#sorry if this is giving dolores and the corn plate but

[cosmic-walkers]

i'll never get past the delivery in the scene where stephen tells thomas that he found out he'd killed a man. It isn't only the fact that he divulges some damning information about Thomas and Putney; but it is the manner in which he speaks to thomas. He does not raise his voice, he does not yell, rather his tone is soft and almost playful.

he divulges life changing (potentially life threatening) information to thomas, thus puts thomas in an existential crisis, yet the way he does it is just so soft and that makes it so terrifying. compared to thomas, whose voice fluctuates, who is angry, who is raising his voice. he almost yells at Stephen.

and then there is stephen, who is calm and his tone soft, almost as if he is taunting thomas - because he is. it shows how he does not have to do that much to get under Thomas's skin, or to get an emotional rise out of him. the fact that he can threaten someone like thomas, so softly, is such a pivotal facet in their relationship.

idk the point im trying to get at is it's always scary when someone is calm, but can still elicit a strong emotion from another person. especially when that softness is in conjunction with being quite literally evil. it also matches the type of silent predator persona stephen carried in s1 and s2. because yes he is calm, yes he works in the shadows but he was always on thomas's tail. so him having the ability to be so soft spoken but still send shivers down thomas's spine...yes...

it's also such a contrast to how other men try to threaten and assert their power over thomas. the yell, shout, threaten with anger/violence, etc. and then there is stephen who knows how to handle yet threaten him in a far different, more soft way.