As A Billy Fan, I Agree With Your Stance. I Can Understand Where The Distain For Susan Comes From Though.

it’s not that Steve is “the big brother that Max deserves”. it’s that Steve had the opportunity to be there for Max in ways that Billy could not be because he was either unaware of the dangers lurking in Hawkins, was under the control of an inter-dimensional being he had no way of understanding, or was…dead.

Steve stepped up to the plate because he had the knowledge and means to do so. Max relied on him because she knew that he understood her and that she could trust him.

there is no point in Max and Steve’s friendship where either of them seems to be trying to replace or fill in for Billy. rather, Steve is present for Max in her grief. you think he didn’t know exactly what she was doing when she told him to pull into the cemetery? who else would she be visiting? he knows that this girl has been through absolute hell, and as much as he complains about babysitting, you know he would (and has!) put his life on the line for any of those kids. in that moment, he would have done anything for Max. he knows he can’t fill Billy’s shoes. he know he can’t give Max what she really wants. he can’t bring her brother back. but he can do his damnedest to protect her, to shield her from any more hurt. he is there for Max because he can be, because he loves her. he will play big brother for as long as she needs him to, because her big brother can’t physically be there for her anymore. but he can’t replace Billy, and Max clearly doesn’t want him to. she wants her brother. Steve is simply there to support her as she mourns and adjusts to a world without Billy.

Au where Severus accidentally walks in on his mother and Fleamont Potter in bed.

Legend of Korra

Any one else still bitter that we did not get a scene where Zuko, Katara, and Toph met up in the Legend of Korea and just TALKED TO EACH OTHER? Cause I am....

And a 🖕to the idiots spouting bullshit about all Billy fans hating Argyle when I’m standing right here.

Only good thing to come out of Vol 2 was my beautiful man Argyle making it out of this shitshow alive and unharmed.

A rant (kinda?)

Billy's story was told based on his importance to the overall plot of Stranger Things rather than the importance of the issues the story brought up and I'm still kinda pissed about that. Obviously, each character can only get so much time. But if you know from the start that you're only going to give a certain character a small amount of screen time, you shouldn't add elements as huge and complicated as parental abuse/abandonment. Or, if you do, you should also consider devoting a very large portion of that character's on-screen time to those things or giving the character more time.

Because I'm just really sick and tired of posts where Billy is erased or censored or called irredeemably evil. It's really not fair to fans of his with abuse in their pasts who related to him. It's not right that what people seem to have taken from his storyline is that there is a right and wrong way to be a teenage victim of child abuse, and that if your anger at your home situation causes you to lash out (generally in ways that you would need a fairly high level of emotional maturity not to), you're not worth anyone's time.

And it sucks that parallels were drawn and then dropped in ways that encouraged the fandom to compare Billy to other characters in different (currently non-abusive) situations and with different levels of support, and find him lacking. Because it inevitably places a lot of really unfair blame on a victim (why didn't he just make friends like Eleven did that could have helped him? Why didn't he reject his father's violence like Jonathan (apparently single-handedly) did? Why wasn't he able to still be gentle like Will?). Especially because the situations of all of those characters are drastically different than Billy's was.

Billy wasn't his abuse, but the abuse was an inescapable part of him. Much like a plant choked by weeds isn't defined by the weeds but is massively affected by them. And you can't expect a plant still covered by weeds to be anything like a formerly choked plant that has been moved to empty soil and given water and a clear path to the sun's light. You can't expect it to be anything like a plant that's been properly cared for all its life. If the choked plant happens to have enormous reserves of strength and resilience and manages to bloom as brightly as the other plants despite the weeds, that's wonderful, but it's never something that should be expected without help. Ever. And I wish Stranger Things had been clearer on that.

“Is defending Billy Hargrove really the hill you want to die on?”

Well yeah I’ve already planted my feet so like

His hair is longer than mine, and he and Jonathan like to smoke smelly plants together. Jonathan says the plants are super safe because they come from the earth, but to NOT tell Joyce.

The Silenced Victims Meta

Similar to both Severus Snape and Ben Solo, Billy got the same narrative treatment of an abuse victim who didn’t “cope properly” being punished by no one giving a shit except that one “special person” bullshit and I hate it.

Because what a backhanded ass concept. 

Harry for Severus: Harry is literally the only person alive who knows or cares about everything Severus did in the background for years to stop Voldemort. The only one who gave a shit about his own father’s bullying of Severus and showed to be disgusted with it.

Rey for Ben Solo: Again, the only person left alive who knows about Ben’s abuse by Snoke and him sacrificing his life for her. Hell, it’s not even known if Ray told anyone about it. She’s the only one who mourned his death (thanks novels) and saw him as a human and not a monster.

Max for Billy: Once again, only person that gives a shit that he’s dead (yeah know besides his abuser) only person that seems to care about his sacrifice. Oh, and let’s not forget the kick in the face line of “Your braver than you’re brother.” You know your brother who tried to fight off an interdimensional mind controlling monster for weeks alone. The one who sacrificed his life to stop it from, who knows taking over the world. But who cares about that, the writers clearly don’t.

So, have you guys noticed a fucked up pattern here?

Abuse victim who did not cope properly must sacrifice their life for some great or good, and even than what they did will never fully be recognized.

Even in death the narrative is still actively punishing them, by either lack of acknowledgement or their sacrifice being reduced. Similar to the very abuse they faced.

Notice something else these three all have in common? No support system. No one to turn to, no one to acknowledge their abuse, no one to help them. And yet this itself isn’t even acknowledged or even brought to attention in the story.

Now in the end am I saying all these writers planned this narrative? No

But am I pointing out how strangely common this formula is? Yes

Because it gives a message. Those who react badly to their abuse via anger or bad coping mechanisms deserve the bare minimum in storytelling.

They don’t get redemption arcs. You don’t get to see them heal, see them progress. Because they’re sacrifice was all they were in the end and even that won’t be acknowledged. Even in death they’re silenced once again.

How The Duffel Bags left Billy Post-Starcourt:

How fans fix it:

And I think that’s beautiful

have these random gifs