#I'm gonna post this to sate a few of those urges!

[cherrydreamer]

Billy's been living at the Byers' for a while. And with his new address comes a few other things that Billy has to wrap his head around. And it’s more than just getting used to sleeping in Jonathan Byers' old room, curling up under faded Ninja Turtle sheets and slotting his few possessions in amongst the leftover books and tapes that Jon hadn’t wanted to take to NYU.

It’s things like breakfast at the Byers’ only being quiet because no one's fully awake, not because everyone's on edge already. And how, when Joyce asks questions over dinner, it’s because she wants to have a conversation about his day and his plans for later, not because she’s gearing up to make an accusation.

And things like how Billy can wake up from a nightmare and know that the figure silhouetted in the doorway isn’t going to berate him for waking them up, but is going to come in, put a gentle arm around his shoulders and say things like, 'you're safe, honey, I promise. You're OK.' and when he inevitably cries, they'll just hold him closer and stroke his hair and murmur those assurances over and over again until he falls back to sleep. And it’s things like how easily Joyce seems to slot him into her home. How within a week she's buying Cinnamon Toast Crunch and the pulpy orange juice that Billy prefers. How she notices when Billy’s shampoo is running low and picks up a new bottle when she runs out to buy milk, waving off all his attempts to pay her back. And how she has coffee ready and waiting for him every morning, poured into a brand new mug with a dumb cartoon of a blond guy with shades and a surfboard because, as Joyce said with an apologetic smile, ‘you’ve gotta admit there’s a resemblance’.

Then there’s the really big stuff. Like how Joyce spots Billy and Steve making out in the Beemer and, instead of being mad or disgusted or upset, she just grins and puts two thumbs up, and then later that night tells Billy that she’s so happy for him, for them both. Because Steve’s a good guy and as long as he makes Billy happy then all that matters is that they’re being safe. And it’s more than her just being OK with it. It’s the casual way that she starts to pepper Steve into conversations. How she’ll ask Billy how Steve’s doing and whether Billy wants to invite him round for dinner one night. How she says things like, “Do you have any plans tonight? With a certain someone?” with the biggest smile and a nudge of her elbow to his side, like any mom teasing their kid about a crush.

Billy isn't used to that at all. But he thinks he’s starting to be. 

Until one night, when he’s moping around the house after Steve had to cancel their date night plans.  And he knows he’s being pathetic, knows that Joyce has noticed when she brings him a hot chocolate and sits beside him on the bed, pretending to look through the ever growing collection of books on his nightstand and asks, with faux nonchalance,  “No plans tonight then?” 

So Billy shakes his head and grunts out the explanation. How Steve got forced into doing the late shift, covering for Robin who's called in sick. “That’s a shame,” Joyce murmurs, patting his arm sympathetically. And Billy shrugs and sips his cocoa and tastes a hint of cinnamon. Just like his mom used to make it.  Then Joyce thinks for a minute and pats his shoulder,  “Maybe we could rent a movie tonight? Been a while since I got to do something nice with my boys.”

And Billy freezes at that. His eyes go wide. And he thinks that maybe Joyce is just in a habit of saying it, maybe it just falls from her tongue after years of being a mom of two. Maybe she doesn't mean it like he thought- hoped- for a second that she did.

But then she smiles, full beam warmth right at him, “Sound good? Family time? Me, you and Will? We'll make some popcorn and maybe get some-”

But Billy’s not listening. His head is spinning and his eyes burning and his throat’s doing that achey, tight thing it does right before he’s going to cry. But he’s OK. He’s fine. He’s holding it together. "Honey?"

He closes his eyes and tries to will it all away, but there's no fooling Joyce. He should know that by now. 

"Is it Steve? Have you two had a fight?"

The concern in her voice is all it takes, and then the tears are falling and Joyce is wrapping him up in her arms and stroking his hair as he shakes his head and tries to explain, tries to get the words out between shuddering breaths, "No. It's… family? I didn't...I…I'm family?"

Billy knows he's not making much sense, but Joyce must get it because she just holds him even tighter, pressing a kiss against the top of his head, "Oh, honey, of course you are. Of course you are." 

And she keeps holding him. Keeps holding and comforting until he pulls away, wiping at his eyes and clearing his throat all while Joyce watches with her head cocked to one side and a fond smile on her face, "How about you come with and help me pick the movie? For family film night." She reaches over to squeeze his hand at those last words before a mischievous grin spreads over her face, "We'll go to Family Video. I heard there's a handsome boy working there tonight.” 

[blackhatcannons]

You know how Mr Alan Ituriel joked about being Black Hat's dad. Okay, what if that were true, and Mr Ituriel was his dad and raised him since he was a barely sentient eldritch squid baby monster thing. How's that possible if BH is probably really fucking old. Easy Mr Ituriel would be some immortal that one day was like"yep, I'm going to raise this demon. Sounds fun." But he's the most suburban of dads ever, but never tried stifling BH's evil tendencies, he encouraged them even.

(Continued) Like Mr Ituriel has seen his son kill several men, and was just like ‘eh, kids will be kids.’ He is an immortal that gives no fucks. He is one of the few humans BH can say he’s ‘fond’ of (will never say it out loud) The one time he visited his son, because he’s a proud pop pop of his sons success and see how he’s doing because HE NEVER CALLS. So as a slight act of payback, he tells EMBARRASSING stories ‘Remember when your powers started to come in Hattie? You scared yourself silly!’

((I am torn between staying consistent with my personal theories and completely abandoning them for this great hc. So let’s just say I’m gonna be very contradictory with whatever the fuck I post, because oh man Normal Dad Alan Ituriel is a very good idea indeed.))

Alan, an immortal demi-human with abnormal morals who lives in the Mexican suburbs, is walking by an alleyway or something when he hears some kind of blood-curdling screech

naturally his first instinct is ‘oooh what the fuck is that let’s go find out.’ so he looks in a dumpster, and finds one dead-looking prostitute with some kind of Alien-franchise-esque parasite abomination thing crawling out of her chest cavity. It’s covered in blood, seems to be only made of wriggling black tentacles, and hissing.

“Aww, cute! Come on little guy, let’s get you cleaned up.” He kinda scoops him up with a shopping bag; he may be immortal, but fuck touching whatever fluids those are. Alan casually carries his writhing, screaming horrorterror baby home in a yellow plastic bag, and promptly throws it into the tub.

(Cue the insane bathtime montage where Alan locks it in the bathroom and sprays it with the showerhead until it’s clean enough to touch. BH tries to “kill” him (his hand) several times. Alan laughs.)

Once BH is thoroughly doused, he resembles a drenched eldritch cat, a soggy, angry bundle of wriggling flesh, multiple eyes, and gnashing teeth. He has not stopped trying to bite Alan.

Alan grabs him by the "scruff" and he immediately starts fighting back. He puts him in a cage until BH tires himself out from screaming and pounding at the bars. The two just stare at each other for a moment, silently regarding the other.

Alan sits in front of it and throws a small piece of raw meat into the cage. BH devours it in seconds. Alan unlocks the cage. BH instantly tries to attack him again. Alan puts him back in the cage. He waits a few minutes for the tantrum to end, then repeats the process.

eventually BH realizes he can get more food if he stays still for longer. so he stops fighting back and let’s Alan lure him closer, piece by piece. Eventually Alan has BH practically in his lap, literally eating out of the palm of his hand. With more food in him, he’s calmed down a bit. Alan smiles. Okay, this is pretty cute.

Only Alan would find BH eating cute tbh, it’s quite fucking disgusting how much raw meat has been spilled all over the place

Eventually BH is sated, becoming sleepy and much more complacent. He bites very, very weakly when Alan picks him up. Alan kind of cradles him like a baby, then pets him like a cat. The tentacles quiver. “Weird.” He thinks that means he likes it? BH falls asleep in Alan’s arms. “Cool.”

Fast forward a couple months, when BH exits the “larval stage.” That outer casing of tentacles is basically a cocoon, and BH eats and grows and eats and grows until he goes from small cat-sized to human-toddler sized. Then he stops fucking moving.

Alan freaks out thinking that he’s killed his adopted son after poking him with a stick for a day doesn’t do anything. Then, the outer casing splits open. BH re-emerges from his “pupal stage” as a fully-grown juvenile, basically a one-year old child. He looks like a miniature version of his current form, but without the dapper clothes or any teeth, and with two open eyes. Alan literally squeals and hugs him. BH tries to bite him again. Some things never change.

From there it’s basically like raising a baby, with a couple more eldritch aspects. BH grows twice as fast as an ordinary human. Alan dresses him in adorable baby clothes, not because he needs them, but because it makes him look “soooooo cuuuuute!!!”

BH’s teeth grow in, and Alan has to use metal teething rings when normal plastic doesn’t work. BH’s learns how to walk with Alan holding his hands. BH’s claws grow in and Alan files them down for him so he doesn’t hurt himself.

It takes about a month or so for BH to start talking. Normally he makes little eldritch blurbles that would make a human’s bones melt. Alan just repeats normal words that sound vaguely similar. Eventually BH gets the hang of it. (BH always claims that his first word was “evil”, but it’s his and Alan’s closest-kept secret that it was actually “papá”)

Black Hat’s powers come in during his “evil puberty.” He wakes up one morning feeling a little odd and… shimmery? It feels like his body isn’t quite there, like he’s almost floating outside of his flesh. Then he looks down, focusing on his arm. It solidifies more, feels less fuzzy. He focuses again, bringing the fuzziness back, and watches as it changes

“DAD HOLY FUCK”

Alan is kind of nervous as BH demonstrates how he can turn his arm into an actual, functioning snake. He gets even more nervous when BH starts sleep-teleporting. Alan wakes up with BH on the roof, BH in the garden, BH on the floor of his room, and BH a couple streets away. He always manages to find his son though, he just has to hurry before BH wakes up. (The first time Black Hat woke up after a sleep-teleport, he was confused and scared and started ripping dimensional holes trying to get home. Alan found him about a town over, but it had been quite the scare.)

Shortly after this, BH's "edgy" phase started. ("MY NAME IS MR. WUT NOW DAD") Alan never really tried to talk him out of it, instead just giving him the eldritch version of "The Talk."

"Now I know that lately your body has been going through some... changes, and I know that might be scary. But any, uh, urges you feel are completely natural, and--" "DAD FOR FUCK'S SAKE I KNOW ALREADY, OKAY?? I've been murdering people for like, five months now." "Oh, okay, if you ever need any, protection, or help hiding a body, you know you can always ask--" "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING ROOM!"

It's a great relationship they have. BH moves out a couple years later to start his business, and refuses to call Alan (out of pride? probably??) Alan doesn't let him get away that easily, and each year he makes several unannounced visits. It almost always results in some kind of one-sided yelling match between the angry Black Hat and his cheerful dad, as his horrified employees listen on...