#pay no attention to that person behind the curtain

[jimraisedmeup]

TICK // 4.1 - the chain

Rating: mature (talk of homophobia, angst, language, sexual content)

Word Count: 1300

☾

Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies

☾

December 1983 - junior year

The morning after the barn party, you sat uncomfortably on the pew in between your mother and Robin.

The pastor was ranting about something you really didn't believe in. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see your mother quietly nodding along to the sermon. Robin, on the other hand, was particularly jittery - her leg bouncing up and down made the whole pew shake slightly.

Your father leaned his head forward, shooting his two daughters a stern look. 

"Sit still. Can't either of you behave appropriately in public?"

You spoke up before Robin could. "Sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have had that second cup of coffee today."

He scrutinized his eldest daughter for a moment. "This is the house of God. Pay attention."

Once your parents stopped fussing, you looked at your sister. Robin still seemed anxious for some reason. Trying to make the best of an annoying situation, you gently pinched Robin's arm.

Love you, Robbie, you mouthed at her.

Minutes ticked by and it felt like hours. 

Successfully drowning out the noise of the church service, you pondered over your actions from the night before. 

Daydreaming about sinning in the Lord's house. You almost snickered to yourself. 

Eddie Munson.

You didn't believe in anything religious, but for lack of a better word, you felt possessed at the thought of him.

Sure, growing up you were a firm believer in God and everything that came along with it. Your parents were devout Catholics. They did their best to raise you and Robin in a God-fearing household.

Things changed over the last two years, though, and as you watched your younger sister suffer so greatly at your parent's beliefs, your own beliefs slowly dissipated. 

What kind of God wouldn't accept Robin Buckley, no matter who she loved?

You felt jaded and a little betrayed. The girl you used to be - who thought God was always right and we should repent for our sins - was naive and brainwashed by her parents. By the church.

You would take Robin's secret to your grave, or at least until the day where the younger Buckley girl could kiss a girl in public and not be burnt at the stake. You felt an uncontrollable instinct to protect your baby sister.

That's where your cynical view of the world began to take over. You suddenly felt free and independent, not to mention closer to Robin than you ever were before. But you were always on edge, fists up, ready to fight anyone who wanted to judge Robin.

And now you had a whole new thing in your life. A boy that most people in Hawkins looked down upon simply because he was different. Weird.

Your parents would probably have simultaneous heart attacks if they found out that you had your first kiss behind a dirty barn, kneeling in front of Eddie like you were worshiping at an altar.

Squirming a bit in your seat, you glanced at your parents with an irrational fear that they might read your mind and discover your sins. Melissa and Richard Buckley were completely ignoring you, though, and kept their full attention on their beloved pastor. 

Until you could graduate high school and move out, you came to the gloomy conclusion that hiding most of yours and Robin's personal lives from your parents was the path of least resistance. Best to not disrupt Mommy and Daddy’s image of perfection! 

Don't look behind the curtain, Mr. and Mrs. Buckley. One of your daughters is a raging homosexual and the other one fantasizes about sweaty premarital sex with the town freak.

You weren't really sure what came over you the night before. Maybe it was the stereotypical jocks pissing you off at the party. Maybe it was your religious parents neglecting you at home. Or maybe you just liked having secrets, like the tattoo. 

Including little secrets like your damp panties after kissing Eddie at the barn party, which were currently sitting at the bottom of the washing machine so no one could side-eye them in your laundry basket.

You didn't feel judged by Eddie Munson. Even though he was everything that you were taught to avoid as a child.

The pastor before you spoke calmly. 

"...marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral…"

☾

And if you don't love me now You will never love me again I can still hear you saying You would never break the chain

☾

Monday arrived quickly and, for once, Eddie was actually happy to go to school.

He was nervous, though. Crossing his fingers, he was hoping that you weren't the kind of girl to kiss him on a Saturday night and then continue to act like she didn't know him in public.

Anger bubbled under his skin, simmering frustration. He reminded himself that he didn't really know you yet. The older Buckley sister was mysterious and closed off. It was hard for him to guess what battles you could be fighting in your mind.

Cause, hell, did he know all about inner demons.

The feeling of your cold lips brushing against his own was in the forefront of his mind. It was a quick, simple kiss - he had wanted to touch you, lay his hands between your warm thighs, but you pulled away and rushed back inside the barn before he could get a word out.

Eddie leaned against his locker. Gareth was talking to Jeff next to him, something about new t-shirt designs for the Hellfire Club.

He remained nonchalant as he watched students flood past him, bustling and energetic on a cold December morning. Among the crowd, Eddie spotted your distinct figure. Thankfully, you appeared to be alone.

"Buckley! Y/N, wait up, will you?"

As usual, your face was expressionless, but your eyes glinted with some kind of emotion as he walked beside you. You fiddled with the knitted hat in your hands.

"You know, sunshine, I am a classy broad. I charge fifty bucks per hour for my services. How long was our kiss the other night? Five seconds?" Eddie's confidence swelled when you smiled at his crazy antics.

But you still looked a little defensive, stopping and looking around you. "Uh, yeah. Five seconds, tops."

"So…" he continued, pretending to count on his fingers. "You owe me…"

"Four dollars and fifteen cents." You smirked at him.

Eddie groaned dramatically. "Oh, Christ, don't tell me you're a math nerd."

"I like to call it a gift, Munson."

"I probably wouldn't have let you throw yourself all over me at that party if I had known any better."

You snorted, "You're kind of an asshole."

"That's hilarious, because you're literally the biggest asshole I've met in a long time."

And then Nancy Wheeler appeared, closely followed by Carol Perkins. “Hey, walk with us to History?"

You waved Eddie off as you strolled away. "See you around." 

He would have written the whole encounter off as a win if he didn't catch the conversation between you and Carol.

"...what did he want? He's so creepy."

"Oh, nothing. Just questions about math homework."

☾

Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies

☾

He felt a little defeated for the rest of the school day until he walked out to his van in the parking lot.

A folded piece of paper was tucked under his windshield wiper. Eddie quickly scoped the groups of people around him, checking for any sign of it being a dumb prank. Like the time last year when someone wrote freak in red paint on his back window.

But no one was looking at him. The paper was probably just an advertisement or something.

Eddie was surprised to see a crisp ten dollar bill laying inside the folded paper, like a makeshift envelope. 

Unfolding it further, he could see neat cursive handwriting.

This should get me a few more minutes with you, right?

☾

Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light

☾

(song lyrics credit: "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac)

TAGLIST for this series if you would like to be notified when I post new chapters!

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddiemunson #eddie munson x female reader #stranger things #eddie munson slow burn #eddie x you #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x buckley!reader

[seniorinternaut]

there are no words to describe how much I hate the new post editor they are forcing on us

#tbh i might just use this place like instagram #no reblogs no new content just the void #new post editor #post editor #npf #neue post format #pay no attention to that person behind the curtain

[shinebrightlikeasilverlining]

I am actually very glad beyonce’s new album is finally in the hands of her actual fans

the complaining was unreal when it leaked yesterday. people personally offended everything she puts out is not tailormade for them personally. you were warned well ahead this is a house record. she can’t make your new most favorite album every time.

and I don’t even like house as a genre. but this is a well put together house record, it’s still her but reinvented. who else can do this after 10 records? not sure how many tracks I will incorporate into my playlist but beyonce is like one of the 3 artists who still understands the concept of an album, I am so tired of albums that are just a Pile of Songs From the Last 6 Years.

plus, this is the first album where I see tracks seamlessly blend into one. you literally don’t notice when a now track has started unless you’re watching the seeker bar on the player. the songs are actually influenced by the other songs they’re adjacent to. the sonic landscapes transition effortlessly. beyonce understood the assignment, like she does every time. her ambition is evident in the project and I really like she’s still hungry like this after so many years in the business.

someone tried to be sassy saying “she went for the LGBTQs and 30+ black women with this record huh?” you’re literally describing her fanbase.... your critique is that her fans will like it?

there’s plenty of valid critique that could be leveled against her, such as that since a while ago none of her songs are perfomable by anyone other than herself. and not even in the way that mariah carey put in high notes not even she can hit anymore. beyonce’s lyrics just sound ludicrous from anyone else’s mouth, it’s best not to even try. this will certainly hurt her long-term relevancy, both on account of accessibility to the next generations of artists and also rooting her music too much in the time it is released. the lead single on renaissance did make a vague gesture towards relatability but the rest of the album is about as lyrically universal as everything is love was.

it’s not everyone’s cup of tea for sure but I think beyonce succeeds at what she set out to do: give everyone an hour-long break from living in the Plague Years

#Beyoncé #pay no attention to that person behind the curtain #Beyonce #opinjoonen #im not even a beyonce stan but the early reaction was ridiculous #getting throwbacks from back when I felt the need to stand up for bieber #back when people were misinterpreting ''what do you mean'' to the exact opposite than what the message was

[mspbandj]

so Ive made the decision to rewatch Spn from season 1 and all Im going to say about it is that some pocket salt probably would have helped those boys somewhat

#spn #supernatural #i am not taking questions at this time #please pay no attention to the implications of a person choosing to rewatch spn behind the curtain

[hollowflay-arc]

@hargrove & @zoomingupthathill: [sobbing over how billy backhands max when he's flayed] heather and me: [cackling and watching it on repeat]

#pay no attention to the man behind the curtain / ooc. #dash comm. / ooc. #bitch knocks her OUT #he just CURBSTOMPS all these FUCKING CHILDREN it's so FUNNY #billy and max angst bc they're Losers. heather is unburdened from such things. feeling guilt is for chumps!!!!! #ignore how she's the most toxic and insane person in hawkins even BEFORE getting flayed and only started trying to be nice AFTER #submit that shit to AFV tho she got fucking AIR dude

[copyqueer]

i keep wanting to make trixie and katya jokes but idk who'd be in that duo with bon and also who'd be who

#pay no attention to the man behind the curtain / ooc. #i keep wanting to make bon katya but i think that's just my personal bias or that they're a lil of both

[sga-owns-my-soul]

holy shit guys i'm seeing THREE different friends within a WEEK of each other i am CRUSHING this adulting thing!!!

#ignore my house being a mess #and my tons of debt #and i feel sick 24/7 bc i don't take good care of my body and haven't seen a doctor in years #pay no attention to the disaster behind the curtain ok #i'm seeing my friends okay i'm doing good #shitposting #ignore this #personal rambles #not stargate

[decepti-geek]

I’m sure people have lots of fun with the doomed by the narrative thing but whenever I see it I turn into the project runway guy

“doomed by the narrative” shut up it’s the fucking creator making creative decisions

#i wasn't as annoyed by this until i just now found out that it's like... a wholesale made up trope? #just from tumblr? #and i am a firm believer in descriptivisim and not just going by the tools/words that have already been created #but at the same tim i genuinely do not understand the... purpose of this one? #The Narrative is not like. an independently-acting force #i absolutely won't deny that it's its own THING but i think a thing can be a Thing #without posessing its own agency and ability to affect stuff #and i don't see how something that is entirely constructed by a person gains its own agency when ultimately #that still just comes from the person? #it feels a bit wizard of oz pay no attention to the man behind the curtain #the narrative didnt doom that character the author decided that they were gonna die #and yeah that's in service to the narrative but i dont like the... implication i see there #that the version of the narrative we get is somehow The narrative #and not just. one option #informed by the author's choices #no piece of media is technically perfect or some kind of manifestation of its ideal form like cmon #writing #i also want it noted that i looked the thing up at all because i was puzzling over it #and wanted to know what the original idea was behind it in case it turned out id been getting the grapevine version and missed something #i can't find where it started? #like i genuinely would like to know what the original intent was of the person who came up with it #but i can't find it #so im now just. skeptical of any use of it ngl because whilst it's still new i guess people can be meaning a whole lot of things by it #until some popular idea of what it means coalesces or whatever #but even then im still like #it feels like this weird abdication of agency for characters/author and attributing all the agency to something that ultimately HAS none? #so just kinda banishing it into the aether i guess

[dreadgloom]

me, holding Jalynfein Oblodra in my hands and shaking him like a rag doll: teLL ME WHERE I CAN FIND MORE ABOUT YOU STRANGE WIZARD MAN. TELL ME RN!!

#『 pay no attention to that man behind the curtain 』 . . . out of character. #[ ooc . . . I am obsessed with House Oblodra my friends ] #[ ooc . . . this funky wizard that can shoot 24 magic missle via breaking his fingers ] #[ ooc . . . he made himself specialized 9th level spells!! ] #[ ooc . . . the only person that can rival him is fucking gromph baenre ] #[ ooc . . . *shaking the spider mage* TELL ME YOUR SECRETS SO I MAY INCORPORATE YOU INTO DIONISIA’S BACKSTORY PLZ ]

[progeniterror]

okay since i'm on my bullshit and people seem at least intellectually interested in the idea here's what i've got for tatum prescott-loomis:

sidney opts to keep the baby despite everything really bc she's just so sick of death and she hopes this can be like, a silver lining and such you know?

for max chaos we use my base set up for billy-- just enough about the end is changes to put some reasonable doubt on him being the killer but you know..... you know....... but it does mean he's alive and well to demand access to the kid and Be Insane (derogatory) with sidney about this. the kid is a factor in why on EARTH they'd go to the same college considering everything.

tatum is about 2ish when scream 2 happens. gets kidnapped on the night of the Big Climax by grandma who plans to kill sidney, take the kid and recoop her image by being like "the good grandmother". Deeply Cursed. tatum doesn't super remember all this outside of it being a Core Memory and an underlying mental vibe that plants fears in her.

scream 3, tatum 2 is about 4 and living with her mom in the middle of fucking nowhere. sometimes she lives with dad or he comes and stays with them. it's very insane. sid and billy are both maniacs about safety considering everything tho for different reasons. she's with sidney for the chase scene on the set which is what really puts the fear of god into her. didn't need to see the knife to know he was Evil Bad bc the Core Memory vibes had kicked in lol. for like basically all of scream 3 tho she's pm off screen except for that one bit since you know.... she's fucking 4. that was just bad luck and timing.

Gets shown stab at a sleepover she was invited to EXPLICITLY so the other girls could bully her with this and the whole "your dad's an axe murderer thing" it's honestly so fucking unhinge and experience she doesn't even feel attacked. like when a burn is so bad you don't feel it. mostly just doesn't recover from seeing people pretending to be her parents bone. the mom came in around then and mclost it on the kids and she Went Home. Haunting.

she DOES get the occasional shit at school about who her parents are. this IS a thing.

sid and billy with the most ACCURSED joint custody set up. his wife is the real GOAT here in managing all this drama lol.

scream 4, she's roughly jill's age, a few years younger i think? but like An Teen™. Bleached her hair for a buffy costume for halloween which billy FUCKING HATES SOOOOOO BAD. but sets her up to be marked as "the tatum" of the "remake" jill and charlie are making. went with her mom on the woodsboro book signing trip to visit relatives, see her hometown etc. Mistake. Billy is also here but for his dad's funeral which tatum also probably attends i guess since that's her grandpa rip. ends up brawling with jill at the end to protect her mom. is likely the one who kills her in the hospital too. tells jill to eat shit bc if ANYONE is gonna be the protag of the remake it's THE FRANCHISE BABY. likely after having had some convo at SOME point in the film bit in the hospital or earlier with her dad about killing and you know Just Doing It bc Fuck Em.

Likely has had at least one ghostface solo run. like a ghostface or 2 who gunned for her EXPLICITLY between 4 and 5. by this point she's just really come to accept this is just How Her Life Is and does like martial arts, self defense, weapons training etc. like just full on laurie stro.de/becky mode and prepares to be attacked at any time. naturally she survives this ghostface attack. mom horrified and glad she's safe dad proud about how beast mode she went. tatum just wants a nap.

in her 20s has a go bag that includes a bullet proof vest. basically has her own variation of the "ghostface fit" for when this shit goes down, which is a black track suit with white details. goes for this bc it's made for exercise and gives her some baggyness to obfuscate the vest. kinda makes her look like a prick but hey, it works. yes she has THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT WHAT TO DO WHEN GHOSTFACES CROP UP. IT'S AN EVER PRESENT FEAR IN HER LIFE. AND SHE'S CONSISTENTLY PROVEN TO BE VALID IN HER PARANOIA.

scream 5 and 6. basically kinda go the same as usual but there's EVEN MORE FAMILY DRAMA since she's there and billy's alive and sam's sam. tatum likes sam a lot and has no issues with her but it does cause the first real serious blow out between her and billy. the murder??? she could get past that (insane statement) but cHeAtInG oN mOm?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!1/!??!?!?!? WHAT THE FUCK DAD!!!!!!! 6 includes them reconciling and joining forces to beat the baileys to death with rocks alongside sam and tara. you know family bonding shit.

#pay no attention to the man behind the curtain / ooc. #meta / ooc. #one of my og inspos for her personality was the fucking scout from tf2 but naturally that's shifted around a bit #i'd now include some jamie from halloween vibes n shit lol #just a very rough outline. mainly focused on timeline and a few character things/moments

[mercsandmonsters]

Tag Dump #1: The Basics

We're gonna start over.

#The Signal in the Sky: {Out of Character} #Wolf howls in the distance: {Trigger Warning} #Memes that soothe the savage beast: {RP Memes} #Consuela's Revenge: {Chain Posts} #The Face in the Mirror: {Visage} #Makin' Memories: {Videos & Pictures} #Doodles in the Margins: {Fan Art} #Pay no attention to the person behind the curtain: {Mun} #Cracked the Code: {Password Acceptions} #So much to do. So little time: {Asks & Submissions} #Same Bat Time. Same Bat Channel: {Queue} #Lost in the darkness: {No Source RP Meme} #Hear Ye! Hear Ye!: {Signal Boost} #Dirty Postcards on a Parisian Street: {NSFW Content} #Silly Little Voices in my Head: {In Character} #Blah Blah Blah: {Long Posts} #Come Play With Us. For Ever and Ever and Ever: {Starter Call}

[seniorinternaut]

wow tumblr is super broken

is everyone aware that dashboard only shows like half the posts there should be per page? I refresh the page and the number of posts very literally doubles on the page (first and last staying the same almost 100% of the time)

even tumblr's botched search feature brings up other people reporting hidden posts on their dash from more than a week ago, so I know I am not alone

#pay no attention to that person behind the curtain

[dreameasel]

the biggest thing keeping me from making enid more than anything else is she's a swi.ft.ie and a k.p.o.p stan and i cannot express how little i am interested learning anything about any of that at all period. i love to be accurate to my muses and i have noooooooooo interest n that shit

#pay no attention to the man behind the curtain / ooc. #i don't mind pop but i'm a mar.ina and ga.ga kinda person you know? like actual artists dfgdfgfdgdfgdf #and k.p.0.p just doesn't super click for me and i'm not interested in learning who's who just for memes on her blog #like you'd get blo.ck b and that's IT

[frestoniia]

ah fuck the bots have found me u guys

#𝐎𝐎𝐂 ◞ ✧ pay no attention to the goblin behind the curtain #|| ive been having problems w/ them on my personal but they've largely left this blog alone until yesterday #|| now they're showing up in DROVES #|| fuckkkk

[hollowflay-arc]

something i do think is very funny is that heather does think that guys like eddie (read: long haired nerds) are attractive. She does prefer longer hair on men, it doesn't have to be crazy but she prefer it to be at least shaggy. honestly she tries not to focus on things like attractiveness because being attracted to people makes her furious. she doesn't like that whole side of things and she's more likely to just treat even more poorly after realizing she thinks they're hot as a reaction.

#pay no attention to the man behind the curtain / ooc. #i might try to do a bingo card for her again really just to see WHAT she finds attractive #it's very hard to pinpoint she's SOOOOO adverse atm #but she does have certain aesthetics she likes and personality traits she thinks are attractive

[mercsandmonsters-archived]

Happy Munday, y’all! Have a picture of me from almost four years ago with my furbaby, Delta, on her Gotcha Day. No, I’m not pregnant, I’m just chubby.

#The Signal in the Sky: (Out of Character} #Pay Not Attention To The Person Behind The Curtain: {Mun}