#no one who fucked billy up that much can be that one dimensional

[a-writing-otter]

WIP Wednesday - Chapter 6 of The Redemption and Subsequent Death of Bill Cipher

“Am I— Did I interrupt something?” Stan asks a little awkwardly.

“Nah,” Bill, who recovers much faster from gaping at Stan like a fish, leans back into the bench before punching Pine Tree’s shoulder. “Kid was just heading out to go break windows or something.”

“Better hope it’s not these windows or [you’re] cleaning it up,” Stan tells Bill before reaching out, shoving the bill of Pine Tree’s hat down over his eyes. Pine Tree grumbles and fixes it before turning a far brighter smile on Stan.

“Your sister’s looking for you. Something about trying to make a suit out of glitter.”

“Oh. Great.” Pine Tree rubs his face and gets to his feet. “Thanks, Grunkle Stan.”

He goes to the door and pauses to look at Bill for a second.

“Just… you know, I think you’re right. I think things will be okay again soon.”

Bill’s brow furrows as Pine Tree heads back inside before he starts chuckling as he shakes his head.

“Weird kid.”

“They’re receptive,” Stan says as he takes up Pine Tree’s seat and Bill tries not to groan. “Not that you’ve made it exactly hard to miss that things are weird between you and my brother. I think the temperature in the room drops by ten degrees every time one of you walks into it. And I thought things were bad with my ex-wife! Ha!”

Bill winces at that, pulling a face as he leans forward to bury his face in his hands.

“Yeah, well, we weren’t even dating—“

“No, you two were just sucking face anytime you were left unsupervised.”

“Please, Pine Tree already got onto me for this. I fucked up and—“

“Summoned a demon, yeah, I heard.”

Bill’s blood runs cold and he looks between his fingers at Stan. …he’s not swinging, he’s not snarling, and Bill can say he’s almost positive that this isn’t Stan then.

“…and you’re cool with that?”

“What? Oh, no, absolutely not. I almost strangled you in your sleep when my brother told me.”

Billy, admittedly, feels a little better with that admission.

“He also said that you came to him to get rid of said demon.”

“Yeah, well… I don’t know. Taking over the universe is so last year.”

Stan snorts at that.

“You’re, like, really cool with that?” Bill tries again. “Don’t want to, I don’t know, punch me in the eye?”

Now Stan shrugs.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I think watching you walk around on eggshells, convinced one of us is going to take a swing at you or tell the Axolotl—“

“Axo— Oh, wait, no, you said it right.”

“I listen. I’m just saying, you know, you with your tail between your legs ain’t a bad look. Certainly makes me feel better.”

“…but, like, the whole breaking your brother’s heart? Trying to take over the universe? You’re sure you’ve got no murder held in your very large, very family-oriented heart?”

“Don’t go tempting me, Cipher, but… Ford’s an adult, you’re… maybe an adult, I don’t know, how do demons age?”

“Depends,” Bill admits, pulling a face. “Interdimensional demons live to about a hundred millennia or so, sometimes longer if they take care of themselves.”

“You said you were a dream demon though,” Stan remembers.

“Yeah, well, that’s a little more… complicated.”

Stan cracks open his pitt cola and gestures to Bill. He debates for a second before taking in a deep breath and sighing.

“I was born an interdimensional demon, a very precocious, adorable thing. Even though they’re relatively harmless, mostly brokers for deals made between species, they’ve got their own power. It doesn’t help that I was born… different.”

Bill’s voice gets soft, thoughtful.

“They tried to understand me, probably. They couldn’t though. A world full of two-dimensional idiots, they never understood what I saw, understood how I felt. So it was, you know, a little…”

“Othering?” Stan offers and Bill nods.

“Othering. Everyone adored me. ‘Special Billy’, ‘unique Billy’, ‘Billy who sees things no one else can see’.” […crazy Billy.]

Bill grips the bench a little too tight, knuckles turning white as he looks down at the ground.

“I won’t bore you with the sob story of a universe lost to a monster,” and maybe because it’s bad enough to admit it to Ford, admitting it to Stan who he still doesn’t trust not to come swinging at him is another thing, “but I ended up alone. I was drifting through time and space for, easily, a couple millennia. I spent a lot of time floating amongst the stars I’d stared at so long. I saw galaxies born, galaxies die; I saw nebulae explode and reform; stars would go through entire lifecycles in front of my eyes. It was me and the cosmos, so I guess I didn’t feel alone.

[cdyssey]

Agatha All Along (1.03) Reactions:

Teen: “I’m 100% positive they’re asleep.” Okay, I’ve been spoiled and I know he’s Billy Maximoff, and oh my godddddd!!!!! Asleeeeep, not dead!!!!!!!!

I wonder if we’ll see a flashback to Agatha’s first time on the Road before the show’s over.…

Whatever Kathryn Hahn is doing with her hand movements is A+++. It's so elegant and involved, like she’s constantly casting a spell.

“No, this came from Talbots—you can’t have it!” I would dieeeee for Mrs. Davis/Hart.

YES, YES, YES, I’M OBSESSED WITH THE TROPE OF ROOMS/SPACES THAT ARE PSYCHOLOGICALLY PRIMED FOR A SPECIFIC PERSON!!!! This one seems to be Jen’s.

their bougie fits are sooooooooooo good.

Jen: “Did you know she traded her own child for the Book of the Damned?” […] “They say no one knows what happened to him. They say he might be dead. Others say he might be a demon or an agent of Mephisto.” [...] “I doubt she’d even recognize her own son if he showed up at her doorstep.” YEAH, BABY!!!!!! fully don't believe this is how it happened, BUT that this is what others know of Agatha is so good.

her mythology is far reaching and infamous and easily digestible because Agatha leans into it. but when is the last time someone knew the real Agatha? who is she beneath all her many performances, layers, and masks? it's not that she's been a saint the whole time—because she most certainly isn't. she's categorically been selfish, vain, and evil, BUT what coexists along with those epithets? What keeps Agatha from being a cartoonish, one-dimensional villain?

Surely, part of it has to be grief. And as Wandavision taught us, what is grief if not love persevering?

love Alice and Teen bonding. ;w; 

Agatha laying on the back of the couch like that. Gay gay homosexual gay 🏳️‍🌈

Ughhhshsh, and I don’t like that mrs. hart has technically drunk TWO fucking glasses of poison. 

“I’m gonna shove it down your gullet, so help me.” JAKLIOAJIOJSO

“On the upholstery?!” AIOJIOJDIOJAIJIJWJS, this is the funniest fucking show

YES, AGATHA REFUSING TO LET TEEN DRINK THE POISON. FUCK YEAH. I LOVE WHEN EVIL WOMEN HAVE A SOFT SPOT. God, and you just know she suspects that he’s her son.

“Ugh, it’s so cheap.” I love her so fucking much

FUCK, MRS. HART HALLUCINATING WANDA CHOKING HER HUSBAND UAHBFHHSH!!!!!!!

I love that we’re getting insight into the coven’s fears as well—it would have been so easy to just sort of let their interior lives fall by the wayside, but AAA is, like, NO, you will see this women!!! You will know them!!!!

THE PRIEST TRYING TO DROWN JEN GODDAMN

Also, it was such a good writing choice to have Agatha delay her portion because now we KNOW to expect her to be suddenly crippled by her fear, and when it hits, it’s going to hit HARD.

Agatha being gentle with Lilia after seeing her hallucination reaction. ;w;

Loved that agatha/lilia called jen’s bluff about her products haha. also that Jen's whole thing is a parody of GOOP, which is even funnier bc of Gwyneth being in the MCU. JSKJKSLJLD.

While I was in the middle of a traumatic hallucination? No, Agatha, I did not.” JISJAIOJOISJOA, I love that jen and agatha are always at each other’s throats. Hot, actually

AGATHA HEARING A BABY CRYING GODDAMN. THE HORROR AND DEVASTATION ON KATHRYN HAHN’S FACE AS SHE LIFTS BACK THE BLANKET. AUHGHHHSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND HER DOING THIS IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE COVEN UAHQHUHUSJ!!!!!!

And what I love most is that compared to the rest of the coven’s hallucinations, agatha’s is relatively tame, BUT we know from Jen—(even if we don’t know the full story)—that agatha has already lived through her worst fear, and that she continues to live through it every fucking day

GET MRS. HART’S HAIR GODDAMMIT. I HATE YOU ALL JSIOJAOIJIOSJOI

“It’s green, Teen.” JSKSIOJIOAJOIS

So the priest stole Jen's magic...

“I have always hated you. But I left you alone because what you were doing was important. Not this Kale Kare crap, the real work… They can take your power, Jen, but they can’t take your knowledge.”  YES YES YES YES YES YES Y SY YES!! Agatha speaks to Jen's greatest insecurity. ;w;

NOW THEY REMEMBER MRS. HART

Agatha being so fucking selfish that she won’t let alice go first into the oven is a+++ jSKLIOJOA. like, I think in order for aaa to work, Agatha has to always be a little bit evil. at all times.

GODDAMMIT, MRS. DAVIS

“Who’s Sharon?” IOIOIJOIOOIAJOIJAIOJIOSJOIAJOIAJOIJSIOJAOIJIOAJOIJAOIJIOSJA

SHE'S SO UNSERIOUS

[liver-ology]

The Inevitably Divisive Nature of Billy Hargrove

I really understand where Billy antis are coming from. He’s terrible, objectively. But the one thing that’s not letting me dislike him is the scene when he’s flayed and he tells Karen Wheeler to stay away from him. There’s something genuine in him that knows he’s going to hurt someone and desperately doesn’t want to. So I see a path to redemption. A common argument against Billy is that if Dacre Montgomery wasn’t so attractive, people wouldn’t be looking so hard for a way to redeem him. This is undoubtedly true, but he played Billy with so much nuance that it’s impossible not to want to explore that. The character may have been racist and abusive, but he also breeds brainrot. How did he get that way? Why is he such a dick? Can he be saved? Should we want him to be? Every post I see about why people shouldn’t engage with Billy in fandom just digs him deeper into my mind, makes me ask more questions.

Pre-flaying, Billy is obviously racist and abusive and terrible. He has almost no redemptive qualities other than the fact that his abusive tendencies are clearly continuing a cycle perpetrated by Neil’s own abusive parenting, which isn’t much of a redemption. But putting characters in Situations reveals their inner nature, and a scared, caring guy comes out when he tries to resist the Mind Flayer. This leads me to believe that the hateful things he says and does aren’t really his beliefs but reflections of what he’s been taught. This thought is definitely influenced by Dacre being exceptionally hot in a wig, but the underlying point would still stand even if Billy looked like Gollum. But because he doesn’t, a problem I see a lot is the willingness to overlook everything bad Billy has done. People who believe Billy is redeemable tend not to even attempt to redeem him, choosing instead to make him an entirely different character that isn’t nearly as deeply entrenched in the fucked-up mindset that canon Billy inarguably is. I think this is where the issues arise for Billy antis, with the excusal of all the bad shit Billy’s done. I think this approach is lazy and boring, but finding fanworks of Billy where he actually sucks and goes through the long, difficult process of change and real redemption is damn near impossible. If you find one, drop the link.

The root of his divisiveness is within the conflict between the character as a whole and his script. In the script, Billy was originally supposed to say the n word, but Dacre Montgomery refused. The Duffers wrote him as a one-dimensional evil douchebag, but Dacre turned him into a real, nuanced character with more to him than Racist Abused Abuser That Gets Evil-ified. I think this is why he’s so divisive. Billy antis can’t look past the way he was written, and his supporters can’t let go of all his little nuances. Both sides have merit, and I think this is where it’s important to recognize that the Duffers do this all the time. Steve was originally supposed to be a Billy-esque character that was only there to be a douchebag plot device that died in the first season, and then Joe Keery played him so likeably and with so much more complexity than what was written that he stayed on for the whole run of the show. In subsequent seasons, Steve grew and changed and became a better person than he was in season 1. I think there was an avenue for this same thing to happen with Billy, had he been given the time. Some people don’t agree, and I see why. Either way, the takeaway from this is that everything wrong with anything ever is the fault of the Duffer Bros. Thank you for reading this egregiously long post, and have a lovely rest of your day.

[thelikesoffinn]

Hey hiya hi Hi, I stumbled across your Blog because of your Billy post and then I saw that you had this rly detailed and indepth dissection of that other character and I have no cleu who that is but I've still read the whole thing and it was awesome and now I wanted to ask you if you could make something like that about Billy maybe? You seem to like Billy and that would be so great 👀😫🥰

Well hello there, love!

Honestly, I would love to. Because you're absolutely right, I do like Billy a lot and I'm a slut for tragic characters and I really enjoy writing these analyses.

Thing is, however: I don't have much to work with, when it comes to Billy.

With Astarion - the chap from my obnoxiously long post - you get a lot of input, both actively and passively. There's a ton of conversations to be had with a ton of different options to pick, mostly each leading to its own answer and reactions.

But that's not it. You get to see where he grew up, you get a lot of backstory and you get to see his very passive reactions. You know, Astarion is from Baldur's Gate 3, a crpg where you make the choices. But you get to see his reaction to your choices, get to see what he approves and disapproves which tells you a fuck ton about his character and grants me a good basis to build my observations on.

With Billy however? Not so much. If I had to guess, I'd say the fella has maybe 50 minutes of screening spread out over four seasons, 15 of which he is actually himself. The other 35 minutes are either spent under the influence of the mind flayer or impersonated by vecna. So we don't get to see the true Billy all too much, so most of the things I'd write would probably be at least half bases on headcanons, which would probably still be fine but I personally like to stick to the things I can actually provide evidence for if you know what I mean. (At this point, it might as well be lasting uni trauma, haha.)

On top of that, there's another thing that makes Astarion somewhat of a special case and that is, quite plainly, how well he is written. You can tell that there was a lot of attention to detail and that the authors put both research and love into his character. (In my personal opinion, his writing even far excels that of other origin characters in the game, which is pure art because they're all amazingly written.)

Combine that with Neil Newbon's - Astarions VA - performance and you have a proverbial feast for people like me.

We don't get that with Billy. A lot of Billy - both his charme and his tragedy - rides on Dacre Montgomery's shoulders. His performance and his very obvious love for the character make up a lot of the Billy we've seen but, in the end, I don't think he is that well written as a character. There were a lot of moments where I felt they wasted his potential by letting him fall flat because he was nothing but this throwaway character, throwaway "villain" they build.

(Which matches up with what Dacre Montgomery said, how he asked them to give him a story because that boy wouldn't be evil for no reason, which just once again proves that all Billy we got to see was entirely carried by Dacre Montgomery and Dacre Montgomery alone.)

This a problem the stranger writers all seem to have, somehow. Characters they don't deem that important can be rendered a bit flat, which makes them pretty two dimensional between the otherwise colourful cast of stranger things and, as someone who holds side characters and minor characters in extremely high regard, this annoys me to no end. A story without side characters is lifeless and empty, so the least they deserve is to be paid attention to. But they don't, which is why I personally find it extremely easy to guess which character is going to stay and which one isn't.

So far, the only character that surprised me was Steve. I was 100% convinced he'd be gone by the end of season 1, because season 1 Steve also felt like a caricature of himself. "Main good girl's popular boyfriend that gets knocked down a peg by the "looser" character and falls from grace". So when he came back around in season 2 - and with that much added charme - I was like damn? Pretty boy is still around! And he has a proper personality this time!

Anyway, sorry love this turned a bit ranty towards the end there - to make it short: I would really truly love to write an analysis on Billy Hargrove, but I don't think I actually can do so properly, I'm sorry! 😭

[karenjacksons]

random thoughts on head of the class’s main characters (and in some cases, actors because a bunch of them have insane career trajectories)

[[MORE]] Charlie Moore: a great teacher played by a great actor. RIP Howard Hesseman. I was sad to see him leave the show at the end of s4, but in the long run I understood why he did it. (I love how Wikipedia says it was “ostensibly” a vehicle for him.) You can literally see him rolling his eyes at the kids antics in some scenes lol. Principal Samuels: he was very funny but one of the most one dimensional characters on the show. Bernadette Meara: the interesting thing about her is she was basically a side character until s5 when she had some of her biggest roles ever. Since I feel like Billy Connolly had a say in some of his plot lines I wonder if he requested her to be his love interest. She and Billy should have ended up together, fuck his “spin off”. Also Jeannetta Arnette was only a few years older than some of the actors who played students.

Arvid Engen: one of the most lovable characters but also one of the most overused. I wish they gave him less A-Plots so that characters like Sarah or Darlene could have more.

Dennis Blunden: oh Dennis. It’s hard not to see his infamous actor in some of his antics (not in the “sexual predator” way, but in the general “bad behavior/mistreating his friends” way). But since Dennis is a fictional character he has the positive quality that he always redeems himself/makes up for it in the end so all in all I loved him…..and Dan Schneider did give a great performance as him. Also, as much as I love the show…….the fat jokes about him in nearly every episode got to be too harsh. If Schneider himself had wrote them for another actor it would have been another reason for quiet on set to rip him to pieces.

Alan Pinkard: like Dennis, both hatable but lovable at the same time. Tony O’Dell was a great actor, and he worked as Zendaya’s acting coach on Shake It Up and KC Undercover, so there’s that! Most of the limited HOTC fandom also seems to revolve around Tony (blame Cobra Kai).

Darlene Merriman: for much of the show Darlene wasn’t given much to do. It was only in the last few episodes Robin Givens really got to shine. I think it’s probably because of her personal life (FUCK Mike Tyson btw.) I am also a hardcore Alan/Darlene shipper but the crumbs of their relationship were mostly treated as a joke. Robin is the only one to return for the removed from HBO MAX reboot, but to be fair she’s one of the only one who still acts in mainstream roles.

Simone Foster: loved Simone. Cottagecore queen. Simone/Eric is my OTP and her episode tearing down Alex after he claims they had sex is her all time greatest moment. Everyone talks about Schneider and Robbins for obvious reasons but Khrystyne Haje is an insane success story. She co-owned a 500 million dollar Silicon Valley company!!!! and her story of surviving STAGE FOUR breast cancer with an experimental treatment…….holy fuck.

Eric Mardian: iconic rebel without a cause. As said above I love his relationship with Simone. The one thing I’d say I didn’t like about his story was the back-and-forth about him not being on the academic team that lasted till the very end of the show-even TJ was on the team. Also Brian Robbins’ insane career needs to be studied in a lab. From sitcom bad boy to CEO of Paramount.

Sarah Nevins: iconic queen. best girl. what more can I say except I love her. my only problem with her character is she was treated as a background character at some points. I liked her relationship with Jasper but I also shipped with with Arvid (I swear it sometimes comes off like she still liked him after their breakup).

Maria Borges: hmm. I didn’t like her throughout most of her run……but I missed her when she was gone. I also love her outfits (but not as much as I love Viki’s!)

Jawarhal Choudhury: the most forgotten and mistreated character. He could have been one of the best!!! An Indian immigrant learning to adjust to America! For how smart the writers are I don’t think they knew how to write that…I definitely understand why Jory Husain wanted to quit.

Janice Lazarotto: another top tier character. Having a little girl genius was great and I think letting her go was a mistake…..she would have been a teen in s4/5 and seeing her friends react to her grow up could have been hilarious.

TJ Jones: I didn’t like her at first…..I thought they wrote her to be too over the top and sassy. But by the end, I enjoyed her.

Alex Torres: the only character I never once liked. He’s the worst! Also, I understand keeping O’Dell and Frischman…..they probably never expected the show to last until they were in their 30s. But casting Michael DeLorenzo when he was ALREADY 30 and had just finished a long running role on a different teen show (Fame) was bizarre.

Aristotle McKenzie: De’voreaux White basically plays an aged down, even wackier version of Argylle from Die Hard. I liked him, but not as much as Jawarhal or Janice. I don’t think he and TJ were a good match either. Also, I found out on Instagram one of Kimberly Russell’s adopted children is actually named Aristotle, which is a coincidence despite my kneejerk assumption that she took the name from the show (she adopted 5 of her kids in 2013).

Viki Amory: I didn’t like her at all at first, with her ditziness and the way all the boys fawned over her. But I really liked her by the end. (Removing her ditziness definitely helped). But I especially loved her outfits! She was so ahead of her time……she basically dresses like a modern 2024 girl.

Jasper Kwong: a last minute addition to the show when the writers realized how unrealistic it was to no longer have any Asian characters (I think they could have made Viki Asian, but oh well) who happens to be played by one of the most famous actors on the show-future oscar winner Ke Hu Quan! (Credited under a stage name-Jonathan). I really liked him, and I think he was written inspired by Quan’s real life personality. You can also definitely see Quan’s acting chops in his debut episode….but I think they all showed signs of greatness on the show :)

and last but not least…….Billy McGregor! When Charlie left I was prepared to hate him (like Dennis). But Billy Connolly was a great addition. He was so different from Hesseman with his over the top comedy, but he still had heart and great chemistry with the students. But I read about the “spin-off” they gave him where Connolly supposedly played the same character in a different setting…ugh. Couldn’t they have just made it a new character? He and Bernadette should have ended up together!

[thephantomcasebook]

So, some thoughts on Billy Dunne? I somehow feel he's overly vilified by the whol djats fandom, although he kind of was wronged too.

I haven't been nor ever would join the fandom of this fucking garbage ass show, so I'm not familiar with Tumblr's opinion ... though I can already tell you they're probably full of shit, cause this is Tumblr and a majority of takes on this hell-site are shockingly ill-informed, ignorant, or just straight up nonsense.

But what I will say is that Billy Dunne is a fully realized and three-dimensional character that is very well defined and had flaws that he tries to overcome. All in all, he's a good character that probably got the most development out of everyone and had the best actor of the cast portraying him.

He also happened to be right about most things in the series.

The problem with "Daisy Jones and the Six" is that it isn't really a show. Just like "Twilight" isn't really a novel. They're both female vanity projects and absolute fantasies with money behind them.

All the female characters actually aren't characters. They're archetypal stand-ins for white upper-class leftist feminist narratives.

Daisy Jones = Free Spirit, grew up rich, does what she wants, and faces no consequences outside her always dramatic love life. (The Fantasy Life #1)

Karen Sirko = Bad bitch girl-boss who doesn't want to settle down or have children, cause she's soooo badass. (Fantasy Life #2)

Camillia Dunne = The traditional feminine role who portrays the self-important ideal held by most women that they hold everything together and are secretly in charge of everything. She is also punished for being in the traditional female role. (The cautionary tale of wanting the Trad Fantasy Life)

They have no personalities, they have no character development, and in terms of Daisy and Karen they're basically Mary-Sues. There's no infighting, they women never have trouble with each other, they never blame one another for the really terrible things that they do to each other - they mostly blame just blame Billy for their problems. By the way, all of this is complete fantasy ... women do not get along in these type of groups, they just don't.

And if you're going to come at me with "Uh, that's not true, I support and love all women!"

You're a goddamn liar.

You support women who think or look like you, who have the same beliefs. If you saw a "Trad Wife" or a Female Conservative - or even a woman of color who is even just a moderate - you'd go ape shit at them and say all the worst things you can think of.

So, no, it's un-fucking-realistic that women in a rock band "support each other" ... for fuck sake Stevie Nicks and Christine MacVie couldn't fucking stand one another. And Fleetwood Mac is what this entire story is based off of.

And you can look no further that "Daisy Jones & the Six" is just a White liberal wine mom fantasy than the fact that in the last four episodes, there is some truly evil things done by the core three female characters - I mean EVIL shit - and they face no consequences for it.

In reality some of the shit that Daisy and Karen do ... they would be dead, straight up dead. Daisy would've gotten her shit rocked by both dudes and women multiple times a fucking episode for the things she does and says. And if Karen did what she did with the secret abortion for no reason, in reality, she would be dead ... Graham would kill her, any man would've killed her for doing that. Also Camillia would be out the door with all her shit for aiding Karen in an act of pure fucking evil that destroyed her brother-in-law for years, nearly ruined his life.

But no, this is a monument to the female ego, so they don't face any consequences for what they do. Daisy Jones overdoses, then just keeps doing drugs ... and then, oh, she's sober now. Karen is actually the hero, and is rewarded for her evil act by having a dream career, and making Graham's life so much better - the dick-less fuckboy even thanks her. And Camillia, who is to blame for all of this shit and then takes no responsibility for it - well she's martyred in the end and gives her blessing for Daisy to get the last piece of her mary-sue happy ending.

It's probably one of the grossest and ugliest things I've ever fucking seen put to screen. It makes me long for the days when buff werewolves and sparkly vampires were fighting over a pretty but bland lobotomy patient.

The evolution is thusly:

Step 1 - Twilight phase - young girl

Step 2 - 50 Shades of Grey - Horny Teenage/College phase

Step 3 - "Daisy Jones and the Six" Phase - Grown Woman stuck in shitty small apartment in hell-hole city, miserable, no love life, wants affirmation.

That's 10 hours of my life that I'm never going to get back.

Never.

[ickypuppi3]

billy who always said he wanted to be just like his mama when he grew up

billy’s mom who hoped and prayed her son would grow up to be nothing like her

[meowmeowbilly]

I don't usually add onto stuff but my brain has lots of thoughts™️about this.

When someone underestimates Billy or tells him he's not good at something/can't do it properly? Oh boy. With Neil, it's mostly hurt or waterworks, but he stays quiet. With peers? Probably mostly lashing out/anger. With other authority figures like parents of friends or teachers? God help them, Billy Hargrove is going to make their life hell. I just know the man is like a feral dog who is fixated on a piece of meat and will NOT let go. He can't do something? Yeah, right. He's going to prove to them that he can or die trying.

Is Billy loyal to himself? Absolutely. Is he aware that he's a tough pill to swallow and rough around the edges? Absolutely. Does he know how to charm the fuck out of people? Absolutely.

Cue Billy being the most proper, preppy, fanciest motherfucker out there. (Also, if you wish, cue the cute ass montage of Chrissy and Heather giving him a rich boy makeover). We already know he primps, but god, it's a thousand times worse now. He buys a set of hot rollers at the thrift store, or Chrissy's mom gives him the old set that she doesn't use anymore (in my world Chrissy's parents are incredible and love Billy IDC). He buys some nice dress shirts at the thrift store, he'll keep his jeans and boots, though. The earring stays too. There's a difference between proving a point and totally changing yourself for acceptance and Billy knows that.

It's not overnight, but to everyone's surprise, especially Steve, Billy kind of turns into the town darling. He dresses in a "respectable" way pretty much every day now, his hair is always perfectly curled and styled, and his car is always clean. He's shockingly nice to everyone in the town, helps old ladies with their groceries, holds open doors for people, etc. Hell, he even joins some high society, do-good, volunteer gardening club. They've been tasked with beautifying Hawkins, adding flowers and trees and shit, and boy, Billy absolutely eats it up; he's a bit of a green thumb, according to the ladies in the club.

He shows up to every one of Steve's family dinners, even if it's out of spite, he's there. He's always on time or early and uses table manners and etiquette that make Steve look uncultured. Where he learned them? That's a mystery to everybody, including Steve. He also brings a gift to dinner, every single time. The man's writing thank-you notes and shit, everybody is baffled.

Billy doesn't mind it, really. Nobody really knows, but his maternal grandparents were some high society people too, he absorbed a lot of it growing up. He still loves speeding around in the Camaro and blasting metal, but now he just does it on the interstate that's just outside of Hawkins. He's determined to prove to Steve's dad that people aren't one-dimensional. Besides, opening back up to the world has been nice. A mask is a mask and a front is a front, sure, but people have different sides. Polite, charismatic, happy Billy is a side that people don't see frequently, a side that's been hidden for a long, long time. But it's a side that he has; it's who he once was. A shy, quiet, polite little kid who loved surfing and going to the beach with his mom, but also would nearly explode from excitement at the mention of a holiday dinner. He loved dressing up and showing off.

The denim, loud cars, and metal? Yeah, it was a part of him, sure. But it was one part that he amplified, specifically because it was one part that was the opposite of what Neil wanted. Being aggressive, rude, and generally unappealing to the general public used to be his disguise, his tool. It kept people away, that's what he wanted. That piece of him will always be there, he'll always be guarded, but it's nice to see smiles instead of glares. Nice to have people be excited when he shows up instead of hearing complaints that he was going to fuck shit up. The hair, the clothes, and the manners at dinner are mostly a show for Steve's dad, but he thinks he's going to keep being apart of the community. Steve was "the king of Hawkins high," but Billy's the town darling. Plenty of people's parents didn't like Steve, the "unpopular" kids didn't even really like Steve, but everybody likes Billy.

One of my favourite headcanons is that Steve's father isn't bothered that Steve is dating Billy because he's a man but because it's Billy himself. Steve being in a gay relationship isn't the issue when Billy is known as the town flirt, drives like a lunatic, has long hair and listens to rock and metal music

[crovoroh]

Gosh, so i read Runaway Max, and before i get into my book report this shit aint canon, it says its an official novel but im taking that with a grain of salt cause the cali backstory timeline doesnt match st3. But this book had so many moment where i was like oh man are they gonna go in depth with the child abuse at Billy AND Max by Neil?? And they just side stepped that narration everytime it came up. Also if i took a shot every time the author called Billy dangerous id get alcohol poisoning. I know its told from the point of view of Max but come on, you can be smarter then this. Anyways this is gonna be long and rambly probably

I just cant get over how many times this story touched base on not just telling but showing litteral child abuse and side stepped it each time, i guess the show does that too tho oop for starters fuck Neil, and also fuck Susan. If i was out on a family dinner and some man i knew for a couple months reprimanded my child for not calling him father, hed be the one being sent away from the dinner table not my child and it makes me so mad and sad that there are actually parents out there who are like that. Your gonna send MY daughter to the car for disrespecting you?? Great, im leaving with her. See you never.

Billy left the reasteraunt to talk to Max at the car and just, look. Let them bond over this awful man being awful. This to me read as Billy making an attempt to warn or maybe protect Max and its just left right here in that paragraph. It makes me so sad any possible understanding between the two starts and stops there. I know this is told from Max's point of view but its very obvious the author made up their mind on how one dimensional they think Billy is. Which is wild casue they kept pointing out signs of abuse in him, like prior to this car moment we have Max having this observation

Or this one

My guy is out right dissociating, hyper aware of his surroundings and unpredictable moods is a damn trauma response. From the words of my dear friend "you wrote a beautifully wrecked character, dont throw that thing out and teach everyone to do the same" also this aint canon but max thinks Billy is fun sometimes and that has me so soft.

And then this entire last scene in the book with billy is just, so fucking tone deaf. "he was damaged. Broken, maybe" yall i thought we were going somewhere with that but nope, im the fool for believing an abused traumatized character would get properly acknowledged but it was a big "hes just like his dad so he'll never be good and also hes worse then his dad, hes crazy" and im foaming at the mouth.

This author is such a billy anti, i think st4 took notes from her for how to represent Billy. I know its all told from Max, a 12 year old whos just sharing her feelings and observations but so much of this was just. Hhhhhh exhausting.

It wouldve been so easy to have Billy zone out and dissociate with the burning cat instead of forcing him to laugh and act insane (also if you think lighting a dead animal on fire is the making of a sociopath have you never been outside as a kid and found something dead and just, fucked with it. Its dead, i think lighting a dead animal on fire is probably the most tame tampering you could do. Not to call myself out but when i was maybe 8 i found a dead toad and i wanted to know what its skeleton looked like and how it decomposed so i took it apart. Kids are bizarre and teen boys are kinda destructive.

The whole scene with billy coming home halloween night and getting beat was upsetting and how it was never mentioned again was infuriating. Him getting attacked by Neil, punched several time getting a black eye and bloodied lip then beaten with a fucking belt. How do you just willingly write that shit then turn around and go "oh yeah nah this 17 year old who ive just said was verbally and physically abused multiple times is a dangerous monster who doesnt deserve sympathy". Im over it, if aang can put aside a century long fued to help his abused enemy who in turn still chased him off but was redeemed in the end then Billy and Max have the stepping stones to do the same, have max put an ice pack down, let billy Sort himself out, its so easily im going insane

And that bullyshit narrative of saying Neil is racist and how Billy probably is too. fuck that, i cant speak for the racism but when i made my first trans friend i was nervous about having them at the house cause i wasnt sure how my family would react or treat my friend so i opted to keep her away too, my situation was more tame then Max, Billy and Lucas' and my family turned out to not be transphobic so it was fine but im gonna self project that Billy was just manic and worried about Max hanging with a black kid and what Neil would do to lucas and max if he saw them. Seeing as how the man got away with denying Max dinner right infront of Susan who did nothing. But also max says how shes not like her parents so its just unfair to turn around and go neil is awful so billy is also awful and wont ever get better

This book isnt canon but i want a similar book from Billy's point of view. But also all things considered i did like the insight into Max's possibly past in cali, her relationship with her dad and mom was pretty neat, even tho, say it with me, its not canon, i refuse, I'll believe in bigfoot before believing this book was proof read by anyone working on the actual show 🥴 i have more to say but its 2 in the morning and i think my eyes are leaking outa my skull, hope this incoherent lmaoo

[harcove]

I honestly hate people in this fandom so much sometimes like some of you are so pick and choose about what you want to believe for purposes of putting others down.

Like, you preach hating the way the Duffers write someone, or how they deal with their characters, (same) but then when it comes to Billy Hargrove, it's all "That's not what the Duffers said!1!!" As if you ever fucking cared before what the Duffers had to say about any other character or their show as a whole.

You love when the actors take their character into their own hands and give them life, form them and break off from the shit ass writing the Duffers provide for them, making them more than just a one dimensional character. For example, Steve Harrington, or even Eddie Munson. You love that these actors have actually made the character. But when it comes to Billy Hargrove it doesn't matter; he's just the actor not the writer so what Dacre says isn't right to you guys cause we hate Billy ew nasty bad racist Billy :(

Not to mention hearing other actors say something about Billy. Like Caleb. You will EAT that shit up, even though he never PLAYED Billy, he wasn't his actor, he wasn't the one making the character. But now it's okay to listen to what an actor says (especially one who never played the character) about a character because suddenly it's beneficial to your hatred for Billy and by proxy your hatred to people who like him.

Look you can believe whatever you want to believe, but at least have some fucking consistency with your shit and maybe, just maybe, leave people who like him alone because you clearly can't fucking make your minds up on things for the sole purpose of being a nasty person. I'm so sick of you people is2g

[perpetuelledaydreaming]

L.o.v.e.l.e.s.s. generation

Request: Amazing!! Can i ask for a billy hargrove imagine where he and the reader are together and at a party. They separate for like an hour so he goes with his friends for a while and shes with hers and she gets roofied. Steve and nancy try to help her and then call billy and hes a mess trying to get her to throw up and hes just blabbering and crying and mad af. So much angst and then fluff and yeah. 

@peakascum​ i’m so sorry for taking so looooong. 

words: 7.4 k

Summary: Billy has a bad feeling about a party at Tina’s and you don’t trust your gut feeling because of a kiss, Nancy can kick some ass and both, you and Billy, are the kind of people who cry in the shower. 

Warnings: *trigger warning* We have dark shit here, like pls people if any of your friends get too drunk or you think someone has put something in their drink GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Don’t follow the characters behaviour down below.

billy hargrove masterlist

"There’s a party at Tina’s tonight”, you muttered after disconnecting your lips from Billy’s, who had been more than happy on your make-out session in the parking lot of Hawkins High. 

You fluttered your eyes to watch your hot, hot, boyfriend who was perfectly placed between your legs while he kissed you softly. You weren’t sure how Billy kept his glowing tan all year long, especially in Hawkins but you loved how it combined with his blue electric eyes that pierced you every time he watched you. You removed some of the blonde locks falling on his forehead and placed another kiss on his full lips. 

Sometimes you didn’t know how you managed to snatch him. 

He sighed, “I heard, are you sure you want to go?”, he groaned as he tried to chase your lips once more but you stopped him as you jumped from the hood of the blue Camaro. 

“When does Billy Hargrove rejects a party?”, you asked while raising your brows. You picked up your bag from the floor and began fixing your skirt and sweater, you had to be ready for the debate team meeting while he rolled his eyes. 

You smiled but you turned around as you heard a couple of girls from Billy’s friend group nattering about you from afar as they saw Billy pulling you in once more for another kiss. 

See, how could you even start to recount your relationship with Billy Hargrove? it was hard. Not because it was a difficult relationship, but because you two seemed so different from the outside that sometimes people didn’t even believe that you had lasted so long in the first place. Billy and you had been going strong for over eight months now and it felt like you were on cloud nine. 

He was mesmerized by you since his first day of school, he wasted no time in asking you for a date -to the disapproval of his new gang and the dismay of most of the girls at the school- you were elated by it but you said that he needed to do a lot more if he wanted you to say yes. It wasn’t that you weren’t oblivious to Billy’s charm but you knew his type and he was definitely not on yours. 

Billy didn’t seem more than an aggressive jog and you bore those type of guys, they weren’t stimulating and you had learned to value yourself and your time, more than anything else. So, it took Billy time -with a lot of rejected attempts and multiple pairings on classes- to actually get a yes from you. 

And so, you had come to learn that Billy Hargrove was more than he showed and it hit you to the core because you did the same. They were just different acts, both of you were familiar with the fact that people liked to put tags on others, to label them and keep them in a box, they liked making you one dimensional for them to feel comforted in a stupid status quo. And both of you followed swiftly because sometimes is easier to play a role than to be yourself, it’s easier to make people believe you are one thing. Sometimes it was easier to be just a good girl and sometimes it was easier to be just a bully, but you weren’t that and neither was Billy. 

Billy Hargrove wore his heart on his sleeve and no one had noticed that, you instead kept it locked in a safe to survive and no one had noticed that. 

But Billy noticed your lock and you noticed his sleeve, he understood you and you understood him. 

After hours or even whole nights talking to each other, laughing, even crying you finally agreed to go out with him. 

“I always want to do whatever you want to do”, he whispered to your lips as he pressed quick pecks. You sighed into his lips; eyes closed in bliss as his lips touched yours. “Pick you at nine?”

You smiled as you heard him and your lips now were chasing his. 

…

“See you in an hour or so?”, you asked as you opened the door for Tina’s house, Billy was behind you. Both of you were analyzing the scene in front of you. 

There were a lot of people, far more than what you were expecting but it was the last Friday before Thanksgiving break so you kinda got it. Many of the kids that went away for college were coming back to see their families and since Tina’s parties were always a staple of Hawkins High, you knew most of them wouldn’t miss it. So, there it was: an ocean of sweaty and drunk teenagers and young adults having fun and blasting music.  

You turned around to see a frown on Billy’s face as he saw the scene while you rolled your eyes. You didn’t really know why he was so opposed to partying when he was always down for any type of rave. 

See, although both of you were so similar in many senses, it wasn’t at all the case when you were partying. Billy was the type of guy who liked the attention, he craved it and he found it most of the time in senseless partying. While you, you were the type of girl who liked to be lowkey about your presence at a party, if you had the attention it was from your amazing dancing skills. Otherwise, you liked to spend your parties taking a few shots, dancing, and talking to your friends; nothing more and nothing less. Billy, instead, liked to do his keg stands and playing games, getting a bit more than tipsy. 

Most of the time you were together months of your relationship you both had made sacrifices, sometimes Billy wouldn’t do his normal circus act so he could be in a more calm conversation with you, and sometimes you had decided to cheer him when he was doing his keg stands or accomplishing the dares his stupid friends wanted him to do.

And it was fine, except for the fact that you had exploded one Monday a few months ago when you heard the rumors about the past party, especially the rumor about the “Queen of Hawkins” and how everyone was beginning to think that you were nothing more than a pretty thing that Billy wore around his arm, an accessory. You hated it, you hated it so much that you had ended up ranting about it to Billy who had been patient and listened to every single word without saying much. 

“I’m fucking captain of the debate team, since when I’m an accessory?”, “I’m running for president of the student council, does it look like I care about being Queen of Hawkins?”, “I’m not clingy or sticking to you all the time, it was just one party!”

And so, you had come up with the party plan. It was really simple: As soon as you got to the party, each one would go and do their thing. Billy would go out and play games while you hang out with Steve and Nancy and Johnathan. If there were any good songs or if you were craving each other presences, you would find each other and would dance for a couple of songs or maybe have a little (long) time out inside any room available where you could moan each other’s name. It had worked on the parties that you had gone to for the last few months and it had been fine, most of the time after you found each other you wouldn’t let go.

Today had to be no different, another party at Tina’s, usual business. 

But you knew it wasn’t, Billy turned around to see you with narrowed blue electric eyes, brows bumped together in a scowl and lips pressed together. 

“Billy?”

“I’m not really feeling like partying”, he muttered as he sighed and took a hold of your waist and pulled your flesh against his. 

Sometimes you were more than sure that Billy’s arms were made perfectly for you, you loved being held by him, and feeling like nothing in the world could hurt you. Being held by his biceps and pressed against him always made your heart skip a bit, you didn’t even think twice as you quickly took a hold of his face and you pressed your lips urgently against his, making you whimper into his lips. It was intoxicating the dance between your lips and tongues, you sometimes even got dizzy after kissing Billy but you were more than happy to get drunk on him rather than on vodka. 

But today you wanted to hang out with Nancy, Johnathan, and Steve, you hadn’t been seeing them much since school started again since, well, Billy was a handful. 

“I’ll see you later sir”, you whispered as you gave him the last peck and walked away from him with a smile on your lips. 

Billy stayed stunned after a few seconds and cursed to himself but he knew that you were in the mood for partying and the least he could do was give you space to be by yourself, to have times with your friends. He didn’t want to admit it but he had taken a lot of your time the past few weeks, he had wanted to take advantage of his father leaving Hawkins for a work trip, so he had spent most of his time buried inside of you or sleeping next to you or laughing with you, etc. And he wanted tonight to be no different, but he also respected you and your wishes. So, although he wasn’t too excited, he managed himself. He quickly threatened his way to get a whole bottle of tequila and went outside where Tommy and Carol were waiting for him already. 

“You look stunning!”, Nancy gasped as she saw you, you twirl so they could give a look at your outfit: A tight black leather skirt, military boots, and a cutout band t-shirt from Billy. 

Steve and Jonathan cheered for you as you moved your hips and Nancy clapped, while you then twirl her around for her to model her outfit. 

“You look stunning all the time!”, you replied as you hugged Nancy. 

“That’s indeed true”, Johnathan muttered as he pulled in Nancy for a kiss on her forehead while she wrapped one arm around him, quickly pulling him into a passionate kiss.

Steve rolled his eyes as he got closer to you, “Are we going to dance?”, he whispered in your ear and it made you shiver. 

You couldn’t lie that you had a thing for Steve when you were younger than you were less than thrilled when he started dating Nancy but as time passed, your feelings had changed and Steve became just a great friend in your eyes. Although, it didn’t mean that sometimes Billy didn’t get jealous of him and how close you two were. But he had come to accept it, as he should, and Steve also started to deal with Billy by your request since he didn’t really like him after he had dethroned him as King of Hawkins. 

“Yes, we are”, you replied and quickly pulled Steve into the living room where everyone else was dancing. 

The way you felt the music cruising through your body made you get lost on it, eyes closed and jumping, swaying your hips to the beat, laughing, and smiling all along. Should I stay or Should I go from The Clash was the tenth song you had danced to with Steve and you were sweating from bopping your head to the last bit, throat a little bit sore from screaming the lyrics at the top of your lungs. 

Steve wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pressed a kiss on the top of your head. “I forgot how good it was to dance with you, Y/L/N”, you nodded without much breath but you turned around to see one of the boys from Billy’s group watching you with malice. The narrowed eyes and puckered lips weren’t anything new for you, especially from his “friends” or followers, but you knew how much they would like to initiate any rumor that could create any drama in Hawkins since they didn’t have anything more exciting to do. 

“I’m going to get something to drink”, you muttered as you glared at the loser who had been watching Steve and you, but soon he turned to the patio, where you imagined Billy was. 

You rolled your eyes; you knew you had to do damage control with Billy. Although Billy seemed like he had all the confidence in the world, you knew deep down he was insecure thanks to his relationship with his father, and especially, as months had passed by, he was insecure about your relationship sometimes. It seemed to him that you could do so much better and he was perpetually on edge when he thought about you and Steve too much, although he trusted you completely. 

And on your part, it wasn’t too different, Billy had girls throwing themselves at him permanently which was always annoying, girls who whispered at him that they would make him feel so much better than you ever did and that they wished he could make them scream. Billy had assured you and showed you that he only had eyes with you, and it did become funny sometimes because if there was someone in love with his girlfriend was Billy Hargrove. But still, sometimes that burning feeling that crept its way your heart and spread it through your body, making you feel like you could spitfire didn’t go away.

Especially not at the moment. 

Billy was outside, playing a nice game of beer pong and chugging more beer than you thought he would like tonight, but there he was… with Heather freaking Miller. She was leaning into a flustered Billy as she giggled while he poured the beer on his mouth, a little bit too fast that it made the drink spill all over his naked chest -he always lost some buttons or his shirt at some point in a party-, you imagined that he was a bit tipsy at the moment but you couldn’t help to feel your stomach twisting as you saw Heather pressing a soft kiss to his jaw. 

You spun on your heels faster than you could even imagine, not even wanting to watch Billy’s reaction to her kiss and if you had been a bit drunker, you might have been bold enough to start going off at her and Billy. But you weren’t in the mood, to hell if Billy was told something about Steve, whatever. 

“You said something?”, a guy in the kitchen asked you, as you leaned on the kitchen island in front of the living room that served as the dance floor, realizing that you had been muttering out loud. There weren’t many people in the kitchen, the great majority of the people were dancing or outside, but there were two boys. 

You huffed as you turned around and saw the guy. He had short brown hair and a nice smile as he sipped from his red solo cup. He looked familiar and you remember him being a cheer on after a basketball game while you were a Sophomore at Hawkins High and he was a Senior. He was from an affluent family, you remembered that as well as you might have seen him in one of your parent's Christmas parties, but you weren’t social. 

“Do I know you?”, you asked a bit coldly, annoyed still at the image of Heather and Billy. 

“Burn!”, another boy close to the one that had just talked to you shouted as he laughed at his friend. You recognized him too, he was also known as a Senior when you were in Sophomore, he wasn’t on any team but he was on the popular crowd. 

You vaguely remember the class that had graduated that year, only remembered a few bullying incidents but mostly that they were sexist assholes. You hoped that college had changed them, at least you liked to believe people could mature, but seeing them three years later in a party of their high school didn’t give you much hope.

“I’m Brad”, the boy with short brown hair stated as you sighed and smiled, trying to be as polite as you could taking into account how mad you were. “This is Chad”, he said pointing to his friend. 

“Y/N”, you answer as you shook his hand as he had offered it. 

He held it for a bit too long and you felt goosebumps erupting on your skin, but they weren’t good goosebumps, the way he was looking at you was way too intently but you figured that he was trying to flirt and score a girl. 

“Brad! I just…”, another boy came from the living room with a bottle of tequila in his hand as the three of you turned around to watch him, you took the opportunity and removed your hand from his hold as your eyes began to look for some wine or vodka to take to Steve. “Who’s that?”, the same guy muttered as he got closer to Brad and Chad. 

“Shut up, Logan”, Brad rolled his eyes as he saw you reaching for a bottle of vodka, he quickly took it and then handed it to you with a strange smile. “You have to apologize, my friends, they are…”

“Wonderful?”, Logan said with a smirk.

“Charming?”, Chad answer as he seemed to be taking something from his Varsity Jacket, you didn’t manage to see really what he had since Brad quickly placed solo red cups for you to do shots in, blocking the view.

“Annoying”, he stated as he poured a bit of the vodka on two small cups and then passed the bottle to his friends. You smile at the way he said it, the guy had a charm but there was still a hint of something you didn’t like. Something that didn’t add up to his pretty greyish eyes or his sharp jaw. “Want one round?”

You sighed and nodded. At the moment, you only wanted a drink and don’t think a lot about Billy and Heather, you didn’t want to be too mad about it, especially since it was your idea to do a party plan and you left the road wide open for girls like Heather to flirt with Billy. 

It felt like it was your fault. 

“Sure”

The vodka burned your throat a little bit more than you would imagine but you didn’t care. It tasted okay enough and your eyes simply wondered towards the patio door, in the hopes that Billy might come looking for you but there was no sign of him coming. 

“You have a boyfriend?”, you heard Brad asking and you turned around as you passed a hand through your hair. You watched as Brad’s friends began pouring another round of shots with the vodka but your attention went right to Brad again. 

“I do, he’s with another girl at the patio”, you muttered angrily as you took a hold of the shot and chugged it right in. The vodka still burned on your throat but it now felt bubbly, still burned a bit more than before but you figured it was because you hadn’t been drinking in a while.  

“Ooh”, the two friends shouted and it made you roll your eyes, they weren’t being good company and you tried to snatch the bottle of vodka from the table where they had left it but Brad took it first. 

“Let’s do two more rounds, it will make you feel better”, he cooed as he got closer to you. 

If this was any other moment, at any other party, you would’ve said no and leave without a bottle and look for Billy. But the blonde hair from Heather on Billy’s shoulder, his laugh, and her lips on his jaw were burned on your head at the moment and you wished that maybe vodka could help you, you wished that angry drinking would be enough to make you feel better. 

“Fine”, you answer with a smirk and Brad smiled as well, his friends cheering in the background as you chugged another shot that had been served by you. 

It had to be almost four more rounds of shots of vodka -at least you believed but it didn’t taste like vodka after the second- that they had handed to you when you began to feel weird. 

It began slowly, the sleepiness taking over your body, spreading from your belly towards your chest, and soon it seemed to get on your head. It didn’t feel bad right away, simply weird. You were never a hard drinker, you had never blackout before and you weren’t planning to tonight. Getting tipsy? Yes, getting drunk? Maybe, but this felt like it was happening faster than what you had anticipated. 

You closed your eyes and leaned into the kitchen island for a second, trying to recover your breath to see if that was it, you just needed a little break. But as seconds passed, you felt your muscles getting sleepier and even when your eyes were closed, you felt like you were on a carrousel and it wasn’t stopping. 

“You don’t look so good”, you heard Brad said as he wrapped his arm around your waist, which you tried to get off but it seemed as if your muscles were going in slow motion. “You want to go to the bathroom?”

You felt like you could vomit at his questions, it sounded wrong. You shook your head as you opened your eyes and glared at him, motioning for him to let you go and he did, but as you turned around everything began to be blurry. 

“Iwanttodance”, you slurred, words tumbling against each other. You began walking towards the living room, trying to get away from the kitchen while you desperately tried to look for Nancy, Johnathan, or Steve. 

You felt your head getting dizzier and dizzier as each second passed, your brain seemed to be trying so hard for your limbs to move at the pace that you needed them too but they felt disconnected like there was a short-circuit between them.  

You weren’t sure when they had actually disconnected, it had to be a second before you reached the living room by going down simply two steps. It was something you were sure you could accomplish, not even on your worst drunk stories you had been so unaware of your body, you had never felt like that. So, it wasn’t a surprise when you saw the world turning upside down and you felt a sharp pain on the right side of your body, your head crashing on the floor as you closed your eyes from the impact. 

You fell, badly. 

You whimpered in pain as you felt people’s gaze on you, although you had your eyes closed you could feel people’s presence close to you and you wish you could even stand up but it seemed like nothing worked and you could only motion simple things You heard a couple of people laughing, guessing that maybe you were too drunk and were unable to handle your booze. You felt some girls getting closer to you and asking if you were okay but your words weren’t really words anymore, only mumbles, the pangs of pain still spreading through your torso, hips, and legs while the numbness started to spread as well. 

 It was even getting hard to keep your eyes open for too long. 

Before you knew it, someone was wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you off the ground. You prayed it was Billy or Steve, with Nancy by their side or even a couple of the girls who had been asking if you were okay. 

“Seems like she’s ready to go to sleep”

You froze as you heard Brad’s voice and a deep feeling of panic started invading your body. You protested, at least you thought but your words didn’t come out from your mouth, your eyes were still close as the pangs of pain from the fall were disappearing quite quickly, which made you worry. 

Brad quickly took a hold of your body and carried you bride-style to god knows where, you suddenly felt your stomach sinking as you realized how weak you were and the fact that you were in the hands of strangers. Sleepiness crawling over your body and anxiety too, everything began to become foggy. 

“We’ll take care good care of you” Logan stated as you felt the music farther and farther away.  

You whimpered in protest as you opened your eyes as you tried to shimmy yourself out of his hold but it just came as spams on your limps, nothing strong enough and it seemed like they were going through the foyer, towards the door. 

“Stop”

Nancy’s voice felt like it had been sent from the sky, you tried to turn your head as quickly as you could and there she was.  “Who are you?”, she asked as she got closer to you. 

You knew Nancy might be little, she might have been a little mousy when you met her but she was fierce and she could end anyone who came on her way. Such a small girl could raise hell if she decided to and you felt like crying with happiness when you -in a blur- watched her crossed her arms across her chest and glare at the guys she was standing in front of.

“She’s feeling bad”, Brad explained with a shrug but the sassy nature of his answer gave him away to Nancy, “She had a lot to drink and she told us to get her home”

“She has a boyfriend for that”, Nancy replied right away angrily. “And friends that know her”

“We are her friends”, he barked back and it made you jump on your inside. 

These guys were aggressive, the way that he answered to Nancy… you felt like tears were pooling in your eyes. This was not okay and panic raised again, flooding your body. You needed Nancy to take you away from their paws, now. You didn’t want to think where this was going if she didn’t manage to stop them. 

“Nancy” you managed to mumble and with all the effort you had, you tried to take a hold of her but your arm gave up before you reached her, soon your eyes rolled to the back of your head and your head fell backward.

You were too weak. 

Nancy froze for a second with fear as she saw your state, and so hell was loose. 

“Get her down now!”, Nancy’s growl made your body tremble, it was so loud that you were hoping that anyone else noticed. 

“Fuck you”, Chad replied as you heard a struggle in front of you… they were holding Nancy now as Brad began to move again, your heart sinking 

“Her boyfriend is being called right now!”, Nancy yelled as you could hear her struggling while you passed in front of her. 

The cold air hit you hard and you cried as you tried to move from Brad’s hold but he wouldn’t budge, they had managed to sneak you and this was the worst-case scenario. Billy was the only thing you thought before your brain began to shut down when you began to drown in the darkness. 

“We shouldn’t have given her so many”, Logan muttered as he opened the door of the car that was parked in the front patio of Tina’s house, close to many others. 

“Can you just shut up?”, Brad growled as he tightened the hold on your body, and tried to see how he could fit you in the car correctly. 

“Maybe it’s better”, Logan muttered as he opened the driver’s door, still talking to himself. “She won’t remember anything”

“WHERE IS SHE?”

The growl coming from the main door from the house shook Brad and Logan to the core. They both turned around to see Billy, exiting the party with Steve and Nancy behind him. 

Billy had been trying to get a Heather Miller off his back since he had started to play a beer-pong match, it had all been easy and messing around until Heather had come in and began to linger closer to Billy each time he drank. She had placed a kiss on his jaw when he had barked at her to back off, people began to laugh around them and scream things, Heather seemed to be annoyed by the statement and tried to talk him out of being so aggressive. Billy remained silent and shrugged her off each time she tried to flirt with him again, it was annoying to him and he knew that his friends would take any chance to start a rumor that could affect your relationship. So, the rest of the time he tried to get as far away from Heather as he possibly could, he even flipped her off before Steve had run towards him and ask him to go with him.  

Billy felt as if a black hole had grown in his stomach as Steve told him what had happened, that some guys were trying to take you somewhere and that you were barely conscious, that Nancy was trying to hold them back but you needed him now. 

Billy wasn’t exactly sure how fast he had arrived, how he didn’t even notice the guy on the floor that Nancy had managed to beat up with a flower vase at the foyer or how he couldn’t hear anything because his heart and breathing were so loud that he could only focus on what he saw. 

And there you were: completely limp, head falling from Brad’s arm, eyes rolled back on the back of your head. You seemed so small; it shook Billy.

Sometimes Billy had these gaps in time when he became so mad that he didn’t feel like himself anymore, he could only feel the anger filling his body as the seconds passed. It was almost automatic when his hands formed into fists and he began to growl. You had talked to him about it and had helped him to never lose control again since you began dating, helping him breathe and control his emotions. 

But not this time. 

Billy yelled as he took Logan first. The guy didn’t even have a second before Billy yanked the keys out of his hands and smashed the boy’s head against the window of the car. Billy didn’t really notice when the window cracked, he only noticed when it broke in front of him as he smashed once again Logan’s head. 

Logan fell on the ground with a groan, blood coming out of the right side of his face, laying with the broken glass on the floor. Billy then turned around quickly to go and get you, Brad had already been cornered by Steve and Nancy while Johnathan tried to rip you off from Brad’s hold. 

“HEY!”, someone yelled as he pushed Billy making him slam against the car door. 

Billy turned around to see Chad, nose already bloody from Nancy’s punch and more coming out of his eyebrow cut thanks to the vase. The guy was already beaten up by Nancy, badly, but Billy didn’t hesitate to beat him to a pulp with his fist. It seemed rather like a gap of time where Billy had no control, as his knuckles slammed against the guy's jaw while he screamed in pain. Chad managed to punch Billy on his ribs but Billy quickly retaliated and knocked him out with a single punch. 

Billy’s breathing was too shaken up, he almost couldn’t even hear how Nancy had been telling him to stop as he kept kicking the guy on the ground. It was only until Nancy hit him in the back of his head, rather hard, that he turned around. 

“We got her”, Nancy yelled at him as she glared at Billy. She didn’t seem too shaken up, her hands were bloody as well and her eyes seemed steady. 

Billy’s eyes traveled to Steve who had you in his arms while Johnathan let Brad fall from his hold against the car, his nose was already bloody, as well as his lips. But at the moment, Billy didn’t care about anything else, he got closer to you so quickly that he felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore. 

“Y/N”, he whispered as tears began to stream from his face. 

You didn’t respond, your eyes with long lashes were closed while your arm was dangling. You were cold, you usually got cold as Billy would work as a heater for you, but right now you were too cold. 

It hurt. 

Billy swore he had heard something breaking inside of his chest, he sucked in a breath as he pressed your cheek with his palm as if in any moment you would open your eyes again, that you would watch him lovingly and place a kiss on his lips like many times before but you didn’t react, you seemed lost. 

It hurt him so much that when he heard a groan coming from the floor, he saw Brad there with barely any real damage on him. Billy felt his muscles tensing up as he walked towards him, ignoring Nancy’s pleas. Billy seemed like a robot as he quickly opened again the door of the car and place Brad’s hand on the edge, without much thought, he shut the door roughly.

“aaaaAAHHH!!”

The painful scream coming from Brad’s lips shocked Nancy and Steve, and even you in your state. The scream had been the only thing that had managed to make you come back from the darkness, you couldn’t really move but your body was screaming for something to happen but your limbs seemed useless. 

Billy quickly kneeled and punch Brad again, making his nose bleed even more. The groans and whimpers coming from Brad didn’t bother Billy, it only bothered him when he wrapped one hand around Brad’s neck and he noticed his knuckles already getting purple. 

He hated being like this. He knew you would disapprove if you had been there watching him but the rage that he was feeling at the moment, he hadn’t felt it in such a long time that if he thought he remained still, he would burst. 

“I see you or your rat friend’s again, and I’ll kill you”, Billy murmured as he let go of Brad’s neck and allowed him to breathe again as he coughed thanks to the pressure Billy had on him.

Billy turned around to see Nancy, Steve, and Johnathan looking terrified, he tried to shake it off and came back to you. 

“They must have roofied her”, Johnathan explained as Billy was desperately trying to wake you up. 

“Y/N, please are you there?”, Billy couldn’t believe it was his voice, so wobbly and small as he moved your hair from your face and took a hold of you had, begging internally for you to wake up. 

You couldn’t believe it was his voice either, you wanted to scream and cry, you wanted to be held by him and feel safe again. But you couldn’t do anything, you could only beg your body to move, nudge, talk, do something. 

And it seemed as if it had listened to you for a moment. 

“Billy”, the whisper was so faint that Billy wasn’t sure it was real, he stopped dead on his track and saw how your glassy eyes were half opened and Billy felt his shaking hands coming over to your hand. 

But then you suddenly gave up, the darkness eating you once again as your eyes rolled to the back of your head once more and you were lying there, emotionless. 

Billy felt his body cold. 

“Y/N?”, Billy asked as tears streamed down once more. “Baby?”, Billy’s voice was so raw and shaken up that it almost scared Nancy as he looked at her and yelled. “Nancy, what should we do?” 

Nancy stayed still for a second, doubting herself but then she walked decidedly towards Steve who was holding your body. “We have to check her breathing and her heartbeat”, Jonathan coming right up helping her to check your vitals, while Billy gave a step back and held your cold hand. 

“She’s still breathing, it’s like she fell asleep”, Nancy answered.

“We have to take her to a hospital”, Steve stated as he held you tighter on his arms. 

Billy panicked and shook his head, knowing exactly that -even though your parents had come to accept your relationship- they wouldn’t waste a second if he gave them a reason to break you guys up. 

“Her parents would know; you know they would never let her see me again”, Billy explained to Steve, his eyes pleading with him not to do it because he knew what the consequences were and he might ruin what made you and Billy happy.  

Steve didn’t like Billy, but he had never seen him like this or anyone for that matter. He had never seen such true desperation; he had never seen someone show such raw emotions for someone. He didn’t like Billy, but you did and Steve knew that Billy was everything you wanted. 

“Fuck, what should we do?”, Johnathan sighed as Billy began taking you from Steve’s arms. 

Billy remained a second as he adjusted you in his arms, his arms around you securely as he watched you carefully. You seemed so pale and fragile, and he hated it because he knew that this wasn’t you. He couldn’t get out of his head how scared you must’ve been before you went out, what they had done to you. He wanted to take you to the hospital, he knew it was the most appropriate way but he also knew that he really couldn’t and at that moment he had a flashback to California when people took more pills than they should. 

“She’s going to have to throw this up”. Billy stated as he tried to wipe the tears with his shoulder as he took you into the house, as quickly as he could. 

“Billy, what are yo-”, Nancy protested as she followed him but Billy was on a mission, 

“She couldn’t have taken them too long ago”, he muttered as he entered Tina’s house.

He was shaking as he muttered to himself deliriously: you are going to be okay; you are going to be okay; you are going to be okay. He pulled you closer to his chest and his eyes urgently tried to find a bathroom, people were gathering around him at the entrance of the party, watching Billy splattered with blood and knuckles purple with you limp on his arms. Billy didn’t care about the people as he tried to see where was it better to take you, he even wondered if the kitchen was right but he knew you wouldn’t want anyone to see you or him in that state. 

Tina ran towards him, as she was about to speak Billy interrupted her.

“Tina!” He screamed, his voice was raw and torn -the urgency in his electric blue eyes seemed almost psychotic-, she shook at his scream. “Bathroom with a shower”

“Oh my god, what happened?”, Tina squealed as she tried to get closer but Billy stepped back. 

“Bathroom”, he growled once more startling Tina. 

“Upstairs in my room! Turn to the left”

Billy said nothing as he ran upstairs, adjusting you in his arms as he followed Tina’s instructions. He let out an all-encompassing sigh of relief as he entered the bathroom. 

“Come on, come on baby”, he whispered as he placed you on the tub and then turned on the shower. The lukewarm water began to wash your legs and lower abdomen as Billy hurried and placed himself behind you. 

He made sure that you were well position, laying on his chest so he could sit you, and then he began to place his fingers on your throat. But nothing was happening, you weren’t reacting as he tried to place his fingers on the right spot for you to throw up whatever they had given to you. 

Tears began to fall from his face, a part of him glad they were being masked with the drops of water. Billy felt like he wanted to puke himself as he gazed at the bottom of the bathtub and realized the blood was being mixed with the water -blood from the guys that he had beaten up and his own coming from his knuckles-. 

He shivered at the thought of how badly he had reacted and what would you think of him, but he quickly snapped out of it as he continued to cry for you. 

“Y/N please”, he cried. “Baby please, come on”.

Billy’s voice seemed so broken and raw, his pleas could be heard by Steve and Jonathan who were outside the bathroom while Nancy was talking to Tina outside her bedroom, convincing her not to enter until you were okay. 

But you weren’t okay, nothing was happening and Billy snapped. 

“pLEASE! Y/N”, it seemed as if his screamed had ripped through his chest as he held you, and once more, he placed his fingers on your throat in one last attempt. 

The gagging was like music to his ears, how your body finally reacted and you raised a bit from his chest with the help of Billy and you began to throw up. You felt like if you were getting out every organ inside of you as your body spammed as you threw up with Billy’s face bury on your neck as he held you. 

It wasn’t until you finally stopped after a minute of throwing up everything you could, that you realized that the fogginess and darkness that had trapped you were leaving, your head was clearing again and Billy felt like he could breathe. It wasn’t like you were completely fine, your breaths were still raggedy but they were stronger than before and you could raise your head for a second, hold yourself. 

You could hold yourself enough to throw up once more, another round, but this time it felt more like a reaction of the fear that you felt from those guys. You didn’t want anything inside of you, nothing from that night, the thought of those guys made you sick. 

It wasn’t until you were unable to throw up anything else, you turn around softly, still feeling woozy. 

And there he was, the only one you had ever wanted. 

Billy’s hair was wet, the streams of water were still falling from his body but you recognize his tears as well. His blue electric eyes that had always been heaven to you, were red from crying and his usually tan skin seemed as white as a paper, completely pale, he looked terrified. 

Indeed, Billy was terrified but he tried not to show it as he caressed your hair and help you lay more comfortably on his chest. It was only when your eyes connected and you took a big breath that you began to cry. The tears were streaming without control from your eyes and it seemed like before, you just wanted to feel empty and clean and safe. Billy held you as close to him as he could while you sob.

He kissed your head, he kissed the back of your neck and your hands as you whimpered and tried to hold anything from him, the craving of him becoming stronger every second. 

“Hold me”, you slurred and Billy nodded, wrapping his arm around your body as you cuddle against him while being wash with the water. 

“I’m so sorry”, Billy whispered as he rocked you back and forth. “I’ll never leave again”

His voice sounded so truthful that you began to think that he meant something for good, so permanently that it made your heart skip a bit but you didn’t want to say anything, you simply nodded and leaned into him even more, burying yourself against his chest. 

“I love you”, he whispered. 

[alrightsnaps]

I think I have used the term girlboss before to describe Kates characterisation but now I really regret it. The word which once had an actual meaning to it has been twisted throughout the internet and is now just used to describe any woman who doesn’t want to be treated like a doormat. While the writing in the Tudum clip is anachronistic… this is Bridgerton so no one is watching for historical accuracy.

The show clearly implies anthony just said some pretty sexist things, has shown him treat woman like commodities (Siena + books) and behave in a sexist manner (but let’s make sure Kate doesn’t come off as a man hater for pointing that out). For some reason having Kate call him out in a fairly tame manner ruins her character 😐. While their is genuine critique to be made that writers often write female characters to fit a certain box, I am tired of any female character who speaks up for herself being a girlboss or *gasps* unfeminine.

Riiiight, I remember reading some criticism about Kate's lines in the tudum clip.

I'm gonna be honest: I'm 100% for anachronisms and historical inaccuracies in romance. One of my favourite regency romance writers is Tessa Dare because of how absurdist her stories can be given their historical context lol. There are projects you watch for their historical accuracy and attention to detail but as you said, Bridgerton is not one of those shows and that's what made it so popular. I loved the Billie Eilish string quartets, I loved the historically inaccurate hairstyles (#LetWomenHaveTheirHairDown 😛) and I loved Daphne confronting her mother about not giving her a proper sex talk (when in real life it was very much the norm for mothers to give even worse sex talks not just in the 19th century but well into the 20th– precisely because women were treated as commodities and kept in the dark about their own reproductive health). So, predictably, I loved Kate's reaction to Anthony, anachronistic as it is, and I hope they keep it up.

I agree that writers can write characters to fit a certain box which can be very frustrating if they're not careful because they make them seem a bit one dimensional (I feel they kinda did that with Eloise as the Token Feminist Character? I don't know if it's because I know her ending but it could get kinda cringe at times. Which is a pity because there were other scenes–her talks with Benedict or her deeper moments with Daphne off the top of my head–that felt completely natural and heartfelt. I hope they lean more into the latter in s02) but that's not the impression I was given with Kate in the sneak peek. It felt very much in character for her to call Anthony out for being a misogynistic ass and I hope they keep it going throughout the season. This is the same woman who rightfully told him that he'd never marry Edwina after he got a first-hand account of the kind of marriage he intended to have (one where he would keep a mistress and do whatever he wanted while his wife gave birth to his heirs) and wouldn't give her approval until Anthony actually showed her a different (and decent) side of himself. Are we really supposed to believe this Kate would listen to Anthony exhibit the same behaviour we saw from him in season 1 and demurely keep sipping her lemonade?!

Female characters will get criticised whatever they do, especially for speaking up, because women are criticised no matter what they do and called man-haters for so much as daring to contradict men. So who gives a fuck? (Don't get me started on female characters being deemed ~unfeminine~. Every behaviour under the sun besides docile submissiveness is unfeminine lmao Maybe if people realised femininity has always been meant to restrict women's lives and options it wouldn't be such a dreadful concept for women to be unfeminine but hey. That wouldn't be convenient for men or capitalism)

If someone sees a character as complex and beautiful as Kate and view her as a girlboss or a man-hater for being a normal human being with opinions and no patience for men's bullshit it just goes to show how sexist they are. I'll definitely love her character even more if they have her address Anthony's sexism– it would be a disservice to her if they didn't!

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being a Party Member

Stranger Kids x reader

warnings:

a/n: 💖💖 these ones were kind bad but i hope you like!

prompt: anonymous: “Hi! Can you make a headcannon for Stranger Things of just being in the party? Sorry if its too vague. Thank you so much for giving us so much free content!!”

you’ve known the boys for a long, long time

your mom was friends with joyce in high school, so you knew will your whole life

he introduced you to mike and soon lucas and dustin had joined the mix

let’s face it, you guys weren’t the most popular, but as long as you had each other it was fine

“at recess do you want to play castle?”

“yes! but we need to make up our characters”

will the wise was born that day, it just stuck

you guys were obsessed with star wars when it came out

“i’d totally be a jedi” -mike

“mike, you’d cry at the sight of any alien creature”

“not true!”

“i think lucas would be a kickass pilot, though”

“i’d get the princess, too” -lucas

dustin ended up playing lightsabers with you, though

you’ve accidentally knocked down tons of stuff in mike’s basement

“cut it out, you guys!”

“soooorryyyyy”

“you are not!”

AV club was just the 5 of you acting afool under adult supervision

mr. clark was still proud of your young minds, though

D&D campaigns, you were the rogue

you were also easily distracted during the game

“anyone want chips, im gonna get some chips”

“no! you can’t leave now!”

“watch me”

playing with mike’s toys while he’s not looking

battling them with lucas, dustin, and will

until mike started protesting

bike rides around town until sunset

SLEEPOVERS

“who the hell is snoring?”

“i think it’s dustin”

“PILLOW FIGHT!!!”

“kids, time to sleep!” -any parent

“let’s watch a scary movie”

“no! i mean—i’m tired” -mike

depending on which house you were staying in, you’d have a great time

will’s brother, jonathan, was always nice to you

nancy...not so much

“hi na—” *door slams* “oh...”

erica always intruded on your sleepovers at lucas’s

“i wanna play! can i play?”

“no, erica, go play somewhere else”

“you’re so mean, lucas”

“bye!”

dustin didn’t have any siblings, but he did have a cat who was pretty nice

“hi mews!”

the night will disappeared was a night you’ll never forget

you were so determined to find him, he had to be around somewhere

you ended up getting in deeper water than you’d originally thought when you met eleven, who apparently had superpowers

“mike!!! you’re mom is gonna kill you for bringing a random girl in the house”

“i know! shhhhh”

she was weird to say the least

and it was pretty scary sneaking around with her

“dude...she has the force”

“shut up!”

after a long week of fighting with your friends and encountering inter dimensional monsters and the government, you realized your life would never be the same

your mom was pretty protective over you for a while

the party had to come to your house instead for the next few months

“sorry guys, she’s just...really upset about the whole thing”

“it’s okay, y/n. we don’t mind”

being each other’s support system

especially when it came to will, he really worried you guys

“today is will’s doctor visit, hope it goes okay...”

spending HOURS in the arcade, struggling to beat other people’s high scores

“i’m gonna do it! i’m gonna get the top score!”

“in your dreams, y/n”

hAlLoWeEn

you knew you weren’t supposed to dress up at school but no one was paying attention to you when you told them

unfortunate.

there was a new girl who mike hated right off the bat

but lucas and dustin wouldn’t stop fighting over

“you two are the worst, you know that?”

trick or treating and dumping your candy later on to trade, the most effective way to get the best halloween

“nougat, disgusting. anybody want it? i’ll give it to you for free”

*dustin and you simultaneously* “ME!”

dustin’s “pet lizard” scaring the hell out of you

“dart makes me...uncomfortable”

max pulling you aside to ask why mike hates her

“uh...he’s a dick? i don’t know”

you and max ended up getting along pretty okay, though

she did complain about mike a LOT though

and when lucas filled her in on the demogorgon/upside-down/eleven situation, EVERYONE was pissed

you guys realized that the upside down stuff was not over and there was an epic teamup with all of you yaaaay

steve harrington adopted you it’s true

eleven came back

that was cool

you gave her a hug bc like duh??? you missed her

steve babysitting you guys and then getting beat up by max’s stepbrother, billy

“can i hit him? i wanna hit him”

“do it!”

doing dumbass shit in the tunnels that ended up working out anyways! yay!

“we’re all gonna die we’re all gonna die oh my god i’m too young to die”

“Y/N STOP”

in the end everything was (mostly) okay but like, that was scarring

summer rolled around and el and mike were dating, max and lucas were dating, and dusting came back from camp and claimed to be dating some girl from faaaar away

“liar”

“i’m not lying!”

steve sneaking you into movies

he also gave you (and only you) free ice cream but only bc he knew you wouldn’t tell anyone else

robin and you talking while you hid in the break room to eat your ice cream

“so...what do you do for fun”

“kill monsters”

“oh...okay”

kinda sick of the party’s shit for a while, so dustin and you were off scheming with the scoops employees

bad ideaaaa!! the russians!! you were almost killed!!

rescue mission for steve and robin

“they’re high as shit”

“nO YOu aRe”

“wonderful, we’re screwed”

losing them fhdhdhsh

“y/n?!”

“what? i’m not a babysitter!”

being chased by russians but also the rest of the party showing up and updating you but also adults finally making an appearance and you wanting to cry because like what the fuck is happening

being chased by the mind flayer

“GUYS IF WE DONT MAKE IT I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW I LOVE YOU”

“Y/N. STOP SAYING THINGS THAT MAKE US THINK WE’RE GOING TO DIE”

eek that night sucked

you also almost fell down the hill that cerebro was placed on

and then uhhh hopper died so that was really bad and will ended up moving away with el and everyone was very sad

your mom cried when joyce left :(

you cried way too much

might i add going over to lucas’s to hang out with erica bc now you guys are friends lmaooo

“why are you here, y/n?”

“erica wanted me to come over”

“you two are impossible”

and to end this on a high note, the remaining party members in town were finally working through their differences as you all grew up and knew that it’d be impossible to separate for good

also pizza nights every week (sometimes accompanied by an older teen bc why not)

“if you guys eat all the damn pizza we’re gonna have a problem”

“we can’t help it! we’re growing!”

taglist: @locke-writes // @queenofthehairharrington // @praellee // @bonniesbabybunnie // @lotsoffandomrecs //

[rascheln]

Steve is fifteen when his parents get him a purebred Maine Coon. Technically, it’s his mom’s for all of two weeks, who on a whim decides that she misses the cats that roamed her own childhood home and within the same day has the number of a reputable breeder. She gets these ideas sometimes, like when she thinks the living room needs a different sofa or Steve’s dad needs an entirely new set of suits. Steve wouldn’t be surprised if the idea to have him was brought up on one such whims as well. 

Except his mom kind of forgets that a cat is a living, breathing thing that doesn’t just sit still like one of the ornamental pieces she likes to swap out in the front entrance. It’s much like Steve in that way: Shiny and new and fun until the excitement wears off and her interest wanes. And then it becomes his dad’s problem to deal with.

Steve’s mom names the cat ‘Pudding’. She gets scratch posts and litter boxes strategically placed in corners of the house that won’t immediately make Steve’s dad lose his mind about the impression they would leave on dinner guests. She drags Steve to ‘Pudding’s’ first vet appointment and gushes to him about all the fun ways they can play with her. And then she just loses interest a month later when she goes on the next trip with his dad to Italy. She tells Steve to take care of the cat like she showed him. And he may not know it in that moment, but this is when she becomes his cat.

The house is as deserted as it usually is when his parents leave- except the bright sound of the bell on the cat’s collar cuts through it almost immediately and lights the entire place up. So Steve calls her Tinker Bell instead. Steve is sixteen and Tinker Bell won’t stop following him through the house whenever he’s home. She loves when he plays with her, loves to walk right between his legs to get him to pet her, making him stumble in his haste not to step on her. And she won’t. stop. growing. She’s a brown tabby with these pretty dark ear tufts that make her look like a wildcat if you only see her approach out of the corner of your eye. All she does is meow at him for more attention and enthusiastically greets visitors when he dares to have a party. 

It’s when Steve is seventeen, freshly home from fighting a goddamn inter-dimensional monster, that it hits him how Barb Holland must have died right in his backyard. He lies in his bed, face still bruised and swollen and aching and watches the light reflections from the pool play along his ceiling while he struggles to breathe. He’s bathed in icy cold sweat. He feels like his limbs are pinned to the mattress, stiff and chilled to the bone while his heart feels like it will beat out of his chest. Distantly, he can hear the jingle of Tink’s bell coming closer. Feels the mattress lightly dip where her not inconsiderable weight weighs it down, feels her settle on top of his chest and start purring so hard it rattles his rib cage. It still takes a long time until he can move his stiff hands to pet her, but by then he’s started to warm up again from her body heat seeping into his skin.

At eighteen, when he loses his girlfriend and the last vestiges of his dignity at school, he sullenly curls up on the new chaise lounge in the living room- his mom’s most recent spontaneous purchase- with Tinker Bell draped over his entire lap and tries to drown his broken heart, his bruised ego and his confused feelings about Billy Hargrove in his dad’s most expensive whiskey. When that doesn’t work, it’s only between him and Tink when she lets him cry into her silky soft fur for way longer than he’d like to admit.

He’s nineteen when he introduces his girl to Billy Hargrove. “Holy fuck, that is Tinker Bell?” is the very first thing that comes out of Billy’s mouth the moment he steps foot into the foyer and they're greeted by the now familiar sound of her bell and an enthusiastic meow. “Judging from the name, I thought she’d be a tiny thing.” Of course she immediately runs towards Billy, curious about the new visitor to her domain. The way Billy carefully holds his hand out for her to sniff makes Steve smile. He watches as she rubs herself against Billy, clearly enjoys the tentative pets he gives her before she turns towards Steve. He knows he’s her favorite. Waits in amusement for her to show off her newest trick: With laser focus, her eyes settle on him and with a by now well-practiced leap, she easily hops onto his shoulders, where she settles heavy and content like an eight-pound stole. Steve’s shoulders are just wide enough to not have her fall off and Billy’s reaction- wide eyes, mouth dropped open- is so worth the wait.

Of course his parents just had to pick the summer after Steve’s graduation to spend an extended amount of time in Hawkins again, to really make sure his humiliation of not getting into college was rubbed in properly. And of course it intersected with Steve getting together with Billy, with wanting to finally have a private moment where they can do more than spend a few stolen moments making out at the back of the arcade. The end of summer is near. They’ve survived a massive meat monster together. And Steve has a boyfriend who is cat-approved. He feels like things can’t get much better than this, honestly. Steve is freshly turned twenty and holding all twelve pounds of cat in his lap, sitting in the passenger seat of Billy’s car. Warm summer air flows through his hair, whips Tink’s luscious mane and Billy’s curls. They're finally, finally leaving Hawkins behind.  Billy catches his eyes with that fond, private smile that creeps onto his face when it’s just the two of them. Like he reserves it just for special moments like these.  “I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” Steve tells him, giddy with excitement for what’s to come. Billy’s smile just gets wider, more cheeky.  “I can’t believe I’m letting your walking fur ball into my car. I’m never gonna get all that hair out.” Steve laughs, playfully swats at Billy’s arm. “Oh, and don’t get me started on your mop of hair,” Billy laughs right back.

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

accidentally decided to read a few comments and then couldn't believe what i was seeing. some of these people could do with your she analysis. people misinterpret or reveal how transphobic they are while discussing she and it's further demonstrating why harry and people with similar careers have to be watered down and filtered into what is deemed most marketable. on the one hand, there are lgbtq+phobic "fans" and on the other hand, people who think harry is free to do anything, that hs™ is all there is to him. so to say shady controlling industry tactics are a thing of the past or too farfetched to be real. can you tell i'm not just bummed about one song? the cycle persists because people would rather keep the wool over their eyes/be phobic. everyone has personal meanings they attach to songs, which is 100% valid. what is not, many people genuinely cannot extend the same smidge of respect to the song's writer. calling themselves a fan and dismissing harry with one-dimensional reflection and lets no beat around the bush, cishet norms usually provoke it. i'm not saying the song can't be about sex or other things and people besides harry and gender but gender is loud and clear. it's just naive and ridiculous at this point. it's no wonder harry pushes the treat people with kindness part of his brand the most as it encapsulates so much without need to be specific. just wish people who considered themselves fans didn't see het harry as this super serious thing but tpwk as a lighthearted thing to use for personal convenience. sorry, this wasn't supposed to be long and gloomy. i hope this doesnt ruin your mood.

this has been in my inbox for a while now, bc i wanted to find a good time to reply to it without, as you said, ruining the mood, but... yeah, i won't find that moment.

you said it, kind anon, and this was before harry got on stage in a minidress, a bow in his hair and blush on his cheeks. people always seem to have something to say about shit they know nothing about, and ppl love thinking they know a person when in reality they're as much a stranger to them as the person next to them on the bus. it is depressing sometimes to think too much about harry and his image, which obviously is pushed by his team, but also perpetuated by media, gossip and (comp)het fans.

to be honest, i'm super out of touch with that side of the fandom, and media in general, so i barely see a word of the shitstorm that comes from that direction when harry does something remotely "controversial". i read snippets of the billy porter stuff and i almost disintegrated into a puddle of tears. i don't interact with antis, i am sure as hell not on twitter, and i've been lucky enough so far to be surrounded by lovely blogs that seem to share the same mindset as me about this. no stunts, no media, no opinions of the gp. or at least as little as possible. i highly recommend it, with all of my heart, bc it ensures you have the best fucking time in this fandom, bc shit is sad and fucked up and infuriating without seeing cishet bullshittery in real time, okay. there is no denying, there is no running away from the reality that is harry (and louis)'s closeting, but you have to spare yourself from time to time. one eye open, one eye closed. for your own sanity

[tiesandtea]

I met two members of London Suede, Brett Anderson and Mat Osman, in the lounge of a major New York hotel. They were at the beginning of a four-city tour of the U.S. in support of their newest release, Coming Up on Columbia Records. I got a chance to talk to them about songwriting, performing and who they think can write a good song. Brett did almost all the talking and never took his sunglasses off. Hey, he's a rock star; he doesn't have to. This was my first time interviewing a British band and I couldn't escape the feeling of being Rob Reiner in Spinal Tap.

An interview with Brett & Mat by Dave Levine for Urban Desires, May 1997. The rest of the article under the cut. (x)

London Suede, or Suede as they're known in England, is at the forefront of the new Brit-Pop explosion that includes bands like Oasis, Blur and Pulp. They write lush poppy songs reminiscent of Bowie in the late seventies. As with many of the new British bands, success in America is hard won. They released their first record, Nude in 1993 and it went #1 in England but didn't make much sound on this side of the Atlantic. Why? well Brett thinks he knows, so read on.

UD: So have you guys been to New York a lot? LS: Yeah, we've been here quite a few times. UD: So what's the difference between London night life and New York? LS: I don't know really. I think every city in the world is pretty much the same, isn't it? I mean there's no difference between New York, and London. Everyone likes to think that they live in the biggest, baddest city in the world. London's just as big and bad as New York and Rio de Janeiro is just as big and bad as London. I think at this point in the twentieth century everyone is so well connected and the world's just become one big place... got tramps sittin' in the street and sex and sleaze and stuff like that. It's all the same, isn't it? UD: Except for the bars in London close at 11:00. LS: Yeah, but there are after-hours places. UD: What's your favorite place in the world to play? London? LS: Probably Thailand or Scandinavia. UD: Why? Because the crowds are crazy, and they just love it? LS: They're mad, especially in Singapore. They sing along with every word. UD: What about New York? To me, New York crowds are jaded. LS: Yeah, they are a bit. Last time we played here it was shit. I can't really get my hands around the mentality. I don't really know how to put this. I mean, I don't want to be offensive. UD: Go ahead be offensive, it makes good copy. LS: New Yorkers want to be shouted at or they don't respect you. They tend to assume that quietness equals weakness, which it doesn't. That's an assumption that I don't think anyone in the world makes. The first show we did here was really boring and the second show we were going through quite alot of bad times with the band. We were having alot of internal arguments and it was a real low point in our relations. We were so fucked up with each other, we absolutely fuckin' hated each other... I don't know how to put it.... UD: New York probably loved that. LS: Exactly, it came across in the gig. It was a real wild gig. UD: I read in your press release that when you first started playing, people hated you. Is that true? LS: (Both laughing) UD: Critically too, and then at some point it changed. Did you do anything? LS: No we just got better, that's all there is to it. We always were going against the grain, and so when you're doing something that is going against the grain and you're not very good at it, people hate you. When you do something against the grain and you're good at it, people start thinking it's something special. UD: So it was just experience, then? LS: Experience of playing live, learning how to sing and how to write songs.

UD: I want to give people here in the US that don't know much about you some background. How did you get started? LS: No one really fuckin' cares anyway. UD: ... Okay. Why do you think it's hard for modern British pop bands to break into the U.S.? LS: I know exactly why that is, 'cause the American music industry is obsessed with categories and things. And we aren't that happy with being categorized. In Europe we're just a pop band. We're #7, and George Michael is #5. You know, we're just a band. There is a song on the second album called "The Wild Ones." When we first played it for Sony they were doing somersaults. We thought it was like #1 and they took it to radio stations, and they couldn't get it played. They couldn't figure out if it was a love song or a rock song by a band with a bunch of guitars. We took it to alternative and they thought it was too mainstream, and we took it to mainstream and they thought it was too alternative. It's never been my desire to be neatly sectioned into some little box. Then you lose any mystery, any danger, any X factor that you might have had, and I don't think that many bands in Europe are happy being categorized like that. UD: Your press release touted you as the best lyricist of your generation-- LS: --I wouldn't believe anything it says there-- UD: --do you have any problem living up to that? LS: Do I have a problem with that? Yeah, I don't think it's true. I don't think anyone is the best lyricist of a generation. I should burn that press release. It's been the source of so much inflammatory rubbish. UD: What inspired you to start playing? LS: We just loved music and wanted to be in a band. LS: I wanted to be a song writer. UD: What songwriters do you admire? LS: Kraftwerk, Lennon and McCartney, Pet Shop Boys. UD: What do you think of Billy Bragg? LS: I think he's got a big nose. UD: (Laughing) I guess that would be 'not too much'. LS: Naw, I think he's alright. I like some of his love songs. UD: Yeah, he does write good love songs. LS: It's like Bob Dylan; I think all these political writers aren't as political when they are writing love songs. I think their political stuff stinks. Bob Dylan's political songs are so fucking one dimensional, and the same goes for Billy Bragg. UD: So you don't believe in the folk, socio-political commentary song? LS: Yeah I do. I just don't believe it's effective when it's put in that crass category. I don't think any of Bob Dylan's political songs were that moving. UD: ... What about "Times They Are A Changing"? LS: Yeah, I guess. UD: What about Elvis Costello? He's a guy who writes political songs. LS: Yeah I like "Shipbuilding." That's probably the best political song ever written. It goes beyond politics, and touches on the human consequences of politics, which I think song writing has got to do. I don't think you can just put numbers and manifestos within a chord sequence. I don't think it strikes a chord in the human heart. I think to actually say something to people you've got to say it with emotion. That's why I think that "Shipbuilding" is one of the best political songs.

UD: What's the worst thing about being on the road? LS: Standing in a pool of someone else's piss when you're on a fucking bus on a three-day journey. UD: Is there a story that goes along with that response? LS: No, that's an everyday occurrence. UD: What do you guys think about Tony Blair? LS: I think it's fucking great. I think it's the best thing to happen to England in a couple of years, wonderful. UD: In the United States they compare him a lot to Clinton. LS: A politician can never be one hundred percent great. I think a politician, as long as he inspires confidence in a positive way, then he's a good politician. And I think Blair and Clinton both do that. UD: What kind of press does Clinton get over there? LS: He gets good press. UD: He probably gets better press over there... LS: ... I'd rather see someone like him than some rejuvenated old skeleton like George Bush. You know what I mean? Some old man that looks like they've been revived, you know, dug up from the dead. UD: If you could just sit at home and write songs, would that satisfy you? LS: I don't think so, it's not boring enough yet to do that. There is part that is mundane. There are some low points but then there are some extreme highs and those highs can inform your writing. I think the point of it all is to actually let things inform other things, and let the whole thing become one big process. UD: Do you guys all get along on the road? LS: We've had fights in the past but not in the last couple of years. Although maybe we should start. LS: There is an idea. LS: Maybe I'll punch our bass player. UD: Head butt him? LS: Yeah, I want to give him a good head butt. LS: I might give him a hug. UD: No, don't do that. New Yorkers won't like it. Don't do the hug thing. Don't be nice or anything.