i'm alive!!!

Things after the explosion of Fisk Tower could be going better for Miles if he's being honest. As Brooklyn's one and only Spiderman, he's struggling to find his footing as a superhero and high schooler, but he's getting through it one day at a time. Until...his dad tries to set him up...with himself. Cue the classic fake dating trope, except this time it's not Miles fake dating Ganke but Spiderman fake dating Ganke...this will not lead to anything bad happening...nothing bad at all :)

Hi everyone! I wish I had better news to share but unfortunately, I don't. First, I want to apologize for not updating those fics in a long, long time. I had hit a rough writer's block and eventually started to write for an entirely different fandom (along with some other personal reasons). However, that is not the update I planned to share.

I have decided to permanently discontinue the stories, "...or should I go?" and "[INTERLUDE] 3 Months Between". I don't feel comfortable writing a story that focuses on Will when his actor has been actively supporting Zionism (as well as doubling down on his actions) I did not say anything about this earlier as I had hoped he would understand his actions are wrong, and that I had hoped (naively) that his character would be recast. (Obviously, I was being delusional, and that won't happen) I especially apologize for not speaking about this sooner. I had honestly,,,forgotten about these fics,,,but I do regret not speaking about this issue sooner. I know that I could just continue on with the story, however, I have relied heavily on rewatching the show in order to get information and stay as close to the flowing storyline. I had also planned on rewriting S5 to fit within the narrative I was creating for the show, which will not happen as I am boycotting the show.

It's somewhat bittersweet to say goodbye to this story as it has been a passion of mine for years and what first got me into sharing my writings on AO3, but I won't support a show that has actors who support Zionism in this day and age. Thank you all for reading my work and enjoying it, I'm sorry that this story will never get the ending I created for it. 

^ AO3 link to chapter 1

Mike and Will's first kiss doesn't happen in the heat of the moment. It doesn't happen while Will was under Venca's control, not when Mike almost lost him. It also doesn't happen the day the Party decide to hang out again, living the final days of spring break before Will has to leave again. No, it took time...lots of it.

It took Mike an entire year to realize he was falling out of love with Jane and in love with his best friend. It took him a road trip across states to see how much Will really meant to him. It took almost losing him, for good this time, for him to start planning. How he'd ask him out, or confess...better yet.

Even with everyone telling him to just go for it. He couldn't muster up the courage, the strength to admit it. To letters he has hidden beneath his bed, all addressed to the boy in California, all to the boy who Mike is so madly in love with...the one that makes him crazy. And sometimes Mike wants to laugh at how stupid he is. 1984, Halloween night, he promised they'd go crazy together...and he spent 2 years telling the same thing to Wills' sister.

..

The Byers-Hopper family came back to Hawkins for Winter Break, and Mike couldn't have been more excited. He'd spent the last few weeks decluttering his room for Will, spent hours redecorating, and even then he still felt on edge. He knows Will, knows the other won't say anything too mean, but...it feels different now. Of course it does, Mike had just found out he's in love with Will and is freaking out about his crush staying in his room for 3 weeks. Cut him some slack!

Now, Mike could go on and on about that break. Speak for centuries if his lifetime allowed for it, just talking about Will. But, there is one memory he's committed to heart. So deeply etched into his being that he thinks its filled a hole in his heart he hardly even knew was gone.

..

It was a normal night in the Wheeler’s household, though if you asked Mike he'd say there was just something electric in the night. Something waiting to spark, and something did.

Lying down in Mike's bed, both boys simply couldn't find it in themselves to go to sleep. Caught up in something beyond their understanding, maybe it was just the Christmas Eve anticipation that ate away at them. They lay staring at one another, simply gazing into each other’s eyes. A staring contest, one in which neither boy wanted to lose. They took in one another and Mike swears that to this day, he can recite every little detail about that moment. The way Will looked back then, under the soft glow of Mike’s nightlight, how he was so aware of the others breathing, so much so he matched his own breath with Will's, wanting to be as close as two souls can be. And he realizes just how much he's missed all of this, just him and Will, just two boys without the stares of everyone else. And he wants to do something, wants to just...act on his emotions. All those weeks painstakingly planning out each minute of his confession was simply thrown out the window. He's tired of waiting, tired of being too scared to do things, tired of pushing this off. Because he honestly thinks he'd rather die than pretend he and Will are just friends.