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jaylikesrainbowtigers · 7 months

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My entry for day 3 of @fallofneilhargrove. The prompt was Public Scorn and Don’t make enemies of the local knitting club.

Tw: abuse, abuser point of view, arrest, jail and swears

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Neil Hargrove was having pretty fucking good day. He had been to work, had Susan cook him a proper meal and had sat down to watch football. Like a proper man does.

Sure, things had gotten a bit sticky when attempting to get Billy to be a proper man again but that’s just what Neil had needed to do. Really the bruises were the boys fault. His lack of respect to his elders was a serious problem and there was only one way Neil could sort that. Eventually the pussy had to learn respect.

The game was on full blast and his fresh beer was nice and cold when Susan edged into the room. Neil’s forehead creased. That damn woman was ruining the game.

She stuttered out a “Neil. There… There’s a package for you.” She held out a brown, lumpy package addressed to him.

“Fuck off, woman. Can’t you see the game is on!” He snatched the package out of her hand and ignored her gasp of pain.

He ripped open the paper expecting a awful jumper or something. A belated birthday gift from a aunt or something.

Instead, he got an equally cushy lump of knitting. He scoffed and thought what grandma made this shit? The lump of brown knit unfurled in his hands revealing a bunch of what resembled letters. Neil twisted it around in his hands trying to make out the letter. Ne lnow vhol gau’re dainy. What? He looked a little closer and his blood ran cold.

We know what you’re doing.

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Click, click, click.

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It was the next week and Neil had put the knitting out of his mind. It was probably a mistake or a prank. Neil had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. He was certain of it.

In fact he was so sure, he had burnt the knitted monstrosity outside. He wasn’t scared of some stupid message.

Which was why when Susan slipped in holding an identical brown package to the one the week before he paid her no mind. No, he certainly didn’t pause the TV to scream at her and snatch the parcel away from her.

He tore open the now familiar brown wrapping to see a flash of blue. He pulled the knit outside of its wrapping to show off the blue hat. The half he was holding looked normal.

The red lettering he revealed by turning the hat spelt was again hard to read. Or perhaps the reader was a little bit drunk.

Asshole.

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The crunch of bourbons filled the air.

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Wednesday had arrived again. Neil didn’t have the football on this time. He wanted to see if what he had did stopped the knitting.

He had been so sure it was some type of prank. It had to be one of the people in his house. Of course, his pathetic excuse for a son was first. Perhaps he should have held off on the punishment before searching his room to find nothing.

The next day he had been down to the craft shop of Hawkins. According to Claud or whatever her name was from the shop, the boy had never set foot in that shop in his whole life. She would have remembered as she was the only worker there. Neil felt the urge to smack her rise again. Alas he couldn’t smack another man’s wife. He’d go to jail because there would be obvious proof.

Next step was to check his stepdaughters room. An unlikely culprit but one to try anyway. The girl wouldn’t get into anything suiting for girls no matter what he did. She wasn’t going to start just to knit him stuff. Clear.

He told Susan not to go anywhere near the mail box today. There was no way she could have knitted them without him knowing.

He pulled himself up from the couch. Time to see if his counterfeit measures had worked. He opened the post box.

Lo and behold a brown package was crumpled in there. His hands had a slight shake to them as he pulled out the package. It was slightly bigger than the rest.

He unwrapped it in the living room. A green jumper came out of the mess, on it knitted a sentence.

Arrest me. I deserve it.

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Giggles in the background as the net tightens.

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Neil refused to sit this Wednesday. He stood looking out the window. It was package time. On a Wednesday.

The postman stopped at a house. Then the next. And the next. Geez, this guy was slow.

Finally, he arrived. Neil watched like a hawk as he produced the brown package filling Neil’s mind with dread.

In fact, over the course of a week when thinking about the package Neil had a) spilt boiling water all over himself, b) accidentally shaved off half of his moustache, and worst of all c) accidentally screwed up the biggest work project of the season. He was lucky to not get fired. He had gone everywhere feeling like everyone was looking at him. The paranoia of not knowing who was sending the packages. What did they know. Whoever it was had to be ruining Neil’s life.

As he looked out the window he though about who it could be. The lady from the supermarket with the wart? That woman with the blonde hair walking down the road Or maybe next door who he was constantly in a argument with? The odd pair of friends with ten cats down the road? Or that guy he beat at poker the other week? Or the man with the moustache and glasses sat in his car outside? One of his stupid boy’s friends? Or maybe one of Maxine’s friends? An unknown stalker?

Whoever it was still eluded him.

In his thoughts he had managed to collect the parcel. He held the thing in his hand and looked hard at it.

His hands shook as he pulled back the paper. A pair of red gloves fell out of the package. They lay side by side on the floor as if someone was wearing them with their palms facing upwards.

The black text clear for all to see.

Abuser.

Neil jumped as he heard a shout at the door and a group of men entered.

“Freeze! Police!”

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The sloshing of wine as a toast to victory. But work wasn’t quite done.

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Neil Hargrove was sat down again. It was the next Wednesday after his entire life had changed.

His orange jumpsuit itched and his bunk mate snored loudly. His bunk mate wouldn’t cower under him. The large man had left a bruise on Neil’s cheek from the only time Neil had tried to enforce his way on the man. It was supposed to be his house, his rules.

But jail certainly wasn’t his house.

And the worst thing was that he didn’t know how. How had it gone so, so wrong? The police had presented him with the photos and the files. Weeks worth of photos, videos and even recordings all painstakingly took. A solid lot of evidence to sink him down. Each strike left on his son. Recordings of his screams slid over his soul. Videos of what he did in his own house.

It had to be connected to the knitting. The evidence hadn’t started collecting until a mere week before that. The calendar in the background of so many photos had proved that.

And here he sat another brown package in hand. This time delivered by a prison guard.

Neil felt like weeping. But of course he didn’t because real men don’t cry. And Neil’s a man.

A orange scarf trailed out of the package. A perfect match to his prison garb. More bold black letters stared out at him.

You got what you deserved.

The contact card of the Hawkins Knitting Club lay forgotten on the floor.

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Four beings of pure rage sat around a table six weeks ago.

Joyce a woman who had lived under a man like Neil. She had children living under a man like Neil. She wouldn’t let him get get away with it.

Claudia who had lost her husband but loved all the more fiercely because of it. No one would hurt a child under her watch.

Sue who was largely unspoken but Sinclair's fight for those who can’t. No matter what Sue didn’t let it slide and she would always fight.

Murray who ran on rage and spite. He was always ready to take people like Neil down. It was his shit, his life’s goal.

They raged in a circle when Joyce had met the brother-sister duo of Max and Billy. When she saw the signs. Neil had crossed the wrong club.

Don’t make enemies of the local knitting club.

So they did what they did best. They knitted.

Not only that but they were patient. Knitting was a craft of patience.

Murray and Joyce sat outside of the house. Everyone went out and they went in. They had plenty of experience planting cameras and listening devices. Murray continued watching and took photos when he could. Claudia made sure to put salt into that man’s coffee every time he asked for sugar. He never remembered her despite seeing her serve him at both the craft show and the coffee shop. Men like him never noticed women like her. Sue was the one who made the call as she compiled evidence meticulously. Erica obviously got it from her mom. She wouldn’t miss a single moment until this guy was finished. And all of them knitted. They knitted until their fingers felt like bleeding. They had a lot to knit as they needed to make this perfect. And perfection takes time.

In the end it was the rage of the knitting club that tore Neil Hargrove down. Because you should never underestimate a bunch of mothers and a journalist who are thriving off coffee, bourbons and wine.

#fallofneilhargrove #fall of neil hargrove #stranger things #strangers things ficlet #billy hargrove #max mayfield #neil hargrove #susan mayfield #joyce byers #murray bauman #Sue Sinclair #claudia henderson #tw abuse #tw jail #tw arrest #tw swearing

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hawkyon-days · 6 months

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How can Joyce as a single mother who works a single job in sales afford a house and take care of her two sons, but Susan has to work two jobs and barely manages to rent a trailer for herself and her one daughter?

#stranger things #max mayfield #susan hargrove #joyce byers #will byers #i know theres more factors such as susans alcoholism and the fact that joyce probably owns the house #but it still seems like a pretty big disparity in income #my post

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ellewritesandrants · 1 year

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I know that there was the cougar brigade that hung out at the pool during Billy’s shifts but what about the single mom brigade led by Joyce and Mrs. Henderson who just want to take care of the lonely kids in Hawkins?

Maybe it starts out with Neil volunteering Billy to help people around the neighborhood because he doesn’t like the delinquent reputation his son has despite his perfect grades. Billy does everything without protest even if he’s spending his free time during the summer mowing lawns and helping out with housework when needed. Mrs. Henderson was one of the few who tried to say no to Neil when he “volunteered” Billy but Billy himself had said it was okay so she reluctantly agreed, deciding to make treats for the poor young man as payment.

She’s extremely oblivious to the flirting attempts Billy makes and he very quickly forgets to flirt when Claudia shoves a plate of brownies in front of him with an order to finish them all because a growing boy like him needs it. Billy doesn’t really eat much at home so he finishes it all and Claudia even offers to show him how to make the brownies and a few other recipes. She tells him he’s free to come over whenever she’s home since her son, Dustin is away at summer camp.

Billy takes her up on it and he’s extremely hesitant at first but Claudia brightens at the company every time she sees him and she like seeing him with a bit more meat on his bones because he’s too thin. It also helps that she catches on quickly and she makes sure to tell Neil what a big help Billy is while her son is away. They talk about a lot of things while cooking and baking but she praises him for the little things and she makes sure to observe Billy every time she sees him for new bumps or bruises, hugging him hello too because she knows the type of men like Neil Hargrove and they’re not the type to care about the wellbeing of their children.

Weirdly enough, Steve and Billy end up becoming friends because of Claudia. Steve came over when Billy was already there, washing the dishes while waiting for the cookies he’d experimented on to come out of the oven. Steve is initially antagonistic until Claudia comes bustling in, kissing both of Steve’s cheeks and pulling him in for a quick hug. She doesn’t take no for an answer about Steve staying so they awkwardly break the ice over Billy’s delicious cookies.

They make good conversation until Steve makes an offhand and tone-deaf comment about Claudia not being his usual clientele, knowing all about the moms who stare at him at the pool. Of course, Claudia overhears and asks Billy all about it and when he explains with Steve making a few interjections about what the women were doing, she’s rightfully pissed at them. When she hears that Karen Wheeler was the one to start it all, she fumes even more because Karen plays all high and mighty but then she pulls this bullshit.

Ste tells Billy that he needs to tell her if the women ever make him feel uncomfortable and the way he won’t look her in her eyes tells her that she’s a bit too late. However, she knows it’s not too late to fix things but she’ll need some back up if she’s going to take on Karen and the harpies she calls her friends. After sending Billy and Steve home with tupperwares of baked goods and the promise of coming back next week, she goes over to the Byer’s house to get Joyce’s opinion on things.

Joyce is equally as outraged as she is but she refuses to take any action without them roping Susan in. She and Susan had become somewhat decent friends because she worked nearby and Joyce had had bad suspicions about Neil Hargrove because there were some things he did that reminded her of Lonnie which wasn’t a good thing.

The purposefully bump into Susan on her lunch break at work the next day and they share what they know about what’s been going on to Billy at his work. Susan is feeling exceedingly vulnerable at that point about Billy because he’d just been beaten again last night in front of her and she couldn’t keep turning a blind eye to it. Knowing that he didn’t feel safe at his work made her feel even more like a shitty mother because she never bothered to get to know him well enough for him to trust and confide in her.

She breaks down in front of her two friends, telling them all about what Billy has to deal with at home and how she doesn’t want it to happen anymore but that she also can’t do anything because she can’t risk Max’s safety. Joyce and Claudia calm her down and they help her realize that they can fix things one small problem at a time.

Billy has a shift the next Saturday so the three of them can confirm with their own two eyes about what’s been happening before confronting the women and Joyce can easily get in contact with Chief Hopper about Neil so that Susan can have him on standby for the next time that Neil gets physical with Billy. Since Neil liked to throw away words and threaten to beat Billy to death if he didn’t learn his lessons, Neil could be charged with premeditated murder and abuse of a minor.

The women reconvene after work and they all plan until all the variables are smoothed out and everything is ready. Susan would tell Neil that Claudia asked her if she could borrow Billy for a few days to help her fix the stuff in her basement so that could keep him out of the house for a while. Joyce would deal with getting Hopper on board with everything while they all waited for Saturday to see if they were right to be disgusted by the women who called themselves mothers.

Meanwhile, Billy had gotten Steve to meet up with him at the quarry after leaving Mrs. Henderson’s house where he properly apologized for what he did and they talked things out. Steve’s clued into Billy’s abuse when he remembers how Billy looked at school the next day as soon as Billy mentioned that he was worried about the consequences of Max’s actions.

Steve doesn’t bother with bullshitting Billy so he asks him directly if he’s being hurt at home. The doe in headlights look on Billy’s face speaks volumes and Steve can’t help himself but to pull the younger man into a hug as tears start falling from his eyes. Billy cries into Steve, all while Steve holds him tight and calms him down. Later, Billy finds the courage to share some of the stories he had of Neil while Steve listened with open ears and a bleeding heart.

After Billy shared, Steve convinces Billy to trust him that he could get Hopper to deal with Neil once and for all. Billy doesn’t want that because what about Max and Susan? They’d suffer in his place because Neil may be an asshole but he’s the asshole who pays a lot of the bills. Steve tells him to let him worry about that part. His focus is on getting Billy away from Neil.

Steve offers his house to Billy as a safe haven if he needs it. Billy makes a joke that at least he can stop sleeping in his car at the quarry so much and Steve’s heart breaks for the teen he’d so badly misjudged. For once, he sees the same kid that Mrs. Henderson sees, the sad, lonely boy who’s crying out for attention and for someone to care and Steve’s more than willing to step up even if he and Billy had had their problems in the past.

Steve meets up with Billy after their shifts or late at night to smoke and talk and he finds that he likes the softer side of Billy that very few people get to see. He even gets to hear Billy sing and it makes him realize his attraction to Billy. Steve doesn’t want to make things awkward though so he doesn’t say anything and instead panics until he tells Robin everything because he can’t focus on work when Billy’s always on his mind.

Robin helps him realize that he’s bisexual and that he might actually have a chance with Billy if the mustard colored hanky he had in his left pocket had anything to say about it. Steve doesn’t want to do anything though until he gets Neil out of the picture. Thankfully, Joyce had already told Hopper so Steve doesn’t have to explain anything except the additional stories Billy had told him about Neil. Hopper agrees to take care of Neil as soon as possible while subtly informing Steve that it might be a good idea to talk to Joyce about Billy.

However, when Steve comes over to the Byer’s house, he’s greeted by Claudia, Joyce and Susan who basically interrogate him about his intentions with Billy and what he knows about the moms who go to the pool during Billy’s shift. Steve is fed before he leaves but he leaves feeling like he’s survived a war with the warning to come to the public pool early on Saturday Morning if he wants to see something cool happen.

Steve doesn’t bother telling Billy about it, too embarrassed to say that the three moms had terrified him into sharing secrets about himself he hadn’t told anyone else but he supports the younger boy in any way he can. He’s there bright and early at the community pool even though he has his own and he’s just eagerly counting down the minutes until the single mom brigade comes because the cougars are already in position.

Billy's just arrived at his station after awkwardly walking past the cougars and doing the bare minimum of interacting with them as necessary when he hears Mrs. Henderson call out his name, waving him over eagerly with Susan and Joyce in tow. Billy is honestly surprised to see Susan there but she doesn't let that deter her from slathering him in sunscreen as soon as he comes over like she usually did Max while Claudia shoved a tumbler with ice cold lemonade and a tupperware of brownies at him for him to snack on during his shift.

The moms fuss over Billy for a good ten minutes in full view of everyone in the pool, especially the cougars who shifted awkwardly as they watch the teen they were lusting over be babied by women their age. Joyce watched the moms sat up and talked in hushed whispers while watching a blushing Billy have sunscreen be applied by his mom. It seemed that everyone here was surprised to see him act his actual age for once instead of posturing like he usually did which made them all keep staring.

Billy hurriedly made his way to his station mindful of the awful blush he still had on his face but he couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy inside because he'd felt cared for and it was very rare that he felt that way. He stubbornly avoided the glances of the cougars lounging at the side of the pool as he did his job, watching the pool and making sure everyone was safe.

As soon as Billy took the fifteen minute break Steve told them about and went into the locker room, Claudia, Susan and Joyce pounced. Joyce took the lead because she'd had no love lost for these women especially since they called her crazy for believing her son was still alive when he was missing in the Upside Down.

Joyce enjoyed publicly berating them for looking at someone who was young enough to be their child and actually went to school with their children. Susan made sure to make her thoughts about it clear when she said that just because they didn't get to see Billy growing up didn't mean he still wasn't just a child and how she felt disgusted that the women who had welcomed her into Hawkins were preying on her underage son. Claudia was there to look disappointed at them and to make them feel guilty about how they'd treated this poor boy who was in a very vulnerable time in his life.

Joyce went especially hard on Karen who conveniently forgot that Billy was in Nancy's year and she, Claudia and Susan made sure to make it clear that if they found any of them near Billy again, they'd have no qualms bringing it up to their husbands and if they refused to stop, maybe even daring to go to the newspaper about a story of grooming since Mr. Holloway owed Joyce a few favors. The women were all white-faced and stiff by the end of it but they made sure to finish all they wanted to say before Steve was done distracting Billy.

By the time Billy came out of the locker room twenty minutes later with significantly more swollen lips and mussed hair, the cougar brigade had long since left, turning tail and running away so they can go back to their nuclear family fantasies. Billy was instantly suspicious but he was riding the high of getting his crush to be his new boyfriend so he didn't bother ruining his mood by asking questions.

That same evening, Susan knew that Neil would be coming home late and he'd hate how happy Billy has been in the past few weeks so she'd warned Hopper to be waiting. She'd been given a walkie-talkie of all things to communicate with him but thankfully, it was pretty well hidden in her favorite purse so the minute dinner was over, she had run off to powder her nose and to get Hopper to get over here as quickly as he could. Her foresight had paid off because Neil had barely been able to land a few hits on Billy before the door was being busted open and handcuffs were placed on him.

Max had long been sent to her room for talking back to Neil during dinner so the chaos that unfolded had her rushing out to the astonishing sight of her brother, wrapped up in a blanket clinging tightly onto her mother, crying in her arms. A very visible bruise was forming on his face in the shape of Neil's palm which quickly clued Max as to what happened.

Max genuinely hadn't known what was happening even if she had known something was off. She ran to join in the embrace, making sure to take it light on her brother who may or may not have more injuries hiding. Out of a need to catalog his injuries, Billy was advised by Hopper to get checked out at the hospital and since none of them would be sleeping any time soon, they decided to get it over with.

Susan drove her children to the hospital, meeting Claudia there who helped them through all of the necessary procedures as a nurse. It had been heart-wrenching for her to see the scars and the damage that Neil had done on Billy and it pained her to have to photograph it all but Claudia had to be brave for Billy because these would only strengthen their case against Neil.

Both Susan and Max had been shocked at the extent and severity of the scars and damage Billy had been dealt and even though Susan had known Neil was violent, the tapestry of scars on Billy's back painted a really horrifying picture of what they'd unknowingly allowed to continue. Max hadn't been able to stop herself from apologizing and crying when she realized that Neil gave Billy some of the scars because of her.

It had taken Billy hugging her and repeatedly telling her that it wasn't her fault that she was able to calm down. Thankfully, the doctor that was in charge of checking over Billy was none other than Mrs. Sinclair so she was very patient and understanding when it came to the situation especially after Claudia briefed her quickly about it. Billy had a few incorrectly healed bones that would need to be reset but that could be done at a time that they weren't as high strung.

After his check up had been properly documented and Billy was allowed to rest, they decided it wouldn’t hurt to keep him in the hospital for the night since he had been hit on the head, leading to a possible concussion. Both Max and Susan decided to stay the night with him, unable to go home anyway because their house was an active crime scene but also because they were all high strung and they wanted to be close for once.

The next morning brought Steve who had been eagerly awaiting visiting hours and had brought breakfast for everyone. He had fussed over Billy who was initially surprised to see Steve and to find out that neither Max nor Susan had a problem with him having a boyfriend. Susan reveals that she, Claudia and Joyce had vetted Steve before deciding he was okay which was the only reason she didn’t protest since Susan felt Steve wasn’t good enough for Billy.

Steve had found out from Will who had found out from Lucas who had overheard his mom talking about the poor Hargrove boy when she came home. Steve had barely slept, worried about the condition he might find his new boyfriend in but thankful to at least know he was in good hands and that he was stable at least.

Billy was only kept in the hospital until lunch since he didn’t appear to have a concussion but Hopper met them at the entrance, asking if he could have Susan and Billy come down to the station since Claudia and Joyce were already there so they could get the statements and get everything over with. Max refused to not be allowed to come so she strongarmed her way to being driven there by Steve with her mom and brother so they could meet Hopper there.

Billy had been protected by Susan, Claudia, Joyce, Max and Steve who refused to allow Neil to even see his son after what happened. Hopper had taken Billy first so he could get it over with and he could relax with Max and Steve after. He’d been asked if he wanted anyone else there to support him but Bill had asked that it be just him and Hopper.

Hopper was incredibly wary of how vulnerable Billy was at this point so he had laid out what he knew and asked Billy if he had anything to add to fill in the blanks. Initially, Billy was stone-faced hearing everything but he ended up crying silently when he heard everything. Hopper had immediately wanted to call Susan or Joyce or even Claudia in because he wasn’t equipped to handle crying teenagers. After a few seconds of inaction though, Hopper decided to fuck it and slowly pull Billy in close for a hug.

Billy had stiffened for a second before he’d melted into the unfamiliar embrace as the tears fell even faster. Once he’d calmed down, he told Hopper all about how Neil changed after his mom had suffered a miscarriage and he’d lost his job. He’d started beating his mom and drinking the day away. His mom had tried to run away with Billy but Neil had caught them and killed his wife, running away to Chicago that same night making sure that Billy knew what would happen if he toed the line like his mom had.

Billy had dealt with beatings since the age of 8 and he’d been hospitalized a bunch of times, resulting in them moving away and changing cities every time to avoid CPS. Neil had met Susan after one of their moves and he’d temporarily been nicer to Billy to get him to play along so he could get them a new family. Billy had played along but in the end, he had been played. Neil went back to beating him but it was under the cover of darkness with Billy forced to keep himself quiet or else he’d be kicked out for the night.

Atrocity after atrocity had been shared by Billy all while Hopper listened and wished he had put a bullet in that bastard’s brain. Once he was done, Hopper immediately called in Steve and Susan to help get Billy home or somewhere he could recover after everything. Since Susan had yet to be interviewed and neither of them wanted to bring Billy back to the place where he had suffered so much, Steve offered his house up for now.

Susan agreed after getting a promise from Steve that he would take care of Billy properly or else he’d suffer the consequences. Steve basically carried Billy to his car after getting Max to start and open the car door for them. He’d taken Billy to sleep in his room, having been tired from the past day’s ordeal and he had taken the time to talk to Max who was obviously also spooked by what she found out.

Steve got Max’s perspective on everything and he’d held her as she cried about everything that Billy endured because of Neil. Steve swore to spoil the living crap out of his boyfriend and to never hurt him. This promise was only intensified as soon as he saw Billy practically being swallowed by his clothes and he got a glimpse of the future where he and Billy lived together and every morning started out with the sight of Billy drowning in Steve’s clothes.

Hopper had made sure that Neil was imprisoned for life for the murder of his wife and attempted murder of his son. Susan had quickly sold the house and moved them to a smaller house closer to the Byers and the Hendersons. Mrs. Sinclair had taken care of the resetting of Billy’s bones with the promise that he would be able to recover by the start of basketball season. Steve spoiled Billy with all of the love that he’d been deprived of during his childhood and he made sure that no one, not even the kids he was constantly babysitting had anything bad to say about his boyfriend regardless of how he acted before. Dustin Henderson got the surprise of his life coming home from summer camp to find out that Steve had gotten a new boyfriend and that his mom had pseudo-adopted Billy Hargrove and that he was dating Steve. Billy was just happy to have more people in his life who loved and cared for him and he managed to make Hawkins his home with the help of a few moms and a wonderful but overly doting boyfriend.

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faithfulcat111 · 23 days

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Me: *squinting at my Madwheeler roleswap au* Ya know, I think I could pull off Photocheer in this one.

#i think i know how to too #it would be a post-season 2 thing #but i think we can do it #I'm also like 90% sure that joyce and susan hargrove are gonna end up hooking up at some point #and ngl dont know how i feel about it #but like they slipped away from me somehow #we are still on track to have barb/nancy in this au #still got to figure out how to finish dealing with season 2 first #but i think we are on track here #i thought this would have elmax too #but then they became sisters so things could still change #faith talks #madwheeler roleswap au

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upside-down-low · 2 years

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murray amassing a harem of hawkins adults and three russians, call that polyamurray

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lascitasdelashoras · 1 year

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Anotaciones de Susan Sontag al Finnegans Wake de James Joyce

#marginalia #susan sontag #james joyce #finnegans wake #lectura

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biillyhargroves · 2 years

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quite honestly I want Susan Mayfield and Joyce Byers to become friends if only so that they can pull a Goodbye Earl on Neil Hargrove. I deserve it. Billy and Max deserve it. please.

#found this in my drafts and you know what i stand by it #joyce byers #susan mayfield #neil hargrove #billy hargrove #max mayfield

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starkstruck27 · 10 months

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Okay wait, but I've got another idea: a Gravity Falls AU. Recently I've been rewatching the show, and I think it has a lot of similarities to ST, so I've been thinking...

Robin and Steve are twins (fraternal, with Robin being two minutes older, and I'm thinking they're, like, 16 or 17 in this AU) and they're sent by their parents to stay with their crazy uncle Hopper over the summer. They live in Chicago, but Uncle Hopper lives in the sleepy little town of Hawkins, and is kind of a mystery. He owns a tourist trap called the Oddity Emporium, and even though he's kind of a stingy, crotchety older guy, he loves them, and the Emporium is where they live.

Robin and Steve move into the bedroom in the attic, and as soon as they get settled, they start to notice some oddities outside of the museum. First, Robin swears she sees a fairy flying around when they're exploring the woods, then Steve is convinced that one of the statues in the town square is in a different position when he comes out of the supermarket, but they have no proof. They try to chalk it up to their uncle's place just messing with their heads, but then, they're exploring the woods one day, and Steve trips and falls into a ditch.

Robin immediately climbs down to check on her brother, and he's fine, but he hit his head on something and they decide to check it out. It turns out to be a chest buried at the bottom of the ditch, and when they finally pry the ancient lock open, they find a book inside.

Steve isn't impressed at first. It's a weird book, what's so special about it? But Robin cracks it open and they start to read, both amazed by what they find. It's some kind of journal, apparently the third in a set, that has a mysterious unknown author, and it details all of the weird creatures and supernatural goings-on that make Hawkins so weird.

At first they don't want to tell anyone about it, not even Uncle Hopper. They don't know why the book was buried, but it seems like there was a reason, right? Maybe it's a government conspiracy or something. But they study it together, trying to figure out who in the crazy little town might have something to do with writing it.

They become friends with Eddie, another guy a little older than them who works at the Oddity Emporium as a handyman/cashier/whatever else is needed of him, and his friends, Gareth, Rich and Jeff. They're the cool kids in Hawkins, rowdy teenagers who just always seem to have the best hangout spots (including a secret ladder that leads to the roof of the Emporium) and the most fun of anyone else in the town. They also befriend some local kids who come with them on adventures, Dustin, Will, Lucas, Erica and Mike. They're all younger than Robin and Steve, but they're pretty cool, and they're more accustomed to the weirdness that plagues the town, so they're pretty awesome to have around.

There's also Mrs. Byers, who runs the diner in town, and her other son Jonathan, who is kind of friends with Eddie and his gang. Jonathan is also Will's older brother, so he and his girlfriend Nancy often tag along on adventures. And of course there's El, the psychic girl who is the centerpiece of the other tourist attraction in town, the Hut of Hypnotism. Her dad and Uncle Hopper have been in a war for best tourist attraction for years, but because El made real friends and doesn't like using her powers (which no one knows how she got) just for him to make money, Hopper often comes out on top. There's the local cops, Powell and Callahan, who are not great at their jobs, but perfect for comedic relief, and finally, the local kook, another hermit who lives in a shack in the woods named Old Man Murray.

Robin and Steve get to know the people of the town pretty quickly, and they find them all pretty amusing for the most part. Even Old Man Murray has his good points. But there's one person that they meet a few weeks into their stay that they simply cannot stand. Billy Hargrove, the rich asshole who's great great grandfather apparently founded the town.

Billy seems just as awful as his parents, who live in the mansion atop the hill with him and his sister, but they kind of have to put up with him, because his little sister is friends with the other kids they're friends with, and he's told to keep an eye on her. But he's still a jerk, snarky and always acting like he's better than everyone else because his family is rich, and he loves to be the center of attention. But as the summer continues and they battle more and more weird monsters, Steve and Robin start to think that he's not so bad.

Especially Steve. Sure, they had a rough start, but after fighting a horde of Goblins, uncovering an ancient tomb with a mummified Native American Chief inside, and working together to capture a vampire that's haunting the old wing of the Hargrove mansion, they've kind of bonded whether they like it or not.

It's about halfway through the summer when things start to get really weird. Firstly, Steve and Robin had to time travel over and over again to make sure the timeline stayed correct and so Steve would still get to keep the pet goat he'd won at the county fair. It was a whole thing. Then, they find out that El's dad, in order to try and get a leg up on Hopper and try and destroy his business, had the second of the three journals, and they had to fight not only the man himself to get it from him, but also some kind of dream demon that went by the name Henry Creel and seemed to enjoy toying with them. They didn't defeat the demon, but he told them that he'd leave them alone until they became important, so they tried to forget about him. And finally, they tell Uncle Hopper about the books, which he laughs off and says is fake, but that some of the things in it would make great attractions at the Emporium. Robin and Steve know the truth, though, and still use the journals to their advantage every time they need to.

Finally, the summer is two thirds done, and Steve and Robin have three major problems: One, they're still no closer to finding the author of the journals. Two, Henry is back, and he's hinting at something big coming soon. Three, Steve has developed a huge, embarrassing, inexplicable crush on Billy Hargrove.

When Robin first finds out about that third one, she groans and tries to remind Steve that all summer Billy was a jerk to him and that they have bigger problems to worry about. But Steve tries to tell her that Billy is changed, he's not really as big a jerk as everyone says and he knows it sounds crazy, but he's pretty sure Billy likes him back. Robin rolls her eyes at first and just tries to focus on their other mission, finding out who wrote the journals, but she can't do it by herself. Every time she tries, Henry appears in her dreams and throws her off course, and it's getting annoying and, quite frankly, terrifying. But eventually Steve returns to help her and they find out that the answer lies much closer to home than they'd realized.

They're walking around the Emporium one day when Robin drops something and it rolls under the porch. She and Steve crawl under to get it, but their combined weight causes a bit of the ground to collapse and they fall into a basement they didn't know was under the Emporium. They're confused, because it doesn't look like the kind of place that Uncle Hopper would have under his house, almost like a bunker of sorts. But the real surprise is when they find not only the journals that they showed Hopper and he never gave back, but the first one, too. He had it all that time.

They're obviously pissed, so they grab the books and find the way upstairs, using an elevator that leads them to a staircase that opens up into the (thankfully empty) gift shop of the Emporium behind the vending machine. They find their uncle and demand an explanation, and he finally tells them the truth.

His daughter was an incredibly intelligent girl. She was always looking for adventures and documenting her findings in the very books they were holding in their hands. This was all before they were born, so they never met their cousin Sara, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Hopper told them that she got in too deep with her mystery hunting, and she encountered Henry Creel long before they did. Only, she made a deal with him, a bad one, and she ended up dead.

Hopper says that the official story that ran in the newspapers was that she had brain cancer, and an aneurysm is what took the young girl away so suddenly. But Hopper knew the truth. Something in those books had killed his little girl, and he didn't know if it was still out there, but he hoped that if he could hide the books well enough, no one would be able to use them to go looking for it. He kept only one for himself, just wanting to hold onto some little piece of her, because it was her greatest passion, and it was all he had left.

After he tells the twins the story, they tell him that they've encountered the same demon, and that it wasn't even their fault, but that they've beat him before. Hopper is amazed, and asks how they did it, but they say they aren't exactly sure, they just knew they didn't give up until he surrendered.

Hopper is still amazed, but he tells them that if they ever encounter the demon again, they're not to engage with him, because he's smart, and he has no qualms about killing for his own gain. He also tells them that he doesn't want them going around looking for any other weird creatures or anything, because if they get caught in some kind of trouble, he doesn't know how to help them and he doesn't want them getting hurt. They say they won't, but they both know they're lying.

Especially when, two days later, Henry comes back, and he says that it's time. He visits them in a dream they end up sharing, and says he's got big plans coming, so he's gonna give them some advice. He tells Robin that she thinks too much, and she should learn to clear her head. Then he tells Steve to keep his friends close, his family closer, and his enemies closest. Then he disappears, and the twins wake up together, scared and confused. But they know that whatever Henry is planning, it's up to them to stop it.

It's a week before they're set to go back home that it happens. They're not sure how, but some sort of rift in the fabric of the universe allows Henry's hellscape of a dimension to leak into theirs, and even more horrifying creatures than the ones they've already seen that summer (and that's saying something, considering they've encountered shapeshifters and bears with multiple heads) start infesting Hawkins and walking around like they own the place. Robin and Steve are both terrified, but they know they have to help fix it, so they start trying to figure out how.

They know it's going to be different than the first time they fought him. That time, they were I the mindscape, where whatever they could imagine would happen, and they could conjure weapons and such. But this time, they're in reality, and they have to rely on their wits and whatever they can scrounge up around them to fight with. They don't know how, but they know they've got to do it.

Finally, they're almost ready to confront the dream demon and fight him with their friends, but before they can get close enough for even one swing at him, he stops them, and starts to monologue, as villains do. He says that it's cute that they thought there was strength in numbers, and he says that that's not how he plays the game. He reminds them of the advice he gave them, and says they're going to need it if they want to save their friends, who he has levitating off the ground by now, all of them frozen and looking terrified. He says that they're going to play a game, and their friends are taken away, flying off to somewhere else in the labyrinth of a palace Henry's built for himself. He tells them that he put one of their friends in each different room of the place, and that they're going to have to go through one room at a time to attempt to save them. Each room will get more and more difficult, and they'll each take a wing of the palace to go through, they can't do it together. They'll get three tries to answer each riddle, and if they can't, then their friend in that room will die an agonizing death. Robin and Steve are terrified, but they stand their ground, and say that they'll do it.

Henry is all too delighted, and tells them that if they manage to do it and get all their friends out alive, then he'll allow them a chance to try and beat him. He's clearly doubting their abilities, and entirely too amused for their liking, but they know it's their only choice, so they accept. And as such, the games begin.

They each get seven rooms. The riddles for Robin start easy, but the answers are so simple that she begins to overthink them, and it almost costs her her second room. But she remembers the advice Henry gave her, and she knows the stakes. She also knows that he never gave them a time limit, so until she's sure she's got the answer, she doesn't even chance it. She saves Mrs. Byers first, then Jonathan, Mike, El, and Erica. The second to last room is occupied by Eddie, and it's one of the simplest riddles, but Robin almost loses again because of the overthinking. She is down to her final try when she finally gets it and saves him, and is finally sent on to her last room, which contains her uncle Hopper. She is timed on that one, but even under the pressure, she's noticed a pattern to all the riddles, they all have something to do with fire, so she figures it out by process of elimination, and saves her uncle.

Meanwhile, Steve is faring a little differently. He doesn't just get riddles with simple answers like his sister, his riddles all have something to do with the person he's trying to save. Something that he would only know if he knew them well. He figures out that this is what Henry meant by "keep your friends close", and once he figures that out, it's pretty much a cakewalk. He saves Nancy, then Murray, then Lucas, Will, Max and Dustin. Finally, he gets to the last room, and he finds Billy inside. This is the hardest room for him, and even though he's not timed, he only gets one chance to get this one right. He thinks about all the other riddles, all of them having to do with either some fear the person had or some kind of thing that could be used against them somehow. And this riddle is one that hardly makes any sense, where the others were mostly pretty simple. Steve tries to break it down bit by bit, like his math teacher taught him to do when they were doing a tough problem, and he finally figures it out. It's asking for the one thing that would make Billy surrender anything for. Steve gives his answer, and it's correct.

After that, Billy drops back to the floor, and the two of them, as well as Robin, Hopper, and everybody else, are teleported back in front of Henry, who is only slightly ticked off that Robin and Steve have figured it all out. But, he plays fair, and tells them that they can take their shot at him. Robin and Steve can't do any kind of sibling communication between their minds, but they did make up a secret language when they were kids, so throughout the battle, they're able to communicate without Henry understanding what they're saying or planning. They talk about the riddles, how all of Robin's had something to do with fire and how Steve's all had something to do with how to gain the upper hand on each of the people he'd saved. It only takes them a second to figure out that Henry was testing them that whole time, because it wasn't just about them being able to save their friends.

It was about seeing if they were smart enough to figure out what his weakness was.

Ultimately, Henry's cockiness led to his own downfall, because as soon as they figured out that fire was his weakness, they found a way to light the sucker up. It hadn't been easy, and they didn't escape unscathed, but once Henry went down, so did all of his minions.

They didn't remember much after that, both of them being too tired and too worried about their friends and the rest of the townsfolk to worry about what happened then, but from what they can guess, Henry died and all of his demons were sucked back into the portal they came out of, and the town was restored to its former glory. There were still weird creatures all around, and it took them a while to repair some of the damage done to buildings and such, but for the most part, Hawkins just went back to being Hawkins.

Soon enough, it was their last day in town, and as they packed up their things and tried to prepare themselves to say goodbye to their friends, they got to talking about Henry and his game again. Robin tells him about how she almost messed up and lost twice, and he comforts her and tells her that she didn't, so it didn't matter, and even if she had messed up, it wouldn't have been on her, it would've been on Henry. She says she knows, but it's still hard, and then she asks him what his hardest riddle was. Steve tells her about the final riddle, how he only got one shot to get it right, and how twisted up the words were so that he almost wasn't able to figure it out. Eventually though, he found out that it was asking for Billy's one weakness, and at this point, Robin interrupts with a scoff and asks how he managed to figure that out.

And now, Steve finally comes clean with her, telling her that after the whole vampire fiasco earlier in the summer, he and Billy started seeing each other. He says that all summer, he'd been wanting to find a nice girl or guy to have a summer romance with, and he finally found it in Billy, and it was around then that he started to get more involved with her and the journal stuff before the shit hit the fan, because he finally had something. He says that he told Billy about Henry once and how he always tries to figure out your weakness to exploit it (in their case, it was the people they cared about) and he says that Billy told him his only weakness would be him and Max. He'd laughed it off as a joke at the time, but he couldn't have been more relieved about it when it finally came down to that stupid riddle. And he's glad he's telling Robin now, because it felt weird to lie to her all that time and now he doesn't have to any more. And Robin is happy for him, really. After all his failed summer romances that she had to bear witness to, she's glad he found someone that made him happy. Even if it was Billy Hargrove.

Finally, their conversation ends, and they have to start getting ready to say goodbye to everybody. They head out to the bus stop that's gonna take them home and everyone is there waiting for them. The kids are all hugging them over and over and practically sobbing as they make them promise to write, the young adults are all hugging them and telling them they had so much fun over the summer and they better come back next year, and the adults are loading them down with snacks for the trip and making sure they've got everything packed. Uncle Hopper even makes sure that Steve's pet goat that he won at the fair is cleared to go home with them (their parents don't know yet and he may have had to threaten the bus driver, but it's for his nephew, so who cares).

And then finally it comes time for them to board the bus. Robin is crying and refusing to let go of Uncle Hopper, the two of them forming a bond over the summer that she says better not be broken by the time they come back next summer. And Steve is emotional, too, over Hopper and everybody else there. But the person that makes him cry the most is Billy. He makes him promise to call all the time, and invites him to come stay with them in Chicago sometime and says that he'll be back to visit as soon as he can manage. Billy promises that all that will happen, and then, just before Steve has to board the bus, he hands him a little present wrapped up in tissue paper. Steve is about to open it, but Billy stops him, and says with a blush pinker than the bubblegum Robin is chewing that he should wait to open it until the next time he misses Hawkins.

That time comes on the bus ride home, after Robin falls asleep next to him and everybody in Hawkins is miles away. It's a scrapbook that Billy must've put together himself, with an entire page dedicated to everybody important and all kinds of pictures from throughout the summer, even before they got together. He got everybody to sign it, and the very last page is just a letter telling him he'll miss him and he's already looking forward to next summer.

Steve can't help the dopey smile on his face as he gets off the bus and immediately runs to a payphone to tell Billy how much he loves it and how many plans he's already making for next year.

#steve would so be mabel #and robin is definitely closer to dipper #i think this would just be fun #also hopper as their grunkle stan and joyce as lazy susan just makes sense lol #eddie is a mix of soos and wendy but is definitely more like wendy #and murray as old man mcgucket is just so funny to me #billy as pacifica also just works #and powell and callahan as blubs and durland is already pretty much canon #el as the good version of gideon is also amazing #and the kids all kind of being like the candy and grenda for them #jonathan and nancy would be like those random characters that show up every once in a while like tyler cutebiker or toby determined #i just think this is neat and i probably put way too much though into it lmao #gravity falls #billy hargrove #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #max mayfield #jim hopper #joyce byers #will byers #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #eleven #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #murray bauman #harringrove

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