#I would love to know in what ways El thinks Will has been 'acting weird' due to liking someone

[givehimthemedicine]

You're the best person I know to ask about El. And I've been reading fellow bylers talking about this, so I want to know your opinion because I'm not sure what to think but there's a couple of things I know for certain: El isn't stupid, she saw the painting at the airport (and probably the van, too) and she (possibly) listened their fight at Rink O Mania and Will's "You're The Heart" before the monologue. So, does El know about the identity of Will's mistery "girl"?

oh great question. she definitely isn't stupid, but it could go either "El wouldn't guess about Will because she doesn't know being gay is a thing" or "El might guess because she has no reason to think being gay isn't a thing so her mind is open to what she's seeing". I lean a lot towards the former, because she doesn't know a thing about romance that she hasn't been told by her friends or seen in old movies, and at the time Mike first kissed her I would venture to say she had no idea of the existence of romance/attraction/relationships at all.

I'm inclined to say El didn't hear the rink fight (it's a loud place and they weren't standing right outside where she was) or the van scene (Max's trailer was her first stop and the van thing had already happened right?) but she definitely clocked the airport hug as weird. and for Will to bring the painting to the airport - I mean to actually bring it IN to the airport instead of leaving it in the car makes it pretty evident that it was for Mike (actually, why did he bring it in? was he planning on being like HIMIKEIPAINTEDTHISFORYOU in front of everyone if the reunion went better?) El did say maybe the painting is for a girl, but I don't get why she would be convinced it can only be a romantic gesture when Will gifts art all the time (she and all the rest of the party have his drawings on their walls).

El said she thinks Will likes someone, and I think she sees that something weird is going on between Will and Mike, but I honestly don't think she's put those two puzzle pieces together yet. She's observant, she just doesn't have the photo on the cover of the box to refer to. I think there's a lot that will quickly make sense in retrospect once it dawns on her though.

[rogueddie]

Hair Care T | 1,749 words Prompt for @steddielovemonth: Love is what makes you brave

Steve learnt early on that if he makes his hair all soft, fluffy and big, then girls would play with his hair. He's always loved having people touching his hair.

But after the Demogorgon, after he gets his act together? Suddenly, no one wants to touch his hair. No one comments on it, or even looks at it like they're so much as thinking about it.

And it is driving Steve insane.

"I can't just ask for it!" He complains. "That's weird and- and what if they take it the wrong way? What if I sound too weird or desperate?"

"I'm the wrong person for the weird complaint," Eddie points out. "And I still don't get the problem. What about Robin?"

Robin is convinced that all his little lines, trying to encourage attention towards his hair as subtly as he can, are all pick-up lines.

To be fair to her, she has only ever seen him using said lines when he's flirting. But they're supposed to be little hints, a nudge and a wink. Friendly- playful even.

But, because of that, he has a nasty feeling that she would take any hint or request about his hair as romantic. And the last thing Steve wants to do is make Robin uncomfortable.

"Ok, yeah, I see the problem there," Eddie hums, considering. "What about the kids? El and Max. They adore you and love playing with each others hair."

El had asked to play with his hair once.

She'd heard, somehow, that his hair is 'famous' in Hawkins and had wanted to see why. She encouraged Max to join her, even though she mostly ended up petting him like a dog.

Max had seemed to enjoy it more than El, but not by much, and the snickers from the other kids had been enough for him to refuse to let them "go again".

He's the babysitter, he needs at least some dignity.

"But did you like it?" Eddie presses.

"Well, yeah," Steve mumbles, snuffing his slipper on the carpet. "It was nice or whatever. Not worth the jabs though."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Didn't feel worth it."

"Hmm..." Eddie pauses again, frowning as he looks him over. "Well... what was it specifically about what they did that was so nice? Has anyone else done that for you?"

Tommy used to play with his hair constantly. He was a quick learner and, with how much Carol visibly and vocally enjoyed watching them, there wasn't any shame.

They both seemed to enjoy themselves more whenever they could convince Steve to sit on the floor, so Tommy could scratch at his head more effectively.

"Which..." Steve pauses, frowning. "In retrospect was probably some weird power play thing. Like, I was the king at school but a dog at home."

"Yikes."

"Yeah."

But they knew exactly what he liked and they were good at it.

Tommy knew that he loves the back of his ears scratched, likes the small strands at his neck tugged. He knew that Steve loved the feeling of fingers brushing his fringe back, especially when he'd get rough and push his head back a little with the motion.

They knew what he needed.

"Well... I could do that," Eddie suggests. "I mean... if you want. It's not like it would be a hardship."

"Really? You wouldn't be uncomfortable?"

"Not at all. As long as you're ok with it, it's all good."

"That- yeah. Yeah, I'm on with that."

That's how it starts.

Steve had sat on the floor, in front of the sofa where Eddie was sat. It reminded him of Tommy for a moment, but Eddie quickly brought him back to the moment with a hand on his shoulder.

"This alright for you?" He asked, squeezing gently when Steve nodded. "Alright. Just let me know if it's bad, too much or you want to stop."

"Okay."

He had thought that would be it, though. Moments when they hung out in private, a thing for them that no one else was allowed in on.

But Eddie starts playing with his hair. All the time.

If he can find an excuse, he abuses it. Even in Family Video, busy with people and customers lining up in front of Robin, right next to them. Eddie just... leans forward, reaches out and pushes his hair back.

He does it so casual, so out in the open, that- somehow- Robin is the only one who gives them a strange look.

On movie nights, he's started putting a pillow down on the floor between his feet. When Steve comes in with popcorn, Eddie gives it a pointed look and raises an eyebrow at him.

It's so much, so often. Steve loves it, has never been so happy for so long. It leaves him feeling high sometimes.

All good things, for him, come to an end though. And his comes in the form of Robin Buckley.

"I'm not saying I have a problem with any of it!" She clarifies, right off the bat. "If it's just a friendship thing, that's amazing. I love how happy you are, really, and I don't want that to go away, and I know-"

"Robs," Steve interrupts. "Slow down. I don't know what you're trying to say."

She stood, staring at him for a moment, seeming to vibrate with her need to speak, before finally blurting out-

"Are you and Eddie dating?"

"Wh- what? No, that's... no. Why do you, uhm, think that?"

"Steve," she whines. "I know about your hair lines, remember? One of them must have worked with how addicted he's got to yours."

"Oh, that... no, that's not what's happened. Those aren't lines, I just... I really like people playing with my hair."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Wait, that still sounds suspicious. He plays with your hair all the time because he knows how much you like it?"

"No one else was going to."

"Oh my god," she rolls her eyes, stepping closer so she lightly tug at his hair. "I would have been doing this all the time if I knew it was ok!"

"Oh, uh, sorry?"

"No apologies, just tell me when you started crushing on Munson."

"How-?"

"I know you, dingus. Apparently not as well as I had hoped I did, but I do. And you're gone on him. When. Did it start?"

The first time Steve realized that he was feeling more than 'friendship feelings' for Eddie was when he was eating at his new trailer.

Wayne had come home early and was surprised to see that Eddie had a guest over.

But Eddie was too busy jumping up, excited to introduce them, to notice.

"Wayne! This is Steve, I've told you about Steve, he's great," Eddie said. "Steve, this is my uncle, Wayne. He's amazing, don't worry, he doesn't bite."

Steve had quickly stood extending an arm, and introduced him properly. He made sure to add a quick 'sir' at the end.

Wayne had quickly dismissed the title, turning to Eddie with a fond look, and said, "what was it you called him? Pr-"

"Shut up," Eddie was fast to interrupt, hands waving around.

And Steve realized that he was feeling hope. He was filled with hope that Eddie had said what his uncle seemed to about to say.

He realized that he wanted Eddie to think of him as pretty. He wanted Eddie to find him so pretty that he told his uncle.

It was a warm feeling, fluttering through his stomach- a feeling that he is all too familiar with.

"I'm gagging," Robin says, monotone. "But that does help."

"Help? How?"

"Uh, because he's obviously into you too!"

"Robs, I don't know..."

"Come on, it'll be easy. He already likes you, so you don't have to try so hard. Just a little thing that lets him know you like him. One of your moves-"

"No, Robs... I'm sure that he likes me too, at least a little, that's not the problem."

"What is them?"

"I... I've never, like... been with a guy. What if I do it wrong?"

"Steve," Robin grabs both of his shoulders. "He likes you. All you have to be is yourself."

"I don't know if I c-"

"You can, and you will. We'll think of a plan that cannot fail, you'll put on your brave pants, and we'll kick this problems ass."

"My brave pants? It's brave face."

"No, I mean those pants that you're always saying make your ass look good. Those are your brave pants."

"... Ok, yeah, they are."

It doesn't take them long to settle in a plan. It's simple, easy. It shouldn't give Steve enough time to doubt himself.

Eddie arrives on time, knocking on the door at the exact time it turns four p.m.

"Hi!" Steve greets, wincing at how overenthusiastic he is. "Come in."

"You alright?"

"Yeah, fine, just... slow day. Too much energy. Come on, I made too much food earlier if you want some."

"You know I'll never turn down free food, Stevie."

Over dinner, Steve starts to finally relax. Eddie is, as always, easy to talk too.

When they step into the living room, Steve snatches the pillow off Eddie before he can put it on the floor and places it in Eddies lap instead.

"Oh, uh," Eddie stutters, eyebrows high, staring down at Steve who did not hesitate to rest his head on the pillow in his lap. "You- yeah?"

"Yeah," Steve agrees. "You alright with this?"

"Yes- yeah, this- of course."

"Great!"

Steve stretches to the coffee table, handing Eddie the remote.

He doesn't pay attention to whatever Eddie puts on though. He can't stop thinking about how he's laying, how Eddie's hand feels so much more gentle in his hair.

Eventually, he turns so he's on his back. He catches Eddie's hand before he can pull away, waiting until Eddie looks him in the eye before pulling his hand close enough to kiss his palm.

But, instead of surprise, Eddie sighs. His shoulders drop, smiling wide- relieved.

"You're so pretty," Steve says, pushing through the confusion he feels at Eddies reaction. "And I, uh... I really like you, Ed."

"Yeah?" Eddies eyes scrunch with how wide his smile is, shifting his hand out of Steves hold so he can brush the back of his knuckles along his cheek. "Little ol' me?"

"Yeah. I'm- I mean, you're funny and you care... you're just... it's too soon to say love, I know, but-"

"I love you too."

[imfinereallyy]

“The demon is back.” Eddie pokes into Steve’s side to wake him up.

“Babe, please go back to sleep.” Steve shoves his face into the pillow, making his voice muffled.

“Steeeeve.” Eddie whines, “It’s really there I swear this time. And I locked the door so I know it’s the demon again. Nothing else can get inside.”

“Eddie.” Steve squishes his face even deeper into the mattress. “You do this at least once a week. I love you; I do. But I never look because there is no demon. And every morning, you wake up fine. So please, go back to sleep.”

“What if I promise never to mention it again if it’s not really there? Will you look then?” This time Eddie’s voice wavers, his actual terror showing.

Steve sighs and shifts his head to look at Eddie, “This is really freaking you out, huh?” He says it kindly. Steve can tell this is serious to Eddie. So even if he doesn’t believe it, Eddie does. And what’s important to Eddie is important to Steve.

Eddie nods back furiously.

“Okay, I’ll look.” Steve shifts his head towards the other side, where the chair by the window sits. There, sitting in that corner is a dark shadowy figure. “Oh.”

“See! I told you! Demon! Oh god, it’s gonna get us.” Eddie throws his hands up. Even though he’s terrified, he’s accepted defeat.

“No.” Steve says calmly. “It’s just El.”

Eddie pauses his rant, “What?”

“It’s just El. In the corner. She does that sometimes, watches people she cares about until she falls asleep. To make sure they’re safe.” Steve looks at Eddie.

“The door was locked! How are you so calm about one of the kids just watching us at night?”

“Honey, she has mind powers. I don’t think a flimsy lock from Home Depot is going to stop her.” Steve deadpans before shrugging, “And it’s El. She could ask me to kill a man, and I probably wouldn’t even ask questions.”

“What if she asked you to kill me?”

“I’d be conflicted.”

“I want to be mad, but honestly I think I’d hand you the knife.” Eddie sighs, looking down at Steve.

Steve scoffs, “Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t stab you. I’d obviously sneak some kind of poison into your honeycombs. Way less messy.”

Eddie goes back to nearly shouting, “Why have you thought about this?!”

“Honestly, I have a lot of intrusive thoughts. I just don’t speak them out loud.”

Despite the fact they are actively talking about his murder, Eddie can’t help but get all gooey with Steve in their bed. “Is this why you don’t get mad when I think aloud? Another reason why you just get me. Adding that tally to the ‘why we are great together’ column.”

“Yes, we’re pretty amazing. Can we go back to sleep now?” Steve smiles.

“Yes—wait, no.” Eddie corrects himself, getting himself back on track. He loves this man, but he is a sneaky little minx. “Why did El never say anything? I mean, this is not the first time I accused her of being a demon. Hell, we’ve been talking for literally five minutes, and she still hasn’t said anything. Also, what if she walked in on us doing, ya know, adult stuff?” Eddie blushes at the end. He’s acting like he hasn’t been whispering way worse things in Steve’s ear every night.

“First off, she won’t walk in on that. Apparently Max taught her about happy screams a long time ago.”

“Gross.”

“Yeaaa. Second, I’m pretty sure she’s asleep right now.”

Huh, now that Eddie thinks about it, he does hear soft little snores. Which is weird since neither he nor Steve snores, and they are both, ya know, awake.

“And I don’t think El speaking in a dark corner would have helped your fears. Like imagine just hear her soft “Hello” at 2 a.m.” Steve raises an eyebrow.

“I—okay I got nothing.”

“Fantastic can we go back to sleep now?”

Eddie gives one last shout, “You’re not going to stop her?”

“Are you going to tell her no? And make her worry?”

Eddie slinks down into the covers, “...no.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Eddie curves his body into Steve’s, seeking him out. Steve wraps his arms around Eddie, securing him to his chest. “Thank you for indulging me.”

Steve hums. “Anything for you baby. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Eddie kisses Steve lightly.

“I love you both as well.” El’s voice suddenly speaks into the silent room.

“Jesus Christ!” Eddie screams.

Steve can’t help the giggles that come out of him. He tries to smother them into Eddie’s shoulder.

Eddie can’t find it in himself to be mad.

———

some people seemed interested in more el + Steve sibling energy. And they are a sibling-like duo I love. So here’s a little something but more steddie involved. I think all three of their relationship would be very sweet. Both Eddie and Steve would protect el. I hope you enjoyed :)

[elhopperentourage]

The “Unstraightening” of Mike Wheeler Throughout Stranger Things

Mike would never have even shown interest in girls if El hasn’t shown up. Think about it. Throughout the series we see all the canonically straight men talk about women or act a certain way about/with women.

Lucas and Dustin are both immediately drawn to Max. Steve goes through two female love interests and is rejected by even more girls. Billy goes on dates and has posters of girls in his room. The show makes it clear when a character is interested in women.

But with Mike, we don’t really see any of this. Sure, he has a female love interest, but shes always just been there to Mike.

I think it has something to do with when Lucas says “You’re just excited there’s a girl who’s not totally grossed out by you!” (or something along those lines) Mike hears this and realizes this is supposed to be an opportunity for him. He’s supposed to be interested in El romantically. Soon after that, we see Mike ask El to the snowball, but the way he asks her is obviously… kinda weird. There is literally a comparison made to El being his sister. And then they kiss… after that strange relation… mind you they’re both twelve and El doesn’t even know what it means to like something/someone yet. (as shown by her encounters with Max in s3)

My main point is, the show makes no effort to show that Mike feels attracted to girls. Other than having him date El, which is obviously an unhealthy relationship that has been pulled apart many times before.

Just think about it. The show could have shown Mike being interested in Max, like his straight friends are, but instead he’s compared to Will. They both couldn’t care less about Max, which is an interesting similarity considering Will is canonically gay. The show could have Mike chase after El, like we see with Steve and Nancy, but instead he mopes around and kind of forgets about her (because of will ‘,:| strange.) The show could have put posters of girls up in Mikes room, like with Billy, but instead Mike has… a buff dragon? and a… one way sign pointing to his closet..?

There’s just no effort -outside of his constantly failing relationship- to show that Mike is straight.

Sorry if this is a bit ramble or has already been said. It just came to my mind randomly and i didn’t want to forget about it!!

[doodler-jpeg]

Thinking about self aware! MW characters (plus Roach) who absolutely adore your laugh.

CW// gender neutral, unfunny men deserve to be slandered, favoritism is seen, badly translated Scottish and Spanish, this is based off of my interpretation (you can find the main fic link on my account)

Feedback and criticism are highly encouraged! Please tell me if anything is badly translated, out of character, or something else!

Ghost actively makes jokes that are guaranteed to make you at least giggle. Even through this weird mental barrier (for him) and your monitor's screen, it's so invigorating to hear some form of joy out on the field, especially when it's from you. It just makes that fuzzy feeling in his heart multiply.

"Thank you, thank you - I'll be here all night."

Gaz takes absolute advantage of this. He makes a few jokes here and there, but keeps it to interesting stories. In some instances, he just starts laughing out of nowhere and you can't help but join in. It's very clear he gets bitches on the daily.

"Didn't know I was that funny, but I'll take what I can get."

Price uses all of his past experiences with courting to get, at the very least, a giggle or two out of you. He doesn't have millenium of experience (contrary to your belief), but he's certain that his "old-man" charisma and his weird way with words. But he still tells some older jokes, so your assumption that he's older isn't completely wrong (he was totally raised by his grandparents).

"Would you like to hear a story?" *Tells one of the pointless joke stories that lasts for 10 minutes and has the stupidest punchline*

Roach can't really come up with ways to make you laugh. His preference of keeping quiet and faceless doesn't really help, either. Instead, he tries to point out some enemy on the field, signing insults to them that you're sure to understand.

'His head looks like a donkey, and he acts like one, too.'

Soap physically cannot keep you from laughing. He doesn't even have to make a joke, you just start laughing. He believes it's because he's just an immediately funny dude, but you're not going to tell him that he looks stupid with that hairstyle. If he does tell any jokes, they're not even funny.

"Dinnae ken how come ye'r laughing, bit keep daein' it."

Alejandro tries, he really does, and it doesn't work most of the time. It's kind of funny seeing this overly-confident dude absolutely fumble because of his lack of realization that your personality and humor aren't really the same as the people he usually catches. On occasion, though, he does get a rise out of you and can't stop smirking about it for the rest of the day.

Valeria has subtle jokes that rely mainly on her tone, but those aren't her priority. She doesn't mean to be rude (lies usually, but with you?), but she does impressions of your laugh and then comments on it. Usually they're not bad, but it does feel demeaning sometimes.

"Me gusta esa risa. Jejejejeje."

"You know why Mexicans call Americans 'gringos'? ... Would you like to?"

Rodolfo doesn't always try to make you laugh - he still gets a bit disoriented that you're no physically there (which means he can't see your face, but what is he gonna do about it?). His humbleness and large range of jokes really comes through, especially since he'd been the family entertainer at parties. If you can understand simple jokes in Spanish? You're practically set to be unable to keep a straight face, and he loves it. (Even if he doesn't understand it, he'll turn it into a mini lesson so you do)

"¿Qué dijo el gato cuando chocó su carro? 'Miau-to.'"

Nikolai has a handful of Russian jokes at his disposal. Are you completely guaranteed to understand? No, and he doesn't expect you to. If you do understand Russian, boy howdy is he gonna have the time of his life! You won't be able to breathe properly until he's out of sight!

"You see, it's funny because-" *explains joke if you don't understand*

Laswell is a huge fan of subtle jokes. She often makes small, funny comments that get light-hearted chuckles out of her. However, she also has older humor, which means you're less likely to understand unless you, too, are old (which isn't likely, but it's still a possibility). She likes hearing you laugh and really does try to get some sort of connection with you, even if it doesn't work.

"What did the chicken say when it crossed the road? 'Damn it, I missed the bus.'"

Alex is a funny man. He's aware of his effect on people and uses it to his full advantage. As a people-pleaser, he makes it his duty to get you to laugh as much as possible. If he doesn't make you laugh, he'll make himself laugh, and then you laugh. He's totally not putting all his effort into jokes just to get you to laugh or anything. He's just that guy.

"Me? A tryhard? Whaaaat? Psh- as if."

Farah has no business with nonchalant jokes, but she makes them work. While she does like the sound of your voice, she doesn't want to force it. She believes that intentionally funny words can diminish any genuine laughter, so she sticks to half-assing it in hopes you at least giggle. That's not to say she doesn't try to get you to laugh - she just does it far less, since she can't see your face (but she can just imagine the glee on your face if you get the giggles because of her).

"What is your type of humor? Asking for a friend."

Graves is unintentionally funny. When he tries, he fails miserably. He says a southern phrase that might not be super known? You're cracking up. He doesn't get it, but at least you're going 'teehee'.

"What's so funny 'bout me sayin' cattywampus? It fits the situation!"

[0daylighthours0]

Just started ST s4 with my Mama, we're halfway through episode 3, and gosh are her opinions noteworthy.

Firstly, she has been very pissed at Mike and the way he's been treating El. Y'know that scene at the dinner table, the one where Joyce or someone was asking about what happened at Rink O' Mania, and Mike makes a comment over how the girl El schmacked with a skate "didn't look fine" - single handedly escalating the ready sensitive situation? My mother, quote:

"Oh- shut up you! Y'know if [insert my father's name here] did that I'd smack him."

"You'd dump his ass?"

"I'd dump his ass."

I've now asked for her thoughts on milkvan's relationship (she's oblivious to my ulterior motives) and she told me that it doesn't seem as if Mike loves El anymore, that he isn't treating her like he does.

She also reads the way Mike is acting towards Will as very strange. She can't fathom a reason as to why they'd seemed so close previously, yet now have Mike pushing Will away and being distant. Why he's treating him strangely.

"It's very weird."

This is made all the more prevalent as we're watching these seasons back to back, the difference in Mike's behaviour being night and day.

Now listen up listen up. My mother, is NOT a fan of queer things. She'll try and evade this being a possibility for any movie or show character until the fact of their gayness is outright confirmed. This is why, at this second, Mike is very confusing to her. I don't even think she's put two and two together about Will's sexuality yet. But man when I tell you she is catching on. Like she doesn't know what's up with Mike, but her only ways for describing his act have been synonyms to the word 'weird'.

Can you just imagine if we didn't have a closeted explanation for this guy? What even would his character excuse be???

Man I can not wait to get to those undeniable byler moments. If she, my mother, think that Mike seems gay? then, guys, he is gay.

[cluelessbees]

Yknow what ? I think Byler getting Murray’d would be more heartfelt than anything else.

Because like-

Murray doesn’t just call out Jopper and Jancy because it’s obvious. He points it out because he knows they’re being stupid. In their cases, it’s really just them not communicating their feelings to one another and trying to pretend they don’t exist.

But with Byler it’s like…it’s different.

Because it’s not just that is it? We’re not just watching two people pine over one another whilst being oblivious to the fact they other likes them back. We’re not just looking at two people who can’t communicate well. There’s more to it.

Because they’re two boys who have been best friends since childhood. They grew up at the peak of the AIDS epidemic. They live in a small town and they’re expected to act a certain way. It’s different for them.

I don’t think Murray is gonna waltz in acting all holier than thou and essentially out both Mike and Will to one another. He’s a smart man as we’ve seen. He’s attentive. He doesn’t just call jancy and jopper out to prove a point he knows what they both need to hear so they can get over their miscommunication hurdle.

I think he’s going to go up to them. Either both or just Mike or Will or whatever, and he’s going to talk to them about it. Because that’s what they need. They need someone to talk to them about it. And I don’t think he would start with just directly talking about it. I think he (and this is me headcanonning Murray as queer) would open up first. Like about his own experiences- to show them that he gets it, and he knows what it’s like. And then he would casually bring up the whole byler thing.

Hmmm something along the lines of...

Okay– picture a conflict Mike Wheeler sitting by himself – either on the couch or on the floor or whatever. And, he’s stuck in his head. A lot had happened. He broke up with El and he’s struggling to grasp what he’s feeling about his best friend. And there's this…weird tension between them that– he just– he can't put his finger on. But they’re off. They aren’t clicking like they used to and Mike can’t seem to fix things. 

So he sat alone, trying to understand or comprehend whatever he’s feeling whilst everyone else is god knows where in the house. Will was in the kitchen though. Mike knew that much. And then suddenly, he felt a weight on the couch seat next to him or the space on the floor beside him was no longer there and he heard the words of Murray Bauman pull him out of his thoughts with the weirdest fucking ice-breaker he has ever heard.

“Y’know…I was like you when I was younger.” 

“Really?” Mike asked – mostly out of disbelief as he scanned Murray. No way. Not a chance. 

“Oh yeah…” Murray smiled, nodding to himself as he continued. “I know it's hard to believe it, but I was this…brash, stubborn, reactive teen who loved going against authority. I was very...headstrong in my beliefs.” 

He paused and Mike turned to him. Murray had his head down, looking at his lap silently, and Mike didn’t know what to do but watch or…more– listen to the silence. 

“And…I was also in my head a lot.” Murray looked up, turning to Mike once before looking forward again. “I was angry at things – at people and at myself because…no matter how much I pretended like I loved being a freak…a part of me hated that I wasn’t normal…”

Mike felt cold. His heartbeat raced as he turned away from Murray – facing forward and staring at his lap as he continued to listen.

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah…I was-- going through a lot of stuff internally that I tried pretending didn’t exist.” He paused again – taking a deep breath. “I was…in love with someone who I didn’t want to be in love with.”

“...You were?” 

“Yeah…” Murray laughed to himself. “Yeah…it was– well he was…my best friend.”

Mike held his breath.

“I fell for him. And I was mad at myself for falling for him. Because even though I knew it wasn’t wrong…I just kept thinking about how I wasn’t supposed to like him. Because that’s not normal– Well ‘normal.’” Murray airquoted, rolling his eyes. Mike’s eyes were glued onto him at this point. 

“So…I grew angrier. And I took it out on myself. On him. Even though he didn’t deserve it. Even though I loved him– I just..I let my fear get the better of me and I pushed him away until I lost him…And I hated myself for doing that.” He breathed, another pause, before finally turning to Mike. “It took me a long time to realise that there was nothing wrong about loving someone.”

Murray tilted his head towards the direction of the kitchen as he raised his eyebrows – and it clicked to Mike.

“I..” Mike’s throat felt dry. “You know?”

“I had a hunch.”

“Is it obvious? Does he–”

“No, he doesn’t know. Your secret's safe with me, kid.”

“Okay– good.” Mike paced his breathing. “I just…I– I can’t lose him because of this. If he knew– if– if he knew he would–”

“He’s your best friend right?” Murray cut him off.

“What? Yes but–”

“Then. he could never hate you, Mike. Not about this.”

“How do you know that?”

“Call it…another one of my hunches.” Mike knitted his brows together.

“Look – kid, I’m not going to force you to tell him or anything. It's your choice at the end of the day. And I can’t say much, but it doesn’t take a genius to know how much that boy cares about you. And you care about him, correct?”

Mike nodded. 

“And you trust him?”

Mike nodded again. “With my life.”

“So…all I can say is…if you trust him? Then...trust him with this.” Murray began to stand up. “Take it from me. Holding it in only hurts the both of you.”

And then Murray leaves

Anyways yeah thoughts––

[hsangel64]

bandmates pt. 7 !

pairings: bassist!ellie williams x fem!reader

summary: it’s been a couple of weeks and you and ellie were officially together but ellie has been acting suspicious and it feels like you're together only behind closed doors.

warnings: angst angst angst (sorry !!), cussing, slight smut, use of y/n

a/n: i am trying my best to be back and write, ive been in the process of moving and i just got in the mindset to write!! I had a plan for this and then stopped writing this for a while so this series will have more than just a couple of chapters left, i'm not sure yet!! anyways good to be back hope you enjoy!!

you and ellie were doing fine, great even! but only in your guys' room. you have been so happy the past few weeks, but it was starting to feel a little off. you didn't think much of it but that still didn't stop that small anxious pit in your stomach from forming. you liked ellie so much and was so happy this was finally reality that you didn't see the red flags ahead of time.

"do we really have to go to this stupid get together?" ellie whined and you giggled.

"yes unfortunately we do, speaking of which we need to get up really soon to get ready." ellie groaned and turned away from you and got out of bed. she walked over to her closet while pouting and grabbed some clothes considering we were only in underwear....

you sat up and grabbed an outfit from your closet. ellie came up from behind you and kissed your cheek and made her way down to your neck. you giggled and squished her face in your neck, you tried to push her away, but she fought against your small weak nudges.

"ellie we can't, we have to go dina and jesse really want us there to meet these people."

"we could be late." she said in that sultry voice she puts on. you felt a shiver down your spine and so badly wanted to fall for it but you knew how much this meant to dina and didn't want to let her down.

"no els we gotta go i don't want to let dina down." you laughed as she kept kissing you neck and reaching down you back. she turned you around and kissed your lips, you melted into her mouth and couldn't resist the urge to just go for yet another round of the day, but you fought back and slowly pulled away. you gave her that look a sad puppy dog would give and she groaned and then smiled at you.

"ugh fine, only because you're cute and i love you." you let out a small gasp, ellie hadn't said i love you yet. a small smile made it to your face and she smiled back.

"i love you too." you smiled at each other and kissed again, you both went on and got ready for the get together.

----

you two were sitting on the couch together next to dina and jesse at someone's house you didn't know, you just wanted to be home with ellie. the air felt super awkward and ellie felt a little distant. you didn't think much of that until you all introduced yourselves.

"this is ellie and y/n!" dina introduced us to everyone else and they all collectively said hello.

"how did you all meet?" one of the girls asked and ellie answered.

"y/n and i have been friends since before we could remember and met dina and jesse in high school band class. we all became really good friends and formed our band, coastal."

"that's really cool, you guys all seem so close is it just dina and jesse together? some girl asked while making flirty eyes with ellie.

"yeah it is, me and y/n are best friends and i wouldn't have it any other way." your face shifted and you gently whipped your head towards ellie in a questioning way, she was already looking at the girl with that same flirty look and you turned away and excused yourself to the bathroom. dina noticed your change in behavior and decided to follow after you. you quickly made your way to the bathroom before dina could make it in and you closed the door in front of her face.

"babes are you okay? what happened?" you tuned her questions out and your mind drifted. you could tell something was wrong, you knew it felt weird that you two weren't going on dates or that she acted different outside of the dorm. you saw all the red flags but was too oblivious to see what was going on. your eyes slowly filled with tears and you didn't even realize you were crying until you snapped back into reality and heard dina bang on the door.

"hey, are you okay what's going on??" you turned and opened the door, dina gasped and pushed her way into the room seeing your state.

'what's going on, talk to me." she held your face and wiped your tears, you felt so overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't make out the words so you said.

"ellie is an asshole." she looked at you saddened and nodded her head saying i know, she grabbed you and pulled you into her. you silently cried into the crook of her neck and just felt so angry. you were mad at yourself for thinking this was going to work. you didn't want to cry anymore about it so you gently pulled away and turned to the faucet and wiped your face down of the mascara streaks. dina helped you pull yourself together and you both made your way back into the living room. everyone was preoccupied with mario kart on the tv and didn't even notice you two coming back. you sat down on the couch next to jesse and dina occupied the spot next to ellie. she turned over and looked at you and nodded her head asking if you were okay. you looked away and dina pushed her head towards the tv and diverted her attention away from you.

for the rest of the time you guys were there you sat on the couch with your back against the cushion and your head slouched. dina tried her best to stop ellie from talking to you and left you alone till you guys left.

----

when you guys were getting ready to leave you all said your goodbyes and you saw ellie and that girl exchange numbers, you felt sick to your stomach and didn't want to face her in the car. you turned away and walked out of the house without anyone, you guys weren't to far from the dorm so you just decided to walk on your own.

as you walked you made it to the gas station right by the school so you stopped for a slushy. you walked in and grabbed the biggest size, you needed this. you also grabbed some ice cream and made your way out. you sat on the curb for a little and pulled out your phone to a million notifications.

40 texts from ellie, 20 missed calls from dina, it all felt too much. so you texted dina and said you were fine and just decided to walk home. dina proceeded to cuss you out in your texts and raved about how dangerous that was for you to walk alone by yourself. you rolled your eyes and got up from the curb and walked to rest of the way towards the campus.

you found your way back and checked their locations to see they were home so you just knocked on the door. ellie answered and quickly let you in. you made your way to your shared room and grabbed some clothes.

"hey what happened back there?" she quietly asked and you rolled your eyes. you made your way to the shower but not before ellie squeezed her way through the door.

"bee what's wrong?" she grabbed your arm and you felt sick, you pushed her away and started to take your makeup off before your shower. she put her hand back on you and you pushed her away again getting frustrated now.

"why do you keep pushing me away, what happened back there?" you pushed her away hard and felt that tickle in your throat. you grumbled and said wouldn't you like to know under your breath, but it wasn't very quiet, so she heard.

"what do you mean? i would like to know. what's up with you?"

"i don't know ellie you tell me."

"I don't know y/n that's why i'm asking." you rolled your eyes starting to get more frustrated with her.

"maybe it was the fact that you just called me your friend and not your girlfriend?? i guess i missed something but i thought us having sex all the time and calling each other girlfriends meant just friends."

"i just called you best friend it isn't a big deal i'm sorry." she didn't sound sorry.

"it's a big deal to me ellie."

"well, i'm sorry." she shrugged and you scoffed at her nonchalant movement.

“i really don’t want to deal with this can you please leave i want to shower.” she didn’t pick up a fight and left. you sighed and wiped your face from any left over tears. you made your way into the shower and let the warm water help you forget about your thoughts for just one second.

————

a/n: i’m sorry this was short !! it was more of a filler before we get into some good angst and drama!! chapter 8 and possibly 9 will be out tomorrow!!

taglist:

@gold-dustwomxn @lil-elliesgf @hopelesssheaven @elliestears @cjrights

[lucystark12]

how will, mike, and vecna's arcs chase eachother around the show

to begin

byler: the early ages (predating the show and season 1)

our very first real interaction between mike and will speaks directly to my theory of the genius of the friends to lovers trope. the very first time we see them talk it's will confessing something to mike that neither of their other two friends wanted to. it's different. there is immediately something different about will's relationship with mike compared to the other kids. call this will's honesty, but the one thing us bylers have going for us is that will is very much canonically in love with mike. this is them showing us clearly that SOMETHING. IS. DIFFERENT. i would not go so far as to say that will is in love with mike or vice versa this far back because they're literally twelve, however, that 'something different' that's seemingly been there for a very long time is important and needs to be noted. we don't know what's different, they don't know what's different, but they don't feel the same way towards each other as they do towards their other friends. this much is obvious

(flickergate mentioned!! 🔥🗣🗣🔥🔥)

now we've got our search for will. mike is totally champoining it. of course dustin and lucas are incredibly invested, but mike is our leader here. once again, this could just speak to his personality, but i think not! mike's level of investment in finding will safely causes him to act against the caring and nurturing nature of his personality which we see in the way he lashes out at el when the body is found.

to be totally real with you, i don't remember nearly as much about the first season as i do the other three and also believe that since will is missing for most of it there isn't quite as much to go off of. so now i'm going to move on to season two.

byler: season 2

once again in season two we see mike being the one who's most protective and most conscious of will and his wellbeing. i will reiterate- for both of them at this point i think this still feels like they are just two people with a deep connection. as they are literally thirteen, i don't think either of them understand the depths of what love really means.

but uh oh... here comes the paradigm shift for will...

we ALL know what i'm talking about here.

in this scene, mike is able to break will out of the weird trance thing with his monolouge, which for anybody who has forgotten, reads as such:

"Do you remember the first day that we met? It was…It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and… I just felt so alone and so scared, but… I saw you on the swings and you were alone, too. You were just swinging by yourself. And I just walked up to you and… I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done."

initially, i thought this monologue was just super sweet, but the implications actually run a lot deeper than this scene just being some kind of masked love confession. what are those implications?

vecna has will in a trance during this scene. vecna is the same monster who you only have a chance of surviving if something is tying you to the real world.

we see this with max and music, with el and the mike monologue.

the difference is, neither of those work because neither thing is strong enough.

what is strong enough to break will out of a vecna trance though is mike's honest, hearfelt words.

vecna is a monster who feeds on people who fundamentally don't have enough love in their life. this is why he chooses will in the first place. henry creel was a deeply troubled child who didn't have any kind of love in his life, leaving him susceptible to become vecna when taken to the upside down. will on the other hand comes from an abusive home and is bullied in school. this seems like the perfect target for somebody feeding off people lacking that kind of support in their lives. only vecna gets it wrong, because will does have that unwavering, devoted, love in his life. that is mike.

mike who refuses to give up on him even after his body is found. mike who waits with him in the hospital for days. mike who was always the first to make sure he's okay.

the hospital scene opens will's eyes to this, which is why i'm calling this the unitalized "oh" in your "oh... oh" moment. this is will realizing there's something deeper. this is his first inclination.

byler: season 3

throughout the course of early season 3 or during the gap between seasons is when i like to believe will was starting to realize what that "something deeper" for mike was. although i think objectively season four is the most important byler season to date, i think season three is when it really solidifies itself into the brains of our characters that they are in fact in love with each other.

the first scene i want to focus on when discussing season three is the infamous rain fight, in which i believe will has already realized his feelings for mike.

in my eyes, mike wasn't actively trying to be like "it's not my fault that you're gay"- i do think that he meant to say "it's not my fault you don't like girls yet" but that with the erasure of that word, the initial meaning and what mike meant to say left with it. they both know how his words sound and the implication of what they must mean.

i mean, look at will's face. this isn't even the best screenshot of it, and you can still tell how the words struck a deeper meaning in him.

his initial reaction after the fight to go and tear down castle byers also helps us a lot with the narrative and even relates back to vecna.

jonothan and will build castle byers as a save haven to escape from lonnie and his abuse. lonnie's abuse is what directly relates will to henry and his cause. by tearing down castle byers, will is actively destroying his safe haven as a way to cope with the person who showed him the vecna-defeating love not loving him the same way anymore. even though mike apologizes, they don't have a real concrete conclusion that solidifies for will that mike cares about him in the same way that he once did. they do have something though-

the moving scene. mike's paradigm shift.

when mike and el talk in this scene their conversation begins with el confronting mike with the thing that scares him- the falsehood of his love for her. mike spends the beginning of this scene playing coy, trying his hardest not to play into what she's saying until she has to be upfront about it. when they kiss, mike thinks- something is off. i can't reciprocate her feelings.

you can see it when his eyes are open, you can hear it when he pretends not to know what shes talking about. mike is uncomfortable with the notion of being in a relationship with el because he knows it's not something he will ever realistically be able to have. not really.

then in his conversation with will, we get more resolution to their fight from earlier, a real and honest conversation. i can't remember which happens first, but both make sense.

if the el conversation happens first:

mike talking to will shows his comfort level with will over el and how inevitably he will always be able to be himself with him.

if the conversation with el happens first, this goofy little face is his "oh...oh" moment in a "this feels different in a good way sense.

if the will conversation with el happens first:

mike's hostility towards el shows how negatively he sees her after being with somebody that he truly does love

if the conversation with will happens first, this is the "oh... oh" moment.

either way, this is when mike realizes that he has feelings for will that are entirely different than the platonic ones he feels for el. this is him realizing that there's a difference between strong platonic adoration and real romantic love.

to further back myself up on this being the moment™️ for him, this is him immediately after.

this is the face of a boy who has just had his entire world rattled, the face of somebody who has just realized that he is in fact gay and in love with his best friend, and that he will never feel the same way for el (or any other girl) that he does for will.

boom, mike drop (haha)

byler: between season 3 and 4

since vecna is watching at all times, he's starting to pick up on this and realize that the all encompassing love that will needs to break free from vecna's grasps is becoming more imminent by the second. so naturally he starts to fuck with things.

first and foremost, mike not being able to call, therefore severing ties between him and will, was orchestrated by vecna. vecna can manipulate time, making it entirely feasible that will never got mike's calls to begin with.

now i bring u... lettergate!!

even though churchgate is my favorite gate, i fully believe that lettergate is real. it is absolutely canon to me. it makes perfect sense. the only other way for the two of them to communicate is via letters, and since will has been waiting for mike to reach out to him, the power is in mike's hands. however, like the writer he is, mike is really shitty at writing letters, so one never gets sent, leading to further miscommunication and cause for vecna to make will believe that he isn't loved.

byler: season 4

the first byler scene we talk about from season four is almost an extension of the in between season stuff. this scene is the airport scene, where mike's fully fledged feelings for will prevent him from hugging him back out of fear of it making things awkward, leading will to believe, once again, that mike doesn't care about him.

similarly to how mike and will make up and then get interfered with by vecna at the end of season four and the gap before season four, the two fight and then make up the next morning, making for relatively smooth sailing between the two for the rest of the roadtrip. until mike decides to confide in will, that is.

mike's intention in that scene was to get out that he thinks his charade is failing without actually outright stating that he thinks his beard isn't convincing enough. he remarks about how he doesn't think el will need him anymore just like how he needs el to cover up who he truly is.

so then will shows him the painting. confesses his love for him behind a mask, leading mike to believe that there is still a way his relationship with el could work out. he doesn't want it to, he needs it to. we know this already.

but here vecna comes, this time inadvertently. in order to thwart vecna's plans, mike is forced to give this false love confession to el (which, by the way, doesn't work). making vecna at fault for will's newfound feelings of less love from mike. will is convinced that mike is far gone, which is why vecna is able to slip into will's head once again.

vecna is back and is ready to use will for his grander purpose of making him into a mini vecna after orchestrating the greatest use of the miscommunication trope of all time. he has successfully convinced will that mike doesn't love him, which will make him an easy pawn.

so where does this leave us?

with the end all be all answer to what will happen come season five. will will need to be broken out of vecna's possession to save the world from power too strong for el to dream of taking on- double vecnas. we've seen it with will before, and we will see it again, mike's love for him will be the only thing capable of breaking him free from vecna. mike's character arc of self loathing and insecurity will culminate with him realizing how he feels about will, will's character arc of exploited insecurity will end with him getting the one thing he wants, and vecna, in his last moments, will be made to believe in the central theme of the show, that love triumphs hate.

[ellieluvr420]

We meet again, darling pt.17 (detective Abby Anderson x criminal reader x detective Ellie Williams)

Synopsis: Abby Anderson is a skilled detective that's never let a criminal escape her grasp, until you. You've infiltrated every part of her life and she still can't get you. As she grows more and more intrigued by you she finds herself descending further into darkness until there's no way back. She takes your hand and follows you as if your presence is the only thing giving her life knowing that you are the most dangerous thing for her. Her life will never be hers again and she will stop at nothing to keep following you down your path of corruption.

SMUT MDNI this is kinda a little bit freaky deaky but are u shocked?

Abby and Ellie get to your home at half 6ish to find you snuggled on the sofa surrounded by documents while you tap away at your laptop, occasionally using your phone as a second screen, you were so focused on what you were looking at you didn't register their presence until they were shuffling your papers out of the way to sit on either side of you.

"Hey love." Abby whispers into your left ear as she kisses your cheek.

"Missed you." Ellie purrs as you feel her hand wrap around your thigh and squeeze while her thumb massages circles into the skin there. You smile and kiss both their cheeks before standing and gathering all your papers up to return to when you have another moment alone.

"Thank you for speaking to Ricky today. You are both so good for me. How was today hm? Enjoyed your first day back at work El?"

"Yeah it was weird though I felt like I was a spy." You laugh at her and Abby side eyes her and then rolls her eyes before getting up and walking to the stairs.

"I'm going to go jump in the shower." Abby calls over her shoulder.

"What stick is up her ass?" You question Ellie with a playful tone and she laughs as she pulls you down to straddle her on the couch. You wrap your arms around her neck as she squeezes your waist and rests her head on your chest.

"I think she's getting antsy because of the investigation, the captain has been really on her about everything so she's seeing in exact detail how close they're getting to you... and us I guess and she's also trying to steer them away from you as much as possible which is hard to do without raising suspicion... She's stressed basically." You scratch at the back of her head as she sighs and nestles into your chest.

"Hm well can you make sure she doesn't overwork herself trying to cover our tracks? I have everything under control."

"I know you do." Ellie trusted you, trusted that you always had a plan that you were ready to execute, she didn't feel stressed about her future because she knew that she would be okay as long as she could be by your side she felt complete. When you heard Abby walking down the stairs 20 minutes later with wet hair and a black tank with plaid pyjama bottoms you whispered to Ellie to go shower so you could speak to Abby.

"Hey my tooth brush is the blue one right?" Ellie says as she walks past Abby.

"No you know mine is the blue one." She snaps sounding ready to pounce at Ellie.

"Oh shit." She pauses for a second and then starts laughing as she walks away.

"You're a dick." Ellie just laughs more as you pat the spot next to you on the couch. Abby sits immediately pulling your legs over her lap and massaging at them while staring at you with tired eyes.

"What's got you down sunshine?" She huffs and shakes her head. "I'm asking because I already know and I want you to talk to me about it, what's up?" Your voice is still soft but there is a hint of a stern tone to it this time.

"You're acting like nothing is happening but they are so close to finding you, all I keep seeing are visions of you arrested and left to rot for the rest of your life, or killed because god knows you won't go down without a fight and all I keep thinking is that I would rather throw myself off the cliff with you than watch you fall alone but you have an advantage, you have time to make your escape before everything catches up to you and you're wasting it." She sounds desperate, like she's pleading with you to just see her side, she looks exhausted and anxious and the guilt does eat at you slightly as your eyes take in her appearance.

"I have everything under control Abby. I haven't told you everything because we've all been busy and I wanted a chance to sit down and explain to you both what's going to happen next."

"Is that the agenda for dinner tonight?" She's smiling now and you're relieved at the sight.

"Part of it, yes. Just relax, we are going to be just fine, I promise." She nods and squeezes at your leg but her face is still scrunched up in thought.

"Did you want Ellie because you got bored of me?" You scoff and your eyes go wide at her vulnerable display of insecurity as she turns to face you.

"If I was bored of you Abby I wouldn't have kept you around. You've been my reason to get up and do the bad things I love to do and look really good doing it for a long time now. If you need me to say it, I'll say it, you have me hooked. I wanted Ellie because I knew you wanted her too." You raise an eyebrow at her accusingly as she giggles at what you said.

"Okay, fair enough. Thank you. You can actually be kind of cute when you want to be." She smirks at you and you kick her gently. "What were you working on when we came in? You were transfixed."

"Oh nothing just straightening up my affairs, draining everything from my brother’s accounts, offshores and all and transferring all of his assets to my name also, you know, typical things."

"Yeah super typical, will he notice?"

"Yeah for sure but not until tomorrow which will bring him straight here."

"You need us gone before he comes over?"

"No I actually thought you could stick around to watch the show."

"You're sick." You laugh and get up as you hear Ellie walking down the stairs. "Come on it's time to make dinner." You hold your hand out to her and she takes it as she stands, she wraps her arms around you as you walk towards the kitchen and tickles your neck with kisses. Ellie walks in moments after you both in a t-shirt and joggers as she towel-dried her hair, her shirt lifting up to reveal the v-lines on her hips. You and Abby both pause to look at her and exchange a hungry look.

"How are you fucking this up so bad? It's a grilled cheese." You bark at Ellie as she cradles her burnt fingertips.

"I am hurt and you are yelling at me right now." Ellie snaps while going to the sink to run cold water over her fingertips while wincing, she looked like a puppy that had been scolded and you and Abby exchanged a look as you both stifled a laugh.

"What do you typically eat Ellie?" Abby asks while holding back a smirk as she stirs the soup heating on the stove.

"I don't know, takeout and stuff." Abby stops dead in her tracks and turns to actually face Ellie.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah?" Ellie looks completely dumbfounded as she answers Abby with a question herself.

"You only eat takeout." Abby says it as a statement but the look on her face juxtaposes the monotony of her voice.

"I think that's what she's saying babe." You add in giggling to yourself, you had all already drank a lot so you just found their interactions so funny to watch. Abby side eyes you and it only makes you laugh more.

"How are you a functioning adult?" Abby asks as if its a genuine question and Ellie doesn't bat an eyelid as she still runs her fingers under the water.

"I'm not." Abby laughs but you notice the sincerity in her voice, you saw it when you spoke to her the first time, that's why you knew she'd be easy to break. You walk over to her and take her hand gently as you inspect her fingers.

"I think you're going to live darling."

"Thanks doctor." You walk back over to the stove and look at the grilled cheese that Ellie had done a number on and eye her as you flip it into the bin. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay you can't be blamed , you've had no teacher." You say it casually and don't look at her to see the blush forming on her face. Abby looks puzzled but you all stay quiet.

"Look your ones are done so grab some soup and go sit down, I will do my one and join you in a second." They shrug and do as you say, they're both hungry so there's no hesitation. They both walk to your dining room that you had set up, they had only eaten in there a couple of times so they still always found themselves surveying the room, it had warm lighting coming from the chandeliers and matching lights fixed onto the wall, there were large doors that led out onto one of the balconies lining the long wall, the doors and windows all glass with black borders. There were small, green palm trees that Ellie always got distracted by thinking about how they survived in your apartment when they're palm trees. The floor was cream marble with a thick black border and an additional thinner border inside the thicker one. The walls were sage green with trimmings decorating the walls and framing the large paintings that lines them. The table was a dark, cool-toned brown wood that sat 4 large cream chairs each side and one on either end. There were flowers on the table and the smell was fresh and summery.

"God these chairs are so comfortable." Ellie wiggles around in it a little bit and then slouches while sighing happily.

"Yeah she's got mad at me before because I fell asleep in this chair while she was talking to me after wolfing down my dinner that she had made." Abby chuckles at the memory.

"You fell asleep at the table?"

"Yeah I hadn't got much sleep the night before." Abby smirked and laughed as Ellie's face went completely deadpan.

"You're so hilarious."

"I know right."

"I know right." Ellie mimics Abby in a childish mumble and Abby scoffs at her. They both start laughing until their faces hurt and you walk in with an eyebrow raised at them.

"How's the food?"

"So fucking good." Ellie says as she's picking up the grilled cheese once again and you smile at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah this is the best grilled cheese and tomato soup I've ever had. You're actually a chef." You roll your eyes at Abby’s snarkiness and she grabs your hand and kisses it. "It's really good, thank you." She purrs and you just sit contently eating and drinking until you put your spoon down and wipe your mouth with your black napkin.

"So I think we should talk about what is to come in the next few days because I have kept you in the dark to make sure you do your jobs properly and allow me to deal with everything effectively. Tomorrow, I am going to wait for my traitorous brother to come storming up here so I can decimate him and then I am going to speak with the boss of the Met while you two pack everything you want to bring with you because once I have everything we are leaving the country to give live far away in paradise, I’m going to call you both when you need to get in the car, get in the car as quick as you can, I’ve given Jeremy instructions on what to do so just listen to him okay, we’ll meet at the plane and be on our way."

"We're leaving the country?" You nod at Ellie.

"This is the safest thing to do. I'm going to miss the city but I'm ready for a change. You're going to love where we're going. It's a surprise though." You direct your attention to Abby who looks perplexed.

"What do we do about our jobs and our parents and stuff?"

"Oh yeah, about that. You need to start completely fresh which means you need to completely cut tethers with your lives now. So I'm going to fake your deaths." You don't even look at them as you say it, you just state it as a fact.

"What?" Abby looks entirely frozen while Ellie sipped on her drink watching Abby amused at her reaction, Ellie was fine with the idea, she didn't really have anything keeping her here and nothing could compare to being with you so there was no doubt in her mind but Abby had parents that lived in the suburbs not too far away and friends, there were things she would be leaving behind. She thought of all that she would leave behind and an ache grew in her body but then she realised she had withdrawn from her life significantly since meeting you, since before meeting you even and she looked at you sitting there drinking and laughing with Ellie over something and everything from her life before you faded away. "You're fucking crazy you know that?" She looks at you lovingly and you feel your cheeks burn as you return the look.

"Yeah I've been told that once or twice. Don't worry I have practise at this, neither of you have to lift a finger unless its for packing."

"Our hero!" Ellie remarks sarcastically and you kick her under the table. "Ow!"

"That was a very bad thank you." You say sternly as Abby chuckles at the both of you. You finish off the food and drinks and all take your dishes to the sink. Abby goes to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher but you pull her away assuring her you'll do it tomorrow as you lead them upstairs.

"Kiss." They were sitting on the bed looking at you with flushed cheeks and needy eyes. At your simple command they both hesitantly turned towards each other, they were slow at first as they leant in but as their hands both grabbed the other's face the energy changed and their touches became ravenous and hurried. The wet sounds of them kissing goes straight to your centre as you watch in awe. Abby shifts and starts pushing Ellie down to get on top of her but seems completely taken aback when Ellie pushes back harder and climbs on top of her, Ellie slots her thigh between Abby's and grinds down onto her heat, you hear the faintest choked moan leave Abby's lips although its muffled by Ellie's mouth and you quirk an eyebrow at the scene playing out in front of you.

You snake a hand down to your core and palm yourself through your silk pyjama shorts and groan as your fingers brush over your throbbing clit. Your hand situates itself under your shorts to rub tight, quick circles over your clit as you watch the women on the bed grinding down onto each other through their clothes as they get messier and sloppier. Ellie is attacking Abby's neck with kisses as Abby palms her through her thin t-shirt, you're so entranced by their show and the sensation of your fingers rubbing against yourself that you don't notice they've both stopped to look at you standing in the corner.

"Having fun over there?" Abby raises her eyebrows at you as you smile back.

"Oh come on she just needs some attention." Ellie asserts as she gazes at you over her shoulder. "C'mere babe."

You alluringly saunter over to them as they watch with matching panting breaths that causes their mouths to hang open a little, they're so fixed on your movements that as your press a thumb into each of their mouths they simply take your thumb into it and suck.

"Oh god you are both breathtaking." You purr as you pull your thumb from Ellie's lips, she pouts for a second and you smile before pulling her into an almost painful kiss, your teeth clashed together as your tongues swirled around each others mouth, you bit her bottom lip and pull back dragging her lip out with you. Her eyes shoot open in surprise and you let go with a chuckle as her lip goes back to its place.

"Hey." Abby almost whispers as you feel her hand on your cheek mirroring yours that had migrated from her mouth as you kissed Ellie, you turn to her and you kissed her differently to Ellie, steadily, gently as you straddle her hips. You press your hips into hers and grind down so slow and hard your breath catches in your throat at the friction lighting sparks in your centre, it made you feel like a teenager again dry-humping and making out but its different now as you're being watched by a hypnotised Ellie, her breaths are low and heavy as she watches you and Abby, and she jumps as if she's been caught when you turn around and reach for her.

She crawls over and lays down next to Abby so they're both underneath you, you kiss both their noses and take it in turns to kiss down their necks until Ellie grabs you by your shoulders to shift out from underneath you, you watch confused until she she comes to the side of the bed and yanks you off of Abby, she's completely silent with a face that shows no hints as to what she's planning, you and Abby are both stunned at Ellie's dominance as your mind casts back to the night where she jumped you at Abby's, her strength was unnerving because with Abby you expected it but Ellie's strength shocked you, it still did now as she was holding you in place with one arm as she ripped your matching silk pyjama top over your head only to flip you and immediately push your body down to the mattress so you're bent over in front of her. Your bed is set on a small platform and the mattress and bed together sit quite high so you have to go on your tiptoes to still be able to touch the floor, Ellie observes your struggle and smirks as her eyes lazily fall on Abby who is still stunned.

"Strip and sit in front of her, she's gonna make you feel good. Right babe?" You're a little zoned out so provide no response to Ellie, she lands a harsh slap to your ass and you jolt with a loud gasp. "Gonna make Abby feel good, aren't you?"

You nod but her face grows frustrated as she pinches you on the back of your thigh. "Words."

"Yes." You snip at her unsure of how to react at Ellie's sudden change in demeanour. "Come on babe you know how quick I can make you cum." You smile as Abby rolls her eyes, stands up and strips her clothing torturously slowly, you're practically drooling by the time Abby sits in front of you, her full naked form on display for you to admire. You were distracted by the feel of Ellie shifting her hands to lift your hips and yank down your shorts, she's gentle as she helps you step out of them and the sudden changes keep you paralysed in the position she put you in.

"She's so wet Abby oh my god." Ellie speaks as if you aren't between the two of them as she lazily thrusts two fingers into your hole, you moan as the sudden intrusion takes you by surprise and her fingers pause their ministrations inside you. "Shut up and get to work."

You and Abby exchange a look and she raises her eyebrows at you as she pursed her lips trying not to smile, you grumble at the two women but immediately hum contently when you're faced with Abby's dripping heat. You wrap your arms around her strong thighs and pull her closer as you bite and kiss at her thighs, Ellie's long fingers begin thrusting into you again, this time fast and hard and you bit down on Abby's inner thigh so hard she yelped and shot an unamused look at you.

"Sorry." You mumble through giggles before diving at her and sucking her clit with a might, her thigh muscles tense and you dig your nails further into them as you feel Ellie's unoccupied hand rubbing at your throbbing bud. The more Ellie intensifies her attack, the more you intensify yours desperate to get Abby to cum before you do. You feel the signature shaking of her thighs as they clamp down on your head and you sneak your middle and ring finger into her dripping hole, within what felt like seconds she was crying out and grabbing at your hair to pull you away, you follow straight after Abby and press your face into the bed as your orgasm washes over you so hard you see white. Ellie's fingers gently pull out of you and she bends over and presses open-mouthed kisses up your spine as she rubs at your shoulders. You catch your breath and then turn your head to meet her eyes. "Abby go get your strap babe." You mutter and she climbs off the bed so quick she almost trips. “El get on the bed, head on the pillows love.” She looks at you bewildered by how quickly you go back to your usual self, bossing them both about.

Both of them do their respective tasks and as Abby returns to you with the strap already harnessed to her hips you arch your back and lean down to press a kiss to Ellie’s clothed cunt. “Take all this off.” She whips off her t-shirt and lifts her hips to help you shuffle her bottoms off of her, you wiggle your hips at Abby as your mouth is already occupied at Ellie’s core and her hands find their place at your hips as she pushes into you slowly. You hum into Ellie’s pussy as Abby bottoms out inside of you and starts to thrust in and out pressing breathtaking kisses to your cervix, you moan and pant and Ellie takes this as an opportunity to grab at the back of your neck to hold you in place as she grinds herself down onto your tongue. The room is filled with a symphony of your heavy breaths, whines and moans as the friction from the strap is making all of her nerves feel like they’re on fire, you were barely on the planet as Abby mercilessly pounded into you. Ellie was groaning as her motions quickened and you were on the biggest high of your life, this, this was why you did everything you did. This is why you’re okay to leave.

You’re so encompassed by your thoughts of them you don’t notice Abby reaching for something. You cry into Ellie as Abby turns on your wand vibrator at its highest setting. “Fuck.” You drawl out, it comes at as a muffled whine and Ellie and Abby both exchange a look of need at your sounds. They weren’t even sure what they needed but Abby leant over you pushing impossibly further in as you screamed and Ellie sat up to join their lips together in a heated kiss.

“I wanna fuck her too.” Ellie whispers onto Abby’s lips which Abby smiles at.

“There’s a present in there for you, she’s always prepared.” At Abby’s words Ellie sits back and uses your face until her orgasm hits her like a brick wall, her body tensing so hard it hurt and then going limp as she recovered from the high. You followed almost immediately as Abby fucked you through your second orgasm until you were trembling and quiet. You laid there and noted Ellie scooting off of the bed but didn’t bother to further investigate, Abby’s hand rubbed soothing circles over your back as she leant down to make eye contact with you. “You still in there?”

“Don’t even start, I am thriving.” Your voice is hoarse and quiet but strong and Abby smiles at your arrogance.

“Good, you’re gonna wish you had tapped out though.” Abby smiles menacingly and you frown as you try to make sense of her words until your ears prick at the sound of something being ripped open. You turn to face the noise and see Ellie holding the strap on you had bought her, it was the same size as Abby’s, 8 inches, but hers was purple, she licked her lips and fumbled with the strap’s harnesses, you watch her until Abby scoops you up from your place so she can lay down, placing you on top of her so your chests are pressed together, she gently grabs your chin between her thumb and index finger to pull you into a sweet kiss and that makes your cheeks burn, she pulls away and feathers her fingers over your cheek as she looks at you with the most loving look in her eyes.

“Need you to help me out really quick.”

“Yeah I got you.” She holds out her hand and you exchange a small high-five, a habit that started as you annoying her that became unironic all too quick, then you sit up and raise yourself on shaky legs to align Abby’s strap with your needy cunt, you sink down onto it and gasp as she bottoms out inside you, she gives you a second to adjust and then she pulls you down to her so you’re once again pressed together as she sucks and nips at your neck and jaw. You had bruises and red marks everywhere, scratches and bite marks also, you looked like you had been beat up but to Abby and Ellie you were their masterpiece, they had marks to match yours, often worse than yours, they always held back but you… you didn’t know how to do that. That’s why Abby wasn’t shocked when she felt your nails digging into the back of her shoulder as Ellie prodded her strap at your tight hole while spreading your cheeks with her large hands and squeezing so hard red hand prints remained.

“You don’t have to do this, you can say no at anytime. “ Ellie spoke in a stern voice.

“I know, I’m good. Stop stalling… pussy.” The last word rolls off your tongue like venom and you smile deviously at her, you stomach filled with butterflies as you watched her face grow dark and her eyes dart down to focus on stuffing her strap into a space entirely too small for it. Abby soothes you as you whine and cry as the pain of both your holes being stuffed is almost too much to handle but when Ellie is buried inside of you and stills to let you get used to the impossibly full feeling you feel sparks of ecstasy igniting your body, you shiver and your eyes water as you begin to shuffle a little to help the throbbing in your core.

“Knew you’d like it you depraved slut.” Ellie spits through a shit-faced grin and you can only moan as they both begin thrusting in unison deep and hard.

“You really are a bad girl aren’t you?” Abby chimes in with a smirk that matches Ellie’s as you struggle to catch your breath at their unwavering rhythms.

“D-don’t get too cocky now. Remember who you’re speaking to.” You choke out a small laugh and they join you. “That was hot though.”

Abby mouths an ‘Oh’ as she raises her eyebrows at you before smiling into a sweet kiss that completely juxtaposes the pace of her rough thrusts, they had both been speeding up gradually and you were so close to the kind of orgasm that feels like a spiritual experience. Ellie leans down and turns your face to share a kiss with you also, the gentleness and intimacy of the moment tinting your view pink. You moan into her mouth and pull away to grab onto the pillows beside Abby’s head to give yourself some leverage as you succumb to a mind-shattering finish that leaves you entirely done for the night.

“That was beautiful.” Ellie comments as she pulls out slowly. “Sorry.” She mutters as you wince a little but stay still for her. She begins removing the harness as Abby flips you both over gently so she can also pull out of you, they move in unison as they each grab the harnesses and placing them in the bath to be cleaned later then Abby gets a fluffy towel and soaks it with warm water as Ellie goes to get some drinks for you all. Abby walks back over to you from the en-suite and sits down next to you while tracing her knuckles up and down your thigh.

“Spread ‘em… please.” You chuckle at her but comply with her request as she wipes you down gently. “I’ll be back.”

“That sounded daunting.”

“Do you have an off switch?” She says over her shoulder as she walks to the bathroom to wash herself off quickly also. Ellie rejoins you and climbs onto the bed handing you a bottle of water and kissing your cheek.

“Are you okay? Sorry if I was too rough.” She sounded worried and you smiled at how quickly she had returned to the Ellie you were used to.

“I’m fine, that was everything I needed.” You peck her on the nose and she smiles as her cheeks redden, Abby walks back into the room and comes to lay behind you pressing her front to your back and burying her face in your hair as she sighs into you.

There was a comfortable silence as you all recharged and took comfort in the entanglement of your bodies. Tomorrow was a busy day so you revelled in the peace you felt between them and thought about all the times that will be like this in the future and the thoughts lulled you into a deep sleep.

[chirpsythismorning]

This makes me feel like Mike is lying and knows he’s lying in his monologue:

And…

And dot dot dot…?

El’s literally choking and Mike is frozen.

Will pushes Mike and tells him not to stop, reminding him of his speech in the van.

Then, even as he is about to say it, HE STALLS.

It’s clear Mike is having a serious internal conflict when it comes to saying I love you to El, and for a character whose most important rule is ‘friends don’t lie’ and whose sister had an identical plot line where she couldn’t tell her boyfriend I love you when she realized she didn’t love him and was starting to have stronger feelings for someone else, I feel like the answer is right there.

But the And dot dot dot just does it for me.

Like what is with the dramatics.???

It’s so weird to me because if the problem was as simple as Mike being scared of losing El, he wouldn’t have risked things by not saying it when she was crying in her room during their fight.

As the cop car was taking her away, it wouldn’t have been the perfect moment, and yet the way Mike said everything he could to reassure her but avoided simply saying the one thing he knew she wanted to hear, something that had her crying not even 5 minutes earlier, saying it could have been a way for Mike to comfort her in this moment of uncertainty.

Then there’s the letter, where El says from instead of love, and this is the last semblance of contact they have with each other, which has given Mike the impression that they had a fight they could never come back from. And so, he lost her in that moment. His greatest fear has apparently already come to fruition.

The rest of the season he continues to grapple with his insecurities and his concerns with where him and El stand, with Will reassuring him. He nods his head about someone he cares about not liking the truth. Him constantly talking about his conflict with El as if it’s something that cannot be fixed?? Dude it required 3 words?? And what reason exactly would he have to agree with what Will said, unless there is some truth he’s already aware of that he doesn’t think El will like?

And then their reunion in the desert happens. THIS could finally be the moment he makes clear to El how he feels. He hasn’t lost her, they’re back with each other and she’s safe and alive and happy to see him.

So why when she leans in fully, does he hold himself back (El’s face is perfectly symmetrical vertically with the frame when their foreheads meet, whereas Mike is more so leaning back horizontally as much as he can, doing his best to keep his mouth as far away from El as possible)?...

So, no kiss then?…

After they separate and smile at each other relieved, instead of making a point to say ‘that thing’, Mike decides to shift focus from them, to those around them, seeking our Will specifically.

At Surfer Boy, they get interrupted by Argyle and his pineapple pizza. Leading up to it, Mike doesn’t look like he’s about to confess this deep and emotional reason for why he couldn’t say I love you.

I guess… I dunno… I guess I just wanted to say that—

AGAIN WITH THE DOT DOT DOTS!

If Mike was going to say I love you, that would have been the most anti-climactic love confession in the history of television. He doesn’t sound like he’s about to tell her something genuine from his heart. He sounds like he’s about to say something because he feels obligated to.

And then that leading to the monologue, where there is more stalling…

Mike had soooo many chances to say it, and if he was truly scared saying it would make losing her eventually ‘hurt more’ (words inspired by Will’s speech), then he could have said it any one of those previous instances and could have saved them and their relationship.

Instead he treats it like no man’s land, as if it’s this bad word that isn’t an option, until it’s quite literally the only option.

I think that while it is heartbreaking, it makes Mike a very complex character. While he did lie, it was a pretty selfless act, because he was breaking one of his most sacred rules, he was lying. He put it off for sooo long for a reason. He goes against how he truly feels in his heart, and that’s in large part why they lose .

Another factor to all of this, that makes me think this is very likely, is again the major theme of friends don’t lie. And how there is one scene from s1 in particular that offers up a really good Mike and El parallel we could get for them in s5, that I think would make this whole situation and the buildup to it, just sooooo fucking layered.

Imagine something similar to this conversation in s5, but switch Mike and El around:

Rewatching all the seasons in general opens up a lot of possibilities for brainstorming about potential callbacks we could see in s5. When it comes to the importance and impact of lying in the story, with s4 being filled with characters lying, there is just something so full circle about s4 opening with El’s letter filled with lies, Will’s veiled love confession filled with lies that his feelings are El’s and the season closing off with Mike lying to save the world and as a result failing.

And then in s5, kind of bringing together all of these lies, with the truth this time.

Having a parallel to this, with El calling Mike out, would finally give her the chance to voice to Mike, face to face, how she feels truly about everything, and having it be in a way that will sort of put Mike in his place, in a similar way he did to her, would be kind of insane.

Not only that, but in doing so, along with making byler canon by the end end of the series, this entire scene in s1 could be re-contextualized to something much more incredible than it was to viewers in their initial viewing.

After s5, this scene would never be the same:

[piratefishmama]

Forgiven Not Forgotten | Part 8

The mirror wasn’t weird anymore. But Eddie still found it sort of unnerving to look into it. To see scars on his face. Scars that told the story of time having passed. Time he didn’t remember passing, and knowing that, from context clues and behaviours of the people around him…

He should remember it passing.

They weren’t telling him something. Keeping truths from him for his own good and while yes, nice, lovely, they were protecting him from something undoubtedly harsh, the urge of wanting to know was more of a pain in the ass than it’d ever been before.

Curiosity killed the cat and all that jazz.

Unfortunately he wasn’t a cat, he didn’t have nine lives, he had one, and that’d already been taken from him, so he was really pushing his luck. Especially considering he wound up on that little trip out into town, partnered up with team super girl. Or team Byers-Hopper. He’d wanted to be with the people he knew, Steve, Robin, Nancy… but no, Eleven, the actual superhero had linked her arm with his, and that was that.

She basically adopted him. Pulled him into the direction of team Byers-Hopper.

“She’s comfortable with you” Joyce explained from left field, they’d wound up in a music store after several clothes stores, and Eddie, while mindlessly flicking through the metal vinyl’s, had been watching the psychokinetic teen perusing bins with Will for tapes, Hopper somewhere down the aisles looking for an album to replace one he’d lost in the chaos.

“Can’t imagine why, I don’t know her.” He knew of her, but only through the brief ‘there’s this girl, she has superpowers’ run down during the great Eddie Munson manhunt of ’86. She was the girl. He didn’t know what he expected, but… it wasn’t her.

She looked so fragile. Her hair at her chin, styled in a way that Eddie recognised as someone who also didn’t quite know how to handle natural curls. With a brush and nothing else.

Too young to have been through what she’d been through. She should be in a mall somewhere, trying on clothes, gossiping about boys, or girls, or anything not related to fighting for her life.

She shouldn’t have been through what she had. But then, none of them should have been.

“We find it best not to question it when El takes a shine to someone, it means good things, that’s what we’ve found so far. It means there’s something good in you.”

“Well… if anyone were going to see it… m’glad it’s the superhero.” Joyce smiled, gave him a gentle pat on the back that shouldn’t have been as comforting as it was, probably the overwhelming amount of mom energy she seemed to just radiate, “…do you know what they’re hiding from me?” Just as out of left field as her appearance beside him was, and it had at least some of the desired effect.

She looked surprised. She looked uncomfortable, she looked… like she knew.

“It’s nothing that you did, Eddie, I promise you. I think… I think they’re keeping it quiet because… if you did wind up remembering… the government would likely try and blame you, they’d have an excuse to blame you, the fact that you don’t, well I think that is what’s keeping you out of a lot of trouble.” It was keeping him safe. Keeping him out of the line of fire. Even if it was also keeping the people he’d tentatively begun thinking of as friends… out of reach. “They’re probably trying to avoid jogging that memory of yours for your own safety.”

“So there should be memories…” finally, some kind of clarity. While they’d all been nice to him, while they’d all been glad he was okay, nobody acting like he didn’t belong there, nobody being mean to him… Steve wouldn’t even help him unpack! He and Steve had been fine during the whole Vecna thing, they’d been okay, they’d laughed and joked, they’d gotten along, and now— “did I hurt Steve?”

“Not that I know of, he wouldn’t have told anyone if you did though, knowing him he’d be keeping it to himself to stop you from receiving the fury of The Children. So if you did, you’d have to pry that from him yourself.” Right… pry the knowledge from Steve. Okay, he could do that… if he could get Steve alone then maybe, just maybe, he could talk to him.

Steve was the only one who knew about his void, right? He was safe with Steve, he could talk to Steve. “I suppose I’ll speak to Steve then, thanks Mrs Byers”

“It’s Joyce, Eddie… you can call me Joyce.” He nodded, his smile small, but there.

“Eddie!” And there was the Supergirl, having left the bin to join them, taking his arm to pull him back with her toward Will “there are tapes you will like here. Will says you like Metal, I think I have found some, the name says Iron something, and I am certain that that is a metal.” Joyce offered him a smile, before releasing him from their conversation with a gentle shoo motion.

His attention switched to El as she pulled him along, and with a much bigger smile, he confirmed that “yeah, that’s a metal, Ellie, why don’t we find something for Max too, since I’m sure she could do with something other than Kate Bush by now” and gosh couldn’t that smile of hers just light up a whole goddamn room and make all those negative thoughts just disappear into the wind?

“Yes, I think so too.”

They dropped off the new tapes at the hospital on the way back to home base, the car fully loaded with clothes,it was intended to be a quick visit, Max was still asleep, so they didn’t plan to stay long, but Lucas was there beside her as usual, reading wonder woman comics to her as she slept. She’d wake up soon. The doctors said she would, and he’d be there when she did.

El added a new little woollen friendship bracelet to Max’s wrist, alongside the three others she’d already placed there through the week and whispered something to her, nobody caught what it was, nobody tried to. If El wanted everyone to know what she said, she’d have said it out loud.

It was Lucas who made him feel less like a piece of the background, just by smiling at him and asking him “you doin okay, Eddie?” Checking in with him.

“Feels like I need a montage to catch me up on what I’m missing but… yeah m’good man. Red likes Wonder Woman?”

“Mhm, big on the girl power, y’know? As if anyone could be tougher than her” as if anyone could be braver.

El was pretty damn special but… El could throw things with her mind, could snap all the bones in a human body with a thought, Max was just… Max, impossibly brave, but so very human.

“Princess Diana would bow at her feet, I have zero doubts. What about you though? You’ve barely left this place, can’t be good for you…”

“I’ll rest when she’s awake, she’d do the same for me. And before you say it don’t worry, I’m fully prepared to endure her attitude when she finds out how long I’ve been here. She can be mad at me all she wants, I’ll be here when she wakes up.”

“Good…. m’glad y-you’re… you’re prepared, stalker…”

Part 10

[findafight]

hi i'm the anon that sent the ask about someone telling joyce and oh my god it being hopper that says it is so good. i can totally see him doing that. i also love that you added steve finding out from murray bc that's always been my preferred hc for how steve would find out. murray saying something about it that's weird and out of pocket is him to a tee imo. poor steve i feel so bad for him in this au, at least hopper is on his side completely. ty for acknowledging how fucked up it is that nancy and jonathan but esp nancy never actually told steve. i wonder what she would've done/told him if steve hadn't bit the bullet and broken up w her.

Thank youuuu (love getting ask mwah) (also idk what to call the au) Listen I loooove Steve and Hopper accidentally adopting each other. In my brain Dustin talked up Steve's hair skills to El at the snowball and she gets all starry-eyed like he knows! Hair? :0 Dustin you have to convince Steve to come over to my house and help me with my hair and I will convince hop to let him come! I also need hair advice!! Hop barely has hair!! Which is how Steve gets a little sister pre S3 (like he always wanted) (he also gets max a bit later too godbless) (sibling collector lmao) Steve 100% calls Hop dad once without realizing and Hopper gets choked up and Steve's like you okay there?? And Hop has to go yeah yeah I'm finE so he doesn't embarrass Steve. That's the shit. (Also makes more Steve and El angst post S3 with hop gone and them being separated ;-;)

Hopper gets to be a jackass to on his kid's behalf and I think that's actually beautiful.

Oh, yeah. The more I've thought about it the more I feel like Steve has no clue Nancy cheated on him. We saw how he acted in S1 when he thought so and while S2 Steve wouldn't be so extreme, he'd definitely be crushed. And with S4...idk I don't think Steve knew about the cheating then. It just seems like he wouldn't. Want to go back after being cheated on? Or that he'd have some serious hang ups with Nancy. Even if he still loved her if he knew she slept with Jonathan, would he want to act on it? Also did he know they were still together? Does she mention Jonathan at all to anyone but Fred?

Also Murray. You bizarre jackass. Of COURSE it was him. He'd feel guilty about it because he totally thought Steve knew and he was just trying to be a dickhead but not like. Cruel. so it's awwwkwaaaard and not the fun kind he can manipulate just the sad kind that has Hopper glaring at him.

Yeah... I understand that the writers do not feel like Nancy cheated but I have eyes and media comprehension and know how relationships work and Nancy herself said she had Steve back home to Murray so. What else am I supposed to think. I get why Nancy and Jon don't interact with Steve after the Upside Down but like. Not even to apologize to him? Did Nancy's relationship with Steve mean so little to her? I do think she, at one point, did love Steve, or convinced herself of it and did care for him, but for her to drop him like a hot potato the second Jonathan gets the nerve to make a move (she said she waited a month for him before going back to a probably grovelling Steve [based on how desperate he was at the Byers' to apologize to Jon] and it's like Woah! Okay writers! What do you want us to believe about this relationship?!) So just. Why didn't she actually tell Steve what happened? Idk. Jon I kinda get he and Steve were love rivals and Jonathan is already awkward it probably would have been weird and also it wasn't his place to say! It should have been Nancy!

Honestly if Steve hadn't broken things off....idk. I don't think she necessarily would have continued with both of them, but I think Nancy tends to look for easy ways out of relationship hurdles. So. Maybe it would have festered for a few months, before Steve finally couldn't stand the tension and cut things off there. I don't actually think, based on what we've seen in the show, the scene between Nancy and Steve could have gone any different. Like. It should have. Nancy definitely could have acknowledged her role in the crumbling relationship, but I think Steve letting her go is a significant character beat for him. He chooses he's not going to hold onto someone who doesn't want to be with him. For me that's him trying to move past his issues from his parents and to continue to be better.

Yeah this au is not nice to poor Steve. He does have support! Robin and Eddie are both there and know everything, Hopper and El also know most stuff and are very worried about why he's so keen to leave the house all the time (he doesn't live there but he doesn't...not live there...) Buddy's got issues that will be heightened by all these things happening with Joyce!

[theshenami]

So, about the English localization of FF7 Rebirth's sector 5 scenes

Sorry, this is going to be a long one, but I had recently seen on Reddit that several people mentioned the English localization for several chapter 14 scenes can be rather misleading. I decided to play through the opening cutscenes again in Spanish, since several people noted that it matches the original Japanese script very closely, and I neither speak nor read Japanese. My objective going into to this was to better understand several of the conversations that left me scratching my head.

For example, when Sephiroth comments on Cloud having a functional piece of white materia in the forest, the English line "Very poor form" left many of us scratching our heads. However, in Spanish he says "he de castigarte por ello", which can be interpreted as "I have to punish you for that". The English script creates a HUGE misunderstanding, and completely obscures the clear foreshadowing in the Spanish dialogue. Also, in Aerith's house she says to a very confused Cloud: "we could call it a homecoming" vs "hemos vuelto al planeta" (we have returned to the planet). The latter strongly implies that they are in the Lifestream, which they seemed to have fallen into at the end of Chapter 13.

The "date scene" also has some key differences between English vs Spanish. Notably, when the photographer says "you don't look like you're on a date, more like at a funeral. just have fun while you can, huh", in Spanish he says "no crees que haceis mala pareja? tu novia esta a punto de llorar. No teneis quimica, y punto" (don't you think you make a bad couple? your girlfriend is about to cry. you don't have chemistry, period). I mean, come on, he's WAY more savage in the Spanish version, and a lot clearer about why they lost the contest! I think the other party members would agree with that last point if they had to compare Cloud x Tifa vs Cloud x Aerith interactions throughout the game, with the former having chemistry that jumps off the screen.

Finally, several points of the conversation in the church scene between Cloud and Aerith seem to be clearer in Spanish, which honestly had me confused several times in the English version. I break down the entire English vs Spanish exchange below, structured as English/Spanish (with English interpretation in parentheses). I also put in both Cloud's low and high affection responses for reference.

Cloud: This is it right, our spot? / Aqui es donde querias venir? (Is this where you wanted to come?)

Aerith: Bingo / Has acertado (You got it)

Cloud: That was easy / Era obvio (It was obvious)

Aerith: I told you it was obvious / Eso es porque tenemos pocos recuerdos juntos (That's because we have too few memories)

Cloud: Well, you'll have to give me a harder one next time / Con el tiempo tendremos mas (We can make some more in the future)

Aerith: Oh, next time? / Eso es lo que quieres (Is that what you want?)

Cloud, low affection: Yeah, why not / Eso hacen los amigos, no (that's what friends do, right)

Cloud, high affection: Yeah, next time / Si, sin duda (Yes, definitely)

Aerith: At least I know now, where you and I stand, I mean. Thing is Cloud, I really like you. / Es un alivio saber lo que sientes (I'm relieved to know how you feel). Yo... te quiero (I... love you).

Aerith: But then, "like" can mean a lot of different things, can't it. Cause there's liking, and there's "liking. / Pero hay muchas formas de quere a alguien (But there are many ways to love someone). A cual crees que me refiero (Which one do you think I mean)?

Cloud: Seriously, what's going on? You've been weird all day. / Aeris, estas muy rara (Aeris, you are acting strange). Llevas todo el dia rara (You've been weird all day).

Aerith: I'm sorry / Permiteme un capricho ("Allow me to have a treat" is the literal translation, but it likely means "grant my strange/unusual wish" in this context).

Aerith: Whatever happens, don't blame yourself / Basta de sentirse culpable (Stop feeling guilty).

Aerith: Cloud, thank you / Cloud, ayudame (I need your help).

Aerith: Sorry, I'll be okay / Olvidalo, no he dicho nada (Forget I said anything).

She hands him the white materia, Cloud seems confused, and then:

Aerith: This isn't about me though, it's about saving the world, and you / Estoy segura de que esta materia salvara el mundo (I'm sure this materia will save the world).

Cloud then gets pushed into the rainbow light and, scene.

Much of the dialogue is the same between languages, but several points are clearer in Spanish: asking for Cloud to grant her wish before hugging him instead of abruptly apologizing first; telling him to stop feeling guilty (which alludes to his internal story arc); and telling him she needs his help before handing him the White materia vs "thank you" in the English script.

It is worth noting that the whole "te quiero" (i.e. I love you) part can be a bit misleading. In Spanish there are actually two ways to say "I love you": te quiero and te amo. The former is typically used in a more casual way such as for close friends or members of your extended family, and in some contexts can be interpreted as "I like you", which matches the English script. The latter "te amo" is typically meant to express "I'm in love with you" for romantic partners or deep love for close family members (such as your parents, siblings or children). So the Spanish dialogue seems to suggest that Aerith doesn't have overtly romantic feelings for Cloud. Side note, in Gongaga when Cloud asks if she still loves Zack, she simply replies "Si, aun le quiero" (yes, I still love him) in Spanish vs "Maybe, he's never given me a reason not to" in English. Again, the Spanish is so much clearer!

The differences that I thought changed the meaning of their dialogue the most are the English parts that mention "our spot", and the saving the world bits. For "our spot", in Spanish Cloud merely states the church is where she wanted to come, and does not refer to it as "our place" (nuestro sitio) like Aerith does prior to the church scene, which removes some of the confusion I had since it is not technically "their spot" (they first met on the Sector 8 plate, which she even reminds him of in Junon), but rather hers and Zack's. The change in the saving the world part also changes the subtext quite a bit, since the English version led some to believe that she was implying she could fill Tifa's role in the Lifestream sequence (i.e. be heroine of the inner plot), whereas the Spanish version places her focus entirely on being the heroine of the outer plot.

This analysis really makes me see these scenes in a whole new light (especially that photographer one, it's priceless in Spanish), as it makes them both clearer and more tragic. Now I really want to replay the entire game in Spanish, to see whether any other instances exist where the English is just too ambiguous compared to the Spanish, and hence the Japanese by association.

[brawlina]

For the headcanons, how about Edgar?

Oh boy! One of my favorite characters! ... To write and HC about. I'm not very good with close-ranged brawlers.

Edgar HCs

Quick thing before I get into the bulk of things. I will not be putting any ship headcanons here. I have plenty of HCs without counting them so I'd probably make another post for it instead.

Edgar has always been involved in the park in some way. He's got family in the higher ups with his mother being the CEO of the whole thing. He was fairly confident that at some point HE would become the CEO of Starr Park and of Brawl Stars

He often gets into fights with his mother about his lifestyle choices and attitude (aka. being emo). At some point, these fights somehow ended up with Edgar being both a brawler and a gift shop employee. Probably to try and get him to change.

Edgar was ecstatic to be a brawler cause he thinks the fights are really cool, but he hates the fact that he had to work in the shop as well to keep that position.

Edgar unfortunately plays the straight man to both Colette and Griff's shenanigans.

Actually he ends up playing the straight man to a lot of things because he just keeps geting wrapped up in other brawler projects.

He complains about it but thats just because hes a drama queen. He does enjoy himself a lot, though he wont admit it to keep up with his persona.

He unfortunately knows a lot about the Brawl Stars fandom culture because Colette just wouldn't shut up about it.

Edgar ends up being the fall guy for Griff when he disappears to escape his poor financial choices. Alas, he doesn't have the power to get his boss fired.

He's the Number 1 Bad Randoms Fan. He personally fought Colette for that title. He knows all their songs by heart and even made their band shirt part of his normal wear.

He has actually played for them a few times, mostly as a back up drummer when Stu is unavailable. He loves it when it happens. He thinks this is what Colette must feel like all the time.

Edgar can play the Drums and Bass, though he prefers drums.

He bonds a lot with Poco because of the slight overlap in the Bad randoms and their music. This is why he also gets along well with Draco.

He and Fang have a mutual and healthy rivalry. Though sometimes they both think the other is a little stupid.

He admires El Primo but would rather die than admit that out loud.

Has complicated feelings for Belle and Byron as some weird Auntie and Uncle situations. (Might Elaborate in another thing)

Actually a big comic book fan, though hes not as loud and proud of it as he is with the Bad Randoms thing.

Finds Breakcore oddly relaxing and will even nap to it if given a chance. This is goes well with Colette feeling creatively inspired by Breakcore, so they can spend their break times blasting this music and doing their own thing. Griff hates this a lot.

While Edgar can will his scarf to move however he wants, it can sometimes act out, raging while Edgar maintains an aloof facade. Probably acting out what he truly feels.

His scarf arms are strong enough to hold him up, so sometimes he uses that to help get over large crowds.

He wants to get tattoos, but hes still deciding what he actually wants on him.

He finds all the undead Brawlers cool and sometimes wonders how he'd look undead.

He can eat super spicy food and drink super bitter coffee without flinching. However, sour things are his weakness he will shrivel up like a raisin-

[therainscene]

I’ve been rolling the Mike thinks Will is in love with El theory around in my head some more. I like it, but it’s not without its flaws.

One especially damning counter-argument a few folks have brought up is that Mike heard Will refer to himself as El’s brother at the police station:

Will’s line contrasts Jonathan’s earlier “I’m her brother... uh, step-brother...”, indicating that Will has fully embraced her as family where Jon doesn’t quite see her that way yet.

It’s a great point. The only justification I’ve seen for it is that Mike wasn’t put off from kissing El after he’d already implied he wanted to be her brother... but that doesn’t wash with me. Just because he had no idea how to reconcile his feelings with heteronormative expectations at 12 doesn’t mean he's still clueless at 15.

So let’s give him some credit and try a different angle: When we step outside of the Byers POV, Will’s line is actually quite ambiguous.

The unsympathetic receptionist refused to let them see El on the grounds they weren’t a parent or legal guardian, so Will jumped in with an argument he hoped would win her over: we’re her legal next of kin. He’s just saying whatever he thinks will grant them access to El -- there’s no reason it has to be reflective of his true feelings.

After all, it’s not as though Will “be gay do crime” Byers has any qualms about being dishonest with authorities when it suits him.

Mike was present for both of the above moments, so he definitely knows this about Will. And this is only one piece of evidence amongst many -- the rest of it is undeniably suggesting that Will’s in love with one half of Milevn:

Will’s been acting weird in a likes-someone way around El;

Will sulked at Rink-o-Mania over getting third-wheeled by Milevn and rarely took his eyes off El;

Will is always eager to talk about El and brings her up in conversations with Mike more than Mike does;

Will hinted that he was hiding an uncomfortable secret from Mike in the scrapyard heart-to-heart;

Will is the more trustworthy party in the “maybe it is for [someone he likes]”/“El commissioned it” painting lie conflict;

Will was on the verge of tears the whole time he was pushing Mike back into El’s arms in the van and the pizzeria.

It’s obvious to the audience what conclusion to draw here because we had the benefit of seeing it all through Will’s sad gay puppy eyes...

...But Mike is forced to assess the evidence through his own biased POV.

This kid has severe self-worth issues, which are tied up in his feelings for El, which are in turn tied up in heteronormativity. It’s also been hinted that he has depression -- messy room, slipping grades, parallels with Max -- an illness that’s notorious for twisting your thought processes into the most pessimistic directions possible.

So while Mike may very well suspect the truth, I’m not sure he’s in the right headspace to accept it. There’s a good chance he’s torn between the two interpretations:

Will likes El: Mike is forced to choose between making Will happy vs. holding on to the one thing that makes him feel like he has value. But he can tell that El doesn’t need him anymore, and he couldn’t live with himself if he hurt Will... after all, aren’t a straight boy’s feelings more important than some pathetic queer who’s lying to himself?

Will likes Mike: Mike gets to make Will happy and he gets to make himself happy. Letting go of El might be difficult, but he knows she’ll be fine without him, and Will has already proven that his unbridled love can help Mike see his inherent self-worth -- a much healthier approach than tying his self-worth up in being someone’s boyfriend.

The first interpretation reinforces Mike’s heteronormative beliefs and ensures he continues to feel worthless, whereas the second allows him to feel hope that things can get better.

Which interpretation would a depressed brain find more appealing? Or, more to the point, since Stranger Things tends to explore these struggles through metaphor--

--which interpretation would give Mr. Everyone-is-Just-Waiting-For-it-All-To-Be-Over an opportunity to break through Mike’s defenses?