two years ago today, i sat down and decided to write what would become wires.

i remember when season two of stranger things released, i came up with a character. she was essentially a self insert, a character that i would want to play if i was in stranger things. i combined my love for dustin with my love for steve, and somehow came up with the name meadow henderson.

i also remember texting my best friend and going through all of the details of her life, and of her relationship with steve and how it came to be.

then about two years after that, i watched stranger things season three. the urge to turn meadow, this character that now had a name, into something real was overwhelming.

i was afraid of writing a book, since i'd only ever written imagines, one shots, and preferences. but i knew this character, i knew her like the back of my hand because.. i'd come up with her.

but i was too afraid to make something completely new, so i made a headcannon in my it and stranger things book that was called 'babysitter'. in it, i described what it would be like to be steve harrington's girlfriend while being the older sister of dustin henderson.

i wrote that "you were their full-time babysitter", and that "y/n's our babysitter, not you".

this was written on july 4, 2019.

nearly a year later, on june 3, 2020, was wires finally born.

i often get comments about how i wrote the first twelve chapters in three days, and honestly it was because i already knew exactly what i was doing with it. the second part took me longer to write as i became a bit discouraged and unfocused, but i loved writing about these characters too much to quit. and thank goodness i didn't.

of course, as always, none of this would've been possible without . lexi. my ride or die. thank you so much for everything you have done. if i hadn't received the encouragement from you, this book never would've happened. we met through you requesting an imagine from my other book, and nearly three years later you remain one of my favorite people. thank you for always being the first to vote on these chapters, and for undoubtedly having the first ever comment on each chapter. not to mention helping me brainstorm every single imagine in this book. you were reading this book when no one else was, and i'm so honored and thankful to you for believing in me.

on february 4, 2021, wires hit 100k, and it was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. i remember being so thrilled that people were enjoying my book, and it just felt so surreal.

but it kept growing. people kept reading it, and people kept commenting and interacting with the material. i felt like it couldn't get better, and i was so excited to write for season four.

then, of course, season four got pushed back much further than i'd expected. but people didn't stop reading my book, and i was itching to write it again. and so, i began to write imagines about steve and meadow, little stories to keep me writing until the season came out.

and at this point, the book seemed to change. people had inside jokes (albert, anyone?) and people had made new friends, myself included. i rewrote the first two parts out of a need to keep this book as good as i possibly could, of making sure that everyone was reading my best possible work.

rewriting and revising the first two parts of this book was genuinely so fun for me. i loved being able to apply all of the comments and ideas i'd been given back into the story.

for example, in the original cut, meadow didn't punch billy at the party. and after getting multiple comments encouraging her to punch him, i was like... what? why didn't i have her punch him?

and so i got to add little things like that, and i was able to fully flesh out all of the characters that i had already known so well. i think when i first wrote this book, i'd forgotten that, just because i'd known meadow for three years, didn't mean that you guys did. and so i was able to (hopefully) make her feel more real.

my other absolute favorite thing was everyone immediately agreeing that meadow was the dad and that steve was the mom (which is also extremely funny to me, since i am often referred to as the dad of my groups).

then season four came out, and i somehow managed to not only binge all seven episodes in one day, but i wrote them all immediately after binging them.

and then a few days ago, i was doing the impossible: staying up to watch as my book reached one million reads.

this book has been so rewarding, and the support that i have gotten from each of you since the very beginning has never failed to shock me.

i think the reason i care about this book so much is because it was truly a leap of faith for me. writing a whole book was something i was never good at. even when i'd come up with my own plots for original stories, i never saw them past, say, chapter five.

this book was completely different for me, and i have had such fun writing it and seeing you guys react to different things (such as constantly thinking everything i say is foreshadowing.. come on, you're smarter than i am, and i never thought of that).

so, happy anniversary to wires. thank you to everyone who has read it, my goodness what a journey has this been. i'm so thankful and i'm so happy and i'm just eeeeee.

i know i'm just a person behind a screen, and i never ever expected you guys to reach out to me the way you have, or to be as supportive of me not only as an author but as a person as you have been. i'm constantly blown away by your support.

this is me when i first wrote wires (june 3, 2020), and i was in what i would later recognize as a poor mental state

and then this is me now, and i can confidently say that i am genuinely happy. it's been such a hard few years, and it's so insane to think about how much i have changed and improved as a person, as a writer, as a friend

anyway here's actually happy bri

therapy helps!!!

anyway, there has been so much growth in these two years, and i cannot wait to finish meadow and steve's story with s4 v2 in july and s5 (yes, i will be writing for season five!!).

in honor of the anniversary (wiresversary? wiresiversary?), here are some of my favorite memories, milestones, fanart!!!!, etcetera from these past two years.

ALSO look at this beautiful cover made by i'm absolutely obsessed with it

(p.s. if you want to send me fanart i will literally love you forever)

ANYWAY

thank you so much for being there with me for this whole journey. i am constantly amazed by you guys and how many of you have now read this. thank you, thank you, thank you!

- bri

thank you so much to everyone who voted wires for the best steve harrington fanfic award!! i am truly honored and blessed thank you

thank you so much