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every-dayiwakeup · 1 year

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Alright so maybe this is an unpopular opinion but Billy knows who he is and Steve does not.

Steve isn't going to be emotionally open or anything like that. He doesn't communicate his wants because he doesn't know what he wants. He depends on others to tell him what he wants.

He is repressive whereas Billy cannot repress his emotions. He cries, he gets angry because he cries and Neil punishes/mocks him for that. It would be a little safer in the Hargrove house if Billy could repress shit like Steve does, but he's unable to. There are simply too many emotions that he's got no safe place or any free time to process them or anything that happened in the past because he is still being treated that way.

Billy may not be all too great at communicating but who the fuck does he have to talk to?

Steve won't be able to keep all his feelings bottled up inside forever. One day it'll all blow up.

I don't believe Billy has internalized homophobia, either. He's not trying to hide his advances on Steve. The only person he's really hiding from is Neil.

Hating yourself because others make you feel like shit can coexist with you knowing exactly who you are.

#billy hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove analysis #billy hargrove meta #steve harrington meta #just bc i think theyd be good together doesnt mean that theyre going to 'fix' each other #im really sick of seeing steve as the one whos painted as the patron saint who will 'fix' billy #acting like he doesnt have a whole bunch of shit going on #be fr

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memes-saved-me · 7 months

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Something something, they literally framed Billy as Steve's rebound

#i did a whole analysis post about this and still stand by that if Billy was a girl they'd be together #or at least would have been a thing #harringrove

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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vivika-ka · 2 years

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every time i look back on steve and billy’s fight, i can’t understand people who straight up will talk about it like billy was planning a murder. he was willing to get his sister back home and be done with it. that would’ve been the end of it. was he pissed? yeah, rightfully so. his little sister sneaks out and it’s doing god knows what in a new environment she and their family knows shit about. [i’m not even getting into the scene with neil because plenty of people have, and they are certainly more coherent than i am lol]

an 18-year-old lies to billy about where his little sister is and when confronted about the lie, responds with an insult (“were you dropped as a child” comment). steve offers no explanation as to why his sister is there, and has the audacity to expect that billy will just, what, leave his little sister with strangers? respond with “aw shucks, i guess you know better, harrington. you know my little sister already, even though she is a middle schooler and we’ve been in this town for a week…i suppose it’s normal for a person your age to be around 13-year-olds who aren’t related to you. i’ll just leave you to it.”

[i wonder if people who vilify billy in this moment have siblings. because if you think leaving a sibling behind in a clearly shady situation would’ve been reasonable and ok…i’m concerned for your siblings lmao i’m sorry but i am]

but anyway. the point of the post is: when it gets to the climax of the fight, he has the upper hand after being on equal footing (because hey, steve punched him first, remember? steve is not a saint in this situation, and many people [antis most of the time] talk about this fight as if steve wasn’t throwing punches).

i don’t know if anyone has ever been in a fight, i unfortunately have been in a handful, i have been where steve is, and let me tell you, this doesn’t look like someone who enjoys having the upper hand. dacre could’ve very well acted this part with billy’s ah ha ha ha laughter, maybe a hint of smug satisfaction, maybe continuous taunting.

but he didn’t for a reason. billy isn’t enjoying any of this. in this supposed triumphant moment for billy, anguish overcomes anger. this isn’t what he wanted. he didn’t go to the byers’ house looking for and planning a fight, he was looking for his god damn little sister.

i just…idk. dacre puts out this complex performance in a matter of seconds, accomplished the definition of “show don’t tell.” but i guess the audience needed to be told. (although, they love to ignore neil’s scenes. so at this point it’s just plain denial).

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove meta #billy hargrove analysis #harringrove #dacre montgomery #stranger things billy #st billy #look i know basically everyone that likes billy made these points #but i still feel like a lot of people interpret billy as someone who is constantly looking for fights #like headcanon what you want! i’ll never stop anyone from doing so because i read some good meta and fanfic in which he does look for it #but i think given what max says about him #the ‘he was always a dick but now he’s just angry’#implies he wasn’t resorting to violence before hawkins #that he was more of a little shit #lmao #but anyway #i think this moment is just pure self loathing #because he knows what it’s like to be in that position #he knows what it’s like to be powerless #from both the abuse his mom went through and his #so yeah

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ickypuppi3 · 2 months

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“mom steve” this “mom steve” that. the only time he should be mom steve is if he’s plowing billy hargrove

#Anyway #tags this as character analysis #harringrove #some cheers some boos perhaps what’s the audience like for this #ickyspeaks #ickys mom steve tag

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smithsibsceo · 1 year

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lets unpick this because wow

SCREENSHOT BELOW BTW ⬇️⬇️

“i havent watched the actual show in ages” great starting point for a b*lly stan. means you havent recently seen/gone over the other horrible and racist actions b*lly has committed throughout his run in the show. amazing.

just to refresh your memory, billy has:

attempted to run over four children with his little sister in the passenger seat

only reason he didnt run over said kids was because his little sister had to physically yank the steering wheel to stop the car from hitting them

described lucas to max as a type of person she should stay away from. not dustin, who was also hanging around max and talking to her, just lucas. i shouldnt even have to point out why.

abused max, if not physically then emotionally.

called multiple girls at his school ‘cows’

literally tried to hatecrime lucas (whilst dustin was right there next to him)

in runaway max, he broke max’s friends arm for hanging out with her, and then lied to the paramedics and parents and forced max and her friend to do the same

in runaway max it was also explicitly stated that b*lly and n*el didnt like people who werent white or men. do with that what you will.

and what was another one? oh yeah - he nearly killed steve.

because, lets be honest, thats what happened. he first pushes him to the ground to get inside the house, then tries to hatecrime lucas. steve begins the fight to defend lucas, during which billy delivers several blows to his head before smashing a plate against his head (with enough force that the plate actually shattered). he then proceeds to beat steve to the point of unconsciousness, and even after steve becomes unresponsive he continues to punch him over and over. by this point steve is bleeding all over, has cuts from the plate and multiple accounts of serious bruising. and this is just on his face.

b*lly would have actually killed steve if max hadnt stepped in. even after max had drugged him, steve stayed unconscious for at least 3 minutes. enough time for the kids to briefly argue about what to do with him, find a bandaid to put on his face, load him into the car and start driving away from the byers house.

“If someone is knocked unconscious for more than a minute and symptoms don’t fade within a few minutes, it is important to bring them to an emergency room to get checked for a more severe traumatic brain injury. Doctors will check to make sure there is no internal bleeding or bruising that can be dangerous.”

steve was unconscious for more than triple the amount of time mentioned in the article, and didnt go to the doctor. also keep in mind that this article references unconsciousness in general. steve was unconscious due to multiple blows to the head, so he almost definitely suffered a severe concussion that shouldve been checked out by a medical professional.

also, i think op’s forgetting (mustve been bc they havent watched the show in a long time 😔) that a big part of steve’s character is his martyrism - hes self sacrificing and always tends to others needs before his own. so the fact that steve, a character that canonically does this as well as suppress his own emotions, brushes off the kids concerns and goes to play the hero again isnt ooc. of course he’s still hurting. of course he’s still in pain. he just doesnt want the kids to see it, and he doesnt want them to get hurt.

#stranger things #stranger things analysis #stranger things steve #steve harrington #anti billy hargrove #anti billy stans #anti harringrove #fuck billy hargrove #stranger things max #max mayfield #the party stranger things #the party #stranger things lucas #lucas sinclair #lucas sinclair supremacy #max mayfield stan #steve harrington stan

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hellcheercaine · 9 months

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Yup seems like that’s his ‘love language’ since Billy is the only one who calls Steve by his last name throughout the season. The only time when he called him Steve is when he is angry (as seen in the fight).

(Cases in point: “Don’t sweat it, Harrington” and “Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?”)

#stranger things #billy hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove #harringrove texts #character analysis

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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queer-coded-camaro-driver · 2 years

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Karen Wheeler was hitting on an 18 year old character, but Dacre was 22 at the time of filming. He had an adult physique.

Wanna know what a real 18 year old looks like? Wanna know how young Billy really was?

This is my brother. He is 18 years old. He is an accurate example of the type of boy Karen Wheeler, a fully grown adult woman in her 40's, regularly flirted with and hit on at the PUBLIC pool (cause it was very clearly a pattern of continuous behavior judging by how comfortable he felt being so close to her in the open in S3E1).

He's goofy, he's athletic, and every time we talk on the phone or in person he wants advice about girls or dating or sex. Because he's 18, and that's what it's like going through the final stages of physical development.

So yeah. I don't wanna hear shit from the antis about how "grown up" Billy was or how he "seduced" Karen away from her family.

That woman had a fully formed prefrontal cortex. That woman had 3 kids and a husband. That woman groomed a teenage boy from her daughter's graduating class into a viable sex partner because she was bored and unsatisfied with Ted.

Billy is not the perpetrator of some great homewrecking plot. He's a lonely, horny, emotionally vulnerable teenager who's desperate for some kind - probably any kind - of positive attention.

Fuck the Duffer Brothers for writing that scene and fuck groomers in general. Thanks and goodbye.

#billy hargrove #stranger things #karen wheeler #duffer brothers #suffer bros #duffer bros anti #Wheeler anti #karen wheeler sucks club #billyposting #netflix stranger things #stranger things metatext #stranger things discourse #stranger things analysis #harringrove #mungrove #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler

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meowmeowbilly · 1 year

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I was just wondering if you know who is older Steve or Billy because most wiki pages say Billy is a month older but is there something official with ages

TLDR; Steve is older, at least by a few months. If you want my reasoning, read the below post!

Steve mentions at the beginning of season 2 that he could stick around for Nancy's senior year, implying that she's a junior and he's graduating in the spring. (He's already writing letters/papers to colleges, I was recommended to start doing this at the beginning of my senior year.)

Billy's canon date of birth is March 29, 1967. This would make him 18 in March of 1985. Where I lived growing up, people generally graduate in May and unless they've been held back or sent forward, they graduate around 18. Steve presumably graduated in spring of 1985; Season 3 is set in the summer of 1985 and Steve's talking about not getting into college. It's unknown as to whether Billy graduated, but Jonathan and Nancy haven't, as they discuss going back to school in the fall after their summer jobs at the newspaper. Fall of 1985 would be the start of the senior year for Jonathan and Nancy. The wiki lists both Jonathan and Nancy as being born in 1967, the same year as Billy.

NOTE: In some school districts in my hometown, if you were born after September, you start school late, so you generally turn 18 at the beginning of your senior semester (the fall semester) and graduate in May. You turn 19 in the months after graduation. Most people I knew who were born in the spring or summer started their senior year (fall semester) after their 17th birthday and turn 18 shortly before or after graduation.

In October of 1984 (Season 2), Billy is 17. Pretty much everything I've seen (wiki, random websites, nothing canon from the duffers as far as I've seen) states that Steve was born in 1966 or 1965, this would make him 18 or 19 in Season 2 of Stranger Things (more likely 18), meaning that he's older than Billy. As stated in the note above, this tracks. He's likely a fall or winter birthday and would therefore turn 18 during or before his first senior semester, although he could have been held back.

Nancy is listed as being 17 in Season 2, and as Steve is a senior in Season 2, she's a junior. Billy is likely a grade below Steve and is likely also a junior in Season 2, although, it's possible he is a senior, like Steve, as his birthday is in the spring. (see the note above)

Additionally, there is subtext that Steve and Eddie knew of each other and were likely in the same grade or one grade apart. Eddie's friends state that he was meant to graduate in 1984. This means Eddie was either 17 or 18 in the fall of 1983 and starting his senior semester, meaning that his birth year is spring of 1966 or winter of 1965. As Steve is starting his senior semester in the fall of 1984, he would've been finishing his junior semester in the spring of 1984. So, he was either held back or was born in winter of 1966, making him 17 in the spring of 1984.

We know he was starting his junior semester in Season 1 (as Nancy's a sophomore and he didn't graduate in the spring of 1984), but he can drive by himself, meaning he likely has a driver's license. You have to be 16 + 90 days in Indiana (as of 2022, it might have been different in 1983) to have your driver's license. Therefore, in November 1983, he's got to be a minimum of 16 years old. This means he was either born in the spring of 1967 and skipped a grade (I love Steve, but in the "canon" view of him, that's unlikely), or he was born in winter of 1966.

However, Jonathan can also drive independently in November of 1983, meaning he's likely 16. We know he's the same grade as Nancy (sophomore), as they talk about having to go back to school in Season 3. According to the wiki, Jonathan was born in 1967, as was Nancy. This makes it likely that Steve was born in 1966 and is 17 in Season 1. Billy was born in 1967, Steve was likely born in the fall/winter of 1966, making Steve at least a few months older.

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have questions.

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beansthebylershipper · 1 year

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Stranger things teens ship analysis

disclaimer: I can’t write about all the stranger things ships in one post, so I have another post about stranger things kids ships (Byler, Lumax, etc.), and am also planning to make one about the adults.

Jancy: Jancy was really cute up until season 4. Then their relationship became kinda toxic. But in all the other seasons I definitely shipped them, and I’m pretty confident that they are an endgame ship. Rating: 6.5/10

Stancy: I’ve never shipped Stancy, and I don’t think that the duffers want us to either. They were clearly just used as a prop to get Jancy going, and they were quite a toxic relationship. Steve and Nancy are better off with other people, and I hope that Steve will realize that like Nancy did. Rating: 0/10

Ronance: The idea of Ronance is cute and I ship it about as much as I ship Jancy, but I don’t see it becoming canon because Robin and Vickie both canonically like eachother, but who knows, I wouldn’t mind much if I were wrong 🤷. Rating: 6/10

Jargyle: Jargyle is awesome, and I love it. I ship it about as much romantically as I do platonically, and you guys are really out here doing gods work with the fanwork. I don’t see it becoming canon because it’s pretty clear that they are just besties, but I’d love it if it was. Rating: 7/10

Stonathan: to be honest I don’t see the chemistry at all with this one, but the idea of the ship is cute. And I mean, Steve was pretty chill with the fact that Jonathan literally slept with his girlfriend in season 2. Rating:4/10

Steddie: I liked Steddie at first, but Steddie fans have kinda ruined it for me. A lot of them are either Eddie stans/simps, or fujoshis, both of which are a red flag. The ship it’s self is really cute, but ��some of the fans are problematic and we all know that if one of them wasn’t white there wouldn’t be nearly as many fans, I mean look at them compared to jargyle, both are healthy ships, but only one has a large amount of creepy fans, and yet that one has WAY more shippers. I think that that’s a little suspicious. (Also I’m aware that there are plenty of normal Steddie shippers out there, I just think that there are more problematic ones than there should be.) Rating: 4/10

Stobin: NO. NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. ROBIN IS A LESBIAN. IF YOU SHIP STOBIN ROMANTICALLY, GET OFF MY ACCOUNT. Rating: -100000/10

Rockie: (is that the ship name for Robin and Vickie?) I don’t have that much of an opinion on this ship, but it’s pretty cute I guess. My only problem with it is that I wish that they had given Vickie more screen time or introduced her earlier in the series because it’s hard to me to care about a ship when I hardly know anything about one of the characters. I feel like that was kinda bad writing on the duffers part, but that’s my only problem with it, other than that it’s fine. Rating: 6/10

Buckingham: The fanwork for this ship is everything, but they literally have zero moments together. I get why people ship it though because the dynamic would be cute. Rating: 5/10

Chrissy x Jason: (what is the ship name for this????) Jason really cared about Chrissy, but they barely got any time together on the show, plus Chrissy was giving me lesbian vibes so- Rating: 3/10

Harringrove: Billy was definitely a simp for Steve, but Billy was rasist, abusive, and just a terrible person in general and Steve deserves a lot better. Rating: -100/10

Barb x Nancy: where is the hype for this ship?? It’s so cute! Barb wasn’t alive for very long so I don’t have that much to say on the ship, but i definitely shipped them while she was alive. Rating 7.5/10

Hellcheer : I didn’t see any chemistry for this tbh. They interacted once, when Chrissy tried to buy drugs from Eddie and then got vecnaed. I just dont see where people are getting a romantic relationship from, I guess. Rating 3/10

Part one ⬇️

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robthegoodfellow · 2 years

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So a part of me is kinda conflicted about having decided to include the HIV/AIDS crisis so heavily in this fic. Anyone willing to be a sounding board would be verryyyy much appreciated.

At first, it seemed obvious to reference, since I headcanon Billy as being from San Diego (Point Loma Heights, if you wanna get real specific), where the gay community was already seeing alarming numbers by the very early 80s, so it felt weird to have a character grappling with his sexuality and not also have him grappling with this mysterious terrifying illness so publicly billed as “gay cancer.” But now...

...but now I’m arriving at this point where on the one hand, he has to confront that there’s this very real threat to his health, his life, and it’s poorly understood, and there’s no way to know for sure whether you even have it until it’s already killing you (the first test was approved in March of ‘85, and it was primarily used to check the blood supply, apparently... it seems more widespread testing wasn’t even available until ‘87. which is just... horrifying)--and on the other hand, there’s this, like, sci-fi eldritch monster that’s also already invisibly preying on him... this thing that’s poorly understood, with no easy way to tell whether it has you until it’s too late, no known cure... And both just lie in wait and slowly weaken your defenses, infecting others all the while, until you die.

And so I’m just wondering--is this in poor taste, to draw out the metaphor? To be clear, the Billy in my fic is negative, but he doesn’t know that, and the not knowing is haunting him quite a bit.

Has the parallel between HIV/AIDS and the depiction of the mind-flayer/Vecna ever been discussed before? Because it seems like a pretty devastating parallel. And I genuinely did not notice it until I was elbows deep in this fic.

...Urgh, and then there’s also the fact that Vecna couches his targeting of victims as punishment, as something they deserve for supposed moral wrong-doing, which is... also how the epidemic was presented for so long...

This is hurting my head and my heart.

#hiv/aids tw #billy hargrove #harringrove #character analysis #sorry #this is heavy #i miss writing fluff #but also this seems #potentially important to explore #i don't know #gahh im afraid to post this

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lov3rs-go · 2 years

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i wrote a harringrove fic where billy and steve r together but tommy findes out so billy outes steve in half assed attempt to remain closeted so his dad doesn't find out and go apeshit. but also theirs fields and purple flowers and talks abt running away to Cali

#not sure if i should post it #since its rlly just a character analysis #and a love letter to intimate car rides #harringrove #stranger things #marvs word vomit

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every-dayiwakeup · 2 years

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Arsonist's Lullabye

When I was a child, I heard voices

If there was a time when his parents weren't engaging in shouting matches, Billy didn't remember. A sliver of him wondered if it would lessen if one of them left. After his mom ran away, he tried not to wonder anything ever again.

Some would sing and some would scream

For every time he overheard them arguing, his mother would sing to him, her soft voice lulling him into a deep sleep. He would wake up in the closet to the sounds of his song bird screaming. He wanted to help her, he was a big boy, almost 7! But Ma made him pinky swear not to come out until it was quiet. Sometimes she had to lock the door, promising to always come back and let him out.

You soon find you have few choices

Billy didn't want to move to fucking Indiana. He didn't want to leave California. What if his mom came looking for him and he wasn't there? He didn't want a new mom, or a sister. He had a mother. He fought the move. He fought the anger running hot in his veins. As long as he kept it from burning his mother's memory like Neil had done with everything she ever owned... everything she ever touched, he was sane. Still, the cage around him shrunk in everyday, closing in on him. So he pushed back.

I learned the voices died with me

Fighting Neil was easier when someone was there to switch on a light and free him. His world grew smaller, and so did his will. The bitter pill Neil tried to force down his throat, that Ma running off was somehow his fault, that he wasn't worth fighting for, he couldn't just tuck into his cheek anymore. Sooner or later he would have to swallow it. But dying, Billy figured out, even in spirit, would kill what was left of Ma. Her memory was alive in him. The thought of something good existing within him was enough to feed his acts of defiance, however little they were.

When I was a child, I'd sit for hours. Staring into open flame.

Rage was a monster Billy learned about quite early on. According to Ma, this monster was invisible, so you couldn't ward it out from under your bed. It changed people, she told him. Billy wasn't stupid or blind; Rage had snuck into his father, and kept a permanent residence, slowly taking over him. Ma shielded him from Rage, and she wouldn't tell him how to fight such a beast. Billy picked up his own shield when he punched another kid for calling his mother a whore. He did exactly what Neil did to his mother, so why did his father send him to his room with a red cheek and no dinner?

Rage wasn't a shield, his mother had said, but a weapon. For Billy, it was both. It scared him, for he had watched his father lose to his own demons. Surrounded by people who were set on self destruction, another fear Billy shared, he couldn't help be intrigued. As he watched the flames grow, swallowing Neil up, and oh how quickly the fire spread.

By the time the monster came for him, Billy had been burned before. Pain, proof of life, drew him closer to the embers.

Something in it had a power. Could barely tear my eyes away.

Neil Hargrove was not a big man. Yet Billy had seen him dominate others, and he was understandably curious. What power did Neil hold over them? Billy would learn the hard way, and he would need to wield some of that to survive. Understanding the demons behind Neil's dilated pupils, a coal blue, was the key to survival. It was a dog eat dog world, and if you didn't go for the throat first, you would die.

Another key to surviving the cage? Plant your goddamn feet. Once you're on your back, you're instant prey.

The solution outright was simple enough; if you weren't the hunter, you were the hunted.

All you have is your fire. And the place you need to reach.

Being a Hargrove was lonely. In his haste to stay on top, never let his knees give out, Billy had chased away any potential friends. Maybe there was truth in Neil's words. Maybe he chased Ma away. Maybe if he had stayed inside the closet like a good little boy, she would still be here.

Max, someone Billy hoped he had some kinship with, turned her back on him and somehow made friends. She took the fire, made it her god. Billy became the fire; unpredictable, irritable, the epitome of the Hargrove demons. So much for a united front.

No matter what Billy did, he ended up hurting people. He wasn't sure what he did wrong, necessarily, only that others treated him that way. Surely there was nothing wrong with that, right? Maybe he did deserve it. And if he deserved it... it wasn't wrong.

There was a long climb to the top, and Billy wasn't sure he liked the idea of surviving in this world anymore. He burned anyone who got to close, because it kept him the safest he could possibly be.

He came to the conclusion on his eighteenth birthday that the top wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth fighting for. And the dreams his mind once catered to drifted further from his reach.

He was a boy who played with fire, his only friend. He was reckless with that old lighter, drawn yet again like a moth to a flame. Secretly, he craved the stars, and of course they too were eons away.

He hated being angry, really. He wasn't always like this, he wanted to tell Max. He used to be soft. He used to be safe without having to look over his shoulder. Someone had to do it.

Why did it always have to be him?

Don't you ever tame your demons. But always keep them on a leash.

Sometimes he liked being angry. He had his demons under control for the most part, otherwise his several masks would never hold. When submitting completely, there was a risk of vulnerability, and an even higher risk of being taken advantage of. Too many emotions exposed the ugly parts, and he couldn't control the stupid tears leaking from his eyes.

Just being angry was the safest option... as long as he kept a muzzle on Rage. Keep the flames going, but don't set the whole forest on fire. Better to keep the lighter close to you.

When I was 16, my senses fooled me. Thought gasoline was on my clothes.

Becoming a piss-poor mini Neil was never Billy's desired choice. He would rather not have a lock outside his bedroom door, or flinch every time someone raised their hand.

The impulses that came hand in hand with his anger branched out to wanting to not feel anything at all. Alcohol helped considerably, and it was the only time Billy could really picture his mother. Her caress of his cheek, her lullabye... but even in his hallucinations, she disappeared. Still, his mind was always going fucking haywire, worrying about what people thought of him, if people saw right through him (then Neil could, too).

Neil was the kerosene and the match, and Billy was his favorite match box, struck mercilessly until there was a spark. Nothing was truly his, not even his emotions.

Therefore, the only time he felt happy was when he was numb, usually under the influence of the cheap beer Neil had in the fridge but never touched. Billy almost wished he took a few. Blaming the drink instead of admitting his own father, his only flesh and blood relative left, hated him with no merits. He would never be the ideal son, and he knew that.

No amount of alcohol would make the hallucinations real, or fool Billy into believing his father loved him. But it did soften the harsh blows of Neil and reality, two forces that came hand in hand, and that would have to suffice.

I knew that something would always rule me. I knew the scent was mine alone.

His tongue was sulfur, his words cutthroat. He could never produce either when face to face with Neil. The bastard somehow had a way of cutting him down to size in ways Billy would perhaps have admired if he hadn't been on the receiving end of it.

What was it like to have total control over someone? What was it like to have total control over yourself?

He couldn't shake off the nasty words or the iron club he was ruled by. If someone didn't want to hurt him, they wanted to use him. At least then, he was seen. Sure, people only saw what he wanted them to see, but it was nice to be able to regain some sort of control over his life.

The shadows followed him wherever he went, reminding him that nothing good was real, and that they were trying to protect him. Billy didn't want sympathy from the darkness. He wanted love from the light. You took what you were given, though. There was no shaking of the stench of failure and disappointment. Damaged. Dangerous.

When I was a man, I thought it ended. When I knew love's perfect ache. But my peace has always depended. On all the ashes in my wake.

Eighteen was supposed to be his ticket to freedom. He subconsciously assumed freedom equaled immediate happiness. Ridding himself of Neil, Karen, Susan, even Max... that was supposed to be good for him. He leaves Hawkins in the dust, and drives to California.

But more ghosts greet him there, haunting his waking and sleeping hours. A good ghost does appear, in the form of Steve Harrington, and he smells like cinnamon and second chances.

Steve will want to escape his mood swings and nightmares, his horrible communication skills and his damned triggers. Billy knows this to be true. Why wouldn't Steve be any different? Every person passing by who bothers to stay leaves more ashes in their wake. It's only a matter of time before Steve wakes up and realizes that himself.

For the sake of his own fragile heart, Billy hopes it will be quick and painless.

*****

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#billy hargrove #billy hargrove x steve harrington #red writes #my fic #my writing #harringrove #song analysis #angst on top of angst #tw abuse #tw neil hargrove

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memes-saved-me · 1 year

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Was Billy (accidentally) written as Steve's next love interest - a Meta

This is far from thought out and more thoughts thrown into a post. This is for fun and an over analysis by someone who did 4 years of media studies and has a major bias so don't take it personally

From the moment of Billy's introduction in season 2 he is put in the background of Steve and Nancy's relationship, even from his very first scene where in which he literally pulls Steve's attention from Nancy just after they have a moment in the car. A moment that takes on a completely different tone once you know Nancy is in fact in love with Jonathan not Steve.

It makes sense for Steve to react to Billy's entrance. Half of Billy's plot is Steve but what is more interesting and doesn't really make sense is that the camera then changes focus to Nancy and stays on her even in the next shot with Steve as an after thought in the background. Her reaction isn't the same either. Steve is somewhat curious but Nancy seems more concerned about whoever the car belongs to. Nancy and Billy never have a single conversation. Ever. So why have her reaction to him be so important to his first ever scene?

This could be read as an indication of a threat to their relationship being shown not told just yet. If Billy was a female character who stepped out of the car in the exact same manner it would be fully done to show her (Billy) as a threat to Nancy's relationship with Steve but since Billy is male it is not. Even then I find showing Nancy a very strange choice.

However, it does lead us into the next example of how strange this entire set up is. When Billy finally approaches Steve at the party, Nancy walks away looking hurt? Which does not add up in the slightest. She should be annoyed but instead she walks away to start drinking. Again if Billy was a girl this would be read as her (Billy) trying to not only intimidate Steve but also Nancy. Which this scene implies but makes no sense because Billy doesn't even look at her.

Nancy then starts to drink heavily to mock and get back at Steve for wanting to come to the party in the first place. Something a jealous upset girlfriend would do in any teen movie if another girl had approached her boyfriend, not if a random teenage boy had. This then leads to their big fight when she pretty much dumps him in the bathroom and Steve storms off upset, mirroring this scene from earlier in the episode. Which only reinforces the Nancy being upset not angry aspect.

Billy's entrance to the show leads to their break up. The domino effect of events makes it so. Would Nancy have started drinking if Billy hadn't approached Steve? Maybe, but we don't know anything except what we are shown by the narrative and the narrative has shown us that Billy is the reason she does. A very strange set up considering this is the last interaction they have until season 3 when she tries to shoot him...

The next day we are shown the iconic homoerotic basketball scene and towards the end we see Nancy walk into the room but Steve doesn't notice as he's too distracted by Billy who is at this point is literally waging his tongue at him. They position Steve in-between the two of them just like at the Halloween party as if he needs to make a choice.

Nancy has to call out for him to see her and he then follows her outside to talk. Said talk does not go so well for her and this time it is Steve who dumps her because she doesn't remember what happened the night before. As I mentioned Steve has a choice to make and unlike at Tina's party when he leaves Billy to run after Nancy, he leaves Nancy to go back inside for Billy after being called for by a member of his team. As if he has narratively made his choice as he doesn't chase after Nancy at all for the rest of the season and accepts their relationship is over.

If you take all of this into a count and then imagine Billy as a female character it would be insane to not picture them in a future relationship from a narrative point of view. The common literature tropes and framing of the set up is so clear that if Billy was a girl her and Steve would have been making out half way through the season or even after gym class (I know they are split by gender humour me). With the added somehow unintentional homoerotism of Billy and Steve's dynamic it only adds to the fact that some of the choices made for their relationship/rivalry build up is so strange.

Please add anything I've missed or forgotten because this drives me insane from a writing and media analysis point of view.

#harringrove #meta #analysis

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crowdemon-boyo · 1 year

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pov my brother is stuck in this rollercoaster queue with me and can’t escape if i start talking about fandom shit

#i’m telling him about the harringrove-ification of steddie which is less of an actual thing and more of my analysis on the fandom #but STILL

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hg-deranged-edition · 5 months

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Having a lot of Harringrove thoughts over them being each others foils…

Now don’t get me wrong, I adore Harringrove fics where they’re polar opposites and challenge each others comfort zones and preconceived notions. But fics/headcanons where they’re seemingly opposite on the surface but actually incredibly similar people on the inside? THATS MY BREAD AND BUTTER BABE!!! (Bear in mind this post will have a lot of personal headcanons/analysis)

Just. For starters, as an icebreaker, I adore it when they both have abandonment issues. I love how a core trait of theirs makes them react in opposite ways, with Steve desperately clinging onto a person and showering them in love and Billy pushing them away and hurting them. I love how their love languages are the same, with Billy having an unhealthy relationship perceiving protection as love (eg. trying to protect his mom, and Max and Susan to some extent) and Steve doing all the crazy stunts he does to protect the kids.

I love love love how both Steve and Billy care deeply about their appearances and primp themselves up in different ways. They both have an obsession with performing masculinity the right way and pleasing a crowd of people, again in different ways but similar results. Their houses are not homes but they come from different economic backgrounds. They’re both constantly relegated to being the babysitter and they both hate it. Hell their features are polar opposites but everyone focuses on the same things for them (you’ll find a ton of shit talking about their pretty eyes and pretty lips.) They have horrible habits as crutches. They’re obsessed with whether or not they’re lovable. They both have a sapphic bff. If you want to make it weird and fucked up, theres a chance Karen was weird as hell about Steve, too.

This post is just rambling and it doesn’t capture most of my thoughts. This is because I’m trying to open up a discussion please please please please reply to this with your own thoughts and TALJ TO ME!!!

I live in a fantasy world whwre Stranger Things is good

#billy hargrove #harringrove #steve harrington #stranger things #billy x steve #rambles

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hellcheercaine · 11 months

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Tbh this one is one of my fav scenes because for once, Billy and Steve aren’t fighting.

Billy has a fixation on Steve—because he’s everything Billy wants to be: confident, nice, loved, likeable, “King Steve” etc.

#harringrove #stranger things #billy hargrove #steve harrington #billy x steve #character analysis

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