#i've had an idea of what afterlife i hope for... but that doesn't really mean much if i never get to see it until the end- now does it?

[shock-micro]

the practice of taking multiple names... i do wish it was a bit more supported in places like the united states. i love my family name, my family means the world to me,

but there's also the last name of berri that i'd love to take. it was the second name that stuck with me after "mira", and i've nicknamed myself "miraberri" in a lot of things over the past year i've had it...

...i suppose the other trouble is that i've already changed my legal name once, and so now i'd have to pay for it to be changed again... ahh, the wonders of capitalism and rigid social systems.

wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a society that embraced Change?

that freely allowed, even encouraged changing oneself? embracing the fact that everything will change eventually, and must do so for things to not become stagnant?

that some things might not be right as they are, despite the state of things being comfortable for many people? that the status quo, or our time-honored traditions, aren't infallible, perfect concepts?

i guess the idea is too much for some people to understand.

maybe some day, that'll change, too.

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Ace Trappola - Suitor Suit Vignette

"I love..."

[Cafeteria – Wedding Ceremony]

Crowley: Dearie me… Today was indeed an ordeal.

Crowley: It seems the ghosts have all disappeared, leaving our cafeteria still decorated for a wedding ceremony.

Crowley: How dare they take no responsibility for what happened.

Crowley: We won't be able to open for meals tomorrow if it stays like this.

Crowley: So, young freshmen. I'll leave it to you to clear up this "wedding venue" before heading back to your dormitories, then.

Jack/Deuce/Sebek: Ehhhh～～～!?

Ace: When you say freshmen… That doesn't include me 'n Epel in all our tuxedo glory, right?

Crowley: No, I mean all freshmen. I pride myself as an educator who treats all my students the same!

Epel: Oh, come on…

Ace: Give us a break, already. I did so much today, I'm wiped out.

Crowley: I will admit that you played an integral part in today's procession… But that is that, and this is this.

Crowley: I do hope you lively youngsters will be quick about it!

Grim: Hey, Yuu. Stop spacing out! We're makin' a run for it before the Headmage notices us.

Crowley: Ah, of course, that includes [Yuu]-kun and Grim-kun, too.

Grim: Myaaaah!!

Epel: Urgh. I've thrown away so many of these ribbon off the walls, and there's still more to go.

Grim: Whenever I try pullin' the lace off, it keeps getting' caught on my claws!

Ace: This chair's real sturdy. Where'd they even find… Wait, it's a tombstone! [shudders]

1. We're not anywhere close to getting finished. 2. I wanna go home already.

Ortho: Hey everyone, I'm here to help too, so let's put our all into it!

Ace: …Arrrgh, come on! I did so much to help out, too!

Ace: How much trouble do ghosts gotta put us through before they're satisfied, anyway?

Ace: 500 years? Crazy they've been obsessing over something like "love" for that long.

Ace: I'm pretty pissed at those ghost soldiers, sure… But I don't understand what that princess was thinking at all.

Ace: I'd've had a lot less trouble if she'd just given up on the whole marriage thing and lived a happy afterlife instead…

Epel: …

Epel: Ace-kun… Has there ever been someone you liked?

Ace: Huh!? Why're you asking me that all of a sudden?

Epel: Just thought it was strange… You saying she was "obsessive" or that you "don't understand" her.

Epel: 'Cause you kinda give off this vibe that you'd know a bit more about relationships.

Ace: What, you saying I'm a playboy or something?

Epel: N-No, I'm not saying that.

Grim: You shouldn't tease Ace like that, askin' about his love life. No way he'd have any idea about that sorta stuff.

Grim: There's no way a jerk like him would ever have any luck.

Ace: Hey, can you try not being jealous of me for one sec?

Ace: Back in middle school, even I had a girlfriend I'd take to amusement parks or movie theaters or whatever.

Grim: Wh-What!? You're soundin' pretty cocky for someone like you, Ace!

Ortho: Amusement parks and movies, hm. My manual says that regardless of the generation, those are pretty popular date spots!

Epel: Nice… all this talkin' about datin' and such's makin' me feel like we're really at our peak high school guy talk stage!

Epel: So? What happened?

Ace: Well…

Ace: You know girls, they're so scared of roller coasters, so all we'd ride was the merry-go-round or the ferris wheel.

Ace: She'd say everything was "Cute!" and take a ton of Magicam pictures, but I didn't really see what was so exciting about those rides.

Ace: Plus, whenever we went to see a movie, she never wanted to watch action or horror movies, just romance and cute animal movies…

Ace: It was just borin' with her, so we just slowly stopped messaging each other.

Epel: Oh, I see. Doesn't that seem a little…disappointing?

Ace: Yeah, but the worst was still to come. After I started slowly distancing myself, whaddya think happened next?

Ace: …One day, this group of girls I'd never met in my life started shouting at me…

Ace: "Why didn't you ever call her?" "How could you!" "She's been crying non-stop!" "You brute!"

Ace: …And they went on and on scolding me! What's with that, some kind of solidarity between girls or whatever?

Ace: That's when I realized. Love is just a pain to deal with!

Ace: I have way more fun just hangin' with the guys.

Grim: Man, you're just a kid, after all.

Ace: Don't wanna hear that from you, of all people.

Ace: …But, anyway!

Ace: I think it's not me we gotta worry about, but those guys over there.

Jack/Deuce/Sebek: Hm?

[Cafeteria – Wedding Ceremony]

Ace: I think it's not me we gotta worry about, but those guys over there.

Jack/Deuce/Sebek: Hm?

Deuce: Hey, Ace. What have you guys been chatting away about over there?

Jack: Urgh… It's already past midnight and I don't think I can stay awake any longer. Let's hurry and finish cleaning up already.

Ace: You guys are tryin' to act all cool, but who was it that was just rolling around on the floor all day today?

Ace: Look at 'em, Grim. You should be saying that these dunderheads who couldn't even succeed in their mission are more like kids.

Grim: Hm, I guess…?

Grim: Deuce did look pretty lame when he froze up tryin' to talk to that bride.

Ace: Riiiight～?! I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe at all.

Deuce: Wha… I couldn't help it! I'm not used to talking to girls.

Deuce: I clam up when I start thinking that I might say something stupid and callous…

Ace: Your middle school was co-ed, wasn't it? Weren't you popular enough?

Ace: I always thought that guys with that "tough guy" image always had girls falling at their feet.

Deuce: Falling at my feet?

Deuce: …Nah, no one ever talked to me.

Deuce: Every girl other than my mom ―or rather, every guy, too― would run away the moment we made eye contact.

Ace: Ah, I see… So you were just so scary no one wanted to come close…

Ace: Jack got rejected pretty quick too, so I guess guys who just look scary from the get-go just can't get girls, huh.

Jack: That's all useless talk. I don't really care if people like me.

Ace: Oho? What, you a sore loser or something?

Jack: No. Wolf beastmen like myself are destined to find the one person to care about forever.

Jack: Both my parents and my grandparents are the same… From the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep, they're always together. Even when taking a walk or having meals.

Jack: When the time comes that I fall in love, I plan on being with them for the rest of my life.

Jack: That's why I don't care if a bunch of folks like me.

Ace: Th... That's waaaaay too deep!

Ace: Dude, you're still a student, and you're talking about "the rest of my life"… You're taking this "love" stuff way too seriously!

Deuce: Also, can you really think about marriage before you've even got a career plan set up?

Grim: What a pain! I definitely don't wanna ever date Jack.

Jack: Well, I'm not asking you to!

Ace: Then, I guess it's more guys like Epel that'd get the most attention.

Ace: Instead of being scary looking, he's a pretty boy with potential!

Epel: Eh, m-me!?

Ace: Well, you were askin' about others, so you should cough up a story too. Was there anyone back home you had a crush on?

Epel: Uh…

Ace: Come on～ Don't keep it a secret～ We're tux buddies, ain't we?

Deuce: That's a rude way to drag him in. Why're you so hung up on hearing about other people's love lives?

Jack: I bet he's hoping that other people'll do his share of the clean up while he keeps the conversation going.

Deuce: Makes sense. That's a pretty Ace-like move.

Ace: You guys are totally interested in hearing too!

Jack/Deuce: Well…

Ace: You ever get confessed to? Was there someone you liked? Or even dated someone!?

Epel: …

Jack/Deuce/Ace: …!

Epel: …Hate to break it to you guys when you're all looking at me so intently…

Epel: But there's not many people in my hometown. And even then, most of the people there either way older or way younger than me.

Epel: I never really got to spend time with people my age once I came here to Night Raven College…

Epel: All I did was help out on my family's farm… So I don't really have any exciting story…

Ace: Dang, so you don't have any fun stories too, huh.

Epel: Sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations.

Ortho: If I were to compare against prior data gathered of boys of similar age, it seems like everyone here is drastically lacking when it comes to living your youthful years.

Ace: Shut it!

Sebek: Hey! Humans! You've all stalled in your work.

Sebek: IF YOU'VE GOT TIME TO CHIT-CHAT, STACK THE CHAIRS!

Ace: Here he comes, the guy who's got the worst chance among us.

Jack: Yeah, I was pretty disappointed too.

Sebek: Hmph. All of you are just going back and forth about falling in love and whatnot.

Sebek: We are students. If you have time for that sort of ridiculous leisure, you should focus on your studies instead!

Grim: Don't be talkin' down to us! You were one of the first to get rejected!

Sebek: I was not rejected! I rejected her!

Sebek: I am busy training every single day to be a capable guard for Malleus-sama. I have no time for frivolities like "love."

Ace: You say that, but what if someone that was really your type shows up one day?

Ace: You plannin' on droning on and on about Malleus-senpai to that person, too?

Sebek: I fully know what to do. Lilia-sama has explained to me what I should do if I were to meet my soulmate.

Sebek: …FIRST I WOULD CRAFT FOR THEM A WELL-THOUGHT OUT CORRESPONDENCE!

Ace: Correspondence!!?? You mean, write a letter!?

Ace: That's like something our grandparents would do!

Deuce: It'd be better if you sent a message on Magicam or email instead.

Sebek: Why is that? Lilia-sama would say that "Fountain pens and stationary are a lover's weapon."

Sebek: One should lay out their thoughts in the missive, and every third letter, also include a picture with a smile. This should continue until the 25th full moon of the courtship.

Sebek: Once enough correspondence has been exchanged…

Sebek: We are to sit on a bench together in Briar Valley Central Park, leaving enough space for one between us!

Epel: Yeah, you're definitely being led on…

Sebek: WHAT!!?? HOW DARE A LOWLY HUMAN DOUBT LILIA-SAMA LIKE SO!!??

Ace: Yeah, yeah. Pipe down already. It'll go on and on if we don't nip it in the bud here, so let's call it quits here!

Ace: [sigh]… But maybe Sebek has a bit of a point.

Jack: What, you gonna write some letters too?

Ace: Oh yeah, yeah, I'd totally whip out the white stationary and write in cursive "I love"… Not!!

Ace: Even for this, me and Epel needed Riddle-ryōchō and Rook-senpai's help, right?

Epel: …Yeah. If we didn't have those two, I don't think we would've been able to get as far as we did.

Ace: You know, it came to me when I saw my Housewarden taking on all those ghosts.

Ace: "My Housewarden's pretty cool."

Ace: I wanna get better at using magic, man.

Ace: I can't even compare against my Housewarden or other upperclassmen right now, but...

Ace: But someday, I'll totally show off what all I can do, and be all, "Check me out now!"

Ace: I totally get a jolt through my body imagining the shock on their faces when I finally show my awesome skills, see?

Ace: And in order to get to that point… I guess I need to focus up a bit more in my studies before thinking anything about love.

Epel: …Yeah. You're right. I think so too!

Sebek: Hmph. See, you do get it.

Deuce: Yeah, we need to hunker down with our studies.

Jack: When Deuce with all his failing marks says that, it just feels even more important to think about.

Sebek/Epel/Ace: Yeah.

Deuce: Why are you all in step when it comes to things like this!?

Ace: …Putting that all aside, we just really got carried away in conversation, huh. We ain't nowhere near done putting the cafeteria back in order!

Ace: Not only did we have to deal with all those ghosts, but now we gotta be held after to do more work…

Ace: We're so lame. Nothing good came out of today at all.

Ortho: That's not true!

Ace: Eh?

[Cafeteria – Wedding Ceremony]

Ortho: I was watching the video with the Headmage when you barged into the wedding ceremony, and…

Ortho: It felt like I was watching a movie, seeing you burst in with your flower bouquet, shouting out "Wait a sec!"

Ortho: You were so passionately coming to my brother's rescue…

Ortho: It was suuuuuuuuuuuper cool!

Ace: Huh? I wasn't passionate anything.

Ace: That was because I had just finished running away from the ghosts… or more like I got caught up in the flow.

Ortho: Nah. I saw just how serious you looked when you rushed into the room.

Ortho: You totally meant every word you said to the bride and her retainers, didn't you?

Grim: There ain't no way Ace'd say anything that genuine.

Grim: All he did was just ramble on about stuff without putting in any thought, I bet.

Ace: Y-Yeah, yeah! You got it right on the money, Grim.

Ortho: Judging from what I gleaned from my infrared sensor, with his elevated body temperature, voice pitch and pupil dilation…

Ortho: All the preceding data brings us to the conclusion that Ace was being genuine.

Ortho: …There's no need for you to hide it. You're really shy, huh!

Deuce: Which means…

Sebek: All he said to the ghost bride about the "perfect marriage partner"…

Jack: Was Ace's actual genuine thoughts!?

Ortho: Yup. There's no doubt.

Ortho: It's wonderful that you have a real good image of your ideal partner.

Ace: Hah!? No way! Absolutely no way!

Ace: I just said whatever I thought the ghosts would swallow!

Jack/Deuce/Sebek: Ohooo～～??

Grim: Protesting too much, don'tcha think?

Ortho: Even the Headmage said, "I'm growing fonder of Trappola-kun by the second!"

Ortho: Based on prior literature, statistically speaking, if you were to confess to someone with the same passion as you did today…

Ortho: You're sure to have no trouble getting someone to fall in love with you!

Ace: There ain't no passion. That wasn't a confession!

Ace: …And all you stop your stupid grinning!

Epel: Wow, I didn't realize how much you put into it…

Epel: I wish I could've seen you looking so cool, Ace-kun.

Ortho: Leave it to me! I still have the recording. I'll send you the video later.

Ace: STOP WITH THE RECORDING!

Deuce: Oh, nice thinking. We should all watch it later once we're done clearing everything away. You guys good with doing it at Ramshackle?

Jack: Running a play-by-play could be fun. I'm feeling more awake now.

Sebek: I shall give my own evaluation of it as well!

Sebek: You said I was the guy today with the worst chance among all of us. I'll make sure to thoroughly lambast you as penance.

Ace: DON'T BE TRYING TO MAKE INTO A VIEWING PARTY!

1. No need to be shy. 2. We just want to pay tribute to your gallant speech.

Ortho: Yeah～!

Ortho: That's why you, Ace Trappola-san, who already has thought of what his ideal partner would be…

Ortho: Is the best suited suitor of all!

Ace: …Aaaaah, come on! I've already told you… I wasn't serious at all!

Grim: Woah. Ace's turned completely red even to the tips of his ears!

Deuce: Haha, you're right. This isn't something we get to ever see.

Jack: Hey, Ortho. Make sure you capture this moment too.

Grim: You too, [Yuu], snap a shot on the ghost camera!

Ace: Why's everyone gotta mess with me like this…?

Ace: Just drop it already, guys～～!

Requested by Anonymous.

[doe-eyed-fool]

Fear Of The Known

Lucifer x Fem!Angel!Reader

|Chapter Seven|

Warning: Drinking, Angst

Y/n and Michael set across from each other in the breakfast nook. She made some tea, in hopes to help relax Michael a bit. He looked so tired, and yet he was so tense. Almost alert.

"Is there something wrong?" Y/n asks carefully. Michael looked up from his tea at her. "I don't know yet." He sighs. Y/n furrows her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Michael leaned back in his seat slightly. "Father called a meeting with me and my brothers, along with his other trusted angels. And telling from recent events it was not a...pleasant meeting. Not at all." Michael says as he brings a hand up to his head.

"I've never seen father so frazzled. With all this talk of, secret exterminations and that hotel ran by Lucifer's daughter. We were there for hours just trying to find a way to settle this mishap, and then we had to discuss what would be done with Sera. Oh and then, of course, the back and forth of what we should do about that hotel situation. I just..." Michael's hand ran down his face as he groaned.

"What did you decide?" Y/n asks. "About?" Michael raises an eyebrow. "Um, the hotel. The idea of redemption, it seems impossible. But then again, every possibility has the chance of becoming true." Said Y/n. "I'd know..."

Michael was silent for a moment. "It's a nice thought. But Hell exists for a reason. A place for all evil to reside. Humans are given the chance to be better, and when they die, divine judgement awaits. Whether or not they make it up here or down there, is up to them. The afterlife given is the afterlife they will live for eternity. There is no changing that."

Y/n looks down at her cup of tea. "I suppose it is a nice thought." She then inhales before standing from the table. "Michael, I think we both need a vacation."

Michael chuckles. "Yeah? You think we'd get more of them, considering this is paradise." Y/n crosses her arms with a smirk. "I also think tea isn't what we need right now." She looks over her shoulder. "Do you drink?"

"Not often. I can't even remember my last one." Said Michael. Y/n walks to the wine cabinet and looks for her best bottle. Y/n wasn't much of a drinker either, only really having one with dinner occasionally. But it was nice to have every now and then.

She picks up a bottle and grabs two glasses and returns to the table. "Has God made any sort of decision yet?" She asks. Michael shook his head. "No, but he's assured us we will have an answer soon."

Y/n pours each of them a glass. "Well until then, let's actually try to relax for once." Michael smiles and takes his glass. "Let's."

The two of them might have a tad too much, and Michael, being the responsible man he was, decided to cut himself and Y/n off. "Alright, this was fun. But." Michael stands from the table. "Bed time."

Y/n, half asleep and slightly tipsy, groaned. "Mhm..." Michael helped her out of the chair, holding her tight so she doesn't stumble. He then picked her up and walked to her bedroom. He walks inside her room and lays her on the bed carefully. Y/n yawned and closed her eyes.

As he was turning to leave, Y/n grabbed onto his sleeve, causing him to stop. He turns to face her. "Do you need something?" He asks quietly. Y/n mumbled something into her pillow, so he leaned down closer to her. "What was that?" Y/n looked up at him with tired eyes, her voice cracked slightly as she spoke.

"Don't go...Please Lucifer...Please stay."

Michael froze. Y/n tugged on his sleeve again. "Please..." Wordlessly, Michael crawled beside her, and tried to ignore the ache in his chest as he held her close to him.

Y/n winces at the morning light brushing at her face. She yawns and sits up in her bed, stretching her arms up above her head. She gets out of bed, and notices she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Her confusion only lasted a brief moment before it hit her.

"Gosh." She sighed. "Poor Michael." She laughs slightly at the thought of him having to get her into bed. Y/n steps into her bathroom to take a shower and freshen up before starting her day.

After getting dressed she made her way to the kitchen, where she saw Michael. He was leaning against the wall, looking out of the window as he sipped on a cup of coffee.

"Michael?" Why was he still here? Michael turned to face her. "Good morning." He greets her. "Did you stay the night?" Y/n asks. Michael chuckles. "Yeah. Don't worry I slept on the couch, well, after you finally let out of your clutches."

Y/n's face heats up slightly. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry Michael!' Michael shakes his head and walks over to the coffee maker. "Don't worry about it. How's your head?"

"Surprisingly fine. No hangover, thankfully." Y/n joins him. Michael hands her a cup and goes back to drinking his. "That's good."

"Thank you, Michael. Again, I'm sorry you had to deal with me last night. I hope didn't say or do anything else to make myself look like more of a fool." Y/n sighs.

Michael was silent for a moment. "If you did...I'm not telling you." He smirks. "Michael!" Y/n pouts. "What did I do?"

"Nope, I'm not saying." Michael teases. Y/n groans. "You're terrible."

"Aren't I?" Michael chuckles. "Anyway. I should start heading out. I have another dreadful meeting to attend. I suppose today we will finally have our answer."

"If you need to talk after, I'll be here for you." Said Y/n with a smile. Michael smiles as well, but couldn't help but feel that awful ache again. "I know." He heads for the door. "I'll see you later, Y/n."

"Goodbye." Y/n waves. Michael waves before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Y/n would start her day as usual, run a few errands around the city, and occasionally be stopped by a few civilians who wanted to know what the future held for them. Y/n would never look too far, just enough to satisfy them.

She'd never tell them what would happen when something unfavorable is to occur. Instead, she'd advise them to be cautious of certain things, places, or people. It was best not to scare them, but she would make sure they were aware and careful.

As Y/n was walking, she could see the Seraphim's tower up ahead. Her head was telling to keep walking, but her heart said the opposite. Ever since the exterminations were exposed, Y/n couldn't help but wonder how Emily was doing.

She wasn't herself lately. And now that Sera's fate was on the line, Y/n worried for Emily more. So, Y/n decided right then to pay her a visit. She walked inside and made her way upward. As she walking through the hall, she noticed someone up ahead. They had walked out of Sera's office and were heading in her direction.

The closer Y/n got, she realized just who it was approaching. Joel. Y/n was unsure what to say as they both grew closer. She was never close to Joel, even all those years ago. Y/n opened her mouth to greet him, though she did not get the chance as Joel walked right past her without a word.

Y/n wasn't offended, Joel never was much of a social man. Then suddenly she stopped.

'Wait a minute.' Y/n turned around, watching Joel grow further away. 'What was he doing in Sera's office?' Y/n turned back around. With curiosity getting the better of her, she entered Sera's office, and was shocked by what she saw.

"That's a bit rude, barging in here unannounced like that."

"Sera?" Y/n furrow her brows. "What are you doing here?" Sera, without looking at her, answered. "This is my office." She says bluntly. Sera then gives her a sharp look. "We're you hoping I'd be locked away until I was given my punishment?"

"I was expecting you to be suspended from your duties until God made his decision." Y/n corrects her. "Has he already?"

"No." Sera mutters. "I am here because there is no one to take my place, otherwise I would have been suspended." Y/n glances back at the door for a moment. "And, why was Joel here?"

"Supervising." Sera's face scrunches in annoyance. "I suppose him watching my every move is part of the punishment they have planned for me. Now, why are you here?"

"I wanted to check on Emily." Y/n answers. "Emily is fine." Sera insists. Y/n furrows her brows. "She wasn't before. You kept such a gruesome secret from her for so many years after all."

"Y/n. I have a lot of my mind, and I do not need you to add to it. So if you'll please." Sera gestures to the door. Y/n said nothing more before leaving.

Y/n made her way back down the tower, a bit of power in her steps as frustration swarms in her head. She she was making her way for the exit, Emily walked in. She saw Y/n and smiled slightly. "Hi Y/n."

The frustration fades from Y/n as she smiles. "Hello Emily. How are you today?" She asks. Emily shrugs. "Doing better, I guess. At least those exterminations won't happen anymore. I hope."

"You hope?" Y/n asked. Emily nods. "There hasn't been any sort of answer. So, I don't know..."

Y/n puts a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, you won't have to worry about those exterminations anymore. I know God wouldn't allow for something so unethical to continue."

"Do you know? Or do you know?" Emily raises an eyebrow. Y/n laughs weakly. "I haven't looked. But you really shouldn't worry. No one in their right mind would let those exterminations go on."

Emily takes Y/n's hands. "Please Y/n, will you tell me? It'd make me feel so much better if I knew it wouldn't. I'm really worried about Charlie and her friends."

Charlie? Was that what the princess liked to be called?

"Alright." Y/n says softly. "If it will make you feel better, I will look." Emily nods, holding her hands tighter. Y/n closes her eyes and waits for the vision to come.

The same red sky came into view, and she saw the very same hotel that Charlie was so passionate about. It all seemed to be fine so far, until the sky was broken by bright heavenly light.

And down came a swarm of angels, weapons in hand. They swooped down and killed any demon in sight. Some fought back against the angels, but the battle was starting to lean towards the angels favor.

And all of a sudden, a giant beam of light cut through the hotel, destroying it completely. The one who caused it's destruction was none other than Adam himself.

And he was about to face a dangerous foe...

Y/n's eyes shot open. Her breath was caught in her throat, and her heartbeat thumbed harshly against her chest. The exterminations would continue after all...

"Y/n?" Emily spoke up. "You're hurting my hands a little." Y/n looked down, she was holding onto Emily's hands tightly. She quickly took them away and apologized.

"What's wrong?" Asked Emily carefully. Y/n swallowed a lump in her throat. "I...I just saw something I didn't expect." Y/n began to walk past Emily. "I'm sorry Emily, I must go now. There's someone I need to speak to right away."

Y/n took off into the sky, unable to hear Emily as she called for her to come back. Y/n felt terrible for lying to her, she knew Emily wasn't stupid. Emily would find out eventually, and it broke Y/n's heart.

She flapped her wings harder, increasing her speed. There was no time to waste, that terrible future was coming soon. She had to do something to stop it before it was too late.

Y/n landed in front of God's palace, she rushed in through the gates and hurried inside. She was half way to God's throne room, she rounded a corner and suddenly bumped into someone. She stumbled back a bit.

"Whoa, what's got you in a rush?"

Y/n looked up and was met with the angel of death himself, Azrael. He looked down at her with a smirk. "You got somewhere you need to be?"

"I need to speak with God immediately!" Y/n pants breathlessly. Azrael hummed and leaned on his staff. "Ah, sorry. God's a bit busy right now. Maybe come back later?"

"But I need to see him now! I saw something terrible in the near future!" Y/n tried to explain. "Again, he's busy." Azrael repeats. "But, I can relay the message to him if you'd like?"

"Azrael, please, this is urgent! I am not leaving until speak with him!" Y/n knew better than to speak this way to him, he was her superior. But right now, she couldn't care less.

"What's going on here?"

Y/n and Azrael turned to see Michael approaching. "Little one here says she needs to speak with God. Says it's real urgent." Said Azrael with a grin. Michael looks to Y/n. "Father is in the middle of an important meeting at the moment. Tell me, what did you see?"

"The exterminations, they're still going to happen!" Y/n tells him, she didn't miss the hesitation from Michael. But she couldn't stop to dwell on it. "Adam is going down to the princess' hotel and..."

"Lucifer and Adam will battle."

Michael and Azrael were taken aback from this. They looked at each other for a moment before Michael spoke again. "Y/n, come with me." Michael walks ahead of her.

"But Michael, God must know about this! Sera is still letting these exterminations happen!"

Michael faces her, a slightly stern look in his eyes. "Y/n." He says sharply. "Please...just come with me." Confused, Y/n hesitantly followed him.

What ever was happening now, Y/n had the most terrible feeling.

Tags-

@bloody-delusion-expert

@simbalioness

@annybah

@alientee

[backjustforberena]

headcannons on how Rhaenys would react to the events of s02 ep05-08 (esp. the dragonseed thing and mysaria x rhaenyra) from whatever afterlife westeros has?

By all means, if you want something a bit more serious and considered, do follow up on this answer - and thank you for sending this in. It's so fun. I've already spoken a bit about how Rhaenys would feel about the Dragonseed plot and the individuals involved and how she might have played a part or not, had she lived in an ask so go and check that out.

But I'm going to take this one with absolute levity and not be particularly serious because the idea of Rhaenys watching down from Targ!heaven is hilarious to me. I just picture her there, like she's in a really fancy chair with a goblet of wine, being omniscient and seeing everything and just not agreeing whatsoever with anyone's actions.

It reminds me not only of Rhaenys being just totally unimpressed by the tourney in Episode 01, but of Eve Best in the press junket, saying that she felt like she and Steve were the two old guys from The Muppets, looking down and heckling. And that makes me laugh. Rhaenys is looking down on it all and just yelling.

I'm pretty sure Rhaenys would be sort of tearing her hair out. I mean, she's dead for like, two seconds, and the team she's just died for is basically imploding.

She gets all the information about Daemon and watches that play out - that he's being terrorised by bad dreams and he's suggesting kids go out and smother their grandfathers, and that he's building an army for his sake and it's like all Rhaenys's fears are proven because he's just not being a team player and he needs someone to kick his arse into gear.

But no one in that situation is being a grown-up because Rhaenyra isn't willing to go and face the situation either, which is partly what leads her down the path that she does, with the Dragonseeds - she fears having lost Daemon when, actually, she has no proof either way: there's nothing to provoke that escalation other than Daemon's radio silence. Which, admittedly, is a big red flashing neon sign, but not conclusive, especially after having fought with his wife.

Like, guys, just SORT IT OUT. There are bigger things than your marriage potentially imploding - you didn't see Rhaenys fall apart when confronted with her husband's bastards, did you? No! You didn't see her command Corlys from her sight when he came to back her up! She kept him around - he's useful! You park the issue. The political comes before the personal. The most important thing isn't the marriage: it's whether you're getting an army.

Rhaenys'd approve of sending Broome. Make him feel useful and it is good to get word, but she'd hope Rhaenyra be a bit more aware of who she is sending and what she intends to get back. A vague message isn't going to cut it. To be honest, if it could have been spared, it might have been good to send Baela - not only is Baela fiercely loyal to Rhaenyra's cause, but she is measured enough to deal with Daemon, and a dragon is faster than ships and horses. But yeah, not bad, Rhaenys approves.

Mysaria, Mysaria, Mysaria. Damn, I wish that Rhaenys had been aware of your existence on-screen. That would have been interesting because they are polar opposites in terms of advising. First off, Rhaenys isn't going to go about snogging Rhaenyra (ew), but also Mysaria is feeding Rhaenyra everything she wants to hear. And it's coming from a good place, sure. But Rhaenys was forever guiding Rhaenyra in a way that keeps her in check - she doesn't see Rhaenyra as something perfect and blessed.

Rhaenyra needs someone who will tell her the truth as much as anything else and I think that, even though Mysaria believes what she is saying, she's not actually criticised Rhaenyra, I don't think. But as to her reaction to the snog? Throwing her hands up. Like come on??? Not the time! (Bravo on the smallfolk propaganda though. That's neat.)

Corlys... I love you but your wife is yelling at you from heaven. GET IT TOGETHER. I think she'd be heartbroken to see how heartbroken he is, I just know it. She's proud he becomes Hand, she's immensely proud of Baela (whilst also going: no, no, don't aim for death, that's not what I want - stop glorifying me, you're sixteen, stop thinking about dying).

And she's watching through her fingers every time Corlys interacts with his sons. Like, mate, make an effort. It's painful to watch but not for the reasons you'd assume. Just get on with it! Admit your mistakes, and apologise. Have the conversation! Talk to each other. Open yourself up to these family members, I know it's hard but Rhaenys wants to give you a smack upside your head and then a pep talk because you can do it! And, more importantly, you need to! I think she'd have many thoughts about Alyn's childhood.

I also think she'd be teary-eyed at him renaming the ship. I'm sorry, I know people will likely disagree but you can't tell me that Rhaenys wouldn't find the symbolism and the intent romantic as hell. "What I do now, I do for her." - Eve reacted to that line in such a Rhaenys way which was: "Aw, that's so sweet! You don't say that in my hearing, you bastard." AND YOU KNOW WHAT... FAIR! Absolutely fair reaction.

Gosh, what else? Dragonseeds. I mean, this gif is probably applicable:

Overall conclusion:

[big-wet-cas-eyes]

Welcome to my Destiel fic masterlist for 2022! I wrote a lot early on in the year, and sort of fell off toward the end, but I still wrote 85,000 words this year and I'm proud of that. I'm hoping I can get back into things next year so cross your fingers for me that inspiration strikes!

Thank you to all of my followers (and anyone who has read anything I've written) for your kind words when I do write things, and for sharing things that you liked. Having fanfiction as a creative outlet has been one of my favorite things in the last couple of years, and I'm so grateful to this fandom for how supportive and kind everyone is to a new writer.

Onto the fics!

Longer fics:

life was a willow | 34k words | E

Written for Pinefest with amazing art done by the incredible @betanoiz. I think this is my favorite fic I've ever written, and I still can't even describe how happy it made me to see the artwork that brought it to life. It's mindblowing to me that my story is the reason such breathtaking art exists.

When Dean’s favorite author becomes a regular at his bar, Dean knows he’s done for. He never could have anticipated the intense feelings that blossomed for the talented Castiel. There’s just one thing standing in his way of being with Castiel the way he truly wants: Castiel is waiting for his soulmate. Dean has spent his entire life hating the concept of soulmates. He just wants to live his life without the universe intervening. If the only way he can keep Castiel in his life is by swallowing his feelings, then that’s what he’ll do.

angels roll their eyes | 8k words | M

Written for the DeanCas Reverse bang inspired by an awesome piece of art done by the wonderful @birbgalaxy (and some delightful chapter dividers that make me smile every time I think of them). I don't think I've ever had so much fun writing a fic. It's hilarious, if I do say so myself, and I don't think I would have ever come up with this idea without the art prompt.

The plan is simple enough: if there’s already an angel using Dean as a vessel, then Michael can’t trick Dean into saying “yes.” So Castiel will wear Dean’s body for a few weeks and then leave as soon as Michael is out of the picture. That’s how it’s supposed to go at least.

where the spirit meets the bones | 22k words | M

Written for the DeanCas Big Bang featuring absolutely beautiful art done by the THEEE @wigglebox. I wasn't sure if I would ever finish writing this one, so I am really proud that I managed to get this one out of my brain. I was blown away by the artwork, which really sets the tone of the story.

When Dean and Sam start to investigate a haunted inn, Dean expects it to be just like any other case. But there’s a catch: the resident ghost, Cas, turns into a human for two weeks every year. Before they can move forward with the case, they have to find out what happened to give Cas this kind of afterlife. And more importantly, Dean has to figure out how to honor his commitment to hunting monsters while he’s slowly falling for a ghost.

Shorter fics:

hold on to you | 300 words | T

Dean is in desperate need of a New Year's Eve kiss.

in the refrigerator light | 2k words | T

This is one of my favorite short fics I've written.

Taking a step back from hunting means that Dean needed something to do. Getting Cas back from the Empty was a big win for them, the kind of win that can't be followed up. So he started in on his current passion project: his cooking YouTube channel.

boots beneath my bed | 2k words | M

This is another favorite short fic of mine.

Dean finds out his favorite TV character is bisexual and promptly loses his shit.

ice frozen ground | 3k words | M

Dean doesn't know much about his neighbor. He doesn't even know his name. All he knows is that he’s hot. And that this guy runs, no matter what the weather is. Apparently, not even a blizzard can keep Dean's neighbor from his daily run.

come back...be here | 1k words | T

“Dean?” Cas says. He’s still looking down at the tiny stuffed bundle in his hands. “Is this supposed to be me?” So sue him. He made a stuffed version of Cas to hold onto when he misses his friend.

sunshine on the street | 2k words | T

Dean and Cas go on a hunt. Things don't go as planned.

get in the car | 1k words | T

When Castiel thinks the mechanic working on his car might be trying to rip him off, he does what anyone would do: He calls Dean Winchester.

forty-three pies | 5k words | M

Dean celebrates his 43rd birthday.

holy tax accountant | 4k word | T

Sam refuses to do Dean's taxes this year. Enter Castiel Novak, the hottest tax accountant Dean has ever seen.

[setting-in-a-honeymoon]

Informally tagged by @earlgreytea68 when she did this game and encouraged people to steal it, so, here I am, being a little thief, to procrastinate :3

What is your absolute all-time favorite idea you've ever had?

Hmm maybe the idea that became Look at You and Smile. It's just soft and fluffy and fun, you know? Idk though, I've got a lot of fic ideas in my notes app/on my to-do list that might be strong contenders, like my Trojan War au and the conspiracy theorist radio fic.

What is your favorite part of being a writer? Which parts could you take or leave?

Um. Can I say writing for both?

I love the process of writing but also it is the bane of my existence, you know? When it goes as planned, awesome, but when it doesn't and I kind of want to tear my hair out, not awesome. And editing is fantastic, I highly recommend it, but it's also pain! Not gonna lie!

I will also say, I think it's frustrating when you try to get feedback from people and most of it amounts to they don't get your work. That might come off as pretentious, but I say this because last semester I was in a short story workshop, and some of the revision suggestions I got were really helpful, but some of the questions people had, especially about specific details I know I made clear in the story, made me want to roll my eyes and be like, "Did you even read it?"

What is your greatest motivation to write/create?

Probably just creating the content that I want to see, and hoping other people will get as much joy out of it as I do. :)

What do you wish you knew when you first started out writing?

I don't really know? I think that any knowledge I have now, younger me wouldn't really know what to do with, you know? And uh. Thinking about that young adult Percy Jackson and the Olympians-esque novel I started writing in late elementary/early middle school. There's a lot of advice I could've given her. I would not know where to start. But I think it's probably better that I wrote the way I did and it's evolved into how I write now, so. Yeah, I don't know.

What is your favorite story you've written to completion? Link it if you'd like and can!

Right now, it's Look at You and Smile, mainly because the Tiny Dancer scene in that fic had been living in my head for so long, and I was so so happy when I typed it out and it came out exactly how I imagined it in my head. It made me feel like I'd been touched by the muses lmao. It was also really rewarding to finally write a fic I'd been tossing around in my head for (checks journals to make sure I have the date right) three years.

What is your favorite out of the box quote?

I'm gonna cheat a little bit and include two. First, from Don't Dare Stop:

But. They must’ve been working longer than Patrick thought, because it’s the beginning of golden hour, everything around them a little bit softer and fuzzier as the sun just barely starts to sink on the horizon. It’s enchanting the way a warm shower after a long day is, mundane and comforting. 

Patrick looks at Pete. Soft. Fuzzy. Enchanting.

And also, this one, from one of the later chapter in Guided to You:

“No, I mean it.” He takes Patrick’s hand and intertwines their fingers. “There’s no one else I’d rather spend eternity with. If the afterlife weren’t real and reincarnation was what next, I’d want to be reborn with you every time.”

Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so and how do you personally feel about their ideals?

Probably Gerard in Head All Tangled Up, but that feels like a cop out, cause the way I wrote him is completely based on Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie that fic is based on, Stranger than Fiction (which I highly recommend, if you haven't seen it). Other than that, I don't think any of my characters have really had controversial mindsets.

If you, when you first started writing, met you now, what would younger you think?

Probably first, "Wow, no novels?" And then, "What? Fanfiction? About who? That band that wrote 'Alone Together?'"

I tag @revolvingresidency @carbonbased000 @ybcpatrick @inquisitiveheretic @shark-myths @pyrchance @realdreams @toorational

[the-unrelated-theorist]

Oh. my gosh. This post about "de-termination" is giving me so. many. thoughts. Normally, I'd stick this in my queue and let it post in a few months, but I wanted to get my two cents in before any other theorists show up.

The idea of de-termination is so clever, and it confirms so many theories, while also bringing up some questions. One of the first things I want to point out is, I feel, one of the most obvious: de-termination would be a synonym for "undying". This, then, pretty well confirms what we all knew all along: that Undyne makes her own De-Termination.

And knowing this one fact also provides further proof that Mystery Man is a melted Gaster. Because Gaster would be the most De-Terminated character in all of Unrelated: he's shattered across time and space, he's everywhere and everywhen. He can't die!

Then there's the theory that sans bleeds because of De-Termination. Well, we don't ever see him die, do we? We hear the sound of a monster turning to dust, but our kill count doesn't go up.

But then, if sans has the ability to De-Terminate, why not Papyrus? Are you telling me that the strongest monster in the Underground didn't have the ability to create a SAVE point, or that he didn't have the power of Undying, yet his lazybones brother did? OR... was it just that because Papyrus is the first boss after we leave the Ruins, and sans is the very last monster we fight, that Papyrus just plain didn't know he even needed to create a SAVE point, but sans had enough time to figure out that he did need one?

(Oh, my, I hope the AU-creating sans-girls don't see that last paragraph.)

And what about Deltarune? Kris has to have a SOUL. And that SOUL just happens to be the red one with De-Termination. There's all those theories that Kris drowned and the Dark World is the afterlife. I don't know what all that means, but it feels connected somehow. Besides, we know Kris can De-Terminate, simply because Kris does see SAVE points, and can reset and reload.

Or... can they? After all, Kris isn't the one with the ability to delete or copy files- we are. The SOUL does all that. Kris doesn't have the power of De-Termination, the SOUL does. So, if the SOUL can De-Terminate, then what would happen if... if a person who had, say, drowned, was used as the vessel for a SOUL with the power to De-Terminate?

Yeah, ok, I'm not sure where I'm going with that last statement, but I know there's something there. Because Kris without the SOUL walks like a zombie from one of those really bad mobile games.

Hmm. Interesting. The SOUL provides the power of Undying, and Kris without the SOUL walks like the undead.

Toby??? Was that intentional, or am I just seeing things? And if it's intentional, just what the heck does it even mean???

And then there's everything that Queen said about Determination. She said all Lightners have that power. She said that if someone is Determined enough, they can create a Dark Fountain. But why is the power of Undying the key to opening a Dark Fountain??? If all Lightners have this power, then are all Lightners able to create SAVE points and prevent themselves from dying? Could this be what Queen meant when she said Noelle was strong- that Noelle has the power of Undying?

If that is the case, I could almost see how the two different routes (Normal vs. Snowgrave) could resolve themselves into one ending- in a Normal/Pacifist Route, Noelle would work with the SOUL, while in a Snowgrave Route, Noelle (and maybe Kris?) would rebel against the SOUL, to prevent the Roaring. (Don't take me seriously, it's just a theory.)

And these are just the thoughts and questions I've come up with so far. Give me time. I'll think of more.

[trickstarbrave]

Hey there, I hope you're having a nice day! This is for the Fanfic Writer's Directors Cut thing. I would like to request anything you have for Alduin's Bane. It's one of the best fics I've ever read (and is by far my favorite AlduinxDragonborn fic.) and I would love to know more about anything you'd like to share/commentate on from it!

If you'd like something more specific, maybe the first few paragraphs of chapter 35? Where they discuss Alduin's ability to eat souls and such.

Thank you!

thank you for the ask i was hoping to get some because i like to talk about my fics so much my roommates are sick of it

i have Much in the way of director's cut commentary on the fic to the point i could fill like several essays with real life mythological inspiration and other plans i had to scrap but this one i can talk a normal amount about (i hope)

a lot in the way of elder scrolls mythology isn't explained in full or is directly contradictory or unexplained, but unlike in real world mythology where you can simply say its only a reflection of the culture if you wanted to analyze it, the gods are real life sentient beings who at times have a very proactive role in people currently alive. so stories about random stuff alduin does or how he is just supposed to sit and wait for the end of the world didn't make sense in the larger plan of the gods to me, especially as an aedric being. in canon it's implied all dragons can eat souls (at least based on what odahviing says when he explains alduin's hunting grounds he 'selfishly guards' implying he doesn't let the others eat souls), but i think it was supposed to be a core function of alduin and the other dragons as gods and aedric beings. if you go the war hypothesis it could have been used in combat, but really the idea i was going for was:

people die and want to go to sovngarde, a particular realm of aetherius. if they are deemed unworthy, which seems like it could happen fairly often, i see many not wanting to take the consolation prize of wandering around some other afterlife. so what probably happened was alduin was tasked with devouring the souls of those who were unworthy but refused to stop bumming around sovngarde crowding up the fields. however, as his appetite and rebellious nature grew, he started to eat any souls he wanted, including those who are worthy and simply battling for eternity in the fields. which is a problem.

i also imagine it would also not be that hard to simply kill someone and eat their soul on the spot. they would be dead dead after that. super dead in fact. and given this is kind of an op power (so long as alduin is hungry) it probably has pissed off more than a few daedra who have to see their loyal followers get killed and eaten immediately by the aedric twilight god. i do whoever think a daedra would be far too big for him to eat so that is at least off the table.

i am planning on elaborating on this further in the fic with some of the daedra stuff to come in the form of molag bal and hermaeus mora stuff, but i dont think this is a spoiler to talk about or anything. i've hinted at it enough times and implied it i think the commentary

also im really glad you like it it means a lot to me. this started as a fun little idea (the first like 3 chapters were just gonna be a little one shot) and has blown up into a very complex story i never intended to tell but im really loving. to know other people also rly love and appreciate it makes me

anyways let me know if you have any other questions or things you want me to talk about. writing has been hard atm with everything in my life being nonsense but i am constantly thinking about this story and the world building and lore ideas i have for it i think i could talk about it for like 5 hours

[the-unrelated-theorist]

I just realized I've been spelling "Ebott" wrong the entire time. I kept spelling it as "Ebbot."

The idea of de-termination is so clever, and it confirms so many theories, while also bringing up some questions. One of the first things I want to point out is, I feel, one of the most obvious: de-termination would be a synonym for "undying". This, then, pretty well confirms what we all knew all along: that Undyne makes her own De-Termination.

And knowing this one fact also provides further proof that Mystery Man is a melted Gaster. Because Gaster would be the most De-Terminated character in all of Unrelated: he's shattered across time and space, he's everywhere and everywhen. He can't die!

Then there's the theory that sans bleeds because of De-Termination. Well, we don't ever see him die, do we? We hear the sound of a monster turning to dust, but our kill count doesn't go up.

But then, if sans has the ability to De-Terminate, why not Papyrus? Are you telling me that the strongest monster in the Underground didn't have the ability to create a SAVE point, or that he didn't have the power of Undying, yet his lazybones brother did? OR... was it just that because Papyrus is the first boss after we leave the Ruins, and sans is the very last monster we fight, that Papyrus just plain didn't know he even needed to create a SAVE point, but sans had enough time to figure out that he did need one?

(Oh, my, I hope the AU-creating sans-girls don't see that last paragraph.)

And what about Deltarune? Kris has to have a SOUL. And that SOUL just happens to be the red one with De-Termination. There's all those theories that Kris drowned and the Dark World is the afterlife. I don't know what all that means, but it feels connected somehow. Besides, we know Kris can De-Terminate, simply because Kris does see SAVE points, and can reset and reload.

Or... can they? After all, Kris isn't the one with the ability to delete or copy files- we are. The SOUL does all that. Kris doesn't have the power of De-Termination, the SOUL does. So, if the SOUL can De-Terminate, then what would happen if... if a person who had, say, drowned, was used as the vessel for a SOUL with the power to De-Terminate?

Yeah, ok, I'm not sure where I'm going with that last statement, but I know there's something there. Because Kris without the SOUL walks like a zombie from one of those really bad mobile games.

Hmm. Interesting. The SOUL provides the power of Undying, and Kris without the SOUL walks like the undead.

Toby??? Was that intentional, or am I just seeing things? And if it's intentional, just what the heck does it even mean???

And then there's everything that Queen said about Determination. She said all Lightners have that power. She said that if someone is Determined enough, they can create a Dark Fountain. But why is the power of Undying the key to opening a Dark Fountain??? If all Lightners have this power, then are all Lightners able to create SAVE points and prevent themselves from dying? Could this be what Queen meant when she said Noelle was strong- that Noelle has the power of Undying?

If that is the case, I could almost see how the two different routes (Normal vs. Snowgrave) could resolve themselves into one ending- in a Normal/Pacifist Route, Noelle would work with the SOUL, while in a Snowgrave Route, Noelle (and maybe Kris?) would rebel against the SOUL, to prevent the Roaring. (Don't take me seriously, it's just a theory.)

And these are just the thoughts and questions I've come up with so far. Give me time. I'll think of more.

A few new confirmed wordplays in Undertale

There are several clever wordplays in Undertale that fans have found as well as a bit of debate about which ones were actually intended when making the game and which ones were just fans overthinking things.

I’ve already mentioned in another post the “Asriel Dreemurr” = “Serial Murderer” anagram having been confirmed to have been intended by Toby in the book.

But there are actually a few more word plays that were shared as having been made on purpose in the Localisation book.

The first one is determination itself actually being a pun, the power to “undo death”.

Or in other words, “de-termination”

And along with it, we can safely claim the same about “but it refused” (re-fused. The soul literally refuses together.)

In addition, of all the theorised Undertale word plays, that following one was always seen as a bit more of a stretch, but it too was in fact intentional after all. The name Mt.Ebott was made from “Toby” backwards.

Toby => Tobe => Ebot => Ebott

Its also based on EarthBound and Itoi, who also had a mountain named after himself in his game.

[peachykath]

i'm so in love with him, he doesn't even have any idea how much i do.

i did have feelings for guys way before him, and yes, i did fell for them hard too and gave everything i had. but for him, it's too different.

it doesn't feel like how i used to be so attached to someone. how i would always be 24/7 worried if they're getting tired, always thinking if i'm doing something wrong and if i'm still doing what they want, etc. it was obsessive attachment and it was ultimately draining yet it got me too addicted with wanting and keeping the attention i'm getting from men that never cared about me as much.

back then, whenever i get involved with a guy, i knew in an instant that it would be that kind attachment and yet, i chose to stay because i always keep the hope that maybe it's just in my brain or an assumption i'm so used to experiencing. but, it will always lead to me getting extremely hurt in the end because i expected too much and held on like an idiot.

all i really wanted was to feel loved. but i never felt it, i never knew what it felt like.

but for him, it's different. the very time i talked to him properly and learned more about him personally, it felt really unfamiliar. it's like in that second i felt like i was safe - like i know whatever i say, it will be okay. of course the stuff i said weren't overly weird (like we were already close), i still tried to protect myself somewhat because of all the hurt i've been through, until i just couldn't hold it in any further. i just talked and talked and talked. i said whatever i wanted and he did the same thing. we slowly opened up. i already liked him so much, i just couldn't really admit it. i became so anxious and cautious after everything, so i had to reject him at first. until i gave it a thought for a whole night if my decision was right and it felt wrong. really wrong. i was crying because i did that. and that next day, i'm glad he didn't really give up on communicating with me because it helped me a lot more to know if it's right to commit to him or not. but it was the very first time i experienced what it's like to mean so much to someone. he talked to me with care, he said all the right things, he made me laugh and we share many things than i ever thought. i thought before he wasn't so approachable, and it was only business he is after. but now, after talking to him that much, i never knew a home like this would exist. and i want to fully let myself indulge in it and stay forever. but i took my time because i know i wasn't really fully ready yet. now, it's been more than 5 months since we were together. i guess this is what love is. i never felt such warmth in my heart and i do want to treasure it forever. this is a different kind of attachment. it even feels wrong to call it "attachment" since it seems superficial and more associated with all i've been through from other people. but just being with him feels different. i feel happy, i feel comfortable, i don't feel worried or anxious (maybe at times but it's mostly just me fighting my brain towards healing), i don't cry everytime before i sleep anymore. i just don't feel anything negative anymore. i want to keep him in my life and i do hope he would let me stay too. but i know he will, he always reassured me that we will always be together no matter what happens. i love him. i love him so much. i want to say that as many times as i can on some mountain just so that the world can know that he's my everything. he has my entire heart and i know he'll always take care of it. i love you more than my entire being can pour out. i'll always try my best to take care of you too. let's have more memories and spend time more when we meet very soon. i'm looking forward to growing and building a life with you, what we both want and want to share with everyone else that is important to us. i do hope we live long too. i hope time will be slow so we can cherish every second we have together and even in the afterlife. right now, we may be busy and there could be problems but they're temporary as you always say. and that you will never abandon me no matter how difficult it is. after all of it, i'll always run back to you. i wait for the day when we can be together and continue to know you more and more face to face. until then, i love you. i love you. and thank you for everything. thank you for entering my life.

[tachvintlogic]

DP Biology and Headcanons Masterlist Notes

Masterlist

This is just commentary about the various essays in the masterlist.

(I've had this in drafts for a really long time so I'm just going to publish it.)

So when I started, I basically wanted a way that ghosts and half-ghosts work that is somewhat self consistent, and I think I succeeded in that.

I made it very clear that Danny's halves can't survive without each other. This contradicts certain events in canon but I don't really care. I wanted Danny's status as a half-ghost to not be reversible. His parents "curing" him wasn't a possibility I wanted to entertain.

One thing that's contrarian to a lot of fics is the idea that different ecto-signatures aren't compatible with each other. This means that Danny can't get donated blood from a ghost or another half-ghost. In fact in my system such blood is less compatible for him than regular blood with the right blood type. I find that kind of interesting.

I really loved that the signatured and unsignatured divide led to a really nice solution for why the ecto-dejecto would in theory make ghosts weaker but doesn't, which then led nicely into why Elle/Dani got better using the ecto-dejecto.

Sure, that solution basically threw out the need for mid-morph DNA to be a thing, but to me that's a pro, not a con.

For the ghost zone culture at large, there are a lot of fics where the Ghost King is necessary for the Ghost Zone to exist, or really bad things happen without at least someone in the postiion. And those fics are fine. They're great. It's just for my own worldbuilding, that's not an idea I'm interested in.

I'm more interested in the idea that the universe doesn't revolve around human problems and is far bigger than anyone could ever hope to explore. When the ghost zone is only focused on Earth, and there are only either Earth ghosts or god-like beings it feels smaller. Which is weird, because the afterlife should feel huge. It contains past relics from the last 13.7 billion years. That's a lot of stuff.

So my worldbuilding is very clear that when talking about the ghost zone most things that Danny's going to see are Earth-centric, which is a very tiny part of the entire ghost zone. Even the god-like entities like Clockwork are Earth-centric. Other planet's afterlives have their own god-like entities.

And of course the Yetis are aliens. I will never not believe this headcanon. Danny would be so happy to find that out.

For the Ghost King, I needed to mesh 2 contradictory ideas:

1. The position is important.

2. After the Ghost King was locked in a box, no one bothered to appoint a new one nor felt the need to do so.

Now, if no one's in the rush to fill the position, how can it be important?

Some fics go with the idea that the King filters the ectoplasm of the entire zone. This works because their most important role is passive so it's okay if they can't do any actual ruling.

However, for my worldbuilding, the Ghost King is an Earth-centric position, so it's importance and lack thereof comes from ruling. I think what I came up with something that works.

The Ghost King is important, but if they were replaced with a potted plant, it would take an embarrassingly long time for anyone to notice.

[beetle-blogging]

Honestly, it's possible that Richard would be at least semi-ok with (unrequited) Betel/Lydia.

Cause I've got the idea brewing in my mind for a bit now that it's plain weird that Lydia seems to never have run into anything really dangerous in her 16+ years career of dealing with ghosts (and I assume she was occasionally helping people for free before that. As an aside: Did she sell out because she started a family? Did her dad cut her off? Either cause of Richard or bc he wanted her to be independent?). We know some ghosts are sadistic psychos, and the Afterlife doesn't seem to give a fuck about Breathers in general. Lydia's defences seem to be either Talk or Flee (so far. I hope this'll change in the next movie), so how the hell is she still alive?

She has a bigger, badder ghost watching over her, that's how. And once Richard had died and came up to visit her, he might have become aware of that, if he visited while she worked.

Like, Betel has been stalking Lydia, and he reads obituaries. He knows which ghosts are likely to be dangerous before she encounters them, so he could've warned them off via tv message that they aren't to touch his girl. He also gets let out regularly through his - thanks to the strike which in Living time started way longer ago than in Afterlife time - very successful business, so if any of them ignored his infomercial, he could show up personally. Hogtie them before they can get to Lydia, throw them to the Sandworms, rattle some cupboards for the camera.

If one of Richard's earlier encounters with Betelgeuse was seeing him protecting Lydia - something that Richard himself as a newbie ghost wouldn't be able to do - Betel's whole... *gestures at the guy* would not matter. Much. I mean, he is a hugely powerful ghost who is also an obsessed stalker, but as both the power and the obsession are what's kept Lydia alive this long, Richard likely would rather the Juice stayed around. Well, ideally he'd have wanted Lydia to stop ghost hunting, but unless something bad happens (which it didn't cause of Betel), she's not gonna, is she? Especially not if she did need to make her own money. And then Rory entered the picture and...

Ok, new, adjacent headcanon: If Betelgeuse and Richard have ever been in the same room as Lydia and Rory, the two ghosts would have had a nice bonding moment over their shared hatred of That Asshole.

I mentioned in a prev post (will find and link later here) that I believe Betel might've made a deal with Richard so the latter would take on B's Code 699 violation punishment - at least the civil service - in return for being let out of his booth. Cause I doubt you can just leave work in the Afterlife, and Richard would have signed literally anything if it helped him save Astrid. So I doubt he'll be topsite again in movie 3. But flashbacks would be nice. I usually dislike them, but having some to show how enmeshed Betel has truly been in Lydia's life, with some of them having dead!Richard in the background looking vaguely pissed off (and those that contain Rory have both ghosts looking pissed off) would be really funny.

Ok, so we all agree that Betelgeuse and Lydia must have run across each other occasionally during work, right? Not that she could see him, but he almost definitely was responsible for some of those "evil presences" she felt.

Now consider:

Richard said that he was checking in on Astrid and Lydia all the time, even though he knows they can't see him. Betel was very strongly implied to have done the same, and was still stalking them throughout BJBJ.

Richard and Betelgeuse very definitely can see each other.

I'd be very interested to know how those run-ins went. Probably awkward af.

[supportanimy]

People should take note that I'm not good at writing angst, so there's very little here and I'm sorry if that's what you wanted. Also Rouge is here, I hope you like her

@peachpopfizz

-

Shadow twists and turned on his bed, not having a good sleep. His face looked pained, his hands clenching. Finally, whatever he was seeing awoke him from his slumber.

"-ria!"

His brain immediately moved on to the next alarming thing, as he sensed some foreign presence in his room. He took off his sleeping mask.

There's a ghost. Hovering above him. While he was sleeping.

"I'm too sleep-deprived for this, I'm going back," Shadow fixed his sleeping mask back in place, and lays back down.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Shadow ignores them.

"Seriously, get up!" Shadow doesn't.

"Ugh, fine! If you're gonna be like that," Shadow experiences an odd sensation, like something crushing him, but on every single molecule of his body. It gets up without him meaning to do so.

"What...?"

Then it starts standing up, feet accidentally stepping on a hairbrush. Rouge always leaves her stuff in his room for some reason.

"Are you possessing me?!"

A voice inside his head responds. Not the usual one.

"Yes, now stay up if you want it to stop."

"Alright alright!"

The ghost leaves his body.

"Now what do you want?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"What?"

"The previous...something, I don't know how time works there, I was in the Departed Realm, paying for my sins, the next, I'm suddenly next to you."

"And you think that's my fault?"

"Yes!"

Before their conversation could escalate into a physical fight, Rouge slams open the door ("I've told you to knock, Rouge.") in her pajamas, brushing her teeth. "Hey Shadow, could I-"

Her toothbrush dropped at the sight of the ghost.

-

"You went broke into some high security vault and found a shattered crystal, put it back together, checked it out on my mirror, then left it in my room?"

"Oh, you know how it is, Shadow! My room is full already. And the lighting here is better anyway." The bat laughs the matter off.

"You're a bat, you shouldn't like light."

"Neither should you, hedgehog," she shot back.

Morro looks at the reformed Realm Crystal on all its sides. "H-how did you even-?"

"With a little help from a certain echidna."

Morro doesn't know what that is, but shrugs it off as he continues to look at the crystal. "But still, how did I get here?"

"Hm, maybe it is my fault. My chaos energy might have activated it without me touching it, and..." Rouge recognized that expression. He always wore it whenever he was thinking about her...

She sighs and moves on to comfort the hedgehog. Morro looks at the scene, feeling like he's invading something personal, and looks at the floor.

"Hey, ghost? Aren't you gonna go back to the afterlife or something?" His eyes go back at them.

He doesn't wanna go back. He was at the bad part of the Departed Realm, trapped with the Preeminent, though at least not inside this time. But now, he could-

"Alright, you've been quiet too long, I assume you're gonna stay. Just pay your part of the rent, you can share a room with Omega."

Oh okay, this is what he's doing now.

-

I want everyone to know that several of my "ideas" for crossovers were someone joining Team Dark, yet Morro was not in those ideas. Sorry, I couldn't really think of a thing they had in common that they could interact over since they are edgy in pretty different ways

[stitch1830]

i am a toko shipper at heart and ik its weird but kantoph is cute. Idk if you've watched coco but what if hectors backstory was actually kanto and tophs? toph thought kanto left her but he was actually killed. ik toph would've probably suspected something but i think it would be angsty bc toph might've had insecurities with kanto leaving her and her fear came true.

Hi Anon, thank you for the ask! And omg I'm so glad you think Kantoph is cute even though Toko is your OTP :) I've written for Toko before, and while it's not my main pair for Toph, Toko has some great fics and fanart and moodboards! Y'all are full of talent it's awesome :D

And this is one of the coolest ideas for Kantoph like wo Anon??? You should come and chat with us more often haha!

That would make sense that Toph immediately thinks Kanto left, and it leaves her bitter and resenting things that remember her of him (like Lin... 0-0). And then when she has Suyin, she subconsciously favors Suyin and everything (In the scenario where you prefer canon compliance!)

But you're so right. She'd probably always carry some insecurities about being with Kanto after having Lin and everything. Then when he disappears, she wants Kanto to be hurt or dead (but also doesn't), because then it would mean he never fell out of love for her. Whereas if he was alive and left her, she's heartbroken, but at least he's alive... Either scenario hurts Toph in the end, and I feel like at a certain point, she finds the pain and anger from him leaving her to be easier to manage than the pain and hurt of him being dead.

And how cool would it be if they were in a similar afterlife world like in Coco where one of Toph's grandchildren (Opal?) searches for her family in the afterlife and finds Kanto?? Not quite blood related between Opal and Kanto, but I think the message would still stick. (OR, Lin's got secret kids?? Unlikely, but still lol).

Anon I really love this idea, it's so good! Just seems like Disney movies hit the Kantoph vibes just right haha! I was also thinking that Tangled would be a perfect AU for them as well ;) Thank you again for sending in this ask, and I hope you have a great day!

......

Send me asks about ATLA, or anything, really! :D

[lmanburg-letter-service]

To my mother, Lady Death

Hello, Kristin. I will admit, writing this too you feels a bit odd, since I never actually met you. I mean, I'm writing to the Goddess of Death, that's bound to be a bit odd if you aren't the religious type. Though, I suppose some things have changed. In this life, you aren't a goddess anymore, or at least I don't think you are. And I suppose I'm a bit more religious than I was back then. It's still not really a huge thing for me, but I digress.

Actually, the reason I decided to write this too you was because I never met you. I've heard stories of you, from Phil and later on from others on the SMP who knew you personally. From what I've heard, you're a kind, gentle person who can also be deathly terrifying if you want to. Is that true, I wonder?

I wish I could've known you personally to know for sure if it is true or not.

I can sort of remember that when I was younger, maybe 7 or 8? I asked Phil about you. About why you never came to see us. He said that it was hard for you to come see us, since you were so busy with your duties as a goddess. I suppose that's fair, presidency was stressful but I can't imagine being in charge of death all by yourself. Were you by yourself with your duties? I remember seeing these dark figures in limbo, and at the time I thought that they were just there to make me suffer more, but now I'm wondering if perhaps they were there to help you out.

It's funny. The more of this I write, the more I realize that I mostly have questions about you, and no real knowledge about you. That makes sense since I never met you, but still. You'd think I'd know more about my own mother.

I wish I saw you more. I was alright with not knowing you for awhile, since I had Phil and Tommy, but then Phil got distant. He found Techno, and started to pay more attention to him than too either of us. Did you know about that? I hope you didn't know. If you did know, then that just means you didn't care that Phil was sort of neglecting us and I'm not sure how I should feel about the idea of that. Well, I mean, maybe you did care and you just weren't able to do much about it, but.. I heard that you possessed Phil at some point while he was in the SMP. For a vacation, I think it was? So if you were able to do that, surely you would have been able to come see me and Tommy if you really wanted to. So I'm hoping that you didn't know about how Phil treated us.

Even if you didn't know about it, how come you never visited? You couldn't have been that busy all the time, right? I mean, you were able to have Tommy while I was 6 or 7, but I don't think I even saw you then. Did you have to work even then? I'd hope not. I've heard stories about morning sickness and all that stuff, it doesn't sound like something you'd want to do work while dealing with. Still. Surely you could have put aside some time for us?

Even in limbo, you didn't visit either of us. Why is that? We were in the afterlife, then, your domain, how come we never saw you then? Or did you only visit Tommy, and he just never told me about it? I don't think we were away from each other enough for you to visit Tommy without me noticing, but it's possible. Stuff from limbo sort of blurs together like that.

I've been meaning to ask you about limbo, you know. Why was it so horrible? That train station, it was like hell for me. Worse than hell, almost. Too this day, even in this new life I'm scared to go back there. I still hate train stations thanks to that place. I don't want to go into the details of what it was like, not here, those are my own private thoughts and weaknesses that I'd rather not share. But it was awful. And then Tommy.. He was stuck in a void, he couldn't see anything, not even himself or me. I can't imagine how terrifying that must've been for him. I wouldn't know. He never told me the full extent of how it felt for him. Why did you make your children go through all of that? Was there a reason? Was it because we weren't supposed to exist at all? The children of the Goddess of Death and a mere mortal. Or was it some sort of punishment? I don't know why you would use that as a punishment. I suppose I deserved it, if that's the case, I deserve every ounce of suffering I've gone through for what I've done, but Tommy certainly didn't. Tommy should've gotten a nice afterlife like he deserved. Why didn't you give him that?

You probably won't respond to this, honestly. You never said anything to me before, I doubt that it'll change now. That's alright, I can live without the answers. I've lived this long without them. But on the off chance that you do answer me, I'll send you this.

From,

Wilbur Soot

(Will💥💙)

[Letter Sent!]

[emily-the-fae]

Sound of a Heartbeat

Part 2. Edge of the Water

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Okay so apparently this piece has formed some more or less coherent storyline and I just had to write it down...well at least try to. So if anyone enjoyed part one and is in to hear the further turn of events, here we go.

Pairing: Dracula x OC

Warnings: um, none again, suicidal mood a little bit if that counts

Watch out for the side effects of slowly dying by vampire bites (and no, it's surprisingly NOT turning into vampire)

***

Shari woke up in a strangely lit place. Woke up - big word, rather jumped into consciousness with total clarity as to what she is and what happened to her and total frustration as to where she may be located. It was definitely not the place she left. The forest around her seemed to glow light blue, fireflies dancing in the air with their bluish sparks. She didn't feel cold nor warm, all the pain seemed to leave her body together with most of her senses - Shari felt light, almost weightless and when she looked upon herself, she saw that her own body was glowing the same bluish color as everything around her.

She stood up hesitantly.  She had no idea what the place was - the campfire was gone and the forest around was nothing like the spot she stayed at before. What was this? A magic trick? A hallucination? Was she dead? Shari saw particularly bright light behind the trees and decided to walk in its direction - perhaps it was a trap, perhaps she's dead and in purgatory and there are punishing beasts waiting to see her. Shari could never be sure, but felt surprisingly at peace even in her current state, strangely at peace.

The source of light turned out to be a lake. A long and seemingly deep lake that ripped its way through the forest, no end of it seen any near, it might also be seashore, although she doubted that due to abscence of waves - there were fireflies dancing above it and the water seemed crystal clear, even though she couldn't see far below the surface because of the light emanating from it. Shari felt the urge to go closer - to dip her feet in the shiny water, almost felt the need for it, but something restricted her from doing so. She could hear whispers too - as if there were hushed voices coming from the depth of water and that scared her off quite a lot: whatever that thing was, it was definitely not as simple as it tried to look. Her witching life has taught her - if something looks nice and calls out to you, but is also magical: in most cases it wants you to be its lunch. A rule that definitely worked in practice.

The healer stopped still, then sat down on the ground abruptly, feeling awkward in her position; but she needed time to think. This all seemed unexplainably odd - the water, the indecisiveness, the whole place - it seemed like a vague dream even though she felt completely awake. Dracula said it was going to be like sleeping. But by Dracula's deeds she should already be dead. This did not look like afterlife.

Suddenly Shari sensed, rather than saw a movement behind her, ready to jump to her feet and defend herself the best she could, she turned her head to face the source of it. It was a woman. Shari could swear she wasn't there before - a young woman stared at her, standing some distance away. Her beautiful, intelligent face looked somewhat concerned, her long blonde hair thrown over her shoulder, she was glowing the same bluish light as everything else around them. Shari recognised her, very vaguely, but she did remember: Adrian had shown her portraits before.

- Lisa? You're Lisa, right? Lisa Tepes, I know you! - Shari wanted to jump up, but the woman held her back with a gentle gesture of her hand. Lisa - or whoever it was that looked like her - floated rather than walked closer, then sat down next to a very confused and excited Shari, giving her a reassuring smile. There were a few moments of silence, while her guest studied her face intently.

- You are beautiful, you know, - Lisa smiled warmly.

- Wh-What? I mean thanks, but why? I mean... Umm what kind of a conversation starter is that? Are you?... Are we?... Am I not dead or...? - Shari was startled to say the least.

- Yes, you are... Heading in the direction of death, though your friends and specifically my son are very insistent upon the opposite. I believe, you'll have to live up to their expectations and survive now... although it all depends on you, really.

A pause. Shari nodded slowly, taking in her words.

- But-but hasn't your husband killed me? I thought he was definitely going to finish me off...

- He was going to, I'm sure. But he didn't have enough time to do so... or will, for that matter, - the woman turned somewhat remorseful. - I hope he didn't hurt you too much.

- He... tried not to, at least in the end. That's a pity he didn't succeed. I almost felt grateful to him for doing so, - Shari turned away to look at the lake. - It wasn't going to end well anyway...I wasn't going to end well.

- Don't. It's probaly his poison wearing off on your mind, but stilll.Just don't say that. Value what you have while it's still in you. You have to live. Trust me, it's not as pleasant as it seems to be when you get to the other side.

- Why excatly? - a chuckle. - You know, I'm not far from death anyway, it is going to be pain and waiting for me. To go like that is the best way now, I am afraid. Going to be there soon, why not strip myself of needless agony, - she hesitated for a moment. - You are actually dead by the way. If you say I'm still alive, how are we even talking?

- I am not quite sure I can explain this properly, - Lisa frowned, her gaze drifting off to the lake. - The simplest way to place it is: sometimes the people who die are not yet ready to leave this world - and then they stay between life and death, like...

- Essentially, you're telling me that you're a ghost, - Shari felt a bit sceptical.

- Essentially, yes.

- And why am I seeing you out of all people?

- Because I wanted so?

- Why? To tell me to survive?

- Yes.

Shari arched an eyebrow, looking at Lisa with mistrust.

- I don't like this simple tone.

- You are not going to like it, - she hesitated, then continued. - You have to save Wallachia, - the words left her mouth so easy and obvious, that Shari burst out laughing.

- Oh no-no-no, now I'm definitely hallucinating. Is this some fairy tale for children or something? Listen here, you ghost of Christmas past, I'm no kind of warrior-saviour person. I'm not going or willing to catch up to the pathos of "you are the chosen one" or whatever it is that they say in those situations. I believe you confuse me with your son, madam, - Lisa listened silently to her monologue with an amused smile on her face; it was obvious that the reaction was quite expected. When Shari finished, the ghost carried on:

- That is exactly why you have to do it. You are no chosen one. But you are one who has at least a chance. Adrain doesn't. He thinks he does, everybody thinks he does, but in reality it will only go worse if he works out his plan. I know... I don't need you to save all of Wallachia after all, - Lisa paused after that sentence and Shari looked up confused, trying to catch her meaning. -  Just one person - and that will do the rest, - the woman was very serious, and Shari suddenly understood this conversation was somehow real, even if happening in a dream realm.

- And who might that be? - she asked carefully, in a hushed voice.

- Dracula.

Shari actually laughed.  Loudly. Not quite rolling on the ground, but close to doing so. Lisa looked at her, with a raised eyebrow and calmly waited for the small hysteric to finish.

- Done yet? - were her only words, when Shari seemed to calm down a little bit.

- Listen, ok, I get it, you want to protect your husband, but...

- You don't understand! It's not only about protecting him - it's about stopping this war. Peacefully. It's about stopping Adrian from killing his own father - you need to persuade Dracula to call back his army, - Lisa was looking at her earnestly, determination in her stare. Shari only huffed.

- You... How do you imagine me do it? Persuade him? Are you insane? He would tear me apart and finish what he started, he didn't listen to Adrian, he actually almost killed Adrian, his own son. Why would he listen to me now?

- That is quite the point. He would listen, because it's you, - Lisa leaned back, smiling at the confusion on the girl's face.

- Oh yes, and what's so special about me? - Shari replied sarcastically.

- Nothing.

- Ouch.

- Apart from the fact that he pities you, - sensing that she was about to be interrupted, she quickly added. - I've watched both him and Adrian, thinking of a way to figure this out and stop them from tearing at each other's throats, and you suddenly came as the most valid solution I can think of for the time being.

- He... "pities" me? - Shari rubbed her neck, raising her eyebrow. Sure. He pities her so much; she flinched slightly at the memory of their encounter.

- Don't go witty. He does. He was merciful to you, he almost didn't want to kill you, that's why he didn't succeed. You're the first human after my death that he feels this way to... You are a person he did not know before all of this, you evoke his pity and you seem to have the skill to negotiate your way into people's good side and out of conflicts. You may actually have something in you to change his mind.

- That's not how it works, he...!

- You remind him of me. You may persuade him that there are people worth fighting for... That there is a life worth fighting for, - her tone was growing louder with each word, getting more insistent.

- Wait a minute, so you want me what? To replace you? Remind him of you and tell him you wouldn't want it? Tell him your final will, you think that'll stop him? - Shari jumped to her feet, backing away.

- I want you to go to find him. To reassure him, show him pity, show empathy. You will remind him of me. And he will come back to understanding that humanity is not all bad, that some people are still worth keeping alive. And that awar against them is not worth his own or our son's lives, - Lisa stood up too, sensing the tension rise and stepped closer once again. Shari did not like it. She didn't just die heroically to come back and search for yet another heroic and probably much more painful death.

- No, Lisa, I-I see what you want me to... But I'm not you! You see, I'm not you! I can't just go and drag - who? Dracula-the-vampire-king-that-just-killed-me - out of his murderous depression! - she backed away.

- If you had a choice: you can surrender or you can come back to fighting with a new way...

- Yes, I think if I had any kind of choice and if I survived, I would keep away from trouble and try to hold onto my final bits of life for as long as possible, thank you very much! - Shari argued loudly.

- You have to do it, if you live, Shari. It is the only way to protect you and... - Lisa made another step towards her.

- And die a much more painful death, yeah, thanks, great, - Shari almost hissed. Her attention suddenly turned to the pool of water behind her. So that was the whole trick, why Lisa appeared to hold her back from dying. - Oh. I know how this works. The lake is the entrance. My decision if I do or don't die, right?

- Precisely, though it's not really you, who decides. You touch the water - you either leave or wake up. Can't be sure until you do... - Lisa answered. - But before you decide and step in I want you to think. Shari, you have to fight for it, for yourself annd for Adrian, for all the people out there you've been trying to help!

- I am not your son, - she answered barely audible, but firm.

- Shari! - Lisa stepped yet again closer.

- No! I've had my bunch of suffering. I'm not going back in just because you believe I am good for the fight, I'm not! I'm selfish, okay? I did not ask for this, - she paused, glancing at the water. - Whatever it is, let it be. If I die - I die, right? - Shari turned away decisively and with a moment of hesitation made a small step forward, into the water, not looking back at the ghost.

She awaited darkness or light, hell or heaven or emptiness and quiet. Whatever escape was about to come, she threw herself at its mercy.