#(the school is really massive it's like an entire fucking hospital)

[sleep-nurse]

this school sucks ass holy shit

[corrodedbisexual]

Helping hands (& nails)

Steddie | T | ~5.3k | AO3 link

Written for @steddie-week Day 2: hands

Featuring: Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Homoerotic Wound Care, Flirting, First Kiss, Inexperienced Eddie Munson, Gay Eddie Munson, Confident Bisexual Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson Takes Care of Steve Harrington, Post-Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, POV Steve Harrington

“You literally want me to scratch your back.” Steve groans. “Yes. Definitely, do that. Please.” “Hmm, I love it when they beg.” Steve freezes, speechless for a second. His face suddenly feels several degrees warmer. “Oh my god, shit, sorry, that was—” Eddie begins mumbling awkwardly, moving away, and Steve won’t have it. “Dude, you mind not flirting with me while I’m suffering here?”

It’s a little over a week since Vecna got defeated, and Steve’s got an uninvited guest at his house.

Uninvited is not the same as unwelcome, obviously. Frankly, Steve’s glad to have some company. Really glad. Although technically, Eddie Munson is still supposed to be on bed rest.

Doctor’s orders were two weeks; the demobats got the guy pretty roughed up, taking several juicy bites out of his torso before they all went down along with their master. He got patched up pretty quickly, but his overall weakened state from massive blood loss, the doctors’ concerns of infection and possible Upside Down creature-related consequences, and that annoying little matter of clearing him of the ridiculous murder charges all kept Eddie on a government-sealed floor of the hospital for a whole week, with no visitors allowed.

It’s no wonder that when he was finally discharged to go home, he lasted three whole days before showing up on Steve’s doorstep, unceremoniously inviting himself in and complaining about being so bored he was about to start clawing at the walls of his bedroom.

And, well… It’s Steve’s day off anyway, and his entire planned entertainment for the day was a potential lunch phone call from Robin to gossip and complain about how impossible Kieth is to survive a shift with.

Plus, at least it’s better if Eddie hangs out at his place instead of going out somewhere and doing something stupid that would get him to pop his stitches. Like climbing a tree. Steve hasn’t known Eddie for long, but in a way, he’s known enough to suspect something like that might happen.

But the best part is, Eddie Munson turns out to be really good company. For the first few minutes after the guy arrived, Steve’s a bit worried it would be quiet and awkward; after all, what did they have in common besides the whole Upside Down trauma (definitely not a fun conversation topic)? But the idea that it could be quiet with Eddie around turns out to be absolutely laughable. The guy keeps chatting about anything and everything, from how annoying it is to keep track of all the meds he’s supposed to take to random gossip from the trailer park. He’s vibrant and chaotic, and has a dry deadpan sense of humor that Steve finds himself genuinely laughing at; and pretty soon, he starts wondering if him and Eddie could actually be friends back in high school if the whole ridiculous system of social circles didn’t exist.

Halfway through some other half-finished thought, Eddie suddenly asks, “You hungry? I’m kinda starving, Wayne’s getting groceries tonight and the only option I had for breakfast was, I shit you not, a fucking box of Honeycombs, and honestly? I’d rather eat a demobat. Well, if it was cooked, maybe. Hey, d’you think roasted demobats could be a thing?”

He keeps rambling as he walks, with Steve trailing behind him, grinning and shaking his head because… well, damn. This guy sure is something else. Maybe exactly the kinda something Steve didn’t even know he needed in his life. Honestly, he’d probably say the same thing about Robin last year. Is this some profound universal balance thing? Out of something horrible must come something really good?

Read on AO3 | Divider credit

[justyourtypicalwriter]

I just saw the post SERVICE DOGS HCS PLEASEEE !!!

HERE WE GO GANG! These are the one's I have so far! Feel free to suggest recs for any characters or disabilities y'all wanna see! (feel free to rec it even if it's for a character on the list)

STAN:

Service Dog: Brown Newfoundland, Delta (F)

Psychiatric Alert & Response Dog

Disabilitie(s): Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Minor Psychosis 

The hair dye oh my god. He can rarely drag himself out of bed during depressive episodes but occasionally he’ll get a random burst of impulsivity and re-dye his hair. Most of the time he does the same shitty job at bleaching it blonde

“DARLING! GUESS WHO’S BACK FROM THE PSYCH WARD” vibes

Sharon and Randy officially divorced when he was fifteen. He got a little better now that there isn’t constant screaming or the threat of a drunk or high Randy doing something stupid

Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a total mess-

Patched his relationship with Shelly

Misdiagnosis club AND public breakdown club

God his entire aura just radiates LOSER energy but he’s somehow insanely popular

Not cousins with Craig & Red in this AU but their parents are insanely close so they hang out a lot

CRAIG:

Service Dog: Irish Setter, Saturn (M)

Medical Alert & Response Dog

Disabilitie(s): Epilepsy

Lowkey autistic but Saturn isn’t task trained for anything related to that

Goes non-verbal at times but it’s pretty spontaneous. Most people outside his group can’t tell if he’s actually non-verbal or just not talking to fuck with everyone

Peru drama was secretly worked out when they were twelve. Craig was hospitalized for a while when they were running tests to get a diagnosis, it was roughly a month long stay. He told Stan he’d call it even if Stan looked after Stripe until he was out. Tweek was away for the summer and he knew Stan wouldn’t let anything happen to her since he’s a massive animal lover

Gotta maintain the bitch personality 

TWEEK:

Service Dog: Doberman, Latte (M)

Psychiatric Alert & Response Dog

Disabilitie(s): Chronic Anxiety,

“Ah fuck, the magic school bus is waiting outside to take me back to rehab-”

I kid you not, he was absolutely terrified of Latte when he first got him

Which is funny because Latte is the sweetest goddamn thing, not at all like Fable whose a fucking demon shit

CPS was called on his parents right before senior year

Placed with the Broflovski’s so he and Kyle got closer

Public breakdown club

BUTTERS:

Service Dog: Boxer, Haven (F)

Psychiatric Alert & Response Dog

Disabilities: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression

Public breakdown club (IN DEVELOPMENT)

KYLE:

Service Dog: Black Giant Schnauzer, Noble (M)

Medical & Psychiatric Alert & Response Dog

Disabilities: Diabetes, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)[This one might be switched]

Tubie Kyle (I fucking LOVE this one)

For once I give Kyle an ED that doesn’t stem from body image issues

Humancentipad trauma bc I love being problematic about the episode

DESPISES his lows because it means he has to eat something

Also goes non-verbal but only during times of high stress

Noble is a program dog. Kyle got him when he was 14 and initially he was so against it. He wants to function independently but he really fucking can’t. As he grows older he learns to accept the help more

HATES mirrors. The Humancentipad incident left him with scars

Public breakdown club

KENNY:

Service Dog: Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Harbor (M)

Medical Response & Mobility Aid Dog

Disabilities: Muscular Dystrophy, Chronic Pain

Regularly hospitalized, fucking dies, and revives the next day

DUMPSTER DOG<3333

He trained Harbor mostly by himself (Wendy, Tolkien, and Kyle pitched in a bit and bought him books on training techniques)

MOM FRIEND! Bro I just love making Kenny one of the parental figures of the group. He’s just got a bag of shit he carries around for both himself and everyone else. Stan forgot to swap his bandages? Boom, Kenny’s got new ones. Kyle’s sugar is low? Boom, he’s got whatever little snack the boy is able to tolerate. Someone needs a distraction? Medical episode causes them to need a vomit bag? Boom, done. Mom friend Kenny

So fucking ADHD

JIMMY:

Service Dog: Grey Great Dane, Kitty (F)

Mobility Aid Dog (IN DEVELOPMENT)

TOLKIEN:

Service Dog: Papillon, Jax (M) (IN DEVELOPMENT)

WENDY:

Service Dog: Black German Shepherd, Nike (F)

Psychiatric Alert & Response

Disabilities: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (IN DEVELOPMENT)

CLYDE:

Service Dog: Husky, Fable (F) (IN DEVELOPMENT)

BEBE:

Service Dog: Golden Retriever, Bucky (M)

Medical Alert & Response Dog

Disabilities: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)

Misdiagnosis club

Went to multiple doctors from 13-15 who all told her it was all in her head

And she’s just sitting there like “bitch please, the only thing in my head is my girlfriend and how hot she is. Now tell me why I keep experiencing these symptoms-”

HEIDI:

Service Dog: Chocolate Labrador, Isa (F)

Psychiatric Alert & Response Dog

Disabilities: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Public breakdown club (IN DEVELOPMENT)

[crushedsweets]

How did Nurse Ann die in your au??

She's one of my faves and I rlly want to hear your take on her backstory

-💉anon

PERFECT QUESTION OK. ok . man ok. i have a lot to say cw for abuse, torture, kidnapping, etc. typical creepypasta style stuff

annemarie mia was born into a rowdy family in NYC. She had two older brothers & one younger brother. each were 1-3 years apart. Her older brothers were pretty cruel to her and her little brother. she turned it right back onto her little brother. biting, spitting, smothering him in his sleep, stealing his food so he goes hungry, cutting him. she'd been so mean since he was so little, she's threatened to kill him so many times, so he kept it to himself. he was beyond happy when, at 18, she moved out without a word.

by 27, annemarie was a neet. no job, school, social skills - she was unpleasant to be around, really snappy and bitchy and generally had a nasty attitude. cut off her entire family just because she didn't want to deal with the emotional labor. went through some pretty difficult shit to make a living.

and not that anyone really asked how she owned a decent little home in the more rural parts of tuscaloosa county, but she'd attribute it to inheritance, generational shit, the sort. she would be lying

she went by 'nurse ann' online, hosting a 'red room' service on the dark web thats exactly what the urban legend entails. what made her stood out is that she preformed in a dominatrix style, fitted with leather straps, studs, whips, corsets- had a generally more 'sexy' atmosphere to it. her audience liked the way she followed some sort of hospital roleplay half the time with the nurse dress, medical equipment, syringes, etc.

again, its an urban legend, but her red room is basically taking donations alongside requests for certain torture methods on her victim. depending on the price, she could cut off some fingers, use acid, rip out their teeth, skin them, whatever the fuck her audience could ask for - and she has quite the fanbase, too. most of her streams lasted days, sometimes she'd turn it off and come back, sometimes she'd just leave the victim there writhing on camera the entire night. even after they died, she'd dissect them to keep up the nurse persona, making a whole show of it - showing off her body and her sadism all in one. she wanted to make the most money she could

she mostly acquired her victims from dirty, dingy bars where she'd drug whoever she wanted to bring home. drag them into her truck, dump them into her basement way out in the middle of nowhere, set up her camera, shimmy her way into some leather, and make thousands in a single night. she typically preferred men, but if enough people paid for her to bring in a woman, she would.

very very very rarely she'd let an audience member interested in their own murder, an autassassinophiliac, come onto her stream. it'd be a whole ordeal, they'd have to already send a fucking massive sum of money before she even considers it. always brings a fully loaded gun, drugs that she expects them to take right in front of her, cuffs, so on and so forth - too much work and too much risk most of the time, hence the rarity of this occasion.

she fucked up one day. quickly, the man over powered her & beat her unconscious. she woke up in a completely unfamiliar location, hung by her hands like she was meat at a butchers. she was dressed in a shitty nurse outfit, and a camera was set up right in front of her.

what happened to her that night was karma. he dismembered her on camera, with many of her own fans waiting for the footage of him taking out her left eye, her hands, her arms, her legs. the only reason he didn't live stream was because he had no signal.

she slipped in and out of consciousness for the first portion of her torture, until she began to bleed out. she died when he began setting up the tools so he could stitch her right back up and make a doll of her, keep something to keep the 'fans' happy.

he brought her to an abandoned hospital in the middle of a forest. her murderer didn't fully know where he even brought her. slenderman was not very happy about all the mess he made

kate, coming from a mine less than a mile from the hospital, was notified that a human was in the forest. after a short sprint, she begins stalking through the hospital as the man is finishing up his work.

theres a bit of a chase between the two, until kate does her job and kills him with a random weapon he left around.

kates not really paying attention to annemarie's corpse, she's just dragging the mans body somewhere for her to dispose. it takes a couple hours for kate to get it handled, and by time she's coming back to the hospital to deal with annemarie, she gets the shit scared out of her when the woman is walking around. stumbling and already rotting, but walking nonetheless. even introduced herself as 'nurse ann'.

kate had to get that figured out cuz it was really freaky.

anyway, zalgo had a part in ann's "revival." he's another entity trapped in slendermans forest, similar to the operator but significantly weaker. he keeps infecting corpses and bringing them back, partly hoping they can be used as puppets (but he fails to get into their head) and partly trying to cause trouble for slenderman.

he can only bring back people who die in the forest who aren't killed by proxies slenderman/the operator, since the corpses are 'locked' otherwise

but yea :3 she's fun

[artificial-transmutations]

Closer Than Flesh - Catharsis

The sensation is both new and familiar to Skyler. Infusing himself with the essence of the angelic magic of Seraphisar has changed how Skyler experiences the change. The powerful demonic magic still resonates within his being, but this time, Skyler is not permeated by it. The divine power within him is like a force field, allowing him to observe the unfolding vision without losing himself in it.

That is, however, not the only thing that is different. Skyler has gotten so used to experiencing the life of Baelnath, the demon, that he is more than surprised to find himself watching a scene in his personal past.

No, not his own past, Skyler has to correct himself. Although his seven year old self is in the scene, the focus is clearly on the new kid that is brought to the playground, feeling insecure and curious.

"Why don't you play with that boy over there while I finish up things?" asks his mother and leaves the small boy with Skyler in the sandbox. Skyler regards him with big eyes before asking: "What's your name?"

"Jake." answers Jake.

Skyler smiles brightly. "I think I like you, Jake!"

The scene changes and Skyler watches Jake grow up. Elementary school, high school, birthdays, that time in hospital when Jake broke his leg. Jake being sad and crying his heart out, Jake being so happy he sheds tears of joy.

In most of the scenes, Skyler himself is present. He and Jake really have been best friends, for almost their entire life.

Of course, there are also private moments that Skyler witnesses that he hasn't been part of. Jake's first girlfriend, his first kiss, his first time, his first breakup. Private breakdowns over having to manage an adults life, quiet evenings in front of the TV. Finally, Skyler re-experienced the start of their unlikely adventure through the eyes of Jake. Skyler coming into the apartment with the magic stone, changing into Jake's cock, then a wild goose chase through all the bodies they had to change into, right up to the final confrontation with Baelnath and, subsequently the fight they had in Norway.

Skyler doesn't experience Jake's emotions as he has with Baelnath’s in the previous visions, but it is clear to him that the Jake who leaves Norway in the end is a far way from the funny and caring Jake who started this journey with Skyler.

***

Jake is furious. To think that he has called this traitor Skyler his friend is infuriating. If he wasn't a part of Jake's own body, he would have given him a beating right there and then. He would have fucking killed him!

What was that asshole thinking? It is certainly not a little dick's decision what to do with a weapon like that. But it is clear to Jake now that Skyler just wanted that power for himself, from the beginning.

It matters little. Jake has used the magic stone with ease. He is going to Baelnath now to strike a new deal, a better one with him. The demon will surely know how to remove that traitor from his body.

Jake watches impatiently as the burly Norwegian sailors body changes. It always feels good, but this time, it's especially arousing.

His overall build slims down somewhat. It's still impressive and muscular, but in a chiseled way rather than the massive form he had just a few moments ago. His height also reduces somewhat until he measures below two meters now.

All these changes are shadowed by the more drastic transformations happening to him. His skin darkens considerably, first like a deep tan, then like a dark skinned person. It doesn't stop there, however, but it continues to darken until it is pitch black with a hint of purple to it. It looks unnatural, but Jake somehow loves the way his muscles are pronounced under the black, leathery skin. His hands and feet’s nails grow into claws with a hint of purple as well, and a broad, muscular tail grows in behind him, helping him balance and giving him a menacing look.

That is underlined by the next change as well: dark purple spikes erupt from his shoulders and his tail making him look even more dangerous. His obscenely large erection also changes. The length of his cock which is covered in the same pitch black skin as the rest of him grows purple headed barbs on the downside. Perfect for bringing him pleasure - and anyone he fucks with that tool pain and pleasure beyond their imagination.

Finally, his head changes: His face grows brutish and horned, while his mouth grows into a menacing muzzle, filled with sharp and bloody teeth. It is the face of a predator. A cruel and horned predator.

Jake snorts. His body has the size and stature of a fully grown human male, but he looks like a demon, as he should be. As he was meant to be. He is no longer Jake, the human, but Jake, the demon.

Jake makes a fist and flexes his powerful muscles. He feels powerful and superior in more than one way. It is as all his previous bodies were just a road leading here, to his final and perfect form. Even without using the sigil stone, he is able to conjure swirling purple energy around his fist with ease. The magic feels different, though - it's not the magic of the demon Baelnath anymore that he commands, it is his own. He has power of his own, and it makes Jake smile an evil and superior smile, as he looks down to his large erection.

"Seems like the tables have turned, traitor!" he says with his new voice. Smooth and masculine, a stark contrast to his brutish face, but with a commanding tone in it.

"I am the one with the power now. Say goodbye, little cock!"

Skyler is still processing what he has just seen and what has become of his friend Jake as the latter evokes dark purple swirling energy around his hands and directs it down to Skyler's cock body.

"Die, traitor!" Jake shouts with satisfaction as his magic envelopes his cock, hopefully freeing him from the pestering presence of Skyler once and for all.

However, as the purple clears, Jake can still feel the consciousness as clearly as before. With an angry snort, he conjures even more power, when a nearby clearing of a throat interrupts him.

"That won't work." A voice states. It's not a big and booming voice, but a somewhat meek and calm one.

Only now Jake looks around. He is in some kind of palace, in a big room. A throne room obviously. On the second gaze, this palace is clearly *wrong* in more than one way. Out of the large windows, Jake can see a hellish landscape with fire and brimstone. However, it's neither hot nor stinks of sulfur in here. There are other concerning features of the building he is in, though. Everything around him seems to be made of the living transformed bodies of men. Some barely recognizable anymore, and some almost unchanged.

The voice however did not come from any of the men the palace is made of, but a small humanoid figure standing next to one pillar, who is watching Jake through his big yellow eyes. He is clearly a demon, too: His eyes are bright yellow, and his entire cloaked figure is covered in black raven feathers. It's hard to judge, but he seems to be small, and Jake doesn't feel very frightened by his appearance, at least compared to himself.

"What won't work? My demon magic will end him!" Jake snorts.

The smaller demon sighs and shakes his head. "It's not that easy. The name is Mog'Tol by the way." Mog'Tol says.

"What do you mean it's not that easy?! I have seen what magic can do! Why can't I get rid of him?"

"Well, yes." Mog'Tol says in a friendly tone while walking around the hall, feeling the living walls and pillars occasionally. "Magic sure is powerful, and from what I can tell, you have become quite the powerful demon yourself. However, there are actually three reasons why you can't just 'get rid of him' like that. This information comes free, by the way."

Jake feels a bit of rage at the didactic voice but restrains himself. Something about the smaller demon is off, his instincts tell him.

"First, while you are certainly a powerful demon now, you have your own kind of magic, your personal power if you so will. You will have to discover the specifics of that power yet, but it most certainly is different in what it can do from Baelnath's power. His magic is one of transformation of the male body. Yours... I have a hunch it might be related to dominating men, but ultimately, you will have to discover that yourself. It might or might not be capable of removing... him."

Jake nodded reluctantly. That made some sense to him.

"Second, he is protected by the angelic power he acquired..."

"Stole!", interjects Jake, growing angry over the situation again.

"Apologies. The angelic power he *stole*. It is not easily possible to circumvent this protection." Mog'Tol added.

"And third, there are rules to magic, even and especially the magic of a demon. One, perhaps the most important rule, is that the magic of a demon can only ever be undone by the same power that cast it - or a miracle from above. A demon cannot undo another demon's magic, and that's final."

"So, since it was Baelnath's stone, I'll have to use the same stone to get rid of him?" Jake asks.

Mog'Tol has now reached the throne, made of the twisted body of multiple men and looks at it for a moment before turning back to Jake.

"That won't work either. You are a demon now, and while you could probably absorb the power of Baelnath if you manage to get it out of the stone, you cannot just use another demon's magic the way you could as a human. Sorry about that."

"But Baelnath could do it! Where is he? Are you one of his servants?" Jake asks, slowly losing his patience.

"I am not. I am independent if you like to see it that way. However, I do know that Baelnath is not home right now - this is where we are, by the way. He will surely return at some point, but even in his weakened state I do not know if you are much of a match for him, as inexperienced as you are..."

Jake snorts again and begins to answer, as he feels his mind being overwhelmed by the treacherous *other* consciousness in his body, quickly gaining control.

"Sorry for interrupting." Skyler says, controlling Jake's demon body again. "You seem to know a lot, and I know that you trade with secrets. Jake is not a real demon, you know that. How can I turn him back?"

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise." Mog'Tol says with a thin smile and sits down on the large throne, letting his legs dangle since they don't reach the ground. "I was wondering if we get to talk. Not even Baelnath even knows that you're there, do you know that? You did a good job protecting your little friend here, from what I heard."

"Please, Mog'Tol!" Skyler begs. "I can't do this for long. Just answer my questions, please."

Mog'Tol leans back and smiles a bit broader. "As you have said, I trade with secrets. What secrets do you have in exchange?"

Skyler should have expected that. He frantically searches his memory, but nothing comes to mind. That damn sly demon already seems to know everything.

"How about... the name of the angel?" Skyler tries his best.

Mog'Tol laughs. "What would I need that for?" Before Skyler can answer further, Mog'Tol interjects. "But I really want to see how this whole story ends, and I have my own reasons, too. So, I'll give you a credit."

Mog'Tol readjusts his seating and leans forward.

"Jake is a real demon by all means. Demons are not born, they are made. Creatures come to hell all the time: Dead people, spirits, even angels. Some very rare cases leave this place again, mostly angels. But the majority of those who come to hell stay in hell. Most perish and their souls fuel the inferno. But in some very rare cases, the individuals who come here are strong enough to resist, yet not strong enough to leave. Those transform into demons, by their own power."

That information hits. His glimmer of hope had been that Jake wasn't a 'real' demon, so he could still save him. Skyler's thoughts are racing.

"'By their own power' - that means I can't use the stone to reverse this, since it was Jake's own magic that did it?"

Mog'Tol looks surprised for the first time in the conversation. "Very good! You did pay attention! There might still be hope for you after all."

The demon pauses for a moment before speaking again: "Now, excuse me as I vacate the area. I certainly don't want to be present when the original owner of the body is back in control."

"Wait!" Skyler shouts. "That's it? That's all? You tell me he is a demon now and then just leave?! You know a way to revert this, but won't help me?"

Mog'Tol, who had already turned to leave looks at Skyler in Jake's body one last time.

"I believe you know everything you need to know. What you make of it is up to you."

The demon vanishes in black feathers and leaves Skyler in the throne room with Jake's demonic body. Not a moment too soon. Skyler feels himself being pushed out of control again by Jake's mind. A very powerful, angry mind indeed.

Jake makes a fist and punches his own dick full force, making both Skyler and Jake writhe in agony.

"You fucking traitor! You are not going to 'save' me or stop me, you hear that? I'd rather cut off my own dick than have you interfere!" As if to emphasize his words, Jake punches into Skyler's demonic cock body again.

Skyler is certain that Jake has snapped for good now. He has little doubt that he will actually mutilate himself like that if it means defeating Skyler. Whatever Skyler is going to do about it, it has to be now! But how? Even if he could wrestle control of Jake's body again - which is more than doubtful - the smaller demon has made clear that the stone cannot turn Jake back, since this last transformation was fueled by his own awakening demonic power. It would only make things worse, too. Every use of the stone had only brought them deeper into this whole mess. No, the stone was no use here. But there was something else Mog'Tol said.

'The magic of a demon can only ever be undone by the same power that cast it - or a miracle from above'... If Skyler still had eyes, they would have gone big. Of course. A miracle from above. The silent but ever-present power of the angel Seraphisar is still inside him. It is not much, Skyler knows that perfectly well. A small spark of divine might only, and Skyler had planned to use it against Baelnath.

But if a miracle from above is what it takes...

Skyler has never been a religious person. But that doesn't matter right now. They have passed the border of 'believing' long ago. It is an undeniable fact that there is something divine infused within his being. And it doesn't take more than a single determined though to awaken that power, letting it blossom into a warm yellow glow emanating from the barbed demonic cock.

Jake, who just wants to throw another punch at his organ, fuming in agony and rage, hisses and closes his eyes to shield them from the hard to tolerate brightness. When he opens his eyes again, he is not in the palace of flesh anymore. All around him is darkness, and the surface he is standing on feels like a gigantic, bottomless, still ocean.

In front of him, however, is another figure, one it takes the rage fueled mind of Jake a few seconds to recognize. Standing in front of him, surrounded by swirling bands of light stands the naked body of Skyler. Not the different forms of cock meat Jake has gotten used to, but Skyler, the human, looking at him sadly.

Immediately, Jake charges forward to claw through Skyler's thin flesh, but finds no resistance as he rushes right through him.

"I'm not really there, Jake." says Skyler in a calm and quiet voice. It sounds sad and vulnerable, but at the same time, there is an unknown force behind it as well.

"I think this is just your mind." Skyler continues. "Your body is probably still in the same place, punching your groin in."

"Stop that crap! Quit messing with my mind." Jake growls lowly.

Skyler shakes his head slowly. "I'm not doing anything, Jake. It's your mind. Your brain, your psyche. All of it, as twisted and wrong as it is, it is you. Look at yourself, look at what you have become."

Skyler points to Jake's feet where he can see his own reflection in the still ocean. His demonic body, the horns, the tail, the muzzle and all, but not only that. On the other side of him, in the water, is another image. The image of Jake's human body. A man with dark hair and dark eyes, with a pleasant smile on his face.

"It's the power of the demon, Jake", Skyler says softly. "We thought we escaped it so many times, but we didn't notice how it took control. This isn't you!"

Jake looks up to the illuminated form of Skyler and says bitterly: "Bullshit. Don't you see it? See how powerful I have become? I'm so much more than any mortal man, so much more than *that*!"

His clawed finger points at the reflection of his human body.

"I don't care that it was Baelnath's power who brought us here, now *I* have the power - and you are just jealous."

"Yes, you do have power now, Jake", says Skyler, who seems to be unphased by Jake's anger. "You have the power to change your body as you want, to dominate and enslave people, to have anyone you want. But what for? For yourself? For a mere moment of pleasure? Or maybe for revenge?"

"Yes!" Jake hisses angrily. "That is what a demon does! It's what I always wanted!"

Skyler looks down.

"No..." he says sadly. You weren't always like that. Try to remember yourself. Look."

Between the two of them, under the surface of the ocean, images form, unfocused at first, but getting clearer by the second. They are the same scenes Skyler has seen while Jake was changing into the demon, but in reverse. From the burly Norwegian backwards through the life of Jake. Scenes from his past, key memories of his, running like a silent movie under the surface. Finally, the sandbox, the first time Jake and Skyler met. The scene unfolds in absolute silence up until the point where the younger version of Skyler asks "What's your name?"

Jake looks up to see Skyler, the current Skyler lip-syncing the words to his younger self.

"Jake" says Jake automatically, the masculine demon voice matching the movement of young Jake's lips.

A short pause follows, the young Skyler smiles brightly.

"I think I love you, Jake." Is what Skyler says, with a trembling voice. The images in the ocean fade and silence falls between the demon and the man.

Every instinct in Jake's new demonic body tells him to ridicule the confession Skyler has made, to exploit his opponents weakness or to seize the moment. He even starts to say something, something mean, but it feels like he has a lump in his throat. His Adam’s apple bounces up and down as Jake swallows his words without having said them.

Jake stands in front of Skyler and tries to form a thought that makes sense. After a while, he speaks: "Why did you have to say that?"

"I had to", Skyler says, in a voice that is both sad, afraid and hopeful. "Because it's true."

"Skyler, I..." Jake begins to say, but again, his mind feels empty of things to say.

The images below the surface of the water appear again. They are different now. Young Skyler and Jake walk through the streets of an old town, going on a trip. Jake is wearing his favorite t-shirt and has his arm around Skyler's shoulders, laughing. It is clear that these are not Jake's memories, but Skyler's. Jake can't help to watch these images, situations that he remembers as well, now with the all-enveloping additional piece of information:

During all that time, in every second they were together, Skyler loved him. He loved him and was afraid to tell him, for years now.

The weight of the thought is overwhelming. Overwhelmingly sad, and bitter, and tragic, but also overwhelmingly happy.

A drop of liquid hits the still ocean surface and creates ripples that momentarily distort the images below. Looking for the source of it, Jake's clawed hand feels his face, his distorted demonic face and is surprised to feel tears running down its length.

It's true. Everything Skyler has said is true.

He has been a terrible human being for too long now, so much so that he had completely forgotten who he used to be, or at least he thought so. He had forgotten how to be the one that made Skyler say 'I love you'.

All his powerful muscles don't seem strong enough all of a sudden to support his weight anymore and he collapses to his knees, distorting the ocean surface with more ripples.

Now that the flood gates have opened, there is no stopping anymore. Jake, the big and powerful demon, is crying uglily like a little child. The salty tears that mix with the ocean below are not only for Skyler. All of a sudden Jake feels so sad about the humanity he has lost, about the misery he has inflicted on everyone he ever knew, and most of all, about his own stupidity. And, of course, he feels sorry about the living hell he has caused for Skyler, Skyler whom he had known for so long, who was with him all along and who was his best friend in the whole world. Minutes ago, all his mind was set on was to get rid of Skyler, to destroy him. Now he wants nothing more than to find a way to make it right. He wants to apologize, but he does not even know where to start.

Suddenly, he feels a light and gentle touch on his leathery demon skin. When he raises his head, he looks into the smiling face of Skyler, who has bent down and has closed his arms around Jake in a warm and comforting hug. It feels good, a touch Jake has never known he needed, more than anything else. He buries his face in Skyler's chest and doesn't hold back anymore. His tears run down his face and both their bodies and glitter in the warm yellow light emanating from Skyler.

No words are needed by the two of them and they just stay there for a while. Miraculously, each tear running down Jake's body takes away a little bit of his demonic form. With each drop, horns recede, his skin grows softer, becomes lighter or his unnatural muscles deflate a tiny bit.

Finally, as his tears have run out, Jake, the human, looks up to Skyler.

"Thank you." he says quietly. "I love you, too, Skyler."

The light emanating from Skyler washes over the two of them, as the ocean of Jake's mind gives way to the palace of twisted flesh again. Jake wraps his arms around himself, now utterly alone. Jake is human again, naked and vulnerable.

"Skyler, are you... still there?" he asks into the empty room.

"I'm here Jake, I'm with you again." replies Skyler from Jake's groin. Right. The miracle has reverted Jake to his original body and has freed his mind - but Skyler is still his dick.

"What are we going to do now?" Jake asks cautiously.

"We're going after Baelnath. Let's end this now, once and for all."

Jake collects the magic stone from the ground and watches as the last sparks of light change it, purifying the magic and purging the demonic influence out of it.

"Alright. Together?" Jake asks, and feels Skyler agree. "Together."

The magic of the stone wakes at Jake's demand and whisks away the human and his dick from the seventh hell.

The series slowly comes to an end. Only one more episode, one more confrontation with the demon Baelnath remains. What's going to happen?

If you want to read the previous episode, just click here. This magic link brings you to the very beginning. And this one takes you to the realm of wonder that is my riot page where you can support my writing if you like!

This link brings you to the big finale.

[kafus]

it’s so isolating because my school was somewhere between the abuse of a corrupt psychiatric hospital and a troubled teen industry facility, but also not actually quite either, so explaining it to people can be exhausting since there’s literally no possible other thing to reference to explain it, even if they know about the TTI, or about psychiatric hospitals. it’s like some fucked up child of both plus some secret third thing and it makes me feel crazy!!! like the only people who will ever know what living through that was like are people who were there with me. due to repressed memories i can’t even fully explain everything myself. it’s a mess

frankly the most solidarity i’ve ever felt in terms of this part of my abuse is while reading that one comic recreation of what the Elan School was like (if you decide to look that up MASSIVE trigger warning for basically everything under the sun, it’s horrific) and yet still not quite because elan was worse. i don’t mean that in like a “ooh my trauma wasn’t that bad” competition way cause my situation also sucked but it was specifically missing a lot of the physical abuse elements and it wasn’t a residential. i was not being forced to fight other kids in a ring and i went home at the end of the day yknow. so it’s still not entirely relatable

tho to be honest everyone who goes to any specific hospital or any specific TTI facility probably feels similar about not being able to relate to anyone because all these places have rules and punishments that distort reality and make you think that your experience is normal when really no one will ever experience those deranged rules of behavior except for you and the people with you in that building so after you leave it’s horrifically isolating. so i guess we can all have solidarity in ironically, lack of solidarity instead

[roughroadhaley]

how about a uhhhh "I’m going to get you out of here." 😈😈 -jamietxrtt

“I’m going to get you out of here.”

—

Roy hated the press. Everyone on planet Earth knew that. And the building was absolutely surrounded by them. There wasn’t a single exit without fans or red carpets or security. The net worth of this place was appalling. Jamie’s suit alone was a couple thousand pounds. Jamie’s watch was a hundred thousand. A Rolex. It was a gift from Harry Kane for the assist that won them the euros. He had to get Roy out of here without anyone seeing.

Roy had a seizure in the bathroom of England’s congratulatory event. Jamie didn’t know Roy ever got seizures. Maybe it’s an older person thing like a stroke or something. Jamie hated it. It was quick and loud and terrible. Now they were both on the bathroom floor and Keeley was in here too on the phone with Ruth. She said that since it was under 10 minutes and he’s conscious, it’s fine. However, they have to get him to hospital because Roy’s never had one before.

Roy wasn’t even really conscious to Jamie. He had gotten Roy to sit up and lean against the wall. His eyes were open and he could make eye contact and moan. Jamie struggled to look at him. The adrenaline from watching the seizure had worn off. He had run out screaming nonsense and then ran back into the bathroom to grab Roy’s hand incase he died. Keeley and some randos had ran in after. He doesn’t really remember it actually. Now it’s over and he is tired and his throat burns from unspilt tears.

“I’m going to look for an exit that will be clear. Okay.” Keeley had mascara all over her face but sounded incredibly brave. At some point she must have hung up the phone. He was glad they were on the same page about Roy and the press. He had walked the carpet earlier though, said he wanted to support Jamie publicly. She wiped her eyes, stood and her heels clacked as she strutted out of the room. She spoke to someone at the door. Guess that’s why the rooms still empty, Jamie thought.

Now they were alone. Roy moaned again. They were still holding hands and Jamie hands were dripping in sweat so maybe Roy was complaining about that. He took his hand out and wiped it on his thousand dollar suit. He felt uncomfortable not touching Roy at all so he placed his hand on Roy’s thigh.

“Can you.. hear me? Do you still know English?” Jamie asked. He read somewhere that someone in America got a concussion once and spoke Japanese for the rest of their lives. He was so bad at language in school so that would be a massive blow to their friendship. Jamie would not be able to become fluent in anything new.

“Yes.” Roy said. “I know English.” Relief flooded Jamie’s entire body. He had to use Roy’s thigh to stabilize himself. Jamie took advantage of the new energy rush to force himself to really look at Roy. He tracked his eyes up til he met his gaze. He was blinking slowly. His eyes were glassy and his skin was a bit grey.

“How you feeling, old man?” Jamie got the courage to ask.

Roy rolled his eyes and then clutched his head and groaned.

“Sorry. Sorry. Fuck I’m sorry okay. I-“ Jamie was cut off by the door opening.

Keeley came round the corner heals clacking along with a louder clack of a roller office chair.

“Hi!” She beamed like a psycho. “Don’t worry boys! I’m going to get you out of here. We’re going to get you into the chair, babe. Then we’re going to roll you to the exit through the kitchen where Sam is waiting in his hybrid car! And everything will be absolutely perfect.”

“Okay. Great plan Keels.” Jamie said. It did sound like a good plan and he wanted to reassure her.

“People are going to see.” Roy said. It was the longest sentence he had strung together so far.

“Yes people are going to see. But it’ll be quick and you’re hurt so shut the fuck up.” Jamie worried he was too harsh, but he was exhausted at this point and he needed hospital confirmation that Roy was going to be okay as soon as possible. Roy wasn’t going to stop him from that. He needed to get out of this stupid bathroom. “Itll be people in here, not the press. No one will say a word.”

Roy looked suspicious. He was still grey.

“Roy,” Jamie said, voice breaking, “I want to get out of this stupid fucking bathroom.”

Keeley moved the chair closer.

“Okay.” Roy said.

[menalez]

"human shield" argument is literally the dumbest shit I've ever read. no one uses civilians as a wall against missile blasts and open gun fire, a common tactics would be to use civilian populated areas as a defence line from being attacked in the first place, while maintaining the ability to attack the enemy. but there's a nuance. populated areas has to be walkable to the othe side of the battle so they would actually stop the fire.

do these people really think that IDF would stop if Hamas would position themselves behind the line upon line of residential buildings? the literally don fucking care or they would have stopped longes time ago. In fact, they are quite delighted to level down another civilian neighborhood in Gaza actually.

also, how much of an actual human shield is there in Gaza, when it's the most densely populated area in the world. no material, where they strike, they will hit civilian infrastructure regardless. it impossible to launch an attack of such a scale on a piece of land where houses and schools and hospitals are row after row, and not have any casualties. any other government, that doesn't have genocidal goals in mind, would have stopped. Never began in the first place.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sebastienroblin/2021/05/26/israels-bombardment-of-gaza-methods-weapons-and-impact/?sh=17f0820d2f44

there's this Forbes article, that while being shitty and cruel, lists the types of missiles the IDF use on Gaza. And like, some of those are 2000 pounds bombs. They have HUGE impact on the area, they sent massive shock waves, they leave deep craters. Even if we believe that bullcrap about only targeting Hamas, there's no way you can launch this shit and only destroy said one Hamas target. you will level the whole block, the whole neighborhood. Gaza is not a scattered villages, there's no fields, there are houses everywhere. Sending those missiles is a death row. Full stop.

There's no way they don't know it all in the IDF. They know for sure, they just don't care because that's what they actually want.

and yeah literally. their “its hamas’ fault that we’re committing war crimes!!” is old and tired. they’ve shown 0 regard for actually minimising the number of civilians killed. its quite literally bullshit, not to mention they’ve yet to provide actual proof of the tunnels they’ve been using as an excuse to repeatedly attack al-shifa hospital, instead they’ve clearly planted weapons around the hospital and then claimed hamas mustve hidden the tunnels due to knowing they were coming (they hid the tunnels but left weapons casually lying around in plain sight within the entire hospital?!?).

[misscorn]

Day 3 Hospital/Bandaid

Listen. We deserved Nao to just be an idiot friend and not a love rival so that's what I'm doing. The timeline might be a little fucked up to make them teenagers during the time of the events nao is describing but idc. Enjoy lmao @takaritsuweek

**

Takano Masamune may have misjudged Nao Kiyomiya just slightly. Who he thought was a valiant rival with ten years of knowledge and experience with Ritsu that he himself was missing...

"-and this is when Ritsu and I ended up getting matching casts on our arms when I convinced him to try parkour-"

...turned out to be a massive idiot.

Takano didn't understand how he ended up in this situation. When Nao knocked on his door saying that Ritsu was visiting his parents for the day and that he was ' bored so the two of them ought to take the opportunity to spend some time together', Takano's first instinct was to close the door on his face. However, he hesitated when noticing the photo album in Nao's hands.

"Oh, it's pictures of me and Ritsu! Back in high school mostly. I had a really crappy Polaroid back then, but I thought you might like to see them." Nao had said with a smile.

Takano didn't know what Nao was playing at, at that point, but he would be a fool to let that kind of opportunity pass by him. So, he ended up begrudgingly letting Nao into his home, preparing tea for the both of them (Takano had lied and said he only had black tea when Nao stated a preference for green), and sitting on the couch with him as Nao flipped through the album...which mostly consisted of pictures of him and Ritsu either before or after they had gotten hurt in some way.

"Oh, Ritsu was so mad at me here." Nao said with a laugh, pointing at a slightly fuzzy picture of Nao in a hospital bed, pulling a grumpy Ritsu into frame to take the photo.

"How did you end up in the hospital?" Takano asked, dreading the answer.

"I tried the tide pod challenge." Nao said matter-of-factly as he flipped to another picture.

"...the thing where you eat soap?"

"Yeah. That was the one thing I couldn't convince Ritsu to try with me." Nao said.

Oh my fucking God. How is this guy alive. He has to have brain damage, Takano thought, hesitantly looking at the next picture which featured the two teens, Ritsu looking embarrassed as he held a gallon of milk in each hand and Nao looking excited. "What's with this one?"

"Oh, it was this thing where you try to chug a gallon of milk and not throw up." Nao said.

"Why...would you do that..." Takano was going to have a stroke.

"Just to see if we could. We did it again when that banana and sprite challenge thing was trending for a bit." Nao said.

"And...did you two throw up?" Takano asked hesitantly, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Nao answered. "Oh, and this is when our arms got burned from trying the salt and ice challenge. I didn't actually think it would work, but wow it really hurt." He said, pointing at a picture where he and Ritsu were both holding up their arms with burn marks.

I don't know what that is but I am not going to ask, Takano thought miserably. "Do you have pictures where you and Ritsu aren't trying to hurt yourselves?" He asked.

Nao got quiet for a moment as he turned through the pages of the album a little more quickly, skimming over them and slowly shaking his head. "Nope! Doesn't look like it." He said, clearly not seeing the issue with that.

How did Ritsu survive his time over seas with this idiot. Oh my God. This moron could have killed him, Takano thought miserably. Now he wanted Nao out of Ritsu's apartment for an entirely different reason.

"Did you ever do stupid things like this as a teenager, Saga-san?" Nao asked. At first, Takano thought calling him by his previous surname was meant to be some kind of jab, but in light of this recent conversation he was starting to think that it was Nao's obvious stupidity.

"No." Takano stated firmly, not even bothering to correct him on his name.

"What? Not even once?" Nao asked.

"No." Takano repeated, trying not to melt into total misery. He could hardly believe Ritsu let himself be convinced to try any of this!

"Oh. Huh." Nao said, as if he couldn't believe that someone wouldn't participate in such complete nonsense. He closed the photo album and looked to Takano with a smile. "Well, then what were you like back then?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

Ritsu, please come home soon to take this idiot off my hands. And then kick him out of your apartment so he doesn't kill you, Takano silently prayed.

-

When Ritsu walked down the hall from the elevator back to his apartment later that evening the one thing he was not expecting was for Nao to be coming out of Takano's place.

"Thanks for hanging out with me, Saga-san! I had a lot of fun. Let me know if you want a copy of any pictures of Ritsu."

"I do not."

"Aw, why not? I mean, they're not the best quality, but - oh, hey Ritsu!" Nao noticed him and waved with his free hand, the other holding a photo album that documented nearly all of Ritsu's high school shame.

Takano stepped out a bit from his doorway when hearing that, looking toward Ritsu with the look of a disapproving parent. "Onodera."

"Ah, g-good evening Nao, Takano-san..." Ritsu said, standing stiffly. Don't tell me Nao actually showed him those photos, I'll wither away from embarrassment, Ritsu lamented.

"Oh! Takano-san, that's right, damn it! Why didn't you say something? Ugh, I'm so sorry, I keep forgetting." Nao said, the tension going right over his head.

Takano held back a deep sigh. "It's fine." He said.

"W-What were you two doing?" Ritsu asked, trying to sound casual and curious, but his voice was pinched.

"I was just showing Takano-san," Nao smiled as if he were proud of himself, "some pictures from when we were in high school! Him and I are gonna be the best of friends before you know it." Nao said, slinging an arm around Takano's shoulders casually. Takano had an intense thousand yard stare, trying his best not to wish for Nao's immediate obliteration.

"Oh, that's - uh - nice." Ritsu said, hoping for Nao's well being that he would move away from Takano soon.

"How was your visit with your parents?" Nao asked.

"It was fine, but I'll tell you more about it later. I actually need to speak with Takano-san for a bit. In private. Please." Ritsu said. Normally he would not voluntarily put himself in a position where he was alone with Takano - especially when he looked this angry - but he was trying to ensure his friend's safety.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you both later then." Nao said casually, giving a wave before he went into Ritsu's apartment.

Ritsu gave an awkward laugh as Takano crossed his arms. "So...Nao showed you that photo album..." He said with a forced grin. "W-We sure were stupid kids back then."

"You need to kick him out of your apartment as soon as possible. I don't want him staying with you." Takano said firmly.

Ritsu let out an exasperated sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you that there's no need for that? Nao doesn't see me that way, you don't need to be jealous-"

"I know that." Takano huffed.

"...You do?"

"Yes. He's too much of a fucking idiot to be trying to manipulate you or get close to you like that." Takano said. "But he's also such a fucking idiot that he might endanger you again!"

Ritsu slowly processed Takano's words. "I see."

"I mean, what the fuck is the salt and ice challenge?"

"Please don't ask me that question." Ritsu begged, feeling as though ten years had just been taken off his life.

"Is the whole point just to give yourself a burn? Why would you even do that?"

Ritsu wanted to silently face the wall until the end of the time so he would never have to look at Takano ever again.

"Please just chalk it up to the poor decision making of a teenager." Ritsu begged. "But Nao isn't going to try anything like that again, let alone try to convince me to do it too!"

"...I'm coming over." Takano started to take strides towards Ritsu's apartment.

"What? No! Why?" Ritsu stood in front of him, blocking the entrance.

"As long as he's living with you I'm staying over to make sure he doesn't put you in the hospital." Takano said.

"Takano-san, please! I'm an adult! Nothing is going to happen." Ritsu insisted.

I already had such a long day with my parents, I can't deal with both Nao and Takano-san on top of that, even if Takano-san means well, Ritsu thought, determined to stand his ground.

There was no way that Ritsu would allow Takano to spend the night.

-

"Hey Ritsu, welcome back - Oh - Sa-Takano-san is here too?" Nao said when his dear friend came back in with Takano trailing behind him. Nao certainly wasn't upset by this, just a little confused.

"Yes..." Ritsu answered, hoping he didn't look and sound as defeated as he felt.

"I thought we could all hang out together." Takano deadpanned, but Nao beamed, totally buying it.

"Nice! This'll be fun. Should I run out and get some beer?" Nao asked.

"No!" Both Ritsu and Takano exclaimed. Neither of them needed Nao drunk.

"It's really no problem, I'll be right back." Nao assured, making his way toward the entrance to put on his shoes. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He called out before he was suddenly gone.

Ritsu flopped down on to the couch as Takano let out a sigh.

This was going to be a long night.

[bracketsoffear]

Duck Newton propaganda: The Blurryman, being a strange otherworldly being who stalks someone through her workplace and then takes her to another dimension where he tells stories about all the horrible things he's watched happen to unfortunate people for audiences' entertainment, feels like an Eye Avatar.

Duck Newton, on the other hand, was Chosen to have a supernatural Destiny at a young age by an otherworldly being and decided "fuck that." He spent his entire life trying to be normal despite being explicitly superhuman and visited by an alien projection of his mentor. He joins The Pine Guard, a group dedicated to fighting Abominations (horrible monsters that later turn out to exist for the purpose of causing worlds to genocide each other) to protect Earth and Sylvain (the world where Earth's cryptids come from), and he's still trying to hold onto his normal life as a Park Ranger; the only reason he agreed to get involved with magic is because other people would get hurt if he didn't. Even at the end, when he's regained his Chosen powers and helped save both worlds, he chooses to stay on Earth instead of going to Sylvain and starts planting trees in the rainforest with Minerva (formerly his mentor, now his girlfriend). He really would rather just be A Guy, even though he keeps getting dragged into paranormal situations.

Also, the Abominations that he fights run a gamut of Fears:

The Beast: A bizarre, reptilian creature that leaks a thick black oil used to control animal carcasses, which can be commanded as separate bodies or bound to its own to cover up its true appearance. Its initial appearance is a bizarre amalgam of different animals on a bear body. Not different aspects of animals—literally entire bodies of different animals jutting out from the bear torso in a patchwork.

The Water: An orb of light that can freely control any water in contact with it, first discovered in the Kepler High School swimming pool. It attacks with tendrils of water to drown people, and later turns out to be able to travel freely through Kepler's water supply.

The Calamity: A fortune-controlling tree. It uses its ability to manipulate chance to cause horrible disasters--it kills Rick Dannon by manipulating a drink bottle to get stuck under his brake pedal and cause him to crash; it nearly kills three people by causing a large sign to collapse onto a store; three more people are nearly killed in the funicular by it causing a bolt in the breaks to come loose; it causes a hook to fall out of a wall, dropping part of the net it was holding up and letting Thacker loose to attack the party; it tries to open a massive sinkhole that would collapse a hospital; and when it can't create huge disasters it does things like dropping tree branches on people and making their weapons malfunction.

The Countenance: a shapeshifter with no set form, appearing on its own as its true self surrounded by a swirling storm of chaotic particles; when it desires, these particles can condense around it to give it the appearance of someone it's seen. The nature of its shapeshifting is rather nauseating, as its "flesh" shifts and readjusts around injuries or when its settling into its disguises. Its introduction is when it walks casually into a bar, completely ignoring the people standing outside, and then mauls multiple patrons, two of whom die from their injuries and are rendered nearly unrecognizable. When examining the bodies of its victims, Aubrey points out that its victims have multiple fatal wounds and that it had plenty of time to attack more people rather than focusing on just two victims, coming to the conclusion that its attacks were meant to incite fear rather than just to kill. It also sets a trap for the Pine Guard by posing as one of the corpses at the crime scene, then killing and replacing a technician when it is delivered to the morgue. Later on it displays the ability to speak and reason on a human level--it murdered and impersonated Ned's friend Boyd during its arc, and it later disguises itself as Ned and uses his image to incite violence against the Sylvans in Kepler. After getting shot with the Narf blaster while already loosing its hold on its false forms, it loses its grip on its disguises entirely and degenerates into an amalgamated flesh blob of random half-formed body parts.

D.O.M/The Light: The Deliberative Operational Mind is a sentient dome of light that has been creating the abominations and sending them to Kepler. It contains all the surviving members of its founding race, who make every action by consensus. They're responsible for the Abominations as part of Project Reconciliation: by linking two potentially hostile worlds and then inciting them to destroy one another through the use of conflict agents, they drive two potential threats to destroy each other while remaining themselves unharmed. The inhabitants of Locus Prime created the Reconciliation project to reduce conflict throughout the cosmos, specifically by pitting similar worlds against each other and encouraging mutual destruction. Even though they're directly responsible for the deaths of many worlds, they choose to believe it saves lives (in particular their own) over time.

.

[plague-parade]

welcome to: “danny rewatches that horrible episode of glee where they make the club use wheelchairs for a week” as an ambulatory wheelchair user

this is long so

the episode starts off with mr schuester fighting the principle for $600 for an accessible bus to ride to nationals

a NURSING HOME had a “tag sale” where they bought….. TEN CUSTOM ULTRALIGHT WHEELCHAIRS???

in what world do nursing homes have ultralight chairs and not standard hospital chairs….. and why would they sell them??

how the fuck was that less expensive or cost effective than the bus to nationals

this implies that TEN custom chairs was. less than $600?????

the students only have to use the chairs for…. three hours a day….. because that will definitely ‘make them understand what its like to be artie’

they have a stunt double for artie to do wheelies….. im fucking crying

the stunt double is aaron ‘wheelz’ fotheringham which is actually sick as fuck that dude is so cool

apparently this is easier than just like. listening to artie

why are the glee kids so angry about having to do a bake sale….

all of these chairs seem to be quickie chairs?? did they have some weird sponsorship?

kurt cannot propel without tipping oh my god they didnt even fix the center of gravity on these chairs

RACHELS ANTI TIPS ARE UPSIDE DOWN

rare W for schue for advocating for more accessibility in the school

massive L from the principle for saying its ‘too expensive and inspiration is free’ EW

sue is so extremely ableist jfc

apparently using a wheelchair makes you a loser. very great message to send!!!

BRITTANY LOST HER WHEELCHAIR??

so they have to be in the chairs for three hours…. except they seem to be in them the entire school day?

i really hope they donated these chairs after filming…

kurt has his legs crossed constantly,,, baby girl youre making it so much harder for yourself

inspiration porn inspiration porn inspiration porn

NO TINA DONT FUCKING ASK ARTIE HOW IT HAPPENED

HE DIDNT JUST FUCKING TELL HER HE STILL CAN USE HIS DICK 💀

ok i was wrong theyre not all quickies, rachel has a nissin

“heres your problem, you just had a bent pushrim” rachel how the fuck did you do that

10000000% no wheelchair user was consulted for this

so far it seems like everyone has at least a $2000 chair

puck put weed in the cupcakes. puck. put. weed. in. the. cupcakes.

sue somehow is extremely ableist but is the only person who treats becky like an actual person

stop they keep saying “handi-capable”

finn is lying about being disabled to get a job????

oh they just referred to it as ‘the short bus’

good on sue for funding ramps being built for the school. but what the fuck schue for assuming she has a brain tumor because of it??

and of course bc you have to have some sort of association to care about a cause so sue has a sister with down syndrome

why are they having a date in the school after hours

TINAS FAKING HER STUTTER

god i feel so bad for artie, he thought they had disability in common and she was lying the whole time

of course the number theyre doing is proud mary

thank fuck its over

it seems like half of them had quickies and the other half had nissin chairs

[daisychainsandbowties]

how did you figure out that you’re nonbinary and that you specifically use they/them pronouns? /genq

oh okay so figuring out gender was a ‘casper is stupid for 17 entire years’ situation.

i basically came out of the cradle insisting that it was cringe and terrible of my parents to think of me as a girl. i was, emphatically, a Pokémon obsessed little guy since i could form entire sentences. but it was 2002, and frankly i was more concerned with how far i could spit and collecting spiders off the bushes to be worried about it. my parents (bless) were 100% cool with getting my clothes in the boys section & letting me do whatever i wanted (except get ice cream from the ice cream van every day. their one and only instance of homophobia 😔) so i didn’t really suffer, especially, beyond scowling at people in school when they dared to refer to me. 

it was pretty clear to me when i was 11 that having a cursed body was, indeed, going to be a curse. not worth mentioning how terrible and evil 11-14 was for me physically, tho to be fair i also took up swordfighting then so swings and roundabouts.

but yeah, around when i was 9 i knew there was a huge massive problem but then my mom got cancer (multiple myeloma) and… yeah gender crisis took a backseat while we watched her almost die about three times (pulmonory embolism, stem-cell transplant, getting shingles with no immune system bc chemo). my grandmother looked after me while Hospital.

unhelpful to the anti-trans-kids-existing demons bc she was also like intensely indulgent of my refusal to wear anything but my brazil football jersey. she let me eat nothing but artificial cheese slices put on a single slice of white bread and then microwaved because i had the massive trump card of not being allowed to see my mother for almost six months. i think she was grateful that i seemed to find the whole situation too serious to cry over. my best friend was a boy & he was pretty willing to be like ‘ok cool. ur not a girl. can we go on the trampoline?’ 

& then, when things calmed down & i was about 16/17, i had come out as gay (good for me) about two years before & then i realised i was oh fuck A Bit More Complicated than that i spent a while agonising over it. really a long walks on the beach pondering my gay ass type deal.

but then, just when i was kind of starting to vibe with being enby, I got really really sick, which lasted aboooout 5/6 years where it was just an old school platforming game but titled ‘casper tries not to die while trying to get a degree & two masters’). very do not pass go do not collect 200 of the universe to Do That. but hey. 

so it was around Pandemic when i finally got the brainspace to actually think, & i realised that i was definitely trans, probably nonbinary. i experimented for a while with different pronouns. realised my ‘dumbass nickname everyone has to call me’ was my ACTUAL NAME (never underestimate my stupidity and ignorance) & yeah at first i was thinking of going the hormones path (do not ever please god don’t get me started on how hard that is in this stupid bastard country. 5 years waiting period, on average. have to get diagnosed formally by a team of psychiatrists with what is characterised as a ‘mental illness’. have to ‘live’ - as Some Fucker sees it - as your ‘chosen’ gender for like two years AND be out to basically everybody - realistic and safe i say sarcastically i say while looking into the camera like i'm on the office - oh look i got started. anyway. bullshittery)

but eventually i realised huh nope i just wanted top surgery (same fucking deal with the health service tho) & for people to use they/them generally (i am not too fussed w/ pronouns for myself tho. like, a lot of my friends use he/him because frankly i deserve it most of the time with the himbo behaviour. professionally i insist on they/them for consistency. i get congnitive dissonance with she/her as in i get a weird shock & want to laugh & wonder who the fuck they’re talking about for a sec before i realise it’s me. but like, miffed too much i am not).

also gender is a big pendulum for me it’s an elliptic orbit sometimes for a few weeks i’m like a feminine guy and other times i feel like a masculine gay & sometimes i feel like the autism creature (bc i AM an autism creature, always). 

but i have, essentially, felt nonbinary always. trust me i have a pic of blue-eyed blond 5y/o me sitting on my bed in my Pokemon-themed room wearing a Manchester United jersey and holding my PS2 controller in my hands with a profoundly vacant and himboish expression on my face. it did fully take me 17 whole years to have my ‘oh’ moment about it, but a lot of that was profoundly indulgent parents who were you can’t even imagine how determined to not raise me the way they were raised - which meant, apparently, that if i wanted to be a spider-collecting, bug obsessed pokémon-fixated little guy who kept snapping branches off the bamboo and fashioning makeshift swords out of them - well then that was the creature they’d send to school every day. 

i think the tldr here is: casper stupid. gender a concept. 

[computerpeople]

tw child abuse i didnt realize how fucked up this actually was until i wrote it all out LOL anyways sorry this is long. absolutely no requirement for anyone to read, but lms if you do since its long

a situation ive had really stuck in my head with this whole dad situation is the time that i had a minor seizure and instead of being worried that i came home from a date with my (at time physically abusive) ex, where we went to a baseball game with his dad and his dads gf for his birthay with massive blown out pupils, they screamed at me for hours about how im a useless waste of space and an evil child and how i clearly was going out and doing drugs with my boyfriend and lying to them about where ive been, and you know, im unaware of it but at the time i had just had a minor seizure and was freaking the fuck out because nothing was making sense and they were flashing flashlights into my eyes andf screaming at me and i couldn't make out anything they were saying until i started screaming at them to take me to the hospital and have me pee tested because i knew that i hadn't taken anything and if i WAS drugged (which i couldn't tell anymore because i was, again, post seizure and extremely freaked out) it wasnt of my own accord and that i would have BEEN drugged by someone else if i was

went to the hospital where i got screamed at in the car the entire time, and then screamed at in the waiting room. i just cried, man, i cried and cried and cried the entire time and kept screaming at them that i was innocent and that i hadn't taken anything because fucking obviously i hadn't taken anything. i was like 15 and severely heavily medicated and my boyfriend was a 14 year old theatre kid danganronpa fan, of course we werent taking hard fucking drugs. they eventually calmed down ocne the nurses started being around and started being overly nice to me, offering to get me star bucks and snacks from the drink places downstairs, mean while im like in shock and shaking violently and can't think coherently. and they explain to the nurses that im severely mentally unwell/struggle w some pretty severe ptsd so if im not able to communicate right thats why.

the nurse took me to the bathroom to pee in a cup and while we were walking to the bathroom she was like. "hey.... be honest with me, did you take anything?" and i shook my head and said no, that i told them to take me here to prove that i didn't. and she nodded and said "i knew you didnt" before letting me into the bathroom. i dont really remember the rest of that night bc it was mostly calm because obviously i peed clean and i was exhausted but i ended up getting home at 5am when the sun was already up, and they expected me to go to school after (got in trouble for going to bed and staying home). they never apologized though, they just kept insisting that trhey did all of this because they were terrified i had got drugged by someone at the ball game. they still haven't apologized.

[ursbearhug]

People in the hospital kill yourselves challenge.

How the FUCK can you come in and NOT know the queue? You legitmently have to be fucking stupid to do that. You come in, ask who's last and voilà, you absolute fucking morons. News flash dipshit, you're not the center of the universe and you're not the most important person in here. "Everyone here is to room number 7". Great. I asked who's last, asswipe. I don't fucking care how many of yous is here, I'm gonna spend 3 hours here anyway. I fucking fuck hate this fucking place and all of the fucking people fucking coming in here. English doesn't have enough swear words for my needs right here, somebody push this language to evolve more invectives, I can't do this anymore.

2 hours later update these men are fucking [redacted] for real. They don't fucking understand spoken language of any shape. You tell them clearly what you want and they MISS THE ENTIRE FUCKING POINT BY A PLANET SIZE WORTH.

Not this bitch standing in the middle of the MOTHERFUCKING hallway like a dimwitted orphan. BITCH MOVE YOU'RE NOT THE FUCKING CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.

An hour later update; there has been so much shit with the queue that everybody goes whenever the fuck they want because they realised managing 10ish people by one doctor in 3 different offices is unattainable. How the fuck did these people finish univeristy is beyond me. I just know that when they heard "don't leave this assignment for the last second" they just quit listening. Or whatever medicine clown students do.

Out of the office update and the absolute tomfoolery. So as per their explanation, since my wound isn't acting up, then it's not an issue...? Hello? I have massive colony of microbs that WEREN'T there before I admited myself to your fucking circus. Care to explain how is that NOT an issue? You don't have to finish veterinary school to have basic reading comprehension. How is colony of bacteria you yourself mark as health hazard NOT a problem???m?m? Am I supposed to ignore it till one day something triggers toxic shock syndrome? I am so done with health care and this fucking place this is worse than clown show, I'm not laughing.

But that's kinda how it really works. You go to school to be taught how it should look like and then you face the reality when nobody gives a shit or have enough time to care about minutiae details unless there is somebody to controll them. Clown ass show. I'm out.

[arjaandsimoni]

Free

Content warning: This story depicts the effects of child abuse and a violent death. Reader discretion is advised.

Covington, Kentucky

In a house just south of the Ohio River lived Roger Fullmoon.

His house was not a lively bright house full of warmth and good cheer, nor was it a stately home that spoke of nobility and financial success… no, this home… was a dump.

Well, it was a dump. These days it was unofficially condemned, but the last several men the city sent to evict him came back with their arms pointing entirely the wrong direction and the cops they sent to arrest him wound up coming back even worse so the condemnation on the building was quietly removed leaving it, simply, a dump.

It hadn’t always been so bad, once he had been married to a woman, Diane Fullmoon, and while he was known for a bad temper and perhaps being too fond of the drink her patience and care was helping him to maintain himself. Sadly for him and their young son, Stephen, she had contracted a rather virulent case of pneumonia shortly before he began kindergarten and died in a hospital bed at the local St. Elizabeth branch.

From there, Roger became worse and worse. He would ignore reports of supernatural actions in his area, he would ignore his son’s pleas for attention, affection, or even things such as food and drink, and he would sink deeper into his own world of alcohol, trash TV, and steaming resentment at a world that had given him a dead wife and a son he couldn’t stand to look at.

The men of Clan Fullmoon were all strong, the top of their fields in athletics as children. The kind who talent scouts for college teams are scouting out in Middle School… but Stephen was not. He was no stronger than any boy his own age, and the lack of affection and overabundance of aggression from his father left him deeply psychologically scarred.

Roger mostly ignored him, save for those rare moments when the alcohol ran out or there was nothing on TV to keep his attention… and unfortunately for Stephy, he was all out of beer.

Roger grunted from his seat on his sofa, the massive bear of a man slowly standing up, looking around. “Where the fuck is that kid… STEVE! GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS OUT HERE!” he shouted, glaring around him, then walking back to his room, then staring inside. Empty, and from the look of it the room had been for a while now.

“Where’d he go…” he grumbled, looking around, then frowning. His dad had told him when he was younger it was every Fullmoon man’s duty to keep their line going, to make sure that there were always new warriors to take up the fight and hold the torch to the darkness, and Roger was nothing if not loyal to him. He hated rumors about his father losing his grip, of becoming less of a leader and more of a dictator, and now… his son was gone.

He snarled, the boy had always been a disappointment to him. A mess of a kid too weak to even swing a sword. He’d make a proper Fullmoon out of him or die trying… but first… he had to find him…

Ten minutes later, the house was empty.

Roger Fullmoon was out in Covington, Roger Fullmoon was coming.

Madison Cinema, Downtown Covington

Stephy was still afraid someone might recognize him, but he wanted to do this… he just wanted, just once, to know how it felt to actually be out with someone he… well… he really liked. Love was a hard word for him, he’d heard it used too often to try to excuse his father’s abuses because ‘he really loves you, deep down’ but… he liked Tex, a lot.

He was dressed up for this date, a pale lilac silk tunic with long loose sleeves and an ankle-length black satin skirt, along with a pair of strappy leather sandals. He’d even let Tara style his hair a bit and added a little flower clip onto it.

Tex had gone more casual, a button-down shirt over a tank top and a pair of jeans with nice shoes, but he didn’t care. He liked him like that, he… really liked him, a lot of ways… he leaned over in the cinema and rested his head on the Texan boy’s shoulder, then blushed as he felt his hand come up and stroke over his hair around the clip.

He closed his eyes, curling up in the chair, wanting to just sink into this moment of warmth and softness. He’d been starved of such all his life, he’d been starved of a lot of things (including actual food and drink,) but tonight it felt so different… he almost felt he could really pretend that everything that had happened to him hadn’t really been real, just a nightmare he’d finally woken up from.

Eventually, the house lights came on and the credits rolled, and he stood up with Tex, smoothing his skirt out as his date stretched out the stiffness from sitting for two hours. “Well, that was neat, I mean, I’ll always prefer a good western m’self but… yanno.” he grinned.

“Really?” Stephy giggled, “You? Naaaaaah, I wouldn’t have guessed.” he grinned, leaning into the boy.

“Heck, why do you think I go by 'John?' One nice thing about bein’ like us, we get to pick our own names.” he smirked, “Went with the ol’ Duke himself, John Wayne. I mean, I grew up watchin' him. My grandpappy back home in Texas has all his films, used to have a movie night every week when I was younger. Guess it left a mark on me." he sighed, looking up at the celing, "Though, he was a total bastard off screen, but when you think ‘Western Cinema,’ ya’ll think of him. I just try to… yanno… aim more for th' ideal he represented...” he jerked a thumb back towards the now-empty movie screen, “Than the real guy.”

Stephy nodded, “Huh… I just took my, yanno, actual name and made it shorter.” he replied, “I… I dunno, I probably should pick a proper one, but… like I said this is all I have left of my mother.” he sighed.

Tex noticed, then gently cupped his chin and put a kiss on his forehead, “Hey now, none of that darlin’. Tonight is a night for you to forget all that and just be the you that you always shoulda been free to be.” he nodded.

Stephy blushed, then let out a small squeal and clung to his arm, walking out of the theater with the boy as Tex looked up at the darkened sky above, “Damn, that late already? Better head on back home, Mom’ll be gettin’ all wound up if I’m out late again.” he nodded. Tara had been a bit jumpy since the mess with Isolde, but Stephy could hardly blame her. That had been one hell of an introduction to the Supernatural.

Arm in arm, the two of them began to walk back to Tex’s house, Stephy wondering how his life could have gotten so good in so short a time… he still didn’t know entirely what had happened to his cousin Stephanie, but he hoped she was okay wherever she was. It wasn’t like she could text him with no phone of his own.

Midway between the theater where Tex and Stephy had just spent their evening and Roger Fullmoon’s home (because Stephy couldn't really call that a home for himself in any sense of the word) was Tex’s house, and in the backyard Tara was doing some gardening.

Buying fresh produce was expensive but growing up on a ranch gave you all sorts of skills and one of them just happened to be gardening. She’d planted down all sorts of goodies in the ground for her and Tex and now Stephy to share in Autumn when they could be harvested; tomatoes, carrots, turnips, onions, and more. She’d even gotten some really wild pepper seeds from a man up in Edgewood she’d met online. She didn’t know what a ‘tailed beast’ was, but she knew it’d make one hell of a sauce once they came in.

She finished ripping up the last of the weeds, then wiped her brow and nodded as a new bag of fertilizer landed nearby. “Thanks darlin’, used ta havin’ help with the bigger stuff.” she grinned, the woman dressed in just a teeshirt and jeans for the dirty work, a pair of leather gloves over her hands.

The person next to her just grinned back and gave her a thumbs up, nodding and taking a long pull from a bottle of water.

As they took a short rest however…

At the front of the house Stephy paused, cocking his head, “Tex…” he said, “Do you hear something?” he asked.

Tex blinked, looking at him, “Something like what lil’ filly?” he asked.

Stephy glanced around, “I dunno, something like… I can’t put my finger on it, but its…” he started, then his eyes widened. He knew what he was hearing, he’d survived for years by hearing it but he’d actually almost forgotten it tonight… “Oh no… no no no…” his eyes going wide, “Tex, we need to get inside, now!” he gasped.

Tex didn’t hesitate, after Isolde he knew that if Stephy said ‘get to cover’ he knew what he was talking about, but before either of them could move…

“WHAT THE ALMIGHTY FUCK ARE YOU WEARING BOY?!” came a horrible roar from back up the street.

Stephy cringed, curling up into a defensive ball next to Tex.

Tex recognized the pose, then looked up, “… ah shit, that’s yer dad ain’t it?”

Roger Fullmoon stood three houses away, his face a mask of rage. “What… the fuck… do you think you’re playing at… boy…” he spat, and Stephy whimpered, freezing. The calm, the safety, the warmth he’d feeling blown away in an instant. Roger began stomping forward, flexing his fingers, and Stephy whimpered.

Tex stepped between them, “Back off big guy…” he growled, but Stephy grabbed his shoulder and shook his head frantically!

“Tex, don’t! He’s a Fullmoon, he’s strong enough to tear your arms off!” he gasped.

Roger was almost close enough to reach them now. “You… did YOU put him up to this you little shit?” he snarled, his focus turning to Tex. “Gonna make him even more of an embarrassment to me?! I’ll fucking kill you!” he roared… and then a loud gunshot rang out and Roger stumbled, blood oozing from his shoulder.

Tara was standing on the porch, her eyes narrowed and gun in her hands (a Beretta M9, for the record) with smoke curling up from the gun. “Step. The Hell. Away from my son.” she warned. Tara was a kind woman, welcoming to Stephy and understanding of both his and Tex’s needs, going out of her way to learn about gender identity when her son had come out to her some years back… and because of that she found out exactly what kids like them experienced from others and decided if anyone was going to do that to her son she’d find out exactly how much those ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws could let her get away with.

Sadly, she had picked a bad target for that. Most would be incapacitated with pain after taking a bullet to the shoulder… but most were not Fullmoons, and even by their standards Roger was a bear of a man. He rounded on Tara, her face showing shock. That SHOULD have stopped him… unless…

“TARA! RUN! That’s my dad!” shouted Stephy, and her eyes widened. Stephy had told them about Clan Fullmoon.

“Shit…” she whispered, keeping the gun leveled as Roger started towards her, and that was when the bag of fertilizer hit him in the face as if launched from a trebuchet!

Roger fell backwards under what was essentially a massive bag of shit, cursing as he was knocked flat onto his back, shoving it off him as Tara’s gardening buddy walked into view, cracking her knuckles.

“Oi! Arsehole! Nelen told me bout wut ye did boyo… PICK ON SOMEONE YER OWN STRENGTH!” grinned Loren Fullmoon.

“Loren?! The fuck are you doing here?! Dad sent you to take out those Chupacabra…” snarled Roger as he struggled to his feet.

Loren blinked, “… er… that was feckin’ last October…” she muttered, then sighed, “Ye need ta pull yer head outta yer arse lad. Now back offa the wee ‘uns.”

Roger stood up, his shirt stained with various things that were guaranteed to bring your garden up a treat. “The hell I will! Steve is coming back home!” he snarled.

Loren frowned, “Did ye JUST NOW notice he wasn’t there shite fer brains?” she asked, jumping the fence and tossing the gardening gloves she had on back onto the walk into the house, “Shove off lad, unless ye wanna see what th’ ‘Maven’s Avatar’ can do to ye…” she growled, looking him dead in the eye.

That was when Roger punched her in the face as hard as he could.

Loren sailed backwards and caught herself on the fence, then grinned and licked the blood streaming out of her nose, “AYE, THAT’LL DO FER AN ANSWER!” she laughed, then dove at him, “Tara! Take Tex ‘n Stephy ‘n RUN! I’ll keep ‘im busy!” she called back to her.

Tara didn’t need any more than that, she ushered Tex and Stephy to her truck and peeled out of the driveway, heading off down the road as quick as she could go as Roger snarled, and threw her off him, then charged.

Loren landed on all fours and charged back, jamming her elbow into his chest with a mad grin. “I know all about wut ye did ta yer kid Roger! I ain’t lettin’ ye take one step towards th’ wee ‘uns ever again!” she shouted.

Roger roared in wordless fury, bringing his fists down on her head as hard as he could!

Up the road Stephy was clinging to Tex, shaking in terror. Everything he had tonight, all of it, was shattered. His father knew now, and he would drag him back, and his life would be hell again if he didn’t just kill him. "(I should have let Isolde take me, I should have begged her to do it.)" he thought over and over, caught in a feedback loop of terror and despair.

Tex held him tight, trying to comfort him, but it was clear that Stephy was lost in his own head now. “Shit… girl’s in a real state mom…” he looked up, “Where’re we goin’?” he asked.

Tara shook her head, “Son I dunno… away from THAT thing…” she sighed, “Loren is strong as hell, she’ll be able to at least keep him busy but… cops can’t stop that…”

About ten minutes further however Tex’s phone rang, the boy jumping as he answered it.

“… hoy lad…” came Loren’s voice, “Um… so… ol’ Roger was a bit… tougher ‘n I thought…” she coughed.

Tex’s eyes widened, “What?! Are ya’ll okay? Do we need to call an ambulance for ya?!” he asked.

“Nae… Fullmoons heal fast… but… lissen… there’s a park ‘round ‘ere… Nelen said if…” she coughed again, and it sounded wet, “… if Roger found out ‘bout ‘im, get ta Devou Park…”

“Um… ‘kay, I can ‘prolly use my phone ta find it. Ya’ll sure ya okay?” he asked.

There wasn’t any response, a minute later the call disconnected.

Back at the Smith Residence...

Loren blinked a bit, sitting up more. She was against the wall of the house, one of her knees felt broken, and her left arm was icy and hot at the same time.

She shook herself, biting her lip to keep from blacking out again, "Bloody 'ells... glad th' lads can’t see me right now.” she chuckled, then picked up her phone with her good arm. The screen was cracked badly after it had landed on a rock when he threw her, but she managed to find Nelen’s number.

It rang, then… “Loren? Whats up?” came Nelen’s voice.

“Lad… Devou Park… Stephy’s ol’ man found out…” she coughed.

Nelen swore, then hung up. He didn’t need more than that.

Loren grinned, “Oh Roger… yer gonna wish I’da just kicked yer arse…” she chuckled, then the darkness enveloped her…

Fullmoons are hard to kill but hit one hard enough and they’d be down for a while.

Devou Park, the Ohio Riverfront

It was nighttime by the time Tara’s truck pulled into the parking lot, the woman getting out and looking around. Her gun was in her belt, but Kentucky wasn’t too far removed from Texas when it came to gun regulation. “Alright… we’re here, now what?” she asked.

“I… I dunno… Loren didn’t tell me…” stammered Tex, looking around.

Stephy’s eyes were tightly shut, his whole body shaking. He felt sick, acid rolling in his stomach. This could not be happening, it had to be a nightmare. Isolde getting one last laugh by tormenting him in his dreams…

Then they heard footsteps, and several people walked into view.

Tara reached for the gun, but Stephy looked up and croaked out, “T-tara, wait… I know them…” he whispered.

Well, he knew two of them.

Nelen Fullmoon strode into view, Devou Park close enough to Cincinnati to allow him to summon the Wulfshead door there. To his left, as always, was Dawn, and on his right were three that Stephy didn’t recognize. Two Indian girls, one in a red teeshirt and shorts and the other in a green tank top and denim skirt, then a massive woman wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a purple tank top, a bracelet on her wrist.

“Is he hurt?” asked Nelen, nodding to Stephy.

Tex shook his head, “Not physically no but…” he started… and then one of the Indian girls rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Stephy! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have left without telling you! I should have made sure you’d be okay! I…” she gasped out, the girl holding him tight.

Stephy blinked, recognizing her voice, the shock of it snapping him out of his terror for a moment. “… wait… Steffi, is that you?” she asked.

Simoni Barjar stood back a bit, her eyes a little wet, “It’s a long story…” she nodded.

“Yeah, it is. But we have a bigger issue now. Roger is a member of Clan Fullmoon and a hunter, he knows how to track a target. He could be on his way.” warned Nelen.

Tara nodded, “Hum… so, guessin you’re that Nelen that Loren told us about?” she asked.

Nelen nodded in response, “Yeah. That’s me. Should’ve done this a long time ago but taking out a Fullmoon would have gotten me killed before.” he sighed. “That ship has sailed though, we’re ending this.” he frowned. “One way or another, Roger isn’t hurting Stephy anymore.”

Dawn looked up, then adjusted her glasses, “Hey. Gandalf. Time to fight the Balrog.” she warned, pointing to their right.

Storming across the grass was Roger Fullmoon, his knuckles red with blood, his eye blackened, and his lip split. Loren had put up a good fight at least, but all she seemed to do was make him even angrier.

Nelen glared, conjuring a blood tendril as Dawn whipped off her glasses and hat dramatically, pulling her tail free. Arja and Simoni nodded to each other, then transformed, Simoni’s arms sprouting emerald feathers as Arja’s body erupted in golden fur.

“Remember everyone, Roger is a Fullmoon warrior and Franklin’s son. Even by Fullmoon standards he’s strong. Don’t hold back!” called Nelen to the others, “You guys, get back as far as you can…” he nodded to Tex and Tara, “Keep him safe.” he glanced back at Stephy, then at them.

Tara stared, but Tex pulled her and Stephy along, taking cover behind the truck.

“Nelen… Demon-loving piece-a shit. Should’ve known you were involved in this…” growled Roger as he got closer.

“Back off Roger. Let him go. You hated being a father anyways, what do you care?” he asked.

“Hate being a father?! I hate being father to THAT! That scrawny little twig of a boy is a damn embarrassment!” he snarled, “Dad laid down his magic ban, then a few years later one of our cousins back overseas had Loren and we all knew what was up with her, so dad told us to cover it up! Fullmoon. Boys. Can’t. Use. Magic! If they’re scrawny then they’re just runts! Then I had a kid and I wanted to raise him up proper, BUT HE’S ONE OF THEM!” he snarled.

As he did however…

“… you knew?” came a voice.

Stephy pulled free of Tex, standing up next to the truck. “… all this time, you knew?” he asked. His eyes were wide, and his expression strange.

Roger glared at him, “Of fucking COURSE I knew! All the Fullmoons get SOMETHING from her, she just fucked you up! She gave you the wrong stuff! Now look at you! You’re a godsdamn mess boy! Some prissy little shit of a boy in a dress!”

Stephy’s eyes were red, “You knew I could use magic all along… every time you beat me… every time you screamed at me… called me ‘runt’ and ‘weakling’ and told me how I wasn’t a real Fullmoon…” he gasped out, “… and YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME?!” he screamed, and suddenly the wind went from tepid to Tornado warning in one blast.

Roger glared, standing his ground, but the others went flying! Nelen lashed out to a nearby tree with Merihim, holding on for dear life as Dawn clung to his leg. Simoni shrieked and tried to conjure a counter wind, but it barely even dented it, all she and Arja could do was scramble for whatever they could hold onto! Only the massive woman they brought with them was standing firm, looking at Roger the entire time, her arms folded over her chest.

“Everything about you is everything dad is trying to FIX about the damn Clan!” he snarled, “Should’ve strangled you in your sleep the second I found out!”

Stephy screamed again, and the skies rolled with thunder, the boy letting out all he had in one go. Lightning flashed in the sky, and Simoni and Arja held on tight to a fence post, but it was starting to bend! “Stephy! You’re going to blow us all away!” shouted Simoni over the storm!

He didn’t hear her. He didn’t even remember she was there. All he could see was his father, the source of years of torment and pain and misery and anguish… and he let it all out in one huge blast of wind, the kind of gale force attack that left houses upside down and made trailers land in the next county.

Roger stood firm, digging his feet in, and slowly he pressed forward, his hands guarding his face. “Wrong… fucking wrong… its all WRONG! I’ll kill you! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU YA GODSDAMN EMBARRASSMENT!” he snarled…

… and then the woman was infront of him.

“That’s your child?” she asked. She was a massive woman, taller even than he was. On her wrist was a bracelet with a quartz charm, on her ear was a silver clasp.

“Fuck outta my way woman!” he spat.

The woman lashed out, smashing her fist into his face, and Roger went flying! The wind caught him and blasted him back into a tree, then through it, snapping it in half as he landed in a heap!

Roger struggled to his feet, then roared in fury and charged, but she was ready. She slammed her fist into his face again, and this time he heard bones cracking! He stumbled and the woman’s other hand clasped around his throat, lifting him up off the ground.

“… they called us monsters when they came for my village. Said we should be wiped out.” she growled, “Yeah, we may be strong, we may have… once or twice… at least tried a bit of human, if they pissed us off enough to throw ‘em on the cooking fire… but we have honor. You attacked your child knowing they wouldn’t fight back.” she glared at him. “You’ve got all this strength, and you used it to torture something that couldn’t stop you…”

Roger snarled, pounding on her wrist with both hands, but the may as well have been attacking a telephone pole for all the good it did. Then his finger caught on her bracelet and snapped the string, the quartz decoration falling to the floor, and two furious eyes became one massive one.

“Call me a monster, its better than whatever you are.” snarled Drusilla as she reached up, gripped his arm, and pulled HARD.

There was a wet tearing sound, and a loud crack that echoed around the area.

Roger Fullmoon screamed in pain, then Drusilla switched her grip, and grabbed his other arm and again... and again... and again… until she dropped what was left into a pile at her feet and spat on it.

Around them the storm raged, the wind threatening to tear up trees and the sky flashing with lightning in the clouds. Stephy was curled up in a ball of emotions, his hands digging into his hair so hard that his knuckles had turned white… and then he heard Tex’s voice calling to him.

“Stephy! STEPHY! Its over! C’mon girl, c’mon…” he shook him, trying to get his attention before the panicked boy summoned a tornado down on them!

Stephy looked up, his eyes red and his face streaked with tears, “T-tex?” he whispered.

“Its over! He’s done!” he said, “He’s gone, that massive woman tore him apart…” he glanced back, then winced. He’d helped butcher a cow once, and even after that…

Stephy looked up, and saw what was left of Roger Fullmoon… and the stars slowly came out…

Drusilla was a cyclops, and her tribe may be considered ‘monsters,’ but they had a rule that was ironclad: ‘Only cowards fight those who can't fight back.’ Roger Fullmoon was a coward in her eye. He was a pathetic man who had enough muscle to be a powerful warrior but wasted it tormenting someone who was too terrified of him to stop him.

He was also all over the field now. Again, Drusilla was a cyclops, and if a cyclops is mad at you your obituary will involve the words ‘radius,' 'multiple body bags,' and 'closed casket funeral.'

Stephy slowly got to his feet, Tex almost stopping him, but Nelen held out a hand. “Let him.” he said.

Tex looked at him, the warlock nodding. “He needs to see it. Everyone from a hunter family knows, you always make sure. He needs to see, with his own eyes, that the monster is dead.” Nelen added in a grim tone.

Stephy walked slowly in a daze towards where the ruined torso of Roger Fullmoon lay.

“… he’s really gone…” he whispered, his voice cracking. His throat was sore from how much of a storm he’d raised.

Drusilla nodded, “Yeah. He didn’t deserve better.” she snorted, “No songs sung for him, no legends. A pathetic coward, with a coward’s death.”

Stephy chuckled a bit, “Y-yeah… he was… all those years I had no idea I even could fight back… but he did… he knew the whole time…” he laughed… then he screamed, “WAS THAT WHY?! BECAUSE YOU WERE AFRAID OF ME?! BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T WANT ME TO KNOW I COULD FIGHT BACK?!” he shouted, a blast of wind smashing Roger’s head across the field like a macabre football. “You knew! You… fucking knew… the whole time… that I was like this… and… and…” he choked, turning away and running back to Tex, clinging to him and burying his face in his shoulder.

Nelen watched them embrace, then turned to the rest of the group. “Drus, pile up the bits please. Simoni, Dawn, gather up as many fallen branches as you can. Arja? We’re going to need some fire once they’re done. We need to take care of this while the park is empty from that storm.”

A hour later a merry fire was crackling in the middle of Devou Park.

It stank a bit, smelling rather like burnt pork, but they could deal with it.

Nelen had managed to go collect Loren who, in spite of Tara’s insistence, shrugged off any offer of professional medical care as the warlock reset her bones and bound what Roger had broken.

“Nae nae…” she grinned. “We heal fast… this is a twisted ankle fer us… be right ‘s rain in a week.” she chuckled, then hissed as Nelen gave her a firm poke in the side.

“Broken ribs, at least two.” he said.

Loren grunted, “…  ‘kay, mebbe two weeks…”

Drusilla smirked at her, still just showing the one huge eye. “Heh, you didn’t tell me you had a fun cousin Nelen.” she grinned, “When she’s healed up I’d love to have a proper match.” nodded the cyclops.

Loren smirked at her, punching her arm, “Ach, I’ll show ye wut fer once me leg ain’t all twisty nae more.” she chuckled.

“… ya’ll really truly sure you don’t wanna take her to a hospital?” asked Tara, looking at the mess that Roger had made out of her. She'd seen Loren drive back Isolde's minions, she knew she was strong enough to defend herself. Seeing her like this made her realize just how big a threat Stephy's father had been.

They all looked at her, then Dawn took Nelen’s glasses, put them on her face, and did her best Doctor voice, miming holding a clipboard, “Several broken bones, multiple lacerations, bruises, and more… what exactly did this?” she asked.

Nelen smirked and replied, “Why my uncle who is strong enough to literally throw people THROUGH a brick wall and then throw a car ontop of them.”

Dawn adjusted the glasses, “I see, and where is your uncle so I can file an assault report with the police?”

Nelen replied, “Last I saw a pissed off cyclops was tearing him limb from limb and throwing the bits around Devou Park, so they’ll need a lot of chalk for the outline…”

Tara frowned, “… I get it…” she grumbled as Nelen smirked, taking his glasses back and putting them back on.

“Yeah, first thing young hunters learn is first aid and triage. Hospitals mean REALLY awkward questions.” he nodded, “Though we do know a guy who moonlights at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I’ll have him check her over… well, I say a guy but…”

Dawn grinned, “Yeah, not human.” she replied.

A short distance away however Stephy was sitting near the fire, watching it closely.

“… he’s really gone…” he whispered.

Tex nodded, the boy right next to him, holding him tight. “Yeup… ya’ll don’t come back from that.” he replied, “He’ll never hurt ya again… you’re safe.” he said. He knew Stephy knew it, but he also knew that people who had been through what he had needed to hear it.

Simoni sighed at him, “I never should have left without warning you though…” she shook her head, looking down at the grass as Arja sat next to her.

Stephy shrugged, “Its okay… I mean, you told me what happened. Not like you could have texted me.” he replied.

Simoni huffed, “I could have had Nelen bring me back using the Wulfshead though. I could have at least said something… or even had Dawn bring you a letter just so you’d have known…”

Tex nodded, then looked at them, “Okay, sorry… I just gotta ask… ya’ll is cousins?” he asked.

They looked up, then nodded.

“Uh… so… yer mom or dad married someone from India?” he asked Simoni.

“Oh! Right… still getting used to that…” she blushed, taking out her phone, “Yeah, um… no… this was something I did to try to hide from Clan Fullmoon. I used to look like this.” she opened her phone, then showed him a picture of herself she’d taken in the speakeasy with Stephy shortly after Loren defected from Clan Fullmoon. A selfie showing a very shy but nervously excited Stephy in her old tank top and skirt and Stephanie Fullmoon, long red hair and pale freckled skin.

Tex blinked slowly, “… uh… okay…” he looked her over… “HOW?!” he gestured frantically up and down with his hands towards Simoni, his eyes huge.

“Um… well… okay so there’s this sort of pocket dimension in London called the Nightside and inside of it is this gigantic shopping mall called the Mammon Emporium, like think Mall of America times twenty but also to the fifth power and… it gets kinda quantum from there… and they have a place called ‘The New U’ clinic that specializes in full body makeover and redesign and such and… yeah.” she replied.

Tex just sat there for a long minute, staring into the flames… “… uh… kay… huh… that’s… huh…” he muttered, “And… ‘bout how much did it cost?” he asked.

Simoni told him, then after a minute she got Google open and converted it from British Pounds to US Dollars.

Tex blinked again, “… that’s it?” he asked.

Simoni shrugged, “I didn’t really think about it at the time. I was more thinking ‘I really hope this works so my psycho granddad doesn’t murder me.’”

Tex nodded, “Uh… and… just curious… how ‘zactly does one get to this place?”

Simoni tilted her head, “Why?” she asked, sounding confused.

Stephy blinked, “… oh.” he looked up, then at Tex, “OH!” he gasped.

The Nightside, some hours later

The door to the New U Clinic’s office opened, and John ‘Tex’ Smith walked into the first day of the rest of his life.

The chest binder was gone, he didn’t need it anymore. They’d seen to that. He was glad he’d worn just a tank top. His shoulders were a bit wider now, and his hips a bit narrower. What little signs of natural puberty he'd gotten when Texas started cracking down on things and his hormones had been harder to get had been erased as if they’d never been.

He was also glad he’d worn baggy pants tonight… not that he went nuts down there or anything, but… well… yeah.

The New U Clinic promised one hundred percent customer satisfaction, and that meant they gave you what you wanted. ALL of it. Tex would never need a hormone shot or androgen blockers or a chest binder again. He was himself, all the way from the top to the bottom, inside and out, right down to the chromosomes.

Arja raised her eyebrow, seated in the waiting room along with Simoni who’d come along for moral support as Stephy got up and squealed, doing a quick duck around of Tex, looking him over from every angle.

“He doesn’t even look that different.” she commented.

Tex smirked, “I’ll take that as a complement.” he chuckled, adjusting his jeans a bit. “Sheesh, though this’ll take some gettin’ used to. Should it feel this… snug?” he grunted. “I swear these are baggy jeans ‘n yet…”

Stephy blushed crimson at that as the nurse at the counter spoke up. “It’s just sensitive because it’s new honey. The neural pathways are still getting used to something being there. Give it a week and you’ll be fine.”

Tex nodded, “Huh… well then… wish I’d known about this years ago.” he grinned.

Simoni shrugged, “Yeah, pity they can’t set these up outside of the Nightside. Apparently, something about this place is what makes the tech they use even work to begin with.” she replied as the four of them headed out of the clinic and towards the exit, a faint whimper coming from Tex’s pocket.

Stephy took out a shiny new smartphone that Arja had treated him to. Special tricked out one on a plan from the Nightside that ensured he could reach his cousins whenever he needed to, wherever he needed to. It even worked from some other planes of reality, though not always very well and sometimes it allowed Other Things to hear the conversations, so the salesperson made a point of telling him that using it there voided the warranty.

“Pity… ya’ll sure ya don’t wanna turn in there?” he asked Stephy.

The boy looked up, then shook his head, “Tex… I’m still not entirely certain whats going on in my head. Loren is like me, but she still considers herself, well… herself… Because of my dad I never had a chance to find out what I am, all I could do was just try to survive him.” he sighed.

Tex smiled, “Well, now ya’ll got all the time in the world to sort that out lil’ filly, and I’ll be with ya every step of it.” he chuckled, kissing his cheek as Stephy blushed, giggling a bit at that.

Simoni let out a little squee, “Awwwww!” she giggled, causing Stephy’s blush to double in intensity as Arja just grinned.

Simoni blinked, “Oh hey, which one of you installed the map daemon again?” she asked.

Tex looked up, “Oh, me. Why?” he asked.

“Well…” she said as they walked out the exit… then Tex let out a curse in surprise as his phone screamed in agony!

“THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AT THE MAMMON EMPORIUUUUUUUUUMMMMM! Ohsweetfuckitbur...”

Next Story

Previous Story

[lonelier-version-of-you]

“After Fredrick, after Gaskell and then after Cameron” man they really did stack up on murderers for several years straight despite no one enjoying it. Fredrick ok that’s understandable if Americanised. Gaskell was ableist drama mongering that wasted a great actor and was afraid to go where it really wanted and needed to on multiple levels so stuck to superficial ooo scary crazy Frankenstein doctor crap. Cameron was totally inexcusable racist sexist duckers though and the straw that broke it all

They really did. 😩 The Fredrik storyline was very well done and I feel like it actually leaned into the fact that it was unrealistic and wouldn't happen - in-universe it was treated as a massive, shocking deal that nobody could have possibly expected and it was all over the news. You certainly can't say that for the next hospital shooting (the one when Jac left - and the fact that I feel the need to clarify that to jog people's memories it happened at all says a lot), and honestly you can't really say it of the current Casualty school shooting storyline either (I mean, sure, it's been treated as a shocking thing no one would expect, but only because Ollie and Rob were the shooters, not because there was a school shooting).

The Gaskell storyline aggravates me so much because it really could have been great if they'd actually just... addressed any of the stuff that needed addressing (John's background, whatever the fuck was going on with him and Henrik and Jac, Johnrik, etc.), and if they'd kept it at John taking the trial too far in a desperate attempt to save the daughter of someone important to him instead of throwing murder in there for no reason. If they'd kept it more similar to the Plastics Scandal than to the Fredrik storyline, it would've been fine.

Instead, we got needless sensationalism, the show reminding us "hey, psychotic people are scary and evil!" at the same time as having the fucking audacity to go around promoting how "aware of mental health" they were just because they happened to be doing a decent depression storyline with Sacha, and Henrik and John barely being allowed to even share scenes because the show was too scared of letting Henrik be recognised as bisexual. Oh, and don't forget the shoehorned "Roxanna never wanted David, it was Henrik she really loved!" stuff. :/ Just... ugh, fuck you Holby. There are only three reasons the Gaskell storyline had anything good or worthwhile in it at all: Paul McGann (who was trying his best to give John depth and complexity despite the awful scripts), Andy Bayliss (who was trying his best to give John depth and complexity when everyone else was just like "lol he's scary and crazy he doesn't need any personality beyond that"), and the Johnrik relationship (which was, somehow, incredibly complex and nuanced and fascinating despite the rest of the storyline being anything but).

Cameron... well, yeah, he killed the show. What is there to even be said about Cameron except for that? Holby fucking revolved around him for literally three entire years, and they kept bringing him up even after killing him off (the fact that the sixth-to-last ever episode of Holby still revolved around Cameron is just beyond words) - despite the fact that they pretended Gaskell never existed the minute his storyline was over, to the point of ignoring him, Henrik's original male love interest, during HENRIK'S COMING OUT STORYLINE. So many female characters (Chloe, Nicky, Skylar, I could go on) and male characters of colour (I miss you every day, Zav...) were sacrificed to Cameron, either being written out because of him or having all their storylines revolve around him. (It's still disgusting that Chloe's rape was nothing but a plot device to kickstart the serial killer Cameron story.) The Cameron storyline is very close to being the worst thing Holby ever did. The only reason it's not is because the Reyhan storyline, Jac's breakdown storyline, and the finale exist.

And all this just because they thought “hey, Group Animal was successful, obviously people want a million more murderous doctor storylines!!”. As though the reason Group Animal was successful was because it featured a doctor murdering people, when in fact it was so beloved because it was well-written, the storyline made sense and had been built up to, and the acting was brilliant.