Lucas: what is it?

Jane: It's an upside-down cake.

Lucas: Was it supposed to be an upside-down cake?

Jane: I should probably go and make a new one shouldn’t I?

I don't need this today, I don't need the emotions.

I am spraying my bugspray.

Like, the way I write Dustin dealing with grief over El? That could've easily been Mike. Just look at S2.

The way I like to imagine Dustin helping El out with her studies so she can be in school with all her friends? That could also be Mike. He is also smart, he could also tutor her.

The way Mike talked to El every day in S2, despite not knowing if she could even hear him? He could have ACTUALLY borrowed Dustin's cerebro to talk to her while she was in California. There's literally no reason for him not to do it. Once a day, like he did before. And I wouldn't have to be thinking "damn, Dustin would have treated El better during that time, he would have reached out more".

Dustin is the one always excited when El uses her powers, but Mike wasn't negative about it, either. He'd never made her feel like using them was something wrong or dangerous until S4. He knows how dangerous they are, he's seen her kill grown man at 12 years old by liquefying their brains. If anything, he should have at least given Angela a piece of his mind (since he so eagerly did it in S5 with Andy and that "I say kick away" bullshit) for doing that whole show.

I write Dustin as being protective and supportive of El, but Mike was already protective of El (for the wrong reasons, I know, because he was traumatized over losing her in S1) and he was on his way to learn how to be supportive of her. We could have just continued on that path and the mileven ship would've been fine.

Like, why was DUSTIN'S grief in S5 mirroring what El went through in S4? Why couldn't we have gotten something between El and Mike instead? He's not even involved in her damn Vol2 suicide plot, Hopper is the one trying to reel her in. At that point henderhop is not even me being crazy, is just the show making it way more plausible than it should be if mileven is endgame.

You may have already answered this before, so sorry, however what made you decide to take on a Medieval AU with Mileven? If you could do another AU, what would it be?

What got you in to fandom?

Which character from ST do you feel like you relate to them most?

I was so short on time that I didn't get a chance to actually sit down and answer these until now u.u

Okay. When the show ended, a lot of people started making mileven art of them as their D&D characters, and even though I don't know that much about D&D, I LOVE fantasy, so I was like: wait… there's something here. And then suddenly I had this very specific idea in my head of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to introduce all the characters, and I thought “oh, this could actually be really fun,” because in my head it's basically like watching an animated series lol. That's also why I wanted to include action and intrigue and not make it only about the romance.

If I could do another AU… hmm. Look, I'm SUCH a sucker for mileven high school AUs. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH lmao. And I've actually thought about writing one, except mine would technically be post-canon. Like, El survives the end of Stranger Things, finally gets the government/military off her back, and gets to spend her senior year as a normal teenager in Hawkins. I've thought about that idea A LOT. Like, what would it actually be like for her and the Party to try to survive their last year of high school after secretly saving the world?

Personally, I think El would make an amazing cheerleader, or honestly be ridiculously good at any sport that requires agility. I mean, remember how she trained to fight Vecna. She would absolutely be the best cheerleader in school. But that does not cancel out the fact that she would still be just as much of a freak as the rest of her friends and her boyfriend lol. I actually have way too much of this story planned already, but I refuse to go down that rabbit hole yet because I know I'll overwhelm myself 😅

As for how I got into fandom, literally because of that terrible ending lol. I've been a Stranger Things fan since 2016, literally since the show came out. I loved it so much that I used to rewatch it at least twice a year. But I had never actually participated in fandom before. This is my first fandom! (Even though I'd been reading Mileven fic for years.)

I decided to join because I was so devastated over El, and I felt so alone in that feeling. And, surprisingly, it ended up being a really good decision, because I realized I'm not the only little weirdo in the world haha. A lot of the things I've always felt about certain characters are apparently just things people have been feeling in fandom spaces forever. I've learned things about myself, and I've even made some really great friends along the way. So in a very weird way, I guess I have that ending to thank for something. :))))

And finally… I'd probably say Nancy.

I’m the oldest sister of two younger girls and I love them with my entire life. My parents had me really young and then had my two sisters many, many years later, so I've always kind of been a second mom. And I think having young parents affected that too. At some point you just start taking on this weird parental role without really choosing it, and you become the one who has to keep it together.

In season one I didn't connect with Nancy that much at first, but then she starts pulling out that strength she has inside her (that need to do the right thing and actually take control of the situation) and that's when I really got her. I wouldn't say she's my favorite character, but she's the one who makes me go “oh fuck, I see myself in you.”