#mascot performer eddie munson

[hawkinsbnbg]

Eddie who did all kinds of odd jobs for extra cash and ended up acting as a mascot for a football team.

He had to admit while he wasn't the biggest sports fan out there, the chaos and overflowing energy of the games made the blood run hot in his veins. The enthusiasm, the booming cheering and the loud music almost compensated for the stuffy red bird costume he had to squeeze into every couple of days.

The only saving grace was that Eddie always ran cold, so unlike some of his poor co-workers, he didn't sweat buckets during his shift, and he got to revel in the fun while being his dramatic and goofy self. He danced around people, teased them, joked with them, and posed for their photos.

One of many things that he enjoyed was the kiss cam. As much as Eddie tried to pretend otherwise, he was a romantic at heart, and seeing so many people having fun and being in love really made his day.

Sure there were awkward moments as well where family members were mistaken as couples, but it was just another thing to laugh at, just another tale to recall when they gathered around the table and had dinner together some days or some years later.

Perhaps, that was why when the big screen showed a pretty boy—and damn, Eddie could spend forever to wax lyrical about those pouty lips and doe eyes and perfect hair and handsome jawline. And Eddie wished he could trace those cute little moles with his tongue, to draw constellations on that golden skin and find the answers of the universe—who got ignored and then brushed off by his boyfriend despite his attempts to tell the guy they were on kiss cam, Eddie felt so offended on his pretty boy's behalf.

Without hesitation, Eddie stalked over to their row, took the popcorn from Pretty Boy and upended the whole box over the boyfriend's head just as the guy finally looked up from his stupid phone, relishing the cheers the other spectators gave him.

He then booed at the fuming bastard who looked two seconds away from blowing a casket, pulled Pretty Boy into his chest, and nearly bumped his fist into the air when Pretty Boy giggled and hooked their arms together.

He didn't think, really, he just signaled for Bob he had to go for a while and took Pretty Boy back to the staff room where he peeled off the mascot costume and finally revealed himself to Pretty Boy.

Eddie slightly regretted his impulsive decision because he wasn't looking his best right now; his hair was put up in a tight bun, his face was flushed and sticky with sweat. He only had on a black Metallica cut-off, a pair of sweat shorts for easy movements, his rings, and nothing else.

In contrast, Pretty Boy looked like a model walking right out of a magazine with his baby blue striped polo, washout jeans, RayBan perched on coifed chestnut hair, and worn sneakers.

"I'm Eddie," he introduced, panting a little because of the heat and the pace his heart was slamming against his ribcage. "I hope I'm not bothering you, pretty boy."

Smiling coyly, Pretty Boy leaned in his space and holy shit, Eddie had to swallow the pool of spit gather in his mouth when he detected the floral and fruity notes from Pretty Boy's cologne and body wash. This close, he could see how those hazel eyes dilated, how those plush lips parted just slightly, tempting him to take a taste.

"Hi Eddie," Pretty Boy said, glancing up at him through those pretty eyelashes. "I'm Steve. But you can always call me Stevie, sweetheart, baby, or pretty boy."

Eddie couldn't help but laugh at the cheekiness. God, they just met ten minutes ago but this boy was proving to be the death of him.

"Pretty baby, then," Eddie lifted his hand to brush Steve's cheekbone with the back of it, smiling fondly at the blush that crept up on the soft skin. He met Steve's gaze and raised a brow. "What do you think?"

"I think," Steve licked his lips, red and kissable. "I think you should kiss me."

That Eddie could do. He would happily listen to the sweet little noises Steve made for as long as Steve had him.

He told Steve as much and they ended up going back to his apartment where he showed Steve what it felt like to be his boy. His baby.

Some years later, Eddie made sure to kiss the daylight out of his boyfriend when they were caught by the kiss cam. He wanted to brag as loud as he could that he was the man who had bagged Steve Harrington.

And when someone booed at him for showing off, he flipped them a bird through the camera, making Steve giggle against him. He wouldn't have it any other way.

[slashify]

I saw a few posts about how people who are fawning over Eddie Munson probably would have bullied him in high school so I had a think about my own school crushes and like.

There was the guy in elementary school whose talent show act was a lip sync performance of the entirety of Enter Sandman.

There was the girl who forgot her eyeliner one day, burnt something (can’t remember what) and put the resulting soot or ash or whatever on her lids.

There was the guy who brought his pet rats to school so many times his teacher gave up, bought them a cage, and made them the unofficial class mascots.

There was the guy who got beat up by some of the popular guys when they realized he had sold them oregano in place of weed, multiple times.

There was the girl who got bullied for her notes every day so she started eating them.

There was the guy who couldn’t afford makeup or blood capsules one Halloween so he just. Broke his own fucking nose.

The first time I saw Eddie Munson sitting at that picnic table picking at a zit while he waited for someone to show up and buy some ketamine from him I would have started picking out large, skull-covered engagement rings.

[theautisticbarbie]

A Swan Song in Hawkins

An introduction to my Stranger Things OC. I plan to write a longer, chaptered fanfic of her, but right now I’m just getting her out into the world. This takes place during the Hawkins Middle School talent show. Yes, the one where Eddie met Chrissy.

Content Warnings: OCs, subtle emotional abuse and neglect (my OC’s mum is a jerkface), mentions of edgelord behaviour (a kid dressed as Hitler to school), bullying and mentions of bullying, mentions of animal cruelty and animal death. I think that covers it but let me know if I missed anything! GIF of the beautiful Natalia Osipova performing the Dying Swan sequence for visibility!

Hawkins, Indiana was the definition of a quiet sleepy town. It was well within the Bible Belt, so the busiest place was often church on a Sunday. Gossip often spread like wildfire simply because the entertainment industry was non-existent save for the video store and the occasional wannabe filmmaker who stole gorilla shots here and there. The community theatre had occasional matinee performances, but the theatre kids usually performed at the community college in Indianapolis or at their respective schools.

Speaking of which, there were only 2 in the whole city. The high school, Hawkins High and the combination grade school and middle school, and even those two weren’t separate for long. K-12 was all taught in one building until the demands of the rich teenagers were finally met and they got their own high school, complete with mascots, pep rallies and popularity contests. Meanwhile, preschool was taught at the local church and had a religious foundation. If you were uncomfortable with that, you had to go all the way to Indianapolis, get a permit, and enrol your child in preschool there. Not only did middle schoolers and grade schoolers have to share a school, but students from different grades often had to share a classroom so teachers had to be equipped to teach different age groups at the same time. And because everyone from age 5 to age 14 had to share a space, it was very difficult to keep the peace.

For one such girl, 11 year old Tara Newman, who often shared classes with her twin brother, Daniel, she often got the brunt of it. Midterms came around and it was time for history class to share a presentation on their heroes while dressed as them.

Here and there, kids gave the usual boring answers: Abraham Lincoln, The Founding Fathers, Thomas Edison. You get the idea. But a few of them went outside of the box, though, seeing white girls dressed as Pocahontas and Cleopatra is something that rightfully would not fly today. One did Hateshuput, whose claim to fame was Egypt’s first female Pharoh. Another did Nefertiti. Nancy Wheeler chose Mary Pickford, a silent film actress who helped make the film industry more accessible to women. Steve Harrington chose D.W. Griffith (and there was a collective agreement to ignore the “Birth of a Nation” sized elephant in the room) one kid did Buster Keaton, another did Charlie Chaplain, an Elvis Presley here, a Marie Antoinette there. There was a Madame Pompadour, 2 kids who agreed to team up and do the Grimm Brothers and even a Charles Dickens.

The only kid who got in trouble was a little smart-ass who thought he could get away with doing his presentation on and dressing as Adolph Hitler. He was promptly sent to the principal’s office and given 5 days of suspension.

Eddie Munson did his presentation on Muddy Waters, and to boot, he did so respectfully. No blackface like Jason Carver, who did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and whose presentation made it clear that he fundamentally misunderstood the entire reason behind Dr. King’s march and speech and seems to believe that racism is a relic of the past. Eddie, however, talked at length about how black musicians created and pioneered the rock and roll genre and how it was stolen from them by white musicians. Daniel did his presentation on John Brown, a slave abolitionist who was on the right side of morality but the wrong side of the law and was executed for his trouble.

Tara did her presentation on Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballet dancer who pioneered and performed the ballet solo known as “The Dying Swan”, a piece choreographed to “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saëns and inspired by one of her favourite poems. Tara spoke about how Anna fundamentally changed the ballet industry for women everywhere and played a clip from her first performance as the dying swan. She even talked about Anna’s death. She had come down with an illness and her doctor told her that in order to save her life, they would have to perform an operation that meant that she could never dance again. She refused, and her words were that she would rather die than be unable to dance. And she did. On 23 January of 1931, she succumbed to her illness. Her final words were “Get my swan costume ready.”

After each presentation, there was a short Q&A where the teacher and students could ask questions. After Tara’s presentation there were a few questions that didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

“What other ballets did Anna do?”

“Was she also in Swan Lake?”

“Was ‘The Dying Swan’ ever used in Swan Lake?”

These were all questions that Tara was happy and even enthusiastic to answer. And then the troublemakers opened their mouth.

“My dad and I like to go fouling during spring break and shoot swans.”

Tara, who was very sensitive about animal death, did not want to hear this. And the boy continued despite the teacher’s attempts to shut him down.

“One time, I got one in the neck and blood just spurted out everywhere and it flailed all the way from one side of the lake to the other! There were feathers everywhere!” The boy laughed hysterically as he imitated the poor injured animal. Tara’s eyes flooded with tears as she fled the classroom.

That incident unfortunately was followed up by Tara opening her locker two days later to find a decapitated swan in it.

The principal had a unique but surprisingly effective approach to the conflicts that happen. Have lots of fun extracurricular activities. Besides the odd troublemaker here and there, such as the one Tara had to deal with, it’s surprisingly effective at making everyone get along for the most part.

One such activity was the school talent show. Everyone who attended could sign up and display any talent, so long as it was family friendly. A fair amount signed up and there were all sorts of talents. A kid did a song with his triangle, there were lots of (very bad) singers, a few monologues and Tara’s classmate from ballet class, Chrissy Cunningham, was going to do a cheer routine. Daniel was going to play with Corroded Coffin, a band that he joined earlier in the year.

Tara was planning to perform “The Dying Swan” and had just recently transitioned to pointe. Her grandmother helped her make her swan costume. Teaching her how to sew was one of the best times they had together.

The night of the talent show, the kids were backstage getting ready, the younger ones accompanied by their parents and/or older siblings.

Tara’s mother was backstage helping her lace up her pointe shoes.

“That’s too tight!” the young girl protested. “I can do it myself!”

“Nonsense,” her mother rebuffed. “You’re much too young and far too new at pointe to try to lace up your own shoes. Now, let’s get your costume fastened up.”

As her mother yanked on her cinches, she found herself nearly without the ability to breathe.

“Eleanor, are you trying to kill that poor girl?” Karen Wheeler called, inviting herself into the dressing room.

“I’m trying to ensure that her dress doesn’t fall off in the middle of her performance!” Eleanor declared, tugging her cinches with a huff, eliciting a pained gasp on Tara’s end.

“Oh enough! If you keep that up, she’ll need to have her costume surgically removed!”

Tara looked over at Nancy, who looked as though she was trying her best to stay out of the disagreement. She casually kicked up dirt with her ruby slippers. Yes, ruby slippers. Karen had decided for her that she would sing “Over the Rainbow” for her performance.

Eventually, Eleanor relented to Karen’s badgering and released Tara’s cinches, tucking them into her dress. Tara then grabbed her headpiece and put it on. Perhaps the only part of the garment that she was trusted to handle on her own.

“Daniel!” Eleanor called. In came Tara’s spiky haired twin donning a pair of ripped jeans and a Corroded Coffin T-shirt. “Would you like to do the honours?” Eleanor offered, handing him a tube of stage blood.

“Aww yeah!” Daniel cheered, grabbing the tube. “Die, swan!” He yelled, jabbing his sister in the chest with the blood.

“Hey, Danny! We’re doing a sound check!” Eddie called.

“Gotta go! Love you, mom!”

“My little rockstar,” Eleanor called, blowing him a kiss.

Tara grunted in protest as she quite literally waddled away. “Oh stop that! You’re being so dramatic!” Eleanor rebuffed.

Tara casually waited in the green room until it was her turn to perform, occasionally going out into the wings to support her peers. Nancy’s song and Chrissy’s cheer routine went okay as she expected. Tara supported Corroded Coffin out of familial obligation. They performed a somewhat bowdlerised rendition of TNT by AC/DC. Eddie straight up killed that guitar solo, especially towards the end. It wasn’t something that you would expect from a 14 year old boy. Daniel wasn’t a bad singer either. After their performance, they took their bows and Eddie walked past Tara, giving praises to his guitar. “You did great out there, beautiful!” He said, giving it a kiss on the strings, which was met with a gag from Tara. “Ewww! You kiss your guitar?” she asked.

“Gotta treat her right so she keeps making great music,” he preened.

While Tara was supposed to be on deck, she found herself in the green room, fighting her nerves. Chrissy was trying to console her but to no avail. It was a surprise to them both to see Eddie poke his buzzed head in, especially when Tara didn’t consider herself to be on all that great terms with the metalhead. Eddie had just been an annoying pain in the butt to her in general, but she was especially upset with her after a prank he decided to pull on her the year John Carpenter’s Halloween came out that involved a Michael Meyers mask that he obtained via the five finger discount. But that was a story for another time. For now, Tara’s stomach was in knots.

“I can’t go out there!” she whimpered. “I’m scared.”

“Sure you can,” Eddie started, kneeling next to her. “They saved the best act for last. Don’t you know that?”

Eddie being kind and caring genuinely caught her off guard. She hadn’t seen that side of him since he started middle school. It made her wonder if this hardcore attitude he had adopted at the start of 6th grade was an act.

“Besides,” he continued. “Danny’s been looking forward to seeing you dance all night.”

“He has?” Tara asked, surprised to hear this.

“Yup,” he confirmed. “Been going on about it all week actually. Jeff had to beg him to stop so we could actually properly rehearse OUR act.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope! Not even a little bit.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “And as excited as he was, don’t you think everyone’s gonna be at least a little disappointed if you get cold feet now?”

Tara got up and dusted herself off. “It’s showtime, then!”

“That’s the spirit! Go get ‘em!”

As Tara waddled her way to the wings, Chrissy turned to Eddie. “That was some luck that you heard her brother get all excited about her performance!”

“You could call it luck,” Eddie shrugged. “Or you could call it lying?”

Chrissy made an audible stammer of confusion.

“I made the whole thing up,” he clarified.

“Eddie!” Chrissy protested.

“Well, hey, it worked!”

Tara stood in the wings, taking deep breaths. As deep as her costume would allow, at least. It had loosened some since her mother’s merciless cinching, but not adequately so to comfortably accommodate her 11-year old body.

Once the act preceding hers finished, it was her turn. The previous act was applauded and once the applause died down, the Humanities teacher, who had been acting as the Emcee, introduced Tara’s act.

“All right, everyone. We saved the best for last. This dance was first performed by Anna Pavlova in the year 1907. You know, back when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth.”

The audience gave a few chuckles here and there.

“This solo has since been performed by famous ballerina everywhere and is renowned as one of the most hauntingly beautiful dances of all time! Give it up for Tara Newman as The Dying Swan!”

As Saint-Saëns ushered her in with the first few notes of the grand piano, her bourreés sunk her deeper into her pointes, adding to her discomfort. The cello had just started and already she was very uncomfortable.

But she stuck with it and used her pain to add on to the act of her dramatic and drawn out stage death.

The audience looked onward, oblivious to her genuine agony as both piano and cello ushered the injured fowl to her grim demise that which she desperately fought against.

The pain overwhelmed her as she struggled her way to the final sequence, only gaining some reprieve when it was time for her to collapse to the floor. Her gasps for air were easy to sell thanks to her dress having her in a vice grip. As she reached out to the sky, desperately clinging to her last strands of life, she flew to her pointes one last time, before collapsing into the dark and wicked embrace of death as the final notes of the piano petered out.

Applause struck her like thunder. When she raised her head, she noticed she had even received some standing ovations. She quickly pulled herself up and took a bow before walking off stage.

“Give it up for Tara Newman!” the Emcee called, taking the stage again.

The talent hung out in the green room while the judges, which consisted of the Lunch Lady, the Custodian, the science teacher and a PTA parent, made the decisions of who would receive first, second and third place.

“All right!” The Emcee announced! “It’s time to announce our winners! Third place goes to Linda Yang for piano performance of the Moonlight Sonata!”

Little 8 year old Linda took the stage and accepted her ribbon.

“And in second place, we have Corroded Coffin who gave the most intriguing rendition of an AC/DC song I have ever seen from a bunch of kids!”

Eddie, Jeff, Gareth and Daniel practically stormed the stage. The four gave their traditional devil horns before accepting their ribbon.

“Last but certainly not least, first place! Our ultimate winner for tonight, and believe me, this was a tough one! Is Tara Newman as the Dying Swan!”

Tara was shocked and waddled onto the stage in disbelief, only to practically be struck to the floor by a hug from Eddie. Once again, this softer side of him caught her off guard. “I knew you would kill it!” he preened.

Tara accepted her ribbon, still in disbelief. “Let’s give it up for tonight’s winners!” the Emcee shouted, snapping Tara out of her daze.

Out in the foyer, kids were being reunited with their parents. Tara caught her mother boasting to the other families. “My daughter has been doing ballet since she was 6 years old.” she went on and on and on. “Didn’t I do good, too, mom?” Daniel interjected, hoping to gain some of that praise. “Of course, honey. Him and his little friends had been practising for months! Isn’t that so cute?” Daniel was dejected. He knew that Eleanor thought less of Eddie because of his social economic status and his general behaviour and lifestyle, he had even overheard his mother refer to him as “trailer trash” while gossiping on the phone, but he thought for sure, after tonight, that she would at least take the band seriously. But wishful thinking it turned out to be. Daniel wandered off to find Eddie so they could discuss who would keep the ribbon, and Tara discreetly followed her brother.

Eddie, Jeff and Gareth were found with Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, but the other adult he was talking to stopped both twins dead in their tracks.

“Dad’s here?” Daniel asked, a note of hope in his voice.

The two bolted towards their father and gave him a hug. “Dad! You came!” Tara cheered.

“I wouldn’t miss my two babies’ performance for the world,” he said.

“These your younggins?” Wayne asked.

“Yup! My whole world in two people.”

“I have to say, Eugene, your wife is something else,” Wayne said sheepishly.

“Oh Eleanor and I aren’t married.” He took a sharp breath. “We… coparent… when, of course, she finds it in her good graces to allow me to be part of their lives.”

“I’m glad you’re here, daddy!” Tara said with a reassuring hug.

“All right!” Daniel started. “It’s time to discuss ownership of the ribbon!” With that, the four were off in a corner somewhere.

“Where did your nephew learn how to play guitar like that? I’ve never heard a kid shred like that before!”

“His old man taught him. One of the few skills my brother gave him that I don’t wish I could have him unlearn,” he said, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

“Was being a total jerkface 99% of the time one of those skills?” Tara thought but didn’t say. Perhaps her body language didn’t do her any favours though, because the next thing she knew, Wayne was kneeling down to her eye level.

”Listen, little lady. I know my nephew can be a bit much most of the time, and I know you’re probably rightfully still pretty sour with him after what he did last Halloween, but you have to understand that given his circumstances, he turned out much better than I thought he would. That boy has big feelings and doesn’t always know what to do with them.”

Tara nodded, trying to be understanding but was pretty upset at the prospect of giving Eddie the “Not as much of a jerk as he could have been” award.

As if on cue, the four returned, having settled the matter of the ribbon.

“All right, boy, it’s about time to be hustling back,” Wayne said, patting Eddie’s buzzed head. “I’m proud of you. Second place is no mean feat and you definitely had some serious competition.” Eddie smiled at his uncle’s praise before turning to Eugene. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Maldonado!”

“Likewise, Eddie Munson!”

Daniel turned to his father, his face suddenly twisted with despair. “Does this mean you have to go back to Indianapolis now?”

Eugene kneeled to them both. “Well, the night is still young. Maybe if it’s okay with your mother, I could take you out for pizza and ice cream!”

Tara noticed that her mother was standing right there and began with the puppy dog face. Daniel caught on and joined in.

“Fine,” Eleanor said, casting a look of annoyance.

The two raced to their father, overjoyed. Eleanor firmly grasped his shoulder. “Home by 10. If they’re back any later than that, I’m calling the police.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Eugene said, raising his hands in defeat.

On their way to their father’s Cadillac, Eugene took notice of Tara’s very uncomfortable waddling.

“Tara, are you okay?”

“Mom laced my costume too tight. It’s fine, though. She said it would fall off if I didn’t.”

Eugene immediately moved to loosen her costume, eliciting a long overdue gasp of relief from her.

“Better?”

“Yeah. Thanks, daddy!”

“Anything for my little first place dancer.”

And with that, the three hopped in and went off for pizza and ice cream.