#believe in an afterlife because ghosts and souls are very very real. everyone knows they exist

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

The yellow stripe represents the great riches and the might of the Kingdom of Osmeri, the white stripe represents silver, tying into riches and powerful magic, but also purity and snow and ice, and the blue represents the Baltic Sea that the kingdom is mostly confined to. The white stripe is meant to bear slight resemblance to the long line of the cross symbol of the other Nordic countries' flags, except not quite, since Osmeri is a Nordic country but not a Muffyist country.

Muffyism is the dominant religion of northern Europe and not really anywhere else, I decided, since I want religions of the Sirpaverse to not be one to one to existing religions. The cross of the flags resembles the form of Muffy, who is commonly depicted to be a waterfowl or a seabird. In Osmeri, meanwhile, the prevailing belief for centuries was that the original Osmerian king Ahti I was a god who came from the heavens to unite the kingdom together. I'm sort of juggling between that faith adapting to a more "modern" form and/or if most people in Osmeri are closer to atheists

Went ahead and designed the Osmeri flag, never before has a flag flagged so much before

[somerandomdudelmao]

Cass please cass wait cass CASS I’m DYING AHH GOD the idea of Leo having been the last to die, to have died thinking (knowing) he was directly responsible for at the very least Raph and Mikeys deaths, and that he KNEW he'd be dying with essentially no ninpo, no spiritual connection and thus no real hope of joining his family in any sort of afterlife, that all those goodbyes were forever — the idea of him waking up and just ...everyones home, home and healthy and whole UGH CASS IM CRYING 

(would he even believe it? would he think its a krang trick? god how do you heal from that kind of end? he ran towards it, he got his kid out and then turned back to continue a fight he already lost. everyone was dead, Donnie and Raph and April and Mikey, everyone else had given up everything— Mikey burned away for the slightest hope and Raph gave the resistance his heart and Donnie wore himself down to nothing, not even a ghost left— and Leo wanted to go that way too i think, giving everything, fighting for time like he wasn’t the last one standing, like there was anything left to fight for. Because to do anything less would be to discredit his brother’s sacrifices. How do you wake up from that? How can anything ever be okay again? How do you believe that you can wake up to a happy ending, hug your brothers, hold your son, see your father? A krang trick? It must be. Which means he was captured. Which mean did not die. Which means he failed. The world is dead, the krang have won, and Hamato Leonardo was not even able to match his brothers in death. He asked his baby brother to burn, and he has failed. How do you move on from that. How do you believe anything except the echoing certainty that there is quite literally nothing left to lose, and your own wretched, wailing anger?

Well. If he cannot honor the price he made his family pay, maybe he can at least make the memory of Donnie (not a spirit, there is no spirit, you cost him his soul) smile by finding the nearest Krang and unleashing Hell upon the sorry bastard. Yeah. i just. Cass i am STRESSED.)

I..uh..fuck I can't talk about this because of spoilers kvdkbf

But in general

Mikey and Leo went through the same hell, but at the end, when all they could hope for was gone, Casey showed up. And he said he could help them. Save them.

The difference between Mikey and Leo is that Mikey heard and understood him. So Mikey has a strange time too, realizing that everything is okay again. But he knew it would get better.

While Leo remained in a state of lostness and fear

[mochipicchu776]

1am thoughts about a fic in progress and why it is the way it is in case anyone was wondering.

Ok I know no one was wondering but I just wanted to share this tidbit with anyone who wants to read my ramblings.

A few months ago, I wrote the first few chapters of a Crimson Flower Dimileth fic heavily inspired by offering boxes (saisen) found at Shinto and Buddhist shrines.

Irl at these shrines, it is common to toss coins into the box as an offering to the gods, usually in small humble amounts, so anyone rich or poor will be able to grant an offering.

The most popular choice is the five cent coin, a round coin with a circular cutout in the center.

五円 Go-en (five yen) is a humble choice but also is popular because it is a play on words of 御縁 Go-en, which is a phenomenon believed as the unseen connection that binds someone together. Upon offering the coin, it establishes a respectful relationship to the diety of the shrine.

Wake up babe, here's where we get to the part about Fire Emblem.

In my fic, the diety is not just Sothis, but "The Grim Dragon," the Nabatean god of the underworld.

The Blaiddyd crest has always had a very eerie connotation, whether in the form of Dimitri's ghosts (depending on your hc), or the original owner of the Crest stone, who's name we only know as the Grim Dragon Sign from the crest signs bought with renown in NG+.

After hearing Claude and Annette's A support, the "Creepy Creeps" in Annette's song are actually the dead, extending their reach from the underworld to try to return to the land of the living. Apparently, these are old Kingdom myths, but in my fic, they are reality.

The dead residing in Fharghus are sent to the underworld, and after the Battle of Tailtean Plains in CF, Dimitri is killed and bound to the afterlife ruled by the Grim Dragon. Distraught by the death of her old love, after Edelgard had spared Claude, Byleth suspected Edelgard had him killed out of jealousy, not for political reasons.

Jaded, Byleth mourns Dimitri's death at his grave, the very spot he perished. When Linhardt can't stand her moping around any longer, he tells her of the old Fharghan myth, sparking an idea to bring him back.

She figures with the power of the Goddess (she still has it at this point), she can establish a connection to the realm of death to the realm of life, by planting a blessed tree. The roots take hold and the Grim Dragon demands a hefty offering for the soul of his kin. Coins such as the five cent coin, are granted through an offering box.

Like all dragons, they are greedy, always demanding more for their hoard. I'd say more but that's for the next chapter to explain.

Before Byleth can offer enough to satisfy the dragon, Edelgard catches wind and has her killed by her ex-lover, Jeritza. Unable to finish her task, Byleth's body is dragged off the property to prevent her from joining Dimitri in the afterlife. (I'm being very mean to El in this one but I swear it's for plot reasons).

Thousands of years go by, and everyone has reincarnated into a Modern AU Fodlan run by the Empire, where the tales of old Fharghus is frowned upon, and the practices of the natives are seen as taboo.

We are always connected by the threads that bind us. It may stretch, tangle, but will never break.

Anyways! I've had to table the third chapter of my fic for other projects, but once my collab and yandere fic are completed, I will go straight back to it.

I've done my best to take obscure Fodlan lore and mix it with bits of the real world culture it was created by.

Oh, and modern AU Jeritza is in it and he owns a cozy cafe 🥰

I hope that if you read this far and are wondering what coins had to do with a small FE fic, uhhhhhhh well I wasn't sure where I was ever going to have to opportunity to share the inspiration so here it is.

Please enjoy.

[naughtygirl286]

Well yes this past Tuesday we went to see the return of the "The Ghost with the Most" Beetlejuice. I of course grew up with Beetlejuice I seen the movie when I was a kid and I watched the cartoon on Saturday morning as well. I didn't have any of the toys tho (yes there was plenty of Beetlejuice toys at one point) but being I like the original movie and Beetlejuice in general I wanted to see this to see how it was. I didn't watch alot of trailers or anything I didn't want to know too much but one thing is clear sadly Beetlejuice doesn't go Hawaiian.

Also I was told that there might be some collectables for this too but when we went down there was nothing. unless they sold everything opening weekend but I don't know there wasn't even any advertising for stuff up to show that they had anything but oh well I guess lol

Now I was interested in this long awaited sequel I was very interested in who it was going to turn out. Now I don't want to give away too much because this is a movie you have to see for yourself! but everyone was returning the most of the original cast and Tim Burton as director and I had a feeling it was going to be good story wise as well being it was written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar the masterminds behind Smallville,Wednesday among other things.

Your basic story is it takes place in real time like what 30 years after the first? and Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and is this famous ghost hunter with her own TV show and has a daughter of her own now who she is estranged from named Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and believes her mom is full of shit in regards to ghosts. Now after Lydia's father dies in a rather comical way her,Astrid and Lydia's step mother Delia Deetz (played by Catherine O'Hara) have to return to the small town from the first movie and the house for the funeral. While getting the house ready to sell Astrid runs into some supernatural trouble and Lydia reluctantly has to get help from the one person she has tried to forget Beetlejuice. Her agrees to help her if she helps him with a ghost from his past.

As for the movie itself it was wild, weird, crazy and of course funny! you are introduced to plenty of new characters and they do spend alot of time in "the afterlife" so you get to see and experience more of that then you did in the original movie.

They also answer plenty of questions one I was interested in was why wasn't Alec Baldwin Geena Davis's Adam and Barbara M are in the movie and they explain that. Also you get a funny flashback and see Beetlejuice as a living and learn how he died. its all kinds of interesting like world building type of things.

but of course like I said its wild and weird with the big dance number at the end of the movie and stuff like "baby Beetlejuice" and all the weird characters you meet in the "afterlife" especially the shrunken head characters like Bob. there is one in the original movie and now there is a whole team of them working for Beetlejuice. while watching this the shrunken head characters reminded me so much of the Goombas from the live action Super Mario movie.

The visual's were amazing! both CG and practical the soul sucking effect was really cool and I wondering how they came up with that and did it also I think this should get nominations for Production design and Make-up when it comes close to Oscar time.

but in the end The movie lived up to the original and I think it was the perfect sequel for this and it was worth the wait. So I would totally recommend this being if you loved the first one you should love this one.

[iamnmbr3]

Yeah I also really like the idea of Dumbledore kinda finessing what actually happened because what really went down was hella scary and taboo, "medieval people's idea of witchcraft" type, capital D Dark Magic TM. I also like the idea that maybe Dumbledore isn't just being a little dishonest with Harry, but also with himself. Because maybe Lily being willing to use that type of magic doesn't fit with Dumbledore's world view since she did it out of love for her child to defeat someone who Dumbledore has always viewed as inherently evil.

I think Lily was quite smart and powerful - probably more so than most people gave her credit for, but I think what really distinguished her was her force of will and nerve and willingness to push through any boundary to protect those she loves. I think a lot of the fandom tends to either ignore her or else turn her into this uber powerful super genius who was the bestest ever at magic and more powerful than anyone and smarter than anyone and to me that just kind of diminishes her. Just the way when you get a Mary Sue OC paired up with the author's favorite character du jour making them the best at everything and smarter and stronger and more popular than everyone just cheapens them rather than making them feel strong and real (kinda like how book 5 Ginny felt a million times more compelling as a character and a love interest than book 6 Ginny).

So yeah, I like Lily being smart and powerful but not outrageously so. I like the idea instead that what made her most unique was her nerve and force of will and determination. Where other people would have flinched. She didn't. She was willing to do WHATEVER it took to save her baby. (As an aside, I also don't like when people try to make her "cooler" or more "badass" by distancing her from motherhood. Not every woman wants to be a mom or makes motherhood their priority but many do, and neither choice is lesser. Lily's child was incredibly important to her - the most important thing in the world in fact. And I think ignoring that she really wanted to be a mother to her child and felt he was the most important thing in existence and was willing to do whatever it took to give him the best shot at living a full and safe life just robs her of her emotional core by making her character emptier and taking out a key emotional driver that really informs her character and world view and makes her multidimensional and human and interesting.)

I think it's possible she did a ritual that sacrificed not just her life but her very soul. I especially like that idea because it would be super taboo and also something very unusual for someone to be willing to do. She wanted to protect her son and she wanted to stop Voldemort - the man who murdered her husband and other friends of hers and who she knew would keep trying to kill her baby if he wasn't stopped. Even if it meant there could be no possibility of an afterlife for her. Maybe she doesn't believe in it. Or maybe she doesn't care and just feels that she doesn't need to exist forever.

We know a ghost is an imprint of a soul and that Dementors can also destroy souls - and given that Dementors rob wizards of their powers and that Horcruxes can use some magic, it seems that a wizard's soul is linked to their magic somehow. So maybe instead of moving "on" or using her magical energy to leave an import of herself she used her soul energy to feed a powerful protection spell.

Maybe the reason Tom's soul literally shattered when creating another Horcrux post-resurrection and killing other people (including another family in book 7) didn't do it. Because maybe Lily's spell was meant to destroy him utterly and drain all his power to fuel the protection magic. Except perhaps because of the Horcruxes it went a bit wrong and so his soul shattered and part escaped and part was ripped off and attached to harry, granting him certain powers.

Also, quick shoutout to the fact that Harry's scar is literally the rune for protection (see my meta here) and might be a result of Lily's magic. Voldemort marking Harry as his equal probably refers to the Horcrux fragment, not the scar. And it hurts when Voldemort is near...aka when the protection magic is activated. Maybe the pain is just from a powerful "dark" enchantment being activated. Or maybe because Harry's also got a bit of Voldemort in him, which Lily didn't plan for.

So that night Godric's Hollow we get a real confluence of circumstances. We have Lily demonstrating some really clever out of the box creative thinking and some insane daring and coming up with a terrifying and powerful protection spell out of pure, nearly mad desperation and fear and all-consuming desire to make sure that NO ONE HURTS HER BABY. And then on top of that Snape also asked Voldemort to spare her meaning her death was 100% avoidable if she had chosen to step aside - but she offers herself in Harry's place in a bind spell. Which probably added an additional layer to the protection.

So you can see how Lily being willing to sacrifice her life and maybe her very soul AND Voldemort having initially been willing to spare her AND James and Voldemort's lives also getting added into the sacrifice AND Voldemort having multiple Horcruxes and potentially other immortality experiments could've all interacted in a very unique, one-in-a-million type way resulting in the events of Godric's Hollow in 1981 and the subsequent effects.

I also like to think that Lily had an idea but had no idea if it would work and didn't even 100% understand what she ended up doing - and partly the spell was driven by raw willpower and emotion. So it sort of keeps an air of mystery and doesn't make it too scientific. Like it's not something that could just be replicated in a lab.

What did lily do exactly do destroy voldemort? hasn't anyone sacrificed themselves before for someone they loved?

Yeah I feel like the canon explanation doesn't go far enough. If it was that simple I think it would happen more and would've been something Tom would've known about. Especially since lots of people were fighting and in danger during the first reign of Voldemort and during Grindelwald's period of power. So this sort of thing would've happened at least one other time, even if there were several conditions to be met (like Lily specifically not having originally been a target and being offered the chance to live).

We also only have Dumbledore's word for what happened and how it works and even though out of universe we're supposed to take this at face value, in universe we've certainly seen that he can often be wrong (or dishonest).

We know that in the world of Harry Potter blood magic and blood sacrifice can have great power. This seems to be a branch of magic that is less studied and is more associated with dark magic. The ritual Tom uses to create his new body at the end of book 4 is an example of this. And potentially also the ritual he used to create the temporary body he was in for most of book 4 until he could make a better one.

So I wonder if Lily did some kind of blood magic ritual using herself, and potentially even James, as sacrifices to give Harry protection. This could explain why the protection seems to be linked to Harry's blood (which we know to be the case since Voldemort takes Harry's blood to neutralize the protection enough to be able to touch or harm Harry without burning). This could also even explain how insistent she is on trying to get Voldemort to kill her instead, or at least first.

Since Voldemort takes Harry's blood we know that he is aware of and believes in the power of the magic relating to Lily's sacrifice. And yet he still professes to have seen no proof of the power of love. So he, at least, seems to think there is some other explanation for the protection Lily put on Harry other than nebulous love magic.

(Though of course if she was willing to use herself as a blood sacrifice this is still an act of love, even if it isn't literal "love magic" fueled by love; perhaps Dumbledore even understood this and decided to be "creative" with his explanations to Harry, as per usual, because that sounded better than saying Lily protected him with dark magic using herself as a blood sacrifice in a heretofore unknown ritual).

Tom Riddle obviously had a lot of years as a wraith to think about what happened and to try to figure out a solution. And he definitely did figure out something. Because he realized the power would be in Harry's blood and by taking that blood into himself he could imbibe some of it and reduce its effectiveness against him. He understood what happened enough that he was able to come up with and implement a solution that did work for the most part.

And that solution centered around blood.

[exmormondragon]

When everything finally came together about the gospel, it was less about things falling apart and my shelf breaking.

It was more like waking up one day to realize that I just… didn’t believe the same thing as the church anymore.

Of looking back and realizing that my beliefs hadn’t synced up with the church for a long time. Seeing where dominoes had fallen and I hadn’t even noticed at the time.

It started with the devil.

As they say it will, of course. I’ve heard the saying that “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.” And this was true. At some point, I just stopped really believing in a real, physical or spiritual Satan that tries to tempt us. I couldn’t fit that idea in with how our human minds work, with how mistakes and learning happen.

So I came to believe that the Devil was… a metaphor, or something to that effect. A culmination of human flaws.

That led to the idea of blessings. Because if we do good, we’ll have blessings, right? Good things will happen to us? One of the classic questions is “Why do bad things happen to good people,” but the church had already explained that to me. What they hadn’t explained is why good things happen to people who aren’t part of the church, regardless of their good-or-badness.

But of course, God loves all his children. He won’t let good people go unrewarded in this life just because they’re unaware of the One True Church (yet)! That’s why there is Truth in all religion.

So I came to accept that good things could happen to you outside the church.

Ignorance will not damn you. That’s a tenant of the church, presuming that you’ll be taught in the afterlife. Of course you’ll have a chance in the next life, if you didn’t have one here. God isn’t unreasonable!

So I came to understand that it didn’t matter if you were in the church or not. I still believed, vaguely, but deeply, that it was important to be a part of the church. But I didn’t feel bad for people who were just living their normal lives. It didn’t matter in the end, after all, they would still get their chance.

I learned about Personal Revelation from the church, and how many forms it could appear in. Flashes of inspiration, comfort like the rising sun. I felt them myself, when I suddenly connected two things in a way that made sense to me.

And people outside the church got them too. Einstein wasn’t a Mormon, nor Thomas Edison, or Issac Newton.

So, building off the ideas of blessings, I came to believe that God would use the Holy Ghost to bless anyone with inspiration, to help humanity, to help people grow.

The church taught me that anyone could change, that the Atonement could bring grace and mercy and eventual perfection to anyone at all.

Learning about people, I came to believe that, given enough time and resources, that we could theoretically understand exactly why someone is the way they are, and have the therapeutic tools to help them remove bad habits and create good ones.

And so, believing God is all-knowing and all-loving, and that we have eternity to figure ourselves out, I thought that it should be child’s play for God to help each person truly understand themselves and change for the better.

In the end, I found myself believing in a world that God created with the Big Bang, and then that he sat back and let it run, like a computer program. No devil, no blessings, no need for you to believe the gospel in this life. You are born to get a body, live to gain experiences, and then everyone will reach their full potential in the next life and be happy forever.

And then

The church reminded me

That it believes in a very real, very present devil.

That it believes that only worthy members of the church get the Holy Ghost to guide them.

That it believes in real, physical blessings that are not natural, but created by God.

And most importantly, that it doesn’t believe that everyone can or will be saved. It does, and must believe that there will be many souls who God, with his limitless power and understanding, cannot save, and will be locked away in lesser, sadder heavens for eternity.

And I realized, slowly at first, and then rather suddenly, that I didn’t believe that.

I was lucky. The church, and my parents in particular, were very dedicated in teaching me the gospel. It taught me to love, to believe in others, to trust, and to study and learn and grow.

They taught me so well, in fact, that they taught me right out of the gospel.

[icantbraintoday-tryagainlater]

The Bullet that Carved My Name (Chapter One)

Title: The Bullet that Carved My Name

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Death, gun violance, murder, blood/gore

Fandom: Death and Martha, and Hell's Belles (TikTok's Flickerspark and Sea Ya Out There)

Summery: You die at the hand of your father and learn to love yourself in the afterlife, where Lily, Sharkie, Penny, and the Hellp Desk Gang take you into their adopted family.

Chapter Summery: Bex meets Death who tries to convince her to go to her paradise, but Bex decides Hell is a better option.

Listen - I don't own anything, ok? I don't even own the laptop I'm writing this on or myself (I'm in a lot of dept). But I don't approve of anyone taking this and posting it somewhere else. This is my work and I've worked hard on it. It isn't Beta'd or Proof Read so I guess you could say the onlything I do own are the mistakes in this. I've taken A LOT from my personal life and put it into this story. Please be kind. And if anyone wants to Beta it, I would love that! Just message me and let me know!

So - is this really how I died? I always thought I would die in a car crash or of old age. Maybe by an active shooter - I did live in America, after all. But seriously? This?

“Bex?”

I looked up at Death and frowned. The female-presenting gothic looking person who had shown up to take me to my afterlife was staring at me concerned. I couldn’t blame them, after all. I was looking… well, crazed.

“He really did it, didn’t he?” I asked, looking back at Death. “He really killed me…?” I still couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah… he did.” Death confirmed.

I looked back down at my mortal body, laying on my parents’ floor, blood slowly soaking into the hardwood floors. I had always known my father was unstable. I had always known that he had a temper. But I didn’t think he was ever actually capable of pulling the trigger.

Until now.

I honestly wasn’t even sure why I didn’t believe him. I know I’d go to bed some days afraid that he really would shoot everyone like he said. But I also knew he was a narcissist and willing to say anything to get attention, which is exactly what he always got after screaming at my mother and I about stupid shit.

Today it was about how no one wanted to help him around the house. I was working, my mom was busy, and he decided he wanted to do something. I don’t even know what it was, I just know that I was in the middle of work when he lost his mind and started screaming profanities and throwing things around the house.

I had rolled my eyes at him when he said he felt like he could kill everyone because I didn’t believe him. But now… the proof was right before my eyes.

“So where do I go now?” I asked, looking around the intermension before I see the sign for Hell.

“Ah. Never mind. I know where I go now.” I suppose my parents were probably right. Leaving the Catholic Church was definitely the wrong move. And honestly, if God really was that evil, I’d rather be in Hell. “Thanks for coming to get me, but I’ll be on my way now.”

“Now wait a minute! Martha will be very upset with me if I let another soul go alone!” Death cried.

“...another?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the goth, amused.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Chuckling, I shook my head and headed to the stairs. “You can tell Martha I’m alright. After all, Hell’s gotta be better than whatever the Catholic God claims Heaven is.”

“Well that’s rather rude. The Catholic God runs a … very interesting heaven. But I don’t think you belong to Hell. You were a pretty good person from what I’ve read in your file.”

“Thank you, but if Hell is real, then clearly my parents were right.”

“That’s not really how this whole afterlife works. What did you believe in?” Death asked,

I snorted. “Believe in? Honey, I don’t think I believe in anything, really.”

“Well, you could be a ghost. Or reincarnate-”

“Reincarnate!? In this world!? Fuck that!” I cried, “This world is fucked! It’s about to implode! No, I’ll go to Hell. Thanks,” I smiled and waved, turning to the stairs and descending, ignoring Death’s cries for me to stop. 

Chapter Two

[ratsoh-writes]

Oh man I got another one- say everyone is monster hunting (like Bigfoot or mothman- whatever you like) who’s the one who hears a sound and just books it? Anyone have a fight reaction and start swinging? AKSKJFJAJDH WHOS THE ONE TO TRY TO RUN AFTER IT WITH THE CAMERA ALL UP IN ITS BUISNESS AKSKJDJSJS

I don’t know how you want to format this- so if you just want to put them under categories- superb; longer version? Dealer’s choice

Here’s how everyone reacts/roles during monster hunting:

Sans: in a monster hunt, he’s the guy who stays in the van to “keep watch” on all the electronics. Instead sans falls asleep of course and misses all the action. His team could straight up see a ghost and he won’t believe them lol

Papyrus: he’s more likely to go Bigfoot hunting then ghost hunting. And for some reason papyrus brought a metal detector like that’ll help? It doesn’t but he also found two dollars in lost coins so he counts it as a win.

Star: he uses superglue to line a butterfly net with salt to catch the demons in. It doubles as a blunt weapon if they fight back.

Honey: he’ll break off from the group and wind up getting lost in the woods. He’s the guy who actually meets moth man and gets directions back to the campsite from him. It’s not till days later that honey realizes that moth man wasn’t actually another monster from the underground

Red: he also stays in the van, except red is watching those radios like a hawk. He’ll be extremely disappointed and relieved if nothing happens.

Edge: he calls everyone else an idiot for going monster hunting, but winds up leading the group instead because no one else is qualified enough for it. Every sound edge hears is just a raccoon. There’s no other explanation and you can’t convince him otherwise.

Mal: he decided to wear all silver jewelry today just in case! No vampire is taking a chunk out of mal! Plus this is his sharp set of rings so it doubles as a shank.

Cash: he’s the one who breaks from the group and then terrorizes them with mysterious noises and throwing pinecones. Until something grabs cash’s shoulder, and when he turns, there’s no one there. Now he’s sprinting home.

Oak: out of everyone he’s the most likely to get possessed. Oak will freeze, loose the red eye-light, and utter some creepy-a*s prophecy before coming to. Then he just keeps walking. He didn’t even notice lol

Willow: he’s not taking this seriously and will be enjoying his nature walk until his brother gets possessed. Now willow is taking it very seriously. And they’re leaving Right. Now. Heaven help the ghost if they try that crap again. Willow will exorcise them.

Charm: he really really really hopes they find a vampire. A vampire hickey would be the ultimate trophy!! But if the vampire is a jerk, charm can always throw the garlic salt he bought at Walmart at them.

Sugar: he genuinely does not want to be here, but someone’s gotta keep charm alive. Besides, call him racist, but sugar isn’t comfortable with a vampire getting cosy with his brother. A werewolf is fine though.

Lord: he genuinely does not want to be here, but once again wine and mal have dragged lord into the strangest kind of trouble. Sneaking into a government building is more expected by him than monster hunting. Oh well, at least he knows wine is the monster guru. If they ever find one he’ll know what to do.

Mutt: he came into the forest with friends to find Bigfoot, but left with four baby raccoons. Mutt is praying to the stars that lord will let him keep them.

Wine: HE IS READY. Wine was made for this day!!! He already has survival kits, flashlights, a bible and silver cross, extra batteries in case the flashlights go out, and like 30 disposable cameras. If anyone is going to find a cryptid it’ll be him!

Coffee: he was the one to scare cash. Cash was bugging the old lady squad, and coffee didn’t want his brother to get mad at his friend. Plus it’s always fun to get one on the other prankster.

Pop: he takes to the trees. But unlike in movies, the tree branches move a lot each time pop jumps on one. With all the racket he’s making, no wonder he never gets to meet mothman.

Rhythm: it only takes one loud noise for rhythm to run all the way back home. He’s too easily spooked. You might want to pick someone else for this.

Pluto: he doesn’t believe in the supernatural at all, but pluto does believe in science! He brings a pocket guide on local rocks and plants and will turn the monster hunt into a lovely treasure hunt. He finds a pretty quarts right add to his collection

Jupiter: he’ll take to the sky as his buddies walk. If there’s anyone Jupiter is the most likely to go monster hunting with, it’s Star. Both of them have almost endless energy which can be a problem. They end up exploring too far and will be exhausted by the time they circle back.

Peaches: he’s very superstitious and definitely believes in ghosts and such. And ghosts terrify peaches. He’ll be hanging off of ranchers arm all evening. If anything pops out of the bushes, peaches will shout and start running.

Rancher: he’s ready. Rancher is equipped with a metal rod, his shotgun, his most aggressive pig, and some salt and garlic to make peaches feel better. Rancher is gonna find that thieving coyote if it’s the last thing he does.

G: he likes to tell people that he’s met ghosts during his late night drives. In reality, they were the drunk college kids who party in the woods, but ghosts make a cooler story. G is unphasable and will have a grand time telling scary stories during the hunt to rile up his teammates.

Green: he’ll absolutely refuse to go cryptid hinting in the woods. Not because of ghosts or Bigfoot. No, green isn’t scared of those at all. You see, it’s the spiders. If he walks into a spider web he’ll literally die. Green is a total arachnophobe

Snipe: occasionally Don will kick snipe out to go on a manhunt so he can get some fresh air. He usually takes butch with him on these because ace is a jerk who likes playing mind games. He’ll always convince snipe that there’s a ghost about. Anyways snipe doesn’t like ghosts

Bruiser: he’s super down to go cryptid hunting until he hears it’s in the forest. You see, bruise knows the city like the back of his hand, but the forest is uncharted territory. Bruiser will be super clumsy and steadily more and more frustrated as the night goes on. If he actually meets a cryptid, he’s real likely to fist fight it right now

Ace: he loves ghost stories and the supernatural. I’f ace was invited on a ghost hunt, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from scaring everyone else with his creepy stories lol.

Slim: as the only papyrus who can shortcut, slim loves to use and abuse that privilege. And use it he does. The second he hears a suspicious noice, slim is grabbing his favorite group member and blipping away. This is a good way to tell if you’re the favorite friend. If it was between his brothers, he would save boss

Butch: he ain’t afraid of no ghost!! Ghosts are just floating souls right? Then all he has to do is grab them with blue magic and yeet them right back into the afterlife. Butch is disappointed in everyone who hasn’t thought of this yet.

Boss: oh hell naw. Boss absolutely is terrified cannot stand all this talk about things that don’t exist! He’ll be staying right here until you guys start to come crawling back.

.........

Maybe on second thought he better come with. You guys might get mugged or something. As a leader he has to protect his friends of course!

Rust: and chance some creepy pedo ghost trying to haunt his daycare. No thank you!

Noir: rust never pulls the big brother card, but if noir started messing with the supernatural, you bet he would. Besides noir is more then happy to play the “my legs hurt” card that get out of it. Monster hunting isn’t really his thing.

Lilac: he so very wants to keep up with Star and Jupiter, but there are some things lilac can’t do with his prosthetic leg. It would be too dangerous. Instead he mans the campsite, keeping watch for any suspicious activity and the cops.

Basil: the supernatural is one thing that basil has zero fear of or belief in. He’ll come, and just to be annoying he brings backups of everything. Flashlight keeps going out? He’s got two more and extra packs of batteries. Strange animal noises? Let’s see them make that after his dog whistle. Getting colder? Basil is ready for extra scarves for everyone

[katakaluptastrophy]

That bit is so awful and intriguing:

She was genuinely upset.

“...Oh—my family’s probably been told … They’ll be wondering where the living hell my spirit is. My poor brother—Magnus’s parents—my fern collection—”

It's the one glimpse we get of what might be going on beyond the machinations of Harrow's psyche and the awful domestic dramas of the Mithraeum during HTN: of the very real emotional, politicial, and spiritual devastation the bloodbath on the First would have left in its wake.

It hints at the grief that would be unfolding on every House. On the Fifth, Abigail might have a surviving parent or grandparents, aunts and uncles. We know her brother is married with at least one child. Magnus' parents are still alive, and he has two sisters and perhaps some nieces and nephews. Friends, colleagues, servants. A whole network of people who have just had their lives upended by these strange and sudden deaths. We don't get these details for the other Houses, but it must have been awful.

Politicial because Abigail's poor brother is not only mourning his sister and brother-in-law who have died suddenly and unexpectedly, but he is now, rather earlier than planned, the feudal despot of Jupiter. There's a seneschal to appoint, a cavalier to be sworn (the other parent of the poor late Isaac's planned fiancé, or a safer bet from the duelling ranks or Cohort?), and a fraught political environment to navigate.

And spiritual, because someone's ghost being missing isn't just a spot of bother.

“Everyone who has stayed,” said Abigail, “has chosen to stay, and risk their lives—or souls, I should say.”

And what is that risk?

...it would be a second death. Their spirits would be erased from existence, never able even to enter the River.

So Abigail and Magnus' families, unable to call their spirits for nine months, may not just be grieving their deaths, they may also have come to the conclusion that whatever happened during the Lyctor pilgrimage was some extreme violence that caused their spirits to die a second death and be erased from existence.

As we learn from Abigail's heretical digressions, the Houses believe that the spirits of the dead wait in the River for a second Resurrection. I cannot even begin to fathom how utterly devastating it would be - as people who make regular contact with the afterlife and absolutely know it exists - to contemplate the possibility that your dead loved ones weren't in it.

John's silence to the Houses about what happened was in itself a form of spiritual violence.

So we all know how Ianthe became a Lyctor for “ultimate power—and posters of [her] face.”

And I'm sure someone made a nice icon.

But you know who would have definitely gotten a poster of their face? Coronabeth.

Think about it: every House but the Ninth has lost a scion. In a culture that thrives on melodrama and the conspicuous consumption of death, there is a wave of hysterical funerary fervour to mourn their lost leaders. And the Third - the House of glitz, trendsetting, and political intrigue - has lost its beloved Crown Princess.

We don't know a huge amount about funerals in the Nine Houses, but we do know a bit about Third House funerals:

The front coffin is distinguished from its fellows by its gorgeous arrangement of flowers and wreaths. The flowers are all in hues of gold or violet, and are fake. The coffin is hinged open at the front, with its contents hidden from view by the flowers. A tray of meat is rested on the closed bottom half of the coffin. A queue of gaudily masked mourners process past the coffin, slowly, each one taking a strip of meat, then stopping by the head to lean within—kissing or feeding; we can’t be sure. - TUG

Apparently, a Third House funeral - unsurprisingly for flesh magicians - focuses on the physical. The reverence of/fear of/(lust for?) the body. A wake on steroids. But they received no body for Coronabeth. So I can only imagine larger than life posters of Corona decked with flowers, the weeping crowds surging through the streets of Ida, etc etc... Poor Ianthe, second place once again to a 'corpse'.

Moving past Ianthe to House funerary customs in general, and to the awful aftermath of the Lyctor trials in particular, it seems especially unfair that neither of the flesh magic Houses got a body back to mourn. Obviously Corona wasn't actually dead, but for those who believed her to be, the lack of a body for such visceral funerary rights must have been traumatic.

We don't have as many details of Seventh funerals, but the House famous for it's "beguiling corpses" likely also focuses much of its post-mortem ritual around the body. Dulcie suggests that the deceased might even leave specific instructions in their will about the appearance of their corpse:

That drawing looked nothing like me. I loved it. You don’t know this so it doesn’t help, but I included it in my will and put down that I wanted to look like that after I died. I thought maybe it would give you a laugh at the funeral, you know? - TUG

Meanwhile, the Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth receive their perfect pairs of "statuesque and incorruptible" bodies, preserved beyond the wildest dreams of the Seventh. These Houses are all spirit magicians. The Fourth, for whom thanergetically detonating oneself on a battlefield far from the rays of Dominicus isn't unheard of, almost certainly have funerary rites that don't presuppose a body. And the Fifth, whose necromantic practice is far more concerned with the spirit than the body, likely centre their most significant funerary rites around the ghost.

Y'know, the bit they don't have? Just as the flesh magicians of the Third and Seventh would have been unable to mourn their lost scions with rites around the body, the Fifth would have been unable to call their ghosts, trapped in Harrow's River bubble.

So amidst all the grief and awfulness, and the Emperor refusing to answer any questions about what happened (why are they all dead? Why are so many bodies missing? Where are the ghosts? Why are the bodies so creepily perfect?), half the Houses can't even mourn their dead in the way they normally would.

[senseandaccountability]

Hey, did you get a chance to watch season 6 of Lucifer? What did you think of the finale?

This is going to be salty (sorry) so I put it under a cut for people who prefer joyous things in the feed.

I didn’t like the final season.

To be brief: It felt like a story where the writers knew how they wanted it to end, and therefore the plot ruled over the characters. It wasn't a main plot I enjoyed at all, and it was told in a way that made it difficult for me to appreciate even the small bits I liked. (Ella reveal. Ghost Dan.) I thought it suffered from a jarring tonal shift and when it comes to several overarching themes, I felt it negated/trivialized previous seasons. In many ways it also managed to be both cheesy and cruel, often at the same time. I had the impression it was a compilation of (unfortunately rather boring) fandom wishes and tropes more than authentic storytelling.

To be anything but brief:

I dislike the season in part because it undid a lot of great things about Lucifer as a character.

By the end of 5B Lucifer had come full circle. I think that season finale is great. The Lucifer vs Michael fight was so well done thematically - he fought himself, and unlike the first fight in 5A when he wants to hurt his twin he had now reached a state of personal growth, of compassion. Not even when Michael kills Chloe does he deserve death because everyone deserves a second chance. And then the funny and pitch perfect “Oh, my me”. Ambiguous enough about the details to fuel the fandom, clear enough about the themes and the lore to offer closure. (No, Deckerstar didn’t have a date or much of a snog but I can fill in the blanks there though I am aware that many fans were disappointed by the lack of on-screen love.)

Excellent way to end the show.

Except they didn’t. S6, I feel, tried to tell the same story all over again, only not as well or even coherent.

Over the seasons it’s been pretty clear that while Lucifer can be caring, he mostly cares about the handful of people in his life. S6 even touches upon this, has him trying to care for random people in their hell loops. But S5 already did this, but better, with Michael. The family dinner with God was excellent, it showed broken people all around and had Lucifer, the self-centered drama queen of the family realizing that he’s not the only one that’s been hurt. It showed the best and worst of them all. Sparing Michael, considering Michael worthy of redemption, was peak growth for Lucifer as a character because in that moment he also considers himself worthy of the same thing. That’s when he truly forgives himself. I thought. And then season 6 shows Michael as a prisoner in Hell, just once, never to be mentioned again. Is that a second chance? Is that redemption? Is that really the symbolism they were going for or just a spiteful and stupid little addition because LOL SOME PEOPLE DESERVE HELL. (Do they? Says who? The show doesn’t answer that because the show that focuses on the neutral character the Devil and the totally untarnished place Hell doesn’t much care about such divisive matters, but more about that soon.) I dislike the season, in parts because I wasn't satisfied with the moral/quasi-theological backdrop. The system is wrong, Lucifer concluded by the end of 5B. Season 6 has him return to the system, as an Afterlife Coach of the Damned. Is that really the best they could do?

I mourn all the cool possibilities of what Lucifer, the advocate for free will and defender of desire, could have done with hell as a concept. Blown it apart, closed it, tossed the keys to someone else and rode off in the sunset. At the very least he could have altered it so that it’s no longer solitary confinement but a collective of doomed souls trying together to achieve redemption but hey, never mind me, I’m a bleeding-heart socialist and I don’t believe in revenge and I don’t believe in God but if I did, God would forgive. Otherwise, what the hell is the point?

I parsed through the season with my husband, a real-life minister who doesn't think anyone deserves hell and who gets to suffer my long-ass questions about the theological themes of popular culture a little bit too often. Because we both felt slightly insulted after watching. "Is this bullshit what they offer me?" my husband asked me as the timey wimey time travel plot unfolded. But timey wimey bullshit aside, we concluded that the real reason we were both so annoyed and frustrated with the season is because it highlighted how flat the background lore really is. I mean, I guess they wanted to be yay, neutral and non-divisive themes galore! It’s good to be good, folks! If you’re not, well, I guess you might have your spine broken by the Devil or sent to a never-ending hell loop but let’s not talk about religion! The main issue, for me, with the whole system of heaven and hell and earth on the show is that for every equation, there’s a part missing. The show has borrowed the character from the comics verse but left the entire lore and its internal logic behind. It borrows a bit of moral philosophy, but cuts away the troublesome bits otherwise Lucifer can’t both be on a redemptive path and happily slaughter people in fits of vengeance; it uses Heaven and Hell and vaguely also the concept of sin but never answers any questions about it, apart from the central message of course: it’s up to you. In fact, the show discourages questions about the lore because it has no answers. It doesn’t care. The ending of the show brushes off the much needed systematic changes of heaven and hell like it’s just another joke. (Want to know a show that has compassionate writing about morality while managing to be very funny? The Good Place. And you know what, morality should be serious. I’m a softie and again, a bleeding-heart, but it’s important to be a good person and it’s important to get a chance for redemption. It matters. It’s not just a minor detail.)

Which brings me to the damn therapy theme. I know a lot of people like it and I have also liked it a lot in previous seasons. I have. It’s been quirky. (Also highly unprofessional, but hey.) But as the key to your afterlife/redemption/second chance it’s just not good enough.

It is so very, very individualistic that it makes my skin crawl. It’s the ultimate American solution to systemic injustices and suffering - hey, it’s up to you, man. You decide if you deserve hell. You decide if you deserve Heaven. You make the difference! You can do it! Live the afterlife dream, achieve all your goals, get a hell loop that no longer loops but… stays in one static place where at least you’re moderately happy. Navel-gazing into your soul is certainly one way to get some insights into your mistakes. But it’s not redemption. Redemption is an active choice to be a better person. You don’t have to earn redemption or deserve it. And redemption isn’t the same as forgiveness either. Redemption is the opposite to pointless, everlasting punishment. It’s hopeful and it’s ugly and it’s full of purpose and the chance to be better and add something good to the world. Even Lucifer doesn’t get to do that on the show. He deals only with the already doomed. The here and now on Earth fades into the distance as Deckerstar, too, gets their happily ever after in Hell. You’ll get pie in the sky when you die. Or you get to shag on a throne in Hell. Either way, life on Earth doesn’t matter. (Here the show lean into some really dodgy Christian themes, I’d argue, but hey, it’s not about religion! It’s just a fun romp about a reformed bad boy!)

“Hell is just revenge porn for fundamentalists and other people who believe in eye for an eye. I just want there to be a level of collective forgiveness and hope, you know?” I told my husband whilst chugging down beer. As you do when you watch crap that makes no sense. “A level of hey, I’ve got this, I forgive you, you can do better. Go and do better. And then the actual opportunity to do so, even if it's just reliving your life as a ghost again and again until you figure out what went wrong.” “Honey,” my husband said. “I hate to tell you this since you’re an atheist but that level you’re talking about? That’s Jesus.” Well, screw that.

I really don’t want to need Jesus to make sense of a story. I just want decent bloody storytelling.

[terukei]

Infodumping about my comfort AU under the cut!! I came up with this after finishing Chapter 3 to cope + it’s still kinda in development but. I wanted to share!! (It is quite lengthy though so be warned!!)

TW Korekiyo’s sister, v3 spoilers

Ok so basically Korekiyo’s sister is a noncorporeal demon who's sharing Kiyo’s body + she’s been manipulating Kiyo into killing girls so she can steal their souls and use them to manifest a new physical form. Her previous physical form deteriorated over the course of Kiyo’s childhood, which is why she was sickly for as long as he could remember. After her death (i.e. after her physical form expired) her spirit returned to Kiyo, inhabited his body, and spun him a sob story about how she wanted “friends” to join her in the afterlife. So Kiyo, who would’ve done anything Sister asked him to, began to travel the world in search of girls that were worthy of being Sister’s friends. He specifically sought out girls that he not only deemed to be good people, but also girls who were suffering in one way or another so he could alleviate their pain by sending them to live with Sister. This helped him to rationalize what he was doing.  

Kiyo lived this way for approximately five years, killing close to 100 girls for his sister. (She was very insistent on the number 100. For some reason she needed that exact number of souls to reincarnate.) When he turned 18, he took a brief hiatus to pursue an education at Hope’s Peak University. His roommate there was Rantaro, who would become his first real friend, as the two shared stories of their travels. He also met Kirumi and quickly became enamored with her--her genuine selflessness, her effortless grace, her infinite kindness. But he’s not the only one who takes an interest in her. Sister wants her soul, but for some reason he can’t explain, Kiyo doesn’t want to give this one up. This leads to conflict between Kiyo and Sister, as for the first time Kiyo starts thinking about what he wants, and he becomes torn between his desire to please his sister and his desire to keep Kirumi alive, because she means so much to not only him but also so many other people. 

Things continue like this for a while, with Kiyo and Kirumi growing closer and Kiyo continuing to carry around this intense guilt for both going against his sister’s wishes and hiding the truth from Kirumi. Then one night he stumbles across another perfect victim, who happens to be girl #99, and kills her as a sort of peace offering to Sister. She doesn’t buy it, of course, and now that she only needs one more soul, she’s determined to have it be Kirumi’s. Realizing that he’s now backed into a corner, Kiyo breaks down and tells Rantaro everything. Rantaro takes it surprisingly well--he’d probably kill for his sisters if it came to that, after all--but urges him to tell Kirumi the truth so she can save herself. He eventually does, and she, too, is surprisingly sympathetic, though she tells him she won’t back down and allow herself to be killed, of course. The two agree to distance themselves from each other, however, for Kirumi’s safety and so Kiyo can sort things out on his own.

Kirumi, however, is too worried about Kiyo’s own well-being to let it go, and she does some research and basically discovers that everything she’s heard about Kiyo’s sister matches the description of this one kind of demon almost perfectly, so she approaches him and is like, “hey I know you told me to stay away from you but there’s something I think you really need to know” and she tells him everything she’s read. Kiyo doesn’t want to believe it at first, but he eventually realizes that everything he thought he knew about his sister was a lie and that she’s been using him to further her own agenda. 

After a lot of self-reflection and inner turmoil (and some more research), Kiyo decides he’s got to find a way to exorcise Sister from his body. In order to do this, he must first release the souls of all the girls that Sister has trapped (since she doesn’t consume their souls until she gets all 100; they’re all just kind of in limbo for the time being), so he decides to once again take a jounrey around the world, revisiting all the places where he committed murder so he can reconnect with the girls’ spirits, atone for his mistakes, and help them pass on to the afterlife. Rantaro and Kirumi accompany him because they’ve been helping him figure things out and they decide they can’t let him do this alone. Angie, who is Kirumi’s roommate and another friend of Kiyo’s, also insists on joining them, because she insists they need Atua’s guidance, and they let her, because they figure she might be able to help with the exorcism and/or connecting with the spirits. (Also she can see ghosts/demons/spirits? Like, she knows Sister is there before Kiyo even tells her anything.) Oh, and Kokichi is there too, for reasons I haven’t figured out yet other than “I ship Oumami and I want Kokichi to travel around the world with his boyfriend”. Kiyo really doesn’t want him there, but he’s very persistent + Rantaro and Kirumi promise to keep him out of trouble. 

So yeah, the five of them travel around the world, freeing the spirits of these girls that Kiyo killed, and eventually they free everyone and exorcise Sister and Kiyo is free to move on with his life! Throughout the journey, he learns how to forgive himself for what Sister manipulated him into doing while still acknowledging that what he did was wrong and taking some accountability for it. For the first time in his life, he’s exposed to what love and friendship really look like, and he starts believing in a brighter future for himself. It’s a story about recovery and unconditional love and found family and not letting your past or your mistakes define you, and that’s why it means so much to me.

tl;dr Kiyo’s sister manipulated him into killing a bunch of girls and his friends help him figure that out, so they travel around the world together freeing spirits so Kiyo can atone and ultimately be free of Sister forever

[lex-malla-non-est-lex]

Tatiana, Belial, and their plans relating Jesse in the past

I’ve dabbled on this topic a few times but your comment really got me thinking. @delilahssbard

This turned out long so I’ll put it beneath the line.

Like, ever since CoI I’ve been highkey thinking Tatiana intended for Jesse to be possessed, but the specific phrasing you used reminded me of a part of ChoG and suddenly everything fits even more now.

- Chain of Gold

Back then, I honestly assumed Belial was talking about preference here, especially since he’s made it clear the reason he could possess James without destroying his body is they share blood, but that’s clearly different in Jesse’s case.

Considering how it’s repeatedly clarified that the anchor was placed on Jesse while he was a baby, that fact is probably significant. If anything, I’d dare say the anchor seems to be a workaround Belial’s destruction not just because he was literally anchored to Jesse’s soul, but by way of tolerance, especially since James also seems to have drawn a similar conclusion.

- Chain of Iron

There it is. Belial would have the anchor and a body to possess, as Jesse grew older. The anchor was in him since almost day one, and Tatiana clearly knew about the anchor, but what’s to say she wasn’t involved? We know the only one who was reluctant to place the anchor on Jesse’s soul was Gast. At no point is Tatiana mentioned in this until Belial outright says that he owed her a favor.

Jesse is just Nephilim, unlike James and Lucie, so by all accounts, a normal possession by Belial would have destroyed him, but the anchor intervened in such a way that there didn’t seem to be any visible consequences at all to him being possessed repeatedly (unless we subscribe to the theory that Jesse’s ghost started fading faster near the end because of the possession, but as of right now we honestly have no way to be sure about that specific fact).

We know Jesse’s childhood sickness involved fevers, and perhaps weakness, the latter coming from the statements in which he’s specifically referred to as weak. We also now know that the real reason Jesse died was because the rune he was given reacted badly against Belial’s essence inside him. Jesse’s description of his own death is that he collapsed into bed after getting the rune, then woke up feverish and in agony. Honestly, that just sounds like a worse version of his alleged childhood symptoms.

Considering his death was basically the result of a rune’s angelic magic clashing with the demonic essence inside him, it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to assume his sickness was just his nature as Nephilim having a bad reaction to Belial’s essence, even if he only died because of the rune. I find it frankly impossible to believe that the anchor wasn’t hurting him, because we know under normal circumstances Belial would destroy a body within hours.

And let’s be real, Tatiana knew this. The only question in relation to her is whether she intentionally let him die.

The following are all quotes from A Lightwood Christmas Carol.

“He is very delicate,” said Tatiana. “Nephilim like yourself wish to put Marks on him, because they are intent on killing my boy as they have killed everyone else I love. You sit on the Council, do you not? Then you are his enemy. You may not see him.”

“I would not force Marks on the boy,” protested Gideon. “He’s my nephew. Tatiana, if he is that ill, perhaps he should see the Silent Brothers? One of them is a close friend, and could come to Jesse at our house. And Jesse could know his cousins.”

Before CoI, lines like these could be shrugged off to Tatiana being paranoid about her son being hurt by marks because he’s sickly, but no, we know now that Tatiana is entirely correct.

And it makes perfect sense that she refused to even let the Silent Brothers examine Jesse. No doubt they’d have been able to notice what was wrong with him wasn’t a sickness. Tatiana made a show out of it to exacerbate her own hatred of Nephilim, but she isn’t unaware of things, she just likes to spin them in a way that can be used to blame her enemies for things.

“Father planned alliances for us, when we were children.” Tatiana shrugged. “How ashamed he would be of you. How is your grubby servant?”

Then there’s her attitude, of course. The implication that she thinks it’s perfectly normal to involve children in alliances and plans. We know she didn’t hesitate to have a dark power forced onto Grace, if anything, it’s implied she requested it. We know Tatiana only sees Jesse as something that is hers, not as his own person, so it’s completely within the realm of possibility that she involved him in her own plans for revenge, even if he was just a newborn with no choice in the matter (or perhaps because he had no choice in the matter, considering how badly she reacts to the fact that Jesse *gasp* has a different worldview than her).

“I don’t care!” Tatiana shouted. “My son is of the blood of two of the oldest of the Shadowhunter families. He is not weak like your son. Go back to your weakness, Gideon. Get out of my sight, get out of my house, and do not darken my door again. I have not missed your company, nor your brother’s, and I am relieved that my child will not grow up under the corrupting influence of either of you.” 

Now, this one isn’t so relevant as much as it’s interesting, because while it looks like Tatiana is just flexing and being mean to Gideon, that whole implication that Jesse isn’t weak does compare to how Belial views Nephilim in general.

- Chain of Gold

Belial had the anchor placed on Jesse alongside his protections as a newborn. Humans never get such protections against possession, and Belial still chose one of the Nephilim as his alternate vessel. He was that plan of his as completely viable.

And much like Tatiana, Belial clearly sees Jesse as a tool, as a method to push his agenda.

- Chain of Iron

And assuming Tatiana knew of the anchor from the start, that checks out. Belial wanted Jesse as a vessel to get closer to his goal. If he’s never seen him as an end-goal, then he’s always planned for Jesse to be a temporary vessel. Tatiana wants the Nephilim destroyed. Letting Belial possess Jesse probably sounds like a completely reasonable thing to her. It solidifies her alliance with Belial, makes things easier for Belial, and as Belial himself implied, Belial owed Tatiana a favor.

- Chain of Iron

Seriously, I can say with reasonable confidence that Tatiana knew Belial would use Jesse, perhaps even agreed beforehand to the anchor itself being placed, because to the both of them, Jesse was basically a puppet. (I mean, even the clothes she had him dressed in within his coffin literally scream Belial)

Then of course, what I believe to be the nail in the coffin for Tatiana’s involvement is just what she tells Grace near the end.

- Chain of Iron

She literally has the audacity to claim Jesse was to blame for his own death and basically defended Belial. You know, Belial, who was possessing and controlling her son. Belial, who placed an anchor in the soul of her newborn son and has basically robbed him of anything resembling a normal life or even afterlife. Tatiana is taking Belial’s side on that without any hesitation.

If anything, Tatiana might have let Jesse get runed just to be able to tell him off, like “ha, told you you were too weak to be Nephilim” or something like that, despite knowing damn well the reason runes would kill him was Belial. Tatiana had literal demons to do her bidding, I don’t doubt she could have physically prevented Jesse from following up on his threat to run to Alicante if she didn’t let him get runes, had she wanted to.

Belial probably can control the dead like Lucie can, most likely having far more experience at it. Tatiana surely knew that. Belial said Tatiana called him after Jesse died, and that he owed her a favor, hence the preservation of Jesse. Obviously, Belial benefited from this, but clearly Tatiana saw Jesse’s death as an opportunity to bend him to her will, because he never shared her beliefs during his life.

Now, this is actually where I believe Tatiana and Belial’s views of the situation diverge. Belial outright says raising Jesse as Tatiana wanted wouldn’t suit him. He had Jesse kept in that so-called twilight state that certainly proved useful to Belial, but I don’t think whether Jesse was alive or not mattered pre-Cortana. Not only does Belial clearly not care about consent, he also probably wouldn’t need it, because his anchor was already deep within Jesse’s soul. Jesse being dead or alive was likely irrelevant to the possession, since the one part of Tatiana’s statement that’s correct is that Belial probably wouldn’t have guessed Jesse would die as he did.

Tatiana wanted Jesse resurrected for herself, for her own desire to have her son follow her beliefs and intentions. Belial just cares for Jesse as his vessel. While they’re allies, I don’t think those two usages were as compatible as Tatiana thinks they were, which is probably why Belial outright says reviving Jesse wouldn’t have suited him, and honestly both of them seem pretty angry about losing control over Jesse.

(Belial’s clearly salty that Lucie exorcised him and Tatiana’s mad he’s “in the clutches of a Herondale”, but clearly both of them lost something they valued as an instrument, none of them are actually mad about their loss of access to Jesse as a person, because they’re honestly both terrible people, to say the least).

I know I called that other one the nail in the coffin, but in relation to Tatiana letting Jesse be runed even though that was practically bound to kill him, Belial outright says Tatiana killed him, even despite recognizing the rune was technically the cause.

- Chain of Iron

TL;DR: Tatiana definitely knew about the anchor, Tatiana definitely knew Jesse would be possessed and used by Belial, and Tatiana also definitely let her son die just because it suited her.

[9layerdevilfoodcake]

HelloGoodbye/Part 1:It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

Summary: it’s the last day of life as you know it at Camp Redwood when the apocalypse comes calling, but what does that mean for the souls shackled to this particular hellmouth?

Word count: 3.3k

Warnings: mentions of death, implied-ish smut, the end of the world?

//

The day the world ended started out the same as any other.

You woke up to the sunrise, wrapped in a jumble of blankets, limbs and bleached hair.

Sleep wasn’t really necessary for the undead, but it just came naturally, like muscle memory. Plus it was a nice way to pass the time.

But it was what came after a good night’s sleep that was your favorite part of the day, more specifically it was waking up next to him.

There are few things better in life (past or present) than waking up in his arms.

Your lover? Boyfriend? Mutual sufferer in eternal purgatory?

You’re not really sure what you would call him. You and Xavier both agreed the afterlife was no place for labels.

But if you asked any of the other souls shackled to this hellmouth with you, they would all call you two the same thing; inseparable.

It had been that way for decades, you spent almost every reawoken moment together. He was the one thing that made your afterlife feel as though it’s axis tipped more towards heaven than hell.

He was the light at the end of the tunnel. And looking at him now, eyes closed, lips parted, and sleeping soundly without a care in the world. You might go as far as to say you are thankful you didn’t listen to your gut, and made the (what at the time you thought regrettable) decision to take your friend's extra ticket and step foot on the haunted site for a music festival, one that never even happened mind you.

You got stabbed in the face and she didn’t get to blow Billy Idol, you guess you would call the weekend a bust for the both of you.

You’re comfortably laying back and reminiscing, when you feel Xavier stir.

The long hum that leaves his lips, followed by their soft touch on your shoulder lets you know he’s awake and it’s followed by a mumbled “Good morning”.

“Good morning” you answer back. Leaning down to plant a chaste kiss on his lips. A little too chaste for his liking, so before you can pull away he grabs hold of the back of your neck and pulls you back down for more.

One perk of being dead, no morning breath. There’s no need to break the mood with a trip to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Not that that would stop him anyways, through your time with Xavier you have come to realize that there are very few things he won’t try, and even less he would determine “too gross” to kill his mood.

So much like countless mornings before this, it’s a good couple of hours before you two make it out of bed and decide to properly “get up”.

“What should we do today?” He asks as he’s rummaging through the luggage some ghost adventurer left behind in their haste to “get the fuck out of this place”. It had been years since anyone around here had partaken in any blood sport. But that didn’t mean there was still no fun in scaring the tourists. (And maybe occasional bets were taken to see who could get a camper to wet themselves first).

He pauses and holds up a pair of dark blue wranglers, waiting for your opinion.

You just shake your head in dismissal.

“We haven’t been in the lake in a while. We could take a dip...then maybe you could take a dip…” you say wiggling your eyebrows to insinuate your innuendo, while you make your way over to the stash, taking over the search for yourself.

“No”

“Why not?” You know the reason for his rejection, but can’t help giving him a little pout anyways.

“After what happened last time? Not happening.” His voice is stern but with the underlying playfulness that’s always present between the two of you.

“Oh come on...I won’t let that happen again.”

“Believe it or not, drowning is not fun, dead or alive. And you know what’s worse than drowning once? Coming back to and drowning again because the person with their legs wrapped around your head hasn’t even noticed!” He emphasizes his “anger” by snatching the green umbro shorts you’d found from your hands and proceeding to dramatically stomp his legs through the holes before pulling them up around his hips.

“You only have yourself to blame for that, if you weren’t always such a tease I would have known something was wrong. I just thought you were trying to work me up and build my anticipation, not give me some signal your foot was stuck in the mud” You argue back tossing him a cut off Duran Duran t-shirt, that despite its tag saying 2018 has been given holes and bleached to give it a “vintage” look. The irony of donning such items always makes you laugh.

As he finishes getting dressed you simply look at him with that same pout back on your face, although it slowly morphs into a smile as you see his resolve slipping away.

Who is he kidding, he could never say no to you. He would do anything you ever asked. He would drown every hour, on the hour, if it kept you looking at him the way you are now.

“Fine, but if I start slapping your thighs it is not to keep you in line, it’s me begging for oxygen.”

“Ok” you agree with a chuckle as you grab his hand and head to the door, but he holds his place, making you turn and raise a brow at him.

“And the next time those birdwatchers are in camp, you have to blow me in front of that Condor’s nest they all jizz their jeans for.”

“Sure” you answer, shrugging your shoulders, not a bad trade...

“While they’re taking pictures of it.”

You pause for barely a moment to think that over, who were you kidding, you’re just as whipped as he is.

“Deal”

You weren’t in the water very long before you heard it, a siren sounding in the distance.

Xavier had only just removed your bottoms before you were pulling him up by his hair.

“What?” He asks, as he emerges, shaking droplets out his face with a look of confusion mixed with some underlying self doubt. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you hear that?”

As you both listen the sirens start to get louder and new ones join in the cacophony of sounding alarms.

“Yea, they’re probably just testing the storm sirens?”

“All of them?”

Before Xavier can talk you out of worrying and let him “get back to work” you’re interrupted by Chet yelling at you from the dock.

“Hey! You guys should see this”

Once you both redress you make your way to the cabin which once upon a time was assigned to the male counselors, but now it serves as more of a clubhouse for the lingering spirits. Upon entry you see almost every soul in the camp crowded around the TV.

There have only been two occasions when you have all collectively been in the same place at the same time; when you got revenge on Margaret, and when you made plans for what to do about the “Ramirez problem”.

Something big must be happening.

“What’s going on?” Xavier inquires as you join the group.

“The end of the world” Answers Montana, in a voice so calm she almost sounds bored, it’s like that happens every week.

“Oh no did Belinda Carlyle die?!”

“No...not yet anyway”

Your attention is brought back to the flat screen television Jingle’s son Bobby had gifted you. After his visit, he had been kind enough to set up wifi around the camp, as well as pay for a cable package, with the help of Brooke and Rita (or whatever her real name was). After hours of trying to explain how a touch screen works, as well as the grappling concept of Bluetooth; he deemed the pursuit pretty much a wash. But you did all know how to work a television, so most days were spent watching reruns of Knight Rider or Press Your Luck, and checking in with the nightly news.

So now you found yourself surrounded by your fellow ghosts, watching the man on the tv announce the incoming missiles and saying a teary goodbye to his family.

“What does this mean? I mean for us?” The question came from one of the victims of the first massacre in the 70s, whose name you were now feeling a little guilty for never bothering to learn.

It was a good question nonetheless, your souls kept coming back after just about any obstacle thrown at you, staying attached to the camp, but would they stay attached to a camp that wasn’t even there?

Unfortunately this was also a question nobody knew the answer to.

“Should we go to a basement or something?” Chet chimed in

“I doubt a basement will win the fight against a nuclear bomb, at least this close to the blast radius.” Trevor now spoke up, making his way over to the television to check another news channel, before addressing the group. “Besides does that even matter for us?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough”

As everyone is switching back and forth between intently checking the news and murmuring confusion between each other, you pull Xavier aside.

“Xavier, just in case we don’t make it. I just want you to know” you start, averting your gaze as you feel the tears begin to pool in your eyes. “...I just...I’m really...you’ve been…” you’re trying to find a way to tell him how much he’s meant to you, and the amount of gratitude you have for his patience and understanding, how he’s made every day a memorable one for you, how he’s the best person you’ve ever known, dead or alive. How you don’t believe you’ve actually been stuck wandering the earth together all these years, because when you’re with him you think you must have done something right in your life, because there is no doubt in your mind this is what heaven feels like. But you can’t, you can’t get a single word out if you want to keep any semblance of calm and keep the flood gates from opening.

Thankfully Xavier stops you before your nonsensical blubbering can go any further.

“I know, you have too.” He says this as he clasps your hands in his, before moving one hand up to wipe a stray tear from your cheek and bringing your attention back to him. As you look at him you see glassy blue orbs filled with tears that match your own, holding behind them eons of love and unsaid devotion. But he is much better at holding himself together so he marches on.

“If something happens and we don’t make it through this. Or we end up in some new shittier purgatory, I promise you I’ll come find you there! There is nothing in this life or any other that can keep me from you, okay? We’re gonna be alright though, I promise”

All you can do is nod your head, and muster up enough strength to get out a quiet “I love you”

“I love you too”

You and Xavier sit on the bunk that was once designated as his, all those years ago when he came here with the hope of a fun summer away from his troubles. Back then he was always running; running to something, running from something. There was never any certainty in his life, not even in his after life, not until you.

Now he’s starting to feel like that scared boy he once was. The one once found on the edge of death in MacArthur Park, trying so desperately to feel anything, and trying even more in vain to make that feeling last. He had nothing to loose back then in his desperate pursuit for euphoria. But he learned real fast that when things sounded too good to be true they most certainly were.

And that’s why he holds you closer now. Because you were the greatest good he has ever known, and there is certainly no way someone as wretched and cursed as him could ever keep someone as exceptional and pure as you.

He’d tasted bliss for too long now, and it must be time for the collector to come calling. But that didn’t mean he would let you go without a fight, because here in your arms is the only place that has ever felt like home, and he would protect his fortress come hell or high water (or the literal end of the world).

But that fight may or may not come and right now was about settling your nerves and keeping you calm. So he puts his resolve on the back burner and moves to pull you into his lap to whisper words of love and encouragement while you wait for the missiles to strike.

You feel them before you hear them, the impact on the earth, who knows how many miles away, before it broke the sound barrier. You didn’t even have enough time to process the incoming force before you were knocked out and everything and everyone you had known for decades was wiped away.

/

There is no way to tell how much time has passed when you wake in a pile of rubble and ash, with no discernable clue as to where you were in relation to the miles of identical rubble and ash that surrounded you. You weren’t sure where in the camp you were. The only thing keeping you believing this was even still Redwood were the semblance of remaining trees around you. Other than that there was nothing else insight but dirt and debri, and no sign of any other soul.

After you got your bearings you go in search of Xavier, or anyone else for that matter.

After a few minutes you come across a spot of land that seems vaguely familiar. Although there are no more cabins and no more dock, you’re pretty sure the crater that sits before you used to be the lake.

The lake where you died.

The lake you had no escape from for the past 30 years.

The lake you were swimming in only a few minutes ago.

The lake where you and Xavier spoke your first words to each other.

The lake where you sat on the dock dipping your toes in the water as you told one another that you loved each other for the first time.

The lake that you used to think if you never saw again, would be too soon.

The lake that you would now give anything to see full again.

After a couple minutes lost in your reverie, you hear a voice in the distance. One you’d recognize anywhere.

Without a moments hesitation you take off towards its source.

After tripping over countless branches and what you can only assume used to be one of the cabins you make it to a clearing and see Xavier bounding your way with Chet in tow.

“Oh my god! Thank god you're okay!” He breathes out as he pulls you into his embrace. You feel him exhale in relief as he holds you, before he lets you go in order to inspect you, searching for any signs of distress.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“No I’m fine, are you ok?”

After looking him over in return to make sure everything’s alright and he gives you a nod, you look over to Chet, who you had quite honestly forgotten was there.

“You too?”

“Yea we’re fine, it’ll take more than one measly nuclear bomb to take down all this” he accentuates by raising his shirt and slapping his abs.

“I’m glad to see your modesty survived the blast as well” you answer giving him a wink and a nudge before you continue.

“we should find the others.”

/

It took a couple hours to track down the rest of your group. At least what felt like it, with the clocks gone there was no telling what time it was.

And the haze the bombs left kept it constantly looking like dusk.

After regrouping you all agreed you should look for any pieces of camp left behind, any signs of life, or just any signs of anything at all.

/

And that’s how it went for the next couple of days. You would walk around looking for signs of life, and finding very few momentos left behind by the camp. Then every once in a while you would all regroup in the middle of the crater that was once the lake, and switch between theories of what was happening out in the rest of the world and reminiscing about times when this place was still standing.

/

Almost everyone in your group of confidants, aside from Ray, was sitting at your usual meeting spot when he came barreling towards you all.

“You guys come here I have to show you something.” His voice was full of excitement.

“What?” Montana asked back, thoroughly unimpressed with his optimism. You had never met two people more different. To Montana, Ray was like a pesky mosquito, who she would often shoo away, that is when she wasn’t bossing him around and telling him to “make himself useful”.

“Just trust me it’s important.”

After a few minutes of grumbling and feet dragging. You and Xavier, Montana, Trevor, and Chet made your way to the empty piece of land Ray was pointing at. Picking up Bertie and the real nurse Rita along the way.

“What? What are we supposed to be looking at?” Bertie questioned, taking it upon herself to ask what you were all wondering.

“Right here.” He points to a spot on the ground, that aside from the line he had made with his shoe, looked the exact same as the rest of your surroundings.

“This is the entrance to Camp Redwood.”

“How do you know? There’s nothing here.” Xavier pointed out motioning around to the surrounding emptiness.

“I have measured the number of steps to the entrance, from just about every place in this camp.”

“God somebody needs to get laid. You have way too much time on your hands.” Xavier regards. And you can’t help but let a laugh slip out.

Narrowing his eyes at that comment, Ray attempts to defend himself. “We’ve been here for decades. Chet wouldn’t even talk to me for years, and before you met y/n, you and Montana only acknowledged me when I was cleaning up your messes, and I….you know what I don’t have to explain myself. What I’m about to show you will have you praising me for the way I chose to pass the time. You should all be kissing my loafers for this.”

Ray was really getting sick of still being the butt of the other counselors jokes and jabs. Even now at the end of the world, when he has made such a monumental discovery.

Deciding not to waste more time getting upset he proceeds.

“So as you know most of the camp has been destroyed and there aren’t really any notable places left behind? Well there is one. The tree we all signed our names on, well most of it anyways. But lucky for us I could still make out both Trevor and Xavier’s names. And exactly 644 steps straight ahead of those signatures is the entrance to the camp.

“You’re point being?” Montana snips, tired of waiting for him to get to the climax of his story.

“My point being. Right now I am in Camp Redwood.”

He says, before he slowly and dramatically takes one long stride over the line he had drawn.

“...now I’m not...”

“and I feel fine”

Notes: i wasn’t really planning on uploading any of my writing here, but I feel like there is more of an interest in Xavier content than on ao3 so why not? Basically the jist of this comes from speculating what would happen to the spirits stuck at the hellmouth’s after the apocalypse (which I know many people have wondered and we’ve never been given a definitive answer). So I wondered what would happen if the whole world became one large hellmouth and the spirits could roam free. This series follows you an Xavier as you eventually make your way to rumored Sanctuary. It will involve Michael Langdon, and as of right now might get kind of dark, so fair warning. Anyways, thank you for reading!

Tagging this supporting queen: @guiltyfiend

[write-or-fly]

~“Who’s there?“~

Summary: In fights some people win, some lose and some die. But before that they can also lose what they love the most..

Warnings: Death; Angst; gore (if that's the right word uwu)

Me: So I actually started this a looong time ago and am finally done uwu

<Your POV>

Everything went fast. One moment we're all in class and the next everyone is in a heated fight against the League of Villains.

Villains left and right. It was hard to focus on only one. No, it was impossible for me.

"How did they get so many new members?" I mumbled to myself while kicking a villain in the stomach.

As soon as he flew against a wall I ran in the opposite direction. I saw someone, or rather another villain, walking off to. Probably to stay away from the fight. I sneaked behind them, trying a surprise attack.

They dodged it immediately and went behind me. I tried to turn around and attack again, but they grabbed my arms.

After that... all I felt was a pain. I screamed. I screamed a lot.

While I was screaming I thought about everything. It was like watching a summary of my life. My good, beautiful, and loved moments and my bad, sad moments.

I thought about my boyfriend... I don't want to hurt him. I wanted to fight. For him. But I couldn't.

Suddenly the pain was gone and I felt so free. Everything was black. I didn't know what happened. I was so confused.

"Come, child, we must go now." I heard a voice saying.

The black blurred away and slowly I could see again. I turned in the direction I heard the voice coming from. I saw a figure standing no- slightly floating above the ground. The figure looked like every picture book Death. I was beyond confused.

"What..?" I asked the figure, or more so Death. It just sighed.

"Come, child, we must go now." It repeated its sentence.

I looked at it with shock in my eyes. I began to understand everything that happened and looked around. I finally saw the villain that beat me.

It was none other than Shigaraki Tomura himself. And right beside him lied a body.

My body.

My eyes widened even more. "I... I died. This is the real Death." These were my thoughts.

Then I repeated Death's words in my head.

I gasped and turned to Death.

"Wait! No! Katsuki! I can't leave him yet!"

I couldn't possibly just die and leave him. I promised to be there for him!

After Death spoke again my eyes widened once more.

"Hm... It seems it's his time too. We shall wait."

"W-what?!"

Right after that, I saw Katsuki walking in our direction. Shigaraki was hiding, probably to give him a surprise attack.

"No! Katsuki, please go!" I screamed desperately.

"He can't hear you, child." Death told me.

"No..."

<3rd person POV>

As Bakugou walked away from the main fight, he followed a movement he saw.

He was very sure it was a villain, no doubt.

Bakugou looked around, but suddenly felt something cold and soft on his eyes.

He knew that feeling, he knew these usually warm and soft hands. Bakugou knew them because they are the hands of the person he cared for most.

They often did this to annoy him, but he secretly loved it. Of course, he couldn't say it, it would be embarrassing.

Bakugou felt relieved, but that feeling soon faded away after hearing the sound of a voice that wasn't the one he expected to hear.

"Who's there?" Shigaraki said, almost like a whisper.

After he said that he just laughed evilly at Bakugou.

Bakugou didn't know what to think. He was in shock. The only things he could think about were how this crusty freak could have your hands and if... if you're safe.

He somehow managed to turn around and face his enemy. Bakugou was scared. Never before had he been this scared. He tried not to show it, but his worry and fear were obvious.

Shigaraki wore a creepy grin on his face and gave Bakugou a good view of what he held in his hands.

After he saw what Shigaraki held his mind went blank. Every sound around him was muted for him. All he could hear was Shigarakis disturbing and ugly laugh. After the villain leader stopped laughing like mad he pointed to the side.

Bakugou hesitated, but eventually looked in the direction he pointed to.

Yes, it could've been another surprise attack or something, but Bakugou was still in too much shock to think properly. Worried about his love. He couldn't think about anything clearly, so he just did what he was expected to.

There a few meters away were you. Lying on the ground, pale and lifeless.

You were dead.

After looking at you Bakugou couldn't stop staring at you. He got lost in his thoughts. Frustrated that he didn't move or just did something to prevent that...

Did he keep pushing himself to his limits, just to fail like- like that?! How could he still believe he'll be the best? That he is the best...

Could he even call himself a hero, after he wasn't able to save the one he loves, the one that always believed in him..?

He was shaking. On his knees, because he couldn't keep himself on his feet. He was shaking that much.

Bakugou had a breakdown. But what would one expect after losing their love like this... He tried to stand, but couldn't. He was beaten. Bakugou noticed that Shigaraki started to laugh again, but only faintly. He was so lost in his thoughts.

You watched all of it. Never dared to look away. Crying loudly, only for the Death to hear.

They couldn't help, couldn't cheer him up. The only thing you were able to do was to watch. It was pure pain, but you didn't want to move on without him.

Shigaraki threw your hands at Bakugou, straight at his face.

Bakugou didn't react. It was like he was an empty shell. The only thing he did was staring at the pair of hands of his love, that was laying before him. 

"We should go now, child. It will only pain you more to watch what is about to happen. Please move on." said Death with concern and worry to you.

As you responded, you didn't even look at him. You could only stare at Bakugou, your love.

"I can't possibly go now! It will be painful, yes. But I want to be there for him... Even at the end." you almost screamed at Death.

"You truly have a kind soul, child. We shall keep waiting, but you won't be happy in the end."

Bakugou sat still on the ground, while you were conversing with Death.

Slowly Shigaraki walked towards him, totally enjoying the moment, the desperate and sad expression on Bakugous face.

He grabbed Bakugous throat and gave it a hard squeeze. Bakugou just cried not even fighting to get air to his lungs. He stole one last look at your dead body before he only felt pain and closed his eyes.

After only a few seconds he felt the pain go away. Confused he hesitantly opened his eyes. There he saw himself lying dead on the ground and a laughing Shigaraki walking away from it.

"Katsuki!" you screamed at the top of your lungs.

Bakugou couldn't trust his ears. He slightly turned to the side and saw you.

He saw your ghost. You both were dead...

You ran towards him still crying. What you didn't notice: you started to fade away.

Your love opened his arms for you so you could give him one of your usual bear hugs. He now wore a relieved smile. It was sad but he was happy to see you at least here, in the afterlife.

But before you could even reach him your vision started to get blurry again. Everything turned white and you felt free again.

You felt relieved, but noticed something: you couldn't say goodbye. Not even a word.

After a few seconds you felt sleepiness slowly get to you. And so you fell asleep for the last time with tears in your eyes. Words going through your mind you couldn't recognize anymore.

"I said so, child. I'm sorry."

[autumnblogs]

Day 43: Openbound

We’ll principally be doing Act 6 Intermission 3 today, so expect lots of pictures in this one!

Believe it or not, I initially didn’t like Openbound very much; I felt like it kind of dragged on my first readthrough, and generally had a pretty hard time getting myself to care about the Dancestors. They’re a pretty unsympathetic bunch.

Then again, lots of Homestuck characters are pretty unsympathetic! I’ve been really feeling that in the second half, as retrospect allows me to view a lot of secondary characters through the lens that we’re not intended to get attached to them.

That said, Openbound is actually pretty key to helping us understand the second half of the comic, I think, and makes explicit a lot of the themes that it explores, and how it builds upon the first half.

I think that the theme of Openbound as a self-contained work within Homestuck that we can use as a tool to decode Homestuck can be concisely stated like this; “Nostalgia and a desire for unity with the past causes toxic stagnation.”

So, aside from the introduction that we’ve already gotten to Meenah through the short conversation she had with the other kids, this is our first real opportunity to get to know her! Boy is she obsessed with money.

Money, like Cake, is a symbol that is associated with the Aspect of Life. As an aspect principally associated with Raw Power - the power to do what you want, unfettered by the stringent restrictions that are associated with Doom - it’s natural that Life would be associated with money.

The origin of money in history is pretty nebulous; it precedes the invention of writing, so any theory concerning its invention is ultimately conjecture. What I think is interesting about money is that the move toward a monetary economy in history mostly (but not always) happens as a result of the fact that it is way more efficient to collect taxes; the state mints standard coins, only accepts taxes in the form of standard coins, and propagates them into the economy by buying goods and services from the market.

It’s a tool of government, and even though Meenah may abrogate her inheritance, the Princess can’t escape her birthright. Money offers control, security... and power. What makes all of this extra interesting is that money is effectively worthless in the afterlife. Here, there’s actually nothing for her to really buy or spend it on; anyone can dream up whatever they want with ease.

It’s a nice bit of callback humor that Meenah has the same reaction to discovering the Thorns of Oglogoth that Rose does, but unlike Rose, Meenah actually does destroy them on the spot.

For being so headstrong and dangerous, there are ways in which Meenah is really pretty surprisingly sensible.

Lord English can destroy ghosts - this has always been a pretty disturbing thought for me. I may have said something to this effect before, but if I haven’t I’m a free-thinking Theist - raised in the Church, and largely independent in terms of beliefs, but I’m still pretty convinced that there is some kind of life after death. It doesn’t bother me nearly as much in works that have final death as a general presupposition, but it always bothers me when some kind of eternal life after death exists in a setting, and can be arbitrarily denied by evil beings with some power or another, like how some Demons and Liches can destroy or devour a soul in Dungeons and Dragons.

In Homestuck though, it fits with the themes established by the ways in which everyone God Tiers - spiritual power can be pretty arbitrary, and generally signifies very little about the moral worth of the one who has it; it does not intrinsically elevate the one who has it. It fits with its general criticism of power and the powerful, whether that’s the Mayor’s hatred of Kings, or the associating of corporatism with the worst parts of Jane’s characterization and Crockercorp in general.

Lord English has the power to destroy ghosts and end the lives of immortals not because he has attained to any kind of heightened spiritual awareness. He’s just some douchebag who through cosmic serendipity was in the right place at the right time to become basically all-powerful.

I adore Meenah’s spark. Who gives a fuck if Lord English is invincible? She knows exactly what she’s going to do when she gets her hands on him, and she’s got a plan from the outset. I think it’s also interesting the way that even though Meenah is absolutely taken by the spectacle of power, it isn’t sufficient to make her want to join up with English. Only soft power works on Meenah Peixes; emotional intimacy, friendship... keeping her entertained. All of these are the actual way to moderate her violent and dangerous personality.

While neither Rose nor Meenah is a parallel character to either Gendo or Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion (I think, actually, that Dirk is the character who most strongly parallels both of them), this bit reminds me of the way that Ritsuko describes both of them;

Rose says of herself and Meenah, “You’re not very good at this, are you? ... talking to people.”

Ritsuko says of Gendo and Rei, “They’re not very adept (at)... living, I suppose.”

The same can really be said of a lot of characters in Homestuck, particularly the ones who primarily find their identity in some form of power-seeking. Whether it’s Rose, or Dirk, or Meenah, or even someone as innocuous as Jake, none of them is particularly adept at living.

Rose is pretty conciliatory with Meenah; given her attraction to danger and darkness, it’s probably not surprising that she makes such an obvious pass at Meenah in spite of the fact that she probably knows what their relationship was in another life.

Further evidence that Rose is the horniest Homestuck character.

“you know how it is with ancestors

they just kind of hold this inexplicable power over you”

Dave continues to progress down the path of not giving a shit, as did Sollux before him.

He’s not quite to the level of reluctance that he eventually adopts, of choosing to just not engage with English at all.

Gods are, to some extent, aware of the various narrative forces that govern their existence.

About the only thing this piece of nasty trash has in common with Karkat is the extent to which they both blabber, and he helps create contrast with the other, somewhat more likable dancestors. Kankri is pretty much openly contemptible, and really in the worst way. I’m almost inclined to call him a concern troll because of the extent to which his verbal essays exist purely to make him feel better about himself. Any time it comes time for him to listen to people who historically actually suffered from the systems they were involved in, Kankri shows his true colors, slut-shaming and misogynistic.

Unsurprisingly, The Other Thief is also the vector for English’s ideology in her session, “turning us against each other to make us stronger.” While Kurloz may be a worshipper of English, and Damara may have thrown in her lot with the demon because of her nihilistic despair, Meenah (rather like Dirk!) is clearly driven toward a life of violence, and restless action for its own sake.

Now we’re starting to get some insight into Feferi’s style of rulership, which in turn, probably gives us some insight into Jane. For Feferi, leadership means taking power away from the people you’re leading if it seems like they have the potential to hurt themselves (or to be a drain on society if left to their own devices). It represents a violation of agency, perhaps not so severe as the kind that Vriska perpetrates usually.

Feferi and Jane are the sort of people, I think, who want to create a perfect world - but it’s important to them that they’re the one who’s creating that world, and less important that the world is perfect for anyone in particular. Just perfect.

https://homestuck.com/story/5288

John’s whole self-conception, and especially his conception of himself as a man, and someone who might be growing up to take on the same roles as his Father, is tied up in the icons of dadliness and masculinity in the movies that he likes.

So we should expect that his disillusionment with his past will change the way that he thinks about his future, and what he’s going to do with it. It’s a shame that this line of questioning never goes anywhere in Homestuck proper, but I’ll use it as evidence in the “John/June Egbert is trans” folder. Reminds me of how my decisive lack of affinity for the Boy Scouts serves as a nice little retrospective bit of evidence in my own trans narrative.

Based on the number of trans Eagle Scouts I know, I feel like there’s a certain extent to which it be like, a fast-track to figuring that out about yourself, like, you tried all the boy stuff and just decided, nope! Not for me.

https://homestuck.com/story/5290

Man, especially if we continue to read this section of Homestuck as conflating the characters and the audience, this whole section reads as John not just having a meltdown about Con Air, but also generally having a meltdown about his own story so far - everything he’s done in Sburb, etc. It just all feels lame and shitty in retrospect, when it was something that was kind of exciting at the time, at least up until the point where his loved ones all dropped dead there at the end.

It turns out that there was nothing particularly edifying about John’s suffering.

https://homestuck.com/story/5300

Teens can be such monsters. It’s the anniversary of Bro’s Death too. Davesprite is probably as broken up about that as John is about Dad, but it’s hard for boys/men to talk about that kind of thing with each other.

Cronus is even more of an incel than Eridan. He may be the most singularly contemptible character in Paradox Space. Do I hate anyone more than Cronus? No, I think I do not.

I won’t have a lot to say about the middle leg of Openbound; it’s relatively empty of substance, and not much that happens in it is ever relevant again compared to the first and second legs.

I like to think that this leg of the journey is, more than anything, a chance to ruminate on some joke characters who were already parodies; parodies of parodies, a joke made at the expense of an existing joke. The kind of thing Dirk Strider would write, basically.

Hey check it out, the Year of Our Lord 2012, and Andrew was starting to show some mild sensitivity in his choice of words. Just mild enough to have the lowest character in the story show a tiny bit of sensitivity himself.

This leg of the adventure does give us some more insight into Meenah’s character. Just like Vriska, she’s all about being a hardass super-murder, until she starts causing problems for the people she actually cares about.

Being Evil Sucks.

This is a really weird sentiment for Karkat to have in light of like, everything else about the latter half of the comic. I mean, he hasn’t exactly had the epiphany yet that the ideas that he has about being a leader are kind of awful and shitty, so it’s possible that he’s talking the Condesce up to avoid thinking about that. IDK.

He also immediately claims he’ll leave behind the meteor to go and join Meenah’s army, so maybe Karkat is just in a pretty low place in general? That tracks.

Karkat’s little conversation with Terezi explains at the two thirds mark of Openbound exactly what this whole thing is about.

Almost the entire second half of the comic is about examining the character’s guardians, and their relationships with them. The Guardians - Grandpa and Bro especially - are hyped up to be these outrageous badasses, both in-and-out of universe, and their ambivalent relationship with their kids creates this ambiguity throughout the comic about whether the kids are worthy, whether they’re living up to their parents’ legacy - and it’s the kind of thing that plagues them throughout.

But the thing is, Ancestors can be lame, or even terrible. They’re not really anything to aspire to, and the image of success that they project onto the world is one of learned confidence, and usually that only if they’ve really managed to make it.

Even the best parents are flawed, and instead of trying to measure up to them, growing up healthy usually means learning what those flaws are, and committing not to reproduce them.

Parents don’t suck; they can be awesome, and generally speaking, for a long part of our life, they’re all we’ve got. It’s hard not to love them. But we shouldn’t turn them into idols.

(On another note, it’s one hundred percent fitting for Terezi’s Ancestor to be an outrageous coolgirl. Terezi is perpetually anxious about being cool enough, the sort of person who is breathlessly fun to be around, who commands the attention of everyone around her, and she’s surrounded by them wherever she goes.)

https://homestuck.com/story/5340

John’s distress leads him to dream about his dead Dad, and boy is he angry. He spends a lot of the second half of the comic seething in rage directed at whomever is responsible for all the suffering he and his friends endure, dishing out beatdowns toward those responsible, but I’ve never gotten the impression that these little outbursts of his are particularly rewarding for him.

https://homestuck.com/story/5358

That was quite a blow. He knocked out like a tenth of Jack’s health bar.

https://homestuck.com/story/5387

Depending on where you’re standing some really totally different things can matter to different people. From Vriska’s point of view, the things that happened back when she was alive totally don’t matter at all anymore - only the matter of Cosmic importance that is fighting Lord English.

But the stuff that matters to the people she left behind, and the suffering she’s responsible for - especially for putting Terezi in a position where she had to slay her - all of that still matters very much to the people who are alive, which is what makes her self-conception as someone who is on the side of the angels now really... not sit well.

She clearly hasn’t changed all that much. She just thinks, as usual, that now that things are even, now that the score is settled, things can go back to the way they were before.

https://homestuck.com/story/5388

Tavros and Vriska are really bad for each other in general. Like, it’s not good for her to be around someone as pliable as Tavros is, and it’s plain to everybody that it’s not good for him to be around her either; whenever he’s around her, he apes her bogus inflated self-esteem in all the worst ways.

https://homestuck.com/story/5397

Tavros’ explanation of what Vriska does suggests that storytelling has become kind of a ritual for her - a means by which she is attempting to connect with her Ancestor, by performing the same actions she is, miming her - still the same old Vriska.

That’ll be all for now. Cam signing off for now - join me for the thrilling conclusion to Openbound tomorrow, Same Cam Time, Same Cam Channel.

[jellyfishjuliet]

im not sayin julius is a dumbass, but with him thinking charmy was yami’s daughter when in reality she’s just the clover kingdom version of a little person and a straight hustler just speaks VOLUMES of how detached julius has been from his own magic knight brigade, and ultimately, ineffective as a political leader. i know issa joke cuz charmy’s literally two feet tall, but even then, you’d think the WIZARD KING was paying attention to his own roster.

like, if julius put in even HALF a braincell into keeping a close eye on his soldiers, he probably could have figured out on his own that billiam was possessed, but instead, he just let everyone run buckwild to the point where yami was recruiting excons and not offering therapy as a workplace benefit when almost all of his subordinates are mentally ill, purple orcas were STILL acting up, and billiam was literally harboring a terrorist, like i GET julius is incredibly powerful.......... but at the end of the day, he’s also incredibly apathetic to the machinations of his own kingdom and THAT’S why he needs to excuse himself soon, or simply perish and marry zara in the afterlife.

i understand that he KNOWS he’s not really the best king, since he never had any intention of leading people to begin with. the one that wanted change in the world was zara, but he died before he could see his dream come through, and julius only took the bare minimum of that dream and put it into action.

the reason i like to call out that JACK is the one who’s really carrying out zara’s will, is because jack knows that if HE doesnt hire all the common kids with low magic potential and give them a reason to do better for their world, then NO ONE is gonna stand up for the commoner. now, is he actively ignoring people like asta who’re probably the clover version of a mutant? yes, but jack doesnt run his squad to cater to hurt feelings, and i tend to believe his view of asta was similar to father orsi’s, ie asta having no magic was viewed more as him having a disability than a mutation and thus exempt from joining the military brigade. from characters like en ringard and sekke, you understand that jack knows that their world is virulently hateful towards people of lower classes, and YES he sold out when he joined the clover version of a corrupt military, but en ringard’s character makes it clear that this military is one of the few ways people in jack’s and en’s class can thrive in their world..... and when you got bellies to fill, you not gonna give a FUCK who you gotta kill. in a way, as idealistic as zara was, jack parallels that idealism with the staunch realism of being dirt poor.

it’s also why more and more, im inclined to believe that julius WILL die in the end, not bc he’s gonna get one-upped by a ghost elf, but bc he KNOWS that the kingdom will never grow if he and people in his level of power (damnatio, king kira, the noble houses) continue to maintain that control. as MUCH as everyone wanted to wordsmith the goddamn WORDSMITH DEMON to say that humans werent the ones at fault for the elven genocide....... it’s pure and utter bullshit bc zagred could do what he did BECAUSE the nobles of clover were that selfish. lumiere and secre just happened to be the only outlier nobles who WEREN’T dirty, but two people cant change the world, and the elven genocide DID happen, and to this day, the nobles who helped carry out the genocide ARE STILL IN POWER. issa moot point that uwu asta and yuno are now peasant bois in the clover military cuz HELLO, the ones running that damn military are descendants of people who financed and carried out a genocide.

i’d go as far as to say that the elven genocide probably WASN’T the first time a species was wiped out or exiled to make room for humans to exercise their power. bringing it back to charmy, i think about how she was arguably one of the most powerful characters BEFORE her wolf and her heritage was revealed, but the second the wolf showed up, it’s like HIS rage poured into charmy like he was waiting for her to wake the fuck up and smell the music, and it’s not unlike the generational trauma that follows descendants of oppressed minorities, cuz when you snap, you SNAP! what’s worst is that charmy doesnt even really know WHO she is, bc somewhere along the way, she wasnt taught about half her heritage, and i can only believe it’s either bc her parents were trying to protect her, or bc they’re simply dead and that there was no one to teach her about the wolf living in her soul.

which brings me the purpose of this crackheaded rollercoaster... i believe tabata is setting up an interspecies continent-wide war! one of the things i also tend to believe is that not ALL the elves were killed in the genocide, and the few that survived either a) ran to different continents to regroup with different elves of different cultures, or b) integrated with humans and hid their heritage with magic makeup, or c) a lil bit of both! we’re probably another hundred or so chapters from meeting the dwarves, but i suspect we’ll meet them, along with the earth elemental spirit, and of course the rest of the demons. in addition, i also dont think the dark triad are the final villains of the black clover saga. if anything, i believe they’re the gateway to exposing the real villains, which are the clover royalty, and i would NOT be surprised if the story drives all of our main characters to band together against the very institution they’ve been protecting thus far. i see a commoner uprising, a peasant uprising, a fucking dwarven and or elven invasion, i see yami’s people rolling up with their ki-based martial arts and dimensional magic as secondary invaders, and anti magic demon straight SAUNTERING into the chat with booty shorts, a croptop, and a cigarette while proclaiming he’s asta’s wife.