#but they sure did butcher my boy in season 4

[unmotivated-artist164]

Ok so here are my thoughts on The Boys season 4 finale that nobody asked for! Yay! 👏

Spoilers under cut

-FUCKING FINALLY WITH KIMIKO AND FRENCHIE, ON MY DEAD GRANDMOTHERS FUCKING CROSS, OH MY GOD.

-THEY'RE SO CUTE, PLEASE.

-Kimiko screaming for Frenchie when Cate took him, broke me though :((

-BABY BUTCHER ISN'T MF PALE ANYMORE. HE'S BACK TO HIS CUNTY SELF AGAIN WITH A FUCKASS COOL POWER.

Him ripping Victories Neuman in half though when she was gonna flip was crazy 🫢

-Sage strutting back in to tell Homelander 'i told you so' was such a boss move, I love it.

-Firecracker getting sick from the drugs did make me feel a little bad, but fuck her anyways so 🤷

-Ashley taking compound v, OMG!?!?

-HUGHIE AND ANNIE WEDDING SEASON 5, I'M SLAMMING MY CARD ON THE TABLE, PLEASE.

I *NEED* ANNIE IN A CHAMPAGNE OR GOLD ACCENTED DRESS, DIVERING FROM THE STEREOTYPICAL WHITE.

-GRACEEEEEEEEEEEE

Ryan when I catch you, when I catch you, Ryan

🫵🫵🫵

-Idk why but Black Noirs getting a murder boner did something to me 👁️👁️

IT WAS THE CRUNCH OF THE LEATHER AND THE STRETCHING I FOUND HOT, HELP ME PLEASE

That's it for now! Have a wonderful night/day, my loves, make sure you eat and drink something, and know that someone out there enjoys your presence. Mwah mwah 🫶🫶🫶

[cranberry-writes]

hey!! can i pls rq for more hughie x reader content?? there isn't much on here and i think we need to fix that

Occupation

Hughie x Reader

Genre; Mild angst but it’s all good at the end

Warnings; Cannon typical violence, language, talk of killing and mild spoilers for the first episode

This is a build from my Dating the Boys head-cannons, at the end of Hughies section i mention that reader would find out about his ‘job’ like two days after asking and getting nothing as a response. Also the scenario I used i completely made up, please bear with me i’m only partly on season 2. 

Uhhhhhggg i may have lightly chopped the ending up ill fix it later

also yeeesssss a request! i love requests!!!!

Synopsis; A few days after asking your boyfriend what he does for work and getting nothing for an answer, you accidentally find out his occupation in a way neither of you wanted.

You’re not sure what compelled you to ask Hughie what he did for work, maybe it was the strange hours he worked, or the fact he got hurt regularly, maybe it was but just good old fashioned curiosity that led you to asking him.

“So what do you do for work babe?”

The way he froze should have been enough of a sign that something was wrong, that you should have pushed him harder or asked more questions. But you didn’t, you just thought it was humorous in the moment.

His demeanor changed quickly, relaxed and focused on his phone to anxiously trying to look anywhere besides you. “I- well, I’m a tech guy? Like I don’t work for a tech company but I’m the tech guy, I work on tech stuff, it’s super boring you don’t want to hear about it.” He ended the rambling explanation with a forced chuckle

“So what do you want to do about dinner? We could go to that new Korean restaurant.” Glancing over to the clock you saw it was only 4, but decided to just play along. He didn’t have to tell you if he didn’t want to, you were sure there was a good reason, maybe he did something like a male striper and was embarrassed.

4 days later and a male striper would have been a dream scenario compared to this.

—

You didn’t mean to see him, or the rest of them. You were just running some errands and wanted to make a stop at a new store, taking a short cut through an older part of town that you were sure was abandoned.

You turned the corner and saw him, it took you a moment to recognize him because he was completely drenched in blood. You’re mind forced you into panic mode, you looked at the people he was with, none where familiar except for a taller gruff looking man. Wasn’t he the guy that was on the news for killing Stillwell?

You moved back to hide behind the corner you just turned, suddenly very aware of how loud your breath was and how heavy the bags in your hands were. Slowly placing them on the ground and moving your hands to cover your mouth, you stayed as still as you could. You could hear them moving and talking from around the corner as thousand thoughts running through your head.

‘Is this his job? Does he kill people?’

‘Oh god, if he gets caught could i get in trouble??’

Then finally, the loudest thought drained the rest of them out

‘wasn’t Homelander, the Homelander after that Butcher guy?’

That thought managed to turn into cement inside your head, what if Homelander was after Hughie too?

“Oh shit.”

The words, while still quiet, left your mouth faster than you could stop them. You stoped your breathing as you heard Hughie and the others stop talking, after a moment you could hear a pair of foot steps approaching where you hid. 

Before you could run or scream or anything, a pair a rough hands where holding you against the wall, you grabbed and scratched at them desperately. “Please! I won’t tell anyone! I promise!”

Your luck must have completely failed you because Butcher was the one currently strangling you, the one convicted of murdering a single mother, was trying to kill you.

Somehow through the fog of being suffocated and also begging for your life, you could hear your name before being dropped to the dirty concrete floor. Your palms getting scraped harshly against the ground wasn’t even something you registered, you where to busy desperately trying to regain your breath, breathing hard and gasping for any bit of air.

You looked up, seeing Hughie and the asshole who just tried to kill you arguing. You would have been surprised with him arguing with a murderer so passionately, but it had hardly passed your mind at the time. You did manage to notice the other people there, a shorter man with a buzz cut facial hair combo and an asian woman with the prettiest hair you’d seen where staring at you.

You stood up slowly after a moment, looking back at Hughie who had since stoped arguing. “Is this, your job? You work with a murderer?” You gesture vaguely to Butcher, before redirecting your attention back to him.

He looked down, giving you a good view of his now blood red hair. “..I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t know how. I’m sorry.” “I don’t think anyone wants their boyfriend to tell them that their work involves them getting covered in blood.” Hughie looked down at his clothes as if he hadn’t noticed before.

It took a minute for you to properly regain your self, taking in your surroundings fully, the people around you, the situation.

“Are you even safe? Doing, whatever this is?” He tilted his head up at you, gradually shaking it side to side. “Not always.”

You probably hated asking that question the most, and his answer (while completely expected) scared you. Having a partner who was doing something stupid was something, having one doing something stupid and dangerous was another.

“You won’t die doing this, okay? Tell me, you won’t die.” The words were choppy and tense as you spoke, it probably sounded more of a decree than a request or question, but in reality it was a plea.

“I won’t die doing this.” He took a slight step forward, reaching a hand out in offering. Instead you grabbed him and pulled him into a hug that he reciprocated quickly. The partly dried blood on his clothes made it mildly uncomfortable but you powered through it, desperate for any comfort.

You stayed like that for a moment, savoring the moment. You pulled back and looked at him, making sure to hold his arms tightly. “We will not be talking about this at home, or ever unless your life is in danger. Please.”

Hughie smiled, and you felt calmer. He moved closer and kissed you on the cheek before stepping back “Not a peep, not a single peep.”

[melefim]

Dead Boy Detectives Score is out!

I’ve also added it to my playlist with all the other songs used in the show here:

I’ll be doing a complete listing of where all the songs are found in the show like I did for the regular soundtrack, but in the meantime here’s what I recognize from a quick listen/ click through:

(Episode numbers are in parentheses)

Death Becomes Him: Gas mask ghost street chase, Death in the office (1)

The Dead Boy Detectives Main Title theme: self- explanatory- opening titles for every episode, as well as credits for 1-3.

So Many Questions for So Many Fools: Edwin’s Flashback (1), intercepted by cats & escorted to the cannery (2), (escort to cannery bit also plays when Niko & Crystal are walking to the cannery in episode 8), Edwin gives Crystal a list of questions for Niko —> We have the same left (2)

Little Girl Collector: Esther’s theme— bits of it played throughout: Esther meets Crystal (1), Yelling at Monty (1), Esther browsing Tragic Mick’s (2), Esther in the butcher shop (3), Esther sees Monty with Edwin (3), Esther & Monty in the kitchen (5&6), Esther walking down the street (8)

Want and Pleasure: Cat King theme- all or partially played during Edwin’s punishment discussion (2), Meeting by the lighthouse (4), Cat King in forest (6), Esther in the cannery (7)

Niko: bit starting around 2:00 is following Maxine (5), 2:45-3:00ish is setting up the butcher shop for the date & Jenny’s reaction(5)

Sadness Came Too/ Looking for Boys: up until 1:37 is Niko & Crystal talking about their families (2), 1:38 and on is the Night Nurse/ Lost & Found department theme. Sections are heard at end of episode 1, reviewing the boy’s files (2), the notary (3), interviewing the Devlin girls (3), Night nurse arrives in Port Townsend (4), upstairs with Jenny (4), that night on the cliff (4), appears to take the boys (6), opening the door to hell (7), and when she leaves at the end of 7.

Awakening Skeletons: Dandelion shrine field (2)

Stuck in a jar: Dandelion Sprite theme- when they’re first in the jar & when Niko first sees them (2), the three scenes with them taunting Niko in Devlin house (3), Jenny sees them (8), very end of igloo & end credits (8)

Odd Customers and Cohorts: first bit is Potential client interviews (3), second half might be at Tragic Mick’s?

VHS and David: Devlin House- last minute of the song is after the loop is broken and Death comes (3)

You Can Talk To Me: first bit is them back at the tongue & tail after the lighthouse Leapers (4)

All So Obvious: 2:20-3:17 is summoning Shelby (5)

Never Been Kissed/ Hell: first bit is Niko & Edwin talking about kissing (4), Middle is probably Charles descending into Hell?? (7), 4:30 on is the ‘Previously on Dead Boy Detectives’ background music (2-8)

I Messed Up: Crystal & Jenny in the alley, Crystal & Charles in the alley, Crystal unlocks her door, Charles shows her his parents (1)

Accepting Being Dead: beginning is almost but not exactly the bit in Hell from when the spider grabs Edwin to when Charles finds him again. (7) 1:00-2:30 is Edwin coming out to Charles (6). Last 30 seconds is Charles crying on the cliff (4), Bad guy talk (5), and right after he realizes he’s dead in his flashback (7).

Mirror Maze: Maxine attacks Jenny (5), pretty sure at least part is the David/Crystal/Charles confrontation in the forest (6)

Run From Hell / I’m in Love with You: first 45 seconds is Charles & Edwin running from the baby doll spider, :45- 3:30 is the second scene with Simon (do you think it has to be torture being the way we are?), 3:30- end is Edwin’s confession (7). Confession time can also be heard during conversation at end of (6) and the hug at end of (8).

Her Own Fault: first bit is Fight at Esther’s house, starts when Esther throws Niko against the wall, goes through Niko’s death

Esther’s Origin/ A New Deal: Cat King’s Esther story (8), 2:50ish onwards is the Principal looking at the case board through the end of the scene to the zoom out the window (8)

I will be going through and trying to find timestamps for where every song plays in the show, but it’ll take a bit. Until then, hope people find this useful! (And if you know any parts of songs that I missed, please feel free to drop a comment!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you like lists of things like I do, you can check out my other Dead Boy Detectives list posts here:

Full soundtrack with timestamps

When Charles’ Shirt Colors Change

George Rextrew’s Edwin comic inspo board

Moves, Incidents, and Cases Masterlist

Swearing Masterlist

[captainimfangirling]

The Boys Season 4 Episode 7

I lied. I stayed up until 2 am waiting for this episode to stream but I'm actually surprised it was better than the last one.

Warning: Major Spoilers.

A-Train

I didn't like A-Train but know I do. Good for him for doing the right thing and becoming an actual super hero. Not sure if this will be a popular opinion or not but I don't think his deed is done. After he hides his family I think he should come back and finish the job with The Boys. They sure can use him. Also he shouldn't be running off after what he told M.M. because he would be a hypocrite.

Butcher

My gut feeling tells me Joe Kessler is going to take over after Butcher passed out. Like we thought Butcher was going to do the right thing at the end but sadly not when Kessler takes over. I think if he does take over Butcher Starlight will figure it out because she heard that name. Also what was the f*cking point of making him cheat on Becca?! I mean I didn't ship them or anything and I know he was a asshole and a drunk but still I feel like they added that so we start hating on Butcher. Is Butcher (or Kessler) going to do something really f*cked up? Like kill Ryan? I've always said Kessler is like the comic book Butcher influencing TV Butcher and he's probably going to kill Ryan like he did in the comic books.

Hughie & Starlight

Because of what happened to Hughie last episode the shapeshifter tricking him into having sex with "Starlight" made me very uncomfortable. I mean I get the show is supposed to be f*cked up but wow give the guy some time to breathe. I'm scared for Starlight and I hope they give Hughie a chance to save her. I think that's all he wanted to do last season because he couldn't save Robin. I don't think it was all about Starlight being stronger than him.

Kimiko & Frenchie

Yup like I said both of them have so much in common and can heal together. I love that we finally get a backstory of why Kimiko can't talk. She had to be silent as she killed other girls in order to live so she was never able to speak again. To be honest I don't get what the point was about Frenchie turning himself in. Are we supposed to see his as his redemption and all is forgiven because he did the right thing?

The Deep

To be honest I'm not surprised The Deep broke Ambrosius' tank and let her die. The Deep always used and abused women. He didn't change at all. He finally got a taste of his own medicine when he found out about Sage and this time it's the correct way (the wrong way was him getting sexually assaulted in season one). Anyway did anyone know Ambrosius was voiced by Tilda Swinton because I for as hell didn't.

Black Noir 2 & Sage

Black Noir 2 was hilarious in this episode. I wonder if The Boys are going to figure out that he's is a different supe because they saw him talk and fly. I mean they would've known about Earving condition from Mallory, right? I think they should start a rumor about Black Noir being replaced so conspiracy theories fan would believe it. I always knew Sage had a sexual relationship with Black Noir 2 but didn't think she was going to break his heart. My poor baby. I love how she didn't have to lobotomize herself to have sex with him like The Deep. I'm so mad at Homelander for firing her but it's probably for the best if you want her to be redeemed or work with The Boys. I think she really was going to help Homelander but when she realized he wont actually listen to her she doesn't give a damn about the plan anymore and will probably help The Boys if she's hasn't given up on anyone listening to her.

Homelander, Firecracker, and Ryan

I am so proud of Ryan but I am also scared for him. Yeah Homelander didn't mean it at all when he told Ryan he can do whatever he wants. Homelander only wants Ryan to listen to him. I think Ryan is finally understanding. I have a feeling there's going to be son and father argument and Ryan is going to say I thought you said I can do whatever the f*ck I want but I guess you didn't mean it. What was that notebook Sage put on the table? I hope it belongs to Firecracker and it exposes her. Like how she writes down her plans of manipulating Homelander and step one was the breast milk. I keep saying oh this or that is going to push Homelander over the edge but when the hell is that going to happen? Next season? Because I for sure thought Homelander was finally going to go crazy and act like a god he thinks he is after the bad room episode but the next episode he's drinking titty milk from Firecracker and the episode after that he's manipulated into firing Sage who actually had everything figured out for him.

Mother's Milk

You know what M.M. getting skinny actually makes sense. Maybe he wasn't eating right because of all the stress. I know the actor wanted to lose weight but they should've written it into the plot. Anyway I'm happy he tried to save his ex-wife and daughter but A-Train is right. They wont be safe until they stop Homelander. That's why I think A-Train will come back.

Victoria

I don't care for her to be honest. I thought she was more interesting and fun when I thought she was going to be just as ruthless as Homeladner. I think they're trying to make her sympathetic so we can compare her relationship with her daughter and Homelander's relationship with Ryan.

Ashley

I adore her and this is the first time I'm saying that. She's right that Vought turns people evil. I've always said this. I think all supes were like Starlight at one point even Homelander (watch the cartoon series and see) wanted to be a real hero but Vought messed them up very badly. She's just too scared to leave. I hope she does the right thing at the end.

[vergeltvng]

SPOILERS for The Boys Season 4

I'm still processing the final episode but here are some of my random thoughts, in no particular order. It was a wild ride and I enjoyed it for the most part. The season had its lows for sure and I'll never forgive the writers for how they treated Hughie. I'm still fucking mad about everything they did to him after episode 5. I also felt like they wasted a lot of potential with Annie's arc. She's been through a lot after season 3 and I loved the idea of her having an identity crisis but it was just so poorly executed. It all felt messy and as if the writers had no conclusion in mind for both her and Hughie's plotlines. Unfortunately I couldn't find myself caring a lot about Frenchie's and Kimiko's subplots which is sad because I love these two. I was hoping they get to kill that bitch Little Nina and Kimiko getting her revenge on the SLLA. Both could have happened this season before they got separated in the end. Instead we've been put on hold to wait if these plots get resolved at all. Firecracker and Sage were great additions, I loved to hate Firecracker and Sage gives off endboss vibes for me. I still feel like she's gonna betray Homelander in the end. Can't wait for "phase two". A-Train's arc was great, he truly redeemed himself and him showing up at the flat iron to save the others was proof enough for me how serious he was about doing the right thing. I liked all of his scenes with MM, too. I loved Ashley this season, I hope she gains some badass powers and kicks everyone's ass. I've seen some complaints about Homelander being nerfed - are we watching the same show? He is fucking unhinged and more terrifying than ever. He is basically god by the end of the season and can (and will) do whatever the fuck he wants with no one in his way. Someone telling me that's not scary?! He is and always will be one of the best villains in tv history. Poor kid Ryan, he deserved better. How is he ever supposed to feel safe around Homelander and Butcher phrasing it that way was downright evil and manipulative towards the boy because he knew it would make Ryan feel insecure and cornered. Him pushing and killing Grace was in self-defense. His reaction afterwards however is concerning and I guess ambiguous for interpretation on purpose. I still don't get how some people in the fandom could hate on a 12 year old child so much, leave the kid alone.

Where do I start when it comes to Butcher? I have many thoughts and this text is already long but I'll give it a shot anyway. Obviously I'm biased because I love this man and will defend him to the very end. I think his arc was one of the better aspects, he is still one of the best written characters on the show. What I always loved about him was him being truly morally grey and the ambiguity in his words and actions. He cannot be trusted. I don't know if it's me but Karl's performance makes him actually a lot more likeable than he deserves. He is a bad person and I don't think this is negotiable. I have thought about this so many times in made-up scenarios and I stick with my opinion that there's no fixing him and there never was. I have tried to stay away from fandom discourse as much as I could for my own well-being but I don't get how people act surprised and as a result hate over his behavior and decisions. I think most were true to his character and also him killing Neuman made perfect sense and was a well-deserved payoff narratively. Not that I'm not mad at him for doing so! I loved Vicky and she was such an interesting character. But his final words in season 3 were "that bitch has to go" and one of his main goals across the whole season was to get that virus to kill her. He was absolutely clear about it and worked towards this goal on his own terms, not even under the influence of Kessler. Certainly Kessler pushed him to commit some of his atrocities but it matched with what he wanted himself. He drew the line when it came to supe genocide and was conflicted about it initially but one of his core themes is doing whatever it takes and losing his humanity on his chosen path. Since he is highly intelligent he knows very well what's wrong with him what emphasises even more that he actively chooses to do bad things rather than being impulsive and regretful afterwards. I personally loved his turn at the end and I am eager to see his villain arc. What's not to love about evil daddy?! I could go on about some of the dynamics between him and Kessler but I'll do that in another post maybe.

[alexanderwales]

My wife and I finally finished season 4 of The Boys. It was okay.

content warning: sexual assault

I did appreciate that the season at least tried to have a strong theme, that of confronting the past, and they did some work in making sure that every character had some past to confront.

Unfortunately, "characters confront the past" is one of the worst things you can do for momentum, which makes it feel like they went through a full season and were mostly treading water. There weren't any literal flashbacks, but there were a bunch of scenes that felt like flashbacks, where we were getting backstory explained to us. There are a lot of pitfalls in having a past-oriented season, and it didn't feel like they avoided all of them.

Butcher being sick for most of the season was also pretty boring, though I did appreciate the Fight Club twist. Having one of your most dynamic, agenty character separated from the rest of the cast and dying is not great.

The shock value stuff they include in every episode is ... I mean, it's part of the brand, I think it would be a better story without it, and it does sometimes feel like it's not in keeping with the tone of the rest of the show, but I don't actually think they should remove it. There's actually a deeper problem where the tone seems to switch a lot, which I think is particularly noticeable whenever there's a talking head or Vought commercial or something: those always feel like I'm listening to a GTA radio station, and the rest of the show does not.

I took a break from the show after the episode where Hughie got locked in a sex dungeon, which I felt was played for laughs in a really off-putting way. There was a scene at the end where he says that he's not okay, and it felt really tacked on, like their episode tested poorly, or they got some feedback but couldn't actually change the episode significantly. Starlight being sexually assaulted in the first season had empathy to it, it was awful and the show knew it, and it drove forward a lot of plot and character stuff. Hughie being sexually assaulted was just ... a laugh.

And then in the last two episodes, Starlight gets replaced by a doppelganger, and the doppelganger has sex with Hughie while pretending to be Starlight, and we have a name for that, which is rape, but Starlight gets out of captivity and then has a whole awful monologue about how Hughie is awful for having sex with the doppelganger, and it's just ... very clear to me that I have a very different understanding than the showrunners about how men respond to sexual trauma and how it should be handled. Hughie apologizes, of course. I wasn't a Starlight hater, but I do hate Starlight now.

The two new members of the cast, Firecracker and Sister Sage, were both good. Firecracker was a good foil, and earned some brownie points for giving the middle finger to their blackmail plots. Sister Sage was an interesting take on the genius mastermind, mostly because of the self-lobotomy thing, though I do wish we got more of her.

[autisticempathydaemon]

I wasn't sure if this is where I answer for the redacted match up but I hope it is!^^

feel free to take your time and I hope you enjoy reading this stuff...^^

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why?: you've seen the butcher by deftones because I really love deftones as a whole and I really love the intro and I don't know why but the song really reminds me of the Shaw pack.

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why?: Actually no because I have close to zero patience and I just never really liked them.

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. : I didn't have any.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep?: my watch later tab on YouTube. An hour of mincraft music followed by every redacted sleep aid.

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?): I changed my name to toby because it fits the personality I like other people to see me as and the good parts of me. And a lot of people who inspire me are named toby in some form.

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why?: honestly it changes quite frequently but it usually rotates between the D.A.M.N. crew (Gavin and lasko mostly), Sam, and Porter.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.): Elliot and Aaron because Elliots just kind of boring to me and Aaron is just David without the fuzzy.

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to.: stranger things but only season 3

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend?: ollie or Elliot

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.): sentimental stuff like how I met someone or how I've changed over the last few years

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo.: Arizona tea (fruit punch one cuz I'm a fruit cake), Dr. Pepper, or mountain dew

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment.: redacted wise: Gavin bc he was the first playlist I ever fully watched and I love my Bae

Music wise: my everything playlist called stuffs that I made 4 years ago.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why?: the crave series by Tracy Wolff. It's very similar to a lot of redacted and its vampire shit.

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are!: I love deftones and Korn. Garfield4life. Lasko is Bae. I found Redacted through the guy confession audio the day it came out. I used to think Damien and lasko were gonna get together because I saw the Damien and Huxley confession cover and had a dream where it was lasko and convinced myself it was real untill I got to that point in the D.A.M.N crew playlist. :]

Hmm, this one was difficult for me. Though you gave me information, I found it hard to glean who you are with that information /nm With that in mind, I think Asher is perfect for you!

I get the vibe that you might not be the type to volunteer a lot when talking about yourself? Asher would be a good match for you in that he’d either be really skilled at easing that info out of you naturally, given his personable and emotionally intelligent nature, or not feeling the need to push or prod, learning about you at your own pace. I also like that you describe yourself as having little patience as that’s how I think of Asher too- at least, until it counts. It’s good for a pair to have similar temperaments, you know?

One of my favorite things about your life with Asher is how much he’d indulge your love of Garfield. Asher Talbot is that boyfriend who goes scours eBay for the things you like no matter what that may be, no matter the cost; he is hounding those auctions like- well, like a wolf. He’s the same way with concert tickets- you know he’s making sure you get the best seats for the next Deftones show, even if he has to save for months. It’s not even his type of music necessarily, as a canon FOB stan, but he listens to their discography for a whole month before the concert to get hyped with you. He’s just like that~

Song:

Maybe we could be/ Sweet eternity/ Are you the one?/ Are you the one?/ Dreaming, I'm sleep/ Are you the one?/ Pray my soul to keep/ Comfort seems unreal/ The opposite of how I feel/ Before I come undone/ Are you the one?

This song came up when I started a Spotify Radio for “You’ve Seen the Butcher”, and I think it suits y’all! One, I always make sure to pick a love song cause matchmaking and romance. Two, it’s got a bounciness to it! It’s fun to listen to; I can easily imagine Asher bopping around at midnight, hopped up on RedBull, while he fixes y’all a snack.

Runner-up:

Vincent is your main runner-up because I think he’d have such a fun time goofin on you about your guilty pleasure books. He’s a vampire; that’s just his right, you know? Milo is your other runner-up because I am imagining Aggro feuding with the little Garfield effigies around your house, and it’s a delightful, silly image.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[hoodlander]

Finally finished Season 4.

My thoughts:

Karl Urban looking fine as fuck even though Butcher is supposed to be dying.

And Colby Minifie is looking hot as hell this season, not sure what it is.

Overall, a strong finale.

The writing for the entire season has been all over the place though. If there was ever an argument for going back to the 22 episode seasons - this is it.

So many heel-turns that happened too fast.

And I felt like half the season sacrificed good writing for stupid shock value gags. Shocking scenes should have a place in the narrative, but not just added to try and shock the audience for no reason.

I love Hughie. I really love him. He was going through it this season. I am disappointed in Kripke and the other writers for thinking the Tek Knight stuff was funny and not seeing it for what it was. That is was the same thing that Deep did to Annie in S1. I am disgusted when male SA is not taken seriously in media.

And then the triple whammy with the shifter. Hughie needs a damn break.

I think Erin Moriarty did an amazing job with shifter!Annie though. She was brilliant to watch.

Frenchie and Kimiko’s storylines this season made little sense to me and didn’t progress their characters. I’m glad the writer’s back tracked the ‘platonic soulmates’ thing and made Frenchie/Kimiko genuinely happen. If you want to do platonic that’s fine, but not after what they went through for 3 seasons and how they behaved with each other. Glad that was rectified.

I love MM. And A-Train’s redemption arc was the strongest arc of the season for me. It was the best written imo.

The Deep has wanted to be BFF’s with Homelander since S1. Loved seeing him doubling down on getting that friendship bracelet. RIP Ambrosius. She was the one Deep. She truly, truly loved you you stupid fuck.

I like Firecracker, she is interesting. Having her doing things for Homelander out of gratitude and respect instead of attraction was very refreshing. And I love how she and Deep are Homelander’s Ride or Dies. Whenever I see the three of them together all I see are Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith.

New Noir is baby. Love him. As much as I miss Old Noir, this was a good way to progress the character and give Nathan Mitchell more to do. Loved his fight with the Boys as they reacted to him flying and talking.

Sage is fantastic. I love her. And her final scene with Homelander was brilliant. Like, yes girl come get your sad murder chihuahua he needs to go back in your purse.

And finally…

Grace really be making Homelander look like a #1 Dad.

Great idea, threatening arguably the second most powerful supe on the planet with imprisonment. I feel like she expected Ryan to be as easily radicalized as Billy. Then didn’t know how to handle his need for space. Like, kid just got a bomb dropped on him and needs to think. She couldn’t even give him that.

Whereas Homelander lets him go after their fights. He gives him space. And so far, he has shown Ryan genuine affection as much as he is capable of giving. If Ryan does go back to him in S5, which I think he will, Homelander will accept him back but then have to deal with some hard questions.

Ryan lashing out at Grace was expected honestly. She was going to gas him. He was already emotionally charged. He didn’t look happy or sad after her death. And if Billy only sees Ryan as Becca’s son if he kills Homelander then his love comes with conditions.

Grace and Butcher both fucked up.

Billy killing Victoria and putting his faith in the virus was short-sighted on his part. Vic could have helped them with the long game.

And ultimately the supe virus is a temporary genocide.

A virus only works when it has something to infect. If it kills every supe then Vought just needs to wait a few years to make sure the virus is gone and then start dosing more babies. And the cycle starts again. Vought could potentially find a vaccine for the virus as well.

The thing The Boys have to destroy is Compound V. And every Vought scientist that can recreate it by memory.

As long as Compound V exists there will always be Supes.

[coopers-kitchen]

I throw a Halloween party every year, and just like with every party I'm always serving up longpig - and with it being a holiday, I want to make sure I have something really special.

Luckily, I get pigs more or less begging for the chance to be one of my holiday meals. So this year I did something different.

In January, I posted on Meat-up that I was looking for pigs for all the major holidays. I got photos, videos, nutritional information, diets, measurements, everything I needed to make an informed decision. I narrowed the shortlist down to fifty pigs and had them all get a one way trip out to California, with the understanding that they'd never go home, as I made my final selection.

Some of the decisions were easy. I knew I wanted a Chinese pig for Chinese New Year, and of the two pigs that flew out from Shanghai, one needed a little too much time to get ready, while one of them was good enough to eat. A cornfed, All-American type was ideal for a July 4 barbecue, and even though I don't personally celebrate eid, the 300 pound Saudi Arabian boy definitely warranted a feast of his own.

Don't worry, I made sure all the pigs I didn't pick went to good homes - a few went to Isla Cerdos, a few went to some chef friends of mine, two got sent as project pigs at the Isla Cerdos culinary program, three were butchered, and the rest went to pigsitters until I had space for them as house pigs.

This was my selection for Halloween - 300 pounds of prime pork, with plenty of time to maintain his meat and ensure the maximum flavour. I shifted him to an mostly vegetarian diet and monitored him carefully, made sure he only ate pre approved snacks, and lots of them. Two months before Halloween, I cut meat out entirely - this pig was strictly a vegetarian. One month before he was caged and fed only 100% efficient and vegetarian pig slop. Four days before Halloween and he switched to a liquid diet, only brought out when it was time to shave him, clean him, and prep him for the oven the day before the big event.

I celebrated the season with a sweet stuffing- maple syrup, longpork from a pig who'd hoped to be my Halloween meal but sold to a butcher bud of mine (seems only fair he got to participate in some way), donuts, pumpkin, cinammon, pecans, and nutmeg. It tasted so good he was only too eager to shovel it down his throat while I worked fistful after fistful up his eager ass, packing him tight - after all, he had a lot of mouths to feed. A maple pecan glaze rubbed into every inch of pork, and I even switched out the traditional apple for a candy one. Then, it was just a matter of trussing him up and sliding him into the oven. I take Halloween seriously, hence the longer than usual cooking time - an extra long time on a low heat meant plenty of time for all the fat to melt into the pork for extra flavour and tenderness, and it meant this Pork Chop got to experience cooking for a nice long time, especially when I broght him out to baste or rest the meat and, well, if you can't play with your food on Halloween, when can't you? Just call it a trick. He was ready when it was time for my guests to arrive, and as an extra treat for such a special pig, I served him rare - still alive, unable to feel pain, but aware that he was being eaten. I even paid some of the wait staff from one of my restaurants overtime if they worked the event, carving the meat while me and my buds and pigs enjoyed the party.

Well, it's safe to say that the party was a huge success - the pig was tender, delicious, and lasted for hours as we went back and forth to get more and more, and I bet this pig was satisfied to finally become the meal he'd always dreamed of.

[outoftouchsoldier]

Question for admin

So, we know he will have a non verbal Cameo at the end of season 4, and I personally think it's him waking up. And I am curious about what they will do with him.

Do you think Ben will be redeemed? Or will they make him worse?

Also do you think he can be redeemed? (One general TB levels)

/ / I won't lie, that's news to me. I wasn't aware of any of that, I haven't really seen anything about it. I try my absolute best to stay away from things like that because I like having the surprise and freaking the fuck out.

But I do think that there is a chance he could be redeemed. We've seen a vulnerability to Ben (and sure, we've seen that with Homelander and we know there will definitely be no redeeming him). Ben shows a lot of regret and whether anyone likes to admit it or not, he was done wrong at the end of season three. Butcher should have told him about Ryan, but he didn't. As far as Ben was concerned, Ryan was Homelander's kid and just like him, therefore there was no saving him.

Ben has a lot of regret and now he has to actually face the music and come to terms with the fact that his whole time as a Supe was a lie and Vought fucked him over, there is a way he could either be his own team or be a part of The Boys again.

See this is the thing with him, Vought told so many stories about what Ben did over the years so much so that Ben's ego inflated in such a way where he began to truly believe the shit they spouted. And that stemmed from his father and that no matter what Ben did, he was always told he was a disappointment and could never do anything to change it.

Here, we've been given a character that we're meant to see as "bad" in the end, but there's so many sides to him that other "bad guys" lacked in their character developments that I believe Ben could genuinely do some good in the end given the right circumstances.

But even then, I don't think he'd want to at first. He'd be made to, but in the end he'd stand by the right thing. I mean, he was already trying to do the right thing by killing his own son off anyway even if he was upset about it.

[roanofarcc]

PROJECT SUNSHINE CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE → WHAT A GIRL WANTS

summary: steve harrington x oc

when another product of Hawkins National Laboratory escaped a long-survived nightmare alongside her sister, she crashed into one unsuspecting teenage boy and dragged him deeper into the dark mysteries that made up their hometown.

word count. 3.5k || masterlist

warnings: cannon typical violence, child abuse, horror, gore, and depictions of mental illness. parts of this story were written pre-season 4 release. cannon divergence.

previous chapter ← → next chapter

A set of hands wound their way around Seven’s torso, peeling her off the floor. She tried to hang on, slick fingers gripping painted skin with all the strength and fight left in her. Her short fingernails dug into the bent arms desperately trying to stay there. 

The person behind her was just as desperate, though, for vastly different reasons. They hauled the little girl up with a grunt while trying to avoid her kicks and tired punches aimed at no one but the air.  

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” they kept repeating. The words did nothing to soothe the little girl, but they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything more.  

“Ivy! Ivy please!” Seven screamed into the quiet hall. The alarms had subsided; the dust had settled. All that was left was the overwhelming stench of metal and the harrowing sobs that echoed up and down each hall Seven was carried.  

The person never stopped. They turned corners and kept their gaze straight forward, not daring to look at the ground or the walls. 

“Ivy!” Seven screamed so loud her throat felt set aflame. “Wake up! Wake up!” 

But she never did. 

Hauling the last bucket of raw meat from the trunk of his car, Steve let out a sigh while Sunshine took inventory of the supplies in Dustin’s backpack. He mainly had packed snacks, which she supposed was important too.  

“I hope we’re right about this,” Steve said. He stood surrounded by all of their odd monster hunting gear and supplies that consisted of stolen meat, a couple of canisters of gasoline, a bear trap, rubber gloves, and a lighter. 

Dustin stood with his hands on his hips and shook his head. “I can’t believe we just robbed a grocery store.” 

“Okay, robbed is a little dramatic.” Steve rolled his eyes, even though that was exactly what they did. It was surprisingly easy to steal two buckets of raw meat from the deli department early that morning. No one saw them, somehow. They managed to walk right in and right out with a hiccup. 

“We didn’t pay for it. That’s robbery,” said Dustin. 

“Oh, did you want to explain to the butcher exactly why we needed all of this shit? I’m sure she would have been totally cool about it and not at all suspicious.” 

For two people who had never really interacted before last night, Steve and Dustin pointlessly argued almost as badly as the rest of the party.   

Sunshine smiled softly, somewhat amused by the boys’ bickering before she said, “It’s all right, Dustin. We weren’t caught and everything worked out. No one will know.” 

Even if they had been caught, the law enforcement in Hawkins was mostly on their side thanks to Hopper. Though, no one had been able to get ahold of the man in a day or two, which Sunshine was beginning to think wasn’t a complete coincidence. If there was a Demogorgon on the loose, it was possible Hopper knew about it too.  

With a light scoff, Dustin stopped fiddling with his walkie-talkie. “I’m not worried, Sunshine, not about my reputation. I was a fugitive last year, remember? I know what it’s like to be on the other side of the law.” Sunshine grimaced and Steve rolled his eyes once more.  

“I’m worried about him.” Dustin pointed a finger at Steve. 

The utterly offended look that crossed Steve’s face only caused Sunshine to smile more and bite back a laugh. 

“Listen up, smartass, we weren’t caught so it doesn’t matter. Besides, what makes you think I haven’t done something like this before, hm?” Steve was rather defensive, trying to combat the judgmental gaze of a twelve-year-old boy.  

“Yeah? What, you’ve stolen some cigarettes from your mom’s purse?” Dustin retorted. 

Steve scoffed, “Seriously?” 

A small, smug smile tugged at the corners of Dustin’s lips as he nodded. If they weren’t about to trek into the woods in search of a monster, Sunshine was sure they’d continue to bicker until one of them broke, but they refrained for the sake of their mission. 

All of their supplies were out of the car and packed away into their bags, which they then slung over their shoulders as they prepared to venture toward the old junkyard.

While Sunshine had been there before with Hopper last year, she wasn’t exactly sure where they were going. Luckily, Dustin and the boys used to use the junkyard as their hideout. He knew exactly where they were going. 

Before they set off, Dustin’s radio went off with a familiar voice. 

“Dustin! This is Lucas. Do you copy?” 

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” said Dustin. He went on to, very briefly, explain their current situation involving the fact that Dart was possibly a baby Demogorgon and that Dustin had spotted him in the woods, bigger than he had been at school. He conveniently left out the fact that he had hidden the little monster after he found him at the middle school and took him back home, only for him to escape and feat on his pet cat.  

While Dustin talked to Lucas and told him to meet them at the junkyard a little later in the day, Sunshine found her gaze pulling away from the supplies that littered the ground, and onto Steve.  

She watched as he tugged on a pair of obviously bright yellow gloves before he picked up the bucket of meat from the store. His nose scrunched up at the smell and he shook his head lightly, but just enough to cause a couple pieces of hair to fall against his forehead. 

Steve must’ve felt her gaze because he met her eye with a raise of his eyebrows. She looked away, suddenly fascinated by the dying grass under her feet. 

“Over and out,” Dustin bid Lucas goodbye, with plans for him to meet the group later. They did one last check to make sure they had all of their monster hunting supplies, then took off into the woods, setting their plan in motion.

Dead leaves clung to twisted branches over their heads and covered the ground. A breeze caused the trees to howl, but there was an eerie quietness that floated through the woods.  

Sunshine pulled her jacket tighter around her and followed Dustin’s lead toward a set of abandoned train tracks that, according to him, would lead them most of the way to the junkyard. The tracks were mostly covered in weeds and the wooden railway ties were almost completely rotted.  

For a while, the group walked in comfortable silence. Dustin and Steve took turns leaving a trail of raw meat behind them, hopefully urging the monster to follow it right into the trap they planned to set once they reached the junkyard. 

Sunshine used most of her focus to not think about what lurked in the woods around them. Since she had been back home, after their first encounter with the Demogorgon, she stayed far away from the woods. It was a place where monsters potentially lurked and children vanished and, even though up until a day ago she was fairly sure they were in the clear of monsters and bad men, Sunshine wanted nothing to do with the woods.  

Yet, there she was, venturing through it looking once more for a monster. She had to remind herself that she was not alone, though. Having Steve and Dustin at her side put her more at ease. 

“Why did you even have this thing in the first place?” Steve asked, breaking the silence with his question aimed at the younger boy. 

Dustin let out a sigh into the crisp air. “I told you; I thought I discovered a new species. I thought I’d show it to my science teacher, and he’d call someone to get it named after me or something.” There was a short pause. Dustin tilted his head down as he kicked some leaves off of his path. “And I…I kind of wanted to show it off to this new girl at school.” 

That part of the story was new to Sunshine. 

Dustin’s cheeks were tinted pink, and she knew it wasn’t just because of the cool breeze. 

“So, let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous to impress some girl who you just met?” Steve said. 

Dustin rolled his eyes. “That’s grossly oversimplifying things.” 

“Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?” Steve asked. 

“Uh, because it’s awesome.” Dustin nudged Sunshine’s side and said, “Right?” 

She hesitated, caught in the hopeful twinkle in Dustin’s eyes. “Not exactly,” Sunshine said, softly. 

“See.” Steve shook his head. “Girls aren’t into that stuff, man. Even if this new girl thought the slug was cool, which she didn’t, I feel like you’re trying too hard.”  

A groan sounded from the younger boy. “Not all of us have your cool hair or fancy car, all right?” 

“It’s not about the hair or the car,” said Steve. “The key with girls is to act like you don’t care.” 

There was a lot that Sunshine was learning, especially when it came to things such as relationships, but what Steve said sounded wrong. Wasn’t the point of being with someone because they cared?  

“Isn’t that kind of mean?” she asked. 

“No, it drives girls nuts. Trust me.” 

Sunshine doubted that, but she felt like she wasn’t in a position to offer any advice to Dustin or disprove Steve’s advice. He was the one with a girlfriend, and that girlfriend was Nancy Wheeler of all people. Maybe he did know what he was talking about. 

“Then what do you do?” asked Dustin, his interest peeked.  

“Then you just wait until you feel it. ” 

Dustin furrowed his brows. “Feel what?” 

As Steve searched for the right words, he looked upwards at the sky, halfway hidden behind branches that only let some light in. Sunshine wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he found it and continued. 

“It’s like before it’s going to storm. You can’t see it, but you can feel it. It’s like this electricity.” 

Slowly, Dustin nodded, trying to understand. “Right. Like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-” 

“No, no, no.” Steve stopped him. “No electromagnetic fields. It’s more like a sexual electricity.” Dustin scrunched up his nose. “When you feel that, then you make your move.”  

“So…that’s when you kiss her?” 

A laugh fell from Steve's lips, quick and surprised. Sunshine only widened her eyes but kept quiet.  

Kissing, crushes, impressing crushes with monster slugs, none of those things were her area of expertise. She had watched romance unfold in the movies her mother picked out, and Sunshine was in awe of the idea. The grand gestures, the quiet confessions, the kissing in the rain, seemed too good to happen to people in real life. Real life was clumsy and odd, or at least Sunshine’s was. She was too new to “real life” and trying to understand the ins and outs of romance didn’t seem like something she needed to add to her list. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t hang onto the idea for another time when she didn’t feel so much like a fish out of water.  

“Slow down Romeo,” Steve said. “Sure, some girls want you to be all hot and heavy like, I don’t know, a lion or something. But with other girls, you gotta be slow and stealthy like a ninja.” 

“What type of girl is Nancy?” asked Dustin. 

Nancy was the only girl her age that Sunshine knew well. She was smart and tough, pretty and soft-spoken. Sunshine had this assumption that most teenage girls were like that, a force to be reckoned with in pretty dresses.  

But, according to Steve, Sunshine was wrong about that too. 

“Nancy’s different. She’s not like other girls.” 

Shifting his attention, Dustin looked at Sunshine curiously. “What about you? What type of girl are you?” 

Sunshine had no clue. 

Before the year prior, Sunshine hardly felt like a person at all. She never had the time to ponder trivial yet monumental things in pre-teens and teenagers' lives like getting someone to like you.  

Ivy had though; Ivy was in love once, and Sunshine watched it play out from beginning to end.  

Ivy loved Three, even with all the anger that stirred around inside of her. Of course, it was a young, naive type of love that happened under the roof of Hawkins National Laboratory, but she never felt anything small. When Ivy hated, she could kill with a single stare and a twitch of her fingers. And when she loved, it was all-consuming.  

That kind of love almost seemed unbearable. To Sunshine, it seemed like a curse to love someone so much that when they died, a part of you did too. Or maybe that was simply what love was. It just sounded more painful than anything.  

When Three died, Sunshine watched Ivy crumble in a way she never thought someone so powerful could. 

The memories made her stomach ache. 

“I don’t know,” Sunshine said, truthfully. “I guess I don’t really get it, the whole relationship thing, yet.” 

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” sighed Steve, his lips pulled in a bitter frown. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” 

Glancing down at her hands, a sinking feeling knotted inside her gut. It was hard to imagine someone loving her the same way that Ivy and Three loved each other. They understood each other because they came from the same set of unfortunate circumstances. There was no need to explain their abilities or discuss nightmares from the Lab because they were actively living them together.  

Sunshine knew that wouldn’t be the case for her. If she wanted someone to love her, she’d have to spill all of her secrets. But she couldn’t even bring herself to tell her parents, let alone someone that had little obligation to believe her, trust her, or stick around. 

It was terrifying, she quickly realized at that moment, that her past and her abilities could make her impossible to love. 

“The girl I like is special too. There’s just something about her…” Dustin trailed off, a lightness to his voice and a blush stuck on his cheeks. 

“Whoa, hey.” Steve stopped walking, halting both Dustin and Sunshine. He turned to face Dustin fully, gazing down at the boy with a seriousness he wasn’t holding before. “You’re not falling in love with this girl, are you?” 

Dustin sputtered out, “Uh, n-no. No.” 

“Good. Don’t,” Steve said. “She’s only gonna break your heart, and you’re way too young for that shit.” His mood fell even further, and both Sunshine and Dustin noticed. The latter slumped his shoulders and frowned, his mind drifting elsewhere as they continued on their journey. 

Maybe Steve was right, maybe love was too messy and complicated to be worth it. Maybe it was only meant for certain people, like Sunshine’s parents or Ivy and Three. 

A stronger gust of wind blew across their path, causing more leaves to shower down from their branches and dance across the dying grass. 

Sunshine dragged her mud-stained shoes along the overgrown railroad track and listened to the wind whistle, wondering how a place like the woods could still feel the slightest bit peaceful even though a monster potentially lingered within it. 

“Hey, Sunshine?” Dustin started. “Who’s Ivy?”  

His question caught her off guard and struck her right in the chest, nearly knocking the wind out of her. 

“What?” 

“Ivy,” Dustin repeated. “You talk in your sleep. Last night you said that name a couple of times.” 

The dream she had last night came back to her in broken pieces.

Usually, when she slept, she was swarmed with memories of the Lab, but she had hoped that for one night - while Steve and Dustin crashed on her bedroom floor - the nightmares would leave her alone. 

Hearing Ivy’s name said aloud by someone who wasn’t a child of Hawkins Lab was strange, and it struck a chord within Sunshine’s heart. So many of her memories, good and terrible, were broken up into more palatable pieces inside her brain. But nearly everything about Ivy was too clear in her memories. 

The way Ivy’s jet-black hair was allowed to grow out long enough to curl at the ends and hide the scars that littered the top of her head. How the girl’s lips were almost permanently pulled into a frown, except on the rare occasions when she sat beside Three or lay in Sunshine’s bed to tell her a story before they fell asleep. Ivy’s eyes held a sad kind of rage inside of them, unlike anything Sunshine had ever seen in anyone else. 

Everything about Ivy was stuck and forever stained in her mind as if the girl still stood in front of her. 

“Oh,” she breathed out. “Ivy was like El and me." 

Sunshine’s throat felt tight as she forced the words out. She could still feel someone grabbing her off the floor, their fingers digging into her as she tried to claw her way back to Ivy.  

“You mean, from the Lab?” Dustin asked as his curiosity grew. Sunshine nodded in response. “Cool! What superpowers did she have?” 

Sunshine tried to refocus on just Ivy; she tried to imagine the girl’s cold hand in her own, but the more she dwelled on their past, the safety Ivy brought her started to break apart even more. Instead of the rare smile on Ivy’s lips or the promises she whispered to Sunshine under the glow-in-the-dark stars on their ceiling, Sunshine’s mind was filled with violent images of blood smeared down the girl’s face the last time Sunshine saw her. The feeling of someone dragging them apart and the blare of sires made her skin crawl. It was enough to stop her in her tracks.  

Fingers grazed her arm, causing her to flinch away and rejoin the two boys in the woods rather than swimming in the memories. In front of her, Steve’s face was pinched with concern.  

“Are you alright?” he asked. 

Sunshine took a breath and nodded, reminding herself she wasn’t back in that place. She was fine and she was safe. “Yeah.” 

It was a lot. The memories, the dreams, and the fact that the children of Hawkins Laboratory only existed in her head was a lot for one person to handle.  

To those who worked at the Lab, the children were nothing but experiments, but Sunshine knew them for who they really were. They were just kids, lost together and locked up. She knew them. She knew the wishes they made on the glow-in-the-dark stars on their ceilings and their favorite toys in the Rainbow room. She knew how their bruised faces looked with a rare smile on them.  

Sunshine wanted others to know about them too; she wanted them to exist as more than ghosts that haunted her brain. But she could hardly find it in herself to utter their name aloud, let alone tell their stories. 

“So,” Dustin began. “There were others besides you and El?” 

“Yes,” Sunshine sighed. “Ivy was the oldest. She watched over us.” 

She didn’t know why it each word hurt as it escaped her mouth. It was like she was trying to wade through quicksand but with each word she threatened to sink faster.  

“What-” Dustin started to ask another question, but Steve shot him a pointed look that caused the kid to stop himself. For a moment, Dustin studied the look on Sunshine’s face, which she tried to warp into a look that told them she was fine. But Dustin was smart, and he set aside his line of questioning for another time.  

Instead, he cleared his throat and nodded his head in the direction they were heading in before Sunshine halted their journey. “We’re almost there. It’s right up there."

As he started to walk, putting some distance between himself and the two teens, Steve lingered at Sunshine’s side, sparing glances that burned into the side of her face until he asked, “Are you sure you're okay?” 

“Yeah,” she repeated, though not very convincingly. They had bigger issues at the moment, ones that include a potential monster on the loose.  

Yet, it was clear that Steve didn’t believe her answer. 

“I want to talk about them,” she confessed. “I don’t want to be the only person who remembers them. But it…it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.”  

Steve nodded, doing his best to understand her nearly impossible situation. “Well,” he said, gently bumping his arm against hers. “When it’s not so hard to talk about it, I’ll be here to listen. And I think the kid will be too.” 

It was a simple gesture, but one that meant more to Sunshine than she was sure Steve understood.  

A small smile graced her lips as they continued to walk toward the junkyard, laying a trail for Dart to hopefully follow so they could get rid of the thing that did not belong in Hawkins, the thing that did not belong in their world. 

Tag List. @leptitlu , @sattlersquarry , & @history-of-stories

[barclaysangel]

The Chucky-Infested Woods (Chucky season 2 rewrite fic, drabble 2/4)

Here is the second drabble! This one is much shorter than the others, hence why I am posting this today, but there will be more tomorrow and Sunday! I'd also prefer it if you read them in the order they are posted. PLEASE leave notes and comment what you think because comments help fuel our motivation since @streets-in-paradise and I worked on this AU together and one day, the fic will finally be written!

Thank you and enjoy! :)

Word count: 543

The woods was something that could be considered a frightening place. It was cold, dark, and you never knew what lurked out there. 

But he never minded it. And since he had been there for quite some time, it certainly never bothered him. 

Besides, he was safe. Even when Chucky and his identical gang would show up, he took care of them. And he let it be known that it was taken care of. 

Chucky’s bodies were on display, hanging from pikes that were stomped to the ground or hanging from nearby trees. Some of the corpses were missing limbs or heads, multiple stab and gunshot wounds decorated the deceased bodies as well. 

It was a good way to relieve some steam, even if most of the damage wasn’t caused by him. 

There was one Chucky that was still living though. His body long gone, only his head that was against a tree by the knife through chunks of his disgusting orange hair. He was barely hanging in by a thread, just barely alive. 

He would take care of that soon enough. 

“Hey there, pal…you’re not looking too good. It’s okay, I’ll make sure you feel better.” He taunted as he loaded his revolver, slipping the bullets inside the gun. 

Chucky managed to find enough strength to glare hatefully at him. “You motherfuc—!” He was caught off by a single bullet fired in between his eyes, finally dead. 

He sighed, feeling a brief moment of relaxation once that asshole was dead. Finally, he could get some peace and quiet—

“Andy!” The kid said his name and he turned around. “Should I start working on the fire? The sun’s beginning to set.” 

Andy nodded, putting the gun into the pocket of his coat. “Yeah, we can start working on that, Junior.” 

Junior smiled a little before looking at the recently deceased Chucky head and his smile dropped. “Did you seriously kill him? I wanted to play with him a little longer!” He whined almost childishly. 

The man raised an eyebrow in amusement. “He’d been alive for over a week. How long did you want to keep him alive?” 

“I dunno. I wanted to see if he would make it past the two week mark.” The kid replied with a shrug of his shoulders. 

Andy couldn’t help but to chuckle under his breath. “Sorry for cutting your playtime short,” he said, “would one last stab make you feel better?” 

At this, Junior grinned and pulled out a large butcher knife from the pocket of his jacket. It had been one of the Chuckys’ knife before but now it became one of the kid’s favorite torture methods. With that, he lunged forward and stabbed Chucky in his mouth, mounting him deeper into the tree. 

“Are you happy now?” Andy asked and was rewarded with a terrifyingly gleeful smile from the teenage boy. 

“I am now.” The kid said calmly before spinning on his heel and turning away. “You’re getting the wood this time, that’s what you get for not asking before taking away one of my toys.” 

Andy rolled his eyes but there was a faint smile on his lips, walking in the other direction to start collecting the firewood. 

So much for peace and quiet.

[maxlequeer]

Watched it all in one night. I'm laughing at myself. I saw the trailer, wasn't interested, saw the first episode and thought, I think this isn't for me. Returned to the series after seeing this tumblr post and... Holy shit.

1. I really really love weird town vibes - not the everyone in town wants to kill/sacrifice you vibe but the ancient gods and creatures living side by side ordinary people or under the seas type of vibe. Again if you've read the Whyborne & Griffin series, you'll know what I mean. "Horrible murder town."

2. Just overall interesting characters. They're dead. You'd think that makes the stakes low because they don't have to worry about dying during a case, but you'd be wrong. Edwin is afraid of going back to Hell (he escaped it on his own! - first time anyway). Charles doesn't want to move on and leave his best friend behind. Edwin is a "stuffy" Edwardian ghost. Charles is a one-earring, bat-wielding 80s ghost.

Crystal is a powerful medium fighting against a douchebag abusive demon ex-boyfriend. Niko is a legit fujoshi lmao and she's probably the kindest, most sincere character there. Jenny the landlord slash butcher shop owner is so so hot and cool. The Night Nurse is hilarious.

3. Themes

Dealing with your past. Histories of abuse. Learning to let new people in and finding a new purpose for yourself. "You never know when the good you do may come back around."

What Edwin went through in life and death is actually pretty sad and traumatic. Charles' life and the events leading to his death was really tragic. There was so much injustice with these boys' lives that it makes sense their detectives.

I know Edwin said something else to the Cat King and that was his confession about why he's doing what he's doing but I also believe him during that outburst at Crystal when he said that their deaths didn't matter. No one back then cared enough about them to investigate their deaths and bring their killers to justice, so now they're going to make sure that the souls who need their help will be able to move on and be at peace.

4. I did not expect Edwin, the stuffy Edwardian lad, to be the It Girl everyone wants for some reason or other. I'm down for it honestly. Everyone's trying to get him but he only has eyes for one person lmao.

5. I love the friendships and found family in this show.

6. This show is actually creepy. I mean it's horror yeah but with the major characters being teens, I thought they'd tone down the gore but not exactly. I mean sure there's comedy here but it's like in the Fear Street trilogy, you see blood and people getting slashed or stabbed or whatever. And the ghosts are not ectoplasmic. They're humans with blood pouring out of their wounds. Also, that Misery Wraith was so freaky to look at.

At this point in my life, I'm watching shows with older characters, but if this thing had come out when I was younger, I probably would have gotten obsessed. But I do love this show honestly. I wish it will have a season 2. I won't be surprised if it won't because I honestly do not expect anything from Netflix. But it's such a good damn show, and it would be a shame not to see these characters again.

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES S1 + TUMBLR REACTIONS

[captainimfangirling]

The Boys Season 4 Episode 4

Major Spoilers

Homelander

I love how they're basically making the cartoon (The Boys Presents: Diabolical) canon showing how Homelander was tortured as a child. Many just assumed because of that deleted scene of Homelander killing his tutor that he was the evil one in charge of the scientists but there's so much more to it. Homelander not killing Barbara proved my theory that he doesn't kill people who are scared of him like Butcher, and Vogelbaum. I f*cking knew Vought brainwashed Homelander as a child. That's basically what they did when they brought in the psychologist in order to mold him into someone who needs love and approval.

Did anyone noticed Homelander's expression when Barbara said he basically killed his surrogate mother when he was born? I'm kind of surprised he didn't want to know more about her since he always wanted a mother but then again he's trying to cut out that side of him. What female DNA did they use to create Homelander? It couldn't just be Solider Boy. What if Barbara is his biological mother? What if he donated her egg for science? Maybe Homelander knows and that's why he doesn't want to kill her?

Decided to watch the scene last year when Ryan was trying to save Homelander from Solider Boy. That's probably the first and only time someone begged for his life and tried to help him. That's why he's very attached to Ryan. It's not that he wants the best father for Ryan, it's that he wants to be good enough for Ryan to feel loved. By the way I like how they gave Ryan's birth story to Homelander because it was supposed to be Ryan who killed Becca when he was born.

I noticed the parallel between Hughie and Homelander. Hughie decided to forgive and Homelander decided to get revenge in the most violent way.

Hughie

I understand why he wants to save his dad but I don't think it's gonna go well because of that one episode in the cartoon where an old man tries to save his wife dying of cancer. I'm not sure about the mother. Deep down I thought there was something off about her but I didn't talk about it because I felt bad for judging her when she tried to unalive herself. Maybe she feels guilty for leaving her husband but I'm not even sure if that's true because if felt guilty about it why was so quick to pull the plug on her husband?! I feel like she has a motive and only let her husband slowly die was so Hughie can hurry up and get some V. Another theory (I hate saying it) what if she lied to Hughie about why she left? What if she wanted to give Hughie Compound V and his dad didn't want it? What if she's a supe and wants to whole family to be supes?

Starlight

Girl can't win! I was so happy when she kicked Firecrackers ass but yeah her past is gonna haunt her. I'll be honest I'm just not into Starlight like I used to be. I preferred her when she was in The Seven and being Starlight. Political Annie is ok but there's already Victoria. Also I think everyone that's happening is changing her. It was suggested last season when she killed that innocent guy and she said she felt nothing.

Mother's Milk

Not sure how I feel. He hasn't felt the same since the actor "lost weight." I mean I'm glad he's healthy but my gut feeling tells me there's something else going on. He feels like a different person. Is it just the weight loss or is something else going on? Because I feel like his expressions are very different.

Butcher

I still love Butcher. Poor guy just wants to keep his promise to Becca. I wonder if he actually exploded that guy or if it was someone else trying to save him like Ryan? I don't know but it's interesting. I hope there's a cure for him because I don't want him to die even though it makes sense for him to die when Homelander dies because they're both have many parallels. I mean in this episode both were bloody except Butcher didn't know what he was doing and Homelander knew what he was doing.

Frenchie & Kimiko

Love Frenchie but deserved it. I hope Kimiko helps him like he helped her and actually get together or at least heal together. I loved Kimiko's interaction with Hughie. To be honest I'm losing interest in her fight with Shinning Light only because I feel like it's her own thing and not a group thing. I think it would be more interesting if they all work together as a team to take them down instead of doing their own thing. They haven't been a team in so long. I hope they will later on it the season.

Sister Sage, The Deep, & Black Noir

Ok I loved how she has to give herself an lobotomy in order to have sexual human desires and dumb herself down. I honestly feel like she's doing the same thing to Black Noir but I love that man and I hope she stays away from him but that's not gonna happen. I still think Black Noir is gonna become crazy obsessed with turning into Black Noir that he thinks he's Earving or the original Black Noir doing everything Black Noir did without knowing Earving was a sensitive scared man.

A-Train

I'm all for his redemption but I really hope they don't kill him off because I feel like they're doing the redemption thing right when it comes to A-Train. There's no need to kill him off in order for him to be redeemed. I HATE it when they kill off characters in order to redeem them. It's lazy writing.

[tacticalhimbo]

The Boys for fandom ask ^_^

OOOO this one's gonna be fun! | [send me a fandom]

The first character I first fell in love with: frenchie... obsessed with his energy and i love where his character arc is going tbh (and very disappointed to learn his actor was part of the iof and still defends them).. he always finds himself in situations and looks good while doing it

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: black noir. well. pre-season 4 black noir (keeping that vague for spoiler reasons; though i will say i am. curious. what's going on there). he was just kinda. there?? and didn't have a lot going on but once that arc began to pick up in season 3 and we learned more about his background?? oh my god. i love him so much. he's probably my fave of the bunch.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: the deep 😔 he has lovable moments but i cannot forgive him for what he has done to a certain former seven member. that kinda stuff will immediately turn me off from a character regardless if there's a genuine growth from it or not. and in his case... ehhhh.

The character I love that everyone else hates: i don't think there is one like. black noir is hella popular iirc. and i haven't seen enough about sage to say if people love or hate her? obsessed with her vibes though. i really cannot wait to see what she ends up doing because??? there is so much going on.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: i don't not love him necessarily but hughie is just kinda. there. now. idk how to say it but i'm just not? as excited by his involvement in things as i was earlier on in the series??? especially considering how he was practically following butcher off the bridge during season 3. i wanna know what halted that train so suddenly (esp with the temp v subplot like he was just as in it as butcher iirc)

The character I would totally smooch: frenchie and kimiko and colin. i want in on whatever is happening in that love triangle 💕

The character I’d want to be like: ough... hard answer but ig starlight / annie? moreso the annie side of her. obvs everyone in that bunch has their flaws, but i really do admire how she wants to help people and struggles with the putting herself out there and maintaining her personal sense of identity aspect of it. like. the arc of having this persona, watching it be shredded apart, and slowly returning to it because you realize that despite everything it's still you?? god. it hits.

The character I’d slap: the deep 😌

A pairing that I love: i know i like just ragged on hughie but i genuinely do love/did love the relationship he had with starlight. they seemed really like. healthy. for each other. more or less. they obviously had their issues, but it was like one of the healthiest things in the series JFLKAJFLSDJF. they both genuinely grew into themselves through it and i just. it's sweet.

A pairing that I despise: i don't know a lot of the ships but i vaguely remember seeing some homelander/noir stuff and i'm like 🤨🤨🤨 bc i don't... get it. they were close, sure, but i just. i feel like even without knowing the truth(tm) behind homelander's being (even though he very much did and did confess to that) but like... their personalities are so. similar. and i feel like that, on top of knowing the truth, would just be. weird. i read their closeness more as noir trying to prevent homelander from becoming another soldier boy (which uh... hm. task failed successfully?)

[warmmilk-n-honey]

I just don't even know what that was. I feel like part of the reason the first anime failed (other then diverging from the manga) was because it fails to be a human story. The anime is so obsessed with having spooky Halloween monsters, demons, ghosts, reapers, angels, weird doll maker guy, that it forgets that the point of all that supernatural stuff is meant to highlight/reflect the human stories within all that. So many of the important human characters get sidelined, which makes them feel so flat and one dimensional. I swear if the anime had made the manga's plot points, I just know the circus troupe would have been like ghouls or something, the p.4 would have been vampires, and Siglend would have actually been a witch, and all of those arcs would have climaxed with some big stupid fight between Seb and the supernatural creatures, instead of the emotional moments of human folly that we get in the manga.

Season 2 is the worst example of this, one demon wasn't enough so instead we get four demons (I'm counting the triplets as one). The main conflict comes from the demons fighting for Ciel's soul, and it's so hard for me to care. I want to know more about Alois and his story, his life and trauma, (I do have issues with his character, mainly his back story but I still care about him). Instead all we get is this dumb demon lore, it just ends up feeling so hollow. When I was done watching I just kept wondering why I should care, why should I even care that Seb didn't get to eat Ciel's soul, both Ciel and Seb suck in this! I did like the demon milf tho, her attachment to Luka and Alois was actually interesting and I wish it was explored more instead of Claude being a gross weirdo.

There is so much else I could talk about, but I want to get into the butchering of Ciel's character, why is he so fucking lifeless in the anime? He acts so irrationally that I don't even understand his thought process. Also he's so incredibly unsympathetic, like that's not my son! Idk maybe it's that he doesn't act like a human person? He doesn't say "Wah!" or love sweets! Those may seem like silly minor things about him that are just memed in the fandom, but they are actually important facets to his character! Those things humanize him, make him feel more like a real kid. Yana also understands that when you have such a prideful character like Ciel, there's inherent comedy in knocking them down a peg, which she does all the time to him, he's constantly getting his ego bruised by the situations he's in and Seb's cheeky little comments, and it's funny to see him get knocked off of his high horse, the boy get's embarrassed rlly easily and that is important characterization! He is booboo the fool in the manga! He's also just so much more expressive and reactive in the manga in general, he's rlly just a little guy.

Booboo the Fool 👆

The anime by contrast, especially season 2 takes him sooo srrsly, everything he says is taken completely at face value, and there's not rlly much to him because all of his personality has been sucked out. He's not cunning, manipulative or strategic like in the manga, he's not rlly sadistic, reactive or petty either, he just acts like an ass hole, that's it, he's not a little guy at all! Like we all know this little shit would be trying his hardest to manipulate Alois in to getting what he wants and tricking him or some shit, but instead he just acts with boring contempt towards him. Also the weird soul purity stuff, it's all wrong. Like he's pure because he's from a noble lineage? Why would a demon care about that?! He's a fucked up little guy in the manga, who yes acts with dignity befitting of his status or whatever, but he's still fucked up! I don't get the purity thing at all, I'm pretty sure Claude says something like "he's seen darkness but remains unchanged" or some shit like that, uh, no, he's actually very traumatized.

Anyway, there is so much more I can say, but I'll leave it at this for now.

wtf did I just watch?