#the terror ghost quartet au

[oughtnots]

have long wanted to create an incomprehensible page based on rose's monologue from "bad men", but for crozier speaking to jcr in the ghost quartet au... so here it is

[aerscribbles]

ohhh what's calamity!xianle quarter is about? how would it even work... some sort of role reversal? or more of a canon divergence?

Canon Divergence!

Xie Lian and Ghostfire!Fafa run into Mu Qing while Xie Lian is drunk and miserable.

Xie Lian: ima pathetic failure cant even steal rigt, im the scum of the eaaaaaaarth fimd a grave and bury meeeeeee-

Mu Qing, whose mother just died and who is desperately trying to find something to do that isn't examining his feelings: eat the rich, buddy.

A drunk martial god, an overly enthusiastic ghost fire and a cultivator who is having way too much fun with this sneak into a manor, steal everything that isn't nailed down and set fire to everything that is.

Coming back home:

Xie Lian, still drunk: hiiiiiii~

Mu Qing, dropping massive bags full of stolen goods on the floor: before you say anything the crown prince is fully within his rights to seize the assets of any noble that has committed high treason.

All of this eventually results in a close bond between the Xianle Quartet, which ends up with BWX targeting all of them, trying to split them apart but only driving them closer together. FX & MQ get killed but stick around.

Bai Wuxiang is defeated with the power of friendship! Mu Qing convinces the others that Heaven really isn't worth it.

The four of them settle down to build Ghost City, terrorize the Heavens with their existence and figure out polyamory. < My favorite parts of this AU.

[queenofhearts7378]

Love the secret quartet AU but I cant help but think of Marionette having her own secret crew who helps sometimes when Chat is away, and when I think of who they would be I come up short on Female protagonists who could fit in the AU

I got you:

Juniper Lee

From The Life and Times of Juniper Lee

Okay gonna be honest I've never actually watched the show, but I've heard good things about it

From the wiki it says she's magical powers is tasked with keeping the balance between good and bad magic and the magical world secret, as well as balancing her hero life and normal life. Which is very Am Drag and it's always fun combining magical worlds and kwamis cause that's when you get to play with headcanons

Okay points off cause she's 11, but it's not much of a stretch to age her up a few years. I've always seen the miraculous cast as very young 14 and 15 year olds.

Kim Possible

From Kim Possible (duh)

!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!

Look me in the eyes and tell me these girls wouldn't get along I dare you

Someone needs to help Marinette with....everything at this point basically. Boy problems?? Kim has been there done that. Hero/school problems???? She has an organized binder that would totes sort things out. Mean girls who enjoy tormenting you??? So not the drama.

Points off cause she's the only one who doesn't actually have a secret identity, so kind of defeats the secret part huh

Okay this one is a little out there, with a bonus of being a three for one special: Sam, Clover, and Alex

From Totally Spies

I know that seems kind of out of left field but....it works?????

The could all be fashion buddies. These girls, while not designers, are all about fashion

Alex might actually die when presented with the kwamis, but she would be an absolute amazing kwami wrangler

The moves they could teach Mari????? Added with everything Kim could teach her and Ladybug is suddenly a terrifying fighter ohemgee

Also, while I initially decided not to use them, also consider: Jenny from My Life as a Teenage Robot, Danielle (Danny's clone) from Danny Phantom (Which would be fun if you wanted a ghost character. She traveled the world in canon so its not a stretch for how they could meet), Star Butterfly from Star vs. FOE, Luz Noceda from The Owl House (absolutely nothing but me wanting to release that absolute terror of hyperactive sunshine upon the miraculous class and watching the fireworks), Claire from Trollhunters.

[bunnyinatree]

I’m going to suggest a crossover that is so unhinged...

Death Note combined with Ghost Quartet... Light as Rose Red, associated with anger and revenge quests that just end up hurting herself (and the color red, obviously). L as Pearl White, associated with sacrifice, resignation, and forgiveness (and the colors white and blue)...

Intersecting AUs for the Death Note characters, in different time periods and regions, where the only constant is Light killing L... The gradual realization that L is letting it all happen because he is tired and too full of love for Light to fight back... The blurring of identity so the characters eventually realize that they are all the same as one another, but by that point, it’s too late to stop the cycle of death and violence...

Light playing on other people’s emotions to get what he wants (like that line in “The Camera Shop”: “Rose stole the honey from a soldier (she pretended to love), stole the stardust from an ancient (she pretended to care)”)... All the god imagery of Starchild but applied to Light (“When I was a baby I was blessed by a stranger in waters I didn’t understand / And now I’m infected with disbelief and blasphemy / I’ll never have a holy land / I am a ghost / In the eyes of my god / But I will transcend / And vomit this loser out of me / I will become the next big thing / I will light myself on fire”)...

L as Scheherazade weaving stories to prolong his inevitable death and being cursed with the knowledge of how he has died in the past and will continue to die in the future... L as Gelsey in “Four Friends,” barefoot in the rain (“There’s a forest burning somewhere / And the moon is red as blood / Then I look in your eyes and the faeries come and I’m squishing my toes in the mud / I’m dancing on the stones of the oracle / I’m kissing in a waterfall / I’m under your spell in a wishing well / I’m lost and I don’t care at all”)...

A “Fall of the House of Usher” AU where L is Lady Usher keeping Light’s dead body in the vault under his bedroom (like how he monitors Light as Kira when nobody else believes him, and also did you know that in Ghost Quartet Lady Usher’s daughter is dead but in the original short story, it’s her husband’s twin?? 😳 I just thought that was interesting) but a bloodstained Light continues to haunt him relentlessly until L’s heart finally gives out during an intense thunderstorm...

The modern timeline where Light stands by and watches a version of L get killed by a subway car then flees the scene in terror of himself only to stumble upon an alternate version of L in a camera shop who tells him the story of the first time Light killed L until all of Light’s memories start flooding back to him...

Light as Rose Red in the original timeline going to the Bear (probably a Shinigami in this retelling) and asking them to kill L only to be told, “I am not a murderer... You’ll just have to do it yourself,” and L gets to float down a river Ophelia-style...

That quiet scene where L asks Light to dance with him and asks if he’s starting to remember their history, but Light quickly denies everything, because he probably does remember and doesn’t want to own up to it (or maybe he just isn’t used to telling the truth so easily)...

The glimpses of timelines where Light and L are actually happy with one another, and it’s painful to watch because we get the stories out of order and know that it’s not going to end well for them... The reminder that Light at times is genuinely innocent and doesn’t know what he has done or will do (like Roxie in “Lights Out”), but L is always somewhat aware of the danger and lets himself get close to Light anyway...

The way it all loops back to the beginning, and though we’ve seen Rose learn from her actions, everything she’s done to Pearl is already in the past and unalterable...

[arcqna-hoe]

the arcana: musical aus (i caved)

suprise suprise! not only am i into the arcana, but i’m also a musical theater geek as well, meaning i have a lot of aus floating around in my noggin. to remedy my full mind, i have typed them all down here and given a little explanation of what each one is and what the characters would be. 

i have also linked either the soundtrack or a video of one of my favorite numbers from each show, so if you haven’t heard of one (or all of them) and are curious, it’s easy to find :) hope you enjoy!

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

(I actually have a whole written out explanation for this one! You can find it here , including who I would cast as who.)

This one is based off a small sliver of War and Peace. 

“A young noble (whom we shall deem the apprentice), with their fiance Asra away at war, falls in love with a dashing young man named Lucio and attempts to elope with him. After this plan is foiled by their cousin Portia, they seek refuge in Asra’s best friend, the rich but self-deprecating Count Julian Devorak, who has secretly loved them since they were both young.”

Reasons for this to be a thing: Drunk depressed and Russian Julian, dramatic Lucio, heartwrenching Asra moments, and a crazy rock pop opera soundtrack to go with it.

You can see a mash-up of this musical’s numbers here! 

Ghost Quartet

This one is the hardest musical to follow of all time. With a non-linear structure, vast literary references, and over 20+ characters all played by only 4 people, it’s a doozy. 

Cast: Julian as Rose (and all her subsequent roles)

Asra as Pearl (and all her subsequent roles)

The Apprentice as the Astronomer (and all his subsequent roles)

Muriel as the Bear (and all his subsequent roles)

“Two brothers, living by the sea. One, the younger, Julian, is in love with an Astronomer (the Apprentice) and tells them what he sees in the stars. The Astronomer then steals Julian’s work and falls in love with Asra, Julian’s older brother. Furious and bitter, Julian enlists the help of a magical bear (Muriel) in the woods to kill both Asra and the Astronomer. The bear agrees, but only if Julian will travel through lifetimes and collect a pot of honey, one piece of stardust, a secret baptism, and the photo of the ghost.”

All four characters then repeatedly reincarnate as Julian progresses through 7 centuries and 10s of lives to get the items. They are reincarnated as people from 1001 Arabian Nights, Poe stories, etc....In the end, the bear refuses to kill the lovers, and all four, as ghosts, meet in a meta plane and work out their differences.

Reasons for this to be a thing: Casual murder, time hopping, jealous Julian, no one is morally correct, and a bopping folk soundtrack.

If you decide to listen to this, PLEASE read THIS explanation first, then listen to the soundtrack (including the scenes in between) here.

Hadestown

This one is based on the intertwining mythological tales of Hades and Persephone, the Fates, and most importantly, Orpheus and Eurydice, and is set in a Great Depression mining town.

Cast: Lucio as Hades

Nadia as Persephone

The Apprentice as Eurydice

Asra as Orpheus

Muriel or Julian as Apollo

Nadia’s Sisters as The Fates

“The Apprentice and Asra are madly in love but extremely poor. Asra, foolish, thinks his music will be able to provide for both of them. The Apprentice, who is also foolish, strikes a deal with the King of the Underworld, Lucio, to work in his underground industrial city, Hadestown, just so they won’t starve. After realizing the Apprentice sold their soul to eat, Asra ventures down into the earth to rescue them.

Reasons for this to be a thing: Musician Asra, sassy Nadia, deep-voiced Lucio, and great mythological references.

Listen to this here.

Phantom of the Opera

This has def been done before but here’s my take on it!

Cast: The Apprentice as Christine

Julian as the Phantom

Asra as Raoul

Lucio as Carlotta

Portia as Meg

“A young ballet dancer (the Apprentice) at Paris’s most famous opera house finds themselves thrust into the singing spotlight after Lucio, the star of the show, quits after being seemingly targetted by an unknown Phantom. This Phantom (Julian) makes himself known the Apprentice as the voice that has been teaching them to sing all those years after their father’s death. However, despite his musical genius, he is forced to live beneath the opera house, ridiculed by his deformed appearance. At the same time, the ballet dancer’s childhood friend Asra runs into them again after recognizing them at the opera and then begin to fall for each other. The Phantom, now jealous, starts his reign of terror on the opera house in a desperate attempt to win the ballet dancer’s heart.

Reasons for this to be a thing: An entire Masquerade number, dramatic Julian in a gondola, protective and hot Asra, and the Apprentice just being a badass.

You can listen to a rendition of the musical’s most famous number here!

BONUS ROUND:  Little Shop of Horrors!

This is just a very, very, very silly idea for a musical idea. You’ll see why soon.

Cast: Muriel as Seymour

The Apprentice as Audrey (the human one)

Asra as Mr. Mushnik

Lucio as Audrey 2 (the plant one!)

Julian as Orin “The Dentist” Scrivello 

Nadia, Portia, and ??? as the Urchins, Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon

“Muriel, an orphan, is taken in by Mr. Alnazar, a flower shop owner. The Apprentice also works at the shop too, and Muriel falls for them. However, the Apprentice in a relationship with Julian Devorak, a sadistic, evil Dentist. After being sold a strange plant off the street and feeding it blood, Muriel becomes the proud (?) owner of a bloodthirsty talking and singing plant, Lucio. After seeing Dr. Devorak overdose on laughing gas, Lucio convinces Muriel to feed Julian’s body to him in exchange for fame. Muriel becomes famous off of his giant plant and the Apprentice, free of their nasty relationship, falls for him too. That is, until, Lucio starts becoming more and more bloodthirsty and starts taking over the world....”

Reasons for this to be a thing: Lucio playing a giant sassy singing plant (and puppeteering it!), nerdy Muriel, evil Dentist Julian, and so so so much dark humor.

Watch a bit of this here!

[doorsclosingslowly]

Your death is a number but I cannot count that high (6/?)

In which Asajj is subjected to yet another unpleasant conversation.

Zombie Savage AU | 2.1k | canon divergent after Son of Dathomir | also on AO3

Death Watch must be utterly indifferent by now to their leader’s antics, or resigned to them a least. Maul’s breakdown is effortlessly ignored. Everybody must have overheard the conversation. They must have witnessed their apparent commander choke a visitor and then huddle on the floor, mindless and gibbering and terrified of a Sith Lord who isn’t here, but it looks like the Mandos are adept at pretending they haven’t, and the helmets definitely help. There are no accident gawkers, or at least none to be noticed. Instead, quickly, the busy pace inside the cargo hold picks up again.

The Mandos return to their tasks, ignoring Asajj’s presence and occasionally veering off their straight paths to keep a wide circle around Maul clear and empty. At least most of them do: there’s a protective honor guard next to him, still.

The purple-armored soldier is one of them, of course. The other—as short as Maul, but easily twice as wide—wears beskar painted yellow and adorned with spikes.

“Update all rescue teams. Comm Gar. You heard Lord Maul: our brother is not dead. He is in the hands of the enemy. Command meeting, sixteen hours sharp,” the purple Mando shouts, and immediately, the hold empties.

Then, the helmet’s visor turns in Asajj’s direction, and back to Maul. Squatting down next to him, though far enough that his arms can’t reach—that won’t help at all when he loses it again, Asajj thinks—the purple Mando says something in a language Asajj doesn’t understand, and Maul replies in kind, incredibly slowly, stumbling over a syllable or two and with a pronunciation completely unlike the practiced tones of his counterpart, but obviously determined. Asajj’s name comes up, once or twice.

Maul never before seemed the type to openly, intentionally display his shortcomings, not to enemies and especially not to his allies. The breakdown was unavoidable, perhaps—Asajj would rage at the deaths of her family too, if she had a little less self-control—but he’s regained use of his faculties now. This is a deliberate choice.

Only one reason why he’d be speaking, or trying to speak, Mando’a now: this is something they don’t want me to know. It puts up Asajj’s hackles, a kind of vulnerability in ignorance that might well be another motivation, if, after meeting him today, she still was to credit him with the intelligence needed to play these kinds of mind-games. Maybe this is a shade of what he used to be like. It’s easy to forget, seeing him, but he was raised a Sith. He is like her; not like Savage Opress plucked from the fields and magicked, but trained, like Asajj herself and like her former Master Darth Tyranus. She should not keep underestimating this nightbrother.

Regardless: they’ve reached a truce. An alliance, if not in so many words. Maul hasn’t even questioned her properly yet, but at least he knows he knows nothing. He cannot get what he wants without her aid. Whatever these machinations… for the moment, she is as safe as anyone could be, in his company.

Maul heaves himself up onto his knees. His feet, just as unsteadily. He doesn’t favor her with another glance when he leaves, and then Asajj is alone with his guard.

“Follow me, Asajj Ventress,” the purple Mando says. “To your room.”

“You have me at a disadvantage. Your name?”

A beat. Then, the soldier removes her helmet and joggles her chin-length dark hair, not completely unlike a wet finkwolf. “Rook Kast. This is Jagrub.” Pointing over her shoulder with her thumb, Rook Kast, life-long fanatic criminal and the Face of the Terror of Mandalore according to at least five people Asajj has met, indicates the massive gamorrean sow behind her. Jagrub’s also taken off her spiked helmet.

“You brought your bodyguard?” Asajj smirks, which then occurs to her was a tad unwise, perhaps, even if it makes her feel better, but: truce. Maul needs her. A guard detail is as befitting the woman’s obvious status anyway, really. Terror of Mandalore indeed, and in the short time since her arrival, Asajj has seen Kast’s closeness to Maul. Second in command, maybe, or even more. Caretaker. The power behind the throne. It’s not like a feral nightbrother has much experience in leading an army.

Still. A bodyguard. It would be flattering, if it wasn’t so insulting. Another forceblind won’t make even the ghost of a difference to her chances of survival, should Asajj choose to leave.

Kast’s face is effortlessly still. “She’s not here to protect me.”

Whatever.

Politeness is a scarce resource on Mandalore, evidently: Kast and Jagrub take off without another word, straight through a crowd of Mandos that respectfully divides at their approach, expecting Asajj to follow them. It’s left to the guest to attempt small talk. “I wouldn’t have expected anyone to order you to show a visitor around, Rook Kast.” Forward, again, but it’s not like she even attempts to hide her authority, and Asajj is curious. “It’s usually less of a general’s duty. I’m sure you have a busy schedule.”

“I volunteered,” Kast says, and then she smiles at Asajj so widely the light glints off her teeth. It does not reach her eyes.

It shuts off conversation until they reach Asajj’s designated quarters, visually indistinguishable from any of the other rooms she’s glanced at through oddly luxurious stained-glass windows or open doors. A quartet of bunk-beds, and a table. Asajj inspects the door-handle—there is a code-lock, too, but neither of her companions offer to set it and Asajj doesn’t ask—and then she strides in. Kast and Jagrub follow. The door slides shut.

“What did you want to talk to me about in private?” Asajj asks eventually, after a few seconds, when she has tired of being stared at. No response. Apparently, Maul’s found the one cache of people in the galaxy who share his awful habits.

Time for a gambit. Testing the fault line. The limits of Maul’s authority. Surreptitiously, Asajj touches her ‘sabers. It’s not like there is any real risk here—Asajj might piss off Kast, but general or not, the woman’s still only a forceblind soldier. If Asajj is wrong about Kast’s purposes, then this conversation will definitely find its way to Maul’s ears, but even that is only a minor concern. Maul hates her, anyway. He’s tried to wring her neck for long enough to prove it. He won’t breach their truce, though, not if he wants to see his brother again. The brother who is in Sidious’ hands now, apparently. He’ll need all the help he can get, and he’ll prioritize Savage’s recovery. Here goes nothing.

“Something you don’t want Maul to hear, perhaps?”

“Of a sort.”

“It is fairly obvious that he’s not particularly stable—”

“I am curious,” Kast interrupts. “I am Mandalorian, Asajj Ventress. My old enemies, too, are Mandalorian, and they possess honor. I have never before met someone who so utterly devalues family.”

Asajj snarls. She doesn’t care what this this smug soldier thinks of her, this Death Watch terrorist fighting for the restoration of barbaric total and constant war—many of Asajj’s sources in the attempt to track Opress were recent refugees from Sundari’s old regime—and moreover: Kast allied herself with Maul. With the man who drew Mother Talzin into his conflict with Sidious. With the man that got her killed. The man who destroyed the entirety of her clan and the only people Asajj hadn’t yet lost. The man who took her Sisters.

And now she dares lecture Asajj about family?

“Fuck off. You know nothing about me. You know nothing of what I have lost.”

“Interesting.” Kast’s face blanks, and then, obviously deliberately, she grins. By the second, it’s more obvious why she didn’t hesitate for a second to take off her helmet: with her studied off-kilter body language, it’s like she’s wearing another mask below. “True, perhaps. I don’t particularly care either way.”

“Then what—”

“However—I do know of you, Asajj Ventress. As soon as I heard your name, I remembered you.” Kast shrugs, settling her shoulders, and then without warning she changes tack: “Has anybody ever… begged you to kill them?”

Asajj shifts, moving her back surreptitiously closer to the wall and her arms akimbo: her hands, once more, above her lightsabers. She won’t be caught unawares again. For all the tone of that question is closer to idle conversation than Kast’s previous terse statements, for all her face is still wearing a smile, for all the turn in conversation that’s brought them here is opaque, since anyone this readily turning a simple objection into a standoff should not survive to become a general… this is a death threat.

The bodyguard takes in Asajj’s readiness for battle, even if Kast doesn’t. Takes in their meagre chances of survival against a trained force user, too. She puts a placatory hand on her superior’s shoulder.

Kast doesn’t shrug it off. She leans into the touch eagerly, fingering Jagrub’s massive shoulder-spikes with a trembling hand and intense concentration, and then she adds, “It’s an interesting experience. Not particularly pleasant. I have killed scores of enemies, and yet… I would not even have made the Duchess or her pacifists beg, I think. Now that I know, anyway. Didn’t really know what I was getting into. I don’t know what I expected, when I decided to find out what kind of person my new Mand’alor was after we retook Sundari.”

“Maul wouldn’t beg for death.” He’s miserable, and Asajj has watched him howl vengeance at Kenobi deep in the throes of madness, but he wouldn’t ask to die. That’s not like him. She doesn’t know him that well—and does not particularly want to learn more—but this, she knows.

“Lord Maul wouldn’t,” Kast readily agrees. “But then he’s the last person I’d pick for plying with alcohol until he’s too drunk to stay tight-lipped, too. A lost cause from the start. No chance of getting anything out of the poor paranoid bastard. He doesn’t even drink. He says he likes water.”

The worms inside Asajj’s ribcage writhe again. She kind of knows where this is going.

“Fortunately, he had a brother. As you know. Has, and we’ll find him. Much more approachable, and so I invited him along to our victory party. Well, Gar and Kaat did. He was terrified of me. Very flattering, until I figured out why anyway. Nothing like the rest of you arrogant force-users, so I was already predisposed to liking him, and when he asked us for a favor, I foolishly said yes.”

So: Savage Opress wants to die. That’s not even news. He’s been shouting it in her mind for weeks now, and if the sleepwalking cuts on her arm are anything to go by, he’s got in a respectable try already.

His conversation with Kast must have been weeks before he was abducted by Sidious, though. It must be about more than the torture, then.

It…

“I’d have said yes anyway, even with hindsight. He was easy to pity. He wouldn’t stop crying after a few beers, when he told me—you already know what he told me, Asajj Ventress. You forced him, after all.”

“I—” Asajj starts, but whatever she might have replied is simply steamrollered. This is not a conversation, after all. This is a death threat.

“He gave me options. Weaknesses in his fighting style he’d noticed or learned from Maul. General weaknesses of force-users, too. He gave me a long list of body parts to blast and tried to give me his lightsaber, too, so I would have an easy time of killing him, if—when, he said, when he was used again to hurt his little brother.”

Jagrub runs a claw through Kast’s hair in a slow swirl, messily sticking it up, and she calms again.

“I know what you did, Nightsister. I promised Savage I would protect Maul, and I will. I gave my word. Mandalore gave hers, too, when she embraced her new-found sons, and we keep our promises. You said you’d let Feral live and you betrayed him, but when you break your next oath—” Kast cocks her fingers as a blaster and aims. Fires. She blows smoke off it— “when you touch him again or anyone at all, I swear on my home: one single twitch, and it will be my pleasure to deal the consequences.”

“We all look forward to the dissolution of this alliance,” Jagrub rumbles. “For now, you are useful. Do not attempt to escape.”

They leave the door open.

[oughtnots]

ghost quartet au is still alive in my heart btw

[oughtnots]

(the bear named his price)

hello i’m going down the rabbithole of a truly incomprehensible terror/ghost quartet au so if that niche content appeals to you then Watch This Space! if not i hope the visuals will at least be interesting and i’ll still be posting more normal terror art too

[oughtnots]

henry collins, a billion light-years away

[oughtnots]

this is a circular story

[oughtnots]

for day 5 of lobsterfest, and also fulfilling the “alternate universe” prompt, i’m delving back into my terror ghost quartet au!

thank you @fightthesun for suggesting tozer as the soldier, i think it fits really well!

[oughtnots]

i’ve got ghost quartet lyrics on the mind

[oughtnots]

and the bear said, “I AM NOT A MURDERER / OR A CRAZY PERSON / YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF!”

(for my ghost quartet au)

[oughtnots]

“and the photographer doesn’t help”

goodsir for @medmalmarch! this is theoretically for my ghost quartet au but it stands perfectly well as canon too haha. the only thing that changes is what he’s looking at

[oughtnots]

hickey as rose and tozer as the soldier is something i just can’t stop thinking about

[oughtnots]

i am truly begging for more info on terror/ghost quartet 👀👀

ah thank you for asking!! i'm still piecing it together a bit since there aren't necessarily direct counterparts but some thoughts:

ghost quartet is about cycles of violence. since the pushing of pearl (onto the train tracks. into the river to drown) is so important, i was immediately put in mind of franklin being pushed down the ice hole. but for that we need a rose red equivalent and a thematic motivation. i know it's not sisterhood/brotherhood, but the two captains of the expedition, at odds...?

basically in this au crozier (a crozier in a worse mental state/at the end of his rope) takes the place of rose red and snaps when franklin refuses to send out the rescue expedition. he goes to tuunbaq (who is a more known entity, with silna as its shaman) to ask it to kill franklin, thus starting the "one pot of honey / one piece of stardust / one secret baptism / and a photo of a ghost" circular narrative/quest. but as you know, in the end the bear does not uphold its end of the bargain, and crozier has to take matters into his own hands...

i'm not adhering strictly to all of the cycles of rose being crozier because it doesn't really fit with the terror perfectly and also i want to get more than four characters in here haha. but that's my central idea for now

other miscellaneous thoughts:

- collins as starchild. secret baptism / never have a holy land. struggling to transcend a place of displacement and fear. definitely have some art planned about this.

- goodsir as photographer. there when franklin is pushed. photos of a ghost repeating--daguerreotypes of the murdered. "the photographer has a drink", goodsir drinking the poison.

- fitzjames as astronomer. crozier wants fitzjames's approval/camaraderie but fitzjames sides with franklin to look down on him instead (and yes i could pepper some fitzier in here if i so desired). also the astronomer's song is all about wanting to be a thing of beauty, wanting to do something great and incredible, but "i don't have the time/i don't practice enough" and that insecurity reads very fitzjames to me.

- i really really want to explore silna as tuunbaq's shaman (this is not so much a ghost quartet specific thing but relates to her role here). thinking of how in the book tuunbaq basically breathes through her/uses her as an instrument (yeah i know that scene is actually gross but i'm cutting out all that d*n s*mmons stuff). silna who has cut her tongue out to take her father's place but when tuunbaq wishes to speak through her, it still can. silna/tuunbaq both taking the place of "the bear", together.

- potentially separating the character of the pusher from the man on the platform. plotwise i've set crozier up to be the pusher but "screaming about the apocalypse/screaming that the day of revelation is at hand/reveal it to me right now!" feels like hickey to me. (then again, crozier IS the one ringing alarm bells about the expedition, which is a bit like screaming about the apocalypse.)

- i want to do something with the dead room / house of usher / "we are living in the tomb"

anyway this is all vague and not particularly coherent as of now but i have a lot of thoughts and i'm very excited to do more art about it! i already have some stuff that i haven't posted yet hee hee