#a sacrifice for the heavens or whatever else

[randomrabbys]

Alex and Nigel as llamas

[bigquestionmark]

i love you jesus-coded characters!!!

[sunderwight]

Bingqiu AU where Luo Binghe's the chosen village sacrifice to the evil deity who lives up the mountain.

Normally the village sends maidens, but they've more or less run out of expendable girls of the right age and, ahem, "virtues". So of course Luo Binghe's early life bad luck kicks in. In the wake of his mother's death there's no one to really care about what happens to him, he's fairly pretty, and the village leaders decide that if they dress him up like a girl the teenaged homeless kid should pass well enough. And hey, y'know, he's probably got a hard life ahead for him anyway -- dying in a brothel of some venereal disease or on the streets of exposure or starvation. At least as a sacrifice, everyone else gets to benefit from his loss! And the kid will get added to a shrine and be remembered as a hero! If anything, he should be happy about this!

Binghe is not happy about this.

But he's also a skinny underfed nobody who is easily overpowered, dressed up like a bride, and tied to a post. So. Not much he can do but wait for the evil deity to come and do whatever horrible thing he's gonna do to him.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan is pretty sure he's been isekai'd into the over-powered hero of some kind of supernatural adventure story? He's not totally sure because he doesn't recognize the setting, but the signs are there. He's got a shrine-like base of operations (though it seems to have become corrupted/ruined, probably he has to restore it somehow), he has a very resilient and handsome new body with spiritual energy of some kind flowing through him, and a very clearly magical sword. Plus lots of neat starter powers! Though it feels like he has other abilities that have been blocked somehow? Probably he has to level up in order to access them.

When he treks out of his "base" and finds what seems to be a distressed maiden, he takes it for his beginner hero mission. The girl claims that she's been doomed to be sacrificed to an evil god. That sounds a little above Shen Yuan's pay grade for dealing with, so he unties her and decides that they had better just get out of the whole region altogether. He already packed up anything useful from his base, anticipating he might get caught up in an adventure once he left, so they follow the river away from the settlement until they reach another one.

While they travel, Luo Binghe tells Shen Yuan about the cursed deity, Shen Qingqiu, who was cast out of the heavens for slaughtering one of his brethren and has apparently being do-who-knows what to maidens from the local village in exchange for his "protection" ever since. Sounds like a real asshole! And also mid-level boss type bad guy at least. Shen Yuan hopes he doesn't have to fight him, but he probably will.

Thank goodness he found Binghe, though! Clearly the helpful little sister type! He's definitely going to require her assistance if he's going to figure out how to navigate this world and level up his skills enough to take on a god.

[sairenharia]

MK's First Dad

The snakes represent my many, many dads!

Why yes, MK, they do represent your many, many dads.

Or rather, one dad, many times.

This dad.

So very clearly, the world of Lego Monkie Kid has been experiencing timeloops. Nuwa made MK to collect the stones and when the cycle of the world ends, he yeets himself into the pillar, and restarts everything from the beginning. Without outside factors, everything happens the same as it always did.

The Celestial body establishes itself, demons run amok, the journey happens, society builds, further and further until at least the Jade Emperor and maybe the other Guardians reach the end of their life and the Heavenly Pillar starts to crumble and has to be rebuilt and start the cycle.

Until THIS cycle where the Nine Headed Demon decided to wake MK up early.

And you know what?

I believe every single word the NHD said after he revealed himself was one hundred percent the complete and utter truth. He never ONCE lied to MK or any of the others, at least not from his perspective.

From the explanation of his motives, to the idle comments.

We see this in what he says he's doing. NHD said he isn't trying to push MK to a choice. What he wants is for MK to MAKE a choice. If MK chooses to sacrifice himself, NHD said he's going to save everyone, affirming his choice. By that same token, when MK comes back out of the pillar, he says he choose to face the end together in a supportive tone, affirming his choice again!

NHD didn't lie. Whatever choice MK made, he supported and encouraged MK in it.

His tune only changed, ONLY changed when he was terrified he was going to be trapped in the cycle again. And even then, it was only a brief moment. Once he saw he didn't have to be trapped, he was back to supporting MK, and he was relieved.

Even with the way NHD interacts with the others shows this. NHD allowed them to SPEAK. He only interfered when they tried to PHYSICALLY take MK's choice from him. NHD was fully enabling them to convince MK to make the choice they wanted him to make. They were allowed to persuade, because it was still ultimately MK who got to decide what he was going to do.

From start to finish, NHD had two goals. One was to leave the cycle, which he saw as happening either way. Either everything fell apart, or he had a way out when the cycle reset. MK's moved changed his gateway and that's when he got upset, but he had no issue with MK's CHOICE, just the fact he would be trapped again.

And two, that very choice.

But why? NHD manipulated Azure. He manipulated the Yama Kings. Potentially a lot of people in heaven and those below, which is pretty against people making choices. So why does he care so much about MK's choice?

Because the cycle wasn't supposed to end for another eon.

Because this cycle wasn't the first, it wasn't the second, and it likely wasn't even the hundredth.

Which means MK didn't have Pigsy. He didn't have Tang, or Mei, or Sandy, or anyone else in his life. They were long dead by the time the Harbinger is released in every other cycle.

Now with MK having longer to cook, he may be fully grown. Or he may be a kid again, but I think with what NHD said about wanting to give the Harbinger a chance to have a life, the Harbinger is usually grown enough to be able handle the trials.

But he's probably not got a lot of personality going on. Nuwa may have chosen an extreme way to maintain the pillar, but she does seem to be trying her best to minimize suffering. She is repeating the cycle because its the only way she can see in protecting the world from chaos. She makes Harbinger because a sacrifice is necessary for the pillar, to remain as a building block like I think she is. Harbinger has to be someone who EXISTS, but if he's largely a blank slate, then the loss is not so great.

Harbinger lives to sacrifice himself. He has no family. He has no life to lose.

But this means someone who is blank and potentially easy to lead astray.

This is why the trials. Because really, Harbinger is suppose to just live, grab the stones, yeet. Why does he need TRIALS? But then there is what the trials actually teach, as we know them.

A trial of resolve, to push through to the end despite the dangers. To endure danger and hardship to the end. Then the other trial, of focus on self, on what he needs to do in the present. But what's interesting is the DANGER of this one. Its not to Harbinger, but whoever is with him.

These trials are to make sure Harbinger has the nerve to go through danger and hardships to get to the end of the quest...and to keep his focus to PROTECT OTHERS.

Harbinger is made to be a sacrifice. He is made to protect. He is made to save. What happens if he sees people in danger on the way to the pillar? He would get distracted, but in delaying, he puts them in MORE danger. He has to be able to ignore those in smaller danger, and focus on his inner task, to make sure he focuses on the greater goal of sacrificing himself to keep them ALL safe.

I'm sure the dragon and tiger would have something similar.

So the trials help train Harbinger into some personality, but he still has to GET there. More over, he needs to have SOMEONE for the Black Tortoise.

The Yama Kings also know about the Harbinger. They know when he should be released and what he is supposed to do. They likely know what he is supposed to be like, and likely they are also how MK is supposed to even GET to the Jade Emperor.

The Harbinger needed a guide.

And I think that is the Nine Headed Demon.

Because here is the thing. NHD says he's not a monster. And he's tired of being the hero. And he isn't lying.

Here is the cycle.

The world starts. The Celestial body establishes itself. Demons run amok. The Journey happens. Society builds. Nuwa at some point puts the Harbinger in the stone. Eons pass. The Jade Emperor hits the end of his life.

The Harbinger is released.

And NHD is there, as a representative of the Yama Kings who know enough to know this will happen and what is expected. NHD helps the Harbinger to the trials. He helps him to the pillar. He watches the Harbinger sacrifice himself.

The cycle begins again.

He is there again.

The Harbinger dies again.

Over and over, until at some point, perhaps after the first time, perhaps later on, NHD is exposed to chaos. Likely when the cycle is ending and resetting, there is a window that chaos seeps in and NHD is able to see all that is beyond the world.

This is likely why he thinks he's fine regardless of MK's choice. Either he left during the brief window of a reset, he everything fell apart, so he was freed. He didn't account for continuing on beyond the reset.

NHD sees beyond and he sees beauty. NHD sees beyond and now he can REMEMBER. Why is hard to say. Likely he made a deal with whoever "he" is, but regardless, NHD loves chaos and he retains his memories.

But NHD was chosen to help the Harbinger for a reason. He is not cruel. He is not heartless. He loves the masses. He wanted to save and protect them, even at a cost, so he was chosen to help the Harbinger.

It is why even after he saw chaos, he chose to return. He had seen something so GOOD in his eyes, and he wanted to see if he could change the mind of those in the world. To convince Heaven to LET the chaos in. To end the resets and allow chaos and life to CHANGE beyond.

But no one listens.

They reject him.

Call him a monster.

The cycles continue.

He tries. He tries persuasion. He tries trickery. He likely tries force, but the Harbinger is too strong to stop and he will fulfill his destiny. He asks for help.

He even asks the one person who might stop the Harbinger.

Sun Wukong.

NHD said they were old enemies and old friends. NHD sought a solution, so he would ask who he could for help. Sometimes he could convince Wukong to help him. Others, he couldn't. And sometimes, he managed to get Wukong enraged enough to become an enemy. But unfortunately even with Wukong's power, he's never quite strong enough to keep the Harbinger from the pillar.

Likely because the Harbinger wants nothing more than to get to the pillar, and ultimately, the Harbinger is just some kid getting used, and Wukong can't bring himself to kill him. Allowing the Harbinger a moment to get through regardless of how the fight is actually going.

Which could be going far in Wukong's reaction to MK.

NHD said that MK is a remnant of chaos. Which means either the clay he was made from...or from Wukong's stone. And since the Celestial Primates are ODDITIES, its likely Wukong's stone that has that bit of chaos in it that Nuwa is using in her sacrificial building block. No one is gonna be able to make Wukong do anything he doesn't want, and likely none of the other primates, and Nuwa doesn't want to ask anyone to end their life either. Start anew is better.

But likely this bit of chaos may be why Wukong feels a draw to MK. Some part of him remembers the Harbinger. Remembers his strength. Remembers he's a kid being used, who hadn't been allowed to live, who did so much for the sake of others. A kid who idolizes him. A kid who can use his staff.

I think it says something with how much Wukong focuses on MK becoming self confident and choosing things for himself and why he steps in with the Spider Queen because its a fight MK desperately doesn't want even though he SHOULD be capable of handling it, instead of thinking the fights are too much for MK like the Lady Bone Demon. Wukong wants MK to decide things for himself, he wants MK to LIKE himself. Wukong wants MK to choose to. There is a bleeding of the timeline because of Wukong's connection to chaos by being a Celestial Primate.

The Harbinger is a blank slate...but he is a person. NHD, at first, just wants to help the world. He wants to be the hero. He wants to move beyond the cycle. But in trying to find that path, he introduces new elements to the Harbinger.

The Harbinger starts to show signs of development. Of change. The Harbinger starts to laugh. The Harbinger starts getting cheeky. The Harbinger starts crying when fights break out at the end. There is LIFE in the Harbinger.

Yet another beautiful thing this cycling world rejects for the sake of continuing to spin.

NHD tries to find a third solution. He tries over and over again. He knows the Harbinger will continue to the pillar, to save the world, over and over again, and he doesn't have the power to stop him. The Harbinger will always choose to sacrifice himself. He cannot end the cycle by preventing the sacrifice. He looks for a way to move past the eon. Maybe if he had more TIME, he could convince people to give chaos a chance. Perhaps he could allow the pillar to crumble more slowly, allow the sun to peak in over time. If he could just get the box to OPEN, then that would be enough.

Except nothing works. He can't fight anyone strong enough to replace the guardians. He can't find another means to fix the pillar. He tries over and over again.

There are several consequences to this and I'll get into one of those in another post. (Red Son has some INTERESTING things going on.)

NHD cannot find a means to move beyond the cycle. He is getting disillusioned. He wants to save everyone. He wants to bring them to the sun. He just can't.

He knows...he knows he doesn't HAVE to keep trying.

He sees it every reset. He has a window. He can LEAVE the cycle himself. Let everyone stay in their cave forever.

Except.

He sees the Harbinger throw himself into the pillar. The one he's sees sacrificing himself countless times for a world he never gets to truly experience. He only gets slivers of it. Moments of joy. Moments of triumphant. Moments of pain. Moments of truly being alive, when he deserved so much more.

NHD is tired. His sanity is fraying. He could simply go...

But he decides one more time.

He would live the cycle one more time.

Because the Harbinger deserved to fully experience the world. The Harbinger deserved to DECIDE whether or not to keep the cycle going, or let the world fall apart.

He manipulates the world in a different way. He's lived this cycle countless times. He knows much of what happens. He chooses a time.

He knows DBK gets released. He knows in short order, the Lady Bone Demon also gets freed, whether this is by the Demon Bull Family, the Mayor, or perhaps even Macaque (I haven't gotten a solid theory on what Macaque's deal is YET, but I have a suspicion his revival may not be a consistent thing.) Either way, DBK getting freed gets Wukong off his mountain because DBK is running around with HIS staff and while Wukong isn't interested in being a hero, that is HIS staff, thank you very much.

And the Lady Bone Demon is simply too big of a threat to ignore.

Its the first time where Wukong HAS to be active.

Its also the first time, in a while, where Wukong leaves his mountain. At times, visiting this city because its the first time in a while where the incarnations of the pilgrims are in close proximity and Wukong can't help himself. He just has to check things are okay.

Its the perfect set up.

The danger of releasing the Harbinger early is people noticing him. He will feel compelled to help people. NHD is pretty sure there is no way to be rid of that. So he needs something to justify this powerhouse running around.

This is the perfect time. Pigsy is a family man. If he leaves the Harbinger nearby, he will at least take care of the kid, and hopefully take him in. NHD can't be sure, but perhaps he has an idea depending on if Mei always finds Pigsy and Tang independent of MK's existence.

It works though. The Harbinger becomes MK and he's in place to be noticed by Wukong, who NHD already KNOWS experiences some bleed. Has seen Wukong react to the Harbinger with familiarity. Knows Wukong will be intrigued by MK enough to stay close.

Then DBK's freeing comes and Wukong is acting on suspicions, and maybe NHD is manipulating other things, but MK ends up with the staff, and Wukong is declaring MK his successor and NHD is thrilled.

MK now has the perfect smokescreen. The Celestial court has no say of what goes on with Celestial Primates without direct force. They don't know how they WORK. If Wukong says MK is his successor, then clearly he's done some weird primate magic on the boy and that's why he's powerful. The fact DBK and the Lady Bone Demon appeared, it screams of potential destiny to Wukong to. Throw in a few more of Wukong's enemies, keep him thrown long enough to not risk him thinking too much. Not like its hard, Wukong doesn't often think too much.

Even if this set up did present a few unexpected challenges NHD didn't account for. Macaque was largely an unknown because without MK's influence, IF Macaque is ALWAYS revived, Wukong and him likely never make up. They have too much bad history and too much stubbornness to actually work through their issues without MK calling Macaque out on his bullshit and enabling them to have to be around each other without turning into a huge fight. NHD got lucky that it took as long as it did because while Wukong doesn't overthink, Macaque certainly does and his plan may have been in more danger if Macaque had longer to explore those questions from episode one.

But no one knows MK is the Harbinger.

MK is allowed to experience life and what is means to save and have people to care for and he gets to make decisions on the scale of restoring the pillar and its perfect!

MK not only can make a choice, but will have the experience to do so.

Its all NHD ever wanted for him.

He's likely been doing something to the Jade Emperor to hasten his decline, or perhaps an eon really counts for the end of the man's life. Either way, he just has to free someone who is strong enough to take on the Jade Emperor in that state, but isn't strong enough to keep the stone functional.

The cycle can finally end.

MK can make a choice.

He can be free.

NHD never lied to anyone. He wanted to save everyone. He wasn't a monster. He wanted MK to have the freedom to chose, whatever it was.

He was only ever against MK the brief moment when he realized the world would continue and he wouldn't have his gap to escape. He didn't know WHAT would happen after that moment. Chaos had a chance to come in. There was a chance chaos wouldn't be able to, or at least wouldn't be able to for a very long time and he was so TIRED, he just wanted out, and for a moment, he was afraid to lose the thing he wanted for HIMSELF.

But as he stands on those stairs, as he sees the chaos, he is relieved.

He is HAPPY.

His words to MK are genuine. They are full of care and perhaps love. The child he had sent to die was finally alive. He was brilliant and clever. He found a third option that he hadn't been able to do for eons past.

He knows chaos is coming and that there will be a battle. The chaos MK feared may still be allowed through. So he warns him there is danger, that he will have to deal with the consequences of what happens Next.

He wishes him luck and thanks him. Sends him to a home he is glad his Harbinger is allowed to experience. For better or worse.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

100% the fault of @cr0nu5 and this art of younger! chaggie

Heaven's clock tower: (RINGS THE START OF EXTERMINATION DAY)

Goth Teen Charlie: "Welp. Trust fall time."

Goth Teen Charlie: (keels over backwards off the clock tower roof)

Exorcist Vaggie: (catches her) "Con un demonio- not AGAIN!"

Goth Teen Charlie: "Hi. Wait a sec."

Goth Teen Charlie: (pulls off vaggie's mask revealing vaggie's glare)

Goth Teen Charlie: "Yep it's you."

Exorcist Vaggie: “Me? What about you! Why does the princess of hell keep flopping into my arms!?”

Goth Teen Charlie: (limp in her arms) (tonelessly) “You can't keep killing my people if you're too busy princess carrying me instead."

Goth Teen Charlie: "Also, you're the one who keeps catching me.”

Exorcist Vaggie: "Your highness. I will drop your royal ass."

Goth Teen Charlie: "You won't."

Exorcist Vaggie: "Yes I will."

Goth Teen Charlie: "Then do it."

Exorcist Vaggie: (swooping down) "Get on your feet before I let go."

Goth Teen Charlie: "Nope. I'd rather just fall at your hands and suffer."

Exorcist Vaggie: "You-" (hesitates) "... you would just cause problems somewhere else if I did let you go, wouldn't you. Get in the way of my sisters in arms. Start waving the anti-extermination day sign and set off more stupid protest sparkles while we try to work."

Goth Teen Charlie: "You'll never know."

Exorcist Vaggie: (hugging her) "I choose not to risk it."

Goth Teen Charlie: (squeeing internally) "Tragic. Condolences on your sacrifice or whatever. You got a name?"

Exorcist Vaggie: "I don't give out my name to demons."

Goth Teen Charlie: "I think I'll call you Huggles."

Exorcist Vaggie: "...Princess. You will not call me Huggles."

Goth Teen Charlie: "Huggles is having a tough day in hell huh."

Exorcist Vaggie: "Give me back my mask."

Goth Teen Charlie: "Uh oh. Huggles is blushing."

Exorcist Vaggie: "If huggles face is flushed right now it's only from how huggles' heart is pounding with helpless rage."

Goth Teen Charlie: "Yeah." (flops head against vaggie's chest) "I can tell."

Exorcist Vaggie: "Miss Morningstar would you PLEASE-"

Lute: "Soldier! Are you cuddling that demon? And begging her??"

Exorcist Vaggie: "Wh- NO MA'AM!" (still doesn't drop charlie)

Goth Teen Charlie: (tiny smirk) "Not yet."

[folkloresthings]

❛ HEAVEN KNOWS ❜ ❨ lando norris x singer!reader ❩

📻 track two: wendy.

in which the they were the perfect couple, until they weren’t. or in which we take a look back into what made heaven itself fall apart.

. . . SEPTEMBER 2023

INSTAGRAM. september twenty—seventh.

liked by niallhoran, lizzymcalpine and 761,320 others

yourusername first song from the good witch! i wrote wendy after a day huddled under my duvet rewatching every adaptation of peter pan that exists. it’s all about falling for lost boys and trying your best to see the best in them even though your heart tells you better. it’s about not making sacrifices even though you want to, learning to put yourself first despite how much love might blind you to do the opposite. what about wendy!

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user STOP these songs are going to tear lando apart i just know it

charlottesiine wendy darling 🤍 lock the windows!!!!

user is lando her lost boy 😭😭😭

REWIND… AUGUST 2022.

for just under three years, heaven was all you knew. lando was a dream, all wrapped up in his love for you and forever devoted to your attentions. maybe the effect of being locked up together for months as the pandemic reigned had given you both a taste of stockholm syndrome and left you with nothing else to focus on. or maybe it was just time.

the beginning of summer break was when you felt the first shift. every other year, lando whisked you away on a holiday to the sunniest place he could find. he wined and dined you, making up for all of the lost time between the racing season and touring. only, this time, he had booked a trip to ibiza with max and his friends.

“what about me?”

“i don’t see them that often either, you know that,” he defended.

it was understandable, you supposed. he liked those kinds of places, you didn’t. so while he partied there, you spent a little extra time in the studio. but then it was a week in spain with carlos, another in croatia with daniel. the compromise came in the form of monaco. you would take some time off, leaving your london flat behind, and come stay with lando in his monte carlo apartment.

you were all excitement, until you realised your time there was scheduled around lando’s meetings and dj sets and boys night out. the desperation to be close to him trumped all else and so you followed him around like a lost puppy, forever blinded by the sweet kisses and doting promises.

“i’ll take you to dinner tomorrow night, just me and you,” lando would murmur in your ear, letting your frustration subside long enough to let him go back to his friends.

it took that whole month in monaco to realise that this is what lando wanted: someone to follow after him and live for the short term magic, only to be let down by the endless maybe’s, trusting that he’ll catch you when you fall. it terrified you, and yet your undying love kept you playing along.

“i have a show in brixton next week,” you told him on your last morning in monaco, shoving the last of your clothes into your case. “it’s low-key, for some of the really devoted fans. i got management to put your name on the list.”

lando zipped up the last of your belongings, soft thumbs caressing your cheeks. “i wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

you grinned happily, uncaring for whatever doubt sank in your stomach when it was just the two of you, his lips soothing on your warm skin. he loved you, truly.

INSTAGRAM. august twenty—first.

liked by nicolacoughlan, hozier and 780,629 more

y/nupdates y/n in brixton tonight! 21/8 🤍

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user the intimate shows w her are my fav 🥺🥺🥺

user mother!

user was lando there? i heard she gave him a shoutout

⤷ user she sang feels like this and dedicated it to him!

⤷ user yeah but it seemed like she was looking out for him in the back when she said it and it didn’t look like he was there ☹️

⤷ user ouch 🥲

“are you alright?”

it’s the first thing you ask when he answers the phone, and you know it’s horrible that you hope something bad has happened — but it’s better than the truth that weighs heavy on his lips.

“i’m so sorry love, i meant to call you earlier,” lando groans through your speaker, your dressing room door clicking closed behind you. still in your stage outfit, you await the excuses. “the flight was delayed and then cancelled. i would get the next flight but i’ve got that thing tomorrow evening.”

“oh, i see.” your eyes sting.. “are you back in the apartment now?”

“huh? oh yeah, i just got an uber back from the airport and i’m ordering some food now.”

if you had the energy to scoff and argue you would, for you can hear the distant bouncing of club music on the other end of the phone, most likely muffled by where lando has hidden away in the bathroom.

“that’s nice,” you whisper, picking anxiously at the skin around your nailbed. “well, the show went really well. i think that—”

“babe, you’re breaking up. i’ll call you tomorrow okay?” lando’s voice raises as the bathroom door on his side opens to let the loud music peek in. “i’m sorry again.”

“okay, bye,” you sigh, but the call ends before he can even hear it. sinking into the small sofa of the dressing room, curling into yourself, the tears flow over your perfect makeup — fading the lipstick you’d chosen just for him.

you couldn’t live like this, is what your friends told you when you spent your evening crying on their sofa. but you loved him, and you would follow him to the ends of the earth. you could be married soon, waiting up at night for the sound of the door unlatching. it’s a life you could have and you knew it — even if it wasn’t what you wanted.

INSTAGRAM. august twenty—second.

liked by charles_leclerc, taylorswift and 722,784 others

yourusername a week in neverland

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user boyfriend lando pics!!!

carlossainz55 so great to see you!👸

⤷ yourusername time for you to come to london now!!!!

⤷ carlossainz55 ✈️🏃🏻💨

user ofc lando brings her to the track even on summer break 🙄😅

landonorris my wendy darling ❤️

⤷ user does this make lando peter pan?

⤷ yourusername 🤍🤍🤍

user still sad we didn’t see lando at the london show :(

writers note: did i promise this new chapter ages ago? yes but just be happy you guys have it now 🫶❤️‍🔥

taglist: @openthenyoor01 @racingheartsworld @celestialend @cha-hot @gr1mes-cc @allywthsr @imsorare @youdontknowmeshh @bellewintersroe @orangetreekid

[calliesmemes]

DARKNESS STILL HAUNTS YOUR NARRATIVE

ASSORTED ASKBOX PROMPTS from various sources with dark and / or unsettling themes. The ominous feeling from before is still there, and its prominence has only grown …

* TRIGGERING THEMES MAY BE PRESENT, such as death, wealth inequality, and war. Please exercise caution and curate your space accordingly.

CHANGE gendered words and in-universe phrases as needed

SPECIFY muse for multimuses

❛ When I look at a person, I see a person — not a rank, not a class, not a title. ❜

❛ What a strange girl you are. ❜

❛ History is written by the rich, and so the poor get blamed for everything. ❜

❛ I could corrupt you. It would be easy. ❜

❛ How many centuries deep is your wound? ❜

❛ You’ll be remembered more for what you destroy than what you create. ❜

❛ Bitter are the wars between brothers. ❜

❛ Power comes with a price. ❜

❛ Your power might destroy you if you don’t learn to control it. ❜

❛ I’m not going to let you anywhere near a battlefield! ❜

❛ War is sweet to those who have never fought. ❜

❛ Cowardice is everywhere in this country. ❜

❛ Which appeals to you more? Power, or love? ❜

❛ Inside my head, the war is everywhere. ❜

❛ You look like your grief and guilt and rage are eating you alive, bit by bit. ❜

❛ Good and evil are a question of perspective. ❜

❛ The only difference between martyrdom and suicide is the press coverage. ❜

❛ Your place is at home; you will fight another day. ❜

❛ How many more children do we have to sacrifice in this war? ❜

❛ When you talk to the dead, the dead will talk back. They’re always there, even if you can’t hear them. ❜

❛ I am half child, half ancient. ❜

❛ You’re like me. You’ve seen too much, too young. ❜

❛ Every word from your mouth, every turn of phrase, will be judged — and possibly used against you. ❜

❛ I prefer the most unfair peace over the most righteous war. ❜

❛ A love like ours could burn down a city. ❜

❛ In my experience, men only call women ‘mad’ when they are doing something inconvenient. ❜

❛ I will do anything to keep you safe from harm. ❜

❛ You wield an incredible amount of power with just your voice. ❜

❛ You know, everything old can be made new again. Like democracy. ❜

❛ You laugh like a little girl, and think like a martyr. ❜

❛ What is a home if not the first place you learn to run from? ❜

❛ Do you understand what it means when you have nowhere else to turn? ❜

❛ The war is never over. ❜

❛ We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it. ❜

❛ I dream of the past as if it were yet to come. ❜

❛ You have endured terrible suffering, haven’t you? ❜

❛ Your beauty terrifies me. ❜

❛ This is war — you never know who’s listening. ❜

❛ This is a land of dreams and madness, where childrens’ stories come to life. ❜

❛ The Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that believed they were eternal. ❜

❛ I’ll never get used to being alive. ❜

❛ We’ve been fighting this battle for too long. ❜

❛ We swore we’d never bow to tyranny. ❜

❛ Young men fall, I see their agony. ❜

❛ We all carry things inside us that no one else can see. ❜

❛ Your suffering can’t end until you stop identifying with it. ❜

❛ You have to be a bit of a liar to tell the story the right way. ❜

❛ I’m so afraid of losing something I love that I refuse to love anything. ❜

❛ You collect scars because you want proof that you’re paying for whatever sins you’ve committed. ❜

❛ You can escape reality, but you can’t escape the consequences of escaping reality. ❜

❛ Is that all you want to be? Liked? Wouldn’t you rather be passionately and voraciously desired? ❜

❛ Sorrow found me when I was young. ❜

❛ The very heavens conspire against me! ❜

❛ Do you like the person that you’ve become under the weight of living? ❜

❛ The evil that men do lives on long after they themselves have gone. ❜

❛ You are not safe here. ❜

❛ I don’t know any places I can hide from the voices that are tearing me apart from the inside. ❜

❛ I am not a legend; I’m a fraud. ❜

❛ Destiny is a worrying concept. I don’t want to be fated; I want to choose. ❜

❛ I am not merciful, and I am not kind. ❜

❛ Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter. ❜

❛ Vulnerability is courage in you and inadequacy in me. ❜

❛ You cannot save people. You can only love them. ❜

❛ This isn’t going to be like last time. ❜

[jadewritesficshere]

Watching

Vampire!Eddie Munson x reader

Contents: stalking, talks of kidnapping, violence (guns mentioned), vampirism (blood, biting, and all that entails)

18+ only

Eddie watched you from a distance. You caught his attention that night, and he couldn't stop thinking about you. It was a shame, really, that you had such potential and were wasting it being good.

Well, not good for Eddie.

But that's neither here nor there. What matters now is that he knows where you live. He's only seen your apartment from the outside. You rarely close your blinds, thinking you are safe in a third story apartment.

You didn't count on Eddie hiding in the trees. You didn't count on Eddie turning into a bat and getting a closer look. You definitely weren't counting on Eddie watching you while you slept.

Which, okay, Eddie knows is creepy. But if Edward can do it why can't he? Besides, he always told people he wasn't a good person. Ever since being turned, he no longer said it because of insecurity. He said it because he could feel this thing inside of him. This urge to feed.

The guilt never seems to come when that voice rises in him. So, yeah, not a good person. Eddie doesn't try to be a bad person, tries not to go out of his way to hurt people. But he feels less human each time he feeds, feels less shame and guilt.

Just like the rational part of his brain tells him he shouldn't be watching you right now. Yet that voice inside drowns it out screaming that you are his, to feed on you, to claim you.

You looked so peaceful at rest. Eddie couldn't help watching the way your torso moved with every breath. He could practically hear the calm thudding of your heart pumping the blood that called his name.

Your blood was so so tempting. Eddie knew it would taste like heaven. Just one drop...

Eddie watched you for weeks. He didn't have a job, took whatever money he needed from who he fed on. Didn't really have plans, only allowed himself to be around the others the day after he fed just in case he, ya know, snapped. Steve tried to get him not to self isolate but Steve also seems to be the one to sacrifice himself the most, and Eddie really doesn't want to end up hurting his friends because of his own weakness.

Every night you would spend a long time in the bathroom. Eddie could hear one night when you had cracked a window to let fresh air in. You brushed your teeth, cleaned your face, and talked to yourself, going over a plan for your job. A new tactic. A cute little pep talk.

You really were cute. Cute enough to eat. And Eddie wanted to sink his fangs in you. Wanted to feel you pressed up against him, gasping as he sunk into you (in more then one way). Wanted to watch the hazy euphoria fill your eyes, hear you moan for more.

But he can't. Not yet.

By the time the sun comes up, he's gone and you're none the wiser. Eddie never liked the sun to begin with, pale skin always burned in the summer. Now, being a vampire it's like having an allergy to the sun. He gets all itchy and tired- no thanks, if he wanted to feel that he'd have went to prom.

Eddie has a plan. Not the best plan, but a plan. Step one is getting invited in. He couldn't just use the education he got from his dad and break in. Vampires had rules, or at least whatever was inside wouldn't let him cross someone else's threshold without permission.

So step one, get invited in. Which also was step 3-5. Step two was get you to trust him. Eddie knows you already don't. Can still feel the sting of the silver gun you held under his chin. The way it bit into him, the way your face was hardened into a glare but your eyes were alight with mischief.

He thought about swooping in when you were on the job one night. Wrapping you in his arms and biting you quickly to subdue you. Get that blissful ignorant feeling to fill you up and then he could drag you home. But he didn't want to hurt you, not unless you begged for it.

He wanted you to come willingly. Eddie wanted you to give yourself willingly. To turn against your own code because you were so enraptured by him.

Eddie would get you to trust him. Then Eddie would get you to let him taste you. In any and every way he could.

Even miles away, his unbeating heart calls out for your blood. And soon, your heart will return his call, or at the very least tolerate him.

[dastardly-imbecile]

Prom, 1968

Junior year. There was nothing dramatic, no fallout, no shouting—he thinks that that’s how Lucy would’ve liked it to go, maybe, which perhaps makes it worse—simply the fact that, halfway through the year, she stopped showing up. That was during his concert circuit, when he bought this suit, when he was going to New York and London and Chicago, playing in front of faceless crowds, and by the time he was home long enough to realize she’d stopped showing up, it was quite too late to ask. --- Prom night. Schroeder's already missing out on practicing, but the only thing that can make it worse is that Lucy is Charlie Brown's date.

---

Wordcount: ~3.4k

“For heaven’s sake,” Schroeder says, “you look fine, Charlie Brown!”

“Do I really?” he asks, tugging at the collar of his suit. Schroeder reaches over and straightens his tie, runs a hand down the front of the smooth black suit jacket to brush away any remaining motes of dust. His own clothes are perfectly pressed and perfectly straight. Bought the suit a year ago, when he went up to New York to play Beethoven’s fifth, and it still fits just fine. 

Charlie’s, on the other hand, fits like a glove on a four-fingered hand, but if he tells him that, then he’ll just work himself into another tizzy and they’ll never get to the dance. 

The other two in the room, Linus and Franklin, both sitting upon his bed with legs dangling above the ground—both fully dressed and ready half an hour ago, delayed only by the constant changing and tweaking of Charlie’s suit—lean over Schroeder’s shoulder to look. 

Linus is the one to speak. “Yeah. Don’t worry. We need to pick up the girls.” 

“Right,” Schroeder says, giving Charlie an encouraging sort of push—or, it’s supposed to be encouraging, but seems to do nothing but put him off-balance—and walks towards the door. The girls are at Linus’s, the boys at his own house, which is more than a little convoluted—he never did see why they couldn’t simply get ready in the same building—but the girls want to be picked up and to gossip in peace, or whatever it is they’re doing. 

“We’re gonna be late,” Franklin observes idly, on the speedwalk through the living room. Charlie intakes a sharp sort of breath, that that preludes the spilling of many worries, but a simple shoulder-check stifles all that in his chest. 

He doesn’t know why Charlie’s taking it all so seriously, honestly. It’s prom, just prom, pick everyone up and spin around a streamer-sprawled gymnasium for an hour or two, get a strip of photos from some janky old booth, all decked out in feather boas and cartoonish glasses. 

In all honesty, he should be practicing. He has an audition in a week, perhaps the most important of his life, for entrance into a great, glass-domed conservatory up in New York. He knows Beethoven’s Sonata No. 23 as well as he knows himself, keys falling like water under his fingertips, but he can always be better. 

Front door opens, closes with a final click. Out front, there are four cars. His own is a sleek red mustang, low to the ground, freshly-washed. The same color as the toy piano that he used to love. He quashes that niggling annoyance that says I could be doing something else. 

Senior prom. A night with the friends he’s known since he was four. This isn’t productive, but that’s okay. Sacrifices must be made for the sake of entertainment. This is good. 

“We all know the way, right?” Charlie asks, hand half-poised on his own car, which is actually his mom’s white station wagon. Three heads nod in unison. “Okay,” he says, “okay. I look good, right? The suit’s okay?”

“Yes.” 

He swallows. “Alright. Sorry. I just don’t want Lucy to…”

And then, suddenly, it’s not so good anymore. 

—

Schroeder is the first to arrive, but he lingers alone in his car, unwilling to get out until Linus’s blue Road Runner parks rather crookedly against the curb. Only then does he unfurl his legs, unstick himself from the seats. By the time that Linus is out, the other two cars rapidly approach. Down the long line of the sidewalk, the house is a mural of cream and red and green, straight siding and the crispness of new paint. Though the windows are drawn over by curtains, he can make out many shadows moving behind them.

“Do we knock?” Charlie asks, reaching up in an attempt to straighten his tie. He just re-crooks it. Schroeder suppresses a sigh. This is normal behavior for him, always worrying in that endearing way of his. He doesn’t know why it’s putting him so on edge. 

Well, he does know. 

He just doesn’t want to admit it. 

Before any of them can answer that question, the red door swings open, pushed along by Patty, who bounds out without waiting. She’s dressed in a boxy sort of green number that reaches her ankles, belted around the waist by a thick bolt of satin. 

“Heya!” She half-yells. He winces in support of Linus’s neighbors. Not far behind her—as could be expected—is Marcie, in red, a shorter, frillier sort of thing that he would not have placed her in, but which looks surprisingly cohesive. Then, Sally, in pale, blush pink, lace at the shoulders and the hem, small rhinestones sewn into the seams. Frieda, in knee-length purple, hair eschewing traditional straightening to instead continue its free bounce around the corona of her head. No doubt all the girls coordinated so they wouldn’t pick the same color of dress, same style, all different, all unique. 

He almost thinks that that is all, until the final one rounds the corner, pale hand steadying herself upon the doorway. Black hair, drawn back by a navy headband, a blue dress that cuts its way close to her chest and falls, shining sleekly, to trail on the ground, no decoration but for the shine that oscillates across each ripple under the rapid dusk. 

She doesn’t need a name. He can practically taste it anyway, thick and cloying in his mouth. 

Frieda to Franklin, who slides a violet corsage onto her wrist. Sally to Linus, neither of them quite looking at the other as they perform that respective ritual. Lucy walks towards them, and he almost, in some deep, dumb part of his psyche, expects her to keep going to come to him, but the notion shatters as soon as her steps turn fractionally. 

Turn towards Charlie. 

Schroeder helped him pick out her corsage. Thick white rose in the center of the band, surrounded by blue ribbons and dyed flowers. Lucy accepts it with a wry sort of smile, leans forwards to carefully pin a boutonniere to his lapel, some bright azure thing that’s been wrapped in dark velvet. He’s so preoccupied with watching that motion, with trying to push down the sudden queasiness in his stomach, that it takes Patty snapping her fingers in his face to remember that he has one for her too. 

Strangely, not-so-strangely, she doesn’t seem mad. 

“Sorry,” is all she tells him, as he perfunctorily snaps the rose onto her wrist. 

All of them have a match, technically, except for Marcie, but as they climb into the car, he’s fairly sure that he’s the real odd one out. As evidenced by the fact that both girls sit in the backseat together, chattering in quiet tones that he can’t quite distinguish. 

It’s going to be a long night. 

—

All through elementary school, a black-haired girl leaning against his piano, running her fingers carefully over the beveled edges. Middle school, sitting on the ground, back against one of the legs of the grand, telling him that she could feel the vibrations thrumming through her spine when he played especially loud. Smashing his Beethoven bust. Theorizing about married life. A half-hearted attempt to get him to teach her how to play, only for him to end it because he could not get the smell of her perfume out of the piano after two sessions of practice. 

He can’t pinpoint, exactly, when it changed. Freshman year, she still came over, but would sit on the far couch instead of the floor. Less talking, more of her silence, hunched and poring over homework, thumbing through dime novels. Told him that he was like her personal radio. If only they made you portable!

Sophomore year, more of the same. Less visits. Thrice a week to twice, to once. He’d slam down the end of a piece, let the notes echo out in the silence, look towards the living room expecting a radiant audience, and find nothing but the emptiness of pleather couches. 

Who’s he kidding?

It was junior year. 

He has the time to think of all this, of course, because he’s alone at the white-clothed table, nursing a glass of punch and a half-eaten cookie. Marcie and Patty are gone, poring over the food on the other side of the room, sweets and finger sandwiches and plates of withered produce. The others, as far as he can tell, are dancing. He doesn’t look for them. He doesn’t want to see. 

Absently, his fingers tap out a melody on the tablecloth. The only other person here, sitting alone, is Pigpen. He’s on the same level as Pigpen right now. That’s depressing. 

Junior year. There was nothing dramatic, no fallout, no shouting—he thinks that that’s how Lucy would’ve liked it to go, maybe, which perhaps makes it worse—simply the fact that, halfway through the year, she stopped showing up. That was during his concert circuit, when he bought this suit, when he was going to New York and London and Chicago, playing in front of faceless crowds, and by the time he was home long enough to realize she’d stopped showing up, it was quite too late to ask. 

Besides, it didn’t matter that much. The absence was a good thing. Her presence’d always been a nuisance. Always scratching at his piano, distracting him with her voice, her eyes, her…

He screws up his eyes, takes a deep breath, exhales. It’s the routine that he uses to cleanse himself of nerves before big performances, but whatever breed of anxiety is bubbling in his chest right now, it feels like they might be immune. 

Patty and Marcie weave back through the crowd, the former with a plate piled high, the latter holding the drinks. At least he’s not alone, anymore—but the prospect of sitting here and listening to other people talk feels like it might be worse. 

Maybe Patty notices this, because she hesitates, turns towards him and around a mouth full of cupcake, says, “did you wanna dance?”

He didn’t, really, but he would take any lifeline that got him out of sitting here and moping over something that he’s not supposed to grieve in the first place. “Okay,” he says, tries to push a bit more enthusiasm into it with a followup, “yeah.”

“Be back in a minute,” she tells Marcie, who nods dutifully. 

“Okay, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir,” she snaps back, feigning irritation, but the thread of fondness, of an inside joke, is unmistakable below that, and it makes his heart do another uncomfortable twist. He should get that checked out. He never should have come.

They walk onto the floor. Shove is a more appropriate word, bully through the crowd, mostly Patty elbowing other dancers until they’ve cleared out an approximate space. His hand about her waist, hers slung over her shoulders, and he knows that both of them are profoundly uncomfortable. 

When the decision to go to prom as a group was made, it was halfway clear-cut. Linus and Sally, Franklin and Frieda. Would’ve been simpler if Patty still liked Charlie, but she’d gotten over that years ago, and in any case, it was Lucy who cleared the problem up before it became a stalemate. 

Meaning, of course, she asked Charlie. 

His stomach flops once. Maybe there was something bad in the punch. 

The song, some sort of peppy pop piece of the genre that he’s never bothered to do more than skim, ends. When the first notes of something slow begin to unfurl in the air, he meets eyes with Patty, and by mutual agreement, they let go of each other immediately. 

“I should get back to Marcie,” she rushes out, and without further ado, turns to begin hitting her way back to the edge of the crowd. It closes back in around him almost as quickly, and he turns, suddenly disoriented. Tries to shove weakly at the back of someone before him, but they do not budge whatsoever, turns to find a gap, and then-

And then, there is a glimpse of blue. 

His eyes snag on it, and he takes an instinctual step towards the scrap as it vanishes around another clump of people. Weave around, follow the path it leaves. A bit of satin blue here, a flash of black hair there, until he finally breaks into the refreshment of cool air near the back of the gymnasium. 

And, before him, one of the back doors snaps closed. 

Whatever—whoever—he was chasing is outside. He half-turns, looks behind at the thinner crowd, many couples swaying back and forth under dim purple lights, until he finally makes out first the rumpled back of a wrinkled suit. Traces that to Charlie’s face, to the girl he’s holding.

Red hair. 

Oh. 

With a deep breath, he pushes the door open, and steps into the night. 

—

She sits upon the back stairs of the school, head nestled in her knees, shoes discarded like some modern Cinderella. Her skirt is hiked up, clenched in her left hand, and seems to be being used quite improperly as a tissue. He hesitates on the lip of the stairs. 

There’s still time to leave. 

To go back to the silence of the house, to the silence that’s accompanied him for a year, no girl chattering at his side, no commentary as he played, no applause when he stands and bows theatrically. 

He can’t do that. 

And, what self-respecting gentleman would leave a girl crying?

Slowly, he lowers himself onto the step, wincing as he practically feels the suit wrinkle. Don’t scuff, he needs that for next week, for the audition. 

“Lucy?” He asks. 

“Go away!” She snaps immediately, “I don’t need this right now!”

“What happened?” He asks, like he doesn’t already know. She’s silent for a long moment, but just as he begins to scoot away in fear of an impending explosion, her head turns fractionally to reveal half her face. Her eyes are red, makeup smeared, brow furrowed in a frown. 

“Do you care?”

“You’re crying.”

She lets out a husky laugh. “Don’t rub it in. Some ginger chick asked Charlie to dance. He said yes. That’s it.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. Again, there’s that peculiar feeling in his stomach, anger at Charlie, anger at himself. He wouldn’t have done that. Why does she care about someone who would?

“I don’t even care,” she spits, head rising fully, revealing the other half of her face and scrubbing one final time at her eyes, “he’s too wishy-washy! I didn’t even like him!”

A flicker of something that feels almost like hope. “Why’d you ask him, then?”

She cuts an askance look at him, mouth tightening. “Who else was I gonna ask, huh?”

Point taken. He looks down at his shoes, unsure of how to answer. 

She continues after a moment, floodgates fully opened. “I know he’s been in love with that girl. Good for him! I’m just tired of… of always being second. When is it my turn to be the first choice? When will someone pick me?”

“I never…” he starts. Before the first word even fully falls to the ground, he knows that it’s the wrong thing to say. Lucy’s head whips towards him, eyes narrowing. Before any sort of tongue-lashing comes, however, her face falls almost as quickly. 

“Yes, you did. You chose your stupid piano.”

“The- the piano?” he splutters, taken utterly back, “how did I choose-”

“You can’t date,” she lists, “because you want to be like Beethoven, a bachelor. You can’t go out, because you’re practicing. You can’t talk to me, because you have a competition in a week! I go to your house, and the door is locked and- and your parents tell me you’re playing in another country and you didn’t even, didn’t even tell me!” 

The last words come with a fresh spring of tears. He grabs at his suit, pulling out the handkerchief from within the pocket. Tries to proffer it to her, but she ignores it, instead choosing to swipe her dress over her eyes once again. 

“...I’m sorry,” he offers after a moment. Again, there is no response. 

“I didn’t even get to dance,” she says, voice muffled by the fabric, “a real dance. That’s all I wanted tonight. Augh!” Sharply, she yanks the headband out of her hair and chucks it into the ground. It bounces, rolls once, and lands—rather unsatisfyingly—at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Do you want to leave?” He asks. 

“I have to wait for that blockhead to finish.”

“I’ll take you,” he replies, and again, her head bobs up. When she considers him this time, it’s with the cunning that’s now rising to the forefront of her gaze, rising up over all that anger and distraught-ness. 

“Will Patty and Marcie..?”

“They’ll be fine,” he replies, standing, holding out a hand to help her rise as well. Her gaze flits towards the hand, then to his face, then to his hand again. 

Slowly, she smiles. “What a gentleman.”

Taking it securely in hers, she rises.

—

“This is your house,” Lucy points out, as he pulls into a stop. He nods. 

“Come on.”

After a brief hesitation, she follows him out of the car, down the walkway and into the front room. Inside, it is vast and dark and empty, and he fumbles for a minute on the walls until a flick of the switch allows light to flood in once again. 

“I haven’t been here in ages,” she observes, stepping in. He doesn’t respond instead crossing over to the piano at the side of the room, sliding open the lid and sitting down upon the seat. 

“You wanted to dance?” He asks. She nods warily. 

Slowly, he begins Beethoven’s German Dance. It’s been a long, long time since he played it last, but it’s simple, stumbling over the three flats, ¾ meter, and when he half turns, expecting to see her moving, she is-

Entirely still. 

Slowly, he peters out. Her mouth is downturned. 

“See,” she snaps, “this is what I’m talking about. You and your piano! You play this, and what am I supposed to do? Dance alone?”

He hesitates. In quick, large strides, she reaches him, grabs his upper arm and yanks him up. 

“If I’m gonna dance,” she says, placing his hand upon her waist. He brings his other one up before she has to prompt it, and she locks her arms behind his neck. 

“There’s no music.”

“Does it matter?”

“No,” he says eventually, “I guess not.”

It’s slow at first, uncertain, no beat or rhythm, but she’s certain enough that he can catch on easily. Step this way, step that, follow the tug of her body and the push of her hips, let her take charge. She closes her eyes. Rests her head, after a moment, against his chest. Makeup is still streaking down her cheeks, and her hair is tangled from the headband extraction, and she is beautiful, just as beautiful as she’s always been. 

The end of the dance has none of the awkwardness of the beginning. They come to a stop by slow, mutual agreement, feet scuffing against the hardwood in smaller and smaller arcs, until she finally looks up, hands loosening a fraction around his neck. 

“What took you so long?”

“I don’t know.” It’s the truth. 

She snorts. “You’re an idiot, Schroeder.”

“Maybe,” he replies. She tilts her head, just a fraction, lips quirking up in the beginnings of a smirk, and he cannot take it anymore, this feeling that’s been slowly bubbling up for over a decade, finally boiling, finally bursting over the edges, and he leans down, presses his lips to hers. She reciprocates immediately, tightening her grip once again, pulling him down. 

When they break, this time, it’s for good, hands falling to their sides. He’s not quite sure what to do with them—usually, he’s so sure, but now, they’re clammy and feel too large too conspicuous. 

“...I should get you home,” he says eventually. She nods slowly. 

“Yeah. What a night.”

What a night. 

—

Her house is different at night, all muted colors, hardly discernible other than as differing shades of black. Linus is home already, as evidenced by the car in the driveway. 

“Lucy,” he says, as she places a hand upon the door handle, “come by tomorrow?”

“What?” She asks. 

“Tomorrow,” he repeats, “I have an audition next week and I think I do… I practice better when you’re there.”

She breaks into a grin. “I knew you liked it. Yeah, Schroeder. I’ll be there.” 

He watches as she cracks the door open and leaves, vanishing in that small interval between the car and the porchlight, and this night wasn’t a waste, after all.

[australet789]

But Lilith being in Heaven opens so much questions

She was redeemed then. The Queen of Hell became an Angel

How?? Why???

Because we know Angels can fall and go down to Hell if they want to. But also that souls can indeed get redeemed.

Ultimate sacrifice is one of the reasons. But she didn't seem to care about Charlie (she let Lute call her daughter a brat and a bitch)

Which comes to mind, who gave Charlie the idea of souls being able to go to Heaven? In the first episode Charlie said the whole hotel idea was to make her mom proud. So Lilith knew then?

And that goes back to Alastor and him leaving when he almost kicked the bucket. If the deal was to protect Charlie, he shouldnt have been able to leave the battle. But he did. And him being scared to die when in his backstory is said he went against overpowered Overlords with no fear?

What if

What if Alastor had actually died. By Lilith's hands. And Lilith went to Heaven. And since sinners can respawn, Lilith went down and keep killing Alastor over and over again until he made a deal with her.

And he didnt ask for Charlie's soul because he doesnt want to inflict the same pain. He doesnt want to own souls and the only one he does is Husk's (but because Husk was going to lose it to anyone else either way). And hence why he keeps helping Charlie: she is freeing sinners from whatever ties they could have, like he did, only that he destroyed them while Charlie is redeeming them

[familyagrestefanblog]

The existence of the Ox miraculous is such an unnecessary ugly detail when you think about Ladynoir and how Chat Noir served as the punching bag and scapegoat for Ladybug, Alya as Marinette's actual partner in season 4, and the whole team in every single way pre-s5

The Ox gives the power of immunity even against any other Miraculous power. One would think with Adrichat's self-harming tendencies that canon had Marinette make entirely about herself because "they're haunting her so much", and her still narratively entirely unchallenged tendency of leaving Chat Noir behind on the battle field as sacrifice or bait to possibly have whatever the hell done to him so she can be save and sound while she and everyone else can look and be cool on his expense

With all that, one would have thought that if Canon Marinette truly loved Chat Noir "sooooooo much" and is oh so haunted by his self-harming behavior and him always getting hurt so she sidelined him "for his own good"

Then how come at no point did Marinette do the actually caring thing by giving Chat Noir the Ox miraculous since he's ALWAYS left behind BY HER so she can leave the battle field and execute her plans with the others save and soundly? If her Chaton's well-being was oh so important to her and it always "pained her so much" to see him getting hurt then why was the Ox only used 2 insignificant times by Ivan at the end of season 4 when it could have saved Chat Noir ALOT of suffering all the way through?

Or the turtle. Or ANY OTHER Miraculous for that matter?

Why was Alya getting two miraculous in Hack-San perfectly fine with Marinette but heaven forbid Marinette is actually expected to ACT like she gives a damn about Chat Noir's well-being as his leader, guardian, partner, and friend and not just the show having her claim superficial words that hardly have anything to back them up once they actually have to mean something?

Its almost as if Canon inherently doubled down on having Marinette be the kind of leader who will only do things in a way that primarily benefit HER while everything else gets swept under the rug because she isn't maliciously intentioned and then never brought up again. And unfortunately it was her who was written to prioritize making an unnecessary team of 18 miraculous holders no one ever asked of her to form (Su-Han even told her NOT to give out the miraculous like candy),

so Marinette was just made to not consider Chat Noir either at all or simply not as worthy enough of any kind of consideration in her entire leadership/ guardianship or actual safety, support, or ANY KIND of resource since that wouldn't be narratively about her, now would it?

She can't have Chat have the Ox because she might need Ivan as Ox in 4 months and she doesn't want to have to ask Chat to get it back or end up NOT getting to use this ONE other Miraculous out of a whole ass box, because that would involve a basic ass conversation Marinette can't have apparently or her not getting to use all of the miraculous however she pleases at any given point

The horror. Now she would have only 14 miraculous to work with!

As per usual, count me fucking unimpressed by Marinette's writing. The negligence towards Chat Noir on even the most basic level is insane and she was declared the epitome of leadership and kindness for this.

Cool that Marinette already decided in her head that Ivan is suitable for the Ox miraculous and he should get it in future, but Chat Noir needing help and protection wasn't some theoretical case, it constantly happened right in front of her eyes and even by her own freaking orders too because she never thinks of him in ANYTHING and the show glorified the hell out of her as leader for doing all that

Why is looking into ANY detail only making Marinette's side of Ladynoir so much worse ever since season 4? There is no escaping this! Just don't add the Ox with this power or actually have Marinette be a good leader towards Chat Noir. But noooooooooo.

[memelord1642069]

Here's some of my predictions/theories/hopes for season 2, I have nowhere else to dump them:

I don't think Alastor's deal is with Lilith. Idk, it just seems too obvious? Too much like a red herring. And the fact that she's been in heaven this whole time makes me think this even more. Like if she's stuck in heaven how would she even "enforce" that deal. Like if the person who own your soul is seemingly cut off from hell then you could do what you want basically.

And about Lilith, is she even there willingly? I know she just looks like she's chilling on the beach, but is this a guilded cage type thing? Is she imprisoned, presumably because she either did try to cause an uprising or heaven was worried that she was going to cause an uprising?

Back to Alastor's deal. I feel like most of us assumed that deal happened 7 years ago, since he was missing for 7 years, but what if he made a deal either when he first showed up in hell, or maybe while he was still alive. I don't know how canon that is, but it's been mentioned that he knew stuff about voodoo and/or dark magic, so who knows maybe he used one of his victims as a ritual sacrifice to summon a demon to make a deal with. That could explain why he was already powerful when he manifested in hell and started taking out overlords left and right, seemingly overnight. And he had free reign for decades when he could mostly do whatever he wanted until 7 years ago when whoever owns his soul cane to collect their dues, so to speak and is requiring him to do stuff.

I don't think Alastor's gonna be at full power, at least not in the beginning. Since angelic weapons (and powers I guess? y'know Adam's magic beams) are the only thing that can permanently kill a sinner, I bet getting slashed like that is kind of a big deal. Who knows how that affected him. When he shows up at the end the other characters are surprised, they react like they haven't seen him since the battle. And even with Lucifer's magic helping it had to take a while to fully rebuild the hotel, definitely more than a couple of days. So was he hiding and licking his wounds, before he could be seen in public again? Or maybe he was staying away cause he didn't want to help with rebuilding the hotel, honestly I wouldn't be surprised. And he doesn't have his staff with him which leads me to think it might still be broken. And I doubt the staff is just for show. Even if it did break in the process, it still stopped a direct hit from Adam, I'm guessing it was related to his powers in some way and maybe it's not easy to fix.

I wonder how or why does Husk know about Alastor being on a leash? Seems like a pretty big secret.

I have a feeling there's more to Rosie. I mean she has this whole cool aunt vibe, she was super nice to Charlie and gave her great advice. But she's friends with Alastor, and he seems to genuinely like and respect her. When he's singing about "guiding" Charlie's potential she's like "I concur", she's definitely more powerful than she seems and she's just as much of a schemer as he is.

I think sir pentious suddenly manifesting in heaven combined with the exterminations being exposed recently is gonna cause a pretty big uproar in heaven. Sir pentious will probably be sad and lonely cause his friends and little egg boys are back in hell and I doubt heaven will let him go visit.

This was already foreshadowed in the finale, but the Vees will play a bigger role as antagonists. Despite Vox's rather pathetic attempt at Alastor, I think they are pretty powerful/influential overlords and they have it out for the hotel. Maybe they'll use their influence through TV and social media to go after Charlie and discredit her or something idk. And with Alastor possibly not being at full capacity and getting his ass beat on live TV which probably didn't help his reputation (although lasting even that long against the leader of the angel army is actually impressive) maybe Vox will try to go after him again.

I'm worried about Valentino trying to do something even worse to Angel as retribution for standing up to him and since the Vees might be going after the hotel

This was already implied in the finale, but I hope Lucifer is staying at the hotel permanently. He's just kinda chilling most of the time, trying to reconnect more with Charlie. Him and Alastor are exchanging catty insults constantly.

Lute revenge plot? Seems like something she would do, even going rogue if heaven doesn't agree with her. I just just want a cool villain song from her.

[nunalastor]

World Watch

Imagine how the exorcists will react to Hazbin hotel.

Most of them are probably not as psycho as Lute, they've just demonised (lol) and dehumanised the demons they kill. I mean, these are murderers and rapists! They're in hell! It's RIGHTEOUS to kill them!

And then they see the Hazbin group, and they're just - human.

They see Vaggie, who betrayed them - but she's happy, she letting her hair grow and wearing girly nighties and has a girlfriend.

Things starts to change when they get to episode three, and Whatever it takes happens. They hear Carmilla refer to them as 'things' and then - sing about how she doesn't want to start a war because her loved ones may die.

Demons have loved ones.

And then they see out for love, and get to see Carmilla actively attempt to sacrifice her life for her daughters...and then tell (well, sing) Vaggie that she needs to be out for love to defend those she wants to protect - and Vaggie GETS HER WINGS BACK.

And all the time outside wherever they are, the rest of heaven knows what they've been doing - and are upset with them for it.

And then they see Adam die. They see Lucifer come to defend his daughter, whereas Adam is attacking a hellborn purely because he's pissed at her - and Charlie isn't a sinner, she never did anything wrong!

And then, at the end?

They, along with everyone else, every single person on earth hell or heaven - gets to see Sir Pentious redeemed.

👀

[chaoticace2005]

I’m sitting here thinking about why it may have been Sir Pentious got redeemed. Yes, he risked his life and got killed (?) protecting his friends. It’s possible either he went to Heaven when he double-died, or he got "redeemed" and as such wasn't even killed, but was rather just beamed up there before the blast hit.

Maybe redemption is just doing good enough to get thrown up there, maybe it's dying doing something good... or maybe it has to do with exactly what you do.

Pulling a Charlie here, "redemption" can mean "atoning for a fault or mistake." (Dictionary.com)

What exactly was Sir Pentious' mistake? We see in episode 2 that he uses his creations as a way to attack people for the sake of gaining power/attention. That's his main goal and his creations are the tools he uses to get it. And then we see it also act as protection for him, it's how he wants to defend himself against the other hotel residents. After episode 2 we don't really see him use his creations (beyond the ggs) again, with Vaggie cutting him off.

It's not until episode 7 that he starts building again, and it's not a weapon either. The first thing we see him build since coming to the hotel is defensive measures for the attack, working with Husk, Angel, and Niffty.

He also was previously willing to command others (his minions) in battle rather than fight himself. He says in episode 3 he doesn't know how to fight without his minions. Then in the battle in episode 8 he's still commanding others, but it's not only for his own gain. He could have left the hotel but he chose to stay and fight with the others.

Basically: in the past he used his creations and commanded others in an attempt to gain power. It's all fueled by pride, greed, (and envy?) But what does he do in episode 8? He throws himself into battle. He gets back in the blimp that he hadn't been show in since episode 2. He again charges at a being that is much more powerful than him, using weapons he built and commanding an egg army, but his reason for doing it changed.

He knows he may die. There isn't any greed in what he does, it's a sacrifice for the others. For the only friends he's gotten in Hell. If he was greedy he could have left when Vaggie told them they could in episode 7. It isn't a matter of pride or proving himself to someone else either- he does it because it's what he sees needs to be done.

He took the same actions that made him a "bad person" but the intent and meaning behind them is wholly different. He's doing it for the opposite reasons. Rather than using weapons as a way to protect himself and gain power, he's using them to protect his friends while sacrificing himself.

What if to break out of hell, you first need to break even? If they were sent to hell for specific reasons, maybe the answer isn't simply good acts or racking up "good points." But rather, to ascend you need to do acts that are the complete opposite of the actions that sent you down in the first place? To at least repay whatever "debt" landed you there in the first place, then maybe from there good points can be acquired to go to Heaven? What if that one bad thing you did acts as a block? And until it's removed it doesn't matter how many good things you do?

With the hotel the previous course of action was mostly banning things. Ban the weapons. Ban the eggs. Ban the bar. But the thing is some actions aren't inherently bad. We see with Carmilla that killing can be out of love and self defense. Things like BDSM can be intimate and relationship developing, or the idea can be horribly warped as a way to hurt others. Actions or tools aren't simply bad: but the intent and impact behind them can be, and that's what defines them.

Jumping to Loser, Baby really quick: the whole song is about owning who you are. In Husk and Angel's cases: the matter of redemption isn't simply to STOP gambling, drinking, sex, and drugs. But rather, doing it in a healthy way that doesn't harm others. Just cutting them off from their vices doesn't make them necessarily go away. Especially when they didn't have a choice in the matter. They need to change their own relationships with them and the way/reason they're used.

I just started think about this because what if someone else was in Sir Pentious' place? What if the only reason that the Sinner in the blimp made it to heaven is because it was SIR PENTIOUS? What if instead it was someone like Husk or Angel, who's "sins" aren't tied directly to creating/using weapons of mass destruction and commanding egg armies for the sake of power and self-defense.

[the-most-humble-blog]

When Men Stand on Business: Why Certain Segments Turn Feral and Misandrist

Standards, Respect, and the Double Standard Circus

Let’s get one thing straight: having standards as a heterosexual man is not an act of aggression. It’s a basic human right. Yet, the moment men start drawing boundaries or—heaven forbid—voicing their standards, certain segments of society (you know who you are 👀) start frothing at the mouth like a 2003 internet forum caught in a flame war. Why? Because some people have been conditioned to see men as providers, protectors, and silent sacrificers—but not decision-makers.

Well, newsflash: men are allowed to have standards too.

Standards Are Not Misogyny

Let’s address the big elephant in the room: having standards ≠ hating women. If a man decides he wants:

A partner who values loyalty,

Someone who prioritizes emotional maturity over Instagram likes,

Or just someone who doesn’t treat their relationship like a TikTok content generator,

...why does that spark an apocalypse of rage and accusations of being controlling, toxic, or—everyone’s favorite buzzword—misogynistic?

Ask yourself this: if it’s empowering for women to demand “a man who makes six figures, is 6’4”, emotionally intelligent, great in bed, and can recite poetry while doing a backflip,” why does it suddenly become "oppression" when a man wants a partner who doesn’t treat commitment like an afterthought?

The Misandry Playbook

Here’s where it gets spicy: when men dare to stand on business, certain segments of the crowd will hit you with:

Gaslighting 101: “Wow, you’re so insecure if you care about stuff like that.”

Shame Grenades: “Only a weak man feels the need to have standards. A real man accepts anything.”

Projection Olympics: “You just want a submissive maid, don’t you?”

**Name-Calling: "When logic is refuted or falls on intellectually deaf ears, insults become the tool of the emotional, hysterical, and emotionally unstable."

The irony? These are often the same people who post things like, “Know your worth, sis,” on social media while belittling anyone else for doing the same.

Why It's Time to Dish It Back

Here’s the truth: you can’t play defense forever. If certain people feel emboldened to call men trash for expressing their preferences, then it’s time for men to:

Be unapologetic. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for your boundaries.

Dish it back—tastefully but firmly. Call out the hypocrisy. Example: “So if you wouldn’t date someone broke, why is it wrong for me to avoid drama queens, 304's, and independent feminists?”

Stop pandering. Being agreeable at all costs isn’t “nice,” it’s self-destructive, and diminishes a man's status among other men.

Respect should go both ways, and if someone’s going feral over the idea of mutual standards, that’s their problem, not yours.

Let’s Not Pretend This is Fair

The moment you flip the script, watch how the conversation devolves:

"Who hurt you?"

"Not all women are like that!"

"You just hate women because you can’t get one!"

Oh, the classic ad hominem Olympics. These are tactics used to derail a conversation instead of addressing the real issue: standards are universal.

Final Truth Bomb

The simple truth is, a man who knows what he wants and sets boundaries isn’t toxic—he’s dangerous. Dangerous to the status quo, dangerous to complacency, and dangerous to the idea that men should just shut up and take whatever comes their way. So to those turning feral at the mere thought of men holding themselves to a standard, here’s a revolutionary concept: respect goes both ways.

Like, share, or watch me get cancelled for saying this: Certain people (you know who you are) will weaponize this truth bomb faster than you can say 'misandry.' They'll screenshot, twist, and predictably call me toxic—proving my point in real-time. Don't let 'em win.

[crazylittlejester]

I humbly offer this actually really angsty when you think about it headcanon like a sacrifice to a deity with a disclaimer that it does get existential and kinda religious (Hylia being a confirmed real and true in universe deity + the places my brain goes with that) so please just delete this if you're prone to cosmological vertigo, it's just me rambling about an idea that has fundamentally altered my neurochemistry:

Post LU Wars (scarf, time shenanigans, kind of in love w every era of the land bc his brothers came from those eras!) is subject to a final bout of time shenanigans and becomes First (scarf, from a time Before Everything, goes to forge the Goddess Sword at Hylia's behest, fights demons) (and he's already got practice fighting Ghirahim from HW!). Demise starts with an army and the power of a god and ends with one sword, a small handful of monsters, and the power of a significantly weaker god. The thought that Wars-as-First might actually have been able to win the demon war and deliberately chose not to, because if he did then his brothers would never come to be, makes me insane. The thought of how oblivious he was to the utterly profound impact he had on Hylia by introducing the idea that she could fail the task the Golden Three set for her and it would bring about life and color and beauty, the idea that this idyllic paradise was beautiful but it wasn't living. The idea that the world where she failed was better than the one she where she won because the world where she failed produced people like her hero- people who LIVED, people who loved as much as he loved his brothers. The idea that Wars meets a goddess and befriends her and it changes her fundamentally and irrevocably does something to my brain chemistry. Something something mortals who live and love and dream and die with such a passion something the way truly seeing that passion might forever alter the worldview of a deity who'd never before encountered the idea that living was something to be done like you wouldn't be able to do it forever.

My supporting evidence for Wars being able to befriend Hylia: he's already had the experience of meeting embodied existential forces and realizing they're literally just people who also happen to be facets of reality. Lana used to be a sorceress who could see across all of time and space. He vividly remembers hearing her swear at a hand mirror because she couldn't get her eyeliner right and after that he was never again able to see 'deity' before he saw 'person'. Wars running around with the idea of Hylia as a person trying her best with whatever unknown amount of power she has vs everyone else knowing her as a goddess who is above such things as being a person.

The idea of Wars and Hylia sitting down and talking about it. Maybe they only do it once. But Wars tells her: I've been there. I've seen it. The world where he didn't win but we didn't either.

And Hylia says: we might be able to prevent it. We might be able to win.

And Wars says: no.

And Hylia says: no?

And Wars says: it's the world that has my family in it. This is the world has people who are alive but that one has people who are living. We create and we love and we fight and we destroy and you can't take that from us.

Something. Something about the vivid tenacity of the human experience. Something about turning down heaven in favor of living. Something about already knowing what eating the apple means before you've even done it and doing it because your family's just outside the gates of Eden and this is how you pull them open.

DAMN this is a really interesting headcanon (also that opener was insane, I literally read it out loud to my friend who was over and they were impressed aldkdldl) this could honestly make a banger fic