#the funeral itself

[yharnamsnewslug]

So my aunt just passed away and to get to the south of Spain, I need to get a train ticket. I did, and I'll be helping my parents and uncles and aunts with the funeral, but this ticket cost me way too much and I need to get my testosterone and groceries. Y'all don't have to, you never do, but if you've got anything to spare to cover for the stupid fucking ticket, it'd be appreciated. It's only the trip to go, not the way back, I'm coming back with my dad.

P*ypal: niklitera@gmail.com (ignore my deadname, pls)

109/118€

[geosaurus]

sinner, you better get ready

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

Steve climbs into the back of Nancy's car with Dustin, trying his best to play off his mood as having slept poorly in the Wheeler's basement, instead of the guilt and sorrow churning inside him. He had been hoping to be able to make excuses to go home for a bit today, away from the group, so he could go to Chrissy's funeral.

Doesn't seem like that will be happening. Not unless he tells them the truth. They're going to the Creel house and Steve can't let them ago without him. Can't let them walk into potential danger if he's not there.

Because Chrissy's already dead. He can't change that. But he can try his damnedest to make sure there's no one else. So, it's more important to him to be there with the living, than at a funeral. Chrissy would agree.

Chrissy would understand.

Right?

Gareth sits through Chrissy's funeral and notes that Steve's not there. No one from the Harrington household is. He doesn't know what to feel about that. All his sorrow has been spent on Chrissy, so all he feels for Steve is anger. What the fuck is more important to Steve right now than being here? For his family. For Chrissy. For him.

He sits next to Jason even though his mom left a spot next to her available for him. He's not suddenly Jason's best friend, but he was told they plan to continue their search immediately after the funeral, and if he sat next to his mom, she wouldn't let him go.

This is how he finds himself at Reefer Ricks, long past the mandated curfew with just Jason, Andy, and Patrick. The others having slowly dropped off the search the closer to night it got.

"Hey," Gareth calls out to Jason before entering the house, "I'm going to go check if Eddie's van is hidden where he usually parks it when he comes out here."

Jason pauses on his way through the door. He looks over his shoulder and gives a nod, "yeah, smart thinking. There should be a flashlight in the back of the car."

Gareth nods back and heads back to the car. It doesn't take long to find the flashlight and soon he's walking down the road. It's not a long walk, about fifteen minutes away is a cluster of trees that Eddie parks at when he comes to get more goods from Rick. Gareth (and their other friends) spent plenty of afternoons waiting in the van for Eddie to return from his 'job', as it were. It does keep the van out of sight of any road, though.

The van is there, and Gareth doesn't like what he sees. The driver side door is open, so he approaches slowly. "Eddie? You in there, Eddie?" he gets no response. He shines the flashlight through the back door's window, smooshing his face against the glass to look in. Once he's sure it's empty of anything, he approaches the open door and examines the front.

The keys are still in the ignition. Door left open and keys still in the ignition paints a story Gareth isn't sure he wants to read. That makes worry curl inside his body. He can't think of a single thing that would make Eddie abandon the van this quickly, too... scared? Worried? to bother to even close the drive door. He climbs in to try and start it but it won't. With the door left open for over 72 hours, the battery is dead.

He pockets the keys and locks up the van. If worse comes to worst, he can return the keys to Wayne.

He's almost back to the house when he hears shouting. He starts running, following the noise, and quickly finds Jason and Patrick on the shore, pulling their shoes off. His gaze flicks out to the lake and catches the sight of what can only be Eddie trying to get the motor of a motorboat started.

Well. Shit.

He doesn't think much more beyond that. He's just acting. He steps on the heels of his shoes to get out of them as quickly as possible and dives into the water. He's only seconds behind Patrick and Jason into the water, slowing to keep pace with them at first.

Gareth grew up in the Harrington swimming pool just like Steve had. Chrissy had. He's never been so glad for that as he is now, as he quits trying to pace himself and takes off, leaving Jason and Patrick behind.

Eddie's swinging the oar around wildly, as if they would stop any of them. He falters in his swinging when his eyes land on Gareth and he breathes out his name, "Gareth?"

One final stroke and Gareth can reach out of the water and grab the side of the boat. He doesn't haul himself aboard, but does haul himself high enough to look up at Eddie. "The police say you did it. Did you?"

Hurt flashes across Eddie's face but he answers, "No."

Gareth nods once, a decision made. Before he can respond though, Jason's caught up and Eddie is turning in the boat to wave the oar uselessly at him.

Clinging to the side of the boat gives Gareth a clear view of Patrick, who has stopped swimming. Jason and Eddie shout at each other as Gareth watches Patrick being to rise out of the water. "What the fucking shit!?"

Gareth doesn't know if Jason turns to look, he's too busy staring, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Don't look," Eddie says and the boat jostles as Eddie moves suddenly, dropping to his knees in the boat and throwing his hands up to block Gareth's view.

"What the fuck-" Gareth cuts himself off when he hears the snapping of bones. Jason is yelling and Gareth panics, pushes back from the boat, which makes Eddie lean more to block his eyesight, causing Eddie to fall out of the boat. On instinct, Gareth dives for him, the month and month spent in Steve's pool, hearing about pool safety kicking in.

Eddie doesn't really need rescuing, but he doesn't fight Gareth during the rescue. Patrick is no longer in the air when they breach the surface, and Jason is swimming back the way they came. Eddie flops himself back into the boat, then helps Gareth in as well.

They don't speak again until they've reached the other shore, in which case they just sit in the boat, soaked through, panting at each other as the adrenaline fades.

"What the fuck was that!?" Gareth doesn't shriek. He doesn't.

Eddie suddenly looks very severe and grim when he says, "that's what killed Chrissy."

[good-beanswrites]

" @oboetemasuka , I've taken too much of a beating from you to stand idle any longer! It's time to bring out the big guns..." The big guns being a 200 word piece that made me cry in the middle of the night -_- This is a direct sequel to Myosotis (fic about the prisoners returning to their lives post-Milgram.) TW for referenced child death

“Ooh, I found Mahiru-san!” Yuno clicked through the woman’s social media page. She winced that most of them were couples’ photos. “It looks like she’s still at the flower shop – she posted earlier today! So, what do you think is the best way to…” she trailed off, seeing the horror on Fuuta’s face.

He was absorbed in his own phone, scrolling with a shaking hand. He’d gone entirely pale. He shook his head. His lips moved, unable to form any words. 

Yuno didn’t dare ask what he saw. She’d known right away. She reached across the table to touch his arm. 

When he finally slid the phone toward her, she only glanced at a few lines in the news article he’d clicked on – “Tragic Accident in Fukuoka,” “only days after the first loss,” “she was discovered early Thursday morning,” “officials name faulty electrical wiring,” “congregation holds private service” – before she had to turn away. 

Fuuta’s expression was numb, his eyes unfocused. 

“I told…” His voice hitched. “I told her she could come live with me. I told her we would –” 

“I know, Fuuta.”

He looked down at the screen, at the photo alongside the obituary. 

In it, she was smiling.

[clove-pinks]

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there," is the quote from a mid-20th century novel. The War of 1812 took place decades before the military funeral song "Taps" was written and popularized during the US Civil War.

Alfred Lorrain describes scores of men dying from disease at Fort Meigs in 1812-1813, which was the top killer of soldiers throughout the Napoleonic era:

They died daily. The mournful air of "Roslin Castle" became the prevailing music of the day, while the sharp rifle-cracks of the platoon told how many were borne to their long home. A deadly homesickness overwhelmed our troops, and we believe a repentance of war was kindled in every bosom, from the highest to the lowest.

— Alfred M. Lorrain, The Helm, the Sword, and the Cross.

It's a haunting melody (and new favorite song). When I was at Fort Meigs historic site earlier in the month there was also a fiddle player in period costume, which was wonderful.

[chiarrara]

the core idea i'm working with concerning the jjk finale discourse is that people are mad about the wrong things.

I have had serious problems with the writing in jjk since at least shibuya, and I even found criticism in the hidden inventory arc and the sister school exchange arc (though the main problem there is that it was boring pre-disaster curses and the characters suck).

Similar to Game of Thrones, some people were criticizing the broken writing choices as far back as seasons 3 and 4 while most people were glazing the series until the cracks in the foundation caused the entire story to crumble right at the end, leaving most of the fanbase confused how it "suddenly" got so bad.

The commonly held sentiment is that JJK fell off after Shibuya. I disagree. I think it fell off during Shibuya where the entire worldbuilding, power system, and plot broke irreparably.

HOWEVER where JJK never fell off was in character writing, relationship writing, and the overall themes of the story which were all consistent, had strong throughlines, were well integrated into the action (another strength), and were in my opinion, the core appeal of the the entire project.

And yet, most of what I hear people complaining about is either a) missing or dissatisfying character moments and a lack of satisfying exploration of the themes, or b) contradictory outrage over plot and worldbuilding elements not lining up as if these issues haven't been there from the start.

I know a lot of people don't operate this way, but when there are fundamental problems with the storytelling, but there are other parts of the story that I find incredibly meaningful and impactful, I find it really easy to glaze over those problems and even justify and rewrite them in my head so they make more sense. When good character writing shows up in JJK, I stop caring that the plot sucks.

The finale chapters of JJK had amazing character writing, delivered on the main themes of the story, and made literally all the broken plot elements, lack of focus, and shoddy worldbuilding secondary concerns for me. They don't break the important parts of the story, I don't care that they aren't wrapped up because I didn't like them in the first place, and their lack of exploration just cedes more ground to fan creation allowing the story to thrive for years into the future.

If you were reading JJK for the complicated plot, complex scheming, or intricate worldbuilding, I can see why you're upset, but you made a mistake a long time ago because that stuff has sucked for ages. But I know most of you fuckers on this website were reading for good characters, impactful themes about love, and yaoi bait, so why are you mad????? I really don't get it.

Who cares that the shittily written American Military subplot didn't come back? The fucking basis of the power system doesn't make any sense and isn't well thought out, so how was it ever going to deliver on the solution/potential for cursed energy? You're mad that the random New Shadow School subplot was randomly thrown in at the end, I've been mad since that random fucking grasshopper showed up in the fucking subway!

And some of you are literally admitting YOU DIDN'T EVEN READ THE TRANSLATED CHAPTERS so how would you KNOW if the story themes and character writing had been delivered on? based on summaries? that is the absolute worst delivery system for a story, you have to know this. you're getting mad at machine translations of out of context pages like WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

In conclusion, most of you are mad at the wrong things and none of what I wrote up there is really about what the things you should be mad about are, because they don't matter. The point of a story is to mean something and JJK did. It was always good at what it was good at, and I wish people were engaging more with the story in it's own domain instead of being mad it wasn't exactly what they wanted it to be. The finale delivered on everything that made me care about this story. It made me love it even more, and I'm never going to regret spending so much time on this series. Everything else is just criticism for fun.

[confusedsiewmai]

Sometimes, I don't like looking at Frieren fandom things is because it feels so alienating as an aroace person sometimes.

I relate to Frieren in a lot of ways. The way she goes through life at her own speed, the way she has a certain way of doing things that is hard to change, the way she struggles to fully understand others but is still compassionate and tries, and last but not least, the way she doesn't feel romantic or sexual attraction the way most people do.

So when a fan posts something about how elves like Frieren don't really feel romantic or sexual attraction and it's wonderful that Himmel's unrequited love with her is still portrayed as something beautiful, healthy and valued, but the comments section is just filled with people being like: No!!!! That's not true!!! Frieren loves Himmel even though she doesn't realise it!!!!

Or even the more "generous" ones are like: No!!! She is just falling in love with him years later!!! The whole story is about how she regrets not pursuing it until it was too late!!!!

And like, every person has their own interpretation and ships. But it really is a bit saddening as an aroace person that sees Frieren also as an aroace who probably would never feel as much romantic love for Himmel EVER. People have almost this... need to correct people that Frieren loves Himmel romantically.

[nullapophenia]

go my act 6 secret

this is knight :) "they don't look like a knight" not anymore :)

(transcription: "polite :) i think this kind of face shading is cool :3" "smth smth sword of damocles? to keep with beheading :) cutting his own head off [gestures vaguely] failed his duty as a knight idk" "design idea: fully clothed / like. clothing covering every inch of skin. taking anything off reveals a lack of anything beneath the clothes (veil has same effect)" "yes ribbon no veil / no ribbon yes veil" "how draw corset. fuck." "i like this silhouette / it also hides daggers :)" "add dagger scabbard with no dagger inside somewhere?" "main thought" "smth embroidered into the shirt instead of a chest mark... but What..." "(pretend that looks cooler)" end transcription)

some bonus doodles as well just for notes!

(transcription: "bald! (debating beardedness)" "metal / leather" "velvet-y material" image 2: "> {... Who are you.}" "... Why don't you unveil me and find out?" "(sounds like a ghost. interpret as you wish)" end transcription)

[worldwright]

am I the only one who melted into a cozy mess of comfort and nostalgia whenever Himmel spoke. like how HOW does this man vocalize spring breezes and sunlight on the forest floor. how does he wrap me up in a homemade quilt every time he opens his mouth.

[bibleofficial]

you do know that you can die without having a funeral right

the 3rd grader telling me abt their grandparents whose bodies they never found

[johnny1note]

I'm not sure if I would be morally justified in declining to attend funerals at my parents' former church because the pastor is a TIM. I know burying the dead is a corporal work of mercy but there has to be some kind of point at which the circumstances of a funeral would make it a net negative.

[mossiestpiglet]

Not to defend Mencken obviously, but I think of all the things that happened/were said to Roman this episode, that probably was the least painful? It’s completely in line with their relationship and the way they talk to each other about everything already, the only difference is that this time someone else can hear it. Of course it’s intentional that Roman and Mencken aren’t allowed to talk alone and that Mencken is swamped by the whole family, but I think that it changes the tone of that line to be more malicious than it probably actually was, since we never see what would have naturally come after in a conversation just between the two of them.

[smolycule]

does anyone ANYONE have a copy of the sitcom preshow i could have? they privated it before i could watch it bc i’ve been busy 😭

[asgardian--angels]

folks on twitter are convinced izzy is going to die in the finale

dunno where I stand on that, as it wouldn't make narrative sense as far as I can tell, but people have pointed out a couple of shots in the trailer/bts footage where it looks like izzy's, at the very least, incapacitated, and then a later scene with a grave on the beach. the episode description says 'a devastating loss' which, yknow, isnt reassuring

that being said - I'm more confident that the Revenge is going to be destroyed somehow. the tagline for this season is 'prepare to have your ship wrecked' which is most likely a double entendre, referring not just to ed and stede but the literal ship too. this could also be the 'devastating loss' and what jenkins is referring to partly as 'the end of piracy' - and the circumstances around ed and stede leaving off the season living in that beach shack. the revenge is sacrificed/caught in the crossfire during the battle with the English, and works to symbolize Ed and Stede leaving that life behind.

could be both. who's to say. I'd hate to lose Izzy after he's worked so hard to break free from the confinement of pirate culture, and after the incredible performance Con has given us. the season opened with izzy dying in a dream; on the one hand, it would be cyclical to have him die in the end, but on the other hand, it would be more fitting for him not to, as stede was wrong in his dream to have izzy being the thing in the way of his and Ed's happiness, when the whole season showed us otherwise. on the other other hand, izzy's comment about finally understanding that ed and stede are good for each other might be foreshadowing to him sacrificing himself so they can escape the english, as a callback to when he sold them out in season 1. suppose we'll find out in a few days...

[pierregaslays]

exactly a month without my mum and today we got the chance to say goodbye. the funny thing is, it was cloudy all morning but as soon as it was over and we all went outside the sun started shining and yeah, it was beautiful 🤍

[akkivee]

shakku knows about hitoya’s drive for retribution and kuukou knew about his beef with jakurai and i’m sitting here wishing i could see how those conversations happened lmao