Bth:intro - Blog Posts

CHRISTOPHER BRINEY, CIS MALE, HE/HIM | who’s that? oh it’s ADAM RICHARDS. i hear they’re 22 and are known as THE GOLDEN BOY around THE FOOTBALL FIELD. they’re known to be COMPASSIONATE AND SELFLESS and CLOSED OFF AND GULLIBLE. some people say they remind them of THE SMELL OF FRESHLY CUT GRASS MIXED WITH DRYING PAINT, THE ROAR OF A CROWD AT THE FINAL WHISTLE, SNEAKING KISSES AT A RED LIGHT AT THREE IN THE MORNING, A SHEEP IN WOLF’S CLOTHING, EVERYONE IN TOWN KNOWING YOUR NAME. they DO NOT believe they died.

THE BASICS

FULL NAME: adam jacob richards

NICKNAME(S): richards, quarterback

AGE: twenty-two

DATE OF BIRTH: october 3rd

HOMETOWN: hawkins, indiana

CURRENT LOCATION: tree commune hawkins, indiana

GENDER: cis male

PRONOUNS: he / him

ORIENTATION: homosexual ( only known by cole and maybe a small amount of other people he trusted ? )

OCCUPATION: former lifeguard at the hawkins pool

THE FACTS

Adam has the most apple pie backstory you can imagine. The eldest of three, he’s always been the dependable golden child. His father is a dentist, a steady job that keeps them on the well-off side of town. His mother was originally his receptionist, but gave that up when she had Adam. For as long as Adam can remember, his mom had been around to take care of him and his little sisters. She was always there to pick him up when he fell, or hold him after a nightmare. He was closer to her than his father, although they had a fine relationship too. His memories of home are happy, filled with family dinners around the kitchen table, singing along to the radio as they drove to church on Sundays, and his family cheering him on every Friday night. Adam loved his family so much.

There’s only one thing that could make him want to leave them behind, and that’s the knowledge that he could never fully be himself in Hawkins. Adam didn’t realize that he was gay until he was in high school - he just thought that maybe the attraction guys described feeling for girls was overexaggerated. Once he met Cole Montgomery, though, everything changed. He pestered Cole to help him with English, relishing their weekly study sessions until things shifted and they began seeing one another romantically. Being with Cole made Adam feel more like himself than anything else in the world did. And while Adam adored his family, he needed to get out of Hawkins in order to be truly happy.

Cole wasn’t the only thing that made Adam want to leave, though. Hawkins itself came with a sort of pressure. Here, he was the Boy Next Door. The Hometown Hero. Every Friday night, Adam was expected to put on his jersey and play his part as the star quarterback, beloved by all who attended their games. And at times, Adam felt suffocated by that. There were so many rules and expectations he had to follow in order to just exist in Hawkins. In order to play sports and be accepted - which Adam wanted - he had to behave and act a certain way. Which is why Adam knew that once Cole graduated, he had to leave with him and go somewhere where no one expected anything from him.

And that was the plan, until the summer of 1985. Things were good, stable, until suddenly Adam was being controlled by the Mind Flayer and was killed at the Starcourt Mall. Adam doesn’t really remember this time; he doesn’t know that he died. It’s all really hazy, honestly. But now that he’s back and people are claiming that he joined a commune in the woods for three years…well, Adam doesn’t know what to think.

THE HEADCANONS

Adam’s always fully embraced his role as a big brother to his younger sisters. He loves them both dearly. While he’s closer to the middle sister just due to their ages (she’s around 18-20), he also loves Cindy, who’s 16 now. He feels bad that he missed out on their lives for the last three years for sure. 

He loves football and sports in general. The comradery of a team, the thrill of people depending on you - that’s so special to Adam. The only part of it he hated was the pressure and expectation to be someone that he wasn’t. He hated the toxicity that could exist in that world, especially the casual misogyny and homophobia. That’s why he always tried to rise above it while still working the system? Like, he couldn’t step too far out of line or call too many things out, but he always tried to stand up against bullying in his own way. 

Adam is just... a very genuine person. He’s absolutely a himbo who takes a lot at face value. He’s never understood why people can’t just mean what they say, or have good intentions. Like this man is a Lawful Good through and through. 

School wasn’t easy for this man. He did okay in some classes, but really struggled in others. In order to keep him on the football team, though, I imagine he had tutors in several of his classes. 

Literally he did not know he was gay until he was like 15-16 years old, he just thought that his friends were exaggerating when they talked about girls. Like, he was like “They’re nice. Fine, even. Pretty, I guess.” and then he met Cole and was like “Ohhhh I get it now.” 

He had a girlfriend when he met Cole, and once he realized he liked Cole and wanted to date him, he felt intense guilt at the thoughts of cheating on her. So, either 1) he broke up with her or 2) he kept dating her but told her everything, and she was willing to be his beard. If someone wants that connection, PLEASE lmk because I would love to see either option. 

Truly he always tries to see the best in people. Even those who don’t deserve it. 

He fully had plans with Cole to run away after Cole graduated and Adam 100% was going to follow through. He didn’t love the idea of leaving his family behind, but he needed to be himself and not the town’s Golden Boy. Unfortunately, Adam got flayed by Billy, who he used to work with.

He wasn’t himself the few days before he died. He was a lot meaner and angrier than anyone had seen him before, so that might have raised some red flags for people. Adam was eventually killed at the mall.

While Adam doesn’t think that he died, he does find the commune idea suspicious. After all, he did want to run away, but with Cole. He’s so confused by the idea that he would have left him behind, so part of him is worried that maybe he was brainwashed or kidnapped? He has no clue what to believe when it comes to that, honestly. 

❝  𝗜  𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟  𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘  𝗠𝗬  𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗘  𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘  𝗛𝗔𝗦  𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡  𝗢𝗡𝗘  𝗕𝗜𝗚  𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗥.  ❞

[maya hawke, cis female, she / her] who’s that? oh it’s [robin buckley]. i hear they’re [twenty] and are known as [the inquisitive] around [the video store]. they’re also a [junior] at [college] & [clerk] at [family video]. they’re known to be [witty + resolute] and [impetuous + cynical]. some people say they remind them of [ink drawings on canvas sneakers, a reliance on sarcastic humour, mind that works a mile a minute].

ＢＡＳＩＣＳ

𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: robin arlo buckley. 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 / 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬: rob, buckley, tweedledee. 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 & 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬: cis woman, she / her. 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡: march 10th. 𝐳𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧: pisces. 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: clerk @ family video, junior at hawkins community college. 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: homosexual ( closeted ), the only person currently knowledgeable of this information is steve harrington.

ＨＥＡＤＣＡＮＯＮＳ

* fresh-man year of high school, robin practically begged her parents to buy her a handheld tape player. not to listen to the latest top hits or new rock album by so-and-so, but so she could listen to language tapes on the go. spanish, italian, and even french — she became fluent rather quickly.

* robin is a certifiable geek. a band geek. even after the torture of high school came to a poetic end, and the freedom of college started hurtling towards her like a meteorite waiting to strike. and college band is way different than high school band since for once, her talents are actually appreciated.

* robin often shows traits of both autism and add. neither have been officially diagnosed because… it’s the eighties. but social settings are sometimes a struggle. 

ＢＩＯ

tba. 

mental wounds not healing

          life’s a bitter shame

                 i’m going off the rails on a crazy train  [meet: eddie munson]

who’s that? oh it’s (EDWARD) EDDIE MUNSON. i hear they’re TWENTY-TWO and are known as THE FREAK around CHICAGO/HAWKINS TRAILER PARK. they’re also a EMPLOYEE/ (ASPIRING MUSICIAN) at ‘SHADY RECORDS’,. they’re known to be ENGAGING+HUMOROUS and MOODY+OVERBEARING. some people say they remind them of :

the smell of smoke, cologne and vanilla

browsing through a stack of vinyls and cassettes for half an hour until ou find the right one

the overwhelming expectations that come with being a ocietal outcast

a bandana in your back pocket, no matter what outfit you’re wearing

tw drug mention, death mention

what’s left to say about eddie ‘the freak’ munson - props to jason carver for the most inventive of nicknames - that hasn’t already been speculated aobut? the list goes as follows: freak, metalhead, trailer park trash, dungeon master, outcast, drug dealer, murder suspect, runaway, satan worshipper. miss anything?

after the dust settles, after that whacky fucking week, after chrissy's incident happened and he was on the run and in the ‘upside down’, fighting vecna - after all that has passed, after he’s cleared of all charges, he actually manages to army crawl his way towards that D in miss o’donnell’s and he graduates. two years late but hey, he got there. it’s like he predicted - eddie walks on stage, flips the principal the bird, snatches his diploma and runs like hell. the week after graduation his van leaves hawkins trailer park for the last time in a long time - eddie’s wasted no time.

;he drives around for a bit, settles in chicago. college is just ... not gonna be an option, but he’s got his music and a new band and he knows they’re going to take off, he just knows it. they play small venues but the crowd is bigger than in hawkins - fucking everything is bigger than hawkins, he thinks to himself - and even though he’s still labeled ‘weird’ and ‘freaky’ in chicago, there are just...a lot more weird, freaky people here than in hicksville indiana. so he’s not complaining. the opposite, actually.

still, they make a decent amount of money from their gigs but not enough to support themselves so eddie finally caves, takes that job at ‘shady records’. pay’s awful but his boss and co-workers are fucking angels and the people coming are never looking for belina carlisle or eddy huntington, no, they’re asking for the smiths and van halen and eddie’s face lights up everytime someone asks for his metal recommendations.

so, chicago is not what he expected but he’s making it work for him. he’s got a decent amount of friends there but ... eddie can’t deny he misses his hawkins friends. the hellfire club, the upside down gang. so he comes back every few weeks, checks in with his uncle and may mayfield, catches up with his friends. eddie’s not ‘officially’ the head of hellfire club anymore, in his absence he has passed his dungeon master duties on to the only worthy candidate, one will byers. but eddie still takes his time in chicago to plan some epic campaigns for when he pays hawkins a longer visit.

his boss has closed the store for the summer, taking the time to take a road tripe around the states, but he’s payed eddie in advance and hey, he’s not complaining, he’s packed his bags and drove back to hawkins to move back into his old room for the summer. a little apprehensive - staying in hawkins that long, that town always meant trouble. but mybe this time would be different.

he’s been back a couple of weeks now - and he’s still adjusting, because there are some things that one could do and say in chicago but....not in smalltown indiana. he’s back to being looked at funny and being called a ‘freak ‘ -though he has to say he sort of likes the attention, he doesn’t really stand out that much anymore in chicago - and no one’s asked him if he’s ‘flagging’ yet, which is a question he hears regularly but hey, he still keeps that bandana in his back pocket, just in case.

[Timothée Chalamet, cismale, he/him] who’s that? oh it’s [walden cole montgomery]. i hear they’re [21] and are known as [the loverboy] around [the skate park]. they’re also a [junior] at [indiana state] and a [manager] at the [music center]. they’re known to be [artistic + intellectual] and [self-involved + elusive]. some people say they remind them of [poetry whispered during a rainstorm, snide remarks from the back of the classroom, the outline of a flask in his jean pocket].

STATISTICS

FULL  NAME: walden cole montgomery GENDER/PRONOUNS: cis male; he/him AGE: twenty-one FACECLAIM: timothée chalamet BIRTHDAY: april 23 STAR  SIGN: taurus HOMETOWN: albany, new york HEIGHT:  5′10″ OCCUPATION: manager at the music center; junior at Indiana state ORIENTATION: homosexual (but not officially out)

HEADCANONS

* Cole is the half-brother of Jonathan and Will Byers (Lonnie sure got around in high school); he only found out a few years ago, right around when Will went missing and, frankly, Cole didn’t say anything because he didn’t particularly want to be tied to “Zombie Boy.” Since then, he hasn’t known how or even if he should say something. * Cole has been in love once: with Adam, the star quarterback two years his senior. For two years, they shared clandestine meetings and quiet declarations of love and whispered promises that they’d move somewhere where things could be different, where everyone could know. But then Adam changed, seemingly overnight. He avoided Cole and acted cruel and empty; Cole still doesn’t know what happened, and never will, because Adam died in the mall fire. *note: Adam was one of The Flayed, and while Cole knows something was very off, he has no idea how to find answers * Cole hasn’t been the same since Adam died. He went away to college to study Literature, which should have made him happy, but he just felt like a ghost. He’s not sure if it’s worse to be away at college pretending like nothing happened, or back in Hawkins constantly reminded of him.

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