#christi babbles

[heartsyhawk]

I know we have strong opinions about Tiktok here but apparently today a lot of users are doing Gotham City role play and it's honestly the most fun I've had since I was part of a Ba Sing Se Citizen roleplay like...12 years ago.

[anghraine]

I'm autistic and headcanon a bunch of my faves as autistic, also! But I'd like to leave part of the Autism Headcanon Sweepstakes up to you, the people:

"Peak autistic character" means whatever it means to you!

[nocandnc]

Omg Dracula x Murder on the Orient Express crossover? Has that been done before? Could be fun…!

Poirot: The true culprit of this murder was—

Jonathan: Vampires. It was vampires.

[thisisworsethanitlookslike]

I am still thinking about Barbie in The Magnus Archives,,,,,, I want to make a comic,,,,,

[kinuskikakku]

Reading Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (for the first time ever and went in blind.. he he.. it’s funny because I am blind)

And I hope and pray that this isn’t where “butler did it” originated from.

Because if the butler did it, I think I’d be really mad. 

[kung-fu-cutbug]

😟Christie

😟what's your worst fear?

"Kh—! That's a bit personal to just come out and ask a lady, don't you think?!

...But, if I am to confess something... I'm, um, scared of being taken advantage of again. Of people having ulterior motives for wanting to do with me. It just feels too good to be true, right? They've—there has to be a reason they're acting like this. But... I don't want there to be. Because if there is, then what'll happen when I'm... no longer useful anymore? In their eyes, anyway. Are they just going to leave and pretend they never knew me? Or are they going to... try and beat me back into a more palatable shape?"

[letstrywritingmaybe]

My Pens won last night! Which means I’m allowed to write, so I started the next chapter of the sibling verse but of course now that I’m allowed I don’t wanna do it. So I’ll be reading a book book instead

Update: call me a hater, but I do not understand Shinichi’s fascination with Holmes when Poirot exists. But I am biased for Christie’s works. I’ve only read one Sherlock novel so maybe I shouldn’t judge so quickly. Maybe I’ll write a fic about CoAi bickering over who’s better after I’ve read more.

Update 2: I did at least finish one scene of the next chapter of the sibling verse. My priority was rereading/editing my solstice event fic though, and not to toot my own horn but I love it. Then again I’m a self indulgent writer, I have to love every thing I write

[capitainecorbeau]

Watched 'See how they run' since I'm on a mystery story kick and someone compared it to Knives out. And I gotta say, while Knives out felt kind and human, much more so than mystery stuff typically gets, See how they run felt jarringly mean-spirited. Like it kinda felt like it took the side of the people Knives out called out. (Also the massage of 'yeah I can make a story of your personal abuse and trauma because. Writer's freedom or whatever' after watching Nope was uh. It felt extra gross !).

So yeah, it encapsulated pretty much everything I've come to loathe about mainstream british media, would not recommend.

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

Phantom of the Opera Soundscape Library

This is a masterlist of PotO inspired soundscapes I've created. I struggled for weeks to find good ASMR ambience for writing until my good friend @enigmawritesstuff put me on to the myNoise.net sound generator.

Though I created these for some of the hyper-specific settings in my fic When the Longing Returns, (the stable, the dormitory, etc.), they're also good for general PotO ambience. I figure if I can't find good Lair or opera house asmr, most other writers and readers probably can't either. So please, consider this a resource, my gift to you, for the good of all Phan-kind.

Wandering Child (Church Bells (slow), Wind and tree creaks, Wind, Church Bells (faster), Footsteps in snow, Crows, Carriage, Horse and harness, Wind 2, Horse hooves)

Cemetery Walk Preset

Carriage Ride Preset

Carriage House/Opera Stable (Distant Bells, ambient tone, barn/stable, horse munching, distant crowd chatter, distant clatter 1, footsteps, distant clatter 2, blacksmith hammer, rustling hay)

Opera House (Low ambient string tone, deep ambient tone, higher string tone, fireplace crackle, distant singing, flame, crowd chatter, steps, gaslight hiss, cheery babble)

Hallway Preset

Refectory Preset

Foyer Preset (Crowded)

Foyer Preset (Empty)

Empty Stage Preset

Dressing Room Preset

Backstage (Low ambient strings, deep ambient tone, higher ambient strings, ambient horns, flame, crowd chatter, distant clatter (2 kinds), hammering, gaslight hiss)

Ballet Dormitory (Ambient tone, blowing fabric, bells, window wind, wooden creaks (2 kinds), whispering, morning birds, gaslight hiss, cheery babble)

Day Preset

Bedtime Preset

Night Preset

In the Bois (Background Paris, winter wind, Church Bells, snowy footsteps, trotting horses, birds, carriages, children playing, snow thaw, cheery babble)

Phantom's Lair (Lapping water, oar/pole in water, low ambient tone, organ music, lantern/gate squeak, torch/flame, horse & harness, footsteps, pen scratching paper, dripping water)

Tunnel Walk Preset

Boat Ride Preset

Erik Composing Preset

The Setting Sun Inn (Church bells, Chatter, Fireplace (three kinds), footsteps, coin clink, table sounds, wind whistle, light snow) Note: This is the first scape I've done exclusively for Gaston Leroux's novel. When Raoul follows Christine to Perros they lodge at the little inn there, called the Setting Sun, run by one Mme. Tricarde.

Breton Winter (Chilly coastal sounds, night birds, wind rustling heather, crashing waves, light snow) Another 'scape for Leroux, also for The Magic Violin. I've tried to capture the hillside on the edge of the moor overlooking the sea where Christine tells Raoul about her visits from "the Angel of Music"

Other Soundscapes

Chateau Destler (For Guardian Angel by @madamedestler)

Chateau de Chagny (For The Phantom's Atonement by MadameDestler, Chapter's 1 and 3)

Christine's Room Preset

Engagement Party Preset

Madame Bassett's (For The Phantom's Atonement by MadameDestler, Chapters 2, 14, and 15 )

Lounge Preset

Claire's Room Preset

Lyon Cottage (For The Phantom's Atonement by @madamedestler)

Cozy Evening Preset (With Rain)

Cozy Evening Preset (No Rain)

Spring Afternoon Preset

Church Saint-Jacques (For Corpus Christi by @madamedestler. A little combination of Church echo, wooden creaks, fabric rustle, and most important for any sinful assignation--rain and thunder. This is such a vivid setting for a fic, and I really wanted an excuse to do a Cathedral scape. The Church Saint-Jacques is one of the two actual churches in Perros-Guirec. The one that features in Leroux's book may be the other: the Chapel Notre-Dame-de-la-Clarte)

Christine's Sleeping Cell Preset

Night Confession Preset

Sounds of St. Florent (For Sacred by TryingNotToLoveYou. This is such a breath of fresh air. Very specific to the fic because of the Corsica setting, but really good fun because of all the sounds one doesn't often get to use for a PotO scape.)

Boat Ride Preset

Dining Hall Preset

Rain Dance Preset

In Church Preset

For Salvation by TryingNotToLoveYou

Walk from Vornay (For Chapters 1 and 3)

Tavern Preset

Windy Walk Preset

Chateaux Menetou

Chateaux by Night Preset

Chateaux by Day Preset

Dinner Preset

By the Stream Preset

Horse Ride Preset

Bellanger Ball (For Chapters 18 and 19)

At the Ball Preset

Carriage Ride Preset

[nonstandardrepertoire]

now that i have read Every Single Sherlock Holmes Story, i have moved on to reading Every Single Agatha Christie Story. her early output is. uh. u n e v e n, but! the current book does contain this crotchety MP whose sole desire is to never do any work and instead simply gad about vibing. his name is Sir Eustace Pedler and he is truly an inspiration:

Guy Pagett[, my secretary,] struggled up on deck after we left Madeira and began babbling in a hollow voice about work. What the devil does any one want to work for on board ship? It is true that I promised my publishers my “Reminiscences” early in the summer, but what of it? Who really reads reminiscences? Old ladies in the suburbs. And what do my reminiscences amount to? I’ve knocked against a certain number of so-called famous people in my lifetime. With the assistance of Pagett, I invent insipid anecdotes about them. And, the truth of the matter is, Pagett is too honest for the job. He won’t let me invent anecdotes about the people I might have met but haven’t.

(from chapter 12 of The Man in the Brown Suit — i'm reading it on Project Gutenberg, so i don't have a page number)

[captainlunaxmen]

The Lady and the Lord

Chapter 2

Eddie munson x fem!reader

This is a repost since the old blog doesn't work anymore. 🥰

Chapter summary: they have one mission: find Eddie.

Chapter warnings: spoiler season 4, violence description.

"And then Vicki laughed. And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like... it was a real genuine laugh." Robin tells us as Steve put some vhs on the shelfs and I hold some to help them. I don't work here, but I like to help instead of sitting at home doing nothing.

"Of course. It's my Muppet joke. It's hilarious" Steve says very proudly, and I roll my eyes.

"My point is that Vicki laughed and everything was just like...it was perfect" she keeps going with a dreamy voice.

She's so cute.

"But?" I ask, knowing something's up.

"But I'm having this problem where it's like, I should stop talking." She explains "I have said everything I need to say.but then I guess I get nervous and the words keep spilling out, and it's like my.. my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or rather my.. my mouth is moving faster than my brain. And it's like I'm digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I'm trying to stop, but I can't. And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"

She finally turns around to look at us after her babbling.

"Yeah, you are" Steve says and I nod with a half smile.

She exhales deeply and move backwards to rest against the wall.

"I'm hopeless" she says.

Steve follows her against the wall. "We both are"

I roll my eyes at their pessimism.

"If only we could just, like, combine." Robin suddenly says, I look at her confused.

"Combine?" Steve's confused too.

"No. Think about it. I know exactly what I want, and I've found the girl of my dreams, but I can't get the courage to ask her out. Meanwhile, you go on, like, a million dates, and you have no idea what you want. So if we just combine, all our problems would be solved."

Steve lets out an understanding "Oohh"

"Because, I mean, alone let's face it..."

"We totally suck." Steve finishes for her.

"Totally and utterly"

"C'mon, you guys are the most amazing persons that I know... just have hope" I look at Steve "and some courage" I look at Robin "and everything will be fine"

"Oh yeah?" Steve sends me a very sceptical look.

"Ooh, I think I found our morning movie" Robin gasps, running to a shelf and grabbing a vhs. "Doctor Zhivago"

"Ugh, you know I don't do double vhs" Steve groans shaking his hands in the air.

"But it's about doomed love" she tries.

"That's relatable" Steve agrees, and we both follow Robing behind the counter.

"Exactly. Also Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like seriously the most beautiful creature I've ever seen in my life" she turn the TV on.

"I gotta agree on that" I declare.

"We're in the Forest Hills trailer park on East Roane County." The reporter's voice says loud and clear "we don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body kd a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family"

Oh shit.. as if alternate dimensions creature's weren't enough.

"Holy shit" Steve whispers beside me.

"Who could that be?" I ask worried.

"I don't know.." Robin replies.

"Isn't it where Max lives?" I ask again looking at them.

They just nods.

Oh shit.

We spent the morning watching the news and organising the store to keep ourselves busy.

All of a sudden the door bell rings and Dustin and Max come in.

"Hey Steve" he says, he looks visibly agitated.

"You guys see this?" Steve asks them.

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin asks, completely ignoring Steve's question.

Robin and I share a confused look

"Someone was murdered"

"How many phones fo you have?" He repeats more firmly.

"Two. Why?" He answers

"Technically three if you count Keith's in the back" Robins specifies.

Max and Dustin look at each other.

"Yeah, thee works" Max says.

So Dustin take off his backpack as Steve asks "what are you doing?" And, again, ignoring his question Dustin throw the backpack on the other side of the counter and climbs on top of it to get through.

All this while earning very annoyed reactions from both Robin and Steve.

Ignoring both of them Dustin positions himself in fron of the computer.

"What are you doing?" Steve asks.

"Setting up base of operation here." He simply answers.

"Base of operation?" I ask. "Why?"

Steve tries to get Dustin off of the computer, but with no use.

"What do you need it for? Dustin?" I ask, getting more and more confused.

"Eddie's friends' phone numbers" he answers and I look at Steve.

"Oh Eddie, your new best friend who just is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve asks, sounding quite jealous, I gotta say.

"I never said that" Dustin defends himself from Steve's accusatory tone.

"Seriously, you guys, maybe know a Monday you can play around like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day" Robin tells them, putting the tapes back on the counter.

"Robin, look, I empathise, but this cannot wait until Monday" Dustin firmly says.

"Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?" She asks back.

"Correct" Dustin shouts, like that was the most obvious thing.

"Why? What happened?" I ask, now getting more worried. "Did something happen to Eddie?... Dustin?"

"Can you just fill them in while I do this?" Dustin asks Max.

"Fill us in on what?" Robin is definitely annoyed.

We all look at Max waiting for her to explain what happened.

We found ourselves calling so many different numbers, trying to find a lead to where Eddie might've gone.

I type down the numbers while Robin, Max and Dustin call them, and Steve flirts with every girls he can, pretending he's just working.

"Hey, guys. I might have a lead" Max calls pur attention.

"Seriously?" Dustin turns to her, hopefully.

"Yeah, apparently, Eddie gets his drugs from come guy names Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there." She explains.

"That's promising" I comment.

"Where does this Reefer Rick live?" Robin asks.

"See that's the thing. No one knows. He's more of a.. a legend than someone that people actually know." Max explains.

"And.. what about a last name?" I ask.

"I don't know that either" She answers.

"Less promising" I shake my head.

"Bet the cops knows the last name" Steve intervenes.

We turn all to him.

"What?"

"Cops. I mean listen if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system" he explains like he found the perfect solution to all our problems.

"The cops? Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" Dustin asks incredulous.

"I mean, I just think they should be filled on on what we know, what's going on" he says simply.

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" Dustin accuses.

"Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit." Steve defends himself " I just, you know, don't think that we can rule it out"

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve." Max says annoyed.

"And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie"

"He' not wrong here, Stevie" I agree with Dustin.

"Oh well somebody has to attend to the customers" Steve says, again, to defend himself, and I roll my eyes scoffing.

"Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin teases with a wink.

"Hey, not fair, okay?" Steve points his finger st her "I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for people"

"Yeah it can be" Robin says, I can tell she thought something to actually help us so I quickly follow her to the computer.

"What are you doing?" Max asks.

"Maybe we don't need a last name" she answers.

She type on the keyboard, Rick's name and a list of Ricks appears on the screen.

"Twelve Ricks have accounts here" she tells us.

"That's a lots of Ricks" Max comments.

"You're a genius, Robin" I tell her.

"I know. Now, let's narrow it down, uh? Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo...what are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" She asks.

"Not likely"

"All right, Rick Conroy. Sixteen candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the stone." She move to the next Rick.

"No"

"Okay, Rick Joiner, Mask, Footloose, and Grease"

"Nah"

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon, and Splash."

"Definitely no"

"Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgermont High, Cheech & Chong's next movie. Cheech & Chong's nice dreams. Cheech & Chong' up in smoke."

"Bingo" Dustin chuckles.

"Lipton?"

"Spelled like the tea. 2131 Holland Road" Robin reads.

"That's out by Lovers Lake" Dustin says.

"Middle of nowhere" I comment.

"It's a perfect place to hide" Robin agrees.

That being said we all head out to Steve's car and to this Reefer Rick's house.

And hopefully to Eddie.

We all grab a torch each and get out of the car to walk to this Reefer Rick's house.

The lights are out, which could mean that no one's home or... Eddie's hiding.

Dustin repeatedly tries to ring the bell, but to no use.

"Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve says, trying to make Dustin stop.

But Dustin just start to shout for Eddie to come out and tries again with the door bell.

Me and Max move to the side of the house with our torch, seeing what looks like a boathouse. Maybe Eddie's in there.

"Hey guys!" Max calls.

"Well let's go" I say already walking towards the small building.

Robin is the first one to enter.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" She tries.

We all enter and start to look around.

"What a dump" Steve comments

The place is far from clean, there garbage everywhere and, as expected, a boat in the middle filled with something covered by a tarp.

I spot Steve grabbing an oar as a weapon and starts to poke the boat multiple times.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asks.

Steve just doesn't answer so Dustin repeats the question, more shocked.

"He might be in here." Steve simply replies.

"So take the tarp off." Dustin tells him.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off" he basically challenges.

"Stop bickering, you two." I say.

Steve just keeps hitting on top of the tarp covered boat.

"Hey, look over here" Max tells us. She points our attention to some food envelopes.

"Someone was here." I try.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran" Robin suggests.

"Don't worry. Steve will get him with his oar" Dustin says sarcastically.

"Oh I know you think you're being funny, Henderson, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-"

Steve is cut off by a loud scream and Eddie jumping from under the tarp and pushing him against the wall, a broken bottle in his hand.

We all gather as close as possible, trying to not scare him further for Eddie to react too badly.

"Whoa whoa whoa Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Dustin says, holding his arms out to stop us from getting further closer.

Eddie turns to look at Dustin, not moving the broken glass away from Steve's neck yet.

"It's me. It's Dustin" Dustin tries to stay calm while getting Eddie's attention. "This is Steve. He's not going to hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right, yeah" Steve agrees, quite agitated.

"Steve, c'mon.. drop the oar, will you?" I say, as calmly as possible.

Steve does as I say, dropping the oar away, but that just startles Eddie more pointing the glass back at Steve's neck.

"He's cool, he's cool" Dustin says.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie says, voice breaking.

"We're looking for you" Dustin replies

"We're here to help, Eddie" I add.

Eddie turns his head again to us, listening carefully.

"Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band. This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D. You know Y/n too. The quiet girl you always stare at, at lunch. Eddie. We're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right guys?"

"Yeah yeah we swear"

"Yeah on Dustin's mother"

"Yeah, Dustin's.. mother"

We say no more, tense as never before, but at the end Eddie lets Steve go and moves to the side sitting down.

Steve just come to us, I check his neck in case the broken bottle accidentally cut him but he's fine.

I turn to look at Eddie, Dustin kneels in front of him and I slowly follow.

He looks... terrified.

"Eddie...we just want to talk" Dustin very slowly tries to grab the bottle in Eddie's hand, but as soon as he gets to close he flinches grabbing the glass harder.

"Eddie... we just wanna know what happened. " I tell him.

"You won't believe me" he tells us.

"Try us" Max says.

Eddie told us everything that happened, about Chrissy coming to him to buy drugs, and how she died, right in front of him.

"Her body just lifted up into the air and.. and she just like, hung there. In the air. And her bones.. she.. her bones starter to snap"

He struggling to tell us what happened, all I want to do is grabbing his hand and reassure him...

"Her eyes, man" he continues "it was like.. there was something, inside her head, pulling. I.. I didn't know what to do so.. I.. I ran away. I left her there." He sounds so ashamed... he couldn't do anything for her.

Poor girl, she was really one of the sweetest person in Hawkins.

Fuck.

Eddie looks up to us, only to turn his head away quickly, scoffing.

"You all think I'm crazy right?"

"No. We don't think you're crazy" Dustin tries to reassure him.

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds" Eddie snaps.

"We're not bullshiting you" Max intervenes.

"We believe you" Robin says and Eddie just scoffs, still not believing us.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little.. difficult to take." Dustin starts "you know how people say Hawkins is...cursed? They're not way off. There's another world.a words hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours." Dustin explains.

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asks.

"There are... there are some things worst than ghosts" I tell him.

"These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."

"If they're back again, we need to know" Max says.

"That night, did you see anything?" Robin asks.

"Dark particles, maybe"

Eddie just shakes his head no.

"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust." Dustin specifies.

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or.. touch" Eddie explains.

I look at Steve who, now, looks more worried than before, full attention on Eddie.

"You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she.. she was in a trance or something." Eddie explains and we all listen carefully.

"Or under a spell" Dustin points out.

"A curse."

"Vecna's curse" Dustin realises.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asks

"And undead creature of great power" Dustin answers.

"A spell caster" I say, earning a confused look from Steve.

"A dark Wizard" Dustin finishes.

This might be worse than all the ones before...

Fuck.

We decided we have to go and get some food for Eddie.

"We'll be right back, man, I promise" Dustin says.

As we all walk to the door.

Steve and Dustin turn to me stopping me in my tracks.

"Why don't you... uh... stay here and keep him company?" Dustin asks.

"What? Why me?" Now I'm confused.

"Because you're the sweetest and he clearly has a thing for you" Steve replies as the most simple thing ever.

"He does not" I tell him sternly.

"Either way you're the best choice. You're calmer and... easier to be around than the rest of us" Steve convinces me.

"Y/n, trust me. He needs someone like you now. Please, I don't think he should be alone now" Dustin says looking me in the eyes.

"Fine" I tell him nodding "yeah, I'll stay with him. But you better stay out of trouble"

"As always" Steve shrugs.

I give him a warning look and just sigh. Watching them driving away.

I get back to the boathouse and see Eddie's figure watching nothing on the boat.

"Hey" I say quietly.

He seems to snap out of trance and looks at me surprised.

"I thought you all went" he says, with a small smile.

"Yeah well... we didn't.. uh... Dustin didn't want you to be alone right now" I tell him, fidgeting with my rings again.

"Thanks.. I guess he's right" he says.

I nod, walking a bit closer, but not too much.

"So..." he starts.

"So..." I mimic him, earning a laugh from him.

"You knew about the spell caster" he implies.

"Yeah... a-and?"

"You know about D&D..?" He asks.

"Yeah.." I say nervously.

"No way!" He whisper shouts.

"It's true!" I tell him, with a small chuckle.

"How come didn't you join Hellfire?" He asks, genuinely curious.

"I.. well.. I just..." I stutter.

"Hey.. I'm not judging, m'lady" he assures me, with a smile.

"I'm just too shy, I think.. also I'm not very good at playing" I laugh quietly.

"I could've taught you" he says.

"I... I'm not very good with people" I honestly tell him.

"What do you mean?"

"I.. I'm not very good at talking to people, I get nervous and stutter the whole time. And just... I just shut up so I don't bother anyone" I explain.

"You're not stuttering with me" he shrugs.

"I.." I stops realising it's true.

With him it feels easier, somehow..

"No need to worry about a freak's opinion, i guess." he lower his eyes, almost disappointed.

"No! Not at all!" I quickly say.

He look at me, searching my eyes to see if I'm messing with him.

"I... listen, I don't understand why people always call you that, but I personally always saw you as someone... cool" I say, getting shy as I finish my sentence.

"Really?" He says, he tries to hold back a smile, but he fails.

"Yeah.." I look away from him. "You always walk around like you don't care about anything. You have your ideas and you're not ashamed, and of course you shouldn't be ashamed of them. You're like smarter than any of those dickheads from the basketball team"

"Wow" he blushes... he blushes?

Did I make Eddie Munson blush?

"Are you blushing, my lord?" I gather some courage and make a joke.

"Oh... 'my lord' uh?" He looks at me with a smirk, that makes me instantly lower my eyes with my cheeks warming up.

"I.. yeah.. I mean, you keep calling me-"

"M'lady? Yeah, so I'd say 'my lord' fits perfectly" he sweetly smiles at me.

We stay silent for a while.

It's a comfortable silence, the kind you don't have to talk to fill it. We just need each other company to be okay.

I watch him fidgeting with his own hands.

He's getting nervous.

Instinctively I reach out for his hands and he turns to me, surprised, but he doesn't retreat his hands.

"It's gonna be okay" I tell him. "I know it sounds like a shitty clich��.. trust me I know." I let out a small chuckle "we've been through this shit a few times.. the point is, we're with you on this. We're gonna solve this."

He holds my hands in his.

"I want to believe you" he says looking me in the eyes.

"Good" I say.

He starts to stroke my knuckles gently.

"I'm glad you're the one to stay here, m'lady" he says.

"Apparently I'm the easiest to be around" I tell him with a shrug.

He's still not letting go my hands.

"Maybe... but that's not the only reason, but yeah" he says, a playful smile on his face.

"Then... w-why?" I say, feeling my cheeks warming up again.

"Well.. that's an answer for another time, uh?" He winks and I'm just speechless.

All of a sudden we hear noises from outside.

I grab the oar Steve used earlier and move to the door.

"Stay there" I tell Eddie.

I get closer and closer to the door, that suddenly opens reveling Robin, Dustin, Max and Steve holding some bags full of food and drinks.

"Fuck sake!" I exclaim as they enter with apologetic looks.

"delivery service" Dustin announces.

I look at Eddie who look just as startled, heavy breathing and all that.

I just exhale deeply and grab one of the bags they carried inside.

[heartsyhawk]

All the everything else about the whole thing aside why did nobody have a pause about the fact that the CEO/pilot of the disaster tube has a name and on the record dialogue that are like word for word believably from a Bioshock Villain?

I don't understand what about him inspired this kind of confidence.

[ambrossart]

Paper Men: Ch. 27 Preview #2

With the full release just days away (I'm gonna try to have it up by Sunday, but worst-case scenario, it'll be up early next week, and it'll be totally awesome!), here's a special preview featuring Belch and Vic.❤️

The afternoon hadn’t gone so well for Victor Criss, either. 

Thanks to Henry Bowers and his little lunchtime temper tantrum, Vic was almost twenty minutes late for his sixth-period government class. He walked in just as the last two students were turning in their quizzes, and when he asked Mr. Briggs if he could take the quiz during the second half of class, Mr. Briggs said no because he didn’t want Vic to miss his lecture: “These lectures are crucial to your understanding of the course.” 

No, Vic wanted to say to him, your lectures are unresearched, uninspired, and taken directly from the textbook. Half the time I don’t even listen to you. 

Instead, he just glared at his teacher with an exhausted, exasperated stare, which he supposed delivered the same message. 

Judging by his teacher’s expression, it had. 

“Look, I’m sorry, Victor. If you want to make up the quiz, you’re going to have to come in early tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to give you a zero.” 

Come in early? On a Tuesday? 

Screw it, Vic thought, my GPA can afford the hit, so he accepted his goose egg and chucked it over his shoulder.

He spent the rest of the afternoon going through the usual motions: go to his locker, switch books, go to class, sit down, zone out, wait for the teacher to give the assignment, start said assignment, zone out again, brace himself for the loud

BRRRRRRING!

The final bell burred directly over Vic’s head, making him flinch in his chair and drop his head into his hands. The damned thing was so loud, it might as well have been rattling around in his skull. Then came the excited chatter of thirty students talking all at once. Vic didn’t care how excited Kelly was to go to the mall or how “totally bummed” Mark was now that he had to go to detention. Vic had detention too, but you didn’t hear him complaining about it (although he was, constantly, in his head). He closed his notebook and textbook, stacked them into a pile, and tucked it under his arm before heading out the door. 

The hallway seemed to go on forever. Classroom doors whipped open and closed, open and closed, releasing hordes of rowdy teenagers eager to leave. Vic kept his head down the whole time, staring at his boots, counting his steady, silent footfalls, and with each door he passed, the sound swelled around him. Every little noise—a cough, a laugh, a swish-swish of fabric—crashed together into a raging wave that flooded Vic’s senses. He could hear everything. He could hear nothing. His head throbbed and his body ached. His skin felt prickly and tight. When Vic finally reached his locker, he whipped it open, shoved his head inside the dark space above the shelf, and took a few slow breaths through his nose until he started to calm down. 

Then he felt someone slump down beside him, and a grating, feminine voice said, “No offense, Vic, but your little girlfriend’s kind of a major bitch.” 

Vic breathed out a sigh and even that was too loud in his current state. He buried his head deeper into his locker and wondered if she would just go away if he ignored her long enough. 

But then again Christie Gibson was awfully persistent, like a fly that refused to buzz off. 

“I don’t know what that means,” Vic said, annoyed, his voice echoing inside his metal cave. 

“Tozier. I tried talking to her today and she totally wigged out on me! Like, I dunno what was worse: that fake nice bullshit—that was totally transparent, by the way—or her frantic babbling about coffee or whatever the fuck she was going on about. I dunno, I couldn’t make out a word of what she was saying. She said she wanted to give me advice or something, and I was just like, What? What are you even talking about? You know, she should be thanking me! I totally kicked her ass in the student council vote, but someone made me drop outta the race…”

“You don’t care about student council,” Vic said, his voice a low rumble. 

“So? You never know, I might’ve been good at it.” 

“Trust me, you wouldn’t have, and besides, you don’t care about student council.” 

“Whatever… still might’ve been fun.” 

Her hand landed on his shoulder like a slithering worm. Vic shrugged it away. 

“Look, here she comes now. Watch this, Vic.” 

Vic reluctantly pulled his head out of his locker and turned around, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the change in light. Evelyn had just come around the corner in his mother’s bright yellow dress, her arms crossed in front of her, right hand rubbing and squeezing her left bicep. When she got within earshot, Christie said, “Hey, Tozier!” and Evelyn turned her head to acknowledge them. By now, it was practically an instinct for her, like muscle memory or something. Whenever someone said her name, Evelyn sprang to life like a wind-up doll, just like she was doing now. Her eyes popped open a little wider and brightened. Her mouth transformed into a picture-perfect smile, began to deliver an enthusiastic “Hi!” but then it just stopped and hung open, as if a pebble had gotten stuck in one of her gears. Evelyn drew back a step. Her eyes darkened, went to Vic, then to Christie, then back to Vic, and she gave them both a polite but noticeably stiff, “Hi,” before shuffling past them.

Christie snapped her fingers and pointed at Evelyn’s back. “See? Bitch!” 

“Don’t call her a bitch,” Vic said, but even he had to admit that was a little odd. “Hey, what were you talking to Evelyn for, anyway?” 

Christie raised her eyebrows at him. “Huh?” 

“Why were you talking to Evelyn?”

Christie shrank away from him, then folded her arms over her chest and burrowed inside her oversized denim jacket. “Hey, I can talk to whoever I want, Vic. It’s not like I need your permission.” 

Vic’s eyes hardened. “Why were you talking to Evelyn?” 

“I just wanted to say hi and compliment her dress, that’s all. What? I’m not allowed to be nice to my fellow classmates?” She stuck her thumb between her lips and started chewing on her nail. Under her breath, she said, “Jeez, I was just trying to do you a favor…” 

“You wanna do me a favor?” Vic said. “Stop talking to Evelyn.” 

“Oh, fine! Not like I’m dying to talk to her again, anyway…” Christie took her thumb out of her mouth and shoved both hands into her pockets. “So you got my Green River CD?”

“Yeah. Here.” 

Vic pulled the CD out of his backpack and handed it to her. 

“Well? Thoughts?”

“Uh… not really my thing,” Vic said, but honestly, he couldn’t even remember what the band sounded like.

Christie clutched her chest in distress. “Really? Green River isn’t your thing? Boy, you are a tough nut to crack, Criss… but I’ll getcha, oh, I’ll getcha. I will find your music soulmate and you’ll live happily ever after, just like me and Stevie Nicks.” 

She clasped her hands together in a silent prayer of thanks. Right now, Vic was saying a little prayer of his own: to be rid of Christie Gibson and have a few seconds of peace and quiet. 

“Y’know your roots are startin’ to show,” Christie said. “You want me to touch ‘em up for you?” 

Vic ran his hand through his hair, thinking. 

It’s weird, and it’s ugly, and it doesn’t suit you at all!

“I dunno.” 

“Oh?” Christie tipped her head curiously. “What, you thinkin’ about goin’ back?”

“I dunno… maybe.”

“‘Cause I can take you back if you want. Won’t be quite the same as your natural color, but I could probably get it pretty damn close.” 

“Maybe,” Vic said, and they both turned to greet Belch Huggins. 

He walked up to them while shaking his head, looking tired and frustrated, but he perked up a little when Christie Gibson’s eyes met his. Her smile was like sunshine. It always made his stomach flutter.

Nevertheless, he said, “Can you believe I got another day of detention over this bullshit?” 

“Yup,” Vic said. He had gotten another day added to his sentence too, and all so he could watch Henry Bowers sulk in the front seat like a three-year-old until Evelyn Tozier gave him exactly what he wanted: attention. “I don’t even care anymore. They already gave me three weeks, what’s another day?”

Christie scoffed at them both. “God, you two are poster boys for the dangers of peer pressure… Hey, why’d you boneheads take her shirts, anyway?” 

“I dunno,” Belch moaned. “Why do we do anything?”

It was just supposed to be a harmless prank, something to get Henry and Evelyn talking again. The last four months had been unbearably tense. Henry had been strangely quiet and extra irritable all summer, and Belch knew it was because of Evelyn (because somehow it was always because of Evelyn). He thought if he took her shirts, Evelyn would go to Henry to get them back, and they would finally squash whatever happened between them. He wasn’t expecting Henry’s temper to flare up and explode like it did, and he definitely wasn’t expecting Patrick Hockstetter to pour more gasoline on the fire. Lots of mistakes were made that day. Belch Huggins regretted every single one of them. 

Because, boy, did it put a damper on his sex life. 

Now Christie Gibson was turning to him with that familiar twinkle in her eyes. “Hey, can you give me a ride home from work tonight?” 

“I can’t, remember? I’m not allowed to take the car out without my mom’s permission.” 

“Oh, come on, please!”

“I can’t!” 

“You’re really gonna make me walk home by myself that late at night? Past that creepy house? Reggie, I thought your mom raised you better than that.” 

“Oh, don’t pull that card…” 

“I’m just saying… next time I see your mom, I’m gonna tell her you made me walk home and I don’t think she’s gonna be very happy with you. I mean, what’s more important? Blindly following some rule? Or being chivalrous and seeing a young lady home?” 

“Chris…” 

“Please, Reg! I’ll even call your mom and tell her if it’ll make you feel better.”  

“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll pick you up.” 

“Oh my god, thank you!” Christie lunged toward him, caught herself at the last second, and rocked back onto her heels, a deep blush rising to her freckled cheeks. She pressed the CD case to her nose in a vain attempt to hide it. “So, umm, I should probably get going, huh? Okay, well… have fun in detention, you guys!” 

She spun around and sped off down the hallway. 

Vic shot Belch a little smirk. “So you’re gonna give her a ride, Reg?”

“Shut up,” Belch said. He took off his cap, swiped his hand through his hair, and put it back on.

Now he was looking at Vic with a troubled frown. “Hey, what are we gonna do about Henry and Evelyn? ‘Cause what happened back at lunch, that was really freaky, wasn’t it? I mean, I’ve never seen him like that. Never. Not even at his worst. He was just… gone, man. You could see it in his eyes.” 

Vic shrugged. “I wasn’t really planning on doing anything, honestly.” 

That was Henry and Evelyn’s problem. It had nothing to do with him. 

“Okay, yeah,” Belch said with a nervous chuckle. He started rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, this will all blow over, right? Patrick had his fun. He pissed Henry off, got him to explode. Now we just gotta wait for the dust to settle and things will eventually go back to normal, right? ‘Cause things will go back to normal. They have to, don’t they? There’s no way Evelyn would… She wouldn’t actually…” He broke into a confident, almost cocky laugh. “No… No way! I’ve seen Patrick pull off some crazy shit with the girls here, but Evelyn’s way too smart to fall for his bullshit. Yeah, there’s no way she’d ever…”

Silence fell around them. In it, they were both thinking the same thing: 

She didn’t push his hand away.

Vic slammed his locker shut. The sound made Belch jump. 

“Hey, I gotta go, man.” 

“Huh?” said Belch. “But we got detention.” 

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be there. I’ve just, uh… I’ve got some shit to take care of, that’s all.” 

Now more than ever, Victor Criss needed to release some tension. 

After throwing Belch a quick nod goodbye, Vic went down the hallway, marched straight through the junior locker area, and briefly locked eyes with the quivering, whimpering Seth McFadden. 

Without breaking his stride, Vic said, “Let’s get this over with, Seth.”

[nocandnc]

Watched Murder on the Orient Express last night (was enjoyable) and with all the interconnecting threads of tragedy I just thought - oh yeah - MAO really was was influenced by Agatha Christie’s writing.

I also watched Death on the Nile which gave the same feeling (especially with the plotting lovers), but was less impactful imo.

I’d almost want to read the novels but. Haha. I don’t have that kind of attention span!!

[lunamadhatter99]

The Lady and the Lord

Part 2

Here's part 2! I'm glad you liked the first part that much, I wasn't expecting it at all😅❤️❤️

If anyone wants to be added to the tag list, just ask 🥰

Chapter summary: they have one mission: find Eddie.

Chapter warning: spoiler season 4 ⚠️ violence description.

Tag list: @deafeningempathfishcowboy

@imangy

@dragqueen-eddie

@eddie-the-banished

@hurricane-abigail

@spaceandstars

"And then Vicki laughed. And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like... it was a real genuine laugh." Robin tells us as Steve put some vhs on the shelfs and I hold some to help them. I don't work here, but I like to help instead of sitting at home doing nothing.

"Of course. It's my Muppet joke. It's hilarious" Steve says very proudly, and I roll my eyes.

"My point is that Vicki laughed and everything was just like...it was perfect" she keeps going with a dreamy voice.

She's so cute.

"But?" I ask, knowing something's up.

"But I'm having this problem where it's like, I should stop talking." She explains "I have said everything I need to say.but then I guess I get nervous and the words keep spilling out, and it's like my.. my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or rather my.. my mouth is moving faster than my brain. And it's like I'm digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I'm trying to stop, but I can't. And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"

She finally turns around to look at us after her babbling.

"Yeah, you are" Steve says and I nod with a half smile.

She exhales deeply and move backwards to rest against the wall.

"I'm hopeless" she says.

Steve follows her against the wall. "We both are"

I roll my eyes at their pessimism.

"If only we could just, like, combine." Robin suddenly says, I look at her confused.

"Combine?" Steve's confused too.

"No. Think about it. I know exactly what I want, and I've found the girl of my dreams, but I can't get the courage to ask her out. Meanwhile, you go on, like, a million dates, and you have no idea what you want. So if we just combine, all our problems would be solved."

Steve lets out an understanding "Oohh"

"Because, I mean, alone let's face it..."

"We totally suck." Steve finishes for her.

"Totally and utterly"

"C'mon, you guys are the most amazing persons that I know... just have hope" I look at Steve "and some courage" I look at Robin "and everything will be fine"

"Oh yeah?" Steve sends me a very sceptical look.

"Ooh, I think I found our morning movie" Robin gasps, running to a shelf and grabbing a vhs. "Doctor Zhivago"

"Ugh, you know I don't do double vhs" Steve groans shaking his hands in the air.

"But it's about doomed love" she tries.

"That's relatable" Steve agrees, and we both follow Robing behind the counter.

"Exactly. Also Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like seriously the most beautiful creature  I've ever seen in my life"  she turn the TV on.

"I gotta agree on that" I declare.

"We're in the Forest Hills trailer park on East Roane County." The reporter's voice says loud and clear "we don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body kd a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family"

Oh shit.. as if alternate dimensions creature's weren't enough.

"Holy shit" Steve whispers beside me.

"Who could that be?" I ask worried.

"I don't know.." Robin replies.

"Isn't it where Max lives?" I ask again looking at them.

They just nods.

Oh shit.

We spent the morning watching the news and organising the store to keep ourselves busy.

All of a sudden the door bell rings and Dustin and Max come in.

"Hey Steve" he says, he looks visibly agitated.

"You guys see this?" Steve asks them.

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin asks, completely ignoring Steve's question.

Robin and I share a confused look

"Someone was murdered"

"How many phones fo you have?" He repeats more firmly.

"Two. Why?" He answers

"Technically three if you count Keith's in the back" Robins specifies. 

Max and Dustin look at each other.

"Yeah, thee works" Max says.

So Dustin take off his backpack as Steve asks "what are you doing?" And, again, ignoring his question Dustin throw the backpack on the other side of the counter and climbs on top of it to get through.

All this while earning very annoyed reactions from both Robin and Steve.

Ignoring both of them Dustin positions himself in fron of the computer.

"What are you doing?" Steve asks.

"Setting up base of operation here." He simply answers.

"Base of operation?" I ask. "Why?"

Steve tries to get Dustin off of the computer, but with no use.

"What do you need it for? Dustin?" I ask, getting more and more confused.

"Eddie's friends' phone numbers" he answers and I look at Steve.

"Oh Eddie, your new best friend who just is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve asks, sounding quite jealous, I gotta say.

"I never said that" Dustin defends himself from Steve's accusatory tone.

"Seriously, you guys, maybe know a Monday you can play around like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day" Robin tells them, putting the tapes back on the counter.

"Robin, look, I empathise, but this cannot wait  until Monday" Dustin firmly says.

"Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?" She asks back.

"Correct" Dustin shouts, like that was the most obvious thing.

"Why? What happened?" I ask, now getting more worried. "Did something happen to Eddie?... Dustin?"

"Can you just  fill them in while I do this?" Dustin asks Max.

"Fill us in on what?" Robin is definitely annoyed.

We all look at Max waiting for her to explain what happened.

We found ourselves calling so many different numbers, trying to find a lead to where Eddie might've gone.

I type down the numbers while Robin, Max and Dustin call them, and Steve flirts with every girls he can, pretending he's just working.

"Hey, guys. I might have a lead" Max calls pur attention.

"Seriously?" Dustin turns to her, hopefully.

"Yeah, apparently, Eddie gets his drugs from come guy names Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there." She explains.

"That's promising" I comment.

"Where does this Reefer Rick live?" Robin asks.

"See that's the thing. No one knows. He's more of a.. a legend than someone that people actually know."  Max explains.

"And.. what about a last name?" I ask.

"I don't know that either" She answers.

"Less promising" I shake my head.

"Bet the cops knows the last name" Steve intervenes.

We turn all to him.

"What?"

"Cops. I mean listen  if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system" he explains like he found the perfect solution to all our problems.

"The cops? Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" Dustin asks incredulous.

"I mean, I just think they should be filled on on what we know, what's going on" he says simply.

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" Dustin accuses.

"Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit." Steve defends himself " I just, you know, don't think that we can rule it out"

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve." Max says annoyed.

"And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie"

"He' not wrong here, Stevie" I agree with Dustin.

"Oh well somebody has to attend to the customers" Steve says, again, to defend himself, and I roll my eyes scoffing.

"Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin teases with a wink.

"Hey, not fair, okay?" Steve points his finger st her "I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for people"

"Yeah it can be" Robin says, I can tell she thought something to actually help us so I quickly follow her to the computer.

"What are you doing?" Max asks.

"Maybe we don't need a last name" she answers.

She type on the keyboard, Rick's name and a list of Ricks appears on the screen.

"Twelve Ricks have accounts here" she tells us.

"That's a lots of Ricks" Max comments.

"You're a genius, Robin" I tell her.

"I know. Now, let's narrow it down, uh? Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo...what are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" She asks.

"Not likely"

"All right, Rick Conroy. Sixteen candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the stone." She move to the next Rick.

"No"

"Okay, Rick Joiner, Mask, Footloose, and Grease"

"Nah"

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon, and Splash."

"Definitely no"

"Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgermont High, Cheech & Chong's next movie. Cheech & Chong's nice dreams. Cheech & Chong' up in smoke."

"Bingo" Dustin chuckles.

"Lipton?"

"Spelled like the tea. 2131 Holland Road" Robin reads.

"That's out by Lovers Lake" Dustin says.

"Middle of nowhere" I comment.

"It's a perfect place to hide" Robin agrees.

That being said we all head out to Steve's car and to this Reefer Rick's house.

And hopefully to Eddie.

We all grab a torch each and get out of the car to walk to this Reefer Rick's house.

The lights are out, which could mean that no one's home or... Eddie's hiding.

Dustin repeatedly tries to ring the bell, but to no use.

"Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve says, trying to make Dustin stop.

But Dustin just start to shout for Eddie to come out and tries again with the door bell.

Me and Max move to the side of the house with our torch, seeing what looks like a boathouse. Maybe Eddie's in there.

"Hey guys!" Max calls.

"Well let's go" I say already walking towards the small building. 

Robin is the first one to enter.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" She tries.

We all enter and start to look around.

"What a dump" Steve comments

The place is far from clean, there garbage everywhere and, as expected, a boat in the middle filled with something covered by a tarp.

I spot Steve grabbing an oar as a weapon and starts to poke the boat multiple times.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asks.

Steve just doesn't answer so Dustin repeats the question, more shocked. 

"He might be in here." Steve simply replies.

"So take the tarp off." Dustin tells him.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off" he basically challenges.

"Stop bickering, you two." I say.

Steve just keeps hitting on top of the tarp covered boat.

"Hey, look over here" Max tells us. She points our attention to some food envelopes.

"Someone was here." I try.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran" Robin suggests.

"Don't worry. Steve will get him with his oar" Dustin says sarcastically. 

"Oh I know you think you're being funny, Henderson, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-"

Steve is cut off by a loud scream and Eddie jumping from under the tarp and pushing him against the wall, a broken bottle in his hand.

We all gather as close as possible, trying to not scare him further for Eddie to react too badly.

"Whoa whoa whoa Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Dustin says, holding his arms out to stop us from getting further closer.

Eddie turns to look at Dustin, not moving the broken glass away from Steve's neck yet.

"It's me. It's Dustin" Dustin tries to stay calm while getting Eddie's attention. "This is Steve. He's not going to hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right, yeah" Steve agrees, quite agitated.

"Steve, c'mon.. drop the oar, will you?" I say, as calmly as possible. 

Steve does as I say, dropping the oar away, but that just startle Eddie more pointing the glass back at Steve's neck.

"He's cool, he's cool" Dustin says.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie says, voice breaking.

"We're looking for you" Dustin replies

"We're here to help, Eddie" I add.

Eddie turns his head again to us, listening carefully.

"Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band. This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D. You know Y/n too. The quiet girl you always stare at, at lunch. Eddie. We're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right guys?"

"Yeah yeah we swear"

"Yeah on Dustin's mother"

"Yeah, Dustin's.. mother"

We say no more, tense as never before, but at the end Eddie lets Steve go and moves to the side sitting down.

Steve just come to us, I check his neck in case the broken bottle accidentally cut him but he's fine.

I turn to look at Eddie, Dustin kneels in front of him and I slowly follow.

He looks... terrified.

"Eddie...we just want to talk" Dustin very slowly tries to grab the bottle in Eddie's hand, but as soon as he gets to close he flinches grabbing the glass harder.

"Eddie... we just wanna know what happened. " I tell him.

"You won't believe me" he tells us.

"Try us" Max says.

Eddie told us everything that happened, about Chrissy coming to him to buy drugs, and how she died, right in front of him.

"Her body just lifted up into the air and.. and she just like, hung there. In the air. And her bones..  she.. her bones starter to snap"

He struggling to tell us what happened, all I want to do is grabbing his hand and reassure him...

"Her eyes, man" he continues "it was like.. there was something, inside her head, pulling. I.. I didn't know what to do so.. I.. I ran away. I left her there." He sounds so ashamed... he couldn't do anything for her.

Poor girl, she was really one of the sweetest person in Hawkins.

Fuck.

Eddie looks up to us, only to turn his head away quickly, scoffing.

"You all think I'm crazy right?"

"No. We don't think you're crazy" Dustin tries to reassure him.

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds" Eddie snaps.

"We're not bullshiting you" Max intervenes.

"We believe you" Robin says and Eddie just scoffs, still not believing us.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little.. difficult to take." Dustin starts "you know how people say Hawkins is...cursed? They're not way off. There's another world.a words hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours." Dustin explains.

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asks.

"There are... there are some things worst than ghosts" I tell him.

"These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."

"If they're back again, we need to know" Max says.

"That night, did you see anything?" Robin asks.

"Dark particles, maybe"

Eddie just shakes his head no.

"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust." Dustin specifies.

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or.. touch" Eddie explains. 

I look at Steve who, now, looks more worried than before, full attention on Eddie.

"You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she.. she was in a trance or something." Eddie explains and we all listen carefully.

"Or under a spell" Dustin points out.

"A curse."

"Vecna's curse" Dustin realises.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asks

"And undead creature of great power" Dustin answers.

"A spell caster" I say, earning a confused look from Steve.

"A dark Wizard" Dustin finishes.

This might be worse than all the ones before...

Fuck.

We decided we have to go and get some food for Eddie.

"We'll be right back, man, I promise" Dustin says.

As we all walk to the door.

Steve and Dustin turn to me stopping me in my tracks.

"Why don't you... uh... stay here and keep him company?" Dustin asks.

"What? Why me?" Now I'm confused.

"Because you're the sweetest and he clearly has a thing for you" Steve replies as the most simple thing ever.

"He does not" I tell him sternly.

"Either way you're the best choice. You're calmer and... easier to be around than the rest of us" Steve convinces me.

"Y/n, trust me. He needs someone like you now. Please, I don't think he should be alone now" Dustin says looking me in the eyes.

"Fine" I tell him nodding "yeah, I'll stay with him. But you better stay out of trouble"

"As always" Steve shrugs.

I give him a warning look and just sigh. Watching them driving away.

I get back to the boathouse and see Eddie's figure watching nothing on the boat.

"Hey" I say quietly.

He seems to snap out of trance and looks at me surprised.

"I thought you all went" he says, with a small smile.

"Yeah well... we didn't.. uh... Dustin didn't want you to be alone right now" I tell him, fidgeting with my rings again.

"Thanks.. I guess he's right" he says.

I nod, walking a bit closer, but not too much.

"So..." he starts.

"So..." I mimic him, earning a laugh from him.

"You knew about the spell caster" he implies.

"Yeah... a-and?"

"You know about D&D..?" He asks.

"Yeah.." I say nervously.

"No way!" He whisper shouts.

"It's true!" I tell him, with a small chuckle.

"How come didn't you join Hellfire?" He asks, genuinely curious.

"I.. well.. I just..." I stutter.

"Hey.. I'm not judging, m'lady" he assures me, with a smile.

"I'm just too shy, I think.. also I'm not very good at playing" I laugh quietly. 

"I could've taught you" he says.

"I... I'm not very good with people" I honestly tell him.

"What do you mean?"

"I.. I'm not very good at talking to people, I get nervous and stutter the whole time. And just... I just shut up so I don't bother anyone" I explain.

"You're not stuttering with me" he shrugs.

"I.." I stops realising it's true.

With him it feels easier, somehow..

"No need to worry about a freak's opinion, i guess." he lower his eyes, almost disappointed.

"No! Not at all!" I quickly say.

He look at me, searching my eyes to see if I'm messing with him.

"I... listen, I don't understand why people always call you that, but I personally always saw you as someone... cool" I say, getting shy as I finish my sentence. 

"Really?" He says, he tries to hold back a smile, but he fails.

"Yeah.." I look away from him. "You always walk around like you don't care about anything. You have your ideas and you're not ashamed, and of course you shouldn't be ashamed of them. You're like smarter than any of those dickheads from the basketball team"

"Wow" he blushes... he blushes?

Did I make Eddie Munson blush?

"Are you blushing, my lord?" I gather some courage and make a joke.

"Oh... 'my lord' uh?" He looks at me with a smirk, that makes me instantly lower my eyes with my cheeks warming up.

"I.. yeah.. I mean, you keep calling me-"

"M'lady? Yeah, so I'd say 'my lord' fits perfectly" he sweetly smiles at me.

We stay silent for a while.

It's a comfortable silence, the kind you don't have to talk to fill it. We just need each other company to be okay.

I watch him fidgeting with his own hands.

He's getting nervous.

Instinctively I reach out for his hands and he turns to me, surprised, but he doesn't retreat his hands.

"It's gonna be okay" I tell him. "I know it sounds like a shitty cliché.. trust me I know." I let out a small chuckle "we've been through this shit a few times.. the point is, we're with you on this. We're gonna solve this."

He holds my hands in his.

"I want to believe you" he says looking me in the eyes.

"Good" I say.

He starts to stroke my knuckles gently.

"I'm glad you're the one to stay here, m'lady" he says.

"Apparently I'm the easiest to be around" I tell him with a shrug.

He's still not letting go my hands.

"Maybe... but that's not the only reason, but yeah" he says, a playful smile on his face.

"Then... w-why?" I say, feeling my cheeks warming up again.

"Well.. that's an answer for another time, uh?" He winks and I'm just speechless.

All of a sudden we hear noises from outside.

I grab the oar Steve used earlier and move to the door.

"Stay there" I tell Eddie.

I get closer and closer to the door, that suddenly opens reveling Robin, Dustin, Max and Steve holding some bags full of food and drinks.

"Fuck sake!" I exclaim as they enter with apologetic looks.

"delivery service" Dustin announces.

I look at Eddie who look just as startled, heavy breathing and all that.

I just exhale deeply and grab one of the bags they carried inside.

[yukinojou]

The Sandman - rewatch the first...

Some notes on rewatch, to continue from previous babble:

It's amazing how good CGI can look when composited into practical sets where the light on the actors and the set bits nearest to them freaking matches. The pan towards the decayed Dream realm works because that light is there, right on the floor and the actors, and the CGI is matched to all the real textures. Can someone show it to Disney plzkthx?

The red lamps in Roderick's office being lit in the morning of Jessamy's death are a Thing.

Cain and Abel are so perfectly in sync.

I like the rapid cutting in the Hecatae scene much better on second watch, though I still wish we had a close-up on the last shot, the CGI would hit more.

Joanna is really both more practical and more quietly self-destructive than John. Less picturesque, more despairing in a way. More closed off. I still love her messy flat and office.

We don't get Rachel's dad plastered all over the walls, but we do get security guards plastered all over an elevator. That is one picturesque effect.

I do wonder whether the Corinthian didn't push Ethel into her sacrifice play, just a little. But I suspect he was planning on John taking the amulet, not this. Still, he always rolls along with the changes in the plot.

The choice for white light drifting from above in Lucifer's reception room is Something. It does make for moments when live actors and practical sets look like CGI alas, and even worse when there's actual CGI of Satanic St Peter's Square.

That last shot of Lucifer in episode 4 is freaking perfect. So much pride, which is all Lucifer should be about.

There's a doctoral thesis in how much the 24 Hours rewrite focuses on Bette as a writer and writers' fears and stories in general. Morpheus is the Prince of Stories, he's basically the God of Writers, and gods the burning manuscript thing still hurts, the way it's an equivalent to everyone else mutilating and killing themselves.

Lighting two people with skin tones as different as Tom and Kirby must have been a pain. Look at the bench scene, in shots where there's only Tom his skin looks like three tones darker because the camera isn't compensating for all that range.

Tom absolutely nails "younger brother with embarrassing older sister" acting. Like, whoa, the eyerolls alone. They have a perfect sibling vibe.

Come to think of it, Mason and Donna nail it too. The moment where Desire cuddles Despair's crocs is to die for.

Dear Hob, you have a serious case of heart eyes for your friend. And nope, the song choices in the 80s scene aren't helping.

Liking Rose much better this time around, because she does have that writer's remove from the events, that analysing touch. She's usually very in control of herself.

Oh gods, Carl isn't a new character. He's a genderswapped Carla, Lyta's friend who appears in both The Doll's House (like, one panel while Lyta learns that Daniel is Dream's) and The Kindly Ones. So when the Corinthian finds Lyta's home burned to the ground, it's going to be that little bit more personal for him.

In the Doll House arc, Dream suddenly gets texture to his face. It does correspond to his frequently unshaven state in the comics, but I think it’s also a factor of how he’s seen by Rose, who does not expect fae-like perfection. Compare and contrast his skin/makeup in A Hope in Hell for peak inhumanity.

Still utterly amused by the riff on SFF lit conventions. They are exactly like that, complete with the deep hobby conversations with people you've just met.

I love the fact Unity's last sequence has her in a nightie with her upper arms bare - very often a societal taboo for a woman of her age and shape - and no bra. She has the shape of family members of mine❤️

I love the fact someone finally noticed that Gwendolyne Christie has a very renaissance face. Can't wait for season two.

Skipping Dream of a Thousand Cats until I can watch it with my cats, who are still on holidays.

Calliope story / presentation upgrades are good, but dear gods the CASTING. That show should get the best-casting-of-all-time award, because Arthur Darville just disappears into book!Madoc and at the same time gives him so much nuance. Sir Derek Jacobi is having so much fun being sleazy. And then you have Amita Suman, whose deep beautiful eyes steal every scene she's in. Which isn't even touching on Mellisanthi Mahut and how she's a muse statue come to life. (That hair at the end, too!)