User blog:AustinDR/PE Proposal: Mind Flayer

What is the work?
Netflix hit Stranger Things about a girl who possesses psychic abilities after being experimented on. There is also another realm known as the Upside Down, which is parallel to the Earth. In it, nearly all of the flora and fauna are connected to a hive mind, making it a near superorganism. In this dimension lies one of the primary threats of the series.

What is it? What has it done?
The Mind Flayer is a shadowy eldritch being and the ruler of the Upside Down who functions as the hive mind of the Demogorgons. Throughout its appearances, the Mind Flayer sent out the Demogorgons in its attempts of invading the Earth through a gate. In season 1, Will Byers sees the Mind Flayer in the Upside Down and decides to take his mother's boyfriend Bob's advice to confront his fears. However, this ends with the Mind Flayer possessing him and connecting him to the hive mind. It then creates a series of vines throughout the forests and tries to invade Hawkins National Laboratory and massacres nearly everyone in the laboratory with its Demogorgons. The Mind Flayer gets exposed to heat, its weakness, and then Eleven and the others manage to condemn the Mind Flayer back to the Upside Down. Naturally, this enrages the Mind Flayer.

In season 3, the Mind Flayer gets awakened when another gate created by Russian researchers is created underneath the Starcourt Mall. The Mind Flayer manipulates some rats that then explode and uses them to create biomass for itself as proxy body. The Mind Flayer later uses Billy Hargrove as its vessel and uses it to gather more victims to add to its biomass including children. After the group lures Billy to a sauna due to suspicion that he was the Mind Flayer's new vessel, the Mind Flayer escapes through Billy, and Billy kidnaps Eleven to then take her to the Mind Flayer. Before the Mind Flayer could kill Eleven, Billy is reminded of his happiest memory, and regains control of his body. Unfortunately, this results in the Mind Flayer killing Billy with one of his tentacles, but it buys the group enough time to defeat the Mind Flayer, ending with its proxy body getting destroyed.

Moral Agency
It is fully sapient and intelligent and has many instances of cognitively putting plans together. It is made explicitly clear that the Mind Flayer can understand concepts like hatred and revenge after being defeated the first time by Eleven and her friends, and is more than likely as peeved off about being defeated again.

Heinous standard
Has a sizable body count alongside petty, personal actions. Ultimately tries to take over the Earth through horrific methods.

Conclusion
A keeper for now.