will who sleeps almost exclusively with headphones on and his walkman playing during the 18 month timeskip so whenever mike and him ever happen to have to share a room mike just says whatever he wants (and pours his heart out) because he thinks will can’t hear him only for will to turn to him the next morning and go “my walkman’s been out of battery for three days.”
Listen, do I love a good sad ending? Yes, a tragedy, a bittersweet ending, a well written horror, villains winning, heroes losing, you know, all that edgy stuff. I don't believe everything needs to have a happy ending and I think for some stories, a tragic ending just makes more sense. I also love when writers go against the viewer's expectations because it's interesting and can really be impactful if done well. However, I still need Stranger Things to have the happiest, cheesiest, sweetest ending of all time.
No one is allowed to die besides Vecna and some demogorgons. They kill Vecna with the power of love and friendship. The world is saved. Everyone gets their happy ending whatever that may be and no matter what, they all stay friends because they are basically family at this point. Bonus points, if the last scene is everyone hanging out and everyone just being happy. I won't even cringe if the last line is one of them saying "well, we've definitely seen stranger things."
Like make it goofy and funny and sweet, the rest of the season can still be dark and serious without there being any more tragedy. I don't think the ending being happy will take away from that.
I know this has probably already been said but it's so important to me that the show isn't a tragedy. You know why? Because it's a mainstream show about outcasts in the 80s. A show about gay kids, black kids, disabled kids, kids that are considered different just for existing. If you take away the supernatural and the sci-fi elements, at its core, that's what the show is about.
So if the show that from day one has been about being different and being who you are, turns around and kills off half the cast and has either a bittersweet ending or just a plain awful ending just for shock value or because it makes the story more "realistic" (and yes, that includes having Will be rejected by the person he loves and being killed off. El sacrificing herself because she's a superhero and that's what she feels she's supposed to do or Max and Lucas having a tragic love story.) It'd be throwing away everything the show stands for and personally, I think it would be god awful writing.
That kind of ending can be done well but I don't think that's the kind of ending ST needs.
There's been enough tragic stories about minorities in both the past and present. This show has evil crispy undead wizards and giant lanky mind controlling spiders, I don't think poc/queer/disabled/female/etc characters being happy and alive is gonna make the show unrealistic.
The world is ending, but Will has never been happier.
Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, because people have died, and more could meet the same fate at any moment, and there's certainly no shortage of things to be upset or worried or angry about, but Will can't help it. For the past week, he's been walking on air, hiding grins behind his hands and blushing and stumbling over his words, and it's all because of Mike Wheeler.
He'd thought Mike would be angry about the painting, he really had. As soon as Mike and El had broken up, Will had seen impending doom coming for him, knowing full well that all it would take was one conversation - hey, so about the painting - what painting? - for everything to unravel. He'd spent weeks stressing about it, nearly giving himself a heart attack every time one of them glanced his way trying to figure out if they knew, if one or both of them had figured it out.
And then, last week, one of them did.
Hey, can we talk? Mike had asked, poking his head into his bedroom, where Will had retreated to for some peace and quiet earlier. Everyone has been staying in the basement, all jumbled together in a pile and taking turns keeping watch for demodogs and whatever else Vecna is throwing at them, but during the day they're mostly free to roam the house, provided they have headphones around their necks at all times. Will has taken to hiding away in Mike's room, the only room in the house that makes him feel even remotely safe, and Mike seemed to have no issue with it- on the contrary, he seemed pleased with the arrangement.
Will had frozen, the pencil he'd been sketching with tumbling from his hand as he stared at Mike, fearing that the other shoe was about to drop.
Uh- yeah, he'd said shakily, doing his level best not to look at the painting, which Mike had painstakingly pinned up to his wall, because the universe just really has it out for Will Byers.
Mike had sat down gingerly on the end of the bed, looking apprehensive, and Will had wondered what Mike could possibly have to be nervous about. He's not the one who'd been caught in an elaborate, incriminating lie.
Will, Mike had started shakily, sounding fragile and almost afraid, like the scared little kid Will had once known, why- why did you lie to me?
Will had broken down crying, never able to control himself in these situations, his feelings always spilling over and betraying him, and Mike had wrapped him in his arms, whispering hey, it's okay, I'm not mad, it's okay, God, Will, I'm so sorry, and it had been so outside the realm of Will's imagination, especially when he'd been preparing himself for the worst, that he'd just cried harder, clinging to Mike desperately.
Then the unthinkable had happened.
Mike had grasped at Will's chin, tilting his face up to look at him and swiping Will's tears at him. Will had felt exposed, vulnerable and stripped clean of every last secret, tear tracks marring his face, but Mike had smiled at him, looking at him like he was something beautiful.
Then Mike had tilted forward, closer, closer, and pressed his lips to Will's.
So, naturally, Will's been a little distracted this week.
There have been other kisses, quick ones behind closed doors whenever possible. They've had conversations, in low voices and stilted patterns, constantly interrupted and fractured by the other people in the house, of which there are many. There's a longer conversation to be had, things that Mike keeps saying he needs to explain in more detail than the rushed I've been pushing you away because I was scared and I'm so sorry, it's you, Will, it always has been, please forgive me that he uttered on the day of their first kiss. But Will, for once, isn't worried about the things they've left unsaid. He's enjoying these secret, small moments with Mike whenever he can get them. It feels like he has his best friend back, and something beyond that. It's new and exciting and Will can feel electricity thrumming under his skin whenever Mike looks his way.
Like now, for instance. They're sitting in the kitchen with the older teens, half-listening to them talk about making a run to the store later or something along those lines, and Mike keeps glancing Will's way, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Will returns it every time, blushing furiously, and were Jonathan not so wrapped up in his conversation with Nancy and Steve he'd surely be shooting Will a knowing look right about now.
Will stands, pushing back his chair and clearing his throat. "I'm going upstairs," he says, addressing the older teens, who all nod distractedly at him and barely pause their conversation, "If I'm not back down within an hour assume I've been Vecna'd."
He heads for the stairs, ignoring Jonathan's call of "that's not funny, Will!" and heading for Mike's room.
There's a patter of feet on the stairs behind him, and Will smiles to himself as he reaches the top, pausing until he can hear Mike right behind him before whirling around all at once, laughing and catching Mike's wrist before tugging him into the room and closing the door behind them.
Mike yelps good-naturedly, careening into Will as he tugs sharply at his wrist again and pulls him close. "Hi," he says, forehead brushing Will's as a grin spreads over his face.
"Hi," Will echoes, matching his grin and reaching up to wind his arms around Mike's neck.
This is all the decorum either of them have before Mike is surging forward and catching Will's lips with his own, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing him firm and slow, like he means it. Will is quickly learning that Mike Wheeler is a very, very good kisser, always steady and warm under Will's palms as he cups his face and tilts his head to the right, angling closer. Mike hums appreciatively, pressing closer to him, and Will's skin feels alight with joy as he swipes his tongue over Mike's lip.
"You're so- pretty," Mike huffs, pulling back a little and looking at Will with wide, adoring eyes, and Will feels like he could spend forever melting under Mike's warm gaze. If everything goes to shit and Vecna wins, at least Will can die happily saying that he got to kiss Mike Wheeler.
"So are you," Will mumbles, pressing forward for another kiss. Mike shivers, stepping backward and pulling Will with him, legs bumping against each other. The backs of Mike's knees make contact with his bed, and he sways on his feet, breaking the kiss as he tumbles unceremoniously backward, holding out a hand for Will as he scoots up onto the pillows.
Will grins and reaches out to thread his fingers through Mike's, pausing for a moment to admire the boy sprawled out before him, kissed-red and smiling with his dark hair spilling over the pillows. He wants to sketch him. He wants to kiss him again immediately. He wants to spend a lifetime wrapped up in his arms.
Evidently growing impatient, Mike gives his hand a sharp tug, and Will laughs as he falls willingly onto the mattress, ending up sprawled across Mike with his face shoved into the crook of his neck. "You're a dork," he proclaims, as Mike reaches up and runs a hand through his hair. Will is all too aware of the seconds ticking away, of the fact that any minute now someone could come knocking, checking to make sure they're both still alive or demanding that everyone meet in the living room to discuss next steps or whatever else. These moments with Mike are precious, but they never last long.
Will shifts, tilting his head to face Mike's, and Mike grins as he dips forward to kiss Will one-two-three more times. Will shivers, thinking absently that he doesn't think he can ever get sick of kissing Mike, doesn't think he'll ever lose the thrill that shoots up his spine when Mike's lips brush against his own. That's the thing about the end of the world - it makes you think in an all-or-nothing sort of way, in forevers and nevers, a constant flip flop of what if we die and what if we live?
The world is ending, but if it doesn't, Will knows that he wants to spend forever with Mike Wheeler.
Evidently, Mike is on a similar wavelength - the life-or-death one, that is, because he pauses halfway between kisses four and five and pulls back to stare at Will, eyes wide and serious. "Hey," he says quietly, "Can I tell you something?"
"Always," Will replies, another apocalypse sort of word, but he means it with every fiber of his being.
Mike smiles softly, looking delicate and gentle as he trails a hand over the side of Will's face. "I love you," he whispers, smiling a little sadly, "I love you so much, Will. And I would have told you anyway, and I know you probably could have figured it out on your own, but- if something happened to one or both of us and I hadn't said it, I... well. I don't want to take that chance."
Will blinks hard, fighting tears, like he so often does, and he presses his forehead firmly against Mike's, clinging to him tightly. "I love you too," he whispers back, for all the same reasons that Mike just said, "I love you and we're going to be okay because we have to be, but- no matter what happens, just- don't ever think that I wouldn't do anything for you, okay?"
Mike exhales softly, a small, warm smile on his face, and he pulls Will closer, closing all remaining distance between them. Will lets it happen, pliant under Mike's hands, still unused to being wanted this way, to having Mike reach for him and pull him close and kiss him slow like he's trying to get it right. For all the electricity, Will has never felt more safe than he does when Mike holds him like this.
There's no way to tell what's going to happen next, Will thinks as Mike nuzzles closer still, nosing at Will's cheek until Will tilts his face up into a kiss, soft and sweet. But he has this moment, and he has Mike Wheeler, and he thinks that for now, that's more than enough.
steve doesnt realise billy possessed but doesnt question the fact that everyones trying to kill him bc he just figures theyre tired of billy being a piece of shit
2087
origamiaround
discoholicmusic
izzy806
kianamaiart
prguitarman
titsay
