#Tightropeflea wastes time

[tightropeflea]

What’s your saddest Jopper headcannon?

The absolute sense of guilt that Joyce had after everything happened in season 3. As far as she knew, Hopper was dead. I have a feeling that in her mind, he was dead because SHE was the one to go off about the magnets. SHE was the one to push that so hard, and the one who insisted on coming along for the ride. But even if she hadn’t, she still would have the crippling guilt of not going out with him even though she wanted to, and losing that chance forever. And the guilt goes all the way back - she couldn’t save Bob, she wasn’t home the night when Will went missing...

Joyce is a very sad character to me and it breaks my heart that she takes so much of the guilt on herself. The survivors guilt is probably really strong with her. 

[obeydontstray]

Right Back to You

@andcontemplation @baldrambo @unpredictablybittersweet @tightropeflea @starmaammke @hopbyers98

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Joyce sighed as she sat cross legged just outside the band of teenagers. It was a week until graduation and she felt like she was wasting time, sitting at this boring party of Benny’s. 

Benny was like a local celebrity in school. Through working with his Dad at the restaurant, he already had his own small place (that he rented from his dad) and a car. So it wasn’t the height of luxury, but the place was just big enough to hold the ‘cool kids’ of their class.

Joyce fiddled with the hem of the sleeve of her thin black sweater. How she had been invited to this party, she had no clue. Well, she did know. Karen had dragged her here. And so now she sat here nursing a beer that she hated the taste of and trying her hardest to disappear. 

She watched as Benny spun the bottle and it landed on Marissa and the crowd busted out in laughter. “No no no!” She protested but the group broke into chants of ‘CLOSET! CLOSET! CLOSET!” 

After enough goading, the two teens, with Benny twice as big as Marissa’s thin frame, crowded into the closet. “Enjoy your seven minutes!” Kevin Vanderbuilt, the school quarterback, grinned as he shut the door on them. 

Everyone waited with bated breath as music played in the background just a bit too loud.

Joyce shivered to herself, thinking how embarrassing it must be to come out of that closet with everyone staring. Honestly, how naughty can you get up to in seven minutes? It was a stupid game, she decided as she drank from her too-warm beer and had to work her hardest to swallow it. 

There was another cheer as the two emerged. Marissa had a blush across her cheeks and her lipstick was just a tad bit smudged. The small crowd hooped and hawed, causing a big ruckus.

The game continued and Benny’s dog, Sparky, strutted over to Joyce and lay his grey head on her knee. He was an older dog, had been Benny’s childhood dog, and Joyce had slowly made friends with him over the course of the night. Joyce stroked his head and kissed his droopy ear. “You understand, right? Humans are dumb, aren’t they?” She said lowly to the dog who huffed in response. 

Another pair, Chrissy and Joey, ended up in the closet. Joyce looked over at Jim, Chrissy’s on and off again boyfriend, and noticed a scowl on his face. If what she heard was right, this was an off week for the pair. Still, he didn’t look too happy as he stared down Joey. Joyce missed Hopper. 

They were best friends as children until he was old enough to notice girls. Joyce just always figured she wasn’t blonde enough for him. Not curvy enough. And her skirts weren’t short enough. Still she had a pang of jealousy whenever she saw him watching the closet door with a glum look. 

Joyce was suddenly glad Lonnie wasn’t around, secretly thankful that Benny and Hop didn’t get along well with him. Lonnie would have made her play. He would have gloaded when he ended up in the dark with another girl and probably start a fight if she ended up with anyone else. 

The night wore on and Joyce laid on her side behind Karen, still petting Sparky. 

“Are you just gonna spend the whole night petting the dog?” Karen asked over her shoulder.  

“Are you gonna spend all night playing that stupid game? I want to go home, Karen!” 

“Alright, this is the last round then I’ll take you home. It is almost eleven, my parents will kill me if I’m not home by midnight.”

Ted Wheeler called out from another part of the house and Karen jumped up, eager to find him. They had been having this odd sort of fling. He’s rich, and Karen was ready to get hitched straight out of highschool, but they agreed to date around then decide after graduation. In other words, thinly covering up the fact that Ted had some major commitment issues. 

Joyce completely fazed out, facing away from the circle with Sparky curled against her chest. 

There was a loud rush of voices and she tried to block it out. She had a splendid headache blooming at the back of her skull. The half of the beer she managed to get down was starting to wear off and between that and the noise, she was aggravated and tired. Karen would probably get her home past both of their curfews now that she was wrapped around Ted’s finger somewhere. 

“JOYCE!” Benny’s loud voice pulled her out of her own thoughts and she sat up before looking around at the party. 

She sat up and the whole group was looking at her. There was a gap where Karen had been sitting, and it just so happened that Joyce was sitting in just the right place for the bottle to be pointing at her. 

She scanned the group’s faces and couldn’t determine who had been the one to spin it. 

“Guys, I said I wasn’t playing.” She said sternly. “Come on, this is the last spin!” One voice chided. “Yeah, he hasn’t gotten a turn yet, you gotta go!” 

“Closet! Closet! Closet!” They chanted again. “Someone will take you home if you just go in the closet just this once!” Benny said.

She looked around the group and saw that Hopper’s ears had grown red, a telltale sign that he was embarrassed. 

“Who spun?” She asked and the group all pointed at Hop. He shrugged. 

“Come on Joyce, let’s go sit in the dark and get this over with. I won’t do anything.”

Joyce scoffed and Hopper made the boy scout hand sign. “No funny business, Scout’s honor!” 

She shook her head and stood, her head held low as she walked to the closet. She sat in the corner of the closet. She could see Chrissy giving her a death glare and she drew her knees up to her chin, making herself as small as possible in the tiny dark space. 

“Relax, Chrissy!” Jim said on his way. “Don’t look so bitchy. Joyce is just a friend.”

Just a friend? Why did that sting a little? Sure, she thought about Jim’s handsome smile sometimes and missed him, but she had never liked him like that. She wasn’t going to do anything with him in here. 

He sat down beside her and sucked in a breath. The crowd began laughing when “Put Your Head on My Shoulder’ began playing. 

“Make sure and hold her tight, tiger!” Benny goaded before he shut the door. 

The music was faint inside the closet but she could hear Jim breathing beside her in the dark, and she sniffled. 

“It’s just me, Joycie. I’m sorry you got sucked into this.” He apologized. 

“Why couldn’t you have landed on Chrissy?” 

“I’m glad I landed on you, so I could apologize for my idiot friends dragging you into this. You’re clearly not having a good time.”

She felt a small tug at her hand that was laying on the floor between them, and she realized that it was his pinky, ever so slowly wrapping around hers in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. 

“This is so dumb. Remember that time we were playing hide and seek and I hid in the closet? You couldn’t find me so you just wandered off and left me in there for like half an hour.”

Joyce chuckled. “Maybe I didn’t want to find you, you lou bobby!” He laughed, remembering that nickname that she had used when she was a kid. Whenever someone made her mad, she would stomp her foot and call them a lou bobby. 

“God, I haven’t thought about that in years!” He chuckled. “I think you are a lou bobby, you haven’t been talking to me anymore.” He said, his hand moving to cover hers and his fingers wrapped around the side of her palm. 

“Only because you’re up Chrissy’s skirt all the time!” 

“Is that jealousy?” He taunted playfully. 

“Eww! So gross!” She laughed. “I was there when you pooped your pants in elementary school!” 

He let out a loud chuckle, squeezing her hand. “Yeah? Well I was there when you took a swig of straight tequila, puked it up, then asked who puked?” 

“Not as bad as pooping your pants.” She teased. 

“Better than that time you puked on me.” “You knew I was sick!” She protested. “And you came over anyway!” “And you threw up my Mom’s chicken noodle all over me!” 

They were both laughing when the door opened. Quickly they jerked their hands apart and into their own laps. 

“Oh! Oh! They’re both smiling! Something happened!” Benny called out. 

“Ewww!” Jim said, passing Joyce a wink when no one was watching. “Gross!” She added in, shoving Jim’s shoulder and catching him off guard so that he fell over and began laughing. 

Chrissy peeped in just as Joyce wrapped her hands around his arm to pull him upright, both of them laughing. 

She made a noise of frustration and hurt. “Joey, let’s leave! I don’t want to be here anymore”

Jim shook his head and stood up, offering Joyce his hand. She took it and he helped her out of the closet. “Wanna go get some beer?” He asked Joyce. 

“Can you just take me home?It’s already past my curfew.”

“Shit!” Jim said. “Nope, fifteen till. Come on, I can get you home by then!”

“You’re a life saver!” She smiled.

“Your welcome, Lou Bobby!”

[tightropeflea]

What do you think of high-school Jopper? Did they dated? Then why they broke up? Do you think that Lonnie’s harsh attitude towards Hopper(based on Season 1)was because Hopper most probably arrested him several times or is it because they were fighting over Joyce’s attention in high-school?

Did they date: I like to think so! I will admit that I never would have considered it anything but a fic trope if David himself hadn’t brought it up, and now I’m SOLD on the idea. Yes, I absolutely think they dated. I think there’s a really strong something there that’s survived enough that they can hate each other but still come out friends on the other side - as if it’s happened before.

Why did they break up: There’s a thousand reasons! And a ton of really great fanfic that like to speculate on it. I will say that canonically, Hopper volunteered instead of being drafted, and he went on two tours; and part of me wonders if Joyce started dating Lonnie and that’s why he chose to do that. I can’t say why they broke up though. Maybe we’ll find out in Season 4. Personally, I want to know what the “Dad” box in the cabin has to do with it.

RE: Lonnie’s attitude: I think that it’s a bit of both. If they would have fought over her in high school, it would lead to some serious animosity. If Hopper was still angry about that (And we know he can hold grudges), then when he came back from Vietnam he would absolutely still be angry. And if he was called even once when Lonnie abused Joyce, well. There’s a thousand reasons to hate someone. :) 

[tightropeflea]

I’m curious what’s your Top5 Jopper moments

Oooh, good question! Can I do 6?

Gotta be season 3 when they’re at the lab and talking about her moving and being vulnerable with each other. No questions.

Season 2, the whole bit of them in the lab with Dr. Owens. They’re just casually together, nothing really romantic about it - just being spport for each other. It also doesn’t get better than “Mom. Pop.” 

Toss up between two season 3 scenes; when she’s helping him at Melvads in episode one and she uses her sticker gun on him (That is the most flirty thing she could have possibly done and it’s so good) and when he comes back and they haggle on the date. Their banter is so good.

Season 1 when Joyce angrily tells Hopper “Wouldn’t you know your own daughter’s breathing?” and he has to step away. This one is really important to me because it’s the most hurtful thing she could say to him (Outside of It’s your fault that your life is how it is) and instead of flying off the handle about it, he just steps back until he’s calm enough to come back to the discussion.

Season 2, this one is a tossup between the ending and her going into the tunnels to save him.

Season 1 when Joyce yells at Hopper that he is not going to the lab alone and how Will is her son and she’s fucking going and this is not a discussion. His face is so priceless and it makes me laugh every time!

This is such a fun question, OP, and I love answering when people ask me questions! Thank you so much! :) I know I’m not very good at theories (I try not to get into them because if I get too invested in one theory and it doesn’t happen, it’ll color how I see the next season) and I know zilch about the behind the scenes stuff happening right now (It’ll just lead me back to theorizing), but it’s nice to get questions all the same and my inbox is always open if anyone wants to talk about prompts or whatever!!

[tightropeflea]

Was Joyce aware that Hopper is in love with her in Season 2? Do you think that she wasn’t, and if she knew it, she would dated him, not Bob? Or she knew it and pretended that she doesn’t?

I think that she had an inkling of it; but I don’t think that she started to notice until after she and Bob started dating. Even then; I think she thought it was just sort of a little crush, a smidge of jealousy that someone else was getting more of her attention. It was flattering, but that was the extent of it for a long while.

I think that she became much more acutely aware of it at some point, because suddenly she was developing feelings for him. He was on her radar more, not because he was flirting more; but because he was helping her with Will’s visits, he was answering her calls late at night, he was coming over and sharing cigarettes. He was suddenly being her partner again.

I think that once she realized it was more of a mutual thing, she would have tried to distance  were it not for y’know. Season 2. There wasn’t an opportunity to separate herself from Hopper, so instead she distanced from Bob because of guilt over these feelings.

I think Joyce knew that it wasn’t just going to be a crush with Hopper, it was all or nothing - but that stems from my belief that they dated in high school.I want to believe that it’s how they were and how they’ve always  sort of been, a little on-and-off and a little intense. And so she started to shut down and withdraw, which is why she became avoidant to Bob while also having moments of clarity with Hopper. You know when they were sharing smokes and he gave her that look, and she gave him a look back? I think that part of the look was her ‘coming to,’ and remembering everything going on, Will and her emotional attachments. And suddenly she shifted the subject, suddenly the moment was over.

[tightropeflea]

hopper

Dang, you guys really have my number, huh.

favorite thing about them: Hop has this tendency to realize his mistakes. Sure, it takes him a while to do so, but once he’s out of his temper tantrums, he apologizes. He tells people he is sorry. He tells them they are right. He tells them that the fight wasn’t their fault. He holds them when they fight and scream at him. He’s a big bad beat cop/detective, stereotypical 80s man with the softest spots - even if they’re hidden quite deep.

least favorite thing about them: Hopper burns. He gets livid in a way that isn’t healthy, he has anger issues. We all know this, we’ve all seen it. Anyone who says that Season 3 Hopper was incredibly out of character should take a step back and look at Season 2 Hopper who literally threatened to take El back to the lab. He has a too much gene.

favorite line: “ I’ve been stuck in one place, in a cave you might say, a deep dark cave. And then I left some Eggos out in the woods and you came into my life.”

brOTP: Hopper and Murray, although Hopper and his deputies are a very close second.

OTP: Y’ALL KNOW WHAT IT IS. Jopper to the grave, baby! The only addition that I’ll put on this post is that for what it’s worth, outside of his fucking tantrum, Hopper has generally been really patient with Joyce. I think he’s been pining for years, but I also think he’s done it in a way that’s commendable. He never tried to intrude on her time with Bob (that we saw), he gave her space as much as he could, and when she came up with a lame excuse, the detective who could clearly see that she was uncomfortable let up immediately. He saw the error in what he did - the first time. It’s why I like all of those fics that took place in the span between season 2 and season 3; it gave people the opportunity to spin that yarn where he’s kind of nasty but also sweet and protective.

nOTP: Hopper and literally anyone else, except Diane. I’ve seen some really nasty ones (Hopper and Jonathan???? Hopper and Billy????) but I will say that the strangest ones are the ones where it’s Hopper/Reader. I’m not here to yuck your yum, I just never got into that type of fiction. Write what you love. 

random headcanon: Hopper is a dashboard drummer. He gets so into music that it’s wild, rivaling even Jonathan’s love for The Clash.

unpopular opinion: Season 3 Hopper was not out of character. David Harbour has been saying since season 1 came out that Hopper is a sort of antagonistic protagonist, he has a lot of demons in the closet and he doesn’t always deal with them well. I know that we all want him to be better, but that’s a process. I honestly think we’ve now seen the worst of Jim, and that he’ll improve drastically in the next season.

song i associate with them: Obviously You Don’t Mess Around with Jim, (I prefer this cover of it for him than the original. THAT’S a spicy take, huh?) and definitely Lucille, which is a heartbreaker. Hey Kid by Ingrid Michaelson gets me too (but it was literally written for Hopper so). Lastly, I’m No Stranger to the Rain.

favorite picture of them: 

[tightropeflea]

Joyce!

I have so many thoughts on Joyce, read below the cut (if you dare) !

favorite thing about them: Not only does Joyce get back up after each hit life throws her, she actively tries to better herself each time. Standing back up is hard enough to do, but coming up with a solution and then filing it away in your brain for later is something really admirable. She gets “stuck” on things and intensely does her best to figure them out, even beyond what she needs to. My favorite example of this is when she had all of the physics textbooks - she had a problem. Magnets falling off the fridge. She could have just bought new magnets, or tried other solutions - no, my girl checked out a bunch of books on physics from the library and actively read them while she was working. 

least favorite thing about them: I love the woman dearly but I wish she had more faith in herself and could find a better job. :( Seems like she’s really good with people (based on that one scene in season 3 at the very least).

favorite line: Who are you calling, the police? ://///

brOTP: JOYCE AND MURRAY. I know it was a short lived thing, but I feel like they will (hopefully) have a really interesting dynamic, outside of the nightmare that is Hawkins. They have things in common like trauma, obviously, but they’re both also snarky and witty and good at coming up with realistic solutions to things. They also both had a relationship with Hop (in some way) and that alone is a bonding experience, because if you put up with that guy’s bad moods, you can honestly do anything.

OTP: Jopper. Jopper 100%. Jopper is really realistic to me because I want (and they want) so badly for it to go perfectly and smoothly, but goddamn both of them have so much personal history that they have a hard time coping with. Situations that have changed them and made them close up. The important thing is that they both seem to know that. They understand it and if they aren’t screaming at each other, they’re attempting to balance each other out. There’s a respect there and an understanding - but never, in any case - has there been sympathy. Joyce understands that Hop lost his daughter, Hop understood that Joyce (may have) lost her son in season 1. But neither of them ever ever gave a half-hearted “I’m so sorry for your loss.” They just tried to be supportive. Even in Season 3 when they were fighting, there was a moment where Joyce tried to soothe Hopper by saying, “Hop, he did ask for cherry.” and Hopper told her about how he almost shot a dog because he thought it was a demodog. I could go on and on about these two, and yes - I know that they are problematic. I know that they were not kind in season 3. That’s part of the appeal for me; the realism that they are not always perfect, but I genuinely have faith that they will always manage to come back to each other with level heads. If that isn’t real soulmate shit, I don’t know what is.

nOTP: If you have any faith that Joyce/Lonnie should be back together, I feel bad for you son (I have 99 ships and Lonnie ain’t one)

random headcanon: Not counting the obvious ones (Her maiden name is Horowitz, she’s believed that having a kid with Lonnie would help, she and Hopper dated in high school), I think Joyce is the kind of person who would pretend that she ate a big lunch and just ‘isn’t hungry’ so that other people could eat. I think that Joyce putting herself on the back burner so that others might succeed is definitely a trait of hers.

unpopular opinion: I don’t think that Joyce and Bob would have continued to date after season 2, had he lived. Someone wrote an amazing line (Forgive me for not remembering which fic it was) that was something like “Joyce Byers was a broken thing, and only a broken thing could hold her.” I think Bob would have had a pretty good idea of how things were going to play out when they went down into the tunnels. I think it would have ended amicably, and honestly? If he lived I would have loved more Bob. Just not romantically. I don’t like it when characters are introduced just to be throwaway romantic interests. 

song i associate with them: Currently, the song Blowin’ Smoke by Kacey Musgraves gives me young Joyce vibes. I think that young Joyce really believed that she was going to get out of Hawkins, even after she married Lonnie. I think that hope died slowly, like a bonfire left to burn on it's own, surrounded by concrete.

favorite picture of them: This face didn’t even last a quarter of a second on screen (It is really hard to screenshot lol) but the judgemental “Bless your heart,” face she gives the mayor’s secretary after she pulls the plug on her phone.

[tightropeflea]

10, 15, and 8

Most badass Hawkins lady?

This is such a burner question - Joyce, without any sort of doubt. Instead of just answering, I’ll rank them (the adults and teens only): Joyce, Nancy, Mrs. Sinclair, Robin, Karen. I have a feeling that the more I see of Robin, the higher I’ll rank her. Mrs. Sinclair is so cool to me, she’s a working woman - she’s a working black woman in a tiny podunk Indiana town during the 80s and that’s SO FUCKING COOL. I hope Lucas and Erika know how lucky they are.

Have you ever contributed to the fandom?

Yes! Nothing excellent, but I’ve done my share of fanart, I’ve written a fic or two ...  and I don’t count fic rec fridays (I just gushed, I didn’t write), but I like to count Whatever You Do, Don’t. I really, really didn’t expect that I’d be able to write a years worth of content, no matter how small it is. I hope that my writers/artists block goes away soon because I want to continue contributing. :)

Scoops Troop, Griswold Family Vacation, or Eagles Nest?

Another burner - Eagles’ nest. Obviously. :) Scoops is fun and I love the Dustin and Erika dynamic; but Scoops and Griswold Family are mostly young kids that I don’t relate to really well. Also I blame those two for that awful Neverending Story scene. A pox upon all their houses.

Ask me Anything!

[tightropeflea]

saddest scene and favourite fan theory

Saddest Scene: I want to say Bob’s death, but that was more horrific than sad. So instead, I’ll say the end of Season 1, when El sacrifices herself to kill the Demogorgon. You can see it on her face, and on Mike’s face - they both know what’s coming, and they know that there’s nothing that can be done to stop it. Everything about that scene is gorgeous and also incredibly heartbreaking. Second place goes to when Mike got home after they found Will’s body and he hugged his mom and just cried. (The only time I’ve cried at the show was Hopper’s death, for the same reasons - but that’s too obvious an answer)

Favorite Fan Theory: I feel like my old stand-bys of “Hopper and Joyce dated in high school,” and “Hopper lives,” and “Hopper is secretly a huge teddy bear that has problems with his own weakness,” are all canon so that sort of puts me in a corner. I hate to say this because it sounds fucking awful, but I love the idea that Joyce was Going Places in high school and wanted to leave Hawkins - but Lonnie somehow kept her there. I really like that as a backstory tidbit, because it was really common at the time - and also, Joyce having a backstory that involves so much pain makes her strength in the show all the more palpable, all the more amazing. She stayed in Hawkins all these years because she had to. I love Joyce so much. Ask me Anything!

[tightropeflea]

14, 19 and 20❤️

Favorite line?

If I had to pick a one liner, I’d probably go with, “Who you callin’? The police? :/” but I also like 90% of Dustin’s dialogue. It’s so good, and Gaten delivers all of his lines so great. He’s totally underrated as a character. Especially the scene in season 3 where he’s telling Erica that she’s a nerd, and he just goes off about the latest MLP adventure. I mean. Of course he would know all about that. Of course he would.

Favorite duo?

Obviously Jopper, obviously. I like how they have a weird power dynamic - in season 1, Hopper was the one in control of the situation. In season 2, Joyce was in control of the situation. In season 3, neither of them was in control and they were both pretty pissed off about it. I really also like Robin and Steve’s friendship, and Hopper and El in season 2!

Favorite behind the scenes moment/photo?

This is a toughie because I don’t  really follow any behind the scenes stuff. But I feel like every time David Harbour gets excited about Winona and goes off about how much he loved Winona as a kid and now gets to work with her... that makes me so happy. A lot of David stuff makes me happy. The shit that he went through in young adulthood breaks my heart and so every bit of joy that I get to see coming from him makes my whole day brighter. :)

[tightropeflea]

How will Hopper make a proposal to Joyce(he certainly will do it, just a matter of time!)?

HM. Okay listen.

I genuinely don’t know if he’d ask her. Hear me out. I think there’s an inevitability between them, and a link that has been severed before - but has always, always brought them back together. That’s very important to remember. But I also think that both of them have been married and honestly? It really, really didn’t work out great. Not only did it not work out, but it also gave them commitment issues otherwise (Hopper in season 1, Joyce in season 2 and 3).

I think that they will date. They will move in together. The kids will leave for college. And by that point, both of them will know that this is a lifelong thing. Maybe Hopper brings it up, getting remarried. Maybe Joyce hems and haws over it, and Hopper does the same. Maybe the commitment is enough. Maybe a ceremony will happen - but maybe vows don’t. Not in the traditional sense.

Their grandkids refer to them as grandma and grandpa. Maybe as Joyce and grandpa, or grandma and Chief. It could go any way, honestly. But I don’t know if I can see them getting married again, unless both of them show a sudden extreme level of self-healing. 

On the other side of the coin, let’s assume they do get married. I think the wedding itself is the tough part. Not planning or coming up with the money or anything like that - but the realization that “I have officially pledged my life to this person in the most official way possible. Names have to change again. Bank accounts and taxes and insurances have to be taken care of. I have to go on nothing but hope and this promise that they will always be able to love me.” Once it’s over though, once the proposal happens and the vows are done and the paperwork is filed, I think they would just fall into it easily. After all, getting married doesn’t change things. It doesn’t make you magically perfect. It keeps everything sort of the same. And they are a pretty good team now, nothing needs to be perfected. They will do that themselves - in time.

But what do I know! I want to hear how you guys think that would happen! The inner romantic in me that unashamedly reads Nora Roberts at least once a year wants your theories, your fics, your everything. 

My favorite proposal fic is this one! Huge props to the writer for giving me this one, where it’s sloppy and it’s anxious but at the same time it’s right, it makes sense, and they don’t let their fear overcome them.

[tightropeflea]

Do you accept headcanons? Specifically sad ones lol

I love all headcanons and questions and EVERYTHING! Gimme gimme! :)