#and that guy from dagon

[chai-en-kaadhale]

you read old classics because youre actually smart. i read old classics because i like making fun of people from the 1800s. we are not the same.

[muma-kitty]

am i seriously considering making sweeney todd in elder scrolls online? like really truly?

[kyorru]

hanami was the one and only disaster curse i actually respected and they were the first one to die why does gege have personal beef with me

[captainherasyndulla]

SKYRIM BRAINROT HAS RETURNED IN FULL CATEGORY 7 FORCE

[vidavalor]

The Trial

Short thoughts on how Gabriel & Beez could fit back into the story in The Finale & on how Aziraphale's fall would lead to the collapse of the current Heaven/Hell system, in response, as promised, to questions posed by @zenkitty714.

Whoever the guy with the coffee in The Final 15 is, he didn't exactly say that there was a Supreme Archangel job vacancy because Heaven was down for giving Gabriel a watch and telling him to bugger off and go tend to his marigolds. At no point does Our Villain ever actually express one shred of intent to leave Gabriel alone. He simply says that he feels there's a job opening... which all feels a bit sinister since it suggests that there is one because our villains still plan on trying to kill Gabriel.

The Metatron's response to Gabriel mutinying on Monday morning was to try to murder him and we saw exactly nothing in the course of S2 that would indicate that his plans have changed where that is concerned. In order to get Aziraphale into the lift, Our Villain had to lead him to believe that there was a chance-- a remote chance but a chance-- that The Metatron was willing to change and let Heaven reform. Letting it seem like Gabriel and Beez were safe was part of that deception.

Gabriel and Beez were only safe for the brief moment until Aziraphale got into the elevator because our villains needed to pretend like they didn't care about revenge against them in order to sell the idea that Heaven could reform to an understandably doubtful but desperate Aziraphale. Now that they have Aziraphale, though, and have accomplished their goal of going after him first to divide and conquer our main characters, our villains have no need to keep up this charade.

That's why it's a damn good thing that Uriel is on our main characters' side now because she'll be there when Aziraphale falls. She won't be able to stop it without following him to Hell, which wouldn't help either of them or anybody else. What she can do, though, is then be the one to go get Gabriel and Beez and tell them what's happened to Aziraphale. Uriel on the run from Heaven as a result of this and the need to find Crowley will then give them all reason to go to the bookshop, where Muriel will serve her purpose of having witnessed basically all of The Final 15. They'll be able to tell Ineffable Bureaucracy what they missed, with Uriel confirming the bit of what she herself saw before the angels left after following whom they're now realizing was Satan's command to leave.

Wherever Crowley is at the start of The Finale's story in the present, I bet hard that it's going to be Gabriel who goes to get him. It's going to be Gabriel who tells Crowley that the reason why he can't feel Aziraphale anymore isn't because Aziraphale was Book of Life'd-- that's not a real thing. (Notice how the one character who could have answered that question in S2-- Gabriel-- is prevented from even knowing it's a question for the entirety of the season.) It's going to be Gabriel who tells Crowley that he can't feel Aziraphale because Aziraphale fell and Gabriel who talks Crowley off a metaphorical and possibly literal ledge when, at some point, Muriel confirms that Crowley sat there in a chair and told Aziraphale to go alone with a being they all will by then realize was Satan.

What our working-together-on-this-one villains of The Metatron and Satan haven't counted on is that the revolution they're trying to nip in the bud has actually already started. They have overlooked Uriel entirely and didn't anticipate that her response would be to side with Gabriel and help him and Beez over Heaven. They didn't count on Gabriel and Beez helping take care of Crowley. They didn't count on Muriel agreeing to help by giving the bookshop to the revolutionaries. They didn't count that it wouldn't take much for the rebelling angels and demons to get Furfur and his miracle blocking skills involved or Dagon and her Dark Council power on their side.

What our villains really haven't counted on is that Aziraphale is the bridge too far. The angel whose life taught all these other angels and demons how to live is going to be the one to break the system oppressing all of them by having inspired in his own struggles everyone to come together and fight Heaven and Hell for him.

What kind of fight, you say?

One of the Powell & Pressburger films referenced a bunch in S2 and playing on the tv in The Resurrectionist Pub behind Gabriel during the Ineffable Bureaucracy flashback is A Matter of Life and Death and I think a plot like this film is basically where The Finale is headed. You can see it on the tv here as Gabriel does the "Everyday" miracle:

The basic plot of that film centers around a trial where a man who has been outrunning a clerical mistake that caused him to live when he should have died fights to stay alive on Earth to be with the woman he fell in love with. He was a RAF pilot during WW2 whose plane went down. He was supposed to die but a mistake had him live and he fell in love with the air traffic control operator he was talking to on his way down-- the character of June, whose look in the film is the inspiration for Crowley's look in the Before the Beginning scene.

Our hero in the film gets some help from someone who knows how to wrangle Heaven, launch a trial, and who acts as a defense lawyer-- something that I think sounds a lot like a perfect role for Gabriel.

There's also that we now have that we know that Gabriel knows for sure about the body swap in S1 which means he knows that, technically, Aziraphale did get a trial because that's really who Hell put on trial. We had the scene of a drunk Crowley telling Jim this in S2 to show us that Gabriel knows beyond a shadow of doubt that Aziraphale kind of already had a trial so that we can appreciate it when he then lies his ass off to The Metatron for his friends and claims they never gave Aziraphale a trial. 😉

Trials are a big thing in Good Omens' Heaven & Hell and in its finales in both seasons so far... even if they've been sham trials so far... but there's one of our main characters who hasn't gotten one yet, right?

Gabriel's trial was shown in the S2 finale and, back in S1, Hell gave whom they thought was Crowley a trial. However, Heaven never actually gave who they thought was Aziraphale a trial in S1 and they won't before sending him to Hell at the start of The Finale, either.

Gabriel and Beez know how to work the system and I think that they are going to lead an effort to challenge Aziraphale's status as a demon by filing a challenge to it that forces Heaven to give Aziraphale a trial. (Aziraphale is going to insist as this goes on that he goes nowhere without Crowley and it might result in them both being on trial.)

What will really be on trial, though, is the system of Heaven/Hell itself because, if our characters can win the trial, it will mean that they have proven that Heaven isn't infallible in their assessment. That would collapse Heaven and Hell because all the demons would challenge their own statuses and all the angels would realize that Heaven can make mistakes and this is all bullshit, which is likely what happens when all is said and done.

One part of the film is that one of the lawyers also demands a trial by jury with a diverse jury pool to ensure a fair trial, which would be very different from what we've seen happen with the characters in Good Omens so far. It would have to happen in The Finale for this plot to exist.

I think one of the results of the trial is that this group of angels and demons challenging Heaven here wind up demanding that The Metatron produce God and exposing him as a fraud when it's revealed that he can't, actually, because he doesn't speak for God and all of Heaven and Hell is a sham.

Satan figured it out long ago but cut a deal with The Metatron to stay quiet in exchange for having his own kingdom down there in Hell. The two of them are in a bit of a mutually-assured destruction pact where they co-exist to use the threats of one another to control the angels and demons they're oppressing.

When the trial leads to the overthrowing of The Metatron, the demise of Satan might be an actual battle of sorts but the end result is that both of them will be gone by the end and the angels and demons will be set up to form an united, more democratic form of government. The threat of Armageddon will be over, allowing for Crowley and Aziraphale to South Downs Cottage it in peace.

That's how Aziraphale's fall can be the thing that brings down the whole house of cards... as S2 seemed to possibly be suggesting:

[aniraklova]

ANDRES DAGON for just julia @plumbewb

Andres Dagon grew up in party city of Windenburg, surrounded by the rhythms of music, the energy of dance and endless partying. From a young age, Andres was captivated by the art of movement. His parents are both lawyers, but always supported their son's choice, to dance. As a teenager he joined a local dance crew and quickly became known for his talent and dedication. They were taking a part in lots of dancing competitions. The boy spent hours practicing different dance styles, immersing himself in the world of performance. The dancing has become the meaning of life for Andres. He started to teach others the dancing styles at the local art school not long ago. During free time Andres hangs out with the crew, partying and having a good time if you know what I mean. The other free days he just chills at home, now having not a really good time after partying and attends gym later. By the way, Andres lives alone after inhereted grandfather's house near Windenburg. Andres wants to make a family one day, in fact he has a great start, but no one's around him. The crew of course is there for Andres, they are great friends, but it's about the true love and feelings. Being a party animal, Andres had lots of fleeting affairs, nothing serious though. It has been okay till recent days and to be honest our guy, since he saw Julia, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Is it love from first sight or another fleeting affair?

[ladykailitha]

The Hellfire Exotic Club Part 6

Hey guys! I'm going to try something a little different with this one to see if it will help get more people looking it at. And that's only have the 18+ label on chapters that actually show nudity and stripping and not on the chapters that don't. See if that's why this one hasn't been getting the same love as the others.

In this chapter we have the ultimate bitch off, Eddie calling in the cavalry, and Chrissy gets targeted.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

~

Leviathan and Dagon gave Steve a wide berth after that. Which honestly was for the best. Most of the dancers he got along with or at least tolerated enough to get the job done. He wasn’t there to make friends. He didn’t want enemies per se, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to go home and dry in his pillow over a couple of backup dancers with delusions of grandeur.

If anything he was pissed at their blatant lack of respect for Eddie. Like, hate on him, he didn’t care, but he thought everyone liked Eddie.

He walked into the dressing room to get ready for his pas de trois with Eddie and Chrissy when he found Chrissy crying.

“Hey what happened?” he asked, running over to her. She held up her white leotard she had been using for the dance until Ellie got their color change ones made. It was slashed.

“Try it on and see if it’s still wearable,” Steve muttered, “I’m going to see if something happened to mine, too.”

She nodded, wiping at her face even though the tears were still flowing. He pulled out his white leotard and sighed in relief. His was fine. But whether by design or by fluke that they got Chrissy’s costume, he knew this was a warning for him.

He quickly got dressed and then turned around to see Chrissy barely holding the pieces together.

“Let me see,” he asked tenderly. She sniffled and let her hands drop. The damage wasn’t too bad, just three lines across the middle. Like an animal had sliced her. He ran his tongue slowly over his lips as an idea formed in his head.

Steve grabbed Chrissy’s hand and dragged her over to the long mirror. “It looks badass, Chris. And I’ve got a way to make it even more so.”

Chrissy eyed him warily in the mirror. “I don’t know, Steve. Maybe I shouldn’t go out there.”

Steve gave her the biggest hug from behind. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, sweetie. But will you listen to my idea?”

Chrissy nodded and Steve told her all about it. She tapped her finger on her lips thoughtfully. “Lilith is the mother of monsters...”

“Hell yeah, she is,” Steve grinned at her through the mirror. “It’ll be super sexy, too.”

She turned around and smiled back at him. “All right, let’s do this.”

Steve jumped up and down gleefully. “You won’t regret this, I promise.”

So they started the dance with Chrissy wearing a length of green fabric over her leotard like a toga. Then when she fell to become Lilith Eddie ripped away the cloth revealing the scratch-like cuts across her chest, showing hints of her breasts and belly. She landed on her hands and growled at the audience. And the money flew like leaves in autumn.

She did the splits and rose to her feet, as smooth as silk. She continued the dance like that growling and making herself as loud and as monstrous as possible. Look, even Steve couldn’t deny it was sexy as fuck and the crowd agreed with him.

Once everything had been cleaned up and everyone given their cut of the night’s take, Eddie sat down with Chrissy and Steve.

“Do you think this is a one time frustration at not getting the role of Envy,” Eddie asked, “or the start of a vicious series of attacks that are only going to ramp up?”

“What I want to know,” Chrissy said, “was if it’s about Steve, why go after me? Wouldn’t they be going after Steve if they were jealous of him and not me?”

Steve shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think they’re being clever. If they attack my dance partner or do things that make me look bad, but not directed at me then they have plausible deniability. ‘Oh it couldn’t have been me’,” he mimicked, mock clutching at invisible pearls, “‘I only hate Steve I love Chrissy, I would never do anything to her.’”

Chrissy laughed. “Yeah, okay. I get it. So whoever did was being sneaky. But we still don’t know if they’re going to continue or make it a thing.”

“We’ll keep the clothes from Elle in my closet,” Eddie said, nodding. “That way they don’t get ruined.” He stood up and walked over the door to said closet. “Speaking of which,” he continued talking, over his shoulder, “Elle dropped off Steve’s Envy costume so that it fits. It will probably be a couple more weeks until the final costumes are done.”

He tossed it at Steve, who caught it deftly. “Try it on. Make sure it fits. It should, Elle is very good at what she does.”

Steve stripped down quickly and pulled the costume on. It fit like a glove. He did a slow turn around to show it off. Both Eddie and Chrissy wolf whistled their approval.

“Bend, twist,” Eddie said, “make sure you can move around and dance in it. It looking pretty is only a part of the equation.”

So Steve did some of the more complicated parts of his tease. Like the splits and spins. Then he removed each piece as he continued his dance; each piece coming off with ease. Once he was naked again, he got dressed in his street clothes.

“I’d say it’s a hit,” Chrissy said, smirking at Eddie’s slack jawed awe. Eddie’s mouth closed with a snap and he gulped.

“Yeah.”

Steve smirked and flopped back down on the chair. “So we’ll keep all of both Chrissy and my costumes here and hope that will keep the fly monkey at bay.”

“My bet is on it being Danny,” she said, sitting on the chair in front of Eddie’s desk. “She’s just the sort. I don’t think for all of Levi’s bluster that he would go that far.”

Eddie wasn’t so sure. This seemed like something else. Something bigger than some petty feud between dancers. This sounded more like someone with something to prove. He had two suspects, but he was going to keep that himself. For now.

He listened as Steve and Chrissy went back and forth about who they thought it could and if it wasn’t about Steve, then why they might target Chrissy.

“Babe,” Eddie implored, “you should just come out. To the troupe at least. I think that would help cut down on the jealousy if they knew you weren’t sleeping with the owner.”

Chrissy huffed out an annoyed sigh. “I know. But the thing is that if you were gay and not bisexual, they wouldn’t be making the same allegations against Jeff or Gareth, or hell, even Steve. But because I’m a woman the only reason I’m head choreographer is because I slept my way into the job.”

“Would it help if I came out too?” Steve asked, oblivious to the bomb that just went off in that office. “If we both come out as gay, maybe they’d leave you alone.”

Eddie’s friends might tease him about hitting it with Steve to least get out the pent up tension, but that’s all it was; teasing. But now with Steve basically removing the last real block to fucking him, now it was about to get serious and persistent.

Chrissy thought about it for a moment or two and then nodded. “It could even be informal like, a play argument and we call each other out?”

“We could do that, sure,” Steve said with a smile. “Whatever makes you comfortable. Hell, if ti’s okay with her, maybe Robin could join in. I know people have been asking around if we’re dating. Which if they really wanted know they could just ask. But dancers are the worst gossip hounds.”

Eddie snorted. That was certainly true. “The fruity four,” he said with a smile. Steve tilted his head to the side curiously. “I’m bi, sweetheart. Remember, Chrissy said earlier.”

Steve blinked at him for a moment and then smacked his head. “Oh my god! Yeah of course. I was just so focused on making sure she was okay that it must have slipped right past me!”

He lifted his hand like he was holding up a glass, “To the fruity four!”

Eddie and Chrissy laughed. They both raised mock glasses too. They talked for a little while longer before Chrissy and Steve left.

Eddie put his head in his hands. He had to admit how attractive Steve was. Those long dancer legs, the thick thighs, the hair on the man’s chest. The moles. The honey colored hair and hazel eyes. His Envy was his walking wet dream. He didn’t know how he was going to survive having this angel tempting him away from hell.

He licked his lips. Maybe he needed that vacation after all.

~

“Of course I want to see you, Ed,” Wayne said, “I just worry about what brought this on? You having trouble? Because if you’re having trouble, I’ll come to you. You know I will.”

“I’m just feeling a bit thin on the ground right now,” Eddie admitted shyly. “There’s trouble with the dancers, I haven’t had a break in five years, and I’m missing home.”

“Dancers are always gonna be trouble,” Wayne huffed. “It’s in their DNA. If they ain’t gossiping, they’re stirring up drama. I’ll tell you what, why I don’t come down there and stay a couple weeks, see if I can calm things a bit.”

Eddie let out a shuddering breath. “Yes, please. I know that it could possibly make things worse with them not trusting my authority, but god, I don’t know how you did this on your own for so long.”

Wayne snorted. “I did it because I was debt, son. Once you took over, and it started making money, good money even, I knew it was time throw in the towel. You had a better head for business then I ever did.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“Maybe,” Wayne said with a smile, “doesn’t change the fact that it’s still true. I’ll pack my things tonight and call Doris to water my plants, I’ll be down first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Uncle,” he murmured and they rang off. He put the phone back down in its cradle with a sigh.

Eddie stretched out his limbs until he could feel his spine pop.

Fuck.

Peaking at thirty is such bullshit. He wanted to speak to the manager, he wanted a full refund and a new body, please and thank you.

He got up to go see how his drama queens were doing. He didn’t like leaving them alone for too long because the shit they were capable of stirring up in the shortest amount of time was unfathomable.

When he got there he realized what he just stumbled into when he saw two of his favorite people standing in the center of the stage squaring off against each other.

“God,” Chrissy huffed, “are all ballerinas such queens?”

The rest of the troupe gasped, but before anyone could say anything, Steve put one hand on his hip and popped it.

“Better a queen then beanflicker, darling.”

“Fairy!” Chrissy shot back.

“Beaver eater!” was Steve’s returning salvo. Eddie snickered at that one.

“Shirt lifter!” Chrissy huffed, putting both hands on her hips.

“Boondagger!” Steve bit back, mirroring her pose. The whole troupe was silent. The wait staff had gathered to see what the ever loving fuck was going on.

Eddie sidled up to Jeff as Chrissy shot out “Pillow biter!”

“So what started this?” he whispered, leaning over so they didn’t disturb the hilarious scene in front of them.

“Vagetarian!” Steve spat.

“Steve told Chrissy her turn wasn’t tight enough,” Jeff whispered back, “and that if she tried that with other dancers on the stage she was going to hit one.”

Eddie nodded sagely; a nitpicky thing that would be great starter to their faux argument. He settled down to watch the show, making sure not to look at Robin was nearly doubled over in laughter, turning almost purple from lack of breath.

Chrissy’s shocked face at the most recent insult was hilarious. “Sausage jockey!”

Steve raised a singular bitchy eyebrow. And Eddie knew that this was the finisher. The one Steve had been holding onto the whole fight.

“Dick dodger.”

Chrissy blinked at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Okay, God. You win. You’re such a Mary.”

“Back at ‘atcha, lezzie,” he said with a smile. “Plus, I already have an annoying lesbian to deal with, I don’t need two.”

Robin finally took a breath as she gasped in rage. “Hey!”

Steve burst out laughing, hopping off the stage to kiss her cheek. “You love my gay ass, and you know it.”

Jeff waved his fingers between the three of them. “Wait, wait, wait...” he said with a grin. “Are all three of you gay? Like I knew about Chrissy, but damn, Ed.” He turned to Eddie and shook his head. “Really dialing it in on the diversity hires there.”

Eddie burst out laughing while the other three just grinned back.

“Yeah,” Steve said, “Robin and I are ‘Platonic Soulmates’ with a capital P. Just a couple of queers trying to make it through.”

Chrissy bumped her shoulder into Steve’s. “Same with me and Eddie. It was a little harder for me to come out because my family is ultra conservative and my ex is one of those annoying street preachers you see on YouTube harassing poor unsuspecting people on the street.”

“And I will kick his ass the next time I see him, too,” Eddie said with a fond smile.

“Wait,” Levi said, “you’re telling me that not only are Steve and Robin not a couple, neither is Eddie and Chrissy?”

“Nope!” Robin said with a shit eating grin. “Not even a little.”

The unasked question of then why was Chrissy made head choreographer then, hung in the air.

Gareth chuckled darkly. “Hey, Chris. How long were you in cheer and gymnastics?”

“I’m older than I look,” she replied with a wink. “Let’s just say I started gymnastics at ten and cheer at fifteen. Then I took jazz dance in college for a bit of kick as an elective. All those things are choreographed. Then right after college, I got hired here by Wayne to be lead choreographer. I applied just like everyone else. Did Eddie suggest I apply? Sure, but I got this job because I’m good. The only leg spreading I do is on stage.”

Steve and Robin clapped.

Chrissy took a bow.

Eddie smirked as there were some muttering from the dancers. “All right, we’ve had the preview, now it’s time practice the main attraction!”

Everyone got into position. Eddie caught Steve’s eye and mouthed, ‘Thank you.’

Steve just winked and go into the groove, let the music wash over him as Eddie watched. His heart beating faster over this ridiculous man and his fucking heart of gold.

He was in so much trouble.

~

Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Tag List: CLOSED!

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[fskgmegunoba]

EVERYONE ALREADY KNOW THAT MEGUMI'S TYPE FITS NOBARA THE MOST (tho some people are still in denial) ,

BUT LET'S DISCUSS NOBARA'S TYPE

From Juju Sanpo episode 15

Megumi:

1) Useless: he's definitely not useless, gege just hate him, He actually saved Nobara in that detention center, he also rescued Nanami, Maki and Naobito in Dagon's domain, he's the one who plotted the mission to rescue Tsumiki and it worked, though it didn't end up well, he's the brain of the 1st year trio so he definitely not useless

2) Broke: his biological father, yes. But Megumi is faaaaaaaar from broke, he has Gojo who spoils him, and he becomes a clan head later, and he's still working as Jujutsu sorcerer, I need someone to find his net worth

3) Smelly: you see how tidy and neat his room? I can assure you he smells great, I am the perfume's bottle

4) Stingy: If he's unfazed by the fact that Nobara just spilled coffee on a ¥250.000 shirt, I'm sure that he doesn't mind when the love of his life spend quite amount on shopping

5) Dead: he's, in fact, still alive he was just a bit depressed okay 👌

In official fanbook, Gege mentioned that Nobara's ideal type is Oda Nobunaga. It's quite unexpected tbh, I thought her ideal type would be some famous rich modern guy from Tokyo at first, so to find that her ideal type is a man from historical era is a bit out of character (for me).

Until I found this:

HE IS THE HEAD OF A VERY POWERFUL CLAN

AAAAND Megumi as the head of Zen'in, a very powerful clan is 1000000000% canon

In addition, Oda Nobunaga also known as the "Great Unifier". I have this canonhead that Megumi basically unified the 3 powerful Jujutsu clan, because he's a Zen'in, but he's also deeply connected to Gojo, and then we have Kamo, who tried to befriend him, but Kamo left as Kenjaku take over, and then Kenjaku dead, but we have Yuuji who now owns the Blood Manipulation, and Megumi also has deep connection with Yuuji.

Conclusion: Megumi and Nobara is each other's type. Accept this fact or go find the single eye-d cat and fight him

[yandere-daydreams]

Gojo and nanami are definitely the most misrepresented characters in fanfic in my eyes. I share the same sentiments with you about nanami and people writing him as if he's geriatric because he's just a no nonsense, work and go home, responsible adult. He knows what memes are, and he knows how to use a smartphone, he even used video game terms when he was fighting dagon! ("It's like he has infinite HP") He would know who doja cat is!

As for gojo, I feel like a lot of writers conflate his extroversion and somewhat silly demeanor for having people skills. It's canon that his lack of social skills is his one main flaw! And you can see it through the way the other characters interact with him: Ijichi is scared of him, Nanami thinks he's flippant, and Utahime straight up despises him and he thinks she's just joking about it. All of the Tokyo students save for Yuuji and Yuuta think he's weird and find his silliness off-putting. I just don't think he'd be very popular in those college AUs that write him as some kind of social butterfly who's friends with everyone, at best, he'd be well-known for his good looks and family name and being glued to the hip to Geto, who would definitely be the more popular one of the two. He'd probably also put people off by making insensitive comments (intentional or not) when trying to hold conversations, he's just not a guy that can easily understand other people or be understood. That's just my take tho

i've already spoken my thoughts on nanami, but,,, yeah T-T he's a very 'no frills' character, and since it's difficult to make a character who's only goal is to be boring, y'know, interesting, people tend to just settle on making him act older/overly mature/overly stoic, instead. i get why it happens, but i do which creators would engage with how funny he is as a character from time-to-time. that poor man is bare-knuckling it through life, blasting cobra by megan thee stallion and trying not to get the sixteen-year-olds he works with killed and he should be more appreciated for that.

and i couldn't agree more with the gojo stuff T-T T-T the popular fuckboy is a very common archetype that a lot of people want to write around, and as the resident pretty boy, i get why people want to slot gojo into it, but it's literally canon that not a single damn person can stand being around him for longer than an hour at a time beyond, like, two high-schoolers and the ex-boyfriend who hasn't spoke to him in ten years. i think the only canon-compliant way to write for him in an college/no curses au would be like. that guy who everyone assumes is popular because he's rich and attractive, but actually has like two friends and is way better at sports + housework than his overly pretentious major. he just kind of sucks, and it's important to me that people recognize that as one of his most endearing traits.

[sighed-the-snake]

Speculation on Archangel Michael

I think Crowley might have murdered Michael's boyfriend.

The way she rushes off so eagerly to make that phone call in the stairwell.

"It's me," she says with familiarity. Her voice is soft, and sweet, like her smile. "It's our man, Aziraphale. Is there any possibility he's working for you?"

She accepts his denial easily, without question. "No? Well then, you might want to investigate the activities of the demon Crowley. Might be playing his own game, word to the wise."

She's warning him. When he resists, she pushes back, but she is still gentle. "No, I'm - I'm telling you, you can't trust him."

He questions her, and there is a flirtatiousness in her voice. She almost purrs. "Of course you can trust me. I'm an angel."

Who is she talking to?

That's right. This guy. Ligur.

The one Crowley melts with holy water when Ligur comes for him.

Contrast this with the way Michael conducts her phone call to Hell in S2. (For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure she's talking to Dagon.)

"I'm not saying Hell is complicit in this," she says, the facade of angelic grace barely concealing her irritation. She's lounging stiffly in her chair. She doesn't want to be on this call, explaining herself. "I'm not saying anyone is complicit. I'm just saying that if anyone is found helping him, we are prepared to use extreme sanctions."

"Extreme sanctions?" echoes the voice on the line.

"Yes," says Michael, almost rolling her eyes and restraining a sigh. "Book of Life."

"I'm on it," says the voice dutifully.

Michael's reply is almost a sneer. "I appreciate it," she says, and hangs up on the demon by literally blowing them off.

That is a pretty big tonal shift.

The softness she showed Ligur is not her usual way of going about things. She does not get her way by using a light touch. Irritated exasperation is closer to Michael's default.

She's calculating, and canny, and restrained. She sees through Aziraphale's deception in the Job job. She later investigates him by combing through Earth's surveillance when he makes some remarks that don't sit right with her. She cuts people off to talk over them. She's ambitious and covets Gabriel's job.

And yet, she was soft and sweet to Ligur, in a way we never see again.

And when it was time to execute Crowley, who showed up with a pitcher of holy water to destroy him?

That's right. Michael.

Taking this scene at face value, I thought it was because Michael is one of Heaven's heavy-hitters, and she's the one with the backchannel to Hell. She's the one talking to them, so she's the one who goes there with the holy water.

But with S2 in mind, I'm seeing this with different eyes.

I think she requested this job. She knows Ligur was destroyed trying to bring in Crowley, and she has probably guessed where the demon's holy water came from. This execution was personal. She wanted to be the one to supply the water that melted the Serpent of Eden into a dingy pool of filth, just like he did to the demon she cared about. When she walks away with an empty pitcher, she looks satisfied.

That's it, that's the theory. Crowley murdered her boyfriend, Aziraphale supplied the murder weapon, and she probably hates both of them down to her angelic bones.

[what-even-is-thiss]

In the elder scrolls iv oblivion you generally have to go to the Daedra. You have to seek out their shrines to get their quests, you have to ask to talk to them and put work into it, you have to head to the shivering isles of your own volition. The Daedra are all over the place but Merunes Dagon trying to break into the physical world is the only one trying to butt his way into anything.

In the elder scrolls v Skyrim you’re just going about your business when you come across an orb by accident and Meridia is like hey I’ve got homework for you and then you just try to save an island of people from an evil dragon man and Hermaeus Mora is like hey you’re my new toy Dragonborn help me kill a random old man and then you help a guy inspect an abandoned house and Molag Bol is like hey I’m in this house also you’re in a cage now go kill someone for me and

[dist0rt1on]

[SHIBUYA INCIDENT SPOILERS(?)]

Lmao i havent posted in so long but i got some silly little Yuji Itadori x Reader thoughts

Imagine being childhood best friends with Yuji until one day he bid farewell to you as he told you he was moving to another school. You were suspicious on why he was being so secretive about it, but you chose to brush it off. Maybe he needed some time after his grandfather's death.

Though, he only told you one word; Tokyo.

When you and Yuji lived in Sendai, neither of you had phones (confirmed by gege on yuuji's part) so you had planned to send him a handwritten letter multiple times, but it was no use. Especially with the fact that you have no idea where his new address lies. (Even when you've gotten a phone, you can't find his accounts on social media, somehow.)

So you lost touch with him completely after his departure.

After months of those lonely and agonizing thoughts, you've decided to seek answers, or perhaps closure if he had decided that he doesn't want to interact with you anymore.

One day, you've finally arrived at Tokyo with a list of possible highschools Yuji could've been in.

But then shit happens, you get lost and you somehow encounter a strong, cursed spirit that wanted to devour you.

But then, you were 'saved' by Mahito and 'Geto'. Who had beaten the shit out of the curse (Mahito) while the other just... you know, ate it. ('Geto')

You felt like you were in debt towards the two. So you repeatedly thank them while asking about your best friend's whereabouts. Yuji was a bright person that's always remembered by people. They should know or atleast had seen him once, right?

Of course, seeing pictures of Yuji you shown, Mahito wanted to laugh. But he shouldn't, yet. He has plans in store for you upon hearing this information about your relationship with Yuji.

And he tells you that Yuji is familiar with this world of curses while twisting the story. Telling you that he was working for a group of sorcerers that nutured curses and will soon dominate the world. Sounds exaggerating, but when it comes to Yuji, you'd do anything to help him, free him from darkness while unknowingly threading upon the path of darkness yourself.

You joined Mahito and his group. Your mind was set to save the kind Yuji from corruption, while Mahito slowly corrupts your kindness.

Were you fully human, or half-curse? You couldn't remember.

A few months later, you and the rest of the group had successfully sealed Gojo Satoru on October 31, at Shibuya Station.

Hanami and Dagon were destroyed, and you didn't know where Choso, Jogo and Geto went. You were paired with Mahito as he kills a blonde-haired, half-burnt man with no ounce of mercy.

But before the said man died, he turned towards another direction. You've got it from here. Those were his last words.

Realizing that he might've said that to his ally, you ready yourself to destroy the opponent that had just arrived, looking at his direction.

You did not expect that.

You did not expect...

No... Nononononono...

You didn't...

Why does it have to be you?

You didn't expect...

Yuji Itadori

to be your opponent this time.

...

Dun-dun-dun... Ta-da! What do you guys think of the concept? Will this make Yuji suffer? Yep. Will the reader die? Who knows? Not sure if i'll make this a full oneshot one day but i'll keep this in mind i guess. Stay tuned!

[wordpress-blaze-119493904]

Constitutive Work, Recognition, and Why Hannah Arendt Matters

Going through a layoff can be devastating.

When I got laid off from a Christian University that had been struggling financially (typical of such post-secondary institutions in the 2000s), I needed to come to the deep logic which eliminated me from the equation. After all, I was in my early 50’s, and I had thought I was in a position that would take me to retirement – but that had come to an end. The conflict that generated my dismissal, which was one of a couple of layoffs in that year’s round of layoffs at a struggling institution. The temptation, and commonly understood answer, was that my layoff was needed because, by keeping my position, the long-term financial health of the institution would be jeopardized. That logic still seemed to widely hold even though my department was producing a surplus that could pay for a director-level salary over and above my own.

The answer I would like to share with you here will explain so much more than my layoff.

There is a social logic revolving around the nature of work that is untenable. As I have written elsewhere, work serves more than the end of bolstering our purchasing power. Michael Sandel, in The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?, identifies that the end of work as not just securing our purchasing powers as consumers (distributive work), but also as producers, who build and who are recognized in contributing to a common good (productive work), pp. 197 - 222. He outlines that the dominant stream of economic theory from Adam Smith to John Maynard Keynes saw work as aiming toward the distributive end, at the exclusion of the considerations of productive work. However, Sandel also invokes another economic tradition that has existed through thinkers as varied as Pope John Paul II, Martin Luther King, and John F. Kennedy. Such a tradition tapped into the deep awareness of the importance of recognition that comes from our work, further sourcing this from the notoriously difficult philosopher, G.W.F. Hegel.

You will completely understand, if you have read my other work, or any of the philosophers of the romantic tradition, including Charles Taylor, that recognition is necessary to our moral characters as human beings.  In the days of the early, professional economists, the key focus was on political economy, a focus we can barely recognize these days in the western world. The primacy of investor financing, and the remarkable income inequality that has followed, makes broad concerns with worldwide flourishing nearly impossible for any particular economist to consider. Thomas Picketty tried, but has notoriously under-delivered to consider political economy in its broad focused largely because he did so from the standpoint of distributive work, and almost completely ignored what Sandel called productive work, and what I have called constitutive work. It is worth noting that all the people mentioned who focus on productive work are not professional economists. Instead, they are philosophers and religious people with credible economic chops.

Why is this important? Well, it goes to where they sourced the information. The Adam Smith of the late eighteenth century, for example, was a kind of top-down professional economist. When he writes, “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production, and the interests of the producer ought to be attended to only so far as [they] may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer,” he subsumes all production under the activity of consumption. In other words, human beings are primarily to be understood as a consumer according to neoliberal economics. As such, it is fair to say that neoliberal economic theory has taken this very literally. Sandel notes that Keynes echoes Smith nearly 200 years later, proclaiming that consumption “is the sole end and object of all economic activity.” The top-down goal of work, in the opinion of the professional economists, and axiomatic of neo-liberal economies, is distribution for the purpose of consumption.

However, in Sandel’s account, an important thinker is left out in his evaluation of what he calls “the dignity of work.” 

Hannah Arendt, in the Human Condition (free download), does not put production and consumption in any hierarchy. She treats them as two sides of the same coin in her extensive analysis of labor. Arendt, with great etymological evidence, characterizes our activity in our private lives as “Labor.” We labor in order to acquire consumer goods, food and the like.  We labor quite hard, in most cases, and often consume no less energetically.  In both aspects of this cycle, the end of one is the beginning of the other.  We labor, and as soon as we stop laboring, we begin consuming.  As soon as we finish consuming, we need to labor some more.  The activities are, at the most fundamental level of our biological existence, cyclical; the process never truly ends. But importantly, it is rooted in our biological life process (rather than our "climbing a social ladder") which needs the shelter of the private world. We need privacy both to shelter the essentially cooperative relationship of laboring and consuming, and to sustain the biological life process. 

Importantly, Arendt distinguishes between the activities of labor and work. Work differs from labor in the sense that work is something which has a definite beginning and a definite end.  This includes tools that we make to help us in the laboring process, to less “useful” objects of fabrication such as works of art.  Visualized, the concept of time that accompanies work is a line segment.  Labor, on the other hand, is visualized as a circle. To have a definite beginning and a definite predictable end is the mark of fabrication, which through this characteristic alone distinguishes itself from all other human activities.  Labor, caught in the cyclical movements of the biological life process, has neither a beginning nor an end properly speaking – only pauses and intervals between exhaustion and regeneration.

What I think is crucial to understand, for the purposes of understanding the depth of what I here have called “the social logic of work,”  is that what we now refer to as work has been colonized by a world that treats both the private life of individuals as primarily characterized by consumption, and our labouring life as fitting somewhere on a social ladder. In other words, our understanding of work is distorted from our life process as biological human beings.

Let me fulfill my promise and connect the dots with my own layoff story. In the case of my layoff, the work I had done for the institution had been disconnected with the Arendtian understanding of labor I had put into it. The value of my work for the institution had been evaluated on the value it provided for the institution as that institution existed as a fixed entity. The logic of the institution, which was social by nature, dictated that any individual contribution to the institution could be essentially disassociated from the individual contributing to it. This, of course, disregards any constitutive value it had for me. But, perhaps most importantly, they discounted the productive value of the work it had for the institution itself. In academia, the work that is given is supposed to, in itself, produce beyond its initial effort. Students and faculty were to engage in the offering of learning to take that learning on exponentially. That is the way education is supposed to work. However, the institution was treating academic work as if it was a product to be consumed.  In short, I had a constitutive account of work; my former employer had a consumptive account of it.

But the current fashion of treating all work as subservient to the activity of consumption is exactly the model of neoliberal economics which is primarily social and devoted to the preservation of the social world in which it is received. And, it seems to all those under contemporary working conditions, that it is this social world into which we are born, and out of which we will depart. But, I believe this to be a categorical misunderstanding. If we believe Arendt about the cyclical nature of the biological life process, we need labor to be sheltered by the realm of privacy. Ask any expectant mother and they will say that laboring needs the shelter of privacy.

The important aspect that the theorists of productive (or constitutive) work need to mention is that what privacy also shelters is a deeply moral type of recognition, that it turns out, is not at home in the social world. As Arendt draws on, and theorists such as Charles Taylor explain, it is in the work of Jean Jacques Rousseau that we can see that there is a difference between recognition and esteem. For Rousseau, the kind of esteem that he thought to be most corrosive of individual freedom was preferential esteem.  As it turns out, contemporary society would be thoroughly condemned by Rousseau because of the complete tyranny of preferential esteem in the social world. When that type of preference seeps into the private world and eventually colonizes the deep sense of recognition that is a basic humanizing need, we have indeed allowed the social world into a place it doesn’t belong; it now lays a claim on our identities as moral creatures. It guts us. Instead of finding our worth in the private world of significant others that include friends, family, and trusted mentors, we are now at the mercy of a mass social world that will discard us at the first sign we do not align with its preferences. Not only does this perhaps explain why I was discarded by the Christian university, but it can also explain the deep resentment of white, non-college educated voters that gave impetus to the support for Donald Trump in 2016, and at least some of the polarization which grips us now. They feel discarded because they do not fit the preferential esteem of American society.

Hegel and Rousseau were both aware of this essential distinction between esteem and recognition, and yet modern theorists tend to overlook it. Recognition, in the sense of a deep fulfilling way in which we are known and developed as individuals, happens amidst our significant others.  If we expect that we will be fulfilled by preferential esteem, on the other hand, we will, in fact, be sorely disappointed. And depressed. And anxious. And even, perhaps, suicidal. We will no longer want to go to the office.

You see, preferential esteem, in fact, is based on the principle of exchange and is built into our strictly social relationships. And if we are to experience the kind of recognition which will never disregard and discard us, we must have a sheltered space for it to appear. 

We are now reaping what has been sown. The desire to increasingly work from home is, indeed, a recoiling from the social sphere into the private sphere – to the world of friends and family, of child-rearing and of romance. It is evidence that many are not getting the recognition that they need. They have realized that social, preferential esteem is not enough for fulfillment.

And perhaps the increase of “deaths of despair” (through suicide, and drug and alcohol overdoses) can, in part, be understood in this corruptive relationship of recognition and esteem. If we believed Sandel, the ones who are at the top end of the economy have confused recognition and the moral worth it conveys with the preferential esteem they have been bestowed by mass society. Sandel would have us believe that explains how we wrongly equate moral worth with our the rather fortunate circumstances of having been in the right place at the right time. As Scott Galloway rightly intuits, “I can predict your likelihood of being in the top 10% of earners by your zip code and what degree you have.” In other words, we don’t deserve our success or failure primarily by our effort, but instead, our social success is  in large part, given to us.

And this is why it is important to understand the constitutive element of work – the element that does two related things, both of which are necessary to understand works importance. Some may call these Marxian insights, because indeed, there is no greater theorist of labor than Marx. The two elements that work ought to provide is: 1) sustaining the biological life of the individual, and 2) allowing for the expressive needs of each person. If we understand that, as labor, which is sheltered in the private realm, they are both present. However, if it is corrupted by the infiltration of the social world – then they are both eroded.

If we think work is merely about increasing our ability to consume, then we will indeed be the most unfree of all. We will not have any authentic responsibility for our own identities.  We will indeed be at the mercy of mass society.

Source: Constitutive Work, Recognition, and Why Hannah Arendt Matters

[facts-i-just-made-up]

How do I start beef with an eldritch god of the sea?

I have some bloodborn type stuff that I need to get done, and don't know where to start.

Angering an ancient god can be dangerous, but if you should wish to do so, they aren't too difficult to piss off. Try the following list of things that can enrage the great old ones:

Disturb their slumber: Most elder gods are not dead, but dreaming. If you sound an alarm clock or loud music in their area, this can invoke their wrath. Try also a loud motorcycle, or crying baby.

Deface their idols: Nearly all gods have every season of American Idol on DVD, and scratching their discs will make them skip during the performances. This will surely bring down their hatred on you.

Kill the god's favorite animals: Most gods will not care if you kill their human followers, but if you massacre the animals sacred to that deity, they will be pissed. There are no records of storms at sea before the invention of whaling, and there are no records of political corruption before the snakes were driven from Ireland. These are due to the vengeance of the whale god Payakan and the snake god Thulsadoom, respectively.

Usurp their fanbase: Most gods are jealous, as seen in the film "Jealous Gods" which happens to be free to watch on YouTube and Vimeo. If you torment a god by stealing their worshipers, they will almost certainly wreak havoc on you and those you love.

Move the triad of statues out of alignment: If you invade the esper realm and raise the floating continent, then use the light of judgment to burn your dissenters or even for your own amusement, the returners will likely defeat you and magic will fade from the world. Or something, I don't know, I never played Skyrim.

Have sex with their spouse: From Greece to Egypt to Rome and beyond, sleeping with the spouse of a god tends to end poorly for all involved. This excludes of course the god Polyculus, patron of ethical non-monogamy. Sleeping with a spouse of Polyculus generally just entitles the participant to use the Sacred Shower of Lavacrum, and if needed, the Holy Lozenges of Desogestrel. Jesus is also married to like a million lonely nuns and hasn't smote me yet for what I did with Sister Redgrave and her convent...

Profane their sacraments: Many worshipers of the ancient ones will ingest various substances to commune with them. By ruining these sacred substances, you incur their ire. Just be sure you know what will work for which deity, because I know a guy who angrily threw fish guts on a sacrament of Dagon and now he's their high priest cuz Dagon fuckin' LOOOOOVED that shit. Like... In a creepy way.

[vidavalor]

This is the face of an angel who just realized that his oppressors are afraid of him and his friends because, together, they are a force that threatens the regime.

This is the face of an angel that just realized all of this Metatron nonsense is to separate them and keep him-- the best strategist-- from starting a revolution. If they are split up, The Second Coming goes off without a hitch... but if Aziraphale unites them, then Heaven will fall. Crowley & Aziraphale alone are enough trouble together to stop Armageddon. Crowley & Aziraphale with the eons-long leaders and commanders of Heaven and Hell in Gabriel and Beezelbub, though? That is a coup.

How little would it take to overthrow it all at this point? How long until it's Crowley & Aziraphale & Gabriel & Beez... & Muriel & Eric & Furfur? How til they get Michael and Dagon on their side? How long until it's actually most of the demons and a sizable portion of the angels teaming up against what's left of Heaven?

Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death. Aziraphale took the coffee. The Metatron thinks it means subservience. He thinks it means he's tricked Aziraphale and that he's won and he was almost right, so is the level of trauma these beings have suffered. He didn't know, though, that coffee is already coded as liberty. He handed Aziraphale a cup of symbolic freedom and didn't realize how so very true that was going to be. Just like a certain empire once did when they gave some of their people the option to form some colonies, thinking that the empire would always remain in control, and now we call those colonies not part of Great Britain but The United States of America.

"Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks leap out"-- the Job quote on the matchbox. The matchbox containing the fly, containing Gabriel via Beez. Out of Gabriel's mouth goes burning lamps-- Gabriel lights the way. He's the path forward. He is first shots fired in the rebellion...

...and sparks leap out.

Some Boston Tea Party stuff afoot, you guys.

That is the face of an angel that just realized that he and Crowley were both wrong: the solution isn't running away but it's also not taking over a broken system that doesn't want to be fixed... it's fanning the spark that Gabriel lit into a flame and then into an inferno and burning this entire mother to the ground.

Aziraphale is no longer headed to Heaven to run it.

He's headed to Heaven to *overthrow* it.

He's headed to Heaven to *liberate* it.

No idea how much of a chance he will get to succeed alone but this is Aziraphale. He will give them hell if it's the last thing he ever does-- for Muriel and all the angels like them. For all the persecuted demons. For the humans Heaven wants to destroy. For Gabriel.

Most of all, for what they did to Crowley and the 6,000 years of fear and pain they've put them through.

That is the face of an angel who just realized that he had almost been drawn back into Heaven's web of darkness again, only to hear that Heaven wants him to oversee the destruction of 8 billion people and the Earth he calls home and the stars the love of his life built and he has reached his absolute last remaining straw.

They've taken his home and hurt his friends and they took *Crowley* and at this point, Aziraphale no longer gives one flying fuck what it might be that God wants because God can go fuck herself if this it is. The elevator scene is Aziraphale saying Crowley was right:

That angel is *untethered* with barely controlled rage. They nearly played him for a sucker. He might die doing this and they fooled him and he broke Crowley's heart and they've taken too. Fucking. Much. It's just utter destruction. There will be no system of Heaven and Hell done when Aziraphale is through with it.

Aziraphale is about to go from not sure if he should stop Armageddon in S1 to being the angel that destroys the system of Heaven and Hell in S3.

Yes, you can save everyone, Aziraphale, but not alone. You need Crowley's imagination and Gabriel's leadership and Beez's intelligence. That's what they're afraid of. You finally got it in that elevator, so get up there now, get your gang back together, and make some trouble.

[uriekukistan]

Hope your day or night is going well!! ✨

Okay, top five Megumi lines/scenes?

ahhh thank you i hope yours is as well!! and thank you for the ask!!

im in the car rn so some of these i couldn’t track down the specific chapter/page bc i dont wanna use all my data :’)

1 - “i’m not like itadori, i have no problem earning 100 points for myself.” or something along that line

one of the things that fascinates me the most about megumi is the way he places value on lives, and this line is just so cool to me. he’d said before this that he saves people unequally, but this shows just how far that goes. he’ll kill anywhere from 20-100 random people so tsumiki and itadori, the two people he cares about and thinks are worth saving more than anyone else, don’t have to get their hands dirty, and their lives hold more value to him than others. it’s also so interesting to me because of the way megumi doesn’t consider himself a good person like tsumiki or itadori, and therefore doesn’t really see himself as worth saving, so it’s just a necessary burden he has to carry as the “bad” person for those two. also add that in w this line, and im on the floor

2 - his battle vs sukuna at the detention facility/“i’m not a hero, i’m a jujutsu sorcerer”

another moment where we get an insight into his ideas on good/bad people and who deserves saving, can you tell i love this aspect of his character? i mean, he’s about to sacrifice himself for itadori to live (hopefully), even though he literally met the guy two weeks ago, because he thinks he’s a good person who deserves saving. it’s the first insight we get into megumi’s thought process, and this was really the moment that made me start paying attention to him more. i also love how he kept a softer expression on his face and didn’t cry until after itadori died, like he didnt want itadori to feel sad or guilty in his final moments im SICK also the fact that he took the name-tag to that guys mom even though he didnt have an interest in saving him, like he was paying a respect to itadori….ugh…anyway yeah i love dissecting the way he values life.

3 - “so start by saving me, itadori”

see as an itafushist of course this had to make the list like this whole chapter has me on the floor but anyway aside from that, i love thinking about this scene because the words he’s saying seem so contrary to how he thinks? like he’s asking to be saved but he doesn’t think he’s worth saving? so it needs an extra layer of consideration. i feel like he really said this more to motivate yuuji (and save tsumiki) than actually wanting to be saved himself. plus the “it’s our fault, don’t be selfish and give up all alone” aaahhahahsj i just love this moment i feel like it shows his character very well….when the idgafer actually very much gaf….

4 - his first domain expansion

hellooo this was so sick and cool and badass of him like i dont think there’s anything i need to say for this. huge character development moment for him too. add this with the simple domain he had in dagon’s domain + the part in the culling games arc where he literally hides himself in the shadows……he’s crazy powerful and i dont wanna hear anything abt it! if u were traumatized like that you’d be curled up on the floor too

5 - “if you die, i’ll kill you” both times

again as an itafushist i couldnt not include this….of course there’s implications for megumi’s character as well but i feel like there’s only so much i can talk about his moral code in one post yk? but yeah i think it just shows how much the people he cares about matter to him

also bonus i love just any culling games megumi, his determination to save tsumiki and make it so itadori doesnt have to kill anyone makes him grow so much as a character and as a sorcerer, i love it sm

thank u for the ask! any excuse to yap about megumi 🤞

[ladykailitha]

The Hellfire Exotic Club Part 13

Do I mourn the fact that this isn't the last chapter because it's a spooky number? Yes, yes I do. But!

Have fun!

In this we have the renovation and reopening of the club, the trial of Robin's attacker, and Steve gives the performance of his life.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

~

Construction of the new stage went smoothly with guardrails to keep the dancers from falling off and keeping the crowd from getting to handsy.

The chairs and tables were red leather and black metal fittings. The chair backs had the club logo in wrought iron. It was really cool. The wood floors where replaced by red and black tiles. The walls were painted with flames and the lighting was changed over to faux candles.

The whole vibe went from converted speakeasy to an actual Hellfire Club. When the second set of dressing rooms were finished; it would be the backup dancers on the right, because they had more costume changes to go through in a night and needed the bigger space for all their costumes and the Sins on the left.

Each Sin would have their own vanity and closet where they would have more room to change into their Sin costumes, because they tended to be more over the top. Well, all but Brian’s. Brian’s was his three piece suit, but he was a large guy, so he still needed all the space he could get.

When Steve asked where Eddie was getting all the money to do the renovations he merely grinned and tapped the side of his nose.

The truth was that Eddie had gone to Nancy’s boss and told him about her schemes. The man offered $300k to make the problem go away. Which Eddie happily took and then someone *Wayne cough cough* call in an anonymous tip to their main rival. It wasn’t Eddie’s fault that of the fifty odd people who were there that night decided to take justice in their own hands, was it?

He kept $100k of it back, and put the rest into updating the club. Upped all his insurances and made sure all his licenses would cover the bigger place, getting all his ducks in a row.

Opening night was packed to the gills, even for a Saturday night. Just like addicts needing their fix.

The three new dancers fit in seamlessly. Mason considered themselves to be non-binary so it was a bit of an adjustment getting use to the new pronouns but Eddie was proud to say he hadn’t hired a single fucking bigot among them as they all got used it. Admittedly, some quicker than others, but they all adjusted.

Steve really got along with Micaella, the new Wrath. Which privately Eddie thought was pretty hilarious considering how little he got along with Stella.

Eddie got up to the stage and pulled out a microphone. “I don’t usually do this public speaking bullshit. Singing, dancing, and playing in front of an audience is fine, it’s the talking that scares the hell out of me. Go figure.”

There were some polite chuckles.

“So why am I doing this you ask?” Eddie said, pacing back and forth on stage. “Well it’s because the club isn’t the only fresh face around here. Our Satan wasn’t given a proper introduction because we literally threw him into the deep end. So let’s give him a round of applause.”

A thunderous roar came and Steve blushed a deep red as he waved.

“I don’t stand for bullies no matter the form they take,” Eddie continued. “And when a couple of my dancers started to bully our Satan, I had to gather up the evidence I needed to make sure I fired the right people. So it pains my to say that Dagon, Leviathan and even our very own Wrath, Lamia, will no longer be preforming with us.”

There was some oohing and disgruntled mumbling on that one.

“When they endanger the life of fellow dancer,” Eddie said solemnly, “that’s line that needs to be drawn. So that’s why the guardrail was put up. It won’t interfere with your viewing pleasure. I checked.”

There was some appreciative rumbling and Eddie took that as a win.

“So to replace our little demons,” he continued, “we have Set and Kimaris. And to replace our Wrath, we proudly introduce Megera, the Fury!”

The three of them stepped forward, waving and bowing. Then they stepped back

“And to celebrate our grand return,” Eddie concluded, “we present Fairy Tails!”

There was some wolf whistling and stomping as the lights went down.

They did the fairy tales Seven Deadly Sins style and Ellie’s costumes were an absolute treat, coming off with a sultry ease.

The new additions fitting in so seamlessly that soon the audience had forgotten their counterparts in light of their new titillation.

Mason Clark was a non-binary black person whose Set was chaotic and fierce, the way they danced with Cheryl or Choronzon was electric. So much so Eddie was starting to think of changing her name to better fit the Egyptian god theme. He would just have find a really good that match their style. He was thinking Apothos or Ammit. Whichever one she liked the best.

Kyle had that sweet country boy look off the stage, cowboy boots and blue jeans. He had blue eyes and red hair. But once he got on stage all of that fell away and he was phenomenal. And if Eddie ever retired from dancing, he knew he would have his perfect replacement in Kyle. The man could move and move you in a style that was both rough and tender at the same time.

Eddie still wasn’t sure how managed it. Maybe rough wasn’t the right word. Raw. Raw was a better word. It was like he was showing you a side of himself reserved only for the stage. It was breathtaking.

The money flowed in as easily as it had before the two week closure, leaving Eddie, and by extension, Wayne feeling very relieved indeed.

So Wayne made the decision to go back to Hawkins, safe in the knowledge that Eddie now had everything under control.

~

Eddie sat in the back of the courtroom, squirming in his seat. He had never be in the gallery before, usually the defendant’s chair, so it was making him twitch.

Robin had given her testimony last week and now it was Steve turn. He wore a simple grey sweater vest over a long sleeved white button up and grey slacks. You wouldn’t have known from the look of him that he shook his ass on stage five nights a week.

The prosecutor was up first and got Steve to lay out the events of the day as plainly as he could remember them.

The defense lawyer stood up. He was slick man in a thousand dollar suit, diamond rings on almost every finger. The man screamed slime just from his appearance.

“Can you state your current employment?” the lawyer asked smugly.

“Objection!” the prosecutor cried, leaping to his feet.

“Goes toward the character of the witness,” the lawyer said.

“I’ll allow it,” the judge said dryly, waving his hand to the prosecutor’s visible displeasure.

“Hellfire Exotic Club.”

There was some twittering in the jury box but the gallery remained silent.

“And what do you do there?” the lawyer asked, standing up and walking around to the front of the table.

“I’m a dancer,” Steve said, with clenched jaw. His hands gripped the sides of the witness chair.

Eddie could tell it was taking every ounce of self-control for him not to rip this guy’s balls off. Which he was happily willing to do the job for Steve because this guy reminded him of his dad in all the worst ways.

“You strip,” the lawyer corrected, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

“Yes.”

The lawyer turned around and picked up a folder from the table and flipped through it for a moment. “It says that you were the lead dancer at the Indiana Ballet Company, is that correct?”

The room was tense as everyone waited to see where this was going. Eddie crossed his arms and leaned back in the seat, taking a desperate measure not to leap over the guardrail. Robin grabbed his knee and gave it a squeeze. He looked at her and she gave him a weak smile back.

“Yes, sir,” Steve agreed, leaning further into the microphone.

"And why did you leave the Indiana Ballet Company?" the lawyer asked, throwing the folder back on the table.

"Because I tore a muscle in my shoulder," Steve replied tersely.

The lawyer rolled his eyes. "You're a dancer, why would a shoulder injury make you quit?"

"Because a male danseur must be able to lift other dancers,” he said slowly as though he was talking to a small child. “Do you know how useless a danseur who can't lift is?"

"No."

"About as useless as this line of questions is in reference to my character as a witness,” Steve bit out. “Move it along."

There was some snickering among the prosecutor’s table.

“Mr. Harrington...” the judge warned, giving him the eye.

“May I say something really quick,” Steve asked the judge, looking over at him on the bench, “before this becomes a ‘gotcha’ moment?”

“Your honor!” the lawyer huffed. “This is most unusual!”

“I think he should have a say if it’s relevant to his character,” the prosecutor said, leaning back in his chair.

“And is it?” the judge asked Steve sternly.

“Yes, your honor.”

“I’ll allow it,” the judge said waving off the defense’s further objections.

“I only started working at the club because I was fired from the rec center,” Steve said, shyly. “The bills were piling up and I needed to make a lot of money fast.”

The courtroom was a still as a statue and as quiet as death at that proclamation.

The judge turned to the prosecutor. “Is this true?”

“It is your honor.”

“So let me get this straight, counselor,” the judge said angrily, “that the reason Mr. Harrington was working at the strip club in the first place is because he was fired from the rec center for reporting your client? Do I have that right?”

“I can’t attest to the cause of Mr. Harrington’s dismissal–”

The judge cut him off with a single glare. “Do I have that right?”

“Yes, your honor,” the lawyer hissed.

“So all his working at the strip club attests to is that his firing made him desperate,” the judge said. “As Mr. Harrington said, move this line of questioning along.”

The lawyer seethed but did as he was told. He tried to work every angle to get Steve to trip up but Steve was flawless on the stand.

Eddie was proud of him. So fucking proud.

Then it was time for closing remarks and Eddie really enjoyed the prosecutor’s.

“...Not only did this man brutalize a young woman for the sheer fact she was gay,” he said solemnly, “but their subsequent firing left them destitute and having to turn to working at a strip bar to make ends meet. The sins this man has enacted upon Robin Buckley is immeasurable and despicable.”

Steve was silently crying into his silk and lace handkerchief and Robin and Eddie held on from either side.

No one was surprised when the jury returned the verdict as guilty on all charges in less than twenty minutes.

As they walked away for a little celebration, Eddie turned to Steve, “So... you’re still going to work at the club, right?”

Robin and Steve shared a glance and then burst out laughing.

“Yeah, of course,” Steve said, stuffing the handkerchief into his pocket. “My mother is a complete bitch, but she absolutely is also one of the best lawyers in the state. I have seen her coach many a client on how to cry on command. Not a single fucking tear was genuine, let me tell you.”

Eddie’s shoulders sagged in relief. “That’s is so good to hear.”

“Now let’s call the crew and have them all meet us at Kincade’s for drinks and barbecue on me,” he replied with a grin. “We have some real celebrating to do!”

~

Part 14

Tag List: CLOSED

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