fandomhopper23
fandomhopper23
@eternalexistentialcrisis
445 posts
Call me Fanny!TS Fan, Book nerd, fic nerd lots of random thougts, reblogs & fic prompts"You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling"
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fandomhopper23 · 10 hours ago
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headcanon that the reason walkers shield is still a taco 14 months later is because everytime they have a mission or something one of them finds a way to get it bent back into taco form. it’s become an inside joke at this point, no matter what the mission is (even the most mundane to the most important) the thunderbolts will find a way to taco-fy walkers shield. routine “stopping bad guy in brooklyn” mission? oops, john threw the shield at the same moment that bucky just so happened to be crashing a truck into a building and the shield was caught in the crossfire. “gotta go stop some bank robbers” mission? damn, yelena didn’t mean for the shield to get used to wedge open the door, john! it just started bending like that! sorry!
and even when they’re not on a mission, they’ll find a way to revert the shield to its taco glory as soon as walker manages to fix it. one second it’s sitting on the work bench and the next ava has stolen it away and is currently using the combined force of alexei and bucky to bend the shield into its beautiful ultimate taco form again. walker takes his eyes off it for one minute and yelena has already got it to bob to sentry-style warp the thing into the taco. no matter how important their day to day lives are, if the shield begins the day as a circle it will be a taco by nightfall.
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fandomhopper23 · 10 hours ago
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I think it would be really funny if sam and bucky have both been pining after the other for a while now but neither of them has said anything (sam: he loved steve… it would be so awkward to confess like I’m trying to replace steve not just as captain america but his boyfriend as well…) (bucky: he knows I was dating steve… I don’t want him to think I’m trying to replace steve with him…).
but then post-thunderbolts, winterfalcon divorce era hits, and bucky doesn’t say anything but all the thunderbolts immediately draw the conclusion that sam and bucky were dating and broke up. why else does bucky only have photos of them together or with sam’s family on his phone? and leap to sam’s defense if any of them (walker) say something disparaging? and play sad breakup songs alone in his room after arguing on the phone with sam?
(simultaneously: the avengers with an s are watching sam stare wistfully at photos of himself with bucky, constantly defend bucky to the press, and eat ice cream and watch hallmark romance movies at midnight after he gets off the phone with bucky. definitely exes, conclude the avengers with an s.)
this goes on for a few months until someone on twitter accuses john of being homophobic. john uses the tried and true defense of “one of my best friends is gay, of course I’m not homophobic.” this, unfortunately, only fuels pre-existing rumors that lemar and john were dating before lemar’s death, which is why john was so angry when lemar died and why olivia divorced him (she found out about the affair).
john, who does not appreciate people claiming that he was cheating on olivia, gets on twitter and types up an angry rant about how he would NEVER cheat on olivia and guys just can’t be FRIENDS now without people assuming they’re gay but he’s not HOMOPHOBIC because he’s such a great support to his good buddy bucky who is SAD and DEPRESSED after his evil boyfriend captain america cruelly ABANDONED him (evil and cruel for the abandonment, not the boyfriend part, because john isn’t homophobic) and john has NOTHING against THE GAYS he just wishes bucky would stop moping around the watchtower.
instantly a pr shitstorm. john takes it down after bucky yells at him but the damage is done. sam has seen it. sam calls bucky up because “why is walker spreading rumors we were dating??” (sam is also extra worried that maybe walker Saw Something during falcon and the winter soldier, and maybe walker knows sam is in love, which would be Very Bad)
bucky is so apologetic. he has no idea where john got the idea that they were dating from.
“…you didn’t refute the sad, depressed, moping part.”
sam and bucky realize they’re both in love with each other. they get together. divorce era over. bucky and sam vanish to louisiana for a week, until sarah kicks them out of her house because she thought the worst thing that could happen was seeing them both pine miserably, and then listening to sam’s moping in the divorce era was bad enough, but seeing them behave like lovestruck teenagers on their first date is somehow worse.
all the thunderbolts are patting john on the back for getting sam and bucky back together. john, who did not have any master plan, is confused.
(meanwhile:
“walker? walker?? you were pining so bad that john fucking walker noticed, but you couldn’t just say something to me?”
“you didn’t notice either.”
“yeah, well, I could say the same thing about you, buck! I wasn’t exactly subtle.”
“…sam, I said ‘I love you’ the last time we saw each other.”
“…”
“…”
“I still can’t believe we got together because of walker.”
“oh, yeah, he’ll never let this go.”)
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fandomhopper23 · 2 days ago
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Obi-Wan and Anakin lost so many lightsabers during the Clone War that they spread enough kyber crystals throughout the galaxy to equip every Jedi in the New Order thirty years later. Luke says thank you, Dad and Grandpa.
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fandomhopper23 · 2 days ago
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Vickie is straight
... and she has a crush on Steve
I know how controversial it is to state such an opinion given how Vickie seems to be one of the few characters in the show who actually seem queer. Yet if we are being honest she has never expressed any direct or indirect signs of actually being in love with Robin. It's Robin who is incredibly biased as she has a crush on Vickie and Steve who is trying to be supportive of Robin who gave us this assumption.
This whole thing is not as bad as it seems though. I can promise you this. So if you still care let me explain to you why I think Vickie is straight and has a crush on Steve.
Part 1: The Muppet joke
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While still in the car with Steve in early S4 Robin gets reminded of her own advise: Just be true to yourself and stop pretending to be someone you're not. We need to keep this in mind as she is soon shown to not follow said advise.
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When Steve reminds Robin at the basketball game that Tammy Thompson does sound like a Muppet she agrees with him. Vickie overhears this and in turn agrees with Robin.
The joke however doesn't originate from Robin. She just repeated what Steve told her before. Therefore the joke that made Vickie laugh comes from Steve. Or in other words: It was Steve who made Vickie laugh and not Robin.
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We even get conformation of this a bit later in episode 2 when Steve admits and agrees out loud that it was his joke that made Vickie laugh.
Robin wasn't entirely herself.
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While everyone is looking straight ahead it's Vickie who makes a point not to look in Robins direction after Robin is embarrassed of herself. There is distance between them.
Part 2: Vickie and Robin (and Steve) meet at the Weapon Store
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It's Robin who notices Vickie first in the weapon store which is followed by Steve looking at her as he knows she has a crush on Vickie which is then followed by both of them looking sad as Vickies boyfriend enters the scene.
Robin is obviously sad because her crush has a boyfriend while Steve is just sad for his friend.
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This shot is often brought up to proof that Robin is standing between Vickie and Dan as it's believed that her crush on Vickie is reciprocated but I don't think this is what it means exactly. It's Robins POV and she believes her feelings to Vickie are reciprocated so she sees herself as standing in between them.
But is it true? Let's look at what Vickie sees next.
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Vickie notices the both of them and while Robin is just staring at her Steve is licking his lips. Then Robin turns around and leaves while Steve is still looking at Vickie and Dan and then smiles awkwardly at them.
So Steve is licking his lips and then smiles at Vickie and Dan. What message would Vickie receive here? My guess would be 1) Steve and Robin are close and 2) Steve might like Vickie as well.
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This however is the last look we get of Steve in this scene. It's his back while he is still looking after Robin. So whatever made him lick his lips and smile is no longer of interest to him the moment Robin leaves. I think this means that he is Robins friend first and foremost. He is not romantically interested in Vickie and doesn't reciprocate her feelings at all.
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Robin is gone and Steve has turned his back on Vickie but her gaze still lingers. Maybe her feelings towards her own boyfriend aren't as sincere as it seems and everything considered I think it's fair to ask who this is truly about? Robin or Steve? Is she saying the truth when she makes it about Robin who she did meet in band or is she using Robin as a shield as she doesn't want to admit to her boyfriend that she has a crush on another man aka Steve?
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In the end she looks back towards her boyfriend and then again to the place where Robin and Steve just were. Is he perhaps still standing there?
Then we get a scene transition to Nancy holding a very long gun. It's not subtle at all.
Part 3: Providing Food for the Suffering
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There is light behind Robin which can indicate that she is the one who is most sincere in this scene. This makes sense as it is true that Robin has a crush on Vickie.
It's Vickie who gives her the information that Dan is no longer her boyfriend but from the scene in the weapon store she also knows that Robin and Steve are close. So everything she says to Robin is likely to reach Steve as well which means that Robin could be the one to tell Steve that Vickie is single again and therefore available to him.
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First notice how Vickie wears spiral earrings. This is very interesting to me as it's triangle imagery that is used to indicate queerness in the show. So here we have the supposed love interest of one of the only confirmed queer characters in the show not wearing triangle imagery when it really matters. Why? Because she is straight.
Vickie also mentions how she rambles about her boyfriend when there are people out there suffering at which point in time she looks up and slightly to her right. Later when the scene transitions from Robin and Vickie to Steve we also get him at a alight angle which to me indicates that Vickie was looking at him as she was lifting her head.
It's Steve who Vickie perceives as the one suffering and who she wants to provide with food. Or to put it a bit differently: It's Steve she has a crush on and who she wants to be with and support.
Steve on the other hand is also smiling and looking at Robin and Vickie. He is happy for the both of them as everything seems to be working out for Robin and Vickie which could not be further from the truth. He's also shaking his head just slightly. Most likely because he thinks a certain assumption he's made just an episode earlier turned out to be wrong.
That assumption about Vickie pausing Fast Times at 53:05 however might be true after all. Steve is just misreading the signs Robin and Vickie are giving off at the gym.
Tbc in a reblog because I almost hit image limit. Look here.
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fandomhopper23 · 4 days ago
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Anakin might have been the best master out of the "disaster lineage"
Yoda trained Count Dooku. Guy who decided civilised stuff meant joining the people who murdered his former padawan and trying to destroy everything his jedi master built. While being a diva about it.
Dooku trained space hippie qui gon who seems to have turned out to be an okay jedi.
Qui Gon - he was an okay jedi. Maybe even a decent jedi. But he wasn't a great master. Mostly via miscommunication. He did try at least. But he raised Obi Wan who... just war crimes/can't leave his box/cares for the council than the jedi
Obi Wan - okay what if I take this kid I believe is dangerous and continuously belittle him and point out how young he is... and poke at him everytime he thinks he's done something right and tell him he's selfish for not wanting his mother to die horribly or for wanting to leave the order to free slaves. Because he's not following the will of the council. He rescues me so often but y'know... he's just to emotional even though I spend most of my time putting him down when I feel inadequate. Oh dear me using his wife who was going to talk him down to find him blew up in my face oh no guess I'll cut his limbs off and leave him on fire.
Anakin - don't want a padawan but she is earnest so I'll do my best. okay ahsoka let's work on your "survive fighting a war" skills. Oh you feel Plo Koon is alive? Okay let's see if we can find him. I trust your instincts. My padawan is being blatantly framed... okay I will investigate. She wants to leave the order... breaking my heart but okay. (Goes darkside/evil then rescued by his son and comes back to himself) ah better check in on ahsoka and finish her training and help her. My decisions weren't her fault and she isn't doomed to repeat my mistakes.
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fandomhopper23 · 12 days ago
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But is it not real?
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fandomhopper23 · 13 days ago
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one thing about mike wheeler is he's always going to be the first to notice when something's off with will or if he's in danger and he'll always make sure that he's okay and be there for him
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fandomhopper23 · 13 days ago
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— byler edit !! (+ byler variants)
————— ౨ৎ ⋆。˚ —————
song : would you fall in love with me again
————— ౨ৎ ⋆。˚ —————
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fandomhopper23 · 14 days ago
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spidey-will and mj wheeler but it’s that one scene from insomniac’s spider-man
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fandomhopper23 · 14 days ago
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dreamt of this the other day
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fandomhopper23 · 16 days ago
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Ok can someone please explain to me who the hell Edward creel is??
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fandomhopper23 · 16 days ago
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HII, this is AU where Jinu's soul was preserved in Rumi's sword and then he magically came back to his girlfriend. And cat missed him.
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fandomhopper23 · 16 days ago
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Mike has a breakdown/ Mike goes off:
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The last time Mike had a breakdown. He was 12, and the world was ending. The second time was no different. But everytime it happens, Mike is still surprised when the anger/sadness/powerlessness explodes out of him. It all comes spilling out in the worse way, like a shaken can of coke a cola exploding when you flip open the top. Lets set the scene. A empty office in the radio tower station, as Lucas and Mike wait for Will and Dustin. Mike and Lucas being the only two in the room. Mike has been on edge all day. Lucas is getting a little tired of it honestly. He knows you shouldn't go poking the angry bear known as Mike. But well, they have been avioding the obvious long enough.
"Its almost like you're afraid or something," Lucas says nonchalantly. Mostly to himself. But really to get a reaction out of the skinny, tall, brooding idiot he calls a best friend.
"What?" Mike asks confused. He turns to Lucas. Done with his staring match with the wall. Brings the seat he was leaning on it's back legs fully onto all fours again.
"You heard me, your scared of being with Will. Your terrified to love him. Or terrified to at least tell him." Lucas states matter of fact. No bullshit in his face or in his tone.
Seeing that he's serious, Micheal Wheeler's face goes through so many emotions in the span of seconds. Confused, realization, fear, acceptance, and then finally anger. Actually no anger isn't the right word.
Mike was in two words; pissed off.
"Fuck you. You know what Lucas fuck you.
Lucas doesn't get mad, "Well are you?"
"Im not talking about this!" Mike angrily whispers. Its the whispering that gets you. You can tell thats Mike's pissed because he hadn't started yelling yet. He's trying to hold it in.
"But are you? Are you scared? It will make you feel better if you talk about it Mike," Lucas declares with and honest, yet haunted look in his face. Unspoken between is whats obviously haunting Lucas.
Mike wants to cross that line and bring Max up to piss Lucas off. Get him to hate him and back off with this line of questioning.
But Mike thinks, he doesn't want to. Partly because he's just so sick of hurting his friends. But mostly because Mike is just tired. Tired of keeping it all in. So he pops open the soda.
Mike's pale face becomes red quickly in anger, "Of course I'm fucking scared! Im scared of losing him again!!
Mike yells this out into the room. Its loud and people could probably hear him.
Lucas though, oddly is in favor of the anger. For Mike to be honest, even if he is angry. Lucas feels like his best friend needs it. Seemingly wiser than his age suggests, "Mike your not going to lose him. You haven't lost Will. Will is still here."
"Yeah but for how long Lucas! How long huh? I couldn't handle losing him for a week when I was 12! 12 Lucas! He got lost from my house that day! My house! He was suppose to be safe! And he wasn't! I couldn't do anything! I was helpless! Then the next year with losing El, he was being possessed and hurt by that thing! He was hurt and everyone around us was dying! The best thing I could come up with was to burn up a hole in the ground! That was the best I could come up with to help him! I'm always useless! Every year its some new fucking disaster nightmare that could kill us all, but losing him in this mess is what terrifies me most. And your asking me to listen to my heart and get into a relationship with him. Tell him I love him and act like everything will turn out hunky dory, we'll be skipping off into the sunset, Will and I?! Are you out of your fucking mind Lucas!"
Mike is full on yelling now, and he seems to just be getting started.
Mike throws his hands in the air and starts pacing. Back in fourth like he needs to move.
"The whole town is this close to going crazy psycho mob on us, the upside down is leaking into our world. Plus you know homophobia is still a fucking thing in the 80s. And the cherry on top of all the piles of shit we are dealing with, Vecna wants Will.
Mike starts laughing in a cruel hysterical vocie, pulling his hair tight in his fists, still pacing. "Which is just another can of worms. That creep does not only want to kill my family personally, but he's making the moves on Will. Like no the universe can not let William Byers have a fucking break in this life! Lets add a homicidal pervert to the equation!"
"Mike calm done it will be ok." Lucas says, getting up and going to Mike.
That is the wrong thing to say.
"DONT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN LUCAS SINCLAIR! NONE OF THIS WILL BE FUCKING OK!!" Mike grabs something on the desk in anger. A paperweight. Turning to the window(behind him, no where near Lucas' vicinity) Mike throws the paperweight with all his strength towards the office window and breaks the glass. It makes hauntingly loud shattering noise. It echos loud in the room, and the glass from the impact falls out from the hole made with the round paper weight. Then the room is filled with silence and Mikes harsh breathing. His shoulder moves with his angry breathing, but doesn't turn around.
"Whats going on?" Says a soft familiar voice.
Both boys turn around, there standing in the open doorway is Will.
Mike turns back around, not wanting to make eye contact with Will. Not wanting anyone (especially Will) to see him like this. Mike just keeps staring out the broken window. In the reflection of the broken glass, if you look, you can see Mike Wheeler start to cry. Silent tears appear in his eyes.
Lucas tries to cover for him, " Nothing everything is-."
"Please don't say everything is fine Lucas. Mike shouldn't be yelling at you like that. Especially with everything going on." Says Will. But he isn't yelling. He says this with a tired but gentle look on his face. A look that he's only sending Mike's way.
Lucas is tired too. "I'm going to give you guys some space to talk."
Will nods as he fully walks into the room, heading towards Mike. Mike still hasn't turned around.
"Thanks Lucas, please shut the door too."
Lucas doesn't say anything. No point really, Mike and Will are in their own world. But he does as Will asked.
As he closes the door, he catches Will hugging Mike from behind. Mike leans into the touch as much as he can. Turns around (tears staining his face) and hugs Will fully.
*******
(God this took forever to write!!! But I'm so glad I finished. Would love to hera your opinions Byler shippers!)
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fandomhopper23 · 16 days ago
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It's so beautiful??? The hi's and the scenes being linked up exactly to the audio?? Will being the Sun???11
IT MUST BE EXHAUSTING ALWAYS ROOTING FOR THE ANTI-HERO
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fandomhopper23 · 18 days ago
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Yall know that hc that all the losers had a crush on Bill? Well that, but Mike Wheeler. Everyone in the party has had a crush on him at one point. Hear me out, one day, they’re playing truth or dare, it’s Max’s turn to pick. “Truth or Dare?” Dustin asks her. She picks truth. “Who is a real person you’ve been embarrassed to have a crush on?”. Now, they’re all a little tipsy in this au, having been passing around some beer. So, in Max’s drunk state, she slurs “Mike.” Everyone looks at her in shock. Mike chokes on his beer. “I thought you hated Mike!” Lucas says, looking slightly offended. Max shrugs. “I thought we’ve all had a crush on Mike at one point.” Now it’s Will choking on his drink. “Ok, ok,” Dustin says. “Raise your hand if you’ve had a crush on Mike.” Max raises her hand first, El right after. Lucas tentatively raises his own hand. Will does soon after, eyes looking everywhere but at Mike (they’re not together yet in this au). Dustin raises his hand soon after, seemingly not as embarrassed. “Dude, I thought you were straight?” Lucas says, looking at Dustin in shock. Now it’s Dustin’s turn to shrug. “Yeah…but it’s Mike, I guess?” Mike is blushing so hard.
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fandomhopper23 · 18 days ago
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Something’s wrong.
It’s a quiet afternoon in Will’s room. Mike is here, and this simple fact should be taking precedence over all else. It would be, on any other day — a day where it wasn’t off-puttingly quiet outside. On any other day, it would be all he could focus on.
Not that it’s not important. Mike is here, sprawled haphazardly across him, limbs akimbo like he couldn’t even be bothered to right himself before the need to bodily press every square inch of himself up against Will’s torso suddenly overtook him. It’s endearing, is what it is, even though Mike’s feet are dangling off the side of Will’s bed — they’re getting too tall to be able to lie down like this, side by side and taking up all the room they could possibly want. He’s got his cheek pressed up against Will’s sternum, arms wrapped so tight around Will’s stomach and lower back that it’s bordering on uncomfortable.
Endearing. It’s endearing, the need for proximity. The need for closeness, for touch, for reassurance. Mike wasn’t like this before. Not to this degree, at least. Will pretended to be annoyed by it at first, but the façade hadn’t even lasted a day before he cracked. He needs it too, and they both know it — the rhythmic push and pull of Mike’s breathing. Feeling Mike’s heart beat steadily against his own, separated by a meager few inches of blood and muscle and bone. The kinesthetic weight of a body against his own, grounding him on his off days — days where his pulse is perpetually panicked and off-kilter, threatening to fly away entirely, rendered unsuccessful only by the shape of Mike’s shoulder blades under his palm. The cotton of his flannel button-down, worn soft with use.
Grounding things. Real things. Safe things.
It’s a quiet afternoon. Mike’s foot twitches, suddenly and gently against where it’s pressed up against the line of Will’s calf.
It’s a quiet afternoon, and Will feels off, down to his bones.
Mike might be falling asleep.
Will smiles, hides it in the soft curtain of Mike’s hair where it’s brushing over his neck. Cups a hand around the back of his head and wraps his other arm around his shoulder — tighter, tighter, like Mike might just get up and walk away if he doesn’t. For all his pretending, Will is like this too, now: desperate, a little needy, selfish in small, ordinary ways. Too quick to worry when a call goes unanswered. Too quick to fuss over cuts and scrapes and bruises. He hugs too tight and he kisses too hard and he gets unsettled by quiet, calm afternoons.
He wasn’t ever like that before.
Mike twitches again — so delicately that it’s almost like an afterthought — then his arms tighten around Will’s midriff.
That feels intentional. Even if it hadn’t been. Things with Mike feel intentional. Purposeful.
Even if he is — you know. Asleep, a little.
Will’s room is comfortably warm; the late summer sun has been hiding lately, and the sky isn’t blue, exactly but at least it’s not red anymore — dark and rolling and angry. It’s still, and it’s quiet, and it’s peaceful for the first time in a long time — a long time—
—and still, something’s wrong.
“Will?”
Mike shifts, just slightly, just enough to lean his head against Will’s collarbone and look up at him. He catches the edge of Mike’s expression like it’s a secret, a glimpse of wide eyes, a little confused.
Will peers down at him. “Go back to sleep.”
“I wasn’t,” Mike says, even as he blinks heavily. He rolls out his ankle, bumps it against Will’s and keeps it there, stretches long and languid, lazy, like he has all the time in the world. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Will says. If Mike stays like this, if he doesn’t look up any farther, maybe he can get away with it.
Mike doesn’t sound convinced. “You sure?” he mumbles, rubbing at his eyes with one hand and pushing himself up, just enough to be able to look at Will better. “You seemed…”
He trails off. Will tucks a stray strand of hair back behind Mike’s ear, from where it had been falling loose and down into his eyes. “I’m sure,” he murmurs. “Go back to sleep.”
“I wasn’t asleep!”
“You were,” Will laughs. “You were twitching. Like a cat.”
“I don’t twitch,” Mike insists, then pauses. “Do I?”
“Sometimes,” Will admits, then presses a kiss to the top of Mike’s head. “When you’re really tired. I think it’s cute.”
“Stop,” Mike mumbles, but he lowers his head back to Will’s chest. “So mean to me.”
“I called you cute!”
“Mean,” Mike says, sounding like he’s halfway back to sleep already as he snakes an arm back around Will’s chest, hand resting lightly on the side of his throat, just over his jaw. He tangles their legs together, the sheets going wrinkled and bunched up under them. “So mean.”
Will smiles. “Sorry,” he whispers. He glances down at the mess of black hair in front of his face, runs a careful hand through it. Again, and again, and again. Mike makes a small noise, content and pleased, and presses in closer, like he’s trying to vanquish whatever minute semblance of space might have been left between them. “I won’t be mean again.”
It’s a joke, obviously. Still, Will traces apologetic circles into Mike’s back, into the gentle dip between his shoulders. He maps out the planes there, tries to commit them to memory by touch alone, the way he can feel Mike breathe in — slow, hesitant — and then out again — faster, like he’s collapsing back into Will’s body.
The circles give way to shapes, any that Will can think of. Then lines, curved and looping around his shoulder blades, his upper arms. He trails fingers up the back of Mike’s neck, where the cotton of his shirt gives way to a more organic warmth, and scrapes his fingernails lightly against the skin there. Drops another delicate kiss to the sliver of Mike’s forehead where his hair is parted as it falls around his face.
Mike lets out another pleased noise, half-coherent and probably involuntary, and his hand twitches lightly on Will’s jaw. Will bites back a smile, and stares straight up at the ceiling.
Will was never good at this before either — taking the things he wants. Letting himself have things he wants. Something is turning over in his gut, warm and viscous and slow, with each moment of touch he lets himself have, in this newfound, selfish way — through Mike’s hair, down his arms and back up again. Over his back, his shoulders, trailing fingers up his cheeks. He rubs circles into Mike’s temples, watches his brows unfurrow — for once in his life — and his expression go slack with contentment. He wants to touch the corners of Mike’s mouth too, where they’ve turned downwards, vulnerable, half-pressed into Will’s shirt.
He does. He can.
It’s a novel thing, for him, having someone be this close. Having someone be this close just because they want to be, because they trust you.
Will doesn’t know what to make of that. He’s never felt this before, the urge to hold someone so close that all the bad things go away. The urge to touch, the urge to lie here until entropy takes them.
There are no bad things anymore, though. It’s a quiet afternoon, and it’s calm, and it’s peaceful, and—
Will stops.
His hand stills on Mike’s back.
Oh, he thinks, still looking up at the ceiling. Oh.
“Will?” Mike stirs again, and he’d definitely been right on the precipice of sleep this time, judging by the way his voice is dragging on the single syllable. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Will whispers, a little incredulously, as realization dawns upon him. He wants to laugh. He wants to cry too, a little bit. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m great.”
Mike taps a slow finger against Will’s cheek and peers carefully up at him. “What is it?
“I,” Will starts, then stops. He’ll sound ridiculous if he says it. Ridiculous and pathetic and— “Nothing,” he says anyway, despite every molecule of better judgment in his body. “I’m just— I’m happy.”
Mike pauses. “Oh,” he says simply, cheek still pressed to Will’s chest. He sounds a little caught off-guard, in a good way. “I— that’s good. That you’re happy.”
The weird feeling in Will’s gut bubbles up, up, and over. “Yeah,” he says quietly, trying to keep his voice even. “I am. You make me happy.”
At this, Mike looks up. His expression is a bit startled, like a deer in headlights. “What?”
Oh, god. Will swallows. He looks back up. “I just,” he says, “I’ve never— I’m happy. And I don’t know when— I don’t know if I’ve ever. Been this happy before, I mean. Before everything. Before—”
You, he thinks. He doesn’t say it, but it goes implied.
Mike is silent.
The weird feeling starts settling back into Will’s stomach, slow and steady like molasses. Shit. That was, objectively, probably a weird thing to say. It was, right?
Oh, god.
Will blinks, once, twice, thrice in quick succession, and keeps his stare fixed on the ceiling.
“Will,” Mike says at last, from somewhere below him. He lifts his head off of Will’s chest, tufts of black hair swimming into view. “Can you— can you look at me, please?”
Oh, god.
Will looks down. “Yeah?”
Mike looks— wondrous, maybe, which is a bit dramatic, but it’s true. “Really?” he asks, and he doesn’t sound freaked out or anything, which is a good sign, but— “I do?”
“Yeah,” Will whispers. “You do. Like, really happy.”
Happy seems a bit diminutive, if Will’s being honest. Whatever this feeling is runs much deeper than that — past contentment and comfort and satisfaction. Ease, maybe. Safety would be closer.
He doesn’t say any of that.
Mike’s cheeks flush a brilliant pink. He splays his palm across Will’s cheek and asks, in mild disbelief, “Is that what was bothering you?”
“It wasn’t bothering me,” Will says quietly, tugging at Mike’s wrist and sitting up, just slightly, leaning back against one elbow. “I’m fine.”
“You weren’t,” Mike says simply, and lets himself be moved. “I could tell. I just— I thought it was something, you know. Worse.”
“What?” Will laughs, and Mike’s expression softens in relief. “Like what?”
“I don’t know!” Mike exclaims, but he’s smiling too. “I just— I could tell, and I didn’t— I don’t know. Never mind.”
Will pushes a strand of hair behind Mike’s ear again, the same one that had been falling back out the entire time they’d been lying together. “I’m sorry if you worried,” he says quietly. “I just— I didn’t know what it was. I’ve never been this happy before.”
“Will,” Mike starts, expression earnest and searching. He opens his mouth and closes it again.
“Sorry,” Will adds, for good measure. Maybe Mike is, like, totally freaked out. “No pressure, or anything.”
“Don’t apologize,” Mike says immediately, frowning. “Never apologize. I just— I’m happy too. You make me happy. Really happy.”
“Well that’s good,” Will jokes, but it comes out halfhearted. “I should hope I’m not making you sad.”
Mike rolls his eyes. “Will.”
“Sorry,” he says on instinct, then immediately bites down on his lower lip. “I mean. Yes. Yeah.”
Mike gives him a look, exasperated and a little fond. “I mean,” he says, then leans forward, all the way back into Will’s space, “you make me happy too. I don’t know when I’ve been— me too, I mean. Me too.”
“Oh,” Will breathes out, in awe, a little bit, of a lot of things — the deepening flush across Mike’s cheek, the ease with which the admission comes tumbling out of his mouth. The simple reciprocity of it bowls him over, like maybe Mike thinks about this, when Will doesn’t know — just how happy Will makes him. “Okay.”
Mike eyes dart between his own. “That all you have to say?” he teases. “Okay?”
“What else do you want me to say?” Will asks, teasing back, a little, but also asking a little truthfully. He’s not the greatest with words, but he’s also not stupid — he understands the implications, here, of what it means to feel so happy around someone that it feels like you’re admitting to something bigger by just saying it. He knows what he’s implying, and he knows Mike is picking up on it, but he doesn’t know how to put that into words — the way his soul feels like it’s stilled inside of him, somewhere, no longer restless or jittery or perpetually keyed up.
He wonders if Mike feels like that too.
The thought, suddenly, is too much.
“Nothing,” Mike says, after a moment. He pauses, then presses a fleeting kiss to Will’s cheek. “Nothing.”
“Mike,” Will says, suddenly, then grabs a hold of Mike’s wrist again. “I— you know that I—”
He feels overwhelmed, a little frantic. He’s sure it’s coming through in his voice. The rest of the sentence hangs there, suspended in midair between the two of them.
Love you, Will thinks. I love you. I love you.
He needs Mike to know.
Mike can’t ever know.
He looks away again, like maybe Mike will be able to tell exactly what he’s thinking just by looking at him.
“Yeah,” Mike is saying. “It’s okay, Will. I know. Me too. Obviously.”
Will relaxes. Thank god for plausible deniability. “Okay,” he says instead, feeling a smile split wide and exhilarated across his face. He feels like he just ran a marathon, and it isn’t until he lies back down that he feels it. The adrenaline, sweet and thick and palpable in his veins. “Okay. Cool.”
“Cool,” Mike echoes, then settles back down on top of him. “Yeah. Cool.”
Will tucks his chin over the top of Mike’s head, running a soothing hand over Mike’s hair. His heart is beating so fast that he’s sure Mike is able to tell. “Go back to sleep,” he says quietly. Mike lets out a noise that might be a laugh, and tucks his face into Will’s neck.
It’s a quiet afternoon. Everything feels perfectly right.
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fandomhopper23 · 18 days ago
Text
Madcleradin Paranormal Investigators AU because i simply had to sit down and think about it after remembering this post by @dis-a-ppointment again for the millionth time.
Will went missing in 1983.
He was kidnapped for a week, but he managed to get away and Mike found him in the woods near the quarry after going out every night to look for him.
Will swears there was another girl there, even though they never actually found the perpetrator or any sign of a girl having gone missing.
Will and Mike start looking into it in High School - Will swore by it, and kept having nightmares about the girl, feeling guilty he'd left her behind.
So, Mike, to help Will, looks into it further - using the same detective skills he'd used while Will had been gone. He finds out about Jane Yves, and how she should be around the same age Will had said the girl should be.
It's a project they kept hidden from Lucas and Dustin, Will not wanting to burden anyone else with it. He talked to Hopper a million times though, and he insists he's looked into it but that there's nothing to lead him in any direction. Especially as Jane supposedly died in a miscarriage, and the lab had shut down ages ago.
In senior year, they start breaking into empty houses because Will wonders if he might recognize one of them, if he might remember the location of where he'd been kept it could be their first clue.
One day, they're breaking into an abandoned house near the trailer park when Max catches them. She joins them for their 'ghost hunt' - the best excuse they could come up with - and though she thinks it's bullshit, she's having a blast making fun of them whenever they flinch at a "scary noise".
AKA Will starts hearing things and insists they're ghosts, while Max just makes fun. Mike is a fence straddler - he doesn't actually believe ghosts are real but he's a 100 percent on Will's side. If Will says he heard a ghost than it's a ghost. period.
Eventually it becomes a bit of a hobby - going to "haunted houses".
Max is doing it for the ghost hunting, unaware of the Jane thing, but Mike and Will are still also investigating behind Max' back.
The summer after High School, when Dustin and Lucas are both going to an early summer program at their respective colleges, the three of them are left to spend their summer break road tripping around the state and "investigating". Both for fun and because they found a way to make money off of it - they end up selling their stories to a popular alternative magazine - Max takes pictures, Mike and Will write, and sometimes Will makes art of the ghosts they saw.
Along the way though, Will starts wondering if he might actually be going crazy with the voices he's hearing and the things he's seeing, but his best friend buddy pal Mike insists that if that's the case they'd go crazy together.
Eventually, they figure out that their "ghost proof" has a particular pattern, and they realize the "ghost" might be communicating with them - that it's strangely enough - not a different ghost for each house, but one ghost following them.
Long story short it was El communicating with them using her powers, and she leads them to where she's being kept.
Also, Mike and Will kiss.
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