#firmly in the neglected Steve camp

[loveluststerek]

Just wanna break my heart reading about Steve being surprised and forgetting about normal teenage/parent dynamics. Like Robin saying “this has been nice but gotta get back to the ‘rents. Curfew and all.” And Steve being confused for a min before being all like “ah yeah! Totally. That must suck.”

And like the kids being surprised with their lunches, and Steve being confused about why. “Why wouldn’t you know what’s in your lunch?”

And Lucas looking at him weird, “Beeecause my mom packed it for me?” And Steve shrugging it off.

Eddie suddenly remembering he has to call his Uncle Wayne to say the campaign is running late, and Steve wondering why he’s freaking out.

“Dude it’s only like an hour after you said, why are you freaking out?”

Eddie being like “well what would your parents think if you said you’d be home at a specific time and suddenly you aren’t? After all the mysterious injuries??!”

Like just Steve bring oblivious that his norm isn’t their norms until something clicks and he’s like “oh yeah. Parents usually care.”

[itsthecherryontop]

Adrenaline Rush (Billy Hargrove Ch. 27)

Scene from Chapters Twenty-Seven of my Billy Hargrove Slowburn Enemies to Lovers Fic archiveofourown.org

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Henderson OC (Halle)

Chapters Posted: 27/49 UPDATES WEEKLY

...

“I’m picking you up an hour after you get off,” Hargrove announced, leaning over the concessions counter. 

“Why?” I asked, looking up from wiping off the counter. We didn’t have any plans as far as I was aware. 

“I found a solution to you not wanting to watch that movie,” he declared with a prideful smile.

“And pray tell what is this solution,” I sighed, moving a stack of cups. 

“The drive-in,” he smiled. 

“Alright, I suppose that works,” I admitted, shifting my weight. “Is Max coming?”

“No, and don’t be late Princess,” he answered before walking back to the other side of the pool. 

I stood outside the front door with my duffel bag over my shoulder waiting for Hargrove to show. Throwing my bag into the backseat I plopped into the passenger side. 

“What’s with the bag?” he asked, looking at the overstuffed pink duffel. 

“I was hoping you could drop me off at Steve’s after. I promised I would spend the night,” I announced with a hopeful smile. 

“Why do you want to spend the night with Harrington?” Hargrove asked as he started pulling back onto the road. 

“I haven’t seen him all week and Dustin is gone to summer camp so there’s not much to do at home,” I explained, with a shrug. He didn’t seem happy I had plans with Steve. 

“You could have asked me to do something,” he said as we pulled onto the main road out of town. 

“We are doing something and I see you every day. I can’t just neglect my other friends. Plus he got me ice cream and I wanna see Steve in his slutty little sailor uniform,” I smirked. He had called me to complain about the uniform as soon as he received it. It had been weeks and I had yet to see it.

“You are into some weird shit, Princess. Why does Harrington have a sailor’s uniform?” Hargrove said, looking over at me. 

“Wait, why is that weird? It’s his work uniform.”

“And here I was thinking you had some weird kink,” he teased, tapping his fingers on the steeing wheel. 

“No! That is not at all what I meant. Even if I did it wouldn’t be your business,” I argued, blushing.

“We’ll see about that,” he muttered under the music. If I hadn’t been looking at him I would have missed it. The only reason I knew what he said was my practice reading Dustin’s lips at the table. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded, turning my body in the seat to face him.

“What does what mean?” he asked, fraining innocence. I could see a faint hue of pink dusting his cheeks in the fading light. He didn’t expect me to hear him.

“You know what I mean.”

“You just might want advice,” he shrugged, looking ahead at the road.

“I am not going to talk to you about my sex life ever. I don’t wanna know that about you and you won’t hear about it from me. If I need help that bad I will go to Nancy,” I firmly stated. 

“You don’t have a sex life, Princess,” he teased. 

“I happen to have requirements so excuse me for refusing to lower them for men who haven’t met them,” I grit out. I just wasn’t built for hookups. The idea of being that intimate and going back to friends or strangers, hurt. I had respect for those who could, but I couldn’t. I was too soft, too caring. 

“Requirements like what?” 

“Does it matter?” I retorted, crossing my arms.

“Well, now you have me curious. No one’s ever met them?” he asked, turning to glance at me.

“Not all of them.”

“And they have to meet all of them?”

“Yes, which probably doesn’t make much sense to you. It’s not like physical attributes or anything like that. I need to trust them and feel comfortable around them. I mean it is vulnerable to let someone see you like that,” I tried to explain as I fidgeted with my fingers. 

“And Harrington didn’t meet those things?” The blond scoffed. What was his obsession with Steve?

“He did. I’m just not attracted to him like that. That seems to be the hardest one for people to meet,” I admitted, looking out the window. 

“Has anyone?” he asked, looking over at me once more. The was a weight to his gaze. He wasn’t asking to tease he was genuinely curious. 

“Yes, doesn’t mean they’ve checked the other boxes,” I said. Little did he know he was getting very close. “I have a hard time feeling that level of attraction until after I get to know someone.”

“Has anyone gotten close?” He pressed as we began pulling towards the drive-in.

“Yes and no I will not be telling you who,” I smiled teasingly over at the boy.  “Since I answered your burning questions, I believe it is only fair I get to ask you questions in return.”

“I thought you didn’t want to hear about my sex life,” he provoked with a soft snort. 

“I don’t. Have you ever been in a relationship or have just stuck to hookups?” 

“No. I’ve never dated anyone,” he said, pulling into a spot near the middle. 

“Why not?” 

He sighed and pulled the key out of the ignition before addressing my question, “Never let anyone close enough.”

“Did you ever want to?” I asked, turning in my seat. With my back against the closed door, I studied him. 

“Once,” he responded, mirroring my position. 

“Why didn’t you?”

“She didn’t see me the way I see her,” he spoke gently. His blue eyes were soft under my gaze.

“Her loss then,” I comforted before reaching into the backseat to grab the snacks I had packed.

To continue reading: archiveofourown.org

[inconvenient-sneezes]

in which n/ancy catches a cold and st/eve tries to help, for @missmaam123​ 💕🌈 thank you sm!!

disclaimer: i am not a minor and as such, i don’t write or include minors in my stranger things fic. all characters are 18+ only!!!

distant | weed | fuss | struggle | couple | professional | remember | nap | abundant | objective | wrong | discreet | gift | stay | collapse | cabin | practical | defend | haunt | indoor | rhythm | ankle | incentive | healthy | steam | anger | bond | text | correction | visible | guess | cinema | maze | contrary | observer | nuance | neglect | lip | reflection | sniff | authority | illusion | echo | medicine | lace | insurance | knit | dealer | grudge | affair | sofa | expertise | passion | spill | laundry | exposure | shelter | privilege | manner | relax | compromise | sacred | doubt | philosophy | thaw | ticket | bike | bench | vain | bed | improvement | pier | gravity | immune | vigorous | productive | reception | veil | bee | train | harsh | loyalty | fresh | late | mind | highway | sound | frozen | annual | soup | instinct | groan | lonely | spite | bill | crude | dare | magazine | mess | ignore | sketch | flush | liability | camp | brag | sour | compensation

***

It was raining by the time Steve showed up. Raining hard. 

Nancy was standing underneath the awning of what looked to be an abandoned building, and it looked like she was shivering. 

“Hey!” Steve waved as he jogged up to her. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Jesus, how’d you get so soaked?” 

Her normally perfect hair was plastered to the sides of her face, and her mascara had just started running. She sniffled, rubbing her nose with one hand, the other hand carrying a large notebook. 

“Really?” Nancy rolled her eyes. “I f-forgot my umbrella ahh... ahH! Obviously.” Her breath briefly caught, but she was safe. Or not. 

“H-hehH! Hih’PSHHH!” She barely had time to get her hand up, so she ended up sneezing into a loose fist, the combined effort making her stumble forward a bit. 

Was it Steve’s imagination, or did Nancy always sneeze like that?

“Man, you have a cold too?”

She flushed completely, staring briefly at her shoes before straightening her shoulders and looking up. “I’m s-sure it’s just something in the ahh... hahHH!” She firmly pressed a knuckle to her nose and sniffed. “I’m sure it’s just something in the air.” 

Steve shrugged. “Alright. But we’re talking in my car, with the heat on.” 

Nancy shuddered, pulling the thin cardigan she was wearing closer and nodded. 

***

Once they were safely in his car, Nancy started asking the questions. 

“So you’re saying this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy... it’s from the Upside Down?”

“Yup. That’s the working theory. I mean, if the shoe— Hey, are you sure you’re OK?” 

Nancy was still shivering and — not that he was looking — goosebumps covered her legs.

She waved him off. “F-fihhh...” Fuck. “F-fine,” she managed, before turning away and pinching her nose. “Heh’GNNNT!” 

“Bless—”

Nancy shook her head “no.” Steve watched her head bob and she sat back up before gasping dramatically. “HuhH! Huh’TSHHHT!”

He grabbed her hand to steady her and raised his eyebrows. “Jeez, Nance. You’re frozen.” 

Nancy rubbed her nose inconspicuously, until it made that horrible squishing sound and she turned as red as the tip of her nose.

“Come on, let me take care of you. I know you’re not feeling good.” 

She let out a hoarse laugh, tried to clear her throat, and grimaced. “Whad I’d like to do is this— this bonster thad killed Fred and Ch-Chrissy.” 

To her utter dismay, her eyelids fluttered shut as her nostrils flared. “Sorry, I’b gonna—” 

Steve watched, frozen and almost enamored, as she fanned her face to coax the pair of sneezes out. 

“H-hah’GNNX!” Her nostrils quivered as she shakily brought her hand to her face in a futile attempt to protect Steve from her germs. “NNGXTT!”

“Bless you, Nance,” he said sincerely, turning up the car’s heat. “Well, I know you didn’t drive here, so I’m officially taking you home.” 

To his surprise, Nancy didn’t even argue. He looked over to see her delicately dabbing her irritated nostrils with a napkin she’d most likely found somewhere in his car. 

“You know you’re gonna have to actually blow to actually do anything, right?”

“Ew, Stdeve,” Nancy said, wrapping her cardigan tighter. “Thad’s disgustig.” 

“Aw, you’re just embarrassed,” Steve cooed, giving her a wink. “I know you too well.” 

***

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[boxwinebxtch]

Why Your Opinion is Wrong--Shameless Edition: Debbie is not the worst Gallagher

A very disturbing tweet has begun circulating lately, ranking the Gallagher family from best to worst, with Carl at the top and Debbie at the bottom-- placed behind even Frank and Monica. The rage and fury I feel over not only the mere existence of this utter bullshit, but also the popularity and agreement of this utter bullshit, is absolutely astounding. I was so thrilled when my favorite show in the galaxy started gaining popularity, but if this is what people are taking from it-- that DEBBIE is the worst of the Gallaghers-- then i’d just rather people not watch it all. Yes, i’m sure that most of the people who gave it a retweet were mostly joking but I read some of the replies and some people very firmly believe that Debbie is the worst. So to all of you Debbie haters out there, this ones for you. The main argument I saw against Debbie was that she was that the last few seasons Debbie has been a mega bitch. Words and phrases such as “terrible” “literally the devil” “worst character ever written” etc.. I can’t read the replies anymore out of fear that it will inspire me to go on a killing spree. Debbie was not only ranked after Monica and Frank (for FUCKS sake) but she was also ranked after  THE BROKEN DRYER IN THE FIRST SEASON. I guess the original tweeter added that in for comedic effect. I’M NOT LAUGHING. So first and foremost, i’d like to be clear that I am not defending Debbie’s questionable actions or unquestionable bitchiness in the past few seasons. She has done a lot of shit that makes me want to kick her in the shins. That being said, that is by no means grounds to be ranked dead fucking last. I know that this may all seem very dramatic. I know that the tweet is just meant to be funny. I know that I may be taking this a little bit too seriously. But hear me out so you can understand. I come from a family the same size as the Gallaghers. In fact, my family and I started watching it because the similar family dynamic peaked our interest. Additionally my siblings and mother were victims of parental/spousal abandonment, which resulted in a lot of financial struggles in addition to a shit ton of daddy problems for myself and and some other fun little side effects of your dad walking out on you. Shameless is not just a work of fiction to me, a lot of its content is deeply personally relatable and/or has been a situation that my family has been in too. The content is not only reflective of my own life, but it is also so fantastically well done that it makes it all the more important to me. The brilliant creators of Shameless captured life as a big family so beautifully. Not to mention the fucking amazing script writers, the complexity and depth of each character, etc etc X1 million. The show is very well done, is what i’m saying. And I feel like the quality of the show and the depth of the characters and the complexity of the challenges they face, is all too lost on a lot of viewers. I’ve seen and heard people make the joke a thousand times that “the Gallaghers make being poor look like fun.” I have never once felt that way when watching them struggle financially, but then again I know how it is to have 5 siblings and no source of income. It’s not fun. It’s fucking shitty as hell... my point is, people are watching it at face value and not truly experiencing it and understanding it at its full potential. People are watching it like they would a sitcom and that’s why, I believe, Debbie ended up at the bottom of the list. Debbie has made some bad fucking decisions. Debbie has been a huge bitch. But Debbie is so much more than that. Debbie is a single, teenage mother-- to be fair that situation could have been avoided, but nonetheless, a fucking single teenage mother. She wouldn’t even let Fiona, the woman who raised her, hold her infant for a long time, because Fiona so strongly urged Debbie to get an abortion. Debbie might have taken it too far, but she did it with her CHILD’S INTEREST AT HEART. Which is something neither of her parents did for her. Debbie’s bitch ass baby daddy ran the fuck off and is no where to be found, but she still hangs in there and takes care of the baby. What she wanted was a family and he abandoned her and she never uses that as an excuse to be a bad mother. In fact, she even tried to make peace with the father’s family, but to no avail. She  camped out in front of their god damn yard for DAYS when they took the baby away from her. Hell, she even named the baby after her own dead beat dad, because he was there for her during her pregnancy. Debbie is more forgiving of him than any of her siblings. And forgiveness is not fucking easy. Especially when it comes to neglectful parents. But yet she does it time and time again because Debbie’s core is extremely loving. Debbie put in work for her family from the time she was 9 (approximation) years old, running a day care from their house to help raise money for the squirrel fund. Girl is a hard fucking worker. Remember that one time when she was about 9 and she was suspicious of Jimmy Steve so she followed his ass all the way to Chicago to figure shit out because she knew he wasn’t doing right by her big sister? Remember how she had a meltdown when fake Aunt Ginger had to go back to the Nursing home because didn’t want her to be alone? Remember when she literally just wanted to be loved and cared for and all she ever did was love and care for people even if that love and care and desire to be loved and cared was sometimes trapped beneath a pile of negative behavior as a result of her upbringing? Debbie essentially has no parents. her baby dad bailed. She grew up in the hood. Shitty school. No fucking money. No one ever takes care of debbie. Debbie always takes care of other people. Fucking always. She is a nurturer but no one has nurtured her back and it’s clear that she craves that.  And that’s okay. It’s okay to want to be loved and cared for. It’s normal, in fact. I’m not saying that a hard life is a get out of jail free card by any means. What I am saying is that Debbie’s shitty fucking actions are not at all what they appear to be on the surface. Debbie is struggling a lot, that is evident in the latest seasons. She’s grasping at straws trying to create a good life for herself and she still is ending up with close to nothing. Home girl is bound to start acting out at some point. All of the Gallagher’s have done shitty fucking stuff usually as a result of their shitty fucking situations. Carl sold drugs and went to juvie for fucks sake. Lip is a destructive alcoholic who repeatedly acts like a giant dick to the people he loves. Fionna was careless and almost killed Liam via cocaine ingestion. Ian had an affair with a married man. Apparently, none of these things are grounds to be hated and deemed the worst character even though they are no better than Debbie’s actions. Most importantly, Debbie is in no way a shittier character than Frank and Monica. While their characters are also very complex and I hesitate to call either one of them “bad,” they are both without a doubt scummy individuals, and are intended so by the writers to be scummy characters. That’s part of the character description for both of those coked up dead beats. So, in conclusion, Debbie is not the worst Gallagher and if anyone needs more of an explanation I would be happy to oblige. If you think that any of the Gallagher children are terrible, then you don’t even deserve to watch the show because they are all fucking lovely in their own unique ways that make me want to cry 

[wellpersonsblog]

The Best Rep Range for Big Muscles

There’s a lot of bro-science (or anecdotal trial-and-error) in the realm of hypertrophy training. And no matter what any of us gym rats want to admit, we have all participated in it at some point or another. Because, while a lot of the time bro-science is largely unsubstantiated by actual science, there are instances in which the anecdotal experience of years of bodybuilding does, indeed, match up with that of the findings of scientific studies.

There are instances in which the anecdotal experience of years of bodybuilding match the science. Click To Tweet

Score one for the bros! But I’ll get to that in a minute.

When it comes to the best repetition range for specific fitness goals involving weight training, the long-standing repetition continuum contained in most traditional and trusted textbooks was the go-to resource, for both fitness professionals and lifters. Most of these sources share a similar version of this scale that looks something like: 1 to 5 reps for pure strength and/or power, 6 to 12 reps for hypertrophy, and anything above that for muscular endurance. It has always been implied that, having a specific goal in mind, crossing between those rep ranges for your training would be pretty much flat-out worthless — as in, you could never get strong if you only train in the 8- to 10-rep range, or you could never get big if you only train sets of 3 or sets of 15.

Particularly pertaining to the best repetition ranges for hypertrophy, there wasn’t much scientific research to support these claims for quite some time; it was limited, at best. We could go back to the late 1800s and a sample exercise routine of Eugen Sandow, considered the father of modern bodybuilding, and see that he trained in the 6- to 12-repetition range. (And also, often in a loincloth. Google it.)

We can head into the 1940s, taking a look at Steve Reeves’ routine, which was largely in the 8- to 12-rep range — he was considered the greatest bodybuilder of the pre-steroid era. Moving into the 1960s, Larry Scott, the very first Mr. Olympia, trained firmly in the hypertrophy range at 8 to 10 reps.

Stepping into the realm of more current and familiar faces, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dorian Yates, and Ronnie Coleman all trained well within the hypertrophy range, too.

Some of the most popular female bodybuilders of the 1980s erred more to the high side of the range, but certainly didn’t neglect moderate-rep training. More recent female Ms. Olympia winners, Iris Kyle and Lenda Murray, were in the same camp, doing much of their quality work in the 8-to-12-rep range.

Certainly we know there’s something to this hypertrophy range. But do we really know? Thanks in large part to Brad Schoenfeld, we have a far better idea. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Schoenfeld began exploring the wide-open domain of how best to lift for gains, backed by science. The results of his studies, and his analyses of many others, were pioneering, and the information we have learned from his work has shaped hypertrophy programming in the modern age.

Certainly we know there’s something to this hypertrophy range. But do we really know? Click To Tweet

Schoenfeld’s 2010 paper, “The Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy and Their Application to Resistance Training,” published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, was groundbreaking. This paper reviewed the literature and drew conclusions about the three most important mechanisms for muscle hypertrophy. Also included were the training variables that affect these mechanisms, with intensity (ie: load) being one of them.

Schoenfeld’s findings regarding intensity (i.e., how heavy the weight is) determined that it has a significant impact on hypertrophy, and is arguably the most important variable for stimulating growth. That certainly makes the question of “the perfect rep range for hypertrophy” a valid one to discuss. As expected though, the results were in line with the hunches, and a repetition range of 6 to 12 reps per set was determined to be optimal for maximum muscle gains.

All those women and men mentioned above? Validated.

Well, in part, anyway. But not all were left convinced, including the researchers. And the door had been opened, so Schoenfeld, now widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on hypertrophy, continued delving into the topic in his research. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles, as well as several textbooks, and since 2010, has come up with some further interesting findings about the hypertrophy loading zone.

In 2014, Schoenfeld’s study “Effects of different volume-equated resistance training loading strategies on muscular adaptations in well-trained men” was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Essentially, this study compared bodybuilding-style training and powerlifting-style training, based on how these kinds of lifters actually perform their training, holding volume-load equal. The findings boiled down to the fact that similar hypertrophic gains could be achieved with each style of training, and a combination of both heavy and moderate load training is a great approach. However, it was noted that, from a practicality standpoint, it is applicable, and more efficient, to work within the hypertrophy range to allow for performance at the same volume-load without overtaxing the body’s systems. Basically, that means that for most everyday lifters, doing quality work in the hypertrophy range will provide you with the same gains as a low-rep range, and the least amount of burnout or risk for overtraining.

Training in the 6-12 rep range will provide the same gains as low reps with less risk for burnout. Click To Tweet

Also observed in this study was that this applied to global hypertrophy of the whole muscle, and different rep ranges targeted different muscle fiber types to a higher degree. Thus, combining moderate-rep training with some lower-rep training (to increase strength that eventually allows use of heavier loads during moderate-rep training) with some higher-rep training (to increase muscular endurance for those times when you want to perform added reps at a moderate load) would provide the best overall result.

In December 2016 was another Schoenfeld study comparing similar training protocols — 2- to 4-repetition heavy-loading range and an 8- to 12-repetition moderate-loading range — but this time, with sets being equal between the two. The evidence suggested that, as one might expect, the heavier load training did produce greater strength gains, but again, moderate load, moderate-rep training produced greater hypertrophic gains than the low-rep training. Interestingly, that supports the traditional repetition continuum, but also reveals that higher volume becomes more important for maximizing muscle gains.

Certainly, Brad Schoenfeld is not the only researcher out there taking an interest in the best rep range for hypertrophy; in his book Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy, he delves into the research studies of many other authors and summarizes those findings. The “References” section includes a staggering 861 separate studies! Not all of them are specific to rep ranges, of course, but the data from multiple sources relevant to the topic included in this book supports much of what I’ve already mentioned above.

Stronger By Science, a website run by Greg Nuckols, also does a great job of rounding up, reviewing, and interpreting the best research out there. In an article published early 2016 and updated September 16, Nuckols investigated this same topic through a multitude of studies from different sources. In several of the studies available, comparing training in different loading zones resulted in very similar gains — many of the differences between the loading ranges were not statistically significant. And based on these available studies, he interestingly concluded that the hypertrophy range essentially doesn’t exist. While there is merit to working within the 6- to 12-rep range simply because it is the range that allows most people to work the hardest, the most frequently, with the best recovery, it’s not necessarily the end-all when it comes to muscle gains and could involve some individual variability.

Teasing out the finer points from all the scientific evidence we currently have on the topic, it can be inferred that, undoubtedly, everything works when it comes to hypertrophy. There is most definitely value in training across a wide range of repetitions, and in order to truly encourage the best overall picture of strength, size, and fitness, you should incorporate training in all rep ranges across the continuum, not neglecting low- or high-rep training for only moderate-rep training. But if your main focus is on maximum muscle gains, it is to your advantage in many ways to spend the majority of your time training in the hypertrophy range.

If your focus is max muscle gains, spend most of your time training in the hypertrophy range. Click To Tweet

I lean a little more toward experience and broscience (hey, if it works, it works!), but I do keep an ear to the ground for new findings. So on the topic of ideal rep ranges for hypertrophy? My favorite answer flows from both the vast body of knowledge from experienced bodybuilder types and the science: Moderate reps (6 to 12) and loading provide maximal gains for most.

The science and broscience agree: Moderate reps and loading provide max gains for most. Click To Tweet

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First found here: The Best Rep Range for Big Muscles