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xaerais · 2 years

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⠀⠀⠀⠀Billy Hargrove.

⠀⠀⠀⠀Let’s talk about him.

We’re gonna start this off with a 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚. This post will absolutely mention some dark && mature themes such as gun violence, racism, homophobia, narcissism, murder and abuse. Audience discretion is advised. Now let’s get into it.

For the longest time, I felt I couldn’t quite yet speak on this topic out of irrational fear of getting bullied or targeted over a fictional character. But now I’m at the point where if that does happen, at the end of the day, he’s still a fictional character and people are more than welcome to block me if they see fit. After all, this post is only for those who are willing to listen, have a conversation and keep an open mind. Thank you.

So, everyone knows that Dacre Montgomery’s character, Billy Hargrove, is an asshole. He was written to be that way in the rawest form, and it’s nothing new. He didn’t try to mask it—anyone could’ve guessed just by meeting him that he wasn’t exactly the friendliest guy to be around. And boy did a LOT of people start hating him for his horrible actions throughout the course of S2 of Stranger Things. All of which were completely valid, mind you. Most people only really seemed to like his character not because they particularly enjoyed the way he acted, but rather how “pretty” he was. And that’s about as far as any love for him went.

The hate, however, stemmed from the horrible things he said about the same girls he attended high school with to the blatant racism targeting a young Lucas Sinclair, threatening him and intimidating him to stay away from his younger step-sister, Max Mayfield. Then there was his abusive nature towards Max, herself, when the two had scenes together, displaying their very clear, very obvious dislike for one another.

Why would anyone like someone like that? Why would anyone forgive someone like that?

It made Sadie Sink’s character super relatable right off the bat for some people, and that’s purely what the writers wanted. After all, more often than not when a new character is introduced in a series as young as Stranger Things at the time, there’s bound to be some sort of hesitation from the fandom as far as acceptance goes. But there are too many people who live in tough family situations, that giving Max a shitty older brother made her seem like the perfect person to attach to because she made those of us in similar situations feel seen. Hence the intense love for Max, and the only evergrowing hate for Billy.

Furthermore, as someone who’s followed up with the show since 2017 ( the release year of S2 of Stranger things ) with every single season after the fact, I agree with many who strongly dislike Billy’s character, and saw how wrong his actions were. He shouldn’t be forgiven for them, regardless if it was the 80s, and regardless if that behavior was a lot more normalized than it is today ( although even now that’s a little up for debate, but that’s a different conversation entirely ).

But what I don’t particularly like is the plain and simple fact a lot of Billy haters out there like to cherry pick what they focus on in a character, bringing out only the problematic aspects of him specifically, and not his full character potential. Especially after the release of S3, which has been out for officially three years now since July 4th of 2019.

When I continue seeing Billy hate/slander today, it makes me wonder if people watched the same show that I did, or if they completely skipped S3 as a whole.

For starters, I’ve seen people claim things like,

“If that was your son, would you support him if he acted like that? Would you raise him to be that way? No, because it’s fucking disgusting.”

and...

“Billy is a racist and abusive piece of shit... be serious, not every white horrible man needs redemption.”

“Billy never cared about Max.”

“Did ya’ll not listen to Max’s monologue?” ( in reference to S4 ).

All of which I’m upset about because these claims, to put it plainly, downright don’t make ANY sense. The first quote, especially, because it just goes to show that some people straight up ignored Neil Hargrove.

Neil Hargove, played by Will Chase, made his appearance briefly at the end of S2. It was a confrontational matter between him and Montgomery’s character, asking about where Max may have disappeared to since it was late at night and her bedroom window was wide open with her nowhere to be seen. For context, Billy was supposed to watch over her while Neil and Susan, Max’s mother, went on a date. Billy claimed that Max was old enough and suggested she went to the arcade and that he didn’t feel the need to watch over her after apparently doing so all week, and Neil grew angry with him and that’s where it all went downhill. Here’s the scene below.

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As we can see, Billy must’ve retained his abusive and homophobic nature from him. We later find out in S3 through Billy’s memories that he primarily grew up with his father after his mother abandoned him due to no longer being able to handle the abusive nature Billy’s father displayed. And for those who don’t remember that scene either, here it is below.

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Neil Hargrove had a huge part to play in Billy’s actions now as an adult, and why he’s such a hateful person. So, to see people sit there and say that he actively chose to be that way, that’s... not entirely true. He has trauma of his own, and the best way any man of the 80s knew how to take that out, was through anger. And that’s what we saw between him and Max, and him and Lucas.

Referencing back to that quote, the answer is yes. Neil did, in fact, raise Billy to be that way through abuse.

Onto the second quote where it states Billy being an abusive, racist piece of shit not in need of any redemption—I both agree and disagree. We already know his actions for being abusive and racist were unacceptable. We no longer need to hear people tooting that horn over and over again. However, to say he didn’t deserve redemption goes to show how many people are willing to deny someone who’s hurting deep down the love and compassion they clearly need.

Billy was traumatized and abused by his father, hence why he’s become the abuser. Because in his eyes, that’s where power comes from. Holding fear over others, especially Max and Lucas, and proving to people that he’s the top dog since showing up in Hawkins. ( Cue the intense stare-down he had with Steve after beating his record as Keg King, and the comments he made to him during their basketball session back in S2 ).

But as we go further into S3, he completely loses all that power he had the second he became flayed. And damn near every scene we’ve seen him in after the fact, he’s always been crying. Now we don’t know for sure since it’s never been confirmed, but it could be safe to say he was aware and regretting every uncontrollable action he ever made after losing himself to the Mind Flayer. Automatically, those actions became quickly excused/dismissed by the fandom because at least they knew that much. That he wasn’t to blame for what he did.

But, that’s as far as that goes. Because despite all that, and despite his ultimate sacrifice in the end—this now ties into the third quote—there are still people out there preaching that Billy never cared about Max.

Clearly, a lot of people don’t understand how important that scene was between him and Eleven when she reminded him of his mother, how much he missed her, and how happy he was. It was the first time in a very long time, if at all, that someone finally understood him, and showed him affection he’s never had before since being a child. If you’re unsure what I’m talking about, here it is below.

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Immediately after she temporarily breaks him free from the Mind Flayer’s control, he gets up and protects Eleven, Max and Mike from the Mind Flayer, sacrificing himself in the process and dying.

I don’t think someone who didn’t care about Max would go out of his way after being freed to save the three of them. But he did, and he died for it, and I’m sure he knew he would.

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Furthermore, his last words to Max when it could’ve been anything else, was “I’m sorry.”

I firmly believe that he deserved a redemption arc because those two scenes right there proved to us as the audience that he did have a heart, and that it would’ve simply taken a little bit of effort to see it had he lived. I’m sure he would’ve been trauma bonded to Max, too, after the fact, and would’ve grown to care for her more as a little sister than some girl he feels he’s been forced to take care of since a young age. And Max who could’ve helped encourage him to stray from being such a terrible person like we knew him to be from S2.

Unfortunately, however, that’s not how things played out, so last but not least we push ourselves to S4 of Stranger Things, referring to Max’s letter to Billy and later her monologue in the season finale.

As we know, Max wrote several letters to several characters in Ep. 3 of S4 after figuring out she had been cursed by S4’s antagonist, Vecna. She even wrote a letter to Billy, and there was an entire episode named Dear Billy to focus on what she wrote in her letter to him before she was tormented by illusions of Billy thanks to Vecna’s curse.

In her letter, she talked about how since he’d been gone, life for her and their family had gone completely down the gutter. Neil left Susan and Max behind, Susan became overworked and an alcoholic, and she continued on with her letter saying she deeply regretted never attempting to save Billy or pull him away the night they fought the Mind Flayer. She even included wishing that if she had, they might’ve been able to have a real brother and sister relationship like she wanted. To start over and try to become good friends with him to achieve that.

Here’s what she says in her letter:

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Max later adds on how she thought it might’ve been silly given they hated each other, but it goes to show she really did care about him in some way, and wanted to be a true little sister to him.

There are people, however, that choose to brush off what she said in this letter. Because somehow her monologue during the season finale suggests the exact opposite. How she wanted him dead for ruining her life, and that she remained hopeful it would happen. That she hesitated to run to him for that very reason. But it should go without saying that she didn’t really mean any of that.

Why?

Prior to her sitting down in the attic with Lucas at her side, she was calling out to Vecna. She was going to be the bait to lure him out so Steve, Robin and Nancy who were in the Upside Down at the time, could find their opening and kill Vecna once and for all per their plan. She was REPEATING what Vecna had said to her after reading Billy’s letter so she could draw his attention towards her. She manipulated Vecna just as she clearly manipulated a large portion of the audience with her monologue.

Let’s keep in mind that, again, Lucas was at her side. He heard the entirety of her “confession,” something that if she truly meant what she said, would’ve kept to herself exactly how she did with her letter to Billy. Both times, mind you, she knew she was going to potentially die.

It was a trap designed for Vecna, because otherwise, why wouldn’t she have included any of that in her letter to Billy in the first place? Especially when it was her sitting alone at his grave. That was a perfect time for a confession like that, but instead she wrote and talked about wishing she saved him. Not wished him dead.

This isn’t something that should have to be explained because it’s quite literally common sense at that point, but it’s there for people who didn’t understand and continue to bash both Billy and Max for it off of either side.

All in all, those were just a couple key points and huge examples of excuses I’ve seen so many people use when wanting to hate on and slander Billy.

And in no way am I trying to encourage people to love Billy after this post, because that’s not what I’m after. I more so want people to fully understand that he’s not as bad of a person as he’s often believed and depicted out to be. He was heavily traumatized and misguided, and S3 showed us he had the potential to be put back on the right path as a decent human being had he lived.

However, just a final note if some people do choose to continue to send hate, slander or paint Billy as a terrible person. I am gonna include a small list of some pretty terrible things SUPER LOVED/SYMPATHIZED characters of the series have done. And I fully expect said people to hate on them and keep the same energy for them, too.

⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗢𝗡

Slut shamed Nancy Wheeler.

Committed vandalism.

Publicly humiliated Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers.

⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀𝗝𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗕𝗬𝗘𝗥𝗦

Committed candid.

⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀𝗝𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗘𝗥

Hunted after Eddie Munson, an innocent teenager, and got the whole town of Hawkins in on it.

Threatened one of Eddie’s bandmates, Gareth, to tell him where Eddie was. Nearly broke his hand knowing he was a drummer.

Threatened Nancy Wheeler.

Had his friend tackle an 11 y/o to the ground and threaten her.

Pulled a gun out on Lucas Sinclair and threatened his life. He also shot at him, then fought and nearly strangled him to death.

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the-queer-observer · 3 years

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The TOXICITY of straight dating culture: Do you even realize what you teach?

A few months ago, a straight teenage girl explained her crush to me with the sentence “He’s so toxic.”

I know a 17-year-old girl with a little to no clue of how a non-toxic relationship should look like.

I started noticing a certain pattern online and in my real life too.

Now it’s a time for my first disclaimer: I am not straight myself. Nope. Not at all. Perhaps that’s why I see through it.

To this point, all I have done about this is that I have complained to some friends, got over it and went on with my life.

Today, a girl, no older than twelve, has told me about her crush on a “bad boy” and we talked about him for a second. He really did seem like what the definition of a bad boy is for tweens.

I snapped.

And here I am, writing my first tumblr post ever on this very topic.

I want to make clear, this is not an attack on those girls. This is an attack on the society, what it taught them and what it failed to teach.

The youngest girl and me, we talked about music. She said she liked “dramatic” songs and played me some of her favorites.

Disclaimer number two: I did know both the artists, but I don’t actually listen to them. The closest to mainstream music my playlists get is Take me to church by Hozier, the rest being a wide range of songs, interprets and genres from pop punk to death metal and everything in between.

I was actually surprised. One of the two artists she played for me was Billie Eilish. The beginning of the song went:

Don't be cautious, don't be kind

You committed, I'm your crime

Push my button anytime

You got your finger on the trigger

But your trigger finger's mine

The second song was by Maroon 5.

It was even worse:

So what you trying to do to me

It's like we can't stop, we're enemies

But we get along when I'm inside you, eh

You're like a drug that's killing me

I cut you out entirely

But I get so high when I'm inside you

Yeah you can start over you can run free

You can find other fish in the sea

You can pretend it's meant to be

But you can't stay away from me

I can still hear you making that sound

Taking me down rolling on the ground

You can pretend that it was me

But no, oh

I am not going to argue about whether it’s appropriate or whether she understands the lyrics the way I do. It doesn’t even matter. She understands the drama in the song. She understands it enough for me to be concerned.

There are other songs like that. There is a whole culture teaching pre-teen and teenage girls, that “they can’t get away”, romanticizing toxic people and toxic relationships, blurring the lines of consent and guess what? The girls believe it’s the way it’s supposed to be.

I texted my girlfriend and we spent some time looking for straight love-songs, celebrating healthy relationships. None of them were mainstream, but we found things like:

That the world is ugly

But you're beautiful to me

Are you thinking of me

Like I'm thinking of you

I would say I'm sorry, though

Though I really need to go

I just wanted you to know

I wanted you to know

I'm thinking of you every night, every day

(My Chemical romance)

And

Desperate for changing

Starving for truth

I'm closer to where I started

I'm chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held on to

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Forgetting all I'm lacking

Completely incomplete

I'll take your invitation

You take all of me now

(Lifehouse)

First of all: Those are 4 extracts of songs, chosen by me to demonstrate my point and they may or may not reflect the reality, you (the reader) see: those two songs might be just an exception, but in that case this post is still not canceled, because there is enough of other correlations and causation for me to have a reason to write this.

Those songs are “dramatic”, but the drama shifts from the relationship itself and its toxicity to the circumstances and environment. My girlfriend even recommended a punk song called Ne touche pas moi (Do not touch me), which is entirely about consent.

I am not explicitly saying that the songs she played for me are bad. It’s not for me to decide.

But all Billie Eilish’ fans I ever met were in the age range between eleven and fourteen, so I am supposing that’s her target audience. As for Maroon 5, I have no idea. However, music influences us. The girl is old enough to know what kind of music she likes and wants to listen to and with the peer pressure going on there, her parents do not really have a say in what she listens to and they are not to be blamed for this.

It’s the culture.

Toxicity is not a positive trait to look for in a potential partner. Even if he is a good looking one.

Enough of music.

Do you know who the toxic crush was?

Draco Malfoy.

One of the most famous of all characters in media, famously portrayed by Tom Felton in the Harry Potter film series.

Disclaimer number four: I have a problem with the books and movies and I also have some issues with the author.

Still, I see a fandom celebrating the love of Severus Snape for Lilly Evans Potter. Except it’s not love and it’s not a crush either. It’s an obsession. One that has become so iconic, the word “Always” is one of the main symbols of Harry Potter.

It shouldn’t be.

It should have never happened.

Draco Malfoy is quite the same thing. He is a racist, a bully. He is raised to be one, sure... That’s not an excuse. He doesn’t actually have a canonical redemption arch (not counting the deleted scene from the last movie and the Cursed child). If he came up to Hermione, acknowledging his mistakes, apologizing for his behavior, then maybe. Perhaps... That’s another story though. My point is, Rowling fails to actually depict problematic characters as actually problematic, they are romanticized by her, the filmmakers, the fandom and the wider audience.

Girls are taught to be the ones to make the redemption arch happen, irl or in fiction. They are supposed to date whoever is into them, regardless of whether they like the person back, and it’s unbelievably often I see them crushing on villains and problematic people like Draco Malfoy, because they are taught, he would change for them or that they could change him.

Toxicity is not a positive trait to look for in a potential partner. Even if he is a good looking one.

Those together result in a complete lack of knowledge of how a healthy relationship should look like. That’s the case of the third girl I mentioned. Being best friends with both her and her current boyfriend, I had three points of view on their relationship. It’s only been the past few weeks, not more than two month it has shifted to a more positive, healthy relationship.

It’s not the girl’s fault. They learn what a healthy relationship is the hard way, mostly after going through a toxic one(s).

WHY?

The sentence: “I always fall for the bad guys.” lacks the essential: “because the society taught me to” part.

It’s so common.

It’s too common.

It’s not even that we wouldn’t talk about it: we do. But you celebrate it. And that is not okay and that is the reason I am typing this.

Disclaimer number 5: The gender roles in this post are based off of my observations. I do acknowledge the fact that girls can be and sometimes are the toxic person in the relationship and that the lesson boys are thought is no way better (more freeing perhaps, but not right either) . It might not be specific to the straight culture either, but again, my observations were.

I was about thirteen, when I figured out I was gay and I had to learn everything on my own. How the relationships should work out, what is healthy and what is not... I had to learn on my own because the society failed to teach me anything. I am yet to decide whether that’s better or worse than teaching the wrong one.

#lgbtq #spilled thoughts #punk #music #culture #society #feminist #teenagers #relationship #toxic is toxic #toxicity #gay girls #queer #random observations #harry potter #draco malfoy

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buffyfan145 · 4 years

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One Fine Day 5/8

Fandom: The Karate Kid, Cobra Kai, Johnny Lawrence

Rating: T

Summary: An AU of Johnny Lawrence getting his redemption much sooner and Billy Zabka gets to be the romantic lead. In 1988 former West Valley alum Laurie Thompson reunites with her high school crush Johnny Lawrence in college. Becoming his tutor the two grow close and she learns more about the real him and his side of the story. As she helps him with school she also helps him with his life and letting go of things from the past, while also falling in love. Multiple characters mentioned, others will appear. Title is the song by The Chiffons.

Author’s Note: Thanks again everyone for all the likes and comments!!! :D I know I ended on a bit of a cliffhanger with chapter 4 and this picks up where we left off and gets very emotional.

Chapter 5

Her nerves were all over the place as she hung up the phone and waited. It seemed her plan had worked using those songs to tell Johnny she loved him. Time seemed to pass in such an odd way of slow though it had only been a few minuets. Then the knock on the door came and Laurie rushed to open it.

Johnny stood there with such a bewildered look in his eyes as he studied her. They didn’t even have to speak as she knew he was searching to see if what he listened to and read in those notes were correct. Before she knew it he pulled her close and kissed her. She was taken by such surprise that she didn’t know how to react at first but then instinct took over as she kissed him back.

After a few moments they broke away for air, their foreheads still touching. She still was in disbelief and in wonder as she’d wanted this for so many years and it was finally happening. His hands were still in her hair as his thumbs were stroking her jaw. “Are you ok?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she replied still breathless. “I forgot to shut the door.”

The both laughed and then broke apart so she could shut it. Turning back to him she bit her lip still in a daze. “So I guess you figured it out?”

Johnny looked at her in such a way as if he was seeing her for the first time. “Yeah, how long have you felt this way?”

“Almost ten years.” She finally admitted.

He looked even more shocked. “What?”

She moved closer to him and took his hand. “Come sit and I’ll tell you, but take those shoes off first.”

He did as he was told and then followed to sit with her on her bed. They both sat crossed legged, facing opposite each other, and holding hands. “I’m confused Laurie. I don’t remember that.”

“It’s probably because you were still getting bullied.” He looked at her amazed she knew that. “I’m a psych major remember. Plus, I remember when you first came to West Valley Middle School. You were twelve and you were still small. The other boys were picking on you. This was before Cobra Kai.”

“That’s right.” He said still shocked she knew this.

“I was getting picked on too because of my glasses. Those boys knocked over my lunch tray and kept making fun of me. You were ahead of me in line but suddenly turned back and yelled at them. The kitchen staff rushed over to stop them and help me with my tray. You then asked if I was ok and you gave me your cookie saying I’d need it more.”

A smile came over his face and he squeezed her hand. “I remember now. That girl was you.” He looked up at her amazed and also finally in recognition.

“Yeah, it was me.” Then she took a breath. “I’ve loved you ever since and even though we never really interacted once you met Tommy, Bobby, and the others I still knew the real you was in there. It took you a lot longer to find him again.”

She was surprised to see tears in his eyes. “Laurie, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, I understand. Kreese really messed all of you up.”

He looked at her in shock again. “You can tell that too?”

She nodded. “It’s easy to see with how you changed because of him, and then what happened with Daniel and after the tournament. There’s something I’m missing but I know it’s huge.”

Johnny took a while to find the words and held her hands so hard she started to worry. “He tried to kill me.”

“Wait, Kreese tried to kill you?” That wasn’t at all what she expected, but it made sense.

“He destroyed my 2nd place trophy and said I was worthless for not listening to him. Suddenly he put me in a headlock and I couldn’t breathe. I’d never seen his eyes go blank like that. The guys tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen and he hit them.” He took a breath. “I guess LaRusso and his sensei saw it across the parking lot. The next thing I knew I was on the ground and Mr. Miyagi bested Kreese. The guys and I quit and Kreese has been gone since.”

“Oh Johnny, that’s horrifying.” Laurie said as she moved closer to wrap her arms around him and he clung to her. She could feel him crying and held him close, kissing his jaw and neck. “You’re ok now. He’s never going to hurt you again.”

“I did so many horrible things because of him.” Johnny said with so much regret.

They pulled apart and she held his face in her hands. “But you can change and you are changing. You’re in control of your life now and anything is possible. And you have me.”

“And you won’t leave?” He asked with a bit of fear.

“I’m not going anywhere. I love you.” She told him with all her heart.

The smile he had was the best she’d even seen on him. “I love you too.”

They kissed again and she slowly laid down on the bed as he hovered over her. Their hands explored one another and they slowly removed their clothes. She couldn’t believe how muscular he was now and he was taken with how beautiful she was. Finding protection they slowly made love and it was nothing like either had ever experienced before. There was something healing about it for both of them in finding one another. Afterwards he held her in his arms and she had never felt as much in love and at home, safe with him in her whole life.

#johnny lawrence #johnnylawrencefic #the karate kid #cobra kai #fanfic #my fics

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amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines · 5 years

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Steve//this moment will just be another story someday

hi! based off this song. we have a bi reader because i wanted it soooo. and i know it’s the middle of march but i don’t care because i worked hard on this and i’m sad. ps, if that song finishes before you’ve read all of this (or if you just want to listen to something else), i suggest listening to this

The 4th of July is supposed to be a happy holiday celebrated by most of the American population. Fireworks are enjoyed by families, barbecues are frequented by friends and carnivals come into town to be enjoyed by everyone. Everyone is happy to be celebrating their independence, even though they were awarded it years ago, and even though the majority of Americans don’t really have their independence, they just pretend they do.

However, in the dingy bar that Steve is sat in, the 4th of July feels like a foreign holiday. The place is barely lit, the only light source coming from a few overhead lights and the occasional end of a cigarette. The few people scattered around the place look like they either did all the partying when they were about 40 years younger, or they’re too drunk to celebrate. In some cases its both. The fireworks outside sound more like gunshots to Steve as he nurses his drink that he’s been staring at for the past hour. Despite the hot July weather of San Francisco, Steve feels cold, a chill finding its way up his spine as he looks at the clock. 11:23pm...at least there’s not long left of this dreaded holiday.

When he was younger he used to love July 4th. All his cousins would come visit him and for a day he wouldn’t feel so alone in that big house. His father would actually acknowledge his presence, showing off what little accomplishments he’d achieved over the year in order to make the other adults jealous. And his mom would always let him have a sparkler once the sun had set. Usually his dad had gone to bed by then so it would just be him and his mom in the back garden, drawing patterns and writing words into the night sky.

However, after the events of last years 4th of July, he has a feeling he’s never going to enjoy it again.

He sighs and downs the last of his drink, ordering another from the old man at the bar who’s watching out the only window in the whole place. He nods and gives him a re-fill before sitting back on his stool.

Steve starts to think about what he’d be doing right now if last year had gone different. If there had never been Russians under the mall, if he hadn’t fought for his life yet again. Would he still be in Hawkins? Working with Robin? Babysitting the party despite their protests of how ‘We’re too old for a babysitter’ and ‘You can just say we’re your friends’.

Would his father still be disappointed in him? Something he’s grown used to over the years. Or would he have gone to work for him to make him just a little prouder. Maybe if it weren’t for all this demogorgon shit, he might have actually got into a college. Wait...no he wouldn’t have. Like his father said ‘the only sad excuse you have for this mess is yourself’.

Maybe his mother would still look at him like he was her son and not a stranger. Who knows. But he sure as hell knows he’s been a lot happier here the other 313 days he’s been finding a new life for himself in San Francisco.

313.

It hasn’t seemed that long until he’s thought about it. He lasted 52 days after the events of Starcourt before it got too much. Too much had happened in that small town. The people he cared about had been hurt. The people he didn’t, had know clue. Taking their little lives for granted. He needed to get out. So he sold the majority of his stuff, used the savings he’d been clever enough to hide (thanks to Robin), packed his bag and drove. He drove without looking back. Well, he did three times.

First he went to see Robin. To of course say goodbye, to tell her to be safe and if she needed anything to call him. He’d managed to find a cramped apartment in a semi-decent neighborhood before he left, so he scribbled the number down on a leftover napkin she’d brought home one day after a shift at Scoops and he smiled at the irony of the situation.

Second he went to see Dustin. His mom was not pleased about being woken up in the middle of the night but when she say the pleading in his eyes she let him in. Too nice to have refused him anyway. She liked Steve, he was a good influence of Dustin. Dustin walked out into the living room sleepily after being woken by his mom. He rubbed his eyes as he rounded the corner, although as soon as he saw Steve he was wide awake. Steve explained what he was doing and how sorry he was that he was leaving but of course he understood. Was he upset? Definitely. But did he understand? More than anyone. So Steve also scribbled his new number down and passed it to him, along with a can of Farrah Fawcett spray, and when Mrs Henderson wasn’t looking he slipped him his nailed baseball bat out of his duffel bag.

The third place he went was a surprise to himself. He didn’t know he was going there until he found himself parked outside. Hawkins Cemetery. The gates were closed but you could always jump over the fence round the back, thats usually how the weird kids got in so they could drink and try to talk to the dead. He navigated his way through the dark and three years ago he would have been silently shitting himself, however after all the stuff he’d saw there was nothing that really scared him anymore. He walked for a few minutes before finding his destination.

‘Barbara Holland.

In memory of our beloved daughter.

She will not be forgotten.’

Steve’s fingers traced over the top of the gravestone delicately. The cold stone doesn’t affect him as he seems to get lost in his thoughts. He hadn’t been the best person to her. Laughed at her behind her back. Made snide comments in front of her face. He’d been an ass to her. And then she died in his pool, when everyone else was too busy trying to keep their popularity. She’d been forgotten, taken to the upside down where she would have stayed forever. She deserved more than that. And she deserves more than this. He places a single purple Hyacinth on her grave before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.

He’s almost out of the graveyard when he spots something out of the corner of his eyes. The grave is fresher than the others, and its smaller, shoved right in the corner of the yard and he already knows who it belongs to before he gets there.

‘Billy Hargrove

Son. Brother. Friend’

Its a stark difference to Barbs, and just the sight of it makes Steve chuckle bitterly. He remembers overhearing Max telling the rest of the party during the wake that her and Susan had to persuade Neil into putting something more on that just his name. Yeah, Billy was a dick, but he deserved better. He deserved the chance at redemption. To become a better person and to prove his father and everyone else in his life wrong. He picks a few daisies from beside the grave and places them delicately on top of the stone. “See you later Hargrove.” He mumbles and he swears he can hear him laughing somewhere in the distance before he returns to his car and starts the long drive.

“A little lost there?” Its like he’s just been woken up from a fever dream. A minute ago he was sat alone at the bar, and now there’s a woman around his age with y/h/c and bright y/e/c, staring at him like he holds all the secrets of the universe.

“Huh?” He blinks at her, and three years ago he would have cursed himself for such a lame openly line, especially to a girl this pretty. But right now, he could be talking to Phoebe Cates herself and he wouldn’t give a damn. He just wants to be left alone to be sad and wallow in self pity about how awfull his life has turned out.

“You looked kinda lost in your thoughts. You okay?” The girl asks, placing a delicate hand on his arm.

“Yeah.” He shrugs her off. “Fine.”

“You sure?” She asks and hands him a napkin, he stares at her blankly and she pushes it further towards him. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

“Oh.” He quickly takes it from her and dabs at his eyes before scrunching it up and shoving it in his pocket. “Thanks.” He glances at her and forces a half smile before looking back at his drink.

“I see you’re quite the talker.” You tease and sit beside him. He huffs in annoyance, but it doesn’t really seem to dampen your mood. Instead you call for the barman and ask for a drink, as well as whatever your ‘chatty’ friend wants, which after a few seconds figures is him. “So?” You ask once your drinks have been placed in front of you. “Thanks Billy.” You smile and his head rises. “Oooo, now we’re getting somewhere!” You do a little excited wiggle as you sip your drink and he looks at you bored. “Okay, so you either are a Billy.”

“Pfft.” He scoffs and your eyebrows raise.

“Okay. So you know a Billy.”

“Knew.” He corrects. “I knew a Billy.”

“Oh.” You frown and think for a few seconds. “So, were you friends and you left? Because you don’t sound like you’re from here.”

“We weren’t friends, but yes I did leave.”

“Where are you from? Wait!” You shush him before he even has a chance to answer, your finger is over his lips and he’s staring at you annoyed, but you don’t seem to care. “Okay, say something.”

“I can’t.” His voice is muffled and you smile awkwardly before removing your finger, wiping it on his shirt.

“Now say something.”

“I’m from Hawkins, Indiana.”

“Well, not that. But okay.” You roll your eyes. “Hey, isn’t that were all that freaky shit went down.”

“Yep.” He grumbles and downs the rest of his first drink.

“Cool.” You shrug. He mumbles something under his breath that you can’t quite catch but you decide to let it go. “So about this Billy guy? Friend? Lover?” Your voice gets quieter and he stares at you shocked. “Oh come on. You can tell me, this is San Francis-”

“He’s dead.”

“Oh.”

“Happy now?”

“Well, you see no. The death of people doesn’t really make me that happy. No matter if I knew them or not.”

“Well sorry to disappoint you.” He huffs.

“You know you can talk to me right?”

“Why would I want to do that? You’re a complete stranger.”

“Because sometimes talking to a stranger is the best thing. They don’t know you so they can’t judge you. All they can do is listen and sometimes give advice.” You reply and he stares at you stunned. “Plus, I have some time to kill, and I can’t imagine you have anything better to do, otherwise you wouldn’t be sat in here alone.”

“Okay.” He nods. “I’m gonna tell you a story.”

“Ooooo!” You grab your drink and get comfy. “What’s it about?”

“A boy and a girl.”

“Awwww.”

“Not like that.” He cuts you off, effectively shutting you down. “Its kind or short, and kind of boring.”

“Well, you’re really selling it.” You huff. “Is the ending at least good?”

“Oh, its a whirl.” He replies and you can sense the sarcasm dripping off his statement.

He stops for a moment to really think about what he’s going to do. He’s going to tell a complete stranger all the reasons he decided to move. He’s obviously not going to tell you everything, but still. And why was he being so mean? He’s tried for over three years to be a nice person, to get rid of the persona he carried around with him during high school, so why has it come back tonight? And why don’t you seem to care about how he’s treating you. And more importantly, who the hell are you?

“Dude” You wave a hand in front of his face and he blinks before looking at you. “Your story?”

“Oh, yeah. So they were just 16-ish, when I knew them. And people were so mean to both of them. The girl was bullied by assholes in school who had nothing better to do than bring people down to try and build themselves up.”

“I hate people like that.” You spit.

“Yeah.” He nods, but refuses to make eye contact with you. “Me too.”

“What about the boy? Who was mean to him? Was it the same people?” You ask, your eyes are wide with fear and Steve finds it quite endearing. He’s telling you about people you’ve never met before but you seem to care so much about them despite that. For all you know he could be making this shit up, but you still seem so invested.

“No, the people, well person that was mean to him was closer to home.”

“Who was it?” You lean towards him a little.

“His dad.”

“Dickhead.”

“Yeahhh.” He agrees.

“Well, what happened to them?” You ask. “Are they okay?” He almost doesn’t want to tell you. Or if he does, he wants to make up some bullshit about how they’re both happy, with people who love and appreciate them. Buts thats not how the world works, and maybe telling you that will be doing you a favour. You seem too happy.

“No.” He shakes his head sadly. “They ended up not loving themselves, and now they’re gone.”

“Gone how?” Your voice is quiet and unsure, and you’re not even sure you want to hear the answer. He looks at the sticky floor, taking a deep breath and he doesn’t even have to properly answer for you to know what he’s about to say.

“Headstones on a lawn.”

“Oh.” You sigh. “Did you know them well?”

“Not as well as I should have.” There’s something else behind that statement. A huge amount of pain and grief is swirling behind his eyes, like a storm ready to destroy everything in its path.

“What were their names?”

“What will that do?”

“They can’t be forgotten if people know their name. And I never forget a name...its my thing.”

“Thats not a very good thing.” He replies and you see the hint of a smile hiding behind his frown.

“Ouch.” You place a hand over your heart. “Whats your thing then? Wait!” You shush him again but this time he doesn’t seem to mind as much. “I bet in high school you did kegs!” You guess and he rolls his eyes.

“Their names were Barbara Holland and Billy Hargrove.” He changes the subject and silence falls between the two of you. You vaguely recognized the names from the news. You remember your roommate saying something about knowing a girl called Heather that lived in the same town, apparently they’d been at summer camp once. They used to talk sometimes but after a while she stopped receiving letters.

“Well, at least someone else knows about them. And I’m bound to tell someone about them. Like I said, I’m good with names...not so much keeping secrets so if you’ve met aliens or the bogeyman, don’t tell me.” You say, trying to lighten the mood and it seems to work a little. He chuckles softly and thats good enough for you, for now. “Anyway, that can’t be the end of the story.”

“Why not?” He questions.

“Because it was sad.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“All stories end happily. If not, it just means you’re not at the end yet.”

“Sure.” He raises and eyebrow. “But, if you must know, no, I’m not at the end. But believe me, this doesn’t end happily for anyone.”

“Well then its not over yet.” You say quickly making him roll his eyes before taking a swig of his drink.

“Back at home I know a boy and a boy.”

“Riiiight.” You wiggle your eyebrows and he smiles softly. He thinks Robin would like you, you’re sweet and accepting and everything he wishes he could have been back home.

“They were best friends with each other. Still are actually, despite some difficulties. But I always thought that at least one of them wanted more. They loved each other but never knew it.” He lowers his voice, the two of you are leaning into each other, your forehead’s practically touching. “I think they were always afraid of what people would say. Or even what the other would say. And now one of them has moved to a different state.”

Your frown deepens as you stare at the floor, your feet swinging against the stool as you play with your hands.

”That sucks.”

“I told you it wasn’t happy.”

“Well, then you’re not at the end of your story. And they’re not at the end of theirs. Love always catches up with you eventually. Thats just the way of the universe.”

“Sure it is.” He scoffs.

“Come on. I want a sequel!” Your drum your fingers against the bar while he stares at you. “Billy! Another round please.”

“You haven’t even finished that one.” Steve replies and you quirk your eyebrows, a smirk appearing on your face before you stare right at him and down the rest of your drink.

“Happy now?”

“Well, you see no not really, because I’m not carrying you home.”

“You’d be so lucky.” You tease and he giggles a little. “Come on.” You poke his arm.

“Fine.” He throws his hands up. “The sequel. This one is about me and my friend.”

“Ooo, yay! I want to know more about you mystery boy.” The nickname causes Steve’s cheeks to heat up and he’s kind of glad Robin isn’t here to tease him. “Now, is this friend a girl?” You rest your chin in your hand and he sighs dramatically, already knowing where you’re going with this.

“Yes. But not like that.” Now he’s the one shushing you making you stare at him surprised. “I’m not her type.”

“Okay.” You hold your hands up in defeat and he lower his finger, letting it drop to the bar.

“Both our parents were evil.”

“How?” You ask.

“My dad says I’m his biggest disappointment and my mom looks straight through me.”

“I’m sorry.” You place a hand on his arm but this time he doesn’t shrug it off, he lets you keep it there for a few seconds.

“Its fine. They’re both kind of right.”

“I’m sure thats not true.” You start to disagree but he talks over you instead.

“And my friends parents don’t agree with her lifestyle if you know what I mean?”

“Yeahh. I get that.” You nod, and now its his turn to try and decipher your look. He also prays he hasn’t attracted another lesbian, as much as he loves and supports Robin, he doesn’t need another factor to add into the thought that maybe he isn’t destined to be loved. “I play for both teams if you want to know.” You whisper and he nods.

“Cool. Whats that like?”

“Not any different to ‘normal’.” You reply and he chuckles. “So you and you’re friend? Quick question, is she cute?”

“Yes, she’s cute. And for a time I may have liked her.”

“Ha!” You snort loudly and a bright blush creeps up your neck.

“Do you want to know the rest of my story?”

“Yes.” You stifle your laughter. “Please, go on.”

“So, both of our parents were mean, so we made a bet. And if we worked and saved we cold run away to somewhere like here and we’d have a better life.”

“And?” You smile brightly at him.

“And?”

“Did that happen? Are you meeting her here?” You look around the dark bar.

“No.” He shakes his head. “I left early and she’s still there.”

“Oh.” You sigh. “I’m sorry. Is she going to be coming here soon though?”

“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “Her parents are putting a lot of pressure on her to be everything but herself and sometimes I think she’s just going to give in. She’s been through so much and she’s so stubborn, but when I call her, she seems so broken and part of me thinks its because I left her alone.”

“No.” You grab his hand. “Its not your fault. Listen, I don’t know her, and I don’t really know you but she’s going to be okay. She’s going to come to San Francisco...meet a cute girl.” You whisper the last bit and he smiles softly. “And you’re going to have a better life.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because, like I said. You’re story isn’t over yet. Its just beginning. Kind of like a movie, and eventually everyone gets their happy end. Everyone does.”

“Again, how do you know that?”

“I don’t, not really. But if you don’t have hope then what’s the point. Just you wait and see.”

“You’re idea of the world and my idea of the world are very different from each other.” He sighs. “Its not funny or pretty or sweet. Its full of assholes and monsters and shitty things.”

“Maybe.” You nod. “But I like to see the good in the world. You just have to see the good...”

“Steve.”

“And we finally have a name!” You cheer. “Keep looking for the good Steve. You’ll find it eventually.”

I think I’ve already found a bit.

“This isn’t the end of your story. For all you know it could be the beginning. Now, what time is it?”

“11:55?” He replies and relief washes over him. He’s made it through and nothing bad has happened. Not to him at least. And when he gets home he’s going to call the party, and Robin and maybe even his parents to see if they’re okay. But right now you’re talking to him and he has to tune back into the real world. “What?”

“Do you want a sparkler?” You repeat your previous question just as Billy hands you some change. He blinks at you and your roll your eyes playfully before saying bye and then dragging him out of the dingy bar and into the bright street.

Its empty, everyone is either with friends or family, in back gardens or at events. It seems everyone in the entire world has someone to celebrate with, everyone except him, and then he remembers. He’s not alone. Because you’re looking at him, a soft smile on your lips as you hand him a sparkler.

“I do this every year.” You explain and light the end of his before doing the same to your own. “I write something that has pissed me off in the past year, and then when it disappears, its like I’ve let it go. Metaphorically of course. Its kind of like a second go at New Years, because lets face it, nobody is keeping their resolutions.”

“Has that ever worked.”

“No completely. But there’s always time...like I said, it’s not the end of the story yet.”

And while he stares at you writing whatever in the air, with a bright smile on your face, for the first time in a long time there’s a spark of hope.

He thinks there could actually be a day when he enjoys July 4th again.

#steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #stranger things #stranger things imagine

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biillyhargroves · 5 years

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please tell us everything about future billy since hes alive and well and not dead and getting to know happiness 💗

Okay, listen. LISTEN!!!! Billy was a child and he had so much potential to grow and to learn and in a perfect world where the stupid redemption by death trope is in hell where it belongs he would have had to opportunity to apologize for his behavior, fix his relationships and form new ones, find a support system in those new relationships, get away from his abuse father and out of his toxic house, and heal from his trauma as he moves into a healthier adulthood.

Here are some things that will happen in the future because Billy is very much not dead and is therefore very much alive to enjoy the full and bright future he deserves:

A) He repairs his relationship with Max. They become super close and protective of one another. He teaches her how to drive and takes her out for ice cream whenever she and Lucas break up (and rolls his eyes when they get back together because oh my god Maxine this is exhausting). She vouches for him when he starts to apologize and make amends with the rest of the group, she threatens any girls (or guys) he brings home because she knows a lot of people are into him because he’s attractive and she won’t have any of them breaking his heart on her watch, she plays matchmaker when she sees him get flustered around people because that’s when she knows he really, really likes them.

B) He apologizes, in his own way, to Steve and to Lucas and to the entire group- for the Mind Flayer shit, which they all know wasn’t his fault, but for everything else, too. Because he knows he was an ass and Max has told him over and over again that he was an ass and he’s trying to be better. He’s not great at it. Old habits die hard, and he’ll always be a little rough around the edges, but he has a good heart and he starts to let that show.

C) Will befriends him. Jonathan doesn’t love this at first, because he knows Billy’s reputation, but Will is the only other person who knows what it feels like to have your whole mind and body taken over, and he wants that connection as much he thinks Billy needs it. They don’t talk about the Mind Flayer much, but just knowing that they’re not alone makes them both feel better. Jonathan and Billy form a friendship because of it. They swap their favorite tapes, browse the record store together. A few times, some of Billy’s old school “friends” give him shit about it, because the Byers are still targets for bullies, but a few fights shut them up.

D) El befriends him, too. He drives her and Will and Max around- to the arcade, to the Wheelers house for D&D nights, he takes them out to movies. He acts like they’re annoying, like he doesn’t want to be their babysitter, but he loves them and calls them his “kids”. And they love him. Because they get to see him be goofy, be honest, be weird; he has threatened bullies for Will and glowered at Mike for upsetting El and, of course, Lucas already knows that hurting Max is b a d n e w s. And they would all kill for him. They know he doesn’t need them to, but they would.

E) Steve helps him fix the Camaro, because he feels shitty about totaling it and he knows how much it means to Billy. Billy feels weird about accepting the help, but the two get comfortable with each other soon enough. They make fun of each others’ taste in music and share Hawkins High gossip and they talk about their futures. Once the car’s fixed, they’re the best of friends. Robin hangs with them, too. She and Billy like all the same movies, really complex storylines that Steve doesn’t completely get, but he likes listening to them debate the endings. Dustin hates it. He’s the last one to come around to Billy, mostly because he wants to protect Steve. It takes a lot of convincing for him to accept Billy, but eventually he comes around.

F) With so many people around him, so many people having his back, more of them take notice when Billy’s moods go dark or when he has fresh bruises he can’t easily explain. On a really bad night, when Neil really laid into Billy, Max convinces him to go to Hopper (who is also alive and not in Russia because this is my story now). She and El and Will have his back when he talks to Hopper, and you bet your ass Hopper makes sure Neil can’t hurt Billy anymore. Susan divorces him, and Billy lives with her and Max until he goes to college (he starts at the community college; he convinces Steve to apply with him, and they take all their gen eds together - when they’re ready, Nancy helps them both apply to four-year schools).

I could truly go on for hours so I will stop here but just know that in a perfect world this boy who never had anyone in his corner would have the chance to right his wrongs, escape his abuser, heal from his trauma, form lasting friendships. He would move out of Hawkins- maybe out to Chicago, maybe back to California, he doesn’t care, he just wants to go. He would know what it feels like to be loved and appreciated and supported.

#anon #answered #stranger things meta #billy hargrove #I SCREAM

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glowyjellyfish · 4 years

Text

I just started rewatching Battlestar Galactica. Well, when i say just started, I mean i started two nights ago and I just finished season 1, so.

Firstly, at the beginning everyone is a tiny innocent baby and a sweet summer child (yes, even after their civilization gets destroyed. Sweet summer children all.), except Starbuck who is more of a tiny magnificent chaotic asshole.

Secondly, Baltar is one of my favorites and I think he’s among the best characters I have ever seen. His character development is phenomenal; I’d say he’s a stunning example of a redemption arc, but I’m not sure it totally counts when he was never really a villain at all. Arrogant, self-serving, and dickish, yes, but never deliberately evil. I love watching him break down and get built back up again, it’s a highly entertaining and often poignant roller coaster. And of course, he’s also just a delight to watch. I wish something like this had come up on the show, but I am convinced that people in the fleet--especially on Galactica and Colonial One--are well aware that he talks to himself and frequently disassociates, and chalk it up to trauma from being on Caprica during the attack. Sometimes I like to think that he 100% has that trauma and some degree of PTSD and Head Six took advantage of that state to set herself up in his head, but I’m not sure whether to make that headcanon or if it’s just a nice theory.

Thirdly, Gaeta is my favorite and I love him to pieces. The first time I watched when it first aired waaaay back in the day, I was rooting so hard for him to be a cylon, and I’m still slightly bummed that he wasn’t. I can’t complain about what he got as a consolation prize, going out with a bang and loads of juicy character development, with the added bonus that Anders also got some great character development. (Um, I should probably explain real quick that I read somewhere back in the day that when the writers were choosing the Final Five, it was kind of a toss-up between Anders and Gaeta, and they chose Anders. I felt validated that he was at least at the top of the list, and since I also loved cylon!Anders it proved to be a pretty good second choice for me. Believe me though, I wrote so many fanfics about how Gaeta might still be a cylon somehow, most of them super bad.) His whole development arc is less of a roller coaster and more of a long slow painful train wreck, and it’s gonna hurt so much but ugh I love it. Right now, at the end of season one, he is still such a sweet summer child, like my god he still has a crush on Baltar and hasn’t been disillusioned yet! And turns out I still firmly ship it. Gaeta’s got such a crush, poor boy, and it was so sweet and destroyed my little shipper heart at the end of Six Degrees of Separation when after a whole episode of everyone turning on Baltar and telling him they never trusted him and him freaking out, Gaeta came along and exonerated Baltar and told him he always believed in him. Awwww New Caprica’s gonna kill me, I swear.

Chief and Tigh are also up there in terms of my favorites, and there’s always gonna be something wonderful about a rewatch and all those scenes where they’re talking about people being Cylons and suspecting people of being Cylons and hey guess what you two. Guess what.

On this rewatch, I really enjoyed seeing Lee acting as the compromise between the military and politics. I vaguely recall that that’s a major part of his character going forward, basically everything that isn’t Starbuck, father issues, or Love Quadrangle Of Doom, and am curious how I’m gonna see it now. Originally, I found him good for a hero character and reasonably interesting, and I seem to recall liking such plots as him quitting the military way more than other viewers, but he’s never been one of my favorites.

...I also feel obliged to point out that in these trying times it is very hard not to 100% agree with Tom Zarek. If he was a little less murdery, man. Of course, I should also point out that unlike some other viewers--no, I don’t remember specifics, I probably read opinions on a forum 15 years ago--I felt like the season 4 mutiny was bringing up some extremely valid points that needed to be addressed (even if Zarek was mostly using them as an excuse to coast to power and Gaeta was airing his grievances in the worst possible way when what he probably actually really needed was a lot of intense therapy) so perhaps this is nothing new.

I’m also excited and scared for the President Baltar plot coming later, but in these times I am fairly certain my feelings will be “you guys are big babies. Oh boo hoo, your legally elected president is genuinely intelligent and charismatic and just happens to be rather self-centered and self-serving and shitty at governing, oh noooo he had to be held at gunpoint to sign death warrants for dissenters… grow up.” I… can’t take most “super evil villain becomes president oh no” stories seriously anymore, literally all the ones I am aware of were better than reality.

I don’t feel like it needs to be said, but Starbuck, Roslin, and Adama? All perfect and amazing, of course. They’re not my favorites, but that’s mainly because they are popular main characters, and I tend to prefer unpopular sideline characters and characters that need defending or merit lengthy essays. Everyone loves those guys for good reason, they don’t need me supporting them.

Also I forgot how precious Dee and Billy were, and how their relationship added interesting layers and angles to loads of plotlines. Makes me bummed about Billy (though I know it wasn’t the show’s fault), and then bummed that Dee got entangled in the Love Quadrangle of Doom, and then… kinda fridged to be honest. I wonder what would have happened with the Final Five if Billy was still around, would it have been Billy there instead of Tory? Or to keep the gender ratio and a touch of diversity, would they have gone with Dee? Would that have made them more or less likely to choose Gaeta over Anders, then? My gut says less, but who knows? It sure would have been rad if Dee got that much character development unrelated to romance, though.

It’s also weird how much I still keep trying to add things to the show’s arc and mythology to make it make more sense to me, personally. Like, logically I know that the whole thing is that god as spoken of by the cylons is 100% real, the head characters are literally communicating with people on his behalf, the opera house is the CIC and all the prophecies and stuff are leading to humans and cylons living together and interbreeding on Earth to make us. But I’m constantly trying to add things like “maybe the lords of kobol were twelve or thirteen original cylons on kobol 2000 years ago, and maybe they’re the head characters, like they ascended their physical bodies or something, and maybe the physical characters who look like the head characters are like the reincarnations of them or of the original humans they were modelled on, and the whole story is very similar and playing out again which is why certain characters have visions and stuff, but there have never been human/cylon hybrids before and that’s what god wants in order to end the cycle and/or because god is love god wants them to love each other and stop killing each other please? Maybe?” Shrug, I know some fans hate how spiritual it went, and I’m not one of them. I just prefer the slightly more humanist angle of reincarnation over literally just “god did it”.

However, I am really enjoying just taking Head Six 100% at her word and watching her manipulate the fucking shit out of Baltar to get him reliant on her and in the position she needs him to be in. It’s kind of amazing. And also, fascinating to consider Leoben in Flesh and Bone in the context of knowing what happens to Starbuck. He absolutely knows that she’s going to lead them all to Earth and die in the process. I don’t think he knows any details at all, but it’s really interesting to watch assuming that he knows her fate. And I am not sure the show ever really explained why Leoben knows this stuff. Does he have visions? His own head person? Does he just sit and listen real hard to the Hybrids and interpret their sayings? ...I guess I do find it weird that the show chose to go so hard on making him creepy as fuck to her on New Caprica, and then apparently didn’t know a lot else they wanted to do with him, but we’ll see how I feel as it goes along.

Anyway, I think I’ve exhausted my most coherent array of thoughts.

#bsg #battlestar galactica #bsg spoilers

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luckycheesefoodie321 · 5 years

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was gonna post this yesterday but was tired...anyhoo AWAE 3.07 SPOILER + LONG LIVE COMMENTARY

I don’t know if we were blessed or cursed this ep yall bc so much happenedddd

ahhh Anne come on you shoulda known this would’ve affected Josie Josie girl I want you to do what’s best for YOU C’mon Prissy speak the truth!

That slap... was something else. Idk how I feel???

Aww man Miss Stacy is EXPERT Noooo Anne Nooo please stop talking girl I get it you’re jealous and hurt but please stop you’re in the wrong in this sense Gilbert is saying good things please

Oh god OOFT idk if that was ok Anne... idk if that was ok Anne!!!

Oh my god if these old white men continuously interrupting the ever opinionated Rachel somehow sparks some idea of the extreme gender and racial biases evident in society in the exceptionally conservative Rachel Lynde?!?! I’ll be happy to listen to their egoistic nonsense... at least Rachel has weight in the town... even if these goddamn old white men aren’t listening to her now...

Holy shit this scene is fucking amazing. It’s infuriating but it is goddamn AMAZING

Oh crap I’m getting chills holy shit this scene is incredible

YOU CANT JUST FOLLOW UP THAT SCENE WITH DIANA AND JERRY’S HANDS BRUSHING AGAINST EACH OTHER HOLY SHIT I NEARLY CHOKED ON MY WATER Diana... honey... no... wait... just because Jerry didn’t appreciate the nuanced meaning of the story doesn’t mean he’s dumb... oh man... Is she... asking for a make out session right now??? WHY AM I NERVOUS THEYRE ABOUT TO KISS HE’S NOT JUST A BOOTY CALL DIANA

That side glance at Matthew like... uhhh does Matthew not count??? And no our boi Matthew is the only reliable man out there “I reckon you’ve heard from about enough men on this topic” MATTHEW IS OUR GODDAMN KING AND WE LOVE HIM

That was cathartic as hell. I felt her anger hot dang.

Ok ok. Gilbert getting back some. Defending Anne. Alrighty. Even tho Anne has been pretty angry with him he’s still defending her. Ok. Who’s home girl in the back that’s not a part of the main squad??? Ok ok this is good. I feel like no one really READ Anne’s article. They just got caught up in the consequences but didn’t look at the actual thing. I appreciate this. Moody learning one step at a time. Linking to our Roody hearts

Istg if Anne gets pissed at Gilbert after this wholesome defence of her character I might riot If Gilbert can’t figure out he’s in love with her after that wholesome defence of her character I also might riot

I SEE THEM HEART EYESSSSSS I guess we’re on a “he loves me” petal Lol Ruby scolding her manss

I see the Andrews men are both idiots

Guys can we stay friends... please... at least??? Angry Shirbert is just uncomfortable

I would love Josie and Anne to finally come to an understanding. This is so good. And she treated her with the usual Josie sarcasm this is a good feeling

WAIT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FINALLY JERRY AND ANNE ARE TALKING JERRY IS ASKING ANNE FOR ADVICE “My girl” oooh Jerryyyyy Oh wait I’m glad they’re talking and having a moment and being my BrOTP but idk if I want them to be hurt by Diana?!?!

God I love Matthew. He’s so steadfast.

What you doing Josie girl?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING BILLY ANDREWS?!?! You tell him Josie!!! Your “redemption” is coming too slow Billy!

I DIDN’T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN AND I DONT AGREE WITH DIANA’S THINKING THOUGH I UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WAS THINKING THAT WAY BUT ALSO IVE BEEN KINDA WAITING FOR ANNE AND DIANA TO HAVE A SOLID DISAGREEMENT BC THEIR THINKING IS SO DIFFERENT BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED EITHER

ooooh Prissy get what’s yours! Jane oh honey I was cheering for you... I hope you reconsider bc this family is in a damn rut

Oh Gilbert you’re working your way back into all our hearts huh? Stop it this friendly Shirbert is the best Shirbert AWW PRISSY CAME Oooh Activist Anne is eevrythinggggg Oh my god these clueless ass people joining in EYYY MARILLA JOSIE SHOWED UP WITH HER HAIR UNCURLED OH SNAP WE GOT PICTURESSSS Ooooh Gil boi Oooh heckin townsfolk???

Oh my god that shift in focus onto Gilbert looking at Anne what’s about to happen?!?! Are we about to stare at the stars together?!?! Did he just call back to their spelling days??? Wait noooo first it was Ruby and now it’s Winnifred stop bringing up other girls when you’re having a moment Anneeeeee THEY WERE STARING AT EACH OTHERS LIPS ISTG

OH THESE ASSHOLE WHITE MEN ARE STEALING THE PRINTING PRESS AND THEYRE GONNA BURN DOWN THE SCHOOL HOUSE NO YOU DID NOT JUST END THE EP THERE

----

AND THAT WAS THE MOOD YA’LL. 3.07, like every Anne ep thus far has been a MONSTER... Derry was thriving and then it died just like that huh? Diana my girl how could you do that to my boiiiiiiiiii... I’ve been wanting an Anne-Jerry scene the whole season and it was an angsty rave...AND THEN THE FIGHT BETWEEN DIANA AND ANNE BROKE MY DAMN HEART...

as far as Shirbert went, I hope that was the final “He Loves Me” petal... it was a wholesome ass episode for Shirbert after the angst that was Ep 6... Gilbert coming to Anne’s defence... them just being FRIENDS for once... that classic Gilbert gaze of longing... the porch talk under the stars?!?!? JOKING CALLBACKS (honestly take note Winnie... enough with the Mr Bones already)... BOI WAS REALISING SOMETHING... like let the boi realise Anne is his true love... I hope Anne and Winnie become friends bc they seem like they’re on the same vibe but I just want him to settle his mind on Anne these last 3 eps...

And then Josie and Prissy’s character developments? KILLER! love them. we stan a couple of fierce queens!

Anne leading the charge and all the kids doing the silent protest and it was just such a wholesome thing... love Matthew and Marilla standing by and supporting Anne... now just need to see those asshole white men get what’s coming to them...

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sadbi-hours · 5 years

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Here it is! Finally! My Stranger things’ Fanfic Rec list I’ve put off for months yooo! Anyway, I hope you find something to read and enjoy y’all :)

(Oh, the * at the front of the fic title means they are my favorites!)

* objects in the mirror by Snickfic (Complete)

Jonathan has no f**king idea why Nancy and Steve gave him the Nikon. He doesn't know why they're so insistent on seeing the pictures he takes, either.

why you should read it?:one reason: you can’t tell me that Jonathan doesn’t have a thing for taking pics during sexy times! you just can’t...and this fanfic is the reason why!

And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars Series by Drhair76 (WIP)

The many adventures of Steve, Jonathan and Nancy as they figure out their relationship. (feat. Robin, the kiddos and a heck ton of parental figures.)

why you should read it?: Because Steve/Nancy/Jonathan’s relationship is the cutest thing in this little series...but it’s also very real in a way that’s not supernatural. Just go read the series! Warning: It does get a little angsty in later parts!

Emotion Sickness by Shypt (WIP)

After the Battle of Starcourt, Steve struggles with the damages that the Russians left behind. In dealing with the aftermath, with the help of Robin and the Party, he uncovers a larger conspiracy at hand than just re-opening the Gate.

why you should read it?: Post s3 fic, where Robin and Steve are left with powers after the Russian’s experiments...and how they deal with that and the large conspiracy at behind why.

* it's a risk, it's a gamble by nondz (pinkjook) (Complete)

“I think we should pretend to date,” Robin says.

"What?" Steve answers.

why you should read it?: read this post and all my feelings will be revealed...or aka the emotionally sweet stoncy fic where Robin and Steve pretend to be each others beards... that might have made me weep silently a few times haha!

* Strike from the Records (it's not over 'till we're done) by SylphofScript (Complete)

If there’s one more thing Steve should have walked away with after so many incidents with the otherworldly, it’s to never trust the slow points.

They were only ever a blanket of lies, covering up a brewing storm.

Too bad Steve never learns.

why you should read it?: A long connective fic, where each character is common or not so common whamp trope! So beware, it gets super angsty in parts!

Have Happened by cortexikid (Complete)

"I overheard you. You were talking in your sleep.”

Steve's heart fluttered nervously.

“It was a little funny at first,” Nancy admitted, her tone a mix of teasing and apologetic, “you were moaning my name and I thought it’d be kinda funny if Mike accidentally overheard you having a sex dream about his sister—”

Steve couldn’t control the guffaw that escaped him.

“But then you said Jonathan’s name. Right after mine. All in the same breath.”

why you should read it?: You know, why not! I’ll admit, this story doesn’t entirely work for me anymore since the monster hunting trio had grown so far from their s1 characterizations, but it’s still a fic worth reading! So i am rec-ing it!

Slide Over Here by empathieves (Complete)

Nancy says Jonathan's name instead of Steve's two weeks after the Monster Hunting Incident. Steve says it instead of Nancy's name a month after. They don't talk about it until two months after, when it's become increasingly hard to ignore that Jonathan Byers has become a part of their sex life without even being in the room.

why you should read it?: Another post s1 fic, where Nancy and Steve slowly start bringing Jonathan’s name into their sex life...and how they eventually act on their desires!

Searching For Your Heart by cali-chan (girls_are_weird) (Complete)

One of the world's biggest action movie superstars is coming to town, and every kid in Hawkins High is determined to win MTV's back-to-school scavenger hunt and get a face-to-face meeting with their idol. Mike and his friends are sure they've got this in the bag— until the contest throws a wrench in their plans and their only shot at winning is partnering up with Mike's longtime crush, El Hopper.

why you should read it?: I’ll admit I didn’t finish this story...I was a little too fluffy for my tastes, but It’s still a cute story worth reading!

Bad at Love (Can You Blame Me for Trying) by GeoffsEightGreatestMistakes (Complete)

He liked to think the world was done throwing him curveballs. He’s had to kill the Demogorgon, get his face punched in by a crazed stepbrother, listen to his drunk girlfriend tell him she doesn’t love him, and tell his best friend that he’s a piece of shit. He thought he had somehow managed to catch enough curveballs for a lifetime. He was wrong. The newest curveball may be the hardest one yet.

why you should read it?: It’s Stoncy and my fav romantic angst trope: (not so) unrequited love/Pining!

* every night my mind is running around her by magneticwave (Complete)

In which Nancy gets married, Lucas gets hot, and Dustin gets to give lots of people advice that he’s only moderately qualified to dispense.

why you should read it?: This was my first ever ST fanfic! I had to add it on principal...of it being absolutely amazing lol!

* Ducks on the Pond by The Stephanois (ballantine) (Complete)

Steve Harrington knows two things to be true: the St. Louis Cardinals are the best baseball team in the world, and Nancy Wheeler is far too amazing for him to hog all to himself.

why you should read it?: It’s one of my all time favorite stoncy fics, it combines two things I absolutely love into one story: Poly relationships and Baseball (I won a MVP trophy in HS for Pitching) ...and also uses the age old euphemism of bases for sex;)

Across the Many Miles by FeoplePeel (Complete)

Nancy packed her bags and moved out West for Caltech. Jonathan’s East at NYU. Steve’s in the middle, Hawkins, Indiana and separated from the only people who understand by a seemingly endless stretch of land on each side. The story doesn't start there, but it doesn't end there, either.

why you should read it?: It’s actually been so long since I’ve read this one...and bruh is it long...so it’s definitely not a causal read, but it’s very very good read if you have the time for a long, long story.

* let this pass you by CallicoKitten (Complete)

Steve’s not entirely sure at which point in his life he became Dustin Henderson’s personal chauffeur. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. Maybe he can pinpoint the exact moment it happened and it honestly keeps him awake at night more than the demo-dogs or the Demogorgon or any of the insane shit that’s happened in Hawkins recently.

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the kids drag steve on a trip to chicago to find El's sister, steve figures some shit out in the process

why you should read it?: It’s stoncy, the party, and a road trip all rolled into one...what more can you ask for haha?!

Talk Me Down by anomalation (Complete)

Nancy knows what she wants: Steve and Jonathan both, and maybe a fight. Steve knows he'd do anything for these dorky kids. Jonathan doesn't seem to want anything, but he'd also never ask them. And none of them are interested in forgiving Billy.

Featuring: some D&D, a Christmas party, a lot of relationship negotiating, no excuses for shitty behavior, and yet also the firm belief that nobody deserves abusive parents.

why you should read it?: Another really long, long fic that I completely enjoyed the one time I read it...and It had a nice and real redemption arc for Billy that I liked.

* For the Three of Us by brokenpromisesandhope

5 times Jonathan loved Steve and Nancy and one time they loved him back.

why you should read it?: The summary pretty much says it all...

* decide on me (decide on us) by mjolnirbreaker (Complete)

Robin could very well die tonight in her stupid work uniform, and honestly she doesn’t want to dwell on it. So she’s going to make it her personal mission to figure out what’s up with Steve’s romantic life, and hopefully they don’t die before she solves the puzzle.

why you should read it?: It amazes me to this day...just how close to canon this author had gotten for Robin’s characterization and her relationship with Steve!

* fly me to the moon by bleuboxes (Complete)

It's a Saturday night; he's watching one of those Star Wars movies with Robin - who won't shut up about how hot Leia looks.

Steve mentions something briefly about how he likes Han’s hair, rugged tough guy appearance, and general aloofness. Robin rolls her eyes, mutters an 'of course you do', then throws popcorn at his face.

why you should read it?: Okay, I related way too well to this story! Han Solo was one of my bisexual awakens too...and I didn’t realize until years later lol! It’s also a sweet story about how Robin slowly helps Steve through his awakening like a real BFF should.

God Help the Outcasts by willwrite4coffee (Complete)

Robin Buckley's always been a little different, but to her, that's never been a bad thing.

She's been on the outside looking in, an outcast, but she'd rather spend her evening with Sousa than at a kegger.

Being an outsider has never been a bad thing.

(also known as, why does no one know Robin in such a small town like Hawkins?)

why you should read it?: A cute little story about Robin and Steve’s friendship directly after the events of s3...and how the party and Nancy and Jonathan slowly begin to accept Robin into the fold.

Oh, and anything by @trulyalpha! Here’s the Ao3 link!

#stranger things #fanfic rec list #i am completely sure that i am missing some #but i've read a lot of st fanfics #so there is more than likely to be a part 2 #so yay...i guess lol #none of these works are mine....and if you want your tumblr link at the end #just dm me #image not mine

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ageofgeek · 5 years

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Guys...they did the impossible. I liked Rise of Skywalker! They ended it well, and there were a bunch of parts that I REALLY liked (and really only a few parts that I was "meh" about).

SPOILERS UNDER THE READ MORE!

So! Let’s go through the main reveals/plot points and then I’ll go into more specifics. Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter - I’ll be honest, I did NOT expect that. I think after TFA came out, I reblogged a gifset that included all of the Rey parentage theories, and I was like, “lol what? who the hell thinks that Rey is a Palpatine? wtf?” And now it’s canon? Honestly, it’s the same kind of batshit reveal that I’d expect from Star Wars, so I’m kinda okay with it.

Kylo Ren’s redemption was...not as terrible as I thought it would be. As y’all know, I am very anti-Kylo and anti-R*ylo, so I thought I was going to Suffer in this movie. But I was surprised by how I felt about it - only mildly irritated instead of bursting with rage. I still think he doesn’t really have a personality other than 1) whiny 2) manipulative and 3) emo, but I did like the scene where he hallucinates Han and repeats his line from TFA (”I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it”). That being said, it is still highly questionable to have Kylo’s redemption built on Leia’s death/sacrifice for her son (it reads a little too much like fridging a woman to save a male character), but I will excuse the filmmakers for that because they didn’t have much footage of Carrie Fisher to work with, so there wasn’t too much they could do if they wanted to commit to not digitally reconstructing her (which I am glad they did not do).

I digress (I’ll talk about Leia in the next paragraphs). I did like that Kylo just showed up to the final fight with Palpatine in like, a henley and slacks. It seemed like a very Skywalker thing to do, lol. Also, thank God that he died. Like, damn - I see all these Kylo stans being so upset at his death, and I’m just like? His character purposefully paralleled Vader - a parallel which I think was weak, at best, but still, a parallel - and you thought that he wasn’t going to die? Also, what would have happened if he had lived? Oh right, he would’ve gone to prison for the rest of his life and not gotten married to Rey and have kids, lol, what universe are you living in? As it was, I think that they did his death well - like Vader, they had him sacrifice himself for somebody that he loved (although the bond between Rey and Kylo is, once again, much more questionable to me than the bond between Luke and Vader/Anakin). And like Vader, he turned back to the Light because of his family (Leia and Han). Thinking about the 2 other ways Ben’s character arc could’ve gone (1) he doesn’t turn back to the Light or 2) he turns back to the Light but doesn’t die), this was the only satisfying way to end his arc (at least in my opinion).

That being said, I REALLY could’ve done without that kiss. Like, really? You just had to force it into an unnecessary romance? You couldn’t have just had them hug or cradle each other, platonically? Both of the climactic emotional moments of the previous trilogies were completely non-romantic, and both focused on love of FAMILY - Luke cradling Anakin, his father, as he dies, and Obi-Wan being forced to “kill” Anakin, his brother. It would’ve been so much better if they had ended this one with Rey cradling Ben, her brother, as he died. But no, we can’t have nice things because heteronormativity exists. *sigh*

But, we’re moving on. I thought that they handled Leia’s character really respectfully - I think Carrie Fisher would’ve been proud. I’m still bitter and sad that we only got one scene in the entire sequel trilogy with Luke and Leia (the OG Skywalkers and you only had them in one fucking scene together? Goddammit), but that force ghost scene at the end with the two of them made me happy - it was a bittersweet happiness, but happiness all the same (also, since it is canon that force ghosts get to chill and rest and be happy in the afterlife, I am more than happy with that ending. It also makes me want to write a ton of fanfiction. Stay tuned for that). I also burst into tears when Leia died and Maz stood near her bedside and whispered, “Goodbye, Princess.” Wow, that did things to my heart!

Ian McDiarmid continues to be a goddamn delight to watch as Palpatine, and he was genuinely creepy and horrific in this movie. I still feel like bringing Palpatine back to life (albeit in zombified form) was a real slap in the face to the perfect ending of ROTJ (and it especially cheapens Anakin’s role as the Chosen One, which is really a slap in the face for me), but they did it as best they could. I think I would’ve preferred if Palpatine was in spirit form in this movie, trying to come back to life by using Rey as a conduit or a body? Something like that would’ve honored the end of ROTJ a bit more while also bringing him back as the big villain.

All in all, I liked TROS much more than I hated it, especially since I had pretty low expectations going in. I’ve talked about the big “reveals” and moments so far, but I really liked the little things in this movie! For example:

Rey, Finn, and Poe were a full-on OT3 trio in this movie, and I loved it! The mission to find the wayfinder in the desert? Adventures! Chase scenes! Exploring! Jokes! I loved it - it was definitely giving me “Tatooine in ROTJ” vibes. They all kind of wandered apart in the second half of the movie, but they came back together at the end for that hug!! Which made me cry buckets!! (Poe holding Rey’s hand as they both hug Finn??? Wow, OT3 goals, they are so in love)

Chewie and Lando were great! Lando felt a little random in this movie (no explanation as to where he was? No mention of Han’s death?), but I always appreciate Billy Dee Williams, so I’m not complaining.

In that same vein, WEDGE CAMEO!!! They got Denis Lawson back, and right after I got back on my Wedge/Luke wagon! Damn, I wish we could’ve seen more of him (maybe there are some deleted scenes??? Listen, I neED MORE WEDGE IN MY LIFE).

And again in the same vein as cameos, um, that Jedi voice scene??? Listen, ok, hearing Hayden’s voice again was more than I ever thought we would get, I was sO EMOTIONAL, I heard him and almost immediately burst into tears. And they got Ewan and Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson(!!!), and the voice actors for Ahsoka and Luminara and WOW I am super emotional, that was hands-down the best scene in the movie for me. I was so happy to hear all of them - the acknowledgement of the prequels and the rest of the Jedi, FINALLY, after 2 previous sequel movies that didn’t give a shit about them. FINALLY we got this. And you know what? I would’ve been even happier if they had shown their faces, but I will take it. I will fucking take it. (That being said: Oh, Disney Gods - please let Hayden return for flashbacks and/or hallucinations in the Obi-Wan series. Please. It’s all I want in life).

The confirmation that Leia trained as a Jedi and had a lightsaber - I almost full-on clapped in the theaters at that scene. And I loved the training sequence/flashback that they had with Luke and Leia - they actually showed them sparring and I loved it so much! It was amazing - why couldn’t they have included that earlier? (Cue me singing: “We could’ve had it allll!!!!!”).

Luke’s Force Ghost appearance really redeemed his character from the beating it got in TLJ. It was a short scene, but it felt so much more like the Luke Skywalker I know and love, and I’m glad that they gave Mark Hamill a chance to really play Luke again.

The end scene with the Resistance coming to help. It felt a little Endgame-ish to me (then again, that was arguably the best scene in Endgame), but we definitely came full circle from TLJ, where the Resistance was basically abandoned on Crait and nobody answered their distress call. In TROS, everybody answered their distress call.

I also like that C3PO had a bit more of a role! I really love R2 and C3PO, and I like that they kept to Lucas’ original vision of the two of them being the only ones to be in all 9 films. I also deeply appreciate R2 being with Leia when she died - that felt incredibly moving and appropriate, and also coming full circle from Leia’s first scene with R2 in ANH.

Finn being confirmed as Force-sensitive! Finally! Fucking 4 years since TFA and we finally got it - hallelujah.

I think that’s about it! Honestly, I’m just so high off of the endorphins of hearing Anakin and Obi-Wan and all of the Jedi again! That scene made the entire movie worth it for me.

But this is the end of the Skywalker Saga, and that makes me really sad. The one thing that I am really upset about with regards to this movie is that it literally ends the Skywalkers. At least if you end the original 6 movies with ROTJ, the implication is that Leia and/or Luke will continue the Skywalker lineage, and they will continue to be leaders and jedi and heroes - but when you add in the sequel trilogy...it just ends. Anakin’s grandson turns to the dark side and ends up (indirectly) killing Luke, Leia, and then himself. And THAT’S how the Skywalkers end? After the tragedy that was Anakin (and Padme’s) life, history just repeats itself and the family line ends? That’s...depressing. But I think that the sequel trilogy, in a way, is still very distant from the other 2 trilogies - in a way, it reminded me of a weird, high-budget delve into the EU that is technically canon, but doesn’t feel like it’s canon???

Either way, I’m happy to accept the sequel trilogy as pseudo-canon, but still apart from the original 6 movies. I’m glad that we got to see some, if not all, of the OT characters again. I wish we could’ve gotten more - out of the old and new characters - but what we got was okay, and I enjoyed the ride.

And now, I’m just going to go cry over the Skywalker family and read force ghost fanfiction :’)

#tros #tros spoilers #star wars #sequel trilogy #mine #rant #resistance era

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lazycollectionofcoffee · 6 years

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Stranger Things 3 Rambles

What we know so far from season 2

At the end of season two we see El closing the gate. We are told that she will have to wait another year before coming out of hiding. Sam Owens gives Hopper El’s birth certificate which declares him as the father. Nancy and Jonathan are together, which means poor Steve is left alone. The lab is closed down, and Murray Buaman knows a good portion of the truth.

Of course Will is okay, and the Duffers have said that they will be lying off his character so he doesn’t suffer as much in season three. I think we can also safely assume that Max and Lucas are still going strong after their cute kiss at the end of season 2 along with Mike and Eleven.

What we’ve been told

We have been told a few times that this season is not only taking place in the summer of 1985, but I will have a Back to The Future influence. We will also be getting a lot of summer love and romance. I can’t wait to see what they do with all the little ships and how they are going to grow some of the friendships. We also know that it will revolve around July 4th that is pretty much a dead giveaway. For anyone who is familiar or aware of the significance of July 4th, it is an American holiday.

We have heard Noah Schnapp mention “It’s spreading” again, and I can’t wait to see how they bring that into the story. I would like to think it has to do with the red vines shown in the poster given to us on New Year’s, and it probably has to do with the rats as well since they are a species known to spread disease.

We also know that the mall is going to have great significance in the story line. Star Court mall is going to be the center of whatever is happening this season.

We also have the kids growing up so it’s going to be interesting to see how they bring in the coming of age vibes, and how they are going to show the angst and pain of being a teenager.

Now for what we see

The trailer starts off great. We have the entire party back together, and even though Lucas gets blinded by hair spray I think it’s safe to say that they are all relatively happy. Their choice of Baba O’Riley or Teenage Waste Land as people tend to call it by The Who is brilliant, and I don’t think they could have picked a better song to go with the trailer and overall theme of what is being shown.

I first want to focus on the big antenna that is erected by the party on the grass hill. My thoughts go back to A.V. club. I would like to think they are trying their hand of maybe building their own radio; trying to see how far they can get their radio waves to go with a hand built antenna. I think this could play a big role in government spying, and or listening in to what they are messing with. I also think of alien communication. Even now people still use large ground sidelights and antennas to try and find weird alien radio waves in space. This could also be used for alternate realities or dimensions. It also reminds me of the antenna from E.T. I could be digging too deep into it, but I thought that this was really interesting and I can’t wait to see what they do with it.

Side note: when they are raising it, it looks like the rising of the American flag. Here’s a picture for reference.

I also found it cool that Mike and Eleven weren’t there when they were putting it up. Maybe they snuck away to have their own time. If you guys follow me you know I’m all about the Mileven vibes so I can’t wait to see what that’s all about. I will of course talk more about them further down this thread.

Hawkins Post

I’m going to be honest, I have no idea what Nancy and Jonathan are up to. When it came to season two I never saw them trying to expose the lab, it was a surprise to me. My guess is that they are just trying to get a summer job, but they end up uncover something they didn’t mean to find out. Maybe something to do with the mayor and his relationship to the lab or just something that happens with the upside down. We do get like a one second clip of Murray toward the end, so maybe they are working together again.

We do know that they said one of the new characters is going to be a journalist so I guess we will see how that goes, and what happens with them.

Let’s talk about Billy for a moment

I’m actually a really big fan of Billy. I wrote a post about him months ago, you can find that here if you’re interested. Now I don’t condone his actions, but I’m all about that human antagonist, and I really hope he gets a small redemption ark, but I don’t think that’s happening. It’s clear to see that in the trailer he is a life guard. Episode three is titled “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard”, he also has some weird infection on his arm. This leads me to believe that he is the lifeguard that goes missing. This infection could also make him go a little crazy meaning he could have done something to the girl lifeguard we see him looking at.

I’m one of those weird people that wants to know if something happens between him and Karen. It’s such a real life situation and I really like that they don’t stray away from those real life stories. We didn’t really see Mike’s family, but I hope they make a good appearance in the show.

Hopper and Joyce

Jopper is end game; I don’t care what anyone says. I want to know if he asked Joyce to dinner and she didn’t show and that’s why he’s alone at the nice restaurant. His speech of wanting her feel safe is interesting too. It’s like he’s trying to tell her that he wants her to stay, like maybe Joyce was thinking of leaving Hawkins after everything that’s happened. I could see this happen since in season two Bob brings up moving out of Hawkins with her and the boys. I’m sure she wants to leave all those bad memories behind and get Will out of that environment too. She probably still dealing with Bob’s death and finds it easier to just leave.

We didn’t see much Joyce in the trailer and I really want to know what they do with her character. I’m sure she’s going to have a lot of ptsd like she did in season two. We are told in season one that she always had issues with anxiety so I can’t wait to see what they do with that.

Coming Of Age

I am interested in seeing who Mike is talking to when he talks about not being kids anymore. At first I was like, “is he talking to Will” and then I thought that he would never talk to Will with aggression like that. Maybe he’s talking to Dustin, or he could be talking to his mom. Maybe she doesn’t like how fast he’s growing up and this is what he tells her. I mean, it’s clear to see that this isn’t just the kids being kids anymore. I kind of want to hear your guys take on these kids getting older. For me it really just makes me happy. This is bringing me back to my years as a teenager and is giving me serous vibes right now. I totally get that feeling of what it’s like to be in that age of not being a kid, but not being an adult either. I’m sure there is going to be a lot of angst that can tie into that.

Will

*sigh* they tell us that they won’t be putting Will through a lot and then we get this trailer. It’s clear that he isn’t emotionally there. I think it might have a lot to do with Joyce and her wanting to move (if that is what’s happening). I don’t think he wanted to leave his friends behind, but he might also feel like they have already left him behind. Mike has El, Lucas has Max, and Dustin has Steve. Who does that leave for Will? The poor guy just can’t catch a break and it makes me so sad. He’s already missed so much because of everything that he’s been through that I think he isn’t ready to leave his childhood behind.

Guy With The Gun

At first I thought the guy in the mirror maze was after Hopper. And then I really started to think. The kids are probably at the Fun Fair, they are probably in that mirror maze. I think he might be after El and if someone gets in the way he’s going to kill them. I think Hopper is there trying to keep them safe. Maybe he wants to kill El, maybe he wants to kill someone else, but he does have a silencer on that gun so he is ready to shoot.

He looks special opps so we’ll see.

Erica

She back! I’m so freaking excited. Seeing her crawling through the air ducks freaks me out, I don’t want her to get hurt. We see a second of her with Steve, Dustin, and Robin and I’m here for this. I don’t know I just had to gush over it because I love her character and I can’t want to see how they develop her.

Mr. Mayor

I’m going to say a no to this guy. I think he’s hiding something and I don’t like it. I feel like he might have known what was going on at the lab, and he’s trying to sweep it under the rug. It’s too early to tell, but there is no trust.

Cary Elwse playing him is exciting though. I love Princess Bride and I also love him is Psych so I’m so happy that he is a part of this show.

El and Max

I’m so happy! I think this is the friendship we have all been waiting for. I love the scene with them in the mall, and I also love the picture of them eating ice cream on what looks like a bus.

Forget Mike and Lucas. These girls are goals for sure.

Ugh!!! El has freedom and I’m living for it. To see them getting along and to have this friendship that every teenage girl dreams of is just great. I’m thriving.

Teenage Romance

Can we just talk about the fact that Mike and El are that couple. They are holding hands and just staying close. I just don’t even know what to say about this. I’m thinking about writing it on a separate post, along with lumax because this is just so exciting.

This poor girl. She looks so happy at the beginning and it so obvious it’s going to fall apart. There is a part when she is in the void, it looks like she was in the tub or she falls through the tub. I wonder if she tries to use water again to help her really figure out what’s going on. There’s also a part where it looks like she’s falling and reaching for help. *sigh* this poor girl. I’m so scared she is going to be taken away by the end of the season. I don’t know, let’s see what happens.

Guys, there is so much I didn’t touch on, but these are the things that really made me think. What do you guys think? What’s your opinion? I know a lot of this is going to change as I continue to watch the trailer and they begin to release more stuff.

I will say they did great on not really touching on the story line. A lot of trailers these days just give everything away and I love that they didn’t really give us much even though it was like 2 minutes of pure fuel.

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banditthewriter · 7 years

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It Comes In Waves [Billy Russo] 15

It has taken me forever to write this part and I’m not 100% satisfied but if I rewrite it any more, I’ll never finish it.

@yessy2012 @1550kilogramsofsilver @hermioneshandbag @rileyblues @releasethekracko @youveseen--thebutcher @missphanosaur18 @smiley-celine @itsjustmylifeconfessions @hoodedhavok @anamarierosee @sarasnow22 @sinceimetyou @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @nostalgic-uncertainty @gingerstarlight @musingsofbanana @ironstank @aveatquevale- @giggleberts @ravismorgue @flightoftheflightrisk @thehanneloner @mightymelly @queenisabella789 @clarasworldofwonders @hxbbit @colddecember-night @rockintensse @ltlfngs @figlia--della--luna @ladyblablabla @slamharder @vcneficae Please let me know if I forgot anyone or if you want to be tagged in future Billy stories!

Enjoy!

***** "Frank," you said as you met his eyes. He looked like a caged animal and it made your anxiety start to jolt. "Frank I know this is hard but I need you to listen to me okay? I didn't know about your family until recently, I swear, but this isn't the answer." You gestured behind you where Billy was tied up. "My wife, my kids, are rotting in the ground because of this guy and you... you want to defend him?" Frank shot forward towards Billy and you quickly stepped in the way to stop him. "Not like this Frank. He's your best friend, don't you think you should hear what he has to say?" Frank looked at you, eyes wide in a way that made you feel like you'd said the wrong thing. "You think I owe this guy anything? Anything but another beating?" As he lunged towards Billy again, you stepped between them once more and felt his body collide with yours. You lost your balance and cried out as your ankle bent awkwardly. Frank grabbed your arms to keep you upright and when you met his eyes, you saw that he looked concerned. "Don't touch her," growled a rough voice from behind you. Frank wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you backwards, suddenly aware of how close you two had gotten to where Billy was sitting. "Don't touch her huh? What, worried that I might do something? Might get her killed?" His hand inched up close to your neck and you stilled, suddenly very aware of how large and strong the man behind you was. "You think I'm gonna be a coward and get a woman killed because of you? Nah man, that's your way. Not mine." Despite what he was saying, he didn't move his hand from your throat. Billy's eyes peered out from the blood that had trickled into them, mouth set in a scowl as he stared at the hand on your throat and fear on your face. "Let her go Frank. She had nothing to do with this." Billy pulled against the ropes that held his hands down against the arm of the chair. "Neither did my family Bill. My family had nothing to do with Afghanistan, nothing to do with any of that shit. That stop you from getting them killed?" "He didn't get them killed," you yelled as you pried at his fingers around your throat. "I did!" "Y/N," Billy whispered but Frank let you go and you stepped away from both of them, one hand shaking at your neck. "Billy didn't know your family was a target. He had to make a choice, you or me. And he decided that you could protect yourself so he picked me." You turned to face Frank but kept your eyes shut. "If it wasn't for me, he would have warned you and your family would be here. So if you want to blame someone Frank, you can blame me too." When you opened your eyes, there was resignation on Billy's face and horror on Frank's. He took a step towards you and Billy started to struggle harder in the binds holding him to the chair. "Frank think about this, think about--" But Frank didn't attack you. Instead he pulled you to him, tucking his face into your hair. You clutched at his shirt, mind reeling. Hadn't you decided that you'd never feel this from him again if he knew the truth? "You don't blame yourself, do you hear me? This shit... this shit isn't your fault." He pulled back to tilt your head up, face stern but not angry. Not anymore. "Then you can't just blame Billy. He didn't know what would happen." The two of you turned to look at Billy and you saw him sag against his bonds. Frank gave you a brief nod and you ran over to him to check his face. It didn't look like anything was broken, just bruised and a little cut up. You wiped at the blood that was dripping from his mouth with your sleeve and offered him a small smile. Frank came over and pulled a knife out of his pocket, cutting the ropes to release him. Billy kept an eye on the knife as if he expected it to be plunged into his neck at any moment. "It killed me," Billy said as he stood up, keeping you at his side. "When I found out what happened... I ran Y/N off and then I found out that Rawlins had played me. I thought it was supposed to just be a three person team against you and they wouldn't stand a chance." He sagged against you and you lowered him into the chair again, kneeling down to check his side. His words, "It killed me," echoed in your head as a reminder of your nightmares. It looked like he might have a broken rib but when you tried to get up to go grab your kit, he grabbed your arm and kept you still. He hadn't moved his eyes off of Frank and you realized that he didn't want to take the chance that Frank would go after you. That his apparently change in demeanor was supposed to draw you both in. You couldn't stand to see them on opposite sides like this, couldn't stand feeling like the bridge that supported their friendship. Years of love and friendship, brotherhood, stood between the two of them and you had to try to bridge the gap for them. "Billy has had to live with this for over two years, feeling responsible for the death of your family. You're his brother so they were his family too. He had to live with the regret of never coming clean." You stood up but didn't let go of Billy's wrist. "You wanted to tell Billy that you were alive. You told me that you regretted that you couldn't tell him." With one hand in Billy's grip, you stepped just close enough to reach out and grab Frank's wrist. "There is a second chance here. Let Billy make amends. Let him tell you what he knows, let him help you." Having said your piece, you stepped back a bit to let the two have a moment. Billy's eyes were wide and filled with moisture and, although you couldn't see him clearly, you figured Frank's were too. "I hear them when I sleep Frank. Every night since, I hear Lisa and Frank Jr asking me why I let them die. Just, 'uncle Billy, why didn't you save us?' And it kills me Frank. I wanted to protect Y/N but I lost everything. I even lost her. I know I fucked up. I know I don't deserve redemption. I just want to try to make it better, however I can." You turned away, tears falling freely. He hadn't told you about his own recurring dream, although it made sense. Billy had always been close to the kids, loved them so fiercely. There was a noise behind you and you turned around to see that Frank had pulled Billy out of the chair and was hugging him. You covered your mouth to hold in a sob and then remembered that Billy was injured. "Careful of his ribs!" Frank pulled back a bit and Billy shook his head. "Don't think about apologizing Frank. I deserved it. I probably deserve more than that." Frank smiled and pulled away fully so you moved to start checking Billy's side and other injuries once more. "I knew you were letting me kick your ass." Billy smirked around the blood staining his teeth. "Don't know what you're talking about Frankie boy," he said with a wince as you raised his shirt and tried to check for internal bleeding. The two of them grinned at each other, a small piece of the rift mending, and you rolled your eyes. Trust these two to bond over blood and broken bones. ------ You watched the two of them seemingly just circle each other for a while longer while you finished patching Billy up. Once that was done, you moved over to Frank to check on his fists. It looked like Billy hadn't gotten a hit in and it occurred to you that Billy's guilt probably made him just sit there and take it. Of course you couldn't be sure about that without asking, but even Frank's comment had made it sound like it was true. While you cleaned Frank's knuckles, Billy sighed and leaned his elbows on the table the three of you were sitting at. "It sounds like Rawlins knows you're alive. I don't know how he knows, but I'm pretty sure he's who sent the team after you. If he knows that they weren't successful, he'll send another team." "None of them bothered to check me for a pulse," Frank said as you finished up with his right hand. "I barely got here before I passed out. Hell I don't even remember Y/N answering when I called her." "Thanks for that by the way," you grouched as you looked over his left hand. "I love phone calls where someone I care about sounds like they are dying. Those are my favorites." Frank heaved a sigh and grasped your hands with his. "Thanks for patching me up kid." He looked between you and Billy and then released your hands. "I know that there was more to it but it's still hard to overlook. It's gonna take some time." "I get that," you responded quietly. There was a noise from the back of the warehouse and you jumped as both men shot arms out to shove you behind them. Your body was tense since both Frank and Billy weren't exactly in fighting form, but the noise rang out again and you sagged a bit. "It's the dog." Frank swore and went over to the back room where the dog was locked. He opened the door and was immediately greeted by a wagging tail and paws on his chest. He winced, the dog probably pressing against some of his wounds, and rubbed over her head. You walked over to take over the duties of caring for the dog, shooing Frank back to the table. Once he was seated, you reached under one of the cabinets to grab the bag of dog food that you had brought over on one of your trips. "So Rawlins may not know that you're still alive. I'm going to assume that he won't just take their word for it and will try to sniff you out." Billy tapped his hand on the table a few times and you caught his eye before he turned back to look at Frank. "I'm still working with him." Frank tensed and you took a hesitant step forward, ready to get between them if needed. Billy held his hand up to you to stop you but you would ignore him if needed. "I stuck with him this long because I'm playing the long game. After what happened, I knew I had to take him down. I've been the loyal dog for two years all while building against him. The plan was to drag him down legally but that was before I knew you were alive. I can think of something better." You watched as Frank nodded slowly, hand clenching in a fist on the table. "I kill him. We use your connection with him to get him somewhere alone and I do the rest." Billy nodded and you stepped forward, unable to stay quiet for much longer. "Despite what he's done, you need to remember who he is. This is the CIA guy, right? You know that if you kill him, you'll be hunted." They exchanged a look and you took another step forward until you could brace your hands on the table. "Not just Frank, but you too Billy. You think someone in his outfit won't know you had something to do with it? Even if it's just a theory. You'll be arrested. Or worse. Obviously our government doesn't care about killing people that get in the way." "I know you're worried kid, but there isn't really another way." You shot a glare at Frank and then looked over at Billy. He gently shook his head, telling you silently to drop it, and you scoffed as you threw your hands in the air. "So that's it huh? You two put the puzzle together and come up with a spontaneous plan in five minutes and that's the final word?" You looked at Frank and put your hand on your chest. "They were my family too and I want you to get your revenge. I want you to put this man down if that's what it takes, but not like this. Not with barely a plan." "It's just an outline right now Y/N," Billy urged. He stood up and moved to your side of the table, placing his hands on your arms to turn you to face him. "Obviously this isn't happening right now. I have to check in with Rawlins, see what he knows first. But we have a chance here. I owe it to Frank to make it happen." "You could die Billy. Frank could die. Are you saying you're okay with that?" Billy reached up to tilt your face to his. You saw the wealth of emotion swirling in his eyes, could see that he was trying to get you to understand. "I don't want to die, but if that's what it takes to get this finished? Maybe it's my turn." "I don't accept that," you said as you pulled yourself out of his grasp. He reached out but you walked past him, past the table altogether. "No, see we made a decision this morning. Do you remember that? That we were in this together. And I don't accept this." You looked at Frank as he approached you, being closer than Billy was. "Y/N," he began, but you shook your head and held a hand up. "I'm not going to do something stupid," you promised. You looked between the two of them. "That's your job. I just... I can't do this. Billy thinks he owes you his life, you owe your family their revenge. I get it but I don't have to stay here for it. I lost everything once. I'm not going to stand around as it happens again." You walked to the door of the warehouse, using your body weight to push it open. An arm caught your shoulder and you turned around, half expecting Frank. It was Billy and you gave him a small smile. "We are going to plan it out, okay? We won't just rush into something. We're military men; we plan everything." You gave him a pointed look and he rolled his eyes. "We plan our armed assaults at least. Listen to me though. I'm not going out there with the intention of dying for Frank. I told you this morning; I'd face down the world for you. But I have a lot to make up for, with Frank and with you, and this is what I have to do. I need you to understand that." You sighed, body sagging a little. You knew they weren't going to go in half cocked. It just scared the shit out of you, the thought that you might lose one or both of them again. You reached up and cupped his jaw. "Be smart, both of you," you called over his shoulder to where Frank was pretending not to listen. "You're still leaving?" Frank asked. You smiled at him over Billy's arm. "Your cubbards are bare Frank. I'm going to run home and get a few things then go shopping. If this is going to be the base of operations while you two plan on taking down a head member of the CIA, I'm going to take care of the domestic stuff. I'll be back soon." Frank nodded and turned to look at the dog. While he wasn't looking, you glanced back at Billy and let your smile soften a bit more. You moved the hand on his cheek to smooth the wrinkles between his eyebrows. "It's you and me against the world right?" At his smile, you leaned up and kissed him softly. You gave him another quick kiss before you pulled back fully. "I have plans for you that require you to be alive so make sure you use your head with all of this Billy." He laughed and turned to the warehouse door. He pulled it open and then grabbed your wrist before you could step outside. "Be careful out there. We're operating on the assumption that Rawlins is in the dark about me but if he figures it out, he'll know whose side I'm on this time." You moved into his space to kiss him again. "I'll have my phone on me at all times," you promised as you kissed him a few quick times. He smiled and you stepped out onto the gravel. He pulled the door shut and you winced, knowing that was going to be putting some stress on his side. You climbed into your car and took a deep breath. They were smart men, they wouldn't do something without contingency plans. This was going to work, it was going to be okay. You weren't going to lose either one of them again.

Part 16

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #billy russo fanfic #my writing

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joaquinwhorres · 7 years

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Broken Wings (Billy Hargrove x Hopper!Reader)

The Broken Wings Series

Read Part 2 >

Summary: Being a Hopper means you always step up and never give up. (And never ever mention how corny that is as a motto.) You’ve held onto these words for the past 11 years and they’ve never led you astray. But when another dimension and a huge asshole come into play, it’s hard to live up to your Dad’s standards.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Hopper!Reader (Slow burn)

Word Count: 1,737

Author's Note: So, before I wrote "Idiot" this just kind of came pouring out. It's a prologue more than anything else, but if you guys want to read more (knowing it will be probably a 10+ part series and I'm feeling a Billy Hargrove x Reader fic for this one) let me know because we can all use some Dad!Hopper, and frankly I'm feeling a little Billy x Redemption. Also, excuse the melodramatic title.

Warnings: Broken families. Child’s death.

You never had the luxury of a normal life.

From the moment you were conceived, circumstances with your family had been...different. Your parents met at a party. It was your dad's last hoorah before he got shipped over to Vietnam. Your dad once mentioned--while very drunk--that your mom had considered it an act of patriotism, a service to her country to slip away with the attractive young enlisted man.

This red, white, and blue spirit wore off about a month later when your mother found, well, you.

Letters were exchanged. Decisions were made. And when your dad came back, the two of them reconnected. They got to know each other. He got to know you. And, a couple of years later they got married, papers were signed, and you were all officially Hoppers. It was a testament to how things, no matter how convoluted they may be, tended to work themselves out.

You were six when they announced you were going to be a big sister and seven when you learned what that really meant.

You remember standing in front of your dad's chair in the hospital waiting room as he took both of your hands and looked you in the eyes. "Do you know what it means to be a Hopper, Y/N?" he asked. You shook your head, and he gave you a soft smile, running his thumbs over the backs of your hands. "Being a Hopper means you always step up. Do you know what that means?"

"Kind of," you drew out the words.

"It means that when you notice someone needs help, you don't wait to be asked, you go help them. And you don't give them enough help. You go above and beyond. You do whatever you can to help. Until they're good."

"What if they don't want help?" you asked. Your father moved back in his seat a little and looked you up and down. And then, almost in slow motion, his lips curled up into a smile.

"Well, Y/N," he said, leaning even closer to you. "The other thing about Hoppers, is we don't give up. Even if we should." You smiled back at him as he shook your hands twice before releasing them. "I want you to know this because when the baby's born, you go on-duty," he poked your belly and you giggled. "As the big sister, you have to show the baby what it means to be a Hopper. Think you can do that?"

You nodded and he smiled, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. Shortly after, your new sister was born and you were officially on-duty.

You took to your new role as big sister like a fish to water. It was as if at seven you just knew that you were born to do this. You made your own breakfast–cereal, every day. You set and cleared the table for your parents. You put yourself to bed at night and let your parents know they could come and tuck you in. In the morning, you made your bed. When Sara cried, you tried distracting her with toys. As she got older, you played peek-a-boo with her and tried teaching her rhymes (despite the fact that your parents explained babies couldn't understand rhymes.) By the time she was four you were routinely sneaking out of your bed and into hers so you could read her extra bedtime stories.

And then, at eleven, came the second piece of news that changed your life.

While starting middle school should have been your biggest worry at the time, instead it became whose house were you going over after school. You had sleepover after sleepover, and when that became too wearing for your friends' families, it was babysitter after babysitter as your parents took Sara to her different hospital appointments. And then, instead of the three of them going to the hospital to visit the doctors, it became the three of you going to the hospital to visit Sara. And one day, instead of the hospital, it was the graveyard.

Life was different after Sara. Your father never pulled you aside and sat you down to explain what it meant now that you were off-duty. There was no explanation of how you could expect your life to change now that you were no longer a sister. You had a feeling that the rules no longer applied, but like a true Hopper, you refused to give them up.

Even though you probably should have.

While you wished your parents would usher you into life after Sara in the same way that they ushered you into life with Sara, you understood, even at twelve, why they couldn't.

Your father was falling apart. It was all he could do to ask you how your day at school was and share a small tidbit of his work happenings before he sat himself down in his chair with a bottle of beer or a glass of something dark and listened to his records for the rest of the night.

Your mother was never home. She disappeared for days at a time to be with her friends or relatives or somewhere else. You had suspected it was because she found it hard to look at you. You had the same blonde hair. The same blue eyes. It wasn't until you came home early–on time, really–from school one day that you heard why.

You could still see her in the kitchen, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. The phone was stretched down to her, and she was crying into it, mascara leaving dark rings around her eyes. "Jim's always on me about how I'm not spending enough time with Y/N, but I'm the one who's dragging him to bed drunk. And Y/N always needs me to sign a permission slip or is asking me what's for dinner," she sniffled, wiping at her eyes and smudging her makeup further. "It's like they're suffocating me. And this house…this house is like a mausoleum. It's just full of dead people. I can't be here anymore." She shook her head, dissolving into tears. You had crept past her and locked yourself away from your room and decided it was time to step up.

You started making yourself breakfast, lunch, and basic dinners. At first, you had thought that you'd need to make a show out of it so your mother knew she didn't have to make dinner anymore. It didn't take too long to learn that your mother wouldn't make dinner unless asked.

It wasn't long after you started cooking for yourself and forging your mother's signature that she officially moved out.

One day you came home, and she was gone, leaving behind only a letter to your father. You had, out of curiosity read it. It was angry, bitter, heartbreaking, and unfair. You had been given a single line of thought.

Tell Y/N I'm sorry.

It had been a heartbreaking and surprising betrayal. For the first four years of your life it had been just you and your mother. Even though you hardly remembered that time, you'd assumed it would have meant something to her. But when Sara died, it was as if she took you with her.

After reading the letter, your father had taken down a half-drunk bottle of bourbon, gone into his room, closed the door, and put a Jim Croce album on. You had gone to his door and heard him crying over the sounds of "I Got a Name." You slid down the door the same way your mother slid down that kitchen wall and cried with him.

You were too sick to go to school the next day.

When the papers were signed, you were thirteen. It was a month after the divorce was finalized that your dad packed you up and moved you back to his hometown of Hawkins, Indiana. While at first you missed the big city feel and your friends from your old school, you met Jonathan Byers and the two of you became fast friends. Not the kind of friends where you went over each other's houses or hung out on the weekend or that you even talked about to your dad. No, you were the kind of friends who sat with each other at lunch so you didn't have to sit alone.

But then you left for high school, and Jonathan stayed behind, and you made new friends and made the shift into a normal life. Well, a normal life with an alcoholic and absentee father, but in Hawkins, as much as you could tell, detached parents was the norm. The days of you and your parents and Sara going out for walks in the park was a brief dream that you were lucky to be a part of. Going to school, getting involved in clubs, coming home to take care of your father, and sneaking out later at night to meet up with the boy you were currently seeing—that was truly what it meant to be a normal teenager. And you were ok with that. You were happy to be normal, and it seemed like for once, life had sort of settled into a predictable pattern.

And then junior year.

When Will Byers went missing, everything changed. And that's not just because Hawkins practically went on shut down because everybody was freaking out over a missing kid.

It was because your dad stopped drinking.

And you reconnected with Jonathan after stepping up to help him find his brother.

And, oh yeah, you also discovered that there was another dimension that monsters could crawl through to eat people.

Your world became a lot smaller that year. In a good way. It was almost as if all of the extraneous people who had been walking in and out of your life just disappeared and all that was left was who really mattered: Your dad. The Byers. Nancy Wheeler. El. The four goons. And, to some extent, Steve Harrington, who had saved your life.

You had never had the luxury of a normal life.

But you had the luxury of being a Hopper, and when your dad opened the door to your new home, your great-grandfather's cabin in the woods, and you saw El sitting in the dark, alone on the dusty old couch, you knew that was something she could use too.

And you were on-duty.

Tag List: @lemonchapstick @pity-mee @bands-and-shietz @morgandakotaq @madhatterweasley @loveforbrains

#billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove x hopper!reader #billy hargrove fic #dad!hopper #billy hargrove x you #billy hargrove #billy hargrove series #stranger things imagine #stranger things 2 #stranger things #hopper!reader #billy hargrove fanfiction #broken wings

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even-strangerthings · 7 years

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Safe Haven. Billy Hargrove. Chapter 1.

(this gif is not mine. Credit to the owner.)

Warning: Cursing, sexual assault/harassment, that’s it I think?? This is my first time doing this so please bear with me.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x OFC character Dominique Villegas.

Word Count: 3,977

A/N: Okay so I know that the Stranger Things writers wrote Billy as a shitty person who is flawed, but I, as well as a lot of others, would like to see a redemption arc for mullet boy, and since I don’t think that it’s going to happen on the show 😒 I’m taking into my own hands and making my own redemption arc for him. Please don’t come for me in my inbox pointing out his shitty characteristics, I’m well aware, but I’m in too deep now and there’s no turning back. If you’re reading this, I hope you enjoy the first chapter, reblogging and commenting is welcome 😘

“I don’t know why I have to go. These are your friends Skylar, not mine.”

Dominique says, jumping up and pulling her skin tight, high waisted jeans up her thighs, having to lay on the bed and button them. She gets off the bed and looks at herself in the mirror, impressed with how good her figure looked in the jeans. The jeans might have been a pain to get on, but they didn’t look half bad.

“Dude, shut up. You’re not the new girl anymore, you have friends.”

“Like I said, they’re your friends, not mine. I’m only ‘cool’ by association, me being the popular cheerleader’s cousin. I know your friends only see me as the smart girl they can cheat off of in class. I’m a living, breathing cliché.”

She shrugs her shoulders, doing last minute touches to her make up. Skylar sighs and shakes her head.

“That’s not true. You know that Abby likes you, so does Rochelle. And you’re beautiful too. Smart and pretty, you have it all.”

“It’s whatever. I’m only staying for an hour or two, I have to study, and after the last party we went to together I don’t trust you to keep an eye on me and bring me home.”

Skylar laughs and smacks her shoulder. Since Hawkins was a small town everyone in town had grown up with one another. So when Dominique moved to the town not knowing anybody other than her cousin it was hard to make new friends. Even knowing one person who had a ton of friends didn’t help the situation because they didn’t share any memories together. Skylar’s friends didn’t like her, even though Skylar swore up and down that they did, Dominique knew the extent of their tolerance was cheating off her in class and copying her homework.

“Hey, I looked for you for like, 10 minutes before I left with Matt Booker.”

“I was passed out on the couch because you made me drink whatever the hell kind of poison Vinny had in that punch bowl, and Matt isn’t even cute. If you leave me alone at this party to go get laid I’m going to kick your ass.”

They both laugh, finishing up getting ready for the Halloween party.

As much as Dominique didn’t want to go to the party she was having a pretty good time. Skylar’s friends were actually including her in their conversations, a few guys were even coming up and talking to her. Maybe it was just because of her Halloween costume, Sandy Olsen from one of her favorite movies Grease, but to be honest she didn’t mind the attention. She hadn’t had a boyfriend since she moved to Hawkins, not even a date. Dominique got bored with the conversation Skylar’s friends were having, so she makes her way outside to see what was happening, she spots Nancy Wheeler, she has a few classes with her and she was one of the first people to actually be genuinely nice.

“Hey Nancy.”

She smiles. Nancy turns and looks at Dominique, smiling back at her. Nancy’s boyfriend Steve waves at her, taking a sip from his red solo cup, his arm draped over Nancy’s shoulder. Steve and Dominique got along pretty well, he sat in the seat in front of her in her college writing class at school and they’ve gotten to know each other pretty well.

“Hey Dom. Wow, you look great.”

“Thanks. So do you and Steve.”

The three of them go back and forth talking about maybe wanting to hang out this coming weekend, but as their talking the people at the party start gathering in the corner cheering and yelling. They turn their attention to just across from where they’re standing.

“19… 20… 21… 22!”

The crowd starts to count out loud. Billy Hargrove, one of the new guys in town, comes up from drinking the keg. He spews some left over beer out of his mouth, the crowd erupting in more cheers.

“THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT HAWKINS! THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT!”

He chants, the crowd chanting him on, clapping. Billy makes eye contact with Steve, a smirk painted across his face. He walks over, a leather jacket covering his naked torso and a pair of blue tight jeans, as he gets closer he looks Dominique up and down, licking his lips and grinning at her. She glares at him and shoots him a dirty look.

“Guess Hawkins has a new keg king, huh Harrington?”

He says, patting Steve on the back, the crowd following him inside.

“He’s a dick.”

Steve says, glaring at Billy walk away.

“Keg king?”

Dominique questions, directing her question to Steve. He rolls his eyes and half smiles.

“I used to be the life of the party, I guess. He full of shit, don’t listen to him.”

“God damn it.”

Dominique sighs, turning the corner into the living room for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. She had only gone to the bathroom for less than five minutes and she had lost Skylar and the rest of the group, Skylar knew she would be right back but now that she thought about it, Skylar might have been too drunk to hear and pay attention to what she was saying. Dominique makes her way outside and looks for Jason, the guy that drove the rest of the group to the party, but it’s not parked where it was at the beginning of the night.

“Shit. They left me again.”

She groans, running her fingers through her bangs in frustration.

“Hey, Dom.”

She turns around and sees Jonathan Byers standing behind her, his hands in his jacket pockets. They didn’t know each other that well, they’ve only been around one another a handful of times because he was friend’s with Nancy.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were here. I haven’t seen you all night.”

“Oh, I just got here. Is Nancy still here?”

He asks, his head gesturing toward the house.

“Uh, I think so. But I think I saw Steve take off. I don’t know why he would leave Nancy here. Quick question, did you happen to see my cousin Skylar or Jason Michaels anywhere?”

“Yeah I saw them leave as I was pulling up.”

Dominique rolls her eyes, thoughts were rushing through her head trying to figure out how the hell she was going to get home now.

“Do you need a ride home? I can drive you.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay… uh, my dad works just down the street. I can just walk down there and hang out there until he gets off.”

She lies. It was nothing against Jonathan, he was always a nice guy to her the few times they’ve interacted, but she always felt awkward when people offer to do things for her, especially if it inconveniences them.

“Are you sure? It’s no problem.”

“I’m fine, I promise. Thank you though. Have a good night.”

She says, starting to walk down the street.

It had to be close to an hour and a half since Dominique started walking, there were no more trick or treaters on the streets, far less car traffic now, and Dominique’s anxiety was through the roof. She had no idea where the hell she was, nothing looked familiar, and she hadn’t seen any place of business since she left the party. It was way too late to knock on someone’s door and ask to use a phone to call her dad, or anybody for that matter. She was screwed.

An old beat up pick up truck makes its way down the street toward her. The driver turns the headlights off and slows as it gets closer to her. Fuck. She keeps walking, trying to avoid looking at the car. Maybe if she didn’t look at them, they wouldn’t look at her. The car parks a few feet behind Dominique but she continues to walk, picking up the pace.

“Hey, where you going?”

A male voice shouts. She continues walking, her heart pounding out of her chest.

“Please be talking to someone else on the street. Anybody but her.”

Was all that was running through her mind, but in the back of her mind she knew they were talking to her, especially since she was the only idiot on the street. The footsteps come up behind her quickly, a hand grabbing her jacket and pulling her back toward them. The man grabs Dominique by her hands, restraining her.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!”

“What do you want?”

She whimpers, trying to yank her hands away from the man, the more she tries to fight back the harder the creep squeezes her wrists.

“Trying to figure out what a pretty young thing like you is doing out here roaming the streets this late at night, dressed like this.”

He says slowly, yanking her toward him and forcing Dominique’s body to press against his. She can smell alcohol and cigarette smoke on his body. He was much taller than her, even in the heels she was wearing, his body towered over hers. He frees one of her hands to run down his own hand down her torso and curve over her hips, reaching around to her butt and giving it a firm squeeze. Dominique can’t bring herself to look at the man, she was terrified of what he might be capable of. Tears were forming in her eyes and her breath was frantic, not too far off from a full blown panic attack.

“You are a fine piece baby.”

He whispers in her ear, giving her butt a quick but forceful slap. Dominique gasps and tenses her body in fear. His hands continue to grope her butt, his breath heavy.

“God damn. I thought Halloween was over, but you are definitely a treat. Come on, why don’t you touch me.”

He says, taking the arm he still had restrained and bringing it down to his crotch.

“Stop. I swear to god I will scream and wake everyone in this entire neighborhood up. Let me go and I won’t say anything. Please leave me alone.”

Dominique pleads, finally opening her eyes and looking up at the man. He was at least 6 feet tall, and a very bulky frame. He was wearing a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, but she couldn’t make out any of his features from the lack of lighting on the street. His hands grip tighter around her wrists.

“You scream, and the knife I have in my pocket goes right in in between your tits. So either you do as I say, or I can kill you. Your choice sweetheart.”

“What’s going on out here? Is there a problem?”

Another deep voice shouts out from a distance away. The man looks behind Dominique and scoffs. She stood there still in fear, she had the chance to run because he was distracted but she couldn’t bring her feet to actually move.

“No problem man. Just trying to get this lovely lady home. You know how women are when they’re drunk. Stubborn as ever.”

She tries to look behind her to see who the creep was talking to but he yanks her whole body forward, his hands now gripping her shoulders.

“That hurts. Please let me go. Please.”

Her voice cracks, tears definitely streaming down her face.

“She clearly doesn’t want to go home with you, so why don’t you let her go?”

She can feel the other man step beside her and try to step in between her and the creep. She looks over at him and she notices the dirty blonde mullet right away. There was no way that out of all the people in Hawkins, that Billy fucking Hargrove was the one coming to her rescue.

“Why don’t you get your own piece of ass?”

The man says to Billy.

“Because this piece of ass is mine. So if you touch her anywhere else I will beat the shit out of you. Let. Her. Go. Dickwad.”

He says between his teeth. The two men stare each other down for a few seconds before the man lets Dominique go with a forceful push, almost pushing her down if Billy hadn’t grabbed her by her arm.

“Go get in the car.”

Billy says to her, still staring at the man. Dominique looks at Billy, confused and still scared shitless. He glances over at her and shakes his head, rolling his blue eyes.

“Did I stutter? Go get in the fucking car.”

Billy raises his voice, pointing to his Camaro parked in the street. Dominique walks away from them and opens the passenger side door of the Camaro, sitting down and watching the two men exchange words. Billy throws a right hook the the man’s face before walking back toward the car, shaking his hand out. He opens the driver side door and gets in, turning the headlights on and laying into his horn for at least ten seconds. Dominique gasps seeing two house’s porch lights turn on. The creep scrambles to get off the sidewalk, dashing to his car and speed off down the street.

Without a word, Billy turns his radio on full blast before driving off in the opposite direction, opening the pack of his cigarettes and lighting it, taking a drag and blowing the smoke out toward the open window. Dominique stares at him, not knowing what to do, or if she should say something to him. He finally looks over at her and raises his eyebrow.

“Oh, did you want one? Didn’t take you for the smoking type.”

He says with the cigarette still between his lips. He tosses the carton at her and hands his lighter to her and flicking it open.

“No, I don’t smoke.”

She says quietly. He nods his head and puts the lighter back in his jacket pocket. Tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the song.

“What were you doing walking around this late by the way? I thought you were at the lame ass party?”

“I was trying to find a way home. My ride ditched me.”

Billy laughs to himself and takes another drag of his cigarette.

“I saw you leave. You’ve been walking for a long ass time. I would have given you a ride home.”

Dominique lets out a small laugh, knowing that he is completely full of shit.

“What were you doing there? You live down there?”

“No. I was driving home and saw him grab you. I didn't know it was you until I saw your outfit. You’re welcome by the way.”

She rolls her eyes at him.

“Thank you.”

“I’m starving and if you want me to get you home I need food. You want something to eat?”

Billy asks, flicking his cigarette out of the window, blowing the smoke out after a few seconds.

“Sure.”

Billy stopped at some 24 hour diner in town and they haven’t said anything to each other since they sat down. There were only a few people in the diner, the waitress letting them sit themselves. They never spoke to each other at school, they had 2 classes together but Billy was never really in class, and when he was he was obnoxious so Dominique did her best to ignore him. They sat there in the booth silent, Billy playing with the sugar packets on the table.

“So what’s your story?”

Billy asks, taking a drink of his soda. Dominique shrugs, playing with the straw in her drink.

“Not much to tell. I moved here over the summer.”

“From where?”

He asks, trying to get her to elaborate on her answers.

“Nevada... You don’t have to do this you know.”

“Do what?”

He responds confused.

“Act like you care. I appreciate you saving me from that creep but you don’t have to act like you care about who I am.”

“How do you know I don’t care? I wouldn’t have pulled off and helped you if I didn’t care.”

Dominique rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Now knowing that he is just playing games with her. The waitress brings over their food, two burgers and two orders of fries. Dominique waits until she’s gone to respond to Billy.

“Did you know my name before tonight? Actually, do you know my name right now? Do you know what classes we have together at school?”

“Okay, so maybe I don’t know your name. But maybe I want to get to know you.”

Billy says with a smirk on his face. For some reason Dominique goes against her better judgement and gives into his little game.

“First off, my name is Dominique, you can call me Dom if you want. Second, what do you want to know?”

She asks, sitting up in the booth. Billy takes a bite from his burger and thinks for a few seconds.

“Why did you move here to this shit town?”

He asks with his mouth full of food.

“My dad has family out here. We’ve uh… been through a lot the last year a half and my dad didn’t want to be in Nevada anymore so he found a job out here close to his family.”

“It’s just you and your dad? Parents get divorced or something?”

Dominique looks away from Billy’s gaze, putting her french fry down and leaning back in the booth. She can still feel him looking at her, waiting for her to say something.

“My mom took off on us. She and my dad were having problems I guess, I never really paid attention, and they never argued in front of me so I never picked up on it. She was cheating on him and she ended up getting pregnant by the guy she was cheating on my dad with. Not just pregnant, pregnant with twin boys. My dad wanted to make it work, said he would raise them as his own, he didn’t care. My mom agreed for the first like 3 months of their lives and I guess the other guy had more to offer my mom so one day I got home from school, and their nursery was wiped out, all of my mom’s stuff was gone. My dad was devastated when he got home. Like, shut down emotionally for months.”

“Shit. I didn’t think it was going to be that fucking sad. Sorry.”

He says, clearing his throat.

“It’s been like 8 months since they left, I’ve gotten less bitter about it I guess.”

“Do you know where she took off to?”

Billy asks.

“No. My dad has called her family asking all of them if they know and they all say they have no idea, but I feel like they do.”

He nods his head, raising his eyebrows and going quiet. Probably feeling like an ass for asking so many questions.

“I have a question for you, you told that creep on the street that I was ‘your piece of ass’, why?”

“I don’t know, I thought maybe he would let you go knowing that you had a boyfriend. It worked.”

He responds laughing.

“You must get a lot of girls by being such a knight in shining armor.”

Dominique says sarcastically. Billy rolls his eyes and continues to eat his food.

“This is my street. 3rd house on the right.”

Dominique says, pointing to her house. Billy pulls up to the driveway and shuts the car off.

“Nobody home?”

“No. My dad works at night. Thank you for driving me home, uh, well everything you did tonight. I’ll see you at school whenever you show up.”

She says simply, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door to get out.

“Wait.”

Billy says, Dominique looks back at him with her eyebrow raised at him.

“You’re not going to invite me in or anything?”

“That’s not going to work on me, Hargrove.”

She says, knowing that all he wants to do is get in her pants like he does with every other girl at school.

“Hey, I gotta be a gentleman and walk you to the door.”

He smirks, opening his door and getting out, following her to the door. She unlocks the front door, both of them stepping in.

“Let me get the light.”

Dominique says, slipping her heels off finally and turning a lamp on. Billy looks around at the few pictures her dad had on the wall, walking around the living room.

“I’m going to go change really quick. Uh, you can sit if you want. Help yourself to something to drink in the fridge.”

“Why change?”

Billy asks in a low tone, striding over to her.

“What?”

Billy steps up to Dominique, his arm wrapping around her waist. His other hand playing with the end of her hair. His lips softly touch her neck, sucking the skin softly. A smile creeps up on Dominique’s face, forgetting about all the shitty things that had happened earlier in the night. Billy shrugs his leather jacket off his body, the upper half of his sun kissed body bare. Dominique snaps back to reality, realizing that this isn’t something that she wanted.

“Um, Billy. That’s not happening.”

She says, stepping back from him, the aura in the room super awkward. He looks down at the ground and groans, his foot tapping the floor quickly.

“I knew that’s why you wanted me to invite you in. Because you wanted to bang me. But no, I was just at stupid as all the other girls you con into fucking you by letting you in my house.”

“What, you think you’re better than those other girls because you won’t let me bang you? News flash sweetheart, you’re not. I could get any piece of ass I wanted to, and they would gladly get on their knees for me”

He responds, the tone of his voice angry. Dominique laughs sarcastically, her arms folding across her chest.

“Okay, good for you. Why don’t you go to one of your booty call’s houses and go fuck them. Because you’re not getting any from me, jack off. Just because you did something nice for me doesn’t mean I have to bend over for you. I don’t owe you shit.”

“I didn’t say you owe me anything!”

Billy shouts, grabbing his jacket from the floor and holding it in his hand.

“You didn’t say it, but you just showed me that you think I owe you something by sucking on my neck.”

Dominique shouts back. Who the hell did he think he was? Just because every other girl at school wanted to be another notch in his belt didn’t mean that she wanted to.

“Jesus! Are you always this bitchy when you’re drunk? Or are you an even bigger bitch when you’re sober?”

“Are you always this much of a dick when you’re drunk? Or are you an even bigger dick when you’re sober?”

She says, mocking his tone.

“Get the fuck out of my house. Where the fuck do you get off yelling at me in my own house? Fuck off.”

Dominique yells, bending down and throwing one of her shoes in his direction, completely missing him. Billy opens his mouth to respond to her but chuckles instead, licking his lips and turning toward the door. He mutters “bitch” as he walks out the door, slamming it closed. Dominique clenches her jaw in anger, wanting to follow him outside and go off on him more, but by the time she reaches the door she can hear the roar of his engine and the tires screeching out of her driveway. Dominique turns around and picks her shoes up off the floor, walking into her room and tossing them in the corner. Immediately she strips herself of her all black outfit, feeling comfortable for the first time all night.

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove headcanons #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things imagines #stranger things headcanons #dacre montgomery #dacre montgomery fanfic #dacre montgomery imagine #safe haven fan fic

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strangerererthings · 7 years

Text

peaches

Summary: What if Bob had an adopted daughter? What happens now?

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Disclaimer: Listen, I don’t own any of the characters in Stranger Things. Also, I don’t condone his actions. But I think it would be really sad if Billy doesn’t get a redemption arc. He’s been through some crap.

Author’s Note: This is only part one! Let me know what you guys think!

Word Count: 1,735

part two/part three/part four/part five/part six/part seven/part eight/part nine/part ten/part eleven/epilogue

Joyce was frozen. She stood in the doorway of her house, looking at you standing before her. You had your arms wrapped around yourself to protect yourself from the cold. The smell of the air promised snow soon.

"Y/N," she said quietly.

"Joyce, where's Bob?" You asked quietly. Your cheeks and nose were pink from the wind, and suddenly Joyce remembered that the temperature was below freezing. She ushered you inside, taking a look around before shutting the door.

"Will is at Mike's for the night and Jonathan is somewhere with Nancy. The usual, you know," she said with a weak laugh, trying to distract you, it seems.

"Joyce," you said quietly, stopping her in her tracks.

She stood there frozen for a hot second. "I'll tell you in a few minutes, okay? For now, just... warm up. I have to call someone."

You nodded, taking a seat on the couch as she went to the telephone. You had been here a few times, when Bob had insisted you couldn't stay home by yourself watching movies again. It still smelled the same. Like boy and some kind of candle that hadn’t been lit in a long time. You could hear her quiet whispers and the way she tried to hang up the phone as quietly as possible. “Who was that?” You asked her as she came back to the living room.

“Just someone,” she said with a warm smile. But it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Do you want something to drink? Tea? Water? I have coffee, too, but I know Bob didn’t like you drinking much caffeine.”

“Water sounds okay.”

After she had brought you back the water, it had been dead quiet. Awkwardly so. You could tell Joyce was trying to hide something--the way she was fidgeting said so by itself. At this point, you knew something had happened to Bob. He hadn’t been home for two days. And while sometimes it was normal for him to be gone ever since he had started seeing Joyce, it was worrisome that he hadn’t left you a note letting you know where he was. That, and no one had been answering the phone at the Byer’s house. Usually even if Joyce wasn’t home, one of the boys would pick up.

You practically jumped out of your skin as the door opened, and Police Chief Hopper walked in. “What’s he doing here?” You asked in confusion as you stood up.

Joyce quickly walked over to him, whispering since she thought you couldn’t hear. “She’s Bob’s kid.”

“Bob had a kid?”

“Well, not exactly. She’s his high school best friend’s kid. She died three years ago. Bob was her godfather.”

“Shit.”

They both suddenly turned to look at you, and you shrunk back a bit. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m not a zoo animal,” you muttered, glaring down at the floor.

With that, they turned back to each other. “What do we do?” Joyce muttered.

“Foster care?”

“The system kills kids’ chances in life, you know that.”

“I... She could stay with me for a few days,” Hopper said quietly, and Joyce looked like she could burst with gratitude. She hugged him tightly, and he laughed a bit before hugging him back.

You couldn’t help the frown that tugged your lips down. “Is no one going to tell me what’s going on?” You demanded, putting your hands on your hips as you stood up.

They looked as though they had just remembered that you were here. “Y/N... Bob... Well... You know all that happened with Will, right? I know the boys told you,” Joyce said quietly, and you nodded. You had taken to babysitting the boys over the last nine months and the truth had come out about the Upside Down and where Will had gone off to. “Bob was killed trying to save us. Save everyone of us,” she said as she walked over to you, taking your hands in hers. “There’s these things called demodogs as Dustin likes to call them. We were all trapped in the hospital and one of them got him.”

You stood there frozen for who knows how long. It felt like there was a buzzing in your ears and everything felt like it was underwater. You were vaguely aware of Joyce wiping your cheeks and you realized you must’ve been crying. It was like an out-of-body experience. Joyce led you to Hopper’s car, getting you into the backseat as the three of you drove to you and Bob’s home. Joyce threw together a bag for you, getting you everything you would need for just a few days.

You were awoken from your stupor by the slam of a car door. Your vision came into focus again, and you could see a small cabin in front of you. Joyce opened up your door, and as you watched Hopper walk up the front steps, you realized that this was Hopper’s house.

The front steps creaked below your feet as you walked up them, and you smiled as you saw a rocking chair on the front porch, a stack of books on the seat of it. Classics like The Great Gatsby and The Glass Menagerie. The cabin was old, probably having belonged to Hopper’s parents before him. Maybe even their parents, too. It was cluttered, but not messy. It looked lived in. Like a home.

“El?” Hopper called out as you and Joyce followed after him. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

A door opened and a girl of about twelve walked out. She had dark eyes and curly brown hair that framed high cheek bones. She seemed intense. Really intense. “Who’s she?” She asked. Her voice was no higher than a whisper.

“El, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is El. She’s going to be staying with us for a bit,” he explained, clapping his hand onto her shoulder. He leaned down to whisper something to her and she nodded.

“You’re a friend of Mike’s,” she said, and you nodded a bit.

“I’ve watched them a few times.”

“Watched them?”

“Babysat,” you further explained, wrapping your arms around yourself.

Hopper then suddenly took the reigns again of this interaction, leading you down the hall. “Here’s the guest room. You’ll be staying here until we figure out what to do.”

You nodded as you walked inside the room. The walls were bare, nothing but white paint. There was a bed, a dresser, and a desk. Along the far wall was a window and a closet. “Thank you. It’s nice,” you murmured, setting down the duffel bag that Joyce had packed for you. To be fair, it wasn’t like you had much. She might’ve packed your entire closet. It wasn’t like Bob had had a lot of money, or your mama when she died. But it had been enough. And now he was gone, too.

“I’ll leave you to settle in. Dinner’ll be in a bit,” Hopper said, and you nodded as he left.

You moved to sit on the bed, running your hands over the blue quilt. You then opened up the bag, digging around inside desperately. You let out a sigh of relief as you found it. Joyce had packed it.

You pulled out a small box, opening it up and taking out the pictures that rested inside. Pictures of your mother, your friends from before you moved to Hawkins, and of Bob. Your mama had been all you had had left back home. Your grandparents had disowned her, your father had left. The price of being a teenage mother. She had had you when she was a senior in high school and had taken you off to Missouri with her boyfriend when you were about a year old. But then he disappeared when money got tight and had never come back.

You looked up as the front door crashed open, carrying the sound of five pairs of feet. The familiar sound of Mike Wheeler calling out for this El girl rang through the house. You knew that with him would be Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. You stood up off the bed, closing the box with a soft click, and walked to the doorway of the guest room.

“Hi,” you said quietly, and all six kids turned to look at you.

“Y/N! What are you doing here?” Dustin asked with a grin as he ran over to hug you.

Will paused, hesitating. “You know about Bob now, don’t you?”

You nodded, and started to say something when the door opened and Steve Harrington of all people walked in. “Guys, didn’t I tell you not to run off?” He demanded with an eye roll.

“Sorry, mom,” Lucas said with a smirk.

Hopper and Joyce walked back into living room, Joyce wiping her hand on a towel rag. “Steve? What are you doing here?” Hopper asked.

“I’m here to take the kids shopping for the Snow Ball, remember?” He said, pushing his famous Steve Harrington hair back. You had seen him around school--who hadn’t? He was the star. That is, until Billy Hargrove had come along. Of course, you figured that was mostly because Steve had gotten his priorities straight. People mattered more than glory. However, you being a junior and him a senior usually resulted in minimal contact between the two of you. Minimal meaning none at all. You were a book worm. He was a jock. You weren’t one for stereotypes, but most of the time they were there for a reason.

Hopper nodded and glanced over at you, rubbing the back of his head. “Why don’t you take Y/N with you? I’m sure she could stand to get out of the house.”

Your head turned sharply to look at him, and you were about to decline when all the kids in front of you got excited at the prospect of you coming. “What do you say, Y/N? I’m afraid I wouldn’t be any help for Max or El. We could use a girl,” Steve said with a weak smile.

With a sigh, you nodded. “Alright, let’s go.”

#steve harrington #billy hargrove #stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things fanfiction #billy hargrove x reader #billy x reader #reader insert

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nautilusopus · 7 years

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The Number I

Chapter 20: Vincent Damages Company Property

Sorry for holding this thing back for a couple weeks. We've finally reached a turning point and I had to make sure there were actually things happening in between the dramatic plot-twisty bits. Like plot to twist in the first place.

I had a bit of extra help in that regard -- apart from my usual crowd, I'd also like to thank @socialmimikyu and @terror-billie for helping me get my thoughts in order so the rest of the story past Chapter 21 won't be a disorganised mess. And thank you guys for commenting, because that does wonders for my motivation.

There are holes in the world, and spaces between numbers. Neither should exist. Cloud starts noticing them, and he isn’t the only one who has. And unfortunately for him, he’s both. (Contains graphic depictions of violence.)

The floor was immaculately clean these days.

There had been a time when it wasn't -- when it was covered in dust and dead insects from disuse. Stacks of paper from promising research projects that piled up in corners and on desks. Uniforms and equipment from new subjects. And, once upon a time, stones of all shapes and sizes and colours, and crumbs from home baked bread, and dirt tracked in by a boy that was small enough to squeeze into places he ought not to be.

All of it had been swept away long ago. The place had been cleaned and remodelled and sterilised, and not even rats would enter the mansion anymore, even long after it had been abandoned by the scientists. All that was left were the failed projects.

Something moved in the dark. There was a scraping, then a creaking of old, damp-riddled wood, and with a crash the lid of one of the coffins was knocked the floor and crashed against the Buster Sword lying on the ground next to it.

Vincent Valentine arose from the coffin. All this time he had listened. Heard the screams of defiance and anger, and then weeping, and the pleading to no one in the dark, and at long last the sound of resigned mantras, repeated one after another, and then of silence. He had listened, and he had done nothing. Until now.

Vincent had realised long ago that he could do nothing for them. It was yet another consequence of his failures. One by one, they were fed into the ravenous combine that was Shinra, and one by one they were used up and discarded. But the boy... the boy had been the first in years. The same child that had been so eager to feed himself into those whirring blades one day, and lo and behold, now he was here. Another testament to his cardinal sin.

And yet... there had been something strange about his eyes. He'd seen that look somewhere before. In fact, it had been one of the last things he'd seen before a bullet had ripped itself through his chest, tearing his old life away with it. The look those eyes had given him as he choked to death on his own blood had been full of many things, but one that they were utterly devoid of was regret. He had failed, and in the end, she had chosen this path. For better or for worse.

Lucrecia. The tissue grafts -- they were continuing her research posthumously.

This boy, the boy from the village that hadn't stopped bringing him rocks, that was now huddled in a dog crate and muttering nonsense to himself, that was half-mad already and twisted into a shell of whatever he used to be, was here because of him.

Vincent shut himself away after that, never to reemerge. There could be no atonement for this.

He would awake from time to time in response to noise -- always reminders of why he was here in the first place. Sobbing, rattling against the walls of the little metal box, incoherent rambling... he heard it less and less as time went on, until one day it ceased altogether, as did the visits to the storage room. Vincent hoped that by some miracle the boy had perhaps died in his sleep. He did not awaken for some time after that.

The sounds of a struggle dragged him back out of the deep slumber he had returned to. This was a larger group than he remembered.

"Hold its arms so I can get the legs in," said a voice. One of the lab assistants.

"I am holding. It can't move, I don't see what the big deal is."

"There's still the issue of involuntary muscle responses, and from this guy that could easily wind up taking your head off. So pay attention. I gotta get this all the way to the nerve."

A plaintive, muffled wail echoed through the room along with the voices of the lab assistants. He knew that voice. He doubt he'd be able to forget that voice. The boy was still alive?

"It's looking at me."

"No it's not, it just has its eyes open. Doesn't got any real brain function anymore. Just between you and me, this is why you don't stick a pressurised pump into someone's spinal column and fill it with mako, that's probably what did it. How can you be smart enough to grow a person in a vat and not know that?"

"The president gave him the grant money, man, I ain't gonna question it."

"Yeah, well, that's why we don't have grant money anymore, do we? Hurry up and finish the form so we can leave, it's freezing in here."

"Humanoid... purpose for archiving... organs?"

"Maybe education. It's not gonna make very interesting combat training exercise, and it's technically still alive. They'll probably want to keep it in one piece so they can figure out what not to do for the next time."

"Serial number... six seven dash two, Series three. Jenova Project."

"Project head?"

"Let's see... says here it's one of Crescent's, officially. Guess that explains why Hojo's so bummed out about the cancellation."

"Urgh. Freaks me the hell out. Her and the doc. Somethin' not right about her."

"Hey, you can't say it doesn't make sense though, right? Birds of a feather."

"Yeah, whatever." There was a loud click, followed by the sound of rushing fluid. "So... she's gotta sign off on it, right?"

"Yeah. She's in Midgar right now. The doc's planning on leaving too, so just give that form to him and he'll deliver it to her himself. Guess we're all out of a job now..."

"Yeah, guess so..."

Vincent barely heard the door close and lock behind him over the pounding of his own heart in his chest. Lucrecia was still alive. Head of the Science Department, from the sound of things. This boy -- Lucrecia had done this. To him. To both of them. And Hojo -- he was still involved in this as well? The first child, the one she'd had with Hojo, must not have made it to term. That must have been why the project was still running. The boy -- he was Series 3, it all made sense now. But Lucrecia couldn't have been his mother, could she? He had mentioned a mother quite frequently all those years ago. She did not seem like Lucrecia, and the boy looked nothing like her nor Hojo. This boy had simply been fallout.

It all made a sickening amount of sense. At least now he finally knew, so he could have some peace of mind.

But peace of mind did not return to Vincent. He waited days, and then what must have been weeks, and the men did not return for Series 3. They really were just leaving him here.

He was ill, it seemed. Severe mako poisoning, not to speak of whatever else had been done. If anyone would know how to treat this, surely it would be Lucrecia? She was in Midgar... still making choices like she had the first time he did nothing.

But Lucrecia was still alive. This boy was still alive. Surely something here could be salvaged out of this nightmare.

Vincent decided to leave his coffin.

His legs felt weak as he took his first step in what must have been at least ten years, but they held steadily enough, and he strode over to the wall and flipped the light switch.

The back of the room was lined with glass pods. Vincent did not want to think about what was in most of them, but resting in one of them, a light coat of dust covering the glass, was the boy.

It was a mistake to call him "the boy" now, he realised -- it was a much sharper face peering blankly back at him from inside the cylinder. But while his hair had grown out to his shoulders and solidified into a mat, he didn't seem to have much in the way of facial hair. Perhaps it was malnourishment? Every part of him looked chewed and diminished, and his skin was every bit as unhealthily pale as Vincent's.

He inspected the pod and found a small button in the side that seemed to open it. The fluid inside slowly drained, and Vincent watched impassively as the body inside slumped against the wall of the cylinder, being held up by the tubes coming from its mouth and nose. Vincent carefully disconnected them, and hesitated only briefly before removing the intravenous lines and the feed hooked into the back of his neck. If he had caused any damage removing them, it would be another thing that Lucrecia could fix.

The boy -- no, not a boy. And it wouldn't do to call him Series 3, either. He'd had a name that he said many years ago he would remember. Something to do with the sky. An old Nibeli one, translated into one succinct word for the sake of the Standard that everyone in Midgar spoke. Cloud. His name was Cloud.

Cloud's emaciated body fell to the floor. It appeared they had taken his clothes long ago, and he likely would not survive for long this far north, damp and naked. He pulled a couple of the Soldier First uniforms off one of the shelves and used one of them to pat him dry, then set about stuffing him into the second. It was far too big on him. Another pang went through Vincent at the thought, and he steeled himself against it. He must remain focused. It was unlikely he would have another opportunity for redemption.

The old wooden door had since been replaced with a steel one, requiring some sort of key combination to open. Vincent braced himself against the door and pushed, but it held firm. They had taken his gun from him long ago, and the two spells he had mastered during his time in the Turks worked strictly on people and not doors, and would be of no use here.

One of his sabatons clicked against something metal. The sword. His strength wasn't nearly that of a Soldier, but it was certainly much more than it should have been, and would do for his purposes.

He picked up the sword out from under the lid to his coffin and, with a loud grunt, rammed it into the door like a battering ram. It took another ten blows or so before the metal finally caved and the door opened outward, now crooked on its hinges. His arms ached, especially from disuse, but he held the sword steady and stood absolutely still, listening for the sound of boots on stone and cocking weapons. Someone must have heard that.

A minute passed, and no one came. Something stirred in one of the cylinders on the wall behind him. Vincent refused to look at it again, and dragged Cloud over to the door. Upon further reflection, he placed the sword on the magnetic harness Cloud was now sporting on the back of his uniform, then hefted them both onto his back. Until he could find a gun, it was better than nothing.

He had mastered some magic, but not much. He looked around the storage room for anything that might have been useful. Something was still shining in his coffin. The healing materia -- it was still there. Perhaps...? No, that wouldn't work. Mako poisoning, if that's what this was, was well beyond his capacity to heal with an unused materia. Still, he pocketed it anyway, just in case.

Starved as he was, Cloud was fairly light. It was just as well, since the sword weighed easily as much as he did, if not more. The mansion might be abandoned, but he was still stealing company property. Someone would notice eventually. He would have to move quickly.

Nibelheim was just as he remembered it. Perhaps his mother... no. If they had her child, Shinra would have tied up the loose ends involved. He himself had done as much during his employment. Besides, there was nothing she could have done for him. That's where Lucrecia would come in.

They both stood out rather badly, as he quickly found out. He gave Cloud an impromptu haircut with the Buster Sword's edge, and stuffed his own hair into the back of a coat he'd stolen from a guard station. Would anyone still recognise him? How long had it been since he had gone missing? Or the boy, for that matter? At least ten years, judging by how Cloud had matured. A lot could change in ten years.

The main problem was food. Cloud would not chew, and it took a fair amount of coaxing to get him to swallow. He'd managed to get him to swallow a bit of bread he'd already pre-chewed for him, but it came back up not long after: Cloud had apparently gone quite a while since eating any real food. He considered sneaking back into the mansion for a pack of glucose. He decided against it -- if they hadn't noticed Cloud was missing before, they certainly would now. He would have to figure something else out.

He wound up breaking into a clinic and stealing medical supplies when they reached the next town -- there was a military presence here too, if the massive remains of some sort of missile labelled Shinra Type 26 looming over the skyline was any indication. Vincent dimly recalled mention of a war with Wutai. Was it still ongoing? Was this meant to be used against them? He almost turned to ask Cloud before catching himself.

The expiration labels on the gelatin cups he'd purchased with the stolen money clued him in as to how long he'd been gone. Expires 09/58. Assuming these cups were new and would last about a year, he'd been gone nearly three decades.

The shock didn't really hit him. It didn't seem fully real. He supposed technically this was the "future". That explained how Lucrecia was in Midgar: it seemed they had finished building it. He wondered who was directing the Turks in his absence. Orwell, perhaps, or Avery. Assuming either one of them were still alive. It suddenly struck him that nearly everyone he knew could very well be dead. Thirty years was a lot of time for people to learn too much and become a liability, or for loyalties to waver too much for the company's comfort, or to simply catch a stray bullet at the wrong time. Nobody left the Turks except in a body bag. Or, in his case, a coffin. He was briefly amused by the mental picture of Avery covering up his death. She'd have addressed it to the wrong department, she always did...

He wondered if Cloud had any friends that were still alive. Had he actually joined the military, or had Shinra simply abducted him off the streets? He himself had taken part in such "scouting" expeditions at times, on the occasion when they couldn't simply find a poor, desperate family to volunteer. Eight to ten was the preferred age of most samples -- young enough to be impressionable, old enough to follow complicated orders. And small enough that no one cared when they went missing. The child mortality rate in the slums was quite high in his time. Nobody thought much of it if one or two children slipped through the cracks.

He never saw any of the samples again. Vincent had been a professional, though, and hadn't asked where they had gone. No Turk was stupid enough to want to know.

Next to him in the grass, Cloud made a noise of distress, his hands unconsciously groping for something. Vincent watched him for a few moments until he went limp again. He didn't seem to be responding to any stimulus that Vincent could see. His arm lay twisted at an uncomfortable-looking angle, displaying his serial number quite clearly.

Vincent carefully picked him up and moved Cloud's arm so he could more efficiently bandage it with some of the gauze he had taken from the clinic. One or two times, his hand would twitch, still grasping at nothing. Vincent ignored it. Cloud likely wasn't cognisant enough to feel pain or discomfort, let alone respond to stimuli. Any comforting he did would be lost on both of them.

He had grown quite a bit from the last time Vincent had seen him. It was difficult to tell what was him and what was Shinra's doing, though. He was still just as sickly-looking as he had been the first time they'd met. The strange bony physique he had was doubtless a product of whatever experiments they'd been running on him. His eyes were hollow now -- whatever had been there before, it was beyond Vincent's reach or help. Shinra had shaped his body, and the mako had claimed his mind, and Cloud himself seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in the middle of it all. He wondered who he could have been once, and how much of the boy he'd encountered in that crate steadily becoming more and more unhinged years ago was the person he was currently feeding gelatin and broth too. Not that it mattered much anymore.

Vincent wasn't sure if his own answers were any simpler. He was no longer a Turk -- Hojo had seen to that. Perhaps that just made him Vincent.

Who was Vincent? A dead man, he knew. A man that had failed Lucrecia. A man that wouldn’t fail a second time, though at what he wasn’t really sure. He could offer Lucrecia redemption, but only she could accept it and atone for them both.

Cloud had stopped swallowing, and Vincent didn’t have anymore success afterwards getting him to take more food. He couldn’t have possibly been full, but there wasn’t really anything he could do about that either. Another thing out of his hands.

He, Vincent, was still alive. And apparently Lucrecia had been as well. And so had Cloud. Perhaps it wasn’t so farfetched to assume someone else had returned from the grave.

A week later, and Cloud was still not taking solids. Vincent could not afford to break into a second clinic. It would give him away, if it hadn't already. He would need supplies. And money. He'd need employment on a very temporary basis, with someone that wouldn't ask too many questions -- it was highly unlikely that Shinra was looking for him specifically or expected his involvement in the first place, but he also couldn't risk leaving Cloud alone for too long. His pulse was weak and irregular, and his skin was clammy. His hands no longer twitched, reaching for something that wasn't there. He was practically dead already.

He would not have been the first, or second, or even third person Vincent had watched die. He likely would not survive long enough for Vincent to take him to Lucrecia, if she agreed to fix him at all. In the end, he'd be delivering him right back into Shinra's hands anyway. His eyes landed on the sword on Cloud's back.

It would be kinder, he knew. Whether or not Cloud was aware of it, he was still suffering. It was the principle of the thing. And it wasn't as though he would have much of a life to return to, should he recover. He would spend the rest of his days running. That was no way to live.

Vincent removed the sword from Cloud's back and levelled it at his neck. One cut. He wouldn't even feel the pain. No one recovered from mako poisoning this deep, and it was much better than letting him slowly starve to death or die of exposure. He would be free from Hojo, from Lucrecia, from Vincent's mistakes. Truly free, not out in the wild being hunted like an animal, a marked man for the rest of his life, even if they were to one day stop pursuing him. Vincent had often heard it said that one's face looked peaceful in death, but all anyone had looked like to him was a corpse. Cloud, with his eyes glazed and his face gaunt, was no exception. He sighed and adjusted the blade.

"Why can't I just pretend? Why do you care so much if I just pretend?"

The words came to him unbidden, and he frowned.

"Because it has never done anyone an ounce of good," said Vincent sharply. He realised he was talking aloud to no one. Another thing that wouldn't actually help. Cloud could not hear him.

"Why can't I just pretend?"

He still didn't know how old Cloud was. He could have been fourteen, or forty. His body was too warped, by chemicals and fear and time, for him to tell. Vincent knew he himself was fifty-seven or fifty-eight. He might not look it, after all these years, but he felt the age somewhere very deep. It had settled into him and wrapped itself around his bones, sinking into the fingers that held the sword above Cloud's neck.

Vincent put the sword back down. He was perfectly capable of pretending. He was going to pretend Cloud was awake right now.

"It gains us nothing. You being alive does not serve you any. Neither does my insistence upon talking to you. It's purely for my benefit, in order to come to terms with my thoughts."

Cloud said nothing, as expected.

He had skills he could use. A few mastered spells, though it was likely only fire would be useful to him here. He couldn’t take any jobs that wouldn’t be extremely temporary, both for Cloud’s sake and his own; the longer he was tied to an area, the sooner people would notice he was there. People were not yet asking questions about Vincent Valentine. He did not want them to start.

So, what sort of work was available for former Turks that had avoided the usual method of retirement? Most of them wound up as assassins, most likely. Or mercenaries. Once a Turk, always a Turk, he supposed.

He began picking up small jobs -- a day or two as a porter on the Corel river. That had been one of the first shocks of many -- Corel was gone. He’d expected an economic decline, of course. Coal couldn’t begin to compete with mako in price or efficiency. But Corel was gone. Turks gone. Wiped off the map by Soldier from the looks of things. The bustling little coal town he’d seen pictures of was forgotten and unspoken of.

Phones were portable now, he’d learned as well. He didn’t see much point -- any time one would be away from home long enough to necessitate a portable phone would be long enough for the battery inside it to die anyway.

President Shinra was still alive and still in power. That one was a bit of a surprise, if only because he’d expected the man to have a coronary long before now. Perhaps the science department had perfected biosynthetic organs by now. He drummed the metal fingers of his false hand against the floor of the boat he’d stowed away on -- perhaps they’d be able to grow him a new hand. He couldn’t quite recall how he’d lost it in the first place. He wasn’t sure if it would help if he did.

That was how he made ends meet from week to week: small jobs. He had to be in and out and gone in no longer than a week. Cloud began to put on a bit of weight, but he showed no signs of waking. Little by little, they made their way across the wilderness, and little by little Vincent saw things that were familiar, and things that were different, and things that perhaps had always been that way, but he had simply never bothered to look before.

Not for the first time, he wished he could ask Cloud. Perhaps he should have asked more questions when he had the chance. But then, he hadn’t wanted to know back then.

“If you felt like saying something, now would be an excellent opportunity to start,” said Vincent one day. He had propped Cloud up against a bundle of hay in the barn he’d snuck into. The birds -- chocobos, mostly, with a few aggressive swallows -- were watching them both warily.

“You must admit, there is a certain irony in risking one’s life for someone unable to appreciate the act nor the selfishness of the motivations behind it,” he added.

Cloud said nothing, as usual. Vincent sighed and sat down by the hay next to him.

“I did not care for your visits,” Vincent continued. “I do not felt they accomplished much.” He set about the task of removing his metal hand. Now that he intended to sleep -- truly sleep, not enter a state of prolonged hibernation, he’d found it was rather uncomfortable to have it on during the night.

He stared at the stump that remained of his forearm. He could dimly recall pain. That didn’t really surprise him. And a lot of yelling. And a piercing agony through his arm that seemed to be spreading, and then blissful oblivion.

“Although,” he added, “perhaps I am not without blame myself. If I had been more interest in dissuading you, we would not be here now.” He leaned back against the hay, feeling that strange heaviness building up in his bones again. “It seems my lacking skills as a conversationalist have caused more than a fair bit of misery.”

He looked at Cloud again. It was strange to see him so quiet now. Orwell had always been rather chatty in the beginning. After they'd had to dispose of Yang to prevent a security leak he went quiet. Everyone went quiet in the end.

“Of course,” said Vincent, “you cannot hear me now. This conversation between us is as pointless as the first thirty. You might not have listened then either, even when you could.”

One of the chocobos squawked at him, raising its head crest in warning. Vincent gave it a look.

“And so, here I am, a man that should be well into retirement, peddling my skills as a mercenary,” he said. “That is the hand fate has dealt me.”

He put Cloud to sleep with a quick spell. It was difficult to tell if he was actually resting. This was easier. Vincent wondered if he still dreamt.

He kicked a bit of dirt over their fire and watched it sputter out.

“We are simply what the world makes us, Cloud. No more, no less.”

Vincent limped his way up the staircase, the body draped over his shoulder unwieldy and making each step grind further into his knee. One of the MPs had managed to get the drop on him with a baton, and while it wasn’t broken, he could feel something grinding against something else that had no business grinding against anything in the first place. The gun he’d stolen was clutched tightly in his other hand. An assault rifle. Inelegant, but better than nothing.

There were more than a few bullets lodged in his abdomen by now. Vincent may have been a former Turk, but that was before thirty years of inactivity and the body he'd been carrying over his shoulders had dulled his skills and slowed his movements. He could heal, he knew, but he wasn't sure if there was a limit to it. He may have died before, but he was certainly alive now. Alive and mortal.

He heard the sound of a pistol firing, and Cloud let out a sharp gasp. He'd been hit. Vincent quickly ducked down a hallway by the staircase leading to the sixty-eighth floor.

It was just a graze, luckily. A gash on his leg that was already closing up right before his eyes. He tore off a bit of his cloak and quickly wrapped it anyway. There were already voices approaching them from down the hall, and he couldn’t afford to get distracted this close.

If he had been a bit less focused, perhaps he would have paid more mind to the fact that Cloud had made a noise at all.

Still, he paused outside the door of the stairwell, the ID card in his hand hovering by the reader uncertainly. There was a very good chance he wouldn't come back out of this door. Cloud might not either. Of course, that wasn't really much of a tragedy. Cloud was practically dead anyway. He would either recover or he wouldn't. And he himself... he was a relic. There were still Turks around, most likely, but the world did not need Turks. The world did not need him. He and Cloud were both relics, forgotten in a basement for too long to have any place besides the one carved out for them there. An old man lingering around older sentiments. A boy who had long since missed his chance to ever pursue newer ones. It wouldn't really be such a terrible loss for either of them.

Still, he supposed he must try. Lucrecia still had a place.

Vincent swiped the card and watched the door retract with a quiet humming noise. He adjusted his grip on Cloud and forced his knee to carry him up the stairs.

There were about twenty guns trained on him all at once the minute he set foot in the lab. He took out two right away as he turned the corner, scrambling for cover behind a desk. A third was close enough to knock out with a quick sleeping spell. That left twenty... at least until backup arrived, at which point his death warrant was signed anyway. He shoved Cloud further under the desk and risked a quick peek at the room around him.

Seventeen guards, with likely some higher ranking military personnel among their number. Five scientists that appeared to be scrambling for cover. Vincent recognised two of them.

He forced his breathing to slow. His ears were already buzzing from the sound of unshielded gunfire.

He heard something behind him and quickly flattened out on his stomach in time to shoot the man that had been sneaking around on his blind side with the rest of the cubicle. Sixteen left.

He couldn't carry Cloud with him, but couldn't leave him alone either. He doubted they'd target him given he was still drooling onto the floor, but he wasn't willing to risk the possibility that he could be wrong. Unless -- he could have sworn his eyes moved to follow him as he crept away along the wall to peek around the corner. No time to check for sure.

He encountered another two trying to flank from the front now that they knew he was headed around the other way. They were only MPs. Vincent was a former Turk. It wasn't really fair. Fourteen.

Controlled, deliberate, methodical. Two in the torso, and one in the head. Thirteen, then ten, change magazines, then eight, then seven...

There were noises. Things moving beyond the loudest silence. Something stopped to listen to the Other that were noises that were not the loudest silence. Not him. He was him. He was I. I am.

A loud crack sounded in Cloud's ear, making him wince in pain. It was too loud here. It was quiet before. He wanted to go back to the quiet. The noises around him began to drown it out. His eyes focused on something blurry.

White. Blurry white. And grey, and something red and black and brown that danced around him. He feebly reached for it.

The dancing stopped. He realised something had been at his back only when it was pulled away. The blurriness in his vision receded with the fog and the silence, and he could hear voices.

"...did you get here?"

"What have you done? What have you done, Lucrecia?"

The second voice... he knew that voice. Everything was a blur, not just his vision -- he couldn't seem to focus on anything but the floor beneath him, and the voices above him, which kept getting louder and louder.

"What reason could you possibly have to come back here?" A third voice. An icy, sticky voice, sharp and intent and unforgiving. Cloud hated it, and loved it, and a powerful hurt flared up in his chest. "You were a clever man. I'm sure you know how this will end."

Hojo. He hadn't been good enough for him. He could never be good enough. They'd hurt him because he wasn't good enough. He shivered.

"Behind me," said the second voice. "I brought him for you."

"The Series 3 prototype was discontinued six months ago," said the first voice. Soothing, twisting, indescribably beautiful, profoundly hungry, reaching into parts of himself that called for something he had no name for. Part of him.

Director Crescent. He'd dreamed of her touching him, the way Ma once had.

Ma... the village... Sephiroth... it was all gone now... everything was gone...

"Listen to yourself," said the second voice. "I implore you -- was this the world you wanted to create? You both set out for the betterment of mankind -- he's led you down a path much like your own in feature but unlike yours in virtue. He may have chosen, but you --"

"I thought I made my choice clear, Vincent. I thought you knew that as well."

"Your son, Sephiroth, surely --"

"Vincent... Sephiroth is dead," said the Director.

"And you would condemn another to that fate?"

He knew that voice. Cold and rough, like stone under stone under dirt and snow and frost. Magic rocks. A companion in the dark.

The Pale Man.

Cloud's eyes fixed on the shape above him -- the Pale Man was here. The Pale Man was with him. And the others -- he was real? He was real. The Pale Man was real.

"I set out for the betterment mankind, and Series 3 was a stepping stone towards that goal." Director Crescent was looking at him coldly now. He wanted to go to her and the Professor, but he couldn't move. The Pale Man was still standing between them.

"You were always a hopeless romantic, Vincent. We both know why you came here," said the Director.

"Is it is such a crime, that I believe you are worth saving?" said Vincent.

"There is nothing to save us from," said the Professor sharply. "And certainly nothing you could provide deliverance from in the first place. You should have remained in storage. Goodbye."

The sound of weapons cocking echoed around them. He couldn't move. He was trapped in his own body, and he was useless, and he couldn't move, and the Pale Man -- Vincent, after all these years, he'd been there for him, and he, Cloud, was still as useless as ever --

The world bent. The people around them seemed to refract and waver like a passing reflection. The loudest silence howled around him, impossibly loud, and the ground beneath him felt as though it were about to break at any moment and let it all in. Cloud's hand spasmed, desperately reaching for Vincent, who seemed to be a million miles away and right in front of him.

Vincent was consumed in a wall of flames. It happened almost instantly -- one minute he was standing there, convulsing, and the next he was crumpled on the floor, spasming intermittently, ragged screams quickly trailing off as what was undoubtedly spellfire rapidly charred his flesh. A moment later he stopped moving entirely.

The Pale Man was gone. Everything was gone. The Pale Man -- he saved him. He saved him, and he was gone, because Cloud hadn't done anything, and he was gone and he was real and he wasn't alone in the dark and he was gone and the pale man was gone and ma was gone and he was alone and he had never once been held or wanted by the pale man the director the professor all gone it was all empty empty empty empty empty --

There were many things Cloud remembered about that day. He remembered the hands, shoving him and Vincent's charred corpse into a disposal chute in the lab. He remembered it all being too much. He remembered falling, further and further, his already limp body impacting against metal and concrete, and still there was so much further to fall, and knowing there was nothing in the world that had ever wanted him, Series 3, a failure, alone, broken, who ruined everything he touched. He remembered the other things that had been thrown out all around him in Sector 2, about not knowing where the Pale Man's -- Vincent's body was, so that maybe once he might hold it, and know that something real had wanted him, Cloud, that the something was alive. He remembered the rain leaking down from the plate below, splashing onto his face, creating mud that he felt himself sinking into. He remembered screaming and screaming and screaming, and not knowing how to stop. He remembered understanding that no one could ever want Cloud or even Series 3, that no one would miss them, that the world moved further and further away the more he realised it, and that soon enough it didn't seem real, and then soon enough he wasn't real either. He remembered lying there, the water pooling up around him even as he drifted off into unconsciousness. Some time later, perhaps days, perhaps a week, he remembered a pair of rough, work-worn hands holding him, pulling him close, and moving him out of the mud garbage piled up around him, and carrying him to a little run down dive bar in the slums.

The one thing he didn't remember was the look of confusion on everyone's face in the tower, from the guards to Hojo to Lucrecia herself, because none of them had actually fired yet.

#the number i #spitegarbage #i fucking hate vincent's dialogue and now i don't have to write it anymore!

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