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ratboydefenselawyer · 2 years

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This is my first and probably last post I will ever make. I’m here to consume the content, not necessarily create it.

I see all of you fighting the good fight for Billy and his story. And I wanted to add my thoughts into the ring.

As someone who works with children and adults from abusive backgrounds EVERY SINGLE DAY. I can tell you that Billy checks every single box for being in his survival state 24/7.

I have had extensive trainings about trauma, how to recognize it and the effects it can have on a person and how they act. Personally I have endured a lot of trauma myself and had to unlearn a lot of unhealthy behaviors and ways of thinking because of it.

With that being said: someone who is in a state of survival constantly is not capable of thinking rationally, the only goal is to…survive.

Billy Hargrove was an abused child. A CHILD. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Does this forgive his actions? No. But it explains them. Gives us a deeper insight into the “why?”

Neil hit his son, he insulted him, called him a slur and then reminded him that Max, his younger stepsister’s well-being is in his hands. That’s a lot for a 17 year old to go through. Then he goes to the Byers residence where he’s insulted and lied to. His sister (who’s well-being is in his hands) is alone with 5 boys, one of them is his age? THEN to top it all off, Steve punches him? All that built up rage from what just happened with Neil comes spilling out. Oh and to make matters worse, he gets sedated and Max MIRRORS Neil’s abuse by making him repeat himself. Keep this in mind, while all this is going on Billy has absolutely no idea what is going on. He still doesn’t know what Max is doing with all of these boys in this house.

Moving forward- Billy gets possessed by the mind flayer, he still has no idea what is going on and loses control of his own body. He had to watch as his hands take the lives of many people to feed this creature from his worst nightmares. Then this group of children lock him in a sauna, he is FINALLY able to beg for help and sobs. Even then NOBODY tells him what’s going on, no one really makes an effort to help him. It’s only in the final episode of season 3 that El breaks through to him, she see’s his past, his mom leaving, the abuse. Even standing up to the mind flayer Billy has no idea what he’s up against, he’s still in the dark. All he knows is that it’s him or this child that showed him how to come back to himself. It’s him or Max, and as we already know Max’s well-being is in his hands. Nothing is more terrifying than Neil’s wrath. And in his dying breath he apologizes.

For my fellow Billy Stans- Please never let anyone bully you about what characters you can and can’t like. Your ability to see deeper into the characters and push past the hate is needed in this world. Not just in fiction, but in the real world. If you relate to Billy as I do, from past trauma, I am so sorry. I am so very sorry that you have to fight, explain and rationalize your love for him every time. For whatever reason you stand behind Billy Hargrove, it is valid. And unlike Billy’s story, I hope that yours doesn’t end in tragedy. My inbox is always open for those who need to talk.

Now, for the Antis- I want to say, good for you. You managed to take a broken and deeply complex character and reduce him to a heartless villain in your minds. Think what you want about him, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is how you act to the people who do relate to Billy. The name calling, the hate, the wild assumptions about real people!! It’s so insane to me. I hope that turning into the bully to make a point was worth it. How other people relate to a character doesn’t affect you in any way at all. Somehow many of you have managed to put people down and make them afraid to express their love for a character. It’s not something to be proud of.

I am not willing to argue with anyone on this, this is just my views and my opinion. Dacre Montgomery stated that he worked hard to humanize Billy Hargrove. Seeing his character be dragged through the mud and continuously be turned into the irredeemable monster by the Duffer Brothers and the fans is just really sad.

Billy Hargrove means a lot to me. For a lot of different reasons. He deserved so much more than he was given. He deserved a chance to redeem himself and to tell his side of the story. He deserved a chance to apologize for everything he did in his survival state. He deserved the chance to finally be happy and be surrounded by people who actually cared for him, who wanted to help him.

Just keep going everyone. ❤️

#billy hargrove #billy #harringrove #billy hargrove deserved better #billy hargrove stan #billy hargrove gifs #billy hargrove is alive

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arentwelost · 7 years

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hey I just read your tfc hc's and they're really amazing! I love the way you write these characters it's so accurate! Can you write something about Kevin and Neil? They're my Favorite ship.

hi yes thank you dear anon ♡♡ sorry for letting this sit in my inbox for so long but assuming you’ve read this (kandreil fic), this (everyone/neil hc) and perhaps this (mentions of kandreil and/or kevineil), i have composed a list of kevineil interactions ! :) kinda ooc but here we go:

kevin and neil watches exy games together in neil’s room, analysing the game and each player’s techniques. neil sits in kevin’s lap and kevin rests his chin on neil’s shoulder. no matter how many times matt find them in this position on the couch, he looks away, feeling like he’s stumbled across something intimate. he doesn’t mention how kevin has an arm around neil’s waist, and how neil doesn’t seem to mind the physical contact.

tbh it took them a long time for them to work that cuddling thing out because kevin is generally an awkward person and neil kept on giving kevin blank looks that kevin doesn’t know how to respond to. it took an embarrassingly long time for kevin to realise that was just neil’s default face.

neil bruises easily, and he keeps on getting random bruises he doesn’t remember getting. it doesn’t bother him that much, but it’s always amusing to see kevin frown and fuss over them.

kevin is the one who almost choked when neil said “you’re going to eat those words, you’re going to choke on them” to riko. but he appreciates it. a lot.

so he says, “i know what he’s like. riko. if you want to talk.”

but they don’t talk about it. it being their childhood. it being neil’s parents. it being riko and the ravens. they don’t need to talk about it. somehow when both of them are broken, it’s easier to understand how it feels to have ghosts and skeletons and everything else that has left a scar.

neil has nightmares about his father standing above him and his mother’s body burning on that beach. kevin has nightmares about riko and tetsuji, waking up with searing phantom pain in his hand. this makes it hard when they’re trying to sleep in the same bed, but it’s okay. it’s going to be okay.

neil stops collecting articles and interviews that mention the name kevin day. he isn’t sure why he even kept the journal in the first place. maybe it was because he lived his dream and passion through kevin when he was on the run. maybe it was simply because he wanted to keep an eye on the boy who had a #2 drawn on his face with a permanent marker.

kevin knows about the journals, of course. he has flicked through them and cringed at the things they’ve written about him. cringed at the things he’s said.

neil is strangely protective of kevin.

kevin, in return, is also protective of neil.

neil sasses the hell out of kevin on the court and most of the time kevin gets frustrated and manhandles neil. he only realises neil’s just messing around with him when neil gives him the i told you i could make you mad in 2 seconds look.

kevin should just admit defeat.

their “dates” include going to the gym together, going exy equipment shopping together, going through exy drills together and watching exy on kevin’s laptop together. andrew says he shouldn’t have expected much when two exy junkies start dating. at that comment, kevin glares at him. neil simply laughs.

kevin kisses neil’s scars. neil kisses kevin’s covered up tattoo.

it’s stupidly domestic, the way both of them wake up at the same time to go for their morning run. then they would come back to the tower and make breakfast. neither of them can cook very well but they try anyway. aaron usually appears in the kitchen to kick them out because they might have just burnt something.

it takes kevin a long time, but he gradually stops relying on alcohol everytime he needs to deal with something.

and when they have sex, it’s slow and soft and it’s like putting everything that has been broken back together.

till this day, wymack still doesn’t know who to give the shovel talk to.

#i didn't proofread this #rest in peace #also lmao idk what this is #soft and damaged boyfriends #angsty angst #kevineil #neil josten #kevin day #tfc #aftg #answered #anon #mine #hc

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mavwrekmarketing · 7 years

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Image copyright iStock

A 10-year-old girl who is pregnant and has been refused an abortion is at the centre of a media storm in India. The BBC’s Geeta Pandey travelled to the northern city of Chandigarh to piece together her story.

“We have seen lots of cases of teenage pregnancies involving 14 to 15-year-olds, but this is the first ever case that I have seen of a 10-year-old,” said Mahavir Singh, of the Chandigarh State Legal Services Authority.

Mr Singh has been involved in a case which has shocked Chandigarh and the rest of India, that of a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant after allegedly being repeatedly raped by a relative.

That relative is now in jail, pending trial.

The girl in question has been described as a happy child who smiles easily. She’s shy and not very talkative. English and mathematics are the favourite subjects of this class six student. She loves to draw and is pretty good at it. She can’t get enough of her favourite cartoon shows Chhoti Anandi (Little Anandi) and Shin Chan. She loves chicken and fish – and ice-cream.

But on 28 July, India’s Supreme Court rejected a petition – filed on her behalf – to allow her to abort, on the grounds that at 32 weeks, she is too far into her pregnancy. A doctors’ panel had advised the court that a termination at this stage would be “too risky” for the girl, and that the foetus was “doing well”.

The court order was a huge disappointment for the girl’s family.

‘She has no idea what happened’

Indian law does not allow terminations after 20 weeks unless doctors certify that the mother’s life is in danger.

But in recent years, the courts have received several petitions, many from child rape survivors, seeking to terminate pregnancies after 20 weeks. In most cases, these pregnancies are discovered late because the children are not aware of their condition.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption In India, a child under 16 is raped every 155 minutes, a child under 10 every 13 hours

In the case of this 10-year-old too, the pregnancy was discovered only three weeks ago when she complained of pain in her lower abdomen and her mother took her to a doctor.

Someone who interacts with the girl on a regular basis says: “She’s very innocent and has no idea what’s happened to her.”

Her parents also missed the telltale signs, perhaps because she’s “a healthy, chubby child”. Besides, they couldn’t imagine even in their wildest nightmares that their daughter could be pregnant at 10.

The child has still not been told about her pregnancy and, for those dealing with her, talking to her is like treading on eggshells. She has been told that she has a big stone in her stomach and the bulge is because of that.

She’s been put on a special diet of eggs, milk, fruit, fish and chicken and she seems to be enjoying the extra attention.

But in recent days, police, social workers and counsellors have been in and out of her house, and a media circus has grown up outside her home.

“She might not understand the exact problem, the gravity of the situation, but I think she has some idea now,” a senior official told the BBC.

No abortion for 10-year-old rape victim

Why an MP wants India to talk about child sex abuse

The Indian girls who survived being raped

Her parents are struggling to deal with the situation. The family is poor and lives in a cramped one-room flat. Her father is a government employee and the mother works as a domestic helper.

Policewoman Pratibha Kumari, who has investigated the case, describes them as a “very nice family, who are so simple that they didn’t even realise what this man was doing to their daughter”.

The parents, she says, are understandably distraught. “Her mother has never talked to me without crying. The father says he feels like his daughter has been murdered.”

The scale of abuse in India

Image copyright AFP

A child under 16 is raped every 155 minutes, a child under 10 every 13 hours

More than 10,000 children were raped in 2015

240 million women living in India were married before they turned 18

53.22% of children who participated in a government study reported some form of sexual abuse

50% of abusers are known to the child or are “persons in trust and care-givers”

Sources: Indian government, Unicef

What has made their situation worse is that, ever since the news of the rape and pregnancy hit the headlines, they have been hounded by journalists.

“When the girl’s father came to see me, he told me his biggest problem was the press. He said there were reporters outside his home all the time and his privacy was being infringed upon,” Neil Roberts, chair of the Child Welfare Committee, told the BBC.

The media attention has meant the girl is likely to get the best medical care and is entitled to claim financial compensation from the government.

But the unwanted publicity is causing the family immense grief. Many of the reporters went to their house when the father was at work and gained entry claiming to be child workers.

Since the alleged rapist was the mother’s cousin, some even questioned if she was aware of the abuse and, maybe, even approved of it. “How come she didn’t know that her daughter was pregnant for seven months?” they asked.

This has been very troubling for the family, and the girl’s father is angry and bitter.

“I want him to be severely punished. He should get the death penalty or be locked away for the rest of his life in prison. He has admitted to the crime. But he has never said sorry to us,” he tells me in a brief phone conversation.

Before hanging up on me, he asks: “Why are you advertising my daughter’s case? The press have turned this into a business enterprise.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Campaigners say 50% of abusers are known to the child or are “persons in trust and care-givers”

His anger is justified – even though there are laws that expressly forbid journalists from revealing identities of rape survivors and child victims of crimes, many people have been able to join the dots and identify the family because the alleged rapist’s name was extensively reported in the Indian press. Now their neighbours and his work colleagues know. Possibly the child’s school friends know too.

A local journalist, who met the family in the early days, says the parents are worried sick about the girl’s future and the stigma she will face when she grows up. The father has also spoken of his worries over her health.

Medical tests so far show that her health is “good” though she suffers from “mild anaemia”.

But there are other concerns. The girl was born with a hole in her heart, which was plugged in 2013. Although doctors say it’s unlikely to interfere with her pregnancy, the fact remains that she is way too young to give birth.

Every year, 45,000 adult women die during childbirth in India. The risk of pregnant girls under the age of 15 years dying is two-and-a-half times higher than that for women above 20. Doctors say the risk is even higher for someone who is only 10.

It’s a concern the Supreme Court took on board, but the judges still ruled that the pregnancy could continue.

So what will happen next?

Those in the know say the baby is due by the middle of September and the doctors have decided that it will be a Caesarean delivery. In case of any complications, the birth could be earlier.

Since the girl’s family have said they want nothing to do with the baby, the newborn will be looked after by the child welfare committee until it is put up for adoption.

Medical experts say the 10-year-old is bound to suffer from mental trauma and will need years of counselling from a child psychologist.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed for her,” said a child rights worker. “Can a 10-year-old deliver a child? Could it be life threatening for her? We are praying that nothing bad happens to her.”

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