#all video is from the CW’s Supernatural

[steviewashere]

Don't Dish What You Can't Serve

Rating: Teen and Up CW: Sexual Harassment (Not Between Main Pairing), Chewing Tobacco, Gross Shit Happens That I Can't Say Because It Spoils The PlotTags: Different First Meeting AU, No Upside Down AU, No Supernatural AU, Steve Never Became Friends With Tommy and Carol, Hurt/Comfort, Tommy Hagan Being an Asshole, Tommy Hagan is a Piece of Shit Here, Waiter Steve Harrington, Line Cook Eddie Munson, They Work at Benny's, So This is an AU Where Benny's Never Closed, Protective Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Takes Care of Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson Gets Revenge, Steve is a College Student (But That's Not Entirely Important Here), '86 Was Eddie's Year

🥤——————🥤 Steve picks up a new job in the summer of 1986, waiting tables. The job at Family Video fell through and it just didn’t pay enough. He was starting his first year at the local college soon and he desperately needed the money. Especially since his parents cut him off, sighting his one gap year as enough reason. And so he goes to Benny’s, fills out an application and turns it in the same day. Back at his apartment, also the same day, he gets hired on. Alongside another guy around his age, one he recognizes from high school as Eddie Munson—who must’ve finally finished his time as a senior and now just needed to work.

Neither of them really talk to each other outside of putting orders in and taking orders out. Maybe occasionally scolding the other because—“You didn’t ask how rare he wanted his steak, Harrington? How the hell am I supposed to make it then?” and “Munson, you forgot the fucking ketchup on this asshole’s cheeseburger and now he won’t shut the fuck up about it. Fix this, please for the love of god.”

So, sure, they don’t get along all that well all the time. They’re not friends. More so just acquaintances. And so they don't really talk.

However, that changes one evening.

It’s a couple weeks before the upcoming school year is supposed to start. Hawkins, Indiana is one of those little college towns. Meaning, the new students were finally moving, coming around, getting to know where they now lived. And that includes one particular customer, Tommy Hagan, and his girlfriend, Carol Perkins. They’ve been coming in since mid-July, despite the new year starting in September, despite move-in dates set in late August. Every Sunday, Steve sees their pinched, smarmy, cocky faces. And every Sunday, they always cause some sort of issue.

The first time, Tommy spilled his soda all over the tiled restaurant floor. Claimed it was an accident, but Steve saw him. He saw the guy push his cup over the edge. Heard him snicker as Steve bent down to wipe it up, as he stood back up and plastered on a tight smile, promising that he’d get him a new soda right away. Flushed with shame as Tommy laughed and laughed and laughed his ass off about the, “Guy with the big stupid eyes and no thoughts in his head” and how he, “Probably doesn’t have much going for him if he’s working in a place like this.”

A riddle and game, that’s what it was. Steve would welcome them, take their orders, put them in for Eddie to make, drop the food off, and be at their service if something went wrong. Which was always. And he’d endure the stupid comments Tommy would make when he wasn’t in earshot. Spanning from how incompetent their waiter was—“He’s always screwing something up, swear to god. Don’t even know how he’s holding a job here, jeez.”—to how big of a manwhore he is because of how tight his work pants were. As if Steve would ever be catching tail in his stupid slacks, always stained with food and sticky soda by the end of the night, and the same pants that give him wedgies if he doesn’t make them sit right on his waist. All in all, Tommy is their worst customer. But it’s just a job, Steve always thought, it’ll get better at some point. Tommy will eventually start classes and leave me alone.

Then, of course, comes the Sunday a couple weeks before the new school year. Tommy is alone this time. No Carol on his arm. He just slides into one of the booths and watches Steve work until he approaches. And immediately, something is terribly off about this encounter.

“Welcome to Benny’s, can I get any drinks started for you?” Steve asks. His script. Customer service voice pitchy and monotone as it drips from his mouth.

Tommy doesn’t answer for several moments. Leaving Steve to stand and loom and stare. To smile and squirm. As he rakes his eyes so unnoticeably over all of Steve’s frame. His tongue trails along the inside of his lower lip, eyes heated, a gross smirk on his face. Smarmy.

“Bet you’d look good without that dumb frilly apron around your waist,” Tommy teases. It’s half-flirtatious, Steve thinks. But all the same creepy and…predatory.

“Excuse me?” He can only respond.

The asshole hums, assessing. Repeats himself. And adds, “You’d make better tips, too. Maybe put some gloss on your lips, a tighter shirt, no apron…yeah…vision’s coming together, baby. Could make everybody your bitch when you serve them.” He stares for a second longer. Rests his face in his left hand and flutters his eyes at Steve. “Can I get my usual, pretty boy? And one of those strawberry milkshakes.”

Steve writes the order down on his little notepad, shifting foot to foot. His stomach twists and knots. Brain still whirling at what Tommy said, unable to retort. Doesn’t even know how to really feel. Not flattered, that’s for sure. Slimy…that seems like a good enough substitute for the emotions mildewing in his chest.

“Y’know,” Tommy continues, voice sticky the way humidity is—uncomfortable—“I see how hard you work around here sometimes, even if you are pretty bad at it. Swear I can see the cogs just clogging up in your head. If you wanna give that pea brain of yours a moment to relax, you could share that drink with me. Maybe I’ll tip you real good this time, baby.”

He shifts again. Hands clammy and bile in the back of his throat. Steve swallows hard, thinks he stutters something out akin to, “I’ll be back with your order,” and promptly disappears into the kitchen.

The door swings closed behind him. And he’s not really looking, not paying attention. Just trying to get away from the residue left in Tommy’s air of existence. In the seconds between entering the kitchen and trying to storm away, he runs into somebody. An exerted grunt, raspy and deep, sounds out in front of him.

“Hey! Watch”—the person gently grabs him by the shoulders and leads them somewhere that he can’t really register. In a softer voice, no longer agitated, “Steve? Hey, man, y’alright?”

Steve sniffles. It’s then that he recognizes the heat in his cheeks, overwhelmingly hot and itchy. The scalding of tears. A pinch behind his eyes. There’s a soft cushion underneath him, the telltale creak of one of the older dining chairs. The air smells like garlic and grease, but a breeze catches over his exposed forearms—most likely from an air conditioning unit. He’s in the break room, he can finally notice. And break he does.

“That asshole is back,” he garbles, “and he”—hiccup—“he’s being really gross to me.”

The person crouches down in front of him, putting them eye-to-eye. And he knows immediately that it’s Eddie. Long hair pulled up into as neat of a bun as he can manage. A group of pitch black bats on pale skin. Dark brown eyes, shifting back and forth between his own with a mixture of concern and anger.

“What’d he say to you, Steve?”

He sniffs again, trying to gain some composure before he inevitably has a full-blown breakdown. Inevitable because he always has one when he goes home to his apartment, but it might happen here, and he can’t afford to let it happen here. Not today, at least, not now.

“Calling me…calling me baby and pretty boy. And he—he’s trying to make me share his stupid milkshake and he calls me stupid—that I have a…a fucking pea brain. Eddie, he calls me stupid every single time he comes in and I just—he’s just—I can’t”—

Eddie runs his warm hands up and down his biceps, gently pushing the fabric of his quarter sleeve, too. He shushes low and whispered. Murmurs, “I don’t want you to go back out there without me, alright?” His eyes dart back and forth between Steve’s wet ones once more. One of his hands leaves and digs into his back pocket, producing a black bandana. And he carefully brings it up close, patting it over Steve’s blotchy cheeks. “You don’t deserve that, Steve,” he whispers, “and I’ll make sure he gets what he deserves. Just wait back here for a bit and I’ll get his order done.”

Steve nods slow and heavy. Wipes the heel of his palm roughly over his eyes���to which Eddie tuts at and firmly drags it away, replacing it with the worn, soft fabric of that bandana. “Sorry that I ran into you at the door,” he says quietly.

“I’m glad you did. Because I’m going to make sure that asshole never bothers you again. ‘M sick of hearing what he does to you every single time he comes in.” Eddie stands up, but leaves the bandana to dangle in Steve’s loose grip. A tentative stroke through Steve’s hair, something he usually wouldn’t allow, but it’s too nice to turn down. “We’ll put him up on the wall, too. That bastard can suck a fucking egg.”

He laughs at that, or at least something like a laugh. It’s brittle, airy, but genuine. And watches Eddie go.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, though, Eddie wanders back into the break room and drags them back towards the milkshake blender in the kitchen. He has the ingredients all laid out next to the machine: vanilla ice cream, a gallon of milk, some freshly chopped strawberries, the can of whipped cream, and the glass itself. Adds the milk and the ice cream, but then stops abruptly, turning to dig something out of his pocket.

“What’re you doing?” Steve quietly asks, worried to be overheard through the ticket window.

“Oh, just some good ol’ payback,” Eddie answers, something darker than mirth in his tone. What he produces from his pocket is a can of chewing tobacco. The nasty menthol kind, too. He shakes the little tin in his hand, the tobacco thunking against the lid of the container. And then he twists the cap off, plucks a quarter sized amount, and stuffs the wad between his bottom teeth and lower lip. Mouth literally bulging with the tobacco. “We’ll blend this shit first,” he whispers, scheming, “add the strawberries. Then, comes the grand finale.”

Steve side eyes Eddie. His deft fingers flittering over the buttons of the blender, scooping out the strawberries with the same hand he picked up tobacco with. He grimaces, but doesn’t comment on that. “Grand finale?”

“One of the biggest fears that customers have when they go into any restaurant is that the waiter is going to spit in their food,” he nonchalantly explains, capping the blender, “though, a lot of them don’t consider the line cook. Or at least, the rude ones don’t.” Eddie shifts something in his mouth, what sounds like the slosh of thick saliva. “He’ll probably complain, but it’s not like he’ll be believed. It’s a safety hazard, sure. But nobody suspects the cook because they’re supposed to know that shit. A cook spitting in a patron’s food? No way, man. That shit’s taboo.”

“And if he is believed?”

Eddie merely shrugs. “Then I get fired. But it’s whatever. I’m already on my way out anyway, got enough money for what I need.” 

Before Steve can ask or get in response, Eddie’s blasting the blender. It chugs and churns the half cup of milk and the measly two scoops of ice cream. The strawberries burst and bleed juice throughout, mixture turning pink. And with a few shakes, a half-way pit stop to unclog the bigger chunks, and a go-about with the partially dysfunctional blades—Eddie chucks the lid off, unlocks the pitcher from the machine, and turns away from Steve.

“I’m gonna have the good graces to not make you watch this shit,” Eddie gives as an explanation, “y’may wanna cover your ears.” Steve doesn’t, though wishes he did. With a cough and a semi-gag, Eddie inhales and burbles the saliva in the back of his mouth. He can hear the way the tobacco spit dribbles from between Eddie’s lips, the way it plops into the blended mixture, and the last little dredges left in his mouth. Steve’s stomach turns, but he doesn’t stop it. Doesn’t step in.

Eddie turns back around with the blender. Sitting on top of the pink mix is one quarter sized glob of tobacco and saliva, the spit already spilling down the sides of the pitcher. “Ta-da!” Eddie exclaims, shaking the pitcher back and forth. “And that is what I like to call the revenge special. Half cup milk, two scoops of vanilla ice cream, four chopped strawberries, and a fantastical exported ingredient from the land of your’s truly. It may be a seasonal item, but it’s got the gust of something that’ll last a lifetime.”

“God…that is disgusting,” Steve mock-whispers. “You’re a fucking genius.”

“Thank you, it’s one of my many tricks.” He sets the blender down onto the metal counter, a hard thunk that rattles the milkshake glass. “Now, do me a favor and pour that into the glass, get him one of those stupid striped straws, spray it up with some whip. And I’ll dish up his monstrosity of a cheeseburger.” Eddie’s eyes soften away from the mirth they previously had. His voice dropping low, too. “I’ll deliver it, too, by the way. I would never throw you under the bus for something gross like this. This should hopefully get him to stay away, though. If he does complain about you and you have to flee, I’ll help you find a new job.”

“I could just say I did it, y’know,” Steve tentatively says, “that I fucked up his drink. You don’t need to lose your job because of issues I’m having.”

“You were crying, Steve,” Eddie points out gently. “Nobody makes my waiters cry. And nobody gets away with it, either.” He slinks away from Steve without another word and without another word getting in. And Steve watches him for a long moment. As he busies himself around his workspace, tidied and organized the way he needs it. The flex of his muscles as he flips and cuts and assembles that cheeseburger. His baby hairs at the crown of his head getting stuck to his sweaty temples, hard work painting and furrowing his brows.

But when he’s caught staring, Eddie simply and softly smiles, gestures at the blender, and turns back to his plate. So, Steve does what he’s told. Assembles the nail to his coffin, one pour and spray and straw at a time. And walks out of the kitchen, behind Eddie’s flexing back, his grease stained and sweat drenched white t-shirt. He sits at the front counter, in one of the old, flaking barstools. Watches.

Tommy looks up at Eddie from his spot in the booth, eyes wide as he sees Eddie take a seat across from him. He grimaces and sours. “You aren’t that waiter. Who the fuck are”—

“Heard you like milkshakes,” Eddie drawls. “Thought maybe I could get your opinion on a new recipe I’m trying. It’s strawberry, don’t worry your preppy little chinos off. But there’s been a slight change, was wondering what you’d think about it.”

Across the table, Tommy gives Eddie an odd glance. “Is it that important that you watch me? Surely I could’ve just sent my compliments to you or whatever when I’m done.”

“Nah, I like getting it straight from the source. So, go ahead, take a sip. Tell me what you think.”

Steve has to physically draw himself back, has to swallow down the gag and bile working their way through him, and genuinely convulses back against the counter as Tommy takes his first, long, hard sip of the milkshake. His face doesn’t move much with the sip, but he does scowl a tad, grimacing with a slight twitch in his upper lip.

“Tastes sour,” Tommy comments.

Eddie hums. “But is it good? Sometimes sour’s a good thing.” He reaches across the table, then, and plucks up Tommy’s cheeseburger. Crosses one arm across his chest, hand resting on his opposite bicep, and brings the food up to his mouth, taking a hearty bite.

“Hey!” Tommy exclaims, “that’s my cheeseburger, man! You can’t just”—

“Get a second sip and maybe I’ll consider remaking your food.” Eddie smugly watches Tommy take another deep swallow. His eyes cast at the glass, roaming at the little brown flecks in the shake. Knowing and proud. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

“I mean it’s…objectively, I guess it’s good. Can I get a new burger, man? I’m starving here and I’ve got a date with my girlfriend in thirty minutes.”

All at once, Steve’s heart enters his stomach. Eddie takes another large bite of the burger before replacing it on Tommy’s plate. He crosses his arms against the top of the table, fingers tucked securely in the creases of his elbows. Leans all the way across until he’s nearly nose to nose with Tommy.

“So, could you taste what was different? Could your pea brain discern the new flavor on your tongue?” He asks, smarmy as Tommy has ever been. Over-confident, yet satisfied.

Tommy’s eyes widen at his words being thrown back in his face, startles against the back of his booth. Fingers gripping to the edge of the table, cheeks going pale. “I…I don’t”—

“Spit.”

“Wh—What?”

“Spit,” Eddie repeats coldly. “You just drank my fucking tobacco spit.” Silence. And then, “How’d I taste, baby? Be honest. Was it everything you’d ever hope it would be with a man?”

More silence. Tense and thick, enough that it weighs on Steve’s shoulders across the way. However, Tommy finally registers what just happened. He gags hard, hand covering his curdled mouth. Behind it, muffled, he says, “You’re sick in the head. I’ll—I’ll fucking tell your boss. You’ll fucking regret this.” And he stands up on shaky legs, dashing away before he can vomit all over himself.

Eddie only watches him leave, satisfied and content. He looks back to Steve, grins. “I can’t wait to see his girlfriend’s face when she finds out he isn’t allowed back.”

Steve nervously giggles and crosses to the booth, sliding in where Tommy just was. “You’re insane,” he murmurs.

“Yeah, but it worked, didn’t it? Too bad he didn’t leave a tip. There is a cheeseburger if you want the rest of it. Promise I didn’t fuck with that.” Eddie’s eyes are on him, soft and thoughtful, watching him pick up the partially eaten burger. “I can make you a new one instead, if you’d prefer. Extra cheese, too.”

“Trying to get in all the cooking you can before this inevitably backfires?”

“Sure…or I’m trying to make sure you’re taken care of. One in the same, I suppose. So, provolone, right? Could even combine some of the cheese if you want. Pepper jack and havarti…colby jack and swiss. Take your pick.”

Steve glances up from the plate in front of him. Heart beating fast and chest gooey as Eddie looks onto him with something like reverence. “Provolone, please,” he requests quietly, “and can I get extra crunchy crinkle fries, too?”

Reaching out a hand, Eddie gently pats the back of Steve’s left. “You got it, baby”—he hisses—“I probably shouldn’t call you that. I’m so”—

“It’s alright,” Steve murmurs, “I…uh…I don’t mind if it’s you.”

Eddie sucks in a sharp breath, then stands from the other side of the bench. “You’re gonna give me a hero complex and an ego, Stevie.” He begins to retreat towards the kitchen, calling out about bringing the dishes back when he’s done, that the milkshake could just be tossed glass and all.

But Steve stops him with, “Hey, Eddie?” Is met again with those soft, dark brown eyes. “Thank you,” he quietly says, “I never thought I’d get him away from me. Means a lot that you helped.”

There’s a soft smile on Eddie’s face, one that Steve can’t help but return.

“Anything for you, man.”

He makes Eddie stop again, though. To gaze, to drink in that tight white t-shirt and the spatter of black ink on his arms, his heavy pretty curls, and that soft face of his. “When we finish closing up for the night, do you wanna come over to mine? I’ve got a rented copy of Empire Strikes Back and a few beers. Only if you”—

“I’d love to, Steve. Now let me make you your food, sweetheart. Before you gobble me up with that hungry stare of yours.”

🥤——————🥤

[positivexcellence]

Jared Padalecki Talks Boys Role (‘Just Let Me Know If I Have to Get Naked’) and How It’d Be a Supernatural Reunion

Jared Padalecki is hoping that if he visits The Boys, he’ll get to keep his clothes on.

Supernatural creator and The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has been vocal about his desire to get his former leading man on the Prime Video drama, calling Padalecki “the Pokémon I haven’t collected yet.” Thus far, Jensen Ackles, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jim Beaver, Rob Benedict and Christian Keyes are among the Supernatural vets to pop up on the comic book series, while Alexander Calvert recurred on the spinoff Gen V.

Bringing Padalecki onto the show is a matter of “finding the right role. Look, I want to. I mean, even if it’s just for a guest shot,” Kripke told TVLine.

But with the announcement that there’s only one season left after this current fourth one, have there been any recent conversations between Kripke and Padalecki about how to make that guest spot a reality before time runs out?

“We talked a little bit recently. I mean, we talked today,” Padalecki told TVLine on Friday.

A month ago, Kripke called the actor following the cancellation of his CW series Walker, which will come to an end with this Wednesday’s episode.

“He’s like, ‘Hey, dude, a) so sorry about Walker. I know how much you loved it and great show. Would you be interested in coming to play up in Toronto [where The Boys shoots]?'” Padalecki recalls. “I was like, ‘Absolutely. Just let me know if I have to get naked or not because I gotta start working out now.'”

Despite the potentially urgent need to get into the gym, Padalecki notes that the role is still a ways off from actual production.

“He and I have talked about what it could look like. It’s not written yet. He said it wouldn’t really be until 2025. We wouldn’t shoot until probably January-ish,” Padalecki shares, adding that he’s game to “go play in the playground [of] the guy who created Sam Winchester. I’ve had good times in his playground, so I’m happy to do it again.”

As for what kind of character he’d like to portray, Padalecki has his sights set on a villainous supe, with “the power of wearing clothes,” he says with a laugh. “No, I don’t know. You know what’s funny is that, yeah, I have some ideas, but to Kripke’s credit, all my ideas for his time on Supernatural paled in comparison to what he came up with. So I wouldn’t even want to put anything in his head. I just want him and his f–ked up mind to think of something cool for me to come and do, and it’s going to be better than anything I could have dreamed up. The way his brain works is wildly interesting and outside of the box… So I’ll just go with what he creates.”

Of course, if Padalecki comes on The Boys, there is potential to have him in a scene with his Supernatural co-stars Ackles and Morgan, who play baddie supe Soldier Boy and CIA officer Joe Kessler, respectively.

“Let me just say that’s not the first time I’ve had a conversation where that has been pontificated. But yeah, that would be a lot of fun,” Padalecki says, before jokingly adding that all three characters would be naked for the reunion.

Well, Kripke does have a habit of putting Supernatural alums in nude scenes…

tvline

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

is everyone in milgram just dead

Okay I'm making this post because while I'm not sure how much I believe this, it's a possibility that's been eating at my head for a while, so I gotta share it somewhere even if it's not the most solid theory in the world.

So anyways, hello members of the jury! Today I want to discuss the weirdly recurring theme of the prisoners in Milgram possibly being dead, and Milgram being some sort of afterlife thing. Given the fact it clearly has some supernatural elements, it certainly isn't impossible. So let's get into it!

CW Death, murder and suicide, abortion, child abuse, drowning, cults and indoctrination, waterboarding, gang violence

Yuno and the Allegations

The biggest hint that at least some of the prisoners might be dead is the in Yuno's second VD, Absolute Zero.

Yuno: Oh! Also, that reminds me, there was one thing I'm curious about. Es: What? Go ahead and say it. Y: Am I…really alive? E: That's…what do you…. Y: Hm…if you don't know, then it's fine. E: Yuno…. Y: Hey, it's time, right? E: Y-yes. Prisoner number 2, Yuno. Sing your sins.

Weird thing to say, really. So, presumably, she has some reason to believe she might be dead. Which is especially worrying because Yuno is one of the most intelligent and perceptive prisoners in Milgram, and might even have higher awareness of some of the more supernatural/meta elements of the series, as seen by images from both her cover songs appearing in Umbilical and Tear Drop.

All this is to say, if Yuno has reason to believe she might be dead, we have reason to believe so as well.

There are two points of Yuno's story were I feel she could have died. One is during her abortion, given a question from Trial 2.

(T2) Q20: Did you hate the person you killed?

Y: It was too much of a pain to for me to think about anything.

So her abortion was painful, which likely means it wasn't done in a hospital, as professional abortions typically don't cause too much pain in the moment (source), even if they can cause cramping or discomfort in the recovery period. If it wasn't done professionally, and it hurt a lot, it's very possible she may have died while performing it.

However, because of a few things we'll talk about later, I'm not sure this is very likely. The answer I find more likely is that, unfortunately, she may have committed suicide by jumping off the staircase we see her standing on in her Undercover silhouette shot.

For one, because what the hell would this shot even be otherwise. I've seen people suggest infanticide as opposed to abortion, but that wouldn’t cause physical pain (you could argue that answer is about emotional pain, but I'm not sure how much that works), it doesn't match her kill-shot in Undercover, and she herself has claimed her "muder" was abortion (and I don't see reason for her to lie about that). It also doesn't seem likely she would get pregnant more than once, seeing this question:

(T2) Q10: If you could turn back time, would you commit the same murder once again?

Y: I'd make sure that I won't have to commit it. That's it.

So, then, what the hell is up with that Undercover shot? Usually they say something important about the prisoner or their crime, but it really doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything.

This is where I bring up that Yuno falls off a staircase at the end of Umbilical.

Like, obviously this is more meant to be metaphorical, as in Yuno "slipped up" and now has to avoid falling by grabbing the balloon, which ends up destroying the staircase which had previously been related to the mixing of DNA (long story). But... she still is falling from a staircase. That is what is happening in the video. This is a silly argument, but it does exist.

Now, there's a few other things which could imply this, but that will have to wait for a moment. So while there is very little evidence for now, I'd say this is the most likely reason for why Yuno believes she may be dead. Especially given she might have depression (check out this cool post by weather-cluddy), her comitting suicide is sort of the best guess we can make I feel.

Nevertheless, no matter the reason why, Yuno believes she may be dead, which opens the door to other characters, if not all of them, to be dead as well. Let's take a look at the other prisoner most likely to actually be dead in my opinion, and see if we can establish a pattern.

Haruka's Worrying Situation

I believe, even if no one else is dead, it is highly likely Haruka attempted suicide. I am not going to go too in-depth in here, because moibakadesu already made a really good post about it, which is where I got the theory from in the first place. In fact, the idea Haruka may have at least attempted suicide has existed ever since Trial 1, check out this cool post by Venus from thinkin-bout-milgram. Here's a summary of what the main points of the theory are:

-The repeated motif of water and drowning could indicate the way Haruka killed himself, especially since he lived in Naogaka, Niigata, known as the "city of water."

-Haruka repeatedly attacks and even strangles a younger version of himself in Weakness, in one occasion alongside the lyric "I've become a victim, I've become a victim."

-The young girl in Weakness might actually be a representation of the "ideal Haruka", as he's stated his mother wanted a daughter instead of a son (I don't actually agree with this part, I do think the girl is a literal girl Haruka killed, due to several lines from his VDs, such as him saying Amane "brings back bad memories." However, it's still a possibility)

-The nonchalance with which Haruka speaks of comitting suicide in his second MV, Metamorphosis of the Weak, could imply he's already done it once.

-The line "if with one click, and I can reset everything" in AKAA can be more directly translated to "if with the push of one button I could be reborn", which paired with butterflies being symbols of death and rebirth and being connected to Haruka because of the name of his second VD, could imply Haruka died and was reborn.

-Haruka standing on a chair in AKAA as his shadow lines up with the shadow of the bars in the window to create the ilusion he has a noose around his neck.

-At the end of AKAA, Haruka is surrounded in what looks to be formaldehyde, which is used to preserve the corpses of dead animals, while the aforementioned "I could be reborn" lyric plays.

As you can see, there's a lot here, which is why I think it is highly likely Haruka comitted suicide.

There is an issue with bringing this theory in, which is that part of the theory is that Haruka's silhouette in the Undercover shot doesn't have white noise, which separates him from the others and could imply he's a victim like Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend, who similarly have no white noise. The problem for our purposes is that this theory assumes a lot of the other prisoners, such as Yuno, may have committed suicide as well, creating an inconsistency with this point. I don't have a good answer for this, beyond a really odd, Hamlet-esque "Haruka is a victim of his own madness" kind of thing which doesn't work very well, so unless any of you have another explanation, it's best for this theory to just sorta ignore the white noise thing.

So, now we have two prisoners who very likely died before Milgram. This vaguely establishes a possible pattern: what if all the prisoners were taken right as they died?

Muu’s Mysterious Memory Mishaps

Es: You said you wanted to go back home, right? And, "suppose" we did let you… Even if you were to leave this place, you'll then have a brush with the police, won't you? Muu: *Surprised* E: I mean, you've killed someone anyway, so are the police not making a move in regards to that? M: Well, I don't know. As of now, I don't have a clear memory of what happened after I did it. And then before I knew it, I was here. E: Is… that so? M: You guys should've known that, being the ones who brought me here after all.

This line from Muu’s first VD has always intrigued me. Muu doesn’t have a very good reason to be lying here when seen in full context, so she’s likely telling the truth. But, why? Why doesn’t Muu remember anything clearly after her crime, and why was she taken so quickly after committing it?

First idea is that perhaps all the prisoners are simply taken right after the murder they’re in Milgram for; even in the case of multiple murders, you can say Milgram just decided to take them for the last one exclusively.

However, Shidou serves as a counter example, because of the ending of Throw Down.

It’s a pretty simple logical progression. Shidou has no reason to kill after the flower person dies, so their death is after his last murder most likely, and yet he does remember it happening. Thus, Shidou has a memory of something which happened an undetermined amount of time after his final murder.

That means the "fuzzy memories" thing isn't universal. This can also be vaguely inferred by the attitudes certain prisoners have regarding their "murder(s)", like Kazui for example.

Now, you could argue Muu simply doesn't remember well because of the Trauma, and she just happened to get taken shortly after her murder. However, there is a chance now that there is a reason she was taken shortly after her murder.

You know what this post is about. You know what I'm about to imply. So I'll make the observation now:

In It's Not my Fault, one of Muu's shoes is off after she kills Rei. And we have seen this imagery of "one shoe off" to represent suicide before.

It's common in Japan to take both shoes off before comitting suicide, but if you want to read into only one of the shoes being off, you could argue it represents they're "half-suicides", as Milgram also considers them murders. In that sense, you (or Muu) could argue were Muu to commit suicide after killing Rei, then she would also become "Rei's victim", the same way Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend are Kazui and Mahiru's victims.

This idea that Muu might still be a victim in the situation could also be implied by the lyrics here:

[It's Not my Fault] It’s not my fault after all, after all. Everyone wants me to be innocent. What a relief. Can’t be helped. I’m always meant to be pitied!

(Btw I'm using the fan translation in the wiki because the English subs in that video are... odd)

Yes that sentiment is repeated a lot during the song, but Muu does shout "I'm always meant to be pitied" ("I'm always the drama queen") at the top of her lungs here.

Now, the shoe thing isn't quite like that in After Pain, but we never actually see Muu's shoes in the real world, only in the blank inner world with the broken hourglass, and there are other inconsistencies with reality there, namely Rei's body's position.

You can see her right shoe is on there, but again, this scene isn't real.

The concerning thing is that apart from that, After Pain does not help Muu beat the suicide allegations.

In particular, look at the scene of the photo I put there. You can see there's a bunch of people judging Muu for her murder, as it's usually not considered a socially acceptable thing to do. But, hold on, didn't Muu say she didn't remember anything after her murder? Correct! That means she doesn't remember this "judgement" happening, but she imagined it would. Perhaps that's what the one line means:

[After Pain] Counterattack being a suicide note

Counterattacking Rei, killing her, is social suicide. For obvious reasons.

...

But it's still called a suicide note, which is not a good look. And yes, I do think the Japanese lyric explicitly references death, though take that with a lot of salt since that's just Google Translate and DeepL talking.

In fact, that entire set of lyrics is pretty odd.

[After Pain] Let’s meet up inside the pain, a place just for me Postmortem makeup to hide my heart, how to solve it is a secret The stabbing of the little devil’s voice, counterattack being a suicide note “I love YOU”

"Meeting up inside the pain" probably refers to hurting Rei, so now they're hurting together. The "stabbing of a little devil's voice" is probably referring to dangerous impulses, so murderous thoughts. "Counterattack being a suicide note", already explained. "I love YOU", because Muu is a girlkisser.

But the "postmortem makeup" is odd. You could argue the "death" which happened before the "makeup" was applied was the "death" of Muu's reputation, her old persona. Rei "killed" "that Muu", and now Muu is hiding her real feelings with "postmortem makeup."

But then, why would the method to solve it be a secret? Who is she keeping it secret from? Rei, and all of Muu's old 'friends', all know what lies beyond that makeup, they all saw what Muu was like before Rei stepped in.

That means there's another interpretation. If her real feelings are a secret, there's only one person they would be a secret from. Es (and us by extension). In a way, After Pain is hiding part of her heart, the less sympathetic parts shown in full in It's Not My Fault. Muu being a bully was already implied in After Pain, mind you, but it was still relatively "hidden", at least compared to It's Not my Fault.

And if that is the way we're meant to read that line, we run into the allegations again. If the makeup is for Milgram, and it's "postmortem" makeup, then Muu is already dead.

And that's without mentioning how much After Pain seems to imply suicidal tendencies in general.

[After Pain] If I was gone, If I had just disappeared I overheard, I found out How much I’m not needed There’s no special meaning, I got the short end of the stick I overheard, I found out How much I’m not needed

I don’t want tomorrow to come, I want to forget yesterday I was miserable, someone please help me

Maybe I’m done Just one more time before saying goodbye I’m just kidding, please forget I said that

The only lyric that doesn't seem to imply it is:

I want to feel “alive”, is it ok if I breathe?

But feeling alive and being alive isn't quite the same, right? You can be alive without feeling alive, and if someone doesn't feel alive, it's possible they're not a very good state of mind.

So, what could this all imply? If we're going with the idea of murder-suicide, it's possible Muu was very worried about how people would hate her after the murder, as implied by After Pain, decided she didn't want to deal with that, and unfortunately made the decision to kill herself.

One small thing which could serve as a counterpoint is her Trial 1 Voice Reveal distorted line.

Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me.

She seems pretty sure of herself here, and it's very likely this is after her murder. But it's perfectly possible she said this initially, then thought about the social consequences, and that's when she started to feel bad. It's also worth noting the only time in It's Not my Fault where Muu seems to hesitate is right after her murder.

[It's Not my Fault] Wait, wait, just as a hypothetical. What should I do if I’m actually a bad girl? Don’t ever hate me, and don’t look for what lies “after and from” the pain.

This is immediately after the murder, when she comes out of a caccoon, presumably her arriving at Milgram. So, she was initally confident, that's when she says "I’m always meant to be pitied!" in It's Not my Fault and presumably her Voice Reveal line, then hesitated and started to feel awful as we see in After Pain.

... Well, there's also the way more uncharitable reading where Muu killed herself so people also pitied her instead of just hating her for killing Rei, but that's a bit too dark and in bad faith for my tastes. It is there, though.

So, yeah, Muu may be dead too. And she brings with her an interesting implication; the prisoners may not have clear memories of the events leading up to their death. So, even if some of them committed suicide, it's possible they simply don't remember ever taking the decision to do so, explaining their behavior in the prison.

And it also could explain away... one apparent contradiction. One which exists outside of this theory, but that this theory could explain.

Amane and the Voice Reveal Trailers

As most of you know, the Voice Reveal trailers for all these characters contain certain distorted phrases which in general seem closely linked to their murder. And as pointed out by blueepink07 in this post, it seems the First Trial Voice Reveals are things the prisoners said after their murder, while the Second Trial ones are showing a point before their murder. Check out Kazui's, for example.

(T1) "I'm so dumb... Why did I have to dream?"

(T2) "Hinako, I love you more than anything."

There's also Muu's, since I've already brought it up before.

(T1) "Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me."

(T2) "Hey..why don't you listen to me...? I'm telling you... Hey...HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU"

The second being right before she killed Rei.

That works well enough for all the prisoners... except Amane.

(T1) "Ahh! I'm so sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry for breaking the rules!"

(T2) "Father is a very praiseworthy person. Once [my/his] virtue increases, he'll come back home, right? It's a little lonely, but I'm fine!"

In theory, Amane would have been punished before her murder, as we see happen after she heals the cat in the taser scene. Meanwhile, if she's lonely without her father, it could perhaps be because her mother is dead after Things Happened (yes I'm going with Mother!Victim theory on this one).

But that's not the case. Following the pattern, the line about her father coming home at some point is before her murder, and apparently, she was punished for breaking some kind of rule after her murder. The implication here, horrid as it is, could be that her father returned home after she killed her mother and punished her for doing so.

Thankfully, this is impossible. After all:

(T1) Q18: Do you regret your "murder"?

A: No. It was a natural obligation.

(T2) Q3: State the name of your victim.

A: There is no victim. Only the punished.

(Taking some liberties on the translation of Trial 2 since the questions are still coming out as I write this)

So Amane genuinely believes she was following her cult's principles to a T when she killed her mom. As much as that likely isn't the case (long story), if she had gotten punished for killing her mom, then she wouldn't think like this. If she had been punished for it, she wouldn't think her murder was a "natural obligation", but rather a mistake on her part.

What this implies is that Amane doesn't remember being punished by her father.

...

Amane... doesn't remember...

Fuck.

Yeah, remember when I said it was possible the prisoners don't have clear memories of the events leading up to their death? Going by the "T1 after - T2 before" logic the Voice Reveals seem to follow, we can infer Amane was likely punished for killing her mother, but we also know she can't remember it happening, otherwise she would regret it. And based on what we learnt from Muu, we do have a way to explain how that could happen. If Amane died while receiving the punishment the T1 Voice Reveal alludes to, she wouldn't have a clear memory of it.

And the thing is, it does seem likely Amane received this punishment. Think about it. Interrogation questions are one thing, since the creators don't fully control them, but why mention her father would possibly return home in the Voice Reveal trailer? Unless he did. Hell, you could argue we might know the exact moment he returned. Amane does look at the entrance of her apartment at the end of Purge March, though that could simply be for dramatic effect rather than being a literal thing which happened.

But there's more. Because if her father returned home, we might actually have an answer for another one of the mysteries surrounding Amane's situation. The Undercover prisoner card.

The image on her card seems to show a bathroom. It is widely assumed the images on these cards are the location the murders happened in, but to my knowledge, this isn't 100% confirmed. However, this creates a small issue with Amane. Just looking at the murder shot in Purge March is enough to confirm that.

I made a more detailed theory on her murder on this post, diagrams included (scroll to the bottom if you're only interested on the murder), but for now, there are two things to note here. One, there's a trail of water which seems to come out of the door with the light on, as the puddles are bigger the closer they get to it, implying that room is the bathroom. And two, the room the murder actually happened in seems to have a window/door behind a curtain, which isn't what Amane's bathroom looks like.

Adittionally, there isn't any blood outside of the murder room, implying the victim's body wasn't dragged there.

All this seems to imply Amane's victim didn't die in the bathroom, which is sorta a problem considering the previously mentioned commonly accepted theory. But this idea that Amane may have died while being punished, perhaps while being drowned as we know that's one of the accepted methods of punishment in her cult, brings up a different possibility.

What if the images in the prisoner cards aren't showing murder location? What if they show the last place the prisoner was seen in, the place they died?

Kotoko, Mikoto, and the Prisoner Cards

So, first, is there any indication either of these might be dead? For Mikoto, not really. Sure, there's the whole Death card at the end of MeMe thing, but that doesn't have to be taken so literally.

Kotoko has a very little potential hint in the fact she's shown alongside a wolf at the start of HARROW, but by the end the wolf is by itself. If the wolf represents a potential partner (long story), then maybe Kotoko died?

Though you can easily argue the wolf is slightly different and thus is meant to just represent Kotoko.

However, the reason I'm bringing them into this is because their prisoner cards are completely nonsensical under "murder location" theory for the images shown. Let's start with Kotoko.

It shows an alleyway, which at first seems like it makes sense. We do see her attacking a man in an alleyway. However, after that happens, one of the pieces of background text says this:

◆ A wanted thief was assaulted by an unknown assailant Early yesterday morning, a nearby shop employee reported hearing screaming and seeing a man lying on the ground. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the man had lost consciousness after being beaten on his face, stomach, and other areas, and was taken to the hospital. The police are currently trying to identify the suspect. [...] According to previous investigations, the male victim was wanted throughout Tokyo for theft and assault charges and was identified as the suspect, Mikio Oshii.

(Translation by Maristelina)

Mikio Oshii is the name of the man Kotoko assaulted in the alleyway. It seems odd to me that we would learn he was taken to the hospital if he later died in it somehow, especially because Kotoko didn't want to kill him. We can clearly see this because of a crucial difference between her attack on him and her attack on the serial killer who likely is her victim.

She covers her face while attacking Oshii, because she doesn't want to be recognized. She is committing assault, after all. However, that only matters if she's planning to keep him alive. Conversely, she doesn't cover her face while attacking the serial killer, because she knows he won't be a witness. She went into that warehouse planning to kill.

Of course, she could have accidentally done too much damage, but the issue there is that she would probably express some remorse in that case. She doesn't, and the fact she only ever talks about one victim-

[TASK (T1 VD)] I did kill someone. [...] I don't have a single regret.

-it really seems like Oshii was able to survive her attack.

That creates an issue with her prisoner card. It shows an alleyway, but her only victim died in a warehouse. As confusing as that sequence is, he did die in the warehouse.

You know when we do see an alleyway again, though?

But she's not wearing her face covering. And if this was the alley with the one sign about a car accident that shows up over and over in HARROW, I'd imagine we'd see the sign, even if it was obscured in some way. So once again, a silhouette shot which seems to have nothing to do with her murder or her general situation.

So, is it possible she died in this alleyway? That's the only other reason I can imagine why it'd show up in her prisoner card, so. As for what exactly happened, I imagine she may have been murdered at the whim of her victim's father?

Shocking revelation: The heinous criminal behind the crime is the privileged son of a high-ranking official!

(Article referring to Kotoko's victim)

So, she got found out and immediately assassinated? It's a bit out there, but it would explain both her prisoner card and her attitude in the prison.

And then there's Mikoto.

As you can see, his card shows a street. The issue with Mikoto is one of format. The cards only ever show one location, but we know Mikoto has at least two victims.

[Text: To the right, the Subway Murder, which clearly has a ceiling. The murderer has blood on his right cheek, his left cheek is hidden. There's also the bathhtub scene, where the right cheek is hidden, but the left cheek has blood already trailing off, which doesn't quite fit what we see in the other murder if you think about the bath chronologically.

To the left, a murder out in the street, with an open sky. The murderer has blood on their left cheek, but not on their right. This is seen in both the crime and the shower scene]

So yeah, at least two. You could argue the bathtub murder is actually a third one, which... huh. Two things that absolutely exist and a Secret Third Thing, the existance of which is disputed? Trikoto vibes.

Point is, Mikoto has two different murder locations at least. The street, yes, but also the subway. This creates a problem with the "images in the prisoner cards are murder locations" idea, because it only shows one. You could try to gymnastics your way out of this by saying maybe Hostkoto committed the street murder while Orekoto killed the other victim(s), and because only Hostkoto is considered a prisoner by Milgram, only his murder is shown? But I feel that raises more questions than it answers.

Instead, if we assume the images to be death locations, the ambiguity disappears, because Mikoto as a system can only have one death location. The issue is you have to explain how Mikoto died in the middle of the street, which is a bit difficult.

The best guess I can give is related to the subway victim. It's been pointed out before that guy looks a lot like a stereotypical Japanese delinquent, which could imply he was part of a gang. If that's the case, it's possible the killer angered the wrong people by killing him, similar to Kotoko, and thus was later murdered himself. We know that street isn't very safe, on account of one of the alters getting away with murder there. It's a pretty large stretch, and has like zero evidence, but it's physically possible at least.

Let's take a quick look at the other prisoners and see if their images can also be explained by the "death image" theory.

We know Muu would share a death location with her victim if she really committed suicide as the theory states, so nothing weird there. Haruka's a bit more awkward, because it shows the forest he very likely killed the girl in, but I'm not entirely sure if the forests near Nagaoka has bodies of water deep enough to drown oneself. There is the Shinano river, which has... trees, around it.

This was taken from Google Street View in Nagaoka. Again, not sure how deep it is, but assuming it's deep enough to drown, it could work if you ignore the trees don't look too much like the ones irl. Maybe Haruka threw himself off the bridge?

Alternatively, Nagaoka borders the sea, and it seems like there's forest almost all the way up to it. So maybe that could work? Unsure.

Worst comes to worst, we can maybe change it to saying Haruka didn't drown himself, but killed himself in some other way in the forest. Point is, I think Haruka's isn't too big of an issue.

Fuuta, Mahiru and Kazui don't have a lot of evidence towards what the hell would have happened, but the best assumption I can make is they all committed suicide because of guilt. Fuuta in his room, Mahiru in the suicide forest (likely also where her boyfriend committed suicide), and Kazui by jumping off a building like Hinako. As for their evidence...

>Fuuta burns at the end of Backdraft, which is the same thing that happens to Killcheroy, so you could argue that's meant to show he's dying. It's not great, it absolutely is just meant to be metaphorical most likely, but it is there.

Additionally, he's also an outlier for the "muder location image" theory, since what one would consider his "murder location" is very ambiguous. Is it his room, where he sent online hate from? Is it Killcheroy's room, where she assumedly died? Wouldn't it be the front of Killcheroy's house, where Fuuta took the picture to dox her? Again, death location is less ambiguous.

Fuuta's attitude during Trial 1 could be seen as a bit weird if he was suicidal, but I'm not sure we can comfortably say that with the limited information we have.

>Mahiru in I Love You goes to sleep after seeing her boyfriend dead, which could be read as her committing suicide. You know, if you're insane like me.

Especially given this question from Trial 1:

(T1) Q20: What do you think about smoking?

M: I've never smoked before, but I might copy him if who I love smokes.

That, alongside a lot of the bg text from TIHTBILWY, implies Mahiru likes the idea of copying her lover. Not the greatest quality to have when your lover commits suicide.

>Kazui has this:

Where the smoke of his cigarette turns into a noose. Of course, that's meant to represent self-destruction in general, but it could also be taken more literally. He... doesn't have much else.

Thus, everyone else vaguely fits the idea of "death image"... except him.

Our favorite headache inducing doctor strikes again! His card shows a hospital room, which is a very strange death location, but perfectly fits his murders. You could argue he runs into the same issue as Mikoto, but it's actually possible Shidou just killed all his victims in the same room, so.

Yeah, Shidou's probably the biggest counterargument for this theory. Because while it's possible he died in a hospital, there is zero evidence for it, beyond the image itself. Hell, neither Throw Down or Triage ever seems to imply he died in the first place, which is an issue. This theory's already heavily dependant on the extremely flawed "you can't disprove it" argument, but at least most of the other ones have some kind of logical progression which gets you to how they died.

So, to complete the theory, we have to make the pretty big jump that Shidou died inside a hospital room, without knowing how that happened.

... Wait, inside the room?

Wait wait wait, show me Fuuta's and Amane's again.

Hmmm... 0308... hmmmm... 0308... I totally didn't just do this to put the two together... hm...

Yeah, same thing. They both show the inside of a room. Which, along with Shidou's, shows that these images can show the inside of buildings, right?

But, then... why is Yuno's outside?

That very clearly isn't the inside of a building. But this generates a problem for the "murder location image" theory, because Yuno's "murder" was abortion. Even if it wasn't done professionally, she would have still done it inside, presumably. This creates an inconsistency with Fuuta, Amane and Shidou. If their murder locations are shown from inside, why is Yuno different?

However, this inconsistency disappears if we assume the images to be death locations. I previously established if Yuno died, she likely committed suicide by jumping off a staircase, which does vaguely fit this image. It's similar to Kazui's in that way.

Now, I don't want to get too ahead of myself here. Murder location is still absolutely the more straightforward answer, but it does come with its issues. As stated, Fuuta's image would face some ambiguity, Mikoto's would face extreme ambiguity, Amane's seems to contradict the evidence we're shown in Purge March, Yuno's is wildly inconsistent with the other images, and Kotoko's is straight up nonsensical.

Meanwhile, death locations physically work with all the cases, even if Shidou's case is extremely weird, but it requires huge assumptions and stretches. It relies heavily on how impossible it is to disprove, which is not a good sign. Russell's Teapot, and all that.

Summary of the Theory

>Everyone in Milgram is dead, and their prisoner cards in Undercover show the place where they died.

>Prisoner's memories of the events leading up to their deaths are extremely fuzzy, explaining why only Yuno seems to even suspect it.

+Haruka: Committed suicide by drowning himself, possibly in the Shinano river or the sea. [Most likely to be dead]

+Yuno: Committed suicide by jumping off the staircase we see her standing in on her Undercover silhouette shot. [Most likely to be dead]

+Fuuta: Committed suicide in his room out of guilt. [Very little evidence]

+Muu: Murder-suicide, she committed suicide after killing Rei. [A bit more evidence than others]

+Shidou: Died in a hospital room [???]

+Mahiru: "Copied" her boyfriend by killing herself in the suicide forest. [Very little evidence]

+Kazui: Jumped off a building, like Hinako. [Very little evidence]

+Amane: Drowned by her father as "punishment" for her murder. [Unfortunately, sorta likely]

+Mikoto: Murdered by one of the members of Subway Victim's gang. [Sort of filling in the blanks here]

+Kotoko: Murdered at the order of her victim's father. [Very little evidence]

Conclusion

Do I believe this theory? Honestly, I don't know. It makes a few too many assumptions for me to fully believe it, but I do think it's a decent possibility, so I wanted to share it with you all. In any case, that's all I have to say for now. If you have any thoughts about any of this, feel free to share! Also I didn't even touch on Es but you can try to fit them in somehow if you feel like it.

Anyways, if you made it this far, you deserve a hug, this post was depressing. Take care!

[slutshamethesquirrels]

Behind The Cover - Prologue

pairing: vampire!geto x reader

tw/cw: borderline dead dove (dead dove lite™) , gore, violence, animal abuse (there is a spider that gets stomped), mentions of SA, mentions of abuse in nearly all forms, more to be added, maybe, we'll see, im so serious about the gore, please PLEASE there is gore in here

this is a chaptered fic. i will be scheduling uploads for tumblr, but ofc, the whole thing can be found on ao3 in the meantime.

also, patience with me as i figure out this tumblr thing k thnx

Staring at himself in the mirror, Suguru wondered if the vampirism is really what classified him as a monster. After all, on the outside he didn't seem to be all that different from the rest. Just a man with a muscular build, a head full of long inky hair, and a brain full of bloodlust and carnage. No different from any other predator that walked the earth, just a little more powerful.

He knew this truth from the many jobs he’d taken over the years. It was Satoru’s idea, initially. Sometime back before people had little fear of the supernatural, when stakes and silver bullets and holy water was plentiful, when they were young and optimistic, before the big box office turned their kind into sparkly horny teenager fodder.

“If we have to kill to survive, and they hate us for killing their loved ones, why not offer the service as a favor? Hell, I bet they’d even pay us-!”

Suguru hadn't loved the idea in the beginning. Humans were as petulant and greedy as any monster he’d ever stumbled across. They placed orders for money, for lust, for revenge, for power, for fun. At one point, somewhere around the great depression, he'd felt like he’d gone mad. He considered obliterating every human in his path, if only briefly. But slowly, the wheels had begun to turn. As word spread amongst the elite, the pair had found themselves with satisfied appetites, and more money than they’d ever had. It was around this time that he approached Satoru with a proposition, or rather, an ultimatum. Something had to change, or he was leaving the operation.

”I cannot kill another innocent man, woman, or child. We achieved our goals, and now we have to find a way to stop it from harming others. Or at the very least, I do-”

And so it was.

At first, the pushback from the customer was severe, but by then what could really be done? Who were these petulant aristocrats to run to and tattle? Who among us would call the cops and rat out your hired hit men? Would you explain that they were vampires when you did so? It would only end with a well fare check on your own behalf, they'd think you were deranged. And you probably would be to pull a move so stupid.

Suguru sticks his toothbrush in his mouth and scrubs vigorously as he flips through his workload for the evening. A middle aged male who had been charged with 12 counts of domestic violence and given a more than generous plea, a thirty eight year old serial rapist (also male), a woman in her senior years who tormented her animals. Each file had evidence. Screenshots. Court records. Little footnotes that told if additional photo, audio, or video proof was stored on Satoru’s hard drive. They also contained frequent points of interest and personal information, such as addresses, dates of birth, bars and restaurants frequented by his targets. The last page of each file would hold pictures from multiple angles, and typed text of any distinguishing features. If he was lucky, a scrap of fabric or lock of hair would be taped on that page, giving him a scent to work off of.

He spit, rinsed, tossed his toothbrush back in the holder and gave himself one final look over. Jesus, he needed this. He was paler than usual, his cheeks slightly sunken in and purple bags under his eyes. His pupils had dilated to take up nearly all of the purple of his iris, which he had theorized in the past was the body's natural way of making them blend in better with their prey. Everyone in the house would get that blown out effect if they’d gone too long without eating.

He tucked the files away in his jacket and flipped the lights off, more than ready to get his night started early. Hunger was different these days. There were no starved pains in his abdomen, no weakness or sweating, but rather a feeling in his throat like he’d been swallowing gravel, and a full body need for blood. Every muscle in him felt like it was winded up far past its limits, ready to snap and jump at the first prey that stumbled across his path.

He doesn't stop to check in on Megumi or Yuugi as his heavy boots clunk against the interior balcony, assuming them to be asleep at this early hour anyway. The sun had just barely set. Typically, he liked to wait until a later hour to start, but if he didn't get some food in him soon, he was sure he’d be picking rats out of dumpsters and swallowing them whole on the way there, and he felt more sympathy for the rodents than what was on his menu tonight.

Typically, he’d rise and do a preliminary scope of the house, cleaning anything that needed it and making sure the place looked presentable, which Satoru always gave him hell for. They didn't have visitors, so why did it matter? That was another place where he differed from his longtime friend and comrade. Suguru desperately gripped to the shreds of normalcy and humanity he had left in him, but for Satoru, he liked to let his impulses take over.

Tonight though, he doesn't even glance from the balcony down into the windowless living room, much less head down the stairs to fluff pillows. He continues straight until he reaches the end, pushing up against the faux wall and swinging it open before stepping through. On the other side is a bookshelf, tall and heavy, that aligned neatly with others in a row just like it when the door was closed again.

Ah, the bookstore. It was creative, unique, a sanctuary for readers and intellectuals, not a cover up for a crew of vampires who couldn't have windows on their home and needed a way to avoid the fire inspection part of buying a residential property at all. It had been named ”The Bookstore” by none other than Satoru Gojo himself (a brilliant mind ahead of his time), and even had a listing on google! Not to add, three total reviews, all from normal humans who’d waltzed in for some non-murderous reason. Though it’s hard to comprehend why. On the inside, it was quaint and cozy, sure, but on the outside it seemed abandoned. Blackout curtains adorned every inch of the windows and the only indication it existed from the street was a wooden plaque on the door that quietly whispered the name to the public. Geraldine Scott had left five stars with no elaboration, Kimberly Ichajo had left three stars (again, with no reason for the deduction), and Micheal Town had left a scathing one star review about the snarky albino man working the register who’d poked fun at him for being bald when he'd asked for a discount. Satoru had promptly printed that last one out and framed it for the mantle above the fireplace. He said it was proof that there was good in him for letting “Shiny Mike” walk out with his bald head still attached.

Satoru, expectedly, was not at the register when Suguru breezed by it on his way out of the front door, though he was absolutely supposed to be. Suguru understood that it was unlikely that anyone would show up without prior announcement, but he was still slightly irritated by Satoru’s lack of regard for responsibility anyway. They had a front to hold up. Once he got some meat down, he’d be sure to send a passive aggressive text to the group chat.

It doesn't take long to find his first hit, seeing as house arrest typically kept people confined within a hundred feet of a particular address.

He arrived at a run-down trailer at around 8:30 pm, not bothering with the formality of knocking, instead opting to reach out and twist the doorknob until it snapped in half from the force. In one quick motion he’d used his fingers to remove the deadbolt from the gaping hole and pull the door open calmly. At this point, he could've already been onto the next. He could've used vampiric speed and strength to bust down the door, sink his teeth into the motherfucker’s neck and tear it off before he even knew what was happening.

But no. This was the part of Suguru Getou that made him a monster, species be damned. He liked the fear in their eyes as they realized their fate was at an end, relished in taking power away from weaklings who thought they were above the rest of society, loved the theatrics. He didn't just want them to die, he didn't just want to re-fuel- no. He wanted justice.

He smiles, sickeningly sweet as he calmly enters the sad excuse for a home with his hands tucked in his pockets to find his victim holding a hand gun. He's disgusting. Balding, shaking, sweating, blending right in with the scenery of a dusty blue well worn couch and a floor littered with cigarette butts and beer bottles. The whole place smells like piss.

“Ezra! So sorry to startle you, friend.” Suguru cocks his head to the side, not yet stepping further in from his spot in front of the door.

“Who the fuck are you? How do you know my name?!”

Suguru feigns a sullen pout as he takes a step forward, and then two more “Now, now, Ezra. That's no way to treat a guest-!”

“I'll fucking shoot I swear to god!” The balding man raises his gun in front of him with both hands to steady his aim, and Suguru continues his steady approach until the gun is flush with the fabric of his t-shirt, aimed right at the middle of his chest. This close, he has to look down a bit to meet the mans gaze.

“Was this the gun you used?” He purred, pulling his hand from his pocket and stroking the metal. The smaller man lets a flurry of emotions cast over his face in record timing; shock, confusion, fear, so much fucking delicious fear -

“What the hell are you talking about?” His voice is still raised, and Suguru is getting sick of hearing it.

“When you threatened to kill your girlfriend of ten years. Or when you pistol whipped her in the back of the head. Or when you aimed it at yourself and threatened to take your own life if she ever left, or-”

A pop, loud enough to alert the neighbors, rings throughout the home, and Suguru’s more pissed at the noise than he is the gaping, bloodless, finger sized hole in his chest.

“I was fucking speaking.” he spits through gritted teeth, both unphased and unamused as he grips the barrel and the hammer and crushes it into his palm, rendering it useless. The smaller man's breathing escalates as he tries to wrap his mind around what's happening, and Suguru pulls the twisted metal away from him calmly.

“Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-” he uses both hands to twist the gun apart, tearing it as easily as paper into two jagged pieces as he speaks “-I think it's only fair for you to feel what it's like to be on the business end of such a threat, no ?”.

At this the man attempts to take a step back and pathetically topples back into the couch, scrambling backwards as far as possible as he tried to bargain with death itself:

“Look man, I don't know what you want, but you can take my car, my wallet, I got a couple eight balls in my bedroom-”

Suguru laughs as he brings one boot up to pin his prey down to the couch, digging his heel into the hard plate of his clavicle until he hears a crack. He screams and writhes, and Suguru throws down the duller of the two pieces of scrap metal in his hands to bring a flat palm over his loud ass mouth, stifling the noise.

“I'll tell you what I want, Ezra. I want to know what her face looked like when you were putting her through hell. Tell me, was it like this? ” Getou jabs the remaining piece of metal into the tender flesh of his victim’s thigh, his eyes lighting up as that first spurt of fresh blood floods his senses. Its almost enough to cover up the smell of piss and cigarette smoke. Almost.

The felon thrashes and screeches below him, jerking rapidly as tears pour down his face.

“Oh come on, I bet it was more like-” he twists and jerks the metal upward towards the mans hip and back through the skin, inhaling deeply as blood flies and chucks of flesh spatter “that! Right? Am I right?”

The man below him has transitioned from high pitched wails to deep throaty howls. He’s bawling. He pisses himself as Suguru brings the blood soaked makeshift weapon to his own mouth, sucking of a stray piece of flesh and moaning in delight as it slides down his throat.

Oh yeah, this was gonna be a good night.

Next

[1moreff-creator]

Happy Birthday Teruko Tawaki!

It's the protag's turn for a birthday post! You know what that means! Small character analysis, fun facts and songs that remind me of her! Let's celebrate! Just make sure to bring out the fire extinguisher before lighting any candles... actually just keep the extinguisher handy in general :v

-Being the protagonist of the series, we actually know quite a lot about her backstory. Enough to know it's quite sad in general terms. This is because she appears to have supernaturally horrendous luck, which she claims affects her and those around her. She's mentioned several instances of highly unlikely, unlucky situations she gets into constantly. From washing machine explosions, vehicles crashing, theaters being "too flammable" for her, all the way to being stuck in a killing game where she gets betrayed, stabbed, her friends die, etc.

-She's an orphan who's never known her parents. She had a brother who was compassionate, but constantly hurt by her misfortune. That brother got adopted when Teruko was around five, and she's never seen him since.

-She doesn't have an ID, which meant she had to attend schools by stealing uniforms and infiltrating them. She then usually gets caught and repeats the process several times a year. She is also in a lot of medical debt as a result of her constant injuries. Given all of this, she actually prefers living trapped in the killing game, though obviously she'd rather not have people killing each other around her.

CW Suicide

-That said, it seems her luck prevents her from dying. She told Xander that she wouldn't die because she was the Ultimate Lucky Student, and it was implied she's unsuccessfully attempted suicide by hanging.

CW over

-This misfortune has led her to develop a tremendously pessimistic view of the world and her life, believing her fate can't be changed and resigning herself to her bad luck.

-This also extends to her relationships. She tried to be amicable at the beginning of the killing game, but after Xander stabbed her, she decided to stop trusting everyone else. She now carries around her unique weapon, a hunting knife, for self-defense. This is a pretty understandable reaction given everything she's gone through, but it will inevitably go wrong (prediction).

-Her numeral in the David MV is unlucky number 13 (XIII). Go to 1:22:20 on this video for an explanation!

-The secret quote on her page's source code is "It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust no one at all." Probably something she'll say in the final trial, given that this is one of the main messages the series seems to be aiming for.

-The quote on Mai's page attached to Teruko is "Some years ago, she was searching for someone named ‘Teruko Tawaki.’"

...

-Yeah, Teruko's relationship with Mai is one of the most mysterious parts of this series. Given that quote, it's very possible they knew each other several years before the killing game, got separated, and reunited some time before the killing game. After all, Teruko does remember meeting with Mai in the CH 1 Ep 6 dream sequence. If you want to read some of my other opinions on Teruko and Mai, I'll recommend reading the related portion of this post.

-Though adding to that, Teruko and Mai seem to have matching phone charms :D

-There is a lot more to talk about with Teruko, but I'm done for the day :v

Fun facts!

-Her nationality is "legally in question", whatever that means.

-She's left-handed, the only lefty in the cast!

-In kanji, her name is spelt 田脇【た ・ わき】暁子【て る ・ こ】

-She has prosopagnosia, aka face blindness. And fun fact about me, I actually have this too! I may have learnt about it when Teruko was a bit too relatable in that one conversation-

-Her favorite color is red due to "association." Possibly because it's Mai's hair color. Her least favorite color is pitch black because it's unsettling.

-Her hair recently started turning grey, probably from stress. Wild.

-Her favorite ice cream flavor is red bean.

-Her sexuality is unlabeled.

-She smells of dirt, sawdust, and burnt smell.

-Straight from a Q&A, "Her fashion sense diverges from what she’d actually wear. Secretly she wants to wear girly, cute things, but is unable to afford that kind of thing. She likes skirts."

-She likes fresh food, food which can be prepared without endangering herself with knives and stoves.

-Her birthday, January 7th, lands on "distaff day", "I am a mentor day", "old rock day", "bobblehead day"... still don't know how these come about. I think my favorite for this day is "I'm not going to take it anymore day." That's hilariously in character for Teruko xD

Songs!

-Again by Crusher-P

-The Things I Deserve by Ghost & Pals

-God-ish by Pinocchio P

-The Medical Anomaly by RIProducer

-End-World Normopathy by Ghost & Pals

-Scapeg∞at by Ghost & Pals

-Chronic Wasting Disease by RIProducer

-Those Who Carried On by Ghost & Pals

And Happy Birthday! Well, that was fun. Now I have to deal with the meteorite which struck me midway through writing this post! Take care!

(to be clear the meteorite thing is a joke)

[huboi]

cuddles

character(s) — bat eddie munson and werewolf steve harrington (polyamory)

fandom — stranger things

gn reader

summary — you and your supernatural boyfriends cuddle on the couch whilst watching a movie

tw/cw — food mention, lmk if there are any more!

an — I’m just so soft for bat eddie and wolf steve, like the idea in general is just too adorable

it was a normal, well, normal for you guys’, Saturday night. cuddling whilst watching a random horror movie that steve managed to get his hands on from family video. it’s been a tough week for all three of you, so what better way to relax than watching a horror movie whilst snuggled with your supernatural boyfriends?

eddie in his bat form, snuggled on your chest, and steve, in his wolf form, snuggled against your thighs. you heard a chirp come from eddie, looking down you saw him giving you the best puppy dogesque eyes he could in his bat form. you knew he was asking for more fruit, even though he’s already had 3 bowls worth.

sighing, you got up from the couch, steve whining in the sudden loss of warmth. you got a small bowl from the cabinet and filled it with blueberries, cut pieces of banana, and cut strawberries. “there, you happy now, you little pain in the neck?” you asked, eddie chirping in affirmation.

you picked up the bowl and shuffled back into the living room, where steve was laying, you noticed he seemed annoyed. sighing internally, you placed the bowl of fruit onto the table for eddie, watching as he flew onto the table and stuffed his face into the bowl.

“I’m sorry stevie, eddie was hungry so I didn’t have much choice” you explained, sitting down next to him and scratching him behind the ears, where you knew he’s sensitive. steves’ mood seemed to lighten up, his tail thumping against the couch.

eventually you ended up falling fast asleep, without meaning to. eddie and steve both turned back into their human forms and carried you to bed, bride style. the night ended with steve snuggling against you and falling asleep whilst eddie just kinda snuggled you and closed his eyes <3

[thenightling]

Interview with The vampire season 2, episode 3 review

What's maddening about this episode is how much they get right while also sprinkling in such a mess. Again we are reminded that someone wants to buy this triptych art piece that Louis didn't even know that they were selling and this mysterious buyer is using a middle man. I'm calling it now, the buyer is probably Marius. And now The Talamasca has finally made its appearance. I'm actually amused that the showrunner calls them the supernatural Men in Black because that's how I used to describe them as a teenager and I felt my description was woefully inaccurate but I'm amused by the concept, even though that seems to be what Winston is doing with The Ghostbusters in the current film franchise and I think they might be doing it better. Did you catch the Talamasca agent's name? Raglan James AKA The Body Thief who wants to run off inside Lestat's powerful, immortal body. The flashback of Armand meeting Lestat is maddening. I get that it's from Armand's point of view and he's very bias against Lestat but Some of it is so painfully out of character for those of us that love Lestat. For example, it was Nicolas who came up with the Theatre of The Vampires out of the theatre that he and Lestat worked at when they were mortal. Lestat would have thought it was vulgar, he wouldn't have come up with it. And why would Lestat seduce Armand to learn how to read minds and use telepathy? These things came innately to Lestat in the books. It was Armand who tried to seduce Lestat and at one point tried to blood r8pe Lestat and Lestat beat the crap out of him for it. I also noticed this episode had the weird addition of vampires with seasonal allergies. Why? Vampires are supposed to be immune to things like that. And vampires with moles all over their groin. Again... why? Whatever happened to Anne Rice's vampires having perfect skin? Why add these weird details? Armand conjuring fire in his hand like a video game sorcerer was just plain cheesy. The "Fire gift" (pyrokinesis) worked more like Stephen King's Firestarter, not Harry Dresden on a bad day. Also this was an odd thing to do with Armand, that he was ready to execute Louis. Armand never had any intention of killing Louis in the book and the main reason he wanted Claudia dead was to have Louis's heart to himself, what she did to Lestat was just a convenient excuse. Also does anyone else notice a weird theme of ableism this season? Last episode it was "How can he hunt if he can't see?" so a vampire's head was bashed in. Now a rule about not to make a child into a vampire has "Don't make someone a vampire if they're crippled." Why the Hell not? Most physical disabilities are corrected with vampirism in Anne Rice's novels and if they aren't the vampire has heightened senses to compensate. This strange ableism is an odd, recurring theme, almost as annoying as the excessive and unnecessary smoking. Another odd detail, with the theatre of the vampires, why does the human victims dragged out on stage all say the same "Line" without deviation? It's not an act so why do they all say the same exact thing? Wouldn't there be variety like "Help! This theatre is actually a cult!" or "This is not an act! These people are cannibals!" or "These are REAL vampires!" or "Where the f--k am I?" This is surprisingly unrealistic and draws me out of the story that each victim says the same thing when they stumble out on stage. Finally, it's becoming more and more obvious that the first season was supposed to tell all of Interview with the Vampire and they decided to stretch it out because now it's waring thin. You can FEEL the padding now, it might as well be a CW show.

[just-some-guy-joust]

Just Some Guy OC Tourney - Side B: Round 4

Rules:

do NOT be mean to anyone or any characters in these polls. you MUST clarify if you are joking/teasing or you will be blocked. if you are someone who entered an oc into this and you are mean to other contestants you will be disqualified

do NOT claim a character doesn't deserve to be here. yes including your own. be nice

if you are posting propaganda you have to @ tag us, including if your propaganda is in the reblogs. it is difficult to tell when something is or isn't propaganda. anything not tagging us will likely be missed

please don't hesitate to let me know if i messed something up!

have fun, hype each other up <3 thank you

Mendel Warrenpeace | He/him | @bittersweetbonbon

CW: Transformation horror, isekai, lightning strikes

Mendel was just a normal guy, who happened to love Toontown: Corporate Clash *so* much that he played it nearly 24/7, maxing out all of his gags and disguises, even going so far as to become a beta tester for experimental VR haptic suits, just so he could be more immersed in the game. However, he was foolish enough to play the game in VR during the most intense lightning storm seen in his area, got struck by said lightning, and was isekaed into the game itself. Now trapped in the world he used to adore, at level one no less, he would do anything to get back home, up to and including re-beating the game, no matter how strenuous running around and throwing pies at robots is in "real life". Of course, beating the game isn't going to free him from Toontown's inky clutches, but we don't have to tell him that, right? Of course not.

Promos: He has a blog at mendelwarrenpeace.tumblr.com and a WIP toyhouse page at toyhou.se/26655994.mendel-warrenpeace

~

Zena | She/her/hers, it/its/its, and ze/zir/zirs, but all pronouns are acceptable | @spark-ocblog (CW: mentions of blood and murder on this blog)

Zena works a variety of retail jobs and lives in a boring, cheap, low-quality apartment. She is entirely oblivious to the various supernatural happenings in the town she's in, despite being one of the oldest supernatural creatures in the area. It likes to participate in mundane human activities for fun, such as "Lie Down On A Cushion For Eight Hours With Your Eyes Closed," and "Pet Animal." Zir biggest worries are busy shifts and managing human finances.

~

Levi | He/him | @cyikess

An unwilling chronic isekai protagonist. He can't catch a break! He keeps getting thrown to new and different fantasy/sci-fi/whatever worlds when all he wants is his normal life back. He's just a guy!

~

Full images and descriptions under the cut!

Mendel is, quite literally, so just some guy that I refuse to develop what he was like or what his name was pre-isekae, because his past is literally so generic and unimportant. He was NPC-core. He was nothingburger. His only friend is a 17-year-old who physically cannot stop themself from stealing things. Even now his only hobby is playing video games all day. He almost died a few days after being isekaed because he didn't want to leave his house. He's scared to walk around because he thinks the robots will shoot him point-blank just for being near them. I want to grab him and spin him around like that gif of a chimpanzee. He's even a furry.

Zena is an immortal plant spirit who really wants to participate in human life. After zir move to the city, ze hops from job to job trying to sample the human experience as best ze can. She tries to keep a houseplant and care for it manually (without any magic) and it dies immediately. She's aromantic and orchidsexual, but alloplatonic. It's very awkward trying to socialize with its coworkers, especially because its first language is not a verbal one. Ze's very easily tricked and oblivious to many things... including the many witches in the area that stop by the cafe ze waitresses at. The cafe is perfectly normal, but its primary clientele is criminals and illegal magic users from the surrounding area (just because of where it's situated, locationally). She sticks out like a sore thumb because her human disguise isn't particularly stealthy, but most people politely assume her appearance is due to some sort of curse and avoid commenting on it. It likes reading corny romance novels and hanging out with people in its spare time. It's autistic and obsessed with puns, and fascinated by human languages. Zir whole entire aspiration is basically to be just some guy.

He is one of the guys ever tbh. All this crazy shit happens to him/around him and he stays normal! This crazy shit includes being sent to other worlds again, and again, and again. He does not know why this is happening. And in all these worlds there's cyborgs, and non-humans, and all sorts of people and then there's him. With his stupid glasses and failboy energy. Love him. All my friends love him too. He's even on my water bottle!

[nacediscord]

Challenge and Rules

Hello and welcome to the HAND Remix: Burning Bride Edition! We're glad you're here, but we bet you have questions. Lucky you, we've got answers! Check out our FAQ below and feel free to ask any additional questions that you have. We're here to be your guides on this ghostly adventure. As long as you promise not to torch us!

Okay. I'm intrigued. What the heck is going on here?

This is a little thing we like to call the HAND Remix: Burning Bride Edition. The TLDR version is that you take a fanwork you yourself have previously created and you remix it to include Burning Bride vibes. Then between August 20th and 22nd, we'll ask you to publish it to our AO3 collection (if it's fic) and/or wherever you normally publish your stuff. We'll add it to our Tumblr round up post, along with a link to your original fanwork so everyone can enjoy both. Then boom, the whole fandom gets a fun little treat just in time for Nancy's (real) birthday!

For more info, keep reading...

What is a remix?

A fanworks remix is a lot like a music remix - you take something already created and change parts of it around to create something new! It is based on the original "We Invented The Remix" challenge. The HAND version aims to give the NACE and Nancy Drew CW fandom the chance to expand their horizons by remixing one of their own fanworks. Fanfic, fanart, videos, gif sets - anything goes! As long as you are remixing your own work, it's fair game! And yes, you can absolutely remix one kind of fanwork into any other kind of fanwork, if you'd like. Fanlore has a great list of Techniques and Conventions you can use for inspiration. A good question to start with is, "If I were creating this fanwork now, how would I add a Burning Bride feel to it?" Then play around and have fun! We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Does this remix have a theme?

Why, yes! Funny you should ask. If you haven't heard, it's pretty freaking hot for a lot of people right now. And what does being hot make us think of over in the HAND Discord server? Lust Butterflies! So what better way for you to remix your fanworks than to give them a little taste of one of our favorite ND episodes - The Burning Bride. Take this however you want - go wild! Just give your work Burning Bride vibes of some kind, and it totally counts.

Does "Burning Bride vibes" mean that my work has to be explicit? I'm not comfortable with that.

Absolutely not! We want you to take inspiration from absolutely anything that this episode has to offer. Maybe instead of focusing on Nancy being "boy-crazy," you want to incorporate themes of repression or control. Isn't that what the Lust Dress represented, after all? Or maybe you find a spark of inspiration in the way the Crew all comes together to help Nancy when she's under some kind of supernatural influence. Or you follow George's storyline from the episode instead. The world is your (powdered) oyster (pearl)! All we ask is that you try to incorporate something from the episode that fits the theme.

When is this due?

You will have approximately 5 weeks to work on your remix if you want to include it in our collection. So the posting window will be from August 20th - August 22nd, 2024. 

Where do I post my work when it's finished?

If it's fic, please add it to our AO3 Collection. If you remix your art or a video or something else and post it to Tumblr or Twitter or another platform, just please make sure to drop a link to it either in the remix channel in HAND or as a reply to our Tumblr post so that we can include it in our roundup at the end of the event!

Still thinking about how to get started? Come join us in the HAND Discord Server for brainstorming and more!

[steviewashere]

Something's Wrong

Rating: Teen and Up CW: Graphic Depictions of Supernatural Gore? (Like...describing shit crawling and bubbling out of somebody's mouth. Like when Will puked the demodog fetus thing into the sink.), Canon-Typical Violence, Steve Literally Gets Burned by a Hot Poking Iron (I have no other way to warn of you this but that's the canon-typical violence) Tags: Post-Season 4, Vecna is Not Defeated, But Everybody is Alive, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Possessed Steve Harrington, Established Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Eddie Has No Idea What's Happening, Scared Eddie Munson, Everybody is Scared, (But Especially Eddie), Badass Joyce Byers, Boys Crying, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington's Friendship, Supernatural Stuff For @steddieangstyaugust Day 27 Prompt: "I thought we agreed it was over."

❄️——————❄️ The body on the coffee table may be his boyfriend, but it’s not him.

That’s what Eddie understands in the chaos. As he stands between doorways—to the hallway, and to the living room of the Harrington’s home. He can only watch. Look on in complete horror and half part devastation. How hadn’t he picked up on the new odd behavior from Steve before this, he isn’t sure.

Steve had become sort of…erratic. Sensing things before they could even occur. Looking off into distances; short and long, it didn’t matter. Angry, but Steve is always angry about something—it’s his natural state, practically: angry at Dustin, at Family Video customers, at Eddie when he just wants to sleep and Eddie won’t shut up, so on and so forth. He swore the lights would sometimes flicker when Steve would enter a room. “Faulty lightbulbs,” is what he always said, “I’ll get my parents to buy new ones the next time they head out to the store.” Were they ever near dead to begin with? Or was Steve compensating for this?

All it was was a simple sentence, “Keep it cold.” At the insistence that the fireplace be lit. That the thermostat be turned up a few notches. For the few open windows to be shut. It made everybody in the room look; everybody being everybody. It was Christmas, it was cold, and they were celebrating being in the warmth of each other. Of wanting and needing each other’s company. And at the mention of Steve’s new upsetting behavior, everybody decided—piled on—that maybe they should do their annual Christmas gathering at the Harrington’s; “Maybe his parents are out of town,” Dustin suggested. “They always are this time of year,” Max bitterly followed up.

So, they compromised. They’d keep it cold. No fireplace. Shut a few windows. Turn the thermostat up just one notch. Steve seemed settled. For a little bit, he seemed alright.

Then, Will reached behind him. Hand on the back of his neck. Wide eyes noticeably directed at only Steve. Which, Eddie found barely weird—maybe Will was nervous or overly excited or even sheepish about being in the presence of Steve; an adult crush, Eddie figured, that’s not that weird. But Will had opened his mouth, demanded of all of them, “Make it as hot as you possibly can in here. Something’s wrong.”

Steve had protested. Screaming, quite literally. Moving hastily and trying to get people away from the fireplace, from the windows, and the thermostat. Somebody even stood guard at the freezer.

Eddie wasn’t sure what was happening at-fucking-all. He stayed out of the way, when the kids told him firmly to move. When Joyce made eye contact with him, teary and protective. When Robin dragged him out by his shoulders to the hallway, whispered so low under her breath he had to strain to hear her, “I need you to not watch, okay? You’re going to hate us for what we’re about to do.” He was more confused, but he obeyed. Like a startled, starving, stray dog—he obeyed.

After that, things happened too fast to really catalogue. He heard things being shoved out of the way, but his eyes were set on the stairs—not the room behind him. Saw Hopper come rushing past him, shoving his way into the living room. Then, something slammed hard onto the surface of something—and Eddie was too curious for his own good, too scared.

He turned back around. Spotting the source of the slamming, Steve’s body laying on the coffee table. He’s shirtless and his muscles are straining, trying to fight against the people holding him down. Robin and Jonathan on Steve’s arms. Nancy was pinning down Steve’s right leg, Max and Lucas on the other. Dustin was holding one of his hands, despite the danger of being clawed at. And Mike was trying to keep Steve’s head in one spot, failing, but this was no time to tease. Will and El were watching something on Steve’s torso. And following the line of sight, it was to an odd swirl of dark, blue-black veins in the center of Steve’s chest—almost like it was ready to grow more, if need be. It was hard to watch, but he couldn’t look away.

And now, he’s staring at his boyfriend writhe and yell and practically howl at the people around him. The noises he was making weren’t the pained grunts that Eddie was used to, when Steve would pull something too hard in his back, when he’d strain the scars on his sides, or even when he’d get a basketball to the side of his head from Lucas. No, the sounds leaving Steve’s wide open, spit-burbling, red mouth were animalistic. Like roaring. Something tortured, that’s for sure.

Eddie wonders if this is what he sounded like under Starcourt. If he screamed like this, thrashing and wailing—that’s it, he’s wailing—for somebody to come save him. But he wasn’t sure, this sounded more like fighting. As if Steve was protesting this utterly and completely. As if he…wanted this. His stomach churns violently at the thought.

It was like watching a real life exorcism. That’s the only “real life” thing Eddie can compare it to. At any moment, he was expecting Steve—possessed, that’s what he realizes—to start floating from the surface of the table, to scratch names in people’s backs, and to start peeling the wallpaper with his voice alone. He’d prefer the exorcism to whatever was about to happen.

Joyce was armed and ready with one of the poking irons for the fireplace. It was obviously hot, glowing orange, and dangerous. She demanded of the people holding down Steve’s arms, “Move. But hold on tight. He’s not going to like this.”

Not going to like what, Eddie could only ask himself. His lips were sealed shut with terror, if that was a possible thing. With half-formed words and lost trains of thought and stuttered gasps. But he couldn’t look away.

She raises the poking iron over her shoulder. And at Hopper’s nod, she brings it down in one fell swoop. Straight to the center of Steve’s chest where that swirl of veins is. She presses it into his skin, not enough to sear through the muscles and bones, but enough that a scar will surely be left there. At the pressure of the hot iron, Steve then snarls. He yelps and shifts, kicking with the heels of his socked feet—Eddie tries not to think about how he’s wearing a pair of goofy mismatched polka dot socks, that he’s not just some kid despite his age, that he isn’t this thing—trying to get away and trying to fight and trying to keep himself protected. Eddie almost wants to lunge forward and help Steve, get him away from whatever the fuck they’re doing to him; “You’re crazy, Ms. Byers,” he wants to say, “the town was right about you, you’ve fucking lost it.” Because who does this? Who’s first instinct is something so violent and cruel as this?

But then, just as he gains feeling to his jelly legs, something in Steve’s mouth pools over. In the corners of his lips is a disgusting sludge of black and grey, thick like mucus, and staining his pale cheeks. He’s pale, Eddie notices right then and there, paler than me, even.

In slow motion, something begins to wriggle and crawl out of Steve’s black stained mouth. A little…creature. Some sort of symbiotic thing, having lived inside of him, having fed off of whatever chill Steve was allowing it. It was half-xenomorph, half-deformed fetus. A mass so terrible, so ugly, and so fucking disgusting—Eddie thought he may just puke.

Steve coughs around it. His wide eyes shedding steady tears. His body finally losing its momentum to fight. He begins to relax, to slump against the surface of his own coffee table. And as the thing begins to crawl away, Eddie distantly—over the ringing in his ears and the churn of his stomach and the sweat on his palms—hears Dustin yell, “Kill it! Somebody step on it! Something! Do something!”

It’s Hopper who smashes the alien thing with his heavy foot. The thing squelches, squeals, and chitters all at once as its life ends. And when the foot is pulled away, shiny mucus-like fluid sticking in strings between the floor and the sole of Hopper’s bare foot, the thing is nothing. It’s just sludge. It’s…dead, at least Eddie is to understand that.

Somebody’s at his side in short seconds. Shaking his arm, petting the side of his face, and jostling his shoulders. Like they’re waking him up, so he blinks. Blinks again. Blinks harder until it’s Robin’s freckled, dimmed-eyed, sour face that comes into his sight again. “What,” he asks half-conscious, “what the fuck was that? What was any of that?” He’s partially aware that his voice is shrilling, squeaking like he’s going through puberty all over again. But Robin doesn’t seem to care at all.

She takes a deep breath through her nose, to which Eddie follows suit, and releases it through her mouth. Her hands are firm, pushing down on his shoulders, thumbs running soothingly on his t-shirt. Robin opens her mouth to speak, floundering for a few seconds as she tries and fails to come up with words.

“Vecna,” he hears Will say, “it was fucking Vecna.” And it must be. It must be reality, if Joyce isn’t telling her kid to watch his language. If Eddie’s looking over Robin’s shoulder, spotting Dustin wiping Steve’s face with reverence and care, Joyce clinging to her little family, the others clinging to one another. Mike even looks affronted, cautious, terrified—and that’s the kid that’s usually one hair away from snapping at Steve at any given second. He looks like he might start crying. And Eddie feels that way, too.

“Vecna?” He hears his own voice warble, warp, and squeak. “I thought we agreed it was over?” Eddie mumbles. He looks back to Robin, the both of them shaking and sweating and ready to cry. “I thought we agreed it was over,” he states again, raising his voice.

“We’re okay,” Robin says, trying to soothe, “it’s okay, Eddie. We’re going to get him. We got this shit early, we know what we’re doing.”

He looks over her shoulder again, unable to believe any of that. But then Steve looks to him. His eyes wide, stressed, and too frightened. He’s never seen Steve truly afraid before, not really at least, it always seemed like things were okay. Like Steve could face a hundred grizzly bears and come out on top, barely a scratch, confident as ever. Then, though, Steve bursts into tears. His weak body angling away from Dustin’s wad of tissues to his face, hands reaching out for Eddie and Robin—like he’s a kid asking for cuddles—and he just wails. Not the yelling kind of wailing, but the hysterical sobbing kind of wailing.

It’s without another thought that he drags Robin by her elbow, back into the living room, crowding around other people. That it’s without another thought that he lets Steve pull them in close and fast, even sitting up on the old coffee table. That Eddie lets Steve bury his still stained face into the center of his pristine Hellfire Club t-shirt and just cry.

“You’re okay,” Robin rasps and whispers, “you’re with us, we’ve got you.” Steve only sniffles and cries louder in response. Her left hand goes to the back of his head. Tangling fingers into his sweaty rat’s nest, dully scratching fingernails on his scalp, and petting him to the base of his skull and back up again. The other hand, she places between Eddie’s shoulder blades. Huddled in close like some mismatched family, but knowing of the others all the same.

Eddie lays a heavy arm over Steve’s shoulders, the skin touching his forearm just barely room temperature—like it’s still working to make up for all the cold. And he doesn’t have words to say, none at all that would be helpful. He has nothing to make up for for whatever the fuck just happened in front of his eyes. There’s no connection in his brain that forms even half a thought as to what he just witnessed.

But in the face of something like this, he’s learned to ask questions later.

It’s time to plan. And it’s time to end this.

❄️——————❄️

[sapphyreopal5]

Now Jared will appear in Season 5 of The Boys. I wanted to ask you if you think he decided to accept because he really wants to do it or because he feels obligated. And why kripke wants him on the show. I just hope he didn't take the role against his will and that he won't regret it in the future.

Hello Anon, thank you for the ask. So as of today 6/19/2024 I haven't been able to find any confirmation that Jared is 100% joining The Boys yet. I've so far read this and this about whether Jared is going to sign on for The Boys. I've said in multiple places I think it would go against his family man image he's going for with his brand but whatever I guess ha ha. The highlights I've read from both of those articles include the following quotes.

Funnily enough, I will start with what Kripke said before back in 2022:

"I would love a Jared [Padalecki] cameo! He’s always welcome on the show," Kripke told Variety back in 2022, although there are currently no concrete plans for Padalecki to appear on The Boys. The Supernatural creator surely has a strong relationship with his former stars, Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, the latter of whom has since appeared on The Boys as the Captain America-wannabe Soldier Boy. Kripke cited Padalecki's busy schedule as the reason for his absence, but noted that "if he was free and found himself currently unemployed, I would put him on The Boys in a heartbeat." Now seems like just the right time.

Now that Walker was cancelled:

With the news of Walker's cancellation, Eric Kripke has spoken further about reuniting with Jared Padalecki sometime down the line on The Boys. "I feel like it would be a bummer to not have Jared on the show one way or another at this point, even if it’s just the one-episode thing," the showrunner explained. "He’s been shooting Walker, but with that show wrapping up, maybe he’ll have some time to come in and play with us." Kripke noted that there have been conversations about Padalecki jumping over to the Prime Video series, and that "texts have been sent." Of course, Walker itself has done fairly well on the CW, with Padalecki exercising his acting chops in a role that couldn't be more different from Sam Winchester, so whatever role he'd have on The Boys would have to be just as unique.

Interestingly so, Jensen did say this about his and Jared's careers after Supernatural:

Of course, Kripke isn't the only Supernatural alum to call for Padalecki to jump from the CW to Amazon. "He and I laugh," Jensen Ackles told the media outlet. "We were just talking about the fact that we thought after Supernatural, things would be smooth sailing and we would just be sitting back with umbrella drinks. And it has proved to be the complete opposite of that." Ackles echoed Kripke's statements about Padalecki being too busy to make an impromptu Supernatural reunion happen, but that hasn't stopped the star from continuing the Winchester saga on his own. In 2022, Jensen Ackles produced a spin-off series titled The Winchesters, which follows the parents of his and Padalecki's Supernatural characters in the 1970s.

Perhaps the most annoying quote of all:

“But now, unfortunately, [‘Walker’] got canceled — but the good thing is he’s free,” Kripke said. “And I feel like I have to complete my game of ‘Supernatural’ Pokémon and I have my one big one — very big one — left to catch.”

Well, at least the other castmates would be onboard with him coming on:

Kripke was speaking with Variety ahead of “The Boys” Season 4 premiere, in an interview alongside “The Boys” actors Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett) and series newcomers Susan Heyward (Sister Sage) and Valorie Curry (Firecracker) — who were all very on board with the Padalecki casting conversation. “As a childhood fan of ‘Gilmore Girls,’ I would also vote for that,” Minifie said, referencing Padalecki’s role as Rory (Alexis Bledel’s) first boyfriend Dean on another iconic CW show. “That would be great.”

Spirit Animals, The Boys and Manta Rays

My best friend and I were talking yesterday about spirit animals as we have been a good bit lately. I mentioned that Jared's secondary spirit animal pair (yes, spirit animals can be pairs AND there are secondary ones too!) is the bat and manta ray. She then brought up the interview she saw the other day where 3 of The Boys girls castmates were asked "Which adorable animal would be terrifying if injected with Compound V".

Karen answered the manta ray. Erin said she was thinking of her dog (Colby Minifie said this was her answer). Claudia said a bunny in which the video featured a white bunny photo but other animals were mentioned by Erin like "Instagram monkeys", butterflies and highland cows by Claudia, and highland cows both in their indecision to pick one. Susan Heyward mentioned squirrels (hello Jensen! ha ha) as her answer and Valorie Curry said "pigeons, pigeons like New York pigeons". Interestingly enough, the question is exactly 10 minutes into the video and ends at the 11:44 time mark.

Manta Rays as a spirit animal from this website is said to represent as a brief synopsis:

Associates with the energy of the East and the element of Water

Connects you to oneness, wonder and self-reflection

Helps to release non-beneficial emotions

Aligns you to new opportunities and change

Opens you to connect to a deeper authenticity and truth in yourself

As Karen was saying in the video not all rays are poisonous. This is because she was trying to make the distinction between manta rays and stingrays. Both animals are considered rays so to speak but there are some differences. Manta rays do not have a stinger at the end of their tails unlike the stingrays. Manta rays also have a more elegant ritual than stingrays for picking a favorite male suitor, which involves making them go through a series of acrobatic twists in turns following the female and picking which male ray has the best moves. Male stingrays on the other hand will bite a female's fins in which he will stop when she essentially consents. Funnily enough, I was thinking about a Super Mario 64 star "The Mantas Ray Reward" when I read about the courtship ritual for the manta rays, which is apparently the 72nd star and is found in the 9th course Dire, Dire Docks where you have to go through all 5 rings in order to unlock the star from the chest near the whirlpool (appears above it when unlocked).

It was in fact a short-tailed stingray that stung the "Crocodile Hunter" known as Steve Irwin in his heart about 100x (not intentionally of course) who was 44 years old at the time of his death on 9/4/2006. Those who know Steve say that should he have survived being stung, he would still be advocating for these animals today that are generally not aggressive and tend to hide in the sand or swim away from threats. He is the 17th person known to have been killed by being stung via stingray.

From an astronomy standpoint, there is the Stingray Nebula located in the constellation Ara (The Altar) whose central star is the fast-evolving star SAO 244567 and is about 18,000 light years away. Interestingly enough, it is also a notably fast-fading nebula. Below is an image of the stingray nebula from a photo taken in 1996 and 2016 (Steven Irwin died in 2006, 10 years before 2016 and 10 years after 1996).

The Stingray Nebula is the youngest known planetary nebula. For half a century astronomers have witnessed its formation, and now they’ve noticed something strange: it’s fading away. “This is very, very dramatic, and very weird,” said Martín A. Guerrero of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada, Spain, one of the co-authors of a new study on the Stingray Nebula. “What we’re witnessing is a nebula’s evolution in real-time. In a span of years, we see variations in the nebula. We have not seen that before with the clarity we get with this view.” Between 1996 and 2016, successive Hubble images of the Stingray Nebula revealed that it’s getting weaker, dimmer, and less prominent. It’s a shadow of its former self, and getting weaker by the day. As an example, the brightness due to the presence of ionized oxygen dropped by an unprecedented factor of 1,000 in the twenty years between observations. What’s going on?

As for my best friend saying "what if that's a sign he's going to play an evil supe or something?" This would be a pretty cool twist, as Jared has often played heroes like Sam Winchester on "Supernatural", Cordell Walker on "Walker" and Clay Miller on "Friday the 13th". He did however play a bully on the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen". Still, it is an interesting idea but it seems to me he may have just a 1 episode role but I could be wrong, since Jared is no longer doing Walker. I do know with Jared's higher self being Poseidon it's interesting to talk about the spirit animal business because in the Aquaman comics and movies, Black Manta is a supervillain and Aquaman's arch nemesis. According to the DC Fandom's Black Manta (New Earth) page:

The boy who would become Black Manta was an autistic youth who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and loved to play by the sea. As a youth he was kidnapped and forced to work on a ship for an unspecified amount of time. At one point he apparently saw Aquaman with his dolphin friends and tried to signal him for help but was not seen. Finally, he was forced to defend himself, killing one of his tormentors on the ship with a knife. Hating the emotionless sea (and Aquaman, who he saw as its representative), the boy was determined to become its master.[1]

In Underworld Unleashed:

Black Manta later sold his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, and transformed into a human/manta ray hybrid creature.[10] He took to wearing a new costume that completely covered his appearance, and inexplicably stopped tormenting Aquaman and instead indulged in drug smuggling from his new base in Star City. Here, he was opposed by Green Arrow and Aquaman.

As for Poseidon's connection to Aquaman in the comics:

For example, in Aquaman Vol. 1, #17 from 1964: Poseidon, Olympian god of the sea, peers into the future with the help of Proteus, his court sorcerer, beholds Mera, and wishes to take her for a wife. Proteus provides Poseidon with “time pods” that allow him to travel back and forth in time. When Poseidon abducts Mera, Aquaman steals one of the Olympian’s time pods and follows him. Zeus proposes a contest to retrieve a golden apple beneath the sea, with Mera going to the winner. Despite Poseidon’s cheating, Aquaman manages to win the contest. Angered, Poseidon takes Mera and flees to Aquaman’s time. Aquaman and Aqualad follow, with the help of Zeus, and save both Mera and Poseidon from a berserk creature created by Mera. Poseidon vows to mend his ways, and Aquaman gives him a pod with which he can travel back to his normal era.

For the movies however:

Aquaman’s abilities to communicate with sea life, control the ocean and swim at superhuman speeds all resemble traits associated with Poseidon. Poseidon is well attested to communicating with (and even creating) sea creatures, and the nereids and oceanids – nymphs of the ocean – by which he is surrounded. In Homer’s Odyssey, Poseidon is a capricious, dangerous deity who delays Odysseus’ return home by ten years.

and also the Trident:

Aquaman’s weapon of choice - a trident - has always been associated with Poseidon. Homeric poets noted that Poseidon was gifted his trident by the elder cyclopes, the one-eyed giants of ancient Greece, to help him in the war against the titans - the previous generation of deities. In the comics, Aquaman’s trident is often referred to as “Poseidon’s trident”, or otherwise a trident known as “Neptune’s trident” is portrayed [was called Atlan's trident in the movies] (Neptune was the Roman equivalent of Poseidon.) Much like the trident of the Olympian Poseidon, Aquaman’s trident can create water.

YMCA in Instastory

So I see you sent this ask around 5:02pm EST. I noticed in Jared's Instastory from around 8:05pm EST he included in the second part of the story he had the song "YMCA" playing. The end of the song and video in Jared's Instastory ends with "the boys". Funnily enough, I listened to that song play this morning right before I walked out the door to go to work around 7:15am EST for the first time in a good while...

Is it possible that Jared will be in The Boys? I believe a lot of signs are currently pointing to it, even if it's just a one episode appearance as Kripke suggested in one of the quotes I mentioned above. If he does end up on The Boys, I hope he doesn't go on just because Kripke has been nagging him about it.

[looseduke]

realms other then the neverafter, the endless nights, and whatever aesop has going on (that definitely exist no matter what brennan tells you):

the “hell sites” — comprised of all the stories people tell to look cool on the internet. oppa homeless style. that one reylo. and everyone clapped. goncharov is there

the “fair lands” — world made of all those fucked up books you would find at scholastic book fairs as a kid that completely rocked your understanding of the world and that every single one of your classmates read but immediately faded from relevance. notable examples: the scary stories to tell in the dark series, sideways stories from wayside school

“discordia” — realm of every single online rp community that exists. true hell

“#GAMERSONLY” — video game realm. undertale AND overwatch. fortnite island. it’s perfect

“the cw” — home to hit shows such as supernatural and riverdale

“ao3” — ao3.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 31 – An Unauthorized Fan Treatise by Lauren James

This was a book (or, web fiction piece. Web serial? I’m not actually sure how it was initially released) that I read basically on a lark after getting curious seeing a few people talk about it on tumblr. So, score one for viral marketing and the convenience of reading free webfiction, I suppose – I was up until half past three in the morning barrelling through it all in one sitting. Which is all just incredibly appropriate for this story in particular.

So, the story’s a thriller/murder mystery, but specifically one about the actors on a trashy CW-style hot-young-adults-playing-supernatural-creatures-having-teen-drama style tv show, as told in the form of a sprawling series of essay-length posts by a fan devoted to proving that the two male leads are fucking in real life but forced to hide their live by the homophobic network. Things get more tangled from there.

So, as I said, very appropriate that I learned about this on tumblr. Basically everything about it is about online fan culture – there’s tens of thousands of words devoted to recounting livejournal sockpuppet drama, every chapter ends with a ‘comment section’ that’s mostly a Greek chorus but occasionally relevant to the plot, and almost literally every single aspect of the story and framing are a reference or pastiche to some famous online clusterfuck or other of the kind you’ve probably watched far-too-long video essay retrospectives of on youtube. Or I have, anyway (but then again, ninety percent of the references were a bit before my time anyway, so the cultural education was pretty crucial to me understanding what this was going for at all).

And, given all that, I ultimately found this pretty disappointing? It was absolutely readable, and enjoyable in the moment, but the metatextual commentary element meant the thriller plot at the heart of it just ended up seeming like, well, cheap soap opera. Beyond that, the framing device just seems like one giant missed opportunity, the commentary on fandom culture was in the end pretty shallow, and the shocking twist in the epilogue was, I think, just a mistake.

So okay, lets justify all of that in order.

When I say the plot didn’t really hold together for me, that might be more the fault of the word-of-mouth marketing that pointed me towards the story more than any promises the text itself makes, honestly. But I went in expecting a story about fan obsession and hallucination, projection and parasocial relationships, and all that. And downstream of that, I was expecting something a bit grounded? And the story just wasn’t either of those things; to begin with, the two celebrities the ‘fan treatise’ is about really are secretly dating and being forced to hide it, which seemed like kind of inexplicable decision to me as I read it. It’s not just that, either. Like to be clear this story absolutely has an unreliable narrator, but for a story ostensibly about fan obsession, it seems a bit odd for, lik, there to be an extended digression about how a famous actor was totally of an asshole in a livejournal fanfic community a decade previously, and then have that be revealed to be totally and unambiguously correct.

It’s less of an issue, but as I said the actual murders and intrigues at the core of the story are kind of just..ridiculous? Which I honestly normally wouldn’t mind, but- wen your story spends so much time talking about trashy supernatural tv shows and fanfic, it becomes kind of important that the ground-level narrative seem real by comparison, you know? And this had altogether too much talk of ‘the dark web’ for that.

I’m very possibly going to be putting my foot in my mouth hear (most of the specific fan cultures and pieces of drama being referenced, I only really know second hand through various salacious youtube gossip rags), but for all that the entire story’s utterly preoccupied with, in the end I found the commentary on fan culture really..shallow? Sure, the entire premise is having a laugh at larry stylinson-style RPF shipping conspiracies, the entire livejournal plot is a pastiche of the MsScribe drama, there are plenty of jokes about how m/m shippers literally forgetting about te female lead in te show she headlines, etc, etc. And they’re, largely, well-done references and jokes! Not really complaining about that.

But I’m kind of left feeling like there’s nothing really underneath it all. Which- if James had sat down a story with the explicit purpose of Saying Something About Fandom, it would almost certainly have been terrible. But between the murder plot and the revelations of Gottie’s byzantine revenge scheme (which honestly I’m consciously choosing not to think about too hard lest this just turn into cinemasins-for-books), in the end all the fandom stuff almost felt like window dressing? Elaborate, detailed, and impressive window-dressing, to be sure, but as the story went on and the plot became more clearly thriller-ish, increasingly revealed to be surface level and ornamental.

Speaking of ‘surface level’: the web serial medium and use of links here was such an incredible missed opportunity. You have an utterly unreliable narrator with a secret agenda and a grudge writing tens of thousands of words of livejournal essays about celebrities, and then you go to the effort of making actual accounts on twitter/insta/whatever to leave real links to when you cite them, and then you have her actually faithfully relate what the cited paged say? What a waste! This would have been so much better if it was 50% more postmodern and up its own ass about playing with the format. And doing so would even let you have that (incredibly obvious on one level, entirely out of nowhere and dramatically dead when it’s dropped as the literal last word of the story) reveal in the epilogue actually work!

Anyway, this all sounds incredible negative. Which isn’t entirely inaccurate, honestly, but I should reiterate that I googled this out of idle curiosity on a Friday evening and only realized it was 3am when I finished it. The negativity is more because this seemed so close to being amazing than because it was anything heinous.

[keiththecat]

Admissible (Part Five)

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Female Reader (You)

Summary: You've always hunted alone. That is, until Bobby sends you on a hunt near the Winchester brothers. How will things change when they come to help?

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: 18+, series typical violence and monsters, weapons, cursing, groping/ almost sexual assault, self-doubt/ self-esteem issues, character death, injuries, hurt/comfort

Author's Note: Here's part five! A bit shorter than usual, and I'm hoping to have another one to you all later this week to make up for it. Hope you're enjoying so far! Feel free to message me if you have any questions or concerns about anything. Y/N is your name, and feedback is always welcome. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the love so far! <3

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, or any of the related characters. The Supernatural series is created by Eric Kripke and owned by The CW Network. This work of fan fiction is for entertainment only. I am not making a profit of any kind from this story. All rights of the original Supernatural series belong to The CW Network.

Part One

AO3 link here

You sit for a few moments, feeling like your brain has shut off and time has stopped. I have to tell them. But what if we’re being watched here? What if our phones are being watched?

Calmly, as if nothing has happened, you get up from your seat and walk to the library. You find some paper and a pencil, then set out to find either of the Winchesters. Castiel, if you’re available and can be discrete, we might need some help at the bunker.

You’re walking down the hallway toward the bedrooms when Sam comes out of his room and notices you. “Hey, settling in okay?”

“Yeah, this place is great. Actually, I’m glad I found you, can I get your help with something?” Stay calm, act normal.

“Sure, what’s up?” He asks.

“I need to grab a few things first, but can you show me to the shower room again? This place is huge.” Surely if there are cameras here, there won’t be any in the bathroom.

“Sure, no problem,” He gives you a smile.

“Great, thanks. Give me a second.” You step into your room, leave your phone on your bed, and grab some clothes and a towel, tucking your paper and pencil inside. “Okay, I’m ready. Lead the way?”

Sam nods, leading you down the hall. When you get to the door of the shower room, he stops and gestures, “here you go.” 

You wrap a hand behind his neck, pulling him down so your lips meet. Catching him by surprise, it takes a moment before he kisses you back, but once he snaps out of it, he is kissing you with fervor and grabbing your hips to pull you even closer. As his tongue works its way into your mouth, your arms wrap around his neck and you use them to pull him with you into the shower room. Once the door closes behind him, you reluctantly pull back and place a finger on his lips. He opens his eyes to look at you in confusion, lips swollen and reddened from your attack. God, I want to do that more. I hope Dean is right, and I really hope kissing him like this doesn’t ruin my chances. You gesture with your finger for him to wait, and you grab your paper to write a message: “Please trust me. Don’t speak yet. Turn your phone off.”

He reads the message with furrowed brows, and you look at him with pleading eyes. He nods, doing as you asked. You write another message: “Cameras in here?” He shakes his head no. You turn on one of the showers, hoping it’ll swallow any noises that could be picked up from the hallway.

“Okay, I definitely want to talk more about that kiss later,” you keep your voice low. “But I needed to get you in here because I think someone might be watching us, or at least me. The bunker does have security cameras, right?”

“Oh- uh- yeah, yeah it does,” Sam stutters out, his brain trying to catch up, “Everywhere except the bathrooms and bedrooms.”

“Do they have audio?”

He shakes his head, “no, just video.”

“Okay, good,” you turn off the shower. “I got a call from an unknown number and I didn’t recognize the voice, it said ‘vedimus te. Venimus ad vos.’ But it wasn’t even like the voice came from the phone, it felt like it came from my head.”

“Shit,” Sam runs his hands through his hair. “Can you think of anything that would be after you?”

“No,” you answer, “nothing big, anyway. I don’t make a habit of going after the big stuff, that’s more your thing.”

“Well- yeah, that’s fair. If it is something big, it would have to be really big to get in here past the wardings-”

You cut him off, “-unless it managed to power down the wardings when it hacked the cameras. Also the voice said ‘we,’ I’m thinking it isn’t working solo.”

“Okay, so multiple somethings speaking Latin that can see inside the bunker and they are coming for you. We need to let Dean know.” He pulls out his phone, turning it back on.

“Sam, what if they’re watching your phones?”

“We have a code, don’t worry, Y/N.” He says, texting Dean. “I’m thinking that if we can get Cass here, he can blow out the cameras. That way, no one sees us turning them off and we have something to blame it on.”

“Okay, but what if that makes them come inside the bunker since they don’t have eyes on us anymore?”

“Well,” he says with determination shining in his eyes, “we’ll just have to be armed and as ready as we can be. Plus, we’ll have backup.”

“What if it’s not enough though, Sam? We don’t even know what they are. I don’t want you guys to get hurt because of me. I mean, they called me, not either of you. What if I go find them, give them what they want-”

“No,” he stops you, placing his hands on either side of your face, “absolutely not, Y/N. We can handle whatever this is, but we’ll handle it together.”

You stare into his eyes, tears forming in yours at how sweet and selfless Sam is. One tear manages to escape, rolling down your cheek until he wipes it away with his thumb, and then his lips are back on yours. The kiss is sweet but strong, your feelings for each other pouring into the passionate embrace. He pulls away slightly, placing his forehead against yours. “We can talk later about that kiss, too,” he says, grinning.

You smile and nod, pulling away and wiping your face for any other tears. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Sam’s phone dings, signaling that he got a text. “Cass is here. You ready?” he asks.

You reach out, taking his hand. “Let’s do this.” He squeezes your hand, leading the both of you out into the hallway and toward the War Room. Dean and Castiel are standing there. Cass gives you a small nod when you enter, and Dean looks at your hand in Sam’s, a small grin forming on his lips. Sam nods at Cass, whose eyes then shine with a bright white light, and you see sparks flying from several spots on the walls.

“All cameras in the bunker have been destroyed,” Cass affirmed, his eyes returning to their normal blue. His head tilts to the side and his brows furrow, “the wardings are down. Do you all have weapons?” 

In response, the brothers each draw their pistols. “Shit,” you respond, “my stuff is in my bag in my room.” You drop Sam’s hand and jog down the hall, heading for your room to grab your weapons and cell phone. You grab your usual knives and pistol, but your phone rings with another unknown number as soon as your hand touches it. Coincidence or can they somehow still see me? But Sam said there weren’t cameras in the bedrooms.

You lift the phone, intending to answer it, but you hear a breath behind you. Shit. As you turn to face your attacker, you feel a sting in the side of your neck. Your hand instinctively goes to the spot, finding a syringe. Your vision immediately blurs, your muscles seem to turn to liquid, and you collapse. You register a blurred figure bending over you before you lose consciousness.

*

Feeling halfway between awake and asleep, your limbs dangle lifelessly and feel as if they are made of lead. You’re being carried over someone’s shoulder. Staying as limp as you can manage in the hopes of not alerting your attacker, you struggle to pry your eyes open slightly. Seeing that it is too dark to make out any surroundings, you let them drift closed again. Your thoughts feel like they’re moving through molasses, and awareness slips through your grasp again.

Part Six

[just-some-guy-joust]

Just Some Guy OC Tourney - Side B: Round 1

Rules:

do NOT be mean to anyone or any characters in these polls. you MUST clarify if you are joking/teasing or you will be blocked. if you are someone who entered an oc into this and you are mean to other contestants you will be disqualified

do NOT claim a character doesn't deserve to be here. yes including your own. be nice

if you are posting propaganda you have to tag us, including if your propaganda is in the reblogs. it is difficult to tell when something is or isn't propaganda. anything not tagging us will likely be missed

please don't hesitate to let me know if i messed something up!

have fun, hype each other up <3 thank you

Freddy V. | He/him | @g0thiclem0nade

Freddy is just some greasy southern accented vampire that is definitely older than the US of A. He likes to play his guitar and rock out with his friends. From helping people save their sisters to running around a post thermonuclear wasteland America he’s very often sidelined by some other cooler person. It should also be noted this guy has been a character occurrence in several of my video game play throughs because he’s just that versatile.

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Zena | She/her/hers, it/its/its, and ze/zir/zirs, but all pronouns are acceptable | @spark-ocblog (CW: mentions of blood and murder on this blog)

Zena works a variety of retail jobs and lives in a boring, cheap, low-quality apartment. She is entirely oblivious to the various supernatural happenings in the town she's in, despite being one of the oldest supernatural creatures in the area. It likes to participate in mundane human activities for fun, such as "Lie Down On A Cushion For Eight Hours With Your Eyes Closed," and "Pet Animal." Zir biggest worries are busy shifts and managing human finances.

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Full images and descriptions under the cut!

[no extra description provided]

Zena is an immortal plant spirit who really wants to participate in human life. After zir move to the city, ze hops from job to job trying to sample the human experience as best ze can. She tries to keep a houseplant and care for it manually (without any magic) and it dies immediately. She's aromantic and orchidsexual, but alloplatonic. It's very awkward trying to socialize with its coworkers, especially because its first language is not a verbal one. Ze's very easily tricked and oblivious to many things... including the many witches in the area that stop by the cafe ze waitresses at. The cafe is perfectly normal, but its primary clientele is criminals and illegal magic users from the surrounding area (just because of where it's situated, locationally). She sticks out like a sore thumb because her human disguise isn't particularly stealthy, but most people politely assume her appearance is due to some sort of curse and avoid commenting on it. It likes reading corny romance novels and hanging out with people in its spare time. It's autistic and obsessed with puns, and fascinated by human languages. Zir whole entire aspiration is basically to be just some guy.