#i mean one can’t NOT watch new eden

[mylittleredgirl]

yeah i’m probably just going to watch all of discovery season two, a twist no one could see coming

[scekrex]

Hi! I hope you’re doing well!!!

I just read your Adam x Lucifer’s son fic and I loved it a lot more than I thought I would going in (that sounded really backhanded but I definitely don’t mean it that way 😭)

I was thinking of a part 2 that takes place literally just a few minutes after the 1st, Lucifer basically gave Adam a few… let’s say corrective love taps. And now the reader is patching up his now bruised face. Reader try’s to make Adam feel better by complimenting him and flirting with him. (I know damn well Adam is such a hoe for genuine affection like-)

Cut to Lucifer sitting across the room eyeing you both, now realizing that his son is in love with THE FIRST MAN and Adam is ALSO in love with his son. To put it simply, he is kinda freaking out. He now refuses to leave them alone together for the rest of the day, and also the unseeable future! He starts listing the reasons why the Reader should very much not being dating Adam. (Would be funny if he also mentioned the age gap as if he didn’t date a newly born woman as a who knows how old Angel LMAO) And Adam is like “Bitch, I’m am literally right the fuck here.”

Lucifer is just really activating his overprotective dad mode. That is… until Charlie really needs his help with something for the hotel. He eventually (albeit reluctantly) agrees to leave to help because he thinks “I’ll be quick, it’s just what? 5 minutes? And I’ll be in the room just a few doors down!”

He leaves and Adam, who for some motherfucking reason, can’t stop thinking about all the things Lucifer said to you about him and starts thinking ‘Maybe he’s right’ and starts just getting in his head about it

Reader finishes up patching his face and can tell he’s thinking about what Luci said. He reassures him that he loves no one else but Adam and that what his dad thinks is irrelevant. Reader gives Adam a kiss before asking. “Anyways, you ready to go?”

“The fuck you mean? Go where?

“I mean… how else are we going to finish what we started?”

And the was one of the first times the reader managed to make Adam flustered. Needless to say, Adam and the reader weren’t there when Lucifer returned. Much to Lucifer’s anger.

Nah man ur good, I wasn't the biggest fan at first too but y'know, it's kinda cute. Also u didn't specify anything about Reader and Adam having sex so I kept this SFW, my inbox is temporarily closed but if ya want a sequel that's basically just smut, lemme know once my inbox is open again!

Part 1

My lover's the sunlight to keep the Goddess on my side

pairing: Adam x male!reader

warnings: language

note: not beta read bc fuck you

“Was that really necessary, dad?” you grumbled as you pressed a ball of cotton against Adam’s lip - Adam’s bleeding lip. Lucifer hadn't been too fond of the view he had been greeted with when entering the room. The brunette’s bottom lip was split open, his nose was bleeding and his eye was slowly turning black again. Adam had just recovered from the stabbing injuries Niffty had caused and now he was covered in bleeding wounds once again. A thing that surely did surprise you and that you wanted to look deeper into once the situation was less tense, was the fact that Adam’s blood was still golden. His blood had remained pure and angelic and while you partly understood why, it did make you curious.

Adam hissed in pain as your fingers gently traced along his nose, checking if it was just bleeding or if it was broken - Adam was lucky because your father had actually managed to break the former angel’s nose.

Lucifer was sitting on an armchair across the room, watching the gentle touches his son offered Adam, he didn’t like that they got along and he hated that they seemed so in love, so all over each other. Lucifer knew Adam, well that wasn’t entirely true. Lucifer had known Adam once, back in Eden when everything had been so new and exciting for pretty much everybody. Back then Adam had been a kind and loving soul, but that soul was no longer comparable to the man that was sitting on his son’s bed, bleeding divine blood onto the covers while his son basically sat in Adam’s lap and took care of the injuries.

“Yes, it was necessary, someone needed to teach him a lesson,” Lucifer answered your question, sounding quite bitter. And partly you were able to understand your father, he had history with Adam - history that did not end well at all but the man whose lap you were sitting on seemed almost innocent. You were very aware that Adam was the last person to describe as innocent and sweet though.

“My poor angel,” you hummed as you leaned in a little closer, carefully stopping the bleeding of Adam’s nose before inspecting the broken bone a little closer - it was nothing you couldn’t fix, that was for sure. It would heal just fine, it just needed time. With gentle hands you cupped Adam’s face and kissed his stubbled chin, causing the brunette to shiver lightly. Adam was not used to gentle touches, yes, he had been spending quite some time with you ever since his people had left him behind, but that didn’t mean he got used to affectionate touches like those you offered him - that didn’t mean he disliked them, quite the opposite was the case, he lived for your gentle touches and soft words. You somehow always found something to praise the brunette for.

Adam hummed in agreement, nodding his head lightly to underline the sound. “Don’t you worry, I’ll fix you up in no time,” you added, satisfied that there was no more blood dripping from Adam’s nose.

Lucifer growled from where he was sitting, not pleased with how close you were to Adam’s face - well, actually he wasn’t pleased that you were close to Adam at all. You shot your father a glare over the brunette’s shoulder. “You’re responsible for his injuries so shut up,” you hissed at the blonde king.

The king of Hell simply rolled his eyes at your words, “Yeah, well you shouldn’t be dating Adam - date whoever you want, I don’t care if they’re female, non-binary or male, just don’t date him.” Lucifer pointed towards Adam who seemed not very happy about how lowly Lucifer spoke about him. Sure, they had their issues with each other, but why was it such a big deal to the blonde that the first man and the prince of Hell had a thing for each other?

“Y’know, first of all he’s a maniac, he literally used to kill our people,” Lucifer started to list reasons why you should stay away from the brunette, you could only raise an eyebrow at your father, “Oh our people? The people you ignored for only God knows how long? Those people you’re supposed to rule but instead of doing so you simply let them rot?” You felt how the first man’s hands came to rest on your hips, gently patting them signaling you that he liked your answer. Lucifer huffed.

“Okay what about the fact that he’s manipulative and controlling?” The blonde king tried again, nodding his head towards Adam. “Dad,” you said, looking at Lucifer, you seemed quite unimpressed by his words, “Mom’s book is trash, Adam was told to keep Lilith on a leash, he was supposed to look out for her and stop her from being absolutely self destructive and reckless.”

The blonde king tried it yet again, his problem was not that Adam was a man, his problem was that Adam was Adam, “Okay but what about the age gap? He’s like so much older than you are, sweety,” you cringed at the nickname your father gave you and playfully slapped Adam’s chest as you felt a chuckle vibrating through his body. “Says the guy who fucked the first woman a couple days after her fucking creation,” Adam huffed, turning his head around to face Lucifer.

The short king was about to argue yet again, but Charlie interrupted him by opening the door without knocking, something that was very unlike her since she valued privacy. Your sister’s eyes watched you and Adam for a moment, she shot you a quick, reassuring smile before heading towards your father, who was still sitting in that stupid armchair, observing you and Adam like the both of you were little children.

“I’m sorry for bursting in without knocking,” Charlie apoligzed, sounding quite stressed about whatever was going on elsewhere in the hotel, it wasn’t that you cared all that much. Not when you were seated in Adam’s lap and Charlie was a great distraction for Lucifer’s sharp eyes. “Don’t sweat it, dollface,” Adam simply responded, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke, “You’re not the fucking first, seems to be a fucking family issue you have there.” Your sister spun around in confusion, frowning at the first man who simply rested his chin on your head and grinned at her. “Uh… yeah… no, what I came here for is actually,” the blonde girl turned back towards the king of Hell, “Dad, I really need your help.”

Lucifer shook his head, nodding towards you and Adam, “I can't leave them alone sweety.” Charlie glanced over at how you were seated in Adam's lap, patching up the wounds your father had caused. The blonde girl sighed, then returned her attention to Lucifer who was still watching you and the brunette very closely. “It's urgent, Valentino-” at the name of the pimp Lucifer perked up, he knew Valentino meant no good and the fact that Charlie was mentioning him in context with the fact that she needed his help with something only made it worse in his eyes. “I think I can spare a few minutes to deal with Valentino,” Lucifer grumbled, not exactly happy leaving you with Adam, yet he knew his daughter wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.

He got up from the armchair, twirled his cane and tapped it on the floor once it was right side up again. “Let's make this quick.”

You watched as your father and your sister left the room to deal with said Valentino problem. As soon as the door fell shut you stopped hiding the grin and looked up at Adam, who seemed to be thinking about something - most likely all the harsh words your father had said. A small sigh left you as you cupped Adam's face once again, looking deeply into struggling golden eyes. “Don't take his words to heart he's… a little overprotective when it comes to his youngest son,” you hummed at Adam, the grin on your lips turned into a soft smile as you caressed Adam's cheek with your thumb. “Besides, we have to get going before he comes back.”

The brunette frowned at your words, his concern about all the things Lucifer had said was replaced by confusion, “Get going? Where the fuck do you wanna go?” You glanced to the door, then back at Adam. The first man followed your eyes and the confusion cleared up rather quickly. “Somewhere where we can continue what we started without dad interrupting us.”

-

When Lucifer returned to your room only five minutes later the room was empty. Nothing had changed except for the fact that Adam was no longer sitting on your bed with you in his lap. Lucifer cursed under his breath and just as he was about to go seek for you and the first man, he heard moans coming from one of the other rooms, those soft sounds of pleasure caused the devil to stop in his tracks immediately.

The moans echoing through the hotel came from Adam.

[lulublack90]

Prompt 19 - Angel/Demon AU

@wolfstarmicrofic April 19, word count 682

After the fall of Eden and the opening of Pandora’s box, when the World began to crumble, an Angel was created for each Demon. It was their job to restore the balance of any ill-doing their Demon committed and try to quell any rebellion of the Demon realm. 

Sirius had travelled the world and back again, over the aeons, following his Demon and the destruction left behind in his wake. It irked him that his Demon, unlike most of the others, seemed to be particularly creative in his wrongdoings. He’d set off a volcano in Pompeii because a street vendor had gotten in his way. He wiped Atlantis off the map without a trace it had ever existed because the king had refused him hospitality. The fall of Rome. The Titanic, World War 1 and World War 2, for that matter. 

Modern government had been a rather nasty one, putting imbeciles in charge of entire nations of humans and watching the utter carnage that followed. 

After that pièce de résistance, the Demon had calmed down. The humans were destroying themselves faster than he could provoke them, so he’d basically retired from his demonic ways and spent his time revelling in the world going to pot. 

Sirius tracked him down to a little village up in Scotland and, for the next few decades, tried to convince the Demon to give being good a go. 

“Come on, Remus, why won’t you even try? You never know you might like it.” Sirius had said as they sipped tea in Remus’s library. “You can’t be all bad. There must be some good in you, at least. I mean, look at all these books,” He waved his hands at the floor-to-ceiling shelves that covered every wall. “You have hundreds of them. You must have absorbed some good from them.” Remus slurped his tea from his cup, making Sirius wince. He placed the teacup down on his saucer and leaned all the way back in his chair. Grasping the armrests with his hands, he smiled genteelly at the Angel. 

“Why don’t you open one and find out?” Remus challenged, his voice dripping with honey. Sirius gingerly reached out and selected a book at random. He let it fall open in his hands and read a few sentences before he snapped it shut, horror colouring his face. 

“It’s smut!” He grabbed another and another down off the shelves. Tossing each aside after he’d read a few words. “They’re all smut!” He exclaimed, still going. “More smut!” He stood back from the shelves and spun on the spot, looking with new eyes on the rows and rows of books. “It’s all smut!” He gasped. Remus snorted, and Sirius turned to face him. 

“Come on, Sirius, try it. I bet you’ll like it.” Remus purred. And for the first time in millennia, the Angel was tempted by the Demon. 

His feet moved him forward of their own accord. He watched as his hand raised and touched the spine of one of the books. His fingers wrapped around it, and he began to remove it from the shelf, but Remus jumped up and yanked him away. 

“No, no. Not that one. Your eyes will melt in their sockets if you read that one. Er, try this.” The Demon reached up, revealing a strip of tanned skin between his knitted jumper and black trousers. Sirius swallowed. What was happening to him? Remus placed a thin paperback book in Sirius’s hand, and they returned to their seats. 

Sirius flipped the book open and began to read. A strange, tingly feeling in his abdomen startled him when he read a description of a man walking across a beach. It almost felt as though butterflies were happily flapping inside his stomach. It wasn’t unpleasant. Sirius could feel that this was the start of something different. He didn’t know what yet, but he was sure it wouldn’t be long before he found out. 

The Demon watched him closely as Sirius devoured the pages, a half smile tugging at his lips as he poured another cup of tea.

[mintartem]

hey, hey! Me again. The one who cursed you for blessing me with two new ships lol

Anywho, since you mentioned it, art of Adam x the other angels? Raphael, Gabriel, Azriel, Sariel, all of 'em!

Would love to see art/ designs, but I can settle for hcs lol

I was going to make this into art but I’ve been busy. I hope you don’t mind headcanons and my portrayal of them instead. (I will draw them and ship them with Adam eventually)

I can’t write ALL of the angels (there’s like 50+ of them and that’s not including the fallen) I’m going to focus on the 7 heavenly virtues first (excluding Michael so 6 of the 7).

Please note all of these are for the Hazbin Hotel fandom and not an actual Bible lore or theology. Although some info here are based on theology.

Gabriel (Seraph) - Diligence

He is an energetic, loud, bubbly, and trustworthy angel who is loved and respected by all. But he is scary when he is angry or pissed off

It’s not easy to piss him off but if you did, it means you’ve done something absolutely horrendous in his eyes

He enjoys watching souls get their deserved justice or punishment

Since his heavenly virtue is diligence, he is the fastest angel to finish his work. But at the same time, he also has a lot on his plate. He values breaks in-between working.

Flirts with Adam and loves to get in his personal space (Adam doesn’t mind and lets him)

He trusts Michael the most

The only beings he follows/listens to are Michael and God

He wonders why he was chosen to be God’s right hand when the position should be Michael’s (in his eyes)

He enjoys his job of delivering messages

Has the best stamina and endurance among the angels

He has a sweet tooth

Like all other angels, he is proficient in playing multiple instruments. But his most favorite instrument to play is the trumpet.

The third brother

He [will be] against Charlie’s plan of redemption

Raphael (Seraph) - Humility

He is a calm, collected, and gentle angel who wants the best for everyone and heal them as much as he can.

He wouldn’t hesitate to scare off souls with medical threats if it means it’ll help them heal

He is a pacifist

As the heavenly virtue of humility, despite his high position and rank, he doesn’t see himself better than others and chose to ground himself (which is confusing for other angels)

As the angel of healing, he heals not just physical pain, but also emotional, mental, spiritual, etc. health.

When it comes for mental health, he does need a winner’s help since he is an angel and can’t understand human thought process that well

Surprisingly, he prefers spicy food

Like all other angels, he is proficient in playing multiple instruments. His most favorite instrument is the lyre.

He [will not be] against Charlie’s plan for redemption, but wouldn’t support it either.

The youngest among the four brothers

The tallest among the brothers

He and Gabriel tease Michael because of his crush on Adam

Also in love with Adam and loves watching Adam tend to his garden

He loves herbs, poisons, and other medical things (that includes snakes)

He is fascinated by human biology and anatomy. Adam is the usual target of this fascination

Has a doctor’s (terrible) handwriting

He is the most mature out of all the brothers

Has a sadistic side

Leader of the virtues

Azrael (Archangel) - Patience

When Adam met him in Eden, the impression he got from him was that he is a shy and quiet angel.

Azrael is a flirty and playful, but kind angel that enjoys the company of his fellow archangels

He loves the nature noises (such as chirping birds, cricket noises, swaying leaves)

He is mostly remembered for his wings. Angels and winners alike describe his wings as “so black that it’s like darkness itself created a solid form to serve as his wings”

He is respected even by the Seraphim for his duty

Originally, Samael was the angel of death. The title was given to Michael, who then gave it to Azrael

He is most known for taking the souls of “The Death of the First Born” plague in Egypt. He does not like being known for it though.

He created the Grim Reapers to help him with his duties.

He once offered Abel to be his first Grim Reaper. Abel declined.

Platonically flirts with Abel. Cain does not like it (he thinks its romantic)

Romantically flirts with Adam. Cain also does not like it

Cain does not like him in general. Azrael think its because Abel sees him as an older brother. (He’s right)

Despite being younger than Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel, they see him as an older brother figure

The only angel who is allowed to enter Hell and Heaven without permission, paperworks, etc. (This is because some depictions portray him as the one who leads souls to heaven or hell)

Doesn’t care about Charlie’s plan for redemption.

The elders are wary of him

He kept Abel’s soul until Adam died and went to heaven.

He is the one Adam first saw when he died so, like Abel, Adam has an attachment to him

Uriel (Seraph) - Chastity

He is a quiet, serious, scholarly angel with an aloof and unreadable expression.

Contrary to his serious appearance, Uriel enjoys teaching angels and winners.

He is loved by his students. Outlookers would wonder why, but his students know what type of angel he really is

He loves dark chocolates. His students are the only ones who know. He receives a lot of dark chocolate every Teacher’s Day

He tends to question anything and everything for knowledge’s sake

[will] support Charlie if she can defend her redemption project (like a research/thesis defence)

He witness Adam’s creation and grew attached to him

He guarded Eden’s gate with a flaming sword. Currently, he hid away his flaming sword only to be used if Lucifer or anything evil decides to attack Heaven

He was Adam’s teacher when he got to Heaven. Uriel taught him about Heaven, heavenly duties etc.

He doesn’t hate Lucifer per say, but he is extremely disappointed.

He enjoyed watching humanity (especially Adam) discover things. Currently, his focus are now the winners, angels, and heaven borns

He enjoys reading about human philosophers and their philosophies (both east and west)

Loves playing chess against Adam

He is the one who provides strategies to Michael and is the one who helps plan training activities

“My house is not a mess. It’s an organised chaos”

He has his moments where angels cannot tell if he is being smart or lazy.

He is great at multi-tasking

On purposely uses scientific terms to annoy Gabriel and Lucifer. He does know how to “dumb it down a notch” according to Lucifer.

Cannot be wavered once he is focus on something/s

Cassiel (Archangel) - Temperance

He is an empathic, sensitive angel who wants to enjoy Heavenly life with his fellow angels, heaven-born, and winners

When Eden was created, he wanted to visit but he was forbidden to do so. Unlike Lucifer, he controlled himself and decided not to do so

He is the fastest angel

He helps Raphael in healing Adam’s emotional health

He has a pet dragon. The dragon likes Adam

He [would be] conflicted in Charlie’s redemption plan

Like all other angels, he is proficient in playing multiple instruments. His favorite instrument is the harp

Remiel/Jeremiel (Archangel) - Kindness

He is a kind, caring, and understanding angel who wishes the best for everyone

As the archangel of hope, Remiel tends to see the best in everyone. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t see the bad things either

He is an optimist

He is that one angel everyone goes to for comfort

He is usually the voice of reason

Like Cassiel, he also helps Adam in healing his emotional pain

Like all other angels, he is proficient in playing multiple instruments. His favorite instrument is the grand piano

[will] support Charlie’s redemption plan

“Please don’t mistake me as the fallen Ramiel. We’re different”

(I struggled with coming up hc for Remiel and Cassiel)

Bonus - Angels I want to create a character for:

Ariel (Archangel) - self proclaimed “Michael’s girl best friend!” Totally supports Michael and Adam’s relationship. Angry at Lucifer

Jophiel (Archangel) - sees Adam as the most beautiful creation. She hangs with Metatron often. Adam has deep respect for her.

Metatron (Archangel) - Human name: Enoch.

Chazaqiel (Watcher - Fallen) - Sahaquiel’s younger sister

Raguel (Archangel)

Selaphiel/Selathiel (Archangel)

Well this is long so I’ll end it here. I enjoy reading about Theology so this was really fun!

[salty-croissants]

Can you do headcanons for Rayman with a Sally type of s/o from the nightmare before Christmas?,Like a reader that tries to tell him about Eden and all of that but even if he doesn’t listen she still stays by his side and loves him nonetheless pretty please :)

Thank you for the request ! 

As a big Nightmare Before Christmas fan , I found this scenario to be very neat :D 

I tried to integrate a few personality traits of Sally in the reader , I hope it worked !

Details : use of gender neutral reader ;

friends to lovers ; 

no warnings needed , other than a few swear words at the end  

One of the many things you’ve always admired about Rayman is the sheer passion he always put in his dream of hosting his very own show : 

you have been watching his hard work for years , all his sacrifices … and all the difficult times he went through . 

Being so different from everyone else made him an easy target for people’s derision and prejudices , and for the longest time Rayman felt like no one would’ve ever accepted him for who he really was … 

Until he met you .

You were the first person who showed Rayman kindness , and let’s just say he will never be able to forget that : 

you always seemed genuinely interested in what he was doing , never once shunning him for his appearance and even offering him words of advice and encouragement …

< Another failure … I thought this time was going to be different … can’t believe I was so stupid … > 

< Rayman , you’re not stupid . I know it’s tough , but people will understand your talent someday … 

You just have to be patient . > 

He was truly grateful for your friendship , and it’s also thanks to you if he managed to get through it all and get where he is today . 

Even tough he’s now the voice of Eden , Rayman hasn’t forgotten about you and all that you’ve done for him , and whenever he’s not too busy with his shows he loves to spend time with you , happy to have a chance to get his mind off of work : 

your presence is just so soothing … your kindness and eagerness to listen to him always manages to put his mind at ease , and sometimes he can’t help but wonder what would it be like if the two of you became … something more .

< You mean a lot to me y/n , you know ? I think I might be … uh … > 

< Yes , Ray … ? > 

< … heh … oh , it’s nothing , don’t worry about it . I’m just tired … > 

Little does he know that you feel the exact same way , however every time you try to say it out loud the anxiety of getting rejected , or worse , making your long time friend uncomfortable has always stopped you from doing so … 

Much like Rayman . 

… but the day you eventually discovered Eden’s plans and just how much they have been using Rayman for their propaganda , everything changed . 

You felt horrible to know that the people who promised to help him make his dream come true were just doing that to cover the many dark realities they were trying so hard to keep hidden from everyone , and you knew that you had to tell him somehow …

Of course , it didn’t exactly go well .

< Please - I know this sounds crazy , but you have to believe me ! 

The Board of Directors aren’t who you think they are … I would never lie about something so serious to you , Rayman , you know that , right … ? >

< *sigh* … y/n , I … 

I’m sorry , but that just isn’t … possible . Sure , the Directors are pretty strict about a few things , but they wouldn’t do that to me … I’m their star . > 

< But - > 

< Please , let’s not talk about this anymore … I know you mean well , but I think it’s just a bunch of … really well made fake news . 

I gotta go study my next script , just … try to forget about it , okay ? > 

You were admittedly pretty hurt by Rayman’s lack of trust in you … but maybe you just needed to think of a better way to explain everything to him .

You only want him to be alright … it’s for his own good … 

Despite everything , you still remained by his side , comforting him after the disastrous interview with Red and reminding him to come visit you if he ever needed help … Well , one day you were surprised to find an unannounced Rayman outside your door , wearing a coat and with a terrified expression on his face that you’ve never seen before …

It was enough to make you very concerned .

< Woah - come in Ray … are you okay ? 

Did … something else happen ? > 

The moment he heard you lock the door , was the moment he finally broke down :

You watch him take a few steps in your direction , locking you in a tight embrace while sobbing right next to your ear …

< y-y/n … I’m sorry , I’m just … I-I’m so sorry … ! > 

After a second of shock , you hug him back , confused but most importantly worried .

< Ray … what’s wrong ? If you let me know I can try to help you … > 

< You were right … you were right about e-everything … I went talk to the frog , and he showed me … I-I saw … > 

Rayman tries to take a deep breath to calm himself down … to no avail .

< I saw what those bastards did … using my f-face … oh god … i-it’s so bad , and if I just listened to you I would’ve known sooner … I’m such a fucking idiot … will … will you ever be able to forgive me … ? > 

You have to admit , it’s all still very confusing to listen to , but as soon as he stops talking you place your hands on his cheeks , gently wiping away his tears . 

< Of course I forgive you . I understand , it really wasn’t an easy truth to come to terms with … 

I just want you to know that no matter what happens , I’m always going to be on your side , Rayman , because … you mean a lot to me too . I just wasn’t able to say it before … > 

You both stare into each other’s eyes , before you realize that you’ve been doing that for a bit too long and stand up , your cheeks blushing a little …

< A-anyway , um … since you’re here I could get you something to drink , so maybe we can sit and talk about what happened a bit more calmly … if that’s okay with you , of course ! > 

Rayman can’t help but smile in front of how cute you are , and after a few more deep breaths he starts feeling a bit less overwhelmed . 

< Yeah … yeah , that’d be great . > 

[lulu2992]

My beaded creations

Have I ever told you about my handcrafted beaded jewelry collection?

Don’t answer that, I know I haven’t.

Well, I’ve been making bracelets, necklaces, rings, and other stuff for years now, most of them inspired by things (such as games or movies) that I like, so I thought it would be nice to finally share and talk about my creations :)

Part 1: Seed beads

One of the first video game series I fell in love with, back when I was 14-15, was The Legend of Zelda. Of course, I had to make Zelda jewelry!

Hyrule Crest bracelet, made with gold and clear beads.

In 2011, I played Skyward Sword and became… a little obsessed with Ghirahim :’)

A bracelet inspired by Ghirahim’s final form, and another with his name (and a reference to his white outfit).

Rings inspired by Ghirahim’s final form (top) and cloak (bottom).

2011-2012 was also the time I fell in love with two pieces of media that are still very dear to my heart and that, in a way, almost changed my life: the movie Sucker Punch and the video game Far Cry 3. They inspired many creations.

BABYDOLL and VAAS sets of rings, made with seed and alphabet beads.

By the way, I made a lot of stuff using alphabet beads, but that will be in Part 2.

Bracelet with Babydoll’s “full” name, M.REEAS, and two orbitoclasts.

BABY and DOLL rings.

A VAAS ring.

Bracelet inspired by Far Cry 3 with the word INSANITY written in symmetry, in turquoise blue and iridescent grey.

In 2013, I played Tomb Raider, the first game of the “Reborn Trilogy”. Years later, I also played (and enjoyed) its two sequels.

Bracelet inspired by Lara Croft’s journey, with the words I SURVIVED and an arrow.

In 2013 and 2014, I discovered two other video game franchises I still love today: Hitman and BioShock. The first titles I played at the time were Hitman: Absolution and BioShock Infinite.

Two rings, one inspired by Agent 47’s iconic suit, and the other by the AD scar on Booker DeWitt’s hand.

A recreation of Elizabeth’s medallions: the cage and the bird.

Later in 2014, I played the rest of the BioShock series.

Bracelets inspired by the tattoos on Jack Ryan’s wrists, made with clear and black beads.

In 2015, I was introduced to the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and specifically to Advent Children. I’ve never played the games but, to understand the movie, I watched all the Crisis Core cutscenes and read extensively about the story of FFVII and even Before Crisis. Many tears were shed for Zack and Aerith in the process.

Three rings inspired by the Remnants of Sephiroth, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. The letters K, L, and Y are blue because of their eyes and the lifestream. The fourth ring simply has the letter S in clear silver beads surrounded in black for Sephiroth.

Rings for Zack and Aerith. The blue and silver ones were originally pink and blue but accidentally ended up in the washing machine. A “happy” accident, after all, because they look nice too and, considering what their story is, the absence of color creates a new symbolic meaning!

In 2018, Far Cry 5 came out, but I only created these recently:

Top: a ring with three J for the Seed brothers, John (blue), Joseph (yellow), and Jacob (red). On the other side, an attempt at the Eden’s Gate cross.

Bottom: a ring for Faith Seed, and what is supposed to be flowers on the other side (Bliss flower in the center and two pink ones like the ones on her dress). The letter F is green on a clear background, but if you look closely, you may notice three iridescent clear beads too. Combined with the F shape, they form the letter R, for Rachel.

This year, I also made sword bracelets inspired by The Legend of Zelda, Sucker Punch, and Mulan (1998):

The Master Sword, Babydoll’s katana, and Mulan’s sword.

And these are from a while ago, but here are game controllers. The Wiimote + Nunchuk can’t really be worn as jewelry; I just felt like making that.

To be continued in Part 2 :)

[barbielore]

I have never seen any of the Barbie animated films before. But it’s Christmas, and even though I don’t really celebrate the holiday, I love the book A Christmas Carol; and I love A Muppet Christmas Carol. So Barbie in A Christmas Carol seemed like the obvious way to dip my toe in.

My notes from watching are below!

In the framing device scenes of Barbie telling the story to Kelly, Barbie is wearing a silver dress that looks like pretty much the same dress as 2008 Holiday Barbie, even though that wasn’t an official tie in doll for the film.

Instead of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly businessman, we have Eden Starling, an opera singing diva. Her childhood friend Catherine seems to play the role of Scrooge’s nephew but given she also works for the theatre there’s a dash of Cratchitt in there too?

Eden tells everyone not to bother coming back if they don’t come in to rehearse for the new show on Christmas. Even Scrooge only told Cratchitt to be there all the earlier the next morning. 

Aunt Marie (the stand in for Marley) is draped in chains - but these chains have mirrors on the ends instead of cash boxes and ledgers. I presume to represent her sins of vanity instead of financial greed.

The spirit of Christmas past is really cute, like an excitable little elf. 

Little Eden wants to spend time with friends but Aunt Marie makes her rehearse all Christmas instead of seeing other people. Eden sneaks out to go to a party instead of practicing. 

I’m sure it’s in the interests of streamlining the story for Barbie audiences, but I’m a little disappointed the spirit of Christmas past only takes Eden to one place. 

Christmas Present shows the theatre workers throwing tomatoes at a picture of Eden. That’s pretty funny but it’s not much of a lesson. That’s okay - Christmas Present takes her to a second location, presumably so we can meet our Tiny Tim. In this case it’s the reveal that Catherine is working for another theatre as well; or so Eden thinks. Actually it’s an orphanage putting on a Christmas pageant, and our Tiny Tim is a little girl who walks with a crutch and idealises Eden. Catherine lies to her and says Eden is very sorry she can’t come in person but is so proud of all of them. I don’t know why but I got a little emotional about that!

Anyway the orphanage is about to close due to lack of funds. This doesn’t strike me as quite as resonant because Eden is a diva and selfish but none of her sins we’ve seen so far are related to finances.

Alright, time for Christmas Future. The show is a shambles because she fires all her staff for coming in late and their replacements are rubbish so the show is an embarrassment. This means Eden lives in squalor because she lost her career. Her best friend Catherine is now a famous fashion designer, but has got there by being as selfish as Eden is. The orphanage closed down because Catherine had to go out of town to find new work and she never found out what happened to the children.

Catherine indicates she would have adopted Tammy if she had known, but didn't get the chance. The other kids can just miss out I guess?

We the audience don’t find out what became of Tammy, so we don’t know if she died like Tiny Tim. We can assume it wasn’t a great outcome for her, but it’s left to our imagination. 

The red dress Eden is wearing at the end is the one from the tie in dolls! 

Eden adopts (by which I assume she means financially support) the whole orphanage which doesn’t seem really like it suits the arc but sure I’ll allow it. 

At the end of the movie I finally realise that Catherine was supposed to be Barbie’s friend Nikki. Apparently there was a doll prototype for Catherine, but I don't think she ever got released.

That doll I shared above wasn't the only tie-in doll though! There was also a giftset with Kelly dolls dressed as the spirits. Missed opportunity because the spirits were of different ages. I would have liked to see a doll of the Spirit of Christmas Present as seen in the movie!

I looked up some reviews of the novelisation to see if there were any changes, and only then did I realise I missed something -- Catherine isn't supposed to represent nephew Fred at all. The magician who has a crush on Catherine is Fred, leaving Catherine in just the Cratchitt role. That in hindsight makes a little more sense.

I'm not sure if I'll watch any more of the Barbie movies, but that was a good start. (If you think I should watch more, by all means tell me so, and recommend some!)

[nayushikisses]

1nm8 stuff

here are some miscellaneous things i noticed about EGOlution yesterday !! the song is so goodddddd (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

i think the biggest thing that stood out to me first was seeing one kei’s of kei’s line directly contrast something he sang in edN

“i’m not preparing a sad ending / i’ll show you the right world” in edN in comparison to

“i’ll see the end with my own eyes”

those two lines feel like they have very different implications.

i feel like this new one shows kei’s transition into becoming more humane and learning to be more “selfish,” in a way . 

to elaborate….

“i’m not preparing a sad ending / i’ll show you the right world” almost implies that while kei intends to do everything in his power for his goal of “reaching eden”, if you will, he doesn’t intend to be there to see it at the end with them…

so if this makes sense, he’s prepared to “sacrifice himself” to make “eden” attainable for roku and itsuki and the rest of the world again, but he doesn’t expect to make it that far alongside roku and itsuki to be able to enjoy things at the end with them. he’s doing it all for their sake and not his .

meanwhile , with the new verse . . . “i’ll see the end with my own eyes” makes it sound like he’s realizing that what he really wants is to just spend time happily with roku and itsuki , and he’s not really prepared to fully embrace the role of a christ figure and rather, he wants to remain more humane so that he can stick together alongside roku and itsuki.

this is hard to articulate , but basically….

kei still holds himself on a pedastool, almost.

let me try and explain using more religious stuff. christ was in a human body. he could spend time with his disciples and those around him, but in a sense he was isolated from them completely from the get go because of the responsibility he had on his shoulder to eventually die on the cross for humanity’s wellbeing. he never made the same connections as the people around him made with each other because those people were not as holy as him; he was on a higher plane of existence than his disciples/family, in a sense. 

and like any other christ figure, kei is the same way. he’s able to spend casual everydays with roku and itsuki, but he hasn’t been able to connect with them truly because he’s distanced himself from them because he believes that in the end, he’ll spend his life sacrificing/ slaving away himself to do whatever is necessary for the betterment of those around him. he’s dehumanizing himself. like christ, he can’t live carefreely and like those around him because he holds a higher level of understanding and becomes isolated from the rest; christ’s disciples didn’t fully understand him, and to an extend i don’t think itsuki and rokuta did. i’m pretty sure itsuki says something like he’ll follow kei to the ends of the earth, and rokuta shares the same sentiment i’m sure. they don’t follow him necessarily because they understand and agree with his ideologies, but because of who kei is as a person. they just put their faith in him.

and i feel like the change from these two verses show how in a sense, kei is learning how to become more “selfish” like i said earlier. he’s learning how to acknowledge that he’s not willing to become that christ figure completely because that means he’ll be sacrificing his humanity, and he won’t be able to enjoy his time with roku and itsuki. so i think maybe kei is starting to realize that he does not have to take on a broad battle like being set on destroying all phantom metals . 

kei’s realizing that he has to step down from the metaphysical cross he put himself on and just be happy with what he has at the moment with roku and itsuki . he’s becoming more human. 

then again , this is all speculation and i could be very very very wrong !! ( ˃ ⌑ ˂ഃ )

other notes i made while watching the mv on loop were���

why exactly did they choose a train? my first thought was “night on the galactic railroad”, which i’m not sure if anyone reading this knows… it’s a stretch but maybe there’s some correlation there, especially with the train going off the tracks…

itsuki’s verse goes **so hard!!!** amazingggggggg

sooooo so happy to see all the piano’s!!! starts crying

not only do we get the shift from all the separate angel wings on each member to one pair for all of them, but also the train tracks converging into one!! which just reiterates the theme of unity for kei/ all of them!!

and this picture right hereeee how it looks like roku’s being lifted up

and the line “a visionary who keeps creating…”

there is a lot more i want to rant about but i need to go to bed now . . .

[tamersa]

The shitiest translation of a book (known to me) aka why Polish translation of Good Omens sucks hard

Let me take you on an adventure! Sadly it won’t be  one during a nice and sunny day with happiness and laughter but rather a dreadful and containing mad giggles. What is that adventure you may ask? Why it’s an official Polish translation of Good Omens! Look at the photos below:

See all the plastic markers? Those are the mistakes I found in the book. But let me tell you. Those are not all of them! Just the major ones or ones that offends me the most.

You may ask: why did I use up most of my free time for over 2 months to do this?

Many years ago when I read the book for the first time I felt slightly disappointed. The book wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. It was weird, because I really liked T. Pratchett books from Disc World series. Maybe because there was other author? Or maybe the whole concept how the world was built? At that time I couldn’t even know that I would quite like the book in the future, and it wasn’t my younger mind fault that it was so confused. But the translation. Years later after watching the series I was wondering, why the book felt a bit off to me. And then my friend opened the book at a random, it was page no. 382, and found a mistake there. I thought it would be fun to compare both the original and the official translation. Oh what ‘fun’ it was.

THE HISTORY

First few facts to settle it in the time line.

The book was first published in 1990. T. Pratchett was 42 then, and N. Gaiman - 30. They co-wrote modern book settled in more or less the same time as it was published. It is important information to take here, because it might explain some of the terrible translation errors.

Polish version was first distributed in 1992. It had 2 translators Jacek Gałązka and Juliusz Witold Garztecki. It’s hard to tell more about the first one, but the other was 70 when he translated the book. Yes 70! And in his biography you can read, he was mostly rewarded for his books about army thins. My point is, while I don’t know much about this person I don’t think he was the right one for translating a book such as Good Omens. Maybe I’m biased, but just because there are some army men and some war themes in the book  doesn’t mean it has the right vibes.

But let’s dive into the errors and just wrong stuff I found by getting Polish book, English version paperback and pdf version for faster search of phrases.

There are 2 major types of errors:

“Editors” (errors that are not based off wrong translation per se, just lazy editing and some weird choices of the redaction).

Prologue and 2 part switched – the book should start with Eden scene not the character names introduction. Yeah in many old fashioned books it was other way around but this is author decision! You shouldn’t switch it because it looks better for you that way!

-        Chapters with numbers that not correspond with the parts in the book – yep in PL version chapters have numbers. What for? I don’t know, because there isn’t any table of content. And some chapter begin randomly not like bigger parts of the book.

-        Lack of days of the week – It is important for the flow of the book yet we can’t read it like in the original at the begging of some pages 130-        Lack of the dividing signs between paragraphs – sometimes there aren’t any. Because why to bother.

Lack of starting dialogue in a new line – there were few cases where someone didn’t drop a new line for dialogue and I was so confused who said what.

Lack of dialogue lines – in few places whole dialogue lines are missed

Interpunction mistakes, fast speaking with the comas not the dots – so pacing, that changes the flow of the book

Splitting text in general was terrible.

The capital letters, cursive and normal dialogue – in this book it is important what kind of font property we use – normal dialogue is different than Death speaking or Aziraphale talking in different bodies. But in this translation it is messed up. The angel speaks with capital letters like Death. That so not cool for me… and take those small pleasures reading the book.

You can also see PL version of the book has distinct change of tone in the middle. Why? Because you can tell almost exactly when the other translator started to work. And well, I think they didn’t communicate (don’t know the reason) because same stuff ,same words, even same names aren’t corresponding! You will see it later in the text.

story errors:

The first translator: looks like bitter man, who wants to correct the writers, adding 234532 not needed words, have sexist wording, and sometimes archaic speech. Makes one good joke and his translation of Agnes speech is nice. Maybe because he is closer to her times than to the times the book was written.

The major mistakes: too many words even for Polish version; Polish words are generally longer than English ones and sometimes you need to add words to have the same context. But this man goes so far with it is ridiculous. He takes 2 lines of good, easy translatable text that in PL would make max 3 lines and makes it to 5 lines. Why to add unneeded stuff?

Weird figures of speech that are not funny - those are really strong point in the Disc world book and in the original Good omens too. But the translation butchered those, drowning the wit and throwing random, sometimes even archaic, lines.

Crowley name – context mistake – Crowley name was Crawly first, the demon changed it later. Not in PL ver. Form the first line he was always Crowley.

Changing the text so context is changed too: like making an island form the a mountain, or changing a word that we don’t know if it’s a flame because the description is so vague. Or sometimes it is just translated wrong in general, changing the meaning.

Archaic words – like I’ve said it was modern book in the 90’. It wasn’t written in the 60’. Also new version of the book could be upgraded. Like in the 90 word ‘weekend’ wasn’t popular in Poland but now it is. So why do we have Saturday-Sunday and not just weekend…

The vulgarisms: bit too hardcore for a book that was co-made by terry Pratchett. Real Polish language has best vulgarisms and I love them but this book is not the place for most of them. Also because when they are there we could feel the impact. But you know what? Azz didn’t say his ‘Fuck’ line in PL version when being called back to heaven if page before it in translation he swears quite badly ( which also changes context…) Yep no “Fuck”… why the translator didn’t write “noż kurw…” or something? I don’t know…

Added words like “black Bentley”. In the original that phrase was used once or twice not like 10 times. The reader remember this car is black I can assure you…

Added whole sentences: sometimes the translator adds whole sentence without a reason. It is not his book… really…

Billion in Polish is not billion or million it is MILIARD – yep, those people are not great with numbers.

Lack of sentences: too many lines before? Let’s cut some of them out… I don’t know why but such a thing happens here too. Example is the Crowley pen scene.

Context mistake with the Bentley bullet holes – one of most confusing paragraph in PL version. I didn’t know what the hell (or heaven) is going on. So I read the original and everything made sense. Crowley put new window glass with holes. It was that easy. In PL version it sounds somewhat different.

Mr. and ‘Pan’ – mister in Polish is ‘Pan’, but somehow the book uses the Mr. shortening and sometimes Pan. Why not Pan all the time? Why to use Mister word in Polish version?

Spanish Inquisition – this scene is so butchered I just can’t… in Pl version it sounds like someone told him it was fun not that the hell congratulated Crowley for the inquisition

Lack of consequent translation: Asmodeusz I Wormwood – names: this is same name in English version. Also sister Mary’s surname once is translated and later is used as it was in the original (in my opinion it should be translated so the reader would understand it better)

Kraken!! – do you know that first translator didn’t knew that Kraken is a name of underwater past and thought it is some kind of light vulgarism? I couldn’t make that up myself…

Ineffable – this word is translated on many occasion in a different way, sometimes changing the meaning like Az said it is ineffable and in PL version is “Azz couldn’t find a way to explain this” really. Only later in the book the word is translated better. And as it is a running joke in the book it should be translated consistently in my opinion.

No food joke with deviled eggs and angel cake. And it was completely spoiled. The translator either didn’t know what deviled eggs are or thought it is overcooked food and made Aziraphale not like it.  Even after one drink I thought out how to make food pun and not spoil the part…

Fell’s name – I like the small pun that Az took last letters of his name to make a fake family name, however in Polish version translator didn’t see the joke and put there some weird ass cringe pseudonym.

And of course homophobia…– and not one that Az look like a stereotypical homosexual man no… also the “southern pansy’ is translated each time differently and at least once so much more vulgar and offensive.

Killing the joke about healing the bike – I love this joke. It is silly and light but in PL version Crowley says it like it was some offense.

Snowballs in hell – Polish has equivalent idiom “hell freezes over” but translator somehow didn’t  use it and instead wrote “there are no chances for it in hell”… the meaning is lost

Being mean – translator makes some characters mean without reason

What is a bully? The translator apparently didn’t know and messed up by saying it’s same as a loser

Recycling paper is same as recycling toilet paper for the translator – disgusting

Famine – the 6 letter word. In PL translate as “głód”. So a 4 letter word. Yet the character wrote his name in 6 letter in PL version…

Pepper reads erotic magazine for teens in PL version, not some stuff like Bravo… really? Pepper is 11.. she reads about boybands and shit…. Really…

Racism - the joke about men’s underwear (when Newt answered the phone) was changed to literally “painting Chinese people white”….

Shadwell - and his hate of southern people was changed to him hating English people… why? Also his “southern pansy” saying, is translated as “ English fag” but also “funny guy”… yeah

Pollution - powietrze morowe and skażenie – one translator gave Pollution a super weird name, the other one gave a proper one. That means book holds 2 names and people will be confused reading the second ‘chapter’ and later parts of the book.

Second translator was bit better. He didn’t add so much from himself and didn’t make as much mean comments and mistranslated. His errors are mostly literal translation of the words. That means whole sentences and even paragraphs sounds at least weird but in the long run, some doesn’t have much sense at all  and sounds AI generated. But it was written in then 90. Well I don’t have the 90 copy but the translators are the same on both covers so I think it is a very sloppy translation, or one was a complete amateur.

Also the translator doesn’t understand the difference between chips and crisps. I don’t know why he thinks kids eats fries and not thin potato snacks all the time.

I really can’t write how the translation of the second part of the book is stiff and  not flow enough. Look at this:

read the yellow part… it sounds so off..

Sometimes the translator is too lazy to find a word in Polish so he uses an English one and then puts description bellow…. Why do that when there are Polish words for it?

Also why are most numbers written with letters and not numbers? Maybe it is normal to do so but for me reading the name of a number is more confusing than just seeing the number ( like writing five hundred and not just 500)

Also they had to explain what sushi is :D now really in 2019 the this book was re-release most people know what sushi is. Besides, even that description is wrong…

There are also places when you could use Polish names for stuff or people. Like the painters to describe Tadfield. Most Polish people don’t know ones in the original book. But when you use famous Polish painters the parallel/joke would be better.

The translator doesn’t know or remember proper Polish idioms like kopnąć w kalendarz (kick the calendar - in English it would be “kick the bucket”) means to die, using weird ‘punch the calendar’ why?

Again sometimes when there are citations from the song one translator keeps the original, while the other one translates it. It’s confusing but in the end the reader should know what the words means.

Translator doesn’t know that sometimes you can’t turn back(?) on the  road and for sure doesn’t know how to translate it.

Second translator sometimes also used the language calque and not proper words.

The first translator wrote too much. This one cuts sentences sometimes.

And why is there explanation what Beelzebub name means?

Ending – where is forever? – ending of the book has a warm and slightly philosophical ending. With word ‘forever’ as the last word. I don’t know why Polish ‘na zawsze’ wasn’t written there? it really takes away from the ending…

There are hundreds of small and big mistakes really… ( movie clip if I can)

To sum it up: someone had bright idea to give a modern book to 2 older men to translate, when they weren’t really good with translation, or vibes etc. The book has been butchered ant that’s super sad. It could make potential reader to not like it even if they read the original it would be fine.

I wish the publisher would hire someone re-translate it in or give it to another publisher.

I’m not someone with a degree in English language but when someone like me can ‘catch’ all the mistakes and errors, I wonder what professional would say. Good for me I can read in English enough to enjoy  the original, for all the others: better watch the series.

[coconut530]

ok I'm rambling again so yeah. Hello veteran worshippers I'm new :)

I mean, like I knew about Sleep Token, heard The Summoning first in one of my Trigun artist’s Tiktoks, then heard Take Me Back To Eden in a video by the creator of Covenant Webtoon. Listened to those songs for fun sometimes, but then TMBTE got ✨stuck✨ in my head. Then I was like “Live video of TMBTE??? Does it exist?”

And like. Why didn’t I get into this band sooner.

First off here’s The Summoning and TMBTE so you can see my pipeline:

And then THIS RITUAL introduced me to the band, which was FREAKING AMAZING IT’S SUCH A GOOD RECORDING!!

I love their aesthetic, secondly. You don’t see many mysterious bands these days, and these guys deliver so well. Every single member has a distinct and interesting look that's all so cool. I love how the Vesselettes/Espera exist, like that's amazing and I love seeing them. Vessel looks so fun to draw I wanna do it at some point. This is the first band I’ve found that just speaks to my OCs more than other fictional characters. Probably gonna see me animate Dark Signs with one of them soon enough.

Third, like… their lyrics are some of the most creative and evocative things I’ve heard in so long. It kinda sucks they don’t do many interviews bc I’m dying to know what goes through their heads when they write this amazing music. Some of my favorite lyrics are in a list below so you don’t read a gigantic paragraph, and will also show you my favorite songs I’ve found:

Chokehold: Still getting into this one, but "So show me that which I cannot see / Even if it hurts me / Even if I can’t sleep / Oh, and though we act out of our holy duty to be constantly awake / You’ve got me in a chokehold" is a build that always gets me so hyped up

Granite: just found this one, it's so BADASS!! "When you sit there acting like you know me... So keep an eye on the road, or we'll both be here forever" is so freaking awesome. I need like an animated music video that just illustrate the lyrics bc that'd be so cool

Like That: "Fall into your eyes like a grave (all that is inside, all your anger) / Bury me to the sound of your name, no (all your disgust, all your resentment) / Fall into your eyes like a grave (all your difference, all your pain) / Bury me to the sound of your name (all your pain)." There's so much resentment in this song and it's dripping off of these lyrics specifically, it's awesome

Missing Limbs: just found this one also but OMG it made me tear up the first time watching it in the Red Rocks Ritual! It's so sweet and tender, by the time you get to the title at the end you just get punched in the feels. "I'd give anything / To balance your conviction with certainty / To fall asleep without you lying next to me / To sever my connection with everything ... And I'll live like I've got missing limbs for you" IS SO GOOD HURTS MEEEEEEEE

The Summoning: -insert the rest of the song after 5:00- Obviously this is the part everyone uses in their social media posts, and I am not immune to its allure. It’s amazing!

Take Me Back To Eden: -insert the entire second chorus- and "And I don't know what's got its teeth in me / but I'm about to bite back in anger / And no amount of self-sought fury / will bring back the glory of innocence." The way Vessel sings this is so desperate and like enhances the lyrics so much more augh

Aqua Regia: honestly like all of it. The rap-ish style with the creative lyrics is so cool and the imagery of it all is so vivid. I love how the second chorus builds with the verse. It has such a steady, pungent rhythm that's so fun to sing

Rain: "I know, I know, I am what I am / The mouth of the wolf, the eyes of the lamb / So darling, will you saturate? / -second chorus-." I love the opposites in this verse, so interesting. The chorus has that yearning (tm) and I'm all here for ittttttt

The Night Does Not Belong To God: "When you live by daylight / With angels at your side." It's literally two lines but after the beautiful build that intros the song and his angelic voice, it does something to you

Dark Signs: I melt into a puddle every time I hear "I might break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody." The line is evocative enough just hearing it once, but making it a backing vocal that’s always playing just makes it punch you over and over. All the beat drops in this song are amazing

Atlantic: EVERY FREAKING WORD AND NOTE IN THIS SONG

I need y'all to like... hear Atlantic at Red Rocks specifically (cw: flashing):

This is the main reason I made this post bc... LIKE EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS HELLO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!! This version is so amazing I barely listen to the studio version. "Sobbing as they turn to statues at the bedside / I'm trying not to crush into sand." I can't tell you what exactly but this makes me feel things. "Call me when they bury bodies underwater / It's blue light over murder for me / Crumble like a temple built from future daughters / To wastelands when the oceans recede" is a phenomenal verse and I've never felt more connected to the ocean when I hear it. The piano, the vocals, the instruments, the venue, II singing at the end, the vesselettes, the lights. Oh my god. The outro. Soothing and angelic omggggg. That beat drop?!?!?! ✨ w h a t ✨ . They've put an addictive substance into every one of their songs but this one is like an overdose. Can't get anything done all I'm thinking about is this -flails hands at video-. Vessel is literally a vessel in this song bc whatever entities the band made a deal with to have music this good are singing through him here.

And like the fourth thing. By now listening to all these songs may have made you realize:

what can’t they do?!?! Their music just goes into so many different genres sometimes and it’s amazing. Never heard a band this versatile.

Uh, yeah. That's been my experience with Sleep Token so far, and I am so normal about them, as you can see :D !!!!! Excited to be into them and this community. Any of my followers reading this who don't know who they are, go check them out, they're freaking amazing. They will change you.

[melodyofthevoid]

The Crane Wives Examined: Safe Ship Harbored

So I vowed to do it, and thus I have begun my journey into the Crane wives discography. (@dreamishsara thanks for the push I needed to start this lmao)

The first of the four main albums written by The Crane Wives, the overall aesthetics of this album establish many of the themes found throughout their discography. From laments of personal failings to promises of love, to layered metaphors and stories wrapped within beautiful packages of harmonies and the ever present instruments that bring the whole thing together. Generally more of a mixed bag, but there’s really only winning with a Crane Wives song.

Can’t Have it All

Defiance, in a word. The singer is battered and bruised emotionally from their former love, but they’re not in that same place anymore. It hurts still, and there’s a long way to go before they’re fully healed. But that healing won’t involve the one who hurt them.

“All my love you tried to take, but you can’t have it all”. Some was taken, but not all. They’re still standing.

The song then moves from the past to the future, trying to take a look at what is to come. They wonder if they might find somewhere to settle and linger one day. Rediscover love with a partner with someone new. Wondering if their ex might get married, but knowing it will never be to them. Because their mind’s made up and they’re standing strong.

And sometimes, you need that reminder that even though it hurts to move on, what’s done is done. Going back won’t fix things, and they tried this before. Whatever they think of you, the person you were, you don’t have to be that. They can’t have all of you, that’s for you to decide.

The Diving Bell

A diving bell was an early method of exploring the sea, a heavy surrounding structure that provided a pocket of air as the diver descended. Protecting them. This new love, surrendering to the deep is an open diving bell, taking the singer deeper and deeper and providing no air or means of escape. And that is okay, the singer feels no fear. They’ve decided to follow this no matter where it takes them.

It’s a comforting song, all soft vocals and easy guitar. There’s a rhythm on the drums that returns in later songs, but here it isn’t driving forward, it feels more like a fluttering heartbeat.

Caleb Trask

This song is an extended reference to the eponymous Caleb in East of Eden, who is himself a reference to Cain. He struggles with his lineage, believing himself to be doomed to ill-intent after learning of his parentage. And yet, he tries to be good. He strives in spite of dooming his twin brother to die in war, in spite of what he believes himself to be.

At the heart of it, the singer reassures him that he has no reason to keep holding himself in chains of guilt. But who doesn’t? All people are flawed, and it just takes forgiving yourself to move forward.

The azaleas are symbols of his love in the book, the girl who was once promised to his brother. They fall in love eventually, and he promises that they’ll look out on the flowers one day and allow himself to love her. But they have love already. Waiting and punishing himself isn’t going to make him a better person, or make him happier. Everyone is descended from a sinner in some way, no person is without fault.

If you can be better, then be.

New Colors

The spirit of rebellion and throwing a middle finger to the concept of stagnation. Finding something new at any cost, no matter what it does to the singer. If it costs their eyes, they’ll at least see the world anew. They won’t be stopped, that’s the end of it.

To give up the sight to see, to give up air to breathe, finding a new freedom by sacrificing what they once had. The bombastic statement descending into quiet pleas to be heard by someone, anyone.

Counting Sheep

A cheery condemnation of the state of everything, a world full of half awake sheep. Stuck in a cycle of half aware and half asleep. Watching the news and watching the world deteriorate, dooming the day before it even begins. Forcing a smile and trying to get by because it’s all you’ve gotten used to doing.

But even knowing what’s going on doesn’t fix it. The sheep serve the double metaphor of being both the wool covering the eyes of the people, and that others are sheep too. There’s no reason to count sheep if they’re everywhere.

Medicine to conform makes the dreams that once filled life fade away, muddling the time together. There is the question of is it worth it? Is it worth confining yourself to this existence when it doesn’t fulfill? Doesn’t make you happy? Is this a battle worth fighting for, to be who you’re meant to be?

And then the end, integrating the common rhyme of the Friar Jaques/Brother John into the song, repeating it over and over, ties back into the question of are you sleeping through life? The bells, the sign to wake up is now, if only one can hear it.

Hole in the Silver Lining

A twist on the everyday saying and an ode to the pessimist. The repetition of this song, like the singer’s own action, wears away at the melody. They’ll find that hole in the silver lining, the flaw in the miracle, even if they have to make it. Running it over and over in their hands until it appears.

There’s an air of resignation and anger, especially when the final verses come in. They say to leave doubt at the door, to not come closer. With the self-effacing tone of the beginning, it comes across as the singer begging someone to leave and not come closer. Hoping to wear down this silver lining too until the good is worn away.

Defeat is a heavy thing, and it narrows the vision until it’s all you can see.

Safe Ship, Harbored

The thoughts of what could have been, the ambitions lost to years of fear and outside forces. Looking to those that know you and saying “I’ve given up, don’t give me your blessings, I won’t do anything with them”. Knowing that this isn’t what you’d wanted for yourself but being stuck regardless.

Things I forgot I cannot do evokes such a strong picture, of learned limitations keeping the singer trapped on shore. Failures from the past that linger just enough to keep them from ever trying, ever yearning again. A safe ship in a harbor, still being worn down by the salt and waves in the shallow waters but never venturing out.

And the world would look so flat and limited stuck in one place, without even a hint of what lies over the horizon. A ship is meant to travel and see places beyond, and yet here it is, stuck. Ashamed of what it fails to do yet trapped out of a desire to never be hurt again.

Worn down not by something, but someone. A bottle broken to signal a new voyage would be wasted. They’re not going anywhere.

Naked, The Night Falls

Soft and poetic, the softness of allowing oneself to mingle and intertwine with someone else. To take their weight, their problems, and share the burden.

The lines are almost nonsensical at times, almost reminiscent of the words one says when half asleep, cradled in someone’s arms. They burn, they suffer sometimes, there are hard times to be sure, but with their love they grow and are stronger for the hard times. All will be well, so long as they have a soft place to rest.

Ancient History

There is an aftermath to every breakup, a past that solidifies and while it will remain unchanged, almost begs to be examined as if in the futile hope of learning something even long after the dust has settled. Dreams of a former lover can haunt long long past the death of the relationship, and pick at that scab over and over again.

Skeletons hidden in the closet or in the graves laughing at the futile attempts and the holes left behind in the wake of painful regret.

The refrain of “I try to let it fade away”, desperate for relief, repeats until the truth comes out. That they still hold on, even if it isn’t healthy.

This is a constant battle, a prolonged and eternal war. They ache, but the past keeps bleeding out of the wound that refuses to heal. And they’re left with the question of what to do.

They just have to keep trying. Maybe one day, they’ll let go.

October

A song for the hopeless romantic, who’d give and give and give for nothing in return. They entreat for the other to be with them, in spite of what they are missing. And yet, they would debase themselves, crawling on hands and knees if any higher (or lower) power asks of them. This person is divine to them, their love is divine.

And yet, when the promises are made, the object of their affections keeps the upper hand. The feelings are not reciprocated, at least not with the same intensity. There is no room in their heart for the singer. Any hope that there was is decaying and growing cold. They’ll take being nothing more than a mark on their lover’s chest and having their secrets torn away if it means that they’ll have one kiss. Their love can take what they want, they will give it happily.

October is the heart of fall, when the earth begins to die and grow cold for the winter ahead. It is an inevitability, just another part of life. An unavoidable part of life for an unavoidable heartbreak. This devotion will never be returned, but they’re alright with that.

The Crooked, The Cradle

A prayer for respite, for relief. There is blood on the singer’s hands, they belong to no one, no one’s daughter, and there are still enemies at their door. The slow, almost lullaby-esque tone implies that they are trying to soothe despite their exhaustion, it pulls at their core, and yet…

If there is mercy in this world, and they hope that there is, there will be peace. An end to the violence and terror. They hold onto it, in spite of the devil at their door. They can’t let it go. “I won’t pretend my season won’t end”, an admittance, an acceptance of the end, memento mori, as it goes. But there is still that hope there will be something left, some piece left over for their love.

And what of the cradle? Is it a promise for a future child? That they will be the parent they never had? Or to one that is there and waits for them, and whose absence is felt? Whichever it is, the singer pleads for anyone to hear them out. Alone in their fight and known for now only among the wicked and cruel. The crooked.

Yet there is the repetition of the chorus, hope even still. A home after the war, after the work is done.

I Ain’t Done

A folk tale reminiscent of “Leave Luanne”, this tells the story of a woman caught cheating and who paid the price for her infidelity, lamenting her fate and telling of the night she died. But always, always repeating that she is not done on this earth, and will continue to exist. She is, in fact, not done with the world of the living.

The singer is perpetually stuck between remorse and anger, with one voice in the chorus singing that she now has eternity to repent, to plant her guilty seed (a double entendre if ever there was one) by the moonlight in the cemetery. The other narrates her slipping away from her sleeping spouse, creeping away to meet her lover with no regrets.

There are even more double meanings within the song, from even the first verse. “I am consumed by selfish wanting” could both mean that she was compelled to seek out this affair, even knowing she was married, and that this affair would eventually consume her. “Felt love’s searing sting”, a knife and a kiss. The shadow of her husband is both one cast over her heart, and over her before he murders her. The wordplay all weaves a simple tale together, one that the ghost will relive over and over again.

[landofzero-archive]

Ibara Saegusa - Private Room Chapter 4

Writer: Nishioka Maiko

Season: Autumn

(Location: Starmony Dorm Room (Ibara, Mitsuru, Midori, Tsumugi's Room))

Aira: Fuah, Aaaa…….. Good morning.

Ibara: Good morning.

Takamine-shi and Tenma-shi are both working today. I heard that they’ll be returning in the middle of the night.

Please feel free to spend time in this room as if it was your own. Though, it might be a bit difficult for you to be here with me, just the two of us. 

Aira: No no! That’s not the case at all……!

To be honest, it’s more like I’m the freeloader here. You should be the one carrying on without caring too much about me, Saegusa-senpai.

I’ll take up your offer on doing whatever I’d like in here too.

Ibara: Thank you very much. That’s what I’ll do.

Aira: (……And so I said, but being together with Saegusa-senpai, just the two of us is making me nervous……!)

This reminds me of when I first found out about dorming with Sakuma-senpai and Tenshouin-senpai. I was really nervous at that time too.

I’m curious about Saegusa-senpai’s day off……♪

Since Saegusa-senpai has the image of a workaholic.

Even though he revealed how he spends his days off in Eden’s interview article, it felt like it was just a safe response.

That’s why Saegusa-senpai’s private life is still a mystery.

Besides, I just can’t help being curious about the way idols in highly popular units spend their days off!)

Ibara: …… (Doing some reading)

Aira: (I see, I see. Heh……Saegusa-senpai likes to read. I wonder what book he’s reading?

If it’s a book I’m familiar with, maybe it could help broaden the topic of conversation.

Let’s see……”Working techniques to keep a step ahead”?

……Eh, what’s that? A business book, huh? That suits Saegusa-senpai well, but if that’s the case I won’t know about it.)

Ibara: ……… (Using his tablet)

Aira: (Mm? He stopped reading the book in his hand and started looking at his tablet.

I get it~ I do that a lot too. When I’m in the middle of watching TV or a movie in my room, somehow my hand would end up touching my smartphone.

He looks so serious…… I wonder what he’s looking at?

But I know more about the internet than about books, so it might be easier to find a common interest to talk about! Since this is Saegusa-senpai, maybe he’s looking up news on the internet?

Whaat? It doesn’t look like he’s looking up news.There seems to be a lot of graphs. It’s got to be stocks then?

I usually have no affinity to them, so I barely look at them.

Ah~ stocks, huh? The stocks don't seem like a topic that we can talk about together……A shame.

Aira: (Ah, he’s back to reading again.

In that interview article I read back then……I thought he had just given a safe response.

It could be that the truth is not that he was making up the answers for the public, but he just answered as they really are.)

Ibara: ………

…… Could you please not stare so much? It’s quite uncomfortable.

Aira: Uhyaah! Y-you noticed!?

Ibara: You’ve been observing and scrutinizing me that much. I’m not that dull. If anything, I think it’s strange that you think you’ve been able to hide it.

Aira: I’m sorry~ It’s just that I thought I was going to get a glimpse of the surprising side of Saegusa-senpai’s private life, but it’s unexpectedly normal.

Ibara: I’m sorry for being an uninteresting person.

Aira: Eh!? No  no!! That’s not what I meant!

I just mean that reading business books and looking at stocks isn’t that much different from what you usually do.

Ibara: But I do a lot of different other things at my usual job. I just thought I should spend my day off working on something beneficial.

Aira: Hm~mm. Now that you’ve mentioned it, in a broader sense, my own hobbies might be similar. My idol otaku knowledge could be used in certain places in my idol activities too.

Alri~ght. Then I’ll spend some time watching videos of my favourite idols……♪ I need to prepare warm tea and snacks to go with my videos!

Ah, I’ll brew some tea for you too, Saegusa-senpai.

Ibara: No, please don’t mind me.

Aira: Don’t be that way. I’ve troubled you so much. If I don’t do anything to make up for it, I won’t be able to calm down. So please don’t hesitate in accepting.

Ibara: Haa, well. In that case, I’ll be counting on you. If I remember correctly, the tea leaves are kept above that cupboard.

Aira: Got it. Please wait a moment.

On top of the cupboard……Ye~p—

( Uu……Even on my tip toes, I can’t reach it.

It’ll be so pathetic if I ask Saegusa-senpai for help because I suddenly couldn’t reach the tea leaves. After all that fuss I’ve made about it too.)

Mm?

(Ah, There’s a small stepping stool here. The seat has a mascot character on it, how cute~ That’s perfect, I’ll borrow this. Heave ho—)

Heh!? It sounds like there was a snap coming from the stool……?

Uwaaaaa!? I’m falling……!?

Previous | Directory | Next

[aeoki]

New Start GO! - Prologue

Location: Inside Train Characters: Hajime, Tomoya, Mitsuru & Nazuna Season: Winter Writer: Seitarou Kino & Akira

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< The middle of February. On the commuter train. >

Nazuna: Urghhh…! I–I can’t move…!

Hajime: A–Are you okay, Nii-chan? Hold onto me if you feel like you’ll get separat–

Whaa!?

Nazuna: You say that but look at you, Hajime-chin – the crowd has dragged you all the way over there~!

Oh, now that I think about it, where have Mitsuru-chin and Tomo-chin gone? I don’t see them anywhere…

Mitsuru: I’m here, y’know~! I can’t move my body but I’ve been training every day so I’m fine!

Tomoya: I’m over here. I’m surrounded by people taller than me so you probably can’t see me, though.

How many people can fit in here anyway? I honestly underestimated the rush hour.

This isn’t something anyone should experience five days a week.

Nazuna: Yeah. But there are actually a lot of people who have to experience this during the weekdays~

Anyway, I’m glad you two are all right. Not that I could’ve imagined this is how horrifying commuter trains would be!

Office workers sure have it rough. I never would’ve thought there’d come a day where I’d be in their shoes.

Hajime: That’s precisely why it’ll be a good experience for us. I’m looking forward to seeing how our first day of work will be like.

Nazuna: Yeah. We’ve gotta make sure we meet their expectations since we were chosen for the project.

(In any case… There are five stations left until the company office – Let’s do our best!)

(...Ahaha. That sounds a bit weird.)

(I balance life as an idol and a university student, but to think I’d get to experience being an office worker too. It really is a strange opportunity ♪)

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< A few days earlier. >

Nazuna: …”New Start Go!”?

Tomoya: Hmm. So it’s a special segment part of a variety TV show where they’ll watch us working in an office, right?

Hajime: We’ll be working at a company that sells menswear. We can promote their suits at the same time, so it’s like hitting two birds with one stone for the company…

I see, so that’s why we’ll be getting work experience there. I understand now, Anzu-san.

Tomoya: But work experience, huh. Are we up for this…?

Mitsuru: It just means we’ll be wearing suits and working, right? That sure sounds fun, y’know!

Tomoya: Well, the people watching us will definitely see it that way, but we’ll just be useless in the office. I have a feeling we’ll just get in their way.

I’m happy you offered this opportunity to us, Anzu-san, but I’m sorry. I don’t think we should make a decision right away.

So can you tell us a bit more about it?

Why did this sort of work offer come to us in the first place? What sort of work are they wanting from us…? I’d like to hear the specifics before accepting.

Hajime: Is it because we held out on our own against “Eden” during “Boogie Time”, so everyone suddenly has their attention on us…?

It’s true we’re used to variety shows, so maybe that’s why we were seen as equals with “Eden” there.

Nazuna: And a higher-up from a TV station noticed that we have potential and decided they wanted to see more, huh.

It’s great they acknowledged our variety skills, but this job will be pretty tough.

Mitsuru: I’m fine whenever and with whatever as long as it’s fun!

Tomoya: Don’t say yes so easily. I don’t think working in a company office is an easy thing to do, you know?

Mitsuru: Hmm~ But I’m not gonna be there to play~

Tomoya: Well, I guess you could say things like being an idol or acting also count as social experience… but working at an office will be a lot of work. My dad looks like he’s having a hard time every day.

It’s a different kind of difficulty from being idols – it’s a contest of who’s more talented there. They have a lot of rules you have to follow, so wouldn’t that be the worst kind of environment for you, Mitsuru?

Mitsuru: Hmm~ You think so? Sounds pretty strict!

So does that mean we should say no? Whaddya guys think?

Hajime: It’s a difficult choice… I think Tomoya-kun has a point, but I also think there will be things we can learn from the experience.

It would be nice to have some time to decide, but what do you say?

This work offer suddenly appeared out of the blue for us, so I think it would be best for the company if we have time to discuss before making a decision.

Tomoya: I agree. It’s not something we can easily say yes to and we’re happy they think highly of us “Ra*bits”.

Nazuna: Yeah. Sorry, Anzu, it seems our opinions are split, so can we have some time to think things over?

Right. Sorry we can’t give you an answer right away.

Tomoya: Anzu-san, would it be okay if we gave you our answer two or three days from now? We’ll do some research on the company until then.

Okay. We’ll also read through the proposal carefully if you have it. Sorry for all the trouble!

Nazuna: …You’ve got to get going, so you’ll send it by email? Sorry, you’re so busy, but you came all the way here to talk to us in person,.

Yeah. We’ll make a responsible decision. If we decide to accept, then we’ll be in your care, Anzu.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤNext Chapter →

[aceghosts]

Oh, The Reckoning Begins Chapter 6

Series Summary: Five years ago, Junior Deputy Blue Murphy disappeared with Joseph Seed at the final standoff, only to be found a year later in Dutch's bunker. Now, five years later from that final standoff, Blue Murphy and Hope County have moved on with their lives. However, new sinister forces threaten Blue's life, and they will have to rely on the man who started this all to survive: Joseph Seed.

Ch. 1| Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Guilt, Emotional Manipulation, Graphic Depictions of Unrealistic nightmares, Canon-Typical Violence, Choking, Death, Explicitly talking about Someone's dead sibling, Blue having a Breakdown, and I think that should cover everything. Please let me know if I should tag for anything else.

Words: 4,269 words.

Author's Note: I did not mean for this chapter to take so long, lol. Hopefully, the next one will be quicker.

AO3

A few days after speaking with Joseph, Blue’s cell phone vibrates softly on their desk, dread washing over them. They look down at the caller ID, recognizing the number: Special Agent Hawthorne. Damnit, Blue hoped he might leave them alone. Blue would not talk to Joseph again; they had to, for their own sanity, which felt like it was starting to slip away like leaves being carried off by a strong breeze. Eventually, their cell phone quiets, Special Agent Hawthorne going to voicemail. They wait a few minutes, wondering if he would call again. Mercifully, their phone is silent as Blue lets out a relieved sigh.

Later that night, when Blue is the only one in the station, they finally gather the courage to listen to the voicemail. Special Agent Hawthorne is calm and empathetic in his message, once again tugging on their heartstrings:

“Thank you for helping us, Blue. Joseph was very cooperative with us after you left; your words gave him a lot to think about. I would like to request that you come speak to him again before our next session. We think it would help keep Joseph invested in working with us. I’m happy to drive you or provide reimbursement for gas.” Special Agent Hawthorne pauses, letting out a deep sigh. “Blue, I understand that after everything Joseph Seed did to you, that you would never want to see him again. Think of the people you can help; do it for them. Do it for Philip Santiago. Do it for Arthur Wilson. Do it for Abigail Carter. Do it for your friends. Do it for those who were killed by Eden’s Gate the first time. You have the power to make things right, Blue.”

They hang up the cell phone, tears burning in their eyes. Boomer huffs and Blue looks over to find him watching them expectantly. “I’m not going. I can’t….” They hesitate, shoulders dropping, “I’m not a hero. I can’t do this, not again.” Looking away from Boomer, they hear him huff again, and Blue wonders if everyone expects them to go. “Shit.” They murmur, grief clouding their mind.

The nightmares are relentless.

Blue stumbles through the Bliss, gagging as nausea overwhelms them. The smell is overpowering, acid rising in their throat. Their eyes water, burning as they try to blink away the tears. Someone grabs them by the their jacket collar, yanking Blue back. They stumble backward, their eyes meeting Marshal Burke’s. He sneers at them, disappointment written across his face. “Saved your life, Rookie, and this how you repay us?” He snarls, hauling them towards the water. Bliss rises from the water in a cloud of thick smoke, the water a sparkly putrid green. They howl with fear, scratching at the Marshal uselessly, trying to wriggle out of their jacket. Yet, Marshal Burke succeeds, overpowering Blue as he dunks them under the water. They thrash in a desperate scramble for survival, fear coursing through their body. He yanks them out of the water after what feels like an eternity, only to submerge them barely a few seconds later. Over and over.  Blue’s lungs burn as they desperately suck in air, only to choke down more water. “When will you learn, Rookie? When will you learn that you can never escape us?” Out of the corner of their eye, in a haze of sparkly green mist, Faith appears, smiling coldly as the Marshal shoves their head under the water once more.

CRACK! Pain radiates across Blue’s face as someone punches them. Their aviators crack, breaking into pieces as they fly off their face. Stumbling back a few steps, Blue refocuses, Eli Palmer pulling his fist back for another punch, face full of murderous rage. He sucker punches them in the gut, Blue doubling over as they let out a gasp of pain. Their brain panics momentarily, trying to get their lungs to suck in air. Blue feels Eli’s calloused fingers in their hair, harshly pulling them up to face him. An involuntary pained whimper escapes them as tears well in their eyes. Behind Eli, Blue catches sight of a figure, hidden in the shadows of the Wolf’s Den. Jacob Seed is grinning, a sick, predatory grin that sends a shiver straight up their spine. “I took you in, Rook, and what did I get for it? A rabid wolf in my den.” It wasn’t me; It was that damn music box. Yet, Blue finds they can’t say anything. Or maybe, they won’t. After all, they deserve this, right? Eli was their friend, and Blue fucking murdered him. “PATHETIC!” Eli roars, sending Blue crashing toward the ground. Blue hits the ground, dazed, before Eli’s boot connects with their rib, a sharp crack following. They bite down on their bottom lip, tasting the blood a second later as another kick connects.

“Hey Deputy,” Blue scrambles back towards the wall, away from Dutch. They’re stopped by the handcuffs, painfully connecting them to the small bed. His hands reach out as Blue kicks out. He narrowly dodges their kicks, hands wrapping around their throat. His fingers are thick, squeezing painfully down on their neck. They gasp for air, kicking more wildly now as they try to escape Dutch’s grasp. “I hauled your ass out of that burning wreckage, Deputy. I gave you shelter. I gave you a fucking army,” He snarls, flecks of spit hitting their face. Blue looks around, desperate for help, any help. Joseph Seed, leaning against the wall with a serene fucking look on his face, watches on as Blue’s struggles become weaker. “And, what did you do? Bring fucking Joseph Seed right fucking here? Let him strangle me to death?” A black fuzziness creeps in at the edge of their vision, limbs feeling like lead.

Another figure enters their fading vision, smiling cruelly at Blue. “Did you ever really think we could be free from this? We belong here, Wrath. There is no escape,” the other Blue taunts, their cruel grin widening.

Blue shoots up in their bed, soaked in sweat and tears. Boomer comes to them, licking the salty tears from their cheeks. Taking in a shaky breath, Blue mulls over their dreams. Did they deserve this? Were they destined to be there with Joseph at the end of the world? No, that was stupid. Blue belongs here in Hope County, with friends who love them and gorgeous nature.

They belong here, right?

Blue sighs, helping Boomer up into the truck. Once he was safely sitting shotgun, Boomer licks Blue’s face, making a shitty day slightly better. They laugh, scratching him fondly behind his left ear as Boomer grumbles in happiness. Thank whatever god existed for Boomer; He was their lifeline, the one constant comfort in all the shit they had been through in Hope County. Blue closes the door of the truck, looking out towards the setting sky. It was late, the pink nearly extinguished into the navy. Yet, they felt lucky to be alive, especially after last night. It was the small moments, like Boomer licking them joyfully or seeing the beauty of a sunset that kept Blue alive.

The sound of a car pulling into the Ranger Station parking lot jolts Blue from their thoughts. They look over, finding the very last two people they wanted to see. The maroon sedan stops shortly behind their truck, trying to block Blue into their space. Their fists clench, anxiety settling deep into their chest. Blue would not be intimidated by these two. If they had to, they would ram the sedan with their truck. Wouldn’t be the first time Blue rammed a truck through a blockade of cars.

“Ranger Murphy!” Ethel calls, getting out of the passenger side of the sedan. Peter parks the sedan, turning it off before joining his wife. He nods at Blue, a coldness in his eyes. “I wanted to make sure that you didn’t lose our number. You never gave us a call.” She walks towards Blue, focused intently on them.

Boomer lets out a sharp bark, deep growls emanating from him as his ears lay flat against his head. Ethel nervously glances towards Boomer, stepping back towards Peter. He wraps an arm around Ethel, who leans into him for comfort, as he shoots a nasty look towards Boomer. “Your dog isn’t going to bite us, is he?” Peter asks, distaste clear in his voice.

“Not unless you are a Peggie.” Their eyes narrow, glaring at Peter and Ethel.

Ethel laughs nervously. “Peggies, that’s what the Hope County Resistance called members of Eden’s Gate, correct?” Blue doesn’t speak, only nodding in response. “We’re not with Eden’s Gate, Ranger Murphy. We are just doing a story on them. Peter and I are not your enemies; we want to help you, Ranger Murphy. Telling your story can be cathartic.”

“The Ranger Station is closed for the day. If you have any urgent questions, you should call Emergency Services. If it is a nonemergency, you can call the number of the Ranger Station, and a Ranger will return your call,” They reply, using their best customer service voice, crossing their arms over their chest. What would it take for Ethel and Peter to fucking leave?

Ethel smiles a strained smile, her polite mask cracking slightly. “As you know, Ranger Murphy, we’re not interested in talking about the National Parks. We want to talk to you about Eden’s Gate.”

“I think I made it damn clear that I don’t want to talk about Eden’s Gate. If you continue to harass me about this, I will seek legal measures against you.” After Eden’s Gate, Blue only had to seek legal remedy once to get someone off their back as most people were either scared off or realized they weren’t going to get anywhere. The man, clearly going through something, believed that Joseph was some sort of alien with Eden’s Gate as a front for experimentation, and Blue, a witness to this horror show, was covering for him. Blue wishes it had been something that wild rather than common human cruelty. Maybe, they wouldn’t feel so awful about what they had done.

Peter sighs in frustration, shaking his head. “You know, all this avoidance would make one wonder what you have to hide, Ranger Murphy. Makes me wonder if you might not be so innocent.”

Blue’s blood runs cold, eyes widening at his statement. “Is that a threat?” They ask anxiously, nails digging into the cotton fabric of their forest green ranger shirt.

He shakes his head again. “No, Ranger Murphy. The truth will always come out. Ethel and I are going to make sure of that.” Peter pauses, a small smirk on his face. “Ranger Murphy, what was your relationship with Joseph Seed? The files aren’t clear on that.”

No way. Blue was not going to have this conversation with Ethel or Peter. “I’m sorry, but if you want information on Eden’s Gate, please speak with Sheriff Whitehorse. I will not speak with you.” Blue turns their back to the couple, uncrossing their arms. Their steps are shaky, adrenaline and anxiety coursing through their body. Their left hand reaches out, steadying them against the cold metal of the truck. All they have to do is make it to the driver’s seat. Just make it to the driver’s seat…

“If you don’t have a relationship with Joseph Seed, why did you visit him in prison this weekend?” Ethel’s tone is smug. Their breath catches in their throat as they stop. A moment passes before Blue sucks in a deep breath, their heart pounding loudly in their ears. How the fuck did Ethel and Peter know about that visit with Joseph? Anyone Blue had told knew to keep it a secret. Hell, the whole County knew what hell Joseph had put Blue through, especially with stealing a year of their life in that bunker. A whole year they’ll never get back. A whole year less with loved ones. “It wasn’t hard to figure out,” Ethel explains matter of fact, “Besides, I doubt you know anyone in that penitentiary but Joseph Seed. It makes sense that you would be there to visit him.”

Blue whirls around, wrath burning within them. “Have you been stalking me?”

Ethel and Peter exchange uneasy glances with each other. “Stalking is a harsh word,” Peter answers, “We were watching your home, trying to decide when we might talk to you again. And well…,” He shrugs, a ghost of a smile on his lips, “Ethel and I just happened to find a bigger scoop, but you haven’t denied it. What is your relationship like with Joseph Seed? Strange that a ‘victim’ of his would go to visit him.”

They swallow, trying to get their wrath under control. Blue wouldn’t let Peter or Ethel get the best of them. Trying to play the question off, Blue rolls their eyes. “Listen, I don’t know what weird narrative you’ve cooked up in your heads, but I did not visit Joseph Seed. I don’t want anything to do with him or Eden’s Gate for the rest of my life. So, fuck off.” They could no longer be nice or polite about any of this. Underneath their shirt, the WRATH scar starts to burn, a stark reminder of the anger simmering within them. Without thinking, Blue reaches up to scratch their WRATH scar.

Ethel tilts her head, stepping forward as she shrugs Peter’s arm off her shoulder. “Are we making you angry, Ranger Murphy? After all, that’s where the WRATH tattoo lays right? I saw an examination photo of it; looks rather nasty.”

Shame courses through them as Blue looks away. The examination photos were supposed to be private, but photos of the WRATH and PRIDE scar had leaked on the internet. And now the cat was out of the bag. No matter how many take-down notices anyone sent, they just seemed to pop up again and again. Eventually, Blue gave up, resigned to having some of their worst physical scars out there on the internet.  Looking back, Blue glares at Peter and Ethel. “Yeah, I’m angry. You keep bringing up Eden’s Gate, which contains some of the worst memories of my life, and then you can’t understand why I wouldn’t want to talk about it,” They let out a hysterical laugh, before they raise their voice, “By the way, a tattoo is something you want! What John Seed gave me was a fucking scar! It wasn’t a fucking tattoo!”

“I’m sorry, Ranger Murphy. I’ll refer to it correctly next time,” She steps closer, “You still haven’t answered our questions on your relationship with Joseph Seed.”

“Are you romantically involved with him?” Peter asks, following Ethel.

Blue snorts, shaking their head. The fucking nerve of these two! “Fuck no.” They turn away from the pair again, determined to get in their truck and drive away.

“Ranger Murphy, wait-.”

BARK!

 Boomer barks loudly, ramping up his behavior as he slams against the window. His barks are interspersed with deep and throaty growls, malice in his normally warm brown eyes. His teeth glint in the window, ready to rip apart anyone who would threaten his owner. Blue knew he had lost one owner, and that Boomer wouldn’t let that happen again. Ethel screams, scrambling backward only to fall on her ass. As Boomer barks, Ethel crawls away, Peter helping her up seconds later. Coming to the passenger side window, Blue lays their hand on the glass. Boomer stops, a low whine coming from him as he licks the window. His tail wags ferociously, practically a blur. 

Glaring at Blue, Peter snidely comments, “You should control that dog of yours.”

“Good boy!” Blue praises Boomer, winking at him. He barks joyously, only to start growling menacingly again at Peter and Ethel. “As I said, Boomer only acts this way if you’re a Peggie.”

“My sister…,” Ethel starts, a soft sob escaping her as Peter rubs her back, “My sister was a part of Eden’s Gate. She is the reason we’re doing this.”

“Oh.” Guilt washes over them as Blue awkwardly looks away. No matter how many times it happened, Blue was never good at dealing with the family members of those who had lost a Peggie. So many wanted to know what happened to their parents, partners, children, and others. Blue didn’t have a good answer for them then, and they sure as hell didn’t have a good answer now. “Is she….um?”

Ethel nods, Peter taking her hand as he interlaces his fingers with hers. “She died. She almost survived it, but then she had to help Joseph in your final fight with him. And that’s the one she didn’t make it back from.”

Blue frowns, the memory hitting them.

“I’M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE YOU!” Joseph screams as Blue hauls Grace up to her feet. The Bliss is thick around them in a sparkly greenish-white mist, stuck in their throat as Blue lets out a nasty cough. Their stomach twists, a wave of nausea rolling over them.

“You okay, Dep?” Grace asks, letting out a cough of her own as soon as she is steady on her feet.

Blue nods. “I’m fine. We need to stop him!”

Grace readies her gun, giving them a decisive nod. “On it.”

The two split as Blue heads after Nick, determined to free him from Joseph’s control. A Peggie steps into their way, assault rifle pointed at Blue. They stop in their tracks, raising their shotgun. Blue remembers the way her pale blonde hair glinted in the misty sunlight, her piercing green eyes. The moment doesn’t last long as Sharky body checks the Peggie, slamming her out of the way. “I got ya, shorty!”

“Thanks,” Blue yells, moving into action once again. They’re not going to let Joseph win.

“Oh.” Oh shit, that was-.

“Do you remember her now?” Ethel asks, her eyes glassy with tears.

“I do,” Blue admits quietly. “Ethel, I’m so sor-.”

“Save it. I don’t want your sympathy,” She snarls before another sob escapes her, Peter squeezing her hand, “I just want my sister back, but that’s impossible. Now, I just want to understand why.”

If Blue could, they would give Ethel her sister back. They would give so many people their families back. But they can’t, and now they have to live with all that blood on their hands. And they’ll never know why Joseph chose them for all of this, why they were the one chosen to be the devil. Except for their time in the Bunker, Blue never believed in the Voice. Clenching their left hand into a fist, their fingernails dig into their palm painfully, drawing blood. “I don’t know why he chose me, why he had to make me the harbinger of the apocalypse. If I knew why, I would have done everything in my power to not be that person!” They uncurl their fist, wiping tears in their eyes. Fuck, how desperately they would wish to not be that person.  

“Would you have walked away?” Ethel asks.

“What?”

“Would you have walked away?” She asks, enunciating every word as she narrows her eyes coldly. “I know Joseph Seed gave you a choice to walk away. So, if you had the chance again, would you have walked away?”

Blue knows what the answer should be: Yes. They should say ‘Yes, I would have walked away that night’. But…they can’t say yes; they can’t say the words everyone wants to hear. Even with the knowledge of what happens, Blue wouldn’t be able to walk away, doomed to repeat the cycle of violence over and over again. Walking away would be leaving the people of Hope County to die, to be tortured at the hands of Eden’s Gate. And they couldn’t do that. Blue wasn’t one to ignore what they saw as a clear injustice, and Hope County was an injustice if Blue ever saw one. Maybe if Blue were a better person, even a good one, they might have been able to solve it peacefully, talk Joseph out of this madness. But they would never leave Hope County to suffer.

Taking a deep breath, Blue looks Ethel directly in the eyes, squaring their shoulders. “No, I wouldn’t have walked away. Not even if I knew what was going to happen.”

Ethel’s eyes widen, tears running down her cheeks as she stares at Blue in abject horror. “You’re a monster,” She snarls desperately, “You and Joseph Seed. You two deserve each other.”

“We should leave.” Peter pulls Ethel away as she leans into him, sobbing into his chest. He doesn’t spare Blue a glance as they stand there shocked, only able to watch as Peter leads Ethel to the sedan. “She isn’t wrong, Ranger Murphy. You’re just as much a monster as he is. You could have stopped this; you always could have.”

They watch Peter and Ethel get into the car, driving away a few moments later. Once Ethel and Peter are gone, Blue slumps to their knees, throwing out their hands to catch themself. Parking lot gravel digs into their hands as body-wracking sobs consume them. The Williams were right. Blue could have stopped this; they always had the choice. And they never did. Instead, they fought, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake, just like monsters always do.

“FUCK!” They scream, raw and angry, slamming their hands against the ground. Inside the truck, Boomer lets out a high-pitched whine, terrified for his human. Their sobs only continue as grief and rage consume them, leaving Blue unable to move.

Eventually, (they don’t know how much later, but all the pink is gone from the sky), Blue gets up to their feet, feeling hollow and tired. Their vision isn’t blurry from the tears, sobs no longer shaking their body so hard that they couldn’t stand. Shakily, they make their way to the driver’s seat, leaning against the truck for support.

Climbing into the driver’s seat, Blue barely closes the door before Boomer starts licking them. His tail wags, happy to see them again. “Thanks Boomer. I’m okay.” Their voice is hoarse from all the crying. Boomer pulls away, but he still looks concerned as he patiently waited in shotgun.

Pulling their seatbelt on, a thought crosses their mind. They might not be able to make up for the loss of Ethel’s sister, but they had to do something to make things right, and there was only one clear path in front of them. Grabbing their cell phone, Blue dials a number.  

 His phone only ring’s once before picking up. “Blue?” Special Agent Hawthorne sounds surprised, yet hopeful on the other end.

Cutting straight to the chase, Blue tiredly says, “I’ll speak with Joseph again.”

“What changed your mind?” He pauses for a second, before adding hastily, “Not that I’m refusing your help. If anything, I’m relieved that you changed your mind.”

They won’t tell Special Agent Hawthorne about Ethel’s sister; it isn’t their story to tell. Instead, Blue opts for a simple half-truth. “It’s like you said in your voicemail. I can make things right; I want to make things right.”

“I…I understand. Would you like me to pick you up? Or will your friends, Sharky and Hurk, take you to the prison again?”

No one needs to know that they’re visiting Joseph a second time. Blue’s friends will worry, and Blue has scared them enough. “I think it would be best if I came alone this time.”

“Send me your address, and I can pick you up at 10:30 AM on Saturday. Thank you for doing this, Blue. You don’t know how much this means to us.”

“Yeah,” Blue says, having a distinct feeling about what this might mean, I’ll send you a text with my address. See you on Saturday.”

“Have a good night, Blue. Look out for yourself.”

“You too.” Hanging up, a shadow of darkness weighs over them in the dark truck, bearing down heavily on their shoulders.

Peter glances over at Ethel, worried for his wife. She shouldn’t have had to do this, and Peter wishes he could have taken the burden off her. Ethel sits in the passenger seat silently, passively watching Hope County scenery. Breaking the silence, Peter says, “You didn’t have to tell Ranger Murphy about your sister.”

“I did,” She turns to look at him, eyes red and puffy, “It was a gamble, but in the end, I think it will pay off. He was right, Ranger Murphy and Joseph Seed are really alike.”

He grips the steering wheel tightly, indignant anger on Ethel’s behalf coursing through him. “He shouldn’t have assigned you to this. He should have-.”

Ethel’s cell phone rings, cutting Peter off. She quickly pulls the phone from her purse, a brief flicker of panic crossing her face as she scans the caller ID. “It’s him.”

Peter stays silent as Ethel answers the phone. He hears the harsh tone of the caller, unable to make out the conversation. Every minute or so, Ethel says “Yes”, or “Of course”, occasionally wincing as the volume ramps up. By the end of the call, Ethel is visibly stressed, running a hand through her blonde hair. “He’s moving the timetable up.”

“What does that mean?”

Ethel sighs. “We’re going to talk to Joseph. He managed to get us a visit, one that won’t be reported to the FBI. As for Ranger Murphy….”

“He thinks it’s time for them to play their role?”

She nods. “I just hope he knows what he is doing.”

“Me too.”       

Tag list: @detectivelokis, @sstewyhosseini, @marivenah, @vampireninjabunnies-blog (If you want to be added or removed, just let me know!)

[hyenahunt]

Rouge & Ruby: February's Situation - 2

Writer: Umeda Chitose

Season: Winter

Characters: Hiyori, Jun, Nagisa, Ibara

Proofreading: royalquintet (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Mirei (Adam) & hyenahunt (Eve)

Hiyori: I can't believe Jun and Ibara would leave us out of this, Nagisa-kun. This is a dire situation on our hands. How deeply upsetting it is for them to be hiding things from us...!

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Hiyori: Ahh, wasn't that fun! Getting to talk and sing together as the four of us is truly the best!

I gain a sense of fulfilment from working as Eden that I just can't get anywhere else... ♫

Jun: I thought we got some pretty good shots too, but you're crazy hyped about it, Ohii-san.

Hiyori: Well, that's because working as the four of us is just so fun, no?

So I simply wanted to do as much as possible. After all, we've had way too much separate work as Adam and Eve since the new year began!

Jun: I agree with you there, Ohii-san. I mean, I'll be doing location shooting with you both tomorrow and the day after that...

Hiyori: What's that? Are you complaining about shooting with me?

Jun: No, dude, I was just going along with what you said about having too much work in separate units?

Don't take it out on me just 'cause you're getting stressed out lately, 'kay~?

Hiyori: Hmph, it's all on Ibara for filling up our schedules with nary a word of explanation!

I'm sure he's got something in mind, but he hasn't explained a thing to us, though? Terrible weather, the way things are going!

Nagisa: … Fufu. Hiyori-kun is saying the same thing I said.

Hiyori: Eh?

Nagisa: … On our way to the TV station, I also asked Ibara what plans he had.

Hiyori: Ooh, is that so? Heheh, no matter how far apart we are, Nagisa-kun, we truly have a telepathic connection... ♪

Nagisa: … Yes, it really is telepathy.

Hiyori & Nagisa: … ☆ (they high five)

Jun: (whispers) Hey, c'mon. Our seniors started having a lil' gigglefest on their own, so what're you doing staying all silent, huh?

Ibara: (whispers) Oh no, I was simply warmly watching their beautiful friendship blossom… ♪⁠

Jun: That's a lie if I've ever heard one... It's 'cause you'll get dragged in if you say the wrong thing, so that's why you're just watching on, aren'tcha?

Ibara: I felt that it would have been insensitive of me to interrupt a conversation between His Highness and Jun, or between His Highness and His Excellency…

Ibara: They also haven't directly demanded an explanation from me, I saw no reason to insert myself into the talk.

Hiyori: And I'll have you know that's absolutely unforgivable!

The only reason I haven't demanded anything yet is because I've held myself back while suspecting something is up. In fact, I've been bursting to ask for an explanation!

Ibara: … Even if you say that, it is quite distracting for you to say that whilst continuing to hold hands after that high five. But I suppose I appreciate the consideration.

Besides, I was waiting to explain after you demand it… or more like, I’m thinking of explaining it once I manage to create enough foundation for the plan.

If it were something that only I know, I would rather take my time and proceed at my own pace. It would be much more convenient for me to keep it to myself.

Nagisa: … But back in the car, you said you'd talk about it when Eden is gathered. We can't do it now?

Hiyori: You said that, did you? Well, out with it, then, now that you've got all four of us gathered here.

Ibara: Not that we cannot, just not here.

I can’t bring out confidential documents here, and we also can’t occupy the dressing room for too long. Not to mention, we haven’t even changed our clothes.

Nagisa: … That's fair. We should change our clothes first, Hiyori-kun.

Hiyori: Mmm, you're right. I certainly got carried away, but I can't stay in this outfit forever.

Jun: (In the middle of changing) ...Actually, I think I've got a pretty good guess of what Ibara's explanation gonna be.

Ibara: You do?

Jun: Yeah. It's probably related to Chocolat Fes, I think. Over the new year, he said he'd slowly share the details with us.

Hiyori: ?

Ibara: … Ah, is it when we met on New Year’s? Now that you mention it, I do believe I said that.

Nagisa: ?

Hiyori: What's that? I had no idea of this! Just when did the two of you start keeping secrets from us?

I can't believe Jun and Ibara would leave us out of this, Nagisa-kun. This is a dire situation on our hands. How deeply upsetting it is for them to be hiding things from us...!

Nagisa: … I don’t think they are trying to exclude us from it, but if Hiyori-kun feels sad, then so do I.

… Ibara, can you explain?

Ibara: (whispers) …This is your fault, Jun. I already tried to delay their curiosity so I can talk about it at a time that suits me.

Jun: (whispers) Hey, you didn't try to hide it either, y'know? Don't pin all the blame on me, alright~?

Ibara: … Even if I’m asked to explain now, as I’ve said before, this is not a good place to talk about it.

I'lll set up a proper opportunity for us, so let's meet at the agency at a later date.

Nagisa: … It's fine as long as Ibara informs us of the schedule later. However, what I wanted to ask was what happened on New Year's.

Jun: Honestly, nothing special happened.

I went for a run on New Year's, and noticed that the lights on the eighteenth floor of the ES building were on.

I wondered what was up, and when I went to check it out, it turned out Ibara was working there. We just had a little chat after that.

Hiyori: You went training on the day after SS, hm? Jun-kun, you truly never change. That goes for you, too, Ibara — to think you were working on New Year's Day!

Nagisa: … I understand that both of you are very strict with yourselves, but I would prefer it if you both take a break, too.

Ibara: There is no need for concern, Your Excellency. I also take efforts to get proper rest, after all.

Jun: Or so he says, but he's been hammering away on his keyboard since New Year's.

...Ah, was it 'cause—

Filming for COMP started right after New Year's, so you've been slaving away at preparations since then?

Hiyori: Ahh... It was a rather sudden shoot, and I did wonder just when you even made the preparations for it. So while the rest of the world was enjoying their New Year's break, you’ve been working behind the scenes, Ibara?

Jun: He did complain it was a pretty sloppy project, so it makes sense to me why he was so ready to give up his break for it.

Nagisa: … You were working on many things, Ibara. But there was also talk about "Chocolat Fes" right?

… Does it mean there is a connection between the preparations that are still underway and the state of my activities?

Ibara: Argh, enough, too many questions! Whatever you may think of me, you are free to interpret things as you like.

Besides, I already said that I'll explain it all another day, alright? No more questions! No more!

Come on now, get changed quickly and leave this place immediately! I’ve already arranged the return car ride, so don't be too slow!

[ ☆ ]

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[fuck-off-im-ace]

Alright that’s it, got tired of people bitching about Lilith. So, lets get into the deep dive, shall we?

It is well known (in the WN fandom, at least) that Lilith is the first wife of Adam, expulsed from Eden after she refused to submit to him. She then partnered up with the Archangel Samael, head of the Satans, which is probably the Adriel equivalent of the Bible.

(Yes, we could have guessed that they would fuck. It was literally written for thousands of years.)

There are many versions of Lilith, of course, as with everything, but she is very often referred to as a demon of the night, often very hot, with long hair and wings (no I am not making this up).

I think the scene where she goes to see her family is very important. You don’t give your character a butterfly shirt if some shit is not about to happen. I think it’s also well thought, because this puts her even more as the opposite of Ava. Something got shoved into her (the halo vs tarask claw), she came back to life, now she has powers that she didn’t ask for and don’t know how to control, or just generally why. Why her. Both went to Jillian for answers but couldn’t be helped. Both went back to where it all started, Lilith’s family and Ava’s orphanage. I didn’t really go well for either of them. After wandering for a bit, Ava went back to the OCS, even after what Superion and Lilith did to her. She found someone there who believed in her and supported her, so she stayed, and became what they needed her to be.

It was probably added after the fact, but it has been showned that Lilith got Ava, Beatrice and Camila away from Adriel in the last scene of s1. That means Lilith also left Mary there to die. Imagine how much that must have fucked her up. I too would be hesitant to show up at the OCS. She can’t go back there, and that “other side”, the one that would reflect Ava’s journey, is Adriel. So she went to him, and he believed in her and supported her. She became what he needed her to be.

This new Lilith is becoming more and more like the Lilith from the myths. Thing is, that character is… evil? And there are hints in season 2 to her becoming more like that. First, Lilith is supposed to have some sort of control on wind and storms. Adriel says in their first meeting that the storm around them was made by Lilith, but he also makes wind in his final fight with Ava? It’s hard to know if he was making that first storm to manipulate her, or if Lilith really was making a storm without meaning to.

When Lilith is chasing Vincent early in the season, we are presented with this beautiful mural. I had to ask some friends, some say its just some art that was on the wall, some say it’s a mural that was made for the show. I decided to go with that last idea, simply because of the drawing on the right (and it’s more fun this way).

Lilith, according to pretty much everything she appears in, is a baby killer. Which, huh, isn’t great! She kills newborn babies, or sometimes pregnant people, or sometimes just people in general. And that graffiti, seen while Vincent is being chased by Lilith, feels kind of on purpose.

(If you’re asking about the other character drawn, I can only hope that this is Adriel’s hairy ass, a demon with a nicer mask, but I have big doubts about that. I think it’s Asmodeus, and we’re about to meet him in s3, cause Lilith is also seen as his queen in some writings, and wouldnt that be cool?!)

I have been obsessively reading on Lilith since I watched the season, and I remember reading somewhere that Lilith has a realm, somewhere, according to Something. But I cannot find it again, so this is all pulled out of my ass, don’t take this for gold. But I’m pretty sure I read somewhere about Lilith having a realm, and leading hordes of demons. If I did really saw that and it wasn’t a fever dream, then I really hope that’s the way Warrior Nun goes.

At the end of s2, Lilith doesn’t have any desire to kill Ava, and some people were confused by that. For me, it’s just a big parallel to the end of s1. Lilith is constantly there to try (and fail) to stop Ava from Doing Something. Back then it was from freeing Adriel, now it was to stop him from using Reya’s power. Adriel hinted about a divine war, a devourer of world coming, and it make sense to think that he would have told all of that to Lilith. She’s smart, if she knows what’s coming and know that Adriel is gone, then she also knows that she might need Ava in the future. Who knows what’s coming! Not me! Even Lilith didn’t know if they would be on the same side. It would be stupid to kill someone that you might need later.

It’s is particularly funny to see people complain that she “turned evil”, considering Lilith has always been Bad. First scene we see her, and she’s waiting for Shanon to die so that she can take the Halo. She then tries to kill Ava to take the Halo. In the first few episodes of s2, she has no problem with hurting and killing people. Remember how much she enjoyed torturing Ava in the first episodes of s1. She was always morally grey at best, if not straight up bad. 

Lilith is one of the most interesting characters of the show, and I say that only because so much thought has been put into Ava and I am obsessed with my Baetrice, so Lilith comes close third. The depth of her story is so good. The idea of making her the opposite of Ava, since the first episode of season 1, they are playing the long game. Ava started the show with nothing, and through trust and resilience, found a family and a purpose. Lilith started the show with everything, and through selfishness and refusing support, she lost her purpose and her family.

They didn’t “fuck up her arc” in season 2. This has always been her story.