleven break up. they both kind of realize over several very rough months that they don’t feel the same way they did about each other but they’re petrified of losing each other so at some point when max, lucas, dustin and mike drive up to see the byers, mike and eleven take a walk to be alone and end up sitting on a bench somewhere clinging to each other and both whispering to each other about the fact that they can’t lose each other. they’re both weeping. but then they agree to just be friends. they haven’t really talked to their friends about this bc it’s just been this slow, quiet realization they’ve had over their many phone calls. they didn’t really argue about it, it just, like, happened

so they come back and they’re still holding hands and they’re both trying to stop crying and they just kinda tell the others that they’ll talk after mike and co have headed home bc they don’t want to ruin the time they have together when they’re both, like, ok with this on a fundamental level. like it’s sad, but they both agree and they’re still friends

so they hang out and play dnd and everyone’s really worried about them but they seem to be fine for the most part so sure? and then they’re heading home and dustin’s driving and max and lucas are like “wtf mike” and he’s just like “oh yeah el and i broke up” and they’re like “what?????” lucas is immediately like “why would she do that?” and max is like “what did you do?” and mike’s just like “wow okay we broke up with each other but thanks for assuming she dumped me” and then max and lucas are bickering about whether or not mike should try to win her back and dustin’s the one who’s like “guys, jeezus, leave him alone. sorry buddy”

but they all totally stay at mike’s to watch movies with him because as mutual as this break up was, mike’s still crying the whole drive home because it sucks

(i feel like max spends a lot of nights in mike’s basement bc she doesn’t want to be at home with her shitty dad and the memory of her dead brother who she had really complicated feelings about and yeah she stays with lucas sometimes but erica makes kissy noises at them the whole time and lucas keeps leaving to chase her out of the room and max ends up staying in erica’s room on the floor so there’s no chance of funny business in the sinclair household and lucas’ parents are cheesy about it but they keep peeking into lucas’ room like “now SON” and meanwhile in the wheeler household max can just sprawl out on mike’s couch in the basement and be left alone and sure karen sorrrrrt of keeps making thinly veiled assumptions that max has something going on with mike but she also keeps her own distance and offers to let her stay in nancy’s room if she wants and ted literally forgot that max isn’t mike’s girlfriend and yet he still doesn’t really care)

and max and mike still bicker but that’s on hold now bc he’s crying and sad and so she just lets him rest his head on her shoulder and then lucas, like, has to be in on the mix and so he ends up kind of flopped over mike and max and max is being crushed so dustin gives her a sympathetic look and doesn’t try to get in on the madness, just rests his head on mike’s knee and they all fall asleep like that

and in the morning max claws her way out of the pile and calls el to apologize for not calling sooner and to ask how she’s handling it. (joyce broke out the tissues and splurged on some ice cream and el and will spent the night hearing about joyce’s high school crushes and how they ended up. and if maybe it’s suggested that hopper was one of them, el and will don’t mention it) and el mostly asks about mike and max looks and mike and lucas curled up together and assures her he’s fine and jokingly offers to make him less fine if el needs her to and el promises that no, they both agreed and it’s okay and max is like alright and asks el to call her if she needs anything else and then she goes and gets a camera to take a photo of mike and lucas snuggling

and when they wake up they’re both blushy and insisting that they’d never seriously sleep cuddle and “jeez it’s just because you just got broken up with” and “we broke up with EACH OTHER, lucas” and dustin is half awake and just shares a quiet moment of wow what dorks with max

and they’re such dumbasses about it that max starts teasing them with it and they’re like “EW NO GROSS WHAT” and max is like “grow up, will’s had a boyfriend for like 4 months” and they’re both like “what????” bc will didn’t technically say it was a boyfriend, he just kept talking about this guy and making a very specific face and kind of hinting at it and lucas and mike absolutely did not notice (will didn’t notice that they didn’t notice bc they teased about being replaced and then said they were very happy that he was Making New Friends and will assumed this was them saying they were ok with it in a teasing way and they genuinely were just glad that he has friends) and dustin’s like “oh my god you guys how did you not notice”

and then mike and lucas are in this weird spot of like... they just realized that being gay is an actual thing you can just do but they both have had serious, honest feelings for girls (lucas still does) and mike’s single and they cuddled but it was like a “my best friend just went through a breakup and i still have a girlfriend i very much still love” cuddle, right??? right??? and everything they do makes it weirder and at some point lucas blurts out “I STILL LOVE YOU” to max when they’re on a date together and she makes a comment about mike and she laughs her ass off and then tells him she can share and then it’s so much more confusing and lucas just stares at mike with this horror of like... what the fuck did she mean was she serious am i serious what the fuck what the fuck what the and mike’s like “what?” and lucas is like “WHAT WHAT? I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING, LEAVE ME ALONE” and dustin and max are watching like “are they gonna be ok”

(dustin totally talks to max about this like “wow ok so you’re fine with having two boyfriends and wouldn’t date me?” to poke fun and max is like “oh shut up we were 14 and besides, lucas is the one who’s gonna have a boyfriend and a girlfriend″ and puts him in a headlock. also like dustin’s had multiple girlfriends at this point bc he’s a Good Boy)

Everything you write is a gem and I’d love to read more

ohhhhhhh i think it would definitely depend on who’s planning it. they’re all kind of on the same page as to what they like to do - they like playing video games and watching movies together so most of their dates involve that, but i think mike and max are more the “stay in and play games and watch movies at home where we can just chill” people and lucas is the “go out and treat my bf and gf to stuff.” 

lucas is definitely a big gift giver and we know he works jobs to have spare change so he always has some of his own money, especially after he gets older and gets an actual part-time job, so whenever its up to him he takes them to the movies or the arcade and pays for everything. buys them food or trinkets or takes them to the comic book store and lets them pick whatever they want. (they both go hogwild over it which is really funny bc neither of them is lacking in money but at the same time that’s PARENT money, LUCAS money is different)

max likes staying home but usually with an activity. she likes challenging them to games (neither of the boys can beat her ever and it’s delightful) or watching a movie. (she has lucas pick up snacks first). but also she’s not so much a date planner as she’ll plan a movie marathon or something and if dustin joins in with a date or whatever then it’s a group hang and if not its a date. or sometimes she wants to go on walks outdoors and just chat while she skateboards and just spend time at the park doing nothing in particular

hmmmm i think... lucas would go to college and do an electrical engineering degree or something, but ultimately i he’d enjoy something action hero-y. a lot of hcs have him with the army which i think would have been true of pre-series lucas, but i think the sheer amount of times they’re nearly killed by the government in the series might change his mind, especially because i think both mike and max would be like “oh you’re gonna join the ARMY lucas, REALLY because VIETNAM was such a GOOD idea” so he’d probably opt for something else (i want to say fireman but do i really think that or do i just REALLY like fireman aus. idk what it is about firefighters but the moment it occurs to me that a character could plausibly be a firefighter something in me just goes feral) anyway yes so lucas becomes a firefighter and i am completely objective and totally not biased at all

i’m not sure if max would want to go to college? she’s not big on school stuff and in the 80s i don’t think it was as much of a given, so i think she’d start doing something more practical and interesting, like getting her pilot’s license and then becoming a flight instructor. (she also gets scuba certified as soon as possible with lucas and they keep trying to get mike to do it too and he’s like “yeah... no”)

I think a bot just tried to pass off your Grocky hand art as their own to do their nefarious bot things. I already reported them but I thought I'd let you know!

You're art is really good by the way!

hello.

thank you so much for alerting me, why can’t i have nice things? :(

It’s never too soon honestly