thinking about how will has probably come to terms that mike has chose el over him. and that he might never have the same friendship with mike as he once had and that he’s probably gonna be okay bc as long as mike is happy and el is happy, he’s fine with being in the background and no longer being the most important person in mike’s life. he’s come to terms that he won’t spend his life with mike, that they won’t play dnd and nintendo and whatever other games they like. and he’s also come to terms that there is no point in arguing with mike anymore about their friendship, he’s tried twice and was made out to be the bad guy and got yelled at. and so he won’t try anymore, he’ll take what he gets from mike, even if it’s just crumbles, even if the only reason mike keeps him around is so he can vent to him about his relationship problems. will won’t bother with asking mike to pick him, to ask mike why it came to this and why mike can’t seem to treat will the same way he does with lucas and dustin. he’s come to terms that he’s the only who’s the problem and who wouldn’t get his happy ending and he’s fine with it because as long as mike is happy with el then he’s happy too.
When Tina Turner left her first husband - who was also her boss, captor, and brutal tormentor - she snuck out of their Dallas hotel room with a single thought in her mind: "The way out is through the door."
From there she fled across the midnight freeway, semi-trucks careening past her, with 36 cents and a Mobil gas card in her pocket. As soon as she decided to walk out that door, she owned nothing else.
When she filed for divorce, she made an unusual request. She didn't want anything: not the song rights, not the cars, not the houses, not the money. All she wanted was the stage name he gave her - Tina - and her married name - Turner. This was the name by which the world had come to know her, and keeping it was her only chance to salvage her career.
Things could have gone a lot of ways from there. She could have labored in obscurity for decades, maybe making records on small labels to be prized by vinyl connoisseurs in Portland. She could have stayed in Vegas, where she first went to get her chops back up, and worked as a nostalgia act. And, of course, given what she had been through, she might have … not made it.
What happened instead is that Tina Turner became the biggest global rock star of the 80s. I'm old enough to barely remember this, but if you aren't, it was like this: The Rolling Stones would headline a stadium one day, and the next day it would be Tina Turner. A middle-aged Black woman - she became a rock star at 42! - sitting atop the 1980s like it was her throne.
She managed this because of whatever rare stuff she was made of (this is a woman whose label gave her two weeks to record her solo debut, Private Dancer, which went five times platinum); because she decided to speak publicly about her abusive marriage and forge her own identity, and in doing so give hope and courage to countless women; and also because - in a perhaps unlikely twist for a girl from Nutbush, Tennessee - she had her practice of Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism, to which she credited her survival. She remained devout until the end.
Tina's second marriage - to her, her only marriage - was to Edwin Bach, a Swiss music executive 16 years her junior. Of him, she said, "Erwin, who is a force of nature in his own right, has never been the least bit intimidated by my career, my talents, or my fame."
In 2016, after a barrage of health problems, Tina's kidneys began to fail. A Swiss citizen by then, she had started preparing for assisted suicide when her husband stepped in. According to Tina, he said, "He didn't want another woman, or another life."
He gave her one of his kidneys, buying her the remainder of her time on this earth and perhaps closing a cycle which took her from a man who inflicted injury upon her to a man willing to inflict injury upon himself to save her from harm.
Born into a share-cropping family as Anna Mae Bullock in 1939, she died Tina Turner in a palatial Swiss estate: the queen of rock 'n roll; a storm of a performer with a wildcat-fierce voice; a dancer of visceral, spine-tingling potency and ability; a beauty for the ages; a survivor of terrible abuse and an advocate for others in similar situations; an author and actress; a devout Buddhist; a wife and mother; a human being of rare talent and perseverance who, through her transcendent brilliance, became a legend.
This scene is so insane to me, Jonathan is trying to make them go out, chill out and
Will, after the Rink-o-mania fight, and with the tension says that it's better if they stay at home
And Mike is okay, looking down...
And then... Jonathan asks if they're going to MOPE around all break.
MOPE AROUND ALL BREAK???
MOPE??? FROM MOPING???
DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER???
How can we forget about it?
THE LOOK ON MIKE’S FACE!!!!
And when Will says "No one's moping."
"You were!!! You were rolling your eyes, MOPING. You were barely talking. You basically sabotaged the whole day."
I am 100% sure he remembered their fight at Rink-o-mania and was mad because Will wasn't paying attention to him ONE MORE TIME and thought he didn't want to go out with and then wanted to be bitchy about it.
He should be like "Oh, so you're trying to sabotage the day again? Okay then, I'll stand up and walk to El's room so I can give her these goddamn cold eggos!!!"
Maybe this is a plate of corn moment and I'm not even really sure what to make of this but I would just like to point out how Mike and El both plastered fake smiles on their faces at the exact same time
And then their smiles fell at the same time
They were both pretending to be happy when they really weren't.
El was upset because she had been called out for lying to Mike and pretending everything for her was glamorous in Lenora. And I guess Mike was upset because Will was "moping" and not talking to him and "sabotaging the day" (aka, not laughing at his stupid sock joke lmaoo)
My dad gave me a USB drive with hundreds of pictures he has taken since the 70′s. This picture of the Snuggle bear playing UNO is undoubtedly the best picture he has ever taken.
when Mike and Will fight their wearing each other's colours and when they make up after the fight they're wearing their own respective colours. idk what this means.
Mike would never admit it, at least not while Hopper's in earshot, but dinner with the Byers-Hopper family might be one of his favorite things. Will's house is warm and light and real, and the Byers- well, Joyce, at the very least - treat Mike like part of the family.
The downside to that, though, is that as part of the family, Mike is also required to help with cleaning up from said dinners. Not that he minds - he makes a conscious effort to be nice to Will’s family, to make up for those hazy years in the middle of everything where he’d sort of fallen out of their good graces - with everyone but Joyce, at least. It’s not even that difficult, really, being nice again. He’s felt so happy lately that it kind of spills out of him, extending to everyone he interacts with. You’re acting like a total idiot, Max has told him at least three separate times this week, and if Mike didn’t think she’d mock him forever for it, he would have replied with I think I’m just in love.
He’s thinking about this as he scrubs at a stain on his plate, hunched over the sink as Joyce bustles about putting leftovers in plastic containers and Hopper stands around being generally unhelpful.
“You don’t have to do that,” a voice from behind Mike says, and Mike startles a little as a warm arm winds itself around his waist. He twists to face Will, shooting him a wry smile, and Will grins back as he reaches up to brush Mike’s hair out of his eyes.
“I’m being helpful,” Mike replies, widening his eyes seriously as Will smirks and presses a kiss to the tip of his nose. “If Hopper sees me slacking off I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Will glances over at his stepfather, who’s locked in conversation with El about something, and his smirk widens. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly determined to win his approval,” he says quietly, amused, “But I can promise you that doing the dishes is not necessary for it.”
Mike huffs, turning back to his soap-lathered plate, and Will stays close, arm still hooked loosely around his middle. “I need his approval,” Mike says, using the corner of the sponge to finally make a dent in the stubborn grease stain on the plate, “because he’s your stepdad.”
“He’s El’s actual dad, and you actively worked to make his life harder when you and El were dating,” Will points out, watching Mike’s face as he rinses off the now-clean plate and places it on the dish rack.
Mike’s mouth twitches into a small smile. “I think we’ve established that my judgement while I was dating El was sub-optimal at best,” he murmurs, and it feels like an accomplishment when Will lets out a light laugh.
In truth, Mike’s newly conscientious attitude toward Will’s family is only in part due to his general good mood as of late. His happiness makes it easier, sure, but there’s also this niggling sense in the back of his mind, a reminder that if he wants this good thing with Will to last, he’s going to have to build lasting relationships with his family too. It’s the least he can do, after everything, and he might only be seventeen, but he’s fairly certain that he wants this good thing with Will to last for, give or take, probably the entire rest of his life, and Will’s too while he’s at it.
Mike’s not at all scared of that notion. And that’s probably the biggest miracle of all.
He finishes washing the dishes and dries his hands on a towel, twisting around in Will’s grip and leaning against the counter beside him. “For what it’s worth,” Will says, as Mike places a hand over his chest, reeling him in closer, “I’m pretty sure you already have his approval. Not that you need it, but still.”
He tilts his head in Hopper’s direction, and Mike follows his gaze to find that El has wandered off, leaving Hop to stand quietly in the corner of the kitchen, eyes narrowed but expression relaxed as he surveys Mike and Will. “He thinks we’re good for each other,” Will murmurs under his breath as Mike turns back to face him, all too aware of Hopper’s gaze on him. “I overheard him tell my mom.”
Despite his efforts, a small smile spreads across Mike’s face, delicate and hopeful. “Yeah?”
Will presses down a smile, pulling Mike closer and kissing his cheek quickly. “You’re ridiculous,” he proclaims, “Yeah.”
Any response Mike could have come up with is cut off by Joyce, who appears beside them at the sink and drops a dirty pot into the basin unceremoniously. “Sorry, boys,” she says, shooting them both a small smile as they shift out of the way, and grabs a bottle of dish soap off the counter. “This is the last of the dishes.”
She sets about scrubbing, and Will tugs Mike over to the opposite side of the counter, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around Mike’s waist. Mike leans into the touch, and Will shoots him a small smile.
“Thanks for the help, Mike,” Hopper says gruffly from his corner, taking a sip of water out of a clear glass and surveying the two of them with vague scrutiny.
It takes every fiber of Mike’s being to resist bringing up the good for each other thing. “Of course,” he says instead, grinning sweetly, because he is nice and polite and a good boyfriend to Will and deserves to be in Hopper’s good graces and be exempt from things such as the three-inch rule, which has quickly become the bane of his existence.
Hopper frowns at him like he thinks Mike is up to something, which- he sort of is, but he has good intentions, okay? He’s better now, than he was when he was thirteen. He’s trying. He’s happy.
Hopper seems to come to some sort of conclusion, because he nods once, taking another sip of water, and says, “You should come for dinner again next week. Make this a regular thing.”
Mike blinks at him. He spends at least half his life in this house already, and Hopper knows this, but there’s something formal about the invitation, something like- acceptance, or something. An olive branch, maybe. “Uh, sure,” he says, heart rate quickening, and he feels weirdly nervous, stepping into new territory this way. It’s- a good nervous, though. He feels like he has more good things than he’s ever had before.
“Yeah, okay,” he says sheepishly, sending Hopper a small smile. Will’s arm tightens around his waist, and he presses a kiss to Mike’s cheek.
Mike feels like he’s home.
The other side of the moon @vampirejones - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
