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underthestarlight1 · 4 days ago

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Murder in the Heartland Part 15

Hey, guys! This story is really moving along now. And I promise all these background cases Eddie is doing is important to the plot later. And it advances the timeline to where Steve is giving the interview. So keep being patient with me, they'll meet up and get together. That is a promise.

In this we have the end of the Tommy Hagan case and Chad makes another cameo.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Interviewer: All right, maybe he wasn’t flirting with Justiciar. But you can’t tell me he was flirting with other men.

Steve blinked at her for a moment like she was stupid: He flirts with the accused killer in “What Hides in the Woods”. Like pretty heavily. Joe and Quinn were pretty hot and heavy at one point. They only stopped before things got too far because Quinn knew they couldn’t be together. Joe was rover and Quinn was never going to go farther than Chicago.

The interviewer’s eyes went wide: Quinn? He was flirting with Quinn? But they couldn’t be the furthest from compatible you tried. Joe Lockwood is a suave confident man with a sense of style and taste. Quinn is a punk with a bright pink Mohawk and more tattoos and piercings than airport security would allow through.

Steve smirked: Oh yeah. Outwardly, Quinn and Joe are polar opposites. But at their core they have a lot in common.

The gentleman’s names was Scott Linklighter and was a financial consultant at a prestigious firm up in...drum roll... Indy! That’s right. The place he was telling Coraline his second job was.

This wasn’t just borrowing from Peter to pay Paul either. This was full on robbing Peter to pay Paul because you borrowed from Paul to pay Mary, mother of God.

Like this whole thing was fucked and if he hadn’t been the one pulling Scott off Tommy’s beat ass, he would have been laughing and telling Gareth to go make popcorn.

Tommy was ready to throw hands with Eddie too, until Coraline stepped out of the car with little Charlie. Then he fell to the ground, defeated. He curled up into a ball and began to sob uncontrollably.

Gareth and Scott shared a glance of startled disgust.

Eddie on the other hand felt nothing but pity for Tommy. He thought he had life all sewn up with Carol and then in a fit of pique went to strike her and she hit back harder. Then only for her to runaway and shack up with Nicole of all people.

Then his parents rush him into marrying Maddy to avoid scandal. But he could tell in the way Maddy talked about him, he wasn’t invested in the relationship. Which is why he freaked when she said she was pregnant. She wasn’t ever supposed to be pregnant. Now with a kid with the mistress and another on the way, he was about to have three kids all under the age of two. Then add to all this, Tommy going to bars and hooking up with gay men, probably just feel something.

Tommy never thought his life would completely unravel like this. He would most likely be disowned from his parents, fired from his job, and most likely in jail for bigamy.

“As thrilling as this all is,” Eddie said, clearing his throat, “but lets take this inside before someone gets the cops involved.”

Maddy opened her mouth to argue, but decided for the better of it and led them all into the house.

He had Gareth watch everyone while he slipped into the kitchen to call Chad. Yeah, he was only an estate lawyer, but he really could use his expertise in the law, full stop.

He walked back into the front room where Maddy and Coraline were on the love seat and Maddy was consoling Coraline. Scott was on the sofa next to Gareth, while Tommy was in the arm chair. He did not look much better than the sobbing mess out on the lawn but at least he stopped crying.

“All right,” Eddie said putting his hands on his hips. “I have a lawyer friend coming over to help sort out Tommy’s legal troubles. Because hooboy, are they many and in desperate need of an expert opinion.”

“You’re helping him?” Scott asked, scandalized waving a hand toward the sniveling form of Tommy Hagan. “What the fuck?”

Tommy raised his head and sniffled pathetically. “Wha’?”

“I’m trying to make sure his three children are provided for,” Eddie snapped back. “And unless you’re willing to pony up the child support, you can shut your pie hole!”

Scott’s jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

“That’s what I thought,” Eddie groused. “I don’t like the idea of sweeping this all under the rug either, but if all this comes to light, the bastard is looking at bigamy which is a fucking crime in this country.”

“I’ll pay anything,” Tommy sniffled, rubbing his nose and leaning forward in his knees. “My dad will too. I don’t know how many mistresses he’s paid off, all the while promising my mom it was the last one.”

Gareth raised an eyebrow. “Never took you for the kind to follow in your daddy’s play book.”

“I didn’t set out to,” Tommy said mournfully. “I thought it was going to be me and Carol for the rest of our lives, but then my temper got the better of me and I blew it all to hell.” He leaned back into the pillowy confines of the arm chair. “Fuck. I don’t even know where she is.”

Eddie snorted. “And for good reason. But let’s just say she shares your penchant for certain proclivities.

“Huh?”

“She’s a giant, freaking lesbian now, dude,” Gareth huffed, shaking his head. “Got a girlfriend now and everything.”

Tommy blinked at him for a moment and then nodded. “Makes sense I suppose. It would be fucking hilarious if Steve was gay too.” But the way he said it made it sound like meant it in ‘fuck my life’ kind of way and not a ‘funny ha ha’ kind of way.

He rubbed nose and then put his hands between his thighs. “Anyway, when my parents found out that Carol got the hell out of Dodge, they wanted to me to get married as soon as possible. They picked Maddy and just kinda threw her at me. I thought I was careful with her and made sure I used condoms every time we had sex.”

Maddy blinked at him for a moment. “Wait, were you doing a reverse condom swap? Instead of taking it off before putting it in, you were putting one on?” she asked her eyes wide with surprise.

Tommy nodded. “But the condom must have leaked or something, because you got pregnant.”

Gareth threw his hands up and cried, “Wait, wait, what about Coraline?”

Eddie looked at her and realized why there had been something about her appearance that had been bothering him all day.

“Don’t you think she looks like Carol?” he asked tilted his head to the side.

Coraline reared her head back. “His ex?”

Gareth’s eyes went wide. “You sly son of a bitch! The name, the similar looks. You were trying to recreate your life with Carol. You’re supposed happy ending. But it wasn’t perfect. She had her own interests and it would throw you off. So you went trolling for gay men to fill the hole in your life that YOU caused.”

He leapt to his feet ready to brawl, but Tommy just cowered further. Eddie stepped between them and placed a hand on Gareth’s chest and shook his head.

“He’s not worth it.”

Gareth peered around Eddie to look at Tommy again. Tommy was always on the short side, but now he seemed to draw himself in so tight that he seemed small and weak. Gareth nodded.

“Yeah,” he growled. “I see what you mean.”

Then there was a knock on the door and Eddie went to go answer it. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Chad and not another lover of Tommy’s.

Eddie led him to the front room where everyone was glaring at Tommy and Tommy looked like he was going to throw up.

Chad took in the situation and nodded. “Tommy I assume you have an office here, yes?”

Tommy nodded and then got up to lead Chad to it, figuring that whatever advice he gave it had to be in private to maintain client confidentiality.

“Right,” Gareth said with a huff and sitting back down. “Now that Chad is taking care of Tommy’s woes, let’s sort of the rest of this tangled web.”

Eddie nodded. “Let’s start with the easiest. No offense, Scott but you are not pregnant and married to Tommy.”

Scott snorted. “You’ve got that right. At least we weren’t living together, though there were talks in that direction, but Tommy was always reluctant. And now I know why.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said shaking his head. “You could ruin his life with a single word. Do you want to?”

Scott pressed his lips together and took in the whole scene before him. He saw the woman Tommy had used to replace his ex; pregnant with a babe less than a year old. He also saw the tough as nails first wife who had hired the agency the two men belonged to to find out the truth about her husband.

Jeff had called him looking for an Indy residence for Tommy as his name had been listed on a couple of papers in Tommy’s office here in this house. It had taken him a couple of days to put the two together and come barreling down her to find out if Tommy had been cheating on him.

Only to find out he was the affair partner. And not even the first. It galled. But...

“No,” Scott said, shaking his head. “I think all this blowing up in his face is punishment enough for me.”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah okay. Next up, ladies. You’re both pregnant with Tommy’s kid, Coraline already has one with the guy.”

Coraline looked like deer in the headlights, eyes wide and still as a statue. Maddy licked her lips slowly.

“If Tommy will agree to alimony for Coraline,” she said as after giving it much thought, “and Tommy gives me this house, she can stay here with me. Provided she uses the money on her kids, I will cover everything else. Room and board, food and even their education.”

“The house is yours, Maddy,” Tommy said from the door way. “I’ll have my dad transfer me up to Chicago permanently and I’ll pay alimony to Coraline.”

“I recommend a small amount to Scott as recompense for the trouble Tommy caused him,” Chad said, coming up behind Tommy. “This isn’t a bride more like a settlement for the distress he caused him.”

Scott nodded. “That would be fair.” He stood up and shook Chad’s hand. “I hope to be hearing from you soon.”

He stopped and looked at Tommy. “We could have been something great you know.”

“No we couldn’t have,” Tommy said mournfully. “It would have had me in it.”

“Be better to yourself then you have been to others,” Scott said and then wished everyone else farewell.

Then he was gone.

“If all parties are willing to do things amiable,” Chad said turning to the ladies. “Then I think everyone will come out of this misadventure with their dignity intact and no one will be the wiser of his misdeeds.”

“I’m still a little pissed Tommy seems to be getting off so light,” Gareth growled. “But to hurt him is to his kids and I’m not about that.”

“I think having his life blow up in his face all at once is punishment enough,” Coraline said, speaking up for the first time. “Yeah, what he did was wrong and hurt a lot of people, but it’s not like he’s getting off scotfree.” She snickered at her own joke and even Tommy smiled for the first time. “He’ll have to pay alimony. He’ll never be able to go to Indy or come back to Hawkins without a cloud hanging over his head. What more punishment would you want?”

Gareth rubbed his chin and then nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. His life is pretty fucked up right now.”

As they all piled out of Maddy’s house, Eddie stopped to talk with Chad.

“Hey, man,” he murmured. “Thanks for coming out for this. I know you didn’t have to.”

Chad cocked his head to the side. “I wanted to. Despite our differences, I really do like you.” He put his finger on his cheek as he considered. “As a friend.”

Eddie smiled. “I’ll take that. If you’re in Indy again, hit me up. We’ll go out to drinks.”

“Deal,” Chad said with a broad smile. “I’ll see you around.”

Eddie watched him go with a fond smile on his face.

As he piled into the van, Gareth already in the passenger seat, said, “You know, I know Jeff was up in your face about that guy, but I quite like him.”

Eddie snorted. “I do too. He’s really come a long way from the guy who thought we were going to rob him just for walking into our offices. He’s an asset to have for the agency and maybe even a friend.”

Gareth cocked his head to the side as they watched Tommy and Chad pull away from the house, Tommy’s belongings in the back seat.

“Yeah,” he said. “I can accept that. And if Jeff can’t, he can shove it up his ass.”

Eddie barked out a laugh. “Yeah, man. He can shove it up his ass.”

Tag List: THREE SLOTS REMAINING

1- @niniel-karenine @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 @gloomysoup @kultiras @maya-custodios-dionach @johannamry

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @bookbinderbitch

4- @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006 @yikes-a-bee

5- @awkwardgravity1 @oopsallgender @fearieshadow @stedestielfrattficlover @dragonmama76

6- @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman @counting-dollars-counting-stars

7- @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gutterflower77 @wheneverfeasible

8- @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss @steddieislife @bridget-malfoy-stilinski-hale

9- @stripey82 @kroymu09 @chaotic-waffle @tartarusknight @hattsy-likes-pretty-stuff

10- @themoonagainstmers @eternal-sunflowers

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underthestarlight1 · 6 days ago

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Shut Up and Drive Part 9

Hey guys, I don't think people are seeing this story or if they are they just don't like it or care. I tag 50 people (well close to it now as someone asked to be removed from the list) and this story should not barely getting 50 notes in a week, you know?

I realize part of it was that chapter 3 vanished for 2 weeks, and it never really recovered from that, but it's only gotten steadily worse since. So this is still going to be put out, as it is a completed work, but I've lost the excitement for doing so.

In this we have mostly canon plot and some introspection on Eddie's part.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

No amount of money was worth blood of the innocent on your own fucking ceiling, Eddie thought as he drove away from the trailer he had called home for the best years of his life.

He stashed his van at the base of Skull Rock and covered it with branches and shit to keep the cops from finding it.

Then he trekked the rest of the way to Rick Lipton’s house on shores of Lovers’ Lake. He looked around for the hide-a-key, but he couldn’t find it.

“Shit!”

He searched the outside of the house, looking for any way to get in but was stymied at every turn. Finally he gave up and hunkered down under the tarp that covered the small motor boat and tried to sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw the fear in Chrissy’s eyes. At the picnic table. On the drive over from the high school to his place. As she screamed her last breath.

Morning finally came and he was exhausted. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go back in case whatever had killed Chrissy was still there.

Now he lived in terror what got her, might have gotten Wayne, too. But he had no way to warn his uncle or anyone else about the terror that now stalked his hometown.

Eddie had no one to turn to or trust. He could only wait it out and hope for the best.

Then Eddie was being poked in the side and he was faced to face with Steve Harrington for the first time since Halloween.

He looked as scared as Eddie felt. But then again, he wasn’t the one being held at bottle point. No, he was holding the bottle. He was going to get his. He was going to hurt him if Steve so much as twitched wrong.

He was.

He–

He wasn’t a killer.

He couldn’t do it. He let the bottle drop away from Steve’s throat and he was almost disappointed to learn that he hadn’t even had the guts to nick the skin.

And then the truth just came tumbling out of his lips. He should have lied to them. Told them some bullshit about some psycho killing Chrissy and that he ran for his life. But instead he was telling a bunch of high school students and their god damned babysitter what really happened in that trailer.

And holy shit. They believed him.

Eddie stared at them wide-eyed. They believed him.

It would be another day of hiding for them to fully explain everything, but by god. Three fucking years.

Eddie suddenly had so many questions not related to the Upside Down, but to how the hell did Steve Harrington manage to balance three separate lives.

Dorky jock and king of Hawkins High.

Cool as shit King, best racer and leader of the Asphalt Assasins.

And bad ass hero with a fucking nail bat. Apparently.

Jesus Christ.

But the next time he got to speak to Steve alone, it was about Nancy and Dustin and Robin and how much they all cared for him. To not worry about the screw up metalhead. To realize how good he actually had it.

Because against all reason he didn’t have a high opinion of people actually liking him, for him.

“You need to go easy on yourself, dude,” Steve murmured back.

And wasn’t that just a kick in the teeth.

Then he was planning to stop the apocalypse with the guy and trying not fall in love with him.

“You got a car we don’t know about?”

Eddie straightened up and grinned at him. “It’s not a car, but it’ll do.”

Eddie slipped into the open back window, bag of tools tucked in the pocket of his leather jacket. He yanked off the Michael Myers mask and threw aside.

He kept an eye out the windows but the neighbors were facing away from the RV. He slipped into the driver’s seat and tore open the panel under the steering wheel.

Steve came up behind him and leaned over his shoulder, “Where'd you learn how to do this?”

Eddie began stripping the wires, “Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name.”

Robin came up to the cockpit and put her hand gently on Steve’s arm, “Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving.”

Eddie looked back at her, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Harrington's got her.” He leaned into Steve’s space. “Don't ya, big boy?

Steve pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. Then the engine roared to life. Steve slapped Eddie’s side and they swapped places.

After some screaming from everyone involved, Steve got them out of the trailer park by the skin of their teeth.

Once they were on the road, Steve chewed on his bottom lip for a moment then said, “Hey, Rob, can you go back for a minute? I want to talk to Eddie alone for something. It’ll be quick I promise.”

Robin looked back at Eddie who shrugged. Then she sighed and slunk back to where the rest of them were milling around and talking. Steve looked back to make sure she was far enough back.

“I just wasn’t sure you want her to hear us talking about your dad and the hot-wiring shit,” Steve explained quietly.

“Oh!” Eddie cried. “Shit, yeah. Thanks. I mean it’s pretty common knowledge my dad is in jail, but I appreciate that.”

“Of course,” he replied. “Is the whole stealing cars the reason you were able to win my race after Halloween?”

Eddie snorted. “Ah. That. Yeah, it was. My old man wanted me to learn all the fancy cars names and shit so if I spotted one, I could tell him the make, model and year, so he could steal it and strip it for parts. But I was never interested in that shit.” He paused for a moment. “But kudos to you if you do.”

“It was one of only a half dozen pursuits my dad thought was manly enough to partake in,” Steve admitted. “Though if he knew about the racing he would have absolutely flipped his shit.”

“So not like Tommy and Carol then?” Eddie asked.

“Huh?” Steve asked, tilting his head to side in confusion.

“Finding out that Carol’s mom was a racer,” Eddie explained, “and knowing that Hagan Sr. was absolutely funding all of Tommy’s failures, it was clear their parents knew and encouraged their weekend illegal activities.”

“Oh!” Steve said, smacking his forehead. “Yeah. A lot those kids’ parents didn’t care enough about what their kids were doing. So if they lost their car, Mommy and Daddy would just buy them a new one, no questions asked.”

“That you included?” Eddie asked after a moment of silence. “The whole parents not caring enough?”

“Yeah,” Steve said softly, “and with the added bonus of my dad being a hardass and smacking me around every time I did something wrong, sure made for a fun cocktail of trauma.”

“Here’s to the ‘My Dad Sucks’ Club, dude,” Eddie huffed.

“Mine probably should be in jail and yours is,” Steve agreed.

They drove in silence for awhile before Eddie said, “Why didn’t you tell them about your street racing days?”

Steve looked back at all of the Party talking and laughing then back at the road. “Because short of a truth serum, I don’t think they’d ever believe me.”

“Like those exist...” Eddie scoffed. When Steve said nothing, he pressed, “Those don’t exist, right? Because I draw the line at truth serums, man.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Steve said dryly.

“Evil wizards, alternative dimensions, Supergirl, and fucking truth serums, man,” Eddie growled. “This timeline sucks ass.”

Steve snorted. “Tell me about it. I know more than most people will in their entire life times and I really wish I hadn’t. But I wouldn’t trade the results for anything. Robin as my best friend. Dustin as the little brother I never had. Max as the little sister I never had. Like, I could be bored out of my mind at my dad’s company while going to college for business.”

“That would fucking suck, yeah,” Eddie agreed.

They were almost at the Army supply store.

“You wanted to know how going by King didn’t tip off at least Tommy and Carol who I was,” Steve said as he pulled into the parking lot.

“Yeah?” Eddie said, raising his head.

Steve got up from the driver’s seat. “Because no one sees past this.” He circled his face and then walked to the back of the RV, leaving Eddie with that bit to chew on.

And holy shit, it was like being punched in the solar plexus.

Because he was one of them. He craned his head around to look into the body of the RV as they talked about who should go in and who should stay behind with him.

No one saw past the dumb jock. Hell, Steve had even referred himself as such in their little talk walking to the Wheeler house in the Upside Down. How did he put it? Dumb and confident?

But the more he actually saw Steve in action, the less Eddie believed that. Sure, maybe he wasn’t smart about fantasy or D&D stuff or all the math and science shit these kids kept trying to throw at his head, but he knew things. Things about people. And that couldn’t be bought no matter the price.

He walked out to the body of the RV and realized he was stuck with the lovebirds. And well Dustin, too he supposed.

“Hey Eddie,” Dustin asked after listening to Lucas and Max be gooey for a moment or two. “Why did you pick Steve to do the driving? Was it just because he was right there?”

“The only other choice was Nancy Wheeler,” Eddie huffed, rolling his eyes. “And despite the last name, I really don’t think she’s got the chops to haul ass in this behemoth. Do you?”

Dustin tilted his head to the side. “I suppose not. But that also implies you knew that Steve could.”

Eddie closed his eyes and let out of huff. He was going to kill Steve for this, god damn the man. He opened his eyes slowly. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. If you don’t know, then maybe you don’t know Steve as well as you think you do.”

Dustin cocked his head the opposite direction. “Steve is as deep as a puddle, dude. If you think Steve has hidden depths or whatever, maybe you were cursed while in the Upside Down.”

Max smacked his arm, causing him to yelp. “Don’t joke about that! I don’t want anyone else cursed!”

“Jeez!” Dustin cried clutching his arm. “I have dead arm now! Why did you have to hit so hard?”

Eddie just rolled his eyes and slumped into the seat directly behind the driver’s seat and watched them bicker. At least their attention was off him so he didn’t have to go lying to children about their babysitter.

But the more he thought about it the less he blamed Steve for their attitude. He saw how Steve pleaded for more time but they all fell in line with Nancy instead. Even though if half the stories they told were true, it was Steve that had gotten them safely out alive time and time again.

Yeah, things were dire. But waiting a day or even two wouldn’t have hurt anything. As long as they kept Red plied with batteries for her Walkman, they were fine. It would have given Steve time to rest and heal.

The dude was literally standing there in blood soaked bandages and they went with Nancy instead.

Suddenly he was getting thrown a bag by Steve and a pair of boots from Erica. He looked in the bag and it not only had his vest back but also a flack jacket.

He pulled off his tennis shoes and pulled the boots on. He saw that Steve had also grabbed boots for himself. No more walking around barefoot.

Then he did a double take. Gone was the dorky little babysitter. This wasn’t even King with his cool disinterest. This was Steve Harrington, badass hero of Hawkins. He had this weight on his shoulders that made Eddie’s stomach twist.

Erica had also given him a badass bullet belt and suddenly they were looking more like revolutionaries then teens out of their depth. It brought him comfort at the same time it made him so sad.

They shouldn’t have to be doing this at all. There should be trusted adults they could go to do this for them and he didn’t mean Steve. Steve was only sixteen when all this shit started, he was as much a victim as the kids were.

Someone solid, like his Uncle Wayne. That was someone they should have been able to rely on. He was glad to hear that Wayne was okay. Just as bristly as ever, if what Nancy said was any indication.

But they didn’t have that luxury so into Mordor they would go.

Tag List: ONE SLOT REMAINING

1- @niniel-karenine @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 @tartarusknight @gloomysoup @kultiras @yesdangerpls

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @stedestielfrattficlover @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @oopsallgender @fearieshadow

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @tinyplanet95

7- @disrespectedgoatman @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @gutterflower77 @swimmingbirdrunningrock

8- @wheneverfeasible @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss @steddieislife

9- @1tsra1n1ngbutterfl1es @a-couchpotato @ollieolive @micheledawn1975 @jamieweasley13

10- @hattsy-likes-pretty-stuff @pentapoctopus @themoonagainstmers @eternal-sunflowers

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underthestarlight1 · 11 days ago

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Guillermo Del Toro on AI "art"

SDCC 2025: Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art

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underthestarlight1 · 13 days ago

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so i have a mildly popular “reblog and put in in the tags” post going around and its. very clear how many people don’t know how to interact with a tumblr post

so, first of all, tumblr’s culture has changed a lot in the past couple years. there’s a genuine community effort to not start any drama, and ironically a lot of the current hostility is an effort to keep things calm. there’s also a change in how people interact with posts, so if you haven’t been here in a while please skip down to the tags/replies/reblog with text section.

for newcomers: you should be reblogging posts about as liberally as you would like something on twitter. if you only like stuff, people will think you are rude/a bot. you’ve probably heard people talk about “cultivating your dash,” and thats because this platform is 100% centered around your dashboard. trending matters less, unfollowing and blocking in order to shape your dash into it’s best form is widely accepted, the majority of the content you’ll find and interact with will be because of your dash, and the only way to put things on your dash is to reblog them. tumblr users are deeply distrustful of algorithms and have largely turned off the “see posts your friends have liked” function (i recommend you also turn of the various algorithms in settings → general settings → dashboard preferences).

so, once you’ve reblogged a post, there’s three ways to add content to it. the tags, replies, and reblogging with text. all of them have different connotations

the tags: an inside voice. originally they were meant for organizing your blog (and they’re still used for this), but they’ve also morphed into a way to share thoughts that aren’t funny/insightful enough for non-followers to be interested in. when in doubt, put your comment in the tags

replies: basically talking to your friends in class. your followers have no way of finding your replies (they don’t pop up on the dash, nobody gets notified except for the original poster) so chances are, only the person who made the post is gonna see your comment. it’s for quick one-offs that you’re okay with other people overhearing, but really is only made for one person. they’re like a public dm

reblog with text: an outside voice. you’re getting up on a stage in town square and entertaining people. make sure it’s funny or insightful— bottom line, add something new to the conversation. you should use this the least

general rules of thumb:

when in doubt, reblog. people will judge you if your blog is only personal posts and you only interact with other content by liking it.

the only things people will judge you for reblogging are personal vent posts. leave a like to give a little virtual hug

if a post is asking about your personality/opinions (i.e: tell me what’s the last tv show you watched, that kind of thing) put it in the tags

also if you see a nice edit, gifset, or art, reblog and say something nice in the tags! it’s that nice sweet spot of common enough that no one will notice but uncommon enough to make the artist’s day

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