#or at least Film Guys and Weirdos

[girlspecimen]

we’re also never getting anything mulan out of twst even tho it’s a classic because disney i think now realizes their portrayal of the huns was racist 💀 and bringing that back into the spotlight would be bad for business

[northstarscowboyhat]

i need you to do a deltarune yellow interpretation. I have seen NOONE do anyhting that would do it justice. PLEASE

Gosh, that's extremely high praise! A lot of this art is super old, but I might as well post what I had done for this concept! Lots of rambling below!

In this version/AU, Hometown is a very small impoverished farming community. Despite the recent struggles of losing many businesses to the larger human city nearby, it's still a close knit community of everyone knowing everyone! The Sunnysides own the biggest farm in the town and are very well known by all the residents - especially after Starlo, the eldest son of the Sunnysides, takes in Clover, a young human who wandered into the Sunnyside crops, disheveled and dirty with barely the clothes on their back. Aside from remembering their name, Clover claims to not remember anything else, such as where they came from or why they seemingly ran away from home.

Starlo takes Clover in, but Clover is a human in a town full of monsters that they've suddenly been thrusted into, without the history with one another everyone else has. Not only that, Clover's a bit of a troublemaker (at least in appearances), picking fights with bullies and struggling to connect to anyone. The only other monster they've connected with (aside from the Sunnysides) is Martlet, who is a college student in town. She started out as a babysitter looking for extra cash hired by Starlo, until she and Clover began a genuine friendship! They're besties and hang out all the time.

(Ignore that god awful Martlet design... I tried to make her resemble Berdly and oh god. Regret.)

Eventually, Clover stumbles upon the Dark World, and in it, a strange flower darkener who claims to be the prince of the Dark World. Very quickly, the Dark World becomes an escape for Clover. In the Light World, they're a weirdo outcast who has no friends their age. They feel like they only cause problems for everyone, especially Starlo, who has to work twice as hard in order to financially support them. But in the Dark World, they can be a hero, just like all the cool cowboys in their favorite Western films! All the Darkners love them and praise them as a hero, and Clover gets to rescue them from outlaws and save the day. The more time they spend in the Dark World, the less problems they're causing in the Light World, so it's a good thing, right? Flowey and his people need a hero!

(Basically, the Dark World would be a concept that's already established in universe in Chapter 1. This is sort of meant to parallel Starlo's North Star persona in UTY, because you guys know I love my Clover + Starlo parallels.).

(Bonus for all my fellow Starlo fans) Most of Starlo's time, when he isn't working at his family's farm, is spent doing part time jobs in order to raise Clover. He works part time at the local diner at the beginning of the story, leaving very little free time for himself or his interests. RIP bozo having to take responsibility (Orion and Starlo's dynamic would be flipped here, as Orion is the one with a lot more freedoms. He's a college student Martlet's age, and is very busy with his studies and extracurricular activities that he isn't home often, meanwhile Starlo is saddled with a ton of work).

The real story would begin when part of the Ketsukane family (freshly divorced, sorry) move back into Hometown after living away in the city. Chujin's ex wife Ceroba moves back into town with their daughter Kanako, who is the same age as Clover. The two... do not get along right away, which only irks Clover as Starlo is particularly close to Kanako. Kanako is instantly popular and well liked among their peers, and she might have some unchecked biases against humans she picked up from their father. Maybe journeying together in the Dark World would help them grow closer...?

(Again, please forgive this ugly old style. Was trying to go for a superhero theme for Kanako's Dark World design since she's a comic book fan.)

Some other things I didn't have art for

Dalv is the town's librarian! He's also on good terms with Clover, but he's also a bit of a reclusive and doesn't interact with people much.

Chujin was living in Hometown prior to Clover showing up, trying to bounce back from his divorce with his wife (it was on fairly good terms, but still, a massive life change). He claims to work remotely for an important company of some sort, but is secretive about the details. While he's well liked by the town, he's also very outspoken against humans.

Ceroba would also be recovering from the divorce, as she was a housewife her entire time with Chujin, and now needs to find herself as well as a career to support Kanako. She moves back into Hometown in hopes of reconnecting with her old friends and to give Kanako a much calmer school environment.

There have been an influx of missing children reports in the general area around Hometown. Strangely enough, they all seem to be young human children around Clover's age...

Also these guys in the Dark World..... Eh, I'm sure they're not important in the slightest.

[naneun-no]

“Just because they’re close doesn’t mean they’re in a relationship, stop sexualizing everything they do”

Then call them best friends, Becky. Say it. Say that Jimin and Jungkook are connected-at-the-hip-share-a-single-brain-cell-soulmate-level best friends. Just like Jimin and Tae, right? Say it.

Actually, be specific and call them the closest duo in Bangtan, because at a minimum that’s what they are. Like, if you don’t want to say they’re each other’s real life best friend (meaning outside of BTS), at least say that they are closer to each other than they are to any other member — because you can at least acknowledge that, right?

And if you’re so sure they’re “brothers” then celebrate it! Stop pretending it isn’t special, call it a bromance! Ooh and ah over it, like people do when married male actors have a public bromance. Call them the next Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the next Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. (Even if, rather than publicly roasting and joking with each other; they are more often than not sweetly supportive and flirtatiously complimentary…That’s fine, call them a CHEESY bromance).

But nobody will.

It’s either, “ALL SEVEN of them are so close and love each other like brothers” or “Jungkook has such a big crush on Namjoon 🤭” or “vmin are still the closest, they have a song about it!” or “Korean men have skinship in their friendships, shippers are so weird, stop projecting your fantasies” but it’s never “ah, well, season 2 of that soft little show? No one is surprised. As expected from the best friends who enlisted in the military under a rare, special Buddy system. Jikook are jikook. Of course they want to hang out together 24-7.”

People flood to the comments section to (very mildly, with much restraint) praise their bond, but NO ONE will call it the closest in the group, even though it objectively is. Well, no one but a subset of the fandom who immediately get called creeps and weirdos and fetishizers.

No one but shippers will acknowledge their closeness and it’s so obvious why:

Because if you acknowledge their closeness, if you do anything but minimize and ignore it, it starts to look a whole lot like something else.

And people are too homophobic to allow that.

Jungkook and Jimin enlisting together under a Buddy system that no other idols in the same group have ever used shows closeness.

Jungkook and Jimin filming not just one but TWO seasons of a travel show that primarily follows JUST the TWO of them (when they are part of a band of 7) shows CLOSENESS.

Jungkook going to Jimin’s house after a concert to cook him dinner and then the two of them going out the next day to presumably spend White Day together shows CLOSE. NESS.

Jungkook going live in 2023 every time Jimin left town, and mentioning Jimin relentlessly and making him flat out the entire topic of some of the lives shows that Jungkook thinks of him when he’s gone.

Jungkook complaining that he missed Jimin when they were both busy, Jungkook saying he wants to film travel shows with Jimin until they’re 50, Jimin mentioning Jungkook in the letters he posted while enlisted alongside him, Jungkook’s voice giggling from behind the camera while he films Jimin’s dance challenge for him…

Jimin saying if he could take one thing with him to a desert island it would be Jungkook. Jungkook saying if he was a girl he’d want to date a guy like Jimin. Jungkook showing up with a hickey Jimin gave him because they got drunk together and Jungkook wouldn’t stop spinning him in his arms. The same arms he proudly carried Jimin out of a concert with, while Jimin giggled and blushed.

Jason Momoa and Henry Cavill? Tom Holland and Jake Gylenhaal? Selena and Taylor? THEY COULD NEVER.

Everything jikook shows us points to a best-friendness of EPIC PROPORTIONS at the LEAST. They should be the best friend duo that gets talked about the MOST IN BANGTAN. They’re so close locals should know about it. Not Jimin and Hobi. Not Jimin and Taehyung. Not Hoseok and Yoongi. Not Yoongi and Namjoon. Not Jungkook and Jin. Not the maknae line. Jikook have lapped all of them, and they have for years, but ESPECIALLY in the last 3 years.

And in the last two weeks? In the last two/three WEEKS???

If Jungkook and Jimin were a man and a woman the events of the last two weeks would be a HARD LAUNCH, and EVERYONE KNOWS IT.

It is only — I repeat: ONLY — heteronormativity that keeps the majority of ARMY from assuming they are dating. That’s it. That’s literally the only reason anyone in the fandom is even arguing about what they are right now. (Well, that and rival ships, which at this point should really only be referred to as patched-together inflatable rafts).

Call them just best friends. I respect that take! Some people don’t see the romance and tension and affection that I see, and that’s cool! Call them the best of friends.

But for the love of god stop minimizing their closeness. Stop pretending they treat anyone else in the band the way they treat each other. Stop pretending that they’re not choosing each other over and over and over again.

And don’t call them fake, or forced, unless you want to talk about the fact that everything we see about them is official content. Not unless you want to pry open the can of worms that is your parasocial relationship with them and acknowledge the hard truth that you actually don’t know either of them at all.

But one thing we know? They know each other. Like. Reaaaaallly well.

[devotedfem]

«Scream»

Synopsis: It's late and you're watching horror movies. But someone's calling you, a weirdo asking you questions about classic horror films. Nothing was wrong until he started to threat you, and when you hang up the phone you realized there's murderers wearing ghostface masks in your house.

Maknae line (poly) x f. Reader

2.7K words.

Genre: Scream au | yander-ish.

Tags: psycopaths maknae line, mind games, psychological terror, murderers (implied but not described), betrayal, the maknae line are a menace here, emotional conflict, delusional maknae line, angry reader, very VERY dubious consent (coercion is not consent so read with caution), happy ending for them not for reader, smut, overstimulation.

A/N: I'm so sorry for disappearing for literally a month, i moved to another country and life has been very stressful lately, so yeah i took a break from writing but here i am again, writing lots of vminkook p0rn. Hope you enjoy!

From the series masterlist; Final girl.

Navigation Masterlist.

You’re eating popcorn, resting on your couch with your feet up on the armchair. You took a gulp of your coke can without breaking your gaze from the tv screen, you startled staining your shirt when the slasher appeared from nowhere, you cursed under your breath taking off your shirt but before you can go to your room to change, your phone vibrated with notifications. You turned them off because the boys always get annoying on the weekends.

You opened the group chat, rolling your eyes when you see the 123 unread messages.

Group chat: Y/n and the homos.

Jiminie: Guys can u please stfu for a moment, I wanna sleep but u don’t stop talking shit.

You: let’s kicked them out of the group Jiminie, I swear I can’t even watch a movie in peace.

Jjk: u two r so fcking boring.

Tae: right? Like can u two at least read what were talking abt.

You: we’re*

Jiminie: lol

Jjk: Guys this is serious, there’s a sicko killing people wearing a ghostface mask.

You: Ghostface masks are hot.

Tae: ??

Jjk: ???????

Jiminie: ik right

You: Anyway, maybe is just a rookie killer without imagination, like it’s Halloween and there’s a lot of sickos around here. Just closed ur doors and don’t be a pussy.

Tae: I’m literally speechless.

Jiminie: Bye I’m sleeping, stfu.

Jjk: we warned u.

You dropped your phone on the couch, walking to your kitchen to make more popcorn. You missed the plot twist of the movie because of your friend’s annoying group chat.

You were on your bra and pajama pants, not caring about anything in the world. Until your home phone rings in your kitchen making you stop immediately. You frowned tilting your head to the side, watching the old home phone still ringing. It’s being ages since someone called to that number, you didn’t even know that the ancient thing was still working.

“Odd,” you murmured to yourself, answering the phone.

“Hello?”

You heard a heavy breath on the other side of the phone. The person says nothing back, making you frown.

“Who’s this? And why are you calling to this number?” Your patience was running thin ice.

“I’m watching you,” said a man with a low voice.

You rolled your eyes with annoyance.

“Is this a prank? Don’t call to this number again or I’ll fuck you up.”

You were about to hang up the phone but a deep chuckle from the man stopped you. Why does he sound familiar to you?

“Are you watching Friday the 13th?” He taunted. His voice sounded odd, like if he was lowering it purposely.

Your stomach sink with dread, your heart rate speed up when you heard from the tv the slasher killing people.

“What if I do?” You gritted between teeth, keeping an eye on your surroundings. You won’t show fear to that weirdo.

 “Let’s play a game, I’ll ask you some questions about horror movies. And if you answer wrong, I’ll kill you.”

Your eyes widened by his words, you were about to hang up and call the police but the other man was quicker than you.

“If you hang up or try to touch your fucking phone I’ll slice your neck,” the threat made you freeze on your place, the wire of the home phone wouldn't let you move far away anyway.

You felt your eyes sting up with tears by fear. You remember Jungkook and Taehyung warning.

Your breath turned shallow and your grip on the home phone started to tremble. You felt cornered and scared.

“What’s the identity of the masked killer of Scream?”

You inhaled deep, this one was easy.

“Uhm, his name was Billy, Sidney’s boyfriend.”

Your eyes roamed your kitchen, watching your surroundings again with dread and fear.

“Good.”

You couldn’t help but frown again because he sounded so familiar to you, but you can’t pinpoint of whom that voice belongs to.

“Last one; what’s the plot twist of Friday the 13th?”

Fucking fucker.

This time your eyes blurred by unshed tears because of how nervous and panicked you felt. You’ve never been good at dealing with strong emotions, even when you try to act tough, in your insides you’re very easy to scare and intimidate.

“I- please i-I don’t know,” you stuttered with quivering lips, you feel like having a panic attack.

“Look behind you, sweetheart.”

Your breath hitched sharply, you turned your neck to look behind you, widening your eyes and screaming at the top of your lungs when you saw a man in your kitchen, wearing a ghostface mask and waving his unoccupied hand at you.

And then you run.

And he did it too.

You grabbed your phone from the couch, noticing with horror how the SIM card was missing. But you didn’t have time to linger about that thought.

You listened to his steps chasing you from behind, making you run faster by the increase of adrenaline pumping your veins.

You tried to open the front door of your house, but it didn’t budge. You were home alone, your parents went out in a trip.

You were fucked up.

Without any more options, you climbed the staircases hiding in a bathroom.

You try texting your parents but it was past midnight and your phone didn’t have its sim card, so you can’t call neither text.

That’s why you opened the app where you and your friends have the group chat.

Group chat: Y/n and the homos.

You: CALL THE POLICE THERE’S SOMEONE IN MY HOUSE AND THEYTOOKMYSIM CARD

Jjk: y/n? what the fuck, that’s not funny.

You: PLEASE IM NOT JOKING AND I CANTK CALLM THEPLICE

Tae: are you being serious right know?

Jiminnie: you guys again?

Jjk: Y/n’s saying there’s someone in her house but she can’t call the police but she can chat with us lol.

You: GUYS PLEASEIMSERIUS PLEASE HES COMING I NEED YOUR HELP CALL THE POLICE!!!!!!!!!!!

Tae: dude writing in capitals won’t make your prank more credible

You screamed into your hand with frustration, pulling your hairs out and weeping with fear, you wanted to smash your head against the tiles by exasperation. They weren’t taking you seriously.

Then you half open the door quietly, watching the murderer roaming the hallway. When he turned his back to you, distracted on his phone, you took yours to snap a picture of him.

Group chat: Y/n and the homos.

You: *send picture*

You: THIS IS HIM HES INMYHOUSE

Jjk: what the fuck

You: JUNGKOOK IM HAVINGAPANICK ATTACK CALL THE FUCKING POLICE OR ILL KILL YOU MYSELF

Tae: Damn no need to be so harsh y/n, calm down.

You: CALL THE POLICE YOU MORONS

Jiminnie: u guys r so annoying

You: jiminniehelp me please please please im scared imnot lying

Jjk: y/n you’re making me worry, aren’t you fucking with us?

You: NOO!!!!!!!!

Tae: oh well, then we should do something abt it

You: OFC U IDIOT

Jjk: yeah ur right tae, what we should do?

You: CALLTHEPOLICE?????!!!!!!!!

Tae: u think so?

Jjk: mm not so sure

Tae: and u Jiminnie, what do u think?

You: guys whats happening, please im scared

Jiminnie: I think I’ll go and help my y/n.

You frowned with trembling hands, tasting the saltiness of your silent tears. You were about to throw up and insult them again but the bathroom’s door opening made you jump with fear.

“Here you are.”

In any other circumstance you would scream and run for your life, you would grab something from the bathroom to throw it at him and save your life. But none of that happened, you stayed in your spot freeze, maybe because you were having a panic attack, but even then your primal instincts should fuel you to run. But that wasn’t the reason of your frozen state. Not at all. It was the fact that you recognized that voice.

“You… are you…”

Then the murderer took off his ghostface mask, tilting his head to the side and making your heart shatter.

“Yes my y/n?”

Jimin, fucking Park Jimin.

The deep fear was replaced by ugly hurt and anger. You saw red, walking towards him with your fists clenched, you punched him on his shoulder but he didn’t budge.

“How dare you scared me like that! You think is funny?! I hate you so much, I don’t want to see your fucking face ever again. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” you screamed at the top of your lungs, with angry tears streaming to your chin.

“You thought I was joking?” he asked with mirth, the dark glint in his eyes turned your stomach with dread.

“Just get out Jimin,” you said tired and hurt.

“Y/n, I’m here to kill you-”

And just by that your fear came back twice as hard, your ears buzzed clogging up Jimin’s next words.

You ignored your throat lump of hurt and betrayal, you felt numb while running away from him, hiding in one of the bottom’s cabinets of your kitchen.

You wrapped your arms around your legs, pulling your knees to your chest. You cried until you felt your eyes swelling.

“Y/n? Baby where are you?”

Your eyes widened at Taehyung’s sweet voice calling for you.

You didn’t think twice before opening the cabinet and throwing yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck.

Taehyung chuckled hugging you back as hard, stroking your hair while you’re crying on his neck.

“There there, nothing bad will happen to you.”

The shinning knife in Taehyung’s other hand knocked some sense into you. The realization of your reality hit you hard making you gasp and break the hug in a flash, you watched him with your jaw set and your eyes showing the deep hurt and betrayal you felt inside.

Taehyung foxy smile widened on his lips, he pouted when you took a step back from him.

“I won’t hurt you, I promise,” he said softly, biting his bottom lip to stop a smirk.

You let him come closer to you just a step, and then you blow his head with a pan making him whimper with pain. You used his moment of confusion to run away past him.

You opened a window to get out of your house, your ears were buzzing by the raw adrenaline pumping your veins like liquid fire.

You were so, so close to reach your car until you’re not. The next thing you know is that you’re falling face down on the floor by a body launching at your back. You groaned with pain, feeling the body pinning you to the ground by its weight.

“Caught you,” Jungkook’s voice taunted against your ear, sounding out of breath.

You screamed at the top of your lungs, making Jungkook cursed under his breath. He covered your mouth quickly, lifting your body to take you inside the house again.

Your eyes were too swollen by the amount of tears you shed tonight, you were tired and hurt by their sick game.

Jungkook sat on your couch with you on his lap, one arm wrapped around your naked waist to pull you against his chest.

“Isn’t she so cute?” asked Jimin sighing dreamily, you felt acid rage running your veins. You felt like being mocked on.

“A little feisty, but pretty.” Taehyung sat beside you on the couch, his forehead dripping a little bit of blood. You smiled wide at his wound.

“Did it hurt?” You pointed to his forehead, he simply nodded with the corner of his lips curling down.

“Good,” you grinned with hatred.

“Now now, no need to be mean to our Taetae.” Jimin squatted before you, stroking your cheek even when you flinched your face away with disgust.

“No need to be fucking weirdos either, if you want to kill me do it already.” And then you literally spat on Jimin’s face, but to your horror and disgust he grinned wide tasting your drool with his tongue.

You wanted to throw up at the nasty sight.

“Sweetheart, we don’t want to hurt you, even less kill you,” chuckled lowly Jungkook behind you, his grip on your waist tightened a little.

“What? But Jimin said-“

“I didn't say anything, silly. You didn't even let me finish before running away,” Jimin sighed standing up, getting out of the living room and leaving you there feeling totally lost.

“Then… why are you guys doing this?” You whispered weakly, feeling way more unease than before.

“You’ll see.” Whispered back Taehyung near your ear, chuckling when you flinched.

And you did see it.

Jimin dragged your parent’s tied bodies to the floor of the living room, making your stomach sink with horror and dread.

“We came here to kill them.” Grinned proudly Jimin, kicking your dad’s side when he tried to wiggle out of his ties.

“Why!? Leave them alone they did nothing wrong!” You shouted at the top of your lungs, so loud that your throat hurt.

Jimin’s face morphed into an enraged scowl. He walked towards you in two large steps, gripping your chin up roughly. His jaw was set and his gaze hard.

“Shut up, before I cut your tongue.” He hissed with fury swimming in his brown eyes.

You whimpered afraid, recoiling into Jungkook’s chest unconsciously. Jimin’s always been scary when he’s pissed off, but never to this point.

Jimin’s face softened immediately at your fearful expression, you saw a hint of regret in his gaze.

“Hey, don’t scare her.” Jungkook snapped soothing you when you cried, he hugged you tightly. But his soft kiss on your temple didn’t comfort you at all, it only made you wailed harder with disgust.

“Puh-please just… leave us alone, what do you want?” You asked with labored breaths, you looked up hopeless at Jimin.

“Hyung,” warned Taehyung darkly. He sounded on edge by your cries.

“We want you.” Said Jimin with a cold voice.

“And we’re pissed at your parents for lying to you about us.” Continued Jungkook with a thick angered voice.

“So, we came here to teach them a lesson.” Grinned widely Taehyung like a sadist.

It was nothing new that your parents didn’t like your friends, they always told you to get away from them. You never listened to your parents because you thought they were saying bullshit, but you damn regretted not listening to them. They were right about these sickos.

“So you just want me.” You deadpan.

“Yep.” You listened behind you.

“Okay fine, do whatever you want with me. But. Let. Them. Go.” You gritted between teeth, pointing at your parents passed out on the floor.

The living room went silent at your words, the hush made you feel unease.

Jimin squatted in front of you again, this time, giving you the meanest and sadistic grin you’ve ever seen before.

“Take her up.” He ordered lowly, piercing his heavy and intimidating gaze on you, then his eyes dropped slowly to stare at your naked torso, gaze darkening and fixated on your chest. You felt your cheeks heating up by embarrassment, you felt self-conscious.

Your throat lump and your stomach turned when Jungkook carried you up to your room. Taehyung coo when he saw your silent tears streaming from your eyes.

Jungkook laid you down on the mattress rather softly, making your heart shatter. They were your best friends. The acid betrayal you felt burning your chest and throat was too painful to bear.

You weren’t surprised when you saw your SIM card on your nightstand.

“Stop looking so miserable, we’re not hurting you.” Jungkook said on the defensive. His scowl only angered you, but another part of you enjoyed to see that your disgust affected him.

“You fucking hurt my parents, chase me in my own house and manipulated me to let you fuck me! I have all the right in the world to feel and look miserable!” You felt your vocal cords ripping by your loud scream.

Jungkook and you stared at each other with labored breaths, you didn’t break your gaze in challenge, until you heard Jimin’s giggles.

“Tied her to the bed,” he said with a smile, making your stomach turn.

You closed your eyes, if they wanted to have their way with you, so it be. But you’ll be just a dull body under them, you choose to dissociate rather than to be present for them.

“None of that, open your eyes.” Taehyung growled gripping harshly your chin.

Your breath hitched when you felt a hand wrapping your neck, making your eyes open in a flash.

And the image above you freeze your entire body.

The three of them were staring down at you with hunger on their eyes, you saw their pretty faces coming closer to yours, smiling like the devils they were.

Ready to wreck you.

You can read the +18 continuation on Patreon.

taglist:

@demonshauntingthedoves @pynkgothicka @cutequeen00 @nothingsreal420 @ririkookiemonster-archives @cannotalwaysbenight @loumin908 @devilzliaison @uniquecutie-puffs @polarnightmyg

[artbyblastweave]

My thesis on the current state of the superhero film space is that the MCU is currently in the middle of a five-or-six-year long attempted pivot into an embrace of the ramped-up, gonzo world-of-weirdness aesthetic of traditional comic books, but it's frankly too late; they built too much of their initial brand and house style on a baby-steps, toned-down soft-pedal approach where every character builds up to their comic-book styling once they've felt out the reception via focus groups, and you can't introduce a B-lister without at least an after-credit scene's worth of buildup. Everything was structured around swearing up and down to the audience that they aren't silly or childish for daring to take these characters seriously. I do think that kind of measured approach actually was appropriate for ensuring the project's survival in the 2010s, but these days it severely impedes their ability to believably do any story that's predicated on there being a big normalized superhuman subculture that's just out of sight; that's simply never been how this world has been shown to function narratively.

By contrast, the DCU films are, at least since 2017, significantly more willing to assume audience familiarity with the basic idea of a superhero universe, and have been much more willing to treat the superhero as an understood social category within the universe, which allows them to do smaller-scale narratives about B-and-C-list weirdos that can hit the ground running rather than blowing the first 40 minutes explaining everything. Shazam is predicated on Billy knowing what superheroes are from the news and wanting to be one, Birds of Prey is predicated on Gotham being the kind of city where a quartet of vigilantes can get into it with a crime syndicate in an abandoned funhouse, and The Suicide Squad is predicated on there being so many disposable D-list supervillains in jail that you can get a dozen of them killed on an illicit black-op without anyone noticing. This same aesthetic impulse also generated some real duds, but the disconnected nature of the films after they gave up on the unified DCEU means that Black Adam or Flash taking a dive doesn't really affect any of the other one-offs.

The Gunnverse is really embracing this approach as the backbone of their second attempt at a unified live-action setting- Superman as a resident of a world where superhero is an understood kind of guy and not necessarily a well-liked kind. I don't think it's a secret that this is clearly my preferred idiom, but I'm also curious to see whether you can sustain it as the house style of an MCU-scale endeavor. If there's a failure point- beyond mere audience exhaustion and market saturation- I'm curious to see what it'll end up being.

[heartfullofleeches]

We need more alien and amab darling interactions 😞😞😞 what about a femboy darling?

Alien and fellow extraterrestrial darling who comes from a planet where it's the social norm for males of their species to be feminine. Alien is thrilled when he finds Darling's ship crashed landed in some junk yard- they finally get to meet an(other) Alien and learn all about their culture and maybe get a chance to find out where he came from and.....why are they so fucking pretty? Alien's not religious, but he swears he's seen an angel when darling stumbles out of their spaceship. Poor thing is so lost and confused, clearly banged up from the accident. Their fright is made worse by this fuckin weirdo just staring at them.

"....human?'

Oh, fuck now they're talking to him - and they sounds as cute as they look. Fuck, fuck, fuck-

"Um...sometimes?"

Darling visibly relaxes. "Least I landed on the right planet. I've heard so much about earth from movies. If it's not too much trouble, could you show me around?"

"I would burn myself alive for you."

Alien takes Darling in as their roommate and helps them gain a (limit) knowledge of how things run on earth compared to what Darling has seen/learn from films as there have been some translation errors and wrong information spread throughout. They've always thought those pretty dolls they've seen were boys like them! Aboard Darling's ship is a wide collection of their favorite dresses and other outfits. Alien damn near explodes from how cute they are when they decide to dress up for him.

Darling is constantly flirted with and scouted by creeps on the street who are quickly scared off by Alien barking like a mad dog when someone tries to take its favorite toy. He's ready to beat ass whenever someone calls Darling out of their gender. That's his gorgeous boyfriend and if someone make them cry he'll rain hell on them for the rest of their days.

(I fell in love these two while writing oh God help they're all I can think about. Please tell me if you guys like this because i would love to write more)

[strangererotica]

EXPLICIT CONTENT | MINORS DNI

Reader is female • Y/N is Billie in this story; Josef uses the alias John • Christian/Catholic imagery mentioned, as well as cancer/death • dry humping, breast worship, coming in clothes, some aggression/biting, squirting, Josef lying/manipulating but he’s hella cute doing it… 😊 🥳 happy new year 2025!

You never did anything like this. It was fucking insane. Risky at the very least, and at the worst, potentially deadly. Yes you were strapped for cash, but responding to an anonymous Craigslist ad to record a man in private-with god knows what in mind-was an incredibly bold move, even for you. Thankfully, you were meeting at a hotel, instead of his private residence, a fact that made you feel slightly less worried. If the guy did turn out to be a serial killer or something, you at least had the guarantee of people close by who could hear you scream for help. That is, of course, if you were able to scream at all. You considered that the ‘audience,’ you were hoping for in the form of hotel guests may turn out to be witnesses instead.

The thought chilled you, and you tried to put it out of your mind. This was a responsible act, you told yourself, not the reverse. It would be irresponsible to miss rent again, to potentially lose your home. Times were tough; the debt you’d acquired from college wasn’t going anywhere soon. It was time to put the creative arts degree you’d worked for to use. Filming some guy in a hotel room for a few hours, for well over a thousand dollars, balanced things out in your mind. He was probably just some weirdo making an avant-garde film, you assured yourself. And if by chance the guy ended up having genuine talent himself, combined with your editing skills, the film might actually be an important addition to your resume.

Finding the hotel was easy enough. You’d driven past it on the highway probably hundreds of times in your life, so the name was familiar to you. But you’d never been a guest at the hotel, nor had you really seen it up close. In perspective, it wasn’t quite as clean-cut as your brief glimpses from the highway had suggested. The word that came to mind for describing the place was ‘seedy,’ like you were walking onto the location of Dan Bell’s Another Dirty Room series. Your instincts told you this was a bad sign, both figuratively and literally, as you took in the sun-bleached name of the hotel emblazoned above the lobby entrance. You reminded yourself of the money you needed, the money that was promised for you on the other side of Room 222’s door. The outside condition of the hotel didn’t really matter, you reasoned. Maybe the man who hired you was strapped for cash himself? Perhaps he didn’t have many options in terms of location, and simply chose the hotel that suited his budget? Maybe I shouldn’t be such a stuck-up bitch, you wondered, feeling a little ashamed. You’d been trying to work on slowing your initial responses to people and places, not wanting to judge a book by its cover, so to speak. It was a new year, and a new start for you towards being a more open-minded individual. This experience was testing your commitment to improving yourself, because your intuition was practically screaming at you to get the hell out of there.

Taking a deep, mindful breath, you entered the elevator. Its interior was just as dingy as the rest of the hotel, and when the doors opened on the second floor, you were hit immediately with the smell of stale cigarettes and booze. Another sigh, this one a little less mindful, left your lungs heavily. You adjusted the strap of your camera bag on your shoulder, and proceeded to room 22…

When you’d reached the stranger’s door, you took a second to settle your nerves before knocking twice. “John?’ you called, forcing your voice steady. “It’s Billie.” Only silence responded from behind the door at first, followed by the sound of footsteps quickly approaching. The door pulled open, just a crack, but enough for you to see the face of the man who’d hired your services for the next few hours. The first thing you noticed were his eyes. They were kind eyes, you assessed, a warm hazel with flecks of copper that revealed themselves when the light caught them just right.

“You’re Billie?” Josef asked. He was obviously surprised, and you quickly realized why. “I was expecting someone…someone-.” Josef paused.

“Male?” you offered. “I get that a lot.” Josef chuckled good-naturedly, his friendly smile easing your nerves. “Well with a name like Billie,” he said, pulling back the door for you. “I can imagine it happens a lot. Please-.” He waved his hand past himself to the room. “-Come in.”

The more you saw of Josef, the more you liked him. He was taller than you, but not so tall that it was off-putting. He was just right, the kind of height you wouldn’t even have to lift on your tiptoes to kiss. The mental image flickered through your mind, and you cleared your throat, remembering why you were there in the first place. Yes he was a good looking guy, who for some reason put you at ease in a way you’d never felt when meeting someone new before. But you were there for the sole purpose of capturing his artistic vision on film, and for that purpose alone.

“So what did you have in mind, John?” you asked, setting your bag down on one of the two queen beds. Josef cocked his head, his curious expression returning. The door clicked shut behind him. You watched to make sure he didn’t turn the lock. Even though you really liked this guy, he was still a stranger. And you were still standing here with him in a sleazy hotel room, with his body currently between you and the door.

“I appreciate your question, Billie,” he said, emphasizing your name. “Billie. Billie the Kid. Anyone ever call you that, Billie?”

You felt your cheeks flush a little, because for some reason, his question felt like a compliment, even though it wasn’t. “I-um,” you distractedly tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “My dad used to call me that. When I was little.”

Josef nodded, snapping his fingers for emphasis. “Smart man. He had vision. As do I-.” He ducked suddenly around a corner and returned with what looked to be a veil, like the kind you’d seen the Virgin Mary depicted wearing in art. Josef draped the lace fabric over his shoulders and approached you, his face and tone solemn with importance: “…And with your creative direction, Billie, my vision will be brought to life…It was fate herself that willed our paths should cross…” Josef took another step closer, close enough that you began to worry he could hear your heart racing. “You could have been any other Billy…even a Bill, even a William for that matter but no, my dear sweet Billie-.” Here, Josef’s hands moved to cup your face in his palms, your eyes going wide in surprise. “…This is destiny,” he continued, almost in a whisper. “We’re partners now.” He went slowly to his knees before you, his palms together as if in reverence. “Blood of my blood…flesh of my flesh…” You recognized the paraphrased scripture as you gazed down on the strange man knelt at your feet. Josef took your hands in his, rising to a standing position, his eyes never leaving yours. “Oh my god, Billie…Oh my god,” he said through a warm smile, eyes lit with excitement. “This is gonna be a good night...”

Over the course of the following hour, you watched and recorded, offering input as requested from your client: a little change in lighting here, a play with background props there. From what you could tell, the vision Josef had in mind was a sort of religious horror short. His ‘character,’ was meant to be a man possessed by unholy forces. The Devil has a deadline, a certain amount of time he’ll allow the man before the demons take over completely. The man knows his time is up, that he’s in his final hours. He hires someone to document on film his last night on earth, before he’s unwillingly summoned to his unavoidable fate in Hell.

As a concept, it all sounded really cool. Bringing that concept to life however, with no budget and a lead who couldn’t act, was not cool by any stretch of the imagination.

Regardless of the details and Josef’s lackluster performance, nothing could have prepared you for what happened next. Whereas his character was standing strong in the trenches of spiritual warfare, it appeared that Josef himself was breaking down. You knew something was wrong, that he was no longer acting when he deviated sharply from the script and began to shed real tears, not the miserably-unconvincing ones he’d faked for a scene.

“Hey…it’s okay, John,” you assured him. He knelt at the bedside on which you were seated, resting his head in your lap. Your pulse lurched, heart thudding inside your chest. You weren’t sure what to do, so you did the only thing that seemed right: you gently stroked Josef’s cheek in an awkward attempt at comfort. The tears had slowed, but they picked right up again when Josef revealed his left hand, which bore a wedding ring. Your heart sank at seeing it. “My wife,” Josef began solemnly. “This whole project was her idea…She wrote the script, created this character, his whole history…”

You nodded as you listened, your hands dropping to your sides. There’s no way you were going to be touching a married man like that. “…She wanted me to play him, to bring her creation to life,” Josef continued. “It was her greatest wish…and sadly, her last wish…” You hated yourself for feeling it, but a sense of relief washed over you. He wasn’t married after all. At least, not anymore.

“…The cancer took her three years ago,” Josef tearfully revealed. “Three years and I still haven’t made her dream come true…I’m still letting her down, to this day…” His lament was cut short by a sob, words fading into your lap as he wept there. You reflexively began to stroke Josef’s cheek again, because you’d only seen someone this upset a few times in your life. You couldn’t not offer him some kind of comfort; he was obviously hurting, deeply. “I think what we’ve made so far is great, John,” you told him. “From the looks of the script, it seems like you’re following it exactly as your wife wrote it.”

He tilted his head to look up at you, eyes wide and hopeful. “Do you mean it?” Josef asked. With a nod of confirmation, you replied “yeah, I do. I think you’re doing a great job.” His eyes narrowed slightly, a darker look overtaking them. Josef rose abruptly to his feet, and began to pace back and forth around the room. “I don’t believe you,” he declared flatly, in a voice so low you had to ask him to repeat himself. “I don’t BELIEVE you,” Josef insisted, adding “You’re probably sitting there thinking this guy can’t act worth a goddamn…you know I can’t do her dream justice, you’re just refusing to say it! You probably think I’m a failure, don’t you Billie?” He almost sneered your name at you, and normally, you wouldn’t have taken this kind of verbal abuse from anyone. But you knew this wasn’t a normal kind of hurt that Josef was feeling. This man was grieving, haunted by a level of grief you hoped never to experience. Remembering your commitment to judging others less, you knew that right now, Josef wasn’t behaving rationally. He was acting in his grief, and you wouldn’t let yourself take his sharp change in attitude personally. Instead, you calmly came to Josef’s side. You turned his face to yours, letting your fingertips linger along his jawline. The muscles in his throat tensed against your palm, veins pulsing with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Josef’s eyes were wet and wide, like a puppy who’d been scolded. “I don’t think you’re a failure, John,” you told him confidently, a warm smile on your lips as your thumb brushed Josef’s. “I think your wife was lucky to have a husband who loved her so much. I think you’re a very special man.” He swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing under your fingertips. “Do that again,” Josef told you, his voice as much a prayer as a command.

“Do what?” you asked. Every indication of sadness had faded from Josef’s face, the tension in his body evaporating. “Tell me I’m special,” he replied. Josef’s hands went to your shoulders, gripping softly. “You’re special, John,” you said. “So, so special…” You brushed your mouth lightly against his, breath hitching as Josef’s tongue slipped between your lips unexpectedly. He was aggressive, impatient in a way that told you he hadn’t been touched in a long time. Josef’s hands were everywhere at once, finding your ass and clutching it in one hand while clumsily groping for your tits with the other. You let him lay you back against one of the beds, his hand pawing between your legs and massaging you through your jeans. You arched upward, keening into Josef’s thrusts, his bulge grinding into your thigh as he clumsily humped against it. Your hips trembled as his fingertips found your clit. The front seam in your jeans was positioned between your labia; Josef’s fingertips rubbed rough circles into the denim, kneading your cunt through the fabric. He buried his head against your shoulder, his mouth a wet mess of tongue and teeth, consuming the feel of your skin, its texture, its taste.

You curled your fingers in the hair at the back of Josef’s head, clutching him into you. His lips traveled down your neck and along your collarbone, tongue gliding between your breasts. Opening his jaw wide, Josef drew as much of your breast inside his mouth as he could. Your nipple hardened to meet his tongue, a warm, wet pressure flicking against it. Your grip in Josef’s hair tightened as you arched, pressing your tit against his face, offering as much of your breast as his mouth could hold. Josef sucked at your breast in a rhythmic tug, massaging your aerola between the muscles in his cheeks. He whimpered softly, a sign you interpreted as an expression of pure need. Josef needed to be held, to be cherished. He needed to be desired by a woman again.

You tugged back Josef’s hair to lift his head from your breast. He groaned at the pull to his scalp. A dark smile briefly touched his lips as he indulged himself to enjoy the sting. Josef’s mouth crashed against yours, his tongue forcing past your lips in a kiss that was somehow more greedy than the ones before it. His hands were on your hips, keeping them spread. Your clit throbbed against the bulky outline of Josef’s erection. He ground his hips forward, rutting his cock into the now-saturated crotch of your jeans. He whimpered again, returning his mouth to your breast. Josef clutched your other breast tightly, kneading the soft mound in his hand. Your nipple was swollen and sensitive against Josef’s rough palm as he groped you, his mouth busy at work suckling your other breast while his cock strained at the seams separating your skin. You came hard, rocking beneath the weight of Josef’s body pressing down on you. Your orgasm completely soaked through your jeans and wet the bed under you. Every punch of Josef’s hips produced a slick, saturated sound as he rutted your ass inside a puddle of your own juices. He growled into your breast, like something animalistic. The vibration of his chest against yours was like the low purr of a lion, rattling your lungs as if Josef was inside you, replacing the very air you breathed with himself. His thrusts grew sharper, his fingernails digging into your skin. You winced as Josef’s teeth suddenly nipped at your breast, his bite grazing your nipple as you pulled back in pain. Josef’s hands went quickly to your shoulders, pinning you down, his mouth immediately returning to your breast. Josef tugged and licked and sucked your breast till he was gushing cum into the crotch of his pants, a feral growl rolling from his chest as he claimed you…

In retrospect, you wish you hadn’t fallen asleep. You wish you could have checked in to make sure Josef was okay, to make sure he knew the brief time you spent together meant all that it meant to you. And even if none of that had been said, you would at least have liked the chance to say goodbye.

When you woke, Josef was already gone. He’d left your money on the bedside table, along with a note. The text read: Billie: Thanks for a special night. Beneath the text was what appeared to be a doodle of a wolf’s face. You knew it was unlikely you’d ever see Josef again. But just in case, you keep the note he left you, hoping that somehow, someday, you’ll have the chance to ask him what the little wolf doodle means… 🐺

[vampirevatican]

do you have any headcanons for what the slashers would have been like had darkness not gotten them?

alexa... play i bet on loosing dogs by mitski.

these will be short, but yes ofc!

🐑 JAY AND MIKE 🐺

they're both a case of literal children effected by the darkness through cultist adults

i feel like if their parents were normal then they'd be really good friends

funny considering the jason v. michael movie

but picture them being playmates, going to school together

jay is predetermined to be a sweetheart and sure mike can be soft but i feel like he'd protect jay

like their bond is very close, and when jay gets bullied mike appearing is enough to get the bullies to stop because mike nearly put a kid in the hospital behind jay

if they didn't grow up together then jay would definitely be a sweetheart regardless and maybe he'd still be bullied but at least he'd have a mind of his own... and that's only if his mom wasn't such a helicopter parent

as for mike, there's a gentleness to him and the question is if he'd grow up in that mansion would he be cold and kind?? i think so. his parents were cultist first and parents never... ideally he'd be a neglected child and optimistically he grows up to be an adored rich kid in a good house

GHOST 🦊

he'd be a loner. a loser. a guy desperately wanting justice but only able to fantasize about it because the cops wouldn't do shit... he doesn't have enough evidence.

he'd be stu macher without the murder really.

he is a bit of a freak. a weirdo... a creep. but i love him.

if it wasn't for his crush using him? he probably would've went on to live a relatively normal life

graduate film school, maybe make a couple movies

he'd be known in the film industry for taking out the popular bitchy girls, it'd be his outlet and along the way i think he'd subvert the trope and make a new horror genre for slasher films

LEATHER 🐷

he'd be at peace, on his farm. irritated with his brother but living the dream

he'd probably find a spouse and they'd live on that farm together

beautiful golden fields swaying in the breeze, harvesting crops, only slaughtering animals for food

he'd hold his spouse close on cold nights, always cuddling with them at the end of the day.

picks up his spouse when they wanna help around the farm but there's huge mud puddles

i think he'd be happier without his family? unless his family was also cursed into being mean and dismissive of him.

[ghostsoupy]

Freakazoid alert.........

Bully this guy right now !!

Silly lil weirdo based on Scroop ^_^

Name: Scurry “Scowl” Buthidae (Tells everyone his legal name is Scowl. It is not.)

Twisted from: Scroop - Treasure Planet

School/Dorm: NRCE Rambleshanks

Grade/Class: 3rd year?

Gender: Trans man

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Idk bro

Birthday: November 17th

Age: 187 (18 human years)

Height: 5’11 but slouches so usually 5’8-ish

Dominant hand: Ambidextrous, prefers left

Homeland: Sunset Savanna

Club: Film studies (only shows up for analysis days), music club (usually doesn't participate but does take notes and draw people there)

Best Subject: English/writing

Hobbies: Reading, listening to music, poetry, drawing, snooping

Pet peeves: Snooping, people being annoying or bothering him on purpose

Favorite food: Blueberry smoothies, red and purple foods (likes it when food matches his color palette)

Least favorite food: Vegetables, specifically lettuces. Is suddenly able to tolerate vegetables if they are purple or red.

Talent: Playing instruments (tells everyone his fav is electric guitar), crafting/customizing things

Unique Magic: Just Getting Started

Causes the caster to get a large, sudden surge of adrenaline. Their skin hardens in place of armor, as if it were an outer shell. Can still be pierced/hurt, but needs more force and aggression. Bruising is largely unaffected. Caster can choose to split the adrenaline boost between more than one target, but with larger blot accumulation. Any affected still go through the usual post-adrenaline exhaustion, dizziness, and other symptoms after the spell wears off.

Extra: Bark scorpion fae, can cling to and crawl on walls when he has his scorpion legs out (hides in dark corners and draws unsuspecting bystanders like a creepazoid), has large fangs but they’ve been very crooked since childhood, still has braces after YEARS….

Also he is a secret clarinet player who deserves to be bullied.

[punkslovepoints]

✨2023 Steddie Fic Recommendations

template from Steddie Support Podcast on twitter

Cutting Close by @anniebass

Steve Harrington is in pain.

No, not, like, psychological one, rather an unshooable bullshit of a headache, all thanks to the Russians squatting underneath a mall, torturing him a smidge.

So, when his two best friends get all chummy with a known weirdo of a drug dealer, Steve first rolls his eyes, then rolls with it, jumping on an occasion to purchase his all-natural head trauma medicine. Except, you have got to be at least cordial with your dealer, to keep the relationship, and when the guy remembers you as a shithead, well. You gotta try harder.

is your light on? by @toburnup

"Tell me a secret," Steve says and Eddie shakes his head.

"Why would I do that?

"I'll tell you one."

Eddie looks intrigued, smirks in his direction. "A secret for a secret? Okay." He looks up. "You go first."

(Steve always noticed Eddie. He's been there on the peripheral, easy enough to ignore. Until he's standing right in front of him, unavoidable. And then they collide over, and over, and over.)

Heed the Ominous Warning of The Talking Heads by audacity_of_bluejays

Steve Harrington thinks he has it all together until he doesn't. A revelation about his feelings for his roommate Eddie followed by an altercation with his asshole father complicates matters more than he expects.

(A 13 going on 30 AU)

i come back to the place you are by @glitterfang

Steve should've known that Eddie was lying when he looked right into Steve's eyes and promised not to try any heroic bullshit. He should've known based on their conversation in the upside down that Eddie felt he had something to prove. And he definitely shouldn't have left Eddie to face the horrors of the Upside Down alone. And now? Now Eddie's in a seemingly unending coma and Steve is wracked with guilt. So, he pours himself into trying to fix his mistake. He helps Uncle Wayne move into a new house, he spends hours in the hospital reading to Eddie, and he even keeps the Corroded Coffin boys company. He's getting to know Eddie really well while Eddie's out cold.

(Steve is surrounded by every single person who loves Eddie Munson. How could he not fall a little bit in love with him?)

Reboot by @plutosrose

In 2012, Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson film a scene in the teen drama Normal Stuff that launches a popular ship on ao3.

By early 2013, they aren't speaking anymore.

In 2024, Robin calls Steve with an offer to reprise his role as Andy Hartley in a reboot of their old show, with one important update--his character gets together with Eddie's.

no reason by @theopteryx

There's a pause. "I'm going to be fine?" Eddie asks, voice also going high and thin.

"You're—sure?"

"Yes."

"Fascinating. Great. Are you—could you do me a favor, then, and maybe just—leave me here anyway?"

"What?" Steve says. "No. Why?"

"No reason," Eddie says, voice tight.

(Eddie kisses Steve in what he thinks are his last moments on earth. Then he doesn't die.)

carve your name into my chest by @hexiewrites

Eddie Munson just wanted to play hockey. That's almost all he's ever wanted, since he was old enough to realize it was an option for him. And now he's at the top of his game, one of the best players in the NHL.

Everything would have been perfect... if it wasn't for the small matter of the thing he's got going with his long time rival, goalie Steve Harrington.

Flashbacks by @eddywoww

"Why is it a secret?" Eddie asked slowly.

Steve felt himself shrugging. He knew why it had to be a secret. His parents would hate Eddie and his long hair, his dirt smudged cheeks. The way he shouted and ran and giggled. They wouldn't like who Steve was around Eddie. Steve knew that, so it had to be a secret.

"It just is." Steve said, looking out to see Elizabeth glaring at him. Frantically waving him over. Time to go home.

leaving like a father, running like water by scoops_ahoy

Steve is still riding the high of what he and Eddie never got to have five years after he died.

Crossed Wires by @entanglednow

Lesson of the day, no matter how busy you are, it's rarely a good idea to let your subconscious take the wheel.

Doll House by @grandmastattoo

Eddie comes of age knowing that sometimes a person doesn’t have to be one of the dead to haunt the living. A ghost can be a memory. A ghost can be a question.

It’s his own ghosts that he holds onto when he first finds himself in Steve Harrington’s house, after.

After the Upside-Down. After Vecna. After Eddie.

Soda Burn by @3minsover

When the upmarket cocktail bar Steve's working at goes out of business, he finds himself in desperate need of a job.

off-script by @pukner

Post season 3, Steve manages to figure out that he's bisexual, despite his best efforts to repress it, comes out to Robin and Jonathan Byers of all people, and figures himself out. Also, there's a cute guy who might be actually insane running the kids' dnd club and he's got his eye on him. And his bandana.

Too bad Eddie Munson hasn't had a similar revelation. He's still under the impression that he's a straight man obsessing over Steve Harrington for normal, extremely heterosexual reasons.

Tuesday’s Gone with the Wind by @thisapplepielife

Corroded Coffin's leased plane went down on June 13th, 1995 in the woods of Louisiana.

Ten people on board died. Eddie Munson survived. Before he survived, he really lived.

senior year, 1985 by tofana

Eddie wakes up naked with King Steve sleeping soundly next to him, and no recollection of how he got there.

Night Drives by @mojowitchcraft

“Are you okay Harrington?” Eddie asks gently, “Need me to get anyone?”

“No one to get,” replies Steve, so soft Eddie barely catches it. “You think I want anyone seeing me like this?"

(Night Drives is an ongoing series, starting with "No One Rides for Free" where Eddie Munson stumbles across Steve Harrington crying next to a bush at Tina's party and makes it his mission to cheer him up. Continuing on as their relationship develops over the course of fall/winter 1984 and beyond.)

i dont want to see you at my party (but i’d love it if you showed up) by nicobloodlust

When Eddie invites him to their first gig back after everything, he thinks, this is it!

Eddie is going to tell him how he feels or Steve will tell Eddie and then! They’ll be together.

He’s having a great time, that’s until he notices Eddie is flirting with someone on his right, a girl closer to the stage, and he starts to worry.

Then both of mine from this year:

The most that I could give to you is nothing at all

They make out in his basement sometimes.

Steve tells himself it's just something they do to blow off steam, to decrease the monotony of post-apocalyptic living. Nothing more.

A few months later, Eddie leaves for the opportunity of a lifetime. Steve ignores his calls, makes sure they get a clean break, that they both get over it. Trouble is neither of them do.

"The A is for Ally"

When he is seventeen Steve Harrington sees Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson pushed up against the side of the late night convenience store with his hands down another guy’s pants.

Unable to stop thinking about it afterwards, it takes him ten years to work out what that means.

(After his friends come out one by one, Steve settles comfortably into his new role as an ally. He moves to the city, joins groups, attends protests, even signs up to a gender studies class. Then in 1991 Eddie comes crashing back into his life.)

[popculturebuffet]

It's the Girl in the Red Truck Charlie Brown is exactly what I needed after my dog died

In Loving Memory of Maddie

This.. has not been an easy few days for me. I expected to have at least 5 or 6 more years with my Dog maddie, a schanuzer with a resting grumpy face that belied her enthuasim, kindness and eagerness to see me , my sister and my mom every day. She was a good dog and her sudden death at the vets due to Kidney failure was gutting. I spent a chunk of Sunday breaking down and the rest getting out in the world to get some air and not let my grief consume me, with the gracious help of my mom. I thought i'd have my dog daughter forever but instead.. it was only a short, beautiful two years.

So in these trying times.... I decided to endulge myself. I asked my friend Emma to switch what she'd planned to comission from me with something else. I've gotten enough energy back to do both, but I still wanted to do this. I wanted to do something that felt in the spirit of my dog: a bit scruffy, a bit weird but heartfelt. And thankfully I had just the idea in mind: A look at a special i'd long wanted to see and had no idea was easily avaliable on youtube, one that failed in what it's creator wanted to do but still starred a character I loved so dearly i'd watch him eat a cactus for 3 hours. Something so weird that film critic and my idol Nathan Rabin couldn't help but admire it's guts if still find it hilaroiusly weird. It was something I both HAD to see and cover when I saw it. It's The Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown

Girl in the Red Truck was intended to be Peanuts Creator Charles Schulz' Citzen Kane. His magnum opus. A big artsy expression of his talents. It's instead an awkward and ambitious b movie packed into a tv special where Schulz favorite character and mine Spike is sandwiched between his daughter Jill trying her best to act and the whitest man to ever white as her love intrest trying to drag her to the city against her will by wearing her down, all done with decent animation on live action that had the misfortune of coming out after Roger Rabbit ate it's whole seven course meal before this special got to the table. It's weird, it's hilarious, and it's deeply fascinating and i'ts just the kind of thing I needed after this loss. So let's dive in

Who's Spike?

So for casual peanuts fans, they probably won't recognize the star of this picture. But to me he's everything. Spike REALLY is my faviorite Peanuts character. He's got stiff competition from Peppermint Patty, Rerun and Snoopy's Awkward Teenage Nephew, but I genuinely love this guy and i'm delighted to go off about him for a bit.

Spike first appeared in August 1975, announcing he was coming to visit Snoopy. He was the first member of Snoopy's family we met, and he made quite an impressoin, two feet to be exact

As you can see like his brother Spike's a touch weird, taking it even father: instead of living in the suburbs spike lives a solitary existance in the desert just outside of the small town of Needles, California. He's often isolated with only letters to his brother and a cactus for company, with only occasional trips into town to play pinball and hangouts with the local coyotes to keep him company.

Spike is both tragic and joyful: he deals with loneliness and depression.. yet finds his own way around them, making friends with a cactus, making jokes, and trying to find love despite looking like a warn out pile of hair and sorrow all day everyday. Spike is a deeply relatable weirdo, someone outside society, but still a kind soul who just wants to be love and makes his own fun

He gets depressed, sure, but as someone who often feels isolated thanks to his autism and lack of ablility to drive himself anywhere and struggles with depression, Spike is asperational. he's comfortable in who he is and gets back up from his depressive episodes. He even met mickey mouse

He's a fun character, able to carry whole strips basically by himself and was a delightful addition to the peanuts universe, a break from the strip's usual universe to check in on Snoopy's brother what lives in the desert.

Despite joining the main cast eventually and being a favorite of Schulz, Spike hasn't fully caught on in animation. While I love the guy... I do understand WHY. Spike is hard to adapt: He's a talky character and part of his charm is him being wistful in his desert home.. something he can't do in animation as like his brother he can't speak, so he needs a narrator. That leads to the other issue that makes him prickly to adapt: he's isolated from most of the main cast. Snoopy visits him and writes letters to him, but he rarely if ever interacts with the kids. One of his few major interactions with them was in his intro where Lucy, in one of her genuinely sweet moments, saw how skinny and malnourished the guy is, swept him over to her house and made sure he got a decent meal or 5.

I mean she took Linus' bed to do it because it's still Lucy, but the fact that someone who usually cannot stand dogs and whose reaction to Snoopy's dog house burning down was

Lept to take this guy in for a while is so damn cute. I really wish Spike would've moved in with the Van Pelts. Rerun rejected him because.. plot. (The special does it better by having their parents say he can't stay). But I suppose his charm would've been lost.

Back to the point, this was one of the few times I can remember spike really showing up with the rest of the cast. The others were buying the baseball field back from some developers so the kids could still play on it and being snoopy's best man..

Not that he was exactly the BEST

It's probably the only terrible thing I can think of the guy ever did and understandably Snoopy's Getting Married choose to have it just be some random golden retriver the bride ran off with instead.

Spike is part of the main cast.. but he's APART from the main cast, in his own little sphere that's harder to thread into things. The specials loved threading in quick adaptations of daily strips, but it's easier to throw in a peppermint patty sleeping gag (always a classic), or snoopy asking for food. It's harder to just.. randomly jumpcut to a depressed man in a desert talking to a cactus. Even harder on the budget. And back then the specials didn't focus on characters who weren't' Charlie Brown or Snoopy as the main focus often. There's exceptions: She's a Good Skate focuses solely on Peppermint Patty, adapting the strip's longest and one of it's best storylines, Why Charlie Brown Why? focusing on Linus breakdown as he deals with his friend/crush's cancer diagnosis and the jackassery of those around him, and Play it Again Charlie Brown focusing on Lucy and Schroder but that's three specials out of dozens. Now granted they could've say had Snoopy take a road trip to see him, adapt a few of snoopy's weird road trips together, like that time he planned to go to wimbeldon, ended up in Kansas City and decided to see his sister

But they likely wanted to keep things cost effected and stick to the characters people were familiar with and buying merchandise of... like Snoopy's brother olaf

Emma, my friend who sponsored this, got an olaf out of a gashapon machine and it sent me down the rabbit hole. Olaf is apparently HUGE in japan. Also for those wondering he's snoopy's other brother.

There's also andy, marbles, Molly and Rover. The latter two are dubiously canon as Schulz did'nt consider the specails canon and unlike Andy they were never brought into the strip but since he created them i'm a counting them. Olaf later became a recurring character traveling the world with Andy and even planning to move in with Spike if they could ever find him. I like to think they did and to this day the three are just hanging out , hanging out with the family having themselves a party in the desert.

There was plenty of material to mine to loop Spike in.. but it was easier not to. Why go out of your way for Snoopy's weird brother when you have locally sourced weirdness from snoopy, sally as she grew and peppermint patty? Spike's a great character but I do understand why he only got one special. I do hope Apple does a Spike Special that isn't actively buried by it's creators and a pain in the ass to remaster, as he deserves his day in the sun, but I don't hold the grudge I used to for not using him. He's not unusable as this specail shows: His very unique look, daffy personality tha'ts just different enough from his brother and quiet sadness and solitude. He just needs a bit more attention like a lot of godo doggos

The Actual Special

It's the Girl in the Red Truck is a live action animated hybrid, part of Chuck's grand ambitions for this special. It was intended to be state of the art, impressive and cool. Building on what came before to create something unique.... that thanks to delays ended up coming out the same year as roger rabbit

And hurt it did as everyone assumed it was cashing in on Roger Rabbit but with less of a budget to the point, and this is a real thing I found on wikipedia, Charles had his daugher and the film's star Jill emphasise the date in interviews. It did not help.

Look comparing this to Roger Rabbit... it's far behind. Spike interacts with a few objects, but most of the things he holds are animated too. Roger Rabbit wasn't the first to do this, but they were a pioneer in how this was done. The way Roger seamlessly interacted with things with revolutionary. I mean the dueling piano scene with Daffy and Donald alone shows just how well synched everything was.

On their own though.. the effects are solid. For a big budget B movie, Spike blends in okay. Sometimes he's very jarring like a scene at the diner or some of the skating, other times.. he blends in perfectly. He's just a weird cartoon in our world, sitting in a chair having snacks or getting smacked in the head with a truck. It's not perfect, but for what had to be only a few million dollars , some of which HAD to be out of pocket, it's impressive. Peanuts is a bit franchise yes, but it's easy to forget the specails were usually made on a budget of a paperclip and a piece of string. The fact that even with an extra bump he could pull this off is remarkable.

Spike also works well as a lead. Having Snoopy interact with adults would've been more markatable.. but it just woul'dve felt.. off. Snoopy never spoke to adults in the strip why start now. Spike's detachment from the usual peanuts gang is a strength here: He has a setting you can easily slide other characters into, him interacting with adults is weird but not as weird as he hardly interacts with anyone, and like Snoopy he has great physicality: He has a lot of snoopy's effortless charm and belief.. but is a lot more human, a lot more self doubt in his tired bones. The animatoin on spike is fantastic and shows that even without his monologues, he works just as fine in pantomime as his brother, starting the specail cooking pancakes, being dismayed at the mountain of cans in Jenny, our lead's truck, and playing chess with salt and pepper bottles. His fun personality, love of life and fun expressions all come through. He gets into shenanigans like snoopy, probably another reason why they didn't use him as they had snoopy already for pantomime eat up specail time shenanigans, but you feel him. Snoopy would also relax into a chair, but he might not react the same to the cans, and would probably try to run rather than lift up a sign saying "I'm not a coyote" when being shot at.

What really hurts the special.. is the actual plot. The idea behind it isn't bad, in the strips there was a girl in a red truck, a woman who drove by where Spike lived every day he waved to

It wasn't the only strip adapted (big thanks to tarvinneeko mainitakaan on youtube who has videos pointing out what moments are pulled directly from the strip) , as Spike's french lessons, pancakes being taken by tumbleweeds and other early gags are pulled directly from it.

Frankly the special would've been better if it was just.. spike doing antics in the desert. It could still be a hybrid, still throw an actor or two in, but Spike works fine on his own and they had the means via the letter he sends to snoopy to get over the lack of dialouge. It's damming that the best part of the specail.. is the first 10 minutes that easily could've been done in animation only without loosing anything. In fact doing so could've allowed for more gags with Spikes cactus, which here is a real life prop. Hell even in live action you could still do a lot of the jokes I saw looking up this french strip

Instead... we meet the girl in the Red Truck herself, Jenny. Jenny is played by Jill Schulz and god bless her.. she tries. She has genuine energy in the part, wants this to work and is trying. Sadly the director did not help. The film was directed by Walter C Miller, who was a friend of Sparky's.. but also inexperinced, blaming his issues on his actors and making a miserable experince for Jill, forcing her to smile more than she would and likely explaning why the cast is so damn stilted. While inexperince didn't help, a good director could've worked with that. We did not have one of those.

I'm sympathetic to most involved here: Schulz is far from the first director to have more ambition than budget or knowhow, and unlike most he wasn't a dick about it. He was one of the kindest men who ever existed. Jill Schulz was just trying and was better at dancing and rollerskating than this. She was a good skate charlie brown but not meant for this. Miller was a director, had more knowhow and probably coudl've gotten someone in who knew what they were doing, but was too stubborn to admit his faults and work with what he had. You can be a low budget director and still do great shit but Miller just didn't know how.

That said, the script.. isn't good and the characters ar eflat. Jenny is an aerobics instructor who lives in Needles and gladly waves to spike. When her truck breaks down and Spike accidently fixes it with a head injury, she gladly offers to take him home and both having a mild crush on her and figuring why not, he goes with. Jenny is a kind soul who likes living by the river, something I can admire and enjoys her peaceful life. She even has a friend Molly who runs the local diner and I love how Molly.. already knows spike. He's one of her best customers. It just fits the character so well and makes sense. Spike usually only goes into town to eat or play pinball and him playing pool and as someone who can't drive myself I relate to going with whatever happens to be in walking distance.

Sadly there's a dark cloud on the horizon, an obstalce in the way of this happy new life for Spike: Jeff. Jeff is the whitest man to ever white. He looks like the bully from revenge of the nerds and uncle joey from full house got in an unfortunate teleporter accident.

Tenmu Shooter McGavin here is trying to take Jenny away from all of this, wanting her to take a film audition he got from her in LA. As he tells her "jen do you really want to spend the rest of your life out here in the desert teaching aerobics?" the kind of sentence that makes me happy this is my job. He does not get her at all: She directly tells him "I like the people here, I like it here i'm not moving to the city" as nicely as she can, and while it puts a strain on their relationship as he's got an unindentified music job in la. Probably trying to bulldoze an orphanage to put up a night club But he's determined to get her to move despite her clearly not wanting to. Jeff GETS why she dosen't want to move on some level but can't accept it and ends up moving out here anywhere. Jeff you can make music anywhere and musicains would come out to the middle of nowhere to smoke weed and record if you made the spot cool enough. Spike could probably get you the good stuff. He knows people.

That might not pan out though as Jeff.. is DEEPLY jealous of spike. He mopes that Spike is in his chair, asks "why you left the door open because a wild animals' here" and spends every moment he can trying to beat a dog in a metaphorical pissing contest. Which is never going to happen. Trying to compete with your partners pets makes you look like an asshole, makes them like you less and is pointlesss when the dog... is doing nothing wrong. And if you try to make it literal well.. your going to loose that match too.

Mary Worth is a hell of a drug and i'd like to thank The Comics Curmudgeon for getting me hooked on it.

Jeff is just.. deeply unlikeable. He makes spike ride in the back and Jenny is rightfully upset. It gets to the point when he hears GUNFIRE in the climax he claims he didn't hear anything. In the desert. Where there's no other sounds. I mean I can't blame him for not wanting to go towards gunfire but still jesus. You question WHY this guy gets the girl in the end when all he does is bitch and moan about a perfectly resonable dog who has no intentions to try and break up his relationship.

For now everyone roller discos. And you may laugh at a small desert town, one Schulz lived in as a boy that is very real, having a roller disco but my counter to that is it also has a cartoon dog. We get a really fun roller dance sequence and Jill shows off her moves. She's incredibly good and while spike lags at times and it's one of the most notable times. He can't help have fun.

Alas Spike realizes Jenny loves Jeff.. and his home is just not with her. His home is out there. It's a flaw in the script: the idea of Spike getting a genuinely loving owner but realizing he belongs out there is good but they spent so much time focusing on zack moris defective older clone that they neglected to give this the emotional weight it needed.

The scene after of Spike coming across some coyotes and jamming is delightful though.

I love finally getting to see some of these chaps as the Coyotes are an off screen force in the strip, their scraggly beards and hats and how they just.. vibe with spike. He whips out a jug and joins in and it's a wholesome moment. It's also more proof that had the special just focused on spike alone, this would've been a true classic instead of an awkward experiment. The long stretches we spend on a romance we don't possible care about drag down a special that easily coudl've been 20-30 minutes and all the better for it.

Instead the doofuses have to save spike from Gunfire. I do love him holding up a sign saying "I am not a coyote" but otherwise it just feels a bit much and they stop shooting when they realize their are humans out there, which feels unrelasitic. It's the desert. Ther'es plent of corpse burying space.

So Spike decides getting shot at occasionally is better than spending time with Jeff and walks off. The ending is effective depsite the lack of emotinal build up, jenny wistfully saying he's "out there" and Spike playing a jug... not sure if this was the right call.

This special could've been something fantastic. Spike is a great character and the best moments are him just getting to be himself, dealing with the highs of desert life from french lessons, jug music, a pretty girl driving by once a day, to the lows of getting shot at. The core idea is good but it's overstuffed, staffed by actors who never should've been actors and stiff. Schulz meant well with this one but whenever it breaks from Spike the special breaks down. Spike works because he's a well built multifacted character, triumph and tragedy all in one beagle. He has tons of range.. but he's strapped to two characters who were thiny written. While the direction dosen't help, i'ts clear Charles didn't put too much effort into the actual characters and he CAN do better. Even one off characters have more pop than these two. I'd watch Spike and his awkward teenage nephew on a road trip through the desert long before i'd watch the human only scnees in this again.

This project... just did not work. It's entertaning because spike is and parts of it are so bad it's good. "You wanna teach aerobics in the desert your whole life?" is pure cinema. It's fun to watch because like any b-movie it has a LOT more ambition than it can deliver on. As a specail, a film or Charles Schulz citzen kane it fales. As a weird experiment that's fun to look back on, hilarous to watch at time and has plenty of good antics from a throughly likeable dog in a hat, it succeeds. This is a so bad it's good b movie that happens to have a peanuts character in it and said peanuts character is the best part of it. It's enjoyable for being something so weirdly diffrent from the brand focusing on adults melodrama in the desert, for how spike sometimes dosen't fit, and for just.. spike. This special isn't for everyone and I understand that. 100%. But it's for me: a goofy little failed experiment starring my faviorite fictional dog that was just what I needed after loosing my dog. Thanks for reading. If you'd like to support this blog consider joining patreon

Or my substack to help keep the lights on and keep the root beer flowing. I currently have a substack exclusive retrospective of the critic up and will soon have subscriber exclusvie reviews of the oblongs and some other fun stuff. Thanks again for reading

[fxckn-sxck-fr]

𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄

Yandere Dick Grayson x GN Reader

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓: This AU came to me in a dream. The best honor you can bestow on a character is a yandere Ghostface fic, so I obviously had to give one to my man.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒: yandere content, Ghostface Dick Grayson, stalking, blood, stab wounds, reader is implied to be a college student, reader likes horror movie trivia, Dick’s kinda freaky in this, OOC Dick (since he’s obviously not a serial killer in canon), the writer’s poorly disguised blood kink (nothing NSFT-worthy, but it’s definitely there).

… Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring…

… Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring…

Honestly, the phone ringing from the kitchen might’ve been the best jumpscare of the night. At least it was unexpected, unlike the tactics of this low budget slasher film you were watching (what was it called again? Agh, you’d have to look at the channel menu, and you lost the remote long ago). With a small sigh, you pulled yourself out of the couch and stretched your arms outwards, reveling in the satisfying pops elicited from your shoulders.

… Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring…

“Yeah, yeah,” you grumbled. “I’m coming.”

The phone was in the middle of a fourth ring when you finally reached the kitchen. Picking it up with a loose arm, you punched in the answer button and brought it up to your ear. “Hello?”

“Hey there, sweetheart.”

An unfamiliar voice greeted you on the other end. It was low and velvety, with the slightest gravelly texture around the edges that made the back of your neck feel prickly. Your brows furrowed at their teasingly flirty tone, not liking where this could be going. “And who is this?”

“You tell me,” replied the unknown caller.

“Sorry, got no idea.” You leaned against the kitchen counter, facing the living room so you could at least half-tune into movie still. “So… can I help you with anything, or…?”

“What’s your name?”

Okay. Whoever this guy was, he was seriously starting to creep you out and piss you off. “Dunno, you tell me,” you mockingly answered. “How did you get this number?”

“No need to be so rude,” the voice cooed at you. “I just wanna talk, is all.”

“Not very fond of talking to strangers,” you distastefully mumbled.

“You must not make a lot of friends, then.”

“Well,” a puff of air left your lips, “I manage.”

“Sure doesn’t look like it.”

… Huh?

Vocal chords feeling suddenly dry, you thickly swallowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Come on now, gorgeous.” There was a chuckle before the caller continued. “It’s a Friday night. Shouldn’t you be out with friends instead of watching old scary movies all by yourself?”

Your blood turned ice cold.

What the fuck. What the actual fuck. Who the hell is this weirdo, not only giving you a random call, but also spying on you? Was this some sort of prank from that dumbass fraternity down the street? Some sort of tradition they have to call up new residents in the townhouses and try to scare them shitless? But if that’s the case, how the hell did they get your number?

Another chuckle snapped you out of your thoughts. “Don’t look so tense, love. I only wanna talk, remember?”

“Talk,” you flatly echoed, turning around slowly to face the kitchen window. While you didn’t see anyone out there from where you were standing, it was too dark to know for sure. “About what?”

There was a long pause. All you could hear for several seconds was your quickening heartbeat and over-acted screams from the TV. It lasted for so long, wondered if your trembling fingers somehow accidentally hit the hang-up button.

Finally, the unknown caller spoke up again.

“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

Your brows furrowed at the question. Why the fuck did he want to know that?

“Can’t say I have a favorite,” you shakily answered.

“Everyone’s got a favorite,” reasoned the caller. “Even I have one.”

“Yeah?” Your eyes darted between the window and the backdoor, praying you remembered to lock both of them. “What’s yours, then?”

“Guess.”

“… Friday the 13th?”

“Nope.”

“John Carpenter’s Halloween?”

“Guess again.”

“Nightmare on Elm Street?”

“You’re really bad at this.”

Either your eyes were playing tricks on you, or a shadowy figure was emerging from behind the bushes. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you began to slowly back out of the kitchen. “Well… then I give up. Tell me.”

“Nuh-huh, sweetheart. The game doesn’t work like that. And besides…”

You were now at the threshold in between the kitchen and the living room. “Yeah?”

“Three strikes and you’re out.”

A click, then a low beep; the call was dead.

Just like you’ll probably be if you stick around.

While you weren’t exactly sure if “out” meant he was going to kill you, you sure as hell didn’t want to find out. You’ve seen enough horror movies to know that only murderers made ominous quips like that. So, dropping your phone to the ground and spinning on your heals, you made a b-line towards the front door and fiddled with the lock. If he could see you from the kitchen, then that obviously meant he was out back; he’d have to circle around the entire line of townhouses if he wants to catch you in the front. That would give you enough time to start banging on doors, and at least someone would have to let you in, right?

As soon as you threw the door open, however, it became shockingly apparent that you made the wrong decision.

Looming in the doorframe was a broad figure in black robes. He wore a porcelain white mask with exaggerated mouth and drooping eyes, reminding you for a split second of some sort of Scooby-Doo monster. The only difference between one of those and this fucker, however, was the rather sharp-looking knife he were twirling in their gloved hand.

He gave you a tiny wave with his free hand.

You began to book it back into the kitchen.

Before you could even clear the living room, however, a sharp pain exploded in the back of your shoulder, causing you to cry out as your knees buckled. You were sent careening towards the ground as something ripped out of your skin; his knife, you realized with complete and interr horror. With grunts of agony, you struggled to push yourself off of the linoleum floor in hopes to get back to your feet.

An impressed whistle pierced the air. “Took that like a champ, sweetheart. So proud of ya.”

You finally managed to get yourself to a semi-crouched position, only for a hand to grab at your wounded shoulder and shove you down. The shout that was ripped from your chest was cut off as your jaw harshly slammed against the linoleum floor. Metallic blood flooded your mouth as your teeth caught your tongue in the impact, only adding to the cacophony of pain. There was still a firm hand on your shoulder, which squeezed tighter so he could roll you over and face him.

“You look so pretty when you’re terrified,” your attacker cooed, his blood-splattered mask only inches away from your face. He lowered himself to straddle your hips, his body weight pinning you against the floor. “Way better up close.”

“Please,” you pathetically pleaded, some of your bloody spit dribbling down your chin. “Please…!! Please, just let me go!!”

A low rumble came from him — a weird mix between a laugh and a groan — as he held the knife up against your neck. The blade was still warm, your own dark blood staining your skin. “Yeah, go on... beg for your life, love.”

God, why was this happening to you?! All you wanted to do was watch some cheap slasher movie and take it easy for the night, and now you’re one slice away from certain death?? Was this seriously gonna be how you go out; murdered in your own living room with old reruns playing on the TV? A choked sob left your lips at the pitiful thought.

“Please don’t kill me,” you whimpered, feeling the edge of the knife catch your skin as your throat bobbed from swallowing. “Please…”

“Good job, gorgeous,” he condescendingly praised. “Just like that. Don’t you know how hot you look right now?”

Christ… this guy was fucking disgusting. The way he seemed so into this made your skin crawl. His free hand came up to caress your cheek, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind with it. Swiping his thumb across your lower lip, he hooked his index finger under your chin and tilted your head upwards. It took you a few moments to register that the weight of the knife’s blade was removed from your neck, now being held gently against your cheek as he let out a hum.

“You’re quite the catch,” he mused, pressing the blade harder against your cheek to draw blood. You couldn’t help but sharply inhale at the stinging sensation.

“Why are you…” a noise of pain interrupted your sentence as he slowly slid the knife down to your jawline, “doing this..?!”

He didn’t seem to care for your question. Instead, he released your chin from his leather hand, bringing it up to his mask and stroking the elongated jaw. It was as if he was pondering something, his fingers smearing your speckled blood downwards until he got to the tip of his mask’s chin. Then, in a slow, deliberate movement, he began to tug the mask upwards to reveal a crooked smirk. Your stomach dropped entirely when you realized he was confident enough about this to let you see part of his face; he really was going for the kill.

“I’d like to think this thrill is a lot better than the cheap scares in movies,” he teased, bringing the knife back to your throat and leaning closer to your face. You could feel his hot breath against the cut on your cheek as he finished with, “and I think you’d agree.”

Your shoulders jolted at the sudden wetness against the side of your face, and it dawned upon you that the fucker was licking you. His tongue ran up your shallow gash, clearing away whatever amount of blood that bubbled from it. You felt your face crinkle up in disgust as he continued to lap at it, like he was a little kid licking an ice cream cone (you could even hear him click his tongue against the roof of his mouth and swallow; this fucking psycho was actually consuming your blood).

Once he seemed satisfied, he pulled away a few inches to run his red-stained tongue over his lips. “You know… my favorite scary movie is actually Dracula. I was always into the classics.”

“Dracula,” you shakily repeated, feeling cold sweat collect on the back of your neck. “1930s? Tod Browning?”

He let out a hum of approval. “Wow. You seem to know your stuff, sweetheart! Didn’t realize you were that into the genre.”

“I… I guess…”

“Yeah?” The leather of his gloves creaked as he clenched the hilt of the knife tighter. “Isn’t this perfect for you, then? Getting to live out the real deal? Lot’s of horror movie junkies out there would absolutely kill to be in your position right now.”

Your limbs felt numb, petrified to the floor with pure terror. “Never thought I’d s-star in one…!”

“What a shame,” he tutted. “You’re a perfect fit for the victim role.”

The blade began to dig deeper into the meat of your neck.

This was it. This is how you were going to die. You could barely hear the resolution of the movie in the background over your palpitating heart as the blade dug deeper into the meat of your neck. With any luck, he’d make this a quick one, putting you out of your misery so you didn’t have to suffer through a slow, painful death. If he wasn’t that nice, however, your vision was already spotty from blood loss, so there was at least the possibility of you passing out before it got too agonizing.

But then, just as you could feel your own blood dribbling down your collarbone, the pressure was alleviated.

“Come to think of it, though…” he pulled the mask back down his face, giving it a little jostle to make sure it was correctly oriented. “Killing you off so soon would be disappointing.”

He leaned down to whisper in your ear.

“I want to see you in the sequel.”

Without another word, he slowly pushed himself off of you to stand up. You took this as the perfect opportunity to desperately crawl away, wide and careful eyes still trained on him in case he lunged at you again. Fortunately, it seemed as though he truly was done for the night, taking a few steps back from you as he twirled the knife in his one hand. With the other, he gave a tiny wave, and practically skipped out the front door, even having the courtesy to slam it behind him.

He just spared your life.

You could practically feel yourself melting into the cracks of the linoleum floor. Holy shit, he just spared your life. After all of that — finding your number, calling you outside of your house, stabbing you, and having the perfect opportunity to finish you off — he decided to spare your life. What the fuck just happened.

Well, it’s not like you had time to deliberate on that; you were kinda still bleeding out right now. He did stab you, after all.

So, rolling yourself over on all fours, you clutched the bloody wound on the back of your shoulder and began to crawl towards the kitchen as the ending credits rolled on your shitty slasher film.

So… as it turns out, the phone ringing was not the best jumpscare of the night.

[tiredcatboysinc]

Randy Jade has OSDD stfu I'm not projecting; 1/4 - Ticket Booth

I've decided I want to also post any of longer, plot based fics here - mainly for archives and bc I wanna :3c So here's my one and only Dialtown fic were I'm so totally not projecting onto Randy <3 -Eddie🐶

Summary: Randy murmured under his breath constantly, it was a habit people had come to expect from him. It was normal, well, normal for him at least.

Warnings: Cursing, Randy being a general nervous wreck

Words: 809

ao3

“Shut up… Shut up… No, we can not have hotdogs for dinner again…”

Randy murmured under his breath constantly, it was a habit people had come to expect from him. It was normal, well, normal for him at least. It had been like this since he could remember, which was like forever… Or at least since he was in middle school - because that’s honestly the earliest he can remember, and he can’t remember much of middle school at that. Randy wasn’t sure why he murmured under his breath, it was just a thing he did - even if he got weird looks from people on the street.

But the oddest thing to Randy’s friends, was always how he chose to refer to himself. He rarely opted for singular pronouns, instead on instinct using ‘we’ or ‘our’ even when he was just referring to himself.

And that’s when Oliver began to question him.

If you knew Oliver, you knew he couldn’t keep his mouth shut - and you also knew he had next to no filter. Oliver said what he wanted, and asked what he wanted. Which often led to… more than less ideal situations for Randy, to put it nicely. Of course, Oliver would never outright demand Randy answer a question, of course not! But by phone-god would he push and press the issue until it seemed Randy snapped, as if he was a different person.

This intrigued Oliver, of course.

Which meant he had to ask more questions, and push Randy more. He had to figure it all out... Hell, maybe he could make a cool indie film out of it if it was lucky!

“Hey, Rad-ney!!” Oliver called out as he approached, giving the bandage clad man a hearty wave. Randy was, of course, at his post at the funfair, it's where he could be found most days – if not here than probably his shitty apartment, that or at the cinema with Oliver. But he was here now, and giving a shaky reply to the flanneled man from behind the glass.

“O-oh, hey, Oliver...” He cleared his throat, adjusting himself in the shitty wooden chair that had been provided from his boss. “What can I, uh, do for you?” Oliver couldn't help but find Randy's over all demeanor amusing, no matter how long they had been friends. Maybe Randy had some secret charm, a freak charm that only worked on weirdos like him... And maybe Gingi, but Gingi doesn't really count – that freak would make-out with anyone given the chance.

Oliver shrugged in response, fez tilting to the side slightly as he tilted his head. “Just wonderin' when my gnarly buddy gets off work today..” He hummed, doing his damnedest to be chill – but this was Oliver Swift we're talking about, and chill was no where in that mans dictionary. Then again, neither was half the English lexicon, and that's only because he replaced it with shit like 'gnarly' and 'groovtastic'. So that was kinda on him not gonna lie.

Randy almost perked up at the question, a seemingly pink tinted hue flushing across his screen. Phone-god, could this guy get any cuter? - or desperate? The answer is yes by the way, to both.

“O-oh! I thought we, uhm, texted you when we're was getting off... F-fuck, did we not?” Randy turned his head away for a moment, seemingly trying to recount his morning and early afternoon – an easy task for a most, but for Randy was like moving a fucking mountain.

Quickly he swatted at the air, waving at some invisible bug only he could see. “Fuck!! Whatever!! What were we saying..?” The bandage covered man murmured, voice taking a hint of agitation – maybe annoyance or even exhaustion. “Oh, right... Shift ending.”

Oliver nodded in response to this, humming out an almost mechanical noise – a sound of agreement. Oliver had been watching Randy's every movement, taking in the subtle shifts of tone or even body language that might hint at something deeper... But in truth, Oliver couldn't really figure it out. All he knew was that something was up, and he intended to get to the bottom of it – one way or another.

“Uhm... I think we get off in...” Randy turn away again, looking at a small wall clock placed in the back of his booth. For a moment he paused, as if needing to process the information. “O-oh, sorry! I zoned out...” He quickly apologized, clearing his throat before continuing. “We get off in about 30 minutes... W-why? Was there something you, uh, needed?” Randy tilted his head slightly to the side, screen catching a small glare from the sun.

“Just wanted to know if ya wanted to come hang out,” Oliver chuckled, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. “It'd be real groovy to have you over again! It's been a hot sec, hasn't it?”

[artbyblastweave]

It seems like both Nolan's Batman trilogy and The Batman (2022) are attempting to interrogate/deconstruct/reconstruct/whatever the inherent problems with the Batman character, but (imo) these depictions don't go nearly far enough. Do you agree? If you could make a Batman movie how would you go about it?

It's been a very long time since I've watched it, but my read on the The Nolan Trilogy is that to the extent that it's interrogating anything about Batman Specifically- vs trying to make some high-falutin' Nolanian point about the nature of Myth and Heroism Yadda yadda yadda- it's interrogating the difficulty in getting audiences to take the character seriously, with the long shadow of Adam West, Tim Burton and the 90s Cartoon hanging over the property- the cocktail of camp and dreamlike otherworldly stylization that all previous installments used to carry the character over the finish line of believability. The result is 21st-century Batman (derogatory), all tacticool body armor and ripped-from-the-headlines surveillance state gizmos and military-industrial surplus tank-cars and antagonists who're laundered through the anxieties of the post-9/11 zeitgeist of the Foreign Anarcho-Orientalist cultists Out To Destroy Our Way Of Life, For Reasons. It's still irreducibly a story about a guy dressed as a bat beating the shit out of a clown, but it's the least about that that it can get away with being. And from an engineering perspective, it clearly worked- it was an incredibly popular installment, even before we'd crossed the cultural rubicon of superheroes being truly mainstreamed. But it's pretty obvious from my tone that I've soured on the project pretty thoroughly.

The Batman (along with it's companion piece The Penguin) is actually much, much closer to being a deliberate mediation on the core dynamic of the character and the implications thereof, in a way I personally found extremely satisfying; it manages to strike a balance between portraying Being Batman as a fundamentally juvenile and half-baked response to the problems that he's attempting to address (real) and portraying Being Batman as fundamentally really really really really cool. Any time he's shown doing Batman Shit it's framed as genuinely awesome; it falls into a vaguely similar zone as Nolan, except instead of feeling like it's trying to be as little like a comic book as it can get away with, it's trying to feel as much like a comic book as it can get away with without having someone like Clayface or Solomon Grundy show up. At the same time the story is adamant in its thesis that even if it works, you would have to be an incredibly weird person to think of, and then commit to, Being Batman. This six-foot weirdo in body armor is the biggest freak in any room that doesn't also contain The Riddler. Everyone is a little on edge when he's in the room, and consequentially a lot of the film reads like an extremely deadpan comedy- the polar opposite of the camp of Batman 66, where everyone treating this guy as perfectly normal is part of the gag. Of course, this comes back around thematically in that Bruce is afforded his eccentricities because he's incredibly rich- nobody else could get away with ignoring their own finances (and the massive graft at play) in order to go ride a motorcycle around attacking muggers, and he only solves the last puzzle because a cop who happens to be in the room has a blue-collar brother who works with a flooring tool that Bruce (who spent an extended sequence vandalizing the incredibly expensive floor of his penthouse!) can't even recognize. If you can't tell from my tone, I like this movie a lot! Anyway, In terms of how I'd do it, I think the currently unexplored option is a live-action film where due to the cranked-up four-color peak-comic-book insanity of the world around him, Batman comes across as the only sane one, despite the fact that he's dressed as a bat. This would a story about a relatively well-adjusted if somewhat taciturn and subdued guy doing a thankless job, except the thankless job is Being Batman. He'd have the same ridiculous Bat-everything overpreparation as Batman 66, deployed with significantly less verbal fanfare but without ever missing a beat. The first scene in the movie would be him getting bodied out a second story window by one of the genuinely superhuman bruisers like Grundy or Clayface before regaining his footing and squaring up, and the rest of the opening would be a montage covering a Day in the Life of Batman. Kevin Conroy's deadpan, matter-of-fact characterization translated into live action. Do You See My Vision

[yatori-morgana]

I drew some TWST OCs but as goobers because a full reference makes me cringe rn (commitment hard)

Info below

I'll talk about the snake twins first.

While it may be obvious to us, Lamen is a girl. She's pretending to be a boy, though, and she does a damn good job acting the part, so people just assume she's a feminine guy. To each their own, right? Lamen isn't her actual name, but I haven't come up with her real name yet. It's obvious based off of "lamia" which are an all female mythological snake race. Pophis is named after Apophis from Egyptian mythology. Special thanks to @kimdourden for helping me come up with their names!!

Pophis

Age: 19

Birthday: sometime in November idk

Height: 5'7"

Homeland: Scalding Sands

Dorm: Scarabia

Year: second year (sophomore)

Class: 2-C (with Jamil)

Club: Film Studies (works on sets)

Best Subject: Art

Favorite Food: cake pops

Least Favorite Food: idk yet lol

Hobby: Painting

?? "Lamen"

Age: 19

Birthday: sometime in November idk

Height: 5'9"

Homeland: Scalding Sands

Dorm: Scarabia

Year: second year (sophomore)

Class: 2-E (with Riddle and Jade)

Club: haven't decided; something sporty

Favorite Food: prolly something spicy idk

Least Favorite Food: idk yet lol

Hobby: STILL UNDECIDED GRR

Relationships

Azul Ashengrotto

Pophis and Lamen do not appreciate this man at all. They wish he'd just leave Jamil alone, but that's not happening anytime soon. Lamen would throw tomatoes at him if it wouldn't get her in trouble.

Jade and Floyd Leech

0/10 Pophis and Lamen want fried unagi.

Kalim Al-Asim

Pophis: He's very fond of his housewarden, happy to help out. Kalim loves everyone, so the feeling is mutual.

Lamen: She wishes he'd take things more seriously, but she still loves her housewarden.

Jamil Viper

Pophis and Lamen are Jamil's biggest cheerleaders. They really look up to him and try to help when they can, but they also don't want to be invasive. Basically, if they're in the area, they're helping. They also call him an honorary snake, and he doesn't really know how to feel about that.

Vil Schoenheit

Pophis: He respects his club leader, but he wishes Vil would lay off a bit.

Epel Felmier

Pophis: Epel helps out with the Film Studies Club sometimes (against his will,) and Pophis loves his rough and tumble personality since it reminds him of his sister. Pophis tries to help ease Epel's burden when Epel comes to club meetings.

Lamen: She does not know this man, but based on what she's heard from her brother, he seems fun.

Rook Hunt

Pophis: He likes Rook's quirkiness, but he can only take so much of it at a time. He's also grateful for Rook helping the club so diligently.

Lamen: "Leave my brother alone, you weirdo!! You're freaking me out!!"

Idia Shroud

Pophis: He's never met Idia before, but Ortho makes his big brother sound so cool! But the rumors say he's a loser… Pophis doesn't know what to think.

Ortho Shroud

Pophis: He loves hanging out with Ortho in Film Studies!! Ortho has so much knowledge to share, and he's such a sweetheart! Pophis is friendly and gentle with him, but he doesn't treat Ortho like a baby. They have a lot of fun together. :)

When Lamen found out three girls started attending NRC without having to hide being women… Hoo boi, she was not happy. So the headmage told her she has to play a part for her safety (and so Crowley doesn't have to deal with the drama,) but these ladies in Ramshackle don't have to?! No, absolutely not. From then on, Lamen stopped posing as a boy, shocking the people around her, but she wasn't going to be something she wasn't. It was stifling! She still goes by Lamen, though, since she doesn't want to trip people up too much.

By the way, the women in question are me/Yatori, my sister/Peppermint, of whom I haven't posted because I JUST got perms to, and @kimdourden (get double tagged, fool /lh)

Pophis and Lamen have one claim to fame. Sort of, rather, as people don't know they started it.

Shipping wars.

Naturally, that's normal in fandom, but we're talking about real people. Campus celebrities. The Ramshackle girls. Three women showed up and started getting involved in major events? In an all-guys school?? (Never mind Lamen, haha.) And they like men? THERE'S GOTTA BE ROMANCE!! IT'S A CLICHÉ FOR A REASON!! (They need to chill.)

Pophis: I'm telling you, Jamil is definitely in love with the Prefect.

Lamen: The Ramshackle prefect? No way, he's definitely getting with that Yatori chick.

Pophis: They're oil and water, it'll never work!

Lamen: OPPOSITES ATTRACT!!

Pophis: NOT ALWAYS.

(They just want their idol to be happy.)

Lamen: Peppermint and Jade go into a room together, and someone's leaving pregnant. And it's not Peppermint.

Pophis: Dude, I just got here. Can you not?

(Lamen's the freaky one.)

Lamen: Stupid Azul and the prefect.

Pophis: Stop.

Lamen: I'm cooking, and you know it.

Pophis: Whatever you're cooking, no one's gonna eat it.

I should make a list of their OTPs…

Anyway, enough about them.

Time to talk about my favorite son.

Hugh Moore

His name…is a pun. On humor. You can already guess what he's about. Hugh is a character I've been wanting to make since before getting into TWST, but…he's perfect here. Absolutely perfect.

Hugh, my beloved son.

He's an absolute goober. Jokes are his thing. Puns, dad jokes, all of it. Some of them are well-thought out. Others, not so much. He is chaos incarnate in that he does not care people groan when he shows up, that people don't think he's funny — he keeps on keepin' on.

Hugh Moore

Age: 22

Birthday: April 1

Height: 5'11"

Homeland: Queendom of Roses

Dorm: Ignihyde

Year: second year (sophomore)

Class: 2-D (with Floyd)

Club: Science Club

Favorite Food: mixed M&Ms, Skittles, and Reese's pieces

Least Favorite Food: avacadoes

Hobby: collecting stickers

Relationships

Riddle Rosehearts

Joint classes are Hell. Riddle can't believe Hugh came from the Queendom!! (He's the chaos of Wonderland, shh.) Hugh is so unhinged that Riddle can't even begin to tame him. It's off with Hugh's head more times than anyone cares to count. Hugh thinks Riddle is a cool little laddie, though.

Cater Diamond

They hang out in Pop Music Club a lot even though Hugh isn't a member. (More below.) Hugh is 'cammable and hilarious, but he should dial it back a smidge. At least, that's what Cater thinks. They have lots of fun!

Trey Clover

Trey doesn't mind Hugh, but he does ask that Hugh tone it down when people are experimenting. Someone could get hurt. Hugh complies because he's here to have fun, not hurt others. Trey is amused by some of Hugh's jokes and definitely likes dad jokes, so they get along well. They also grow their plants together and take care of each other's when one can't.

Ruggie Bucchi

As second years, they interact sometimes, but Ruggie has mixed feelings. On one hand, Hugh is funny, and Ruggie participated in the shenanigans. On the other hand, Hugh is annoying, and Ruggie wants him to go away. Though, as long as Hugh doesn't interfere with Ruggie's work, Ruggie figures it's fine. But he never gave permission for Hugh to call him a little yeen!! Not just anybody can do that!!

Azul Ashengrotto

This is one person Azul doesn't want contractually obligated to do anything for him. Please, just go away. And his fish jokes aren't even funny! Why isn't he focusing on his classwork more? Great, not another scene in the Lounge. Uuughhh, he's such a headache. (Hugh has a positive opinion of most people, and since Azul typically keeps his distance, Hugh has his blanket opinion of Azul.)

Jade Leech

Jade thinks Hugh is amusing. When Hugh's jokes land, they land HARD, and Jade thinks about them for days, snickering behind his hand when he thinks no one is looking. Sometimes Jade jokes back, but other times, he remains curt. They're closer than acquaintances, but they aren't really friends, in a sort of Limbo. Jade does enjoy watching the chaos, though, as always.

Floyd Leech

Floyd. Ohh, poor Floyd. See, Floyd loves chaos — but not this chaos. He likes causing it, not being on the other end of it. He desperately wants to squeeze Hugh until he pops, but sometimes, Hugh is actually kind of funny. When they're in on the hijinks together, Floyd has lots of fun, but when they're not, Hugh may have to run for his life Benny Hill style. It's all fun and games for Hugh, though, so he doesn't mind.

Floyd calls Hugh Clownfish/Clownfishie for obvious reasons but also because Hugh loves painting himself in bright colors. And because Floyd has eaten plenty of clownfish, and he swears he'll get Hugh eventually. (He won't.)

…They even have class together, the poor eel.

Kalim Al-Asim

BESTIE BESTIE BESTIE BESTIE BESTIE!!!

Jamil Viper

Please, Sevens, one day of peace… (Hugh respects Jamil and tries not to troll him too much.)

Rook Hunt

Goobers for life!! Hugh loves hanging out with a fellow quirked up white boy, though he does have his limits. Most people can only handle Rook in doses, after all.

Rook calls Hugh Monsieur Pierrot.

Idia Shroud

Ohh, poor Idia. He has it worse than Floyd. Most of Ignihyde's students are introverts, nerds, geeks, and cowards, but Hugh is anything but. He's loud, he's persistent, and he's definitely the final boss. Idia can't handle being around this guy for a second! And he's supposed to wrangle him? Oh noo…

Idia needs a recharge period after being in the same room as Hugh, and it's a long recharge.

Ortho Shroud

Hugh Moore is fun!! He gives Ortho stickers and has lots of jokes to tell!! He's so nice. :)

Silver Vanrouge

Hugh is a nice guy. :)

Silver is a nice guy. :)

Lilia Vanrouge

BESTIES BESTIES BESTIES BESTIES!!! Lilia has dad jokes galore, and they bounce off each other perfectly. You could even say Lilia is Hugh's closest friend. Hugh loves Lilia's screamo metal, and he tries to cheer louder than Lilia performs. They both have sore throats the next day. Their friendship is very wholesome, please don't separate them. (Book 7 looms in the distance.)

Hugh is fun-loving and carefree. He sees humor as a form of self expression, and he wants to make people smile. If the crowd's tough, he'll move on to another one or maybe change his material.

This love for jokes does have a downside other than people dreading his arrival — he sometimes seems to not take things seriously. He also uses humor as a coping mechanism, so while he's not often stressed, if something happens, he appears flippant. The more anxious or scared he gets, the faster he talks, the darker his jokes get, and the more he gets tongue-tied. More of his jokes fall flat, even if he manages to deliver them properly. When he's completely silent, you know something is deathly wrong.

Hugh's humor is typically very family-friendly, but if he knows his crowd, he might shift to something a little darker or more risque, though he never goes very far. He only cusses when he thinks it'll actually add to the comedy.

Hugh loves bright colors. They're fun and eye-catching, just the way he likes things. He excels at color-changing magic, and he often employs it to change his look when he's feeling the need for a makeover. His shoes, hair highlights, anything and everything. He'll change their patterns, though colorful camouflage or otherwise splotchy patterns are his personal favorites.

His ears are not pierced. He wears clips and is especially fond of rose gold.

Hugh's hair clips and facial stickers change daily, and he tries not to wear the same combination twice. He also enjoys decorating all of his belongings with stickers, and when he likes someone, he gives them a sticker.

When Hugh matches his highlights with someone else's hair, whether theirs is natural or not, he calls twinsies. Floyd hates this, even if they're just inverses. It's too close. Jade finds it hilarious, and Lilia adores it. Cater just has to take a picture when Hugh and Lilia match, and Kalim loves photobombing.

Hugh didn't choose the Pop Music Club because he passion lay elsewhere — baking. There was no club specifically like that, so he chose the Science Club, much like Trey. He loves baking brightly colored sweets, things pleasing to the eye and comforting. Pastels, vibrant hues, rich flavors, and beautiful presentation. It's an art form, and he's an appreciator of art. Rook praises Hugh's baking to no end, along with Trey's. He insists they bake together more often to create culinary masterpieces the likes of which even the Great Seven would marvel at. Rook is, uh, passionate about their baking, too…

When it comes to Hugh's relationships with my OCs, sona, and sister's sona, it's fairly simple.

Fang

Fang wants Hugh dead. Fang hates corny jokes, and he hates when people don't take things seriously, so of course Hugh is his sworn enemy. Hugh likes teasing him because he knows Fang can't do anything about it — Yatori wouldn't let him.

Thorne

Thorne thought Hugh was funny. Then it got old. Fast. Thorne tries to avoid Hugh, wanting to dodge the headache, but his attempts, surprisingly, often fail. For someone so good at hunting, stalking, and hiding, he sure can't seem to escape the inevitability of Hugh Moore. Er, humor.

Yatori/myself

I. LOVE. THIS. MAN. He's a total riot, even when his jokes don't land and I feel the need to cuff him upside the head. We're buddies.

Peppermint/my sister

She likes him well enough. :) He's a bit much sometimes, but he's fun to be around, and she loves causing a little chaos with him. (Me too.) She taught him about the Gremon, and he loves it. (Save us.)

Some Hugh things I was talking to @kimdourden about. :) (TRIPLE TAGGED MWAHAHAHA)

(Jawfish is Fang.)

That. Was. A long ass post. If you stayed with me to the end, thanks so much! I appreciate it more than you know. (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

Have a wonderful day/night!!

[sshbpodcast]

He’s from that other Star Trek!

By Ames

Over on the A Star to Steer Her By podcast, Discovery has finally met up with Ethan Peck’s Spock after weeks of teasing us with the cross-series cameo we’d been promised. And it got the SSHB hosts thinking: When are guest appearances of characters from other Trek series worth it, and when are they strictly for the audience's recognition? And when are they inexplicably simultaneously both?

Gene Roddenberry spent all of The Next Generation insisting that it be kept separate from The Original Series, but once the Great Bird was no longer with us, that door was unceremoniously kicked down! Every series after TOS has its moments of “I know this character from the other thing!” for the audience to do the Leonardo DiCaprio point at their screen and feel immediately good about themselves. We’re going to go through all the instances of main characters showing up in other series from TNG through the Kelvin films. Follow along with us on this week’s podcast episode (jump to 48:19). You’ll never believe who shows up!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint” Every series premiere after The Original Series has some sort of baton-handoff scene between one of the preexisting characters and our new folks, and in The Next Generation, that came as a lovely moment between McCoy and Data. The scene obviously evokes an amicable succession while also promising to the audience that the franchise will be in good hands. But we’re just such fans of Bones here that we’re fine being catered to.

TNG: “Unification” It’s not until season five that we see another TOS alumnus, and that’s when Spock drops by to work things out between the Vulcans and the Romulans. It’s something we can emphatically see being relevant to his character, especially after the steamy events of “The Enterprise Incident,” so it’s a pretty seamless plot in that regard. Even if we know that behind the scenes, this was a marketing tie-in with Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, we’re here for it.

TNG: “Relics” We have one more classic Trek appearance in TNG, and that’s a temporally-displaced Scotty popping out of a transporter buffer—which is the most Scotty way of showing up somewhere that we can think of. The episode is also more than just a “I know that guy” bell and whistle. Seeing Montgomery Scott, a genius of his time, struggling with obsolescence is more impactful than it would have been if they’d written the episode for some rando we don’t care about.

TNG: “Birthright” I may have said that was the last TOS main who shows up in TNG, but we still have more crossover cameos! When Julian Bashir shows up to be an eccentric weirdo in “Birthright,” it’s definitely more wanky. Clearly, they’re just trying to promote Deep Space Nine, and not even all that well because the scene would have made more sense with a different character. There’s no reason a medical officer would be involved in this engineering plot!

TNG: “Firstborn” There’s just one final TNG cameo that we could think of, and it’s the wankiest one. When Quark appears on a screen to talk to Riker in “Firstborn,” it is only to advance the plot. Strike that, anyone could have done that. It was only so viewers could get that sense of righteousness when they recognize a thing they know and get to feel smart. At least they probably just filmed Armin Shimerman between scenes on the DS9 set.

Generations Let’s move on to the TNG films, which also feature cameos from the other shows, some more blatant than others. Generations is super obvious about this because the whole film is a “what if Kirk and Picard had an adventure together?” fanfic that, frankly, glosses right over a perfectly serviceable Kirk character arc. But we also get clear the fan service inclusion of Chekov and Scott at the beginning, complete with tongue-in-cheek press. Clearly Nimoy, Kelly, and Nichols all said no, and it’s all so obvious the two who showed up just inherited their lines.

Nemesis One more quick wank and then we’ll move on. Admiral Janeway pops up in Nemesis just to help Picard advance the plot. It’s a fairly throwaway scene that could have gone to anyone, but fans of Voyager would feel rewarded to see that their favorite captain has gotten promoted and is safe and secure in the quadrant where she belongs. Shockingly, there’s no dog yapping in the background of her Zoom window.

DS9: “Emissary” Onward to Deep Space Nine! We’ve got a much bigger baton handoff for the series premiere this time, with the captain of the previous show showing up to give our new hero his mission. Having Sisko immediately loathe Picard was a daring move to kick off a show, but that animosity propels the whole series forward. DS9 promises not to be the cuddle-factory crew that TNG boasted, and contrasting the two leads in front of your very eyes highlights that for you.

DS9: “Defiant” This cameo has a one-two punch! Just when you think it’s just going to be a William Riker appearance for the fans to wank about, it’s revealed that this is actually Tom Riker! Who’s technically the same person, so we’ll count it. After his introduction in “Second Chances,” it’s nice to see Tom’s character get a little arc that makes sense for him, that brings peril to the station’s characters, and that’s a genuinely solid story on its own.

DS9: “Through the Looking Glass” If we counted Tom Riker in this little exercise, we might as well count Mirror Universe characters too. For the most part, including Mirror Tuvok in the Terran Resistance feels like it’s mostly one of those “Look, it’s a guy to wank about!” instances. But the more you think about it, the more interesting it gets. On the podcast, we give the Mirror Universe more scrutiny than it merits, but here’s an example of things not always being 1:1 because this Tuvok isn’t in the Delta Quadrant! Fascinating!

DS9: “Trials and Tribble-ations” Here’s an episode that is expressly fankwank! And we wanked! Almost all the DS9 crew gets to meet all of the TOS crew, so this episode is much more than allowing a character from another series to appear for a story. It’s forming the whole story around that and making it so self conscious and impressive that “Trials and Tribble-ations” is really its own kind of animal. The references are the entire point, and seeing the two crews together feels earned.

VOY: “Caretaker” Before the plunge into the Delta Quadrant, the Voyager has time for one of the franchise’s typical baton handoffs at Deep Space Nine, and it’s a fairly good one! Not only do we get the prescribed cameo from a previous show’s main character when we see Quark trying to rip off Harry at the bar, but the whole scene sets up the Tom-Harry dynamic that will become emblematic of the whole series. It’s a Ferengi two-for-one special!

VOY: “Death Wish” You’re going to see Riker turn up in other series the most, and this is the second of three times we’re going to see him in this list (and we’re not even getting to streaming Trek this week!). In Voyager, his appearance just seems kinda dumb. It being Riker of all people whom Q manifests during Quinn’s trial doesn’t add anything specific to the plot. He’s just there because the audience will recognize him. At least Frakes doesn’t play his ancestor in the photo.

VOY: “Flashback” Coming out at about the same time as DS9’s “Trials and Tribble-ations,” Voyager’s recognition of the 30th anniversary also brings some familiar faces to the screen. This time, it’s Sulu and Rand (whom I’d argue is a main character, underappreciated though she was) appearing in flashbacks on the Excelsior during the time of The Undiscovered Country. It all makes sense in the context of the episode while still being distinct as an episode of Voyager.

VOY: “Timeless” I’d put the Captain La Forge cameo in “Timeless” about on par with the Janeway cameo in Nemesis on the wankiness scale. There’s no good reason for him to be the one chasing down Chakotay and Kim except that the audience knows who he is. And frankly, we don’t think his career journey would lead to captaincy anyway. Maybe this is where Riker should have turned up? Or better yet, have it be Captain Data and establish in this timeline he never died in Nemesis!

VOY: “Pathfinder,” “Lifeline,” and “Inside Man” What’s much more conducive for a guest cameo is utilizing Troi’s role as a counselor usefully for a change! We probably see her do her job more in her three appearances on Voyager than in all of The Next Generation, and it’s so nice to see! She influences the plot! She shows competence at her job! She has a very believable rapport with Barclay! And Marina Sirtis gets to actually show her humor in her scenes. This is one of few times when we’re glad we got more of a character. Until...

ENT: “These Are the Voyages…” Riker continues his pattern of popping up somewhere in each of the subsequent Trek series with our final broadcast-era show, Enterprise. The 2000s series did have a sort-of handoff scene in the premiere, “Broken Bow,” with the Zephram Cochrane footage, but he wasn’t a main character, so it doesn’t count for this exercise! The finale, on the other hand, just plain shouldn’t exist. The SSHB hosts find forcing Riker and Troi into this prequel series to be in poor taste, as we’ve discussed many times before. Fuck this episode.

Star Trek (2009), Into Darkness, and Beyond It’s appropriate that we end with more Spocks! We just met him on Discovery, and we wouldn’t have gotten here without the Kelvin films. Making Nimoy’s Spock integral to the plot was a smart inclusion and we have to commend these films for doing it tastefully, cleverly, and most important: logically. It’s much more than sating the crowd with things they’ll recognize. Nimoy’s inclusion was pivotal to making the universe make sense in the most Star Trek–y way.

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One of these days, we’ll come back to this assignment after we’ve seen more of the streaming series and see what the differences and similarities are there. Will it be more fanwank? Will the proportions of cameo appearances be overwhelmingly represented in Lower Decks? Keep following along to find out! Until then, you can keep listening to our watchthrough of Discovery over on SoundCloud, YouTube, or wherever you podcast. You can also make a cameo appearance to us by finding us on Facebook and BlueSky, especially if you’re William Riker. That guy shows up everywhere!