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lumaxramblings · 2 years ago

Note

Trans max overhears Lucas and El talking about him so they can practice using their boyfriend's pronouns <3

max has never been a morning person.

this has been established many times, and it's basically a party rule at this point. don't wake max up before 10 if you want to keep your knees.

but of course, there are times that he wakes up before ten himself, then it's only him to blame, and unfortunately, he can't swipe his own knees.

this is one such morning.

he blinks up at the ceiling, vision blurry before it refines a little, and then groans and covers his eyes. he takes them off briefly to look at the time, then groans again, but louder.

8:37.

who the fuck wakes up at eight thirty-seven?

him, apparently, because he hates himself.

he almost commits himself to sleeping again, out of spite of his brain, even though whenever he wakes up usually there's no going back (unless lucas and el are with him and he's really, really tired).

but that's when the smell wafts into this room.

bacon.

god, he fucking loves bacon.

so he lets out a huff and rolls out of bed (not literally, as then everyone in steve's house would come running to see if he's okay and he hates being swarmed at all, but especially in the mornings), and plants his own two socked feet on the floor.

he pushes himself up, grabs a pullover hoodie despite feeling a little warm, and pulls it over his head, grinning at how it hides his form.

he walks through the hall and down the stairs, and leans against the doorway before going in. it's instinctive, leftover from when he had two angry asshole around the house, and it was like stepping around a minefield, never quite sure if you were doing the right thing, and knowing the consequences would be dire, and so you had to know who was in a room before entering it. he doesn't mean to do it, not when he knows how safe the others are, but he can't help it.

"when do you think he will be up?"

max pauses, blinks. that's... that's lucas. his boyfriend.

"i think he'll be up in a bit."

max blinks again. and that's el, his girlfriend.

are they... are they talking about him—?

"nice. i can't wait to talk to him about..." lucas audibly pauses. "anything, really. i like him."

"i like him too."

max covers his mouth to stop himself smiling so wide, feeling his heart thumping traitorously, so loudly that he feels lucas and el will be alerted to his presence.

"yeah!" lucas says, audibly smiling. "i think she—fuck, no—he's doing better. shit."

"it was just a mistake." el tells him. "a... slip-down."

"slip-up, el."

"same thing."

lucas chuckles. "i guess i just better try until i get the pronoun thing down, right?"

"yeah." el nods. "did you see his face when we used he with him yesterday? he was so happy."

"he smiled so wide! god, i want to see him smile like that again."

your wish is my command, max thinks, feeling dizzy, almost lightheaded at their words. but lightheaded in a good way, if that makes sense. either way, he feels like if he hears more of them talking about him like this, he'll explode. he swings himself around the doorframe.

el and lucas sit there, at the table, staring at him for a moment like deer in headlights, and max faintly registers steve at the stove, humming and grinning over at him like he knows what he just overheard.

the two get up, chair legs scraping against the floor, and max goes in to hug el, who hugs him tightly back, giggling a little, and max chuckles into the hug, giggling himself, before departing for a second to hug lucas.

"hey, handsome." lucas says, and plants a kiss in his hair, and max's heart leaps out of his chest. "sleep well?"

"slept shit." max informs him happily, hiding his head in his boyfriend's shirt so they don't see how hard he's blushing. "but it's better now i'm with you two."

"aw, my love.<3"

max splutters and lucas laughs. el's loved using that nickname ever since she saw some guy on tv tell it to his girlfriend, and now she never stops, and it never fails to cause max's brain to short circuit.

whenever he's around them, he feels something, foreign and unique, and he just... can't put his name on it.

el giggles and steps forwards to also hug him, and they stay like that for a few seconds, before steve speaks up.

"hey, dipshits," steve says. "you gonna eat your bacon or just let it go cold?"

lucas makes a face and el rolls her eyes (she learnt that from the many, many times max has rolled his eyes around mike) and max flips him off, but can't stop himself smiling when steve ruffles his short hair.

when he sits down at the table, he realizes what the feeling he has around them is.

he feels so, so loved.

#trans max mayfield #elumax #proud of this ficlet actually #elmax #lumax #max mayfield #el hopper #lucas sinclair

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parkitaco · 2 years ago

Text

realize, out of time

prequel ficlet #3 to swear that it was something, requested by @amaragf

Max Mayfield is big on independence.

Maybe that’s something that comes from not ever having enough of it, always living in Billy’s shadow, always controlled and afraid. But Billy’s dead, and Max’s stepdad has long since fucked off somewhere she doesn’t know or care about, and her mom is basically a shell of a person, so lately she’s had more independence than usual. She’s good with it. It’s how she’s meant to be, she’s pretty sure - alone but not lonely, strong and steady. Maybe that’s a little bit of a dysfunctional mindset to have at sixteen years old, and probably something she should work on in therapy, but therapy is expensive and couldn’t possibly cover half the shit Max has seen, so maybe not.

The point is; Max is fine with being alone.

She’s fine when she breaks up with Lucas for the millionth and final time, needing space after Vecna to process her coma and the consequent trauma. They all needed room to process, honestly, probably still do, and Max happens to be of the mindset that this is more easily achieved without the stress of a relationship adding to the pressure.

Again- maybe a thought process that should be observed by a mental health professional. But whatever.

She’s fine when she spends her days holed up in her room, hiding out from her sullen, barely-present mother and focusing instead on music and books and learning new skating tricks. She’s fine when she lays awake at night, staring at the ceiling and wondering what time it is. She’s long since dismantled the clock that used to sit on her bedside table. The obnoxious ticking was getting to her, even without the compounded trauma to add to it.

Anyway. Max Mayfield is a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need anyone, is the bottom line, and she’s more than happy to tell everyone around her that.

That being said, she is allowed to want people around, probably, sometimes, even if she’s absolutely fine on her own. She’s allowed to enjoy hanging out with her friends, in the months after Vecna when she slowly regains her mobility and then her sense of humor and then something resembling happiness. She’s allowed to attend movie nights and trips to the lake with her friends and not hate it, and she’s allowed to let a little bit of warmth seep into her stone heart when she cracks jokes with them and allows them to hug her and takes notice of the way El’s shoulder-length hair looks in the sun.

She’s been allowing a little too much, lately.

For example, that last part about El - it’s become a bit of a problem, actually, in the last couple months. Max has been noticing lots of things about her, more things than is probably normal for a best friend to notice. El is happier, lately, has been ever since she broke up with Mike almost six months ago, much more light and carefree. Their friend group as a whole has been increasingly happy, lately, everything sliding into place like dominoes and setting up what seems to be a bright future. El and Mike’s breakup, Will and Mike’s- well, whatever Will and Mike are now, Lucas’s basketball and Dustin’s increasingly impressive science grades, it all lines up ridiculously well. Max is almost hopeful.

But- El. She’s always stood out to Max, always been special. Maybe that just comes from being the only girls in their friend group of six, or maybe it’s just because El is El, all superpowered and gorgeous and sweet. But these days, Max’s heart has been going a little haywire whenever El spares a glance her way.

Max isn’t stupid. She knows what shit like that means, and even if she didn’t she’d have Lucas to compare it to- sweet, perfect Lucas, who is still one of her best friends but who doesn’t inspire that same spark in her anymore, but definitely did once. Max knows what a crush looks like, and if she dares to be honest with herself, she can admit that she as a pretty fucking big one on El Hopper.

Being from California, Max knows probably more than most Hawkins residents do about- well, about what it means to be a girl who likes girls. She knows words that most people here probably don’t, words like bisexuality that most of the population of Hawkins probably couldn’t even pronounce.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still scare her, a little.

Which is how she finds herself sprawled out on the grass behind the school building on a random Tuesday with none other than Lucas Sinclair, skipping third period in favor of pointing out deformed clouds and saying “that one looks like you” in a lovingly cruel manner. It was one of their favorite pastimes when they were dating, one that Max has been insistent that they hold onto, even if getting perfect pretty boy Lucas Sinclair to skip class on a regular basis is vaguely like pulling teeth.

“Lucas,” she says now, fingertips tracing through the air, following a cloud pattern that looks a bit like a spaceship, “Have you, like, tried to ask anyone out since we broke up?”

Lucas tilts his head to face her, raising a questioning eyebrow as grass brushes against his cheek. “Um. No, why do you ask?” he says, a little suspiciously, like he’s expecting her to get jealous or upset or shut down like she sometimes does when she doesn’t know how to process.

Instead, Max just frowns. “Why not?”

“I don’t know,” Lucas laughs, evidently satisfied that she’s not going to bite his head off as he goes back to looking at the clouds. “Haven’t really been interested.”

There’s a beat of silence while Max considers this, fingers still winding absently through the cool, early spring air. It makes sense, it does - she’s always wondered how any of them will be able to form healthy relationships from people outside their friend group from now on, knowing what they know. How is she supposed to hide something like that from someone she shares everything else with, some hypothetical person fifteen years in the future that she’d already be sharing a home and a life with- assuming she’s not alone, because she’s independent and all that, and would be fine if she were. She’s legally bound to keep quiet about the Upside Down, although admittedly Lucas had also been legally bound, back when Max first joined the Party, and had gone ahead and told her anyway, and Max does plenty of other illegal stuff anyway. Why should this be any different?

Then:

“Max,” Lucas says, and she’s not looking at him but she can just hear the smug smile in his voice, “Do you have something you want to tell me?”

Max huffs out a breath, feigning indignance. “No,” she lies, but it’s not even verging on convincing, and she can sense his eye roll. “I was just- okay, if I tell you something, you have to promise not to be weird, okay?”

Lucas hums noncommittally. “Depends on what you mean by weird.”

“Annoying,” Max amends, tilting her head to shoot him a look, “Dumb. Idiotic. Freaked out.”

“Okay, got it,” Lucas laughs, meeting her gaze with a wry smile, “I won’t be any of those things.”

Despite herself, Max relaxes a little. Lucas is good and kind, she knows this much. He’s not judgy, and he takes most things in stride, even if he doesn’t fully understand them. And he’s perfectly accepting of Mike and Will and their nauseating relationship, so this shouldn't be any different.

But, a little voice in the back of her head reminds her, chiding and grating, you dated him. And you like girls and boys. That’s definitely weirder. You’re a freak, for sure.

Max scowls, batting away the obnoxious little voice that reminds her a little too much of Henry Creel, and focuses on Lucas. “Okay, just so we’re clear, I definitely liked being your girlfriend,” she says, and Lucas’s lips twitch in vague amusement, “And I liked you for sure, I don’t want you to think that I didn’t, but- I think I might like someone else, now, and- it’s a little bit complicated.”

“Okay,” Lucas says simply, rolling with the punches like he always does, and Max takes another shaky breath, vaguely reassured. “I kind of figured, but- thanks for clarifying.”

Max scowls. “Shut up,” she says, no bite to it, and then, “It’s- I like a girl, though, is the thing.”

It gives her the tiniest satisfaction when Lucas’s eyes widen, like he’s gotten the shock properly, the reaction Max expected. “Oh,” he says slowly, “I- okay.”

Max blinks. “Okay?”

He nods slowly, face brushing through the grass beside her. “Yeah, of course.”

“It’s not weird that I- that I like both?” Max asks, and hates the way her voice cracks on the question, like she’s a scared little second grader or something. She’s never liked feeling weak.

Lucas looks contemplative, like he’s thinking about more than just her question, and he seems a little flustered as he turns back to face the sky, one arm slung over his stomach. “Uh, no,” he says in a high voice, embarrassed, which makes no sense because if anything Max is the one who should be embarrassed right now. “No, I don’t think so.”

Despite his sudden shift in demeanor, Max finds this a bit comforting, and she rolls back onto her back, matching Lucas’s pose beside her. “It’s been kind of freaking me out,” she admits in a low voice, glaring at a low-hanging nimbus cloud like it’s responsible for all her problems. “Because, like, I sort of knew, but it’s really been hard to ignore lately, and I’m worried I’ll, like, make her uncomfortable or something.” El gets uncomfortable easily, although Max usually strives to not be the one to make her feel that way. She gets confused, and then frustrated over being confused, and in her more vulnerable moments she’ll ask Max to help her, to hold her and reassure her and help her understand.

Max would never admit it, because it’s a little creepy and a little embarrassing and probably makes her a slightly terrible person, but she kind of loves those moments. She likes being the person El turns to for comfort. It feels like a privilege, given who she is and who El is and the way they work together.

“I’m sure you’re not making her uncomfortable,” Lucas says, his voice evened out of that weird state but still a little shaky, like he’s thinking about something else.

“Really?” Max asks skeptically, raising an eyebrow at him. “I’m not the most socially adept person ever, Lucas.”

He huffs a laugh. “Well, I wasn't gonna say it. But- I don’t know, you say what you’re thinking. It’s comforting. And if you care this much, you’re probably doing something right.”

Well, Max supposes, it’s not like El has run away screaming yet. Maybe he has a point. “Yeah, I guess.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then; “So, El, huh?”

“Lucas!” Max splutters, rolling over onto her side and whacking his arm. “Shut up!”

He cackles, easily dodging her fist as it comes for his shoulder again. “Sorry, it’s just- the options were sort of limited, so- lucky guess.”

“You’re an asshole,” Max growls, settling back into the grass and glaring at him, the side of her face pressed into the cool dirt.

“I hadn’t even gotten to the making fun of you part yet,” Lucas says gleefully, and Max promptly rips out a handful of grass to throw in his face. He just laughs harder, brushing dirt out of his eyes, and says, “I mean, no judgment, but I thought one of your general goals in life was to be as little like Mike Wheeler as possible.”

Max groans, shoving her face more firmly into the ground and inhaling the sweet scent of freshly mowed grass. “To be fair,” she says, voice muffled by the pebbles brushing against her lips, “He didn’t actually like her, so it doesn’t count.”

“Fair enough,” Lucas muses, but he still sounds unbearably smug about the whole thing, so Max throws more grass at him for good measure. “I- okay, okay, stop!”

Max huffs and rolls onto her back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Asshole,” she mutters again, but the corner of her mouth is tugging into a reluctant smile anyway, and she can tell Lucas notices when he nudges her arm and shoots her a smug grin.

“Are you going to tell her?” he asks quietly, evidently back to being supportive, and Max takes a deep breath as she works through her answer.

“No,” she settles on, even if the thought of keeping a secret from El kind of kills her. “No, she doesn’t need a relationship right now, she needs something reliable. I don’t want to confuse her.”

Lucas hums, fingers brushing through the grass beside her as he faces the clouds. “You know, you’re, like, weirdly mature about relationships sometimes,” he says thoughtfully, and Max glances at him, unsure if it’s a compliment or an insult or something else entirely. “You broke up with me to give yourself space, which was pretty self-aware, I thought, and now you’re keeping this from El to preserve her feelings, and it’s just- I mean, it’s sort of admirable,” he admits, and Max’s chest warms, oddly pleased, “But- I don’t know. You might be intellectualizing this one a little too much.”

The warm feeling dissipates almost instantly, and Max sends him her best eye roll. “Thanks, Mr. Love Expert,” she says sarcastically, “I’d hate to see what happens when you give solicited advice.”

“I’m just saying!” Lucas protests, and Max’s fingers twitch, resisting the urge to throw more grass in his face, “It’s admirable, but it’s also definitely a bit of a coping mechanism.”

“Lucas,” Max huffs, irritated with how right he is, and he laughs, holding up his hands in surrender.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll stop.”

Max glowers, folding her arms more tightly over her chest and staring at a particularly fluffy cloud like she can- pop it, or something, just from sheer willpower. Would El be able to do that? She should ask. It would be pretty cool, but then, Max finds most things El does to be ranging from pretty cool to absolutely fucking incredible. Even disregarding her powers.

God, Max is so whipped. This is a disaster.

“Hey,” Lucas says, pulling her from her spiraling teen angst, and she meets his eyes again, watching his hesitant smile as he links his pinky through hers. “I- um. Me too, by the way.”

Max blinks at him. “You like El?”

“Wh- no,” Lucas says, laughing a little, “No, I, uh. I like both too, I’m pretty sure.” He ducks his head, shy, and Max stares at him with wide eyes, a giddy laugh bubbling up from somewhere in her ribcage.

“No shit, really?” she says, half-laughing, and Lucas nods, smiling a little.

“Yeah,” he admits, “I mean- oh God, do not tell Mike this or he might hate me forever, but I’m pretty sure I liked Will, back when we were kids. I’d always get all giggly and nervous around him.”

Max’s eyes widen gleefully, and she reaches over to whack him on the arm again. “Shut up, that’s the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Hey, I didn’t know it was a crush until recently!” Lucas defends, blushing and flustered, and Max’s glee only increases. “He was a cute kid.”

“You liked Byers,” Max teases, just because she can, and Lucas glares at her.

“Okay,” he says, “I only told you that because I was trying to make you feel better, don’t make me regret it-”

“Oh, you’re definitely going to regret it, Sinclair, this is the best thing I’ve ever-”

“You are the worst, I can’t believe I used to date you-”

“You love me so bad,” Max counters, grinning and flopping back into the cool, crisp grass, and they continue on like that, their banter getting lost in the spring air.

Max, again, feels something resembling hopeful.

#happy valentines day here have an exes ficlet <33 #ficlets #platonic lumax #elmax #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #el hopper #st fic

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acidoncrack · 2 years ago

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hope ur ok // elmax ficlet

El woke up to the ear-splitting sound of the phone ringing. She glanced at the clock next to her bed and threw her pillow over her head. 2:37 A.M. Please, she thought, someone else can get that. This was the first night she had slept since the incident in Hawkins. She let out a sigh as the ringing stopped. Either Joyce had picked it up, or the person on the other end had given up. She enjoyed the silence and felt like she might be able to drift off – until it started again. They weren’t letting this go. She groaned as she got out of bed – might as well spare Will and Joyce. She lugged over to the phone and picked it up off of the wall. Everything she might’ve been about to say evaporated when she heard sobbing from the other end.

She recognized those sobs immediately. She had heard them all too many times over the past couple years.

“Max?”

“El, I- I can’t do this anymore!” she managed to say in gasps.

El panicked. She was so used to saving people physically, through her powers. She didn’t know what to say. What to do. But she had to do something.

“Max. It’s okay. Try to breathe,” was all she could think of.

She heard her friend trying to draw in shaky breaths. She was still crying, but she was gradually breathing better. Suddenly, El had a thought, and it was out of her mouth before she could think better of it. “I could come to your house.”

Max momentarily went silent. “El, what?” she said, her tone changing quickly from despair to confusion. “I-it’s the middle of the night!”

“And you need it in the middle of the night,” El said firmly. “I am coming. Or you could come here if you want.”

“My mom’s asleep…yeah. I guess I could come over.” El could tell Max was tearing up again. “But…are you sure it would be okay? I mean…what about your mom and Will?”

“It’s okay. They won’t mind. Are you sure you’re okay with walking?”

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, it’s not that far.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon then.” El hated how much she sounded like Joyce, but she ignored it.

Max drew in one more huge breath before saying “Yeah.” and hanging up.

El was almost surprised to feel tears stinging at her own eyes. She couldn't stand to even hear Max in this state.

She sat at the door for what felt like years, rocking on her seat and tapping her foot. Soon enough, she heard a soft knock. She practically flung herself to the door, although still trying to open it as quietly as possible.

Max was a wreck. She was in the same clothes El saw her in yesterday, and her usually pretty eyes were red and slightly puffy, as if she had been wiping them all night. Her cheeks were stained with tears. She waved kind of awkwardly. “Hi.”

El grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. She closed the door and guided the red-headed girl to her room. They sat on her bed shoulder to shoulder, hands still interlocked.

“Are you okay?” Clearly not. “What happened?” Jesus, El, at least give her a chance to answer the first question!

“All I wanted was to have a better life,” she whispered. “But moving to Hawkins just made everything worse! I-I thought I hated Billy. I hated him so much. But I didn’t want him to die! No one deserved to die! But-but then after what happened to him…I thought I deserved to die. And…I guess I got what I wanted.” She wiped her face again. El felt tears of her own racing down her face, but she didn’t bother to wipe them. Max looked up at El again and couldn’t help smiling. “Well, I guess you were one good thing to come out of Hawkins.”

El pulled her best friend into the tightest hug she had ever given. Max immediately hugged back and sobbed into El’s shoulder. El remembered the other time they had hugged like this – the day that Billy had died. Finally, El remembered how to talk again. “You didn’t deserve anything,” she said softly, voice shaking.

She felt like she could sit like that, with Max in her arms, for the rest of her life. Max shifted a bit, and soon enough, the sobs had stopped, only leaving behind the slow breathing of Max’s sleep.

El let out a deep sigh. Here, with Max asleep in her arms, she felt like everything might finally be okay.

#elmax #stranger things #ficlet

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stranger-stardustt · 9 months ago

Note

Who would the first to say "I love you" between El and Max?

Max falls first, El says it first. Yes, i’m writing it. Enjoy!

———

Max had never understood the concept of teenage love. She watched her friends go through it, falling headfirst for some boy or girl that they probably wouldn’t even remember in 20 years. It was stupid to her, the idea of wasting your time on someone like that.

And then Max herself fell in love. And she realized that she never actually despised the idea of it; she was just scared.

Scared wasn’t a thing Max felt often. Not anymore. Not since her family fell apart, and definitely not since everything that happened with the Upside Down.

But El scared her. El, with her pretty brown hair and her quick witted mind and her innocent eyes that had been through so much pain. El, with her laugh and her smile and everything else about her that made Max’s heart beat in her chest.

El, who made her feel alive. El, who she was in love with.

In the end, it was El who said it first.

The two girls were in bed, lazily watching television, hands intertwined. El had her cheek pressed to Max’s chest, nuzzled into her so close she would probably feel Max’s rapidly beating heart.

And then she just said it.

“I love you.”

It took Max a moment to comprehend what was just uttered aloud. She turned red, the thumping of heart ringing in her ears.

“You- what?” she muttered.

El sat up. “I love you,” she repeated, eyes locking with Max’s. “Hopper says I should tell you. I am in love with you.”

Max’s throat went dry. “Oh,” she croaked, frozen.

“Are you okay?” El was staring at her, pupils big and wide. “Should I not have said that?”

“No!” Max rushed to say, desperately trying to keep El from taking it back. She took a deep, heavy breath. “I love you too.”

A smile broke out across El’s lips. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Max confirmed.

And then they went back to cuddling.

And Max was in love. And for once, she was happy to be scared.

#stranger things #stardust calls #stranger things fanfiction #elmax headcanons #elmax ficlet #elmax #max mayfield #eleven stranger things #answered

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jaegerisim · 2 years ago

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Ficlets

Evil! Will flirting with Mike

Coming soon: Elmax pool party fic!

Coming soon: Morally ambiguous Will flirting with stoic rich Mike

#byler ficlet #elmax ficlet #elmax fic #elmax #byler

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givehimthemedicine · 1 year ago

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summer // elmax ficlet

Your first summer is the best one ever. The world has just gotten bigger, and there is so much new.

Before, there had never been such a time as summer, or not-summer either. All there was before was the same air whooshing out of the same vents in the same white tile rooms. The same day every day, always.

The cabin had been cold too, in the winter, but a real kind of cold. Now in the summer it gets warm enough inside that your skin feels sticky. Even if neither is pleasant, it is fun, because it is real.

There are windows you could see outside from if you opened the shades (don't), so it is just one step away from being outside, which is like just one step away from being free, almost.

You are in the real world now. There is dirt and fire and television and your hair is getting long and you think maybe you feel human. You love it.

Your second summer, you make your first friend who is a girl.

Max is smarter than everybody and good at everything and her hair glows orange in the sun.

She lets you sleep in her bed and helps you walk in heels and shows you new ways to dress and new treats to eat. You have never laughed so much in your life.

This summer, you learn that you are allowed to have your own favorite color, and that you can be the person a shirt is the size of, and that really, actually, you can do whatever you want.

Your world gets bigger again, and there is so much new it almost makes you dizzy to try to think about it all. You are seriously considering feeling like you are a real person.

The two of you have lots of fun - until you don't - but if you just count the good part, your second summer is the best one ever.

Your third summer, Max wakes up.

They say she can only come home if she has round the clock care, and you say you you you please please you.

Now it is you letting her sleep in your bed, and you helping her walk, fastening her buttons, feeding her her meals.

She seems ashamed to ask you for too much. You don't know how to make her believe that you wish she would ask you for more. That there is nothing you would not do for her. You would trade her your own arms and legs and eyes if you could.

Sometimes she puts her head on your shoulder, or holds your hand just to make sure you are there, and it makes you so happy your heart beats wrong.

One night, when she thinks you are asleep, she tells you that she loves you. You have never been happier, or more sure that you must be somebody.

Your world has just gotten smaller, and there is so much new.

Max is alive, and awake, and safe, and here, and she loves you. Your third summer is the best one ever.

#fic #mine #elmax #ficlet #elmax ficlet #I am truly a one trick pony. somebody come brush me and say shhhh and feed me apples

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angelbymadonna · 1 year ago

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Elmax Week Fanfic Day Two- Rink-O-Mania Fix-It

While I would not put Max in Cali in canon, and if she did go I do NOT think this is how it would realistically play out, I wanna pretend that they can just be ALL HAPPY AND GAY okayyyyy??

After getting up at some ungodly dark hour and being awake and jostled around for seven hours straight in the house(last minute packing), car, airport, and plane(starting at dawn), Max had finally arrived. Leave it to Owens to buy a plane ticket. The rest of her friends were still in Hawkins for break, they'd have other opportunities to visit.

At the gate, wearing a characteristic light blue flannel and lime scrunchie, waving wildly, was El. Her hair was long enough to tie up properly, and she'd grown in the last year. Max had seen the pictures of course, that El had sent along with her long letters, and it wasn't like Max hadn't grown too, but it wasn't another thing to finally see her in person.

What hadn't changed was El's ability to act as a beacon of happiness, completely focused on her mood, if a tad oblivious of the people around her. The effect was definitely contagious. Max felt her lips curl into a smile past what they should've been able in her tired state, and vaguely felt bags slipping from her hands as she pushed through the forms of people she barely noticed and ran straight towards El. Max hugged El as tightly as if she'd never see her again, burying her face into El's neck, committing to memory the floral smell of perfume (peony) and the soft feeling of well-worn flannel. A tad dramatic, maybe, but in all fairness, it had been months since the two had seen eachother and would be months before the opportunity arose again.

-----

Sitting together on El's bed, it was all too easy to fall into their old routine. Max could probably recite the details of El's life front to back after so many letters. Actually the same could be said the other way around too. El had a way of making everything Max said or wrote feel important, so she wrote it all. El could tell you the time, day, and place of Max and Lucas's breakup, for example, just as well as if she were there. It was only fair, since Max actually was there when El broke up with Mike.

Actually, even though it took place months before El even left, the topic was coming up again. El's breakup, that is. "The more I think about it, the more I realize I might feel better if I was not his girlfriend. If I didn't say yes."

Max didn't say anything to respond to that. she stayed where she was, leaning on El's shoulder with El leaning in her head. braiding and unbraiding the frayed tails of El's string bracelet. Taking a second to process until she had to just ask. "What do you mean?"

And Max found herself holding her breath while awaiting an answer. She felt an almost anxious anticipation, or something similar she couldn't quite explain. The topic of boyfriends was like that for her with El. She'd never say it aloud, but there was definitely a reason. Max was staying right in her comfortable place at El's side and would never be venturing out into the terrifying possibility of- anything else, thank you very much. Sure, the closeness to the point of nearly not being able to tell where she began and her friend ended was a little guilt-wracking in its own right, and nerve-wracking when others were present, but who was she to rob El of that company?

"I realized that Mike wanted different than what I wanted. I cannot have that with him. But there is a different person who can."

"Who you could have that relationship with?"

"Yes."

Maybe Max had forgotten to control herself after so long away, riding the high of just getting to see El. Whatever the reason, Max's feelings got away from her, and like a dog that got off its leash, hope ran around her ribcage and left firey pawmarks on every spot. Max looked up at the other girl's face, searching for the answer to the equally burning question before it would even leave her lips and set in motion the uncontrollable blaze of change.

"Who?"

But El was just as frozen, looking past Max's eyes, through them to her mind, it seemed. The best indication that time hadn't frozen was El's breathing beneath Max. The rise and fall of her chest, directly by Max's now that she had turned around, and the air between them.

"I hope you know," El started.

Max would've waited it out. She would've waited however long it took to hear the words. But El was the one waiting for Max to finish her sentence when her gaze flitted down from Max's eyes to her lips in indication.

-----

Max enjoyed her spring break. She enjoyed pinning up countless polaroids, ones El had taken of her goofing around because "Beautiful, like art.". She enjoyed skating down the street with El and sharing an ice cream cone with El and watching movies with El and yeah, okay, kissing El. Max enjoyed having a girlfriend. She enjoyed not keeping things from her.

Maybe change was okay sometimes, even if it was scary.

#elmax week #elmax week 2023 #elmax #elmax fanfic #elmax ficlet #artist song #elmaxweek2023

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isthatmyjacket-covenofchaossq · 1 year ago

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I have nothing against steddie or byler but damn I am tired of every time I click at the "for you" tab every art, every ficlet or whatever is always about them. there's so little of ronance and even less about elmax on my "for you" tab, it's frustrating

I'm a girl who likes to read about my fav girls being silly and falling in love/discovering they like/love each other more than just as friends and there's nearly nothing!

I think it's great that there's a lot of steddie and byler content for those who ships them hard and want to read all about them, and see all the arts about them but I wish we had more ronance and elmax as well.

specially elmax - at least to me - ofc I wouldn't mind reading ronance being the "big sisters" or mentors elmax deserves and I really need of my girls interacting

#elmax #eleven hopper #max mayfield #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #ronance #max x eleven #nancy x robin #el hopper byers #mad max #stranger things #elmax stranger things #ronance stranger things

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antisociallilbrat · 2 years ago

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Okay I just need to put this somewhere, I just need to get it out and this is my blog and I can post what I want. Yes I am an It and Stranger Things blog but if you've been following me for a while you may or may not have noticed I interact with both those fandoms differently. I sure as hell post more about It and that can range from silly little nonsense to ficlets to character and ship headcanons.

For Stranger Things I stick to like fandom theories and discussions and will occasionally post a headcanon about a character or a ship. I post more about Stranger Things when I'm crossing it over with It ironically. I tend to stay away from anything about the ships most of the times and I don't go out of my way to contribute a lot of solely Stranger Things content as I do for It.

There's a reason too. I love rarepairs, I think they're neat. They're not for everyone and they don't have to be but I like them. And while they thrive in the It fandom, they literally go to die in the Stranger Things fandom. Which is real ironic considering the Stranger Things fandom is massively bigger than the It fandom.

The Stranger Things fandom is so draining to interact with and so I hardly don't. I protect my peace. I never scroll through the tags anymore and I'm careful about the Stranger Things mutuals I keep.

Don't get me wrong, I love Stranger Things, I love the characters, the story, and I love quite a few ships. Elmax and Byclair are probably my top two, and I'm a big fan of madwheeler, ronance, and wheelclair. When it comes to the big ships, I enjoy both Mileven and Byler casually- and by that I mean I honestly do not care who becomes/stays canon (canon doesn't matter much to me anyways) and I don't actively seek out content for them but when it comes across my feed I enjoy it.

I've said the Stranger Things fandom is draining and I'm not going to just complain without saying why. ANY ship that is not one of the big ships, Byler, Mileven, Ronance, Lumax, ect, their tag is filled with people being like : "Best friends!! I love them platonically!!" and it's just?? So not what that tag is for? The Stranger Things fandom has created platonic tags, use those. And especially if it's a ship that contains Will that isn't byler- people will insist that those two can only ever be platonic. As if Will isn't allowed find interest in a different guy besides Mike- this is fandom, people are allowed to enjoy ships that aren't the big ones.

It goes beyond just the ship tags. If I'm in the Lucas Sinclair tag I am not there to see Mileven or Byler shit, I don't want to see Lucas as a fanboy for either ship, I want to see content for Lucas. God help the Eleven Hopper tag,

But like I said, I keep my peace, I don't scroll through the tags anymore and I limit my interactions with the Stranger Things fandom,,,only everytime I post the rare character or a ship headcannon I will have people reblog it with either A.) Saying some shit about them being 'omg besties!' when clearly I meant the ship in a romantic light or B.) If it's a character headcanon or a ship one, people will use it to shit on other ships. THAT'S NOT WHAT MY BLOG IS ABOUT.

Okay I don't know- this turned into a ramble that I'll probably delete later. I just had to vent and also a lot of only Stranger Things blogs have been following me lately and I felt the need to explain why post how I post with St vs It.

#there is a post in my drafts about the St fandom's obsession with 'canon' ships #maybe one day i'll post it #im just tired #there are so many people in the st fandom who think they're better bc they ship a certain ship #and then fill OTHER ship tags up with shit about their ship #it's exhausting #and im purposely not pointing the finger at any one ship #also I have like...five st mutuals #and you guys rock #it fandom ive never appreciated you more than when I started actively participating in the st fandom #sam rants #it 2017 #it 2019 #stranger things 4 #stranger things #im not going to heavily tag this bc I really only want my followers to see it

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thatonesongyouretryingtoremember · 2 years ago

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HI!

You may be familiar with the non canon Sapphic ships BRACKET going on.

Long story short: I want ELMAX to win.

If you'd like to join my Elmax campaign and win the hearts of undecided bracket voters, send me an ask!

(Questions can be on anon, but obviously if you want me to keep you in the loop, you'll have to be off it or include the url of the corresponding sideblog.)

I'll be tagging these posts with the bracket poll tag, the elmax tag, and with #elmax propaganda, so block the last tag if you don't want to see me.

My idea is to create mixed media posts and release them around when the elmax polls are. So WHATEVER YOUR TALENT- ranting, edits, gifsets, fanart, IT HELPS!

Remember- there's no way every person on tumblr will know every ship in the bracket, the more elmax we post, the more appealing they'll look next to someone else's blorbo.

As far as making visual media, which I think will get the most attention, there is PLENTY to use in the show. Share your ideas- spin the bottle scene, El holding Max at the mall, Max cleaning El's blood, anything.

Even regular bracket propaganda- ie: ranting about them: there is PLENTY of material to use! And while I'd probably stay away from ficlets as propaganda since they wouldn't appeal to non-ST fans, getting hyped over some apocalypse survivors being gay is ALWAYS appreciated.

#elmax propoganda #elmax #noncanon sapphics of all time

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parkitaco · 2 years ago

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you’re not sure and i don’t know

prequel ficlet #1 to swear that it was something, requested by @amaragf

If you had asked El a year ago if she thought she’d ever find herself breaking up with Mike Wheeler, the honest answer might have actually been yes.

She never would have admitted it, of course, because girlfriends aren’t supposed to want to break up with their boyfriends, not unless something very bad happens between them, and in El’s eyes, Mike was stupid, but he wasn't evil. He hadn’t done her some great injustice (noun; lack of fairness), and she knew she cared about him. He wasn't always the best boyfriend, but he was hers, and he cared, and El hadn’t been used to people caring about her. It was something she wanted to cling to for as long as possible.

That being said, she technically already has broken up with Mike once, even if she didn’t fully understand what she was doing at the time, and even if it hadn’t lasted all that long. She hadn’t even felt sad about it - in fact, she’d felt almost giddy (adjective; having a sensation of dizziness), high fiving Max and feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, all the confusion gone.

But then Mike had told her he loved her- or tried to, anyway, and that had been that. They’d gotten back together, and El is fine with that.

Or, at least, she was. But it’s been a few months since the Upside Down went away, and now that the threat of losing Mike and everyone else to Henry is gone, El has been thinking that maybe she doesn’t need to cling to him so tightly anymore. There is no spark in their relationship, like Dustin might say - they barely talk anymore, and for a while El was able to blame it on the aftermath of the Upside Down, the shuffle of her and Hopper moving in with the Byers at their new house in Hawkins, going over the official story with Owens and signing even more government-issued documents saying they won’t tell anyone what really happened. El is fine with keeping it a secret, honestly - she’s not sure why any of them would want to rehash (verb; put (old ideas or material) into a new form) any of that anyway. But it’s been three months now, and school is out for the summer, and the two of them are running out of excuses to put off the conversation that El knows Mike must know is coming too.

Which is how she finds herself cross-legged on her bed, Mike seated across from her looking somber (adjective; dark or dull in tone). He’d been over at the Byers’ house anyway, helping Will design a new campaign for their dragon game, and El had asked to borrow him with no small amount of trepidation (noun; a feeling of fear or agitation). He’s usually hanging around the house like this, but his main interest seems to be Will rather than El. It makes sense, El supposes, because they are best friends, and she usually prefers to hang out with Max, who is her best friend, rather than Mike anyway, but- well, that’s sort of the problem.

“Mike,” she says now, running over the carefully rehearsed words she has mapped out in her brain and already knowing she’s going to forget most of them, “I love you.”

Mike’s eyes widen, and an emotion that can only be described as panic flashes across his face. El has gotten used to it, over these past few months, over the last year, really. It doesn’t even sting anymore. That’s been a big part of her realizations lately - she got the I love you, back in the pizza dough freezer while she fought for her life, and it still wasn't enough. She’d somehow convinced herself it would fix everything, but had failed to consider the fact that Mike would have to actually mean it in order for it to do that. And in any case, she’s not even sure she loves him either, at this point. Not as more than a friend, anyway.

“Uh,” Mike starts, and El holds up a hand, putting him out of his misery.

“Let me talk,” she says sternly, and Mike falls silent, bobbing his head meekly and blushing something furious. “I love you,” she says again, “And I do not want to lose you. But,” she continues before Mike can try to protest again, mouth falling open and cheeks flushing redder, “I do not think that being your girlfriend is helping either of us.”

Mike freezes with his hand raised slightly into the air, halfway toward making a point. “Oh,” he says, more relief squeezed into the single syllable than El thought possible. “Oh, that’s- okay.”

Part of El had expected him to fight for her, to argue, to at least pretend, but after the past few months it makes sense that he wouldn't. They’re both just tired, at this point. It’s not worth fighting over anymore.

It doesn’t hurt the way it should, but it does spark fear in her, that he can let her go so easily. “I do not want to lose you,” she says again, fingertips digging into her sheets, desperate to make this point clear. “I want us to be friends. You are very important to me, and I love you, but I do not think that I am in love with you and I do not think you are in love with me.”

At this phrasing, a flicker of fear passes over Mike’s face, and he leans away just barely. “You- who else would I feel that way about, though,” he says tightly, huffing a half-laugh that sounds anything but genuine.

El frowns at him. “I do not know,” she says, confused, “I am just saying that- we are not romantic.” She’d had to consult her dictionary in preparation for this conversation, the big one that Hopper had gotten her for her birthday the summer before he fake-died. Romantic is what she and Mike are supposed to be. Platonic is closer to what they actually are - provided they get out of this conversation relatively unscathed.

“Oh,” Mike says, shoulders relaxing a little as he seems to catch her meaning, and he nods. “Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I care about you, and I wanted to love you the way you wanted me to, I really did, but I just…” he trails off, eyes drifting away from her, landing somewhere in the vicinity of the wall above her head, the one that holds a painting Will had made for her. Mike has a similar one in his room, except that that one has the rest of the Party and all of their dragon-game costumes, and El’s is just of her and Will.

“I know,” El says gently, reaching out to place a gentle hand on his knee, and that seems to bring Mike back into focus, his gaze snapping back to hers. “It is okay. I do not want to force you into something that you don’t want, and I think- I need to be my own person.” She’s been thinking about that a lot lately - Max has been talking about independence recently, ever since she and Lucas broke up, and the word sounds nice in El’s brain. She doesn’t want Mike dragging her down anymore, even if he hadn’t been doing it on purpose.

Mike smiles a little bit hesitantly, reaching out to cover El’s hand with his own. “I think that’s a great idea,” he says softly, and for the first time in a long time, sounds like he’s being genuine. El beams.

“So we can be- platonic, then?” she asks, just to make sure she has it right. “Friends?”

Mike laughs, sounding a little choked up. His eyes are wet around the corners, relief seeping out of his every movement as he scoots closer and squeezes El’s hand. “Yeah, of course. Best friends.”

El rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “I thought that Will was your best friend,” she points out.

For some odd reason, this makes Mike’s shoulders tense again, eyes flicking back over to the painting. “I- yeah,” he says haltingly, biting his lip. “Yeah, we are.” His voice oddly soft, a faint blush coloring his cheeks, and he hurriedly glances back to El. “I mean- well, all you guys are my best friends,” he says, which is maybe the most nonsensical thing he’s ever said (and there is a lot to choose from). “Even Max, but if you tell her that I’ll kill you.”

El ignores the last part, frowning. “You cannot have more than one best friend,” she says primly. Now that she thinks about it, though, she can’t remember Mike ever specifically calling Will his best friend. It was just something that she knew. Will is special to Mike, that much is obvious - it’s different than it is with their other friends. That must make him a different sort of friend than the others, doesn’t it?

“Not true!” Mike squawks anyway, indignant (adjective; feeling or showing annoyance). “You’re all my best friends.”

“I was your girlfriend ten minutes ago,” El points out, still frowning at him, and he rolls his eyes, “And that defeats the purpose of best friend. It is not logical.”

“I call bull on your logic,” Mike says, which is not a very good counterargument, but El is willing to let it slide because this is the longest conversation they’ve had in months, and El has missed him. Maybe not in a romantic way, but definitely in a platonic one. “Dustin is always saying the same thing,” Mike adds, smirking.

“Dustin is very smart,” El sniffs, and Mike laughs, even though it wasn't a very funny thing to say. El feels like laughing too, actually, so full of relief that it’s spilling out of her. “He is very logical.”

“He’s annoying is what he is,” Mike says, and El laughs, tilting forward and tightening her grip on his hand, and then they’re both laughing, foreheads pressed against each other and hands clasped together.

“I do love you, you know,” Mike says quietly when they calm down a little, glancing up at her with wide, happy eyes. He so rarely looks at her with such affection anymore, and the knowledge that they’ve finally stopped making each other miserable warms El to her core, as does his proclamation. Maybe it’s not in the way she thought, but it’s nice to know that he does care, after all. She’s done losing people.

“I know,” she says, smiling, and it feels like a promise.

#ficlet #i need to start a ficlet tag for my blog lmk if yall have any cute suggestions for names #elmax #el hopper #mike wheeler #platonic elmike #st fic #happy valentine's day here's a breakup fic <33

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