#and the way billy’s appearance is obviously so important to him

[ickypuppi3]

it’s the way neil called billy that specifically in reference to billy’s appearance/billy caring about his appearance

makes you wonder how often that happens

and when it started

because i can just imagine it being a thing

like people spreading rumours about billy at school when he was younger and neil just pulls the whole “if you didn’t dress like that” “if you didn’t look like that” “there’s a reason people think you’re one of them”

and the way it can tie into the whole victim blaming “you were asking for it” mentality.. it’s just interesting to think about

[prettyboybillyhargrove]

Dacre Montgomery (‘Stranger Things’) on filming his Season 4 appearance from Australia: ‘I put everything into this moment’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Sam Eckmann TV June 17, 2023 6:30AM

“I like to do a lot of character prep and development and sort of live in character,” explains Dacre Montgomery of his acting process. The breakout “Stranger Things” star made a surprise return to the hit Netflix series in Season 4 despite his character Billy being killed in the previous season. His appearance was brief, but it provided the actor with a unique filming opportunity and the chance to put a final touch on a role that means a great deal to him. “It’s a culmination of hundreds of hours of work and really living in character in many ways,” says Montgomery. Watch the exclusive video interview above.

The Duffer Brothers called Montgomery near the start of the global pandemic with the offer to return for some pivotal scenes with Max (Sadie Sink). “And then it became quite difficult to leave Australia,” says the actor, noting that he was stuck in his home country while the series was being filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Montgomery recorded lines of dialogue for Sink to work with as she filmed in the U.S., but it became too difficult a prospect for him to join her. To his surprise, production agreed to shoot his material in Perth. “They decided to shoot the scenes in my hometown, but a sound stage of the size that they needed, with a blue screen stage, didn’t exist. So they built one just for the one scene in Western Australia, which was awesome,” he admits. The costumes, wigs, and prosthetics for Billy were flown in from across the globe, and the actor worked with a local Australian team to put it all together.

“But the strangest part of it all was I was on a blue stage,” he admits. He had a tiny earpiece playing Sink’s lines for him, but he otherwise only had a tennis ball to act opposite. The performer describes the process as “highly emotional work,” not only because of the content of the scenes, but because of his deep attachment to his character. So despite the strange circumstances, filming by himself while in and out of hotel quarantine, Montgomery “put everything into this moment.”

Because of his isolation in Oz, Montgomery reveals that he had “no real context obviously of what was happening in the rest of the season.” This includes the setup that the villain Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) produces an illusion of Billy as a representation of Max’s grief, and as a way to lure her into accepting death. But Montgomery had no designs on portraying a new version of the character. “I really just wanted to play Billy for Billy, and give the sort of authenticity of the character work in that space,” he explains, “There’s so much core memory there of Billy and who he is. So this sort of materialization of him, it was important for me to play the character properly rather than trying to be an offshoot.”

Viewers may also describe Billy as a villain, but Montgomery is drawn to the discovery of what lurks beneath the surface of this kind of figure. “There’s this sort of truth in a weird sick way in the mask,” he explains, “These antagonists, or perceived antagonists, are trying to cover up deep trauma. So obviously that they wear this mask that’s outwardly facing.” During his time on “Stranger Things,” he enjoyed exploring what made Billy put on his mask in order to humanize the character. Montgomery had to mine his own personal fears and demons in order to tap into this facet of Billy. That process is scary, but also cathartic. “I think working with Billy, there was three or four years, however long I was involved with the show, of catharsis,” states Montgomery.

[plugnuts]

Okay, I know next to nothing about FNF (except that the little blue-haired dude is bisexual and used to be in a relationship with the little orange-haired dude, but is now in a relationship with the brunette girl) (and that's all very cute). So what exactly is the story with this Yourself character? Also, is he the same as Silly Billy?

OKAY so there's a lot to unpack with this question here-- first I'll give a little background on FNF itself:

The blue haired dude is named Boyfriend, and the brunette girl is called Girlfriend, the ginger guy is called Pico (but he's not important to this question). GF and BF are obviously together, hence their names (even though in their view it's merely coincidence).

Now, as you know, BF is in a relationship with GF, right? In their own universe, yes, but Yourself (AKA Silly Billy as he's so commonly nicknamed (due to the name of the song he appears in)) is an alternate universe version of BF. Yourself is from a universe where his GF (AKA Herself) died in a tragic accident of some kind (of which we don't know) and is left in tatters, quite literally. He is shown to be a tall, lanky version of BF who appears to have lost himself when Herself died, no longer taking care of himself.

BF is normally shown as short, and this is to show off his innocence, to make him appear cute and nice. Yourself has lost that innocence, appearing at his full height, his true height. He shows that he can still be seen as innocent in the middle of the song he sings with BF as he shortens down, but that doesn't last too long as he soon grows back to his full height with a nasty laugh.

In the song Yourself sings with BF there's a cutscene near the end of the song that includes a lyrical portion, and as Yourself sings you can see Herself for a split second as he sings the line "So stay awake just long enough to see my way". He's singing with her as she appears, and you can even hear her voice in the song- and this is because her spirit resides in Yourself's mic, you can even see it glow in the beggining cutscene of the song. These lyrics are also a nod to the original mod's creator that had first created Yourself, Divide, who sadly died in his sleep due to cancer.

Yourself sings to BF with such passion, such pain, it's almost like he's warning BF to cherish GF and not lose her like he did Herself. Here's all the lyrics in the song:

I'll make you say How proud you are Of me So stay awake Just long enough Too see My way

My way

Yes, these are a nod to Divide, but I also like to view them as a nod to Herself as well. Like Yourself wishes for her to be proud of him even if she's no longer with him, to stay awake just long enough to see how far he's come, and how far he's fallen.

Also, in the frame where you can see Herself behind Yourself you can also see that Yourself has tattered angel wings, possibly to infer that he's practically dead, or some type of fallen angel - possibly as a metaphor for how broken he is without GF.

Now, a good chunk of this is simply speculation as there isn't too much info on Yourself or his story. Though, I do hope we get more on him someday.

I hope this clears some things up!

[coraniaid]

Top five Buffy characters who only appeared in one episode? Or if you want just top five Buffy characters you'd want to have seen more of

I think any list of the top five Buffy characters I'd liked to have seen more of would be pretty predictable: Faith, Amy and Kendra for sure. Probably Jenny Calendar too (although this requires the Season 2 writers to actually care about her enough to make her an actual character with a personality and motives). Not sure who the fifth would be. Ethan, maybe? Drusilla? Mr Platt?

For best one episode characters though, I'm a bit more confident on my list.

Billy Fordham [from S2E07 Lie To Me]

Lie To Me is a great episode, setting the tone for the rest of the season to come, and while Ford isn't the only reason it works so well he is definitely one of the reasons it does. There's a trend in the first couple of seasons where the show will introduce a character we've never met before, claim they have some important connection to the cast, only for them to die that episode and never be mentioned ever again. Ford is definitely in that tradition -- and I think later seasons of the show would have given him the Scott Hope or Parker Abrams treatement, introducing him a couple of episodes earlier before the big betrayal -- but in his case suddenly appearing out of nowhere works in a way that Xander's various former bullies and Willow's constantly changing intellectual competition don't always manage to do. The impact of his actions on Buffy by the end of the episode doesn't seem unearned at all.

Ted [from S2E11 Ted]

Arguably one of the show's best single episode villains ever from a consistently under-rated episode. An episode which asks deep questions that the show will come back to again and again; questions like "what if the Slayer accidentally killed a person? can she justify that to herself?" and "how would Buffy's mother react if she told her she was the Slayer; would she think Buffy was crazy?" and "what if there was some kind of freaky robot? that'd be weird, right?". But for all the goofiness of the end of the episode, there's something genuinely unsettling about the way Ted veers between John Ritter's usual sitcom dad persona and the controlling, abusive figure that only Buffy ever sees. If anything, the reveal that Ted is an unkillable monster with a string of murders to his name makes him significantly less scary than he was before.

Gwendolyn Post [from S307 Revelations]

Mrs Gwendolyn Post has so much fun being evil and making everybody's lives a little worse that I'm willing to forgive her for the fact her actual plan is laughably short-sighted and was obviously never going to work for long. Of all the Watcher-affiliated characters we actually see on screen (so, not counting Faith's first Watcher or Kendra's Watcher, both of whom I wish we'd seen as well), she's the one I wish we'd seen a little more of in the show.

Fun fact: depending on where exactly you draw the line, Gwendolyn Post is arguably the adult human woman with the fourth most speaking time over the show's entire run (after Joyce Summers, Jenny Calendar and Maggie Walsh). And yet she's only in this one single episode. Bonus fun fact: that sucks, actually.

Sunday [from S4E01 The Freshman]

Bizarrely, Sunday is one of the last named vampires the show would introduce, despite her sole epsiode falling in the first half of the show's run. I think there are ... what, maybe half a dozen more after this episode? (I understand the various factors behind it, but I think it's a shame that there are fewer and fewer actual vampire villains in the show as it progresses beyond the high school seasons.) Sunday is really fun though; I like The Freshman a lot (as I've said in another post recently), and she's a big part of why. She should have been in more episodes, frankly.

Cassie Newton [from S7E04 Help]

I've talked before about how much I like Help (and the early episodes of Season 7 more generally). I like the human level focus. I like the idea of Dawn getting to go to a new school and make new friends. I like Buffy having the chance to metaphorically go back in time and try to save her younger self. I like all the callbacks to the high school seasons. I like how unsubtle the name 'Cassandra' is. I like Cassie. She was great.

(Yes, the actor returns later this season but the character herself doesn't, so she counts.)

[manabombs]

billy bones blogging

I was Flint's first mate that voyage... three days east of Tortola in the Caribie. Flint knew an island. That's where we buried the treasure. Gold and blood, they were Flint's trademarks. He'd leave both behind him that day.

Muppet Treasure Island, 1996

As I was working on the art piece I just posted the other day, it occurred to me that it might have actually been my first time drawing Billy Bones. Which seemed Wrong, considering that he is, in fact, one of the main reasons that I fell in love with this show you know other than the vanerackham brain worms.

And I've spent a long time thinking that I should make a post articulating exactly why I'm so attached to him (I usually just keep my thoughts confined to the tags over on @benjaminagunn but this is just that important) Muppet Treasure Island came out when I was like 6 years old and was one of my favorite movies growing up. I watched it enough times to have most of the songs memorized, along with large chunks of dialogue. In particular, the opening scene. The film opens with a musical number that presents the backstory of Flint's treasure-- then cuts to a scene at a busy inn, where we are introduced to the narrator of the aforementioned tale: Billy Bones.

"Oh, aye. Fifteen men went ashore that day... and only Flint, his own self, returned. Oh, aye, and then old Flinty... up and died afore they could get back to that cursed island... and dig up the treasure. No one knows to this day who has old Flint's map. Now, isn't that a story worth the hearing?" "It was the first dozen times we heard it."

A couples scenes & a musical number later, it's revealed that Billy had the map the whole time, and he passes it to our protagonist Jim Hawkins before promptly dying. His job is to set the plot in motion and then be completely absent from the rest of the story.

In high school, I decided that since I enjoyed this movie so much, I should read the full unabridged version of the book. And the first thing that really struck me about it was the description of Billy Bones. Obviously, I was expecting there to be differences between this 19th century novel and the adaptation that involves Muppets. And the I do think that the character of Billy Bones, as portrayed by Billy Connolly, is a great adaptation of the character!

But the novel paints a more complete image of him: The boisterous side of him that we see in Muppet Treasure Island is only how he behaves on the nights he gets incredibly drunk; most of the time he is quiet and brooding.

He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove or upon the cliffs with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the parlour next the fire and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly he would not speak when spoken to, only look up sudden and fierce and blow through his nose like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came about our house soon learned to let him be. Every day when he came back from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind that made him ask this question, but at last we began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol) he would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such was present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter, for I was, in a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I would only keep my “weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg” and let him know the moment he appeared. Often enough when the first of the month came round and I applied to him for my wage, he would only blow through his nose at me and stare me down, but before the week was out he was sure to think better of it, bring me my four-penny piece, and repeat his orders to look out for “the seafaring man with one leg.”

When I read the book, I got a greater sense that Billy Bones was a man suffering from a great deal of trauma-- which is very significant for the character, considering that he literally gets Scared To Death.

So! Years later when I heard "Starz is making a pirate drama that's a prequel to Treasure Island", I was stoked! So much so that I felt like I couldn't actually watch it until I was Emotionally Ready... which wasn't until 2019.

I watched the first episode, and I cradled Billy Bones in my hands, and I said "oh my sweet summer child.... you're going to have some serious Long John Silver related PTSD by the time this is over..... you're going to become a husk of the man you are now..... you are Unkillable because your death is already written in stone baby!"

[chickensoupleg]

2 random aus since I got in a mood.

Eddie living near a lake that had rumours of mermaids living in there. The lake being huge and deep, so deep that Eddie would joke it's just a mini ocean in his own backyard. He and his uncle Wayne would go fishing there all the time, and so it was a very comforting place. Especially with the mermaid rumours. Eddie even would put the 'mermaid lake' into some of his campaigns, just for fun. Sometimes it was an important feature, where he would encourage his players to visit it, or maybe even have the big bad appear there. Then suddenly the rumours come true, when he's just writing and playing songs by the lake and hears singing coming from it. He would look out to the lake and see eyes staring back at him before disappearing into the deep. Of course, nobody believes him, because sure. The rumours are popular, but it doesn't mean people actually believe anyone would actually see them. Eddie is persistent though and keeps visiting. Even if he doesn't see whatever he saw that day, he gets to be by the lake, which is just added perk. Then he sees the mermaid for real, and turns out mermaids know English. He also learns that mermaids can be dudes, even if it's far more popular for them to be female. His mermaid friend finds it hilarious, because if mermaids were only girls than how would they procreate? Like bacteria? Which, when he puts it like that, does sound kind of stupid. Anyways, he learns the mermaid is named Billy, and that he's not actually from here at all. Which, obviously, sounds insane to Eddie, because where else would he have come from? It's a lake, and as far as Eddie is aware, not connected to the ocean in the slightest. It is a sole standing body of water as far as he's aware. Billy, the prick, laughs at him. Apparently it is connected to other bodies of water, it's just not feasible by human standards. There's a hidden underground tunnel apparently, and Billy just sort of... migrated there. Accidentally. The tunnel is somehow a powerful current, and only works one way. So he's been stuck there for years. There are a handful of other mermaids in the lake, but they don't come up since they can breathe underwater just fine despite appearing human. Ergo, they never interact with humans much either. The only reason Billy even showed up was because he liked the music Eddie was playing. Which launches Eddie into a whole plethora of questions, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Billy only answers some of them freely, and makes Eddie work to get other answers. They grow close, and since then Eddie makes it his mission to continually visit his new friend. Billy isn't much of a nerd as Eddie is, but they connect with their shared appreciation for the metal genre, even if Eddie has to be the one to supply it. In return, Billy gives him cool shells and rocks he finds. And a crab once. Which was weird, because Eddie didn't know the lake had crabs. They get close, and maybe even a little affectionate. Who knows.

Basically just centaur Harringroveson AU. Steve is a cervitaur, Eddie is a centaur, and Billy is a bariaur. They're just vibing honestly. Maybe Eddie gets the fun time of watching Steve and Billy fight by antler/horns. And then help them because they got stuck to each other. Which happens a lot, because something in their hindbrains wants to just slam their antlers/horns against each other. Dominance, or whatever it is supposed to be. Eddie certainly isn't up for the task. Fun times when Steve casually shed his antlers. Or shed his velvet, where Eddie has to go hide because it is a gory sight. He finds it metal, but also his stomach can only take so much. Billy finds it equally as gross, but his stomach is much stronger for this. Eddie is probably like... a black thoroughbred horse. Or a mustang. Just... a runner of a guy. Steve is either a common white-tailed deer or a red deer. Just for the idea of the red deer being huge and the whole King Steve kind of idea. Billy is a rambouillet ram or a rocky mountain bighorn. Just... stocky but also has a sort of glamour to him. Of course just to make it fair everyone gets the fun perk of being centaur hybrid things. Maybe El can be a unicorn centaur, as a psychic treat. (Oh my gosh unicorn Vecna.... Dark crispy unicorn Vecna.... Flesh monster...) Also I don't think cars exist in this universe, because it would be very awkward trying to fit in one, unless they were very specifically built and long to accommodate the rest of them. Oh they'd be so long. So either it is long cars, or everyone walks everywhere. Alternatively, wagons for passengers. Just for extra fun (mostly just for me) Robin is also a cervitaur, and she jokes that she stole Steve's antlers when hers come in when Steve's falls off. She'd be a reindeer, which is why it works. It also means they can put trinkets on their antlers year round. When Steve's falls off they go right on Robin's. Fun fact, sheeps can swim. Billy is not banned from his water. However, sheep can also sink because wool is a thing. Billy has to shave. Extra treat: Demotaurs. Why not.

[maximumgreenbeans]

Alright, so I have big feelings and thoughts about Ted Lasso! Todays episode was major. 

Big old feelings about it under the cut + spoilers 

I know a lot of us are very used to queer plot lines that focus on the trauma and suffering and they are important stories to tell but they’re not the only ones, there’s the joy that comes with it as well. What we got with this episode was the perfect mix of both. Because of toxic locker room and football culture it was impossible for Colin’s arc to not involve any level of pain or suffering, the important thing is that the resolution to the episode was acceptance and love. 

I know there are people who aren’t super pumped about the fact that we didn’t actually see Colin come out to the team on camera and that’s super understandable, I think it would’ve been a really nice moment to see. And in any other circumstances I’d probably be pretty miffed that the focus was on the reaction of the straight people (well predominantly straight people) in the room but in this case I think that was the right move. From what we’ve learnt about him and his sexuality Colin doesn’t appear to be ashamed of his identity, the reason he isn’t out is because of how football, historically, is bigoted and full of hatred, especially for queer people (I’ve been doing research as I’m writing a play about the impact homophobia in football has on queer fans and the feedback is dire). Colin is in the closet for his own safely and to protect his career, he’s closeted because he doesn’t know how his teammates will react, and as nice as these guys are it’s not guaranteed they’ll react with kindness. So seeing the reaction is vital, we as the audience need to know that Colin is safe and supported, which we do see, he is met with love and acceptance, he gets his second best case scenario. And there’s something gorgeous about how it’s been treated by the writers and the cast. 

I’m also in love with Colin and Issacs ending, Billy and Kola do such a phenomenal job with it, I’ve been obsessively watching it and analysing the acting (my actor brain very rarely switched off), and the way they’ve approached the text and the situation is stunning, they knew what they were doing and they delivered. With them it’s in the little things, and it reads so clearly. 

I just feel like the way the show approached this storyline was wonderful, there are so many ways they could have gone about this and we also got the second best option (I stand with Colin on what the best case scenario is). This obviously won’t be the end of this arc, but we’ve hit such a nice place with it. I do have a feeling it’s going to go down hill for Colin (I could be completely wrong but given we’ve still got a few episodes to go I think we’re going to get a bigger resolution which means we need a bigger fall first, but that’s just me speculating, only time will tell if I’m on to something) but he’s now got the whole team behind him, he’s not going through it alone. At the end of the day this is a show about found family and community more than it is football and that was made abundantly clear at the end of today’s episode. 

Just as a queer footy fan who’s had to deal with homophobia at matches this episode felt extremely poignant and necessary. 

[krikeymate]

What do you want to happen for scream 7, mainly for Sam and Tara obv, and what do you think will happen for scream 7 Sam and Tara?

This is all from taking exactly what is seen in the movies, no consideration of my additional analysis or headcanons.

What's most important for me to see in 7:

Another sister-focused story.

Sam & Tara in sync and working together.

They end the movie alive and together.

What I really want to see:

Their mother appears. I don't care if she's Ghostface or just a red herring. I want her to be a bitchy POS here to cause problems. You could even make her a Jennifer Jolie type character.

A continuation of Tara struggling with her trauma & her being angry at her mother. I actually think Sam is more likely to try and get along with her than Tara; Tara is emotional and reactive.

At least one scene of Sam doing something 'adult' that quickly falls apart - I'm imagining something along the lines of putting together flatpack furniture that looks finished and then collapses, or having a phone call and then hanging up and bitching about whoever was on the other end only for them to say I'm still here and she had missed the end call button.

Just more affection between the sisters. There wasn't enough physical contact in 6.

Tara going absolutely apeshit. She see's Sam is seriously hurt, or even thinks she's dead, and she just loses it. She goes all 'Sam' on the Ghostface.

The location staying in New York.

What I really don't want to happen:

Return of Sidney. The situation with Neve sucks, but 6 did not need Sidney, it allowed Sam to shine, and I do not want Sidney to come back to be honest. I think Kirby is going to exist as a legacy substitute for her, and I think that works well.

Sam & Tara being pushed apart or feel like they are growing apart. Or their deaths obviously.

A pregnancy plot. The number of people who I see talking about either of them being pregnant is wack, especially Tara.

No more Stu references. I'm tired of Stu is alive truthers.

Other thoughts:

I think if we get a return to Woodsboro then I could see a Martha Meeks opening kill over a Christina kill. Side note, Reddit seems to love her character and I do not get it.

I don't mind the Billy hallucinations, unlike a lot of people it seems, but I don't think we need them in 7. We know Sam's meds do work, it acknowledges that this prevents the hallucinations. A nice small way to show her development is that she doesn't see him any more. You could even have a moment where Sam kind of wishes she could see him so he could give her advice - even though that advice is actually from the darker parts of herself she doesn't want to acknowledge.

The general assumption is that 5-6-7 are going to be a trilogy, but no-one responsible has actually outright said that. I would love for at least one more movie after 7 with a focus on the sisters.

I don't think we'll get a 'mastermind' reveal.

I think Chad should die in 7. I've spoken about this before, but the emphasis on Chad being strong and a jock just means he isn't the type of character to run from a Ghostface. Given how they've injured him in the past 2 movies as well, they've got to find a balance between 'well he's already had worse' and 'you were already stretching the realms of disbelief but this is actually ridiculous'. Older fans are already sour that they didn't kill any returning characters in 6, but they were happy to kill Dewey in 5. So there's that to take into consideration. HOWEVER, I could genuinely see them not killing any of the C4 and I wouldn't hate that. The thing is, when Dewey died, it was 25 years later, he was 50. This guy lived a full life. Our Core 4 are so young.

Mindy should get to make it to Act 3 with Chad being taken out of the running earlier.

I would like some Danny & Tara shenanigans.

I would also really like for Tara to be the actual end target of the Ghostface for reasons related to her instead of Sam. That could be hard to pull off, but I would love for a sibling of Amber's to show up and try to kill Sam because Tara killed their sister, just for the line Amber loved you, and you killed her for it. Great opportunity for Tara to finally acknowledge Amber and her anger at her and just call her a crazy bitch. They wouldn't do that though, we just had a revenge plot. But if they did, the sibling could be hidden in plain sight never seen by our protagonists and only side characters just like Mrs Loomis in 2. ALSO, I'm actually writing something that references this, but we all assume that Christina hates Sam/loves Tara, but what if it's actually the other way around. I think it could be spun that she wants Sam to be Billy 2.0, and Tara gets in the way of that. It would be a reach, but I think it could happen.

Anyway, it's virtually impossible to speculate on 7 until it's actually well underway and we have details to scrutinize.

[faenemy]

Another Sillie had been added :D

process thoughts below cut- (WARNING- they long lol)

Has this barely changed from the wip I posted earlier????

not really but i need to talk about character design for I am FERAL so L moment i guess

SO my personal favorite brand of character design has been, for as long as i remember, drawing more complex designs from simplified mediums. Think Minecraft or roblox skins, and some chibi avatars. Hand me something that is blurry and up to interpretation and i will simply go buck-wild. Mark is of course the only character to truly appear on camera. We see both his drawing of himself and his [puppet?] form. Now you only ever see donovan and cupcake monster as drawings, which leaves their appearance more up to interpretation.

When i first translated Marks design, i tried to stay as accurate as possible. The second iteration is more of my own twist on it, elongating the body, trimming down the fluff for a clearer shape,and adjusting facial proportions slightly. Note: this isn't to throw shade at marks original design. He's a puppet irl and he looks like one, i just suck at making puppets look like they have any life behind their eyes, so design tweaks it is. Mark is adorable and its a me problem that i struggle to recreate that.

Now my Mark design is obviously based off of the puppet, (his actual self,) as opposed to the way Mark draws himself. In the drawing, there is a bit less fluff on his body, compared to the real thing. This is important as it affects some of the decisions I made for Donovan.

Donovan caused a few hurdles when i tried to work on a design for him. First, I'm working with very little information, so creative license time. Since I don't have much to go off of, I started with a real simple drawing, similar to the one from the drawing in the show, just to try and capture the vibe. The most notable things about Donovan from this first doodle, was that he had a slightly smaller nose than Mark and that it was triangular and that his eyes were slanted. This gives me two prominent facial features to work with.

Following this, i started on a more detailed design. I began by plotting his proportions out similar to marks. To make him more cat like, I tried to make him a little taller and thinner[better for slipping out of cages], so that he had an elongated appearance, and to capture that sly you-cant-contain-me- cat energy that meow meows have. I wasn't sure how cat i wanted to go originally, but then i gave him paws....

I went full anthro cat on Donovan, adding in whiskers and a tail [still questioning that decision] even though they weren't present in my reference. Now is a good time to note that all these designs are pre-Billy, so no scars or anything. I bring this up because I gave Donovan claws, and I image Billy would have at least tried to declaw Donovan.

The next problem came with Donovans eye. So Donovans eyes are two slanted lines, very simple. Since these are one of Donovans few unique canon features, I wanted to keep them. I wasn't sure how to keep them simple yet still allow emotion. Playing around with this idea, i felt i could effectively convey emotion just by changing the relative direction of the eyes. However, I changed the eyes to be more tear-drop shape as well, partially to add more interest to the face, but also so i could add more detail to the iris of the eye if desired.

Finally, all my Mark and Friends designs have the characters wearing clothes, because I work at a clothing store and see too many damn clothes every day. [everything i know about fashion is against my own will] So since this canonically takes place in 1997, my designs are based roughly off of children's clothes at the time. For the monsters clothes, I want them to all have a somewhat fun shape, flare outs, wrinkles, cuffed sleeves and pants etc.

This is where i really struggled. Not so much with the actual design of the clothes, but with colors. As you can probably tell my this illustration as compared to the reference image, I am allergic to bright colors [they hurt my eyes :,(] So i shifted most characters to a more muted/pastel pallette. Now i really wanted each of the three friends, Mark, Donovan, and Cupcake Monster, to have the others "colors" per see, present in their outfits. Mark is obviously Green coded (lol), Donovan is orang, but outlined in red, so my boy gets a red association cause primaries of light. This leaves Cupcake Monster with Blue, the color they are outlined in.

I really wanted three designs to flow together, and though i haven't finished Cupcake Monster yet, I think the first two go nicely together. By giving each character a main color, I let them stand out from each other, but by adding bits of those colors back into the others outfits, it lets them flow together better in group images and keeps anyone character's pallette from feeling out of place.

Marks outfit is mostly cream, but with accents of Blue, and Red. Donovan's is about 1/3 cream 1/3 blue and a 1/3 blue. I struggled with the color distribution on donovan, as the reddish orange and blueish green i had chosen contrasted a lot more than i wanted. The light blue and cream worked as a nice base though, and making only the stripes green [the shirt is specifically cream with green stripes] it lets the green not overpower Donovan, which was another problem I was facing.

But yeah, this are my current designs for the sillies, if you read all this thank you! have some pie :]

[funnywiccanwritingcorner]

Le Joyau le plus precieux - Candyfloss

WARNINGS!!!

Contains NSFW scenes and LGBTQ+ couples. Don’t like, don’t read. All the characters are over 18 years old.

Chapter VI

Billy had never entered the Moulin Rouge, he barely knew where it was. Once through the main entrance he immediately looked for Luke, whom he spotted sitting at a table talking with Detective Dalton. It appeared to be a quiet conversation, and the two were holding hands. He breathed in and stepped forward: -Good morning...- -Hey!- Luke smiled at him, while Joe apostrophised him with a neutral: -What are you doing here, boy?- -I need to talk to Luke...- -Me?- -It's... It's about Jesse... It's about both of us, actually, though...- The former thief motioned him to take a seat, while Joe found an excuse to leave them alone: -I'm going to get a glass of water. The boy then added: -I didn't know who to ask...- -Are you all right? You seem agitated.- -Two days ago, I kissed Jesse.- -What?- -It wasn't a great kiss, but it was on the mouth...- -Did he say anything to you?- -No, he wanted to but I had to run off to work. I was happy; the only other kiss I ever got was from a girl and I didn't like it.- -And what's bothering you now?- -Of having misunderstood his kindness and interest. I didn't answer his messages, which were few, really, because he is busy at the theatre, but he says he wants to talk to me, and I am terrified.-

Luke smiled; young people in love were just too tender. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs: -So what did you want to ask me?- -If you know... well... If Jesse is...- -He is, but I'm not completely sure.- -What do you mean?- -I'll be brief: I'm not a fan of gossip like some of my colleagues here, but I do know a couple of things about Jesse's private life that are in the public domain, and among them who he has had relationships. I know for a fact that he has dated a couple of women in the past, but he has been seen more often in the the company of men.- -I understand...- -The only way to be sure is to ask him.- -I can't just go over there and ask him if he's gay!- -What about you? Are you?- -I don't know... But I like boys more than girls.- -That's something. Can I see the messages he sent you?- -Yes.- He handed him his mobile once he spotted the conversation. Luke carefully studied the text and gave his response: -It doesn't have a serious "we need to talk" tone, rather "I need to talk'.- -Is there a difference?- -Much. In these two days he has sent you seven messages, but he hasn't shown up or phoned you. That means he doesn't want to put pressure on you. Nevertheless it's something important, that's why he insisted on writing to you.- He handed the phone back to him: -Answer him, I am at least eighty per cent sure that he must tell you something good.- -I'll call him, that's quicker... I'll be right back. Uh, the bathroom?- -Over there.-

When Billy was far away, Dalton returned to his seat: -You do well with kids.- -He's twenty years old, Joe. But it's obviously his first time.- -Good times.- -You sound like my grandfather.- -How dare you?- They both laughed. In the bathroom, the boy hesitated for a moment before starting the call. After two or three rings Jesse answered cheerfully: -Good morning!- -Hello... Uh... Everything okay?- -Yes, thank you. And you?- -Well, good. Sorry about the radio silence, I just...- -No problem. I've been busy too, otherwise I would've called you.- -I know you have something to tell me. When can we meet?- -Unfortunately, rehearsals keep me very busy. But if you'd like, I could reserve a seat for you, so you can watch the show and then maybe we can talk.- -Perfect! Which theatre is it?- -I'll text you the address and time.- -Can't wait!- -Me too.- There was a moment of silence, interrupted by a distant voice, then it was the actor who concluded the conversation: -I have to go back on stage. See you soon.- -Yes, bye.- Billy returned to the hall, and Luke asked him how it had gone. -He said: see you at the theatre...- At that moment, a text message reached him: -That's it. He's at the Sebastien, this Saturday at eight.- -I know it, it's a very elegant place- Cheyenne intervened as she left the dressing room area, -You'll have to wear a suit and tie, at the very least.- -And fix that hair!- Madame Louise cheerfully inserted herself, coming up behind Joe, -You're not going to introduce me to your friend?- -Billy, ma'am, nice to meet you.- -Sweetheart, from what I understand this is a matter of the heart, am I correct?- -Uh... yes.- -Then you have to make a good impression with whoever you're meeting; come here at six o'clock on Saturday and I'll give you a makeover!- -But I don't...- -Trust me, Madame takes care of all our costumes, she has great taste! -Luke said, -I'm sure you'll be surprised.- -Well... Okay, why not?-

The Sebastien was a three hundred and fifty-seat theatre just outside the centre of Paris. People had already been in line to buy tickets for at least an hour. -There really is a big crowd...- commented Joe, sitting in the car on the passenger side. -In theatre circles Jesse is really famous; fans would never miss one of his performances- Luke added, behind the wheel, and then turned to Billy, who was sitting comfortably in the back seat: -Ready?- -I think so... Thank you for coming with me and driving me...- -Get it into your head that you owe us a favour, kiddo- Dalton replied dryly before getting out. -What's wrong with him?- -He doesn't like that we changed our plans for tonight. We were supposed to go to dinner.- -I'm sorry.- -He'll get over it. I know how to handle his dynamite temper.- He opened the door, but Billy kept talking: -You two seem like quite a pair, you know? You're so patient and he's... well, let's say grumpy.- The other chuckled, but did not reply, getting out of the car and opening the door for the blond.

Jesse, waiting at the entrance, was very surprised to see Luke and Joe: -Good evening! Glad to have you here.- -Jesse!- Dalton shook his hand: -Guess who we brought you?- -Uhm?- He looked past the two, and was stunned: Billy stood there, wringing his hands, in a handsome dark blue suit with a white shirt and tie. He was perfectly shaved, and his hair had been combed backwards with several layers of gel to keep it in order. Smiling uncertainly, the boy asked: -What do you think?- The actor walked up to him and took him by the hands: -Should I compare you to a summer's day? You are far more radiant and mild.- -Sonet eighteen- mumbled Luke. Joe looked at him questioningly. -What? I know Shakespeare, too.- -Let's go buy a ticket, that's better.- Billy smiled: -So you like it!- -Absolutely!- Without letting go of his hands, he looked at his wristwatch: -There is still some time. Come with me backstage, so we can talk.- -Ok.-

Passing through the back door, together they reached Jesse's dressing room. It was the only quiet place in that chaotic corridor where technicians, actors and a few extras were bustling about making their final preparations. The dark-haired man closed the door, and Billy took a quick look around: it was a small room kept in scrupulous order, with the stage costume neatly pressed and ready to wear on a headless mannequin positioned in a corner. A small dressing table with a mirror, lit by a row of yellow bulbs, stood against the front wall, and a cot filled with square cushions served as a sofa. It was on this that they took a seat. The boy was a little tense, while Jesse seemed serene.

-I must ask you at least two questions first- the latter began. -I'm listening.- -Remember two days ago, when we said goodbye?- -Uhm... Of course.- Billy blushed a little on his cheekbones. -You gave me a kiss and ran away. It's recurring, your running away from me.- -It was more of a kiss on the fly, and yes, I admit I'm always in a hurry...- He began to feel uncomfortable about the direction the conversation was taking. -And remember, I was trying to tell you something?- He settled better on the bunk, which squeaked. -Yes...?- -Well... I've had two days to think of the best way to tell you how... what I feel.- -And?- Jesse looked at him with what seemed like tenderness to the boy: -I know we haven't known each other long, but... The truth is, I really like you, Billy. I really do. Meeting you for the first time in the park was like a breath of fresh air.- Turning practically crimson, Billy couldn't help but ask: -Why do you like me??- -For various reasons. You're sassy and witty, strong, and much smarter than you let on.- -Huh... A nice list...- -In addition, when you get angry...- He pointed a forefinger at the other's cheek: -... you have a lovely expression.- By now the blond felt close to bursting, as did his heart. In an almost hysterical tone, he stammered a reply: -A-And I-I like you too!!! So much!- The other's gaze lit up: -Really?- -Yes! I don't kiss just anybody, daddy!- The actor grabbed him with his fingers from under his chin, squeezing his cheeks a bit: -You insist with this nickname?- He didn't seem angry. -I saved you like that on my mobile phone!- Jesse smiled awkwardly, and without adding anything else, he planted a kiss on the other man's lips, firm but gentle. Close to a heart attack, Billy remained motionless, paralysed despite shaking from head to toe. The actor left his face alone to take it with both hands in a tender gesture.

Someone at that moment knocked on the door: -Fifteen minutes, Mr James!- The kiss was interrupted; Jesse was forced to reply: -Yes, I'm coming. I'm getting ready.- The poor boy seemed to have smoke coming out of his ears as he was so red. -Pardon me, Billy, but I'm afraid you have to go. I'll be right on stage.- -Ah... I see...- He was slowly coming back in touch with reality. He saw the other get up and go towards the dressing table, then hand him a small rectangular piece of paper: -Your ticket. I have arranged for the best seat for you. So tonight I'll know where to find you among the audience.- He placed the object in his hands, and Billy returned it with a more than happy smile. -Go now. I have to put on my costume.- -Ok!- He made to leave, but stopped by the door. -Jesse?- -Yes?- The blond threw himself at him and pulled him into a tight hug, then with an even bigger smile than before, accentuated by the funny protruding incisors, he greeted him one last time: -Go and rock, Jesse!- He ran out of the dressing room, leaving Jesse speechless again but with an equally big smile on his face.

-That was fun! - Joe commented as he exited the theatre. -Yeah, the scriptwriter was witty with his jokes.- Luke held his hand, while Billy was busier looking for Jesse in the direction of the actors' exit, which was unfortunately packed with autograph hunters. -What are your intentions, kid?- the detective asked. -Huh?- -Should we take you home or not?- -First I have to...- Finally he saw the actor leave the theatre, but immediately the fans were upon him. It was then Billy noticed something strange: next to Jesse was a man who looked very much like him, with a neatly trimmed moustache and a beige coat. He was trying to hold back the crowd and give the actor some breathing space.

Jesse began to look around, once he had signed the last notebook, and smiled towards Billy waving his hand. The blond approached, exclaiming: -You did great! I swear, I was bent in two with laughter!- -The best review I could hope for!- The other man commented: -Ah, so that's him Billy.- He held out his hand to the boy. -Frank James, I'm Jesse's brother and his part-time bodyguard.- -Oh! Pleased to meet you!- Frank got a good look at him during the handshake: -Now I see who the mysterious "sugar" was who was sending messages to my brother.- -Mysterious what??- Billy looked at Jesse, who tried to act indifferent, and Luke and Joe, spectators unconsidered, tried hard not to laugh. -We're having a little refreshment at Jesse's house, to celebrate the success of the premiere- Frank continued, -would you like to join us?- -Uhm...- He looked at his two companions, like a little boy who would like to ask permission from his parents. -Your friends can also join us, if you want.- -Unfortunately, we already have plans- Joe hastened to say, -but you go ahead, and have fun!- He dragged away Luke, who waved to the boy, then turned to his companion: -Someone tonight will be luckier than me, for once!- -Are you kidding? You're unbeatable when it comes to luck.- -Sure. I met you.- Dalton froze for a moment: -If you keep this up, we won't get home, but I'll stop the car in a secluded spot.- -I don't mind. The back seat is comfortable.- -Stop it!- Pretending he hadn't heard them, Frank announced that he was going to get the car. Left alone, Billy smirked: -Sugar, huh?- -... I saved you like that on my mobile phone.-

Jesse's house was not a mansion as many believed, including Billy, but a large flat in a residential area on the third floor of a modern building. The interior was strongly reminiscent much like an English house, as everything was furnished in dark wood and the style was rather Victorian. A large oak bookcase dominated everything in the spacious living room, where guests could choose to sit on a large brown leather sofa or one of three matching armchairs. The parquet floor was polished, looking as if it had been recently laid, and the furniture was laid on carpets to prevent holes in the wood. A short corridor led to two other rooms, while an archway without door led to the kitchen, where there was a square wooden table as an eating surface, with two chairs.

Billy had taken refuge in a corner to look out of the window, which overlooked the street lit by the street lamps. He had chatted for a while with Jesse and Frank, and discovered that the latter was a literature teacher at the university. Unlike his brother he did not like the spotlight, but the classics of the nineteenth century, a subject in which all his students got excellent grades, or at least to hear him tell it. After a while, however, the other guests (members of the cast and staff) had monopolised Jesse, and the boy, not knowing how to behave or approach the group, had isolated himself. Someone had uncorked a bottle of champagne at some point, or perhaps two or three, the fact is that within an hour many had left because they had drunk too much.

-It's midnight- announced Frank. His voice roused Billy from his isolation, so he noticed he was left with the two brothers and a brunette girl who could barely stand up. -I'll take Marguerite home; see you soon Jesse.- -Thanks again for coming, Frank.- -I would never miss the premiere of one of your shows! Good night, and bye Billy!- The blond man greeted him shyly. When Frank and the girl had left, Billy realised he was left alone with Jesse, and his heart jumped. He was not naive enough not to know what might happen. Calling himself stupid, he went back to looking out the window.

-A bit of a breather at last! joked the actor, -Sorry I ignored you a bit, but being a host is demanding.- -No problem.- Jesse looked at him, puzzled. He approached him at a slow pace: -Are you all right?- -Great!- No, he wasn't. He was nervous, he didn't know what to do and his heartbeat was getting out of control. But the latter missed a beat when he felt two arms wrap around him at waist height, gently. of his waist, gently. -If I've offended you in any way, I'm sorry.- Jesse laid his head on his: -That was not my intention.- With salivation suddenly reduced to zero, Billy tried to reply: -You... you're always afraid of offending me... But it's not that...- -But there's something wrong, isn't there?- -Uh...- He turned slightly towards the other: -It's that... I didn't think... to stay here.- -What do you mean?- -That it's getting late...- He swallowed. -You've never stayed at someone's house, have you?- -Yeah.- -Let's put it this way, then: it's a way of returning the hospitality you've shown me. Don't feel uncomfortable.- -Well, if you say so...- He banished the bad thoughts he had been having and smiled. -Go ahead and take a shower. You can't sleep with all that sticky gel on your head.- -Eh. Okay.- -I'll find you some pajamas.- He rubbed his nose against his cheek and let him go. Billy then thought of something else: -Wait! Where do I sleep?!?-

He was not used to all that "luxury". The shower had been one of the most pleasant in quite a while, and the pajamas Jesse had lent him, pastel blue, were of the softest cotton, perhaps a little big, but comfortable. The only thing that left Billy with a little more agitation was the fact that he had to sleep in the same bed as the actor. And what a bed! A double, with cream-coloured sheets and a nice autumn duvet soft to the touch on top. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, the boy was visibly uncomfortable, but he didn't understand why either since he had already slept with Jesse. Perhaps it was because that environment was unfamiliar to him. He threw himself backwards with a sigh, and it felt like he was sinking into a cloud.

"Man... I have a feeling tonight won't be so quiet..." He felt butterflies in his stomach. At that point he didn't know if it was agitation or anticipation. -Forgive the wait.- Jesse entered the room wearing a grey T-shirt and black boxer shorts. Billy decided to strike up a conversation to take the tension away: -You know, I was wondering... Have you travelled the world?- -Why the question?- The blond man pinned himself up on his elbows, lying on his stomach: -It's just that I had a look at the bookcase. There are many titles in foreign languages.- -I've actually been everywhere, and in every country I've bought at least one volume.- -Do you speak all those languages??- -Oh, no. They are editions of works I already know. Mine is pure collecting.- -Mm. Everyone has his own, I guess.- He threw himself back down and started staring at the ceiling, hands clasped on his stomach. -It's very late. Get into bed.- -I'm comfortable here.- He spread his arms and chuckled: -I can't believe you have so much space just for you!- -It's not that big.- He turned off the biggest light, and only a couple of very low bedroom lights remained to brighten the room. -Are you kidding? It's a palace! It makes my house look like a garbage dump.- -That's why you isolated yourself tonight. You were uncomfortable. I should've seen it sooner.- -Huh?- He sat back down, nudging himself. Jesse seemed down.

-Hey, is everything okay?- -You asked me what I liked about you before. I'd like to ask you the same question, reflected back at me though.- -What?- -Please.- -Of you? Well... You are kind. And you're one of the few people I consider really intelligent.- He smiled, lowering his gaze: -And you seem to be able to really understand me. More generally, I also like just the idea of being with you.- -Are you serious?- -Of course!- He widened his smile, cheerful. The actor did not reply, but smiled, reassured by the other's words. At a slow pace, he approached the bed and slipped under the duvet: -Come on. Time for bed.- Billy didn't let himself say it twice, and reached him only to lie down on top of him: -I'll use you again as a pillow, then!-

Jesse blushed. He was glued to him, belly to belly, his legs encircling his own. The boy's smile slowly faded: -Hey, daddy.- -Yes?- -What I feel against my thigh... That's not what I think it is, is it?- -I swear it's an involuntary reflex. Now let's go to sleep and you'll see that I'll get over it.- -Are you saying this because of that thing about you being a gentleman?- -Of course! I would never dare to do anything you don't want to!- -What if... I wanted to do something?- -Do what?- -Yes, well, after all, I see no harm in it; but I warn you, I have never done anything with anyone, I!- He said it quickly, as if he wanted to get it off his chest. -Billy...- He stared at him, a little embarrassed, but even more embarrassed seemed the blond who, looking away, had just made that intimate confession to him. He smiled tenderly, and placed the back of his fingers on his cheek: -If that is the case, then don't be afraid. I will respect the directions you will give me.- -Here, frankly, I don't know what I want either... Shall we start and see how it turns out?- Jesse didn't hold back, and reversed their positions: -All right. Let's find out how far we can go.- He first gave him a soft kiss on the lips, which trembled at the contact, then he tried to insinuate his tongue, in no hurry. The boy responded almost immediately, bringing his hands to his shoulders and pushing him towards himself, clumsily attempting to move his tongue in turn, only to let himself be led by the other who took command of the kiss that had become more languid. Jesse interrupted after a while only to look at Billy's expression: his blue eyes were glazed over, in the semi-darkness he could still see his red cheeks, and a trickle of saliva had escaped and stopped at the corner of his mouth; his breathing was already laboured. Seeing that he was not protesting, again with the palm of his hand he touched his face, while with the fingertip of his thumb caressed his lower lip, warm to the touch. At that moment he felt a movement, below, that did not belong to him.

-But how, you're already so excited?- -I told you I never did anything, not that I am dead!- the blond man frowned, -It's your fault, daddy!- -If one passionate kiss is enough to turn you on like that...- He slipped his hands under his pyjama top: -... I wonder what will happen now.- -What are you going to do??- Running his open hands over him, Jesse felt him shiver, and a sigh escaped Billy as he reached his chest. Lifting his shirt up to below his chin, the actor uncovered the boy's torso, who with the heaviest breath exclaimed: -Wait!- He sat up and pulled off his shirt completely: -It was bothering me.- Without answering, Jesse slowly pulled off the grey shirt and shed it in turn. Billy flushed: what he saw was even better than he had imagined in the last... How much time had passed since they’re started? The dark-haired man approached him again, a slightly mischievous smile on his face: -Good idea, so we will be more comfortable.-

Sweating from nervousness and emotion, almost in a trance Billy let himself be kissed again in that suffocating but pleasant way. Jesse then let him go only to come down and kiss his neck, while a hand went into the blond's hair, which trembled at these new contacts. The kisses became more and more intense and decisive, so much so that Jesse at one point allowed himself to a little nibble at a spot he had found most tender, and the boy let out a little cry that he could not stop amid sighs. The other then went down on his sternum, returning to distribute softer kisses, and then changed direction and went to brush his lips over his right nipple. The other cried out at that unexpected and pleasant touch, and instinctively put a hand on Jesse's head, who took it as an invitation to continue, which was immediately accepted: he began to give light tongue strokes and brief suctions in the area; not only that, he cowardly began to work with his thumb on the left side as well, and what he at first perceived as stifled cries from Billy soon turned into disconnected moans.

-Take it easy, daddy, I'm about to explode!- the younger man managed to say in a tone irresistible to the ears of the other, who interrupted himself: -Is something wrong?- -I mean...- Red as a traffic light, he looked down, sitting up, and Jesse got down on his knees on the mattress, the other man's legs encircling him: from under the fabric of his blue trousers he could see an unmistakable bulge. The dark-haired man did not flinch, and smiled smugly: -No problem. I'll take care of you now.- He slipped off the last of the other’s clothes and looked at the result of his work.

-But let's not go all the way, okay?- said Billy, almost pleadingly, -I-I don't think I can do it. - 

-Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.- He brushed his fingers over the other one's erect organ to see his reaction, which was to let out another little cry and throw himself down again, plugging his mouth with his hands. Determined to drive him a little more crazy, Jesse continued with a slow massage, which he then automatically decided to apply to himself as well by slipping a hand into his boxers. Since he had promised the boy that he would only do what he asked, he told himself that he could be content. Confident that the massage had had the right effect, he let go of the organ only to bend down further and start working it with his mouth. Turning even redder, Billy's breath caught at that manoeuvre, which caused him to arch his back with a jerk and a louder groan. Jesse had expected it, and prevented him from shoving it down his throat, then continued with almost exasperating calm, until he positioned his head at just the right angle so as not to choking, beginning to move back and forth, without neglecting to use his tongue, and holding the other by the hips with his hands. Shaking like a leaf, now on the edge, Billy groaned uncontrollably, his legs spreading with every further movement he felt down below. The actor, meanwhile, had not stopped touching himself in turn, and he could feel the boxers damp with his sweat clinging to him. He accelerated his manoeuvres for both of them, and Billy could hold on no longer: with a thrust of his pelvis, he came without bothering to hold back his voice. Jesse was ready to swallow as much as he could as he in turn climaxed by wetting his boxers completely.

Catching his breath after the adrenalin rush, Billy felt his strength waning, a feeling he knew all too well, and warned the other: -I-I don't feel...- -Are you all right?- -Yes... and no... I feel... I'm going to faint...- -Didn't you eat anything?- -Just a packet... of peanuts... at the theatre...- He could hardly speak and couldn't keep his eyes open. Jesse lay down beside him: -Come here... Relax...- Clutching him tightly, the blond collapsed for good, hard to say whether from falling or sleeping. The actor stroked his hair, which smelled of his shampoo, and cuddling him fell asleep shortly afterwards in turn.

-Are you feeling a little better now?- Jesse asked as he sat down at the kitchen table. Billy had woken up weakened that morning, and immediately the actor had prepared him a hearty breakfast. Nibbling on a slice of toast with jam, the boy nodded with a smile, and the other man felt relieved. He looked at him for a moment: he had lent him a sweatshirt that his brother had given him, but which he had never worn because it was too tight, whereas it fit Billy almost like a glove. -Next time we decide to make love I have to make sure I've eaten a proper dinner; I hate to feel bad right after such a good night!- This statement, expressed with a certain nonchalanche, left the dark-haired man bewildered: -Repeat it?- -Hm?- -After doing what?- -After making love. Why, what do you call what happened, daddy?- Smiling, Jesse stood up to lean over to Billy and give him a kiss on the forehead: -Right. Ah, eat calmly. I'll drive you to work today.-

[syllvane]

i could never give you peace- steve harrington x reader

a/n: takes place during the two day time skip in the last episode. spoilers for stranger things s4 vol. 1 and 2.

It’s 2am when you wake up to a loud banging on your door. It doesn’t take long for you to answer- you hadn’t been sleeping well, not after the earthquake rocked the entirety of Hawkins.

You open the door quickly and are met with none other than your boyfriend, Steve Harrington.

To put it lightly, he looks like shit.

He looks like he had gotten his entire outfit from the army surplus store, had then been shipped off to war, and lost.

“Steve...” You manage, hating how terrified you sound- no, feel.

You half-expected for a tired smile to appear on his lips, for him to quip about ‘how you should see the other guy.’

That moment doesn’t come and instead, he starts crying.

You hug him immediately, careful not to put pressure on any of his visible injuries. He still winces, but pulls you closer anyways.

“I couldn’t protect them.” He says, his voice hoarse, tears wetting your shoulder.

You don’t ask what he means by this, you just hug him tighter, as if you’ll be able to protect him.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” You said softly, taking a step back and leading him into your apartment. 

You close the door after he staggers his way inside before helping him take off his clothes so that you can see the full extent of his injuries. 

His torso was covered with what appeared to be small bite marks that hadn’t fully healed yet. The bruises that covered his body were much fresher.

His ankles and wrists were badly bruised, but no part of his body was as bruised as his neck, which was turning a disconcerting shade of purple.

“You know, most girls take me out to dinner before oogling me.” He said weakly and you looked at his eyes, your lips twitching upwards for a second. 

(God, it is so good to hear him joke, even if every word he said is solely for your benefit.)

“I’m going to get the first aid kit. Lay down on the couch, okay?”

“So bossy...” He mumbled. You shot him a look and he held his hands in the air defensively. “Just joking! I’m laying down.”

He winced as he sat down on the couch before swinging his legs onto the cushions, doing his best to avoid putting pressure onto the obviously injured parts.

In your bathroom, you found the first aid kit and some ibuprofen, bringing both to the couch and setting them on the coffee table in front of it.

“Take two of these, I’m going to get an icepack, okay?”

He looked at you, his expression unreadable.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” You said, your eyes meeting his. “I’ll be right back.”

You walk to your kitchen and open the freezer, rummaging through the frozen vegetables and the frozen meals.

You don’t find an icepack, but the frozen peas you have will be a fine substitute. 

“Put this behind your neck, it should help with the bruising,” You told him as you perched yourself on the coffee table. “I’m going to clean the scars, it might sting a little bit.”

He inhaled sharply as you pressed the disinfectant wipe to the marks on his torso, but didn’t protest.

“Steve... what happened?”

He went silent.

“You’re not going to believe me.”

“Let me decide that for myself.”

His eyes met yours. You don’t know what he’s looking for, but whatever it is, he finds it, and he starts to talk.

You listened wordlessly as he recounted the last three years of his life, telling you about mirror worlds and monsters and superheroes.

About the Demogorgon, about Eleven, about the Upside Down.

About the Mind Flayer, about Will and Billy, about Starcourt Mall.

About Vecna. About Max. About Eddie. 

Without thinking, you throw your arms around him- just the fact that you’re holding him and that he is here feels like a miracle. 

You don’t realize you’re sobbing until Steve starts drawing shapes on your back, bringing you back down to Earth.

Back down to him.

“It’s not your fault, Steve.”

It’s the first thing you say after he finishes speaking, the only thing that you can think of that feels important enough to say.

“I promised them...” He starts, his voice breaking.

“You almost died, Steve. What more could you have done? This isn’t your fault, none of this is your fault.”

He doesn’t say anything to this, just cries.

The position you’re hugging him in is uncomfortable and your shirt is getting wet from his tears and you don’t pull away.

You’ll take whatever moments you have with him.

[ildre]

Billy Hargrove Is a Secret Nerd

For a long time I've been wondering why the ‘Billy Hargrove is a secret nerd’ trope is so popular in the harringrove fandom.

Obviously, there is some circumstantial evidence. First of all, it’s his uncanny power of observation. But it is explained easily by his being from a dysfunctional family: he has to be an observant kid to survive. It's really important with a father like Neil.

Besides, it is his ability to be focused. But it is not convincing enough. A lot of disadvantaged children can be really focused on some special interest to get distracted from their real life. It's a kind of escapism.

It’s his aspiration to be the best in the things he likes whether it’s basketball or bodybuilding or drinking games. Partly, it's a direct consequence of his concentration skills, partly it's an influence of his very patriarchal and hierarchical environment, especially of his father. He has to be the best of the best to make a reputation and earn some respect, and, as the final result, to survive in the very unhealthy and aggressive society he lives in.

It's his ability to spot the cause of trouble and word it out in a matter of seconds. Actually, in my thinking, that looks more promising than each of the things named above because it tells us he is not only an observant guy but also he has a skill to analyse situations and put his thoughts into words. But he isn't really good at communicating because he talks with people the way he is used to being talked to. He communicates at the level 'I see the goal, I see no obstacles' and while talking to his peers, he couldn’t care less about being polite or amiable.

Finally, it is his taste in music. He's a fan of Metallica in autumn 1984 when the band had hardly released their second album and by that time only real fans of heavy metal managed to dig them.

But all of it is just circumstantial evidence. The best proof of his nerdiness is his preference in literature. Besides, that is an interesting and unobvious parallel with Will Byers because the book we can see on Billy's vanity is 'My Life and Hard Times' by James Thurber, the great American satirist artist of his time and also a writer, the author of ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’. I guess it should be an iconic story to each and every dreamer of the world.

Actually we know a bit about who Billy really is and what he really wants and what he really dreams about. But finding that book, I’d say he is a smart kid who is into art but he has to disguise it because he doesn't want to be abused by his father and his classmates. Billy has no mother who would stand by him and shield him from jeering, as Joyce has been doing for Will. So he has to hide it. Billy is really good at hiding, and so is Will, though the former seeks shelter in his mind palace while the latter has to use a mundane hovel.

Billy is so good at hiding that eventually his mask adheres to his face and becomes a part of his personality. After reading 'Runaway Max', we can see that staying impervious and elusive is an important part of his rhetoric, and it definitely leaves an imprint on his demeanour.

Maybe Billy used to dream of becoming a hero to protect himself and his friends but now he is so scared of being discovered that he treats Max like garbage instead. I guess he thinks he is teaching her for her own good but he is obviously wrong.

I wonder what James Thurber is to Billy. Is he a source of inspiration? A role model? Or just a piece of a dream that will never come true? Who knows.

Well, anyway I admire the way the magic of cinema works. It's such a little thing. The book appears on the screen for a split second and that's enough for creating an image of a street-smart kid in fandom's mind. It’s incredible.

[fernweh-writes]

Your writing gives me so much life and wholesome vibes! ;-;💕 If you wouldn't mind could you do the slashers with a s/o who loves to make home cooked meals for them.

Ahhh, thank you so much hun <3 As someone who loves to cook and who’s goal in life is to be a spoiled housewife, absolutely.

-Fern

Slashers x S/O who likes to cook

slight nsfw content if you squint

Michael Myers

This man craves a sense of normalcy in his very peculiar life. After all, he was diagnosed with a case of crazy at a young age and ever since no one had made an effort to care about him. One of the main reasons he would ever keep you around would be because you fit the housewife role that he needs wants. You give him the one thing he always wanted that no one else ever could, domesticity.

Michael has a weird schedule and just sort of comes and goes as he pleases. This can make having a hot meal ready quite difficult, but once you begin a steady routine of cooking for him he starts to appear whenever you’re cooking. Well at least most of the time, stalking and killing can keep him very busy sometimes.

He’s not very picky about what you cook, so you have plenty of freedom to make whatever your heart desires. He’s certainly not going to complain. Although, if you remember his favorite meals and cook them for him from time to time he will be extra grateful. His gratitude is often expressed through becoming very handsy with you.

Likes to watch you cook! Again he loves the whole domestic thing and watching you serve him cook for him pleases him. Plus you just look so cute wearing an apron. Also loves how focused you can be. Don’t expect him to help you though, this is your job y/n.

Pretty sure everyone agrees that Michael has a major sweet tooth so if you bake him sweets he decides you’re never going anywhere… ever. He’s keeping you, end of story.

The only thing he ever helps with in the kitchen is licking the bowl when you bake. Snatches the spoon from you as well, he wants all of it.

Bo Sinclair

Another man that is very much into the housewife thing. Like he gets off on it.

We all know Bo isn’t quite right in the head, but we all love him anyways! He wants someone to serve him, after all he needs to be in charge and to have control over everything. This includes controlling the roles within his own home.

The fact that you willingly cook though and actually enjoy cooking sends him over the moon. He knew that he had made the right decision when he decided to keep you. This just makes him further believe that you were meant to be his.

Home cooked meals remind him of the good parts of his childhood. So watching you cook with an apron tied around your waist while humming and just being content with what you’re doing makes him melt. It’s also going to make him more likely to open up and be a little more vulnerable with you. Watching you cook just puts him at ease.

Cooking his favorite meals though is what really gets to him. Especially if you decide to go all out and be cheesy by “setting the mood” with candles and fancy silverware. He’ll make fun of you and pretend to hate it but the lack of malice in his voice gives him away.

You can often find him standing around the kitchen while you cook as well. This started once you asked him to try something once to see if you needed to add anything. Now he won’t stop waiting around for free samples.

Bo decides that winter is his new favorite season. The shop doesn’t have any heating and he also spends a lot of time chasing victims around the woods or down the streets. In other words, he’s spending a lot of time out in the cold weather. Walking into his warm house to find the sweetest wife in Ambrose putting a hot meal on a plate for him makes his day. Don’t be surprised if he begins to bring up his other ideas about how you can keep him warm.

Vincent Sinclair

Vincent isn’t obsessed with the whole housewife thing the way that Bo is. He could really care less if his s/o cooked or not after all he had survived this long.

But, Vincent often gets lost in his work. This leads to him losing track of time quite often, so skipping meals isn’t something out of the ordinary. It’s not that he means to it’s just so easy for him to forget unless his stomach starts growling.

He does love that you love to cook for him though. Anytime you bring food down to his workshop so that he doesn’t forget to eat he absolutely melts. He doesn’t know how you could be anymore perfect.

Although he doesn’t expect nor necessarily want his significant other to take care of him he does enjoy the fact that you do so anyway. It shows that you care about him in a way that he hasn’t been cared for in a very long time. Especially enjoys the sentiment of you making him his favorite meals. Not only do you take care of him, you take the time to remember the little things about him! He doesn’t think he could possibly feel more loved.

After the first time he watches you cook, he’s hooked. You just look so cute and content in the kitchen. Seeing you so happy and at ease puts him at ease. It lets him know that you’re happy in Ambrose and that you really do love him.

Unlike most of the other slasher, he will help you clean up the kitchen. You two make quick work of all the dishes since you wash them and he dries them and puts them away. It started off with him washing the dishes until he watched you struggle to place plates at the top of a cabinet. Although, he did enjoy being able to press himself against your back while he helped you.

Thomas Hewitt

The fact you love to cook not only delights Thomas, but helps out Luda Mae as well. With you handling the kitchen, it takes one of the most time consuming chores off of her hands. Allowing her both a chance to rest as well as a chance to finally clean up more of the old house. And we all know whatever makes Momma happy makes Thomas happy.

Honestly though, you’re going to have to take up gardening as well. After all the town is pretty much abandoned and there isn’t much to work with. Hope you know recipes for making human meat taste good…

Once again, we have another slasher who’s ideal life involves a housewife. Thomas just wants his life to be normal for once but he also wants someone to truly care about him. He is always the one taking care of other people in the family so having you to take care of him is the one thing that keeps him going.

Thomas works hard and victims are always putting up a tough fight. Since all of Thomas chores take a lot of physical exertion, he always feels like he’s starving at the end of the day. Luckily he has you! You’ve never failed to have a hot meal waiting for him.

Don’t tell Momma, but he thinks that you’re a better cook.

Please ask him his opinion on the food. Thomas hardly ever gets a say in anything since Hoyt usually gets to call the shots. It may not be much, but you asking him for his input makes him feel important.

Cooking his favorite meals after you know he’s had a hard week just does something to him. Maybe it’s because it shows him that you care, that you pay attention and notice things. Whatever the matter, he definitely enjoys tossing you onto the bed after dinner to show you his gratitude. After all, no good meal is complete without dessert.

Stu Macher

His parents were hardly ever home so Stu learned to fend for himself. This included a lot of unhealthy takeout. You have no idea how he survived off of pizza for so long. Is your cholesterol okay Stu? Killing people and having to chase them down is probably the only reason he ever survived without you.

Lucky for him, now he has you! And you love to cook for him and he enjoys everything you cook. Making him his favorite foods is a quick way to get him excited so please cook them for him after he’s had a hard day.

Expect to have a fancy kitchen and anything your heart could desire to cook with. You two will definitely have a house with one of those walk in pantries so that you have plenty of space for ingredients. If you’re going to spoil him with good food obviously he is going to spoil you by giving you everything you need to do so.

Stu never though he could enjoy cooking, but you quickly show him that it can be fun. This means you can expect him to willingly help out from time to time, whenever he’s in the mood to help. It also means you can leave at ease knowing he won’t be feasting on takeout anytime you go somewhere. At least you thought so until you came home to an unbelievable amount of pizza boxes on the counter.

He is determined to invest in a label maker and put puns on all of your spices like the adorable dork he is.

Billy Loomis

Mr mommy issues absolutely loses his shit when you cook for him. Billy absolutely thrives off of you taking care of him. Once you start cooking for him he won’t allow you to stop, it becomes an expectation.

Billy likes to cling to you while you cook, quite literally. He’ll have his arms wrapped around your waste with his head resting on top of your head/shoulder so that he can watch what you’re doing. Hopefully you can maneuver around the kitchen with him attached to you because he isn’t going anywhere.

After being together for so long, Billy usually tells you when he’s going to “hang out” with Stu. Knowing he wouldn’t be back until very late, you left out food that he could easily heat up. Finding food on the counter with instructions of how long to microwave it melts his heart. Now he’s one hundred percent sure that you’re permanent.

Shows his gratitude more than you would expect him to. He will put away the leftovers while you clean up the kitchen. It may not be much, but it’s one less thing for you to do before going to bed at night.

Don’t worry, he’ll be the one in charge of dessert. It’s another way of showing his gratitude.

Brahms Heelshire

Obviously cooking for him is a requirement so it’s a good thing that you enjoy cooking. But it’s the way you go the extra mile for him that makes him set on keeping you.

You always make him his favorite foods which just fuels his spoiled ass. If you make something you don’t like he’s going to try an throw a tantrum over it. May even go as far as to stay in the walls for a whole day. But when he finds his dinner has gone cold because you had went to bed before he decided to stop being stubborn and come eat he will realize he was in the wrong.

Just make sure to put your foot down, otherwise he will never eat any of his vegetables. He’ll pout about it and complain the whole time but whatever it takes to get him to eat healthy. Eventually he will learn to stop complaining.

No one has ever actually enjoyed doing something for Brahms. He always had to force people into pretending that they cared about him. But you not only took care of him you enjoyed doing it. The home cooked meals you made left him feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside. You put your heart into the things you cooked for him, put your time into making something you would enjoy.

I keep thinking of you hiding something in his food as a way to get him to eat something without him knowing. One day he catches you sneaking in the ingredient while he’s in the walls and he is outraged. How dare you lie to him y/n, after he was such a good boy no less!

If you bake him sweets he will make himself sick from eating so many. You’re his impulse control, please hide the sweets from him so that he doesn’t get sick. It’s for his own good.

Jesse Cromeans/Chromeskull

He’s a very busy man so having you cook for him fills him with joy. There’s nothing like coming home to a hot meal after a day of chasing people down and dealing with idiots like Preston. His injuries can also leave him feeling very drained so it’s good that you know how to make plenty of different meals to make him feel better.

If you ever wanted to learn more about cooking he would 100% pay for classes for you. Could even arrange for them to be during times when he goes on business trips so that you have something to keep you occupied while he’s gone. When he gets back he expects you to show him everything that you learned.

Jesse loves it if you ever bring him food. Granted the first time you showed up at one of the warehouses he freaked out because you could’ve been hurt. Spann makes sure to reassure him that she knew you were coming and arranged for you to be kept safe the whole way there and back.

I can also see Spann being flattered if you brought extra food for her. It saves her time and allows her to get more done within a timely manner. Also means she doesn’t have to worry about everything falling apart while she tries to get food.

Watching you cook does something to Jesse and he’s not against picking you up and carrying you upstairs. He can think of something much better to eat than whatever you’re cooking. This has also led to the smoke alarms going off more than once.

[strangerthings4theories]

Billy Is As Important To ST As Hopper And El - A Study Of Intro Shots

Hey. Psst. Come over here, I want to show you something.

Billy's really important to Stranger Things. If you've been following my meta, you know I have lots of reasons for saying that. But there's one I haven't mentioned yet:

His introduction puts him in the same character class as Hopper and El.

For all three characters, we get a shot of their feet first, framed against their environment. Then the camera pans up or over to show the audience who they are.

This is a specific filmmaking technique designed to generate interest, curiosity, and a sense of gravitas. Instead of appearing all at once, the character's entrance takes several seconds, giving us time to wonder, "Okay, who the hell is this person?" We can already tell they're someone special. The filmmakers are drawing out their introduction for quite a long time!

This technique is also genius because, if used a certain way, it tells the audience a character's backstory before we even see them. Take a closer look, and you’ll find the pattern holds true for all three characters...

1) Hopper

We start with a child's drawing, tacked to the wall, of a family and a house. This tells us Hopper has an emotional connection to the child and their family. We pan through his messy trailer, taking in the pill bottles and beer cans strewn everywhere. Obviously he has a substance abuse problem. No toys or childcare items; the child he loves isn't living with him. The TV is on, showing the morning news, suggesting he left the TV on all night.

Finally we reach Hopper himself. He's sleeping on the couch, which tells us he either doesn't like sleeping in bed, OR he was so strung out on substances he never got off the couch.

A dog wakes him up. Did he even set an alarm? Apparently not. This guy is either unemployed or doesn't care about getting to work on time.

He checks his watch, only to realize he's not wearing it... just a blue hair tie. A child's hair tie.

Without using dialogue, this shot tells us eloquently about his trauma and loss. The man used to have a family. He doesn't anymore. Now he's riddled with so much guilt and PTSD he uses substances to numb his feelings. He's also struggling to care about his responsibilities.

All of this in just a few seconds of film.

2) Eleven

We start with a shot of the ground covered in leaves and pine needles. A pair of feet walk into the shot - a child's feet, dirty and wearing no shoes. The child stops, and we pan up, taking in their dirty, ripped lab gown. Finally we see their face, which is crusted with mud on one side, suggesting they slept on the ground last night. Their hair is cut short like a prisoner's. We can't immediately tell if they're a boy or a girl.

This is El. Until now, she was a prisoner with no identity of her own, no right to express herself. But she escaped into the wild, and now she's lost and needs help.

Her bare feet touching the leaf-strewn ground speaks to her feminine connection to the earth. (See: every single earth goddess in world mythology.) It also illustrates her connection to the woods, a.k.a. the Upside Down - the source of mystery and monsters. (See: Red Riding Hood; Hansel and Gretel; other fairytales that take place in the woods.)

3) Billy

Billy's intro is downright thunderous, set to the thematically significant "Rock You Like A Hurricane." (Someday I'll make a post about Billy’s songs and what they mean 😉) We see and hear his car first; it's flashy and loud like a jungle cat. Steve and Nancy take notice, which tells us this character is hella important.

The car whips aggressively into a parking space. We switch to a shot of the license plate. "California" - he's not from around here. We pan over just in time for his door to open. Boom! A black boot slams down onto concrete. Its owner gets out and shuts the door while we pan up, taking in his form-fitted, denim-on-denim look. He's turned away from us, smoking a cigarette. We see his mullet and earring first.

Finally he turns towards us, framed against the sky, and... oh no. He's pretty.

Meanwhile his little sister gets out and skates away. Without even saying bye to him.

Hello, Hawkins. You've just met your bad-boy sex symbol. He's wearing a thick suit of armor in the form of denim and leather, and he's as disconnected from the earth (his feminine side, his emotions) as a boot on concrete. He is, however, associated with the air, sky, and storms, making him a symbolic sky god and the earth's opposite. He’s new in town, but he isn’t shy, and you're not going to forget him anytime soon.

For all his bluster, he has a hidden soft side. He's taking care of his little sister, who represents his younger, more innocent self. Right now, though, their relationship is... not great.

Intrigue. Gravitas. Backstory. These intro shots infuse Hopper, El, and Billy with all three qualities, giving them significant narrative weight.

These aren't characters who die halfway through their arcs. The Duffers have big plans for all of them, Billy included. And they've had those plans since the very first shot.

»»————-　✼　————-««

Billy Is Alive - A Meta Series

[omgellendean]

Please talk more about how awful Mallory is, because the fandom doesn't nearly give her enough shit for having actively kneecapped the whole group she founded and having indirectly played a part in making Billy and MM's lives worse through her unneeded secrecy.

(Sorry for taking so long: I missed the notifications about the new asks.)

I'm always ready to hate on season 3 Mallory, lol. Not that she was ever a good person, but this season really failed her as a character.

It's especially annoying because she was really, really effective at the start. Let's be honest: Mallory's primary function in the plot is to serve as the exposition machine and occasionally assign Boys new missions. And she was brilliant in this role. Since the beginning of the first season, there was a build-up to her appearance, short mentions and flashbacks here and there shedding light on the group's past and the reasons for their disbanding. When Mallory finally appeared in person in episode 8, bitter and despaired, she provided us with the final puzzle pieces for the Boys' backstory, set up Butcher vs Homelander confrontation and gave Hughie a glimpse of what he may become if he keeps going this way. She has already shown herself as hypocritical, ruthless and manipulative, but it was intentional on the writers' part and even got called out within the story.

Season 2 is, in all honesty, when the cracks started to show with this character. Obviously, the show couldn't go without the Boys having their own person in the CIA, so Mallory had to return and give heroes intel when needed. But the writers also established her as a broken person who wants nothing to do with this shit, and they weren't willing to have her move past that (understandable, considering they had a bunch of more important characters to develop). As a result, throughout the whole season, Mallory is knee-deep in the Boys' shenanigans and stays ridiculously involved in the government business for someone who's been retired for years. But she keeps complaining about it, is always ready to give up and even tries to dissuade MM from pursuing justice — after getting her own chance for vengeance on Lamplighter. She looks like an even bigger asshole than in season 1, and that says something. And I'm not even sure the writers intended for Mallory to come off like this, considering she was entrusted with Ryan's custody in the season's finale.

In season 3, Mallory is the worst. She's been hiding the crucial information from her own team for years; she's done nothing despite knowing about the working anti-supe weapon (leaving aside how stupid the whole backstory is and how, uh, naive it makes Mallory if she believed in the cover-up for almost 40 years); she throws Butcher's trauma and his efforts to overcome it back into his face sending him further into self-destruction mod; she wants the Boys to give up AGAIN despite Homlander getting even more unhinged. And then she was absolutely useless for the rest of the season, failing even to employ her CIA connections to warn Butcher and the rest about Ryan's kidnapping. I'm not even going into the implication that she let Ryan stew in guilt and fear of his own powers for over a year and did nothing about it, leaving him vulnerable to Homelander because it's just awful.

Mallory in season 3 is a terrible person, but it would be okay if it were intentional on the writers' part. But it's pretty obvious that she's supposed to be right because The Boys is the moral universe now, so Butcher is punished for trying to do something, while Mallory is rewarded by getting to see Soldier Boy put back into the box.

[doll-in-the-walls]

Strangely Charming - Chapter 1

Summary: In the fall of 1984, Maeve and Calcifer move to Hawkins, Indiana into Forest Hills Trailer Park across from the one and only Eddie “the freak” Munson. (Takes place from Season 2 onward)

Maeve (Emerson) and Calcifer (named after the flame in Howl’s Moving Castle, yes) are my two OCs that first appear in my fic Charming Eternity for The Lost Boys (1987) both of whom have magic.

(If this goes the way I’ve got it planned in my head this’ll probably end in a Poly ship with Steddie and Billy in some way... with the OC of course.)

(There’s a lot of opening notes which honestly you could just skip as they’re not SUPER important but still worth mentioning.)

In that fic it’s Maeve as the main character and it was mostly her POV, but I wanted to have more of Calcifer in this one because I really like writing him.

I didn’t write this in a way where you need to know anything at all from Charming Eternity so it doesn’t matter if you’ve read that one.

The only things you need to know going into this is that this is a self-indulgent, fix-it. There will be spoilers for Seasons 2-4. We will be turning canon Billy into fanon Billy. Saving all those who need saving. Maeve is a witch and therefore has magic (which is a mashup of Charmed, Merlin, etc.). Black cat. A raven named Circe. That about covers it.

NOTE: Technically Charming Eternity takes place in 1987 and Strangely Charming takes place/starts in 1984 (and there are certain references relating to Charming Eternity even though those events didn’t happen yet.) Maeve and Calcifer are in their mid-twenties in that fic, but in this one they’re 18-19. This is basically an AU for my OCs and for the show since this is gonna be a fix-it thing.

Also, since this takes place in season 2, Maeve and Calcifer move into the house that Max would move into after season 3.

Warnings: None for this chapter

Words: 1328

Face claim for Maeve is Madison Iseman (photo included in this post) - she was Mary Ellen in Annabelle Comes Home and Bethany in the new Jumanji movies (the actress not IN the game obviously lol). Blonde and she has blue eyes but OC has grey. Calcifer’s face claim is Colin Morgan (Merlin in Merlin. But more specificaly Jethro from that one episode of Doctor Who.)

-Posting this at 4:30 am so I might have to go back and fix mistakes-

Maeve had just about finished bringing in the last of the boxes into the trailer home, closing the back of her Jeep with one arm holding the last box on her hip. Before she could turn towards the small porch, across the road a man stepped out of his trailer with a pack of cigarettes. She gave a small wave when he looked up from lighting one and noticed her. He gave a nod and a small wave in return as he sat on the steps. 

After putting the box in one of the bedrooms, and petting the black cat that was laying on the bed, she stepped back outside of the trailer and made her way across the street. 

“Hi,” she said, giving the man another wave. “I’m Maeve.” She held out her hand as she came to stand in front of him.

“Wayne,” the man said with a nod as he shook her hand.

“Just wanted to introduce myself. Normally I’d make my brother come out and say hi too, but he’s tired from the move and isn’t really a people person anyway; closed himself up in his room.” She gestured back towards her trailer.

“That’s alright.”

“I also just wanted to let you know we have a cat we let roam outside, in case you see a black cat wandering about. Brother named him ‘Cal’ after himself. He’s usually pretty chill; won’t scratch or anything.”

“Thank you for letting me know.” He gave her a small smile.

“Oh also Cal, my brother, not the cat,” Maeve said with a chuckle, “Cal is adopted so if you’re wondering why I sound like this and he sounds like he just moved from Ireland that’s why,” she explained with a chuckle. “Just never lost the accent; though it’s not as thick as it used to be.”

“It’s just the two of you?” he asked, glancing across the street, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

“Yeah, been just us for a while. I mean it’s not like we don’t have any other family just… ya know, none here,” she said with a shrug. “Hey, uh, do you know if any other high schoolers live around here? We start tomorrow and…” She shrugged again. “We’re gonna be seniors.”

“Actually my nephew is a senior. He’s not here right now, but uh, you hear a van blasting music that’s him,” he said with a fond chuckle.

“Oh, awesome. Hey, think you could maybe ask if the weird new kids can sit with him at lunch tomorrow? I mean I know I probably look normal now,” she said as she gestured to herself. Her pale blonde hair was up on a messy bun, no makeup, a black jacket over a worn Black Sabbath t-shirt and faded blue jeans with holes in the knees, over a beat up pair of off-white vans. “but this is my at home look. I’m much different when I know people can see me.”

“I’ll ask,” he said with another small chuckle. “He likes them too,” he said as he pointed to her shirt. “So you’ll have that in common.” His smile grew but Maeve didn’t question it.

“Oh awesome. You can tell him he can come over and say hi when he gets home.”

“Not sure when he’ll be back, stays out late when his band has a show. I work nights; he always comes home before I get back, just don’t know when.”

“Oh damn, if I didn’t have to unpack I’d go check them out. I’ll have to ask when he’s playing again.” Wayne smiled. “Well, it was very nice meeting you. Got a lot of boxes to deal with so I’ll stop bothering you now.”

“Not a bother,” he said, shaking his head. “Was nice meeting you.”

“Sounds like band-boy is home,” Calcifer called from his room upon hearing music coming from outside, growing closer.

“And?” Maeve called back from where she sat at a table in the kitchenette. “It’s late, we can say hi tomorrow,” 

“Never said I wanted to go talk to him,” he clarified. A meow brought Maeve’s attention to the door where Cal sat, pawing at it.

“Really? It’s late Cal,” she said. The cat meowed again. “Alright, fine.” She got up and moved to the door. “Don’t stay out too late, kay? And don’t be a weirdo.” If ever a meow could sound offended it was then. She opened the door and he took off. 

The black cat sprinted across the street as the van parked, the music inside cutting off as the engine stopped. The door opened with a loud creak and the driver hopped out only to look down as Cal meowed up at him. 

“Hey… lil guy,” Eddie said, blinking down at the cat. “Where’d you come from?” He closed the door to the van with a jarring slam then moved around to the back to retrieve his guitar case before heading for the door of the trailer. “Careful, neighbor has a dog,” he said with a chuckle, glancing back at the cat which he was surprised to see was following him up the steps. He stopped and looked down as Cal sat and looked up at him, gently pawing at his shoe. “You uh… hungry or something?” he asked slowly before he looked around. 

The unfamiliar car across the way caught his attention and drew his gaze to the window where he saw a light was on inside. He knew the place had been for sale the past few months, but he hadn’t cared enough to pay attention as to whether or not it had been bought.

“Ah, guess you just moved in,” Eddie said as he looked down at the cat, that continued to look up at him. “Well then, welcome to the neighborhood, little buddy. I’d pet you but I can't risk you eating my hand.” He drummed the fingers of his left hand on his guitar case. The black cat rubbed against his leg and started purring. “Is that your way of telling me you won’t eat me?” Eddie chuckled to himself as he put the key in the lock. “Alright fine, but your owners come looking for you, you’re not the one who’s gonna get in trouble for cat-napping.” 

He opened the door, jumping slightly as the cat ran in before he could even take a step. With the guitar case in the way, and the fact that the door opened outward, Eddie almost tripped a few times as he hurried to get inside after the animal. He set his guitar case down with a sigh as he saw the cat standing in the middle of the living area and simply sniffing at the floor. 

“Shit, please don’t eat anything you find on the floor,” Eddie muttered, suddenly aware that he may end up having to take this cat to the vet if it got into the wrong thing. The cat stopped and turned to him, making him raise an eyebrow, before it suddenly sped down the hall and into his room. “Hey, whoa, wait wait wait-! Please tell me you’re a cat that doesn’t like to knock shit over,” he pleaded as he ran after him. 

Thankfully Cal wasn’t knocking anything over. Instead, the cat was stretching up the panel next to Eddie’s closet, with one paw on the wall and the other pawing at a long chain that hung there along with two sets of handcuffs the cat couldn’t reach. The cat looked from the cuffs to him and Eddie had never felt as judged by an animal as he did in that moment. 

“You… are a very weird kitty,” he muttered as he took off his vest and jacket. Cal sniffed around as Eddie moved to turn on his cassette player, doing his best to keep an eye on the cat. As Metallica started to play, the cat jumped up onto his bed and curled up. “Uh, alright, sure.” 

A/N: I’m giving myself the self-set goal of trying to make each chapter at least 1k words since I’m posting this on both AO3 and tumblr and I tend to like shorter chapters on tumblr.

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Hey if you wanna be added to the tag list for this fic (or removed, don’t feel bad about asking to be removed from the list for any reason.) please just reply on any chapter (or send me an ask) and I’ll tag you in the next one. ^_^