#lets be strangers again

[taeiris]

the vanishing of holly wheeler

mike’s reliving some memories… memories that will hears for the first time

[whathehonestfuk]

Virgin alpha Eddie pops a knot the second he's fully inside Steve for the first time and is embarrassed and trying to play it off and joke about it

Steve is too lost in the sauce of it all to be paying attention to what Eddie's saying because he has never felt more sexy or desirable

[valkugo]

"my partner died in this room."

(i just wanted to be yours

can i be yours? can i be yours?

just tell me i'm yours

if i'm turning in your stomach,

am i making you feel sick?)

[frozenfrogz]

Me if I get queerbaited for the 47th time

[pinkeoni]

WILL BYERS IN EVERY EPISODE Episode #106: THE MONSTER

[byersandhighers]

Fairly certain Mike did see Will crying, he just didn't say anything. Like I don't think he realized it was because of Will feeling sad over him specifically but I thought it was obvious he did see Will crying but didn't draw attention to it. I also think it is very important for both of their characters and their relationship, as well as very telling of how deeply Mike cares for Will to not say anything when he is crying, to just act normal and move on without addressing it.

Every time in the show that Mike notices Will's emotions and behaviors, especially his negative emotions, Mike never brings it up until after (unless he thinks Will actively needs help like when Will looks scared). This is the same Mike Wheeler who noticed every eyeroll and time Will was moping at Rink-o-Mania when he was literally there hanging out with his girlfriend, but he didn't bring it up until later when the two of them were fighting. The same Mike who, in season 2, said he knew something was off with Will because ‘he was quiet today’ when his friends just wrote it off because he’s always quiet. Mike always notices Will acting up but doesn't usually say anything in the moment unless he thinks Will is in trouble, he just lets him feel things and if it’s relevant later he'll bring it up.

It’s implied he’s very perceptive when it comes to Will's emotions and behaviors and he is always watching, especially when Will doesn’t seem like he is doing well, so it would be so bizarre if he didn’t notice Will crying beside him. It's likely he just didn’t see a reason to bring it up, so he didn't. For all Mike knows, it may have just been that talking about El makes Will think about his sister who is currently missing and in potential danger, which is a justified reason for someone to cry. Or even that the painting reminds Will of the time in his youth he missed out on due to the mind-flayer and upside down and that his childhood of campaigns in Mike's basement is over, or Will could be grieving the party he is no longer near and his friends he is so far from. Or he could be so overwhelmed by many emotions over many different things that he doesn't know how to articulate.

Mike usually just registers what Will is feeling and not why Will is feeling that way. Mike never needed to know why because him and Will are a team and, before this season, Will was, to Mike's knowledge, always open and honest with him (hence where Mike got the 'friends don't lie' thing he told El in the beginning) and Will would come to Mike when he wanted to talk about things, so Mike probably figures even if their relationship feels strained right now, that wouldn't change and if Will wants to talk about it, he will come to him, much like how Jonathan doesn't push Will to come out.

I think it's important to draw parallels between Jonathan and Mike's behaviors, how both act towards Will: both are overprotective of Will, both very adamant early on in the show about how being 'weird' does not equate to being bad, and also about how Will doesn't have to feel negative about being different because they are weirdos as well (making it a shared experience so he doesn't feel alone). Both are also careful when it comes to making sure Will feels safe and comfortable which includes not forcing him to talk about things unless he wants to (while still reassuring him they are there for him should he want to).

This is probably why Mike doesn't bring up that Will is lying (he knew El's letter well enough to know she missed the flowers and brought her some he handpicked so they would be Hawkins flowers, so he would also know about the painting and how El had no idea what is was or who it was for, because Will wouldn't even let her see it), but he doesn't bring that up because he thinks Will probably has a reason for lying, and he trusts Will, so he is happy to let Will share in his own time. This is another parallel to Jonathan and Will when Jonathan hints he knows Will is not straight but doesn't force Will to talk about it, instead letting Will come to him at his own time when he feels ready. I don't think it's a coincidence both Jonathan and Mike act the same way towards Will because both probably witnessed first-hand how Lonnie treated Will.

When Will came back, we know Mike was protective, which we don’t know if it was him trying to cope with the trauma of not only losing Will for a long time but also the recent loss of El, or if he was always that protective over Will, but it is implied in season 1 this was a status quo of sorts from before Will went missing. Mike would feel protective over Will and he would fight back with no self-preservation in mind, especially when people would act in similar ways towards Will that Lonnie did (like the bullies making fun of Will for being gay just like what Joyce brings up Lonnie would make fun of Will for, which prompted Mike to shove them before getting saved by El), which is most likely due to Mike being around during the abuse Will faced from his father which caused him to be protective of Will, and to a lesser extent all his friends (not lesser in extremes, I mean season 1 he jumped off a cliff about to kill himself for Dustin and from Dustin immediately screaming for him not to do it, fully convinced Mike would, and to be fair he does without even knowing El is there to save him, we can infer it is a common thing that Mike is willing to go to great lengths, even risk his own safety, in order to protect. But in terms of frequency instead of amplitude, he is chronically protective of Will while only really protective of his other friends when he feels they need particular protection he can provide).

Mike said he became friends with Will on the first day of kindergarten which means they were likely around 5 and Lonnie was still in the picture. This was before Lucas and Dustin, as Mike says Will was his first friend, so Mike probably knows more about it than either of the two of them, and like Jonathan, was there helping Will through it and supporting him/protecting him to some extent, for longer, which is why he is likely so perceptive of Will's emotions and what Will is feeling, even if he can't pinpoint why.

We are told this whole time that Will is a ‘sensitive boy’, and Lonnie would abuse him and try to change him for that as well as his perceived sexuality, so actually I think it’s important Mike didn’t say anything and let Will cry because it shows Mike provides space for Will to feel, space that others didn't and sometimes still don’t. He lets Will be sensitive and cry even though both of them have had people trying to teach them to suppress their emotions, especially their fathers (Mike's parents, especially Ted, did not respect Mike's grief over Will when he was missing and was not taking him seriously because Mike was not following those same ideals of toxic masculinity Ted and Lonnie were both trying to enforce, to different degrees, in their sons).

Mike is actively trying to stop the cycles Will, and himself, endured. He is trying to be conscious but accepting of all Will's emotions so Will doesn't have to go through what he did with Lonnie. He refuses to give up on or abandon Will when he went missing because Will had a dead-beat dad who stopped caring and abandoned him. And Mike not only praised his art but kept every piece given to him, with binders of it in his room and hanging it on his walls, keeping and displaying it proudly when we know Lonnie didn’t like Will making art because it fueled the ‘sensitive kid’ who was queer narrative he tried to force out of Will.

That's also why Mike immediately looks so guilty in the rain scene when he said what he said about Will's sexuality, because he realizes it is something Lonnie would say. That is also why he immediately goes to apologize despite the same rain he was telling Will not to leave because of. Why he prioritizes making amends and admitting wrong-doing when it comes to Will in a way he doesn't even do with his girlfriend. He is trying to break the cycles and not enforce the toxic masculinity Will painfully had to endure with Lonnie for years and he is trying to, despite feeling the effects of toxic masculinity himself that he is trying to overcome in his own 5-season arc, make sure it is not in his relationship with Will, especially not by his own hands.

Overall, I guess I think it’s not that Mike didn’t notice, but that Mike lets Will feel whatever he feels without judgement or trying to change or 'fix' it. He just sits beside Will and acts normal because he doesn’t want Will to feel like it’s bad to cry; he wants to normalize emotions between the two of them because he wants Will to have a safe place to express emotions, which is important for someone who’s dad abused him and enforced toxic masculinity before abandoning him because he saw him as ‘too sensitive’. It shows Will he is not 'too sensitive' for others and that people won't try to change him or abandon him for being himself, or even for being 'too much' or 'emotional', like his father did and probably convinced Will everyone would do. I don't think Mike realized the crying was because of him, but I think he did notice that Will was crying. He noticed the what and trusted that Will will tell him the why when he is ready.

[starcurtain]

I have a headcanon that girls in Natlan (and hey, guys too, we are fair and equal in this house!) obsess over Ancient Names the way real teens obsess over astrology signs.

There's entire scrolls with clickbaity titles like "What His Ancient Name Says About Him" and "Are Your Names Compatible? Read Up on the History to Find Out If You'll Be a Match!"

Ancient Names that can be interpreted as relating to relationships in any way, like "Honest" or "the Protector," are extremely sought after, and having an appealing Ancient Name is basically a one-way ticket to popularity in the dating pool.

So when Ororon debuts as a hero of Natlan and his Ancient Name is revealed to be "Devotion"...

Well, Citlali and the other Night Wind elders seem to have found themselves a brand-new full-time job--on the Ororon Defense Squad. ("Does beating the girls off with sticks count as a misdemeanor?" "Well if you've got problems with how I'm handling this crisis, come handle it yourself, Mavuika!")

Ororon is pleasantly bemused by the entire situation. His field is full of visitors. He's never received so many presents in his life.

But... why do none of these girls want to visit his aphids? 🤔

[steviewashere]

Do you think when Eddie died before graduating, he came to his mom in the afterlife with apologies and she didn't want to hear them because her baby was there too early?

And in a scenario where he lived, do you think Wayne sat at Eddie's graduation and met up with him afterwards and patted him on the shoulder and hugged him really tight and said, "Your mama would be real proud of you." And then Eddie just hung his head and cried into Wayne's shoulder?

In the scenario where he did graduate, do you think Eddie went up to his mom's grave with a little lunch and a sack with a couple other things? Do you think he left her a bouquet of flowers and then presented his high school diploma? And with all the strength he could muster, in a voice too small and quiet, he told her that he finally did it? Do you think when he was a kid, he promised his mom that he'd graduate high school and go to college—probably be the first in his family to graduate from a college—and get a nice job like his mom always wanted?

Do you think he sat at her grave and played her songs because his dream changed? And before he left her for the night, he asked her to not be mad at him; for choosing to negate college, for not chasing a bigger job, for being queer and being outcast and being a person she probably didn't plan on having.

Do you think, in the scenario where he graduated and got out of Hawkins (maybe he started dating Steve or just went off on his own), he finally got the happiness he deserved? Or do you think he's spending a long time feeling guilty for being so happy—especially when he makes it to an age a year older than his mom would ever be?

Do you think Eddie's mom didn't mind at all who he was?

As long as he was happy, that's all that matters. And it kills her, from a distance (wherever she is, whatever you believe in), that he won't let himself have that without her.

[thestarlightforge]

Edit: Tone Tag 😭 I am not yelling at y’all, I’m just exploding in my little gay disabled wandavision young avengers bubble. It’s all excitement/relief/love over here. 😊💙

JAC REPURPOSED WANDA’S CRAPPY RITUALISTIC AMNESIAC STORYLINE FOR GOOD

“JUST PRETEND I’M NOT HERE” JAC SCHAEFFER— 🫠

IT’S NOT TWO KIDS IN ONE BODY, THE HEX INDIRECTLY KILLED WILLIAM KAPLAN, BILLY MAXIMOFF IS REALLY BILLY WITH A REAL SOUL THAT HAD NO HOME—HE’S REALLY WANDA’S SON, TOMMY’S BROTHER

SOME OF HIS MEMORIES GOT MUDDLED AND HE LEARNED TO REPRESS SOME OF HIS MAGIC, BUT HE COULD BARELY EVEN GET OUT CALLING REBECCA “MOM” IN THE KAPLANS’ LIVING ROOM AND HE NEVER REMEMBERED WILLIAM KAPLAN’S LIFE—BECAUSE WANDA’S KIDS WERE REAL AND HERS, WHETHER 45 YEARS OF MISOGYNISTIC COMICS WRITERS LIKE IT OR NOT

“WHO ARE YOU?” “WILLIAM KAPLAN.” “SAY AGAIN?”

“I’M BILLY MAXIMOFF” AND

“I’M NOT THAT NICE” 😭

BILLY MAXIMOFF FELL IN LOVE WITH A BOY, HE DIDN’T JUST TAKE WILLIAM KAPLAN’S BOYFRIEND TO BLEND IN

JAC DIDN’T FORGET ABOUT TOMMY, NO ONE DID—THIS WHOLE THING IS FOR HIM AND HE’S EVERYWHERE

WILLIAM KAPLAN’S LAST WORDS WERE “MOM, LOOK OUT” AND

BILLY MAXIMOFF’S FIRST WORD OUTSIDE THE HEX

WAS “TOMMY” 😭

[ocapmycap]

🕯️🕯️Manifesting a Micheal “no I’ll stay with Will” “I’m okay I’ll stay back with Will” “Will and I can do that” “It’s fine I have got Will” Wheeler in Season 5 🕯️🕯️

[pip3dream]

"Shh." She waved a hand at him. "There are people here who'd cut your throat for two fifties and sell your blood as dragon fire."

"Not me," Kit said confidently. "No one here would touch me.”

He leaned back. "Unless I wanted them to."

"And here I thought I was all out of shameless flirting charms."

“I am your shameless flirting charm."

[lovelylittlegrim]

I don’t want to write a Steddie time loop fic BUT this part wouldn’t leave me alone. (Mentions of mcd, not written tho)

~~~

Eddie is frowning. “So,” he says slowly, “we’re in a time loop.”

Steve nods. “Yeah.”

“Because I keep dying?” His brows raise. “That— Yeah, that really fucking sucks to hear, Steve. Not gonna lie.”

Steve slumps against the side of the mobile home. “Yeah, it really fucking does.”

Steve scrubs at his face, feeling more exhausted than he’s ever been in his life. Seven loops, seven weeks of terror and blood and failure, and Steve doesn’t know if he can do it much longer.

“Man, you must be real tired of telling me about this,” Eddie says suddenly, pulling Steve from his thoughts.

“I’ve never told you before now,” Steve admits. He’d thought about it, but telling a guy he keeps dying doesn’t sound like the greatest idea. “I thought I could figure it out, or fix it on my own, but…”

“Wait,” Eddie stands up, mouth twitching into a grin. “So this is the first time you’re looping me in?” The grin turns into a wince almost immediately, “shit, okay, I’m just going to apologize now because I know I’m going to make that same joke in some way everytime you tell me about the time loops.”

Steve snorts out a quiet laugh despite the grief that clings to him a little harder every loop. “Sure, apology accepted.”

He’d rather have awful jokes than more blood on his hands.

He gets both.

Again and again and again.

~~~

(Okay, less funny than I imagined it being but I love the idea of Eddie munson making the same god awful pun or a variation of it every single loop he finds out. Steves tired of hearing it. He’s tired of eddie dying too tho.)

[whynotimtired]

There's something in Finn wolfhard being a breakout star in s1 and humongous names like Steven Spielberg saying that the kids changed the limitations of child acting bc they're so good. And then suddenly Finn wolfhard after S4 being known generally as the worst one, as the guy who can't act, just "not as good" as everyone else. Because of the monologue. The monologue the writers praised and hyped up as his best work, as something they didn't know if he could do bc he hadn't ever done it before, generally something they were really proud of.

So, if his supposed "best work" is something that people come away from feeling like it's his worst? That means there's a disconnect in the way the writers are looking at the scene vs the way the general audience sees it, which is funny bc if we look at that scene at face value, he's confessing his love. So if theres something deeper about the scene that changes the meaning, that changes that scene from bad acting to great acting, from a love confession to...

[helenstudies]

I love being multilingual. I love reading books so much. and I know most of langblr and bookblr is about academia or classics but my heart is in children's literature. I grew up with my own language and my own country's literature. I get to have my childhood favorite books in my language. and then as I grow up and learn others I get to enjoy other people's childhood favorite books. sometimes I've progressed enough in my language to enjoy those foreign books in their own original language and be filled with joy as I realize how this would have shaped a generation of people. I get to go "what is this word" and look up and have a spark of joy as I memorize a BIG word in a new language. I get to gasp at reveals and twists and turns and fairy tales and romances and horrors of all your children's literature because my language level is still progressing and every new word fills me with wonder. I get to have my childhood and I get to have other people's childhood through my childlike language abilities. I love it. I love reading books!

[gayofthefae]

Like I said. He was never gonna do it. His face just starts to fall as Dustin calls in. He searches for it with his eyes. He didn't get interrupted from saying "I love you". He got interrupted from having this moment early

[butterflysonnets]

absolutely insane that mike literally p a n i c k e d when will was like "well what about us?" because will wasn't even really making things gay he was honest to god just inquiring about the state of their estranged friendship and wondering why mike didn't make time to talk to him when they're supposed to be best friends but MIKE was the one having an aneurysm like "🏳️‍🌈⁉️ W H AT!!"

“WE'RE FRIENDS” “i know mike” “WE'RE!!! F R I E N D S!!” “right so why don't you call me — ” “I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND” “… that in no way answers my question"