#because billy’s out of control he’s bad he deserves it

[allaboutsturns]

ɪ ᴡɪꜱʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇꜱᴛ (ꜰɪɴᴀʟᴇ)

matthew sturniolo x reader

content/warnings: fluff, mentions of healing process, mentions of hospital, mentions of injuries.

summary: it’s been about two months since you got released from the hospital after the incident and you’re closer with the triplets than ever, especially your boyfriend, matt who did everything in his power to fix the mistakes he made.

it’s been around two months since you were released from the hospital and were now home. the healing journey obtained many ups and downs along the way.

there were points during the process where you’d wake up from a nap and stand up out of bed, immediately hit with a wave of pain the moment your feet hit the floor. you’d have to run to the bathroom as quickly as you could because the pain coursing through you hurt so bad it made you physically ill. most of the time when this happened, matt was present and ready, taking your hair in his hands and holding it gently out of your face to make sure none of the vomit dispelling out of you would infect your soft hair.

you were so grateful to have him. while yes, your relationship had its ups and downs, the ups were much more prominent and meaningful.

matt to this day felt guilty about that night, the night that the incident occurred. you and the boys referred to that night as ‘the incident’ because calling it anything else made your hearts ache with the memories.

you still had a difficult time with walking, attending weekly physical therapy to help regain full control. due to your weak muscles and injuries, matt would take care of you, making you breakfast and dinner in bed.

because you now struggled with being able to pleasure yourself, he took it upon himself to do it for you on the nights that you longed for it the most. he did everything for you. he felt as though he needed to, as though he owed it to you.

you constantly reassured him and told him that it was okay, that he didn’t have to do everything he was doing for you, but he ignored it. to him, everything he was doing, you deserved. he never wanted to experience almost losing you again, it was too much for him to handle.

some nights he would come home after filming a video with his brothers, flowers and chocolates in hand. he would light a candle and present the gifts to you with the sweetest smile on his face. he had a newfound love for doing all of this stuff for you, he appreciated being able to more, now that he experienced almost losing you.

a couple days ago, matt made the decision to propose, and of course you said yes. the two of you didn’t plan on holding the wedding anytime soon, or even plan on finalizing the marriage soon, he just wanted to be able to say he was engaged to you, it made his heart flutter with joy.

on the rougher nights, matt would wake up in a cold sweat, his chest heaving and his mind racing after an awful nightmare about that night.

his frantic, short breaths would wake you from your light sleep and you would hold him, letting him rest his head on your chest, which allowed him to hear your calm breaths and gentle heartbeat, reminding him that you were still there. sometimes you guys would lay like that, awake, for a couple hours. other times you guys would fall back asleep almost immediately.

because of your near death experience, you spent more time with nick and chris as well, not wanting to spend any time away from any of the three of them. they were your home, your lighthouse, and you were theirs.

-

you were laying in bed with matt, his head gently resting on your chest, one arm tucked under his body and the other stretched across your stomach.

“i love you, y/n,” he whispered, sleep taunting each word.

“i love you, matt,” you replied with a small smile. he shook his head slightly, “no, i love you. and i am so grateful that you’re mine and i am yours and that we are together,” he paused for a moment before continuing, turning his head so that he could look into your eyes, “you are my everything, my reason, my power, my inspiration, my motivation. you are my everything.” he cooed, reaching a hand up to your face, his thumb brushing away a grateful tear that had managed to escape your waterline.

“you’re my everything, love,” you said with a slight sniffle. he smiled at you gently, that same beautiful smile you had come to love, and you didn’t hesitate to smile back.

he nuzzled his head further into your chest, pulling you as closely as he could, not wanting any distance between the two of you. you giggled to yourself, unable to hide the adoration you had for him.

your eyes grew heavy as did his, and you both allowed sleep to carry you away, your breathing in sync.

divider by: @/Kafekitsune

hey guys!! i know this is a shorter one but i struggled with writing this SO MUCH, i had no ideas at all BUT needed to get it out to u guys. hopefully nothing is confusing because i don’t proofread my work like… at all.

anyways! this is the finale, i hope u guys enjoyed!! i am so grateful for the support and thank u guys so much for 100 followers! i love u

- ace <3

taglist: @whoisabbyysblog @mattyblover07 @b2cute @samandcolbyfan22 @h3arts4harry @nickgetsmewetter

[bigdumbbambieyes]

okay, hear me out. S3 rewrite with Billy in Robin’s role while the Mindflayer makes Neil it’s host.

like, picture it for a sec: we’d get the Billy-Steve friendship we deserved, we’d have an actual human antagonist who was shown to be canonically abusive and controlling in S2, and Billy could be a reluctant (but important) addition to The Party for S4. he’s the brawn and brains that they need.

things to consider:

we’d get Steve and Billy in matching Scoops Ahoy uniforms. maybe they both applied as lifeguards but had a fight in front of the manager so they both didn’t get the position, and they applied everywhere in Starcourt once it opened and surprise!! they were both hired at Scoops and now they have to get along or else they’ll be broke the whole summer!

Billy watching in amusement as Steve fails to hook up with girls, maybe he even makes the same scoreboard. there also wouldn’t be a need to have the moms lusting over Billy bc he has no reason to meet Karen at the motel - no predatory behaviour from her in this timeline!!

imagine the banter. billy would have something to say to everyone and it would be so funny, especially between he and Max. give me one proper sibling fight please!

while a coming out scene would be great for Billy, and i would love to see Steve react to that (like, his reaction to a gay woman he had a crush on would be sooo different from a gay man he used to beef with, let’s be real), i also want more depth from Billy since he’s not flayed and El wouldn’t be looking into his past for us. so maybe instead of a coming out scene, they talk about the fight at the Byers’ during the bathroom scene. we get a glimpse into Billy’s carefully guarded emotions (maybe even his relationship w his dad) and both Steve and Billy get to move on from that night. closure and moving on from it together as newfound friends!

Billy could be shown that he is actually a smart cookie and cracks the Russian’s code (with Steve’s help). Dustin and Steve are impressed and Dustin begins to warm up to Billy a little.

new Scoops Troop!! Billy and Steve and Dustin dynamic omg. and Erica and Billy?? imagine she kinda confronts him about what happened with him and Lucas in S2, so she’s uncertain of him bc of that, but now Billy has the chance to make things right and clear up misunderstandings. and in this timeline, he apologizes to Lucas. because Lucas deserves that so. much. and Billy should have the chance to become a better person like Steve did. and maybe Lucas doesn’t forgive him, which is justified bc he doesn’t have to forgive him at all, but he gets the apology he deserves at the very least.

Steve and Billy getting tortured together oof. that would hit hard bc imagine Billy is being punched and slapped and he’s just laughing and taunting and Steve’s like wtf. it would be a great set up for the bathroom scene - like ‘why were you laughing while we were being literally tortured??’

Billy getting to see Steve draw a charge during his ‘fight’ with the Russian soldier and being proud of him, clapping him on the back with a grin while Steve gives him a shy smile. perhaps even…a meaningful, lingering look?? a spark between them??

also Steve and Billy high as fuck together lol i just want that so bad, please!!

and while Billy is with the Scoops Troop, The Party is focused on Neil. it would be a great chance to see Max’s relationship with her step father and she notices how weird he’s being. he’s nicer to Susan, even nicer to her, but then her mom starts acting weird, too. and when she finally meets up with Billy at Starcourt when the Mindflayer manifests, they discuss everything and Billy is conflicted. he’s happy that his old man is finally getting what’s been coming to him all these years, but that’s still his dad. it’s complicated but not really touched upon but implied. (and i think that would also be a great set up for S4. he gets those weird feelings in S4, thinking ‘i wanted him to die’ but also feeling guilt because his relationship with his father is so twisted from years of abuse).

we could explore Neil’s past a bit with this timeline, too. we could get a glimpse of why he is the way he is, like we did with Billy. El could see the abuse he put Billy and his mom through. she sympathizes with Billy, but she also sees how Neil was abused, too, and feels this empathy for him. which is how she brings him out of the possession, because El is empathetic by nature, under all that anger and naivety. she knows what it’s like to abuse and be abused and want to be better than those who hurt her. and when Neil does break through, he is killed just like Billy was in S3, and Billy runs over once his dad flops to the ground. Neil grits out ‘i’m sorry’ but Billy doesn’t say anything, doesn’t forgive him. he doesn’t even cry. he just…stares, looking like the lost little boy he’s always been. and Max finally runs over to pull her brother up, to drag them both away from Neil, and Billy can’t look away from his dad’s body until it’s finally out of sight.

and ofc the season ends with Steve and Billy both working at Family Video!! with Neil and Susan gone (she would’ve been part of the MF’s army), it’s just Billy and Max now, living in that trailer. that would be such an interesting dynamic to write for S4.

anyways that’s all!! that’s my silly rewrite. Billy deserved to have a support system and a real relationship with his sister and a boy his age and it could’ve been done in S3. 🤍

[iamnmbr3]

Honestly, I keep forgetting that tom riddle was like 11 in some of the memories because of the way dumbledore talks about him. I keep picturing him as older teenager young adult. Like bro he's not Conniving he's trying to not die

Exactly! Dumbledore never sees him as a child or an innocent or someone who can be saved (or even needs or deserves it). This is despite the fact that what he knows of 11 year old Tom's behavior is actually not nearly as disturbing and psychopathic as James Potter's behavior for example. James grew up with everything and shows clear sadistic tendencies from a young age. He obviously actively enjoys violently tormenting and assaulting other people for fun. He actually fits the 'serial killer who was a psychopath from a young age' trope better than Tom does, though that wasn't JKR's intent at all.

I think she possibly meant to do something very different with Tom's character but bungled the exectuon. I think she was going for the whole 'serial killers are psychopaths who are un-saveable and torture and kill smalls animals as children" trope but that's not what she wrote. Tom killed one rabbit. Obviously that was wrong, but it wasn't part of a pattern where he routinely small animals for sport. He also didn't kill it for fun (nor did he do it in a particularly prolonged or cruel way). He did it as retribution after an argument (and presumably since he didn't do anything to Billy Stubbs directly, this was an argument with someone he felt unable to take on). Obviously this doesn't make what he did right, but it is a VERY different context from what JKR is trying to imply (since we the readers are supposed to agree with Dumbledore's reactions to and assessments of him). We never even find out what the altercation with Billy Stubbs was about or who initiated it etc.

Aside from that, there's the cave incident where...something happened but we don't know what. It is notable that Dumbledore mentions that it would be virtually impossible to climb up to (or presumably down from) the cave without magic. Which means Tom used his powers to not only get all of them up, but also to bring himself as well as Dennis and Amy back - rather than simply leaving them to die either for fun or to cover up whatever he did to them. (Personally I think he performed magic on/in front of them but then went too far and panicked and tried to wipe their memories but did it badly due to being inexperienced and uncontrolled which is why they are odd afterwards and can't remember what happened). But yeah. We have no idea what happened there. Only that Mrs. Cole, who hates Tom and doesn't know what he is, suspects him of having done something bad. Dumbledore never bothers to get Tom's side of things.

It's also important to remember that while Tom learned to control his powers, at first his use of magic would have been random and uncontrolled. This means that some of the incidents for which he was blamed were outside his control and simply instances of his magic reacting to his emotions rather than him deciding to do something.

Given that Dumbledore hasn't read the later books where Tom Riddle becomes Voldemort and given that he knows that Tom is universally hated and feared in the orphanage for his strange powers (to the point that Tom consequently lives in mortal fear of being thrown in an asylum and seems to have had bad experiences with doctors) he can't even really reasonably be certain that Tom wasn't acting in self defense in the only way he knew how. But he simply takes Mrs. Cole at her word that Tom Riddle is no good and evil even though it makes no sense in-universe to do so since he doesn't know yet that Tom is destined to be the villain of the series.

Tom lives in a tough and dangerous world where strength rules. He has no one to look out for him. The very concept of a caring and trustworthy adult is probably alien to him. He is loathed and feared. He suffers from privation and is surrounded by want and disease and death. The only way for him to exert any power over his own life is to use the strange abilities he posses but doesn't understand and can't fully control. This is his reality. Characters in Game of Thrones live in a violent, dog eat dog world, and that influences their behavior. Similarly, Tom's environment influences his behavior. Given his circumstances his behavior (at least what we know of it), while wrong, is not that shocking or even that extreme. He is trying to survive as best he can.

Maybe all the help and guidance in the world couldn't have turned him from his dark path. But the point is, no one ever gives him that chance. Dumbledore shows immediate bias towards him - and we're supposed to think this bias is justified, but that's not supported by what's actually in the text.

[stevesbipanic]

Billy was not racist. He was trying to protect Max and Lucas both from his father, who would have harmed both of them plus Billy if he knew they were even hanging out let alone romantically involved. Billy was a victim of abuse at the hands of his father, and his mother abandoned him to his father despite knowing what cruelties he would suffer just to save her own ass. Was Billy an asshole? Yes. Was the shitty way he treated people especially Max okay? No, never. Nothing excuses it. But you try living with the sorts of abuses his father heaped on him, and on his mother before she left, and the abuses he would have been heaping on Max's mom too. I have zero doubt that Billy's father r-worded both Billy's mom and later Max's mom because "wifely duties" or some other misogynistic garbage. Billy would have overheard the sounds from it pretty much any time it happened while he was home. You try living with all that and see how YOU turn out. Billy did deserve a redemption arc. He got one of a sort when he sacrificed himself despite "the mindflayer's" control over him, all to save El, Max, Max's mom, and even people he hated. Because he knew what "the mindflayer" had planned. Did you not see Billy's tears when "the mindflayer" was speaking through him? Did you not notice Billy told Karen to stay away from him rather than give in to "the mindflayer" and kill her? Did you not notice Billy flat out lied to his father when his father demanded to know where Max had run off to? There's no way Billy didn't have some kind of clue where to find her. But he lied to his father, to shield her and to shield Lucas, from whatever harm would absolutely have come to them at the hands of Neil Hargrove. Billy is not the embodiment of evil you clearly think he is.

Did Billy somewhat sometimes care about his stepsister? Yes. Did he get abused by his dad? Also yes. These facts don't excuse him from his actions in both seasons 2 and 3.

In our early meetings of Billy he highly threatens to run over the party while they're on their bikes. A normal same human being wouldn't do that. He also beat Steve to the point the kids thought he might be dead. He continued beating Steve even once Steve had been thoroughly knocked out, and likely would've killed Steve if Max hadn't knocked him out.

Also YES HE WAS RACIST WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???? Did you know that Billy's line "certain type of people" in regards to Lucas, was originally a black slur? He was a racist character picking up the trait from yes his abusive dad. Just because his dad was abusive doesn't mean Billy didn't become racist because of his upbringing with him.

You can definitely say that line is to protect Max from abuse from her stepdad if he found out she was talking to a black boy. But it certainly wasn't protecting Lucas, billy couldn't care less about Lucas' safety (SEE TRYING TO RUN HIM OFF THE ROAD).

His character was written to be a bad person, accept this. Characters aren't always written to have redemption arcs or all be good people. He was a racist bully from the 80s with an abusive dad. Just because you think he's hot doesn't change these facts.

Also, abuse doesn't inherently make your character grow up to be a bully. Lonnie Byers is heavily written as an abusive father, even going so far as it was suggested he killed Will in season 1. But neither of the Byers grow up to be bullies. Eleven is brought up in an abusive environment and moves past these traits. Steve's parents are seen as hard on him and in some ways absent and neglectful and besides Jonathan we never see him fight anyone that wasn't for protection.

Billy is the only older character that shows complete disregard for the kids safety. And him dying in st3 doesn't forgive these actions nor rewrite his racist abusive character.

You're allowed to hate characters that are written to be the bad guys. No one attacks anyone for hating Dr Brenner because he's the villain. Many people including myself didn't like Steve in season 1 because he was written to be the popular asshole. Characters are written certain ways for reasons. So go enjoy your self insert fanfiction where you really just want Billy to be a hot ooc. But for the rest of us it's totally fair to hate on one of the villains of the series.

[random-vyxx]

Sooo! Nn DIALTOWN HEADCANONS!! (Tw there are brief mentions of suicide-) [ill get to dsaf headvanons in a different post]

(Also there's a LOT.)

Gingi:

• phonegingi and typegingi are separate beings.

• biology is determined on whats funniest in context.

• can change their sex at will,, like a frog,

• sometimes sleeps at the foot of norms bed like some fatass dog /lovingly /inspiredby that one nrom blog

• they have an immense dislike of beans.

• when asked about any sort of beans they get defensive.

• red-green colour blind

• purrs,,

• has adhd ,,, because,, they,, akt like me,, *

• thinks the narrator and it are homoerotic, the narrator just wants to go home.

• has a hang in there cat poster in its tent.,, stole it from Billy's alternary school when smuggling him out to ask for help summoning satan.

• likes liquorice.

• every 1-3 years gingi has to get a rabies shot. WILL NOT go alone. Has to get someone to take her or else he IS biting a veterinarian.

• Gingi has broken a limb before, they tried gnawing it off but got distracted by an un-watched construction site (gravel yummy yummy)

Karen

• were married. /JOKR.. /perchance?!

• is not only protective of romantic companions (me rn: 🤓👆),, just anyone she likes.

• she doesn't stim often (repressing it n whatnot), but when she does its usually something simple like bouncing onto her heels. *

• HATTTEEESSS blueberries. Oh my god unless they're ripe in the right way she physically cannot make herself eat them. Likes the taste but GOD she cant deal with them. *

• sometimes when she has a painting she didn't like the outcome of, she lets gingi gnaw on it. (She uses non-toxic paints when painting near gingi)

• smart, but she can make dumb decisions out of impulse.

• goth phase, but eventually got out of it because she just.. Didn't like it anymore.

• girlboss, i love her! !!

• her boss HATED her!

• sometimes she gets art block and stares at the canvas, contemplating if shes actually an artist.

• found a leaf that looked strangely like Charlie Chaplin, showed it to gingi and gingi devoured it instantly.

Randal.

• Randy finds it very hard to sleep naturally!! He will curl up around the airvent in the ticket booth.

• shares a braincell with Oliver n Karen.

• as pathetic as he is, can be pretty damn assertive at times.

• not sexually, bro would be shook if he held your HAND.

• he daydreams about some disney ass "getting pushed onto the dance floor and #ROCKING IT!!!!! " (If he got pushed onto a dance floor hed cry.)

• HAS drempt (dreampt? ) about invader zim and rainbow dash frim mlp beating the shit out of him. Has cried to Oliver about it, and Oliver asked if he did or did not deserve their beating,, in the dream.

• honestly kinda in love with Oliver.

• has honestly known Karen a BIT longer than hes known Oliver,, probably met her after leaving his dads house at 16.

• anytime he passes by the swan pond while walking back to the funfair, he starts shaking

• religious trauma, but meeting god kinda eased his fears a bit

• maybe it was the whole "god is really just an alcoholic hobo.. Hm... Maybe im nOT going to hell! He just like me fr! ",, still scared of him tho since if his life got that bad god aint in control.

• ASS EYESIGHT!! cant afford repairs.

• Randy will scarf down ANY food given. Hes usually nervous about being given stuff, but food? No questions asked, already consumed

Oliver

• has some crazy ass habits

• OLIVER IS SMART. IM TIRED OF PRETENDING HES NOT. HE CAN ACT ON IMPULSE, YES, HE CAN MAKE BAD DECISIONS, YEAH, HELL HE CAN SAY DUMB/IMMATURE SHJT BHT HE UD SMAR HE ISS SMA

• actually a pretty good welder, just sometimes uses it for... Evil.

• he welded a dick then him and gingi giggled about it for 38 minutes. He hides it around the scareshack sometimes and when mr dickens finds it, he sighs and places it somewhere new to continue this GOD AWFUL game.

• jokes about committing crimes, but wouldn't,, chaotic good type shiz.

• romance is boring ahh self.*

• likes randy,, but subtly, since hes greyromantic

• once listened to "kiss me son of god" by they might be giants so long he felt physical withdrawal when he WASN'T listening to it. Would pay money to listen to it for the first time again. ****

• used to overbind just because hed forget hes wearing a binder. Average conversation would be like "god randy i feel sick as FUCKK... " "maybe get that checked out..? " "like my chest hurts n shit,, iunno if its actually serious but it does hurt" ".. Oliver are you wearing the binder thingy... If thats what its called-? "*

• Oliver speaks in stage directions, instead of right, he says "stage left"

Bigfoot

• it takes a lot to coax Bigfoot into the city, usually more responsive when karen does it.

• no longer allowed near a car. *

• actually knows several languages, just doesn't speak.

• dude its Bigfoot what can i say, he like 'naners.

Norm

• INTRUSIVE thoughts. Bro is tweaking. *

• whenever he gets intrusive thoughts he feels PHYSICALLY SICK. Like one he gets is doing what he was going to do in the bad ending. One bullet for mingus, one for himself. He wouldn't, definitely not. Giving up his happy ending would be stupid and he knows that. He cant control it though. Thats what intrusive thoughts are. He has yet to tell anybody about them. (Yes im starting his hcs with these two)

• bisexual, had the awakening during his isolation.. Fill in the blanks.

• the hat he wears is,, thank god,, not the infamous erotica hat. Though he has yet to get RID of the erotica hat.

• used to play bloody knuckles. I SWEAR ITS FUN*

• bickers with Mingus a lot, but sometimes they're calm (prolly after some hijinks.)

• was a fucking hOMO for Callum, it was not mutual, and he knew that.*

(tHIS IS NOT ME VILLAIN-IZING ANYONE HERE ITA OKAY TO NOT LIKE SOMEONE BACK I JUST NEED TO ADD TJIS DISCLAIMER BECAUSE SOEM PEOPLE FUCKING SUCK)

• God gets him to make omelettes sometimes. Norm is somewhat freaked out by it, but does it nonetheless because its fucking god.

• sometimes sees bad edits of spaceships going into space on Facebook reels... And he HAS gotten nostalgic over it. *

• isn't ready to date anybody, no siree, but he is able to form close bonds. And thats okay!!!

• sleeps with a rifle under his pillow*

• after little to no contact with fellow humans for YEARS, he is DOGSHIT at several social cues. I dont know if its the autism or the isolation anymore.... Vro also doesn't know about several important events!

• ended up giving gingi a turnip so theyd DHUT UP.

• asked my dad for ideas, he just "double cheeseburger". I dont know what this means.

• The ink spots fan at heart 💖

Mayor Mingus

• The mingling has a specific pin to show they're in it, but nobody knows what it means so they just look fruity. Mingus didn't accept the pin idea, but they did it any ways. She REFUSES to acknowledge the fact she put it on a board in her office.

• Has cat like behaviors,, obviously,, but sometimes shit like purring shows and she HATES it.

• post chapter 3, shes less frantic about fixing callum, but wont put him down,, never.

• head overheats easily become cats cant sweat (a lot)

• tries to get people to shut up as soon as possible, but will negotiate if she deems it necessary. *

• strangely knows "McDonald's lore". Doesn't elaborate.

• Mingus and the rest of the mingling are back as a group, gods no longer in it and bunnys there!!

• has a list of citizen's she dislikes immensely!! If this got leaked, she'd be in big trouble. *

• catnip works. Well. Too well.

• tango will find her high off her ass on catnip,,, just staring at a lamp like a fucking moth.

• The mingling isnt ENTIRELY incompetent now that bunnys back, theyre kinda together as a crime force. Shooty and stabby have yet to be given real weapons but they're still there so the REST of the mafia can say "Honey... We can call the MAYOR for this disrespect. "

• Passively aggressively says "Im fine. " if shes pissed off. [Needs al-kee-hol.. Aka milk]*

• walks her paw-paw around the nursing home just to keep him a little fit. Callum does NOT know who thos strange cat lady is but hes okay with that.

• tired mom-core

• AROACSE!!!! ACE!!! ARO!!!*

[The next characters wont have as many headcanons.]

Abel

• his complaining taught everyone his legal name was "Unabel". Everyone calls him that now.

• Drinks on the job.

• going through a messy divorce. He started it.

• Abelvynny??!!!

• hes alergic to peppermint and coconut.

• strange deja vu when he sees certain phones,, like... Whoever the hell Joe and Harry are, and Tango too for some reason. It confuses him and he does NOT like it.

Bunny

• ABEL DIVORCED HIS ASS WHILE BUNNY WAS IN THE HOSPITAL.

• Disabled because of getting slammed with a fucking machine.

• has prosthetic legs,, because,,, getting slammed with madame mediocre,, AND a call back to callum crown.

• ALSO drinks on the job

• doesn't actually like rabbits, changed his name for marketing.

• eats lemons. *

God / Local Hobo

• RARELY gets seriously mad, and when they do, its not that bad

• Churches weird him out,, but doesn't really care. *

• everyone in town knows them in some way.

• hes the one who pissed on the bank floor

• doesn't actually like eating waffles. He'll eat anything but waffles just are for decorative purposes in his mind.

• genderfluid,, but hes usually too drunk to use anything other than he/they.. Used to use everything though. Maybe when sober they'll use she/her,, but again, rarely sober.

• also has a feminine voice,,, just for sillies. *

Shooty n Stabby

• team rocket type shit

• they datin. They queer.

• their head was done by some dude in an alleyway between an applebees and a hospital.

• Originally he knife headed one is stabby, the gun headed one is shooty. They don't know that,, because they only call eachother "bro".

• dialtown mob isn't even that bad.. They're just incompetent. Like zim compared to the rest of the irken empire. Im sorry invader zim brainrots getting to me.

• HAD good weapons before, because mingus didn't know how shitty they were. Never again. Mingus learnt her lesson.

Theoraur Rustlebelt (famed adventurer and explorer)

• chronic back pain from wrangling large animals. Pain

• Put traps outside of gingis tent, gingi ate them

• sleeps holding a gun.

• says bully so much because its FUCKUNG A FUN WORD OKAY I UNDERSTAND THE HYPWY,, BULLY IS A FUN FUCKJNV WKRD*

• likes the colour green a little.. Too much, just doesn't ever wear it.

Little Billy

• Drinks pure ketchup and its scary. *

• Neurodivergent ,, *

• weed. Lots. [[[Most people thinks it's just kid shit, hes high. who gave him weed. ]]]

• Likes breakcore music (like atari teenage riot and machine girl ) *

• hates everyone equally ♡*

• peanut allergy,, but he mainly eats macaroni so does it matter????

• has one of those silly ass spinny chairs to keep him focused in mingling meetings,, but still easily diverges topic [SPINNY CHAOR IDEA WAS TAKEN FROM SOMEONE ELSS BHT I FORGOT FROM WHOM]

• knows a little too much about knives.*

• favourite knife is a bowie knife, since he finds the history neat. Thinks Jim Bowie did some SICK stuff... But like,, jim bowies still a terrible person and he knows it. Stoll that standoff was epic. This is self projecting im sorry***

• lies a lot, even when not needed. *

• picks up spiders and gives them to people he dislikes. *

• aroace,, but hes 7 so he doesn't know yet.. Nor care.

END!!!!! the amount of aroace headcanons is for a spECIFIC REASON!! (im aroace.)

[fizzigigsimmer]

Me out here wanting to know why so many die hard antis want Eddie to come back as Kas, when narratively Billy already fulfilled that storyline and they condemn him for it.

Them: Billy was a villain!!! The difference between Kas!Eddie and Kas!Billy is Eddie died trying to do the right thing and he would never want to become a puppet for Vecna. It would be his GoodnessTM that would help him break through vecna's control.

😆 I can’t. Billy was a teenage antagonist in a teen bully storyline who got drugged by his little sister, laid out and “taught a lesson”. He was never the sum of all evil or the big bad villain of his season. Be serious. The next season Billy, a teenager, was then dragged into a warehouse and physically violated by a supernatural monster. He never wanted to be or chose to be Venca's puppet. It doesn’t matter whether or not he was a “good” person in your eyes when it happened to him, it happened and he didn’t deserve it. I do not give a fuck how mean or how racist you think this character was. It is insane to suggest Billy deserved what happened to him and if that is how you honestly feel, please do not be surprised when people outside of your bubble point out how insane you are.

I can say with full confidence that you are not objective about this. You have lost the plot. I wouldn’t wish what happened to Billy on grown ass people I actually cannot stand. Real ass people who are plenty racist and actually causing me real harm, unlike this fictional character. So I just can’t wrap my head around this mentality that allows a person to think Eddie being Kas would be amazing because it’s “so tragic but poignant and redemptive”, while at the same time rigidly viewing Billy as a monster who deserved to die. It isn’t rational.

It was the good inside of Billy that allowed him to break Vecna's control. And then Billy died trying to save people. And not to be a bitch but he actually succeeded, whereas Eddie’s death was some pointless circle jerk toxic manhood brouhaha the writers shat out. I hate that for him but you know it’s true. Which is why you want to literally GIVE HIM BILLY’S STORYLINE , along with all of the sympathy and recognition for heroism that you refuse to give to Billy.

[stranger-rants]

I'm a little sensitive because I got into another car accident (I am okay. It wasn't bad, but considering I almost died in a much worse wreck, it did bring up some very unhappy feelings in me), but I absolutely hate the way this fandom talks about the car crash scene between Steve and Billy. They're completely insensitive and cruel about it, and I was much more sensitive about it then than I am now because that episode aired like a year after my own wreck.

But stick with me.

The scene itself was set up to make the "heroes" look cool and badass, but it doesn't actually feel heroic. At all. There's this season long failure to recognize and respect that there's a person trapped inside the possessed body the heroes are fighting, and as such they don't care what happens to that body. They would not have acted the way they did with Billy if it had been one of their friends that got flayed. So, that in itself makes everything feel less heroic. It actually makes me feel worse about these characters that I am "supposed" to love.

...but add onto that, people portray Steve slamming into Billy's car with a car that has no value to him as this "triumph over evil" scene. Worse, there are Anti posts with hundreds of notes either praising him or saying he should have finished the job. That doesn't vibe with the set up of the scene, and it treats Billy as the villain because it was his body in that car. The fandom also strives to portray Steve as someone who wouldn't hesitate to murder someone, as if he had the opportunity to really think about it before crashing into Billy. That's not the reality of it.

Billy would have never wanted to intentionally crash his car or seriously use it as a weapon. He may drive recklessly and he may have joked about hitting a few kids once, but that doesn't mean he wanted to hurt anyone especially while he was possessed. There's ample evidence that he didn't want to do any of it. He said The Mindflayer made him do bad things (kill people) which obviously traumatized him, and then there was ample evidence that he continued to fight against the possession.

The car was one of the few things Billy had that represented his freedom away from his abusive home, and that gets totalled in a scene that fans get downright gleeful about and for what? What does it really say about their favorite characters or even about Billy? Billy sat there in the car revving his engine with his lights on, crying. The Mindflayer took everything from him. This was just one more thing. What's so triumphant or heroic about any of it? As soon as the cars collided, The Mindflayer had full control again and Billy was marching towards his death.

Not only that, but the scene of Billy passed out in his car in flames just screams tragedy to me. I know how painful a car wreck can be physically and emotionally. I couldn't move on my own after my wreck without excruciating pain, so I know how much his body was screaming at him to stop even though The Mindflayer wouldn't let him. It's an extremely upsetting, tragic scene to me because I know he's feeling everything while having control over very little. That's what car accidents feel like. You don't have control, and it feels horrible.

I just can't comprehend why that scene in particular is the height of fun entertainment for so many when it's so painful to me, and maybe it's because I take it more personally but maybe it's also because Billy isn't treated like a person who deserved better than the horrific amount of torture and pain he went through.

[percable]

Billy Hargrove is a bad person.

I’m sick and tired of listening to people defend him because of his bad home life. I see people mischaracterize billy constantly, they make him out to be this poor abuse victim who only wanted to protect his sister, when that absolute bull shit. Billy stans/defenders blatantly ignore everything that he’s done and sum it up to billy not having support. You wanna know characters that have been abused and never had support? Look at fucking Jonathan! He always took care of his family and never lashed out at them.

he referred to women as cows and bitches, he verbally, emotionally, and sometimes physically abused max (who grew up in the same environment as billy and didn’t turn out to be a piece of shit.) He’s racist, and before someone decides to reblog this and say that he was concerned for Max’s safety, he didn’t give two shits when max went missing for multiple hours nor did he care when he tried to run over literal children.

he literally grabbed Lucas and slammed him into a wall, ignoring Steve and the other kids and targeted him specifically, this is a perfect example of racial motivation. He only cared about Steve being there when he protected Lucas from him. Billy literally tried to kill Steve and almost beat him to death. He wouldn’t stop even after Steve was unconscious. Billy would’ve killed Steve, had max not drug him.

people bring up the fact that he sacrificed himself for el and saved the party when the mind flayer attacked. This, and I cannot stress this enough, is not a redemption. He did one thing, one good thing in this entire show, and he’s suddenly the best character. “He apologized to max” for what? He never apologized after years of abuse and control, nor did he apologize to Lucas for attacking him, he didn’t apologize to Steve for almost killing him. People say that Billy’s abuse “wasn’t even that bad” but in S4 we hear exactly from max that his treatment was so horrible that she wanted him dead.

billy defenders will bring up, his backstory flashback, but in that same scene we see him beating a kid up and calling him a pussy. I’m not saying that Billy deserved to be abused, I’m saying that he had no right to hurt others the way he did. I’m also not “comparing abuse victims” When I bring up Jonathan, I’m giving an example that billy chose to be a piece of shit. Most people defend him because of pretty privilege, as long as someone’s hot and has a sad past, every horrible thing they’ve ever done is suddenly erased and/or excused.

billy has no excuse. billy is a bad person.

[love-hatred-stuff]

mercy

>> a quick warning, my dears: smut, sub!billy, fem!reader, dacryphilia (not really mentioned as a turn on tho, billy just cries the whole time), bondage, sad billy, mean!reader, and probably more, so be aware! MDNI! ty!

>> excuse any mistakes pls!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

„I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!!” Dragging the words out, he sits there –whining your name continuously without you doing anything at all.

“Shut up!” You warn. You’ve lost count on how many times he’s begged for forgiveness today.

You aren’t in the mood for games. You are in the mood to ruin the man in front of you. Too bad because even that, he would enjoy, you knew.

He whimpers and lets his head hang low in hopelessness. You have him bound to the chair inside your living room, hands tied together with cable ties. Because he wanted it like that. He had pleaded for you to do what you wanted to him, to punish him. That was the only thing you would be granting him. For a long, long time.

„I don’t want to hear you anymore. I’m tired of this bullshit, Russo!!“ You have to really control yourself to not go completely feral right now.

He whines again.

„You’re pathetic, Russo! Do you know how much it costs me not to leave you right here, go to sleep and throw you right out the first thing in the morning? Fucking hell, I want to throw you out right fucking now!“ But you don’t. And you don’t know what you see in him that makes you want to forgive him everything in just a split second. But of course, you also don’t do that. Even if you did, you knew, deep down he wouldn’t forgive himself either.

His eyes show you how much he wants to open his mouth to apologize and beg again and you’re more than glad that he chooses not to this time, scared to disobey you once more. Like he didn’t already crossed every line and crashed every wall.

You sigh, massaging your temple with one hand, trying to ease the headache your boyfriend had brought upon you. That’s what he was; pure, consistent headache.

Something had changed in him over the last couple of weeks. He’d always been so sweet and smart and eager to please you. Well, he was still all that but there was something new to his persona. A fire. Like yours. And it was exhausting to keep him in check. Impossible almost. Which was why you’ve grown to be more direct and rough with him. Otherwise he would never listen.

But now. Oh now. It was almost like his switch had been flipped again. His jeans covered legs slightly shaking, his lips trembling, his eyes teary and his face guilty.

„Tell me, Russo; Do you deserve my forgiveness?“ It’s a mean question. You watch how it affects his whole being entirely. Tears pooling at his eyes, threatening to find their path down his cheeks, down his neck. Until they reach his naked chest and dry. He sniffles and you curse his dark hair that hides most of his face in silence. You want to at least see him suffer.

„Answer me. Or do you want to leave right now? You can leave right-“ You bark his way and he’s quicker to respond this time.

„No!“ He cries, trying to hold louder sounds inside. He knows you’re already on edge (where he brought you) so it would be unwise to stretch your patience even more.

You laugh lightly.

„That’s right. And do you know what brats like you get? Also right, absolutely nothing. Do you think I deserve to be treated like this, huh? Tell me Russo! I would like to know!” Tears also gathered in your eyes now, but you blinked them away quickly.

He lifted his head to look at you and the view almost made you choke on your own breath. He looked like a mess.

“You don’t- You don’t deserve to be treated like this. I’m sorry, Y/n-“

“Do not call me by my name!” Your blood was boiling once again. He should know. You had ‘trained’ him better. But the whole situation made his chest grow so tight with anxiety and guilt that he thought whatever was going on here was past any sexual plays. Which it was, but you couldn’t stand it, to be disrespected by him right now.

There he was. Billy Russo, usually the boss of everyone around him. A merciless, ruthful man he was. But when he came home, he wasn’t like that anymore. Though, lately these two big differences seemed to confuse him and mess with his head. Because why else would he go out of his way just to betray your trust? And break almost every last one of the rules you had set.

Now it was on you how to deal with that. Tonight, he finally made you snap. Before, you had tried to handle him more careful because you knew something with work had him spiraling. Something must bother him so much, it makes him want to keep control at home now too, when he looses it a work. And you were very understanding at first. For a start you quit leading him into submission. Because you feared that it would take a toll on his self control and overall demeanor if you didn’t act accordingly.

You had endured many hours of pointless arguments, petty comments, that had sometimes reached your shell and hurt you with a force that you didn’t expect. Not from your boyfriend anyways. You were in utter shock the first time he’d barked back a snarly comment about your past relationships. You hated it but you were sensitive about that topic. Before Billy, you weren’t as careful with who to choose as your partner. They had mistreated you many times. Of course you broke it of with all of them as soon as you felt disrespected.

But he had blamed you for all of it. He said you were too stubborn, too dominant, overall not how his woman was supposed to be. And that had broken your heart. You had tried to swallow it, to keep in mind why he was saying such things. You figured he felt attacked. He was scared you would take his control away, which you’ve done so many times before, with consent from both sides. But you had to accept, he wasn’t your old Billy anymore.

After a particularly hard day at work, Russo had decided to go to a pub. Just to relax a bit and get his mind off of things. Not only his work was exhausting him but also the circumstances at home, with you. He fully knew that everything was his fault, he hated himself for treating you so careless. He could only wish you weren’t gonna leave his ass soon. But he expected it nonetheless. Couldn’t blame you for it.

The night had escalated quickly and while missing all your worried calls, he’d sat there on the leather couch, with numbed senses and a almost naked woman up his neck. He didn’t touch her, but he willingly let himself be touched. Mostly because he was so out of it, he didn’t even know if it was you who’s been grinding on his lap or a stranger that looked like you. However, he was past the stage of feeling anything. He probably fell asleep soon after.

Fact was, that he didn’t remember how he got home. He only remembers your soft hands on him turning harsh the moment he was able to speak again. He figured you had found out where he’d spend his night and were furious. Couldn’t blame you for it.

Which was where you two were now.

He’d started apologizing to you when he got his memory back and went from feeling nothing, to feeling absolutely everything. He was desperate to get you to forgive him. Although he knew that wasn’t likely. In his hazed state he felt like he was gonna lose himself at the thought of losing you. Which was more likely to happen.

——

“I know, I know. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please, believe me, I didn’t want any of this! I just wanted piece for a while. I didn’t know were else to go. But I’m sorry! It was a mistake! I won’t even think of doing it again, I promise, I promise!” His glossy eyes search for yours.

“You never keep your promises anymore. You’ve become a liar, Russo.” Your alarmingly calm voice flushes his ears.

“I can’t tell anymore if you still love me.”

His heart beat begins to hammer against his chest. He knows he’s not allowed to talk but he can’t leave that statement how it is.

“I do! I love you! I swear- god, Y/n, you don’t even know how much I love you. I never stopped, I swear on everything I have! I’m sorry for everything, I will make it up to you. I’m not a liar!” He cries, his cheeks completely wet.

“Yeah, but maybe I am.” He looks at you, confused.

“Maybe I’m telling myself I can still fix you, get my old Billy back. Because we love each other. But I realize that if only one of us puts in the effort, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.” The way your soft voice dances off the walls of the room makes him shiver. The tears making their way down his chest and ending up wetting his jeans.

“Please- don’t… don’t leave me! I can not do this without you!”

You scoff and take your time walking towards him in a torturously slow and seducing way. The way your hips sway in unison with the steps of your heels while the dress you’re wearing hugs your perfect curves makes him go insane. He will never get over the fact, that you’re his girlfriend. Such a beautiful woman –like you are– shouldn’t even look at his scarred face.

“Oh Billy, how pathetic you are. You know the things you felt comfortable doing aren’t acceptable, don’t you? Is that why you’re crying?” It’s like he’s trying to grasp something that is meant to pull away from him because he doesn’t deserve it.

“Why don’t you do me a favor? Be a good boy and take what I give you, yeah? Enjoy the last time I’ll fuck you into oblivion.” Reality punches his face while he still hopes this is just a dream. A wet dream of his that makes him all brain dead for you, like you always do. It wouldn’t be the first time, and god he wishes he had the right to demand it not to be the last time as well.

The second your fresh breath fans against his neck his mind goes haywire. He would never get used to the way you make him feel, but now, now everything feels so blurred together. Billy sobs and cries and doesn’t stop while slowly remembering how it feels like to be aroused by you. It feels almost forbidden in this moment but you make it clear to him by showing him not only the bitterness in your eyes but also the lust that threatens to shimmer through. In this moment he’s a goner. You bend down unhurriedly and use your hand to lift your dress up to be able to straddle his lap in a sensual manner.

You’re the most inviting, intriguing, exciting, smart, interesting, appealing, desirable and erotic woman he’s ever met in his entire trauma-filled shithole of a life. And to this day he still wonders why the universe would ever bring you into hands. Well, he thought, that time was over now, fair enough.

“Are you gonna be good for me? Do you want me to touch you one last time?” It almost felt forbidden to feel so utterly turned on by you in this situation, but Billy couldn’t help it. You have that effect on him, always had. But you aren’t doing this for him, you’d allowed yourself to be selfish this once. So you had decided you needed this before never having it again, you could only guess how miserable your sex life would be after Russo.

Billy nods frantically, but isn’t able to stop his heaving chest because of the sobs that are rocking through his body, regardless of the lewdness the situation brought. To be honest here, he’d been sporting a boner since you’ve tied him to this chair.

“Use your words. Or I remove myself quicker than you can beg me for more.” You threatened and the coldness of your dark eyes meets the desperation in his. Renewed panic settles in his mind, quickly thinking of something to say.

“No! I mean- yes, I want this- you… I want you! So much it hurts, Y/n.” He fights against the ropes, wanting to finally touch you again. He hasn’t been allowed to for weeks. You always knew you would grant him every wish that fell from his lips once he made you his wife, but you still weren’t and you couldn’t stand him disrespecting you any longer. The last thing you would be for him was a woman with no self esteem and dominance to stand up for herself and he knew that very well, too.

You tut at him. “No saying my name, Billy. I don’t want to hear anything from this point on actually.” You began undoing his belt before unbuttoning his jeans with your tender fingers that he wishes were already up to squeeze his throat. “I won’t show mercy this time. I don’t care if you beg or cry or mewl. If it’s too much, you know your safe word. Other than that, I don’t want to hear a word from you, is that clear?” You’re done undressing him.

Billy nods, feeling you push your panties to the side before already brushing your entrance against his hard cock. He swallows a moan. Oh, there’s no mercy left in you, is there? The question is answered when he feels himself being pushed inside your warmth without warning. Your hands roam his chest before find his neck to roughly press on. You come closer and moan against his ear. Billy almost suffocates, the overwhelming feeling of your body pressed against him –while knowing he will never have that again– gets too much to bare and he begins to cry once again.

You set an unforgiving pace, rocking up and down relentlessly. It gives your satisfaction, knowing he can’t help but cry out for you because his biggest fear is about to come true. He will lose you. And you wish you didn’t care as much as you did but the silent tears falling down your cheeks betray you.

While feeling your high come closer any second it gets harder watching him go insane under you. Billy was the man you always hoped to marry and now, he was sitting here, at your mercy, breaking because he was so overwhelmed by everything you made him feel at once.

“Billy, it’s okay.” You hold onto his shoulders, finding a new sense of strength.

You chase your orgasm while hoping he will cum before you do, not granting him any other friction than this one. But you know it was gonna be enough when you hear his breath quickening, his dick twitching and his eyes glistening with tears, pleadingly looking up at you.

••••••••••••••••••••••••

masterlist

feedback is always welcome!!

[marukrawler]

It's great we all agree the og girls deserved better. Personally, of the 3 girls I think Julie was the one who had the most "decent" short end of the stick or the girl who was treated "a bit better" than Runo and Alice (or at least the writers tried give her something to do in comparison or in general) (and with these I'm not saying she was not flanderized; the same show sexualized her🤨). She appeared in season 3 and had few decent appearences were she helped the team and was a good friend for Dan and Jake

MS 1 treated the girls like if they never existed/j

And in MS2 her role in the story made sense and again, was a truly good friend and ally because she had something to do according with her personality and core traits.

Meanwhile, like you said in another ask: the show seemed to always give Runo the short end of the stick and season 2 had to flanderized her (babygirl didn't deserve them) and in MS2 her role didn't seem to be for her but for someone else (it can be new or another charac) truly they didn't knew what to do with her 😭 (she didn't deserve this she has SO much potential)

With Alice, again there was so much potential. She has her abilities and there's is no need to show She's one of the best brawlers, her grandpa, her card, hydra, and show said: Nah, too much work better ignore she exist 😮‍💨.

In my personal conclusion, the three girls had the worst pieces of cake but Julie had the worst decent piece of all three

Sorry for Bad English, it's not my first language

your english is good, don't worry!

you're right that julie didn't have it as bad. she helped mira beat gus, she didn't lose against anyone from the vexos in her (1) permitted battle and the one who (unintentionally) tipped off the vexos about their location was billy, not her. compared to runo and alice, julie was the one who screwed up the least.

she's also allowed to come back in other seasons and gave jake important insight as to how he can utilize the advantages that subterra provides as an element, just like she did with mira. she doesn't do much but helps out however she can, such as keeping kids out of bakugan interspace while it's under gundalian control, all this while still focusing on her grades, her cheerleading, and part time job.

in ms2, julie returns as a news reporter, working in bakugan city. she functions as the announcer during the b1 climax tournament, the field reporter who covers everything wiseman does live on the scene, and the interviewer collecting opinions from the citizens for a commemorative special program on the city's one year anniversary.

she seems very passionate about undoing the damage that wiseman has caused to the trust between humans and the bakugan who came to live with them, wanting to prove to the citizens of bakugan city that the bakugan are their friends and vice versa.

this is shown in s4ep33 when julie tries to convince a stubborn subterra damakor named damdos that humans and bakugan can coexist.

she also tries during s3ep43 to make sure the anniversary event goes smoothly so that more cities will have bakugan living there.

it's not a very exciting role but it's definitely a role that no one but julie could fill and im glad that she could still be relevant somehow.

[findafight]

tbh i think ppl that genuinely think steve dragged her there kind of take nancy's behavior at the party in the best light/take nancy at her word bc,,,, we see nancy excited for the party to the point of spending time making a costume and encouraging jonathan to come only for her to start lashing out at steve right after they get there. like i always felt so bad for him when tommy and billy start harassing him and nancy literally rolls her eyes and just stalks off only to start heavily drinking specifically to spite steve given what she says about how she's just acting normal like he wanted (also that smug look she sends him right after continuing to drink). idk the way nancy starts acting out (this makes her sound like a 5 y/o throwing a tantrum but,,,, if the shoe fits) could make it seem as if she's been forced to do something against her will when taken out of context but in context she's literally just acting like a huge asshole to her boyfriend bc she's upset about something she hasn't even told him about. i get upset when i think about it too much bc ppl focus way more on the bullshit scene (for obvious reasons) but nancy really was treating steve like shit that whole night.

yeah like. Owens talks about "the anniversary effect", and I think that's hitting Nancy hard, and so she's lashing out! She's a teenager and she doesn't know how to handle her grief and her desire for justice. That's fine and she deserves to yell and cry about it. But she also isn't communicating what she actually needs from Steve because I don't think she really realized it until she saw the redhead in the library. And dropping that on him and kind of freaking out about it at school wasn't really the most appropriate place to have a deep discussion on what to do. (idk why people view this as steve just flat out refusing to talk about it ever, it's clear to me he's nervous about it because they're at school and he doesn't want to be overheard and doesn't want to risk the government hurting them/their families)

We see Steve do his best to support Nancy by going to the dinners with the Hollands, and also encouraging her to go to the party, after we have been shown Nancy talking about it and inviting Jonathan and excited for it. He is engaging her with something she was looking forward to. idk why people view this as steve just flat out refusing to talk about it ever, it's clear to me he's nervous about it because they're at school and he doesn't want to be overheard and doesn't want to risk the government hurting them/their families. Yeah maybe if she had asked him to come with her on the plan to entrap Owens he would have said no, but at least he would have known where she was at and what she was thinking, instead of the sudden one-off talk they had in the library.

I guess if people only watched tina's party and not anything that came before they could see nancy as completely correct and that steve was pretending while she didn't want to (instead of mostly pretending with Steve and having had one freak out about it in a place that people could overhear) and that he dragged her there. But it's astounding that people can watch Nancy smile and give the flyer to Jon and still say Steve was a bad boyfriend for taking her.

She is definitely drinking vindictively in the scene, even though for all Steve knows Nancy genuinely wanted to go and have fun at the party. He's trying to get her to slow down and idk I've seen some takes as this showing Steve is controlling but legitimately what the fuck else are you going to do when you see someone you care about (friend/partner/whatever) ignoring you and being kind of an ass and drinking way too much while obviously upset about something. Of course he would encourage her to slow down!

He doesn't know what's wrong because Nancy actually has a habit of not talking or communicating to her boyfriend what is upsetting her. Nancy is so over pretending but she has only barely broached that with Steve. He did try to shut it down, but I don't remember him saying he was unwilling to talk about it, just that it was a bad idea, and that Nancy was coming with this "tear the lab down" thing from nowhere.

Part of the problem is that Nancy had feelings for Jonathan and didn't know what to do about that, and so decided that actually, everything was Steve's fault, because he wanted to be normal, he wanted to go to the party and have fun, he wanted to date and be in love, when, to drunk Nancy's mind, she wanted none of that. (even though we are shown that that isn't true) So she's going to drink and she's going to have fun and she's not even in love. (idk it depends on the day for me if nancy was faking the whole time or did, at some point, fall in love with him and then out of love.) The whole party scene is a mess for Stancy and poor Steve has no idea why his girlfriend is drinking too much and suddenly acting like they're fighting when there's no reason to. and then he gets yelled at and told she's pretending to love him.

[stevie-petey]

hello m i hope you are well. would you believe this was an excellent time for me to read your fic, truly what i needed tonight!! not to get #intoit #toodeep but a blowout fight with my mother puts me right in the headspace to ruminate on childhood and how to carry it inside of you in a way that doesn't hurt.

One thing before i start crying, i love this line so much, "Passenger seat is reserved for girls I’m dating.” passenger princess bug iktr!!!

Steve and bug finally, FINALLY being in a stable place with each other is so beautiful <3. i love them so much. them actually talking about what is happening between them, finally trusting each other enough to be open and vulnerable is tooooo good, espcially since we've seen what it took for them to get here. i am terrified for how this will break down in s4. Steve offering to come back to weathertop when bug is thinking about how she used to come with jon as she's about to lose jon......i love that he's doing that for her and with her <3333. i love that nancy promises bug to take care and keep jon safe. i love that nancy and steve do that for bug and jon. i love that they reassure to be their new person responsible. i also love that weathertop is a special place for both bug and dustin's first loves <3. i love how they keep making places more comfortable for each other. steve making the beatles a beautiful memory again, bug making the flower field into a nice birthday date with her joy about his best birthday gift in the world is really what love is all about. i also really, really loved their conversation about luck and love, and i have a nagging feeling in my mind it will come back in s4 to confront bug as she finally exhales the mountain of grief she is holding onto. i am trying to find the words, because i don't really believe in luck very much, but i do believe in counting your blessings, and the i find the act of counting the blessing of how many people love you, and you get to love back, no matter how it ends in circumstances out of your control, a very brave thing to do. Joyce asking bug to live the life she decides is so special <3. a mother figure who actually knows bug to her core and knows the totality of bug's circumstances and then tells bug that she deserves a happy life is soooooo special and beautiful <33333. i love that joyce gets to be the person who tells her that, especially since joyce herself is so kind despite everything she's been through. i always thought bug would be like joyce when she grew up.

I also really shortly would like to also talk about bug and her guilt. i'm sure this will come up terribly for her in s4, but it really fascinates how much bug takes everything on herself, and i also don't really understand it either, but it does make her very interesting. even taking on the guilt of billy's death when it truly wasn't her fault at all in any way, jesus christ she's like a catholic saint. guilt isn't very logical and i really, truly get that, but i just idk, feel very sad that she feels that way at all, i wish i could talk to her about it.

i also loved this part, "Nancy screams back at you now, insulted that you truly believe she would ever leave her brother behind willingly. She wouldn’t do that. She knows that you know this." st has always been bad at handling the emotional consequences for their characters, but i really wish we got more nancy and mike. they're a complicated relationship because they weren't close before the upside down but obviously they love each other and are siblings, and like bug said, siblings are too strong of a bond to shake off in the worst cases. i wish they got more time in the show to breathe.

Finally i love the way bug's childhood ends softly and not the violent end she was sure of. "Time stands still. You’re seventeen and your childhood is coming to a close." Bug is so lucky to know she's in the good old days when they're happening to her. I don't like jonathan very much, but i appreciate they were kids together. they were almost girls together. having to figure out how to be adults apart is difficult for friends with less complicated histories.

This was a really beautiful story. I hope you know how much richer you make this story, and how much life you breathe into this world.

hi darling <333

passenger seat line ,,, i was DYING to write it for MONTHS !!!! my god it makes me giggle thinking about it. like yes steve pls dub me ur passenger princess <3

you understood the luck and love monologue perfectly. i also really do believe its brave to continue loving everyone and everything around you even in the most grim circumstances. its brave to keep loving even if the love itself has faded. to try again, to be human in doing so, its my favorite thing ever. its why i adore steve n bug so much. theyre trusting one another to love again, to try once more to accept the love theyre scared of. its raw and its tender and its terrifying. loving someone after your first love is i think, personally, the most authentic type of love. its the most vulnerable you will ever be and lowkey why im scared to love again as well.

the joyce and bug scene <333 theyre so special to me. bug really is the daughter joyce never had. she sees so much of herself in bug (and i also 100% picture an older bug just being joyce) and bug loves her like a mother as well. claudia is wonderful, but as you said: she doesnt know what bug has been through like joyce does. all claudia can do is patch up bugs wounds afterwards. its what made the scene so special to me: joyce reads bug so well, shes watched her take care of her boys the whole time shes known her, so for joyce to tell bug that she doesnt blame her ,,, its huge. to be told to live the life you deserve by the woman who you admire heavily is such an impactful thing.

bug and her guilt ,,, whew. youre so right that a lot of her guilt is irrational, thats the whole point. she piles so much on herself (we saw this more in season 2) because she physically cannot help it. its in her bones. she has to help, and in her eyes when her help fails, its her fault regardless of the circumstances. its such a #healthy way to live LMAO (season 4 will ruin her)

JUSTICE FOR THE WHEELERS UR SO RIGHT !!! its always bugged me that we never really see mike and nancy being siblings. nancy wasnt really concerned for mike (who had just lost his best friend mind you) in season 1 until WAY after he had gotten into so much shit. i hate the way the siblings are written, we so rarely get to see them be concerned for one another :(

and finally the goodbye scene. sigh. ive had her in my mind since we started season 2. i love her dearly, and the line with bug saying her and jon were more than just kids will stick with me forever. for some gnarly m lore: my first love and i were childhood best friends. when we broke up and severed all contact (because im insane), it truly did feel like my childhood had come to a close. it was terrifying. there i was, 19 and grieving, and i didnt know how to be someone without my ex. i wanted to portray that fear with jon and bug. when you grow up with someone, when this person knows everything about you, and they suddenly leave, its the most painful and confusing thing. i cannot explain it. but knowing that my childhood lives in my ex boyfriend, the same way his lives in me, even though we havent spoken in almost two years ,,, it haunts me, and yet oddly its comforting.

i was a kid with him. somewhere, a piece of me still is. im still that kid he met when we were 14, and hes still that kid to me, and i think its beautiful :)

[renegade-diamonds]

The au with billy is so painful but I do love darker stories so I am soo up for knowing more of it

I love seeing my favourite characters going through it and taking their experiences to the extreme bc it makes the comfort after so much sweeter.

Please gimme more whump robin in that au🙏🏼

Ok, so we're going to go into some darker territory so keep reading under the cut, and please mind the tags people...

First off, I want to address the whole 'non-consensual' aspect of their relationship. It's a very complicated situation, where Robin is trying to actually 'date' him, but that's only because she knows what will happen if she doesn't. There's a lot of coercion going on, and Robin's stuck in a loop of-sorts, because she doesn't necessarily want to be with Billy, but he's saying that he can fix her and he's spewing off all this hatred about LGBTQ+ people. It gets so bad that Robin basically starts to believe him when he tells her there's something wrong with her, when he tells her that she has a disease.

He acts so caring sometimes, so loving and doting- but it's always after a huge fight, after he makes her cry, after he threatens her into doing what he wants by punching a wall or throwing shit around in his room. Robin knows what's going on, she knows it's not real- she knows he doesn't love her, and that she doesn't love him, but she's so desperate to be treated right that the moments where he does act normal almost outshine all the bad things he's done.

Almost.

The physical side of their 'relationship' is a bit more tricky to explain. Obviously the stuff going on is pretty blatantly in the territory of SA, but I don't see him as physically forcing her to have sex. I think that comes into the coercion aspect of Billy's abusive tendencies. She'll tell him no, that she doesn't want to, that she's not in the mood or on her period, but Billy keeps pushing and pushing. He tells her this is what 'normal' couples do, that this is how she'll be 'fixed.' He convinces her she'll eventually end up liking it, that he has needs too, and if she wants to keep her 'secret' from getting out, then she needs to make sure she acts like a real girlfriend to him.

And be that as it may, I don't see him caring all that much about her comfort during the actual act. I think it would be painful for her in some instances, but Robin never says anything because she knows he'll get mad. It's even worse when her body reacts 'positively' to him- it's not what she wants, but there's things she can't control- things that he seems to know will make her unconsciously react to his stimulation of her. It makes Robin feel so dirty- so used and unclean afterwards.

The first time Billy coerces her into having sex with him is the night that Max finds her crying in the bathroom. It was Robin's first time, and she's so uncomfortable and so heart-broken that it happened in such a way. Billy told her it would hurt at first, but she didn't expect it to feel so bad. And it was like he didn't even care- the fact that she nearly started crying seemed to excite him, and Robin can't get over how helpless she felt. Something sacred and treasured was taken away from her, and Robin doesn't know if she'll ever get that spark back.

Max doesn't know exactly how bad it was. Robin only really opens up to her about it after Vecna's rampage. She doesn't necessarily want to ruin Max's view of Billy after he sacrificed himself at Starcourt, although Max knew there was always something more that Robin was hiding. Her age has a lot to do with it too. Robin thinks she's too young to deal with such issues, and she doesn't want to put more on Max's shoulders. Max deserves to have a worry-free life for once, and Robin doesn't want to do anything that will threaten that. I imagine Max is still targeted by Vecna here, but he uses her guilt over Billy's death and Max's feeling of helplessness at not being able to protect Robin from him. When she gets 'caught' by him during Vol2, he torments her with what Billy actually did to Robin, and it's after this that Max asks Robin if what Vecna said was true. (El came in and whooped Vecna's ass in this verse, so Max only breaks a leg and an arm- no dying and no coma).

Robin, on the other hand, has a lot of her own healing to do. She becomes close with the Party after Starcourt, and she gets to know Steve, Dustin, and Erica in the weeks leading up to it. Her and Steve are still platonic soulmates, and when he confesses his feelings to her in the bathroom, Robin tells him the truth- the entire truth. He's horrified when he finds out, and he goes out of his way to tell Nancy not to feel bad about shooting at Billy when he was flayed. In his mind, Billy deserves it for what he did to Robin. 'King Steve' may have been a player in high school before meeting Nancy, but he never would have done the things that Billy did. All his sexual liaisons were 100% consensual; I imagine Steve's mother isn't the most active in his life, but she'd definitely make sure he understood the meaning of consent as soon as he started showing interest in dating.

Robin and Nancy slowly start to hang out as well. Robin never gets her crush on Vickie in this verse, because Robin's walls are so built up that she extinguishes any flare of interest she gets in other girls. She's terrified of someone finding out like Billy did- she's terrified of going through it again. Her PTSD shapes the way she allows herself to love, and it exists in such a way within her that Robin barely understands that it's a trauma-response. Nancy's persistent in their friendship, however. Max tells her when she's hanging out at the Wheeler house that Robin's a lot like her, that she thinks they'd be good friends. Jonathan's moved away, and Nancy's feeling pretty lonely at this time. She decides to give it a shot, even though she hasn't had a close female friend since Barb. To her delight, she actually has a lot in common with Robin. She's impressed by Robin's academic knowledge, by her work-ethic, by her devotion to band and other school extra-curriculars. She invites Robin to help out at the school paper every now and then, and they grow close pretty fast.

It's one day over Thanksgiving break that Nancy finally asks about Billy. Their conversation starts out pretty normal; Robin tells her about her 'relationship' with him without letting the abusive aspects slip through. She's hesitant to open up to people about that, and it's bad enough that Max knows to some degree. Somehow, they get onto the topic of their first-times. Nancy tells her about how Steve was really caring and gentle with her- how she expected it to hurt, but how it really wasn't that bad.

Listening to Nancy describe a totally different experience than what Robin had causes something to break inside her. Robin can't stop herself from crying- she can't stop herself from breaking down. It brings up every memory she's tried so hard to forget- it reminds her how she had something precious stolen from her because of Billy.

Nancy watches the light fade from Robin's eyes as they talk about it, seeing the confusion and hurt in her gaze. It's not aimed at her, but it's like Robin's realized something terrible- like she's stuck in a nightmare inside her own head. When Robin starts sobbing, Nancy doesn't know what to do besides just holding her, letting the girl cry herself to sleep in her arms. Nancy doesn't know exactly what Robin's relationship with Billy was like, but she now knows for sure that it wasn't healthy, safe, or sane in any way. No girl would react like that if it was.

Later, when Robin awakes after a much-needed cry fueled nap, she opens up to Nancy about Billy's abuse. She alludes to being blackmailed, but she can't bring herself to say about what.

In the end, it doesn't matter to Nancy. The only thought Nancy has in her head is that Billy's lucky the mind-flayer took him out when it did, because she would have done so much worse.

There's a lot that Nancy knows she can forgive, but hurting her friend- hurting Robin- is one thing that's become unforgivable in her eyes.

[ickypuppi3]

anyway the scariest character in stranger things, to me, is neil hargrove

because not only is he such an accurate depiction of an abusive parent who gets away with their actions by making their child look like the bad guy

not only is he the definition of a wolf in sheeps clothing who has the ability to fit neatly into society while causing unimaginable pain behind closed doors

not only does he have the ability to control the people around him like puppets, pitting them against each other and essentially being able to create his own narrative through this

but he also gets away with it all

he gets away with it in the show, he gets to leave as soon as his number one victim dies, he gets to sound sympathetic when they give a reason for him leaving

but he also gets away with it in how people talk about billy, he gets away with it every time someone minimises the harm neil did and pushes the entirety of the blame onto his son, every time someone pushes the ‘billy is a bad victim’ or ‘billy deserved it’ lines, he gets away with it every time someone compares billy to lonnie, brenner and vecna and neil’s own name gets left out

there were absolutely no consequences for neil’s actions in the show and there never will be

and isn’t that all very realistic

[doll-elvis]

Do you consider the memphis mafia trustworthy sources on Elvis? Idk if I always believe some of the stuff they’ve said about elvis

thank you so much for this ask!! I have way too much to say about this topic, therefore I apologize in advance for how long this is 🤧

firstly I think it’s important to clarify who the Memphis Mafia actually consisted of: based on what they themselves have said, it was Red West, Sonny West, Alan Fortas, Marty Lacker, Lamar Fike, and Billy Smith

I was confused why people like Jerry Schilling, Charlie Hodge, Joe Esposito, Larry Geller, George Klein, etc. etc. weren’t technically considered Memphis Mafia until I learned that Elvis’ entourage were categorized into two groups, the Memphis Mafia, and the others

I also really recommend for every fan to read Alanna Nash’s “Elvis and the Memphis Mafia” which is just an oral history from Billy Smith, Marty Lacker, and Lamar Fike

and then to watch the documentary, it is 5 hours but it’s so worth it, I’ve literally rewatched it at least 8 times at this point because it’s my favorite Elvis documentary 😩!!

I also want to say if you are going to read from one of them, you should try to read from all of them because they all have their own unique experience with Elvis and therefore all have their own viewpoints/opinions and biases *which is why it’s important to cross reference between them

For example in the Alanna Nash book there are several instances where Lamar Fike, Marty Lacker and Billy Smith all have a different opinion on something and you basically have to decide for yourself which one you agree with

I’m just going to be breaking down each Memphis Mafia member, as I’ve been fortunate enough to read each of their books, and say if I think they are trustworthy sources:

Lamar Fike: Personally, I think he is one of Memphis Mafia members that you really have to be cautious about. If y’all didn’t know he was Albert Goldman’s main source for that horrible book, “Elvis”. In Alanna Nash’s book, Lamar Fike spends a good majority of the time disagreeing with everything Goldman wrote, and said that Goldman would twist his words and retell things to fit his own agenda. He said “even though I was one of his main sources, and shared in the royalties, I couldn’t control Albert”. He admitted he did the book for money which is why I lost respect for Lamar because he knew that Albert was saying things that weren’t true and that the book’s main purpose was to make Elvis look bad. I would also be cautious of Lamar because he tends to twist reality just a little bit and over exaggerate things. For example whenever he tells the story of Elvis and Priscilla meeting, he always says that it was he who introduced them “Elvis this is Priscilla, Priscilla this Elvis”. But no one else who was in the room has told it that way, Lamar just inserted himself into the scene (he also once said she was 13 when we obviously know she was 14). So yeah I would really recommend to cross reference everything Lamar says before believing it. He just tells things in a really blunt (and lowkey funny💀) way, which makes it interesting insight, but from what I have also seen he is more than willing to exaggerate things just to be able to tell a “better” story

Marty Lacker: I really really enjoy reading his viewpoint and his book is one of my favorites out of the bunch however I think he too often lets his own biases affect his story telling. This man really really really hated Priscilla 😭 So much so that every time he talked about her it was in a negative light. I’m not saying Priscilla is perfect, she has done many things I don’t agree with, however, none of these men knew what it was like to be in her shoes so I’m just wary of them placing so much blame on her when she was so young, and I find that Marty can be a little unsympathetic in that regard (but again I’m not saying that Priscilla hasn’t done things that deserve criticism). Also Marty Lacker wasn’t around in the late late 70s so I would just be cautious of anything he says about that time because he simply wasn’t there to know. But in general, beside his obvious biases, I would say he is a trustworthy source

Alan Fortas: He was the first Memphis Mafia member to pass away in 1992, we sadly didn’t get to hear too much from him, but I’m very grateful to have his book. Since he wasn’t around much in the late 60s and not at all in the 70s, his best stories come from the 50s and early-mid 60s. He provides a really unique insight especially when it comes to Priscilla and Elvis because he was more or less her chauffeur when she first came to the United States. He also knew Frances Forbes, Gloria Mowell, Heidi Heissen and Arlene Cogan and spends a decent chunk of his book talking about them. I can’t say it is in a way that looks good for Elvis because Alan really disagreed with those relationships, even though he said he knew nothing s*xual was going on, he genuinely couldn’t fathom why Elvis, who could have any woman he wanted, wanted to spend time with teenage girls, including Priscilla. But nothing in his book I found to be untrue and everything he says corresponds with what other has said, plus he has some really great stories about the movie-making times and his beloved chimpanzee, Scatter (I know it was Elvis’ technically but Alan was his real mom lmao) but I overall trust him as well

Red and Sonny West: I’m about to get controversial; I think these are two men, that as Elvis fans, we have been a little too critical of. It’s not fair to completely write off their experiences with Elvis just because of the book they did, which in retrospect, doesn’t say anything different from what the other Memphis Mafia men have said, it was just horribly timed. But I do want to clarify that I don’t support their decision on writing “Elvis: What happened” in 1977 and at the end of the day I will always support Elvis over anybody else. As for their credibility, Red West has one of the most important perspectives imo because he was literally the first Memphis Mafia member. He was with Elvis in highschool, in Germany, during the movies, during the comeback special, during Vegas, during the American tours, he only wasn’t there for the very last year of Elvis’ life. Unlike some of the other men here, he never stopped being with Elvis, except for of course the end. I have read the book he did in 1977 and I have watched tons of his interviews and I’ve personally never come across a story that wasn’t told/referenced by another Memphis Mafia member. I do think he is trustworthy in that sense but I think he has gotten very defensive in the past and is willing to throw Elvis under the bus in order to protect his image. I feel like it is the same thing with Sonny West. These men felt betrayed by Elvis, they got fired, and they both definitely harbored vengeful feelings for a while so you have to take that into account when listening to their stories. For example when they talked about how Elvis hired h00kers in the 1977 book they didn’t mention that they were also cheating on their wives and actually slept with the hired girls while Elvis only wanted to watch the girls simulate lesbian s*x. In that book especially, they often conveniently left out that they indulged in the same kind of behavior Elvis did. But with age, I think they both mellowed out and ultimately realized that they betrayed Elvis also, and they have both said they have regretted the book. The documentary I linked above really helped me understand their perspective more, and while things ended badly between Elvis and them, I do think both parties still cared about each other. So while both of their perspectives are very important (and I think Red was one of Elvis’ truest friends), I wouldn’t fully trust anything they have said until I checked another source to confirm

Billy Smith: He is sadly the only Memphis mafia member still with us and he still makes videos answering questions on the YouTube channels Elvis fans matter and Memphis Mafia kid. I really do enjoy reading Billy’s perspective and he is one of the few people who were with Elvis from the very beginning (childhood) to the very end. But Billy rarely actually went on tour with Elvis and he also wasn’t around for most of the movie time, so his best stories are about his times with Elvis at Graceland imo. They had such a special relationship and I think Billy was the closest thing Elvis had to a brother (y’all have to read about the oath he and Elvis took, it almost made me cry😭). However this man, like anyone, is not without his biases. When reading the Alanna Nash book you can see that Billy’s main purpose is to protect Elvis and the Smith family so much so that I think he denies some things solely because he believes it will make his family look bad. For example when in the book they talked about how Gladys may have had some Jewish blood in her, Billy Smith who is Gladys’ nephew, just shot that down right away. I didn’t think much of it until Billy Smith later on admitted in the book he was slightly prejudiced against black people and jewish people because of how he was raised. But that book was also in the 90s and I haven’t seen him speak in the way since so hopefully he has changed. This man really hated Priscilla, and especially hated Ginger, so take into account these biases as well. For example, in the Nash book, he was dead set on saying that Ginger called the national enquirer after Elvis passed away. Many fans believe this also but there is just no proof to support it. If you are someone who hates Ginger because you believe she called the enquirer (I did too at one point), I really recommend reading this https://elvisdecoded.com/2021/03/13/the-ginger-hit-job/

Another reason to be slightly cautious of Billy Smith is that his opinions have changed so much since the Alanna Nash book 😭 Like how I said he hated Priscilla and Ginger, that seems to be no longer the case, at least on his YouTube channel. I was so surprised when he praised them both in the YouTube video “Elvis’ relationship secret”. He even said Ginger was good for Elvis and that she loved him- I was shook because he hated her in the 90s!!! But anyways-I would say he is trustworthy and he was no doubt one of the dearest people to Elvis’ heart but it’s always good to take into account biases, and cross reference everything

To wrap this up- They have all told the good, the bad and the ugly, and as fans of Elvis it can be hard to accept the “bad and ugly”(like was he sometimes completely unreasonable, demanding, and temperamental? yes! but do we still love him? yes!) These guys just have such a unique perspective and we are truly lucky that they have opened up their lives with Elvis to us, even if it is stories that we necessarily don’t want to accept. But there is not a single doubt in my mind that all these men loved Elvis, despite what some of them have done, and that Elvis loved all these men. The documentary I linked above has made me cry every time I have watched it because they all cried in it and something about grown men crying just hits me different okay 😭

also if anybody read all this kudos to you, I’m sorry for typing so much lmao 😩💗

[stranger-rants]

What I find interesting in all of the “Billy is worse than Henry Creel” discourse is that there is a widely-loved character who was groomed by Henry, abused by Brenner, isolated (albeit with good intentions) by Hopper, and shows more violent tendencies than Billy ever did: Eleven.

Eleven is a violent character who uses her power - power nobody else has - to exert her will. She forces a boy to piss himself in front of his classmates. She attacks Lucas for arguing with Mike. She attacks a man in the dead of winter, knocks him unconscious, and steals his clothing - possibly killing him if he doesn’t wake up before freezing to death. She tries to lash out at Angela with her powers, and later beats her face in with a roller skate. She even ripped Max’s skateboard from under her just for being near Mike. Hell, one of the very first things we see her do is break a doctor’s neck when they try to force her into solitary confinement.

All of these things are trauma responses. Bullying, raised voices, loss of control, desperation for survival - all of these things trigger aggression in Eleven just as Neil’s abuse and isolation trigger it in Billy. They’re both teenagers with a history of abuse and little to no support system. They’re both “bad” abuse survivors (except Billy didn’t even survive). So why are people so critical of Billy, but not Eleven? Is it her age, her gender, or the fact that her violence is mostly fantastical in nature?

Eleven is such an interesting character, but people are too busy infantilizing her to really think deeply about her trauma. She has a lot of empathy, but she’s also been groomed to use violence as a means to solve her problems. No one is teaching her how to cope with these new situations around her. Any time she does something wrong, she’s punished or she’s yelled at. She’s left feeling angry and ashamed and she’s got few healthy outlets for that. She has all of these complicated emotions inside of her, and that’s how she is able to relate to Billy. It’s also how she’s easily manipulated by others into doing what they want her to do - Papa, Henry, …even her own friends who she’s seeking approval, but it’s through her friends that she’s assigned as a “good survivor” who has “righteous” rage because the people she hurt “deserved” it, and it’s for that reason that so many people don’t want to have an open and honest discussion about what trauma can do to children, especially making them violent.