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astrobei · 1 year

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byler 22 for the touch prompts??

22 for touch prompts: falling asleep on the other's shoulder (+ bonus mini soundtrack that i listened to on repeat while writing this)

“Remind me again,” Mike says, as Will climbs into the passenger side of the car, “why we have to go to this thing today?”

Will gives him a look. Or his best attempt at a look anyway. He’s ninety percent sure they fall too flat to ever be effective, or Mike would have stopped saying stupid shit years ago. “This thing?” He struggles with the seatbelt for a moment before it finally clicks into place. “You mean your sister’s wedding? To my brother?”

Mike pulls a face. “If you want to get into the semantics,” he mumbles, adjusting the rearview mirror, and Will laughs.

“You’re ridiculous. It’s their wedding, Mike.”

“Rude to get married on a Saturday night,” Mike says, as if every wedding in the history of the world ever hasn’t taken place on a Saturday night. “Maybe some of us had things to do.”

“Yeah? What did you have going on?” Will asks, smoothing down the lapel of his suit. This jacket is a lint magnet like nothing he’s ever seen before, and he plucks a little piece of it away. “Hot date?”

Mike wiggles his eyebrows, and Will realizes immediately that this was the wrong thing to say. “Yeah,” Mike chirps, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “You.”

Despite himself, Will feels his cheeks turn red. It’s stupid, because he quite literally handed Mike the opportunity to say this on a silver platter, and it’s more dumb than any sort of flirtatious, except the unfortunate truth of dating Mike Wheeler is that he doesn’t even have to try and actually flirt to get Will blushing like a teenage girl. “I had that coming,” he admits, and Mike grins even harder than before. “And we didn’t have a date tonight.”

“We did! We were going to–”

“We can order pizza and watch TV when we get back, Mike,” Will chides, and, when Mike’s lower lip turns downward in something reminiscent of a pout, “this is Nancy’s wedding.”

“I was never Nancy’s favorite sibling,” Mike says noncommittally, releasing the parking brake, “she won’t even notice if I’m not there,” which one, is not true because Mike makes up about a third of Nancy’s bridal party so she will most definitely notice if he goes AWOL. And second, this is also not true because Will knows that Holly is currently in the throes of teenage angst, and Mike is still working on the angst but he’s moved on from the teenager part, at least, which is definitely earning him some points in Nancy’s book. So at worst, he’s tied with Holly. At least for the next couple of years.

And Will knows he’s not being serious anyway. For all of the fuss he’s kicking up, he knows Mike is happy for them. Will checks the backseat to make sure he put the presents in the car earlier that afternoon, and says, laughing, “Cold feet? It’s not even your wedding, Mike.”

“I know,” Mike moans, falling forward until his forehead hits the top of the steering wheel. “And it’s exciting! I’m happy for them! And your brother too, and I know your mom and Hop are so pumped, and– it’s just that I’m not so pumped about spending the evening with my family.”

Will suddenly feels very, very stupid. Jesus, he hadn’t even thought about that– about Mike’s parents being there, and his nana, the one that his mom had totally guilted Nancy into inviting because she might not live long enough to see Mike and Holly get married, Nancy, just let her have this. Which was kind of a depressing enough thought on its own, Will thinks, even without the entire conversation that had followed, the one he’d overheard Mike have on the phone in the living room, loud and frustrated before he’d slammed the phone down on the receiver hard enough for Will to hear it from their bedroom.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes out, then rests a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to them, okay, Mike? Just– hang out with us instead. I know Dustin’s been dying to break out his new dance moves.”

Mike cracks a tentative smile, then turns his face slightly so that one side of it is illuminated by the glow of the street lamps outside. “I’m scared he’s going to get driven away in a stretcher,” Mike admits, and Will grins.

“Yeah, probably. It’ll be a good distraction, at least. I’ll tell him to take one for the team.”

Mike nods once, but he doesn’t look convinced. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Will hesitates, then drops his hand to Mike’s and slots their fingers together. “Hey,” he says quietly. “Look at me.”

Mike looks up the rest of the way. He looks incredible tonight, which is something Will’s been thinking ever since they’d started getting ready an hour ago, and at least half of the reason it took him so long was because he’d been totally distracted the whole time. Maybe Will is just biased, which is a little true, sure, but Mike should definitely wear suits more– and he’s officially taking it upon himself to make sure that Mike wears suits more– because suddenly he’s tempted to take Mike up on his offer of becoming a runaway best man and going back inside and collapsing on the couch and kissing him stupid into the early hours of the morning.

“What?” Mike is saying, eyebrows twisting a little self-consciously. “You’re looking at me funny.”

“You just look really nice,” Will says simply, and then, because that comes nowhere close to how good Mike looks in a tie, “no, actually, you look– wow.”

Mike’s lips twitch, but he looks a little pleased. “Wow? Really?”

“You’ve rendered me speechless,” Will nods rapidly, and Mike’s shy smile breaks into something more genuine. “You– look at you, I mean– I can’t even– wow.”

“Will,” Mike says, drawing out the single syllable until it feels big enough to fill up the whole car. “Okay, I look nice! You can stop playing it up now.”

His cheeks are turning red, slowly, visible even in the dim lighting of the street lamps through the windows, because it’s early fall and it’s started to get dark ridiculously early in the day. It feels like a victory, getting Mike flustered, even after a year of dating. Will smiles to himself.

“I’m not,” Will says, then leans in across the console. “Come here. I’ll prove it.”

“You’ll–” Mike gets out, eyes going wide in surprise, “–has anyone ever told you that you’re–”

Whatever it was that people may or may not have told Will is apparently a mystery that will die with the universe, because Will never finds out. He kisses Mike with one hand still holding his, threads a hand through his hair and cups his jaw. Soft. Slow. Unhurried, even though they should have left ten minutes ago and they’re going to be cutting it real close– Will can’t be bothered to rush.

Mike hums low in the back of his throat, pleased, and shifts closer. He’s pushing himself up over the console, a hand ghosting the side of Will’s neck, when–

Beeeeep.

“What–” Will jerks backwards, startled, and Mike immediately lets go of his hand. “Did you just–”

Mike rubs his elbow and moves further away from the wheel. “I got a little distracted,” he laughs, but the tension has ebbed from his shoulders a little and his eyes are creasing up at the corners, so Will considers this a mission success, thank you. “We should probably go?”

“Good idea,” Will says, then reaches over to smooth out a stray tuft of Mike’s hair that was– he thinks, a little proud of himself– definitely not out of place before. “And hey,” he adds, before Mike can take the car out of park. “Seriously. Ignore your parents. It’s not their wedding, okay, it’s Nancy’s. And Jonathan’s. And they both want us there. Together.”

Mike’s lips press together into a thin, determined line. “You’re right,” he nods, “I know, it’s just–”

“I know,” Will echoes, and Mike shoots him a grateful smile. “Now let’s go, or we really will miss the ceremony.”

—-

They don’t miss the ceremony, which is good, because having both the best man and the– whatever Mike was– would probably not be a good look for anyone involved.

“I can’t believe you cried,” Dustin says, after the toasts are done and the speeches are given and everyone’s been supplied with enough champagne to go a little loose and maybe a little tear-happy.

Mike scowls across the table at him. “I didn’t cry,” he insists, which is kind of pointless because Will had been watching him the whole time he’d been standing up there, shuffling his feet awkwardly in place at his designated spot in between Holly and Robin Buckley, and he’d definitely cried. Just a little, but he had.

“You did,” El chimes in primly, plucking at her shrimp cocktail. “I saw.”

“Thanks, El,” Mike mutters, sinking back in his chair a little and crossing his arms. “It’s– the vows were very emotional, okay, you’d have to be made of total stone to not tear up!”

“I didn’t cry,” Lucas announces, which is a fucking lie, by the way. Will saw him dabbing at his eyes in the bathroom on the way here.

“I think it’s sweet,” he says, instead of throwing Lucas to the dogs like he maybe should have. He flashes Mike a grin, leans over in his chair to bridge the space between them and squeezes his hand, once. “They were very sappy vows, to be fair.”

Mike blinks up at him from where he’s slumped down to somewhere around shoulder height. “You didn’t cry.”

“Oh, I did,” Will assures him. “I just cried in the back with Jonathan while he was getting ready.”

“Really?” Mike perks right up. “You did?”

“Yes,” Will laughs, “and I can’t believe you’re happy about it,” and then Mike grins so wide that Will can’t help but lean in the rest of the way and press a quick kiss to Mike’s cheek.

“You two are disgusting,” Lucas says, and he’s maybe one strike away from Will speaking up about the bathroom incident after all.

“Maybe so,” Mike relents, looking properly cheered up now. “What about it?”

Mike’s grip on Will’s hand never falters. Will feels himself turn warmer with every slow pass of Mike’s thumb over his knuckles, even with their hands tucked under the tablecloth and out of view. And it isn’t from the champagne. He’s had just the one glass with dinner, which is nothing, so it must be something else that’s making him feel like this. Something–

“You okay?” Mike murmurs as his thumb pauses, briefly, on the back of Will’s hand. “You got kind of quiet out of nowhere,” and yeah, there it is.

“I meant it,” Will says, lowering his voice so their friends can’t hear them from across the table. “What I said in the car, I mean. You look beautiful.”

It’s a little amusing just how fast Mike can turn such a violent shade of red. “You can’t just say that,” he splutters. “Give a guy some warning, Jesus, Will–”

“Mm, no,” Will decides smugly, watching the red creep down the collar of Mike’s carefully starched dress shirt. Then, because the soft lighting of the venue and the way Mike’s hair has started to fall free around his face is doing something funny to his chest and stomach, Will nods to the dance floor and says, “You wanna?”

Mike hesitates, looking over his shoulder. “Dance?”

Will shrugs, then looks over to where Jonathan and Nancy are trying– and failing, quite hilariously and miserably– at a dance of their own. “I mean, it’s a wedding, and people dance at weddings. Not that either of us are good at it, but it might be fun to try?”

Mike chews nervously at his lower lip and nudges Will’s foot with his own. “I don’t know,” he admits. “My mom was eyeing me earlier and I was totally avoiding her by hiding out over here but I feel like the dance floor is fair game for a–” he waves his hands around, “pseudo-confrontation. Nancy’s only three years older than you, blah, blah. When are you going to settle down, blah, blah. Even though I’m here with my boyfriend, which apparently doesn’t count for shit, and–” Mike sighs dejectedly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down, it’s just– I was having such a good day, too.”

Will squeezes Mike’s leg, just above the knee. “You were having a good day? Really? Even though your hot date got canceled?”

“Well,” Mike rolls his eyes. “My sister got married, and now my hot date is all dressed up and sweet-talking me, so I think this is even better than pizza on the couch.” He pauses, contemplating. “Actually, scratch that. It’s not. But it’s a close second,” Mike adds, then grins and picks Will’s hand up again. “Dance– later, maybe? I’m really enjoying this for right now.”

“Of course. Anything you want,” Will smiles, as the music in the background softens into something more mellow. He pulls his chair up so that it’s flush with Mike’s, their thighs pressed up together in one line, and passes Mike a flute of champagne from the table. “You might want to drink this, though, because your mom looks like she might be heading over here any second.”

“Thanks,” Mike groans, then knocks the whole thing back in one go.

—-

Will knows that a big fancy flashy wedding isn’t really Jonathan’s style, and he didn’t think it was Nancy’s either. Which is why he was surprised to get an invite to an event at all, because he’d honestly sort of thought they’d make a courthouse affair of it and then have everyone over for dinner or something. They’d been engaged for, like, three years, because it was career stuff and then more career stuff and then a couple months of long distance while Jonathan was doing some photojournalism thing in London, and Will had figured at some point that they’d get so tired of being engaged that they’d show up the next day with papers from City Hall and that would be that.

Apparently, though, in a not-so-surprising turn of events, Nancy Wheeler takes to event planning like a moth to flame, and Jonathan was immediately dragged along for the ride. He didn’t seem too upset about it, though, when Will had asked. “It’s Nancy,” he shrugged, like that explained everything. And maybe it did, because not too long after that, Will started dating Mike and everything immediately clicked.

Which is maybe the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to him. For anyone else, Will would not even entertain the thought of fussing over seating arrangements, and he’s certain he only knows, like, five types of flowers– if pink and red roses count as two different types. It’s Nancy, Jonathan had said, and Will hadn’t gotten it then but he does now.

Mike’s hand twitches on Will’s bicep, fingers clutching once at the fabric of his shirt. Will’s suit jacket lies abandoned on the chair behind them. Mike had leaned over maybe half an hour ago to rest his head on Will’s shoulder, as it got later in the night and guests started slowly trickling out of the room. And then, maybe fifteen or so minutes ago, his breathing had evened out, fingers slackening in their grip against his arm, and Will doesn’t know how the hell Mike can fall asleep in a room that’s filled with so much noise, but he can’t help but find it endearing– wholly, completely, embarrassingly endearing.

And he gets it, he does. It’s Mike, he thinks, chest flooding with warmth in a strange, hollowed-out way, like there’s nothing left inside him except this feeling. It’s Mike. It’s Mike. It’s–

“Hey, hon,” comes a voice behind him, and Will startles, just a little, then immediately relaxes.

“Oh, hey mom,” he whispers, and Mike’s hand twitches lightly against his arm again. Joyce gives him an amused look, glancing down at Mike, then back at Will.

“Did he fall asleep?” she asks, pulling up a chair next to them. “I’ll be quiet, don’t worry.”

Will feels himself smile before he actually realizes he’s doing it. “Yeah,” he snorts softly, “but I have no idea how.”

As if roused by some sixth sense, like he knew they were talking about him, Mike stirs, lifting his head off of Will’s shoulder and blinking blearily. “What–”

“Shh,” Will says, and Joyce bites back a smile. “Go back to sleep.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Mike says, and then yawns loud and conspicuously. “Shit– I’ve just been so tired this week, sorry, Will–”

“Don’t be,” he says immediately, even though his shoulder and arm are starting to fall asleep, just a little. Will drops a kiss to the top of Mike’s head, and feels him start to smile into his shoulder before stiffening, a little self-consciously, and glancing up at Joyce.

“Um–”

“Oh,” his mom waves a hand, “don’t mind me. You two are so sweet. You remind me of Nancy and Jonathan after they started dating. Jonathan would turn so red, but maybe not as red as you’re turning right now, Will–”

“Mom!”

“Red?” Mike perks up, and then, “Oh you are turning red!”

“Shut up,” Will mumbles, but he’s sure it’s not convincing in the slightest. “Did you come over here just to embarrass me?”

Joyce puts two hands up in the air like hey, don’t look at me. “I was just going to let you know that Hop and I are taking off,” she says, eyes sparkling. “He has the early shift tomorrow, but Mike, now that I’ve caught you– your speech was wonderful. Really. Jim was tearing up and he told me to never let you find out but I figured you’d want to know.”

Mike blinks. He still looks a little out of it, still a little red from sleep or the champagne from earlier, but he smiles, sudden and pleased. “Really?”

“Don’t tell him I told you,” Joyce grins conspiratorially. “But yes. It was very sweet.”

“Thanks Mrs. Byers,” Mike says, the words stretching into another yawn, quieter this time. He groans lightly, then pushes himself off of Will’s shoulder and sits back up.

Will peers over at him. “Are you tired? You want to head back?”

Mike rubs at his eyes with both hands, blinks a few times in rapid succession, then shakes his head like he’s trying to shake the sleep out of his body, like it’s a physical thing. “No,” he smiles, and it’s a little bit tired, but he looks happy. “No, not yet.”

“Okay,” Will whispers, and he’s probably grinning like an idiot, but he can’t help it. That’s the common denominator here, between every interaction he ever has with Mike– that he’s so happy that he just can’t help it. “You still want to get pizza on the way back?”

“God, yes please,” Mike groans in relief. “Um. No offense, but wedding food is just– like what the hell, man, I’m starving. That was nothing.”

“Pizza it is,” Will agreed easily, mentally making a pros and cons list of getting a large and having leftovers or saving money and going for a medium. “Pepperoni?”

“Anything goes,” Mike is saying, and then Joyce clears her throat.

“Well,” she says, snapping her purse shut and smiling. “Hop and I are heading out but– oh, drive safe you two. Eat a slice for me, actually, I’ve been craving pizza all week.”

“Bye, mom,” Will smiles, craning his neck upwards as she plants a kiss on top of his head.

“You too,” she says to Mike, who barely has time to blink in surprise before his mom is dropping a kiss on his forehead. She rests a hand on his shoulder briefly as she smiles and says, “I’d welcome you to the family, Mike, but you’ve been a part of it for years already.”

“I– bye, Mrs. Byers,” Mike says faintly, eyes wide, as Joyce waves goodbye. He turns back to Will. “Part of the family? Really?”

“It’s what you get for dating your best friend,” Will murmurs, glancing out over the rapidly emptying room before tugging on Mike’s arm until he falls into him with a small, startled noise. “You get smothered by my mom.”

“I wouldn’t call it smothering,” Mike laughs, eyes darting down to Will’s mouth. He swallows, and says, softly, “Plus, I like your family. No complaints from me.”

Will hums, soft. “I’m sorry about– you know. How did that go?”

“Nancy said she survived mom and dad with minimal damage,” Mike laughs drily. “And nana too. And I managed to avoid them long enough that they didn’t have a chance to ambush me, so.”

“Good,” Will says, kissing Mike softly on the corner of his mouth, then again, right over the curve of his cupid’s bow. He’s a little warm, a little loose and pliant from sleep, and he moves easily, tucking a finger into the loop of Will’s tie and pulling him in closer. Their knees bump against each other under the tablecloth, chair legs scraping gently across the polished floor as Will leans forward. “I’m glad,” Will says into the kiss, and Mike smiles.

“Me too,” Mike whispers, tucking his hands into Will’s hair and pulling away, just barely. “Because now they’re gone and all of our annoying cursory invite relatives are gone and it’s just you and me– and Nancy, and Jonathan, and El and Lucas and– whatever. I think I owe you a dance.”

There’s something slow and melodic playing as Nancy and Jonathan make the last of their rounds, most of the tables empty and the dance floor cleared out. Will grins, kisses Mike one more time for good measure, then stands up. “Okay,” he agrees, “but I’m leading.”

“I don’t think it makes a difference, because neither of us can–”

“I’m leading,” Will says again, and Mike chuckles, shaking his head.

“Yeah, sure. Lead the way, Will.”

#oh this got away from me #this really really got away from me #parker the actual prompt part is so minor i'm so sorry i had a vision for this and then it got away from me so bad #idk why i thought jancy wedding but the thought popped into my head and i just went with it #something so personal to me is jancy deciding to have a courthouse wedding but then nancy gets into planning like music and food and stuff #nothing fancy like she's not a bridezilla by any means #but they end up having a small ceremony n reception with just their family n close friends #like the extended party + jopper #and on nancy's side her parents wheedle her into inviting a few other relatives like aunts n cousins but it's still iike 25-30 people max #anyways these tags got so long and weren't even byler #parker i hope u like this !!!#probably is not even what u had in mind but . Yeah #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #fic #fun sized fics

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normal-is-a-raging-psychopath · 11 months

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ok so I just saw this (@blobvis456) fanart of max with the caption "do you accept the risk?" which obviously is the quote lucas said to max when telling her about the up-side down.

and that threw my mind to this one analysis? or something that focused on how mike was against telling people about the supernatural shit, both as a way to keep the party safe, and also the person. I'll try to find it because I'm pretty sure I rb'd it and I'll link it when I do. EDIT : here (@darkquill98)

I am a sucker for time travel au's. specifically when the future is thrown into the past and reveals something not known (relationships -romantic or otherwise-, personal revelations etc) or when the past gets transported to the future and just see how they're future selfs are, whether it be in a fluffy way or angsty or something in between.

anyways. imagine this. it's the st season 2 finale after el closes the gates and everyone is back at the byer's house. they're planning the sleepover (the party not the older teens because it's awkward still). it's been a long night, and then suddenly there's a long bang or something and two people kinda just appear on the floor of the byers living room (where the party was planning on sleeping).

everyone's on edge, weapons are pointed and then they realize who it is.

mike and max considerably older (I see them as seniors but anytime post-s4 post-vecna defeat goes).

during this time, mike's gotten up to a sitting position on the floor, but max is still on her back.

a key point in this is that max is disabled.

so everyone (present) is surrounding m&m (it's much easier to type that max and mike every time) and they see as mike slowly helps max up and positions himself behind her so that she can lean against him.

this is odd for two reasons. a) max and mike are getting along? mike is helping her? which he'd obviously do either way (see skateboard scene) but still, it's the care and love he does it with. b) why does max need help? why didnt she get up her self?

before they can verbalise this one of the walkie talkies starts spewing static and first, which slowly clears into lucas's voice. future lucas.

there's talking about are they ok? do you know what happened? and so on so forth. it's not really planned out in my head but there are a few things revealed. 1) a reference is made to both el and will working together in order to create a signal between the present and future radios, 2) lucas asks how max is and she replies that it's a bad day and quips the whatever sent them here is abelist because it didn't even bother to send her wheelchair with her.

(max absolutely plays the abelism card wherever she can fight me on this. she also makes so many dark jokes related to it. i think lucas would kinda hate it but it makes her smile so it's fine with him. el also kinda hates it but she finds it funny as well so she conflicted.)

also the way I imagine things, most days max is in her wheelchair with limited mobility, on good days, she's able to walk with her crutches but on bad days (like the one she's having) she can barely move without pain and needs help a lot. (which the party+extended are always happy to give her)

so after the whole conversation, obviously the present have some questions, m&m just reveal that max is paralyzed due to some event with the up-side down but not how (because they're not sure how much they can reveal)

anyway onto why i wanted this. the angst. i want present max to cope with the fat fact that she can't walk, i want mike's guilt at not being able to keep her away, I want lucas's horror because he was the one that brought her into this. maybe will and el feel guilty because it was caused by the upside down. maybe the older members (teens +jopper) feel guilty because they're older they should have been able to protect her.

while i'd like the main focus to be how max has adapted to her disability (speaking of which, does anyone have any fics recs like that?) I also want little snippet into the future to show that despite things becoming worse for a while it's also gotten so much better. i see elumax and byler. or if elumax isnt your thing then elmax or lumax maybe with henderhop aswell. idk, it's kinda flexible ig (excepts for byler even though it's not a main-main focus i still want a reveal because mike to mike chat about their sexuality and relationship with will and el and will learning that theres hope (especially considering it's following the shed scene) and theres just a lot i think can be explored there)

it it was elumax, which is what i thought of, then it's lucas and max finding out they get together and finally act on their feelings, its lucas feeling odd because he's also dating el and he though that el and mike had their thing going on. its el's not sexuality crisis i would say but realising not everything is like in the movies. its el and max realising that they worked through their problems and became friends and then more.

for the older teens idk what but im either leaning towards established jancy whose worked through their issue with steve who is learning he's come to term with it and learning about robin (he definitely make more of an effort to befriend her while working at scoops ahoy) or stonathon. which might require alteration to the canon s2 or maybe not and they figure out how that complicated mess of relationships worked out (which i think would be hilarious cause at this point in time stancy have just had their nasty break-up and jancy are in that weird phase that's like we fucked and we lie each other a lot but haven't defined what we are yet only to find out apparently steve and jonathan are dating?? what?)

for jopper, if they find out they're established and married, I think there's a whole lot to work through, cause while joyce may have had some feelings for hop, that was far overshadowed by her love for bob who she is now grieving because he's dead because she dragged him into this supernatural bullshit and yeah she has a lot of shit to work through. not to mention I think hopper will also need time to come to terms especially since the last time he was married didnt go well.

this has drastically spiralled but whatever.

as a bonus to the previous, give me the byer-hopper clan realising they're becoming a family. jonathan had a new father figure and he doesn't know how to feel about that. hop suddenly has 2 sons. joyce has a daughter now jonathan and will have a sister now el has two brother now. apparently will and el who literally only just met are as close as twins in the future.

can you tell that i really love time travel au's. there's just so much potential.

this has spiraled way out of control so if the beginning and the end seem disjointed, its because I expected this to go in a very different direction.

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schrijverr · 11 months

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A Behind the Scenes of: Robin and Rose's Wedding

With Robin and her wife Rose as special guest, Jonathan gives insight into their illegal wedding that happened in '94.

On AO3.

Ships: Robin x ofc (background: jargancy, steddie, byler, elumax, jopper)

Warnings: homophobia mention

~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe Jonathan Byers is a misogynist,�� Robin says. They’re still setting up and both her, Jonathan and Rose are shuffling into frame and sitting down.

“Will you let that go, I never said that,” Jonathan complains as he adjusts the mic on his shirt.

“You let Steve and Eddie talk about their wedding and didn’t ask me,” Robin counters, pouting heavily. “I think that’s very misogynistic of you.”

“I immediately agreed when you asked,” Jonathan exclaims.

“But I had to ask,” Robin counters.

“I’m not a mind reader!” Jonathan says exasperated.

“Be nice to Jon, dear,” Rose speaks up, finally interrupting the argument, though she looks more amused than actually chastising.

“Alright, alright, at least my wedding photographer didn’t have a crush on my wife, so that’s a win,” Robin pretends to give in only to tease Jonathan again.

“Oh my god, did Steve tell you that?” Jonathan groans.

“Of course dingus told me that,” Robin informs him cheerily. “Now let’s start talking about our wedding.”

“Thank fuck,” Jonathan sighs. “Just know I’m keeping that in to show what I put up with when you guys are over. I don’t know when these turned into roast Jonathan videos. Nancy and Jane were lovely guests, you know.”

“I feel like it adds character, shows the wide extend of personalities we have,” Robin grins. “Now dance monkey, dance.”

Jonathan shakes his head at her. Despite it all, he doesn’t actually look annoyed. Then he straightens up and starts the video: “Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography. Today, I’m here with Robin and Rose to talk about their illegal wedding in ‘94.”

“Hi, I’m Robin,” Robin introduces herself. Her bracelets clink together as she waves, there are laugh lines around her eyes and mouth and her hair is dyed a bright green. She’s wearing a funky patterned button up to go with it.

“And I’m Rose,” Rose adds, also waving. She’s wearing a deep green dress and a nice necklace and earrings. Her red hair cascades down her shoulders and she smiles with red painted lips.

“As with the other wedding, there was a structure to the layout,” Jonathan explains. “First you have the proposal, then the ceremony, the wedding photo shoot, the party itself, the morning after and then you two leaving for your honeymoon. That’s quite a lot, so I don’t know if we’re talking about the last two. We’ll see where it goes.”

“Fair enough,” Rose says as Robin snatches up the book and excitedly flips to the right page.

“Okay,” Robin starts once she found it. “First one is Accepted Proposal, ahh, so exciting.”

Accepted Proposal is taken at Argyle’s restaurant, since it had been empty at the time, save for the Boston crew, as well as a known queer safe space. In it is Robin on one knee in front of Rose, in her hand she has a little box popped open to show the ring in it. Rose has her hands clapped over her mouth in shock, tears in her eyes. Robin just grins shyly at her.

“I loved your proposal,” Rose smiles softly. “I didn’t see it coming at all and it was just perfect. You always manage to find a way to sweep me off my feet and make my dreams come true.”

“Oh my god, I am so gay. Steve 100% didn’t prepare me for this,” Robin breathes, before backtracking. “Not that I want to ruin this moment by mentioning Steve, I just meant that that is so sweet and beautiful and I love you and it’s all overwhelming.”

“Ahw, baby, come here,” Rose coos, pulling Robin into her chest and holding her tightly in her arms as Robin melts into her hold. Rose kisses her forehead and says: “I love you too.”

“We’re going to be like this the whole time aren’t we?” Robin speaks up, a little muffled from where she is burying her head in Rose’s chest.

“Probably,” Rose agrees.

“God grant me mercy,” Jonathan sighs.

Robin straightens up to point out: “You’re an atheist.”

“Yeah, but a man can wish,” Jonathan jokes, before he moves back to their task at hand: “This was taken at Argyle’s diner after closing. The diner was a queer gathering place to those that knew, but we also got a lot of drunken students.”

“Yeah, I wanted to ask it somewhere private and safe that wasn’t like our living room,” Robin says. “And there isn’t a better place to go. Our first date was there too.”

“It was perfect,” Rose tells her.

“I’m glad,” Robin smiles.

They hold eye contact for a second, while Jonathan introduces the next one: “Alright, on the same page we also have Wedding Preparations, which is taken by Steve. Wanna tell us what’s going on here?”

The photo in question is of Eddie, Robin and Rose surrounded by fake flowers at their kitchen table. They seem to be gluing them together into one big flowery monstrosity, whose purpose isn’t clear. The flowers are a mix or white, light pink and a dark red.

“We were making the flower decoration piece for our wedding and wedding photo shoot,” Robin says. “We might not have had a big church wedding or some shit, but we were going to have a pretty wedding.”

“It was part of my scrapbook and Robin was determined to make one, since we couldn’t do most other stuff. It was very sweet,” Rose answers.

“Well, what else was I going to do?” Robin asks. “You wanted a nice wedding, I was going to try my damnedest to make it so.”

“And I’m very lucky to have that,” Rose tells her.

Jonathan gives the two a fond smile, before flipping the page. “Okay, page 182 and 183 is the ceremony, starting with Here Comes One of the Brides, which is a reference to the song here comes the bride, but queered, because that’s what we’re all about.”

Here Comes One of the Brides is taken in the apartment Robin and Rose shared. Most of their furniture has been moved to Eddie and Steve’s and the living room has been turned into a wedding location. A few chairs are set in rows facing the place where the flower piece they’ve made functions as decorative piece.

It had been a small wedding, but all the chair are filled. At the front is Robin in a three piece pinstriped suit with bow tie, her buzzed hair freshly shaved. She is biting her lip and crying a bit, though doing a great job of pretending she isn’t.

Behind Robin is Steve, who is the best man, while Rose’s sister is maid of honor, waiting opposite to Robin as Rose walks the aisle, though she isn’t in the image. The wedding was officiated by Argyle, who is wearing a beautiful tiered skirt and blouse, and is grinning happily.

“Ahww, our little makeshift wedding venue,” Robin says. “We truly got married in our living room.”

“I think it was very romantic anyway,” Rose adds. “It was like we were able to visit that memory every day.”

“That’s such a sweet way to look at it,” Robins tells her, making gooey eyes as Rose blushes and thanks her.

“It was a nice wedding,” Jonathan says. “I think your guys properly transformed the space and made it feel fancy.”

“Thank you, Jon,” Rose says. “And thank you for taking all the photos too. I love this photo of Robin, she is so handsome, I love her in a suit.”

“Why thank you, darling,” Robin drawls jokingly, though she’s blushing too.

“No problem, did it with love,” Jonathan assures them. “And it was also personal gain, honestly. It added to my personal portfolio. I’m mostly glad that you agreed to let me use them for this, because your wedding has so many good queering of heteronormative moments.”

Robin laughs at that. “Yeah, it’s almost as if we’re two dykes tying the knot.”

“Yeah, almost,” Jonathan agrees with humor in his eyes.

“Still, thank you,” Rose smiles.

“Totally thank you, like without you I wouldn’t have this very beautiful photo of my wife,” Robin says, pointing at the page.

On screen a photo of Rose appears. She is wearing a gorgeous white wedding gown. It is a princess dress with all the ruffles and frills that fan out around her like a flower. She doesn’t have any sleeves, but she is haloed by her veil, which turns into a train. In her hand she has a bouquet of roses.

She is smiling, practically glowing as she walks down the aisle next to her father, who is giving her away with foggy eyes. She has been one of the lucky ones with accepting parents. Off to the side, her mother can be seen, crying her eyes out. Rose however is repressing the water works, looking like a picture perfect bride.

“For the record she’s pointing at Rose Given Away,” Jonathan informs the camera, before replying: “I love this photo. It such a typical bridal photo, but there is something about it that I can’t describe, but that is just so gay.”

“I think queer femininity is different than traditional femininity,” Rose says thoughtfully after a second. “A lot of traditional femininity is tied to attracting a man, which isn’t really a goal in queer femininity, so there are certain things that just aren’t present. I don’t know if what I’m saying makes sense.”

“It totally makes sense, she’s just being humble, but she’s actually super smart and reads a lot and is into gender theory and shit,” Robin interrupts, hanging off Rose as she does.

“Thank you, dear,” Rose tells her.

“Always, darling,” Robin replies.

“That is super interesting, I like that,” Jonathan agrees with Robin. “That is totally the vibe.”

“Not to mention she is super stunning and beautiful and looking like a fucking princess,” Robin adds. “Like, I’m not going to get graphic here.” “Please, don’t.” “But I regret not doing a garter thing, but it might be better, because I would not have come back out from under there.”

“Oh my god, Robin!” Rose squeal laughs.

“That’s you not getting graphic?” Jonathan chokes, stuck between appalled and dying of laughter.

There are also chuckles coming from behind the camera, before Argyle asks: “Can we please keep that in?”

Robin and Rose exchange a look, before Rose says: “Sure, it’s not me exposing myself.”

“I don’t expose myself, I speak truth,” Robin declares.

“Of course, dear,” Rose says, patting her arm, before she turns to Jonathan: “So, what’s next?”

Jonathan looks back down to the book, which had kind of been forgotten in the chaos. “The next one is First Kiss as a Married Couple and this whole page is about you two being officiated as married.”

The photo that appears is of Robin and Rose’s first kiss at the altar, unofficially wedded. Rose is pulling Robin in by the lapels of her jacket and Robin is enthusiastically clinging back, half pulling Rose’s veil off.

“I love the enthusiasm in this photo,” Jonathan says. “I talked about this with Eddie and Steve, but a lot of straight couple getting married don’t even like each other, which makes it more insane that love like this wasn’t legal. It’s just weird. But I’ll get off my nonsense and just say I love the enthusiasm.”

“I must agree that I also love the enthusiasm,” Robin nods, before she looks at Rose and bats her eyes: “I love it when you pull me into a kiss by my lapels. Very hot.”

“God, you are ridiculous,” Rose giggles. “But you’re so handsome in your suit, I feel like I can’t be blamed. Plus, you ripped off my veil and nearly tripped us both over, it was just practical to hold you put so we wouldn’t fall.”

“You know me so well, woman after my own heart,” Robin fake swoons.

“So are you, handsome,” Rose replies, booping her nose. Then she turns to Jonathan and says: “I think to add to your point, another aspect is that a lot of straight culture is being respectable and especially those that like get married in a church. PDA is kind of demonized and seen as sinful, they’re not kissing like this.”

“Huh, yeah, never thought about that, but that’s probably because the only straight wedding I attended was between mom and dad,” Jonathan says. “And like Steve and Robin if you want to count that. I refuse to count the others, they were queer.”

“And you are so correct for that, bestie,” Robin tells him.

“Oh my god, you are no longer allowed to hang out with the teens when you come visit me at work,” Rose exclaims. “They’re corrupting you.”

“Slay,” Robin attempts to deadpan, but a grin is breaking through.

“I hate you,” Rose giggles.

“Love you too,” Robin replies, letting the grin break through on her face.

The two of them giggle as Jonathan moves on: “Then the next photo is Unofficially Officiated, which is of the ceremony itself.”

It is of Argyle when officiating. He is speaking passionately, clearly visible between the smiling Robin and Rose. The affection from the photographer clearly shines through in the image.

“You are so gay for Argyle it’s hilarious,” Robin comments. “Like this our lesbian wedding and you manage to focus wholly on Argyle and it still be gay, because you use your camera to create fucking heart eyes at him.”

“I can’t help that he’s pretty,” Jonathan defends himself, blushing deeply.

“Ahw, you are pretty too, buttercup,” Argyle comments from behind the camera.

“You did look amazing,” Robin agrees. “And I love your officiating speech. It was very out there, I loved the energy.”

“I tried,” Argyle says.

“Alright, then the last one on the page is Celebrating, which I love. It’s tells such a story,” Jonathan moves on.

Celebrating is of Robin, now turned to Steve with her back to Rose. She is screaming with wide eyes as if she can’t believe that just happened and needs Steve to confirm. Steve is holding her hands, also screaming. Both are jumping with joy. In the background is Rose, rolling her eyes fondly at the duo.

Robin and Rose lean over to see the photo. Rose starts laughing the moment she sees, while Robin flushes red. She complains: “Rose always bullies me for this.”

“No, I don’t,” Rose argues.

“Yes, you do,” Robin pouts. “Remember like last week when you kissed me and asked if I needed to go find Steve to yell at him? We’ve been married for 23 years, this joke can die.”

“But it’s so funny,” Rose says. “It was cute, I swear. You were so excited about it. And I know how you and Steve are, I knew that when I said yes.”

“Alright, if you say so,” Robin gives in.

“I do say so,” Rose promises, punctuating her point by kissing Robin on the cheek.

“You kind of said all that needed to be said about this one,” Jonathan adds. “I do like to point out Rose here. She looks so fond, which I love as a little detail.”

“See, Jon agrees that it’s fond,” Rose says.

“Still a stupid joke,” Robin mumbles, but she doesn’t look too disgruntled.

Jonathan flips the page and snorts when he sees what’s on it. He says: “Okay, so these two pages are the photo shoot we did for your wedding and I love all of them, but I think we should just explain what we were doing and pick two to talk about so it doesn’t get completely out of hand.”

“Alright, I want to talk about my children,” Rose immediately agrees.

“I wanna talk about the Rob and Rose one,” Robin says.

“Okay, so we got two picked,” Jonathan says. “Now the concept for this was a stereotypical wedding photo shoot, but with an edge of ridicule. We took it seriously, but also made it absurd. I think you came up with it, Robin?”

“Well, it was collaborative,” Robin replies.

“No, it wasn’t. You made fun of me and then we did it anyway,” Rose corrects.

“You and I remember this very differently,” Robin says. “Why do you think that?”

“We went through my old wedding scrap book I made when I was fifteen and there were photos like this one in it and you laughed for like twenty whole seconds before demanding we did this. How else was I supposed to interpret that?” Rose asks.

Robin is quiet for a minute, then says: “Okay when you say it like that, I get why you think that, but I was never laughing at you, just the concept of it.”

“It was in my wedding scrap book,” Rose points out.

“That you made when you were fifteen!” Robin exclaims. “Everyone is stupid at fifteen.”

“Yeah, what were you doing at fifteen then, huh?” Rose shoots back.

“I was being jealous of Steve and the attention he got while being mad at him because he left crumbs everywhere,” Robin answers honestly.

“I thought you were seventeen when you two met,” Jonathan pipes up.

“Long story, Jonathan,” Robin waves him away. “The point is, it wasn’t meant as making fun of you, my love, so let’s just look at them and agree about that.”

“Of course, dear,” Rose gives in easily. She never was truly upset about it, but you don’t spend over twenty years around the party without starting silly arguments for the sake of arguing.

“So, first up Newlyweds Rob & Rose,” Jonathan starts out.

On screen the photo that appears is of Robin with Rose standing in front of her. They look to be posing for a family portrait in the late 1800s with serious faces. Robin has her hand on Rose’s shoulder, taller than her, but only because of the step stool that is clearly in frame.

“Okay, so this was meant to be like a typical 19th century family portrait,” Robin says. “And I think it’s so funny that you can just see the step stool right there. Because Rose is a lovely, beautiful, tall queen and I’m the butch one of us two, so to fully parody it, I had to be taller.”

“It’s hysterical,” Rose agrees. “But I was so terrified of you being up on that thing. I love you very much, handsome, but god, your coordination.”

Robin cackles loudly at that, falling into Rose’s side. She crows: “Oh my god, that is amazing, Steve told me the same exact thing when I mentioned talking about these to him. Remember when I almost face planted?”

“I do,” Rose tells her, sounding a little pained at the memory, but amused by Robin’s delight.

“It was a terrifying shoot for all the wrong reasons,” Jonathan agrees, snorting softly. “I also really like the title. Nance came up with this one, she’s said you guys would appreciate the gender fuckery of it.”

“We do,” Robin says immediately.

“Yeah, we are very much a butch4femme couple,” Rose nods. “This felt very accurate of us, while also fitting with the theme. I loved all the titles honestly.”

“The titles were very good and as Rose said, I am very butch. I border on this woman-not-woman edge of lesbianism and that makes me more comfortable with being addressed in a more masculine way, like going by Rob most of the time,” Robin says. “And honestly, I feel really blessed with how I’m represented in this book. Like I love all the other girls in there, but god what I wouldn’t have given to see a butch dyke when I was a teen, you know.”

Jonathan looks very touched by the comment and he replies: “I’m very honored you think that I presently you right, that means a lot.”

“Come here, you,” Robin exclaims, chocking up a little as she pulls Jonathan into a hug. More muffled because of it, she says: “Fuck, I told Steve I wasn’t gonna get mushy and here I am. He’s gonna laugh at me.”

She lets go and both of them wipe their eyes as they pretend not to. Rose puts a comforting hand on Robin’s back.

To move on from the moment, Jonathan says: “Then the other one we wanted to talk about is Wedding Picture with the Children.”

The photo is of Robin and Rose, sitting on the ground together. Rose’s dress fans around her as Robin sits in a mermaid pose next to her. It had been a lot of work to get their huge collection of garden gnomes they usually keep in a display near their front door positioned around them, forming a small army. Robin and Rose are both smiling proudly and happily, albeit a little cheeky too.

“Okay, so a lot of people have asked about the gnomes,” Jonathan informs them. “Why all the gnomes?”

Robin looks to Rose and gestures as if to say: Go ahead.

“Well, I already collected gnomes when we met. I started collecting them when I was nineteen, I think,” Rose answers. “My grandma moved to a care home and she had two in her garden that my mom wanted to throw out, so I stole them. They were so ugly, I loved them. From then on it became kind of a thing for me. I think I drunkly took that one from a garden once.”

She points at one, which gets circled in the photo on screen. The gnome in question has overalls and is holding a little shovel.

“They’ve always kind of hung around my dorms and apartments. A lot of dates thought they were creepy, but that night I met Robin we ended up on the topic. When I told her about it she said ‘gnome way’ and I gave her my number right then and there,” Rose tells Jonathan. “She was the one that demanded we put them in a display case by the door when we moved in together.”

Robin is smiling fondly and looking quite pleased with herself as Rose recounts the story. “Best pun I ever made,” she says. “11 out of 10, would do again.”

“No matter how many times I hear that, it just keeps being iconic,” Jonathan laughs.

“Personally, I consider myself not the stepdad, but the dad that stepped up for these gnomes,” Robin says. “I was channeling my inner dingus for this photo in particular. Don’t I look exactly like him on his wedding with the kids in the party.”

Jonathan and Rose both laugh, then Jonathan glances at the photo again, before gasping: “Oh my god, I can totally see it now.”

“Wait, gimme,” Rose demands as Jonathan wordlessly hands her the book. She looks at it closely, before exclaiming: “Oh my god, you totally do.”

“Of course I did, I know that man inside and out,” Robin says, almost affronted at the idea she couldn’t imitate Steve flawlessly.

“God, you’re ridiculous, I love you so much,” Rose tells her, handing the book back to Jonathan.

Robin’s face lights up in a big smile as she replies: “I love you too. Very much.”

As they gaze into each other’s eyes, Jonathan flips the page. He says: “Page 186 and 187 was the first and second dance. I put them as four in a line to tell kind of a story from left to right, starting with Asking for a Dance.”

The photo is of Robin, bowing as she kisses Rose’s hand. Rose is grinning widely, half hiding behind her other hand.

“Look at you, handsome. Always such a gentleman, made me feel like a princess,” Rose gushes.

“You are a princess,” Robin assures her, making Rose blush.

“Stahp,” she giggles.

Jonathan adds: “It is a lovely photo of you two. Very much a mix of that queering of the heteronormative and queer gender expression.”

“I live to queer it all,” Robin cheers, grinning widely as Rose high fives her.

At that, Jonathan shakes his head, before moving on: “Next to it is First Dance, title kind of speaks for itself here.”

In the photo Robin and Rose are very close together and swaying. Robin’s coordination prevents complicated choreography, however, she valiantly lead Rose that day and they danced for a big part of the night.

“The way I struggled with even this,” Robin groans in embarrassment. “Ask anyone and they’ll tell you I am the most uncoordinated person alive. The fact that we didn’t fall a hundred times is a combination of a miracle and your strong arms steadying us. Even with Steve coaching me for weeks late at night, I barely managed.”

“I think it’s very sweet that you tried so hard and I had a great time dancing with you,” Rose tells her gently.

“Still, I think I did better the second time around,” Robin says.

“Maybe, but I think this first one is still my favorite,” Rose replies.

“Ahw, stop, you’re gonna make me cry,” Robin exclaims, again burying herself in Rose’s chest as she hugs the other closely.

“Oh, I’m sorry, baby,” Rose immediate apologizes, petting Robin’s hair.

“Don’t say sorry for being perfect and lovely,” Robin says, voice muffled.

“Ahww, baby,” Rose coos, hugging her tightly, which makes the muscles in her arms bulge. After a second she lets go again and asks Jonathan: “What’s the next one?”

“Next one is Father-Daughter Dance with you and your dad,” Jonathan says.

The photo that appears is of Rose dancing with her father. She looks much like him, both of them with red hair and big frames. They’re both smiling, pride washing off the image.

“Your dad is so nice,” Robin says. “You look so much like him, it’s insane.”

“My dad is the best,” Rose agree easily. “Both my parents are. I am so lucky to have them and they make it easy to forget that not every parent is like that, but once you start hanging out with other queer people, you start to realize how common it is for parents to not be accepting. It’s heartbreaking sometimes.”

“I think it’s lovely that we got to have your family in here to show that it can be different, just like my mom and dad,” Jonathan says. “It’s easy to get lost in the gloom and doom, but it is getting better. Not perfect, but better. And it can be really hopeful to see.”

“Yeah, you should be fucking proud about it and loud, baby,” Robin adds. “Your parents are the fucking best and it truly shows that all the other shitheads aren’t products of their time, because there are people who knew better, even back then. And, honestly, I kind of love this little piece of tradition we had in our wedding. I love that we got to have that.”

“Ahw, you’re gonna make me cry,” Rose replies, dabbing her eyes as she hugs Robin and kisses her cheek.

Jonathan gives them their moment, before he says: “We wanted to show both sides of how coming out to parents can turn out and the effects of it. Despite the tragedy, I do love The Second Dance of you and Steve.”

Second Dance is Robin and Steve dancing in their suits. Both of them are crying, tears streaming down their faces as they cling more than dance.

Robin looks over to see and tears kind of spring up as she does. Softly Jonathan asks: “You still okay, Robs?”

“Ye- yeah, yeah,” she assures him swallowing heavily. “Just- kind of forgot that was in here. Hit me out of nowhere.” She wipes her eyes.

“Want to tell it yourself or us to do it?” Rose asks kindly, rubbing the back of Robin’s neck with her thumb in a soothing manner.

“I can do, thank you,” Robin says.

“Alright, take your time,” Rose smiles as Jonathan nods.

“Okay, so,” Robin sniffs. “This was my second dance with my favorite dingus. My dad wasn’t there to dance with me, so Steve did it. I- I, uh, also was his second dance at his wedding, because he really wanted one and I did too, honestly.”

She takes a deep breath: “We have this big family, but Steve is the closest to blood I have. He is kind of my whole world. Like, I don’t know what I would do without him honestly. He’s been there for me through everything. He’s the first ever person I came out too and he was my hype-man through everything. When I started dating, he was always my backup, gave me eating out tips and shit.”

Despite it being an emotional moment, Rose lets out a soft snort at that and both Jonathan and Robin crack a grin, the tension slightly broken.

“I’ve seen online people calling us weird for being so close and saying Steve has feelings for me, which is ridiculous,” Robin says. “We’re just way too comfortable with each other, because we care and we need each other to live. If I have to make sure the weird spot on his dick isn’t cancer so he grows old with me, I totally will. Fuck anyone who thinks otherwise.”

“Anyway,” she turns back to the photo. “Neither of us had our parents in our lives anymore and as much as I appreciate Jim or Wayne, it just wouldn’t have been the same. So me and Steve danced and we both cried, because in that moment it just hits you, you know. You just realize that the other is the person you have. That it’s not just going to be over and you can’t go back home and tell your mom that despite all her worries you did get married, that I found someone who loved me even without all those ladylike manners she failed to instill on me. That I was okay.”

Robin now starts crying. She isn’t sobbing, just silent tears streaming down her face as her voice gets tighter and more strained.

“It never truly becomes real that you’re not welcome back. That their love was conditional. That never sinks in after it happens. And it hit me that in that moment it was real and Steve was there to catch me. He is always there to catch me. That’s why I love him so much,” Robin says.

She wipes her eyes again and clears her throat: “I’ll stop being sad now. Just love that man so much, he’s my soulmate.”

“I’m glad you have Steve,” Rose tells her. “He is really cool. He’s one of my best friends too honestly. I remember you crying and wanting to comfort you and Steve just told me that it was okay, that he had you and I should finish the dance with my dad and it was so easy to trust him with you. And sure enough by the time you two were done dancing you were laughing and smiling again. I honestly thought he was a wizard.”

“He never told me that,” Robin says.

“Must have not come up,” Rose shrugs.

“I love him,” Robin sighs happily.

“Me too,” Rose agrees.

“He is pretty great,” Jonathan adds, more to say something, because he feels awkward.

“But not as great as his husband, am I right, Jonny-boy?” Robin jeers, breaking the tension as Jonathan groans and everyone else cracks up again.

“I hate all of you,” Jonathan informs them, before pointedly flipping the page and ignoring their giggles as he reads: “Twirling Trio, is what we’re looking at right now.”

On screen a photo of Lucas twirling both El and Max on the dance floor, the three of them giggling appears. It had been a good day for Max, so her crutches are leaning against the wall in the back, just in case.

“It’s a good day for me when I get to photograph polyam people,” Jonathan says. “They’re a great throuple and I love how close Lucas and Jane are as friends too. That’s really important. Now, this page is early in the wedding and then 189 is later in the wedding. Next one is Wedding Cake and Stolen Kisses, which I think is a hilarious photo.”

The photo is of Steve sitting in a chair with Robin in his lap. The two are sharing a plate of wedding cake, but the photograph is taken when Steve is momentarily distracted by Eddie. Eddie is leaning over the back of the chair, stealing a kiss from Steve as well as a bit of cake, though that might be a fail, since Robin is on her way to stab his hand with her fork.

“I stabbed him so hard, he bled,” Robin reminisces fondly. “I think he still has a scar on his hands.”

“You were very protective over that cake,” Rose comments.

“Of course I was, it took us two days of cake tasting to pick one and it was very expensive,” Robin says, like that is a normal thing to say.

“You and Steve are sharing the plate,” Jonathan points out.

“That’s different,” Robin shrugs.

Jonathan shakes his head at her, then moves on: “I love the storytelling that is happening in it. I love capturing little moments where in people shine through, like in this other one on this page of Mike and Will. The Whipped Cream one.”

Whipped Cream is of Mike and Will both in neat suits. Will is eating some cake, but has some whipped cream on his upper lip. Mike is smiling softly at him, shaking his head fondly as he wipes away the whipped cream with his thumb. Will is staring dumbly, looking very love stricken.

“It was truly luck that I managed to catch that one and I’m so pleased. It’s such a cliché and I love that,” Jonathan says. “And then the next one – sorry, I’m kind of speeding through these, but otherwise it’s too long.”

“Go ahead, baby boy,” Argyle encourages him from behind the camera as Robin and Rose both nod and gesture to go ahead.

“Feel free to interject,” Jonathan says anyway. “So, the next one is Talks of Love.”

The photo that appears is of Argyle, Nancy, Robin and Rose. Argyle is smiling widely, having Nancy under one arm and Rose under the other. Robin is holding Rose’s hand and resting her face happily against her arm.

“This is the transition photo to later in the night when people started drinking,” Jonathan explains. “Argyle had taken his officiant role a little seriously and he was speeching. It was really cute and romantic.”

“He was waxing poetry about you and Nance, of course you think that’s cute,” Robin says.

“Hey, I was talking about the beauty of love and how we’re all connected, man,” Argyle speaks up from behind the camera to defend himself.

“You still remember what you were talking about?” Rose asks, sounding surprised.

“Nah, he’s just has been repeating the same speech about love since ‘86, you just haven’t heard it as much because we had less time to get stoned together since we met,” Robin says.

“And it’s amazing every time,” Jonathan defends Argyle.

“Ahw, thank you, baby boy,” Argyle says, smile obvious in his voice.

“Whipped,” Robin hollers.

“I have let you talk about your wife and your wedding for hours now, don’t you fucking dare do this to me, Robin. Let me live in peace and let’s just go talk about the conga line,” Jonathan says, pointing accusingly at Robin to punctuate his sentence.

“Let me live in peace and let’s just go talk about the conga line,” Robin repeats, dying of laughter as she does.

“What did you name that one?” Rose asks, leaning over to see if she can read it, but her view is getting obscured by Robin, who is still laughing.

“Conga Line of 1994,” Jonathan answers, a little embarrassed about it.

As the title suggests the photo is of Argyle, Dustin, Eddie, El, Lucas, Joyce Robin, Rose and Steve forming a conga line. It is clear that some, if not most, of them have had a little too much to drink at this point.

“Joyce totally started that conga line,” Robin recalls, mirth in her eyes. “She said I do not have to drive or be responsible and I respect that about her.”

“You were the second person in the conga line, love,” Rose reminds her.

“Yeah, because I have taste, thank you,” Robin sniff snootily.

“It was pretty great, I loved it. I couldn’t not photograph it. It’s just delightful and shows the vibes the wedding got when it went on for a little,” Jonathan agrees. “Which is even more visible in the other two, starting with Kiss the Bride.”

Kiss the Bride is of Robin, her bow tie undone along with the top buttons. She is hanging of a smug Rose and is covered in lipstick kisses, looking quite pleased with herself as she grins into the camera. Rose’s lipstick is smudged.

“I have this one framed on my desk,” Robin says. “I love that photo.”

“Really?” Rose asks, blushing. “Don’t you share your office space with your coworkers?”

“Yeah,” Robin answers as if that means nothing to her. “If they want to make a comment about it, they are just getting a ramble about you and how great my wife is. Their choice.”

“God, you’re a doofus,” Rose tells her affectionately, before coyly adding: “I love how you look in my lipstick.”

“Same,” Robin sighs dreamily.

“Not to interrupt you two being gay for each other, but-” Jonathan starts out. He gets interrupted by Robin hollering: “Too late.”

“I knew that,” Jonathan sighs fondly, nudging her with his elbow. “I just wanted to add how this one along with Off to the Wedding Bed is some hilarious visual storytelling. Do you remember yelling that everyone had to leave, because you were going to fuck your brand new wife?”

“Yes, I did, Jonathan. It’s almost like I have two of the most annoying roommates, who like to remind me of that humiliating moment every time they have an opportunity,” Robin deadpans, exaggerating her pout.

The photo they’re referencing has appeared on screen and is of Rose’s back. She has lost her veil and train and currently has Robin slung over her shoulder, obviously carrying her off. Robin is cackling as she looks into the camera. Eddie is whistling in the foreground and Steve is clapping as he grins, next to them is Nancy, who is shaking her head fondly.

“You jumped in my arms right after,” Rose reminisces with a sappy smile. “You’re so cute.”

“It was mortifying,” Robin says. “I had to face everyone of them the next day covered in hickeys. They all knew.”

“I think they all already kind of guessed,” Rose informs her.

“We totally did, brocacho,” Argyle agrees.

Robin buries her head in her hands, before straightening out again. She’s still flushed but determined: “No, I refuse to be embarrassed. I love my wife and I am horny for her, always have been. You all can go suck my dick!”

“Love the energy, handsome,” Rose laughs.

“Same energy you had that night,” Jonathan adds, which earns him a shove from Robin, though she’s laughing too.

Jonathan bounces right back and adds: “I do think that Eddie, Steve and Nancy really add to the photo. I know we’re joking about it, but this book celebrates queer sex too, despite how it is often deemed perverted and wrong. I love how we made something lovely out of it.”

“Same, honestly. I felt like such a predator for so long, because I was attracted to girls,” Robin agrees. “And it’s just as beautiful as other sex. Just as nasty too, but we won’t talk about that right now. Shout out to all the nudes you took that didn’t make it in. We could have had a whole page of Argyle nudes or Nancy nudes.”

“Shut up,” Jonathan squeals, pushing her over this time as she cackles.

Robin pops right back up, like nothing has happened, then demands: “Let’s talk about the morning after photos.”

“Do we have time for that?” Jonathan asks Argyle.

“It’s already pretty long, baby boy,” Argyle answers.

“Maybe we should just leave it here,” Jonathan offers apologetically.

“But I wanna talk about those photos,” Robin pouts. “Can’t we part two it? Come on. I need something to rub in Steve’s face.”

“You should have lead with that,” Jonathan jokes, before finishing up: “That was a behind the scenes of the wedding of Robin and Rose, thank you both for being here.”

“Thanks for having us,” Rose replies politely.

“Yes, thank you for giving into my demands,” Robin teases.

“We’re going to do a hopefully shorter part two, so until then I guess?” Jonathan says. “Bye.”

“Bye!” Robin waves excitedly

“Goodbye,” Rose smiles.

A/N:

I kind of didn’t say a lot about certain pictures, because I didn’t want it to get too long and I let chaos reign and kind of flesh out this relationship more :D

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baldrambo · 4 years

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Someone made a post on Reddit calling Bob Will’s father figure. I think that discounts Hopper and Jonathan. What are your thoughts on that subject?

Anonymous #2: Do you think that if Bob were alive, Jopper would never happen? If no, then how do you think Joyce and Bob would split?

I got both asks almost back-to-back and figured it would be a lot easier to just handle them together. I sort of turned this into a Bob meta (apologies to the two Anons for the length, lol). There’s been a lot of Bob discussion cropping up lately and I wanted to use this as an opportunity to discuss the character (and why I’m troubled by the recent discourse in general) while answering the asks as I go.

I’ll start with a gutsy statement: Bob has achieved God-like status in this fandom. Similar treatment has been extended to Benny, Alexei, and in some cases, Barb: all inherently decent secondary characters. Bob was probably the most fleshed out of all of them because he was around the longest, which made his death even harder to watch.

But what do we know about Bob besides being inherently decent? We know he hates scary movies and likes Kenny Rogers. He went to high school with Joyce and Hopper and everyone called him Bob the Brain because he’s so smart. He founded Hawkins AV Club! He was also bullied mercilessly as a kid in part because he didn’t fight back. That’s about it. What are Bob’s hopes and dreams? Has he ever suffered any traumas prior to the events of S2? What are his weaknesses? Has he ever been in any other serious relationships? Does he have any vices? No one is perfect, not even Bob, he just wasn’t around long enough for us to learn about any of that. So, it’s easy to look back on him as this Perfect Guy™ when he just had the tactical advantage of being a secondary character. We will never know the answers to any of these questions, nor do we know the answers for Barb, Benny, or Alexei because they all served a limited purpose within the narrative.

In my opinion, Bob’s limited purpose was to jump start Joyce’s character arc beyond “protect Will!” What Joyce wants to find is her soulmate, a parental figure for her boys, someone who makes her feel safe. Bob was the beginning of her search for this. He planted the seed in her mind about moving away, about having a “normal family.” And it drove her entire arc in S3. At the end of S3, yes she picked up and ran because Hawkins was dangerous and she wanted to protect her kids, but also because of this idea that had taken hold of her: maybe if she physically fled the trauma and the death, maybe she could find that feeling of hope again that Bob made her feel.

But planting the idea isn’t the same as fulfilling it. An ideal isn’t reality BECAUSE we as humans are not perfect, and nor are relationships, or life. So, if Bob had lived, would he have been the right one for her? Would they have stayed together? No and no. And that’s the point. It takes more for a relationship to work than just “this guy is really nice and wants to parent my kids with me.” Relationships involve a TON of work. It involves being vulnerable with someone, opening up to them. They require romantic chemistry and sexual compatibility. They require mutual understanding and compassion and working through things as a team. Sometimes it involves fighting and saying hurtful things and apologizing. You need to love them and fall IN love with them, over and over again. Two people just being inherently decent isn’t going to cut it.

Joyce is a fierce, independent, headstrong woman. She needs a man who challenges her, who she can bounce off of, not steamroll. She’s also a bit neurotic and anxious and needs someone who understands what she’s been through, knows how to help her tackle it, and listens to her but doesn’t coddle her. She needs someone who makes her feel safe, but also feel passion. She needs someone she can be vulnerable with most of all. And that wasn’t Bob, it was never supposed to be Bob. The Duffers have gone on record about why they killed him off: because he would have interfered with the Duffers intended endgame. The endgame being that Joyce find this partner/parental figure for her boys, with someone else.

In my opinion, even IF Bob had lived, even IF given that opportunity, the two of them wouldn’t have made it. Joyce probably would have moved with him to Maine. But then she would have woken up one day, looked over at him, and realized that she was only with him because he was a good guy and helped her with her boys, not because she was in love with him. And it would have been over. Jonathan saw it, and it’s why he didn’t approve of the relationship. And I think it’s why Joyce is carrying his death so hard: she didn’t *really* love him, the way she thinks she should have, the way he loved her, and the guilt of that, of him dying for her and the Party, of the helplessness she felt watching him die (and that hope he represented for her crumbling away), is crushing her.

Unfortunately, Bob’s purpose has kind of gotten lost in the weeds after s3. By allowing him to achieve this God-like status, it’s like an expectation has been created that no one can live up to: the Perfect Guy.™ I’ve been seeing, more and more, certain parts of the fandom turning Bob into a battering ram used against Jopper as a ship, and particularly Hopper as a character. Using Bob as a juxtaposition to try to promote a narrative of Hopper being an awful guy and/or as a partner for Joyce is (besides being passive aggressive) a false comparison. Hopper is at the inherent disadvantage of being a primary character. We know what all his faults, vices, weaknesses, and traumas are. And he isn’t just carrying his own trauma. He carries El’s and he carries Will and Joyce’s without complaint, because he loves them. The casualties of this are his peace of mind and his emotional stability. Bob didn’t have to carry any of that, grapple with any of that (as far as we know) and we don’t know what his faults are. IF placed in Hopper’s shoes, would Bob be a different guy, too?

So, to the first Anon, the post on Reddit saying Bob is Will’s father figure is a prime example of this: it does discount Hopper and is intended to do so specifically to try to paint Hopper in a bad light. Jonathan just ends up as collateral damage within the confines of the false comparison being drawn. Bob did act as a temporary father figure to Will, he gave him advice, he tried to be a support system for him. But so has Hop. Hopper traded El’s life for Will’s. Brought him back to life in TUD. Went to the appointments at HNL for nearly a year to be a support for Will and Joyce. Carried him out of HNL in S2 and helped El close the gate, in part, to save him. The comparison turns all of this into a zero-sum game when it isn’t one and when they are two different characters with two different roles to serve.

So, I think Jopper was always going to happen. The reason why is that Hopper DOES fulfill what Joyce needs, he just does so imperfectly. But that’s the beautiful thing about it, and it’s realistic. It’s a journey for the two of them, a journey that involves Joyce putting Bob’s ghost to rest (by saving Hop when she couldn’t save Bob) and Hopper finding a way to cope with his past and atone for some of his wrongs. Even IF Bob had lived, I still think Jopper would eventually have found their way to each other. It started with Bob, it just isn’t supposed to end with him and treating Bob as if he is something he’s not doesn’t change the narrative.

Tldr Bob is easily placed on a pedestal because we don’t know much about him. I don’t think he was right for Joyce, nor was he intended to be, and his death was inevitable as a result. Comparing him to Hopper defeats the limited purpose he served within Joyce’s arc and using him to create fandom drama bothers me.

Thank you for the asks!

#bob newby #jopper #joyce byers #jim hopper #stranger things meta #meta #asks #anonymous

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