#the trailer really tricked me into thinking that he's a bad guy

[121231212i]

Honkai: Star rail | Mr. Reca

[corrodedcoughin]

little story about little Eddie and his 2 new friends | word count approx 2.5k | general audience rating | steve and eddie are kids and Wayne is a pushover

Wayne sometimes thinks it was a mistake, not taking in the boy. God no, he would never think of Eddie as anything other than an important and intrinsic part of his life, couldn't be without him, wouldn't want to be. 

No, what Wayne worries about is how his readiness to help Eddie feel loved might contribute to the boy's difficulty in making friends.

It was an innocent enough request, Eddie asked for a pet as all young children do. He was so small and so wide eyed, just a scrap of an 8 year old with more feelings than he knew what to do with. Wayne knew he'd never hold up against any request Eddie made but he liked to pretend to himself that he could. And while technically he never pandered to the boy, yes Eddie usually got what he wanted but in a way that suited their means. Or so Wayne tells himself. 

8 year old Eddie asked for a pet and a pet is what he got.

-

Eddie barrelled into the trailer door, backpack swinging off his arm and ready to be thrown into the corner. Planning to shoot off back out the door to do his usual; lift up rocks and inspect whatever bugs he could find, to grab sticks and imagine them as wizard staffs, to let his imagination finally run wild after hours of sitting still at a desk under too bright lights and too busy class rooms. In truth he wasn't really paying attention to the insides of the trailer, expecting it to be the same as always. It took a very pointed cough for Eddie to register that Wayne was unusually home from work, far earlier than normal, and a further loud clearing of the throat for Eddie to pay attention to what Wayne had placed on the kitchen table. 

Right in the middle of the table, sitting in a beam of sunlight, was a cage and in that cage was what would soon become, Eddie's very reason for being. He crept up close, almost as if scared that any sudden movements would prove the whole thing to be a cruel illusion. He was brought out of his reverie by a pink nose wiggling at the bars, whiskers attached and twitching as the rest of the rat appeared.

'is he-? is he for real?' Eddie said with a gasp, hands inching towards the door of the cage. 

Wayne had to suppress a laugh, trust this boy to be bowled over in wonder at a rat as if it were a puppy. He opened the contraption of the enclosure door and dipped his hand inside, allowing the rat to climb onto his palm. The guy from work assured him that this one was the most tame he had, inquisitive to a fault and oddly enough, desperate to be handled. Quite honestly, the perfect match for his well meaning but excitable nephew-near-enough-son. 

'Yeah, yeah kid it's for real. And he's a she.' Wayne lets the rat sniff at Eddie's hands, little pink hands finding a platform on Eddie's palms, clearly holding himself a still as possible but if Wayne knew this boy, and he did, he knows that Eddie is so close to vibrating out of his skin, that containing that much excitement must be killing him. 

'I don't care. Wayne, I don't! Can she sleep in my room? Does she know tricks? Can I teach her? What does she like? Can I take her to school? Please! Wayne!' He's started now, words pouring out of his mouth, tripping over himself to try and release every thought entering his brain at lightning speed.

'Woah, there' Wayne says pulling the rat up, cradling it in two hands, 'We got to be kind to her alright? She's only small. Doesn't know what loud noises are good and which are bad, okay?' He watches as Eddie nods vigorously, eyes never leaving the creature. 'Now you promised me you'd look after a pet so that's what's going to happen. She is your responsibility. That means cleaning, feeding and loving, got it?' Eddie nods again, tentatively reaching his hands up, the image of Oliver Twist springs to Wayne's mind. 

Wayne comes around the kitchen table, crouches down to Eddie on creaky knees and hands the rat over, filling Eddie's small hands with a heartbeat and fur. Eddie giggles, watching as the rat surveils the new patch of skin its found itself on. 

'Tickles, Wayne' and its said with such love and devotion Wayne almost feels his heart break 

'Yeah son. She does, doesn't she?' 

-

 Of course it takes less than a week and Eddie and Sam are inseparable. As soon as Eddie gets home he's itching for his furry friend, delighting in the way she scampers around the room, over his arms and anywhere she can get. No matter what though, she always comes back to him. She can be digging in to a particularly interesting crevice behind the couch but she'll always come running back when she hears Eddie make a noise.  

The thing is, Eddie is a pretty lonely kid. Not for lack of trying, don't get it wrong. Eddie tries to socialise he tries to talk to the other kids in his class, get them involved in his imaginary games and play pretend but being the new kid doesn't really do him any favours. Being the new kid that lives in the trailer park and a penchant for biting to show affection does him even less. 

To Eddie, its him and Sam against the world. He can come home and know that his best friend will listen to all his problems, will stay close and won't run away even when he's extra loud or being 'a lot' as his teacher like to tell him. He's so tired of being told to use his 'quiet hands', his 'inside voice' and every other subdued phrase they try to press on him. 

This particular day was a hard one, Sally Winters had said that Eddie was 'bad luck' and the word quickly spread around by recess. Eddie had thought he was making some progress with a couple of kids from the class, was thinking today might be the day that he finally got asked to play but that hope quickly got squashed. He had hopped up to the potential friends with a stick in his hand and a notion of being a pirate when they both looked at him like he was a monster, they couldn't get away fast enough. And Eddie couldn't find a place to hide quick enough before the fat and heavy tears fell from his eyes. 

It was a long day and home time was his only saving grace. 

Wayne knows somethings up, can tell in the way that Eddie isn't even really talking to Sam, hardly looking at the Tv despite the fact that Wayne very purposefully had put the cartoon Lord of the Rings movie on. The sure fire fall back he liked to keep in his back pocket. The trump card to get his kid happy. This time though? No luck. Looking at the kid makes a chasm open up in his gut, deep and full of overwhelming sadness that he just wants to stop, wants to find the solution to make this boy smile like the sun again. They don't talk much for the rest of the night but Wayne makes sure to stay close, stay awake in case he's needed. Eddie spends the time between dinner and bed sitting on the floor, side pressed up against Wayne's leg and playing fetch with bits of Wayne's whittling with Sam, not a word said. 

-

Eddie wakes up the next morning with a plan and a devil may care attitude. Oh so carefully he maintains his usual routine; says good morning to Sam, carts her around the trailer as he washes his face and wanders into the kitchen, placing her in her secondary cage so she can eat breakfast with Eddie and Wayne - Eddie was adamant that they couldn't have meals without her, 'she's part of the family!' and soft hearted fool Wayne Munson agreed and an additional cage was sourced. 

When breakfast is finished Eddie begins his usual rigmarole of dragging his feet to get out of his pjs and into his clothes, reluctant to grab his bag and go out the door. Same old protests as Wayne watches him walk out towards the school bus. 

What is a new addition to the routine though, is Sam Munson hiding up the sleeve of a school boy and about to go on a secret and very dangerous mission. A mission to survive the school day. 

Surprisingly, Eddie manages to keep Sam secret, keep her safe, the whole morning. He came prepared with snacks to make sure she was entertained and happy, he couldn't stand the thought of her being sad, her eyes get so big and her tail droops as well as her ears, it makes the whole of Eddie ache. But no, she's happy, or happy enough at least. 

So the morning goes without a hitch, Eddie making noises to cover up any squeaks and keeping a hand in his pocket to reassure Sam, stowed in the pocket of his hoodie. He knows he's seen as 'weird' so what's a few extra noises? They are let out for recess and Eddie breathes a sigh of relief, thinking this is his time to let Sam out, knowing she's desperate for some fresh air. Sure, she's peed in his hoodie pocket, but he can't really tell with it's dark colour and the layer of t-shirt between the wet material and his tummy. 

He runs off to his usual corner, stuck between a bush and a tree and gently tips Sam out of his pocket, she scampers around his feet and gratefully accepts a broken off bit of cracker between her hands.

'Thanks for coming with me Sam. Everyone is so mean, its so stupid. I don't care. You are a better friend than any of those losers' He crouches down, hoping to find a twig to play fetch with. A game that he delights in, is immeasurably proud of her for learning it so quickly. 'Gonna find you the best stick Sam. Promise. Best stick for the best friend' 

He continues muttering to himself and doesn't notice that he's getting progressively louder after finding a twig and beginning the game. Doesn't register that he's drawn unwanted attention with his happy shouts and encouragement until a body is crashing through the shrub he's hidden himself behind. 

Sam doesn't notice either until the unexpected form is right in front of her and she bolts, running as fast as her legs will carry her and Eddie is right behind her, muttering under his breath as he trips over his own feet in an attempt to catch her 'oh shit oh no oh no oh no' He's pushing himself as hard as he can but it doesn't count for much, he never was the fastest. He keeps trying though but then a faster body is accelrating past him, in a evident bee line for Sam. 

Without thinking, Eddie lets out a painful 'NO!' terrified of what might happen.

He knows people think rats are dirty, thinks they don't deserve love and don't deserve life. He doesn't want to imagine what this person's intent might be. Sam reaches a dead end up against the wall of the school and the body, the boy, stops infront of her. Scoops her up? Cradles her into his chest? Eddie...Eddie doesn't know what to think, he's prepared to fight this kid but then the boy is looking up at him with curious hazel eyes. Stroking Sam's head gently and with intent.

He holds Sam out, careful with his motions, trying to blow his brown floppy hair out of his face without disturbing the animal in his hands 'is she okay? is she yours? did I hurt her? she looks okay, is she?' Eddie gingerly steps forward and plucks Sam out of the boys hands, gives hera thorough inspection as the other boy continues 

'I didn't mean to scare her I swear! I didn't even know you had her! I won't tell, I swear I wont! You know...you shouldn't really have a rat in school. If I promise not to tell can I play with you? I'm Steve' 

Holding her close, Eddie squints at the boy, at Steve, and thinks. Thinks about how he looks nice, about how soft his hair looks and how he asked Eddie, Eddie!, to play, that he didn't give him a wide bearth and that he held Sam with such care. It isn't even a hard decision.

They spend the rest of recess together. Eddie shows Steve just how smart Sam. That she can play fetch, that she can run across one arm to the next, over your shoulders without losing balance. That she can twitch her whiskers and it seems like she's laughing at the joke Eddie tells her. That she laughs at the joke Steve tells her! Steve learns that she's named after somebody called Samwise and it doesn't matter that he's a boy because Sam is brave just like Samwise and smart and cares just as much. That Sam is Sam and Eddie is Frodo and together they can take on the world. 

Steve asks if he can have a name too and Eddie calls him Legolas, doesn't tell him why. Doesn't say that Steve reminds him of the pretty elves described in the books Wayne reads out loud to Eddie. It doesn't matter, not really. 

Recess ends and they shuffle back to the school doors, both of them lagging behind the others.

Eddie steels himself, knows he has to bring his misfortune up so that he can own in, so that his new friend doesn't find out from someone else. 'I'm bad luck you know. Sally...she said it. now everyone wont talk to me. I wont be mad if you don't either. I've got Sam. We'll be oaky! So you can just go, I don't care!' He knows he's getting wound up, he can't stop himself. He just wants the bandaid ripped off so he can start feeling sad quicker, get it over with sooner.

Before he can register is, Steve is wrapped around Eddie in a flash of a hug, careful to keep his tummy away from squashing Sam. 

'Not bad luck to me. See you tomorrow Frodo' Steve whispers next to Eddie's ear and shuffles through the school door. 

Eddie is in a daze of joy and happiness, thoughts rumbling through his head but none of them sticking as he journey back into his class room. Pure happiness radiating out of his body, he takes Sam out of his pocket and holds her up to his face 'Sam you made my bad luck go away!' kissing her on the forehead as he hears his teacher scream 

'EDWARD MUNSON IS THAT A RAT?!'

-

So Wayne thought the already unpopular kid having a rat would make things worse. Turns out, he was wrong. Very, very wrong. He might have to start pocket inspections before school though.

--------------------------------------

also on ao3 if that's the preferred reading format for you

[skepsiss]

Modern problem, Modern solutions - pt4

This is the part where it hurts. I'm a sucker for miscommunication. Just teens being dumb and bad at talking. Having fun with what was pop-culture in 2015, god it made me feel old though.

TW: Underage drinking/drugs (weed), slight suggestion of sexual harassment (misstep that is corrected), suggested sexual language/intimacy.

Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 Pt4 Pt5

---

Eddie's frustration with himself had grown over the course of the last few weeks; they were well into October and Halloween was fast approaching–his favourite holiday. Despite it being his favourite, he never did much on Halloween and hadn't since he was 13. It sort of sucked actually. He had moved to Hawkins when he was 12 to live with Wayne and he hadn't known anyone to go out trick-or-treating with at the time so he had awkwardly stayed at the trailer and only half dressed up to go to school that day. Previously, when he lived with his dad he hadn't lived anywhere populated enough to make trick-or-treating worth it or been allowed to go. So, he had always missed out on walking door to door in costume–he hadn't even been able to afford a costume, and putting in the effort to make something was sneered at or condemned as a waste of time and money. He had only gotten 1 good year of trick-or-treating in when he was 13 and then that was it. After that, well... having fun on Halloween was pretty dependent on whether or not you got invited to a party. 

Beyond that, everything Halloween-related made him think about horror and then vampires and consequentially Steve. It was kind of frustrating actually. Everything he thought of led back to Steve and it was becoming harder and harder to be in his presence without acting like an idiot. Time spent together was still sparse and only really happened at Pride Club or when Steve popped in briefly at Hellfire. Still, every interaction was painted in anxiety for Eddie and at the end of the day he often flopped onto his bed and cringed at himself over what he had said or how he had acted. Steve was nice, but it was obvious that there was nothing deeper than that. He could see how Robin and Steve interacted and how different Steve was around people he actually considered his friends. He gave them a hard time, poked fun, joked, smiled, and scolded them like a sibling. He wasn't really like that at all with Eddie, or if he was it was short-lived and felt surface-level to Eddie. It was frustrating and Eddie wondered constantly why he was trying so hard. He just so badly wanted Steve to like him, as a friend or otherwise....

Otherwise.

Otherwise was the thing that was annoying Eddie more than anything. He was 17 and there was no way he was going to be able to ignore this forever: Steve was a handsome guy and he was friendly. Eddie was not immune to the effects a good-looking guy could have on him–a good-looking guy that was queer and talked to him, at that. So, he had let himself fantasize once or twice when he was home alone, blending the images of porn, celebrities, and people he found hot together to get relief. He had felt horribly awkward after the fact and that was only doubled when he had interacted with Steve the next day. He had been downright ashamed and couldn't even look him in the eye. Even now, he felt awkward when his brain reminded him that he'd done that–and then went and did it again half a week later. Shameful, really.

Eddie's tact to dealing with his awkwardness had been to act a bit aloof and put out when Steve and him had talked after that, masking his shame with quiet indifference. He still tried to be friendly, but he didn't want to tip Steve off to the fact that he found him attractive. Still, there was a small part of him that liked when Steve paid attention to him....

Eddie and everyone else in Hawkins–who was he? Jesus Christ.

That was why it had been surprising when Eddie had received a message from Steve on Instagram a few days leading up to Halloween. It had been simple, and though he and Steve had communicated sparingly, Eddie hadn't wanted to change his behaviour in order to use the app more often just because Steve was on it. The message had been simple and impossible to misinterpret.

Having a Halloween party Saturday, want to come?

Eddie had stared for a beat before the next message came through, not able to process all of that right away.

Robin said she'd come, costumes required.

Steve's texting was painfully bad: the message was riddled with vowel drops and squashed letters without a sign of punctuation in there; still, it was easy enough to get his meaning.

Where? Eddie messaged back, feeling the hairs stand up on the back of his neck as he realized what this meant. Was this a party-party? Or was it a hang-out-with-friends kind of party? What was he supposed to prepare for?

My place, Steve answered, 8 on Saturday. BYOB.

Oh, bring your own bottle, classy. So, it was probably a party-party. That meant there was likely to be a lot of people going–a lot of 16-year-olds. Well, at least then Eddie could stand out as a little cool for being an older guy who showed up... that or the lamest one there to be hanging out with people younger than him. Shit. He was overthinking it already.

I'll think about it, Eddie lied, already resigning himself to going as his heart beat out of his chest, nothing to wear.

What should he wear? How hard did you go for a costume party like this? He didn't want to be lame and not dress up at all, but if he went too hard that would make him a laughing-stock.

Girl problems, Steve messaged back, followed by a quick j/k. Eddie had been able to tell he was being sarcastic, but he vaguely appreciated the clarification. He forgot to reply either way.

Every girl there was going to be dressed as Harley Quinn–Eddie was sure–and everyone else was going to be some version of Captain America or Left-Shark. Eddie didn't want to be pedestrian about his costume choices, but if he did something too obscure–ugh. He was going to go insane if he thought too hard about it. He was already going insane, honestly.

Eventually, after much deliberation, Eddie decided to just go as a pirate. He had attempted to make something of a Captain Jack Sparrow costume but hadn't had access to the funds to buy anything new. His hair was long enough already though, and he opted not to knot it to make it more 'authentic' even if he had twisted yarn and tied trinkets to his hair like Jack had. White shirt, eyeliner, vest, belts, and simple black pants. It was passable and if people gave him a hard time he was just some pirate or whatever. He had quietly been bitter that he couldn't find a hat or a coat that would work.

Eddie had purposefully shown up late to Steve's party and had quietly stolen some of the beers Wayne kept in the fridge before going. It wasn't a secret, Wayne knew he took his alcohol sometimes, but they had never talked about it. Sometimes, quietly, Wayne had made a sideways attempt at reminding Eddie to be safe, but he had never really... put his foot down. Eddie appreciated that, and he silently recognized that he'd probably drink more if he was told not to.

Eddie arrived at Steve's place through his backyard: the Harrington property backed onto the forest that connected to the surrounding area of the trailer park. It was still a good 20-minute walk and it had been spooky as shit walking it in the dark, but it was easier than trekking out onto the road and taking an indirect path to get to Steve's. He knew where Steve lived–most people at school did–and Eddie had to admit that when he was younger he had scoffed openly at the Harrington house. It was ostentatious and too large for a family of three, but Eddie had reconsidered as of late. Sure, he could hate the house, but it wasn't like Steve chose it himself.

It had been impossible to mistake Steve's house from the back, too. Eddie had been able to hear the party before he broke the tree line and despite the party not being "out of control" the sound of teenage laughter and pop music were unmistakable.

Eddie slouched as he made his way up the lawn and tried not to make eye contact with anyone there. He was a good hour late, but that was to be expected. People here didn't seem that drunk yet at least, so Eddie walked to the house before just stepping in through one of the many open doors. He scanned the room for anyone he recognized, coming up empty. Most of the people here he knew were on the local sports teams Steve was a part of, some people Eddie himself only had a vague knowledge of. He couldn't see Steve or Robin anywhere–or anyone else that might have known that would have been invited to this. Great.

Eddie swallowed and mentally buckled in as he walked towards the kitchen to find a bottle opener. There were more than a few out of the counter and he helped himself as he cracked open one of his beers.

"Munson–" someone was saying as Eddie took his first sip of beer, the flavour neither here nor there for him.

Eddie turned, seeing some guy he was sure was part of the basketball team. Or he thought he was, whatever, he was dressed up in some kind of orange jumpsuit, probably meant to be a prisoner.

"You uh..." the guy asked, raising his hand to his lips and making a smoking gesture.

Eddie snorted, taking another drink from his beer. Cool, well, at least if he didn't know anyone here he could pass off his attendance as just the guy ready to sell weed.

It wasn't a secret that Eddie smoked and it wasn't exactly a secret that he smoked more than just cigarettes. A lot of the kids in the alternative program did and Eddie had spent a couple of years in those special classes. He had been bumped out to just needing a "teacher's aid" for grade 12, and he hadn't minded so much. A lot of the burnouts were worse to talk to than the jocks, only because if you pissed them off the grudge would be held for years. At least the jocks forgot you existed.

"Yeah," Eddie said, fishing in his pocket for his cigarette box. He had stashed some joints in there, not having actually prepared to sell tonight. He really didn't sell all that often, only when things were extra tight at home, and Wayne had been somewhat consistently working as of late.

"How much?" The guy was asking, his speech a little slurred. That was one thing too, jocks like this never knew what weed was worth.

"Thirty," Eddie said, plucking the joint out of the box and twirling it between his fingers.

"Thirty?" The guy asked incredulously, patting himself down for his wallet.

"Inflation," Eddie answered, taking another sip from his bottle, "supply and demand and all that."

He could tell his comment was going over this guy's head and he wasn't sure if it was the booze or just his brain.

"More people at the party. More people want it. It costs more," Eddie lied, only keen on keeping at least one of his pre-rolled joints for himself.

Jumpsuit nodded at him and fished money out of his pocket, only coming up with 23 dollars which Eddie shrugged and accepted if Jumpsuit was willing to get him a beer too. He wasn't sure if the guy was going to come back, but a surprise beer later tonight would be nice.

Eddie toted his own pack outside, still looking at the partygoers to see if he recognized anyone before eventually–finally–spotting Steve on the back patio. He must have missed him when he walked in, but he wasn't sure how. Steve sort of stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone was dressed in these store-bought, weird costumes, and Steve–from the best Eddie could tell–was dressed like Robin Hood. And not some cartoony version of him either; he looked almost like the Cary Elwes version of Robin Hood: white billowy shirt, a jerkin, tights, and a quiver slung over his shoulder. Either Steve had shelled out to get the goods, or someone very enthusiastic had hooked him up. The other thing that stood out was Steve had a... goddamn bottle taped to his hand like some kind of frat bro. Actually, now that Eddie looked, a few guys had bottles taped to their hands.

Steve noticed him and Eddie tensed as Steve touched the guy's shoulder by him and then excused himself. He was smiling, and he didn't look all that drunk, but as he got closer Eddie could see that Steve straight up had a bottle of 'On the Rocks' taped to his hand. Vodka and Triple Sec? Oh, Steve was planning to go hard.

"Hey, you been here long?" Steve asked, grinning as he made his way over to Eddie.

"Uh, not really," Eddie replied, fishing in his pocket for his cigarettes as he pointedly stared at Steve's hand. He seemed to notice and then waggled it a bit at Eddie, laughing.

"You know, have to finish it before I'm allowed a different drink," he explained. Eddie knew how that worked, but he wasn't sure how he felt about the bottle being an expensive pre-mixed cocktail.

"Uh-huh..." Eddie offered as a reply, taking a swig from his own beer and sticking a smoke between his lips.

"It wasn't full when I started," Steve explained, which was... kind of funny to hear. It sounded like he was defending himself from seeming 'too intense' or something. Or, it wasn't defensive, more apologetic.

"The guys thought it would be funny because it's a pink cocktail," he explained further which made Eddie snort and pinch his brows in. Fun. Just some casual homophobia at their queer teammate. Wear the pink thing, and drink the cocktail.

"Charming," Eddie retorted, half stepping away but not in an attempt to block Steve out. The irony of the whole thing seemed to be a bit lost on Steve, or maybe he didn't care enough.

"Munson," someone said and Eddie looked to see Jumpsuit coming back with a beer in hand. It was just a Blue Ribbon, but whatever.

"Here," Jumpsuit offered and Eddie lifted his case of beer for the guy to put it in the empty slot.

"Cheers," Eddie offered, flicking his lighter on and lighting his cigarette as the stranger trotted off. He glanced at Steve who was looking at him for some kind of explanation before Eddie took a drag and then motioned for Steve to follow him. He wasn't going to be that kind of ass that smoke in a heavily trafficked area. He knew most people hated the smell.

"What was that?" Steve asked anyway as Eddie leaned back against the pool house a few meters away from the action.

"Owed me," Eddie half explained, not sure why the fact that Steve was being a frat boy was making him feel less awkward. Probably because Eddie thought the behaviour was cringey and pathetic, so it made him feel a bit superior for once.

"I sold him some weed and he didn't have enough so he owed me a beer," Eddie explained in full, putting his cigarette and beer in the same hand so he could drink and smoke.

Steve made a knowing sound, leaning back against the wall beside Eddie and drinking from his own bottle.

"You selling drugs to people at my party?" He asked and Eddie felt his blood run cold. Oh. Maybe that wasn't cool. He hadn't thought about how that could affect Steve.

He looked at Steve only to have that worry melt away as he saw the smile on his face.

"Why, you want some?" Eddie retorted, his pride bruised just a little for thinking Steve was serious.

Steve half laughed, still smiling like some goddamn movie star.

"Sure, how much?"

Eddie wasn't really sure what to say to that as he swallowed a mouthful of smoke and then started coughing incessantly.

"You okay?" Steve asked as Eddie ducked to the side, coughing and trying to drink a mouthful of beer to help settle his lungs.

"Sorry–" Eddie wheezed, "inhaled weird–" He wasn't sure how that explanation was going to save face, but he straightened up anyways, nursing the small coughs that came afterward.

"On the–on the house man," Eddie explained, coughing some more as he waved Steve off a bit, "for hosting or whatever. Unless you're buying for everyone–I can spare 1 joint."

"You sure?" Steve asked, sounding a bit concerned as he reached over and patted Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie shook his head and rolled his shoulder to get Steve's hand off, pulling away to cough a bit more. His lungs were settling, but he sounded like an idiot gagging on his own smoke.

"Just gimme a second," Eddie offered, hands full as he took a healthy swig of his beer, "they're in my pack. Just lemme smoke this."

Great, he was already making an idiot of himself and he'd been here for like 20 minutes.

"I can grab it," Steve offered, not even waiting for a reply as he half gestured towards Eddie's pocket. He had moved with his taped hand at first and then corrected, shamelessly turning his back to the party so he could stick his hand into Eddie's pocket.

Eddie felt his blood run cold at that, rendered speechless as Steve squared their shoulders up and just started fishing in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. Eddie felt a bit helpless, standing there with a case of beer in one hand and his bottle and smoke in the other, arms out to the side as he just watched Steve's fingers disappear into his jeans pocket.

"Woah uh..." Eddie started, swallowing again as he felt Steve get hold of the top of the pack, "you can just... wait a second."

Steve was already pulling the smokes out by the time he finished talking and he moved back to Eddie's side to lean against the wall.

"It's not a big deal," Steve shrugged, seeming to think the issue was that he had 'inconvenienced himself' doing a favour for Eddie, and not sticking his goddamn hands in Eddie's pants. Maybe Steve was a bit more drunk than Eddie realized.

Eddie took a deep swig of his beer before dragging so hard on his cigarette that he almost finished it in one pull. He watched as Steve tried to open the carton one-handed, awkwardly trying to push the flap open with his thumb. He was chuckling at himself a bit which made Eddie laugh in return, his nerves on fire as he watched Steve.

"Shit–" he was muttering in good humour, before putting the carton in his mouth and opening it with his teeth, "there."

Eddie snorted, needing to hide his delight and horror with humour in order to cope with whatever was happening right now.

"You really want to get high, huh?" Eddie asked, ashing his cigarette and watching as Steve mouthed at the top of his smokes before managing to get one of the blunts between his lips.

"Now what, genius?" Eddie asked, indicating towards both of Steve's hands being full without the ability to light the damn thing.

Steve snorted again, looking around and at his hands as he held the joint between his lips. That earned a proper laugh from Eddie as he put his own cigarette to his lips.

"Here–" Steve slurred as he tried to keep the joint steady. Eddie had no idea what he was doing, but Steve turned towards him again and leaned in, pressing the end of the joint against Eddie's cigarette.

He couldn't be certain, but Eddie swore he could feel his fucking soul escape his body as Steve stayed tucked in close, puffing on the joint to try and get it to light. Eddie's mind was drawing a complete blank as he stood there, pulling a little harder on his smoke and making it ember. He was staring intently at Steve, heart racing, while Steve's attention was purely on the smoke as he tried to get it to light.

It felt like it took ages, but eventually, he did get the damn thing to light and he pulled away, puffing once and then glancing at Eddie. He snorted and then fumbled to stick the carton back in Eddie's front pocket.

"Success," he said as he took the joint out of his mouth and exhaled. Eddie was still staring at him despite his hand having dropped from his own mouth so he was no longer smoking his cigarette.

"Professional," Eddie said finally, forcing himself to look away from Steve. He wasn't sure what to say or think of that but it felt like he needed to dive into the goddamn pool to cool off.

"You think?" Steve asked, taking a swig from his own bottle as he stood there.

"No," Eddie replied, finishing off his own cigarette and flicking it onto the ground to crush with his foot.

"Hmm," Steve hummed, taking another hit, "grab that, huh? My folks will be pissed to find butts out here."

Eddie glanced at him, trying to figure out if he was serious or not before bending down to pick up his smoke.

"Sure, sorry," he replied, holding the butt kind of awkwardly and looking around for somewhere to toss it.

"There's a trash can inside," Steve offered, nodding his head towards the pool house they were leaning up against.

"Right," Eddie swallowed, shifting a bit awkwardly as he tried to decide what to do before stepping away and looking at the door beside him. Steve laughed and walked over, holding the blunt between his lips again and then opening the door for Eddie. He bowed a bit foolishly, putting on a 'show.'

Eddie nodded his thanks and stepped in, letting the door close behind him. He sighed heavily now that he was alone, looking at the little room and noting that it was just a bathroom. There was a little shower and then a sink and a toilet, nothing fancy. It was probably just to wash the chlorine off yourself before going inside.

Eddie looked at himself in the mirror and frowned, unsatisfied with how he looked. He could hear the party raging outside still and he felt weird about ditching now. Maybe he should just go and try and find Robin who was supposed to be here too. How she was surviving this scene he had no idea, but he was barely holding on.

Eddie chucked what remained of his smoke and chugged his beer before stepping back out into the yard. Steve's company had multiplied and he was leaning against the wall with some other guys now as they shared the joint. Eddie felt himself tense, standing there awkwardly for a beat before Steve looked at him and offered him the joint. He hesitated and then put his empty bottle down, needing something to calm his nerves. He offered it back after a long hit and Steve gestured to one of his friends to take it.

Everyone seemed nonplused by Eddie's presence and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. It at least left Eddie's hands-free as he reached for a beer out of his case and then held it for a beat too long. How was he supposed to get this opened one-handed?

"Here," one of the guys said and Eddie glanced up to see him reaching for his bottle. He wasn't really sure what to do but didn't resist as the guy took the bottle from him and then fished his keys out of his pocket. He popped the cap off and flicked it at the guy beside him who cursed at him lightly before handing the bottle back over to Eddie.

He thanked him quietly, and the conversation around him continued, no one really paying that much attention to him. He wasn't a disruption in the flow of the conversation either, but Eddie felt too anxious to follow along with what was being said.

Eventually, the joint made its way back around to him and Eddie accepted the hit happily before passing it off. He worked his way through his beer slowly, chugging it a bit at times, and starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. He had drunk both his beers pretty quickly, and at this rate, he was going to be more than a little loose in the next hour.

"--more?" Eddie heard and he refocused his attention as he finished off the last of his beer.

"Do you have more?" The guy repeated and Eddie took a beat to realize what he was being asked.

"Oh, yeah," Eddie replied, putting his empty bottle down and fishing for his carton of cigarettes, "thirty."

He got much the same answer from this guy as he had the last and Steve laughed at him before giving Eddie a wry look. He wasn't exactly sure what that was for, but he'd take it.

"I only have forty," the guy said, grumbling. Eddie motioned to take it from him anyway only to have him reel back.

"I'm not overpaying," he retorted and Eddie chuckled at that, shrugging as he put the carton away. There was a small chorus of complaints before Steve chimed in.

"Okay, calm down, Lord," he sighed, holding his hand up in a 'wait a moment' gesture before chugging what was left of his drink. One of the guys whooped at Steve finishing his bottle and Steve stuck his tongue out in the most basic-bitch-way possible before finishing his sentence.

"I've got some change, I'll break your 20. Just give me the 40, and I'll give you 10 in a sec," Steve explained, sticking his hand out.

There was a half-begrudging agreement, but honestly, everyone sort of knew that the last thing Steve Harrington needed to do was steal money from you. So it was agreed on, and Eddie handed the joint over before falling in behind Steve and walking back towards the house when he gestured for him to follow.

"Don't walk away with my thirty," Eddie half threatened, weaving his way through people after Steve.

"Chill out," Steve snorted, walking towards the stairs. Eddie hesitated and watched as Steve toed his shoes off and ducked under the tape that had been pulled across the stairs.

Obviously, he didn't want people going this way, and Eddie could tell why. The stairs were carpeted and a pristine white, a bunch of teens barfing or trekking dirt all over the carpet probably wasn't going to bode well.

Eddie followed suit awkwardly kicking his shoes off and trailing after Steve.

"Where are we going?" He asked, hearing the hint of anxiety in his own voice.

"My room," Steve explained without turning around, "what? You think I can fit a wallet in these pants?"

He flashed Eddie a smile and Eddie laughed a bit forced at the joke. Really, his attention fell directly to Steve's ass and the tights he was wearing. Yeah... not fitting a wallet in those, too tight. Skin tight. Lord....

Steve turned down the hall as they got to the top of the stairs; Eddie felt meek as he followed, watching as Steve opened one of the doors and stepped in. Eddie lingered before going in after Steve, taking in the space. It wasn't a very big room, and the walls were a boring off white without much personality anywhere. The furniture was sleek and modern, and it was tidy despite it looking lived in. The only hint of Steve Eddie could see in the space were the trophies and ribbons displayed on one of the bookshelves in the corner.

Eddie felt his skin crawl as he stood there, watching Steve go to his desk and struggle with his drawer.

"Shit–" he muttered, the bottle in his hand bumping up against the desk. He lifted his hand to his mouth, biting at the tape until Eddie eventually snorted and walked over. Really, despite being such a cool guy, Steve was a dork sometimes. Maybe he was just drunk, but there was something unquestionably dorky about him.

"Here," Eddie offered, putting his case of beer down on the desk and taking Steve's hand. He struggled for a moment, trying to find the end of the tape before starting to unravel him.

"You guys are idiots for doing this, what if you have to piss?" Eddie joked, the sound of the ripping tape filling the room.

"Didn't think about it," Steve admitted, not struggling at all as Eddie pulled the tape off, "probably would have been a disaster."

"Yeah," Eddie replied sarcastically, getting to the bottom layer of tape and looking at it stuck to Steve's skin, "did you at least shave?"

"Shave?" Steve asked, confused by the question. Eddie tisked, and lifted Steve's hand up for him to see.

"Your arm, dumbass. Taking this tape off is going to hurt like a bitch. It's going to stick to your arm hair," he explained, shaking Steve's arm a bit and earning a laugh for the action. Steve was pretty drunk it seemed, but Eddie hadn't been able to tell how much alcohol was in that bottle when he had started.

"Just be careful," Steve explained, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

"Oh, just be careful," Eddie repeated in a mocking tone as he started to pull the tape off slowly, trying not to make it hurt too much.

Steve cringed, but stayed still, eventually hissing and causing Eddie to click his tongue at him.

"Baby," Eddie teased, his focus on Steve's arm as he peeled the last of the adhesive off.

He sighed as he wadded the tape a bit and stuck it to the bottle Steve was still holding before looking up at him.

Eddie's stomach dropped as he looked up at Steve who was just... staring at him. He looked a little distant, but he wasn't unfocused, drunk but not blasted. He also looked incredibly dashing with his perfectly quaffed hair and his stupid poet's shirt open just enough at the top that Eddie could see a hint of chest hair.

Eddie swallowed and then turned his head, laughing awkwardly and hoping Steve was drunk enough not to remember this. Eddie opened his mouth to speak, ready to say something stupid to make the conversation continue. _There, you're free, so about that thirty dollars, or I gotta go, I think my house is on fire, anything to make the moment end.

"I uh," Steve started saying as he shifted and put the bottle down on the desk beside Eddie's beers, "I think I prefer babe."

Eddie froze, confusion washing over him as he turned back to look at Steve who shifted to place his hands on either side of the desk behind Eddie, effectively boxing him in. He stared in wild shock and awe as Steve leaned towards him, close enough to touch but still respectfully distant.

I think I prefer babe. The line bounced around in Eddie's head as he tried to figure out what it meant and what the hell was going on. His brain wasn't working and he was just staring at Steve as if he had sprung a second head.

"W-what?" Eddie asked, swallowing as he put his hands on the desk as well, leaning back a bit to increase the distance between himself and Steve. He could feel his butt pressing into the lip of the desk, nowhere really to go, but not panicking from being 'trapped.' No, that wasn't bothering him at all. What was bothering him was how close Steve was and the expression on his face. He had dropped that charming, soft smile, the open friendliness he seemed to display with everyone, and instead, there was a gentle determination there. Not intimidating, but fixated, as if he was being serious.

"Babe," Steve repeated, close enough that Eddie could smell the Triple Sec on his breath. Oh, Steve was very drunk. He had to think Eddie was someone else right now.

"Alright, Steve..." Eddie replied, locking his feelings away once more as he reached up to pat Steve's shoulder. "You're drunk, man."

Steve seemed to waver before dropping his head to the side and looking down. He didn't move his hands away from the desk, still keeping Eddie where he was.

"Shit..." he mumbled and Eddie smiled a bit sympathetically. He'd seen a bathroom walking in here, maybe he'd grab Steve some water and make him sit down.

"It's okay, big guy–" Eddie started to say, patting Steve's shoulder again, wanting to keep this friendly. But Steve let out a bark of a laugh that caught Eddie off guard. He jumped a bit, watching as Steve stared at the floor. He looked almost... sad.

Silence drew out between them and Eddie tried to breathe even to help his heart from pounding out of his chest. Steve was drunk. He was drunk and high and probably past his limit. At least they were already in his room so Eddie could get him to lie down.

Slowly Steve pulled back, removing his hand and wiping his palm over his face. He was still pointedly not looking at Eddie and that made Eddie feel off.

"You... okay?" Eddie asked, wondering if Steve was far gone enough that he needed to go get a bin for him to puke into.

"Great–" Steve replied, his tone a bit clipped. Eddie swallowed thickly at that, feeling his hackles raise a bit. He had no idea what kind of drunk Steve was, and he quietly hoped he wasn't a mean drunk. What if Steve ended up wanting to pick a fight or something? Well, Eddie would leave his shoes behind if he had to run out of here....

Eddie watched as Steve put his hands on his hips and turned away from him, just breathing for a moment as the filtered sound of music came in from the hallway. Maybe Eddie should just leave. Maybe he should go find one of Steve's friends and tell them to check up on him. This wasn't really Eddie's realm of expertise.

"Okay, well..." Eddie started, pushing away from the desk, moving slowly as he started towards the door, "I guess I'll just... head out."

Steve turned and looked at him then, looking pained before he frowned deeply at Eddie.

"No, it's okay. Sorry, I'm sorry, it's alright. You don't have to leave."

The words had been rushed and they sounded extremely apologetic, but Eddie had no clue what he was apologizing for. He was a bit taken aback actually, offering a weak smile in response.

"It's okay, man..." Eddie tried, glancing at his beers on the desk and wondering if he should grab them, "everyone gets drunk sometimes. It's not a big deal."

Steve huffed at that, chewing his bottom lip and looking away again.

"No, I'm... I shouldn't have done that, sorry," he repeated and Eddie stared at him, his own alcohol and weed-riddled brain trying to make head or tails of this conversation. He didn't say anything which only seemed to spur Steve on to speak more.

"Sorry, man–God, that was super fucking creepy, huh? Shit, uh, I'm really sorry. Like... uh, trapping you like that," he sounded properly bothered, his voice wavering a little which didn't make sense to Eddie. For trapping him? For trapping him where? At the party?

"What?" Eddie asked, speaking quietly, swallowing again. Who did Steve think he was right now? Why hadn't he left yet?

"I just thought..." Steve offered, laughing bitterly in a way that sent a chill down Eddie's spine. It sounded so forlorn... it sounded like Steve was impossibly disappointed.

What did Steve think? Who did he think Eddie was? Eddie wanted to know, he wanted to know for maybe no other reason than to torture himself. What lucky bastard had Steve mistaken him for?

"Nothing, it's fine," Steve finished and Eddie frowned. He had done the same thing when Eddie had asked him about his parents. He had started to say something and then shut down when he started to communicate real emotions. Closing off and acting as if he was a bother.

"It's not a problem," Eddie offered after a long silence, not sure why he was still there. He really should go. "You can say what you need to say."

That weird calm was coming over him again, replacing his anxiety as he watched Steve. He didn't exactly feel superior this time, but he was disconnected. Something about this was letting Eddie bury his feelings for Steve and his need for him to like him. Steve was upset and the very least Eddie could do was listen to him. To let his drunk emotions out even if they hurt to hear.

Steve wavered though, finally looking at him again with those sad eyes. He laughed bitterly, this one much quieter than that last.

"That's kind of mean... Eddie," Steve replied, smiling but the motion was obviously fake. He didn't know what Steve meant though. How was he being mean? Was it really such a bad thing to let him talk?

"I don't mean it... meanly," Eddie tried, at the very least wanting to leave here with Steve knowing he hadn't intended to be cruel.

"What then?" Steve asked, his tone a bit tighter, but nonetheless sad, "how else am I supposed to take it? Making me... say it. For your amusement or something?"

Eddie felt his hackles go up again, shame pouring into him at being called out like that. He had been curious and this was Steve's business, he had just been asking out of morbid curiosity. What a shit thing to do.

Eddie flushed deeply, wrapping his arms around his torso and turning away. He felt horribly on the spot all of a sudden, ashamed to have asked and even come here.

"Whatever, man," Eddie mumbled in reply, walking over to the desk and grabbing the case of beer, "can I at least get my thirty bucks?"

He wasn't looking at Steve as he kept his head down, walking close enough to him so he could stick his hand out towards Steve. There was another long pause and Eddie looked up at Steve, making sure he looked annoyed instead of embarrassed. But Steve was just staring at him, brows pinched in as if the loose gears in his head were turning.

"What?" Eddie asked, his temper short as the shame roiled in him. Was he being made fun of now for asking for his money? For thinking he was going to get paid? He was just getting ripped off now or what? Or was he being teased for caring about 30 bucks?

"Eddie," Steve started, turning properly to look at Eddie which made Eddie shrink away a bit, "what are we talking about?"

The question wasn't funny or even hinting at faux disbelief, there was something genuine there that threw Eddie off a bit. What were they talking about? How was he supposed to answer that? What did that mean?

"I-I don't know, man," Eddie offered, taking half a step back, feeling that emotional whiplash plow into him as confusion roiled with his frustration and shame. "You're drunk and rambling about... I don't fucking know."

Eddie felt the flush enter his cheeks this time, looking away from Steve as he dropped his hand. Maybe he should just cut his losses and miss out on the 30 bucks... even if 30 bucks wasn't anything to sniff at in the Munson household.

"What..." Steve tried, sounding completely off his game, verbally puzzling through what was going on, "I was... I was apologizing to you."

"Yeah... I get that," Eddie replied, frowning deeply, still not following.

"Because I... because I came on to you," Steve continued, making Eddie flush deeper. He felt so lost and so emotional. Maybe it was the booze or the weed or something, but Steve saying it like that as if he was going to make a big joke of it all felt horrible. Like he was about to say because I thought you were this chick I like or something like that. Make Eddie hear the humorous disappointment of discovering he wasn't someone else.

"Okay..." Eddie replied defensively, looking away again, "so what?"

"So what...." Steve repeated slowly, sounding more than a little confused, "so what?"

Eddie didn't say anything to that, feeling annoyed more than anything now. He should just leave.

"So–Eddie, I–... do you not want an apology? I'd like to try and stay friends–”

It was Eddie's turn this time to laugh bitterly, gripping his hands into fists.

"Friends? Are we friends?"

It had been a harsh response, but Eddie couldn't help it as he looked back at Steve with fierce determination. What the hell was he doing here? Why had he come to this party? He didn't fit into this world, or Steve's perfectly clean bedroom, his jock life, friend group, Pride Club–those weren't Eddie's spaces. Who were they kidding? They weren't friends. The only thing they had in common was that they were both guys that liked dick.

Still, his response had Steve looking like he had just been slapped, which gave Eddie a sense of accomplishment. It was an ugly, bitter side of him that felt bad to dwell in despite how it swelled his courage right now.

Steve obviously didn't know what to say to that, his brows pinching in again as he stood up straighter, looking much more defensive all of a sudden.

"I guess not..." he replied cooly which made Eddie's throat close up a bit. He had never seen Steve act this way before and it felt bad to be on the receiving end of it.

"Sorry for assuming."

Eddie swallowed, hurt shaking his anger loose as he cruelly felt tears starting to prick his eyes. Fuck–why was he a cryer? Why when he got emotional in any way–anger or otherwise–did his body make him cry?

Eddie hastily wiped at his cheeks, seeing his hands coming away black from the eyeliner. Fuck. There was no way he was hiding the fact that he was crying.

"Yeah, me too," Eddie replied bitterly, still wiping his cheeks. What was the fastest way out of here? The best way to get out of Steve's place without a dozen people seeing that he had been crying?

Suddenly, that didn't matter anymore as Eddie's flight instinct kicked in and he stormed out of Steve's room. If he just moved fast enough, maybe he'd be fine.

He hustled down Steve's stairs to the front door, scooping his boots up without putting them on and running into his front yard. His socks instantly got wet from the moisture in the grass, but that didn't stop Eddie as he all but sprinted down the block. There were people out in the streets still, but it was dark enough Eddie hoped they couldn't really tell who he was.

He managed to stop and pull his boots on, the wet fabric feeling disguising against his feet but better than staying here. He didn't bother taking the long way home, instead ducking towards someone's house and gracelessly climbing over their fence into their yard. One of his beer bottles slipped out of the case and smashed on the ground, causing a racket. But Eddie didn't stop to even curse at his luck, he was already jogging through this person's yard towards the tree line so he could disappear into the night. All he wanted was to crawl into his shit bed, in his shit trailer, and drown in his shit life to try and forget about Steve Harrington's shit party.

PT5

[kittyball23]

So, regarding John Dory in Trolls Band Together...

I saw some stuff floating around about his role in Trolls Band Together, and I really wanted to add my own thoughts on the matter, so here it is :3

I think that the situation with JD could be going three different ways:

John Dory genuinely feels bad for what happened all those years ago and really does want to get the band back together

2. John Dory somehow got word of Floyd’s capture and wants to recruit the other brothers to help save him while at the same time apologizing for what happened when the band split

3. John Dory is working with the Velvet and Veneer to get the rest of the brothers there for whatever plan they have. Perhaps he and Floyd were captured, but, as JD was willing to compromise with them, they decided to trust him to go out and find the others.

I’m also curious as to where Tiny Diamond went off to. He goes with them on the trip as seen in the trailer, but something tells me that perhaps his disappearance from the other sequences could have something to do with JD. For instance, we do not see him in the 2D animation sequence after they’ve already retrieved Spruce.

This could be that the animators decided to just focus on Branch, Poppy, JD, and Spruce, or it could be that something happened to Tiny at some point. Maybe JD found a way to get rid of him after he starts becoming suspicious? JD easily convinced Tiny to press the button on the caterbus, so he could have tricked him into doing something that causes Tiny to become separated from the group (in which JD will give Poppy and Branch some kind of lame explanation for why Tiny left)

If JD is working with Velvet and Veneer, this could go down two routes. 1) He does not feel much remorse for what he did (much like Creek in the first movie) 2) He felt as though he had no choice (much like Hickory in the second movie) and will eventually realize that he should help his brothers instead of Velvet and Veneer

But, I guess we'll have to just keep looking out for clues in the next trailers/TV spots or just wait until the movie comes out to see what the deal really is :) What do you guys think? Is JD faking it, or does he really have good intentions? (I'm throwing a poll in here in case you wanna vote on my options)

[roninreverie]

Why Ahsoka's Thrawn isn't actually the real Thrawn

A theory by me, which I am going to be so annoying about for the foreseeable future, so let me just try to get most of it out of my system right here and now. 😅

---

So we all know by now that Thrawn is revving up to be the BIG BAD for the live action Star Wars series tying The Mandalorian into Ahsoka and working off of the Rebels finale.

I also remember hearing old rumors that they were going to be pulling a lot from legends lore for this show, and that Timothy Zahn was not really involved at all with the show itself. (Feel free to update me otherwise though.)

Now, the fact that they're calling him the "Heir to the Empire" in the teaser trailer is already a pretty decent confirmation that the legends lore nods are in full swing. So this raises red flags for Thrawn's character, who, as we know from the newer novels, has a bit more motivation to him than his legends counterpart, and while the two are not wholly dissimilar, there have been a few important updates to his character since the early 90's.

Not to mention, I've heard a lot of people saying "If Zahn isn't involved, it wouldn't really BE Thrawn, right?"

EXACTLY!

I have a very strong gut feeling that this Thrawn isn't actually going to be the Mitth'raw'nuruodo that we expect him to be, and here's why:

Evidence #1: The Beskar Spear

In Chapter 13 of Mando, we're introduced to Morgan Elsbeth who was apparently working so closely with Thrawn that Ahsoka Tano shows up to battle her and demand information on his wearabouts.

Do you really believe Grand Admiral Thrawn would think very highly of a woman who had tarnished the artistic craftsmanship and history of Mandalorian armor just to forge it into a spear?

Lest we forget how upset he got at Captain Slavin just for badmouthing Hera's kalikori in Rebels?

But Thrawn is a big-picture kind of guy, so swallowing his opinions on the dismissal to the value of art isn't necessarily out of character for him, and I'm not sure if they ever specified it was Elsbeth who had done the re-forging in the first place.

Moving on!

---

Evidence #2 Legends Lore and Fake Thrawns

There have been many versions of Thrawn since his creation in Zahn’s original trilogy/duology series, but did you know that there have also been multiple Thrawns existing in the Star Wars Legends universe?

I won't go into too much detail, but considering the Empire tried to keep Thrawn at arms reach up until he earned his Admiral status, and then some… they had quite a few backup plans to make sure the Chiss stuck around even after his “supposed” death.

Between Moff Vilim Disra hiring a con-artist actor named Flim, to fake the role and trick the galaxy... or the literal clone(s) who were set on backup timers and programmed with all of Thrawn's memories just in case of the Admiral’s untimely demise... it’s not as wild an assumption as you might think that there could be a few faux Thrawn’s roaming about in new canon. 

And we have been getting a lot of interesting nods to clones lately in the Bad Batch, especially concerning Mount Tantiss and the planet Wayland/Weyland.

Just some food for thought.

---

Evidence #3: Thrawn’s Death and Continuity

Though Legends and Canon Thrawn do have some similarities and ways to tie together their two universes, there have been updates to his story that cannot be ignored in the new canon, such as his inevitable death.

In legends, Thrawn was killed at the hands of his own Noghri bodyguard, Rukh, who was formally loyal to the Chiss until he learned that Thrawn had not been helping with the ecological disasters of his home planet as he'd promised, but instead had been purposefully keeping them present so that the Noghri people would remain indebted to the Empire. Discovering Thrawn's lies, Rukh stabs him through the chest in the ever-popular “it was so artistically done” scene, thus ending the deceitful Grand Admiral’s life in the old trilogy. 

Unfortunately for the latest iteration of Rukh, Garazeb Orrelios made sure that his new canon self's death was probably not the sort he would be able to get back up and brush off in a surprising twist down the road. 

This left the new-canon Thrawn without an assassin destined to carry out his death, and what many newer fans hoped would mean some sort of redemption arc, given the changes to the character since his reintroduction in Rebels.

I think it can also be stated that the newer version of Thrawn is a bit "kinder" for lack of a better word than his legend's self. Not enough to negate his antagonistic nature in Rebels of course, but maybe just not to the sinister degree as his past counterpart.

---

So in closing, I am going to be watching and taking notes, excited to see where this new "Thrawn" in the Ahsoka series, Mando, and heck... maybe even Bad Batch-- will play out.

I am going to be constantly thinking he's a fake until absolutely proven otherwise, hoping that the Thrawn I've spent all these years building up in my head is off saving the Chiss-Ascendancy with Ezra Bridger and Eli Vanto... and getting something of a redemption arc now that he's apart from the Empire.

Newer Thrawn never struck me as an irredeemable villain, especially in the novels, but I guess that's up to time to tell for sure?

I'm not going to let this theory ruin my expectations for the show and the character, of course, but I'll be super hype if this is the direction they've chosen to go with him.

Thanks for reading, if you did, and feel free to keep the discussion going in the replies/reblogs if you have anything to add!

[thekatebridgerton]

The Rokesby books, the Smythe-Smith Quartet and the two short story books from the Bridgerton-verse were right there to be adapted but they wanted to do Queen Charlotte. Why? Don't know.

I was happy to just have a Kanthony honeymoon special. It didn't have to be six episodes. Just a two hour one would have been fine.

I would pay for a Kanthony honeymoon special!! And so would the rest of the fandom.

I get it, Queen Charlotte is Shonda's pet project and it's not like Bridgerton viewers did not want to see the backstory of what happened between her and King George, because we do, Queen Charlotte is an intriguing character in and on her own.

But at the same time it feels disrespectful to fans, who were waiting for the announcement of who is playing Sophie, or even a glimpse of the Polin season, only to get a lot of Queen Charlotte 'a Bridgerton story' promo material instead. Did we even get this amount of promo for Saphne or for Kantony??. last time I checked fans were given the Kanthony moving portraint AFTER s2 was released. Again, I assure you, I'm going to watch the QC spinoff, because in general I like period dramas and I think any colaboration with Julia Quinn probably has good writing (trust me, if it's as bad as Reign, you will hear my one sentence review of 'its as bad as Reign' but we all know it wont be).

Still, I'm allowed to point out this marketing strategy feels like a lot like gaslighting and taking advantage of the Bridgerton audience to push a spinoff that a lot of viewers wouldn't have felt interest in, if it didn't have 'A Bridgerton story' tacked on to it as a slogan. (Since a lot of people who don't like period dramas do watch Bridgerton, including my 40yo uncle and my grandma)

And maybe it's just me, because I've been listening to too much "slow burn" by Jmaya. But what is up with Hollywood romanticizing tragedy in love stories. It's a bit harder to watch a love story in any period drama where you know that one of them is going to either die or end up with Alzheimers. (yes I'm talking about Reign again, we all knew Mary was going to outlive Francis and we still fell for it anyway)

Which is, why I think Julia never wrote a full book for Violet and Edmund as part of the Rokesby series. Edmund dies, no amount of romance and epic storytelling will erase the enormous letdown that is knowing he dies and she has to move on with their 8 kids. But in the Bridgerton universe, Edmund and Violet's tragic love story has a purpose! It serves to give the 8 siblings something to hope for, an example of love to emulate, it's also the root of their insecurities and fears. With Queen Charlotte even that kind of payoff would not really be much of a consolation. (Yes she does get the guy and the crown, but if my history lessons don't fail me, her eldest son was..well, George IV.)

Which is why I do hope we get to see young Edmund and his older sisters Billie, Poppy and Georgiana. the whole 'going back where it all began' is the slogan for the Rokesby series anyway. It's kinda weird that Queen Charlotte is getting the tagline.

As a show it does look good, there is a certain snazzy romantic vibe to the trailer that I love, also Michelle Fairley is on it!. And we all know that any show where Michelle plays a disproving matriarch obsessed with upholding tradition, is going to be attention worthy. I am sure that once I watch it I will have lots of positive things to say about it.

But I would be able to enjoy Queen Charlotte as a stand alone so much more, if I didn't know Shonda and Netflix was purposefully starving the fans for Bridgerton content in order to create more interest in the spinoff. Like a cheap trick in a magic show, it makes the whole thing a lot less dreamy.

And that's the tea

[cf56]

My thoughts on episode 5

SPOILERS for season 3, episode 5 of the Animaniacs reboot.

Yes, we're still doing this. This episode contains Teeniacs, the one I've been obsessing over for months, theorizing about, posting screenshots, answering asks. Did it live up to expectations?

...what do you think? While it turned out to mostly be a funky screenshot collection, and possibly trailer bait, I'm not going to let my extremely overinflated expectations and current ravaged emotional state trick me into saying this segment was bad. It was pretty good for what it was.

The one thing I'm legitimately disappointed about is that we didn't actually get Teen Dot. I wanted to see an aged-up Warner, even if for just a few seconds in a joke segment. Turns out they were the same age and the perspective of the animation was playing tricks on us. Well, maybe alternate Dot was a little taller. Not anything drastic, though.

We did still get to see an alternately aged Dot.

We've already seen baby Dot multiple times in the past, though, so it's not as exciting.

I liked the way Yakko said "bro" and acted as Wakko's wingman.

I enjoyed seeing this, especially how excited he sounded to say it:

Does this mean Yakko is 15 now? Maybe we really do have an aged-up Warner in this segment.

I thought the brief vampire transitions were cool to see.

Teeniacs.

The most disappointing part of this segment for me was how it was a minute and a half long, and then we got no Warners for the rest of the episode.

I don't have much to say about Starbox and Cindy. What could I say? Cindy is proven to be a malicious little monster who hurts Starbox on purpose. I can respect it.

The main thing to talk about in this episode is obviously Groundmouse Day. It is officially confirmed that Pinky is not, in fact, the genius. Right, guys?

I liked how this episode focused on the obvious fact that Brain's schemes are mostly thwarted by stupid little twists of fate, and if he could just have a few redos, pretty much every single one of them would work. It's always super satisfying to me when a cartoon character who has been failing to do something for an entire show finally breaks through and does it, such as Brain successfully taking over the world.

I enjoyed Brain getting one over on the surfer dude and being unapologetically pleased when the guy is emotionally affected by it. He deserved that one.

Edit: Oh, and I liked the furry joke.

So yeah, not going to lie, there wasn't much here for me in this episode. It felt like filler, especially because the main plot of the episode isn't even resolved in this episode. Almost wish they would just have done a full Pinky and the Brain episode focusing entirely on Groundmouse Day.

Also, shout out to this person for being entirely correct.

I really don't know how to rank this one. None of it was bad. None of it blew my socks off. There were some fun sights in Teeniacs, but that was about it for me. I can't really judge Groundmouse Day yet because the rest is in the next episode. It could really go above any of the episodes except episode 3 and below any of them as well. I'm just going to go off of which ones I would rather rewatch, which means this episode will be ranked last. If I was a huge Pinky and the Brain fan, it would be different for sure.

My current ranking of season 3 episodes:

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 2

Episode 1

Episode 5

I encourage you to add to the discussion of this episode if you want, but don't say anything about any of the episodes that come after. Thanks for sticking with me.

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[bellarkeandclintashaandsuch]

Laws of Attraction - Ep. 1

My reaction to the opening scene: Oh, look at him go. Using a little drawing to show that her eyesight isn't very good, so maybe her testimony isn't reliable, and even... her glasses... don't help her...? Oh, I see. He's a bad man.

I remembered from the trailer Tin talking about his sister (niece?), so I knew she was going to die. But even so, watching, I was like, she's only a child. And they already lost their parents (or one of them lost parents? It was hard to follow the relationships with the subtitles). They wouldn't be so cruel, right? Wrong.

I'm very intrigued to see if there's actually more to the death of Ton Khaw. I mean, it seems straightforward (and brutal). But why won't the dad let his son talk to Chan? Chan's already doing dubious things to help his son, so what can be worse than killing a child that he doesn't want his son talking about?

That car did not slow down and was directly behind her. So it's not like he wouldn't have seen her. But why deliberately kill a kid? Unless he's like a serial killer. But not a very good one if he wants to keep killing. He didn't do a hit-and-run, which I was surprised about. I just don't know!

Also, the audacity of Chan to keep flirting with Tin outside his home. And then saying he'd like to pay him back for saving him by showing him his business card. Of, course he would think you're there to offer to be his lawyer! "Oh, no, I actually want to give you hush money. 😇"

And then he kept flirting with him when Tin went to confront Chan after his dirty tricks with the deposits to Tin's account.

I don't actually think that Chan will do anything to drunk, unconscious Tin, but it would be interesting to see how Tin would have to grapple with his growing attraction to someone who could do something terrible like that to him. But I don't think it will, which is for the best, because there's already a lot to overcome here with Chan helping Tin's niece's (sister's?) murderer.

Last Thoughts/Questions:

What is Tanthai's dad hiding?

What's going on with Methee? His face was making a lot of expressions that confused me.

I do hope Chan continues to aggressively flirt with Tin

I wonder what happened to make Chan so jaded

What's Chan's relationship and/or past with his business partner?

If the "situation" isn't like what Chan thinks, why doesn't Tanthai tell him what it's really like?

Love a man who loves a bubble bath

Loved Chan going, you're even hotter when you're angry. I'd say, can't read a room to save his life, but I guess it's on purpose as part of his smarmy charm

Chan's smile after the first time he meets Tin, and Tin leaves abruptly, was legit terrifying. I was like, Tin, you will regret not giving that man your number but not for the reason you think

On that note, poor Tin looked happy when Chan showed up. The cute guy he didn't get the number of showed up when he's just been through so much pain. It must've felt like finally something maybe good was going to happen again. And then it was just a slap in the face.

Do all Thai police wear their uniforms so tight? The man giving Tin no answers was rivaling M in Manner of Death. Maybe all police do this, and I've just not noticed.

What was this whole thing? Chan's just dramatically looking out the window listening to the news on TV instead of watching:l

[sorrowful-sparrow]

Here’s some thoughts I’ve had about our sweet boy Ed-weird-o. This has no organization, is straight off the dome mostly but he’s just so asdfgjk;/&-/)/@ ✨✨

The reason his kindness shines through his tough/metal head exterior is because he knows how lonely he’s felt as a kid and doesn’t want to let the endearingly named sheepies ever succumb to what society and the “American dream” thinks they should enjoy

Even if Henderson (his favourite even though he’d never admit it out loud in such words) annoys the piss out of him with the fact that he NEVER SHUTS UP OR IS WRONG. It would hurt Eddie so bad if he had the same moment Steve did when Steve pumped him up before the snowball

Like Eddie would wanna throw DOWN

“FUCK THAT HENDERSON. Who gives A SHIT if they think you’re weird or a nerd. They’re just pissed they don’t have a single iota of your intelligence or creativity”

“FUCK MAN.” Fusses with his hair and tries to catch his breath and just makes himself more annoyed “who the hell do they think they are?!”

Finally de-escalates after Dustin keeps trying to calm him down with a super shocked face “dude… am I your favourite?” Cheeky grin

“Shut the hell up Henderson! It just makes me so—”

“Does this mean I can help with the Next campaign?”

Eddie scoffs, slightly offended “does my mastery of the dungeon not meet your expectations?”

“NO! Of course not! I just think if we collaborated we could really show them- ”

Then they argue/collaborate about the next campaign Eddie swinging from excitedly needing to take notes but not having paper or wanting this wave length of PURE GOLD to stop for him to find some

Later when he’s at home at the trailer (IF HE DOESNT GET DISTRACTED 🤦‍♀️) he’s furiously trying to remember everything and write quick notes so he can elaborately trick Dustin into falling into a trap

Plot twist: Dustin probably doesn’t. That kid is too friggin’ smart

Okay that was a lot of one scenario of Eddie and Dustin but I just love them guys. The brotherly vibe they give off is just 🥹🥹🥹

Eddie with a girlfriend would INSIST he isn’t whipped or a “simp” at first

But he totally is.. cmon.

If that guy got a single sliver of undivided attention from a pretty babe he’d fucking run with it.

He’d probably be such an annoying dick 😂

“I’ll have you know my sweet Dungeon Mistress, (Y/N), thinks the next campaign is BRILLIANT and MY BEST WORK, don’t you babe? Tell them.”

“I just complimented your hard work Eds.. please”

“BAAABE!” He clutches at his heart, offended, wounded, defeated “… it’s dungeon master… please…” pouty pleading cow eyes

She sighs, “it’s his best work, prepare yourselves for—“

Eddie leaps to covers your mouth before you can give them a single clue “BABE! SPOILERS!”

The younger boys are just like, “wtf Eddie..”

Also I have this really stupid one where he’s so drunk off beers, and you, and the summer heat

You guys are just chillin at the trailer, he’s laying, rambling and just so infatuated with the fact that you put up with his shit (AND DRUNK, guys.. seriously this is important)

Wayne left the radio on before going to work his night shift and Forever and Ever, amen comes on

And he just stops

Shoots out of your lap

“UGH. What the fuck is this shit?!”

You say, “I kinda like it..” sheepishly preparing for a rant about how THIS is not music, ITS SHIT made to make nuclear rural families feel like they’ve done the right thing by selling out and living that stupid fucking apple pie life the MAN tries to shove down everyone’s throat

And Eddie just stares at you, and without missing a beat BELTS OUT THIS SONG TO YOU.

With dramatic flair, and heavy eye contact.

And then you guys just laugh wildly and cuddle

And you threaten to tell everyone about it

And he tackles you and pins you down, “not if I keep you here forever”

There’s a pause.

You say, sarcastically cautious, “forever and ever?”

“Amen”

Kay I’m done. I just. This boy. I can’t 🥲🥲 he’s such a lil dweeb and I love him

[chidoroki]

Hell’s Paradise EP3

aka: emotional ties

The Iwagakure chief is insane.. and so if everyone else in this village if they allow kids to watch this man get impaled/attacked several times.

The OP is such a bop and I’ll never get over it.

“You expect me to do this with my hands tied? That’s ridiculous.” For real.. though Gabimaru proved last ep that he’s quite capable of killing with his hands tied anyway, so I doubt it’ll hold him back at all.

They only gave them food to last three days? No way they’ll finish the mission in that time.

Oh my god?? Who the hell sent that cannon ball right to his head?

That was enough to dislocate his neck but hey, no worries since he still managed to get up from that large hit.. Gabimaru is invincible.

“We can tie their hands again on the trio back.” True, it’s not like the shogun is gonna know they were untied or not while on the island.

“I don’t want to kill anyone ‘cause my wife wouldn’t like it.” He is so precious.

Sagiri really made Gabimaru bind his hands again while this other lunatic comes charging in at him to land a hard hit on his head, but he still broke four weapons while he was preoccupied while tying his hands together.. he’s incredible.

Aw man, they left out most of the fight but Gabimaru defeated him nonetheless.

“If the criminal we’re responsible for died, them we simply take his head back.” At least we don’t have to worry about any lone asaemon messing with us then.

OH! This Kisho executioner shares the same va as Kazutora (TR). I’m surprised I vaguely recognized that voice as familiar somehow considering he wasn’t shown much in the recent second season.

Hold up, Chobei getting attacked on the boat? That’s unexpected, but ironic as he’s getting choked out like he did to that one dude last ep.

Damn Shion, enjoying your time with your criminal huh? Though I’m fairly certain she’s trying to take advantage somehow, possibly thinking she has the upper hand since he’s blind, but I don’t think he’ll fall for such a trick. Maybe. I dunno.

Oh boy, Aizen has to monitor that giant guy? Good luck with that.

OKAY OR MAYBE NOT! He’s already dead?? Having that big guy on the loose is not gonna be good.

Ah, there ya go Chobei, I knew you’d break free.

Pfft oh yup, Shion totally knew about that chick’s tricks and killed her on the spot.

Hold up, what happen to Yuzuriha though? Ain’t no way she’s dead, there are scenes from trailers we haven’t seen of her in yet.

“Rumor has it this job will determine the next head of the clan.” Oh so the asaemon definitely have something to gain from this mission as well.

Gabimaru chill out! Why are we attacking Sagiri so suddenly?

Yo our man ain’t half bad with a sword.

Hmmm they’re both pretty hesitant to kill each other though.

“I experienced emotions after meeting my wife.” And thank god for her being such a pure soul.

Damn, his eyes just became lifeless and he broke her sword. Gabimaru getting serious.

Oof, he managed to get Sagiri pinned. This Iwagakure chief really messed up his mind when he was younger.

Again, thank god for his wife!!

“If I’m this weak, I’ll never see my wife again.” Aww honey no! Don’t think that!

Aw, that shot of the two of them with Yui’s spirit was real sweet.

Oh damn, Tamiya chopping off his hand instantly, but ultimately a smart move since these human-faced bugs apparently transform stuff to flowers.

Good lord! That creature is huge!

And Gabimaru & Sagiri are about to face.. some fish man with six arms?

[lazlolullaby]

is the new Flash movie actually enjoyable?

off the cuff...fresh like 1 hour after the theater here so bare with me. I am not a DC girlie/dedicated fan so again. take a bucket of salt

oh boy it's got a lot of annoying things. if you go into it expecting annoying jokes, half cooked plot, and Lore, you'll be fine. It's more a movie to watch with Friends and pause and scream at the TV.

The CGI was ... ugh. Felt like a video game, very unfinished, a little campy but it gets the job done.

Ezra Miller is very good at talking fast. he's so messed up i can't believe people don't think Barry is a drug addict. The way his eyes twitch every moment he tries to look at the others is WILD. Bitch got the 'tism. and the c-ptsd. and no charm. i couldn't root for him, but someone could. somewhere.

Michael Keaton was Good. So Good, so very Brucie Wayne, unhinged and lonely and the right amount of drama queen.

Gal Gadot's job right now in the DC Universe just seems to be "bail the guys out of trouble and look good doing it." (and in Fast X. Surprise! She lives!) ...that's messed up.

Kara was also There for like 10 minutes as the Muscle of the team. she Did things and I'm very proud of her but the trailers really just spoil the Big Twist that she Exists.

The Mom - i love her she wins and she loses at being the DC Mom brigade. Bad bitch club for sure.

i think the idea for the movie was Good. They do the Flashpoint Paradox combined with an Origin Story for Young Barry. Showing how he got the powers, why he's alone and so determined to follow through with Justice.

Young Barry is annoying. like kid brother you know they are just adding him in to be comic relief. he's here to misunderstand words, use powers badly and get hurt funny. You have to Know he's a comic relief and Accept it in your heart. there was a hot minute where you can see him breaking down, see him feel things and then BAM … I feel like you know it ends. you know what happens to time duplicates.

But it kills me that if they got Keaton (and final special guest!!! akljsskldfklj!!) as Alternate Batsy(s), (and alternate SUPES!!! SO MANY ALTERNATE SUPES IN THE FINALE I'M GOING TO SPIN MY WHEEL SO HARD ABOUT IT!

(GOD WHY DID THEY DO THAT?? PUT THE HINGE OF THE UNIVERSE ON SUPERMAN? WHEN CAVILL IS GONE? THERE IS SUCH A NERDY REFERENCE WITH ONE OF THE SUPES - DEEP CUT AS HELL AND NO ONE LAUGHED AT IT. NO ONE.)

why couldn't they hire another person to be Young Barry??? Or brought in CW!Flash, or hey? have Barry die in the home invasion and replace him with Wally West??? that could have kicked ass. i was so distracted by body double, the tricks and acting it pulled me out.

...mmm. So if you like forced comedy bits. and have an appreciation for Deep Lore. You'll like it. I suggest gathering with nerd friends to watch and roast it.

Nerd friends will lovingly point out the inconsistencies and references. but by god you can't go in expecting anything life changing or brain rewiring.

watch spider-verse it's better, but everyone knows that by now.

[demon-of-side-quest-hell]

Not sure if this really counts since it's not about characters as it is a result of two characters.

The 2 guys in the reconstruction trailer are accredited as "Recovery Six" and "Recovery Nine" respectively, which has lead me to believe that the Recovery Program wasn't only instated after freelancer fell to the wayside but was an active part of the Project from the beginning (Likely also meaning that Wash wasn't the first guy to be called "Recovery One" oOoOoOo)

Additionally here's some assorted HC's about various Charon-adjacent characters

I think the only reason the Insurrectionist leader, (Faux CT), continued working with Charon was because Freelancer killed or imprisoned all the other people in the base. I fully believe that had more of them survived/escaped He would've just gone of with them to try and lay low. Since his only group of allies other than Charon were KIA or MIA he didn't feel he had much of a choice.

I think Hargrove doesn't give a rats ass about the injustices of Freelancer, I think he's still just a politician and a businessman who wants to sway public favor. Though I'm not sure how much that is "Headcanon" and not just "Canon".

I think most of the insurrectionists saw through Charon's demeanor of funding beside CT, Connie, and Sharkface, but they all thought they would "trick Charon and turn this war around".

Scully and Murphy from S9E2 are also twins, just like North and South.

Sherry, Daryl, and Teryll aren't insurrectionists but due to the similar armor and constantly working with them on behalf of Charon everyone always assumes they are, which they've used on occasion to steal a few items off the top from the insurrectionists.

Coffee Guy is Jenkins; Caboose just woke him up from his slumber.

Also Jenkins has really bad eyesight and can't see in the dark too well and that's why he tried to get a better shift, so he could actually fucking see.

I think none of the space pirates from S13 are employed by Charon, they're all employed by Felix and Locus who are "Independant contractors and outside of our supervision", the only one who was directly hired by Charon was Price because they thought directly putting him on their payroll would make him more loyal.

I think the actual cause the Insurrectionists were fighting for was peace with the covenant. They were all, for the most part, Anti-war and opposed UNSC expansion of the war effort and Freelancer's unethical "The ends justify the means" mentality

Muscle Guy and a few others though weren't fighting for the cause and just joined knowing Charon was footing the bill on their payment.

hey guys Can you comment or rb with your non main character/less popular character rvb headcanons? (looks at you with my crazed wet eyes)

[darknight3904]

Sober - Eddie Munson

Spoilers for ST4

Chapter 16- Matching

Masterlist

The official start of Part II in the Sober series!! Please enjoy :)

3 Months Later, March 1986:

"Hello? Maggie? Earth to Maggie??"

A big ring clad hand waved Infront of her face as she blinked furiously, trying to hide the fact she had totally just zoned out.

"Hmm sorry I missed what you were saying." Marguerite said

"Yeah no shit, babe." Eddie laughed

"You've been zoned out for like five minutes Maggie." Dustin said

"It has not been five minutes." Marguerite huffed

"Uh yeah it has." Dustin replied

"God why are you so argumentative. I thought Freshmen we're supposed to be scared of Seniors." Marguerite smiled

"You're not exactly the scariest person y'know." Mike said

"Sure I am. I'm super intimidating." Marguerite argued

"Really now? You stand at what 5'5 maybe 5'6 and a half if you wear those cool boots you have. What makes you so scary?" Eddie asked

"Well for starters I have got along with Steve Harrington for two years ago." She smirked

"Y'know maybe she's right about the intimidating half... Harrington is quite the peice of work." Eddie laughed

"Shut up. Steve is great." Marguerite said "Another reason for me being the actual scariest person ever is I'm dating the Eddie Munson."

"Okay now that definitely makes her the toughest person here." Gareth said

"Ah someone agrees with me." Marguerite smiled

"What's so bad about me? I'm a pretty docile guy." Eddie said

Everyone at the table turned their head to the Hellfire leader.

"Yeah sure whatever you say Eds." Marguerite laughed patting the boy on the back

"I'm the calmest person in all of Hawkins, babe." Eddie laughed

"Eddie stop lying to yourself!" Marguerite said

"Me? Lying? I'd never lie!" Eddie smiled as he pulled her towards him

Marguerite just shook her head and shoved another french fry in her mouth.

°°°

"Have I ever told you how much I love your rings?" Marguerite asked

The couple was laying on the floor of Eddie's trailer. Marguerites head rested on Eddie's chest as the metalhead was staring up at the ceiling wishing it was more interesting.

"Yeah you have like a million times in the past few months." Eddie said

"Well I'm reminding you." Marguerite said

"Mmm I think you just want one to wear for yourself." Eddie said

"Yeah right...they wouldn't even fit me. Your fingers are giant." She replied

"Well I guess we'll have to solve that problem won't we?" Eddie said before suddenly springing up and disappearing into his room.

Marguerite remained on the floor and spread her limbs out like a starfish. She didn't have any energy after a long day of school and an even longer Hellfire meeting. Tomorrow night would be the grand finale of Eddie's campaign and the "Cult of Vecna" would finally come to close. The end of Vecna meant Marguerite would have her boyfriend back and she wouldn't have to listen to the endless planning of what would happen next in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Marguerite loved that Eddie was passionate about this game and loved watching him talk about it but sometimes he drove her crazy.

"Alright I think this'll do the trick Lady Hargrove." Eddie said plopping himself back on the old carpet next to her.

Marguerite sat up to look at what he had with him. A thin chain was being held by him, a dark green guitar pick along with Eddie's big skull ring he normally wore on his left hand sat on the string.

"You sure you won't miss the ring?" Marguerite asked as he slipped it over her head

"Nah. Besides I think it's kinda hot that you'll always have something of mine on. Kinda like a dog staking his claim. Plus now we're matching." Eddie replied pulling at his shirt to show off his own necklace that consisted of just a guitar pick.

Marguerite's face scrunched up at his analogy and Eddie just laughed and reached a finger out to ease the wrinkle between her brows.

"I'm kidding, Maggie. I won't miss it because I'm totally content with knowing you'll always have it " Eddie said

"Hmm maybe I should give you something of mine. Keep the ladies away." Marguerite smiled

"And what would that be?" Eddie asked as Marguerite pressed her lips to his.

"Dunno. Gotta think about it." Marguerite said before leaning in for another kiss.

Annnnd we're back at it with Marguerite and Eddie. I wasn't initially gonna have their story line up with S4 but after I finished part 2 and had to watch Eddie ahem die. (F you duffers) I decided I did want to continue the story. So please enjoy Part II of Sober.

[neon-green-reagent]

Yet Another 50 Underrated Horror Films

I guess most people would want to talk about the best movies they watched in the past year, but I thought this would be a more fun way of ending 2022. Let me give you some links to other lists before I get started, in case you are into this and just cannot get enough. Well, allow me to be of service.  

The First 50 

The Second 50 

UFO Movies 

Mad Science Movies 

Aquatic Movies

Found Footage Movies 

Heavy Metal Movies 

Werewolf Movies 

Eyes of Fire : Back in old timey pioneer days, a group of people get cast out from their community because their preacher is a sex fiend. So they find their own place. That is full of evil fae magic and ghosts and stuff, and things get wonderfully weird. 

Highway To Hell : It’s Orpheus but full of puns and dumb jokes and incredible special effects. My favorite bit is about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. Also, Adam Storke is in this... You know, Larry from the 90s Stand miniseries. That guy. He’s great here. 

Shallow Ground : Ghosts. But so so so much cooler than just that. I don’t want to say too much. This one is all about the reveal. This teenager shows up naked and covered in blood, and everyone goes what the hell happened to him? And shit gets STRANGE.

Nightflyers : Adaptation of a George R.R. Martin short story that really needs a blu-ray release, like, yesterday. Beautifully 80s SF horror film full of weird, futuristic bullshit that I can’t get enough of. 

Beyond Dream's Door : What if A Nightmare On Elm Street were made on $3 and a ton of LSD? Take this trip, no pun intended. 

Night Vision : A guy that literally just fell off the turnip truck decides to be a writer in in THE BIG CITY. Which supernaturally chews him up and spits him back out. A cool, low budget time.

The Murder Mansion : Giallo! Two rather attractive people meet, fall in love instantly, and then get trapped in a murder mansion. That’s all you need for a giallo masterpiece really. 

Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell : An alien invasion that goes super hard. A plane crashes due to alien interference, and the survivors are faced with just... the scariest alien invasion of all time. This movie fucks. 

Island of Terror : Lil goo monster that kills you the moment it touches you. It feels like they were trying to do a Lovecraft thing, and it’s quaint and British with Peter Cushing. 

The Majorettes : One of those late 80s slashers that just keeps on giving. The first fifteen minutes were hilarious enough, and then the third act happens. There’s a siege? On a trailer park? In my slasher? 

Sometimes They Come Back... Again : Alexis Arquette (RIP) gives the performance of a lifetime as an undead thug who will fuck your daughter and your dad. Watch it for her. 

Sweet Home : Nothing is quite like a Japanese ghost story. This one throws some slasher tropes in there, too, with very over-the-top kills. Then it lands the dismount. Give me a blu-ray now please. 

Creature : Alien rip-off! Now hear me out. I am a sucker for those, but this is probably the best one in existence. Watch The Titan Find cut, as it’s the director’s preferred version, and I think it slaps. 

Candy Corn : Why isn’t this a Halloween classic? It’s like Trick r Treat meets Dark Night of the Scarecrow. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s an incredibly good thing. Also, the kills are brutal. 

Auntie Lee's Meat Pies : Auntie Lee has lots of BEAUTIFUL nieces who attract dumb men that she puts into delicious meat pies. Good for her, right? Some rockers in bad wigs show up and... predictably become pies. 

Skinned Deep : If Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 had no limiters on. If they were ALL off. All of them. I mean, just all of them. Warwick Davis is having the time of his life here. And Surgeon General’s mask is made out of what you ask? Boyfriend material. 

Werewolves on Wheels : A biker gang stumbles across a cult having a ritual. This makes them become werewolves. And that’s awesome. 

Distortions : Olivia Hussey and Piper Laurie attempt to out act one another while both going completely out of their minds. Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. 

Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge : When you’re such a simp for The Phantom you’ll watch a hunky version kick ass underground in a mall. Also, it’s a good slasher. With Pauly Shore being... actually a fun character. 

The Marsh : A children’s book writer moves to the country to rest and get inspired. Then ghost shit starts happening. Trust me, this movie goes around some bends I didn’t expect, and it’s really worth taking the ride. We love a good ghost mystery in this house.

Dead and Buried : The story kicks off with a photographer getting set on fire at the beach by an angry mob. And it doesn’t get less weird. Definitely more weird. It blew my mind, and I didn’t think that was possible after all I’ve seen. With Robert Englund before he was Freddy. 

Clearcut : Native American horror. This one is all about Graham Greene playing Arthur, a gleefully violent fellow with a lot of secrets. I kept thinking of Severen in Near Dark. The performance is that good, yes. 

Satan's Triangle : Made for TV movie about the Bermuda Triangle. But also the devil. With an ending that I’ll never stop thinking about. 

Night Shadow : A werewolf movie! Where the werewolf and some lady have a psychic connection. I think. I mean, I guess. And her brother knows kung-fu, but doesn’t use it to fight the werewolf. Some bad choices were made, but ultimately it’s a good-bad time. 

Tales from the QuadeaD Zone : From the maker of Black Devil Doll From Hell comes... this! A horror blaxploitation anthology that really... It really is real. Also, what’s a QuadeaD? Dunno. And that’s not a typo. That’s how it’s spelled. Watch this. You’ll thank me. Or hunt me down, not sure which.

Alien Predators : A horror comedy that is heavy on the goofball antics and low on the scares. But damn if those antics aren’t cuter because it’s Dennis Christopher partaking in them! 

Too Beautiful To Die : A late 80s giallo full of fucked up shit, a crazy murder weapon, and giallo’s favorite victim: fashion models. And I need to say 80s one more time to emphasize the true magic of this film. Okay, one more time: 80s!

All-American Murder : Christopher Walken. Ahem. Oh, you needed me to say something else? Well, murders. And lots of silly, silly, silly dialogue. And Walken gets to say a lot of it, too. 

The Killer Is Still Among Us : Another giallo. This one is all about the ending. I find a lack of resolution to be one of the scariest thing a horror film can do. Very effective. 

Slime City : A man has to eat people to keep from melting. It’s a tale as old as time. He goes full goblin mode by the end. Good old-fashioned melt movie. 

Flesheater : Directed by the guy who played the first zombie in Night of the Living Dead. The cemetery one. Not sure why that made him qualified to direct a film, and when you watch it, you’ll see that it didn’t. But that’s why it’s good. Because it’s amazingly bad. Also, directed The Majorettes from up there, if that’s any indication of what you’re getting into. 

All About Evil : Directed by Peaches Christ, this is an absolute love letter to horror cinema. Right down to the very theaters the movies play in. Cassandra Peterson stares at an Elvira poster. It’s that kind of movie. 

I, Madman : There need to be more movies like this. About the power of stories to come alive. One minute you’re reading a book. The next minute, the book is happening to you. Stars Jenny Wright, who deserved a better career. 

Grotesque : Linda Blair versus a gang of punks. Oh, excuse me. Punkers. That was one of my favorite parts, that they insisted on calling them punkers. Home invasion that goes completely WTF by the end. WTF endings are a theme with me. 

Hell High : A group of high school outcasts decide to terrorize their teacher. Not realizing a nudge will make her go postal. This movie is way better than it has any right to be, quite frankly. 

The Untamed : A Mexican SF horror film that is all about sex. It’s not SEXY. It’s ABOUT sex. And the need for it, the way it wrecks relationships, addiction to it, cheating, not being able to be true to yourself about your own identity or needs. It’s a lot. I love it. 

Death To Metal : I love to see heavy metal horror alive and well. An evil priest gets a toxic waste makeover and decides to take out his religious frustrations in a local dive hosting a rock concert. It’s low budget and full of love. 

Tropic of Cancer : Giallo! Again! With voodoo. Not accurate voodoo, don’t ever look for that in a horror film. But with magic and antics is what I really mean. And those antics are quite wild and fun. 

Final Judgment : Brad Dourif as a priest with a gun trying to catch a serial killer. Also, lots of strippers. If nothing about that makes you want to watch it, may I check your temperature? 

The Mangler : One of those bottom-of-the-barrel Stephen King adaptations with so much to give. Directed (well, in part, it sounds complicated) by Tobe Hooper. Starring Ted Levine. With an absolutely gigantic, evil, designed-by-Dracula laundry press.

Deep Blood : I haven’t seen every Jaws ripoff known to man. But why do I have the feeling this is the worst? If you want to relax with friends and laugh heartily over a multitude of poor choices and production mistakes, have I got the movie for you. 

Identity : How unknown is this? I mean, it has John Cusack and Ray Liotta in it. But I still feel like no one talks about it. Still needs way more love. And Then There Were None, but twists galore. And lots of great, fun performances. 

Retribution : A man attempts suicide right as a murder is taking place. The soul of the victim enters him and uses his body to exact vengeance. With a fantastic performance from Dennis Lipscomb and a lot of heart. 

The Devil's Men : Priest Donald Pleasence versus cult leader Peter Cushing. In a fight to the death. With a minotaur there as well. Place your bets!

The Stone Tape : Do you like Halloween III? The same guy wrote this. It has a similar blending of technology and the supernatural. And the supernatural tends to win in those scenarios... 

Benny Loves You : This is a flawed movie, but one thing is for certain: Benny is perfect. Benny loves us, and you’ll love him, too. A killer toy movie that’s a cut above the rest. 

It! (1967) : Of course, I had to include the year, because, no, I’m not talking about one of the most popular horror stories of all time. I’m talking about Roddy McDowall (doing a Psycho) and a golem. And murderous hijinks! 

Wind Chill : I know Christmas is over at the time of writing this, but this was a fantastic, underrated Christmas horror. A guy and a girl drive home from college in the snow and get stuck. Where a lot of people have gotten stuck before. And died. 

The Shuttered Room : We’re in Lovecraft country here. Yog Sothoth doesn’t show up, but a lot of other gothic trappings sure do. People locked up in attics. Getting harassed by locals who are itching to say YOU AIN’T FROM AROUND HERE, ARE YA? Covered in a layer of creepy sweat. With Oliver Reed! 

The Dead Hate The Living : Gotta end on a total banger. An independent film crew gets a little too zealous in making their horror flick and unleashes zombies upon themselves. With a ton of shoutouts and horror nerding, enough even for little old me. 

That does it! These are always a labor of love for me, and I hope there are those of you out there that get some mileage out of this. 

[chaotic-beautiful]

Kinn freezes during fights.

Okay so Kinn must be really good at fighting techniques and self defense and trained from the childhood as this is a needed skill set for survival . We’ve seem him not simply holding his own against a national taekwondo champion and a pro street fighter Porsche, he makes it look easy. Effortless. He was almost fighting him with a sneer and easy body language and Porsche was left fumbling and resorting to actual kiddish below the belt tricks like ball grabbing and neck biting to throw him . 

So what happens during actual situations when he has to defend himself ?? He’s almost as useless as any random guy with novice level defense skills ! Isn’t that a paradox ?? He needs help from people , namely Porsche saving his asses in both the cases we saw him in mortal danger and it’s just obvious why he needs an army of body guards to guard him princess style. In the 1st situation , okay, I get that he was running break neck for a while and was possibly mildly injured and drained to protect himself completely . But in the episode 2 washroom ambush scene, there was literally just one lady assassin . No matter how skilled she was or heavily armed , it’s just... one person ??

So the question here is, why does Kinn freezes during such situations ?? I think the hint to the solution to this mystery lies in his shrouded past. We get some glimpse of it from Pete when he revealed that something terrible had happened to him in the past to change him like this , make him meaner , more cruel , maybe gave him shit ton of trauma. We already know that the kidnapping that Tankhun faced during childhood scarred him for life and pretty much rendered him useless as a contender for the heir role . Maybe there are similar events in the past of Kinn. Events that shook his trust in fellow human beings for good and made him paranoid and also gave him some scars for life , he just hides them so good under his cool , bad ass veneer because as the chosen heir to the throne he’s to. Because his brothers and possibly father left him no choice. 

Which is also possibly the reason he simply freezes during any real ambush or fight situation . It’s the PTSD , the unresolved trauma that overcomes him atm. When he was fighting with Porsche , he knew it’s kind of a play fight and Porsche is just trying to defend himself and not his attacker so he could show off his real skills without any fear or trauma.

I may be completely wrong , it’s just a theory at this point and I haven’t read the book because I don’t want any spoilers. But I remember the line from the trailer, “ Every body wants to kill me. “ Imagine living with that thought constantly on your mind and never being able to do what Porsche did as soon as he reached the kitchen , just drop the swagger and fall weak on his knees. That’s a luxury Kinn can not afford. In his line of business , the facade of strength is an armour you need to be wearing all the time.

[project-paranoia]

Show recommendation

Title: The Rebel 叛逆者

Origin: China

Topics: Chinese Civil War, Second Sino-Japanese War (WWII), Historical fiction, Communist party, Forbidden love, Feminism, Revolution

Lenght: 43 episodes

Trailer:

Summary (without spoilers): In 1936, Lin Nan Shen, a student of the Fuxing cadre training class, is taken to Shanghai by the chief of the Shanghai district of Fuxing’s special agents, Chen Mo Qun. There, he is supposed to help the special agents to find and track the communist party. Lin Nan Shen’s first mission is to get closer to Zhu Yi Zhen, a young woman suspected to be one of the communists. In the middle of it, the Japanese start to invade the China and Lin Nan Shen is taked captive in a long and cruel war.

You will like this if you enjoyed: Killer and Healer, City of Streamers

Opinion: The drama is very authentic, and the characters are all interesting to follow. The style is close to all the “spies movies” with an incredible suspense. Each time you think “I’m sure this is gonna happen”, the drama knows how to do something totally different and to surprise the viewer. While Lin Nan Shen, the protagonist, stands at the side of the “bad guys” as a nationalist, we can see how both parties contain their own good people and bad ones, and that everything is not only black or white in life. The drama taught me a lot about China’s history and about all the tricks the rebels had to invent to not be found by the special agents. For me who loves war stories, I really enjoyed to see what kind of things happened out of Europe and America during WWII.

Pros: suspense, interesting characters, authenticity, strong and feminist female characters

Cons: The story is going too fast during the last 10 episodes, this is too bad. Some characters’ death deserved to be more epic.

Conclusion: ★★★★☆

Where to watch:

iqiyi

/kw