#being saved by a supernatural force and yet. doomed to die anyways

[marukrawler]

considering how i viewed joe's story as an intended parallel to that of the white ones, there is something that i thought was going to happen during battle brawlers but didn't come to pass, (and understandably so because it would've been really dark lol) and that is the idea of joe dying in spite of being healed by the infinity core.

essentially, i thought something was going to happen that would make him choose to give up the positive energy within him. it would've been a bit of a stretch and quite possibly borrowing too much from wyvern's own choice to sacrifice herself, but someone would've gotten injured (probably dan) and joe would use his own remaining life energy to heal that person. not unlike the white ones, joe dies, but like wyvern, he has agency in how he dies.

[autisticsupervillain]

Judicious Reaper AU

Hiveswap/Death Note Crossover

Tyzias Entykk is going heading home for the night when she stumbles across a strange black book on the ground. She picks it up and reads the five rules, written in plain Alternian.

The troll whose name is written in this note shall die.

This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.

If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

She shrugs it off and stuffs the "Death Note" into her bag, figuring it's just some weeb thing that Tegiri dropped and she could return it to him tomorrow.

Later that night, she finds herself mulling over the Death Note with the TV on in the background, wondering what it could be from. Tegiri's never been shy about his interests, so it does strike her as odd that she's never heard him mention it. It's not like it could be new either, as Tegiri would've bragged about his new notebook the first chance he got. Just as Tyzias resolves to look it up, Trizza appears on the TV screen.

Trizza subjects her audience to another one of her narcissistic tyraids about how much better she is than everyone else and how she's definitely the rightful Empress. Tyzias, already tired from a long night of work and throughly fed up with Alternia's bullshit for that night, decides to write Trizza's name in the Death Note. Just as Tyzias dryly remarks to herself that "i wwwwish it wwwwas that easy", Trizza drops dead on stage. Tyzias drops her mug in shock.

Alternia is sent reeling on the inexplicable death of its Heiress and Tyzias is left staring mortified at the Death Note in her hands. She quickly throws the book in the trash and resolves to try and get to bed early that day, knowing she'll have a long night of work tomorrow. She doesn't get much sleep that night.

Predictably, Alternia has descended into absolute chaos by the time Tyzias wakes up. Trizza's death has inspired the rebellion to be more overt and violent, actively organizing raids and invasions while highblooded rebels like Fiamat try and seize control of the power vacuum. This leaves Tyzias swimming in so much paperwork that she barely has time to even think about the Death Note in between tending to the emotional needs of a shocked and confused Stelsa and trying to get her work done on time.

In the coming weeks, the Purples and Violets loyal to the Empire begrudgingly unite to try and get a handle on things. Chahut is elected as a stand-in heiress, as she's the only one persuasive enough to convince the castes to work together for the time being. Marvus, however, has a different reaction.

He knows for a fact that Trizza didn't just die. The Messiahs gave him the script, told him how everything was supposed to play out, and Trizza was much to important to drop dead. She was assassinated, she had to be. It was the only rational explanation, even if he didn't understand how just yet. His only choice was to find this assassin and play damage control to try and correct this timeline. Part of him knew that was impossible, that they'd gone so wildly off script that their timeline was doomed now, but that's what made the challenge so appealing.

It's only when her work load had died down several weeks later that Tyzias thinks to pull the Death Note out of the garbage. That's when she found Ryuk standing over her. After she panics and tosses her mug through his head, Ryuk laughs and intoduces himself.

He explains to her what he and the Death Note are and why he dropped it on Alternia. Sure, Ryuk is typically supposed to be one of Earth's shinigami, he's had a lot of trouble finding good entertainment sense "that Light kid died" and figured a more bloodthirsty species could provide it.

"You, however, seem to be an exception to that rule. Most trolls in your place would be thrilled to have this much power. But you seem almost afraid of it. Afraid of what you could do with that power and afraid of what that power could do with you. I can't say any if its human owners had that same wisdom."

Tyzias admits that she doesn't really know what to do with it. She'd always wanted to stage a nonviolent revolution, to reform the system from inside while killing as few people as possible. But, that was before she had the Death Note. With which she could control the Rebellion's body count, only burn down what she needed to so she could come and rebuild it into something better.

Tyzias decides to take her mind off the dilemma by chasing down a case that interests her. Lowbloods had been going missing in her area lately and she wanted to investigate. It would've been easy to just chalk this up to violence in response to Trizza's death, but there were no bodies. No signs of struggle even, suggesting that either the lowblood community had either taken the opportunity to evacuate en mass or they'd been abducted during all the confusion.

She finds her breadcrumb trail and follows it back to one Zebruh Codakk, who'd taken the opportunity to lure lowbloods to his hive with the offer of safely sitting out the violent rebellion. True to form, he immediately enslaved those who accepted his invite.

Unfortunately, this is where Tyzias' case would hit a brick wall. Highbloods enslaving Lowbloods wasn't illegal and it would take months for her to forge enough evidence to convict Zebruh of an actual crime. But.... Tyzias has the Death Note. With the flick of a pen, she could remove Zebruh from the picture and free all his slaves.

So, one night, Zebruh mysteriously dies of a heart attack while a strange troll in a cloak frees his slaves. She introduces herself as a "judicious reaper" and advises them to take as much of Zebruh's stuff as they can and run. Their hives aren't safe anymore, the authorities would likely pin Zebruh's death on them.

Marvus, meanwhile, has been blindly searching for leads on Tizza's killer and hears about Zebruh's death. Through this, he puts together that the assassin is a genuine revolutionary and not just someone grasping for power, given both their targets were cruel towards Lowbloods and killing Zebruh wouldn't likely solidy any kind of power base for them given how unpopular he was. After he tracks down one of the escaped slaves, he learns about the "judicious reaper" who saved them and deduces that the assassin might actually live nearby. After all, they didn't show up at the scene of Trizza's death, but they did show up here. Or, at least, sent one of their operatives here to free the slaves.

He decides to test this theory. He orders a squad of bluebloods to seize control of the town, cutting of the wifi and intercepting all incoming signals, before rounding up a random selection of five trolls from each caste. The plan is to publicly execute them in the town square under the excuse of "quelling rebellion". If the killer does indeed live in that town and they're as altruistic as Marvus suspects, they'll likely kill these executioners to prevent any deaths, inadvertently outing that they live in that small town.

The killer clearly has supernatural means available, as Trizza and Zebruh seemed to die of natural causes, which means that supernatural system likely has rules and limitations to it. This gives Marvus the hunch that the killer might need names and faces to kill people. As such, only some of the executioners will publicly announce their names or take off their masks.

Tyzias is unaware of the ploy and of the full extent of Marvus' knowledge, as she has no reason to believe that anyone suspects that there even was a killer. As such, she's trying to figure a way out of this situation that won't give anyone looking for patterns a reason to think that there might be a killer. Unfortunately, Stelsa is one of the trolls selected to be executed, so her hand is forced.

Luckily, Stelsa's executioner gave both his name and his face, so Stelsa was saved, but Tyzias couldn't save all of them and a good chunk of trolls were still executed. She suspects now that this was a set up, given how weird and candid it was that some of the executioners gave their names and faces but others didn't, but her attention is currently on comforting Stelsa.

Marvus is ecstatic at having his theory proven correct and decides to investigate. Not personally, but by proxy. He's a celebrity, so he can't exactly go asking around himself, nor could any of his associates without raising suspicion. So, he decides to outsource to the last kind of troll that the killer would suspect. Boldir.

Boldir has been a pretty open pain in Marvus's neck for awhile now. He knows she's constantly poking around where she shouldn't be and he knows she's good enough at it to not leave any kind of tangible, solid proof. He'd only been tolerating her because the script said he needed her alive, but now she can play into his hands a little more directly. Marvus tracks her down and meets her in person at her hive, both because she'd figure out he's involved if he tried to deal with her indirectly anyways and because it makes the statement of "I know who you are and where you and your loved ones live". Boldir initially refuses to cooperate, but her interest is peaked when he offers her a favor. Marvus knows about Fozzer and he knows about how his personality has changed. Marvus offers to use his chucklevoodoos to get to the bottom of Fozzer's strange behavior if Boldir investigates this "judicious reaper" for him.

Meanwhile, Tyzias is comforting Stelsa. She's hesitant to open up to Tyzias, as they're matesprites and not moirails, but ultimately, she has no one else to turn to. Stelsa nearly breaks down going over how, not only is Trizza dead, not only does the Empire seem to be collapsing all around her, but the very Empire she trusted just tried to kill her for seemingly no reason. She's scared. Exhausted. Confused. And she just doesn't know what to do.

Tyzias considers revealing that she killed Trizza, all she'd have to do is hand her the Death Note, but she doesn't. Tyzias and Stelsa have always just politely ignored each other's political leanings. Tyzias has never had to lie about it before.

Putting those heavy feelings to the side for now, Tyzias realizes she has to get out of town. Killing those executioners was a big giveaway towards her existence and even potentially her identity, and, if it was a ploy like Tyzias suspects, it's likely the Empire's noose is closing in right that second. Luckily, Tyzias finds her answer online.

It turns out The Mask is one of the trolls Tyzias saved from Zebruh's clutches, and, after going through her files on Zebruh's case, Tyzias is able to figure out she's Chixie Roixmr. Chixie had been singing about the "judicious reaper" who saved her and had gotten people to rally behind them as part if the rebel movement. Tyzias sends Chixie a letter as this "judicious reaper", using her position to fudge the paperwork so this can't be traced back to her, and asks Chixie to perform live in her home town in three nights. Chixie announces her schedule change to her fans online, which sends swarms of The Mask fans to Tyzias's town.

Tyzias spins this to the now very paranoid local government as a potential rebel invasion and gets them to agree to an evacuation. Boldir keeps Marvus updated on this process and Marvus realizes that the killer is making an effort to escape. Deciding this would be the perfect opportunity to just get rid of them in one swoop, Marvus uses his resources to hire Azdaja and Konyyl to attack the evacuation train and kill everyone aboard.

This turns out to be Marvus's fatal mistake. Azdaja abd Konyyl start arguing at a crucial moment, allowing Tyzias, Stelsa, and Boldir to escape unharmed. Boldir even realizes how badly Marvus has shot himself in the foot as now the killer will know for a fact that someone powerful is after them.

Indeed, as soon as Tyzias, Stelsa, and Boldir make it to the next town over, Tyzias looks into the two assassins who tried to kill her. Realizing how expensive their fee is, Tyzias realizes just how powerful the person hunting her is. They're clearly onto her and have no problem bringing as much of their reach to bear on her as possible. So, she decides she has no choice but to take the fight to them.

So, Tyzias writes Chahut's name in the Death Note, effectively beheading the pro-empire side of the conflict. The should force her pursuer to back off and focus on the chaos going on above them, and it does. Marvus has to address this new power vacuum because otherwise he'll be next in line to fill the Heiress' throne, which would put him next on the killer's chopping block. Knowing he can't leave Boldir to handle this case unsupervised, he decides to kidnap Fozzer and use him ti threaten her into line directly. Now, Boldir is forced to wear a recorder all night, every night to make sure she doesn't try to betray him while he sorts things out between the purple bloods and the violet bloods.

Unfortunately, Marvus doesn't have to wait much longer to get results. Boldir is able to pin down Tyzias's identity after she pickpockets the Death Note and gets a good look at it. While Boldir doesn't meet Ryuk, as ahe snuck off before the two could notice each other, she does see that the names written down perfectly match the killer's known victims. That, alongside the rules listed up front, gives her enough proof to pin Tyzias as the killer. Boldir quietly returns the notebook so to avoid alerting Tyzias before informing Marvus.

After getting the rundown on Tyzias's personality from Boldir, Marvus kidnaps Stelsa to strongarm Tyzias into surrendering, broadcasting his demands to all of Alternia. Tyzias calls him and sets up a time and place to surrender, agreeing to come unarmed. In Tyzias's last gambit, she bribes Ryuk into staying out of sight on the night of her execution before sending Chixie a letter containing a page of the Death Note and the front page instructions how to use it. Thus, when Marvus attempts to execute her live before Alternia, he ends up dying as Chixie writes his name in the Death Note.

Marvus puts the pieces together as he dies, realizing that the strange black book filled with names that Tyzias had was how she killed her victims. He laughs and congratulates her for putting on one hell of a show before his heart stops.

With the pro-empire side soundly decapitated and with no one as competent as Marvus or Chahut left to carry the torch, Alternia swifty falls to the rebellion. Tyzias is offically given the title of the Judicial Reaper after her rebel friends rescue her and offer to shower her with awards. But, Tyzias puts all if that to the side. She needs to talk to Stelsa.

Stelsa is hurt, bitter that Tyzias did all of this behind her back. For as long as she had known her, Tyzias had said that she wanted to change Alternia peacefully. And, as much as Stelsa tried to dissuade her, she respected that. But, Tyzias assassinated the Heiress the first chance she got and now, one sweep later, had effectively taken over Alternia.

Tyzias tries to explain everything to her. She didn't want to overthrow anyone until Zebruh and Marvus forced her hand, she even hands Stelsa the Death Note and introduces her to Ryuk to prove it, but Stelsa is done.

Tyzias had the chance to tell her everything. Explain everything. Maybe even convince her of everything back when Stelsa was looking for comfort when the executioners showed up. But that moment is gone now. Stelsa leaves Tyzias behind with tears in her eyes.

Boldir catches up to Tyzias drinking at a bar. She introduces herself, explains how shes knows her, and apologizes for everything. She explains how someone she cared about was threatened and how she was currently tryinf to convince the rebels to let Fozzer out of containment due to his imperial bootlicking attitude. Tyzias symoathizes and the two bond over shared stories. Ryuk is bemused by the fact that Boldir doesn't seem intimidated by him.

After being given a high rank in the Rebellion's new regime, Tyzias is able to bring about the world she'd always dreamed of. Turning Alternia into a better world, step by step. After Glybglob is killed and the Condescension defeated, Tyzias finally works up the courage to confront Stelsa again.

After Tyzias took over, Stelsa wasn't really sure what to do with herself. So, she hid and watched the world change around her from the safety of her hive. Fear turned to curiosity and that turned to wonder. Stelsa has, during her sweeps in hiding, seen the ways that Tyzias had improved upon life on Alternia and is, after countless sweeps, willing to forgive her.

Sweeps later, after the Alternian Empire has been reshaped from the ground up and after Tyzias's body finally starts to give out, Ryuk comments that Tyzias is probably the only person he's seen win when handed the Death Note.

"Most people I give this thing too tend to lose. Usually because they try to cheat death, play God, or win big. But you? You didn't do any of that. And you won because of it. Sure, it made things a bit boring in places, but ut made things pretty fun too."

Ryuk writes Tyzias's name in his book. "Well, Tyzias, so long. It's been interesting."

[dear-yandere]

[ mirror, mirror ]

yandere! demon! johnny joestar x ghost-hunter! reader. modern au. headcanons and scenario inspired by buzzfeed unsolved.

› collab with: @lafirmament​. › warnings: religious and anti-religious themes, demons and supernatural shenanigans, possession. › art credit: 4156948.

— Such a pretty little thing, face scrunched in fear and screams echoing through the haunted buildings you insist on dragging him to. A renowned ghost hunter despite your renown as a scaredy cat, and yet you’re one of the bravest humans he’s ever laid eyes on. You’ll wander the halls with the eyes of a priest who’s been told their God is far from real, and yet, you’ll utter prayers and carry holy water as a last resort. Your naivete is the only thing keeping him from offing you for his own pleasure, really. What an interesting little human you are, what an interesting little pet.

— Your forays into haunted areas is a silly endeavor considering the greatest threat to your life is right beside you, masquerading as a best friend rather than a predator. Initially, he’d been meaning to have you as a snack — feed off your life force, as you’d once explained demons are capable of doing — but you make for a good play thing. It’s not often he finds a human who makes him chuckle with delight at every twist and turn, especially one so enamored by the supernatural that they’d venture into the very thing they hate most.

— As a human, it’s no secret he was crippled. A fact he hates to remember more than anything, he refuses to allow himself the same fate in the afterlife. Who the hell would be scared of a crippled demon anyway? When he takes trips to the human realm, he’s more than happy to possess some random asshole he finds on the street. Of course, when he met you, he more or less doomed himself to forever possess the body you met him in. Thankfully, glamour is a thing and he can make you and others see him as whatever he views fit. He wasn’t terrible looking when he was mortal, so he’s fine with making this body more or less look like him.

— He likes listening to you speak. Your voice is pretty when you get excited, high-pitched with stars in your eyes. You’re so keen on telling him all these interesting stories about spirits and ghouls and... demons. Your tales are amusing considering some are so far-fetched he can’t help but laugh. Perhaps you’re simply biased, because for reasons beyond him, you hate demons in particular. The thought of being terrorized by one is one of your greatest fears, he’s come to learn, though it would wound him if he didn’t like that about you in the first place. He wonders how you’ll react when he reveals his true nature to you, if you don’t die of a heart attack by then. Will you scream just how he likes it? Pass out? Bring out that phony holy water and shoddy cross as if they’ll protect you from anything? The curiosity all but kills him all over again, but he likes you too much to cut the fun short so soon.

— Those sounds you swore you heard, or that breeze or tap you swore you felt? He takes pride in these little pranks of his if only to see you cuddle into yourself and shriek for the entire building to hear. Luckily, there’s no one else besides you two. Your screams are fairly useless, but he doesn’t plan to do anything sketchy yet. It’s why he scares off the poltergeists who want to hurt you when you bring out that funny little... spirit box of yours. Of all Seven Hells, he hates that thing with a passion. It has a sound frequency that seems to draw spirits in and demons away; he’d rather you get rid of the thing entirely, but you keep it around because it’s ‘top of the line technology’ and you always ‘hear spirits talking to you through it’, even if it’s only when johnny isn’t accompanying you.

— And funnily enough, it is because you attract them — through your evident fear and pleasant screams, that is what they are naturally drawn to out of pure curiosity. You don’t realize this urgent fact, simply because Johnny makes sure you don’t catch onto it lest you don’t go feigning bursts of confidence. He loves it when you’re terrified shitless, and if you weren’t such amusing company, he’d terrorize you far worse than your wildest fears. It’s easy to pick your worst fears apart from the things you can tolerate — you’re awfully open with him. He shouldn’t be surprised, you did say he’s your best friend.

— His true intentions are unclear. What he feels for you is far from love, borderline obsession and curiosity above all else. Your companionship is nothing short of amusing and your reactions all the more alluring; he could easily off you, but you’re his for the taking. Demons are awfully possessive with their prey, completely incapable of mercy, sympathy, or love. If he senses any dangers from other spirits, he wards them off, the task easy enough given how highly he ranks in the Underworld. He’s a force to be reckoned with, a force that the lower-level spirits you encounter have no chance again. It’s fun watching them play around with you, sure, but he’s always close-by, watching, protecting what’s his.

“J-Johnny!”

He rolls his eyes, feeling your timid hands clutch his jacket — as if he’d save you. At this point, you should know how much joy he elicits from seeing you nearly piss yourself and scream at what he calls “nothing”. Seeing you now, he wonders what you’d do if he told you ghosts and demons really do exist. Coming from him of all people, you’d be shocked, but you’re so gullible and trusting that you’d believe his words in a heartbeat. The incessant teasing he’d have to endure afterwards is the only thing stopping him, though.

“There’s nothin’ there, pussy.” He snorts, glaring into the abyssal darkness of the hallway you just rushed from. Shadows flicker a few meters away as if scared by his presence. “I don’t see anythin’,” he snickers, enjoying the power he has over those shit-brained lesser demons. No one would dare touch you when he’s around. As animalistic as humans view demons, the system is more like a hierarchy ruled by position and fear. He’s by no means a hotshot in the demon realm, but he’s well-known enough to not attract unwanted attention from weaker spirits. That courtesy extends to you, for better or worse.

“There was!” You scan the darkness as if expecting to see something, balking when nothing shifts as it just had. The sudden silence  has you feeling like you’re being mocked. “I-I’m certain of it! I t-thought I heard a voice, so I used the spirit box and...” teeth dig into your bottom lip, a habit to stop you from screaming too much. “I think someone’s trying to talk to me, Johnny!” The prospect both excites and terrifies you, he can tell that much.

“Yea, and? What could they possibly got to say to you?” He shoots a glare down the hall, daring whatever cocky spirit  you’re talking about to man up and approach you again. “’Save me’? Some shit like that? As if they ain’t already dead. Yer the last person I’d ask, anyway.”

You scoff and push him away, furious that your first instinct was to cling to him of all people. Considering how he gets a good laugh outta your fear, you’d sooner cling to a random mannequin in the halls than this asshole. “It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to me sometimes, Johnny.”

A laugh sputters past his mouth. “Yeah guess you’re right.” Can’t kill what’s already dead, so you ain’t wrong. Unfortunately, a lot of his witty one-liners would blow his cover, especially since you already joke about him being a demon in disguise. “Still ain’t gonna do it, though.”

“Asshole.”

“Pussy.” He returns your scowl with a shit-eating grin and a light push against your back. “Well? Git goin’, you came back before the timer went off y’know. Or are you too much of a wimp?”

There’s that habit of yours again, chewing your lip when you’re nervous. He knows you’d rather cling to the title of ‘wimp’ or ‘pussy’ at this point, but your pride is far too big for that little mortal body of yours. You won’t back down, not after you came running all the way back here just to cling to him.

“F-fine!”

You’re already off down the hall before he can tease you some more. S’alright though, no one’s gonna bother you this time. No one but him, anyway. He’ll make sure of it.

dear-yandere 2019-2020, all rights reserved.

[katsidhe]

15.19 Final Thoughts

I was all set for disappointment after 15.18, but this was… good, actually! Not perfect by any means, but the beats it hit and the points it made were by and large ones I’d been waiting for all season. Where it wasn’t touching (and it was touching!), it was absurd enough for me to enjoy it heartily anyway. I wish that this episode had been split into, like, three, so that it could have spent the time it needed on wallowing.

I love the empty earth. Love it to absolute PIECES. Because it fits so, so well, right? The claustrophobia of the Winchesters’ lives writ grotesquely large. They’re the most important people in the universe, of COURSE they are, because Chuck feels like it, and of course they can’t die, of course they’re doomed to wander eternally—ughh I love it. It’s the natural, absurd, and absurdist conclusion to where this story has always been heading. I am so glad that they went there.

Sam’s heartbreaking guilt—his knowledge that his defiance in 15.17 was what led to this empty universe. Oh, Sam. Again sublimating his loss and his agony into personal responsibility. And the worst part is that he’s right. I love the tragicomedy of Sam and Dean’s offer to play along for Chuck, and that he refuses, preferring to watch them walk the earth alone. Honestly? if it had cut to black right there? I would be mightily pleased.

ok but SAM!!! if there was a winner of 15.19 (and therefore a winner of SPN in general? sure feels that way to me), it’s Sam. Sam defied Death and defied God (and in 15.17 defied Dean). Sam saved Jack, who was the key to everything. Sam got the assist on Lucifer. Sam tricked Michael. Just, GAHH, what a great episode for him.

I about lost my goddamn mind when Lucifer showed up, because I had lost any inkling of hope that he’d turn up again. Kinda figured that plot thread had been irrevocably dropped. I’m sorry for losing my faith, Show! I should have believed that you’d eventually give me a taste of what I wanted!

I predict this opinion is going to be a little unpopular, but I was so happy to see him. I don’t care that he was too quippy, I don’t care that he was gone in like six minutes, I don’t care that his and Michael’s fight was, again, anticlimactic (though at least there weren’t wires, t god). Here’s the thing. I don’t NEED my fictional suffering to be like, artisanal, and thoughtfully designed. I’ll buy that shit at Costco, in ten gallon drums. I’ll chug it straight from the bottle like trauma ketchup. I’ll watch Lucifer resurrected a thousand times, if it means I get to watch Sam’s FACE while they’re in the same room. PRAISE.

The corollary: the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING CONCEPT of the last five people in the entire world being Michael, Lucifer, Sam, Dean, and Jack, all stuck awkwardly in the Bunker. Omfg. This SENT me so hard I had to take a walk, I was laughing too much. What a ripe premise. What an ugly premise. I need fic, immediately, stat, stat means now.

Relatedly, I love the mental image of Sam unobtrusively going offscreen and getting the archangel blade and handing it to Michael and quietly hissing, “uh PLEASE ffs kill your goddamn brother.” Pfffffffffffffffff.

Deeply disappointed that Jack didn’t get a chance to say anything to Lucifer. Yet another thing that needs further treatment.

I’d figured Lucifer was telling the truth when he told them he was joining Team Kill Chuck. However, Lucifer’s willingness to be on board with Chuck’s plan makes, just, a ton of sense. He’s always had less to lose than Michael, when it comes to accepting his father’s olive branch, since he fell so far so long ago, while Michael is still teetering on that precipice. And Chuck’s just extended, basically, a massive apology to him by erasing all the people and places and stories that he favored over his children. Of COURSE Lucifer wants to be alone with his dad, the only chosen one left, in a universe that is finally pristine. Of course he wants to rub his new favor in Michael’s face. I just wish we’d seen and heard more of this. His resurrection wasn’t pointless at all, but it was underdeveloped.

Michael’s inability to separate himself from his father’s will at the bitter end is a tragic and somber end. Jake Abel brought his A-game again. I wish very deeply that we’d been able to see more of him this season: he is one of the few surviving people with genuine investment in Chuck as a person, and he had a deep, deep betrayal to unpack.

Chuck and his enemies: Billie was always too straightforward in her goals and motivations to be truly interesting as an enemy to Chuck; she is less a character, and more an avatar, a force of nature. She opposed him the way a river opposes stone. The Emptity is nearly disinterested in the whole mess—it just wanted to be left alone. The really interesting sources of conflict for Chuck were always going to come from his family: Amara, and the archangels. And I’m glad we got some of that conflict now, even if it was too little too late.

Both of his children were unable to separate themselves from craving his approval. It’s a dire, tragic condemnation of this immortal cosmic family. And it says something about the microcosm of the Winchesters, of them as the model for the stories Chuck enjoys, the stories he inhabits. Supernatural is a story about being trapped. 

Sam somehow tricking both Michael and God? Sam, your BRAIN, it’s simply too big! but real talk how did he manage this? Does he still have the protection from Chuck’s sight via his now-erased God hole? I’m gonna go with yes, and in fact I’m gonna go a step further and pretend he still had that bullet wound this entire season, and that it healed when Jack took Chuck’s power, because now it makes even less sense than ever that the writers chose to erase that tantalizing physical connection. There, in my head, I’ve now fixed it.

Jack. Oh, Jack, what was the show ever going to do with you? The only thing it could, I think. I love that Dean, with absolutely no sense of irony, demanded Jack return with Sam and Dean to where he ~belongs, accusing him tacitly of selfishness, as if not three days ago he’d been egging him on to suicide. For Jack’s own sake, I am glad he is away from the Winchesters, and I hope he spends several decades talking to Amara and like, manifesting as a tree or something, to get some badly needed emotional balance and sense of scale. There is still so much wrong with putting this much power and responsibility in the hands of a browbeaten three-year-old. But, yes, my heart does swell at the thought of Sam’s imperfect love fostering the new God.

The image of Sam and Dean, broken bones, bloodied faces, laughing in the face of God like they’re insane is a pretty damn good one.

Also, Dean denying himself as the “ultimate killer”? Hahahaha so much to unpack there

My least favorite part was, predictably, the saccharine speech about #freewill, complete with the goddamn table carvings. I will certainly cop to really enjoying the montage, tho (but can anyone explain to me why it was like, almost-but-not-quite in chronological order? ).

I’m probably going to have more to say about all of this. Please talk to me about this episode. I’ll forgive 15.18, and hell, I’ll proactively forgive 15.20. Together with 15.17, 15.19 paints a more pleasing, more damning, and more fruitful conclusion for SPN than I ever dreamed I’d get.

[whumping-out-of-timee]

Awakening

Cw: Broken bones, Injury, Exhaustion, Blood, Implied cannibalism, Supernatural horror, Hearing voices, Bones, Implied dead bodies, Panic attack, Emotional distress, Environmental hazards, Mild swearing

Previous: Falling Short

This is still part of the prologue (part 2/3), I'm dragging it out a bit too long maybe. Anyway, let me know if I forgot to tag something!

Red Masterlist here

*****

Nothingness, a whisper stirring to the top of it, breaking the surface. Only to drown again without words.

Quietness, there is nothing here. Rhythm of breath slowly coming to consciousness.

Wait-I.. am something still?

It was cold, something cold pressed against his left cheek? Or was it all around him? He couldn't tell but the freezing was rabid. It was leeching into his bones with aching intensity.

He became aware he was laying on his side. Groaning at the sharp pain in his leg when he tried to move.

Eyes shot open, illuminated by the endless dull pastel they fell upon. Paleness divided only by the deep shadows that cracked though it. A vast, blank canvas that mirrored the stars above with near crystal clarity.

Shit.. it's the salt flat. How long have I been here?

He had no idea, but he knew this place was pure despair under it's beautiful surface. This was the outskirt of the underworld, a place the cast out often fell. The weak scavenged off before they can escape it. Such a wretched place, that whispers haunt it in sorrow. The afterthoughts of those that perished in it's vastness. Voices that were once demons, he would join the solemn chorus if he didn't find a way out soon.

The best hope was to escape before the sun came out, he would die of dehydration quickly in the heat of day. The salt was notorious for drinking every bit of moisture available.

Inside he felt terrible. New fire eating at him. This feeling was fighting for control. Hunger crying out for attention. His eyes burned, his color erased no doubt.

But, now was not the time to mourn his lost self.

I'm just Niko now, a thought quickly drifting away with his breath.

He strained to sit up, everything was sore. Right leg felt close to excruciating, as he rearranged it beneath him. Shivers ran down his spine as his leg didn't feel solid under him, restraining himself from crying out.

No being would hear his cries for help anyway, his heart felt shallow. He was forsaken, Felix had unbound himself from Niko, shedding the responsibility like it was nothing.

That bastard.. after all my years of loyalty, this is how he repays me. In traitorous cruelty.. curse him. I would've gladly died for him, yet he sacrificed me on a whim!

He had to save himself for once. The injury would heal soon no matter how much it hurt now. But there was no time to wait, he couldn't let himself die here.

Every direction he turned his head seemed the same, but he knew there was only one way to salvation.

But which is it?

The echoes overtook his thoughts, endlessly whispering of misfortune. His now sensitive ears could hear every grisly word they said. Every syllable radiating up from the baron white ground to meet him.

He tried his best to ignore them, looking to the sky, a different sky than he was accustomed to. A bright white star shining the brightest, setting the white beneath him aglow. His new sense of night vision painfully overpowered as he stared into it. More white: the color of death, erasure.

Will I sink into the white as well?

He quickly shrugged the thought away, deciding he would follow the star. It was better than no direction at all, at least that way, he couldn't go in circles.

At that decision, he forced himself to his feet, not yet used to his new wings and tail. His bones were no longer hollow and he was heavy.

He stumbled forwards on his bad leg, noise escaping from him involuntarily. Throwing his hands out to catch himself, he noticed his clawed hands for the first time. He lifted his hand off the ground to stare, turning his palm up towards his face. Dark claws on his curled fingers contrasting with his salt stained palm.

"No time for this now" he murmured to himself, setting off an eerie chain of whispering.

He rose up slowly on his good leg. Shifting his weight to his other leg gradually, testing if it would support him. It did. He winced as he took a shaky step, but it held him up.

The sun bleached bones of hundreds were in sight, doomed to stay in their grim places forever. A few souls wandered like zombies far in the distance, others making smooth movements as they searched for the unlucky.

Best to avoid every being here, Niko had never been very strong. Falling always makes one stronger, but he had no faith in his ability to defend himself.

Lining himself up with the deafening brightness, he started walking, a deep limp paining him with every step. Though, it hurt less with every passing minute. Gradually he sped up, still walking directly towards the white glow above.

Soon he had been walking for hours. The faces of the dead looking up at him with envy, voices getting more relentless with their words. It was getting to him, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

Was he to be like that too? Scavenged on by his own kind

A terrible thought that started to consume him. Graphic whispers choking out his own thinking. He fought back against it, his last stand.

He wanted to run, and he nearly could. His leg was starting to feel much better, the limp getting shallow.

I cant panic right now, I have to drag myself from this hell

The burning warmth in him strengthening.

Was this what strength felt like? A strange feeling

But it was only fleeting, put to death by the purplish glow on the horizon. It was dawn, the beginning of the end. His end, lost spirits filling in every detail of his demise.

My time is up, I'm going to die here

He felt so thirsty already, it worsened the more he thought about it. Swallowing hard, he started to run. Easily ignoring the pain caused by it. Did he have a headache now? It felt like did. He ran faster, tripping over bones carelessly. All he could see was the endless expanse, his breathing was wild, eyes unfocused. The stars blurring in his tears, splitting into a thousand shards of light under the growing lilac color.

It's over, was all he could think, none of it mattered now.

Every step was fighting him back, exhaustion setting in. He stopped, bracing his hands on his knees under his ragged breathing.

A creature stirred not far away, disturbed by his presence. Deep sea green eyes peering over its pile of collected misfortune. The sound of bones slipping to the cracked ground. A demon like him, fresh blood smeared over its lower face, whatever it had been eating hidden from Niko's sight.

Niko tried hard not to imagine it, he didn't want to know. Hopeless thoughts overtook him again. He ran, even though it was nearly impossible.

I have to keep going! They'll eat me too, maybe they won't even wait until I'm dead.

He ran for a few solid minutes, the aching pain came to him after the adrenaline started to wear off. His heart dropped further as the sun broke over the horizon, instantly adding heat to his skin. The ground burning with a newfound intensity.

Something new caught his eye, squinting to make it out in the harsh light.

A structure? It was a structure

Black stone in the distance made of sharp angles. It was more than a structure, it was a town! Shape broken up by the horizon.

He turned towards it, walking defeated as the heat of day started to spike. Salt starting to feel uncomfortably warm under every step he took. It was so far, deceptive on the narrow plane of view.

As he neared, he noticed others lingering in greater quantities. Niko kept his vision to the ground as he passed them by, not veering from his course. He walked steadily, not changing his demeanor at all. It was a bluff of false strength that the others weren't willing to test.

Every muscle was protesting his feat as he drew nearer to town, heartbeat drowning out his hearing. Niko's foot made contact with the scorching brick of the town at last. He had survived, against all odds.

*****

Next: Hunted by the Past

[snazzyo]

The Incarnation of Jesus Christ Superstar

A Rock Opera that deftly handles a complex theological Mystery.

Warning:  Commentary on NBC’s live broadcast, NOT Supernatural related and contains religious discussion. If this is not your thing, please don’t engage. Just move along.

I saw Jesus Christ Superstar, the movie, back in 1973 when I was 11.  Loved the music.  It was clearly “hip and cool”.  The music stuck with me for a long time but not necessarily the particulars of the story. I remember strong performances. That’s it.  But I was DELIGHTED it was going live on Easter Sunday and I decided to watch.  I ended up re-watching it FOUR times.  I was that moved.  And here’s why: In the intervening years since 1973 I’ve grown up quite a bit and made a great deal more progress on my faith journey.  And the specific production on Easter Sunday did an amazing job of portraying one of the most complex mysteries of Jesus – his Incarnation (becoming flesh).  The duality of Jesus being both truly human and truly divine. This understanding came, I believe, not just from my aging but potentially from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s involvement after so many years in yet another production of the musical he penned with Tim Rice when he was only 22.  It would appear the author has also gotten a deeper understanding over the years. Interested?  Read more beyond the break.  Not interested or bothered by a talk of religion… move along, these are not the droids your looking for.

Authorial Intent:  Understanding what the author intended is always difficult, but I’ve been able to intuit quite a bit after reading up on the backstory.  It doesn’t mean I’m unambiguously “right” in my interpretation but I think I have a good basis for my understanding.  First, this musical written when both Webber and Rice were much younger.  Both had Church of England upbringings, neither was particularly religious at the time. Rice said he liked to focus of “real events” and that’s why he picked the story of Jesus’ last days as well as writing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.  Their focus for Jesus Christ Superstar was the story of Jesus’s last days from the point of view of Judas. When the musical came out, it bombed in Britain as too sacrilegious.  It was better received in the US on Broadway but neither of the authors were happy with the production.  It made a ton of money but they felt it missed the mark. Over the years, the potentially subversive concepts people assumed were being portrayed (Jesus was more man than divine, what was his relationship with Mary Magdalene, etc.…) got seen in a more sophisticated light and even the Vatican (in 1999) praised the musical. Now enter the 2018 version and Andrew Lloyd Webber was involved again (and MUCH more powerful).  Comparing the 1973 movie versus this production, if the slight production changes were attributable to (or at least approved by) the author, then this is likely closer to their original intent.  And when viewed critically, I think it’s clear that what Webber and Rice wanted was to depict a better understanding of the nature of Jesus.

Character Analysis:  This musical is first and foremost a character study during a crucial moment in history.  Judas, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus are the central characters with Pilot, Herod, and Caiaphas second tier.  I’ll look at each and discuss their point of view.

Judas – The primary narrator, even after his death.  Judas sees Jesus as a man at the start of the show. He loves Jesus but thinks that the message is getting lost as the people’s adulation starts to grow.  He’s worried that they think Jesus is raising hopes too far and people will turn on him.  Judas is critical of praise to Jesus versus praise to their good works. His snide remarks regarding Mary Magdalene show he is turning bitter. When he approaches the Pharisees, he’s looking to curb Jesus so as to protect the message.  But the crucial scene, where he takes the money – it is obvious Judas knows he is doing wrong and does it anyway.  Later he blames others for his betrayal. First Jesus, then the Pharisees, and possibly God.  Judas feels like he was forced to play a part and after committing suicide, he comes back (presumably from the vantage point of hell) and still is conflicted about who Jesus is.  In the titular song, he seems to understand Jesus was more than a man but he’s tormented by Jesus’ nature.  His final song is also done out of time and space; referring to modern communication and looking back at Jesus understanding the massive change that came from his death and resurrection.

Jesus – The primary motivating force of the show is clearly struggling as he approaches his final days.  He sees it all laid out before him and he can’t turn away. Unlike other productions, Sunday’s broadcast makes Jesus’ divinity obvious with the bright light appearing as he enters and an obvious reference to his resurrection at the end.  But at the same time we see a heart-rending story play out as Jesus just wants to both inspire and yet is incredibly tired.  The lyrics of the songs sung by the chorus often mix praise with doom (“Hey JC, JC will you die for me?”). Unlike many portrayals of Jesus, we see his human nature clearly. He’s angry, he’s afraid, he’s joyful, he’s sad.  His point of view is ultimately of a divine individual choosing to suffer as a human for the sake of a people who really don’t get who he is.  And he needs them to go beyond their physical needs and have faith.  He needs them to see beyond themselves.  Ultimately his death is what propels the characters who didn’t believe or had doubts. At his death they fully understand his divine and immortal nature.

Mary Magdalene – The loyal and loving supporter of Jesus is also confused about his nature.  She knows she loves him but it doesn’t make sense. It’s not at all like the men she’s loved in the past. She keeps trying to see him as a man but knows something about that is not ‘right’.  It’s not what their relationship is about.  Unable to control her confusion she simply does her best to be supportive and help others to stay calm during tense times.  There is no song that shows Mary finally understanding Jesus’ divine nature but the production and Sara Bareilles did an excellent job of making that realization evident as she watched his crucifixion. She is both sad and elevated.  Her character suffers the most from having origins in the 1970s.  Her songs could easily diminish her role to part love interest, part ‘earth mother’. Still, the production was fairly good about making it clear that her relationship to Jesus may have been seen in a poor light but her faith in him guaranteed a spot in heaven.  She was the sinner elevated by faith and she was exactly the kind of person Jesus came to save.  

Pilot – The cowardly villain, used by the Pharisees, and led by his fear.  The musical is clear that he knows he’s doing wrong but has no backbone to stand up against the crowd.  He tries to delude himself that he has no choice but it’s evident he can already tell he will be judged by what he has done. He engenders no sympathy. He treats Jesus like a man, but his gut tells him he’s making a mistake.

Herod – The hedonistic clown demanding proof. The campy nature of his appearance shows the point of view of someone overly concerned with worldly possession and transitory thrills.  When Jesus refuses to perform for his entertainment, he throws him out. He is his own god and sees the humble Jesus as a foolish man.  He’s blind to what is really happening even as he smugly considers himself worldly.

Caiaphas – The protector of the status quo. He arrogantly assumes Jesus is just a normal man who will bring down Roman punishment by starting a revolution.  He knows Jesus is a good man. He confidently plots Jesus’ death like a noble task, assuring himself this is all about the people and not about his own power.  He shows no remorse and like any keeper of the status quo, immediately generates antibodies to this “invader” to his sense of righteousness.  

In the end, the people (the chorus) are overcome as they see Jesus’ death. They start out mocking and soon fall to their knees as he dies. Recognizing that this was not an ordinary man. The show ends with Jesus’ resurrection but you can tell that witnessing his death prepared not just his followers but the people in general to change their existence.  They realize they’ve witnessed something they didn’t understand and it’s easy to forecast they will go back and reflect on everything Jesus said and did to try and explain what happened.

Regrets: As a character story, the musical is wonderful in showing how conflicting and confusing Jesus’ existence was and how profoundly he changed people.  The role of Peter and the rest of the Apostles is somewhat poorly treated in this story.  They seem more like children having a good time who run away when things get difficult. Their redemption story, the story of the early Church, is not even hinted at.  As mentioned earlier, it’s also easy to oversimplify Mary Magdalene’s role even if the performance elevated the material.  

Production: This was a marvel.  The live audience felt very involved in the whole experience. The use of musicians on stage amped up the excitement.  The grungy street-vibe of the scenery and performers worked well. Particularly impressive was Judas racing to the top with the dangling ladder used to show his fate.  But the crowning achievement was the death and resurrection scene.  With the use of a negative space cross surrounding the tortured being at the center. It was a perfect metaphor for Jesus’ nature of human and divine.

Performances:  John Legend was just the right mix of ethereal and relatable.  His face, his mannerisms, his vocals showed the wide range of Jesus’ experience.  Alice Cooper as Herod nearly stole the show from a pure entertainment perspective.  His campy performance contrasted well with the earnestness of the rest of the performances.  But ultimately it was Brandon Victor Dixon who brought out the tragedy and the triumph of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His outsider’s point of view, so full of passion and bitterness, provided the perfect foil for Jesus’ character. Dixon’s Judas was barely concealed rage and agony.  His heartbreak at not truly understanding Jesus is what elevated the rest of us as we witnessed His Divine nature.  

Bottom Line: Jesus Christ Superstar can be dismissed as catchy 70’s tunes about a “hippy Jesus” but that’s missing so much of what it offers. This musical leverages the points of view of those witnessing Jesus’ final days to allow us to experience both the man and the God.  As Rice and Webber inherently understood, the best story is the true story. This musical examines that truth in an accessible way and leaves you wanting to understand more.