#like. a separate demonic entity is inhabiting his body. not fun

[starzovermarz]

yeah I'm just trying to find the best ship name for my characters lmao

[bireggiemantle]

okay so. I have a beronica jennifer's body au now because what is high school age beronica if not the pinnacle of a toxic codependent frenemies situation. (au description below the cut)

in this au veronica is needy and betty is jennifer. it takes place around early season two. the drive in is about to close for good and as one last hurray, a small indie band decides to put on a concert there. betty's been following the band for a while now, so she's excited to go, and makes it into a night out for her and veronica. unfortunately the venue catches fire, and in the midst of the chaos the band manages to persuade betty to leave with them. veronica tries to protest, but betty insists that she can take care of herself, so she gets into the van with them.

obviously they end up sacrificing her for the promise of fame and success, but unlike jennifer, betty fights back. she gets as far as wrestling the knife from the singer and stabbing him in the leg, but ultimately it isn't enough, and they kill her on the banks of sweetwater river. since betty isn't a virgin though, she lives, except there is now a succubus inhabiting her body.

on the walk home she runs into kevin, who's out in the woods because grindr isn't a good enough in riverdale I guess. bettys overwhelmed with this weird hunger, and since nobody except her knows where kevin is, the demon takes hold and she kills and eats kevin.

the next day comes and the entire town appears to be on hold. it's a suffocatingly silent memorial for all the people that died (notably, midge is one of them) and more than that, it's a day dedicated to wallowing in fear. jason blossom's death is still fresh in their minds, fred andrews is hospitalized over potentially a fatal gunshot wound, and now a fire took the lives of multiple high schoolers during what was supposed to be a fun event.

I think betty ends up killing moose in a similar way to how jennifer killed that jock in canon, and shortly after his death both his and kevin's bodies are found. this causes the blackhood to put a temporary hold on releasing his letter, because hal doesn't want his own threats to be muddled with the cannibalistic killer terrorizing the town.

another notable thing with this au is that I think betty treats this demonic part of herself as it is a separate entity entirely, and uses it as a scapegoat for all for her bad actions, like a more extreme version of dark betty. it's easy for her to act like the only reason she's capable of killing people or manipulating people is because of the succubus, especially since she doesn't want to grapple with the notion that she might not be a good person.

betty ends up killing jughead as the colin stand in. she's starving, and desperate, and shortly after the vughead hot tub kiss she lures him into the woods and snaps. it isn't like the other deaths aren't serious, but this one really hits hard.

betty doesn't know how to handle her guilt, so she creates an even starker divide between herself and the succubus, acting like she had no choice in the matter and that jughead's death couldn't be her fault. this helps her deal with the grief.

its around this time that veronica really starts to figure everything out, and after betty tells her about the initial sacrifice, veronica is 100% certain that betty is the one responsible for what happened to kevin, moose, and jughead.

cue the winter dance.

its been a while since betty's killed, and that deep seeded desperation is poking through again. she and veronica have gotten into a few huge fights prior to this, and the tension between them is high, so that combined with her hunger convinces betty to pursue archie as her next victim.

hes in a pretty fragile state since his best friend died about a month ago and similarly to needy and chip in canon, veronica broke up with him for his own protection earlier that week, so it's easy for betty to lead him away to the river.

veronica confronts her there, but it's too late. archie bleeds out, and veronica realizes that this isn't betty anymore, and that she can't be saved.

unlike with needy I don't think veronica is discovered right away. since alice isn't home, veronica has time to leave, but she just doesn't. all of her friends are dead, and she had to watch betty spiral into madness before taking betty's life herself, so the guilt and the grief and the loneliness gets to her, and she accepts defeat, laying besides betty's corpse and crying until alice finally shows up and finds her.

-

that's the rough description of the au! sorry it's so long, it follows the movie almost plot for plot so there's a lot to cover lmaoo. if you guys have any questions about it feel free to lmk! I always love talking about my aus :)

[maandarinee]

what are all the podcasts you listen to?

anon I'm so glad you asked

Since it is a pretty long list including synopses (stolen from the podcast feed or website because I'm Bad at summaries and in some cases it's been a while since I listened) I'm going to put it under a cut.

I've separated the list into "Complete" (either finished or cancelled) and "Ongoing" podcasts. Some have additional comments by me. Current favorites are marked orange. My eternal beloved are Our Fair City and Wolf 359.

Complete

ars PARADOXICA: "When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe."

Blackwood: "Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grew out of their control, as they discovered that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace." --> [this feels like the Blair With Project, but as a podcast. Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

Dreamboy: "Dane, a spun-out musician spending the winter in Cleveland, Ohio, has two main goals: keeping his job at the Pepper Heights Zoo and trying not to waste all his time on Grindr. What he doesn’t expect is to get swept into a story about dreams, about forevers, about flickering lights, about unexplained deaths, about relentless change, and about the parts of ourselves that we wish other people knew to look for. Oh, and also a murderous zebra." --> [very NSFW; does cool things with music! Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

King Fall AM: "...centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants." --> [cancelled after 100 episodes, ends on a huge cliffhanger]

Our Fair City: "A campy, post-apocalyptic audio drama." --> [I know the description sounds like nothing but just trust me, I love it so much]

Steal the Stars: "...is a gripping noir science fiction thriller in 14 episodes: Forbidden love, a crashed UFO, an alien body, and an impossible heist unlike any ever attempted."

Stellar Firma: "...a weekly Science Fiction, Comedy podcast following the misadventures of Stellar Firma Ltd.'s highest born but lowest achieving planetary designer Trexel Geistman and his bewildered clone assistant David 7. Join them each episode as they attempt to take listener submissions and craft them into the galaxy's most luxurious, most expensive and most questionably designed bespoke planets. However, with Trexel's corporate shark of a line manager Hartro Piltz breathing down their necks and I.M.O.G.E.N., the station's omnipresent and omniinvasive stationwide A.I. monitoring those necks to within 3 decimal places, they'll be lucky to make it a week before being slurried and recycled into raw human resources." --> [semi-improvised, I thought I'd have a problem with the improv bit because that's not usually my thing, but no, I absolutely devoured this]

TANIS: "...is a serialized docudrama about a fascinating and surprising mystery: the myth of Tanis. Tanis is an exploration of the nature of truth, conspiracy, and information. Tanis is what happens when the lines of science and fiction start to blur." [+ spinoff The Last Movie] --> [I have no clue what the hell is going on here]

The Black Tapes: "...is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's searc for truth, her enigmatic subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both."

The Magnus Archives: "...is a weekly horror fiction anthology podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join new head archivist Jonathan Sims as he attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of supernatural statements up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. Individually, they are unsettling. Together they begin to form a picture that is truly horrifying because as they look into the depths of the archives, something starts to look back…"

Time:Bombs: "...a new audio drama podcast about the hilarious world of bomb disposal. Ride along with EOD technician Simon Teller on the busiest night of the year for him and his team - when business is, quite literally, booming."

Wolf 359: "Life's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's sentient, often malfunctioning operating system Hera. He doesn't have much to do for his job other than monitoring static and intercepting the occasional decades-old radio broadcast from Earth, so he spends most of his time creating extensive audio logs about the ordinary, day-to-day happenings within the station. But the Hephaestus is an odd place, and life in extremely isolated, zero gravity conditions has a way of doing funny things to people's minds. Even the simplest of tasks can turn into a gargantuan struggle, and the most ordinary-seeming things have a way of turning into anything but that." --> [starts funny, turns very intense]

Ongoing

Alba Salix, Roya Physician (+ The Axe & Crown): "A witch, her apprentice, and her fairy herbalist treat the ills of a fairy-tale kingdom." + "Gubbin the troll tavernkeeper deals with his clueless new landlord, his shady niece, and some new competition."

Archive 81: "A found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound."

Arden: "A (fictional) true crime podcast about cold cases and the reporter and detective who try to solve them."

Brimstone Valley Mall: "The year is 1999. Lurking somewhere between Hot Topic and the food court, five misfit demons from Hell kill time inciting sin in a suburban shopping mall. When the lead singer of their band goes mysteriously missing, the demons only have two weeks to find him before they play the biggest gig of the millennium - or face the wrath of Satan herself."

CARAVAN: "First rule of Wound Canyon: No one who gets in, ever gets out. So when a brilliant, ghostly specter flies through the sky amid the rain and lightning, Samir stumbles off a steep cliff and into a hidden world, one in which demons, vampires, and all other manner of paranormal creatures take sanctuary." --> [also pretty NSFW and horny in general]

Death by Dying: "The Obituary Writer of Crestfall, Idaho finds himself deeply in over his head as he investigates a series of strange and mysterious deaths… when he is supposed to simply be writing obituaries. Along the way he encounters murderous farmers, man-eating cats, haunted bicycles, and a healthy dose of ominous shadows." --> [I had to stop listening to this in public because it kept making me undignified laugh and snort noises]

Desperado: "Blood magic, Voodoo magic, old gods, new gods: We've got it all! Follow the story of misfits from all over the world, as they try to survive and protect their heritage from modern-day crusaders."

EOS 10: "Doctors in space, a deposed alien prince, a super gay space pirate and a fiery nurse who'll help you win your bar fight."

Girl In Space: "Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out. Listen as the story unfolds for science, guns, trust, anti-matter, truth, beauty, inner turmoil, and delicious cheeses. It’s all here. In space."

Janus Descending: "...follows the arrival of two xenoarcheologists on a small world orbiting a binary star. But what starts off as an expedition to survey the planet and the remains of a lost alien civilization, turns into a monstrous game of cat and mouse, as the two scientists are left to face the creatures that killed the planet in the first place. Told from two alternating perspectives, Janus Descending is an experience of crossing timelines, as one character describes the nightmare from end to beginning, and the other, from beginning to the end." --> [absolutely harrowing horror]

Love and Luck: "...is a fictional radio play podcast, told via voicemails and set in present day Melbourne, Australia. A slice of life queer romance story with a touch of magic, it follows the relationship between two men, Jason and Kane, as their love grows both for each other and their community." --> [soft and gay, feels like a warm hug]

Potterless: "Join Mike Schubert, a grown man reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, as he sits down with HP fanatics to poke fun at plot holes, make painfully incorrect predictions, and bask in the sassiness of the characters." --> [the only non-fiction podcast on the list]

Primordial Deep: "When a long extinct sea creature washes up on the shores of Coney Island, marine biologist Dr. Marella Morgan is contacted by a secret organization to investigate the origins of the creature’s sudden and unnatural resurgence. Soon, she and a team of experts find themselves living on the research station The Tiamat, traveling along the abyssal plains as they search for answers far below the waves. But there are dangers in these ancient waters. Reawakened, prehistoric monsters are rising from the deep -- jaws wide and waiting, and in the darkness, something is stirring."

Red Valley: "No one at Overhead Industries wants to talk about defunct research station Red Valley, and account man Warren Godby is out of his depth. When he meets Gordon Porlock, a disgruntled archivist with a bag of tapes from the station’s last known occupant, they will begin a journey to the limits of experimental science, confront horror and trauma from the past, present and future, and try to remember the cheat codes from Sonic the Hedgehog 2."

Rusty Quill Gaming: "An actual play podcast following a mixed ability group of comedians, improvisers, gamers, and writers as they play through the extended, tabletop roleplaying campaign Erasing the Line, an original game world of the GM’s crafting." --> [took me a while to get into because I have trouble focusing on non-scripted things, but eventually I got really hooked on the plot and attached to the characters. This podcast is really fucked up at times if you think about it]

SAYER: "A narrative fiction podcast set on Earth’s man-made second moon, Typhon. The eponymous SAYER is a highly advanced, self-aware AI created to help acclimate new residents to their new lives, and their new employment with Ærolith Dynamics." --> [feels like Welcome to Night Vale but narrated by GLaDOS from Portal]

StarTripper!!: "Join Feston Pyxis on a road-trip through the cosmos, as he leaves behind his old life in search of the best and wildest experiences the galaxy has to offer!"

The Amelia Project: "...is a secret agency that fakes its clients' deaths, then lets them reappear with a brand new identity! A black comedy full of secrets, twists... and cocoa."

The Big Loop: "...a biweekly anthology series. Each episode is a self-contained narrative exploring the strange, the wonderful, the terrifying, and the heartbreaking. Stories of finite beings in an infinite universe." --> [I don't like anthologies, except this one]

The Bright Sessions: "Dr. Bright provides therapy for the strange and unusual; their sessions have been recorded for research purposes." --> [think X-Men, but with therapy instead of a school]

The Deca Tapes: "Recordings have surfaced of ten people that are locked into the same space together. We don’t know where they are, or if they'll get out. But the answers must be somewhere on these tapes."

The Silt Verses: "Carpenter and Faulkner, two worshippers of an outlawed god, travel up the length of their deity’s great black river, searching for holy revelations. As their pilgrimage lengthens and the river’s mysteries deepen, the two acolytes find themselves under threat from a police manhunt, but also come into conflict with the weirder gods that have flourished in these forgotten rural territories."

The White Vault: "Follow the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of Svalbard and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below."

Tides: "...is the story of Dr. Winifred Eurus, a xenobiologist trapped on an unfamiliar planet with hostile tidal forces. She must use her wits, sarcasm and intellectual curiosity to survive long enough to be rescued. But there might be more to life on this planet than she expected." --> [think The Martian, but on a water planet]

Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery: "Lillian Harper moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents."

VAST Horizon: "Nolira is an agronomist tasked with establishing agriculture in a new solar system, but when she wakes up on a now- empty colony ship, the whole of her plan disappears. The ship has been set adrift, with numerous mission-critical problems requiring immediate attendance outside of her area of expertise. Nolira is aided by the ship’s malfunctioning AI, which acts as her confidant and companion during the fight for survival."

Victoriocity: "Even Greater London, 1887. In this vast metropolis, Inspector Archibald Fleet and journalist Clara Entwhistle investigate a murder, only to find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of impossible proportions."

We Fix Space Junk: "...follows seasoned smuggler Kilner and reluctant fugitive Samantha as they travel the galaxy, dodging bullets and meeting strange and wonderful beings as they carry out odd jobs on the fringes of the law."

Welcome to Night Vale: "Twice-monthly community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, where every conspiracy theory is true. Turn on your radio and hide."

Within the Wires: "Stories told through found audio from an alternate universe."

Wooden Overcoats: "Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family's failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor - the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in the business…" --> [one of THE funniest podcasts I have ever listened to]

[hiding-under-the-willow]

👀

Here's an unfinished fic I was writing earlier this year for a Stan Frederick/EMH Crossover AU. I posted some parts of it when I was originally working on it but I never actually finished writing it (and I probably won't since the new season of SF is coming out) so it never got posted. It literally ends midsentence and I'm not gonna go back and reread the whole thing before I post it but I remember it being good so here you go.

_____

"If we are ever that desperate... " He had trailed off, not even wanting to finish the thought, perhaps not realizing that he may not have been the desperate one after all.

*****

It had been almost a year since the events of 'Amendments'. Almost a year of freedom. Well, kinda. Stan didn't quite know if he would call it freedom. Sure, he was free of Connor, of the monsters that had haunted his past life, but he was on the run, knowing that his monster would be back for the rest of him once it realized it had missed a piece. Sure he was free, but what was freedom if you weren't even really alive to enjoy it, if you were constantly on the run, and if you couldn't go back to the ones you loved for fear of dragging them back down the rabbit hole with you. In this sense, Stan didn't consider himself anymore free than he had been in those years where the monster had lost it's effect on him and he was actually able to help people.

Help people. That wasn't something he quite did anymore either. Obviously he couldn't go back to his position as a 'signal disruptor', that would just pull him back into the fray, and that certainly wasn't an option. Plus, being what he was now, dead but not really, in a way he was just the type of monster he would've been called to investigate in the first place.

A Corruptelum. That's the name he had given to beings like himself back in the old days of investing monsters. Alive, but not quite, a shadow of his former self. He didn't quite like the name anymore, and he wasn't able to rationalize between whether that was because he actually felt the title didn't fit or if he just couldn't quite recognize himself as one of them under that name. Either way it made him uncomfortable applying the term to himself and often he did his best not to think about it, though it was rather hard not to think about, considering his situation.

He had been traveling from place to place, exploring the country as a way to distract himself and stay safe while avoiding places like Maine, New Jersey, Alabama, and Florida, where he knew the monsters often lurked or had victims they were already hunting. Sometimes he fell into the routine of travel so easily that it was almost like he was back on the road investigating again and he almost forgot everything that had led him to this point. Almost.

The only place he could truely cease thought was sleep. Sure, being what he was, he didn't need sleep, but it was a small comfort from his past that he wasn't easily able to abandon in his new form. Most nights were dreamless, an upside considering that almost any dream he did occasionally have seemed to be a nightmare about his monster coming back to collect the pieces it had missed. Even the rare times he had a normal dream he found himself saddened knowing that the dream scenarios he came up with were never going to be real.

Tonight, Stan was almost sure he was having a nightmare when he awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. Well, not quite unfamiliar, the place had a strong hold on his subconscious, he was sure he knew where he was, but he couldn't remember exactly why the place did feel so familiar to him. Either way, it wasn't where he had fallen asleep, and that was never a good sign.

Stan pushed himself to his feet, the air around him crackling with static energy, as if it knew he didn't belong and was trying to push him out. He could sense supernatural power in the house, something that almost felt like a protective force surged through the walls of the home, but more importantly, there was definitely someone, or something, in the house with him, and close too. Alarms were immediately going off in his head. He was starting to realize that this may not have been a nightmare.

He heard the opening and closing of a door somewhere nearby and suddenly the lights flicked on. He blinked to adjust his vision out of instinct, though he didn't actually need to since light levels didn't affect his vision the way it would have if he were truely alive. He was in some sort of livingroom type area, and judging by the small window near the ceiling he thought he may have been in a basement.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the large room. Stan whirled around to face whoever it was walking up on him and was met by a face he had never wanted to see in person. His eyes went wide and he was sure he looked horrified at the realization of where he was. The creature facing him grinned wildly at his terrified expression, a low chuckle escaping his lips as he leaned against the wall casually, looking Stan up an down like a predator would it's prey.

"Stan Frederick, you are a hard man to find." He announced, his voice was rough and low, edged with an echoey static that hinted at his not so human origins. "Or should I call you Evan? That is your real name, right?"

Stan narrowed his eyes, causing his opponents grin to widen further. "Why did you bring me here Habit?" He jumped straight to the point, feigning confidence. He wasn't going to allow Habit to play with him the way he had seen the creature do to others before him.

"Oh, come on, ease up Stan, I'm not gonna hurt you." He paused, chuckling, "... Yet."

Stan took a step back to distance himself, "What do you want?" He questioned bluntly, refusing to give in to Habit's teasing.

"Man, you are seriously no fun." Habit whined sarcastically, standing up straight and stretching his back, the popping of his joints echoing through the room, putting Stan on edge. Well, more than he had been before that is. "And so rude too. You see, I'm trying to be nice to ya' pal, which isn't a pleasure I allow all my guests," His eyes narrowed to a sharp glare as he snarled like the feral monster he was, "So I don't exactly take nicely to your standoffish attitude." His voice was low and threatening, sharp like the edge of a freshly sharpened knife, that demonic undertone that hinted at his true form becoming more prominent.

Stan grimaced, knowing this encounter wouldn't end well if he were to be too stubborn with the creature before him. Habit's rabid smile returned as he realized that Stan understood his thinly veiled threats and would almost certainly be more willing to cooperate.

"So, Stan, buddy, how have things been for you lately?" He questioned, mischievous and arrogant as ever, his lazy, threatening grin gracing his lips once more and his voice sounding almost normal once more. To the point where if an unwitting friend of Evan's were to hear him speak they might just mistake the creature inhabiting their friend's body for their actual friend.

Stan had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes at the question, "Well, you know, not great honestly, considering everything that happened." He answered honestly, annoyance and contempt edging his words.

Habit's grin widened. It was exactly the answer he had wanted and though the words that left his mouth were relaxed and calm, almost lazy, it was obvious he had prepared for this before hand.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you had an... incident, about a year ago, right?" He didn't wait for Stan to respond, continuing with an ever widening smile, "That was a pretty interesting trick you pulled on the old stick-in-the-mud, kind of impressive if I'm being honest." He paused for a second, looking as if he was thinking, "What is it that you called creatures like yourself again?"

He walked across the room theatrically as he continued, his gaze intense, "Alive but not really, a shadow of your former self, a broken puzzle missing its pieces!" He looked to Stan with an excitement in his eyes. Stan was sure at this point that Habit had been preparing for this exact moment for a while.

"A corruptelam." His voice was low and calm, corrupt as ever, "That's what you called them, right?"

If it wasn't for the fact that Stan could quite literally feel the supernatural power flowing off of this creature in waves he may have lashed out. Hearing someone else call him by that title, it hit him hard in a way he hadn't realized it would. He very suddenly regretted coining the term in the first place, as accurate as it was. It was just so dehumanizing. He realized all at once that that was the reason why he had felt uncomfortable applying the title to himself for all this time, the implied lack of humanity that came along with it. For so long, in a world surrounded by monsters, the one thing he had been certain about was his own humanity, the thing that separated him from the creatures before him and joined him with the rest of the world, as fucked up as that world might've been at times. A pit grew in his stomach as the entity before him smiled wickedly at his crestfallen expression.

"Oh, you don't like that, do you?" Habit questioned, amusement clear in his voice.

"Shut up... " Stan's voice was quiet, but commanding.

"But you were the one that coined the term Evan, it's what you are, why is it that you seem so upset then?"

"Stop. Whatever you want, I want no part of it." Stan told him, his voice a bit stronger as he grew angrier at the homicidal entity's mind games. Hearing the creature mutter his real name wasn't helping either. He knew he was being manipulated, but all the same he knew it was effective manipulation, and that scared him more than any title he could be given.

"You say that now, but I have a feeling you'll want to hear me out." Habit smugly suggested.

"And I'm telling you that I don't deal with murderous, baby eating gods with anger issues and a want for war." Stan held his ground, but he honestly wasn't as confident as he sounded.

Habit's face fell, it wasn't hard to tell he was getting tired of Stan's defiance and he didn't try to hide it either.

"Stan, I swear to god, if you don't shut up and hear me out I will feed what's left of you to the old stick-in-the-mud as if I was Micheal goddamn Andersen."

Stan froze. The threat, despite everything, still scared him. The possibility of that monster winning after all the effort he had gone through to make few sure it didn't, it was, in a way, the perfect threat.

"Fine." Stan begrudgingly gave in, arms crossed "Make your offer."

"Perfect." Habit's grin returned as if nothing had happened, "Now Stan, I don't know if you've ever stopped to consider this, but I think it's quite obvious that we share a common enemy."

Stan raised an eyebrow.

Habit sighed in exasperation, "Oh, don't play dumb!" He exclaimed, his patience obviously wearing thin, "I know for a fact that you're not on the stick-in-the-mud's good side, and if you're even half as aware or intelligent as I think you are, then you know that we don't exactly get along well either."

"And?" Stan questioned, just as exasperated as Habit was, if not more.

"If you would just let me finish I'd get to it!" Habit growled, his hand slamming down on the small table next to him.

If Stan didn't know as much as he did about the dangerous entity before him he probably would've been a bit entertained by the dramatic being's frustration. Instead he stood facing a seemingly immortal, openly homicidal, self-proclaimed god, with anger issues currently focus entirely on him, and despite being mostly dead, Stan found fear creeping into his subconscious once more.

Habit took a deep breath and composed himself, his now narrowed gaze focusing back on Stan, "Anyways," He hissed, "You probably know this, but I've been working with

[boysdontcryblood]

Chapter Four

[warnings for reform school setting, mentions of non-conventional punishment, and demonic/supernatural elements]

. + . + . + . + . + . + .

Otto had not been looking forward to the weekend. Usually, high school students couldn’t wait for the break from classes, but since they lived in this pathetic excuse of a schoolhouse the students were watched with an even closer eye than usual. Nobody got away with anything on the weekends, and it was not something Otto enjoyed very much. So, needless to say, he was kind of dreading Saturday and Sunday.

That is, until he had found the planchette. 

The thing had just been sitting on the top shelf of one of the cabinets (that Otto had had to use a stepping stool to reach), abandoned and covered in dust, and, honestly, Otto had been doing it a favor by slipping it into his coat pocket. Luckily that bitch Steele hadn’t noticed, and he walked away from the remedial study with a triumphant smirk on his face.

“What’s with the smile? Did you suddenly start getting off on cleaning or something?” asked Awsten as the younger boy hurried to catch up with him. Sergeant Steele had tried his best to keep them separated, and Otto had missed his so-called partner in crime. With Awsten back at his side he felt rejuvenated, and even though his hands hurt like hell the presence of the other boy was enough to permanently cheer Otto up.

With the smirk still growing and widening on his face, Otto grabbed Awsten’s hand and practically dragged him towards their shared dorm room. As soon as they were both inside and the door was locked, Otto pulled out the planchette and tossed it to Awsten.

“What... Where did you-”

“It was just sitting there in one of the closets.”

“You didn’t find the actual board that went with it?”

“I searched the rest of the closets again while Steele went to the bathroom. This was all that I found.”

Awsten hummed, turning the planchette over and over in his hands. It was still kind of dusty, but once Awsten wiped off the dust with his uniform jacket sleeve the smooth black surface seemed to stare directly into his soul.

“Cool. How are we gonna use it without an actual ouija board, though?”

Otto didn’t even blink as he responded. “We could make our own. We’d have to do it in secret, but-”

“Perfect. I’ll google what we need.”

. + . + . + . + . + . + .

Sunday night rolled around, and Otto found himself sitting across from Awsten on their dorm room floor with a brand new ouija board placed between them. The board itself wasn’t much to look at; it was literally a piece of cardboard with letters scrawled on it in Awsten’s rushed handwriting. The planchette was placed in the middle of the board, and the two boys tentatively placed their fingertips on the shiny black object. An electrifying shock ran up and down Otto’s arms, and he shivered.

“Remember, don’t let go until the very end.” Otto nodded solemnly, and Awsten grinned. Otto double checked that the candles and sage were still burning and that the salt barrier remained unbroken before he turned back to Awsten.

“How do we st-”

“Hey, all you ghosts out there! It’s me... uh, your boy, Awsten!”

Otto sighed and rolled his eyes. However, as amusing as Awsten’s introduction had seemed, the planchette remained motionless. 

“Uh, hello? Is anybody there?”

“Let me try,” said Otto. He cleared his throat before speaking. “If there are any ghosts here with us tonight, can you please let us know.”

The planchette didn’t budge.

“Wow, lame.”

“Shut up, dumbass.” Awsten let out a small “hmph” but otherwise did as Otto demanded. Otto let the silence carry on for roughly thirty more seconds before making a second and third attempt. Both ended in failure, and by the end of his third try at talking to ghosts he could see Awsten getting fidgety.

“What now, Awsten?”

“I wanna try again.”

“Go for it.”

Awsten took the lead again, but as soon as he opened his mouth Otto felt something else enter the room. It had no physical form— Otto couldn’t see anybody or anything else in the surrounding area— but there was definitely a third being with them. It wasn’t just a passing spirit or whatever either; no, it was something powerful and evil. The hair on the back of Otto’s neck stood up, and his arms erupted into goosebumps as the temperature in the room dropped suddenly.

Fucking finally.

Awsten made pointed eye contact, his mouth still hanging open, and Otto knew he felt it too. The rational part of his brain, however small it may be, was telling him to stop, to end the ritual and to get out of the room as fast as possible, but-

“Hello there. I’m Awsten, and that’s Otto. Can you tell us your name?”

Too late now.

The negative feeling only got stronger and stronger, and just as Otto was about to suggest ending the ritual the planchette started to move beneath his fingertips.

“Holy shit,” Awsten breathed. Otto didn’t move as the pointer moved to spell out whatever the entity’s name was.

“N...O...N...A...M...E... “No name”?”

Or, uh... maybe not its name. “You don’t have a name?” The planchette slid to the “YES” that was hastily scribbled next to the badly-drawn sun. 

“Cool, okay, you don’t have a name. That’s cool. Do you have anything that we can refer to you as?”

The planchette moved over to the “NO”. 

“Okay, then can you tell us what you are?”

N...O...T...A...G...H...O...S...T

“Not a ghost. Awesome,” Otto muttered. Awsten grinned at him before asking the next question.

“Can we guess what you are? Sort of like a 21 questions type of deal?”

YES

“Alright, so, uh... were you a human before you became what you are now?”

NO

“So you were created as you are?”

YES

This back and forth session continued on for several minutes, with Awsten doing the main portion of the talking, save for when Otto would suggest a question to ask the creature, and answer by answer they approached a conclusion.

“I think I got it,” Awsten whispered. Otto raised his eyebrows at Awsten, as if to try and tell his roommate to get on with it.

“Are you a demon?”

Much to Otto’s conjoined horror and excitement, the planchette moved to the ‘YES’.

“Holy shit,” Awsten said for the second time that night. The planchette moved away, but then returned to the ‘YES’ after a millisecond.

“Oh, you have a sense of humor. Alright, buddy, I have another question for you if that’s alright.”

G...O...A...H...E...A...D

“If you possessed someone— say, me, for a hypothetical situation— what would happen to whoever you possessed? Like, would they get freaky skills and shit, or would it just be a miserable ride-along?”

“Awsten-”

“Not now, Otto, the adults are talking.” 

Otto stared at Awsten in shock as his friend followed the planchette moving over the board. Was he being fucking serious? He didn’t even care about what the demon was saying to Awsten. Sure, he had thought that talking to the demon was fun, but possession was on a whole different level. Even he knew that nothing good could come from Awsten being inhabited by a demon.

By the time Otto finally looked back down to the board, the demon had finished spelling out whatever long and complicated answer it was trying to give. He didn’t know what the demon had said, but Awsten looked pleased enough, which was never a good sign.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“Awsten, please think about this. You don’t know what it’ll do if it has control of your body.”

“Hey, relax. It’s my body, it’s not gonna take total control of me. I’m gonna use it to bust us out of here and beat up all the teachers, and there’s nothing it can do because it’s in my body.”

“A-”

“So, demon. I am totally on board with this possession thing. Tell me how we get started.”

The planchette moved from where it had come to rest in the middle of the board to once again cover the ‘NO’.

“No? What do you mean no?” The planchette remained motionless, but the demon hadn’t yet left. It was ignoring Awsten, or at least refusing to fulfill his wishes. Otto could see Awsten getting visibly madder. He was beginning to regret his decision to go along with this.

“Alright, dickhead, listen up. I’ll make you a deal; you possess me and help me and my friend bust out of this fucking hellhole of a school, and I won’t call a priest to banish you back to hell.”

“Jesus Christ, Awsten!” Otto yelled. Beneath them, the planchette moved again, but it only swirled around the board in figure-eight motions.

“What does that mean? Why is it doing that?” Awsten asked.

“It means it wants to leave the board.” Otto began sliding the planchette over to the ‘GOODBYE’ in order to close the board and release the demon, but Awsten stopped him.

“No, we’re not letting it go until it possesses me! It’s being a little bitch, and I don’t like little bitches.”

That did it. The planchette began to move faster and faster, and both Awsten and Otto had trouble keeping their fingers on it. A strong gust of wind ruffled Otto’s hair, but he was too busy focusing on the planchette that he didn’t pay attention to the wind until it completely obliterated the salt barrier. The candles burned brighter, with the tops of the flames nearly reaching the ceiling, before going out altogether and plunging the room into almost total darkness. Any scent of sage that had been in the air before was now gone.

“Awsten, you pissed it off! Just end it and let it go!” Otto cried out. Awsten didn’t respond, so Otto took that as his cue to end everything. He slid the planchette over to ‘GOODBYE’ again, and as soon as Otto’s hands had reached their destination the wind stopped. The candles were re-lit, and the smell of sage returned. The salt barrier didn't return, but Otto was okay with that. The demon’s presence was no longer in the room, and they were safe.

Otto looked at Awsten, who was glaring right back at him. He was almost as pissed as the demon had been, but Otto wasn’t scared of his roommate.

“You’re not allowed to talk to demons anymore.”

. + . + . + . + . + . + .

tho̕s̸e idiot̷s͝ f̢iņa̵l̕l҉y̧ closȩd͜ ͜t̕h̵e ̸boa͠r̀d͢. i fl̷ed ̢f̴r̴o̴m̷ t̶h͢e r̨o̸o͟m,̧ b͟u̷t̴ i di͠d̸ņ't̶ l͘eave͞ ҉t̸he̡ ͜b҉u͟ildi҉ng͝.͜ ̕th͝ìs was̸ m̨y҉ h͞o͜m̸e—͜ h҉a͜d ̨b̢èȩǹ ͟fo̡r y͜e҉ars—̸ ͏an̶d̷ i ̕w͢a͘s̕n'͟t͜ ab̨o͜u͠t ҉t̴o l͜eav͞e̢ jưs͏t͞ b҉eca͏u͡se͡ s̢o͞me̴ ̡ṕu͝nk di̛sresp̀ect̵e҉d ͠me̶.͘

i͡ ҉m̢ad̨e m̡y͞ ͞way͞ ̡throu̵gh̢ t͏he ͘ha͡l͏ļs of͝ ͡t̢h̛e ́b͜ui̢ldi̸n͟ǵ, ̷tu͜r̶n͝in͏g ͢çorne͘r̨ ͏af͠te̢r ̵cơr̢n̡er ͠a͞ņd͡ d͏odgin͡g͟ s͘everal̷ sp͘i̵r̸i̵ts. one o͘f́ th͜e͞m, a͡ sa͟d͠-look̛inǵ b͠oy wit̛ḩ a͟ ́ba͘seba͝l͞l ͟c̸ap ̨on̵ h͢i̷s̴ hea̸d ͜a҉nd ̀a̸n èlectr͡i͘c g̡uita͢r ̨ín͟ ͢his̕ ḩan͟ḑs,̀ ̡look̢ȩd͢ úp ̷a͢t ̧ḿe as ͟i ͘p̕a͡ss̷e̴d̀, ̨b̵ut i ̸díd̛n'͠t e҉vèn s̸p͢ár҉e h̀i͝m a̕ s̶econd ҉lo͠ok ̴a̢s i̛ ̡w͠eńt҉.̴

i̵ ̀so͡o͘n ͘f̸ound͏ m͡ys̶elf̷ i҉n͝ ̀a̷nǫther dormįt̛ory ̢r҉oom,͡ and͜ ̢i ̵p̵as͠s͝e͝d th͘roug̷h ͢the ̶doo͠r̷ ea͜s̷il͢y enoug͜h͝.͘ ͜t͡wo y͏o͠un̢g ̀me͞n̕ ẁer̨e͢ s͡l̶ee̸p͘i̶ng̢ ̴so̵und҉l̵ý i͝n͘ t͟h̷is͡ ̵ro̴óm, on̶e͠ i̡n ́eac̸h b̕ed,͠ ̢and̷ ͡i҉ appr͞oa͝c̕hed ͡the b͟ed̡ ͝on ̧th̷e ͝r̨igh́t͜ to͏ in̛sp͞e̵ct͜ ͘t͘he͢ ḩu͝m̡an i̵n̸ ͟i̶t.͢ ͏h̀e͡ ͏w̵as ͝p̛al̕e͘,͏ b̡u҉t҉ ̛no͡t́ ̴t̀o͘o p̢a̡l͟e, an͘ḑ ͞h̵ad͠ s҉ho͜rţ dirty̵-blo̵n̶d͜ę ̸hąi͘r.̢ ̨i͟ ̀c͜o͞u͘ld̛ ţel̵l ̛t҉ha̢t ̵hȩ ̶w̕a҉s mi̡s̕er͠a͝b̕le, and̷ i͡ w̕on̴d͢e̸r̕ed͜ if thát̷ ͠w͠a̕s ̢becąusè of̷ the ̢envir̷on̢m̀ènt͜ ͝he͞ ̷w̢às̕ ̕i̛n͡ ǫr ͡i͢f ̧it́ w̧a͞s͟ fo̡r an̵o̵t̕hér r͠easo̵n͠.̢ st̷i̶ll, he̶ b̀o̵r̸ed͟ ́m̧e, an̢d̡ ͠i͟ m̷o̶ved ̸ţǫ ͝lòǫk át ̕the ot͟hér ̕b͜o͜y.͡ ̶

thi͠ş one ̀i̸nterest̛ed͏ ͝m̶e̴ mo̸re.͜ lo͏n͜g ̴b̴londe̷ ̸h̨aír̀, ͝s͏múdge҉d̶ ͡ęy҉eli̵n͟er͠ tha̸t͘ h͠a̸d ̧bee҉n̕ r̵ébe̸l͠liou͜śl͡y͟ áp̢p̢l͟i̢ed̕ b̨èfo͢re ̕bed͟, ͏an̕d ͏s̶ki̵n ̕nea͘r͢l͝y ͜as ̵tr͡an͟slu҉c͜ent a̸s͏ tra̢c͘ing p̨áp͞er.͟ ͜he,͝ to̡o̷, ̡w̶as̢ ̧m̧i͢s̡èrabl͝e, b͠ut ͏h̨i͞s ͏m̸isery ͟c҉a҉l̀l̸ed͟ out t̴o̢ m͏e l̨i͢ke a ̀s͡ongbi͏rd̴. i̧ ͢w͡ou͞l͝d̀ b̨e̡ h̛oldin̸g͘ ̕mỳ b͟r̨e̷at̡h ̨i̢f͢ ͞i ̴hád th҉e͘ a͘bi̕lįty̴ to̴ ͝b̸re̴at̸he͢.҉

he wa̸ś ̢p̧er̨f̕e̷ćt̡.

[lamb-duh]

The following is my WIP. Since My writing style is stop & go this is what I have so far

The world was in ruin. Nearly a century ago a disaster had awoken and decimated modern civilization. Mana had returned to the world and with it 8 divine entities. Each representing its own element. The god of earth shaped the land to its own design, creating its own landmarks. The god nature overtook the cities and bred about new creatures to inhabit the lands. The god of shadows allowed demons to manifest in the world and make deals with the living. The god of lightning eliminated the armies of the governing powers, leaving the survivors to form their own systems. The remaining gods were barely seen, each separating to claim their own throne. The god of fire fled to find home in the hearth of a volcano. The god of water withdrew into the sea. The god of ice is said to live in Antarctica. And finally the god of air drifts around exploring the mountain ranges of the world.

The world from before is nearly unrecognizable. The cities are abandoned, inhabited only by monsters. Communities have moved to rural areas becoming more akin to city states. I grew up in a village named Appleton. It was one of the many villages under the rule of the Lostrego Guild, and as such has a Commander of their ranks placed in charge. Our town was run by a woman named Eden, known as "Eden the Amazon". A fierce warrior trained in hand to hand combat. She taught me how to fight and how to channel my own mana. I owe her my very life and today is the day I betray her wishes.

"Robbie!" booms a woman's voice from down the hall. "Get your lazy ass up!"

"Yeah, yeah," I respond sitting up from my bed. Dawn had barely begun to break. "Hold your damn horses."

I roll out of bed and dress myself in a simple tunic and a pair of pants before heading out to the dining area. There Eden served me my breakfast: scrambled eggs. She had made me them sunny side, over easy, over hard, boiled, poached, and even tried her hands at omelets once or twice. But more often than not she would go back to simply scrambling them. I just stared at them for a moment. Until she ruffled my hair with her callous hands and asked "What’s wrong?" to which I replied "Nothing" while looking up at her. She was very muscular and tanned from the countless days she had spent doing manual labor. Her body was scarred from the monsters she defeated while defending the town. She was a war hardened hero, but I knew how soft she was inside.

I finished my meal and told her thank you before heading out the door to track down my partner in crime, Thrash. Lark N. Thrash was the son of the town doctor, and as such had patched me up many times throughout the years. He was an excellent sparring partner although he had never won anything in his life. It's not that he was incapable, just lacked confidence. Growing up he was bullied for his frail body and while he had grown tall, he remained scrawny with unkempt hair. 

I found him leaning up against a tree, two bags of supplies at his side, in the clearing we had agreed to meet at. I snuck around so I could approach him from behind and as I entered arms reach I hollered, "GOOD MORNING!!" I had never seen someone jump so high.

"Damn it Robbie!" he scolded. "You could get us caught doing something like that."

"Caught by who? Eden's helpin' in the fields today."

"Do you think you should tell her?"

"Did you tell your parents?"

"No…"

"You know they'd stop us. I know they love us, but this is our chance to see the world. Forge our own path! Become our own men!"

"Do you really think we'll make it?"

"Not sure" I laughed. "But that's part of the fun. And besides, we're easily stronger than anyone in this town, minus Eden."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right."

We each picked up our own bag and began our journey east. We had heard a tale of a giant lake that no one could see across. One that engulfed the world in blue. Atlandish. It sounded beautiful and we decided that would be the destination of our quest.

[oosteven-universe]

Dollman Kills the Full Moon Universe #1 Advance Review

Dollman Kills the Full Moon Universe #1 Advance Review Action Lab Danger Zone/Full Moon 2018 Available in person at SDCC then in stores Aug. 01, 2018 Out of the Box Written by Shawn Gabborin Illustrated by Daniel Pascual Coloured by Simon Robins Lettered by Micah Myers Familicide Written by Brockton McKinney illustrated by Bridgit Connell Lettered by Micah Myers     Dollman, a diminutive space-cop, is dead-set on destroying the overflowing evil creatures that inhabit his galaxy! First up? The Demonic Toys! It's a miniature maniac versus a toy box of evil in what could be the beginning of the end for the Full Moon Universe! Grab your popcorn, because the epic destruction begins here!     So the SDCC will contain a story that you won’t be able to see anywhere else so if you are going to be there I suggest you grab one while supplies last! Otherwise there are two stories going on here so we’ll hit them in order. Personally I like books like this as we get to see different teams take on the same lead character which then gives you that really nice work at how different people approach the same material with much different results, no the two stories are separate entities don’t worry the only constant is Dollman.     So first up is the Demonic Toys and it’s really demonstrates what I love about Shawn’s take on and writing of these characters. For the Master a group of kids kills someone whom they believe to be an innocent. This gets the Masters attention only ot exactly how this group of kids were hoping for. They thought a sacrifice would get them power and power comes alright just not how it was imagined it would be. This is the take that makes this a horror story, kind of cliché but done in such a way that it’s incredibly fun to watch unfold.     The interiors here are well done and yes Daniel and Simon get to live out one of those fantasy moments where they can show us how Kaylee’s underwear fits which I found totally unnecessary but hey fanboy moments and all that though let’s at least be equal opportunity about showing off. The linework and the attention to detail here is very nice to see and the utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a nice eye for storytelling. Oh and the guys make these Demonic Toys creepy as hell so there’s that bonus effect too.     It’s a solid premise and story and reminds me why the first issue of Puppet Master pulled me in so completely. Actually this and the second story by Brockton keep showing us why Action Lab Danger Zone remains the best place for Full Moon to be represented because not only do they do the characters justice but they can bring them back to front and centre. There is no getting around how much these stories make you want to revisit the original source material.      Brockton’s turn at the story was kind of brilliantly done as well. I mean there may be 50 Ways to Leave your Lover but Dollman has more ways than that to kill you. This little feature has elements of the Saw franchise in how he goes about killing off the family while not letting anyone else know it’s happening. I think it’s creative, imaginative and downright scary at how effective a killing machine this guy really is. The story is told in such a way that well while we don’t know why the family was targeted that really doesn’t matter all you have to know is that they are or were dangerous.     Again the interiors and the attention to detail here is marvellous! The wallpaper is stunning to me and I'm pretty sure that was done solely in colour. The people, their deaths and everything we see actually has this air of believability to it that was surprisingly nice to see. Not comic book people but real life people that’s how the bodies come across, well except for that monstrous head, and it makes this much more fun and slightly more creepy. ​     This is why Action Lab Danger Zone rules the adult market! It has the kitsch we want and then that’s tweaked, updated and made ten times more creepy than the original source material. This is what FUN should be all about, you can do this kind of work and it comes out in a way that is pure entertainment that is undeniably enjoyable.