#Looney Labs

[thepringlesofblood]

Zarcana Rules

(both as "rules for the game Zarcana" and as "Zarcana RULES!!!")

the board/card game Zarcana is maybe the most obscure shit I've ever played. my friend from middle school introduced it to me, from an out of print board game box found deep in the back of the sci library.

If you're familiar with Looney Pyramids (and the associated games such as Ice House, Martian Chess, Zendo, and Pyramid Arcade), this is one of thems.

It isn't sold. You can't buy it. You can get some Looney Pyramids, and if you have the pre-existing knowledge of how to play it you can get a tarot deck and do that. You can buy Gnostica, which is the more widely used adaptation of Zarcana. You could find Pyramid Arcade on eBay (it isn't in print anymore) or buy the pamphlet on looneylabs.com which includes Zark City, another adaptation, and recommends Gnostica on the back of the pamphlet. But to the free market, Zarcana does not exist.

It only exists in archives. Websites from 1999-2002.

I want to put all the information on Zarcana I can find online in one place, bc it's really hard to find a concrete set of rules online bc of how old it is, and it's really really fun.

Cheatsheet

Rules (it says you need to buy a special deck of zarcana cards but you do not, you just need a complete (78 cards) deck of tarot cards)

This lovely website that has links to articles about the development of Zarcana and Gnostica, as well as pdf printable stickers you can put on your cards so the rules are all on there.

If you don't have Looney Pyramids, I figured out how to macgyver it w coins of different sizes but it's v hard and complicated. will put under the cut.

so each person playing needs 5 small, 5 medium, and 5 large pyramids.

personally, I was able to replace them with 5 pennies, 5 nickels, and 5 dimes.

as a game piece, the things a pyramid needs to do are

be 3 different sizes (you can use 3 different denominations of coin)

be distinguishable b/w players (if it's just 2 of you, you can do heads & tails, if not you'll need either more denominations of coins or some way to mark coins as belonging to a certain person (nail polish, stickers, poster putty, beads, sticky notes?)

point in directions (instead, you can put the coin on the edge of the card that it's pointing to, or in the center for standing up straight. alternately, you could use the heads/whatever symbol on the coin to point to different directions and then due tails as standing straight up)

also here's the urls directly copy-pasted in case the links break or some shit

[ilanprofile]

ILAN_PROFILE'S COMEDY / SLICE OF LIFE CARTOON GUIDE

Looking for Cartoons to Watch? Need a Guide for Animated Shows? Are you a Beginner or a Pro in watching TV shows? THIS ARE ALL THE COMEDY / SLICE OF LIFE CARTOONS I RECOMMEND!

About Each Section:

WATCH THIS: Shows I think are a MUST Watch for anybody getting into cartoons

NEW CARTOONS: Ongoing shows premiered in the past 2-3 years

STILL RELEVANT: Older shows / Already finished shows that still get a lot of attention nowdays

BONUS MENTIONS: Other Shows I havent watched that much of or arent as widely known as the others above

STORYDRIVEN: Fully serialized shows with lot of conitnuity

SEMI-EPISODIC: Shows with an ongoing story but also have self contained arcs

EPISODIC: Shows with minimal continuity, you can watch basically any episode

DISCLAIMER: I tried to limit myself to only 1-2 shows of each IP, UNLESS each of them feels too different from one or another (Like The Looney Tunes Show vs the classic Looney Tunes Cartoons) or you need to watch all shows together to get the full narrative (Ben 10 -> Alien Force -> Ultimate Alien -> Omniverse)

[thecartooncartoonshow]

📣 Calling ALL Cartoon Network fans/artists! 📣

We're doing something for all of our viewers and CN fans alike! We're putting together our very first COLLABORATIVE holiday web-comic, made exclusively for Tapas

Which will bring your favorite Cartoon Network characters together in a yuletide adventure you've never seen before!

For further details about the project and to figure out how you can help us with this project, be sure to send a DM here on Tumblr and we'll add you to our still-growing team.

And be sure to share this with your friends and other fans, so they can participate in this project.

[akron-squirrel]

ToonJune dump! Days 1-8

[tbalderdash-art-blog]

Results day was yesterday, so might as well post my Final Major Project from my 2nd (and last) year of college. Finished editing it together on the 1st of May, started animating at some point in March. The brief was to make an animation in the Looney Tunes style to convince children to write on paper instead of typing. We had to do it in Photoshop (a lot of people did it in groups but I did this solo). Naturally, I made all of the characters birds.

Sound on if you want to hear the music I composed for it :)

[thespanishgarden]

Spanish Word Wheel - El Timbre

El Timbre - Doorbell

• Someone is ringing the doorbell.

• Alguien está tocando el timbre.

• The man rang the doorbell.

• El hombre tocó el timbre.

Note: There are different ways to say “to ring the doorbell” in Spanish. These can include:

• Tocar el timbre (most common)

• Picar el timbre

• Llamar al timbre

[Gif not mine]

[tenjad129]

Now, about this long-term ambition of mine...

I hope you enjoy the Super Bowl game tonight, everyone, but anyway...

Yes, sure, I know now that besides the recent and devastating Southern Californian wildfires that had happened last month, there is also currently a very hardcore movement growing against formerly 2d hand drawn animated characters and stuff from animation's 2d hand drawn past being given a live action and/or CGI makeover and certainly a whole lot of anti-live action sentiment among the animation community lately, but anyway, it has always been a long-term ambition of mine to develop, write, direct, produce, and/or even tell a vast, gigantic, sweeping epic story starring, featuring, crossing over, and even being set around all manner of animated characters -- not only extending all the way to the iconic and lesser known ones from history such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Dexter the boy genius and especially Fievel and Tanya Mousekewitz (or the Fievel Goes West incarnations of both mice for the most part and in particular), but also new ones created specifically or exclusively for my epic like visiting astronaut David Zarus, for example.

An epic story which may not only be set behind the scenes of the likes of Who Framed Roger Rabbit's Toon Town and especially the Toon Lands beyond, while focusing on the personal, even romantic lives of animated characters, and that especially includes the iconic and lesser known ones from animation and cartoon history, but will also take the additional shape and form of a somewhat J.R.R. Tolkien/The Lord of the Rings-inspired science fiction/fantasy epic good versus evil and world-saving quest narrative as An American Tail's Fievel, Tanya, and baby Yasha Mousekewitz, Dexter's Laboratory's Dexter the Boy Genius, and Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies' Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny join forces with David Zarus and his two fellow astronauts and their pet animal mascot as they all journey around the planet they happen to be on in order to to stop the spread of evil forces unleashed by the planet's local and residential Dark Lord who also turns out to be Dexter's jealous and hateful nerdy rival Mandark (of Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip infamy) who according to prophecy Tanya and Fievel Mousekewitz the boy and girl mice and David Zarus the young spaceman will team up to defeat (especially by helping Dexter wrest back control of his long stolen invention which enables its user to share knowledge with or else steal knowledge from everyone across the universe and around the planet, for good or ill, and which Mandark had gained control from Dexter centuries ago.)

(I know this might also be inspired by Dexter's Laboratory's Ego Trip TV special as well, but for me, the only way for our heroes to stop Mandark from threatening the universe, I believe is, for either David Zarus, and/or the mice Fievel, and/or Tanya, but most especially Tanya Mousekewitz, to reach the energy flow controls, set it all the way from negative red to positive green, reverting the invention to normal and undoing all of the destructive evil that the mad Mandark the Dark Lord has unleashed centuries before. Also, like in Ego Trip, Mandark's evil might ultimately be undone by a female character and most often an older sister character to the main animated cartoon character, but unlike in Ego Trip, not only was the world around these characters really saved, NOT by Dexter the boy genius' own havoc-wreaking, button-pushing, and playful (if mostly absent for most of Ego Trip) older sister Dee Dee, mind you all, but rather by the Fievel Goes West incarnation of An American Tail's Fievel Mousekewitz's very own older sister Tanya Mousekewitz, but also unlike Dexter and his own three future selves at the end of the Ego Trip movie, Dexter should not get angry enough to the point of building and sending robots back to the present day to suppress and kill a female character such as Tanya or Dee Dee, but be compassionately kind enough, along with David Zarus, Fievel Mousekewitz, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, to let the female character undoing Mandark's evil achieve and enjoy her world-saving moment, especially for Dexter's benefit, for David Zarus' and Earth's benefit, Bugs Bunny's and Daffy Duck's benefit, for Tanya's and Fievel's benefit and for the benefit of the universe and for the benefit for the planet of the toons itself, and not before even Dexter may also accept that there is still plenty of good inside the kid scientist's short-statured and red-haired body!).

In other words, it shall also be an epic story that will also serve as a potential Lord of the Rings for the very likes of Robert Zemeckis' 1988 classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s very own Toon Town and/or the Toon Lands surrounding it all as well as being spread over a huge number of (mostly hand drawn and 2d) animated feature films -- each one running to a duration of two, three or even nearly four hours with an intermission for each movie --and all painted on a very big, gigantic and very widescreen canvas (and probably coming complete with a triple aspect ratio shift from 1.33:1 and 1.85:1 in the beginning part of the first movie to an epically expansive 2.35:1 for the rest of the saga maybe, similar to Brother Bear's famous aspect ratio shift and similar to theatrical prints as well as the recent 4K UHD Blu Ray release of the 1999 classic movie Galaxy Quest), and all planned just like they did the now-classic Lord of the Rings movies of Peter Jackson, too!

But, as well as to be the biggest, longest, and especially the most comprehensive and meaningful multi-animated cartoon character crossover besides or since Who Framed Roger Rabbit itself, it'll also probably be the only one to be made since Who Framed Roger Rabbit itself that is also to provide any objective lesson -- and especially apart from what REALLY not to do, maybe -- in how to successfully integrate all kinds of animated characters -- old and new, classic and contemporary, preexisting and original, established or made up, major and minor, famous and obscure, iconic and lesser known, American or otherwise (and that especially includes some Japanese anime characters that may look like they come straight out of the likes of Studio Ghibli) and all mostly done using authentic, real, classical and modern hand drawn 2d character animation styles and techniques -- from animation and cartoon history both in America and elsewhere around the world...although, maybe unlike Roger Rabbit and other live action/animation hybrid works, there may not be a single frame of live action footage and nary a real live actor, setting, or prop, to be seen this time.

And even if it may have far more characters, far more settings, and far more everything than Roger Rabbit or even The Lord of the Rings combined, even if I retain a good deal of what made all the cartoon characters, even the iconic and lesser known ones from history so funny, sexy, cute, scary, worthwhile, endearing, and especially, well, 2d hand drawn and animated and even cartoony in the first place, and even if the complete epic saga may run to a whopping 116 hours and 40 minutes (or 7,000 minutes, which is also to be the same total runtime length for all one thousand Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon shorts put out by Warner Bros. from 1930 to 1969) in total runtime length, I will never discernibly lose any sight of the central story and central relationship (but especially the friendship and team-up between Fievel and Tanya Mousekewitz and the young astronaut David Zarus, maybe).

That project that I'm talking about is going to be "Planet of the Toons". And I'm still thinking about it and still working on it after three years!

Anyway, even though a thing like this may still be a very incredibly dangerous type of film to make, especially nowadays or in the foreseeable future, and even if it may not technically be an actual, official sequel of sorts to Who Framed Roger Rabbit itself, what would you really think of such a long-term ambition of mine, which I'm still trying to achieve one day, somehow?

[cartoonnetworkchannel-india]

90s Cartoons | 90s Kids | Scooby Doo | Looney Tunes | Johnny Bravo | Only on Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network India, is opening a portal to the past!

Get cheesy with Jonny Bravo, get spooky with Scooby-Doo & gang, get nerdy with Dexter, and get crazy with The Looney Tunes!

That’s right, evoke your 90’s nostalgia with these timeless classics of Cartoon Network India.

Do not miss any updates on your favorite #cartoons by Subscribing to the Cartoon Network India YouTube Channel, Facebook page & Instagram page.

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@cnindia Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CartoonNetwork.India Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cartoonnetworkindia/

cartoonnetwork #scoobydoo #looneytunes #johnnybravo #dexter #90scartoons #tunescartoons #lamput #cartoonnetworkoldshow #oldcartoons #cartoonnetworkindia #cartoonvideos #kidscartoon #cartoonnetworkindia

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Gravity Falls was strange, and the townsfolk even stranger, it seemed.

The twins had been unceremoniously dropped off on the side of the dusty road, the roar of the bus engine fading away as the driver wordlessly drove off without fanfare. The poor man had almost seemed close to tears ever since they had entered the thresholds of this seemingly innocuous town, all too eager to speed off and away while leaving the two children coughing and wheezing in its dust.

It had not even been a full minute since their lackluster drop-off before they became well acquainted with the oddly sociable and irritatingly chatty inhabitants of Gravity Falls. A single conversation with a pair of boisterous policemen already told them all they needed to know about the history of the town, as well as the whereabouts of their Great Uncle Ford.

"The Mystery Shack," the townsfolk had called it. It seemed as though their distant uncle had earned himself somewhat of a reputation amongst the locals. He was the town cryptid; the ever elusive mad scientist that lived in the outskirts of town in this so called "Mystery Shack". No one really knew who he really was; but everyone knew exactly who he was.

So, when the twins found themselves stood hand in hand in front of the rickety old shack, they hadn't really known what to expect when door had swung open with a deafening slam.

He was a strange man, their Great Uncle Ford. He seemed nothing like the cackling looney lab-coated madman they had imagined from what meager hushed information the townsfolk had offered them. It seemed as though the tales of a scientist gone mad that experimented on stray children that wandered into his spooky "Mystery Shack" was but a cruel rumor.

He mostly just seemed unhealthy, to be honest. His sickly, pale frame utterly drowned in the thick red woolen sweater that practically seemed to hang off of his lanky body like a second flap of skin. It made him look almost child-like, like a kid trying on their parents clothes; which somewhat diluted the intimidating effects of his looming height.

Although, the townsfolk's apparent fear of their Great Uncle Ford seemed to have some merit.

For one, Grunkle Ford really didn't seem all too human. He wasn't inhumane, per se; just, not entirely himself, if that made any sense. Looking at him was like looking at an incomplete puzzle; or looking at someone who you remember all your life wearing a hat, suddenly coming to work one day without one, and it takes a little too long for you to remember what is missing.

It was like Grunkle Ford had lost pieces of himself. Somewhere, to someone. His eyes seemed... almost empty. They were a little too dull and a little too opaque, lacking the lively shine of life everyone else seemed to have.

Another thing was that Grunkle Ford wasn't entirely alone. There was... someone else. The twins couldn't exactly pinpoint where, but they could feel its stare, whatever or whoever it was. They could almost feel its stare, a non-existent eye trailing a weird prickling sensation across their skin. The twins recalled the words of one of the townsfolk, a tall bestacled man with haunted blind eyes; although unseeing they could have sworn his gaze never seemed to leave them, as all he said was:

"Don't catch IT staring at you"

The twins had an odd feeling that IT was looking at them right now.

They didn't even notice when the pale bony hand of Grunkle Ford suddenly reached into their personal space, barely registering his words at all, much less the extra fingers that adorned each of his rough, worn palms.

They didn't take the hand.

If the twins had thought the outside of the shack looked decrepit, the inside seemed somehow even worse.

Every inch of exposed wall, ceiling or floor were utterly covered by sprawling symbols, summoning circles, and indecipherable words that seemed to be in an entirely different language than any the twins knew. They overlapped and tangled into one another into big, messy, red splotches of clustered nothings.

There were notes, diagrams on ripped pieces of aged looking paper scattered everywhere, with hardly any room for post-it notes squeezed wherever there was room. Lit and unlit candles were placed absolutely everywhere; either hidden in the dark corners or openly stood in the middle of the floor; sometimes in a circle, sometimes not. The melted fallen wax had coagulated into a hard white mess onto the floor; the smell of cheap vanilla scented candles intermingling with the smell of halloween fake blood (and Dipper was convince there had to be some real blood there, too) to create a sour concoction that stung their noses unpleasantly.

The shack was sparsely furnished with rarely any furniture at all. Not even a couch, the tables and chairs simply pushed to the walls to make more space for the endlessly swirling symbols and pentagrams. The twins were hesitant of stepping on any of the summoning circles, carefully sidestepping the candles and walking over the line of the pentagrams.

The attic, where they would be residing, was not much better.

Maybe they did end up in a mad scientist's house, after all.

[halles-comet]

I can’t stop cackling at Milchick’s weird sudden panic run away from Dylan. Mark chasing the lab tech woman away from the room he needs her to open with a gun and both of them screaming “FUCK YOU” “AHHH” back and forth. Emilie is the goat’s name. Awards show banter with an animatronic capable of microaggressions. Looney Tunes-ass show

[jakowskis]

.

[etanow]

MASTER POST

The Experimental Monster Laboratory, or Monster Labs, is a TADC AU where the cast is in the physical world! Sorta..

C&A Research Facilities is one of the cornerstones of the science and medical worlds! They do everything; funding research, manufacturing equipment, and research into the known and unknown in an effort to understand everything. To the public, that is.

They experiment heavily in everything, from hiring literal Gods on earth to manage the more ..sensitive divisions; mixing machine and magic, technology and the supernatural, genetic experimentation, you name it, they’ve probably done it! The world outside may not know anything of the advancements they’re researching but there is little C&A Labs won’t allow in the name of progress in understanding and cataloging everything in their universe. Our story takes place in one of the more private residencies deep in C&A, belonging to Caine; a minor God with mysterious origins, unknown limitations, and boundless enthusiasm for learning everything he can about his little science friends.

╰┈➤ Content

╚═ Unnamed fic (Coming soon...) ╚═ Bubble can cook?? .

╰┈➤ Asks

╚═ Does Pomni act like a zombie? ╚═ Is Zooble's Demon Snake Leg happy? ╚═ Gangle is in a Situation.png ╚═ Gangle's temperament ╚═ Has Ragatha ever shocked anyone? ╚═ Gangle love RAAAH ╚═ Do Caine and Ragatha fight over Pomni? ╚═ Why did Gangle summon a demon? ╚═ Why does Pomni wear a bell collar? ╚═ Kinger's eye ╚═ What if there was a baby crying? ╚═ Death trauma [Gangle and Pomni] ╚═ Kinger has ONE hobby outside of Bugs ╚═ Is Zooble protective of Gangle? ╚═ What happens when you touch Pomni's brain? ╚═ JAX DATED SOMEONE?? ╚═ What does Jax do? .

╰┈➤ References

╚═ Intro Cards ╚═ Height Chart Lineup ╚═ Zooble Demon Snake Leg Intro Card /j ╚═ Queenie ╚═ Gummigoo ╚═ The Sun Room ╚═ Logo .

╰┈➤ Arts

╚═ First ML AU Post ╚═ Second, exploring outfits ╚═ Design sketches part 2 ╚═ Pomni + flower language ╚═ Showtime + Ragapom doodles ╚═ Jax not practicing lab safety ╚═ Abstragedy cuddles ╚═ Raga doodle ╚═ Ragapom doodle ╚═ Jax and Meadowsweet ╚═ Pomni staring out a fake window.png ╚═ [Gives pomni flowers] ╚═ more doodles ig

.

╰┈➤ Misc.

╚═ Caine Lemon Rant [Animatic] ╚═ Zodiac signs?? ╚═ Caine gets called a Tumblr Sexyman and cries ╚═ Bubble Looksmaxxing ╚═ Jax wants to take ketamine with you (Romantically) ╚═ Caine eats a lemon [Animatic] ╚═ BUNNYSUITSSS ╚═ Magma doodles ╚═ Magma doodles part 2

.

╰┈➤ Pomniverse

╚═ Wonderland and Zombni are friends :D

.

╰┈➤ Boundaries / Q&A

╚═ Any story plans? I'm not sure yet, currently writing a fic and several comics on the way.

╚═ Any boundaries? None, so go crazy! I am OK with gore, NSFW, angst, violence, etc, just be sure it is tagged/TW'd appropriately as not everyone is OK with that content. I'd also like to see please LOL

╚═ Can we create fanart/fics/content? Can we dub or fancam? Yes of course!! Please tag me, I'd love to see all of it! I'm tracking the tag #TADC Monster Labs AU for other's content

╚═ Is NSFW allowed? Yes, both art and fic, so long as it's marked appropriately I'd very much love to see!

╚═ Can I ship the characters, self-ships, or OC x Canon? Yes, ship away! Just be aware the only au-canon ships are Caine/Pomni, Ragatha/Pomni, Gangle/Zooble, and PAST Ragatha/Jax.

╚═ Can we make OCs? Go on ahead! Here is a PSD file for the blank template and the PNG can be found here.

╚═ Who are you?

✦✧ Hi I'm Audi! 26, she/they. Full-time office worker, I do art in my free time. ✦ My current interests are TADC, RWBY, Looney Tunes, and Trolls. ✧ I draw using a custom PC, a Huion Kamvas 16 (2.5K), and Adobe Photoshop. Currently learning to use Procreate. ✦ I do not RP and this isn't an ask blog, asks interacting directly with characters will probably not be answered. ✧ Asks are not guaranteed to be answered, sorry if yours isn't but please don't spam/send multiple times! ✦ Commissions and requests are not open at this time, thank you. ✧ My main tumblr is Audi-art. My Twitter is Hammerspaced.

[thecartooncartoonshow]

ATTENTION, CARTOON NETWORK FANS ON TUMBLR!!!

"The Cartoon CARTOON Show" is now on Discord with it's very own server just for Cartoon Network fans!

You'll get news about NEW Cartoon Network episodes, specials and premieres, updates on our future YouTube videos, inside peeks at new shows and merchandise being made for/by Cartoon Network, discover fun facts and trivia about your favorite shows and much more.

Be sure to join us in the Invite link below, and tell your friends about this special opportunity to interact with OTHER Cartoon Network fans across the internet.

[tom-foolery-incorporated]

I love the absolute ABSURDITY of the Autobot’s being pervy towards humans headcanon

You have some bots who simply have a deep appreciation for mankind and yeah, some fleshies are cute and soft, but they’re simply friends :D!

Then you other bots who’s processors are completely shot with whatever fleshie they are particularly interested in- cause yeah, they ARE cute and small and oh, so, so, so soft. It’s crazy, plus, the humans who aren’t afraid to actually put their foot down with these metal giants and get after them for their less than stellar behavior.

Love that dynamic- “Small partner bosses around big partner”

Pussy 👏 whipped 👏 robots 👏

Cybertronians are so big and powerful yet a little mucus filled fleshie can bring them to their knees begging?

I especially see Optimus being pretty pussy whipped behind closed doors. He has to be a leader, large and in charge, when in front of the Autobots but the second he sees you he’s all giddy and blushing. He puts on a real good poker face in public but everyone pretty much knows that if he had a tail it’d be wagging like crazy every time you two are in the same room.

For Optimus I think the second he’s able to get even an inch of his spike in you he’s going to shudder. Primus forbid if you comment on how big he feels in you. I feel like he has a size kink where he wants to be used by a smaller partner. Ride him and guide him. Tell him just exactly how he should fuck you.

I think Wheeljack would also be a big pushover for his human. Cute and squishy and so needy. He pretends like you’re a little pest in his lab because he doesn’t want you to get hurt but he needs to have you with him 24/7. He holds you like that big Looney Tunes dog and the little kitty. Ask him for anything and he’ll fold.

I feel like Wheeljack would have some slight brat tamer inclinations. Mess with him while he’s working and he might just yoink you up. Now shut up and sit on his spike since you need attention that bad. However he does eventually snap when you clench around him just right. He can’t help that you’re so soft and wet around him. It’s not his fault he has to hammer his spike into you until you can’t move.

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

Steddie Upside-down AU Part 25

Part 1 Part 24

“You mean blood draws this thing?” Hopper asks. He’s finally seated at the table, no longer looming over Eddie where he sits, like he’s just picked him up for possession and taken him in for questioning. Again.

“We don’t know,” Barbara  says. Nancy chimes in, “it’s just a theory.” All three of them ignore Eddie’s shouted “Yes!” As if he isn’t the only one that’s seen the thing more than once.

Hopper steeples his fingers in front of his nose, looking like he’d rather be almost anywhere else. Eddie can’t blame him. He also wants Hopper to be anywhere else. 

“We’ve got a plan,” Nancy says. “To test the theory.”

Hopper sighs, closing his eyes and pinching his brows, the same way he does when he catches Eddie selling pot outside of the high school. Or at the trailer park. Or at parties. “Let’s hear it then.” He doesn’t open his eyes. Nancy starts speaking anyway.

Eddie, having been mostly absent last time, tunes in for the conversation. She wants to jerry rig the house with bear traps. Like they’re in the Looney Tunes and she’s trying to catch the road runner. Hopper doesn’t seem all that impressed. Neither does Wayne.

“No,” Wayne says. 

Hopper still hasn’t opened his eyes. Maybe he was so shocked by the slap dash plan that he gave up and went to sleep. 

“Excuse me?” Nancy says. 

Eddie bristles at her tone, but Wayne doesn’t even twitch. “You’re kids,” he says, like that’s all there is to say. 

“But, Steve –”

Joyce jumps up from where she was still huddled with her sons to tower over the table in all her five foot nothing furry to shout, “this is not yours to fix!” It works to shut them all up. “It’s not you kid’s responsibility to save another kid.”

“But, Mom,” Will says. 

Eddie wants to echo the sentiment. Wants to beg. Steve saved their lives, and they’d left him. She wants them to just leave him there? Again? “I know, baby. We’ll get him.”

“Anyone called the boy’s parents?” Wayne asks, but it comes out barely as a question. He already knows the answer, even before Hopper scoffs.  Everyone at this table does. 

“Like anyone even knows what country they’re in,” he replies while Joyce bristles, like the thought of anyone’s child being left like that leaves her seething. 

“Enough of that,” she says, waving her ends in a cutting motion in front of her. “How are we going to get that boy back?”

Will stands up and storms out of the room. Eddie’s never seen the kid be anything but polite. Eddie stands to follow the tug at his sternum telling him to keep the kid in his line of sight. 

“Will?” Joyce calls, trying to follow as well until Jonathan tugs her back by her arm with a quiet murmur he can’t make out. 

The house isn’t large. He can hear the silence reverberating as he follows Will. The best plan they have so far is Nancy’s game of mouse trap. If it means saving Steve, Eddie’s ready to form an alliance with the devil he knows. If it means saving Steve, he’d be willing to do worse. 

“I could go back to the lab,” Hopper says, voice barely carrying down the hallway. 

Will’s sitting on a bed when Eddie finds him. It’s small with a blue comforter on it, covered in little cartoon planes. There’s a poster of Jaws on the wall, D & D minis on a bookcase. This might be the coolest kid alive.

Eddie takes a seat beside him, the mattress squeaking as he huddles into it. 

Will’s hand is dangling between his knees, cradling a walkie talkie. He doesn’t look over at Eddie, just keeps staring at it like it’ll crackle to life at any second. 

“Whatcha got there?” Eddie asks quietly as voices raise in the other room. Eddie wonders if this is what it would’ve felt if he’d had a baby brother back when voices were always raised in his house. He wants to scoop this kid up and bolt out the window. 

Will barely seems to notice the noise. He’s still just staring down. When he finally drags his eyes up, it seems like it takes effort. “I want to call Mike.”

“Okay,” Eddie says. “Who is Mike?”

Will’s eyes shift back down. “He’s my Steve.”

Well, Eddie has no idea what that means, but he can glean some things: Mike is important, and Will wants to talk to him. “So, call him.”

Will’s shoulders curl in. He cradles the walkie talkie to his chest like it’s a baby. “He thinks I’m dead.” It comes out of his mouth bitter. 

Eddie reaches out, clasps his shoulder gently. “Then, I bet he’d love to hear that you’re not.”

Slow as molasses, Will raises the walkie talkie up to his mouth, holds down a button and speaks. “Mike?” he asks. “Do you copy?”

He decompresses the button. The silence trickles back in as they both now stare at the walkie talkie, waiting for something to happen. “Maybe he didn’t hear yo–” Eddie starts to say, conjuling, when a frantic, prepubescent voice crackles through the little speaker.

“Will?!” A voice asks, overlapped by another saying , “–didn’t say over, Mike!” before the fuzzy sound stops abruptly. 

Will waits a second before pushing the button again, and speaking, “I’m here, over.”

“Where are you?” presumably Mike asks. “We’ll come get you!”

Will smiles, eyes brimming. “It’s okay,” he says, voice lighter than Eddie’s ever heard it. “I’m home.”

The silence lasts longer now, until a new voice filters through. “Yeah, yeah, I’m glad you’re back, Will,” attitude dripping even over the static of the line. “Now, the bad men have got us pinned down, you gotta help us.” it says, before tacking on a quick, “over.”

“Bad men?” Eddie asks, looking over at Will, hoping this is some ill-timed inner-circle game. 

But Will looks confused. Panicked. “I think we should go get Chief Hopper.” Will says.

Great. Another fucking problem. Eddie regrets ever being dragged back through that goddamn hole in the tree. 

Part 26