#McFly’s here forever

[katyaowu]

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McFly’s here forever

[its-flame-art]

“wait a minute. wait a minute, Doc. ah... are you telling me that you built a time machine...out of a DeLorean?”

[timechange]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 — pepsi free.

88 (1989)

1:15 AM

Sunshine Girl

Recent History

Strangerland

Erasure

Continuum

Wipe Out

In Flux

FUTURE BOY (1991)

Lightning

Goofy Foot

No Roads, All Roads

Unheard

Lost Memory

Lovestruck

Second Chance, California

City Limits

[chrisbitchtree]

Time After Time

Now that the names have been revealed, here's my fic for the Harringrove Holiday Exchange 2022!

You can also read it on AO3 here!

***

December 31st, 1985. New Year’s Eve. One of the biggest party days of the entire year, and for the first time in Steve’s recent memory, he had no wild, over the top plans for the evening ahead. No parties to throw or attend, no clear indication that his night would end up with him buried inside a female classmate, whispering lust filled lies into her ear, or puking his guts out in someone’s parent’s rosebushes, both of which had happened on New Year’s Eve in the past, sometimes on the same night.

Most of his former Hawkins High classmates were home for the winter holidays, and once word had spread that the former king of Hawkins High was working at Family Video, they’d all stopped by to gawk and rub their fancy college educations in his face, but none had deemed their former King Steve worthy of an invite to the parties he knew they were throwing.

So no, Steve would not be seeking out any action that night. His plans for the evening were to finish up his hectic closing shift at Family Video, helping families make last minute selections for movie nights, and then pick up Robin and a large pizza so they could head back to his place and drink cheap champagne and watch a movie marathon of their own on the giant TV in his parents’ den. He looked forward to finally watching Back to the Future while not fucked up on Russian truth serum.

***

The night was great. He had a ton of fun with Robin, as he always did, talking shit about his former and her current classmates, bemoaning their pathetic lack of love lives, and guzzling cheap champagne while wearing the party hats and blowing on the noisemakers she’d bought, plus, he’d loved the adventures of Marty McFly even more the second, much more lucid, time around.

He let Robin paint his nails and put eyeshadow on him, like she always begged him to let her do, once they’d cracked open the drinks and he’d had a few glasses. She cooed over how beautiful he looked, laughing as she took Polaroids of his new look.  At 11:50pm, they’d flipped over to the live feed of the ball drop, in Times Square. At 11:59pm, Tears for Fears ended their set, and the countdown started.

His arm around Robin’s shoulder, Steve envisioned a fresh start for everyone involved in Starcourt. A chance to leave everything that had happened this year behind and lead normal lives for the first time in what felt like forever. It had been a difficult seven months since everything had happened, since they’d watched Billy Hargrove die right in front of them. He’d personally never been a fan of Hargrove, but he’d saved their lives that day, and a mix of guilt and sadness washed over Steve every time he thought about the other boy and the life he’d missed out on.

Just as they were about to join the crowd in shouting “Happy New Year!”, the live broadcast was replaced with an infomercial, a smiling woman with big blond hair listing the features of the newest model of Dustbuster.

Steve and Robin looked at each other in confusion, but they didn’t really think much of it. There must have been a glitch in the feed, and they’d had to replace it with something at the very last second. They played a few rounds of cards as they finished off the last of the champagne, then Steve supported Robin’s drunken form as she made her way into the guest bedroom. Tucking the blankets around her, he said a silent thanks for the addition of her to his life that year. He really didn’t know what he would do without her.

All seemed well as he went back downstairs and made sure the doors were all locked and changed the calendar over to the new 1986 one that his mother had left out on the counter, then shucked his jeans and sweater, leaving himself in just his underwear and a t-shirt to sleep in. Cocooned in his fluffy duvet, he found that sleep came to him easily, and he nodded off thinking of the year ahead, hoping that with help from Robin and Dustin, he’d be able to get into, at best state college, and at worst, register for some classes at a community college while he figured his shit out.

***

The first sign that something was off came as he was making breakfast for Robin and himself the next morning. Wanting to let her sleep, he’d walked silently past the guest room, quietly pulling out a pan and mixing up pancake batter. Looking for company as he cooked, he turned the radio his mom kept on the counter on low.

“It’s 9am on December 30th…” the radio host shouted. Steve almost spilled the batter as he turned and looked at the radio, sure he’d misheard, or the DJ had said the wrong thing. He shook his head, returning to the task at hand, flipping bacon and digging through the cupboard and fridge to see what he could put in the pancakes.

He went to wake Robin so he could ask her if she wanted raspberries or chocolate chips, but found the guest bedroom empty, the bed completely untouched. He glanced at the ensuite bathroom, but found the door open and the light off, no Robin in sight. Maybe she’d woken early and headed to the living room or ditched him and went home to sleep off her hangover in peace.

When he didn’t find her there, he walked back to the kitchen and picked up the phone, intending to dial her home number, hoping to find her there without arousing suspicion in her parents. They already weren’t big fans of Steve’s, as they assumed that he was Robin’s older, deadbeat boyfriend, not just her trusted confident and best friend.

As he was about to pick up the phone and dial, he noticed that the calendar was still set to December 1985, all the days crossed off except the 30th and 31st. That was odd, he was sure that he’d put up the new one his mother had left out before he’d gone to bed the night before. He turned, finding the 1986 one laying on the counter where his mother had left it.

Before he could give any more thought to it, the phone started to ring. “Harrington residence, Steven speaking,” he greeted the caller, as instructed by his mother at an early age.

“Hey Steve,” Dustin replied, sounding, in retrospect, way too casual for the words that were about to leave his mouth. “I think we have a problem. As you may or may not have noticed, we seem to be going back in time.”

He dropped the phone in shock, needing a moment to think things over before he could respond. So, this wasn’t just a weird dream, or if it was, he wasn’t the only one having it. It was upsetting and strangely comforting at the exact same time. A third option, one involving Dustin paying off the radio host to say the wrong date and breaking into Steve’s house to switch back the calendar flitted briefly through his head, but even for Henderson, who lived for playing tricks on Steve, that would be a lot, and a big chunk out of the allowance that he was putting aside to save for a new telescope, so Steve chose to believe him for the time being.

He picked the phone back up and let Dustin explain that they weren’t the only two experiencing this. He’d already spoken to Lucas and Will, who reported similar disruptions to the countdown the night before, and they were calling Mike and Max while Dustin spoke to Steve.

They agreed that everyone would meet at Steve’s in an hour, and then Steve let Dustin go so he could call Robin. Again, the phone rang before he could pick it up to dial. Before he could even greet the caller, Robin was shouting into his ear.

“Have you talked to Keith today, Steve? I think he’s going nuts. He just called me and asked me why I wasn’t there to open the store at 9, but it’s New Year’s Day! We’re closed, but he’s trying to tell me that it’s the 30th! Also, do you remember driving me home last night? I woke up in my own bed, and I don’t remember how I got there, and I’m really hoping that you don’t tell me you drove drunk. You didn’t, did you?”

When she finally paused to take a breath, Steve cut in, explaining what everyone else had experienced, telling her to go to work and act as if everything was normal, and that he’d fill her in later.

Seemingly unsure of how to reply, Robin had let him go, telling him in a shaky voice that she’d do that.

The third call came minutes later, as Steve was still trying to wrap his head around what was happening.

“Hello, Harrington residence, Steven speaking.”

“Uh, hi Steve, it’s Max?” Max whispered into the phone. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I just heard a knock on my window a few minutes ago, and when I looked, Billy was standing there.” She sounded like she’d been crying, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

“You know, Max,” Steve sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand. “That’s not actually the craziest thing that’s happened today.”

***

Less than an hour later, the entire party and a seemingly alive Billy Hargrove were sitting around his living room. Before Steve could say anything, Hargrove was squinting at him.

“Are you wearing eyeshadow, Harrington? And are your nails painted? What have you been getting up to since I died?”

“You show up, out of the blue, since months after you died, and what you want to talk about is why I’m wearing eyeshadow?”

Billy gave him a look, motioning to Steve to answer.

Steve could already feel a headache coming on. “Robin came over last night…” Billy promptly cut him off.

“Oh, that’s the kind of kinky shit you and your girl do together.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Steve had half a mind to punch him, but took a deep, calming breath instead.

Max punched Billy in the arm, and he gave her a look, but thankfully, he shut up.

“So,” Steve said, “are you going to tell us what exactly happened here? Last time we saw you, you were laying dead on the floor of the mall with a hole through your chest.”

“Like I Max earlier,” Billy replied, “I don’t know what happened. I opened my eyes, and I was laying in the snow in the middle of the woods out near the quarry. No clue how I got there.”

Before long, they were all arguing about why they were going back in time, and what the reason was for Billy’s return.

The one thing they could all agree on was that it had to be connected to the Upside Down in some way. There was no way that it could be just a weird coincidence that they were seemingly the only ones that were going back in time. Judging by Keith’s reaction to Robin not showing up for work, they could only assume that no one else had been sucked into it.

From his seat on the corner of the large sectional, Will piped up. “We need to make a plan to defeat the Mindflayer, if it even is the Mindflayer this time and not something stronger this time around.”

“Haven’t we had enough heroics?” Billy sighed from his position standing with his arms crossed. “What is this thing’s obsession with us? Was getting possessed, stabbed, and dying for half a year not enough?”

Steve was not in the mood for Billy’s shit right now. He’d been looking forward to leaving this all behind, and knew it was the same for everyone else. “No, Hargrove” Steve replied, shaking his head. “We can’t just ignore that thing. You’ve seen firsthand what it’s capable of. We need to shut that shit down, and we need to do it as soon as possible.”

“And who put you in charge, princess?” Billy challenged, advancing on Steve, a sneer on his face.

Steve put his hands up in mock surrender. “Woah, Hargrove. No one put me in charge, but someone has to take the lead on this. Believe me when I say I know no one wants to deal with this thing again, but for better or for worse, we’ve clearly been summoned to deal with this thing again, and I’m not going to have the death of a bunch of residents of Hawkins on my conscience. I couldn’t imagine.”

Steve regretted the words as they were leaving his mouth. Hargrove’s lips quivered momentarily, and his face went uncharacteristically pale before he could steel his expression into something meaner.

The blond boy turned and started walking out of the room, towards the front door, Max hot on his heels, glaring at Steve over her shoulder. Steve moved to stop him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Billy…” he started, but Hargrove twisted out of Steve’s hold.

“Don’t you dare fucking talk to me about this again, Harrington. You’re right. You can never even imagine how it felt to know that I was responsible for all those people dying. Whatever your stupid little plan is, I want no part in it. Understand?”

Steve nodded, dumbstruck, watching Max and Billy walk out the door. Hopper followed with El, probably to give Billy and Max a ride home. There wasn’t anything else Steve could do at the moment other than go back in there and try to beg for forgiveness from Billy and Max later. He had bigger fish to fry right now.

Thankfully, in his absence, the others had started back up their theorizing and plotting, Dustin writing everything down as quickly as he could in a notebook he had open on his lap. They all politely ignored what had just happened. Try as they might though, they didn’t really get much accomplished before Steve had to head into work. If the Mindflayer wanted to fuck with them, then where was it? It had never been shy about showing up in Hawkins before.

***

When he got to Family Video, Steve gave Robin the rundown on everything that had happened at their meeting, and with Billy and Max. She agreed that it was best to try to let the Billy situation blow over a bit before he approached the blond again. Robin stayed his whole shift, and between customers, they tried to keep plotting, but they didn’t come up with much either.

At about 8pm, Hopper called to report that he had Billy at his house for the night, away from prying eyes, and that he’d done a sweep of the town with Will and El in tow, and neither of them had been able to sense anything Upside Down related going on, but they all agreed to keep their eyes and ears open for anything suspicious.

***

The next morning, as soon as he woke up, Steve raced downstairs, heart sinking when he saw that the old calendar was up, December 1985 on display. The 29th was now uncrossed too. So, it wasn’t a bad dream. They were really going back in time.

He made himself a plate of toast and a cup of coffee and sat, waiting for everyone to arrive. He barely touched his food, sick to his stomach with the thought of how far back in time they might go. Were they going to land on July 4th? Why? Or would it go back even earlier. Maybe they would have a chance to keep Billy from getting possessed at all.

At half past nine, his doorbell started to ring, and before long, everyone was again assembled in his living room.

Steve’s mind was racing. Thankfully, he had that day off, but he was going to have to sneak into the filing cabinet in the back office of Family Video, the one where Keith kept a binder with all of the past schedules, so that he could write down when he was supposed to have worked every day since he and Robin had been hired in early October. If they were going to make this work, they were going to all have to make it look like they were moving forwards in time, just like everyone else.

“So, Harrington, how am I supposed to believe this isn’t some stupid prank? I had enough of that thing the first time around, so if this is a prank, it isn’t a very funny one. I’m supposed to be getting out of Hawkins, not getting more deeply entrenched in it.” He muttered the last phrase, ducking his head and shaking it.

Steve couldn’t help but pity him.

***

In the end, after a lot of discussion, it was decided that the only thing they could do was try to live their lives as normally as they could, just in reverse. They would all go to school and/or work per usual and try not to worry about the impending doom.

The biggest issue was Billy. Max couldn’t exactly bring him home with her, and Hop’s cabin was barely big enough for him and El, let alone a third, fully grown, almost adult person.

Everyone turned to Steve. Fuck fuck fuck. He had no reason that Billy couldn’t stay here. “Fine,” he sighed. “You can stay here, Hargrove, but no snooping through my shit, no messing with me. This is just a place for you to hide out.”

“Got it, boss,” Billy saluted him, smiling for the first time all morning.

In the end, it was decided that Billy would start living at Steve’s on the 23rd of December, since his parents would be home for Christmas. At least he had a weeklong reprieve.

This was going to be so much fun.

***

Hopper dropped Billy off at 12pm on the 23rd. Steve showed Billy to the spare bedroom, helping him carry up his bags up. When he opened the door, Billy promptly flopped onto the bed, making a mess of the blankets and neat arrangement of pillows. “Nice digs you got here, Harrington. Fancier than any hotel I’ve ever been to. And mommy and daddy just let you have it all to yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get used to it.” Steve replied before it registered what he’d said. “Fuck, Hargrove. Sorry.”

Billy waved him off. “I’m choosing to be optimistic. I survived this once; I can do it again.” Only the slight waver in his voice betrayed his confident tone.

“That’s good.” Steve nodded, proceeding to show him the guest bathroom to cut the awkwardness.

***

For the first couple weeks, Billy was quiet. He mostly kept to himself, never inhabiting the same space as Steve. He ate his meals earlier or later than Steve, always washing and drying his dishes and putting them away right away, the fact that he’d left the guest bedroom at all only evidenced by the food disappearing from the fridge and cupboards at a faster rate than usual.

Steve could hear him watching movies in his room at night, the closed door muffling the sound. Curious about the kinds of movies Billy was into, Steve made it a habit to see which slot in his family’s vast movie collection was empty, then check to see which one it was the following morning when it was returned.

Animal House, Caddyshack and Ghostbusters had all been recent selections, which surprised Steve. He hadn’t taken Billy for a comedy fan, picturing him frowning at Full Metal Jacket or the Godfather. Maybe they had a bit more in common than Steve thought.

He was also a neat housemate, which Steve was thankful for, since he wasn’t exactly one to keep a super tidy house. Steve did the shopping and yard work, since Billy couldn’t go outside, and in return, Billy swept and mopped, and Steve was pretty sure he’d even scrubbed the toilets one day while Steve had been out at work.

Eventually, Billy started leaving his room sometimes when Steve was home, and it felt less like he was living with a really tidy ghost. He didn’t really talk, but he’d go out to the living room and watch TV with Steve sometimes while he ate dinner after work. They’d laugh at MASH reruns, get sucked into shitty late night B movies.

One night, while they were sitting on the couch, Hargrove pulled out a baggie of joints and a lighter, holding them out to Steve. Where the hell had he even gotten those? Steve was afraid to ask. “Wanna get high?” He asked, flicking the lighter.

“No smoking in the living room,” Steve said automatically and very loudly, his voice echoing in the cavernous room. Billy lowered the lighter, looking momentarily stricken.

“Sorry,” Steve followed up quickly. “It’s just that my mom would kill me if she came home, and her couch smelled like smoke. Come with me.” He motioned for Billy to follow him, grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge, then heading up to his bedroom.

They walked silently up to his room, Steve trying to picture if there was anything like dirty boxers or lube strewn about for Billy to see. Thankfully, he didn’t think so. He’d cleaned up pretty well the day before.

They flopped down on the bed and Billy pulled the baggie and his lighter back out. Steve slid the window open so the room wouldn’t reek as bad after they were done and accepted the joint when Billy handed it to him, handing him a beer in return.

It wasn’t long before they were completely mellowed out, both laying back, Steve laying opposite of Billy, trying to resist the urge to poke him in the head with his socked feet.

“So,” Billy asked, finally breaking the silence, “are you ready to potentially get your ass kicked by Russians again?”

Steve ran a hand through his already sleep mussed hair, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. This wasn’t something that he talked about a lot, and he was honestly surprised that Billy knew.

“Max told me,” Billy said, reading Steve’s mind. “She likes to remind me that I wasn’t the only one that went through hell that day.”

Steve took a sip of his beer, then let out a long exhale. “Not really. There’s a pretty constant ringing in my right ear, and they were worried there might be permanent brain damage. As if I’m not already enough of an idiot, now I’m brain damaged.”

Billy poked him in the leg. “Don’t talk about yourself like that, Harrington. It’s not the first time I’ve heard you say that, and it’s not a good look. If you call yourself stupid, it’s basically inviting other people to call you stupid. I know you act like an idiot, but you’re not dumb.”

Huh. Billy Hargrove being nice. The world really was backwards. He didn’t know how to reply to that, so he just passed the joint back to Billy and laid back, closing his eyes, enjoying the high and the companionable silence.

***

After that night, it was like a dam had broken, and they started spending more time together. Sometimes, when Steve would come home from work, Billy would have dinner waiting for him, and they’d eat together before moving to the living room to watch a movie while they folded laundry or play boardgames from Steve’s massive collection.

Billy was great at Scrabble and Steve dominated at Yahtzee, although Billy argued that you couldn’t really win a game based so purely on luck. After a game of Monopoly that had turned into a shouting match where Steve, in one of his admittedly lower moments had flipped the board and left the room, they’d decided to retire that one for a while. They’d also gotten really into card games, although Steve balked at Billy’s suggestion that they play strip poker.

***

As soon as they’d gotten comfortable with that nightly routine, it changed again, as they hit the day before Steve had been hired at Family Video. With no job to go to, his schedule was wide open. He’d sleep in until noon unless it was a day where Billy cajoled him into working out with him.

Steve had unearthed the set of weights that had been long collecting dust in the basement, originally purchased during one of his father’s brief health nut phases. Billy made good use of them, slowly putting back on the muscle mass he’d lost during the months after Starcourt, and Steve, more to shut Billy up than anything else, lifted a lighter set.

He’d always preferred cardio, personally, but he’d learned quickly that sometimes it was better to just do what Billy asked than to hear his bitching about it, whether it was weights or the benefits of eating salad or getting eight hours of sleep. Steve hated to admit that physically, he was feeling better than he had in years.

***

As they moved back into late August and the kids were off school, they started spending more time at Steve’s as well. They were all well aware of Steve’s fear of using the pool after what had happened to Barb, but that didn’t stop the kids from showing up almost daily for a swim.

It was decided that the fenced in yard was secluded enough for Billy to come out as well, so most of afternoons were spent out there, the kids playing Marco Polo, Steve working on his tan, and Billy alternating between hanging out with Steve and hovering around the edge of the pool, sticking his legs in, still uncomfortable around the kids besides Max and El.

Sometimes everyone, including Nancy and Jonathan and Hopper and Joyce would come over, and they’d have a BBQ, the kids giving themselves stomach aches from hot dog eating contests, and everyone ending the night sucking on popsicles, lounging around on the lawn furniture, lazy and tired from too much sun.

***

Somewhere between the evenings spent out in the yard and the nights spent getting high with Billy, laying back, pressed together side by side, on Steve’s bed, talking about anything and everything between hits, Steve inexplicably found himself falling for Billy. What had caused it, Steve had no clue, but now he couldn’t get the blond out of his head.

He’d find his eyes lingering on Hargrove’s cherry red lips, or the constellation of freckles on his cheeks and shoulders, made even more noticeable by the time he spent out in the summer sun. He’d get a little swoosh in his belly every time he made Billy laugh, not just a polite laugh, but one from deep in his gut, loud and silly and genuine, like he was showing his real self to Steve a little bit more each day.

He’d walk into the kitchen, his hair still mussed from sleep, rubbing his eyes, grumbling about needing coffee right now, and Steve found himself wanting to bury his hands deep in Billy’s hair, pull him in close, and kiss the grumpy little frown off his face.

He also found Billy looking at him a lot, but it was hard to tell if he was checking Steve out, or just trying to figure out why Steve was spending seemingly all his time looking at him.

The night that almost sent Steve over the edge was one evening that was uncharacteristically cool and rainy for August. Everyone had stayed home for once, except Robin, but she’d left a couple of hours before, so it was just Billy and Steve lounging around on the couch. Billy had his feet in Steve’s lap, and they were watching Jeopardy, trying to beat each other to the answers.

When the episode was done, Billy turned to him. “Wanna go out to the hot tub? At least it’s covered, so we won’t get rained on, and these weary bones could use a soak.” In lieu of swimming in the pool, Billy had gone extra hard on the weights that morning.

Steve nodded, and in a flash, Billy was pulling down his shorts, and Jesus, he wasn’t even wearing underwear, he walked towards the patio door. Steve didn’t even know where to look.

“Hargrove!” he sputtered. “You know for a fact that I have extra swim trunks that you can use.”

Billy just waved him off, telling him to bring beer and towels. “There’s no point, Harrington. It’s only you and me, and it’s not like it’s anything you haven’t seen before.”

Steve took a moment to compose himself and will his dick to go down, and by the time he’d changed and grabbed the requested towels and beers, he found Billy shoulder deep in the bubbling water.

“Are you always this free?” Steve asked, his cheeks heating.

Billy shrugged. “Like I said, nothing you haven’t seen in the changerooms before.”

“I guess,” Steve said, sighing. “But this is different. It’s up close and personal.”

Billy cackled, starting to stand. “I can get a little more up close and personal if you’d like, princess.”

Steve pulled him down by the arm, already exasperated. “Sit the fuck down and drink your beer.”

Billy’s laughter rang clear in the night, and Steve closed his eyes, trying to commit the sound to memory.

***

One evening, after Dustin had demanded some one-on-one time with Steve, he’d relented, even though it was taking away from the precious time he had left with Billy. They were only a month away from July 4th at this point, and Steve wanted to spend every moment that he could. Max had requested some time with Billy though, so Steve had taken Dustin out to the diner for dinner.

After confirming that Steve would be paying, Dustin ordered a double cheeseburger, cheese fries, and a milkshake. He was pretty sure that Dustin had mentioned being lactose intolerant once, so he made a mental note not to keep him out too late. Mrs. Henderson could deal with the upset stomach that was sure to come.

Dustin wasted no time, cutting to the chase as soon as the waitress had walked away to put in their order. “So, what’s up with you and Billy spending all of your time together?”

“Dude,” Steve replied, trying to sound casual. “He literally lives down the hall from me. What am I supposed to do, ignore him?”

Dustin nodded. “Yes. Do exactly that. He’s an asshole, Steve. You know this, I know this. Your house was just supposed to be a place for him to lie low, but every time I try to hang out with you lately, you’re too busy because you’re hanging out with him.”

“Dustin, my man,” Steve replied, patting his shoulder. “Someday, you’re going to learn about a little something called empathy. Have you ever thought that maybe Billy’s a scared kid, just like we are? Everyone handles their emotions differently, and the sooner you learn that the better.”

Dustin waved him off. “Nah, I think he’s just a jackass, and you’re just being brainwashed.”

By then, the food was arriving. “How about we just agree to disagree?” he asked, holding up his own milkshake. Dustin clinked his against Steve’s, and Billy seemingly forgotten for the time being, Dustin launched into a story about his latest physics experiment.

***

When Steve got home, Max’s bike was no longer leaning against the garage and her shoes weren’t inside the door, so Steve assumes she headed home already.

He didn’t see Billy in the living room or kitchen, and he wasn’t out on the back deck having a smoke, so he called up the stairs.

“Billy?”

“Up here, princess!” Billy replied. “Bring beer!”

Steve rolled his eyes, but did as he was asked, grabbing two cold bottles from the fridge before heading up the stairs. When he got to his room, he found Billy laying on his bed, holding up the December 1985 issue of Playboy. Steve could feel his face immediately start to heat.

“Classy, Harrington,” he laughed, waving the magazine.

Steve was mortified. Of course, that had to be out, tucked under the corner of Steve’s pillow for the other boy to find. It wasn’t even something he usually bought himself, and this issue had been a gag Christmas present from Robin, handed to him with an assortment of candy and the newest Tears for Fears tape when they’d exchanged gifts behind the counter of Family Video during their closing shift on Christmas Eve.

She’d told him that she wanted to cheer him up during his dry spell, and Steve had tried to hand it right back, muttering about Robin’s dry spell, but she’d countered that it couldn’t really count as a dry spell if she’d never seen any action before. He had to concede that she was right, but that hadn’t stopped him from trying to roll it up and drop it in her backpack when they’d closed for the night. She’d caught him and forced him to take it home, and they’d spent the ensuing months sneaking it back and forth.

He thought he’d finally won when he’d slipped it under a pile of records in Robin’s bedroom when he’d been over at her house two days before, but she’d clearly found it and returned it to him.

He tried to snatch it out of Billy’s hands, but Hargrove wasn’t having it. He jumped off the bed, running out into the hallway. “Let’s see who Stevie’s favourite is. Any pages stuck together? I see Carol Ficatier’s picture got some loving!”

Fucking Robin. One night, in a fit of giggles, she’d coated her lips in Steve’s mom’s bright red lipstick and pressed a kiss to the model’s photo.

Even though Steve knew that Billy knew it wasn’t him that had done it, it didn’t stop him from chasing Billy out into the hall. But even though Steve was taller by about an inch, Hargrove managed to hold it up out of Steve’s reach. He dashed back into Steve’s room and Steve got in the door just in time to see Billy hop up on the bed and start jumping, his head thrown back in laughter.

Steve jumped up on the bed with him, but Billy bounced away from him, eventually losing his balance and flopping down on the mattress.

Steve lost his balance too and came crashing down on top of Billy. Their faces were inches apart, so close they could kiss.

Billy looked down at Steve’s lips, and he was sure the blond was going to take leap, but instead, he leaned back and asked, “Is that what you’re into?”

Steve blinked, confused. “What am I into?”

Billy waved the magazine. “Brunettes. Is that your type? Pretty little brunettes?”

“No,” Steve replied, not breaking eye contact with Billy as he shook his head. “I’m more into blondes. Stocky, freckled, and the more bite the better.”

Before Steve could even process what he’d just said, Billy’s lips were on his, and there was a hand fisted in his hair.

Steve’s brain went offline for a minute before he snapped back into it, cupping a hand on Billy’s jaw, rubbing a thumb over the prickly stubble he found there. Holy shit, he was kissing Billy Hargrove.

Every nerve felt electrified, and his stomach was alight with butterflies. They rolled around on the bed, taking turns on top, hands touching every bit of skin that they could reach, kissing until they were breathless, and needed to take a break.

“Fuck,” Steve breathed, dropping his forehead against Billy’s. “That just happened.”

“Yeah,” Billy replied, smirking. “It did. And you’re an even better kisser than I imagined you would be, Harrington.”

“Imagined?” Steve pulled back, so he could look Billy in the eye. “How long have you been picturing kissing me, Hargrove?”

Billy’s already flushed cheeks coloured even more. “Since the first time I saw you. Spent the whole school year trying to work up the nerve to do something about it, and then that fucking piece of shit turned my life upside down. Literally.”

Steve groaned at his last line, whacking him lightly in the arm. “You really liked me that whole time? You didn’t do a very good job of showing it.”

“Ever heard of pulling pigtails? I had no clue how to show you I liked you, so I just teased the fuck out of you. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t my best move. Can we forget about that and just go back to the kissing thing?” he asked, burying his face in Steve’s neck.

Steve nudged him up so their lips could meet. “Definitely.”

***

It seemed that now that he and Billy had gotten a taste of each other, they couldn’t get enough. Any minute they had alone together was spent with either their lips locked or their bodies touching in some other way. If Billy was making dinner, Steve was pressed up against his back, chin perched on his shoulder, watching as he chopped and stirred and sauteed, and Billy’s favourite place to watch TV was in Steve’s lap. It felt so good to be touched, just for the sake of it. Steve would melt into Billy’s arms, relaxing and feeling at home.

Billy had quickly moved from the spare room to Steve’s bed, and they slept soundly, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Before bed, they’d lay in the dark, spilling their deepest secrets, and their hopes and fears, knowing that everything they said within the confines of their little two-person world would be kept between them.

One night, Billy brought up the future, dancing around, as always, the fact that if the Mindflayer had its way, Billy, and all of them, might not have a future after July 4th 2.0. It was easier that way, to pretend that they weren’t careening quick into the end of their short time together. It was less than two weeks now, and Steve wasn’t going to waste a second.

Billy told him about his big plans to get out of here and head back to California, where he’d go to business school, then open his own garage. He was going to get a little house by the ocean and take back up surfing, and never set foot in the Midwest cold again.

“What about you, Harrington?” he asked. Steve was holding him in his arms, breathing in the scent of his soap and shampoo and the underlying Billy smell, but the blond twisted out of his grasp so he could meet Steve’s eyes in the dark.

Steve shrugged. “I’ll probably just be here forever, shuffling papers at my dad’s office until he croaks, and I take over the company.”

“Wow, that’s fucking bleak, Harrington. You ever thought about moving out to the west coast?” Billy asked.

Immediately, Steve pictured Billy teaching him to surf, their hands intertwined as they walked along the beach at sunset. It sounded too good to be true. He shook his head. “I’ve never been further west than Iowa once, for a family wedding. My life is pretty much mapped out already, courtesy of my father.”

“Well,” Billy replied, kissing Steve. “If you ever need a change, you’ll have at least one friend out there.”

Steve pulled Billy into his arms, and he fell asleep like that, picturing a lifetime of golden sunsets.

***

Just a few days before the 4th of July, Hopper showed up at Steve’s house with El in tow, asking to speak with Billy. They’d been in the kitchen making breakfast, and Billy was only wearing boxers. Steve heard him thumping up the stairs to his room so he could pull on clothes. He reappeared shortly, and Steve ushered everyone into the living room.

“It wants you,” El said plainly, looking at Billy. “I’ve been trying to see what it wants, but the connection’s been weak. It was stronger today. Because we’re close. We were right. It wants you. You weren’t supposed to die on the 4th of July. It wants to keep you alive and keep you as a host.”

Steve felt his stomach drop. It was the 7th of July. They only had a few more days left with Billy. If they were heading back to the 4th, they had three days, and if they were heading back to June 29th, the day Billy had been possessed, they had eight. He tried to take a deep, calming breath, but it came out more like a shudder. His only goal at this point was to not cry.

He turned to Billy, who’d turned ashen white. “I just need a minute,” he said, standing up and walked through the kitchen, grabbing his cigarettes and lighter off the counter. Steve could still see him, but his back was turned. He started to pace as he puffed on his cigarette. Steve wanted to comfort him but respected his need for privacy. At least it gave him a few minutes to think.

A conversation that he’d had with Billy a few days before came to mind. They’d been laying in bed, talking about how it seemed like the Mindflayer liked to prey on people who it felt were emotionally weak and alone, and Billy had been the perfect target when the Mindflayer had taken up residence inside him. He’d felt like he didn’t have any real connections in Hawkins, and his father had been particularly cruel that night.

Billy and Neil had fought over something Billy couldn’t even remember anymore. What he did remember was finally snapping and telling Neil that he was going to drive back to California on his own. Neil had slapped him and told him to go for it, but to remember that there was nothing left in California for Billy, only his mother who didn’t love him enough to stay.

Tears streaming down his face, Billy had driven through the dark, just trying to get out. That’s when the Mindflayer had found him, preying on his broken heart and mind.

“Did El ever tell you how she brought me back to myself that day?”

Steve shook his head. “No, she told us that it wasn’t our business.”

“It was my mom. When I was little, she used to take me surfing at this beach near our house. It was our special time, just the two of us. She’d let me talk and talk as we walked on the beach, and she’d tell me how good I was at surfing. I fucking sucked back then, but she’d always tell me how great I was anyway. I think those are my happiest memories.”

Steve wrapped his arms around Billy tighter, trying to hold back tears. “She sounds like she was pretty great.”

Yeah,” Billy replied, snuggling back as close as he could get, his back pressed right up to Steve’s chest. “She was.”

Maybe, he thought now, if they worked together, through El, to help Billy remember as many good memories as possible, they could get him out of the Mindflayer’s hold and destroy it once and for all.

He turned to Hop. “We need to get everyone here. Now.”

***

When he’d first told Billy, while El and Hop went to pick up some of the others, the blond had told him he didn’t think it would work. “There’s you and Max, but who the fuck else has happy memories of me, Harrington?”

Steve gave him an unimpressed look. “How about El, when you saved her life? When you helped Lucas with basketball? When you helped Will with his D&D campaign? Not everything needs to be big and significant. Everyday life is great too. Everyone likes you, and everyone wants to see you survive. Trust me.”

Billy had rolled his eyes and called Steve a corny motherfucker, but promised he’d at least consider the plan.

A half hour later, everyone was gathered in Steve’s living room, and he was explaining the plan to them.

“Come on, Steve, really?” Mike retorted. “We’re going to save Billy with the power of friendship? What is this, My Little Pony?”

Steve started to tell him that he was right, it was a dumb idea, but Billy piped up first. “You know, kid Wheeler? I think Steve’s plan is great. We’re going with it.”

He looked over at Billy, arms crossed, staring down Mike, so confidently defending Steve, and immediately felt choked up. God, Steve fucking hoped his plan worked. He couldn’t imagine what he’d do if it didn’t.

***

They tried to make the best of the time they knew for sure they had left with Billy. When everyone else left that day, Max stayed, and she and Billy went out to the backyard. Steve wanted to give them their privacy, so he stayed inside wondering what they were talking about out there. When Steve drove Max home, she had tears in her eyes, but she told him she was coming back the next morning, so it must have been ok.

When he got home, he found Billy sitting on the couch in silence, and Steve sat beside him, pulling Billy into his arms. The blond didn’t say anything, just letting himself be held, but when he eventually pulled away, his shirt was wet, and Billy’s eyes were glistening.

“Don’t fucking talk about it,” Billy said, pulling a lighter and pack of cigarettes from his pocket and heading out to the yard.

Steve let him go, and eventually, Billy made his way back inside, asking Steve if he wanted spaghetti for dinner. They ate in front of the tv, watching their usual episode of Jeopardy, both trying their hardest to pretend this was a normal night, even when it was anything but.

***

The next day followed the same pattern, Max coming over and spending the day with Billy before requesting a ride home from Steve again. She took his hand as they turned out of the driveway onto the street.

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but in case Billy hasn’t told you, and chickens out and never tells you, you should know that he loves you. A lot.”

“He hasn’t, but I love him too. A lot.” He tried his best to smile at her, but it came out watery and shaky. He hadn’t even said to himself that he loved Billy, but somehow, saying it now, he knew it was true. He loved Billy Hargrove, and he didn’t know what he’d do without him.

“Good,” she replied, offering a shaky smile of her own. “He deserves that. You both do.”

He let her out around the corner from her house and headed back to spend another night with Billy.

***

“It’s not fucking fair,” Billy said, his eyes filled with tears, that night as they laid in bed, passing a joint back and forth. “I really thought when I woke up that day in the woods that that was my second chance at life. I was ready to grow some balls, tell you how I felt, grab you, and get the hell out of here. I’ve had enough of this. Why does it fucking have to be me?”

This was the first time he’d seen Billy let out his feelings about what was about to happen, and he didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fucking fair. He pulled Billy into his arms and rocked him as he cried, sobs wracking his body, trying to hide his own silent tears. “It’s not fair, Billy. It’s not fair. I’m so sorry.”

He let Billy cry it out, until his sobs became soft sniffles, and he started to yawn. He laid Billy down on the bed and got in behind him, stroking his hair until his breathing evened out and he fell asleep in Steve’s arms.

***

The next day was, just as Steve expected, a somber affair. It was barely 8am when Max showed up at the door, and Steve made Billy’s favourite, French toast, and bacon for breakfast. The three of them ate in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

When they were done, Billy and Max headed outside to lay in the sun and talk, and Steve did the dishes, then went up to his room to pull out his old Scoops Ahoy! uniform. Tomorrow, yesterday, whatever it was, would be his last day of being employed at Scoops, and he and Robin had decided that wearing their work uniforms would be the easiest way for them to go in unattended.

Once he’d collected all the pieces, he hung it back up, out of the way, so Billy wouldn’t need to see it. He sat around after, trying to watch a movie, then read a magazine, but he was a ball of nervous energy. Eventually, he just took to pacing the living room.

At 4pm, Billy and Max said a teary goodbye, and Steve took her home, with a reminder for her to be ready for Joyce to pick her up at 9am.

***

When he’d asked Billy what he wanted to do that evening, he’d asked Steve if they could just have a normal evening like usual, so that’s what they did. They ordered a pizza and watched Jeopardy, and then played Monopoly, enjoying the bickering it caused for once.

They’d just flipped the TV over to a low budget cable movie when Billy crawled out of Steve’s arms and into his lap. He took Steve’s face in his hands, cradling it almost reverently, and kissed him deeply. Steve tangled his hands in Billy’s hair, tugging gently, and they were gasping for air by the time they pulled away to take a breath.

Billy pulled his shirt off, then Steve’s, and pressed up against him, chest to chest. Billy was hot, as usual full of molten heat, and he was flushed right down to his pecs. He took Steve’s hand and placed it on the bulge in his shorts.

He turned, nibbling on Steve’s ear before whispering in it. “I want you to fuck me, Harrington.”

Steve placed his hands on Billy’s shoulders, pulling him back so he could see his face.

“Billy, are you sure?”

Over the past month, they’d done pretty well everything else, from quick, awkward hand jobs, Steve almost coming the moment he wrapped his hand around Billy’s cock for the first time, to just last week, when Billy had sunk to his knees right in front of this couch and taken Steve into his mouth, touching and stroking, licking and sucking, until Steve had seen stars, his head thrown back, cum dribbling from the corner of Billy’s mouth.

He'd returned the favour, and afterwards, they’d cuddled, sweaty and sated, and Steve felt like that was as good as life would get. The fact that Billy was trusting him with this now meant everything to him, but he didn’t want to do it just so Billy could check it off a list of things he thought he should be doing.

“Yes,” Billy replied. “More than anything. I want this. I want you.”

Steve nodded. “Ok then, let’s go.”

He ushered Billy into his room and undressed him, pulling off his shorts and briefs slowly, allowing himself to take time to touch every part of Billy. Every freckle and mole and divot and crease committed to memory. His scent and his smile, the way that one curl always fell in front of his eyes. His laugh, and the way it felt to have the blonde’s strong arms wrapped around him. He never wanted to forget.

After stripping off his own clothes, he grabbed lube and a condom and followed Billy onto the bed. He laid the other boy on his back, grabbing a pillow and sliding it under his hips. He prepped him gently, adding one finger at a time until Billy was whining and begging Steve to just get inside already.

Steve kissed him once, twice, then rolled the condom on. He slid inside Billy slowly, an inch at a time, until he was fully engulfed in the blonde’s tight heat. Billy wrapped his legs around Steve's hips, and dug his nails into Steve's shoulders, holding on tight. They moved together, Steve stroking Billy in time to his thrusts, whispering soft praises in his ear until he was close, and it became mostly incoherent babbling.

They both came with tears in their eyes, shaking and panting, covered in a sheen of sweat. That didn’t stop them from entangling their limbs, trying to get as close as they physically could.

“I love you, Steve.” Billy said quietly, into the space where Steve’s shoulder met his neck.

“I know, Billy,” Steve replied, stroking the other boy’s sweaty curls. “I love you too. I’ll always love you.”

***

They didn’t get much sleep that night, instead laying awake in each other’s arms, and before they knew it, it was 8am and Steve’s alarm was going off. They dressed silently, then drove to the mall in Steve’s car, hands clutched together over the centre console.

The previous battle of Starcourt had been in the evening, but they had no clue what to expect, so they wanted to get there early. They were the first to arrive, so they sat and waited, taking in the massive structure of the mall that had the day before only been rubble.

Steve squeezed the other boy’s hand, turning to him. “You know I’ll always love you, right, Billy? No matter what happens?”

Billy nodded. “I know. Wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, but I know.” Steve could hear the tears choking his voice, and couldn’t bear to look at him, or he knew he’d start crying too.

***

Before long, the other’s arrived, and they made their way into the mall in groups, to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Steve, Max, El, and Billy were the last to enter, but they found nothing out of the ordinary. The mall was bustling with shoppers, and when he turned to look at Scoops Ahoy!, he found his co-worker, Alan, opening up the shop for the day. This wasn’t it. It wasn’t the 4th that they were waiting for at all. Maybe they would have a chance to save the lives of everyone who’s lives were taken by the Mindflayer in the week between the 29th and 4th.

A little anti-climactically, they dispersed, agreeing to go about their days as normal until the 29th, unless something suspicious arose.

Billy and Steve went home, with Max in tow to spend more time together. The mood seemed lighter than it had in days, all three of them silently agreeing that if they’d said goodbye to Billy already, they should treat this time like the bonus that it was.

Billy and Max swam, and they ate junk food and stayed up late, Max sleeping over under the guise of staying at El’s house.

***

 On the evening of the 29th, they drove to meet everyone on the backroad where Billy had originally collided with the Mindflayer. Steve could sense a change in Billy almost immediately. His posture became harder, more rigid, and his mouth was drawn into a tight line. It made the hairs on the back of Steve’s neck stand up.

“It’s here,” El whispered to Max and Steve. “It’s time.”

Steve physically ached with the desire to wrap Billy in his arms and hold him tight, but he knew he needed to walk away and just hope that their plan worked. They left Billy and assumed their positions in the ditches.

There was a loud rumbling, then a bang that sounded like a clap of thunder. The streetlights flickered before going out, then, with an ear-splitting cry, the Mindflayer appeared before Billy where he stood in the middle of the road. Steve looked over at Max, whose eyes were wide, horrified. It was time to put the plan into action, so Billy could walk away uninjured, with the Mindflayer banished from his mind and Hawkins free of its wrath.

On Steve’s cue through the walkie talkies, everyone started to conjure up their happiest memory of Billy, trying to get across to him, through El, how much he was loved and cared for. She ran to him and held him, even as he struggled in her grasp, the Mindflayer trying to break him free.

Steve called to mind all the nights he’d spent together with Billy, laughing and joking and spilling their secrets to each other. He pictured wrapping his arms around the other boy, holding him close and telling him how amazing he was, kissing him silly and telling him that he loved him, that he always would.

He just hoped that the Mindflayer wasn’t imbedded too deeply into Billy’s brain for their thoughts to get through to him. At first, there was nothing, just the roaring of the Mindflayer, weaving its way around light posts and cars to get to Billy. But then, slowly, there was a change. Billy started to struggle less, and the grey veins started to recede.

Billy was shouting at El to let him go, but it was going from ear-splitting to a dull roar. He was slumping over, like the fight was draining out of him. The Mindflayer’s tentacles started to draw back, and it was shrinking. Steve looked around at everyone deep in thought and smiled. It was working.

Before their eyes, the Mindflayer vanished. They could only hope they would never see it again, but at least for right now, Billy was alive and ok, and so were all the other residents of Hawkins.

Eventually, Billy was simply whimpering, and his legs gave out. He fell to the ground, bringing El with him. “It’s ok, Billy,” she said over and over, smiling softly at him, stroking his hair.

Steve sighed in relief. It was going to be alright.

He wanted to run to Billy, but he stood back, letting Max go to him instead first.

She punched Billy in the arm and tried to discreetly wipe a tear from her eye. “You scared the shit out of me, Billy. I’m so glad you’re ok. I really thought it had you this time.”

Billy laughed, pulling her into a bone crushing hug. “You can’t get rid of me that easy, shitbird.”

Eventually, Max pulled away and looked at Steve, motioning for him to come over.

Steve’s heart started to beat wildly, still unable to believe that Billy was truly ok, even as he witnessed him sitting there with his own two eyes.

“Harrington,” Billy greeted him, grinning. “Glad to see me?”

“Fucking understatement of the century,” Steve replied, pulling Billy into his arms. "I'm never letting you go again. You live in these arms now." Billy nodded, laughing. Steve kissed the other boy until Dustin told them they were being gross and to get a room.

“Gladly,” Steve laughed, pulling Billy to his car. Someone else could deal with the aftermath of the crumbling mall. They’d had enough for one day.

***

They spent the rest of the day in bed, not moving except to eat. They were tired and Billy was sore, and they were both unwilling to let the other out of their sight.

***

The next morning dawned clear and bright, and Steve grinned to himself when he looked outside and realized there was snow falling in heavy drifts past his bedroom window. He turned on the radio just in time to hear the DJ say “Good morning and happy new years, Hawkins! Looks like it’s going to be a snowy one today! Stay home and enjoy the time with your loved ones if you can!”

That’s exactly what Steve planned on doing. He shook Billy awake, urging him to look outside. “We’ve done it. We’ve finally done it.”

Billy’s answering grin was brighter than the sun.

[erikiara80]

Time travel and time manipulation

I don’t talk about this often because time travels are tricky. Also, if you know my theories, you know I don’t think the UD is really stuck in time. It’s like a painting or a dark mirror, created with Will’s last memory of Hawkins. Before that night, the UD still looked like the alien landscape we saw in Henry’s flashback.

But some of the Mkultra experiments involved time manipulation.

So, at the very least, it means that Will (who's connected to a certain grandfather clock) will “travel” in Henry’s mind and learn the truth about his past that will help them to defeat him. More at the end of the post!

It’s just impossible to ignore ALL this

SEASON 1

-  A clock ticking sound both the times El hears and sees the Demogorgon

- The four chimes of the library clock, when Joyce and Jonathan argue about Will’s funeral. And now the convergence point of the four gates is exactly the library, where they found Will intubated. I’m sure that place is important and there could be some big reveal about what happened there. 

SEASON 2

-  Bob’s camera is a Back to the future easter egg. This is the future! he told Jonathan. But maybe there's more. A movie about time travel, Will’s jacket resembling Marty’s... Plus, in 2x02 Will recorded an anomaly, when the MF influenced the camera and 8:04pm magically became 8:15. The first visual confirmation in the show of the UD being “stuck in time”.

I said I don’t think time in the UD is really frozen, but 8:15 pm could be important. Maybe we’ll see other events at 8:15 pm. For example, this moment?

After all, there’s already the parallel of Henry being taken to the lab on March 22. Will’s birthday. So it is possible that the tragic dinner happened at 8:15pm. I can’t wait to see all the parallels and the real connection between Will and Henry finally revealed in S5

-  A grandfather clock chimes in the tunnels

SEASON 3

-  EDIT:  Dustin gives Will his invention, the Forever Clock, useful in the apocalypse. 

-  The grandfather clock chimes again, when the MF possesses Billy

-  Then, of course, my beloved Back to the future, just to make it clear that time is important in this story

-  And Hopper’s letter at the end of S3: 

I don't want things to change. So I think maybe that's why I came in here, to try and stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that's naive. It's just not how life works. It's moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's sad. And sometimes, it's surprising. Happy.

SEASON 4 

In this season we see and hear clocks literally in every episode. From Henry’s grandfather clock to Ms Kelley’s clock key necklace. The Duffers said that this is the season they started to show their hand, and they weren’t kidding.

But imo, the most important things are: 

1.  El’s letter in 4x01, when she says that emotions can influence how we perceive the flow of time. 

“Joyce says time is funny like that. Emotions can make it speed up or slow down. We are all time travelers if you think about it...”

2.  And a direct connection between Will and Henry

The name Williams on the grandfather clock (and remember the Forever Clock? Yeah)

We still don’t know how Henry’s plan involves time, but we can say for sure that he is obsessed with it and Will is our little Marty McFly. So I think time, and painful truths buried in the past will play a big role in the last season.

We still don’t know what kind of abilities Will has, but the UD being stuck at the scariest moment of his life, as a reminder of all his traumas, means that he will be directly involved in solving the mystery of the past. We’ll see if S5 will have a real time travel, time manipulation through his emotions, or simply Will travelling in the villain’s mind.

[luna-writes-stuff]

Do you have a plan to make a modern au headcanon for Starcrossed Losers?

WOW THIS TOOK FOREVER TO ANSWER I AM SO SORRY. But yes. Yes, I do.

Kili and Raewyn modern AU! headcanons

Kili X Starcrossed Losers! OC

Fluff, headcanons

Tw: Mentions of miscarriage/dying through childbirth, dogs and cats.

Wait, you don’t know who Raewyn is??? Blasphemy. Check her story out right here!

-In a modern day setting, I think Fili and Kili would own a busy pub somewhere in a side street. Ironically enough, I believe Raewyn would become either a history or geography teacher. At night, she’ll help in the pub, serving guests or helping in a band performing that night. Because, obviously, she’d take music lessons (see earlier headcanons)

-Due to the vacations of the school, she travels a lot with Kili, visiting big cities in Europe and distant villages in Asia. Her students love to hear tales about the people there, and she loves telling them.

-Kili helps Raewyn prepare lessons for students. He actually has some really good ideas in there and Raewyn loves to tell him how the class responded to ‘his’ teaching.

-Even though the pub is located in the centre of the city, Raewyn and Kili would live in a house surrounded by forests. Those tiny roads leading through woods, sometimes extending towards two or three houses? That’s where they’d likely live. Raewyn loves to spend her nights walking the forest. Kili is just glad to be there.

-The garden offers enough room for Farris, because - naturally - she’d still be there. Knowing Kili, she’d probably be accompanied by three dogs, likely named after characters from famous films, like Gizmo, Luke, and Marty McFly.

-Raewyn would get a cat just to spite Kili’s dogs. They’d get a decent name - likely after someone from ancient history. She’d go with names from gods, like Bastet or Artemis. Because Kili insisted on big dogs, she got a Norwegian Forest cat.

-The cat loves Kili more than Raewyn. Kili hates the cat.

-Likewise, Marty McFly loves Raewyn. He doesn’t like Kili because Kili doesn’t let him swim in lakes.

-Speaking about ‘children’. Raewyn and Kili would adopt two kids rescued from war zones, left without family. Raewyn used to want biological children, but her mother never lived long enough to hold her youngest daughter, and ever since, she’s been terrified of the idea of getting pregnant.

-Thorin and Bilbo are the godparents - naturally.

-Surprisingly, Raewyn is the chill parent. Kili does his absolute best to not teach the kids any swear words or let them watch anything under the age guide on films and series. The oldest said their first swear word just three weeks in Raewyn and Kili’s care. Fili was the culprit. To this day, Kili still believes it was Raewyn. She thinks so too.

-Bilbo often visits the dogs when Raewyn helps Kili in the pub at night. They’re twice as heavy as he is, but they love him. Bilbo used to be scared of them.

-Don’t worry, Raewyn gets therapy sessions.

-Kili is a swiftie. He pulled Raewyn into the fandom. Her favourite album is folklore. Kili is a 1989 stan. Raewyn’s favourite artist would probably be a classic rock band like Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.

-On the topic of modern media; the two love to watch horror films late at night. Raewyn is the psychopath who can go to bed after the credits roll. Kili needs to watch at least one episode of a comedy show before he can even walk up the stairs.

-Kili loves science fiction most, preferably Star Wars or Back to the Future. Raewyn has a secret love for terrible comedies like the Monty Python works. Horror and fantasy are their middle ground.

-Their home is littered with books. They have a bookcase. But there are books everywhere. At least three in the bathroom. Kili is a binge reader. He finishes series within a week. Raewyn reads twenty books at the same time. None of them place the books back in the bookcase. Bilbo does when he looks after the dogs.

-Gandalf has a spare key to their house. He never enters unannounced (surprisingly), but does enter their garden to entertain the dogs. When Raewyn invites him in, he claims to hate the dogs. He doesn’t. He even has a favourite. But don’t tell Marty McFly and Gizmo.

-The dogs aren’t forced to be outside. They just never want to go inside. Raewyn and Kili have to carry them in at night for their own safety. Luke, the St. Bernard, has to sleep in bed with them every night. So does the cat. Luke is the only dog she accepts. Raewyn and Kili often wake up on the floor.

-Once a week, Raewyn and Kili have a ‘duty-free’ night. They’ll go to a little shed in the forest Raewyn bought while someone takes care of the children and the dogs (the cat takes care of themself). They usually fall asleep there, but every so often they play boardgames or spend the night chatting away under the stars.

-Kili packs Raewyn’s lunch every morning. He leaves little notes in her lunchbox. There is not a day he has forgotten to do so.

-Raewyn and Kili wear matching ugly Christmas sweaters around the holidays.

[lunarsilkscreen]

The Doctor Moves Sideways through time

The future and the past don't mean the same thing to "The Doctor" as his own future and past. That means his future is different from the time (or earth's future).

The multiverse theory isn't a new one, Back to the Future has three separate "present day's" as an example, each big timeline change changing something extreme about the present.

Other theorists have examined this in excruciating detail, wonder how, or if Marty McFly can even get back to his own timeline after that initial change. And his "Present Day" reflecting big changes until he finds one he's OK with.

This is apparent in Dr. Who, as he's seen the end of the earth, and the universe itself many different times. And I mean *different*. An example; He's been the destruction of Atlantis three separate times.

One thing that *only* the Doctor cares about changing (or rather not changing) are "Key Points in Time". In one of the early 9th doctor episodes, it invited time eaters when they made too many times loops to save Rose Tyler's dad.

Usually, The Doctor avoids running into himself because they tend to destroy the universe he's *currently* in. And that's one of the things he doesn't quite like. Because when a universe ends, he gets pushed into a new body and might lose himself.

Or maybe he just hates it changes, and he likes knowing everything about the universe he's currently in.

Anyway, when the Doctor (in the Tardis) goes forward or back through time, they also travel sideways, each minor or major change is ok, because the universe is relatively the same as it was yesterday.

And if the Tardis leaves, or he loses track of it, he might lose the Tardis forever, because it might shift into another dimension without him, thanks to arbitrary changes and difference in time.

That's why the 'R' in Tardis stands for "Relative". It's relatively the same, but it's also why the doctor is surprised when something shouldn't be where it is. (Which is nearly all the time)

"This or That shouldn't be here", "this doesn't happen for another 10000 years", etc...

Because it's relatively the same, but it's not the same.

This probably also why the doctor likes to take his pets to see the future, but not the past. Because if they go-to the past, they might not be able to return to their present (a key plot point behind a lot of Doctors companions.)

But, it also means that the Doctor doesn't pick up random people, only displaced people. Usually ones where their own timelines were already disrupted by the Doctor himself, or something else...

[inkfamy]

Skybound's Energon Universe trailer

I continue to be totally normal about this so under the cut are some stills from the video because :3c intwesting??

We get a short intro; "The Transformers robots awaken on Earth". I guess this means they're going for the same G1 premise of the Autobots and Decepticons having crash landed on earth and ended up in stasis. That's kind of an interesting thing if they keep the timeline the same too, because it's one of G1's enjoyable but unrealistic and silly points that both leaders and all the high command holders were taken out of commission 4 million years ago, and yet the war continued. I wonder if they'll make a few changes so this feels more believable, and how Arcee being on the Autobot team changes things (is it still mostly the Autobot ladies who kept fighting Shockwave on Cybertron, or has that dynamic changed completely?).

I'm sorry I said there would be pictures I will stop theorising

So we have a nice colour scheme for Ratchet, and a peek at the human I will forever think of as Marty McFly and someone else.

Soundwave knocking Optimus off his feet, you're doing amazing sweetie

I'm never going to get enough of this shot of Starscream reaching for a fighter pilot, I can't wait to see the full size colour version on issue #2's cover.

And finally, the detail that really got an OwO?? when I paused the video to take things in: The Ark overhead behind a Cobra agent?! Is it falling, is it taking off? We know Transformers and GI Joe's fates are being twisted together both here and likely in the upcoming live action movies, so I need to know context for this

Climbing the walls with excitement

[knickynoo]

Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s01ep09 "Solar Sailors" Review and Commentary

Previous episodes linked HERE

In this episode: Doc and Clara take a relaxing anniversary cruise to Mars but instead end up facing the terrifying reality of being lost adrift in the outer reaches of space until their eventual deaths. But like. In a fun kids' cartoon way.

I know that the point of this entire cartoon is to focus on the cartoon (duh), but the live-action segments with Real Doc are entirely too short. I want more time with him. He is my favorite wild-eyed scientist, and we should have been able to see his absolutely crazed face more often.

I will also use this opportunity to express how much I would have liked if Michael J. Fox had been able to appear in at least one of these segments. Like. Even if it had just been thirty seconds of screentime. It would've been really fun to have seen him as college-aged Marty, barging in on Doc's weird little science show for a few moments.

Moving on.

Real Doc talks about the time he went to space and leads us into the cartoon, where we see Jules and Verne surprising their parents with anniversary gifts. Verne gives them a drawing, and it's adorable.

Jules presents them with the "J.E.B. Cross-Time Headliner," which is equipped with a flux capacitor and allows someone to type in any date and get the newspaper headlines from that time.

Little interesting side-note: The cartoon establishes Doc and Clara's wedding anniversary as December 15th. From reading the wiki for this episode, though, I learned that the BTTF card game (released in 2010) places Doc and Clara's wedding on September 15th instead. Given the absolute whirlwind that Doc and Clara's relationship is in Part III, I think the September date is more fitting. They definitely flew off to safety on the hoverboard, took a second to collect themselves, and then went, "Wow, that was wild; hope Marty made it back home. Let's get married!!"

Jules demonstrates that the machine can pull headlines from the future and types in December 15, 2091, which shows this:

And this is how we learn that the McFly family will own a space cruise company in the future. Also, this newspaper costs $85.

After Clara mentions how nice it would be to take a "second honeymoon" to Mars, Jules hands them two tickets. (he then reveals he used time travel + Doc's credit card to buy the tickets, lol) Doc and Clara leave that same night in the time machine, announcing to the boys that they'll be back in two minutes. As soon as they leave, though, Jules's machine prints out a new headline. This one is from the following day, December 16th, and reads, "McFly Solar Sailship Lost in Space!" Uh oh.

Happy anniversary, Doc and Clara! You are lost forever in the vastness of outer space.

It's up to Jules and Verne to travel to the future and prevent their parents from boarding the ship (named the "MSC Marty", btw). 2091 Hill Valley is super futuristic and shiny, and pretty much everything is run by robots. Unfortunately, Jules and Verne get diverted upon their arrival, so they're unable to keep Doc and Clara from boarding the ship. We then hear an announcement from the captain, Marta McFly, who is Marty and Jennfer's great-granddaughter.

This may be a good place to mention how much I dislike the trend of Marty's relatives having names that are so similar to his. I will give Marty Jr. a pass since that's a common thing for a father and son to do the senior/junior thing, but I honestly don't even like Marlene's name. Marty and Jen could have been more creative than that. (I even like to headcanon that they end up giving her a different name in the "better" version of 2015 that ends up happening for the McFly family—that's how much I dislike the "every relative after Marty is named after him" thing) But I digress...

We learn that the person in charge of ship maintenance is Ziff Tannen, and he is not happy about the fact that, "McFlys have been kicking Tannens around for centuries," and wants his revenge. I think it's funny that these two families just cannot escape each other no matter how hard they try. Of all the people in the world, the Tannens and McFlys are just entwined together no matter the time period or location. The only thing is that the dynamic switches based on if it's pre or post-George punching Biff in 1955. But there's nothing they can do to fully break whatever bizarre ties bind them to each other. Good stuff.

Anyway, Ziff is so bent on making the McFlys pay that he sabotages the ship—dooming ALL OF THESE innocent people to certain death in outer space.

Jules and Verne are unable to get anyone to believe their warnings, and the ship launches. Farewell, Doc and Clara. We will miss you dearly. Considering that Clara is living 100+ years out of her proper time period and that Doc's parents are deceased and he doesn't have any siblings, I can only assume they have it in their wills that, in the event of their untimely demise, Marty gets custody of Jules and Verne. Or perhaps Einstein does. Honestly, with the way Marty's character is in this series, Jules and Verne might be better off being raised by a dog.

In order to gain access to the building where the sailships are being launched, Jules and Verne sneak in with a group of kids who are on a school field trip to tour the McFly Museum of Aeronautics. The McFly family has really built a successful empire for themselves, haven't they?

Meanwhile, in outer space, the passengers of the MSC Marty sailship are enjoying their trip, blissfully unaware of the impending catastrophe. Doc and Clara are riding around on hover scooters and come across an area of the ship where a concert is being held, and they're shocked to see the main act: Marty!

Except it isn't actually Marty, which Doc and Clara discover when they follow him backstage and he rips off his face.

Doc and Clara, understandably, react with utter terror.

But, yes, the guy is merely a Marty McFly impersonator. Marty evidently became a successful enough musician that he has people who are hired to pretend to be him in concerts. (side note: this 10 second scene of "Marty" is the only appearance he makes in this episode)

Things start going haywire then as the sabotaged sails malfunction, sending the ship floating toward the "outer edge of the solar system." Doc and Clara immediately decide to do what they can to help the situation, all the while Jules and Verne are still on Earth trying to get anybody to take their warnings seriously. After breaking their way into the control room and finding out that a Tannen works there, Jules delivers what is perhaps my favorite line.

It's just such a fun and clever "Jules" twist on the idiom: "bet dollars to donuts." He is very much Doc's son.

Ziff is so outraged at the accusation that he accidentally drops a piece of evidence in front of several other crew members—his copy of a magazine titled "Sabotage Weekly." And honestly, this moment alone makes me reconsider this show's reputation for being terrible. I mean, come on. He's reading a magazine called SABOTAGE WEEKLY! This is top-tier comedy! And to add even more delight to the scene, Ziff attempts to flee the scene via jetpack, but he puts it on the wrong way and catapults himself out of the building and straight into prison. Who's cell does he end up crashing into? His grandfather Griff's!!

"You blew it, didn't you, butthead?" Griff disappointedly asks his grandson.

A worker at the control center takes a look at the damaged ship via video feed and forlornly informs the boys that there's nothing she can do. Jules is undeterred by this, though, and formulates a plan to rescue his parents and all the people aboard the ship.

We return to Doc and Clara, who have donned spacesuits and are outside the ship trying to repair it themselves, to no avail. At the realization that it isn't working, Clara notes that she can't believe they will never see their boys again, and Doc cries so much that he fills up his entire suit with tears.

This is. Such a fun children's cartoon.

Thankfully, the agony doesn't last long because Jules and Verne soon come to the rescue, having borrowed the space center's first ship, the MSC Jennifer. They use it to tow the MSC Marty safely back to Earth, and all is well. End of cartoon portion. Back to Real Doc! He greets us with a very silly joke and cracks himself up.

I'm thinking that Doc is probably very proficient at Dad-jokes around his children and that he stands there laughing uncontrollably while his family just stares at him. Anyway, he explains that this is because space is a vacuum, which leads us into an experiment that creates a vacuum in a jar—using fire to suck a small balloon inside of it. And that's about it!

This was a fun one to write about, even though I feel like this post is super lengthy. I'm glad that a lot of you are still enjoying these!

Join me next time to see Marty pose as a ghost in 1845 London in order to break Clara out of prison.

[saintdesnoyers]

journal entry #2 - dear 2023... (and what i want for 2024)

you were a hot one, 2023, i'm not going to lie. you challenged me creatively the most but it was a good a reason. you reminded me that i could write, that i could do whatever because it's my writing.

remember? i was sick for like 473829749237432 months. but i did a 30 days of writing challenge while being sick and it helped me get that little magical challenge that i like to take.

i left some ships/players behind for... personal reasons and yet, i created some other dynamics and i didn't just write romance. i proved to myself that i was able to create some beautiful (yet unpopular) stories without romance in it.

i wrote over 40k+ in november, i wrote so many stories that i'm proud of. here are some of my favorites:

now you know why ghosts spend their whole lives floating (haunted x family, my first over 25k words fic!)

he's just kent (kent/owen)

if we make it through december we'll be fine (kent with richie&carts)

love is nothing stronger than a boy with love (6167)

kiss my scars (josh/connor)

i also did a rarepair challenge and i wrote like a crazy person in june for like 6 or 7 fics, if i remember it clear.

i restarted an ao3 account and reclaimed my identity as a writer. i know that i disappeared from tumblr and i came back then deleted everything again.

but as the mcfly song says: another year over, and we're still together, it's not always easy but i'm here (forever)

i'm here. i will be here. i learned my lesson to protect my mental health even if i'm here. i will continue to write. i'm sure that i will have more stories to come.

i hope for myself that i will continue to improve my writing. that i will achieve some of my goals for bigger projects because i know that i can do it. i hope that i will take time for myself when i'm not feeling like writing and that i will accept it.

for 2024, i want to write the superheroes au as it was supposed to. i'm finally going to dip into the dystopia au & the wjc fantasy au. these are my goals but i'm also looking forward to write some smaller projects.

& i hope that you will stick with me. if you read this, that's because you trusted me enough and that you've been here since i've started writing prompts, that's how it started for me about two, almost three years ago.

cheers to another creative one!

[miyamorana]

Miya's 2023 Fanfic Recs Part 4

Here are all the cool, complete fics I’ve read this year. Separated into 5 posts because there’s nearly a hundred of them.

PART 4: VIDEO GAMES, MOVIES AND BOOKS (16)

Back to the Future (3)

Baldur's Gate 3 (1)

D&D: Honor Among Thieves (1)

Dragon Age (6)

Harry Potter (2)

Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms (3)

Part 1: Boku no Hero Academia (33) Part 2: Other Anime and Cartoons (20) Part 3: Television (16) Part 5: Crossovers (11)

Fandom: Back to the Future Title: Muscle Memory Authors: irisbleufic, leaper182 Pairing: Emmett “Doc” Brown/Marty McFly Rating: Explicit Word Count: 62,600 Summary: “Then why were we kissing, Doc?” Marty demanded. “I think I’d remember kissing you before actually kissing you!”

Fandom: Back to the Future Title: it is the dawn; time has shifted Author: Edgebug Pairing: Emmett “Doc” Brown/Marty McFly Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 16,184 Summary: The flux capacitor shakes, screams, explodes. Marty and Doc deal with the aftermath.

Fandom: Back to the Future Title: A Matter of Time Author: breakaway71 Pairing: Emmett “Doc” Brown/Marty McFly Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 14,096 Summary: Marty is going to save Doc’s life, and if Doc won’t let him do it the easy way, if he’s so determined to stick to his damn principles and never read Marty’s note, well then, Marty’s going to do it the only other way he has left.

One day at a time.

-

(or: Marty returns to 1985 only to find that his best friend is gone and everyone in his family are strangers to him. Obviously, the only thing left for him to do is fix the time machine and go back to 1955. Easier said than done, of course.)

Fandom: Baldur’s Gate 3 Title: Devil’s Tongue Author: ushauz Pairing: Astarion/Wyll Rating: Mature Word Count: 6,554 Summary: Actor Feat: Your Charisma increases by 1, to a maximum of 20. Your Proficiency Bonus is also doubled for Deception and Performance checks.

A devil’s magic, as it turns out, involves a lot of lying to make it work. Wyll works overtime to perfect it.

Fandom: D&D: Honor Among Thieves Title: vicious mockery Author: andthentheybow Pairing: Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar, Simon Aumar/Doric Rating: Mature Word Count: 4195 Summary: “He doesn’t use magic,” Doric says, jutting her chin toward Edgin. Holga makes a noise that might be described as a grunt. Simon nods and takes another bite of stew. ���Is it another tragic backstory thing?“

Simon looks like he’s about to speak through a mouthful of stew, then thinks better of it and swallows first. “Don’t ask me.” Doric gives him a look and turns to Holga.

“I don’t know,” Holga says. “Probably.”

Five times Edgin actually uses magic, and one time he doesn’t.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II) Title: Paper and Cotton Author: calligraphypenn Pairing: Anders/Fenris Rating: Teen Word Count: 14,835 Summary: Over the centuries, there developed in the Circle of Magi a tradition of showing affection, regard and intent through the giving of small, practical trinkets. It became a way to dodge any suspicion from the Circle authorities–who could object to the gift of some paper, or a single coin? In which Fenris is a practical elf, and accidentally tells Anders through tokens that he likes him VERY MUCH. But (at first) Fenris has no idea, and Anders is daily more baffled and suspicious. As seen on Tumblr, and now with lovely art by AO3 user Prudabaga.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II) Title: Chances Are Author: calligraphypenn Pairing: Anders/Fenris Rating: Teen Word Count: 9,065 Summary: Anders knows what it’s like, being hunted. When Fenris isolates himself in his mansion and keeps his health issues to himself, Anders puts aside their enmity to help him. As seen on Tumblr.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II, Dragon Age Origins: Awakening) Title: All of Me Author: Nikki66 Pairing: Anders/Fenris Rating: Explicit Word Count: 135,099 Summary: When Fenris learns he possesses magic, his life is forever changed. His friends support him, but can he cope with becoming his own greatest enemy? Salvation is just a mage away.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Agee II, Dragon Age: Inquisition) Title: Overthinking It Author: Starla-Nell (Princess_Nell) Pairing: Fenris/Dorian Pavus Rating: Explicit Word Count: 25,513 Summary: Fenris joins the Inquisition and meets Dorian. Somehow, they don’t kill each other. Wait, they’re friends? Wait they -? Oh. Oh, my.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II, Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age Origins: Awakening) Title: Paths Cross  Author: Starla-Nell (Princess_Nell)  Pairing: Alistair/Bethany Hawke Rating: Teen Word Count: 4,149 Summary: Written for the Prompt: Alistair/Bethany Would love fics about these two adorable people crossing paths! AUs welcome, fluff and sweetness strongly preferred. No non-con, please.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Title: A Herald Named Desire Author: ushauz Pairing: Male Adaar/Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus Rating: Unrated Word Count: 360,894 Series: Part 1 of Tales of Desire (Words: 396,552 - Works: 3) Summary: In which ‘Adaar’ is totally not a desire demon from the Fade, because Haven is a camp filled with Templars. Also morals and mortals are both confusing, and he would really just like to go home now please.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Left of the Line  Author: JoWithTheFlow Pairing: None Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 18,646 Summary: It started, as many things did, with Cedric. They had been stronger when they worked together, a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor, embodying the best traits of their house each and using them to fight and win against the spider in the maze. It had been the seed of an idea that bloomed in Harry’s fifth year—the Houses were stronger together. To survive, he needed not just bravery, but hard work, wisdom, and resourcefulness too.

It wasn’t just about him, either. They all needed each other. 

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Forever, preferably Author: JoWithTheFlow Pairing: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 67,690 Summary: There was another student here.

Tom recognized him vaguely—while transfer students were not necessarily uncommon due to the war, they were rare enough to at least make an impression. This particular transfer student was in his year, sorted into Ravenclaw after an impressively long hat stall. He looked like he might be descended from the Potter line, but he did not share the surname so his lineage was of no particular interest to Tom. Nothing about him was of particular interest to Tom, in fact, and yet here he stood, holding the book that Tom had come here to find.

It would be a good time to turn away. The Restricted Section was restricted for a reason—only books documenting extremely dangerous or extremely advanced magic were stored here.

Tom’s feet, however, suddenly felt as if they were made of lead. It wasn’t magic keeping him tied down, but something far more mysterious like curiosity or even fate. In any case, the delay was all it took for the Ravenclaw to lift his chin and meet Tom’s eyes.

This Ravenclaw, Tom realized, had eyes as blindingly green as the Killing Curse.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: Be Sure to Tip Your Waiter (For He’s On His Last Dime) Author: inkncoffee Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 4,515 Series: Part 1 of Three and a Half Stars (Words: 10,085 - Works: 2) Summary: Being a demigod doesn’t pay too well (or, you know, at all) so Percy gets a job at a local restaurant. When girls ask him to switch tables with them to escape getting hit on by creepy guys, he always agrees. He’s in for a bit of a surprise one night when he recognizes one of the creepy guys.

Fandom: Percy Jackson Title: Spare the Rod Author: GwendolynStacy Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 11,980 Summary: After the war against Kronos, Nico is cursed with obedience by Demeter. Unable to leave the camp or tell anybody about his dilemma, Nico’s only hope is for somebody to figure out what has happened. Too bad nobody at camp knows him well enough to tell that something’s wrong.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: if you need, come build your home in me Author: yrbeecharmer Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 326,495 Series: Part 1 of so collect your scars and wear them well (Words: 344,991 - Works: 4) Summary: Even though the world keeps falling down around him, Will Solace can’t seem to help but keep growing up.

(A series rewrite starting with the events of Titan’s Curse)

[ruethemazerunner]

Hi! Was wondering if you have any songs that remind you of Last Boss or that give you Last Boss vibes? I’m planning on making a Spotify playlist for him

Yes!!

Okay so if we’re talking ‘Precious’ or anything Last Boss in a romantic sense, a few come to mind, namely: Yellow by Coldplay, Line Without A Hook by Ricky Montgomery, A Part of Me by Neckdeep, Baby Come Home 2/Valentines by the Neighborhood, definitely The Reason by Hoobastank, (specifically in relation to Precious, We’re Just Friends by Loving Caliber), Drive Safe by Rich Brian, It’s You by Ali Gate, Little Do You Know by Alex & Sierra, Wonderwall by Oasis, I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys, Until I Found You by Hiko, (also kind of End Up Here by 5SOS 😭), I want to Know What Love is Foreigner, IRIS BY THE GOO GOO DOLLS!, Like We Used To by A Rocket To The Moon, St. Patrick by PVRIS, Eternally Yours by Motionless in White, 21 Questions by Waterparks, All About You by McFly, ¡Corre! by Jesse Y Joy, FOREVER YOURS BY GRAYSCALE!!, and ESPECIALLY Give Me Your Attention by Candelion (that song is my hidden gem hehe)

Last Boss in general… Songs like Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, My Own Worst Enemy by Lit, Norman fucking Rockwell by Lana Del Rey, Criminal by Britney Spears (duh), You Got to Go by Above & Beyond, The Art of Anesthesia by SayWeCanFly, 21 Guns by Green Day, Disturbia by Rihanna, (lowkey La La La by Naughty Boy), Cassie by Chase Atlantic, Affection by Scruffpuppie (🥺), Come as You Are by Nirvana, I think im OKAY by Yungblud and MGK, One in the Chamber by Famous Last Words, Take What You Want by One Ok Rock, MONSTER BY LADY GAGA!!!, Nobody’s Hero and Shadows Die (both by Black Veil Brides), Moving On by Asking Alexandria, (lowkey also Bad Romance by Lady Gaga), Run by Snow Patrol (such a good one 😩), Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana, Robbers by the 1975, River Flows In You by Yiruma, and Light My Love by Greta Van Fleet.

Honestly if you feel like none of these fit Last Boss feel free to ignore me lol 😭 these are just some songs that give me Takatora vibes or remind me of him in some way. Let me know when the playlist is done! I’d love to check it out!

[timechange]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 — twin pines mall santa.

DECEMBER 20, 1975

Dave almost trips when his little brother stops dead in his tracks right in the middle of the mall.

“Marty!” the twelve-year-old exclaims, annoyed. Linda also stops to laugh at Dave’s near miss, which is retaliated with a death glare aimed at a certain bratty nine-year-old little sister.  “What is it now?”

“Dave?” the seven-year-old asks, turning his bright blue puppy dog eyes on Dave, which his baby brother knows he’s a sucker for. “Davey, it’s Santa. Can we stop? Please?”

Marty tugs on their joined hands, pointing in the direction of Twin Pines Mall’s very own Santa Claus, who Dave figured out two years ago was Dad’s coworker Jeff Anderson with a stupid beard and fake glasses.

“Seriously? Santa?” Linda sighs, looking at her nails and tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Way to be a dork.”

“Shut up, Linda.” Dave snaps, and, predictably, she rolls her eyes. “I’m in charge and if Marty wants to go, he can go.” 

Marty’s eyes light up, letting go of his hands to throw his arms around his big brother’s waist. 

“Thank you!”

Knocked off balance for a minute, Dave huffs before ruffling up Marty’s hair. 

“Yeah, yeah, go on,” he says, prying his little brother off him. “Hurry up, okay? Linda’s hungry and so am I.”

“Okay!” Marty scampers off into line, and Dave looks at Linda.

“You wanna go, too?”

“No, I wrote him a letter,” Linda says, without thinking. Realization makes her eyes bug out and she freezes. “...I’m teasing. I didn’t write him a letter. I’m not a baby.”

“Whatever you say, Lin,” Dave says, grinning.

Marty rocks back and forth on his heels, humming, waiting for the line to advance. It feels like it’s taking forever! He looks around, watching all the other kids, all their parents, and wishes Mom and Dad didn’t have to stay home today. Mom wasn’t even awake yet and Dad said that they should go to the mall early, giving Dave money for breakfast and lunch. 

Finally, it’s his turn. 

“Okay, I’m ready!” Marty says, running back to his siblings and taking Dave’s hand. 

“What did you ask for?” Dave asks, trying not to lose Linda in the crowd as he ushers his siblings toward the food court.

“Can’t tell you,” Marty says with a grin. “Wishes are supposed to be secret, Dave. Everybody knows that.”

“Okay, you got me,” his brother shrugs, good-naturedly. 

“Hurry up, Dave!” Linda calls, already two stores ahead.

“We’re comin’, we’re comin’,” Dave groans. 

The doorbell to the McFly residence rings and George sighs, running a hand through his hair. 

“I’ll get it,” he says to Lorraine, who nods, eyes half-lidded as she continues to push her potatoes around her plate.

When the door opens, his eyes widen.

“Hi, Jeff,” he greets, “good to see you! I, uh, I’m not done with the quarterlies yet–”

“George, I’m not here about work,” Jeff sighs, breath crystallizing in the unusually cool air. “I’m just here to say you owe that kid ‘a yours a bike or a pony or somethin’.”

George looks back to the dinner table, watching the kids laughing about something on TV. One of those Christmas cartoons.

“The little guy,” Jeff prompts. “Marty.”

“Oh,” George returns. “Why, w-what is it?”

Jeff hesitates, remembering the kid’s words from earlier today. 

Y’know, Santa, what I really want is Mom and Dad happy. Just for one day. Not even all day if it’s too hard. Just for a little while. And maybe a skateboard. Okay?

“Nothin’, nothin’. He said he wants a skateboard.” 

“Oh, gee, Jeff, I dunno… he’s so little still… a-and Lorraine already bought most of their presents…” 

“Look,” Jeff sighs, fishing around in his pocket. “Here’s ten bucks, okay? It’s a gift.” 

“But—“

“G’night, George. Merry Christmas.”

“Y-yeah, you too.” 

[seungkwan-s]

this man. who is he. is he married. does he have kids. am i hotter than his wife. give me the lore.

PUTTING THIS UNDER A READ MORE

AAAA i get to talk about dougie, ok here we go

so that's dougie poynter, he's 35 (36 on nov 30th) and is the bassist (HE DOES SING AS WELL THO - ANGELIC VOICE FR) for my absolute favourite band of the last 19 years - mcfly <3 he doesn't have a wife or kids but apparently he is in a relationship?? ur hotter than everyone

he's literally my absolute favourite person, he's a weirdo, he's chaotic af but he's my chaotic weirdo. he once got us to chant PENIS! at a gig 9 years ago :')

he also has a looooot of ink.

mcfly do have three other members - danny, harry + tom. the whole band are gorgeous and hella hella talented af. i've seen them 33 times but who's counting 😭

THEY WERE ALSO IN A MOVIE WITH LINDSAY LOHAN AND CHRIS PINE, IT'S CALLED JUST MY LUCK 💕

dougie was also in a tv series called i'm a celebrity get me out of here AND HE WON AS HE SHOULD HAVE HE WAS PERFECT.

i would say try not to fall in love with him but it seems like you already have so good luck to you <333

if you wanna listen to them, here's some song recs:

5 colours in her hair (their debut song!!) happiness (this song is everything 2 me, they are my happiness) red (amazing amazing AMAZINGGGG, so much fun to dance to at gigs) where did all the guitars go (this is from their recent album, and is suuuper rocky) route 55 (my fav song from the new album) god of rock & roll (also from their recent album) all about you (one of their best songs, it's always on their setlist) star girl (also a song always on their setlists) growing up (it's got MARK HOPPUS ON IT) that's the truth (makes me cry every time) everybody knows (ICONIC) party girl (they went for a kinda poppier sound but it WORKS WITH THEM) do watcha (this is by FAR one of my top 3 favourite songs, i love the sound so much, dougie sings in this one too, he doesn't sing the second verse) with consent i would do whatever i want to him hahahaha friday night (one of my absolute fav songs, they played it last night and i almost lost my shit even tho i already knew they were playing it) love is on the radio (i LOOOOOVE this song and the mv) forever's not enough (i jumped so much to this last night, i pissed off the girl behind me oops - we were standing I WANTED TO DANCE)

okay lmk how you get on <3

p.s. if you ever get a chance to see them live, GO, genuinely the best live concert i've ever been to, they always make sure fans have fun at their gigs and go home with a smile on their faces :)

[malenepoynter]

20 years of McFly is actually insane. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. I might not even have been here. Their music was always my escape, when things were really tough and I needed to be saved from myself and my thoughts.

Seeing them live in 2008 will always be one of the highlights of my life. I never thought it would happen and it honestly couldn’t have happened at a better time. I NEEDED that November night in Manchester to not drown and completely lose myself.

Thank you, McFly, for always being there. Even in the years where us fans didn’t know wtf was going on, your music and videos on YouTube helped me in low moments. You’ll have a special place in my heart forever. I love you ❤️.

(Also this gif gave me flashbacks to Danny thinking he was gonna fall off London Eye 😂)

[uniteds]

Interview Music Tag Game

RULES: Put your playlist on shuffle. For each of the 10 interview questions, select a lyric from the random song that comes up. (Skip if there aren't any lyrics and make sure to drop the name of the song in your interview answer!)

Tagged by @1997eitheror (wait omg I love your new @ aileen!!)

1. First off, how would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Today is the day she’s sworn / to steal what she never could own / and race from this hole she calls home

Waterfall by The Stone Roses

2. What kind of [Scorpio] are you?

Little troubled girl you see / burning down your house of certainty

Don’t Forget by Sky Ferreira

3. You're visiting your favorite spot, what are you thinking about?

What comes after this momentary bliss? / The consequences of what you do to me / Help me to name it / Help to name it

Myth by Beach House

4. If your life was a movie, what do you think the first review would say about it?

They tried to stop her / she just got stronger / I’m driving home again / Back down Mancunian Way

Mancunian Way by Take That

5. Say you get a book deal, what are you titling your memoir?

Busy streets and busy lives

State of Grace by Taylor Swift

6. What would you say about your best friends?

Another year over / And we’re still together / it’s not always easy / but I’m here forever

The Heart Never Lies by McFly

7. Think back to when you had everything all figured out in high school, what was your life motto as a teenager?

Usually I’m drug-free, but shit, I’m with the homies

The Art of Peer Pressure by Kendrick Lamar

8. Describe your aesthetic now:

I got a big dream, small world in between / me and everything I can’t do / not really a bad day, just okay

World Princess part II by Grimes

9. What's a lyric that they'll quote in your eulogy?

Ain’t nothing like the feeling of uncertainty, the eeriness of silence

Legends by Juice Wrld

10. And for our final question, say we believe in soulmates, what do you think their first impression of meeting you will be?

The day that I met you I started dreaming /Now I write them down if I remember in the morning time

Kingston by Faye Webster