#rob halford

Maybe Corroded Coffin made it big. Maybe Eddie started or joined a new band. Maybe he does a solo act. Maybe he’s not famous at all and he’s living a regular life.

And then Halford comes out, and Eddie sees how the metal community accepts him, how the community embraces him, and Eddie realizes that yes it’s scary but also he wants that happiness that Halford has, that wonderful moment of coming out of the closet.

Maybe Eddie understood “Raw Deal” for what it was all along, maybe he’s always gotten the hints sprinkled here and there throughout some of the songs. Maybe he always suspected, always wondered. Sure, he lives in a podunk town in Indiana, but he’s sought out whatever information he could when he first realized he was different. He read zines and articles and listened to hushed talk in bars when he escaped Hawkins for a little while when he was younger.

You ever think about Eddie, coming out in his 30s, because even though he knows it can be dangerous, even though he knows it can go all wrong, he doesn’t want to be in the closet anymore and later he writes a letter to Halford, not really expecting him to ever read it, expressing gratitude for the courage and the strength to finally be true to himself, come what may.

Imagine Steve Harrington, adding his own little postscript, thanking him for helping him find the man of his dreams.

Years later, when it’s finally legalized and they’re both graying and a little soft around the middle, do you ever think about Eddie and Steve inviting Halford to their wedding not really expecting him to ever read it or show up if he even did?

Do you ever think about Rob Halford showing up with his own partner Tom Green and telling Eddie and Steve that they’ve been rooting for them all these years?

You ever think about Eddie, alive, happy, and loved?