#art from my personal will byers next to art from will byers

[hoteadepresso]

listen, when I said “reblogging your art is not enough, i want it tattooed on my skin” I meant it

@fairyrona

“if you aren’t obsessed with your best friend’s art, what are you even doing” — michael wheeler, probably

[strangerthingsreversebigbang]

In case you missed them, here are the next ten works posted from the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang!

---

Under the Myrtle by @lorifragolina | Art by @raven-cl

Rating: Explicit

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove, Steve Harrington's parents

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove

Summary: A shepherd and a stranger, in the woods by the lake, under the myrtle, in a sweet, warm spring. There is love, there are secrets, there are broken promises and faith in the gods. --- He was wearing the white tunic, almost completely opened on his chest, and a golden chain was sparkling around his neck. He was barefoot and the pebbles and twigs seemed to not bother him. The man stood near him, looking at him with a smile. He was more or less as tall as him, but for some reason Steve felt uneasy in front of him. He sat up and looked at the man in return, speechless and bewitched. “You…” he heard himself whispering to the stranger. The air seemed still and he feared breathing. The man giggled, and this little laugh seemed like the song of a fresh and cheerful waterfall. “It’s you who spies on people when they are taking their baths?” The man asked, still smiling under his tiny mustaches, tilting his head to him. Steve nodded. He couldn't trust his own voice. “You scared me,” continued the other sweetly. Steve blinked, and the man got nearer and sat at his side.

Rooftop Blues and Midnight Reds by @flowercrowngods | Art by @maikaartwork

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): max mayfield, steve harrington, eddie munson, wayne munson

Relationship(s): max mayfield & steve harrington, max mayfield & eddie munson, max mayfield & wayne munson, steve harrington/eddie munson

Summary: The world ended, and then it didn't. In the aftermath, Max is left with the need to re-learn what it means to be a person, and learn what it means to have a family. One September night, on the rooftop of her new home, she comes one step closer to both of those, and learns what it means to have hope.

Sol Invictus by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Art by @waldos-art

Rating: Explicit

Warning(s): Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson; Tommy Hagan/Steve Harrington (Unrequited)

Summary:

The prince smiles and plucks the lute from his limp fingers, carefully setting it down next to the bed. Eddie can’t recall when he stopped playing. “Look at you. Not just easy on the eyes, but smart to boot. Knew I made a good choice with you.”

Those graceful fingers are on his face now, caressing his cheekbones on either side, slipping into his curls, and Eddie’s insides are warm and light.

“My prince—” he starts to say, but that pretty face twists into a scowl and a soft finger pushes against his lips.

“Let’s try something new, Just Eddie.” Those beautiful eyes are alight with mischief, a temptation dangling just barely within reach. “When we're like this … Can I be Just Steve? Do you think you can do that?”

Something inside Eddie coils.

“Steve,” he whispers against pink lips. The name is sweet nectar, the juice of forbidden fruit on a hot summer day, a sin and a secret and an oath.

Steve smiles and the sun rises in the moonlit room.

Eddie says his name a thousand times more on that night and the nights that follow. 

---

In a world where the king is worshipped as the living embodiment of the sun itself, two boys learn to navigate life in their golden cage.

Spark Notes by @nomadicwolf | Art by @freedom-in-darkness

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Jonathan Byers, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Carol Perkins, Tommy Hagan, Barbara "Barb" Holland, Fred Benson

Relationship(s): Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler

Summary: It was love at first sight. One look at Nancy Wheeler was enough for Steve Harrington to fall head over heels. While Steve is no stranger to the art of seduction, he soon realizes that Nancy is going to require a different level of courting than he's accustomed to. He enlists the help of Jonathan Byers to help send love letters to her. Over time they develop a friendship and while Steve's affections for Nancy never falter, he begins to think he might be able to feel this way for two people at once.

Nothin' to Show by @bifuriouswaterbender | Art by @madaboutmunson

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Billy Hargrove, Henry Creel | One | Vecna, Jim "Chief" Hopper

Relationship(s): Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson & Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson & Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Summary: Vecna Industries couldn't keep getting away with their criminal enterprises. Luckily Dustin knew a few people with just the skills to take them down. He just hoped they could learn to play nice with each other. AKA, The Fruity Four as a Leverage AU.

Playing with Fire by @betty-boom | Art by @waldos-art

Rating: Explicit

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Summary:

Steve's bounty hunts and contracts never usually lasted a full year, until now, and he's unsure how to cope. Until Eddie shows up to speed things up.

5 times Eddie tempts Steve + 1 time Steve finally gives in

Feel the Tide Shifting (and wait for the spark) by @maxinemaxmayfield | Art by @hereforanepilogue

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Appy

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham, Robin Buckley, Original Characters

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Minor Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, Steve Harrington & Chrissy Cunningham

Summary: Steve's daughter is his entire world. He doesn't really have time for anything - or anyone - else. But when they take a trip to see the dolphins at the Indianapolis Zoo for her ninth birthday, Steve gets a blast from the past that could change his whole future.

Butter, Sugar, and Northern Mockingbirds by @thefreakandthehair | Art by @janie-bean

Rating: Explicit

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Stranger Things Ensemble

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson

Summary:

“Holy shit, Steve, this cookie has no right to be this good,” Eddie praises, cookie crumbs stuck to the corner of his lips. “What did you put in this? Drugs? Is it drugs? I feel like it could be drugs, they’re that good.”

It’s not the first time he’s felt these proverbial butterfly wings flapping against the inside of his ribs. Every time they’re alone together, every time their shoulders graze or eyes meet, every time Steve sees Eddie smile with that stupid dimple that not even the slashing scar across his cheek can hide, the little thing with wings that’s taken up residence close enough to his heart to set it alight goes insane.

He should know how to handle the feeling by now, but he doesn’t.

You're Under My Skin (burning in my bloodstream) by @lihhelsing | Art by @lady-lostmind

Rating: Explicit

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham, Robin Buckley, Gareth

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Summary:

Steve's not sure why he keeps betting on things with Robin when he knows he's going to lose. Except this time the bet ends up with him getting his nipple pierced and it seems like the guy who's about to run a needle through his skin is hotter than Steve expected and he's having trouble keeping it together.

But after a charged first encounter, Steve has no way to get in touch with Eddie and thinks he lost his chance until he runs into him in the most unexpected of places and finds out Eddie is a lot more than Steve initially thought.

OR; Eddie gives Steve a piercing and Steve is clueless about his true identity.

Rebel Girl by @annanevermore | Art by @artbean

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Eddie, Chrissy, Robin, Steve

Relationship(s): Eddie & Chrissy, Eddie/Steve, Chrissy/Robin

Summary: Chrissy Cunningham has been dealing with a lot lately, between her mom and her new relationship with Robin and deciding what to do with herself after high school. Eddie has been dealing with quite a lot himself too. When things come to a head for Chrissy and she gives herself a rather disastrous haircut, she naturally goes to Eddie to help her fix it. What else are best friends for?

---

Stay tuned for more incredible works from the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang!

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[dollywheeler]

September 3rd, 1996

Dear diary,

I survived my first day as a Junior. Not that I am surprised because I'd planned everything perfectly. Almost everything.

I woke a few minutes before my alarm as I always do - I don't even know why I set it anymore, other than the fact I know the universe will screw me over the one time I won't. I went down to have breakfast with dad before he had to leave and went up to get ready after he'd gone at 7:15.

Whitney was late as usual when I went to pick her up, but I'd accounted for that so we were still out of her street by 7:50. We pulled into our parking spot at exactly 8:00. I don't know why that brings me so much joy.

Anyway, we went into homeroom together as Whit, Dylan and I all have Mrs. Haywood again. I hate that we only get our schedules during the first day - I never know what to prepare for. I know it's mostly introduction anyway and we won't need more than a notebook but it still irks me.

Today was the perfect example as to why. As usual, I'm one of the last to be handed paperwork - stupid double u - and everyone was already skimming over their classes and their teachers. At first, I assumed the murmuring was just the recognition of my last name on some people's rosters, but Whitney turned to talk to Dylan instead of me so there must have been something else going on.

Once I got the roster, I understood why.

My third period today was art.

With mister Byers.

Of course, he'd be here too. I mean, why else would they both come back? But did they both have to get jobs in Hawkins?

At least it distracted people from English with Mr. Wheeler, which I have seventh period - joy! Luckily, Zombie Boy returning is more noteworthy than Holly's weirdo older brother - small blessings I guess.

I don't get the hype though - he's just Will. Just one of Mike's lame friends.

And now he's going to teach my art class which used to be my one moment of peace during the week.

Ugh.

Dylan asked about my brother when we were walking into our next class. She apparently has him fourth period which sucks because it means I can't keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't befriend Mike behind my back. She has a tendency to lull teachers into personal conversations, which everyone loves because it means a distraction from the coursework but I know only means we have more work at home later. It's not really her fault she's just so damn likeable, anyway. Her chattiness is exactly why she's one of my best friends.

It became apparent that Dylan wasn't the only one who'd recognized Mike's name, either. After my second period French class I caught Daniel's eye in the hallway. I swear his smile brightened upon seeing me and for a second today was perfect - until he asked about Mike. Apparently we both have him seventh period. I want to be happy we're finally sharing a class but what kind of sick joke is it that Mike will be there?

He couldn't be present for any of my birthdays but he's going to be watching every second of me hanging out with the guy I like? The universe is clearly out to get me.

I managed to smile and shrug through an explanation though, and I don't think it came off too weird. He continued smiling at me so that's good. We compared schedules and other than English we don't share any classes at all, which put even more of a damper on today.

We reached Mister Byers' classroom, but luckily he wasn't greeting students outside the door so I could send Daniel on his way before Will saw us. I took a deep breath and forced myself to walk in and find a seat without looking in the direction of his desk. I don't know why my heart was pounding - it's not like I thought he was going to single me out or anything. It was just unsettling I guess, to be near this person you used to know, who probably knows more about you than you do about them.

Or think they know you - I'm not six years old anymore.

When he finally started the class I was able to look up at him now I knew his attention wasn't on me. He honestly hadn't changed at all. He still had a bowl cut, which possibly endeared him to me a little bit. It was more mature now, of course, shorter, and overall didn't look too out of place. Maybe just because he's Will. He's always been Will. I don't know how I would have felt if he'd didn't have the bowl cut anymore. Mike probably would have thrown a fit. He always hated change - until he didn't, I guess.

There was something sad about his posture as he started his class though; Like his excitement had dimmed. He didn't sound like he used to when talking about his favorite colors or arguing crayon against pencil. I felt bad once I caught him glance at me before quickly redirecting his gaze and realized why.

None of this is his fault, after all, and I always used to like him most of Mike's idiot friends. He was always nice to me, and now I was being childish.

So after his class was over I hung back a little and went to say hi. He looked surprised but pleased to see me standing at his desk and it immediately made me feel a lot better. I apologized for not saying anything earlier but he said it was fine and he understood this must be weird. He said he was glad I still liked art and we talked about that for a moment before he sent me on my way to my next class.

Nevertheless, it was actually nice to talk to him, even if it was only briefly, and he didn't bring up Mike, which I'm sure was intentional.

Of course, seeing Mike was inevitable.

I tried the same tactic as I had with Will's class - just keep my head down - but of course Mike can't take a hint. He actually tried to catch my attention and greet me as I was walking in and I couldn't really ignore him in front of everyone - in front of Daniel - so I just forced a smile and nodded before sitting down as far away from him as possible. At least he wasn't wearing a nerdy t-shirt as I'd feared but a button-up and slacks - proper English teacher attire. Mom would have approved.

I tried to take notes even though I hate sitting in the back of the class, and as my attention was slipping anyway I had to try harder not to look at Daniel. Mike is not allowed to catch me staring at him.

Not that it's any of his business.

When the bell finally rang I already had my bag packed and was ready to bolt, but of course so was everyone else. Seriously, back of the class is not the most efficient seating arrangement.

"Hey, Holls, wait up!" Mike called me back, and I had to do my best not to visibly cringe. At least he didn't call me 'Holly Dolly' again. The room was still emptying and some were curiously glancing over at us so I just forced a smile and moved closer so they couldn't listen in.

He asked if I'd received his letter and if I wanted to have dinner tonight. I told him I had cheer practice and went home.

He probably isn't stupid enough to believe me but maybe he'll get the hint.

Anyway, mom was waiting on me when I got home. She asked about Mike. I didn't have anything to tell her, which made me feel strangely guilty. It's not my job to play telephone, but mom just looked so disappointed... I couldn't help but feel like it was my fault even though it clearly isn't.

I hope she won't ask again tomorrow. Or the day after that.

Love, Holly

[ladydorian05]

A Home for Broken Hearts ~Masterpost~

Co-written with @made-ofmemories (she made the header!)

Big shout out to @firefly-party for the amazing art, Check her stuff out She has a lot of amazing Steddie fanart!

Rated: M

Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Platonic stobin, Platonic Eddissy, Past Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Dustin Henderson, The Party, A bunch of oc background characters, Corroded Coffin, Gareth, Jeff, Unnamed Freak (I hope they give him a name next season), Nancy Wheeler, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers Tags: Teacher! Steve Harrington, Bartender! Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Based on the movie The Broken Hearts Gallery, Broken Hearts Gallery AU, Steddie Bigbang 2023 entry, Proof read by the authors, Steddie romcom style, fluff, Meet-cute

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, Weed mentioned/Implied consumption

Sumary:

Steve has never been the best at letting go, ever since he was a child with absent parents and a house void of any kind of personality he learned to hold onto any kind of memento he got his hands on. Reaching his twenties, a move to Chicago with his best friend Robin, a struggling career, and a string of failed relationships later and he still finds himself clinging to souvenirs from the past.

Things start to change when a drunken encounter leads to a chance meeting with Eddie, a bartender with dreams of opening his own bar. Together (with some assistance from Robin) they open the broken hearts gallery, a place for the broken-hearted citizens of Chicago to leave behind their baggage.

Inspired by ‘The Broken Hearts Gallery’ (knowledge of the movie not essential).

Read it on AO3 too

Chapters:

Chapter 1: A not so miserable night

Chapter 2: Of broken hearts and healing ideas

Chapter 3: First Donations

Chapter 4: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Chapter 5: Like Icarus, Steve is Falling

Chapter 6: In shades of grey with specks of light

Chapter 7: A Tragically single young man and his Wise sister

Chapter 8: I Had the Time of My Life

[starlightshadowsworld]

I love the idea of the monster hunting trio becoming best friends.

Because look at them.

You've got Jonathan, the social outcast who's just trying to protect and look out for his little brother.

Steve, the former prom king who's had his whole world turned upside down. And despite everything steps in and helps Jonathan out.

The same guy who's camera broke and had a fight with.

Nancy who's the idolised girl next door who's mourning her best friend. The one who brings both Steve and Jonathan together.

And they have reasons for not liking the others.

Nancy dumped Steve and said their whole relationship was bullshit.

Everything Steve did to Jonathan.

Jonathan not liking Nancy because of Steve.

And maybe they all want to forget it.

Forget each other.

But they can't.

Because Nancy helped Jonathan.

Because Steve came to apologise.

Because Nancy threatened Steve with a gun to get him to leave.

Because Steve jumped in anyway because he couldn't leave them behind.

Because Jonathan grabs Steve and Nancy's hands to get them out of harms way.

This is their troll in the dungeon moment.

All of them alone.

Steve falls from the social ladder to rock bottom.

Nancy lost the person she loved the most.

Jonathan has always been alone. He has his brother back and his mum but he can't talk to them.

Will's suffered enough and Jonathan has always been Joyce's pillar of strength not the other way around.

And finds himself with 2 people who are as drawn to him as he is now drawn to them.

It suprised them all, even himself when he made the first move.

Sitting beside Steve at lunch.

Steve who was poking at his lunch in the corner alone. Startled looking up at Jonathan, who asks if he can sit.

Steve nods, baffled.

Jonathan puts his tray down, they both eat in silence for a bit before.

"I forgive you."

Steve blinks, but Jonathan stared down a demogorgan so he's not put off at all.

"You said you came to my house to apologise, right?"

Steve nods.

Jonathan looks at him, really looks at him. He doesn't see King Steve, just... Steve.

"So, I forgive you."

Steve blinks, processes it before chuckling. Shaking his head as he does so. "... You are definitely something Byers."

He frowns "and I'm sorry for... Everything."

Jonathan smiles "I forgive you. And I'm sorry for... Everything too."

Steve smiles, "I forgive you."

That's when Nancy walks up to them.

She barely gets a word out before Steve's getting up and both walk away to talk in private.

Jonathan hums to himself, eating his lunch abd not long later both return.

There's tear tracks on both of their cheeks that have been brushed away.

But, as Steve re-takes his seat with Nancy sitting beside Jonathan.

The tension is gone.

They both look lighter and happier.

"So... Did you do the essay for Mrs Clicks class?" Asked Jonathan.

And the world continues on.

It's werid because they all fit like they've always been together.

Jonathan is very aware Steve got him his new camera.

He's suprised when he doesn't feel embarrassed for getting a newer model that definitely didn't cost much for Steve.

Instead it's, thankfulness.

Steve seems happier than he does when Jonathan goes out and about with it, snapping shots here and there.

Even asking about it and while Steve looks much like Jonathan does when Will is on a D&D rant, he listens intently.

Steve starts taking up drawing, he mentiond off handedly he used to but his dad thinks it's for girls.

Jonathan, mentally putting Mr Harrington in the same category of men as Lonnie, offhandedly mentions how Will loves art.

And if he leaves an unused sketchbook at Steve's house one time that he sees him carrying with him everywhere now.

Than that's his buisness.

It's not until one day where they both somehow end up in a conversation about lighting, that Steve thanks him.

Jonathan merely shrugs and says he really just got him it to get free doodles.

Steve bumps shoulders with him and snorts "in your dreams, Jonathan."

And where there is Jonathan and Steve, their is Nancy.

She's always got a point and sometimes Jonathan likes to throw out random scenarios just to see the cogs in her brain work.

She's endlessly passionate and was halfway through ranting about the school system before she realised and fondly swatted his shoulder.

Nancy doesn't fancy herself artsy like them but she adores her books.

She writes little notes in the margins, dog ears pages and even hallowed out an old textbook to store snacks.

They both attend Steve's basketball and swim events abd despite no longer dating Nancy wears his letterman.

Steve jokes that she staked her claim on it.

Neither of them have any idea what's going on but cheer loud and obnoxiously whenever Steve gets a point.

Steve's given up explaining sports to them but he doesn't care because their his best cheerleaders.

Jonathan actually had to hold Nancy back from throwing hands when the referee when a certain blonde pushed Steve over.

Speaking off... Things aren't always so great.

Jonathan ends up taking Steve's offer to stay over more often than not.

He gets uneasy being in his house for too long.

Nancy comes over, at first twice a week when she lied to her mother about sleepovers.

To just sneaking out and staying over when the nightmares are bad.

She and Steve both drained his pool.

Steve is relieved with their company because he hates being alone.

More so now than ever.

They all end up with walkies with their own channel, checking up on each other whenever they are apart.

Signing off before bed in the rare times they're all in their own.

Most of the time they're at Steve's, crashing in his room.

Sometimes on sleeping bags or a blanket nest but at this point they just curl up in a pile on his bed.

Steve is absolutely touch starved.

Nancy is also but not as bad and they both end up clinging to Jonathan who's a hugger.

They all know the sound of each others screams at 3am.

Nancy cries out in her sleep.

Steve is near silent but his whole body freezes up.

Jonathan wakes up with a horrified gasp.

Billy refuses to leave Steve alone and so he comes back with bruises and minor injuries that Jonathan takes care of.

Steve sleeps with the nailed bat in reach.

Nancy has a gun nearby.

Jonathan has a knife.

They all patrol at night and in random hours of the morning when they can't sleep.

They hold each other through fear and nightmares like their the only things that feel real.

All 3 of them are parentified and all bond over feeling like they are in their mid thirties rather than teenagers.

Everyone's failed them and they only have each other.

[tellthatbrokebitch]

i took my love and i took it down, 57k, chapters 5/8

This time, when he opens his eyes, it’s not to darkness. Instead, he’s in a small room. There’s a pallet covered by blankets. There’s a small table on one side of the pallet that houses a boxy lamp, and another on the other side with jars and cans and just general clutter. There’s a stuffed tiger and an art set atop the makeshift bed, and there are papers tacked up on the walls that are made of sticks – it’s been years since Will’s been here, years longer since it looked like this, but Will knows this place.

He’s in Fort Byers. He’s in Fort Byers as it used to be, Fort Byers as it hasn’t been since… since he was twelve.

Another thing occurs to him then, and he gazes around the small space as he ponders this strange fact.

He isn’t in the Upside Down. Somehow, in all his other dreams, he’d imagined that even in the pitch black, he would be there. It seemed inescapable at this point, that he would always end up in the same place: upside down.

There's rustling outside, something disturbing the tarp that covers and protects the fort from rain and sunshine. And then that same voice – “Will.”

“Who are you?” he asks.

“We don’t have much time. You have to listen.”

Frustration bubbles up and he growls, raking a hand down his face in his agitation. “I have! All I do is listen, because you never answer any of my questions!”

To his utter shock, the voice, normally fairly monotone and lacking emotion, snaps back, sounding like it matches his frustration. “We don’t have time for this!” it says. “You have to listen!”

“O-okay,” he stammers, caught off guard. In the back of his mind, a thought sparks to life.

“You’re losing,” it says – blunt and frank and not at all the way it normally is during these little one-sided conversations they have every night. “You’re losing, and you know it. Your crops will be completely wiped out within the month. He plans to go after your water supply next. You won’t make it to the end of the year.”

The information sinks in, settling into the marrow of his bones and draining the blood from his face. He sways in place and drops down onto the blanketed pallet. His fingers have gone numb. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. But that’s why you have to listen, Will. You need to go to her.”

Will’s head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, but he manages to swim through the miasma of misery and panic tugging him down, and he looks up, towards the doorway. “What? What does that mean?”

“You know, Will. You’ve always known.”

“I don’t-”

“She’ll explain everything when you arrive. But you need to hurry – she’s growing stronger, and the stronger she becomes, the more danger she’s in. If he finds out-”

“Where am I supposed to go? Who is she?!”

“Oh my god, are you seriously this stupid – to the Upside Down, shitbird!”

Will realizes two things at that moment: He’s been able to move this entire time.

And he knows that voice.

Standing, he makes the two long strides it takes to reach the doorway. He rips the tarp away and-

-he shoots upright in bed, gasping and clutching at his head with both hands. Pain lances through his head, concentrated behind his eyes, and he stifles a pained groan – because by some miracle, Mike hasn’t stirred, and Will’s brain is racing too fast to bother taking the time to explain everything away.

Because in the split-second after the tarp ripped away, before the dream ended, he managed to catch a glimpse of the person on the other side. And he knows that voice.

confusing new details emerge, will doubts his sanity, the byers brother discuss abuse, will dreams, someone lost is found, and some miscommunication gets cleared up. mike cries twice

[kedreeva]

My friend (>:|) started talking to me about someone writing a Steddie JP AU, but all that did was make me really want a Camp Cretaceous AU with the Party. So please come along with me for a moment.

Will Byers wins an art contest to get there. Dustin beats a video game. Mike enters a storytelling competition. Max's skateboarding sponsors send her. Lucas and Erica's mom is one of the lead scientists, so they usually live up the island with their dad, who lets them go to the camp to hang out (which incidentally means neither of them but especially not Erica is impressed with the camp). El... no one's quite sure how El got there. She's quiet.

The camp counselors, Steve and Eddie, introduce themselves at the dock and take the new arrivals to the camp to meet Lucas and Erica. Everyone hits it off well that first night, trading their stories about how they got here, talking about dinosaurs. Most of them actually do like dinosaurs, but there's a line drawn in the sand about whether these even ARE dinosaurs (Will and Dustin argue they are NOT, Lucas and Mike argue that they ARE, Max doesn't care she just thinks they're cool, Erica doesn't care she just thinks they're not cool, El doesn't really know what dinosaurs are, but it's her fault they got into the debate).

They actually get to spend a few days on the island before shit hits the fan. Getting into shenanigans, learning the layout, seeing things that will come back later. Getting little hints of the evil going on behind the scenes, but in ways that don't particularly set off alarm bells until you're looking back.

And then the indorex breaks containment and the island gets abandoned. The kids are out when it happens, maybe in the riding balls so they end up relatively safe, but not recovered. Steve and Eddie stay behind to try to find them, but they JUST miss each other several times, and finally they're forced to leave the kids there despite KNOWING in their BONES that the kids ARE alive.

The kids spend the next 6 months surviving the wilds of jurassic world. Dustin befriends a dinosaur he names Dart and gets lost in the woods for a while when they get separated. They build a fort from the remains of the camp. They go on adventures to acquire food and drink and try to communicate with the mainland. They face off against opportunistic poachers and nearly escape on the boat, eventually making it to the nearby island and finding out all the lurking evil from the first half of the story has come back to bite them, and they can't go home without saving the dinosaurs from the Russians running some kind of underground dinosaur fight club.

Meanwhile on the mainland, Jonathan is mourning his little brother while Joyce is trying to figure out how to get them to the island to go looking for Will. Nancy turns up because she caught a wisp of communication from Mike from one of their attempts to contact home, and she KNOWS they are alive. So the three of them start digging and end up in contact with Steve and Eddie who are like yeah we got you, we can get you there, we know the place, we'll come help. So THEIR group ends up heading to the islands to look.

Hopper, meanwhile, as head of security for the island, has been losing his mind because he cannot think how this happened except one of his team failed but he personally vetted the whole team, they were all exceptional. it HAD to be sabotage. Someone was not telling him something. He's furious. He ends up going to the island to investigate , and runs aground of Joyce's group, and ends up joining them.

They find evidence of the kids on the island, and then somehow end up in radio contact with the kids on the other island. They call in authorities (hello Sam Owens), and hop islands to go get the kids, who by this point have definitely befriended Murray the scientist who is 99% certain there's a conspiracy going on he hasn't figured out yet and Dmitri, one of the robots they've reprogrammed to be on their side instead. They're getting ready to go head to head with Dr. Brenner, El's "dad" in some way, when Joyce's group finally gets to them, and it's getting kind of grim until Sam's group also arrives, and everyone gets rescued and/or arrested and the place gets closed down and our people all get to go home.

[0aurelion-sol0]

While the theories/analyses in the works are still in the drafts, I just wanted to share some thoughts about what might & will happen today for Stranger Things Day (the 2023 edition). Lovely promotional art btw!

Now I'm not super-duper excited about all of it but, (in fact much of ST related content hasn't excited me for a while now) but that isn't the point, I appreciate a throwback, not thursday but monday in that case.

I think it's a good move on their part, especially for stories that are culturally significant, to return & go back through the whole journey that happened before the finish line; mainly becauses it engages the audience in revisiting in a way that's helpful for people who don't have the time to rewatch all of it & also really being part of the moment that's happening. In the sense that they are being stimulated via their own experiences & memories of it, & that is always good. Especially if most of it is positive.

And I enjoy the way they've done the marketing about pre-Season 5 so far, it's present but not overwhelming & has certain subtleties to it like in for the new ice cream flavours for example. It's all a bit creepy yet familiar, I enjoy it.

Nooooow... I also did not finish some of my theories, that I could have dropped because they were very much shorter than usual & I don't think they were about things that would have been easily disproved faster than I would've liked to be but you never know. If it's to drop something that's going to be proven false in 2 days, there's no point in dropping it anyway.

Do I think we're going to get a lot from this ST Day ? No. Apart from possibly them giving us the episode titles of the final season which I doubt because it seems a bit early for me & new infos on the play which... we already have covered enough for me, I think 🤔 & believe it or not, the new things I hears about it are quite intriguing & reassuring, so that's nice! but apart from that, I don't think we're going to get much.

With the strikes that happened & that are ongoing, the writing that to my knowledge has yet to be completed & filming that hasn't even started, I don't really see what we could get.

Now I could be completely wrong, there might be something huge in stores or multiple things that are going to be revealed.

My wish would be to have a new video game, specifically a horror one that's slightly abstract & psychological. First person too! But a follow-up to the ST arcade games, 1984 & 3 covering Season 4 would be nice to. And we're not at a point where we can get an open-world ST game so I'm not asking.

Perhaps some new comics or books, they're always nice to me, canon or not. Maybe some merch, though I'm not a big ST merch lover, not that it's bad, I'm just not really interested in most of it.

Now given the revisiting aspect plus other elements of this day speaks to me plus works with some of the theories I've been working on, oh yes! Here's what I'm most excited to get into soon is:

- a return to Season 2, (Season 1's chaotic little sister but who follows in her footsteps & admires her very much) they've been pushing the fandom to revisit this season for Season 5 and I'm very eager to see what they are going to push forward about it given the fact they called it underrated which THEY ARE RIGHT! The fandom does not appreciate this season enough plus has a delusional hate towards "The Lost Sister" which is a fine episode. And it has Will as a main protagonist with a heavy focus on the Byers, with an interesting take on a Lovecraftian menace, so how can you not appreciate it ? So yeah, that's that.

Next, to my own surprise: - "The First Shadow", yes I did not expect myself to be as interested right now as I am about this given what it covers but the more the crew talks about it & the more new elements about it come out, the more I think there's truly something worth our time & engagement here. First, good news, it's definitely not mandatory to watch it for Season 5 which is good, secondly, it's going to be a retelling and a new exploration of events & characters in the past which is always nice and definitely something we need after Season 4 & finally, actual nuances & complexities for the character of Henry Creel, finally! cause I can't take the characterization & the writing of his character that's been done in Season 4. (Though I heard he may have a romance, which I hope it is not the case, because one of the very few positives of his character is that there was absolutely no romance attached to his character compared to the rest so I really hope it does not happen...) So let's see what this play will do & what it might save going into Season 5 because it does look promising.

After that, we have the messy & campy one, the - return to Season 3: now I know what the fandom thinks of this season & while I agree it's far from perfect & turned many aspects of ST for the worse, the campiness & over the top aspect of certain elements works for what it's talking about & paying hommage to. It has it's own charm & has to me the better horror elements of ST so far or at least the better result; the antagonists were just fantastic to me plus the monster is one of the coolest. So it has still a lot in it that's very enjoyable, plus Scoops Troop is probably the best group of the show.

Now it's turned upside-down which likely means that putting it this way compared to the other was intentional and all I can think of about is that it's supposed to hint at again that weird nature of Season 3 that's different compared to most of the other seasons (mostly... *cough* Season 4 *cough*) and that they may point to it in some way. There's a lot of themes, choices & story elements of Season 3 that remains unanswered & vague, quite "meta" in fact. Perhaps on purpose, perhaps not since these elements, sometimes negative & which already started to appear in Season 2 are right now impossible for me to give a straight answer because The Duffers have not been reassuring about this part of their writing to say the least. So we will see how it turns out but it could be interesting.

Next we have to return to Season 1: which we can all agree is still the best written season of Stranger Things to date, it is by definition a masterpiece but I am not excited as perhaps others to return to it because they haven't done a good job following on the quality of it plus having a true continuity with the stories & themes it started and the way they explored those. I am afraid of more retcons they could pull with that season which clearly hints & answers different mysteries of it in a way that's completely different to what the latest seasons have given us plus not put forward all the storylines they've left in the mud for it's characters that aren't about romance.

It's always a pleasure going back to this season but if it's to justify the mistakes of the latest season, they can keep it. We need to the actual better parts & elements of that season. The photography, the cinematography, the music, the themes & ambience of it, the characters & the way they're explored... If not, there's no point.

And finally, the one I don't care for, the return to Season 4: I'm not going to repeat what I've already said about this season, most people know & you probably have already guessed what I feel about it but I truly feel it's the only really true mediocre content ST has given me so far. I will not act like it's the worst thing in the world because it would be simply not true but it has more bad than good and when it's bad, it's really bad. Not even a gorgeous usage of Kate Bush will save it for me (it ruins it itself... 🤭). I don't hate it like I used to anymore but I'm still very much annoyed by it.

Between retcons, uninteresting developments & characters, regressions, missed opportunities and an AMPLIFICATION of the worst aspects of Season 3 plus unnecessary long for what it has to say, I just haven't been able to appreciate any of it one year later. And I don't think I ever will, not even if the final season is a f*cking masterpiece & save what it did. Perhaps as a part of a whole series if the ending really makes up for it but alone, it's horrible to go through.

So yeah, that's it. They probably already started by the time I've finished and dropped this post but it's okay, I have fully accepted that time is not really my friend anymore. X) I hope y'all have a good day and hopefully we will get interesting stuff & surprises.

[hannahraehum]

My Manifesto: View Life Through Rose-Tinted Glasses.

Stop and Smell the Roses… Please!

After reviewing my previous posts from the beginning of the class semester in late June to the most recent post of just yesterday, August 5th, I have noted the pattern throughout my blogs. Ever since I was a small kid I was taught to view life around you with a careful eye or it will whiz by. The perfectly shaped heart pool of water beneath your sweating cup could be easily dismissed, and quickly passed over, but if given a few moments to gaze at the average person would be surprised how beautiful the world is around them. A butterfly or moth is just that to some, but watch her for a while and you may capture her taking a rest on a leaf or landing on your shoe before she takes off to her next destination. My manifesto is all about taking it all in, the good and the bad is all beautiful and something to learn from. View life through the lens of an artist and suddenly it's not so mundane.

During the review of my manifesto, I urge the viewer to listen to the soundtrack of my eighth post, titled The Sound of the Rainbow. Within it is six completely different songs to give a taste test of many genres and decades all under the theme of color. As you pass through the rainbow beginning with the first two shades of red and yellow, you may review two of my blog posts. The first is “Punta Gorda Sculptures” in which I share with the reader a slice of beauty from my hometown. My post covers the striking sculpture “Calostimucu,” a Native American head that represents great power and honor. Thousands drive by him each day off the port charlotte highway 41 bridge, he’s seen many through his 50 years of sitting there. What he represents to every passer byer will be different, the emotions he brings forth may be sadness, strength, honor, pride, or wonder. The next art piece in the post is “Ostriches” and the tower over a road in the Peace River Botanical Gardens. The man and woman loom over in their fancy red clothes, making the viewer feel small compared to the mighty giants. At this point, the song Red by Chevelle should overlap as you view my post and ponder over the pictures of the sculpture. Perhaps, passion or strength may pump up your energy while you consider the pisces of artwork.

When Orange plays by Zach Bryant you may review the post titled Casablanca and Lost in Translation in which I review these two films and analyze them. I want individuals to exit a film with more questions than answers, every movie and video should make the viewer intrigued even after the credits roll. Casablanca is an old film, but the cinematography has influenced so many after it. Many shows and films after it have referenced great and classic films. The plot may raise questions, like what would you do in the role of the main character, and have you ever had to give up a person you love for the greater good. The other film I analyze is an all-time favorite film for me, it represents a time in my life when loneliness ruled all and this film was my therapy. Has the reader ever had a relationship that existed only as a life lesson even if they existed in your timeline for a brief moment? What does aging mean to the reader, is it something beautiful or is it scary.

For the song Yellow, you will stop to smell the roses of my post titled Ekphrasis of the Kiss. In this post, I reviewed the stunning painting by one of my favorite artists, Gustav Klimt. I wanted to create an alternate point of view of the woman in the painting, even if it’s different from what Klimt intended. To me that is the beauty of art, otherwise, every piece of work would have instructions to read it. My manifesto urges the reader to view the painting and come up with how it makes them feel, and what the colors and textures suggest to you. Is it comforting, romantic, glamorous, suffocating, or empty? How does it relate to the viewer's psyche and life? My poem will not strike a chord with every reader, to some, the poem may be about how there is a pain in all romantic relationships, to others it may be about how some women experience men taking something from them without full consent.

An interpretation by a Ukraine photographer named Andrey Kezzyn 2022.

For the songs Green Light and Blue on Blue, the posts Unintentionally Picturesque and Ever is Over All come to mind. The prior is a post all about stopping to smell the roses via photographs taken by me. I walk the reader through five photos taken in various places in which I captured a visually beautiful moment that I didn't want to forget. Starting with the interior of a Kansas art museum, then a mini-golf course in Fort Myers, Florida, a lakeside dock in Kansas, an art museum in Sarasota, Florida, and a park in Estero, Florida. Can the viewer imagine being a part of the photos, what sounds and textures do they feel. At the Kansas art museum, the echoing sounds of discussion and small children screaming as they play, cutlery hitting the table, and soft cafe-style music playing over speakers. Can you feel the texture of the last photo, the dead oak leaves crunching beneath your feet and the soft moss hanging from the grand oak overhead? For the next post, I analyze the art film by Pipliotti Rist called Ever is Over All. The film can have many interpretations and the appreciation for what it could mean comes from inside. Reading my interpretation, what does the reader think when faced with difficult ideas like natural disaster being inevitable or being swallowed by a tsunami. The reader may find a strange comfort in knowing one day the world will revert to wild nature, the buildings and cars covered in sprawling plants and insects. 

The last song is a wild card, “Purple People Eater” is a Halloween classic and I think couples perfectly with my short story post called The Last Yupperknuffle which follows a made-up creature that is struggling to survive. Inspired by children's books and films, I want the reader to transport themselves to childhood wonder when the real world seemed light years away. Can you imagine the Yupperknuffle in your arms or the pain of being alone without its family? I was strongly inspired by the film called the Last Unicorn which came out in the 1970s and was based on a children's novel of the same title. It follows a Unicorn who is the last of her kind and her journey to find answers. I think as adults we can try to stray away from what it was like to be a kid, lost yet having fun and exploring. I urge the viewer to relate to their younger selves by doing what they used to love to do, like coloring books, and legos, playing outside, and finding fun shells at the beach. 

This concludes my manifesto with the overarching theme of taking it all in, stopping to truly feel and connect with the art around you. I have found that this class made me think and analyze a lot more than I had imagined and I’m urging others around me to do the same. I have shared and read my posts with some of my family and loved seeing their reactions. Some of the assignments made me quite surprised by my interpretations and analysis’ like the Ekphrasis when I had to create a poem. Suddenly, the idea and words came to me quite easily and I felt proud about how it turned out. In the end, my manifesto is about appreciating the world around you and not getting caught up in mundane patterns. Your knowledge is power and greatness can come from even the smallest actions!

[runninguplenorahills]

Yes, I totally get what you mean and my dislike towards Mike playing the guitar or rather thinking that it’s nonsensical does primarily come from the fact that I do not think Mike is actually idolizing Eddie at all (I have a massive fucking post about this in my drafts which I’m probably not gonna post though idk) which means my biggest problem is this Eddei-fication of Mike. Mike ≠ Eddie and therefore I do not agree with this vision a lot of people have of Mike putting on his leather jacket and starting to play the electric guitar. That’s what I believe to be nonsensical. I have nothing against Mike playing the guitar in a different setting but it’s overall a bad call for the story in my opinion!

The duffers said the best plot twists are the ones where you go “oh my god I should’ve seen that coming” upon rewatching the show and that is simply not the case with Mike confessing his love by playing the guitar. Your observations of more guitar imagery is very cool but upon rewatching the show it’s unlikely anyone would catch those and go “*gasp!* it was so obvious that Mike would play the guitar in s5!” You know what I mean??? If you hide a “plot twist” so much that it isn’t even part of the plot in the first place then that’s just something happening out of the blue. Just imagine if the use of Peter Gabriel’s cover of “Heroes” in the first season as Mike cries over losing Will with the lyrics “and we kissed as though nothing could fall and the shame, the shame was on the other side” was the only hint towards byler in the whole show??? In that case byler wouldn’t be a good plot twist either, it would simply come out of the fucking blue!

And what I meant with the fact that Mike never expresses any interest in music is that Mike never expressed an interest in making music before!! Mike sings along to the radio, yes, but I personally think that claiming that as proof that Mike has a more intense interest in music and producing it is a reach. That’s basically like saying the fact that Mike said “he was singing that weird song he likes” was proof that Mike doesn’t like music at all. Or saying that it would make sense for Steve to join a band because he sang a song in s1, you know what I mean?? Mike actually being into making music is not at all shown to us and I think that’s exactly what would make him playing the guitar next season as a love confession feel so incredibly anticlimactic!

With a letter/letters or phone calls on the other hand there’s already a foundation. Mike and Will literally have a whole fight about the fact that Mike didn’t reach out and never wrote a single letter to Will so revealing next season that Mike did in fact write letters to Will makes for a much better surprise. We also literally have Dustin say that Mike won’t stop whining about the fact that the Byers’ always got a busy line so revealing that Mike did try to call Will makes sense! And I know this isn’t much either but it is out in the open! Any audience member, even the GA, can watch the season back and go: “Oh damn, Dustin did say that about Mike!! They did hint at this!”. Furthermore, revealing that Mike’s letter/s to Will is signed “Love, Mike” will get that “*GASP!!*” from the audience because we already know the implications!! We already know what this means, we are familiar with this!! This wouldn’t just be something random that came out of the blue!

So as I said, revealing letter- and/or phonegate to be true is a way better call for the show because the audience has the chance to actually anticipate it. There’s a huge focus on letters in general in s4 so revealing lettergate in s4 is definitely something where people can go: “we could’ve seen that coming!”. The audience is familiar with it and letters already play a role for byler!!! It just makes so much more sense narratively than Mike whipping out the guitar and confessing his undying love for Will through a song!

And I get your thought process on the art style evolution for both Will and Mike but with drawing and painting you’re doing the exact same thing but with a different kind of paint and paper. Your art will naturally evolve from pencil drawings to water color/acrylic paint/oil paint as you experiment with how else you can express yourself through your art and how you can improve your skills. Drawing and Painting is the exact same skill set, they’re in the same category and you naturally go in and out of drawing and painting. That’s just something you do on your journey of finding and evolving your art style.

Writing fantastical dnd campaigns does not naturally evolve into writing songs and playing the guitar. Writing songs and making music is not some more elaborate or evolved stage of writing stories. It’s a completely different thing (in my opinion anyway). If you like writing stories you’re not gonna write songs in an attempt to improve your story writing skills…….. And I feel like some people went a little bit too far and feral over what Mike aspiring to be a writer actually means for canon. Mike, a 12 year old who likes writing fantastical stories, did not put writing as his dream career because he likes shakespeare and poetry! (I say this because poetry is more connected to writing songs). Of course you can headcanon Mike to be into those things but canonically Mike Wheeler probably wants to become a comic- or story book author. And this of course doesn’t mean that Mike cannot under any circumstances like playing the guitar BUT writing songs and playing the guitar is not Mike’s art style evolving in the way that Will’s did. It’s Mike completely changing his form of art! That’s like as if Will was all of a sudden into photography in s4.

That’s basically all I’m trying to say. Mike revealing his feelings through playing the guitar next season narratively doesn’t hold the same value as letter- and/or phonegate which makes it simply more anticlimactic and nonsensical because it would objectively be an incredibly bad call to throw everything they built up in s4 about the letters and the phone calls in the trash to give Mike a guitar and let him play a cheesy song.

What you said about Finn Wolfhard knowing how to play “should I stay or should I go” on the guitar is of course a cool fun fact but like….. that song came out in what? 1982? There is a good chance that Finn just knew the song before stranger things and Finn is known to be into 80’s music so him being able to play the song isn’t actually that extraordinary and as you also said, doesn’t automatically mean it’s for the show. I’m of course aware that the duffers had a lot more stuff planned for s2 but Mike playing the guitar would’ve been even more random and nonsensical in s2 than it already would be in s5!!

I do however actually have nothing against a scene in which Mike plays “should I stay or should I go” (because that can coexist with letter-/phonegate as it does not take on the role of revealing that Mike is in love with Will) but if that actually does end up happening, to me it would still feel weird and it would also be glaringly obvious that it’s fan service! Simply because “*gasp!*Finn Wolfhard with a guitar???” You know what I mean?

The guitar(s) in Mike’s bedroom

I wanted to make a post about what the guitar(s) is Mike’s room could mean because quite frankly, I’m not at all convinced that Mike will play the guitar next season!

Set design says something about the characters and since this is Mike’s bedroom it obviously says something about him. But those props have deeper meaning than simply “they just like this”, like the ONE WAY sign obviously isn’t there to convey the message that “Hey, Mike thinks traffic signs are awesome”. The props in Mike’s room tell a story about Mike, something significant to understand his character and so having the guitar(s)‘s only purpose be that Mike likes playing the guitar doesn’t seem to make that much sense, especially because Mike has never expressed an interest in music ever. Now, you could argue that pre s4 Lucas also never expressed an interest in basketball and that he still likes it but basketball and the basketball team all played major roles in Lucas’ arc this season! We get introduced to Lucas being a part of the team and we focus on that throughout the whole season while with Mike they only really quickly show the head of an acoustic guitar and a completely blurry garbage pail kids sticker which features an electric guitar. It’s a blink and you’ll miss it kinda thing which is why I think it would be weird if it actually just represents Mike liking the guitar [especially because that interest in music doesn’t come up again for the rest of the season!] because you would actually have to look deeper into the set design and look for deeper meanings to actually catch especially the electric guitar on the garbage pail kids sticker!

I think it’s way more likely that we would get a love confession through something like a letter/letters (lettergate) than through a song because letters and especially Mike writing and not writing letters is a reoccurring theme in s4 along with Mike making phone calls (phonegate). It’s simply way more logical to expand on a topic that’s been touched on before than to just randomly add something new that’s never been shown/discussed beforehand. [especially because s4 and s5 go hand in hand]

And well….. I guess I’m gonna say it: Mike being really into music is fanon! Mike is a part of hellfire not corroded coffin! Yeah, Mike tries to be more like Eddie but he doesn’t do that because he genuinely wants to be exactly like Eddie. He does it because he doesn’t like being himself! Mike does not actually aspire to be just like Eddie and do everything Eddie does. There’s of course nothing wrong with headcanoning that he does but there’s nothing in canon to solidly back up that Mike’s really into playing the guitar/making music and therefore it is very unlikely to happen in the show and honestly nonsensical as well (imo). So Mike very probably won’t be playing the guitar next season because for the narrative it doesn’t hold as much value as a letter/letters or missed phone calls! Simply because we’re already familiar with the topic of Mike and letters/phone calls while the guitar and a song would come out of the blue and therefore doesn’t have the same effect as finding out that Mike did write letters to Will [or my personal fave: wrote a letter to Will in 1983 which is signed “love, Mike” which they’ll find in the ud in s5] and did try to call him! The reveal of that is just a better payoff for all their fighting because it directly connects to what their fight was about and clears up the miscommunication.

But the guitar(s) in Mike’s room still exists. There is something to it so what I did is I looked up some guitar symbolism (I only found results for what guitars in dreams represent) and I found some interesting things which I think fit extraordinarily well with what Mike’s feeling and going through:

There is also a theme going on with a lot of props in Mike’s bedroom primarily hinting at his sexuality/gayness, as does the whole scene. So I actually also visited a site which described the guitar as a masculine instrument and that the sound of an electric guitar is also very masculine (and passionate) so the guitar(s) in Mike’s room could of course also hint at the fact that Mike is drawn to masculinity/attracted to men which makes even more sense when we remember that the show has already touched on the topic of sexual electricity while both guitars are surrounded by electricity (= the garbage pail kids card features the image of electricity tightly and directly connected to the electric guitar and our attention gets drawn to the acoustic guitar by a lamp which of course works with electricity and actually doesn’t have any need to be on during the day).

If you’ve read my post about the other garbage pail kids cards you’d know that all of them reflect something that happened to their respective st character (though I’m still unsure with Steve) (I am however sure that all of the cards reflect something that happened to each character as well as something personal about Mike since this is still his bedroom!) so Mike’s card probably also reflects some event from s4 and I personally think it’s the monologue! I also found something about what dreams about getting electrocuted by an electric guitar mean and what I found fits pretty well:

“Live Mike” (name of the garbage pail kids card) is only one letter away from “Love Mike” and during the monologue Mike finally tells El that he loves her but he only does this because Will’s last minute encouragement lead him to believe that El���s live depends on it! So he just starts saying things without actually thinking about them in a desperate attempt to save her life which horribly backfires and only causes more problems in the end! (For this we have to remember that the garbage pail kid in the card literally getting electrocuted while playing the guitar is something negative which is why it works well with this interpretation but doesn’t really make sense if it was to reflect a love confession via song and guitar in s5). Someone also pointed out that “Live Mike” is of course a play on “Live mic” so by turning on the microphone (starting to speak) Mike gets electrocuted (something negative happens = the monologue). The monologue is also of course connected to Mike’s personal internal struggle with his self worth and sexuality/identity and therefore it also connects to the card’s personal meaning for Mike.

[patchesnpins]

ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱʜɪᴘ ʜᴄꜱ

ᴀɴᴏɴ ᴀꜱᴋᴇᴅ: Hihi! If able I would love to see just some sfw relationship headcanons for Will (or Dustin), if you feel comfortable writing for them of course <3! Thank you so much in advance if you do write for them, much love and appreciation towards how good the writings you've posted so far are <3

☾⋆*:｡ a/n: oh for such a sweet compliment I just had to do the both of them! thank you for being so lovely anon, I tried my best but I'm not the greatest at writing Dustin. I hope you still enjoy <3

☾⋆*:｡ details: SFW//w.c: 0.9k//ft: Will Byers & Dustin Henderson

ᴡɪʟʟ ʙʏᴇʀꜱ

Will is such a sweetheart, when he falls in love with someone he falls hard. He can’t keep his eyes off you and that damn blush won’t leave his cheeks, even when you both are dating he still acts like he has a secret little crush on you that he’s scared to share

He nearly jumps out of his skin when you go to hold his hand for the first time, eyes wide like he wasn’t supposed to be but when you just smile so sweetly back at him he relaxes. His hands are rough and almost always seem stained with paint or charcoal (he tries to apologize and wipe them off but you don’t want to let go)

Expressing his love through words can be a bit hard sometimes, when it’s needed he can find them but he’s best at showing his love through actions. He’s the type of person to tie your shoes for you, kiss the pain away whenever you get hurt of help you get dressed when that one button won’t go in place

If you can catch a look at his sketchbooks you’ll find pages upon pages of you, he knows your face down to the smallest detail and he could draw you blind. He’s awkward about it, not wanting to come off as obsessed but it’s so cute

Whenever a big event is coming up, whether it’s your birthday or anniversary you can expect a handmade gift for it. He puts so much effort into all of his art and every little thing has something with sentimental value in it, a landscape piece of the first place you met, a drawing of you two together or one just of you from his favorite picture 

He finds a newfound love for cooking for you, preferring quiet and more private dates at home where you can both have fun in the kitchen, singing along to the radio and talking as you make your dinner. He loves the privacy and how it’s just the two of you, you’re the only thing that has his attention

Makes you mixtapes with a little help from Jonathan all of the time, he keeps track of your favorite songs and always makes sure to include them alongside his favorite sweet songs that show how much he loves you in the words he can’t find

Although he adores you so much, Will can’t leave his love for DND behind. But if you’re interested he’d be more than excited to show you how to play, eyes all bright and twinkling as he goes over all the classes for you to pick from and his favorite past campaigns 

Maybe, just maybe the next piece he draws for you will be both of your characters. But he won’t say until he’s gathered enough info about your character…

ᴅᴜꜱᴛɪɴ ʜᴇɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴏɴ

Despite how confident and straight to the point he likes to consider himself, he can’t believe how bad he‘s tripping over his words when he’s trying to speak to you. Before you both started dating he seemed to unravel like a ball of yarn in front of you

But with plenty of faith in himself (and a handful of pep talks from Steve) he managed to score you as his lovely partner. The minute you started dating none of his friends would ever hear the end of it. He gushes over every little thing you do or aspect of your personality. He just loves you so so much and everyone should know how great you are!

Dustin likes to consider himself cool and suave, not afraid to get flirty with you but the minute you pull out a tooth-rottingly sweet nickname for him he’s back to how he was the first day he met you. He’s such a sucker for pet names and when it’s you, someone so cute, giving them to him?? How couldn’t he be flustered?

That hat he seems to love oh so much and can’t part with will only leave his head if it’s for you, he’d been frantically searching for it thinking he lost it but when he saw it on your head his heart jumped in speed. He just thought you looked so adorable with it on and the fact you wanted to wear his hat was so sweet

He adores you like you were the sun itself, he just admires you to no end and that’s what made him fall so hard for. Whether you’re smart, so pretty/handsome, funny or quick on your feet to respond to something he just looks up to you like you’re the greatest thing on earth (and to him? you probably are)

His favorite type of dates are arcade dates, being so assured that there’s no way you could beat his high score at his favorite game. If you don’t he will tell you his top secret cheats (that he’ll never admit he learned from Max) and help you at least get second on the scoreboard. 

And if you do you’ll hear his yell of “no way!” in mock offense over the loud theme music of all the games as he rushes over to check. He’ll act all devastated that he’s been dethroned but the wide grin on his face reassures you that he’s more than excited to learn you’re so good at the game

He makes sure you get a walkie talkie too, his voice crackling in over the radio every night just for you both to chat for a bit. He likes to call you on bike rides, knowing it’s not the safest thing but he loves telling you about all the cool things he sees and how you both should visit that one pretty lake he spotted in the morning

[friendly-neighbourhood-spiderm4n]

I forking loved your last Will Byers x Male reader! Thank you so much! I seriously can’t get enough of this idea XD. Could you plz do more headcannons possibly about what school life is like (but no Homophobia like just pretend there is no such thing as it? I really hate hearing about it🥲), how they deal with there size difference as couples and how you think they would have met? (With the same trope, Will Byers x Big! Scary! Himbo! Male reader with demon powers) 😁😘 Thx!

A/N - Send more requests, it means I don’t have to think of original ideas lol. This applies to everybody, btw.

>Cali favourites power couple. Angelina actually didn’t pick on Will because of you. She only saw you as the terrifying, hunk of meat that is Will Byers boyfriend.

>The rest of her friend group try to stay away from Will, mainly worried that he would something to you and you’d react violently.

>Actually is why they started walking away from El in Episode 1 after they destroyed her diorama. He still told you when you got to Cali the next day.

>Angela regretted it at the Rink’O’Mania. Because El slammed a roller skate into her face. It was well deserved tho-

>Mainly cause you told her to stand up for herself, and use violence if only deemed necessary. You totally weren’t quoting your parents/guardian.

>But, before all this, no one kind of believed him when he said he had a boyfriend as cool as you.

>Part of the reason he started to get bullied again.

>Then he brought you to school cause a storm had once stopped all the airplanes from going where they needed to go.

>Everyone starred at you as you walked into the school. Especially the girls. And I’m sorry for all the Gays, but manny were attracted to you.

>On the plus side(?), a few guys were attracted to you.

>The first person that came up to was oddly enough, Angela.

>”Hi! Are you new to this school? I can give you a tour if so.” Her voice was so annoying, in a very sad and pathetic attempt to sound soft and sweet.

>”Im only here for the day, cause my boyfriend Will and his sister, Jane go here.”

>”Byers?” Her faces dropped. ‘Cute and sweet’ facade gone and only judgement left.

>You almost punched her, cause she called Will a loser.

>El saw you and ran up to you, making sure you didn’t get yourself arrested.

>”Y/N! I thought you were going back to Hawkins today?”

>”Mrs. Byers says that all flights are still delayed. Until Thursday, so I figured I would come and surprise Will. By the way, I’m staying until next weekend.”

>El pulled you away, having successfully distracted you. She took you to Will, who was on the art classroom.

>When he saw you, he looked very surprised.

>After that, when people saw they still stared but minded their business better.

>You have gotten in trouble for being on school property. Mainly cause they thought you were like 27.

>Didn’t help your case when you told them you dating a student of the school. Will and Johnathan struggled to tell the cops that you were hardly 16.

>Imma just say it was lucky that you hadn’t forgotten your ID, cause I bet you usually do.

>No one knows of your Demon powers, because if they did, you would probably be put on death row.

>The school kinda gave up telling you to not come into school property during Wills lunch time, you always forgot anyway.

>Argyle thinks you’re ‘tubular.’ You asked Will what that meant and he couldn’t even help you there, he too, had never heard that word.

>Besides Angela being a bitch, everyone else is pretty cool about you and some even attracted to you.<3

[pariahsparadise]

goodbye kiss

nav. | m.list

word count- 0.5k

pairings- will byers x gn!reader

author’s note- i had a dream like this last night (what with stranger things on my mind all day with all the new info that netflix gave us yesterday) and had to get it out in words. i think i overused the word “breathe” in this one but idrc. unedited, as usual.

warnings- just kissing because they’re still minors, fluff, swearing. it's kinda fast-paced, but i needed to write this down before i forgot it, so i'm sorry

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

“Will?”

Your voice jolts him out of his brooding, and he sits up straighter on top of the box he perches on. “In here!” he calls, hating his voice for how shaky it sounds. You make your way into the room, carefully stepping over stray cardboard until you stand in front of Will.

“So, I guess this is really happening, isn’t it?” you ask, immediately beating around the bush. It’s one of the things Will loves most about you, you’re the most straightforward and bold person he knows. He wishes he could be more like that sometimes.

“It is,” he says quietly, standing up as well. The side of his mouth quirks into a sad smile as he looks down at you, and you bite your lip to stop yourself from saying something you regret. His silent gaze becomes too much to bear, so you find yourself breaking eye contact as you scan the nearly empty room around him. You laugh as your eyes fall on a discarded piece of paper, recognising it immediately.

“Look at this!” you exclaim, picking it up with a quick swipe of your hand. “God, it’s the portrait I drew of you in art class. I didn’t know you kept it.” Will laughs, gently angling your hands towards him so he can look at the drawing too, “Oh, but I had to. I don’t think I’ve ever looked better.”

Your heart skips a beat at the feeling of his skin on yours, but you force out an awkward laugh to cover for the red in your cheeks. “Please, our teacher thought I drew a mushroom.”

“It’s probably because of the hair.” Will jokes, shaking his head slightly, breathing out a chuckle. In the next second, he stops breathing altogether, because your hand leaves his to gently push some of the hair out of his eyes.

“Probably,” you whisper in agreement, and the next thing you know is Will’s lips on yours.

Your eyes fall shut at the sensation, and your arms twine around his neck as Will’s lock around your waist. He kisses you harder, stealing your breath before breathing it back into you, it now accompanied by the words;

“I love you.”

You don’t know how long the two of you stay like that for, swept in each other’s embrace, but you know it isn’t long enough. Joyce’s voice finally breaks the two of you apart, but Will’s arms stay firmly wrapped around you as yours tangle in his hair.

“William Byers,” you say gently, resting your forehead against his, “You have the shittiest timing ever.”

He huffs a startled laugh at that, making you giggle. “I’ll write to you everyday,” he promises solemnly, his fingers tracing patterns on your waist. “And I- I’ll visit. I’ll do my best to be yours, as long as that’s what you want.”

You answer him with a soft, slow kiss. “It is, Will,” you say, disregarding Joyce’s loud summons for Will completely, “It is.”

[strangertheories]

💚 Will or Eleven or Max

Will Byers analysis

I've already done Max and I'll make Eleven next, but for now I'm going to analyse Will. I'm going to break him down season by season and speak about some key moments and his character arc. This is kind of in companion with my Mike analysis but you don't have to read it to understand, just to get more of the full picture.

Season 1

Right off the bat we see a lot of Will's personality from his technique playing D&D. Will is not making choices for himself and seems a lot more quiet than his friends. He's pressured by Dustin and Lucas to make a decision so we don't know if he actually believes what he's picking. However, Will clearly will try and be honest and do the right thing over the easier option. Dustin and Lucas told Will not to say to Mike that the demogorgon got him, but Will doesn't care as he thinks it's the moral option to tell Mike. We also see that he has a much closer relationship with Mike than the rest of his friends. He's also quite nerdy (in an affectionate way) and we see his excitement over getting Dustin's X-Man comic.

Unfortunately, we find out Will has been bullied his whole life. His father believed him to be gay and would refer to a young Will with homophobic slurs. Will similarly faced this bullying at school, with people making rude comments about his sexuality based on his clothes and soft spoken nature. By the start of S1, Will has started to realize that he's not 'normal' as evidenced by the show's pitch bible.

Will Byers, twelve, is a sweet, sensitive kid with sexual identity issues. He only recently came to the realization that he does not fit into the 1980s definition of “normal.” His innocent choices, such as colorful clothes, prove a constant source of bullying. Like Mike, Will escapes through fantasy gaming, where he can be himself, uninhibited. He has a close relationship with his mother, Joyce. His brother, Jonathan, helps raise him in lieu of their father, who abandoned them four years ago

This description also draws similarities between Will and Mike. As I've said, they have a closer relationship than he and his other friends and we see these platonic feelings develop into more romantic ones as the show goes on. Like the pitch says, Will is close with his mother and brother and they have had a lot of moments together. This is how we find out about his character

Will has a highly creative mind. He has a passion for creating art as we see through flashbacks with Joyce. He also makes stories just like his best friend, Mike. Will likes horror movies and the arcade as well. As we can see, Will is highly passionate about his interests. However, we can also see as a result of his father and bullying, Will pretends to be interested in things he's not. This conversation with Johnathan is significant because whilst it's talking about sports, it's very easy to interpret as a metaphor for his sexuality.

Johnathan tells Will he shouldn't be upset his father did not come because Will is not a fan of sports and baseball. However, Will is trying to force himself to like sport because he knows his dad and people in general want Will to like things he does not. However, Johnathan tells him he shouldn't force himself to like things he doesn't like just because he feels like he should, especially if his homophobic father tells him so. Combine this with his character description and it's clear Johnathan is talking about more than sports, even if they don't realise it. The writers must have known what they were doing. As well as this, there is a lot of talk of Will being good at hiding which I think means that he's hiding more than physically but also he's hiding his sexuality. Hiding in a closet per se.

As a result of his bullying, Will is a people pleaser who will make decisions not for himself but for other people. This is even the case with friends, like in the opening scene where Will is choosing based on the pressure he feels from Dustin and Lucas. Mike, Joyce and Johnathan are the only people he is truly comfortable to be himself around. I also wonder if Will wasn't initially shy but became withdrawn to protect himself from bullying.

Will returns from the Upside Down and tries to make himself seem happy and fine so Joyce doesn't worry about him. But we see him flashing between our world and the Upside Down so we know something is wrong. It was amazing Will survived and he's clearly much more smart and resourceful than we thought, but that doesn't mean the experience didn't affect him. That leads us on to...

Season 2

At the start of S2, we see Will recovering from the events of S1. He's going through a lot and most people don't seem to notice. We see him going to therapy with people staring at him, with Mike noticing that he seems quiet although Lucas said he's always quiet. Will has always had a closer relationship with Mike so it makes complete sense that Mike would notice this when others wouldn't.

After a heart to heart with Johnathan, we learn Will believes everyone pities him and treats him like he's fragile. If they don't, then they call him a freak or zombie boy. Will and Johnathan have another talk about how it's ok to be different, comparing Will to David Bowie (who was queer). This again can be taken as an allegory for Will feeling alienated because of bullying and his sexuality and having to learn to accept that with the support of Johnathan.

Another person who isn't treating Will weirdly is Mike. In the crazy together scene, Will is finally able to open up and admit how he feels with Mike saying he relates. Will clearly doesn't want to be pitied or infantalised because of his past trauma. As I said, Will is smart and resourceful and he's also grown and changed so it makes sense that he dislikes this. I also think people mistake his shyness for weakness. He's strong. He lived in the Upside Down for a week. And yet people even with good intentions treat him like he's going to break. I think this is why he took Bob's advice to stand up to the mind flayer; because he's actually quite brave.

Post flaying, Will breaks down to Joyce which makes sense as I've established that's one of the people he's comfortable speaking to. We see a lot of stuff going on in this period that is not fully Will, although some things are him. Will trying to find Hopper in the tunnels wasn't the mind flayer. Nor was his guilt over leading the soldiers away or him sending a message in Morse code. As we've seen, Will always tries to do the right thing and this means that even whilst flayed we still get a sense of his strong morality.

Before I wrap up my discussion of S2, I'll break down the memories mentioned about him. Joyce says Will gave a girl his toy truck despite the fact they couldn't afford another one, which shows how Will despite his shyness is very kind hearted and unselfish. Johnathan spoke about him and Will working on Castle Byers together which demonstrates their closeness and affection for each other.

Finally, Mike told us his memory. Will was lonely on the swings by himself. He didn't initiate the conversation with Mike, probably due to his shyness. However, he made the decision to be friends with Mike, telling him yes, which shows that he definitely can and does make decisions for himself. Often his decisions are pressured by his father or more accidentally by Bob, Lucas and Dustin. Because of his quietness, he gets pushed around. But he's always cared for Mike and he's always stayed true to himself. It also demonstrates how they've always had a special connection and closeness unlike anyone else which continued as they grew up (Hawkins isn't the same without you, best thing I ever did, etc). Now onto...

Season 3

In S3, the arc about Will's (homo)sexuality begins. At the start of the season, Will is less mature than his counterparts. He wants to play D&D and never grow up. According to some, his dress style doesn't seem to mature like the rest of his friends. Will had a lot of his childhood stolen from him by his trauma from the UD and the mind flayer. This means he's overcompensating and has stunted development. He makes silly comments about girls not liking science which his friends might have said in earlier seasons but now just feels immature. I'd like to clarify though; Will's lack of interest in girls is not immature, it's gay.

At the start of the season, we see Will tired by his friends' obsession with relationships. Mike and Eleven are constantly off smooching each other so Will no longer sees his closest friend. His friends never play D&D and they forgot about Dustin too, showing how they only seem to care about girls. Will calls Mike out on this, with Mike saying the famous line 'it's not my fault you don't like girls'.

By this point in the series, I think Will knows he's gay deep down but hasn't really tried to think about it. Him saying he's never going to fall in love reminds me a lot of myself believing that because I didn't like the opposite sex I was incapable of love (if you're not interested in relationships or love that's fine too, I'm just personally not aro or ace).

Will could kind of ignore being called gay by bullies as he could dismiss it as unnecessary cruelty and not personal. But Mike is different. Will has feelings for Mike. And now Mike has exposed him and insulted him for it. You can see the panic setting in on Will's face and it just hurts you to watch it. Will destroys Castle Byers and his photos of Mike lamenting about his stupidity for even thinking he could get around liking Mike and girls in a standout performance by Noah Schnapp. It's the beginning of his sexuality arc which appears more in S4.

Unfortunately, we don't see much more of Will's arc in S3 as it's dropped for more supernatural things. We see his intelligence in investigating and how he's able to tell Mike things. We also see that he's got a good relationship with Mike by the end of the series as they have a very smiley convo in which Will says he's not going to join another party. Apart from that, there's not much that stands out to me until...

Season 4

At the start of S4, Will is aware that he is gay and has feelings for Mike. He does his hero project on Alan Turing, who was gay. I don't think that would be common knowledge or that Alan Turing was as well known as he is now (especially in America) which makes me think Will did research into queer history. He pretty clearly rejects a girl in his class showing how hes aware he's not into girls. He also makes a painting for Mike which is definitely somewhat romantic as Eleven said so and also he crushed it when they had a romantic moment together.

Will at school is more of the same. Will is incredibly shy and doesn't want to make himself a target of the school's vicious bullies. He can empathize with Eleven and gets upset on her behalf whilst helping her clean up after her diorama is destroyed. Whilst is would've been better if he helped her whilst she was getting bullied due to his history I get why he did nothing. Also despite the lack of screentime their relationship gets, it is nice to see Will being a caring brother for Eleven.

Will gets frustrated with Eleven lying to Mike saying he deserves better. This is probably a bit of jealousy, especially considering that he is established to be honest to Mike. However, I still think that Mike was in the wrong in their argument where he tried to blame Will for Eleven lying and refused to take accountability for third wheeling Will for a girl for the millionth time. I can only imagine this hurt more now Will is aware of his feelings.

As the season goes on, we can see Will is wanting to tell Mike how he feels. He's always confided in Mike and is very honest so it must be hard for him to not have Mike know about his feelings. This is why he took the painting and had that talk about being scared people won't like his truth. I think there will be a confession to someone (probably Mike or Johnathan) about his feelings in Volume 2.

In conclusion

Will is a smart, shy and kind hearted person who is struggling with growing up and his feelings due to past trauma and internalised homophobia.

I've got Robin analysis up next and then Eleven. Thanks for anyone who read this way too long post, I appreciate it. And thanks for the ask, anon (:

[sunhufflepuff]

So, I know that either Will (or Mike) coming out, first to Lucas, is very popular. 

It would be amazing since he's so understanding and loyal to a fault.

But, I counter it back with : Will coming out  to Dustin first.

First he thinks he's talking about a girl, "Congratulations Byers, it's about time! Who is the lucky girl? Is she from Lenora?"

"What? No, there is no girl, Dustin. The only one I met is Suzy and she's wonderful. I'm happy that you have her."

Dustin is moved but still perplexed by Will's cryptic answer, because—only Will Byers— would actually talk about how happy he is that his friends have found someone, even when they're supposed to talk about Will's own feelings.

There is no girl then, he thinks harder, trying to pick up his brain, on anyone else, that Will could love like that, and then it finally clicks.

Oh! 

It makes sense, total sense, even!

He doesn't say anything, taking the information in.

He can see how terrified Will is, he was there when assholes all over Hawkins threw slurs at him, but he didn't want to assume anything.

His first reaction is to hug him.

It says everything Will needs to hear.

However, Dustin feels it's not enough.

"It doesn't change anything between us, you know? You're one of my best-friends, and I love you, Byers." He raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "But Mike, really, man?"

Will flushes. "Come on, He's not that bad."

"Yeah, but he's still an asshole. I mean if I need to pick anyone in the party for you to have your gay awakening on, it would have been Lucas!"

(Is this how we say it? Gay awakening? Damn he really has to do more research about this!)

Will sutters and blushes even more.

It tells everything Dustin has to know.

"You surprise me everyday. Never change, Will Byers."

***

Then Mike comes out to him, next, because, of course, he does!

Dustin is annoyed. Honestly their obliviousness sometimes astonishes him.

However, When the party is together it doesn't stop him from saying things like :

"You know Jennifer Hayes in math keeps asking after you."

Or: 

"Oh, Will. This girl in art class is very cute. Are you going to ask her out?

Will is perplexed, but Dustin knows that it has the desired effect he wants to have, when Mike snaps at him and spits out in annoyance.

"Just drop it, Dustin! Will doesn't have to get a girlfriend because people are telling him to, can we focus on the fucking campaign, now?!"

Dustin does drop it at some point.

(Even if he makes it his personal mission to say things like that, every time the party hangs out together.

Well, until these two oblivious pinning idiots, figure out their feelings for each other, of course. 

It takes a while, though.)

Lucas and him lock eyes.

He gets it too. 

[marvelslut16]

Shoebox apartment

Prompt number: 29 "Why are we whispering?"

Fandom: Stranger Things

Paring: Jonathan Byers x reader

Rating: T

Word count: 1.4k-ish

Warnings: Nancy bashing. Underage drinking, technically. Mentions emotional/mental abuse from a parent. Jonathan is kinda ooc because he's aged up technically, and it's my first time writing him without it being based in an episode. I think that's it. A horrible title.

A/N: So this is a few days late, whoops. I have been super busy this past week, so my day 1 is late. But, I will be posting days two and three tomorrow, so I'll be all caught up! I've had this idea in my head since I watched this show for the first time in 2019, and I finally put it into words!

You met Jonathan in your first class freshman year at NYU, you sat next to him in art history 101, and he was in your photography 102 class as well. You tried talking to him at your table in art history, but all he did was give you a quick look and then he buried his face in his beat up rented textbook. The first time you talked to him was in the dark room, he accidentally grabbed one of your photos and you had to ask for it back. For whatever reason that kickstarted your guys’ friendship, after that you’d take pictures together, you’d study together, and you’d eat lunch and dinner in the cafeteria together.

No matter how close the two of you got, he always seemed guarded and like he was keeping something from you. But you never pushed, if he trusted you enough to open up completely, he would do it on his own time. He did tell you about his father and how horrible he was one night when you were drunk on cheap beer from a bar that doesn’t card. Now going into your sophomore year, the two of you decide to live off campus in an apartment together. After some mix-up with the landlord thinking you're a couple, he ended up renting you a studio instead of the one bedroom apartment the two of you were going to squeeze into.

Your little shoebox is only big enough for one bed, and since the futon Jonathan bought at the thrift store broke a day after buying it, you two are sharing a bed at the moment. Not that you care too much, he’s like your own personal space heater, and neither of you mind if you wake up cuddled up together. Right now the two of you are sitting in the bed, you up against your headboard with your legs extended in front of you and Jonathan sitting cross leg at the foot of his side of the bed, drinking the champagne that Joyce gave you when you and Jonathan signed your one year lease.

You're laughing as Jonathan tells you about a stupid thing a classmate said in his English class today, head tilted back and eyes squinted from the wide smile. You’re pulled from your laugh at the familiar sound of a camera’s shutter, you make a face at him for taking your picture for the thousandth time, and his response is taking a picture of your pout. Your studio apartment is filled with at least twenty pictures you took in central park last year, and close to ten pictures Jonathan took of you doing mundane tasks, such as studying or cooking dinner for the two of you, or pictures of you taking pictures.

“So what made you get into photography, you’ve never really told me,” you muse, grabbing the champagne bottle off of the floor and topping your glass off. “Don’t get me wrong, your pictures are amazing! But what made you start taking pictures?”

“I don’t know,” Jonathan murmurs, finger circling the lip of the coffee mug holding his champagne. “I guess- I guess it has to do with what I went through at home. With my dad leaving and how distant my mom could be at times, I just wanted to capture and immortalize moments in time. That’s why I like taking pictures of people, the camera can capture someone’s most authentic self.”

“That makes sense,” you take a sip of your drink again. “I know I don’t know everything, but I am sorry for the horrible things that you had to go through in Indiana.

“What about you,” he ignores your apology, not that that surprises you too much.

“What about me?” you giggle, the bubbles from the champagne making you extra bubbly.

“Why did you get into photography? Don’t get me wrong, your pictures are great,” he teases you.

“Well,” you let out an awkward huff of a laugh. “My home life wasn’t that great, my parents were constantly screaming at me and blaming me for every problem they encountered. And photography, it was my escape, it was something that I thrived at and that my parents couldn’t ruin for me. I suppose that’s why I favor landscapes and architectural photos, there’s no human tainting the image. You can’t immortalize someone in film and see them days, months, or years later, after they’ve hurt you.”

“We’re both fucked up,” Jonathan says with a laugh, setting his mug and camera and the floor before moving to sit against the headboard next to you.

“I heard somewhere that broken people fix each other,” you respond, leaning your head against your headboard and staring at the ugly popcorn ceiling above you.

“I think you’re right, before I met you last year I doubted that. I thought I knew the person who was supposed to heal me in high school, but I was wrong, and now I think you’re that person. My high school girlfriend, Nancy, I really thought she was the one. But now I realize that we were only together because we understood what the other was going through at that time. After my family moved away from Indiana I realized that was the only reason we were actually together, we really had nothing in common, and I realized how self absorbed she really was. She used to always just throw the door to the dark room at our work without letting me cover my photo paper and developing pictures-”

“No! That’s so wrong! Photo paper is so expensive, and she just goes around throwing doors open and ruining your pictures! She didn’t even care enough about your work, your passion, enough to knock on the door!” Jonathan laughs at how fired up you’re getting over this, he’s happy that someone finally understands how important his pictures are to him.

“She also got us fired from our jobs that summer, she cared more about her own intuitions than she did my feelings or how I needed my job when she didn’t need hers. After I moved away all she would talk to me about was what was happening at school, or what her brother did that annoyed her, she’d pretty much just sit and complain to me every phone call. She never asked me how I was, what it was like adjusting to a brand new state. After I realized how self absorbed she was I broke up with her, she yelled at me for leaving her high and dry, and we haven't talked since.

“Damn,” you whisper, you know not to say sorry because he’ll just brush it off and get all awkward again. “Just know I’d never get you fired, or ruin the photos you're developing.”

“I know you never would,” he whispers back, you turn your head to face him. Jonathan turns to face you too, your faces inches apart from each other, a lot closer than you’ve ever been before.

“Why are we whispering?” you quietly ask, and you swear his eyes quickly flick down to your lips as you talk.

“I don’t know,” he whispers again, this time your heart spikes when he noticeably looks at your lips.

Without thinking, your tongue runs over your bottom lip and Jonathon lets out a little groan. You can’t help the little whimper that escapes in response to his groan. This is all you’ve wanted since you became attached at the hip, you wanted him. Your landlord thinks you're together, Joyce lectured you two on how important it is to be safe, and Will teased Jonathan about living in such close quarters with you when they thought you were out of earshot. Maybe he likes, no, loves you as much as you love him.

While you're engrossed in your own thoughts, Jonathan leans even closer, his mouth a breath away from yours, before gripping the back of your neck and pulling you to his lips. This kiss is awkward and short, exactly what you would expect from a first kiss. You barely let him pull away from you before you’re cupping his cheek and pulling him back in for a much more heated kiss.