history.　interaction guide.　verses.

THE FAMILY TREE :　THE ROOTS.

the maternal side of eddie's family.

jack franklin grows up lower-middle class,　but happy.　he's not as brash as his father,　nor as querulous as his mother,　but the love of the small group of friends he makes as a boy is enough to satisfy.　they have two dogs and a steady enough income to fill the icebox.　his parents care not for what he does,　nor where he is.　the library parents him more than those who gave him life　-　romance and mystery alike.　though not wealthy enough for the fancier schools,　jack is well-read and well-spoken.　he has dreams of authorhood　&　is the right kind of sentimental for when he meets betty archer at sixteen.　

betty's family,　much wealthier than his own,　has just settled in tennessee.　she newly attends his school's sister school,　and thus they are given to cross paths at a mingling lunch.　she wants to be a dancer,　and jack is the only one who does not laugh.　even her own father scoffs at girlish delusion.　perhaps it's because they both dream too big　/　too loud that their romance snowballs quickly.　they sneak into theater performances,　take picnics　&　pen love letters.　the archers don't like the franklins　-　even ordinary dwells too far below their station.　betty's father is controlling　&　prickly,　her mother enabling.　when jack presents her with a ring,　betty takes her leave from the fortune she might once have inherited.

they are married in 1938.　both of their sets of parents are left in the rear-view,　a family of their own the dream they cradle.

elizabeth　'lizzie'　franklin is born to jack　&　betty on friday,　the fourteenth of july,　1939.　they are overcautious not to step into the shoes of their own parents ;　to find the middle ground between the cold,　choking grasp of expectation that was betty's parents　&　the carelessness dressed as freedom proffered to young jack.　elizabeth is the center of their world,　but she is also the stopper shoved in bottled dreams.　her parents are not cruel or resentful,　but they speak wistfully of the things they had once wanted :　she can imagine her mother,　elegant and beautiful under the warmth of a spotlight　&　her father,　brilliant as he scrawls his autograph on front pages.

still,　they are happy.　lizzie knows she's lucky to boast parents whose hands are still and gentle　-　not all of her friends growing up are so lucky.　but lizzie's father reads her the novels written only in his notebooks,　and her mother shows her the music of tchaikovsky　&　tells her its tales.　from birth,　she is awestruck by music and words.　elizabeth grows up listening to the blues ;　beale street transforming in front of her eyes into the most beautiful place in the world.　the home of the blues,　cafes and parks her parents would take her to overcome with live music.　near every step she takes is loudly serenaded　-　lizzie grows up just as loud as her home town.　 it's as a teenager that she bears witness the birth of rock　&　roll,　and what is a teenage girl with wild hair and the thrum of a song in her heart to do but to follow the music ?　not everyone understands a young girl so outspoken　/　so loud　/　so many things a girl shouldn't be,　but she cares little for decorum or tradition.

her parents haven't the money for all the records she would like,　so every one her guitar-callused hands manage to obtain is treasured.　every one is a ticket to another place　-　somewhere else in the world where there is music she hasn't heard,　but will someday.

stranger things verses.

main verse. eddie’s biography precedes canon.　canonicity is adhered to until the demo-bats descend upon ill-prepared hero.　in the eyes of his party,　eddie’s demise is sure as the rising of the sun　—　how surprising,　then :　he’s alive down there.　hiding as best he can in hell-dimension he can't see for the searing pain that nearly blinds him.　praying to deities he's never believed in that one of his new friends will return,　bathed in glory,　to play the hero.　( look,　he might not be a damsel,　but he's sure as shit in distress ! )　eddie,　half-dead　&　half-hallucinating where he hides,　 envisions nancy wheeler,　wielding a gun that isn't too large for her hands,　but should be　/　harrington in borrowed vest,　knuckles taut-white around his nail-bat　/　buckley extending friendly hand　&　telling him to run　/　even his little shithead nerds,　armed with weapons they should only know the names of from d&d.　heroic scenes are a comfort to conjure up as a distraction from blood-gushing wounds,　but the only escape they will offer him is his inevitable death. the truth he is forced to face is this :　nobody is coming to save him.　not unless he asks them to,　which means he has to get up off the murky ground,　fight his way out,　&　try like hell to bother them on the other side.　if it's a hero he wants,　he's going to have to kick up a very loud fuss.　which,　hey,　he's always been damn good at.

came back wrong　( alternate canon　/　technically-not-a-vampire-verse ). eddie dies in the upside down,　content that the last thing he does is tell dustin,　little bastard of a pseudo-brother that he is,　that he loves him.　he's a good kid,　&　he deserves to know he was a good part of eddie's shitty life.　so,　he dies,　and it's fine.　really,　it is.　his arc is complete,　anyway,　if he thinks about it from a fantasy hero movie point of view,　and ... yet,　he wakes anyway.　he wakes completely healed.　pale skin is smooth and perfect where sickeningly deep scars should be　/　dark curls are matted with blood that seems to come from nowhere. ultimately,　the word the party lands on after a ridiculous amount of experimentation,　is vampire.　eddie hates this.　like,　really hates it.　it's not accurate to any vampire lore he's ever read　—　the sun doesn't burn his skin　&　his crucifix necklaces remain a staple of his wardrobe.　they argue that a hunger for blood is close enough.　eddie argues that he doesn't even get any cool powers.　it's a fight he loses.　so he's a　vampire　human who occasionally needs a blood smoothie.　he can live with that.　until,　that is,　it becomes apparent he's still connected to the upside down.

witsec but way more shady verse. eddie doesn't want to run again,　after he very nearly dies.　he wants to stand alongside his ragtag bunch of friends　&　help them take down vecna.　he wants to stay with his uncle wayne　/　wants to bother steve　&　robin at family video　/　wants to smoke up with jonathan　&　argyle　/　wants to finish his campaigns　&　see his little lambs grow into full-size sheep.　he'd like to get to know jane and nancy and ...　whatever other wishes he might have cradled close to his chest,　it doesn't matter.　the nda he signs is under duress　—　sign it,　and we'll make sure your name is cleared is more or less what he's told.　but the ire of small-town hawkins will not be so easily hand-waved with a press release and a few news stories laying claim to a serial killer who only framed the town freak.　so eddie is truly banished,　this time.　government,　shady-ass as it may be,　decides it best that edward munson dies in the upside down.　that the party　&　eddie's new friends are told we're very sorry,　but there was nothing we could do for him.　the wounds were just too severe. far outside the bounds of america,　where the name eddie munson means nothing at all,　edmund franklin comes into being.　his passport　&　his id are fake,　but good enough to fool everyone they need to.　for the first time in his life,　eddie wants to run back to hawkins so badly it aches.

fandomless verses.

fantasy. alan munson is nothing but a mortal when he weds sorceress elizabeth franklin ;　a union born only of one-sided infatuation　( hers )　and cavernous powerlust　( his ).　when edward is born,　he wields magic as innate as his mother's.　alan remains powerless,　greedy,　and above all,　jealous.　elizabeth's passing may well be the trigger that sets him off.　the pact alan makes with the demon stupidly called upon is as selfish as it could be :　the magic brewing in his infant son in exchange for all the power alan could want.　and,　well,　what does a child need with magic,　anyway ? edward grows with precious little recollection of his mother ;　the only father he can recall is the warlock who scams　&　exploits in the deals he makes with those in the kingdom desperate enough to look past the reputation attached to alan's last name. as he grows older,　he also grows more sickly.　loathed by healers near and far for his proximity to his father,　none are willing to investigate his mysterious illness.　unbeknownst to eddie,　the magic he is entirely ignorant to ever having is killing him slowly　—　that is,　the lack of it is.　if he'd like to avoid letting dear old dad　&　his stupid demon sponsor win,　he's going to have to figure out how to kill said demon,　and quick.

pre—eddie.　elizabeth franklin grows up surrounded by music.　memphis,　tennessee is the birthplace of the blues　&　the home of rock ‘n’ roll ;　it should come as no surprise that she grows into musicality like she grows into her long limbs and wild curls.　lizzie is the apple of her dad’s eye,　and her mother is her best friend.　for all her life is beautiful,　she still dreams of getting out　—　boarding a plane to who-knows-where and finding new music in new places.　that plan flees the moment al munson blows into her world with the crooked smile and dubious charisma of the outlaws in her country songs.　she’s only nineteen when she lets him sweep her off her feet and away to hawkins,　indiana.

whirlwind fantasies only give way to unseen disaster :　al munson is a thief of more than hearts,　and the poverty in which they find themselves will never satiate him.　it’s here in hawkins that al’s charisma is unmatched by any other　—　he sways the bankers when the mortgage is short　&　the milkman for the bottles with the most cream at the top.　he weaves epic tales of the big get that will set them for life,　baby,　i swear,　and elizabeth is convinced every time,　her starry eyes never losing their rose—tinted affliction.

1966.　eddie’s birth is an event to nobody in particular.　though his mother’s embrace is loving　&　her smile is warm,　the shadow of al munson looms over what should be the happiest day of her life.　it is becoming increasingly apparent that elizabeth’s husband is not a good man despite his affability ;　al is not there in the delivery room,　and he is not the one who drives elizabeth and eddie home from the hospital.　that honor goes to al’s brother,　wayne.　so do most things that could be deemed responsibilities once eddie is born.　the poor-but-happy free-wheeling lifestyle of a young wedded couple in the wind is over.　life has set in,　and al munson wants nothing to do with it.

1967 - 1971.　the only memories of this time are those regarding his mom.　though elizabeth grows disillusioned with al through the years　&　the light in her eyes is snuffed out entirely when her parents pass,　she does her best to let none of that darkness be cast upon their son.

what eddie remembers most are her things,　things to which memories can cling through the years.　her records are her plane tickets :　they permit her the fantasy of taking eddie and leaving al,　a method of escapism passed on to young eddie.　each piece of jewelry adorning her person carries a story,　but her favorite is the one inherited from her mother ;　a black diamond encased in silver.　the children’s birthday cake cookbook she lets eddie pick a ridiculous cake from every year for his birthday :　a butterfly,　a pirate ship,　a dog,　a wizard’s hat.　she spins her records while they bake them,　substituting expensive ingredients for cheaper ones from the corner store.　( eddie’s contributions to the baking are the same as most small children’s　—　this being sticking his fingers in the batter and the frosting. )

1972.　eddie remembers precious little of 1972.　he remembers holding his mother’s hand in his in the hospital when it went limp　&　cold.　he remembers seeing her unmoving in her casket and asking wayne why she wasn’t wearing her necklace,　or any of her rings.　he remembers uncle wayne swallowing around words he wouldn’t say,　but glaring daggers into his dad like it was his fault,　somehow.　he remembers the sudden lack of music echoing throughout the house,　and the bruise he gets trying to reach the record player to put his mom’s favorite album on,　because his dad wasn’t there to do it for him.　actually,　of the little he remembers,　he can’t drag up a memory of his dad outside of the funeral that year at all.

1973 - 1978.　if childhood is kind to eddie,　it’s because his uncle wayne makes it so.　he bandages eddie’s knee when he gets into skating for a month and inevitably ends up bleeding onto the cement.　he shells out the money from his meager paycheck to buy eddie the records he wants　&　the clothes he needs.　elizabeth’s memory is kept alive in stories and pictures.　eddie grows used to the sound of silence when wayne is at work,　&　he grows used to the sight of his own shoes being the only ones at the front door.　if it were possible to leave more than you arrived,　al munson would surely manage it.　there are days where eddie grins at the other kids at school,　because i don’t have a bedtime,　i get to stay up as late as i want,　and boasts abandonment like a trophy in the way only an ignorant child can.　he stays up watching the television and thumbing through books he is far too young to read.　wide—eyed and curious,　he is able to convince himself he loves his independence by fleeing to fantasy realms on screen and page.　a child-led diet of sugar and soda does not a calm child make,　but there is nobody for his school teachers to call,　anyway.

there are other days　:　　birthdays　—　his own　&　his mother’s　—　and christmases and fathers’ days.　days that come with the cruel reminder of reality and smack eddie with a wave of longing so intense he could puke.　he drowns it out with the sound of music as loud as his mom’s record player and tinny speakers will allow.

if any of his dad’s gambling and scheming results in cash,　eddie never sees any of it.

when eddie is eight,　his dad goes to jail for the first time.　the grownups in suits with severe looks on their faces make him stay with wayne ;　stubborn little eddie is incredibly bitter about this.　he’s always been fine in his empty house alone,　he doesn’t need to move into the trailer park now.　some of that bitterness softens when he meets veronica.　ronnie ecker,　newly moved into the trailer park,　is eddie’s first real best friend.　she cares as little for what people think as eddie does,　and listens to the same music.　al comes back　—　something about prison overcrowding　—　and takes eddie home,　but he keeps his new friend.　

on eddie’s tenth birthday,　wayne makes him a birthday cake from the same cake cookbook his mom had used to.　it’s a clown.　its green m&m eyes and licorice smile are poorly done,　and its skin is a hideous shade of pink,　but eddie cries anyway.　he knows something’s coming,　because he doesn’t get things like this anymore without a let-down to follow.　the other shoe never drops.　fending for himself becomes normal,　the only adult supervision in his life largely being wayne poking his head into the munson house every few days.　in 1978, he forms corroded coffin for his middle school talent show.　his dad’s face is one of the few absent from the audience　—　and he tries not to be disappointed.

1979.　shortly after eddie’s thirteenth birthday,　he comes back from school to find his home in flames,　his father cuffed in the back of a police car.　it’s the first time he’s seen al munson in months,　and the last time he will see him for years.　turns out dear old dad had screwed over the wrong people,　and they’d set his house ablaze in retaliation - taking with it all of eddie’s memories of his mom.　her records,　her cake book,　gone.　burned up in the flames.

he moves in with wayne that week for good,　this time.　wayne’s kindness is suffocating,　the same way good food might make a starved body sick at first.　eddie is thirteen and terrified of the affection so easily offered.　he decides to take control of it and force wayne’s hand ;　eddie stays out too late with ronnie,　starts playing dungeons　&　dragons,　grows his hair too long,　but his uncle’s love doesn’t falter.　perhaps the most confusing part of it all is this :　every time wayne leaves for work,　he comes home after.　he doesn’t leave for days or weeks,　and the fridge is always full of …　well,　not fresh fruit,　they’re still poor,　but edible food.　when eddie tells wayne,　steely—eyed and knuckles taut white in shaky fists at his side,　that he’s gay,　it’s half confessional　&　half test.　this is it, he’s sure,　this is the moment wayne’s unconditional care gives in.　it doesn’t.　eddie is left with nothing to do but settle in to his new life.　

1984.　al munson returns to hawkins with a plan,　&　charm enough to sell it.　he wows eddie the way he had used to elizabeth,　promising him a cut of the money,　them working together as a team,　them being a real fuckin’ family this time.　wayne might see through his brother,　but eddie is not yet so hardened as he pretends to be ;　he lets himself be swept into the fanciful illusions his dad presents.　twenty thousand dollars worth of pot.　they’re going to steal enough weed to make them legends　—　or put bright red targets square on their backs.　devotion to a man so flighty as al is a dangerous game,　&　eddie should have known he would get burned playing with fire.　when things go wrong,　it’s his face their new-found enemies know.　when one such new foe shoots a cop dead in front of wayne’s trailer ?　al does what al does best.　he leaves.　he leaves his son behind,　preferring his son to be the one found with the corpse.　it’s eddie who’s taken in handcuffs,　the image of the man with the gun burned into his brain　&　the stench of spilled blood still in his nose.　never again will he believe his dad has the capacity to love him,　a lesson learned the hard way :　people are only pawns to al.　they are only what roles they can play in his game and what falls they can take so he never scrapes a knee.

the miracle that is eddie not being charged does nothing to dispel the scandal that rumbles through pta moms and their children alike.　eddie munson shot a policeman!　al munson’s boy,　he’s a murderer,　don’t you know.　they say it was his dad,　but i don’t believe that.　have you seen what that boy looks like these days?

as is probably going to be clear from this post,　while i took inspiration from what FoI gave us regarding the munson family,　i also took a lot of creative liberty with it.　his full backstory can be found here !

what i changed:

while the munson home is still burned down by enemies made by al,　this now occurs in 1979　&　is an entirely separate incident to 1984.　eddie had no part in it,　only came home to find his house ablaze.

eddie moves in with wayne at age thirteen in 1979,　not when he's 18 in 1984.

officer moore dies when cj shoots him.　thus,　al frames eddie for murder,　not assault with a deadly weapon.

what i kept:

ronnie ecker !　she remains eddie's best friend until she leaves hawkins after graduation.

al returning in 1984 to rope eddie into a scheme to make back the money he lost gambling.　the consequential abandonment of eddie to clean up the mess he makes of it all.

what i removed entirely:

eddie officially dropping out of school.

dealing:　 in any verses that do not take place shortly before or anytime after eddie’s supposed death in season 4,　you will most likely come into contact with him as a dealer.　he’ll happily sell you a little something to get through the latest world—ending event.　you can also find him lurking at house parties making deals with shitfaced jocks who have too much money they’re begging to be parted from;　it’s easy to strike up a chat with him then,　not like anybody else is going to.

the hideout:　crammed somewhere between an abandoned steelworks and a fallow cornfield is the hideout,　the only place in town stupid enough to hire the town pariah.　eddie works four days a week as a barback　(　keeping the bar stocked　&　clean　)　in exchange for being able to perform on its makeshift stage with his band once a week.

performing:　the hideout is a place for lurking and…　hiding out than it is anything else.　people don’t go there to party or listen to live music,　and so eddie will take notice of anyone who seems to give even half of a shit about anything he’s playing.　he will also come to recognise anyone who frequents the hideout,　thanks to its usual piss-poor showing.

barbacking:　alright,　so,　eddie isn’t technically supposed to mix drinks.　and he doesn’t,　but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like playing the role of the therapist bartender.　on quieter nights,　when there’s not quite so much running around to do,　eddie is pretty easy to strike up a conversation with.　let’s all just tell eddie our problems!

hobbies:

dungeons　&　dragons:　the thing for which eddie is most likely to seek out fresh blood!　nerdy freshmen　&　loners alike will catch the eye of hawkins’ best dungeon master.　don’t know what the hell you’re doing?　he’ll teach you.　hellfire might not be a cult akin to what the purists of hawkins believe,　but eddie sure as shit recruits like it is!

music:　single—minded as eddie may be when it comes to musical genres,　he has an appreciation for anyone who can connect with music on a real level.　you can find him rummaging through tapes he can barely afford at music stores,　&　probably scoffing at the latest pop albums.

relationship styles.

platonic:　eddie can be both surprisingly easy and surprisingly difficult to get along with,　depending on his preconceived notions of you.

eddie likes to believe he’s not a captious person,　but life has whittled him down to making snap judgments to survive.　anyone prim and popular or preppy and perfect must,　in eddie’s mind,　be at least compliant with hawkins’ ignorance;　if not downright malicious toward the freaks　&　geeks themselves.　when he is presented with someone who doesn’t fit this box　(　e.g. chrissy cunningham　&　steve harrington　),　it’s a shock to the system.　he’ll get there,　but he might stumble on a few roadblocks of his own hypocrisy first.

on the other hand,　if eddie deigns you a lost lamb,　he will happily play the role of the shepherd.　he feels incredibly protective of his little sheep,　and a big part of his showboating around the halls of hawkins high is that it is intended to draw the eye of the bullies to him,　instead of his younger friends.　this does also mean getting suckered into playing dungeons and dragons if you want to understand half of what he’s saying,　ever.

eddie’s all about authenticity,　but his protectiveness over his loved ones can impede upon this.　especially in 80s hawkins,　where danger is rife when you get a little too authentic.　does eddie love the idea of being someone’s beard,　or having one himself?　fuck no,　screw that.　but he’ll do it if you’re really in a bind.　or because it’s funny.　or because you paid him $20 to come to your cousin’s wedding.

alternatively,　eddie could use someone to worry about him for once.　as much as he insists he can deal with everything that happens to him himself,　it’d be nice to have someone let him crash with them when the manhunt breaks out.

antagonistic:　eddie can be provocative at the best of times,　and it sure as shit doesn’t help that half of hawkins thinks he’s a satanist,　&　the other half is unfortunate enough to have met his father.

ooooooh,　you want to buy into the ‘eddie is a murderer　/　satanist’　propaganda so bad!　who cares if it’s not true　—　it sure as shit looks like it is to the general public,　and it’s not like the rumours are any help.　let him prove you wrong;　or don’t,　and just throw a punch.　either way,　it’s fun.

eddie’s hypocrisy when it comes to judging based on appearances can come back to bite him in the ass.　it can lead him to assuming the worst of people,　&　though it’s rare,　sometimes when he’s proven wrong,　he can dive headfirst into trying to provoke them into cruelty so he can tell himself he’s right.　this is only likely to happen when he has a rigid,　long—unchanged opinion on someone.

romantic/sexual:　romance is a somewhat unlikely relationship to develop with closed—off eddie;　which has little to do with a lack of desire and everything to do with self—esteem.

for all his showboating,　eddie has never been offered proof that he is worth sticking around for.　his father walked in and out of his life as he needed　—　whenever he needed to lie low from the cops,　or when he had a scheme to pay off a gambling debt　—　but never did he walk back in for eddie.　as such,　eddie can only perceive the attention of men as veiling ulterior motives.　even when he wants it to be real,　even when he entertains it,　eddie has one eye on the door.　this can make him particularly tricky to convince of any real affection without hidden agenda.

eddie is best kept away from anyone too much like his father.　anyone knee-deep in drugs,　alcohol,　gambling,　or dangerous schemes they can lure him into can too easily convince eddie that he deserves nothing more than a life like that.