coldairballoons
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Pete Mitchell was never meant to stay in one place. He’d abandoned that hope before he knew the word ‘abandonment’, watching as his ma and dad moved from place to place with each deployment, each flight, each new base his family would settle into before something inevitably shifted. And being grounded in Fightertown, USA, with the roar of distant jets and the smell of salt mocking him, did nothing to soothe the homesickness he felt for the air.
So, he drove.
Series
- Part 1 of hitting the road
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No matter how intertwined their stories were, Ice knew that the solitude was inevitable. It was just how they worked; Tom Kazansky was focused on the future, prepared to forge ahead and carve the trail that he’d laid out over years. Pete Mitchell was running from ghosts and shadows and expectation, hacking at the path before him and making it his own before he was inevitably caught, inevitably chained down, inevitably forced to ignore his inertia and landlocked.
Or, Tom Kazansky, learning to not be alone.
Series
- Part 2 of hitting the road
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“I need to talk to you.” Ice’s voicemail from earlier that afternoon had been cryptic, but didn’t promise any danger. Come to think of it, Pete should have been expecting some sort of imminent, world-shifting news. Ice wouldn’t have dared leave a message like that in any other scenario. “Call me back when you can.”
Or, Pete Mitchell's navigation of a world where Tom Kazansky is dying.
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Thumbs by coldairballoons
Fandoms: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins
16 Feb 2025
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"Pa called."
Coriolanus has always known about the tension between Sejanus and his father. He's not prepared to see it firsthand.
(Title from "Thumbs" by Lucy Dacus)
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A missing scene from Pulp Musicals Episode 2: The Brick Satellite.
Title drawn from "Shifts (Reprise)" from The Ghosts of Antikythera by Matt Dahan.
Recent series
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Summary
Pete Mitchell isn’t known to stay in one place. He’s flighty, constantly moving, and knows that nothing will ever stay forever.
Tom Kazansky is, it turns out, the opposite. He’s used to plans, and knows when and how things will turn out.
Of course they have to go on a road trip together.
- Words:
- 6,745
- Works:
- 2
- Bookmarks:
- 3
Recent bookmarks
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Ex Cathedra by beholdthelastparagraph
Fandoms: The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
07 May 2025
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Slightly wobbly in her high-heeled shoes, Harrow walks over the wet gravel in an ungainly line, and puts out her cigarette in the muddy earth of John Gaius’ fresh-dug grave.
Gideon stares at her.
‘Come on,’ Harrow says, and brushes off her hands as she straightens back up. ‘Let’s get a drink.’
Bookmarked by coldairballoons
16 Jan 2026
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Summary
Different places, different timelines, different meetings, different Decembers. And still, Jake and Bradley find each other in every universe.
- Words:
- 36,016
- Works:
- 4
- Bookmarks:
- 15
Bookmarked by coldairballoons
14 Jan 2026
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"God, it’s so painfully, achingly obvious. It’s staring right at him at that moment, etched in Will’s innocuous words. He basically spent the last few months digging himself into an endless pit of his own making. Why couldn’t he be like him? Why couldn’t he be brave and face what he feels and what he is, instead of using El and Will as a mirror of who he wanted to be?
He can feel shameful tears rolling down his face, getting into his ears. He can’t find it in him to look at Will when he speaks, keeps his voice purposely low so it can’t break. 'Yeah, that might be it. Thanks. I know what I need to write, now. I know how to fix the ending.'
He hears Will shift a little, his hand brushing against Mike’s shoulder when he tucks it back under his cheek. 'What are you gonna write?' The words are spoken in an even, soothing cadence, as if Will were afraid of scaring off Mike."
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Mike leaves for college and keeps unraveling until he has no choice but to stop being afraid.
Bookmarked by coldairballoons
13 Jan 2026
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The Wisdom of the Fool Won't Set You Free by shanparkervarietyhour
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
20 Dec 2025
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“I can’t believe we’re at college,” Will says, trying to contain his giddiness so Robin and Steve don’t hear them.
Mike shifts his legs to lay next to Will and scooches closer so they can hear each other. “I mean, technically we’re still off campus.” His face brightens as Will starts to frown. “But I’m glad to be anywhere near campus with you.”
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Will comes out to Mike on their way to visit Robin and Steve at college as prospective students. Will has his first kiss and Mike figures out what he wants.
Bookmarked by coldairballoons
28 Dec 2025
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Will takes a moment to realize Mike is next to him, feeling around on the ground with his right hand, the one not covering his eye, until he finds Mike. Will grabs onto Mike's knee, fingers digging into his skin through the fabric of his jeans.
“Mike– Mike, it hurts,” Will sobs, rolling over on his side to face Mike. Tears roll down his face, his cheeks stained and pink.
He tries to open his eyes to look at Mike, but everything is wrong.
Will’s left eye–
OR:
Mike and Will learn to live with their disabilities and find their passions once more, with each other's help.
Bookmarked by coldairballoons
28 Dec 2025