#elumax for the win

[prettyboybyers]

Me: damn, i really crave romance.

Also me when i think of doing anything remotely romantic with anyone i know:

#Romance #Ok but why can't i be Max Mayfield? #I could get Lucas AND El. #Kinda homophobic that im not her. #Elumax for the win #Or elmax #Or lumax #Idk

[tired-bisexual-brainrot]

modern au where everyone is old enough to drive and max picks up mike on the way to school everyday but she always plays dove cameron’s “boyfriend” because after milkvan broke up el and max got together.

max, calling mike on the phone: i’m outside your house hurry up or i’m leaving without you!

*5 minutes later*

mike: hey sorry i woke up late

max, who already had the song playing when he opened the door: “i can be a better boyfriend than you, i can do the shit that you never did”

mike, groaning: oh for fucks sake maxine do you have to play that every morning!

max: yes.

#madwheeler #i will never not push the madwheeler friendship agenda #this happened #stranger things #mike wheeler #max mayfield #elmax #elumax #lumax #yea all 3 of them are tagged #bc elumax will always be the best #we stay winning #eleven #jane hopper #lucas sinclair #byler #will byers #the party #modern au #stranger things season 4

[snowangeldotmp3]

kas!max mayfield

okay, this is a thought i've been rotating in my mind for a while (since vol2 dropped) and maddie (@verymuchablog42) and i were talking about the ever popular kas!eddie (which, while fun to explore, likely is not going to happen)

do you know who is the perfect candidate for a kas figure?

max mayfield.

i don't think max is out of the woods, and while it might not be an exact kas the bloody handed scenario,(i don't think the duffers would add vampires this late into the show, lol) i think we can all agree that vecna isn't done with max. yes, technically el is the one who brought her back, not vecna. but i think max is still the perfect candidate.

reason number one: she's in a coma, meaning she's basically defenseless against vecna if he were to strike again. (unless el is consistently monitoring her, which, from the looks of episode 9, she is, but still!) we know vecna/the mind flayer can possess people, and that vecna possession is way more powerful. we've seen vecna/the mind flayer possess people before, and though he's been knocked down a few pegs, he's not completely powerless. though el is the one who brought her back, vecna could be the one to give max her life back, meaning no more coma.

reason number two: the whole puppet master thing. the master of puppets is vecna, and who's the perfect puppet right now? a semi-dead girl who has a connection to el and will and the rest of the party. vecna could tear the party apart from the inside with max. (and a girl who vecna is now seemingly attached too, both with billy's possession and subsequent death, and then with max's death.)

reason number three: if we assume that max will tear the group apart from the inside, we also have to assume that she will be the one who rails against vecna with them in the end, too. because we all know max, there is no way that she wouldn't be fighting off vecna with everything she has, even while he's the only thing keeping her alive. she's going to make him pay.

reason number four: the emotional potential. god, could you imagine? not only would it break lucas and el (and the rest of the party + steve, robin, and nancy) that their best friend and girlfriend is now a puppet for the enemy, but they can't do much about it. it won't be as simple as 'play kate bush' and it saves the day.

not only that, but from max's pov, it would be emotionally devastating. 'do you accept the risk?' and this is the consequence of that risk. that tiny, seemingly insignificant acceptance, has led her to this. she didn't want to end up like billy, spent her years with him defying him the best she knew how, and yet, at the end of the day, she would have the exact same fate as him. her fate is no longer her own (has it ever been?) and she becomes the puppet for vecna's ultimate plan.

anyways, this is half me theorizing about max's s5 fate, and the other half trying to reconcile the fact that max could very well just, die. and i don't want that to happen, i want her (if she does have to go out) to go out with a bang. a 'fuck you!' to vecna, if you will. but i think if max does wake up in season 5, this is one of the routes that they could very well explore.

#max mayfield #stranger things #kas!max mayfield #again: i don't think they'd make her an exact kas figure but i think it would be very similar. #like a moment where dustin goes '...like kas! she's like kas! we could still save her! we could still win!' or some shit #of course will and el would know something's Wrong with her. and lucas too. he would know there's something distinctly Not Max about her #also sorry maddie for tagging u but now u got me thinking </3 #stranger things theory #st5 speculation #stranger things 5 #not sure what else to tag this with tbh. uh. #first flayed!robin now kas max mayfield what's next! who knows. #not i. that's for sure. #uhhhh adding some extra tags bc i don’t know how else to sort this #elmax #lumax #elumax

[skeleton-under-ur-bed]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB MCLAUGHLIN YOU THE MAN

#byler #lumax #elumax #byclair #keep slaying king #you better win an award one way or another #that erica help was phenomenal #its a crime against humanity he didn't win an award

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

El hasn't heard the term "partner/partners" used to describe romantic relationships yet, but she's heard Jonathan and Will speaking Spanish and knows that the pronoun for a group/pair with boys and girls is masculine (ellos), so she introduces Max and Lucas as her boyfriends SEND TWEET

#maldonado family for the win #elumax #mayhopclair #el hopper #el byers

[demobatman]

im a firm believer that max is a disaster in the kitchen but canonically i feel like shes actually the "give me that and go sit down" type to fix whatever garbage the party (mike and dustin) try to throw together (and teaches el how to cook all the while dotting noses and licking spoons while lucas ends up cooking everything...)

#happy thanksgiving #elumax for the win today #his sous chef and sous chef in training #stranger things #max mayfield #el hopper #lucas sinclair #elumax #lumax #elmax #is that their ship name why the fuck did i just black out

[l0v3c0r3e]

the more ships i ship the higher chance of at least one of them being cannon

#byler #ronance #elmax #elumax #mucas #either way i win🙄

[castielinpastel]

I haven’t seen this trend done with them yet <33

#i love them so much #elumax #mayhopclair #mayhopclair for the the win #elumax endgame #elumax 🫶🫶 #max mayfield #jane hopper #eleven #lucas sinclair #stranger things #stranger things 4

[wibble-wobbegong]

sometimes the party plays the rock game and it’s always dustin, mike, and will vs max, el, and lucas

dustin will gladly throw down with any of them but he’s never the one to make the other team draw blood

mike refuses to go against will bc he knows his aim is bad and that even if he tries to not hit will he might hit him anyway. he had the same internal conflict about el till she threw a rock at him to tell him she wanted to go against him properly

will is more than happy to be on a team with mike (he knows he would never be able to play fair if he were against mike bc he doesn’t wanna hurt him. the thought makes him wanna cry) and dustin but mostly he just can’t be on a team with el because they can use their mind powers on each other and they both think it’s way more fun to use them. he also has to soften the impact of some of lucas’ throws so no one gets seriously hurt.

max insisted on teaming with el and lucas. she also really loves throwing things at mike and dustin even if she misses more often than not (she’s blind). when she hits they play up their suffering a little to make her laugh

el loves getting to use her powers to have fun and she and will sometimes get to go wild with a mind powered rock fight. she also will completely redirect rocks that she thinks will hit max. mike gave up on telling her that was cheating a long time ago

lucas also wanted to be on a team with max and he and el are really good friends now so it just seemed natural to him. lucas obviously has the best aim and is most likely to draw blood but he has the disadvantage of never throwing rocks at will and always worrying about throwing rocks too hard at mike and dustin. he just blanches at the thought of hurting will even if Will can definitely handle it and he really doesn’t like hurting his friends, but the more they play the more relaxed he is about it because they never actually hurt each other

#context: the rock game is a game where you throw rocks at each other and the person/team who makes the other bleed first wins #it’s pretty fun #oh god so many tags #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #dustin henderson #byler #elumax #byclair lowkey #the party

[steddiealltheway]

Thinking about game night at the Jopper household with the party and everyone.

Dustin is playing score keeper / ref after losing a long game of rock, paper, scissors.

At first, they start with a game of charades, trying to figure out who will be on what teams for the final game.

No one is surprised when only Joyce can guess what Hopper is miming (besides two times when El gets it first). Unfortunately for everyone else, this turns into a very gross jopper flirting session. Will and El are the most disturbed out of anyone - Jonathan is too high to know what’s going on.

When Steve gets up, everyone expects Robin to guess exactly what he’s saying. Surprisingly, Eddie beats her to it every time although him and Steve have hardly ever hung out - both assuming the only thing they have in common is Dustin. The weirdest moment is when Steve cups his hands and Eddie immediately, correctly guesses, “Goldfish!”

When Max goes, Dustin really has the worst time being ref because Lucas swears that he said the answer before El did and vice versa. Dustin has to decide on a tie for most answers. No one is prepared for the look Lucas and El give Nancy when she gets one right answer before them.

Argyle goes up and no one gets what he means. He goes a full five minutes doing the most intense mime. In the final three seconds, he sighs, and holds his arms above his head spread wide. Jonathan yells, “Pineapple!” as soon as the timer rings out. Everyone takes a moment to try to process how any of his mime could mean pineapple. The closest he got was when he was rolling around on the ground?

Nancy gets up and everyone is expecting this to be an epic Jonathan versus Steve showdown. Absolutely not. Robin gets everything. Every single one. As the game goes on, Nancy’s smile gets bigger and bigger. And Robin gets more and more flustered and red.

When Mike stands up, no one really knows what’s going to happen - it’s been awkward since El and Mike decided to call it quits. When Mike first starts going, Hopper starts guessing things like, “Murder. Homicide. Agony. Torture…” and Joyce has to pull him to the kitchen for a bit. When Steve starts guessing, Mike breaks the silence and yells, “No!” in frustration. Finally, Will takes over and starts guessing correctly.

The next game they decide to play in groups is the most intense, dramatic game of Sorry ever.

Hopper and Joyce run out to get food for everyone - and fresh air specifically for Hopper. And Argyle and Jonathan sneak away to get high out of their minds.

This leads to the groups:

Steddie + Dustin, Elumax, Ronance, and Byler

It’s absolute chaos.

At one point, Lucas tries to argue that it’s mainly a game of chance, and Nancy slams her fists down saying that there is so much strategy (Robin yells, “Yeah! What she said!”).

Mike personally tries to ruin any move Steve makes. He sarcastically says, “Sorry,” moving Steve piece far away from home. Eddie yells, “Are you?! Are you really sorry?!” And Mike backs off for the rest of the game.

El gets called out for slowly moving a piece forward with her powers when she thinks no one is looking. But Robin and Dustin catch her wiping her nose.

Will begins muttering, “Why couldn’t this be D&D or Nintendo?” over and over at one point. Mike holds his hand to make him feel better - it works.

Max ends up getting her last piece home for her team, winning the game, after saying how she doesn’t really care if she wins or loses the whole time. (But she really really wanted to win)

Joyce and Hopper come back to find Will screaming, “Finally!” while dragging Mike away to probably play Nintendo. Steve is hugging Eddie, whispering soothing words about how it’s okay to lose sometimes. Robin is stuttering and rambling after Nancy winks at her and tells her that they make a pretty good team. Dustin is yelling at Elumax for cheating. Argyle and Jonathan are missing.

Despite all of it, Joyce and Hopper agree family game night needs to happen again.

#jopper #steddie #ronance #byler #elumax #jargyle #joyce byers #jim hopper #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #el #eleven #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #jonathan byers #argyle #stranger things family game night

[oh-stars]

The browsing period for the @fandomtrumpshate 2024 auction has begun and there are so many amazing creators offering for Stranger Things this year!!

Browsing is open now with bidding starting on March 5th at 8am EST to March 9th 8pm EST. You can find more information on the FTH page, including more about all the amazing charities everyone is supporting.

All proceeds go to the FTH approved charities and the highest bidder will be gifted a service or work from the creator they're bidding on if they win.

All of the creator links go to their auction page with more information on what they're offering as well as links to their profiles on ao3, tumblr, or other sites to show their portfolios.

Fanwork

DyDawson @xgardensinspace

Highest rating: M Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: Will/Mike, Steve/Jonathan, Steve/Billy

the-weyr @the-weyr

Highest rating: T Length/scope: Less than 5k words. Stranger Things— Trans, aro, and/or plural El. Disabled Max. Stobin friendship. Language nerd!Robin. Roleplaying games other than D&D. Ships: Wheelclair, any configuration of Elumax, Byler, Robin/Barb

blackat_t7t

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: M/M or gen fic.

lightinthehallway

Highest rating: T Length/scope: Depends how much the bidder contributes. 4K words per $10 bid. Ships: Will/Mike or El/Max

ohstars @oh-stars

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 10 - 20k words (and another with 1k min guaranteed, with 1k added every $5) Ships: Steve/Eddie, Steve & Robin, Robin/(OCs, Chrissy, Vickie, or Nancy).

Trinipedia

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 10 - 20k words. Ships: Steve/Eddie, Andy/Garreth, Mike/Will (as secondary pairing, no smut), Jonathan/Argyle (as secondaru pairing, no smut), Nancy/Robin (as secondary pairing, no smut), Robin/Vickie (as secondary pairing, no smut), Jonathan/Nancy (as secondary pairing, no smut), Jason/Eddie, Billy/Gator (character from Fargo) might be persuaded to write Steve/Billy or Eddie/Billy

Vio @legendofthefireemblem

Highest rating: E Length/scope: Less than 5k words. Ships: Robin/Nancy, any and all possible permutations of Jonathan/Steve/Nancy and any friendship between the aforementioned four.

lacklusterlion @lacklusterlion

Highest rating: E Length/scope: Depends how much the bidder contributes. Less than 5k- $10 5-10k- $15 10-20k- $20 20-40k- $35 40-50k- $50 50k and beyond- $100 These are minimums. An extra $5 is required if it’s explicit. Ships: Steve/Eddie

xTarmanderx

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: Billy/Steve

ChaosKiro @chaoskiro

Type of fanwork: Podfic Highest rating: M Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: love general party shenanigans, but also really angsty stuff. Steddie and Byler are my favorite ships. Nancy, Robin or Max focused fics are also favorites.

ArtaxLiv

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: Steve/Eddie, open

helix_stomper

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 20 - 50k words. Ships: I LOVE Steddie but I also have experience with most Robin ships. Not really interested in writing a Byler ship as a main focus, but happy to include it in the background.

wolfish_willow @mrs-steve-harrington

Highest rating: E Length/scope: Less than 5k words. Ships: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Chrissy Cunningham/Steve Harrington, Chrissy Cunningham/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Vecna/Steve (also One/Steve), Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington & Claudia Henderson, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Steve Harrington & The Party

glorious_spoon @glorious-spoon

Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: Steve/Eddie & Nancy/Robin

RattleandHum @thirdeye1234

Type of fanwork: Podfic Highest rating: E Length/scope: 10 - 20k words. Ships: Steve/Eddie, gen/platonic ships

rufusbear @rufusbear

Type of fanwork: Podfic Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Ships: Steve/Eddie, Steve/Eddie/Chrissy, platonic or gen fic

DotyTakeThisDown

Highest rating: E Length/scope: Less than 5k words. Ships: Steve/Eddie

genesisofrhythm @ruthofrhythm

Highest rating: E Length/scope: Less than 5k words. Ships: Prefer to write for Steve/Eddie, Steve/Jonathan/Nancy, Robin/Chrissy, Robin/Vickie. Also willing to write for any canon couples (ie. Max/Lucas, Mike/El), Mike/Will or any platonic combination. I particularly love writing Steve & Robin friendship fics!

Fan Art

DyDawson @xgardensinspace

Subtype(s): Book cover, Drawing/painting/etc., Icon(s) Highest rating: M Length/scope: $5 for a pencil sketch; $7 for a pen drawing; $10 for colour pencil drawings; $13 for marker drawings; $15 for watercolour paintings. +50% of the price for an additional character. Fan art details: Traditional art: Pencil, Pen/Ink, Colour Pencils, Markers, Watercolour.

faiataka_haleapologist @haleapologist

Subtype(s): Banner, Book cover, Gifset, Moodboard, Photo manip Highest rating: E stranger things: general or any pairings.

Fan Labor

Demitimelord42 @demitimelord42

Subtype(s): Betaing Highest rating: E Length/scope: More than 50k words. Fan labor details: SPaG, plot development, cheerleading

#stranger things #fandom trumps hate #steddie #stonathan #stoncy #harringrove #buckingham #byler #lumax #the party #wheelchair #dustin henderson #eleven hopper #eddie munson #steve harrington #stancy #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #jargyle #argyle stranger things #jonathan byers #max mayfield #billy hargrove #mike wheeler #will byers #chrissy cunningham #stobin #jason carver #vickie stranger things #lucas sinclair

[voydhund]

Why aren't Milevens and Bylers on the same level of "May the best man win" as like, Elmax and Lumax/Mucas when it comes to shipping

yall are so peaceful you have ELUMAX.

#why did we go to actual war #like. #what's the difference #i get that eller can't exist because that's... theyre siblings. yuck. #but STILL WHY ARE WE SO GRR #idek man #sleepyposting #stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler #byler #mike x will #will x mike #max mayfield #eleven hopper #elmax #max x eleven #eleven x max #lucas sinclair #mucas #lumax #lucas x max #max x lucas #elumax

[lumism]

Ugh how do I choose between lumax and elmax

personally i vote elumax. epic win for everyone <3

#elumax #lumax #elmax #anon #snail mail #ph

[givehimthemedicine]

It's not a competition // elmax (ish) ficlet

coma angst. Lucas and El both love Max. both are sure it's the other Max loves. (heads up this is very open ended. it's not supposed to be elumax)

--

At first, the party visited Max constantly and in groups, in pairs. After all she'd been through, no one wanted her to be alone. 

When the initial shock wore down, the visits split into shifts. Max would be just as not-alone with one person at a time as she would with two or three.

As days turned into weeks, the visits spread out even more, and settled into a pattern: 

Lucas is the one most often spending the whole of visiting hours with Max, trading off occasionally with shorter visits from the others. 

El doesn't visit very often - not in person. As the only one able, she spends all night, every night, at Max's side in the blackness of the void.

Over time, it's a serious drain on her energy and blood. Hop and Joyce try to get her to stop for the sake of her health, but there's quite literally nothing they can do about it. They buy her some supplements and try to keep the house quiet while she sleeps during the day. 

Eventually, it happens: a day when everyone's schedules clash and nobody can be with Max in the daytime. 

So El says she will go. And something in Lucas boils over. 

He tells El to stay home. To leave her be.

He says it's not the end of the world if Max spends an afternoon alone. He says she isn't even aware anyone visits her in the first place, and if she is, she might be desperate for time alone - she'd be snapping at them demanding space if she was awake, wouldn't she? 

And he isn’t wrong. Even if by some miracle Max IS aware of their presence in the daytime, there’s no way she’s aware of El’s company by night. El knows that.

She says it's okay for him to need a break, but that if he doesn't go, she will.

Lucas looks furious, like she meant that as an accusation, although she's pretty sure he isn't really.

He loves Max, but he does need a break. They both do. They are both exhausted, traumatized kids. But for El to refuse to take a break puts him in a hard position.

He has already said out loud that he thinks it's okay for Max to sleep alone for an afternoon, and now he's trying not to feel like that is an act of desertion, or a milestone in beginning to let go.

Defiant against absolutely no opposition, Lucas digs in. Says he will come as often as he can, but it won't be all day every day, and that he's not in the wrong for that.

El wholeheartedly agrees.

He digs in deeper.

He says El should take time off and rest, too. Says what if something happens, what if Vecna comes back and El is too weak to fight, then they're all screwed. He looks a little sorry as he says it; he's pressing a sore spot on purpose. It's not fair for that responsibility to be on El's shoulders, but it just kind of is.

She says he is right, and maybe he mistakes that as agreement.

Maybe he had done this thinking that El would follow his lead. But she doesn't.

This is not a competition. El isn't trying to win. She just can't handle the idea of Max being left alone. 

What if Max wakes up terrified and no one is there? What if she thinks none of her friends care? What if there's the tiniest sliver of a chance Max is trapped somewhere? Still hiding like Will once was, captive and suffering, and El is her only hope - how can she take a day off?

And if there's any fighting to be done while she's exhausted, well, she'll just have to do what she always does: fight anyway.

So when no one else goes, El goes. 

She sits and holds Max's hand, and the next thing she knows, a nurse is nudging her to say visiting hours are over, and she's furious with herself for having dozed off with her cheek smushed against the edge of the hospital bed.

Instead of "goodnight," she tells Max "be right back," and goes home and puts on her blindfold, and sits with Max that way for as long as she can stay conscious.

Before long, Lucas gives up and starts coming every day again.

It's not jealousy, it's guilt. He feels bad that El is picking up his slack when she's a wreck already. Using her powers for hours every night leaves her with that pale, blood-vesselly look, and a day isn’t enough time to recover fully, so she just looks like that all the time now. People think she's another patient, and if she keeps this up, she may need to be.

Lucas says it's for El's benefit sometimes that he sits with Max, so that she will please get some rest.

That isn't a lie, but she thinks it's also that he feels he has to match the standard El is setting.

Maybe someday Max will ask who spent the most time at her side, and he wants to be able to say it was him.

El understands because she wants it to be her, although she'll never say it was.

It’s not a competition, but neither wants to lose.

-

Lucas's steps ripple into the blackness around Max's hospital bed, signaling 8 AM. Beginning of visiting hours.

"Morning, Max." He settles into his chair and murmurs his usual, "Night, El."

El leans over to administer her little ritual outlet of affection.

"Goodnight, angel," she whispers, leaving a kiss on Max's temple. Same as every time she leaves.

Max would bristle at the name, but it reminds El of one of few truly happy moments in her life. She had liked the way Max's lips treated the word angel when she sang it.

It's the one indulgence she allows herself in here. She doesn't see any harm. Max will never know.

El lets go and slides straight into sleep without opening her eyes. Too tired to wipe the warmth from her nose even though the tissue is already in her hand. Her pillowcases are all stained anyway.

Not thirty minutes later, Hopper is waking her to relay the call he’s just gotten: Max is awake.

She tries to focus harder on being overjoyed than on being disappointed to have missed it. Or grieved that it must look like she doesn't care because she wasn't there.

What she wanted most was for Max not to be alone. And she wasn't. So that's a win.

But maybe it was a little bit of a competition, because she also kind of feels like she's lost.

She wishes there were rockets on Hop’s car to make it go faster. 

El bounds into the hospital room, still with pillow marks on her cheek and blood flakes on her lip - and her spirits fall.

Max looks exactly the same. Small and still and sleeping.

El looks questioningly to Lucas, who's in his usual chair at her bedside.

"She’s asleep," he whispers, which he doesn't usually. "Regular sleep." He stares at Max a few seconds and then smiles, almost laughs to himself. It's been weeks since she's seen his teeth. "Slept 34 days and she needs a nap."

El smiles softly, coming closer and sitting in the chair opposite him.

She looks at Max's pale fingers interlaced with Lucas's, and then at Max’s closer hand, free. She touches the edge of the cast just before where it reveals her fingers. She wants to do the same thing they're doing, but she can think of a couple reasons why she shouldn’t.

She stares hard at Max's face for any smidge of a difference from the way she's looked all these weeks. Nothing.

She thinks about ways she could wake Max accidentally on purpose. She's desperate.

"How was she?"

"She can see," Lucas answers. They share a grin, both happy for her, although after how long the mystery has plagued them, she wonders why the grin fades as quickly as it does.

There's kind of a weird feeling in the room. 

"Did she say anything?"

He looks across at her, but before he answers, Susan arrives.

Susan hugs Lucas and smiles hello to her. El didn't know they were on hugging terms, and doesn't know why she feels funny about that. (Yes she does.) She doesn't want to hug Susan, but - it's not important.

They leave the woman alone with her daughter and go out to the waiting room. 

Lucas goes to stretch his legs and brings back two paper cones of water. He drinks his in one gulp, then sits next to El and starts flattening and fidgeting with the cup.

"Your name was the first thing she said."

Her eyes dart to his, but she isn't sure what reaction to give, so she doesn't give one.

It's not a competition. She might be winning.

"Maybe she thought -"

"Her eyes work." His tone is of correcting her, but when he repeats it again, he is correcting himself. "Her eyes work. She's awake. It's great. It's amazing." He leans back in the chair so the plastic back squeaks, and rubs his face.

"It's great," El echoes. “I’m glad you were here.”

It was better for Max to wake up to Lucas. Had she awakened on El’s shift instead, she would have thought she was alone.

“Yeah,” he answers rather tonelessly. 

He isn’t sulking. It’s just that he’s won what he thought they were competing for and still feels like he’s lost.

El observes him half-secretly for a moment. "She loves you.”

He exhales, same tone. "Yeah."

He starts tearing his cup with absentminded precision.

"I can't compete with you," he says quietly.

"What?"

"I wish I could do all that for her. The stuff you do. I would if I could."

His cup is getting to be just one long ragged strip of paper.

By either biting or staying quiet, El gets to decide whether they are actually doing this. She kind of surprises herself by biting.

"That is the same thing I think about you," she says, and this is what gets him to look over at her.

"Don't worry, Lucas,” she adds softly. “She would not choose me."

She hadn't meant that to sound so sad. It's just that she realized how true it was while she was saying it.

Lucas is her friend, and she wants him to be happy. She smiles at him - sincerely, but kind of mechanically - and looks away again.

She can feel him studying her the way people do, sometimes, when they are trying to figure out whether she understands what she has just said. 

"I think she already has."

El’s mouth twists. “She needs friends, right now, I think.”

Lucas nods quickly. They are not going to burden Max with any of this. 

Max has not been in the mood to be in a relationship for a long while, and she probably feels even less ready now. She does not need romance right now, she just needs love. 

And for as long as Max is looking for that kind of love, she might choose El.

But in the long run, she will choose Lucas.

She chose Lucas in the beginning and she will choose him again in the end, as soon as she is well enough. Because no matter how important El's friendship is to her, Max is still a normal girl and Lucas is a normal boy, and... normal people go together.

It's terribly selfish of her to be thinking about how her own happiness factors into this, anyway. It's Max's that is important. Whatever makes Max happy, that's what El wants for her.

"I don't want us to be.." she isn't sure how to say.

"Me neither,"  Lucas adds.

She rests her head against his shoulder to make sure they aren't fighting, and is glad when he leans his head on hers.

.

She's never been so happy to see two crystal blue eyes land on her. 

El grins huge, her own eyes wet as she walks into the hospital room ahead of Lucas.

Max can't move her head because of the neck brace, but she manages a weak smile, watching El come closer. That smile fades a bit as she gets a good look at her.

El realizes how different she must look since the last time Max saw her.

It feels like Max is not just seeing her, but seeing into and through her. She knows what El's overexertion looks like. What bone-deep exhaustion and weeks without sleep and pretending to be okay looks like.

Right before her eyes, Max is putting together all the things El was not going to tell her. She isn't sure she hopes Max puts everything together.

"Hi," El says, whispering without having planned to, like a full-strength greeting might jar her bones loose again.

Max's "Hi" is so small and weak, but it’s the best thing El has ever heard.

After how desperate she's been to talk with her for weeks, she finds that she has no idea what to say. 

She carefully takes Max's fingers and is overjoyed at the sensation of them squeezing back. They just look at each other for a minute.

The corner of Max's mouth turns up just a little, and El grins because she knows something witty is coming, and that alone is priceless.

Max manages a very raspy, "You look like shit."

El chuckles her way gradually into a laugh that gets bigger and bigger until she's keeled over against Max's arm, laughing so hard she's crying. And then there isn't really any laughing involved at all anymore, she's just plain crying, really hard.

The reaction confuses her. She's been so acclimated to crushing pressure that she doesn't know how to handle the release.

She looks up and finds Max watching her. Her eyes are glazed and tired, but they're clear and blue and beautiful and aware and leaking tears. It’s so good to see her cry pure, clear, harmless tears. 

El knows that she herself is bloodshot and snotty and probably the worst she's ever looked in her life, and she isn't bothered in the slightest that Max is seeing her, because Max is seeing her. And smiling.

She dries Max's tears before her own. Max's lids look slow to reopen, like she’s fighting sleep. 

"You're tired."

Her brows dip for an instant, with a faint noise of protest. 

El gets it. The idea of her going back to sleep is kind of scary. 

“We’re here,” El assures her. “You can rest as long as you need. We will still be here.”

Max's eyes check the room in a way that makes El turn and look, too. Lucas isn't there. She guesses she appreciates him leaving them to their moment. 

She wonders whether it was as good a moment as his and hers. He probably said something sweet to her that he spent all that time preparing. Something better than hi.

It’s not a competition. 

"Get some sleep.”

Max's fingers twitch in hers. "You."

El smiles softly, nodding. She curls her fingers around Max's.

"Wake me. Okay?"

"Hmh." It might mean yes, or no, or it might just be a noise.

El lodges her head against Max's shoulder.

"Mmnighngel," Max murmurs under her breath.

El's head snaps up, as if staring at Max's lips for a full minute will help clarify what she already said.

Her breathing and the beeps of the monitors are slowing. It might have just been a noise.

El puts her head back down, and for the first time in weeks, surrenders to a guiltless sleep.

#this is elmax really but I don't feel like actually writing an elmax resolution because then I'd be sad for lucas #anyone who tags this elumax I'm gonna break into your house and replace your milk with another milk with a slightly sooner exp date #elmax #ficlet #fic #mine #this has been kicking around my drafts forever and it aint gettin nobetternis

[sterlingarcher23]

They are winners...Elumax

1st place... MadMax ranking 1st (I have an idea what the number might be about - it's probably math based. 751.300...)

And these two wake up, greeted in a similar way and... They are winners?

(*)

Notice how Lucas is in the physical world and El in a memory.

Yeah, they'll win.

The two lovers. They fought for her, Lucas in the physical world and El in the mind, and they'll win. (Or technically have even if it doesn't look like it) - in this scene only El is a "ghost", it's her mind avatar (she had blood stains her physical self doesn't on her shirt) while the Lucas & Max we see are a physical representation of them.

Incidentally the differences in appearance is also very much like in Matrix with Neo and others do look different in the real world and in the virtual reality.

But nonetheless... We have two winners here.

Elumax.

And the fact that Lucas is in the physical world and El in the mind, these paralleled scenes in daylight and in darkness, kinda tell you who is the lover in which realm. Both come with a catch. But they...won't be unhappy.

...........................

I know, you don't believe me but for those who do:

Lumax's love language is vision (which according to the established rules can be absorbed from others) and ElMax is touch - that Max won't directly see Lucas, yet through someone else, she will and not be able to touch El physically but only in the mind are the probably the downsides of their relationships.

It's quite obvious that putting a character in this kind of situation in a supernatural show, is meant to be resolved in a way that is in line with the genre rules. This isn't a realistic drama show but one which uses supernatural elements as metaphors. And if harming a character in a supernatural way is possible, the reverse is within the actual rules of that particular universe and the genre...besides: It's fiction. Especially the movie date is foreshadowing which leads to the question: How? Not if.

Besides: Elumax would have an insane amount of representation. A biracial hetero-relationship, a poly, a homosexual relationship, a disabled girl that is also healed through queer love (blind and not blind at the same time bc of DID which did truly happen, a woman misdiagnosed with brain damage because after an accident she was blind but it turned out that she has multiple personality disorder), a positive representation of DID through this, Max being trans coded..... I think it speaks for itself.

PS: *I think Herobylers noticed these scenes but I'm not sure.

#elmax #max mayfield #stranger things #el hopper #elmax is endgame #stranger things analysis #lumax #elumax

[andiwriteordie]

I know you like to write angst and fluff/whatever this will turn out to be, so I propose two options to choose from because I couldn’t decide:

1. An angst filled, heart-wrenching prompt in which Mike and Will have a fight (around the time of season 5) that parallels the rain fight, but when will leaves and Mike follows, Will is Vecna’d (bonus points if Mike says he hates him)

2. A fun, lighthearted prompt with the party at college together and Elumax and Byler engage in an April fools prank war to end all prank wars, which Dustin ultimately wins by pulling one on all of them.

It’s your choice! Whichever you’re feeling in the moment. Congrats on 1500! ❤️

hey piper! wtf was with that first prompt! why would you do that to me, huh? was that necessary? WAS IT?

(said by the woman who chose to write the first prompt instead of the second one.)

i did change a tiny part of the prompt, where it's mike who leaves this time instead of will, but otherwise, the premise is the same. and ouch ouch ouch i'm sorry for this one.

—

you went quiet, and i got mean

Mike can’t remember the last time he was this angry. 

Look… Mike knows that he’s an angry person. He’s prone to frustrated, snappy outbursts, and he’s got a bad reputation of being someone who speaks before he thinks. It’s easy for him to give into negative emotions like anger or to channel other negative emotions like sadness into anger.

Anger is something that gives the illusion of control, whereas sadness is its own beast—untameable, overwhelming, and terrifying. The feeling of anger projects itself outwards towards others, whereas sadness just… overtakes you. Anger is easier to deal with than sadness and guilt and betrayal are.

So, Mike is angry.

And he can’t remember the last time he was this angry.

His hands are trembling, clenched tightly around the stupid fucking painting that has been proudly hanging on Mike’s wall ever since it was gifted to him back in 1986. This stupid painting has traveled with him across the country in the back of Argyle’s pizza van, it’s lived with him for nearly two years in his childhood home, and it’s among one of the few things Mike had chosen to bring with him when the extended Party made the difficult decision to abandon their homes and begin using the lab as their base of operations.

This stupid fucking painting means way too fucking much to Mike, and that’s the only fucking reason he hasn’t ripped it into shreds right now.

God, he’s so fucking angry. He’s so angry, and his heart feels like one big gaping wound right now, torn open by the mortifying betrayal and humiliation caused by his best friend’s lies.

Will lied to him.

Will lied to him.

Will fucking lied to Mike.

He lied to Mike two years ago in that stupid pizza van, and he made up some bullshit story about the painting being from El and about El believing in his ability to lead the Party and about Mike’s importance to their friends. And sure, while maybe the romantic implications of those words had fizzled out once he and El broke up, Mike had still been able to hold on to the encouragement and the love that he’d felt from El’s belief in him. Maybe they weren’t meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but they were always meant to be friends.

And if El and the Party could believe in him, then… then maybe Mike could find the courage to keep leading them, no matter how inadequate he feels.

…

What a load of bullshit.

What a load of fucking bullshit, because El didn’t fucking commission this painting. El didn’t even realize Mike still had the painting, and she sure as hell had never seen it in her life. All those words Will had said about Mike “being the heart” and “guiding the Party” were nothing but a load of bullshit.

And Mike is angry.

…

Mike is hurt.

…

Mike is betrayed.

…

And Mike is humiliated.

But anger is the easiest emotion to deal with, so that’s exactly why Mike finds himself storming down the dimly lit hallways of Hawkins National Lab. He doesn’t even knock on Will’s door; instead, he opens it roughly, letting the door slam against the wall.

Will flinches sharply, looking up from the book he’s reading. A surprised but also confused expression forms on his face, and he narrows his eyes slightly. “Mike?” he asks. “What… what’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you,” Mike spits, barely able to keep his temper contained. “Now.”

The confusion on Will’s face grows. “Um… okay,” he says hesitantly, and he stands up, walking over to Mike. “Is… everything okay?”

A broken laugh escapes Mike’s lips. “‘Is everything okay?’” he echoes incredulously. “No, actually, everything isn’t okay, Will. Everything’s not fucking okay, because I… I just got done talking to El, and you know what? You want to know what El fucking told me?” 

A hurt look forms on Will’s face as Mike all but yells at him, and his eyes flicker to the painting in Mike’s hands. For a moment, a look of recognition flashes across his face, and Will’s eyes go wide. “Mike…”

“No.” Mike shakes his head. “No, don’t. Don’t you… don’t you dare do that, Will. Don’t you dare.”

Tears begin to well in Will’s eyes. “Mike, come on,” he pleads, his voice soft. “I’m sorry—”

“I said don’t, Will!” Mike shouts, and he shoves the painting into Will’s hands, pushing on Will’s chest, the way Will always does to Mike when they argue. “I don’t want your fucking apology, Will! No, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me why you lied to me!”

His voice cracks on those last few words, and God, Mike loathes it. He absolutely loathes the way there are tears stinging his own eyes and how there’s a lump in the back of his throat that just won’t go away. The fiery anger inside his chest spreads, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough to consume all the pain and betrayal and sadness brought on by Will’s lie.

“Mike,” Will whispers. He’s holding onto the painting with trembling hands, and he shakes his head. “I-I didn’t lie—”

“Bullshit!” Mike snaps, and he throws his hands up in the air. “That’s a load of bullshit, Will! You did! You lied to me—straight to my face! You told me El commissioned this stupid fucking painting, and… and you said all that bullshit about… about El needing me and about me… being the Party’s leader and heart… and all that shit. You lied to me, Will. You lied. And I. Want. To. Know. Why.”

Will flinches sharply, and though there are tears in Mike’s own eyes, it’s impossible to miss the way Will’s eyes fill with even more tears. He’s breathing a bit heavily, the way he does near the beginning of a panic attack, and fuck, something in the back of Mike’s mind yells at him to just stop, stop, stop, back up, apologize, don’t do this…

But Mike can’t.

Because Mike is so, so angry and so, so hurt.

God. Everything inside him hurts, and hot, salty tears sting Mike’s eyes as he and Will stand there in silence. 

Everything hurts, and Mike hates it.

So, he does the only thing he can do—the only thing that might make the pain stop.

He pours more gasoline on the fire of his anger, and he hopes that it burns away all the rest of his sadness and pain.

“So, what? Are you just going to stand there?” Mike snaps, his voice trembling. His conscience yells at him to stop. The pain yells at him to keep going. “Tell me, Will. Look me in the eye, and tell me why. Why did you lie to me? Why?”

Will blinks, and he forces himself to take a shuddered breath, holding that stupid painting close. “I can’t,” he whispers, and oh.

Oh, that’s just more gasoline on the fire.

“You can’t?” Mike echoes. “What’s that supposed to mean? You can’t tell me? Why not?”

“Mike,” Will pleads, his voice shaking. “Please… just… just trust me—”

“That’s the last thing you should be asking from me right now!” Mike snaps, clenching his fists at his side, and Will flinches, a broken look forming on his face. “You lied to me, Will, and you want me to trust you? How am I ever supposed to trust you, when you can’t even tell me why you lied?”

Once again, Will just goes quiet, and he shakes his head slightly. His hands are still clenched around that painting, and he takes a slow, deep breath—in and out. In and out.

“I’m sorry,” Will finally says, looking Mike in the eye now. His voice is still trembling, but it sounds like his mind is made up. “I’m sorry I lied to you. But I… I can’t tell you why I lied, Mike. I just can’t.”

The fire spreads inside Mike’s chest, and that lump in the back of his throat grows. For a moment, the two of them stare at each other, standing on the precipice of something that could change everything forever.

This is Mike’s last chance to turn back—to walk away from the edge and to let it go, lest he do something that he regrets.

But his heart aches, worse than it ever has before. And Will’s words—his inability to tell Mike the truth even now as he’s confronted with his own lies—feel like salt rubbed into the wound.

Mike takes the step off the edge.

“I’ll never forgive you for this,” Mike whispers, and he watches as Will’s face crumples as much as the stupid painting in his hand does. “I’m never going to forgive you for this.”

Will swallows the lump in his throat, and he holds the painting tighter, looking down. “Okay,” he whispers, his voice full of resignation. “... Okay.”

Somehow, that response hurts even more, and Mike blinks back the tears in his own eyes. The anger in his heart still burns, but it’s not enough. Nothing is enough to overtake the ache in his heart, and it fucking sucks, because all Mike wants is Will’s honesty.

The only thing that would fix this is the one thing his best friend isn’t willing to give him.

So, without another word, Mike turns and leaves the room, walking briskly down the hallway. He brushes past Jonathan, who gives him a skeptical look that Mike very pointedly chooses to ignore. He’s not in the mood for this bullshit right now, and he doesn’t want to answer anyone’s nosy questions. Right now, all Mike wants is to be alone.

Mike’s  just about to enter his own room when a yell echoes throughout the hallway.

“WILL!”

And Mike’s blood runs cold.

There’s absolutely no hesitation; it’s as if the last ten minutes never happened. Mike turns away from his door, and he sprints down the hallway back towards Will’s room and towards the sound of Jonathan’s frantic shouts.

Shit, shit, shit, shit—

By the time Mike reaches Will’s room, a few others have already crowded around the doorway in an attempt to see what’s going on. He shoves past them, right into Will’s room, and immediately, Mike’s broken, wounded heart drops to the bottom of his stomach.

Because there, frozen in a trance and standing in the middle of his bedroom with his eyes clouded over, is Will Byers.

#andi's asks #byler #byler ficlet #this was mean. #this was so so mean #i wanna keep writing it. #HELP #listen if the painting fight is even a fraction of this level of anger i'm gonna shrivel into a ball and just die