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mxlti-fand0m-imaginess · 4 years ago

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Ouija Board // Tate Langdon

request: none

prompts: none

warnings: use of a ouija board, murder, crying, scaring people

a/n: i just used random names for the friends, so sorry if that’s your name :)

“Come on y/n, don’t chicken out on us now!” Liz said, dragging you towards the house.

“It’ll be fun! I promise,” Dylan said, grabbing a large rock to break the doorknob.

You were stood in front of the infamous Murder House. And stupidly, you let your friends talk you into coming here and using a ouija board. You never really believed in ghosts or anything like that, but you were still scared nonetheless.

“There are easier ways to get in you know,” Liz said, rolling her eyes as Dylan smashed the rock against the doorknob, knocking it to the floor.

“Yeah but this is more fun.”

“Should we really be doing this? We could get in trouble for breaking in. I don’t think I could survive jail.”

“Oh my god y/n, we’ll be fine. And Dylan knows what he’s doing. Besides, don’t you wanna talk to ghosts?”

“Nope, not really.”

“Ugh, you’re no fun.”

“Ok, I got the door open!”

The two of you looked towards the door where Dylan was. The door was now open, and he had already walked inside. You felt your stomach drop, wanting nothing more than to get out of there. But Liz had other plans. She grabbed your arm and began to drag you inside.

With a sigh, you gave up on fighting and figured you might as well try to have fun. When you vented the house, an overwhelming smell of mold filled your senses. It was disgusting. There was sheets over the furniture, and leftover belongings scattered everywhere.

“That’s weird, there isn’t any dust here,” Dylan said as he swiped his finger along the mantle.

“Maybe there’s a maid ghost who has to spend eternity cleaning. That sounds like an awful afterlife,” Liz replied, laughing softly.

“Can we just get this over with already? I’m getting bad vibes from this place,” you said, feeling as if someone’s eyes were trained on you.

“That’s kinda the point. This is supposedly the most haunted building in the world. So many people have been brutally murdered. I would give anything to live here.”

“Dylan, you are really fucked up,” Liz said while laughing.

You rolled your eyes at your best friends, and followed them deeper into the house, until you arrived in front of a door.

“Here it is, the basement. I’ve read online, that most of the ghosts like to stay down there.”

“Let’s go!” Liz squealed, pushing the door open and speeding down the stairs.

Dylan followed her, leaving you alone at the top of the stairs. You sighed and started to walk down the steps. The. you heard a noise from behind you. You quickly turned around to see that the door was shut.

You brushed it off, thinking you must’ve bumped it, and continued down the stairs to find Dylan and Liz setting the ouija board up. You sat down beside them and tried to calm yourself, knowing it would all be over soon.

“Ok, place your fingers on the cup, and then we can talk to the ghosts.”

You and Liz did what Dylan said, placing your fingers on top of the glass placed in the middle of the bored.

“Is there anyone there?” Dylan asked.

Nothing happened for a second, but then the cup started to move. It dragged itself over to the ‘yes’ and then stopped.

“Oh my god,” you murmured, starting to feel fear come over you.

“What’s your name?” Liz asked the ghost.

The cup moved again, and began to spell out a name.

H-A-Y-D-E-N

“Y/n, ask them something!” Liz said smiling excitedly.

“Is there anything you want to tell us?” you asked, not really sure that you wanted an answer.

R-U-N

The lights in the basement flickered off leaving you guys in the darkness.

“I’m pretty sure that’s our cue to leave,” you said, beginning to stand up.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Liz said.

The three of you got up and ran towards the straits, trying to get out of the basement. Liz and Dylan made it out, but the door slammed in front of you before you could follow.

You pulled on the door knob but it wouldn’t budge. You started to pound on the door, screaming for Liz and Dylan, but they were too far away to here you.

“They can’t hear you. They already left,” a voice behind you said.

You turned around and stared into the darkness.

“Who are you?” you asked, feeling your voice quiver.

“Wow, you forgot me already? Ouch. I’m Hayden, remember? I told you to run, but I guess you didn’t wanna listen.”

You didn’t get the chance to say anything, before you felt yourself being shoved down the stairs. You tumbled down them, before landing on the concrete floor of the basement.

You carefully tried to pull yourself up, but you were immediately pushed back down again. The lights turned on and you screamed at what you saw before you. A monster like creature hovered above you, and the next thing you saw was black.

You slowly opened your eyes and sat up, feeling your conscious come back to you. You looked around, panicking, trying to remember where you were. Then it all came back to you. The basement. Murder House. Liz and Dylan. They left you.

You wanted to be angry, but you didn’t have the time. Right now, you just had to get out of here. You wanted to go home and be safe in your room. You took off running, heading up the stairs and out of the basement.

You ran toward the front door, pushing it open and heading towards the street. But then, you were back in the house. You ran out again, only to end up back inside once more. You tried over, and over to leave, but you couldn’t. You kept ending up back inside the house.

You gave up. You let your weight fall against a wall behind you, and slid down it, curling into a. ball sobbing. We’re you going crazy? What was happening to you? Why couldn’t you leave? Why can’t you remember anything after entering the basement?

Then you felt a presence beside you. A teenage boy, with wavy blond hair and dark brown eyes. He was beautiful. You might’ve been feeling butterflies, if not for the overwhelming sense of panic that currently filled you.

“Hey, I’m Tate,” he said smiling softly.

“Y/n,” you replied hesitantly.

“So, I bet you’re pretty confused right now.”

“How’d you know?”

“Well, I saw you running around, trying to leave.”

“Why can’t I?”

He fell silent for a moment, and locked away.

“Uhm, you’re dead.”

Your eyes widened and you immediately stood up and backed away from him.

“What? I’m not dead! My friends and I came here to talk to ghosts and now they’re gone and I can’t leave. But I’m not dead! That’s crazy!”

“Y/n, I saw you die. I moved your body,” he paused for a second before continuing,” Do you wanna see it?”

“Wait so let me get this straight. You just watched me get murdered and did nothing about it, you moved my body, and now you wanna show it to me? You’re crazy! None of this makes sense! I’m not dead! I can’t be dead! I think I would remember dying!”

“You can’t. No one can. I don’t remember my own death. I’ve only heard what people told me.”

“Oh really? You’re dead too? Fine, then tell me? How did you die?”

He went silent once more.

“I don’t wanna tell you.”

“See, I knew it! You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying, it’s just-, if I tell you, you’re going to be scared of me.”

You laughed once more, not believing a word that he was saying.

“I doubt that. If you really are dead, just tell me!”

“Fine! I was shot by the cops.”

Then it hit you. Shot by the cops. You remembered hearing about that when Dylan went on one of his rants about the house. Wait, Tate as in Tate Langdon? The guy who shot up your high school in the 90s?

“Do you believe me know?” he asked softly.

“Oh my god. You were that guy who shot up my high school like thirty years ago right? Wait, so you are telling the truth. But I, I can’t be dead. There’s so much I still wanted to do. I’ve never even fallen in love, I’ll never have a future. I’ll never get to do anything with my life.”

You started to sob again, realization washing over you. He wasn’t lying. You were dead. You were really dead. You felt a pair of arms wrap around you, and you looked up to find Tate hugging you.

Slowly you wrapped your arms around him, desperately searching for comfort. But that said comfort was soon gone when someone else started to speak.

“Aw, am I interrupting something?”

That voice. You’ve heard it before. Part of it came back to you. It was her. She pushed you down the stairs. You pulled away from Tate and glared at the girl.

“You! You killed me!” you yelled at her.

“No, no, no. I didn’t kill you. I just helped that creature down there do it.”

“Why? Why would you do that?”

“It was getting boring. I wanted someone new around here.”

“Go away Hayden,” Tate said, glaring at her.

“Ugh fine,” she said before disappearing.

“Well, I guess I’ll show you around?”

a few months later

It’s been a few months since you’ve died, and you’ve already adjusted to your new life. Things weren’t so bad. You were kinda friends with Violet, and you and Tate have been dating for a while.

Being dead didn’t really bother you anymore. You’ve started to see the bright side of it. No more getting sick. You didn’t have to take your finals. And you never had to see your so called “friends” who left you here to die.

At least that’s what you thought. You and Tate were sitting together in the basement when the door opened. You didn’t think much of it, until you heard a familiar voice.

“How do you even know she’s here?”

You gasped. It was Liz. And Dylan was walking right behind her. They were back. You were so angry at them for leaving you. They left you behind to die.

The two of them sat down next to you and Tate, setting up their ouija board. You looked at Tate and smirked. You were going to have fun with this.

“Is anyone there?” Dylan asked.

You walked over to them and pushed the cup to yes.

“Who are you?” Liz said, seeming a little more nervous than she was the last time she was here.

You moved the glass to spell out your name, laughing when you saw how scared the looked.

“Y/n, we’re so sorry! We thought you were behind us! And when we finally got outside, the door wouldn’t open,” Dylan said.

You moved the cup once more.

Y-O-U-L-E-F-T-M-E

“Y/n we’re sorry! No one believed us when we went to get help. Your parents thought you ran away. We tried! We really did!” Liz pleaded.

Y-O-U-D-I-D-N-T-E-V-E-N-C-O-M-E-B-A-C-K

“We were too scared. We’re so sorry. Y/n, please.”

You and Tate laughed at their pleas. You weren’t going to forgive them. You couldn’t. Not after what they did to you.

“Go mess with the lights!” you asked Tate.

He nodded and ran over to the light switch, flicking it on and off.

“Dylan, maybe we should get out of here!”

L-E-A-V-I-N-G-S-O-S-O-O-N-?

“No we’re not! Liz, come on we have to talk to her.”

“I don’t know Dylan, they seem angry.”

You decided to let them hear you. You kept yourself hidden, but let your voice be heard.

“Angry? Why would I be angry? It’s not like the only people I’ve ever trusted forced me to come when I said I didn’t want to and them left me to die. Oh wait? That did happen.”

When you finished speaking, Tate left the lights off. The door opened at the top of the stairs, and Dylan and Liz ran. They left the board and left the basement, heading for the open front door. Before they could get out, Tate slammed it shut. They both screamed.

“Aw, you’re leaving already?” you asked, before laughing.

Then you let them see you. You appeared in front of the door, and you made your wounds visible too.

They gasped when they saw you. Covered in scratches and dripping blood. Clothes torn to shreds. Bruises littering you.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry,” Liz said stepping closer to you.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’m sorry,” Dylan said to you.

You didn’t say anything you only glared at them. Then Tate appeared beside you.

“You two should leave before you’re not able to anymore.”

Then you and Tate disappeared and opened the door, allowing them to run out, before slamming it shut once more.

As soon as they were gone, you both burst out laughing. Sure you’ve scared people who’ve tried to buy the house before, but this was the best reaction you’ve ever gotten. They were terrified.

“So do you finally feel like you got your revenge?” Tate asked, smiling brightly at you.

“Yeah, thanks for helping me,” you said, pulling him into a tight hug.

“You don’t have to thank me. I’d do anything for you.”

Taglist: @ahsxual @darlingkitt @1800-fuckbitchesgetmoney @horrorgirlx @jamespotterslover

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docholligay · 2 years ago

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Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day

I think ghost stories are some of the most revealing things we ever read. More than anything else, the way we feel about ghosts says something about us. About life and death, of course, those are the easy ones, but also about sin and virtue, about trauma, and history and the quality of memory. Places aren’t haunted so much as we, collectively, as a species are, and I think this is never more obvious to me than when I read a ghost story.

And I think that’s what makes a ghost story so tricky, as an interaction between reader and writer. The writer is bringing themselves to the story and everything they have bundled up in the conversation, and the reader is doing the same. This is, of course, true of basically everything we ever read--I often quote my professor who said “The window you’re looking out of is as important as what you’re looking at”--but I find it particularly true whenever we get into notions of the afterlife which is some at least shaded way includes God/a divine force. This is true, I think, even when we’re reading a straight-on horror story*.

But of course it must be more so when we’re being asked to identify with the ghost. So, I want to come out of the gate saying, some of this is just about the author and I in conversation with each other.

This book was largely not for me.

Non-spoilery: This is a take on the idea of ghosts and what it might mean for the dead to owe the living something, until it stops being that book, if it ever meant to be, and is a mystery with a solution. It’s all a bit Scooby-Doo. And it felt like it didn’t have to be. It’s apparently sold as an adult book, but it reads like YA. I do not recommend it.

Spoilers under the cut

The good:

The title kills. I was drawn to it immediately, and the poem it draws from is really pretty good despite the meter falling strange to my ear. But the absolute feelings behind it were something I really went to.

The opening line is also amazing. I keep saying I need to make a list of opening lines I read this year, and this may actually get me to start that doc.

The idea that the dead have some kind of reparation to pay the living (Though of course not all ghosts think of it that way) before they move on is one of the most interesting ideas I have ever read. Especially because it isn’t contained to the person they might have wronged in life, but to people generally. How can we make things more right for the world, even after we’ve left it? It’s an idea I really took too, and I was really excited to see that idea being explored and what it might mean not just for Jenna, but for any other given ghost.

Now, let’s move on to what didn’t work for me.

The most damning criticism I have of this book is: None of the pages are dog-eared. There are no bits of highlight. I didn’t write in it. I literally read this book, but my response to it was largely “shrug”. It was perfectly acceptable. And just that.

Let’s go into reasons why that might have happened.

Urban fantasy is often the only fantasy that connects with me. I do not care, mostly, for dragons-magic-chosen one-swords, which I know makes me a Bad Gay ™ but there we are, I am as God made me. But put a witch or a wizard having to pay a mortgage in there? Very often I can take the bait no problem**.

So what is the problem, then? This is tasked as an adult book supposedly, and it is written like a YA novel. The characters are overly simplified: Jenna feels bad about her sister’s suicide and so she volunteers for a suicide hotline so she can earn her death, and takes care of senior cats in her home, and gives her pie money to homeless people, and is willing to risk everything to save the other ghosts for…reasons, I guess. I often have a problem with the lead character of something being Mother Bleedin’ Teresa, as one might say, and that’s a problem here. Jenna DOES NOTHING WRONG there’s nothing she does where you can go, ‘That’s not fair” or “That’s fucked up”

I mean she DIES because she was so upset about her sister’s suicide that she ran out into a storm and got caught up and tumbled into a ravine. But is she mad at her sister? Nope, never, because Jenna is NICE and GOOD, always and it’s not NICE and GOOD to be mad at people who kill themselves, only naughty people ever feel that way!*** And you might be saying, “well Doc, you who are so into the idea of personal responsibility, didn’t she run out into the storm herself?” Oh yes, and I would tell Dead Jenna that, but I can hold that and still think that Jenna should be SPITTIN mad. She’s a fucking teenager who died, and you’re telling me she never had a moment of “Fuck you, Patty?” Come on now. Annoying.

And BOY does this try to skip over any idea of morality in the afterlife, any idea of heaven or hell or…anything. Not even a conversation about how A GIRL RAISED IN THE DEEP HOLLER OF KENTUCKY might have a jarring moment when she discovers that there is no heaven or hell, so far as anyone can tell, no God, magic is real but otherwise death seems to be just as random as life is. We are a product of our times and our environments, and I know the internet HATES that, but the odds that Jenna would not be deeply Christian in thought are near-zero. And she would likely have accepted it as the truth emotionally even if she wasn’t particularly RELIGIOUS on a personal level, or would not have described herself as such. I know people out here who so far as I can tell have never been to church but believe that there is a God and Heaven is for the good, and this is in 2022. The 70s?? ANd if we’re just making a choice to skip over the emotional implications of why you are a fucking ghost, why? Why strip out the things that make the situation emotionally sticky? Why bother with ghosts, if it seems--and it very much does seem in this book--that the being of one doesn’t change you? That this new and somewhat shocking information doesn’t rock you?

The why of the whodunit works just fine for me, but the mechanic of it is never fully explained. At all. We get this thing about ghosts being trapped in mirrors, but of c ourse that seems like a giant problem if all these living ghosts were constantly worried about this, so we add in the detail that it has to be a mirror that has some sort of connection to the ghost to trap them. Great, perfect strategy.

Except that it makes the whole trapping fall apart. This woman traps rat ghosts as well. This was, to me, the absolute most unnecessary and borderline stupid detail in the whole thing. It made SO much fall apart, and for what? McGuire has a huge obsession with non-human personhood--better examples of this are Into the Drowning Deep and the Parasitology books--and that’s great, but could have been accomplished by mentioning that there are ghosts of rats and cats and whatever. You do not have to make them part of the great disappearing. Because THEN I have to stretch my credulity to think that she found MEANINGFUL MIRRORS TO RATS. When it’s not even worth it at the end of the day, since they store so little time.

Which then led to me to, “Okay wait a fucking second, witch or no, how is she so effectively finding out what was meaningful to these ghosts in life? ANd also, some of these ghosts are old, how is it that all of those meaningful mirrors still exist? It solved one narrative problem while creating another, and while I have no trouble just going along with some goofy shit in stories--the whole anchor thing doesn’t hold up, but I don’t care--it draws so much ATTENTION to the ways in which it wouldn’t work.

It’s also very very rushed. Brenda shows up, ghosts disappear, Brenda and her husband were corn witches, Brenda’s daughter is the villain but none of this does anything. The ending is so incredibly fast that there’s no time for tension to build, no time for anything but finding out who the whodunit was and then, I shit you not, the antagonist and her mother turn into corn****. Anything that might be interesting, any confrontation that might be personally revealing, anything like that, doesn’t materialize. There should be so much fury and demanding and feelings going on here, and there isn’t this book, despite ostensibly being about death, doesn’t ever make room for pain and anger and blame and so many things that make up how people react to death, doesn’t even make space for it in the actual conflicts we have between characters. In many ways, we are left with the ghost of a story.

Nitpicky:

This isn’t even really a criticism so much as a “odd note!” but the mirror thing was so strange to me because I didn’t know that was why some goyim covered their mirrors! I thought it was like in Judaism where they’ve covered for shiva because you’re not supposed to give a shit what you look like, and its unkind to be reminded that you do in fact look like a person in deep mourning. It never even occurred to me that the reasoning might be totally different.

In all, I was disappointed by the book. It never rises to the promise of some of its ideas, and rushes to a desperate conclusion so swiftly that I found myself wondering if McGuire just had to get something to her publisher and was like, “You’ll do” or if the problem is that she writes so much YA that even when she’s permitted to step out of it, she’s so in the habit of writing short, black and white fiction that the line between adult and YA is just the number of swear words you’re allowed to say. I desperately, DESPERATELY, want to read an actual-ass adult literary fiction novel from her, because I BELIEVE INTENSELY that she can write it. But once again, whether they call it YA or not, it was very much a YA book.

I wanted to like it! Truly I did. I was terribly excited by the concept but felt incredibly let down by the execution. I hate when I’m commissioned to do something and I don’t like it, because I would rather come back with, “Oh this was fucking excellent!” but this just didn’t do it for me.

*For example, I think “The Vigil” doesn’t work for a lot of people because it speaks to a Jewish experience of inherited trauma and the attempt to escape it via assimilation, and if you don’t HAVE that at the table, it’s just another semi-cheesy horror movie. This doesn’t make goyim it doesn’t work for insensitive or stupid or whatever they just literally do not have that cultural tug in their chest to see what I’m seeing.

** Actually as I sit here I wonder if this is true, or if I just liked the first few books of the Dresden Files. And I suppose I personally would characterize the way I write Sailor Moon as urban fantasy, but of course I like that: I wrote it and it is catered to my very specific bullshit.

*** Doc you’re kind of an asshole. Yes, good! Make me the protagonist of your next novel!

*****Which I actually think I could like, and the way its written leads me to believe that it could be very very good, but it just is mostly left to hang out there and Brenda is never given the time on stage to make the going to to the corn thing seem meaningful. She talks about how she lives in the city because the corn is a temptation, but we don’t feel that. We don’t feel longing come from her, we’re just told it does. This is actually a McGuire problem I’ve had a couple times. She is a fantastic fucking idea person. She comes up with these concepts and feelings that involve incredible complexity and inherent depth, and I don’t know if it’s years of writing in genre and YA, which require a different editing and handling style, or what, but I am always left sitting there going, “And???” She never GOES there. It reminds me of Shadow and Bone, where I was like, “The fucking!!! Implications!!! Of this!!! Holy shit!!” and it was just like “No. :).” In that case I actually don’t think Bardugo had the chops or the idea, but I feel like McGuire does, she’s just not doing it for reasons I guess.

#doc reads

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toaarcan · 3 years ago

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I’ve realised that I’m kinda... still not over V8C14.

Like... it’s the first time in a long while that I’ve felt... actively disappointed by the show. Like the last time was probably V4, which is a good while ago now, and it sucks because the rest of V8 is so good. For most of the volume, CRWBY were firing on all cylinders, and then in the last episode and a half they just... beefed it.

V8C13 has its upshots, but C14 just... isn’t good, and I think that’s because none of it feels really earned.

Cinder... is a mess. She really is. CRWBY can’t really seem to decide whether she’s a villain protagonist that we should be able to draw catharsis from, or if she’s just the fucking worst. We get given the whole sympathetic backstory reel, and it had me going for a couple of days but none of it really justifies the amount of murder and the sheer delight she takes in it. I think her winning was meant to be kind of a “Yes, slay queen” moment and it really didn’t land for me, largely because, well.. her character development and the steps she takes to grow from it just don’t add up.

Like, the idea they’re going for is that, after three volumes of using her powers like a cudgel, and basically just running into fights and blowing things up with her flamethrower-hands, Cinder wises up and starts playing to her strengths again, wielding her powers and her brain in equal measure.

RWBY’s no stranger to this, it did the same thing with Weiss in V5-7, having her unlock her summoning and then start relying on it entirely in fights, leading to her near-death in V5, after which she properly worked it into her existing combat style.

Unfortunately, the V8 finale is written in such a way that Cinder’s smartest possible option is to just run in and blow things up with her flamethrower-hands. The use of fear that was key to her V3 strategy... basically all fell on Watts choosing the right time to cut off Jaune’s broadcast to cause the most confusion, and then it was right back to the Leeroy Jenkins playbook for Cinder. She actually played smarter in V5, when she was supposed to be at the nadir for her reliance on power above all else, planning to isolate her target and a single ally, and then steal the powers there.

And it’s not like she outplanned the heroes at all. They just kinda forget that she’s out there and might be a problem, while she gets to know their exact plan and how it’s going to work, basically because Neo turned out to be way more basic and single-minded than I gave her credit for.

(That’s another thing, I expected Neo to be kind of a wild-card in all this but nope, she was fully loyal to Cinder besides some snark, which was just so boring)

What’s supposed to be Cinder’s big moment of getting her mojo back feels mostly identical to the way she’s been acting since V4 ended, but this time it works because she read the script and the heroes forgot she existed.

I’ve said it before, but nothing sums up Cinder better than the fact that she got her hands on an all-powerful artefact of creation, which she could use to make just about anything... and she used it to make fire.

But then the thing that really settles it for me is Penny dying. I could’ve taken Cinder’s plot-mandated victory a lot better if they hadn’t packaged it in with Penny dying and just... torpedoing two volumes of character development.

I’ve seen people wildly speculating that Penny’s going to return from the dead for a second time somehow, and I almost believe it, what with Pietro having one more resurrection in him, but what’s telling is that the belief that Penny will be brought back isn’t based on foreshadowing, but the thought that, with all the time spent on her arc and the ideals and thoughts put into it, it would be at best dodgy writing, and at worst, outright antithetical to the show’s themes, if she really did stay dead.

It’s not “Penny will come back because this hints at it”, it’s “Penny will come back because killing her for real would be bad writing”.

And the thing is... they’re kinda right?

Like, we’re shown that Penny has been enduring dehumanisation from Jimmy Copperdong even before he leapt off the slippery slope and became a full-blown fascist. Everyone around her in the Atlas military, apart from Winter, views her as a machine, and not a person. She’s not allowed friends, or time to herself. Even becoming the Winter Maiden isn’t enough to convince anyone outside of Winter, Pietro, and the protagonist gang that she’s a person. Then when she turns against him, Brassdick pulls Watts out of jail to hack her, violating her bodily autonomy in a way that forces her to attack her friends, causes her serious injuries, and will eventually cause her to die, and the only thing she can think of to escape is to willingly die and chose her successor as the Winter Maiden. Her friends talk her out of this, and manage to put together a whole plan that will free her from Tintodger’s claws and allow her to live freely, but will in turn put them on an even tighter time limit to save the people of Mantle and Atlas... and it’s all looking good... and then it all gets fucked up so Cinder can have a win.

Like the turnaround between “Suicide and choosing your successor is not the answer” to “Actually suicide and choosing your successor is the answer” is like... two episodes. 30-40 minutes. I’m watching Penny ask Jaune to stab her and I’m like “Didn’t we just spend an episode and a half on dismissing this as an idea and finding a different option?”

In this show that’s supposedly “hopepunk,” Penny’s story ends with her being mortally wounded for trying to protect her friends from Smirks McFlamethrower, and choosing to die being her big act of freedom. Which is just outright depressing.

And it’s not as though CRWBY decided they couldn’t have a Maiden among the heroes, or they needed that useless goddamn Stretch Grimmstrong arm to work for once in its life (That thing is 0/3 against Maidens) and give Cinder the powers, because the powers went to Winter anyway.

I want to stress that I’m not normally anywhere near this down on RWBY’s writing. I generally really like the show. V7 was great. V6 was bloody brilliant, and it was the point where I started liking RWBY more than RvB. And most of V8 was on-track to becoming my second-favourite volume, and then it did that. This isn’t meant to be a RWDE thing or anything to do with those dipshits that hatewatch the show for some fucking reason. If I didn’t like the show, especially the past few volumes, I wouldn’t be nearly this ticked off by V8C14. So if you’re about to go “Hur-hur the whole show’s like that”, please fuck off. I guess I just wanted to vent a little about this.

I am looking forward to V9, though. Afterlife shenanigans should be fun, and the fact that RWBYJ are in a different dimension entirely to Cinder means the writing quality will skyrocket compared to the end of V8.

#RWBY #RWBY V8 #Griping I guess #CW: Suicide #TW: Suicide

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rheagodlywrites · 3 years ago

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Entry One of the Zombie Apocalypse

Written from the view of a survivor of the apocalypse. She’s alive an well but no one knows where she even is. People researching and looking into the cure that she supposedly found find her journal. They hope to find her and the formula to help humanity.

Tw: DEAD PEOPLE! DEATH! MURDER! GUNS! ANGST AND MORE! THIS AIN’T NO HAPPY STORY!

Dear...Reader..

You don't know me..I don't know you. I may be dead by the time this is found if at all. My name is Tiffany Evans. Its currently July 5 in the year 2077. Today marks the first anniversary..of the zombie apocalypse.

Now this may seem,crazy. Trust me,I actually couldn't believe it either. Last year,it was insane. I was actually in my apartment when it happened. Just a 17 year old woman living in the city on her own..nothing special at all.. The news reported it but I only fully believed it when I watched a zombie eat the newscaster alive. The image of that moment has been engraved in my mind. I wish that I had been more prepared. The following months I have been doing my best to protect myself. I've done..things that I deeply regret. I apologize to Jason, Mary, and Michael along with your families. I left you all to die at the hands of those monsters. I wish that I could have saved you all. I actually hope this journal can help the voices in my head to finally be more quiet. Over the past year,I've been in a bunker with a group. The current leader is Danielle Harris.

She's a good leader. Kind, Strong, and more good qualities of a leader. She showed me so much kindness when I arrived. Even though their rations were low at the time, they still took me in. Danny as we call her had managed to help get so much food. We even manage to celebrate birthdays with a small party and a few cookies. It's a luxury that we're grateful to have every now and then.

3:17 pm

Danny had called me up to her spot in the bunker a while ago. She wanted to ask if I wanted to lead the next hunt for food. Now I've mainly been with those groups as a collector. I gather food in that group. Of course I asked her why and she..revealed something very dreadful. She's going to have to lose her leg. She told me that when limbs are severed from the body. It stops the zombie infection from spreading. But unfortunately...You'd be losing a limb. Danny wanted me to help out with leading as she considered me as a friend. I'm mostly known in the bunker as someone who talks with everyone. It helps distract me from the loud cries of my dead friends. I agreed to her request. I couldn't just deny her after learning THAT. God...why did all of this happen? I talked with a few of the kids we took in. They all didn't talk back or mumbled their words. They all were somewhat traumatized from the situation. They didn't really leave the bunker as they needed people to look after them.

Its only two hours before the hunt. I'm so..nervous. What if I get us all killed? Now isn't the time to get cold feet,Tiff..I have to. Everyone has at least lead the group once. I gotta try. I wish that kept this journal sooner. Maybe then I'll have more to talk about other than my incoming demise. I always wonder when I'll join the rest of my friends. I'm not a heaven or hell person. I believe in an afterlife that everyone is forgiven and where everyone can live at peace. Maybe I'll be forgiven. I'll never know. Those zombies are so..weird. Maybe that sounds normal but they really are. Some have distortion in their faces and can't see anything unless someone makes a sound. We call those the Blind (as one does.) This virus is strange. Its acting and responding to every type of person. The only reason I haven't died yet is the fact that...I haven't been scratched or bitten. Fucking shit. I really hope someone figures out a cure. If not then this whole place will be wiped clean.

8:30pm

Well the hunt went well. Just...one small problem. Literally. We found a child and she refuses to leave me. She says I remind her of her mom that died. Tells me that I looked cool taking out the zombie with a knife. I look cool? That's a surprise. Last time I looked cool,it was when I passed all A's in my college class. Right now this kid is going through regular procedures with Danny. She'll get cleared within a few days. If we have an outbreak within the bunker then we all will be forced to go out into the world. The lawless world to be correct. Sometimes being an American is scary. You have guns to save yourself but..who else also has guns? The criminals. The people that have vendettas against others. Gotta be mindful of who to trust. Or it may bite you in the ass. But anyway I should be more optimistic. We managed to get more food and within an hour too. We always wear masks just in case the virus is in the air. The less time we are exposed the better. I'm pretty proud of the group today. Maybe soon..I'll celebrate my birthday but that's mainly focused on the children. To give them something of hope. Hope is slim now a days.

No! No! I'm going to be optimistic! Not pessimistic! Maybe this kid will help give me hope. But..I can't let her turn out like the others. I have to protect her from them and myself. After all..I think I'm a monster too...

-------

"This is..whoa.." The woman looks to her coworker as she handles the journal with care. Her gloved fingers could feel the emotion put into the journal.

"What about it? It's just a journal."

"Just a journal? Its THE Tiffany Evans Journal. Everything documented here! But...in these first few pages..she writes as if she expects to die at any moment." Her coworker sighs. He knew why.

"Well the virus outbreak happened thanks to DIANA Labs. No one was given advice to stop it and the while world shut down. Governments,cities, people..she probably didn't have hope then until she figured it out."

"That's true. Let's bring this back to base. Maybe if we read it more we can figure out what happened to her and manage to replicate the cure or even find her!"

"You're crazy to want to figure that out. That thing is probably covered in…who knows what.."

"Then let's disinfect it. We have the tools now. We just need to read through it. Besides,I wanna know what went through her head." Her coworker shakes his head. He didn't want to bring the thing but if it could help them further the progress then he was for it.

"..Fine. Put it in the bag and you had better shower so goddamn well when we get back." He takes out a bag and she puts it in gently. He closes it and puts it in a case.

"Of course. We have to be more careful than DIANA Labs. The people really need us."

"You're right. Now let's go. I don't know how much longer I can handle being in this old place."

#writing #fantasy #fiction #angst #original story #zombie #apocalypse #journal #dead or alive #Entry of a Zombie Apocalypse #undead

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yamayuandadu · 4 years ago

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For the character breakdown, I’d love to see hadad, anat, shapash, yam, mot, athtar, kothkar and khasis... really any of the ugaritic pantheon, of course you don’t have to do all of them >.<, I’d just love to see your hot takes

I shall rise up to the challenge! I’m the only person on this site obsessed with Ugarit as far as I can tell... I covered everyone you asked for plus Ashtart and Yarikh. As much as I like burrowing through jstor and academia edu and persee and so on, I kind of wish there were more people approaching Ugaritic, Mesopotamian, Hittite etc. myths the way many do with Greek ones tbh - sometimes i’d just like to see which figures people think would be into gossiping and so on or which tacky modern fashion they think suits them equally as much as I want to find out if Yarikh’s portrayal in Ugaritic poetry owes more to Nanna/Sin or to the Hittite moon god. ALSO as far as this sort of light hearted takes go, there are two japanese artists on twitter who draw Baal cycle fanart: here and here.

Hadad: How I feel about this character: one of my fave mythical protagonist. I think I genuinely only like Inanna more. Going from a very relatable desire to get his own house to triumph over death is quite the journey. The relative powerlessness many interpreters point out is interesting, too - the fact he mostly gets somewhere because of allies and because even if El was the king of gods, Hadad’s attributes made him the king of people’s hearts arguably, so he has to win against overwheming odds. All the people I ship romantically with this character: Anat, Ashtart/Astarte/however we transcribe her name this week... Kothar? My non-romantic OTP for this character: given the Seth-Baal equation in Egypt and the uncertaininty over whether Astarte papyrus is about Seth or Baal under Seth’s name it’s funny to imagine them as friends. Also I’ll talk about it more underneath but since Dagan was a god with similar purposes further inland (and is attested earlier iirc) and Ugaritic texts - even though they rarely feature him - call him Hadad’s father - it would be cute to assume he also taught Hadad everything. My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m a Dagan parentage truther against all odds. It was the norm outside Ugarit! I think “Dagan isn’t in Ugaritic myths because they take place in Ugarit but people thought Dagan lives further inland in Tuttul based on prayers etc.” is enough to explain his absence from myths, and also note that in the epic Baal is “Dagan’s son” even when he’s at a low point (ex. when Yam demands he gives up his freedom or when he’s dead) and only El’s and Asherah’s son when he’s victorious for the most part (ex. during palace construction) - imo this makes it plausible that Dagan is his real dad and El and Athirat are only his parents in the way vassal rulers called emperors fathers. Likewise I think any references to siblings can be interpreted in the light of ex. kings of Ugarit calling kings of Carchemish or Alashiya brothers. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I really like how corny the Hittite/Hurrian storm god cycle is with Kumarbi constaly raising new challengers to attack Kummiya and dethrone Teshub/Tarhunna, I actually wish the Ugaritic one was longer too via a similar plot device. Also I wish Dagan actually appeared in myths alongside his son - Noga Ayali-Darshan had a theory he was in some oral tradition predating Baal cycle as the god announcing Yam demands a tribute since in Hurrian “Song of the sea” and in Egyptian “Astarte papyrus” a grain deity does this but a possible reconstruction isn’t much... Anat How I feel about this character: well, she’s not Inanna, but she’s still pretty good. I mostly like the parts of the Baal narrative which show her unpredictable character, like her probable parents being afraid of her, listing various never shown enemies she vanquished, or Mot’s death. Aqhat myth doesn’t interest me much. That myth fragment where she and Ashtart pity Yarikh because other gods treat him poorly is interesting, too. All the people I ship romantically with this character: Baal, Ashtart, that’s it I think. My non-romantic OTP for this character: she seems to get along really well with Shapash during the segment of the Baal cycle where Baal is dead. My unpopular opinion about this character: I really hate the speculation popular among bible scholars which amounts to making her, Ashtart and Athirat interchangeable to justify her irrelevance in the iron age. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: honestly? I wish an “Anat cycle” existed. She pretty clearly had a fair share of own adventures considering Baal enlists her help on the account of past accomplishments. Yam How I feel about this character: out of all antagonists in the basic middle eastern “storm god vs sea” narratives I think he has the most fun personality - Hedammu is barely a “character” and Tiamat lacks the more human dimension Yam has. All the people I ship romantically with this character: nobody, he has to move past the Astarte papyrus characterization and learn some respect for that smh My non-romantic OTP for this character: his nameless rude messenger who refused to bow down when speaking to the assembly of the gods My unpopular opinion about this character: contary to what this (very good) paper says, the Yam battle is more thrilling than the Mot one - the strength of the Mot part of the narrative comes from the visceral descriptions of Anat’s emotions but Mot is a flat villain compared to Yam. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: he had a seemingly positive role in cult and there are 13 known people with Yam theophoric names (out of 6000 or so people from Ugarit known by name) so I sort of wonder if there’s some lost myth where he’s the hero or something. Mot How I feel about this character: if nothing else, feeling offended by being offered bread and wine instead of corpses is pretty funny and a great introduction. And the pathetic attempt at a comeback shut down by Shapash is All the people I ship romantically with this character: unshippable by design tbh. My non-romantic OTP for this character: if the theory about Horon - the god from the “anti-snakebite text” and the “may horon crack your skull” curse - being a cthtonic god too - just a generally benign one - is true I think they could have a lot of comedic potential. My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t understand where the idea of a nonexistent myth about Mot kidnapping Shapash and Yarikh comes from and I wish it wasn’t all over the place online. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: some more detailed description of the afterlife - Mot, rephaim, Horon if he really lives there - would be useful... Shapash How I feel about this character: she seems severly... underrated? There are maybe two papers about her (and one underlines the fact there isn’t much research on her) and yet she’s the second most prominent goddess in the Baal cycle AND has her own narrative in the anti-snakebite texts! She might actually be more remarkable than her Mesopotamian counterpart - with all due respect for Utu/Shamash, in myths he’s the boring sibling between himself and Inanna/Ishtar... All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don’t have any real ideas, some papers assume she and Horon were a thing but this is disputable and Horon is pretty nebulous himself... My non-romantic OTP for this character: “Kothar - your close friend!” from that one hymn has that covered. Since she’s basically a divine herald perhaps they travel together? My unpopular opinion about this character: I suspect the reason why she isn’t studied more is because many researchers are stuck with some sort of false “good mother goddess - evil sex goddess” dichotomy of ancient middle eastern religion and while you can force Athirat, Anat and Ashtart into these roles, Shapash with her aura of a divine equivalent of a mundane earthly official doesn’t fit into it and as such is ignored. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I said I hate the false Mot myth spreading online but I actually do wish there was a myth or at least a cult text of some sort showing what sort of relation existed between her and Yarikh - safe to say it didn’t mirror Shamash and Sin... Kothar-wa-Khasis How I feel about this character: huge fan of artisan gods and he seems genuinely nice. One of my Ugaritic b-list favorites. I like that he’s a reneissance man - armorer, architect, even a musician... The theory that he was developed based on Ptah since Memphis had a large foreign population is great. All the people I ship romantically with this character: Baal sort of? I imagine Baal is actually relatively knowledgeable about architecture given the length of the window debate in the Baal cycle... My non-romantic OTP for this character: Shapash, as I said earlier. My unpopular opinion about this character: based on the tale of King Keret some researchers argue he’s meant to be ugly like Greek Haephestus, but since I like the Ptah theory and his appearance isn’t described elsewhere AND King Keret might be satire where everyone is their worst self possible, I prefer to imagine him as handsome One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: supposedly from Caphtor and yet we never see Caphtor (Crete) in Ugaritic myths... come on, ancient scribes, surely someone went there? Maybe even recorded some proper Minoan myths? Ashtart How I feel about this character: she’s my favorite Ugaritic figure of limited relevance. An Ishtar/Inanna equivalent who seemingly curses other gods and presides over political pacts is a pretty solid premise! And it’s funny she rebukes Baal seemingly for insufficient dedication in battle. I wonder if the Egyptian fragment which implies Yam acted lecherous towards her is a factor in this tbh. Perhaps an earlier oral tradition had both these elements...? All the people I ship romantically with this character: Baal (her title is “face of baal”/”of the name of baal”, c’mon...), Anat (almost always listed together!) My non-romantic OTP for this character: Keret curses his son with a formula invoking both Horon and her so perhaps that’s who she’s learning curses from. My unpopular opinion about this character: I hate that “Astarte is Asherah” is widespread just because people want to defend the historicity of the biblical Jezebel narrative which probably even the biblical compilersdidn’t view as historical. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she didn’t vanish from the Baal cycle after Yam’s defeat :C Attar How I feel about this character: this sure is... a guy. He’s so pathetic in the Baal cycle it’s hard to even see him as an antagonist - sorry, Handbook of Ugaritic Studies... All the people I ship romantically with this character: nobody, Shapash points out he’s single as the reason why he can’t rule and i don’t think that changes in any subsequent texts? But then Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh iirc mentions he has a daughter... My non-romantic OTP for this character: again, nobody. My unpopular opinion about this character: he’s actually a pretty vital part of the Baal cycle and the fact he gives up on own accord makes him more interesting than the other “failed god” in a similar narrative, Ashtabi. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: a god with the same name was prominent in present day Yemen so I guess finding some direct connection would be nice - it fits with him leaving to “rule elsewhere” in the myth! Yarikh How I feel about this character: he’s so pitiful in the fragment which compares him to a dog begging for scraps... His main myth is pretty good too, tbh it’s the best middle eastern marriage myth imo - I actually don’t care for Dumuzi much, but Yarikh is cool. All the people I ship romantically with this character: only Nikkal-wa-Ib My non-romantic OTP for this character: given his mistreatment and Nikkal’s father(?) saying he could be a son in law of Baal I assume that in some unknown texts they must have been allies. Note that the Hittite storm god has the sun and moon gods acting as his metaphorical eyes warning him against Kumarbi’s new plots in song of Ullikummi. Also I assume Anat and Ashtart must consider him a friend given how they help him when nobody else does? All around he feels like a god in Baal’s orbit even though we have 0 direct proof for it. My unpopular opinion about this character: I think trying to correct him to Nanna is a doomed endeavor tbh. Their wives have similar names but Yarikh doesn’t give the impression of a “Father of gods” type deity in what little we know about him. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: more myths. None we know show him as the moon even though it’s literally his name! I am afraid I don’t have anything interesting to say about El and Athirat. Handbook of Ugaritic Studies has an amazing El summary that I generally stick to, I can post a cap if you are interested.

#Anonymous

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clareisa · 4 years ago

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Consequences -「Son Dongju」

♠ - exorcist!Xion X demon!Reader

♠ - genre: exorcist!au, angst, suggestive

♠ - words: 1,8K

♠ - A/N: I know my stories are not the best, but I still hope they are not terrible. I would need more words to do a good story but unfortunately I don’t have the time. Please, forgive me, everyone♥

♠ - 4th October - ♠ creeptober ♠

♠ - warnings - mentions of religion, disrespect of sacred place, mentions of blood, exorcism, coercion

♠ - English is not my first language, so please, excuse my mistakes

Dongju was a regular boy from the countryside. Hardworking, generous, kind, peaceful and devoted to his faith in God, the good and bad, and the afterlife. Since he was a little boy, he wanted to work for the church, and not because of money or prestige. He just wanted to help people and lead them to be better. Because he believed everyone is kind in their true nature. His parents were intensely proud when he got accepted to the theology school as a common farmer child, but they said he has unique qualities and determination to be part of God's servants.

Soon, he didn't know why, but Dongju started to find interest at the more of a dark spectrum of his faith. It didn't mean he wanted to become a sinner. He just became captured by all the dark myths surrounding him, and the fascination of the other side of the coin. Exorcism fascinated him the moment he got to know about it, and even though it was hard, sometimes even sad or disgusting to look at what was happening, he didn't give up.

Soon he became very good at his job of casting out demons off from bodies of innocent people. Until one time...

The moon was in the first quarter that night when Dongju arrived in a small village on the Han River. He came on the request of the head of the village, who sent a letter asking for help for his supposedly possessed daughter. And it turned out it was the case.

Dongju was next to her bed for the whole night, trying to get the stubborn evil spirit out of the young girl's body. The demon was talking throught her. First just making fun of him, but as time was passing by, the demon used the girl's body to start touching Dongju in places that weren't appropriate. As this started, Dongju took her hand in his and started saying out loud prayers, begging higher powers to kick the evil spirit out while intensely looking into the girl's eyes, making sure the demon can hear and see him clearly throught the young girl.

The screams of agony were echoing throught the house as the method was finally working, and the painful process of the stubborn demon leaving without its permission started. The girl's hand where Dongju was holding the rosary started burning, causing the smell of scorching human flesh to fill the room. Her eyes went up, the iris not even seen anymore, mouth opened in suffocating scream and the body trembling in an inhuman manner.

"Crux sancta sit mihi lux, not draco sit mihi dux..." that was the beginning of the prayer Dongju was repeating. "Vade retro satana, Nunquam suade mihi vana..." he continued even throught the screams and the girl biting his arm, piercing his skin and little creek of blood were falling down the rosary and then to the floor. "Sunt mala quae libas, Ipse venena bibas." he finished with the last part saying that what they are offering is not wanted and the entity should drink their own venom.

As he looked the last time deep in girl's eyes, he fell into a vision.

He suddenly saw the face of a woman. The woman had white eyes and a smirk playing on her red lips. Her voice resonated in his mind like an echo, "You think you this ends here?" she chuckled, "We'll meet soon... Son Dongju." and that was the moment the illusion in his mind fell apart, and he came back to reality, kneeling next to the bed holding the burned girl's hand, bleeding himself.

After that, everything went smooth like usually. Dongju was happy that the family gave him some little money and cooked dinner. Yes, he was starving, and yes, he was in need of money also. He was one of the best exorcists, but the church distanced themselves from him a long ago when he didn't agree to scam people out of money even when the humans around them wasn't possessed, just ill.

Since then he was travelling, trying to earn money and then sending them to his parents because their business wasn't going really well and they were both ill.

He thanked the family, took his things and probably an hour before sunrise, he got on his journey back home. As he was passing a church that was in the same village, he decided to go in, pray for a while, and think about the vision he got.

As he opened the heavy wooden door, the cold air and smell of myrrh hit his senses. It was familiar and felt safe. Nothing bad could happen in this saint place. He got on his knees in front of the altar, connected his hands, closed his eyes and started praying, thanking the higher power that he could save the young girl this night.

"Well, well, well... who we got here, huh? Isn't it the same punk who forced me out of that body and interrupted my fun time?" suddenly a smooth women voice echoed through the church. Dongju's eyes immediately opened he stood up and quickly looked for the source of the dangerously seductive voice.

He froze to the ground as he saw an actual demon for the first time in front of him. How did he know? Well, it was more than obvious. Her eyes purely white, giving no clue of actual living being inside. Her raven black hair was falling to her thighs, and her ashy skin was looking too unhealthy for blood even pulsating underneath. Her sharp nails painted in same black colour as her plump lips.

Dongju immediately squeezed his rosary, "How did you get here? This is a sacred place!" he shouted at her not exactly sure what he should do since he was never in such a situation before. "Sacred? Here? Ha! Let me laugh. This place was never even consecrated, my dear. Why you think this place has the most possession cases, huh?" she chuckled and smirked, looking at his handsome being up and down.

Dongju just gulped but didn't say anything. She rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see, because of the white colour. "Look, I don't want to hurt you," she started slowly walking 'down the aisle' to him, but he immediately showed the rosary up, trying to protect himself in panic. "Woah, Woah... slow down, baby boy. I said I don't want to hurt you." she said stopping a couple of meter in front of him.

"Then what do you want?" he asked. "I wanna work with you. As simple as that." she smiled. "W-what?" he was confused now. "You know... I would possess someone's body, and you will easily get 'rid of me' and get the reward, which we would spread in half. Good plan, right?" she leaned her head to the side as if it was the most normal thing happening.

Dongju was slowly going crazy. This wasn't real, right? "No... this... you.." he pointed at the female demon, " you are not real. This is just a dream, or I'm too tired, and it is happening just in my head." he said taking a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Oh, it is very much real, baby boy." she walked to him, "Should I show you how much?" she whispered with a smirk. Dongju at that moment put the rosary at the side of her neck, making the demon scream in pain and walk back two steps.

"Ouch! That hurt, you know?!" she held the place when he burned her ashy skin a bit.

"No, you are not real. I'm just hallucinating. I saw you before when I was helping that girl, it is just my imagination." he was trying to lie to himself again because he was a little scared now.

"It was me, you idiot!" she sighed in annoyance. "Ok, I'll help you to believe. And because you interrupted my fun in that human's body, you can see it as a punishment," she said with a smirk on her face. In a matter of one second, she was standing behind Dongju and hilding him under the neck. That was the moment the young exorcist finally accepted that this is real, and a real demon is going to kill him.

"Oh, no, no, no. I won't kill you," she said. "Y-you know how to read my mind?" he gulped as her long nails scratched his neck slightly. "And not just that... don't worry your punishment will be pleasant, I promise," she whispered the last two words.

The beautiful but freaky demon girl suddenly connected their bodies as close as possible, "Just relax and enjoy..." she smirked as she slowly pushed herself into his body, becoming part of him, possessing him.

Dongju suddenly just heard her voice in his head. "Mmm, your body is strong and healthy." she giggled, "What a pretty young man we have here?" she chuckled and moved with his hand without him approving. "Leave me alone!" he shouted in his mind. He could see and feel everything throught his eyes and body but just couldn't control any of his body parts.

"Let's have some fun since you ruined my last entertainment." she chuckled in his mind and sat his body down on the bench, the one right in front of an altar. "Now let's show your Lord how he created you in his image." she giggled.

Dongju's hands moved under her power and started buttoning down his dress shirt and pulling down his trousers slowly. "What? NO! Let me go, you insane demon!" he whined in his mind. "No. I have a weak spot for handsome cute humans, I wanna you to enjoy yourself." she chuckled again.

She took down finally his underwear and here he was. Completely under demons control, naked in front of an altar.

"Please, let me go. I..." he didn't even finish the sentence as his hand under your power took his bare member and started stroking up and down in slow teasing motions. Dongju whined in his mind. It felt so bad, so embarrassing, so degrading, but the actual physical pleasure as his hand was going faster under the demon woman control was undeniable and liked the feeling even though he was disgusted by himself.

"Your mind can try to stop me, but your body wants it so bad. I'm a very polite demon but no one interrupts my fun without consequences," she smirked when he finally moaned as she made him grip his already hard cock tighter. "Maybe I'll let you have your fun with me later because I saw how you were looking at me, baby boy." she was having so much fun torturing the young man.

"But now your consequences are that I'll make you cum right here, on the altar of your lord so he can see you clearly..."

#oneus drabbles #oneus scenarios #oneus reactions #oneus smut #oneus fanfiction #oneus oneshots #kpop halloween #creeptober #xion #oneus xion #son dongju

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thegoodgayshit · 4 years ago

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Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Sixteen: A Talking Water Fountain Offers Us Some Guidance

Luz filled in her friends on what she’d seen as quick as she could, and by the time she’d finished, Willow and Gus were pale, and Amity looked like she was going to be sick.

“That’s how those heroes have come back from the dead,” she concluded, and Luz nodded meekly, feeling smaller than she’d ever had before.

Luz was a confident person, but even she had no idea how they could stop literal undead Greek heroes from the past. They were just four teenagers. Luz couldn’t even drive yet. How were they supposed to destroy a literal portal to the afterlife? Her Mami had taken her to Catholic Church her entire life, she was still trying to wrap her head around god not being real, never mind the whole Greek Underworld existing as a whole.

“There’s no use worrying about it right now,” Willow tried, sensing everyone’s tension. “We should take a break and prepare for our next move, one step at a time.”

Luz nodded, eager to change the subject. “I’m definitely ok with not talking about this right now. My head hurts just thinking about it.”

“Then I’m going to shower,” Amity said getting to her feet. Luz nodded, shoveling a few grapes into her mouth. She swallowed, then called out after Amity as she opened one of the doors (that definitely hadn’t been there when they walked in).

“The three of us can gather up supplies for the rest of the quest while you do.”

Amity shot her a half-smile before she disappeared behind the door. Gus got up and took his dish to the sink, dropping them in and heading over to the desk where he began skimming through papers. Willow picked up a cracker and hummed under her breath, and Luz looked up at the sound. She was giving Luz a look that was almost too nonchalant to seem normal.

“You and Amity seem to be getting along a lot better now than you did at camp.”

Luz frowned immediately. Her stomach swirled with guilt. “I hope that’s alright, I know things in the past weren’t great between you two-”

“No, no!” Willow said quickly, holding up her hands. “That’s not what I meant. I meant what I said back in Kansas. We’re working on our stuff, that shouldn’t have anything to do with you two and your friendship. I was just noticing that you two seem close.”

“I mean… I guess we are, yeah.” Luz didn’t even realize she had reached up behind her head and was rubbing it nervously. Were her cheeks getting red? Why was she blushing? “I mean, we haven’t really been rivals or anything since the night of the skeleton attack, and we did save her so she’s kind of forced to be nicer to us. We had a talk in the tent yesterday and that kind of broke the ice between us…”

“You talked?” Willow said, now curious. “About what?”

Luz was at first not sure if Amity would like her sharing what Luz had told her, but she figured it would do no harm, if anything it would help Willow and Amity get along a little better. She told Willow about how they’d shared what ambrosia and nectar tasted like for them, but when she got to the part about Amity’s parents she froze, certain now she shouldn’t share that. Thankfully, Willow seemed to pick this up.

“I came in around that time, you don’t have to continue.”

“Well, then when you guys went to send a message to camp, we talked about the prophecy…”

She told Willow that story too, and when she finished, the Demeter camper looked stunned.

“What?” Luz asked, feeling self-conscious.

“Nothing! It’s just… Amity was never the kind of person to openly share her feelings like that,” Willow said, a small smile beginning to pull at her lips. “She must really trust you.”

Luz was sure she was bright red now. “I mean, I hope she’d trust me! We are kind of stuck in this mess together…”

“Luz, I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing,” Willow insisted, leaning forward to rest her hand over Luz’s. The demigod hadn’t even realized she was beginning to panic a little, not really understand what Willow was getting at. Willow gave her a reassuring smile.

“I just mean you should be happy that Amity trusts you. I’ve known her for five years, and I think right now she must be feeling really alone. I’m glad she has someone like you to confide in. Don’t you feel the same way?”

Luz wasn’t really sure what to think, not that that was unusual for her. The truth was Amity really confused her. When Luz was around her, she had all these intense emotions she couldn’t quite place, like the time Antheia had touched her shoulder and filled her to the brim with emotions. They weren’t bad, they were just overwhelming. She was certain Amity was feeling something similar because she had been so weird around Luz as of late. She kept getting all anxious and red, and Luz was terrified she was doing something wrong.

Maybe she should talk to her about it.

A pop from the corner of the room made Luz jump, nearly shooting up from the table as she was snapped out of her thoughts. In the other corner of the room, a water fountain had appeared out of nowhere. It was creating a misty rainbow, and from the other end of the water, a soft and soothing voice called out to Luz.

“You are receiving an incoming Iris Message,” it said, “sender: Eda Clawthorne, Camp Half-Blood.”

Willow shot up from the table so quickly, Luz launched backward in her chair and fell, landing with an uncomfortable thump. “Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please show this message.”

The fountain shimmered for a moment, and when Luz looked up from her spot on the floor her mouth dropped. There was Eda, all the way from camp, blinking her gold eyes at them. She looked just as she always did, in a red dress and boots, Owlbert perched on her shoulder, his eyes also blinking comically through the fountain. At her side, she also saw King who blinked his yellow eyes at the fountain, looking back at Eda with a narrowed frown.

“Is this thing on?”

“Yes, King.” She said shortly. “That’s why we can see the kids.”

“Eda!” Luz shot up from the ground and ran towards the fountain, arms outstretched. Eda’s eyes widened, but not in delight. In warning.

“Kid, don’t!”

“Luz, no!”

Gus managed to jump at her, throwing her back into the floor. Luz groaned in agony as she landed on her back for the second time.

“Ow! Gus, what the heck!”

“Sorry!” He said apologetically from on top of her. “But that’s an Iris Message, and it’s powered by the rainbow coming with the fountain. If you touch it with your hands it severs the connection.”

Luz’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and she slowly got to her feet. “Right, sorry.”

“You’re looking good, kid,” Eda said, and luz looked up at her mentor with a grin. She hadn’t seen Eda in days, and she hadn’t realized how badly she’d been missing her until she saw her reflection. “Travel suits you.”

“Thanks,” Luz said bouncing on her toes to try and work off some of her excitement.

“Sorry to just drop in on you kids, but I got work from Cabin Six that you had managed to find your way to an abandoned workshop in Denver, so I wanted to check-in and make sure you guys were alright.”

Gus, upon hearing this, brightened. “So the map works then?”

Eda chuckled. “Sure does.”

“Remember I told you guys Cabin Six knew vaguely about the locations of the workshops?” Gus said to them, and Willow and Luz nodded. “Well, it’s because we have a map of them in our cabin. Supposedly when a demigod “checks in” it’ll show their names on the map."

“All that stuff in the workshop that appears comes from somewhere,” Eda said with a smile. “Mainly camp, though I’m sure the wisdom goddess threw in a couple of those nice accessories for you. I’ve never seen that desk before.” Eda blinked in surprise, scanning the room. “or that fridge, or that stove. Or that wardrobe… Holy Zeus, she must really like you kids.”

She shook her head, something Luz knew meant that Eda was trying to stay focused.

“Anyways, I was told by Willow and Gus the other day that you’d found Amity. Where is she?”

“Taking a shower,” Luz supplied, and Eda nodded.

“I don’t blame her. But I’m glad she’s safe. The Blight Twins have been bugging me to ask about her so I’ll let them know she’s ok. But enough about that. I was doing a little research with Lily into your “resurrected heroes” issue. You should know that when heroes do escape the Underworld, their fatal flaw remains intact. You should use that against them in combat. Achilles has his heel of course, and you already severed the ties with Orpheus’ lyre. But Theseus’ flaw is not so easily breached.”

“What is it like a weak left arm or something?” Luz asked, and Eda chuckled.

“No, his isn’t physical. It’s his recklessness. He chose to confront you on the bus, without making sure Orpheus knew what his plan was. He likely chose rebirth without thinking of the consequences. Find out how to use that against him. I don’t know who this man in the mountain is, but if you want to beat him you have to beat his cronies first.”

Luz swallowed nervously, Eda narrowed her eyes.

“What, kid? Did something happen to you?”

Luz shook her head, before telling Eda about the dream, Belos, and the portal. Sometime during the story, Amity had come out of the shower. She was dressed in the fresh clothes she’d picked from the wardrobe, had her sword strapped to her belt, and her mint hair was still wet, hanging down near her shoulders. She waved hello to Eda, not wanting to interrupt Luz, and she grinned at Amity and whispered something to King, who took off and out of sight.

Luz tried not to get distracted from her story when Amity stood next to her. It was hard. Amity hadn’t looked so at peace in a long time, and she now smelled like fresh lavender and mint. Luz suddenly realized how desperately she needed a shower, but when Gus saw Amity he had squealed in delight and ran into the bathroom for his turn.

It took longer to tell the tale than she would have liked, but she did eventually finish. When she was done, Eda hummed, putting her finger to her lips.

“Belos. I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

Willow leaned forward anxiously. “You know him?”

Eda shrugged. “I was just a teenager when he tried to seize Olympus when he was alive. He rallied a team of misunderstood demigod’s and tried to take Olympus by force. This was before gods had to claim their children, and before we had the minor gods cabins at camp. He was an unclaimed Hermes camper who wanted recognition, and freedom from the consequences that come with being a half-blood. He was struck down by my dad’s thunderbolts personally.”

Luz, Willow, and Gus winced. What a way to go.

“If he’s alive again, then he’s a real threat,” Eda said seriously. “I don’t know much about him, but I do know his godly parent. Hecate, the goddess of magic and necromancy.”

Next to her, Amity flinched like she’d been slapped.

“Well, now we know how he can raise people from the dead,” Willow mumbled under her breath.

“Magic, that would explain that mist that was surrounding me in my dream,” Luz said, and Amity swallowed hard next to her.

“And the snow when I was trying to get to him with Skara and Boscha.”

“It won’t be easy to beat him,” Eda said seriously. “But it’s not impossible. You have help if you need it. Luz, you still have that whistle?”

Luz nodded, clutching the string around her neck. Eda grinned.

“When you need it, it’ll work. Also, your siblings from the Hermes cabin have a message for you. Something about remembering your Hermes secrets?”

Luz felt a jolt run through her. The bag of tricks that Viney and Jerbo had given her! Eda chuckled at the look on her face.

“I’m not even going to ask. The point is, if you kids ever need a hand, just know that your family has your back.”

Luz felt herself start to get a little choked up. She really missed Eda. On Eda’s line, Luz heard a thundering of footsteps, and King had reappeared with Edric and Emira on the other end.

“Mittens!” They both shrieked when they saw her. They were both dressed in orange camp shirts, and it looked like they must have come from training because they were covered in sweat. Amity couldn’t help but smile when she saw her siblings, and that made Luz split into a grin of her own.

“And that’s my cue,” Eda said, chuckling. She reached into her pocket and handed the twins a couple of golden drachmae. “I have to head out. I’ll look into this mountain man for you kids and try and get ahold of you if I find anything.”

“Thanks, Eda!” Luz said, unable to fully express how happy she was to have seen her again. Next to her, Willow had snuck off for her turn in the shower as Gus came back into the office. Luz rolled her eyes. It was supposed to be her turn, but she couldn’t be mad at Willow.

“No problem, kid,” Eda said, and she turned tail and walked away with King at her heels. The Blight twins immediately began to bombard them with questions.

“Are you alright?” Emira asked with a frown, peering over to examine Amity as best she could.

“You’re not hurt right?” Edric added, leaning in as well.

“No, I’m fine now,” Amity said with a roll of her eyes. “Luz and her friends rescued me and now I’m just healing up. But I’m almost back to 100%.”

“You have no idea how worried we were,” Emira said with a frown. Worry was such a weird look to see on the Blight twin’s face, Luz didn’t really know how to process it. She’d only ever seen them with smirks that screamed trouble, or a sly look that shared a similar sentiment. She realized she was starting, and Edric looked over at her, his face changing to glee.

“So I take it the chariot ride went alright then?” He said, and suddenly Luz was scowling.

“Yeah, thanks for that. We had to kill the white eagle in Cincinnati to pay your mom back.”

“A what?” Emira asked, confused. Amity rolled her eyes.

“She means the Caucasian Eagle,”

Edric howled with laughter, and Luz flushed, embarrassed. “It’s not funny! It could have killed us.”

“But it didn’t,” Emira singsonged, shooting Luz a wink. “You got mittens back and now you’re together and everything is all good.”

Luz felt her face start to heat up at what Emira said. It wasn’t like that, she didn’t get Amity back, she had just helped her out. And yes they were together but they weren’t like together. And Luz definitely wouldn’t call everything “all good”…

Next to her, Amity had flushed deep red, and the twins shared an absolutely ecstatic look that was probably the scariest thing Luz had ever seen.

“Emira, I get the feeling that everything is more than “all good” for mittens here…”

“Me too, Edric. In fact, I think this might be mitten’s preferred situation-”

“Shut up!” Amity spat, her face twisting into a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. Luz now felt uncomfortable, like she was intruding on a private conversation. Thankfully, Willow had now exited the bathroom, and Luz had an out.

“Nice talking to you guys and all,” Luz started, already walking backward. “But it’s my turn for a shower. I’ll see you guys back at camp when we’re done with this whole quest and everything.”

“Bye, Luz!” Edric grinned, waving to her.

“See you later, cutie,” Emira said with a knowing wink, and Luz felt her face heat up to dangerous levels. She couldn’t really place how, but she was starting to finally process that the children of Aphrodite were a lot scarier than they seemed at first glance.

Luz entered the bathroom and her mouth dropped. It was entirely white, with gold accents, and there was a massive shower right at the end of it. Next to Luz there was a spot she could put her clothes to have them washed and dried while she showered (Luz didn’t understand how that worked, but considering it was stamped with the Camp Half-Blood Pegasus logo she imagined it was some magic demigod stuff) and there was a double vanity on the other side with a basket on top stuffed with toiletries. Her Mami would have let them live in this bathroom if they could have.

The shower wasn’t wet, despite her friends having used it beforehand, which Luz didn’t understand but it just made the whole experience a thousand times better. By the time she stepped out, she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt cleaner in her entire life. She used the deodorant in the vanity, (it was Luz’s favorite scent, so she was starting to realize the bathroom had reset after each use and accustomed based on what demigod used it) the body moisturizer, and the toner and moisturizer that was clearly set aside for her face. She brushed her teeth and combed out her wet hair, which was already drying thanks to it being so short, and even used the body spray. It was musky and smelled a bit like the cedar trees that grew in Amherst near her Abuela's house.

She put back on her, now clean, clothes and shoes, and packed the toiletries in her backpack to use later. She made sure Aletheia was secure on her finger and she exited the bathroom, feeling better than she had in weeks.

She was greeted by an unusually quiet workshop. Willow and Gus were nowhere to be seen, and Amity was sitting in a comfortable looking leather armchair next to the bookcase, flipping the pages of a novel.

“Amity?”

The demigod looked up, her gold eyes focusing on Luz. Her cheeks pinked, and she waved awkwardly.

“Hey, how was your shower?”

“Fantastic!” Luz grinned, heading towards her. “Where are Willow and Gus?”

“My siblings said Eda and Lilith sent us some money to the post office near here. They went to go pick it up.”

“That’s good,” Luz said with a smile. “It’ll be a lot easier planning our next move when we don’t have to worry too much about cash.” As she got close enough to see what Amity was reading, her eyes widened.

“Are you reading “The Good Witch Azura”?”

Amity’s cheeks reddened. “Uh, yeah?”

“That’s my favorite series ever!” Luz squealed in excitement, leaning down to Amity to see what she was reading. She was so close she could smell the mint again.“Oh, you’re at the Bog of Immediate Regret! That’s such a cool chapter.”

When Luz looked up, Amity’s face was so red Luz was worried she was going to pass out. She had leaned as far away as she could from Luz and held up her hands in surprise. Luz recoiled, putting her hands on the arm of the chair apologetically.

“Sorry, I just really love their backstory.”

“It’s alright!” Amity squeaked, and Luz rubbed her neck in embarrassment. She always had a way of making kids her age feel awkward, and one of those ways was by constantly rambling about her favorite books or anime. She didn’t want to scare Amity off. Something about her demeanor must have changed because Amity suddenly frowned.

“Luz, really, it’s ok.” She tried for a smile. “I love their backstory too. It’s my favorite series, I’ve been reading them since they came out.”

Luz leaned forward again, her hesitation forgotten. “No way! What do you think of the new one?”

Amity frowned. “New one? I’ve only read up to the fourth book.”

Luz gasped dramatically, holding her hand over her heart. “What? The new one dropped this summer and it’s so good! I have it at home. I wish it was here.”

Just like that, and end table appeared next to the leather chair Amity was sitting in, with the newest copy of “The Good Witch Azura”, and Luz whooped in excitement, picking it up and flipping the page. She looked inside the cover and awed. It was her copy from her bookshelf at home. Her name was scribbled in scraggily font on the inside cover.

“Here,” Luz said, handing it to Amity. “You can borrow my copy and tell me what you think.”

“Are you sure?” Amity took the book like it was made of glass.

“Of course!” Luz insisted, pushing it into her hands. “You have to let me know what you think. I’ve never had any friends to talk about Azura with before. We should start a little book club together!”

Amity took the book and stared at it for a few moments, before looking up at Luz with a smile. Her eyes were glowing with gratitude, and the look made Luz’s heart practically leap out of her chest. She loved seeing Amity look so happy.

“Ok, thank you.”

Luz was going to ask Amity to start reading and see what she thought of the first chapter, but suddenly the door was open to the workshop, and Willow and Gus were walking back in, with a very nervous look on their faces. Luz immediately frowned, stepping forward.

“What’s going on?” She caught sight of their panic and her own eyes narrowed. “Who hurt my babies?”

“It’s not us we’re worried about,” Willow said quickly, her eyes flickering back between Luz and Amity.

“Amity, your mother is sitting in the café across the street.”

Amity immediately froze up, her eyes widened in panic. “My… mother? Which one?”

Gus’ eyes were wide like he’d just seen a ghost. Or a monster. Or maybe something much, much, worse.

“Your godly one. She called us over on the way back from the post office. She wants to talk to you and Luz.”

#the owl house #lumity #luz x amity #Percy Jackson AU #shelby speaks

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valaks · 4 years ago

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Just a few summaries from the WIP folder:

Burned (filled on Tumblr): The Clearwaters ran the London Underground and didn’t take too kindly to Rider putting something of their men in jail. They want revenge and the blonde guy the kid’s been with lately will be there in. They should have known things weren’t going to go well when on having a gun drawn in him in a dark alley he smiles.

Brothers in Arms (Inverted Devil): Children didn’t belong in Selection. Most grown men couldn’t even cut it, so if the kid was here there had to be damn good reason even if the Sergeant couldn’t tell them why. Not that they could ask, they were soldiers, they didn’t get to ask questions so they took their orders to prepare a cot, snapped off a salute and stepped out of the hut into the Welsh mist. He stopped them before they even made it back to the hut and rounded on his men “I don’t like it anymore than the rest of you, but we’re gonna teach him everything we know. I don’t want to hear any bitching, understood.” S Unit would get him through. Marcus would make sure of it

Crossroads: Brendan Chase owed nothing to Alex Rider. Maybe a thank you at best for getting rid of Yu so he could have his home territory back. Pissing off Ethan Brooke and killing Ash while doing it had been a nice touch even if unintentional. The Board was right that a message needed to be sent to get their reputation back in line after 4 failed missions in a year but personal revenge against a teenager was not it. Not when he could be used to strike against the government abusing him. And that’s how he found himself across from Alex Rider in a London restaurant supposedly on a date with his housekeeper and trying to intervene before MI6 did something stupid and his own organization did something even stupider.

Double Crossed (filled on Tumblr): Yassen has felt the pain of being double crossed and when he hears that Alex Rider’s in danger of it, he steps out of retirement to try and save him. He arrives too late to stop it but it’s nothing good vodka and stilted Russian can’t fix.

For Queen and Country (Devil!): Alex always knew Yassen would send him back to work with MI6. He just hadn’t expected it to be so quickly.

Good Intentions: Yassen Gregorovich never thought he’d be anyone’s moral compass, he was no angel to sit in anyone’s shoulder but trying to keep Alex Rider from following in the ruthless footsteps of his father or worse his former handler, Alan Blunt is as close to hell as he can imagine. (Wherein Alex becomes head of MI6 we watch his morality slip away form the eyes of an increasingly frustrated and heartbroken Yassen - it all culminates when Alex uses a child “just as an informant, simple information gathering” but hidden behind the charming smile of John Rider and the brutal coldness of Alan Blunt’s words is Alex Rider dying as he says them (Yassen just hopes there’s still a part of the boy he once knew in there to mourn)

In All but Blood: Being Julia Rothman’s son was just an endless series of trainers and instructors and never being able to please a woman who told everyone else that she loved him but had never said the words to his face - usually because he never saw her. And when he did she just cupped his chin tilting it to either side and told him just how much he looked like “Hunter”. He was fated for Malagosto like some people were fated to attend their own parents alma maters. Until in a fit of teenage rebellion he tracks down the part of his past that Rothman hid from him - the brother he never had. Cossack. Hunter’s Apprentice and MI6s best operative.

In My Sights (posted on AO3): Alex never was able to get much out of Ian about his father, just that he had been in the paras and had been an expert marksman. So when Ian had taken him to the gun range to teach him to shoot for his Christmas present he had been understandably excited. They went every Saturday until he had to leave for another business meeting. Which was fine, it couldn’t be helped, but it was really thoughtful of him to send one of his father’s old friends around to shore up his lessons while he was gone.

Meld: Alex and Yassen are mirrors of each other, tied together by Fate herself closer than either thought possible. When Yassen finally closed his tired eyes, he woke up looking at his body and a startled “Yassen?” That wasn’t coming from a teenager but coming from within his own mind (Yassen and Alex mind meld post Eagle Strike - Moral crises, and teenage feelings were not how Yassen wanted to spend his afterlife but soon he won’t even realize it because they’re both sinking into the steady pull of becoming *one*)

My Brothers Keeper: 4 years after Eagle Strike, Alex runs into a familiar face at a pub on Christmas Day and a tradition is forcibly started. Alex doesn’t mind. In another life, they would have been brothers at the least but who’s to say it was too late to start that now?

Warm Reception (posted on AO3): Everyone at Brookland had given up on Alex Rider but Ms. Bedfordshire knew that the sweet boy who stopped by after every cancer treatment was still there deep inside. It was just hard to reconcile him with the cold eyed teen who had just knocked out two grown adults and killed another a few feet in front of her [Post Alibi]

Withdrawal (Devil): 3 years after the first time he had been asked to make an impossible decision, he found himself making them every day. A million little ones that tied into much larger plans responsible for the lives and deaths of thousands. He would say it was becoming routine but it wasn’t. They were a million little cuts but at the end of the day for all his planning and delegating there were still only 24 hours to make them - each one carefully allotted. He needed more time and if they wouldn’t let him stretch more hours in then he would just have to make what time he had more efficient.

#alex rider #fanfiction #fic jail release #summary #I need your help

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noragami-ru-manga · 5 years ago

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Soul summoning and Father’s return from Yomi

For someone who supposedly hates Father, I sure talk a lot about him, huh

While I was flipping through the pages of the manga, I once again came to a stop at the soul summoning scene in chapter 37. Specifically at Nora’s tale about Father escaping from Yomi, which I, apparently, did not pay due attention to.

I’ve never had a single opinion on how Father got in and out of Yomi, so I toyed with a few.

1. When Father was still human, he was already interested in researching ayakashi (like Ebisu, for example), somehow learned about the kotonoha (the Word of Yomi) and decided to get one for himself. He voluntarily ventured into Yomi but asked the pock-marked girl to soul call him beforehand, and she did just that.

2. The pock-marked girl died, and Father got mad at the gods for being directly or indirectly involved. He went to Yomi to get her back, stumbled upon Izanami, saw the brushes in action, and either stole or wheedled out one of them.

3. Father was the one who died while the pock-marked girl lived. While in Yomi, Father encountered Izanami, learned about the brushes, and got his hands on one of them.

In this post I want to examine the last option – the one in which Father died and was resurrected by that girl of his through soul summoning.

First of all, let me remind you that soul summoning isn’t something Adachitoka came up with specifically for Noragami, but an actual Japanese tradition.

I think it’s reasonable to assume that whatever exists in our world is also a thing in Noragami universe. All the locations that we see in the series, specifically shrines, are real places (with the exception of the characters’ houses, Takamagahara and Yomi, obviously). This means that the tradition of soul summoning can easily exist in-universe.

Maybe it’s just me (or the translation), but the way Kofuku talks about soul summoning seems to imply that she knows what it is and expects others to know about it, too. Apparently, they just never thought of using it on a god because it’s a human tradition.

And it goes against everything both Father and Amaterasu say.

Amaterasu says humans can’t (mustn’t) come back to life at all, Father implies he is the only one who’s managed to return from Yomi/come back to life. How do we reconcile these statements with people climbing on roofs and staring down wells trying to revive their loved ones? The answer is – people did all that, they just weren’t successful. Except for the pock-marked girl.

I’m absolutely sure she was the one who called Father back from Yomi, thanks to a discussion I stumbled upon here on Tumblr.

@sayaka19fan gave an alternate translation of this scene that differs from both the official transalation and the fan scanlation: “Even if he said I was a girl with pock marks I wonder if she was his loved one”. Aka “he was cold to me, even if I had her appearance”. So Father being distant made Izanami question her choice of appearance and wonder if she impersonated the wrong person.

If the girl was alive, then Father not being swayed by Izanami is easily explained, he simply knew that whoever was in front of him couldn’t have been that girl. This rules out her dying first and Father coming to Yomi to retrieve her the way Izanagi came after Izanami (not to mention that this particular scenario would require some other person to call Father’s name). So between the two of them, Father was the only one who got into Yomi.

The thing about Yomi is that it’s unclear whether it’s really a place where people go after their deaths. On the one hand, you have this word “yomigaeru” - to come back to life = to return from Yomi. On the other hand, there are opinions like this one:

In no ancient Shinto textual source is it explained who exactly goes to Yomi and why. Some historians suggest that the concept of a life after death was not a familiar one to the ancient Japanese and it only took form with the introduction of Buddhism from China in the 6th century CE. Yomi certainly has a very limited place in Shinto thought where a life after death is only vaguely alluded to and where there is an absence of a general concept of punishment and reward for souls in the next life as found in many other religions. The only suffering of souls in Yomi, if indeed there is any at all, is their separation from their living loved ones. The noted Shinto scholar and theologian Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843 CE) explains Yomi and its limited significance thus,

“The old legends that dead souls go to Yomi cannot be proven. Then it may be asked, where do the souls of the Japanese go when they die? It may be clearly seen from the purport of ancient legends and from modern examples that they remain eternally in Japan and serve in the realm of the dead governed by Okuninushi-no-kami. This realm of the dead is not in any one particular place in the visible world, but being a realm of the darkness and separated from the present world, it cannot be seen…

The darkness, however, is only comparative. It should not mistakenly be imagined that this realm is devoid of light. It has food, clothing, and houses of various kinds, similar to those of the visible world. Proof of this may be found in accounts…in which a person has occasionally returned to tell of the realm of the dead.

After death the soul leaves the body and resides in the area of the grave, a fact attested by countless accounts…of both ancient and modern times of miraculous occurrences by spirits in the vicinity of graves…Some say that the soul goes to the filthy realm of Yomi, but there is not a shred of evidence that this is the case”. (Scott Littleton, 94)

Even in the manga itself Yato and Ebisu didn’t encounter a single soul when they were in Yomi, only ayakashi and Izanami’s maidens. Then again, we learned in chapter 86 that where souls go in their afterlife depends on what they believed in when they were alive. So technically, if Father believed that dead souls end up in Yomi, that’s where he could have gone after he died.

Why do I now think that he died and didn’t venture into Yomi as a living person specifically to get the kotonoha? Again, it all comes down to the pock-marked girl. I think that her death could have been, in FMA terms, an “equivalent exchange” for Father’s return from Yomi.

See, gods in Noragami are pretty powerful, I give them that. They can, for example, turn into giant spiders (Ookuninushi) and lightning (Takemikazuchi). And while the series never really explains how exactly Tenjin goes about helping students get better marks, or how Ebisu helps businesses, I’m pretty sure that gods can alter reality to some extent. However, they aren’t all-powerful, and there’s one thing they can do nothing about – death.

Of course, we should take into account that Yato isn’t exactly a god of healing to at least theoretically be able to postpone someone’s death (he can totally do the opposite though). I do think, however, that any other god would have said the same, because this is the one thing the gods cannot change. They can’t postpone death because the circle of life is the nature of things and shouldn’t be meddled with. Not because “Amaterasu said so”, but because that’s how the world is. Who made the world like this is a tricky question to answer, since to extent to which the Japanese cosmogoniс myth is applicable to Noragami, aka what came first, the egg or the hen, is a topic for a discussion of its own.

Bottom line is, if Father came back from the dead, something had to balance that out, and that something was the pock-marked girl’s death. It wasn’t a punishment from the Heavens for his breaking out of Yomi, which the Heavens, apparently, don’t even know about. It wasn’t an injustice that some god committed, ‘cause gods had nothing to do with it all. Father became bitter at the world for taking the pock-marked girl away from him, at the gods who didn’t help him when he needed them, and at humans who created and support those useless gods. The clothes Father was wearing when he was escaping from Izanami are the same ones he was in when he was hugging the girl in chapter 60. If this is how things went, then the effect of his return was immediate – as soon as he came back, the girl died.

There’s one more thing that bothers me about Father – how he’s survived after his return from Yomi, specifically how he changes bodies. It’s hard to tell if he had a body in the scenes from Yato and Nora’s childhood, since Far shore beings can interact with the real-life objects (food, clothes) just fine. All we know is that he’s had the same appearance in Yomi, in Yato and Nora’s childhood, and even now; and also that he doesn’t just possess bodies, but their souls as well. His current “host” Fujisaki is a third year high-school senior, meaning he’s roughly two years older than Hiyori. If Father is reborn in a new body each time, then Yato hasn’t seen him for 17-18 years now. And that Yato has never seen Fujisaki before his father made himself known when he and Yukine were walking down the street is apparent not just from their exchange in Fujisaki’s house

but also from the very first scene Father was in. Yato saw how Fujisaki caught Hiyori, and if he knew that the guy was his father, he definitely would have warned her to stay away. Granted, Yato probably didn’t see the guy’s face, but it doesn’t change the fact that Yato first saw what Father now looks like in the year the events of the manga currently take place – after 2010.

Except we see in the Volume 8 omake that Father collected articles about the “Yatogami miracle” from 2000′s, too – when Fujisaki was barely in primary school. (I don’t know if I need to explain this, but just in case it confuses you. I’m not talking about who and when was collecting the papers. What I mean is that Yato worked as a magatsukami in 2000′’s when Fujisaki was only a child).

Could Nora have been the one to make Yato go back to his work as a magatsukami all on her own on those occasions when Father couldn’t command him, being a grown man in the body of an infant or a child with all the restrictions that come with it (also, gross)? She was able to deliver him to Father using the masks, but for the most part she was just following his orders. So I’m really curious what Father meant when he said that he “didn’t get to chose”. Does it mean he has to be reborn as a baby each time he dies? Or maybe two souls are just too much for one body to handle, thus he has to switch them quite often and at the most inconvenient times, so he just uses whoever is available? He had to change schools to spy after Yato and Hiyori because Kouto didn’t live in Tokyo, and he seems to somewhat care about his “sister” and “nieces”. But his being out of Yato’s life for a solid decade after each rebirth (before he at least has some freedom of movement, being a child and all) is too good to be true.

And even though I’ve said we don’t know for sure if he had a body after his return from Yomi, I’ll just go out and say that he had – his own body, no less, the one we saw in Yato and Nora’s memories. He had to be human to have wished Yato into existence in the first place, and since his appearance back then matches his current looks, he could have initially returned into his own body.

After all, time flows differently on the Near shore and on the Far shore. Although so far we’ve only seen that the passage of time is slower both in Yomi and Takamagahara.

Is the opposite possible? Could it be that while Father was in Yomi, very little time has passed in Nakatsukuni, so instead of burying Father the girl tried calling him back and succeeded? It’s a wild guess, but if day and night don’t have a set length on the Far shore, then it means that one day in Yomi can also be shorter than one day on Earth.

In any case, if Father did come back to his own body, it lasted for a while – at least until Yato was a teen.

Another thing that bothers me is how come Yato didn’t know what Father looked like after an entire month of staying in that cottage. Did Yato never look at him during that whole time? Or would Father come to the cottage as himself? We know that his soul can separate itself from Fujisaki’s, but is it accidental or intentional?

Look at his latest encounter with Hiyori.

Father showed himself for a split second, distracting Hiyori and letting the ayakashi bite her. Did he accidentally “slip out” because of his strong emotions, or did he do it deliberately to make Hiyori lose focus and be an easy target for his doggies? The second one is a very Father thing to do, and if he can separate himself from Fujisaki from time to time, it explains why Yato didn’t know he looks like a student now. However, he was Fujisaki when he came to collect Nora after the whole ordeal with Ebisu.

Maybe Yato only saw Father that one time during his entire stay at the cottage – when Father ordered him to go to Yomi. This way it’s possible that Yato indeed never looked at his face. Except chapter 29 seemingly disproves that.

The background to Yato’s thoughts is Father putting down the bucket with purifying water in it. If this is just to remind us that this person is Father, I’m fine with it. But if this is Yato’s memory, something he saw with his own eyes, then it can only mean that Father did not look like Fujisaki then.

TLDR: I think that Father came back from Yomi because the pock-marked girl resurrected him via soul summoning and died in exchange, accidentally or voluntarily. I’m not overly attached to this theory and I won’t be surprised or disappointed if it’s never confirmed. It was just fun to dig into Father’s possible past once more.

P.S. while I was reading the soul summoning scene, the inconsistencies in Amaterasu’s actions and words (“call him like in a soul summoning” – “people can’t come back from Yomi”, “call him by his real name” – “are you the one called Yatogami?”) made me entertain the idea that the girl who helped the gang wasn’t Amaterasu, rather her lookalike. Like her twin sister Tsukuyomi? They weren’t twins according to the Japanese mythology as far as I know, but in other mythologies the sun and the moon are twins *cough Greek cough*, and we’ve already seen that Adachitoka don’t exactly retell mythology but adapt it however they like. I did cast away the thought since there was too much focus on the sun during the scene, but it’s still a fun little idea.

#noragami #noragami manga #noragami meta #fujisaki kouto #father

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redcameleon · 4 years ago

Text

SSM 2020 Day 3

Prompt: Sleeping Soundly

Summary: Sakura has the ability to travel to people’s dreams and alter them. So she helps resolve Sasuke’s nightmares.

Rating: K+.

A/N: The story is set during ancient times when kingdoms still existed. This was inspired by the drama Mystic Pop Up Bar. Go check out the show!

Life is surely filled with mysteries. Mysteries of the mind and the body. One can argue that they both are just equally as important, equally dependent on each other, and equally strong. But Sakura would argue otherwise. The mind is the key to everything. A strong-willed mind can withstand anything. It can even push one’s limit beyond anything they imagine. Unbeknownst to some, it even has the ability to affect one’s body. When the mind is strong, the body is as well. And when the mind is weak, so too is the body. Thus, becoming the key to unlock one’s potential.

This is what Sakura has control over. Not necessarily the mind itself, but the thoughts underlying it. One might ask, how is this possible? Through dreams.

A scholar once believed that the mind is the door that to peak into person’s subconsciousness. A dream is like a projection of one’s beliefs, thoughts, and hopes. Many things are uncertain, but one thing Sakura’s certain, is that she is not like other people. Ever since she was little, her dreams have never stopped being so vivid, so clear. Her mind has always been so alert and conscious, even during sleep, movements so clear and swift, she can practically do whatever she wants in the dream plane.

That’s when she realizes she’s special. She was ten when she found out her abilities can be stretched out to enter other people’s dreams. Seeing what they see, standing in the sidelines, watching the events unfold and change from one thing to the other.

She was thirteen when she found out she was able to alter those events. Creating her own playground in other people’s dreams, architecting rooms and houses, making things disappear or appear.

Back then she had to learn to manipulate her powers and hone them by using it on her friends. But soon, she realizes, it’s both a blessing and a curse. She was then feared by many. Feared that she is a puppet master who can control people’s minds to do whatever she wants. Feared that she will someday bring doom to their village.

The thing is, she did believe them. By the time she was sixteen, she decided to run away and leave her village behind.

Sasuke’s day has finally come to an end. With a war coming, the palace is becoming more eager to manufacture weapons and armors. Bows, arrows, swords, and spears are constantly in the make each day. Constantly being surrounded by the hot furnaces, handling scolding metal and heavy hammers, Sasuke’s body aches all over.

The walk back to his house feels the most rewarding. A day at the forge earned him three days’ worth of meals. He can barely remember when he started working there. The only thing he remembers is the face of his brother going into war. It’s been two years since he last saw him. He wonders if he’ll ever see him again.

Boiling some water in a pot and cutting up vegetables, he settles for a simple meal for his dinner before deciding to sleep right away. All cleaned up from the coal and dirt on his body, he lays himself on the futon, closing his eyes.

Just as his mind is starting to drift, flashes of blood fill his mind. He can hear the screams of women, of children. He sees arrows lodged into trees and ground. He keeps running and running deeper into the forest, running as fast as his legs could carry him. His body feels sluggish, as if putting one leg over the other is the hardest thing to do. His whole body feels heavy. He looks back to see if anyone’s following him when he accidentally trips on a branch, rolling down a hill and falling into a dark endless pit.

His body jolts as he sits up, covered in sweat. This has been the nth time he’s had the same dream. They never fall far from similar themes of blood, war, and fear. It’s like he’s watching his memories on tape being rewinded over and over again. Memories of the civil war that happened in his village years ago. Sometimes he gets to see his brother in them and they’re not as bad as he thinks. But some days they’re worse because he sees his brother in them, dead.

He runs a hand over his tired face and ruffles his hair in frustration. He lies back on the futon and stares at the ceiling.

Brother, where are you?

“Hey, Sasuke, Sasuke!” Someone finally snaps him out of his musings. He turns to the source of the voice.

“Careful with that.” The man points to the hot rod in his hand. Sasuke quickly sets it on the table before taking off his gloves.

“You okay? You look like you barely got any sleep last night.” It’s apparently too obvious that he didn’t get any sleep last night.

“I’m fine.” He goes to the back and splashes some water on his face. He lets it cool himself down as he stands there, staring at his reflection in the water. The man places a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Hey, you know what might help? I heard there’s a shaman in town that can give you good dreams!” Sasuke quirks an eyebrow at the suggestion. He surely is not one to believe in ghosts or spirits. He might believe in an afterlife, but hearing about someone who can supposedly give him good dreams is a bit too far-fetched.

“I’m telling you it really works! My brother went to see her the other day and he said she could really do it! Just try it once. You got nothing to lose, right?” He’s right. He doesn’t have anything to lose. His nightmares are already bad anyway, he can only hope that things get better from there, right?

He decides to give this shaman a try. At the end of the day, following the directions the man gave him, he comes across a small house at the edge of the village. The house looks small and humble. The yard seems barren except for the clay jars lined up along the sides. He notices the bell that hangs from the ceiling. He approaches the entrance and knocks a few times.

“Come in.” He hears a voice from inside. He slides the door and steps inside. He finds a woman sitting on the floor behind a table. He’s never been inside a shaman’s house before but he can say it’s not like anything he imagines. The room appears empty, except for a futon on the right side of the room, and an incense on the other side of the room.

She eyes him and chuckles.

“Wow you must really need my help.” Sasuke is beginning to re-evaluate his decision. But he might need her help after all. He steps closer and takes a seat in front of her.

“I’ve been having nightmares.”

“I see. And what kind of nightmares?” She’s probably heard this so many times, judging by the unchanging tone in her voice.

“People dying. War.” He can’t tell if it’s just his imagination but he can see her eyes widen a bit.

“That’s rare. You see most people say they want dreams of meeting their loved ones, flying, travelling.” She can tell that he only wants one thing. Peace. Peace of mind.

“Okay. I’ll help you.” She gets up and sits next to the futon. She gestures him to sit as well. He gives her a questioning look before he decides to follow her words. He sits there and Sakura hands him a cup of tea.

“This will help you relax. It’s chamomile tea.” He takes a sniff before sipping the beverage. He then lies down and tries to even his breathing. She’s lying of course. It’s not just any regular tea. It’s a special liquor of hers that can put a person into a deep slumber. Not long after that, Sasuke begins to drift into sleep. His eyes flutter closed.

Sakura grabs his hand in hers and touches his pulse. She closes her eyes and tries to match his breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. She focuses on Sasuke’s heartbeat in her fingertips. A few minutes pass and she begins to enter his dream.

Darkness. Everywhere around her. The moon is the only thing lighting up her path. She notices she’s in a forest. She walks a few steps before she sees an arrow lodged in the ground, followed by a trail of blood. She then begins to hear screams. She keeps walking and starts hearing fast footsteps. She quickly steps to the side, hiding behind a tree. She then sees Sasuke panting and running. She follows behind him to see where he’s heading. He keeps on turning back, as if someone is chasing him. She looks back to see no one.

She keeps following him. Deciding that she should end his misery, she grabs both his shoulders, startling him.

“Hey.” He turns around, fear evident in his eyes. His face is covered in dirt and sweat.

“Who are you? Let me go!” He tries to break free, but she holds him in place, remaining calm.

“There’s no one here. No one will hurt you.” Sasuke keeps his gaze on the ground, seeming afraid to look at his surroundings. Sakura decides to brighten the surroundings. Literally.

The sun slowly starts to rise, a colorful orange and yellow hue appearing from the horizon. Sasuke notices this and looks up to the sky. He can see the woods clearer now. The arrows stuck on the ground begin to crumble and sprout branches and leaves. The blood on the ground and barks slowly fades to nothing.

His eyes widen in surprise. Fear and terror seem to have dissipated from his eyes and Sakura can’t help but let out a relieved sigh.

“Look, there’s nothing here that will hurt you.” She points towards the path behind him. He turns around to see a clear road ahead of him. The trees surrounding him appear livelier. Birds are singing and the sun shines down on him, engulfing him with warmth that he hasn’t felt in a long time. He breathes in the clear air.

Sakura takes his hand and starts walking along the path. He lets her lead him to wherever they’re going. A village is starting to come into view and before he knows it, he’s arrived at the entrance of his village, of the village where he grew up in.

He takes in the surroundings. Children are running around laughing, women are carrying tubs of leaves, and the men are carrying a boar, laughing and patting each other on the back, celebrating their hunt.

He can’t remember the last time he’s seen his village this happy. He feels his mind is more at ease as he finally spends a well-rested night.

He opens his eyes, and finds sunlight peeking through the cracks and edges of the house. He rubs his eyes and looks around. He sits up and notices he’s still at the shaman’s house. However, the shaman is nowhere to be found.

He spends some time to recollect his thoughts and remember what had happened the night before. He remembers seeing sunlight and trees in his dream. He remembers hearing children laughing. He gets up to find the shaman to thank her before he hears a door being opened.

Unbeknownst to him, a door at the back of the house open and he sees her walk in with a bowl and a glass of water.

“Good morning. I see you must’ve slept well last night.” She sets the items on the table in front of him and kneels. He sits himself back down.

“Thank you.” It’s the best rest he’s had in years and he has her to thank for it. She shakes her head and smiles at him.

“I’m glad I can help. Here’s some breakfast for you.” He eyes the bowl of soup in front of him and thanks her for the meal before downing it all in one go.

He gets up to head out for the forge.

“My name is Sasuke.” Sakura looks at him for a moment before responding.

“Nice to meet you, Sasuke. I’m Sakura.”

Sakura.

He will surely remember that name from now on..

tbc?

A/N: I have a few more ideas on how to expand the story. So let me know if you guys are interested in reading more :)

#ssff #ssfanfiction #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku #sasuke #sakura #otp #redcameleon!writes #ssm20 #ssm20d3

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january3693 · 4 years ago

Note

002: Narcissa, and also Lily; 001: dorcas/Marlene, and lucissa

That’s a lot, but here you go!

002 Narcissa

How I feel about this character: She’ll never be my favorite, but I do love sticking her in as a snarky, snobby side character.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don’t actively ship her, but I think she and Lucius are probably well-suited for each other, and since I don’t have super strong ship opinions on her, I’m open to reading and embracing anything presented to me.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I like the idea of her and Regulus being close. She’s the baby in her family, but Regulus is the baby in the family overall, so I think she would have felt very protective of him and tried to shelter him but also steer him toward more traditional pureblood values if she ever thought he was wavering or acting a bit too much like Sirius. She was devastated when she heard about his death, even more so when she learned it was (supposedly) caused when he tried to defect from the Death Eaters. Narcissa sees a lot of Regulus in Draco and it scares her.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Lucius probably didn’t care much about all of the stuff Draco complained to him about, but Narcissa did. She was the one who always pushed Lucius to take care of anything that hurt or inconvenienced their son.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she had some on the page interactions with more characters. There’s so many she’s related to or would have known that it’s a shame we never go to see her show a bit more complexity when directly confronted with Sirius, Andromeda, or Tonks.

my OTP: Probably Lucius just because it’s canon and Narcissa isn’t a character I spend much time shipping. I like her potential, just

my cross over ship: I don’t read cross overs

a headcanon fact: After Regulus’s death, it was Narcissa who sent a letter to Sirius (care of Andromeda) telling Sirius the facts (such as she believed them to be) about his brother’s death.

002 Lily

How I feel about this character: She’s fantastic! I love her, and I love writing her!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Generally just James. I do enjoy some Jegulily too, but that’s about it. I see Lily as a character who could be very happy and lead a fulfilling life without a romantic partner, so if I’m not shipping her with James I generally just picture her having casual flings and otherwise enjoying life as a happy, confident single woman.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Sirius and Lily! I mean, I wrote a 100,000 word fic about them becoming friends (also some other stuff happened, but mostly friendship). I think they would have really challenged each other (which would have made them struggle to get along for a while, but once they connected it would have been very good for both of them). They called each other on their bullshit, weren’t afraid to yell at each other, but genuinely listened to each other and always apologized the next morning when they fought.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t know if it’s an unpopular opinion, but I think she struggled with self-confidence and self-worth a lot more than most people ever knew. She was probably very good at hiding it behind perfectionism and some rather exhausting facades. The reason she fell in love with James was because he had this perfect mix of pushing and supporting her in a way that finally allowed her to relax and be fully her imperfect self with someone, and that was priceless.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Honestly, the thing I want most is for her to have had some ghostly/afterlife/other moment where she absolutely rips into Snape and all the terrible things he did in his “love” for her.

my OTP: Jily. We don’t know from canon how exactly these two went from antagonistic to deeply in love, but what little we do know implies a story of personal growth, second chances, adventure, and deep, deep love, and that’s gorgeous.

a headcanon fact: Her favorite band is ABBA.

001 Dorcas Meadowes/Marlene McKinnon

when I started shipping it if I did: I probably started shipping it while reading We Were Infinite by @wewereinfinitelywolfstar. That might not have been the first time I encountered it, but it was the first time it made a mark and made the characters feel real and shippable.

my thoughts: I like this ship a lot! It’s definitely drenched in that First War tragedy, but still gotta love more wlw ships, and that’s what AUs and canon-divergent fics are for.

What makes me happy about them: We no almost next to nothing about these two, so they’re basically blank slates to build upon. I personally head canon them as a Slytherin/Gryffindor couple and love playing with that dynamic. I also love the opportunity to build heroic Slytherin characters.

What makes me sad about them: Canon, obviously. Making them a couple does also add to the “dead lesbians” and “bury your gays” tropes, which sucks.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: It’s pretty common for Marlene to have a tomboy-ish or more wild personality in fics, which is cool, but Dorcas doesn’t seem to get as much personality in a lot of fics where these two appear.

things I look for in fanfic: Well-developed characterizations, often AUs or canon divergent fics that don’t leave them dead.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I’m down for Marlene and Sirius as a ship (Blackinnon). As for Dorcas, I have such strong headcanons about her, but I haven’t really thought about other ships for her. I’d be open to suggestions or whatever I encounter in fics, but honestly in my head canons, Dorcas is very ambitious and career-oriented (falling for Marlene was unexpected and not part of the plan), so I could see her too busy to have a romantic relationship or finding a spouse who could aid or complement her career ambitions.

My happily ever after for them: They live through the war, adopt a couple of orphans. Marlene coaches youth Quidditch teams for their kids and has some sort of freelance job she can do while being flexible schedule-wise. Dorcas rises through the ranks at the Ministry and is elected Minister for Magic instead of Cornelius Fudge. She fucking crushes it. When she’s served a few terms and the kids are out of school, Dorcas takes a job as ambassador to some other country and she and Marlene see more of the world and attend lots of fancy embassy dinner parties.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: They don’t really spoon. Marlene flops like a starfish in bed and Dorcas tends to sleep on her stomach or side. They do cuddle on the couch though, and Marlene likes to lay her head in Dorcas’s lap and have Dorcas scratch at her scalp and finger comb her hair.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Dancing. One of their first dates was a disastrous Muggle dance class where neither of them realized the Muggle instructor wouldn’t understand that they were there as a couple and paired them up with various male partners. They both managed to laugh through it and went home and practiced with each other. After that, they learned a lot of different dances and one of them will often spontaneously pull the other into a dance across the kitchen or living room, even if there’s no music on. They take turns leading.

001 Lucissa

(sorry if this one’s a little disappointing)

when I started shipping it if I did: I don’t really ship it, but I don’t not ship it either, if that makes sense.

my thoughts: I don’t actively ship it. It’s there, it’s canon. I’m fine with it. I just don’t put much thought into the relationship.

What makes me happy about them: They both seem to care for their son very deeply.

What makes me sad about them: I’m sad that we didn’t get to see more of Narcissa sooner, otherwise no real sad feelings toward them.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: When the criminal acts they (particularly Lucius) commit are excused way too easily, or they change their politics way too swiftly and seamlessly.

things I look for in fanfic: I don’t really look for this ship in fics. If it’s there I’m usually fine with it, if not, that’s fine too. I do like fics that give me more of Narcissa’s complexity and inner conflict though. She’s clearly got layers.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I really don’t put enough thought into these characters and their love lives to ship them with other characters. I’m open to it though. No strong preexisting feelings mean I’m pretty open-minded to new ships for these two.

My happily ever after for them: Actually having to make some restitution for their crimes/wrongdoings, then probably moving away from Britain to live quietly in like Monaco or somewhere.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Honestly, they probably have separate bedrooms.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Plotting political coups while drinking very expensive wine.

Send me some HP Character asks!

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a-little-slice-of-fandom · 5 years ago

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Since I’ve subjected the Six fandom to my ramblings about Ireland, I think it’s time I annoyed the Three Dark Crowns fandom with it too. I apologise in advance!

So actually asked Kendare Blake on a instalive she did if Fennbirn was based off Irish mythology and she said no. She did take inspiration from Ireland, Scotland and England for the landscape of Wolfspring but she didn’t say anything about the mythology or culture. I still want to discuss some of the similarities that I see, but just be aware that these could all just be coincidences and that Blake probably had multiple other inspirations.

So Fennbirn itself is a little similar to something from Irish mythology. There’s this phantom island that’s supposedly off the west coast of Ireland, and it’s covered in mist to separate it from the rest of the world. The actual plot of TDC has nothing to do with this phantom island, but I think it’s cool that there is a functional equivalent to Fennbirn in mythology. As for the word Fennbirn...it dooesn’t translate to anything meaningful in Irish.

There’s also Tír na nÓg (translates to the land of the young). While the actual legend isn’t related to Fennbirn at ALL, time passed very differently Tír na nÓg. A day in Tír na nÓg was literal lifetimes in the world beyond. It may be a big stretch, but it sort of reminds me of how time passed different,y in the mist compared to the island of Fennbirn. In TDC Arsinoe and Billy showed to Beltane a few weeks after their escape attempt, but they had no idea how long it had been because they were in the mist. I think this is a bigger stretch than the phantom island but it’s interesting at least.

Beltane is an easy one. Beltane is the anglicisation of the word Bealtaine (i pronounce its bawl-tin-yuh or bawl-tin-ya but you can listen to the different pronunciations here) and is both the word of the Irish month of May as a whole and one of four festivals that have a lot of meaning but basically just indicate the beginning of a season (the other three being Samhain, Imbolc and Lúnasa). However, just like Fennbirn and the phantom island, what actually goes on in TDC doesn’t match up with the real life equivalent. But I have no issue with that. It’s all artistic licence after all. I think at one point I vaguely remember characters in TDC talking about lighting bonfires at Beltane which IS accurate but other than that...yeah, no. However, it does slightly annoy me that Blake went with the anglicised version of the word, but I do also understand that Beltane is one of the first words you see in the book so I get not wanting to turn people off. I’ve seen most booktubers pronounce Beltane phonetically (which is obviously fine, I think that’s how it’s supposed to be pronounced) but I instinctively pronounce it as if I was reading the Irish word. That’s just a me thing though.

Okay so Mount Horn has some similarities to Slievenamon in County Tipperary. Arsinoe scales mount horn to learn more about the blue queen, and in Irish folklore Slievenamon was sort of linked to gaining knowledge from ancestors through this one really weird story. But Slievenamon was also considered a gateway to the otherworld (which itself is this whole thing in Irish mythology) and honestly? The Blue Queen was strongest on Mount Horn, which I always personally interpreted as the divide between Fennbirn and the afterlife being the weakest there. But real talk??? I will always imagine Mount Horn to look like Bearnagh (one of the mourne mountains in County Down). Bearnagh is sometimes colloquially referred to as “devil’s bite” because the top of it looks all jagged (like someone has eaten the top half) and the mourne mountains are partially granite mountains, so they look a little silver-y in points and I personally just think that fits the vibe of mount horn. But again, that’s just a big me thing. There’s not as much folklore to connect Bearnagh with mount horn.

The islands matriarchal system isn’t really reflective of irish history (traditionally in Celtic tradition, Irish women had a lot more rights than those in England but it wasn’t a matriarchy) but women in Ireland were denoted as the heads of households via their surname. For example, if your family (or house) was called Rooney. The entire family would be referred to as Uí Ruanaidh, but a man from this family (regardless of if he’s married or unmarried) would have the surname Ó Ruanaidh, while an unmarried woman from this family would have the surname Ní Ruanaidh. But the mum of this family? They would just have the surname Uí Ruanaidh (the same as the house itself) because they were seen as the heads of the house. This doesn’t show up in the series at all but I found it cool so...yeah. Also a good handful of naturalist names are Irish. Cait is the Irish version of Kate and is pronounced the same, while Caragh is just an alternate spelling of Cara and is also pronounced the same. Ellis is sort of an Irish name but also has roots in England.

The goddess is honestly too vague of an entity for me to try and find parallels that I feel would hold up to scrutiny but possible parallels include Dana and The Morrigan. We know very little about Dana but she was hypothetically the mother-like goddess. The Morrigan is an amazing goddess though (seriously look her up!), being associated with life, death, fate and war. And she’s sometimes presented as a triple goddess which fits well with the whole triplets thing!

So yeah,,,those are just some fun parallels I found from Irish mythology/culture and three dark crowns. This isn’t an exaustive list, I still have a few more smaller parallels, but I think these are the most interesting. Again, I don’t know if Kendare Blake intended these parallels or not and I’m totally aware that some of these might have actually be intended to parallel something else entirely. Sorry again for the ramble. 😂

#three dark crowns #TDC #one dark throne #two dark reigns #five dark fates #queen katharine #queen mirabella #queen arsinoe #fennbirn

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