#steve was unknowingly abusive towards billy

[honeii-puff]

So me and my friend had a debate and it made me realize how you can see which characters are favored by the creators by how much of their backstory (how the grew up, what happened before s1, their family lives) we know of them.

For this, im going to be using characters that got introduced in S1, as they have had the most time to be added onto (almost a decade), plus Max as a shoe-in.

This list would be: The Byers(+el), the Wheelers, The Hendersons, the Sinclairs, the Mayfields, and the Harringtons.

The Byers:

Joyce married Lonnie and had Jonathan and Will before separating (I don't remember explicitly why, probably because he was a piece of shit). Jonathan and Will live with Joyce with no visitation from Lonnie, and are very close. Joyce isn't the most stable parent, so Jonathan helps around, kind of co-parenting Will. El grew up in the lab, and we see all the stuff that happens when shes younger, which makes sense since she is the main face of the show, so she's kind of exempt from this list.

The Wheelers:

On the outside, they're seen as the perfect suburban family, but in reality, Karen and Ted are in a loveless marriage, especially proven in s3 when Karen is having a weird relationship with Billy. The Wheeler siblings have a normal sibling dynamic of shouting and a love-hate relationship, with (this mainly applying to Nancy) the pressure of having to hold up the "perfect family" image.

The Mayfields:

Max's mom married Billy's dad when Max was young (I dont know if they mentioned what happened to her dad or if i just forgot), after Billy's mom had died. They lived in California until they were introduced in s2. Billy's dad is physically and verbally abusive, which has influenced Billy's actions towards Max. After Billy's death, we know that Billy's dad left, and that Max's mom isn't in a good mental state, leaving Max to take care of herself while also coping with her brother's death.

Now lets compare that to what we know about the Hendersons, the Sinclairs, and the Harringtons:

The Hendersons:

Dustin's dad isn't in the picture (we dont know why), and his mom likes cats.

The Sinclairs:

Lucas has both of his parents, who are in a loving relationship, and he has his sister Erica, who he has a generic sibling relationship with.

The Harringtons:

Rich background, Steve's parents are never around, but it's never expressed as to what his relationship with them is like. (Ik he wasn't meant to be a main character and he was supposed to die in s1, but its been a decade, they could have added onto it at any time)

We can also see this in how their trauma affects them

El and Will both have similar "im the freak" mindsets, which gives them the struggle of being able to make new friends and expand their circle. They also have a lot of trauma from the upside down, and El unknowingly blocked memories of what happened with 001 due to how traumatic they were.

Mike was bullied his whole life, which does reflect in his character, making him quick to react to situations rather than analysing them before responding. His trauma doesn't come from his family, but from other people he has been around. With both him and Nancy, it is shown that they both struggle with telling people that they care about "I love you" (Nancy with Steve, Mike with El), probably from seeing how "love" affected their parents.

Max's mental health had a steep decline after loosing Billy, and it is explicitly shown and a large part of her character in s4, so that one needs little explanation due to how blatantly obvious it is.

Now, Dustin, Lucas, and Steve have all been dealing with the Upside Down just as long as the others have been (besides Max), and little trauma is shown from it.

Dustin and Lucas were both bullied like Will and Mike were, yet it doesn't seem to actually affect their character like it has for Mike and Will. Both also have their share of events happening with the Upside Down.

Steve did go through a character arc, but we don't see how trauma has affected him, especially since he seems to be the shows punching bag. He got tortured by russians, almost got shot by his ex, has gotten into fight after fight for these kids, and got dragged to the bottom of the lake by his ankles and proceeded to get strangled and attacked by bats.

And none of them seemed to be affected by any of it.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

If there are any other ST characters you want an analysis on, send an ask!

[pendinganchor]

i’m always skeptical of sharing ideas online but then again i never end up writing them so fuck it! maybe read the tags first for this one cause there’s some trigger warnings and a very important disclaimer.

- this is an everyone lives/nobody dies because I SAID SO (not sure of the canon timeline but that’s something i can figure out if i ever actually write this)

- eddie and steve are dating and eddie makes a joke about being steve’s first

- “eddie, you are not the first boy i’ve dated” (unrelated but my phone autocorrected boy to big FOR WHAT)

- then eddie becomes obsessed with learning who else steve has dated. steve refuses to tell him. so he looks for clues in steve’s room, which leads to a whole lot of nothing

- some time later, they get into an unrelated fight that causes steve to react in a way that freaks him out a little (as in eddie gets a little too loud and close and steve recoils like he’s about to get hit)

- steve had told him about his parents and how “they aren’t abusive, eddie. they never hit me.”

- so eddie’s mind reels because why would he react like that. sure he’d gotten into physical fights a lot but never like that. and he never coward from a fight either

- he stops pestering steve about his past relationships and for a while forgets he was even curious about it

- when the kids learn about their relationship, dustin says “better than the last guy” under his breath. which steve shuts down immediately. eddie is hurt because “henderson knows but you refuse to tell me?” he completely misses max glaring at dustin then leaving the room

- they get into a fight again, this time related. the kids overhear it. steve storms out, max follows.

- it’s calm for a while, everyone trying to forget about the fight. their relationship is strained, they can both feel it, but steve still won’t open up about it

- a familiar smell smacks eddie in the face one day when he’s picking up max from her house. a cologne he had found in steve’s bathroom that he’d never seen steve wear

- “shitbird! can you at least acknowledge that i spoke to you?” billy yells from behind her, he then gives eddie a look that reads as hurt. but they had never really spoken. “yeah, yeah,” max yells back with a wave of her hand “i’ll be back before neil and mom get home.”

- the car ride is silent. “eddie, what the hell is wrong with you?” max asks while throwing her hands up. eddie plays it off but max isn’t stupid, he’s been tense the whole time. “just ask me the fucking question.” eddie is silent for a moment longer then asks her what cologne her brother wears. she blinks at him for a second before answering because that definitely wasn’t the question she was expecting

- so now eddie knew two things: steve has an abusive ex and steve used to date billy

- with how dustin talks about billy, eddie is instantly convinced they are the same person, but if he asks steve about it he knows it’ll lead to yet another fight

- he goes to the kids (like an idiot)

- dustin instantly starts shitting on billy, max then starts screaming at dustin while lucas tries to calm her down. mike is on dustin’s side and lucas is on max’s. “just because you’re dating his sister-” “shut up mike he’s fucking trying.”

- will stays quiet not sure he should butt into the conversation in fear of getting yelled at too but he’s definitely with max and billy on this, he knows the signs of abuse

- el quickly runs upstairs to get nancy

- “eddie you need to come with me right now” nancy says in her ‘i’m in charge and not listening to me means trouble for you’ voice. she drives them over to steve’s house. “i’m going to talk to him then you will go in after i’m done.” she gets out without elaborating further

- she comes back twenty minutes later and eddie totally didn’t spend the time trying to figure out if he should run away or not

- nancy sends him in and steve is pacing the floor of his living room when he walks in “i can’t believe this,” steve is saying. “i cant fucking believe this.”

- “steve?”

- he instantly stops at the sound of eddie’s voice. “you think that just because we’re dating now, you deserve my entire life story?” he doesn’t give eddie a chance to respond. “how could you possibly think billy was abusive when you don’t even know him?”

- “we’ll you were clearly abused by someone and if the shoe fits.”

- “billy wasn’t the abusive one in our relationship. i was.” eddie just stares at him. “god, i didn’t know it at the time and he held onto me for dear life even when i was being a jackass. why do you think he’s the only sibling that doesn’t hang around us? max still doesn’t fully trust me around him.”

- “dustin said-“

- “dustin is a child who doesn’t know any better and refuses to admit that i’m not always in the right.”

- “you still refuse to admit your parents are abusive because they didn’t hit you.”

- “because maybe i think i deserved it cause i’m no better than them.”

- steve tells eddie about what he did (which was verbal and emotional stuff that he honestly didn’t know any better about at the time but he also knows in hindsight he was in the wrong) and that his abusive ex was from when he dated a junior his freshman year and he didn’t like talking about it because it was a girl and he thought it embarrassing

and that’s really all i have atm

[wallywrites]

Prompt #7 “Why are you up so late?” And prompt #25 “You don’t get to say that to me!” as randomly suggested by one of my best friends (thanks Jaz!!)

If you want to request a prompt from the list feel free!

(If you couldn’t tell by the prompts, this is gonna be a bit angsty, also mentions of emotional abuse so just a warning in case that might affect you)

Read on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26149621

✨Harringrove au✨

Steve didn’t expect to find anyone out by the quarry that night. He was always alone whenever he would drive out to the water, anytime he couldn’t sleep, which was most nights at this point. Sit on the front of his BMW with a six pack of stale beers to his left and a pack of Marlboro’s to his right, a cigarette between his lips as he lets the smoke heat his body.

He did this often. Found his way out by the water on a bad night, a night he couldn’t sleep, when his nightmares were too loud and every shadow or slight noise made him jump three feet out of his skin. It had become a habit of his, goosebumps constantly rising up his spine at the change of the wind, even the smallest of things causing fear to run through him on instinct, always prepared for the worst to happen.

That’s what most of his nightmares were about. The monsters took up most of his thoughts, but some nights the monsters took the form of other people, like the party, their dead bodies surrounding him because he couldn’t save them, or his parents, just echoes of their empty faces and their harsh words. Sometimes they were even of Nancy, of that night he replays over and over again, the word ‘bullshit’ echoing through his head, bouncing around the walls of his skull.

And then there was Billy. Billy. He often had nightmares about Billy. Not in how you’d expect him to have, though. The nightmares were never about being scared of him, about the harsh words and the harsher fists that Billy had often thrown towards Steve before. No, instead the nightmares were about Billy not being there.

He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if Billy were to ever get caught up in the horrors of the town of Hawkins. He had forgiven him for that night at the Byers house, never held it against him as much as he tried to. And trust that he tried. Tried so hard to be angry with him. But every time he looked towards him, his blue eyes, thick lashes or that stupid smirk on his face, he couldn’t be mad. Not really.

And things were better between them, they really were. Things were good. Billy hadn’t really apologised yet, but he didn’t need to. Steve knew he was sorry, knew he didn’t know how to say it, so he showed it as best he could. And Steve understood. He was good at understanding. Understanding that Billy’s effort to befriend Steve, and his effort to not be as much of an asshole to his sister or any of the kids, and his effort to get into less fights were all really an attempt at showing that he was sorry.

But despite this, it still surprised Steve when he heard the roar of the Camaro, the headlights flashing out onto the water as the car came to a stop next to his own. He didn’t bother to look towards him as the engines turned off, the forest around them darkening, instead he took another drag of his cigarette, listening as Billy opened the car door, continued to listen as the same door closed, the sound of his footsteps taking over, breaking through the quiet of the night.

Billy didn’t speak as he pushed himself up onto the trunk of the BMW, stealing a cigarette from Steve’s pack, lighting it with his own lighter he pulled from the pocket of his jacket, the same one he always wears. They sat in silence for a few minutes like that, none of them bothering to speak, smoke filling the air around them. 

Steve had finished his beer by now, tossing the empty can towards the trees before grabbing another, passing it towards Billy, who took it graciously. They continued to sit in silence, and it wasn’t until they both were on their next beers before Billy decided to say something. 

“Why are you up so late?” 

Steve wanted to laugh, roll his eyes and ask the exact same question, but he really didn’t have the energy to. He knew Billy wasn’t out there to look for him. People knew he didn’t sleep as much as he should, sure, but no one knew that he often left his house in the middle of the night, let alone where he went, meaning that Billy was also up late, on his own terms, deciding for himself that somewhere like the quarry was a better place for him than back home in a warm bed. But Steve really didn’t want to get into that, into wondering what made Billy Hargrove leave the comfort of his house in the middle of the night. Part of him knew he didn’t want to know because he knew he probably wouldn’t like the answer.

So instead he answered like he always did when someone would catch him awake at unreasonable times, whenever someone began to show any sign of concern.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Billy huffed out in response, taking another sip of his beer as he watched Steve. He didn’t bother looking back, already having a feeling that his answer wasn’t going to be enough for Billy. He took another sip of his own beer, continuing to stare out towards the trees. Billy huffed out again, gesturing out towards the trees as he spoke.

“So what are you doing all the way out here?” he asked, dropping his arms by his side, looking back towards Steve, who watched the movement out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t that he wasn’t paying attention, and it wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to Billy, but he was exhausted, and Billy wouldn’t understand, and then he’d have to deal with more mocking than he already got, and he didn’t want to give Billy, or anyone else another reason to make fun of him, call him a pussy, because you’re a grown fucking man you shouldn’t have fucking nightmares.

So he sighed out again, thinking, something plain, something simple, something that could mean anything, not necessarily good or bad. Something that wont tell Billy the truth, as much as he felt himself wanting to, wanting to open up to someone.

“Just thinking. It’s quiet out here, makes it easier.” It wasn’t a lie, it was quiet out here, but it was quiet at home too. But the quiet of Steve’s too big and too empty house made his skin crawl. He hated the silence he got whenever he was home alone, which was most days at this point. At least out here, amongst the trees and the bugs and the monsters, there was something. Some type of noise to distract him from the growing quiet that was his life back home. Something to focus on to distract him from the growing noise in his head, which only grew louder the more quiet it was.

He really wanted Billy to drop it, but he knew Hargrove, knew that dropping it wasn’t an option. He didn’t even have time to think about why Billy actually cared to ask before he answered again, asking another question Steve didn’t want to answer. 

“What about?”

Steve didn’t mean to snap, didn’t want to be angry with Billy, wasn’t even angry at Billy, but his head hurt, and he was exhausted, and his body ached and the one time someone actually cared to ask Steve what was going on it was Billy fucking Hargrove with his stupid blue eyes and stupid concerned face and god, Steve, fucking snap out of it.

“Why do you care, Billy? And why are you even here?”

Steve was frustrated, but more because he was just plain confused. Why now did Billy care? Steve didn’t think he cared that much about him, didn’t think anyone did, didn’t think he was worth it. But here he was, sitting on the trunk of his car with someone who looked like they gave a shit, looked like they actually cared. And it scared him, though he wouldn’t want to admit it, that the idea of someone actually caring about him scared him more than anything else.

And Billy didn’t even get mad, which angered Steve more for some reason he would have to unpack later. Instead Billy just shrugged, taking another sip of his beer before answering calmly, as if that’s what they did. As if it was normal for them to have an actual conversation alone in the woods in the middle of the night.

“Needed to get out of the house, didn’t really have anywhere else to go.. and I care, because I’m doing this thing, where I try to not be an asshole, and you look like shit” Billy said back, and it took Steve a moment to register what he actually said, still in a daze by how calm he was, how he wasn’t angry like Steve was.

Steve finally glanced towards Billy, furrowed eyebrows at what he said, and by the look on Billy’s face, he knew exactly what was going through Steve’s mind. He raised his hands as if he was surrendering, chuckling slightly as he spoke.

“Hey I said I was trying, doesn’t mean I’m very good at it.”

Steve just sighed out, looking away again. He knew Billy didn’t mean anything by it, and it really wouldn’t surprise Steve if he did look like shit, but he didn’t even bother to think about it as he thought about what Billy said. Needed to get out of the house. Steve knew all about that, but what would drive Billy to need to get away? Before Steve could think about the implications of that sentence, what Billy might have unknowingly shared, Billy continued.

“Just, you look like somethings bothering you.”

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, thinking this over. It felt weird, feeling himself want to open up to Billy. He didn’t even know what Billy and him were. Friends? Maybe.They definitely weren’t the closest people, and they still tend to bump heads a bit, but they had come a long way from being rivals, or enemies, or whatever they were. But then Steve thought about that strange infatuation he found himself having towards the other, knowing that if he opened up, he probably wouldn’t stop, and more feelings would come out, feelings that he still wasn’t even 100% sure of himself. And he didn’t want to risk that.

“It’s nothing, okay? It’s not important.”

Billy paused, thinking, and then the words that left his mouth caused Steve’s blood to boil, the fastest he thinks he has ever gotten angry.

“You should open up to someone about it”

He didn’t know why he was getting so riled up by the thought of Billy telling him to open up, but then he remembered it was Billy, and he was mad and frustrated and exhausted and really wasn’t having a good day. So he scoffed out, finally turning to face Billy.

“What the fuck? No, fuck off Hargrove, you don’t get to say that to me!” Billy seemed stunned by the response, blinked a few times as if trying to register what was actually happening, but before he could say anything, Steve continued, rolling his eyes as he looked away from him.

“Open up, yeah fucking right, when was the last time you ever opened up to someone? I don’t know a fucking thing about you, other than you have a good right hook and you love your car more than you’ve probably loved anything else in your life!”

Steve could see him tense up out of the corner of his eyes, saw his jaw clench, his fists tightening around his beer. It was obvious that Billy was angry, and Steve knew what he said would’ve pissed Billy off, and maybe he was looking for a fight, wanted to release the built up anger and frustration and sadness in some way. But Billy didn’t budge, stayed silent instead, just watching, waiting for Steve to look, or speak, or do something. 

Steve didn’t want to look, he knew what would probably happen if he did. Knew that if he found Billy’s fucking beautiful eyes, he would instantly feel guilty, knowing he didn’t really want to be mean to Billy, that Billy hadn’t done anything wrong, that he was just angry and upset and weak. 

And then the guilt started, before he even had a chance to look at him, and when he finally looked up he felt even worse. Billy still didn’t speak as he looked towards Steve, who tried to figure out what the other was thinking, feeling. He looked, tired, something Steve didn’t notice before, and then he felt worse. Billy didn’t want to fight, he wanted to help. And Steve wasn’t letting him, because he was scared, of opening up to someone, to Billy.

A groan escaped Steve as he finally pulled his attention from Billy, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, releasing a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding. He paused for another moment, and when Billy remained quiet, he looked back out towards the trees.

“Nightmares, Bill. I get.. I get bad nightmares, and they keep me up all night, and I hate being in that house alone, so..”

And he knew. He knew that it wouldn’t stop there, that it was too late to turn back now. But, a part of him felt relief. But that was buried way down when Billy spoke again, when Steve realised he would have to explain. And that relief was suddenly filled with dread, and then he was scared again.

“.. what about?” Billy asked, and if Steve was really paying attention and not concentrating on how fast his heart was beating, he would have noticed the soft tone to Billy’s voice, or the way he moved slightly closer to Steve, or that he still hasn’t looked away.

“Nothing.. everything, I don’t know.” He knew he couldn’t tell Billy about the monsters, what most of his nightmares were about, what not only plagued his dreams but plagued his thoughts, his life. And he definitely couldn’t tell him about his nightmares involving Billy. Just the idea that he has dreams of Billy would probably get him multiple broken bones and bruises. 

“What about tonight then?”

And then he sighed again, glancing towards Billy, concern still written on his face, and when he moved closer, Steve closed his eyes, finally answering what was bothering him tonight, what forced him out of his house and into the darkness of Hawkins.

“My parents.” It was a simple enough answer, one that left Billy questioning what he meant, panicking slightly at what it could mean. Steve looked away again, didn’t notice how Billy instinctively looked him over, looking for any sign of bruising or past injuries, because Billy knew. He knew about having nightmares about your parents, about the things they do that keep you up at night. 

“You have nightmares about your parents?” Billy asked, this time Steve noticing the slight panic, but he brushed it off, because why would he panic? They’re just nightmares, right? I mean, yeah, Steve didn’t have the best relationship with them, and sure, whenever they would actually come home, Steve found himself feeling like even more shit than he already does, but Billy didn’t know that.

And before he knew what was happening, he started to feel defensive, to feel those fears coming back, because it’s stupid, isn't it? Having nightmares about your parents? And Billy was probably ready to laugh, ready to tease him about something so stupid. So he crossed his arms over his chest, glaring towards him, not wanting to be weak, to be vulnerable. 

“What? You’re gonna make fun of me for it?”

Steve had never seen Billy change expressions so quickly, his concern turned to actual panic, something Steve didn’t think he’d ever seen before. Couldn’t think of a time he saw Billy panic in general, didn’t expect Billy to care that much either. But he did, and Steve had no idea why, but he would be lying if he said that it didn’t make him feel a little better.

“No, I.. No” Billy stumbled over his words, sighing out as he paused. He wasn’t good at this, at the whole talking thing. At the whole friend thing, either. But he was trying, and he really didn’t want Steve to think he was just riling him up, looking for a reason to pick on him. Because he wasn’t. He knew about nightmares, about nightmares about your parents, and then he was worried again, and then he was determined.

“Why do you have nightmares about them?”

“.. it’s stupid, really-”

“Steve, why do you have nightmares about your parents?” he asked again, more stern than before, angry, almost, and more concerned than Steve had initially realised. More concerned than Steve had ever seen him. He finally looked to Billy, pausing as he realised Billy was actually worried still, possibly more than before, and Steve wondered what was going through Billy’s head, what he was assuming Steve had meant. And so he spoke, slowly, the words circling around in his head again, the nightmare coming back to him, his life coming back.

“They just.. say things, sometimes”

“What things Steve?”

He didn’t know why he felt the urge to tell Billy everything his parents ever had said to him. He felt like he would tell Billy all of his secrets if he asked, and he hated that. But then he remembered how worried Billy looked, how it actually seemed like he cared, how close they were, and, well, he couldn’t really stop.

“That I’m, useless, worthless, I’m not good at anything, I don’t deserve anything, that I’m an idiot, a fucking retard who can’t even fucking read without spacing out, that I’m a fucking burden who they wish they never had, that I’d never be loved.. just, fucking everything that could be wrong with someone, anything that would make me feel like complete and utter shit because to them that’s all I fucking am.”

He didn’t realise he had started crying until the lump in his throat grew bigger, causing him to almost choke on the tears, struggling to hold back a sob. He had never said out loud what his parents do, what they say, and for some reason it hurt a hell of a lot more than Steve thought it would. And he felt stupid. He felt so fucking stupid, admitting everything to Billy fucking Hargrove, who sat staring at him, frozen, watching as he broke apart on the trunk of his BMW in the middle of god fucking nowhere.

“Steve-”

Steve shook his head, wiping harshly at his cheeks. He refused to look at Billy any longer, training his eyes on the trees around him. This was stupid, Billy didn’t care, why would he? No one cared, so why would this be any different?

“Look, just, forget it, okay? It’s stupid, this is stupid-” he pushed off away from his car, wanting to get away, not wanting to be here, feel what he was feeling, but Billy didn’t let him get that far, pushing himself from the BMW, reaching out towards the other.

His fingers wrapped around Steve’s wrist, and he flinched, closing his eyes, preparing to be hit for being stupid, for being weak, preparing to be told to grow the fuck up and get over it, but it never came. Instead, he felt himself being pulled towards Billy, before two arms wrapped around his back, and when he opened his eyes, all he could see was Billy’s blond curls.

“What are you doing?”

Billy just huffed out, but it didn’t sound like he was annoyed, or angry, or upset. He was just, tired. And Steve didn’t think he had ever related to Billy as much as he did now. Tired. And then he answered, pulling Steve even closer.

“Hugging you”

“Why?”

“Just, relax, Steve. It’s okay.” And then Steve felt himself finally let go, no longer trying to maintain his tears, keep in his sobs. Because he was tired. He was really fucking tired, of keeping in all the shit that happens, pretending that everything was fine when they weren't, and someone finally actually fucking cared. So he let himself sob into Billy’s shoulder, let his once enemy hug him and hold him in the middle of fucking nowhere, hold him until the tears ran out.

And maybe it wasn’t that bad. Letting people in, letting people help, letting people care. Maybe.

[gayforsaturdays]

Is Billy Hargrove Racist??

Yes, yes he is.

That doesn't necessarily negate the possibility of a redemption arc, however.

Before I begin, I'd like to say that I am not promoting racist ideals.  I am always down for intelligent, respectful discussion, key word respectful, so please feel free to make a counterargument - respectfully.

We live in turbulent times.  With Cheeto Voldemort in power it seems to many as though racists have taken over.  This has been a long time coming, though, racist ideas implicit in the founding of America and evolving throughout our history.  Just because racism is not as overt as it was in the fifties doesn't mean it's gone, and that the average white American is immune to its effects.  Racism is the elephant in the room that we Do Not Talk About, showing its face in ideas and stereotypes and implicit biases so ingrained into our culture that we don't even recognize them for what they are.  When we do recognize racism, it is easy to make it the Other.  This is hatred, I do not hate, I am not a part of this.  This is what I see happening in fandom, but this is not where anti-racism needs to go in order to make real impact.

The Duffer Brothers have real potential here.  They are poised on a cliff in front of a vast audience.  Will Billy Hargrove get a redemption arc to parallel our dearest Steve, or will he tip over the edge to become a villain?  If he is redeemed, will his racist comments be swept under the rug?  In a show which has done excellent work creating extraordinarily human characters with foibles and flaws, after all the work they put into Billy this season without seemingly much reason, I don't think that Billy will go without some form of redemption.  His bully arc appears to be over, and considering his father's abuse and his own PTSD, to vilify him now would feel like another depiction of mentally ill people as evil. They would absolutely need to address his racist remarks in this instance, though. 

To give another explanation for Billy's outburst over Lucas is a cop-out, one of the most common when it comes to racism.  Not My Problem.  I don't want to deal with it, so I'm just going to pretend it isn't there.  This is silence, and silence is complicity - if we don't speak up, it will never end. 

To vilify Billy and his racism would actually be damaging as well, though.  I know that sounds bad, but hear me out.  Remember how I said that racism is a set of ideas and biases and stereotypes ingrained into our culture?  Those ideas and biases and stereotypes are bought into, often unknowingly, by average white people all across the country.  Average, white, human persons.  Human beings whose primary defining feature is not "a racist" - not white hoods and burning crosses.  This is where the potential with Billy lies - to show that a person who holds racist ideas is still a human being, and can even let go of those ideas as they learn and grow, as humans do.  The only way we can really dismantle racism is from the inside out, calling out our own ingrained prejudices and changing hearts and minds. 

It wouldn't even be that difficult to do with Billy - as his redemption arc begins, he'll want to distance himself from every vestige of his father.  With Neil tossing the f-word around so nonchalantly, I don't doubt that Billy's father has been the major influencer in his beliefs.  I want to see Max calling Billy out on his misguided distrust of Lucas, in explicit terms.  Leave no doubt as to the fact that Billy has inherited racist ideas from his father.  If Max and Billy have a conversation like this, perhaps Billy can begin to realize that this too is part of his father's legacy.  I want to see him awkwardly trying to reach out to Lucas, having no idea how to talk to him or apologise, committing little microaggressions like white people do all the time.  Have him say something that people say all the time and have Lucas give him the Lucas Look of Wtf, Bro (tm) so people will go oh, that's not a good thing to say.  I want to see Billy and Max go to pick up Lucas and Erica opens the door and totally calls him out, super sassy, because I fuckin love her ok Erica is the shit.  I want to see Billy experiencing white discomfort and realizing that he was wrong - not just about Lucas specifically because that gets into exceptionalist territory, but about people of color.  I want to see Billy feeling bad about everything he's done and believed and actively wanting to change, taking real steps towards making amends and becoming a better person, because that's what he is - just another human person stuck on this rock.  Separate the idea from the human being so that people can see racism as a set of ideas we all need to fight, both internally and externally, instead of a group of people separate from self ("the racists").

Please don't hate on people for being drawn to Billy, for shipping Harringrove.  People who see the humanity and the potential of Billy's character.  Because he does have potential, both as a person and to be an expositional tool for a lot of good social justice work that could reach a lot of people.  Not just anti-racism work either, but definitely anti-sexism and potentially anti-homophobia as well.  I want to see Max and Nancy and Eleven and even, most definitely, Steve calling him out on his overuse of the word bitch and treating women like sex objects.  He also holds potential as a queer character - if you read him as queer as I and many others do, his father's abuse is even more tragic because it features so heavily homophobia and toxic masculinity.  If Billy were canonically queer, it would make a tremendous amount of sense for the amount of anger that he carries (not that being a hormonal teenager with PTSD isn't enough).  Here his father is yelling at him not to be a f*****, beating him, and Billy believing that he's right, that liking guys is wrong, that he deserves these beatings because his father is right about him.  Show us Billy, the non-stereotypical queer guy, learning that his father was wrong and learning to accept himself and let go of his self-hatred.

Having thoroughly bashed Neil, it is necessary to recognize that he, too, is human.  Everything that he believes and does is ugly and twisted, but he is driven by fear and shaped by the culture he lives in.  He sucks, but there are men like him everywhere and every one of us has to work to change our culture so that we stop creating men like him so that they will stop creating and damaging boys like Billy.  We need to hold hope close that we can change people's hearts and minds, but we can only accomplish this without hatred. 

This is what I want to see in the next season.  You have a huge audience and a fantastic platform for wonderfully human characters, Duffer bros.  You can do something really amazing with it.