𝐗𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒

thought dump, art & edits.

[xaerais]

gun doesn’t know how to write lore or decent backgrounds for their characters. stop making the character the problem when it’s clearly the writers.

leland would never cheat on ana, or even think about doing that to her, especially when he agreed to travel across the state and help her find her sister AND is fully willing to protect her and the rest of the group. julie would never backstab ana. sonny is NOT collateral damage, he deserves way more than that, and connie is definitely no conservative/karen-esque type of character (she’s too peace & love coded for that crap).

i know a lot of people are mad about julie being the “final girl,” but let me remind ya’ll that there is NO final anybody. they all canonically die.

even if there was a final girl, we all know it’d be danny. i mean, his death was never mentioned, so it’s safe to assume, right?

point being, game devs can be GREAT at making a fun game based off of something, but TERRIBLE at writing or creating lore for their own original characters involved. if ya’ll wanna ship juland, so be it. it doesn’t have to be inspired or created from leland cheating on ana or julie backstabbing ana to be with him. it could be something entirely different, like, i dunno, using our imaginations and creating a scenario in which they were together in the first place. for those that prefer ana & leland because it’s canon and cute, go for it! i’m right there with you. i like it too.

or if we really wanna jump the gun here (pun intended), ship them with the killers atp. no one cares! or at least no one should because again, the devs suck at writing for their characters so sometimes the fandom has to be the one to do it for them.

fnaf managed to do it.

[cherrisets-deactivated20231204]

new outfits have party vibes 2 me

[lambf4rm]

tcm game x horror movie posters

Happy Halloween!! 🎃

[lifesver]

ok prettyboy

[anaflcres]

HELP THE MODS (devs) REMOVED MY POST CALLING OUT THEIR LORE ON REDDIT I CANT

[anaflcres]

sonny is not collateral damage. sonny is the glue of the group that constantly makes plans for everyone to hang out. he’s the one everyone turns to for their problems and advice. sonny is the friend everyone knows the can rely on. sonny is the LEAST judgmental in his friend group, always giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. sonny is the friend who would let you cheat off his paper but teach it to you later. sonny is always aware of his surroundings because of the prejudice him & his family tend to endure. sonny williams is just as brave, capable, & strong as leland and the devs need to learn to put respect on his name.

[xslickmistx]

I’ve decided to ignore all of gun’s lore I cannot do this anymore wdym Julie is the only one who lives?? They literally called Ana the final girl in her outfit post plus she makes the most sense. Feel like someone at gun just really favors Julie for some reason and hates Ana cuz?? First it was the whole Leland liking Julie instead of Ana and I gave that the benefit of the doubt cuz maybe it was just us who were confused but now it’s just Julie survives? There’s a lack of explanation for it too so genuinely just think it’s favoritism.

Ps I love Jules as much as the next person but it’s just kind of annoying seeing this. Hopefully next lore drop or any kind of drop favors other characters.

[xaerais]

it’s very unfinished lore for sure. not to mention in that interview, NOTHING was mentioned about danny either. does he live, does he die? this was very clearly said on a whim, and suddenly everyone is flying off the handles about it expecting it to be true.

i don’t even think it’s fair to call this canon, especially when not all of the characters were included.

on top of that, the devs don’t know how to properly write their characters or give them decent backgrounds (obviously).

especially when we’re, for example, talking about julie, leland and ana and the whole unwanted love triangle they dropped on us. we get it, julie’s attractive. but the focus of the story should not be about the tension building between the three of them, or the beef the devs are trying to create between ana and julie players (which they have).

this leads me to my second point. a lot of ana players (or just people who don’t play julie in general) getting upset about julie being the “final girl.”

need i remind you that NONE of them escape canonically?

even if julie is apparently the last one to survive, that doesn’t make her the final girl because that would imply she also escaped. and she didn’t. she dragged herself down the road until she died (at least that’s what we can infer).

while i agree the devs are 100% meatriding julie a lot, seemingly giving her everything, can we please STOP making her the villain because of this? based off her player card, i doubt she’d ever reciprocate leland’s feelings. especially if she knew he and ana were still together. in fact, i think she’d call him out on it because i know she’d want her friends to do the same for her. on top of that, like the rest of them, she chose to help ana find her sister. not to go and screw around with her boyfriend while the rest of the group have concerns about a missing person [maria].

i agree that they should drop more lore, better lore, to suit the characters and the situation they’re in. but creating drama between real people over pixels is not it lmao

p.s. because of the lack of bringing up what happens to danny, we can all just happily sit here and assume he’s the final girl instead. there, i just single-handedly ended the beef lol

[fanatics4l]

i honestly don't think we realize how fucked up it was of max to DRUG her brother with something she wasn't even sure would do to him- and not to mention, she literally stabs him in the neck with it. i get he was going crazy on steve but there were probably sane ways to get him to back off instead of sedating him like he's some sort of wild animal with rabies. and the whole "say you understand" scene was so unnecessary. she already knocked him out like a dog and then she goes onto talking to him like one? clearly she picked it up from billy's dad. hate to break it to the antis but billy has never done anything that severe to max. everything he's done to her is typical older brother behaviour and only seems a little meaner than usual because they don't already have a good relationship.

also these kids literally leave billy knocked out in the middle of someone's living room where a demodog is stashed in the fridge. he could've died. when he woke up, he was definitely disoriented and terrified because he didn't understand what was going on. his car was missing, max was missing. nobody explained why she was even with all those teenage boys in the first place and then suddenly she's disappeared with them? he probably thought the worst. we never got the aftermath of that whole scene. did billy walk home, pumped up with drugs? did max come back for him? did anyone think to check on him and how his body was doing after being sedated with a dose that no one knew the severity of? the entire situation was fucked up and not at all badass lmao.

[memes-saved-me]

Billy comes across as lonely more than anything else. His mother left him, father abuses him, step mother is too scared to help him and his step sister can't do a thing. His only friends see him as a badboy to cling to for popularity, he has adult women throwing themselves at him and everyone else disregards him as a piece of shit to the point the only person to know something is wrong is a stranger.

Hell, the only time we see Billy be touched in a caring genuine way is moments before his death. That boy had no one. Eleven was the only person to ever try and help

[tenta-cute]

Normally I don't do meta posts like this but can we PLEASE talk about the synergy between Harringrove and Edissy/Hellcheer fandoms? Because holy shit, I'm emotional.

I don't like speaking in absolutes, but so far literally ALL the interactions between these two fandoms that I've seen were positive, supportive, and generally excellent? Like not only is there seemingly no tension between the fandoms (unfortunately an oddity in the general Stranger Things fandom, which tends to be rather vicious), I feel a lot of sympathy for Hellcheer mains and never feel unwelcome wandering into their spaces. It just feels... nice. It feels like a group of people passionate about something should feel.

Honestly it feels like Harringrove and Hellcheer have a lot in common; it's like we're all just vibing here, getting excited about the actors being absolute dorks, getting angry when the the actors or their fans get attacked by the Usual Suspects, resurrecting the dead for the sake of fanfiction, and just being awesome. I love how both fandoms feel safe enough for the fans to have heartfelt discussions about abuse and their own experiences with it.

So yeah, just sending love out there to all Hellcheer fans that read this! You guys are awesome. The way the Usual Suspects treat Grace is fucking abhorrent and you guys are doing a great job calling them out for bullying a young woman. Your fanworks are top class. Your ship is hella cute. Just… much love from this Harringrove fan right here. <3

(Also pssst you have great taste, metalhead x prep truly is a blessed dynamic.)

[grey-sides]

Like of course Billy died to protect El, a girl he didn't know. Yes, he protected his mother as a kid but more importantly- he was a lifeguard!

He became a lifeguard likely after either lifeguarding in California or seeing lifeguards. And if he was at the ocean, he was accepting even more risk to lifeguard than he would at a community pool. But they're both still risky jobs!

Billy worked in a relatively dangerous job to help people in a town he said he hated, of course he stood up to the Mindflayer for El. (He probably also did that to try and exact his own revenge)

But! The point stands that the young man was a lifeguard and it may have been for sex appeal, but character wise it's because Billy likes being a protector.

[memes-saved-me]

I channelled my irritation into memes so enjoy

[hephaestn]

the fact that the sheets are changed. the bedside table isn’t filled with his things. there are marks from the posters by the bed. a box is there, probably packed with his belongings… sad hours

[nma-nekro]

Billy.

[ratboydefenselawyer]

This is my first and probably last post I will ever make. I’m here to consume the content, not necessarily create it.

I see all of you fighting the good fight for Billy and his story. And I wanted to add my thoughts into the ring.

As someone who works with children and adults from abusive backgrounds EVERY SINGLE DAY. I can tell you that Billy checks every single box for being in his survival state 24/7.

I have had extensive trainings about trauma, how to recognize it and the effects it can have on a person and how they act. Personally I have endured a lot of trauma myself and had to unlearn a lot of unhealthy behaviors and ways of thinking because of it.

With that being said: someone who is in a state of survival constantly is not capable of thinking rationally, the only goal is to…survive.

Billy Hargrove was an abused child. A CHILD. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Does this forgive his actions? No. But it explains them. Gives us a deeper insight into the “why?”

Neil hit his son, he insulted him, called him a slur and then reminded him that Max, his younger stepsister’s well-being is in his hands. That’s a lot for a 17 year old to go through. Then he goes to the Byers residence where he’s insulted and lied to. His sister (who’s well-being is in his hands) is alone with 5 boys, one of them is his age? THEN to top it all off, Steve punches him? All that built up rage from what just happened with Neil comes spilling out. Oh and to make matters worse, he gets sedated and Max MIRRORS Neil’s abuse by making him repeat himself. Keep this in mind, while all this is going on Billy has absolutely no idea what is going on. He still doesn’t know what Max is doing with all of these boys in this house.

Moving forward- Billy gets possessed by the mind flayer, he still has no idea what is going on and loses control of his own body. He had to watch as his hands take the lives of many people to feed this creature from his worst nightmares. Then this group of children lock him in a sauna, he is FINALLY able to beg for help and sobs. Even then NOBODY tells him what’s going on, no one really makes an effort to help him. It’s only in the final episode of season 3 that El breaks through to him, she see’s his past, his mom leaving, the abuse. Even standing up to the mind flayer Billy has no idea what he’s up against, he’s still in the dark. All he knows is that it’s him or this child that showed him how to come back to himself. It’s him or Max, and as we already know Max’s well-being is in his hands. Nothing is more terrifying than Neil’s wrath. And in his dying breath he apologizes.

For my fellow Billy Stans- Please never let anyone bully you about what characters you can and can’t like. Your ability to see deeper into the characters and push past the hate is needed in this world. Not just in fiction, but in the real world. If you relate to Billy as I do, from past trauma, I am so sorry. I am so very sorry that you have to fight, explain and rationalize your love for him every time. For whatever reason you stand behind Billy Hargrove, it is valid. And unlike Billy’s story, I hope that yours doesn’t end in tragedy. My inbox is always open for those who need to talk.

Now, for the Antis- I want to say, good for you. You managed to take a broken and deeply complex character and reduce him to a heartless villain in your minds. Think what you want about him, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is how you act to the people who do relate to Billy. The name calling, the hate, the wild assumptions about real people!! It’s so insane to me. I hope that turning into the bully to make a point was worth it. How other people relate to a character doesn’t affect you in any way at all. Somehow many of you have managed to put people down and make them afraid to express their love for a character. It’s not something to be proud of.

I am not willing to argue with anyone on this, this is just my views and my opinion. Dacre Montgomery stated that he worked hard to humanize Billy Hargrove. Seeing his character be dragged through the mud and continuously be turned into the irredeemable monster by the Duffer Brothers and the fans is just really sad.

Billy Hargrove means a lot to me. For a lot of different reasons. He deserved so much more than he was given. He deserved a chance to redeem himself and to tell his side of the story. He deserved a chance to apologize for everything he did in his survival state. He deserved the chance to finally be happy and be surrounded by people who actually cared for him, who wanted to help him.

Just keep going everyone. ❤️

[xaerais]

Imagine throughout the entirety of S4, Steve wore one of Billy’s leather jackets.

And he never took it off except for when they were trying to find that portal out on Lover’s Lake. So he gave it to Dustin before departing with the other three and told him, “If I come back and that jacket is ruined, you’re dead, Henderson. We’ll be back!” To which Dustin questioned why he was so worried about something so small when they had an evil interdemensional wizard attempting to open up gates across Hawkins and kill them.

But Max, who was standing right there when Steve told him that. She knew. She knew what made that jacket so special, and hell, it was even a little bit special to her. Because it still smelled like Billy. Like the asshole older brother she hated, but wished she could’ve loved and wished she could’ve gained a good relationship with. So, she offered to take it from Dustin to which he reluctantly agreed because even though he knew Steve wouldn’t actually harm him—there isn’t truly a mean bone is body when it comes to him and the rest of the Party—it’s still sometimes scary when he gets serious like that.

But again, they also have bigger fish to fry, so how much he cares about keeping some jacket safe is gauged on whether or not those four idiots come back okay. Handing it off to Max seemed like a no-brainer. But for the few moments she had it before the cops showed up, she held it tight in her arms. Because she couldn’t hug Billy himself and tell him he’s safe now, that he’s free from the Mind Flayer, that she accepts his apology because finally she understands him—she hugged the jacket instead. Because in reality, Billy’s been six feet deep in the ground for the last 8 months, and the closest she’ll get is the stupid jacket Steve was given.

[youll-never-get-the-g]

"Billy was racist though-"

Did you not see how horribly the Duffucks tried to write racism to the point that it's an argument on whether or not Billy was racist because it's never explicitly stated or made 100% obvious and clear that Billy is racist? Like mans hated a kid who he saw making his step sister upset- and if anything happens to Max, you know what that means? Neil is gonna beat on Billy for not stopping it. So you can interpret Billy's actions as being racist or not being racist; Dacre chose to play him as someone who he himself felt wasn't racist, and the Duffers are too fucking shit at writing to form their own characters that the fucking actors have to do it themselves.