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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

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A Tiadrin theory

I woke up this morning with a sudden headcanon about Tiadrin, and as I poked at it, it filled out nicely, so I’m gonna go ahead and call it a theory at this point.

It gets angsty, as all good Moonshadow theories do. If your heart doesn’t weigh 6 tons by the time you reach the end of this post, I didn’t capture the feeling properly.

Several bits of detail flutter around this mysterious woman, and I’ve theorized various versions of her circumstances, her relationship with Runaan and Ethari, her former position before the Storm Spire, the reasons she went there, and the reasons Runaan was so hellbent on avenging her dishonor.

I don’t think any of them landed as well or tied together as neatly as this one, though. Hence “theory” instead of just “headcanon.” Here we go:

FIrstly, some meta information. This is a fun tweet, but in this post I’m looking directly at “belief systems as sources of both comfort and restraint” and at the “weight of guilt” and “cycles of trauma” lines, in regards to Moonshadow culture, and specifically Moonshadow assassin training.

And raise your hand if you’ve been looking further afield than the front-and-center Janaya-with-Soren nod from “ripped women who teach soft boys to stab,” because I have. TDP is full of parallels and imperfect mirrors.

So, in the spirit of soft yet angsty cycles and the ripped women who perpetuate them, Theory Part I: Tiadrin trained Runaan, because she was the leader of the assassins before he was.

She’s referred to as a mastermind. Assassin leaders need to be good with plans of all sizes. We’ve seen how Runaan silently adapts to chaos and doesn’t tell anyone what his new plans actually are. He’s a good leader. But he also had to learn those skills from someone. Whoever instructed him was a tactical genius, and also very Moonshadow, and Runaan was an adept student.

Also, Tiadrin is a goddamn badass. She’s several inches shorter than Lain, Runaan, Ethari, and Viren. But she is a powerhouse in battle. She knows her physics well enough to drag this 6′2″ human battle mage skidding across the floor. Monster thighs, monster intellect.

As a 5′4″ woman who trained in jujitsu for several years, let me just say: gender equality in battle is great, but physics does not care. It will crush your popsicle-stick ass if you try to chuck a 250 lb person across the room and your math is off. The most accurate fighters are the ones who know how hard physics hits back when you’re sloppy.

Tiadrin earned every inch of respect, and every inch of her thigh circumference, the old-fashioned way. She worked for it, all day every day. Runaan does the same thing. He might have half a foot of height on her, but he trains like the world will crush him if he’s not perfect. And that’s very Moonshadow assassin in its own right, because it will, and it tried. Tiadrin knew what she needed. And she knew what Runaan, soft boy that he is, needed. And she made sure she trained it into him, all day every day.

Tiadrin is one of the reasons that Runaan survived the fight in Harrow’s chamber. She made him the fighter he is, the person he is, and that was just enough to pull him through... so he could see his own mentor trapped in a coin. Yay, thanks Viren.

Theory Part II: Runaan’s squad was made up of all the elves Tiadrin has personally trained, or trained by proxy.

If Tiadrin was Runaan’s trainer and mentor, then her honor was his honor. And when she supposedly faltered and fled at the Storm Spire, that suddenly cast him, as an individual assassin and as the current assassin leader, in a terrible light. If his mentor was a coward, what did she teach him? Would he also duck and run when things got hopeless, and abandon his duty?

The doubt that must’ve swirled around him when the village learned the terrible news about Lain and Tiadrin must’ve sliced right through him. Thousand-yard stare, biggest internal Oh No ever. Runaan lives to serve his people, and to have them doubt him, after all he has done to train them and protect them from harm, would be the worst kind of pain. He had to make it right.

But not just him. Assassins seem to take solo missions even for their first kill, if Eljaal’s covered shoulders are any indication. You can Moonshadow your feels if you don’t have to watch your friend kill someone, if you don’t have anyone watching while you stab someone to death. You can pretend it’s all serene and just and smooth and valid and honorable. You can hold to your love of life and dance right past your embrace of death, if no one else sees it. But Runaan’s mission had 6 members. They were definitely going to have to watch each other murder people. Why?

Tiadrin’s honor was their honor. An extended family of brothers, sisters, cousins, fosterlings, anyone who was drawn to Tiadrin, or her to them, bonded together over their family feels and protective instincts. They were family. And then their leader fell, her honor crushed.

They had to make it right.

They all carried Tiadrin’s honor with their own, taught by her personally, regarded as honorable assassins. Until she seemed to have a fatal flaw in her character. Then everyone wondered if that flaw got passed down, too. The assassins had to prove that it hadn’t been, for the sake of their people, and for all of Xadia who trusted them to take out threats in the dark. They had to go set right Tiadrin’s “mistake” and take Harrow for Zym’s death. All of them. Every single one, no exceptions.

No exceptions. That’s why Rayla had to go, too. Tiadrin taught Runaan everything he knew about being an assassin, and when she moved to the Storm Spire, Runaan dutifully passed Rayla’s mother’s teachings to Rayla herself, feeling like part of the family, an essential connection between mother and daughter, between assassin mentor and mentee. He tried to get it just right, just perfect, so Rayla would feel like she’d been trained by her actual mom as much as possible. Not just because Tiadrin was Rayla’s mother, but because Runaan respects Tiadrin’s prowess so much. She was the best, and every bit of Runaan’s efforts to be his best reflects his respect for her.

You don’t get to be the assassin leader unless you’re the best there is. Runaan knows that from both sides. And just like Tiadrin did with him, he does his best to teach Rayla everything she needs to stay safe and alive, so she can do her duty too, and come home safe to her family every day.

And, in the end, part of that duty had to be avenging her mentor’s mentor, her own mother, by accompanying Runaan on his mission. Her lessons were from Tiadrin, one step removed. If there was a flaw in her training, no one would trust her when it was her turn to lead the assassins, and she’s not even done training yet! Rayla understood Moonshadow honor, assassin honor. She was driven to ask Runaan to take her with him, and he could see exactly where she was coming from. Their honor was tangled up with Tiadrin’s. They couldn’t back out. They had to go to Katolis, them and everyone else Tiadrin had trained.

That’s why the binding ribbons came out. They were in a do-or-die situation, in the most literal sense.

They could not go home in failure. If they all failed, it would take out a whole line of assassin training, possibly the same one that had lasted for countless generations (okay maybe we can count them and there are like 30) and crush the Moonshadows’ spirits. And they’d literally rather die than see that happen. They were all ready to give their lives to restore Tiadrin’s honor, and their own, because without her legacy, there would be such a crater in the assassin corps that it might never recover.

Yes, this is basically my angsty “Runaan’s found family went into battle together and most of them died” headcanon again, but this time with a solid theory behind it. I’m not sorry. I love this angsty idea, it’s horrible. Do you see the cycle of trauma? I’ve got one more part to add, which may make it clearer.

Theory Part III: Assassin leaders always go serve at the Storm Spire once they successfully train their own replacement.

In this theory’s version of Why Laindrin Went To The Storm Spire, Tiadrin was always going to end up at the Storm Spire, once she became the assassin leader. That’s where the veteran assassin leader goes, see, to liaison between the dragon throne and the current Moonshadow leader. They know the assassins’ skills far better than any Skywings or dragons do, and they know the leader in charge of them, so they can give guidance or direction as needed, or simply phrase the Dragon King or Queen’s request in such language that the assassin leader knows intuitively what really needs to be done.

Yeah, Tiadrin writing Runaan mission directives. I can see it.

Tiadrin’s mentor would’ve left for the Spire when Tiadrin got promoted to leader. The person she trusted most in the world, who had trained her, left her behind, only to communicate by long distance. Moonshadow deniability, amirite--we’re not stabbing people, we’re sending tactical correspondence, yep that’s it. But Tiadrin was still surrounded by Runaan and the other young assassins, and she bonded with them all, and life was bright.

Then, the shadow came once again. Runaan was an excellent student, and she knew he was ready. Maybe she delayed, and delayed, Moonshadowing her reasons. Maybe she wanted the chance to bring life into the world, to try to balance out some of the death she had dealt. Maybe she wanted a few more years of domestic life in the Silvergrove with all her favorite elves, to bolster her heart for the years to come. Maybe her mentor at the Spire was up to shenaniganry in dragon politics and she wanted to buy them more time to lay those plans in place.

Knowing Tiadrin even the slightest bit, I will assume it was all this and more. But eventually, she couldn’t put things off any longer. She had to go fulfill her duty to the dragon throne and join the Dragonguard as the representative of the Moonshadow assassins who had bound themselves to the protection of Xadia long ago. She had to walk away from her bright life, her family, her friends, her allies, and climb up into that misty stone tower, to spend who knows how long away from everything she knew and loved.

And she did. She chose to walk away, for love of Xadia. She took her beloved husband with her, but she left the Silvergrove, Xadia’s protection, and her own daughter’s upbringing in the hands of the elf she chose to replace her. The soft boy she’d taught to stab, who would teach her baby girl to stab, too.

Because this is The Way.

I know I’ve had an angsty headcanon that assassins don’t retire. But, consider this: maybe one of them can. One of Tiadrin’s many plans could have been counting on Runaan’s extreme prowess and devotion to Rayla. If Tiadrin knew that she could return to the Silvergrove in peace and retire there with Lain once Runaan trained Rayla to take his place as the assassin leader, then she could live in the Silvergrove again for the rest of her life, and also get to see Rayla grown big and strong and become the assassin leader herself, another proud elf in a long line of honor and tradition. She might feel that was a big accomplishment, considering the dangers they all face. And it would be.

Yes, this would hinge on the fact that Runaan would have to leave the Silvergrove to replace Tiadrin at the Storm Spire, to serve as Rayla’s liaison to the dragon throne. Cycles of trauma, remember? Tiadrin can’t have all of her family back in one place, ever again. She has to love and train someone enough to put them through the life that she’s having to live, and she has to be strong enough not to let that break her. And then, she has to choose between them. She chose Runaan first, so that she could hope to choose Rayla later. She trusted him with all the future happiness of her heart. And he did his best with it.

But they didn’t quite make it, in the end, because of Viren.

I know this has been a lot of angst. I know. But there is a moonlit lining to this theory, and I think we all need to consider it. If there is a cycle of taking the assassin leader out of the Silvergrove to serve the dragon throne for ancient promise reasons, then if that ancient promise is ever rescinded or redressed in an effective way, the family won’t need to keep yeeting loved ones out of its orbit. And if assassins cease to be a necessary evil as a result, then no one will have to leave, or stab, again. At least, not for the same angsty reasons. They could stay together and never need to leave again.

It won’t be easy to break such a cycle. It might be impossible. But if anyone can manage it, it’ll be Tiadrin, and her family.

extra headcanon for this theory:

Tiadrin, packing up for the Storm Spire: One last thing, Runaan.

Runaan, stoically attentive because what are feels on the day your mentor leaves you: Yes, Tiadrin?

Tiadrin: Ethari will need to pick an apprentice to replace him, too. He should start looking now.

Runaan: Why? Only the Silvergrove’s Master Craftsman gets to pick an apprentice, and Ethari isn’t--

Tiadrin: *wink” Not yet, he’s not.

Runaan: Tiadrin, please, what have you done?

Tiadrin: I want to come back here someday, Runaan. I want to see your good work with Rayla. And I can’t do that if you flat-out refuse to leave your husband when Avizandum calls for you to replace me. So he needs to be ready to leave, too.

Runaan: I, I, I would nev-- I couldn’t--

Tiadrin: *patting his shoulder briskly as she strides out* Mmhmm, sure thing, kid. The council votes him in next Thursday. Be good while I’m gone! I want to find this place exactly the way I’m leaving it. Lain, honey, get your coat!

Lain, in the next room: Yes, Tiadrin!

Runaan, soft-eyed, to the silence in her wake: Yes, Tiadrin.

#tdp #tdp theory #tdp angst #laindrin #tiadrin #runaan #rayla #tdp headcanons #i liked her before but now i adore her

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jlf23tumble · 6 years

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1D Day, Hour Three

Almost halfway through this hour, which is almost halfway through this day, is the point where Louis Tomlinson stops having fucks left to give and starts getting real. He’s still a professional throughout hour three (not like Harry in hour two, oof), but god, how??? Everything here is a disaster, and it’s infuriating when you consider that a) this must have been somewhat planned out (the band is HUGE, allegedly 32 million people are watching), and b) it’s being produced in LA, presumably with easy access to professionals who have had some experience with live shows (since, what, the 1930s???). Anyway, I would have loved to hear the choice words Louis no doubt had for Ben Winston when he ran away during one of the Google+ Hangouts, lmao.

When I first watched this two years back, Niall’s nervous laughter nearly drove me insane, but this time around, I’m loving the subtle nuances w/r/t wtf is happening on this here day as Louis’s rage starts to climb and Niall’s Slytherin core starts to emerge. Deets under the cut.

Niall and Louis literally burst through a paper wall to launch hour three and reveal Niall’s lilac hair (also revealed: the fact that Niall’s “a diva,” according to Louis). The color’s hardly even noticeable, but Niall’s all worked up about it, and I’m betting he had to do this because he has no tattoos, so everyone wanted to freak his Virgo ass out with something “permanent.”

The first bit is so tiresome (Louis’s childhood friend, Stan, forcing the Milkshake City staff to perform the world’s sleepiest version of “Rock Me”), but I’m a huge fan of Stan’s for the Larry purple dildo video alone (ICONIC; ping me if you need a link), plus I love the tidbit about the time Harry came in for a milkshake for himself and “a friend back at home.”

After we survive this long-ass bit of fill, Louis and Stan take the piss out of each other and banter a bit with Niall, which is all pretty hilarious and also makes me sad in the key of “oh how I wish that was me.”

Because it wasn’t at all tedious in hour one, it’s time for another Guinness Book of World Records challenge (Louis: “Of course it is”), this time balancing coins on faces. Hey, speaking of faces, did you know that men are at peak hotness between the ages of 32 and 36? This guy is 22 years old, doing the stupidest task ever, help me, Jeebus:

Next up is the randomizer, which randomly pulls celebrity videos, and this is when the in-ears start acting up for Louis, who’s midway through Robbie Williams asking them for the best live performer they’ve ever seen, prompting Louis to give Ben the evil eye off camera and go off script to say Michael Buble, ha.

Some random sports man (update: Doncaster Rovers manager) demands that they do pressups up and burpees, and Louis gives us a surprisingly strong and steady nine pressups before proving why he’s most relatable:

After fits of unnecessary laughter from Niall, and a lot of exasperation about the technical problems so far from Louis (friend, you’ve seen nowt yet), we get the best VT from this entire day, the iconic bts video for “Talk Dirty to Me,” and if you watch nothing from any of this, please tell me you’ve seen it in full for Zayn the goofball! Liam’s hanky code shoutouts! Harry’s hip chub! Louis and his glorious torso! Niall in full Farmer Ted mode!

Next up, we get astronauts congratulating the D from space, and whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I mean, honestly, WHY? Are these astronauts fans? Is anyone besides Niall into space? I know there’s an intense interest in making space interesting for teens (how many times have people on the international space station beamed their way into MTV award shows at this point), but whyyyyy.

Scott tells us we’ll soon see Doctor Who (mild interest from Nouis) and Simon Cowell (Louis: “SIMON COWELL, WOO HOO, I LOVE THAT GUY!” Niall: “Simon GROWL”), but first up is Doctor Who, and this is where the wheels fall off the bus, technically speaking. First, there’s a 15-minute delay (!!), so Nouis are standing around while the Doctor handles some other interview for the BBC. Eventually, they connect, and Louis makes the understatement of the year (“This is gonna be tough”) as both the video and audio go full Inception and echo in and around each other to make us all woozy:

Louis again understates the chaos happening on screen by saying, “I think actually that this is not working,” and then begging for any VT, they don’t care, help (the VT is Niall being all humblecholy about their success and Ireland and something something, I’m not actually interested, sorry).

We come back to Louis still losing it, curious as to how they can have a link to space but can’t have a studio in LA link to the BBC, and yeah. YEAH. But enough about that, it’s Google+ Hangout (lololololol) time, and we don’t get too many answers to these vital fan questions because Ben is in Louis’s ear so much that Louis starts arguing with him about it and eventually runs off stage to yell at him in person, and god, it’s glorious. READY 2 FIGHT:

Because this is an utter trainwreck, the team decides to do another live link again, this time to the X Factor while it’s airing in the UK, and it’s…yeah, not good. Just awful, cameras out of synch, no sound, etc. Save us, random VT of Denmark!!

Hearing Louis say “tits up” is my new religion, but honestly, this chitchat with McFly is such a revelation. Apparently, they worked with Niall on something, so they gossip with Louis about what a diva Niall is (!) and how he brought a friend of his named Shawn around (!!), and there’s a lot of inside jokes I know nothing about, but I’m LIVING for Niall looking at all these boys on the screen and saying, “I feel like I’m alone in my bedroom,” and Louis’s response, “Okay, Niall!”

“Don’t Forget Where You Belong” is announced, but we don’t get to hear it (although we DO get to see some sweet Nouis dancing), and two more girls go into the call box of doom. Because this show’s producers can’t go ten minutes without a disaster, there’s increasingly urgent screaming from Louis to Ben to just roll the Zayn graffiti VT, which takes at least a full, tense minute to post.

Zayn is incredibly hot, but my heart breaks for him saying it’s their 127th show, and he’s feeling inspired and creative to make art, and I just wonder how??? How are you not banging your head against a wall instead of painting it? Anyway, it’s a lot of spraypainting/artist au Zayn come to life, with Liam working out shirtless nearby and heaping praise on just about every single thing Zayn puts on the wall (awwwww). Also some nice Flicker reference points (Niall: “Zayn, will you draw a picture of me?” Zayn: “No. I don’t like you”). Ouch.

We come back to Rebecca, an opera singer who’s here to sing some tweets, and this is a horrible idea that Ben Winston stole from Jimmy Kimmel, right? When he used to have Josh Groban sing tweets a million years ago? Anyway, this ripoff doesn’t work because nobody can really understand the words, but credit to Louis for trying to cheat and speed this whole thing up:

When Rebecca finishes, Louis says he got emotional (Niall just laughs), and this poor girl says not to worry, she’ll do more later, and lmao at Louis: “Oh, OH, there’s more in store, Niall” (Niall: “Can’t wait”), sighhhhh, it’s torture for us all, tbh. Anyway, time for some Belgian VT and reinforcement that Louis’s part Belgian, which is why it’s super relevant, I guess.

The last bit is back to Dynamo, to redo the magic bit that failed with Harry in hour two. I’m still curious about this trick because there’s a piece of paper locked in this box (Harry’s dick holds the key to it), and tl/dr, Harry says April for the month an hour ago, but Louis says November, and sure enough, November plus all the other details are in this locked box. HMMMMM. Me as Harry’s finger delivering the key immediately in this segment, meaning he’s literally right there watching all of it. Pick someone supportive, etc.

Anyway, back to the trick, there’s a bit where Louis says he told Dynamo all this information earlier (Niall starts chewing his nails a bit ferociously at that), but then he backpedals brilliantly later about what an amazing, stunning trick, etc., and this group of sneaky liars, god, I love ‘em!

We get more terrible highlights, which sucks, because I kind of liked the way Louis was asking Niall what HIS highlights were, but never mind, let’s get Ben’s. I’ll leave you with this picture that makes me think of Louis hosting Family Feud, you know, the final round, when you have to see how your answers stacked up with a family member’s and if, together, you cleared 200 (“Name someone a person may confess a crime to”):

#recap #1d day #hour 3 #i would totally watch louis host family feud

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katecarteir · 6 years

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BLOOD IN THE WATER

summary: “I think we’re all going to have do some pretty terrible things,” Eddie said quietly. His hand came to wrap in Richie’s shirt, trying to burn out the violent grip of his father’s from earlier. “None of us have a choice in anything anymore. Whatever happened at Greta’s tonight-“ Eddie’s voice broke and he felt Richie press a kiss into his hair. “There isn’t a good and a bad anymore. There’s just die or don’t.”

[or: after the gruesome murder of his younger brother, Bill Denbrough is determined to bring about the end of the string of crimes in Derry no matter the cost. As stories unwind and fall apart, there’s only more questions as everybody’s lives hang in the balance.]

chapter count: 16/21

Taglist: @honkhonkrichard @hufflepuffkaspbrak @emmieliabedelia @reddie-for-anything @reddiesetrichie@beepbeepbitchard @lemonadeandrice @mirandosky @vanilluna @fivxharmony

[Prologue] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [Read Full Story on AO3] [Playlist]

Bill Denbrough stared blankly as the episode of American Vandal continued playing in the background. The past few weeks had taught Bill that he really had never known the meaning of boredom before in his whole life, unable to leave the house, nobody ever coming to see him. All Bill Denbrough had to keep himself company was the homework being sent from school, content on Netflix and the burning images of his girlfriend dying whenever he closed his eyes. He fiddled his fingers together, letting out an angry sigh.

He’d had his phone taken away by his parents, an assumed punishment for a crime that Bill couldn’t completely bring himself to feel bad about. Sure, he hadn’t really intended for Criss to die, but he’d be blinded at the moment and all he could think about was getting that gun away from Henry. Bill supposed, in complete truth, he couldn’t regret killing Criss- because if it had been Henry he wouldn’t have felt anything besides victory. Bill felt as though Criss knew what we was getting into it when he aligned himself with the Bowers gang. Bill only regret was that he hadn’t managed to take Bowers and Hockstetter down, too.

The police hadn’t responded well when Bill had told them that, hence the house arrest awaiting trial he was currently living through. He didn’t care. He would’ve done all that and more for Audra. Maybe he was coming unhinged like they all said- but living through this hell, who wouldn’t?

The sound of the knocking on his front door startled Bill out of his darkening thoughts, dragging him away from matted, bloody brown hair and sightless eyes. He was ready to simply ignore it, he didn’t suppose that company was exactly permitted during his punishment, but then he recognized the knock. The quick three knocks with the singular harsh, one. A code, a knock known by only three people. Bill rolled off his ass and stomped to the front door.

Eddie Kaspbrak stood on his front step in a suit with classmates- hoodlums and scholars alike- surrounding him in similar fashion choices. Bill found himself frowning and rattling his brain before letting out a harsh chuckle. “Prom night already? I can’t go,” he told him, lifting up his leg and shaking his ankle to showcase the bracelet that insured his prison.

A pained look crossed Eddie’s face as he looked down at it, and Bill felt a small thrill at it. In the events of the past weeks, Bill had all but forgotten his and Eddie’s spat the night of Greta’s party, but seeing him at his front door now after everything brought it all rushing back. A small ball of anger settled in his stomach, even as rational part of Bill’s brain knew that nearly all his rage to Eddie was being misdirected. “What the fuck are you doing here, Kaspbrak?” He asked, already stepping aside to let him in as the words left his mouth.

Eddie flushed a deep red, mouth opening and closing rapidly with wide panicked eyes. Stanley Uris stepped out of the crowd and rested a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “We need somewhere to meet and get our stories straight. You have literally the safest house in this whole town, and…” Stan raised one eyebrow. “I assume you want to know what you’ve missed out on?”

Stan and Bill glowered at one another for a long moment before Bill let out an aggressive sigh and waved for the mismatched group of teens to come inside. Bill knocked shoulders against Eddie as he walked past, causing him to curl into himself and wrap his arms around his middle. Aurora wrapped an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and shot a dirty glare in Bill’s direction, which he happily ignored.

Bill looked around the room of his peers and felt embarrassingly underdressed in his red hoodie and jeans. “So…” he said slowly. “Where’s your little delinquent boyfriend, Eddie?”

Eddie made an awkward noise in the back of his throat, turning away angrily. “I don’t know,” Eddie said, voice breaking slightly. For a moment, Bill felt a pang in his chest. That voice was from an Eddie he knew, an Eddie of asthma attacks and late night tears. That little bit of sympathy was quickly snuffed out when Eddie told a single deep breath and wiped every inch of emotion from his face in a move so Tozier-like that Bill got chills.

“I’m assuming that even trapped inside your own house, you know Henry Bowers escaped from jail when they were trying to transfer him to Shawshank?” Stan said coolly as the group moved into the Denbrough’s large living room.

“Henry Bowers is dead,” Aurora said, not looking up from her phone as she dropped onto the arm of couch and leaned against Ben’s shoulder. She looked up after the long pause of silence throughout the room caught her attention. She held her phone up and shook it. “Dorian Tweeted about it. That’s what the lock down was all about, they found his body in the hallway.”

“That…” Mike shook his head slowly. “That changes a lot of things.”

“No it doesn’t,” Ben piped up. “Henry was never the killer, maybe he helped them but it was never just him. I got my letter after he was arrested. And somebody had to have broken him out, right? Even if it was just to kill him.”

“What letter?” Bill asked in frustration, only to feel slightly better once he realized that there were other voices in the room that echoed his question. Only Aurora and Eddie seemed to have even the smallest idea of what Ben was talking about.

“There was a letter dropped off at the paper,” Ben said. “Basically telling me to stop investigating or I’ll die.. but also that I was probably going to die anyway. Basically telling me that everything would be answered at prom.”

“Which we already knew,” Eddie said, gesturing to nothing in particular. “The word prom was written over Janie’s body when we found her.”

“Janie’s dead?” Bill asked quickly as the conversation swirled around him.

“And what happened at Neibolt,” Patty added from where she was sitting in Stan’s lap in the big red armchair.

Bill’s brain swirled. “Neibolt? Like, the street?”

“What happened in Neibolt?” Mike asked, frowning in confusion.

“A ghost tried to kill us,” Patty and Eddie answered in unison. Ben blinked in surprise and Aurora gave a disbelieving look while Mike nodded as though that made all the sense in the world.

“I think tried to kill is-“ Stan started but Bill made a loud, angry noise before Stan could get another word in. Stan’s eyebrows shot up his forehead.

“I hope you realize I have absolutely no idea what the fuck any of you are talking about,” Bill practically shouted. “I’ve been in this house since that night, with no contact with anybody except my parents or fucking… Butch Bowers… to talk to. So, please, I need you to start at the beginning.”

“The beginning is about thirty years ago,” Mike Hanlon added quickly. Bill let out an angry groan, running his hand down his face and letting himself fall onto the couch into the lap of Ben Hanscom, the action dragging Aurora down on top of them both.

“How the actual fuck does it start thirty years ago?” Eddie asked, shaking his head.

Stan and Patty turned towards Eddie with matching looks of surprise. “Richie hasn’t mentioned Robert Gray to you? He’s like an old Devils wise tale.” Patty said with a small laugh.

“It’s an a legend, he’s real.” Mike said with a frown. “He killed all those people thirty years ago, just like people are dying now.”

Stan gave Mike a pitying look. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “It always been pretty far fetched to me. It was a warning to kids of blood Derry Devils to stay loyal to their kind or else. Which is absolutely bullshit because look at Bill’s dad and-“ Stan stalled, glancing at Eddie.

“You can say my dad, too,” Eddie said with an eye roll. “I already know, he told me. Can’t say he’s good example of being successful after leaving the Devils.”

“He’s not in jail for murder,” Patty said helpfully.

“Yeah…” Eddie let out a short breath. “But I thought it was him at first.”

There was a long moment of silence through the room, the teens all looking at one another and avoiding Eddie’s gaze. It was easy enough, with how Eddie was staring stubbornly at the ground. “Well…” Aurora cleared her throat. “Robert Gray was a real dude, Mike and I went to Shawshank. Talked to some people who knew him. Got a picture of his little jailbait.”

Patty scoffed. “I think his jailbait was the tens of teenagers he killed, not so much the one he decided could live and he’d have sex with.”

“I’m still totally lost,” Bill said quietly, looking around the room with wide eyes “Can I have like.... a jot note point of whatever the fuck is going on?”

“Robert Gray killed a bunch of people back in the 90s,” Mike said, clicking and unclicking a pen he’d pulled from the pocket of his suit. “He was also dating a high school girl who we only know the initials of- L.B - and when he got caught for sleeping with her, they investigated him for that crime and found all the stuff that connected him to the murders. They found the girl he was sleeping with to be innocent of the murders or anything to do with them, but he’s our best lead to what’s happening now- if we could figure out who she is.”

“Her initials are what?” Eddie asked, crinkling his nose and looking at Bill. Bill pursed his lips and nodded back at him. He knew the same disconnected rattling in his brain that Eddie was feeling- the knowledge that he knew what name that was, but couldn’t quite reach it inside his mind.

“Butch Bowers was also the one who reported the relationship,” Aurora rushed on over Eddie’s question. “And when we went to Shawshank there was a picture of her- with Maggie Tozier and Eddie’s dad in the background.”

Eddie nodded. “My dad is also the other person in the picture with your dad and Went Tozier that got leaked to the press,” Eddie told Bill. “That’s why I started talking to Richie in the first place, he knew it was my dad before even I did. My dad used to be a Devil before he married my mother, it makes sense that they’d be all these pictures together. He hung around with Went and Maggie in high school, he told Rich and I as much.”

“My dad, too, then.” Bill scratched the back of his head. “He’s older than your dad and Richie’s mom by a few years- maybe two? But they would’ve run in circles, yeah.”

“Then they’d all know who the girl with Robert Gray was,” Ben jumped in. “We just need to figure out which one would be easiest to get information out of.”

An angry look crossed over Eddie’s face. “Figuring out some stupid student-teacher relationship from the 90s isn’t going to help us find Richie!”

“You don’t know that, Eddie-“ Aurora started but Bill interrupted once again.

“What exactly happened to Richie?”

Stan exhaled hard. “We actually don’t know, he and Bev went off to do something to help set up for prom and never came back. Then the school went under lock down- because of Henry’s body apparently, which kind of throws out any idea I had of what happened to them.”

Patty nodded. “Richie and Bev are old, old Blood Devils. With the Denbrough line gone, the Toziers are the oldest family from South Derry. Beverly is the last of the Marsh’s, and raised by the Toziers most her life.”

“Okay, can you say that in normal non-gangster words for us good civilians?” Ben said lightly.

“It means Richie and Bev have been trained to fight off an attack and survive since they were diapers,” Eddie said tiredly. “So, whoever managed to get at them would have had to have been just as well trained- probably more so, because they over powered them both.”

“Not necessarily,” Stan said, tilting his head to the side in thought. “Richie and Bev’s energy have been off with each other ever since her trial… understandably. If whoever it was went at Richie first, it wouldn’t have been hard to get Bev to back down.”

“But what I’m getting here,” Bill said with a wave of both hands. “Is that we agree that only another Devil could have taken Tozier and Marsh? So it actually has been a Devil this whole time?”

Stan narrowed his eyes as he turned sights on Bill. “Nobody said that, don’t put words in people’s mouths. We just said it had to be somebody strong enough and stupid enough to go after them. I might add, only two people have gone down for any of these crimes, and neither of them have been Devils: Henry Bowers and you.”

Bill launched to his feet, Stan following quickly behind but Eddie was jumping up and forcing himself between them. “STOP!” He cried. “Fucking fighting with each other isn’t going to help anything!” He pushed at Bill’s chest until he backed off, before turning back to Stan and Patty. “What do you mean Henry wasn’t a Devil? He ran around with Devils as long as I’ve known anything.”

“So have I,” Stan said shortly with a shrug. “The Bower family doesn’t have Devils blood, so to join Henry would’ve had to prove himself. It was pretty agreed upon that he was too unhinged to be trusted, he spent time around because Hockstetter and Huggins are Devils.”

“Bowers was too crazy but Hockstetter wasn’t?” Aurora asked in disbelief.

Patty crossed her arms around her chest. “He said unhinged- not insane. Patrick Hockstetter is a deranged sociopath, absolutely. But he also wouldn’t go on some half-assed murder spree with .45 and blow away his classmates. If Hockstetter is going to kill you, he’d do it clever.”

“He’d just Henry to do it,” Eddie said slowly. “Make Henry think it was his idea….”

“And kill him when it looks like Henry might tell,” Stan continued Eddie’s sentence, the two of them staring at each other with wide eyes.

“Okay, hey!” Mike called to them. “I think everybody else in the room missed something.”

Eddie spun around with wild eyes. “You guys were there…” He said slowly. “How come Hockstetter didn’t get arrested with Henry?”

Bill held his hands up in defence. “I was a little busy getting fucking arrested to see what anybody else was doing.”

“I saw Hockstetter,” Mike said slowly. “He was talking to Sheriff Bowers when they pulled Bill from the house in cuffs. Nobody seemed to bother going after him, they had Henry, Criss was dead… open and shut case.”

“Except it wasn’t,” Ben said. “Bill, do you remember what he said to you? About how they weren’t taking their orders from the Toziers anymore?”

“Yuh-yeah…” Bill nodded slowly. “Said something about having a new player or whatever? He was there looking for Tozier. Kept saying nobody would get hurt if we just told him where Tozier was.”

“Doesn’t exactly sound like Henry just snapping and shooting up his classmates,” Ben said plainly. “Now Henry is dead and Richie is missing. So, really… what if Richie was the target the whole time?”

“If Richie was the target, who ever it was would’ve just killed him straight out.” Patty said. “Why waste the time and effort with kidnapping him just to kill him in the end?”

“What’s far fetched about that?” Mike asked with a dry laugh. “They kept Janie in the Neibolt House for four months before killing her.”

“You really think all these people died because somebody wanted to kill Richie Tozier?” Bill asked with an eyeroll. “I want to kill Richie Tozier once a week, and even I think that’s a little much.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “What about Bev? If they wanted Richie, then why take her, too?”

“Because she was there?” Ben suggested.

“Because she’s a traitor,” Patty said quietly. “She was working with them before, we know that. But she was going to expose them, she was playing both sides. Neither one could trust her, it’s enviable that one side would kill her. It was just a race to who was going to do it first.”

Eddie ran his fingers through his hair. “This isn’t helping anything! We still have no idea who took them! Or where!”

“Well, what about Neibolt?” Patty suggested. “It’s probably like their home base.”

“It’s a crime scene,” Ben pointed out. “They won’t go back there.”

“It’s not a well kept crime scene,” Patty countered. “Stan, Eddie and I already trampled all over it. Neibolt Street is no-mans land. It’s the best place anybody could go for anything.”

“So…” Bill cleared his throat. “They held Janie in the Old Neibolt house for four months? The one that Beverly killed her father in?” Patty and Stan both nodded, Stan a little begrudgingly. “Okay.”

Bill turned and rushed from the front door of the house. Eddie made a loud noise of protest and ran after him. He stumbled to the front door, nearly running into it while it was hanging open. He could hear Bill’s police bracelet beeping angrily as the boy ran down the streets. Eddie was debating chasing after him when his phone started charming in his pocket.

Incoming Call from Richie Tozier <3.

#reddie #reddie fic #it fanfiction #my writing #blood in the water #... and THATS what you missed on glee

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viralgossip · 6 years

Photo

VIRAL GOSSIP’S TRENDING ARTISTS !!

JUNE 7TH, 2018

wayfinder changed my life 🌠 @lilkayns · 6m with a name like [ REDACTED ] i really have to wonder why people ship them.

follow me ezra!! @ajpeg · 12m the claws are coming out! #TEAM[ REDACTED ]

AH! @pinkangel · 6m who fell harder, [ REDACTED ] from that stage or me when i saw her for the first time? #toosoon?

NO BETTER WAY TO KICK OFF A NEW EVENT THAN A LITTLE REMINDER AS TO WHO’S ON TOP ↴

#10 IVY SERRANO ( @ivcsisms )

proud mom @ivydovey · 16m

#20GAYTEEN is the best thing that’s ever happened to me

Honestly, Ivy is just out here living her best life. In honor of it being Pride month, Serrano took to instagram to reveal that she’s bisexual! Everyone here at Viral Gossip is beyond happy and proud of our #bicon, and we can’t wait to see how many more hearts she breaks since literally anyone is up for grabs right now. Parents, lock up your adult children, no one is safe anymore! Or maybe everyone is currently safe? After all, Arie Castillo also posted on instagram, although his post announced something different. Castillo posted a picture of our lovely queen, Ivy, as the two decided to take an impromptu trip to Hawaii in honor of Castillo’s birthday. Are the two dating? Will Castillo stop getting passed around from woman to woman? Will Ivy Serrano date me? Let’s hope for the best.

#9 KAILANI ( @kaiilanis )

follow me ezra!! @ajpeg · 12m

the claws are coming out! #TEAMKAILANI

Kailani was giving her followers a lot of mixed signals these past few weeks---and we really don’t know what to make of it. It was Kailani, and not ₩ON, who threw shade at Mimi Vang of Afterparty after the Wayfinder Music Festival spectacle, which fueled #KAIWON shippers into a frenzy. Yet, that took place only a few days after Kailani was spotted having a dare-we-say romantic dinner with ₩ON‘s ex, Ruby Rixon. And Afterparty isn’t the only band that the soloist is feuding with---apparently she has beef with Renegade and its lead singer Axel Leitch as well.

#8 ROSE QUARTZ ( @jettblvck, @corinnasrose, @jcdehq, @kitwildc )

148 days! @jetts_wife · 6m

#bett is old news and anyone who thinks #georgett is real is delusional.

If all rumored relationships were true, then Rose Quartz’s frontman Jett Blackwell would be a polygamist. Within only the past two weeks, he’s apparently been in a relationship with Georgia Lane, Beckley Byers, and a ‘mysterious hand’ (no, not his own). Those rumors enough are carrying his entire band. To elaborate, some have been speculating that Jett and Georgia are getting back together after Wayfinder (last week’s news!), even going as far as to say that the mysterious hand is Georgia’s. They all want to know if there’ll be any confirmation on Georgia’s upcoming album… but this isn’t promotion for her. On the other side of the spectrum, people are churning rumors that perhaps Jett and Beckley are getting back together. The two have exchanged flirty tweets and have sent each other pictures no one else has seen (again, no, not that kind, although it would make this a lot more entertaining). Others think that hand belongs to a mystery woman. We personally think that’s just for aesthetic.

#7 ETHEREAL ( @chloehq, @winnisms )

wayfinder changed my life 🌠@lilkayns · 6m

with a name like #CHLACK i really have to wonder why people ship them.

It’s a rough time for fans of America’s favorite girl group. Fans were left reeling when two of the group’s members, Chloe Evans and Winnie Whitmore posted photos to their social media accounts that fueled rumors that both girls were leaving the group. Seeing how Ethereal’s only been around for a little over a year, they might want to change their name to Ephemeral if they’re already having breakup rumors. In other news, it looks like Chloe Evans and Jack Jericho might be a new thing---that will maybe fill our favorite white couple void that we have been feeling since #BELLIAN broke up?

#6 BETTER NOW ( @greyhtml, @sweetshqs )

#bn2 is coming @ezrasweets · 16m

#gezra runs deep in my veins, this is the cutest shit i’ve ever seen.

It seems that Better Now is trending for every reason except their music. Where is Better Now 2? We see you two in the studio a lot but we don’t see any singles being released. Maybe the two are too preoccupied now in their new relationships, #gezra and #kori, to continue with their careers? After all, Ezra has been spotted all over town with his new girl, Gemma Clarke, that there is no time for him to be writing music. I’d say at least we have frontwoman, Sweets Mori, but she’s busy off “not dating” Afterparty’s own, Christian Kelley, that we’ve hardly ever seen the two bandmates together anymore. Was the band just a ploy to find dates? Is eHarmony.com out and creating a mildly successful alternative band to find your significant other IN? Who knows! We just hope this doesn’t lead to a lot of Misery Business.... see what I did there?

#5 GEMMA ( @gemclvrke )

notice me gemma @gemmastone1 · 12m

ugh can we please stop talking about #gezra and focus on gemstones instead???

You’d think we’d be focusing on Gemma Clarke’s upcoming album, right? Wrong. The focus of the week, or weeks, has been Gemma Clarke’s relationship status. (Where’s Alison Bechdel when you need her?) It seems she and Better Now drummer Ezra Grey have been getting to know each other pretty well, and by pretty well, we mean not even subtly hinting that they’re a couple in public. Anyone who thinks speculation is worth it is sorely mistaken. Anyone who thinks ‘confirmation’ is needed is very similar to Jared (can’t read, possibly 19). Sure, the Snapchat story wasn’t even close to a giveaway, just Gemma banging it out to BN. However, when you’re practically practicing PDA in front of a bunch of photographers and posting photos of yourself with that same person everywhere, if you’re not a couple, things just get weird. Anyway, she has an album coming out.

#4 BELLA CARISI ( @bcllahqs )

LEAVE BELLA ALONE @pinkangel · 6m

who fell harder, bella from that stage or me when i saw her for the first time? #TeamBella #toosoon?

It seems as if Bella has had a lot of ups, and one particular down, since coming off from Wayfinder. As if having to deal with speculation over her relationship from us (we can be pretty brutal) isn’t enough, now other artists are joining in (we’re looking at you Georgia “Doesn’t Stay In Her Own” Lane). But even as she deals with petty drama Bella is still out here giving her fans what they want by dropping a music video for her song ‘Jump’ (available on itunes)! Although, do her fans deserve the treat considering they don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves? Yes, we’re talking about when a drunk fan took it upon themselves to do a meet and greet of their own in the form of pulling our pop princess off the stage and into the crowd, resulting in Carisi having to go to the emergency room for checkups. Guys, we know some times people do things they regret when they’re drunk, but don’t pull people off stage! Especially if you’re not even cute, do you see the type of guys Bella gets? She doesn’t want your Coors beer drinking ass. Okay, that’s enough from us about the situation, but just know that we’re #TeamJacob all the way and we hope that Carisi regains her crown as #1 soon.

#3 ARIE CASTILLO ( @arieisms )

how can i breathe with no arie @punkinking · 6m

imagine fucking your best friends girl and STILL maintaining your friendship #iconic #westanalegend

Arie Castillo... what can we say about Arie Castillo? Or more, what can’t we say about him? There are plenty of things that I can’t say about Arie, even if they are true they’re not meant for a blog like this. So, what has our favorite daddie been up to? Nothing! If you guys want to talk about someone who uses their relationships and connections to get to the top look no further than Arie Castillo! Why is it that Georgia and Bella get their name dragged through the mud when Arie is essentially doing the same thing? It’s 2018, folks! Guys can be fame leeches too! Just look at his twitter, liking tweets mentioning Georgia, and his instagram, where he took a picture with best friend, Killian Law, right after rumors fly that Arie and Killian’s ex, Bella, did the nasty behind his friend’s back?? Yikes! Maybe if Castillo focused solely on his music this man would be #1 some day... nah, that’s not how things work around here. Keep stirring up trouble, Daddy Arie, we like you better when there’s nothing but drama attached to your name! Oh, you’re going to release an album? That’s nice...

#2 GEORGIA LANE ( @georgialanes )

🍑 @laneegirl · 2m

find yourself a girl who’ll drag you with one hand and promo her album with the next. oh, i did, her name is georgia lane.

It seems Georgia Lane has been one busy girl (talk about twitter fingers). With her upcoming album releasing soon (pre-order Melodrama now), her shady tweets, and just generally out here living her best life, she’s become someone we’ve slowly began to admire. We love a messy queen. Georgia has been enjoying her time in the spotlight, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. While everyone is quick to jump down her throat for her coming for Arie and Bella, are we really going to pretend that the possibility of Arie hurting Georgia isn’t a thing? Your favorite golden boy might not be so golden after all. We’re all good though, because it seems as if our favorite trouble maker might be making other artists swoon. Yes, we’re obviously talking about the notorious “hands” photos that Rose Quartz aritists Jett Blackwell keeps posting. We just have one question: dude, what’s with the hands? And obviously, is the hand Georgia? Hopefully Blackwell will have a face fetish next and finally post a picture of the mystery girl he keeps hinting at. Our money is on our messy queen, Georgia, because if we’re in love with her than it wouldn’t come as a shock if Blackwell was too. But boys and tweets aren’t the only thing she’s good at, Georgia Lane also released a music video to our new favorite track, Perfect Places! If the rest of Melodrama delivers songs as great as that one then there is no doubt that Georgia holds the new #1 album in her hands. Best Album, anyone?

AND YOUR #1 TRENDING ARTIST IS…

#trending #round four

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