#and I love the icon for Eddie <3< /div>
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phoenixmuses · 2 months ago
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♡ Continued from here ♡ For @devildungeondm
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He had been on edge since last night, when he had received the aforementioned, somewhat swollen bruise on his face. It was better than getting the belt — that was saved for when Neil was on his real power trips. However, it was enough to make him leave the house and sleep in the Camaro near some trailer park, where Munson had found him. Thankfully, Eddie didn't seem to be the type to ask questions.
Billy's jaw was set, fists clenched tightly at his sides, and piercing ocean-blue eyes locked onto the metal head before him. Jesus Christ, this guy was an idiot. It took everything in him not to step forward and knock some sense into Munson. Too kind to the boy who was full of rage, too naive and altruistic and laid back and —
The complete opposite of everything Billy Hargrove was. Maybe what he could have been, had circumstances been different... He took a long pull from his cigarette, nodding ever so slightly, the end of it glowing a vivid orange-red against his palm. For a minute, the air was still and tense around them, as if Hawkins itself was holding its breath and waiting.
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The way Eddie had looked at him with those big doe eyes, offering to get him stoned and trying to provide some sense of... normalcy? Comfort? Support? Whatever it was, it was foreign to the blond and it left him feeling conflicted. So, he processed it the only way he knew how.
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"Really, Munson?" he growled lowly, stepping forward. Billy exhaled a white-grey, translucent plume of smoke and flicked his cigarette away onto the ground. Then, his hands shot out, grasping Eddie's collar and pinning him against the nearest wall with a dull thud. Leaning in so he was inches from his face, gaze intense as he raked over the brunette's features, he was silent for a long moment. "Why the hell are you like that, huh?"
The question was vague, although the implication heavily lingered between them. He hated how much he had grown fond of this nerd — the dungeon master, the freak, the guitarist. Probably one of the only people in Hawkins that still stuck around him, and God only knew why. Most people either stayed because they were intimidated by him or because they could be just as bad, if not worse. Eddie was... different.
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crownspeaksblog · 2 years ago
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Gregory "I take all of your recommendations seriously. I want to know why you like stuff" eddie and jake "I started reading them (Harry Potter) 'cause you love them so much." peralta!!!
The ultimate sitcom men!!
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aemondsbabe · 2 years ago
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REQUESTS ARE OPEN! i will write for pretty much any of ewan mitchell's characters (aemond targaryen, tom bennett, michael gavey, osferth, billy washington), other house of the dragon characters like aegon, daemon, harwin, helaena, alicent, & rhaenyra! i'm also open to writing for stranger things (eddie, steve, & billy), saltburn (felix catton & oliver quick), and dune (feyd-rautha only)
🌟 add yourself to my tag list!
🦋 find me on ao3 as well!
all dividers are from @firefly-graphics & @saradika!
icon by the lovely & talented @zaldritzosrose
MINORS DNI! 18+ only!
‼️ do NOT re-upload my fics or use them to train AIs!
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𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫
gevie | aegon x reader
little love | aegon x reader x aemond
claimant | dark!aemond x sister!reader
duty & sacrifice | claimant pt 2; dark!aemond x sister!reader
from ashes, fire | claimant pt 3; dark!aemond x sister!reader
the gods and everyone | aemond x reader
hour of the owl | harwin x reader x daemon
come what may | aemond x baratheon!reader
what is owed | harwin x lyseni!reader x daemon
licking wounds | daemon x niece!reader
deliverance | aemond x sister!reader
oathkeeper | aemond x stark!reader
care & keeping | aegon x reader x aemond
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𝔤𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰
a kindness | ramsay bolton x reader
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𝔰𝔞𝔩𝔱𝔟𝔲𝔯𝔫
taunt | michael gavey x reader
praise | taunt part 2; michael gavey x reader
stick it out to the end | michael gavey x bimbo!reader
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𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰
give me an o! | billy hargrove x cheerleader!reader
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𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔠
12 days of smuff | multi character/fandom
billy washington bot | spicy chat
emperor caracalla bot | spicy chat
emperor geta bot | spicy chat
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cacoetheswriting · 1 year ago
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honesty: the music video
pairing: rockstar!eddie munson x popstar!fem!reader word count: 2.3k summary: after a long day on set, you can't wait to get it on with your costar.
content warnings: 18+, minors dni: mature themes, literally smut with a minor plot, established relationship, unprotected p in v, overstimulation, praise kink, dom-ish eddie, adult language, heavy use of pet names, mentions of aftercare — if i missed anything in this chapter, pls let me know!
celebrity skin. masterlist <- part of this lil' universe, but can totally be read as a stand-alone. timeline wise, this takes place somewhere after part 3 and before end part 5.
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“We want it to be sexy.”
“But not too sexy.”
“Revealing.”
“But not too revealing.”
“Sounds like you guys don’t know what you want,” Eddie chimes in, interrupting the back and forth of your respective teams.
You stifle a giggle.
“That’s ‘cause of the two distinct styles,” someone from your team clarifies, “We wanna be respectful.”
“For sure,” one of the creatives on the Corroded Coffin side agrees. There’s a short pause. “We will have you two kiss at the end, though.”
At that, Eddie smirks. He looks at you from across the table and you could just about melt right there, blood rushing to your face, warming your cheeks.
“That won’t be a problem,” he says confidently and winks.
-
Honesty was a guaranteed hit. Top of the charts. Everybody that’s been so far involved in the project said it. They praised it. From the bass, drums, to the guitar and vocals. The production value was off the scale. A dream arrangement that would stand the test of time.
All the song needed was a music video equally as captivating.
A back and forth discourse began shortly after you first started recording with the band: whose style should the clip resemble more?
Corroded Coffin screamed all things dark, maybe a little gory. Their usual expression featured slightly melancholy undertones and a lot of references to all things Dungeons & Dragons. Imaginative, for sure. An artistry that had rarely been seen in the genre. 
Although it’s been an artistry vastly different from yours. 
The glitter hadn’t necessarily been your idea, but it certainly became a signature of sorts. Anything sparkly, always. And music videos that told a story. Most often one of love since that’s what you idolised ever since you were a kid — it obviously helped that love also sold millions of copies.
Eddie’s team argued that it’s the band’s song and you’re just a feature, therefore the accompanying video should lean into their style. Your management team was hesitant to agree. Calculating risk in case the lines get blurred a little too much and your pristine image shifts to the opposite end of the spectrum. Hours of arguments. Hours of negotiations. None of which you, or the rockstar were even mildly aware of. Too lost in each other's eyes and soft cotton sheets. 
Eventually, a compromise, of sorts, was found.
Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers influenced, in part, a 1946 film noir of the same title, with Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster taking the lead. The movie, in turn, inspired the black and white music video.
Done up in flair of the characters, Kitty Collins and Ole Anderson (aka Swede), you recreated iconic scenes alongside the brown-eyed rockstar. The rest of the band was also dressed to the nines. Side characters that played their instruments in the background of main shots. They blended in well, while adding a unique spin to the known story. 
Overall, the Honesty shoot quickly became a big spectacle. Bigger than anything Eddie Munson and his band of closest friends has ever been lucky enough to be a part of.
Intricate sets. Glamourous. In front of cameras and bright lights, you and your scene partner, Eddie, mouthed along the lyrics to the song as if they were a script. And with every scene, as if the two of you were the only people actually there, no equipment and no crew, you got lost a tiny bit. Lost in the chocolate of the rockstar’s wide gaze. In the way he smelled. The style of that decade suited the brunette greatly, so you became lost in how he looked in this character. Dapper. Unlike you’ve ever witnessed him before. He committed to the role too. A certain swag in his movements. How he touched you so hesitantly, delicately because that’s what the video required.
By the end of the night, after the director yells, “Cut!” to signalise a wrap, a round of applause for all involved in this project, you’re feeling hot and bothered. Sweaty, though not because you just completed a full day’s work. No. Somehow, you found the Corroded Coffin frontman even more attractive than at the start of that day — something you didn’t think was possible. When you glance in his direction, he’s already staring you down, and you know he feels the same way.
Backstage, inside your trailer, you’re sitting cross-legged on the couch. Fingertips at your lips as you wait for that inevitable knock on your door. You know it’s only a matter of time considering the build up of tension throughout the shoot. From the lingering touches and that kiss the director had you two repeat over and over and over…
Logically, you could wait until the two of you were home. Back at Eddie’s Hidden Hills mansion, away from prying eyes and ears. In a bed that’s become all too familiar. Far from possible interruptions. Logic however, well, right now, logic was taking a back burner ‘cause you needed him now. Desperately. And without a doubt, Eddie needed you too.
A knock. Then again. But the rockstar doesn’t wait for you to answer. He lets himself in. 
“What happened to the wig?” You ask, raising a brow.
“It was itchy,” he replies with a slight laugh, then shakes his head. “I much prefer my natural locks.” 
“That’s too bad,” you say with a slight shrug, “You looked quite smart with that short hair.”
Eddie hangs his head with a smile, though his eyes don’t leave yours. Not even for a second. That’s when you notice the glimmer. That look, the reason he’s here, just like you predicted. So you return the expression. Only yours is a little more sly. Tempting him. Teasing. 
“I had fun today.”.
“Me too.”
There’s a lot that happens in the seconds after you stand up. A lot that happens quickly. 
Eddie reaches for your wrist, pulling you closer before wrapping his, for once, ringless hand around yours completely. He presses it to the middle of his chest, holding it against his heart. You can feel it beating and that’s enough to make you melt ‘cause it’s strong and you swear it skips at the contact. His other hand reaches for the base of your throat. He holds it gently, caressing upwards until he’s gripping your jaw. 
“Kissing you in front of all those other people kinda got me going,” he admits in a low tone.
Naughty, that’s what you want to say, but you don’t get the chance ‘cause his lips crash into yours. Hungry. Desperate. Rough. Heat rushes through your body at the sudden contact, no different than any other time his mouth found yours. You’re at his mercy, always, and he knows it well. 
His tongue glides along your top lip and you part your lips to accept him without hesitation. He wastes no time sliding into your mouth, letting this tongue work in tandem with yours as he tilts his head to further deepen the kiss. The hand holding yours lets go, instead finding home on the small of your back, pushing you as close to him as humanly possible. His other hand lets go of your jaw, albeit not completely. Ghosting along the side of your neck before you feel him wrap it around your throat, squeezing lightly. It’s nothing new for Eddie to be a little rougher with you, but there’s something about this moment, after a full day of moderate teasing and borderline foreplay, that causes a moan to burst through you when he squeezes again, only harder.
The rockstar pulls back, sporting a devilish grin. “Making such pretty noises for me and we haven’t even gotten to the best part.”
“Do your worst, Eds.” It’s a dare. Nothing sweet about it.
He smirks at the challenge and before you can register what exactly is happening, Eddie is lifting you up swiftly, hiking up your dress in the process, only to drop you down onto the sofa with a gentle thud. You’re wide-eyed as he unbuckles his belt with one hand, the other tugging at the pantyhose the wardrobe lady had you wear for the last scene of the video. He partially rips them off of you, then he hikes his index finger along the band of your underwear, eagerly pulling them down your legs until they’re wrapped around your ankles, with the reminisce of your stockings.
“The heels stay on,” the rockstar instructs, pushing your legs apart with force and positioning himself in between. All you can do is nod. Half-naked, half in costume. Same as him.
In the space of a heartbeat, his lips are on yours again. This time they don’t stay for long, instead moving downwards towards your chest. When he squeezes your breast through the silk material of your dress, he compliments how fucking good you looked, “I wanted to ravish you the second I saw you, baby.”
You whimper at his words, and at the fact that his now freed cock is gently brushing against your wet folds. Not quite breaching, just teasing you further. Only adding to the overall stimulation. 
“God, you’re so fucking hot. So fucking pretty. And all mine.” Eddie’s breathing into your bare chest ‘cause somehow in the moment your dress has slipped down ever so slightly and your tits made an appearance. Fingers from one hand are digging into your hip, holding you in place, while the other has you by the ribs. Thumb brushing your soft skin while his hot mouth is sucking on your hardened nipple.
Your eyes are closed. You’re not sure when you closed them. He’s invading your senses all at once. Just when you feel like you can’t take it anymore, when you want to whither and plead for him to touch you where you need him most, Eddie plunges himself into you without warning and your eyes snap open. 
“Oh God…” he groans, drawing his hips back only to slam them in again, making your body bounce against him. “Fuck, baby. Jesus.”
You sob in pleasure as Eddie knocks the wind out of you with each relentless thrust, still increasing his speed. Heavy panting and grunting fills the trailer, along with the sounds of where his cock slams against your sweet juices. He’s sitting straight now. Eyes are fixated on the mess you’re both making, where his length disappears in and out of you, while you admire the way his locks fall naturally in place. Although briefly, ‘cause you’re arching your back the next second, rolling your eyes to the back of your head when he hits that sweet spot.
“So. Fucking. Pretty.” He growls. “You’re so fucking pretty when you’re all stretched open like this, sweetheart. Your pussy was made for my cock, baby. You take it so well. You take this big dick so well, my good girl. Fucking made for me. Ain’t that right, dollface?”
“Made for you, Eds.” You just about whisper back, nodding your head feverishly.
Slap. His hand makes contact with your thigh and you practically wail. “That’s right,” he praises, “Made for me. So fucking tight for me.” Slap. Slap. Slap. 
Eddie’s cock starts to swell. You can feel it expand inside of you, then again when he thrusts back in. It has you heaving. The speed he’s established is close to becoming a little too much for the two of you and he drops his weight slightly, allowing you to wrap your arms around him, nails digging into his bare back. He can sense that you too are close and he’s trying hard to hold back, make this moment last longer, but his body refuses to slow down. Chasing the way your glistening pussy chokes his length. 
“Where do you want me baby?”
“Inside,” you croak out. “Cum in me, Eddie. Please. I need you to fill me up.”
“M’mph—” He chokes out, movements growing more and more erratic. The whole trailer is shaking at this point, that’s what it feels like to the two of you anyway. “Everybody out there will know what a good little slut you are. Not that innocent. Wanting me to fill you full of my cum, fuck.” 
Slap. Slap. Against your thigh. 
“Please, Eddie.” 
Slap.
“Shh… I’ll give you what you want, sweetheart.” He coos, “Gonna pump you full. Gonna make you see stars while my cum drips out of you.”
That’s when you shatter around him, uncontrollable desperate squeals making him groan louder as he continues. It’s sloppy, messy, and once you’ve completely unravelled underneath him, the rockstar can’t contain himself any longer. He lets out a broken moan as ropes and ropes of his warm spend start to throb into your hole.
His body gives up at the last spur and he drops flat on top of you, although not without a loose kiss placed to your jaw. His cock remains inside of your pussy. You can feel it pulsing until, after a few minutes, it no longer matches the beat of your heart.
Eddie lifts himself then. He kisses you softly and you smile against his mouth. When he eventually slips out and stands, he tells you not to move, that he’ll grab a towel from the small trailer bathroom and will help you get cleaned up.
“Wardrobe is going to kill us,” you call after him, balancing on your elbows as you sit up slowly. “Pretty sure these clothes can never be worn again. Purely for the fact that they reek of sex.”
“At least your wig stayed in place,” Eddie points out lightheartedly when he returns, his pants once again buckled, a towel in his hand. “That’s something the hair and makeup team should be proud of.”
“I’ll be sure to tell them,” you say, meaning it as a joke ‘cause there’s no way you would ever admit to what sins the two of you just committed.
Eddie smirks. “Pretty sure they already know,” he says as if it’s no big deal, “We weren’t exactly quiet, sweetheart.”
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as always, thank you for reading! pls comment, reblog & support your creators.
celebrity skin. masterlist | the killers (1946) reference
& the celebrity skin. taglist: @eviethetheatrefreak , @thirddeadlysin , @haylaansmi , @nope-thanks , @tlclick73 , @vintagehellfire , @ashlynnkennedy , @avalon-wolf , @sidthedollface2 , @astheni-a , @bebe07011 , @aysheashea , @papillonoirsworld , @vol2eddie , @spideyanakin-interacts , @rogers-sweatbands , @mimsie95 , @mmunson86 , @eddiesguitarskills - (if your user is crossed out, it means the tag isn’t working. pls check you’ve enabled tagging in your settings)
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safety-pin-punk · 1 year ago
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Punk History Resources: Vol 2
This is a compilation of resources found and recommended by various alternative bloggers, each of whom are credited for their contributions. This started because I was getting SO MANY asks about resources such as videos, books, and websites to use to learn about punk history. Admittedly, my own list wasn't that long, so I thought it was best to reach out to some others and share their knowledge with everyone. Now, I'm hoping to make this an annual occurrence, where we all share our knowledge with each other. So thank you again to everyone who helped out with this!!
Link to Volume 1
@whatamibutabutteredcroissant @unfriendlybat @ghost--in-a-machine @mushroomjar
YOUTUBE:
Part 1 of The Decline of Western Civilization (It recieved mixed reception from people in the scene) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
Part 3 of The Decline of Western Civilization (Focuses on the gutter-punks of 90s LA) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
BOOKS:
Some Wear Leather Some Wear Lace by Andi Harriman and Marloes Bontje (It's mostly goth/horror rock/post punk/deathrock but I feel like it's adjacent enough for it to merit a read) (unfriendlybat)
Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag by Stevie Chick (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
Kids of the Black Hole: Punk Rock in Postsuburban California by Dewar Macleod (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
Left of The Dial: Conversations with Punk Icons by David Ensminger (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth by John Robb (A comprehensive history of Goth) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
Punk Zines by Eddie Piller and Steve Rowland (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
The High Desert by James Spooner ( A graphic novel memoir of how the authro came into the scene) (ghost--in-a-machine)
Let Fury Have The Hour by Antonio D'Ambrosio (About the band The Clash) (anonymous submission)
MOVIES / DOCUMENTARIES:
Masque (A 10 minute doc about the Masque club in LA) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)
ARTICLES:
History of Anarcho-Punk and Peace Punk (mushroomjar)
Late 80s and Early 90s Puerto Rico Hardcore Punk (mushroomjar)
The Jewish History of Punk (mushroomjar)
Japan's Impact on Punk Culture (mushroomjar)
The Forgotten Story of Pure Hell, America's First Black Punk Band (mushroomjar)
The Black Punk Pioneers Who Made Music History (mushroomjar)
Why Poly Styrene is Punk's Great Lost Icon (mushroomjar)
Alternative to Alternatives: The Black Grrrls Riot Ignored (mushroomjar)
Abandoning The Ear? Punk and Deaf Convergences Part II (mushroomjar)
Race, Anarchy, and Punk Rock: The Impact of Cultural Boundaries Within The Anarchist Movement (mushroomjar)
Street Medic Handbook (safety-pin-punk)
ZINES:
Sticking To It (safety-pin-punk)
So You Say You Want An Insurrection (safety-pin-punk)
All Power To The People (safety-pin-punk)
How to Survive a Felony Trial: Keeping Your Head up through the Worst of It (safety-pin-punk)
Collectives: Anarchy Against The Mass (safety-pin-punk)
Social War on Stolen Native Land: Anarchist Contributions (safety-pin-punk)
A Civilian's Guide to Direct Action (safety-pin-punk)
Critical Thinking as Anarchist Weapon (safety-pin-punk)
Security Culture: A Handbook for Activists (safety-pin-punk)
Betrayal: A Critical Analysis of Rape Culture in Anarchist Subcultures (safety-pin-punk)
ETC:
The Anarcho-Stencilism Subreddit (people upload stencils for others to use for free) (mushroomjar)
I would love to make a Vol. 3 post next year, so if you have resources and want to share, PLEASE message me!! (Preferably DMs)
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kaijuparfait · 11 months ago
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long ramble of me going through the venom trailer because i am insane totally normal about it
this isn't anything professional, just me spouting out random words as i run around in circles like an excited dog-
OK LET'S GO:
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firstly... king please change your clothes its been years, why are you still wearing that exact same outfit???
BUT i am a sucker for the light going over and past Eddie as he walks, i just think it's so cool hehe,,
E: "You should probably know that I have a really dark and unpredictable side to me."
hmmm... i'll believe you. at first, it sounds like he's telling this to Venom, but I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie is telling this to someone else and this "dark and unpredictable side" is Venom.... Or he is telling this to Venom and Eddie just really wants to kill now which. I am ok with that, love that for them, they should be allowed to do what they want
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cleanly punching off the lock via the ~ Power of Friendship ~ (or something like that)
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not the dogs :( i'm assuming this is a place to hold dogs for like. dog fighting?? i think? which is terrible and those guys deserved to get their heads eaten!
E: "I'm giving you a chance, sweetie."
LET. EDDIE. KILL. everyone say thank you Tom Hardy for being Eddie cause WOAH i am. normal.
V: "Just say "when"." E: "...when."
WE'RE SO BACK its just like the "Mask!" "Copy." bit from the first movie omg we're so back, these two make me ill i love them sm
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also Eddie not even flinching at the knife, most likely Venom turning off the pain (or something) but I like to think Eddie's just cool like that (these close ups of Eddie's face makes me wanna do a study on him, just draw him a million times for the fun of it, and i will! Tom Hardy is a beautiful man!)
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either venom is fully acting as shoes or Eddie is wear the most busted up pair of crocs i have ever seen and both options are so great. either way- KICK! that guy is GONE you even see him slouched against the wall, surrounded by bricks in a later scene, Venom and Eddie are not messing around this movie!
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I- hhhhh. ok. I'm ok. Yeah these two are NOT messing around, Eddie could not care less about these dudes, there is no hesitating, no guilt, no fear in this man's expression AND I LOVE IT <333 GET ANGRY! GET SCARY!!!
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AND WE HAVE THE BOI. THERE HE IS!!! the roar sounds different too i think, it's very cool tho, feels like a shrill, higher pitch than i expected but i don't dislike it
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let the dogs be free! they immediately start attacking those guys and i love it <3 doggy :3
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AND EDDIE IS FIGHTING TOO WOOOOO i need to redraw all of these frame cause WHEW! making me blush with these shot compositions, so good. so much trust, Eddie knows Venom will keep him safe and jumps in! literally! i adore how Venom's head is following him too, it's so creepy, the way it just slithers through the air, I wish to send all my love to the teams who work on Venom, there are so many points from the trailer and the first 2 movies that I wanna dissect, just to point out all his little movements, very fun
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speaking of his little movements- squinty eyes :3 and the half venom, half eddie face again! always a win, forever iconic <3
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tearing apart this venom scene OK! the little tendrils by Eddie's face, the way they move around is so UGH its so weird and i adore it! This "pose" is also fun because we really get to see the inside of Venom's mouth, most importantly his teeeeeth, in a long, pretty still shot that isn't when his mouth is wide open, the artist in me is loving it
also the team always does an amazing job on just making Venom look alien- the thick veins, the shiny black skin, and the tendrils that are holding up the bad guy split apart, instead of being just one tentacle, very gross, but in a good way
E: "We.. are..-" V: "WE ARE VENOM!" E: "We.. are..-" V: "VENOM!!" E: "No.."
They share one braincell, holy fudge, I love symbrock fjdkslfjsdk
and Eddie just keeps trying! same tone, same level, and Venom is so excited
V: "Oh!"
(I also love these shots because we get a nice close up of how Venom's mouth moves when pronouncing words)
E: "Yeah.. We.." V: "We.." E + V: "are... Venom." E: "...We really need to work on that."
and they get there eventually lmao, the way they say it is so in sync, even the eye movements are the same, how they open wider, and THE VOICES hhhh the voices.,,.. Tom Hardy is such a good. voice actor? in this sense ig.. i am on the ground, pure joy with how Eddie and Venom's voices overlap here
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and Venom goes to town! lovely meal <3 getting a meal with the bf <3
I am LOOKING oh my goodness his mouth can open WIDE... normal feelings rn, yup, mhm!
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doggy :D dog friends :D also Eddie no shot you stole that guy's shoes lmao??? nice boots tho (as someone who wears cowboy boots often, i would love to see Eddie in a full outfit.. putting that in the drawing idea list...)
V: "DELICIOUS! You take me to all the finest places!"
see! dinner date! :3 I can just hear the smile on Venom, i love when he's happy
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and the world's most pathetic wet cat of a man (I say with the upmost affection) is back!
more proof that Eddie is never NOT sweating and that Tom Hardy's Eddie voice has the most confusing accent- i think he's saying
E: "Honey, I don't know."
but he could very well just be stuttering, or maybe he stopped midway and instead said "I need- I don't know." but i'm hoping they're at the point of pet names, go full comic, let Eddie call Venom "love" and "dear" and "my darling"
[Edit- thank you @.bridoesotherjunk for pointing out that he says "I need a Tylenol." i need better listening comprehension i guess??? lol?]
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i don't know 100% of the Venom lore, still have tons of comics to read, so i won't talk much about the potential storyline here but- 4 SYMBIOTES!! maybe maybe maybe the Life Foundation Symbiotes... these babies got some funky colors.. they already used the name Riot but these 4 could be Lasher, Phage, Scream and Agony if i pray hard enough, the colors don't match but i can dream!
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totally not emotional over this little bit of Venom that was left behind from that one after credits scene trying to bond with a host gently. yup yeah my heart isn't hurting at all!
LET MY BOY GO, HE DID NO WRONG!!!
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my favorite local cryptid, what a creature
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and he changed! finally! nice shirt tho, buttoned up only part way? the HAIR??? good stuff
fire seems to be a known weakness now, looking at the background, and i can't guess what they're looking up at, Eddie does speed up for it tho. I'm gonna say either a helicopter or something else they're gonna try and jump up to? Venom does go-
V: "OH SHIT"
during this scene so maybe it's one of those Symbiotes from before? Who knows, I could guess a hundred things but idk
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THE WATER SCENE!! FROM THAT ONE BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTO TOM HARDY POSTED!!!
Venom in the last bit and Eddie being just himself if the first portion of these clips show that these guys 100% know what they're doing and have some sort of device (shown in the right image) that is capable of doing some crazy damage to Venom! Which! Oh no!!! I enjoy fight scenes underwater tho (Looks at Godzilla), very hyped for this one, I really wanna see how Venom swims. Yeah that sounds a bit weird but like. no way he's swimming like a human, c'mon now
E: "We are living the dream, my friend V: "You mean it?!" E: "NO."
Can't get over Venom's delivery here, he sounds so genuinely, it made me laugh, especially to how exhausted Eddie sounds lmao
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LAS VEGAS??? y'all guessed right, they really are gonna get married in vegas,,
Eddie in a suit, HELLO??? my guy is looking snazzy! really tho, he looks so nice a suit, the BLACK AND WHITE suit? perfect. I saw people saying that they hope that Venom is the suit and just. me too..
MRS. CHEN RETURNS omg this cast are all so <333 she is GORGEOUS that dress is beautiful on her AND HER HAIR Mrs. Chen my beloved
Mrs. Chen sounds so happy to see Eddie, and Venom also very excitedly say hi, my heart is going to burst, it is overflowing, this part of the trailer makes me smile so much AND THEN THEY DANCE WITH EACH OTHER!!! I know it's called The Last Dance but I was not expecting a dance with Mrs. Chen??? I am more than ok with this tho, Venom and Mrs. Chen, dancing on the stairs, they look so happy, they're having such a good time i can't, my heart can't take this <3
AND LOOK HOW THEY HOLD HER HANDS.. they... they care about each other so much i'm going to cry in the theaters- no i'm gonna cry NOW.
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is that a xenophage i see??? that thing is HUGE HUH??? i fully understand Venom in this (side note, i ADORE how Venom goes "JESUS CHRIST" upon seeing this thing, the line delivery get's better every film, that was so genuine) this design is insane tho, i might spend some time doing a study on it
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Toxin is here! YIPPEE!!! love the voice, thought it was Venom for a second the first time i watch this but its pretty good
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I have no clue who the people are that are in this tower thing, I've seen a few theories but i ain't embarrassing myself by guessing wrong here lmao
(running out of image spaces sorry!)
in the clip of Venom walking into this lab (?) and then getting violently shot at, is it just me or does Venom seem small? I'm guessing the door is just really big but like. idk maybe i'm just mixing up my Venoms and thinking that he's not as big as I remember
really quick cut of what may be 2 more Symbiotes like the 4 from earlier? maybe they're the same and are just changing colors, maybe they're new, who knows! I love their colors tho, the one on the right (in the clip) looks like it's blue and pink and i think that's cute
Xenophage breaks into this lab, love that for her, she is still terrifying!
E: "We may not make it out of this alive, buddy."
haha what do you mean by that king?
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V: "Eddie... the time has come..."
HAHA PAUSE. uhm. he said the same thing last time at the end of Let There Be Carnage and Eddie didn't let him go but, istg, IF THEY DIE AT THE END OF THIS MOVIE. i know its the last of the trilogy BUT THEY DON'T NEED TO DIE, SONY, MARVEL, DON'T DO THIS TO ME. i am going cry violently at the writers... i don't think i will ever stop crying if they die at the end
they're in this busted up helicopter, already intriguing, but when it zooms in on Eddie's face, he's tearing up??? this movie is checking off every emotion, i need to remember to stay hydrated before i go see it, i will cry so much
I don't even think i'll be able to handle just one of them dying, the end of the first movie made me tear up the first time i saw it, and that was before i was as insane about them as i am now, i will be UNWELL in the theater
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And last but certainly not least. HORSE VENOM WOOOOOO
the design for this things is insane, i didn't think i'd ever wanna draw a horse in my life but like.. kinda changing my mind ngl (weird detail, Venom horse has hands and feet and not hooves!)
E: "Be honest with me, how fast do you think you can make that thing go, without killing it?" V: "..ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!"
Venom sounds a bit muffled in this clip which makes it a bit more funny to me, i won't lie. Eddie is hanging on FOR HIS LIFE THOUGH, geez i know he said "how fast" but Eddie gets LAUNCHED OFF VENOM when they go over that cliff. fun reference to the first movie, how Venom grabs onto Eddie as he flies up, like on the motorcycle <3
this horse scene has to be earlier on because Eddie is in The Outfit and is also not wearing shoes??? i refuse to believe he'd put it back on, and in the helicopter-"it is time" clip, Eddie is wearing that white shirt, which looks like the undershirt to the suit (maybe) so the Las Vegas scene happens before them running from the explosion/fire.
oh right, the song that's playing? Space Oddity by David Bowie? yeah it's about an astronaut dying along in space.... which... is not very comforting...
god this trailer makes me so hyped, October cannot come faster i need this movie NOW. please.
man the trailer is kinda confusing, i'm already making guesses on where things happen and what the context could be, but literally anything could happen in this film. there are so many things that just don't make sense yet and it's hurting my brain I JUST WANNA KNOW! are those new Symbiotes or not? What even is the plot? Will Eddie and Venom profess their love to each other? Will Sleeper be real? How many times will this movie make me cry? Only time will tell
...and it's only the first trailer! head so full of thoughts, heart so full of emotions!
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roseworth · 3 months ago
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Who do you think Rose's best friends in her age group are? Or should be?
well its a complicated question because i am in a constant battle with dc as to what her age group actually is. but everything i say is canon forever
first of all obviously i have to say bart allen. thats her bestie that is one of the only people she gives a shit about thats her buddy!!! ive said before that the real tragedy of bart & rose is that they just keep barely missing each other, because they meet when rose is too busy mourning her mom to make friends, then the next time they see each other is right before slade starts drugging her, then when she finally joins the team its right before bart gets aged up then dies (or whatever happened to him in oyl idk). then when they finally are on the same team at the same time the universe resets 2 weeks later :( but theyre still friends !! to me!!!! i dont care if its been 15 years theyre still besties ok
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the next obvious one is eddie bloomberg <333 he is pretty much the only person on the teen titans that she consistently likes and he likes her :( she fights with literally everyone but eddie is always there for her AND always defends her when people come for her :(((( AND every time hes in danger she drops everything to find him and ouggghhgghh..... but she wasnt there when he died and we never actually get to see her reaction to his death and that kills me every day forever
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anyways. sigh. the next one is jason. as much as i think he should stay away from her unfortunately they are besties and i love their dynamic 😔 i am never abandoning my "theyre just friends but she thinks its funny to pretend theyre fucking" headcanon which makes all their interactions so iconic to me. ive talked extensively about my thoughts on jayrose here so i wont go into it again but. as much as i fear for rose's characterization i DO love it when they interact </3 i want them to keep showing up together if their relationship stays ambiguous
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NEXT. this one is a little bit less canon but still canon to me. connor hawke. in the secret version of robin 2021 in my head, connor & rose become besties on the island because theyre the "big kids" who are around the same age while damian & the others are like 14 so these two end up bonding. i also think rose would think it was awesome that connor was able to kill her so easily (bc the only other person who could was respawn and he only did it because he got a cheap shot while her back was turned) and then she'd be a little disappointed once she found out that connor actually doesnt kill anyone outside of the tournament. but shed still like him a lot i think bc she does tend to get along with people who dont like to kill. half the hero community looks at rose and goes "i could fix her" while she is actively making herself worse
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also obviously i have to say cassie. its hard to consider them "friends" since theyre constantly fighting but i blame sean mckeever for that. theyre FRIENDS they actually do get along and so much of their arguments are really just flirting bickering :( their love language is being mean to each other but they actually do like each other ok!!!!! you have to believe me because i love them
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and toni monetti!!! shoutout to the only female character rose has ever had only positive interactions with for more than 1 panel
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and! i have a lot less evidence for these next few but its real to me
first of all mia dearden. they've had one interaction ever but that was enough to convince me they should be friends. this is so so important to me theyre besties and i know it
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also stephanie brown. they've only been in the same room on panel once but i just know theyre secretly besties. and rose has called her cute so its yuri too
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and finally. the one that i have the least evidence for is lorena marquez. you guys just have to believe me that they would be best friends. just knowing the two characters i just know they would get along so well if they were only given the chance... they could be haters together :(
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anyways in conclusion rose needs more girl friends. most of the people she Actually gets along with are men and im sick and tired of it. let her make friends with girls. or better yet..... let her make out with girls
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weirdmarioenemies · 5 months ago
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Name: Eddie
Debut: Mega Man 4
Mega Man 1 was the first game in the series, introducing us to the now-iconic hero. Mega Man 2 is a refinement of the formula, possibly the most beloved of the franchise. Mega Man 3 introduced a cool robot dog with all sorts of abilities! And Mega Man 4?
Eddie
I love Eddie, of course! Why wouldn't I? He's a little guy, a little robot guy. But you have to admit he is funny as a character. Eddie is basically a container with legs. He shows up to give you an Item. But this is a video game! The realm where Items abound naturally! They could have just put the item on the ground or something. But they DIDN'T, you see. They made it a whimsical little guy, and that's always the way to go!
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He's really just such a little guy. Look at that guy! He's a good fellow! I've never actually played a game with Eddie in it. I just like him. If I didn't know about him before playing the game, though, I'm sure I would instinctively think he was an enemy! He doesn't look threatening, sure, but Mega Man enemies are always cute. He just wants to share a gift, but it would be easy to assume he's trying to share a bomb, or something. Which he does sometimes toss out of himself in other appearances, making him a bit more involved in the action!
But I think I quite like how he's such a non-action bot. He's here to transport objects, and he's doing it the best he can. If we could ever play as Eddie, it would not be exciting one bit. And it shouldn't be! That just wouldn't be eddy (adjective meaning "like Eddie"). He's not just a glorified suitcase, mind you- he is able to teleport things through himself. He's cool! I swear! Have I mentioned I love that his name is Eddie? My little pal Edward who is made of pixels.
Eddie has kind of a weird existence! Just like Mega Man (and lots of the other robots) he was made by Dr. Light, but was not completed, and sent to help anyway. After this, he was never "retrieved"... was he abandoned? That would be messed up! Eddie has feelings! Maybe he just wandered off and did his own thing, of his own volition? That's probably it. Independent Eddie. He doesn't have to listen to you, DAD!
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Eddie is often seen hanging out with fellow funny robot Auto, and they seem to be best friends. Perhaps even more...? Whatever their exact relationship, they are that classic style of Big And Little Guy Duo. I hope they call each other Big Buddy and Little Buddy.
Where there is light... there is darkness.
Where there is Eddie...
There is Anti-Eddie.
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Anti-Eddie is the opposite of Eddie, of course! He's Bad! And he will not give you things. He will take them! Pursue the prize, lest the purple purloiner peel out! "It took them all the way until Mega Man 11 to make Anti-Eddie, but I think we can agree it was well worth the wait," I say as if I or anyone in the world was ever patiently waiting for an evil version of Eddie to exist. But I can never be upset with more Eddie, even if it is a bad guy! Anti-Eddie's Japanese name is Waru Eddie. And you, Mario fan reading this, get a kick out of that for sure!
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wallys-left-eyeball · 24 days ago
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ok after two (edit: 3.5) hours i am finally done viewing what i THINK is the whole update. my thoughts and a few significant things i noticed!!!!! (spoilers obviously)
disclaimer: i’m a crazy welcome home fan but my memory is literally so bad, so please point out if i’m digging deep into some detail that’s been there since last update or however long ago 💀 eddie’s my fav for a reason bless (this mess)
🍎 they publicly executed wally in the town square :( no but seriously what. so far he is removed from the main page’s opening graphic, main page’s bottom banner, and welcome home page’s top drawing (which has been renamed to “_and_barnaby”
🍎 on that note, on the neighborhood page, wally’s canvas is gone and he is no longer looking at us. on top of that, the button to leave says “go back” and his “that’s the most!” audio was replaced with a freaky distorted phone ringing.
🍎 this could be something i just hadn’t noticed before, but remember when the old stickers page had that one gif that, when you opened it, would rotate between the characters’ eyes faster and faster until it would linger on wally’s eyes? that gif is completely normal now. it still lingers on wally’s eyes, but the gif doesn’t become distorted or move quicker anymore. once again seems like wally getting his main character energy wiped
• i just realized i’ve been essentially listing things abt this update but that’s not what i’m here to do!!!! go look at it for yourself!!!!!
🍎 but yeah. i’m very deeply worried about him. did anyone else notice that in this update he sounds kind of dead? except in the radio, where he sounded like…. as alive and cheerful as ever? weird….
🍎 edit 2: creds to @/citrineaura for leading me to /ringring... oh my god wally :( i feel SO bad for him AAAUGHHH... i still can't tell if he is talking to us as the viewers or talking to W
🍎 edit 2: stole this from @/citrineaura as well but i 100% see how it could entirely be the whrp silencing wally and even being behind playfellow. why would the staff do that to him if they didn't have some kind of sinister plan????
🏠 oh but on the note of wally being slowly scrubbed from the website, home is cleaned up too. the black goop is replaced with a paint splatter, and the black spiral behind home is replaced with a cutesy little scribble. makes me wonder if home is behind all this
🏠 edit 2: i no longer believe home is behind this just because of /ringring. wally seemed too friendly with home lolz
🏠 home’s gif on the neighborhood page is now called “seeyoutogether”
🦋 way less deep of a detail but frank’s got lil eyelashes now :3 my non-binary king
🌸 the cards on floriography all have different flowers on them. i’m not a flower nerd and i’m too lazy to deal with flower language but i’m sure some nerd is gonna post “🤓☝️erm well this flower means frank is gonna die” or something so. lmk when that happens!!
🌸 edit: thank you to @/capribornio for giving me da links to the deep stuff 🙏 but WOW that was. wow i was really tearing up there. so moving and so so sad and so relatable </3 i don’t even know what she’s yapping about but whatever it is is incredibly relatable
🌸 edit: to me it sounds like. julie’s switching between a human and a puppet consciousness???? i don’t really know how to describe it, but it doesn’t really seem like she’d just be masking with a super strenuous voice like that, like that takes WORK. idk!!!!!
🌸 i kind of interpreted that as if she was grieving someone. maybe feeling guilty for someone’s lost life? but it could also be not that deep, and maybe something terrible will happen to her if she doesn’t make all the flowers bloom
🌿 jonesy joyful green cool version of red guy dhmis
🌼 god frank and julie were my fav duo before but NOWWWW. literally wlw and mlm solidarity i love them SO MUCH……. my fav icons ever
💻 the logo(s) have less mold than before on them… still mold there!! but idk it looks like it healed a little bit
💻 i’m genuinely SO BAD at args but there doesn’t seem to be any outright hidden links/websites this time around? spoil it for me in the comments if there is but idk…. even awayfrompryingeyes is down which makes me think maybe W (the curator of it) got caught? or something happened to them?
💻 edit 3: clown posted that awayfrompryingeyes was back up so i had 2 hop on.... tbh i have nothing to say about it other than that i think wally could be the one sending all this info to W and also oh my god did they actually drink the bottle of joy. jesus
• edit 3: to end this on a stupid note: this is so niche but when i saw the bottle of joy i immediately thought of we happy few because the game also has bottles of joy LMFAO
i think that’s all i wanted to talk about (other than some sillies i’m posting separately)!! obviously i didn’t cover all of it, these r just some thoughts i had while going through it all :D ugh such a STUNNING update as always!!! frank and julie’s vas COOOOOKED with this one….. literally so adorable and expressive UGH fantastic update as always <333
edit 4: i posted a couple resources: brightened toybox photo / hidden frank photo (with my theories)
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hotvintagepoll · 1 year ago
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Propaganda
Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)—iconic actress with purple eyes and a double row of eyelashes, the real ebony dementia ravenway of old hollywood. known for her stunning tastes when it comes to jewelry and her incredible, incredible advocacy during the AIDS crisis.
Clara Bow (Wings, It)—The original It Girl (literally), Clara was the epitome of a flapper film star. She was obviously a looker, but it was her acting that won over hearts. Watch the movie It (no clowns) to get a sense of her charms. And while she's most known for her silents, (including Wings, the winner of the first ever Best Picture Academy award) she did make some talkies! Contrary to popular belief, sound films didn't ruin her career; she reportedly just hated the process of making them. She had a really interesting background and it's a shame she's not as well remembered as others of her time.
This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.
[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]
Elizabeth Taylor:
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I've been trying to steer clear of the absurdly-big names, but damnit, those violet eyes got me. The *talent*, the *presence*, the string of marriages and (temporally out-of-bounds) work in combating AIDS and pioneering in the concept of the celebrity fragrance line.
Not only did she have gorgeous violet eyes and lashes for days and one of the hottest voices ever, she was also a big supporter of the gay community
Child actress turned starlet, Liz dominated films as one of the greatest screen legends of classic hollywood. If your protagonist has violet eyes, they're imitating hers.
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A Legend. She was serving milf rage in Whos Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. A Star in every sense of the word.
She was renowned for the beauty of her eyes; they were a dark blue but could look violet in certain lighting, something that photographers would actually touch up to look even more so in pictures. But even more striking was a genetic mutation that gave her a double row of eyelashes. She was also famed for her string of husbands -- 8 marriages to 7 men. Two-time hubby Richard Burton once said she was “a wildly exciting love-mistress… beautiful beyond the dreams of pornography.”
Her EYES. Early and loud support for gay rights and AIDS victims. Married a bunch of hot dudes, Burton twice!
just look at her. she's gorgeous. there's a video somewhere of her applying her eyeliner in the mirror and I think about it all the time
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THE Hollywood actress of all time. Not only was she known for her long dark locks and blue-violet eyes, she also had one of the wildest life stories ever….. She’s Carrie Fisher’s stepmother because her father Eddie Fisher cheated on Debbie Reynolds with Liz. She was knighted as a dame of England. She was married to seven different men, one of them twice. She was also very kindhearted and did a lot of charity activism.
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Asides from being an iconic actor, she did a lot of philanthropy and co founded the American Foundation for AIDS research. She’s sometimes considered one of the last great stars of old hollywood
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Clara Bow:
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The original it girl! Flapper icon! She's sooo fun and charming and confident, it just shines through any film or picture you see of her.
I love love love her genderbendy boy style and her cute twinkly performances!! watch wings i s2g she absolutely brings it
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She has gorgeous doe eyes, how can you not love her?
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She's literally THE It Girl. Like actually, she's the term's namesake. She was an extremely prolific silent film actress with a reputation for wild behavior who defined the 20s flapper era. Her boyish frame, androgynous style, and red curly hair were widely emulated.
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strangerthingsfanworkrecs · 3 months ago
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Would love to nominate an artist: hearsegrrl Rachel is one of the friendliest artists I know. She is so supportive of other artists and writers, and although she's extremely busy irl, she still makes time for fandom and always drops the most iconic works. She's incredibly humble, and deserves all the love and recognition in the world.
This week, we're highlighting @hearsegrrl as an artist! All recs this week will be her art.
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see the original here She answered some questions about her work under the cut
Why Stranger Things?
Honestly I had never seen it before season 4, but when it dropped I started getting a bunch of Eddie edits on my TikTok and was like “WOAH, I gotta know more about that guy right now.” I binged the whole season over a couple days, fell in love with his character, remade a Tumblr account for the first time since my early teens, and started drawing him pretty much immediately.
What's your favorite ship (platonic or romantic) to create for?
I love how much people love Steddie. I love a two himbos in love dynamic and I love their interactions in the show, even if they were brief they obviously stuck with people.
What's your typical drawing process like?
Oh jeez. Long. Once I have an idea I’m pretty eager to start on it asap, I collect a lot of references for what I’m thinking googling model poses, random band member candids, or taking weird self timer pics of myself posing in my kitchen and then cut and paste and collage them into something close enough to what I want and then kind of draw a “skeleton” over all of that just to save a couple hours, but that process still usually takes me about 2-3 hours to get it perfect. The piece I’m working on right now has a lot of little pieces in it and that part of the process took ten hours alone. Then I have a line drawing that I block base colors into, lock all of those, and then kind of fully render out each part at a time- skin, hair, shirt, pants, accessories, whatever else. I spend a good 75% of that process going “AHHHHH I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS WORKING,” and then somehow it all comes together in the end. Sometimes depending on the piece, I’ve liked finding random stock images to kind of overlay in the background, it makes him feel so much more real and lifelike to me. Lately, the fully rendered stuff I’ve been posting takes anywhere from 12-20 hours of drawing. I tattoo full time 11-7 or later 5 days a week on top of drawing for appointments outside of work and usually only have time to draw for a couple hours at a time, or a little on the weekends so I try to be as efficient as possible.
Do you have a favorite tool for drawing?
I used to do a lot of painting for work and pastel pencil drawings for fun but I switched over to an iPad Pro a few years ago and it’s so much easier to be able to just draw on the couch and not drag out a bunch of materials and make a mess. I use Procreate for work and for fandom art.
Do you have any tips for drawing clothes?
Using references or making your own references to take pictures of! They’re a relief to get to because they don’t need to be perfect, unlike a face that is very anxiety inducing so don’t overthink it.
What has been your favorite project so far?
I really, really love the one I’m working on right now, I don’t know if I’ll post it (and if you’re reading this after Valentine’s Day you may have already seen it) because it’s a gift but it’s been the most fun and silly and therapeutic. But I love any “Eddie with an occupation” or AU moment, doing the baseball AU drawings for @brock-eddie was so much fun and I love how they turned out.
What has been your hardest project so far?
The Christmas Steddie one was kind of a pain in the ass because it took so long and had so many more little parts than just drawing one character, but I was happy with how it turned out. There’s a couple WIPs in my iPad that I would love to finish but they just weren’t turning out how I wanted them, I want to revisit them but I might have to scrap them and start over. Everyone is so nice I’m sure I could post them now and people would be stoked but things have to be perfect or I lay in bed at night and regret posting them for literally weeks.
Have you ever had a creative block?
Not really for coming up with ideas, but finding the energy to sit down and draw after working all day is hard sometimes. I have a weird thing where I don't want to draw for a little bit, I have to be in the headspace to work for at least 2-3 hours at a time or I just won't do it.
Is there a big source of inspiration for you? Books? Art? Games?
UGH, BEIN IN LOVE. Being a weird alt girl in Indiana. Eddie is so my type and for the first time I had a huge crush on a character that I felt like I could be his type too. I’m a tattooer going to metal shows in my free time in 🤠Waynedale, Indiana🤠, it is so easy to picture him living in my town and going the same places I do and through art I can make him real. There are so many talented writers on here who have brought him to life and I love and am inspired to draw by the fics that really flesh out the fact that he’s so earnest and has all these deeper feelings but he’s still a ding dong twentyish year old boy doing ding dong twentyish year old boy things. @jo-harrington's store manager verse, @wheels-of-despair's Evil Woman fics, and @courtingchaos's writings all fill me with DEEP, ACHING YEARNING for a boy like him, and no matter how sucky and unimpressive dudes in real life are, they make him so nice and funny, and I can dress him up however I want and draw him from the viewer’s perspective and there is something so therapeutic and comforting about that. I’ve been through a lot of dumb and mildly traumatizing stuff the last couple of years and reading fanfic again and drawing fanart has brought me so much peace and happiness in all of it.
What's your favorite way to get comments or interactions on your art?
I’m always really excited to finish a piece and get to post it here ASAP just to see everyone’s reactions. I’m so proud of the work that gets put into them but I’m never going to post them on a more public forum like my Instagram, I do them for myself and for the little group of people here I know it’ll bring joy to and it’s really fun to share that joy with everyone. When I’m sad, I go through the tags in the reblogs because people are so funny and sweet about them.
Is there an upcoming project you're particularly excited about?
Nothing specific right now, I’m about to get really busy with real work so I may have to slow down a little. I get a lot of ideas around the holidays/seasons changing because I love the more themed drawings, so after Valentine’s Day hopefully I’ll have some cute spring ideas to work on! I always like getting requests to see what people are wanting to see. I can’t always get to them because of work but sometimes they spark ideas for bigger projects.
Is there anything we forgot to ask?
I don’t think so! Love you all so much, for real. Time to write and draw more Eddie stomping out fascist weirdos. The world really sucks right now but everyone contributing to this fandom is creating a positive space and helping us get away from it all, I am so grateful for all of the talented people here for making life more bearable right now.
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imjusthopelessenough · 1 month ago
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Reddie (IT) Fic Rec
If there's anything that I consider myself an authority on, it is reading Reddie fics. This has been my hyper fixation since I watched the mini-series as a child. Since the glowup of the community, I have read SO MANY fics. These are all of the ones that I feel like are must-reads and have personally myself re-read countless times like my life depended on it. If you liked a fic, make sure to leave kudos and comments for the author! (Feel free to come and chat about it with me as well!)
Obligatory disclaimer: Just because I read a certain trope, or idea does not mean that I agree with it or align my values with it. Read at your own discretion.
the word's been passed (this is our last chance) - quarterdeck 44k one-shot
Summary:
“Uh, Spaghetti?” Richie waves a hand in front of his face, looking worried now. “Hello? Do you want to let me know whatever it was that was so important you had to drag me awake for it or -” “I have a turtle in my pocket that speaks to me in my head and is possessed by Bruce Springsteen,” Eddie blurts out. “Also I think it may be God.” Richie stares blankly at him. “What,” he asks flatly, “the fuck.” “Or a god, at least, I don’t know,” Eddie continues, “Either way, I think it was the one who brought me back to life, so. You know. The chances are very good.” -- It's been forty years. Eddie Kaspbrak is just trying to make it out of the river.
THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FIC!!!! I feel like I talk about this piece at least once a week. If you at any point liked IT or felt interested in Reddie you have to read this fic. It is truly so amazingly well written, and I can't say enough kind words about it and I've read this fic at least 10x. Basically, Eddie comes back from the dead but he has a Bruce Springsteen turtle helping him guide his way. It's cute, it's campy, they're both dumbasses in love, and I believe this was one of the first instances of the iconic "The Turtle CAN help us," tag. A minor side note, quarterdeck is an amazing writer and will be recced either in this list or another list again. If you're looking for a good fix-it, dumbasses in love, and Bill rightfully getting his shit wrecked, look no further!
2. keep talking. i’ll keep walking toward the sound of your voice. - theappleppielifestyle 16k one-shot
Summary:
Eddie makes another noise, not quite a scream but not anything else either. Stan drops his hand. “Hey, Eddie,” he says. “Welcome to the peanut gallery. I wrote you a letter, but I guess you won’t get it now.” (Or, Eddie and Stan stick around as ghosts after they die. Unable to make themselves known to the other Losers, they have to find other ways to communicate.)
Big big fan of Stan and Eddie being sarcastic besties. I also love the ghost trope. This is such a good read. Basically, Eddie and Stan are ghosts and are watching the losers from the veil. We also get Patty in this one who is such an underrated character. If you're looking for a read that is slightly introspective but not super lore heavy that features Stan and Eddie, read this!
3. the mind's a funny fruit - joldiego 22k multi-chaptered (must have ao3 to read)
Summary:
A man wakes up in Derry, Maine with no memory and a hole in his chest. He names himself Richie and moves on from there.
Now normally, I am not a big fan of original characters being in fics. It feels random and inorganic and doesn't really serve a narrative focus. This fic is not the case! The lesbian B&B characters are so fun and cute and are actually fleshed out enough that you care about them! Basically, Eddie wakes up in the sewers and finds himself adopted by a sweet couple after not being able to be identified and has no memories. As time goes on, he slowly starts to remember things. If you're looking for a fic that highlights Richie's trauma from losing Eddie, the trauma of dying, and overall Loser Club feels, you should read this!
4. and nothing hurts anymore, i feel kind of free - elsaclack 13k one-shot
Summary:
“You have to remember,” Richie says. “You have to remember, Eddie. They need you. He needs you. They can’t do it without you.” Eddie furrows his brow. Everything about the conversation thus far has felt familiar, almost like hearing a once-beloved song for the first time in several years, but these words fall foreign on Eddie’s ears; he is very suddenly overcome with the distinct feeling that he’s no longer listening to Richie speak. He clenches his jaw against Richie’s shoulder, but does not open his eyes. “There isn’t a lot of time,” not-Richie says. “It’s watching you. It’s coming for you. For both of you.” The warning stirs something to life - fear, bone-deep and chilling. Eddie gets the feeling that he knows what it is, though he can’t quite grasp the memory; it slips through his fingers like sand in the breeze. The lights move faster, and Eddie does not dare open his eyes. “You don’t deserve this,” not-Richie says mournfully. “You never did.” “Why, then?” Eddie asks before he can stop himself. Not-Richie is quiet for a long moment. “He needs you,” he says eventually, “and you’re braver than you think.”
If there was a reddie fic that I could force everyone in the fandom to read, it would be this one because it is so underrated! I look at it and I can't believe that it's not one of the top rated fics because the writing is that good. All of their works deserve more praise, and it truly astounds me that more people don't know about them. The style that this fic is written in is amazing! The only complaint that I could really make about it is that it's not very read-aloud friendly due to said style. Each paragraph ending leads into another portion of the story which sounds weird, but it works so well! It's really hard to describe this fic so you should just read it and see what I'm talking about, it's not even that long!
5. you belong with your love on your arm - elsaclack 33k one-shot
Summary:
Maggie received the enchanted mantel clock three days before Richie’s first birthday as a gift from Wentworth’s Great-Aunt Grace. It’s a beautiful, ornate thing - three delicate, spindling silver arms branching out from its center, each arm bearing a sepia-tinted portrait in its thumb-sized head of Went, herself, and Richie, respectively.  Maggie can tell right away that it’s hand-made - one simply can’t find this kind of craftsmanship out of any old trinket shop down on Diagon Alley - and she finds herself fighting back an absurd wave of tears as she traces her fingers over the thin glass case protecting the clock’s face, watching the way Portrait Richie silently babbles up at the hand-lettered word Home over his head.
Another Elsaclack because I love them and they need more recognition. Obligatory fuck JK Rowling because this is an HP setting fic. This fic takes the two ideas of Maggie Wentworth loving her son more than anything and HP and forces them together and it's beautiful. Now, I am not a big fan of reading fics set from an outsider POV. I want to know everything that is going on and it feels like a waste of time to have to get to learn things from an outside perspective. Not the case here! The POV is very organic and nothing is really lost. Basically, this is a Maggie POV detailing how Richie meets the Loser's club and goes through Hogwarts, with slight canon from IT taking over at minor portions. Can't recommend it enough.
6. for a better run, pile your clothes - petalloso 13k one-shot
Summary:
Richie liked the thrill of knowing he had been just fast enough, the skim of air at a barely missed strike. He liked egging them on, a matador of the violent. Mostly though he liked the way Eddie made him feel, like he was nursing a broken heart before he could ever work up the nerve to confess and have it broken in the first place. And maybe that was fucked up but it was more than that, too. Eddie was wicked smart, stupid hot, brave and beautiful, and sometimes Richie looked at him and he was already looking back and Richie thought maybe. And then Eddie would bite his lip and look away and Richie would think no. (Vigilantes by night, best friends by day, Richie and Eddie are in love with both versions of each other)
Now, this is not tagged as such but if I had to describe this fic it would be as such: Miraculous Ladybug, College AU. And that basically sums up the entire fic. You've got the iconic four-square love angle superhero vigilante and they're in college trying to make it through life. It's a really cute AU fic and I love it a lot. If you're looking for less clownery and more dumbasses in love, this is for you.
7. Parent-Teacher Conference -trickdaggers 75k multi-chaptered
Summary:
Eddie loves his job, he really does. Even with all the shit a group of twenty-six ten year-olds can throw at him, he still loves what he does. Really, the parents are far worse than the kids, too many of them fitting the stereotypical mold of what an obnoxious LA parent is. He rarely interacts with them face-to-face, most discussion passing through the middlemen of their nannies and drivers, or via incessant emails about their uniquely-named child’s dietary restrictions. His actual students aren’t even the cause for at least half of the issues that plague him as a teacher at a private Los Angeles elementary school. Most of them are well-mannered, capable, socially aware kids, if not a little spoiled thanks to their environment. But then there’s Little Miss Peggy Tozier.
Now, I am not a huge fan of children centered fics. It often feels like someone just self-inserting themselves and the child has no depth and is kind of just...there. Not this one! Peggy is such a well-rounded character and actually serves as a plot point! Plus! As someone who is a teacher, the teacher life that Eddie leads here is very accurate and very funny. Basically, Eddie is an elementary teacher and has Richie's daughter in his class. Richie's daughter is a class clown, and Eddie repeatedly keeps trying to make attempts to rectify the situation whilst Richie tries to get in his pants. It's very light-hearted, the conflict quickly and easily resolves, and the pacing is done very well so you don't get that "nobody in the real world with a brainstem would do this." Highly recommend if you're looking for a light read that you can pick up and put down when needed with light easily resolved conflict!
8. if you could return (don't let it burn) - ShowMeAHero 19k one-shot (part 1 in a series!)
Summary:
“Not that I’m not enjoying our banter, buddy, but word on the street is you got a problem you could use some help with,” Richie says. “What’s bugging you at two in the morning on New Year’s Eve?” “New Year’s Day,” Eddie corrects again. “New Year’s Day, then,” Richie allows. There’s another beat of silence before he hears Eddie sigh audibly over the phone line. "I’m thinking about leaving my wife.” “Why’s that?” Richie asks. He’s already hooked. He genuinely cares about all of his callers and wants to help, but something about Eddie’s got its nails in him. Honestly, he doesn’t mind all that much. It’s a nice change of pace, to feel something. “We don’t get along all that well,” Eddie tells him. “I… I don’t know. We don’t really have anything in common. She’s sort of controlling, I guess. And I think I might be gay, so—”
I have so many feelings about this one. I love the trope of "we've never met but I would die for you." Plus, this fic is centered around Eddie saying Fuck Myra I want to be gay! Which is great! Without spoiling anything, Eddie is having a crisis and wants to divorce his wife. He finally gets the courage after listening to his favorite radio station which is hosted by Richie and calls into the station during a listener segment to let them know. He then continues to keep calling in and informing Richie and his listeners of his life accomplishments. There is unfortunately no Africa by Toto. I will say the part two actually deals with clownery and is a continuation and should be read but isn't needed. If you're wanting a canon divergence meet cute, read this!
9. footprints in the snow - hyruling 62k multi-chaptered
Summary:
Eddie meets comedian and rising star Richie Tozier at a comedy club, and his life is promptly turned upside down. His Twitter followers jump from 80 to 80,000 overnight, he's being photographed in the subway, and the dreams that have plagued him his entire life are becoming increasingly specific and haunting. Richie feels strangely like the home he's long forgotten, and falling into friendship with him is the easiest thing he's ever done. But the closer they get, the clearer it becomes that Richie is hiding something.
I won't lie the situationship in this fic made my fight or flight activate but it's a very good read and I believe this is one of the fics that the fandom in general regards as a must read. Now, I haven't re-read this one as much as I've re-read other fics in this list but it stands out in the list for its ending. I genuinely bawled big boo-hooed my eyes out reading it. The plot, without giving anything anyway, is very intricate and well done but explained well enough that you can understand what's happening without feeling like that picture of Charlie from It's always sunny. If you're looking for a fic that is very plot heavy, very heavy on the fornicating, and want a FWB to lovers, this is for you!
10. Tales Of A Washed Up Nothing - TheBlackLagoon 8k one-shot (part 1 in a series!)
Summary:
In which Richie watches too much Cheers, Sees a therapist, Gets a pet turtle and Saves Edward Kaspbrak’s life by playing Street Fighter.
I love this series so much. It so accurately describes the relationship between therapist and client as well as how do you move on after your whole world comes crashing down. It's a very realistic dealing with trauma and death fic but has a happy ending (but you have to read pt 2) To summarize, Richie is in a depressed slump and starts having some funky turtle dreams all while trying to cope with losing Eddie. So good I love it so much. If you're looking for a fix it fic that focuses in depth on Richie's Big Feelings, read this!
11. tell me we're dead and i'll love you even more - quarterdeck 100k multi-chaptered
Summary:
Richie Tozier is a chatterbox. The infamous Trashmouth, most relentless of babblers. Always has been. Loud enough to wake the dead, is what his parents and friends always say, but Richie doesn't know how to tell them that the dead were never sleeping. If they were, he'd have a hell of a lot more peace, that's for sure. -- or: Richie's Voices have more of a basis in reality than anybody thinks. He'd say it's a secret he'll take to the grave, but even that wouldn't be the end of it for him
Another quarterdeck because I love them and owe them my life. This is such an intricate and touching story. Essentially, a canon divergence in which Richie is like that one character from Ghost Whisperer in which he can hear ghosts and therefore has more knowledge than anyone else around him. It is written so good, and you get really invested in the story very quickly. Also, Frank is in this! Hurray! Basically, if you want a Reddie fic that is super heavy on the story line that features supernatural elements outside of the clownery, this is for you!
12. i am easy to find -zach_stone 47k multi-chaptered (Must have ao3 to read and is part 1 in a series!)
Summary:
Richie grabs the edge of the polaroid and slides it out from underneath the comic books. It’s a picture of a group of kids, all sitting on a porch in someone’s backyard. He recognizes his tween self pretty quickly — stupid hair, enormous glasses that made him look constantly bug-eyed. He’s really hamming it up for the camera, grinning with his arm slung around some dark-haired kid with a cast on his arm. He can’t remember who the kid is, who any of these kids are, but the way they’re all huddled together and smiling like they really give a shit about each other… he doesn’t remember ever having friends like this. “Who the fuck are you,” he whispers at the kids in the picture. He flips it over, and sees his own childish chicken-scratch handwriting on the back. Bill, Bev, Ben, Eddie, ME!, Stan, & Mike. September 1989! -- Or, 25-year-old Richie Tozier doesn't know why he can't remember his childhood, or why he has nightmares about yellow eyes looming in the dark. Then he finds an old photo of friends he can't remember, and things start to change. A "what if Richie and Eddie found each other again during the 27 years" fic.
I've always found the concept of the Loser's Club not having any memorabilia from Middle School/High School and not finding each other ridiculous. Like yea sure they lost all of their memories from their primitive years, that happens to everyone, but you don't have a picture or anything? This fic rectifies that situation and applies the universal truth that Richie would have found Eddie in the 27 years if Stephen King hadn't been an overdramatic bitch. Very lore heavy fic that deals with PTSD and two dumbasses finding their found family <3 also Stan lives!
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becausebuckley · 2 months ago
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tidbit tuesday!
@smilingbuckley @tizniz and @unlifeira shared some lovely snippets earlier today!! genuinely looking forward to reading each of your fics so so much <3 i figured i'd join in with this little bit i wrote earlier today. this isn't the phone sex fic sequel i thought i'd write (and honestly, i'm still not sure if i want to connect it to that or have it be a standalone, but that's a different issue), but it's certainly being written lol. i'm no-pressure tagging @playinginthunderstorms @kejfeblintz @serenelystrange @inell @fruitsdontknow and @heygirltimeformorning!
It’s difficult for Buck’s body to surprise him. He’s lived in it for thirty-something years, okay? He hasn’t exactly sat still during that time either. Between the various jobs he’s worked, his love for working out, and his previously very active sex life, Buck knows himself. He knows his muscles and his bones, knows how to move and bend and stretch. Knows what feels good and what doesn’t, where he’s ticklish and which places ache sometimes. He remembers each and every scar, could draw his tattoos from memory. 
He knows the pattern of Eddie’s blood on his face.
He knows himself, is the point. And part of that means that he knows what he likes, what he’s into. Sure, kissing a man had been a bit of a revelation, but in retrospect, it had made sense. Apart from that, he’s not often surprised. If he wants to get off, he knows exactly how to do it, where to touch and what to think of. It’s easy. It’s almost routine. 
What’s not routine is opening Find My Friends and seeing not one (Christopher), but two (Eddie) icons hovering depressingly over El Paso. What’s not routine is thinking about Eddie in his stupid new apartment, lying on a mattress that Buck just knows is too hard, staring at a wall that Buck didn’t help paint and Eddie never tried to break. What’s not routine is thinking all of that and then getting a motherfucking boner about it.
Yeah.
Maybe Buck doesn’t know himself as well as he thought.
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freckledjoes · 5 months ago
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FRECKLEDJOES' JOLLY REQUEST CORNER
I know, the name is super corny. I'm not here for catchy names, fortunately! Since we're nearing the end of the year and getting ready for 2025. No one's ever ready, don't worry. NY resolutions? Take a breather. You're doing all you can and there's no need to worry over things you haven't achieved this year. Take it day by day. <3
Now how does this thing work? It's pretty simple. Drop me an ask! Preferably not anonymous, 'cause I'd LOVE to know who I'm dedicating it too. Don't be shy, I promise I don't bite. Anon requests are accepted either way. :)
What to request? - Set of icons (limited to 5 photos per person, otherwise you'll get them in like... july) - Gifset (please state the show/movie and preferably which episode & minutes it's at! saves me some searching, and you'll get your gift quicker!) - Edits (limited to 5 photos OR specify which event / movie / show whatsoever and I'll pick them myself <3) - Wallpaper (drop a pic you want a wallpaper of!) - Drabble (state the ship and give me some pointers to work with! for example, jealous!eddie, summertime, whatever. limited to: steddie, and any of joe keery's or joseph quinn's characters x reader. the more specific you are, the better outcome you'll hopefully get~) Limits - All requests are limited to Joe Keery and Joseph Quinn characters - For the drabbles: to prevent disappointment, I'll state right now that I won't write anything I'm not comfortable with. Just keep it light. Romance is fine, hurt/comfort is fine, something silly and fun is fine. Sex can happen but I'm not gonna venture into anything too smutty for these! Unsure about your request? Just dm me. :) Hope I'll see some of your requests in my inbox soon! <3 Reblog to spread, please! PS. My gifsets will be watermarked, but all the other stuff won't for this occasion :) Unless you like, want that. Lol. Then just lmk!
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halfetirosie · 2 months ago
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🌹 Important info from the [Feast of Roses] PV! 🌹 (Reaction post)
1) YES!!!! Cat spotted!!! ≽^•⩊•^≼
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I also love it when the exclusive backgrounds show Olivine's jewelry and crafts! 😊 It's an especially nice touch that we get to see his drawn out plans/designs. He's so damn talented!!! ♡♡♡
2) I chose to believe that at least half of the books in this room are ✨erotic novels.✨
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I wonder if the table is pushed up against the sofa because Eiden and Edmond play a game of cards in the intimacy rooms (I assume that that's a box of cards there on the sofa)?
Maybe it's a card game/drinking game that makes Edmond drunk--Drunkmond--in the first place??
...But I don't see any alcohol in this image....UNLESS IT'S HIDDEN JUST OUTSIDE OF OUR VIEW...LIKE THE FUN LITTLE SURPRISE IN THE CELESTIAL SPLENDOR BACKGROUND (shoutout to the Eiden x Eddie teru teru bozu dolls, I think about you all the time).....
🤔
3) 🎉🎉🎉 SNEKUMO SPOTTED!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
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I'm loving this trend of character rooms including symbolic dollies in suggestive positions!!! 🤣🤣🤣 And it's so cute how Snekumo is always shown coiled around Eiden!!!
4) LONG HAIR FOR THE WIN!!!! ❤️🔥🔥🔥
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I must admit; I much prefer this long-hair Oli compared to Faraway Wish. Which surprised myself; I'm usually not big into---as lovingly described by a friend---the Yaoi Mullet. 😅
But THIS? I FUCK WITH THIS.
What witchcraft did they use to make this hairstyle suit him so well?!
5) 🚨🚨🚨PRETTY THIGH ALERT!!!!🚨🚨🚨
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---is that the pattern of Olivine's lingerie, or did Eiden tear it???
...On closer inspection, I'm pretty sure it's just the pattern, but imagine... Olivine would love that sort of thing!!! 😏
6) EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND EDMOND ED- *gets smacked in the head to calm me down*
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7) BARE SHOULDERRRR 😭😭😭🙏
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LISTEN. LISTEN.
BARE-SHOULDER EDDIE IS A RARITY. A FINE DELICACY.
IT'S MADE EVEN BETTER BY THE FACT THAT HIS OUTFIT THIS EVENT COVERS SO MUCH SKIN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
I TOLD YOU!!! THIS IS THE MOMENT WHERE WE OPEN UP THE PRESENT!!!
THE NAKEY-ENERGY IS OFF-THE-CHARTS!!!!!!
FUCK!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
8) FUCK X2!!!!!!! (∩˃o˂∩)♡♡♡♡♡
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CORSET CONFIRMED!!!! ---Damn, those laces got me feeling some kind of way----(shoutout to the Dressed to the Nines Edmond fanzine)
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THOSE PANTIES. THAT BACK. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
him-> 🍑 -(´ཀ`」 ∠)_ <-me
THE DEVS ARE TRYING THEIR BEST TO KILL ME.
9) EMO ICON.
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I love how melodramatic his lil' animation is! 🤣🤣🤣 I know that this is him being sincere, acting all determined an all, but all I can see is one of the "anime kids" in middle school acting a little too excited with a plastic sword.
10) P-Pretty...... 😳
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(+ the line he says here---"No matter how many times it takes, I will clean you"--- gave me flashbacks to From the Earth, Nectar. Because of course it did.😅)
11) Belly!!! 🤩 *blows raspberries on it*
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Whenever I see Eiden's belly, I always think of that character-interview thingy that came out last year where Eiden said his most sensitive area was his stomach.
And then I imagine giving him raspberries and Eiden laughing really really hard.
It heals me.
(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)
🌹 End of report! 🌹
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shieldofiron · 1 year ago
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Pretty Boy Live in Santa Fe, 1977
Part 1/3 Also on Ao3 here
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For @harringrove-relay-race. Very happy with how part 1 turned out, and there will be more to come. Thanks to @foxxtastic for the intro and next up will be something stunning from our fearless Relay Race leader @half-oz-eddie
Rated M / 5k words / Part 1/3
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Part 1: Into Hades
Rolling Stone Magazine - May 2002
Billy Hargrove arrived after I did, in his lovingly maintained blue Camaro, the subject of his song, “Lady Blue.” “Lady Blue” was recently named #93 on Rolling Stone’s Top Love Songs of the Century.
“I wrote, ‘She’s the wind in my hair, the rumble in my soul.’ I thought it was so obvious,” He laughed, his blue eyes still boyish. “My niece made it her wedding song, I said ‘Really? It’s about a fuckin’ car!’”
He showed me several pictures of his niece, the supermodel Tyler Sinclair. It seems good looks run in the family. He suggested the diner and he ordered waffles, winking when I mentioned that we’ll be here a long time.
The decades have been kind to him, maybe a few more lines. It’s not hard to imagine him stepping right back onto the stage, as if no time has passed at all.
“A little extra glitter on the eyes,” He said with a smile, “to hide my crows feet. That’s all I need.”
I ask what he’s going to wear to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony for Kaleidoscope's induction and his smile dims only for a moment.
“I think I should pull out some old costumes. You know, the butterfly still fits.”
He was referring, of course, to the sheer butterfly cape costume that nearly had him thrown off the stage in Houston Texas in December 1976. He caved to putting on a pair of silvery shorts rather than the nude underwear it was designed with. He later wore it with the nude underwear on the inside cover of Kaleidoscope, the album that will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in just a few short weeks. Kaleidoscope was his last album with the iconic Glam Rock band Pretty Boy, which famously broke up at the height of their career while touring for the album, onstage.
It’s not often that a band is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and there’s a question if all of them will even show up.
“I’ll be there,” Hargrove said, fiddling with the silver band on his middle finger. “I have no problem with seeing him.”
The him is, of course, the lead guitarist and other lead singer of Pretty Boy, Steve Harrington.
Steve Harrington invites me to his oceanfront house in Malibu later that afternoon.
“I haven’t decided if I’m going to go,” He said thoughtfully, his brown eyes darting around the room.
When I mention that Billy is going to go, he seems surprised.
“He didn’t say he was going to punch me, did he?” Harrington smiled, but it doesn’t seem like much of a joke.
For one of the most famous rock stars of the 70s, Harrington is shockingly low key. He wears a t-shirt and slouchy linen pants, and he jokes that he ought to have shaved when I take out my camera. The house is stunning but empty, with miles of blank white walls and overstuffed white furniture.
“I’m looking for a little peace,” He shrugs, “I used to have all these pictures up, all this furniture… It was too much.”
It was hard not to see him as an artist without a muse. He drifted listlessly, picking things up and putting them down as we talked. So it was a surprise to me to hear that he’s been recording.
“I may never release it but… Yeah,” He laughed, “Music. After all this time. Bet you didn’t know.”
He picks up a rare photo from the piano. It’s from the early days of Pretty Boy, before Billy Hargrove. Harrington has his arm around his bandmate, Eddie Munson. Their drummer Chrissy Cunningham is balanced precariously across their shoulders, laughing and cringing at the same time. Bassist Robin Buckley smirks from the corner of the frame, messy bangs in her eyes.
“Who knew, right?” He asked no one, shaking the frame a little.
There are no pictures of Billy Hargrove.
“That’s a… a long story,” He said, when I asked.
But I have time. I tell him Rolling Stone will pay for it. At least that makes him laugh.
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It was just by chance that Pretty Boy’s last concert was filmed.
“We were meant to just film in Vegas,” The director, Argyle Molina-Zapata, sat down with me after a private screening of Pretty Boy Live in Santa Fe, 1977, “But there was a freak rainstorm, and I couldn’t get my camera’s out of the back. The crowd was digging it, refused to leave. I remember when Billy hit the high note for ‘Mother Make Me,’ there was this lightning crack… brilliant.”
Molina-Zapata shook his head, “But the footage, what I got of it, was awful. Awful! So I begged Murray to let me come with them to Santa Fe.”
Murray was Murray Bauman, famed tour manager, who handled the Boys, later Pretty Boy from their first album Starfire, all the way to Kaleidoscope.
“And I was lucky,” Argyle nodded, “They had that extra tour bus.”
The tour busses are featured in the first few minutes of the film. They roll around the corner, one reading Billy Blue (Billy’s original stage name was  Billy Blue before he dropped the Blue), and the other, Steve’s Six (Named after Steve’s best friends from his hometown.)
“They were nightmares,” Murray Bauman’s voice crackled over the phone, “Nightmares on tour. Separate buses. Separate hotels. Fuck me, I swear to god at one point they wanted separate stages. And the label caved on almost all of it. Fucking nightmare.”
It’s almost impossible to imagine it when you see them on stage together. There’s something electric that passed between Billy Hargrove and Steve Harrington, something that drove crowds wild. They gravitate towards each other on the stage, orbiting like planets until they can share the same mic. They can’t seem to stay apart.
It’s hard to see exactly what happened that night.
“I’ve watched it a million times,” Argyle laughed, “But the only two people who can really say what happened are Billy and Steve.”
What you can see is this: Steve tearing into “Pride & Prejudice”, the lead off Kaleidoscope and the last song of the night.
Billy was trembling, visibly shaking as he sang and Steve harmonized along.
What can I say, if you ask me to walk away?
Baby, there’s no words for you.
Baby. I don’t know what to do.
Billy danced closer, joining Steve, his handheld mic loose at his side.
Can you ever put away your pride?
Is it worth it to not have me at your side?
I guess it must be, because I’m yours,
Regretfully,
Baby.
Billy leans in, sharing Steve’s mic for the bridge.
Is it really a mystery?
What I mean to you, and you mean to me?
Is it really, baby?
Billy shook his head, curls bouncing. He looked into Steve's eyes. He smiled. Steve looks at Billy, and Billy looks at him. It almost looks like Billy mouths something, but bootleg footage also has appeared where it looks like Billy just nodded. Steve goes a little shell shocked, hand freezing on his guitar, falling out of sync.
And then Steve turned away and left the stage, handing his guitar to a stagehand. Billy turned to the crowd, his expression strangely triumphant. He was always magnetic on stage, but this moment transcends that. It somehow feels like he’s getting everything he wants.
So I guess I’m losing you,
You promised me you would and it’s true.
Baby, there’s no words for you.
Baby. I don’t know what to do.
Steve Harrington hasn’t performed in public since 1977.
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“None of us knew what was going to happen that night,” Chrissy Cunningham curled up next to her husband, Eddie Munson, on the large white couch of their Seattle home.
They’re a handsome couple still, draped in rock and roll finery. He toyed with the edge of her scarf, and she curled his long hair around her long fingers.
“We had some of our own shit going on at the time so…” Munson shrugged, “Maybe we were distracted.”
Their living room was crowded and verdant, every spare flat surface covered in plants. Their partner, former record executive Jason Carver, puttered in the kitchen in an apron that read Plant Papa.
“Yeah,” Chrissy smiled, “We had some stuff going on at the same time. But still… It seemed like they were getting better. Didn’t it seem like they were getting better?”
Munson shrugged, “The thing about Billy and Steve… they were soulmates. You don’t write music like that and not… it was like they had a second language, just for them. They were soulmates, I really believe that. Everything they did, everything that happened… they could only hurt each other that badly if… yeah.”
When I ask what they did to each other, Eddie and Chrissy just scooted closer together, like teenagers in a slasher, hiding from the killer. She laid a hand over his leg, her two stone diamond ring catching the sunlight.
“Steve never wanted Billy to be in the band,” Eddie shook his head, “but Jim had a soft spot for Billy. And Steve had… I mean Jim was…”
“Jim was like a father. To all of us.” Chrissy’s knee jiggled.
“We were this little tiny band from Nowhere, Indiana,” Eddie nodded, “And Jim believed in us.”
“I was just a junior exec at the time. I was put on the Kaleidoscope tour in case of catastrophic failure, which by the way it was,” Jason Carver is making risotto while we speak, the steam curling the lock of hair that falls over his face. “But it wasn’t my fault although I was high as hell on coke half the time. I guess I deserved to get fired. But Jim was the real deal. Gold records out the ass, best wife in the world, and his daughter, I mean… she was something else.”
They’re referring, of course, to Jim Hopper, producer on Kaleidoscope as well as Billy Blue and The Boys’ records, and the father of pop superstar Eleven aka Jane Hopper.
“Jim was…” Steve Harrington’s eyes always got a little misty talking about Jim, staring out over the ocean. “Yeah, I guess he was a little like my dad. My own parents were always gone. Which is like… I grew up so privileged so like I’m not saying… I just mean I grew up mostly by myself. And we were just so lucky he even agreed to listen to us when we got to LA.”
“I remember that night,” Joyce Hopper’s voice was raspy, cigarette-y in the way only old movie stars are. She’s a gorgeous woman in jeans and a gardening hat, speaking to me while she tends to her garden at her home in Castellammare. “He came home and said, ‘I have the next ones, the next big ones. Fuck, Joyce, they’re brilliant. Unpolished, but brilliant.’”
When I ask about when Jim discovered Billy Hargrove she just laughed.
“If Steve and the rest of The Boys were unpolished, Billy Hargrove was a fucking ten carat diamond,” She said. “But Steve’s band was Jim’s, and he could polish them up how he wanted. And then when he thought they were just right for it… he set the diamond.”
Jim Hopper was a big man, larger than life both in appearance and in personality. His fingerprints are all over some of the best hits of the decade.
Watching him on old interviews, there’s an immediacy to his presence that leaps off the screen.
“My daughter is the one who really found him. She snuck out with her sister and wandered God knows where. And she just… found him. Called me the next morning, saying ‘Dad, you have to hear this guy.’ He was playing in this… terrible club,” Jim said, tapping his cigar on the table of Merv Griffin’s set. “Absolute shithole, pardon my french. And he’s got a great voice, you’ve heard his voice, right?”
“I have,” Merv said.
“I had to get him out of there. He was a star.”
Billy Hargrove was a teenage runaway from San Diego when he came to LA in 1971.
“I had a girl’s backpack from my stepsister, eight dollars, and an extra pair of underwear. By the end of the next week? I had two more dollars,” Billy laughed. “But I got lucky. I met Heather.”
Heather Holloway was a showgirl at Wildwoods, a nightly revue. She found Billy at the backdoor, and took him to her apartment.
“She saved me,” He frowned. “Whenever I needed her most.”
Heather Holloway, Billy Hargrove’s first and only wife, died in 1979. 
“I got a job singing at Sugar, this great gay club downtown. It was in the late afternoons, so I had a crowd of about… two. But those two brought two more,” Billy smiled, “Heather would talk me up to all the promoters. He’s a singer, he’s great, you’ll love him, he’s so cute.”
“He was an instant hit,” Sugar’s manager, Bob Newby, tells me by phone as well. “I did have to keep a couple of creeps off him, when he just started he was only nineteen. But even if you closed your eyes… he was a hit.”
“Guys used to think that because I was a part of the entertainment, I was fair game. And let me tell you, the novelty of that wears off mighty quick,” Billy shakes his head.
He shares a diary entry from his late wife of a night in April 1972. He came to her home with blood all over his face.
“Some guy thought because I was a fag…” Billy’s mouth twisted, but he went on, cradling the little marble notebook in his hand. “He could do whatever he wanted to me. When I fought back… he cracked a bottle over my head.”
He’s not just a piece of meat. He’s a person. I don’t understand these people. I just don’t understand, Heather Holloway wrote. I cleaned him up and he’s sleeping now.
The next diary entry is from a day later. April 12. Billy and I drove to Vegas and got married. When we spoke in the morning he said he was afraid for me too, even though I’m careful with the girls. He’s afraid of the cops trying to bust up the Wildwoods and picking me up. At least this way, he says. He and I can come home to each other. Look out for each other. Always. The groom wore band aids and his great velvet pants. The bride wore lavender. It was perfect.
“And lucky too. Because within a month… I met Jim,” Billy smiled. “And my whole life changed.”
Upside Down Records signed Billy Blue, unagented, in1972 and he spent the next year working on his debut album with Jim Hopper.
“I didn’t even realize, when it happened,” Billy shook his head. “A couple of girls came by after a show, wanting to talk to me, wanting to meet me. That wasn’t that unusual. But they were young, far too young to get into the club. And the little one, she was asking all these weird questions. Did I have an agent? Did I know if I had enough songs for an album? Weird fuckin’ questions. And then she said I have to meet someone. To be honest, I thought she was coked out of her mind when she said, ‘You have to meet my dad.’”
“I was not,” Eleven promised me, “coked out of my mind. But that’s just Billy.”
Eleven aka Jane Hopper, meets me backstage at one of her shows. She’s dressed in slouchy leather pants, to match her sister and drummer Kali Hopper.
“I knew he was something special. My dad was always talking about the IT factor. That thing that made a person something special. But I didn’t get it until I saw Billy Blue singing on that tiny stage,” She smiled. “He didn’t just have the IT factor. He was IT.”
It’s odd then, that Billy Blue’s first album had a surprisingly tepid response. His first single, in 1973, “Let Alone,” came in at only 26th for the month of April on the pop charts.
“People liked it,” Billy shrugs, “But I don’t think they knew what to do with it. You have my songs, these like… little pop love songs and ballads. I wasn’t that strong of a writer at the time. It was like half my songs, half covers. And so they’d book me, expecting fucking… Peter Frampton. And here comes this big queer with glitter on his nipples.”
But the lyrics of “Let Alone” would hint at his later songs, a hallmark simplicity that shone off his raw voice and poetry that hinted at a troubled past.
And if you were meant to care for me
You would, and that’s how it has to be
You said I couldn’t go on without you
Ha, look at me, looking brand new
At the same time, The Boys’ song “Paper Girl,” penned by Harrington, was number one.
She’s my paper girl
She’s my paper girl
Wakes me up every morning, right on time
She got me smiling, got my head in a whirl
Picture perfect, paper girl
“Billy didn’t have much commercial appeal. Sex appeal, yes,” Jason laughed, toying with Chrissy’s hair. “But for sales? That’s where The Boys came in.”
“I hated that name,” Eddie said, “To start with we were half girls.”
The Boys had already had a somewhat successful tour under their belt by the time Jim suggested a collaboration with Billy Hargrove.
“It was a nice, short tour,” Steve Harrington glances away when I ask about the first tour.
“It was a nightmare. Balls to the wall nightmare,” Robin Buckley’s voice is a warm crackle over the phone. “Steve went on like thirty overlapping benders at once.”
Her partner, soap actress Vickie Carmichael cackles behind her, at their home in Salt Lake City.
“The thing about Steve is… well… he’s never found a good way of coping with himself,” Robin huffs. “Music was about as close as he ever got. But in those early days, he just kept looking for more and more.”
“You don’t think it was about-” Vickie asked, just barely into the phone.
“No.”
“It was about Nancy,” Eddie said confidently when I mentioned their first tour. “Nancy, Nancy, Nancy.”
The Boys got their start in the late sixties, beginning with Eddie and Steve. Eddie gave Steve guitar lessons, which turned into some talent show performances. They used to practice at Eddie’s Uncle’s trailer.
“That’s where we got the name,” Eddie nodded, “My uncle used to just call us that, and it stuck.”
“I don’t even remember,” Chrissy said.
“That’s not how we got the name,” Steve shook his head, when I mention Eddie. “It was our first gig, after we got Chrissy and Robin. Robin put it down after the headliner kept asking when ‘you boys’ would go on, and kept addressing it to Chrissy’s chest. She blew him out of the fucking water.”
Nancy Wheeler was there that night, writing about local bands for a tiny column in the school paper.
“She was beautiful. Smart. So smart. Could hear her talk forever,” Steve said, eyes falling.
Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler were married in 1972 after they graduated high school.
“Steve made his own choices,” Chrissy shook her head.
That summer, the Boys plus one drove to LA and Nancy Wheeler took a job at Women’s Day Magazine and later, Rolling Stone. Steve Harrington and The Boys got a “steady gig” at La Bonita Rosa on the strip, playing for drunks every night from seven to eight.
“I really liked playing at La Bonita,” Steve said. “The audience, right there. You could smell the sweat. You could see on their faces if you were bombing. And we used to bomb. A lot. But it was a great place to try things. Experiment. We played there for about a year but… it felt too short.”
Within the year they had met Jim Hopper, who got them into the recording studio and sold their demo nearly on the spot to Upside Down Records.
“They had a great sound. They had got this way of playing. Smooth like a polished stone. Everything sounds good sitting in a frame like that,” Jim said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1981. “Their songs were… catchy, but basic. But they had the sound.”
Upside Down records set the Boys on a US tour after “Paper Girl,” and “Joy to Love You,” both charted.
“It was like… overnight. One day we’re in a studio, messing around. Kid stuff. I was nineteen,” Steve Harrington shookhis head. “But…”
“That tour,” Chrissy trails off, playing with her ring again.
“I…” Steve Harrington scratched his nose. “I was losing it. Majorly losing it. It felt like we had just moved to LA and we were already neck deep. I mean, I had a number one fucking song. And for some reason I got it in my head to call my mom. She told the maid she wasn’t home. And I could hear her over the phone. My mom. So yeah. I lost it. Lost about half my damn mind on that tour. And people will say it was because of Nancy, because we got married just out of high school, and she wasn’t supportive… but that wasn’t true. Nancy saved me.”
“Nancy never wanted him to be in the band. But… she also didn’t seem to care that much either,” Eddie shook his head, “It’s… complicated. Love is supposed to be. Simple. Like the chords of a song. 1-3-5.”
Jason Carver rolled his eyes at that, “Then what are we?”
Eddie grinned, “We’re a band.”
Nancy Wheeler met me on a Thursday in New York City, slim sunglasses dominating her small porcelain face. We get lunch at her favorite deli shop, and she perches at the counter, loafers dangling. She’s an editor at The New Yorker now, but she still has a soft spot for rock and roll, as evidenced by the Grateful Dead t-shirt under her blazer.
“That tour. I didn’t even know anything was wrong. He just came home with a funny look on his face, saying, ‘We’re headlining.’ So I said, ‘That’s great, Steve.’ He just kept… saying it. It was starting to piss me off, if I’m being honest,” She shook her head. “I should have known something was wrong.”
“I wish she had stopped me. But how could you know right? Hindsight is always 2020,” Steve Harrington said. “I mean, she was my wife. How could she not want me home? But that’s just… sorry. That’s not fair to put on her. I chose to go.”
“I flew out to meet them when they were in Indianapolis, visited my family, and I came a day early to see him,” She smiled warmly, and then it fell. “He was… Well, first, Eddie Munson tried to intercept me at the hotel, so I wouldn’t see him. I told him, ‘I’m here to see my fucking husband.’”
Steve Harrington didn’t add any more details about the tour, just shrugged when I asked.
“He was coked up like you wouldn’t believe,” Robin scoffed. “She walked in on him with two girls and coke all over his… well.”
“I just asked him. Do you want to come home? Do you want to get help? Or not?” She purses her lips. “And so he came home and we found a rehab place near Hawkins.”
“The tour kind of… fell apart. Obviously. We had lost our lead singer and guitarist to fucking… Hawkins, Indiana,” 
Everything stopped for the Boys. Upside Down offered to let them out of their two album contract, but Steve couldn’t afford to pay it down.
“Rehab,” He shrugged. “Is expensive.”
Right as it seemed that everything would be over for the Boys, things were looking up for Billy Blue.
“Jim was always saying, ‘the record is selling alright, the songs are getting there but he needs a… push,’” Joyce said. “‘He’s so close. So close. He’s a star.’”
“He always believed in me,” Billy smiled, toying with his ring again. “Always. Even when I threw a jug of milk at his head.”
Joyce laughed when I asked about that moment, “He came home saying, ‘He milked me, Joyce. But he’ll fix the song tonight.’”
“And I did,” Billy said. “And the album was going alright. I did a little tour, socal and the southwest. And then one night, Jim brings me this song. He said, ‘I want you to tell me what’s missing from this.’”
The song was, of course, the Boys’ biggest hit, “Hades.” Steve Harrington’s first version was called, “To Orpheus” and the chorus goes:
Don’t turn back don’t look behind you baby
I’m close, I’m right behind
The future's so bright, and I want you to take me
Wanna be holding your hand when I make it across the line.
“It was fine, but just kind of… nothing. It was supposed to be about Eurydice, but it was so… nothing. She just loved Orpheus and that was it. There were no insides to her. She was going to follow him to her doom,” Billy shook his head. “That’s not right.”
This was not the version that made it to the recording booth, of course. The Boys’ single, “Hades featuring Billy Blue,” came out in 1975. The actual chorus goes: 
Turn back on me and I won’t forgive you baby
Don’t want you to see me like this
Up ahead is bright, and I want you to take me
If you’re strong enough to cross that finish line
“‘Hades,’ was a real step forward for the Boys. Gone were the teenybopper tunes,” Steve Harrington’s biographer and personal friend Dustin Henderson wrote in his book The Pretty Boy. “Their first album got the kids dancing. But the second proved that they actually had something to say.”
“Still hate it,” Steve Harrington said. “I wrote that song in rehab. It was deeply, deeply personal to me.”
“He came out, all ready. He wanted to start recording right away,” Robin sighed. “Like I mean the next day. All these songs, just pouring out of him. But the label had lost faith in us. And they certainly weren’t going to let us start recording with a guy who had only just earned his thirty day sober chip.”
“The song wasn’t ready,” Billy shook his head. “But I guess he was. Jim said he needed this. So Jim asked if I would come and like… pitch some stuff as a personal favor. Songwriting credit, that’s all it was supposed to be. Get the songs moving, get them going.”
Steve Harrington takes a long time to continue speaking about it. 
“I felt it, writing for that album. I felt proud of those songs. They didn’t belong to anyone else but me,” He toyed with some piano keys while we talked, and then finally sat down and began to play something tuneless and half formed.
“That album was all about Nancy,” Chrissy said. “I mean. I know it. You know it. Nancy knew it. And she kind of hated it. But-”
“You can’t leave your husband right as he gets out of rehab,” Nancy said to me, toying with her wedding ring. “When he writes all these songs about how you’re the only thing… Steve was always like that. Heart wide open. That’s why when he met Billy. I almost thought… it would all be okay. That sounds fucked up but. I thought they could save each other. That the music could save him.”
“It was just a songwriting credit,” Billy raised his hands. “Jim swore up and down. I was just gonna come in there and sit down with this guy Steve. But when I walk into the studio, there’s two mics set up.”
“I was the Boys’ only singer,” Steve Harrington shook his head. “And to be absolutely honest, I was kind of a jackass about it. So to have some guy come in and say he’s gonna sing me my song… well…”
“Steve was the only one who would ever argue with Jim, And he let him have it that day,” Eddie laughed. “He called him the most low down, dirty, rat bitten bastard in California, and that he would die rather than give up his band to someone else.”
“I did not want his band. I did not know his band. And I did not care. And his song sucked. And I told him so. And then I sang it. Better.” Billy smiled.
“Billy was…” Chrissy shook her head. “Incredible.”
I ask Steve what Billy was like that first day in the studio.
“He was,” Something passed over his face. “Alright. He has a great voice, alright.”
“I was good. Better. Best.” Billy smiled.
“But he didn’t understand the song. He wanted Eurydice to… doubt. To think she wasn’t going to get out,” Steve slammed his hands on the keys. “It’s been… almost twenty years. I still don’t understand it.”
I asked why he let Billy stay. But Steve doesn’t have an answer.
“They were like oil and water, right away,” Chrissy said.
“Yeah, but oil on the water can catch fire,” Eddie shrugged.
“Jim asked me to stay,” Billy looked away from me, down at his waffles. “It was a favor to the label.”
“If Billy said louder, Steve said mute,” Robin snickered. “It was kind of great, actually. Finally someone called King Steve on his shit. One day I came in and they were arguing over how close the microphone should be to your throat. Almost got in a physical fight over a fucking microphone. I mean, I love Steve. But he always thinks he’s like… the babysitter. It’s his job to do everything for everybody.”
“Like who was this guy? Really? He came into my studio with no shirt on, most of the time still half smashed from the night before, and he thinks he can make all these changes. But Jim keeps telling me it’s just business, the label thinks it’s good business.” Steve frowned, and then smiled, and then frowned again.
“Yeah, I never wore shirts back then. Or underwear,” Billy said with a grin. “I was a rockstar!”
“Steve fought for every song on that album,” Nancy Wheeler patted her lips primly with a napkin. “He only lost on one.”
“Billy Hargove has songwriting credit and lead vocals on “Hades.” Dustin Henderson wrote.
“Billy was all over that album. He’d make some minor suggestion, maybe this chord instead of that, this word is better. And Steve would flip out, yell at him, yell at Jim, threaten to storm out… and then two days later quietly tell me to change the chord, he’d start singing the new words. Billy was there with us about every single day,” Eddie said.
“Of course, it was our biggest hit,” Chrissy laughed. “Everything but that song, Steve did what he wanted. Oh we had Billy in the studio, making suggestions. But Steve did what he wanted except for ‘Hades.’ Jim said that song is the album, and he wouldn’t cut it.”
“Jim was always right,” Steve closed the piano. “The bastard.”
Hades exploded onto the radio in late 1975. They didn’t have the same distribution as their first record, but the Boys had another hit.
“Billy had this way of singing it. Still does. He broke four mics when we recorded it. Singing so loud I had to keep an eye on the cymbals to stop them from shaking. You can feel him, right in your chest.” Chrissy giggled. “Like he was trying to wake all the dead from Hades. If anyone could, he could.”
“It’s a really, really great song,” Robin said.
This song belongs to Billy Blue, Rolling Stone wrote in 1976. The only question now is, what will The Boys do next?
“I remember that article. Fucking… Harrington said that he basically wrote the whole song. But he said, ‘the label thought bringing Billy in was a good idea,’” Billy gets tense for the first time. “I’m not saying I was like… I just mean. It would have been nice. To treat me like an equal. I’m more than just a singer. I’m not just… a piece of meat.”
“Billy was really pissed about that article. I remember, the day after the article came out, we were getting breakfast at this tiny place off La Cienega. Steve had this car back then, a big maroon BMW, and Eddie had got him a vanity plate when he bought it. Stupid thing it said, ‘BIGBOY.’ Anyway, We’re having breakfast, and we hear this screech outside, like an accident,” Robin Buckley gets uncharacteristically quiet as she goes on through this story. “Billy’s car is parked halfway out of the parking lot, and he comes in like a bull in a charge. Billy… he wasn’t some wimpy guy. He was small, but he was strong as hell… He came right over and grabbed Steve by his collar and lifted him right off the counter. And he said, I’ll never forget it because Steve used to recite it from memory, yell it at me, ‘Tell me I’m not dreaming. Is that Steve fucking Harrington? The lead singer of the Boys. Hey man, I love your song ‘Hades.’ How’d you get your voice to sound halfway decent for once?’”
“I don’t remember that,” Steve Harrington said flatly when I asked.
“And Steve used to be a fucking dick in high school. So he starts getting real bitchy, shoving Billy off him, asking what his problem is, why he’s such a dick all the fucking time, when it’s not even his band. And Billy said something like, ‘No one wants your shit band. Not with you in it,’” Robin paused for a moment. “And they just. Stare at each other. Like… daring each other to do something.”
Billy just shrugs when I ask, “I was pissed. I gave this guy a number one hit, and he still wanted to treat me like some… airhead singer the label brought in as a stunt. I’m not just a singer. I’m not a piece of meat. I’m a person.”
When I ask Steve about that day he’s pretty quiet, deflated at his piano. He only wants to talk about the song. The music. Can’t seem to talk about Billy any other way.
“He sang it like he not only knows Orpheus can’t save him, but that he won’t. It was supposed to be hopeful. A happy ending.” Steve said.
“So you still hate the song?” I asked.
“No, I don’t. It’s brilliant. And that’s the whole problem.”
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To be continued...
Next up is Half-Oz-Eddie's piece at 7:00 pm. GET HYPE!
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