#THE HORRORS ARE HORRIFICALLY ROMANTIC

[deathfavor]

@scrtilegii said: the sharp ends of her form frighten him not, permitting for them to pierce his form as he seeks to stand as close to Dreya as possible. behold the tribute in blood that I bring to you!, silent yet nonetheless implied. a ravenous thing, desire. and he ought to know better than to permit it to consume him, though, alas, none other in the world should be more deserving of his adoration than her.

capturing Dreya's form in his wanting arms, Parma presses his lips against the inviting skin of her neck, all the while enduring the sharpness of the spikes piercing his body in full. oh, but it is not his blood alone he would offer her. how else should he show her the bottomless pit of his want? how else would he write the words of the spell he wishes to cast on her, if not in his own blood? come, oh Goddess, do surrender yourself to me! I shall rebuild your altar, I shall offer you proper libation. for now, let my arms encircle you, let my mouth worship you, let my blood stand as sacrifice! ( hello AJAHSHSHS )

The realm beyond moves with activity ; like the waxing and waning of the moon itself, like the ebb and flow of the tides, so too does her realm in activity. Sometimes it is tranquil and other times it pulses with activity, like the hum of a star being pulled together. The latter is the state now, with more of her enhanced creatures roaming the landscape of the realm though they grant Parma access unharmed as if he belongs to the realm. And is that not the case? If he belongs to Dreya, then so does he belong as everything else in this realm does to her.

Real gods require blood in the same way mortals require water - they require conflict and grit and resilience. As the emergence of her moon draws nearer through the steady march of time, more sharp edges appear on her, piercingly sharp and as black as a starless void. They fold and lap together - some as platelike armor, others like weapons. They pierce through flesh with ease, her head turned to watch him when he bleeds for her. That is true dedication ; willingness to let yourself be torn apart for that which you worship with every inch of your being. What is more generous than a deity letting you tear yourself apart upon them? To let you lay hand and lips upon them? To feel your blood upon their hand by their acceptance alone?

Dreya tilts her head to grant him easier access to the skin of her throat, where galaxies and supernovas run through her veins beneath the surface. One hand lifts to press against the small of his back, urging him closer still. When she sighs in pleasure and delight, its the soul of the universe itself that sighs in tandem with her, through her. What it cannot speak, she can. What it cannot touch with hands, she can. Already impaled upon her, fingers press and press - not with razor claws or ferocious violence, but part through flesh and blood with tender care, like the splitting of an orange or lovingly opening a closed book. Her fingers brush across his very core with a lovers embrace, as gentle as the delicate touch of petals despite the blood on her hand. She caresses him and so does the universe through her, accepting his burning want and reciprocating in kind through the intimacy of the blood and contact.

Her head turns to where he's pressed to the graceful beauty of her throat and pulls back only so she can kiss him proper, while her hand remains buried within the chest, touch ever gentle and loving in its morbid scene. But he is beyond mortals as well, he can endure such a loving gesture from a goddess. She draws them together under red infernal moonlight. Want. Want. Such a strange concept to be reintroduced to beyond knowledge. She wants, and so she accepts his own wanting in kind, feeds it in kisses and blood sacrifice and in the tilt of her head when she allows him back to her throat and accept his gaping hunger while her own shows in the possessive hand on his back on the loving touch, the claim of this one as hers no matter what any other dare say.

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

I got a request for a audio, a situation where listener and Doll are watching a documentary about kidnapped children of London, and then Doll be like " That's fake, We haven't even got that many children" An listener be like "excuse me, What?!?!" XD something like that hehehe

I'm assuming this is for the Terms of Service AU, DELICIOUSLY DEVIOUS!!

enjooooy~

do you dare open the app after your companion crashed it while watching this documentary...?

sound effects from https://freesfx.co.uk/

(in addition to Freckles' voice, I also improv'd and voiced the fake documentary narration!)

transcript below the cut!

AUDIO START

[KUROSHITSUJI app start: ascending bubble tone, chimes, and a cute female voice saying “Kuroshitsuji!”]

“’Ey! Whatcha watchin’? Oh… documen’ary? Oh, that’s like… that’s like a show… like, based on… real stuff, innit? Wot’s it ‘bout? Oh, okay, watch with y’. Sure.”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “The Victorian era in England was a time of great culture and innovation.”

“Ohhhhh…!”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “However, this period was also not without its own unique problems.”

“So it’s about the Victorian era. Hm…”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “Many of the Victorian era’s flaws stemmed from social issues. Although the statistics are a bit murky… it’s estimated that in the later years of the Victorian era, at least 500 children had gone missing.”

“Wh… ‘uh? ‘Undreds?? C’mon! Oh, ain’t no way. We didn’t take that many.”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “Many of them were the victims of kidnapping, human trafficking, and murder.”

“Uh… ah… I mea… ah…”

(chuckles nervously)

“Sorry, I… I don’t know why I said that. I dunno wot I’m talkin’ ‘bout… uh…”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “An unfortunate black mark on London’s history…”

“Wot the… ah…”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “… The sad truth is that many of these disappearances were never resolved.”

“Uh! Sorry, um… y-y’ mind if we watch somethin’ else? I dunno… this one’s… kinda disturbin’, don’t y’ think? Ah…”

(female documentary narrator on TV) “There are speculations that, in the later years, some of the kidnappings may have had something to do with a local circus.”

“Mnh…”

[KUROSHITSUJI app voice: “KUROSHITSUJI app crashed. Fatal error.”]

(female documentary narrator on TV) “While these claims are mostly unfounded, there is some evidence to suggest…”

END AUDIO

[freytful]

I read the “Good omens 2 is bad on purpose” theory and while the author is annoying it does make sense! However I don’t think they’re aware that if it’s true it could only ever be the death/rebirth type set up for an End of Evangelion style “I Hate Every Single One Of You” ending

[bpdalfonse]

spent the night rereading uzumaki and i gotta say that a good part of the reason the story’s so compelling to me is the relationship between shuichi and kirie. like. shuichi could’ve left before things got so bad! he wanted to, even! but he stayed for kirie and he never seems to really question that as a decision. he does so much to help and protect her and it’s just. it’s genuinely sweet and serves as a spot of light in the horrific, hopeless things going on.

and it goes the other way around, too, like kirie will put herself in danger to make sure shuichi’s eating. in all the crazy stuff happening she still wants to make sure her boyfriend’s taking care of himself. and neither of them ever stop being devoted to each other like that

[ladykailitha]

Paper Hearts Part 1

Remember how my posting schedule was going to be based on strictly vibes from now on? Yeah this is why. I have three chapters of this completed and only two of most everything else because I hurt my right wrist on Wednesday evening (I think I overextended my elbow and it fucked up the tendons in my wrist, because I've done that before on my arm and it feels like that).

So instead of getting more work done on stuff that is literally paragraphs away from the end of the chapter I'm having to tap into my backlog. Which is what it's for. But it is annoying.

I am also aware it's nearly May, but my muse was never one for sense.

Summary: Hawkins High is selling paper hearts to help raise for senior prom. $3 for red romantic hearts and $1 for pink friendship hearts. Steve hasn't dated anyone since the horrific breakup with Nancy on Halloween and so he decides that he's going to send pink hearts to senior girls who wouldn't normally get any hearts at all. When Eddie hears about this he can't help be intrigued. It goes against his very well curated Munson Doctrine. But as events keep throwing them together, Eddie learns there is more to King Steve then meets the eye.

Also a note: the use of the other's last name when it's their point of view is deliberate. As they get to know each other more, the more first names get used.

****

Steve was staring at the huge sign with a sense of dread. In big pink and white letters on a red background screamed the words:

PAPER HEARTS FOR YOUR VALENTINE $1 FOR PINK FRIENDSHIP HEARTS $3 FOR RED ROMANTIC HEARTS ALL PROCEEDS GO TO CLASS OF 1985 SENIOR BALL

Valentine’s Day. That time of year for lovers and romantics. That used to be him. But not since Nancy broke his heart by breaking up with him for Jonathan Byers.

There would be no paper hearts in locker this year. Not even pink ones. Nancy had well and truly blown up his life and she got to walk away scott free.

He didn’t know what to do anymore. He pinched his nosed and rubbed the end. He wasn’t going to cry in the middle of the fucking main hall of Hawkins High.

Just before he was about to start moving again someone shoulder checked him, sending back to the floor and all his stuff sprawling around it like some fucked flower.

“Watch it, Harrington!” the voice growled as whoever it was sped off down the hall.

Steve didn’t even bother looking to see who it was. It could have been anyone these days. His former friends. Billy and his ilk. Hell, even the nerds and geeks got in on the action lately.

He knelt down to start cleaning it up when someone else kicked his books toward the lockers. He managed to get most of it picked up when he reached for the last notebook. Someone stepped on his hand and ground down, hurting Steve and ripping the cover off the notebook, crinkling the first couple of pages.

He shoved it into his bag and cradled his hand to his chest. He looked at his watch and sighed. Lunch was nearly over and he hadn’t even made it to the cafeteria yet.

There was nothing for it, he had to get to his next class. He walked into the class room just as the bell rang, but instead of heading for his usual spot near the front he made for the back of the class. There were always a few empty seats around Munson. The guy was terrifying on a good day.

And Steve hoped it was a good day.

****

Eddie made to class on time by the skin of his teeth. He slid through door just as the bell rang above his head. He was about to lope over to his usual spot in the back when he stopped dead in his tracks.

He looked up at the front at the deliberately left open seat and back at the seat next to his with a raised eyebrow. He wisely said nothing as he flopped into the torture device known as the chesk. Dair? Whatever the hell it was called where some unspeakable horror thought to combine a desk and a chair.

Eddie glanced sidelong at his new companion. The recently deposed king of Hawkins High sat slumped in his chesk, head down, just staring at its surface as if held the meaning to life the universe and everything.

Which if Harrington asked him, he would have been told forty-two.

He pulled out his notebook and noticed that Harrington did not do the same. Curiouser and curiouser. He pulled out a pencil and settled in to avoid falling to sleep today.

He was taking notes and doing the assignment like he was supposed to when about half way through class the teacher called out to him.

“Mr. Harrington!” she shrieked. “If you are going to be sitting in the back, please have the decency to pay attention in class!”

A couple of kids snickered.

“You were talking about how the Fool is used to lighten the absolutely horrific scene above him of Lady Macbeth as she tries to get blood out of her gown,” he muttered, scratching his cheek with his left hand.

That was when the teacher and Eddie noticed the same thing at the same time.

Harrington was cradling his right hand to his chest.

“Mr. Harrington is there something wrong with your right hand?”

“I accidentally hurt it during lunch,” he said with wince.

The teacher tapped her foot and crossed her arms. “And why didn’t you see the nurse?”

“It happened right before class,” Harrington muttered, “and I didn’t want to be late.”

The teacher huffed and shook her head. “I will give you note for your next teacher, but you will see the nurse after class, am I understood?”

He nodded.

“Mr. Munson,” she cried out, shrill. “If you’ll share your notes with Mr. Harrington after class so he does not fall behind.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He continued to keep an eye on Harrington throughout the whole class but whenever their English teacher tried to catch him out, she would fail every time.

When the bell rang Eddie started shoving his stuff into his backpack. “You sure you even need my notes, Harrington? That was pretty impressive shit you pulled out of your ass today.”

Harrington just shrugged. “Just because I was paying attention doesn’t mean it won’t bleed out of my ears with all the algebra and chemistry stuff I have later.”

Eddie winced in sympathy. “Yeah, I hear that. What’s your locker number and I’ll just slip a copy of my notes in the slots.”

“323B.”

“They got you on a lower locker?” he asked with a grimace. “That’s jacked up. Even Mr. Super Senior here got a top locker. Does the secretary hate you or some shit?”

Again Harrington shrugged. “I’ve got to go. I’ll catch you later.”

Eddie folded his arms at looked at him. “You’re not going to the nurse’s station, are you?”

This time it was Harrington who winced.

“That’s what I thought,” he huffed. “I’m walking you to said nurse’s station because it could be broken and if you don’t get that looked at, you’ll be in more than just a world of hurt, man. You could fuck up your hand for life and you wouldn’t be able to anything in that hand ever again.”

Steve’s eyes went wide as all color drained from his face.

“Shit.”

Eddie grabbed both of their backpacks and headed for the door. “Yeah, shit.”

Harrington hurried to catch up, hand still cradled to his chest.

“How did you know that could happen to my hand?” he asked softly.

Eddie eyed him sidelong, but the kid wasn’t being an ass. In fact he would say Harrington was being earnest.

“My uncle works at the machinist plant up the road,” Eddie explained. “One of his buddies broke his hand on the machine and refused to get it looked at. Guess how well that worked?”

“Was it the plant’s fault?” Harrington asked. Eddie cocked his head to the side. “That you uncle’s friend got hurt?”

Eddie reared his head back in shock that Harrington would even ask.

“No, man,” he said shaking his head. “He was goofing off, being a dick. Uncle Wayne always said that if you knock on every door asking for the devil, one day he’s gonna answer.”

“What happens when the devil comes looking for you?” Harrington muttered to himself and Eddie couldn’t help but wonder what this kid had seen.

Because he knows haunted. And Harrington looks like he has an attic full of ghosts.

Once they got to the nurse’s station Eddie waited for him. When the other boy came out he asked how it went.

“She says it doesn’t feel broken,” he huffed. “But that if it doesn’t improve over the weekend after icing at least three times a day, to come back on Monday and she’ll order an x-ray.”

Eddie nodded. “Right. See you around, Harrington.”

He had barely turned around when Harrington called out to him. “Wait!”

Eddie turned back around to have a piece of paper shoved into his hand. “I got the nurse to excuse us both.”

And before he could even reply the other boy was tearing off down the hall as if the devil himself was chasing him.

And after that comment he’d heard, Eddie couldn’t be sure he wasn’t.

****

Steve was curled up on his bed, icing his hand, staring up at the ceiling, and wondering where the fuck his life had gone so wrong.

Okay so he could answer that one, actually. Demogorgon ate his girlfriend’s best friend while in his backyard. While him and said girlfriend were having sex for the first time.

Yeah... that was all kinds of fucked up.

He still couldn’t believe that Nancy sided with Jonathan about him taking pictures of their first time.

So now Valentine’s Day was two week away and he was dateless, friendless, and unpopular. He wished he could just be called a loner. But a loner was cool and Steve wasn’t even that anymore.

He just had to make until the end of may and then he could graduate, leaving this town in his rearview mirror for good.

Steve knew that he would have to struggle through this fucking holiday and Senior prom then it would be smooth sailing from there.

He had all this money that he would normally spend on his girlfriends, but now he didn’t even have that. He supposed he could blow it all on beer and weed and then he could enjoy the weekend for a change.

Steve sat up suddenly, the ice pack falling from his hand to hit the floor with sploosh!

Now that was an idea.

He still had one thing in the school that was nonpareil and that was gossip. In fact, it was easier to hear all the dirty little secrets because no one cared if he was standing there.

A smile spread over his face.

That could actually work. It would be a great way to spend his allowance and it would be fun.

He got up and put the ice pack back in the freezer. He couldn’t do anything about it right then but once his hand was better he would formulate his little plan.

Steve was suddenly excited for the first time since he dropped Dustin off at the middle school’s Snow Ball.

He was going to make this holiday fun even if he had to manufacture the fun himself.

****

Eddie was pissed. A little at himself, but mostly at how Harrington was being treated.

He had to sit through lunch and listen a bunch of stupid jocks brag about stomping on Harrington’s hand when he was trying to pick up his stuff off the floor in the hallway yesterday.

They had been hoping for an actual break, but the asshole thought he’d only bruised it.

The reason Eddie was a little mad at himself for this was because he was the one that had shoulder checked Harrington. He had only been trying to get the guy out of his daze. Not send his shit flying.

And then to have someone deliberately stepping on his hand. Fuck. Not even Hagan ever went that far.

Stev–Harrington didn’t deserve that kind of bullying. No one did.

But he could see the twisted sort of appeal, though. And fuck if that didn’t make his stomach turn.

To see the deposed king and want to mock that? Want to dig the hurt in as deep as he could? To drive home the lesson that popularity was fleeting and that existence was a curse?

Yeah, Eddie could see the appeal.

But he wouldn’t. He might make fun of literally everyone and everything but his own interests, but to make turn that into actual cruelty? That was were he drew the line in the sand.

He went home feeling sick to his stomach. And of course Wayne picked up on it immediately.

He jutted his chin at the chicken and rice on Eddie plate that he had only merely pushed around with his fork.

“What’s got you so twisted around the bend?”

Eddie put his fork down and hid his mouth with his clasped hands, elbows on the table.

“I fucked up today,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean for it to go as it did.”

“What did you do?”

So Eddie told him. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him, but he got hurt anyway.”

“That does sound pretty bad,” Wayne agreed. “And as you say, you were trying to help only for it to go very awry. And since you didn’t about it until after the fact you couldn’t apologize and that’s what’s eating you up inside.”

Eddie nodded around his fists, his lower lip quivering.

“You’ll just have to find a way to apologize on Monday,” Wayne said wisely.

Eddie sighed. It was the best he could do. It wasn’t as though he could call the guy up or show up at his house. The first because he didn’t have the guy’s number and the second because he’d get the cops called on him so fast by the neighbors.

It would just have to wait until Monday.

****

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

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[radioroseweek]

@radioroseweek begins on June 8th through June 14th ! 

How does it work? Each day of the week will come with two general prompt to give you inspiration for your work. You can follow the prompt(s) as loosely or closely, as literal or abstract, make it platonic or romantic, whatever you want! Prompts are mainly there to give you a starting point to create from, but you can completely ignore the prompts if you don’t feel particularly inspired but have your own great idea. You can also submit for as many or as few days as you’d like, and creations can be any length or size. We want to see as much new fan work in the fandom as possible, so don’t feel limited to one creation!

The schedule for this year’s celebration is as follows:

Day 1 (June 8th) - Routine | Gifts - Little habits they have or Gifts they give each other

Day 2 (June 9th) - Meeting | Dance - Shared meetings or Dancing Together

Day 3 (June 10th) - Jokes | Horror - Who doesn't love a joke or Committing horrific crimes

Day 4 (June 11th) - Roses | Smile - Roses come in all varieties or A smile can mean so much

Day 5 (June 12th) - Heal | Protect - Healing might take two or Overlords being protective

Day 6 (June 13th) - Dates | Marriage - Platonic/Romantic Dates or Marriage (For Taxes or Love)

Day 7 (June 14th) - Human AU | Partnership - Imagine them as human / not in hell or The strength of their partnership

We accept a variety of mediums, including but not limited to fanfiction, fanart, gifs, fanmixes, videos, and more. Please remember to use #radioroseweek2024 to tag your posts or to tag @radioroseweek in your post to make sure we see them. We hope the tag will be busy June 8th - 14th, and onward - we will definitely be checking the tag for late submissions!

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[xxgothchatonxx]

I cannot believe just how perfect Assad's performance was in that art gallery scene.

I feel like this was to Armand what the confession scene was to Louis. As a viewer, this was the moment where I thought "this is The Vampire Armand". I mean, I've been loving Assad's performance from the start, but I feel like this was the make-or-break moment for the writing of Armand in this show. Because yes Armand is manipulative, yes he does truly horrific things, but he is also broken. He's been hurt so much in his life but what's both so horrifying yet also heartbreaking is how he views that hurt. His devotion to his maker, even after he did so many horrific things to his "beloved Amadeo" (god I felt my stomach drop when he said that...) is so tragic.

And I think Assad captured that tragic devotion perfectly. Because we as the audience know just how fucked up this story is, and I'm guessing the show-only viewers have now got a very strong impression of just how much of a gross asshole Marius is. But Assad delivered those lines like he's telling a fairytale. It's so eerily peaceful and almost romantic, which creates a vivid contrast against what he's actually saying.

From an adaptation standpoint, I think it was a brilliant choice to place this backstory here. Because it provides a logical reasoning for why Armand is the way he is, and why he acts the way he acts (and will act). How he views love, why he's so obsessed with maintaining tradition and order. And I think it's smart from a show perspective to reveal it here and now rather than wait a few seasons. The horror of Armand is still there, but he isn't Armand without the tragedy.

Assad and the writers absolutely nailed this scene. It's such a crucial part of Armand's character and I thought it was both incredibly disturbing but also tastefully done.

[teslacoils-and-hubris]

I like it when vampires are like werewolves.

People get so bogged down in the classic wealthy victorian vampire aesthetic that the monstrous parts get abstracted. They turn into bats in a poof of smoke. That's not wine in his fancy glass cup wink wink. Drinking blood is sensual and leaves only two perfect fang puncture wounds. Everything is so nice and refined.

Werewolves are allowed to be animalistic. They bite and claw and chew. Their transformations are marred by snapping bones and morphing skulls. They act too feral to be human, even when they look human.

Werewolves and vampires are both driven by instincts. The werewolf is allowed the full range of animal instincts but the vampire is only bound by one: He must feed. In every other way he acts human. This is especially true in the romance genre, where the vampire might be overcome by desire to feed from his paramore. If a vampire is allowed the full range of their monstrosity, either in form or actions, they are delegated to horror stories. You do not see a horrific half man half bat with menbranous wings in twilight. The werewolf is allowed a horrifying transformation while still being the romantic partner.

I just wish there were more vampires who owned their monstrous nature without it being horror you know? Vampires who leave gaping bite marks in their victims necks, who have animal instincts, who are allowed to be a little fucked up actually, who aren't just pretty elves who also happen to drink blood.

[shores-of-oblivion]

Okay I really need to gush about Elster. Sometimes it's hard to relate to video game protagonists and even feel like they're much of a character, but Signalis is a rare case of a protagonist I can and have absolutely fallen in love with. Visually Elster is great, I've always been a fan of android/cyborg women (thanks Android 18), and considering she looks like she stepped out of Blame, she's perfect in that regard.

She clearly has an appreciation for art, there's no way she can't having fallen so in love with an artist, but art is also something that "destabilizes" her, aka: makes her become a person again. There's a reason why Ariane was told not to show her movies or music. (Or rather would have been told if she'd bothered to read the file on LSTR units) Through art and music and being shown love, she was able to become a full person and share a love with Ariane. Maybe I'm just a sappy romantic artist myself, but this is so real to me. It's why I love all the references to other art that the game makes. I have personal experiences with some of those works and they mean a lot to me and have informed who I am as a person.

Elster has loved so fiercely that she is not only haunted by her love for Ariane, but also her love for Alina from her previous life. The memories that resurface from her Gestalts life are memories of Alina and their time on Vineta fighting a war that would ravage the planet. The memories bleed so much into each other that Elster confuses Alina and Ariane for the first half of the game. To me, this is all just another part of the repeating cycles, because not only has Elster been repeating the events of the game over and over, these two people have been dancing with each other throughout multiple lives.

And things probably didn't end well for Alina and Lilith. Both experienced a horrific war. Lilith was used as a basis for the LSTR units, something that includes having yourself erased from society and people's memories and turned into a mass produced slave for an authoritarian regime, and I doubt Alina survived, considering the image of Lilith standing before 6 markers with flowers placed atop one.

This game contains so much horror, of the cosmic, body and authoritarian flavour, but it never stops being about love. Elsters love for Ariane that sees her go through hell an endless amount of times, and Lilith's love for Alina, which was so strong that it persists in her even after she'd been turned into someone else, and is the first thing to resurface when she starts to remember who she was.

[cult-of-the-eye]

Not romantic, not platonic but a third secret thing (doomed to tell horror stories thematically parallel to our consecutive ends in a horrifically outdated computer)

[colourstreakgryffin]

Can you do Tanjiro x fem!reader where he accidentally hurts her? Like, he’s asleep and having a nightmare and reader is trying to wake him up and when he wakes up he punches her cause it was a nightmare about demons.

I hope this makes sense😭

Ommmmggg. Tanjiro will be so upset about that! I’m totally doing this, loves! Thank you!

Kamado Tanjiro- Truly Accidental

No… no… no. It was a accident. Tanjiro swears it! He wasn’t trying to put his hands on you! He was just having a truly vivid dream and he felt his body acting on it’s own. It made him swing at literally nothing, despite the fact his visions were merely fantasy

He truly woke up a familiar pained gasp and loud thud. His plum reds widened in shock and horror at the image before him, it tore his heart out and stomped all over it ten times fold. You, on your flat back and holding your cheek

No. He didn’t punch you, did he? Tanjiro is so panicked and concerned, his head screaming at him with such hateful comments, as he tries his best to crawl over to you to try fix the situation, his heart shattering at the way you flinch

He didn’t mean it… he was so sorry

“D-Dokusha… I’m so sorry… I-I… I didn’t mean to do that, I just—” Tanjiro whispered out in a plunge of disbelief and terror at his own subconscious actions. He woke up from such a horrific, hyperrealistic nightmare consisting of him throwing it down with a wave of rabid demons bare-fisted. He couldn’t believe he could take those monsters down without his katana but his fighting spirit and survival instincts kicked in to try defend himself

You, on the other hand, was sleeping peacefully and cuddled up to your lovely fiancé, Tanjiro when you felt his calloused hands grip your kimono a bit tighter, unintentionally stirring you awake as you scanned over his frowning expression and tighter clamped-shut eyes. He was asleep but imagining a not-so-pleasant situation in his unconscious headspace

In intense worry for your fiancé’s health, you begun to shake Tanjiro’s still frame with no response from him for almost a whole minute after whispering out his name repetitively and repetitive requests for him to wake himself up for far too long for your anxiety to handle. You needed to wake him up and comfort him over that obvious nightmare he was experiencing when the second his eyes shot open, his mighty fist swung at your face and flung you over the futon to the nearby wooden-pane floor. Both of you were really fear-struck and shocked at his actions

“Wait. Please, I-I swear I would never hurt you… I-I’m sorry, I love you. Come back…” Tanjiro whispers weakly at your horrified eyes glaring at him, tears welling up in his own glassy eyes as his brain tried its best to process exactly what happened. He couldn’t believe a single ounce of this situation and the fact it actually happened by his own fist. Why did he punch you when you weren’t a demon? How was that dream so realistic that it made him lash out at his beautiful spouse!

You sniffed softly at him, slowly raising up to sit and maintaining eye contact. Tanjiro was using everything he had to keep himself from crying as his guilt and shame piled up to an uncontrollable rate. How could he make it up to you when he was the one who caused you fear and pain? He would never forgive himself for this incident and he was very tempted to sleep in the kitchen or slice his own fingernails as punishment

He should be able to control himself. Hurting somebody important to him like Nezuko or Giyuu is a awful one thing, but hurting the one person he has developed such a powerful romantic love for such as you, it makes him feel like a worthless pile of shit. Rather it was a accident or not, he was ready to take the blame and accept you yelling at him… but you never did

You gently stroked his face to try comfort him, tears rolling over the soft skin of your hand as he went to protest at your kindness. He doesn’t deserve empathy after hurting you, you’re the victim. Why are you acting like he deserves forgiveness? You keep up a soft smile, further highlighting that nasty reddish mark on your cheek where his full-power fist landed and the mark he made caused his heart to stop beating for a second or two. Tanjiro kept his gaze on you, trying to process everything all at once even though, he just couldn’t keep himself composed anymore

“Dokusha… I don’t get it… I-I hurt you… I just punched you when you tried to wake me up… w-why are you—”

“Because I love you too, Kamado Tanjiro”

[cipheramnesia]

Genuine question from a newbie just dipping her toes into horror film: If Candyman isn't actually a slasher (which is all I've seen it called), what is it? And how come it keeps being misidentified as a slasher flick?

Candyman is probably misidentified as a slasher both because of its original marketing, landing in the tail end of the 80s video cassette slasher boom, and having two mediocre sequels.

Generally a slasher has a limited region and a victim pool mainly consisting of teens. For example the big three - Jason, Freddy, Michael - are all somewhat geographically fixed and almost exclusively kill kids. Usually the slasher is specifically intertwined with fears pertaining to the transition between childhood and adulthood such as increasing independence and of course burgeoning sexuality. The victims typically are killed for transgressions of the child-adult boundaries such as rebelliousness, drinking, sex and so on. By and large the slashers have a character which is malevolent in a way that's divergent from mere human emotions because they are often larger than life figures of mortality and social moral codes.

On the cinematic side, most slasher movies have a very consistent plot formula and even similar shots. Usually there is an early on warning, the harbinger. This is followed by stage setting the particular vices of the victims, and some minor fake out scares, before the actual killing starts in earnest. There's inevitably some kind of POV / voyeur shot, several similar victim chase safe / fake out death sequences. A slasher subgenre is not necessary predictable but by nature it is a little bit formulaic - it's a type of character and a plot structure.

Candyman is a different kind of movie. I'm not sure it falls into a specific subgenre. It could be called horror noire, urban legend horror, and in some ways it's almost a ghost story. However there are some crucial differences.

Victim type is obvious. Candyman is not teen exclusive - nearly all of the victims in the film are full adults. Not only that, but his purpose for existing is different. He is not a governor of the transition to adulthood or a symbol of sex and mortality. Candyman exists as an urban legend and is more symbolic of the hidden secrets of ourselves and our cultural history which we try to cover over and forget.

As a personality, Candyman is not malicious, but rather tragic and romantic. His history is as a wronged man, a brilliant man horrifically killed in an act of racist violence. People who call him are summoning this combination of a deeply intellectual and passionate artist, and the history of racial oppression in the USA. And his acts of murder are not brutal enforcement of social norms, but rather keeping his story and the horrific truth of our own past alive - being remembered.

There is nothing either metaphorically or structurally in Candyman that conforms to the slasher subgenre. The slasher killers irrevocably tie sex and death together because of how they are fundamentally linked in our lives. Candyman ties the past to the present, carrying a promise that even his victims are immortalized in legend. The slasher killers are tied to teenagers and related transitional spaces where morality and control are in flux. Candyman is tied to his own legend and the reflection of ugly truths.

Both Candyman and the slasher subgenre have deep and fascinating ideas under the surface, but they are not the same ideas, and structurally Candyman is only as passingly similar to a slasher as to any other movie. Incidentally the recent Candyman also gets this, and I highly recommend both movies. They tell horror stories that are very different from most others, and I think both are vital films to see.

[sundrop-writes]

How would Spencer, Emily and Elle react to getting proposed to?

(I love this so much omg.)

(The reader here is entirely gender neutral.)

Requests are currently - OPEN

I feel like Elle would lowkey hate it? I think even if she was in a long-term relationship, she wouldn't be into traditional romance. She wouldn't be the PDA type of person, she would be the type of person to flirt with teasing insults and she wouldn't like things to get 'too sappy'.

I think Elle wouldn't even be too fond of the idea of marriage - she would be okay with just existing in a long term relationship (and would not want to open the door of 'I am terrified of someone leaving me so I don't want to get married because I don't want to get divorced'.) If she was with someone who did help her get over that, and she did want to get married, then she would want the marriage proposal to be simple, non-romantic, and predictable. (And most likely, Elle would want to be the one proposing, rather than the one getting proposed to.)

She would hate one of those very traditional, very romantic, public or semi-public proposals - especially if it was one that she didn't see coming. She would love the kind of proposal where you gave her a ring randomly while handing her the Sunday paper and when she asked what the ring was, you say "I think we should get married."

If that was the case, then she would smile and put the ring on, and tell you that it's a bother because she has to 'go to HR and get some BS paperwork about changing her marriage status' - but she says it with a fond smile, and you know that it's her way of saying she's looking forward to spending her life with you.

Emily would be shocked. Even if the two of you discussed marriage in the past and the possibility of getting married, she would still be shocked if you set up a proposal for her. She thought that she would be the one to propose to you, but she never had much romantic flare, and she got so caught up in working that she never set aside too much time to plan a proposal - and you got ahead of her and planned one before she could think too much about it. (You were very romantic, and even though she never said it much, you knew that she loved being romanced and swept off her feet.)

She is still a private person, so she wouldn't want it to be a public or even semi-public proposal - she would be okay if her close friends were there (basically, her BAU family), but that's about it.

I think she would love something like this - you waiting at the office when the team gets back from a case. You have had the help of Garcia (who just lives for this kind of stuff, and practically squealed with glee when you told her that you needed her help setting up a proposal for Emily) (and she had the hardest time not blabbing the secret to everyone, but she managed to keep it under wraps, even if everyone knew she was acting weird for some reason) - you printed out pictures of your relationship with Emily and decorated the round table room with them, themeing the room with pictures of beauty and happiness instead of all the horrific crime-scene photos that Emily has had to see there before.

Derek insisted that he needed Emily's attention in the room (because of course, on the way back, Penelope had called him, and talked his ear off about how he could help, all to excited about the prospect of romance and love) - and Emily stood in loving awe at seeing you in the middle of the room, candles lit, as you got down on one knee - and everyone funnelled in to watch as you gave an epic speech, summarizing how much you loved her and how, even if the world could be filled with horrors, you wanted to be with her through it all.

Naturally, she said yes - and there wasn't a dry eye among the team.

Spencer would absolutely love it.

Of course, because of traditional gender roles (and the heteronormative idea being planted in his head that he was likely going to end up in a straight relationship) - Spencer always pictured himself as the one who would perform the proposal, rather that the one being proposed to. Even when he first got into a relationship with you, it lingered in the back of his mind that he would probably be the one to plan the proposal and execute it - so when marriage was heavily discussed between the two of you, and it seemed like the true next logical step in your relationship, Spencer found himself delightfully surprised when you planned a marriage proposal for him.

He was the super romantic type. He loved doing hyper romantic things for you, but he was never prepared when you returned that romance for him. He wouldn't care if the proposal was public or not, but he would feel shy about things being centered around him for once and all the attention being on him - but he would love how much effort you put into it.

You made it perfect for him. You took him out on a date - going to his favourite restaurant, and then you took him to the planetarium. You proposed to him under a beautiful sky full of stars, with a simple ring that he could wear to show off the commitment - he tried to hide his tears of happiness in the darkness of the room, and he kissed you with the utmost passion after he said yes. He couldn't have been happier, knowing that this was the start of a long life that the two of you got to spend together.

Criminal Minds Masterlist

[dawllick]

Things I would like to see in Season 2 under the cut

- Lucy and Cooper discussing their past marriages sjdbjdbdnd

“My wife was willing to drop bombs to preserve our family.”

“I married, fucked, and killed my husband and said marriage lasted…less than 2 hours.”

“Sweetie what the fuck I thought you were nice”

- Lucy telling Cooper the ghoul she shot was her mom and what she found out from Moldaver

- Max doesn’t have to lie to have a good time

- more Max and Dane, idc if romantic or platonic they just have better chemistry than max and Lucy I’m sorrryyyyy

- Cooper teaches Lucy to swear

- Lucy finding out who the Ghoul is

- Let Dane meet the Ghoul. I have no reason for this other than I think it could be interesting and a little funny

- let Stephanie do a violence. She’s earned it.

- let Reg and Woody reunite they should not have been separated

- the dog gets a new toy 💕

- Chet becomes a house husband

- Norm is okay and fine and not in a paralyzing and horrific trauma situation

- vault 4 riot post finding out Moldaver was killed

- vault 4 still hasn’t sharpened that sword lmao

- vault 4 overseer has twice as many moldy cups of whatever on his desk now

- more monsters esp with Lucy and Coop like walking in a small group to wherever her dad fucked off to, but for horror and FIGHTS

- Coop saves Lucy bc uh oh he cares

- Lucy having a whole “you did a nice thing!!! We are friends!!!” And coop threatening to cut off another finger

- more Lucy and coop parallels they really went off on that shit

- Max just becomes the Steve Harrington of this show, just gets beat up all the fucking time RIP

- also I wanna see Lucy’s dad suffer for so many reasonsssss :)

- wardrobe stay away from coop his outfit is perfect please do not change it unless you get something cooler

- maybe have a vault that was built faulty and didn’t hold up and so it became inhabited by whatever so horror vault for someone

- when Max and Lucy reunite no one is mad just happy the other is alive

[castrianamore]

Bitter, Had the Heart

DC X Danny Phantom Crossover

Chapter 1: to see or to mistake

TW: Graphic depictions of Corpses, Mutilation, vile smells

Tim Drake was a brilliant Detective. He was a shareholder of Wayne Enterprises. Middle child of the family really. He was working on his degree in business at Gotham U, as expected. He also excelled, as expected. Nothing could have prepared him for this, though. I’m all his years of detective work nothing was quite this gruesome, this brutal. This slow.

A horrified terror filled expression struck across two gang member’s faces. Their deceased bodies had entrails splayed over the alley and he held a rag over his nose and mouth at the smell. It wasn’t just the decay setting into the bones and souls. It smelled like rotten eggs, sulfur. Mixed with the metallic scent of iron and blood and disgust.

Nightwing landed next to him.

“Oo that’s not pretty,”the man whispered. “Damn that stinks.” Time handed over a rag to his elder brother who very gladly put it over his nose.

“You’re telling me. This is one of the more brutal and gruesome cases I’ve seen in a while…” Tim was trying to take in what he could from below. They had to have been tortured alive as they had their entrails removed, at least most of the other rogue’s in Gotham made their subject’s deaths quick, even if painful but these? This was a new breed of brutal and horrific.

Tim was frustrated. He was a fucking detective for gods sake.

“How many is this now?”Nightwing looked at his younger brother before back down at the bodies.

“8… I think we can classify this as a serial case right now,”he huffed. He pulled out a notepad writing things down.

Smell of sulfur.

Entrails spread out.

Claw marks on the walls.

Symbols written into the alleyway walls in the blood of the fallen.

Faces frozen in horror.

This was the 7th and 8th one and of course it was similar to the others. Smell of sulfur. Entrails spread out. Once they got the autopsy report back he high suspected the heart will have been removed and a bite being taken out of the kidney if there even was one.

“So Gotham has another mysterious serial killer whose signature is as gruesome and messy as the Joker’s entire existence.” Tim had been frustrated with this case since it started and he was beyond grateful for the help. A lot of the bats were in on the case at some point. Duke had been trying to do Daytime recon. Tim and Dick were keeping up with police investigation, namely Dick who claimed he was coming from Bludhaven to help with the case. Got them both the inside information.

Bruce and Damian were trying to track down anything and it had been all hands on deck to keep a watchful eye on the city. Cass and Steph were off-planet apparently dealing with something from the covert ops team of Young Justice. Barb was doing her best to play eyes as she kept an eye on the various cctv footage around the city, but Gotham was big and there was always crime to attend too.

Tim was stretched thin himself. He normally had shareholder meetings in the mornings at least once a week, sometimes twice, and after that it was to his college classes. Tim had college, patrols, the company. Fuck. Let alone the occasional charity galas and other events he had to go to not only as a wayne but as a head of the company as a whole.

Tim was running on fumes as this case was running him dry. That was another reason why Dick was in town to lessen the load on Tim. He liked college and he knew that he wan’t exactly the most social person let alone the most normal(look at his job?) but he did want to do things sometimes with his friends. Though, he was sure his ‘friends’ probably wouldn’t be around for super long. Having mundane friends outside of super hero life was hard, let alone a romantic relationship. He had tried with the other heroes. He had tried with civilians but the civilians just couldn’t understand the time necessary and the excuses he was going to have to make.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to pursue a romantic relationship but it just simply felt as if he had no choice but to not. Wow, he was tired if hid mind was going off on it’s own separate tangent in mind distracting him from the task at hand. Speaking of…

A small flash of one of the police’s camera’s caught him off guard. Unbeknownst to the group a man in black tech wear with white accents and a mask pulled over his nose was crouched by the body. Hands gloves and a hood up over barely visible black hair. He was taking a sample it seemed of, what was that? How did he not notice that?

There was a green viscous liquid and he just collected it, not just an incredibly small amount, but what was on the body at all. It reminded him far too much of Lazarus water for his liking, but if someone had poured gelatin in it.

“Wing,”Time stated wide-eyed at him.

“I see.”

“We have eyes on a potential suspect,”Tim called over coms.

“Do not engage, follow,”Batman’s words echoed back to him. Duh. They wanted information on the dude. The two backed into the darkness a little more as soon as the police-men turned around he was gone. Tim and Dick watched his foot catch on the ledging as he climbed onto the roof of the building pulling down his hood and looking around. Eyes covered by a pair of goggles that were a stunning and haunting green color. Then it seemed he spotted the bats even from their vantage point, and as soon as they noticed. The man took off running.

“Shit!” Tim exclaimed, moving to jump onto the roof to pursue .

“Red! No engaging!”

“I’ve been following this shit for months, I’ve never been then close to a lead Nighty!” He exclaimed moving to follow.

“Language! But, really?!?” Nightwing followed after time the two moving with ease.

“Stop!!!” He yelled at the black masked figure who merely cocked his head to the side running backwards for a moment before jumping across to the next roof doing a roll. Experienced in parkour at least as Tim and Dick followed suit. Fuck he was fast.

“We need to corner him,”Dick hissed.

“Don’t tell B…”

“Don’t tell B what?”Dick replied before Tim threw two batarangs at his target.

“Red!” Dick exclaimed as the man dropped sliding on his knees to avoid the first one but as he got up the second one hit his leg. Bullseye. The person tripped holding his leg for a moment. A small grunt of pain could be heard as he scooted away from the two of them. The way their face was covered left no idea what thoughts crossed their mind. Nightwing landed next to Red as they stared at the man backing up against the wall to the roof.

“Don’t make us hurt you anymore. Tell us what you were removing from that crime scene,”Red threatened, grabbing his bo staff off his belt and letting it unfurl. The person shook their head as they used the short wall to stand up limping heavily. They weren’t incredibly close to the ground at the moment. At minimum a solid 8 stories high.

Pretty far up Tim would say. Which made the next move shake him. The man looked at them and slowly shook his head and by the time they both realized what they were doing their hearts broke. They gave him a farewell salute with two fingers and fell backwards off the edge of the building and neither himself nor Hightwing could catch him in time. Both running desperately to the edge wide eyed with panic.

It wouldn’t have been the first time someone had committed suicide to escape them. Tim doubted it would be the last either. Fate had it out for them in that way. Fate had it out for them in a lot of ways as Tim would find out over the course of events.

Though they never heard a smack against concrete as they rushed to the side, nor a scream of terror. So when they looked into the alley way the man wasn’t there anymore. Dick and him quickly using grappling hooks to get down.

“What the…”

“Where did he—“

“Infrared?” Dick suggested they both moved to look around them. Just the coldness of the alleyways and setting mid January weather. It was freezing in this alleyway.

“Is that a bed?”Dick pointed out the small campaign at the very back of the alley. A few cardboard boxes set up as a table with a few remains set there. Messy soaked sheets sat on top a cardboard bed with a messy pillow half destroyed it seemed

“Of course it’s a bad.” voice drawing them both out from their mission. “I never thought this would be the way I finally run into Two bats. You’re in front of my sleeping spot.”

They looked up to see a young man(teenager?) he only stood about 5’3. He was bundled up with a hoodie and a black trench coat over it. A soft blue scarf wrapped around his neck, hands shoved into his pockets with piercing blue eyes and ruffled black hair being held down by the matching blue beanie. He looked cold and from the infrared sensors on him the man was abnormally cold compared to most normal humans. A metà Maybe?

He had deep tired circles under his eyes. Skin far too pale to be healthy and a guant looks to his cheeks. His clothing almost just draping off his thin frame. He looked like he was very very sick if Tim could guess.

“Sorry for intruding, then,”Dick spoke up walking in front of him. Giving him a nod that he saw it too. “Did you happen to see a man fall from what roof?”

The man shifted and looked concerned Tim’s eyes looking of his shoulders, eyes, lips. Trying to pick up any subtle mico expressions.

“I just got back from classes, man,”The man sighs rubbing his forehead. “I’m half asleep and running 3 red bulls and a pack of saltine crackers.”

“Can we ask where you’re coming from?”Dick gave a charming gentle smile.

“The library.”

“I see, well we’re looking for a man dressed in all black with goggles with bright green lenses and black hair. He was sporting tech wear. You can give the police a call if you see anything?” Tim pulled out one of Greyson’s cards after he spoke. “We’re working with Detective Greyson at the moment for any leads so you can call the precinct if you see anything.”

The man took the card tossing it over his shoulder.

“ACAB, so can I sleep now? Or are we going to be playing a fun little game of 20 questions with me being the epicenter of the bats hyperfixations.”

“Ah… no, not at all. Have good night,”Dick stated as Tim was trying not to laugh as the man grabbing him grappling them up onto the roof. It was silent as they got a few blocks away before Tim burst out laughing.

“He just…”another laugh,”YEET!” Mimicking the card being thrown over his shoulder.

“That kid is suspicious.” Dick huffed maybe a little salty his normal charms didn’t work on him.

“He’s sassy not suspicious.”

“But his body temperature was—“

“He’s probably a meta Nightwing. Don’t tell the bats that you’re a meta, remember? It’s kind of Batman’s whole reason for keeping the city the way that it is, to protect metas.”

“You’re right.”

“I know. The kid looked exhausted the only thing I picked up from him was that he was beyond annoyed that he had to wait a second longer to go to bed. It’s,”he paused to look at his wrist. “2am.” A pause. If we was a student the mostly likely place he would have been would be the library. Even if you were walking from Gotham U library or a cafe it wouldn’t have taken you two hours to get where they were.” The library and most cafes closed at 11 or midnight.

“What did you realize? You’re smile fell.”

“The university library closes at midnight.”

“Okay and?”

“And this part of town is only a 45 minute walk from the library.”

“Is he our culprit they both have black hair. Could be especially if he’s a Meta explain why he was able to get away from us so fast.”

“I doubt it, that kid looked… sickly to say the least, but he was definitively hiding something.”

“So what was he hiding that he didn’t want the bats to know?

By the time they made it back to the alleyway the mysterious kid was gone.

“Dammit!”Tim exclaimed. This case was frustrating. Everything was going wrong.

“Look we at least know one thing right?” Dick was trying to make light of the situation. “He goes to Gotham U.”

“Dick.. we’re going to find hundreds of people who fall under the broad category. Let’s search “Black hair blue eyes” into the student database and see how many we come up. Let alone the fact that black might not be his natural hair color.”

“Hood could find him…”

“No, Hood has enough on his plate with these murders finding a homeless kid is not part of the problem at hand. The dude didn’t hurt anyone.”

“But if we run into him again,”Dick stared at the quickly disassembled bed the few ratty sheets now gone. “Do you think we could get him to the hospital for some help? Meta or not his readings were… rough.”

“We can’t force people into getting help all the time. It’s one thing for rogue’s who are more than a little insane but a guy who’s sick in the alley way?” Tim shook his head with a sigh rubbing the back of his neck. “We’d be chasing after half of Gotham.”

Tim rubbed his forehead a little frustrated with the general turn of events going on right now. Why couldn’t he get a lead on this fucker. He doubted that googles person would be much help. They looked like an investigator themself but at this point it was a lead and Tim was desperate. Each murder was more gruesome than the last like they were pushing their victims and themselves every time they did it. It had to have been a beast right?

“We need to find the masked person…”

“Yeah no I agree. Whatever they pulled off the body they were looking for that. They knew it would be there.”

“Think he’s the murderer?”

“Probably not, but they seem to know more than us which is concerning in its own right.”

“Not wrong there little bird.” Dick sighed. “We should leave. Head back to the cave.”

“Best, I have too many classes in the morning.”

“You have coffee addiction, you’ll be fine.” Dick smirked as they started back towards the cave moving to write a report of what they encountered on their patrol.

“You trying to feed my coffee addiction?”

“Absolutely not, B might kill me with that one,”Dick snorted.

It wasn’t as if Tim could sleep even as they got back to the manor to crash for night after writing their reports. He remained long after Dick had gone to get some sleep. Eyes focused on the screen and then down at his drawing in front of him. A rough sketch of the new person of interest.

Those eerie glowing goggles were stained into his mind as he leaned back in his chair looking at the file they had created for him.

Name: Unknown

Age: Unknown

Height:5’3 ~

Weight: 115-130lbs~

Appearance: Black hair in black tech wear and a respirator over his mouth and glowing green lensed goggles. White motifs along the outfit with a white D symbol over the left side of the chest.

Status: Unknown

Alignment: Unknown

All these unknowns. How were they supposed to figure it out. He had to meet this person again. He had to find them. He didn’t have a choice. This person was a key in his case. He sent a text to Jason.

“Keep an eye out for a guy that roughly looks like this” He sent an attachment of the drawing he did of the rough outfit in greyscale and what he saw.

“Oh… I know that dude. The people called him Distortion.”

What?

Jason knew of him? How did?

“How?” Cue Tim’s annoyed thoughts at how Jason didn’t care to share this information with them. Any of them. “And you didn’t think a new body on the streets who has a name wasn’t something you wanted to share with the class?!?”

More little bubbles as he was typing.

“He belongs to me that’s all you need to know. He’s an associate. A valuable acquaintance.”

“Well your associate was found removing evidence from my crime scene and bolting.”

“Need to know basis, Tim.”

“Do you know his identity?”

“No.”

“Age?”

“Yes.”

“Can i have it?”

“Absolutely not. He doesn’t want to be involved with the Bats or on your radar. I’d advise deleting the file you’re creating on him. He doesn’t take well to being on record right now.”

“Why?”

“Don’t know Don’t care but he’s incredibly useful and I’d like to keep him on our side and he was very hesitant on even coming to me. He only came to me because he’s operating out of my territory.”

“At least the guy has some respect.”

“He has street smarts. Now back off Tim. You know I let you in on a lot and that’s why I’m telling you this, but him? Distortion? Let him do his thing. If he tells me anything I’ll let you know.”

“What do you get out of this?”

“An investigator.”

“You have us?”

“Not all crime is big enough to involve the bats. Not all crime I can do all the work for for myself. He helps me out locating information and in exchange I leave him the fuck alone.”

Tim stared at the texts.

More typing bubbles.

“You tell Dick, Damian, or especially Bruce about this and I will rat you out for the Yelen case.”

Tim would be silent after all…

He stared at his doodle, ripping it up. It looked like shit anyways. He rubbed his face frustrated really as he made no changes to the file. Dick didn’t have to know about what he knew. This felt wrong to him though. Not just the whole Jason apparently knowing of the guy. If Jason knew of the guy but he remained under the radar of the rest of the bats it was concerning, and even as close as he was to Jason he wouldn’t put it past that guy to keep his issues to himself.

He always thought of himself really. First and foremost. It had been that way since his return mostly. It wasn’t like he never tried. Birthdays and holidays he’d show up. Tim wasn’t going to like that he noticed the mans change in demeanor the past year had done for him. A decrease in murders Jason committed in Crime Alley.

It was subtle enough unless you were looking for it, it wouldn’t be noticed, but tim did. Tim did notice. It reminded him of that breakdown he had a while ago. The anger returning to his brother like it had been there all along slowly increasing. The pit madness returning with a full force nearly driving Jason away from everyone. Jason wouldn’t talk about why the pit madness hit him so hard again.

He wasn’t exactly a feelings guy. None of them were. Dick was the most open of the Bat siblings to openly talk about their emotions and hell Duke had the most normal of a life before it all. Even he was hesitant. They all saw the Black Canary at least once every 6 months and that was only after a begrudging agreement with Black Lightning and the rest of the justice league. Most of they, themselves, weren’t involved in the justice league.

It was also why Cass and Steph being asked to go seemed to set him off. It wasn’t his place.

“He belongs to me..” Tim whispered out the words with a slight possessive tome looking at their texts chewing on his lip a little. A small habit he picked up when he was lost in thought and alone. Usually only when he was relaxed and with family. He couldn’t let people read his microexpressions out in public.

“For a solitary man, that’s quite a possessive statement Jason,”he mumbled into the batcave before standing up and walking up the stairs to his room. Not that he got much sleep either.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Reading the S2 reviews (so beware spoilers ahead!). Wanted to get your take (and others’ if people have thoughts!), citing The Wrap’s review:

“Daniel might be the most radically different character from book to screen. He’s older, more pessimistic and utterly allergic to the allure of vampire life. Only now he is able to confront the deep-seated scars left behind after his night with Louis (although book fans might be disappointed to know that the show doesn’t tease out more of the romance he has with Armand in the books. Theirs is strictly an adversarial relationship in the series.)”

Other reviews confirm that S02E05/the episode about Daniel’s past is not romantic at all, rather a horror episode. Which I’m sure will be good (some describe it as the best episode), but I can’t help being a bit disappointed that they don’t seem to be doing DM - or at least not in this season at all. I think the reviews only cover episodes 1-6, but this reviewer seems so very sure… (also they seem to know the books so I’m guessing the episode won’t be too similar to the book either. Meaning it won’t end with “the chase” or will it?). So is there a real risk that no DM will play out?. The greatest hint of DM in my view was Zaman’s podcast appearance where he stated that Armand is curious about Daniel and that there is a history there. But this could just be referring to their horror-filled encounter in episode five. So I don’t know, I’m a little sad - was pretty excited for some f*cked up memory stuff (there is just something so compelling with the idea of discovering that there is a whole side of your life that you’ve lost - that this person you don’t know is someone you loved etc.). I wanted to see what it would do to Daniel and Armand respectively, and I wanted their dynamic to be as interesting as possible. Remember reading speculation that Daniel will remember more in the finale - maybe a romantic aspect but I think it was just pure speculation, no hints or comments from the cast/writers backing this up.

What do you think? Grateful to hear your thoughts! Also, I’m still psyched about this season of course, looking forward to the Armand/Louis romance, the Theatre! Hayles performance is supposedly going to be amazing, and I’m looking forward to more of Daniel’s snark obviously! It feels unreal that the season is around the corner!

It is!!! And I am also sooooo hyped, it's unreal *laughs*

Okay, so... first of all, it's always a thing of perspective with reviews. For example, there's this as well, after episode 1:

Now... that is no review, granted.

But it's perception. I... do not think that all of the "Devil's Minion" will be spelled out in the first episodes (nor do I think we will get all of it this season!). In fact, I think the horror that "he loved this monster" is part of the horror of it all, this realization. And that will very likely be in the last episodes, in whichever way.

So. With that in mind - btw, which review did confirm it's ep5? (I only saw that focused comment I think?) - I did not expect Devil's Minion to be "happy". In fact, I think it might have stalking, cages, attacks, and the beginning of the chase - and that chase does NOT start out as cute.

Daniel just gets used to it, over time. And then Armand falls in love.

Season 2 is going to be significantly darker. I bet it's also going to be a lot campier, if the comments to this hold true, with dark humor. But they're leaning fully into the horror aspects of this vampire world now, and the beginning of the Devil's Minion is exactly that - horrific.

The above review matches with what Jacob said about Louis and Daniel forming alliances... and I bet that alliance is indeed needed to drag the whole story out.

And when that whole story is out - that will lead to repercussions.

THAT in turn goes for Louis just as much as it goes for Daniel... because this second interview has just as much to do with him.

So... I would wait until you can see it with your own eyes?! :)

I mean... AMC's promotion(and pairing of the actors) speaks a very loud language? And Assad said he had chemistry read with "Daniel"... for reasons.

But it won't all be revealed in the screeners. I bet the last two episodes will pack a punch.

Maybe even literally. 😜