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newronantic · 2 years

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BYLER FICS PART 2

usually i read tons of fics, make a masterlist, then maybe add a few more as the hyperfixation fades out. that clearly did not happen this time. i had 12 pages of ao3 history to sort through for this. enjoy part 2!

EVERY SINGLE WORK BY BYLIEVER

Byler are married with kids! There’s lots of flashbacks to them as kids, them dealing with trauma, and them being incredible parents. They have 12 works and i’m too lazy to tag all of them but i’m obsessed with every single one

Byler in College by orphan_account

An account of Mike and Will's first year of college, recounting their experiences, the changes in their lives, and how their relationship grows and develops over the year.

Shrike by StepfordSnarker

It's the late '80s, and Will is coping with the loneliness of having left the Party behind. Somehow, through it all, he still has feelings for his childhood best friend, Mike, though he's growing to regret that fact more with each passing day.

It's the early '90s, and Mike is coming to understand that there are some people worth losing your false sense of self for. But now that Mike and Will have parted ways, this realization may have come too late.

Mike Wheeler is Doing Just Fine by AtomosphericNonsense

Mike Wheeler is doing just fine. No. Really. He’s okay. He’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with him. Nothing to see here, just mind your own fucking business.

(AKA: local stressed and queer teen has a mental breakdown, yells at a lake, and then has several more breakdowns.)

Where It All Makes Sense by jancies

It had been three years. Three years since Vecna. Three years since California. Three years since Will almost admitted his true feelings for Mike. He just wished there could’ve been a moment. A moment where it all made sense.

baby, we’re perfect by bookinit

Senior year in Hawkins. Will and Mike figure some things out.

you rearrange me ‘til i’m sane by miketozier (smallcuts)

Will has never had a girlfriend (or a boyfriend) before. There may or may not be one person behind the reason why.

anything, anything by inblue

Five years after the Byers family leaves Hawkins, Mike and Will rediscover each other within a small apartment in New York.

i’d make a deal with god by smoosnoom (moonsooms)

Will finally rips off the band-aid. Mike won't let him.

just a secret under lock and key until then by willow_lark

Mike Wheeler's birthday is tomorrow. December 20th. The day he, like all people on their sixteenth birthday, will swap places with and discover his soulmate. He and El have been planning the logistics for weeks, and it's kind of getting on Will's nerves.

Will, for one, really doesn't want to see Mike tomorrow, especially not when they haven't spoken in years and Will's still bitter about the breakdown of their friendship. He doesn't want to think about Mike Wheeler. Or his feelings for him. And, despite what he may want, he's pretty sure that he's not ever going to have a soulmate anyway.

That's four things that Will holds as firm convictions. Only one of them will actually end up true.

He doesn't actually need to see Mike Wheeler in order to have to deal with him.

real sweet but i wish you were sober by ew_spaghetti0310

3 times mike drunkenly tells will he loves him + one time he was sober

you are so gorgeous (it makes me so mad) by andiwriteordie

It's sophomore year of college, and Max's best friend, Mike Wheeler, has just met the guy of his dreams. The only problem? Mike's mystery crush just so happens to be dating the guy of Max's dreams.

Static Re-Connection by IllogicalFallacy

A miles-apart, oblivious mutual pining, emotional summer vacation disaster-fest starring Mike, Will, and one incredibly unreliable radio connection.

kiss it better by beansie

Mike and Will, through the years and in between the lines of friendship and something more.

What do you do now, Will the Wise? by RainbowNixie

The party is playing D&D together and Mike, as the dungeon master, won’t stop trying to make the Paladin and the Cleric flirt. He’s basically making moves on Will through the game. Will is caught off guard by this, and doesn’t know how to respond to the following question:

What do you do now, Will the Wise?

Everything comes down to a simple roll of dice.

the boyfriend problem by RomeoWrites

Ted Wheeler thinks Mike has been dating Will since they were twelve-years-old. And Mike doesn’t know quite what to do with that information. Until he does.

chiron in gemini by babydraygen

Christmas, 1986.

More than half the town of Hawkins evacuated when the first earthquake hit in the spring. For those that stayed, life is carrying on as normal. Or as close to normal as it can get. Sometimes lights flicker, you get used to it.

Then Max Mayfield wakes up from her eight month long coma and it's hard to pretend things are ever going to be the way they used to.

Roll for Strength by midnighteverlark

Mike has been acting weird lately - making excuses, being evasive, smiling to himself when he thinks no one is looking. And the hickeys are the nail in the coffin. Will knows Mike has a new girlfriend that he hasn't told anyone about, and he's determined to dig up clues about this secret lady-love. Not because he's jealous. Will has moved on from Mike - really. He refuses to spend his whole life pining over someone who's never going to want him. He just wants to find out about this mystery girl, to make sure she's right for Mike and she's treating him well.

But when Mike invites his lab partner from biology along to a party, Will is a tad distracted from his mission. Because Emmett is pretty clearly gay.

time after time by bookinit

The fact that Mike is single now isn’t relevant. It can’t be relevant. Another girl will come along, and it won’t be Will because he doesn’t have the right parts. Wasn’t born the right way, the way that Mike would have preferred. It’s fine, except for the fact that it’s not fine at all, except for the fact that it’s so not fine that Will’s life is in imminent danger due to how fucked up he is over it.

But boys don’t cry, according to The Cure, so Will won’t either. He’s trying to take it to heart.

who am i (to ask for more) by bookinit

Five times Will Byers came out, and the one time someone came out to him.

i don’t want you like a best friend by andiwriteordie

Five times Mike Wheeler tells someone else about the feelings he has for his best friend, plus one time he actually tells his best friend.

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burtonbabygirlguster · 2 years

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@magazineswithmyself it’s honestly a mixture of random silly things, and then pretty neat things- the obvious enemies to friends to lovers, that usually has me weak, the potential they have to become much closer friends, them having to sorta move past high school, so the awkwardness, their jigs with kids (dustin for steve, will for jon)

the way Steve was the one who bought Jonathan another camera- even, as small as this is, the way Steve’s iconic bat was made by Jonathan, both their urges to protect close ones, putting others before themselves, Jonathan ESPECIALLY, Steve’s six nuggets dream, and how Jonathan’s main thing is family, the obvious trauma bonding (not saying that’s the only requirement for a relationship, but it’s sorta what kickstarted Jancys) and i’ll privally make a longer post about how amazing it is to me after rewatching some more or looking at an old slideshow i have on Stonathan

AND NOW HEADCANONS <3

when Jonathan showed up in the van, Steve stole him IMMEDIATELY to do his hair, he’s always wanted to do Jonathan’s hair, but now it’s longer and messier, and Steve just will not stand for that (no offense to Jon’s hair, i like it)

jonathan tries weekly to ‘fix’ steve and his music taste

he’s made/given steve several mixtapes with some of Jon’s favorites to listen to, but on Steve’s birthday, Jon gives Steve a tape of all his favorite music, and Steve is beyond excited because he got his own tape with his own things- and even more so, Jonathan KNOWS what he likes! jonathan is the first person to know what Steve likes, so he’s a happy lol boy

when/if Jon ever opened up about his past, or at least the having to be a parent, and having no childhood at ALL, steve makes it a point to take him to do something fun every week, to fill in the missing parts

Steve let’s jon and his family take movies for free, that’s another small way of Steve apologizing to Jonathan and trying to let Jonathan have more fun for free

at one point Jonathan stole Steves “Scoops Ahoy” hat and made fun of him

steve said he’d make Jonathan pay double for ice cream if he didn’t stop

jon ended up getting free ice cream for a weak

Jonathan is actually used to cuddling, he’d do it with his brother and sometimes his mom if she was there, he was usually big spoon, but Steve is touch starved, so when he’s little spoon to Jonathan, he MELTS

jon also loves being big spoon because it makes him feel like he’s protecting whoever he’s cuddling

but one time Steve was big and Jon was little, and Jon cried some, because he’s NEVER been held before and HOLY SHIT

one time when Jon was high he decided to put pink glitter in one of Steve’s MANYY hair bottles

Steve has now a full head of sparkly pink hair

jonathan could NOT stop laughing. he was LITERALLY rolling on the floor, clutching his sides, dying.

one time steve tried doing a ‘hot’ pose for jonathan for his pictures, he ended up falling and spraining his ankle

Jonathan has at least three books on the Victorian flower language and picks steve flowers according to their meaning

whenever jon does get flowers, their hand picked from the ground, not bought

jon and steve went as werewolves together one time for Halloween

jon is actually a very talented puppeteer, he loves making little puppet shows for his family

steve has a pet turtle he named Jomatham

steve likes it when Jonathan reads books to him, Jon does different voice for each character

both jonathan and steve tend to punch people if they sneak up on them, like Zed and Addison from Zombies

generally one of them has a bloody or busied nose every other week

they have a specific first aid kit with the stuff they use for the noses

because jon never really had people to talk to, whenver he gets excited, if it actually shows, he gets all rambling and quick like Robin

neither of them can sleep with the curtains open, so before they sleep, one makes sure to go and shut all the blinds/curtains

jonathan can’t sleep in the dark, and steve can’t sleep in the light, so jonathan buys him a bright pink eye mask with eyelashes

it actually works

i’ll add more soon!

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lunar-years · 2 years

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I have to go in to the office for work all this week meaning I’m going to be alone in a dull hotel room every evening… currently my plans are:

1) Monday: watch Do Revenge and pretend I don’t already know the whole plot from social media because I’m watching it a whole 3 days after it premiered

2) Tues-Friday: write jancy fanfiction for jancy week

Honestly sounds like a good trip!

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morganski-19 · 9 months

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Conversation 3: The Breakup

JANCY BREAKUP SCENE. IF THIS ISN'T YOUR THING, PLEASE SKIP!!!!

I want to emphasize that I do love Jancy, but for the purposes of this fic series, Ronance and Jargyle are the relationships shown. I just had an idea of how the breakup conversation would have gone and wanted to show that it was mutual between the two. This takes place between chapters 3 and 4 of the main fic. It can be read as a stand alone and is also available on ao3

To say that Nancy Wheeler was nervous was an incorrect statement. Because Nancy doesn’t get nervous. That was something her younger self focused on too much and something she doesn’t have time to care about now. Being nervous meant that she was worried that this was the wrong decision, that she was going to make a mistake.

Nancy Wheeler does not make mistakes.

Or at least she tries not to make them anymore. She understands that people aren’t perfect, humans weren’t made to be. And the human psyche is bound to make mistakes and decisions that they would later regret. She’s seen too many people do the same thing.

Her parents are a large example. Karen Wheeler married a stable man to have a family. White picket fence on the end of a culdesac where she has no worries in the world other than making sure her kids are safe and get to school on time. Them being a good match not being considered as much. Because who cares if your kids see you fighting once a week, at least you’re not starving.

It's a life Nancy knows she doesn’t want. She doesn’t want to be trapped by a man as useless as her father. Waiting on her husband's hand a foot while he does absolutely nothing but make a fuss and the situation worse. She’s seen how marriage has treated her mother and she doesn’t want to become her. The love and pity Nancy has for her mother are great, and all she wants is for her to be happy. But her life is separate from her mother’s, and that’s by her own choice.

Nancy’s had a lot of privileges in her life, but the ability to choose has been one that flounders in and out of her hands. She can choose her relationships, her friends, her college, her major. Things she loves so much that it makes her happy. What she can’t choose is the unexpected. Monsters breaking through portals in trees and ceilings, children going missing, best friends dying, the inevitable grief and pain of knowing that you could have done something to help. She didn’t choose this part of her life, and yet it is hers.

Though the bad things in her life have brought her to people she never would have expected. A new sense of self and bravery. Assuradness in herself that she can do something with her life more than just be a mother. Drive and passion beyond what she ever envisioned that will fuel her future career. Friends and a family outside of blood relations that will be there for her every step of the way. And a boyfriend, who has his faults, but is there regardless.

Except when she really needs him.

It’s something she’s been grappling with for the past few weeks, maybe even for the past few months. There’s something that she can’t quite explain but has been lingering in the back of her mind for some time. She knows that what once was between them isn’t quite there anymore, something lost with the bits of themselves over the years. People grow, and more importantly, people grow apart.

She knew that she started to feel differently about Jonathan since the phone calls and letters started to dwindle. When he stopped sending and she stopped responding. Stopped reaching out to make sure he was still there. At first, it presented in anger. Anger that he just left her behind and stopped talking to her. Anger that she knew he was keeping something for her and wouldn’t say it. That it was driving a wedge between them that was starting to stop being repaired.

Nancy hated secrets. But she hated it more that he felt like he couldn’t tell her something.

She’d had that before in relationships, with Steve. Lying for the sake of saving face and saying things that weren’t true. Faking feelings for the sake of stability only to hurt when the mask had fell. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Steve, she did, she just didn’t love him. But he loved her, and that’s what she wanted. A shoulder to cry on, someone to tell her it was alright. A crutch to hold her until she could stand for herself again. That’s what he was to her, and she hated herself for reducing him to that.

So, when she started dating Jonathan, she decided that it was time for a change. She was more open and accepting, and tried to get him to share so they would be on an equal playing ground. It worked, mostly. They had fights like any couple did, but they always came back from it. It was a promise they made, to never let something build so much that it would break. That was what she did to Steve, and she didn’t want to do it again.

But she did do it again because apparently, she loved to hurt people like this. She kept in her disappointment in him not visiting for spring break. Kept back wondering why the letters stopped and why the news of college applications never came. Not that she would even be that mad if he didn’t go with her, she just wanted to be kept in the loop.

And that is exactly what he didn’t do. Not that she blamed him. It was the plan for the two of them to go to Emerson together, her dream school. Nancy always wondered why he agreed to the plan so quickly, even though she heard him talk about dreaming of NYU since he was a child. And if that were really where he wanted to go, she would support it. New York and Boston were not as far away as Hawkins and Lenora. They could have made it work if that is what he wanted.

Deep down, all Nancy wanted was for Jonathan to be happy. It’s why she kept up the appearance that everything was ok when it wasn’t. Because he was happy. It’s what he deserved to be after all that had happened.

Then the bomb dropped. He never sent in the application and was too ashamed to tell her why. At that moment, something broke in their relationship and she didn’t know if it would be fixed. Because he didn’t trust her enough to say it, and part of her never trusted him to send it.

Which is why the two of them decided to take a break from each other for a while. Not an official breakup, just a chance to spend some time not tied to each other to figure things out. Let the steam of their last argument fade away and come back when they were more level-headed. To have time to think about what this relationship meant to each other, and if being in it still matched each other's futures. Give her a chance to explore her newfound attraction to women and if one of them happened to gain feelings for another person, then it was done.

Her screen lights up with a message from Robin.

Robin: Let me know if I have to break out the ice cream tonight

Robin: I still have the good stuff Steve bought me last week

She smiles at the text messages. The thought that Robin has for her sometimes surprises her. She just gets Nancy like no one else does, so far that she even makes time to carve out time for something that might not even happen. Nancy’s never had that many friends, and never one as close as Robin since Barb. It feels nice to have another person know her this well again.

Nancy: I’ll be sure to let you know

Robin: Are you ready for this?

Robin: I know you were nervous about it before

Nancy: I still am

Nancy: I honestly don’t even know what I want anymore, I just want the two of us to be able to figure it out

The three dots show up and disappear as Robin figures out what to say.

Robin: You’ll figure it out, you always do

Robin: And no matter what happens, I’ll be here for you

Nancy: I know, thank you

Robin: Anytime Nance

Nancy clicks off her phone and sets it on her desk. She’s been preparing what she wants to say to Jonathan when they get together later all morning. Making a list of feelings and worries she has. All of the things she can do to change to make this work.

Something in her, however, tells her that it’s over. And that part of her is relieved. The other is worried, because she just doesn’t want to break his heart.

. . .

Jonathan sits at the foot of his bed, fiddling with a piece of paper in his hand. Argyle suggested that writing down what he wanted to say might help, even offered to practice with him, but it wasn’t right. He knew that the words he wrote on the paper weren’t the full truth. That he was extending himself more than he should just to make her happy.

Because that’s all he wants to do, make Nancy happy.

He doesn’t know if he can fully do that anymore. The hurt on her face when he told her about never sending in the Emerson application replays in his mind. The break that he sensed in their bond that has yet to be mended. The fight that ensued ended in him asking for a break, some time to cool off. She agreed that she needed the time too. And with some of his new realizations, he couldn’t have asked for a better-timed break.

Time in Lenora drew a strain on their relationship, he knew it. He was the one that stopped reaching out after all. What started as one less phone call a month to never responding to a letter ended in one small form of communication every few months. A note from Mike at the bottom of one of El’s letters, a hello sent through Karen when she called to check in on Joyce.

It was him who stopped reaching out, it was only fitting for him to be the one to end it.

Still, it rattled Jonathan’s mind whether he actually wanted to end it or not. He loved Nancy, he really did. Still loved her even. Yet he can’t help but feel like the love has shifted into a different place in his heart. That it was more platonic than it was romantic.

It wasn’t always like that with her. Even before they got together, he had to settle the jealousy in his heart that would spurt every time he saw her kiss Steve. The knowledge that she was in a relationship loomed over his heart. Because she wasn’t his to have, and he had to learn to accept that.

Then she and Steve broke it off one night and he took her home. Saw the way that he could have this if she wanted it. But it was too soon, so he didn’t say anything. Not until Murray weaseled his way into their love lives and revealed that he might just have a chance. A chance that he took.

After all the upside down was dealt with and life returned to normal, he made a promise to himself. That he was not going to hold himself back in this relationship, hide like he did when they were just friends. If this was going to work, he needed to put all of his cards out on the table and show her that he cared. Couples fought, he knew that, but he knew how to do it wrong so he tried to do it right. It worked, until it didn’t.

Because the one thing that Jonathan forgot, is that he got scared. Scared that voicing what he wanted would be downplayed. Scared that saying what he really felt would end in a fight. Scared that a big enough fight would end it all like it did with his parents.

He knows that fighting wasn’t the reason they broke up. The fact that his dad was a raging abusive asshole was. Yet, there was still the fear in Jonathan’s mind that he could end up like him. So, he bottled up his feelings until they exploded, spreading words faster than he could think, not noticing how much they hurt.

There are a lot of things that he wished he could take back. Fights that wouldn’t have happened if he just talked to her sooner. Opinions that he kept to himself to ensure that she stayed happy. Choices he made without talking to her first, especially the ones that their future depended on.

Not applying to Emerson wasn’t the most logical decision in the sense of their relationship, but it was in the sense of his life and family. If he had just told her about it sooner, maybe then she would have understood. Heard him instead of blowing up what he said to fuel the fight. He wished he told her sooner, he really did. The secret pulled on his heart every time he thought about their future together, the plan the two had made. Go to Emerson, get jobs at the same newspaper, get married, and spend their lives together.

It was a simple plan in theory, but a plan that Jonathan wasn’t sure he wanted anymore.

His phone buzzed. Picking it up, he sees Argyle trying to face time him. Swiping, he accepts.

“Yoo, my dude. How’s it hanging.”

Jonathan laughs at his friend, a familiar smile forming on his face. “Not great. Dude.”

“Awww no. What’s got you feeling down?”

“I’m having that talk with Nancy today. The one I was telling you about a few days ago.”

Argyle’s face lights up with recognition, a small O forming on his lips. “Right. Did you right write it all down like I told you to?”

Jonathan looks down at the paper in his hand, words scribbles out and jumbled into some sort of paragraph. He crumples it up and tosses it in his desk trashcan. “I did, but they weren’t right.”

“But they were something. It’s a start, try again and maybe it will get you further.”

He knows it won’t, because there is something he’s too afraid to think rather than write down. Someone new who started to move from the platonic to the romantic side in his heart. Someone who he never thought could be there before.

With Nancy discovering new things about herself while they were on their break, he was starting to as well. That’s what it was for after all. Space for them to figure out what they wanted and see if their relationship fit that. If either of them started to have feelings for someone else, that was allowed. Because as far as they know, it was over until it wasn’t.

It was Nancy who asked for a deeper separation after finding out about her attraction to women. Let herself find out if it was true or not by allowing herself to develop feelings if the chance came up. If Jonathan was being really honest with himself, he was almost relieved at the suggestions. He was starting to do the same thing.

“I just think that what I have to tell her should come more, from the heart.” Jonathan starts, struggling to find the words. “I think I’ll be able to tell her more in person than I would on paper.”

“Whatever works best for you man. Have you decided what you want the outcome to be yet?”

The question strikes Jonathan speechless. He has thought about it, a lot. Late nights thinking about what he wanted to say, what he could change to make things work out. How they can work together and through this in order to keep what they had. Part of his mind started to wander to what ifs of actually breaking up. How the pain would overtake and leave him broken and alone. Because he didn’t want to lose Nancy. That’s all he seemed to be worried about though. Losing Nancy. Whatever the outcome of this upcoming conversation was, he didn’t want it to end with Nancy not being in his life. Whether or not they were still in a relationship didn’t matter to him as much.

Which was the most confusing part for him. It was almost as if he had stayed in this relationship with Nancy for so long because of the fear of losing her. Sure, there was love there, had been for a long time. But recently he can’t help but to have noticed that the love started to fade, started to be overshadowed by someone new.

And that was the scary part.

“I’m not quite sure,” Jonathan confesses. “I don’t really know if I care too much about how it ends up, I just don’t want to lose her.”

“Have you thought that you not caring is exactly your answer.”

The way Argyle can read Jonathan is still one of the things that shock him the most. For the short time that they’ve been friends, they’ve grown closer than anyone he’s ever known. Including Nancy. He’s been able to tell Argyle things he barely even knew himself. Something about just being around the other wants to make Jonathan spill his darkest secrets. He was the first person Jonathan told about the college decision, about the break, and how he feels like there’s something missing from himself that he can’t quite explain.

What he hasn’t told him, is that Argyle was starting to make him want to explain it.

Jonathan sighed, “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He gets a text notification that Nancy is on her way over. “I have to go, she’ll be over here soon.”

“Ok. Let me know when you’re done, I’m coming with an emotional support pizza.”

“Some weed probably won’t hurt either.”

Argyle glares at him through the phone. “No weed when there are big emotions. It’ll only make it worse, trust me.”

Jonathan laughs. “Fine. Talk to you soon.”

“Good luck dude.”

With that, Jonathan hangs up and flops back on his bed. He runs his hands down his face, pressing his fingers against his eyes. He can do this. He just hopes he doesn’t break her heart in the process.

. . .

Nancy pulls up in front of the Byers’ house, a million thoughts racing through her head. Gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turn white, she takes a deep breath. She can do this. Just act like it’s a normal conversation, another one of their many talks after a fight that will leave them stronger than they would before. Even though deep in her heart, she’s less sure of that fact than she lets on.

She walks up to the front door, knocking on it gently. When it opens, she’s met with Jonathan’s weak smile, the one she knows all too well. “Hey, Nancy,” he says, almost apologetically, rubbing his arm.

“Hi,” she breathes out, giving him a tight-lipped smile.

Jonathan moves aside, letting her walk through the door. He leads her up to his bedroom, what used to be a place where the two could be free and in love, now filled with tension and the unbearable weight of knowing that something is going to happen. Gesturing for her to sit on his bed, he pulls his desk chair to sit across from her.

“So,” he swallows. “How are you?”

“Good,” she replies plainly. “And you?”

“Good.”

The silence between the two is deafening. Neither one of them know how to start this, fumbling around with their hands while avoiding eye contact. It shouldn’t be this hard. Jonathan was the person who Nancy could tell everything to. She still wants that relationship with him, but doesn’t know if she can have it by saying what she really feels.

“I uh, did a lot of thinking in the past week,” Nancy says, trying to start something between them.

Jonathan finally meets her gaze, if only for a second. “Cool, about what?”

“About my past and stuff. Who I always was attracted to and I found out that yeah, I definitely like girls.”

“I’m glad you figured that out,” he laughs. “It, uh, kinda got me thinking about all of that too. Who I’m attracted to and stuff.”

“Do you think you might be?”

Jonathan nods, filling in the sentence without words. “Yeah, I know I am. Same as you, kinda.”

Nancy smiles. “Well, I’m glad you figured that out as well.”

He stares at the corner of his room before shutting his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he whispers, “That’s not all I’ve been thinking about.”

It shouldn’t surprise her, she’d been doing the same thing. But it does. “Me too,” she whispers back, ashamed. “Mainly about us.”

Jonathan takes another deep breath and looks down at his hands. “Yeah, me too. I just … don’t know if this-” he opens his mouth to say more but the words don’t come out.

Nancy purses her lips, willing for herself to finish the phrase for him. It’s the same for her, she had a feeling that it was. But she can’t say it, too afraid to have the words cemented in reality. Slowly, she reaches across the gap between them and takes Jonathan’s hand. He meets her gaze and holds it this time, the mutual feelings communicating between them when the words can’t.

“I know,” Nancy finally says. “I’ve been feeling the same way. I’ve … tried to think of ways to fix this, come back together after all of this. But I can’t help but feel like we can’t.”

. . .

Jonathan looks at Nancy saying all of the things he’s been feeling, and can’t help but feel relieved. It fills him with guilt, because he knows that there is something else to his decision than there is to hers. But she feels the same break that he did, the bridge that was broken so much that it could never be crossed again. Bridges can be mended and rebuilt, but he thinks that theirs will be rebuilt differently.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters, unable to find any other words.

“I’m sorry, too.” A small tear runs down her cheek. “I just don’t feel the way I used to about you.”

He blinks away the tears starting to form in his eyes. “I feel the same way but I … I just don’t want to lose you.”

Nancy’s face fills with a soft sense of relief. “I don’t want to lose you either. You’re too special to me. Part of me wanted to make things work just so I wouldn’t, but I can’t force myself to feel something that I don’t anymore.”

Tears start to roll down his cheeks, unable to keep them trapped anymore. “I feel the same way.”

“I still love you, I think I always will. But it’s like that love is different now.”

A weight lifts off of Jonathan’s chest as she says the words he’s been feeling for weeks. “I know exactly what you mean.”

“Good, I guess. So, friends,” Nancy smiles.

“Yeah,” Jonathan exhales. “Friends.”

He stands up and steps toward his bed, leaning down to wrap her in a big hug. She grips the back of his shirt, digging her face into his shoulder. The two can’t keep their tears from forming anymore, finally letting the full weight of their decision flow through. Jonathan buries his nose into her neck, feeling the soft strands of hair brush against his face.

He didn’t lose her, not from this.

When she pulls back, she wipes the tears from her eyes, smudging her mascara a bit. He returns to the chair across from her, not quite sure where else to go. There is a burning in his chest to tell her everything. Lay all of what he’s felt in the past few weeks on the table. Even though he knows that she won’t be mad, there is still a part of him that’s scared that she’ll take it badly. Because how can he tell her that he’s started gaining feelings for his best friend?

“What’s wrong,” Nancy asks softly, always able to read him like a book.

“There’s uh … another reason why I didn’t think we would work anymore.”

“Oh?”

Jonathan swallows the lump in his throat. “Yeah uh. I’ve sort of started getting … feelings for someone else.” He closes his eyes, unable to force himself to see how she’ll react.

He feels her hand grab his again. “Hey, that’s ok. We agreed that this break was open. You were allowed to start feeling things for someone else if that’s what happened.”

“Yeah, I know. Doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty about it though.”

“Don’t be. Can I ask who it is?”

Jonathan feels a small smile form on his face, like he’s gossiping with a friend, not a now ex-girlfriend. “Argyle.”

Nancy smiles. “Would it be weird of me to say that I had a feeling?”

“What,” Jonathan exclaims. “I thought I was hiding it well.”

“You were not,” she laughs. “Every single time we talked in the past week you’ve brought him up. Even in the most random situations.”

Jonathan scoffs. “Guess you’ve got me there. You’re really not mad?”

Nancy shakes her head. “No. I want you to be happy, no matter what.”

“Thank you,” he whispers.

She stands up and pulls him into a hug. “You’re welcome. And I’m not saying jump immediately into a relationship, but don’t hold back because of me. If it happens, let it happen.”

“I will. The same goes for me, if you find yourself starting to like someone again.”

“I definitely will be taking a break from dating for a while, but thanks.” She smiles at him, letting the room fall to silence. “I think I’m going to head out. Robin sort of promised me ice cream if this went the way that it did.”

Jonathan laughs. “Argyle offered me an emotional support pizza.”

Nancy snorts. “I’ll see myself out. Thank you for taking this the way that you did. I’m glad we can still be friends.”

“Me too, Nance.”

She gives him a small wave before heading downstairs. He waits for the front door to close before shutting his bedroom door, leaning against it with a long groan. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he clicks his chat with Argyle.

Jonathan: She just left, I’ll take that emotional support pizza now

Argyle: Coming right up

Argyle: Is there anything else that you want

Jonathan smiles at his screen, a warm feeling spreading through his chest.

Jonathan: No, just some company and pizza

Argyle: Alright dude, be there in 20

. . .

Nancy shuts her car door and leans her head against the steering wheel. She wills the tears to stay in her eyes. It went how she wanted it to, so she should be happy. But there is a part of her that is still sad that she lost this little bit with him. Then another part of her is happy that he’s found someone else and it’s fighting with the part of her that feels like she should be angry.

Taking a deep breath, she pulls out her phone.

Nancy: Are you free, I could really take that ice cream right now

Robin: I’m getting the toppings out right now

Robin: Come over whenever you’re ready

Nancy: Thank you

Nancy: You’re literally the best

Robin: I know

#jancy #jancy breakup #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #the monster slayers fic #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #breakup fic #ronance #jargyle #pre those relationships though #but the feelings are there

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nancythebisexualslutwheeler · 2 years

Text

Hey y'all,

It's my 7th year on AO3 so I decided before the end of the year to post all of MY favorite fics I've written. If you want to check out the rest of my AO3 please click here. Thank you for all of your support over the years!

In no particular order:

1. Ghetto night in shining armor

Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich

Posted 6/22/14

My comments now: this is so precious, like Mickey revealing his sexuality and being such a bad ass. People loved this series too much. This is such a fluffy hc that runs into slow burn and that’s why it’s a fave.

2. All that is gold does not glitter

Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich

Published: 6/14/2014

My comments now: Truly this is the first fic I wrote where someone commented they cried. Then my fiancé was like “I know you too well to be reading this”. There are too many amazing one liners and a perfect portrayal of depression and bipolar disorder, coming from someone who has both of these.

3. I can do bad all by myself

Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich

Published: 12/26/14

My comments now: truly a perfect portrayal of Mickey having legitimate depression with a self harm problem, and Ian trying to be there for him fully.

4. She Keeps My Heart from Getting Older

Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale

Published: 10/25/2015

My comments now: This is truly precious. I love kid fics and Derek just wants to be a poppa so bad. I also think this is when I first started developing my own headcanons for Laura.

5. Stylin Pallette by Becca Cosmetics

Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale

5/4/2016

My comments now: Truly I would still come back to this series. Everything about this is A+ and iconic. Derek with biracial black daughters? Yes! Makeup artist Stiles? Yes! Derek being flustered by a celebrity? Yes! Giving youtubers credit and allowing little black girls to live their best lives? Yes! The girls wearing bonnets to hotel breakfast… iconic.

6. Merry Christmas Derek

Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale

11/16/2016

My comments now: The amount of comments people leave saying this made them cry makes me happy in a horrible type of way. Truly Derek has always needed to get his shit together, and good for Stiles for standing up for himself. This is so sad and as much as I want to baby Derek, I wanna slap the shit out of him. Mwah! I love a holiday fic.

7. Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler

2/12/2018

My comments now: This was my fic for Jancy week and truly it got out of control. I am so gay for NATALIA!!! Anyway, this is some of the best smut I feel like I’ve written. Being sex positive is really important to me and I feel like Nancy encompasses that by also being a sexy badass who wants to show her appreciation to a cutie. Jancy isn’t exactly one of my fave ships anymore but Nancy’s confidence and Jonathan’s insecurity work so well together, especially for this fic.

8. You’re The Missing Piece

Steve Harrington/Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler

6/24/2018

My comments now: Stoncy.. a dream truly. Not trying to go back to studying after seeing them having sex I’m screaming!! It’s the underwear being left behind for me. Nancy masturbating multiple times a day every day? Same sis. The car scene.. bro!!! Who wrote this!!! The smut.. too good. Also the fluff at the end.. now that sounds like me lol.

9. No Apologies

Nancy Wheeler/Steve Harrington/Jonathan Byers

4/21/2018

My comments now: Truly probably the most iconic line I’ve ever written: “I am my mother’s daughter.” When she replies to Karen at the end. Before this I don’t think I’d actually talked about my Headcanon that her parents hate her- but this really takes the cake. Nancy really pulled herself out of her shitty situation and found happiness with her two boys. Also: pregnant Nancy? A dream.

10. You Deserve Something Good

Nancy Wheeler/Kali Prasad/Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington

7/19/2018

My comments now: This was so fun to write and I love angst and darkness tbh. It’s the CRACKED TOOTH FOR ME. (That’s all).

11. Why Have One When Two is Better?

Nancy Wheeler/Steve Harrington/ Jonathan Byers

7/25/2018

My comments now: This is adorable. I love how the kids are so involved and concerned with Stoncy. Writing the kids was super fun, and having them “pick sides” was awesome. I think if they really did get together (or ST showed a healthy normal relationship) the kids would be all up in that shit.

12. White Magnolia

Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler

12/21/2018

My comments now: This is the longest fic I’ve ever written, based on a cheesy country song that was my jam. This follows Nancy and Steve through their lives, marriage, kids and otherwise. Everything came naturally and I still have multiple one shots for this verse on my computer. This is so sad I cried while writing it, and did everything I could to ramp up the angst. This is the first fic my (now) fiancé read of mine and that we got to discuss in person. The mommy kink came so natural that I think it ended up perfectly. I would legit die for this fic.

13. Kinktober Day 4- Incest

Jon Snow/Sansa Stark

10/6/2021

My comments now: I had fucking forgot about Jon and Sansa!! (How could I?) when I saw incest I was like fuck YES! The 5+1 format.. hell yes. Accidental nudity? Hell yes. Jon’s jealousy? Absolutely. The dirty talk.. who am I? #A whore. Love!

14. The Parental Journey of Jon and Sansa Snow

Jon Snow/Sansa Stark

11/15/2021

My comments now: Honestly I did not think the first part in this series would get that much traction, so I busted my ass on this one. Immediately I knew I wanted them to adopt a black child, and immediately I wanted them to be like holy shit were white as hell! I think I did a good job combining that with them being amazing parents and caring so much about a child they hadn’t had since birth. Post partum and post adoption depression is real folks.

15. I Can’t Breathe When I’m With You

Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler

10/7/2018

My comments now: Kinktober really pushed my limits and this fic specifically really made me question my own kinks. This has it all, dirty talk, humiliation etc. it’s such a Headcanon to see Nancy being physically perfect (makeup and hair done etc) and then see her reduced to a physical mess, even before we talk about sub space with her. I love daddy kink and also think calling Nancy derogatory names would cause her to get turned on beyond belief. Also the part 2 one shot is adorable. This was clearly written before I was engaged, when I really wanted to be proposed to lol.

#fan fiction #fic recs #jonsa #jon snow #sansa stark #stoncy #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #derek hale #sheriff stilinski #sterek fanfiction #scott mccall #stranger things #game of thrones rp #t writes #long post #my writing #shut up t

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an-anxious-gay-mess · 2 years

Text

Random drawtectives headcanons

-York gets nightmares a lot but usually calms down as soon as he wakes up, or even if he just hears Rosé or Gma in his sleep. He usually forgets about them the next morning but Gma and Rosé still always worry abt him

-Rosé's love language is gift giving, except Secretly. Reverse thievery. She likes to slip snacks into Gma's coats and will sneakily leave stuffed animals in York's stuff. They know it's her but let her pretend they don't

(She knows they know. It just makes her feel better)

-Gma's concept of gender is pretty much "whatever." Pronouns? Who cares. Clothes? As long as they're comfy and cute. Even if someone says something dickish to them, they're pretty nonchalant about it and know that it doesn't invalidate them

-york and Rosé WILL fight on his behalf tho. The one time someone from one of York's fancy modeling parties was a dick they got put into arm jail (and thrown out of the party and publicly dunked on via Twitter) so quick

-sometimes Rosé will talk about what she's learning in her GED classes with Gma and York. Gma will help her out with some of it, and York is really curious about it and likes asking questions. Math confuses him, but he likes hearing about her English (common, ig?) work

-York actually is okay at reading, he just can't read common. He isn't a super strong reader in Orcish either though.

-grandma is allergic to cats. You can tell when a cat is within 50 feet because her eyes immediately get red and they start sneezing like crazy.

-- they unfortunately discovered this when Rosé tried to bring home a cat she found crying on the side of the road and Gma had to take some emergency benadryl. Unfortunately they did not get to keep the cat because of this, but luckily Jancy agreed to take it after Rosé took care of its shots and everything, so she still gets to visit it

-York will occasionally forget a word in Common and will get extremely frustrated trying to remember what it is. If Rosé's around she's usually just Google translate whatever the orcish word is for him

-- Sometimes York (or Rosé while trying to help him) will try to directly translate Orcish sayings into common and they never make sense ("he's like a baby turtle with no wings and a twisted back" "York what does that mean" "y'all don't say that here??")

-Rosé almost never talks about her past, and when she does it's always only in bits and pieces, and you can't make a big deal out of it or she'll clam up. It took a long time to even learn when her birthday was, and she insisted she didn't want to celebrate it. Since York and Gma wanted an excuse to get her a gift and celebrate her anyways, they picked a random day months before her birthday to be the new "Rosé Day"

- York likes modeling, but he hates all the stuck up people in the business and paparazzi. It took his agent 3 weeks to realize he was going to have to left Gma and Rosé go to every event or he would never get anywhere

- - Gma and Rosé can't go to every event, but they try to go to them when they're free. One time they both had plans that ended up canceling right before a show. It was so last minute that they didn't get a chance to tell York they were going to be there, and that night a photographer managed to get the first picture of York smiling on a runway after he saw the two of them in the audience

#drawtectives #york rogdul #drawtectives grendan #rosé drawtectives

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kaypeace21 · 3 years

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I believe that byler is an endgame

but why would they spend 3 seasons winding up with mileven?

People REALLY need to pay attention to the shows the Duffers cited as huge inspirations to them. Cheers,dawsons creek, freak &geeks did exactly what the Duffers are doing (and the Duffers said these shows inspired them)

. Cheers for over 5 seasons built up the pairing of sam and Dianne- had them break up in the s5 finale and then in the last 2 eps of the 11th season have them get back together and once again break up explaining for the 100th time they were wrong for each other and brought out the worst in eachother . Cheers would build up multiple pairings (Frasier /Lilith (s4-11/broke up in s11) , sam/Dianne (s 1-11, broke up in s11 permanently) , rebecca /sam (s8-10) Rebecca/robin (s8-9) -these pairings lasted for multiple seasons and they all broke up! They built pairings up for multiple seasons but showed throughout the show why those pairing in cheers could never work out in the long term. The same Thing happened with almost every pairing in Dawson’s creek (they’d build up multiple pairings up -sometimes for multiple seasons- sprinkle in good but also dysfunctional aspects of those relationships- and then break them apart for good ).

Also in Dawson’s creek 2 characters (a rich girl and poor guy with daddy issues) date and breakup- but both of their gay brothers get together and are endgame instead of them (cough jancy vs byler). One of the gay guys (the rich one with the book smart sis) even dated the main girl (Joey) for a while before admitting he was gay and that he was in denial (while dating the main girl for more than a season ). In D.C even the main guy(Dawson) / girl (Joey) don’t end up being endgame (despite teasing it for all 5 seasons) . They did this with a lot of couples in the show. Honestly, the Duffers pretty much borrowed this idea of showing pairings with issues and breaking them up -but toned down how long they’d bait them . Like 11seasons of showing dysfunctional couples date -ick. And Dawson’s creek ... my god it had a literal love octogon/ love webs (so many love squares/pentagons/ and on and off relationships). The 1 adult couple broke up and I’m not exaggeration 4 times, and Dawson got back with 2 of his girlfriends like so many times. And ugh I’d say each (of the 4-5) main characters dated at least 4 people -and each of those relationships lasted for like 20+ eps each... and then after all that build up -break up ). That’s not even including the people the main 5 or so characters would date for like 5-6 eps . Thank god it was toned down compared to Dawson’s creek or cheers. i can’t imagine the frustration watching those shows during its airing 😂

Freaks & geeks (set in the 80s)was also inspo.14 y old Sam who is bullied and called “homo” “queer” etc throughout the whole series - he also obsesses over a cheerleader girl for the whole series and in the second to last ep of the series- they finally start dating and he realizes they have nothing in common and says “it’s boring. all we ever do is makeout.She likes nothing i like. We can’t talk to eachother. We never have fun.” And he admits he only keeps dating her cause everyone would call him “crazy” to not date her. sam and her are also said to be “from different planets” and “different species” just like mileven in s3 lol. The gf of sam also says before they dated she saw him ‘like a sister’ (like El asking mike if he’d be her brother in s1, before they date). And after this sibling comment various characters -encouraged the couple and said they would be good together (before they dated-like what we’ve seen in st with mileven and other ships ).Sam eventually decides to not cave to peer pressure- and breaks up with her. Meanwhile sam’s sis (is a straight A student, who is initially into a popular guy and starts hanging with the cool kids). After getting over the first (popular) guy, she later dates another guy- a music-obsessed-stoner-guy with a cruddy dad...and she breaks up with him (like jancy?). That couple was even called ‘romeo & juliet’ before they broke up-similar to mileven being called “romeo & juliet’ before their breakup. plus r&j were never in love... just like mileven.

All 3 shows had the main guy/girl date but not end up with eachother in the end . And both shows -would build up several pairings that looked like endgame but would show faults in those relationships and would have them breakup (because those pairings were never that healthy together). Which I believe is what they’re doing with jancy, jopper, mileven and lumax (explained in my analysis here all the evidence for why I don’t think they don’t end up together). I mean there’s many reasons I listed in the analysis but you think it’s a coincidence - jancy, lumax, mileven , and Steve/rando girl who rejected him in s3-all incorportated spying on their love interest ? you think the duffers think that’s good to have all these romantic pairings spy on eachother? When in the show they canonically have the us gov (villains) spy via phone taps, and hidden recorders, and cameras? Brenner used El as a spy for his own gain ? they even call the mf a ‘spy’ (which the characters perceive as the main villain)... i don’t think the mf is actually villainous but that’s off topic).The point is narratively equating spying as something ‘wrong’ by characters our main cast of heroes is against. But having that same cast of heroes partaking in spying themselves … specifically on to their romantic partners- and not also showing it as a negative. But romanticizing it? Would be quite hypocritical. And a HUGE narrative oversight.

Also build up?

S1- mileven kiss right after el asks if he’ll be her “friend” or “brother”. Has others compare el to mike’s sibling /cousin. Hint Will is gay . Have hints mike is queer too/ and cares deeply about Will. Constantly mention how el physically resembles Will/a boy. Parallel mileven to ted/Karen who were “never in love”. Have Nancy and mike verbally compare the jancy/stancy love triangle to mileven/byler . And at the end of the season mike writes a story for Will that likens the 2 to han/leia. Flo says about jancy/Jon “ only love makes you that crazy and that damn stupid”. (Which flo wasn’t entirely right about since jon punched Steve for insulting his family- for Jon it was familial love -not romantic love. But put a pin in that phrase)

S2- was pretty much byler season (and mileven barely interact that season). Byler say they’d go “crazy together”. But el’s new catchphrase is she’s “not stupid.” They Compare mileven to luke/leia (siblings that kissed) . Ref ghostbusters and parallel byler to the romantic pairing of Dana /venkman (but have el just be a ghost and mike a ghost buster which isn’t romantic but the opposite) .parallel mileven to hopper/el. Have el spy on mike, el hurt a stranger cause of unhealthy jealousy, have mileven dance to a song about a possessive spying/Stalking ex gf . Throw in mileven burns like “they’re not in love they’re not even from the same planet.” (El being et ref) . Have mike say annoyed “a bond ?! (Scoff) cause you shared nougat?! “ (egos like s1 ) “. Mike saying after knowing max for a week “hate you? I don’t even know you?” (He knew el for a week too so no way he loves her -cause he doesn’t know el , just like max ) . mike even criticizes his friends’ instant attraction to max saying “you haven’t even spoken a word to her.”Dustin saying “ I don’t have to . I mean -look at her.” Which makes it even more suspicious that mike was into a girl who multiple characters said looked like a boy (specifically Will) in s1. Have El watch a soap opera (all my children) and mimic the scene of erica kane and her love interest michael. Which in the soap opera-isn’t endgame, and ended with some stalking after their breakup.

S3- mileven is finally dating : multiple characters (lucas, Will, Hopper, dustin,Max, etc) in the show dislike and verbally complain about them together . In cheers all of sam’s friends hated him dating Dianne and would vocally complain about it (similar to joyce they even clapped/cheered after 1 of their many breakups) . Mike is horrified by the spying(that mileven fans romanticized in s2) , el is happier single and neither is heartbroken over the breakup. They date for 2 eps and then breakup . Mileven being together inhibits El’s character arc from s2 (aka she went from wanting to explore the world and leave the cabin in s2 to see her friends, to ignoring her friends and cutting herself off from the world in order to stay in the cabin all day to make out with mike for 6 months - she would literally lie to her friends about curfew to return to the cabin and kiss mike -going against her ‘friends don’t lie’ mantra from the past 2 seasons too ). Mike canonically doesn’t trust her / doesn’t believe in her ability to make decisions and lies to her and never apologizes for lying. And el doesn’t apologize for spying . They throw in more gay hints of mike & Will. Mileven is called “bullshit” like s2 stancy . And Both pairings in the show kissed a bunch and said “I love you” (but they weren’t endgame). They also contrast s3 mileven scenes to s2 byler scenes and have byler win out. And once again parallel mileven to hopper/el and Karen/ted. As well as paralleling and likening Mileven to stancy in numerous other ways (besides the “bullshit “ line) . They also parallel mileven to stobin (both are straight baits) .They parallel the stobin confession to the mileven one -both confessions have them sitting on the floor, both girls have bandages on their legs, and both confessions are interrupted by dustin. Also both Steve/mike use the terms “crazy & stupid ” to confess to robin/el. But unlike Will who agrees to be “crazy “ with mike .El confused , asks “ what makes you crazy?” And robin says she didn’t have a crush on his “stupid hair”. el even says in reference to mike “there’s more to life than stupid boys.” Showing how el/robin don’t have romantic feelings for the boys-like the flo phrase of s1. Unlike Will who after fighting with mike calls himself “stupid” over and over and rips up the photo of him and mike where they promised to go “crazy together.” Even Steve says in s2 stancy should should “pretend to be stupid teenagers” in love. Emphasis on “pretend”. And when el says she loves mike “the first I love you” plays -the only other time that song plays in s3 is when robin rejects Steve (cause she’s gay.) cough cause mike is gay too.

There’s a lot more in each season (that illustrates mileven was built up -but not as a positive couple but a problematic one that was never was in love to begin with ). But I’m trying to keep this short . You can read this post here where I go in more depth about all of this .

S1-2 builds up the problematic ships (but showed good and bad aspects of their dynamic) . like the spying of jancy, lumax, and mileven or the jealousy. of Hopper in s2. In the s2 finalie they have them kiss or hug/exchange romantic glances. And in S3 we see the after math of this with all the couples officially dating - and they show all the couples issues at the forefront . I already talked about mileven. But, Lumax broke up 6 times (they dated for 6 months- and every month they dated max dumped him ). Jancy fight in the opening of ep 1 and don’t understand each others issues (sexism/poverty-and Jon’s issues with his dad) . And neither supports the other in their passions of journalism & photography.Nancy is also called “nancy drew” who in 1986 (year of s4) before going to college dumps her long term highschool bf (who helped her in many of her past mysteries/novels ). Their relationship was also shown as complex and somewhat dysfunctional because of both parties -before nancy drew dumps him. And (even if not dating like the other pairings) jopper almost go on a date in s3. Joyce was trying to hide the fact she was moving, Hopper was horribly jealous, and all they did was yell and argue.Murray says to joyce regarding hopper “he’s a brute... probably reminds you of a bad relationship” (aka lonnie/Joyce) . They even have Joyce watch a cheers ep- which directly compares jopper to (dianne/Frasier) who weren’t endgame in cheers but a rebound . Hopper /fraiser both drink chianti . Fraiser asks dianne to marry him/Hopper asks Joyce on a date-both women stand them up. Or when Joyce asks Hopper out she calls her self ‘detective byers ‘and Hopper name drops miami vice. Which had an on and off again relationship for several seasons- of the male /female detectives.The relationship faded out as Gina realized they mainly got together when one or both needed someone. Crockett was very protective of Gina, and had some jealousy when Gina was involved in relationships , but was the first one to be there for her when things went wrong. And they realized it was better to not be together romantically. Heck seems like all these couples have negative film/tv parallels... lucas in s2 mentions not liking winston in ghost busters cause he came ‘super late’ (like Max). in s1 disses michael myers (which Max dressed as). And at the end of s3- lumax dress identically to eric/donna from a ep of that 70s shows (in the ep eric/donna were broken up).

(s3 was marketed as the “summer of love” and “summer love” is a euphemism for flings that don’t last.) s4-5 Will probably show good healthy ships/break up the problematic ones from past seasons .

So first 2 seasons focus on the unhealthy ships / and the last 2 seasons focus on healthy ships. S3 the middle season would be considered the turning point -and why none of the popular ships (assumed to be endgame) came off looking that great (compared to how they were presented in s1-2) .

#byler #anti mileven #byeler #stranger things

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lesbianrobin · 3 years

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have u done an analysis on endgame st ships? a penny for ur thoughts

i have not!! i would like two pennies please. my thoughts are not actually worth that much but i think i deserve them anyway. i’m gonna talk about some stuff that may seem unrelated or only loosely related to the question but i prommy it’s relevant <3 warning this ended up being like a thousand words somehow idk how that happened but i’m putting it under a cut bc i’m nice like that.

so! something that’s kinda unique/interesting to me about stranger things is how all of their ships are so clearly telegraphed and quickly developed. there’s a sense of... impatience, for lack of a better word. on the surface, it appears to be largely an effect of the cinematic style of the show; there’s very little room for questioning who someone’s gonna end up with or for slowly developing a relationship over time when you only get eight episodes every like. twoish years. AND you have about a dozen main characters AND evil government forces AND monsters from another dimension. it’s a lot to juggle!

stranger things has a lot to accomplish in a pretty short amount of time. the timeline of a single season usually spans no more than a week (excluding flashbacks/end-of-season timeskips), and well... nobody wants the important stuff to happen offscreen! i’ll use the stoncy love triangle as an example: jancy was originally intended to get together at the end of s1 after steve’s death, but since they decided to let steve redeem himself and survive, there was just no time to separate stancy and get jancy together without it seeming wayyy too abrupt. since jancy was always their plan, they didn’t want to leave nancy with steve, but they knew they couldn’t just have that boyfriend swap occur offscreen... which is why s2 Had to have a stancy breakup plot in order for the writers to accomplish their goal of getting jancy together.

the main characters in stranger things tend to maintain homeostasis between seasons, their circumstances and relationships rarely changing any more than the audience might have just assumed they would anyway (like lucas and max dancing together + sharing a kiss at the end of s2 and officially dating by the start of s3). steve and nancy are dating at the end of s1, so they must still be dating at the start of s2, and thus we must break them up DURING s2. joyce and hopper are friends with some deeply buried feelings in s2, so they’re friends with Less Buried feelings that must become apparent during s3. excluding the stancy situation (for reasons which i think are obvious but i will talk more about later), momentum is always forwards. mileven, lumax, and jancy argue, but they come back together, presumably more mature and stronger than before.

all of this is to say that stranger things has thus far been rather dedicated to their starting ships. there isn’t much misdirection; mike’s crush on el is obvious from the start, nancy and jonathan share charged moments even while she is with steve in the beginning, lucas shows interest in max immediately and shares more significant interactions with her than the other boys from early on in s2, and the deep loyalty and care between joyce and hop is always apparent. steve and robin (initially intended to be together romantically) hold hands quite early in s3 and dustin asks steve about whether he likes her.

the point? stranger things doesn’t dick around when it comes to love! they handle their ships with remarkable efficiency. in each season, it tends to be pretty obvious from the start who’s going to end up with who, and heading into the show’s fourth season, almost everybody is paired off: mike and el, max and lucas, joyce and hop, nancy and jonathan. which leaves us asking... are all of them going to last until the end?

we’ve only had one true breakup on the show so far, and as i’ve said before, the stancy breakup is an anomaly as it was essentially “righting a wrong,” allowing jonathan and nancy to get together as they were intended to do from the start. the only other romantic relationship to end on the show was between joyce and bob, and well... we all know why that ended, and it started/ended within the confines of a single season.

stranger things tends to treat each season as an extended film, right? they draw inspiration from classic 80′s films, and each subsequent season after s1 is treated as a sequel (they are Literally referred to as stranger things 2 and stranger things 3). when they introduce tension in a season, they’re inclined to resolve that tension by the season’s end so that people leave satisfied, while also providing a plot hook for the next “sequel” for audiences to theorize about. this hook is always part of the grander plot, not a will-they-won’t-they tease or something else of the sort. remember, they could have broken up steve and nancy in s2 and waited to get jancy together in s3, but they didn’t! they wanted to go ahead and resolve the tension!

while there are narrative and practical incentives that i’ve covered for this impatience/efficiency/[insert better word i can’t think of here], i also think it kinda reveals something about the writers of the show. to some degree, they genuinely care about and want their ships to be together! we’ve watched them introduce new characters just to kill them off a couple of times now, and i think it’s fair to say that the writers might be a bit too attached to the mains to consider killing any of them off (at least prior to the series finale). maybe... this reluctance to kill their darlings extends to ships.

romance isn’t the primary draw of the show, but an indulgence, something that there may not always be time for but that the writers continue to prioritize as much as they can because they enjoy it, or feel that it is important to the overall product. if we accept this idea, that the inclusion of and focus on so many romantic relationships in stranger things is (to some degree) indicative of the writers’ own desires, then it might inform our speculation regarding endgame ships.

i’m not here to like... really actually assert that i know what’ll be endgame, because i don’t really know jack shit. however, i do think that the writers are pretty invested in all of the current canon st ships (and yes, i am including jopper in that, as their romantic development was explicit in s3). i also think that the writers like catering to fans, leaning into popular jokes (steve “the hair” harrington) and devoting more and more time to the ships fans obsess over (particularly mileven).

with this all in mind... i really think that most if not all of the current canon ships will be endgame.

i think that barring any extreme circumstances (i.e. a character Actually dying instead of just fake dying) jopper will be endgame. they’re the only ones that the writers have had the restraint to actually do a slow burn with, and i really can’t see them devoting so much to developing their dynamic just to say it was all for nothing in the end.

i’m less confident on the others. there are some signs in canon that the remaining couples have some serious problems and may not last, but these issues are often dismissed, played for comedy or brushed over within the text itself, and many of the details within the text contradicting this dismissal are often so small that it’s unclear whether they’re intentional or not. while breaking up mileven might make perfect sense for a fan who reads into subtext and pays attention to unusual acting choices and subtle parallels, it would be a pretty risky move on the surface level. allowing these ships to remain canon for awhile and garner large fanbases only to break them up later would require both a willingness to actively contradict the desires of their audience as well as a certain degree of restraint in their romantic storytelling, which runs counter to the impression i personally have of the st writers (this is, of course, my own personal opinion).

there’s a good chance that at least one of the current canon ships will break up by the end, if only because i think that it would be a little boring if every relationship stayed the same for almost the entirety of the show’s run, and the stranger writers like to keep things new and exciting. perhaps long distance will kill jancy or mileven, or lucas and max will go off again and never come back on, but either way i wouldn’t be surprised if we got a breakup in s4. even with that, though, i think it’s somewhat likely that a current couple may break up in s4 and get back together for the series finale, just for the sake of a little suspense. overall, though, i feel like our current canon ships are going to be more or less the same at the end of the show.

that’s about it. i suppose i didn’t really... answer the question you asked skdndsdkjc i feel like you probably just wanted to know like if i’m a byler endgame truther (which i am not but i could happily be proven wrong). thank you for asking, though! i hope this made at least a little bit of sense.

#me answering an ask: yeah this is long as fuck and makes no sense drop it #asks #em talks #lesbianrobin.canon #stranger things

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florrickandassociates · 4 years

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TGF Thoughts: 4x07-- The Gang Discovers Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein

What a weird episode.

This episode is something else. The writers REALLY overestimated how much the audience (or at least the fandom) liked the pee tape and Melania divorce episodes if they thought this was a good idea.

My recollection of those episodes is that because everything was fake-but-real, the stakes wound up feeling lower and I stopped caring, and when I’m not on board with the plot, the surreal shit and the whimsy feel more annoying than innovative. This episode might fare slightly better in my opinion than the other two because of its central device (more on that later) but it’s (somehow!!!) even more audacious and wild than the episodes that came before. Not my favorite look for the show.

I DO like the tributes to musicians we’ve lost to COVID-19 that play over the credits.My one quibble is that they could’ve used a little card to inform viewers what’s going on and why. Last week I caught the artist in the captions but this week I missed it (or it wasn’t there), though I figured out pretty quickly it was John Prine.

Starting off an episode with Liz is always a good choice.

Liz and Marissa are, for reasons we’ll discover later, in New York and investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s “suicide.”

It drives me INSANE that Marissa consistently has the sound on her phone on. I think we’d know she was taking pictures without it.

Liz’s old boss, Wilbur Dincon, has tasked Liz to independently investigate what happened. If this case goes well, RBL will get more business from the DOJ.

I’m sorry, did you just say “S-H-U” instead of pronouncing it like “shoe”? I mean, I’m an expert on prisons because I watched Orange is the New Black so I know it should be said like “shoe.” (tbh i have no idea if one is more correct than the other)

This case has lots of details but it’s really only the thematic points that matter, so I likely won’t discuss any plot points… just what they’re going for.

Good to know Liz was ahead of the curve on knowing Epstein was a dangerous creep.

Liz is promised she can investigate anyone she wants and think outside the box. Sure. I believe this as much as I believe Diane is in charge of pro-bono stuff because STR Laurie has great intentions.

“Synergy” is such a great bullshit word. Has everyone ever said it for a reason other than the following three: (1) To mock the word synergy (2) as a euphemism for cost-cutting measures that will fuck over employees (3) because they think it sounds professional and want to cover up the fact they don’t know what they’re talking about?

In this case, “synergy” means that RBL needs to cut their payroll by 20%. Fun times.

Diane and Adrian (Liz is downstairs) are not happy about this, even when Mr. Firth reminds them it’s more money for them. They’d rather have less money personally but happier employees since they’re not soulless.

Mr. Firth says they have to do the layoffs. But if it’s any consolation, they get to hand pick who to lay off!

The dogs are still being walked through RBL, in case it wasn’t clear enough that STRL sucks.

The whole firm gets to work on sorting through the Epstein evidence. Liz tries to keep things organized-- murder evidence on one side, suicide evidence on the other.

Associates, however, immediately begin interpreting the word “evidence” loosely. Is there a photo of Epstein with someone they’d like to suspect of murder? Then it’s “evidence of murder”. Ok, Leah.

As expected, this immediately turns into bickering over politics. Sorry Liz-- it’s going to be tough to keep your staff on target with this one.

“No! No conspiracy theories. No insane charges. Everything we do, we need evidence, so let’s start here.” Ah, if only everyone could think like Liz.

The room focuses on evidence for about two minutes. Then they find a way to make it about conspiracies again. Go team!

Also everyone at RBL thinks they have better knowledge than professional medical examiners of the marks left on someone’s neck after they hang themselves. They also all believe that pretending to strangle themselves is the best way to prove their point. It’s a hilarious sight for Diane and Adrian to happen upon.

Adrian and Diane immediately start seeing their employees as numbers and imagining the cost savings of laying them off. Marissa is making $89,000 a year with three years of experience. Jay is making $89,000/year with eight years. Damn, that is so unfair to Jay. (I could see it if Marissa is more vocal about wanting higher pay or if they’re more concerned with losing her… but being vocal about money is probably closely related to Marissa’s privilege and there is zero evidence Marissa is any better, more efficient, or more hardworking than Jay!) I can’t remember how this plot ended last year, but I thought Jay ended up making more than Marissa after he complained?

Adrian seems to see Jay as the more disposable of the investigators, which is quite sad, especially since from what we see, Marissa and Jay seem to be equally skilled.

I wish we got to see the salaries, rather than just billable hours, of the other associates. But I’m glad they finally get last names!

Kevin Walker has been at the firm 7 years and has 2643 billable hours.

Diane imagines the red X over Marissa. I can’t tell if the Xs are to demonstrate who they think they should cut or just to show deliberations.

Lucca has been at the firm for 4 years and has 2788. Her title is “associate” but shouldn’t it be “Head of Family Law”?

Leah Davis has been at the firm for 3 years and has 2657 billable hours.

Jancie Muncy has been at the firm 11 years with 2456 hours; Micah Carroll has been there 5 with 2582 hours. John Danzette with 6 years and 2074 hours; Rosalyn Brock with 4 years and 1991 hours (we learn later she was on medical leave for part of the year). Josh Withers with 11 years and 2162. Linda Keller with 2 years and 2389; Mike Roberts with 3 years and 2147. So what I’m getting is that Lucca has the most billable hours of everyone?

I wish it told us their salaries. How much do the billable hours matter if we don’t know how much $ each hour is worth?

I really like this device. It’s a good way of showing how tough this decision is and how dehumanizing the process becomes.

Adrian jumps into the conversation and tries to convince everyone Epstein’s suicide isn’t a conspiracy-- it’s just incompetence. Apparently he has a sink that breaks every week and no plumber can fix it because they are all incompetent. I understand this analogy-- no one does their job perfectly 100% of the time-- but I am really concerned about Adrian’s sink. This sounds like a bigger issue than incompetence.

“People do just enough work to get by,” is a very true statement though. I have often thought that it’s kind of incredible the world is as functional as it is.

If you have 4 or 5 conveniently incompetent breakdowns at once, though, I’m not sure I believe it’s purely incompetence. Feels a bit convenient.

Diane jumps in and makes a case for why the conspiracy is also likely. This strikes me as counterproductive since what REALLY needs to happen here is for the associates to dig through the evidence. Why not go back to Liz’s original system where they look through the evidence and see where it leads them?

Lots of news footage and photographs in this one.

Diane’s larger point seems to tie back into Memo 618: “We all have to obey the law. I mean, if we’re told we have to check into with the police every 90 days, we do it. But certain people don’t have to. They’re given special treatment.” Diane claims this is America-- “a special fucking off-ramp for the well-connected.”

Isn’t it possible both are true? That there’s a lot of incompetence and also systems in place that protect the rich and powerful? Also none of this is evidence!!!

(I do like this scene for showing Adrian’s POV (cynical about human nature) vs Diane’s (fed up with the government and the treatment of the ultra wealthy). And the show can’t really dig into evidence they don’t actually possess. But evidence-free speeches don’t seem productive!)

Liz is like, okay then… and splits the room into three groups to look at evidence. I am glad Diane and Adrian helped her so much.

Liz is NOT happy about the layoffs when Diane and Adrian loop her in. She’s opposed to cutting anyone. Diane says she could lose Kevin, but Liz sees Kevin as someone newer employees look up to. Adrian suggests Lucy (who?) and Liz says that Lucy actually should get a raise. Diane points out this will look bad to the clients. All good points. This seems like an impossible decision.

Case stuff happens. Lucca knows a “hairdresser to the stars” through Bianca.

And now for some scenes where Diane and Julius try to report Memo 618 to the government and do the right thing! The Kings have said these were intended for episode 8, and while they don’t really feel that out of place since there’s clearly a thematic link between 618 and Epstein’s connections, this bit of info explains two things: (1) Why this ep is 53 minutes long when it feels like it could make its point in less time and (2) why the Julius stuff that happens later in the episode feels a bit anticlimactic because so much else is also happening. My guess is in an episode where it’s more of the focal point it would feel like a much bigger deal.

Do you ever just see a shot of Diane and think, “Damn, Taylor Swift does really look like a young Diane?” Because I do. All the time.

Lucca visits the famous hairdresser and he makes time for her right away. And he gives her a letter from Epstein that he (a) has in his possession and (b) has in an unlocked drawer in his salon. Whatever.

Lucca convinces him to let her have it, and RBL makes a video to establish chain of custody. I’m shocked we’ve never seen them do this before.

“It is Thursday, May 21st, 2020” Liz says. Nah. You’re in an office. It is not.

The envelope contains a key, a secret code, and a letter that says “If I’m dead, watch out for BUD”. Welp, there goes any hope of this not turning into RBL chasing conspiracies!

Rumors about layoffs (40%! Just paralegals! Everyone!) have spread, in case there wasn’t enough chaos.

The partners are indeed discussing who to fire, and they can’t decide on anyone. So they decide it’s time to get out from under STRL and buy themselves out. It’ll take 20 million, but they can pull that together.

This would play better if we knew why they decided to sell to STRL in the first place. Who WOULDN’T have seen this coming?

Liz tells Adrian not to make any promises he can’t keep and he is like, this is like our marriage. Diane is still in the room which is awkward and funny.

Marissa finds “BUD” on a blueprint. A clue! Meanwhile, Lucca and Jay (really, Jay) figure out the code.

This is the portion of the episode where I can leave the show playing on my phone and go check Twitter instead of writing any commentary.

Julius gets arrested for speaking out about Memo 618! It feels less impactful than it should when it’s sandwiched between a bunch of scenes following the conspiracy. (Also I am a little surprised they didn’t have Julius and Diane go to the press before the government.)

The conference room squabbles again and Liz asks, again, to tone down the conspiracy theories. They instead begin fighting about even more conspiracy theories.

Unless there’s another conference room scene later, I think this was the moment I understood what the Kings were doing and started to like the episode more. As soon as I realized “BUD” was a Citizen Kane reference, I burst out laughing. This episode plays way better when you know the point they’re trying to make is that this is a lot of fuss that will ultimately be futile (though Marissa and Jay DO come close to finding BUD) than when you’re supposed to be riveted by watching people debate fake evidence.

Why does Eli Gold have a cheerleader friend? Who knows! Who cares!

Adrian suggests that he, Diane, and Liz involve their own homes in the scheme to getting 20 million dollars. Liz objects since she’s a single mom-- very fair. Adrian argues that they’ve done well in the past so they’ll get it back. Liz and Diane attack that idea before I can-- if that were really true, they never would have sold to STRL.

Liz mentions losing ChumHum and the fallout from her dad’s scandal and then says “let us not forget why we joined STRL in the first place.” I feel like that line would work better if the “let us not forget…” came before the “we lost ChumHum”. Because we don’t actually KNOW why they joined STRL. And, as I said in a previous recap, I can roll with it for the sake of plot, but I can’t take lines like “let us not forget why we joined STRL” seriously when there was LITERALLY NO ON SCREEN DELIBERATION about it.

Adrian says STRL doesn’t value them, their employees, their history, or their culture. To which I say, DUH. Why would you think they did?

The only important thing about this cheerleader is that she’s played by the amazing Donna Lynne Champlin. Kind of sad she’s in this silly, non-recurring role. She’s so good. (Also she was totally on TGW playing a different role, shhhh). (Go watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, everyone!)

CONSPIRACY THEORIES! It’s another conference room scene. Maybe this is where I realized it was a Citizen Kane reference? But I think it was the earlier one.

Hey, it’s another Julius scene. Watching these and knowing they were meant for a different episode, I can’t help but notice that they do feel like pieces of the A plot of a different episode. The whole system is rigged, Julius and Diane realize.

Adrian, Liz, and Diane tell Mr. Firth they want out. Mr. Firth tells them they need to cobble together an impossible 80 million, not 20 million, because not all of the partners have been bringing in more revenue more than they used to. You see, Diane hasn’t been bringing in any money because she’s been in charge of the pro bono department. Ah.There’s the catch.

I’m shocked they went up to Mr. Firth without reading every inch of that contract. Aren’t you guys partners at a law firm? I’m shocked Diane went ahead with taking charge of pro bono without looking for a catch. This sucks for the character and all, but how are these name partners at a liberal firm that’s seen more than its fair share of drama this naive about big corporations!? This plot twist is devastating… until I start to think about all the things they had to believe to get to this point.

Still, it’s satisfying to hear Diane hiss “you fucker!” at Mr. Firth.

Mr. Firth turns into a villain quite nicely. I wonder if we’ll see more of him next year. My guess is the remaining three episodes were going to tie together the corporate overlords plot and Memo 618 and wrap everything up more or less with a bow so they could do a new concept next year. I feel like they’ll either move on completely and tell us what happened, or do an episode like 2x02 (the one that wraps up all the Maia/Rindell Fund stuff in one go so it doesn’t hang over s2).

Dincon drops by unexpectedly and isn’t impressed with what Liz and the team have done, since all they’ve done is collect conspiracy theories (and possibly travel all over the country? Jay and Marissa go to the Virgin Islands; it is unclear if the architect and key maker and lawyer and everyone else were in Chicago…

In Dincon’s defense these conspiracy theories sound like complete nonsense.

Dincon shuts the RBL team down, but Marissa and Jay are still off adventuring.

Diane asks Dincon what Memo 618 is because Epstein’s life was built on it. “Then you have your answer,” Dincon replies. This scene is another tell that those Julius scenes weren’t meant for 4x07.

Aaaaand now we get the direct parallels to Citizen Kane, with some shot-for-shot remakes and even a sled (ha!).

There’s a secret door! Marissa and Jay are excited to investigate! Marissa references Parasite, which I haven’t seen yet because I’m awful at watching movies.

Marissa and Jay find nothing and leave. “I think we lost track of the real story: the underage girls,” Marissa realizes. Yup. That is the takeaway. Looking at all these conspiracies is fun but useless, and the most important truth has already been uncovered.

After Marissa and Jay leave, we get to see what was in the secret room… BUD is Epstein’s penis. And… that’s a wrap on season 4? What a fucking weird way to end a season.

#the good fight #tgfthoughts

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share-the-damn-bed · 4 years

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Ok, I'm super new in this fandom, like, since a week ago, and I totally love Jancy! Seriously, I'd die for them. But I can't really understand the hate to them at all. Could you please explain it to me? Because since I saw them I thought they were one of the healthiest pairings I've ever seen and I can't get it. :( PS: I love your blog.

Oh wow, thank you!!!!!! Well, first things first, welcome to the Jancy fandom!! We’re a small bunch right now between seasons but we eagerly welcome newcomers. If you’re looking for anything in particular or need any recommendations, please let me know.

Now, I’ve talked a little bit about this here recently and I really don’t want to lament about ship hate as much I have been, so this is going to be the last time I’ll be addressing the issue especially because, even though I’ve noticed it more on my posts lately, it. is. so. rare.

When it comes to Jancy hate (aggressive anon hate, anti posts showing up in the tags), it’s mostly just trolls trying to get a rise (any rise) out of their target. The troll literally does not care about the ship and wants to piss people off. This is similar to literally every other fandom out there and it’s best to ignore it and not reciprocate because any response gives the trolls what they want. And honestly, I can’t remember the last time I saw an anti post in the tags (even though it has definitely happened before).

That being said, people are allow to not like Jancy or Jonathan or Nancy as characters. That’s okay, that’s their opinion and it doesn’t make them horrible people deserving of any lashing out as well (In fact, some of my favorite interactions in this fandom have been with people who didn’t ship Jancy). I know some fans can’t get past the photos Jonathan took of Nancy is season 1, and I get it, truly. It’s a hard scene to rewatch. Especially because it is reminiscent of something (much more sinister) my best friend in high school’s ex-boyfriend did. BUT, I understand the importance of the scene to the overall plot AND Jonathan has never done anything remotely similar since. AND, the most important part, he apologized and Nancy forgave him.

Which leads me to my next point, I wouldn’t say Jancy is 100% healthy, they’re not toxic either (obviously) but I don’t like the dichotomy these two words create. I think that Jonathan and Nancy are a dynamic couple who are young and figuring out how relationships work. They’re both incredibly defensive and tend to lash out when they feel threatened (see: forest fight season 1, motel fight season 2, car fight season 3) and end up hurting one another. But we also see them grow together as they figure it all out, and I think that’s beautiful. They are a fantastic couple that have their flaws but they make an effort to work past that and become stronger and that’s one of many reasons why I love them so.

So welcome to the fandom, and don’t be afraid of the hate because it really is rare, there’s a lot more love here. 💖

#welcome to the fandom!#and thanks for the ask anon #seriously if you have any questions or are looking for any recs I (and literally anyone else here) would be happy to help

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fallinfor-youreyes · 5 years

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you know those tropes where people move away from their s.o. and nobody believes them about who they are dating? Yeah, that but Jancy

The first thing Jonathan does when he gets his new locker is put up a picture of Nancy

It’s his favorite picture of her, sitting in the driver seat of his car, half a smile on her face, her hair a complete mess

Its a little rumpled from traveling between his wallet and his car and now here, but it instantly makes him feel better, even if its just slightly

The kid who is supposed to be showing him around (Bradly? Brady? Brad?) glances between him and the picture

“Who’s that?”

“My girlfriend.”

The kid nearly chokes on his gum

And thus starts the “nobody believes Jonathan Byers is dating Nancy Wheeler” club

He joins the photography club and makes some friends and they all have bets on whether or not she is real

The more popular kids in the lockers next to him totally think he clipped the picture from a magazine and just wanted to make himself seem cool

Nancy thinks its hilarious when he tells her about

“It’s because you are too pretty for me,” she says.

“Yes, that’s definitely it.”

They stay on the phone for half the night for weeks until Karen threatens to unplug the phones

It takes her three months the officially break and let the kids take the car

She does not know what she did to end up with two children literally obsessed over the Hopper-Beyers clan, but she wakes up one Saturday to both of them already on the phone or the radio and just tosses the keys at Nancy

“Go. Please. Take your brother.”

Nancy stares at the keys for a second before her face lights up and she’s hugging her mom so tight Karen is sure she will break, and then she’s gone, screaming her brothers name

“MIKE!!!”

Mike appears, and three other heads poke out from her basement because apparently they are just always here, and she’s telling them to ask their parents first, but suddenly it’s quiet

no kids yelling or phones ringing or anything

Karen thinks she might have to send them to the Beyers more often

Nancy drives and the entire ride is someone fighting over the radio or punching each other, or yelling about something irrelevant, but she’s going to see Jonathan for the first time in 3 months, so Nancy does not care

It takes them almost two hours to get there, and Will and El are already sitting on the front steps, and in a second her car is empty and there’s even more yelling and hugs and she’s pretty sure her brother is crying when he reaches El, but none of that matters

Because Jonathan is suddenly in the doorway

His hair is longer

He’s wearing her favorite sweater

Her hands are trembling hard enough that it’s difficult to unlatch the car door

But then, she’s out of the car and the smile on his face is almost wide enough to split him in two, and she’s in his arms

She smells like home, and strawberry lipgloss

And god, he loves her so much

She’s cut her hair short again, and she’s just as beautiful as he remembers, and every part of his aches because she’s here, she’s here, she’s here.

“I almost didn’t believe El when she walked into my room and told me you were coming,” he says, his lips brushing against her skin

“I didn’t believe it until you walked outside,” she says, and then she’s kissing him, and it’s been three months and he doesn’t think he’s ever going to let her go again

They stay like that, wrapped around each other, just breathing one another in until Will starts to tease them, and then the rest of the kids join in and Jonathan kisses her again, just to annoy them

“Can we take them to the roller rink?” Will asks, after everyone’s settled down and eaten the cookies Joyce baked

Several pairs of teenage eyes spin to Jonathan, and he shrugs, and the kids take that as a yes, because they are all running outside and Nancy grabs his hand as they walk to the car, and he refuses to think about how today will end and they will all go home again, and it will be another three months or even longer until he can see her again

He will not think about that now

Once they get to the roller rink, the kids are gone before he can tell them to be careful, and Nancy drags him to the food court before he can protest

She’s telling him about all the things they’ve missed over phone calls and she’s leaning into him, eyes bright and happy and he wants more than anything to kiss her

“Hey Beyers!” Someone crashes into him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “I didn’t know you could skate.”

Brady ruffles his hair and it takes him a moment to realize there is someone standing next to Jonathan

“Holy shit, you’e real.”

Nancy looks between the two boys, but before she can say anything they are swarmed with five other people from Jonathan’s class and all of them are staring at her like she’s the 8th wonder of the world, and Jonathan’s cheeks are turning pink, and any least two people pass each other money

“What?”

“Nobody though you were real. Half the class thought you were a magazine advert.” Brady says, and Jonathan groans

“Thank you for that.”

Nancy grabs his hand and tugs him away from Brady. “I’m very real,” she says. Jonathan is dying of embarrassment, but she’s kind of enjoying herself

There’s something so satisfying about telling other people that yet, this disaster of a boy next to her is her boyfriend, and yes she loves him very much, and yes, she is real

“And you're dating him?” One of the girls asks, and Nancy can’t tell if it’s from curiosity or jealousy, and it makes her just that much smugger about it

“Yep.” She presses a quick kiss to his cheek, and Jonathan curls into himself more, but he squeezes her hand and her heart sings

“God,” Brady shakes his head and punches Jonathan’s arm. “I can’t wait to tell everyone I met the Nancy Wheeler. They’re going to lose their shit.”

And then everyone is asking her questions and Jonathan is hiding his face in her shoulder, and god, he talks about her

Enough that all of these people, his friends know about her and almost don’t believe she’s real because of the way he talks about her, and she loves him

She loves him so much

They eventually leave the roller rink and drop the kids off for ice cream close enough that they can walk home and he drives them to the parking lot behind his new school, and he kisses her between telling her about school and his friends and she tells him about home and Hawkins and how much she misses him

And then they stop talking and instead kiss each other until they only know each others names, and she doesn’t want to go home

She doesn’t want to leave him again

But they have to go or parents will be calling and kids will be getting antsy

There’s more tears and hugs and then Nancy is sitting back in the car and Jonathan is on the steps, one arm around Will and the other around El, and her heart aches

She can’t take three months again

From the way Mike is staring out the window she knows he can’t either

Joyce waves at them, and Nancy waves back before putting the car in reverse and turning away from the Hopper-Beyers clan, away from Jonathan

And if she calls him the second she gets home to tell him how much she misses him, then so be it

Jonathan goes back to school on Monday, and Brady is already waiting by his locker

“Be prepared, my friend. Everyone knows.”

Jonathan just rolls his eyes at him, but then, it happens

People he’s not even sure he knows are smiling at him and shaking their heads and it all feels a little surreal

Sometimes, he doesn’t believe he gets to call Nancy Wheeler his girlfriend either

And if he calls her the second her gets home to tell her how much the entire school wants to meet her now, then so be it

#stranger things #stranger things fic #jancy #jancy fic #jonathan x nancy #my fic #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #hi they are in love #and this would totally happen #fight me #also i have forgotten how words work so #bullet point fic #stranger things 3 #st3 #st3 spoilers #kinda #this is the first jancy thing i have finished #i have been trying to write for them since season 1

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stoprobbersfic · 4 years

Text

stick and poke (jonathan byers/nancy wheeler)

jancy week 2019 day 4: scars and wounds rated teen+ to mature. this turned out sexier than initially expected. set in the 3 month jump at the end of season 3.

His breath ghosting over her ribs is humid and tickles, a little.

They’re sprawled on top of his covers, skin cooling in the early evening. The record he’s put on is too fast, too peppy for quiet moments like this but it’s a better cover for their activities than something that would fit the mood and it’s the cover she cares about. They don’t need it, not really, but they do it for the same reason she still jumps out of his bedroom window in the morning, even as the countdown clock draws closer to Day Zero. Because it feels, unlike so many things in their lives, normal.

His hair is a riot and she just makes it worse with every pass of her fingers, pushing this way and that, tugging when his wandering digits hit a ticklish spot. He’s claimed her torso as his favorite place to rest his head after sex, which she didn’t expect but finds she rather likes. It makes her feel powerful and important in ways she can’t quite fit words to.

In moments like this he is her supplicant and nothing in two universes can touch them. When he goes, he will take that with him, and what will she have then?

His arm around her shoulders, their fingers laced together, his sweater with her jeans or his coat over her shoulders when she’s cold; she’s gotten used to wearing him. Has made it part of her daily armor and without it she feels weaker than she is willing to admit. With weeks still to go she finds herself preparing for full exposure. She needs part of him to keep when he is gone.

Perhaps she murmurs some of that aloud, or sighs it, but his cheek moves against her skin, scratching her with the lightest layer of stubble as he looks up at her.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” she shakes her head. “Just thinking.”

He drops a kiss on the sharpest point of her ribs. “About what?”

“Nothing,” she laughs, not wanting to dissipate the hazy warmth in her blood, the pleasure still trickling through here veins. “Or, not nothing, but nonsense, really. Not… I don’t want to ruin the mood.”

He’d been kissing a path down to her navel but that stops him, sends his head shooting up in alarm, and she sighs for real this time. She didn’t want to, but she did anyway.

“Ruin it how?” His wariness is all over his face, and she relents in only seconds.

“Everyone’s going to think we broke up,” the words are hard to get out, “when you go.”

“Ah. Ruin it like that.” His eyes search her face carefully. “I wasn’t planning to break up with you.”

“Me neither,” she rushes to assure him. “But I wish there was a way – I don’t know, to keep you?”

His eyebrows shoot up his forehead and his mouth briefly purses into a line before the snort escapes him.

“Like as your boyfriend, or your pet?”

She sticks her tongue out at him and swats at his head, and he hauls himself up over her to press a kiss to her lips before returning to his spot on her stomach.

“Sometimes I wish you could mark me,” she admits as he nuzzles the underside of her breast.

“Mark you?”

“So everyone would know I’m still yours,” she explains, backing away from the truth of it with a joke. “You know, like the territorial man you are.”

“What would I do?” he wonders, disregarding her attempt to deflect and sucking a dark purple spot just below her left breast. She feels him trace a pattern with his tongue, odd and halfway familiar. “JB Wuz Here?” he says aloud, following his tongue with his fingertip.

She laughs, nearly soundless; a huff of breath more than anything else. “You’re marking me now.”

“These fade,” though he leaves another spot, this time on the soft bulge of her breast, before raising his head to look at her, eyes dark and knowing enough to make her want to squirm. “You want something more permanent. You already have a scar.”

His hand finds hers, turns it over. The scar on her palm is lighter than ever, fading with every passing day. Sometimes she wants to scream about it; why should the cells of her hands turn over so much more frequently, so much more efficiently, than the rest of her?

This thing binds them together and sometimes she wants to reopen the wound, deepen it and make it uglier, like the wounds that can’t be seen, the ones that split open from a thought or a memory or a feeling, when it comes too strong.

“I could take another,” she says instead, pauses when another idea flashes bright across her mind, “or a tattoo.”

“A tattoo?” he seems genuinely shocked by that, which makes her feel a little prouder than it should. “What would your mother think. What would my mother think?”

He’s already laughing when she shoves him off her, rolls easily onto his side and props his head up on his hand.

She’s not sure why she’s blushing. “Stop laughing at me. I’m not joking.”

“I know you’re not,” and though he’s still grinning his voice is serious.

“Would you get a tattoo? If I got one?”

“I don’t know. What would you want me to get?”

She looks at him, pale and finely muscled and so lean, practically glowing in the warm sunset. She wants to crack a joke about sailor tattoos and hearts with her name in it, but she’s suddenly acutely aware of how many spots he’s left on her and how few she’s left on him. She knows if she turns him there will be scratches on the back of his shoulders, light and pink, but suddenly she wants to leave a trail of purple spots from neck to hips, to spell her name out in kisses and the scrape of her teeth.

He doesn’t protest when she pushes him onto his back and straddles him, just sets his hands on her hips and squeezes as she sucks hard on his collarbone. Against her inner thigh she feels him stir.

She leaves her marks and doesn’t talk about tattoos again that night.

+++

“Stick and poke,” he says to her a week later, stretched out on his stomach on her bed when they’re actually supposed to be in fifth period. She’s got her sweater rolled up under her breasts and her jeans open to the top of her underwear, and he’s sketching something out on the curve where her side and stomach meet with a ballpoint pen.

“Gesundheit,” she replies politely, blinking at him. He rolls his eyes at her and adjusts his angle. She returns her gaze to her ceiling and tries her best not to laugh and jostle him.

“It’s a tattooing method,” he explains. “They do it a lot in prison.”

“And you’re bringing it up because…?”

“All you need is a needle, thread, and ink. A lot of prisoners just break open a pen,” he lifts the one in his hand, “like this.”

“How do you know all this?” she looks down, trying to get a glimpse of what he’s drawing, but all she can see is the top of his head. Rests her hand on it, marveling for the millionth time at just how soft his hair is.

“Went to the library. Looked it up.” Her surprised laugh jostles his hand and he protest. “Hey! Stay still or I’m gonna mess this up.”

“Why? And what are you drawing anyway?”

“I’ll show you in a sec, I’m almost done. And I looked it up because you were asking about it. I thought you wanted a tattoo.”

“It’s less about the tattoo, and more about… well. I told you.”

“You did,” he looks up at that. “You want me to mark you.”

There’s a heat behind his eyes that she feels echoed in the pit of her belly. Squirms a little as heat flashes between her legs. They’re both fully clothed but this feels so intimate; she can feel the desire rising within her.

“I do,” she confirms.

“So, stick and poke,” he repeats and bends his head again. This time the press of the pen is preceded by the brush of his lips against her hipbone. “You dip the needle, wrapped in thread, in the ink, and then poke at the skin. It makes little dot tattoos. The book said it hurts – you have to poke hard – but it’s supposed to be permanent.”

He looks up at her, eyes still swirling. “I could do it to you.”

His voice is deep, hoarse, and altogether too much, and she can’t keep her hips still. They lift, twist a bit and he sees the movement for what it is, an invitation, and slides up her body so she can kiss him, hard.

She bites down on his bottom lip, soothes it with her tongue and bends her knees around his hips as he grinds down against her.

“Seems like you like the idea,” he murmurs against her mouth, worming a hand between them and into her underwear. Pulls back a little and raises an eyebrow at what he finds. “A lot.”

“Shut up,” she tries to snap but there’s no bite to it, not when he’s doing that.

“I thought you’d at least want to see my drawing before you let me tattoo you,” he breathes against her cheek, though the way he’s moving his hand seems to imply otherwise.

“I do,” she gasps out, and forces herself to push him off her, whining a little at the loss of his touch. He flops on the mattress beside her, breathing hard and with a noticeable bulge in his jeans.

At first she tries not to move, just looks down at her stomach, but the lines and curves don’t resolve into anything recognizable. She climbs off the bed and stands before her mirror, trying to ignore the way desire is making her tremble. Trying to focus on the drawing instead.

“What am I looking at,” she asks, sincere, as he stands shakily and fits himself behind her.

“It’s a road,” he traces the lines with his fingertip, “and a horizon. Diminishing perspective. And,” he taps on a shape next to her bellybutton, “a cactus.”

His hardness pressing into her lower back and the slide of his hands up her ribcage, pushing her sweater further up to expose her bra, her chest, is immensely distracting but she forces herself to concentrate.

“You,” she says, lifting her arms and letting him pull the sweater off her, “are a terrible artist.”

He guffaws loudly at that, tossing her sweater somewhere across the room.

“It’s true,” he admits. “Will got all the talent there. Want him to draw you something?”

“No,” she turns in his arms, looping her arms around his neck. “But maybe we’ll pick something smaller, and simpler, alright?”

He looks genuinely surprised. “You really want me to do this?”

“I do. As long as it’s not… this.”

“Okay.” He sounds breathless, just before he fuses his mouth to hers, turns them and lays her down on the bed, climbing on top of her.

By the time her mom gets home they’re the picture of a responsible couple, fully clothed with homework spread out on the bed before them, and if anyone notices the small designs she doodles along the edges of her worksheets they don’t say a thing.

+++

“A sun?”

She flips another page in the photo book, considering the intricate floral design.

“Eh."

“A star?”

“You can’t do the kind that are only outlines, though.”

“I could do it the normal way and then only poke the outline?”

“Eh. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“A cube?”

“Be serious, Jonathan.”

“I am being serious,” he looks up from his own book, “As you’ve noticed, my illustration skills are limited. We’re pretty much down to happy face, frowny face, and cluster of dots.”

She turns another page, revealing a photo of a full back, covered in complex geometric designs. She turns it around, shows it to him. “What about this?”

He looks up from his own book. “Sure, no problem.”

She sets the book aside, scooting across the sofa and nudging at Jonathan’s shoulder until he lifts his arm, lets her settle into his side. He keeps his art book propped on his thigh and she turns the page for him.

“Do you want me to do one too?”

“You?”

“On you,” she clarifies, then considers for a moment. “Do you want a tattoo?”

“Oh yeah, a big ol’ heart on my bicep that says ‘MOM,’ that’s what I want,” he laughs and she pokes his thigh with her free hand. “It’s not really my style. Axl Rose I am not.”

“And thank god for that,” she chuckles, but doesn’t turn the page when he gives a little nod. Keeps her eyes trained on the photo of a man’s leg and a very, very intricate dagger tattooed on it. “But…would you?”

“Do you want me to?”

She shrugs with just one shoulder, still not looking up, and stays still until he takes the book out of her hand and sets it aside.

“Nance,” his voice is soft, fond, “just say it.”

“We just,” she reaches for his hand, flips it over, runs her fingertip over the scar. “We match here.”

She can feel him looking at her but it takes effort to raise her head, her gaze. She’s not sure why she suddenly feels so vulnerable, so shy. Not about this, at least. But she does.

He is smiling, soft and fond and crooked, her favorite smile. She’s going to miss seeing it so very much when he’s gone.

“If you want,” his voice is barely above a whisper as he tilts his head and brushes the barest kiss across her lips. “We’ll match if you want.”

He drops another barely-there kiss on her mouth, the ghost of his lips and warm breath, and she’s about to tilt her chin up for something more substantial when the thunk of a car door closing invades her peripheral attention.

Jonathan sighs and kisses her quickly before sitting up and gathering their small cache of books into a pile and sliding them back into his bag. They’re just barely out of sight before the front door opens.

“Jonathan?” his mother calls, shouldering her way into the living room with bags of groceries in her hand. She jumps a little when she sees them on the sofa, like she wasn’t expecting her son to be so immediately accessible. Nancy’s pretty sure Mrs. Byers isn’t surprised to see her there; she’s practically moved into their house since the decision was made to move away. “Oh! You’re here. Great. Can you give me a hand? There are a few more bags and some boxes in the trunk.”

“Sure, Mom.” He stands and waits for her to move further into the room before heading outside. Nancy stands too, wiping her hands on her jeans and watching him go.

“Hi Nancy,” Mrs. Byers says, continuing on her way to the kitchen. “You staying for dinner, sweetheart?”

She watches her boyfriend and his mother move around each other as she has a hundred nights before, making dinner, setting tables, herding Will and El to clean up when they get home, and tries to keep herself in the moment. Tries to keep the heaviness from settling into her stomach, into her heart. Tries not to think about the future, and her loss.

Jonathan sits next to her at the dinner table and squeezes her thigh when he catches her drifting away, his touch and the heat of him keeping her grounded.

She just wants it to stay like this, him by her side, forever. She’s thinking that for what must be the twentieth time before dessert when she realizes she knows exactly what she wants.

+++

There is no moon in the sky when she taps on his window after midnight, the only light in his yard the pale yellow glow of his desk lamp through the glass.

He’s got everything spread out on a tray sitting at the end of his bed: a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a lighter, a cotton ball, a spool of thread, a small Dixie cup from his bathroom, a Sharpie, a ballpoint pen. She almost wants to laugh at the little contraption he’s assembled at the end of that row – a needle, neatly wrapped in thread, taped to the eraser end of a pencil with not-quite-clear Scotch tape – but he looks so serious regarding her that she settles for a gentle smile instead.

She sets down her bag, toes off her shoes, and unbuttons her jeans. Slides them down her legs and steps out of them as well, but keeps her top on. She’s wearing his sweater. He doesn’t look surprised.

Instead he looks pensive. His knee jiggles as she comes to sit next to him.

“Relax,” she implores, kissing his cheek. “Don’t look so serious.”

He doesn’t reply, just takes a deep breath and moves so she can lay down. She arranges his pillows so she’s comfortable, not quite sure how long this is going to take.

Carefully, he pulls down one side of her underwear until her hipbone and the dip beside it is exposed. He wets to cotton ball with the alcohol, swipes it over her skin a couple times, then stretches it out and carefully, as if he’s performing surgery, draws the elongated sideways figure eight onto pale flesh.

“Rub some of this on,” he says, handing her a small jar of Vaseline which he usually keeps at his bedside for his lips.

“Won’t it wipe off the ink?”

He cracks a smile at that, “Just a thin layer, and be gentle.”

While she does as asked, he grabs the ballpoint pen and cracks it, carefully, over the Dixie cup. It takes a moment and some vigorous shaking, but the ink starts to drip out. She watches it, black droplets into white cup. Black ink for pale skin.

“Hold this?” he asks and she takes the cup, pen halves still tipped inside it, still dripping,

Finally, he picks up the contraption and the lighter, oh-so-carefully touching the flame to the very tip of the needle, avoiding the thread.

“I sterilized it before I wrapped it but, you know, just in case,” he explains, and he sounds so nervous. She wants to throw her arms around him, reassure him, ask him where this sudden crisis of faith is coming from. This is the same boy who once ran across Starcourt Mall, sterilized a chef’s knife, and cut into a young girl’s leg with barely any hesitation. This is nothing, nothing at all.

He wipes the soot from the end of the needle with a tissue, dips it in the ink, uses one hand to pull her skin tight and then pauses, poised over his drawing, over her. Looks up at her with eyes wide and fearful.

“You don’t have to do this,” he says, voice shaking. For a moment time folds in on itself, his words echoing back to a very different moment in this same house. But this time she’s not scared, she feels nothing more than anticipation and how much she loves him. With her free hand she reaches out and touches his cheek.

“Jonathan,” she replies softly, thumb tracing his cheekbone. “Stop talking.”

It hurts, more than expected. At first he presses too light and the needle doesn’t penetrate; it takes a stern warning to get him to poke harder. But eventually his shoulders relax and his movements become smoother, more confident. And a warmth begins to follow the pain.

It’s a very different kind of pain, not the sharp heat of a dull kitchen knife slicing from one end of her palm to the other. That pain laced up her arm, causing her to cry out, tears to spring to her eyes. She’d squeezed her hand around the knife reflexively, digging the blade in deeper, watching with horror and awe as blood dripped out from between her fingers and onto the Byers’ carpet.

This time the dull ache of the needle poking over and over again gives way to a bubbling heat, warmth building in the pit of her stomach and flowing along her circulatory system. It suffuses her, brings a flush to her cheeks and a familiar slickness between her thighs. More than once she wants to stop him to kiss him, to touch him, to make him touch her. But he’s focused, carefully wiping away the excess ink on her skin with a tissue, examining his work, making another pass.

It takes three passes in total, and when he finally lifts his head and declares “Finished,” she feels her heart skip a beat.

She looks down and there it is: an infinity sign, as imperfect and individual as his handwriting, barely the length of one of her knuckles. But it is there, and the permanence of it steals her breath.

“Do… do you like it?”

All she can think about is that it won’t wash away. That the day after he leaves she will climb into the shower and the smell of his skin, his detergent, his shampoo, his deodorant, it will slough off. Over time the cells on her palm will turn over, will renew, and the scar will become lighter, fainter, smoother. But this, this will stay. She will run her fingertip over it and it will not smear, it will not fade. It will live, forever, under her skin.

They have mingled breath and blood, sweat and spit and cum, but now there is a piece of him under her skin and it can never be washed away.

“I love it,” she whispers, unable to raise her voice more than that. When she lifts her eyes to his she’s surprised to find there are tears swimming them. “I love you.”

He smiles, takes the ink from her and then her hand, drawing her up to sitting, her lips to his.

“Forever,” he murmurs against her lips.

She smiles. “Forever.”

#jancyweek2019 #jancy #jancy fic #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #an interpretation of the theme but tattoos are wounds too #this came to me strong and took several turns i did not expect but i think i rather like this #(jonathan's is on his ankle)

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