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whatthef0ucault-addendums · 5 years

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Its In Making Decisions That We Learn To Decide Character Summaries

Story Link:

In This Family We Punch Nazis part 2

Henry Cardenas

Origin/Fandom: The Ascent (2016)

Background: Henry Cardenas was born and raised in Mexico where he met the love of his life in his teens and married her out of high school. He came to the United States for work and sent money home until his wife could join him 2 years later. They worked many odd jobs together and tried to conceive for a few years until they had a son. They were never able to have another child, but they were grateful and happy for the family they had. When their son got older and started reading advanced books, he started talking about revolution, systemic oppression, and other topics that scared Henry to the point of making him angry. In his attempts to control his son, he ran away at 14, and joined a gang that he said ‘understood the cause’. He was killed by police officers after turning 18. In his mourning, Henry had to find some kind of meaning out of his son’s death. He decided to go into the police force so he could look out for his community, especially the young teens of color who ended up homeless or who ran away, and to try to prevent other senseless tragedies from occurring in the future. Henry and his wife decided to adopt, formally or informally, different teens Henry would come across at work who were in desperate need of help.

Relationship To MC: Henry, along with Chuck and Jester, find Diego and offer him an opportunity to make money in the underground fighting scene.

Relationship to other characters: Henry is the biological father of Pedro, formal adoptive father of Jester and Gabriela, informal adoptive father of Chuck and Vince, and foster father to Lucas and Miguel.

Susanna Hernandez Cardenas

Origin/Fandom: El Chicano (2018)

Background: Susanna Hernandez was born to a large, loving, but poor family and raised in Mexico. She met Henry in high school and fell in love with his kindness, dedication, and respect for her, marrying him after graduation with her father’s blessing. Being told of the ‘American Dream’ through various cultural and media references, she shared his aspirational dreams of making a better life in the United States. She waited and worked her own jobs for 2 years before she came to join him. She was only able to ever conceive and carry one son, suffering from fertility issues. She devoted her life to raising him and being the best mother she could be, though she could not stop him when he wanted to run away from home. She was devastated when her son was killed ‘by accident’ in an act of police brutality, never fully recovering. Still, being a mother was her passion and life’s work, and she came up with the idea of adopting teens of color in need with her husband who might be particularly vulnerable to experiencing the same kind of senseless violence. Her protective streak ran a mile wide alongside her kindness and devotion to her children.

Relationship To MC: Susanna hears many different stories about Diego, but finally meets him in person just after his 20th birthday and during the week leading up to Dia De Los Muertos.

Relationship to other characters: Susanna is the biological mother of Pedro, formal adoptive mother of Jester and Gabriella, informal adoptive mother of Chuck and Vince, and foster mother to Lucas and Miguel.

Detective Chuck Beaman

Origin/Fandom: The Umbrella Academy (Season 1/?)

Background: Chuck was born to a Latina mother and African American father, both in their late teens. The couple believed they were head-over-heels in love, and lived as such until Chuck was four when things started to change. Chuck was too young to remember, but both of his parents struggled with drug addictions and were unable to provide a safe, consistent home for him. This often resulted in Chuck having to fend for himself, or when he was a bit older, having to take on the roles of cooking and cleaning and taking care of his younger siblings. When he was 10, he and his siblings were taken from their home and put into separate homes in the foster care system. Chuck started to get into trouble not long after that, becoming a behavioral problem and refusing to cooperate with any of his social workers or foster parents. Most of those parents proved to be neglectful or physically abusive. Chuck would start to form bonds with his foster siblings and attempt to protect them like he attempted to protect his own. Henry came upon Chuck as a police escort during another foster-home change, and quickly connected with him. Due to Chuck’s mother still having some custody rights, Henry and his wife were unable to adopt him, but Henry personally looked out for him and aided him in learning how to become emancipated at 16.

Relationship To MC: Chuck and Jester discover young Diego on the streets and see him fight off a whole group of skinheads by himself. They, along with Henry, offer him a chance for a different life. Chuck is about 7 years older than Diego. Chuck eventually becomes Detective Beaman.

Relationship to other characters: Chuck is the oldest “child” of Henry and his wife after being shuffled through foster homes as a young teen. Henry helped Chuck gain emancipation, and then welcomed him unofficially into his family as his own son.

”Jester” Cardenas

Origin/Fandom: We Die Young (2019)

Background: Jester was found on the streets by Henry when he was 12 after he had gained a reputation for stealing food, clothing, or other essentials from different local stores. Although he was born in America, his parents had been undocumented, and both were deported suddenly one day to their home country of El Salvador. Jester refused to go into the foster system after he wasn’t allowed to be deported with them, and ran away instead to try to make it on his own. Henry picked up on the kid’s patterns of stealing, and knew he wasn’t dealing with a typical teenage delinquent. He was able to approach him with compassion when he finally found him, and felt compelled to adopt him when he and his wife heard his story. Jester refused to go by his birth name, and adopted the name Jester due to his off-beat nature that often resulted in either humorous jokes, or unorthodox fighting styles, sometimes at the same time.

Relationship to MC: Jester, along with Chuck and Henry, discover Diego’s significant fighting skills after watching him take on a group of skinheads alone. He picks a fight with Diego to further test those skills, before he loses and Diego is offered a chance to become an underground fighter. Jester is about a year older than Diego.

Relationship to other characters: Jester is the biological cousin of Gabriella who is two years older. They are technically siblings by adoption. He is one of a few officially adopted children of Henry and his wife.

Gabriela Cardenas

Origin/Fandom: We Die Young (2019)

Background: Gabriela, along with her parents, was originally from El Salvador. She was born with Spina Bifida and required extensive special care in the first few years of her life. This prompted her parents (along with Jester’s) to move to the US both for better medical care for her and for a bigger community of support from other relatives who had already immigrated. Her parents were hardworking, but spent most of their money on Gabriela’s medical care as she grew up. When they had to renew their permanent resident cards, they only had enough money to renew Gabriela's, forcing them to let their own lapse. They made plans to save money to reinstate their documents, but never got the chance, as they were deported at the same time as Jester’s parents. Gabriela was 14 at the time, and went into the foster care system. She was chosen by Henry and his wife due to her special needs and emergency situation, eventually becoming officially adopted by them like Jester.

Relationship to MC: Diego meets Gabriela when he first meets Eudora at a night club just shy of Diego’s 20th Birthday. She is about 3 years older than Diego.

Relationship to other characters: Gabriela is Jester’s biological cousin, although she is not as close with him as she is with Chuck. She is also childhood best friends with Detective Eudora Patch.

Vincent Marins

Origin/Fandom: The Ascent (2017)

Background: Vince’s background was a bit of a mystery given how he choose to share it at any given time. He liked to go on long rambling stories of different points of his past that might make someone skeptical or laugh until they can’t stand it. It was difficult to tell when he was being serious, and how he felt about a given situation. However, he was also prone to random moments of pure, unfiltered honesty. He was tri-lingual, speaking Spanish, Portuguese, and English fluently and seemed to know a slew of phrases and words from other languages as well. What was known for sure was that Vince was transferred to Henry and his wife’s care through the foster system just shy of his 16th birthday, and disappeared for a year once he turned 18. He returned with some new sets of skills and a few bad habits, but he still remained loyal to the most steady family he’s ever had, sometimes even to a fault.

Relationship to MC: Vince meets Diego with a group of men associated with the family on the way to Diego’s first underground fight.

Relationship to other characters: Vince is a former foster child of Henry and his wife who never got to be officially adopted as he aged out of the system too quickly. He also meets Klaus on the streets. He is about 4 years older than Diego.

Pedro Cardenas (deceased)

Origin/Fandom: El Chicano (2018)

Background: Pedro Cardenas was born in the United States to Henry and Susanna Cardenas. He grew up as an only child due to his parents struggle with conceiving a child. Their family didn’t have a lot of money, though his parents do everything they can to make sure he never goes without the necessities. Pedro grows up watching their struggle with getting access to better jobs, being subjected to discrimination with his parents or with his peers at school, and always having questions about why. He was also considered gifted by his teachers at school, and encouraged to read and study at higher levels that the rest of his peers. Pedro stumbles upon different revolutionary works, philosophies, and concepts in the same library he spent a lot of his youth’s free time. He learns, to the best of his young ability, about systemic racism and discrimination, and wants to change the world with the ideas of revolution. Anytime he brought up the ideas to his father, he would become significantly angry, and pushed Pedro away more and more until he runs away from home at 14 to find those who believed the same as him. Pedro became involved in gang activity and activism, and any extra money he acquired, he sent home to his parents. He was killed by police at 18.

Relationship To MC: Diego never meets Pedro in person before he dies, instead first seeing his alter in the family home when he meets Susanna, Lucas, and Manny for the first time.

Relationship to other characters: Pedro is the deceased biological son of Susanna and Henry.

Lucas

Origin/Fandom: We Die Young (2019)

Background: Lucas is born and raised in the US. His mother dies shortly after Miguel is born, and their father abandons them not long after that. When their older brother is old enough, he takes them out of foster care to help raise them on his own. Their old brother dies after going into the army to bring in more money and resources for the family, and Lucas and Miguel end up in foster care again. Luckily, this time they ended up in a loving family with Henry and Susanna.

Relationship To MC: Diego meets Lucas in preparation for Día De Los Muertos celebrations. Lucas is 6 years younger than Diego.

Relationship to other characters: Lucas is the biological brother of Miguel, and foster brother to the rest of the ‘siblings.’ He has been in Henry and Susanna’s care for about two years when Diego meets them.

Miguel

Origin/Fandom: We Die Young (2019)

Background: Miguel is born and raised in the US. His mother dies shortly after he is born, and their father abandons them not long after that. When their older brother is old enough, he takes them out of foster care to help raise them on his own. Their old brother dies after going into the army to bring in more money and resources for the family, and Miguel and Lucas end up in foster care again. Luckily, this time they ended up in a loving family with Henry and Susanna.

Relationship To MC: Diego meets Miguel in preparation for Día De Los Muertos celebrations. Miguel is 10 years younger than Diego.

Relationship to other characters: Miguel is the biological brother of Lucas, and the youngest foster brother to the rest of the ‘siblings.’ He has been in Henry and Susanna’s care for about two years when Diego meets them.

#fanfic #fan fiction #whatthef0ucault #ao3 #the umbrella academy #tua #kliego #character summaries #oc #ocs #crossover #we die young #the ascent #its in making decisions #el chicano

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themagiciansreccenter · 6 years

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Five @ Five: @under-the-shady-tree

As a part of our author spotlight, we’ve asked each writer to highlight 5 fics and tell us a little about their experience writing (or reading) them.

Destiny is Bullshit

“Because it is us!” he exclaimed. “I mean think about it. Jane created the time loops after my death. I asked why me and she never gave me a straight answer. Now I know it’s because she needed me there to get the key. I mean, I know I’ve always wanted to be some chosen one but does this make me one because holy shit El, it’s kind of fucked up. Like some destiny that I have no actual control over my life. What if everything I’ve ever done or felt wasn’t real because-”

“Ok Q!” Eliot came over and grabbed the sides of Quentin’s face him to force him to stop and look at him. “You’re spinning. I get it, your mind is blown right and tail spinning is kind of your thing when that happens, but I need you to take a breath.” Eliot could always break through Quentin's panic and reach him. Quentin stared into his eyes and took a deep breath. Eliot watched him intently and didn’t remove his hands. “Good, you good?”

“I’m good,” Quentin whispered. Eliot nodded, he was running his thumb gently close to Quentin’s ear and he relaxed a little into that touch.

“Good,” Eliot smiled. “Now, all this sounds really big when you put it like that, but destiny is bullshit.” Quentin blinked, a little surprised. “You told me that. Life and the choices we made brought us here, not some higher power or bigger plan. According to those books, you are the reason Jane was able to make the time loops, but it wasn’t because of Jane or some destiny. It was because you made a choice. You choose to give her the key because it was the right thing to do. She needed it then and we able to get it to us now in the end so it doesn't matter that you gave it to her then. You did the right thing, even though it brought you pain. That’s some like hero shit, Quentin.” Quentin stared at him unblinking. Just as quickly as his panic had come on, Eliot’s words washed it away. How he was always able to do that, Quentin would never know.

—

This was what brought me back into writing again. After watching A Life in a Day my mind could not stop racing. Then with the next episode, I wanted to know how they went from “How do we remember that?” too cuddly life partners who were completely at ease. So out came this fic, set right in between those two moments I wanted to really explore what could have happened and how Quentin and Eliot came to terms with the fact that they lived an entire life together. I also wanted to see Margo’s side of things and almost made her story a separate fic, but wised up and mixed it all together. I have a lot of feelings about this one and it means a lot to me.

Make It All Quit Around Me

“Come on Q,” Eliot practically hummed as he nuzzled his nose in the spot above Quentin’s ear. “Have some fun with me.” Eliot’s breath against his ear sent a shiver down Quentin’s spine and he relaxed against him. “Arielle and Rupert won’t be back for at least another hour, think of all the fun we could have before they got back.” Again not waiting for Quentin to try to get them back to work, Eliot pulled Quentin to the ground with him. Eliot lay on his back in the soft grass next to the mosaic and captured Quentin’s lips in a slow and lazy kind of kiss. Quentin smiled against his lips and then gave in, it wasn’t worth the fight and his growing erection wasn’t going to go away soon anyway,

“You win,” Quentin said before taking Eliot’s bottom lip between his teeth. Eliot let out a low chuckle and bucked his hips against Quentin. Quentin sucked in a breath and ground his hips back in response and he felt Eliot’s fingers tangle in his hair.

“Q," Eliot breathed in his ear and Quentin closed his eyes. His name coming from Eliot’s lips always sounded different to him than anyone else and the feeling it sent through his body now was beyond erotic. He took Eliot’s face into his hands as they thrust into each other and kissed him hard enough to leave them both breathless

—

I want to be careful when talking about this one because I don’t want to spoil anything, but this came from me thinking If I wrote the show, what would the first scene of season 4 be? And this would basically be my answer. I came up with the ending first and actually wrote three different versions of it. The first version was them talking about their feelings, and it was horrible. Then I tried a full-on sex and it was….bad. I am not very comfortable writing sex scenes, it’s never been something I’ve been great at. I sometimes get down on myself because I don’t write it when this fandom is filled with some much talent in that department. This was me trying to step out of my comfort zones to see if I could do it. I finally found a way to write around my discomfort and come up with something I felt was pretty good and I ended up super proud. Also, the song that the title comes from, A Kind of Hunger by Penny and Sparrow, is one of my absolute favorite songs ever and I had it on repeat while I wrote this. It’s such a haunting and amazing song.

Our Mistakes, they were bound to be made

“I know for me it was different,” Alice said with a half-hearted shrug. “I loved being a niffin, and deep down it was still me doing all of that. You on the other hand,” She gestured to Eliot, whose eyes turned a little darker like he was prepared for an accusation. “You didn’t choose to be a monster and deep down it wasn’t you doing those things. You were just along the ride.” Eliot’s eyes drifted away to stare off into nothing. Alice could only guess the kinds of memories he must have from the time the monster had control and she shivered at the thought. “But you did make a choice once. You chose to shoot the monster.” Now he looked back at her and Alice nodded.

“I was there; you didn’t hesitate. You did what you thought would save him.” A haunted kind of look came over Eliot and his whole body sagged with guilt. “I get it because I became a niffin to save him too and then he almost killed himself trying to save me.” Eliot pulled his leg tighter to his chest, his eyes wide and she could see them starting to shine with unshed tears. She leaned forward a bit feeling like maybe she could actually get through to him.

—

This came from my hope that we get more interaction between Alice and Eliot. I think they now have a lot in common and I would love to see them come together a bit. I came up with the talk that Alice gives Eliot first and it took me a little bit to figure out how to get there. I thought at first she would talk to Eliot while Quentin had fallen asleep, but it didn’t feel right. Then I got the image in my head of her on this cold deserted beach with a grey cloudy sky. Also of her smoking a cigarette which was kind of a visual link to Eliot that I thought was cool. I also got the idea of her walking through this house and seeing everyone but no one really seeing her until she’s in a room with Eliot. And Eliot isolated and everyone talking about him but him ignoring all of them kind of just like Alice. Writing this was one of those rare moments where I got the idea and it came out just how it was in my head and I feel really happy with the outcome.

The Mess We Made

“I know where I am in your heart,” Quentin said softly and Eliot smiled. It was something that Eliot would always say in the early days of Quentin and Arielle’s courtship. When Quentin was racked with guilt that he was hurting Eliot unnecessarily. No matter how many times Eliot would say it was ok, Quentin didn’t believe him.

“I know I where I am in your heart Quentin Coldwater,” he said on the night when Quentin realized he loved Arielle. “I also know how big your heart is, it’s ok to let someone else in. There’s more than enough room”.

Quentin pulled Eliot to him and kissed him. He clutched at the side of Eliot’s face, kissing him with more ferocity than he had in a while and he could almost feel Eliot’s surprise before he dropped down to his knees and returned the same intensity. For just that moment, in the quiet twilight of the morning, all of their problems and walls they had built were gone. The distance between them seemed to have grown some temporary bridge and they were just them again. Two out of time questers, trying to make it through this together. The rest of it didn’t matter.

—

So, a few chapters into writing Destiny is Bullshit, I pretty much knew that I wanted to write about the whole mosaic timeline. My plan during most of it was to write about their first year and the lovely slow burn relationship that I live for. But when it finally came time for me to write I didn’t want to write about them getting together. I thought it would be a little too close to Destiny is Bullshit since that was kind of them getting back together. I wanted to write from a more established point in their relationship and try to figure out what that would like. Quentin and Eliot don’t have a traditional relationship and I love that, but I’m sure that wasn’t an easy road to figure out. It was originally going to be a lot shorter, and a certain character was going to be much more of a “villain” but once I decided to set it right after Rupert was born, the whole story took a turn. Even good relationships struggle sometimes and it doesn’t have to mean you’re about break up. But life gets hard and complicated. Especially being out of time, in Fillory, when all they had was each other and suddenly they have a family and a community and whole life. It seemed like that would be a make it or break it moment where they had to really decide to not only commit to the quest but to the life, they were building while they worked.I was also heavily inspired by the song Are You With Me by Nilu, beautiful song, the line “Right now I need you here, I need you to stay strong, to remind me where I came from and where I belong”, jumped out at me and really got this whole thing going. It feels very Queliot to me. This whole story turned out so much deeper and more meaningful than I thought it would and I love it for that.

The Winds of Change Will Change Your Mind

“How long has that been going on with Eliot?” Quentin didn’t move, but she could see his shoulders tense.

“That’s something I’m not going to tell you about.” He said looking over at her. Alice shut her eyes for a second and took a breath.

“That’s fine,” she said. “I was just going to say that I’m not surprised and it kind of makes sense.” Quentin looked surprised.

“Okay,” He said slowly.

“For what it’s worth.” She said folding her hands in her lap. “It doesn’t bother me that you’re happy.” It was the best she could do, and even though it wasn’t much, Quentin seemed to understand that at least. He nodded, his face softening in a familiar look of friendship.

“Thank you.” He said. Alice nodded and quickly stood, the need to get away from this conversation pushing her toward the stairs before she fully registered that she was going. She looked back over her shoulder at Quentin. He watched her for a moment, then went back to his book.

As Alice walked up the stairs that led to the deck of the Muntjac, she felt a little better. Like wishing Quentin well had eased some of her pain, even just for a few seconds. Stepping out onto the deck, she made sure to steer clear of where Margo and Eliot were talking. Standing at the bow of the ship she closed her eyes and tried to imagine what it would feel like to be that ordinary girl she used to dream of when she went sailing. What it would be like to have never had magic and to be free.

—

I’m sure it’s clear if you read anything by me that I love filling in the stuff we don’t see. When it started to become apparent that there was probably not going to be an onscreen mention that Quentin and Eliot had lived a whole life together, I wanted to write the other characters figuring it out. I also have used this as a way to establish how I write each character. Each chapter is kind of a character study with a little revel on Quentin and Eliot in the end. And it’s just been really fun to write, trying to figure out who knew what and when and trying to puzzle piece it all in with everything that went on last season. I especially enjoyed writing the Alice chapter and the Penny chapter is what inspired my timeline 23 fic. I have just one more to go, Josh’s chapter is working itself out and I think it will be a really fun ending!

#five@five #the magicians rec center #author spotlight #author: rays/under the shady tree

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rowdywarrior85 · 5 years

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STRANGER THINGS PRESENTS: WHEELERS VS HARGROVES (PART 1)

STRANGER THINGS PRESENTS: WHEELERS VS HARGROVES

[DISCLAIMER: This story in purely fan-fiction, meaning I own no rights to the show STRANGER THINGS, its episodes or characters. Basically, this story is my interpretation of the show, its episodes or characters. Forewarning, there will be descriptions of violence (sometimes graphic), adult content and language; if you have kids under 17 reading this story, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. Either way, hope you enjoy it. This story takes place between Season 3-Episode 4: THE SAUNA TEST.]

(We open to a fogged-up mirror, a washcloth is wiped across to clear a reflection, and the man in the mirror is none other than Hawkins’ residential bad boy, Billy Hargrove, who just came out of the shower. NO ONE LIKE YOU by Scorpions drops in the background and it drops hard. Billy spends the intro guitar solo in the bathroom; blowing his nose, blow-drying his hair, cleaning out his ears, brushing his teeth and takes a quick shave. Then, he wraps a towel around his waist and strolls in his room. As he lights up a cigarette, the first verse starts up. He slips on a pair of boxers under his towel, drops a pair of denim jeans on his bed, followed by a navy short-sleeved dress-shirt. Satisfied with his choice of wardrobe, the towel flies off, then by the second verse, he slips on a pair of socks and a white tank top, which is odd since Billy doesn’t wear anything under his dress-shirts. Billy proceeds to don his jeans and dress-shirt, followed by his boots. As the chorus kicks in, he sprays his hair for a little extra volume. Then slaps cologne on his wrists, along his neckline and of course, below the belt. He grabs a black leather jacket, slips it on and takes one last look in the mirror, giving himself a confident look.)

BILLY: (whispers) Look out, Karen. Here comes trouble.

(As he tosses a smooch and a wink at himself, he opens the door to make his “date” with Karen Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s mom. But, he’s met by his stepmother, Susan Mayfield-Hargrove, about to knock on his door. Third verse kick in.)

BILLY: (sigh) Susan.

SUSAN: I was gonna ask you what you wanted for dinner, but it looks like you got plans. Big date tonight?

BILLY: (clicks tongue with a wink) Bingo.

SUSAN: Um, is that a tank top under your shirt? This is a first.

(Billy passes by Susan as he makes for the front, hoping to God he isn’t stopped by his asshole father, Neil Hargrove.)

BILLY: Yeah, well, this one is special.

NEIL: Gee, I wonder how special.

(Billy is stopped by Neil’s stern voice. Billy’s smile slowly drops to a tense, tight lip as he looks to his left to see his father leaning on the frame that leads to the kitchen, drinking a can of beer with an equally stern look on his face.)

BILLY: More than you can ever understand, Dad.

NEIL: Oh, really? What’s this “special” date’s name?

(Neil asked that question to Billy with the intention that he knows exactly who the “lucky lady” is. Billy inhales deep, exhales as he looks to a concerned Susan, who’s afraid of another spat between Father and son. Billy turns back to his father.)

BILLY: Don’t wait up for me.

(Neil’s eyebrow starts to rise in agitation as Billy continues for the door.)

NEIL: HEY!

(Billy stops at the door.)

SUSAN: Neil, don’t.

NEIL: No, I wanna know the name of his “special” date, or else he can just forget about going altogether. WELL, WHO THE FUCK IS SHE, BILLY?!

(Billy turns to his dad with a hint of anger.)

BILLY: Why the fuck do you care, huh?

(Both Neil’s eyebrows are raised high at Billy’s snap by the second chorus.)

She’s just another whore in Hawkins to you, anyway.

(Billy opens door.)

RIGHT, NEIL!?!

(Billy slams the door shut, which by now infuriates Neil.)

NEIL: Son of a BITCH!!!

(Neil storms out after his “ungrateful” son. Susan tries to stop him, but to no avail.

SUSAN: Neil, just let it go. NEIL!!

(Billy storms into his blue Camaro, with Neil in hot pursuit.)

NEIL: BILLY! YOU GET THE FUCK OUT OF THAT CAR!!

(Billy starts the engine, but Neil jumps in front of the car.)

YOU SHUT THAT OFF AND GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW, BILLY HARGROVE, OR YOU’RE FUCKING GROUNDED! DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME!?!

(As the first half of the main guitar solo starts, Billy stares at his dad, then turns to a scared Susan, then turns right back to Neil.)

BILLY, I’D THINK THIS THROUGH, IF I WERE YOU!

(Billy went to a timid look to a stern, angry look as he revs the engine hard on the second half of the guitar solo.)

Oh, don’t you even think about it, you little shit.

SUSAN: Neil, please get out of the road!

(Neil keeps his eyes fixed on Billy, while he points a finger at Susan.)

NEIL: Relax, Susan, he’s bluffing. He’s not gonna do shit. Are ya, you son of a…

(Neil leans forward.)

…whore.

(By the end of the solo, Billy flares his nostrils in a rage, drops into DRIVE, and peels out, spooking Neil out of the way.)

JESUS!!!

(Billy’s Camaro zooms out of Cherry Road, with Neil throwing his beer down the street at Billy’s direction, screaming with rage.)

THAT’S IT!!!! YOU’RE GROUNDED!!! DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU FUCK!!!! YOU’RE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF YOUR NATURAL FUCKING LIFE!!!!

(Susan runs after him, trying to quiet him down.)

SUSAN: Jesus, Neil. You’ll wake up the whole damn neighborhood. What if they call the police?

NEIL: The police, Susan, Jesus. Who in this neighborhood, let alone this whole fucking town has the balls to call the police on me? Huh?

(Neil storms back into the house, pissed to infinity. All the while, Susan becomes more frightened what’s about to come.)

Pick up my fucking beer off the street while you’re out there.

(PRESENT DAY. Mike, Lucas, Will, El and Max stroll up in their bikes to the Hawkins Community Pool staking out for Billy. All of them, especially Max fear that he may be chosen by the reawakened Mind Flayer.)

MIKE: OK, so where is he?

MAX: He’s usually in by noon.

LUCAS: Well, it’s 5 minutes to noon. He should be up and running for work soon.

MAX: Oh, shit.

WILL: What, do you see him?

MAX: No, somebody much worse than Billy.

(They see a tan Ford pickup truck roaring into the pool parking lot. Max is horrified, for she knows exactly who it is.)

It’s my fucking step-dad, Neil.

LUCAS: Oh, that’s just perfect.

EL: Is it… bad?

(Max looks to El with concern.)

LUCAS: Let’s put it to you this way, El. You know what a mouth-breather is, right?

(El nods in affirmation.)

Well, from what Max told us, he’s a Class A mouth-breather. Believe me, I know, I’ve seen it first hand. Not to mention, he’s also a racist and a homophobe straight outta Vietnam.

MIKE: Long story, El, he’s a sadistic piece of shit.

EL: Piece of shit?

WILL: He makes MY dad look like a cream puff. I mean, coming from a divorced background myself, don’t get me wrong, I can’t help but feel sorry for him.

(The Party look awkwardly at Will.)

Billy, I mean. I’ve literally been where he is, if the Mind Flayer’s turned him, I mean.

(The Party look back to the pickup.)

MAX: (heavy sigh) I’m more concerned what Neil’s gonna do.

(Max looks through the binoculars, and she sees that he’s drinking from a flask, which does not bode well for Max.)

And worse, looks like he’s drinking. Guess it’s bad between him and Billy.

(We switch to inside the pickup, where Neil is formulating his plan, while downing Bourbon from his flask. Susan looks on to Neil, scared out of her mind.)

SUSAN: Neil, what exactly are we doing at the pool? I didn’t even bring my swimsuit.

NEIL: Isn’t it obvious, Susan? Billy’s behavior of late is fucking disturbing, more than most. His car isn’t in front of the house, where it’s supposed to be.

SUSAN: He’s stayed out late before.

NEIL: (takes a swig) Not like this.

(Susan looks at Neil with fear and concern.)

SUSAN: Hitting that kinda hard lately, have you?

NEIL: Don’t you worry about me, alright? It’s Billy that should be worried right now. Have you also noticed that Wheeler bitch isn’t with the rest of the Mom Squad?

SUSAN: So?

(Neil takes another swig, then gives an obvious look to Susan.)

(Scoffs) Oh my God. You’re not suggesting that Billy and Mrs. Wheeler were… are…

NEIL: It can’t be anymore obvious than that.

SUSAN: Neil, that’s ridiculous. There’s no proof of that.

NEIL: Please, I’ve been by the pool from time to time. The way he looks at her, the way SHE looks at him. They even talk to each other.

SUSAN: So they talk…

NEIL: FOR NEARLY 5 MINUTES, maybe more. Well this is gone far enough, I’m ending this right now.

(Neil prepares to exit the truck.)

SUSAN: Let’s go.

NEIL: No, you stay in the truck until I get back.

(Neil opens his truck door.)

SUSAN: Neil, I’m not letting you go out there alone, so you can make a scene.

NEIL: STAY IN THE TRUCK, SUSAN. I shouldn’t take long.

(Neil slams his truck door hard, takes another swig then make his way into the pool, while Susan looks on in fear. As he makes his way pass the entrance, the receptionist spots him sporting his flask in his back pocket and tries to take action.)

RECEPTIONIST: Excuse me, sir. You need to sign in if you want to enter the pool.

(Receptionist goes after him, then proceeds to put his right hand on Neil’s left shoulder.)

And another thing, there are no alcoholic containers of any kind allowed in the…

(Neil turns to the receptionist, swats his hand off his shoulder with the left hand, then lands a right cross decking him, knocking him to the ground with a bloody nose. Susan looks on with timidity.)

SUSAN: Ah, shit.

(Even the Mom Squad see this atrocity and fear the worst. While Susan gets out of the truck to tend to the busted-up receptionist, Neil spots the Mom Squad and saunders over with the intent of getting some answers.)

LIZ (BRUNETTE): Oh shit, Hargrove Rex is headin’ right for us.

MOM #2(BLONDIE): That’s never good. You don’t think he’s here about Billy, is he?

JILL(HEAVY): What are we gonna do?

LIZ: (picks up a COSMOPOLITAN magazine) Just act natural, ladies. It’s probably nothing.

JILL: Seriously?

LIZ: (through her teeth) Just… act… natural.

(Neil then approaches the Mom Squad.)

NEIL: Ladies.

BLONDIE: If you’re looking for your son, sir, he’s still in the bathroom, prepping for work.

NEIL: Billy’s the least of my worries right now. I couldn’t help but noticed one of your “crew” is MIA. Wheeler, is it? So, um, any of you… ladies… know where she is?

LIZ: Spa.

BLONDIE: Shopping.

JILL: Movie.

(Neil leans in between Blondie and Liz.)

NEIL: Well, which… one… is it?

(Jill starts hyperventilating, Neil turns to Jill, Liz prompting Jill not to say shit. Neil raises an eyebrow.)

JILL: (rapidly) LOOK, KAREN’S NOT HERE, OK! SHE CALLED US, SAYING SHE WASN’T FEELING LIKE A POOL DAY TODAY. SO SHE DECIDED TO SAY HOME!! (deep inhale and exhale)

NEIL: (Eyes on Jill) Thank you, ladies. Enjoy your day.

(Neil makes for the men’s room.)

LIZ: You just can’t keep your mouth shut for 5 minutes, you weak-ass fuck.

JILL: I’m sorry, girls. But that guy just scares the shit out of me.

BLONDIE: Honey, that man scares the shit out of pretty much the whole town.

LIZ: God save that boy.

(In the men’s room, a bench has a beach towel, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a ball cap with aviator sunglasses and a Zippo lighter. Billy is finishing applying SPF 50 on his body on account of the Mind Flayer inhabiting him. He then wraps a beach towel, and puts on a white long-sleeved shirt, then puts on his flip-flops. He grabs the bottle of SPF 50, and puts it in his locker. Suddenly, Neil slams the locker door shut, Billy doesn’t even flinch.)

NEIL: We need to talk.

(Billy doesn’t even acknowledge him, he makes his way to the sinks to wash his hands.)

Hey! Don’t you fuckin’ walk away from me, son.

(Billy looks to the mirror whilst washing his hands, he sees his father glaring at him, continuing to berate his son.)

Your behavior of late has been unacceptable. First, you try to run me down, which is surprising coming from you, and your car isn’t in front of the house. You either abandoned it or fucked it up. And another thing, this “special date” of yours couple nights ago, I think I know she is. Do you think for one second, that I’m stupid. I’ve been by the pool a couple times, I see the way you look at that Wheeler whore, and the way she looks at you. So what, all the teenage pussy is not enough for you, so you graduate to mommy pussy, is that it?

(Neil closes in to Billy’s right ear. Neil’s voice starts to distort.)

Or maybe, just maybe, you like her simply because she reminds of a certain somebody you lost as a child. Somebody that was TOO CHICKENSHIT TO COME AND RESCUE YOUR FAGGOT ASS…

(Neil lays his left hand on his right shoulder. Billy’s eyes widen, then grabs his hand, torques his arm, grabs his head and slams his head on the edge of the sink, breaking the sink in the process. Billy looks solemnly down to Neil on the floor, disoriented, head bleeding. Neil tries to crawl away, not believing what’s happening. Billy then grabs Neil’s left arm and steps on his head, preparing to kill him.)

(groaning) Billy, don’t do this. I’m your father, for fuck’s sakes!

(Billy looks at his busted up father with this blank, emotionless face.)

BILLY!!!!

(Billy viciously pulls on the arm while his foot is on the head, breaking Neil’s neck. Snap to black.)

(Echoing) Billy?

(Snap back to reality. Billy continues to stare at the mirror, while Neil tries to speak to him.)

Billy, you gonna fuckin’ answer me or not?

(Billy turns away from his father to grab his cap with his frames and lighter, then proceeds to make for the exit to get to work AKA keep up appearances. But Neil isn’t having it, he follows him with haste.)

Son of a bitch. Billy Hargrove, you fuckin’ answer me RIGHT NOW, OR…

(Billy suddenly turns toward him.)

BILLY: (roars) OR WHAT!?!

(Neil stops in surprise. Billy walks towards him with wide, crazy eyes.)

(low voice) What are gonna do, Neil?

(Billy and Neil are now face to face, toe to toe.)

What… are you going…. to do? What?

HEATHER: Is there a problem, gentlemen?

(Neil looks around Billy, and sees Heather in the same get-up with two large cherry Slurpees. Billy’s eyes go normal but still on Neil.)

BILLY: Cool as ice, Heather. My dad here was just leaving. Right, Neil?

NEIL: (quiet scoff) You’re wasting my time, anyway.

(Neil shoulder checks Billy before leaving, letting him know that it’s not over, like Billy cares at this point. Neil gives a slight glare at Heather as he walks out the door. Heather walks up to Billy, handing him his Slurpee.)

HEATHER: Shall we add him to the collective?

BILLY: No, we have enough. The end will come for him.

(Billy takes a sip from his Slurpee. We get a closeup on his “flayed” eyes.)

The end will come for them all.

(Neil storms out of the bathroom, and makes his way to the pool’s exit. At the receptionists’ office, Susan is tending to the receptionists’ broken nose.)

NEIL: Susan, let’s go. NOW!!!

RECEPTIONIST: (groaning) For the record, your husband’s a dick.

SUSAN: I know, I’m so sorry.

(Neil and Susan get into the truck, then proceed to exit the parking lot aggressively.)

LIZ: They’re leaving.

JILL: Not what?

BLONDIE: We need to warn Karen about what’s about to go down, all because you couldn’t shut up.

JILL: I said I was sorry. Jesus.

LIZ: There’s a phone in the office. Everybody follow me, and walk fast.

(Outside the pool, the Party observe on what’s going on.)

LUCAS: What the hell’s the Mom Squad doin’?

MIKE: I don’t know. When it comes to Moms, you never know.

MAX: Guys, shut up. Target in sight.

(The Party see Billy exiting the bathroom and mounting his post. Meanwhile, Neil driving like a bat out of Hell for the Wheeler residence.)

SUSAN: So, what happened?

NEIL: You mean, “what didn’t happened”? Time to do what I should’ve done at the beginning. End the problem at the source.

SUSAN: You’re not thinking of heading to the Wheelers?

NEIL: Goddamn right.

(Susan is now way frightened on what’s going to happen.)

SUSAN: Look, Neil. I know you’re going to object to this, but… maybe I should “take point” this time.

NEIL: (takes another swig out of his flask) Out of the question.

SUSAN: Look, Neil. You have enough booze in your system, just let me handle this. Cuz if you go in there, you’ll go tearing the place apart just to get your answers, causing a massive commotion, at that point somebody’s gonna call the cops. 10 minutes, that’s all I need, 10 minutes.

NEIL: 5. 5 minutes. After that…

(turns to Susan)

I do it my way.

(Meanwhile at the Wheeler residence on Maple Street, Nancy Wheeler and her mom, Karen just finished their heart-to-heart, wiping away their tears. But somehow, Nancy wasn’t quite finished.)

NANCY: Mom, if I ask you something, would you tell me the truth?

KAREN: (walks to the sink) Of course, honey.

NANCY: I came home from the first day of work a few nights ago, and I found your ring in the bathroom.

(Karen becomes alert.)

Something you want to talk to me about? Just us girls.

KAREN: Well, maybe I took it off to wash my hands, and probably forgot to put it back on.

NANCY: Mom, for as long as I can remember, you NEVER took your ring off.

KAREN: (turns to Nancy) Nancy, I don’t know your implying here…

NANCY: Mom, you gave me that talk for a reason, even put in an “I” in there like your just been through something. Plus, you wear makeup to the pool, which is odd, unless you…

(Just then, it dawned on Nancy, and turned to her mom.)

Oh, Mom. Don’t tell me you’ve been hitting on that California douchebag, Billy.

KAREN: Of course not.

(Nancy leers at her mom like she isn’t being honest.)

It’s been actually both ways, if I’m being honest.

NANCY: Oh, my God.

KAREN: What can I say, Nancy? He’s beautiful.

NANCY: OH, MY GOD.

KAREN: Look, Nancy, try to understand. Ever since he walked to my door looking for his step-sister last year…

(deep sigh)

…he looked like, something out of a dream, or right out of a romance novel. I thought to myself, “THANK GOD”.

NANCY: Yeah. Mike once told me he damn near beat Steve half to death because of Max “last year”.

KAREN: Oh, boys will be boys. You should know that by now.

(Nancy scoffs)

Did you know that he asked me out on a date a couple days ago.

NANCY: SHUT… UP!

KAREN: I know, right? Just caught me by surprise, and to be honest, I actually wanted him to.

NANCY: Well, you didn’t agree to it, did you?

(Before Karen could answer, the patriarch of the Wheeler family, Ted, strolls on in with younger daughter, Holly.)

TED: Hi, honey. Holly and I had an interesting time at the mall, the food court has this…

(Ted notices Nancy is home early.)

Oh, Nancy. You’re home early. Did I miss anything?

KAREN: Girl talk.

NANCY: I just got fired.

TED: Oh… well, just got to live and learn, I suppose.

(Both ladies give Ted a livid look.)

Come on, Holly. Let’s see what’s on TV.

(Karen and Nancy turn their attention back to each other.)

KAREN: Now do you see what I have to put up with, every single day?

(Unbeknownst to the ladies, Ted is quietly eavesdropping, while Holly is mesmerized by MY LITTLE PONY on the TV.)

You have no idea what it’s like, being married to same, boring person for the past 20 years. To not feel appreciated, to be stuck in a continuous rut.

(As Karen continued her lament, Nancy was reminded of the event of her life that occurred 2 years ago when she lost her best friend, Barbara Holland, all because she wanted to prove that she could make it with Steve Harrington.)

When Billy asked me out, I thought to myself that this is my chance. This one chance to be the woman I wanted to be, if only for one night. I wanted to scream “Yes, Billy. Take me, I’m yours”. But, just when I was about to walk out my door that night, I noticed Ted asleep on the recliner with Holly. And it just hits me,…

(voice breaking) I just couldn’t do it. Not without breaking your father’s heart, or Holly’s, or Mike’s, or yours.

(Just then, the doorbell rings.)

TED: I’ll get it.

KAREN: (clears throat) Thanks.

NANCY: Mom, I get it. You’re unhappy with your marriage, but still it’s no excuse to throw it all away for Billy, of all people.

KAREN: You’re telling me you wouldn’t do the same thing?

NANCY: I already did. Once. Back when I was with Steve.

(Karen instantly knew what Nancy meant.)

KAREN: Barb?

(Nancy nods, trying to hold back the tears of that fateful night.)

NANCY: (sniffs, voice breaking) To this day, I keep thinking to myself. If I wasn’t trying to be something I’m knew I wasn’t, if I had just left that party with her, she’d still be here, you know. I miss her so much, even now.

KAREN: Still, would you ever get with Billy if you had the chance?

NANCY: If I didn’t have my morals and/or Jonathan…

(Karen is waiting in anticipation.)

…probably, yeah. If you had, Dad would be blown away from his recliner, not to mention Mike would have a cow. But, I’m glad you didn’t go through with that date. Besides, I hear his dad’s a complete and utter psychopath.

SUSAN: You’re not wrong there.

(Karen and Nancy turn to the hallway to find Ted along with Susan.)

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