#maxine bell

[diapereddarling]

Hello! It's me, from your notifications! Do you have a summary of your story anywhere? I went through a few character tags, but didn't find one. Also, I love that Damian is disabled but still gets to dress up all fancy. I didn't realize how rare it is to see that.

Hihi :D! I don't really have a story summary yet as a lot is still in planning and it's very wip BUT I can give you some links in semi chronological order of what I have got and also gush about it here!

aaa I'm so glad you like Dorian and how I present him >u< full disclaimer, I myself am a physically abled person. I'm trying my best to write and present him as respectfully as I can with a lot of research and opinions of friends in similar states of disability- but I may be ham fisted or get things wrong, so to anyone who reads this, please let me know if I fuck up somewhere. I'd rather be told I did something wrong or presented something disrespectfully than have people be uncomfortable in silence about it. DISCLAIMER OUT OF THE WAY- Yeah I noticed like, a lot of disabled characters ( be it physical or mental ) don't really get presented as if they like dressing up or looking nice- particularly after trying to look up more disability friendly ways Dorian would probably use. It Sucks lol. At least from the people with mental disabilities side of it where I sit, I can say that ain't true of everyone at all. It's just harder.

ANYWAYS, SUMARY OF POSTS AND STORY RAMBLING

So you can find some character reference stuff from this post here with picrew images- they were mainly so I could get a general idea of the main cast without physically having to draw them quickly

The story so far

The first post chronologically would be this one, as it talks about what happened to Dorian specifically. A bit about his home life, his parents, his neighbour and how he was released from said situation. I'm currently working on figuring out what the antagonist of this section's ties were to which god- but my main goal was to make it feel realistic at first before involving mythos with it. CW: : Stalking, kidnapping, delusions (involving pseudo incest thoughts ), (spinal) injury

After the incident, Dorian was hospital bound for a While. He'd been given a spinal injury, he was severely traumatised and could not be trusted to look after himself after all that yet because he was 6 months into being 18 when Mayline's life time of stalking came to a head. Even with rehabilitation efforts alone, the stint in hospital would've been a long one but then there was also the mental hurdles too. You can read some of that experience here. CW: medical setting, reactions to trauma, involuntary wetting and messing mention, a character being forcibly restrained in a non sexual way and trying to come to terms with mobility loss.

So while he was trying to adjust to his new normal there were a lot of things he would try to do to feel as if his life hadn't drastically changed ( it had, it's unfair that it happened but it is fine that it is now his life. Period of adjustment and all. ) He waited until Mayline's trail had been dealt with to carry on with education because, well. He's scared of her. He wants to know what's going to happen with her before he tried anything. During that time he read a lot, basically exposure therapying himself to the dark stories and stuff he enjoyed before because he didn't want to lose something that he felt made up so much of his identity. It almost definitely wasn't healthy but that is how he dealt with it.

After about a year or two, he decided he wanted to give further education a try. Since he was a kid he wanted to be a baker- he knew at least at the moment it was a pipe dream, mostly because of the various conditions that he has making said environment pretty dangerous. But he wanted to try.

While doing his culinary course, he met Leia. They didn't initially interact that much- very different aesthetics and very different circles. But Leia's a very intense and bubbly lass- so when she saw Dorian reading a book that she'd also wanted to read; there was basically no hesitation in her running up to him to chatter about the book. They became fast friends after that. Becoming friends with Leia helped him a lot in all honesty- Dorian was kind of Terrified of women after the incident ( and felt awful for it ) especially if they shared features with Mayline ( Blonde hair, blue eyes ect ), so Leia being both a woman and having blonde hair helped bring him out of it some what.

Dorian met Steven during the middle of his second year. It was when he decided to get his first tattoo ( the one on his thigh ) and Steven was apprenticing as a tattoo artist at the time. It's kind of difficult to not talk at least a little while going through the pretty long process of being tattooed and they ended up just getting along really well and meshing super well so just continued to meet up when they could because they enjoyed each others company.

Dorian also met Stevens current partner at the time, Charlie. They were all pretty friendly with each other though romantically, Charlie and Steven only lasted about 8 months. They broke it off mutually agreeing they'd be better friends and actually did become much closer as a platonic bestfriends rather than romantic partners. Charlies cool, he helped Dorian solder spikes to the rims of the wheels on his wheelchair to force people to stop trying to get to close lmao. It was his idea.

After university Dorian realised there was no way he could safely hold down a job. The mobility issues were too much to handle in a commercial kitchen setting even without the stress induced narcolepsy. It messed with him for quite a bit.

He lived on the internet for a bit, being fond of niche gothic forums and very surprisingly, still taking interest in true crime. It might've been an interest before his kidnapping but now he just wants to try to understand what the hell was going on in Mayline's head. He met Maxine on one of these forums, they talked about gothic lit for quite a bit before exchanging socials and forming a friendship off that.

During this time Dorian and Steven also started dating- and after about a year and a half, moved in together. They have a lower floor apartment together and one day hope to get a house together. Dorian also got his two kitties, Carmilla and Poe!

While living together Steven suggested to Dorian the idea of videoing himself baking or streaming it. It was kinda him recognising Dorian was trying to get over the hurdle of not being able to do what he wanted since he was a kid but also not wanting to give up completely. It isn't perfect but it works and Dorian finds a lot of fulfilment in it. He doesn't show his face ever, understandably, so he does his best to remain more or less anonymous on the internet with these things :3

All of these characters have been touched by at least one of the gods in in some way in this universe btw. I am figuring out the semantics but ye! That's what I've got so far c:

[enrickp]

[serene-bambi]

credits

[justicesocietyzine]

I made this meme to help promote the Zine but now that I have it I'm not entirely sure what my end goal was.

Anyway! Applications open till March 16th! Looking for artists and writers!

Apply here!

[maxinemilliondollars]

bellard 4

[bookaddictedrose]

For fans of murder mysteries and solving puzzles, especially AGGGTM and the Inheritance Games:

Try murdle.com

What happens is: every day there's a new murder mystery to solve, it's like wordle for detectives.

First, you're given four cards in four sections: Suspects, Weapons, Locations, and Motives.

Then you're given a page of clues and evidence.

Then are the statements of each suspect, while knowing that the innocent always tell the truth, while the guilty always lie.

Then you're free to make your accusation!

You're also given multiple assets, such as hints, a decoder, and a notebook.

Have fun and good luck! 🧩 🗝️ 🔪

[walder-138]

Hello dear, take your time with this, I know finding the energy to write can be tough, so there is absolutely no pressure to answer this ask straight away. I'm just putting these here as food for thought, something to chew on! <3 remember to take care of yourself!

For Annika:

🎲 - Biological parents

👑 - Person who raised your OC and/or was important during their formative years

🐾 - Pets (if she doesn't have one, then answer as if she could what kind of pet would she have)

For Zach and Ester:

💋 - First kiss

🌹 - First relationship

💔 - Exes

Like I say, take your time, there's no rush at all <3

Hey Goose! Thank you so much for the ask and the message ❤️- I’ve had a random burst of motivation so hopefully I can type this out before it ends up dying away!

🎲- Supposedly (ifykyk) Annika’s biological parents were Marina Ilyinichna Kucherova and Nikolai Mikhailovich Vublevski. Her mother was one of Nikolai’s informants in the KGB; they had no bond or emotional connection and were simply just two people who banged and had Annika.

Marina told Nikolai to either handle the kid or she’d rat him out. Whether that entailed killing it or whatever the fuck else, Marina didn’t care. Annika’s existence had ruined her life apparently; the pregnancy had been very difficult and caused irreversible harm to her body.

Nikolai didn’t wanna get everything he worked for shat on, so he took the wretched thing. Annika screamed and cried all the time and Nikolai had no clue what she wanted; he’d never wanted to become a father, never had any siblings or really known anyone with kids.

With how much she got on Nikolai’s nerves, Annika’s shocked he didn’t wind up killing her.

👑- The person who “raised” Annika during her formative years, and the only adult she had a positive experience with, wound up being her first kill.

There were several people who ‘raised’ Annika as a child. None of them stuck around long enough or really cared too much about her; she was more of a nuisance/chore girl for them. They’d tell her to sneak drugs, weapons, etc past police to get her out of their way. Nobody would suspect a child to be carrying all that shit, right?

For context: the organization that Nikolai ran was funded by the CIA and MI6, as he was trying to overthrow the Soviet government.

When Annika was about 6/7, MI6 sent someone to go in undercover. Former Special Forces guy, a father of 4. She knew very little about him, just that he was called Petr. That wasn’t his real name, but Annika never learned what his real name was. She didn’t see him as frequently as she should’ve, but ‘Petr’ genuinely cared for her. He planned on taking Annika to the UK to get the fuck away from Nikolai and those disgusting individuals he let his daughter be around.

‘Petr’ got too attached to Annika. He started slipping and screwing up his mission. Helping Nikolai, while he’s treating his daughter like less than a worm filled him with guilt every time he looked at either of them. So he fumbled. I haven’t thought about how yet, but bro dropped the ball.

When Nikolai found out about his status as a spy, the relationship he formed with the US and UK governments went out the window. Knowing how close Annika was to the man, he decided to use this situation as a lesson. She was 9, and with Nikolai’s hands keeping her steady, she put a bullet in Petr’s head as he kneeled in front of her.

��- Annika loves all animals. Dogs, cats, raccoons, lizards, bugs, leeches; she thinks they all deserve comfort and love. She doesn’t prefer any kind of pet over another, and if you gave her any pet, she’d happily take it. However, due to ‘work’, Annika doesn’t want to keep any pets, as she thinks she’ll end up neglecting them or if she dies on a mission there will be nobody to take care of them.

Honestly, if Annika was capable of living a good life, she would definitely be either a veterinarian or work at an animal shelter.

💋- Ester’s first kiss was after a show. It was with her fellow bandmate and the lead singer. He was way too old for her (17 and 29 😬), but she thought she was hot shit when they kissed for the first time. More information on this shit fest coming soon.

🌹- It was the guy I just mentioned. He ended up ruining her life, which caused her to join the Marines.

Ester was desperate for the approval of an older man since her dad died, and she found it difficult to find it in a healthy way. But that creep love bombed the shit out of her and she ate it all up. Praised Ester’s ability on the drums, gave her money, and spoiled her with gifts.

She started putting everything aside for the bastard. Her grades started slipping and she pushed away her real friends.

Ester ended up clocking that guy in the jaw when he kept trying to initiate sex with her despite her saying no. She realized the guy wanted her as a groupie and not an actual partner, and left the band on the spot.

This all lead up to her joining the Marines. Ester thought everyone hated her, she was “too stupid” for college, so… she shaved off all her hair and followed after Zach.

💔- The first guy and Philip Graves. Her relationship with Graves wasn’t serious, and she noticed she was slipping into her old habits again, so they mutually broke up. There’s no bad blood between them.

She also had a lot of flings with both men and women until she got the scars, but none of them meant anything.

💋- Zach’s first kiss was between him and a girl in his class back in high school. He was really bad at it apparently so she never wanted to do it again. Safe to say he got better, Steph can vouch for that 😉

🌹- Zach’s first relationship was with another soldier named Maxine Cain. They were in love with each other; they were even engaged, planning on getting married when their contracts expired with the Marines.

Cain was in Ester’s platoon, and the two meet after Ester decided Zach needed to start seeing women. He had no rizz, she had no rizz, they belonged together so she set the two up. They clicked almost immediately and the rest was history.

They were together for a long time, though they occasionally broke up due to work.

💔- Cain was the only person Zach was with before Steph.

She was killed by the Taliban. Her full body was never recovered, but Zach ended up finding her head and some of her limbs.

She is his most frequent and least hostile hallucination.

[sebeth]

He Can't Be Like These Things, Can He?

[seraphicsuicides]

blue eyeshadow today bc im literally maxine minx

[filosofablogger]

Saturday Surprise -- April Fool's! (Revisited)

Apologies, for this is a redux from a post I did on April Fool’s Day two years ago, but when I re-read it yesterday, I had forgotten much of it and it made me laugh all over again, so I’m hoping that will be the case for you, too!  Happy April Fool’s Day!!! I gave some thought to trying to pull an April Fool’s joke on you guys by telling you that this would be the last post ever on Filosofa’s…

[missperfectlyfinewrites]

Belle sat up a little straighter at the sound of her name, startled. Cheeks flushed pink almost straight away, looking sheepish, apologetic..and embarrassed.

"Sorry," she murmured, trying to readjust in her seat, glancing back at her notes and down at her notes, flustered. "I just have a lot going on at the moment," the girl managed quietly. But it was so much more then that. She'd never found herself this distracted before. And sure, she did have a lot going on at the moment, but this felt different, and Belle wasn't sure how to deal with that.

"I'm sorry for not paying attention."

Maxine stood at the front of the classroom, trying to maintain her composure as she lectured on the intricacies of post-colonial literature. However, her attention kept drifting towards Belle, seated near the front, looking utterly distracted and lost in thought. Belle's chin was perched on the palm of her hand, her eyes glazed over with a mix of frustration and longing. Maxine's gaze couldn't help but be drawn to the way Belle's swollen breasts strained against the flimsy fabric of her sundress, her nipples subtly outlined through the material.

Belle had attempted to cover herself with a cardigan, but it did little to hide the obvious changes in her body. Her bump was prominent, a constant reminder of the new life growing inside her, but it was her breasts that held Maxine's attention. The sight of them, full and sensitive, moving slightly with every shift of Belle's body, sent an involuntary shiver down Maxine's spine. She could see Belle's discomfort, the way she unconsciously shifted in her seat, thighs twitching slightly under her dress, and it was clear that Belle was battling with more than just academic distractions.

Taking a deep breath, Maxine tried to refocus on her lecture, but the sight of Belle's predicament was hard to ignore. She felt a strange mix of concern and desire, her own thoughts wandering to places they shouldn't. The classroom suddenly felt warmer, the air thick with unspoken tension. Maxine cleared her throat, hoping to regain her composure, but the image of Belle's straining breasts and the knowledge of her inner turmoil stayed with her, making it difficult to concentrate.

"Belle," Maxine said softly, her voice carrying a hint of empathy. "Is everything alright? You seem...distracted today." It took every ounce of willpower for Maxine to keep her eyes from wandering back to Belle's chest, to maintain a semblance of professionalism in the face of such an unexpected and intense distraction.

[weird-an]

Harrington has been getting on Billy's nerves for weeks now. After quitting the basketball team for a few weeks, he returned, with a big goofy smile and the same shitty technique.

His teammates eat it all up. The Coach does, too.

"A good decision, Harrington." - A bad decision for Billy.

Billy hates it. Harrington is always there, grinning at him with his stupid ugly dimples and his hair that always flop in his face. Worst of all, he stopped shaving and now Billy has to stare at the soap running down a thick happy trail.

Harrington is fucking everywhere. At school, at practice, under the showers. Billy can't stop himself. He rants about Harrington, when he has to drive Max to her friends. The Creepy Kids are meeting at Harrington's. Of all places. There is no escape.

He talks the whole drive, shouting over Alice Cooper's singing and smoking three cigarettes. He only stops when they arrive at Harrington's place. Which apparently is a fucking castle.

Max is silent for a second, then she makes a belching sound. "Ugh, you like him."

Billy forgets to exhale the smoke of his cigarette.

"What the fuck?" He coughs.

"You should hear yourself," Max says, rolling her eyes like Billy misses the most obvious thing in the world. "And 'pretty boy'? Really?"

"Well, he is-" Billy bites his tongue. "-It's just a joke."

Max sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "And worst of all, I'll have to listen to Steve's bitching about you."

"What does he say about me?" Billy nearly drops his cigarette, pulse stuttering.

Max glares at him. "Unbelievable."

"What?"

She gets out of the car.

"Maxine?"

"That's not my name!" she yells, ringing the door bell.

"It is!" Billy follows her. "If Harrington talks shit about-"

Harrington opens the door. He blinks at Billy.

"Hey Hargrove."

Billy's tongue sticks to his gums. He just nods at Harrington. He's wearing a new sweater. Bright blue, like the ocean.

"Max said you'd come. You want a beer?"

Max's elbow hits his side. "Of course he wants a beer."

[pixxiies]

ꨄ MAKE IT UP . 𓂃 ㅤ۫ ㅤ⊹

— c.s. series | part 1 . .

pairing :: chris sturniolo x fem!oc

summary :: in which isabella decantis has to share a dorm room with her high school enemy, chris sturniolo.

word count :: 1,390 k

warnings :: swearing, angst (??), lowercase intentioned, 3rd person, chris is a dick, drinking, throwing up, fluff if u squint, n thats it

a/n :: yall r crazy for getting tense to 800 notes 😭😭 i love u guys all dearly. also the story line is js smth i ended up doing on c.ai and i thought it was realy good so 😁 also credits to maxine for the name she said she wouldnt read this if i didnt give her credits

COLD was what amber-eyed isabella decantis felt while walking down the long hallway. after waiting for weeks and even months, she had finally gotten accepted into her dream college. the brunette girl looked down at the small folded paper to know which dorm was hers. to her surprise, the hallway was empty on move in day. she knew how hard had been working and how much money she paid to get one of the dorms that have a private bathroom. she knew she deserved this.

‘ROOM 617’ was said on the small sign on the door. isabella put her boxes down after struggling to carry them for almost 10 minutes. she excitedly took out the key to unlock the door, but it was already open. bella raised her eyebrow slightly, a bit shocked that her dorm mate would already be here. she opened the door slowly while letting out a soft, “hello?”

her amber eyes met with blue eyes. “uhm.. what the fuck are you doing here?” chris mumbled, getting up from his bed. isabella’s jaw clenched as she looked back down at the folded paper. “this is room 617?” she spoke with anxiety laced into her tone. “are ya’ blind?” the brunette boy spoke coldly. “no because if i was, i wouldn’t already know that im gonna have to be with you.” she spat as she kicked her boxes filled with clothes and other things into the room.

bella picked up the few boxes and placed them on top of her bed. the room now completely silent, she took a box knife that she had in her purse and started to open the boxes up. “cant fucking believe im gonna have to be stuck with you for the entire year.” chris mumbled under his breath, thinking that isabella couldn’t hear him when in reality she did. “well we both wouldn’t be pissed off if you didn’t bully me through all of high school, wouldn’t we sturniolo?” isabella snapped.

“well thats what you deserve for being all slutty n shit when you fucked every guy in school decantis.” he argued back, not even looking up from his phone. bella paused from packing to turn to chris. her hands rested on her love handles. “excuse you! your the one who played every girl in bell borne! remember lizzy? yeah, you fucked around with her for a bit and then you cheated on her with her sister.” she retorted with frustration laced into her words. “but ohhh, no remember that one time when you cheated on her sister with her bestfriend?” bella continued, pissed off that chris was probably not even listening.

“oh please bella! you sent nudes to basically all of the guys during junior and senior year. dont act all innocent and act like you didn’t do anything.” chris finally snapped as he put his phone down. “jesus christ and you fucked how many guys in the bathroom?” he didn’t stop there. “don’t be coming after me sayin shit like im a player when you were a slut too.” he finally stopped. isabella rolled her eyes, turning her back to chris. “oh so now what? when i finally say the truth you stay quiet? is that what hurts you to know bella?” he taunted.

“that’s because its all a shitty humor chris! i didn’t fuck anybody in any bathroom, i didn’t send nu— well i sent nudes to my boyfriend.. i didnt send nudes to any other guy but him!” she defended herself while throwing her hands up with mercy. “for fucks sake chris you’re just like your ex girlfriend. she was such a fucking dick. you know you were nicer in eighth grade but when you started to date her during the summer you became a prick. guessing you also played her then?” bella added, tilting her head to the side slightly while crossing her arms. after a few seconds of awkwardness, isabella knew chris was finally silenced, atleast for now.

bella turned back to her things and continued to unpack everything. she carefully placed things on top of the shelfs next to her bed. her dainty crystals, her box of tarot cards, her little jewelry box, everything that she had loved. but it wasn’t too soon until the silence started to kill her. she then remembered that he had brought her vinyl player along with two or three records. the brunette girl carefully opened the book that held them, then taking them out. happily, isabella plugged in the vinyl player and putting on a mac demarco record on to play. chris groaned quietly as the music started to fill the room. “jesus what is this shit?” he asked while getting up from his bed to turn off the music.

“its music…” bella mumbled, quickly turning it back on. “well yeah it sounds depressing, who listens to that kinda stuff.” chris argued as he turned it back off. the girl pouted slightly. “people who listen to mac demarco?? if its bothering you so much then get out while i finish unpacking.” she shrugged. chris didn’t give her an audible reply, instead just simply putting his shoes on and leaving the room. isabella let out a small sigh of relief, thankful she had the room to herself now for a while.

. . . .

isabella was now in her nicely made bed comfortably. her wired earbuds connected to her phone which played music softly into her pierced ears. she hummed to herself quietly once she noticed the time. 1:03am. the brunette girl couldn’t actually help but feel a little bit worried about where he was. but of course, she quickly brushed it off and enjoyed how cozy she was currently. soon enough, a loud thud hit the door. isabella’s eyebrow raised slightly while lazily getting out of bed.

the brunette walked over to the door, taking out one earbud while opening it. her eyes met chris’ eyes. his hair stook out everywhere and some of it stuck to his forehead, his hand holding a bottle of something, his eyelids droopy, and his scent reeking of alcohol and his cheap cologne. “jesus what did you do?” bella asked while moving to the side to let chris in. “mmmhh” he rather giggled. he belly-flopped onto his bed and wiggled around on it for a while, bella assuming he was trying to get comfortable. “are you.. drunk?” she asked, crossing her arms. “don’t be ridicu-lush.. ‘m not that drunk.” he slurred while continuing to giggle like a baby.

isabella hesitated, but she grabbed the bottle that was in his grasp. “jesus! vodka chris?” she groaned in annoyance. he let out a small hiccup in reply that kinda made her laugh. isabella just watched him wriggle around in his bed before his body shot up. “what now?” she mumbled. “im gonna throw up.” chris groaned as he quickly ran to the bathroom that was connected to the dorm. the brunette girl ran after the boy as he kneeled down in-front of the toilet to throw up. isabella who had emetophobia, was also not doing well. her fingers lightly held chris’ front pieces of hair back with one hand patting his back gently, trying not to look at the throw up.

“there ya go..” she whispered quietly. after he was done doing his thing, isabella grabbed a plastic cup and filled it up with tap water. “here, drink some water.” the brunette said, then flushing the toilet. chris gladly took the cup of water and took little sips. “feel better?” she asked as she leaned against the sink counter, looking down at chris on the floor. “hm, i think ‘m still drunk.” he admitted, putting the cup down. isabella hummed quietly, nodding her head as she stuck out a hand to help chris up. “get some sleep.” she suggested while walking chris back into the room. “m’kay..” he babbled while quickly flopping back on his bed.

the amber-eyed girl turned off the bathroom lights then walked over to her bed. she had also decided to go to sleep. isabella turned off her lamp and put her phone to charge. her body slid underneath her sheets and blankets. she heard chris snore like a truck, “great.” she thought. honestly though, she didn’t mind it that much. after staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, she quickly fell asleep.

a/n ;; STARTING MY FIRST SERIES 🙀🙀🙀 this might be a bit messy for the first part but i do hope u guys enjoyed it!!

taglist :: @espressomads @mattsluttywaist @sturniol0s @luverboychris

[dragonflylady77]

people like us

So... yesterday (today? timezones, man...) was @thissortofsorcery's birthday and I decided around 5pm that I'd write a fic for her.

2502 words later... read on Ao3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BESTIE!!!

Summary:

Billy apologizes, Robin helps Steve with something, then she helps Billy with something.

Steve was standing against his car when he spotted Hargrove walking towards him. He planted his feet, crossing his arms over his chest and waited. It had been a couple of months since the fight at the Byers’ and they’d both done a good job avoiding each other.

He’d heard from Dustin that Max had told the gang Billy was sticking to his word and staying out of her way. The guy didn’t seem to hang around Tommy and his clique anymore and Steve wondered who he was hanging out with. He wasn’t sure why he wondered, but he did.

Hargrove stopped a couple of feet away, taking a deep drag on his cigarette before dropping it on the ground and crushing it with his boot. “Harrington.”

“Hargrove,” Steve said, his face showing none of the turmoil he was feeling inside. He wondered what had compelled him to press a finger to Billy’s chest that night, but he couldn’t get out of his head how warm and soft Billy’s skin had been.

“I took it too far that night, and for that I am sorry. My dad, um, my dad made it very clear that I needed to bring Maxine home and when you lied to me about it and wouldn’t let me take her with me, I saw red. That wasn’t your fault, but you have to agree that a thirteen-year-old girl had no business being alone with a bunch of boys at night in a house in the middle of nowhere.”

Steve felt his face heat up. “That’s not… I mean… I don’t…” he sputtered. What the fuck ?

“Yeah, I know that now, but you gotta admit it looked dodgy as hell. Anyway, you don’t have to forgive me or anything, but I wanted to say I’m sorry I made your face my punching bag.”

“Oh, um, okay.” Steve was having a hard time processing.

Billy nodded. “See ya.”

A car door slamming shut snapped Steve out of his trance and he realized Hargrove had left while he was staring into space. He heard the bell and swore under his breath, grabbing his bag out of his car before running towards the school.

The day passed in a daze and last period found Steve in the library for his tutoring session. His English teacher had arranged for someone from his AP class to help Steve with his college essays. Steve couldn’t ask Nancy anymore, obviously, things were too awkward. Part of him hoped it would be Billy Hargrove, though he doubted the new King of Hawkins High would want to spend more time with a washed out loser like Steve…

“Steve Harrington?” a decidedly female voice said next to him and he sat up, blinking. 

“Yes?”

“Hi. I’m Robin Buckley. Mr. Crowder asked me to help you with your college essays.” Robin sat in the chair next to him, dumping her backpack in the chair next to her. She pulled out a purple pencil case that was bursting at the seams and turned to him expectantly. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Steve had no idea what was going on and he was sure it showed on his face. This girl would no doubt tell everyone he was an idiot.

“Show me. Your essay.”

“Oh, right.” Steve reached in his bag and pulled out a slightly mangled sheet of paper. He passed it to Robin and tried to ignore the face she made as she flattened the sheet with her hand. “Sorry,” he mumbled, looking down at his hands on the table.

“It’s okay.” 

Steve felt her shrug then she started reading, a red pen at the ready. She read it slowly, clearly taking her time, and rereading it a few times as well. The amount of red marks on his essay made Steve wonder why he’d bothered at all.

Once she was done, she put her pen down and looked at Steve, an apologetic look on her face. “Okay, Steve. Um, it’s not all bad. You have some good ideas in there, but the execution is, um, shall we say, clunky.”

Letting out a groan that earned him a glare from the librarian, Steve crossed his arms on the table and hid his head in them. “I suck, I know.”

“Do you even want to go to college?” Robin asked, her voice muffled.

Steve shrugged. He was tired of his father yelling at him about his shit grades, his lack of prospects if he didn’t get into college, even how short-sighted he had been breaking it off with the Wheeler girl. Life sucked, and now he was kinda maybe having daydreams about what it would feel like to kiss Billy Hargrove.

“Ugh,” was the answer he gave Robin, lifting his head to peer at her. “My dad won’t shut up about it, threatens to cut me off if I don’t get in somewhere. But this study thing? Not sure it’s for me, yanno. Senior year is hard enough. From what all my teachers are saying, I’ll be lucky to graduate.”

“What are you going to do then? Work for your dad?”

“Ha!” Steve scoffed. “As if the great Richard Harrington, Jr. would stoop so low as to give his dumbass son a job in his successful empire.”

“Wow, okay… well, I work at Melvald’s on the weekend and they’re looking for a delivery boy. You have a car, you should apply. Don’t tell your dad and earn your own money.”

“Why are you helping me? I mean, you seem great, don’t get me wrong, but we don’t even know each other…”

“Everyone in the school knows who you are, Steve… but I don’t know.” Robin shrugged. “You don’t seem to have many friends and you look sad a lot.”

Steve had nothing to say to that. Her assessment was almost spot on. “I have friends…” he mumbled, embarrassed.

“Middle schoolers do not count, Steve, I don’t care what they tell you to get rides everywhere.”

“How do you know about that?” Steve sat back in his chair, staring. What the hell? Who was this girl and how did she know so much about him?

“I’m in the school band, dingus. I’m as good as invisible. And I’m very observant. For example, I saw you and Billy Hargrove have a chat this morning.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It surprised me because, last I’d heard, he was leaving you alone after he bashed your head in, last November.”

“He, um, he came to apologize for that, actually.”

“Nice. So… are you going to see him again?”

“What? What are you—no!” Steve looked around, checking to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Thankfully, the few students in the library seemed busy with their own things and they were far enough away that they wouldn’t have heard Robin. “No, it’s not like that,” he whispered furiously, inwardly shushing the little voice in his head saying that he would like it to be.

“Awww, you’re blushing… Your secret is safe with me.” Robin leaned closer and whispered, “I love a good enemies to lovers romance.”

Steve couldn’t make words, he could barely breathe, his mind stuck on a loop of ‘ whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck ’ until the bell rang, moments later, snapping him out of it. He heard someone walk in, the stomping of boots familiar as hell, and he whipped his head to look, even if he already knew. Throwing Robin a small smile, he grabbed his essay from the table and shoved it in his bag. “I have to go.”

He forced himself to walk past Hargrove on his way to the exit, nodding back when Hargrove nodded, and managed to stop himself from running all the way to his car. He sat in his BMW, shaking like a leaf, trying to get his breathing under control before the kids showed up.

*****

“What was that about, Bird?” Billy asked Robin as he sat in the chair Harrington had just vacated. He tried not to react to the residual warmth of the plastic, considering who had been sitting on it. He failed.

“Not sure yet, my sweet. Crowder asked me to help Harrington with his college essay, and, hoo boy, he needs all the help he can get.” She smiled at him. “How was your day since your little chat with our former king this morning?”

Billy groaned, low enough that the librarian didn’t hear, leaning back in the chair. “Ugh. Of course, you know about that.”

“I was literally in the parking lot, and watched the painfully awkward encounter with my own eyes when I was chaining my bike.”

“Painful is accurate.” Billy rubbed both hands over his face then looked at Robin. He knew he was lucky they’d found each other. The two resident queer secret besties.

The basketball team had had an away game a couple of weeks after Billy had arrived in Hawkins. Unlike the cheerleaders, the band traveled with them. As the new guy on the team, Billy’d been assigned the last bed available, sharing a room with the member of the marching band that no one wanted to room with. 

Robin had told him as soon as the door had closed that she knew about his crush and that he needed to be more careful. Once Billy had recovered from the shock, they’d spend the night talking, exchanging stories and tips on how to appear less queer than they actually were. On the bus back to Hawkins, they’d gone into details about their current crushes, vowing to help each other. Billy had agreed to pose as Robin’s boyfriend in front of her parents, so they’d stop asking her about gross boys, and he was able to drop Robin’s name and keep Neil off his back—about the queer thing at least.

“I asked him what you said to him, and he said you had apologized.”

“I did.” Didn’t Robin say she had witnessed the interaction?

“Uh huh, that’s great, I’m proud of you, but wha—”

“Wow, you don’t have to sound so enthusiastic…” Billy deadpanned, hearing Robin’s complete lack of interest.

“Shut up. I asked him if he was going to see you again, and he blushed. He turned bright red, in front of my eyes, my sweet.”

“And?” Billy said, confused. What was Robin getting at?

“He didn’t deny it, he looked so flustered then you walked in and he ran off.”

“Again, and?”

“I think you should go to his house and, and, do that thing you do, you know, with your eyelashes and your mouth.”

“Flirting?”

“Yes, that. Go now, while he’s still all in a state. It’s your best chance.”

“Bird…”

“Fly, my pretty, go get your love,” Robin said, and she honest to god giggled. 

Billy rolled his eyes but had no choice but to do what she said because she started shoo-ing him and the librarian was now looking in their direction. 

He parked a couple of houses down from the Harringtons’ fancy mansion and made his way to the front door, ringing the bell and waiting. No matter what Robin had said, he really didn’t think Steve would open the door. He took a slow spin, taking in the surroundings, noticing the overwhelming amount of greenery in this part of town, especially compared to Cherry Lane.

“Billy?” Steve’s shocked voice said behind him. “What, um, what are you doing here?”

Billy turned around, taking in the soft looking sweater and joggers Steve was now wearing. “I came to see you, pretty boy. Robin said you needed some help and, well, here I am.”

“You… Come in already, it’s freezing out.” 

Steve moved to let Billy in and closed the door behind him. “ You want to help me ?” His tone was saying one thing but the way his eyes swept over Billy were saying another.

Billy took the two steps separating them, crowding Steve, but not quite touching him.

“You bet, pretty boy,” he whispered in the gap between them. “In any way I can…” He let his eyes drop to Steve’s mouth before making eye contact again. This close, he could see the flakes of gold in the brown. He wondered what Steve’s chocolate eyes would look like in the early morning sunlight.

Steve’s hands were on his jaw before Billy could react as Steve pulled Billy to him, slanting their mouths together. The surprised gasp that breached Billy’s lips was all Steve needed to slide his tongue in Billy’s mouth. 

The shock of Steve making the first move only lasted a moment. Billy wasted no time pressing Steve’s body against the door, his hands reaching under the hem of his sweater. His fingers encountered warm naked skin and Billy moaned.

“Fuck, Steve…”

“Not on the first date,” Steve said with a smile, burying his hands in Billy’s hair and pressing their foreheads together.

“Could be a date,” Billy replied, sliding a thigh between Steve’s legs, his heart rate picking up speed when he felt Steve grow hard against him.

“Billy…”

Billy never thought that hearing a guy whine his name would get him hot under the collar, but today was fraught with new and unexpected experiences.

“Yeah, baby, I’m here. I’ve got you. What do you need?” he asked Steve, nibbling along Steve’s jaw, before mouthing at the column of his neck.

“You. Me. Naked. My bed.”

*****

“Billy?” Steve asked, his head resting on Billy’s chest, fingers drawing patterns along his barely visible treasure trail. Billy had gone down on him then Steve had given his first every blow job and he was pretty sure Billy had enjoyed it. He hoped Billy would let him do it again.

“Yeah?” Billy’s hand on Steve’s back didn’t stop; Steve took comfort in that.

“I… Robin said something earlier, about enemies to lovers romance and I want you to know, this isn’t an experiment for me.”

“No?” Billy’s voice was devoid of emotion and Steve didn’t like it.

“I really like you, Billy. I know what happened in November happened, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

“Steve…”

“What I’m saying is, I know we can’t go out on dates, because it’s dangerous for people like us, but if you wanted, we could hang out here. Order in. Make out in the hot pool my parents installed last year.”

“I like your idea, Stevie, a lot.”

“So you’ll stay?”

Instead of answering with words, Billy flipped them over so he was on top, his hands in Steve’s hair holding him still as he licked into Steve’s mouth. Steve’s hands found Billy’s hips, helping the rolling rhythm that made them both groan and gasp. They never stopped kissing, moving against each other until they both reached their peak.

The ensuing shower to clean the mess that covered them both took so long that they ran out of hot water but they didn’t care. 

With the help of a little birdie, they’d found each other, and, well, that was worth all the cold showers in the world.

[waywardsonsandaughters]

Ok so in Dead Boy Detectives they make it a point that when the door to the butcher shop opens the bell rings. They go as far to even show the bell ringing as its own frame.

Except for when Maxine enters.

She does speak when she opens the door, but I found it odd that the bell never rang with her.

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

Okay, folks, the mini-tourney is inching closer to the finals, so I'm going to give a list of the competitors in the Miss Billboard Tourney in order to give everyone a chance to submit more propaganda. The nominees are:

Lale Andersen

Marian Anderson

Signe Toly Anderson

Julie Andrews

LaVerne Andrews

Maxene Andrews

Patty Andrews

Ann-Margret

Joan Armatrading

Dorothy Ashby

Joan Baez

Pearl Bailey

Belle Baker

Josephine Baker

LaVern Baker

Florence Ballard

Brigitte Bardot

Eileen Barton

Fontella Bass

Shirley Bassey

Maggie Bell

Lola Beltran

Ivy Benson

Gladys Bentley

Jane Birkin

Cilla Black

Ronee Blakley

Teresa Brewer

Anne Briggs

Ruth Brown

Joyce Bryant

Vashti Bunyan

Kate Bush

Montserrat Caballe

Maria Callas

Blanche Calloway

Wendy Carlos

Cathy Carr

Raffaella Carra

Diahann Carroll

Karen Carpenter

June Carter Cash

Charo

Cher

Meg Christian

Gigliola Cinquetti

Petula Clark

Merry Clayton

Patsy Cline

Rosemary Clooney

Natalie Cole

Judy Collins

Alice Coltrane

Betty Comden

Barbara Cook

Rita Coolidge

Gal Costa

Ida Cox

Karen Dalton

Marie-Louise Damien

Betty Davis

Jinx Dawson

Doris Day

Blossom Dearie

Kiki Dee

Lucienne Delyle

Sandy Denny

Jackie DeShannon

Gwen Dickey

Marlene Dietrich

Marie-France Dufour

Julie Driscoll

Yvonne Elliman

Cass Elliot

Maureen Evans

Agnetha Faeltskog

Marianne Faithfull

Mimi Farina

Max Feldman

Gracie Fields

Ella Fitzgerald

Roberta Flack

Lita Ford

Connie Francis

Aretha Franklin

France Gall

Judy Garland

Crystal Gayle

Gloria Gaynor

Bobbie Gentry

Astrud Gilberto

Donna Jean Godchaux

Lesley Gore

Eydie Gorme

Margo Guryan

Sheila Guyse

Nina Hagen

Francoise Hardy

Emmylou Harris

Debbie Harry

Annie Haslam

Billie Holiday

Mary Hopkin

Lena Horne

Helen Humes

Betty Hutton

Janis Ian

Mahalia Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Etta James

Joan Jett

Bessie Jones

Etta Jones

Gloria Jones

Grace Jones

Shirley Jones

Tamiko Jones

Janis Joplin

Barbara Keith

Carole King

Eartha Kitt

Chaka Khan

Hildegard Knef

Gladys Knight

Sonja Kristina

Patti Labelle

Cleo Laine

Nicolette Larson

Daliah Lavi

Vicky Leandros

Peggy Lee

Rita Lee

Alis Lesley

Barbara Lewis

Abbey Lincoln

Melba Liston

Julie London

Darlene Love

Lulu

Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Barbara Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Vera Lynn

Siw Malmkvist

Lata Mangeshkar

Linda McCartney

Kate McGarrigle

Christie McVie

Bette Midler

Jean Millington

June Millington

Liza Minnelli

Carmen Miranda

Joni Mitchell

Liz Mitchell

Marion Montgomery

Lee Morse

Nana Mouskouri

Anne Murray

Wenche Myhre

Holly Near

Olivia Newton-John

Stevie Nicks

Nico

Laura Nyro

Virginia O’Brien

Odetta

Yoko Ono

Shirley Owens

Patti Page

Dolly Parton

Freda Payne

Michelle Phillips

Edith Piaf

Ruth Pointer

Leontyne Price

Suzi Quatro

Gertrude Rainey

Bonnie Raitt

Carline Ray

Helen Reddy

Della Reese

Martha Reeves

June Richmond

Jeannie C. Riley

Minnie Riperton

Jean Ritchie

Chita Rivera

Clara Rockmore

Linda Ronstadt

Marianne Rosenberg

Diana Ross

Anna Russell

Melanie Safka

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Samantha Sang

Pattie Santos

Hazel Scott

Doreen Shaffer

Jackie Shane

Marlena Shaw

Sandie Shaw

Dinah Shore

Judee Sill

Carly Simon

Nina Simone

Nancy Sinatra

Siouxsie Sioux

Grace Slick

Bessie Smith

Mamie Smith

Patti Smith

Ethel Smyth

Mercedes Sosa

Ronnie Spector

Dusty Springfield

Mavis Staples

Candi Staton

Barbra Streisand

Poly Styrene

Maxine Sullivan

Donna Summer

Pat Suzuki

Norma Tanega

Tammi Terrell

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Big Mama Thornton

Mary Travers

Moe Tucker

Tina Turner

Twiggy

Bonnie Tyler

Sylvia Tyson

Sarah Vaughan

Sylvie Vartan

Mariska Veres

Akiko Wada

Claire Waldoff

Jennifer Warnes

Dee Dee Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dinah Washington

Ethel Waters

Elisabeth Welch

Kitty Wells

Mary Wells

Juliane Werding

Tina Weymouth

Cris Williamson

Ann Wilson

Mary Wilson

Nancy Wilson

Anna Mae Winburn

Syreeta Wright

Tammy Wynette

Nan Wynn

Those in italics have five or more pieces of usable visual, written, or audio propaganda already. If you have any visuals like photos or videos, or if you have something to say in words, submit it to this blog before round one begins on June 25th!

If you don't see a name you submitted here, it's because most or all of their career was as a child/they were too young for the cutoff, their career was almost entirely after 1979, or music was something they only dabbled in and are hardly known for. There are quite a few ladies on the list whose primary career wasn't "recording artist" or "live musician," but released several albums or were in musical theater, so they've been accepted.