#i say all that with love obviously. the cosmic horror levels they achieve with the fanart are truly something

[cringefail-clown]

i often forget i follow dakidavekat on twt, so when im scrolling its always a suprise when i get hit in the eyeballs with some of the most disturbing and/or gross shit imaginable. keeps me on my toes

[aion-rsa]

10 Best Movies of 2021 (So Far)

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Can you ever really go home? Millions of cinephiles are likely asking themselves this as summer 2021 winds down with doubt again lingering over their favorite movie houses. For a time, theaters were once again open for big business in the U.S. and UK, and remain so in at least one of those venues. But box office reports paint an ambiguous future, and many casual moviegoers clearly remain reluctant about returning to the cinema.

Nonetheless, it’s still good to be back in those old familiar places, as well as to have an ever expanding list of options to discover on streaming. Compared to last year, 2021 feels like a sunny balm, particularly now that the heaviest hitters and biggest surprises of July and the dog days of summer have landed.

It’s why we typically save our “mid-year” ranking for that deep breath between the end of summer escapism and the awards season push that begins in September. There have been some real treats on the 2021 calendar, so whether you’ve seen the entire list below or are looking for something you missed, sit back and enjoy a collection of the best movies of 2021. So far.

10. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote and star in this bizarre, brightly colored, and utterly joyful comedy that defies expectations throughout. The two are middle-aged best friends who take their very first vacation to Florida together to visit the idyllic Vista del Mar.

But it’s not all cocktails and banana boats. Behind the scenes, super villain Sharon Fisherman (also played by Wiig) has an evil plan for the resort. With shades of the best of Austin Powers (though far more sincere) Barb and Star is a good natured friendship comedy through a surrealist lens, which could scratch an itch for anyone missing a bit of beach time this year.

9. Psycho Goreman

Unexpected gem of the year surely goes to this utterly bonkers grue-filled cosmic horror B-movie which is also really funny and kind of sweet at the same time. It follows annoying little shit Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) who bullies her brother Luke (Owen Myre) mercilessly. After defeating him in a game of “crazy ball,” Luke’s punishment is to dig his own grave (!) but instead the pair discover an artifact which turns out to be the key to controlling a universal evil imprisoned on earth for trying to destroy the galaxy.

So of course Mimi names him Psycho Goreman and forces him to hang out with her family and friends despite his insistence that he will bathe in their blood the moment he is freed. From Steven Kostanski, the director of 2016’s The Void, Psycho Goreman is a spot-on blend of brutal slaying and hardcore gore, a cosmic plotline involving an alien council and a wholesome family comedy. An unexpected delight.

8. Cruella

Emma Stone is a punk rock designer in the mold of Vivienne Westwood in this vibrant London-set comedy, which is on paper a prequel to 101 Dalmatians. But in reality, take it as a standalone and you’ll have way more fun.

Up and coming fashionista Estella manages to impress one of the leading designers The Baroness (Emma Thompson) and secures a coveted job at her world famous fashion house. But when Estella discovers a dark secret relating to her own past, she takes on the outrageous alter-ego Cruella to destroy The Baroness by out-fashioning her at every opportunity.

Packed with banging tunes and great dresses, Cruella is a high energy spectacle but it’s the sparring of the two Emmas that brings the real electricity. Forget any future she might have as a puppy killer, in her own film, Cruella is a legend. 

7. In the Heights

The sunniest film to hit theaters this season, Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights was as sugary sweet as the frozen Piragua Lin-Manuel Miranda hocks around this movie’s block. Based on the Hamilton composer’s earlier Tony winning musical, the picture was the rare thing: a Broadway adaptation that actually soars as high as its stage production and (rarer still) the first Hollywood blockbuster with an all-Latinx cast.

Read more

Movies

How Cruella Got That Crazy Expensive Soundtrack

By Don Kaye

Movies

In the Heights: You Need to Stay for Post-Credits Scene

By David Crow

The film came under fair criticism on social media for not being as inclusive as it could be, but that shouldn’t be the last word on such a big-hearted achievement. From the buoyant performances which have already opened doors for Anthony Ramos and Leslie Grace’s immense charisma, to the Latin, salsa, and hip-hop infused melodies which celebrate a culture long left out of the Hollywood image of American life, In the Heights is a jubilant celebration. There really hasn’t been a giddier time at the multiplex this year. Plus, those “96,000” and “Carnaval del Barrio” sequences really are fire.

6. Zola

Based on a “true” story which was told via a series of tweets posted back in 2015 (and the subsequent Rolling Stone article that brought the tale to prominence), Zola is a stranger-than-fiction saga seen through the lens of social media. An ultra contemporary, experimental, low budget comedy-thriller with a backdrop of abuse and sex trafficking, the film is as willfully uncomfortable to watch as it is massively entertaining.

From the jump, Zola (Taylour Paige) is a Detroit waitress and part time exotic dancer who meets a customer named Stefani (Riley Keough) and agrees to take a trip with her to Florida to hit up strip clubs where Stefani promises they’ll make a lot of money. With them are Stefani’s feckless boyfriend (Succession’s Nicholas Braun) and her obviously dodgy roommate. Sometimes told through spoken tweets with switches in perspective, this marks director Janicza Bravo as a compelling new voice, and her cast of leads as nothing short of captivating.

How much of what you’re watching actually happened? Well, that’s the elusive quality of social media…

5. Judas and the Black Messiah

Fred Hampton was murdered with the consent and planning of law enforcement at both federal and local jurisdiction levels. That Judas and the Black Messiah made this common knowledge would be reason enough for consideration. Yet that director Shaka King tells Hampton’s story so thrillingly here elevates his film into one of the most compelling crime dramas in years—only with the FBI’s illegal COINTELPRO program being the primary criminal element.

Told from the perspective of the man who spied on the Black Panthers and eventually facilitated the raid that took Hampton’s life, Judas radiates a despairing quality which somehow can still feel electrifying whenever Daniel Kaluuya’s powerhouse performance takes center stage. Which is pretty much any time the Black Panther chairman takes the microphone. Kaluuya deserved his Oscar, but LaKeith Stanfield’s paranoid turn as Bill O’Neal, the poor bastard coerced into being a snitch while still a kid, is what gets under your skin and walks beside you after the credits roll.

4. Pig

Are there really folks out there who wandered into a screening of Pig and assumed they’d get the Nicolas Cage knockoff of John Wick? I like to think so, just as I love to imagine what they said to each other afterward. To be sure, Michael Sarnoski’s Pig sounds on paper like something in that ballpark: Cage plays a hermit living in self-exile from his past life when ruffians steal his beloved… truffle pig. In response, he comes down from the mountain, ready to reengage with the old ways.

Read more

Movies

Judas and the Black Messiah Remembers Fred Hampton Was a Man of His Words

By Tony Sokol

Movies

The Suicide Squad Character Guide, Easter Eggs, and DCEU References

By Mike Cecchini

Yet when you realize those old ways involve being the greatest chef in his state—and reengagement means partaking in a fight club that’s far more pitiful than it sounds and simply cooking gourmet meals—the more apparent it is that this is a sophisticated, nuanced allegory about grief and self-identity. Anchored by Cage’s best performance in a long, long time, Pig is a gentle and revelatory experience that slowly unpacks its brilliance piece by piece, vignette by vignette. For those coming in wanting fast food, this probably will be a disappointment. For all others, it’s a resplendent five course meal.

3. The Suicide Squad

For once the marketing wasn’t kidding. Writer-director James Gunn does have a horribly beautiful mind, and we at last get to see it fully unleashed on a superhero property. Yes, the filmmaker made many cry over a CGI tree and talking raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, but perhaps not since Logan has a storyteller seen such free rein over valuable studio IP. Gunn didn’t waste it.

The Suicide Squad plays very much like the men and women on a mission ‘60s capers its director grew up on, but that structure is channelled here through a filthy and deranged sensibility. How else can you describe a picture that makes you want to cuddle a land shark who just swallowed a bystander whole? The Suicide Squad does that and more while providing a showcase for sure things like Margot Robbie’s irresistible Harley Quinn, as well as the dregs and rejects of DC Comics who ultimately steal the movie: David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man and Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2, namely. Box office be damned, this is one of the best superhero films ever made and will be a classic in the years to come.

2. The Green Knight

When you hear the name “King Arthur,” certain elements spring to mind. It’s one of those classic properties which have been adapted, exploited, and parodied with killer rabbits ad nauseam. Even so, it’s safe to say you’ve never seen the lore become as foreboding and startling as this. Reimagined through the gaze of writer-director David Lowery, the 14th century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight at last takes on a trippy and witchy connotation. An interpretation that pulls as much from medieval paganism as it does obsessions with chivalry and Christian virtue, The Green Knight successfully reinvents its Arthurian quest into a journey toward certain doom.

Read more

Movies

The Green Knight: Why David Lowery and Dev Patel Reimagined Arthurian Legend

By David Crow

Movies

The Green Knight Ending Explained

By David Crow

As the central figure on that mission, Dev Patel reveals superstar charisma and the ability to completely command the screen. His version of Gawain, the wayward nephew of King Arthur (Sean Harris), is vain, cowardly, selfish, and somehow wholly sympathetic as he searches for Ralph Ineson’s Green Knight: a godlike creature who has promised to behead Gawain when they meet again. Through it all, Lowery and company craft a sumptuous world that in every shot looks like the most transportive Dungeons and Dragons cover you’ve ever seen. The atmosphere is oppressively brooding, and it will not appeal to everyone. Yet like the very best films released by indie distributor A24, there is a touch of mad genius at work here that demands to be seen and then seen again.

1. Inside

As arguably the best piece of art to come out of 2020’s torments, Bo Burnham’s Inside was not marketed or even conceived of as a film. Nevertheless, it slowly transformed into one throughout its months-long production process, which forewent mere sketch humor to reveal an undeniably cinematic, experimental, and ultimately bleak heart. In other words, it’s a perfect distillation of how all mediums are blurring into that loathsome word: content.

Through heavily edited, conceived, and revised set-pieces, the film’s director, star, writer, and composer lays his insecurities and vanities bare. Filmed inside Burnham’s home studio space, Inside is the result of the young filmmaker behind Eighth Grade becoming acutely aware he’s regressed to his early resources as a teenage YouTube star: a camera, a music keyboard, some synth programs, and hours of idle boredom.

Within those numbing hours, Burnham built something both reflective and suspicious about technology, the internet culture which gave him his career, and even his own self-image. With a catchy songbook of synthesized bangers, many of which echo ’80s pop ballads, Burnham crystallizes better than any typical three-act film the anxieties and delirium of a year spent mostly at home. He also provides a scathing critique of how our concepts of communication and identity have been co-opted and undermined by tech companies whose products incite division for profit—all while still releasing his film on the biggest streaming platform in the world. It’s a challenging, self-loathing, and haunted piece of work that will invariably become a time capsule for its moment in history.

Runner ups that almost made the cut: Annette, Black Widow, Coda, Mr. Soul, No Sudden Move, Raya and the Last Dragon, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, The Sparks Brothers, Val.

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The post 10 Best Movies of 2021 (So Far) appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3mi6Pip

[foundcarcosa]

cciv.

1. Predict what your life will look like a year from now. >> I doubt there will be much different about my life in August of 2018. Sparrow will undoubtedly have settled into a more permanent place of employment, so our quality of life may have shifted (in the financial sense), hopefully for the better. We’ll probably still be living here, so no major changes to my worldstate are predicted. Anything else, I can’t possibly predict with any confidence.

2. What is the nicest compliment you’ve ever been given? >> All compliments are good compliments.

3. What makes someone a best friend? >> I don’t have an answer for that. It varies from person to person, anyway. I get soulmate and best friend and life partner and the rest of those superlative hierarchical terms all confused, to be honest. --In which case, Can Calah fits all of them by default.

4. Are you young at heart, or an old soul? >> I have always existed in a state of temporal liminality, making all age-related terms erroneous.

5. How is your blog a reflection of yourself? What do you think people assume or know about you by looking at your blog? >> It’s a reflection of myself because I strictly curate things that appeal to me personally. I have dedicated this space to myself, to the expression of the innumerable facets of my being and their intersections, and it has performed ably in that capacity. And it’s funny you should ask that, because about an hour ago someone I know informed me that they tried to give someone they know a description of my blog and this is what they came up with: “I honestly don't fucking know,  they either are God (tm) or wanna fuck God(tm) and probably would foursome The Diety of their choosing, Idris and Matthew Macone-whatever in the Matrix just for the aesthetic and the #thirst tag.” So I imagine that’s largely the impression I give.

6. Make a five song playlist that sums you up as a person. >> Death is the Road to Awe, Clint Mansell (from the soundtrack to The Fountain); Gethsemane, Vanden Plas (a cover of the Jesus Christ Superstar song); Starboy, The Weeknd; Break On Through (To the Other Side), The Doors; Blazing Star, Dethklok. There are a lot of songs that could contribute to a comprehensive profile of me as an [infinite singularity of] individual[s], considering I’ve been looking for myself in songs since I knew how to look, but you asked for five, so.

7. Do you have a Facebook? >> Yes. You’re welcome to add me on it. It’s largely stupid memes and me complaining about the most random shit.

8. What’s the most annoying thing about the person you like? >> Which one? (What kind of ‘like’? Be more specific.)

9. You ordered pizza last night, and have been looking forward to eating the leftovers all day. You go home and the box is still in the fridge, but someone has eaten all of it and it’s empty. What do you do? >> That’s impossible. First of all, Sparrow doesn’t even like the same kind of pizza I do. Second of all, she’s scatterbrained all right, but I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt that she wouldn’t leave an entire empty pizza box in our small-ass fridge. Try again.

10. What’s an inanimate object in your house that holds significance for you, and why do you find it so significant? >> The empty bottle of Baron Samedi Rum that sits on my desk holds significance for me (obviously, seeing as I never keep things that have no clear purpose, like empty liquor bottles). I bought it in New Orleans and it reminds me of O’Dim. It is perfect. (I’ll get rid of it when we finally move. After all, I won’t need these fragile pieces of home once I’m actually there.)

11. How do you look right now? >> Like a snack. (How am I supposed to answer this???)

12. What is one of your bad habits? >> Drinking, I suppose.

13. What were you doing at eleven last night? >> I think I was on tumblr, or some other part of the internet.

14. Are you sure that you were born in the right era? >> Does it matter?

15. You know at least one person named Michael. Tell me about him. >> He’s married to Sparrow’s sister, he studied film, he likes sour beer, and he used to be a skater. I don’t know much about him personally, it’s mostly just factoids that don’t knit together into a full picture very well.

16. You’ve got the TV on, but you’re not really watching. What channel is the TV on? >> I don’t do that. Sparrow is more likely to do that, and it’d probably be some HGTV show on Hulu.

17. What’s an inside joke you share with your friends? >> The first thing that popped into my head was #sunfuckers incorporated, honestly.

18. Name a song that never fails to make you happy. >> No song is 100% successful at that, obviously, but Blood Red Summer by Coheed and Cambria has a strong track record. Very bright, very vibrant, probably about something either horrific or sad (deceptively fun-sounding songs about interstellar war and sundered family dynamics and lost/broken love -- all amindst vague cosmic horror -- is kind of their thing, after all).

19. If you had to diagnose yourself with any mental illness, which would it be? >> ASD is my self-diagnosis.

20. Would you like to reconnect with any friends that you’ve lost contact with? >> I wouldn’t be opposed to it.

21. Name at least three things you could stand to cut out of your life. >> Whatever it is, I probably won’t be cutting it out of my life any time soon, so there’s no point in even pretending otherwise.

22. What is “normal”? Are you normal? >> I assume that the most practical working definition for ‘normal’ is ‘consistently compatible and compliant with the beliefs, morals, and behaviour systems of one’s society’ -- if so, I feign ‘normal’ with varying success. Mostly I am content with being a quiet but adamant outlier.

23. Biggest turn ons? >> Expansive and adaptable consciousness. Abnormally high levels of curiosity and mirth. At least two (2) tentacular appendages.

24. Do you practice what you preach? >> What I preach is usually integral to my being, so I can’t help but practice it. What I parrot is often a different story. (Parroting, I’ve found, is useful in the successful maintenance of a person suit. I don’t parrot much here, so don’t worry. It’s mostly for the benefit of people less fortunate in the cognition and analysis department who unfortunately have the ability to make my outlier life difficult.)

25. Would you prefer to live in a city, the suburbs, the countryside, or the mountains? >> I’d prefer to live in the Garden District of New Orleans.

26. Give me the story of your life in six words. >> It is without beginning or end.

27. Would you rather be alone doing something you enjoy, or doing something you don’t like with your best friends? >> I will always choose to be alone doing something I enjoy. Additionally, anyone who considers themselves a friend of mine would prefer I not do something I don’t enjoy simply for the sake of keeping them company.

28. Tell me something you think would surprise people. >> As a child, I was deathly afraid of thunderstorms. (My theories on this vary. Either way, my fear completely disappeared without fanfare sometime in adolescence; there is a memory I hold of being 13 and watching a summer storm in North Carolina with avid fascination, and suddenly thinking, Wait, aren’t I supposed to be afraid of this?)

29. Is your current hair colour your natural hair colour? >> Yes.

30. Why is your favourite band your favourite? >> My favourites are my favourites because they express things I keenly recognise and often do not have words for.

31. Name something that you miss. >> Her.

32. Share five goals that you want completed in the next thirty days. >> Um... I’d like to finish at least two more Loremaster sub-achievements on WoW, get my Norn up to at least lvl50 on GW2, watch the rest of Queen Sugar, finally nut up and watch Moonlight, and get my end of the Reddit/SyFy Gift Exchange done.

33. What do you do when you can’t sleep? >> Read, usually. Or watch some episodes of an Adult Swim show (or something equally low-commitment).

34. If you were told you were going to have three daughters, what would you want to name them? >> Whatever names come to me when I am holding them, or whatever names Sparrow wants to give them. What I hate is that you have to name them then and there -- I prefer the ritual of naming to be closer to toddlerhood.

35. How do you feel when someone says something mean/disrespectful towards your favourite band/musician? >> I don’t feel anything, usually. Being a Creed fan as a teenager has given me a blessedly thick skin towards that sort of thing, trust me.

36. What’s the funniest film you’ve ever seen? >> I really liked Life (the Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence flick), Caddyshack (it’s so fucking weird in that older-film sort of way but I lost my shit at so many scenes that I have to give it its due), and The Secret Life of Pets (I guess I’m the perfect demographic for that kind of ridiculousness). Oh, and Kung Fu Hustle. I know there are a few others but I forget them now. Comedy movies that really amuse me are almost harder for me to find than horror movies that don’t make me roll my eyes out of my head.

37. What’s your favourite children’s TV show/movie? >> My favourite children’s movies are The Pagemaster and The Prince of Egypt. The Neverending Story gets honourable mention just for being so damn iconic. My favourite children’s programming is The Amazing World of Gumball, Steven Universe, and some stuff I’m probably forgetting but trying to dig around in the pile of countless forms of media I’ve consumed over time in order to answer these questions is really not how I want to spend my night.

38. What do you do when you can’t sleep and you don’t have your phone? >> Why wouldn’t I have my phone, though...? I guess I’d get up and do something else. 

39. What is your purpose in life? >> Whatever it is, I assume I’m fulfilling it.

40. What’s one thing you cannot live without? >> Aside from the “duh” answers, I will say mental stimulation and variety. I couldn’t live in solitary confinement with absolutely nothing to do, I’d probably lose it faster than the average (if I don’t figure out a way to kill myself).

41. Put the seven deadly sins in order of the one you commit the most to the least. >> Superbia, Acedia, Gula, Avaritia, Luxuria, Ira, Invidia.

42. What’s something that’s on your bucket list?  >> Skydiving. Natch.

43. Have you ever been told you look like a famous person? If so, who? >> The only two famous people I’ve ever been compared to (to my face) are Grace Jones and Harold Perrineau.

44. Can you cook? If so, what are your favourite dishes to make? >> I can cook well enough not to starve. I haven’t gotten to a point where I enjoy cooking, though. Maybe one day.

45. What was the last decision you regretted making? >> Meh.

46. Whose opinion of yourself do you value the most? >> Can Calah’s. Sparrow’s, as far as corporeal human beings are concerned.

47. Anything that makes you angry? >> There is nothing that is consistently guaranteed to make me angry. I usually experience anger as a cumulative “last straw” kind of thing. Which can make it seem “out of the blue” to others, I realise. But at least it’s infrequent.

48. Age you get mistaken for? >> Anything from late teens to early twenties, appearance-wise. Online, anything from late teens to... mid thirties, I think.

49. When was the last time you paid for music? >> I think the last album I bought was The Buttress’ Behind Every Great Man.

50. Night or day? >> Both, please. And the spaces in between.

[forcedapotheosis-blog]

Solstice Ch. III

Alright, I've got a lot to say before this chapter begins, so let's get right to it.

First of all, take warning. This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence (nothing sexual / non-con, though), so if you're not into this kind of stuff, don't read this chapter and probably the rest of the story.

Second, there's again people I have to thank.

My boy Renillion (ffDotnet), who continued to support me through most of the writing of this chapter and supplied me with some nice creative input. I very much enjoy our conversations, man, hope to hear and read more about your original stuff!

Azoroadaywontkeepsanjiaway (on tumblr), who beta-read like 2/3rds or more of this chapter, thank you so much for the time you've put into it and for more that I'll mention a little later.

Onepiecefeatstuff / alaznesweeran (on tumblr and AO3) for giving me a much needed pep-talk and being a genuinely good and supportive person (who also writes fanfictions which you should read).

EastBlue (on ffDotnet), who always leaves reviews that encourage me to continue writing, even when I feel like a waste of skin. Thank you so much!

Year of the Goat for recording 'The Unspeakable', which had been a great source of inspiration for me.

Alright, coming to the third point, the one I was actively dreading. The beta-reading made me realise that this fiction started off wrong. Let me explain: When I said that I wanted to return to my roots as a writer, I meant that I wanted to write (cosmic) horror. I could've easily done that, but instead made it a fanfiction instead of an original work. So, the thing is that people who read fanfictions are rightfully anticipating a story that is driven by more or less fixed characters, no matter if it's AU or an Alternate Timeline. This is were I made my first mistake, because these kinds of stories usually don't revolve around the characters, not even the protagonists. Many mistakes followed but I'm not going to bore you with them.

Well, long story short: I'm putting Solstice on hiatus until I'm able to decide what to do with it. That might be in a week, a month or never. Sorry if you're one of the two people who actually enjoyed reading it.

Chapter III - Arisen

Sanji was quick to realise that the interior of the estate was still congruent with what he remembered. It actually seemed like nothing had changed at all.

At least, someone cleaned up nicely. He was pretty sure that his happened not to the courtesy of his siblings, but thanks to some underpayed worker. Setting foot inside the house again somewhat felt like entering another world, another time. Here and there, there was a new-ish painting to see, obviously made after he abandoned the family, or after the family abandoned him. It portrayed the tall, muscular .. and pretty ugly .. Judge Vinsmoke, towering over his three favoured kids, by the time of the painting around 14 or 15 years old. It was rather well done, to be honest, but it distorted reality in a mocking way. Even though they were the favoured kids of the Vinsmoke patriarch, they were still subject to his harsh, sometimes bordering on tyrannical, rules. I’m still surprised that I was the only one who wanted to win his freedom.

At least, Reiju was nice enough to hand him a towel to dry his hair. “Where’s Nami?”, he asked no one in particular, trying to sound as neutral as possible. “She still has my jacket.”, he added solely for him remembering that especially Yonji had, at least in the past, the rather disturbing nature to utterly destroy whatever he held dear, no matter if it was a toy, a book or even a living thing such as a pet rat. They were adults now, but he didn’t want to take chances. Especially not in that regard. “Probably in the kitchen, with Ichiji. I envy that lucky bastard, she’s a sight to behold, right? And she’s always by his side .. maybe he’s taking her on the table right now.”, and there it was again, the overwhelming wish to kick Yonji’s head in.

“Unlikely, Nami seems to prefer a professional relationship.”, Reiju intervened and Sanji felt a sliver of gratitude towards her. Despite the branding she had given him and the ominous way she talked.

The house was as big and cold and as utterly devoid of any soul as he remembered it. Long floors, laden with portraits of some ancestors he never knew made up a big part of it. These portraits weren't holding any decorative value to them, it seemed as if they hung around here because they no other place in this world would accept them. Other than that, he sure was surprised that the main source of light were actual lamps and not, as someone who might see only the outside of the estate might have thought, candles or torches.

“Hannah, Lily and Nichiji are already in the living room. I’m sure that you’re going to take a liking to them, they’re sweet girls.”, Reiju said, obviously addressing Sanji. Maybe I will, since I’m not related to them.

The living room, as nearly every other separate room in the whole estate, was large and the furniture within it was exactly the same it was twenty-ish years ago. A couch large enough to accompany up to three or four people was placed with its back towards the entrance and the same round, ornate carpet was still lying on the ground in front of it. Another couch, a smaller one, and a chair that looked rather comfortable and even regal complemented the room.

Wasn’t there a table, too, standing on the carpet?, he asked himself, not sure if his memories were accurate in that regard. Again, he contemplated that taking a step into this room came close to taking a look at his own past. Sanji could much too vividly remember Judge sitting in that exact chair, reading some old book or scolding him for being too weak. The rhythmic noises of a large grandfather clock were the only obvious sounds in the whole room. And, as Reiju had said, there were three people inside of it. One of these people he knew, even though his back was turned towards the entrance. The blue hair was a pretty distinguishing characteristic. Has he .. changed? The question didn’t pop into Sanji’s mind out of nowhere. Niji wasn’t alone on the couch. There was another person sitting next to him, crowned by beautiful and silky auburn hair. She wore it lose and it was just long enough to reach a little farther than her shoulders. It surprised him a little that his brother had his arm slung around her and she didn’t seem to mind in the least, even enjoying it as her head softly rested against his shoulder.

The third person, another woman, appeared to be sleeping on the smaller couch, leaning against the armrest of it. Is that Barbie?, was the immediate thought on seeing her. Indeed, she had hair that was even more blonde than his own and he couldn’t help himself but notice that her body had the form of an hourglass. But .. it seems just so .. exaggerated in contrast to Nami’s natural beauty .. it’s like a living caricature of an unrealistic beauty standard. He wanted to scold himself for these thoughts since he didn’t knew anything about that person, but again, he couldn’t help it.

Her sleep was light, though, and she slowly opened her eyes to be the first to greet them. But while  the rest of her body was an oversubscribed caricature of beauty, her big, blue eyes managed to take  it home regardless. Her smile appeared genuine and she was quick on her feet to greet them, her voice a soothing melody and not nearly as high-pitched as he had anticipated.

With more grace than Sanji had expected, she strode towards them, around the other couch, giving Yonji a wink before gracing him with her brightest smile. “Oh, it’s so exciting to finally meet the lost Vinsmoke! I’m Hannah, very pleased to finally make your acquaintance!”, she held out her hand and Sanji wasn’t really sure how to greet her. Probably better to stay neutral for now., he thought, shaking her hand and putting up a more-or-less honest smile. It didn’t really surprise him that her hands were as smooth and soft as they were, perfectly fitting the air of high class she radiated, but there still was something more underneath.

Being a first class cook, some of his senses were refined to a near superhuman level. His senses of taste and smell, needless to say, where already there, but there was another one, so easily forgotten. Not only did his hands develop a dexterity of nigh-legendary reputation, his sense of touch was equally well trained. Platinum, I’m sure about it. The metal was too smooth to be just silver, and nearly as warm as her hand was. The impressions didn't end there, as there was more to be found. Something that he only brushed with the tip of his middle finger. And that’s a diamond. Of course, he couldn’t be sure about it being a diamond and not some other gem that was embedded into the ring, but common sense somewhat dictated it to be the way to go for an engagement ring.

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Hannah.”, another second went by and he finally let go of her hand. Despite the way she looked, he had the feeling that Hannah was a genuine and rather nice person. People always said that you weren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that was a difficult task to achieve, to be sure. “I see that you’re going to be my sister, too.”, another smile he had to force, but the thought of welcoming a, for a change, nice and friendly person into the family wasn’t half bad. Her eyes widened a little and she exchanged a glance with Yonji, who was still standing behind him. “Have you told him, my love?”, to that he shook his head, answering with a slight snarl in his voice that felt like he was being apathetic to the fact “Probably saw your ring, hun.”, to which Sanji only nodded.

That was enough noise to finally wake up the last two persons within this room. The auburn-haired girl began to move rather slowly, as most people did after they woke up, and stretched her arms to the sides, letting out a suppressed yawn before turning around and slowly blinking the sleep out of her eyes. The blue-haired person sitting to her left also turned around, albeit slowly. There wasn’t any sign of exhaustion or sleepiness to find when it came to his face. Just the same old condescending look that seemed just so common within the Vinsmoke family that one might fear that it was genetically imprinted on them.

His lips twitched into a smile that lasted for about a second before it disappeared without a trace. “Looks like the most important person of the evening has arrived.”, what was that about? Sure, it was a family reunion, the first one after more than fifteen years for Sanji, but the most important person to arrive?

“Niji.”, there really wasn’t anything more to say, at least from his side. Sanji made the same observation that he made in regards with Yonji, though. Niji had just grown into an adult version of what he was as a child, even his hairstyle hadn’t changed at all, the blue hair still covering most of his right eye. Standing up, Sanji observed that he was less muscular than Yonji and more of a type that he classified as ‘lean and mean’. It took him only a couple of steps to walk around the couch, placing himself next to Hannah.

“Huh, someone changed for the better.”, he opened up, eyeing him from head to toe. “You’ve gotten a lot tougher since we’ve last seen you, brother. Not the sickly child you’ve used to be, right? I’m excited to see that.”, that drove his weirdness-meter through the roof. What kind of an introduction was that?!

“By the way, that’s my girl over there, name’s Lily.”, he just waved his hand in her general direction, not even making the effort of looking at her. She smiled rather shyly and raised her hand, breathing a soft “Hi.”, as she was still trying to rid herself of the sleepiness. “Now that you’re here, we can finally ready the dinner, hope you like .. lamb.”, again, why that pause before the last word?

And why did he exchange a glance with Yonji? Is this some kind of a stupid joke? Unconsciously, his right hand rubbed over his left forearm. The soothing effect of his wet and cold shirt had worn off and the branding actually began to hurt. Not too much, but it was a constant and rather annoying pain. Still, it was just so easily forgotten when the high, clear laughter of a familiar voice caught his attention, followed by fast steps, closing in on the living room. “I can’t believe that you’ve found an original!”, yes, it was Miss Nami’s voice. Even though they had spent not even a whole hour together, he would’ve recognised it everywhere on earth.

There she was again, only slightly changed. And to Sanji’s utter delight, she still had his jacket hanging loosely on her shoulders, but there also was something new.

Nami had her arms crossed in front of her chest, carrying some old book, as it seemed. Only the way she carried it was rather peculiar. It looked heavy enough, a large, old thing, bound in fissured, ancient brown leather, adorned with .. a freaking lock? Is that a diary or why on Earth would somebody walk the extra mile to put a shitty lock on a book?

Maybe it really was that special, judging from the surprisingly gentle way Nami pressed it against her chest, as if she was holding a newborn child. He also noted that she was wearing glasses now, not the big and unhandy kind that the hipsters that visited the restaurant he worked at sometimes wore, but slender ones with a black frame, modelled mostly for functionality. And they were fitting her face like a glove, adding only small accents while not taking away anything from a face that might as well had been sculpted by a literal god on a good day.

Unfortunately though, that was no place to be overly excited, especially not because she was followed closely by another person. The last to be present at this reunion. It would probably redundant to say that he, too, just grew up but did not change. Red hair, though of a darker tone than Nami’s, covered his right eye and he wore a confident smile on his lips.

Ichiji was neither the tallest, that dubious honour would go to Yonji, nor the most muscular of the Vinsmoke quadruplets. Though one might say that he was a perfect mix of Niji’s lankiness and Yonji’s muscular physique. His entire posture spoke volumes about him, too. With it, he radiated an air of confidence, of charisma, of cunning, all supported by his choice of clothing. Needless to say, he looked sharp and as his two brothers before him, he went with a black, custom-tailored jacket with a white shirt underneath, adorned with a tie that matched the colour of his hair.

“You’re looking good, little brother. Healthy and strong. A late-bloomer if I've ever seen one, eh? Took your body long enough to finally embrace its noble heritage.”, well, what did Sanji expect? Genuine, welcoming words? Don’t make me laugh. He had a feeling that, as with his other brothers, nothing had really changed. They were still the persons they had been fifteen years ago, only somewhat more refined in their ways.

“Thank you, I guess ..”, was the only answer that Sanji had, looking at Ichiji no longer than it was necessary and polite, but that moment passed and his gaze moved on towards Nami who was still holding that old book. When their eyes finally met, she greeted him with a warm and happy smile. “What’s that?”, he nodded into the direction of the book. “It’s a treasure, I mean, a real treasure.”, she answered, visibly trying to keep her excitement in check. Sanji raised a questioning brow and she continued.

“It’s the first issue of Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt’s ‘Von den unaussprechlichen Kulten’! That translates into ‘Of the unspeakable cults’.”, his brow was raised even higher if that was possible. Instead of clearing things up, it confused him even more.

“Pretty sinister name. What’s it about?”, he asked, lightly leaning his head to the side. “Oh, most of it is only some occult stuff, spells and such. Not really important if you want to have my honest opinion. But still, it’s invaluable! All the citations he used, his sources for the spells, they can prove the existence of books that were mostly shrouded in myth! For example, for one spell he cites ‘Cultes des Goules’, a book that many people thought existed only in the realms of legend, but according to von Junzt, he was in possession of a version of it written in Italian. If one could track down even a quarter of these books, it would be a milestone for research! Just look at it this way, the first issue of this book was released in 1839 in Germany and took so many other books into account, how did these reach von Junzt? The researchers can finally ask new questions based on hard facts!”, even though the topic was complicated, just seeing her flaming enthusiasm about it made him smile.

Meanwhile, Hannah had closed the distance between her fiancé and herself, taking Yonji’s hands. “It’s so nice to finally meet your whole family, my love.”, she whispered, her fingers intertwining with his. But instead of returning something, he just smiled at her. Not the usual smile that you saw between lovers, but .. that Vinsmoke smile. Never extending towards the eyes and, no matter what angle you looked at it, coming off as aloof, condescending. As if it was a part of their family to have a superiority complex. “My dear, you and Lily don’t even know in how many ways you’re completing this night. It’s going to be a great Yuletide.”, he whispered.

Sanji startled a little when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and for a second he hoped that it was Nami’s. But she was still standing too far away from him, gently holding that book. “Dear brother, why won’t you sit down? I think it’s time to have dinner.”, that was Reiju’s smoky voice in his ear and, even though he didn’t like it, he allowed her to lead him towards the lonely char that his biological father used to sit in time and time again. It actually turned out that it was rather comfortable, so much that Sanji didn’t need to use all of his willpower to lean back, allowing himself a moment of respite, a moment to relax and collect his thoughts.

He felt Reiju’s hands on his shoulders as if she was trying to massage him and further allowed himself to calm down. Maybe, after all, things wouldn’t go down as hard as he expected. It was then that everything happened simultaneously. All began with Reiju’s soft, whispering voice in his ear.

“I’m sorry ..”, in the same moment, one of her hands left his shoulders and a split second later, he felt that something hard was being pressed against the back of his head, accompanied by a click, and his mind was quick to make the association. He had never been confronted by a gun, but over the years, countless works of fiction used this sound to portray the hammer of a weapon being put into place, only the twitching of a finger away from unloading a deadly dose of lead into a body. His eyes widened at the realisation.

At the same time, Niji, who, after greeting Sanji, had retaken his place next to Lily, leaned forward, took hold of the carpet and pulled it away, going so far as to carelessly throw it aside.  Had the situation not started to feel like a nightmare as soon as he felt the gun pressed against his head, it would have by now.

Someone had drawn something on wooden ground beneath the carpet. At first glance, it just looked like a circle drawn with white chalk, but there was more to it. The circle itself was adorned with countless signs, most of them he had never seen before. Some might have been Greek letters while others had the nature of symbols, but there was no time to stare at it. A terrified cry cut through the relative silence and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of its source.

Hannah was still standing in front of Yonji, but her posture had changed. Her shoulders were contracting and she was holding her right hand before her face, grabbing it tightly with her left. “Sorry babe, but you’re not going to need this one where you’re going.”, it would have been easier if his brother’s voice was cold and lacked emotion, but that wasn’t the case. There definitely was amusement in it and it was only then that Sanji realised that her hand was drenched in blood. And it was missing her ring finger.

A ring finger that Yonji was now holding with his left hand while his right one was grasping the hilt of a long and terribly ugly knife. He was quick to snatch the ring from her finger and threw it, the finger, into some corner of the room. That was enough to break Sanji’s shock, it didn’t matter that Reiju would shoot him, but he wouldn’t let Yonji harm the woman any more!

“YOU BASTARD!”, he shouted, jumping to his feet, filled with bitter rage. It was stopped in its tracks, courtesy of Ichiji. “Hold your tongue, you disgrace.”, by now, he was also holding a gun, but instead of aiming at him, he just put the barrel to Nami’s temple. “Your decision. Try to make a move and I’ll make her head explode into a rather annoying stain on the wall. When that’s done, you’re next.”, contrary to Yonji’s sadistic pleasure, Ichiji really lacked any kind of emotion. That was what made Sanji believe his threat.

Nami’s eyes were wide open, all colour had left her face and it was obvious that she fought against the reflexes of shivering, screaming and crying.

“I see that we’ve reached an understanding. Yonji, proceed.”, and that was all he needed to hear. The movement of his right hand was so quick that even Sanji had great difficulty following it, but the results arrived within seconds. Hannah’s crying vanished only a moment after his movement had ended and ..

Her throat opened up, blood was gushing out in waves. Within her last conscious thoughts, she might have forgotten her missing finger and tried to press both of her hands against the gaping wound, but it didn’t matter anymore, there was just no way to stop it. Not even three seconds later, both her hands where bathed in her own blood and the light began to fade from her lively blue eyes, both of which were still fixated on Yonji, carrying a mixture of shock and silent indictment. He grabbed her by the shoulders and, with a needless excess of force, nearly threw her body into the circle that was drawn on the ground. There, she was supposed to find her final place of rest.

Even Lily, obviously not sleepy anymore, was crying out in utmost terror when she witnessed all of it, her gaze was nailed on Hannah's bleeding, dying body. Surprisingly enough and in contrast to many people who were part of such a dreadful situation, she wanted to get up and help her.

Somehow, even if it just meant holding her, being next to her when she moved on the the next world. Alas, standing up alone proved to be a task much too difficult for the circumstances. Just take the shaking of her legs into account, the fear and confusion that she might have felt. And then forget all of it, as the main factor that pulled her back onto the couch was the strong and absolutely ruthless  yank that Niji gave her hair, making her cry out again, a high and shrieking tone, this time stemming from pure physical pain.

“Sit down, you worthless waste of skin. Don't be so eager to die, you might not like it as much as you think.”, and even when he smiled that casual, easy Vinsmoke-smile, it was difficult to make out what he really felt. His voice wasn't nearly as sadistically aroused as Yonji's, nor was it as cold as Ichiji's. But before Sanji could think about that any longer, he had to fight down the urge to just walk over towards his brother and choke him to death.

He wouldn't have survived that, and, more importantly, neither would have Nami. She was still as white as a ghost, obviously knowing as little as he did. In that very moment, there were just so many things that he wanted to do.

He wanted to kick Yonji's head into the ground as long as necessary to leave nothing but a bloody pulp. He wanted the choke the life out of Niji. And Ichiji ..

I'm going to kill you, even if it's the last thing I'm ever going to do in my life. And when I'm done with you, everything the demons will throw at you in Hell will be nothing but relief .., his hands balled into fists, so violently that his nails, even in their cut condition, managed to tear deep into his palms. He was only barely able to control his fury and if it would have only been Reiju, aiming at the back of his head, he would've taken the chance. But with a barrel of stainless steel that was gently touching Nami's skin, things were different.

“Go ahead, Nami. Open it up. Page 351. Can't miss it.”, he heard the icy voice of his oldest brother say and Nami, clever girl that she was, complied. Better than having a bullet stuck in your brain, at least for now. She carefully opened the large book, it was already unlocked, taking only a couple of seconds to find the page she was looking for, proof that it had been read a lot.

“Ichiji .. Mr. Vinsmoke .. 'Hohelied der Wiedererweckung'? A chant of resurrection? You've killed poor Hannah for some stupid spell?!”, that woman .. gods, she definitely had some guts. Even when staring down the barrel of a .45, she still had the backbone to call him out on his madness.

Ichiji let out a deep sigh and cocked the gun, not even looking at her. There was no anger in his voice, just a slight hint of annoyance. “Look Nami, I know what these words mean. Though unfortunately, as of yet I’m not able to correctly pronounce all of them, that’d cost me a teensy bit of time to learn. Actually more time than we currently have at our disposal. Now, would that be a huge problem? No, certainly not, but we will then have to wait for another year. If that's what you want, for all I care, go for it. Close the book. But you might want to keep in mind that I'll paint the walls with your blood, throw in a little mash of what will be the pathetic rest of your brain and top it off with some tiny little splinters of bone. After that, I'm going to personally cut your carcass into pieces, feed it to the crows and come back after three days to burn the rest of it. If that's what you want, fine with me. Just close the book and consider it done.”, even the slightest hint of annoyance was gone at the end of his speech, leaving him just as cold and bland as his usual persona was.

Nami's eyes widened again and her rush of anger was extinguished. “I'll be counting to three. It's your call. One. Two.”, Ichiji didn't care for a dramatic pause between the numbers, it seemed like he just wanted to get over with it. Maybe that was the reason that Nami finally cried out. If he was spitting out empty threats, he would have taken his time. Just for the effect of it. In the same moment, Sanji wasn't able to hold back any longer and jumped to his feet, hell-bent on killing Ichiji.

He had run out of luck. Within a split second, he felt Reiju's tight grip on his shoulder, and if that would have been all of it, he might have even been able to power through. That thinking didn't take the gun in her hand into account, though, a fact that he learned to regret only a second later as his sister pistol-whipped the back of his head, easily sending him to his knees. The impact had a nauseating effect on him, indeed strong enough to make him vomit what little he had eaten that day all over the floor.

“Oh Reiju, be careful of not breaking our little brother. He might be a pathetic piece of subhuman waste, but we need him in one piece to finally be of use to the family.”, Niji playfully scolded her. His vision had become blurry, courtesy of the heavy impact against his head and the tears, equal parts the result of helplessness and vomiting, that were forcing their way out of his eyes. There it was again, cold steel pressed against the back of his head. There was no chance to escape.

“I’LL DO IT!”, Nami’s shouting seemed to be distant, just like everything else. The lines of this world were still blurry and it took him a substantial amount of willpower just to cease the puking.

“A wise decision. Go ahead, do it as long as there’s some life left within her body.”, Nami’s hands were visibly shaking when she supported the heavy book on her left forearm, using the fingers of her right hand to follow the written lines.

“Am .. am I supposed to just read it out aloud?”, her tension was perfectly understandable, as was the occasional cracking of her voice, though she handled the pressure of a gun being pointed at her head surprisingly well, let alone having to watch the poor Hannah bleeding out, who continued to mutter incomprehensible words that only exploded in waves of blood, pouring out of her mouth and the gaping wound that had torn the skin of her throat apart.

“Yes, Nami. Just speak the words and remember that you’re calling out to regain the soul of the man once known as Garuda. Now, proceed.”, again, it was Ichiji’s voice that answered her question.

She took another moment to steel herself for the task at hand, forcing her breath to go calmly. When she finally began, Nami proved her mettle once again: Her voice didn’t crack but was strong and steadfast, the shivering of her body had stopped and she had regained a solid composure. Regarding the words she spoke, it was a different beast. Sanji heard them but couldn’t understand a word, since they were German.

It all began with the invocation of the Gate and the Key.

“Erhöre mich, o König des unendlichen Raumes

Erhöre mich, jener, der an allen Orten weilt

Erhöre mich, o Kenner des Tores und des Schlüssels

Erhöre mich, jener, der du selbst Tor und Schlüssel bist

Erhöre mich, o von den Zeiten Unberührter

Erhöre mich, jener, der die Zeiten selbst berührt

O Yog-Sothoth, Herr des Tores und des Schlüssels

O Yog-Sothoth, Stammvater der Zeiten und des Raumes

O Yog-Sothoth, deine Diener rufen dich!“ (author’s note: For an English translation, take a look at the postface)

For a moment that seemed to be dragging on for an eternity, nothing of note was happening. At least it was nothing that Sanji was able to perceive, as that what had been put into play already started working when Nami chanted the invocation’s first line. The perception, even the understanding of a mere person didn’t matter where some powers reigned supreme. By now, all pieces were set into place and the real extravaganza began.

Everyone present, even his emotionally starved siblings, startled when something hammered against one of the windows, a frenzied clackclackclack, followed by the bird’s cawing that, even though the windows were closed, could still be heard inside of the room. It didn’t help, there was nothing it could have done to prevent the following events.

First, the supposedly Greek letters and symbols written onto the circle of chalk experienced a transformation. What had once been white and still and dead changed into something that was neither one nor the other, a plethora of colours began to supersede the plain chalk and tinged it into something that couldn’t be described with mere words alone. It was flowing, just as Hannah’s blood was, moving as if it had a mind of its own, touching the circle and becoming one with it. As strange as it sounds, the symbols appeared to be dancing around the innermost circle, possibilities were thrown out as if they were worthless, reality bent under the supreme rule of the powers invoked. It didn’t stop there. Sanji was looking around, more confused than ever before, and experienced it first hand.

The room itself was changing to make it more accommodating for who- or whatever had been called. Angles bent in impossible directions, the ground beneath his hands, seconds ago solid and cold wood, was heating up, developing a pulse of its own. His head started to hurt, as did his eyes. Not from the aftermath of the whipping he had received, but because of the sensory overload that followed all these things that shouldn’t, couldn’t be.

The living, colourful symbols were still engaged in a feverish, forced and mindless dance around the innermost circle, the once solid wood seemed to be living, breathing, having emotions that none of its kind should have. Somehow, he was able to identify these emotions. As long as the skin of the palms of his hands was touching the ground, all he felt was uncontrollable, frantic hatred, radiating from the very ground billions of people used to walk on, to live on, to die on.

He wanted to close his eyes, lest he wanted to preserve his sanity. But Hannah’s coughing and Nami’s terrified cry forced him to keep them open for just a few more seconds. His sight was blurred, but still, his eyes tried to focus on the poor girl that might have only had a few seconds left to live, the grip of her hands pressing against the gaping wound had grown weak by now and her spilled blood became the birthing ground for what seemed to be .. bubbles. One might have thought that it was boiling, but that would have only been half the truth.

The bubbles were not only inflating, bursting. No, they were giving birth. Birth to a thousand little arms and cramped hands, crippled, flayed and burnt. Reaching to the sky, to every living thing on this plane of existence, hoping for mercy, for help or just the swift gift of death that should never come. The first part of the ritual was completed, the might of Gate and Key, apparently going by the name of ‘Yog-Sothoth’, was completely invoked.

Poor Hannah already was too far gone to have any word on that matter, maybe her heart was still beating, maybe it wasn’t. Thousands of arms, stretching out towards her, using her blood as a gateway, didn’t make the distinction. The body was still warm, the flame of life not fully extinguished. It was enough for their primitive cravings.

Whilst the very laws of nature were aching and bending under the pressure of the forces summoned, it was a laughter, entirely devoid of emotion, that finally caught Sanji’s attention. It was Ichiji. The only person in the entire room, at least as it seemed, to remain unshaken and perfectly comfortable with these changes.

“Good, Nami, very good. The troupe is ready and the stage is set for the grand finale.”, but even though he was still pointing the gun at her head, his eyes were captivated by the ever-changing symbols on and within the circle.

“O Yog-Sothoth, erhöre das Flehen deiner Getreuen

O Yog-Sothoth, gestatte diesen Tausch

O Yog-Sothoth, gewähre uns deinen Dienern jene unendliche Gnade

O Yog-Sothoth, nimm hin Saft und Seele dieser Frau

O Yog-Sothoth, und gestatte jenem, der den Namen Garuda trägt, die Rückkehr auf diese Ebene des Seins!”

One might say that it had been increasingly hard to focus once the chanting had begun, but it amounted to nothing when compared with all that shouldn’t happen and still manifested itself in these realms. Another wave of nausea crushed over Sanji’s head, and only a part of it might still have belonged to the aftermath of the pistol-whipping. Things occurred that should not, should never be, but little did they care about the laws that humanity used to trust.

A large pool of blood gathered in front of Hannah, still spewing out bursting bubbles that gave way for the countless flayed and crippled hands that reached towards what, only a few minutes ago, had been the room’s ceiling. After witnessing everything that had transpired, it shouldn’t have surprised him that the ceiling had resonated with the powers invoked as well, bending in headache-inducing ways, not only towards the sky, towards the ground but within itself, beating like a heart, growing and shrinking again, feasting on its own parts while simultaneously giving birth to more. Sanji succeeded in forcing himself to look away, as his head felt like it was going to explode from witnessing these impossible things.

It was only by sheer luck (or rather, calamity), that he caught a glimpse of what was happening within the circle. Hannah’s blood was boiling, but not laden with bursting bubbles anymore. That didn’t change the fact that it seemed to have developed a mind of its own, forming a perfect circle on the ground in an environment that so dramatically had abandoned every geometric form that a human might perceive as ‘perfect’, or even normal.

A portal between this world and the realms of the dead had finally been established and it didn’t take long for the call to reach who, or what, it was looking for within these unspeakable depths.

It was a maimed hand that marked the beginning of the ascension, manifesting itself within her blood. Flayed, crippled and with only a few chunks of flesh still clinging onto charred bone, it was larger than everything that had sprouted from the bubbles, roughly the size of a human’s hand. In an astounding show of force, it tore reality apart and subdued the laws of physics, ripping the veil that separated the afterlife from our realm to pieces.

The initially steady pace was beginning to accelerate, and soon the hand was followed by an arm with equally charred bones, adorned with massive chunks of maggot-ridden flesh. Another arm followed and finally, when Sanji caught a glimpse of who it was that those arms belonged too, he had to bow his head again, giving way to the rising bile within his throat, spitting it all over his hands.

Name them what you will: Lunatics, maniacs, occultists, madmen, sorcerers.

It didn’t matter. The soul of a person who had consumed so much forbidden knowledge within his life might have been considered fragile within the terms of psychiatrically sophisticated minds, but these exact minds were still bound to human perception and interpretation. None of it mattered here. Contrasting all the poor, sodding souls that had tried to escape the realm from beyond the veil, with their little arms bursting out of bubbles of blood, this particular one was roughly the size of a tall human being, the wide shoulders being a testament to that. With maggot-ridden chunks of flesh and muscle, according to all the laws of this world, it shouldn’t have been able to move, specifically not with the strength it was showing whilst tearing apart the portal to accommodate its size. His size.

It wasn’t so much the barely recognisable face that forced Sanji to vomit again, even though for every other person, it might as well have been. Only one of its eyes was still being held in the socket, meanwhile his other one had become a nest of some sort for things that might have been centipedes. Centipedes that seemed familiar enough with their home that one of them left the socket, only to make its way into the nose of this horrifically disfigured abomination, just to reappear right out of his  his mouth. The sheer sight of something so otherworldly, while still being familiar, took a toll on Sanji’s sanity, in the worst way imaginable.

Within seconds, he was vividly reliving the worst of memories. This man, or whatever it was, was responsible for turning his childhood into a nightmare. Sanji had felt nothing when the authorities had informed him that he passed away.

He was back again, even though in a nigh-unrecognisable form. More dead than alive, fuelled by hatred, insanity and the knowledge of forbidden lore. The one thing that stood out in this form was the animalistic mane that had been his hair for all his life. It was unchanged, the same colour as Sanji’s, dancing to the impossible tune of an unseen current.

Finally, this wretched spectre, this misbegotten wraith of decades past began to make its move. Malformed hands reached out towards the dying Hannah, aimed at the hands that covered the gashing wound at her throat. The spectre didn’t try to remove her hands, the ethereal form didn’t even as much as touch her skin. Instead, his hands went right through her, giving away that the seemingly solid form was nothing but an illusion, the pitiful remains of a man who had sold his soul to unspeakable and innumerable devils and demons time and time again. Yet, he had risen to power, or was at least able to keep the remnants of his spirit mostly together, even within the realm of suffering. A shining beacon that lesser spirits clung to in hope of deliverance.

All they received was more pain, like parasites they clung to his foul flesh, still unable to leave their torment behind. Many lost their grip on the soul of his father, screaming out in anguish as they fell back into the endless abyss, others burned away as the wings of Icarus did, clinging too heavily to the sorceror’s soul that must have seemed like the sun itself within the lands of the lost.

Sanji wanted to force himself to look away, unconsciously sure that his mind would be torn to pieces of he continued to watch, yet he was unable to take control. Sickness and bile arose again when the wretched spectre’s arms followed his hands, sinking into Hannah’s cut throat. As impossible as it did seem, it still happened. The rest of his father’s ethereal body was following, taking residency within the small frame of the dying woman.

Endless seconds later, the work was done. The bleeding had subsided, as did the sobbing and her silent crying. No silent indictment remained within her face, no despair.

Actually, nothing of Hannah remained within what had been her face, he recognised when she turned it towards Sanji, staring at him with eyes that weren’t hers. Nothing of the blue remained, not the liveliness, the warmth that her face emitted.

Because these eyes did no longer belong to her.

These were the eyes of a dead man. Or, at least, of a man who should have been dead. They belonged to none other than Judge Vinsmoke.

Garuda.

“Welcome back, father.”, was the last thing he heard before he fainted. The first time since he arrived, there was a trace of emotion within Ichiji’s voice. It was pride.