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Some more soft Lumax content 🙏🏽
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Random Incorrect Stranger Things Quotes,
𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘀: Guess what I’m about to get!!
𝗠𝗮𝘅: On my nerves.
Mike: Shut up, You’re messing with my train of thought!
Max: I thought you didn’t have a brain, And now you tell me you have thoughts?
Will: You have to apologize to them Mike.
Mike: Fine! But I will warn you, this might make me a better, nicer person and that is NOT the person you fell in love with.
Steve: You guys don’t know about my knife stick. It’s a knife taped to a stick and it’s the ultimate weapon.
Eddie: Spear?
Steve: BLOCKED
Nancy: I owe you one.
Steve: That’s okay. You can just date me and we’ll call it even.
Steve: If I punch myself and it hurts, am I strong, Or weak?
Max: Strong
Robin: Weak
Nancy: An idiot, is what you are.
Mike: Can I bother you for a second?
Will: You're always bothering me, but go ahead.
Max: You have an impressive pain tolerance.
Will: Thanks, it's the trauma.
Max: Your future self is talking shit about you right now.
Will: Jokes on them. I'll ruin their fucking life.
Stranger Things As Songs From Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
This is my magnum opus. Should I do 1989?
Castles Crumbling - Steve Harrington
"Once, I had an empire in a golden age I was held up so high, I used to be great They used to cheer when they saw my face Now, I fear I have fallen from grace
And I feel like my castle's crumbling down And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground And you don't want to know me I will just let you down You don't wanna know me now"
The first time I heard Castles Crumbling I immediately thought of “King Steve” and Steve’s quiet identity crisis. Steve has undergone this simultaneously tragic and liberating fall from grace. He constantly wants to show people that he’s good and valuable despite him not claiming the title he once had. He’s burned bridges with Tommy and Carol and everyone from the part of his life he’s no longer proud of. While personally he may be fulfilled with his new life he is aware that he is perceived as a failure. He had the entire world gift wrapped for him and still found a way to tear it all down.
Nancy Wheeler & Jonathan Byers - Mine
"Do you remember, we were sittin' there by the water? You put your arm around me for the first time You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter You are the best thing that's ever been mine
Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together And there's a drawer of my things at your place You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes"
Mine is their song! It’s Nancy and Jonathan at their best. Especially in the early seasons both of them are very emotionally guarded but learn to open up to each other. In season 1 they both talk about not wanting to become their parents, wanting to stop the cycle of resentment and conventionality. Their relationship is almost defined by hardship, growing more intimate and personal the more they take on together. In their relationship it's them against the world especially because they are an unconventional pairing. They both have insecurities and baggage but ultimately they are there for each other and are better people for it (You can pry Jancy out my cold, dead hands).
Max Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair - Last Kiss
"I still remember the look on your face Lit through the darkness at 1:58 The words that you whispered for just us to know You told me you loved me So why did you go away?"
"Because I love your handshake, meeting my father I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets How you'd kiss me when I was in the middle of saying something There's not a day I don't miss those rude interruptions
And I'll go Sit on the floor wearing your clothes All that I know is I don't know How to be something you miss
I never thought we'd have a last kiss I never imagined we'd end like this Your name, forever the name on my lips
So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep And I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe And I'll keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are Hope it's nice where you are"
This song can be read as two sided but I primarily see it from Lucas’ perspective, particularly in the time of his and Max’s breakup. This song is about being crushed by the sudden end of relationship while still having allegiance to the person that left. Lucas is very compassionate and still worried about Max ever after their breakup. He didn’t care if she ever was with him again, only that she was safe and happy again. On Max’s side it crushes her to keep the distance between them and she’s haunted by the memories of their love and the sheer fact that Lucas is a good person who still loves her. They both wonder how much of the others life they missed and if things could’ve been different.
Nancy Wheeler & Steve Harrington - Back to December
"So this is me swallowin' my pride Standin' in front of you sayin' I'm sorry for that night And I go back to December all the time It turns out freedom ain't nothin' but missin' you Wishin' I'd realized what I had when you were mine I'd go back to December, turn around and make it alright I go back to December all the time"
"And then the cold came, the dark days When fear crept into my mind You gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye."
While I am not a fan of the weird Stancy revival plot in season 4, this song really captures Steve's feelings towards Nancy. He deeply regrets the person he was when they were together and tells her that he didn't know what he had when he had it. She fundamentally changed him (which is why we should ALL be thanking Nancy for creating the Steve we know and love), and Steve wishes he could redo their relationship. The last line could also reflect Nancy's potential guilt about the way their relationship ended and her inability to reciprocate Steve's love because of her trauma and Barb's death. Also "I'm sorry for that night" is the night of the Halloween party. I don't make the rules. (Also Also Steve and Nancy dated for A YEAR that is so unfathomable to me :I)
El Hopper & Mike Wheeler & Will Byers - Superman
"I wonder if he knows how much that I miss him I hang on every word that you say And you smile and say, "How are you?" I'll say, "Just fine" I always forget to tell you I love you, I love you forever"
"I watch superman fly away You've got a busy day today Go save the world, I'll be around And I watch superman fly away Come back, I'll be with you someday I'll be right here on the ground When you come back down"
Superman can be interpreted from three different perspectives. Mike to El, El to Mike, and Will to Mike. In season 4 Mike reaffirms his love for El by saying that she is his superhero. Her strength is the thing that he admires most about her and he is constantly in awe at her power. The line “I’ve loved you from the very first day” parallels Mike saying that he loved her from the moment he saw her. He even voices his insecurities about her leaving him behind once she realizes that he’s not anything special.
El has the complete opposite perspective, seeing herself as the unworthy one. Because Mike is the first person who ever extended kindness to El, she believes that he is the best person alive and is incredibly lucky to have him. El and Mike see the other as their Superman.
From Will’s perspective Mike is his Superman. He is the leader, the heart, the paladin, and the great hero. He idolizes Mike in way which is why is rejection hurts so much. He wishes the cards were from Mike. That Mike knew how much Will reveres him. In his case, “I’ve loved you from the very first day” could be about the first day he and Mike met in kindergarten.
Will Byers & Mike Wheeler - Foolish One
"Foolish one Stop checkin' your mailbox for confessions of love That ain't never gonna come You will take the long way, you will take the long way down Foolish one Stop checkin' your mailbox for confessions of love That ain't never gonna come You will learn the hard way instead of just walkin' out
Now I'm slidin' down the wall with my head in my hands Sayin', "How could I not see the signs?" Oh, you haven't written me or called But goodbye screamin' in the silence And the voices in my head are tellin' me why"
The accuracy of this one hurts. I think the lyrics are self explanatory but the song reflects the anguish Will feels over Mike’s friendship and love slipping away.
Joyce Byers & Jim Hopper - Timeless
"I would've read your love letters every single night And prayed to God you'd be comin' home all right And you would've been fine We would have been timeless 'Cause I believe that we were supposed to find this So, even in a different life, you still would've been mine We would've been timeless"
"In a crowded room a few short years ago And sometimes there's no proof, you just know You're always gonna be mine We're gonna be I'm gonna love you when our hair is turnin' gray We'll have a cardboard box of photos of the life we've madeAnd you'll say, 'Oh my, we really were timeless'"
Timeless is an affirmation that no matter how many times they are separated and torn apart, Joyce and Hopper will find each other. It's also about them wanting to stop dealing with interdimensional threats to their families and have a normal life together and live to see the other get old.
what is the most insane line in stranger things and why is it "but i see you now. i see you."
shut up, the stupid fictional gay people in my phone make me happy
“this ship isn’t canon” to YOU. I, however, am delusional
Heart On Your Sleeve Part 10
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
-----
The town is a wreck, but there's still space for them at the hospital.
Nancy recognizes a few of the doctors - ones who know about the Upside Down - and they're all whisked away into two private rooms. One for Eddie, and one for Max.
Steve is stuck with Eddie. He hates thinking of it like that, because he wants to be with Eddie, but he wants to be with Max, too. He wants to prowl back and forth between them, like his presence will make any difference.
But Eddie's heart is still in his chest, and while the doctor had praised his quick thinking in helping his friend, it's too risky to have Eddie's heart far away from his body while he's healing.
So Steve's in the chair next to his bed, hooked up to the heart monitor and listening to the faint but steady sound of Eddie's heart as he feels it beat in his own chest.
Dustin and Robin go back and forth, one of them always with him and the other giving updates when they come to switch out.
It's Dustin in the chair next to his now, and he feels the echo of his own heart next to Dustin's, knows the kid must be feeling what he is - and probably a little bit of Eddie's, too.
Three hearts, all entwined. Robin could make something poetic from that, he thinks.
All he can do is let Dustin pillow his head on his shoulder, press his hand to his own chest and think come back to us.
Eddie's hand twitches.
Steve jolts up, reaching for it automatically.
“Steve?” Eddie asks, even though his eyes are closed and his expression hasn't changed. “Dustin?”
Dustin makes some kind of strangled noise, fumbling for Eddie's other hand. “Can he feel us?”
“I've got his heart, and you've got mine, so yeah, he has to, right?” Steve asks, aware he sounds a little desperate and not really caring.
“Come on, Eddie,” Dustin pleads. “You have to wake up, okay?”
Eddie wakes up.
—
“I should have died in there.”
Steve feels his jaw tense. “No, you shouldn't have.”
“No, I meant - doc says I would have died, if you hadn't taken my heart,” Eddie says.
Oh.
“I know,” Steve admits. “That's why I asked for it.”
Eddie exhales, long and slow. “Where'd you learn that?”
“Eighth grade science,” Steve replies, shooting a little grin at him.
Eddie gives a surprised little laugh. “Seriously?”
“Eh, kind of.” Steve considers for a moment. He's never talked about this with anyone, but - “My parents used to lock their hearts in a safe in my dad's study at night. When I was little, and I got upset at them leaving, they told me they put their hearts in there when they went on trips, too, and I had to stay behind to watch over them.”
Eddie looks at him, soft and tender. Steve'd think it was pity, if it wasn't for Eddie's heart in his chest. It's just sad, and a little angry.
“I told Mr. Clarke about that, and he said it was hogshit.”
Eddie snorts. “Mr. Clarke said hogshit?”
“Who's telling this story?” Steve retorts, then laughs when Eddie mimes zipping his lips closed and throwing away the key.
“It was hogshit,” Steve continues. “But then he told us that people could survive potentially fatal injuries with heart exchanges. Then, after Starcourt…”
He trails off, not sure how to say it.
“Robin told me a little,” Eddie admits. “That it was the Russians and the Upside Down, and you let yourself get caught to cover for Dustin and Erica. That you tried to draw attention away from her.”
Oh.
That makes him sound more heroic than the moment felt, but at least it also makes this easier.
“The Russian spies, they had this thing that could open your chest. They didn't believe I was telling the truth, so they took my heart out.”
Eddie reaches out to take his hand, squeezing it tight. There's a faint trickle of horror and guilt and affection, and he knows that Eddie's put it together with the changes in his heart.
“I healed a lot faster because we were doing heart exchanges,” he finishes. “So I figured it'd keep you safe.”
Eddie's grip on his hand tightens. “I really am sorry,” he mutters. “About last summer. After - after that, you needed a friend, and I just left.”
Steve licks his lips, considering his response for a moment, before he goes with honesty. “I had friends. I had Robin and the kids, and they were enough. I didn't really need anything else. But - I wanted you.”
Eddie looks at him, and Steve can feel - hesitation, uncertainty, does he really want me?
“Eddie,” Steve says, slow and thoughtful. “I don't want you because I'm lonely, or I have no one else. Maybe there was a part of that when it first started, but - I'm okay, I'm happy. I want you because of you, not just because I want anyone.”
Shock filters through Eddie so hard that Steve feels it like an almost physical blow.
His heart aches.
He doesn't have to ask if that's something that Eddie hasn't been told before - he knows it already.
“I'm not letting you go,” Steve tells him, only because Eddie's heart is still beating in his chest and he's confident it will be well received. “Not this time.”
“I can live with that,” Eddie says, only a little shaky.
—
Dustin takes a turn swapping hearts with Eddie, and Steve heads immediately for Max's room.
Lucas is there, sitting by her bed and holding her hand.
“Hey,” Steve says softly, pulling up a chair to sit next to him. “How's she doing?”
“Same,” Lucas says flatly. “But she's in there, I can feel it.”
“You can feel it?” Steve asks.
“We swapped before - before. Just in case. To give her another tether to the real world.”
Shit, that was a great idea. It gives him more hope, and he sags a little in his chair.
“Jesus, you kids are smart,” Steve says, impressed.
Lucas looks at him funny. “We learned that from you, Steve.”
He doesn't really think that's true, considering he learned it from them just as much, but he lets it be, just gripping the back of Lucas's neck and giving him a little squeeze.
Lucas unwinds, just a little bit, and Steve gets a better look at him - notices his swollen eye, his puffy jaw, and feels a cold surge of rage.
He waits for a moment to let the worst of it pass, then asks, “Swap?”
Lucas looks over at him, clearly hesitant.
“The three of us are kind of banged up,” Steve says. “Figure it can't hurt to have more heart power at work here.”
Lucas snorts. “Heart power?”
“Heart power,” Steve confirms, radiating as much confidence as possible.
He's not sure if it works, but Lucas does open his chest up and carefully pull out Max's heart. Steve's extra gentle as he swaps them, tucking her heart into his chest.
It's immediate, what Lucas was talking about. There's only the faintest sense of Max, and an equally faint sense of a fear and guilt and love that he recognizes as Lucas - the residual of what Max is feeling from him, he guesses. Even stranger is an echo he can feel of his own emotions - from him to Lucas to Max and back to him again, apparently.
“Huh,” he says, at the same time Lucas goes, “Woah.”
They sit there, together, and Steve must fall asleep at some point because the next thing he knows, there's the shifting of a chair as Lucas jumps up. Steve startles, only to see El and Will and Mike come flooding in. They sweep Lucas into a hug, and Steve watches them hold on, clinging and desperate.
Eventually, they peel apart, and El goes to Max's side, taking her hand. Her eyes close for a long while, then open again, looking sad.
“I can't reach her,” she whispers. “Not even with my powers back.”
“She's there, though, right? I can still feel her,” Lucas says.
El's brow furrows.
“Max and Lucas swapped before this happened,” Steve explains. “To keep her tethered here, so Vecna couldn't take her.”
Mike frowns. “Vecna?”
“One,” El says, which - okay, yeah, clearly there's a story there, but not the time. She holds her hands out to Lucas. “May I swap?”
Lucas looks over at Steve, and he takes Max's heart out and offers it to her.
“We figured the more helping, the better,” Lucas says.
El exchanges her heart for Max's, looking thoughtful. It's an even bigger rush, with El in the mix, and - even though Max's heart isn't in his chest anymore, he can feel the echo of her even more clearly.
Lucas sucks in a breath. “It's working,” he says. “She's stronger.”
“The more, the better,” El says thoughtfully.
“Eddie woke up from me and him and Dustin sharing,” Steve says, the realization coming over him. “I mean, it wasn't a real circle, but he was just regularly unconscious, not creepy wizard unconscious.”
El looks at Mike, who immediately turns on his heel and leaves. He comes back a few minutes later, with Dustin and Robin and Erica.
“We made Nancy and Jonathan and Argyle stay with Eddie,” Mike announces.
“Uh, yeah, do you want to tell us why?” Dustin asks.
El's eyes flash. “We're going to get Max back.”
Hearts change hands quicker than Steve can keep track of, but in the end, no one has their own heart in their chest. It's an avalanche of emotion that Steve can't make out - so much it’s almost overwhelming - until he feels something like a guiding hand, firm and insistent.
“Max,” El whispers.
Steve turns his thoughts completely on Max, focusing on her - on taking her to the arcade, on the skate park, on her hanging out in his kitchen as they cook dinner. One by one, everyone's emotions start to take focus - on how Max makes them feel, how much they care, how they need her here.
Max's eyes open.
—
They set up another rotation schedule, this time for Max, who looks a little shell shocked and overwhelmed by all the attention.
“Did you think we wouldn't do this for you?” Steve asks quietly when it's his turn, when Lucas and El are sleeping and it's just him and Max awake in her room.
She doesn't answer for a while, but he can feel her conflicted confusion and then unsteady acceptance.
“No,” she says after a while. “I knew you guys would.”
He breathes out, and they sit in silence for a bit.
“Did you read my letter?” she asks, purposefully not looking at him.
“Nah. You said it was just in case, and there wasn't going to be an in case. We weren't going to let Vecna have you.” He manages to keep his voice steady, though he knows she can feel the edge of the fear he'd had for her. “I wanted to hear what was in it from you.”
She makes a face, and he thinks she isn't going to tell him, but then she blurts out, “I said I wished you were my brother, not Billy.”
Oh.
His stomach drops out, and there's a rush of vertigo that leaves him breathless for a moment, but - not in a bad way.
He doesn't know how to respond to that, other than, “I am your brother.”
She scoffs. “It doesn't work like that.”
“Sure it does,” he counters, growing confident. “Billy was your brother just because of a piece of paper your parents signed, right?”
She frowns, finally looking at him again. “Yeah, I guess.”
“So what's stopping us?” He taps his chest, over where her heart beats. “We have each other's hearts. We'll always be family.”
Max looks away again, then, very quietly, says, “Okay.”
—
“Heard you call Max your sister when you were talking to the doctor earlier,” Eddie says.
Steve feels a little smile tug at his lips as he takes Eddie's hand. It grows when Eddie laces their fingers together.
“You know Dustin's going to throw a fit when he hears it, and insist that you were his brother first, right?” Eddie teases.
“Of course he is.” Steve rolls his eyes. “Welcome to my family. You sure you still want to stick around?”
He's joking, but Eddie's expression goes soft and contemplative.
“Welcome to your family, huh? You planning a proposal soon, big boy?” Eddie asks softly.
Steve's mouth goes dry. He thinks he should say something - anything - but nothing comes out.
“Swap?” Eddie asks, after a few minutes.
Steve's not sure if someone told him or if he figured it out himself, and part of him wants to ask Eddie if he's sure, but he decides to take Eddie at his word. He opens his chest up, holding out his heart.
Eddie copies him, and - it's his first real look at Eddie's heart. There's silver lines all over it, delicate scars mottling its surface, but it's almost as deep red as Steve's still is.
“Oh,” Steve breathes once Eddie's heart is safely tucked inside his chest again.
There's a love there so strong he almost doesn't know what to do with it - isn't sure if it's Eddie's or his for a moment before he realizes it's both of them feeding off each other.
“Yeah,” Eddie says quietly.
Steve lifts Eddie's hand up, presses a kiss to his knuckles. “I know what I want my future to look like,” Steve admits. “And I want you in it.”
Eddie swallows, and Steve can feel an edge of trepidation before it solidifies into something sharp and determined. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Steve asks.
“I'm sticking around, this time,” Eddie confirms. “For good.”
“Okay,” Steve agrees.
He knows it's a risk, but - right now, they're alone, and so he leans in to seal the promise their hearts are making with a kiss.
-----
And that's the final part for now! I do have a sequel planned down the road for what happens after they get out of the hospital, folding Eddie into the heart sharing and settling Eddie and Steve and Robin into a trio - I plan on using the tag "hearts out steddie" if anyone would like to follow it for when it comes out!
Thank you so much to everyone who commented, reblogged, liked, or otherwise interacted with this! Everyone's reactions were so amazing, and I really love reading your thoughts!!
Final taglist: @fairytalesreality @lostonceandneverfound @wheneverfeasible @awkwardgravity1 @theintrovertedintrovert @thewickedkat @ravenfrog @scarlet-malfoy @missmagillicuddy @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @ollyxar @cringe-culture-is-dead-99 @thedragonsaunt @makewavesandwar @cryptid-system @ajeff855 @mae-liz @the-fantastical-asexual @jettestar @warlordess @persnicketysquares @samsoble @my-love-of-books @mydysfunctionallife @dreamercec @holyangelstudentuniverse @breealtair @shunna @xtraordinarally @thatdamnfan @justalittledrainbamage @strangerfolks @disrespectedgoatman @amber-ambience @anxietyfulloption @thepossummoldypasta @irregular-child @th30ra3k3n @powdeeee @theohohmoment @5ammi90 @ominous-pool-light @beeeeeeeeeeeeeeens @rebellatlas @blackpanzy
