#i guess my rule is that: 'they have to be funny'

[loveinhawkins]

“What happened to Steve?” Dustin asks.

He’s already shut the door so no-one can overhear, has left everyone else—almost everyone—in the living room. He can make out some sounds in the background: Robin, who’s still talking overly loud, valiantly trying to drown out the noise coming from the bathroom; from Nancy who’s locked herself in there, and the sound of running water only half covers up stifled, sobbing gasps—each one makes Dustin’s stomach drop.

And if he really concentrates, he can hear the quiet creak of Steve pacing in concern, and there, every other step or so, the movement stops abruptly. It’s barely a second before it starts up again, but Dustin knows when Steve’s bracing himself, knows when he’s in pain.

And there are way too many things he can’t solve—Nancy’s hidden, gut-wrenching cries are another unwelcome reminder of that fact.

So he asks again, “What happened to Steve?” because he knows, if nothing else, he can solve this.

Eddie jumps, confirming Dustin’s suspicions that he didn’t hear the question the first time. He’s sat hunched over on his bed, surrounded by scattered piles of tapes from their panicked search earlier. He looks up, blinks a couple times like his mind’s been somewhere else for a long while.

“What happened to—? Uh, why don’t you just ask Steve?”

Because, Dustin thinks, you can’t lie for shit.

He doesn’t say it, but maybe Eddie suspects something, because he mutters, “Sure, sure, okay,” under his breath and clears a spot for Dustin on the bed. He keeps dropping tapes, like his hands are too unsteady to keep a hold of them; there’s a crack in one of the plastic cases already.

Dustin sits, and then Eddie tells him. It’s not like he hadn’t guessed something kinda close to it, but the confirmation is good to have.

“So. Demobats,” Dustin says in summary, because Eddie had trailed off near the end, as if he was reliving the dive into The Upside Down all over again. He cracks a smile at the name, though.

“Cute.”

“And Steve… like, he a rode a bike and everything so he’s…?”

Dustin tries to make his thumbs up look as confident as possible. Eddie nods a little too slowly for his liking, but he’ll take it.

“Yeah, um. Hey, Dustin, does, uh, all of that…” Eddie waves a hand vaguely. “Does that, like, happen a lot? Historically?”

Dustin doesn’t need to ask what he means.

Several memories battle to reach the forefront, but what wins is Steve in the junkyard before anything had even happened, how he whistled, bat in his hands. And Dustin had firmly filed the whole thing under awesome which yeah, it was, and maybe if he keeps thinking about how awesome it was, he won’t have to think about—

“He just—he just needs someone to watch his back.”

It’s almost a non-answer because it’s true of everyone, a Party rule so obvious it goes without saying. Still, Eddie nods again, and when he rearranges the last of the tapes his hands don’t shake.

“That I can do,” Eddie says.

There’s a edge of self-deprecation to the words, like he’s saying it’s one of the few things he’s capable of, and Dustin wants to push back against it because it’s not fair. Eddie’s only at a disadvantage in that it’s like he’s joined a long-running D&D campaign mid-way through, missing pages and pages of notes, and all he’s got time to get is hastily thrown together bullet points.

The creak of Steve’s footsteps suddenly gets louder before there’s a soft knock on the door.

“Everything okay in there?”

“Come on in, Harrington,” Eddie says.

Steve opens the door. “What’re you doing?” he says casually, but Dustin can tell he’d been worried; his eyes flicker around the room as if he’s checking it’s still safe.

“Oh, just getting Henderson to work on his tone.”

A millisecond ago, Dustin had been all for whatever excuse Eddie could come up with. But now…

“My what?”

Steve laughs like this is all very funny. Dustin keeps his eyes sharp even in his indignation, takes note of how Steve holds himself as he leans against the doorway: not relaxed by any stretch, but there’s no longer the awful sense that he’s holding his breath in pain. And the bandages wrapped around him are dry, Dustin double-checks to be sure. It’s not ideal—none of this is—but he can work with it.

Meanwhile, one thing he can’t work with is baseless slander.

“I don’t have a tone, what the hell.”

Eddie heaves a sigh. “That’s exactly what someone with a tone would say.”

Dustin kicks him.

And in the middle of Eddie pretending to be mortally wounded, he sobers abruptly—must notice the same thing just ahead of Dustin, that the water in the bathroom’s stopped running.

Eddie catches Steve’s eye. “Wheeler?” he mouths.

Steve pauses. “She’s okay,” he mouths back, and then mimes with his hand, five minutes, which is absolutely not the whole story, but it’s the one they’re getting for now.

And if she needs some more time, Dustin can find plenty more sources of distraction. What he settles on is a double take that would put Drama Club to shame.

“Wow, Steve, that’s a cool vest, where’d you get it?”

He dodges Eddie’s kick.

“Tone, dickhead,” Steve returns easily, and he grins, glances over to Eddie with a wry shake of the head.

The bathroom door clicks open, and Dustin hears Robin warmly greet Nancy in the living room. Steve looks relieved, pats the doorframe a couple times before he beckons for him to be followed out.

Dustin hesitates the tiniest bit so he can keep an eye on how Steve walks. He turns back to Eddie with one last questioning thumbs up; Eddie, still a little pink in the face, smiles back and gives a reassuring wink.

[plutoxxz]

so y'all, i just shifted.

— the first shift i did today (not to my intended reality) is that i simply just wanted to shift, although i didn’t have an exact idea of where i wanted to go. here’s the funny thing, so i had it scripted in my main dr script that me & my cr bsf was gonna go shopping. so guess what, i shifted to a random reality & i was entering a mall w my bsf. i knew that i had an unlimited amount of money (which i did script in my main dr, but i use it as a universal rule for any dr i want to shift to anyways) & i decided to shop for a little but i was so fixated on the purses (they were TEA), plus i was talking to her for a little while.

fun fact is that yes, your dr feels natural & real to you once you actually shift. i didn’t even realize that i shifted until like a good 20 mins later but the gravity of it hit me so hard, but i decided to dip out because i wanted to shift back to my cr.

crazy, just crazy. was not expecting all of this to happen

[poruchik-logy]

I have no one to tag but when @13eyond13 calls I'm answering. 1. Otto E Mezzo (From "Otto E Mezzo") by Nino Rota

Guess I was in a silly mood. 2. Bitch by Allie X

Mello's lover song. With an appropriate level of angry sadness undertones. 3.Death Letter by Cassandra Wilson

Stole that one from True Detective. I believe season 3. Love to listen to songs like this one bc they make me feel like I'm noir detective. 4. Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls

Beyond Birthday core? jk I listen to it and imagine Nurse John dancing when I'm in a bad mood. 5. Purge The Poison by MARINA

No matter which MARINA song I listen to, It always feels like a perfect soundtrack to a teenage murder drama. Edgy text edgy sound. Still good shit though 6. Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears

Feels very lighthearted. Very chill. Only thing I know about Tears For Fears is that this one Lost review guy really likes them. 7. Snowman by Sia

Perfect romance song. No notes. Love to imagine my OC finding out her best friend murdered 3 people in cold blood to the tune of this song. Like they just spent Christmas together and suddenly cops show up. 8. Le temps de l'amour by Françoise Hardy

I don't know french, but It feels like a very funny and beautiful song about toxic circles. 9. One by Harry Nilsson

One of my favorite songs. See what I did there ? But seriously. Magnolia, House M.D. Love the song. Beautiful every time I listen to it.

10. All Is Loneliness by Big Brother & The Holding Company

Lucky find. Was listening to the "Zodiac" director commentary and Fincher mentioned that he wanted to use this song instead of iconic Hurdy Gurdy Man. Fincher's taste in music is 10/10.

@lightyakami tagged me and i didn't do the last one xie tagged me in because when you have a thinning hairline and beard, picrews become less fun. so i am doing this one because it is very fun.

rules: shuffle your "on repeat" playlist and post the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people to do the same.

crying by roy orbison

the last paradise by haruomi hosono

ode to an african violet by mort garson

ghost cowboys by louie zong

blue bayou by linda ronstadt

you're not the only one i know by the sundays

a mellow mood for maidenhair by mort garson

headlock by imogen heap

circle the drain by soccer mommy

chop suey! by system of the down

um i'm going to tag @13eyond13 @discosnail @herbert-best @howdyspacebuddy @lesbian-misa-amane @queersturbate @thequadrantids @eyecicles @dancainmanpain @ruffaloon

commentary on the list under the cut

uh, i am just in a very david lynch mood lately. i like singing the crying part in my car, TBH.

okay this will be an overarching explanation: i often play music for my coworkers in my office and tend to choose instrumental biz that i like and keeps things upbeat. so, its a lot of japanese jazz.

i also play a LOT of mort garson

i also play a LOT of louie zong

i heard this in a bar a few days ago and it rules so i keep playing it

heard it on a soccer mommy radio playlist and it good

A LOT OF MORT GARSON. plantasia forever.

this song reminds me of what might play during a kingdom hearts commercial. i think they should make songs weird and dramatic like this again.

soccer mommy good. i saw her a few weeks ago in the cold rain and it was great.

if i could make AMVs, i would make a light yagami one set to this song. specifically the father part.

[hanzajesthanza]

(Adam Dudaczyk) The fact that vampires drink blood to get that *meaningful hand-neck gesture* - you made that up? (Andrzej Sapkowski) Yes, I didn't model myself on anyone here, I don't know anyone who wrote before me about the fact that vampires drink blood not to satisfy their hunger, but to satisfy their thirst for… entertainment. Texts: the guys sent me to get blood, I was flying drunk… The fun was great.

as i reread this i couldn't stop thinking of this meme

[feketeribizli]

[jojo-schmo]

Just Admit It- Part 1

I've been playing around with possible friendship dynamics of the Beast Council for fun!! I love imagining what kind of childhood they could have in the Forgotten Land all together.

What if Carol and Sillydillo are the fun-loving extroverts? Leon is the introverted one who's been smitten by Carol for a really really long time but he's too shy about it? And Gori is the friend who is an excellent observer and will bluntly tell you what he thinks (and maybe has a tendency to get grumpy when things aren't easily going his way).

Somewhat of a prequel to this other doodle comic about Leon and Carol- everyone here is still a kid ^_^

Part 2

[kris-mage-fics]

Allow me to present this gorgeous magazine cover of Chase and Kyrahlise I commissioned from @javs-arts! I love it so much! <3

[badlydrawnloop]

just my silly reminder to all my little loops fan that. yes u can send asks and yes i will usually respond to them with a drawing but. but. but this isnt a request blog </3 pls </3 say something funny 2 me send me something silly. if you include an image i might even trace over it who knows. but pls remember im not a request blog ehe

[definitelynoteeee]

I know Im getting old cos I don't like ANY of the new pop girlies except chappell and nowadays only want to listen to fucking bob dylan and leonard cohen... What happens to you when you turn 30 should be studied seriously .

[coulsonlives]

Omg, Dante Basco ships Zutara! My life is complete.

[wonder-worker]

damn, I really need to finish that post debunking some famous myths/misconceptions of the Wars of the Roses in 1483-85

[regular-lord-reckoner]

so i took my car in today because i thought it might just need some more brake fluid and although i tried to just look at it myself i couldn't for the life of me figure out which part under the hood was the brake fluid reservoir without having to lean all over my car and get all dirty, so i figured i might just have to pay a service fee and whatever for the fluid itself...

turns out i need all new brake pads !!

ahaha

haha

ha

yay

[vraska-theunseen]

the bible is so boring what's the ideal size of paper for rolling joints

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

a glimpse for the mobile users who have no idea what theyre missing out on

[pumpkinhcad]

HAMMY'S POSTING. Well I've been thinking about The Eyes of the Universe for a whole minute now. And I realized that, besides in one post and his About, I have never really gone into depth about my headcanons regarding their symbiotic relationship. So lemme talk about that.

Pelo mentioned on Twitter once that Eyes is only a threat to anyone that is NOT Skid and Pump. In Skid's case, the reason is obvious (he is not even affected by Eyes' influence). But I believe in Pump's case it is because he is Eyes' most trustworthy pair of... well, eyes. The eldritch being likely has many vessels, many eyes, out there but Pump is his most important one. After all, he is the closest to Skid (the closest Eyes can influence, that is). And, if push were to come to shove, and there were no other options, he can and will protect his best friend. That is what the Eyes of the Universe needs in a vessel. That is why Pump is an exception, why his eyes turn blue at the sign of danger.

Pump is not "possessed" by Eyes, per se. Eyes does not want to straight out control him, just exercise his influence on him. That is the reason (I personally believe that) Pump became "quirkier" and "unpredictable" after the events of SM2. All of those out-of-pocket things he says out loud (like wanting to set a Happy Fella on fire to "see if it would scream"); the fact that he carries a hammer and a lighter around; those constant displays of rule-breaking behavior, it is all because of what Eyes has done to his mind. He probably had those thoughts and ideas already, but Eyes gave him the push he needed to carry them out. In this dynamic, Pump is very easy to influence and Eyes is a "voice of reason". """Reason""".

Is Pump resistant to possession just because of Eyes? Yeah, in theory, he should be. Just like Skid. Problem is, Eyes cannot do anything if Pump invites the hypothetical vampires (aka, other beings) to come into his hypothetical house (aka, his mind). That is why Moloch managed to possess him and Skid in spite of everything, because they allowed him to possess them. There is only so much control Eyes can exercise without outright taking over, and, while he could do it at any point, he would only do it to speak through Pump.

The Eyes of the Universe does not just exist as a voice in the back of Pump's head, he also appears in the kid's dreams often. And the dreams tend to vary too. Sometimes, Pump is just another pumpkin in a large pumpkin patch under an endless starry night. Some other times, he is in tine middle of a void with hundreds of eyes staring at him. Sometimes… actually, it's not like he remembers the extent of what happens in those dreams after he wakes up, or what he was told in them. But he still ends up doing certain things afterwards. He is like a pawn.

[kipperlillyforpresident]

i do think it's really funny how a majority of the fandom is developing/headcanoning like. a post-canon kipperlilly storyline where she gets brought out of hell and/or becomes a demon. which i think is really awesome btw this is not judgemental. but it's the idea of like. forcefully bringing her BACK into the narrative. refusing to let her die.

whereas my cope of choice/basically just my own damn OC universe at this point is to otome isekai her. i do not trust the world of spyre to treat her right anymore. i fundamentally cannot envision a world where kipperlilly still has to interact with Fan Favorite Characters Jawbone and Kristen and Riz and Fig and Adaine and it goes well for anybody involved LOL.