#still applies in the afterlife on these shows

[phantom-of-the-memes]

As a child free by choice asexual person, who will never have kids or a partner, you’re constantly asked what your life is going to look like. And also how you can possibly find fulfilment. To explain how my life is in fact enjoyable and fulfilling, I bring up Tahani from the good place and her afterlife.

I absolutely love how they handled Tahani as a character and her development. While she was alive she was constantly aiming to achieve external validation, especially from her parents. So much so that she didn’t do much else with her time on earth. Thus when she finally makes it to the good place, she makes a list of all the skills of the universe and dedicates her time to mastering all of them.

I adore how they let her be single. Elenor and Chidi spent eternity together, as do Jason and Janet. But they didn’t do the annoying thing that a lot of shows do, and insist on pairing her off with someone. She never finds a soulmate, so she becomes her own soulmate. And she isn’t miserable about it! She is doing everything she’s always wanted to and constantly bettering herself as a person.

When she has completed her list, she decides it’s time to go through the door (which ends your existence). But then she realised she still has so much to do. Not because she doesn’t have a soulmate, but because there are more skills to master!

All this to say, I PERSONALLY see my time on earth as an opportunity to learn and enjoy everything existing has to offer. As an atheist who doesn’t believe in the afterlife, to me this is it. So I’m going to do everything I possibly can! I want to learn a ridiculous number of languages. I want to read all the literature the world has to offer. I want to travel the world and try everything. I want to create and make things. I want to be a scientist and discover things. I want to better myself and the world! I want to leave the world knowing I experienced as much as I could.

And the usual disclaimers: this is my PERSONAL experience and view of the world. It doesn’t apply to all child free or partner free people. Also for some people, a partner or children is all they need to feel fulfilled in life. I’m only making this post to show that it’s not the only way.

Always choose the path in life that will allow you to die happy. Regardless of societal expectations.

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #17 Cinderella

Imagine dis…

Danny has many types of occupations throughout the fandom, from being a member of the JL or JLD to a humble engineer or café barista that wants to live a somewhat normal life. But what if we turn him into a janitor working at the prestigious Gotham Academy

…

Danny never would have thought he would end up being a janitor at an academy for rich kids in Gotham, a thought passed by as he mopped the floors diligently.

Despite his early years of being a vigilante, he hangs his cape the moment he noticed other heroes popping up as well as being able to fix the Infinite Realms. The JL members used to look for Phantom to offer their tillage and wisdom but when the Ghost King, himself, was able to have some sort of compromise between the humans and ghosts, Amity became a hotspot for the paranormal under the protection of the Ghost king when the Ecto acts had been destroyed in favor for the meta law.

Phantom disappeared, it was one running theory that he finally left to rest, or even that he became a permanent ghost knight for the king as some sort of knighthood for protecting both humans and ghosts during hard times.

The explosion in the Nasty Burger still happened but instead of having all of his loved ones die in that tragic fate, he managed to save his best friends as well his sister. Vlad tried to take them in as a way to show his good faith as well as to show remorse for the things he had done and now trying to make it up to the children. At first, the trio and sister are skeptical as both siblings are the last remnants of his beloved Maddie. But he had proved himself to be a better person despite his quirks, which is his obsession that turned into some sort of protection/obsession/love towards the people he considered family after their deaths.

Danny is now free to enjoy his remaining human life before he joins the afterlife permanently. As much as he wanted to go and join NASA in space, he couldn’t even pass the physical exam to join the program. So, he took his sister’s advice to enjoy his life to the last bit this world has to offer. Even if he still wasn’t crowned king, he started acting king as well as attending various lessons to become king. Vlad offered Danny to be his heir at his company but he refused stating that being a king is already hard work. Add to the fact he had a limitless and infinite amount of funds that he could simply travel the world as many times as he wanted as well splurge money as if it was candy he would still have infinite funds in his treasury. He had joined his now daughter to enjoy the wonders of the world as well visiting and touring to the endless worlds that connected to the Infinite realms. But once he had finished his travels, he had exponentially grown into a fine man in his late 30s. Gaining Jack’s height whilst Maddie’s built, he is a very definition of a twink.

But he wanted to lay low, something mundane, something that can keep him busy as he was itching to do something ever since he returned to his hometown. As much as he had grown, he is still having the mind of an impulsive teen in his teens and threw a dart in which state to settle in and took a computer generator to choose which job to do.

Gotham and the janitor were the ones that showed up and landed a dart in. He thinks it is perfect as not many would be looking into a janitor.

He packed up his things and applied for a job in Gotham Academy as a janitor and immediately settled in his small apartment in Crime Alley when he received approval for his new job.

…

It has been a week in his new job and he couldn’t be prouder than being able to blend in without the use of his powers. Messing up his hair to make his head a rat’s nest as well as adding some soot in his face, hands, arms, and overalls to make him look like a homeless who had got the job out of pure luck as he kept his back hunch like Clark Kent, Yes he is not slick in hiding in plain sight as he had gotten away in inverted colors but those glasses are not doing a great job.

This new school year he felt that there has been a new buzz in the atmosphere as real Blood Wayne is now attending. The real son of Bruce Wayne one of the rumors said, he had observed in the far at the kid and he looked like his father aside from his colors.

He noticed the kid is not comfortable around the others who tried to talk to him. Broke some spoiled kid’s nose for talking too much about being friends in the right sort. Some girls tried to get close to him by touching his shoulder or being too near his bubble and broke the poor girl’s wrist. Talked too formally and weirdly that he didn’t have any friends aside from Superman’s son, honestly that poor disguise is being passed from Superman to the son at least Bruce Wayne has the sense to have separate personalities from his playboy persona to his Batman persona.

Honestly, he couldn’t even blame the kid for the things he had done that landed him in the principal’s office.

…

One day when he was taking his lunch in a hidden place in the academy when the door suddenly slammed open and quickly entered the Blood Prince aka Damian Wayne, and immediately relaxed at the door being shut. He quickly looked alarmed at the stranger in the same room but after telling to Damian that he is the school’s janitor by showing his id to prove immediately and visibly relaxed. But to Danny’s eyes, he still looked ready to pounce at Danny for breathing wrong.

A small grumble of stomach destroyed the tension in the room, as Damian Al Ghul Wayne began to feel embarrassed for not only forgetting his lunch, not noticing the janitor, and even being cornered by kids who wish him harm. Damian still didn’t understand why his father had forbade him to fight anyone who are disrespectful to him, leaving him no choice but to run like a coward. The janitor that he had seen a few times around the academy offered him his sandwich which he tries to deny as he is vegetarian, the janitor Daniel, pulled out a vegetarian sandwich that he kept, as he explained that it became a habit of him when his friend who is also a vegetarian forgot their lunch.

Reluctantly Damian received and thanked the janitor and hesitantly took a bite but was surprised at the flavor of the generous amount of vegetables as well as some substitutes that gave so much flavor. Then Daniel, call him Danny he insisted, and offered him a small Tupperware filled with various fruits as dessert. Both began to chat about mindless things up until the bell rang as a reminder at lunchtime ended. Danny called out that Damian is always welcome at this little hidden place to escape or just have a quiet time by himself, Damian just nodded silently and the next day Damian appeared at the door and asked for Danny’s permission to enter the room which Danny laughed and gestured Damian to enter.

From that day on a bond formed between the two.

Damian would spend his lunch breaks and free time in the safety of the hidden room and he is always greeted by Danny still in his soot-filled overalls and messy and rat-like hair in a corner. As they both eat their respective lunches each day, slowly but surely Damian became open to the humble janitor, He would pop different questions starting with the mundane and normal questions and about the vocabulary of normal teenagers that his brothers use some absurd words that left him frustrated at the meaning nor the action behind it. Danny happily answered Damian’s question as Damian would come home each day becoming a real boy.

This made some of the Wayne kids horrified at who taught this demon spawn what yeet means. Some cackled at what could they do to further corrupt Damian. Damian let the rest of his supposed siblings come up with whatever theory on how he learned such vocabulary as it was, he and Danny’s little island of secret and peace at school, away from his imbeciles of brothers as well his noisy classmates.

…

Danny stared at the piece of an envelope as if it had offended him. Vlad asked him if he could be his plus one at the upcoming Wayne gala for another charity by Bruce Wayne and since Brucie Wayne was not getting younger he had thrown a masquerade ball as a theme in the said gala since it was nearing the Halloween season. Danny had thought about denying the invite but with the thought of Vlad rarely asking Danny things he reluctantly called Sam. Despite distancing herself from her surname she kept some of her connections during her teens and got Danny a good tailor for a suit that resembles during the Victorian era with the color scheme black and silver add a toxic green and silver mask which he crafted himself that goes well with his suit that covers his entire upper face leaving his mouth and hair visible.

When Vlad picked him up, he noticed that he got him got slacked jawed at Danny’s overall appearance. Maybe it is because he had straightened up his back and showed his real height, maybe it’s because of his tiny waist that is visible despite wearing a full vest and suit or maybe it is because of the mysterious air that Danny seemed to surround him with as he demands command and respect just standing silently as he let Vlad gawk and compare between the badger and feral little shit during his teenage years to the person sitting across the limousine looking like a noble right out of the Victorian era.

…

Bruce didn’t pick for tonight’s gala theme but due to Dick’s insistence that Damian never actually experienced a masquerade ball along with Jason’s persuasion to attend the gala so that he could live out his nerd self-made, Bruce made it real. Now all of his children are scattered and he could see Tim at the edge of the window the verge of passing out. Dick drags Damian to enjoy the theme while Jason is releasing his inner theater kid using the other higher population of Gotham as his supposed audience for his dramatics. Since no one can see which masked guests contain the Waynes made it is easier to ignore and evade both media as well the upper socialite of Gotham.

He was about to grab a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter when he fainted slipping to enter his Brucie persona when he was immediately grabbed from his waist as if to watch him.

As he is about to thank the man for catching him, he wasn’t about to slip, when he suddenly forgot how to talk.

A man a lot taller than Bruce himself has a slim build but Bruce could see some muscles that seem show themselves just for Bruce to see through, wearing a Victorian-style suit that seemed to complement the mask that covers the man’s entire upper face showing for Bruce to see a wolfish grin at him as a fluffy amount of hair rests on top of the man.

The man introduced himself as Nightgale and both men seemed to hit off. Both felt comfortable in each other’s company so they both escaped the main lobby that contains the guests as they both chat amicably at the porch without noticing the cold wind bothering the two. Bruce never once went into his Brucie persona nor he felt the man was lying.

Bruce was about to introduce himself when he heard the loud crashing of the window allowing Joker and his goons to enter the gala thus destroying the mood.

Bruce didn’t let it show but he is annoyed at the Joker’s timing as he tried to escape to change into Batman. Suddenly Nightgale grabbed him by the wrist and carried him outside bridal style, Bruce didn’t suddenly feel his heartbeat suddenly getting faster he didn’t feel his ears getting warmer as Nightgale seem to carry him out to safety, no he didn’t. Some goons tried to stop the two but Nightgale continued after he had quickly disposed of the goons that blocked their way. He didn’t feel his heart skip a beat at the fact that this man seemed to protect Bruce, the Batman like he was some princess in need of saving.

Both he and Nightgale suddenly found themselves in a hidden garden that only the Waynes knew of. Bruce didn’t feel his breath taken away by this mysterious man when he let Bruce onto his feet once again as the moon shines at them making Nightgale look so ethereal.

As soon as Nightgale heard the stroke of midnight he left Bruce after kissing the back of his hand as he kneeled in revelry.

Bruce didn’t freeze at the spot; Bruce didn’t get himself tranced at the event and had Alfred fetch him and drove him back to the manor. Bruce didn’t act like a girl in high school, squealing at having her crush notice her and ask her out as he sat behind the car back to the manor.

After teasing their father at his predicament, they are now invested in the man who seemingly took their father’s attention as well as able to develop some sort of crush on him at the gala. Jason is fully invested as he read too many novels and now sees Bruce as a main character in need of help to find his prince charming.

Danny is just minding his own business as he kept sneezing at random times and asked himself if the dead can get sick.

…

 PS: If someone out there wanted to continue or make a fic about this you are free to do so, don’t forget to tag me though.

[raivenantcravings]

Round 6 Reaction/Analysis

SDFFSDHFLSDHF ROUND 6 FSDHKFDSH ROUND 6 FSDKFSDHFDS ROUND 6

I woke up to twitter analysis saying that Till never even looked at Ivan until his final moments. And I made pre round 6 fanart titled "look at me." Couldn't manifest it. He never looked at him in the end,,,

broo dont look so happy. oh my god you lovesick fool.

reaction and analysis under the cut

First detail I noticed was that are the mics clear because both Ivan and Till are being vulnerable? They have nothing to hide anymore, so they'll show the world their whole being.

Anyways, to my main point,,

My interpretation of the ending was that Ivan was really trying to "cure" Till.

Till opens up with wanting to feel pain, to feel hurt.

"Please, leave me scars"

"Please, hurt me so that not a single drop of me remains"

Which, I realize he's talking to Mizi, but it's a cry for "help" either way.

Ivan's part goes:

"Notice my pain and mend me right now"

Again, he's talking about himself, but I think it could apply to what he does to Till.

So they kiss.

And, I've seen a lot of other people already say this, but I also do feel the kiss was not only meant to be for Ivan to selfishly show his love for Till.

Like bro don't go nonconsensually kissing your crush, what are you doing!?

When the scores came out, Ivan was much lower than Till than I expected. I thought it'd be a Mizi-Sua situation where the scores were close, but Mizi barely edged it out.

But Till almost had 20 points over Ivan.

And I know it's because Till is a rising star. And his new image change would really garner the attention of everyone. But it's not like Ivan is a nobody either. I didn't expect the scores to be so different.

I do think its because Ivan kissed Till. As a final nail in the coffin that guarantees his loss.

Alien Stage is commentary on the idol industry. One of the most prevalent issues in the idol industry is the romantic lives of the idols. Idols are not supposed to be in relationships, at least not outwardly. Their whole image is for the fans. Nothing they do should ruin that public image as an idol.

Much less in a in a queer relationship.

Now I don't believe the universe of Alien Stage cares about LGBTQ+ issues because there's bigger issues surrounding their human pets. But I think that it is an issue that Vivinos is trying to address because they certainly never shy away from queer issues in their other works.

And I feel the idea that idols/pets should not be swayed by their romantic emotions is still prevalent in their society.

So for the audience to see Ivan kiss Till, in one of the most outrageous and public displays possible, further pushes the votes in Till's favor.

And yeah, I also do believe that he kissed Till for him to finally look at him, but I also feel that it was a self-sacrifice too.

And then Ivan violently chokes Till.

Possibly, as another way to give Till votes. Since when Mizi started punching Luka, the audience was outraged at her actions.

Violence is definitely frowned upon on the stage.

More on the choking scene,,

I also saw some people saying that it's because Ivan wanted Till to die with him, which may be part of it. I don't think everything Ivan did was completely selfless.

But

Till accepts it. Earlier when he is at the bar (party? venue? the private show either way), he fights the alien who tries to punch him.

He did show him Mizi's missing image, so he is enraged in this moment, but he does have fight left in him even then.

He doesn't resist when Ivan chokes him just closes his eyes and awaits death. Perhaps if Mizi was already dead, he can just join her in the afterlife since he had no way of knowing she was still alive.

In this way, Ivan is his savior. The one who is finally freeing him from all this pain he felt after losing Mizi. This is his "cure."

And for Ivan, he sorta wants to be a savior to Till. He has freed him on multiple accounts from his shackles. Even helping him run away with him, so they can experience freedom together.

They both get what they want, but,,

Ivan lets go of Till and Till, with an expression that feels like shock, finally looks at Ivan.

Killing him would not give him the freedom that Till needs

that Ivan wants Till to have.

So, like the countless times Till has been chained around his neck, Ivan gives him his chains:

hurting him like he desires.

A scar around his neck.

(Where the scar from his name is)

And mending him,

by taking away the final chain that Ivan could release from Till.

His "cure."

It felt like his final desire was to get Till to snap out of it, to realize that he needs to find true freedom, to not get apathetic at the situation, to keep on going and to live.

He really, truly loves Till even if Till does and never will understand it.

Also final thoughts, is it not strange that Ivan is able to release Till's bindings so easily?

No one else is shown releasing the bindings, so maybe it is just as easy as a press of the button. Yet, I don't feel like it's just poorly designed if that's the case. Because you literally have a person like Ivan releasing a dangerous human like Till. Shouldn't a cautious society like the world of Alien Stage made sure it wouldn't be super easy to get out of.

If there is more to it, I wonder if that'll be a plot point later on. With Ivan leaving behind the secret to getting out of the bindings for Till. So, when a character maybe Till or even Hyuna or Mizi have been captured, they're able to escape since they know how to remove them.

Maybe, I'm just being delulu

And final final thoughts, the kiss was great and definitely made me almost scream. But the way Ivan nuzzled Till has got me acting up.

Like, it's just so soft and sweet and not a big show of it like when Ivan kisses Till on stage.

It feels so intimate, so personal, so full of love.

I just, I just can't. They'll be the death of me.

[bluegiragi]

hello! i'm gira, i go by she/her, and i've been making fanart for the cod fandom for about four months now :) the majority of that time's been spent on the soapbox saga, which is sort of just what i call the very plot-ridden porn comic featuring ghost, soap and konig. and recently i've been working on the monster 141 au!

i'm here to address the reasoning behind how i assigned certain monsters to certain characters, particularly the POC characters as well as accusations of racism regarding me neglecting gaz in all my art :) whoever you are, if you're reading this in good faith, i thank you! i earnestly never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable from my work.

The Monster AU

i won't post the blog who brought this issue up mainly because, (realistically speaking) i think people might go after them and spam them with hate so I'm paraphrasing here. but basically..."how come all the POC in the Monster AU are assigned animal-associated monsters? Comparisons to animals can be incredibly demeaning when it comes to minorities".

I completely agree! But earnestly, I think my desire to assign every character a 'monster' that was relevant to their culture overshadowed the part of my brain that would've raised red flags about this sort of thing. There's the argument here that I could've assigned these characters cooler monsters such as Price who is a dragon, and Ghost who is a wraith, but I wanted to be respectful of all the minorities in the COD cast by giving them creatures that reflected their culture and personality.

ALEJANDRO - NAGUAL

In the Monster AU, Alejandro is a nagual, which is considered a guardian spirit in Mesoamerican culture. Typically, it's said that the nagual is the shapeshifted form that powerful men can transform into in order to do evil (although that doesn't apply in this case, Ale's a heroic lad), and can come in the forms of a jaguar, deer, dog or bird. I chose a jaguar, since it seemed to be the most common form of nagual depiction in the resources I was looking at. The 'panther mode' isn't pre-established as part of nagual mythology, but since most panthers are just black jaguars, i thought the association wouldn't be unreasonable.

I chose Alejandro to be a nagual because it's so in character for him to be protective of his home. The idea of him being a literal guardian spirit for all he considers his just made sense to me :)

--

RODOLFO (RUDY) - CADEJOS

In this AU, Rudy is the vessel for two cadejos, which are legendary dog spirits popular in the mythology of Central America, parts of South America and Mexico. Historically, they've been known as psychopomps (guides to help humans into the afterlife following their death) but modern interpretation has shifted to depict them as the good guardian dog and the evil attacking dog respectively.

A lot of the minute information about the cadejos tends to differ depending on the source. Like whether they're actually two separate dogs, or they're the same dog just in different 'modes', or how big they are. My personal depiction of them has them sized as normal dogs (although their spirit nature means they can move into small spaces pretty easily by just becoming immaterial temporarily) and as separate spirits that have been passed down through Rudy's family generationally.

I chose the cadejo for Rudy because although I wanted to include him in the Monster AU, i still liked keeping him as a character who was a bit more 'human' than Alejandro. I think Ale needs Rudy to hold him back sometimes, and having the two cadejo definitely helps with that. Sort of like how cheetahs in zoos have therapy dogs growing up because they're so anxious all the time! I think it also does a good job of showing Rudy's two sides as well, like he's a softie who just wants to protect those he loves, but he's capable of a lot of violence too.

--

VALERIA - GORGON

Valeria is a gorgon which, admittedly, is not part of Mexican mythology. However, I was put in a bit of a bind here, since my research didn't really reveal to me a monster in Mexican culture that I thought would suit Valeria's vibe (manipulative, elulsive) and I just felt like a gorgon would be perfect for her. Medusa's myth has her being continuously demeaned by the men in her life and is a symbol of female empowerment, which I thought was a great reflection of the implied reason that Valeria left the army was due to internal sexism. There's also the perfect parallel of how anyone who sees El Sin Nombre's face dies, and Medusa's whole 'turn you to stone' thing.

I thought i could compromise by making Valeria a gorgon but her hair would be Mexican black kingsnakes but...turns out they're actually not that dangerous. Some people even keep them as pets! So I decided to keep the visual, but make her a pit viper, a subfamily of vipers found in the Americas as well as Eurasia.

--

HORANGI - HAETAE

Horangi is a haetae (해태) which is a beast in Korean mythology that typically comes in the form of a horned lion or dog. It's prevalent in a lot of cultures in East Asia actually, although it goes under different names depending on the region - kaichi for Japan, xiezhi for China. I made Horangi a tiger variant on the creature because...well...'horangi' means 'tiger' in korean. It just made sense to me to put that little twist on it.

Typically, haetae are seen as spirits of judgement, that decide on innocent and guilty parties in disputes and punish the latter. It's also considered a guardian against fire (hence the fire immunity and cloud manipulation powers I gave him).

GAZ - HARPY

Gaz is a harpy which, I won't lie, was purely inspired by the fact that he seems to keep falling out of helicopters. But it's also because...yeah, I did neglect Gaz in the soapbox saga. But I think I neglected...everyone in the soapbox saga who weren't directly involved in the main ship. I sort of just tunnel visioned on the main three, so my exclusion of characters isn't just limited to Gaz, it was included Price, Laswell, Alejandro, Rudy, Graves etc.

I just want to make clear that my treatment of Gaz in particular isn't reflective of any inner preference against him. And to make good on that, me assigning Gaz wings of all things was to help me spend more time on him in the Monster AU! I think the contrast between Gaz being an upstart harpy, and Price being a one-winged dragon has a lot of potential as a mentor/protege relationship (and perhaps even something more) and it's why I assigned this monster to him. I really wanted to establish a connection upfront, but just making Gaz another dragon felt cheap - the harpy thing felt a little more in turn with his character :)

--

I really hope this cleared up any remaining frustrations with my designs for the Monster AU. I hope you can see that I never meant anything demeaning by assigning these monsters to their respective characters - in fact, I earnestly tried to go out of my way and be respectful to their backgrounds.

In any case, if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer them - I'd just ask you to please ask politely :)

[dear-mrs-otome]

Jude's 'Love Kiss' from CE

The shitbrained summary version, definitely inaccurate somewhere but you'll get the gist:

Opens on Kate all, OOOH PRETTY FLOWERS Lovely summer breeze, this is heavenly, I could stay here forever 😍

Then the lovely scene is interrupted by a voice bitching that she can't laze about there and never pay them back, and Kate's thinking, nani the fuck, is that Jude's voice? Crap he's right I can't be in debt to him!

She jerks awake and promptly chokes up a shitload of water, looking around all blearily. BEAUTIFUL PLACE GONE :( Ellis is there, banging her on the back asking if she's okay and such, and she says ya she's alright. Ellis tells her, dang girl you nearly drowned!

She's thinking, holy crap was that garden THE AFTERLIFE? If not for Jude's voice, she might still be there, DED. The idea is kinda freaking her out tbh, so she hugs herself.

Jude sighs that it's bit cold for a swim ffs, and Kate's tells him she wasn't swimming, there was this child drowning so she wanted to save them??? She's panicked a moment over whether the kiddo is okay, and Ellis assures her they are - they went off to a doctor to get checked out but seemed fine, just cold. She's relieved and asks, did Ellis save her then? He sets the record straight though, telling her nope, not me, I didn't get here in time - Jude hauled you back to shore and gave you mouth to mouth.

Cue Kate all…..Jude????

She finally notices that he's soaking wet too, and Jude offers her a smarmy line about how it sucks for her she didn't get kissed awake by a ✨prince✨ - she got the wizard. Kate says, no actually thanks a bunch but record scratch wait. Mouth to mouth?????

Jude: That's usually the standard first aid when someone's drowned duh

Then Jude bitches at her for getting all blushy over something like that and how she's gonna make him look stupid for saving her dumb ass. Finishing with exasperation, all …ugh whatever, I'm soaking wet and I'm going home, get ur ass to the doctor just in case. He chucks his jacket at her with a comment about how she's putting on a show (cause her clothes are wet and plastered and see-through) and it'll cause him problems and look bad to be seen with her like that so cover up. She's swimming in the jacket when she puts it on but it's warm and dry and smells like him and she has to scold herself BAD HEART NO SKIPPING BEATS.

Just about then Ellis tells them both to look up, and Jude's startled to see there's some leftover Christmas decoration or something in the tree above, with some mistletoe. Kate's thinking, oh dang, isn't there some superstition about how if a couple kisses under the mistletoe they'll be together forever?? DOES MOUTH TO MOUTH COUNT?

From the look Jude's giving her as he glances at her it seems obvious to us that Kate's every thought is probably plain as day in her expressions. He rips the decoration down, shoves it at Ellis and tells him: Burn it.

Ellis takes off immediately to do just that, and Kate begins all, uh….soooo…. Jude….

He stops her though and says, you don't actually believe in that superstition right?

Kate: PFFT N-NO >.> why, do you? Jude obesrves that she's a shit liar, before grabbing her arm and saying that he's gonna shove a new superstition into that ditzy head of hers. And with that he yanks her in and kisses her for real this time…but she can't help noticing how there's no warmth to it, not with the both of them freezing cold from the river and such. When he finally pulls back pointedly, Kate is thinking the icy kiss was like proving there's no love between them.

Jude proclaims that kissing under the same spot NEGATES the first kiss, so there - Cancelled. Nulled and voided.

Kate just….okayyyy. Clearly she knows he's just made this up, and she's wondering why the heck he would even bother kissing her again to make up for HER superstition. Does he hate the concept of it THAT much? Because, obviously, they aren't a couple. It wouldn't even apply. They're clearly not making some FOREVER PROMISE to each other.

…But it still kinda stings for some reason she can't explain.

She's chalking it up to the discrepancy between how glad she'd felt that Jude had saved her, and the NOPE attitude here, but Jude says that basically, just a kiss isn't worth it/enough to pledge TOGETHER FOREVER over. Clearly offended by the very idea. Kate's all, what, is a vow that bad??

And Jude simply says:

There's no such thing as forever.

It takes her a second to figure out how that's an answer to her question, and then it clicks. It's not that Jude dislikes the idea of a promise. It's that Jude always keeps his, and if 'forever' doesn't exist like that, he's not going to make that promise because he can't keep it. Nothing is forever, ergo a promise of eternity is bound to be broken, and therefore Jude would never make it. And Kate's thinking, GDI that's actually really sincere of him. People can lie to themselves too, about love and 'staying together forever'…but even if it's just a silly superstition, Jude never makes a promise he can't keep.

She wonders to herself if… someday, he might find someone he wants to pledge forever to. And she's musing how despite bitching and everything, he didn't hesitate to save her. She's spent enough time around him by now to know that he's not a bad man at heart. How behind all his ruthlessness and arrogance, he's not truly cruel at all.

…Someday, someone's going to notice that side of Jude and snag him. And that thought unsettles her, for some reason she can't explain.

[lxmelle]

Seems like there is some discourse on twitter/now X on the afterlife after SPOILER ALERT it was revealed that Sukuna’s unborn twin had a soul (still considered one soul with his though) that reincarnated.

This makes reincarnation canon in the jjk world, which I guess it always was, if we think about the implications of how tengen and the star plasma vessel and the six eyes were tied by fate.

I was particularly interest in the implications on Gojo and also since the chains of fate that tied them are broken.

I touched on north and south in previous analysis posts. As much as I love Gojo, he was never going to be revived because it just made sense for Gege to finish his character arc that way.

With the newer chapters showing that his brain was bleeding, and that he was sliced in such a way where his heart and gut may be cut through, it also wasn’t going to be likely.

North was starting anew, meaning rebirth / reincarnation. Not returning to life as Gojo. Gojo was satisfied with his life as he left it.

So it seems like maybe the airport was limbo. And he opted for South, as the chapter title indicated. To go back, which Mei Mei’s words to Nanami seemed to be accepted by those present. Going back to the past, as they once were.

I couldn’t really read or find multiple discourses on the subject on twitter (just a couple), but I think they’ve expanded it in the direction I touched on in my recent post on souls that went a bit too far. In sum, were all six eyes users in the history of Japan the same soul - Gojo Satoru?

Someone’s interpretation was that Gojo and Geto were also tied by fate, seeing as a CSM user can help regain balance in the world due to the increase in curses caused by the presence of six eyes + limitless like with Gojo’s birth. But this was never canon or ever officially mentioned.

I wonder myself if, in this lifetime, the cycle of rebirth / fate was broken not only because of Toji and Kenjaku, but also because of a CSM user like Geto allowed someone strong like a six eyes user to understand empathy and love. To connect with those weaker than him and not keep coming back to life - as per Yuta who questioned Uro -

Why do you keep coming back? Those with compassion and loving kindness (again Buddhist themes) may become free from the suffering and cycle of rebirth/reincarnation. Why keep choosing to? I guess the focus is on unresolved and unfinished business.

So instead of choosing to reincarnate as someone new, the cycle just ends, as they all choose to remain as souls and go South. To stay as they are. Together.

I still stand firm in my desire to believe what i wrote a while back on Camillas and musings on the afterlife:

The cover of vol. 26 was Gojo visiting

And they are a form of souls that died without regret, thus elevated to a Kami (or deity):

I think / headcannon that in the jjk world they are souls not bogged down with vengeance or being forced to reincarnate. They all presumably died, free of lingering attachments to the world.

This may allow those who died “without regret” to choose where they can live in another world. Which is pretty much a Shinto belief, but when applied to the jjk world, may depend on how they died.

Anyway, I’ll be waiting until Gege reveals more about what it all means within the jjk world. For now, here’s the link on the info on Shintoism I took those grabs from: https://justaboutjapan.com/what-happens-after-death-in-shinto-understanding-the-japanese-afterlife/

I also forgot to add this piece:

[drconstellation]

Judgement Day

Aziraphale's Edinburgh Journey: Part 4

Aziraphale's trip to Edinburgh - and most of S2 - is filled with hints and references to the Second Coming. Once you are clued into this, they are everywhere, with some clues more obvious than others. Gabriel's statue is one of them, but it has another role as well (and it's not for hiding anything under, sorry.)

We also have a lot of references to the Freemasons in S2, particularly in Edinburgh, but you can see related symbolism elsewhere - they use some of the same symbolism used around Memento mori, and they also believe in working towards upholding values in life to be rewarded in the afterlife. Judgement Day looms large for all, not matter what their belief.

Judgment in the Tarot

Judgement is the penultimate card of the Major Arcana in the Tarot - the final card is The World, where the journey ends and everything comes together in harmony. But first, one must be summoned to their reckoning, and the past weighed up. It marks the completion of a karmic cycle; its time for renewal.

Three naked figures, a man, a woman and a child, rise out of the darkness of the underworld. Their nakedness denotes their spirituality, they have thrown off the clothes and material things of a physical life. An angel in the sky with a trumpet summons them to be reborn.

But which angel is it on the card? The book I'm favoring to do these card interpretations says its Michael. The information I have about cemetery angels (below) would indicate it to be Gabriel, who is sometimes depicted on headstones blowing a horn. Yet other lore says it's Raphael/Israfel that will blow the horn to start the Day of Judgement. And reading further, on some texts it just says it will be an archangel, they don't specify which one.

Cemetery Angels

The statue of Gabriel in the Edinburgh cemetery is an example of a cemetery angel. The type and pose of the angel is supposed to give some indication of the life that was lived. Small cherubs for children, a lily held for purity, a circular wreath for everlasting life, for example.

Gabriel's statue is doing several things at once: its wings are open, indicating its ready to take flight upwards for the resurrection, and its holding a cross. This is because this statue is a replica of one of the angels on the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome and they all hold something relating to the Passion. A cross is probably the most recognizable symbol of all, and instantly connected with Jesus. Everything here is pointing us to the Second Coming.

The Missing Cross

But the cross isn't there in every scene. It's been pointed out that its missing when Gabriel shows his statue to Beelzebub in the present.

This only appears to be the case when we view this scene from a distance. When we see the statue from between their shoulders, the cross is still there.

This is an inconsistent message, and casts some doubt on what its trying to tell us. Can Beelzebub see the cross or not? It can't be a demon thing, as Crowley has no problem seeing the cross in 1827. Is it instead a comment about Gabriel and Beelzebub as a pair?

There are a multitude of meanings that could be applied here around that missing cross: is it do with death and resurrection or is to do with having your sins forgiven and achieving eternal life? If its the latter, then the demons have always been excluded from that, right from the start.

Gazing in Parallel

Then there's this parallel in acts of admiration of the statue:

The very first time I watched S2 and I heard Crowley say "he probably comes here to stare at it," I knew yep, he sure does, and so he did.

Parallel pairs like this usually give us a nugget of information about the characters or story, and this one seems to be another thing pointing us to Gabriel being the peacock mentioned in the Job minisode (i.e. "Did you give wings to peacocks, Job...") An old slang definition of a peacock is "a person, especially a man, who is arrogant or likes dressing or behaving in a way that draws attention to themselves" and "a man who is very proud of his appearance and gives a lot of attention to his clothes and the way he dresses."

Let us not forget at this point that Crowley is linked to Gabriel in S2 as both a parallel and foil, and he, too, takes some pride in his appearance. But while Gabriel admires the creation that is himself, Crowley tends more to admire creations that he has had a hand in working on himself.

But there is a curious moment here that links us up with a scene from the beginning of S2, in Before the Beginning. Notice how Aziraphale looks back at Crowley as he he says Gabriel "Probably comes here to stare at it. Marveling at his own beauty."

Aziraphale has the same jealous look on his face as angel!Crowley marvels at the beauty of his newly created nebula and stars.

We have to remember that Before The Beginning was one of the last parts of S2 to be written, even though its at the start, but it includes a repeated parallel to the dates at the statue - angel!Crowley admires his creation, and Aziraphale looks a little jealous that he's not getting that same attention from Crowley.

Demons in the Mist

There is another, larger, parallel sequence that the statue plays a part in as well, and this connects us to S1, and I suspect to S3 as well. This is one of the mobius strip parallels that I sometimes talk about, where the story history repeats itself ad infinitum. Notice the misty nature of the present day scene below; this is an indication we are seeing more than two times and places at once.

It starts here, as we switch suddenly from 1827 back to present, just after Crowley is sucked down into Hell, leaving Aziraphale gazing up at the statue.

The parallel scene to this is the sushi restaurant in S1E1.

In that scene Crowley has been summoned to the cemetery to receive the antichrist and start Armageddon. He was supposed to be on a date with Aziraphale at the sushi restaurant, but Gabriel turns up instead, on the other side of Aziraphale - the same side the statue is on in S2.

Next, there are two demons. The first time, Crowley was summoned to meet with Hastur and Ligur to start Armageddon. Only this time, in S2, its Aziraphale talking to the demons, not Crowley.

We have an indication that the Scottish pair are demon-related with the taller one having a misspelled tattoo on his forehead (and aren't there many stories of badly spelled tattoos?)

I think they also roughly match the height and size of Hastur and Ligur, too. And it's the Ligur-parallel that offers his phone - just like its Ligur that chats to Michael on the back channels that don't exist in S1.

Free phone call? Not a problem. It's been pointed out that when Crowley hangs up the phone handset in S1 after calling Aziraphale you can hear a coin falling into the coin return box - apparently there was a thing done in the old days of leaving some change in the coin return for people who didn't have any money and needed to make a call; a kindness for strangers, if you will. So it's not a worry that there is no credit on the phone when Aziraphale needs to make the call.

Lastly, we have some S3 foreshadowing, because this an Aziraphale scene and he connects us with the future. The old phone is looking worn and tatty, with the Union Jack on it, a sign of the Empire that is slowly fading, and is well past its peak. After he hands it back with a blessing, it looks renewed, with the St Andrews Cross of Scotland on it. I might live on the other side of the world from the UK but even I'm aware of the political debate around Scottish independence that has been ongoing for, well, many years now.

I can't help thinking we are going to see a parallel to this scene in S3 as well, with Aziraphale demanding some form communication from Hell or some demons for which he does "ask nicely" about. This is all working towards a change in the way the authoritative structure works for the angels and demons (the death and rebirth theme.)

Masonic Symbols

We are alerted to the presence of the Masons when Aziraphale does his detective cosplay and speaks to the barman in the Resurrectionist pub. If you are quick, you can also notice the square and compass symbol on the windows next to the pub as Aziraphale approaches, although most of us are looking at Jesus on the sign (and a reminder that we are looking out of a deliberate copy of the Eastern Gate of Eden here on the sign, too, into the deserted distance.)

The square and compass are a reminder of balance - the square at the bottom is about honesty and integrity, and the compass at the top represents wisdom and keeping one's desires within reach.

But why are we looking at Masons? I think this is because they represent a similar but different alternative to the Abrahamic religions the Good Omens AU is built around - they believe in a Supreme Being (God) and they believe in upholding certain virtues and doing good deeds in life so that they will be rewarded in the afterlife, and that there is an eternal afterlife; they just don't believe in going about it in the same way the church does.* The Catholic church doesn't allow one to be a Mason and a member of the church at the same time because of this clash in ideologies.

The other thing to note about Masons, is that Masons wear black tie evening dress to their Lodge meetings, like the corpse in the next image below. The barman in the present even says to Aziraphale "It's the first time I've seen one in a fancy grey suit, though." This is a big Clue - but you all missed it, because you latched on to the fancy grey suit part of the sentence that screamed "GABRIEL WAS HERE!!" at you and didn't hear the silent part that the barman was saying - that the other person that was with Gabriel was wearing a black suit.

Hello? Anyone paying attention here? No? Just me shouting into the void...right, well, carry on then.

We see three dead bodies in the Resurrectionists minisode, much like the three bodies on the Tarot card for Judgement. The first is this Mason, clearly identified by the apron he is wearing (the other two bodies are a priest and wee Morag.) The decoration on it would indicate what rank or degree of mastery he held within his lodge. The background was always white, for purity.

Coffins were a reminder that one day every one would die and return to dust. They were also a sign of leaving their previous life behind from before they joined the Masons and taking on their Masonic duties.

Skulls and cross bones were part of Memento mori - reminders that life was short. They also appeared on Mason tracer boards.

The hourglass was a particularly special symbol. While it, too, was a reminder that life was finite, it was also a reminder that life and death was a cycle. By turning the hourglass over, one started the cycle again. This also demonstrated the need at times for one to turn one's thoughts and actions around on their journey through life.

It was also a reminder that time was the great equalizer - it didn't matter your station in life, time always moved forward, and death would come for us all.

Onward to Part 5, dear readers! Time to see if we really know where we're going with all this!

Thanks once again to @vidavalor for pointing out the parallel between the statue of Gabriel and the sushi restaurant in S1, where Crowley is pulled away by Hell both times and Gabriel appears on Aziraphale's right.

@kimberleyjean has also put together a collection of all the infinity loops and mobius strip references in GO here.

*I'm not sure what it was like in other countries, but I know in Australia during the mid 20th century to get anywhere in certain jobs and industries you either had to be a Catholic or a Mason. Without the backing of one of those organizations you wouldn't get far. My grandfather was a Mason, but not religious, and consequently rose quite high in the government dept he worked for - took me a long time to put all those pieces together, because it was never talked about in my family. I just knew he went to Lodge. It was only listening to some podcasts about history that I was able to work it out.

The other posts in this series can be found here:

Part 1: Detective Aziraphale Part 2: Aziraphale-Beelzebub Parallels Part 3: Stocktaking in the Basement Part 5: I Know Where I'm Going

[lesbian-in-leather]

Let's Talk About Alastor

Hazbin Hotel is rotting my brain so it's time for me to ramble about it to no one in particular!! Obviously this post will contain a whole multitude of spoilers, so please don't look under the cut unless you're fine with that/have seen the full season

As I mentioned in the tags of this post, I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about our beloved Radio Demon, especially in regards to the finale and how I think his plot could go next series, so buckle up folks, this'll be a long one

First off, let's talk about the way he fights. When he's fighting anyone, Alastor is big, and showy, and fucking deadly. We see it time and time again—he has fun when he fights, he enjoys the carnage and, most importantly, the terror he elicits from his foes. And that's why he was tasked with dealing with Adam—he's insanely powerful, and if anyone can take down the head of the exorcists, it would have to be Alastor (because obviously they didn't know Lucifer would show up to help, and Charlie hasn't fully come into her power yet, but that's another post). And he knows it! He knows he's powerful, he knows he's deadly, he knows everyone is shit-scared of him, and that's what he relies on.

And then the finale happens. He's in that final battle, and he's actually put to the test. And in terms of sheer power, for once in his afterlife he isn't the strongest in the room. He's actually outmatched, or at least on an even footing. And if he'd fought like everyone else, then maybe he would have succeeded—if he'd taken Carmilla's advice, I have no doubt that he would have won, or at least held Adam off for long enough that the others could have come and helped him. But he never stood a chance. Because he fights like an angel, and that's why he loses to one. Look at Carmilla's conversation with Vaggie:

"You leave yourself open with every swing; you fight like someone unafraid of harm" "Angels wield no shield, little armour, and fight with reckless abandon"

Remind you of anyone? Rewatch Alastor's fight with Adam—he's fighting just like he always does. He has multiple opportunities to take him out, but, like always, he chooses to play with his food. He's enjoying himself, he's riling Adam up, dancing around him, taunting him. Because at no point does he consider that he could lose this fight—he has no armour, no shield, he didn't even bring an angelic weapon! He just has his trusty radio mic (the source of his power? Perhaps... but that's a discussion for another post) that Adam breaks. And the genuine fear in his eyes, in his voice when that happens? He has no idea what to do. He never even considered this could happen. Everyone else is fighting for their lives, but he was treating this war like simple sport... until suddenly he couldn't.

And speaking of motivation, once again we can look to Carmilla's song to see why he loses when the other, objectively less powerful souls (Husk, Angel, Cherri, hell, even Nifty) succeeded. Yes, they weren't against Adam, but they were still fighting exorcists—you know, the same angels that have been decimating hell's population unchallenged for literal centuries. But they didn't die. Because they were fighting for what they truly believed in, because they had a real reason to not only fight, but to live. I saw it mentioned in this post earlier, and they make such a good point! Charlie's fighting for her dream and for her people; Vaggie's fighting for Charlie; Lucifer for his daughter; Angel, Husk, Pentious and Cherri are all fighting for their friends (something Charlie gave them, btw, but again, that's a different post). But what's Alastor fighting for? Power? Fun? To prove a goddamn point? I think he loses because even he doesn't really know why he's fighting. I mean, listen to Out For Love and tell me it doesn't apply to Alastor just as much as Vaggie:

"I see you're driven by your detestation Your every step is stoked with animus You need a different type of motivation Or there's no way that you can handle this I know you're thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie You're out for blood But you'll only stand a chance if you're out for love"

Which would bring me onto where I think his plot will go in future seasons (should we get them), but first we need to clear a couple of things up and try to understand his character as best we can. Now here's the thing, I know a lot of people are divided on the topic of Alastor's feelings. Some people say he genuinely cares about the others, while some say he's just putting up a façade and playing the game, and that all of the supposed evidence of his feelings are actually manufactured manipulations. But I think both readings are true, and also, neither of them are.

Because I think Alastor does care about the others, to an extent. But I also think he refuses to acknowledge it, to recognise that part of himself, that he's buried those feelings so deep he doesn't even know that they can exist within him anymore. I think whoever holds his leash (Lilith? The seven year gap is a little too convenient to ignore, but at the same time, now that we know where she is, what's her motivation? Anyway, another post) pushed him towards the hotel for their own purposes, but I also don't think they're particularly checking up on him. I think his mission is to do with Charlie, but I also think he's grown genuinely attached to her over the months they've known each other. Why do I think this? I'm glad you asked!

First off, let's examine his reactions in various key moments throughout the series so far:

This first shot is the most annoyed we see him for the entirety of the song Should Have Stayed Gone, despite singing with one of his (many?) self-proclaimed rivals, Vox. Now yes, he does look moderately peeved, but I would argue that it's much less to do with Vox, and much more to do with the focus on television and his constant fear of irrelevancy (more on that later in this post). Then look at his expressions later—

Now he's enjoying himself, he has that ever-present shit-eating grin we all know and love. And, most crucially, no one else can see his expressions during this song. No one's looking at him in the first pic, and for the rest of the song he's in his radio booth, so it's safe to assume that his expressions are far less guarded than when he knows he's being observed. Why is that important? Well, let's take a look at another Alastor-heavy episode, shall we? That's right, no Alastor analysis would be complete without a delve into Dead Beat Dad, so here we go!

Right off the bat, we're shown his dislike of Lucifer. I know some people say it was all for show, but I disagree. Hear me out—Alastor's smart, no one's arguing otherwise, so why make an enemy of the literal devil just for sport? Now, let me be clear—I don't think he actually sees Charlie as a daughter-figure (at least, not consciously, and certainly not as strongly as he was making out). The thing is, he is good at reading people, and all it took was one look at Lucifer can't-wait-to-break-the-door-down Morningstar for him to realise that Charlie's affection was what mattered the most to him. However, his hatred of Lucifer was not all for show. So why did he hate him? The fact that he hadn't heard of him certainly won't have helped (again, Alastor definitely has a whole complex, we'll get to that), but his loathing started before Lucifer had even spoken to him. How do I know? Take a look at the moment when Lucifer has literally just opened the door

Look at that eye twitch. No one's looking at him. No one can see it. But the sheer, unbridled rage is so evident that he can't quite keep it from his face. And all Lucifer has done is hug his daughter. Now, assuming the two have never interacted before (Lucifer certainly doesn't seem to remember him, and Alastor doesn't act as though they've met) what reason does Alastor have to hate him? If Lilith is his master, perhaps it's on her behalf? But he doesn't seem particularly loyal to whoever holds his leash, far from it, so that leaves us with the two most logical options: either Lucifer is the one holding his leash (not impossible, but I wouldn't say it has much evidence thus far), or Alastor is genuinely opposed to him because of how he's treated Charlie. Because he does care about her, however little he'll admit it to himself.

Just to really hammer this point home, I'd like to show just some of the many other instances of Alastor being genuinely furious with Lucifer over the course of this episode—in fact, seeing as we've already talked about Should Have Stayed Gone, let's constrain ourselves to Hell's Greatest Dad for now, shall we?

All Lucifer has to do is laugh at the start of this song, and just look at Alastor's face! That's anger, or at the very least intense annoyance—with ever-smiling-Alastor, the proof is always in the eyebrows. Then we get this wonderful sequence of expressions while Lucifer begins insulting him:

Oh, and just in case you need a comparison, here's a shot of Lucifer insulting Alastor side-by-side with two different instance of Vox insulting Alastor. And some people still think Vox is his rival and he was just messing with Lucifer?

Now you may say, "Ah, but that's not a fair comparison! Alastor was clearly winning his argument with Vox, whereas he and Lucifer were on a much more even footing!" to which I would reply yes! Exactly! That's why Vox isn't anywhere close to being Alastor's rival, and also at least part of the reason Alastor cared so much when fighting with Lucifer. If winning against Lucifer was as easy as Vox, of course he'd pick that fight. But it wasn't. At the start of Hell's Greatest Dad, he's getting straight up humiliated (as those four waiter-esque pics demonstrate). And yet, he keeps fighting. Partially for pride, I'm sure, but some part of him absolutely cares about the argument he's making.

How do I know that? Well, you see, first of all we take a look at how Alastor acts when he first starts singing. As we all know, Alastor's power lies in his voice—his face was made for radio—and he's (almost) always so much more in control when he's talking, and always in control if his radio filter is in place. In fact, the stronger it is, the more he appears to be taking charge. So, when he first begins to fight back against Lucifer, he immediately puts that Cheshire-Cat-esque façade back into place, quite literally dancing around Lucifer as he does so:

And yet, his energy is so much higher than normal. He's leaping around, his usually calculated movements suddenly far more erratic and energetic than we've seen him. For example, in his first verse alone, he goes though all of this:

Not only is he using far more power, he's become so showy, his expressions are so much more unhinged than even he usually is, his pupils are near-constantly slitted, and, most importantly, take a look at his colour palette. Right at the very start it's still his classic red and black, but then—without Lucifer even interrupting—he gets so invested in convincing Charlie (and, by extension, proving himself better than Lucifer) that he switches to what I have dubbed his Powerful Palette. It only ever happens when he's demonstrating his full abilities; when he's angry at Husk, when he's fighting Adam, when he makes a new deal, and... now. Arguing with Lucifer over who's a better father to Charlie. And while usually it's in brief flashes before he returns to normal, here he stays consistently in his greens and pinks, for a good majority of the song. You don't think that means he really cares, even just a little bit?

And when Lucifer has the gall to interrupt him with his golden fiddle, and just look at Alastor then;

Look at his face, look at his posture. Alastor, notorious for waving his arms around in grand, swooping gestures, is standing there, gritting his fucking teeth, fists clenched, arms folded at what must be an uncomfortable angle. The only time he moves is to concede a tiny step so he can drop a fucking piano on the literal devil.

Now this bit is so interesting, because he, very briefly, seems to believe that he's won, or is at least winning. And even then, he doesn't relax, he doesn't return to his normal colour palette or even his normal expression. He's still furious, you can see it—with Vox, it was a game. This is personal, and then when Lucifer is actually not only fine but still fighting, now playing a new instrument, (literally playing the devil's chord) to deliberately ruin Alastor's melody? Oh that's pure rage.

This first expression is his immediate reaction to it and, perhaps even better, the other two are him trying to contain it. Because he knows he can be seen, but he physically can't look any more collected than that; he can't control his expressions during this song. If he could, he would, because it would irritate Lucifer all the more, and he's more than smart enough to realise that. But neither of them can control themselves here, because both of them really, genuinely, care.

Then he physically places himself in between Charlie and her father, not only pushing him out of the way, but then going so far as to physically drop him out of frame with a gesture reminiscent of a Roman Emperor as he reinstates his claim over Charlie—again, feeding into his need to be relevant and powerful (we're getting to that part, I promise). But isn't it interesting that this time, he didn't even use his power? He pushed Lucifer with his bare hands, not bothering with the intimidating shadows or powerplays, because for once it wasn't about that. For once he wasn't focusing on the person he was fighting, but on the person he was fighting for.

Now this exchange is so interesting. Because Alastor misses a really good opportunity to get Charlie on his side, and I think he misses it purely because he (almost certainly without realising it) gets actually, genuinely offended on behalf of his friends. Because when Lucifer calls the others losers, he's insulting Charlie's family. Knowingly and callously! Right in front of them! And if Alastor was in his right mind, he would have absolutely pointed it out with a fake gasp and a shit-eating grin. But look at the way he reacts to Lucifer's interruption—the narrowed eyes, the tensing of his shoulders, the flexed wrists and clenched hands. That's genuine anger; it's too immediate and out of character to be anything else. Because he didn't intentionally goad Lucifer into saying that. And instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, he responds by, very childishly, asking Lucifer to "butt out" of his song. Because they were Charlie's family first, and he may feign indifference, but he included himself among them for a goddamn reason, and how dare Lucifer insult them like that?

And again, compare how he's moving and standing to how he was in Should Have Stayed Gone. In this gif (and Hell's Greatest Dad as a whole, but let's focus on this bit right now) he's glaring, his shoulders are hunched—he tries for his usual nonchalance by pushing Lucifer out of frame with a swing of his hips, but then is immediately betrayed by his expression, and his reaction the second Lucifer comes back at him. Meanwhile, in Should Have Stayed Gone, this is how he acts while taunting Vox:

He's so much more relaxed, he's visibly having fun, and Vox is the one bending himself out of shape to try and get Alastor's attention win the argument. Another interesting parallel between him and Vox in these numbers is when Vox is clearly losing towards the end of his part in Should Have Stayed Gone, compared to Alastor's first verse in Hell's Greatest Dad.

I mean, these frames are just a little too similar, don't you think? Both of them desperately trying to grab the attention of the subject of the song, duplicating themselves and leaning over the borders to try and be noticed... oh Alastor.

And now, finally, we get onto the bit that I've been promising for this entire post: Alastor's inferiority complex. The thing is, I think I've worked him out (at least, to an extent). We've seen time and again that he hates the idea of being irrelevant—the fact he doesn't like any technology beyond radio (leading to the real reason for his annoyance in that very first picture I used, when he sees everyone gathered around Vox's screens); his reaction when Carmine said she had not in fact, been wondering where he was; his reaction when Lucifer says he's never heard of him; the way he rushes to "remind people why he's here" at the end of Dead Beat Dad, and the fact that when he first arrived he took out all of the overlords who dared to dismiss his power, just to name a few. His fatal flaw is clearly pride—he wants people to know him, he needs to be relevant or he doesn't know who he is.

And I think that's the real reason he hates Lucifer. Because, father-figure or not, the two of them do represent the same position in Charlie's life. But why would she need help from a human soul (albeit an insanely powerful one) when she has a literal angel around to do whatever she wants? Yes, Alastor is powerful, but if Lucifer is back in the picture... well, we all saw it in the finale. Alastor was quite literally fighting for his life, and barely escaped with it, while Lucifer was dancing circles around Adam, shapeshifting, taunting, joking, and all the while he was periodically rescuing Charlie too. His attention wasn't even entirely focused on the battle, and he wasn't even really trying to hurt Adam until the end when shit got personal.

And I also think that's why Alastor got so scared. Because he almost died. As I said right at the start, he fought like an angel. He didn't even consider getting hurt as an option. And now he's having a crisi of mortality, and being powerful and scared is a dangerous combination. So where will his story go from here?

Well, from the fact that he's still at the hotel, I think that's evidence enough that he's being forced to stay with Charlie—despite all the very real evidence we have that he does genuinely care about her (I mean, they way he talks about shaping her to Rosie? The gentle looks, the fact he loaned her his mic? Don't forget how he looked when that got broken, it's clearly so important to him, and he gave it to her twice. Not to mention the whole 'wanting to be relevant in her life' thing that I've been going on about for like, half of this post. Remember what Rosie said about words being easy, but actions are hard? Yeah, he says he doesn't care, but... anyway). So, he's being forced to stay while he looks for an out in his contract with someone. But where does that leave him in the wider story? Well, I do think he'll eventually turn on Charlie and the rest of the gang, but I also think that it'll be temporary. Assuming the crew gets as many seasons as they want to tell the full story (never a guarantee, but here's to hoping) then I think he'll probably stay for a while next season but work against them behind the scenes, then make an open move against them, then be gone for a while, then start his long and arduous journey back into everyone's good graces.

Obviously his deal with Charlie will come into play, and I think he'll probably use it as leverage to get out of his deal. "I'll make Charlie do what you want—without hurting her, or making her hurt anyone else—and I get to be free from this bullshit" kinda thing. I also think it'll be very interesting when that happens, because I have a theory on what he meant by the deal having "clipped his wings"—I don't think he can take anyone's soul anymore. Think about it; we've only seen him even attempt two deals this season, and not even once has he attempted to add a soul to his supposedly ever-growing collection. It would certainly clip an overlord's wings to not be able to amass any more underlings—especially since it seems that the more souls someone owns, the more powerful they are, not just in terms of owning other people, but in actual, tangible power. So I think he'll eventually get out of his deal, and then he'll be free and he'll go utterly off the rails... for a while. But it won't be as fun anymore. Husk and Nifty will have been forced to turn against their friends, and Alastor won't care what they think, because why would he?

Except suddenly he does. Husk's silences suddenly feel a lot more pointed, and Nifty refuses to even look at him, and suddenly he feels something he hasn't felt in a very long time, or perhaps he's never felt it at all. He feels guilt. Regret. He wants friends again, because they were loud and annoying and they didn't respect him but... he'll realise that his affection for them wasn't all for show, not even by half. Because he almost died for them. And even when he's talking about it, scoffing at his own perceived weakness... he calls them his friends.

And that's when the real fun will begin, because the Radio Demon On A Mission will be a force to behold, and god help anyone who gets in his way, because once he figures out the love he's fighting for... oh, he'll be unstoppable.

[deityoftherain]

from different worlds - Codfather Jimmy & LimL!Scott

Rating: General Audiences

Relationship: Gen, M/M (leans more Gen)

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Completed Oneshot

Word Count: 2,599

Summary: Codfather Jimmy wakes up on an afterlife version of the Coral Isles and meets a post Limited Life Scott.

This fanfic is based on fanart drawn by @tenoart on Tumblr!

Full fanfic underneath the cut! Please reblog, leave kudos on the AO3 fic slash notes/likes here on Tumblr, comment either place, and etc if you enjoy the story :D

Jimmy was in Codland one moment, but, next thing he knew, he was somewhere unfamiliar to him. It seemed to be an island of sorts, for Jimmy could see the beachy areas off in the distance. Sand was usually found next to water, but he was unsure where the water started and the sky ended. It was too dark and too cloudy to tell.

The soft sound of wet grass sounded underneath his shoes and fireflies happily buzzed around him. Jimmy wandered around, taking his time as he appreciated the variety of tropical flowers and the clean air.

While it was beautiful, it wasn’t like any empire he ever knew or any biome he had visited personally. The closest to it may be his swamp, but Jimmy knew Codland like the back of his hand and he didn’t recognize this place. 

Perhaps it was someplace secluded within his sister’s territory? Jimmy couldn’t recall The Ocean Empire having islands like this, but he could be wrong. He furrowed his eyebrows and swooshed his tail as he further observed where he was.

“Who are you?” a voice from behind him demanded as what felt like a sword prodded him from behind. “How did you get here?”

Jimmy tensed his muscles, anxiety gripping his chest. He caught his breath, slowly raising his arms up to show that he didn’t mean any harm. “I am Jimmy the, uh, also called The Codfather or Codfather Jimmy. I’m from Codland.”

There was a moment of silence before the voice ordered, “Turn around.” He obeyed, spinning on his heel to face the other person. Jimmy’s eyes landed upon someone who vaguely reminded him of Sovereign Scott, Emperor of Rivendell. It wasn’t him, though. This person was like him; they weren’t an elf. They had red fins on the side of their head with purplish pinkish scales on his shoulders, under his red eyes, and likely other places, much like what Jimmy had. The other merfolk’s top was also red with cut outs allowing his shoulders to be exposed. His hair was long and braided off to the side, reaching past his waist. It was mostly blue, but a red streak ran from his bangs and spiraled down the braid.

Jimmy had similar features, but his were more brownish green toned. He also exposed his shoulder scales, but he had a black, sleeveless top paired with a white armband on instead. Jimmy’s hands were more clawlike though, only sporting three “fingers”, and he wore a pair of fingerless gloves. The stranger had five fingers with sharp nails. 

So, yes, they were similar, but they were clearly not the same. Perhaps wherever he was currently was actually near The Ocean Empire? The person standing in front of him didn’t look like one of the axolotl hybrids typical of Lizzie’s empire, though.

With his hands still up, Jimmy brushed some of his long, blonde hair out of his face. They just stared at each other while the stranger’s eyes wandered Jimmy’s body like he was trying to assess his threat level. “Can I put my arms down? They’re getting tired.”

He nodded, giving him permission as he slowly lowered the sword. He tucked the sword away in his inventory before talking once more. “How are you here, Ji- Codfather? I don’t recognize you. I thought I was here alone.”

Jimmy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around briefly before locking eyes with the stranger once more. “I’m not sure. I sort of just woke up here. What’s your name?”

“Scott,” he answered after a moment of hesitation. “Scott from the Coral Isles, I guess?”

“Is that where we are now? The Coral Isles?” Jimmy questioned. The stranger’s name hit him a second later. “Wait, Scott? I know a Scott too! He’s not… as fishy as we are though.”

“It’s a version of it, yes. It’s much bigger than the one I had before, which is nice.” Scott let out a bitter laugh, a smile briefly appearing on his lips. “I know a Jimmy too, you know. He’s also not very fishy. He’s part of The Bad Boys- or, he was. Limited Life ended, so I’m here, sort of in limbo until the next death game starts. The others are off in their own limbo worlds. I would be here with Martyn, since he was my fellow Mean Gill, my teammate, but he won, so he’s probably- why am I telling you this?”

“Because you’re lonely?” Jimmy guessed, curiosity starting to eat at him. Bad Boys? Limited Life? Death game? What did all of that mean? “And you need someone to talk to? If you don’t know how to send me back, we could just talk for a bit?” “We’re really not from the same world, are we?” Scott’s voice was low in a mutter. Jimmy wasn’t sure if Scott meant for him to hear it. Still, he waited until Scott raised his voice to regular volume again. “Sure, why not? I don’t have anything better to do.”

Scott jutted his head vaguely to the side before walking further in-land. Jimmy’s green ear fins flicked around excitedly as he bounced after him. The moon was high in the sky above them with stars and dark clouds adding depth to the night sky using shades of white, silver, and gray.

It didn’t take long for them to reach a particularly comfortable looking patch of grass and sit down. As they sat down on the ground, Jimmy couldn’t help but close his eyes as the cool winds of the night hit his face and lightly lifted his hair. It was quiet and peaceful here as opposed to the loud Codlands. Don’t get him wrong, he loved the energy and spirit his fellow Codlanders had, but sometimes the calm was needed.

“What’s your Scott like?” his new friend (Jimmy chose to be optimistic) inquired, tilting his head slightly.

A light blush graced his cheeks and the ends of his lips twitched up as he thought about the elven emperor. “Well, he’s the sovereign of an empire located high up in the snowy mountains called Rivendell. He acts fairly closed off, composed, and formal, making you think he’s unfriendly, but he really isn’t. When you get him to open up, he can get fairly talkative! My Scott is very charismatic and good with his words. He likes to tease and joke around, and he’s always able to get me to smile after Fwhip or Sausage push me around. He’s just… he’s amazing.” “You really like him, don’t you?” Scott looked up at him through his eyelashes. He had started taking the nearby flowers to create flower crowns so his head was tilted down to look at them. 

Even though it was unintentional, Jimmy found it unnecessarily attractive and his face flushed. This Scott reminded him of his Scott more than he initially thought. He shoved his hands between his criss crossed legs and stiffened his arms straight. “Y-yeah. I do. What’s your Jimmy like?”

Scott snorted as if the question personally offended him. “Loud, obnoxious, and full of himself. He thinks he’s all cool and badass just because he wears a leather jacket and dark sunglasses.”

Jimmy blinked at him rapidly, put off by the irritation radiating off of Scott. What does one say to that? “Oh.” The tension released from Scott’s shoulders as he completed the flower crown. He has weaved it together fairly quickly, likely experienced in the craft. Scott set it aside before starting to build another one. “We used to be something special to each other several games ago, but he’s decided he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I understand that we change each game– I wasn’t always fishy, for example– but I still wish to be friendly with him.”

“I’m sorry,” Jimmy sympathized. He wished he knew what was going on in this other Jimmy’s head. If this Scott was anything like his Scott, this other Jimmy was missing out on an amazing person.

“Why?” Scott furrowed his eyebrows. “You aren’t him.”

“Still.” Jimmy shrugged. “It doesn’t sound fun. I would be upset if someone decided they didn’t like me anymore too.” Scott hummed noncommittally as a response, setting another flower crown to the side. “So you and your Scott get along then?”

“Mhm, we do,” Jimmy confirmed before changing the subject. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk about his own life, but he was more interested in Scott from the Coral Isles. “Would you want to talk about it? The death games?”

Scott flicked his tail idly in consideration as he set another flower crown aside. “I suppose I could. Do you know anything about them?” “Not anything more than what you said,” Jimmy answered honestly. “Back where I’m from, we don’t have death games. We have wars and battles sometimes, sure, but we have respawns. They’re painful and they’re limited, so we try not to die and use them unless we have to.”

“We have a limited amount of respawns too.” Scott turned his arm over to show what looked to be a tattoo spanning the entirety of his inner forearm, reading off “⩇⩇:⩇⩇:⩇⩇” in bright red ink. “Ours was more determined by how much time we had left on the clock. We started the game with twenty-four hours on the clock and it counted down the entire time, only stopping for the few breaks provided. Every time we died, we would lose an hour. Every time we killed someone else, we would gain thirty minutes.”

“Is the tattoo the clock you’re referring to?” Jimmy looked down at his own forearm which was number free before looking at Scott’s forearm again. “Is that why the games are called Limited Life?”

“Yes, we all had them. Martyn, my Jimmy, the other Bad Boys, Team T.I.E.S., the Clockers, the Noisy Neighbors, all of us.” Scott ran his finger against the red zeros back and forth before pressing his hand against as much of it as he could. “This function was specific to this game. The other games are sort of fuzzy now, but they were called other things with different ways our lives are measured. We live, we kill, and then we die. It’s all a sick game as we try to keep ourselves and our team alive as long as possible.”

Jimmy tried to keep his horrified expression off of his face, not being able to imagine how one could talk about that sort of trauma so casually. He’s faced plenty of hardships, yes, but their tragic, brutal deaths seemed inevitable.

“You don’t have to look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Scott snickered, more amused than Jimmy would have predicted. “Well, I suppose I am a ghost, of sorts. I am dead for now. I’ll live again to play another game so don’t feel too sorry for me. I don’t need your pity. I'd rather play and live for the fun moments during it than spend eternity alone like this. Like I was before you came.”

Jimmy thought the Coral Isles were quite lovely, but he could see how it would get lonely after some time. “You said that someone else was supposed to be joining you?” Scott sighed loudly, shifting from his sitting position to lay on his stomach. He supported the majority of his head’s weight with his right arm, but he also rested his chin on Jimmy’s knee. Jimmy wasn’t bothered by it so he didn’t ask him to move. “Yes, I had a two person team this time around. Martyn and I were the Mean Gills, thinking it was a fun play on words since we were living over the ocean together on an island I created. I grew more and more fishy as the hours passed, and each time I died. Martyn also started to have changes, but he grew coral from his skin. He learned to swim better, could see underwater without irritating his eyes, and could breath longer than normal.”

Jimmy blinked at him as he tried to conceptualize the concept. He wasn’t used to respawns causing that sort of effect. He’s been a cod hybrid for as long as he could remember, the only things changing were related to him growing older.

“We call them ‘lore traits’ and they can be useful, but often, they aren’t or the effect is more neutral,” Scott grumbled. “They tend to stick around in usually minor ways as well! Like, during the last game, in Double Life, I was soulbound to Pearl. I don’t take her damage anymore, but I get this gut feeling that she’s hurting, and I temporarily but less severely experience respawn when she does. It gets so bad sometimes that I’ll have to go track her down and help her recover so the sensation will go away.”

Jimmy was extremely intrigued by everything Scott was telling him, so he continued to listen as Scott rambled and complained about the series of games he went to. They fell into a natural rhythm, exchanging questions and answering as honestly as they could. Being this open was strange, sure, but they were also from different worlds. Nothing they said to each other would affect them when they left this place and left each other. Besides, despite the strange scenarios and worlds they came from, they were still familiar. They were still Scott and Jimmy.

This Scott had traits and mannerisms Jimmy had observed in his Scott. Based on some of the comments and facial expressions Scott has expressed, Jimmy knew that he also resembled this other Jimmy as well.

Eventually the sun rose, painting the sky with beautiful shades of pink, orange, and yellow. They watched the sun rise together as sleep pulled at their eyelids. Jimmy felt content here, okay with the bizarre circumstance the gods have given him.

Scott trailed off from his words and went quiet not too long ago now. Soft snores and deep breathing informed Jimmy that he had slipped into sleep, prompting Jimmy to follow right after him. He was out like a blown out candle the moment he allowed himself to surrender to unconsciousness.

.

.

.

Jimmy’s eyes fluttered open as he awoke. He had expected to see the sky far above the Coral Isles, but, instead, he was greeted by a wooden roof typical of Codland. Jimmy propped himself up with his arms as he surveyed the room.

The room was his bedroom, everything exactly how he left it. Jimmy squinted his eyes, putting a hand to comb his fingers through his long, blonde hair. He was able to do so, but his hand brushed against some bandages wrapped around his head.

What had happened? Had his night with this other Scott a blunt trauma induced dream?

Jimmy had thought that with a tinge of disappointment until his hand came across the natural softness of a flower’s petals. He gently removed the flower crown from his head, not wanting to damage it. Jimmy recognized the flowers and the order they were woven in from the many flower crowns Scott had constructed the night before. 

The flower crown was made of red poppies and various tulips, woven together with care and skill. Jimmy smiled warmly down at it, holding the flower crown to his chest. He wasn’t sure why he had visited where Scott was in limbo as he slept, but he was glad he had. Jimmy valued the time they spent talking judgment free and with equal respect, and he would remember it for as long as he lived.

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

Dream has a nasty habit of giving advice and not taking it himself:

He tells Orpheus to grieve for Euridice(I'm not sure if I spelled that right) and then get over the loss, but he never got over Orpheus' death;

He tells Hob that taking away someone's free will is dishonorable. Yet he imprisons Nada and unmakes Gault for defying him;

He warns the fox lady against revenge but he wastes his precious energy on trapping Alex's mind in a nightmare after he gets freed.

He's such a bastard and I love him

He loves and cares so deeply for everyone, yet he's petty and spiteful. He never stops loving yet he can be so cruel to those he cares about

I don't remember where but I read this somewhere about Dream: "he can love without forgiveness and forgive without love" and I think that sums up Dream pretty nicely. He's full of contradictions and that's what makes me love him as a character so much

you know, ironically, while it's absolutely true that dream can be hypocritical, you're definitely not wrong, those first two actually aren't, as far as he sees the world

because the thing that hurts dream the most is that he cannot see himself as a living being - he is endless, he has a purpose, that's the extent of his existence

and therefore he doesn't dream, doesn't have a story, shouldn't want things for himself

and this is why he causes his own tragedy, because he is a person and he does need the things that make up someone's life, but he refuses to believe so

so when he's talking to orpheus, the important part here is "you are mortal, it is the mortal way"

dream would benefit greatly from being allowed to mourn orpheus, but he can't, he has a job to do, and allowing himself to grieve would interfere with his purpose. so he has no choice, he has to bury it

"so live" only applies to orpheus, as far as dream's concerned, because he doesn't think the endless live

gault falls under the exact same logic. dream sees his creations as extensions of him and is always surprised when they go beyond that. and if he's not allowed a life of his own, if he has to spend eternity fulfilling his purpose as it was given to him, they do too. they're not mortal, they don't live, and thus they don't have free will

(i'm honestly super curious to see what happens in the show from here because gault didn't exist in the comics, and dream actually acknowledging she was right is a major step forward that comic dream never managed to make)

and nada had free will

she just didn't think she did

that's how hell (or any afterlife) works, in the sandman universe, there is no being that judges it. death doesn't decide where you go, and neither does anyone else. you go where you believe you should

which is what makes sure people get to the right afterlife for their particular religion, but also it means that everyone in hell believes they deserve to be there

dream may have put her there, but he didn't have the power to keep her there. when she says "only your forgiveness can free me", that doesn't mean dream has to formally pardon her, it means she can only leave when she stops feeling like she was in the wrong here. and a part of her hates him for this, but a part of her is also stuck feeling guilty, and that's what's keeping her in hell. it's still a shitty move on dream's part, don't get me wrong, but when he said that to hob he was not currently doing anything to prevent her free will. had she truly decided what dream did was unfair, she could have left

revenge, however, that's where you're absolutely right. dream knows, on so many levels, that revenge causes more problems than it solves, and yet this is the one indulgence into human feelings he actually allows himself

he tells the fox not to, he tells hob revenge is a bad idea, he's constantly explaining to people he cares about not to take revenge because it will get them hurt. he is the prince of stories, and he knows how revenge stories end

(destruction even says he was disappointed that dream is still viewing everyone as stories, he'd hoped one day dream would realise people are people)

dream, though. dream doesn't have a story, so who says his revenge has to end in tragedy? he pushes down all his emotions for the sake of the world but anger doesn't want to leave, anger is good at convincing you it deserves to stay, anger can be righteous

if everyone else is just a story, well, the end is that they get what's coming to them. they deserve to be punished for hurting the people dream cares about, and who better to ensure the end of the story than him?

(and he doesn't realise how much his own emotions are influencing those decisions. he thinks he's being rational. he's not. what you were saying about him being both loving and spiteful always makes me think of orpheus - he loved his son more than anything in the world, he was a genuinely good dad and he did everything in his power to keep orpheus from tragedy. but then when orpheus ignored him and got hurt anyway, dream couldn't help but be angry at orpheus for causing their entire family so much pain, and that's why he walked away)

all the endless have different ways in which they see themselves in comparison to mortal beings. the more emotionally healthy ones realise that there's very little difference between the two. and then you get desire who explicitly admitted (in internal narration) that their entire sanity is hinging on believing that they are in control of the universe, they physically can't believe dream when he says they serve humanity and not the other way around. and dream, who sees everything and everyone as a story, except himself

he's not a living being, he doesn't follow their rules. he's not playing the game, he's the referee

except that's not and never was true

and that is the root of all of dream's problems

[velvette-hussle]

I swear, the way HH fans dick ride Alastor is so fucking irritating.

Alastor is powerful by sinner standards - and is a top Overlord by those same standards - but he’s not beating Lucifer in anything but a semi-serious verbal pissing contest, and all of the sins (like Adam) should be able to wipe his ass out without actually being significantly stunned.

[See: Alastor throwing everything at Adam and mostly only succeeding in slowing him down and irritating him, which is impressive but clearly doesn’t point to Alastor being able to beat anyone above a sinner (barring Imps, Hellhounds, & Incubi/Succubi).

Add to that the fact that the only reason Alastor was able to land the hits he did was because Adam wasn’t taking the situation seriously (a personality flaw of his that Alastor exploited to give him the leg up he needed). The moment Adam seriously applies himself to the fight, however, he instantly knocks Alastor off kilter and significantly stuns him with one blow; which results in Alastor tucking tale and running for self preservation and pride reasons because he came face to face with his own mortality and shortcomings.]

Now having established all of that - and this is just petty fandom shit, but I refuse to standby while an injustice is being committed - let’s pivot to another fandom and another show and talk about Black Hat from Villainous.

I need you bitches to be so fucking for real rn, because what do you mean Alastor would beat that man in a fight? Do y’all hear yourselves? Do you hear and recognize the sheer derangement? The delusion?

I’m over-exaggerating for comedic effect, but still.

Didn’t that motherfucker destroy a planet? With a flick of his wrist? Feasibly the only people who could challenge Black Hat would be Lucifer or God. And even if we downscale his power level to just what’s shown in season one of the show (& not what’s in the shorts) Black Hat is still shown to be something of a dual figure and threat on both earth and in the afterlife and implied to be some form of deity-like figure (who’s older than Alastor). Alastor who can’t even travel to Earth as a sinner without outside help from someone more powerful or with an extra relic (so not his own powers). So Black Hat would be at least to the level of the Deadly Sins and completely supersede Overlord status entirely. There’s no way, without using a power boost from someone else’s powers, that Alastor is beating Black Hat, showmanship and conceit be damned.

Anyway, I am once again talking shit like I get paid to do it.

[skyeblue8]

Ԋҽɬɬ'ട Ƒα𝓶σᥙട Ԋσ𝜏ടρσ𝜏, ㆜ԋҽ ᑭɾιԃҽ Ꭱιɳց...🍎

♚ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⃟⋆⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰⋆⃟⋆ ♚

❥ Okay, to start off, I am so, so sorry for how long this took. Like, this is the longest that my lists have been prolonged, and I'm sure most of y'all have forgotten about this, but I still feel better having posted this to know it was done. Let me know what you think in the comments, pls! Thank you!

♚ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⃟⋆⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰⋆⃟⋆ ♚

♚ Pride's Environment: 🍎

❥ Now, first things first, after much inner debate, I headcanon that the general size of the Pride Ring, while still very gigantic, is actually the smallest of the Seven Rings.

❥ Not because it's the weakest, but rather for two reasons – 1. I feel Pride is often interwoven with other Sins, thus not making it a very prominent stand-alone type thing despite it still having a strong influence on the other Sins. And, 2. Because, going on what @Lovesart23 has stated about Lucifer not liking Hell and probably, by extension, the other demons, I feel like he would keep his Ring grand in the sense to show off his image & power as a leader, but small so less people are in it and, by extension, near him.

❥ Now, as for the Ring itself, I feel like some of Vivzie's concepts for it work while others don't. For starters, I like the idea of nearly every building, monument, restaurant, etc. having some sort of golden apple, snake, and fallen angel insignia/themeing to them to highlight the pride of Lucifer's ring and Biblical actions, as well as being a fun nod to the NYC concept I have for the Ring as it would literally be the demonic version of city with The Big Apple. (Get it? 😉) I also really like the layout of Pentagram City, so that stays.

❥ Now, the red and black color themeing here is actually fine for me as I think it simply fits well with it being a "Top Ring" so-to-speak, so that'll be like your proud, actually Hellish impression of Hell, and, instead of having the whole "looks-can-be-deceptive" thing I have going on for the other Rings besides Wrath, it's just straight up in it's monstrosity while also having a hint of glamor to it. Second to Greed, I also feel that this Ring will have a significant amount of golden accents to it to, of course, to highlight Lucifer's ego and love of the finer things. Unlike Greed however, this gold is all real.

❥ Also, I realized I never considered this in the other Ring Headcanons, so consider this now, but, going off the idea of living furniture/objects in the Pride Ring from fallen Sinners, I headcanon that the same is applied in all the other Rings in my version of Hell, just with Hellborns and moreso in the Pride Ring because the Devil hates everyone. I'd also like to think that, outside of himself, he wouldn't waste his time of building structures or housing plants for the citizens so he let's their carnage do all the work.

❥ On that note, Pride is essentially a free-for-all to a slightly lesser extent than Wrath itself (not by much) and where there's kind of always a frequent fight to the top for Overlords as a lot of them are from here or move to here because they think that's where all the power is (and also to try to get closer to Lucifer).

❥ Now, while I'll discuss more about Ring Placement in future posts, I headcanon that Pride is, essentially, the "closest to the surface" a.k.a Limbo/Purgatory or the Human World (or some world in between that I'll elaborate later). Because of that, it's usually the first Ring to be effected by the Extermination and to greet new Sinners even if they're not supposed to be in the Pride Ring (meaning they'll just shoot right through to the according Ring)

❥ In addition, while this could be applied to all the Rings, I think Pride hides to most secrets about the afterlife and Abrahamic magic and the such because Lucifer likes to keep his secrets and is the most powerful. Another reason why people frequent gravitate here.

So... yeah, that's all I got for the Pride Ring in terms of Environment. Sorry if it's a bit underwhelming, but this Ring is arguably the most malleable in terms of world functions so there's truly anything you can do with this.

ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 * .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ * .♡ *:･ﾟ.♡

ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 * .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ * .♡

ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 * .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ * .♡ *:･ﾟ.♡

♚ Pride's Residents: 🍎

❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥

❞𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬❞

➺ Pride Imps - really just normal red imps w/ nothing too special to them b/c Lucifer doesn't care. (Some of them may have some sort of survival adaptations depending on whether or not their hybrids, but otherwise, there isn't too much for them.)

➺ Humanoid Goats, Sheep, Snakes - Animals indicative of the Bible

➺ The C.H.A.R.L.O.T.T.E.S - This is direct inspiration from @violetvolute and their "Hell Princesses" concept for Charlie. They're gold and porcelain anti-cherubium demons who serve as Pride's corrupt police-force, enforcing the few laws that exist in the Ring while simultaneously tormenting Sinners and Hellborns alike, but mostly Sinners. They're also the King's eyes and ears all around the Ring.

They posses certain abilities like flight, experienced combat, & shape-shifting into various furniture amongst the Ring to shock and terrify demons while also keeping a watch on them. They can be unnervingly excellent at their jobs when it comes to monitoring demons, able to keep their stance and their watch for a long period of time (one of them maybe the clocktower itself!)

❞𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬❞

➺ Any of the non-aforementioned demons who generally fit the Pride Ring aesthetic.

➺ Also, as a newly implemented identification to differentiate the Sinners from the Hellborns, every Sinner of each respective Ring, specifically Pride in this case, possess the glowing sigil/marking that represents the ruler somewhere visible on their bodies upon entering Hell.

❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥

❥ As you can see here, there's not a lot of uber-powerful native creatures in this Ring save for the C.H.A.R.L.O.T.T.E.S, and that's largely because they're the main ones who Lucifer trusts, save for one, and that's the main Charlotte we've all come to know, who has become a marginalized rogue among the others.

❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥ • ❥

Alright, so that's the Pride Ring. Full disclosure, much like the other Rings, whatever is established here is liable to be changed in the future if I find the worldbuilding to be too confusing, contrived, contradictory, etc. Because of this, please don't hesitate to give honest criticism or notes and suggestions in the comments here. And if I change something, I'll always be sure to notify you all on my blog. Thank you, have a great New Year's! 😘

[sansloii]

had this sent to me when I was having a little moment this past weekend and

I have more thoughts on the answer i gave this weekend. More thoughts I wish to now expand upon

The short answer was that Death follows Mikah wherever they go. They're not running from it but it follows them regardless--like a shadow over their shoulder. It is a constant in their life.

Now the long answer is that Death only follows Mikah so closely because they cheat Death constantly. In the main verse, it's very obvious--they die and then resurrect in a matter of minutes depending on how they were killed. Even if some spectre of the afterlife were to latch onto them, they'd be pulled right back into the land of the living without incident. It irritates them here because they're young and they do experience phantom pains from each death--enough to where they try to actively avoid things that will get them killed.

Same goes for their fantasy/royal au. They can die but they will come right back. No fanfare, no scare--they just... do. It's a little more thoughtless because it's just... their reality at that point and they're "older" ( in that they've been deathless for a while ) so there isn't much of a thought given to their deaths aside from some... resigned sigh when it happens. Phantom pains still occur but they've learned to ignore it now.

their god au is a little different so it doesn't exactly apply... but the alnst au follows the same trend, to some extent with some limitations because they're human. they've only got the one life... and yet, even then, they're weasel their way out of alnst b/c of a specific event that just... mentally takes them out it. it breaks them and they leave before they can suffer the same fate

And I'm going to get to that but first, I'm gonna float the idea of what happens if you cheat death. There is a space there... that needs to be filled... yes?

It can't just sit empty... right?

Thus comes Mikah's motivation.

In the main verse, Mikah cannot die... so their girlfriend, Cassandra, does. That is their fault. Later on, Evan also dies because of Mikah's actions. Both times, it should've been them as their actions directly lead to the death of both individuals.. but they live. They're injured, for sure, but... not dead.

In the fantasy/royal au, mikah ( unbeknownst to anyone ) is very cursed. However, because they cannot die, whatever deal their noble parents made comes back at them. It's not Mikah's fault, no, but they are still blamed for it. It was supposed to be them, people would say, and that does wonders for their psyche.

In the alnst au, they are not supposed to win. I personally love their voice and their vocal ability but I put a lot of thought into Evan's voice from the get go for a reason. I wanted him to have a lot of range because out of the two of them, Evan should be the one that comes out on top. but he doesn't. He chooses not to... for Mikah. So they don't die. It should've been them.

All of this is to say that Mikah is a person/being whose existence is meant to dodge responsibility and cheat consequences. death is a companion to them intentionally, because it's meant to show them that if it's not them, it's going to be someone else--someone close to them. someone often not deserving of it. that punishment always passes them over and effects someone else.

And Mikah is very aware of this. Some part of them knows and refuses to accept it. Another part of them is... content with it. A third part has accepted that as just the way things are, whether they like it or not. As unfair as it is, the only option to stop that would be to stay away from everyone...

...and Mikah, bless their heart, is too selfish for that. Their lonely heart would not be able to withstand that.

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 236 (spoilers)

😭

This chapter starts with a gut punch. A time displaced reality where Gojo suddenly sees his dead friend again and realizes, together with the readers, that he lost. Is this a figment of Gojo's imagination or a gathering of souls before they depart to the afterlife?

The souls have some heartfelt conversations with each other and Gojo talks about how strong Sukuna was (my analysis from two weeks ago is null and void at this point but my point that Sukuna isn't finished and that Gojo still needs to be taken off the picture has come true at least.)

We get a panel of Lotus flowers, and apparently they represent resilience and rebirth but more on that later. Gojo also talks about a father. His own or is this about Toji that Shoko will deal with now?

Nanami references a conversation he had with Mei Mei about choosing a path in your life. Going North for starting anew or going South for staying who you are. These directions have meaning in Buddhism but I don't know too much about it.

Nanami chose south and went back to being a sorcerer and the title of this chapter is also about going south. But what about Gojo? Does the north/South decision apply to him as well?

I wonder if the start of the anime season 2 influenced Gege into drawing this scene like this. And of course, Toji photo bombed the panels again. Overall, this scene has such a serene energy to it. Even in death, people can find peace, unfortunately I can see the death count reaching Demon Slayer heights like this. But also...

Is he dead? Completely and utterly dead? As we learn, Mahoraga is dead but Sukuna used its adaptation as a manual to find a way to circumvent Infinity and he succeeded. Sukuna straight up cut the entire space around Gojo making Infinity useless. Still, Gojo's head is still attached to his torso and in a later panel we see him smile.

Sukuna is actually happy right now, completely at odds with everyone else except Kashimo. Did Gojo show him what true love is? Will that love follow him to the future or will it be something fleeting? Will Sukuna yearn for this fight later on?

What will happen now and is Gojo truly dead. Some thoughts.

- "Go South" is a solitary chapter as it has no number in it, meaning next chapter will start the Kashimo fight as its own mini-arc

- There are actually multiple ways in which Gojo can still survive, most prominent being that his head is still attached to his (separated) torso AND Shoko's absence in this chapter. The Lotus flowers also strengthen a rebirth/survival theory.

Gojo himself had told Toji that he should've cut his head off to kill him properly and that principle still applies here and we see Gojo smiling in his last panel

Basically everyone from Hidden Inventory got to shine this chapter at the airport but Shoko, the only living person from that time, was conspicuously absent in the later panels. We see Yuji, Yuta and Maki but not her

Up until now, we could make a good guess on how Gojo's fight went by looking at Shoko's reactions. That she's missing here is telling in that a shocked face e.g. would've cemented Gojo's death

Shoko can use RCT on others and Gojo can use it on himself. In addition, as long as Gojo is conscious he can make a binding vow to help his healing, even if in this case it's about re-ataching his torso with his abdomen

Take note that Gojo lost this fight. He is the loser and he accepted that in the airport. He has no regrets regarding this BUT I will not believe that he won't have regrets in leaving his students behind with a sorcerer who even he couldn't defeat.

My hope is that Gojo will sacrifice his 6-Eyes in a Vow to save his life. This might be the decision he has to make on going North or South: going North to Nirvana or going South on the path of a Boddhisatva. The title says South.

How I see the next set of chapters going: The Kashimo/Sukuna will start and it will take centre stage but somewhere in the background Shoko will get to Gojo and try to save his life.

After overcoming the initial shock and going through a short grieving process over this fictional character that means so much to me, I've come to partially accept his death actually. I still hope for his survival and I'm sure that at least on the editorial side of JJK nobody would be completely on board with Gojo getting killed. Gojo is more of a face of JJK then Yuji in some ways. This character is important to the manga on a meta level and him getting killed before the end of the manga seems unlikely.

That the break happened last week on not after this one could be a sign that no one in Jump wants the "Gojo is dead" scene to fester too much before it's revealed that he will be saved, too.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

TAWERET

I WANT TO TALK ABOUT TAWERET! 

I’ve been putting this off for a while and I need to discuss Taweret! Let’s go! 

So who is Taweret. (Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Egyptology or mythology in relation, I’ve only done a little research). 

Taweret is a goddess that gained increasing power and placement throughout Ancient history. 

She is described as having the head of a Hippopotamus, arms/paws of a lion, and tail and legs of a crocodile. 

That is one strong and fierce combination. They looked around Egypt and went, “What is the scariest things we have out here?” 

So what is her place? Fertility and Rejuvenation (Goddess of pure water from the nile). Okay, They loved that shit back then. Makes sense. 

Oh, and Protector of Women and Children. 

It was common to find pictures of her around the homes of new born babies and young children. She was painted on their cups and plates, had little statues placed near their cribs. 

She was fierce and terrifying. She was meant to protect the children from illness and ill intent. She was motherly and protective. She kept harm from them and the family. It was believed that if you raised a hand to your child or wife, you would face Taweret. 

So what DOES happen in the afterlife? Where does Taweret fall into play? 

When you died, you came before a series of judges who would ask you questions. (Book of the Dead was an instruction manual filled with how you were supposed to answer these questions, as well as spells to help keep you true). 

Once you answered the questions your heart was weighed against the feather of Ma’at. If your scales did not balance, you were fed to Ammit. If your scales are balanced, you would be welcomed to the afterlife by Osiris. 

In the afterlife, you were given a plot of land to do with as you wished and expected to maintain it. It was filled with abundance and everything you could need to be happy and good of heart (including worship of the gods). It was supposed to reflect the world that they had left behind (hence taking all your things with you in death that brought you joy in life). 

So what place did Taweret have in the afterlife? 

Taweret held the role of funerary deity. She was in charge of rebirth and passing into the afterlife. She became the center of homes in the New Kingdom, becoming related to life-giving regeneration, rebirth, and purifying. 

At times, she was seen as the opposite of Ammit, who was the devourer of the impure soul and path to darkness. Taweret was nourishment and aid to those in need. 

SO WHY WAS SHE ON THE BOAT?! 

So in the Moon Knight show, the ways of the old world have fallen into the past and current gods/goddesses just kinda watch and don’t do anything. MANY of the old gods/goddesses are imprisoned for not following the rules one way or another. Others are banished (Khonshu). 

It’s easy to believe that with important gods being banished/imprisoned, their duties had to be filled by others. It’s easy to think that the one that was supposed to be on the boat got themselves imprisoned and the next closest thing was tossed into the job with a little guide book. 

She has a guide book with a speech and rules. She doesn’t really seem to be familiar with her role or how to carry it out. Or perhaps, she isn’t familiar with D.I.D situations. A soul arrives and she expects one and is met with two. Do the rules still apply? Does she still do the same thing? Will she blow them up when she tries to remove their hearts or are they going to be fine? 

Marc does not understand Egyptian Mythology. At all. This boy be skating by with “Egypt for dummies” folded up in his back pocket with the first page highlighted and then he figured he’d get around to reading the rest later.  

As Avatar to Khonshu, he’s tossed into an afterlife not meant for him and an afterlife he does not understand. 

What is more, Marc is so estranged from his own culture and religion that he is in spiritual distress. He knows what is supposed to happen. What he was told and taught to happen. 

And here he is faced with a situation he doesn’t understand in the slightest. This further highlights how lost Marc is. He is so hurt and broken up inside that he believes that he isn’t even worthy of his own Jewishness. 

He killed people. He did terrible things. He was beaten and blamed for the death of his brother. He was taught to hate his life and himself. He tried to take his own life most likely more than once. He wasn’t even worthy of death as Khonshu kept bringing him back. 

This brings us to Steven. Emotional protector and Spiritual protector. Steven not only understands what death means in relation to his Judaism, but he knows Egyptology. He KNOWS the gods and goddesses. He knows the book of the dead forward and backwards. He’s probably read it in three different languages. 

So when Taweret shows up, how does Steven explain who she is to Marc? 

“This is Taweret, goddess of women and children!” 

That’s an interesting breakdown for all that Taweret does. Especially with all that Steven knows she does. And she is kind and gentle with them. She gives them chances, tries to welcome them, even fights for them. She even reaches out to Layla on their behalf. 

One has to wonder if she learned their story and, though she did not understand it, she felt for them. A child that needed help and protection and did not receive it. 

Is it possible that out of all the gods, one that was most fitting for them was sent to be their guide on the boat? 

Is it possible that Steven, the protector, was the one that somehow chose the one to greet and ultimately judge them? 

If Ammit was a representation of their mother, then is it not fitting that Taweret, the one of purity and rebirth and protection, would be the one to meet them? 

Now as others have pointed out, this is not where they are supposed to be. There is no representation of ‘heaven’ meant for them and the notion of Steven being left behind healing Marc is a pretty bad one. 

With Jeremy Slater writing, it was a rough go of what happened. However, I choose to see where Diab, who is NOT Christian (as far as I am aware please correct me if I am mistaken) took us visually. He isn’t Jewish either, but he is Egyptian and telling an Egyptian story. 

At this point, they are dead and they are trapped in an afterlife that isn’t theirs and doesn’t make sense to them culturally. Marc my sweet idiot man takes ‘Field of reeds’ literally. 

Much like Vallhalla’s field of wheat, it is a large quiet peaceful afterlife filled with joy, celebration, and life. Even on the ancestral plane with Black Panther, it is a beautiful place but there is MORE there. So much more. 

Marc just finds himself in an empty field. Just a big ‘ol field full of nothing. Because he does not understand where he is! 

“Okay, I’m supposed to go somewhere peaceful in a field.” And it’s beautiful, and it is peaceful, but it’s very literal. 

And Taweret is just like, alright. I saw your life and it was full of rage and violence and hate and pain. This must be what you want I guess? Isn’t it nice? It’s pretty quiet and alone here. You must have wanted to be alone because of the whole D.I.D thing I guess? 

She doesn’t really understand what’s going on either. This isn’t really it, but this is the first time she’s really come across this situation. 

Taweret: Your heart is full. Your journey is over.

Marc: It's so... quiet.

Taweret: The peace you've always wanted but never had. You're manifesting it. No danger. No loneliness or hurt.

Marc: What about Steven?

Taweret: He's gone, Marc. The Duat has him. Please enjoy your peace.

Marc: We need to go back for him.

Taweret: It doesn't work like that. Leave here, and you can't return. Anyway, you don't need him anymore, Marc.

Marc: So I get to go on to eternal peace, and he just... stays lost in the sand forever? No, I'm not good with that.

It isn’t full. We can see it. He’s clutching it and it looks empty. And Marc knows this is not it. There is no Hell in his belief. He just sees Steven as being trapped somewhere he isn’t supposed to be. It’s Marc’s nature to help people. And Steven helped him. Steven protected him. 

So yeah, it’s been covered before. He leaves. There are whole metas out there (Love you @fdelopera ) about this part and I recommend you go look up the Jewish perspective because it’s beautiful. 

But I want to focus again on Taweret. 

Marc goes back, the heart glows pure and true and full with Steven there to help fill it, and Osiris opens the gate back. 

But she isn’t done. 

One of the rituals of funerary rites is to replace the heart with a golden scarab with a spell written across it that helps to guide the soul while they are being judged. It helps keep them true and pure. Keeps them a good person. 

Taweret sends a Scarab to save them and fight along them. A protector of women and children to shield them. 

So why was Taweret on the boat? Do you think Steven had anything to do with it? Do you think Marc subconsciously knew what he needed as a child? Someone to save them? Do you think she just so happened to have gotten the job as a toss up and then saw two small boys in need of help? 

She could have just judged them right then and there and tossed them off. She didn’t have to give them time. 

Do you think she knew the whole time that Marc needed to make that choice to go back? That he would always have made that choice? That it was Steven that needed to know that Marc would come back for him? That Steven needed to find his own purpose as the protector? 

[samble-movedd]

People seem to forget that the incubators were going to try and exploit Madokami. Even if we ignore what Homura goes through in wraith arc and the fact that Madoka is literally Suffering in the place of all the other magical girls, what did you expect Homura to do?? Just let them???

i guess? people take her sacrifice in pmmm and her saying it's All Good as a given and refuse to analyze any of it...despite her suffering being canonical. she outright says in rebellion (without her memories of it — but this is still the "real" madoka) that she could never imagine being alone without ever being able to interact with anyone Forever. she can't even, like, take heart in people remembering her, because homura is the one single person with solid memories of her — and by the time wraith arc rolls around, homura is having a full scale mental breakdown and starting to think the memories are fake. even if there's some sort of magical girl paradise afterlife, madoka does not get to be in it. her whole "existence" is literally to fight forever. this is said in canon. her wish is basically an altruistic version of suicide...but without people being able to remember her or what she did.

and a lot of people i think believe that the incubators would just, like, give up trying to control the LOC or something — the same incubators that cause the deaths of billions of children, are implied to have gone and wiped out parts of whole alien species, the same species who apparently are immortal and obsessed about scrounging up every single morsel of energy possible to combat the entropy that won't wipe out the universe for trillions and trillions of years. they're determined as all hell when it comes to energy gathering, they wouldn't just drop the lead because madoka vanished after clearing homura's soul gem. they could very easily trap literally any other magical girl in the same set up and try infinite more times to do the same thing. there are probably thousand of magical girls on earth at any given time (if not more) if the apparent ratio of the show applies universally. kyubey could just swipe the next near-death magical girl and do it over again like thirty seconds later, even if madoka escaped after getting homura.