ALERT ‼️ ALERT ‼️ ANOTHER PERCABETH PARALLEL (inspired by this post) MAYBE THE BEST ONE YET IM SCREAMING
imagine: byler has already had their MoA fall into the upside down and during their time trying to survive there they grow closer and tell each other stories about the past summer apart and mike brings up a comic book concept he has like
“…and i was thinking i could do the writing and then you can draw because you’re amazing at art and then we could sell it and pay for college together and- and maybe someday when this war with vecna and the mindflayer is over…”
It was hard to tell in the golden light, but he thought Will was blushing. “Oh,” Will said.
“I’m sorry,” Mike said. “I just…I had to think of that to keep going. To give me hope. Forget I mentioned—”
“No!” Will said. “No, Mike, that’s so sweet i just.. wasn’t expecting it. I.. I love it- I would love to.”
They share a smile.
and then later mike gets vecna’d or injured or something and will is freaking out trying to get him back ….
He grabbed Mike’s shoulders, pulling him closer. “Tell me about the comic book. Tell me about college,” Will demanded. “What we’re your plans for us?”
“Comic book… college… For us…”
“Yeah, idiot! You said we could have a future! Tell me!”
cue mike telling will about all the plans he has for them and talking about how will could study art at this college and mike could take creative writing and they could dorm together and make comic books for a living and never be apart and spilling all his hopes for the future (see @doriandrifting’s og post linked above because 😭😭)
also i need this:
*Mike makes a dumb joke*
Will laughed, and the sound sent a shock wave through the vines entangling them. The whispering and Vecna’s cold taunts faded to background noise. Will wondered if anyone had ever laughed in the Upside Down before—just a pure simple laugh of pleasure. He doubted it.
i feel like not enough ppl are factoring in the cultural clash between laios and shuro and the many micro agressions shuro faced while being in their group. literally the name 'shuro' in itself is one
his name is toshiro 😭 lets also not forget that he has his own communication issues, in the opposite way that laios does- thats literally a factor in their argument, that his envy for laios's ability to express himself sincerely manifested as part of his distaste for him.
ig all this to say like, was their fight heart wrenching, especially when reading laios as autistic? absolutely. anybody whos ever been in laios's position knows how much it hurts to realize someone you thought was your friend doesnt actually like having you around, especially when they didnt tell you and you had no way of knowing due to not understanding their cues. but im begging yall to step back and see the nuance of this situation cause im gonna be real a lot of you are kinda just brushing over it acting like everything is toshiros fault and that hes a terrible person when in reality hes an average guy who really, really clashed with laios and it led to a very long misunderstanding due to their supremely opposite methods of communication. even laios and toshiro, after letting everything out in their fight, were able to come to an understanding and start a foundation for an actual friendship built on better communication
ok yknow what Edit: i shouldve made it even more explicit at the end of this post, i hadnt thought i would need to since i started the post with this, but i think a few too many people are missing my point so i just wanna clarify. i shouldnt have said 'really clashed' and left it at that because yeah they did, but it wasnt just their opposite methods of communication, it is also very much that toshiro was experiencing microaggressions via laios. it may have been unintentional on laios's part, but it still happened and wore him down, made it harder for him to communicate on top of both the more subtle social cues that he was raised with and his own communication difficulties. i also want to say that the fandom reaction to toshiro and the complete ignorance of this point is also racist tbh or at the very least ignorant. i understand that the anime did not cover this panel, and neither did the manga, as this was an omake, but im gonna be real with you guys. there are enough context clues within the story to clue you into this. if you didnt pick up on it thats ok, but i think this is a good lesson in picking up subtext in the stories that youre watching and/or reading. kui shouldnt have to explicitly say 'by the way laios was racist to toshiro' for this point to be understood, and at the very least, when the author portrays a character in a sympathetic light (as kui clearly does) it should make you question Why they are doing so and what makes them sympathetic, rather than youre immediate and only reaction to be 'well i hated what this guy did/said so i hate them and they suck'. idk exactly how to finish this, just. idk. question your biases and gut reactions to things you see in media and stories, and think about whether or not theres subtext that youre missing.