#((nearly forgot))

[dogcrushdotnet]

why did they do that

[higbana]

would anyone like to hear about my take on the Madwheeler runaway to California for a couple days plot. you're hearing about my take on the Madwheeler runaway to California for a couple days plot.

the core of it is pre-s4 Mike and Max helping each other get out of the lowkey-suicidal depression hole, of course, but Mike is taking the initiative to help Max. he is seeing his friend who is getting deeper and deeper into this dark fucking pit that he recognizes because he's also in there, but she's doing a lot worse than him, and he's scared about what's going to happen to both of them, honestly. what they're going to do to themselves.

the only real idea he has on how to help her is what he thinks is going to help him, so he pins his bets on it since it's better than nothing and starts coming up with a plan on how to get them to Lenora. now, I could have gone the more intuitive route and just had them go by bus, and that was originally what I did, but it's been done and I just kept hitting a wall with it. so I decided that they were going to drive Nancy's stolen car across the country. because it's making me laugh so bad.

yes, they are using fake licenses. yes, Max is the only one who has any experience behind a wheel. no, she has never driven in real traffic before, let alone on a highway. yes, Nancy is going to shoot them dead when they get back. it’s fine. they’ll be fine. everything's fine.

like truly just walk with me on this concept for a sec, okay? they are both actively figuring out how to not get themselves killed in traffic, they're both so stressed because of that, they're not making as good time as they thought because turns out neither of them can actually drive for that long yet, you just know they both have the worst road rage I can feel it in my bones, and I feel like it's a safe bet that Mike is also a nightmare on the road, considering that he canonically likes Max's driving, so now Max is going to have to experience her driving from the other side. either she's going to realize that the Party's many complaints were entirely valid, think they're pussies because that was fine, what were they talking about, or not recognize the parallel at all and insist Mike is an entirely separate brand of deranged from her. all possible.

anyway, when the Wheeler's find Nancy's car just gone in the morning, they panic, and it only gets worse when they realize that Mike is gone, too. Nancy is somewhere between so goddamn pissed that Mike stole her car, and desperately trying to convince herself that this is not another Barb situation. it's only kind of working. since it's the weekend and Nancy does not have her own car, it takes a little while for everyone to figure out that they don't know where Max is, either. it's a bit of a weight off Nancy's chest, because if they left together of their own free will, then Nancy definitely knows where they're heading, but there is still a part of her that's convinced that this just means they're both dead, and the government is just trying to cover it up the same way they did Barb.

tangent back to the fake ID thing: it was for sure Eddie who put Mike in contact with the person who made them, so when he hears about them seemingly running away he thinks ohhhhhh shit. should I maybe tell someone about that?

ANYWAY: I want to circle back to how I'm perceiving Mike's emotional state before I shut up. I will probably elaborate on what's going through Max's head later but we know her deal, more or less, no matter what I put her through here. Mike is officially entirely built off fan interpretation now, though.

I picture his sort of realization timeline as: first consciously picked up on something at the Snowball, spent pre-s3 to El kissing him at the end of s3 trying to convince himself that either nothing was happening, or if it was, he could fix it if he just tried hard enough. El kissing him + Byers moving made him realize that no, it was happening, and he was never going to be able to fix or change it, which takes us to when this fic is set: pre-s4, where he's stopped trying to change, and is now just hiding, at least when he's not with El. he's not accepted him being gay as a good thing, but he has accepted that he is. he's more guilty than scared all the time, now. under ordinary circumstances, he would never come out to someone, but a mutual suicide prevention road trip is not ordinary circumstance, and Max is close to figuring something out, anyway.

[ineedhands]

they can take my freedom, they can take my rights, but they’ll have to pry my yaoi out of my cold, dead hands

[pilot-of-eva-00]

Found these on the Reishin discord and decided to share them here, first one is from a Twitter user. IDK the creator of the other one but both are really cute. Happy birthday Shinji Ikari.

Artist credit: @gayugay1207

[scarolgabi]

looking for some clone wars post-war fics that explore the early days of the empire and the underground clone rebellion

I've read Rise: The Clone Rebellion by RheaShay on AO3 and was wondering if anyone knew any similar fics to it preferably with a focus on my main man rex but I digress

[jaaskelainent]

Happy Hot Girl Friday

[lifedoesntdiscriminate]

.

[somethingsgottasaveyou]

Alex's little dancey dance from Hamburg