#underworld ff

[killjoystrashcan]

Some more drawings I made for a fanfic I'm writing (Mafia/modern/human au) a lot of these characters don't have their injuries yet.

[cosette141]

I'd love to hear more about 3b - Killian and Henry and Emma and Liam Underworld!

Thanks for the ask! <3

Haha, I see you saw my post about the 3b Killian and Henry, so I'll just do the Emma/Liam Underwood one!

This is a canon divergence for 5b where Emma goes to the Underworld to save Killian, but she decides to go alone. She ends up meeting Liam, and in the story they will work together to save Killian. :) I really hated how Liam was such a ego maniac and hated Emma, and I also didn't really like how Emma was characterized in that arc, either. So for this story I want them to develop a friendship in their mutual goal of saving Killian :)

I don't have much for it, so I'll just give you all of what I have, haha!

Sneak Peek:

The Underworld was different than Emma expected.

For one, it wasn’t the pits of fire or screams or horror.

It was…

…Storybrooke.

But though it, at first, looked familiar, if not covered in the shade of some red hue she tried her best not to associate with the color of blood, she definitely wasn’t in Storybrooke anymore.

There was an entirely new population of people here, a group that reminded her of Storybrooke before the Curse was broken.

The mood here was numb, sullen, and, for lack of a better word…

…Dead.

But at the sight of her, that changed.

The moment she was sighted, that numbness was traded for anger, sending people chasing after her.

She hadn’t even had a moment to collect herself after showing up here, or to start looking for Killian.

She’s been running for her life, literally, and finally a type of dusk settled in the red-hued light, and Emma was huddled under a bridge she didn’t remember Storybrooke having, her arms curled around her knees tight, her head buried in her arms, tear tracks streaming down her cheeks because she was scared, she was alone, and she couldn’t help feeling that she deserved it.

Even if this felt like the punishment she went through her entire childhood.

Emma took a shuddering breath, her limbs heavy and tired from running, her breath a white cloud in the chill of the night–and wasn’t Hell supposed to be hot?—and she shivered.

But more than anything, there was pain, there was the image of Killian falling at her sword, at her hand, and she was crying all over again.

But she was alone here, having decided to come here by herself, because if she told her family, there was no way they wouldn’t come with her, and she couldn’t let anyone else she loved get hurt—or worse—due to her mistakes.

She was going to fix this if it was the last thing she did.

However, her motivation to save Killian was just as equal to the one of returning home to Henry, whom she left a note for before she allowed Gold to send her here, promising her son that she would return home to him, that she wouldn’t abandon him the way she was abandoned.

The sound of rippling water behind her suddenly caressed her ears, calming her.

It was no wonder that her feet had taken her to the docks in the moment of fear.

Emma lifted her red eyes to the dark water, where the gentle current shifted it, and she heard Killian’s past words, “Watch the waves, love. They quiet the mind.” 

However, the echo of his voice didn’t come with the feel of his hand in hers, of his scent around her, and she felt the urge to cry again.

A kicked crate made Emma flinch, jumping to her feet with ten-year-old instincts, and she saw an unfamiliar man, some sort of fisherman, angrily stalking toward her with a rusted pipe wieled like a weapon.

Emma stumbled back, reaching for her magic, but it wouldn’t come.

She tried harder, but it felt weak. Nothing more than a spark reached her fingers.

She stumbled back more, her heart in her throat.

But before she had to resort to her fists, a fist flew out of nowhere, hitting the fisherman in the temple, knocking him flat to the ground.

Emma stared in shock.

A man stepped out from the shadows, shaking out his hand, then looked at her.

Something about the man looked familiar, but Emma was too afraid to try to place those cheekbones and that chin.

“Please,” she whispered, her back hitting the underside of the bridge.

“You’re alive.” was all the man said, as if matter-of-factly.

Emma didn’t say anything.

His surprise, however much there was, faded. He gestured to the fisherman. “That’s why they’re after you, you know.”

Emma’s brows kneaded. “What?”

“Our only chance at life again is taking it from someone living,” explained the man, his accent also so familiar Emma’s brows kneaded more.

Emma’s brows raised with understanding—the lifeless expressions of the people changing into what she had thought was anger, but was really desperate hope. 

But then she froze.

She took a step back from the man, trying to will her magic to come.

But he seemed to understand her fear. “Relax, lass,” he said, with a little chuckle and why was even that familiar? “I’ve no reason to gain back my life.”

Emma stopped. “Why not?”

He shrugged, a lot passing through eyes that translated none of it. “Everything that made my life worth living died long ago.”

Emma’s shoulders fell a little. “I knew—” She caught herself, even when the hitch in her chest made her eyes burn. “I know,” she adjusted, “someone who used to think the same thing. But I, um, helped to prove him wrong.” 

A quirk in the man’s expression, that again, looked startlingly familiar. “Are you trying to convince me to take your life?”

Emma couldn’t help a cracked, awkward smile. 

“How did you get exiled here?” asked the man. “Someone must really want to punish you if they trapped you here instead of doing the merciful thing of simply killing you.”

Emma bit her lip. “Actually… no one sent me here,” she admitted. “I… came here myself.”

It was his turn to be surprised. “Is that right?”

“I…” Emma took a breath. “I made a mistake, and someone paid the price. I’m here to find him and… bring him back home.”

[insufficient-earth-skills]

I know it's fun to reinterpret old stories to our modern standards but the Persephone story has a profound meaning about motherhood too, and dismissing that dismisses literal thousends of years of religious and spiritual practice. I'm only periferally aware, but the Eleusinian mysteries were a holy celebration around the journey into the underworld in which, as part of a coming of age ritual, teenage girls (and women?) went into caves to perform rites. To this day we don't know what they did or what exactly they celebrated. But in a world where life and deatj were very closely linked, mothers would be the ones driving those rituals because they are the ones who would accutely experience both very closely, sometimes at the same time (miscarriage, stillbirth, childhood mortality, but also dying from risks during labour). Having her daughter taken away from her by the underworld (= Hades), Demeter provides both a recognition that women who go through loss aren't alone, and a confirmation that it's natural to be devastated by the death of a child. In that sense, a proto-feminist reading could say that the real badass of the story is Demeter, since she and jer emotions, her grief, gets the attention that the rising patriarchy (the development of the 'sanitized' Persephone myth is linked by scholars to a shift from a more women-friendly pre-Hellenistic period to the patriarchal Greek society) is denying her. The effect of her grief was that she missed her daughter so much, that she made the land go barren. So a mother's grief was responsible for the changing of the seasons. Think about the importance of that to an agricultural society!

The 'descent into the underworld' is a very old theme, older than the Persephone myth, and functions as a guide for all genders to come to terms with, to sublimate, their own experiences with death or the darkness (mental health struggles or abuse, for example, but also the sheer danger of being alive). But scholars have interpreted this type of stories also as a metaphor for the institution of marriage. Every intimate relationship will confront you with yourself. Men and women had different social roles then, and the descent into the underworld is interpreted as a categorically feminine thing, as a catalyst to come to terms with the feminine and masculine sides of yourself, and ro accept the social role you have in society by virtue of your gender.

You can do reinterpretations and retellings all you want, but I think it's important to keep in mind that stories do not all have to be prescriptive. There is something about seeing an old tale and realizing its descriptive value, that it was just a way for people to metaphorically put words to their frustrations with gender roles but ultimately did not change.

There is a reason though, why fairy tale and mythology scholars (or the ones I like to read anyway) rather talk about 'traditional' tales' than 'original tales'. It's this: we don't know when or how these stories originated and evolved over time. And we don't know what they meant to the people telling them and the people hearing them. But we can speculate, historicize ánd reinterpret. That's why they mean a lot to people.

I just love the myth of Persephone, i mean the real, original version of it, because it’s not like she got kidnapped, no, this bitch was la-de-da-ing in a meadow and she just happened to find an entrance to the Underworld and she was like “Imma check this out”. And she just wanders into the Underworld and discovers that hey this place ain’t too bad.

Meanwhile Hades is in the background “????? UM??? PRETTY GIRL??? WHY ARE YOU HERE?????? YOU AREN’T DEAD???” 

And Persephone (who was originally called Kore just a little fyi) just looked at him and said “I like it here. I’m staying.”

And Hades kinda just went with it, until Demeter started throwing the temper tantrum of the millenium upstairs and Zeus had to intervene because this shit was getting out of hand and its actually his job to be admistrator of justice. Which considering the shit he gets up to is kinda histerical but that’s another story there. 

And basically Persephone wasn’t a prisoner or kidnap victim at all she just really loved the Underworld and her (eventual) husband, and the Greeks feared her arguably more than her husband because Hades could be reasoned with but Persephone was the one laying the smack down on sinners, and really, who wouldn’t be at least a little scared of someone who’s name means something along the lines of “the destroyer”

Basically, Persephone is amazing and everbody needs to get on her level

[lukecastellanshandholder]

I think that the one thing that I will always absolutely loathe the movies for (other than single handedly screwing up the whole plot of the story) is for making up that bullshit rule about Zeus declaring that no god can have any kind of contact with their children. That’s completely not true but now a huge chunk of people in the fandom believe that rule as canon( because most like to pick and chose what is canon and what is not, and sell head canons as being canon to the books ).

The only rules that are stated in the books relating to demigods and their parents is that 1). Gods cannot blatantly and outwardly help their demigod children during a basic quest (such as help them fight monsters or help them travel somewhere for the quest). 2). That as of the time right after WW2 the big 3 gods are not to sire any demigod children as part of their oath that they made on the River Styx (which Zeus and Poseidon definitely didn’t break ). Gods are still able to spend time with their demigod children and mortal lovers on times out side of quests. However, it’s seen as taboo mainly because the other gods use them having to much to do, and too many demigod children as an excuse to just not do anything for them. Not send them a birthday card, not a visit, and not even being claimed in most cases.

That’s giving the gods too much slack! People like to say "well, they’re gods. They’re trying their best." No they’re not! And this is what Luke’s character blatantly points out!

Hermes not even bothering to visit every once and a while? Hermes not trying to help in even any little way with Luke and May's situation? It’s a main reason why Luke becomes so angry at the gods and even thinks about saying yes to Kronos’ proposal.

And who is the example of what could’ve happened if Hermes would’ve done literally anything? Anything at all? Percy.

Percy didn’t like the gods and Poseidon very much in the beginning ( he doesn’t really like them much now but, you know) but Poseidon at least helps Percy in little ways that can fly under the radar of Zeus and the others. The Pearls to help Percy escape from the underworld? Tyson? Poseidon even crashes Percy’s birthday party ffs! Sure Poseidon isn’t there every time Percy scrapes his knee or fights a monster, but he still shows Percy that he somewhat cares about him.

All Hermes does is tell others how much he cares for Luke and "really truly loves him", but does nothing to prove to Luke that he truly cares. But it’s not just Hermes who does this, almost all of the gods do this! Why? Because they know that they can just say "oh, well I was busy and I tried my best" and others will just believe them and carry on. Or worse, they’ll take what the gods say to heart and demonize anyone who would try to oppose the gods so that it’s seen as a bad thing to hold the Gods accountable for the way they act.

And this is a clear example of the overarching theme that the gods are actually just an oppressive establishment that won’t ever really change unless it’s destroyed or overthrown.

In this essay I will…

[aliciavance4228]

Bitches be like "Oh Hades always has to deal with his stupid youngest brother Zeus who cannot keep it in his pants."

First of all, Ancient Greeks didn't wear pants.

Secondly, Hades and Zeus are actually decent with each other. Hades isn't ashamed of asking him for help whenever he considers that there's the case, whereas Zeus trusts his eldest brother enough to give one of his daughters as his wife. There's also this whole discourse claiming that Zeus got the best and Hades got the worst, but if you actually give a second thought to it the Underworld actually has some of the greatest peaks: besides the fact that you're extremely rich all the mortals eventually become your subjects. Even poets stated that in numerous works:

Ovid, Fasti 4. 443 (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :

"[Zeus speaks :] ‘My rank is no greater [than Haides]. I hold court in the sky; another rules the sea [Poseidon], and one the void [Haides].’"

Or:

Seneca, Hercules Furens 53 (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :

"Dis [Haides] himself, who drew a lot equal to Jove's [Zeus's]."

But if you're so desperate to give Hades a brotherly rivalry then I'm here to tell you that there's no need to erase all of Zeus' qualities (leadership skills, wisdom, long-term planning, determination, cunning etc.) and over exaggerate all of his bad actions in order to portray him as an incompetent asshole Hades always has to deal with. You could simply give Hades and Poseidon this type of dynamic instead.

Poseidon is way more impulsive, temperamental and testy than Zeus. He doesn't hesitate to show his wrath, let aside make others suffer because of it. On top of that, he's the god of the sea and earthquakes, and he's also almost as powerful as Zeus. His attributes and realm could easily represent a threat to the Underworld if he lets his anger go too far.

Take this passage from the Iliad as a relevant example:

Homer, Iliad 20. 67 ff :

"Poseidon from deep under them shuddered all the illimitable earth, the sheer heads of the mountains. And all the feet of Ida with her many waters were shaken and all her crests, and the city of Troy, the ships of the Akhaians (Achaeans). Aïdoneus [Haides], lord of the dead below, was in terror and sprang from his throne and screamed aloud, for fear that above him he who circles the land, Poseidon, might break the earth open and the houses of the dead lie open to men and immortals, ghastly and mouldering, so the very gods shudder before them; such was the crash that sounded as the gods came driving together in wrath."

Dude was freaking out in this scene. During the entire Greek Mythology he's presented as stoic and rarely frightened, but when his brother was causing a strong earthquake he was shitting himself and sucking his thumb like a baby (metaphorically). For the first and last time we see a god being vulnerable and scared by other gods in a similar way a mortal who is about to lose all of his property and belongings would be. Poseidon is pretty much capable of drowning the entire Underworld or exposing it to the Aboveworld if he wants to, so who's actually the more problematic brother? The one who can maintain his calm and control and understands better how distructive power can be, or the one whose anger was on the edge of breaking the border between the realms of the living and the dead?

What if people would stop completely changing the original personalities of the Greek Gods and create more headcanons and fanfictions based on what's actually stated (or at least what is suggested/more plausible) in the myths?

[after-laughter-come-tears]

I present to thee, Sukuna Arranged Marriage Masterlist

Note: These are mostly from AO3, I would love for people to comment more fics that cab be added to this list😭💖

1. Curse of the Mind, Body, and Soul

2. The Shrine Master's Bride by @gutouhua

3. Is It Really Peace?

4. Damned to Love You

5. Beneath The Silk by @phyx-m

6. A one-shot by @furuu

7. Chosen by the King by @aaron-m-geist-ff

8. you're expecting sukuna's child, the underworld crime king by @zarameraki

9. Survival by @fxtalitygod

10. Experience Shapes Perception by @decagondice

*** Image is from Pinterest. Please tag the artist if you happen to know them!

[orshii]

Crashing Waves and Second Chances

☆ Summary: You’re enjoying a well-deserved vacation with your best friend after finishing college in Greece when you run into Wooyoung, your first love from high school. The unexpected encounter stirs up old feelings and unresolved issues from your past. As Wooyoung tries to explain and make sense of what happened between you, you’re faced with a choice: revisit the past and seek closure, or move forward and see if there’s a new possibility for your relationship. Will you let him explain and explore the chance for a fresh start?

☆ Pairing: Jung Wooyoung x female reader ☆ Genre: fluff, angst, idiots in love ☆ Word count: 6,8 k

☆A/N: Waa this is my first Wooyoung ff and I'm crying. Wooyoung recently is so insane like?? I just love him and he reminded me he also exists next to my two biases :'(( But I'm back in my Wooyoung era again, yess!! And as I want to be in Greece I wrote this story, because I'm going feral staying home. And of course, because it's Greece I needed to include some Greek God references too haha. It is worth reading it till the end cause I kinda died. :D Also sorry for the mistakes I am still learning. Soo enjoy this little drabble hihi!! Byee! (divider)

The slight waves of the turquoise sea crashed along the sandy beach, sparkling from the sun beaming at its highest point. The sound of the waves lured me into a daze as the world's nestled sounds slowly disappeared. The sun burnt my skin like I was in the underworld, the sun being Hades himself, looking at me with hungry, burning eyes. But then a slight chill ran through my body as the summer breeze crawled through my skin, trying to cool down the heat I was feeling. Suddenly I felt like I was in heaven as I walked on the beach, the waves of the cool sea crashing against my foot, the wind blowing through my hair, through my white dress, as the sun slowly went down, creating a breathtakingly beautiful landscape as the sky was full of orange and red colours, the sea copying its beauty, making it look like the sky was never-ending, just as the sea.

Then I heard screaming.

And that was the moment when I opened my eyes quickly as something cold wetted me and I immediately sat up from the sunbed just to realize I was, in fact, next to the sea, but the screaming came from a little kid that just ran next to me and he just needed to get rid of the water dripping from his hair next to me. The next thing I noticed was me being as red as a crab because I fell asleep under the sun. Great, now I'm going to sleep on my back for a weak and look like half-cooked meat. I squinted from the pain as I wanted to stand up to get into the water to cool down at least.

My best friend next to me looked at me through her sunglasses a book in her hands and completely under the umbrella's shadow. She smirked at me enjoying my suffering.

"Thank you for waking me up to not burn into ashes," I said to her ironically as I squinted my eyes at her.

"You looked like you had a good dream, I just couldn't wake you up." He said acting innocent.

"Whatever, I'm going to drown in the sea," I said joking to her as she giggled at that.

"Be careful, you might get dragged down by Poseidon himself." My best friend shouted after me as I was walking towards the shore.

"I wish, dude, I wish." I turned back for a quick moment to say it to her with a smirk.

Then as I hit the water, I felt relieved because the cool water chilled my hot body and mind a little. I quickly went deeper into the sea, diving underwater just to open my eyes and look around the crystal-clear water, where I saw a few little fishes swimming around –actually swimming away from me because they were scared little shits—well I would be too if a shark would swim towards me that is no question.

The water was sparkling around me from the sand that flew upwards from the bottom of the sea, and as the sun beamed through the water it sparkled and I just lived for it, because it was so mesmerizing, I honestly could live as a mermaid, I would volunteer—

I swam around a little, cooling down so I could feel like a human again, I turned on my back and just floated on the water like garbage, pretending I was dead. Meanwhile, I thought about how I was waiting for this moment, to get away from the full-year pressure I was under, with my best friend, as we planned to get away from home for a vacation after we just graduated, leaving the stress and the pressure behind trying to figure out what is going to happen next. We just wanted to enjoy our little time together here and close out the responsibilities that came with us being unemployed as we finished college.

We decided we were going to travel to Greece, which was both of our favorite places on earth, because we felt like this place connected us, and a little piece of our hearts just felt like it was made from the soil of this landscape. We just felt a connection towards it, that pulled us towards this place. And let's not talk about the tell stories of the Gods, each of them beaming a uniqueness that didn't exist on this Earth. And when we finally arrived, we couldn't stop smiling, every stress and uneasiness leaving our souls just to feel a little relieved.

As I walked back to our sunbeds, where my best friend, Bora was sitting, still holding a book in front of her, being lost in the imaginary world, I glanced through the beach and my eyes immediately got caught on people surfing on the big waves of the crystal water, the waves making a tunnel where the professional surfers went through. I immediately got excited, wanting to try it, as I arrived at my best friend with an excited smile.

"People are surfing, look!" I pointed towards the shore, where two surfing tutors were standing, helping people out to try this sport. "And those tutors might be our next catch, just saying." I winked at her, to catch his attention, as she looked towards them with now an interested look. Her face looked like she was thinking, calculating if it was a good decision or not.

"Please?" I interlaced my hands and looked at her with puppy eyes. I always wanted to try out surfing, and this was the perfect occasion. And not for the tutors that I wanted to check closer, not at all—

Bora sighed. "Okay, let's go, surfing seems fun. And the two men there look interesting from the back." She smirked at me as I nodded in agreement as we collected our stuff and wore our flowery beach dresses.

We approached the spot, where the surfing boards with different kinds of designs were stuck into the sand and when I spotted a well-defined back with a tattoo on the nape, that was too familiar to me, I immediately regretted my decision of wanting to learn surfing.

But it was too late because before I could signal somehow to my best friend to turn around, the black-haired one with the tattoo, who wore only black swimming shorts, turned around and his eyes immediately landed on me.

And I just wanted to shout for Poseidon to drag me deep into the sea and make me his slave, because that was better than being here standing in front of my first love that broke my heart, and he didn't even know about it.

Well, he was my high school crush and I was head over heels for him, and he gave me signs that were so questionable, he made my little heart believe he wanted something from me as well. But in the end, he got together with a blonde girl with perfect red lips and a perfect body. So, eventually, I needed to let it go and get over him somehow that felt impossible. I managed to forget him with time as I didn't see him for years. But seeing him now still made my heart beat crazy like we were back in high school. And I hated it.

As he saw us approach, he nudged the person next to him, who had black hair with some blonde stripes in it, and he turned as well just to his eyes start to sparkle with excitement his lips in awe, seeing us. His dimples slightly showed from the smile he beamed at us, wearing light blue swimming shorts, his well-defined body on the sight.

They were standing there, waiting for us to approach, looking at us with different expressions. Song Mingi with pure happiness and Jung Wooyoung with wide eyes.

Jung Wooyoung the black haired and Song Mingi with the oreo hair, we were all classmates along with my bestie, Bora. The four of us were kind of inseparable. But when I started to feel more than friends towards Wooyoung, things got complicated and when we finished high school, we never saw each other. That was why some uneasy feelings swam back to me, when Bora hugged Mingi in excitement, their friendship ending just because both their best friends were fools, it wasn't fair, but this was a best friend's job after all, to be there for your best friend.

Then I just put aside all my thoughts about the past and hugged Mingi with a generous smile, I really missed Mingi, because he was like my brother back in high school. We had been friends since the beginning of school and with time Wooyoung and Bora joined us, but before them, it was just me and Mingi, we could speak about everything and anything, making us inseparable. But after what happened between the four of us it suddenly disappeared, the friendship we built through the years lost like it never existed.

When I hugged Wooyoung it wasn't sincere, I still hated him, for treating me like he did in the past, and it made me want to run away as quickly as possible.

"What are you guys doing here?" Bora asked as she hugged Wooyoung as well.

"We got a summer job here," Mingi spoke up as I avoided Wooyoung's gaze on me, focusing on Mingi only. "We are teaching people surfing and we are on a vacation at the same time, isn't it perfect?" Mingi said with excitement, his eyes shining from how sincere he was with his emotions that were always so obvious if you knew him sincerely.

"I didn't know you were into surfing," I said a little frowning, as I looked at Mingi as Wooyoung's presence still annoyed me.

"Well, we tried it out with Wooyoung for fun, and here we are, aren't we Woo?" He nudged Wooyoung with a smile, who was quiet the whole time, which was very unlike him, he just never shut up back then, and it was weird seeing him staying in silence. When Mingi nudged him a little that was when he caught up on himself and smiled back at Mingi.

"It's a vacation and we even get paid, is it heaven?" Wooyoung said as he chuckled, then looking towards us, well at me, with sharp foxlike eyes that I hated at that moment, but loved back then. "And you girls? On vacation?" He asked staring into my soul as I unwantedly looked through his still-handsome features, the unforgettable mole under his left eye, his wet hair a few strings falling into his eyes, making his gaze more intense, his bare torso on the sight, a new tattoo on his ribs that was a writing in another language.

"Yeah, we graduated and we are celebrating," I said shortly, with a fake smile as I averted my gaze from his handsome face. I hated how he made me lose my mind by only looking at him, after years of not seeing him.

"That's so nice, sometimes I regret that we missed out on college, it could have been wild," Mingi said as he chuckled looking at Wooyoung for a slight moment, who chuckled in agreement, then Mingi looked towards us again. "So did you want to learn how to surf or you just wanted to say hello?" Mingi asked curiously.

"Y/N wanted to try it out," Bora said quickly side-glancing at me with a knowing smile. I am going to kill her, so she can stay in Greece for the rest of her 'not' life.

I looked at her, somehow not too obviously telling her with my eyes that—I did not want to anymore.

Mingi clasped his hands together, "Cool, then you found the perfect men to teach you and it's even free for you girls." Mingi winked at us with a proud smile.

I wanted to back up, but I just couldn't be childish like that, to run away because my high school crush was in front of me years after, I wasn't like that…but I sincerely hated him at that moment.

With that Mingi started to explain the tactics of surfing, and firstly they showed us how to stand on the board on the dry so we would have at least a little knowledge of how to do it on water.

Meanwhile, Mingi taught Bora, next to them Wooyoung and I were standing as he explained to me how to hold the paddle, that beginners needed to use at first. I avoided his eyes in every moment I could. It was awkward and I counted the time so we could say goodbye to them and avoid them for the rest of the trip. But the education lasted a while, because we tried it out on the shallow water as well, sitting on the boards at first with the paddle and the first mission was to stand up, which I was struggling with at first but after countless fallings into the water I finally managed to stand up on the board.

Eventually, I had fun, I really did, because I put aside all my concerning thoughts and how I hated the man in front of me, who just sincerely tried to help me and catch me whenever I fell off the board. My emotions were a mixture of letting go of the past to start over and a mixture of not letting myself fall into his trap again.

But when I fell off the board again—because I celebrated my standing successfully on the board too hard—arms circled my waist to pull me up underwater, just to meet with two sharp eyes gazing at me with a smile, I lost against my own rules. It was just impossible not to fall into his trap when his wet hair fell damp on his forehead, his dimples showing from the curve of his lips, his chocolate brown eyes staring down at me, which looked almost orange from the sun shining at us. I just wanted to get away from him, because my heart started to beat fast, and I didn't want these feelings to eat me alive, it destroyed me and I didn't want that again. And as he smiled at me his face close to mine, where waterdrops fell to his chest, the thoughts of his girlfriend came back to me and that made my heart ache as I just felt overwhelmed by the fact, I nearly fell into his trap again.

So, after separating from him, I swam back to the seashore saying 'That was enough for today.' And I knew I seemed weird in their eyes, I knew my best friend also looked at me with questions in her eyes, but I just wanted to get away from there so I could breathe again normally.

My plan of avoiding them for the rest of the trip, seemed to completely fail because we just bumped into Wooyoung and Mingi every day. And we started to hang out together like in the old times. It was weird at first but after a little, I relaxed a bit and I didn't let my feelings fuck up my well-deserved vacation. So, I started to be there with them, to laugh with them and just enjoy our time together.

One evening, Mingi told us we should celebrate our graduation with some drinks, which seemed the best idea because we hadn't really drunk for our success with Bora, so we agreed immediately.

"So, how's it with Wooyoung?" Bora side-glanced at me while putting lipstick on her thin lips that was a strong red color standing in front of the mirror in our hotel room.

I scoffed at her. "Nothing? You know I sincerely hate him." I started looking at him quite sharply.

She looked at me from the reflection of the mirror as I stood next to my bed, thinking what should I wear. "C'mon, Y/N, it was a long time ago, just enjoy yourself," Bora said, closing the lipstick she used.

"I know, it's just…" I sat down on my bed staring down at my hands. "He still owes me some explanation of what happened in London and with everything, like I'm so confused from day one, Bora, it's insane how I can't forget what happened." I rambled to Bora as she turned around to look at me with concerned eyes.

She came next to me and sat beside me to caress my back. "Yea, it was so fucked-up, that whole trip was a disaster, and you really deserve an explanation of why he did that." She smiled at me genuinely, "And I'm sure Wooyoung wants to talk to you, he wanted to since we met with them, you just avoided him the whole time."

"Yes, because I can't fucking look into his eyes, without my old emotions coming to the surface and I hate it…" I looked into Bora's concerned eyes.

"Well, I think you two should talk, because it looks more complicated than it is." She said as she smiled, her eyes forming crescents.

I scoffed at that. "Just help me pick out an outfit." I leaned down towards my luggage which was a mess just like myself.

"So you could look pretty for Wooyoung?" He nudged me with his elbow, smirking as I hit his upper arm in response.

"I want to look pretty, for myself and not for others."

"Great, you should absolutely wear this," She pulled out a little black dress with a v-line and some ruffles on the end. "It's cute and sexy at the same time." She winked at me.

I rolled my eyes at her and ripped my dress out of her grip annoyed just so I could wear it. When I looked into the mirror as I was wearing the black dress, a confident, cute, and sexy girl stared back at me as Bora said. The dress reached a little above my knees, the v-line leaving my neck empty, so I put on a silver necklace with matching earrings. I left my hair to fall onto my shoulders naturally, the shorter strings of my hair falling into my eyes. As Bora stood next to me to check herself out as well, she looked gorgeous, she was wearing a tight purple dress, highlighting her perfect body line, and her black hair was in a tight bun with some silver earrings and rings. We looked hot and we were ready to gradually celebrate our graduation.

We arrived at the bar next to the pool that was lightened up with a few colorful led, that matched with the lights of the bar that was surrounded with tables and bar stools. It was already close to midnight as we were searching for the boys. Then Bora spotted them and we walked towards them between strange people, who enjoyed the free drinks as well in the perfect night weather.

When I spotted Wooyoung, who was standing next to a table with Mingi, drink already in hand, I just couldn't take my eyes off him, as my heart started to beat fast. He looked so handsome in his black shirt, the last two buttons undone, his sharp collarbones on the sight, paired with black denim shorts, that reached above his knees, his tattoo peaking a little that I just noticed he had, then my eyes landed back to his face, where his hair was wiped back a few strings falling onto his eyes, making his sharp gaze, more intense. His silver earrings hung low from his ears with a few piercings that matched with his silver necklace. He eyed me up and down very obviously with his intense gaze. And I just prayed for Poseidon to kidnap me, because it was hard to keep up, above water.

Mingi was standing next to him, wearing a bright purple shirt with blue denim shorts and a lot of accessories like necklaces, earrings, and a lot of silver rings. And we just needed to laugh because we unintentionally matched with each other, this was our dynamic, and it wasn't the first time.

As we started to drink a few cocktails and some shots the party started, the colorful lights making us disappear into the crowd that surrounded us. I danced with my hands held high jumping to the beat of the music as I felt free after an overwhelming year. The four of us were standing in a circle as we made a few silly dance moves laughing at each other. My eyes met with Wooyoung's a few times, which was a very big mistake because I felt his gaze on me the whole night the tension between us heavier and it made me uncomfortable because all of this was unfair.

So, I decided I needed more drinks and went to the bar counter to ask for a lighter cocktail and sat on the barstool until it got ready, watching the bartender in awe as he made the cocktail with some tricks.

Then suddenly I felt a hand on my waist and a strange black-haired man's face came in front of me. He was wearing a white shirt, unbuttoned his well-defined chest and abs in sight, his shoulders broad and a silver necklace ending with a cross on his popped-up chest, as he was wearing sunglasses, and I frowned.

"Am I blind or the sun is somewhere up above?" I asked the strange man in confusion as the alcohol made me feel woozy as I looked around.

The stranger chuckled at that and lifted the sunglasses to his forehead lifting his hair, making his undercut more visible. His sharp eyes were now on the sight, which reminded me of a cat. "Yes, it's up don't you see it? It's everywhere." He showed around with his hand to the lights that surrounded us and he plopped down to the barstool next to me. He smiled at me as his deep dimples showed and made his face more handsome.

I giggled at his statement and reached for my drink, sipping from it as I looked at the strange man.

"So, what does a pretty girl like you, do here alone drinking?" He leaned closer to my ear so I could understand what he said as the music was too loud.

"I'm with my friends, I just came for a drink." I pointed towards my friends, where my eyes immediately met with Wooyoung's, who was just standing there with folded arms, looking at us with killer eyes. It was my time to shine.

"Are they only your friends?" He asked with a knowing smile.

I just nodded.

The stranger hummed. "I'm Choi San." He leaned closer again and I barely heard what he said. "What's your name, pretty?" He looked deep into my eyes and suddenly I forgot my name.

"It's uh—Park Y/N." Finally, I could somehow stumble my name out as I reached my hand towards his to shake the handsome man's hands. And when he accepted it, he smiled at me and pulled me closer to him so he could whisper into my ear. "Will you dance with me, pretty?"

The alcohol swam around my body making my mind not to think at all, so I accepted his invite and I found myself dancing with a total stranger on my strange vacation where my high school crush shot daggers into the stranger's back.

As we danced along to the music, our bodies flushed together swaying our hips to the rhythm of the music, enjoying ourselves, suddenly we were separated by a hand that belonged to Jung Wooyoung himself, as he glared down at the stranger standing in front of him, they were the same height, but the expression on Wooyoung's face just made the stranger slightly smaller, as Wooyoung mumbled a few words to him that I couldn't expel. I only saw that San lifted his hands in surrender and grabbed Wooyoung's shoulder with one hand mumbling something back that seemed an apology. And with that, the stranger who looked like Ares himself just disappeared. And I looked after him wide-eyed, then at Wooyoung as I scoffed at him and turned around, trying to escape from the torturing crowd.

I felt angry at Wooyoung because what did he even think? Was it normal to send off a stranger that tried to just fucking dance with me? We were back when we were teenagers, back when I didn't understand anything he did, and it made me feel sick of him.

As I got out of the crowd, I just felt Wooyoung was following me with angry steps. And when he reached me, he grabbed my wrist and turned me around to angrily face him.

"Do not fucking run away from me!" He said as he yanked me closer to him, he looked pissed.

"What the hell did you think there?" I said with a sharp expression, trying to free my wrist from his grip, when I succeeded, I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Oh, I'm Jung Wooyoung, I should totally send this dude off, because he is flirting with her, and no one should touch her, only me. Even though I have a girlfriend." I started to ramble my thoughts out, as I gesticulated with my arms stressed.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend." His expression changed from angry, to confused.

Words got stuck in my throat for a moment. "What about that blonde girl?" I asked confused.

He sighed, puffing air out of his lungs. "Nothing, she wasn't my girlfriend..."

 "Well…it doesn't matter. Let's just leave it." I said as I wanted to turn around.

"No, Y/N!" He grabbed my wrist again turning me around, not letting me go this time. "Stop this stubborn attitude and let's talk!" His voice raised as his face became a little impatient.

"I don't want to talk Wooyoung! We should have, a long time ago, but it's too late now because I'm so sick of your games, I can't do this Woo." I said as my voice became lower, whispering his nickname that I loved so much.

"What games are you talking about?" His grip on my wrist became a little stronger as he held my other hand in his hands pulling me closer to him. "You confuse me just as much as I do you," He whispered it close to my face.

I looked down at our hands, and I was thinking about the fact, of how much my younger self would have liked this situation. At that, my emotions suddenly hit me and I was just too tired for this conversation.

"I'm talking about London…" My voice was barely a whisper, as I still avoided his staring eyes.

He scoffed at that, letting my hands go as he ran his fingers through his raven-black hair in frustration. "London was messed up, we both made mistakes there."

I scoffed. "Yeah, whatever you say," I said giving up.

"No for fuck's sake, don't fucking do this, Y/N! You have no idea how much I had suffered because of you." He grabbed his hair stressed as he looked at me with an emotional expression.

I was too stunned to speak, my heart pumped blood into my ears as I barely heard what he said.

"If you—If you would have told me to stay…back in London, I would've Y/N! But you said nothing and let me go, it was all on you." He said stepping closer to me, his eyes watering.

I shook my head as I stepped back. "You can't fucking say that! You knew I liked you, Wooyoung, haven't I given you enough signs?" I raised my voice at him, losing my patience.

"No, you haven't! Because you were always with that fucker, Yunho and it seemed he was more important than me the whole trip." He lifted his hands shrugging his shoulders with a disappointed look.

I laughed at that, we both acted so childish and it made me feel sick. "You know what?" I stepped closer to him as I lifted my head his face close to mine. "It was a long time ago, let's just forget it. But one last thing." My eyes stared into his sharp eyes. "You can simply fuck off," I said as he looked stunned, and I turned around walking as fast as I could to disappear from there because I had enough of him.

My life was so easy after we finished high school, it was so easy without Wooyoung…too easy. But four years later he had to come into my life when all I wanted to do was to relax a little, but he had to knock on my door and step into my life again. What was the point of it? We did not belong to each other and I learned that a long time ago.

 It was 4 a.m. already as I was lying in my bed after I slammed our hotel room's door. My thoughts drowned me as I was just staring up at the white ceiling, Bora nowhere to be seen. I was thinking of the things Wooyoung said and remembered all the things that happened in London.

Well long story short—We travelled to London as a celebration of finishing high school. The things that happened there weren't a big deal thinking about it now, but back then as I was still young, life throwing out into the wild to experience the things that would make me stronger, to experience love and heartbreak at the same time, was unforgettable for a young girl.

It was our second day in London, and we went out to see the nightlife of the city. It was the four of us and a few classmates, who joined us for the night. And yes, Yunho was a good friend of mine and yes, I might happen to be with him a lot. But I was just trying to forget Wooyoung because I knew he did not return my feelings. As we got deeper into the night Wooyoung was by my side all night, holding my hand, and hugging me the whole time, and then the boys made a bet, where Wooyoung needed to kiss me out of the blue. And he did kiss me and he did tell me that he liked me, but I did not know what to do with that information as he was drunk and it might have been part of the bet.

That kiss was the best kiss of my life, it made my feelings grow deeper for him, he made me believe he felt the same, but on that night as we walked back to our hotel I unintentionally eavesdropped and heard that he did not like me it was just a bet. Then the next thing I saw was that he was kissing a girl from our classmates in front of his hotel room. And that broke me into pieces. From then I ignored Wooyoung the whole trip, not wanting to see him. Then thanks to my luck, he needed to go home sooner for some unknown reasons and I did not beg for him to stay, because I simply did not want to see him anymore.

As I was deep in my thoughts I heard the loud ping of my phone, which broke the silent bubble that embraced me. I checked my phone and it was an old group chat that I thought I was never going to see again. It was a group chat that the four of us used back then.

-Mango to 4 makes 1 team- Guys where are u??! We've been searching for u everywhere... Woo-woohoo sent a picture.

As I opened the group chat the picture that Wooyoung sent was of his hands that held a can of beer and the sea, as he was sitting on the beach, I assumed.

Mango Bro, what are you doing? Do you want to die? Woo-woohoo I'm with me, myself and I, we get along a lot. bahahahshbdwef Mango replying to Woo-woohoo Dude are u okay?? Woo-woohoo I wish the water would wash me away to Londonn. Y/n-ooo If you depart now, you might get there by the morning. Borie Guys, are we really stuck in the London situation? Woo-woohoo I don't even know what I did there... Y/n-ooo Breaking my heart? Woo-woohoo ??? Can we talk Y/n? Please... Mango These two should be locked into a dirty cell in the middle of the Pacific Ocean...istg, get your shit together you creatures!!

I sighed as I just realized I couldn't just ignore the things just because he broke my heart years ago, I was too stuck in the past that didn't even make sense.

Then another chat popped up on my screen.

Woonderland sent you a voice message.

"Y/n c'mooon, let's talk, I have no idea what I did in London but I'm sure I can explain…like the night I kissed you was the best kiss of my life and I was so glad the boys made that bet…how could someone so beautiful like you, like me, a boy who was so over himself, I couldn't believe that, I was confused, I was young and I didn't know anything about love…oh my God what am I even saying…I'mma just drown in the sea, see ya, u know like the sea. Hah, that was a nice joke."  His voice stumbled the whole time I assumed he was drunk as a skunk. His words did not make much sense. I needed to find him and clear things up.

Y/nnie Where are you?

As I was walking on the beach the waves of the turquoise sea crushed against my foot, the water felt warm against my skin as my foot sank into the soft sand leaving footprints behind me, that the water washed away immediately. The wind blew on my white dress that I changed into, the sun was slowly rising from the other side of the sea, still painting it red and orange, creating a breathtaking view of the sea.

Suddenly I felt peace as my dream popped up in my mind, where I was walking on the beach. It was the same feeling, but it wasn't a dream, there weren't any kids that could wake me up screaming next to me. I was heading towards a drunken Wooyoung that I would've never imagined because if somebody had said to me, I am going to meet with my first love who broke my heart, and I was on my way to forgiving him, I would've laughed at their face in a blink of an eye.

Then I spotted Wooyoung, who was sitting on the seashore his legs pulled up to his chest a can of beer in his hands as he was staring into the infinity of the bluish sea in the twinkle of the sunrise.

As I approached him, I sat down on the soft sand next to him folding my legs under me, and stared in front of me, mimicking Wooyoung. We sat in a comfortable silence then he reached the can towards me that I took and gulped from it, the beer left a bitter taste in my mouth that went down to my stomach, leaving an emptiness on the way.

Then I just couldn't hold back anymore and I tilted my head towards him to look at his sharp side profile, he looked like Aphrodite's son, who got banned from Olympus because he was too reckless. His jawline was as sharp as Mount Olympus, his sharp eyes gazing at the sea where Poseidon was waiting for us, the sun slowly getting up as Hades cursed our blooming connection.

"So, what happened in London, from your point of view?" I broke the comfortable silence that embraced us, breaking the peace to make peace again.

He slowly turned towards me, as his eye with the mole under was now visible, which made him look more like a God. Then he broke the eye contact and stared down at his hands, fiddling with them.

"Well, when we kissed, I told you I liked you. But you did not say anything to that. It made me believe you didn't feel the same as me, so I just gave up…I just simply gave up, because I was an asshole." His voice stumbled as he explained the situation.

"I saw you kissing that girl," I said as I averted my gaze from his face towards the sea.

He looked at me wide-eyed, as he face-palmed himself. "Fuck, I was so stupid…I did kiss her, but only because I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a fling, I wanted to know if I only imagined the sparkle with you…" I felt as if he looked at me, trying to find out what I was thinking. "But then, you ignored me the whole time…which I understand now."

I just hummed. "Can we just forget the past and start over? I'm sick of this push-and-pull game we are playing…we were just two idiots…" I looked up at him with sincere emotions as he was closer than before.

"Two idiots in love?" He beamed a sincere smile at me, as his dimples were showing, making his features more handsome. And we were just staring at each other like we saw each other for the first time. We really did start it with a clean slate.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered with so much emotion in his eyes as he leaned closer to my face his breath warming more my already blushed cheeks.

I giggled at his compliment trying to hide behind my hands.

"Hey, hey, don't you dare to hide from me." He caught my wrist taking them away from my face with a smile.

Suddenly I stood up. "No, no. I'mma just go drown in the sea, I might get a lover there." I started to walk towards the sea with a smile. Then as I looked behind my back all I saw was Wooyoung getting up from the ground and running towards me.

"Not without me." He shouted as he tried to catch me. I screamed from excitement as I was running from him, nearly waking up the whole hotel. When Wooyoung caught me, he lifted me and held me on his shoulders as my head swung towards the ground. I screamed as I saw the world upwards and he started to run towards the sea crashing into the chill waves, wetting us immediately, as he finally took me down deep in the water that reached both our chins. Both of us were laughing as I started to splash him with the surprisingly warm water, our clothes long soaked as we did not care about that. The beach was echoing with splashing water and our sincere laughter, the shore was nearly empty because of the early hour as the sun just had risen, with only a few people lurking around to watch the sunrise.

As I got a little away from Wooyoung in the little splashing war we had created, he suddenly started to swim towards me and when he reached me, he caught my waist underwater, his hands encircling me, holding me strong, then he suddenly brought the both of us underwater, as we were sinking down towards the bottom, slowly opening our eyes to look at each other's mesmerizing features, both of us looking like Poseidon's stunning creatures, with our hairs flowing around us like a crown. The water sparkled around us with the sun shining above us. When we ran out of oxygen, we swam above water, just to Wooyoung pull me up close to his wet body, I naturally wrapped my legs around his waist, as his hands travelled under my thighs holding me close to him. My arms did the same as I was staring into his foxlike eyes, the waterdrops on his features perfectly slipping from his face to be one with the water that embraced us. The shirt that was glued to his skin, made his collarbone and chest peak out, where a black necklace was hanging with a moon. As my eyes found their way to his lips, I couldn't avert my gaze from his perfect red lips, salty waterdrops highlighting the mole on the bottom of his lips. My eyes met his, where desire burned with a passion that came from hell, making him look like Hades and Eros the God of carnal love.

And when his lips met mine as he held me close to him in the blue sea where we were floating like two paper-made ships, I felt like I could drown in the sea, because as his lips moved against mine, I felt like all the Gods kissed me at once, it was passionate and full of lust that made us whole again. My fingers crawled into his wet hair while we kissed pulling at it slightly as he moaned into my lips, at that my tongue found its way into his mouth discovering all the hidden places. When he got his senses back a little his tongue tangled with mine, fighting for dominance, as his hands lifted me a little to find their way on my ass as he pulled me impossibly closer to him, the water splashing between us.

When we separated after an eternity our foreheads met and we stared into each other's eyes with joy, the waking sun beaming at us from above, painting us with colors of yellow and orange that made the both of us look like a God and Goddess that could rule the world together rewarding the good and punishing the bad.

A/N: I might write Bora's and Mingi's stories as well because they aren't just old friends, they also have a complicated story. :PP

(Ateez masterlist)

[genericpuff]

LORE | REKINDLED EPISODE 11 - STAY INSIDE

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Whew, this episode ended up being a lot more work than anticipated, but I'm really happy with how it came out! I think this episode is one of the most "true to OG LO" ones we've had since the first episode redraw, I'm really happy with the results. And I got it done by this past Tuesday night which means 1.) this episode is going up while I'm currently in PEI for the Island Entertainment Expo, I didn't have to miss an update! Hello from the Island! and 2.) I have time still to get Episode 12 ready for the weekend after when I have to move! Let's see if present me sets up future me for success yet again like past me just did LOL

Those of y'all who have been following this project since before it became a weekly update thing should remember what's about to come next ;)

Just as a fun lil' fact, I spent the last few hours of making this episode listening to Neath Dark Waters from FF XIV. It's a very ambient track used for Amaurot, which was a highly advanced civilization lost to a great cataclysmic event - the setting and mood of the track made for great ambience while I painted the neon tones of the Underworld.

Thanks so much for reading! Just know that I do read everyone's comments on these posts as well as the asks that show up in my inbox, seeing the amount of support you've all shown for this little shitposting project that grew out of hand has been overwhelming and I couldn't be more thankful. Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you all next week once I've returned from IEX!

(you can also stay in touch in the Discord!)

[mswyrr]

They presented the possibility of older women--who were repeatedly described as "covenless witches" in a story that also repeatedly told us a witch needs a coven--finding community again and a new reason to live in each other and their own power and then "subverted our expectations" with these women dying to serve a male character's story.

That was the point of their stories. Him.

It isn't common for older women in US pop culture to get depicted as people who are capable of rebirth. Of lives, desires, hopes and dreams that matter beyond solely being a mother. It rarely happens, and it didn't happen here.

It's rare for stories to deal metaphorically with real things - like women who get clean or make positive change in their 40s or 50s. Women who find each other and aren't alone and "forgotten" anymore. These things happen -- yes, sisterhood is sometimes a lie and sometimes "people never change." Sure, those things happen. But sometimes sisterhood isn't a lie; sometimes people make change in their lives.

You don't see these stories when they're women though, especially not older women, especially not gay women.

I'm glad for Jen. She doesn't have a community, though. A witch needs a coven they told us, over and over again. They showed us them getting one small taste of the joy they could share together, in their scene of flight. But that was just for Billy too. And now everyone else is dead. To serve the male character's journey, give him some angst.

Agatha is forever spiritually dead--not experiencing any kind of emotional breakthrough or change--because she's not the lead, so she's static so she can serve as a device within the true lead's journey.

She can't even be allowed the growth I pictured as the worst case scenario - where she dies for *the coven*--so they can live and have community and spiritual rebirth together--and makes enough peace to go with Rio. She doesn't even get that much, to get to have a real death that matters and has a sense of completion to it, where we can imagine her reunited with her child and/or at peace with Rio. She can't have that because she has to be Billy's amusing sidekick, his Jarvis, his moral warning lesson about his powers and the witches he got killed and his angst. Because his story matters and theirs didn't.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how love stories often have a "point of symbolic death, when all hope seems lost" (concept from Pamela Regis's study of romance novel structure) and with mf couples they get to rise again from that, into rebirth, into new life. Ff canon couples in stories often, due to a bunch of reasons, aren't allowed that narrative power. They remain trapped in tragedy and despair. I thought surely Agatha herself though, as the lead character, would get to have some kind of change or rebirth as part of a community of women, given that her core wound is betrayal by community -- but she, as a character, doesn't get to go into the symbolic underworld and change and be reborn, because she was never the lead character to begin with.

Sapphic love remains broken once it breaks, the "point of symbolic death" is literal death or a shattering end, there is no rebirth. We, I guess, lack the symbolic potency to come back, in the eyes of the world? We are not generative. "Which one's the man?" "How do they even have sex?" "Your marriage isn't real because you can't make babies." (Kudos for subverting that one, though, show! Except... a child born of women, without a man, cannot live a full life I guess?) And specifically, as a 30something queer woman, people who call my wife, after I've described her as my wife, my "girlfriend" and are shocked by how long we've been together. That we're grown women and our commitment is right down to the bone, that it has blood in its veins. We are not little girls playing dress up. But that is how a ton of nice people see us; we exist but we are spiritually empty, lacking potency. And the stories reflect that. That energy, that core belief that we are the juvenile, non-generative form of love and relationships. And this woman too, she remains in a kind of eternal spiritual death.

That's why people are mentioning the Hayes Code, they're feeling how that aligns with larger cultural prejudice against us and our humanity and capacity to have the kind of power of living and loving that is ascribed to mf love and that more (though not always, misogyny is a hell of a thing) straight women get in stories.

The idea that it's GOOD for a story to do this, because "sometimes sisterhood is a lie" and "sometimes people don't change" ignores that context of who precisely this narrative "subversion," this spiritual aridity is given to. And who gets to live and grow and be reborn and strive and learn and become in stories, to be allowed to connect with the transformative potential inside themselves and each other.

The show did give us a lot -- I think it's important to recognize that. The canon ff love; I would have never expected that. The canon kiss. They put a lot into that and I honor that. This wasn't a classic "bury your gays" and I'm not mad at them. They did their best. A lot of the issues I have are probably due to the problems of the mcu overall and how static it is. But the deeper themes are also just incredibly disappointing to me, and I wanted to outline why.

It's entirely possible to be disappointed but appreciate context and not be unkind to creatives who did their best within overall industry/cultural limitations, which is where I am at and what I mean with this.

[kmomof4]

So this was a VERY slap happy chapter… to Neal…

To Hades

And to Rumple

Can’t wait for more!!!

The Fields of Asphodel

Chapter Nine- Cue Desperate Measures

Tagging the Usual Crew: @kmomof4 @xarandomdreamx @zaharadessert @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @tiganasummertree @sotangledupinit

Want to be added? Send me an ask!

Read on AO3

Catch Up Here: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

Here’s the thing:  Neal knew not to trust his grandfather.  He had been a victim of Pan’s lies and manipulations before this, and he had fallen for them hook, line, and sinker far too many times already (though he hadn’t always known that Pan was his grandfather).  He knew that doing what Pan suggested was absolutely going to put him in a position that would somehow be simultaneously the absolute worst thing that could happen for him and the absolute best thing that could happen for Pan.  He knew that following Pan’s directions about going to the well was going to result in a disaster of truly epic proportions.  It would even probably be on the same level of fuck-up that his abandoning Emma to serve his prison sentence had been.

But dammit all to hell if he wasn’t going to do it anyway.

All Neal could think about since that visit from his grandfather was the letter he had written to Henry after an evening spent trying to drink his feelings of inadequacy and despair away (it didn’t work, but the action made him feel a little better that at least he was going through the motions).  He regretted his actions that had torn him away from the son he didn’t know he had fathered for eleven years.  He regretted even more that he had fallen for Zelena’s trap and sacrificed his life to resurrect his father.  Had he listened to Belle that there might be another way, he wouldn’t be stuck here now in an eerily similar situation to how his own upbringing had been, only with him as the father this time.

He had (badly) counseled another grieving woman, his eyes going to the desk drawer that held the unfinished letter to Henry, when he decided that enough was enough.  He closed the office, canceled the rest of his appointments, and pulled his desk apart to find the letter and reread it once more.  The office was littered with debris he had scattered from his desk, but Neal couldn’t bring himself to care.

It was several pages long, and written in Neal’s untidy scrawl.  It contained all of the apologies he felt he owed Henry and the dreams for Henry’s life that he never got to say.  He felt awful that the only legacy he could give Henry now was a letter he’d never get to send and a bevy of broken dreams and empty promises.  Henry was his unfinished business that he wouldn’t ever get to resolve.

Only now, if he listened to Peter Pan, he’d have a way to communicate his final words to his son.  The thought of Henry not knowing his father had been his biggest supporter was too much for Neal to bear. Grabbing a pen, he scribbled one last thought onto the last page and then rolled it up and stuffed the missive into a plastic soda bottle and screwed the cap on tight. It wasn’t glass with a cork, but it would have to do.

He shrugged on his coat hastily and made his way out the door, moving as fast as he could to the well. He left the rest of his belongings behind, intent upon coming back as soon as he could. He needed to do this, to complete his unfinished business so he could move on. Neal left the town behind as he headed for the trail he knew existed that would take him by the well. 

After around thirty minutes of hiking through the decaying forest, getting his feet caught in exposed roots and kicking and stumbling over rocks in his haste, he finally came to the wishing well. He stopped short, surveying the woods around him. In spite of the supposed importance this well had in being a connection to the Land of the Living, Neal was surprised that there seemed to be no barriers or guardians. He took a step forward, proceeding cautiously. He paused, and when nothing happened, moved closer. He continued this cautious approach until he was right next to the well.

Neal leaned over and peered down into its depths. It didn’t look any different from how it appeared in Storybrooke. The water was a bit murky and red tinted, but so was everything down here. It came from Hades’ magic causing a fake daylight that wasn’t really daylight. The brimstone and rock that housed the Underworld cut off the natural light source and influenced the appearance of the available light for the world to present the illusion of home for the denizens of the Underworld.

He took the plastic bottle and considered it for a moment. He also took out Pan’s scroll and held it in his other hand. He didn’t know what his grandfather wanted to give Henry, but he was certain it couldn’t be anything good. Neal slipped the scroll back into his pocket and held the bottle over the wishing well and let go of it. He watched as the bottle plummeted. 

He had done it. Neal had actually managed to communicate one last time with his son. He could finally move on in peace.  He turned to go back to the town, his mind on going to the Place of Judgement to finally have his soul weighed against his unfinished business when a loud screech echoed closely behind him. He turned around and looked at the sky. His eyes widened at the sight of a solid black hell-dragon in the sky, its wings flapping as it hovered directly above him.

Years of instinct told Neal to turn and run, so that’s what he did. He ran as fast as he could through the undergrowth of the forest, barely feeling the stinging whip of the tree branches against his exposed skin. He ran just as fast as he had that day in New York when Emma had chased him down, only coming to a stop when she tackled him in the street. He didn’t question the instinct that had overtaken him at the sight. He just knew whatever the beast was doing, it was looking for him.

He dodged tree roots, tripping and stumbling over them and protruding rocks, barely managing not to fall. Though he knew not to look back, Neal glanced over his shoulder at the hell-dragon, only to see it lock onto its target and flap its wings back into a dive. 

“Oh shit,” Neal muttered, realizing that the target was indeed him. He stopped and ducked just in time as the beast swooped down and tried to grab him. The beast missed him by inches, though Neal didn’t escape unscathed. He grimaced at the claw marks left in his jacket, but a glance at the dragon confirmed that it was already turning around to make a second grab, and Neal knew he didn’t have time to dally around.

He took off running again, desperately sprinting as fast as he could. He huffed and puffed (it had been a very long time since he had had to run like this; he had nearly forgotten what it felt like and resolved to start running every day after work). He tried valiantly to keep up his pace, but every glance backwards told him the dragon was gaining on him, getting closer and closer. 

Neal poured everything he had into his sprint. He couldn’t put any more effort into his breakneck pace, and he could feel his body slowing from the exertion. His lungs burned, though they didn’t need oxygen, his legs ached from the strain, and his heart was pounding though it did not beat. He knew that everything he was feeling was an illusion, but he couldn’t break through it. Desperate, he looked behind him one last time.

His eyes off the path in front of him, he failed to see the tree root just in front of him. His foot clipped it mid stride and he fell hard. He rolled through the leaves from the momentum, finally coming to a stop on his side facing away from the dragon. He tried to scramble to his feet, scattering leaves and dirt all around him, but he was too late. The dragon wrapped its claws around him and lifted Neal into the air. He screamed at the sudden change in altitude and at the claws biting into his back and arms and chest. He kicked his legs futilely, but the beast did not let him go. 

Neal watched as the Underworld version of Storybrooke grew smaller and smaller in the distance as the hell-dragon flew higher and higher. The claws gripped him tighter, and he felt blood starting to soak through his clothes. He began to feel lightheaded at the sensation; he was never one for donating blood because it made him so queasy. He wondered if his message had managed to even reach his son. 

Now he had a sinking feeling that he would never get to know.  

The claws sank in deeper, and Neal finally passed out.

Henry had been the fifth child of a king of a small kingdom in the Enchanted Forest, and he had married out of convenience and duty to the throne. He had never been destined for much in terms of leadership or positions of power, and he, as the fifth-born son, had been just fine with that as long as he had been alive.  His bride, a peasant named Cora who had claimed the ability to spin straw into gold, had been the one who had thirsted for power.  Most of the time, they got along so long as he left her to her devices and scheming and plotting.  In truth, being married to Cora hadn’t been easy, for the gods only knew what kind of problems they had experienced during their long marriage, but she had borne him the absolute apple of his eye in his daughter Regina, and if he had let her walk all over him during that time, it had all been worth it to see Regina grow up.

But as he took in the handful of toddlers throwing things and screaming and crying all around him, he had to wonder if his lack of ambition as the fifth-born son was the reason he was in this position today.

A wooden block hit his head and bounced off.  Henry, for all the patience he had developed during his life (Cora really had a way of trying it), felt his temper slowly starting to fray.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning to the toddler who had thrown the block and crouching down to the boy’s level.

“We don’t throw blocks,” Henry told the boy, trying to affect a gentle yet firm tone of voice.  The boy blinked up at him for a moment and then started to let out a wail worthy of the ogres.  Henry closed his eyes in exasperation before trying to calm him, but he knew it was no use.  The toddlers here had died before they could complete any true development of the mind; they were essentially frozen as they were in life.

He was in the middle of staving off this latest temper tantrum (which seemed to be setting off some of the other toddlers in the preschool where Henry had been sentenced to work as his penance for being unsuccessful in reining in his wife or his daughter) when someone loudly cleared their throat from the door.

Henry looked up and stared.  Cora was standing in the doorway, dressed in the rags that he knew she had worn in her life as the miller’s daughter before their marriage.  She grasped her hands and waited.  He straightened and slowly walked to his estranged wife.

“Cora, what are you doing here?” he asked once he was close enough that he wouldn’t need to shout.

“I’m here about our daughter,” she replied.  “It seems she’s in the Underworld.”

His eyes widened.  “Regina’s here?”

“Yes, though I’ve heard she’s not dead.  Hades is looking for her, and he has something terrible planned for her once he finds her.”

Henry furrowed his brow in confusion.  “How do you know this?”

Cora sighed.  “I overheard him when I was delivering flour from the mills.  We need to find her and make sure she leaves before he can find her.”

Henry nodded in agreement.  “How are we going to do that?”

Cora smiled.  “By doing this.”  She waved her hand and he was transported away from the preschool to the location she wanted him at, leaving the toddlers with the other caretakers who were there in the facility.  “Now she’ll have no choice but to do as I want.  I won’t let her become another one of Hades’ victims.”

The first thing Neal became aware of was an ache in his chest that was somewhat similar to how it had felt after Tamara shot him.  The second thing he became aware of was his head pounding like a drum.  The third thing was someone whistling a jaunty, yet annoying, tune.

He opened his eyes and looked around.  He was in some sort of cell, with stone walls that rose several stories all around him and no door.  Standing in the doorway was a man in a suit with red hair.  Though Neal had only seen him once when he had been sentenced to his job, Neal recognized him instantly.  This was Hades.

Neal pushed himself up gingerly into a sitting position.  His chest ached from where the hell-dragon’s talons had pierced it, and he felt as if he couldn’t take a full breath, but other than that, he had to admit, he had been in worse scrapes than this.  Hades watched him struggle with a gleeful grin.

“Welcome to Solitary!” Hades announced.  “This is the special place where people who defy me get to spend their time.”

“I haven’t tried to defy you,” Neal protested.

“Oh, haven’t you?  I found this in your pocket.”  Hades pulled out the scroll that Pan had given him earlier.  “Does this look familiar?”

Neal shrugged.  “My grandfather gave it to me.  He wanted me to pass it on to my kid, but I didn’t do it.”

Hades nodded, chewing his lips as he listened to Neal’s explanation.  “You mean you decided to keep it.”

Neal’s face screwed up in disbelief.  “Keep it?  He tried to kill my son; why would I want to keep anything he would give me or Henry?”

Hades took out the scroll and unraveled it, glancing at the words written on it momentarily. “Maybe because it has instructions on how to leave the Underworld?”

Neal blinked at Hades’ insinuation. 

“The only reason you would have to keep this would be to keep the information for yourself. Of course, this would only work if you could return to life, but I imagine this information would be very useful for all your friends back in Storybrooke.”

Neal shook his head slightly. “Well... wait, why would this information be useful to them?”

Hades smiled and his hair erupted into flames. “Take a look for yourself.”  He held out a hand as if to show off a brand new car and stepped out of the way of Neal’s view.

Neal looked across to the cell directly across from his. He gasped in horror when he realized who he was looking at.  Killian Jones lay there on the cold, hard stone, unconscious and bloody.  Neal didn’t think he’d ever seen the pirate that badly injured before in all his time of knowing Captain Hook. Not even in all the years of being trapped in Neverland had he seen the man that bloody, and he had seen the damage the Lost Boys had done to Hook. Neal stared in horror at the man who could have been a father figure to him had life been any different or if fate hadn’t had other ideas.  A slow trickle of blood ran down Killian’s face from a wound that looked freshly opened. Neal watched as the blood freely dripped off the pirate’s nose into a small pool on the stone floor. Drip. Drip. Drip.

“What the hell?” Neal whispered once he got his voice back. “What’d you do to him? Why is he even down here?”

“Let’s just say he bit off more than he could chew when it came to being a hero. And now he refuses to accept his fate.”

Neal looked at Hades. The god wore a careful expression on his face, but Neal wondered how devil-may-care Hades actually was feeling at the moment. “Accept his fate?” Neal echoed. 

“Indeed. He has these silly notions of being rescued in his head.” Hades chuckled. “I don’t know where he gets them.”

Neal did some fast thinking. If Hook was here, then something had to have happened with Emma. Neal knew Hook wouldn’t willingly leave her side if he had no other choice. But did that mean…?

“Well it’s a good thing you got that scroll, then. It could be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands,” Neal said.

Hades smirked. “I thank you. But you’re still going to spend some time down here to think about what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?  I haven’t done anything!  You have the scroll there in your hands!” Neal protested, pointing to the scroll Hades held.

Hades tilted his head and considered Neal for a moment.  “No, I see it still there in your eyes.  You’re in possession of contraband.”

“What contraband?”

Hades took a measured step forward until he could stare into Neal’s eyes.  He leaned in close and whispered into Neal’s ear, “Hope.”

A groan could be heard from behind them. Neal looked to see Killian starting to stir, his face a permanent grimace of pain.  Hades straightened, a nasty grin on his face.

“Ah! Our friend is awakening! You’ll excuse me for a moment? I need to see if I can persuade our esteemed captain into seeing things my way once more.”  Hades left Neal with one unhinged smile before he poofed himself and Hook away.

Neal let out the breath he had been holding. What had happened back in Storybrooke?!

~*~*~*~*~*~

Peter Pan may have been here in the Underworld longer than Rumple, but Rumple had more tools at his disposal than Peter Pan. After Peter Pan had taunted him about knowing Bae’s whereabouts and offering that ridiculous deal, Rumple had used a couple of those tools. He had found out through some simple questions of the Underworld’s denizens (meaning he had threatened some people’s still-living loved ones if they didn’t tell him the information he sought) that Neal Cassidy’s information should have been recorded at City Hall. He had gone there and, using his powers of persuasion (ergo, more threats), managed to find out that Neal’s job had been to counsel newly deceased mothers who had left behind children in the Land of the Living. He also obtained a dwelling address and the address of the office Neal had been counseling inside.

Rumple decided that the first place he would look was the dwelling. After poofing to the address and breaking inside using magic, he saw that the dwelling was nothing more than a place to sleep (or whatever caricature of sleep the dead actually did). There was nothing there. Undeterred, Rumple pooped over to the office in which Bae had to counsel newcomers who had been sentenced to paying their penance. Upon his arrival, Rumple knew that he had finally hit the jackpot. It really was too bad that he hadn’t had more time before having to take his father’s deal, but it wouldn’t matter anyway once all had unfolded.

The office was the exact same as it was in Storybrooke under Dr. Hopper’s care. The same walls, same furniture, same books and papers… Nothing had changed, though Rumple could see signs of another occupant. A used coffee mug sat on the desk, a half-empty water bottle beside it. Pens were scattered on the sofa table, and a notepad with notes scrawled across it sat beside the pens. 

Rumple looked at the notepad, recognizing Bae’s messy handwriting that had been formed when Runple tried so hard to teach him to write his letters. He smiled a sad smile at seeing the chicken scratch one more time.

A sport coat that looked to be Bae’s taste hung on the coat rack by the door, and a drawing of a boy hung on the wall beside it. Rumple wondered for a moment why the drawing had caught his eye, but once he moved closer he understood. The picture was one of Henry.  Bae must have drawn it shortly after arriving here after his death. A pang of heartbreak struck his chest. Bae would never get to see his son grow up and grow older. He wished for what had to be the millionth time that Bae had left him alone and hadn't tried to resurrect him. Then maybe Bae could have still had a chance to get back to Henry. To be the father that Rumple had never gotten to be for Bae. 

But alas. Some things were never meant to be.

Rumple moved away from the drawing and all that it represented. He shuffled through some papers, but none of them held any news on the current whereabouts of his son. He ripped open the drawers of the desk, slamming them shut when they held nothing but staples, paper clips, and other various office junk. He ripped open the last draw, and spying only papers, moved to slam it shut when he looked a little closer.

Catching the drawer before it could shut, he slid it back open and reached inside. He took out a crumpled ball of paper. Using both hands to smooth it out, he scanned the words written on its surface.

It appeared to be a letter of apology to Henry, but parts of it were scratched out. Rumple read the parts that he could, but since the letter was scratched out so much, he really could only scan it. Turning it over, he read the last lines, which hadn’t been scratched out.

I’m sorry for all the pain I caused your mother and you. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I guess it wasn’t. You were the one who suffered for it. Emma and I have made our peace, hopefully, but I never did get to make it with you. I hope you realize that, though I spent only a brief time with you, I love you with all my heart.

I’m sorry I can’t be there to tell you in person. You and your forgiveness is my unfinished business, and Henry, I wish I could be there to earn it. I wish I could get to see you grow. I wish I could be there for all the milestones, but all I can do is write this letter and hope that it one day gets to you.  I was told of a way that I might be able to send it, so I’m going to rewrite this into a cleaner version and then try to send it to you.  I have no idea if the well will do what it’s purported to, but I have to try.

I’m glad I was able to get to Neverland to help save you.  Of all the mistakes I’ve made where you and your mother are concerned, I got that one right.  Peter Pan is down here too.  He’s the same as ever, though he did tell me to tell you he had “no hard feelings.”  I’m glad he can’t ever get to you again.  That is at least one thing that helps me to rest easy down here.  But hey, I’ll see you again.  This isn’t over, and I hope you know that wherever you are, I’m still there.  I love you.

The letter appeared as if it had been part of at least another page, but Rumple couldn’t find the other pages.  The part about Peter Pan was what caught his eye, he realized, perusing the words again.  Rumple wasn’t surprised at all to find evidence that his father had lied about seeing Baelfire down here; in fact, he had expected it.  There was something about the part of the well that bothered him, though he couldn’t put his finger on what.  

Casting one last look around the office and taking in how scattered and ransacked the place looked, there was one thing that Rumple was sure of.  Bae was in danger.

Looking at the door with darkness in his eyes, he knew the best way to get to his son was to persuade Emma Swan to take the case.  And he knew just the way to get her invested.  With a wave of his hand, he disappeared in a cloud of red smoke and reappeared outside the door of Emma Swan’s house.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Did you know him?”

Neal jumped at the spoken words; he hadn’t expected anyone else to be around.  He looked out the doorway and down the hall.  A woman with light brown hair and dressed in rags was in the cell next to his.

“Uh, yeah,” Neal responded shortly.  “Who- who are you?”

“My name is Megara, but my friends call me Meg,” the woman responded.

“At least they would if you had any friends?”  Neal quipped.

Megara gave him a puzzled look.  “What?”

Neal chuckled.  “Nevermind, sorry.  Bit of a bad joke.  So you’re Meg, huh?”

Meg blinked.  “Yes.  Did you know him?  Killian Jones?”

Neal nodded.  “Yeah, I did.”

Meg tilted her head in consideration.  “How so?”

Neal sighed.  “It’s complicated.  Let’s just say he and I were interested in the same woman at one point.”

Meg nodded.  “Who was she?”

Neal chuckled.  “You sure do ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

Meg smiled.  “Sorry.  I’m not used to having many people around.  Not very many people get put into Solitary these days.  You must have done something real bad for Hades to put you in here.”

Neal grimaced.  “You could say that, yeah.”  He leaned his head back against the wall.  “Apparently I tried to sneak instructions to my son and his family for escaping from the Underworld.”

Meg’s eyes bugged.  “You did?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.  I had no idea the scroll had that written on it, though.”

Meg nodded in understanding.  “I’ve been here since I helped my True Love defeat Hades.  It’s been ages, and he’s still punishing me.”

“Didn’t Hades want to overthrow Olympus?  Is that how you defeated him?”  Neal looked down at his shoes before looking back up at her.  She was staring at him in disbelief.

“How do you know that?” Meg asked, amazement coloring her voice.

“Oh, I saw the movie,” Neal shrugged.

“What’s a movie?” Meg looked even more mystified than she had before.  Neal was suddenly reminded very strongly of his conversation with Mulan when the two of them were traversing the distance from Phillip and Aurora’s kingdom to his father’s castle in the Enchanted Forest.

Neal stammered.  “It’s a kind of story you watch that’s acted out, but that’s not really important right now.”  Meg just looked even more confused.  “So Hades has had you down here in Solitary this whole time?”

Meg nodded, seemingly letting go of what a movie was but still had a confused look on her face.  “I owed him service for helping me, and when I defied him, he decided that this was my penance.  It’s been centuries.”

They both fell silent for a while, both pondering the information the other had revealed.

“I spent some time in Neverland,” Neal said, finally getting tired of the silence.  “Time stops in that realm.  If it had continued, I’d be a couple of centuries old or so.  I finally escaped that realm, and I ended up in the Land without Magic.  I met this woman, Emma Swan, and we fell in love for a brief amount of time.  I left her pregnant with our son, and I eventually came back into their lives when the boy was a bit older.  I died after that, but I never got to make amends for leaving him.  That’s why I’m stuck here in the Underworld.”

Meg’s jaw dropped as he continued his story.  “Emma Swan?  You know Emma Swan?”

Neal’s brow furrowed in confusion.  “Why?  Do you know her?”

Meg nodded profusely.  “Killian Jones sent me to find her!  We figured out that I could leave my cell for brief periods of time, and he asked me to find her so I could help her find him!”

“He- he asked you to find her?  What do you mean?  She’s back in the Land of the Living!”

Meg shook her head, smiling.  “No!  No she’s not!  She’s here in the Underworld!  She’s with a big group of people looking to rescue Killian Jones!”

Neal stared at her in disbelief.  “Emma came to the Underworld to get back Hook?”  How could that possibly be?  No one could enter the Underworld unless they were dead.  How had he not known that she was trying to get down here?

“Yes, I saw her not too long ago!”

Neal continued staring at Meg, his brow furrowing as he thought about the implications.  If it were true that Emma was down here, not dead, then that had to mean the Underworld operated on magic, a special kind of magic that couldn’t be breached except by a select brand. So how could she breach it?

“My father,” Neal said out loud.  Meg blinked at the change in conversation but didn’t say anything.  “He has to be the key.  That means Emma was able to defeat the Wicked Witch!  And Hook must have died during that conflict, and that’s why she’s down here!”  He looked up at Meg, a smile beginning to bloom on his face.  “Can you leave here and find her again?”

“I can try,” Meg replied.  “I know where she was the last time I saw her; I can go there again and see if I can meetup with her briefly.”

“Then do it,” Neal breathe, “I can try to help her find Hook and get them out of here.  Get her back to my son.”

Meg nodded.  “I’ll be back soon.”  She got up and crept out of the holding cell and down the corridor. 

Neal watched her go and hoped that she would find Emma soon so he could finally make peace with his son.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Now that we’ve got that settled, what did you and Robin see, Regina?” Emma asked after Robin had sufficiently looked his fill of his son in the mirror and moved away, cutting the image off.

“We saw a sort of vision of my father and mother being tortured. I don’t know where or why, but I’m willing to bet there is some sort of truth to it.”

“Well add that to the list of things we need to investigate” Emma rolled her eyes.

“We can handle my parents,” Regina replied. “I'll go see if I can figure out where they are and track them down. If I hear any word on Hook, I’ll let you know. Take a mirror with you so I can get in touch. I’m willing to bet our phones won’t work down here.”

Emma nodded, but before she could think of what to do next to find Hook, the front door opened, seemingly by itself. Everyone’s attention turned to it, wondering with varying degrees of dread why the door had swung open.

After a moment, Runplestiltskin sauntered in. Emma let out the bread she had been holding and rolled her eyes.  Rumple merely stood there in the threshold, taking in who was present, his only expression at seeing Milah there being a quirk of his eyebrow. 

“And I expected the heroes to be out searching for the pirate, not aimlessly huddled inside a house,” Rumple snidely stated as he finally entered Emma’s house as if he owned the place.

Milah frowned. “What are you doing here?” She demanded.

Rumple looked at her and blinked, as if surprised that she would actually talk to him.  But that perplexed him less than her presence here did. How exactly did his ex-wife end up with the heroes?  And with Emma Swan, no less?  Oh, he was going to enjoy this.

He looked back at Emma, though he was addressing the whole group, and said, “I’ve come to lend my services.”

“And be locked into a deal with you?  No thanks,” Emma retorted.

“From where I’m standing you don’t have much choice,” Rumple replied.

“We’re doing just fine without your help,” David chimed in.

“Oh, really?  Tell me, have you found the pirate yet?”  Rumple gazed around the room at everyone, but no one offered an answer in the affirmative, much as he had expected.  “Then I think you could use the help.”

“Why do you want to help us all of a sudden?  You took off the moment we got here.”  Emma crossed her arms, a suspicious look in her eyes as she beheld the man who had betrayed them all.

“Because I would like to get back to Storybrooke and my wife,” he sneered.  Milah started at his use of the word wife.  He turned to her and smirked.  “Not you, Dearie.”

Milah scowled.  “I never assumed it was,” she sneered.

Rumple turned back to Emma.  “This is what I’ll offer.  You help me find someone, and I’ll help you find the pirate.”

“What someone?” Emma asked.

“My son.”

“Bae?” Whispered Milah in shock, but everyone ignored her.

Emma blinked.  “Didn’t we already do this?” She asked rhetorically, holding out her arms in exasperation. “I swear, I feel like I already did this with you once. And look where it got me.”

“It would have gotten you a dead pirate hadn’t you helped me then, dearie,” replied Rumple pointedly.

“It looks like I got a dead pirate anyway because of you,” Emma hurled back.

“I said I was sorry,” Rumple waved his hands as if to dismiss his latest betrayal of them all.

“You didn’t actually,” David interjected.

Rumple cast him a withering look. “Then consider it said.” He turned back to Emma and continued, “Bae is in danger. It is mutually beneficial for us to team up to find both of them.”

“Whatever you say, Gold. Neal’s not here.” Emma rolled her eyes and gave him a flat look.

Rumple stared.  “Yes he is.”

Emma shook her head.  “No, he’s not. He came to me in a vision of some sort.  When we were on the boat ride here,” Emma clarified.  “He told me he moved on and that I shouldn’t try to do this.”

“He said that?” Snow asked in disbelief.

Emma nodded and replied, “He was very adamant that I was making a huge mistake and that he wouldn’t support it.”

“That doesn’t sound like Neal,” Snow stated.

Emma gave her a skeptical look, but before she could correct her mother, Rumple interrupted.  “No, I have confirmation that he is down here.  That vision must not be correct.”

Emma sighed.  “What confirmation?”

Rumple paused a moment, contemplating how much he should reveal.  “I was paid a visit by a common enemy earlier.  He told me that Bae was down here being punished for something.”

“Common enemy?” David echoed.

Henry frowned.  “Don’t tell me you’re talking about Peter Pan.”

Rumple nodded, and the group minus Robin and Milah groaned.  

“Why is he here?” Regina grumbled.

“That’s irrelevant,” Rumple dismissed.  The point is, if you help me find my son, then I will stop at nothing until I rescue the pirate.  Do we have a deal, Miss Swan?”

Emma scratched her head and ran her fingers through her hair as she contemplated what this new deal would mean for her.  “I mean, how much danger is Neal really in down here?  I’m sure he’ll turn up at Granny’s or something.  Why do we need to look for him?”

“Have you forgotten that he’s the son of the Dark One?” Rumble sneered.  “A good portion of the dead people here in the Underworld, I’ve killed.  There’s at least one of those in this room currently.”

Milah clenched her fist and her jaw at his words, eyes flashing as she tensed up even more than she had been if that were possible. 

“He’s in danger by proxy down here.  I’d rather know he was safe.” 

Emma narrowed her eyes.  Rumple knew she could sense the half-truth in his voice, could hear the Dark One’s twist on the words to reveal just enough without really giving anything away at all.  He also knew that Emma was just past the point of being desperate enough to disregard the Dark One lies and tricks and accept his help.

He had his confirmation a moment later when she nodded her head once, terse in her movements, and said, “Fine.  I’ll help you.”

Rumple nodded.  “We should get a move on.  I’ve located Bae’s office where he works down here.  We’ll start there.”  He turned to leave, but a sound of protest stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait, I thought we were going after Killian, first!” Emma frowned in confusion.

“No, the pirate is not in immediate danger.  My son is.  We find him, then the pirate.”

Emma nodded, not happy about the circumstances but not seeing a way to convince Rumple otherwise.  “Fine, let’s go.”

“Wait!” Henry exclaimed.  “I’m coming with you!”

Emma and Rumple both shouted at the same time, “No!”

Emma continued, “It’s too dangerous.”

Henry crossed his arms, a mutinuous expression gracing his face.  “If it’s about my dad, I’m coming too.  I didn’t get to see him before he died,” Henry added quickly upon seeing the looks on both Emma and Regina’s faces.  “It’s only fair that I get to see him, too.”

Emma’s face looked as if her heart was breaking for her son.  After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded.  “Fine, you can come.  But you’re sticking close to me, or I’m poofing you back to Regina.  Do you understand?”

Henry nodded.

Milah chimed in.  “I’m going with you as well.  I want to see my son again, and an extra pair of eyes on this one,” she sent Rumple a withering gaze, “can’t hurt.”

“Uh, I don’t recall inviting you,” Rumple protested.

“Tough.  I invited myself.  I’m not abandoning Bae this time.”  

Rumple sighed an aggravated sigh. “What could possibly go wrong with this?” he muttered, rolling his eyes.

The two glared at each other for a moment.

Emma sighed and put her arm around Henry’s shoulders.  “Let’s go, then.”  To Henry, she quipped under her breath, “Welcome to dinner with the in-laws.”  Henry grinned and they started to exit the house, the Dark One and his former wife trailing behind them.

A loud clunk sounded from just in front of them, and they stopped short.  Everyone looked for what made the sound, but Emma knew.  She stared down at her feet before slowly bending over.  She picked something metallic up from the floor, gingerly, before standing again.  Rumple squinted, trying to figure out what she cradled in her hands.  She took a deep breath and turned, fierce determination and endless heartbreak glinting in her eyes.

In her hands was a hook.  Rumple recognized it as the same one Hook had used as the replacement for his hand, the same one that the pirate had stabbed him with all those years ago on the deck of the pirate’s ship.  It was stained with dried blood, the blood so thick in spots it was caked on.

The rest of their companions gasped in horror, minds immediately jumping to what was likely the right conclusion.  Milah looked confused, but one look at Emma’s face told her something bad had happened to Killian.

“We have to hurry,” Emma choked out, barely holding back tears.  “Killian is in more danger than we thought.”

Emma stood there just long enough for Rumple to recognize the sheer panic in her eyes before she turned and practically ran out the door.  He, Henry, and Milah followed after her, though at a slightly more sedate pace.

Unbeknownst to them, miles down below where they were, Hades was watching them in a mirror and smiling with a deranged sort of glee.  The jar of hope standing in the corner of the throne room filled a little more from the Savior’s panic.  Killian Jones watched the scene and the jar with a cold fury that he hadn’t felt in centuries, but somehow this was worse.  

“It looks like we’ve finally figured out what makes the Savior panic, what causes the Savior pain.  Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” Hades said as he waved his hand, signaling to Pain and Panic that it was time for them to carry out their work.  Killian watched them leave, twin looks of malevolent expectation on their faces, and he struggled against his chains.

“You won’t win,” Killian spat.  “I’ll make sure of it.”

Hades laughed.  “Oh, I’ve already won.  It’s just a matter of putting the pieces where they go.”  He turned and stabbed Killian’s shoulder with a hot poker, causing the pirate to cry out in pain.  The jar of hope’s contents raised incrementally.  Hades continued to torture the pirate, determined that Killian Jones would at least contribute his pain, even if he wouldn’t give up his hope.

[killjoystrashcan]

I finally started rewriting and changing a fanfic that I had back in the day. Hoping to actually finish it this time! Mafia/human AU and keep up with the chapter art pieces

[charms-cat]

Nitpicking Kaos

Aka "Is it so hard to have 10 seconds of Googling?"

Dislaimer: I'm not a follower of the Greek pantheon nor am I the most avid "fan" of Greek myth (putting that in quotes bcs there are still worshippers today), but oh my God. Is it so difficult to keep the most basic of information correct? I'm not gonna nitpick on how they twist certain myths (e.g. how Orpheus gets to and gets Eurydice out of the underworld) bcs it's fine, it serves the plot they're telling so it's not like they're doing it for no reason. But the names of gods? Their titles? The fact that Hera is probably the only goddess who has remained faithful to her spouse? Is it too much to ask?

EDIT: just realised just how negative this all sounds, but I did genuinely enjoy the show and its plot. It was interesting enough to captivate me for 8 whole eps, the character dynamics were intriguing, and the portrayal of the gods was cruel and I loved it since it hammers in the disconnect/lack of empathy that they feel for mortals

Anyway, here's a list of nitpicks [SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT] feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

Heracles, not Hercules

Why do people keep getting this wrong? The name of a literal Greek Goddess (Hera) is part of his name. How are you gonna make Zeus praise him, but still get his name wrong

Hestia

Why is Hestia reduced to being a fucking dog????????? Not just any dog either, she's Zeus's dog that already died, absolutely no chance of an appearance of his fifth sibling unless you wanna make it that Zeus was such a dick that he named his dog after his sister. It's not like she has a "useless" domain. She's one of the three most well-known virgin goddesses. She's the goddess of the home and hearth and of the sacrificial fire. She's the one who receives the first offering at a (domestic) sacrifice so why is she just a dog??

Hera

If I had a nickel for every time I read a retelling where she cheats on Zeus with his brother, I'd have two nickels (the first was Lore Olympus, if you're curious). Hera is supposed to represent the ideal wife, the literal goddess of lawful marriage so how the fuck can you make her be unfaithful?????????

Poseidon

Not so much a nitpick than a question, said question being "why are we acting like Poseidon doesn't have a wife, the nereid Amphitrite, queen of the seas" did they get divorced? Is that why he's lusting after Hera

Hades

He's the god of THE DEAD. Thanatos is the god of death ffs; he's the literal personification of death. Thanatos takes mortal souls, and Hades presides over said dead souls. It would've taken only a few seconds to change Hades's title card and for Persephone to call him "god of the dead" instead of the "god of death". Nothing about Hades's position even hints to him presiding over death itself. We only ever see him running the underworld (Y'know, where all the dead are?). They literally had to change nothing but his title card and what Persephone calls him

Persephone

This isn't really a nitpick on her character, but.... if she's in the underworld, shouldn't it be winter? It doesn't matter that she truly loves Hades or that she went willingly, Part of what fueled Demeter's winter is her grief over losing/being away from her daughter so why is it so damn sunny when we cut to the mortal world

Orpheus

Again, not a nitpick but a definite downplay of his musical abilities considering the fact that the song he sung to convince Hades and Persephone had literally stopped the underworld in its tracks

Prometheus

Not an egregious change, but I'll say it anyway: Wasn't he freed by Heracles during his 12 labours? It's not like he needs to be chained up, pretty sure the resentment that comes from centuries or millenia of having your liver pecked out and eaten would sustain his hatred for an equal amount of time

Minos

Their decision to make him a president instead of a king is not only unnecessary, but it makes him look like the Greek ver of Putin. I mean, they really didn't need to add in the part where Ariadne(?) says something along the lines of "you should let the people vote, they'd choose you anyway". Just... the implication that he simply declared himself president is dumb as hell. Despite Athens being the birthplace of democracy, I don't think they even had presidents in Ancient Greece. You could literally just call Minos a king and virtually nothing about the plot would even change so why bother. Is this really just their attempt at "modernising" their world/setting? It's not like we don't have kings in this day and age

Minotaur

It's true that Glaucus is a sibling of Ariadne, but the Minotaur is a whole separate sibling. The Minotaur even has his own name: Asterion/Asterius. Just another case of "why did they have to change this?" Literally just swap out the name "Glaucus" for "Asterion" and not only will (yet again) virtually nothing about the plot change, but it would be more mythologically accurate and less confusing for people who do know the myths. In fact, it could've been a fun hint for people who know the myths to clock what really happened to "Glaucus" early on, but still have them questioning "how did he become the Minotaur in this version?"

Pasiphae/Pas

Ngl I'm kinda sad that Pas seems to be just a normal mortal woman bcs, in Greek myth, she was a sorceress-goddess, the daughter of Helios. Plus, although I think it's kinda fucked up that she was forced to fuck/be fucked by the Cretan bull (bcs being "made to fall in love" is not the same as "falling in love"), I think it would've been interesting to explore not only her grief over losing a child, but the grief that comes from realising that he never was and never could be accepted by either Gods or mortals. Also, it would've made her obsession over him look slightly less selfish (and lowkey creepy) if we found out that part of the reason was that she knew her son could never live among humans as half-man, half-bull so she resorted to making wax figures that would've at least let her imagine what it would've been like if he wasn't the result of divine punishment

Theseus

Was literally just an Easter egg. Downgraded from a prince of Athens to a Cretan bodyguard. Didn't even do his most notable act (killing the Minotaur) or even get sent to the Labyrinth in the first place. Makes him feel very much like a character that the writers added just to say, "Look! Look, we know Greek myth!" Especially since Theseus disappeared into thin air after the Trojan 7 were arrested. I don't think they even showed him in the crowd with Andromache, mourning Astyanax

Non-character Nitpicks (yeah, I got more)

Bees

Not really bothered by this, but I'm pretty sure that bees aren't even one of Hera's sacred animals. They could've made it peacocks, make the birds wander the grounds and when the reveal drops, the symbol of opulence turns into an unabashed display of cruelty

Ichor

Admittedly, the colour of ichor in Ancient Greek texts has always been ambiguous. But I feel like it would've been an interesting visual for their blood to be a non-red colour; maybe the popular gold, for example. Bcs it would've A) drawn a clear line between Gods and mortals and further "validated" the Gods' hubris by serving as visual proof that there's an undeniable difference between them and the mortals; and B) would've really caused Zeus to panic when he saw that his blood was red instead of gold, make him think that he's becoming mortal, vulnerable, weak

Styx

Minor nitpick, but isn't the sentence for not being able to pay the toll only 100 years, not 200? Why the extra 100 years? Why even change this? If they really wanted to make it feel like a long sentence, then they should've gone for 500 or 1000 years. Living even just 100 years of doing the same thing with no variation or even the choice to opt out, or even being able to taste anything, would start feeling hellish sooner than you might think

Couples

This might just be the aromantic in me, but why is there so much romance???? And it's between couples that never existed in the OG myths

1. Hera/Poseidon - why??? I've already talked about how it goes against Hera's character, but if they really wanted them to have a "deep" relationship, they're literally siblings?? They could just bond over having to be the ones that keep Zeus in line or being the only ones responsible for actually ruling their realms (bcs Amphitrite is nowhere to be found). They didn't need to insult Hera's character like that

2. Theseus/Astyanax - I'd have less problem with this if it didn't seem like Theseus wanted Ari to only save Nax instead of all 7 Trojans. It makes it feel like they're fueling the idea that a person would only be desperate to save the person they love romantically. E.g., a husband saving his wife, but not someone saving their best friend

3. Prometheus/Charon - same problem as the Theseus/Nax ship, especially with the added line that Prometheus needs to rely on "someone who will do anything for you" (or sumn like that). Like,,,, you can do that for your friend too, y'know. It's not out of the realm of possibility to miss your friend or love them so deeply that you'd do anything for them. It's literally a well-known joke(?) that there are friends who'd help you hide the body. It'd just be a more intense ver of that between Charon and Prometheus. They didn't need to be romantic to showcase Charon's trust in and dedication to helping Prometheus

4. Caeneus/Eurydice - I'm so tired of people falling in love in less than a week (I don't think this relationship even reached a full three days). Iirc y'all had a grand total of 6 conversations - first at the Frame, second meeting when Riddy introduces herself as a diver, third at the party, fourth when they're sitting on the bench, fifth when they have their short escapade to the Nothing, sixth in Caeneus's bedroom.

I mean,,,,, I get that they shared meaningful conversations, but I swear none of said conversations even lasted more than 5 minutes so where on Earth is this "love" coming from?? Y'all have barely scratched the surface of what you know of each other but you think you're connected??? Get real

Ending on a positive note

I actually love the Furies and the Fates. The Furies more for their looks and their vibe and especially the Fates for their (literal) know-it-all nonchalant attitude. I hope they come back next season.

The set design and colouring is also top tier, from the underworld filtered in black and white and looking industrial and office-like to the vibrant colours and festivity of Earth to the opulence of Olympus

Some actual trans and disability rep! I've been burned before with the trans rep since the Netflix adaptation of "Alice in Borderlands" has a cis woman playing a transfem, but Misia Butler is an actual transmasc! [Nobody argue that AIB couldn't have an actual transfem bcs of Japan's transphobia bcs I can tell you what's not helping trans rights: having cis women play transfem roles, thinking it makes no difference anyway. Good rep can pave the way for acceptance]

The disability rep in actors is so fucking bad that I genuinely thought most people with disabilities just didn't become actors. I only knew that the daughter in "A Quiet Place" was actually deaf bcs I went to look it up. Anyway, hope Mat Fraser (Daedalus aka only decent father figure) comes back bcs no way he actually got eaten, right? Right????

[astereceaestarzs]

TSaTS if it was awesome:

Apollo: yo what if i replace will in the prophecy cause i dont like the idea of him going down to the underworld?

Hades: cool i dont want nico (my only son) to go down there too what if we went as sunshine and darkness instead

Apollo: omg ur so right lets also have quality uncle-nephew bonding time!!!!

then they skip away into the pit

(this is a summary of the ff Eclipse btw)

[gingermintpepper]

Hi! I just want to clarify that actually Apollo was a sun god in Greece too... The most ancient author who refered Apollo as a solar deity was Aeschylus lived from 525 BCE - 456 BCE

“The unseen land [i.e. the underworld] where Apollon [here the sun] does not walk, the sunless (analion) land that receives all men.”

- Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 858 ff

Apollo being a solar deity was definitely not something Romans invented. Yes, maybe in Roma Era he was syncreticed with Helios and was seeing as the sun itself, even replacing Helios in some myths (like Phaeton and Clytie stories). But he was a sun god in Ancient Greece, maybe not itself, but something more like Horus to the egyptian, a solar deity.

Hi hi!! Thank you so much for the clarification!!

I do have to apologise for my own super casual tone probably giving the wrong idea but if this is referring to the tags on a recent post making a (wonderful!!) case for dark-haired Apollo then I do have to say that I didn't state Apollo wasn't associated with the sun in Greek culture but that he was not primarily associated with the sun!

Like you do very correctly say he was more of a civic god with solar aspects like Egypt's Horus (and even that is a large simplification), mostly from a cosmic standpoint. I like saying that Apollo is the 'light' in 'enlightenment' to the Greeks vs being a physical light to the Romans ♡♡

Thank you so much for double-checking my work though! I'll make sure to be clearer with my tags so these kinds of things don't happen in the future 🥰🙇🏾

[thepariahcontinuum]

MARZ Rising - Chapter 130: A Birdie Told Me

The fallout from the teams' failed attempt to make contacts in the criminal underworld to find their targets.

FF Net

Ao3

[rightwheretheyleftme]

Hades and his aid to heroes in greek myths

Out of all the gods in the greek pantheon, Haides has the strongest reputation for being closed off and uninvolved with humans. After all, he lives in the underworld and rarely, if ever, leaves his realm.

However, after thinking about greek mythology obsessively (as I always do), I realized that there is a pattern of Hades helping heroes/mortals. He doesn’t help them directly like Athena or Hermes do because he’s always in the underworld, but he does aid mortals even when there’s no obligation for him to do so. Here are some examples:

Hades lending his helmet of invisibility to Perseus so he can slay the gorgon

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 36 - 42 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

“These Nymphai had in their possession winged sandals and the kibisis, which they say was a knapsack.--Pindaros and Hesiodos in the Shield of Herakles, describe Perseus as follows : ‘The head of a terrible monster, Gorgo, covered all his back, and a kibisis held it.’ It is called a kibisis because clothing and food are placed in it.--They also had the helmet of Haides. […] Perseus then placed the head in the kibisis and headed back again, as the Gorgones pursued him through the air. But the helmet kept him hidden, and made it impossible for them to identify him.”

Hades giving his hound to Heracles so he can fulfill his labors and letting him free his prisoners

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 125 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

“Herakles asked Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] for Kerberos (Cerberus), and was told to take the hound if he could overpower it without using any of the weapons he had brought with him."”

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 79 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

“When Hercules came to lead out the three-headed dog, they [Peirithoos and Theseus, trapped in the underworld] begged his promise of protection. He obtained the favor from Pluto [Haides], and brought them out unharmed.”

Hades and Persephone allowing Orpheus to leave the underworld with his deceased wife

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 14 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

“When his [Orpheus'] wife Eurydike (Eurydice) died from a snake-bite, Orpheus descended into Haides' realm with the desire to bring her back up to earth, and persuade Plouton (Pluton) [Hades] to release her. Plouton promised to do this if on the return trip Orpheus would not turn round before reaching his own home. But he disobeyed, and turned to look at his wife, who thereupon went back down again.”

Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 8 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :

“[…] the queen [Persephone] and he whose sceptre rules the underworld could not deny the prayer, and called Eurydice.”

Hades and Persephone granting Odysseus’ wish

Homer, Odyssey 10. 135 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :

“Then I called to my comrades and bade them flay and burn the sheep that lay there slain with the pitiless bronze, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and dread Persephone.” (Immediately after this, Hades and Persephone answer Odysseus’ prayer)

Bonus: Hades lends Hermes his helm of invisibility so he can protect himself while battling the giants

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 34 - 38 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

“Hermes, who was wearing the helmet of Haides, killed Hippolytos in the course of the battle, and Artemis killed Aigaion (Aegaeon).”

My thoughts

So if Hades answers prayers, lets other gods and mortals borrow his most valuable weapon, and even breaks his own rules (no one can leave the underworld) to grant other people’s wishes, how can we call him closed off? From this pattern of behavior, it seems like he’s extremely caring and generous . We have to kill the myth that chthonic deities are unresponsive and apathetic.

Here’s an article about Hades’ worship for everyone who wants to keep reading about this topic